《Beneath the Dragoneye Moons》


 Image Gallery!

    Welcome to Beneath the Dragoneye Moons! Below is a moderate selection of artwork I''ve commissioned, or fans have drawn, for the series! There may be some minor spoilers inside - click next to continue onto the story, or stay a few minutes and check out the cool artwork!


    I am constantly getting new artwork, and I''ll be trying to update the image gallery as new stuff comes in - and as I find and remember things! If you''re an artist, and you enjoy reading BTDEM, feel free to shoot me your portfolio! I''m happy to take a look!

 Dedication

    This story is dedicated to my wonderful wife, Lauren, without whom this wouldn''t be possible. Her endless love and support keeps me going.


    Thank you.


    This story is also dedicated to my beautiful daughter Flora, whose smiles light up my every day.


    Thank you.


    I would also like to acknowledge my beta readers, who put up with my endless typos, fix my mistakes, and help guide the story, so it can be the best story possible.


    Thank you.


    Lastly, I''d like to thank all the other supportive authors and writing communities, and all the kind words they have.


    Thank you.

 Chapter 1 - Rebirth

    A raw, primal scream was being wrenched from my throat, my mind and body wracked by pain, the pain of loss, the pain of death. *Snap* An old pair of fingers started the snap; a young pair of fingers ended the snap. I felt a strange force invade my mind, grab something, twist, and rip. I cried out in pain, a sense of loss washing over me. My mouth closed, and every breath sent flames of torment through me as it came in my sore throat.


    ¡°I do really hate the screaming¡± the tall, thin man said in front of me, ¡°but I suppose that¡¯s what happens when you mortals die.¡±


    Wait what!? Die!? I was in class just a second ago! What did he mean die!? I was too young to die! I could feel the panic quickly mounting again, my breath becoming shorter and faster as I started to hyperventilate.


    ¡°Who are you? Where is this? What do you mean die!?¡±


    As I shot my questions off rapid-fire, I looked around. I hadn¡¯t noticed before, being so disoriented, feeling the pain and anguish clawing at my heart fade to nothing, then start to slowly, insidiously creep back ¨C but I wasn¡¯t in class anymore. On that note, I wasn¡¯t sure where I was anymore ¨C I seemed to be floating in space, surrounded by twinkling stars and galaxies, comets and planets. There was nobody present except the tall thin man, floating impossibly in front of me, looking both ancient and young, happy and sad, male and female, tall and short, fat and skinny, red and blue ¨C wait what?


    I pinched myself, putting all my might into it. Only thing to do really. This dream was way too trippy for me.


    I jumped as an electric shock went through me. I was still here. That didn¡¯t bode well.


    A deep, long-suffering sigh escaped him? Her?


    ¡°You died. I took the memory of you dying to calm you down. Unfortunately, it doesn¡¯t seem to have worked nearly as well as it should¡¯ve.¡±, and I heard, barely under her breath ¡°Mortals.¡±


    I felt an enforced calmness come over me, my panic not going away, just¡­ not mattering anymore. Given where I was, strange floating among the stars with what can only be described as a super powerful shape-shifter, I could believe I had died. This wasn¡¯t Kansas anymore.


    ¡°Now then, we can have a discussion. You¡¯re dead. Somehow, you didn¡¯t properly re-enter the cycle of reincarnation, and I found your soul just floating in the void.¡±


    I didn''t know what to make of that. I did know that I hadn¡¯t been old, or even middle-aged when I died. Had I even made it to adulthood? I tried to make a disgruntled noise ¨C the enforced calm was preventing any sort of outrage, only to discover that I couldn¡¯t make a sound. That bastard. We couldn¡¯t really have a ¡®discussion¡¯ if I couldn¡¯t say a single word! I guess he just wanted to monologue, and my input could take a jolly hike.


    ¡°I¡¯m Papilion, the god of change¡± she grandly announced, to an audience of one ¨C and that constant shifting of male to female, young to old, pleased to outraged made a bit more sense, although it was giving me a pounding headache to follow. ¡°And well, you¡¯re being reincarnated. Normally, as souls are reincarnated through the cycle of life and death, all of their memories are erased, and they¡¯re given a clean slate to start over. However, I don¡¯t know what to make of a lone soul lost to Samsara, so you have the option of keeping some of your memories. Regrettably, a newborn¡¯s mind is simply too small for all of the things you know, and you do know quite a few dangerous things. So. What is your choice? Would you like to start as a blank slate, a new life? Or keep some of your knowledge, some of who you are, knowing that you¡¯ll never be able to go back, be forever incomplete, missing a part of yourself?¡±


    I wasn¡¯t ready to make a decision of this scale. Hell, 10 minutes ago by my reckoning, I was debating what to eat for lunch, deciding if I wanted to buy that dress or not, and figuring out how to get all my homework done. Poof, all gone, a mote of dust in the breeze. Now I was past the life-and-death choices, and went directly to the reincarnation choices.


    On one hand, I could keep my memories. However, that sounded painful. I would lose everyone I had ever known ¨C my parents, my best friend, my brother, aunts and uncles, cousins and friends ¨C everyone. I would know it. I would be aware. It was like a plague went through and I had to attend a hundred funerals at once, but the only funeral anyone would be attending was mine. The option to just¡­ forget¡­ was tempting, especially if it was as thorough as removing the memory of me dying was.


    On the other hand, it sounded like this was a rare chance. Not everyone got to keep their memories ¨C even if it was only a fraction of them ¨C and start over again, tabula rasa. It was tempting, just for the aspect of doing something nobody ¨C wait, maybe this had happened before ¨C had done.


    ¡°Can¡­ can I ask some questions¡­.?¡± I asked, getting a single arched eyebrow back as a response. That might be a ¡°go ahead¡±, but it might also be a ¡°you dare question me mortal¡±, and I wasn¡¯t going to play games with my life. Err¡­ afterlife? Soul? This was confusing. Did I even have a body right now?


    In the end, I felt that the choice was forced. As some famous philosopher (probably) said ¡°You die twice. Once when you die, and once when someone speaks your name for the last time.¡± I might have died and lost my first body, but my soul and memories were intact. That was alive enough for me, and I fully intended to keep it that was. I was too young to die.


    ¡°I would like to keep my memories.¡± I said with far more confidence than I felt. The god in front of me smiled as he started to morph into a strange bird ¨C it looked like a crow, but it had too many feet. Somehow, his voice was all the same coming out of a beak.


    ¡°Right then. Chemistry, gone. Physics, gone. Far too dangerous to know that where you¡¯re going. Scientific method ¨C you can do too much damage with that. Broad strokes of history ¨C fine, but the details are completely superfluous, and we need to make room. Mathematics ¨C keep the basics, but calculus will do nothing for you where you¡¯re headed. Arts, literature ¨C useless, but removing it will change you too much. There¡¯s not much point in letting you keep your memories if you¡¯re a completely different person. Interpersonal relationships ¨C they can stay, same reason. English ¨C I suppose you need a starting baseline. French? Spanish? Entirely useless. Gone. Hmm¡­ a few more things to clean up¡­ and we¡¯re done! Prepare to be reincarnated as a Golden Crow.¡±


    I felt the strange force from before entering my mind, magnitudes more powerful and painful than before, rooting around in my head. Each time the crow squawked gone, I felt something rip out from my mind, and I tried to hold back tears of pain. By the time math was gone ¨C I never liked it, but was indescribably sad at it leaving ¨C I was curled up on the floor weeping silently. Not that there was a floor, just more floating in space. But when he said ¡®Prepare to be reincarnated as a Golden Crow¡± I shot up, panic racing through me, somehow about to speak again.


    ¡°NO! I WANT TO BE HUMAN! MAKE ME HUMAN! HUMA-¡° *Snap*


    I was floating in warm, wet darkness. I had been floating here for quite some time, and I was doing lots of thinking. My first instinct was that it was all a bad dream, but I had fallen asleep and woken up too often for that to be the case. So, it seemed like I had truly died, and was being reincarnated. The only thing I was unsure about was if I was going to be human, a ¡®Golden Crow¡¯, whatever that was, or something else entirely. This whole reincarnation thing really needed a user manual or something. I didn¡¯t seem to have a shell, but there was no telling really. At least, I was pretty sure something called a crow would be hatched from an egg. Who knew what I actually knew and what got ripped out by that cruel, capricious god. Who knew what was real, and what I just made up on my own as I floated here in the dark, trying desperately to plug the holes in my memories, holes where I knew things should be but were not. I wanted to go home. I wanted to see mom again. I wanted dad to hug me, to tell me everything was going to be ok. Maybe I could look them up on the internet when I was old enough, tell them that I was ok. Would they even believe me? Would they think it¡¯s just some cruel hoax? I could probably tell them enough about me, enough about them, growing up. How the sun hit the windows, how it would go through the crude ¡®stained glass¡¯ plastic I made in 4th grade. That Becky was my best friend until 2nd grade, when she moved. How our dog Honey used to eat anything and everything ¨C proven by the Great Banana Peel Experiment ¨C and was taken too soon. What was an ¡®experiment¡¯ anyways?


    The fact that some knowledge was considered ¡°too dangerous¡± for where I was going implied that I wasn¡¯t heading back to the time I came from. I thinly tried to hold on hope that Papilion has meant ¡°too dangerous to be born knowing so much¡±, but I knew I was just deluding myself. I grieved. I lamented. I cursed fate, cursed the gods. It changed nothing. They were most likely all lost to me. Waking period by waking period, the details of my past life got dulled, along with the pain of losing everyone I knew. Random things stayed ¨C like why did I still know my bus schedule? How did that stay, why didn¡¯t it get stripped out? Others faded. I could only name half of the people in my biology class, I had no idea who my teachers were last year, and the details of the latest book I had been reading were gone.


    God, I wanted to read again. To pick up a book, sit in a cozy chair by the fire, and just lose myself in the pages. Rarely was I so happy as when I was reading. Although, ¡°God¡± might be a bit of a strange epithet, after now knowing there were gods, and it didn¡¯t seem like there was just one. Otherwise he (she? Them? What pronoun did a shape-shifting god (goddess??) use anyways? ¨C I decided to use he, since that was the first and the last form shown to save my sanity until said god of change told me otherwise.) probably wouldn¡¯t have referred to himself as ¡°the god of change¡±, and probably just ¡°god¡±. God. This was tricky.


    I had entirely too much time to think, and nothing else to do. I tried flailing about now and then, just for a change of pace, but I rapidly hit soft walls all around me that absorbed what I did and gave. I tried to brace myself and push out, but had no luck. I would rapidly tire out and fall asleep after each attempt. I kept at it though, because there was nothing else to do. Except think. And there was nobody to bounce my thoughts off of, nobody to interact with, and just far too much time on my hands (claws? Please not claws.) God. Gods.


    I occasionally heard noises, as if coming off from a great distance underwater, but couldn¡¯t make anything out. I would redouble my escape efforts whenever I heard that ¨C maybe someone could let me out? But it never made a difference. The noises were usually soothing, which was nice, but being unable to really make anything out, it wasn¡¯t that much of a change. At least it broke up the monotony. Inevitably after each attempt, I would get exhausted and fall asleep.


    When would this end?


    The state of affairs couldn¡¯t last, and one day I felt the fleshy walls of my prison contract around me, squeezing me. I felt a sharp spike of fear go through me, and I flailed more in panic. There wasn¡¯t anything else I could do. This did seem to strongly imply that I didn¡¯t need to escape with a beak, which gave me a brief sense of relief ¨C only for panic to set in once again as the walls contracted around me, squeezing all over. Again, and again, pain and pause, the relief between each movement constantly shortened. I was battered, I felt bruised all over, but finally, with one last massive squeeze, I emerged into the world, and a massive deluge of information.


    [*Ding!* Welcome to Pallos!]


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 0]


    [Time remaining on System locks: 68,820:43:16]


    [*Ding!* Due to the great efforts of [Grand Hero] Herculix, you get a +1 bonus to all stats! You also get a passive 2% increase to all exp gain!]


    Strange words floating in front of me, and so many more words, dozens, hundreds! I needed to investigate. But more than that ¨C


    Giants. Giants all around me. Some yelling, some screaming, two covered in blood. The noise grated, and went right between my ears, nails on chalkboard. I was picked up, incomprehensible language babbled all around me, and looking down, I saw a female giant bleeding profusely. Another giantess elbowed her way in, put her hand on the first giant, yelled something, and I watched the flesh of the first giant knit itself back together! Holy shitballs there was magic here!


    I looked up for the first time, and realized that we were in a field under the open sky. I was passed down to the giantess who was healed, my head being moved around as I saw more of the night sky, and I saw them.


    Two crimson cat¡¯s eyes with slitted pupils glared down from the sky to me, watching me, seeing every movement I made. I could feel the weight of its ominous gaze pressing on me, suffocating. The strange floating words, being manhandled by giants, the screaming, getting battered and bruised, the blood, the magic - it was too much. I screamed and cried and flailed about, and didn¡¯t stop until my voice gave out and I passed out from exhaustion.

 Chapter 2 - System Day I

    Finally! Only 66 hours, 33 minutes, and 15 seconds left to go until the lock was gone! 3,993 minutes!


    We all shared one giant bed, which would have taken some getting used to if I hadn¡¯t started there as a baby, and just never left. It was somewhat terrifying at first, not wanting mom or dad to roll over in the night and squash me like a bug, but somehow, I survived. I took a deep breath in, smelling the wonderful sea breeze. I leapt out of bed, disturbing mom, as I raced to get ready. Dad was working night shift, so he wasn¡¯t around to be disturbed. I ran out the door, only for 24-year-old mom to groggily yell at me.


    ¡°Elaine! Get out of those filthy clothes, and into something nice! It¡¯s System Day!¡±


    I sheepishly slinked back into the bedroom, and looked down at my beige-colored bamboo tunic. A grease stain, a few dirt stains, and was that yesterday¡¯s lunch¡­? Embarrassed, I changed to a fresh tunic. Bamboo was nice material to wear. It was light and cool, and as the weather was getting really warm in the early summer, it was the perfect material to wear. I wasn¡¯t a fan of the color of undyed bamboo ¨C I much preferred wool white ¨C but there was no beating how it felt or what it did for the heat.


    I sighed as I put away the dirty tunic. I would have to wash it later, and that was a chore and a half, needing to go down to the river that cut the town in half. Mom- I found out her name was Julia, just Julia ¨C would come down with me and do the rest of the laundry, but I was already being made to look after myself. Childhood being a carefree time with no responsibilities, bah humph. Who said that!? I want a refund!


    Still, System Day! I was bouncing off the walls with happiness. Turns out, everyone had a system, not just me! System Day was when kids who were just about to unlock their class went to the temple, and we would get told all about the System, how it worked, and had a chance to ask for advice and help. Mom and dad ¨C turns out his name was Marcus Elainus Cato, for some reason he had a long and fancy name ¨C would also be telling me things and giving their own advice and opinion on the matter, but the temple asked for, and got, first dibs on telling kids what was going on.


    System Day happened every week, and only once in your life. Only kids that were about to unlock their system could attend. It marked the end of being babied (HA! Like I wasn¡¯t already pressed into chore service), and the start of ¡°real¡± childhood, of getting classes and levels generally starting an apprenticeship, or really working. They started the hard labor young here!


    With that being said, I had already managed to gain a few stats on my own. Some were clearly obtained from my own effort ¨C I got some points in Speed for playing and running around the park ¨C and others just seemed to happen while growing up, like a point in Strength and Vitality. Each time I leveled up, I could feel it, a power bubbling up inside and washing over me. With how low my stats were, I distinctly noticed each and every level. I pulled them up to see how I¡¯d done since I got started here.


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 4]


    [Dexterity: 6]


    [Vitality: 3]


    [Speed: 4]


    [Mana: 2]


    [Mana Regeneration:2]


    [Magic Power: 2]


    [Magic Control: 2]

 Chapter 3 - System Day II

    Dad came home, had dinner, wished me luck on System Day, got out of his armor, and went directly to sleep. In that order. The last two items had occasionally been mixed up.


    Time was funny without clocks. Things weren¡¯t done at a particular time, just ¡°Around noon¡± ¡°Before dark¡± ¡°Right after sunrise¡±. After so long of not needing to deal with being exactly on time to things, it was easy to slide right into the new way of handling time. It did make starting important things ¨C like System Day ¨C a bit tricky, but such was the way of life.


    I couldn¡¯t figure out why my system clock was measured in hours ¨C the same hours as on Earth ¨C but nobody seemed to use hours, nor did I even know the name for it. Curiouser and curiouser. I didn¡¯t want to ask ¨C I could always let the reincarnated genie out of the bottle, but there was no putting it back. It wasn¡¯t like I was keeping it a massive ¡°don¡¯t tell at any cost¡± secret, but I figured there was a time and a place for everything.


    ¡°Elaine. Sit.¡± Mom gestured to the chair, comb in hand. I happily scuttled up onto the recliner, where mom started to comb my hair. It was peaceful, relaxing, stroke after stroke getting my hair out and loose. A moment of peace. A moment of calm. A perfect mother-daughter moment.


    ¡°Excited?¡± Mom asked, getting a particularly difficult snarl out.


    ¡°Yeah!¡± This was IT! This was the big day! ¡°I can¡¯t wait to try all of the things in the temple out! I want to know everything!¡± Mom smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t get your hopes up too high, it¡¯s fairly disappointing really.¡±


    Learning about magic, disappointing? Yikes. I hope I didn¡¯t have all the fun sucked out of me when I grew up. At long last. Growing up was taking me literally twice as long as the normal person, thankyouverymuch reincarnation.


    Hair finished up, I grabbed my sandals, and off we went! We left the house, looked both ways, and crossed over to the ¡°grey zone¡± of the street. I frowned.


    ¡°Moooooom, why do we still have to walk here? It¡¯s System Day! I¡¯m allowed to walk in the real street now!¡±


    Mom gave me that half amused, half exasperated smile. ¡°Because you haven¡¯t unlocked your system yet. You don¡¯t have any physical stats yet, rascal. And when has ¡®not being allowed¡¯ ever stopped you or Lyra from anything, hmm?¡± Good point.


    I pouted as I was dragged along. I wasn¡¯t a baby anymore! I could walk in the main road! Instead of the tiny grey zone, full of other kids, crates, and generally pushed to the side things. It seemed to be a universal law that bike lanes were treated poorly. I hated having to crawl over and around things, when I could be in the nice ¡°white zone¡± instead, strolling through without a care in the world.


    Out of clear blue sky, a massive series of thunderbolts came down near the south gate, making me jump about a foot out of my skin.


    ¡°What was that!?¡± I yelled, startled. Lightning bolts didn¡¯t just come out of clear blue sky. No way.


    I wasn¡¯t the only one who¡¯d jumped. Multiple huge surprise lightning bolts tended to do that to people.


    ¡°Probably some Classer entering the city. Get high enough mana, they ask you to discharge it before coming in.¡± Mom said, nervously looking about.


    ¡°How can you tell how much mana someone has?¡±


    ¡°Well, if you get [Identify], you can tell by how bright the name is.¡±


    ¡°[Identify]?¡±


    ¡°Hush now, the temple will explain. I¡¯ve told you more than I should have. Just let them explain, and any questions after I¡¯ll answer.¡±


    Well, ok then.


    We reached the end of the street, and turned left into the main street. You could see the town gate on one end, and the market at the center of town on the other. Well ¨C you could see it if there weren¡¯t food stands, vendors, two wagon-wide worth of lanes, and a massive crush of people in the way.


    ¡°Mom Mom Mom look! They¡¯re selling pitas! And a bard¡¯s playing over on the corner! Can we go over and listen? Please? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?¡±


    Mom rolled her eyes at me ¡°You¡¯re as distractible as always Elaine. Where are we going right now?¡±


    ¡°The temple!¡±


    ¡°And why are we going there?¡±


    RIGHT.


    ¡°SYSTEM DAY!!! Let¡¯s go-go-go-go slowpoke¡±


    She chuckled as I started pulling on her hand and arm, urging her forward. I knew she could run and go so much faster than this, why were we plodding along?


    I suddenly stumbled and nearly fell over as a blast of wind hit me. Fortunately, mom was holding onto me, and kept me stable and up. My heart was pounding so loudly I could almost hear it. My palms felt like they were going to slip out of mom¡¯s tight grasp.


    Mom looked down at me with a hint of worry in her eyes.


    ¡°That was a courier. And that is why we¡¯re still walking in the grey zone. You could barely stand the air blast of him running by ¨C imagine if he hadn¡¯t seen you in the crowd and ran into you at that speed? That would be bad.¡± I imagined a large, rolling rock and a small, delicate mango in the way. Splat. Yeah no.


    My heart was getting back down to a more reasonable rate.


    ¡°I¡¯m never leaving the grey zone. Nuh uh. No way.¡±


    I climbed up and over another crate while mom deftly weaved from the grey zone into the white zone and back again to avoid it. I could smell the marketplace, and now I could finally see it. It was a large, sprawling mess in the middle of town, with the Athahurst river pressed up against one side of it. Guards were patrolling around with their leather vests and metal batons, merchants were hawking their wares under covered stalls, shooting off impressive displays of magic to try and attract attention ¨C pillars of flames, living sculptures of water, flashing light signs, and so much more. The usual army recruiter was shouting his pitch ¨C ¡°Join the legions today! Service grants citizenship!¡± A large crowd of people moved throughout, going from stall to stall to do their daily shopping, find something nice, or just to chit-chat. The sky went dark, and everyone froze where they were, merchant to farmer, young to old, man and woman, looking to the sky. Street kids didn¡¯t even take the chance of distraction to nick a purse or two ¨C they were too busy looking up as well.


    Just a crapton of pigeons. They were so shitty to have around. Literally, they pooped everywhere. There was a collective sigh, as the market resumed being as busy as a beehive.


    The market was too narrow and too crowded for there to be grey zones, and it was somewhat dangerous for someone as small as I was for a reason. Fortunately, with the crowd, and everyone stopping and staring every three feet it was safe for me. It clearly wasn¡¯t stopping some of the street kids I saw ducking and weaving about, looking for unguarded wares and purses. I eyed them suspiciously. Mom might not be paying too much attention, but I was. No sticky-fingered brat was getting mom¡¯s pouch ¨C and by extension, my lunch.


    With supernatural agility mom worked her way through the crowd, and we reached the shores of the Athahurst. We ended up close to the south bridge, with a pair of surly guards stopping enterprising merchants from setting up on the bridge itself.


    We started to cross the bridge when mom, twisting with unnatural finesse, punted a wind weasel that had been blowing towards us.


    ¡°Bloody pests¡± she muttered, putting me back down. ¡°What is the guard doing that there¡¯s so many of them running around?¡±


    ¡°You should complain to dad that he is not doing his job¡± I cheekily replied, only to get walloped over the head. Ouch.


    Glaring over her shoulders at the bridge guards, muttering darkly under her breath, we continued marching over the bridge. This was exciting! I had never been over the bridge to this part of town before. Some old men tunics of various hues of red and blue were fishing on the bridge.


    ¡°Hey mom! Can we go fishing here later!?¡± Trout and salmon and ok fine I didn¡¯t actually know the names of any of the fish here. A fish was a fish. Yum Yum.


    I got a sad smile back.


    ¡°No dear. Only citizens are allowed to fish on the bridge.¡± My face fell at this. Mom, clearly seeing I was upset, tried to cheer me up. ¡°Besides, the fishing here is pretty bad ¨C there¡¯s almost nothing in the river because of the grates.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t thrilled with this. Not at all. I hadn¡¯t realized we weren¡¯t citizens, and I disliked the idea that things could be barred to me as a result.


    ¡°What are we if we are not citizens? We have lived here my entire life! How do we become citizens? Dad should be a citizen, the army recruiter said they become citizens and he is a guard! I want to be a citizen!¡± I whined.


    ¡°Elaine. We¡¯re women ¨C we can¡¯t be citizens. Only men can be citizens.¡± I stopped, shocked, thunderstruck. What. What the ¨C what was this sexism? Just ¨C what? I was short-circuiting, I had no thoughts, no words I was so shocked. And rapidly getting mad. Not just mad ¨C fully enraged. A fire sparked in my chest, and rapidly became a roaring bonfire.


    Mom was always good with the patients who came to visit her, and could probably tell I was still upset.


    ¡°Look Elaine, while you can¡¯t be a citizen, you could always marry one! It¡¯s practically the same thing.¡±


    The only thing that did was to stroke the fire inside of me, and make me mad again.


    Calm, calm, I need to stay calm. I need to stay in control. I can¡¯t just go flying off the handle, and the temple was practically in sight.


    As I was seeing red and taking some deep stabilizing breaths, we reached the end of the bridge and arrived in front of the temple. It was the largest building I had seen since I had been reborn, and looked like it had been a clone of a Greek temple, with large steps leading up to majestic marble pillars. I stopped and stared for a moment, taking it all in, before noticing a statue in front of the building. Flesh in marble, done by such a skilled [Sculptor] that he looked alive, a large lizard-like creature stood hunched forward on its hind legs, a jaw like a crocodile with a smile like one, claws made for rending and tearing, and a huge sail on its back.


    We reverently bowed towards the statue of Etalix, the Storm. One of the guardian beasts. No idea what a guardian beast was or what they did, but I was taking no chances.


    Until I had an answer, I wasn¡¯t going to stop paying my respects to Etalix. Just in case.


    Etalix, the Storm.


    Etalix, the Spinosaurus.


    There were freaking DINOSAURS here!

 Chapter 4 - System Day III

    We entered the temple together, and I looked around in awe. There were marble pillars, and in the middle of the entryway, a large diamond-shaped symbol, with a gemstone on each corner and one in the middle. Painted frescos lined the wall: What was probably Etalix, wrapped in mist. Herculix fighting some sort of large dinosaur. White Dove and Black Crow, the grim reapers from above. Army legions victorious over large insects. The famous run of Fulguris. The sentinel Gideon, burning with the dark flames he was famous for. And many, many more, each probably with historical significance and martial victory that someone would probably be all too happy to tell me about if I asked. I didn¡¯t ask.


    ¡°Good morning¡± a man with a pockmarked face, marking him as a survivor of any number of the poxes and plagues that went about regularly, greeted us. ¡°Are you here for System Day?¡± he asked with exceeding politeness.


    ¡°Yes!¡± I responded as enthusiastically as I could, although not as loudly as possible. The temple was intimidating. At the same time, mom gave a much more reserved ¡°Yes¡±. I glared at her with all the ferocity I could muster. It was my day. No stealing it.


    ¡°Third door on the left¡± he gently told us.


    With bold strides and butterflies bouncing in my belly, I entered the indicated room. There were three other kids in beige sitting on the floor in front of an older priestly-looking gentleman in a chair, and there were various implements scattered around the edge of the room. There was a bowl of water, a hammer, a rope, and dozens more little objects scattered all over. There was even a modest patch of dirt! At the back of the room, prominently displayed, was another one of those diamonds with 5 gems in it, but much smaller. I looked around puzzled as everyone¡¯s attention came around to me.


    ¡°Hello there. I¡¯m Sacerdus. What¡¯s your name?¡±


    I got a warm fuzzy feeling from the elderly priest standing at the front of the room. He was tall, in a long white robe with simple sandals on his feet. White hair, white beard, and it was clear he spent time in the sun, he practically radiated comfort, confidence, and relaxation. Heck, for all I knew, he literally was radiating all of those!


    ¡°I¡¯m Elaine¡± I fidgeted, eyes on the floor.


    ¡°Well Elaine, why don¡¯t you sit down with everyone else? We¡¯ll get started soon.¡±


    I looked around, and saw Lyra! How did I miss her first-time round? She clearly saw me as well, and jumped up to hug me!


    ¡°Lyra!¡± I exclaimed, completely forgetting where we were.


    ¡°Elaine!¡± Just as happily.


    ¡°Ahem.¡± A cough came from Sacerdus. Mom was glaring murder at me. Oh gods I was going to get the spoon later.


    Fortunately, I was spared further conversation as a boy wearing a green tunic and his father came in.


    ¡°Hello there. I¡¯m Sacerdus. What¡¯s your name?¡± Sacerdus said again, without any sign of impatience or annoyance.


    The boy drew himself up to his full height, and with all the haughtiness he could muster responded with ¡°Olympus Kerberos Titus.¡± I rolled my eyes to myself as he strutted forward, and plonked himself down in front of all of us. Um, hello? The remaining four of us are sitting in a line, who are you to sit in front of us all? Should I say something? But Sacerdus isn¡¯t saying anything, he¡¯s just keeping his happy smile on.


    As I was debating what to do, Sacerdus pre-empted me by talking.


    ¡°Well! I¡¯m glad to see everyone¡¯s here. Just checking ¨C everyone has less than seven days left on their timer? Raise your hand if you do!¡± He said as he raised his hand in demonstration.


    64 hours and change left. Yup, that was me! Strange that he didn¡¯t say it in hours, although nobody here seemed to use them. I raised my hand with everyone else.


    ¡°Good! Let¡¯s begin. First, I¡¯d like to say thank you to Kerberos¡¯s father, Citizen Prasinos. He, and Citizen Arotro and Citizen Fyto together grow about three in ten crops that we eat here in Aquiliea.¡± He gestured to three men standing in the back in full purple robes.


    The three citizens in the back nodded thanks at the acknowledgement.


    Sacerdus turned around, and grabbed a scroll off of the altar.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to start by ????? our history off of the !!!!!!¡±


    He unraveled the scroll, and started reading off of it. ¡°It¡¯s currently 4788 years post-creation. In the beginning, the five major gods created¡­¡± I completely missed everything else he said ¨C at long last, I had the word for reading, and the word for scroll! It wasn¡¯t a book, but I could now finally ask for reading lessons! Books would have to be involved, and then I could finally read again!


    I hadn¡¯t seen Lyra in ages (ok fine two days), and we spent some time putting our heads together, whispering frantically to get caught up.


    ¡°Did you get in trouble for the¡­?¡± I started. I didn¡¯t need to finish the sentence; Lyra knew exactly what I was referring to. The latest Incident. The reason it had been two whole days since last seeing the other half of my soul.


    ¡°Nope!¡± She cheekily grinned.


    ¡°Lucky.¡± I muttered back.


    ¡°Any questions?¡± he asked. Shit. I had completely missed everything he said! This was System Day! I needed to focus! I did my best poker face, hoping that I hadn¡¯t missed anything, and more importantly, mom hadn¡¯t noticed me whispering with Lyra.


    ¡°Good. Moving on. We don¡¯t know where the System comes from, but it¡¯s what gives us classes and skills. It¡¯s what lets us stay alive in this world. It¡¯s the foundation of nearly everything we do, and we¡¯d fall prey to the creatures outside of our borders without it. Even with it, we¡¯re at risk. Everyone needs to do their part so humanity as a whole can survive, and maybe even beat the Formorians.¡±


    That caught my attention. I had arrogantly assumed that humanity was the top dog. I hadn¡¯t seen or heard much to contradict that idea in my short time here, but then again, who tells kids anything? But humanity isn¡¯t doing great? There was some enemy called the Formorians? That was news to me. With great effort I stopped looking around while listening, and put my entire focus on Sacerdus.


    ¡°Nearly everything has a System. Anything bigger than a bug has a system, although it seems like only humans and intelligent monsters get classes. As you¡¯ve all noticed,¡± he chuckled ¡°when you¡¯re born, your system is locked. Humans all have the same timer, but it seems like monsters each get their own, different timer. Why this is, we don¡¯t know, but we believe it¡¯s to stop babies from killing themselves.¡± Sacerdus went from smiling to serious. ¡°If you get nothing else out of System Day, just know that improperly using the system and allocating your traits can and will kill you. Each time you level up a physical trait, you lose some of your mana regeneration. If you allow your mana regeneration to dip below 0, you¡¯ll start to burn mana just to stay alive. You¡¯ll quickly hit 0 mana, and then your body will eat itself from the inside out. It¡¯s not pretty. It¡¯s not fun. It¡¯s Very Bad.¡± He emphasized, talking to us like we were children.


    Which we were. Fair enough.


    Sacerdus repeated himself, along with dire warnings about allocating stats.


    ¡°Any questions?¡±


    I looked over my stats.


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 4]


    [Dexterity: 6]


    [Vitality: 3]


    [Speed: 4]


    [Mana: 2]


    [Mana Regeneration:2]


    [Magic Power: 2]


    [Magic Control: 2]

 Chapter 5 - System Day IV

    ¡°Ok! Now that we have that out of the way, let¡¯s talk about elements!¡± Elements? Ooooh, more cool things! I wanted a fire element! Fireballs!


    ¡°Each Class has an associated Element with it. For the most part, any element can go with any class, but most classes benefit from having particular elements. For example, you could have [Courier] be an Earth class, but he¡¯d most likely benefit from having a Wind class instead.¡±


    ¡°Something like a [Blacksmith] could have fire, and have skills related to forges and heat. They could have an earth element, and deal with molds and the furnace. Metal would naturally be one of the most useful, probably getting some direct manipulation skills. Water¡­ is rarely seen with a blacksmith, but it could help with quenching. Wind is also pretty rare with a blacksmith, but they¡¯d move faster, and have sharper weapons.¡± Elements! Fire. My eyes were blazing with rapt focus.


    ¡°The Elements come in four pairs of two, and they¡¯re paired up equal and opposite just like the stats they help. They are: Fire and Water; Earth and Wind; Light and Dark; Wood and Metal. Fire goes with Strength. That means if your class is fire-aligned, for each level in the class you get, you¡¯ll gain a point in Strength as well! Neat!¡±


    ¡°Fire is Strength. Water, opposing it, is Dexterity. Just like how getting points in Strength will eventually lower your Dexterity, Fire and Water oppose each other.¡±


    ¡°Earth is Vitality, while Wind is Speed.¡±


    ¡°Light is Mana Regeneration, while Darkness is Mana.¡±


    ¡°Lastly, Wood is Magic Control, while Metal is Magic Power.¡±


    Fyto spoke up at this moment. ¡°Would you like a demonstration of skills and magic?¡±


    A mad chorus of yes¡¯s came from all of us except Kerberos. A chance to see magic performed for us? Yes please!


    Fyto walked over to the patch of dirt, touched it with his foot, and intoned for our sake:


    ¡°[Full Field Plow].¡±


    A ripple went over the field, turning the messy mud into neat rows of plowed earth, ready to be seeded.


    Arotro only gestured, and suddenly there were dozens of seeds that came from him, floating around the room. They playfully moved along the room, settling into neat rows on the plowed field.


    Prasinos lastly walked over, bent over ¨C oh god that beautiful purple tunic better not touch dirt that would be a Major Sin ¨C and spoke:


    ¡°[Rapid Growth].¡±


    The field exploded with growth. Squash, squash everywhere. I was amazed at the display of magic ¨C real magic, not the small-time stuff the merchants did every day, and more amazed at how quickly the three of them had turned a patch of dirt into viable, tasty crops. And it was all done inside!


    ¡°An amazing example of the Earth, Spore, and Verdant elements. There are a few more elements I didn¡¯t mention, because they¡¯re more advanced. Each pairing of primary elements creates a new, secondary element.¡±


    That was ¨C I did some quick thinking ¨C a lot more elements.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk about classes quickly before I let you run around and play.¡±


    ¡°When the system unlocks, and as you advance, you¡¯ll always have a class. It could be [Baker]. It could be [Soldier]. It could be [House Wife]. It could be bad, like [Thief]. You¡¯ll usually have several options to choose from. You level up by doing things related to your class ¨C in your case, simply being a child will level you up. Doing things outside of your class will also get you experience, but not as much as things inside of your class. Killing mean monsters will always get you lots of experience!¡±


    "When your system unlocks, you¡¯ll get your starter class automatically ¨C it¡¯ll probably be [Child of Remus] or [Child of Pallos], the first being much more common. You¡¯ll gain a few levels, depending on what you¡¯ve been doing since you were born, and when you finally get level 8, you¡¯ll be able to get a new class! Exciting!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not sure on everything that decides a new class, but it seems to be based somewhat on your skills, what you¡¯ve picked with them, and how high you¡¯ve leveled them up. You will always have a choice when it comes to your non-starter classes.¡±


    ¡°Lastly, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re wondering why there are so many objects and things around the room. This is because of skills. Each class can have eight skills, and then you can have eight general skills on top of that. What skills you get, what skills you level, and how high you level them help determine what classes you¡¯re offered. All of the things around the room are designed to get you started on various skills ¨C if you start to make a pot out of clay, you¡¯ll unlock the [Pottery] skill, and possibly even the [Ceramicist] class. If you swing a sword, you might get a fighting skill, and maybe even unlock the [Soldier Trainee] class if you¡¯re very lucky! Lastly, trying many different things like this is almost guaranteed to get you the [Apprentice] class when you get to level 8, which will be useful for getting an apprenticeship.¡±


    Sacerdus was saying something. I was too busy looking around. What stations did I want to try? The eight stations near the start made a lot more sense now ¨C there was one for each element. Did that allow me to get some affinity for that element, unlocking the class? A pile of blocks, a block of clay, some dirty strips in a pile ¨C lots of things for me to explore and try! It was clear now that I was supposed to try different things at different places, and pick up skills that way for my eventual leveling up! I chuckled as I rubbed my hands together, eager to start.


    ¡°Now, girls, if you¡¯ll leave, the boys can get started on the skills portion of today.¡± Kerberos leapt up with a happy cry, and immediately ran over to the swords. I just sat there stunned, trying to process what I had just heard.


    What. Completely stunned, visions of playing with hammers and blocks falling out of my mind, I didn¡¯t resist at all as mom came over to pick me up. Perhaps sensing my inner turmoil, she picked me up and carried me out as thick, hot tears came spilling out of my eyes into her shoulder.


    ¡°It¡¯s not fair¡± I choked out between sobs. ¡°I wanted to play with all the things¡­ and get skills¡±


    ¡°Shhh shhhh¡± Mom rocked me as she carried me back. ¡°It¡¯s ok. Hey, listen, let¡¯s get you some food, and I¡¯ll teach you some things that might turn into skills once we get back! Ok?¡±


    I furiously shook my head into her shoulder, sobbing my dreams out. Sensing the mood, mom continued to rock me and make soothing noises at me as we made it back across town to home. Coming inside, she laid me down on one of the recliners, and took my sandals off for me. I would normally complain about being treated like a baby, but I just didn¡¯t care. What was the point of coming back with my memories intact, if I was just going to be stymied at every turn? What was the point of having magic, if it seemed like I wouldn¡¯t be allowed to learn it? Mom picked me up and brought me to the bedroom, where she proceeded to tuck me in. Upset, exhausted, every bit of strength wrung out of me, I went to sleep.


    System Day sucked.

 Chapter 6 - Learning Skills I

    I woke up in the evening feeling drained and exhausted, but no longer nearly so actively upset. I reflexively checked my timer ¨C 55 hours to go ¨C before remembering that it seemed like skills and magic weren¡¯t going to be for me. What was the point. I flipped over in bed, stuck my head under the pillow, and moped some more.


    I was clearly not going to earn myself the [Stealth] skill anytime soon since dad heard me and entered the room.


    ¡°Hey kiddo,¡± he said ¡°How¡¯re you feeling?¡±


    I grunted back. How did he think I was feeling?


    ¡°Hey, so I know you¡¯re upset, but it¡¯ll be ok! Most everyone learns their skills from their parents anyways, or picks them up as they go along. You¡¯ll be fine! Julia will teach you eeeeeeeeeeverything you¡¯ll need to know!¡±


    I sat up in bed, picked up my pillow, and threw it at him. It wasn¡¯t a great shot, and it was just a pillow, but the message was clear.


    ¡°Ok, Ok, I get it¡± he said chuckling ¡°I talked with mom. After you¡¯ve unlocked the system, you can come with me for a few days while I do my rounds, and we¡¯ll see what we can do with picking up skills. After all, you can try to get carpentry by sticking a knife in the block of wood at the temple, or you could¡¯ve a real live [Carpenter] show you how it¡¯s done until you get the skill! Doesn¡¯t that sound so much better?¡±


    I perked up, not believing my ears. Not only would I get to try all sorts of fun things, I was almost guaranteed to get the skill? That sounded great! A small part of me whispered that I should still be upset over my treatment at the temple, that it was still unfair to girls everywhere that we were denied that chance, but I was far too excited to listen to that voice. Right now.


    ¡°Yay dad you¡¯re the best!¡± I jumped up to hug him ¡°I can¡¯t wa-¡° *GURGLEGURGLEGURLE*


    I went beet red as my stomach rebelled, informing me in no uncertain terms that I needed to eat.


    Dad laughed. ¡°Julia also mentioned that you didn¡¯t have lunch. Come on, let¡¯s go get some dinner together.¡±


    Weee! Getting dinner with dad meant we weren¡¯t cooking ¨C it meant we were going to raid a food stand! I needed a good raiding hat. Maybe a raiding party.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± I bolted out of the room, out of the door, and was about to turn down the street when-


    ¡°Elaine! Your sandals!¡±


    Ah right, those. I sighed, turned about, and put my sandals on as dad caught up.


    ¡°Here¡± He handed me four iron coins. ¡°You¡¯ll be deciding and buying today. Ok?¡±


    Better and better! I was always considered too young to do the shopping ¨C the most I did was tag along. Now I finally had money! The world was my oyster! Muwahahahahahahaha. I rubbed my hands together, plotting.


    I played with the coins dad gave me, turning them over in my hands. They were circular, with a triangular hole in the middle. I traced my finger over the ridges outside of the coin, then stuck my finger into the hole in the middle, feeling the ridges on the inside as well. I had always wondered -


    ¡°Dad, why do the coins have holes?¡±


    ¡°Smart girl! It¡¯s so you can thread them onto a rod, see?¡± Taking a coin from me, he took one of the long triangular rods by the wall and threaded the coin onto it. ¡°It¡¯s hard to carry and deal with a bunch of money at once, and at a certain point a coin pouch won¡¯t do it anymore. So, we thread them onto a rod instead! 64 coins on a metal pole make a rod.¡±


    He took the coins off the rod and handed them back to me. We left the house, and started wandering back towards the main street. The street we were on had some vendors, but I was filthy rich now, and I wanted to hunt bigger game. Rolling the coins in my hand, we wandered down the main road while I let my nose try to find the best smelling vendor.


    Eventually my dogged pursuit of tasty food led us to a stall, where I stared up at the man tending the stall.


    ¡°Two pitas please!¡± I asked in my best not-a-kid-anymore voice. He looked down at me, looked up at my dad. Smiled.


    ¡°That¡¯ll be 5 iron coins please.¡± My face fell. I turned around and looked pleadingly at dad, who just raised an eyebrow, mouth studiously still.


    I turned back, determined to separate the vendor from his delicious smelling food, puffed out my chest, and insisted ¡°Four iron coins! All I have!¡±


    Dad facepalmed while the vendor laughed.


    ¡°Deal¡± he quickly insisted, and I had the sudden feeling that I had been had. I reluctantly handed over the entirety of my dragon¡¯s hoard, and greedily grabbed the pitas. Whirling around, I handed on to dad, and skipped off down the street. We wandered back home, sat down, and started munching on the pitas. After a nice meal, dad sighed, and fully reclined on the recliner.


    ¡°You know kiddo¡± he started ¡°you overpaid at the vendor¡¯s. Should¡¯ve only been two, maybe three coins.¡± I was shocked. Shocked! I got cheated? Wait, dad LET me get cheated? He was a guard! He was supposed to stop that type of thing!


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say anything?¡± I glumly muttered, visions of my hoard being separated from me unjustly swimming through my mind.


    ¡°Because you¡¯d never learn otherwise. It¡¯s one thing to hear about it, to be told it, and another to experience it. Plus, the vendor over-charging you, with you negotiating it down, means you¡¯re likely to get the bartering skills.¡±


    After a pause ¡°Want to hear a secret?¡±


    Secrets! Secrets were great!


    ¡°Yeah!¡±


    ¡°Almost every girl is taken out around System Day or around the time they unlock the system with four coins, and brought to a vendor to buy something cheap. Vendor knows to charge 5, 6, 7 coins when this happens, but they allow themselves to get talked down to 4 or sometimes even less! Vendor makes a bit of extra money, you potentially get the bartering skill, everyone wins!¡±


    I looked at dad with a mouth that could catch a thousand flies. Oh my gods. It was Santa Claus all over again, a grand societal conspiracy for the betterment of children. I felt a lot better about being ripped off, since I hadn¡¯t really gotten ripped off, and really, it was dad¡¯s money anyways. Mom walked in at this point with a bag full of shopping, smiled at us, and went to the kitchen to drop off the food. She popped back out a minute later, and sat down at the table with us.


    ¡°Did dad go over the plan with you?¡±


    ¡°Just that I was going to be learning skills from him!¡±


    ¡°Yes, but remember ¨C the next two days until you unlock the system, you¡¯re MINE.¡± She said with a mischievous, gleeful look in her eyes.


    I gulped. Getting skills might not be as fun as I thought. Lyra save meeeeee.

 Chapter 7 - Learning Skills II

    Not all skill learning was made equal. I had always thought mom was a harsh taskmistress. No. She had been air and sunshine up until now. I cooked. I baked. I sewed some clothes, fixed a sandal, washed a single shirt in a water bucket, repaired dad¡¯s armor, swept the floor, cleaned out the oven, repaired a window slate (I swear it hadn¡¯t been broken yesterday¡­), stuffed a pillow, changed the straw, bought more food at market, hauled water from the river, scrubbed the walls (mold was a persistent bastard), made anti-bug herbal pouches, and generally did 1001 things around the house ¨C none of them in a large, sustained way, but enough to get a glimpse, a proper idea of exactly what it took to keep the place running and looking nice. By the time the late afternoon rolled around, I was exhausted.


    Of course, that¡¯s when Lyra and her mom, Tribula, swung by. Saved by my angel! However, Lyra was crying. This was no good. Elaine to the rescue! I swooped in and gave Lyra a huge hug as our moms talked.


    ¡°Julia! How are you?¡± Tribula asked.


    ¡°Tribula! I¡¯m doing fine, thank you. I suspect you¡¯re not here for a social call though?¡± mom responded, looking at Lyra.


    ¡°No, sadly a wind weasel got Lyra¡¯s legs. Could you take a look?¡±


    ¡°Sure ¨C Elaine, can you please help Lyra onto the patient recliner?¡± I walked over to Lyra, grabbed her hand, and helped her up onto the patient recliner. Having seen mom do stuff like this before, I told Lyra ¡°Ok, you should roll onto your belly so we can see the backs of your legs.¡± Lyra, trustingly rolled over.


    Mom looked at me thoughtfully, tapping a finger against her lips. She seemed to come to a decision and asked: ¡°Ok Elaine, what do we do next?¡±


    ¡°Look at it!¡±


    ¡°Very good! Let¡¯s look at it together.¡±


    I only had to look down a bit to see Lyra¡¯s calves while mom had to bend over to see. She poked around a bit, then went over to whisper a bit with Tribula. A furious whisper session happened behind me as I looked over every cut, every scrape carefully. It looked like a pair of sickles had hit each calf in an x-shape, but it didn¡¯t look that deep or dangerous. Phewf. I patted Lyra¡¯s shoulder and announced ¡°You¡¯ll be fine! Mom¡¯s going to patch you right up!¡±


    Mom and Tribula seemed to have come to an agreement behind me, as mom walked back up to me. ¡°Ok Elaine, what do we do now?¡±


    ¡°Clean the wound!¡± I spoke with complete self-assurance.


    ¡°Not quite. Being hit like that hurts! If we try to clean it, it¡¯ll just hurt Lyra more! That would be bad. We should handle the pain first before cleaning it out. How can we handle the pain?¡±


    That was a real stumper of a question. How did we stop pain? Did we have some sort of tea? I didn¡¯t remember mom ever making tea for someone who came in for healing. Well, not for healing purposes anyways. Was it something we rubbed on them¡­? I looked at mom and shrugged. ¡°I dunno.¡±


    For some reason this made mom smile. ¡°It¡¯s always good to admit when you don¡¯t know something. In this case, I have a skill for it ¨C [Minor Reduce Pain].¡± She brought her hand over to Lyra, and I expected to see MAGIC in action, a great flash of light, a massive mandala of mystic runes!


    I was disappointed. Turns out, a lot of skills are not super flashy, and are pretty anti-climactic. It wasn¡¯t anything like the display from the three farmers at the temple earlier. The only visible sign was Lyra¡¯s face becoming less tense, and a deep sign of contentment coming from her. How could I have known how to remove pain, when removing pain like that was via skill?


    Thinking about it, this was a pretty good chance to ask about healing skills!


    ¡°Hey mom, how much mana was that skill? How much power did it take? How much regeneration do you have?¡± A veritable flood of questions came out of me, the damn bursting as I saw a chance to learn more about magic again.


    ¡°Wait until Lyra¡¯s better before asking! Patients come first.¡± Mom turned to Tribula ¡°I¡¯m so sorry ¨C you know what kids are like. I¡¯ll try to keep Elaine focused.¡±


    ¡°Now what do we do, Elaine?¡±


    ¡°NOW we clean the wound!¡± This one I knew. I grabbed a rag near our bucket of water, and dunked it in. Thinking about it, this probably wasn¡¯t very clean ¨C the rag wasn¡¯t sterile, and we had been using the water for other tasks ¨C but I suppose it was good enough.


    Hang on. I still knew that. I still knew germ theory! It didn¡¯t get ripped from my mind! Holy shit, was this some sort of oversight? Heart and brain, lungs and guts, stomach and liver, muscles and DNA, viruses and bacteria, joints and tendons, blood and bones ¨C Holy shit I still knew biology! I froze, like a massive [Icy Grip] had just been cast on me, mind whirling. Could I use this? Could I make something out of knowing this? How much could I reveal before someone became suspicious? Could I just claim divine inspiration for everything? Afterall, knowing all of this WAS technically due to divine intervention. Or not, depending on how you looked at it.


    ¡°Elaine, the rag¡¯s not going to get any wetter the longer you leave it in the bucket.¡± Mom called with amusement. I jumped about a foot in the air, and walked back to where Lyra was lying down. Act cool, act cool. Nothing to see here. I didn¡¯t just get a Pallos-shattering revelation. Breathe in, breathe out.


    Mom could clearly tell something was up with me, but she probably put it down to being nervous for helping her out in her little clinic for the first time, and working on my best friend to boot. I carefully wiped down Lyra¡¯s legs, making sure each stroke was as slow and as gentle as possible. I was easily distractible, until it came to something that really, REALLY needed my focus, and right now, this required every single bit of effort I could muster. No mistakes! No problems! No dirt left behind! I was going to do this RIGHT, so I could keep helping mom out. Lyra needed to get better, there were no other options. How could we run around on adventures, raiding merchants, bothering guards, if she wasn¡¯t able to run around? She would get caught in an instant! Seeing her proud smile on her face as I was doing this, I wanted that approval, I needed that praise. So, dirt! Foul nemesis! Begone!


    I might have slightly lost track of time as mom coughed gently behind me, and said ¡°Hey, I think her legs are clean enough, we should bandage them up now.¡± I jumped, face flushing bright red. I just wanted to be thorough, ok?? Covering my embarrassment, I grabbed some thick woolen bandages that we had already prepared, and ran back over to Lyra. I started wrapping, and soon The Mummy re-emerged ¨C as seen from the knees down. I stood back, admiring my work. Mom came over, and ruffled my hair.


    ¡°Good job Elaine! That¡¯s great for your first effort! You might even get the [Bandaging] skill, or EVEN the [First Aid] skill! Wouldn¡¯t that be great!¡±


    I squirmed happily under the praise. This was a nice feeling. Lyra got up, and without warning, gave me a huge hug.


    ¡°Thank you thank you thank you! It feels so much better now!¡±


    A warm glow went through me. This healing business was nice!


    Mom and Tribula looked at us amused, then turned back and started chatting with each other. Blah, boring adult talk. I¡¯m glad I didn¡¯t need to think about THAT for quite a few more years. I grabbed my doll, and showed it to Lyra.


    ¡°This is Bella! She¡¯s usually an [Archmage], but today she¡¯s a [Healer]!¡±


    She knew all that of course ¨C we had played mages and monsters, lovers and liars, and thousands of other games with our dolls, one of the only toys we had that were truly ours, and not just some communal thing or rocks we had found, or sticks we had shaped.


    ¡°Oooooh¡± cooed Lyra ¡°Daphne is a [Divine Priestess], she¡¯s a priestess of the goddess of the moon!¡±


    ¡°Which one?¡± Two moons, two goddesses. Lucky twins. Not born twins, friend-twins. Like us!


    ¡°Lunaris!¡±


    We happily played together, not even noticing when dinner came out and Tribula left for a few hours. It was quite eye-opening when mom said ¡°Ok Elaine, I think Lyra needs to go home now.¡± I happily waved goodbye, with us making promises to meet up tomorrow in the park. Checking with our moms? Nah, no need. Getting in bed was a whirlwind, and as I looked up at the ceiling, I happily kicked my feet. Lyra was the best friend ever.

 Chapter 8 - Learning Skills III

    I bounced out of bed the next morning with the wild ferocity of an over-sugared 8-year-old. BIRTHDAY! At last!


    The system lock did a great job at reminding me that while yes, it was my birthday, I still had 19 hours, 11 minutes, and 40 seconds left to go until the actual 8-year-anniversary-to-the-minute of my birth. Bah humbug. It was my birthday already! Unlock! Unlockkkk! I¡¯d grab and shake the system if only I could get a grip on it. Getting up carefully to avoid waking up mom and dad ¨C he was shifting back over to day-duty ¨C I wandered around the house getting ready for the morning.


    A brief whirlwind of chores in the morning, then lunch! Mom had cooked, shooing me out of the kitchen ¨C a rarity when she was trying to get me every skill possible. Dad was around as well, and the three of us sat down together for a delicious lunch. Once it was over, there was a surprise for me!


    ¡°Happy Birthday Elaine¡± mom said. ¡°Hair up.¡±


    I dutifully grabbed the back of my hair and lifted it up, as mom put a pendant around my neck. It was made of iron, and it was the same diamond-shape that I had seen in the temple.


    ¡°For bringing good luck. For protection. My awakening gift to you. I hope it¡¯ll keep you safe, the same way it kept me safe, the same way it kept your grandmother safe.¡± Mom smiled at me.


    I teared up at the gift. I had no words. I got up and gave mom a big, crushing hug. As crushing as an 8-year-old can get anyways ¨C blast my low strength stat, it didn¡¯t adequately let me show how much it meant it me.


    ¡°Elaine,¡± my dad said, taking out a modest knife and sheath ¡°this is also for you. For warding off bad luck. For safety. This is not a toy, and you can start wearing once we¡¯ve finished lessons with it together. But treat it well, and it¡¯ll be with you the rest of your life.¡±


    Mom had a quick flash of annoyance go over her face, I solemnly took the knife out of the sheath. It was four inches of Noric steel, with a beautiful pommel capped with a small clear crystal.


    ¡°The crystal is an Arcanite. Your mom and I both know how much you dream of being a mage, and even if you don¡¯t go down that path, the Arcanite in the handle will help you with your mana reserves. Treat it well.¡±


    Oh my gods. Arcanite. Noric Steel. I didn¡¯t want to imagine how much this knife cost. I gave dad a less-fierce hug, trying to show my self-control and maturity, that I was worthy of the gift he had gotten me. There would be no wild flailing on mango skin with this knife. There would be no attempts to cut my hair either. I winced at the memory of the spanking I had gotten with mom¡¯s spoon for trying that. This knife wasn¡¯t a toy.


    ¡°Now,¡± mom said, clapping her hands together. ¡°Something a bit more fun!¡± mom exclaimed, pulling out a tunic.


    Hang on, that wasn¡¯t a beige bamboo tunic. That was a beautiful bamboo tunic, with a bright green trim on the edges. It was beautiful. I was in love.


    ¡°Are¡­ are you sure mom?¡± I looked up inquisitively. I wanted this tunic. I needed this tunic. But I couldn¡¯t believe it was being given to me. I got dirty. I wiped greasy fingers on my shirt. I spilt mango juice all over myself. In short, I was a filthy, grubby, rapidly growing kid that had no business being in a dyed shirt, let alone a beauty like this one.


    Mom seemed to sense my thoughts, and helped me out. ¡°Well, this isn¡¯t to wear every day. And as you get older, you¡¯ll be able to take the trims and move them into a bigger shirt. It¡¯s my devious master plan to get you enthusiastic about sewing.¡±


    Master plan success. While I had never been reluctant to sew things, I had never really been that passionate about it. Now [Sewing] was near the top of my ¡°must-have¡± list of skills.


    I was overwhelmed and happy at how much thought and care went into the gifts my parents got me for my birthday. I quietly swore to myself that I¡¯d get them something extra-nice this year. Money was a problem though ¨C nobody was going to pay an eight-year-old anything. If anything, I would have to be the one paying to learn things. Maybe I could get some lessons from the light-fingered kids at the market. Afterall, it was for a good cause.


    I changed into my brilliant new tunic, giving myself a happy whirl in it. Happy greens! I was entering the big leagues!


    After lunch and the birthday presents, blessedly, mom had mercy on me! No chores! Birthday treat! Off to the park we went! Trees and flowers and grass, all in the middle of town! We made it to the park, and mom let me run around while she went over to some benches with some other parents keeping a benevolent eye on all of us. I found Lyra at our usual spot, working on her knucklebones game.


    ¡°Lyra!¡± ¡°Elaine!¡± One great big fierce hug later, ¡°How are your legs? Are they ok?¡± I looked down, noticing my mummy impression was still there. ¡°Yeah, they feel fine! You¡¯re amazing! That tunic is so nice!¡± ¡°Thank you! I just got it as a birthday present!¡±


    Lyra and I hadn¡¯t gotten each other presents. It just wasn¡¯t a thing here.


    ¡°When are you unlocking? I unlock tonight! I can''t wait!"


    13 hour, 18 minutes, and 5 seconds left. I was counting down every moment.


    ¡°Wellll¡­¡± Lyra responded, mischief in her eyes. ¡°I UNLOCKED THIS MORNING!¡±


    ¡°OHMYGOD!¡± with much grabbing of hands and jumping up and down. ¡°What class did you get? What level did you get? What skills?? Tell me everything!¡±


    After much excitement, happy noises, and rapid-fire-too-excited-to-follow, I finally got a complete picture. Lyra had gotten the [Child of Remus] class with a wood alignment, a fairly standard one for people in the Republic of Remus. She had gone right up to level 7, which I had no benchmark for how impressive it was. As a result, she was sitting on 12 free stat points to allocate, and she hadn¡¯t done any allocation yet. ¡°Because mom and dad need to chat and figure out where I¡¯m putting them. And they want to see what class I unlock at level 8.¡±


    It made sense that Lyra¡¯s parents would want to do a bit of min-maxing on her skills and abilities, but that made me fearful myself. Would mom and dad insist that I allocate my points a certain way? Would I be given any leeway? The fact that we hadn¡¯t had the conversation yet made me nervous, and they had been acting incredibly nice recently. Was I being softened up for a terrible blow to come? Ah well, problem for future me. Today was for fun!


    I didn¡¯t usually play with anyone else, but Lyra did! I tried out knucklebones, borrowing Lyra¡¯s set and failing miserably. Higher dexterity was better for this game, and I glanced suspiciously at Lyra, wondering if she had secretly allocated a point or two into it. It could, of course, also be experience, since I wasn¡¯t the biggest fan of the game while Lyra loved it. I was getting bored when two boys ¨C Quintus and Pentus - came over with a ball, and asked Lyra:


    ¡°Hey, do you two want to play?¡± Quintus inquired.


    I didn¡¯t like playing with others. Lyra did. She gave me puppy eyes. It was our birthday I suppose.


    ¡°Fine, fine. Let¡¯s go!¡±


    The game looked and sounded suspiciously like volleyball. How old was that game? A few more kids rounded up for an opposing team, and off we went!


    Me, Lyra, Quintus, and Pentus were all on the same team, against a girl and three other boys. We were all about the same age, but I didn¡¯t recognize any of them. I stood in the back as the girl on the other team inexpertly served the ball up. A slow, lazy move over, as Quintus, Pentus, and Lyra all moved to intercept. The concept of standing apart for the good of the team wasn¡¯t quite a concept most kids had gotten yet ¨C it was more fun to chase after the ball and hit it after all. I couldn¡¯t blame them ¨C I would be there if I wasn¡¯t trying to keep my tunic nice and clean.


    POP! Ball went up, but instead of going back over the three-foot-tall net, it headed up and back towards me. The benefits of standing away. I popped the ball back over, a long, lazy shot, and the four kids on the other side all scrambled for it. Up high it went on their side, staying on their side, when one of the boys dove to hit it again. The dive was good! He hit it, up it went! ¡­ and promptly landed back on their side.


    Lyra and I stifled giggles, while the diver brushed himself off. His mom was going to be pissed, but better him than me! One point to us! The winning wasn¡¯t nearly as important as the fun, and I had dramatically under-estimated just how fun this was. I had been missing out! Kids played terribly, coordinated terribly, and didn¡¯t do much in the way of planning to win (although they were trying), but in spite of all of that, I found myself having a blast with Lyra.


    The game went back and forth, points being traded equally. 4-3. 6-7. 10-10. I was being mindful of my nice new tunic, and I was just trying to have fun, so I wasn¡¯t putting in my best effort. At the same time, since I wasn¡¯t constantly running straight to the ball, I was able to contribute quite a bit more. Lyra winced and grimaced at one point, rubbing her legs. She eventually started to mimic me, keeping her feet planted unmovingly in one spot. Her mummy bandages now looked the proper dusty brown of a mummy, and that made me giggle.


    It couldn¡¯t last forever, nothing does. The shadows were starting to get a bit longer as we heard the inevitable ¡°Elaine!¡± ¡°Lyra!¡± ¡°Time to go home! Do you want to go home now, or do one more round then go home?¡± The score was tied, 12-12. While I wasn¡¯t hellbent on winning, it would be nice. Plus, the longer we stayed, the better!


    ¡°One more one more!¡± was the near unanimous chorus from the eight of us. Their parents were also circling, but at that they started saying their goodbyes to each other. Adults. Always needing to take the long way with things.


    Lyra served. The ball went up and over, and another one of the nameless boys on their side bounced it back. They had learned from us, and were no longer all desperately sprinting after the ball. I felt a little proud of that, being able to teach and show kids how to do things. Maybe I¡¯d take a [Teacher] class? The ball was going a bit far ¨C it¡¯d be out of bounds if that sort of thing mattered to kids ¨C but Quintus ran after it anyways, hitting it back towards us. Lyra was firmly standing her ground, and Pentus had been running after the ball anyways, hitting it back up and over, directly to the nameless girl. The rest of their team clustered around her anyways. She effortlessly hit it back (She was so good, did she already have a [Volleyball Player] class or something!?), and it went straight to Lyra. She reached out awkwardly, and hit it towards me.


    I watched it slowly spiral up and to the side lazily. Everyone else was on the other side of the field. I ran for it, trying to get it. I could dive for it. I¡¯d get it, they were out of position on the other side of the net. We¡¯d win, glory and fame for us forever. It¡¯d ruin my shirt.


    I took a deep breath, steeled myself, extended my arms, and ¨C


    Missed the ball, watching it drop just in front of my arms. Ah well, such is life.


    Whoops and cheers from the other team, groaning and disappointed noises from our team. I shrugged. It''s how things went sometimes. Time to go ho-WHAM.


    I suddenly felt two hands on me violently moving me out of the way, head snapping back as I gasped in shock.


    I barely managed to catch myself, whirling around in anger. Who ¨C Lyra!? Why would she ¨C I spotted a large glob of mud on her back. Oh. OH. Lyra got up, wincing as she got up.


    ¡°Are you ok?¡± we asked at the same time, ignoring our parents descending on us. ¡°Yeah¡± we both said at the same time. Twins!


    I wanted to ask what happened, but from the yelling noises Pentus¡¯s parent was making, I was able to piece it together.


    Pentus had seen that I probably could¡¯ve dived for the ball, and chose not to. Upon us losing the point, and with us going home, the match, he did what every reasonable (NOT!) kid would do ¨C throw mud at me. At my nice new tunic. Lyra, seeing this, pushed me out of the way and took the mud pie for me.


    Best. Friend. Ever.


    Those JERKS though! I was going to murder them! Jackasses! Dino-turds!


    I started to stomp over, when Lyra grabbed my sleeve. I stopped and cocked my head at her, looking at her crazy grin. ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°I leveled up from that.¡± She responded, with a grin that would split her face in half if it got any bigger.


    ¡°YAAAAAAAY!¡± I cried, doing some quick math.


    ¡°Wait, that makes you level 8! You get to pick a class now!¡± jumping up and down with excitement. ¡°What are your options? What does it look like? What are you going to pick? Are you going to be a [Divine Priestess] like Daphne?¡±


    Lyra looked overwhelmed and as pleased as a cat with cream. ¡°Silly Elaine!¡± she drew herself up, proud that she could teach me something. ¡°You can¡¯t just become a [Divine Priestess]. You¡¯d have to pick something else that turns into a [Divine Priestess], like a uh¡­ uhhh¡­. [Apprentice Divine Priestess]!¡± Stumbling in the middle, Lyra managed to stick the landing anyways. It was good information, although why my parents had never told me anything about classes evolving like that, and needing to go down a path, I didn¡¯t know. Maybe it had something to do with the temple enforcing System Day being people¡¯s first contact? An unimportant mystery, but maybe I needed to ask them for more information.


    ¡°Hey Lyra,¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Can you tell me about the gods? I got this pendant for my birthday, I have seen the symbol in the temple, but I dunno what it means.¡± I asked, fishing the pendant out from under my tunic. I had never been particularly religious, in spite of my meeting with Papilion.


    ¡°Sure! Ok, ok, first there were five gods, the big gods! They made Pallos and everything on it!¡± Lyra grabbed the pendant, and started pointing. ¡°On this side is life - Aion, on that side is death - Thanatos¡±, pointing to the two side corners. ¡°On the top is Order - Seira, on the bottom is Chaos - Xaoc. And Change ¨C Papilion - is in the middle! He keeps everything moving and balanced.¡±


    Ah, Change, that bastard shows up again. Although from the sound of it, it was a bigwig that decided to interfere with me dying. I shrugged. It was done and over. No way I could get revenge on a god, let alone a Major God with capitals.


    ¡°Also, as you pray to the gods, you send mana to them. However, they can grant prayers if you¡¯ve prayed enough! So you should pick one god, and only worship that god.¡±


    That was interesting. I figured if I was going to try that, I¡¯d pray to Papilion. I had something of a working relationship with him already, and major god? God of change? Seemed pretty flexible.


    Lyra scratched the back of her legs again through the bandages.


    "You sure you''re ok?" I asked.


    "Yup! Completely fine!" She responded. I eyed her. It wasn''t my place to force her to tell me, yet. I wish she would though.


    Our parents came to pick us up, but I owed Lyra. ¡°Hey mom, do you have a spare tunic for Lyra? I want to wash hers. It¡¯s the least I could do.¡± Mom smiled, and with a spare tunic pulled out of nowhere, a quick change, and I suddenly had signed myself up for more laundry. It was for Lyra though, and that made me hum a happy tune on the way back home.


    Dinner was over in a flash, and with 7 hours, 7 minutes, and 53 seconds to go, I couldn¡¯t wait.


    ¡°Mom, can I pleaseeeee stay up? Pretty please?¡±


    Mom and dad shared an amused look. I didn¡¯t see what was so funny ¨C this was serious! I wanted to watch my system unlock! Sure, it would be the middle of the night, but SYSTEM!


    ¡°Sure, but why don¡¯t we get you a pillow and a blanket so you¡¯re comfortable while you wait? And why don¡¯t you change out of your nice tunic?¡±


    Concessions. I narrowed my eyes. Fine, I could deal with that. We put the pillow on the high part of the recliner I was on, and I wrapped the absolutely massive blanket many, many times around me. [High Empress] Elaine was here! Bow before me! I settled in, and realized a few problems.


    One ¨C it was another 6 hours, 58 minutes, and 30 seconds to go.


    Two ¨C I had nothing to do but be excited.


    Three ¨C I needed to pee.


    Unraveled myself, sprinted outside to the communal restroom (Thankfully with enchantments ¨C the only ones I had ever seen), did my business, sprinted back. Re-ensconced, heart racing at a million miles an hour. 6 hours, 54 minutes, 45 seconds to go.


    44 seconds to go.


    43 seconds to go.


    42 seconds to go.


    The blankets were warm and cozy, and the pillow was so soft and inviting. There was no real reason to stay upright the whole time now, was there?


    I started at the timer slowly counting down. 5 hours, 16 minutes, 32 seconds to go. I yawned. Blinked. 2 hours, 29 minutes, 5 seconds. Blinked, and -

 Chapter 9 - The System Unlocks!

    I yawned, tried to stretch, was caught in a massive blanket for some reason, and tumbled off the recliner. My head turned into a sharp star of pain as it decided to land first ¨C ouch. Why was I wrapped up in a blanket? Why was I sleeping on the recliner? Why ¨C my system was unlocked! A massive slew of notifications demanded my attention, and I greedily read them all.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve survived your early years, and the system is now fully unlocked for you!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve earned your first class ¨C [Child of Earth] - Wood]


    [Child of Earth] ¨C A starter class for a girl from Earth. +3 free stat points per level.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Child of Earth] has leveled up to level 2! +3 free stat points from your class, +1 free stat point for being human, +1 Magic Control from your element]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Child of Earth] has leveled up to level 3! +3 free stat points from your class, +1 free stat point for being human, +1 Magic Control from your element]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Child of Earth] has leveled up to level 4! +3 free stat points from your class, +1 free stat point for being human, +1 Magic Control from your element]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Child of Earth] has leveled up to level 5! +3 free stat points from your class, +1 free stat point for being human, +1 Magic Control from your element]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Child of Earth] has leveled up to level 6! +3 free stat points from your class, +1 free stat point for being human, +1 Magic Control from your element]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Child of Earth] has leveled up to level 7! +3 free stat points from your class, +1 free stat point for being human, +1 Magic Control from your element]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Child of Earth] has leveled up to level 8! +3 free stat points from your class, +1 free stat point for being human, +1 Magic Control from your element]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! You can now advance your class!]


    [*Ding!* WARNING: Once you start advancing your class, you must pick an advancement.]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Prayer]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Observe]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Identify]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Meditate]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Acting]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Walking]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Running]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Climbing]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Gymnastics]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Throwing]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Skipping]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Hopping]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Jumping]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Cooking]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Baking]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Spotting]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Fumigation]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Knives]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Fires]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Laundry]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Food Prep]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Sweeping]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Cleaning]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Tidying]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Sewing]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Knitting]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Examine Patient]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Clean Wounds]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Bandaging]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [First Aid]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Anatomy]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Teach Children]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Volleyball]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Passive skill [Vigilant]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Passive skill [Adaptable]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Passive skill [Active]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Passive skill [Learning]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Passive skill [Calm]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Passive skill [Daring]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Passive skill [Adventurous]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Passive skill [Pretty]!]


    Skills, skills, skills! Some general, some passive. I wasn¡¯t quite sure what the difference between them was, although I could guess based on the name. I read the details of every single skill, eager to know what they all did.


    However, it hadn¡¯t really occurred to me until now that there was a LIMIT on how many skills I could have. Dinodung.


    [General skills]


    [Skill Slot 1: Open]


    [Skill Slot 2: Open]


    [Skill Slot 3: Open]


    [Skill Slot 4: Open]


    [Skill Slot 5: Open]


    [Skill Slot 6: Open]


    [Skill Slot 7: Open]


    [Skill Slot 8: Open]


    I wanted them all, but it looked like I needed to make some hard choices. Before I could really start examining all of my skills to see exactly what they did, mom and dad wandered over.


    ¡°Ahha! I knew I heard the sounds of a sneaky thief falling into a blanket trap!¡± dad announced teasingly. Picking me up, spinning me about, he declared ¡°Gotcha!¡±


    ¡°Ok, ok¡± mom said, ever the serious one. ¡°Put Elaine down so she can tell us what she got.¡±


    I settled in as mom got us all breakfast, and started to share all of the skills I had gotten. I was surprised at the end that mom was frowning.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t get a single social skill? No [Bartering], no [Chatting], no [Charming], not even [Gossip] or anything similar? Are you sure Elaine? I know you¡¯re not a big fan of playing with the other kids, but you shouldn¡¯t hide skills from us. You were playing with Lyra just the other day, you went bartering with dad, you should¡¯ve SOMETHING.¡±


    I continued to get the stink-eye as I insisted I didn¡¯t have any of those skills.


    ¡°Alright Elaine, why don¡¯t you go down to the river and do some laundry while dad and I talk? Please don¡¯t allocate any of your points while you¡¯re at it.¡±


    I could tell when I was being given busy-work to keep me out of their hair, but I did want to get Lyra¡¯s tunic clean for her. And I could finally walk outside of the grey zone by myself! Feeling Very Important as I walked down the white zone, I almost missed the cry of ¡°out of the way¡±. I froze for a moment, then realized they were probably yelling at me! Without looking I threw myself into the grey zone, only to see a wagon going full speed in the light early morning traffic. Everyone involved preferred that Elaine-flavored tomato paste did NOT end up all over the road.


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Dodging]!]


    [Dodging: With quick reflexes you¡¯ve dodged death or dismemberment. This skill will help you do that again. Increased reflexes, speed, and perception per level when dodging]


    Well, sure, I guess. Near-death experience, new skill. I wasn¡¯t complaining about getting the skill, but the DAMN LUNATICS DRIVING IN THE ROAD NEEDED TO PAY ATTENTION. Traffic. Couldn¡¯t get rid of it even through space and time. I suspect if I had gotten hit, I would have been doing a lot more than complaining. The rest of the trip and the wash was uneventful, and I got to happily share with the other women at the communal laundry that today was THE day I unlocked, and I was working on figuring out what skills to pick. Naturally, everyone washing clothes at the river had inputs. Some of the ladies had nice Aura skills that helped people be calm and happy, or did something else nice. Usually they formed the center of a cluster, and today I got a minor experience of what that was like as everyone wanted to give me their advice. It was nice, but I could see it getting old.


    ¡°Get [Knitting]! Great for making your own clothes, can¡¯t be beat!¡±


    ¡°You simply MUST try to get [Bartering]! Merchants will fleece you otherwise poor dear.¡±


    ¡°Oooh, [Pretty] is a great passive! Lots of fun¡± one of the prettier ladies advised me.


    ¡°[Teach Children]!¡±


    ¡°[Running]!¡± ¡°No [Walking]!¡± ¡°[Running]!¡± ¡°[Walking]!¡± Two ladies did their best impression of ¡®Duck Season/Rabbit Season¡¯ as they argued the merits of running vs walking. I missed Looney Tunes.


    It was nice having everyone fuss over me and to chat with everyone, but the morning was hot, and soon enough the clothes I brought were dry. Everyone having an opinion and telling me what to take was draining as well ¨C I was overwhelmed, and they weren¡¯t helping. I took them off of the communal drying line, and headed back home, blessedly uneventfully.


    I made it home, to find mom and dad waiting for me. They clearly had figured out what skills and stats I was going to get. I tensed, waiting for their verdict, the grand parental judgement to be handed down. On one hand, I wanted to be my own person, I wanted to make my own choices. On the other, they had a pretty good idea of what skills were good, and what skills were suboptimal. Listening to them, following what they said, had a solid chance of helping me out down the line.


    ¡°Elaine. We¡¯ve decided. The two of us together are picking a skill for you to have, then we¡¯re each picking out two skills we think you should have. That¡¯ll give you three skills for you to pick yourself! Ok?¡±


    That¡­ didn¡¯t sound awful. I was cautious though. I wasn¡¯t going to surrender without a fight.


    ¡°Maybe¡­ what skills are you picking?¡±


    ¡°Elaine.¡± Dad¡¯s face looked like a thunderstorm. Uh oh, I¡¯ve stepped in it now. ¡°This isn¡¯t really a negotiation. We could pick out all eight skills for you if you¡¯d prefer.¡±


    Despots! Tyrants! This was a democracy, not a dictatorship!


    Hang on, was it? There was no schooling, no civics lessons, and it had never come up. I had assumed we were living with a king, etc., but I had never learned the word for king, and there seemed to be a complete dearth of nobles. I filed the thought away for another time.


    ¡°Fine, fine. What skills am I getting?¡± I asked, throwing my hands up in surrender.


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ve both decided that you need [Identify]. Almost everyone has it. It¡¯ll help you figure out how good someone is, pick the right shopkeeper, and help you avoid danger.¡±


    I focused, and found [Identify] in my menus.


    [Identify: You¡¯ve looked around the world, and you want to know more. This skill will help you grasp basic information and identities from people and creatures around you. Increased range per level. Current range: .5 Meters]


    This¡­ didn¡¯t seem to be the worst skill to get. Not sure why it was displayed in metric, ¡®meters¡¯ weren¡¯t a thing here, but there was no telling with all-powerful magical systems. Ok, let¡¯s do it.


    ¡°I pick identify!¡± I proudly announced. Dad¡¯s thundercloud face suddenly became a poker face. Mom shouldn¡¯t play poker, as she fell off the chair laughing. Nothing else happened, as mom¡¯s gasping, wailing laughs filled the home. Well, nothing else except my face turning beet red, and a strong desire to mimic an ostrich filled me. ¡°Well, how do you get a skill then?¡± I asked with not a small amount of anger. Tell me these things damnit!


    Dad, slowly, word by word, with great restraint, trying to avoid making me feel any worse: ¡°Just focus on the skill, and focus on selecting it. If you ever need to replace a skill, focus on the skill you¡¯re replacing at the same time.¡±


    Seemed easy enough. I closed my eyes, and focused on [Identify].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve learned [Identify] ¨C level 1!]


    Humiliation from earlier fresh in my mind, I decided I¡¯d look before I leapt, and ask how to do things before trying.


    ¡°How do I use [Identify]?¡±


    ¡°Look at me, then focus on using [Identify]. It¡¯ll take some practice at first, but you¡¯ll get the hang of it.¡±


    I looked at dad, and followed his directions. My mana dipped one point. A SKILL! MAGIC! Huzzah!


    [Warrior]

 Chapter 10 - Girl Talk

    Mom smiled at me, a warm, happy smile. ¡°Elaine. You¡¯re now old enough to know some girl secrets.¡± Oh no. Was I about to get the birds and the bees talk? Please no. Please spare me.


    ¡°I have no chore-related skills, although some of my skills can be used for chores. Most women don¡¯t have chore-related skills, although something like a [Tailor] class is pretty common. We spend all day doing chores ¨C Aster knows I¡¯d love your dad to pitch in more ¨C we don¡¯t need any skills to help us with it. Feel free to get rid of the [Cleaning] skill ¨C dad just asked you to get it as a favor to me. But shhhh! Don¡¯t tell him that you¡¯ve gotten rid of it.¡± Mom put a finger over her mouth and conspiratorially winked at me.


    ¡°You saw the other day that life isn¡¯t that nice here in the Republic for women. It¡¯s shitty. It¡¯s terrible. But there¡¯s nothing me or you can do about it. Men have the money. Men have the power. Men make the rules. We¡¯re not allowed to own property, inherit, or become citizens. So, we do the best we can with the knucklebones we¡¯ve been given. One of those bones is we¡¯re pretty free to pick our skills. Men get lots of skills to help with their profession, but we¡¯re not seen as good enough to be potters or cobblers. We¡¯re just expected to stay home, and support our husbands.¡± A bitter look crossed mom¡¯s face. Whoa. Where was all of this coming from? Mom, a staunch feminist? From everything I had seen so far, it seemed like she had completely bought into the system. That illusion was rapidly being pulled away from me.


    ¡°What we can do though, is pick our skills. We can work together. We can support each other. We all have some influence over our husbands. Some more than others. Senator Saturio, for example, is mostly just a figurehead for his wife, who holds all of the real power. The shame is, as amazing of a woman that she is, she¡¯s not allowed to be the Senator. It has to be Saturio. And if they ever got in a real fight, Saturio would still win.¡±


    My flycatcher was rapidly expanding in size, my lower jaw about to become intimately familiar with the ground.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I was putting such a strong emphasis on social skills for you. The only real power you¡¯re going to have, the only way you¡¯ll be able to navigate through society, is with social skills, with interacting with others, with keeping your head down and making the small changes and influences that you can. Otherwise the Republic will eat you up and spit you out again, and I don¡¯t want to see that happen to you, my sweet baby girl.¡± She reached out with a single delicate finger, closing my jaw. My muscles didn¡¯t engage as she released her finger, jaw dropping right back open.


    "First off, you should take [Vigilant]. You¡¯ve never been all that social, and with your social graces, I suspect you¡¯re going to run into problems. I¡¯m going to make sure you can see them coming. Second you seem to like helping me out when I¡¯m healing someone, right?¡±


    Healing Lyra had unlocked new feelings and emotions. I wanted to be a healer like mom. I wanted to make people better, to see their happy face. I wanted to use that little bit of extra knowledge I had. I nodded briskly. Yeah, I could happily make this my choice.


    ¡°Then take [First Aid] and [Anatomy] as well. Chores are easy, medicine is hard ¨C let¡¯s get you some skills in it.¡± I nodded, then realized.


    [Vigilant: You¡¯re constantly on guard for trouble, aware of your surroundings at all times. Increased perception and awareness per level. -3 Mana Regeneration.]


    [First Aid: You¡¯ve responded to injuries soon after they¡¯ve occurred, and patched people up. Increased knowledge and dexterity when responding to injuries. -3 Mana Regeneration when in-use.]


    [Anatomy: You have fantastic knowledge of the human body, but it¡¯s surface-level. Increased knowledge and learning of Anatomy per level. -4 Mana Regeneration.]


    ¡°Hey wait, that¡¯s three skills? Weren¡¯t you only supposed to do two?¡±


    Mom gave me a Look. Ack, talking back was going to get me killed one day. No spoon though.


    ¡°One, we¡¯re getting rid of [Cleaning]. That gives me an extra slot to work with. Two, I could dictate everything you pick. Three, you wanted [First Aid]. So no more back-talk from you.¡± I sheepishly nodded my head. Aye-Aye captain. Your wish is my command.


    ¡°So now let¡¯s work on the three skills you pick for yourself. Two questions to ask yourself. First: Does anything really call to you? Does anything speak to you, speak to your soul? Second: What do you want to do with yourself? How do you see yourself going through life? If you¡¯re not sure, that¡¯s OK. It¡¯s a lot to ask of you. You can stay without classing up for a while if you¡¯d like while you work it out. You can also drop skills and pick up new ones, but that resets everything back to 1.¡±


    Ooof, that was heavy stuff. No wonder I wasn¡¯t told much before today, but at the same time, I should¡¯ve been given time to think about this.


    [Running] spoke to me. I loved the movement, the freedom it brought, the wind in my hair. There was clearly a demand for it, the courier showed, and maybe there was room for a discrete woman running packages and messages around for wealthy women, or someone like Senator Saturio¡¯s wife. There was potential there.


    [Running ¨C You love the feel of motion and movement, wind wrapped around you. Increased speed per level while running. Costs Mana]


    At the end of the day though, there was just a pure love for running and movement. What was life without things to do that you enjoyed? There was a calling to [Running], and I decided I would be taking it.


    [Pretty] caught my eye, and I remembered some of the advice given. Given a choice, a chance to easily be better-looking through magical means, and the freedom to do so, who wouldn¡¯t want something similar? From my earlier conversations, it seemed like this was a fairly normal skill to pick, and mom had made no comments on it. Screw it. I wanted to be [Pretty].


    I could grab [Clean Wounds] or [Bandaging], but I suspected it wouldn¡¯t do much for me. Reviewing my list of options, something caught my eye I had missed last time. [Learning]. Education was the most powerful force I knew of, and while I hadn¡¯t thought much of my past life recently, I remember a burning drive to KNOW, to learn things. That was why I wanted to learn how to read so badly. That was why I was disappointed to see no [Reading] skill. What did [Learning] do?


    [Learning: You have a passion, a drive for knowing more. You constantly seek out new knowledge, and have acquired considerable amounts of it. Easier to learn new ideas. Easier to learn new skills. Each level comes with a 1% increase in exp for all other skills and classes. -5 Mana Regeneration]


    That sounded both useful and useless. Useless in that it didn¡¯t do anything directly. It didn¡¯t even impact other skills directly! The indirect effects, with everything else becoming more powerful ¨C that sounded good. I focused on all of the skills, and was rewarded with a flurry of notifications.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve learned [Pretty] ¨C level 1!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve learned [Vigilant] ¨C level 1!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve learned [First Aid] ¨C level 1!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve learned [Running] ¨C level 1!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve learned [Anatomy] ¨C level 1!]


    [*Error* You¡¯ve lost the skill [Cleaning]]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve learned [Learning] ¨C level 1!]


    ¡°Now remember Elaine, your stats and skills are secret. We¡¯ll do our best to help you out, but dad thinks you have cleaning when you don¡¯t, so make sure you don¡¯t run your mouth about it.¡±


    Layers and layers of secrets, sheesh. At this rate I was going to get a ski-


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Passive skill [Secrets]!]


    [Alert: You already have 8 general skills. Remove a skill for [Secrets]?]


    Did¡­ did the system just pluck what I was thinking out of my head, and respond with a skill? Was I just sassed by the system? Could I just will myself to get other skills? I declined to pick up [Secrets], opened my stats and reviewed after all my changes:


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 8]


    [Mana (Regeneration)] 20/20 (10)


    [Class 1: [Child of Earth] +]


    [Class skills not available for initial Classes]


    [Class 2: Locked]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills:


    Active - [Identify] ¨C Lv 2


    Active - [Knives] ¨C Lv 1


    Passive - [Pretty] ¨C Lv 1


    Passive - [Vigilant] ¨C Lv 1


    Active - [First Aid] ¨C Lv 1


    Passive - [Anatomy] ¨C Lv 1


    Active - [Running] ¨C Lv 1


    Passive - [Learning] ¨C Lv 1


    Stats:


    [Free Stats: 32]


    [Strength: 4]


    [Dexterity: 6]


    [Vitality: 3]


    [Speed: 4]


    [Mana: 2]


    [Mana Regeneration: 2]


    [Magic Power: 2]


    [Magic Control: 10]


    I focused hard on learning [Fireball]. Silence. Guess it wasn¡¯t going to be that easy.

 Chapter 11 - Shadowing Guards

    We called dad back, and filled him in on some of the skills I picked up.


    ¡°So, does that mean you don¡¯t want to come and get more skills with me?¡± Dad asked.


    Shoot, the promise! He was going to take me around and help me pick up skills! There were useful things I could get! Better yet, it would get me out of chores for a day or maybe even two! Also, who knew, maybe I would find a skill that I wanted, and could replace another skill with it. All in all, I saw no problems with this.


    ¡°Yeah! More skills more skills!¡± I replied, jumping up and down.


    ¡°Alright, give me a minute to gear up, and we will get going.¡± A few minutes of dad getting into guard leathers, guard colors, and grabbing his baton, and we were off to the guard station.


    Once inside, we stopped by the desk of a grizzled looking guardsman, who had both the look of being in the business too long, and not enough patience to play the political game needed to be The Boss.


    ¡°Guardsman Elainus, who¡¯s this?¡± he asked. I hadn¡¯t seen any tobacco products on Pallos so far, but his voice screamed smoker.


    ¡°My daughter, Captain Marcus.¡± Dad never talked that formally. ¡°I¡¯m taking her with me on patrol today, so she can try and pick up some skills.¡±


    ¡°Just unlocked?¡±


    ¡°Earlier this morning.¡±


    He grunted in agreement. ¡°You¡¯re with Guardsman Catonus today. Get rid of wind weasels whenever you see one. We¡¯re getting a lot of complaints.¡±


    Dad saluted, fist over heart, and headed deeper in. He picked up a pouch ¨C ¡°Standard for guards on patrol¡±, then we picked up Catonus, a greasy-looking older guard, and headed out. I didn¡¯t like him. I looked around once we were back out, and almost jumped out of my skin as I got


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 2!]


    Well, ok then. Catonus smirked, and asked dad ¡°Do we really need to bring her along? She¡¯s just going to get in our way and cause problems. Look, she¡¯s even still jumping from system notifications!¡±


    Dad put his hand protectively on my head, and gave Catonus a mean stink-eye. Nothing more was said on the matter.


    We twisted and turned, heading deeper into the city. I was completely lost for a while, and finally re-oriented myself as we went over the north market bridge to the temple again. Oooh, the far side of town! We went north after going over the bridge, and the omnipresent smell of the sea became that much stronger.


    We slowed down after a while, and the two guards started stopping and chatting with everyone as they went around. Everyone seemed to know Dad and Catonus, and they seemed to know everyone here. This was a craftsman district, with heat and fumes and yelling, as opposed to the quieter, more mercantile district where we lived. We slowed down as we neared a smithy.


    ¡°Hey Bakus! How¡¯s business?¡± Dad cried out.


    ¡°Elainus! It¡¯d be better if you bought something one of these days!¡± a giant of a man I assumed was Bakus roared out. ¡°Why don¡¯t you get something for your pretty little kid?¡± I was offended. Dad got me lots of nice things! ¡°He got me a sharp knife the other day! Made of STEEL! Clearly you¡¯re not good enough if he¡¯s buying nice stuff like that somewhere else! Bleeeeeh!¡± I fiercely defended dad. Bakus looked stunned for a moment, then roared with laughter. ¡°HA! I like her! But I¡¯m no pig-headed [Blacksmith] Elaine, I¡¯m a [Coppersmith]!¡± I turned the corner to get a better look of his store. There was still an anvil, a furnace, and a bunch of other things I didn¡¯t know that I assumed were the normal trappings of a blacksmith. However, instead of spears and horseshoes, there were delicate copper wires and necklaces, hoops and earrings. Lyra would love this! I wanted.


    ¡°Hey dad,¡± I started, tugging on his sleeve, whipping out ye olde doe-eyes. ¡°Bakus might have a point about buying something. Like that necklace.¡± That just made Bakus roar with laughter, as dad demonstrated that face-palming was universal.


    [Coppersmith] sounded pretty interesting. I wasn¡¯t too keen on blacksmithing ¨C the idea of breathing in fumes all day just to make swords and shields didn¡¯t appeal in the slightest ¨C but making jewelry? Hello. Tell me more. I had a brief vision of myself decked out in piles of copper necklaces and bracelets, with long, elaborate earrings.


    [Pretty] told me that might not be the best idea.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 2!]


    I jumped again. And was telling me with quite some vigor, wow. I eyed the skill, slightly betrayed. Maybe if it was [Glamorous] or something it¡¯d be ok with my copper bonanza idea.


    ¡°Wow, just unlocked huh?¡± Bakus observed.


    Hang on, skills! I had them! Let me try on Bakus and Catonus! [Identify]! [Identify]!


    [Craftsman]


    [Warrior]


    I was a hair surprised that Bakus was such a deep red compared to everyone else I had seen. I looked at him with new respect ¨C he was good. My eyes widened. That¡¯s why my parents wanted me to have [Identify] ¨C I could easily tell who was good at what they did, and who wasn¡¯t! Sure, level probably wasn¡¯t everything, but it would at least tell me who was experienced at stuff. Well, if they made their main job their class. My ears were doing their best steam vent impression again ¨C I was going to hold this off until another day.


    I was rudely brought out of my musings by dad knuckling me on the head. Owe owe owe what was that for?


    ¡°Pay attention Elaine. You¡¯re here as a treat, take it seriously.¡±


    Oh right. Learning skills. Learning skills from someone experienced. Whoa, this was a real treat ¨C no matter how good the temple¡¯s stations were, they couldn¡¯t hold a handle to learning directly from a master. Clearly, dad and Bakus had been talking while I was in dreamland.


    ¡°Alright little miss, take this hammer here, and tap on that lump of copper over there. It¡¯s scrap I need to deal with later, so don¡¯t worry about breaking anything.¡± The tiniest hammer was brought down from a wall, almost the size of Bakus¡¯s finger. It looked absurd in his hand. I picked it up, and started whaling on the copper scraps in the back with all my might. Dink! Dink! Dink! Nothing happened.


    I looked at Bakus confused, and he gave me an encouraging nod. His other apprentices stopped to watch what was happening with the ankle biter suddenly in their workspace. ¡°Focus an image in your mind, imagine the metal becoming something!¡± one of the apprentices called out. ¡°Bah, she¡¯s just a girl, girls can¡¯t handle copper¡± a quieter voice from the back said. Gods this nonsense again. It was frankly discouraging. Sure, I wasn¡¯t likely to ever end up as a coppersmith. But that was no reason to say shit! I grabbed the hammer, and went at it again, imagining a hammer to break jackass¡¯s fingers.


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Coppersmithing]!]


    [Coppersmithing: You¡¯ve spent time in the forge, learning how to bend and shape copper to your will. For good reasons or bad. With this skill, the next time you work copper, it¡¯ll be a little bit easier. Increased knowledge, strength, and dexterity per level when working copper. -8 Mana Regeneration when active]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 2!]


    Fist holding tiny hammer pumped in triumph, victory!


    We said our thanks and left, onwards to new adventures, learning new things! However, I found it hard to enjoy myself. What that prick of an apprentice said soured the entire experience for me.


    Dad was the absolute best, as we worked our way through the craftsman district. [Carpentry]. [Tanning]. [Fishing] and [Knots] at the docks. The dye master shooed dad off when he asked ¨C apparently making nice with the local guardsman wasn¡¯t nearly as important as keeping the monopoly on dyes ¨C but I also picked up [Tailoring] and [Pottery]. I saw some really beautiful women hanging out near the docks, but dad flat-out REFUSED to let them teach me anything. They got a good chuckle out of me asking, while asking Catonus if he¡¯d be back later. What on earth was their profession? Clearly it was something a lady could do, and I wanted my own job! [Learning] went up twice more, while [Vigilant] and [Identify] went up another level. Getting these early levels was fun!


    It was while I was learning [Coals] that I heard something interesting. I was learning the basics from Kolius, who was a kid just a few years older than me. Of course, with the system and our low ages, that might as well be a mountain in terms of difference. His dad had arranged for him to teach me, hoping he would also get a [Teaching] skill of some sort out of it. All in all, a good arrangement.


    ¡°What does your dad do?¡± he asked.


    ¡°He¡¯s a guard! He¡¯s showing me around town as he works as a guard!¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s so cool!¡± Kolius said, hero-worship in his voice, stars in his eyes. I suppose being a coal-maker wasn¡¯t nearly as fun or as glamorous as a guard, who got to walk around with weapons! Nobody wanted to be stuck inside with soot and ash all day. Especially not a 10-year-old. ¡°Is he here about Damonus?¡±


    ¡°Damonus? Who¡¯s that?¡± I had never heard the name before.


    ¡°Everyone knows Damonus! He¡¯s the one making all of the wind weasels! They¡¯re such a pain!¡±


    What. The wind weasel infestation wasn¡¯t natural? Someone was making monsters here!?


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Coals]!]


    I almost completely ignored the notification. Jaded to magic on my first day. ¡°DAD! Come here! You have got to hear this!¡± I shouted, running outside. Dad and Catonus were outside, talking with various people. Catonus rolled his eyes. ¡°You¡¯ve wasted enough of your dad¡¯s time today. Don¡¯t you think you should let us do our jobs?¡±


    I glared with as much force as I could muster. A muscle on his face twitched, which just made me angrier.


    ¡°Peace, Catonus, Elaine. We¡¯ll get back to our normal rounds soon. Elaine, what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Dad come with me! Kolius says he knows where all of the wind weasels are coming from! He said Damonus is making them!¡±


    Catonus¡¯s and Dad¡¯s faces went from ¡°Friendly but slightly annoyed Guardsman¡± to ¡°Serious Guardsman¡±. These were the guards that kept the city safe. These were the guards that prevented any serious crime ring from forming. These were the guards that kept Classers in check.


    ¡°Kolius. Can you tell me where Damonus is? And how do you know he¡¯s making wind weasels?¡±


    Kolius, in spite of his starry-eyed look towards the guards, rolled his eyes. ¡°Everyone knows Damonus. He¡¯s been making the wind weasels for a while, keeps telling us he¡¯ll sic them on us if we don¡¯t do things for him. It¡¯s why I¡¯ve been spending more time here. He can¡¯t threaten me when I¡¯m working!¡±


    Kolius¡¯s dad interjected. ¡°I had wondered why you had gotten so diligent. I think I need to catch myself a few wind weasels for myself, if they¡¯re so good for discipline.¡± Sounded ominous. Glad I wasn¡¯t Kolius. Hopefully dad wasn¡¯t getting any ideas.


    ¡°Do you mind if we borrow Kolius for a few hours?¡± Catonus asked. ¡°We just want him to point us to the right spot, so we can take a look¡±


    Kolius¡¯s dad just grunted. Seemed to be permission.


    Kolius was thrilled to be the hero of the hour, leading the guards to the vicious beast that had prowled for too long. Or, from the description he was giving us, a teenager with a power complex. Catonus rolled his eyes and muttered ¡°Wanna-be Classer.¡± with as much disdain and ¡®this is going to create so much paperwork¡¯ that he could mutter. Not that I knew if there even was paperwork, given the lack of paper I had seen. And lack of books. Really the only thing I had seen read was that scroll at the temple. I needed to find a library ¨C oh we made it!


    Kolius scurried back off ¨C probably home ¨C as we looked up at the dilapidated building in front of us. There were some wind weasels lurking about, and dad and Catonus drew their batons.


    ¡°What do we do with her?¡± Catonus asked, jerking his head towards me. ¡°She shouldn¡¯t be here. This is why we don¡¯t bring kids along.¡± Dad frowned as he thought. ¡°It sounds like we¡¯re dealing with a 12 to 15-year-old boy. She should be fine as long as she stands behind us.¡± Hurray! Excitement! I would be fine, dad would keep me safe, and I would get to see guards doing their guard thing! Rah rah go team guard!


    I was expecting some sort of sneakiness, or busting down the door, or some other cool action-packed entrance. Movies betrayed me, as they went up to the door and politely knocked on it. We got a few eyes from people walking up and down the street ¨C guards didn¡¯t usually have their batons out ¨C but generally people seemed to consider it business as usual. Guards knocking on a door probably WAS business as usual I realized.


    Something was itching at the back of my head though. I reached up to scratch it, only to realize scratching was doing nothing at all for me ¨C the itchiness I was feeling was inside my head. That was weird, but probably something else system-related that I was unaware of, and would make people laugh at me if I asked. I didn¡¯t like people laughing at me.


    The itchy feeling in my head wasn¡¯t going away, and if anything, was getting stronger and more persistent. I looked around, and spotted a wind weasel hiding behind a barrel. And one hiding around a corner. And one peeking over a rooftop. And one glowering at me from under a vendor¡¯s table. And - that was a LOT of wind weasels, and they weren¡¯t attacking or doing their standard ¡°hit and runs¡± ¨C they were just staring at us. The itchiness in my head reduced as I noticed them, but didn¡¯t go away completely.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 3!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 4!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 5!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 6!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 7!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 8!]


    Why on Pallos did Vigilant go up so much? That was a lot of wind weasels. I pulled on dad¡¯s arm and said ¡°Hey dad¡± right as the door opened. A scrawny looking teenager opened the door, dad said ¡°Not now sweety¡±, and all hell broke loose.


    The teenager who I assume was Damonus got a panicked look on his face, yelled ¡°NO!¡±, and slammed the door shut. At the same time, all of the wind weasels that I¡¯d noticed surrounding us started to run towards us, sharp claws out, gusts of wind kicking up leaves and dirt around them. I screamed. I would like to say I screamed something coherent, like ¡°look out¡± or ¡°Incoming¡±, but no such luck. Fortunately, dad and Catonus seemed to be experienced, and quickly got back-to-back in front of the house as the wind weasels came tumbling in. It was all too quick to follow. Booted feet kicked and stomped; batons flashed with a sickening crunch. Skills were said tersely ¨C it didn¡¯t seem to be a requirement, just good communication between them. ¡°[Guardsman¡¯s Aura].¡± ¡°[Peacekeeping Operation].¡± ¡°[Quick Bash].¡±


    [*Ding!* Your party has defeated a Kamaitachi (Wind, lv 23)]


    [*Ding!* Your party has defeated a Kamaitachi (Wind, lv 22)]


    ¡­¡­


    [*Ding!* Your party has defeated a Kamaitachi (Wind, lv 18)]


    [*Ding!* Your party has defeated a Kamaitachi (Wind, lv 30)]


    and I realized a few things to my dismay:


    Guards were ill-equipped to handle wind weasels. They were tall adults with short batons, and the weasels, while long, were only 4-6 inches tall.These wind weasels were smart ¨C much smarter than the average pests we saw.I was completely unprotected and at wind weasel height. Dad and Catonus were back to back, but that didn¡¯t include me!


    With only a few left, they suddenly changed target to attack me. I screamed again ¨C no longer the panicked scream from earlier, but the ¡°my life is in mortal danger¡± scream only a kid can produce.


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Cowering]!]


    I had no time to pay attention to the notification.


    Dad recognized the difference, and yelled ¡°[Protect the Meek]¡± with two weasels leaping towards me. Impossibly fast, he crouched down, shielded me with one arm, and flashed his baton out with his other. A final, sickening crunch was heard, a sound of slicing meat, a soccer ball being kicked, and a deep roar from right beside me was heard as a hot liquid spray hit me.


    I stood there, stunned and shaking, as I processed what just happened. Dad had shielded me, and lashed out with his arm ¨C but there were TWO weasels, not one, and I had heard him getting a solid hit on the first one. The second one dad had blocked with his face, followed shortly by Catonus punting. Hot liquid? That was dad bleeding all over me from the ruined mangle of the left half of his face.


    ¡°You ok?¡± Catonus asked.


    ¡°Yeah. Get the prick.¡± Dad said stoically.


    There was no more audience ¨C people got out of the way fast when guards started swinging weapons ¨C and clearly the kid gloves were off as Catonus went through the door. My estimation of him went up quite a few notches. More yelling and flashes of light came from the door, but I was too concerned with Dad to notice.


    ¡°Dad, Dad, are you ok?¡± I asked, shaking his arm. He was still sitting down in the middle of the road, holding the side of his face. He groaned miserably.


    ¡°Elaine, please tell me mom made you get a medical skill. And that you didn¡¯t get rid of it in your skill spree this morning.¡±


    My eyes widened in realization. I had [First Aid] AND [Anatomy]!


    ¡°Go into the guardsman pouch. Get me some gauze. And the bottle.¡±


    I followed dad¡¯s orders as they came, watching my skills skyrocket as I followed his directions. A hiss of pain left his lips as I applied the bottle of ointment to his face. Couldn¡¯t really see it, that was an egregious amount of blood. Not a lot of cleaning done here, this was a field dressing.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [First Aid] has reached level 3!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [First Aid] has reached level 4!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Anatomy] has reached level 3!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [First Aid] has reached level 5!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Anatomy] has reached level 4!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 5!]


    ¡°Ok sweetie, ok. This will last until I get to the guard¡¯s [Healer].¡± Dad muffled from behind a head full of bandages, carefully prying himself open a breathing and seeing hole. I was trembling. Why did I come along? Why did I think this would be fun? Why did I not leave and try to find my way back when I realized it would be serious?


    Catonus came out, dragging out Damonus. If Damonus had looked like a cow when Catonus went into the building, he was hamburger now. Looking at my dad¡¯s face, I approved.


    ¡°Can you get him the buff?¡± Catonus asked. Buff? ¡°[Guardsman¡¯s Buff]¡± Dad placed his hand on Damonus¡¯s head and said.


    ¡°Why are you buffing him after arresting him?¡±


    Dad just sat back, unwilling to answer. Catonus answered. ¡°[Guardsman¡¯s Buff] is a guard skill that uses all of your mana regeneration to boost your vitality. It¡¯s good at the start of a fight, and for guards in general. However, what¡¯s really cool is that only the caster can turn it off again. For bad people, they won¡¯t regenerate any mana, so they can¡¯t use any skills. It ALSO makes them less likely to die! All good things.¡± Catonus was talking down to me, but I guess he was A) Talking to me now, and B) I did look like a kid, so no complaining. Catonus put Damonus in cuffs, and we started moving to what I assume was a nearby guard outpost.


    ¡°What happens to him now?¡± I pointed to Damonus.


    ¡°Well, he¡¯s going to be fined. Fined quite heavily. Breeding monsters is one thing, attacking guards is quite another. If he can¡¯t pay the fine, which I imagine, he¡¯ll be sold into slavery for a number of years to cover the fine. The bigger the fine, the more years he¡¯ll be a slave.¡±


    Slavery was a thing here. It wasn¡¯t like people were permanently slaves ¨C it was usually temporary, and some people even chose to sell themselves into slavery. Got a bunch of money at the start, got fed, housed, and employed for several years. I still had ethical issues with it ¨C owning another person was wrong, no matter how benevolent. There were some fairly nasty aspects to it as well.


    We limped over to the guardhouse, where Catonus and Damonus promptly vanished, probably to the cells or however jail was used here. A runner got sent out to fetch the guard¡¯s healer ¨C apparently there wasn¡¯t one in each station.

 Chapter 12 - Artemis

    About an hour later, a middle-aged man came comfortably jogging up, with a woman hot on his heels. The man was in standard guard leathers, but the woman was in well-used laminar scale armor, a sword on her side and at least a few daggers I could see. She moved with thunder and fury, power and grace. Her nose stood proudly on her strong face, a pale white contrasting with the rest of her weather-beaten face, scars crossing artistically. Pixie-cut blonde hair framed her face, and her shining green eyes had flashes of light behind them, flickering like a distant storm. She was like the radiant descent of a Valkyrie. I now knew exactly how Kolius felt. For all I knew, my eyes had turned into actual stars.


    The man was the healer, and while he didn¡¯t say anything about the patchwork job I had done, it did get a raised eyebrow. Hey, I was in a rush ok? This was my first time bandaging up someone in the field, as opposed to in mom¡¯s clinic. Second time bandaging someone up period. I probably should¡¯ve gotten that skill¡­.


    ¡°ARTEMIS!? You¡¯re alive!?¡± Dad perked up a ton. ¡°We thought you were dead!¡±


    The woman put her hands on her hips. ¡°I guess that is you, Elainus, under all of that.¡± Her tone rapidly changed.


    ¡°Guardsman Elainus. Standard procedure is NOT to use your head as a shield. As thick as it may be.¡± The woman smirked at dad while the healer started to remove the bandages.


    Dad flipped Artemis a one-fingered salute. More universal gestures.


    ¡°How are you doing, Artemis?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m doing much better than YOUR FACE.¡± Artemis was grinning ear-to-ear.


    ¡°How is it¡± dad was getting a bit of fire back, but it was more like embers ¡°That you run away from home, doing gods knows what for years, and you somehow manage to find me the ONE DAY I get injured?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just your bad luck. Who¡¯s this? Your daughter? You must have married Julia then?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and yes. Elaine, meet Artemis. Artemis, meet Elaine. Artemis is an old friend of mine; we grew up together. This is Elaine, my daughter. She just unlocked today, and finished picking up her initial skills. What have you been up to Artemis? You ran away, and when we didn¡¯t hear back from you for a few years, we all thought you had died!¡±


    ¡°Oh, I was out and about, here and there.¡± Artemis flipped her hair back. ¡°Joined up with the Rangers. Standard stuff.¡±


    Rangers. Elite soldiers of the Republic, travelled around the Republic in teams solving problems locals couldn¡¯t. Strong monsters, cunning bandits, rogue Classers ¨C Rangers solved them all. They were a bit like state-sponsored adventurers, not that there were any of those commonly floating around. Needless to say, becoming a Ranger wasn¡¯t standard.


    I was still staring at Artemis, a burning question in my mind. It was stupid. It was wrong, given what dad had just said. I needed to check. I needed to know.


    ¡°Are you a goddess?¡±


    Artemis looked like she¡¯d be poleaxed, before falling down and rolling on the ground laughing. Dad facepalmed, then made a small pained noise as he naturally hit his face. The healer looked at us disapprovingly, and sniffed.


    ¡°Guardsman. It¡¯s hard enough treating you without you self-inflicting additional injuries. Please refrain.¡± Stuffy healer.


    Artemis finally recovered, as I continued to wish the ground would open up and swallow me whole. I knew asking was a bad idea, why did I do it?


    ¡°I¡¯m not a [Goddess]. But quite a few people seem to treat me like one!¡± Artemis picked herself off the ground, and puffed out her chest for dramatic effect. I melted.


    ¡°Hey Artemis¡± dad asked, livelier as clearly some magic was occurring with the healer and him. ¡°Elaine¡¯s always been really interested in magic. You¡¯re a decently powerful mage. Can you give her the rundown? The temple¡¯s education is terrible, as you well know.¡±


    I used [Identify] on Artemis, and got back [Mage].


    ¡°A MAGE!?¡± I shrieked, not particularly coherently. Dreams of flying through the sky, throwing out fireballs once again danced through my head. Right here, in front of me, the avatar of that dream. I had imagined beautiful witch robes, not scale armor, but I would live. After all, the robes could always go OVER the armor.


    ¡°Can you fly? Can you shoot fireballs? Can you teleport? Do you have a tower? Do you have a familiar? Can you raise undead creatures? Why the sword if you can cast magic?¡±


    I knew of course that everyone¡¯s ¡°magic¡± was just their skill with the system. There was some difference though, between the day-to-day skills being used, and someone considered an actual honest-to-goodness MAGE though.


    Artemis chuckled, and got a far-off look in her eyes, before snapping back to me. ME. I couldn¡¯t look her in the eye, I was too overwhelmed.


    ¡°Hey, [Grand Mage]-To-Be. If you can¡¯t look at me, how will you ever cast a [Searing Sun] or a [Lightning Bolt]?¡±


    I froze. She was right. Courage Elaine, courage! Courage.exe has failed to load. Damnit. I felt a finger under my chin, lifting my head up, meeting Artemis¡¯s shit-eating grin.


    ¡°You remind me of your dad when we were kids.¡± She said. I had trouble imagining that. ¡°To answer your questions: technically, barely, but it takes a TON of mana, not really, nope, only by a long stretch of imagination, what¡¯s that?, dead bodies are terrible material, and why not swords? You won¡¯t always have mana, you won¡¯t always need to cast a spell, and the added versatility is priceless. No sense in using magic to kill a goblin when a sword will do the trick.¡±


    This wasn¡¯t going nearly as well as I had hoped. Bad flying? No fireballs? The question about wizard towers wasn¡¯t a DIRECT no, but I had no hopes that ¡°long stretch of the imagination¡± would result in anything close to a wizard tower. My face fell.


    ¡°Sooo¡­. What kind of magic can you do then¡­?¡± I was skeptical. Sure, throwing the rock artillery-style had been pretty cool, but it wasn''t really magic.


    That terrible grin was back, a mad sparkle in her eyes, and a sense of dread came over me. This was either going to be really cool, or not end well for me. I didn¡¯t think Artemis would hurt her friend¡¯s kid, but Lyra and I had gotten in enough mischief that I knew the look of Trouble on Artemis¡¯s face. Even if women were allowed in the guard, I strongly suspected Artemis would never make it. Hang on ¨C women were clearly allowed to be Rangers ¨C I needed to know more.


    ¡°I¡¯m a power-based Lightning and Earth mage. No idea what you¡¯ve been told so far, but elemental affiliations are important for mages.¡± A small rock was magically levitated off the ground, and started to rotate around Artemis, fast. Faster and faster it went, the rock becoming harder to see as a lethal whizzing noise filled the room.


    Dad seemed to realize what was about to happen. He tried to stop her. He really did.


    ¡°ARTEMIS!! NOT HE-¡° I don¡¯t think anything short of the sun falling out of the sky could¡¯ve stopped Artemis at this point, as she pointed to one of the pillars in the guard¡¯s outpost.


    ¡°[Stone toss]¡± She intoned, the lethal blur moved, and the pillar exploded. I ducked as sharp shards of stone went everywhere, and somehow not a single one touched me. Or dad. Or the healer who¡¯s name I had yet to catch. Everyone was glaring at Artemis, as more guards hurried into the room to see what had happened. Artemis, unflappable, seemingly cheered by the mayhem and destruction she had caused


    ¡°Artemis. Please. I can¡¯t feel half my face, if I tried to arrest you, I¡¯d lose feeling in the other half.¡±


    Artemis looked guilty at that. ¡°Sorry, sorry, my bad, let me fix this really fast¡± as she put her hands on the ground where the pillar had been. ¡°[Earth Manipulation].¡± And with that, a smooth pillar of earth moved out of the ground, seamlessly merging the floor and the ceiling. It was obviously magically made ¨C no stone was that perfect, that smooth, or had that look of putty ¨C but it worked, and everyone seemed happy. Except one person with a broom, who had the look of ¡®I just swept here, why me?¡¯. Even Catonus was back and looking happy, while Damonus was still chained and looking pale.


    ¡°That¡± Catonus told Damonus, roughing him up a bit. ¡°is a real Classer.¡±


    My heroine.

 Chapter 13 - Lessons on Magic

    With much muttering and grumbling, the guards left us again. Artemis somehow found herself a chair, swiveled it around, and sat on it backwards, looking at me.


    ¡°You must desperately want to be a mage. Most kids get scared off after that demonstration.¡± Artemis started. She paused a moment or two, collecting her thoughts.


    ¡°Fine. Magic breakdown time. First off, I don¡¯t know much about healing, you¡¯ll have to ask him¡± she jerked her thumb at the still-nameless healer treating dad. ¡°But for the rest of it, here¡¯s the basics. First, mages are broadly categorized into ¡®power¡¯ or ¡®control¡¯, based off of, you guessed it, if power or control is their primary focus. Corresponding to that, high mana goes with high power, and control mages tend to focus on regeneration. Onto elements, the basics:


    Fire are flames and burning and heat. They¡¯re almost always power-focused, since power lets you keep skills coherent further away from you. A control-based mage can really only handle stuff near herself.


    Water is versatile. It¡¯s the jack of all trades, it can do a bit of everything, but none of those things super well. I think there¡¯s minor healing in it, and someone who can conjure water up is priceless in the wilderness. Like water itself, you have to be flexible with it. Not the best in my opinion.¡±


    The healer helping dad made a strangled noise at this. No bets what his affiliation was.


    ¡°Light is useless for a mage. It¡¯s the primary element of healers, and it¡¯s got a bunch of secondary uses ¨C mostly making light ¨C but it doesn¡¯t hurt anyone. Can¡¯t stop a rampaging bear by blinding it.


    Dark is nasty. It¡¯s destruction and removal. Some mage throws a [Dark Blast] at you, you duck. Apparently, this is also used by healers, but I have no idea what for.


    Wood is a bit of a mixed bag. It¡¯s great for skills, and you can do some really powerful stuff with it, but it lacks some of the oomph that other affiliations can give you. It also has some powerful secondaries. It¡¯s a bit of a risk going down a wood-mage path, but it can pay off in the long run.¡± Artemis paused. ¡°If you survive.¡±


    That wasn¡¯t ominous at all.


    ¡°Metal and Earth are ridiculously powerful for mages, and they act in a similar way. As you saw earlier, a rock going fast enough can and will destroy most everything, and you don¡¯t need to continue focusing on the skill once it¡¯s launched. Earth and Metal [War Mages] form the backbone of our oh-so-glorious legions.¡± Artemis rolled her eyes at this last part. Strange that she wasn¡¯t a fan of the army in spite of being IN the army.


    ¡°Lastly, there¡¯s Wind. It¡¯s a bit of a mixed bag again. I¡¯d never want to fight a Wind mage in close-quarters ¨C they¡¯d rip me up, and my face is far too pretty for that. However, they lack oomph at longer ranges. Unless they¡¯re clever.¡± Artemis grimaced. There was a story there for sure!


    The healer was no longer working with dad, instead they were deep in an intense conversation. Dad looked crushed.


    ¡°Why not be both power and control?¡±


    Artemis gave me a look like I had asked the stupidest question. Maybe I had.


    ¡°You can be mixed, but instead of getting the strengths of both power and control, you get the weakness of both without the corresponding strengths. You end up not being long range, not having the oomph, and not having the devastation at shorter ranges. You do get to be flexible, and there¡¯s some merit to that. You can try to do both, but generally end up dead sooner rather than later.¡±


    I thought about that some. Flexibility sounded pretty good, even if it wasn¡¯t min-maxing a particular trait. Artemis seemed to think differently, and she was the battle-hardened [Mage]. She probably had good reasons backing her thinking.


    ¡°What about Lightning? And Verdant?¡±


    ¡°Lightning and Verdant aren¡¯t primary elements, they¡¯re secondary. They¡¯re advanced, or evolved, or merged elements. Whatever.¡±


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 6!]


    I wanted to learn everything in the world if it was this easy to level up [Learning]. I just needed access to books ¨C or scrolls, as it seemed to be, still hadn¡¯t seen a single book ¨C and I could get [Learning] to a super high level!


    ¡°Lightning however lets me shoot lightning bolts, let me show y ¨C ¡°


    ¡°DON¡¯T YOU DARE¡± roared dad, the healer, Catonus, and another guard who was passing by. The sheer force of the yell made me wince and cover my ears, and seemed to punch through and get to Artemis, as she looked contrite.


    Dad and the healer seemed to have finished up, and the healer decided that an ounce of prevention was worth several pounds of lightning-struck locals, so he wandered over, grousing at Artemis.


    ¡°Muscle heads! All of you army folks are muscle heads! And filling her head with incomplete knowledge, which is WORSE than no knowledge at all!¡± throwing his hands up in frustration. ¡°All you know how to do is blow things up! You¡¯ll lead her down a terrible path, we don¡¯t need people BLOWING THINGS UP IN THE MIDDLE OF TOWN.¡± That last bit seemed really pointed at Artemis, and I couldn¡¯t blame him ¨C Artemis was the type. Artemis just laughed it off. Not a shred of guilt there, nope. Almost seemed happy about the whole thing. Notes, I needed to take notes. Notes on magic. Notes on how to be a badass.


    ¡°Healing magics are much more important than destruction. Any idiot can kill someone else; it takes skill and talent to heal someone. You need education and knowledge to properly know how to heal, not just throw a stone at someone. Listen Elaine, let me tell you about healing elements, don¡¯t follow after Artemis.¡± I nearly dismissed everything he had to say at that point, almost zoning out entirely. My idea of becoming a healer like mom though wasn¡¯t dead, and I hadn¡¯t gotten anything like this knowledge from her, so I decided to listen.


    ¡°Light magic is what most people think of when they hear ¡®healer¡¯. It speeds up healing speeds, can invigorate and energize others, and at really high levels, can even restore lost limbs. It¡¯s how you add to the four humors to bring them back into balance.¡±


    ¡°Darkness is the other side of the coin to light. Instead of restoring, it destroys. It can destroy poisons, remove rotted limbs, and when a humor is too far out of balance or someone has too much blood, it can destroy or remove it.¡±


    I frowned at this. Medical knowledge here was awful, and if education and knowledge really were that critical to working healing magic, and they were this wrong about it¡­ there were implications there that I couldn¡¯t quite work out.


    ¡°There¡¯s a lot of debate on if wood should be considered a healing element or not¡± the healer continued to pontificate. ¡°I personally consider it valid, if a bit unusual, as a healing element.¡± He continued to drone on a bit, diving into the history of the argument, and the cases for and against it being considered a healing element. My eyes wandered, and met Artemis¡¯s, a bolt of lightning going across her eyes. She grinned at me, that same maniacal grin she always had, and I tried to mimic her.


    Artemis rudely interrupted the healer with ¡°Hey! Maybe you should TELL HER what¡¯s so good about wood, instead of telling her the debate about it. You lost her 10 minutes ago!¡±


    Healer had the good graces to look embarrassed, coughed, and got back on track.


    ¡°ahem, yes, well, wood is great for dealing with, and making medicines and potions. Some are good for boosting how quickly you heal, some can neutralize poisons, others can balance humors. The element itself, directly applied, can also revitalize a person. It does the same as directly healing, but it¡¯s indirect, so argued over.¡±


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Anatomy] has reached level 5!]


    Why did that level up? Was it just thinking about how humans actually worked, and not the humor BS that he was spouting?


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 7!]


    ¡°Lastly, there¡¯s water, the best healing element.¡± Artemis rolled her eyes at this. ¡°While not as directly powerful as any of the healing elements, it¡¯s flexible, able to mimic and perform like all of them. That clearly makes it the best element for healing.¡±


    Artemis cut in. ¡°You should also mention it¡¯s horribly inefficient at all of those.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s an efficient use of class elements, of which we only get two.¡±


    ¡°You can always dual-class as a healer, like you dual-class anything else.¡±


    ¡°There are REASONS healers don¡¯t dual-class! It¡¯s absurd! Why, - ¡°I tuned out their bickering, and walked over to dad.


    ¡°Soooo¡± I said, drawing it out, feeling guilty that he got hurt over me. ¡°please don¡¯t tell mom?¡± I was in so much trouble when we got home if dad ratted me out. ¡°I¡¯ll do the cleaning and make your favorite food and oil your leathers and do anything else you want just don¡¯t tell mom please!¡± I hit him with my best puppy dog eyes, 100% guaranteed to melt a parent¡¯s heart.


    ¡°Elaine¡± Dad¡¯s voice was heavy. Uh oh. There was no WAY I was going to avoid mom¡¯s wrath. No delicious dinner for me. ¡°We¡¯re not completely sure yet, but it seems like I¡¯ve lost the eye. I have to tell mom.¡±


    I must have something in my ears. It sounded like dad just said he lost an eye. That was impossible, dad was invincible, it was just a lousy pest.


    ¡°Hey dad, can you say that again? It sounded like you said you lost an eye, ha-ha. That¡¯d be terrible if that happened.¡± I tittered nervously, horror starting to creep up on me.


    ¡°Yeah Elaine. You heard me right ¨C my left eye doesn¡¯t work anymore. The wind weasel nearly cut it in half. The healer doesn¡¯t think he can fix it. It¡¯s ok though, I don¡¯t need two eyes to be a guard.¡±


    Bloody USELESS healer. ¡®oh, look at me, I¡¯m a water healer, I can¡¯t fix shit¡¯. Bah. I should rip his eyes out, replace dad¡¯s with them. At least he would USE them. Hang on, with magic, was it even possible to replace an eye like that? What did I remember about eyes¡­ there was a lens, the eyeball itself, an optic nerve connecting the eye to the brain. There was a lot more, but I just didn¡¯t know it.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Anatomy] has reached level 6!]


    That confirmed it, mentally reviewing anatomy knowledge would get me levels in [Anatomy]. That was useful, I needed to file that away for later. Wait, he mentioned something about light magic being able to restore lost limbs?


    I ran over and interrupted Artemis¡¯s and the healer¡¯s heated argument. ¡°Healer healer healer.¡± I said, tugging on his arm. I murdered the embarrassment I had for not knowing his name and acting like a little kid in front of Artemis with a burning desire to fix dad. ¡°Do you know a light mage that can fix dad¡¯s eye?¡±


    He looked at me, and the look on his face told me everything. ¡°A strong control-based light healer might ¨C MIGHT ¨C be able to fix your dad¡¯s eye. He¡¯d need a very high control level, and quite a bit of knowledge. He¡¯d be expensive, and there¡¯s nobody in Aquiliea that I know of that can do it. I¡¯m sorry, it¡¯s not your fault.¡± Almost as an afterthought ¡°My name is Meditacus, not ¡®healer.¡¯¡± Ahh, snooty was back.


    ¡°You¡¯re USELESS¡± I cried out, flailing with my little fists. He just looked sad; he didn¡¯t even have the good grace to look like I was doing anything. My feelings of hope, the idea that dad¡¯s eye could be restored like that was gone. I broke down crying as the enormity of what I had caused to happen washed over me. As I was bawling my eyes out, dad came over to comfort me.


    ¡°Shhhhh it¡¯s ok¡­ it wasn¡¯t your fault¡­ I¡¯ll be fine¡­ you won¡¯t get in trouble with mom¡­ maybe you¡¯ll be a light healer and heal me, haha¡±


    That last one caused the biggest lightbulb to go off in my head. I hadn¡¯t yet selected a class! I had been yo-yoing between ¡°Grand Archmage¡± and ¡°Death-defying healer¡±, with mom pulling me towards the healer, and my dreams and the recent arrival of the all-powerful Artemis drawing me towards ¡®pew pew mage¡¯. Meditacus was right in a way, as snobbish and annoying as he was. It was much harder, and much rarer to be a healer than a mage. Destruction was easy. Creation was hard. And I was already on my way to being a healer, with [First-Aid] and [Anatomy] already. I didn¡¯t even know the starter skills for being a [Mage]! I cheered up immensely at this. Although I should hedge my bets. My mood changed like a light switch, from miserable, to happy, and straight to curious.


    ¡°Hey Artemis, what skill did you need to get a mage class?¡±


    If Artemis was surprised by my sudden emotional swings, she showed no sign.


    ¡°Meditate¡± she replied, getting up and walking over.


    ¡°Meditate?¡± I skeptically asked. I wasn¡¯t about to call Artemis a liar, but I was trying and completely failing to imagine the energetic Artemis sitting calmly and meditating.


    ¡°Yup. Hey Elainus, any chance your lovely wife would be up to feeding another mouth? I¡¯m sick and tired of army rations and wilderness ¡®delights¡¯.¡± Her tone made it clear that whatever wilderness delights were, delightful they weren¡¯t. ¡°Plus¡± she waggled her eyebrows ¡°I¡¯ll totally distract Julia from your missing eye. We can say it¡¯s a new skill of yours ¨C lose a body part, get an old friend for dinner!¡±


    ¡°It might distract her a bit, and give her another direction to vent in¡­ fine, you¡¯re in.¡± Dad mused.


    ¡°Elainus.¡± A gruff looking senior guardsman poked his head in. ¡°Meditacus told me about your eye. Don¡¯t worry about your job, we need as many guardsmen like you as possible. Take the next week off, then you¡¯re up for combat practice. You need to get up to speed on fighting with one eye and a blind spot. Polyphemus will be training you.¡±


    The guardsman vanished almost as fast as he had shown up. Efficient! And dad¡¯s job was going to be ok, hurray for not starving! I hadn¡¯t even thought of that as a possibility until just now, and stress came crashing through me, with relief just a bare moment away. What on Pallos would we have done if dad wasn¡¯t a guard? I shivered. I had almost cost our family everything. No more dangerous outings like this.

 Chapter 14 - Decisions I

    We wandered back as Artemis and Dad caught up.


    ¡°So, how¡¯d you end up here? I thought you¡¯d live in Cow¡¯s Crossing with Julia until the day you two died.¡±


    ¡°Well, it all started when Dodranus came back from the woods, yelling about¡­¡±


    Artemis and dad were going at a good clip down the main roads, while I was struggling with the grey zone obstacle course. I was tempted to put a few points into speed and dexterity to give me a boost, but no, I needed to save them, I should be flexible. I had been able to get some stat points through my own effort, and I guessed, but I wasn¡¯t sure, that the higher they were, the harder it would be to get more naturally. I climbed up a barrel, jumped onto a crate, and slid down a hanging rope as fast as I could, doing my best to keep up with dad and Artemis as they blazed forward. I didn¡¯t usually push myself so hard, and today I was rewarded.


    [*Ding! * You have gained +1 Dexterity]


    Oooh, it¡¯d been awhile since I got a stat point naturally like this! Pushing myself was doing good things for me! Although dad and Artemis were getting away. There was a blessedly clear stretch of road in front of me, just a few people on it. I started to jog, then to run, putting forth my best effort.


    [*Ding! * Congratulations! [Running] has reached level 2!]


    [*Ding! * Congratulations! [Running] has reached level 3!]


    Hurray, progress! My mana was dropping for some reason, something that hadn¡¯t really happened before.


    [Mana: 4/20]


    A woman with her three kids yelled at me as I dodged around her. ¡°HEY! Slow down! Don¡¯t run here!¡± Whoops. Well, I was just about out of mana anyways, and I had caught up to dad and Artemis, just in time to earn an approving look from Artemis, and a death-glare from dad.


    ¡°Elaine. I¡¯m a guard. You can¡¯t do that sort of thing in front of me.¡± Dad cuffed me, I tried to duck. Ouch. I rubbed my head, glaring.


    ¡°Ah, leave her be. I¡¯d try to get away with using the grey zone as a fast lane if I could.¡±


    I got The Look from dad that promised A Talk later on. I was impressed, he managed to get The Look to work with just one eye so fast! The reminder that he had one eye sobered me up from the exhilaration of running so fast.


    ¡°Anyways Artemis, to wrap up the story: The local garrison got overrun by the goblins, and we all fled. Elaine here¡± he turned to me, putting a protective hand on my shoulder ¡°was born on the road to Aquiliea. We¡¯ve been here ever since.¡±


    That explained why I was born out in a field, and not in town. It might also explain why I didn¡¯t seem to have grandparents. Seemed to be a bit of a sore subject the one time I brought it up, and I wasn¡¯t going to prod the bear, especially with the amount of trouble I was already in.


    We made our way home, and predictably, shit hit the fan.


    ¡°ARTEMIS! It¡¯s so lovely to see you again!¡± Mom hadn¡¯t noticed dad¡¯s eye yet. I slinked in, hoping to stay out of sight.


    ¡°JULIA! It¡¯s been way too long!¡± Artemis aggressively went in for a hug, picking mom up and spinning her around.


    ¡°How on earth did you find us? After Cow¡¯s Crossing was ransacked, we thought there was no way we¡¯d ever see you again!¡±


    ¡°Well, I was out and about, murdering the local rampaging wildlife, taking a break in Aquiliea, when I heard that a Guardsman Elainus got injured. I thought to myself ¡®Hey, I know a numbskull Elainus who wanted to be a guardsman! This is pretty close to Cow¡¯s Crossing. It¡¯d be just like him to get hurt fighting a wind weasel of all things. I gotta check this out¡¯. Lo and behold, it was Elainus! Using his head as always!¡±


    Mom¡¯s face was doing interesting things. It started off delighted, fell to sad, moved to horror, skipped anger completely, went directly to enraged, then decided that concerned might be the right move.


    ¡°Elaine?¡± My mom asked, far too sweetly. Uh oh. That was the ¡®barely repressed rage disguising itself as nice.¡¯ She came over to me and started patting me everywhere, checking if I was hurt with the expert feel of someone who had done it a dozen times. ¡°I just want to make sure, are you completely ok?¡±


    This felt like a trap. I knew it was a trap. Dad had always drilled integrity and honesty into my head though, and so like one possessed, knowing it would lead to my doom, my traitorous mouth opened with a ¡°Yes mom, I¡¯m fine.¡± DAMNIT! There was no reason for her to hold back anym-


    My train of thought was derailed as mom gave me a massive hug, practically sobbing ¡°Thank goodness you¡¯re ok! I was so worried!¡± Her hug intensified. Artemis had a look of unholy glee on her face. What was I missing? Besides air. I needed air. ¡°Mom¡­. Breathing¡­. Help¡­¡± Mom let me go, spun towards dad, and like a skill was used, she was suddenly holding the dread wooden spoon as she walked threateningly towards him.


    ¡°Elaine, why don¡¯t you take Artemis to the baths? I¡¯m sure she¡¯d like to rinse off after all that time in the wilderness.¡± She asked oh-too-sweetly, pointing the spoon at dad. Artemis¡¯s face fell at this. Why would she not want to go to the baths? They were lovely.


    ¡°But Julia¡± she whined.


    ¡°But nothing Artemis. Unless you want me to share with Elaine that one time when ¨C ¡°


    ¡°Hey Elaine let¡¯s go to the baths!¡± Artemis practically tripped over her words in an attempt to get them out faster. What was that all about? Well, I was briefly free, so I grabbed my nice birthday knife, attached it to my belt, and was out the door with Artemis as a medium-sized explosion went off behind us. Gotta be cool, walk away from the explosion without looking.


    ¡°YOU SAID SHE¡¯D BE PERFECTLY SAFE!¡± The all-too-familiar noise of wooden spoon on flesh met my ears. Some quite mutterings ¨C dad defending himself ¨C came to my ears, but I couldn¡¯t make out what was being said.


    ¡°I DON¡¯T CARE ABOUT YOUR EYE! THIS IS ABOUT ELAINE!¡± The sound of wood attempting to re-arrange bones met my ears.


    Artemis looked like she was missing out on the greatest show ever. ¡°Ah well. Come on Elaine, I seem to remember you wanting to be a mage, and I have some errands to take care of. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    We started to wander back through town, and when we got to the intersection with the baths, I tried to pull Artemis down it. She rebuffed me though, with a ¡°First thing I did when I got here was to spend two days soaking in the bath. I¡¯m all set for now.¡±


    We talked about magic, and I finally got what really distinguished a mage from someone with really good skills. ¡°A mage has one or both of the following skills: A conjuration skill, or a manipulation skill. A conjuration skill lets you directly create the element, while a manipulation skill lets you move it freely. Watch!¡± With that, Artemis¡¯s hair started to rise around like, creating a crown of hair. She started a one-woman lightning show, bolts of lightning curving around her, going from hand to hand. Artemis started dancing with lightning in the street, drawing the gaze of everyone present. Slow sways as lightning danced around her. A fast jig in tune with the lightning. A slower, sensual dance. All that and so much more. I might die again one day. I might properly lose most of my memories then, like I should have. But the sight of Artemis dancing in the street, lightning swirling around her playfully, would never, ever leave me.


    All good things must come to an end, and as fast as lightning Artemis¡¯s jig came to a close. I think I had figured out what the ¡®manipulation¡¯ portion of being a mage was.


    We continued walking through the streets, although I had no idea where we were going.


    Right before we made it there, I realized ¨C we were going to the jail. Why were we going to jail? Artemis introduced herself at the door, showed the guard a badge with an eagle in flight on it, and we were quickly inside. Artemis vanished deeper inside, and came out with Damonus.


    Damonus was a sad, quivering mess as Artemis brought him out again. ¡°Alright Elaine, you want to be a mage, right?¡± ¡°RIGHT!¡± I responded with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. She knew I wanted to be a mage! This seemed like my chance! I thought I needed meditate and to class up though, why were we in a jail buying a slave? And why did we buy this one specifically?


    ¡°Alright, the moment of truth. Elaine. I need you to kill Damonus.¡±


    The world fell from around me as I processed what Artemis was saying with horror. I needed to kill Damonus? Why? He was just a young teenager! He was in chains! This wouldn¡¯t be self-defense by any stretch of the imagination, this was cold-blooded murder that Artemis was trying to get me to perform! Was this some sort of test? It seemed like a test. But it was a pretty horrible test, of course I wasn¡¯t going to murder a chained-up kid in cold blood.


    ¡°No! Murder¡¯s wrong.¡± Almost as an afterthought ¡°And illegal!¡± A rancid smell came over me, and I realized that Damonus had pissed himself. I wrinkled my nose in disgust.


    ¡°You want to be a mage, right?¡±


    ¡°RIGHT!¡± Fireballs and flying! Adventure awaits!


    ¡°How do you think most mages get experience?¡±


    That was a bit of a stumper. From what I understood, you got experience by doing things that your class wanted. [Chef]s cooked, [baker]s made bread, [fishermen] got fish. So, extending that logic, mages¡­ maged? Cast spells? Casting spells seemed right.


    ¡°By¡­ casting spells?¡± I ventured, much more hesitantly than I felt.


    Artemis had a pitying look on her face. ¡°By killing things Elaine. Monsters, animals, monsters in human skin, and sometimes, rarely, sometimes just people. It¡¯s like a [Warrior], or a [Soldier], or a [Ranger]. We kill things. It¡¯s not nice. It¡¯s not pretty. But fighting and killing are the fastest way for most classes to level, even if they¡¯re not combat classes. I bet you got a ton of experience in that fight your dad was in, even if you didn¡¯t do much.¡± I flushed in embarrassment of that memory.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t kill me, please, I¡¯m so sorry, I¡¯ll never do it again, please please please.¡± Damonus was begging as hard as he could. I felt my heart soften.


    Artemis took a deep breath in pity. ¡°Elaine, he tried to kill you, and he tried to kill your dad. You got lucky. You didn¡¯t end up in the best-case scenario, but you ended up in one of the better scenarios. You¡¯re unhurt. Your dad got injured, but he¡¯s not life-threateningly crippled. Ever wondered why you don¡¯t see beggars? Ever wondered why there are no farmhands that got in the way of a plow? It¡¯s because they either die ¨C quickly if they¡¯re lucky - or they go into debt, then get sold as slaves. The only place that buys crippled slaves is the colosseum. If Elainus had died, or been crippled so badly he couldn¡¯t work, you¡¯d be lucky if this scum here had killed you. Otherwise your family wouldn¡¯t be able to feed themselves, and either go further and further into debt to the point where you¡¯re sold off as slaves to recuperate it, or you would have gotten sold off yourself earlier, so they could stretch their money longer, have more money, and/or have one less mouth to feed.¡±


    I paled in horror as I processed all of this. Had we really come that close to disaster? All because of him? All because I was tagging along, and dad needed to protect me?


    Artemis had no mercy. ¡°Do you know what happens to pretty girls that haven¡¯t gotten a class yet that are sold into slavery? A bit younger, you¡¯d luck out and stay with your mom. Older, and you¡¯d have useful skills that would make you valuable. You¡¯re neither. Too old to stick with mom, too expensive to train in something. What takes little training? Odds are good that you¡¯d get bought by a brothel, or by some rich citizen with disgusting tastes. You¡¯d be forced to take a [Prostitute] class, and by the time your slavery terms were up, you¡¯d have nothing. No family, no money, nothing at all. You¡¯d get trapped working as one, day in, day out, until maybe one day you get lucky, and some greasy soldier decides to marry you. Depends if you had any kids by then or not. Failing that, the colosseum. You¡¯re young, you have no strength or physical stats, it¡¯d be a waste to train you. So, they¡¯d put you in a group of a few other ¡®worthless¡¯ slaves, and send you against a single [Gladiator] to show off that he can kill a bunch of people at once. Or some rich brat who¡¯s trying to kill people to level up faster, and cheap slaves are good experience for the cost. That was almost your fate. That¡¯s what this jackass nearly made you.¡±


    ¡°So, take up that knife, slit his throat, and show that you have the mettle to be a mage. Show that you can kill the undeserving, that you can kill those who mean to harm you and yours. Show that you can grasp enough power to become independent.¡± I could feel streaks of water going down my face, my arms shaking, hands trembling.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 8!]


    What an inopportune level-up. I was busy, I didn¡¯t need the distraction.


    I drew my knife, hands trembling madly as I approached Damonus, who was still begging, on his knees. I couldn¡¯t understand a word he was saying, he was crying and pleading and supplicating as hard as he could.


    ¡°Please¡­ No¡­ Promise¡­. Again¡­¡± great wailing sobs came from him as he furiously struggled against his chains.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t murder illegal?¡± I asked, suddenly finding a way out. ¡°We should not do illegal things.¡±


    Artemis gave me a dirty look which said she knew exactly what I was thinking. ¡°He¡¯s my slave now. I have the power of life and death over him. The same power of life and death that others nearly had over you because of him. Now do it cleanly. I don¡¯t think you¡¯re strong enough to get his heart, located here¡± Artemis pointed up from his stomach, indicating the angle I would need to take. ¡°You should just slit his throat. Make sure to hit here and here¡± she continued pointing to the main arteries on the side of his neck ¡°to make sure he dies quickly.¡±


    I looked at him. I looked at the knife, trembling in my hands. Gods it was a thing of beauty. Elegant, glinting in the light. A smooth leather grip, with that Arcanite gleaming with otherworldly power. It was for me. It was for me to peel mangos with, and now it was being used to kill a kid in cold blood. I shook. I was crying as well. I took another step forward. I lifted the knife. I imagined a spray of blood, the light in his eyes going out. I lowered my knife. I saw the stage where slaves were auctioned, but instead of seeing it from the edge of the crowd as we were on our errands, I was on the stage naked. I heard the voice of an announcer ¡°Next up, we have an 8-year old girl, no class, good health! Sold for 10 years of service! Starting bid of 30 iron coins!¡± My knife came back up. Heh. I was trembling so fast I might be holding three knives! I was going silly from the stress. I couldn¡¯t see correctly anymore, too many tears in my eyes. I lifted my sleeve to wipe my face, Artemis caught me before I could stab myself. Right the knife. The knife that could end Damonus. The knife that would end Damonus. The same Damonus who was a kid. Who was pleading with me. Who had just made a silly, dumb mistake that anyone with an unusual class might make. Damonus, who had bullied kids. Damonus, who was someone¡¯s son.


    I lifted my knife one last time, and ¨C

 Chapter 15 - Decisions II

    I lifted my knife one last time, and dropped it, clattering to the floor. I collapsed crying as well. I couldn¡¯t do it. I couldn¡¯t end his life. Artemis picked me up, held me as I cried, comforted me. It was humiliating to be crying in front of Artemis. Why was that? I don¡¯t know; I was too upset.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Artemis!¡± I blubbered ¡°You¡¯re right, I can¡¯t do it! I can¡¯t kill him in cold blood!¡±


    ¡°Shh, shh, it¡¯s ok¡± she rocked me. She picked me up such that I was facing away from Damonus as she rocked me, comforted me. A sickening splat came from behind. I knew what had happened. I didn¡¯t want to think about it. ¡°Let¡¯s go to the baths. It¡¯s a good place to soak and relax after all of this. We can have a lovely chat.¡± I didn¡¯t want a lovely chat, but the baths sounded nice. I could cry in peace, and nobody would notice.


    I was being carried around crying a lot these days. I didn¡¯t like it. No more crying for me. I had been broken out of my kiddy naivety; I had a glimpse of how nasty the world really was. Fantasy world this was, fantasy land it wasn¡¯t. Childhood was fun, but unlocking the system ended up locking away being a kid. We went down a few streets, and I wriggled my way out of Artemis¡¯s arms to walk on my own. I expected the world to look different. I expected that darkness and evil would be coming around every corner. There was nothing of the sort. The vendors were still cheerfully selling their food, brightly painted signs advertising all sorts of wares that could be found. Kids still ran up and down the grey zone, making an obstacle course out of barrels and crates, swinging down ramps and ropes. Runners still sprinted by on their runs, and street kids still eyed unguarded purses. Given what fate awaited them otherwise, I really couldn¡¯t blame them anymore. Not that I would relax my vigilance, but had a better understanding now.


    We made it to the baths, stripped, and went in, finding a spot of our own in the swirling impenetrable steam. I saw Artemis¡¯ body, covered in scars all over. I couldn¡¯t help but stare, and she noticed.


    ¡°This one here¡± she pointed to a jagged streak under her breast ¡°was from a Selkie. Thought it was a normal human at first ¨C that¡¯s how she got so close. I noticed the fur a hair too late. These ones¡± she pointed to a huge string of medium-sized cuts that made a pair of treads from her waist to her shoulder ¡°was from an Abelisaurus. Nasty thing broke through our formation and tried to eat me whole. Armor, vitality, and a defensive skill, and it still nearly ate me in one bite. Thank Solaris for teammates.¡± I was horrified. I was fascinated. Her skin was a tapestry of all of the nasty things in the world that considered humans lunch, and an epic tale of survival. I looked closer. I couldn¡¯t find more than an inch or so of unmarred flesh.


    ¡°What about your nose?¡± I asked. ¡°Why is it a different color?¡±


    ¡°Well, lost it a few months ago. Healer patched me up, got me a new one.¡±


    ¡°Wait, healers can restore lost noses?¡± I asked, incredulously. I didn¡¯t believe her, but at the same time, her nose was a different color, and there was magic here.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s the defining skill of high-level Light healers.¡± Artemis said.


    ¡°How did you get this one?¡± I asked, touching a streaky-looking scar on her leg.


    ¡°HA! You just had to pick that one. Your dad gave that to me when we were kids! We were just playing around, ¡®Soldiers and Formorians¡¯, and he got me good with his makeshift spear.¡± She paused, reminiscing. ¡°I beat him like a rug for that.¡±


    Artemis gave a deeply contented sigh as she sank into the water. ¡°That¡¯s the other half of life as a mage, fighting every day. Things fight back. Monsters don¡¯t want to die any more than you do.¡± I reflected on what Artemis was saying as I started to wash my hair. It was sticky and matted. Why was my hair sticky and matted? I hadn¡¯t been playing in the mud. There were bits in my hair. I tugged one out as Artemis started to move quickly towards me. I looked. I realized. ¡°Not in the bath!¡± Artemis cried out, conjuring a bowl in front of me right as I lost my breakfast. And lunch. And possibly last night¡¯s dinner. Yup that was last night¡¯s dinner.


    A cry of disgust came from somewhere deep in the steams of the bath, as a small rock was thrown my way. Traditional. Deeply unappreciated at the moment.


    We cleaned up as I was shaking, and Artemis did me the favor of washing the rest of my hair for me. I didn¡¯t want to think about what was being cleaned out. Today had been harsh enough, and I just let myself luxuriate in the nice, clean (ItIsCleanDoNotThinkAboutIt) bath, steam rising up all around us.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Artemis apologized, as she splashed more water over my hair and ran her finger through it. ¡°I¡¯m used to all of this. The blood, the guts, the killing. I wanted to show you what the world was like, but I forgot just how sheltered people are in the towns. I forgot you¡¯re just a kid. I over did it. Sorry. I owe you one.¡± I turned and gave Artemis a big hug, forgiving her. It was nice hugging Artemis. Even the scars that crisscrossed her all over weren¡¯t unpleasant, just texturing. ¡°Why do you have scars on your body, but so few on your face?¡± With how dangerous everything was, I had a hard time believing that she had dodged every single headshot. ¡°I get most of those removed. I simply couldn¡¯t have anything marring this beautiful mug of mine.¡± Artemis replied flippantly, in a faux-fancy voice. ¡°I keep a few important ones as a reminder, and this one,¡± she gestured at a nasty-looking jagged one. ¡°I haven¡¯t had time to fix yet.¡±


    ¡°How do you remove a scar?¡± I asked, fascinated. This was all new to me!


    ¡°Well, you need a Light-based healer, and a Dark-based healer. Sometimes you can get both in one healer, but they¡¯re rare. Darkness healer removes the scar and scar tissue ¨C and sometimes you¡¯ll heal again without a scar, but that¡¯s a coin toss, and you¡¯ll lose every time ¨C and the Light healer is to make sure it heals properly.¡±


    We spent more time in the baths, people coming in and out while we soaked, letting the tension and stress of the day melt away. If Artemis was anything at all like me (which I was seriously doubting at this stage), the baths did good things to her mental health after a round of fighting and killing. Speaking of.


    ¡°Artemis, why did you decide to kill him in the end?¡± I couldn¡¯t say his name.


    ¡°Because he was a threat to your dad. I don¡¯t leave threats to my friends alive.¡±


    ¡°How could he be a threat?¡±


    ¡°Remember the story of Indomindus the Slave, and his quest for revenge?¡±


    Of course I knew it, everyone grew up with the story, along with Nautus the Sailor, and Saguitus the Archer.


    ¡°How does that ¨C oh. He would be mad at dad, and might come back later. But most people dad arrests don¡¯t come back and try to kill him!¡±


    ¡°Maybe so. I¡¯m around this time, and I¡¯m not leaving anything to chance. I can¡¯t get them all, but I can get this one.¡±


    Dark philosophy. I didn¡¯t agree.


    We must have spent another hour or two relaxing in the baths. I was just letting my thoughts wander, and I suspect Artemis was actively [Meditate]-ing. I guess she could sit still! All good things must come to an end, and eventually we picked ourselves up out of the baths, toweled off, got dressed, and headed back home. It was getting dark, and the moons were just starting to rise. I shivered. They were full again, and while I had adapted to most things in this world, the sight of a pair of ferocious red eyes glaring down on me every night still set my teeth on edge. They were watching. They knew everything. Artemis looked up at them, and frowned.


    ¡°You as well?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yeah. They don¡¯t sit right with me. They¡¯re not natural.¡± Artemis replied, walking along the road. ¡°I¡¯m kinda surprised you picked up on it. Most people don¡¯t.¡± We walked a bit more, Artemis deep in thought. ¡°You know, I¡¯m going to be around a few days while my squad has some time off. How about I help you get your general skills up?¡±


    ¡°Would you? Thank you THANK YOU!¡± I was jumping up and down in excitement. Training from Artemis! ¡°I¡¯ll have to check with mom if she¡¯s ok with it. Hopefully I won¡¯t be too busy with chores.¡± I worried over it.


    We made it home, and dad was still alive, hurray! From the sounds of it, that wasn¡¯t a given when we left. Dad was still getting the stink-eye as he hurried around the house doing the thousand and one little things needed to keep it going. Mom had her arms crossed, wooden spoon slowly tapping. She must have a spoon related skill if it was still intact.


    We all settled in for dinner after some time, and mom, dad, and Artemis spent ages catching up. I listened, fascinated, hearing about a life and a world I never knew existed. All three had come from the same village, but Artemis ran away from home when she was 15. She wouldn¡¯t say why, but apparently went bright red and offered to do all of the cleaning up when mom alluded to it. Apparently, it had caused quite a stir. We were regaled with tales of trading with Selkies, outwitting goblins at their own game, baiting dinosaurs, dealing with rogue classers, hunting down bandits, and occasionally, just occasionally, cleaning out slimes. My eyes were shining as I heard all of the adventures. Life as a Ranger sounded grand, but then I remembered the blood and the gore earlier, and I connected the line of scars on Artemis with the story of how the Abelisaurus nearly ate her. I shuddered. There was clearly a lot more to her stories than she was telling. Was she ¨C was she trying to protect mom and dad as well? The idea boggled my mind.


    ¡°So Julia¡± Artemis leaned back, patting her stomach, having eaten enough food for five rowers. ¡°I¡¯m here for another day or three, and I¡¯d like to train up Elaine here a hair.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not training Elaine how to fight. No. I forbid it.¡± Mom was still on the warpath earlier from dad.


    ¡°But Julia¨C ¡°


    ¡°Don¡¯t ¡®But Julia¡¯ me! No means no.¡±


    ¡°But Ju-¡°


    ¡°NO!¡±


    ¡°But ¨C ¡°


    A glare cut Artemis off. Artemis, slayer of goblins. Artemis, eater of dinosaurs. Artemis, lightning-danger. What was this power, and how did I learn it?


    ¡°I just want to help her with her general skills¡± Artemis said very quietly and very, very quickly.


    ¡°Oh, well why didn¡¯t you say so earlier? Of course, you can help Elaine with her general skills.¡± Mom asked cheerfully, thunderclouds on her face gone.


    ¡°I was trying to! You wouldn¡¯t let me get a word in edgewise!¡± Artemis protested the unfair treatment. Heh. It was nice to see someone else get yelled at for once. Artemis caught my smirk, and shot me a look. Ooooh no, I was in for it now.

 Chapter 16 - General Skills Bootcamp

    Artemis vanished before we all went to sleep, and reappeared the next morning, doing her absolute best to eat us out of house and home. Given that we generally didn¡¯t store a ton of food, it was a very serious risk. Artemis and I left the house, and took a walk to the park.


    ¡°Alright, now that we¡¯re alone, we can start.¡± I looked at her puzzled. Artemis snorted at me. ¡°I grew up with Julia. I know exactly how she thinks, and what she did with her skills. I can guess what she¡¯s done with you and your skills. So, what skills do you actually have?¡±


    ¡°Identify, Knives, Vigilant, First Aid, Anatomy, Running, and Learning¡± I quickly rattled off.


    ¡°Elaine.¡± Artemis looked at me.


    ¡°Yes?¡± I said, all innocence.


    ¡°I can count. Come on, spit it out, what¡¯s your last skill?¡±


    I looked down, slightly embarrassed. What would the fierce ranger Artemis think if she knew I took [Pretty]? She probably didn¡¯t have anything like that. I wringed my hands together as I shifted from foot to foot. Anyone else I would be fine with telling. Anyone else I would be happy to tell. But this was ARTEMIS. She glared at me, foot tapping impatiently. I couldn¡¯t bear the look.


    ¡°[Pretty].¡± I said, as quietly as I could. Artemis eyed me. Oh god here it was


    ¡°Solid. Yeah, I can see that. Good pick!¡± she said. I was confused. Artemis didn¡¯t laugh at me for it? She thought it was a good pick? ¡°Oh, don¡¯t look so confused. I have a similar skill.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Which one?¡± I could believe it.


    ¡°Not telling! Nyeah¡± she replied, sticking her tongue out at me.


    ¡°Alright, lets head back, I need to pick some things up from your place.¡±


    We headed back, where Artemis and mom did some running around, getting some strange things together. Some bandages I understood. What were the leather scraps for? Why were we bringing some thick woolen socks with us? And what was the comb for? This felt like a bad interrogation movie ¨C ¡°Won¡¯t talk eh? Bring me a comb, a used wool sock, and an old boot.¡± ¡°No! Not the boot! Anything but the boot!¡± I was dead curious, but Artemis had a gleam of mischief in her eyes ¨C it was clear she wouldn¡¯t tell me anything. We wandered out of town, into a clear-cut field around the walls.


    ¡°Why here?¡± Thinking about it, I had spent nearly my entire life inside of the walls of Aquiliea. I hadn¡¯t left. There just wasn¡¯t a reason to leave, everything we needed could be found inside of the walls of the town. Oh sure, merchants, sailors, and farmers were constantly in and out ¨C it wasn¡¯t like everyone just lived inside ¨C but for some reason, we just never had a reason to leave.


    ¡°Ok, quick review time. Class, level, mana regen, and levels of each of your general skills.¡±


    I gave a quick rundown, snapping out each point as quickly as I could.


    ¡°What on Pallos is [Child of Earth]?¡± Artemis eyed me suspiciously. Crap. This wasn¡¯t good. I started to sweat ¨C literally, it was already fairly warm, it didn¡¯t take much more for me to start. Err Err Err¡­


    ¡°I have no idea¡± I said, very convincingly. Artemis didn¡¯t look convinced. By Edor¡¯s rusty trident, I was doomed. I looked down to the ground, pretending to be fascinated by the grass and ferns. Why was this field so short? The grass and ferns and other misc. plants should be growing as tall as possible should they not?


    ¡°Eh. Whatever. Congratulations on level 8. Sounds like you haven¡¯t allocated any free stats yet, right?¡±


    ¡°Right.¡±


    ¡°Ok. Don¡¯t allocate anything into the physical stats. You¡¯re still growing, you can get quite a few more naturally. You probably won¡¯t get anything more in Speed though, since you have [Running]. I¡¯m not completely sure, but it seems like if you have a skill relating to a stat, you¡¯ll level the skill instead of the stat. I have no idea how to level the magical stats naturally. I¡¯ve heard of it, no idea. Glad that [Learning] is at level 8. No idea how I¡¯d level that one either. Ok, to start, let¡¯s dump enough stats into your magic stats to get everything to 10. Quite a few entry-level classes I¡¯ve heard of ask for that.¡±


    That made sense. Let me see. My magic stats were currently:


    [Mana: 2]


    [Mana Regeneration: 2]


    [Magic Power: 2]


    [Magic Control: 10]

 Chapter 17 - The first Class-up

    ¡°You¡¯re just about ready to class up now! Congratulations!¡± Artemis threw her hands up in the air. ¡°You only have one real decision left to make. Do you allocate your last few stat points into Strength, Dexterity, or Speed to get them up to level 10, or not?¡± Artemis paused and thought for a moment. ¡°I suppose you can also try and train them up to 10 on your own naturally. You¡¯d lose a lot of growth time of your main class though, and I¡¯m not sure I¡¯ve seen anyone do it.¡±


    Breathe Elaine, breathe. This was all coming on way too fast. I knew I was heading in that direction. I had no illusion on why Artemis was training me, that I needed to eventually pick a class. I just didn¡¯t think it would happen this fast, this soon. Artemis noticed my distress, and tried to help me.


    ¡°Ah it¡¯s fine, you should just focus on it and get it done with! What¡¯s the worst that can happen? Julia murders you?¡± Never mind. She wasn¡¯t trying to help me; she was enjoying winding me up. I couldn¡¯t think. I had to think. This was too important to get pressured into. Stall, stall, how could I stall?


    ¡°Hey, could you tell me if you think I should put my points into a stat, and which one?¡± Ahha, stalling tactic found!


    ¡°Yeah, get speed to 10. Most of your running efforts are going to result in [Running] going up, not speed, so spare yourself the effort of leveling it naturally and just get it. Then you¡¯ll have no excuse!¡±


    I thought about what Artemis said. I mostly asked as a stalling tactic, but she did have an excellent point. I wasn¡¯t going to get too many more points in Speed naturally, and out of the physical stats, Speed and Dexterity were the ones that spoke to me the most. I could save for later. I might find myself needing to boost another stat. Artemis made excellent points. Getting Speed to 10 might unlock more options.


    Slowly, solemnly, I allocated my last few points to speed. I looked at Artemis. She gave me an encouraging nod. ¡°Hang on, should we not talk with mom and dad?¡± I asked. Artemis was being strangely insistent on me classing up right now.


    ¡°Eh, what could they say? Just go on, do it, go! Become what you always wanted, what you were always meant to be. You¡¯ll know what I mean when you get there. Don¡¯t worry, I¡¯ll protect you while you¡¯re gone.¡±


    Protection? Why would I need protection? Where was I going? Ah well, Artemis was probably being metaphorical or something. I wasn¡¯t quite sure. I focused on my first class to class up, and got a notification:


    [*Ding!* Are you sure you want to Class Up now? Yes/No]


    I focused on selecting the yes, and felt my mind sucked away.


    I was standing in a library. A library! At long last! Rows of books everywhere, from floor to ceiling! A grand chamber, filled with knowledge, books with spines of all colors. Most were white or grey. Many were shades of pink and red. A few other colors were scattered throughout ¨C some yellows, a green or two, even a violet book inside of a case. There was a staircase leading to another floor, but there was a delicate chain denying access.


    ¡°Hello!¡± A musical voice came from behind me. I whirled around, to see a young woman standing behind a counter, where a librarian would be in a normal library. She had gentle blue eyes, wearing a t-shirt and jeans, with wavy light brown hair going down just a bit past her shoulders. She encapsulated the word ¡°pretty¡±, with delicate facial features.


    ¡°Oh my god! Are you from Earth as well!?¡± I asked, spotting a familiar band¡¯s logo on her shirt.


    She chuckled at that. ¡°Yes and no. I¡¯m you. You¡¯re me. I¡¯m your guide here, the part of your soul that understands the system. Here, with the way you perceive things, I¡¯m the [Librarian]. The book for that class is right here¡± she took out a pale pink book ¡°but I¡¯d have to recommend against it. Give it a read though, see what it¡¯s like.¡±


    It had been so long since I last read anything. At least nine years. Curious, confused, I picked up the book and started reading. I read of the smell of musty books, of organizing shelves. I read a tale of selecting and curating books. I read of reading books and literature, all day. I read of perfect recall, of knowing where every book in my domain was located. I read of research, of helping people find the knowledge they needed. I read of being the [Librarian]. With great reluctance, I tore myself away from the last page. ¡°Wow.¡± ¡°Just wow. What a trip. You said you¡¯re against me learning this?¡±


    The Librarian ¨C that was how I decided to call her, since ¡°me¡± was just too confusing ¨C smiled sadly. ¡°You have the love and the passion needed, and so it¡¯s allowed. But tell me. Can you read in the world we are in? Do books even exist in the world we are in? Would they even allow a woman to be a librarian? We get experience for performing in our class, and a librarian without a library is nothing.¡±


    She was me. I knew I couldn¡¯t argue with her, for the truth of the matter came from my heart. ¡°Maybe for another class¡­¡± I reluctantly hedged. And I knew she knew it as well. ¡°Maybe.¡± A sad smile. ¡°Hey! First library in years. Let¡¯s go reading!¡± she tried to cheer me up. It worked. Of course it would work, we were the same person. So, I went reading.


    [Baker¡¯s Apprentice]. [Yoga Enthusiast].


    [Apprentice Tailor].


    [Slicer of Fruit].


    [Apprentice Archer].

 Chapter 18 - So many new skills!

    [*Ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve upgraded your first class ¨C [Apprentice Control Healer] - Light]


    [[Apprentice Control Healer] ¨C Healing calls to you, and you have answered. Now go forth, and learn how to heal]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Apprentice Control Healer] has leveled up to level 9! +1 free stat point, +1 Mana, +2 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +2 Magic Control from your class, +1 free stat point for being human, +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Apprentice Control Healer] has leveled up to level 10! +1 free stat point, +1 Mana, +2 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +2 Magic Control from your class, +1 free stat point for being human, +1 Mana Regeneration from your element]


    ¡­¡­¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Apprentice Control Healer] has leveled up to level 32! +1 free stat point, +1 Mana, +2 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +2 Magic Control from your class, +1 free stat point for being human, +1 Mana Regeneration from your element]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! You can now advance your class!]


    [*Ding!* WARNING: Once you start advancing your class, you must pick an advancement.]


    What on Pallos was going on? Unlocking the system got you all of your accumulated experience until then, but I had never heard of someone immediately jumping up to level 32 and being ready to class up AGAIN.


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Light Affinity]!] You¡¯ve worked with light magic some, and with this skill, your ability to use light magic will improve. Increased affinity per level.


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Soothing Touch]!] Healing is easier when your patients are calmer. Your touch can calm and sooth patients. Control and efficiency improved per level.


    [*Ding!* Your [Anatomy] skill and [First Aid] skill can merge into a class skill! Would you like to learn [Medicine]? Nothing will be lost in the merging of the skill.]


    [*Ding!* For reaching level 10, you¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Minor General Healing Boost]!] You¡¯ve worked hard at healing, and with this skill, you¡¯ll be able to help your patients heal a bit faster. Increased efficiency per level.


    [*Ding!* For reaching level 15, you¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Flash]!] Generates a bright flash of light. Seems useless, right?


    [*Ding!* For reaching level 15, you¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Centered Mind]!] As nice as it¡¯s for patients to be calm, it¡¯s even more important for the healer to not freak out. Increased stability per level.


    [*Ding!* For reaching level 20, you¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Light]!] You¡¯re the bright light for your patients. With this skill, that metaphor can be a bit more literal. Brighter, longer light per level.


    [*Ding!* For reaching level 25, you¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Minor Local Healing Boost]!] You were able to heal your patients a bit faster. With this skill, you can now target what gets healed faster. Increased focus and efficiency per level.


    [*Ding!* For reaching level 30, you¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Invigorate]!] You¡¯re no good at invigorating people with words and actions, so we¡¯re giving you a skill to compensate. Can transfer mana or energy to a person. Increased efficiency per level.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 9!]


    [Vigilant: You¡¯re constantly on guard for trouble, aware of your surroundings at all times. Increased perception and awareness per level. -3 Mana Regeneration. Second tier: You¡¯ve managed to stay alive this long thanks to this skill. Increased range per level. Additional -30 Mana Regeneration.]


    I just lay there, stunned. What was going on? So many tasty skills! I could heal magically! Kinda. But I just couldn¡¯t get really excited by it. I just jumped from level cap to level cap. This couldn¡¯t end well for me. I had a dread suddenly take me over. What if Artemis could tell that I was now level 32? What if she decided that yes, I was indeed a monster? What if she lightning¡¯d me into nothingness? I started to sweat. I couldn¡¯t meet her eyes.


    ¡°Come on already, tell me whatcha got¡± Artemis coaxed. I hadn¡¯t even heard her ask the first time. I sweated. I should just tell her. I could explain. No, she would lightningify me before I could explain. Hair trigger. I could feel some sweat start to form.


    ¡°Wow, that bad? Yikes.¡± I was an open book. She would find out eventually. Maybe if I just told her, she wouldn¡¯t identify me and find out my level.


    ¡°I got [Apprentice Control Healer] - Light].¡± I mumbled.


    Artemis squatted next to me. ¡°Aww, cheer up! That¡¯s a fine class to get! Sure, it isn¡¯t [Mage¡¯s Apprentice] like you were aiming for, but it¡¯s a really good class! You also got light affinity! Light control healers are the BEST! Saved my life oh um¡­ hmm... that one time in the Kadan jungle doesn¡¯t really count¡­ but that time in Ariminum really should¡­ 15 times! At least. Probably one or two more times I can¡¯t remember.¡± She waved that off. As if dodging death wasn¡¯t a big deal.


    I gave a huge sigh of relief. She thought I was bummed out about getting a bad class, not the level thing. Safe!


    ¡°Aww cheer up. You¡¯ve gotten a gre-, errr, decent class! And so soon after unlocking your system! Well, a lot of people get a class after unlocking their system, but it¡¯s usually something enforced on them by their parents. It¡¯s usually not very good either.¡± Artemis winked at me. ¡°Well, let me be the first one to see your lovely new tag!¡±


    ¡°Eeep! No!¡± I cried out, curling up in a ball. Please make it fast, please make it fast, no pain please.


    ¡°Elaine?¡± Artemis sounded worried. She kneeled down next to me, wrapping me in a hug. ¡°Elaine, it¡¯s ok. You can tell me. I won¡¯t hurt you. Shhhh, it¡¯s ok. Even if you have a terrible class like [Murderer], I¡¯m here for you.¡± Fuckit.


    ¡°It¡­.. it¡¯s not my class¡± I said through sobs. ¡°My level. 32. Please don¡¯t lightning me I don¡¯t want to be lightninged. I¡¯m a human, I promise.¡±


    ¡°Oh honey¡± Artemis¡¯s voice broke. ¡°I¡¯d never lightning you.¡± She quickly glanced at me, and went back to reassuring. ¡°Not my little healy-bug. It¡¯s ok, shhh, shhh. Your level doesn¡¯t matter.¡± She continued to hold me and rock me. I felt relieved. I remembered a sickening thud. I worried more. She held me more tightly. Relief. Worry. Reassurance. At long last, forgiveness, acceptance.


    I don¡¯t know how long I spent breaking down, and Artemis building me back up. The moons were high up in the sky by the time we were heading back in town, half-lidded like a dragon going to sleep. We got home late, and I was handed off to mom, who promptly tucked me in bed. Exhausted, I started to drift off when a sound like a bomb went off.


    ¡°What did you do to Elaine!?¡± Mom exploded in rage.


    Some quiet mutterings I couldn¡¯t make out.


    ¡°She came back with a [Healer] tag. But that¡¯s not all, nooooooo. For some reason she has color now! Color when you identify her! What. Did. You. Do!?¡±


    Thwacking noises. Cries of protest.


    ¡°You really expect me to believe that you didn¡¯t decide to kill a few monsters when you were out there!? How else could she have gotten so many levels?! She didn¡¯t get them here in town!!¡± Mom was righter than she knew on that. I had a sneaking suspicion what happened.


    More pained noises. Indignant cries. Wounded cries. The sound of wood on bamboo. It was nice to hear someone else getting the flat end of the spoon. I smiled as I rolled over to sleep.


    I awoke the next day to find Artemis gone. Apparently, her break was just about over, and it was time for her team to get going. Wish I had met some of that team, although if they were anything like Artemis, I probably wouldn¡¯t have survived the week.


    The next day, I had a long talk with mom about the skills I had acquired, and a path forward for me. Apparently, she had Ideas about what class I should¡¯ve taken, and it was only Artemis¡¯s interference that let me really pick what I wanted to be. Mom really didn¡¯t want me having the [Healer] tag when identified ¨C apparently it brought trouble. ¡°Since they know you¡¯re not a fighter or physically based.¡±


    I had thought that [Minor General Healing Boost] would be the least useful skill of mine, but mom thought it was [Flash]. I thought it could be used to defend myself, mom pointed out that I shouldn¡¯t be doing much defending. I pointed out her [Healer] comment, she retorted that I might as well be good at what my tag says.


    I conceded. She was my mom after all, and I had already unwittingly thrown a bunch of wrenches in her plans.


    The next day I went out to find Lyra. I had soooo much to share with her! Skills! Classes! Levels!


    I went into Lyra¡¯s home ¨C the smell was worse than usual; they were never good about the mold but I would never say anything - and found her quickly, looking a little sweaty. Probably the heat, it was getting hot, and a house with a bunch of people in it wasn''t exactly cool.


    ¡°LYRA!¡±


    ¡°Elaine.¡±


    ¡°Oh my god I have so much to tell you! I classed up!¡±


    ¡°Ehhh! So did I! Mom made me though.¡± she quickly cheered up, but then her pale face fell.


    ¡°Oh no! Tell me about it!¡±


    ¡°Well, I really wanted [Acolyte of Solaris], and I was offered it, but mom insisted ¨C INSISTED ¨C that I take [Apprentice Seamstress] instead.¡± Lyra was tearing up.


    ¡°Oh no Lyra! That sucks! Maybe you can get it next!¡±


    ¡°Maybe¡­ mom will just make me get another class that she demands¡­ maybe I shouldn¡¯t level up until I¡¯m older¡­¡±


    I felt so bad for Lyra. Was this the fate that was in store for me if Artemis hadn¡¯t worked her unique brand of non-lethal magic? She had played me so well, without me realizing what was going on.


    ¡°Well, hey, let¡¯s go play in the park! Running jumping and more! I leveled up my [Running] a bunch and I got 10 speed!¡±


    ¡°Pffft¡± A light chuckle from Lyra. ¡°I did sooo much better than you. I got my Dexterity to 17, and Strength to 15. HA!¡±


    Ah hmm. Yeah, I had basically nothing in the physical stats, so everyone would outstrip me. Where was that lovely grey zone, I would probably end up living in it.


    ¡°So! Park? You can show off all your cool new tricks!¡± I asked.


    ¡°Sorry Elaine, not today. Maybe tomorrow.¡±


    I eyed her suspiciously.


    "Is everything ok?" I asked.


    She thought about it, struggling internally, before forcing a smile on her face.


    "Yeah, I''m ok." I didn''t completely believe her, but I let it be.


    Lyra seemed really bummed out, and probably just wanted a day to mope about her class. Alright, tomorrow it was.


    I woke up the next day to find The Maestrai was in full force today, a violent, vicious wind off of the Nostrum sea. Mom and I spent the day hunkered down inside, passing the time, with bonus dad. He usually had to work in The Maestrai anyways, but having a week off of work was nice. We could all spend quality time together. He confessed that he generally spent most of the time hunkered down as well, even when working. The wind wasn¡¯t particularly dangerous, it was just exceedingly uncomfortable to be out and about in. Especially if a pair of mischievous girls grabbed handfuls of sand and went running around throwing it in the air. I felt a tiny bit bad for that stunt Lyra and I pulled, but in our defense, it was fun. A day with family, a day to bond, a day to check out my new skills and put them in practice. A good day. Sadly, sans Lyra, but hey, there was always tomorrow to catch up some more and play.


    I woke up in the middle of the night to a pair of notifications that would haunt my nightmares for years to come. The happy *ding* of the system forevermore would fill me with dread, fearful that I would see it again, a cruel reminder of what I had done, of what happened.


    [*Ding!* You have slain an [Apprentice Seamstress] (Water, lv 8)]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Poisoning]!]


    [Poisoning]: With malice or without, you¡¯ve gotten a poison into another¡¯s body, killing them. With this skill, you can do it again, and even better! Increased knowledge of poisons per level.


    It didn¡¯t make it clear who it was. I knew exactly who it was.


    I had somehow killed Lyra.

 Chapter 19 - Funeral

    It had been the bandages. The damn bandages that I thought were fine. The ones I knew hadn¡¯t been boiled, but knowledge of boiling wasn¡¯t present here, wouldn¡¯t be known. I had been flippant. I had been selfish. I had chosen to protect myself and my secrets, over the health, and in the end, life, of my best friend.


    The house hadn¡¯t been smelly because of the mold. It was the smell of Lyra¡¯s legs rotting away under those bandages. There had been other things I didn''t pick up on. Being pale and sweaty. The [Poisoner] class being an option. Not being as lively when playing in the park, moving to not wanting to play at all. She hadn¡¯t been keeping them on because she thought it would make me happy. She was in pain. She thought she should just keep her head down and suffer quietly, to not make us unhappy, to not make me worry. IDIOT! Mom might have been able to do something if she had known. We could¡¯ve gone to another healer and fixed her even if mom wasn¡¯t able to do anything. I could¡¯ve tried to [Invigorate] her, or even use [Minor General Healing Boost] to help fight the infection. Damnit Lyra, why did you not tell us, why did you not let us help!?


    Why did you go Lyra, my only friend, why? I don¡¯t want to be here without you. You were my sun, my best friend, my partner in crime, my twin. We should¡¯ve grown up together, been neighbors, always covering each other. Our kids would have also been best of friends. All that was gone now.


    Maybe not gone. ¡°PAPILION! YOU BASTARD! GIVE LYRA BACK!¡± Seira or Aion might also have a hand in restoring Lyra. None of them answered. Death was final.


    Lyra didn¡¯t rate a crypt, or even any sort of burial site. The best we managed to do was a fire with just her. I slowly took Daphne, Lyra¡¯s favorite doll, and placed it onto the pyre before it was lit.


    ¡°Be at peace now Lyra. You can be a Priestess now. Papilion will see to it, I know it.¡± I sent a prayer, as fierce as I could, and felt my mana draining in response this time. Who knows, maybe it helped. More likely it just did nothing.


    The pyre was lit, and Lyra¡¯s body went up with it. I hoped White Dove had taken her somewhere better. I knew Black Crow had my feelings.


    I had been sandbagging. I had been casual about this world. I thought I had been beamed to a fantasy world, that everything would always turn out ok. I had been scared of revealing what I was, who I was, and the knowledge I did have. Oh, the truly scary stuff might be gone, whatever physics and chemistry were. I still had a ton. I still knew germ theory. I still knew boiling water was good. I still knew that blood circulated. I still knew that four humors was bullshit. I knew about the kidney, the liver, heart and lungs, guts and gonads. I was no doctor, but what little the average modern-day girl picked up was leagues and miles ahead of what they had here. There would be no more sandbagging. There would be no more concealing of knowledge, when that knowledge could save someone¡¯s life. They had lives as vivid and amazing as mine, who was I to say mine was worth so much more?


    As I watched Lyra¡¯s body go up in flames, I made a solemn oath to myself.


    First, do no harm.


    Healing is my art.


    I will use all of my knowledge and tools at my disposal to heal those that come to me.


    I will heal those I see to the best of my ability.


    I will apply all measures that are required to my patients.


    I will never see a patient as anything other than another creature in pain.


    I will not discriminate who I heal based on class, sex, race, what gods they pray to, nor by any other means.


    I will defend the patients under my care from harm and injustice.


    I will only take up a knife to defend myself or my patient.


    I will admit when I don¡¯t know how to heal a patient.


    I will respect the privacy of my patients, and hold in confidence anything that is said to me.


    I will teach and spread my knowledge to the best of my abilities, asking for no recompense.


    I will not forget you.


    There was clearly so much more to the system than people knew or were taught, because after making that oath, I got a notification.


    [*Ding!* You have made the promise [Oath of Elaine to Lyra]! Would you like to accept this general skill? WARNING: Oaths are binding.]


    A warning, and an ominous one to boot. I took it without hesitating. It was a much better tribute to Lyra, a better reminder of her, than taking the [Poisoning] skill.


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra]: A solemn healing Oath from Elaine, to Lyra. +5% healing knowledge, power, and control per level while followed. Breaking the Oath has severe consequences.]


    This would do as my eternal remembrance of Lyra. This would do.

 Chapter 20 - 6 years and change later

    Time went by in a blur, and before I knew it, I was 14 with fall fast approaching. It was just about time to transition from bamboo tunics to woolen ones, and I grabbed my dyed bamboo shirt, and a plain woolen one, to get the green trims carefully moved over. I said bye to mom, and started to walk down to the river to do the sewing.


    I still missed Lyra, every day. She had been gone for as long as I had known her, and the raw, burning pain of her loss had dulled into a persistent ache. Nobody understood me like she did. Nobody was close to me like she was. Becoming a Light [Healer] had been a mistake in some respects ¨C everyone wanted to get close to me because of what I was, not who I was. Maybe some genuinely wanted to be friends, and were genuinely nice, but it just felt like a betrayal of Lyra¡¯s memory, and a nasty part of me whispered that they just cared about how I could heal, not for me. That part of me was probably wrong, but I hurt too much to care.


    Gods I was lonely. Artemis would swing by every two years or so for a week, and was due any day now. I couldn¡¯t wait to see her again! She always had some exotic treat from somewhere in the Republic, always had a new tale of adventure. Every time she was around was magical, and she taught me so much about classes, skills, levels, and life. Her stories of adventure and travelling the land were oh so interesting to listen to, a fascinating window into the dangers that lurked about.


    Don¡¯t get me wrong, I had no desire to go on adventure myself. Hearing the tale spun, knowing the heroine herself was the one telling me? That was a different kettle of fish altogether. Since it was roughly the right time, I spent every day tuned, ready and waiting to hear the series of lightning bolts raining down by the gate that announced Artemis¡¯s arrival into town. Why they made Rangers discharge their mana before coming into town was a mystery.


    I was finally in the white zone on the road, although my physical stats and skills were low enough that I could duck into the grey zone if I wanted to. For my first class¡¯s evolution, mom wanted me to grab something related to being a midwife. In my first major act of rebellion, I¡¯d gotten [Light of Hope] at level 32 instead, a broad healing-class instead of a focused one. Somehow everything I had done up to the point where I was roughly 9ish qualified me to be level 54, and after a long talk with The Librarian, our best guess was talking to gods and travelling worlds was worth a lot of experience points.


    My second class had unlocked once I reached level 64. [Child of Earth] had shown up again, this time with a water element. That one I had evolved into [Student], and since nobody was going to teach me how to read, I decided to seize my own destiny. When someone couldn¡¯t pay for healing and had the right skills, I insisted that they teach me how to read for a few hours. When I had the basics down, I grabbed the [Sneak] skill, and started to break into the local library at night to read scrolls by my evolved light skill, [Flashlight]. That had started its own game of cat-and-mouse with the local guard, who wanted to catch whoever was breaking into the library. I was even chased by dad once! The library was boring in the end, since it was almost purely records ¨C the idea of fiction existed sure, but there was no audience for books of it. The popular stories were told and retold by bards and in plays, and what few books I found were just more retellings of those stories. That realization had hurt my soul deeply, and further threw me for a loop. What was I supposed to do with my life without a huge quantity of books to consume?


    I blinked, realizing I was at the river already.


    ¡°Elaine!¡± Septima ran up to me, giving me a big hug. I let her hug me, not really returning it.


    ¡°Septima.¡± I responded, gently extracting myself from her grasp.


    ¡°You¡¯re moving your dyes over, right? Here, hand that over, let me do it, it¡¯s the least I can do.¡± Septima insisted, gently taking my old and new tunic out of my hands. I let her. I had recently fixed her husband¡¯s arm when it got badly broken in an accident, and they couldn¡¯t pay much. We discussed it, and with a tiny amount of coaxing I had let her talk me into letting her do my laundry for a few weeks in exchange. Everyone won. I had slightly less to do, doing a few extra bits of laundry when you were already down at the river took no real extra effort, and Septima¡¯s husband¡¯s arm was properly healed in no time, letting him keep his job effortlessly. Dad¡¯s own brush with becoming a cripple, and our entire family nearly ending up as slaves still haunted me, and I was sensitive to people put in similar spots.


    That, combined with my [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] prodding me to heal everyone, had rapidly made me a healer of last resort in Aquiliea. Most people were leery of having a kid heal them, let alone a woman, but when their backs were against a wall, and they couldn¡¯t pay for a normal healer, suddenly they managed to put that behind them. Initially, I could only help people¡¯s natural healing along, and my low power made that not do all that much, which helped explain why light healers were so rare. My popularity had exploded once I got my [Shadow Healer] class though, and I could actually do something about disease. Getting older had helped as well. Easier when it was a teenager than a kid.


    I found a spot to sit down and wait, and rapidly found myself the center of attention. [Calming Aura] and [Healer¡¯s Aura] both had a moderate range and powerful effects, and the women and girls down by the river seemed to ascribe a lot more effects to the auras than they really had. No amount of protesting got them to change their mind ¨C for example, they were convinced it helped with fertility and good looks when no such effect was described ¨C but no one believed me when I said otherwise. This also put me at the center of attention, and everyone felt obligated to chat with me, as some sort of payment for benefitting off of the aura I was giving off.


    I saw Flavia notice me, and came bouncing up.


    ¡°Hey Elaine! How¡¯s it going?¡± I always felt happier around Flavia, but I¡¯m not sure if that was because of her, or because of her [Happiness Aura] skill.


    Flavia liked hanging out with me, and she was one of the people I thought was actually trying to be friends with me because she wanted to be friends.


    ¡°Heya Flavia. Not much, just getting ready for winter.¡±


    ¡°Oh cool! Got your scarves all set? Doing anything special this year?¡±


    ¡°No, not really.¡± I didn¡¯t want to chat too much.


    I made some polite noises, but I really didn¡¯t want to talk. I had tried turning off my aura at one point so I wouldn¡¯t be the center of attention, but that had gotten me so much negative attention and bullying that I decided it was safer to keep my aura up. People can be positively vicious when they decide that you¡¯re deliberately withholding something from them, that you could just give freely. So my aura stayed on, people stayed near me, and other aura-givers like Flavia, at the river, and I was just thankful that someone else was doing some of my chores for me.


    People came, people went, but there was a bit of a muttering through the crowd as Octavia came down to the river. She had a pair of black eyes, bruises on her arms, had red eyes and was shaking on her way down. She was trying to hold it together, but it was way too obvious that things were wrong.


    I might not be a fan of people being around and chit chatting, but I absolutely was game to help heal someone, anywhere, any time. From the looks of it, Octavia had gotten beaten pretty badly by someone, which would probably mean the guard would get involved. Dad being a guard meant I was familiar with quite a few of them, both personally and because I¡¯d occasionally go with them on a patrol. I got lots of exposure to people sick or injured when doing that ¨C sometimes the guards themselves!


    I started to walk over as some of the more matronly women rushed over to Octavia to comfort her. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was their presence ¨C after all, they had powerful skills of their own ¨C or my aura, but Octavia calmed down, and we started to get the story out of her.


    ¡°It¡­ it was Cornelius¡± Octavia finally sobbed out. Her recently-wedded husband.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been feeling sick, feeling lousy, and I was exhausted. He didn¡¯t want to take no for an answer. So he¡­¡± The rest didn¡¯t need to be said. Octavia¡¯s look at the river made the rest of the story clear.


    I reached in through the crowd to tap her. [Boost Local Regeneration]. [Greater Invigorate]. [Boost Local Regeneration]. [Boost Local Regeneration]. I tapped her head, her arms, her stomach. It was times like these that I slightly regretted giving up my global regeneration boost for the aura. I had thought it would do the same thing. I hung back, and let others, like Flavia, take care of Octavia¡¯s mental well-being. While I tried now and then, I just never clicked, I was never on the same wavelength.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Light of Hope] has leveled up to level 99! +1 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +1 Magic power, +5 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Light Affinity] has reached level 99!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Boost Local Regen] has reached level 73!]


    Oh, but I was hopping mad. The flames inside of me were roaring in anger, in hatred, at the person who let this happen. Octavia still had her full family around, a solid support network, Cornelius getting arrested and thrown into prison or sold into slavery wouldn¡¯t cause a ripple effect to her. I knew just the person to talk to as well to make sure justice occurred. Dad.


    The crowd around Octavia thinned down a bit, and she seemed a little bit better. Some healing, some therapy, food somehow had come out of nowhere. When you¡¯re at rock bottom though, it¡¯s easy to come a little bit off of that, but the trauma would last a lifetime. It would keep lasting and reoccurring as well, as long as she was married to that prick. However, this did seem like a good moment to negotiate payment. Mom had always said healing for free was a quick way for people to expect that you would always heal for free, and down that path lay madness. I had already seen some of it with people expecting my healing aura to be up all the time when I was doing laundry.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Healing Aura] has reached level 91!]


    There were benefits to keeping it up all the time in a group of people though, and the high level reflected it. I always felt bad when I had sour thoughts, and then it would level up ¨C it indicated that yes, it was clearly working hard, and clearly having an impact, helping heal small invisible injuries. After all, if only healthy people were standing in it, nothing would ever happen. As it was, the impact was so small I could never tell, but it probably was doing something.


    I started to approach Octavia, and opened my mouth when I felt a strong arm go around me, and a hand go over my mouth. I felt no fear, no malice, this wasn¡¯t to harm me. I let myself get gently but firmly dragged back, where I was released and saw Septima.


    ¡°Elaine.¡± She waved a finger at me menacingly. ¡°If you dare try to charge Octavia, I will rain pyronox on you.¡± I was pretty sure she couldn¡¯t rain pyronox on me ¨C everyone would know if she had the element ¨C but the message was clear.


    ¡°But ¨C ¡°


    ¡°No buts Elaine! She¡¯s just been through a disaster. No. Let this one go. Or I¡¯ll pay for her. Just don¡¯t kick her when she¡¯s down. Do you think her husband¡¯s letting her have any money if he¡¯s doing that to her? Do you think she can fill your bounty on wind weasels? Do you think she has anything to give?¡±


    Septima might have a very good point or five. I looked down at my feet, unable to meet her eyes.


    ¡°Fine.¡± I conceded the point. ¡°I can¡¯t be healing people for free all the time though.¡±


    Septima gave me a tight smile. ¡°Nobody¡¯s asking you to Elaine. You heal everyone, regardless of how much or how little they can pay. We know it, we appreciate it. We try to pay what we can. Just consider Octavia someone who truly, actually, can¡¯t pay anything, nor exchange anything.¡± She paused for a moment.


    ¡°Your hatred of wind weasels is just plain weird, you know that right?¡±


    I opened my mouth, starting to explain. She cut me off before I could get any steam going.


    ¡°Yeah yeah, you¡¯ve told me before. Just lay off Octavia ok?¡±


    When put that way, it was much more reasonable. I relaxed, and then we all jumped as lightning bolts came down by the south gate.


    ¡°What on Pallos?¡±


    ¡°By the gods, it happened again!¡±


    ¡°Our doom has arrived!¡±


    ¡°Damn classers!¡±


    ¡°Artemis!!¡±

 Chapter 21 - Catching up

    Feelings were clearly mixed about the lightning, but I didn¡¯t care as I sprinted towards the south gate. The spot at the river was relatively close, although the baths were even closer to the south gate. I could run with all I had, and try to meet Artemis at the gate, or I could play it a bit safer, and go directly to the baths where I knew Artemis would spend the next few days trying to drown herself.


    Screw it. It probably took her a moment to get through the guards after mostly emptying her mana pool. I was fast. I could get there in time. Navigating crowds was hard when you were short ¨C it was all backs, backs, fronts, backs, no idea if I was about to end up in a temporary half-ring dead-end of stalls and need to back out, no idea if there was an accident ahead that would trap me. Still! Onwards! Down the main road!


    Hey wait, was that Euterpe? I skidded to a halt, staring. Euterpe was a year or two older than me, training to be a guard. We had a good amount of contact as a result, and he was pretty good looking. And handsome. And cute. And ¨C well, needless to say, I have a massive crush on him. Always butterflies when I see him. I could walk over, say hi¡­ no, wait damnit, Artemis! Focus! Get to the gate, meet up with Artemis. Stay on task.


    I carried onto the gate, with some additional butterfly companions. I got there to find only two Rangers hanging out at the gate, identifiable by their well-worn armor and eagle badges ¨C a massive bear of a man, who could probably lift 800 pounds before the system started to enhance his strength, bow on his back, and a smaller, wiry man, weather-beaten face with several slender blades strapped to him. There was a large covered wagon with two horses and the Ranger logo on the side. They were talking with one of the guard captains, and I managed to catch the end of the conversation.


    ¡°¡­on the road to Virinum, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but again, we¡¯re not quite sure what¡¯s going on. Whatever it is, it leaves no traces behind. We only noticed because Citizen Arotro alerted us to the problem.¡±


    Bah, boring Ranger stuff. The giant bear - I wasn¡¯t convinced that was a human and not a shaved bear stuck in armor - seemed to be less interested in the conversation, so I poked his leg (How does a human get so damn big!?). Nothing happened. Might be all that armor. Might be that it took a year or two for a signal to get from ground to brain. I tried knocking on his armor, figuring it had a better chance of being noticed. The guards and the wiry man were still chatting, so I was being ignored.


    Bear-man finally noticed me and looked down, then squatted down to be eye-level with me. He came down, and down, and down, and I had to fight a strong sense of motion sickness as my eyes insisted I had to be moving ¨C after all, the mountain doesn¡¯t come to Mohammad, Mohammad goes to the mountain - while my ears claimed I was standing still.


    ¡°Can I help you?¡± he asked, finally at a level where what I would say would reach him.


    ¡°Hi, few questions¡± I responded, completely unphased. Too much time around Artemis had stripped the mystique and grandeur from the Rangers, if not from Artemis herself.


    ¡°One: Which way did Artemis go? Two: How long are you staying in town? Three: How on Pallos did you get so big?¡±


    ¡°Ah, you must be Artemis¡¯s little pet.¡± he rumbled, as my mouth opened in outrage. ¡°Baths. A week, unless we need to leave early for whatever¡¯s on the road. Lastly, my secret.¡± he replied, winking at me on the last one.


    ¡°I¡¯m not-¡°


    ¡°You absolutely are. Small, friendly, she chats about you, brings you treats, you follow her around like a puppy ¨C pet. Completely and totally.¡± His voice sounded like a grinding of rocks, like boulders falling down a mountain.


    I closed my mouth in outrage, and stalked off to the baths. Humph. I wasn¡¯t a pet. I wandered over to the baths, paid my entry fee, got changed, and slipped into the baths. Ok, now to find Artemis. All of the steam made it ridiculously hard to see anyone or anything, but it was possible to hear things. It made gossiping a high-risk activity, since you never knew if the person was in and could hear you ¨C but at the same time, it was hard to find out who was saying something about you. So, in the end, gossip abounded, with words floating over the water, steam obscuring faces. It was even possible to have a conversation with someone on the other side of the baths, and neither party knew who the other was.


    ¡°Artemis?¡± I called out.


    ¡°Julia?¡± I heard Artemis from my left and forward. I started to wade over that way ¨C it was deep enough to swim, but not comfortably.


    ¡°Artemis?¡± Our strange game of Marco-Polo continued.


    ¡°Elaine!¡± A face from the steam. Artemis! I awkwardly leap forward to give her a huge, crushing hug. ¡°You sound just like your mom does! Makes a lot more sense that you¡¯d come and find me.¡± I nodded happily. I got a good whiff of Artemis. I gagged at the stench.


    ¡°Oh gods¡± I cried out, falling back. ¡°I understand now why you soak here for a few days.¡± Artemis just chuckled at that, continuing to scrub herself, dozens of new scars crossing her arms, legs, chest, and back. Ouch. ¡°What can I say, life on the road. Few to no luxuries, but the sights, fights, blights, slights, heights, and lights can¡¯t be beat.¡± I eyed Artemis suspiciously. She was no word smith.


    ¡°How long have you been working on that?¡± I demanded. Artemis just laughed at me, giving me a huge hug. ¡°Way longer than I''d tell you healy-bug.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of that! Artemis, I got my second class! I got ¨C¡° *murfle murfle murfle* the rest of what I was going to say got rapidly muffled by Artemis¡¯s hand over my mouth.


    Oh no I could smell her again. I backed away gagging. ¡°Artemis please spare me.¡±


    ¡°Elaine, you¡¯re not a kid anymore, you can¡¯t just shout out your class and level in public! The baths look private but they¡¯re not, you know that! We¡¯ve caught criminals because the dumbasses were bragging in the baths! You have no idea who¡¯s in here!¡± Artemis scolded me in a low hiss.


    I sighed petulantly. She was right, but it was never clear to me why people were so private about their classes and skills. I still believed in knowledge, in writing things down, in sharing information far and wide. Earth had been that way, and was so much more advanced as a result. Sure, Earth had a few tens of thousands more years of humanity than Pallos did, but the concept remained. I was 14 though, and in no position to overhaul all of civilization. For now, I was still subject to other¡¯s rules.


    However, I did have a card to pull over Artemis. There was no need to say it, but Artemis was on even more of a hair trigger these days, and it was best to let her know that A) I was using the skill, B) what the skill was, and C) that it was harmless.


    ¡°[Privacy].¡± I said, wrapping us in a cocoon of privacy. It was like a gauzy curtain if you tried to look into it ¨C or out ¨C and it muffled most, if not all sounds. Perfect for a bit of doctor-patient confidentiality, and it helped keep my Oath happy.


    Artemis raised an eyebrow at that, and poked tenderly at the walls of [Privacy].


    ¡°Neat skill. Must have evolved that [Learner] class of yours to something dark related?¡±


    I preened at her praise. ¡°Yeah, I got [Shadow Healer].¡± Artemis cocked an eyebrow at me. ¡°Elaine, what were you doing to get [Shadow Healer]?¡± Ah hmm. Awkward story that. I must have looked shifty, because Artemis started to playfully grill me. One round of tickles later, and I confessed everything.


    ¡°Breaking into the library? Bold move! You know, we were asked to look into that! The guards couldn¡¯t figure out who was doing that, they were getting worried about your motives.¡± I started to sweat. Landing on the Ranger¡¯s radar was Bad News. Fortunately, I felt at this point that Artemis had no real interest in harming me, and I made it abundantly clear with woodpecker-like motions that I had stopped breaking into government property.


    ¡°How did that lead to you getting [Shadow Healer]?¡±


    ¡°Well, I went to evolve my class, and my options were terrible. [Book Thief]. [Cat Burglar]. [High-rise work]. [Expert Sneak]. Bunch more like that! [Shadow Healer] seemed to synergize with my other healing class, and got me out of that route.¡±


    Artemis nodded seriously. ¡°Yeah, I can see that. Puts you as a Light-and-Dark healer, and those can get some serious oomph when they grow up. Tucked away safely in a town like this, you can afford to dual-class like that. Solid move!¡± She lightly punched me in the shoulder. Owe. ¡°Tell me the rest of what you have!¡± I told her everything about my current skills, stats, everything. If she had it all, she could help me on my path forward, and it always, always paid off massively.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 14]


    [Mana: 1990/1990]


    [Mana Regen: 3909]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 137]


    [Strength: 10]


    [Dexterity: 21]


    [Vitality: 11]


    [Speed: 10]


    [Mana: 199]


    [Mana Regeneration: 521]


    [Magic Power: 204]


    [Magic Control: 487]


    [Class 1: [Light of Hope - Light: Lv 99]]


    [Light Affinity: 99]


    [Calming Aura: 96]


    [Medicine: 94]


    [Healing Aura: 91]


    [Boost local Regen: 73]


    [Flashlight: 90]


    [Greater Invigorate: 96]


    [Centered Mind: 88]


    [Class 2: [Shadow Healer - Dark: Lv 73]]


    [Dark Affinity: 69]


    [Stealth: 36]


    [Surgeon¡¯s Scalpel: 63]


    [Attack Bacteria: 69]


    [Parasitic Remover: 35]


    [Tissue Removal: 64]


    [Cure Toxin: 55]


    [Privacy: 67]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 65]


    [Knives: 71]


    [Pretty: 90]


    [Vigilant: 81]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 59]


    [Lost and Found: 60]


    [Running: 48]


    [Learning: 88]

 Chapter 22 - Injustice

    I went to the market to shop, the riot of colors and magical displays almost exactly like the summer. The only difference was that since it was getting colder, a large number of people had broken out colorful scarves, perfect since they could be constantly worn and re-worn. The blur of teal, green, and orange of summer were moving into more crimsons and blues, with the occasional flash of purple. More could be invested into a scarf than a tunic, since there was less material to dye, and the re-wearability improved dramatically.


    Wait, shit. My tunic! I had completely forgotten it with Septima in my haste to see Artemis. Scatter-brain strikes again. Blah, I should drop all of this off at home, go down to the river, and apologize to Septima. Or go to her place and pick it up there. Argh. At least I had ¡°Tracking down lost objects¡± down pat. That was even how I had gotten a skill related to it ¨C [Lost and Found], and was deeply embarrassed at how high it was. Was probably going to get a few more levels at this rate finding my tunic. Stop leveling, damnit!


    Well, if I had a bunch of running around to do, I might as well drop my shopping off at home. Why could this world not have spatial rings or something similar? No shopping carts, no rings, worst of both worlds. No fridges or anything meant that we were constantly visiting the market for the day¡¯s food, but such was life. It was nice to get out and about, and see people.


    I was on my way home, bag full, when I bumped into my favorite mango vendor.


    ¡°Hey! How are you? Health all good?¡± Pleasantries to start. Always be polite. I was finally tall enough to get a good view over the edge of the stall. I wasn¡¯t seeing mangos on display, worrying.


    The vendor smiled at me. ¡°Elaine! My favorite mango-mouse! I¡¯m doing fine, and yourself?¡±


    I looked at him expectantly. This was our exchange; this was our ritual. Pleasant greetings. Mangos for money. Words didn¡¯t need to be said after the initial exchange. My money was already out and on his stand.


    He was looking uncomfortable for some reason though.


    ¡°Ah, bad news Elaine¡­ no mangos today.¡± My face fell. ¡°There¡¯s some sort of plague in Perinthus, no traders are leaving. And I sold the last of my stock earlier.¡± He informed me, pushing the coins back to me.


    What! This was awful! This was terrible! No mangos! Crestfallen, I left to continue home.


    I got home, and yay, dad was around! He was sitting in the main room, maintaining his leather armor. I could talk with him about Octavia, and sick the guards on her husband.


    ¡°Hey dad¡± I called out as I dumped the groceries into the kitchen. I still felt guilty every time I saw him and his fierce-looking eyepatch, no matter how much I was reassured that it wasn¡¯t my fault. I might be able to fix it soon though!


    ¡°Hey kiddo.¡± Dad called back from the living room. Talking through an open door, meh, but it worked. I bustled around the kitchen getting things together.


    ¡°Did you forget something today?¡± Shoot. How did he know?


    ¡°Maaaaaybe why do you ask?¡± My poker face was terrible, glad he couldn¡¯t see mine.


    ¡°Because Septima swung by, dropping off a pair of tunics she said were yours. Something about you vanishing mid-laundry.¡± I swore to myself. Caught red-handed.


    ¡°Eh he, I gotta thank Septima¡­.¡± I tried to deflect. ¡°Artemis is back! Yummy dinner!¡± I started cooking, mostly as an excuse to trade direct verbal roasting for the more literal roasting of the kitchen. Fish soup for dinner tonight! A rich special meal, celebrating Artemis being back.


    Dad was having none of that though. ¡°You need to be more thoughtful Elaine. You can¡¯t just be gallivanting about. You¡¯re an adult now. You¡¯re of a marriageable age. You need to focus.¡±


    Yeah yeah, standard losing stuff lecture #3 ¨C wait WHAT marriageable age!?


    I popped my head out of the kitchen, beloved knife still in hand from slicing up the fish. I pointed it at dad.


    ¡°What do you mean, marriageable age? I¡¯m nowhere near old enough to be married.¡±


    ¡°Elaine, a knife is not a toy, or a pointing tool. Put it down.¡± Ehhh, I was annoyed at him, but he had a point. Probably had a few too many knives pointed at him in day-to-day life to be ok with it happening at home. Knife lowered.


    ¡°You turned 14 a few months ago. You¡¯re old enough to be married off. Julia and I married when she was 14. You should start getting used to the idea.¡±


    ¡°What, no! 14¡¯s way too young to be married! Even 18 is pretty young!¡±


    Dad sighed. ¡°I¡¯m not sure where you get these ideas. We¡¯re not having this conversation at this time; I¡¯m just letting you know to get the idea in your head.¡± Softly, under his breath but not too quietly. ¡°Everyone told me that their children rejected the idea at first.¡±


    I popped back into the kitchen, temporary truce with dad established. He didn¡¯t want to argue about marriage, I didn¡¯t want to get lectured about losing things. I wasn¡¯t getting married at 14, and there was no way I was going to be ¡°Married off.¡± I was choosing who to marry if anyone.


    ¡°Even if it was Euterpe?¡± A quiet part of me whispered.


    Ok, that gave me a moment¡¯s pause. A second moment of stirring the pot.


    ¡°Yes, even if it was Euterpe. Nobody chooses for me.¡± A bit of taste-testing of the food, a bit of seasoning, and it was time to just let things simmer for a bit. I popped back out into the living room.


    ¡°Hey dad, I heard about a problem when I was down by the river that I think you should know about.¡± I started. I got him looking at me.


    ¡°Guard-related?¡±


    ¡°Guard-related.¡± I confirmed.


    ¡°Never a moment off-duty.¡± he complained ¡°Ok, go on.¡±


    ¡°Octavia came down to the river, she was assaulted, and badly beaten.¡±


    Dad paused mid-stitch, looking up at me.


    ¡°Why on earth didn¡¯t she come to the guards!?¡± He asked, jumping up. ¡°Does she know who did it? What about her husband?¡±


    ¡°Well, it was her husband, she said.¡± Dad got an awkward look on his face and settled back down. Hang on, wrong direction! Up and at em! He coughed awkwardly a few times as he settled back down. My eyes narrowed. Knife was pointing again.


    ¡°Talk fast.¡± I threatened.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you threaten me.¡± Dad snapped back. I held my ground. I got a deep, weary sigh of someone who had bad news to deliver, who hated the news, but was delivering it anyways and hoping the messenger wouldn¡¯t get killed. That did seem to be a thing here interestingly enough.


    He spent some more time thinking, before coming out with an answer. ¡°You¡¯ve been told this, but you don¡¯t seem to really understand. The patriarch of the family ¨C in this family, me, in Octavia¡¯s case, her husband ¨C has literal power of life and death over the rest of the family. I¡¯m pretty sure Artemis showed that to you at one point, although she never confirmed. When I say ¡®life and death¡¯ it¡¯s quite literal, and encompasses that and all the more. We can¡¯t do anything about it. What happens in a family, stays in a family. I just don¡¯t exercise most of that power, and you seem completely unaware of it as a result.¡± He paused to collect himself.


    I was shaking in fury. Or fear. The two were getting fairly mixed up. I took a moment to sheath my knife, my [Knives] skill helping me not nick myself from the shakes.


    ¡°Of course, the head of the family can¡¯t ever go too far, otherwise the entire town could stop doing business with them. That¡¯s the only real check though, and from the sound of it, I doubt anyone would stop doing business with Octavia¡¯s husband.¡±


    Rage flowed through me, hot and angry. Flames were burning me up inside. I had no good way of expressing it, at the unfairness of it all. I let out a snarl-scream, stormed back into the kitchen, and slammed the door shut.


    No way I was going to cool off here. Too hot. I slammed out of the door, and into the bedroom instead. ¡°Stop slamming doors!¡± Dad yelled at me. I slammed it extra-hard. Hurmph. It wasn¡¯t my bedroom anymore ¨C I slept on a cot in the living room. Which was quite a luxury, as most families stayed in one giant huddle. My excuse was ¡®so I could help someone that came in the night¡¯, but that didn¡¯t seem to hold much water. Either way, I got a cot, and everything worked out.


    Mom still healed, but I was starting to outshine her, to her great delight. We had almost as many people asking for me as for her, and since she was firm on her prices, I got some of her more desperate patients. By and large though, being older, with more experience and higher levels, got her to continue to command the majority of patients.


    Either way, life was harmonious, and I had cooled off a bit when I heard mom coming back home. I was vaguely thankful for dad letting me blow off some steam, and not insisting that I ¡°properly work it out¡± or some nonsense like that.


    I left the bedroom ¨C carefully NOT slamming the door this time, I knew that mom had a spoon-related skill, even if she had never told me it, and caught a start of a conversation between mom and dad.


    ¡°¡­ went well, but they¡¯re still not ¨C ¡°Mom¡¯s information was cut off by a sharp slashing motion across dad¡¯s neck. Interesting. Where had mom been? Who could dad possibly not want listening in? Why was fastidious mom¡¯s tunic dusty?


    The gears in my head crunched for a bit, and a lightbulb went off. Me. There was some secret involving me going on here. I narrowed my eyes, and put on my best Holmes hat.


    Start softly, let¡¯s see if we can get an open confession.


    ¡°Hey mom!¡± Way too cheery, I should dial it back. ¡°Welcome back. Where have you been?¡± Perfect! Time to find out everything! Confess villain!


    ¡°Oh, here and there, taking a walk around town, just saying hi to some of my friends, picking some stuff up at the apothecary.¡±


    Rats, a perfect deflection. Let me try pushing a bit more.


    ¡°Like who?¡± That got me a Look.


    ¡°Elaine, contrary to popular belief, I do have friends you know. You know what I was getting at the apothecary.¡± Mom chastised me, hands on her hips. ¡°It¡¯s none of your business. I believe Artemis is coming for dinner?¡±


    Right, Artemis! Dinner! Shit the soup! I sprinted over to the kitchen, only to find the precious ambrosia moved off the stove, onto the side.


    My Holmes hat was still on. Only one person had the means, the motive, and the opportunity to save the soup. ¡°Thanks dad!¡±


    The sun was starting to set, and a cool breeze drifted through town as Artemis showed up at our door.

 Chapter 23 - Level 100 I

    A scene of happy chaos ensued as we all welcomed Artemis back in our own way. She was out of her armor, in a tunic, but still had the Ranger¡¯s eagle pinned on her. Artemis laughed at us, giving us all a great big group hug. Ouch, something metal was pressing into my side. Dad, Artemis? Something of mom¡¯s? Whatever, it didn¡¯t matter. We were all back together again, family. Artemis¡¯s family hadn¡¯t made it out of whatever happened at Cow¡¯s Crossing, and family was hard when you were constantly on the road. Whatever friendship Artemis, mom, and dad had; it had evolved into family.


    We settled in for enough food to feed nine people, with four of us around the table. I looked at Artemis¡¯s lean, athletic figure. Where did she put all that food!? Were there actually spatial rings here, and she was secretly storing it to eat later? I looked carefully. Nope, not unless that ring was inside her mouth. Every bite down the hatch.


    Mom, Dad, and I were done in short order, in spite of taking our time. Artemis was still eating enough for six people, practically inhaling the food. In due time, The Devourer was finished with her meal, and we got to lazily catching up around the remains.


    ¡°What is new in Artemis-world?¡± I started off.


    ¡°Oh well, got to the capital and Ranger HQ, and they had a whole new team for me. We shuffle up every rotation or two, stops any one group from getting Ideas. Started with a usual team of eight, few rookies. Two of them got eaten already.¡± A dark look passed Artemis¡¯s face. ¡°When the senior rangers tell you something, listen to them damnit. We¡¯ve been in the field for years; we know what we¡¯re talking about. Bah.¡± As callous as Artemis seemed, it looked like the death of her teammates hit hard.


    We all made some comforting noises as Artemis suddenly brightened up. ¡°Ah but for you my little healy-bug, I got you something special.¡± I immediately brightened up. I loved Artemis''s visits, and the bribes gifts she always brought along were something I always looked forward to. It was always something cool, it was always something exotic. With great melodrama, moving like a glacier - deliberately winding me up - she reached into her bag, and took out a small, clear stone.


    ¡°For you Elaine. Happy late birthday! A small diamond that¡¯s been treated to hold Light-skills. You can store a skill in it, and anyone can use it. Useful in a pinch, or if you have a friend you trust that you¡¯d want to have access to a skill of yours.¡±


    I looked at Artemis wide-eyed. ¡°How did you get this!?¡± Artemis looked like a cat with cream. ¡°There miiiiiiiiiight have been a citizen who was building his own personal army. We miiiiiiiiiiiiiiight have been sent in to deal with it. He miiiiiiiiiiiiiiight have had a stockpile of goodies like this that were ¡®liberated¡¯, and a few of them miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight have gotten lost. Ooops, what¡¯s that you¡¯ve found there?¡± I didn¡¯t always pick up on hints, but this one had been clobbered into me thoroughly.


    ¡°Julia, a Lapis Lazuil, same treatment for Water. Elainus, one small ruby, Fire away!¡± These were princely gifts! Dad looked terrified at his though.


    ¡°Artemis, these are all, technically, contraband! They should¡¯ve been reported back, and given to your bosses! Even I know that! How could we explain having these?¡±


    Artemis snorted, looking around at our house. It was much nicer than it had been all those years ago when Artemis first showed up. One kid, and me pulling in something vaguely resembling money (if you got paid in fish, you didn¡¯t need to buy fish = more money for other things) had left us cozily middle-class, pushing towards the wealth of a citizen.


    ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m more surprised that you don¡¯t have any at this point. But if you don¡¯t want them, I can take them back¡­¡± Artemis leaned back, giving dad a knowing smile.


    The look on dad¡¯s face ¨C priceless. It didn¡¯t know what it wanted to be. Some combination of desire, of outrage, all mixed with biting into an especially sour lemon.


    ¡°Plus, Elaine did me some healing-related favors earlier, above and beyond what the local guard¡¯s healer did. If it makes you feel any better, these could just be payment for that.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t take payment for healing a Ranger!¡± Dad finally found something to latch onto.


    ¡°Ah ah ah, not payment for healing a Ranger ¨C payment from an obscenely wealthy patron who really appreciated it. Rangers get healed for free by the Army, everyone knows that. Again, above and beyond.¡±


    That seemed to finally convince dad, and he accepted his gem with a look of wonder, turning it about in his hand, looking at it from every angle. I figured, in for a penny, in for a pound, leaned over and put my hand on Artemis.


    ¡°[Greater Invigorate].¡± Hey, if that was Artemis¡¯s excuse for handing out gems worth a few rods, might as well poke the money tree and see if anything else came out.


    Artemis looked like she had just drunk a few cups of coffee in eight seconds (why was there no coffee here argh), which was roughly the effect of [Greater Invigorate]. She looked confused for a moment, then laughed and swatted the top of my head.


    ¡°Nice try healy-bug. Here, for effort. Last time.¡± Saying so, she reached into her pouch, and took out a single coin. Ah well. I took it over to my money rod by my bed, and threaded it on. 50ish coins or so on it? My own, personal savings, after contributing back to the household. Almost an entire rod. I was filthy rich for a 14-year-old, extra so because it was my own hard work and not money given to me like some rich brat.


    ¡°Hey Artemis, could you do me a big favor?¡± Mom leaned forward, looking expectantly. I decided to store a [Greater Invigorate] in my new diamond, it was one of my most-used skills.


    ¡°Sure, what¡¯s up?¡± Artemis was trying to pick food out from her teeth. It had been soup. Soup. There was nothing to pick out!


    ¡°Could you help Elaine get to level 100?¡±


    ¡°Sure, no problem. Kinda surprised you¡¯re throwing Elaine at me after what happened last time.¡± Ah yes, when I left at level 8, and came back at level 32, then shot up a ton after. Mom was still convinced that Artemis had taken me out to slay monsters with her, as much as we both protested that hadn¡¯t happened. Her response? ¡°I know what ¡®Don¡¯t tell your mom about this¡¯ looks like.¡± So it was a real surprise that she was asking Artemis to throw me to the lions.


    Mom gave Artemis a dirty look promising that no, she hadn¡¯t forgotten about last time still, and that she still had some slightly sour feelings over it all. What was going on? There was some secret, some conspiracy I wasn¡¯t party to, which probably meant it involved me. Birthday was months ago, the summer solstice was past, and autumn equinox was too far away. Plus, none of those had anything to do with leveling.


    We settled back down as Artemis regaled us with more tales of being a Ranger, while the rest of us told Artemis stories of what we¡¯d been up to. She leaned forward when we were telling her, eagerly drinking in every word we said. It seemed strange at first, but I thought about it. Maybe tales of day-to-day living in a city was as foreign to her as tales of wandering Remus, slaying goblins was to us. That thought made me frown. I was going to make sure Artemis had the best time here on her short break. No time to waste throwing me in the wilderness to level up, Artemis needed her vacation!


    Eventually, the evening ended, and Artemis vanished as usual, parents to their bedroom, and I had my bed in the living room. Perfect for sneaking out and reading books, and tonight, perfect for sneaking out and somehow getting a full level.


    First of all, I should take Artemis¡¯s advice on allocating my free stats. 108 free stats to Magic Control got me to 600 control ¨C but dropped my power down to 191. Blasted balancing. 9 more points in power, and a final point in control got me to where I wanted. Nope! Needed another point in power. There we go. 200 Magic Power, 600 Magic Control. I knew I¡¯d get a few more points as I leveled up, but I wasn¡¯t always the best at thinking ahead, so I figured I¡¯d get it done now, and avoid problems. Also, the math was a hair tricky at times, as evidenced by me needing to go back twice, and who knows if it was the stats before, or after, you leveled.


    Thinking cap time. I turned on my [Flashlight] under the covers ¨C what I wouldn¡¯t give for a book to mimic life on earth, where I spent countless evenings with a flashlight and a book under the sheets ¨C to start getting some teeny, tiny experience.


    Right, let¡¯s think about it. I get experience in my class by doing things. The more closely related to my class it was, the more experience I got. If I did something amazing but not in my class, that could also get enough experience to level up. For example, the world-hopping at the start of my life seemed to qualify. The more dangerous, tricky, or difficult it is, combined with how much effort I put in and how hard it seems to be, all impacted experience. This [Flashlight] was extremely easy, wasn¡¯t really in my class, and I was in no danger. Hence, practically no experience.


    Hang on, it was chewing through my mana slowly though. My regeneration was through the roof ¨C I¡¯d go from out of mana to fully recharged in about 30 minutes. Should I turn it off? Yeah, why not, less likely to keep mom and dad up, keeps me fully topped up for anything else I need to do.


    Right, thinking cap. Focus Elaine. Gotta hit 100 tonight, give Artemis a well-deserved break. Let¡¯s think about location.


    I¡¯m stuck in town because the gates close at night, and nobody goes in or out without a really good reason. I suspect the guards would take a dim view of me going out to try and find some experience. Who would I even heal outside? Myself? ¡°Yes Mr. Wolf, if you could just chew gently on my arm so I can get some experience healing, that¡¯d be great!¡±. Somehow, I didn¡¯t think it would quite end that way.


    Sneaking onto a boat might be a good idea if I planned to leave town and never come back. Who knew if I¡¯d even get to a shore before next week! Completely useless.


    Right, so I needed to be in-town. There were no real monsters in town. Sure, I could try to find a wind-bastard or two, but they didn¡¯t show up at nighttime, and their population was at an all-time low. Slimes were in the town¡¯s sewers, and I¡¯d be damned before voluntarily going in there. It stank! The slimes weren¡¯t super high level either, but it would be fighting and give more experience. I tabled that thought for ¡°in case of emergency, enter sewers.¡± So that left trying to find human trouble.


    Human trouble was bad news for a few different reasons. First, a human would beat me up no trouble. I didn¡¯t want to get beaten up, for so many obvious reasons. I suppose asking someone to artfully punch me so I¡¯d have places to heal might have some merit, although nobody I¡¯d find at this time of night I¡¯d remotely trust to do that. I needed to find trouble that other people were involved in, that wouldn¡¯t get me dragged into, so I could heal everyone involved after. Problem was, the guards were all over the place, and would¡­ find¡­ any¡­ problem¡­.


    The Guards! I was well-known to them, they wouldn¡¯t think twice about me being around, they found trouble, I could be protected, they¡¯d be happy to have me around, it was perfect! I wasn¡¯t glued to dad¡¯s side when he was out and I was helping, so they¡¯d think nothing of me being around without him, and who kept track of everyone¡¯s schedule anyways?

 Chapter 24 - Level 100 II

    Plan in mind, I quietly got up and strained my ears. It hadn¡¯t been that long since we went to bed, and mom and dad might still be awake. If they got up and found me gone, I¡¯d be in a world of trouble and hurt. Mom¡¯s skills with her spoon had only grown with age, and there was no way dad would let me see Artemis after I got caught sneaking out.


    I carefully sneaked across the room, dodging the table, putting each foot down carefully. Bless the [Stealth] skill, it had gotten me out of here more times than I could count.


    The sound of distant voices from my parent¡¯s room made me freeze, then whirl around and dive back into bed. I threw the covers over me, and pretended to be asleep, just incase. What I wouldn¡¯t give for an acting skill right no ¨C


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Acting]!]


    Chance! I reviewed my skills. Turns out, I wouldn¡¯t give up any of my skills for acting right now. Welp. That¡¯s what I get for tempting the System. The noise from my parent¡¯s room died down ¨C maybe it was just a bit of chatting before sleep ¨C and I waited, heart pounding in my ears, for another 15 minutes or so. Alright, they seemed to be asleep. Ninja time!


    I got up, and step by careful step, pausing at each to listen to the creaking wood, the gentle breeze, and for any sign of parental knowledge, I got to the door, and slipped out. Freedom! I started walking away slowly, a thief in the night, and as I left home in the distance, picked up my pace.


    It was one of those beautiful late summer nights that drive the bards wild, that stoke the imagination. A warm breeze flowed through town, bringing the scent of the ocean. The stars practically spelt the word ¡°Romance¡±, and it was a blessed double new moon. I clutched my pendant for luck, and strode towards the guard barracks like I belonged.


    I bumped into Catonus of all people, out on patrol with another guardsman, Polyphemus.


    ¡°Catonus! My fourth-favorite guard!¡± I excitedly called out to him.


    ¡°Fourth favorite!? What do you mean?¡± Catonus protested. Polyphemus was more on point. ¡°Elaine. Is there a problem?¡± He turned and walked towards me, eyes lasering in on me. People generally only called out to the guards when they had a problem, doubly so late at night.


    ¡°Nope!¡± I cheerfully walked over. ¡°Mind if I tag along on your patrol?¡±


    Catonus and Polyphemus looked at each other, and like they were in a mirror, shrugged at the same time. ¡°Sure, why not.¡±


    I jumped in the air; hands up high. ¡°Hurray!¡±


    I scurried over to them, tapping both on the arm, giving them a shot of [Greater Invigorate]. 1600/2000 mana left. Ah well, it¡¯ll recover fast.


    ¡°Whoof. That¡¯s getting pretty strong, Elaine! How high is your magic power?¡± Catonus asked, starting to walk down the street with Polyphemus, with me in tow.


    ¡°200! I put some points in today for it!¡±


    Polyphemus raised an eyebrow at that. ¡°Power healer?¡± he asked.


    I stuck my tongue out at him. ¡°Control healer!¡±


    ¡°Physical stats?¡±


    I got an awkward look on my face.


    ¡°Elaine, please don¡¯t tell me that you¡¯re sub-50 on any of your physical stats.¡± Polyphemus asked rhetorically. I was sub-20 on all of them. It must have shown on my face.


    ¡°Look, I know you want to be a healer, and there isn¡¯t a guard that¡¯s not grateful to you. But you can¡¯t go through life with no physical stats! You spend your day moving your body, it¡¯s what you do all the time! Skills are only used now and then; your body is used constantly! Please, please listen to me and put some points in your physical stats.¡±


    Polyphemus was famous for being the trainer for all of the guards, one of the highest-leveled guards in town. His advice on levels, classes, and stats were considered some of the best, and getting his advice, for free, was quite a boon. However, he was a guard trainer. If I listened to him, I¡¯d end up being the best female guard the town had ever seen. I¡¯d probably also not be able to find a job, unless I got lucky and was hired as a bodyguard for some rich citizen¡¯s wife.


    At least, I assumed there was a job of some sort there. Hence my problem with listening to Polyphemus¡¯s advice. Artemis was who I took advice from. If one day I grew up to be Artemis but-not-the-murder-part that¡¯d be great! Day-dreaming (night-dreaming?), I noticed I was starting to fall behind. Drat! Gotta catch up.


    ¡°Hey Catonus, want me to use [Flashlight]?¡± I demonstrated the sweeping bright beam, showing off the fine-tuned spotlight to the wide-ranging glare.


    ¡°Sure! Why didn¡¯t you use this earlier?¡± Catonus gave me a puzzled look. Whoops. I had been keeping [Flashlight] under wraps before, and only using it to sneak into the library. Ah well, I wasn¡¯t doing that anymore, and the genie was out of the bottle already. Might as well be useful, and stick around more. I debated saying it was a new skill, which, in a sense it was. New to public use, new a few years ago¡­


    ¡°New skill!¡±


    It had been a long day, and doing a full night patrol was getting me yawning. Nothing was happening. I was concerned that I had screwed up, and I¡¯d just end up thrown into the wild with Artemis tomorrow massively sleep deprived, when a cry of ¡°Fire! Fire!¡± came up.


    We all perked up at that ¨C the cry wasn¡¯t too far away, in the richer district where citizens lived. Catonus and Polyphemus were off like a shot, and I pushed myself as hard as I could, [Running] giving wind to my legs and [Flashlight] ensuring a clear path. I was still slower than the guards. A gentle red glow lit the sky, warmth belying its lethal nature. I rounded one last corner to find a rich, sprawling house with hungry flames licking at the structure, greedily devouring the building.


    There was a heated argument in front of the building. A full brigade of men with buckets of sand and water were in front of the building, and more were rapidly forming a line to the river. A man I could only assume was the leader of the fire brigade was having an argument with a disheveled man. A woman and a few other people behind them were trying to organize their own water brigade, but it was a meager effort. I guessed these were the occupants of the house ¨C the master of the house¡¯s family, and a few slaves they owned. I caught the tail end of the argument.


    ¡°¡­ won¡¯t sell. No way.¡± The master of the house stated.


    ¡°The longer you wait, the lower the price. We¡¯re now only offering 360 silver rods for the house and the land.¡± Brigade-leader responded.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t we just pay you to put the fire out?¡± Master of the house argued back, throwing his hands up in the air.


    ¡°It¡¯s not the way we work. 355 rods.¡± Brigade-leader was cold. Prick. Letting someone¡¯s house and livelihood burn down, extorting them. I had no doubt that they¡¯d stand there with a full brigade, and happily watch everything burn down. Catonus and Polyphemus were watching, hands on baton, ready to handle things if they got violent ¨C but not stepping in and making the brigade do their work. Bastards, the lot of them.


    A brief lull in the argument happened as someone I had mentally labeled ¡°The Wife¡± tugged on her husband¡¯s arm, and started to fiercely whisper in his ear. I heard a far-off sound, like a call, a cry for help. Wait. That was a cry for help.


    I ran up to Polyphemus, and got his attention.


    ¡°Hey, it sounds like someone¡¯s still in there!¡± I said, practically stumbling over my words. ¡°You need to do something!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, they mentioned there might be a slave or two still inside.¡± Polyphemus didn¡¯t even bother looking at me, fingers still drumming on his baton.


    ¡°You need to save him!¡± I insisted.


    ¡°I¡¯m not running into a burning building. Sorry Elaine, but no, it¡¯s not worth the risk for a slave. Maybe if they negotiate fast enough, the fire will be out in time to save them. I wouldn¡¯t hold my breath though, Sethos is a stubborn git.¡± I knew a dismissal when I heard one.


    I heard the cry for help again, stronger, the prior note of fear turning into one of terror. Was nobody really going to do anything? Nothing at all was being done? Nobody cared? We were all just going to listen to this kid burn to death?


    No. If nobody else was going to do it, I wasn¡¯t going to stand by and say ¡°Well, nobody else helped, so I wasn¡¯t going to help either. Not my fault.¡± I had to do something. I had to try. I was terrified. I had to look at the fire. I had to see the heart of the fire, face my fear, let it wash over and through me. I could turn my inner eye, see the path it has taken, and only I would be there.


    Checklist time. If I rushed this, we¡¯d both die. Something for my mouth, stop the smoke. Water in general, keep everything wet. I had [Flashlight] to help me see. I could hear where he was. I had no idea of the layout. I had no idea what was burning. 1355/2000 mana left. Why did I Invigorate so much this evening? My regeneration was insane, but that was practically nothing. I tore a strip off my tunic, nobody paid me any attention. Wrapped it around my mouth, heart beating a million miles an hour. I was hyperventilating. I had a half-baked plan. I sent a quick prayer to Papilion, wishing for safety. 1344 mana left. Not the time for this.


    I steeled myself. I stalled. If I didn¡¯t go now I never would. I moved like the wind, rushing to one of the bucket brigade members with a bucket of water. I grabbed, lifted, thanked my strength for being enough for a bucket of water at least, poured it over me. Ignored the cries of protest. Dodged a grasping hand, dove through the front door.


    Not burning here. Good. Deeper in. Flames. Burning. A closed door. An open door. A door with flames. Crouched over I ran further in, straining my ears, listening for a desperate cry. There, a yell. I turned, went through the open door. Flames to my left. Nothing to my right. Heat all around. I took a deep breath to yell. Mistake. Smoke. Coughing fit, bent over, heat getting to me. We can¡¯t both die. I yell something. I don¡¯t know what. A responding yell. Through another doorway. Flames in this door. I ran with every ounce of speed I have. A notification goes off. I disable notifications. Mouth dry. Useless rag.


    Up to the door, burning beam on the ground. I jump over it. Land, stumble, fall to the ground. Cough, so much smoke. Realize my tunic caught on fire. Oh gods I¡¯m on fire, I¡¯m going to die. [Boost local Regen]. Centered Mind kicks in. Don¡¯t heal. Won¡¯t help. Stop the fire, stop drop and roll. Obey. Hyperventilating. Only alive because I¡¯m on the floor. Breathing high up is death. Conflagration blazing.


    A shriek of panic. Close. I see him. Four, maybe five. Too young. Room only has one door. Flames in the door. Burning beams above. I call out reassurance. No idea what I said. I start to run through the door. A mighty crack. I lose my nerve. I stop. Burning beam falls. Lands on kid. No time to think. Only act. I move, finding myself next to the kid. Arm pinned under burning beam. Strength too low. [Surgeon''s Scalpel]. What to use as my Scalpel? Have nothing. No knife. Side of my hand. I slice down, large gouge of flesh gone. Arm still attached. Bone in the way. [Tissue Removal]. Slice down twice more. Messy. Better than dead. [Boost Local Regen]. Stops bleeding. Pick up unconscious boy. Smoke problem. I try to run, and stumble. No mana left. Use Arcanite. No knife. Fuck. Stumble through the first fire, legs cooking. Fall in agony, kid falls. We¡¯re going to die. I can¡¯t move. Death by inferno.


    [Oath] pulses. My pledge. My promise. My vow. Must protect. Must heal. Must live. Found strength. Lifted, onto shoulders. Ran. So dark. Smoke hiding everything. No [Flashlight]. Wrong door. Trip on a chair. Wrong door. Right door. Exit behind flames. No choice. Through the flames, screaming, crying. Collapsed outside. Kid landed hard. Not moving. Not breathing. Cries of alarm, cries of amazement. Cold water pouring on me, screams ripped from my throat as it met hot elastic flesh. Catonus and Polyphemus kneeling protectively over me. Not me, I didn¡¯t need it, save the kid. I remembered Artemis¡¯s gift. Remembering earlier would have helped, it would have given me the extra burst needed inside. Sobbing and cries, from me, from the pain which just now hit. Used the gem. Gave myself mana. Everything on the kid looked bad. What part do I heal? Where can I help?


    His arm, inexpertly hacked off? His head, matted in ashy blood? His legs and back and chest, all coated in burns of different sorts? Why was there so much yelling around me? Would it kill them to shut up? Thank goodness for passives, [Calming Aura] and [Centered Mind]. I¡¯d be paralyzed without them. No, had to be his lungs. I didn¡¯t have enough mana for a full shot of healing, and it only helped the body, it didn¡¯t work miracles. Used my skill, and with nothing left to do, nothing left to give, I let darkness claim me.

 Chapter 25 - Level 100 III

    I gradually woke up to agony. Nails in my head. A deep, throbbing pain from the rest of my body. It was like feeling it through layers of gauze, through a deep haze. I tried to say something. All that happened was an unintelligible raspy groan came out from my lips. So dry. A cool wooden cup was pressed to my lips, water gently flowing into my mouth. Water. I tried to swallow, throat was too dry and smoky for it to go down. Painful expansion of my throat as it went down, and a brief rush of relief as I felt it hit. I greedily drank more, and felt enough gumption to try and open my eyes a hair.


    The light, it burns! I closed my eyes, moaning in pain. ¡°She¡¯s awake!¡± I heard a female voice cry out, a spike of pain going through my ears. I wanted to drift back off, but there was too much noise, too much going on. A hand touched my shoulder, and a male voice spoke out, letting me know what was happening. ¡°[Remove Pain]. [Minor Heal]. [Hydrate].¡±


    My pain stopped being so distracting. I could still tell it was there, but it was more of a ¡®Hey I¡¯m here¡¯ than an all-consuming beast eating away at my sanity. The intensity went down as well, I was unsure if it was from the pain or the heal. Lastly, I just felt globally better, as I was magically re-hydrated. It did nothing for my throat, but did wonders for how I was feeling.


    No longer wishing for oblivion to reclaim me, I rejoined the land of the living and awake, slowly cracking my eyes open. Meditacus, the guard¡¯s healer, was stepping back. I assumed he was responsible for the latest round of healing. Artemis was sitting next to me, face a fresco of worry, holding a wooden cup. Probably water. Mom was in the corner on a recliner, fast asleep, somehow looking exhausted even in sleep.


    ¡°Elaine, are you ok?¡± Artemis leaned over; eyebrows knitted.


    I tried to give some response. A groan left my lips. Artemis seemed reassured by it though, because if getting burnt by fire wasn¡¯t enough, she decided to verbally roast me as well.


    ¡°Look, I know you have [Pretty], but you went a bit too far to be hot, you know?¡± Oh no, the jokes were starting. She had no mercy when dad lost his eye, it looked like I was going to get no mercy either. Flames, why couldn¡¯t you have done your job properly? ¡°I know you wanted to be warm for the rest of your life, but find a different way!¡± I groaned again, this time at the terrible puns. Artemis clearly was fluent in groan, and her face lit up like the sun. Anyone who could complain about bad jokes was A-OK and going to live in Artemis¡¯s book.


    All of these bad jokes woke mom up, and she rushed over to my side. Artemis quietly made her way out of the room, discreetly wiping at her face. Mom¡¯s eyes were moist, ready to overflow, she moved her hands as if to cup my face, but paused and hovered them just an inch away as she asked the same thing Artemis did.


    ¡°Yeah¡± I croaked out, not recognizing the sound of my own voice. Even speaking was too much on my poor lungs, as I triggered a coughing fit.


    ¡°Shhh shhh don¡¯t say anything¡± Mom tried to soothe me, looking like she wanted to hug me but didn¡¯t dare touch me. I glanced down, seeing The Mummy re-emerged in clean white bandages all over me. We both jumped as a massive thunderclap came from directly outside. My pain-sense spiked, and if it wasn¡¯t for the pain deadening, I know I would¡¯ve been screaming. Artemis came back, looking smug as a bug, but wilted under mom¡¯s glare.


    ¡°She needs rest! Peace and quiet! Not you throwing around lightning bolts!¡± Mom hissed at Artemis, the urge to yell tempered by wanting to keep things quiet near me. Artemis bowed her head at that, then glanced over at me. I couldn¡¯t help myself ¨C Artemis looking like a scolded puppy was just too funny, and I let a few laughs escape. Followed by a coughing fit, pain-sense spiking again. I could do some real damage to myself if I completely ignored this pain sense.


    A flash of pity went over Artemis¡¯s face, and that combined with mom¡¯s general hesitance finally made me realize something was up.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I gasped out.


    ¡°Nothing!¡± Too fast. Almost rehearsed.


    ¡°Artemis, tell me what¡¯s wrong or I swear I¡¯ll learn mom¡¯s spoon skills.¡± I choked out. Only thing I¡¯d ever seen that did anything to Artemis. No idea if I could learn them, but they seemed handy. Artemis didn¡¯t even have the good grace to pretend to be scared, she just exchanged a look with mom. Lots of head ticking, like a language of their own, developed in childhood. Mom took a deep breath, and turned to me.


    ¡°Ok Elaine, please don¡¯t freak out.¡± One phrase guaranteed to make anyone freak out. ¡°The burns are pretty bad. A lot of your skin and flesh melted and fused. We did the best we could, but the priority was saving your life. You¡¯re going to have some really bad scarring all over, including your face.¡±


    No. No no no no. They just wanted to wind me up, to make me feel bad. I looked down at my body, completely wrapped in bandages. I started to desperately claw at them. I needed to see. I needed to know. Mom intercepted one hand, Artemis intercepted the other. I struggled, futile. My strength was nothing compared to theirs.


    ¡°I need to see let me see please.¡± I sobbed out, drowning in desperation.


    ¡°Ok, Ok¡± mom reassured me, saying anything to get me to calm down. She slowly started to unravel the bandages on my leg. Dad popped his head in, dressed for patrol. ¡°Is Elaine ok ¨C you¡¯re awake!¡± He rushed over, was about to give me a hug when he read the mood in the room. Discretion was the better part of valor, and he backed up to watch what was going on.


    My leg looked like it had been dipped in acid or something, which wasn¡¯t too far off from the truth. I didn¡¯t bother looking anymore. I didn¡¯t want to see more of my ruined body. I let tears roll down from my eyes as dad tried to comfort me.


    ¡°If it makes you feel any better, you saved that kid¡¯s life. He made it out, he¡¯s going to be ok. He¡¯s a room over, recovering like you.¡±


    It was nice to know, I appreciated the attempt to distract me, but it wasn¡¯t going to fix me. I closed my eyes, and let darkness take me again.


    I woke up the next day to see mom by my side. After some simple daily tasks ¨C that were no longer simple ¨C a thought occurred to me.


    ¡°Hey mom?¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Why do I need to rest and heal? Why aren¡¯t magic and skills just fixing me?¡±


    Mom shook a finger at me. ¡°If I¡¯ve told you once, I¡¯ve told you a dozen times. Speeding up someone¡¯s natural healing uses the body¡¯s own resources. Most of the injuries you¡¯re dealing with are small-scale ¨C a broken bone¡¯s probably the biggest thing you¡¯ve fixed. What happened to you is on a completely different scale. You almost died! We almost lost you! Promise you won¡¯t do anything that dangerous again!¡± Tears were streaming down mom¡¯s face. I looked away guiltily.


    ¡°I promise.¡± Mom seemed mollified at that.


    A few days passed. I¡¯d wake up, ravenous, and mom or Artemis would be there with some food to feed me, one spoonful at a time as I couldn¡¯t move my arms properly, or hold a spoon. I used my [Boost Local Regen] as often as I could on various parts, hoping to speed things up. My [Healing Aura] was putting in some serious work as well.


    Euterpe dropped by one day, and I sat up, excited, heart pounding, butterfly convention in my stomach. He walked in, and the look on his face was like he¡¯d seen the biggest, ugliest cockroach ever. He looked away, muttering some excuse about ¡°wrong room¡±, and I just felt my heart drop out, a cavity in my chest filled with sorrow.


    Crush. Officially. Over.


    Later that day, I overheard some guards chatting. Apparently, Octavia had taken matters into her own hands, and the guards now had a brutal murder-suicide to clean up after. I nodded in approval, but grimaced that it was the best option for her. Nobody would help her get justice, the ¡®proper¡¯ route had been tried and failed, so she¡¯d taken matters into her own hands.


    I woke up one day to find nobody waiting for me, but a fierce argument coming from the other side of the door.


    ¡°I know we need to go, but she¡¯s the closest thing to family I have left!¡± Mysterious voice 1 said.


    ¡°We¡¯re supposed to get moving tomorrow though.¡± Mysterious voice 2.


    ¡°Come on, don¡¯t you want to see how she turns out?¡± Mysterious voice 3.


    ¡°Braver than half the Rangers I¡¯ve seen. That background check was for her?¡± Mysterious voice 4.


    ¡°Yes, and comparing anyone¡¯s bravery to Arthur is just plain unfair.¡± Mysterious voice 1. Hoots and jeers accompanied that remark.


    ¡°Let¡¯s stay a few more days, we can make it up later.¡± Mysterious voice 3.


    ¡°You just want to get your stick wet.¡± Mysterious voice 1, who I suspected was Artemis with her acidic tongue.


    ¡°Hey! They need me. And do you want my help with this or not!¡± Mysterious voice 3.


    ¡°Fine, fine, we¡¯ll wait a bit longer. But not too much!¡± Voice 2 said. Cheers all about. Artemis poked her head in the room, and looked slightly put off. ¡°Whoops, didn¡¯t mean to wake you up.¡± She said, moving into the room. ¡°What possessed you to dive into a burning building anyways?¡± Artemis asked, sitting down nearby.


    ¡°I heard a kid screaming for help. Nobody else would do anything. I figured, ¡®why not me?¡¯. I couldn¡¯t exactly complain that nobody else was doing something when I wouldn¡¯t do something.¡±


    That got an arched eyebrow from Artemis. ¡°Wow. Sure you don¡¯t have a [Fire Rescuer] class or something?¡±


    I stuck my tongue out at her, only real revenge I could extract. ¡°Nope! Healer life for me! Although,¡± bitterness unintentionally lancing my voice, ¡°it seems like I¡¯m only good as an aura right now.¡±


    ¡°Ah cheer up, you¡¯ll be fine. You¡¯ll be sneaking around to see boys at night again in no time!¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t out to see a boy!¡± I protested.


    Artemis gave a highly amused noise of disbelief. ¡°I remember being your age. Boys boys boys. Unless it was a girl?¡± I gave a small shriek of outrage.


    ¡°I wanted to hit level 100! So your vacation wouldn¡¯t be stopped by needing to train me!¡± Artemis looked like she¡¯d gotten a taste of her own element. Lip quivering, she quickly stood up and turned away from me so I couldn¡¯t see her face.


    ¡°You dumbass! I was so worried about you! I want to spend time with you! Being here, with you and Julia and Elainus is my vacation!¡± Artemis couldn¡¯t hide the happy crying she was doing. ¡°Did you at least get 100?¡±


    ¡°No¡± I pouted. ¡°I haven¡¯t gotten a single notification since I woke up either.¡±


    Artemis turned around, wiping her face. ¡°Wow, I¡¯d expect a half dozen levels in your class and 20+ skill levels for that. You didn¡¯t disable notifications or something?¡±


    The look on my face must have been priceless, because Artemis bent over, wheezing and laughing, pointing at my face. Great guffaws of laughter, howling roars of mirth. Oh come on now, it couldn¡¯t be that funny now, could it?


    ¡°Alright, alright, fine, I¡¯ll turn them back on. Ready?¡±


    ¡°Ready!¡±


    I mentally turned notifications back on, and braced myself as I got machine-gun-fire speed notifications.

 Chapter 26 - Level 100 IV

    Notifications streamed past me, too fast to follow.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 89!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 90!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Centered Mind] has reached level 89!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Running] has reached level 49!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 95!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Running] has reached level 50!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Calming Aura] has reached level 97!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Running] has reached level 51!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 82!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Running] has reached level 52!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Centered Mind] has reached level 90!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Running] has reached level 53!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Flashlight] has reached level 91!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Running] has reached level 54!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Boost Local Regen] has reached level 74!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Centered Mind] has reached level 91!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Surgeon¡¯s Scalpel] has reached level 64!]


    ¡­.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Surgeon¡¯s Scalpel] has reached level 78!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Tissue Removal] has reached level 64!]


    ¡­.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Tissue Removal] has reached level 75!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Boost Local Regen] has reached level 75!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Boost Local Regen] has reached level 76!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Boost Local Regen] has reached level 77!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Boost Local Regen] has reached level 78!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 60!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 61!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 62!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 63!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Boost Local Regen] has reached level 79!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Shadow Healer] has leveled up to level 74! +1 Free Stat, +3 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Shadow Healer] has leveled up to level 75! +1 Free Stat, +3 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Shadow Healer] has leveled up to level 76! +1 Free Stat, +3 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Shadow Healer] has leveled up to level 77! +1 Free Stat, +3 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Shadow Healer] has leveled up to level 78! +1 Free Stat, +3 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Light of Hope] has leveled up to level 100! +1 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +1 Magic power, +5 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Light of Hope] has leveled up to level 101! +1 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +1 Magic power, +5 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Light of Hope] has leveled up to level 102! +1 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +1 Magic power, +5 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Light of Hope] has leveled up to level 103! +1 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +1 Magic power, +5 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Light Affinity] has reached level 103!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Dark Affinity] has reached level 78!]


    [*Ding!* For reaching level 100, you¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Detailed Restoration]!] Through thick and thin, through fire and flames, you¡¯re there to heal people, regardless of their situation. With this skill, you can even help restore the bodies of people you were just a bit late to reach. Increased efficiency, increased details in restoration per level.


    [Notice: You already have 8 Class Skills. Remove one for [Detailed Restoration]?]


    My eyes went wide as saucers as I saw the notifications stream in front of me.


    ¡°Good stuff?¡± Artemis asked. I mutely nodded, still stunned at the notices, trying to process them all. ¡°Whatcha get for your level 100 skill?¡±


    ¡°[Detailed Restoration].¡± Artemis gave a long low whistle at that.


    ¡°It¡¯s your choice, but I¡¯d lose [Boost Local Regeneration] for that skill. They overlap function, but the restoration flat-out brings it back, while the regeneration takes time, and just helps the body along. [Flashlight] is the other option, but it¡¯s useful enough that I¡¯d keep it.¡±


    I thought about what Artemis said. Made a lot of sense, even from someone who claimed to know nothing about healing stuff. It was a good thing I was lying down as I prepared to remove my [Boost Local Regeneration] skill. Losing a low-level skill was a breeze. Losing a high-level skill (as ¡°high level¡± as level 78 was) was much more painful. I chose to take [Detailed Restoration], and shivered, spasmed, and sweated as I lost my [Boost Local Regeneration].


    As I felt the skill slide in, Artemis asked about my [Shadow Healer] class, and if I had gotten anything for it. I shook my head, feeling nauseous. Artemis grinned at me.


    ¡°Hey, guess what healy-bug?¡±


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re going to have the most perfect skin with [Detailed Restoration].¡±


    I looked at her hurt and puzzled. I was just getting used to the idea of being the elephant girl. Artemis rolled her eyes at me.


    ¡°You have [Tissue Removal] and [Detailed Restoration]. That¡¯s classic for scar removal. You can fix yourself, and you can fix the kid¡¯s arm, your dad¡¯s eye, and any number of injuries. Sure, some might take you time, but you can do it. Congratulations!¡± Artemis said, throwing her hands up. ¡°You¡¯re about to become one of the most popular healers in Aquiliea!¡±


    My eyes went wide. I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d reach this goal so soon, so easily. I looked down at my body, now with just a simple tunic, ruined limbs staring back at me. Well, maybe not easily. I focused on my left hand, the furthest limb, the one I could most afford to have a problem with if this went wrong. I then focused on my left pinky, and took several deep, steadying breaths. I could do this. I can do this. Breath in, breath out, don¡¯t lose focus, [Tissue Removal]. I screamed as my finger detached and dropped off, instinctively reaching out for [Boost Local Regen]. Nothing there. [Centered Mind] kicked in, reminding me what the plan was. [Detailed Restoration]. A lump of flesh vaguely resembling a finger ended up on my hand.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 2!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 3!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 4!]


    Four men and the man-bear burst into the room, weapons drawn, eyes scanning for threats. Seeing Artemis looking unconcerned, and me stuck in bed, clearly terribly injured and no threat to anyone, weapons were put back. Artemis rolled her eyes.


    ¡°Come on, what did you think was happening? Do you really think I scream like that? Or that anyone could threaten her while I was here?¡± Artemis shook her head. ¡°I suppose introductions are in order.¡±

 Chapter 27 - The Ranger Squad

    ¡°Everyone, this is Elaine. Elaine¡¯s the kid of my best friends growing up, a dual-classed Light and Dark healer, and the bravest girl I know. Also the culprit of the library break-ins we were asked to look into. Don¡¯t worry, she just wanted to read, for fun. Elaine, this is my squad, the rest of the Rangers I gallivant and goof off with.¡± The wiry man from earlier punched Artemis in the shoulder for that remark.


    ¡°Alright, alright, fine, proper introductions. First off is our fearless leader, Julius.¡± She started, lightly punching the wiry man right back. ¡°He¡¯s stupidly fast, and incredible with light blades in a fight. He also can¡¯t stop picking his nose, and continues to insist he does not have a bad luck curse placed on him. Don¡¯t worry Julius,¡± Artemis turned to speak to Julius ¡°we don¡¯t judge you for your bad luck, we judge you for not telling us what the curse is called.¡± Julius rolled his eyes at Artemis, then turned and delicately shook my hand.


    [Identify] showed him as [Leader].


    ¡°Charmed to meet you¡± he started off, and I recognized him as Mysterious Voice 2. ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be a credit to the Republic with your skill and bravery.¡± I had to look away, cheeks flushing from the praise. I wasn¡¯t that brave or good! I was just doing what needed to be done.


    ¡°Alrighty, next we have mountain-man, also called Arthur.¡± Artemis carried on. Glad to see I wasn¡¯t the only one thinking he was ridiculously sized. ¡°We met at the gate!¡± I said ¡°He told me where you were.¡±


    I decided to [Identify] him, and got back [Ranger]. Seemed a bit on the nose.


    Arthur grunted. ¡°Glad to formally meet Artemis¡¯s little pet.¡± A spark flew from Artemis to Arthur, causing a zapping noise and a yelp of protest as he jumped up. Artemis carried on like nothing happened. ¡°Don¡¯t let his size fool you. He¡¯s insanely sneaky in the wilderness. Materializes outta thin air. Also, in spite of being the most perfect physical specimen I¡¯ve ever seen, won¡¯t fight hand to hand. Uses a bow and poisons.¡± That got an unhappy reprimand from Julius.


    ¡°Artemis, I¡¯m all for introductions, but don¡¯t tell people how we fight. How would you like it if I went around telling people you were a Lightning and Earth mage, and you last about three seconds in a fight?¡±


    Artemis looked furious at that, the hypocrisy of it completely going over her head.


    ¡°Carry on Artemis, we don¡¯t have all day.¡± I could see why Julius was the boss ¨C he could actually keep Artemis on the straight and narrow! I nodded approvingly to myself.


    ¡°This here is Kallisto¡± Artemis carried on, pointing to a man who looked like he¡¯d stepped out of every standard hero novel, play, and movie ever made. Heroic face. Heroic eyes. Heroic hair. Somehow managed to capitalize the word Heroic, was the very epitome of the idea.


    [Warrior]


    ¡°Charmed to meet you.¡± Kallisto said, taking my hand and pressing a delicate kiss to the back. That got him swatted by Artemis, and I recognized Mysterious Voice 3.


    ¡°She¡¯s off-limits for way too many reasons.¡± Artemis growled threateningly at Kallisto.


    ¡°I was just being friendly! I never know when I¡¯ll need a healer!¡± He tried to protest. Julius threw him a look, and he wilted. My respect for Julius was rapidly going up ¨C just how good was someone that could keep this merry band of misfit Classers in line?


    ¡°Kallisto is our resident heavy front-line fighter. Takes the brunt of just about anything and everything that¡¯s thrown at us. In spite of his stunning good looks ¨C or maybe because of them¡± At this Artemis waggled her eyebrows ¡°He¡¯s somehow sneaky inside of towns, able to get into just about any room or place he wants to. Also our resident gossip. Sometimes good, sometimes he leaks our attempt to be incognito to every single person in three bars and four brothels.¡± That last statement got him a dirty look from everyone. Got it. No secrets for Kallisto.


    ¡°Over here we have Origen. From the city-state of Laconia, the only place in the Republic that¡¯s technically an ally of the Republic, not actually in the Republic. Not that anyone else besides people from Laconia care about that. Getting words out of him is as hard as dislodging a Senator. Our resident Inscriptionist, he made the water bottle from earlier, and maintains our enchantments, whips up new ones on-demand, and breaks curses. Tattoos himself after every fight and mission.¡± Origen just shook my hand and nodded. He had the strong silent type down pat, and was covered in intricate tattoos, including his bald head. It seemed hard to imagine that he had room for many more tattoos. A long, braided beard completed the odd look.


    [Artisan]


    ¡°Lastly, we have Maximus¡± Artemis started to introduce a man I could only describe as a bland not-person. It was like he had the ideal body type to be an assassin. 10 iron coins he was an assassin. ¡°He seems incapable of sticking to the same weapon twice in a row, and will generally have the most impractical weapon you can think of. Once brought one of those hefty fishing rods and entered the colosseum with it. Obsessed with the System ¨C feel free to pump him for knowledge, most of what I pass to you I got from him. Careful though! He¡¯ll ask you a thousand questions back.¡±


    [Warrior]


    Maximus walked up to shake my hand. ¡°A fellow seeker of knowledge! I heard you have a self-created skill! I¡¯d love to learn all about it!¡± With the manic gleam in his eye, I figured it was best for my self-preservation if I gave him the information.


    ¡°Basically, I made a promise, and the skill came off of that promise. It goes up when I follow it, and down when I don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Thanks! You should practice restoring other people¡¯s bodies before working on your own. Also, this might be obvious, but see if you can get someone to block pain for you when working on yourself.¡± Solid advice from Maximus!


    ¡°Anyways, this is the band of merry misfits that somehow are blessed by the government with the name Ranger Team 4!¡± Artemis ended her show-and-tell session.


    We spent some time chatting, and by that, I mean the lean mean Ranger machine spent time chatting while I looked on in awe. Eventually they ran out of things to discuss, and went their separate ways.


    With another day of building my strength back up, I could finally get up and out of bed, and start walking around. A second day, and I felt like I could start on my first real healing project ¨C healing Themis¡¯s arm. I saved him, I started to heal him, and I needed to finish the job.


    I got out of bed with some help from mom, who was going to be on pain management for my first real effort into limb restoration. To my great disgust, Sethos had decided to give Themis to us. Apparently, it made him look less bad if I had rushed in to save my family''s slave, instead of rescuing one of his, and he didn¡¯t think Themis would be worth money anymore. Prick.


    I tried to convince dad to free Themis, but he just said that it¡¯d mean Themis would starve. ¡°Charity¡± and ¡°Orphanages¡± weren¡¯t really a concept here, and it infuriated me. Still, I would do whatever I could to give him a better life, and step one was getting his arm back.


    We entered into Themis¡¯s room, and a knife went through my heart as he saw me, wrinkled his nose, and flinched back. Ouch. I knew my face looked like a melted candle, but this was a bit much.


    I approached his bed, and as cheerfully as I could muster, I checked in with him.


    ¡°Hey Themis! How are you doing today?¡± I got the cold shoulder ¨C the empty sleeve driving another knife into my heart - in return as he looked away. Yikes. From the mouth of babes comes truth. U-G-L-Y I ain¡¯t got no alibi.


    Mom had experience with kids though, and was taking no prisoners. She grabbed his ear and twisted.


    ¡°Now listen. Elaine here dove into the fire to save your life. She¡¯s now here to restore your arm, for free. The least you can do is be grateful! Stop giving her a hard time, and cooperate.¡± To my amazement, I got some mute nodding in response.


    ¡°Ready Elaine?¡± I reviewed the plan in my head. Satisfied that we had a plan, we started. Step 0: Disable notifications until the end. I wonder if I could make this automatically turn on and off.


    It started off fine. Mom deadened Themis¡¯s sense of pain, I removed the scarring on his arm with [Tissue Removal]. We had thought there¡¯d be some bleeding, but we weren¡¯t prepared for the sheer amount that started to come out of his arm. I got my first [Detailed Restoration] off, and was waiting a second for it to cooldown when Themis freaked out. He started yelling and screaming and floundering all over, which caused blood to paint the entire room, which caused him to scream and thrash more. Instead of a thin, meek kid it was now like trying to hold onto a blood-soaked pig hellbent on escaping. Somehow, we managed to get a grip on him, awkward tangle on the floor, as I got off two more [Detailed Restoration] to fix his hand.


    We got up slowly, carefully. Our footing was unsure, and I had just barely been allowed off of bedrest ¨C I was in no position to be wrestling. I felt aches and pains all over, and my eyebrows shot off of my face into the ceiling as mom touched Themis and said, mostly for my benefit, [Lesser Tides of Blood].


    My mouth felt awful, so I spat, bright red blood coming out. I blanched at the result, stuck my tongue out, and spat a bunch more onto the floor until it stopped being so red. I really hoped blood-borne diseases weren¡¯t a common thing here. I looked at mom, and opened my mouth to ask her about that skill of hers, when she held up her hand, forestalling any questions.


    ¡°Don¡¯t ask right now, later.¡± Her wisdom was proven when a few guards, attracted by the noise, poke their head in, turning pale at the sight of the red room, hands reaching for their batons.


    Mom put her hands up. ¡°We were healing him, I promise. It just got, ahem, slightly out of hand. Look! He has a new arm now!¡±


    At this we all looked down at the Themis-shaped red slime on the ground. He was moving his new arm back and forth in wonder and disbelief. He slowly, carefully stood up, looked at mom, looked at me, decided that mom looked like a better bet, and leapt to hug her, slipping in the blood but sticking the landing.


    The guards looked at each other, one of them looking distinctly green around the gills. The green gilled guard gracefully gallivanted away, grateful to be gone. The other guard looked around once more, and deciding to assert his authority (we were still in their barracks after all), ordered, ¡°Fine, but clean this place up! We can¡¯t have it stinking the barracks up!¡±. Fair enough. I mentally put him last on my ¡°to-heal¡± list.


    I turned notifications back on, and the extra stress from healing someone fighting back, and from restoring a full limb, seemed to have paid off.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 5!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 6!]


    ¡­¡­.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 18!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Calming Aura] has reached level 98!]


    I looked sideways at that notification. Really? Really? Nothing about that mess had been calm!


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 96!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Tissue Removal] has reached level 76!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 64!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Shadow Healer] has leveled up to level 79! +1 Free Stat, +3 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Shadow Healer] has leveled up to level 80! +1 Free Stat, +3 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Light of Hope] has leveled up to level 104! +1 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +1 Magic power, +5 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Dark Affinity] has reached level 79!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Dark Affinity] has reached level 80!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Light Affinity] has reached level 104!]


    [*Ding!* For reaching level 80, you¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Deaden Pain]!] Pain is important, letting you know when you¡¯re in trouble or when something¡¯s wrong. Sometimes, pain is a hindrance and a distraction. Remove your sense of pain or someone else¡¯s with this skill. Increased maximum duration per level.


    Mom and I walked back to my room, where I whipped up a [Privacy] barrier.


    ¡°I got [Deaden Pain]!¡± I started off, pumping my fist in triumph.


    ¡°You need to take that skill.¡± Mom ordered. Yikes, lay off, I wasn¡¯t a kid anymore, I was 14. I wanted to take the skill, but now I didn¡¯t want to just out of spite. I took a few deep calming breaths, letting [Centered Mind] take hold. Not taking a skill I needed out of spite would be dumb, and there was no telling when I¡¯d get a second chance at it, if ever. ¡°Fine, fine. Give me some time to think about what I¡¯m losing.¡± Mom left me alone, and I dropped [Privacy]. Let¡¯s see what my options were.


    [Dark Affinity], [Privacy], [Cure Toxin], [Attack Bacteria] were all being kept, no question about it. That left me with [Stealth], [Surgeon¡¯s Scalpel], [Parasitic Remover], and [Tissue Removal] to work with. [Stealth] was my only non-healing skill left in my class, but had some utility. At the same time, I just hadn¡¯t used it all that much, as evidenced by its low level.


    [Surgeon¡¯s Scalpel] and [Tissue Removal] had a huge amount of overlap in what they did. Out of the two, [Surgeon¡¯s Scalpel] was the one more likely to go, since [Tissue Removal] could do everything Scalpel could do, but not vice-versa. On the other hand, the Scalpel was powerful when it was brought to bear properly ¨C while I could remove flesh, it didn¡¯t heal up neatly after. I suppose being able to Restore things after made that downside a bit moot. Argh, tricky. I have a sense it should be one of those two.


    Lastly there was [Parasitic Remover], which was great for all sorts of creepy crawlies. Not only did it handle the more traditional ¡°crawl inside you¡± parasites that could come from pork and related products, but handled fleas and ticks and the like. Religious bathing and food prep kept me safe from them, but at the same time, I was rarely using the skill on myself.


    At the same time, it was almost never used. Diagnosing parasites properly was a skill I just didn¡¯t have, and I¡¯d turned down a diagnostic skill I was offered ¨C something I deeply regretted.


    In the end, it was due to regret, and a feeling of ¡°Growing up¡±, that I decided to lose the [Stealth] skill. I still wanted to insist I was a kid, but society here was starting to think I was an adult, and what adult needed to be sneaking around? It¡¯s not like I was a thief, a Ranger, a guard, investigator, or anyone else who needed a [Stealth] skill ¨C and it was pretty ironic that I had it with my first class being having the word ¡°Light¡± in it and the [Flashlight] skill.


    With a shudder, I lost [Stealth], and gained [Deaden Pain]. I immediately used it to turn off the lingering pain from the burns.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Deaden Pain] has reached level 2!]

 Chapter 28 - Healing

    We moved back home with Themis, who got his own cot in the bedroom. I had flat-out refused to share mine, which had sparked a round of arguing with mom. Dad had a quick private word with her though, and all was well. My suspicious nature was back though ¨C dad was big on sharing, why wouldn¡¯t he insist that I also share? Artemis swung by, making sure I was ok, and I mentioned that tomorrow I was going to try and restore most of my scarring.


    I woke up the next day to an absolute mountain of food being hauled inside by Artemis.


    ¡°What? Artemis? Why are you here? What¡¯s all this for?¡± I yawned, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. Artemis grinned cheekily at me.


    ¡°Morning sleepyhead! You¡¯d wake up half-eaten if you were in the wilderness. As for all this,¡± She emphasized by throwing another large fish on top of the week¡¯s supply of food. I scanned it quickly. No mangos. Drat. ¡°is for you while you¡¯re healing. Magic is magic, but most people don¡¯t realize how much mana, and Light-based restoration, comes from you. Why do you think I eat so much when I¡¯m in town? They make me drain all of my mana out to be let in, restoring it all is hungry work.¡±


    So much made sense with that. I hadn¡¯t ever really strained my mana before ¨C not in the way I was about to. Would also explain why I had been so ravenous when recuperating, and why I wasn¡¯t able to just get up and walk away the day after I was declared ¡°healed¡±.


    ¡°Alright healy-bug. Want some advice on how to tackle this?¡± I nodded, trying not to show how eager I was for Artemis¡¯s advice, how I¡¯d drink every word up.


    ¡°You¡¯ve probably thought of how it¡¯ll go, and you¡¯re probably better at healing knowledge than I am at this point. So, I¡¯ll stick to the other stuff. You¡¯ll want [Privacy] up, because if you know nobody can see you, you¡¯ll be able to focus better. I know it¡¯s tempting to heal as much as you can, then wait for your mana to restore, but trust me ¨C you want full mana before each session, in case there¡¯s a problem. Lastly, I know you want to do this alone, but you should have someone nearby incase of a problem. I recommend your mom.¡± I nodded, made sense. I grabbed Artemis¡¯s arm as everyone else was walking out of the bedroom. ¡°Can it be you?¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    ¡°Can you stick with me while I do this?¡± I shot Artemis my best sleepy puppy-dog eyes.


    ¡°Would you Artemis?¡± Mom suddenly jumped into the conversation, grabbing some food off the table. ¡°I have so much to do today, it would be a huge load off my mind if I knew you were here.¡± Artemis nodded, ¡°Sure! It¡¯s my last day here anyways, would love to spend it with healy-bug. Be nice to leave seeing her new face!¡± A whirlwind of getting ready, and mom left on her mysterious errands, dad taking Themis with him to work. He seemed to have an idea in mind to teach Themis how to be a guard, which was a much better life than a slave. We cleared a large section of the living room space ¨C this was going to get messy, and I wanted cleanup to be easier.


    As everyone left, Artemis suddenly picked me up and twirled me around, her face buried in my shoulder. It felt somewhat wet as I was put back down, with Artemis having her trademark smirk on her face.


    ¡°Alright butterface, ready to get started?¡± I opened my mouth in outrage, only to close it later. Butterface. I¡¯ll show her. I¡¯ll have the prettiest damn face by the time I was done.


    I started off by throwing up [Privacy] around us. [Deaden Pain] on, and felt all of my pain fade away. I was going to do this properly; I wasn¡¯t going to just jump into it like my last attempt. [Centered Mind] to help me focus, and [Medicine] to think about exactly what I was doing and how. The better the image I had, the less my skills needed to fill in the gaps, the more efficient and powerful my healing was. So, I focused. Bones and bone marrow. Joints and ligaments. Tendons and muscles, nerves and blood vessels. Skin wrapping it all around. Three bones, a connection back to the rest of me. The knife I¡¯d gotten from dad, [Surgeon¡¯s Scalpel] applied to give it a proper cutting edge. I breathed in, breathed out. Breathed in. The pain from last time I had tried flashing through my mind.


    ¡°Hey Artemis¡± I started, hesitantly. ¡°Could you do this part?¡±


    Artemis looked at me, eyebrows up, lips a thin line. ¡°No. Don¡¯t get me wrong, there¡¯s almost nothing I won¡¯t do for my little healy-bug, but I¡¯m not mutilating my friend¡¯s kid. No way. Nuh-un. I cause harm to someone, it¡¯s for a reason, it¡¯s to be permanent. I¡¯m not like you healer types that can mutilate others ¡®for their own good¡¯. Sorry Elaine, this is on you.¡±


    Fine. I slowly, carefully slid the knife down on my finger, separating it. There was no pain, not even a far-off sensation of pain. Just ¨C my hand now had four fingers. I kept the image I had in mind as blood started to spurt out of the wound. [Detailed Restoration]. A beautifully functional finger reappeared, elegant, as clean and clear as the day I was born. I breathed in, breathed out, checking my mana. [1978/2120]. With my regeneration so high, I¡¯d get it back in a few minutes.


    Artemis shoved some food in my hands. ¡°Here. Eat. Gotta do it now, and do it between every session. You¡¯d be surprised how fast it creeps up on you otherwise.¡± I took a few nibbles, feeling full.


    ¡°Do you have a [Rapid Digestion] skill or something?¡± I asked suspiciously, thinking how much food she could eat in a single sitting, and putting some pieces of the puzzle together.


    ¡°Nope! Just practice!¡± Artemis informed me cheerily. ¡°Also, work on your speed between the removal and the restoration. You don¡¯t want to lose too much blood. It¡¯s part of why I wanted Julia around.¡±


    ¡°You knew?¡±


    Artemis snorted. ¡°Of course I knew, what you think we have secrets from each other? Secrets from you oh yes, we have plenty.¡±


    That was no good. Time to try and get information out from Artemis.


    ¡°Secrets, secrets, they¡¯re no fun,


    unless they¡¯re shared with everyone!¡±


    I sang out, trying to extract the juicy gossip from Artemis.


    Artemis stuck her tongue out at me. ¡°My secrets, not yours. Ready to go again?¡±


    I took a deep breath. ¡°Ready.¡±


    Like this we passed the day, sculpting my body, removing the scars and fused flesh, restoring myself to whole.


    We ended with my face, and that was the strangest sensation. Just having a gaping hole, however temporary, where I used to have cheeks and nose, was a deeply disconcerting experience.


    ¡°Oh my!¡± Artemis said, faux-fancy ¡°An angel has descended! What divine knowledge are you imparting upon us mortals, oh blessed one?¡±


    I stuck my tongue out and threw a fish bone at her. That¡¯ll show her. ¡°Butterface¡± indeed.


    Alright, time to turn notifications back on.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 19!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 20!]


    ¡­.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 45!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 97!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 98!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Healing Aura] has reached level 92!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Centered Mind] has reached level 92!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Deaden Pain] has reached level 19!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Deaden Pain] has reached level 20!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Deaden Pain] has reached level 42!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Tissue Removal] has reached level 77!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Tissue Removal] has reached level 78!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Tissue Removal] has reached level 81!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 91!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 92!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 93!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 91!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Shadow Healer] has leveled up to level 81! +1 Free Stat, +3 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Light of Hope] has leveled up to level 105! +1 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +1 Magic power, +5 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Dark Affinity] has reached level 81!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Light Affinity] has reached level 105!]


    I excitedly shared my hard-won gains with Artemis, who looked thoughtful.


    ¡°You know, at this rate of leveling, it might be worth throwing you into another fire¡­¡±


    I had lots of fishbone ammo to throw.


    After a few minutes of pelting Artemis with food scraps ¨C and her retaliating in kind ¨C she had a question for me.


    ¡°You know healy-bug, as awful as the whole fire mess was, you did get a ton of levels out of it. Have you considered doing more ¡®carve and replace¡¯ now and then to get some levels?¡±


    I looked at her sideways. She was picking out scraps of food from her tunic, but otherwise looked serious.


    ¡°I mean, no. I just got the skill, so I hadn¡¯t thought of it.¡± I spent half a moment thinking about it ¨C Artemis¡¯s ideas always had merit. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯m not going to. One, it¡¯s no fun. Two, it¡¯d cost me a fortune in food. Most importantly is three ¨C it¡¯d violate my Oath.¡± I answered.


    ¡°Fair enough.¡± Artemis said, looking down at her somewhat cleaned tunic. I stifled a giggle as I saw a bone carefully stuck in her hair.


    That¡¯d been a good shot.

 Chapter 29 - Secrets, Secrets, Theyre no Fun

    Mom and dad eventually came back, and they were delighted seeing me healed and whole again. Now it was time to right my wrongs. Now I could fix the disaster I had brought to us.


    ¡°Alright dad, it¡¯s time for you to stop looking like a pirate!¡± I bounced up happily. I was feeling light-headed. We had tried to minimize the blood loss, but well, I had still lost some. Dad frowned at me, Artemis and mom gave me strange looks.


    ¡°What part about me says ¡®pirate¡¯ Elaine? They¡¯re nasty, evil people, and we should be thankful that they don¡¯t attack the town.¡± Right, pirates didn¡¯t traditionally have eye patches here, nor were they a romantic relic of the past ¨C they were a real, present danger.


    ¡°Eh he, putting that aside, are you ready?¡± I deflected.


    ¡°Are you sure this will work?¡± He frowned. Yikes, no faith in me.


    ¡°Could it really get any worse?¡±


    ¡°Not really, do your worst.¡± Ouch. With that stunning display of confidence, I started.


    No point in [Privacy], so I started off with a [Deaden Pain]. I focused on eyes. The more I knew, the more I thought about it, the better my efficiency would be. I didn¡¯t want all of my mana to vanish, just for a fraction of an eye to show up, and eyes were a lot more complicated than the skin and muscles I¡¯d mostly been doing.


    There was the sclera. The lens. The optical nerve, although that wasn¡¯t too damaged. There were little blood vessels. There were¡­ so many more pieces, and I knew I didn¡¯t know them. Damnit, this might end poorly for me. I narrowed my focus. I should try to just do the part that was injured, not a full eye replacement. I breathed in and out, rapidly, bracing myself, and then, in rapid fire succession - [Tissue Removal], [Detailed Restoration].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 99!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 46!]


    Yay levels! Not as much as earlier, but even two levels in a day, let alone a single event, was a big deal. I guess the complexity of the action, along with the ¡®weight¡¯ of it, gave me a little extra bump. Or I was just close to the next level anyways.


    Dad blinked a few times, then groaned and put his head in his hands.


    ¡°Dad, dad, what¡¯s wrong? You shouldn¡¯t be feeling any pain!¡± I said, panicked. Did something go wrong? Did I just make things worse?


    ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m fine, I have a splitting headache.¡±


    Dad brought his head up, blinking a few times, squinting and looking around.


    ¡°It¡¯s not perfect ¨C kinda blurry ¨C but Elaine, I can see again!¡± With that, he jumped up, picked me up, and twirled me around. It¡¯d be ages since he did that, and I suspected it might be the last time he¡¯d be able to. I leaned into it and enjoyed the sensation.


    We sat down, and I could suddenly feel the atmosphere shift on me. Mom and dad were beaming at each other, but there was a tension in the air, a secret known to everyone but me.


    I could feel it, a weight in the air, a pressure bearing down on us. There was something afoot, something to do with all of the secret keeping. Artemis and mom still had that perfectly silent communication down, and she stuck around after dinner. Dad cleared his throat, everyone turned to look at me, and I could feel the other shoe about to drop on me. The air was thick, hard to breath, and I just wanted whatever this was over with.


    ¡°So Elaine, you¡¯re probably wondering what we want to chat with you about.¡± Gah, he was waffling, just say it outright, don¡¯t leave me in suspense. ¡°We wanted to talk with you about how you¡¯re at a marriageable age.¡± I let out a huge sigh of relief. This wasn¡¯t that bad. We¡¯d had this conversation a few times, going round and round in circles. I was nowhere close to being married off, so it was just another lecture. I can survive another lecture.


    ¡°Anyways, your mom has been working hard on this, and we finalized an agreement today ¨C you¡¯re going to marry Kerberos, Citizen Prasinos¡¯s son.¡±


    Hun? What did he say? I must have misheard.


    ¡°Sorry dad, I wasn¡¯t paying that much attention, it sounded like you said I was going to marry Kerberos! Could you repeat that?¡± I nervously chuckled in disbelief.


    ¡°You heard properly Elaine. We¡¯ve arranged a marriage between you and Kerberos. Your mom¡¯s been working on it for ages, and the stunt with the fire, and becoming a full Light healer, pushed it over the edge. Congratulations! You¡¯re marrying into one of the most prominent families in Aquiliea!¡±


    I felt the walls falling away from me, mom and dad enlarging to encompass my entire vision. I wished the floor would open up and swallow me whole. I wanted to get out, to escape.


    ¡°No!¡± I yelled, finding some of my fire, jumping up. ¡°I¡¯m not getting married now, and I¡¯m not having who I marry picked out for me.¡±


    ¡°Sit down!¡± Mom snapped at me. Out of reflex, from her tone, I sat down immediately. Mom turned to dad. ¡°Look, I told you she¡¯d take it badly if you were that blunt.¡± Mom shook her head.


    ¡°Look, I know it¡¯s a lot to take in. If it makes you feel any better, just about everyone has the same reaction as you. I had the same reaction as you, and I knew and liked your dad! Why don¡¯t you come meet him with us tomorrow, see what it¡¯s like? You¡¯re not getting married tomorrow, it¡¯s still a few months off at the earliest. Take some time, get used to the idea. Afterall, it¡¯s exciting!¡± Mom¡¯s attempt at soothing me, somehow, barely, worked, took the hot edge off of my panic and fear. I looked to Artemis. She winked at me.


    ¡°Fine. I¡¯ll see.¡± I looked down at my feet, words coming through gritted teeth, unwilling to concede, but with everyone stacked against me, I didn¡¯t have much choice.


    I got up the next morning, and reluctantly dressed in my best. No kid tunic with the short-like legs, nope. Had to wear a full-length ¡®woman¡¯s¡¯ tunic, with my green stripes blessedly sown on by Septima. The thick and hearty stripes when I had first gotten it had turned into a thin green line accenting my clothes. Slightly melted and reformed pendant on my neck, Arcanite-pommel knife at my waist, pouch on my other hip, hair done up and, with a slight raiding of mom¡¯s cosmetics, I was ready to do battle. I wasn¡¯t going to get pushed around, I was going to lay down the rules in this first (technically second) meeting.


    Leaving Themis to fend for himself, we left town, and started walking down the north road. Artemis followed us for a bit, in full Ranger gear, backpack, weapons, and more. The rest of her team, and the wagon, had left in the morning, and she was planning to catch up with it after seeing me go. When we got to the fork in the road to Kerberos¡¯s house, she turned and hugged me.


    ¡°Listen Elaine, it¡¯s not that bad. You¡¯ll do fine, I promise. I¡¯ll see you in two years! I checked out their family, you won¡¯t have Rangers knocking on your door for bad reasons here. And hey, now I know where you¡¯ll be! Chin up, be brave, I¡¯ll be avenging thunder for you if needed.¡± I hugged her as tightly as I could, not sure if she could feel anything between my low strength and her armor. I¡¯m pretty sure she got the message.


    We stood and waved Artemis off, her turning back and waving to us as she walked backwards, staying as long as we could until she vanished out of sight. Then we turned down the road to Kerberos¡¯s house.


    The day was bright and sunny, the breeze light and airy, and yet none of it reached me. The long road through cultivated fields was like an executioner¡¯s plank, with nothing but sharks and the endless deep at the end, waiting to consume me, swallow me whole. Golden stalks of wheat all around us, bars to my prison cell. My tunic, previously steeling me and guarding me, was now a heavy weight, lead wrapping around me. It was getting harder to breath, panic mounting, breaths coming faster. This was just so quick! Less than 12 hours ago my biggest concern was dealing with my scarring ¨C admittedly a problem, but one I had tools to fix ¨C and now I was about to meet my fianc¨¦. I didn¡¯t want a fianc¨¦.


    The road was both too long, and too short. In a blink of an eye, we were in front of a sprawling estate, full of rich-looking low buildings scattered all over the place. There was a bustle of people around, and from the number of people and the work they were doing, I suspected most of them were slaves. Blah, they wanted me to live as a slave owner. I had fantasies of being waited on hand and foot ¨C who didn¡¯t? But it was always ethical, it was always because I had made millions of dollars and was paying people to do it. Sure, slaves were paid ¨C either upfront, or while they were slaves, and could buy themselves out ¨C but something about it just felt different, felt wrong. Gah, I needed to focus, we were almost at the door.


    A well-dressed slave met us at the door, and lead us inside. The place was huge and gorgeous, rugs and frescos on every floor, paintings and sculptures on every wall. Classy luxury and wealth emanated from every stone, from every chair, table, and recliner. The pillows had gold threads embroidered on them, and everything was dyed, some even in the rich apple red''s and azure blue¡¯s that were so expensive. My eyes had turned into dollar signs as I tried to take it all in. I could see why mom and dad thought this was such a good marriage for me.


    We entered into yet another fancy room, and there was Kerberos, and his mother and father, all dressed in rich togas, with a purple sash going from shoulder to hip. Yikes, I thought we had pulled out all the stops, but it was quite clear even now that there was a wide financial divide between our families.


    Just how had mom managed to wrangle this? I was ¨C however reluctantly -impressed.


    Our parents were talking, but I ignored them, instead eyeing up Kerberos. He somehow was slightly fat, something I don¡¯t think I¡¯d seen before on Pallos. Must be all the good living here. I don¡¯t think I¡¯d seen him since the ill-fated System Day all those years ago, but maybe I¡¯d seen him now and then in market, a face glimpsed in the crowd. Who knows. He somehow managed to both look bored, and to be leering at me. Wow. Great first second impression Kerberos.


    I snapped back to paying attention when I heard my name being said.


    ¡°Does that work for you Elaine?¡± I sadly missed everything that had transpired before, too bored and distracted to pay attention. Might as well agree, what¡¯s the worst that could happen.


    ¡°Yeah sure.¡± I started to drift off again, listening while looking everywhere else.


    Mom gave me a Look, telling me she knew I hadn¡¯t been paying attention, and better commit to whatever I had just agreed to.


    ¡°Alright, why don¡¯t you and Kerberos have some time together to get to know each other? You can also discuss which two skills he thinks you should get.¡± Kerberos¡¯s mom said that, while mom threw me another Look. The screeching noise of a train emergency braking on badly rusted tracks went through my head. Damnit! I had agreed to changing up two of my skills to suit Kerberos¡¯s whims! Why didn¡¯t I listen!


    Another one of the endless slaves that seemed to infest the house came by to take us to another room, while my mind whirled, trying to interpret mom¡¯s Look. Right. There was no way of telling if I¡¯d actually lose and gained the skill or not. With enough practice, you could mimic a large range of general skills.


    We got to a new room, and settled into a pair of recliners facing each other. Well, time to have my first real conversation with my so-called "fianc¨¦."

 Chapter 30 - A conversation

Kerberos was a real charmer. I thought he¡¯d been leering before, but no, that had been his idea of subtle. His eyes roamed all over me, practically undressing me where I lie, and I felt my skin crawl. I decided to throw an [Identify] to see what I was dealing with.


    [Warrior]

 Chapter 31 - The Adventure Begins!

    I made it to the north gate, only to realize my first problem. The guards and the gate check. It¡¯d never been a problem before, I always had someone with me to help me through. Well, I had no contraband, or anything the guards would care about, but on the other hand, they probably knew me, and would ask why I was heading out of town.


    Let¡¯s see. I wanted to be truthful if at all possible, but telling them ¡°I¡¯m running away from home.¡± would probably end up with me denied exit, escorted back home, and watched carefully every remaining moment. So the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth seemed to be out. Let me take stock of what I had. Food, water, clothes, knife, belt, pendant, diamond. It was like I was going on a picnic.


    Actually, in a sense, I was going on a picnic. Maybe I could say I was feeling an urge to eat lunch outside of the town walls? All, technically, truthful, and innocent enough. It didn¡¯t explain the clothes though, but eh, it might work.


    It was good enough for me to get in line and start thinking about it. Bribe the guards? With what? A diamond, which would get all sorts of questions, and everyone in trouble? My meager savings? It¡¯d just draw attention to me, let¡¯s not.


    The line shuffled forward, and I kept thinking about it. What was on the road north? Virinum was somewhat northwards, Kerberos¡¯s house¡­ I really knew practically nothing of the world outside of Aquiliea. Hang on, could I say I was going to Kerberos¡¯s house? I was technically engaged, it made sense, was there a reason to ¨C


    ¡°Excuse me, miss?¡± The guard repeated himself to me, a bit less friendly than the first time. First time? Shit! It was my turn, and the guards were talking to me.


    ¡°Sorry, yes?¡± I said, flustered, broken out of my train of thought.


    ¡°Reason you¡¯re going out of town?¡± He repeated himself.


    ¡°Errr¡­ a picnic?¡± I said, panicked, having not yet settled on an excuse. That got me a suspicious look, but the guard was still relaxed, hands far away from his baton.


    ¡°A healer? At your age, alone outside the walls?¡± Blast, my healer tag. And being alone, outside of the walls. I could see why it didn¡¯t look good.


    ¡°Come on, you don¡¯t know Elaine? She¡¯s Elainus¡¯s kid, follows him around all the time, tries to constantly ¡®heal¡¯ us.¡± The other guard butted in, apparently finding sniping our conversation much more interesting than watching another trader leave town. ¡°I heard about the fire, that was quite something. Let her through. If she wants a breath of fresh air, I wouldn¡¯t blame her.¡±


    Being vouched for by another guard was good enough, and I was through the gate in a heartbeat. ¡°Be safe!¡± the friendlier guard called to me as I skipped down the road, overtaking the trader and his cart in a heartbeat. Free! I was free! I felt the chains and weight binding me fall off, turned to dust in the wind. The sky was slightly overcast, continuing its trend of not reflecting my mood properly, but I didn¡¯t care!


    I ran, I skipped, I jumped, I twirled, a blaze of motion, wind in my hair. I was on open roads, I could run as long, as far, as fast as I wanted! Who needed to carefully manage free stat points when I was free? Not me! Let¡¯s see how fast I could go! I dumped all 22 of my free stats into Speed, and started to run with everything I had. Feet pounding, hair flapping like a kite, bag bouncing on my back, I was free!


    The fork in the road where we¡¯d turned to Kerberos¡¯s place yesterday showed up, much faster since I was running, and not meekly following along in my best clothes. I gave the fork double fingers as I ran by, turning around to continue giving it fingers as I left. Some gestures transcended planets.


    Free! I continued to run down the roads, pushing myself, delighting in a notification.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Running] has reached level 55!]


    Never got any solid chances to run in town ¨C my stats and skills were too low to properly use the white zone, but too high to keep running in the park, and I¡¯d been too busy to go out of the town walls to run like this. Miracle I¡¯d gotten it to 54 really, and that was with a fire boosting it.


    I dashed, I jogged, I sprinted, trotted, tripped and recovered, but most of all, I ran, reveling in every breath, every foot hitting the ground and springing up again, the flow of it all. I entered the great bamboo forest without breaking stride, large shoots of the grass going up into the sky, forming a great umbrella. I could run, and run, and run, even without being in amazing shape, even without training professionally. The benefits of skills, and the combination of a relatively low [Running] skill with high Mana Regeneration.


    I felt a wild joy bubbling up inside of me, wanting to burst out into wild song! I sang then, not a song, just high, happy notes of joy, of happiness, of a feeling of freedom and release so good I wanted to eat it and never hunger again.


    I kept running as farms turned to orchards, orchards turned to grazing land, and grazing land slowly, surely, transitioned into untamed land, fields of wildflowers waving to me as I ran by, mighty oaks reaching for the sky, untouched since creation. Nobody had ever tried to marry an oak off. Nobody had tried to chain an oak. Nobody would chain me ever again.


    If bindings and restrictions were on me, they would be ones I chose for myself, like [Oath]. Nothing external. That made me wonder ¨C could I turn my burning desire for freedom, to not be restricted, into a skill of some sort? Would it help me?


    Did I even need a skill for something as fundamental and true to myself as a desire for sovereignty?


    Whatever! Deep and weighty thoughts were for another day, today was a day to be FREE! To run, to explore the world, to see what nature ¨C true, primal, unfettered nature ¨C was like in this world. There were no pictures. There were no documentaries. It was all town, town, town, and even outside of the town was carefully cultivated farmland. This was nature! This was untamed wilderness, as free and wild as my heart.


    The road was still Republic standard, which was to say amazing for the rest of the technology I¡¯d seen so far. I flopped down in a nice little clearing to have some lunch and drink some water. No sign of Artemis or the Rangers yet, but the day was still young, and the bamboo was nicely shading me from the midday heat of the sun. I got back up to keep running.


    And running.


    And running.


    I could ¨C and would try ¨C to run all day, this was just the best! Seeing the scenery change, the road going by, new things, new smells, escaping the bustle and crowd. This was wonderful.


    A pain in my feet suggested that maybe, just maybe, I should check on my equipment. I took off my sandals ¨C not the best for running, upon reflection ¨C and checked my feet. Huge oozing blisters met my eye. Yikes. Maybe I should take it easy.


    Or maybe a quick shot of [Detailed Restoration] could take care of it. Yup! Two in total ¨C one per foot ¨C and I was good to keep going! I wish I had a cellphone or something, I needed ¡°Don¡¯t stop me now¡±. Although the song, like many other things, were faded, a decade and a half between me and them.


    One foot in front of another ¨C just how far could a Ranger team with a wagon go in two days? Not too far, right?


    I kept going, reveling in the ability to run, the occasional [Detailed Restoration] keeping me up when my body failed me, mana burning at close to the same rate as I was regenerating it. I see why I¡¯d been offered [Runner] as a class, this suited me, like a velvet glove on my hand.


    Ah, but my [Healer] tag suited me even more, like a skin. So often when something you love becomes your job, a subtle poison slowly taints it, consuming and overwhelming, until you hate the very thing you love. Like making your favorite song an alarm song.


    As the sky started to darken, a terrible thought came over me. They were a bunch of insanely fit, dedicated, high level, high stats soldiers. Even with a wagon, they could chew up insane distances in a single day. I might have to camp out in the bamboo forest tonight.


    Camp, with no ability to make a fire.


    Camp, when the sky had gone from overcast, to promising rain.


    Camp, when I had no supplies for a tent.


    Camp, with no food for breakfast.


    Camp, with an empty water bottle, and the nearest river I knew of a day¡¯s run away.


    Camp, when I had nobody to look out for me, or cover my back.


    Camp, in a forest full of monsters.


    I¡¯m not sure I thought this ¡°running away¡± thing all the way through.

 Chapter 32 – The woods are dark and deep

    Night fell far too rapidly, and I found a small clearing by the road to sit down in, a medium size boulder to lean against, ring of mushrooms demarcating the borders of the clear zone. Weird how nature works that way sometimes. I couldn¡¯t run all night ¨C while I could heal myself, and possibly keep going with [Running] and [Greater Invigoration], the woods got dark at night. The thick growth of trees blocked out most of the star and moonlight, and even with skills giving me fuel, I needed rest. Legends had it that some people could go days without sleep, when they had a high enough Vitality, but I didn¡¯t know anyone that could do that. It was the stuff of stories, like Sentinel Gideon.


    I ate the last of my food ¨C why didn¡¯t I think that this could take more than a day ¨C and tried to make a pile of clothes to sleep on and sleep under, money pouch helping form a pillow. The last glow of dusk vanished, and I found myself starting to shiver despite my layers, jumping at every creak and crack that rumbled through the woods. Was that some ground critter over there, or a snake sneaking up on me? Was that the sound of a deer, or some sort of wolf? Were the dinosaurs here herbivores, or would they think Elaine was on the menu?


    I spent, far and away, the most uncomfortable night of either of my two lives. I clutched my knife with my right hand, my pendant with my left, hoping that their wards for luck and protection were more than just a saying.


    I started to doze, only to hear some bushes rustling. Icy panic flooded through me as I scrambled upright, knuckles white on my knife. Several seconds of hearing my heartbeat pound in my ears, an eternity later, I relaxed. Just the wind. I hope. I tried to settle back down, eyes getting heavy, as a light drizzle started. Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck. I moved, knocking over something ¨C the clang suggested my water bottle, but I couldn¡¯t see anything - trying to get my clothes under me, so they wouldn¡¯t get wet.


    So instead, they got muddy. A scream of frustration left my lips, my hair flopping about in long, wet strands, droplets of cold water flicking off with each movement. Forget trying to keep them clean. I heaped them around me, trying to keep myself vaguely warm and dry. The rain stopping did more for that than any of my efforts. This was miserable.


    I had the good sense to drink some of the rain water, and to leave my water bottle out to catch more, but that was more silver lining than anything else. [Vigilant] leveled up three times, a feat that I hadn¡¯t seen since the incident with the wind weasels.


    I settled back down, exhausted, barely able to keep my eyes open, to try and catch anything sneaking up on me. Why was I trying to keep my eyes open? I couldn¡¯t see anything anyways.


    I woke up with a start. Ambush! No, just the wind again. Heart pounding, it took ages before I could fall back asleep.


    I¡¯d gotten a terrible night¡¯s sleep the previous night, and tonight was shaping up to also be terrible sleep-wise.


    Dawn found me shivering in my muddy, sodden pile of clothes, miserable, but alive, and if this was still Earth I¡¯d be mistaken for a racoon or a panda. Normally I¡¯d be sleeping for longer, but staying here wasn¡¯t getting me any closer to Artemis and her team, and maybe I could gain some ground. Hopefully they liked sleeping in.


    All of my clothes being soaked through increased the weight I was carrying dramatically, and I could feel it. My stomach gurgled, protesting the lack of breakfast, or anything else to eat. I eyed the mushrooms lining the clearing as I reached up to the tangle of my hair, realizing I hadn¡¯t brought a comb.


    I don¡¯t know why, but realizing I hadn¡¯t even thought ahead enough to bring a comb is what broke me, causing me to sob in a little glade in the forest. It brought home the idea that I could die doing this, that this wouldn¡¯t be as easy as a hop-skip-jump. In my mind I¡¯d meet up with Artemis, and everything would be sunshine and roses. I hadn¡¯t thought that it might take longer than anticipated to find them, that I might even miss them entirely. I had no way of finding water. I had no way of getting food. I¡¯m not even sure I could kill a rabbit if I found one.


    After some time unproductively wasting water, I dried my eyes and wiped my face. I eyed the brightly colored mushrooms all around me, a riot for the eyes. I had [Cure Toxin], so maybe I could risk eating one. I weighed the pros and cons in my mind. Food. Potential death from poisoning, if it was too fast, or my skills not enough. I was hungry, not starving. Rule of three. Three minutes without air, three days without water, three weeks without food. I looked at how skinny I was, and amended it to ten days without food.


    Let¡¯s not risk it, yet. I¡¯ll keep in mind that food most people considered poisonous I could attempt to eat in small quantities.


    I used [Attack Bacteria] on my sodden clothes, then wrung some water out of them into my mouth ¨C waste not, want not, and the skill would hopefully stop me getting sick. I grabbed my stuff, and started a long loping journey down the road, keeping my eyes peeled for food, water, or things that¡¯d consider me food. The deeper into the forest I went, the thicker the bamboo was, to the point where it turned into a crisp, clean corridor of green. [Greater Invigoration] helped shake off some of the sleepiness, and I started moving.


    [Greater Invigoration] was like a few strong cups of coffee. It cleared the fog in my head, it woke me up, but I still felt that distant sluggishness that came from a lack of sleep. Multiple nights with terrible sleep.


    It was about mid afternoon when I rounded a bend to find a bunch of rocks in the middle of the road. I paused, looking at them. I cursed. I must have missed Artemis and company by a mile ¨C no way they¡¯d let fallen rocks like this stay. Decision time ¨C do I weave my way through the rocks, and keep going forward? Or do I double back, trying to find wherever the Rangers went? I scratched my head, somehow unable to beat the itch there.


    A jolt of realization went through me, sleep-deprived fog clearing as adrenaline hit the emergency button. That was [Vigilance] going off, warning me that I was in trouble, that I needed to be alert. Heart pounding, I looked all around me. Nothing. Just bamboo shoots, swaying in the breeze.


    Above me? Canopy. No death from the skies today. Behind me? Bend in the road. In front of me? They¡¯re just rocks, right¡­.?


    I decided forward was the way to go. [Vigilance] was going nuts, but that just said to be careful. If I started trying to double back, I¡¯d just walk back home. That wasn¡¯t an option. I started to squeeze between the rocks ¨C nothing too big, not too tight of a squeeze ¨C and jumped a foot in the air as someone said ¡°Excuse me miss?¡±


    I¡¯d known someone was there, but a polite greeting instead of a vicious attack completely threw me off-guard, startling me.


    My shin landed on the rock on the way back down, unbalancing me, causing me to throw a hand forward to catch myself. With a sickening crack my right arm hit another rock, causing me to scream in pain as I finished landing. I curled up the best I could, sobbing through the pain, as two well-armed men and a woman came out from the bamboo.


    ¡°Ha! Hypatios, you¡¯ve never taken someone out just by saying hi!¡± the voice that initially called out to me said. He was a young man, older than with a cocky, arrogant swagger, wearing mis-matched leathers and well-used weapons.


    ¡°Gregorios, don¡¯t be a dick. She¡¯s clearly not a courier, merchant, or trader of any sort. Probably another runaway.¡± Another male voice, I assume was Hypatios, responded. I looked at him. Older looking, hair almost entirely white, but still in lean, mean fighting condition. I knew jack shit about weapons, and his were either well-used, or terribly maintained. If I were a betting girl, I¡¯d bet on the first one. More importantly though, they knew I was a runaway! I couldn¡¯t bring myself to care, my arm hurt too much. Wait, I was being dumb. [Deaden Pain]. I gasped in relief as the pain left me, well-aware of the dangers of possibly leaving my sense of pain permanently off.


    ¡°Excuse me, are you ok?¡± The woman in the group leaned over me. She looked middle aged, time having left a few marks on her, but could be anywhere from 30 to 50.


    [Identify] gave me [Laborer] on her.


    ¡°I think I broke my arm.¡± I said clinically, still lying on the ground. I was trying to evaluate myself for any other injuries, but that was nearly impossible to do with my sense of pain completely turned off. Even with magic, there was no winning.


    ¡°Can you try to get up?¡± The woman persisted.


    I groaned, and slowly sat up, cradling my arm. Fortunately, it seemed like the rest of me was ok, if badly bruised. I didn¡¯t feel up to trying to stand all the way up.


    ¡°Come on Iola, we need to get us off the road. She¡¯s [Healer]-tagged, just grab her and get the road clear.¡± Clear roads sounded nice. Iola grabbed me under my good shoulder, and lifted me up, then steered me off the road, into the thick bamboo.


    ¡°Hey wait, won¡¯t we get lost in here?¡± I asked, confused why we were heading into the forest, off the road.


    ¡°Shhh! I¡¯ll explain later. You are a runaway, right?¡± Iola hushed me, continuing to lead me through the thick brush. I caught a glimpse of a person, no two people, no three, four, five ¨C just how many people were hiding in the woods here!? Why weren¡¯t they clearing the rocks off the road? Those things were dangerous!


    It slowly dawned on me as we suddenly ended up on a game trail that yes, it was dangerous, and they had deliberately made it dangerous. Those weren¡¯t people hiding in the wood, those were bandits waiting by their trap. They were why my [Vigilance] was going nuts. Those rocks were there to stop a wagon, they were just around the bend so they¡¯d run into them full speed.


    I cursed my naivety as I suddenly realized I had been oh-so-gently kidnapped by a bunch of bandits. Welp, this running away thing was going swimmingly so far.


    We went through some twists and turns in the forest, Iola seeming to know every step and crook and cranny, while my mind raced. My arm was broken, and completely useless. I couldn¡¯t even properly reach my knife ¨C left arm gently but firmly held at the shoulder; right arm useless. I hadn¡¯t been robbed and murdered on the spot, and Iola, in spite of this gentle kidnapping, seemed to be treating me in a kindly, if brisk, manner. I should just go with the flow for now, get my arm healed, see what was going on, and try to trade some healing for freedom. There had to be someone injured, or at the very least, wanting some scars removed.


    Then again, if they were injured, that meant they were fighting ¨C and killing ¨C people on the road, which swung the pendulum back on ¡°they¡¯d be ok letting me go¡±. Afterall, if I knew where a bunch of murderous bandits were, why would they let me go?


    We made it through another twist, and came in sight of a monument to human ingenuity, persistence, and the thousand and one properties of bamboo. It was a fortress, a base, a large complex building ¨C none of those words quite fit. Rows of bamboo were woven together with bamboo fibers, creating walls eight feet tall. I couldn¡¯t see people walking on top of the walls, but there did seem to be a watch tower ¨C purely made of bamboo ¨C in the middle of the fortress. I snuck a look at Iola, and realized everything she was wearing, from tunic to belt to sandals, were also woven bamboo. When in bamboo forest, do as the bamboo.


    We entered through a gate made of, surprise surprise, bamboo, the bottom of the gate pulled up for us to get through. I looked around to see a village in miniature. Someone was weaving baskets ¨C out of bamboo, what else ¨C a large communal cookpot was stewing, with a large chef dictating what went in and what didn¡¯t, as several other people brough various types of food over, leaving with bowls of stew. Someone else was peeling and preparing bamboo logs, with a large pile behind them of prepared wood. Iola kept bustling me around, leading me to a circle of rocks around another fire, sitting me down, throwing a blanket over me, and getting me a bowl of food, all without saying a word.


    At the food, I threw her a grateful look, and started to eat. The blanket was warm, the food causing a blissful heat to spread through me. I barely knew what it was, just that it tasted like deliciousness, and that hunger was the best spice.


    ¡°So, runaway?¡± she started, and I had a distinct feeling that this was an interrogation, and not really a friendly chat. In spite of all the heat around me, I felt a chill go through me. I hesitated, then nodded. She seemed pleased at that.


    ¡°Anyone going to come after you?¡± I thought about that. Would anyone chase after me? I¡¯d gotten a solid head start, the letter might delay them, they might not look too hard or go as far as I did ¨C after all, I was running with all my might for a whole day and change. I shrugged my shoulders ¨C my right arm was still broken, my left hand was busy feeding me, and my mouth was occupied inhaling as much good as possible. Communication on expert mode.


    Iola gave me a look from top to bottom. ¡°Yeah, I can see why they might chase after you ¨C or might not depending. Name¡¯s Iola ¨C what¡¯s yours?¡± Drat, I had to actually talk now.


    I swallowed my food, another bite ready to go. ¡°Elaine.¡± Politeness finished, food back into mouth. Iola grinned at me.


    ¡°Elaine, what a beautiful name! Why don¡¯t you stay here with us, in Verdant Village? We¡¯re all runaway slaves here, as long as you pull your weight and don¡¯t slack, you¡¯ll fit right in!¡±


    I froze at that, food in my mouth the only thing stopping me from shouting out. That¡¯s what they had meant by runaway! They thought I was a runaway slave! If anyone found me here, they¡¯d assume I was also a runaway slave! If slaves had it mediocre, runaway slaves had it horrible. It was always some gruesome form of execution, a way to tell the other slaves that ¡®it could be so much worse¡¯.


    At the same time, it was obvious that they¡¯d been here for a good long time. A structure the size of Verdant Village didn¡¯t show up in a month, or even a year. There was clearly food, community, and a sense of safety. I should probably play along, at least until my arm was better, get a sense of the place, then escape.


    Artemis would be so long gone by then, but maybe I¡¯d be able to catch them at the next town. They did like taking a week or so in town, maybe they¡¯d get sidetracked, and I believed I could move at least as fast as them. I ignored the voice saying that I clearly did not move as fast as them.


    Iola could see me thinking about it, eyes narrowed as she watched me. Another reason to agree ¨C they¡¯d be here a long time. I¡¯d never even heard rumors of a place like this. They clearly liked their secrets. I suspect if I said I wanted to leave; I¡¯d leave in a funeral pyre. I nodded and smiled, tried to bring another spoonful of food to my mouth, before realizing I¡¯d run out. Drat. My excuse to talk as little as possible had run out.


    My agreement got a brilliant smile out of Iola, with black holes checkered where she was missing teeth. ¡°Great! What kind of healing tricks do you have?¡±

 Chapter 33 – Verdant Village

    How much did I want to reveal? I didn¡¯t want to give away all of my tricks, but I also wanted to seem useful enough to not be bothered. I¡¯d been looking around, and while there were a few women, the men-to-women ratio was badly skewed, and now more than ever, mom¡¯s comments on healer tags having the potential to bring trouble rang through my head.


    Well, my class types were already revealed ¨C Light Healer, and I probably couldn¡¯t hide that my second class was healer. I probably couldn¡¯t hide my elements either. I should let them know about the [Detailed Restoration], that¡¯d earn me major brownie points. [Oath] was completely off the table. [Vigilant] might be an option, although me literally walking into an ambush didn¡¯t speak that well for it.


    Then again, I had ignored its warning. So that was on me. Back to skills.


    [Lost and Found] was completely harmless, and I¡¯d be happy to tell them about it. [Running] was similarly harmless, although I was going to keep [Learning] under wraps. There¡¯d be serious questions about how I had that skill, and my current cover was as a runaway slave. Actually, less on skills, more on my cover. Kerberos. Yup. I was going to pin the blame on him, and if I told it properly, it wouldn¡¯t even be a lie!


    A harsh cough to my side brought me back to reality. Iola wanted answers, and wanted answers now. She didn¡¯t want to give me enough time to think up lies, which to be fair, is what I was doing. Fine, time to spill, and think on my feet.


    ¡°I¡¯m a Light and Dark based healer.¡± I started off. ¡°I have various skills to deal with illness, and I have [Detailed Restoration]. I also have [Vigilant] in my general skills.¡± Alright, hope that was enough to keep her happy, and with luck she¡¯d be too excited about the [Detailed Restoration] to ask too many more questions.


    ¡°mmm mmm that¡¯s nice¡± Iola said, happily nodding along. Suddenly she whipped towards me, hitting me across my chest with her arm, pinning me to the ground, knife at my throat.


    ¡°All of your skills.¡± She snarled at me.


    I screamed in pain as I hit the ground, a sickening cracking noise coming from my arm as the break got worse. [Centered Mind] kicked in, only to immediately get kicked out as I felt the knife slowly, oh-so-gently, press into my throat. My body trembled, lips trembling, I immediately confessed every single skill I had, including [Learning], [Oath of Elaine to Lyra], and [Attack Bacteria]. Babbling on, focus entirely on that cold, harsh strip of metal on my throat, I also gave away all of my levels, desperately hoping that she¡¯d be satisfied, that the knife wouldn¡¯t press deeper and end me.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Centered Mind] has reached level 93!]


    [Centered Mind] kicked in again, shielding me from the sharp edge of emotion, and letting me actually think.


    ¡°What¡¯s bacteria?¡± Iola eased up a notch on the knife, and I felt a warm liquid slowly going down my throat. A quick [Deaden Pain] got my arm under control, [Detailed Restoration] closed the slight cut in my throat. Immediate problems attended to; I went back to Iola¡¯s question.


    Still not the time to let the genie out of the bottle. I¡¯ll try a half-truth, the same one I used on Artemis. ¡°I-it-it¡¯s a type of cu-cure di-disease.¡± I stammered out. Iola grunted, seeming to accept it.


    ¡°[Learning]?¡± My interrogation continued.


    Building up some courage ¨C I could only be scared witless for so long ¨C I said. ¡°A skill that helps me learn other skills. Makes everything else level faster.¡± That got an appreciative noise.


    ¡°[Lost and Found]? It doesn¡¯t let other people find you does it?¡± I felt a flush cover my cheek, turning my face away, unable to meet Iola¡¯s gaze.


    ¡°I, erm, lose my things¡­. A lot.¡± I quietly confessed.


    With a high, disbelieving chuckle, Iola shook her head at me. ¡°I don¡¯t think ¡®a lot¡¯ covers it when you not only get a skill in it, but get it to level 60!¡± Her grip on me completely relaxed as she fell back, howling with laughter. It wasn¡¯t funny!


    Ok, fine, if you¡¯re not the one with the skill, it might be funny.


    She sat back up, and I nervously chuckled with her as I rolled over, trying to get up with just one working arm. Iola¡¯s rapid change between emotions had me scared, not knowing if at any moment she¡¯d flip a switch and stick a knife into me. I needed time, and focus, to fix my broken arm, and I hadn¡¯t been given either yet. I had just finished rolling over, starting to get up, when Iola kicked me in the side, sending me sprawling onto my left side, forcing all the air out of my lungs.


    ¡°You know, while you look like a runaway, your skills don¡¯t say ¡®slave¡¯. Tell me everything. I don¡¯t like what I hear, you can guess what happens.¡±


    ¡°I am a runaway, but I wasn¡¯t a slave.¡± I started off. ¡°Family was trying to marry me off to some prick, and this was my way of saying no.¡±


    Iola tapped her knife against her lips, eyes gazing off into the distance.


    ¡°Willing to stay here?¡±


    I suspected a ¡°no¡± would result in meeting Papilion again. I nodded my head.


    ¡°Willing to work hard?¡±


    I did my best woodpecker impression. Iola grunted at me.


    ¡°Fine. Follow me.¡±


    She led me to a run-down bamboo ¨C I hesitate to call it a hut, it was in such terrible condition ¨C structure, and opened the door.


    ¡°Get in.¡± Her tone brooked no arguments. I got in. Door slammed shut behind me, and I heard ¨C and saw, the walls weren¡¯t really walls at all ¨C Iola fashion a beam across the entrance, locking me in. I made a cry of protest.


    ¡°Now none of that. You¡¯ll stay here while we figure out what to do with you.¡±


    I decided that shutting up was the better part of valor, and said nothing. Iola walked away, and I decided to explore my new, luxurious, one-person building.


    It was filthy and run-down, the floor a mud pit from last night¡¯s rain, holes in the ceiling and walls. Something vaguely resembling a cot was in one corner, and a hole in the ground in another. The smell was horrid. I had always thought outhouses bad, but this just brought it to a whole different level of terrible. It finally clicked that this was their version of a jail, and the size of it, and the lack of use it seemed to get implied one of two things were true.


    This was a happy, lovely community where they never had any reason to lock someone up. Just a bunch of murderous bandits living in peaceful harmony.Troublemakers were handled swiftly, and there was no concept of ¡°life in prison¡±


    My money was on the second option.


    It was around this time when I noticed my money pouch was gone. It stung, but after nearly getting my throat slit, I couldn¡¯t bring myself to be upset over it. Probably had gotten lifted at some point, and I was just noticing now. Crying wouldn¡¯t help me here. I¡¯d made my choices, and now I had to live with them.


    I finally had a moment though, so I was going to fix my arm before any more problems occurred, and made it worse, or distracted me at a critical moment. Let¡¯s see how bad the damage is.


    Looks like it¡¯s just one of the bones, completely broken through. Let me try something a bit fancier than just lopping everything off and regenerating it ¨C seemed risky and inefficient here.


    I was about to throw up a [Privacy], when a sudden thought hit me. If they couldn¡¯t see me, or saw I was doing something in secret, what would they think? They were already on edge about me, I didn¡¯t want to give them more ammo. I couldn¡¯t see anyone nearby, but that didn¡¯t mean there wasn¡¯t anyone. Fine, public-ish healing time.


    What needed to get done? I needed to align the bones, get rid of fragments, and heal the bone back together. I wasn¡¯t completely sure what was going on in there, and while my stomach had improved massively over the years, I wasn¡¯t quite ready to be happily fiddling with my bones. A [Deaden Pain], [Remove Tissue], and [Detailed Restoration] later, I had a whole arm, and some terrible new memories.


    My flesh wriggling as it was rearranged by bones being magically regrown in them was seared into my mind, and I¡¯d love a skill to selectively edit memories out of my head. I waited in anticipation, ready to ditch [Lost and Found] for when the system inevitably trolled me with the skill.


    [*Ding!*] Yes, here we go!


    [Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 47!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 92!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 100!]


    So much for that. I took a deep breath, almost gagging on the stench. Maybe with some of my skills, I could clean the pit, and make the smell better. It was just a ton of bacterial decay, wasn¡¯t it?


    I went over, and took a look in. I had regrets. I tried to reach out with my skill, to [Attack Bacteria]. Nothing. I just didn¡¯t feel the skill work, activate, anything. It¡¯s hard to describe, but it was like there was no purchase for the skill. That, or I was out of range.


    Thinking about it, I had always been hands-on when using healing skills. No reason why this wouldn¡¯t also be hands-on, and there was no way I was going to be hands-on with this problem. Fine.


    I examined my cell. Might as well work on breaking out ¨C subtly! I didn¡¯t want to alert anyone watching me to what I was doing, but I¡¯d be damned if I was caught with my tunic down. It also sounded like they wanted to discuss my fate, but I was done with letting other people decide what happened to me.


    I dramatically threw myself onto the cot, and pretended to cry. I discretely touched the walls of the cell, and tried a [Remove Tissue]. Nothing happened, I guess dead bamboo didn¡¯t count as tissue. Somehow, I still had my knife, although I wasn¡¯t going to try drawing it and attacking the walls with it. I did have my hand though, and my previous experience taught me that I could use [Surgeon¡¯s Scalpel] on it. I tried just that, applying it to just a single finger, hitting the wall in a fake tantrum.


    Absolutely nothing to the wall, but my hand was a different issue. A [Detailed Restoration] fixed that up, and I was slightly rewarded for my efforts.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 93!]


    I hadn¡¯t gotten learning levels like this in ages. I didn¡¯t think any of my other skills would help, although if I was a Dark mage instead of a Dark healer, I¡¯d be out in a heartbeat.


    They might not have left me alive long enough to test things out if I had a mage tag. That thought made me shudder.


    I was left alone for hours with my thoughts, going round and round in circles, thinking similar thoughts and dozens of other things. I was forced to slow down, to stop, to actually meditate on the choices I¡¯d made that lead me here. Did I regret my choices? Some of them, yeah. I could¡¯ve been much more careful, much less carefree. I could¡¯ve picked another direction. I could¡¯ve kept my eyes peeled for the Rangers.


    Did I regret leaving home? Not in the slightest. My fate would be my own, my freedom would be mine alone. Would I make different choices? Absolutely. Like bring a tent. Not being kidnapped by bandits.


    I laid there, bored out of my mind, unwilling to try more destructive or obvious methods to break out of the cell, as night fell. The cook swung by with a meal, passing it to me through one of the larger holes in my cell like he¡¯d done it a hundred times before. Maybe he had.


    ¡°Hey,¡± He said cheerfully. ¡°don¡¯t worry too much! This happens to almost everyone.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± I asked, tilting my head to one side. ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Well, Iola¡¯s one of the leaders here, and she¡¯s convinced almost everyone is a spy, sent by the guards, or otherwise out to get us. Basically, everyone new ends up spending some time here while the entire council chats. Everyone gets released and joins up. It¡¯s not worth worrying about. Iola worries though, she¡¯s just trying to keep us safe. Once you¡¯ve joined you¡¯ll understand.¡±


    That was promising! ¡°Thank you! That¡¯s great news!¡± I kept still, feeling my pulse race. Staying alive! Release from the cell!


    ¡°I hope you don¡¯t take this the wrong way¡± I started, hesitantly. ¡°Why the banditry?¡±


    He scratched his head and shuffled his feet. ¡°Well, we don¡¯t really have too much of a choice now. How else are we supposed to get money, food, medicine, and other goods? Once you join us, that¡¯s what you¡¯ll be doing.¡±


    I frowned at that. Spending my life in the forest, murdering people, was not on my bucket list, and [Oath] screamed at me just for the idea.


    ¡°Maybe I could just heal people instead?¡± Anything to not spend a life as a bandit.


    ¡°Do you really have healing skills?¡± The cook asked, leaning forward, excited gleam in his eye.


    ¡°Yeah! I¡¯m a Light and Dark healer, and I have [Detailed Restoration].¡± I bragged a bit, showing off. It sounded like a bunch of people would be deciding my fate, and cook could be one of those people.


    ¡°Could you fix my hands?¡± He showed me small burns and cuts on his hands.


    ¡°Ouch! How¡¯d a master cook like you do that?¡±


    He gave me a look. ¡°My classes aren¡¯t cooking related. I picked up a job that needed to be done when I got here, but I was a field hand. Not much farming to do here.¡± Made sense. Mid-life job changes seemed to be much harder in a world where you picked a class early in life, and who could compete with someone that had skills?


    Saying nothing, I took his hands and healed them.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 65!]


    Huge smile on his face, cook left me alone to my dinner. My exceedingly unappetizing dinner with the smell. I¡¯d done some major healing today though, and I needed all the food I could get.


    I finished my food, and seeing absolutely nothing else to do, or seeing anything at all really, it got dark here at night, I settled in to sleep.

 Chapter 34 – How far does an Oath go?

    I woke with a jump up to a pillar of lightning striking the observation tower in the middle of Verdant Village. A roar of thunder, a blinding clap of lightning, and I staggered around blindly, ears ringing. I fortunately managed to dodge the latrine hole, and leaned up against the walls of the cell to stop myself from falling over.


    After a few moments to recover, I stood up. I could see the orange glow of flames behind some buildings, and there was a lot of yelling and shouting, people running around all over the place. The sound of steel on steel met my ears, and I decided that there was no way I was going to get caught here, and that I¡¯d take my chances that nobody was watching me. What would they do to me anyways?


    First, gotta see what¡¯s going on. [Flashlight] to the rescue! Alright, time to escape, forget trying to be subtle about it. The walls seemed to be a bust ¨C or not. They were holey, but solid, and I couldn¡¯t fit myself through the holes. The door was just a simple door, and I was locked in by bamboo stopping the door from swinging out, like a barricade.


    Hang on, could it really be that easy? Let me see. I stuck my hands out through the holes in the cell, and got a terrible grip on the bar. Inch by inch, I wiggled it out, slowly moving it piece by piece. This would take way too long under normal conditions, but the flames were rising, and screams of pain and agony were joining in on the clashing of steel, the crackle of flames, the cacophony of shouting. I had time to break out.


    Yes, it was that easy! The bar fell out of one of the sockets, planting itself in the mud, still half-locking me in. That was enough for me to force the door open a hair, and squeeze out. Freedom! I turned to run away from the action, and paused.


    People were hurt. People were getting hurt. People needed help. Was I just going to leave them? [Oath] was silent on the issue ¨C it was a damn literal thing at times.


    I struggled with the question, shifting from foot to foot as I debated.


    They were bandits.


    They were human.


    They had kidnapped me.


    They were in pain.


    There was no time for a debate, just action.


    My feet turned, and I found myself once again running towards a fire. I was totally going to get offered a [Fire Rescuer] related class at my next evolution. The screams were getting louder as I ran towards the action, and I turned the corner to a scene of butchery.


    What immediately caught my attention were the gaping holes in the walls, blown in by some massive force. There was some sort of fight going on, much further away from me, but it didn¡¯t seem to be headed by way. Much closer, and something I could actually manage, were people on the ground, thrashing and screaming. I ran over to the first person I could find, someone lying relatively still. There were dozens of people who needed help, and I wanted to start off easy.


    I rolled him over, only to see his chest was a gaping, bloody mass of gore, eyes glazed over. He was dead. It hit me then, really hit me, that people were dying here, that this wasn¡¯t an accident scene, but an attack of some sort. This wasn¡¯t some accident, this wasn¡¯t a candle being forgotten about, this wasn¡¯t a random lightning strike, this was direct, visceral murder. And I had thrown myself into the middle of it, blood on my literal hands.


    I threw up at this, dry, heaving sobs with a backlight of Verdant Village burning, crescent moons rising, bathing the scene in their crimson light, forest throwing crazy shadows. Someone ran towards me, stumbling, falling near me. [Centered Mind] brought me back to reality, [Oath] demanding I help. I shuffled over to the man who¡¯d fallen, seeing a slim arrow coming out of his lower back. I grabbed the arrow, and unceremoniously yanked it out of him, tearing out a hunk of flesh from its barbed end. He started to scream and thrash, arms like whipcords. I fell back, and realized I should¡¯ve probably killed his pain first. I went up, and hit him with a [Deaden Pain], then a fast, horribly inefficient [Detailed Restoration]. He started to slow down, but he was looking pale and green, deeply sick. His eyes started to bleed, and I realized there might be more to his injuries than I initially thought.


    [Attack Bacteria] got me nothing, then I had a sudden, terrible thought. I tried [Cure Toxin], and got immediate, violent purchase, draining over 700 mana in a single skill. I waited a moment or two, trying it again, finding huge amounts of mana draining again. I checked my mana reserves. 669/2140. From escaping, and saving just one person. I looked around at where I was. There were dozens of people on the ground, some still moving.


    I¡¯d never manage to completely heal everyone. Thoughts for later, there was someone else to heal. No [Deaden Pain] here, I needed every last bit of mana I had, insane regeneration be damned. Stopped his leg bleeding horribly. Another with a gut injury, patched up the worst, need to see him again later. Another arrow, this person dead. Those arrows were poisoned, no doubt about it. More, and more. Some screaming for help, some thanking me when it was done. Everyone running away, flames petering out. They never got the momentum needed to be a full blazing, a raging inferno. A body, I dimly recognized as Gregorios. A woman grabbing me with one arm, screaming at me to heal her as she bled from the stump of her other arm. No mana left. I tried anyways, small spurts of [Detailed Restoration] trying to get enough arm left. She started to shake me, harder, then softer, life slowly dripping to the ground. An arrow skimmed past me, taking her, mercifully ending her.


    What had been the point of trying to save her, if she was just going to be snatched away from me anyways?


    The sound of fire and steel were vanishing, leaving the deadness of ash. Ash in the air, ash on the ground, ash covering all. Ash was the connection to death, ash was the finality, the last remnant, and coated in ash I found Iola, injured in a half dozen places. I ran to her, sliding in to get down and near faster, quickly assessing what had happened. [Detailed Restoration] on the injury most likely to kill her, still out of mana. My regeneration was at 4,358 points per hour, but in devastation like this, it wasn¡¯t enough, not nearly enough.


    ¡°You.¡± Iola snarled at me. ¡°This is your fault. You led them to us.¡±


    ¡°Led who? Let me heal you.¡± Iola tried to sit up, and somehow, even with the tiny amount of strength I had, I was able to push her back down, to lie down while I used [Detailed Restoration] as fast as I could to try and keep her together.


    I stayed, because there was no more screaming. No more men crying out for their mothers, no more women begging to be saved. Their cries had turned to ash, ash that was continuing to clog the air, cloy my lungs, and punctuate the end of this farce.


    I don¡¯t know how long I sat there, trying to bring Iola back from the brink, when the crunch of boots on burnt bamboo came from behind. I whirled around, hand on my knife still at my waist, and saw a spear coming for me.


    ¡°Elaine!?¡± A sudden cry, and the spear veered off to the side, nicking my shoulder. The voice was familiar, he clearly knew me, but who was it?


    ¡°Hey Artemis! Elaine¡¯s over here!¡± The Ranger shouted.


    ¡°Alright, if you¡¯ll just move to the side, I can finish off this bandit.¡± Kallisto, that was his name.


    ¡°No.¡± I said, looking at his eyes behind his helmet.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± He asked in disbelief.


    ¡°I said no. I won¡¯t stand aside.¡± I had a filthy tunic, a knife, a healer class, and no mana. He had more than twice my level, a full set of well-used armor, a large shield, a spear in hand, and a sword at his waist. There was only one way this could end.


    ¡°Explain.¡± He said curtly, pointing the business end of the spear in my direction. Some of the other Rangers showed up at this time, watching.


    ¡°My self-created Oath. I swore I¡¯d do no harm. I swore that I¡¯d protect my patients. Right now, she¡¯s my patient, and I¡¯ll do everything I can to protect her.¡± My words and voice were much calmer than my knees, who were busy betraying my true emotions. [Calming Aura] and [Centered Mind] were working overtime keeping me from collapsing.


    I got an amused chuckle from some of the other Rangers. Kallisto stopped pointing the business end of the spear at me. ¡°And what do you think will happen next?¡± He asked.


    ¡°I dunno. I really hope it doesn¡¯t start with ¡®murder Elaine¡¯ though.¡± I said.


    All five of the Rangers there ¨C I didn¡¯t see Arthur, and with his bulk, he was impossible to mistake ¨C suddenly tensed up. I felt an arm go around my chest, as a knife ¨C my knife! Was held against my neck.


    ¡°I fucking knew it.¡± Iola said. ¡°I knew you were a fucking spy. Nobody¡¯s as dumb as you are. I should have slit your throat right then and there on the road.¡± Iola tightened her grip on me, knife once again gently pressing into my throat. ¡°You damn government dogs just can¡¯t leave us in peace. All we wanted is to be free! And yet, here you are, unable to leave us be, murdering us in our sleep. I hate you.¡± She spat at that.


    ¡°Relax, I¡¯ve got this.¡± Artemis¡¯s friendly voice rang out. Artemis! I was saved!


    ¡°You sure?¡± I identified Julius¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    ¡°HEY! Pay attention, or your little friend gets her throat slit! She¡¯s good at healing, but not that good, and she¡¯s out of mana! So listen up! You¡¯re going to stay there, and we¡¯re going to walk out. I see any of you move, she¡¯s dead.¡± Iola was waving back and forth, trying to put me between any and all of the Rangers at the same time.


    ¡°Healy-bug. You¡¯re free from your Oath at this point, right?¡± Artemis asked.


    I will only take up a knife to defend myself or my patient. Defending myself from a patient ¨C well, she wasn¡¯t a patient anymore, not after threatening to kill me.


    ¡°Yes!¡± I gasped out, barely being able to get a breath out from her restricting arm.


    ¡°Remember Damonus.¡±


    What did she mean by that? Damonus, who bred wind weasels. Damonus, who took out my dad¡¯s eye. Damonus, who Artemis insisted was a threat, and not to leave threats behind.


    Damonus, who Artemis tried to get me to kill. The act she insisted was needed to become a mage.


    Was I now Damonus? Was the warning that I was going to be killed in cold blood? That seemed likely, but not what Artemis wanted to tell me.


    Ah. ¡°Free yourself. You¡¯re only independent if you can fight for it.¡± That was the message. I closed my eyes as I felt myself being dragged back. I only had one chance at this. What to use, what to use.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got me?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Shut up!¡± Pain exploded in my head as Iola headbutted the back of my head. Nothing spare for a [Deaden Pain].


    ¡°Always.¡± Artemis said, with such conviction I knew it to be true.


    My mana was regenerating fast, but I had one last trick up my sleeve. Well, in Iola¡¯s hand, but same thing. My knife. It was my knife, and it still had the Arcanite in the pommel. The Arcanite attuned to me. Grabbing mana from Arcanite felt different for everyone. For me, it was like breathing in, and breath in I did, filling myself up with mana. It wasn¡¯t a ton ¨C just a few hundred ¨C but it was enough.


    It was a habit to say skills out loud, to let people know what you were doing, to stop people from getting ideas, or getting worried. It wasn¡¯t needed. I pictured Iola¡¯s knife-hand as corrupted, preventing healing from happening in the rest of her body, from letting me heal others. My skill wouldn¡¯t work otherwise. It was close enough to the truth for my skill to find purchase, to work.


    I started with [Deaden Pain], to give myself an extra moment of time. [Remove Tissue] removed a hair-fine slice of wrist, initially not noticed by Iola, bloody hand falling to the ground.


    She did notice the rock that Artemis threw at her, accelerating to absurd speeds from her skill. She tried to dodge, to slit my throat, finding a stump where her hand used to be. An explosion of gore, and I was desperate to be freed from her dead grasp.


    [*Ding!* Your party has slain an [Experienced Maid] (Earth, lv 166)// [Bandit Leader] (Fire, lv 75)]


    ¡°So.¡± Artemis started. ¡°Fancy meeting you here.¡±


    Fancy that.

 Chapter 35 – Unless they’re shared with everyone! I

    ¡°I¡¯m dead curious¡± Artemis started. ¡°How on Pallos you managed to beat us here, when we were looking for this place.¡±


    I blushed at that. ¡°I erm, might have run directly into their ambush¡­¡± I responded, voice trailing off. Maximus started laughing at that. ¡°I told you we should try that!¡± in the most I-told-you-so tone of voice I¡¯d ever heard.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I¡¯m never going to hear the end of that, now will I?¡± Julius responded rhetorically.


    ¡°You don¡¯t seem too surprised that I¡¯m not in Aquiliea?¡± I half-said, half asked.


    ¡°Nope. I had money on you running away. Thought it¡¯d be a few more years before I¡¯d collect though, not three days. Speaking of, pay up.¡± Origen silently took a few coins from somewhere, and passed them to Artemis, who somehow made them disappear. In full combat gear to boot. I was impressed.


    ¡°But ¨C if you knew ¨C wha-why?¡± Too many questions to ask, not enough time to say them. Artemis snorted at me.


    ¡°You were always way too independent to be shackled down. I did try to warn Julia, but did she listen to the runaway expert? Nooooo.¡±


    Kallisto interrupted at this point. ¡°I¡¯m sure this is going to be a heartwarming reunion, but while we have a Light healer here, I¡¯d like to take full advantage of her.¡± He looked to Julius, who nodded.


    ¡°Anyone else need Elaine¡¯s services while we¡¯re here? If not, you¡¯re on cleanup. Otherwise, have Elaine fix you up.¡± Julius paused a moment, thinking.


    ¡°Elaine, you wouldn¡¯t mind, would you? We can pay you a fair amount for it.¡± I held my head high, shoulders back. I was the healer here! They were asking me nicely! They were being respectful! They cared!


    ¡°Of course!¡± I said cheerfully. ¡°Come right over! Mana¡¯s still regenerating, but it only takes a bit of time to fill right up!¡±


    With that, Kallisto and Maximus started stripping armor, while the rest of the Rangers vanished on me. I started looking at them, seeing a tapestry of scars that made Artemis look clear-skinned. Kallisto had some nasty-looking slashes on his elbow, and dozens of bruises where he''d been hit on his armor, the force transferring through. Would be a lot worse than a bruise without that armor of his.


    ¡°How do you normally get healed?¡± I asked, curious. They clearly didn¡¯t have a healer on-hand, but they also had so many injuries there had to be more going on.


    ¡°Time. Origen can also set up a weak healing field to speed things up. First rule of fights though ¨C don¡¯t get hit. Then you won¡¯t need healing. It¡¯s rare for us to get banged up in a fight, although this group was larger than we thought. No Classers though, thank the gods.¡± That reminded me of the unpleasantness we were in, the smoldering embers on floating ash painting the scene.


    ¡°Why were you hunting them? Do you hunt all escaped slaves?¡±


    Kallisto snorted at that. ¡°Escaped slaves aren¡¯t even business for the guard, let alone us. Hell, we help some escaped slave communities ¨C we¡¯re all people, we¡¯re all part of the Republic, and in a year or two ¡®escaped slave communities¡¯ turn into just another village. No, this lot had turned to banditry, and a particularly nasty type at that. Usually you hear about folks getting robbed on the road, or attacks leaving survivors. They didn¡¯t believe in that. Murdered every single person that saw them, probably hunted down anyone who even thought about leaving them. No, this was a vicious group of bandits, one of the worst, no matter how they tried to paint themselves as ¡®innocent escaped slaves just trying to make a living¡¯.¡± He spat at that.


    ¡°More than half of them probably came from a farm in the first place! They knew how to farm! They knew how to do a thousand other things! Setting up rocks in the road, killing who they could, that was their choice. They lived with it, they died with it.¡±


    ¡°How did you manage to find them?¡± I asked, healing a less serious wound.


    ¡°Believe it or not, you.¡± Maximus said.


    ¡°Me?¡±


    ¡°Yup. Arthur noticed you being hauled along, and followed. Lead us right here. He wasn¡¯t sure if it was you or not ¨C your face changed a bunch he said ¨C but Artemis was sure, so we attacked a bit early. To our great surprise, here you are!¡±


    ¡°But how? I didn¡¯t even notice him!¡± I said in surprise. How did I miss a miniature mountain watching me?


    A sound like gravel came from behind me. ¡°Nobody ever notices me.¡± I jumped at that, but it was hard to get a lot of height while sitting down.


    ¡°How-¡° I started.


    ¡°Did I do that?¡± Arthur finished my sentence. ¡°I get that all the time.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Have the right class, work on the skills, dedicate yourself to it, care about it, and you could also get that good. I was impressed when you were able to stop my poisoned arrow ¨C first person I¡¯ve seen that¡¯s done that for someone else. Self-healing skills aren¡¯t unheard of, but that was something else. Speaking of, you probably just got a thousand levels or so didn¡¯t you?¡±


    I should probably check on that, yeah. I braced myself, and allowed myself to see my notifications.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Calming Aura] has reached level 99!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Calming Aura] has reached level 100!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Calming Aura] has reached level 101!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 100!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 105!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Healing Aura] has reached level 94!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Healing Aura] has reached level 102!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 49!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 78!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Centered Mind] has reached level 94!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Centered Mind] has reached level 98!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Deaden Pain] has reached level 43!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Deaden Pain] has reached level 61!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Cure Toxin] has reached level 56!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Cure Toxin] has reached level 81!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 86!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 99!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath] has reached level 66!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath] has reached level 101!]


    My eyes bulged out at that one. [Oath] was insanely hard to level, in spite of trying to follow it every day, and I had increased it almost 40 levels in a single go.


    That was almost a 50% increase in level. Unheard of past level 50.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Shadow Healer] has leveled up to level 82! +1 Free Stat, +3 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana from your Element!]


    ¡­.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Shadow Healer] has leveled up to level 88! +1 Free Stat, +3 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Light of Hope] has leveled up to level 105! +1 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +1 Magic power, +5 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Light of Hope] has leveled up to level 123! +1 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +1 Magic power, +5 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Light Affinity] has reached level 105!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Light Affinity] has reached level 118!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Dark Affinity] has reached level 82!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Dark Affinity] has reached level 88!]


    ¡°Tell me everything.¡± Maximus had the eyes of a fanatic, pulling out a bamboo scroll and charcoal. I figured I needed to make nice with the Rangers if I wanted to tag along with them, and making nice started now.


    ¡°Well, I got about twenty levels in my Light class, but only six in my Dark class.¡± I started off.


    ¡°Probably were using the Light class a lot more than the Dark.¡± He commented, making notes. ¡°Arthur mentioned you managed to heal someone from his poisoned arrows, is that right?¡± I nodded. He turned to Arthur. ¡°Did you get any levels in your poison skills for someone opposing it?¡±


    Arthur swatted him. ¡°You know I¡¯m not telling you.¡±


    Maximus rolled his eyes. ¡°You know I try to help you all level up, and information helps.¡±


    Arthur grunted. ¡°It¡¯s my skill. I don¡¯t want to say.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine. What else Elaine?¡± Maximus was relentless.


    ¡°40 levels in my Oath skill!¡± I puffed out my chest at that. Arthur swatted Kallisto.


    ¡°What!?¡± He exclaimed, sounding hurt.


    ¡°Habit.¡± Arthur grunted.


    Maximus was muttering to himself. ¡°Any thoughts?¡± I prompted him.


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re batshit crazy. Also batshit crazy results in amazing levels. You¡¯re either going to die young, or get a high level. Or both. I recommend slow and steady.¡±


    I snorted at that. ¡°Let me guess, you¡¯d classify Artemis as batshit insane as well, wouldn¡¯t you? That¡¯s why she¡¯s the highest-level here while being the youngest one here.¡±


    All three of them started to violently deny that they¡¯d ever think Artemis was crazy. I felt the back of my head getting cuffed.


    ¡°Owe!¡±


    ¡°Who are you calling crazy, hmmm?¡± Artemis asked, hands on hips.


    ¡°Not you! Never you! Nope. It was them.¡± I said, immediately selling out the others. They violently shook their head in denial. Bah.


    Artemis rolled her eyes. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s head back to camp. Elaine can spend the night with us, least we can do for her healing us. Elaine, do you need anything from here?¡±


    ¡°Nope! I¡¯m all set!¡± I said, barely thinking about it, not wanting to separate from Artemis or cause them any problems.


    We wandered over to their camp, well-hidden in the forest. One moment there were bamboo shoots, and the next, like magic, there was a small campsite, with a wagon, two horses, a few tents, and a small firepit.


    Julius showed up, noticed me.


    ¡°Glad you¡¯re here Elaine. You can spend the night in the wagon.¡± Artemis made a noise of protest. ¡°Artemis, you can spend the night in the wagon, bunk in a tent, or set up your own tent. You know it¡¯s a luxury to be in the wagon.¡± She closed her mouth, looking disgruntled.


    ¡°Err, Artemis, I woul-¡° I started, only to be interrupted by Julius.


    ¡°Elaine, you¡¯re our guest. It¡¯s only right. Artemis will deal.¡±


    And that was how I ended up in a sleeping bag next to Artemis in the wagon.


    ¡°Psst hey Artemis, are you awake?¡± I asked


    A groaning noise, something like a ¡°no¡±. Eh, probably wasn¡¯t a no, who can answer questions when they¡¯re asleep?


    ¡°Was that lightning bolt you?¡±


    An affirmative mutter.


    ¡°That was so cool!¡±


    Grumbling noises. Sheesh, would it kill her to chat a bit?


    ¡°Hey Artemis-¡°


    ¡°Go to sleep!!!!¡± She turned over, throwing her pillow over her head.


    Harumph. Fine. Sleep it is.


    The morning rolled around, and I felt all sorts of greasy and disgusting. It had been days since I last saw a bath, and mud, blood, rain, prison, and more had all conspired to make me filthy. Eck. I left my sleeping bag and the wagon to the sight of all of the Rangers around a fire, watching Origen cooking breakfast.


    ¡°Elaine, so glad you could join us.¡± Julius invited me over.


    ¡°Thank you!¡± I minded my manners, sitting in the circle.


    ¡°We need to pay you for your healing yesterday, here.¡± He handed me some coins. I took them, and [Lost and Found] pinged, reminding me that I had gotten my own pouch stolen. Whoops.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Remember manners. I awkwardly held the coins in my hand as I steeling myself for my request.


    ¡°Soooooo¡­¡± I drew it out, committing myself but not wanting to commit. ¡°It seems like you¡¯re missing a healer.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t usually have a healer. There are two healers in the entire outfit, and they stay at headquarters to handle the most major injuries ¨C like limb removal, persistent poisons, poorly healed wounds, curses, etc. Healers don¡¯t travel with teams though.¡± Julius explained to me. Kallisto butted in.


    ¡°I¡¯d love a healer though. I¡¯m always getting beaten up. One of these days I won¡¯t make it.¡±


    I took one last breath, and decided that this was it. This was my in, and I¡¯d give up anything to make it. Anything.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to join your team.¡± I said, and waited for the explosion.


    ¡°Sorry Elaine, no.¡± Julius responded. ¡°We could use a healer, sure, but you¡¯re too low-leveled.¡±


    Time to let some secrets out of the bag. ¡°You know I have that [Oath] skill right?¡±


    ¡°Yes, and?¡± He said skeptically. I was grateful that he was at least listening to me, and not blowing me off. I only had a few chances to make my case.


    ¡°It multiplies my power and control when I¡¯m healing. I have over 1300 magic power, and over 4400 magic control. Sure, I¡¯m only level 123, but I suspect I¡¯m close in control to your healers, if not in power.¡±


    That little bombshell of mine got raised eyebrows all around. Maximus jumped in.


    ¡°Your skill gives you six times as much power and control!?¡± He leaned forward, eyes widening. Time to show off.


    ¡°Yup! And it¡¯ll only get stronger as it levels!¡± I possibly had two people on my side now!


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard of boosting skills ¨C skills that boost a stat or four under given conditions ¨C but that degree is ridiculous. I suppose being confined to two stats helps, but¡­¡± The plain-looking man trailed off, making inarticulate calculating noises.


    Julius made some thoughtful noises, then shook his head.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry Elaine. You¡¯re only 14 ¨C too young. At the end of the day, you¡¯re nothing special.¡±


    Nothing special? Nothing special? I could feel some anger rising inside of me. I¡¯ll show him.


    ¡°What if I was special?¡±

 Chapter 36 – Unless they’re shared with everyone! II

    Julius snorted at that. ¡°Every teenager thinks they¡¯re special, something important. Grow up. You¡¯re not. Go home, marry the dude, have a few kids. Live life.¡±


    I bite back anger at that. I needed to be thorough.


    ¡°Is anyone here like Artemis, and on a hair-trigger? I don¡¯t want to get stabbed halfway through this.¡± That question got a bunch of tensing up, and hands on weapons. I held my hands up. ¡°I solemnly promise I¡¯m a human.¡± That got nobody to relax ¨C Artemis hadn¡¯t tensed up in the slightest. I glared at her. I¡¯d assumed her hang ups were their hang ups. She threw me a bone.


    ¡°She¡¯s harmless all. She¡¯s a dual-class healer. She couldn¡¯t hurt us if she tried.¡± She paused, thinking. ¡°There might have been a slight incident or two in the past which has made Elaine paranoid¡­.¡± Everyone turned to give Artemis a flat look. Clearly, I hadn¡¯t been the first incident of Artemis being on a hair trigger, or the last, since even the new Rangers were giving her a Look.


    ¡°Fine, now that I know I won¡¯t get murdered halfway, I¡¯d like to make a bet with you. I bet I can convince you that I¡¯m actually somewhat special, or at least unique. I convince you that I¡¯m unique and useful, I stick with you. Otherwise, I¡¯ll go home, like you said.¡± Julius snorted at that.


    ¡°And who gets to decide?¡±


    ¡°You do. You could listen to everything I have to say, and decide otherwise. I won¡¯t protest. I honestly believe I can convince you, and convince you so thoroughly you¡¯ll agree.¡±


    Julius rolled his eyes at that. ¡°Fine. We usually take a break the day after a fight anyways, make sure there aren¡¯t hidden problems lurking around. You can talk while you remain entertaining.¡± Anger flared up again, and while I had decided to tell them, it came out faster and more biting than I¡¯d intended, with no build up.


    ¡°I¡¯m not from Pallos.¡±


    That bombshell got me the full and undivided attention of every single person there. Artemis laughed.


    ¡°I know your parents, Julia and Elainus. Of course you¡¯re from here.¡±


    I shook my head at that.


    ¡°Not originally. Ok, long story time. I was originally born on a planet called Earth, had a happy life, grew up, went to school, had friends, a family, etc. Sometime around the time I was 20, I died. I don¡¯t know how or why, but my soul got lost somewhere in the cycle of reincarnation, and Papillion picked me out of the cosmos. He gave me a choice ¨C reincarnate as normal, here on Pallos. Or reincarnate with some of my memories intact. Something about a baby¡¯s head not being large enough, and some knowledge being ¡®too dangerous¡¯ to let run around.¡± That last part was with bitterness. I¡¯d never felt whole and complete, not with giant holes in my memory, with gaps in my knowledge. It was part of why I¡¯d been able to integrate and adapt so well here.


    Artemis pointed at me with her mouth wide open. ¡°You liar!¡± I jumped at that.


    ¡°I never lied!¡±


    ¡°You let me believe your starter class was because of the Earth element!¡±


    Oh that. ¡°Yup! But I never said it was because of it!¡± I said cheerfully.


    Julius interrupted. ¡°Artemis, report.¡±


    Artemis snapped to attention. ¡°Sir! When I first met Elaine, she had just awoken. I helped her train her general skills to level 8, then helped with her initial free point distribution. I forgot about the power-control trade-off being so important at low levels, and had her assign 24 points to the Magic stats. That gave her a 10-10-9-9 distribution. I almost fried her when she said she had more points, thinking she was a monster. She told me her class was [Child of Earth], which had more points than [Child of Pallos], or [Child of Remus]. It was a Metal-aligned class. Which is how she got a perfect 10-10-10-10 for her first class-up. I assumed she was simply loved by the Earth element. Sir!¡± She paused for a moment, thinking. ¡°She also somehow shot up to level 32 immediately after classing up, and has another class-up. Julia, her mom, assumed it was my fault. Due to various incidents, I didn¡¯t look into it. Sir!¡± Everyone groaned at the last part. I looked at Julius, impressed. What was this power to command Artemis! I wanted.


    Granted, it was a Wood class, not Metal, but potato, potato.


    He said nothing, turning to Maximus, who was practically actually drooling.


    ¡°Ahem, yes.¡± He started, wiping his mouth. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of the class [Child of Earth]. Additionally, while people are occasionally loved by the elements, the templating¡¯s all wrong. It would¡¯ve been [Beloved by Earth]. Surface-wise, it checks out.¡±


    Julius snapped back to me. ¡°Continue talking.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d estimate my aggregate age as somewhere in the mid-30¡¯s¡± I started, carefully not mentioning that my mental maturity was indeed 14, and that I had the mindset of a 14-year old. Years as a baby did nothing for you either way, and being treated like a kid made one regress to being a kid. If nothing else, it didn¡¯t advance my mental maturity, so I was, at best, somewhere around 20. My age was a mess.


    ¡°What do you want to know?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Anything and everything you can remember. Arthur, Origen, start taking notes.¡±


    I didn¡¯t want people taking notes, but I wasn¡¯t in charge here. I wasn¡¯t being forced to give any knowledge out, but I was asking for a favor. A massive favor. I could survive some notes being taken. I grabbed a shoot off the ground, and started to draw in the dirt.


    ¡°So, the world is a sphere, and it looks something like this.¡± I started, poorly drawing a map of the world from what I could remember.


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Recollections of a Distant Life]!]


    I needed every ounce of help to convince them to let me join. I ditched [Knives] for the skill, dry retching as the skill left me.


    Maximus interrupted. ¡°Just got a new skill?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I replied, shaky.


    ¡°Which one?¡± He was fishing for something. Truth first. Integrity first.


    ¡°[Recollections of a Distant Life].¡± More looks, more shrugs.


    ¡°What are skills like on Earth?¡± Maximus had a one-track mind.


    ¡°There are no skills on Earth. Not like here. There¡¯s no magic at all, no system, no stats, nothing.¡±


    ¡°How does anything work? How are humans alive?¡± Arthur jumped in.


    ¡°Well, we use science to figure things out, and technology to make things.¡±


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Recollections of a Distant Life] has reached level 2!]


    That was going to get really old, really fast. I disabled notifications for the skill, trusting that it¡¯d level up in the background, helping me out.


    ¡°That just sounds like more magic, with a different name.¡± Artemis was skeptical. Trust the mage to be skeptical of a non-magical place.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not. It¡¯s an accumulation of knowledge. I know one thing. I teach the next person that thing. They learn another thing. They pass two things on. Etc. It¡¯s much easier with books, which just don¡¯t seem to exist here!¡± I cried out in frustration.


    ¡°What¡¯s a book?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s like a scroll, but more compact. Here, hand me a few scrolls.¡± I was dutifully handed a few blank scrolls. ¡°Imagine instead of rolling them up like this, you spread all of them out, and layered them on top of each other. It¡¯s sealed on one end. You can then flip through the ¡®pages¡¯ one at a time, to quickly access information. See? You can even write on both sides.¡± I flipped through my makeshift ¡®book¡¯, demonstrating what I meant. ¡°Usually the pages are more uniform, and much, much thinner, but yeah, this is a book.¡±


    ¡°What else?¡± They were hooked.


    ¡°Numbers! Your numbers are all wrong!¡± I complained.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Kallisto asked.


    ¡°You have a representative system. Look, here¡¯s 1, 5, 10, 50, 100, 500, and 1000 in your system¡± I said, drawing out a I, V, X, L, C, D and M. ¡°It¡¯s obnoxious in the first place, and completely fails at higher numbers. Instead, let me show you what we call Arabic numbers that we use on Earth.¡± With that, I drew out a 0 ¨C 9 on the ground.


    ¡°Actually, before I get started, who knows about zero?¡± Julius and Origen both raised their hands.


    They explained the concept of zero to the others, and then I explained the Arabic numerical system.


    ¡°What use is it?¡± Artemis asked, pretending indifference, totally hooked.


    ¡°It¡¯s good when you¡¯re dealing with numbers larger than 1000¡­ and generally just all-around better, once you get used to it.¡±


    ¡°Hang on, if you know a completely different number system, you must know other languages.¡± Julius jumped in.


    ¡°Yeah, English. It¡¯s a messy language, and it¡¯s not easy to teach.¡±


    He still looked thoughtful.


    ¡°Do you know what you don¡¯t know?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°Kind of. I can be led to blanks, I know where some blanks in my memory exist, but generally, I¡¯ll be thinking of something, and I¡¯ll lead myself right to a blank. I do know I have almost all of my biology knowledge.¡±


    ¡°So you know how the four humors work?¡± Kallisto asked. I snorted at that.


    ¡°The four humors are completely wrong. The human body is massively complex, and there¡¯s no easy way to explain it. It¡¯s like a town. Saying a town is a mix of four humors is just wrong. There¡¯s thousands of people, each doing their little part. There¡¯s the walls keeping everything in. The roads for people to travel on. Buildings for them to live in. Water and food going in, waste going out. Rocks coming in to fix buildings. A governor to oversee everything. Guards keeping the peace. A human body can¡¯t just be summed up as ¡®four elements in balance¡¯, it¡¯s too complex for anything simple.¡±


    ¡°So how do diseases work?¡± Maximus asked.


    ¡°Well, what¡¯s the smallest creature you know of?¡±


    There was some thinking, some looking back and forth. Clearly, this was a new thought.


    ¡°Well, there a¡­¡±


    ¡°But a baby version is even smaller.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s tiny bugs.¡±


    I held my hand up, stalling out the argument.


    ¡°There are tiny creatures, so small we can¡¯t see them, that can think we¡¯re food, and invade. Our bodies have their own town guard, and they can usually beat up the trouble makers and throw them out. Sometimes though, they get a foothold, and can do terrible damage to a body. Think of a town with no guard, or a crumbling town ¨C easy for vandals to do damage.¡± I was pretty pleased with my analogy.


    ¡°That¡¯s actually my [Cure Disease] variant Artemis ¨C [Attack Bacteria].¡±


    ¡°How do you spell that?¡± Maximus asked, continuing to take furious notes. I spelled it out for him.


    ¡°However, there¡¯s more than just bacteria than can cause problems. Bacteria are giants compared to viruses. It¡¯s why I can heal some diseases, and I¡¯m useless against the cold. The root of the disease is different.¡± Teaching was fun!


    ¡°How do you know all of this? Were you a healer on Earth?¡± Julius asked. Success! He believed me!


    ¡°No, just a normal student.¡±


    ¡°Student?¡±


    I hit my forehead with my palm.


    ¡°Yes, student. For the first 18 years of life, almost everyone is educated. Math. Science. History. Literature. Music. And so much more. It¡¯s how we keep accumulating and passing on knowledge. Relative to the actual doctors ¨C healers - on Earth, I know nothing about the human body. I only have what¡¯s considered common knowledge ¨C but the basic knowledge is enough for skills here to work off of. I imagine healers trying to use the four humors method have terrible efficiency.¡±


    Artemis made a noise of agreement. ¡°You restore and heal just as fast as some of the more experienced healers I¡¯ve met. I never thought about it, since I assumed that was the normal healing speed, and I know shit about healers. But yeah, now that I think about it, you heal like someone two or three times your level.¡± She paused, thinking. ¡°Might just be your [Oath] skill instead though.¡±


    Julius was still deep in thought, Origen and Maximus writing furiously, filling up scrolls.


    ¡°What are some bad aspects to Earth, that are better here?¡± Yikes, it was like a job interview. Thinking about it, this was a job interview.


    ¡°The beauty standards!¡± I immediately blurted out, then blushed. Why did I have to say that?


    ¡°Elaborate.¡±


    ¡°Well, there are pictures¡± I quickly explained the concept of pictures, and preserving a moment in time for eternity. They were fascinated by the concept. ¡°But they can be edited. So you¡¯re constantly measuring yourself against fake pictures, against people that can¡¯t possibly exist. Women have it hard as well ¨C expected to constantly shave, always be skinny, always look good, always have a smile on your face. It¡¯s exhausting. I hated it, hated that I had to conform to those standards. It¡¯s so much freer here.¡± I thought about it more.


    ¡°I miss shampoo. And bras. And not needing to worry about lice or ticks.¡± I shuddered at the last one.


    More explaining. More back and forth. Religion. Governments. Guns. Glasses.


    ¡°How do glasses work? They should be replicable here, right, like everything else?¡± Kallisto asked.


    ¡°Well, yes. It¡¯s simple, and hard at the same time. All they do is ¨C they work by ¨C argh! Damn holes!¡± I cursed as yet another piece of information turned out to be a hole in the swiss cheese that was my head. Dozens of ideas, hundreds of concepts ¨C I had the gist, I could explain half of it, but when push came to shove there was this gaping hole in my memory. I could give the idea, but I could import almost nothing.


    Origen said something for the first time. An order, a command, a request? I couldn¡¯t tell, but it made sense.


    ¡°Stories.¡±


    That I could do. [Recollections of a Distant Life] was past 40 and rising fast, a blistering pace. I started off with a simple one, The Boy who cried Wolf. I moved onto Beowulf. I had always loved reading, and I had a thousand tales to tell.


    The Iliad. I had them hooked.


    The Odyssey. They were entranced. Stories didn¡¯t last thousands of years without being good.


    I continued to introduce new cultures, new parts of the world, with Romance of the Three Kingdoms. New ideas with Frankenstein. Don Quixote. Romeo and Juliet. Macbeth. The Divine Comedy. The Epic of Gilgamesh. Dracula had everyone nodding along ¨C were there vampires here? Animal Farm went right over their heads, and I decided to stick to more grounded works of literature. To Kill a Mockingbird went over better, but I made a few subtle swaps on slavery over racism. Aesop¡¯s Fables were a complete hit, King Lear less so. The Tale of Genji. A Thousand and One Arabian Nights. Only a fraction of those. Moby-Dick. Alice in Wonderland. Oedipus. Midas. The Bible. Cinderella. Grimm¡¯s Fairy Tales.


    It all came to a screeching halt with St. George and the Dragon. Like so many books that required background and context, things I¡¯d believed were natural, they needed things explained to them.


    ¡°What¡¯s a saint?¡± Artemis asked, leaning in. She was engrossed, like the rest of my audience.


    ¡°Well, when the Roman Church thinks someone¡¯s particularly holy, and sent from god, they call them a saint.¡± I explained patiently.


    ¡°That¡¯s the one with only one god, right? They don¡¯t like adultery?¡± Kallisto was particularly sore on that point.


    ¡°Yup!¡±


    ¡°And what¡¯s a ¡®dragon¡¯?¡± Arthur asked, using the English word for it. I didn¡¯t have the Pallos Standard word for them, if it even existed. He liked hunting things.


    ¡°Ah. Big winged lizard, flies, breathes fire, powerfully magical, likes to hoard precious things.¡±


    ¡°A Dragon!?¡± Finally, the Pallos word for it. At that, Julius tackled me, and put his hand over my mouth. He hissed, low and quiet.


    ¡°I believe you, now shut up. They hear you when you call.¡±

 Chapter 37 – On the road

    ¡°Everyone pack up, we¡¯re leaving. Now.¡± I looked up, startled, realizing night had fallen without me noticing, telling tales the whole day.


    I quickly checked my new skill.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Recollections of a Distant Life] has reached level 55!]


    I was happy to see a skill go up so fast, but I suspected I wouldn¡¯t have much use for it in the future. Ah well, I had a free general skill slot now. Maybe I¡¯d start working on [Knives] again, although it¡¯d be hell to try and train from level 1 again. Probably should have ditched [Lost and Found].


    I wanted to ask if I was in. With the speed everyone was moving at, I figured hopping in the wagon, and just being taken along for the ride was the better move. Easy to say no. Easy to deny me. Easy to just accept that I¡¯m along for the ride. Right now, being easy seemed to be the name of the game, and I hopped on, staying as silent as a mouse. As things were thrown in the wagon, I made sure they were neatly packed away as best I could. Make myself useful. Make myself indispensable. In a few minutes of well-practiced chaos, we were on the move, Artemis hopping into the wagon with me, jerking her head back when she saw me.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re here.¡± She said.


    ¡°Everyone, silent.¡± Julius ordered. ¡°Kallisto, reins. Arthur, patrol. Move, move, move, we need to leave as fast as possible.¡±


    Everyone else sat in the wagon on the little benches to the side as Kallisto and Arthur followed orders. I decided to show that I could be a good little Ranger, and follow orders. Clearly Julius was spooked, and while nobody else seemed scared, nobody was arguing with him either. I decided to spend some time looking around.


    It wasn¡¯t clear from the outside, but the entire wagon had sheets of metal going around it, and there was a door to both the front and the back of the wagon. Shelves of supplies were around, boxes under the benches, and some food hanging from the ceiling, waving back and forth as the wagon swayed as we were moving. Runes glowed with power all over the inside, forming a complex network that connected to multiple Arcanite stones embedded in the walls. I wanted to whistle ¨C this wagon was as well-equipped as a fortress, and as expensive as some mansions!


    I started to drift off to sleep, only to be jerked awake.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Healing Aura] has reached level 103!].


    I looked around, wide awake and alert. Julius had said to be quiet, and I wasn¡¯t going to say anything, but I also wanted to make sure nobody was hurt. I should say something if someone was injured, and [Healing Aura] only leveled up when it was working. Usually it was dozens of people getting minor amounts of healing over a long period of time ¨C fighting off a small cold, having a little scrape heal a hair faster ¨C but with so few people, it was less likely to be a scratch.


    At the same time, I wanted to show that I could follow orders. I wasn¡¯t about to start making trouble and get thrown off, not so early.


    An exasperated sigh came from behind me. ¡°Elaine, report.¡± Julius commanded.


    I tried to mimic Artemis as best I could.


    ¡°Sir! My [Healing Aura] skill went off. Only happens when it¡¯s working. Wanted to see if anyone was hurt, but stay quiet as well.¡±


    ¡°Was it running all day?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°And it only leveled up now?¡±


    ¡°¡­ yes.¡±


    ¡°Probably fine then. We¡¯re all a little banged up. If you ever think someone¡¯s injured, barring obvious circumstances, say something.¡±


    I nodded at that, screaming internally. He¡¯d explicitly said to be quiet! Didn¡¯t that count as obvious!? Artemis patted me on the arm, clearly recognizing my internal dilemma, but saying nothing. I felt her discreetly slip something hard, but flexible into my hand. I took a peek.


    Dried. Mango. Yessssssssssssssssss.


    I shot her a grateful look, to get a happy smile and a nod back. I slowly savored the piece of mango as we continued rocking along.


    ¡°Listen up. You can all chat now if needed. Artemis, you¡¯re on second shift with me. Origen, you¡¯re with Maximus on third shift. Elaine, you can get a full night¡¯s sleep until I know you¡¯re good on a shift.¡±


    I wanted to ask about Arthur, and when he¡¯d sleep. I decided to offer up a skill instead.


    ¡°I have [Greater Invigorate], maybe that¡¯d help someone stay awake?¡±


    Julius nodded at me. ¡°Go ask Kallisto if he¡¯d like a boost. Everyone, try to get some rest.¡±


    I popped my head out, and like someone making a coffee run, I asked ¡°[Greater Invigorate]?¡±


    Kallisto kept his eyes on the road, but nodded. I zapped him with it, snickering as I saw him jump.


    ¡°Do you do this often?¡± I asked, gesturing all around me.


    ¡°Which part? The leave in a rush, the midnight rides, the picking up strays, or the Pallos-shattering revelations?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± I responded unhelpfully. Hey, I wanted to know it all.


    I got a Look in response to that particular piece of sass.


    ¡°We often leave in a rush. It¡¯s rare for us to be running from something ¨C not much can threaten a prepared and awake Ranger group ¨C but yeah, we¡¯ll often hear about some monster roaming the area, or goblin attack, and we need to move fast to get there. By the same token, we¡¯re often traveling through the night. Wagon¡¯s crowded when we¡¯re all trying to sleep in it, although not as crowded as when we started.¡±


    That was a fairly sobering reminder that Ranger squads were in theory eight-man, or woman, squads, but rarely were at full strength.


    ¡°As for picking up strays¡­¡± He eyed me significantly. ¡°Rare, but not unheard of. Usually it¡¯s someone fairly high-level out in the wilderness who¡¯s heading the same way we are, or a retired soldier in a village helping us out with a local pest.¡±


    ¡°In terms of challenging everything I know and believe to be true, you¡¯re the first.¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± I protested. ¡°I couldn¡¯t have changed that much!¡±


    Kallisto started to tick points off of his finger. ¡°We¡¯re not the only humans. There are multiple worlds. The gods take a much more active interest than I believed. Everything we know about medicine is wrong. The afterlife works completely differently. Do I need to continue?¡±


    I hung my head at that. ¡°Sorry.¡±


    He shook his head at me. ¡°Better to know than not. Still, it¡¯s going to take me time to work through all this. You should get some sleep.¡±


    I wanted to stay and keep chatting, but there wasn¡¯t much to see. How we managed to keep horses moving in the dark, I had no idea. Probably some sort of Ranger magic. Actually, I had to know.


    ¡°One last fast question, then I¡¯ll get out of your hair.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°How are the horses able to see in the dark? Wouldn¡¯t they break a leg?¡±


    ¡°Origen did some of his Inscriptions on the reins. No idea what it does, but it lets them move at night.¡±


    ¡°And ¨C¡°


    ¡°Good night Elaine.¡±


    Fine, fine. I left him to it, retreating back into the wagon. Nearly everyone was asleep in various uncomfortable looking positions. I found a spot near Artemis, curled up, and the swaying of the wagon rocked me to sleep.


    I woke up screaming the next morning, desperately trying to grab my knife, trying to fend off nameless, faceless attackers. Artemis burst in, looking around wildly, then crouched and slowly approached me, gently pushing down my knife before wrapping me in a hug.


    ¡°Shh, shh, it¡¯s ok, it¡¯s just a nightmare, it¡¯s not real, they can¡¯t hurt you.¡± I was hyperventilating, searching desperately for threats that weren¡¯t there. Artemis¡¯s message eventually got to me, and trembling, I tried to put my knife away. I didn¡¯t have [Knives] anymore, and nicked myself three times before managing to put it away.


    I followed my nose, poking out to a campsite mostly setup. I gingerly sucked on my fingers as I stepped outside, getting a good whiff of myself.


    Oh, dear gods, I stunk. I stunk horribly. And it was only four days since I¡¯d left home. No wonder Artemis sank into a bath whenever possible; I¡¯d quite possibly murder for one right now. I took a look at my fellow campers. Some were bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning, some looked like coffee would be a blessing. Or were just up half the night on watch. Little of column A, little of column B I suspected. Not a single one looked clean though. Dirt and grime was the name of the game, and I suspected we¡¯d just be accumulating more until we hit a town ¨C or a stream.


    ¡°Elaine, glad you could join us.¡± Julius invited me over. ¡°Now that we have a few moments, let¡¯s all chat. Do we let Elaine join us, or not?¡±


    I felt my heartrate rapidly increase, palms sweaty, as I tried to keep a poker face. I wasn¡¯t being dismissed out of hand! I wasn¡¯t being sent away! A discussion on if I could stick around or not was being seriously considered!


    As a huge grin split my face, I realized I should never gamble, as I accepted a bowl of food from Origen.


    The golden Kallisto started. ¡°I vote yes. And before you kill me Artemis - It¡¯s not because of her looks!¡± He made a defensive gesture in Artemis¡¯s direction. ¡°I get off-limits. No, I¡¯m the one that¡¯s in front of everyone, and there should be three of us, not one and a half. The odds of me making it to the end of this round without a healer like Elaine is between slim and none.¡±


    Julius nodded at this. ¡°Maximus?¡±


    ¡°The interesting thing about skills,¡± He started. ¡°is they respond to perceived stress. Elaine must¡¯ve gotten over 50 levels in her memory skill in a single day. Yesterday was literally do or die for her ¨C from her perspective at least.¡± He paused, collecting his thoughts.


    ¡°Of course, that¡¯s not the only factor, but it, shall we say, weighs on the scales. I believe that there¡¯s so much I ¨C and we- can learn from her, and from a different perspective. So few people have created their own skill, or have a novel skill, and Elaine has at least two before she¡¯s 15. Three if you count that bacteria skill. She might even have more. Most of those seem to also be from extra knowledge, which the system also responds to. Watch this.¡± He turned to me. I gulped, being in the hotspot.


    ¡°Elaine, looking at us, looking at what skills and classes we have, what do you think we could do that we¡¯re not currently doing?¡±


    Holy interview question. ¡°I, erm, uh, I, uhhh ¨C don¡¯t know your classes and elements.¡± I fumbled, not expecting the question, answering around a mouthful of food.


    Maximus rolled his eyes. ¡°I can form almost any weapon out of metal. Same with armor. Arthur has a Poison element class. Artemis you probably know. Origen can inscribe most types of magic. Julius is all about speed. Kallisto is our sneaky front liner, who can charm most anyone ¨C and I mean for information, not for other reasons.¡±


    I spent a moment thinking about it. ¡°Maximus, can you start sketching out what weapons and armor you do know in the ground? I might as well know what you know, otherwise I might just suggest more of the same.¡± Ok, good, moment to stall.


    ¡°Origen, can you make a box cold?¡± He looked thoughtful, then slowly nodded. ¡°Well, food becomes bad when germs ¨C err, bacteria ¨C same thing ¨C eat it, then produce toxins and waste. If food¡¯s cold, then germs can¡¯t grow on it easily. You get to keep food fresh for longer.¡± A fridge, a fridge, my kingdom for a fridge! Fresh food was constantly around in town, but on the road, I noticed everything we had was preserved. Made sense, but maybe this would be enough.


    ¡°Arthur, your poisons are kind of slow, and people can keep moving when hit by them.¡± I started out, thinking of Australia. So many poisonous things. Arthur grinned at me, clearly pleased. ¡°Yeah, I know it does.¡±


    That got some groans, and Artemis threw a bone at him. ¡°Arthur, one of these days that habit of yours is going to get you killed.¡± Julius started. I shuddered, not wanting to know more about this.


    ¡°Oook, I¡¯m going to leave that issue alone. Just know there¡¯s something called a blue-ringed octopus, where a tiny amount of poison will instantly disable a person. Maybe that knowledge is enough for the system to work off of?¡± I hedged.


    ¡°Artemis.¡± She perked right up at that, looking at me. ¡°I¡¯m not quite sure how all of this works ¨C there¡¯s a lot of blanks around this ¨C but there¡¯s lightning inside of every person. A tiny amount, but if you ripped lightning out of a person, they¡¯d just stop moving, drop dead.¡± She looked thoughtful at that.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never felt it, but I¡¯ll try. I suspect if it¡¯s as small as you say though, I¡¯d need much higher control to make it work.¡±


    [*Error* [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has decreased to level 100!].

 Chapter 38 – Voting on Elaine

    I retched as that notification came up. Artemis rushed over.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Are you ok?¡± She asked, patting me all over. ¡°Was it Origen¡¯s terrible cooking?¡± He lightly punched her, clearly thinking I was fine.


    ¡°Oath skill.¡± I choked out. ¡°Lost a level for that.¡±


    Maximus raised an eyebrow. ¡°What exactly is in that oath of yours? We should know before voting.¡± There was general nodding of heads at that.


    I thought about it, and told them:


    First, do no harm.


    Healing is my art.


    I will use all of my knowledge and tools at my disposal to heal those that come to me.


    I will heal those I see to the best of my ability.


    I will apply all measures that are required to my patients.


    I will never see a patient as anything other than another creature in pain.


    I will not discriminate who I heal based on class, sex, race, what gods they pray to, nor by any other means.


    I will defend the patients under my care from harm and injustice.


    I will only take up a knife to defend myself or my patient.


    I will admit when I don¡¯t know how to heal a patient.


    I will respect the privacy of my patients, and hold in confidence anything that is said to me.


    I will teach and spread my knowledge to the best of my abilities, asking for no recompense.


    I hesitated at the end though, not wanting to share the last line, something I considered one of the most private and intimate parts of myself. I will not forget you. Julius could see my hesitation, and to his credit, asked questions instead of pulling it out of me.


    ¡°There¡¯s more, right?¡± I nodded.


    ¡°Does it restrict you?¡± I shook my head.


    ¡°Could it cause a problem for us or you in any way, shape, or form?¡± I shook my head.


    ¡°Alright, you can keep it to yourself.¡± The relief must have shown on my face.


    ¡°Maximus?¡± Julius asked.


    ¡°Not to be too obvious, but it¡¯s probably the ¡®First, do no harm¡¯ part. She¡¯s given us at least one way to better kill a person, maybe two. The System is recognizing that she¡¯s helping harm other people with this knowledge, which means her suggestions are legitimate ¨C and potent. Given how much of her use to us is being a healer, and we have the ¡®kill stuff dead¡¯ part down pat, I recommend we stop asking for lethal suggestions.¡± He thought for a moment more. ¡°Unless she knew of ways to de-escalate damage ¨C like a weapon that crippled more than killed.¡± I shuddered at that cold calculus. It was becoming clear that violence was cold and calculated here, and exterminating dozens, if not a hundred, bandits in a night was called ¡°Wednesday¡±.


    Julius absorbed this information, looking thoughtful.


    ¡°Could your oath interfere with a fight we¡¯re in?¡± I thought about it. I worked it over in my mind, examining it from several different angles.


    ¡°¡­ Maybe. I need to think about it more. See it in action.¡± I hedged. ¡°I know if someone¡¯s injured, and not an immediate threat, then I¡¯d probably jump in. No sense in allowing someone who¡¯s no longer a combatant to die.¡± Frowns all around. Uh oh.


    ¡°If I told you to let someone die?¡± Julius asked. I closed my eyes at that, and took a deep breath in. Shit. This was it. This is where I got kicked out.


    ¡°I¡¯d fight you on it. Like I tried to fight Kallisto on it the other day.¡± I let my breath out in a rush. Artemis was beaming at me. Origen was looking at me with respect. Arthur gave a short, barking laugh. Julius just facepalmed.


    ¡°Fine. I have to respect your integrity, even if it¡¯s going to cause problems and count against you. I also appreciate you telling me straight out, and not lying about it for it to be a problem later.¡± He thought some more. ¡°If we take Elaine with us ¨C IF. New standing order ¨C Make sure you properly eliminate threats, so we don¡¯t get this problem. On the plus side, capturing people becomes easier ¨C we can limb them and Elaine can patch them up.¡± My stomach dropped out at this. I¡¯d probably condemned people to die with that. Oath didn¡¯t think so.


    Maximus snorted. ¡°I think I¡¯ve made my point. I vote we keep Elaine.¡±


    Julius nodded at Maximus¡¯s vote. ¡°Origen?¡±


    He looked at me, pointed at the sky, and said one word. ¡°Brave.¡±


    I blushed at that. ¡°No, no, I¡¯m terrified of things, I¡¯m not brave at all!¡± He snorted in derision at me, and I got the most words out of him I¡¯d ever heard.


    ¡°Brave isn¡¯t being fearless. Being fearless is stupidity. Brave is being afraid, and still doing it. You¡¯re brave. You stay.¡±


    Artemis had a full-jaw dislocation going on. ¡°You can speak! In complete sentences!¡± She was outraged. ¡°You had me going on for weeks trying to get you to say more than one word at a time, and now you give Elaine a full lecture!?¡± Origen just smirked at her. She turned around in a huff.


    ¡°Arthur?¡± Julius kept going around the campfire.


    ¡°I vote we keep the world-traveler. We get all sorts of boring VIPs. Now we can have an interesting VIP!¡± Julius eyed him.


    ¡°Not the best reasoning, but a yes vote none the less. Artemis, I assume you¡¯re in favor?¡± Julius said.


    Artemis looked deep in thought. I took the moment to strike. ¡°Some extra details ¨C I told Julia that I¡¯d be with you, and, well, just imagine what happens when you show up in Aquiliea and say that you have no idea where I am. You also owe me a big favor still!¡± I grinned cheerfully at her, enduring the thunderous looks shot my way.


    ¡°Blackmailer.¡± She accused.


    ¡°Shamelessly so.¡± I tossed my hair as I confessed, looking at Artemis in a half-challenging, half-teasing way.


    Julius facepalmed. ¡°Please don¡¯t extort my team.¡±


    Artemis melodramatically flopped over. ¡°Julius oh Julius! I must vote yes, for the fiend has dirt on me! I fear for my existence, nay, my wallet, if I were to say no!¡±


    We all laughed at that, a deep, binding laugh, bringing us together in the way only shared faux-misery at one of our own can.


    Julius made an agreeing noise, and turned to look at me.


    ¡°Alright Elaine. From what everyone¡¯s saying, and from what I¡¯ve seen, I believe you¡¯ll be a net positive for the team. You have two choices. First choice: Join as a tag-along. You¡¯ll be with us, but not part of the team, and can leave at any time. However, you¡¯re expected to pitch in on all chores, tasks, and activities. Second choice: You don¡¯t join us, and we drop you off at the next town.¡±


    This is what I wanted. This is what I¡¯d been going for. ¡°I¡¯d love to join as a tag-along!¡± A chorus of happy cheers came from everyone except Origen, who simply pumped his fist.


    Artemis chimed in at this point. ¡°You should cut your hair short healy-bug. It¡¯s terribly hard to maintain it on the road, and it¡¯s already matting up.¡±


    I flushed in embarrassment again. Did she have to point that out in front of everyone!? Locking eyes with her, I drew my knife, bunched my hair up, and in one sharp move cut it pixie-short, like hers.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 94!].


    Still staring at her, I dropped it in the fire.


    ¡°No!¡±


    ¡°Not the fire!¡±


    ¡°Arrrrrrgh!¡±


    Small bits of flaming hair went everywhere. Whoops.


    I fled back into the wagon.


    An hour or two later, I decided I could show my face again, and popped back out. I was lucky that nobody had needed anything. Artemis was levitating rocks around her and playing lightning, doing some complex dance with them. Origen seemed to be inscribing a bracer with magic ¨C I had no idea if this was maintenance, or making a new one. Maximus and Julius were sparring, Julius moving at incredible speeds while Maximus tried to fend him off. Kallisto was doing some push-ups, then sit ups, then swapped to more exercises, while Arthur was nowhere to be seen. Given how blasted sneaky he was, he could be right beside me. I narrowed my eyes, trying to find him somewhere. No luck, but Julius noticed me.


    ¡°Hey Elaine! Welcome back!¡± He waved, and jogged over.


    ¡°Feeling better? Losing a level in a skill must suck.¡± He nodded slowly at me. Cover! Blessed cover! Praise Julius!


    ¡°Yup! Thank you!¡±


    ¡°Alright Elaine, now that you¡¯re with us, I¡¯m going to need a nearly full breakdown of all of your stats, skills, and levels. I recognize that most people like keeping their information secret, and you have more secrets than most to keep. Our standard is you can keep one general skill, and one skill from each of your classes secret. Artemis vouches for your honesty, but I¡¯d rather you tell me that you can¡¯t say a skill instead of cover it up with something else. You never know when I¡¯ll rely on a skill you say you have, or miss something because of a skill you failed to tell me. It¡¯s extra-important that I get all of your healing-related skills. I can¡¯t be thinking you can save someone when you can¡¯t.¡±


    I thought about it, looking over my skills. I didn¡¯t really have any skills I wanted to keep secret, except for one. I told him my skills:


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 14]


    [Mana: 2390/2390]


    [Mana Regen: 5288]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 32]


    [Strength: 20]


    [Dexterity: 20]


    [Vitality: 20]


    [Speed: 32]


    [Mana: 239]


    [Mana Regeneration: 666]


    [Magic Power: 236]


    [Magic Control: 743]


    [Class 1: [Light of Hope - Light: Lv 123]]


    [Light Affinity: 118]


    [Calming Aura: 101]


    [Medicine: 105]


    [Healing Aura: 103]


    [Detailed Restoration: 78]


    [Flashlight: 90]


    [Greater Invigorate: 96]


    [Centered Mind: 98]


    [Class 2: [Shadow Healer - Dark: Lv 88]]


    [Dark Affinity: 88]


    [Deaden Pain: 61]


    [Surgeon''s Scalpel: 78]


    [Attack Bacteria: 69]


    [Parasitic Remover: 35]


    [Tissue Removal: 76]


    [Cure Toxin: 81]


    [Privacy: 67]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 65]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 55]


    [Vigilant: 99]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 100]


    [Lost and Found: 60]


    [Running: 55]


    [Learning: 93]

 Chapter 39 – Sheep’s Ford

    Julius sighed and rubbed his eyes. ¡°A problem for another day. First off, we need to teach you how to defend yourself, then figure out how to work you into our formation. Ok, to start-¡± Julius was interrupted by Artemis storming over.


    ¡°No. Absolutely not.¡± She was thunder and fury.


    ¡°Artemis, she needs to know how to defend herself!¡± Julius protested, suddenly no longer the fearless team leader.


    ¡°Yes, she does. But not from you. You know how to fight like a speedster. You know how to lean on your stats, and you¡¯re a great team leader, but you only have one style. She needs to learn how to fight like a mage. She needs to know how to fight when disadvantaged on stats. You rely on your fighting skills to help you know what to do, which doesn¡¯t help someone with no skills. I¡¯d bet one of the first things you¡¯d say is ¡®just trust in your skills, they know what to do.¡¯ You¡¯d break her in half, and spit out the chunks. No. I have experience as a trainer. I¡¯m the mage, I know how she should fight. I¡¯m teaching her.¡±


    Julius held his hands up in surrender. ¡°Fine, fine, she¡¯s all yours, on your head be it.¡±


    Artemis turned to me, a demon¡¯s grin on her face, mad laughter practically radiating from her.


    ¡°Is there any chance that-¡° I tried to save myself.


    ¡°Nope!¡± Artemis cheerfully interrupted. ¡°You¡¯re all mine now!¡±


    ¡°My first question to you,¡± Artemis began, slowly pacing around me, examining every inch, stripping away every secret with those lightning green eyes of hers. ¡°is ¡®What do you know about fighting?¡¯ Any secrets from beyond this world?¡± I thought about that some. Not terribly hard though.


    ¡°Absolutely nothing. Besides don¡¯t fight.¡± I said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t fight eh?¡± Artemis mused over that. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s about right. You especially, you don¡¯t want to be in a fight. You have no skills for it, no stats for it, and no stomach for it.¡± Each word was like a boxer¡¯s punch ¨C weighty, but with some soft padding on it. Didn¡¯t stop them from hurting.


    ¡°However, you do have the heart for it, which is the most important part. Now, normally I tell mages to get a grip, hit them with their strongest spell or skill if they have it, and run away if they don¡¯t, until they do. You¡¯re a bit special. I¡¯ve never trained a healer who needs training to be on the front lines. So, first rule for you.¡±


    She stopped pacing, turning to look right at me, boring into my very soul. ¡°Don¡¯t fight. If it looks bad, run. Run to one of us. Run into a stream. Climb up a tree. Yell. Flash your [Flashlight] skill. Do anything and everything needed to not be in a fight in the first place. Everything else ¨C all the other training we¡¯re going to do ¨C will be based on you being cornered, on not having any other choice, or we¡¯re throwing you in because we¡¯re desperate. Rule 0 though ¨C Don¡¯t fight. Understood?¡±


    I nodded to show my understanding. Artemis glared at me.


    ¡°You need to be verbal Elaine. This isn¡¯t fun and games. Say things, don¡¯t assume I can see that you¡¯re nodding. Good way to get someone killed.¡±


    ¡°Yes Artemis! I understand!¡± I shouted out, with as much vigor as I could. I heard Kallisto break into laughter. I flushed with embarrassment, but kept steady.


    ¡°Very good. Alright, the rules say we can¡¯t dictate other people¡¯s skills, classes, or stats, and that we have to work with what we¡¯ve got. That being said, you¡¯re going to be putting your free points into Dexterity, Speed, and Vitality. Strength¡¯s going to do almost nothing for you ¨C we just can¡¯t get it up high enough with everything else to make a difference. With that being said, at some point I¡¯ll be throwing you to Julius, so you can learn a tiny bit of his style ¨C it suits a low-strength build. I¡¯ll have to consult with Maximus for more ideas.¡± Artemis thought a bit more, then nodded.


    ¡°Right, we¡¯re going to start with standing.¡±


    ¡°Standing?¡±


    Artemis then rearranged me into a particularly strange way, half-squatting, legs burning.


    ¡°Whyyyyy¡± I groaned out, fire spiking through my thighs.


    ¡°Because it¡¯s good for you!¡± Artemis cheerfully replied. Sadist.


    ¡°Don¡¯t give me that.¡± Artemis scolded me. Mind reader! Help! Not even my thoughts were safe! ¡°Arthur would be 10 times worse. Do you want me to hand you over to him instead?¡± I shook my head, redoubling my efforts.


    How to stand. How to run. How to fall. How to do push-ups, burpees, jumping jacks, sit-ups, and a dozen other exercises I thought I knew how to do, but turns out I didn¡¯t. I still hadn¡¯t seen a single weapon, punch, or piece of armor, but I knew enough to shut up and let the expert work her magic.


    Arthur eventually came back with some game, some sort of small dinosaur, and there was much celebrating at the hot, fresh food. I devoured my share ravenously, eagerly inhaling each bite. Tasted a bit like gamey pork.


    Kallisto had an idea as we were eating. ¡°You know, we never have enough money to properly supply ourselves.¡± He started off. My ears perked up.


    ¡°We have plenty.¡± Julius said.


    ¡°Yeah, but we could have so much better stuff if we could just use what we confiscate.¡± Kallisto said.


    ¡°You know the rules. Down that path lies problems.¡± Julius said.


    ¡°We could have properly upgraded gear. Enough Arcanite to keep everything constantly fueled. And I know a way how!¡± Kallisto triumphantly pointed to me.


    ¡°Elaine!¡± He pronounced.


    ¡°Me?¡± I pointed to myself, unsure.


    ¡°Yes you.¡±


    ¡°What about me?¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re not a Ranger. You¡¯re a guest, staying with us. And it¡¯s not unheard of for Rangers to split the loot with tag-alongs that are helping them. So why don¡¯t we split the loot with you, say, 80-20, enough to keep our bosses happy, then you can buy us things we need!¡±


    Artemis, Arthur, and Maximus chimed in with appreciative noises. Julius¡¯s forehead wrinkled.


    ¡°It¡¯s awfully close to being a problem.¡± He hedged. The idea was getting to him. ¡°Although Kallisto, you just want more money for the brothels. And Arthur, you¡¯re just chiming in so you can pay bards to write more songs.¡± They both looked guilty at that.


    I surprised myself by speaking up. ¡°No.¡± I said. I got looks all around.


    ¡°Look, on one hand it smells. Sure, it might be following the letter of the law, but everyone involved knows the spirit¡¯s getting violated. I¡¯m not quite following why it¡¯s a problem, but who knows if they¡¯ll decide it¡¯s close enough, and penalize us anyway? Also, I¡¯d like to formally join up one day, and I don¡¯t want to risk it.¡± That last part got a cheer from most of them. Artemis looked as pleased as a mother hen.


    ¡°If you really want to split with me, 10-90. It looks fair, it smells fair, I get a bit of extra money,¡± I stuck my tongue out at Kallisto, who¡¯d looked crestfallen at that. ¡°and a bit of extra supplies possibly ends up here. After all, it can¡¯t be much worse than ¨C ¡° I was interrupted by Artemis jumping in.


    ¡°Yes, great idea!!¡± She gave me a ¡°shut up right now¡± Look, and I realized with a start the gifts she¡¯d gotten for us might not have been kosher with Julius. I shut up.


    ¡°I probably don¡¯t want to know what that was about. Fine. Elaine, while you travel with us, we¡¯d like to offer you 15 in 100 of whatever loot we get that doesn¡¯t belong to someone else. Do you accept?¡±


    ¡°I accept.¡± I said, as formally as I could. The sun was setting, and we decided it was time to turn in.


    Nighttime was split into three shifts. ¡°Used to be four.¡± Arthur confided in me. ¡°Problem is, moment you¡¯re down from eight, needs to be three shifts. Less sleep for all of us.¡± I wasn¡¯t allowed to be part of a ¡°full¡± watch yet ¨C I was just an add-on for two other people.


    Like this, we passed our days, time flying by like a sparrow, trotting along like the horses pulling the wagon. Skipping like Artemis made me do, instead of traveling comfortably inside the wagon. Travelling in the day to our next location ¨C usually with me running by the wagon, working on [Running] and general fitness. Artemis had a particularly sadistic exercise where I needed to sprint ahead on the road, touch a rock, and sprint back ¨C repeatedly. Who knew, even with magic being active made a difference. ¡°The base body matters tons for skills and levels.¡± Artemis lectured me. ¡°It¡¯s why we¡¯re stronger than some monsters ¨C goblins and the like ¨C at the same level, but weaker than other monsters ¨C like most dinosaurs ¨C who are the same level as we are.¡±


    Setting up camp in the evening. Telling more tales around the fire. Learning how to fight from Artemis. Learning Ranger lore and knowledge while on watch. We practiced having my [Flashlight] on, flooding the area with light. We practiced with it off. We tried [Greater Invigorate], and that was a blessing for everyone involved on watch, although Julius muttered something about ¡°not getting used to it.¡±


    [Vigilant], [Flashlight], [Identify], [Learning], [Calming Aura], [Light Affinity], [Centered Mind], [Privacy], and [Greater Invigorate] all leveled up as we travelled along.


    A few weeks went by, and we were well into fall, although heading north, so it balanced out, when we reached the village of Sheep¡¯s Ford.


    ¡°Ok team, everyone here knows the drill, except for Elaine. So we¡¯re all going to get the full lecture, for Elaine¡¯s benefit.¡± Julius started out, as we turned the corner and saw the village in the near distance.


    ¡°First off Elaine, you¡¯re not a Ranger. So you can¡¯t claim to be a Ranger, and we¡¯ll be seven different types of mad at you if you do say you¡¯re one. With that being said, you can say you¡¯re under our protection. I sincerely hope you won¡¯t need to. You can be alone only if you have some sort of wide-ranging signaling skill. For Artemis, it¡¯s her lightning bolts. We can see them anywhere in town. Arthur¡¯s also ok to be on his own, he has whistling arrows. You see a bolt, you see a whistling arrow, you go to them. Origen, Maximus, Kallisto ¨C any of you have a new signaling skill, or construct?¡± That last one was directed to Origen, and they all shook their head in denial.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t think so. Elaine, do you have a signaling skill?¡± He asked, with one part great formality, three parts ¡®oh dear lord the paperwork and routine I need to follow¡¯. I suspected that this speech was given exactly once at the start of their round, and never again.


    ¡°Yup! [Flashlight]!¡± I demonstrated, making a pillar of light inside the wagon. It got brighter and brighter, until it started to be an actual pull on my mana and people complained.


    ¡°Right¡± Julius paused to blink the spots out of his eyes as Artemis rubbed them. ¡°When I feel more confident in your ability to handle yourself, you can be solo. Maybe. Your skill doesn¡¯t make any noise though, I need to think about this more. Until then, you¡¯re with Artemis. Origen, you¡¯re with Kallisto, Maximus, you¡¯re with me. Kallisto, if you sleep with another married woman, you¡¯re doing the clean-up for the next week.¡± A groan came from Kallisto as everyone else laughed.


    ¡°So how does it work when we¡¯re in a village?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, first we announce ourselves.¡± Artemis jumped in, taking the role of teacher. It was boring at times in the wagon, even walking by its side only had so much appeal. ¡°We see if the village chief, or mayor, or whoever their head is, has any obvious problems they want to tell us about. Then we take a few days of ¡®vacation¡¯, but we do it in a really obvious way, saying hi and being seen by as many people as possible. If someone has a slightly more subtle problem, or one that¡¯s not so easy, we find out about it.¡±


    Maximus had a few coins to add to the discussion. ¡°It helps that we¡¯re seen as well. It reminds people that the Republic is still here, that they¡¯re helping. Helps with local stability.¡±


    ¡°Is stability a problem?¡± I got looks from everyone implying I¡¯d asked the stupidest question on Pallos.


    ¡°Do you live under a rock?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°No, under a metal roof.¡± I shot back.


    ¡°The slave rebellion of 4782. The uprising of ¡®90. The revolt in ¡®75. Bandits. Deserters. Do I need to go on?¡± Arthur bit back, no holds barred.


    ¡°There was that mess in ¡®70!¡± Maximus had to chime in.


    ¡°Also a slave rebellion in ¡®68.¡± Julius added his wisdom to the mess.


    ¡°We cleaned up that mess earlier this round.¡± Artemis added in. I guiltily remembered the diamond she gave me that I¡¯d lost.


    ¡°Alright, alright, I get it. Stability good.¡± I was never going to let slip I¡¯d been offered a [Revolutionary] class.


    We rolled into the village, and it was almost as easy as Julius had described it. Artemis had always vanished to the baths the moment she arrived in Aquiliea, and I was completely prepared to be right behind her as we tried to find a local spot here to do the same thing. We got a spot that wasn¡¯t quite as nice as the baths had been, but were a sight for sore eyes, and a major upgrade from a freezing stream behind [Privacy].


    ¡°Ahhhhhhhhhhh.¡± Artemis let out a long, content sigh as she lowered herself into a tub of hot water. ¡°I¡¯m never leaving here.¡± I looked at the supply of firewood we¡¯d paid for doubtfully. We¡¯d be leaving in a few hours. ¡°Hey Artemis-¡° I started, only to get interrupted.


    ¡°Sh sh sh. No. This is time for peace, and quiet. And for Listening.¡± She emphasized that last word strangely.


    ¡°Listening?¡± I asked.


    Artemis cracked one eye open to look at me, then leaned forward conspiratorially. ¡°Yes, listening. I wasn¡¯t kidding when I said I¡¯d gotten tons of information from just listening. Pair of women Rangers, here? No Kallisto trying to hit on them? No Maximus being social? No Julius and his stern look? We¡¯re peaceful. We¡¯re clearly relaxing. You have [Calming Aura]. If a woman has a problem, one that can¡¯t be shouted from the roofs like a pimp forcing prostitution or something, it¡¯s here she can go and talk with us. It¡¯s here we can hear it, all with the excuse that we¡¯re taking a relaxing bath, that we¡¯re off duty. It¡¯s here where you occasionally overhear interesting rumors. Secret is Elaine, we¡¯re never off-duty. So relax the best you can, and Listen.¡±


    So, we did just that for three days. We heard no interesting rumors, we got no news, we didn¡¯t get called for some major problem. We just let the dirt and the grime and the stress of the road wash off, and most of our spare coins washed out with them. The perils of needing to pay for everything.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 95!].

 Chapter 40 – The road to Virinum I

    We¡¯d left Sheep¡¯s Ford behind a few weeks ago, and my training continued as we traveled along the road to Virinum.


    I was running by the wagon when I heard a low rumble, like far-off thunder.


    A second rumble, like thunder non-stop.


    ¡°Hey Artemis, quit it with the bolts. You¡¯ll scare everything away!¡± I tried to score some points on Artemis.


    She popped her head out of the wagon, startling me. I¡¯d assumed she was on the opposite side of the wagon.


    ¡°Bolts? I¡¯m not casting any bolts.¡± She said, as the rumbling got louder.


    ¡°Heads up everyone, something big coming!¡± Artemis yelled back. The horses got pulled off to the side, Origen dropped down and held the reins. Julius and Maximus jumped out, holding weapons. Kallisto was still inside, but from the bumping and thudding noises it sounded like he was putting armor on ¨C or waking up from a nap. Arthur was nowhere to be seen, but he wasn¡¯t seen if he didn¡¯t want to be.


    The thudding continued to get louder and louder, and around the bend came a monstrosity that had my jaw drop from the sheer absurdity of it.


    A T-Rex was my first impression, but it was much smaller than I thought one would be. Maybe T-Rex¡¯s were smaller than I thought, maybe this wasn¡¯t a T-Rex. A middle-aged man with a military look and a beard the color of a dusky evening sky was riding on him, using leather reins and saddle, with dozens of bags and knick-knacks hanging off, swaying as he went. He was dressed in leathers, like guard leathers, and a Ranger¡¯s eagle was pinned on his chest, sunburst instead of a circle around it. All normal, well, as normal as things got on Pallos.


    No, what was stretching my belief to the breaking point, what was having me wonder if this whole Pallos thing was an intricate dream, was the entire getup were all brightly tie-dyed colored, a riot of colors that hurt the eyes to see.


    I pinched myself, putting all my might into it. Only thing to do really.


    ¡°Ow!¡±


    Well then. This was going to get interesting.


    ¡°Hail the wagon!¡± The man on the dinosaur called, dinosaur slowing to a walk instead of a thunderous roar.


    Julius exited the wagon, suddenly in a nice uniform, Ranger badge pinned to his chest. I eyed him suspiciously. That was a ridiculously fast costume change, and why was he in semi-formal getup? The other dude did look like a Ranger, sure, but he was on his own, and he had a sunburst eagle pin instead of a circle eagle pin.


    Julius saluted formally, and I got a sudden education.


    ¡°Sentinel Bluebeard.¡± He called out with a clipped, precise voice. ¡°What can Ranger Squad 4 do for you?¡± He asked.


    Bluebeard brought his dinosaur to a full stop at this, saying ¡°Whoaaaa¡± like you would a horse, did a double-take at Julius, threw his head back, and laughed.


    ¡°Ha! The local Ranger squad! Nice to meet you!¡± Bluebeard acrobatically leapt off his dinosaur, and landed in front of us. ¡°Got time for lunch?¡±


    Julius nodded stiffly, and I was getting the sense that his question wasn¡¯t really a request. Everyone else started coming out, again dressed in nice clothes with their pins on. I eyed them suspiciously. They were never this well dressed or well behaved. However, I wasn¡¯t about to open my mouth and potentially ruin things. Questions, so many questions for later.


    We set up lunch, and Bluebeard contributed to the pot ¨C fresh fruits and vegetables, a rarity on the road. I discreetly used [Identify] on him.


    [Warrior]. Highest level I¡¯d ever seen ¨C higher than Artemis by a good chunk. I suppressed a whistle. Didn¡¯t want to let him know I¡¯d been peeking. What was the dinosaur?


    [Abelisaurus]. I squinted hard. Seemed to be the exact same shade as Bluebeard, but I wasn¡¯t entirely sure.


    We settled in to a nice meal ¨C dinosaur fortunately not thinking we were on the menu ¨C and started chatting.


    ¡°What¡¯s up with her?¡± Bluebeard asked, pointing at me. I bristled at that, but I was clearly the odd one out, being half their age and not wearing the Ranger¡¯s uniform.


    ¡°She¡¯s a local, hanging-on with us.¡± Julius answered, giving me a Look. ¡°Powerful healer, and we¡¯re down our frontlines.¡±


    ¡°Really? Does she have a [Restoration] variant?¡± Bluebeard asked Julius. I pouted internally. Would it be so hard to ask me instead of Julius? It was my skill after all!


    Julius looked at me, and I could see him struggle internally. On one hand, he wanted to listen to the Sentinel¡¯s request-order. On the other, he wanted to protect my secret, let me speak for myself. At that moment, I decided I¡¯d follow Julius into hell. Or Hel. Or whatever the afterlife was here.


    Hang on, I knew what the afterlife was, so¡ª


    ¡°Yes, she does.¡± Julius finally answered. Rats! I was going to answer and bail him out!


    ¡°Nice!¡± He turned and looked at me, stripping away all my secrets, looking into my soul. I looked away ¨C I couldn¡¯t take the intensity of the gaze.


    ¡°Mind topping off my heals?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Wha-¡° I started to ask what he meant, when Maximus jumped in, wrapping an arm around me. We were all getting along together, but this was awfully familiar behavior!


    ¡°Of course, she¡¯d love to! For a small price. She¡¯s independent! Free healing for us, a few coins for everyone else!¡± Under his breath, into my ear, he hiss-whispered to me.


    ¡°I¡¯ll explain everything later. Just imagine a full-body heal on him, and do it.¡±


    I didn¡¯t get the urgency, but I went over to Bluebeard and healed him anyways. He looked perfectly fine, but [Detailed Restoration] did take, and I lost a few dozen points of mana.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 79!].


    ¡°Ahhh, thanks! What do I owe you?¡± Bluebeard asked.


    ¡°What¡¯s her name?¡± I asked, pointing to the remarkably well-behaved dinosaur.


    ¡°Katastrofi!¡± Bluebeard said animatedly. ¡°She¡¯s an Abelisaurus, we¡¯ve been partners for decades! We¡¯re bonded. She gets experience, I get experience, and vice-versa.¡±


    ¡°Can I pet her?¡± I asked. This wasn¡¯t quite asking for payment, but I was getting there. Dinosaurs had always been ferocious problems, something to take up arms against or run and hide from. A tame, mini T-Rex? I was in dreamland, surfing on a brontosaurus as it plodded its way through the country.


    ¡°Sure!¡± Bluebeard was cheerful when it came to his pet dino.


    I handed my dishes off to Kallisto, and we went over to Katastrofi, and like that, the ice was broken. Everyone but Artemis wanted to pet her. Artemis continued to stay far away, giving her the stink-eye.


    Nobody had asked, and Bluebeard hadn¡¯t volunteered, so I asked.


    ¡°What are you doing around here?¡±


    Bluebeard looked down at me and chuckled. ¡°How much do you know about Sentinels?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re like super-Rangers, right? Work alone, do heroic things like Gideon?¡±


    ¡°Close! Locals are able to solve most of their own problems. Rangers travel around solving just about everything else. When there¡¯s a problem Rangers can¡¯t handle, for whatever reason, a Sentinel gets called in to solve it.¡± Bluebeard kindly, but arrogantly, explained.


    ¡°So, you¡¯re better than a whole Ranger squad?¡± I innocently asked. Five pairs of eyes glared murder at me.


    ¡°Ehhh, yes and no.¡± He answered. ¡°I¡¯m specialized. I hunt down high-level Classers that are causing problems, bring them to justice. Speaking of, has anyone heard rumors of Fire-Foot Felicity?¡± I¡¯d never heard the name, and from the shaking of heads, neither had others.


    ¡°Darn. Ship-thief ¨C she sneaks into boats to steal their goods, and has some sort of skill that leaves fiery footprints in her wake ¨C everyone¡¯s too busy dealing with the fire to chase after her. She¡¯s given two Ranger squads the slip, so I¡¯m now trying to find her.¡± Bluebeard explained.


    ¡°Cool.¡± I said, not really having anything at all to say. ¡°Why the¡­ interesting¡­ color scheme?¡± I asked, gesturing broadly to the riot of color.


    ¡°It lets people know that she¡¯s tame, and gives people second thoughts before throwing skills at her. Otherwise, dinosaur on the road? I¡¯d be killing attackers every other day.¡±


    Seemed reasonable. Now, for the grand finale, the big question, the reason I¡¯d been buttering him up.


    ¡°Can I ride her? As payment?¡± I pushed my charm to the max, wide-doe eyes, charming smile. Julius face-palmed, while Origen looked smug. Artemis had a look of slowly dawning panic, while Bluebeard looked amused.


    ¡°I see why you let her tag along!¡± He chuckled. I was torn. On one hand, I wanted to shoot him a withering glare. I was with them on my own merits, not because I was ¡°amusing.¡± On the other hand, I really, really, wanted to see what it was like to ride a bloody (mini) T-Rex!!!!


    The part of me that wanted a once-in-a-lifetime experience won out, and my smile remained, although I could feel it straining somewhat.


    ¡°Ah sure, why not.¡±


    YES! I did my best not to shout and jump for joy like an idiot ¨C I didn¡¯t want him to think I was too immature to do this.


    ¡°Katastrofi. Friend. Friend.¡± Bluebeard gently coaxed her. She turned to me, and lowered her massive jaw in front of me, mouth slightly open. Her teeth were like swords, curved and vicious. Her breath was awful, clear indication of a carnivore washing over me. She sniffed a few times, a soft growl escaping her, the sound of it roaring in my ears. I nearly lost my nerve then and there ¨C how insane was I!?


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Centered Mind] has reached level 99!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Calming Aura] has reached level 105!].


    ¡°Alright, first you grab this strap here like this¡­¡± Bluebeard talked me through climbing the intricate ropes and harness, all while Katastrofi patiently stood there, slowly shifting side to side. I scrambled onto the top, got seated on the saddle, and was queen of the world.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 96!].


    Normally I¡¯d be ecstatic at getting a level in [Learning], BUT I WAS RIDING A DINOSAUR!


    Sure, Bluebeard was behind me, steering, but it was exhilarating, empowering, to be on top of a multi-ton killing machine, heads and shoulders and an entire body above everyone else, feeling every lumbering step vibrate through me. Words didn¡¯t do the experience justice. Excitement! Fun! Adventure! We lumbered in circles for a few minutes, with me whooping and yelling in excitement, having the time of my life.


    ¡°Can I try to heal her?¡± I asked as we took another step bigger than I was tall, as I felt power and strength rumble through my entire body.


    ¡°Sure, why not.¡± Bluebeard shrugged. I put my best effort forth, but my skill felt slippery ¨C that was the only word for it - and only a few points of mana trickled away. Was she in perfect health? Or was [Detailed Restoration] not for animals? Or could it be something else?


    What would be needed for me to become a [Beast Tamer] myself? Forget that I was full up on classes, I wanted to know. I¡¯d probably start with some small monster that I raised and tamed myself, something like a wind weasel, just¡­ like¡­ Damonus¡­


    With that memory, with the thought that his life was on track, could¡¯ve been something like Bluebeards when it was cut short, it was like a bucket of ice went over me. I shivered, no longer enjoying myself, and Bluebeard seemed to pick it up. He let me off, and I turned to him.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said formally, saluting him the way I¡¯d been taught.


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome!¡± Bluebeard helped me off, looking carefully around.


    ¡°Your utility should be an Inscriptionist of some sort, right?¡± He asked. A muscle spasmed in Julius¡¯s face. Origen stepped forward and nodded. Bluebeard looked at him critically.


    ¡°Laconia? Must be, with those tattoos. Hey, mind giving my harness the works? Been awhile since they last got touched up.¡±


    Origen didn¡¯t say anything, verbally or not, he simply stepped forward and started looking intently at the setup around Katastrofi. His eyebrows twitching in a way that¡¯d be muttering under his breath to anyone else, he started working his Inscriptionist magic. Or skills. Whichever one it was. I had too much [Medicine] in my head to try and learn yet another branch of magic, and if I was, Inscriptions wouldn¡¯t be it.


    Fireballs. Maybe beast taming. A cute, magical dinosaur.


    Origen worked his magic for an hour or so, then stepped back, satisfied. Bluebeard took a look, and hauled himself back on.


    ¡°Strong work Son of Laconia. I¡¯ve spent enough time here; I need to be heading out.¡± Bluebeard waved back, and started to head out, Katastrofi creating earth-shaking booms on every step.


    ¡°Good hunting!¡± Kallisto shouted after him. In just a few minutes, the sound of thunder was just a distant memory.


    ¡°Arthur.¡± Julius said.


    ¡°Yeah boss?¡± Like a magic trick, Arthur appeared in the middle of our group. I¡¯d seen it a dozen times, and I still jumped at a mountain showing up. Like, if he was there all along, I wouldn¡¯t be able to see Artemis. Did he just show up there? Did he move at light speed? Was he under the ground or something? So many mysteries!


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say hi?¡±


    ¡°Well, I figured someone should hang out, keep an eye out, just in case. You know.¡±


    We all gave him a flat look at that. We all knew why he hadn¡¯t shown up.


    Arthur tried a bit of a recovery. ¡°Plus, he¡¯s the Hunting Sentinel. I mean, you know¡­¡± He trailed off.


    Artemis snorted. ¡°Just because he¡¯s what you¡¯re striving to be, doesn¡¯t mean you can¡¯t say hi. Who knows, maybe he¡¯d give you some tips.¡±


    ¡°Well, I was trying to see if I could evade detection from someone with as keen senses as him.¡±


    Kallisto provided a nice distraction from that conversation.


    ¡°What I don¡¯t get,¡± He started, washing yet another dish. ¡°Is how you knew about the lady in Sheep¡¯s Ford.


    Julius sniggered, then threw his head back in a full-out laugh.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t! I just gave you the dishes, and when you started doing them with no complaints, I knew the answer!¡±


    That broke the silent tension that¡¯d been omni-present ever since the amazing techni-colored dinosaur showed up broke at that, and we all had a good laugh at Kallisto¡¯s expense, who was muttering about ¡°entrapment¡±, and ¡°next time I¡¯ll bluff¡±, and other faux-dark expressions.


    ¡°Oh! Maximus!¡± I said. ¡°What was all that about earlier?¡±


    ¡°Ah right. Lesson time Elaine. Artemis, if you¡¯d be so kind as to give a demonstration for us as needed?¡± We all sat down in a little circle together, as Julius and Origen started packing up, while Kallisto kept cleaning.


    Maximus straightened up, and assumed his ¡°lecturer¡± position. He¡¯d make a good teacher if he ever retired.


    ¡°As you know, some skills conjure the element, or the material, in question. Artemis, if you¡¯d show us some Lightning please?¡±


    Artemis dutifully made a bolt of lightning around her, moving so fast that it appeared to be a solid ring. I let out a low whistle. She was getting better and better ¨C all of her practice was having results.


    ¡°Where does that lightning come from?¡± Maximus asked.


    ¡°Errr¡­ Magic?¡± I hazarded a guess. I got an eyeroll at my poor attempt. Artemis was concentrating intently on her lightning, completely ignoring us.


    ¡°Yes, but no. There¡¯s an entirely separate area of existence where all of the elements reside. When something¡¯s removed with a Darkness skill, or otherwise removed because of a skill, it goes there. Similarly, anything that¡¯s created from a skill, comes from there. It¡¯s the grand exchange of how things work. Following so far?¡±


    I nodded. Seemed easy enough.


    ¡°Now, for the most part, things that come in are rapidly brought back out. Artemis?¡± At that request, Artemis stopped her bolt, it winking out of existence.


    ¡°Fairly simple. Now, other material doesn¡¯t get removed so easily. Artemis, if we could have a rock please?¡± Artemis dutifully conjured up a small stone.


    ¡°This won¡¯t go away when Artemis stops focusing on it. It¡¯ll stay. But!¡± At this Maximus raised a finger. ¡°It won¡¯t stay forever. It¡¯ll slowly degrade over the next eight years or so into nothing. That¡¯s why you can¡¯t just wave your hand and make a building or town ¨C you need to build it, or shape existing rock. It¡¯s also why you can drink conjured water, but you¡¯ll be a hair ¨C just the tiniest bit, so small you couldn¡¯t measure it ¨C thirstier over time.¡±


    ¡°Ok. What does this have to do with me?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Your [Detailed Restoration] skill works in a similar matter. You restore the flesh, creating it out of nothing. However, slowly, over time, it starts to degrade. Now, flesh is a bit different, since the human body itself does a good amount of the replacing for you ¨C only small amounts end up vanishing out, to potentially cause problems. That does mean, every once in awhile, someone who¡¯s gotten their flesh restored needs a ¡®pick-me-up¡¯, to shore up any problems. You only need it once after a major heal, like 4-5 years after it¡¯s happened, and just about any type of healer can manage it ¨C but it does need to happen.¡± Maximus paused, thinking.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 97!].


    ¡°I know you did some major work on yourself ¨C give it a try, see what happens.¡±


    I focused [Detailed Restoration] on myself, like he suggested. I felt the skill take hold, and a single point of mana vanished.


    ¡°Well¡­ maybe something happened. Or maybe that was a blister I healed.¡±


    ¡°Anyways, now you know. Another thing is ¨C material that gets sent to this alternate realm, when it¡¯s brought back, persists. It¡¯s in such small amounts that it doesn¡¯t really matter. Also, last thing to note ¨C Sentinels, in the field, out-rank Rangers, by a large margin. Since they¡¯re solo, they don¡¯t have as many supplies, and they¡¯re prone to hijacking Ranger squads if needed. That¡¯s why we were so tense ¨C we¡¯re already a bit behind schedule, and we didn¡¯t want to open our coffers or time to Bluebeard. Fortunately, he¡¯s one of the good ones.¡±


    ¡°Why¡¯s his beard blue?¡± I was curious, but I didn¡¯t want to be rude and ask. Maximus seemed to know though, so I was going to plunge him for all the information he had.


    ¡°Copper. He grew up near a copper mine, got in the habit of stroking his beard with copper-dusted hands, and well, now he¡¯s Bluebeard.¡±


    Julius yelled at us to get moving ¨C everything was packed up, and we were ready to keep going. I hopped up, and off we went! To Virinum! City of Clay!

 Chapter 41 – The road to Virinum II

    Several weeks passed. We camped in the wilderness. Visited small villages scattered throughout, solving problems. Sometimes the problems were of a critter type, some beast preying on cows that they couldn¡¯t quite catch. Sometimes it was more an internal type, diffusing an argument before it could turn ugly, before it turned into a generational blood-feud. We met up with some other travelers, joining and leaving as time took us. Artemis continued to put me through my paces, and I could feel and see myself getting stronger, getting fitter. I always could run for hours, but now it was more on me and my body, and less me leaning on my skills. The Autumn equinox came and passed, the only real change we noticed was the weather getting a bit rainier. I loved warm climates.


    We were a few days out from Virinum, camping out in a small forest. I handed my dishes to Kallisto ¨C he was still on dish-duty ¨C and flopped back, looking up at the stars.


    They were gorgeous. No matter where I¡¯d been on Earth, there was light pollution, making it hard to get a good look. Sure, there were pictures of the sky, but nothing ¨C nothing ¨C beat the visage of the full night¡¯s sky, in all its unspoiled splendor.


    One by one everyone else finished up their dishes, handing them off to Kallisto, who good-naturedly grumbled under his breath about it.


    ¡°Hey Elaine.¡± Arthur started, pulling out a mushroom from his pouch. I bolted upright, mouth contorting into a wide grin. Lesson time! I leaned forward.


    ¡°What do you have there?¡± I asked, looking over the mushroom, absorbing every detail. It was teal, with pin-point salmon-colored spots scattered throughout.


    ¡°It¡¯s a full-mushroom.¡± He said, passing it to me. I gingerly held it in my hand. I felt a tingling sensation start in my fingers, where I was holding it, slowly spreading down through my palm.


    ¡°It tingles.¡± I commented, twisting and turning to get a better look by the light of the fire.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Arthur said non-committedly.


    ¡°Why¡¯s it called a full-mushroom?¡± I asked, curious. Name like that, had to have a story behind it.


    ¡°Because if you eat it, you¡¯ll be full for the rest of your life!¡± He threw his head back and roared with laughter, at some mysterious joke I didn¡¯t get.


    What I did get was that this mushroom was powerfully magic. Never have to eat again? Never have to worry about food? I probably could still eat ¨C nothing would make me give up mangos ¨C but not needing to?


    Perfect! Down the hatch!


    I tilted my head back, throwing the mushroom gently up and into my mouth. Julius¡¯s arm flashed over me, faster than a striking snake, knocking me back down from the slipstream. My head exploded with pain hitting the ground, and I could see stars.


    ¡°Idiot.¡± Origen said. Yikes, a precious word from him as an insult?


    I sat back up, rubbing my head. Arthur was laughing his ass off.


    ¡°Arthur! Not funny!¡± Julius yelled at him. ¡°Elaine! You thick dumbass. This is one of the most poisonous mushrooms around! You¡¯ll be full the rest of your life because you¡¯d be fucking dead!¡± Julius yelled at me. My shoulders slumped, I looked down. Not a fun prank. Lesson very much learned ¨C those were incredibly poisonous mushrooms.


    Shaking off my near-death experience, and life-saving by Julius¡¯s hands, I changed the topic.


    ¡°Who¡¯s turn is it tonight?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Mine!¡± Arthur enthusiastically called. There were groans around the circle. I mentally groaned, but said nothing.


    As we travelled, the other Rangers realized that the stories I¡¯d told that night weren¡¯t the end of my stash ¨C they weren¡¯t even the beginning! I could literally tell stories for a week straight, and have more, and [Recollection of a Distant World] had been helping me, drawing more knowledge out, making the stories crisper, fixing my singing when I sang a song, improving my recall.


    It nearly came to blows when deciding what stories I¡¯d tell around the campfire, and to forestall Julius ¡°fixing¡± the problem by un-inviting me, I came up with a rotation system. Everyone got a night where they could ask for a favorite of theirs, for a song sung again, or for something new. It worked well enough.


    Arthur though, he was obsessed with Achilles. Without fail, he¡¯d ask for the Iliad, and I¡¯d recited it so many times I could probably do it in my sleep.


    ¡°What would you like?¡± I asked, knowing the answer before I said anything. I asked anyways. Maybe this would be the night I was spared.


    ¡°The Iliad.¡± He pronounced, not a single moment of thought. I shook my head at the predictability. I took a deep breath and started.


    ¡°Rage! Sing, Goddess, Achilles¡¯ rage¡­.¡±


    I started belting out the Iliad. While everyone complained, it didn¡¯t stop them from listening, drinking every word, more like a well-known beer than a fine wine.


    Origen was working on re-upping the soundproofing enchantments on the wagon, and I was about a third of the way through when a lethal Artemis rock went whizzing by, inches from my face. My concentration broke at that, and I yelled at her.


    ¡°Hey! Watch it! That almost hit me!¡± I protested. I¡¯d been more generous in the past, but dozens of fired projectiles with no results had me a little less understanding.


    Homer¡¯s spell broken; Julius glared at Artemis. He didn¡¯t like things interrupted more than anyone else.


    ¡°You know the rule¡­¡± He started.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah. I shoot something, I check what it was. ¡®Since I clearly thought it was something, it should be my responsibility.¡¯¡± She recited, getting up.


    ¡°Right, where was I?¡± I checked. Skill helped with telling the story, not remembering my place in it. [Lost and Found], strangely enough, did help with me ¡®losing my place¡¯, and I was following that thread when an almighty lightning bolt went off in the bushes.


    ¡°Attack!¡± Everyone ¨C including Origen ¨C yelled out, as Artemis came sprinting back to camp.


    ¡°Goblins.¡± She yelled out, getting back to camp.


    I¡¯d been dumping some points into Vitality, and with the increased perception, I was able to just barely follow what happened next, Xaoc, God of Chaos, enjoying the confusion.


    Maximus, master of all weapons, grabbed a pot and jumped up, armed and ready. Artemis kept running to the wagon, slamming into the side and touching it. I saw veins of power light up, glowing and moving through the wagon as she breathed in, and stomped her foot down. At that, earthen walls started to rise all around us, except for one gap, large enough for two men to hold.


    Maximus moved to that gap, and almost immediately was beset upon by goblins. First time seeing them here. They looked just how I imagined ¨C small, ugly, slightly mishappened creatures with snarling jaws, bright red eyes, and a vicious streak. Julius showed up next to him, spear in hand, and the two started fighting the goblins.


    ¡°Artemis! One load!¡± Julius cried out. I had no idea what that meant, but it clearly meant something to Artemis, who contributed by throwing the occasional lethal pebble into the growing crowd of goblins trying to break into our make-shift fort.


    ¡°Elaine! On Maximus! Heals!¡± Artemis called out from her vantage.


    I moved, while seeing what Kallisto and Origen were doing. They were throwing on armor as fast as possible. Arthur was nowhere to be found ¨C how did he hide so damn fast, in an enclosed space!? The occasional goblin who fell, choking on their own spit, blood pouring from their eyes, with an arrow in them attested to Arthur¡¯s contributions, but given that the arrows seemed to come from all around, it was hard to tell where he was.


    I ran as fast as I could up to where Julius and Maximus were holding the line.


    ¡°Tunic off!¡± I yelled. I still needed direct contact to heal someone, and while that wasn¡¯t normally a problem, there was no way I was getting skin contact on people moving that fast. My best bet was a hand on their back. Julius and Maximus complied, ripping their tunics off when they had a chance, and I darted forward, touching them quickly, hitting them with [Detailed Restoration]. It was terribly inefficient ¨C I didn¡¯t know exactly what I was healing, where I was healing, what the problem was, or any of that, so it sucked down hundreds of points of mana, when focusing and doing it properly would probably only do a few dozen.


    [*Ding!*-


    I turned off notifications. No time for them, I¡¯d see what I got later.


    Julius was moving so fast I couldn¡¯t process or follow what was happening, nor did I think I could reliably get a hand on him, so I focused on Maximus, who¡¯d somehow lost the pot and was holding onto what only goblins could call weapons.


    Well, goblins, and Maximus.


    He took a nasty hit to his shin, dropping to one knee. I immediately fixed him up with [Detailed Restoration], knowing exactly what I needed to fix, then hit him with a [Deaden Pain]. He didn¡¯t need to know about pain if I was able to immediately fix him up.


    Up, down, left, right, Maximus was showing me what it meant to be a physical Ranger, near the peak of human existence. I¡¯m sure Julius would show me something similar, if he wasn¡¯t so damn fast there was only a blur.


    As good as they were, they were only two, and a half-dozen goblins could fit in the passageway at once, crawling, standing, stabbing, foul blades heading towards us. Maximus took another bad injury, stumbling, my hand no longer touching him. I leaned forward to hit him with another heal, to bolster his reserves with a [Greater Invigoration]. A goblin took the chance, lunging towards me, rusty death heading for my eye.


    I had faith. I kept going, leaning into it, being rewarded as a lethal whizzing went past my ear, his (her?) head blowing up in a spray of gore. I hit Maximus with [Greater Invigoration], healing his leg at the same time.


    ¡°DUCK!¡± Someone yelled. We hit the ground, and Artemis, with a voice I¡¯d never heard, laced with power, announced her spell, the doom of goblins.


    ¡°[Chain Lightning].¡±


    With that, a surge of lightning came from her, hitting the front ranks of the goblins, bouncing back and forth between them, arching back to hit goblins in the back, hiding goblins, goblins we couldn¡¯t see. Goblins dropped, ears smoking, as Kallisto and Origen jumped over us still crouching, taking a stance together, shields locked, spears between them. A shield-wall of two, but given that the earthen walls were on either side, a shield-wall of two, heavily armored, was all that was needed.


    Julius slowed down enough for me to get a look at him, dirt, sweat, and blood mixed all over, several shallow cuts bleeding. I stepped over, touched him with a [Detailed Restoration]. He nodded appreciatively, then stepped back, carefully scanning, looking for something. Artemis was standing on top of the wagon, having somehow climbed up there, looking utterly drained and exhausted. I wanted to give her a boost of [Greater Invigoration], but the adrenaline was leaving me, leaving me shaky.


    ¡°Look alive, Elaine. Artemis¡¯s walls are good, but the sneaky buggers might try to break through one. Here. Take that wall over there, and watch it. Yell if you see something.¡± Saying that, Julius started to jog over to the fighting, at a reasonable, non-superhuman pace.


    I leaned against the wagon, shaking, watching the wall in question. The smell of lightning was thick in the air, the clashing of blades and snarls of goblins fading into the distance.


    ¡°Healy-bug.¡± Artemis croaked out, sitting down on top of the wagon, legs dangling off to the side.


    ¡°Yeah?¡± I asked back, Artemis clearly wanting something.


    ¡°Catch me.¡± She said, sliding off the wagon like a ragdoll.


    Ack! I needed more warning than that! Artemis fell on me, tangled set of limbs falling together in one heap.


    ¡°Whyyyy.¡± I moaned out, crushed under Artemis.


    ¡°Wanted. Down.¡± Artemis breathed out.


    I¡¯d had enough of exhausted Artemis, and I hit her with a [Greater Invigoration], draining the last of my mana as I did so.


    ¡°Whoop! There it is! Exactly what I needed! Thanks healy-bug!¡± Artemis jumped up, full of energy. I was still mushed, feeling bruised and used, giving Artemis the stink-eye. She stretched, looked at me, and grinned.


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s not being paranoid if you¡¯re right!¡±


    From my lying position, I flipped her the bird.


    After some time, almost everyone came trickling back.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Arthur?¡± I asked, looking around, trying to suppress the panic rising inside of me.


    ¡°Hunting down the last of them.¡± Kallisto answered, voice laced with exhaustion.


    With that concern out of the way, I looked at him and Origen, encased in armor.


    ¡°Do you need any healing?¡± I asked, doubtful that anything could¡¯ve made it through. Kallisto shook his head, but Julius overrode him.


    ¡°Everyone, get some healing from Elaine. We have a healer with us, we¡¯re going to take full advantage of it. Elaine, I want the works. [Detailed Restoration], [Cure Toxin], [Kill Germs], and if you think you can spare it, [Parasite Removal].¡± He cocked his head, thinking. ¡°And anything else you think we might need.¡±


    ¡°[Attack Bacteria], [Parasitic Remover]¡± I muttered under my breath, everyone lining up, Arthur somehow showing up to be first in line. How did he do that!? He was supposed to be hunting goblins!


    Arthur guessed Julius¡¯s question. ¡°Almost all dead, boss. One or two might have escaped, but they¡¯re not a threat to even a lone farm.¡±


    I touched him, skills barely having any impact.


    ¡°And for you, dear Arthur,¡± I began. ¡°A heart. For courage!¡±


    A stormy look came over Arthur¡¯s face at that reference, while hoots and cheers came from everyone else.


    Origen was next, and [Detailed Restoration], [Cure Toxin], and [Attack Bacteria] told me in no uncertain terms that he¡¯d been hit, and goblins had nasty shit on their weapons. I glared at him.


    ¡°You were hit. You were hit more than once, and you just wanted to walk it off? No. I¡¯m here to heal you. None of this tough-guy stuff, it¡¯ll just get you killed one day. I lost my best friend that way. You will show up for healing after a fight.¡± I continued lecturing him, not caring that he was heads and shoulders taller than me, able to break me in half like a twig, even though he wasn¡¯t fighting-focused. Julius just raised an eyebrow at me, but let me say my thing. Good. I would¡¯ve steamrolled over Julius in the same way.


    Artemis came up next, lips twisted in an amused fashion. ¡°Hang on.¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ll be right back.¡± Saying that, I popped into the wagon, looking around. Where was it ¨C ahha! I came back out carrying the item, getting raised eyebrows all around.


    I touched Artemis, healing a minor bruise or two, before giving her the item.


    ¡°For you,¡± I started. ¡°A pillow. So you can land on something else when jumping off the wagon.¡± I shot her a death glare as the Rangers gave her grief. Julius decided to join in on the fun.


    ¡°Artemis, sounds like you¡¯ve been slacking on your physical training. Maybe we should do some practice jumps¡­¡±


    The look on Artemis¡¯s face went from promising murder, to thoughtful, to giving me a nod, acknowledging that the payback was fair.


    Maximus came up, needing almost no healing. I¡¯d been healing him the entire fight.


    ¡°For you, Maximus, a weapon.¡± I said, handing him my knife. Julius interrupted.


    ¡°Elaine, no. Drop it. That¡¯s a matter between me and him, it¡¯s not your place.¡±


    Chastised, I healed up Kallisto without a word. Artemis¡¯s mouth was twitching, and I just knew she wanted to join in on the verbal roasting.


    Julius was last, making sure his whole team had gotten patched up first. He had a few nasty-looking cuts, and I gave him the full dose.


    To my surprise, [Parasitic Remover] got a solid grasp, and my eyebrows went up. Remembering what he¡¯d said, realizing we had the time for it, I threw up [Privacy] around us, gauzy barrier snapping around us.


    ¡°Elaine¡­¡± He started off dangerously. I held up a hand to forestall him.


    ¡°You¡¯re the boss, I know. [Privacy] is up so I¡¯m not undermining you, or showing you up in front of everyone. I need to talk with you.¡±


    The frown vanished, replaced with an intense look.


    ¡°Alright. Speak.¡±


    ¡°My [Parasitic Remover] got solid purchase on you, I must have destroyed hundreds, thousands of parasites just now. You¡¯re not the cleanest. You have some nasty habits. Now, I¡¯m not here to berate you on those, but they do have consequences.¡±


    The frown was back, but it wasn¡¯t the leader being displeased, so much as the patient unhappy to hear about lifestyle issues.


    ¡°How do you know it¡¯s that?¡± He pouted.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know for sure. I just know nobody else has the problem, and the two are likely linked.¡±


    His eyebrows furrowed as he processed.


    ¡°Should I expect any further problems?¡±


    ¡°Well, not from the current session. You might have an interesting day or two, but for the most part, if anything, you should feel tons better.¡±


    His look softened.


    ¡°Well, I appreciate you telling me this privately. A note for you ¨C I appreciate you covering Maximus. Try not to place yourself in a position where others have to cover for you. Covering other people good. Making other people cover you? Not so good. It changed who we had to cover, and that¡¯s...¡± Julius trailed off, but held his hand flat, rocking the sides up and down. I got the message.


    I dropped [Privacy], and we rejoined the group. Artemis cocked her head at Julius, who just shook his head back.

 Chapter 42 – Arrival in Virinum

    ¡°Kallisto, Arthur, you''re with me and Artemis on collecting bodies. Origen, Maximus, Elaine, you¡¯re on wood-gathering duty.¡± Julius ordered us, as we started to clean up the mess from the battle.


    We grabbed some axes, and headed into the woods. As much as I gave the physical stats grief, and didn¡¯t spend much time or energy on them, my 20 points in Strength let me swing an axe like I was a fit woman on Earth, never mind that I was a slightly athletic teenager currently. We were chopping and gathering wood, when my thought process caught up to what I was doing.


    ¡°Why are we chopping wood?¡± I asked. It was a mark of how well I was being trained that I just followed orders.


    Maximus swung the axe with grace, while Origen was, well¡­ like he was chopping wood.


    ¡°We need to burn the bodies. Black Crow has their soul, but their body will attract monsters otherwise. A few here and there ¨C the poisoned ones that Arthur hunted down ¨C will be fine, but we can¡¯t leave a stack. Otherwise monsters show up, monsters might think there¡¯s good eating here, and in a year, we have a monster extermination problem.¡±


    We hauled the wood back, building a pyre. Goblin bodies, so ferocious in life, looked like malnourished children in death. We stacked them, Artemis, Origen, and I respectfully, the rest just throwing their bodies on the heap. Crimson eyes promising murder just hours ago now gazed into nothingness, green skin marred with an angry spiderweb where lightning had coursed through them.


    Artemis patted me on the shoulder, interrupting a stream of thought that was about to start going down the morality path. I realized I had tears streaming down my face.


    ¡°Just remember. They were sneaking up on us, trying to kill us. Nothing made them attack us. Nothing made them cram through that opening in our fort. Nothing we did pushed them, forced them to try and attack us. That was all on them.¡± She gave me a big hug from behind, squeezing me hard.


    ¡°You¡¯re alive, and unhurt. I¡¯m alive, and unhurt. Thanks to you, we¡¯re all alive and unhurt.¡± While I didn¡¯t quite have warm fuzzy feelings going through me, it staved off the darkness slowly starting to creep across my heart.


    We stacked the weapons on top of their bodies.


    Artemis passed me a torch. ¡°Here. You¡¯ll feel better being the one to send them to a peaceful place.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t sure how right she was, but I took the torch anyways, lighting the pyre. I bowed my head as the flames licked up, reflecting in my eyes, washing the scene in a fiery red. The flames on the pyre matched the flames in my heart ¨C in turmoil, swaying one way, then the next. I sent a wish, a prayer, that White Dove would take them somewhere nicer, a place where they didn¡¯t feel the need to try and murder others. I hoped Black Crow didn¡¯t need to take any of them, that they went gently.


    The fact that they all died in battle suggested that Black Crow was laughing, enjoying the grand bounty. His messengers would probably feast tomorrow.


    Was it their nature to kill? Or were there outside influences, reasons that pushed them to a point of desperation, that gave them a powerful need to try and murder travelers? Would they farm if they could? Or did they just find it easier to rob others?


    I was a healer. I was supposed to bring people back from the brink of death, not push them over it.


    But I didn¡¯t push a single person, goblin, or otherwise near-intelligent creature off the edge. I did pull some people away from the brink, not that they had been all that close. And nothing about healing said I couldn¡¯t defend myself.


    Fuck, this was a lot to process, a lot to think about.


    All questions for another day. Right now, me and mine were healthy and alive, and no goblins had been left alive to cause a problem.


    ¡°Good work everyone.¡± Julius called us to attention as the flames were burning lower. ¡°Question time. Do we stay here for the night, or do we move on?¡±


    ¡°Move on.¡± Arthur immediately voted.


    ¡°Stay.¡± Kallisto and Maximus said, practically in unison.


    Artemis was doing some muttering to herself, before voting on ¡°Move on.¡± Origen just shrugged, not caring.


    ¡°Elaine. You¡¯re the deciding vote.¡± Julius told me.


    Me? I had a vote? Why wouldn¡¯t Julius decide? I thought about the issue, and rapidly realized something ¨C I had no knowledge of the arguments for, or against, the merits of moving or staying.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got nothing.¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t know enough to have a good vote.¡±


    Artemis cracked a smile at me. Julius nodded, accepting my ¡®vote¡¯.


    ¡°Alright, we¡¯re moving. Arthur ¨C ¡°


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, scouting. I¡¯m always the scout. We need more than one.¡± The bear-man complained, getting to his feet. Julius narrowed his eyes.


    ¡°Reins. I¡¯ll be scouting. Artemis is in charge while I¡¯m not around.¡± Julius surprised all of us, and from the look on his face, he was slightly regretting his impulsive order, designed to one-up Arthur¡¯s complaints, but signing himself up for a night of scouting anyways.


    Undeterred, he pointed at one of the walls that Artemis had erected earlier.


    ¡°Artemis. Bring down that wall.¡± He thought a moment. ¡°Leave the rest up. Who knows, maybe someone will use it as the start of an outpost.¡±


    We packed up our gear, throwing it into the wagon, a mimicry of the first night where we¡¯d fled from the mention of the D-word. I copied my original role, hopping in the wagon early, putting gear away as it was thrown in.


    The D-word. That¡¯s what I was calling Dragons in my head now, to stop another slip-up. I wasn¡¯t sold on them being able to hear me say their name, but I was in a land of magic, where the impossible was every day. The others didn¡¯t seem to know much about the D-word, but nothing- nothing ¨C had shaken Julius like that, so we weren¡¯t asking, and he wasn¡¯t volunteering.


    We got everything packed away, Arthur awkwardly climbing into the driver¡¯s seat, wood creaking in protest as he settled down. Artemis muttered to herself, head cocking back and forth, before finally seeming to make up her mind. She put her hand against one of the wagon walls, streaks of power lighting the wagon¡¯s interior up as she drew mana from it, crumbling a hole in one of the earthen walls big enough for the wagon to go through.


    ¡°Alright everyone, huddle up.¡± Artemis called out. An indistinct noise came from the front. ¡°Alright, fine, everyone near the entrance so Arthur can listen in as well.¡±


    I was curious, but Artemis was the boss right now, so we all went near the front of the wagon, making sure the door was open. We were all in a rough circle, with Arthur¡¯s back being the only thing that showed through the door.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Kallisto asked. Origen raised a single eyebrow, indicating his curiosity. Knowing him, there was probably a complete essay¡¯s worth of questions depending on the exact angle of the eyebrow. I didn¡¯t speak fluent Origen-ese, so I had no idea what it was being said.


    ¡°After-action summary. What went well, what didn¡¯t, thoughts on the fight.¡± Artemis started.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t do one last time.¡± Maximus pointed out.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t temporarily in charge last time.¡± Artemis bit back.


    I thought about sassing Artemis by saying ¡°Temporarily.¡±, but decided against it. It was hard enough suddenly being in charge, without everyone giving you grief over the first thing you tried to do. So instead, I decided to be helpful.


    ¡°My healing range being hands-on is a problem.¡± I started. ¡°I needed to be right up close and personal, I¡¯m slow and you¡¯re all fast, so Maximus needed to not only have no armor on, but be bare-chested so I could touch him to heal. I¡¯m completely vulnerable, and anything remotely related to being in the action means someone needs to cover for me.¡±


    Maximus grunted assessment. ¡°You were useful, you were helpful, don¡¯t get me wrong. You also weren¡¯t make-or-break in that scrap.¡± I opened my mouth in protest, and he held a hand up, forestalling me. ¡°You¡¯re worth more than twice your weight in gold after the fight. In a fight, it was like my back was to a civilian who needed protection. It limited my movements, it forced me to fight defensively. You tried to cover for me at one point, but Julius already had me ¨C it forced Artemis to intervene, and she¡¯s our last-ditch move.¡± He paused, and kept going.


    ¡°Now, I don¡¯t want you to feel bad about any of that. You did what you were told to do, you¡¯re braver than almost anyone I know. Heck, at your age, unarmed, no armor, there¡¯s no way I¡¯d have run towards goblins like that.¡± He patted me on the head. I had mixed feelings on that.


    ¡°Kallisto?¡± Artemis continued.


    ¡°I was too slow getting my armor together. Origen finished suiting up at the same time as me, and he¡¯s our utility. I¡¯m focused in this; I should be faster than him.¡± Nods of agreement came around the circle.


    ¡°Right. I think instead of sparring, you should practice getting your armor on and off. I know you did that during training, but it seems like you¡¯ve been slacking.¡± Artemis took a deep breath, preparing to give feedback on herself.


    ¡°For me. Generally I get shit for being on a hair trigger, tonight it paid off in spades. Saved Elaine, created the walls to stop it from being a disaster, [Chain Lightning] worked like a charm- all in all, I was the model of perfection. You should learn from your betters.¡± Artemis tossed her head at that, short hair flowing in agreement.


    We made some booing noises at that, with Arthur being a bit more vocal.


    ¡°Check your damn targets on that [Chain Lightning]! I was almost roasted!¡± He complained.


    Artemis laughingly held her hands up. ¡°Alright, alright, the real analysis. [Chain Lightning] was probably overkill, although it did end the fight. Arthur, you¡¯re practically invisible, I won¡¯t hold back on skills because you might be there. I drew more from our reserves than needed ¨C or allowed ¨C and I let myself get over-drawn and exhausted. If there¡¯d been anything else, I wouldn¡¯t have been able to help.¡±


    The discussion continued a bit, more pros and cons weighed, analysis of what went right, what went wrong, how we could do better in the future. I could practically see us growing closer, growing stronger. If someone had a teamwork skill, it¡¯d be leveling up.


    Wait, levels! Time to see my loot. I rubbed my hands in anticipation, mouth splitting into a toothy grin.


    [*Ding!* Your Party has slain a [Goblin Warrior] (Wood, lv 88)]


    [*Ding!* Your Party has slain a [Goblin Raider] (Fire, lv 92)]


    Several dozen more goblins, in a dozen different classes.


    [*Ding!* Your Party has slain a [Goblin Skirmisher] (Light, lv 105)]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Calming Aura] has reached level 106!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Healing Aura] has reached level 104!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Healing Aura] has reached level 105!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Healing Aura] has reached level 106!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 80!].


    ¡­.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 98!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Greater Invigorate] has reached level 100!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Centered Mind] has reached level 100!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Centered Mind] has reached level 101!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Deaden Pain] has reached level 62!].


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Deaden Pain] has reached level 75!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Attack Bacteria] has reached level 70!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Parasitic Remover] has reached level 36!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Cure Toxin] has reached level 82!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Privacy] has reached level 68!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 98!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath] has reached level 101!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Shadow Healer] has leveled up to level 89! +1 Free Stat, +3 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Shadow Healer] has leveled up to level 90! +1 Free Stat, +3 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Light of Hope] has leveled up to level 124! +1 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +1 Magic power, +5 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Light of Hope] has leveled up to level 127! +1 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +1 Magic power, +5 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Light Affinity] has reached level 124!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Light Affinity] has reached level 127!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Dark Affinity] has reached level 89!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Dark Affinity] has reached level 90!]


    I cackled in glee, seeing my levels go up, month¡¯s worth of effort solved in a single evening. Thinking back on it, I immediately sobered up, a bucket of cold water poured over my happiness.


    Creatures had died for my levels. Dozens of living, breathing, sapient creatures. What Artemis said came back to me. We hadn¡¯t attacked them. We hadn¡¯t made them attack us. It was self-defense, pure and simple. What was I supposed to do, strip naked and add salt and pepper to make myself tastier?


    Argh. Nothing was simple. Give me people that needed ¨C and wanted! ¨C healing, and I was a happy girl.


    What did make me light up a bit more was I was at 127 in my main class ¨C a stone¡¯s throw away from classing up again. It¡¯d been years since I last leveled up my main class, and I was eager to see what was on the next floor of the library. Who knows, maybe it wouldn¡¯t be rushed, and I¡¯d have days to explore and read.


    I¡¯d kill for a library.


    The joke felt like it was in bad taste at first, but I thought more on it. No, I¡¯d actually kill for a library.


    We fell back into our normal routine. Day after the fight, relaxing, recuperating, more analysis with Julius around. More running and sparring and pushups and burpees and other inventive torments from Artemis. Julius ordered Maximus to start re-fitting one of the former Ranger¡¯s gear to fit me ¨C he didn¡¯t like me being on the front lines practically naked more than anyone else did. Maximus grumbled, but took my measurements and started re-shaping armor to fit me.


    Artemis insisted that I get mage-armor, whatever difference that made.


    We kept heading to Virinum as the rainy season came into full swing. Artemis had no mercy ¨C I still had to keep doing all of the exercises she wanted, but now I was wet and muddy. Blessedly, I still had dibs on the wagon, and Artemis no longer slept in it, citing my nightmares keeping her up. The wagon recharged its lost mana, and before I knew it, one day we turned the corner to see the walls of Virinum.


    A man sitting by the road stood up at seeing us, seemingly having performed the motion a thousand times. He came over and asked, in an exhausted, defeated voice.


    ¡°Are you the Ranger squad?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Kallisto answered.


    ¡°Shame, we¡¯ve been waiting for the Ranger ¨C wait what!?¡± The man did a double-take at Kallisto¡¯s answer.


    ¡°I said yeah, we¡¯re the Ranger squad. What¡¯s going on?¡± Kallisto asked, but it was too late, the man whooping and yelling and running down the road to the town.


    ¡°The Rangers are here! The Rangers are here!¡± He yelled, jumping and waving his arms at town.


    ¡°Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.¡± Julius said, putting his head in his hands. ¡°That¡¯s never good.¡±

 Chapter 43 –Virinum I

    Julius clapped his hands, bringing our attention to him. ¡°Listen up everyone. We¡¯re walking into a problem, and it¡¯s going to be a big one. Virinum hasn¡¯t had a problem in months, if not years ¨C their town guard is top-notch. Whatever this is, it¡¯s going to be bad. I need to hear from everyone if you¡¯re not top-shape, and what you need to be top-shape. Artemis, report.¡±


    Artemis snapped to attention, the normal playful look on her face evaporating like a snowflake in summer. ¡°Sir! I¡¯ve just finished recharging, and the wagon¡¯s reserves are nearly full. I¡¯m as close to top shape as possible.¡±


    Julius said. ¡°Good. Kallisto. Maximus. Arthur. Origen. Elaine. In order. Report.¡±


    Kallisto yawned. ¡°Top shape, no issues.¡±


    Maximus shot a look at Kallisto. ¡°I¡¯m low on mana, and Elaine¡¯s gear isn¡¯t quite finished.¡±


    Arthur stretched ¨C the only direction he could go was sideways, the wagon wasn¡¯t tall enough. ¡°I¡¯m missing a few exotic poisons, I could always use more arrows, and I¡¯m down to a dozen buster arrows. All in all, close to peak.¡±


    Origen spoke up. ¡°I¡¯ve only inscribed part of Elaine¡¯s armor. One day.¡± Translation: Strangely enough, that was close to everything. He just needed one more day to finish up.


    I added in my two coins to the discussion. ¡°Sir! I¡¯m not fully armored as has been mentioned. I¡¯m also close to a class-up.¡± At that last note, Origen rose his hand, indicating that he was also relatively close to a class-up as well. Ah, normal Origen, at last.


    ¡°Alright, thanks all. Everyone, gear up with what you have. Whatever this problem is, it¡¯s not cold, but it¡¯s not flaming hot. Either way, I don¡¯t want to be caught flat-footed. Elaine, only gear up in armor sets that currently fit you. Ill-fitting armor is worse than no armor.¡± I nodded at that, as we all tried to get dressed in the wagon.


    The wagon was big ¨C it could hold all of us, our gear, extra supplies, and in theory, another person. It was nowhere near big enough for seven people to be changing into armor at the same time, especially when one of those seven was the size of three people. Much cursing, swearing, and general complaining occurred as we tried to suit up. Julius would have pulled me aside if there was room. There wasn¡¯t, so he chatted with me quickly, ducking as Artemis almost brained him with her greaves.


    ¡°Remember Elaine ¨C you¡¯re with us, but don¡¯t claim you¡¯re a Ranger.¡± He reminded me. Yes dad. I rolled my eyes but nodded my agreement.


    We were fortunate that the horses were insanely well-trained, and kept plodding on the road to Virinum while none of us were in control. We arrived at the gates, only for a well-dressed man, clearly insanely fit once in life, but gone slightly to seed, surrounded by a squad of guards hurried out to meet us.


    ¡°You¡¯re the Ranger squad?¡± He asked, looking over us. His eyebrow quirked up as he saw Artemis, and nearly went flying off his face when he saw me.


    ¡°Yes. What seems to be the problem, governor?¡± Julius asked. Everyone had their serious game-face on, ready to leap into action at any moment.


    ¡°It¡¯s terrible! Some sort of monster has taken up residence near the river grates. We¡¯re unable to clear the grates of debris, and we¡¯re not able to harvest any clay!¡±


    Strangely enough, that broke the tension, relief in the air. I wasn¡¯t quite following why, but Kallisto and Artemis both started stripping their armor off. Maximus gestured at me to come over, and I did. He started speaking softly to me, while Julius and the governor kept talking.


    ¡°Alright Elaine, we¡¯re not going to be fighting today, or probably even for a few days. Why don¡¯t you take your gear off, and we¡¯ll work on finishing up your armor, k?¡±


    I started to shuck what little armor I had off, hearing the tail end of the conversation.


    ¡°..poison. Either doesn¡¯t eat it or doesn¡¯t do anything. Usually lives in the water, so arrows aren¡¯t doing much. Ate our best monster tamer. That was a real mess, dealing with the Tamer''s now-untamed creatures. Smart enough to avoid harpoons from the scorpion - we can''t get it close enough. Rams the gate if someone is on the other side trying to remove debris. It won¡¯t be around for a day or two, someone gets cocky, and then it grabs them, drags them down to the bottom of the river.¡± The governor was giving full account of the monster. I shuddered. I didn¡¯t want to be anywhere close to that.


    Artemis finished getting her gear off in record time, and shot off, like a child trying to dodge chores. My eyes widened in realization. The baths! She knew where they were, I didn¡¯t, and it¡¯d been weeks since I last had one. I finished throwing off what little armor I had, unceremoniously dumping it in the back of the wagon, and shot off after Artemis. I¡¯d probably get grief for dumping my armor and chasing after Artemis, and get called Artemis¡¯s pet again. I didn¡¯t care.


    Bureaucracy saved me. Artemis had gone the short distance to the gates, but the guard weren¡¯t letting her in. I arrived mid-conversation.


    ¡°It¡¯s insane! I¡¯m going to need to fight whatever gods-knows-what monster you have! There¡¯s no way I¡¯m blowing my mana now!¡± Artemis¡¯s tone was outraged, as she threw her hands up in the air.


    The guards were sweating, but held their ground. ¡°Ma¡¯am, we¡¯re very sorry, but no Classers as powerful as you are allowed in the city with that much mana. There¡¯s no exception for ¡®Ranger needing to slay a monster¡¯. I¡¯d love to let you in, really, but¡­¡± The guard trailed off, nervously swallowing.


    ¡°Morons! Shit for brains! Try thinking with your head, not your ass!¡± Artemis had a few more choice words, and while I was no great shakes with people, I could see their lips thinning, stances hardening. They didn¡¯t like being challenged; they didn¡¯t want to take risks.


    But I knew guards. Dad was a guard, I¡¯d grown up around them, I¡¯d gone on patrol with them. This I could handle.


    ¡°Excuse me.¡± I cut through Artemis¡¯s tirade. To her credit, she actually shut up, perhaps realizing this was getting out of hand.


    ¡°First off, I¡¯m Elaine. Hi, nice to meet you.¡± I waved at them cheerfully. ¡°My dad¡¯s a guard in Aquiliea! I love being around guards. You guys do a great job!¡± I said the last part with as much cheer as I could, forcing a smile onto my face. Not my best effort, but they weren¡¯t looking nearly as tense.


    ¡°I know you can¡¯t let Artemis in, but could you get the Captain on-duty so we can ask him?¡± I asked sweetly.


    ¡°Elaine, this is dumb, we should just-¡° Artemis tried to come up with her own plan. I cut her off.


    ¡°Look, they¡¯re not allowed to let you in. Full stop. The Captain¡¯s the only one who can do that.¡±


    ¡°And me.¡± The governor loomed up behind us. I hadn¡¯t even noticed him approaching. ¡°Really guys? You¡¯re going to give the Ranger team a hard time? Would you like to try and slay the monster yourselves instead, hmmm?¡±


    The big boss showing up and throwing his weight around got us in the town faster than one of Arthur¡¯s arrows. Speaking of arrows, she did her best impression of one as she sprinted through the town, weaving through the streets with practiced ease, as I scurried along, trying to stay on her heels.


    Artemis, like a rat who knew where the cheese was in a maze, skidded to a halt in front of a large building that could only be the baths. Entry fees were paid in a rush, filthy clothes peeled from our bodies with a disgusting squelch, and then¡­


    Bliss. Pure bliss. Steam swirled and danced around us as we sank into the baths. Hot water soaking into our sore muscles, our battered bones. The omnipresent slow current taking layers of grime away with them, revealing skin that hadn¡¯t seen the light of day in weeks. I let myself fall under the water, running my fingers through my short hair, feeling it shake loose.


    I broke free into the steamy air, a long, deep sigh of contentment escaping my lips. I just floated there, free and happy, letting my worries wash away. No chores. No exercise. No dirt. No rain, no mud, no orders, no horse smells, no dumps in the woods. Just pure bliss, delivered in a thousand tiny waves.


    We must¡¯ve been there for hours. It felt like minutes, seconds, snatched away too quickly. Artemis eventually started to haul herself out, while I stayed behind.


    ¡°Come on healy-bug. We gotta go back.¡±


    I made an inarticulate whining noise. Instead of arguing with me, Artemis grabbed a leg, and towed me out. It was fun, apart from the occasional dunking.


    We dried off, and eyed the grubby rags formerly known as our clothes.


    ¡°How do you usually handle this?¡± I asked. This couldn¡¯t be new, and thinking on it, I had no spare clothes.


    ¡°With aplomb.¡± Artemis replied, wrapping the towel around herself, grabbing her money pouch, badge, and walking out. I stared after her, then realized I was about to be left behind.


    ¡°Wait!¡± I cried out. I mimicked Artemis, wrapping a towel around myself, grabbing my all-too-light pouch, and running after her.


    This sucked. I felt so vulnerable being out like this. I imagined everyone staring at me, some hungrily, others laughing at me. I tried to copy Artemis, head held high, not a care in the world. It was hard.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 96!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 99!].


    I caught up to her, and pressed up close behind her, hoping she¡¯d be distraction enough. Twist, turn, twist, and we were in front of a shop, pictures of tunics burnt into wood in front of the store.


    It looked closed, but that didn¡¯t stop Artemis knocking on the door until someone showed up.


    ¡°What? We''re closed.¡± He asked grumpily, then properly took in our appearances. Artemis flashed her Ranger¡¯s Eagle.


    ¡°You know what. I don¡¯t want to know. Come in.¡± The tailor decided that practically naked Rangers showing up after sunset wasn¡¯t worth asking questions over.


    Artemis got herself a half-dozen men¡¯s tunics, so defined by the fact that they ended at the thigh, and didn¡¯t have a long skirt attached to them. I copied her, emptying the rest of my money pouch for a single tunic.


    I felt a hole in my heart as my last coin left my pouch. Not because I was broke ¨C no, I felt despair because if we encountered mangos here, I wouldn¡¯t be able to buy them. I needed to drum up some cash ¨C preferably in time to go shopping here. Plans for another day.


    We headed back to the guard¡¯s barracks, and I was thanking my lucky stars I¡¯d stuck with Artemis. I¡¯d have no idea where any of this was, or where we were even staying, if I got separated. I should probably stick with the group until we had our ¡®home base¡¯ in a town next time we arrived at one.


    We arrived at the barracks, and found a room that¡¯d been assigned to us. A bed! A real bed! Sure, it wasn¡¯t top of the line luxury, but when you¡¯ve been sleeping on wooden floors with a woolen blanket, a real bed, a real mattress, and a real pillow were the height of luxury. Well, mattress and pillow were loose definition by Earth standards, but they met the Pallosian definition.


    My head hit the pillow, and I was gone in seconds.

 Chapter 44 –Virinum II

    I woke up the next day feeling fantastic, having gotten a full night¡¯s sleep for once. I poked my head out of the room, only to find things busy and bustling. Right, barracks, not wilderness. I wandered around a bit, the layout both familiar and different from the ones in Aquiliea, until I found a room where everyone was eating. I sat down, grabbed some bread, and joined the conversation right as a joke finished, and rolling laughter accompanied the punchline.


    Wiping a tear from his eye, Julius tried to get back on a serious note. ¡°Alright, now that Elaine¡¯s here, let¡¯s go over the plan for the next few days. You all got a chance to relax yesterday. Today we¡¯re going to take a look at the monster, and plan. Tomorrow we¡¯re going to prep, and the day after, barring surprises, we¡¯ll try to deal with the monster.¡±


    It sounded reasonable, but I was missing a ton. ¡°Do we know what type of monster it is?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Semi-aquatic dinosaur. A Nothosaurus or something like that. Doesn¡¯t tend to live in this area. Also,¡± Julius grimaced. ¡°according to the person who [Identify]¡¯d it, almost red. Now, that could be an exaggeration, but it might not be. From the reports, fairly intelligent, in a monster sort of way.¡±


    ¡°Sheep-bait?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s use sheep-bait.¡± Julius answered. This was almost going over my head. I¡¯d been getting lessons, but more on survival, fighting, and fitness, and less-so on monster tactics.


    ¡°Sheep-bait?¡± I asked. Both questions, same words, but the subtle difference in intonation leading to a completely different meaning. Artemis to the rescue!


    ¡°Basically, we get a sheep or two out near where the monster¡¯s supposed to be, and watch within our longest [Identify] range. When the monster shows up to chow down on a snack, we get to see what it is, how it hunts, what level it is, and more! Occasionally we¡¯ll poison the sheep to see if we can easily dispatch the monster, but it rarely works. Usually the locals have already tried it.¡±


    I nodded, mouth stuffed with food. This made sense. I swallowed, asking another question.


    ¡°What other methods are there?¡±


    ¡°Elaine, please, let¡¯s stay on-topic.¡± Julius reprimanded me. I looked down, focusing on my food. Fine.


    More discussion occurred, most of it going over my head, like the technicalities of what type of way to stake a sheep down for optimal results, ¨C boring stuff - then we were in for a whirlwind of activity. Before I knew it, we were all gearing up into full weapons and armor, sacrificial lamb at the ready. The reason we were gearing up was just in case something went wrong, and the monster decided that today, of all days, was the day it¡¯d haul itself out of the water, and start rampaging.


    ¡°Unlikely.¡± Said Maximus. ¡°But the one day you don¡¯t prepare for it is the one day it¡¯ll happen. We prepare for it, to make it not happen.¡±


    Superstitious, but whatever worked.


    The sun was about a quarter of the way up when we were all ready. Everyone except Arthur were just a hair outside of the gates, gates being left open for us, with the guards having instructions not to let anyone out. Our path of retreat. Arthur was somewhere in the open field before the river, and how the hell was he hiding with no cover!? It was a trampled, muddy clearing, and Arthur was ¨C so he claimed before vanishing ¨C somewhere in there. A small mountain, completely hidden.


    A small lamb was staked near the edge of the river, Julius having shown off his speed earlier to get it there. Now we watched. And waited. And watched. And¡­.


    I nudged Artemis. She turned, raising an eyebrow at me. I mimed playing cards. She swatted me for my efforts, pointed two fingers at her eyes, one finger at the river. Fineeeeee.


    Standing still, doing nothing, was not a strong point of mine. I¡¯d think that [Centered Mind] would help, but it wasn¡¯t doing much ¨C it was more for staving off fear, fright, decision paralysis, and other such incapacitating emotions ¨C but not boredom. Or sleep deprivation. After all, I could still function 100%, I just couldn¡¯t do anything.


    Tick. Tock. There-are-no-clocks. Was that a shadow on the river, or the fearsome dinosaur about to emerge?


    Shadow. It made me look up at the sky, seeing a few clouds lazily moving about. No problems from above today!


    Oh shit, I jinxed it. I clutched my pendant, sending off a prayer to ward off the bad luck I¡¯d summoned. Still nothing.


    Maybe it would make things more interest- I cut that thought off. This was boring. Boring was good. I shifted from one foot to another. I amended my thought. Boring was better.


    With the sound of a hundred crashing waves, the monster¡¯s long neck broke through the surface of the water, grabbing the terrified lamb, and like a bear trap, its jaw snapped shut on the lamb, before retreating back underwater, as fast as it¡¯d come up.


    I took a moment to process and replay what I¡¯d just seen. A long, sinuous neck, connected to a fat, seal-like body. I saw what looked like flippers on the front, the rest hidden beneath the waves. The neck was close to 6 feet/2 meters long, with dozens of sharp, curved teeth in its elongated jaw, each the size of my fingers.


    Arthur popped back up, face grim. ¡°Bad news boss. They were mostly right. It¡¯s a Nothosaurus, and while it¡¯s not blazingly red, it¡¯s higher level than Artemis by a chunk.¡±


    Frowns all around. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s get to the wagon and plan.¡± Julius took the lead, and we jogged down to where the wagon was parked in a neat row. I could feel my chest swelling with every step. I felt like I belonged. I felt like we looked good, and I was helping with that. A silly grin split my face as I kept in time with everyone else, hidden to all.


    We filed into the wagon, Arthur squeezing in, and closed the doors. Origen did some inscription-related magic, and I felt the air pop, like it did every night when I slept in here.


    ¡°Sound proofed?¡± Maximus asked. Origen gave him a withering look that said ¡°of course it is, I know how to do it and you get a good night¡¯s sleep every night.¡±


    ¡°For Elaine¡¯s sake, we¡¯re going to be a bit more thorough in our discussion. Who knows, her experience combined with all of our tactics might have us come up with something else. First off ¨C Placate, Kill, Drive off, or Tolerate?¡±


    ¡°Fucking no on Tolerate. It¡¯s killing people, it¡¯s threatening to break in the gate, and nobody can harvest clay.¡± Arthur quickly jumped in.


    ¡°It¡¯s a dumb monster that¡¯s found a nice tasty spot full of food. Placating it is unlikely to go well ¨C it¡¯ll just be back for more.¡± Maximus added.


    ¡°Driving it off is probably harder than just killing it.¡± Artemis added, casually twirling a knife between her fingers.


    ¡°Fine. All in favor of going for a kill?¡± Julius asked, raising his hand. Everyone but me raised their hands. ¡°Elaine. Problem?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to stop you, or interfere, or not help, but¡­ I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll ever vote for kill. Maybe that¡¯ll change one day ¨C it is just a monster ¨C but for now¡­.¡± My voice trailed off as I shrugged my shoulders, looking down at my feet.


    ¡°No problem. Got it. Maximus. What do you know about these, what strengths do they have, what weaknesses?¡± All eyes turned to Maximus, who straightened up.


    ¡°Not much. My best guess would be a fairly standard aquatic monster. Likes water, has physical and water-related skills, likely Water element, in rare cases a Coral element. At home in water, bad on land. Unlikely to have a ranged skill, even if it has something surprising ¨C if nothing else, the town probably would¡¯ve seen it by now. To summarize: Strengths: close-quarters combat in water. Weaknesses: Range. Mitigates its weaknesses by using the river.¡±


    We spent a few moments mulling that over. How did you fight a creature perfectly at home under water, who only popped out in ambush attacks?


    ¡°Perhaps I¡¯m stating the obvious¡­¡± I started off, gulping around a lump in my throat. ¡°But I suspect under-water combat with this monster can be ruled out?¡±


    I looked around the table, getting some heads shaking. Kallisto snorted disdainfully.


    ¡°Kallisto, knock it off. Elaine¡¯s not wrong to state the obvious. No, we can¡¯t fight it under water. We¡¯re terribly equipped for it, and it has the advantage even before putting it in its home.¡± Julius helped protect my ego.


    ¡°So, we need to get it out of the water.¡± I stated. More thinking.


    ¡°Or we removed the water from it.¡± Artemis chimed in after a few moments. ¡°Divert the river, like that Hercules fellow. Re-divert it after.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no way we could divert the whole river. The thing¡¯s massive!¡± Kallisto was being a real party-pooper. I jumped in, more to defend Artemis than prove Kallisto wrong.


    ¡°We have a whole town full of people who are pissed that a monster¡¯s eating them, and their livelihood. Put a shovel into each of their hands, river would be moved in a week.¡±


    Julius slapped the table, bringing the attention back to him. ¡°Diverting the river, as interesting as it¡¯d be, has other problems. Let¡¯s re-examine that if we don¡¯t come up with anything else. More ideas?¡±


    ¡°Poison.¡± Grunted Arthur. Origen rolled his eyes at that. Artemis held up three fingers. Two fingers. What was this countdown for? One finger. Closed it.


    In a great chorus, Artemis, Julius, Kallisto, and Maximus:


    ¡°You always suggest poison!¡±


    Origen contributed by nodding along.


    Right, I knew that. I could have joined in. Wasn¡¯t too late.


    ¡°Always!¡±


    Julius took a deep breath to reset the mood. ¡°Arthur, you¡¯re free to have first crack at it with poison. Barring that, we need ideas on how to make it leave the river.¡±


    ¡°Sheep!¡± I jumped in, eager to participate. Easy answer really.


    ¡°Elaine, you saw how careful it was with just one lamb practically hand-fed to it. How easy do you think it¡¯ll be to lure it out even further?¡±


    We battered ideas back and forth, testing them out in the confines of our mind, trying to see how we could get on even footing. Ideas proposed, rejected, modified, rejected again. Some ideas took too long, others required resources we didn¡¯t have, not even with the town backing us. One particular idea ¨C poisoning the entire river to a large, lethal degree ¨C would have worked, but killed the entire town as well. Arthur¡¯s idea, to nobody¡¯s surprise.


    However, it was off of that idea I got inspiration. Taking a bite out of my dinner ¨C this planning session had taken hours, on top of how long baiting out the monster had been, I asked.


    ¡°Instead of poison, why don¡¯t we use ash, or something similar?¡±


    ¡°Ash doesn¡¯t kill.¡± Arthur pointed out, pouting. If Artemis told me ¡°kills the entire town as a side-effect.¡± was a plus in Arthur¡¯s book, I¡¯d believe her.


    ¡°No, no, listen. Ash is cheap, easy, there¡¯s a ton of it. Literal tons. We dump it into the river, it makes it cloudy, foggy. Deeply unpleasant. Monster might decide it doesn¡¯t want to be in the river anymore. With a bit of luck, it¡¯ll leave the river, instead of trying to swim into more ash, or whatever other unpleasant thing we dump in. Sure, it¡¯ll kill laundry for a week, but it won¡¯t kill people for a week.¡±


    We thought over the idea.


    ¡°How do we know it¡¯ll come out on the right side of the river?¡± Kallisto pointed out.


    Julius had a solution. ¡°We could stay near the town, and we run over to whatever side it comes out on. We won¡¯t be waiting for it, sure, but we¡¯ll be able to react.¡± He tipped his cup back, draining whatever was it in, thumping it down on the table in a final way.


    ¡°Any other thoughts?¡± A moment of silence. ¡°Alright, you¡¯re all free for the evening. Don¡¯t get in trouble. Kallisto, that means you.¡± Golden-haired boy looked peeved at that.


    I wanted to go out and about, see the town, get into mischief, see if there were mangos for sale. There was a fatal flaw in my plans.


    I had no money. I was flat-broke. I spent the night inside, getting a terrible night¡¯s sleep.

 Chapter 45 –Virinum III

    I got woken up by a herd of angry bears invading the wagon. I yawned, stretched, gave myself a shot of [Greater Invigorate]. Sleep gone, I fully opened my eyes and confirmed that yes, it was Arthur, and no, I wasn¡¯t about to be mauled to death by an angry bear. After all I¡¯d survived, that¡¯d honestly be an embarrassing way to go. Give me an epic out if I¡¯m going to go down.


    Everyone else filed in, and I made myself, and my sleeping supplies, compact and out of the way ¨C mostly by sitting on all of them. See, a chair! Not me being lazy. Artemis saw my mad dash and subsequent look, and rolled her eyes at me. I stuck out my tongue, and Julius brought us all to order.


    ¡°Right, we have a solid plan on how we¡¯re going to lure this thing out. Now let¡¯s plan the actual fight out. Artemis, are you able to pen it in?¡± Artemis shook her head.


    ¡°It¡¯s all clay and mud around the river. There¡¯s not enough stone to make a cage, and I can¡¯t conjure up that much material, even with unrestricted access to the wagon¡¯s reserves. I could make a clay cage, but Origen could bust through, forget this beasty. Only person it could trap is Elaine.¡± I pouted at her around a loaf of bread, but couldn¡¯t really argue.


    ¡°Instead, I propose we¡­.¡± Artemis started to detail her plan, as we all leaned forward. After much back-and-forth, checking skills and capabilities, hammering and refining the plan in our fires of invention, we had a solid, working plan.


    ¡°Alright everyone. Today¡¯s our prep day. What do we all need? Artemis, you first.¡±


    ¡°Town of Clay. Hoping to pick up some ceramic projectiles, they¡¯re better than a straight rock, especially if you can convince someone to make it sharp.¡± Artemis said.


    My eyes widened in surprise. That was clever! I¡¯d have never thought of that, but then again, I wasn¡¯t the Earth-mage. It was like having an arrowhead vs a slung rock.


    ¡°Arthur?¡± Julius was going around the circle.


    ¡°More buster arrows. This sucker¡¯s big, and I doubt normal arrows are getting through its hide.¡±


    ¡°Right. Maximus, Origen, unless you two have something more pressing, finishing Elaine¡¯s armor is top priority.¡± The two shook their heads in denial of having anything better to do.


    ¡°Kallisto?¡± Julius continued asking around the circle.


    ¡°Well, there are a great number of very lovely ladies who ¨C¡° Julius cut him off.


    ¡°Right, you¡¯re with Arthur.¡±


    That was the whole ¡°Travel in pairs unless you have an emergency signal¡± bit coming into play again.


    ¡°Lastly, Elaine.¡± I perked up at my name. ¡°You¡¯re with me.¡± My face fell, shoulders slumped. ¡°Meet back here before nightfall to get everything sorted. Dismissed.¡±


    Glumly I got up, following Julius out the door. I¡¯d wanted to spend the day with Artemis, instead I got grouchy.


    ¡°So, what are we up to?¡± I asked, no longer able to hide my curiosity as we travelled down the white zone.


    ¡°Potions. You know exactly what you can and can¡¯t do, and I need you around while we¡¯re buying potions, so you can tell me if you can substitute for one or not.¡±


    We kept going down what could only be Virinum¡¯s main street. It looked a lot like Aquiliea in so many ways, including the scent of the sea, but where we had colorful riots of colored clothes, they were more muted here. Instead, thousands of tiny, fancy painted frescos were commonplace, on almost every wall and on every building, carved out of the clay the town was so famous for.


    We stopped by a store with a giant fresco, showing a man stirring a bubbling cauldron over a controlled fire, with dozens of colorful seashells showing different liquids inside. An apothecary.


    We entered to see a bored-looking young man, skinny, with the physique of someone whose idea of heavy-lifting was two potions at once, behind the counter. Dozens of colorful seashells segregated by color, size, and type, with little pictures denoting what each potion had, were on display behind him. A muscle for a potion to briefly increase strength, a foot for speed. The riot of color that was missing outside was in this apothecary.


    I wonder what towns that weren¡¯t on the seashore used?


    ¡°Can I help you?¡± It must be an apprentice potion-maker, the master wouldn¡¯t sound so dull and bored in his own store.


    ¡°We¡¯d like ¨C¡° Julius started, only for bored-dude to interrupt.


    ¡°Wait, don¡¯t tell me. Either a fertility potion, or an impotence potion. Right?¡± He said, not bothering to get a response. The fires of anger deep in my chest warred with embarrassment. Me, with Julius? Ewwwwwww.


    Julius¡¯s eyes tightened, and his lips pursed. His hands dipped to his belt, and for a moment I thought he was going for his knife ¨C a bit of an extreme overreaction, but hey, I¡¯d help him hide the body.


    Sadly? He grabbed his Ranger badge, and slapped it down on the counter. With a cold, clipped voice that I¡¯d only heard when he caught Artemis nearly braining Arthur, he said.


    ¡°Rangers. She¡¯s my teammate. Apologize.¡±


    All the blood seemed to have left bored-dude¡¯s face, as he jerked from the badge to Julius¡¯s face, and back again.


    ¡°I won¡¯t say it again. Apologize.¡±


    ¡°S-s-s-sorry.¡±


    Julius snorted, not happy, but realizing pushing it further would lead to no good. The store tender looked at me, and I gave him my best withering glare. He jumped, warming my heart. Good. He knew where he was in the pecking order.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯d like 7 of each Strength, Speed, Dexterity, and Vitality potions. Elaine, you can handle most poisons, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Not that I think this beast has poison.¡± Julius nodded at that.


    ¡°Agreed. Better safe than sorry, but in this case, I think we¡¯re safe. Now, for thoroughness, general healing?¡±


    ¡°Probably weaker than my healing aura.¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s permanently on, right?¡±


    ¡°Right.¡±


    ¡°Alright, skipping that one¡­¡±


    We examined and rejected dozens of different types of potions, all of which I either replaced, or we didn¡¯t have a visible, practical use for. In the end we got a set of stamina potions, which overlapped with my [Greater Invigorate] ¨C ¡°because in a pinch, you need to save your mana, it¡¯s too useful not to have extras of, and you can¡¯t reach everyone at once.¡±, almost 30 blood restoration potions. ¡°The more specific the potion, the stronger. We need to shore up your weakness, and these can last awhile.¡±, and a few other miscellaneous potions.


    Buying the potions was easy. The idiot behind the counter gave us a price, Julius Looked at him until he was trembling, and the price went down. The intensity of his gaze went down slightly, the price went down, and the process rinsed and repeated until we had nearly half-off the price. Good negotiations!


    I wonder if Julius had some [Bartering] skill variant. Julius gave me a heavy pouch full of coins to hold, then he vanished. Not a minute later he was back with a flurry of wind and a second pouch, and we completed the transaction.


    Why was I even along for this trip?


    All in all, it was nearly 70 potions we were hauling out of there, and I discovered a more nefarious reasons Julius had brought me along.


    As a mule.


    Loaded up with most of the potions carefully packed in small bags, I felt like a walking cargo tunic.


    No, walking cargo tunic was all wrong. Waddling cargo tunic. There we go.


    ¡°Are you sure I should be carrying these? They were expensive! We need them!¡± I did my best to worm out of work, and to not feel so damn stressed about carrying the absurd amount of very expensive potions. In delicate seashells.


    ¡°Yup! Elaine, I trust you. You won¡¯t break a thing.¡±


    I sweated and cursed under my breath. I just know he could¡¯ve taken them all himself.


    ¡°If you could not mention the thing with the discount, I¡¯d appreciate it.¡± Julius mentioned off-handedly, as we turned another corner.


    ¡°Ooooh?¡± I said, with barely disguised glee. Blackmail material!


    I got a Look. I really, really, should never, ever play poker.


    ¡°While we could commandeer things we need ¨C especially when dealing with an immediate threat to the town ¨C it leaves a bad, bad taste in people¡¯s mouths. That directly translates into more problems for Rangers down the line. So, I strongly discourage everyone from doing it. If they knew I did something similar, even if it was just to teach him a lesson, it¡¯d erode that order. I don¡¯t need my orders eroded.¡±


    Fine, fine. I was still tagging along by their good graces, and Julius was the boss.


    ¡°Do you think he¡¯ll get in trouble for selling the potions so cheaply?¡± I asked, curious.


    Julius shrugged.


    ¡°Probably. That was more on him for having no spine. Remember,¡± He said, getting a sly grin. ¡°did I actually say anything?¡±


    I half-laughed as I thought back on the interaction. Julius didn¡¯t say anything ¨C he just looked displeased.


    We arrived back, and carefully, carefully, put the potions away.


    I was putting the last potion away when Maximus popped back in, holding a complete set of armor.


    ¡°Elaine! You¡¯re here! Great, come with me, I need to see that your armor fits properly.¡±


    Maximus had carefully measured me when we were first starting on this project, but apparently it might need some fine-tuning.


    We left the wagon, entered the barracks, and found a spare room. Maximus showed me how to put the armor on. The laminar vest went on first, barely covering my shoulders. The thick skirt made of leather strips went on second, over the bottom of the vest. No metal strips on mine - deliberately a hair lighter for easier movement. A thick belt went on over that, where pouches, knives, and the like would live. My sandals stayed, but greaves went over my shin, while vambraces covered my upper arms.


    Heavy leather gloves were a normal part of the outfit, but I still needed direct contact to heal someone, and awkwardly trying to find a patch of my bare skin to connect was so much harder than just touching them. So instead, I got fingerless gloves.


    ¡°Afterall,¡± Maximus reasoned, ¡°If you lose your fingers, you could just regrow one, then heal with that.¡± His cold logic made me shudder.


    Lastly came the helmet. It wasn¡¯t particularly comfortable, and I needed to cut my hair again to make it fit properly. Maximus then circled around me, muttering incomprehensible things, poking and prodding the armor. I could feel it subtly shift each time, adjusting tiny amounts to perfectly mold to me, to not be Ranger¡¯s armor, but becoming something more.


    Elaine¡¯s armor. My armor. Fit for me, tailored like a second skin.


    Maximus was wanting me to jump up and down in it, and I hesitated, feeling strangely vulnerable. Artemis popped her head in, saving me.


    ¡°Elaine, are you all set?¡± Artemis asked. Maximus opened his mouth, probably to say check #81 wasn¡¯t quite done yet or some other esoteric bit of armor-fitting, but it was good enough for me.


    ¡°Yup!¡± I cheerfully walked out, unused to all the extra weight, glad I didn¡¯t need to be jumping.


    ¡°Great! You¡¯re all mine for the afternoon!¡± Artemis¡¯s tone of glee deeply concerned me¡­.


    I was right to be concerned. I¡¯d just gotten used to Artemis¡¯s fitness regime. Now I had to do all of that ¨C in full armor. I sweated. I slipped and fell in the mud. I cursed and groaned and was generally put through my paces in a brutal fashion.


    Slightly more fun was learning how to activate the myriad inscriptions in the armor, causing it to show with an otherworldly blue light.


    ¡°Mostly Speed and Dexterity buffs for my healy-bug. Vitality is a pain to buff, and Strength doesn¡¯t do much for you. The magic stats are historically difficult to buff, and it¡¯s basically never done. There¡¯s a bunch of passive inscriptions to help with durability, which also directly translate to keeping you alive.¡± I practiced turning my buffs on and off, seeing my mana regeneration lower and go back up as I did. Neat.


    ¡°Also, to note, you have mage-armor there. It¡¯s lighter and easier to move in than the normal, base gear ¨C of which only Origen and Maximus wear ¨C but the real secret is the Arcanite stones woven into it. Easy access to additional mana in a fight, hard to separate you from it. Unlike, say, someone grabbing your own knife.¡± I got a pointed look at that last comment.


    ¡°Armor¡¯s on loan to you while you¡¯re hanging out with us. If you leave, the armor¡¯s gotta stay.¡± Perfectly reasonable. I had no plans on leaving ¨C I was more terrified they¡¯d kick me out.


    We tuned the Arcanite to me ¨C it wasn¡¯t needed, but it helped ¨C and it was back to fitness training we went.


    I was spitting mud out of my mouth after having fallen for the dozenth time, close to breaking, when Artemis had some mercy on me.


    ¡°I know this is no fun healy-bug,¡± The twinkle in her eye made me doubt that. ¡°But this is for your own good. You¡¯re going to be running, in these conditions tomorrow, and you might save one of our lives as a result. Heck, it might even be mine! And we only have this one afternoon to get you in shape.¡± Artemis¡¯s look turned gentle, the corners of her eyes going down. ¡°You might be in the thick of things. You might die. I can¡¯t let that happen, so I¡¯m doing what I can to prevent it.¡±


    I got up, caking myself in another layer of mud, and gave Artemis a huge, crushing hug.


    ¡°Ack! You¡¯re getting mud all over me!¡± Artemis complained, with no venom in her voice.


    ¡°I know,¡± I said, muffled through her tunic, talking into her. ¡°Now you gotta pay for a bath for me tonight.¡±


    Artemis swatted at me for that, and I continued going through my paces with her, renewed vigor. Her little speech had driven just how serious this was, that while we were laughing and sliding in mud, this had real, practical applications.


    A real, practical application, tomorrow.


    Where failure on my part would mean someone died.


    Training stopped being fun and games.


    Artemis treated me to an hour or so in the baths as the sun went down, to help me relax and get clean before tomorrow. It didn¡¯t matter, but it was nice, and that did matter.


    We got back to the barracks, where I spent nearly an hour scrubbing and cleaning my armor, getting the mud out from all of the nooks and crannies it had found. I see why the Rangers weren¡¯t constantly wearing their armor all the time, the maintenance was hell.


    When I found where I was going to sleep for the night. Julius popped in, seashell potion in hand.


    ¡°Elaine.¡± He started. My heart rate started to slowly increase. I didn¡¯t like the sound of this. ¡°I know you sleep terribly, and since we¡¯re going into a big fight tomorrow, I¡¯d like to give you the option of a sleeping potion. Careful!¡± He raised the potion up, out of my grasp as I was reaching for it. ¡°They can be addictive.¡±


    I nodded eagerly, taking the potion from Julius. I waited a moment for him to leave, before removing the beeswax and cork plug, and downing the potion.


    Sleep claimed me, and I never slept better.

 Chapter 46 –Virinum IV

    I¡¯d never had such a good night¡¯s sleep, and when someone was shaking my shoulder, I sleepily brushed them off.


    ¡°Give me some more time¡­¡± I sleepily muttered into my pillow. I wish I could ask for a few more minutes, but timekeeping. I needed to invent timekeeping. After sleep.


    The incessant hand on my shoulder left, and I let myself drift back off to sleep, only to be rudely picked up and dumped on the floor.


    I cracked open my eyes, to see Artemis, who had her hands on her hips, looking peeved.


    ¡°Get up already! You¡¯ve slept in for ages! The sun¡¯s high up!¡±


    Fuck. I was delaying everyone. The cold rush of panic from possibly disappointing everyone else woke me up better than a [Greater Invigorate] could.


    I started to rush to get my armor on, when Artemis gently grabbed my arm.


    ¡°Do it right. It¡¯s better that we¡¯re a moment late, with our gear on properly, than it failing in a fight.¡±


    I took a deep, calming breath. Ok. I can do this.


    Slowly, carefully, trying not to tremble at the thought of what was to come, I got everything on. Armor on, belt on. Almost half of the blood restoration potions were with me, with the remainder locked away in a chest. ¡°Because the only time we¡¯ll need them is if you¡¯re nearby.¡± Artemis explained, helping me get them on, showing me how to quickly release them.


    That was morbid. Why didn¡¯t we buy regular healing potions as well?


    Right, because they were practically useless.


    Heart pounding, I made my way to the wagon, where plans were being finalized, weapons checked, runes flaring with power as they were turned on and off, being tested.


    ¡°Ok, any last-minute questions, adjustments, anything?¡± Julius wrapped up. We all shook our heads. We knew the plan; we knew what needed to be done.


    ¡°Potion time.¡± That got a grimace from everyone, with Origen pretending to gag. I eyed my potions suspiciously. I wonder if [Deaden Pain] would help?


    My regeneration was crazy, but I wasn¡¯t going to risk a single point of mana right now. Down the hatch they go.


    They each had their own unique blend of terrible. Rotten eggs would be a luxury meal after that. Raw coffee beans a delightful treat. H¨¢karl the pinnacle of food.


    Gagging, desperately drinking water and making retching noises, I wasn¡¯t the only one. Julius had the only stoic look, but from how the lines around his eyes were tightening, I suspected it was more to look good in front of his team than any enjoyment of the foul concoction.


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll signal the guards to begin.¡± With that, Julius vanished, a swirling of leaves the only indication he¡¯d been there a moment ago.


    Part one of the plan: Ash was a good idea. The town¡¯s main industry was clay-related, and to fire clay, you needed ovens. Lots of ovens. To fuel the ovens, you needed wood, and at the end of the day, there was a ton of ash left over. Normally this was recycled back out as fertilizer, but we stepped in. We requested the guard¡¯s help collecting the ash, moving it upriver, and having them dump the huge quantity into the river.


    In spite of how slow everything had been, due to the lack of clay, there was still enormous quantities of ash. Some clay still got fired, ovens still cooked food, and when word got out that we wanted ash to deal with the monster, it was suddenly easy.


    Julius made it back after about 15 minutes. ¡°It¡¯s done. That guard up there,¡± He pointed to a guard on the wall. ¡°Will signal us if the monster leaves the water, and what direction it left in.¡±


    We were hoping it¡¯d leave on what I arbitrarily called the right side. That side of the river had the road, and we¡¯d be able to get to it much faster. If it left from the left side, we¡¯d need to leave from the eastern gate, the loop around back south, through brush, to get to where it left. Not impossible, but not easy.


    We spent what felt like hours, waiting tensely. Artemis paced. Origen was stoic. I kept bouncing my knee, getting the occasional glare from Kallisto and Julius over it. The fact that the river beneath us ¨C we were waiting on a bridge, roughly halfway between the two gates ¨C only just turned grey with ash, implied that my sense of time was horribly off. I looked up at the sun. Yeah, my sense of time was horribly off. We¡¯d been here maybe 20 minutes, not hours.


    I have no idea how long it was before the guard on the wall started frantically yelling and waving his arms, pointing to the direction I¡¯d arbitrarily declared ¡°Right¡±. With that, we were off like a shot!


    Origen was driving the wagon, with me up front with him. Artemis was hanging off the back, to better do her thing.


    Maximus, Julius, Kallisto, and Arthur were all on foot ¨C they were significantly faster than the wagon was when they pushed themselves ¨C and they moved together as a team down the roads emptied by the guards. Soon they were out of sight.


    We picked up speed after we turned a tight corner, ending up on the main road south, path cleared by shouting guards. There was some cheering ¨C the mighty Rangers off to slay the monster got good press ¨C but I was too nervous to appreciate it, eyes fixated on the gate rapidly looming up, my heart pounding in beat with the horse¡¯s rapid hooves.


    Too fast, we were through the gate, and I could see what was going on; get a good look at the monster that¡¯d been causing so many problems. A vicious monster that looked like a small plesiosaurus met my eye. The head and neck were the same, the body both fat and sleek, like a seal¡¯s, with a tail almost as long as its neck was. Kallisto and Maximus were baiting the creature towards them, away from the river. Arthur was nowhere to be seen, and Julius was on a type of overwatch, slinking around. He was waiting until we¡¯d done our part before jumping in.


    We made a turn towards the river, and a second turn to run next to the river, mud flying from the horses¡¯ hooves. Thank goodness for dashboards.


    It was now Artemis¡¯s turn to shine. While most of the ground was mud and clay, there were some rocks in the ground, and in the river. As we slowed down to a trot, Artemis was raising crossed spears at an angle, closing off the monster¡¯s path of retreat back into the water. The monster could bust through if it wanted to, but it¡¯d mean impaling itself on a half-dozen nasty, barbed spikes. The hope was it¡¯d pick another direction to flee in, one that didn¡¯t involve submerging itself in water.


    As she raised what sounded like the 5th or 6th spike ¨C I couldn¡¯t see ¨C Kallisto and Maximus moved in to engage the monster. I should [Identify] the monster. [Nothosaurus]. Fuck that was the highest-level creature I¡¯d ever seen. Kallisto was using his standard spear and shield, while Maximus was using some strange double-headed spear, whirling it around like a quarterstaff.


    The monster snapped and bit, as Kallisto performed amazing feats of athleticism to dodge most of the blows. Occasionally, the monster¡¯s head would snap forward so fast that he¡¯d take the blow on his shield, using the momentum to roll back instead of just falling. Maximus would move in, get a blow or two in, and as the monster turned to attack Maximus, Kallisto would get a stab or two in, drawing the monster back to him.


    Maximus could dodge, but he had no shield. A direct hit would be a terrible problem.


    None of the wounds looked particularly bad or deep, and the occasional buster arrow from Arthur wouldn¡¯t even fully penetrate, falling out after a moment or two. They had to be poisoned, and I hoped he was using something strong enough to have an impact.


    Note to self: Ground is littered with sharp, super poisonous arrows. Caution required.


    Julius finally saw an opening, and moved like the wind. He wasn¡¯t using a shield either, instead holding onto a pair of short blades, slightly curved at the end. He moved in, and the distance, along with the potions boosting my Vitality, let me just barely let me see him run past the Nothosaurus, blades against flesh. He ended the run next to the wagon.


    ¡°Elaine!¡± He called out.


    ¡°Sir!¡± I answered.


    ¡°Out of the doorway!¡± He yelled. I jumped up, moving out of the way of the wagon¡¯s front entrance. Julius jumped on, blitzed into the wagon and back out, holding a single, larger serrated blade. Without explaining why, he jumped back down, and immediately went for another blow.


    That one worked a bit better, leaving a thin red trail on the monster¡¯s side, head snapping to the side, trying to catch Julius. The monster¡¯s snapping jaw was faster than Julius, causing me to bite my nails, but he bent backwards, dodging the blow as he moved out of the way, managing to get away cleanly.


    I started sweating at that. Maximus was at least well-armored. Julius ¨C Julius was incredibly fragile.


    We swung the wagon back up, onto a small hill, while we watched the fight continue. Artemis popped up, holding a bag full of sharp ceramic pieces, some like little balls with sharp edges everywhere, others clearly remnants of broken pottery repurposed into projectiles.


    She took a careful shot, checking her range, then a flurry of shots started to come from her. These were doing damage, and the beast roared in agony as the first barrage hit its side, cutting deep bloody grooves into its thick hide and blubber.


    Maximus was the current focus on the Nothosaurus, so Kallisto was moving in for a stab on the opposite side from Artemis¡¯s lethal barrage. However, as it roared in pain, it suddenly moved faster, tail whipping at such a speed that it cracked, hitting Kallisto solidly on the side, sending him flying.


    I screamed seeing it, and was immediately shut up by Origen, who hit me, and pointed at Kallisto¡¯s broken body, unmoving on the ground.


    [Centered Mind] kicked in, reminding me what I was here for. I took off, [Running] giving wind to my legs, moving faster than I ever had under the influence of both the potions, and the glowing runes carved into my armor. I looked down at the ground, legs burning, arms pumping, keeping an eye out for discarded arrows, nearly rolling my ankle as I stepped awkwardly to skip over one. My direction and speed weren¡¯t terribly well thought-out, as a few more of Artemis¡¯s broken pots given one last chance at glory went whizzing past me, causing spurts of gore as they dug into the monster¡¯s side. It roared in pain again, turning in the direction of the missiles.


    Only to lock onto me, a small pest running roughly towards it. [Vigilant] screamed bloody murder ¨C no shit - I felt my courage nearly break, but I continued. No skill buttressed me, [Centered Mind] wasn¡¯t needed. I¡¯d thought about this. I prepared for this. I looked death in the eye, with its snapping jaws and massive teeth, and kept going. Kallisto needed me. I¡¯d defend him at all costs, bring him back. I needed to hear his crude jokes, I needed to see his heroically good looks. I needed him to find his way into the wrong beds, and be assigned all of the cleaning. I hated cleaning.


    He¡¯d be fine. He had to be fine. I kept my head down, running with all my might, one leg in front of the other. I wasn¡¯t heading directly to the monster ¨C I was still going to where Kallisto lay unmoving.


    As the monster started towards me, Julius showed up on the far side, edge of his blade glowing green. A mighty slash from heaven to earth came from him, and the side of the monster split like never before. A heartbeat behind him, and Maximus planted his spear through the monster¡¯s rear flipper, into the ground.


    The monster roared, a sound so loud it caused me to stumble, hands over my ears, nearly falling on the slick mixture of mud and blood. Yesterday¡¯s practice saved me, and I turned my near-fall into a slide, ending up near Kallisto.


    A loud thudding noise was getting nearer, the monster moving at full speed, but I didn¡¯t look. I had faith. Instead, I evaluated Kallisto.


    Fuck the evaluation. I put my hand on the back of his neck, one of the only pieces of exposed flesh I could find. [Detailed Restoration] on his head, focusing on his brain, his spine, the important parts. A second [Detailed Restoration] on his heart, his lungs, keeping the pathway between the two open. I glanced at my mana. 1693/2450. I relaxed. That wasn¡¯t nearly close to my full output.


    I rolled him over, seeing him gasping for breath. Still hurt, but alive, and I had some time to evaluate. The thumping got louder, and I turned my head to check. The monster was heading right for us, running away from Maximus and Julius. It¡¯d run over us all the same.


    I heaved, trying to get Kallisto up, falling. The mixture of blood and mud was much more liquid here, there wasn¡¯t a way to get a good purchase, and there was a suction force, keeping him stuck. I grabbed, heaving, trying to get him up and moving. We were seconds away from finding out if my healing was stronger than getting run over by a several ton rampaging monster. The ground was muddy, I liked my odds. Just needed to hold my breath.


    Fortunately, I didn¡¯t have to find out, as Artemis sent a bolt of lightning to its head. It didn¡¯t seem to do much, but it made an annoyed noise, turning slightly away, a burn mark near its eye. I guess that¡¯s why Artemis was using rocks, and not lightning. The beast trampled past us, so close I could¡¯ve reached out and touched its fin.


    Immediate crisis averted, I focused back on Kallisto, pumping [Detailed Restorations] into him. He was pale, so pale, and not waking up.


    The potions!


    I fumbled at my belt, missing the proper release, having a half-dozen of the precious seashells fall, getting stuck in the mud. I grabbed an easy one on the top, popped the cork off, and held it to Kallisto¡¯s mouth, forced open by my hand grabbing his lower jaw.


    I looked at him, doubtfully. It might be a risk with my mana, but the fight seemed to be wrapping up. [Greater Invigorate] with almost 500 mana put into it ¨C leaving me with 300 left ¨C and Kallisto shot up with a gasp.


    ¡°You¡¯re alive!¡± I tackled him with a great big hug, knocking him back to the ground.


    ¡°Blah.¡± Kallisto spat out some leftover potion. ¡°Elaine, please, next time, death is preferable to that potion. Just let me die.¡±


    I laughed, the manic laugh of someone coming down off an adrenaline high, of knowing everything was going to be alright. Kallisto tried to get up again, wincing.


    ¡°Can I get a pain-removal skill?¡± He asked. I almost hit him with a full-body [Deaden Pain], when I had a thought.


    I was trying to conserve what little mana I had left. What if I just deadened his sense of pain in his head? Would that work?


    I gave it a try, and Kallisto breathed in relief, stress lines all across his face fading. Success! Skill upgrade! Work smarter, not harder!


    The monster was vanishing into the distance, Julius hot on its heels. Maximus circled back, and was heading over, looking relieved as Kallisto started to stand up again.


    ¡°No. Down.¡± I insisted.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine! You patched me up!¡± Kallisto said.


    ¡°I fix the major problems. You¡¯re not fully fixed, and your sense of pain is off ¨C not dulled, not redirected, not morphed, off. You wouldn¡¯t notice Maximus stabbing you in the back right now, let alone something getting worse. Stay down until I say so.¡±


    I crossed my arms, and I considered sitting on him to make my point. I decided potentially causing more damage wasn¡¯t the right way to send the message about not causing damage.


    Maximus and Origen showed up, and between the three of us, we hauled Kallisto over to the wagon, where Artemis was waiting, beads of sweat running down her face.


    ¡°Hey Kallisto, I know you want to get laid, but that¡¯s not how you do it.¡± We all groaned at Artemis¡¯s terrible pun. Satisfied that Kallisto was going to be ok, she followed up.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Julius?¡± I¡¯d been wondering that myself.


    ¡°He and Arthur are finishing off the Nothosaurus. He figured they needed just the two of them.¡±


    I never wondered where Arthur was, since he was practically invisible half the time.


    We spent a tense hour waiting, while I finished healing up Kallisto, giving him the A-ok to start moving again. Finally, we got the notification we¡¯d been waiting for.


    [*Ding!* Your Party has slain a [Nothosaurus] (Water, lv 412)]


    An explosive breath of relief left all of us, and even more cheering as we saw Julius and Arthur show up again.


    I rubbed my eyes, making sure they were working. Arthur, showing up in the wild, walking through nature without hiding? Julius was limping slightly, looking exhausted, drained and tired. Well, this was a job for me! I ran over, giving him a shot of [Greater Invigorate], and a [Detailed Restoration] for good measure. Almost all of my mana drained out at the last one, but that was probably due to my lack of focus, than any real injuries.


    We dragged ourselves back over to where everyone else was, still around the wagon. Remarkably well-trained horses we had, I was never giving them enough credit. As we arrived, some muted cheers and celebratory noises were made, dampened by the sheer exhaustion weighing over everyone.


    ¡°Alright, alright, listen up everyone, I have a thing I need to say.¡± Julius calmed us down, grabbing our attention and the spotlight.


    ¡°Elaine.¡± He looked right at me, full-intensity, piercing gaze.


    ¡°Yes?¡± I held myself high, chin up, back straight, meeting his look. I don¡¯t know what he wanted, but I was confident that I¡¯d done well.


    ¡°Bit slow on the uptake. Gotta work on that.¡± Ouch. I continued to hold his gaze, not flinching away at the feedback.


    ¡°With that being said. You¡¯re one of the bravest people I know. Your dedication to your teammates, and to healing, is second to none. Your willingness to work hard, to do what needs to be done, and commitment to what Rangers do, is top-notch.¡±


    I swelled at the praise, hoping he wasn¡¯t buttering me up for a scathing criticism, or was about to ask me to leave the team. A flash of panic went through me. Oh no, was he softening me up before asking me to leave? Did the governor not like a kid hanging-on, and threw his weight around? Was my usefulness done now that we¡¯d killed the beast, and they were going to leave me here in town? It was entirely reasonable to leave me here.


    ¡°So Elaine, I need to ask you, formally,¡± Fuck. I knew it. I was being kicked out. I could start to feel a lump form in my throat.


    ¡°Will you join us as a Ranger?¡±


    What!?

 Chapter 47 –Virinum V

    I blinked in surprise, in confusion, the lump in my throat growing and changing. I wasn¡¯t being kicked out? I was being asked to formally, properly join? I¡¯d be able to call myself a Ranger?


    ¡°Now, I know it¡¯s a big decision ¨C you¡¯d be locked with us for the remainder of the trip, you¡¯d need to attend Ranger academy once this route was over, and it¡¯s a long commitment, which ¨C¡°


    I cut him off by giving him one of my patented ¡°crushing¡± hugs, hurting myself more on his armor than really giving him a good squeeze, but I think the message was clear.


    ¡°Yes! Yes! Yes I¡¯ll be a Ranger!¡± I said around the lump in my throat, eyes threatening to cry happy tears. Julius pried me off of him, and solemnly took the Ranger badge off his chest.


    ¡°Elaine of Aquiliea. Wear this symbol with honor, wear it with pride, a sign of protection of the citizens of Remus, and honest deeds bravely done.¡± So saying, he pinned the badge to my chest.


    I swelled up with pride as everyone surrounded me, patting me on the back, the shoulders, rubbing my head.


    ¡°Congratulations!¡± Kallisto said.


    ¡°One of us! One of us!¡± Artemis chanted in a silly way, making the smile splitting my face ear-to-ear threaten to crack my face in half.


    ¡°Welcome.¡± A rare (Less rare these days) word from Origen was a welcome treat.


    Arthur was surprisingly silent, but instead he picked me up, and launched me into the air. Flying! Flight! At long last! I made all sorts of incoherent happy noises as I went up. I wasn¡¯t worried about the way down. I had full faith in my team ¨C and I could really say that now, they were my team ¨C and they caught me on the way down.


    Maximus was a bit of a kill joy, but I didn¡¯t care.


    ¡°Boss, this is technically against the rules ¨C¡° He started. Our fearless leader cut him off. ¡°Fuck the rules.¡±


    Artemis leaned against the wagon, lines of inscription and mana lighting up as she took one last, deep draw off of it.


    ¡°Elaine, hop on!¡± She said, a platform of stone rising up in front of her. I hopped on, staying on my hands and knees to get a better grip, to be more stable, as she lifted the stone slab ¨C me included ¨C on a brief twirl around the sky.


    Oh my gods. I was fucking flying. Not under my own power, but I was soaring through the sky.


    Ok, I was like 20 feet off the ground, going in a small, fast circle, but I was flying!!! ¡°Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.¡±


    It felt way too short, and for once, it probably was ¨C only like 8, 9 seconds of flight ¨C before Artemis put me down, new sheen of sweat on her face.


    ¡°I thought you said you couldn¡¯t fly?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I can¡¯t. That blew through most of my mana, and it only gets worse as you get heavier.¡±


    Julius clapped his hands. ¡°This is all well and good, but why don¡¯t we get back inside the town? I¡¯m sure you all have things you¡¯d like to do.¡±


    I saw the light go on in everyone¡¯s eyes. The monster was slain, the problems were gone. We were at a real town. Vacation time!


    We all piled into the wagon ¨C we really needed to name this at some point ¨C as Julius took charge, and started to drive it back to town. As we neared the town, he shouted behind him, into the cabin where we all were.


    ¡°Quick reminder, tomorrow morning we¡¯re doing our after-action analysis. Today though, enjoy yourself.¡±


    Enjoying ourselves would be much easier with energy, and with my insane regeneration, I was full-up again on mana. I hit everyone with a [Greater Invigorate], and we all looked bright-eyed and bushy tailed as we got to the gates. Some enterprising clay-miners (there was probably a fancy word for what they did, but I didn¡¯t know what it was) had already left with large baskets and shovels and were heading down to the river. Some people in just swimming clothes were sprinting towards the river as fast as they could, pushing and shoving.


    Why did they want to swim so badly? They could¡¯ve been swimming in the river this whole time.


    Ah. Might be diving for treasure. All the people the monster killed, their stuff might be at the bottom of the river, and they were trying to dive for it.


    This seemed to be a good moment to check what levels I got from that fight. That fight had been something, and I was eager to see what I got.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Calming Aura] has reached level 107!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Calming Aura] has reached level 108!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Calming Aura] has reached level 109!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 106!].


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 111!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Healing Aura] has reached level 107!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Healing Aura] has reached level 108!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 99!].


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Detailed Restoration] has reached level 103!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Greater Invigorate] has reached level 101!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Centered Mind] has reached level 100!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Deaden Pain] has reached level 76!].


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Deaden Pain] has reached level 81!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 104!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath] has reached level 102!].


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath] has reached level 105!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Running] has reached level 69!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Running] has reached level 70!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 100!].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Shadow Healer] has leveled up to level 91! +1 Free Stat, +3 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Light of Hope] has leveled up to level 128! +1 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +1 Magic power, +5 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Light Affinity] has reached level 128!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Dark Affinity] has reached level 91!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Ranger¡¯s Lore]!]


    [Ranger¡¯s Lore: An elite soldier of the Republic of Remus, you have been inducted into the Rangers. Somehow. Marching. Digging. Wilderness survival. Fighting. These, and the hundred and one other things a Ranger needs, are together in this skill, for as long as you are a Ranger. -512 Mana/Hour]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! You can now advance your class!]


    [*Ding!* WARNING: Once you start advancing your class, you must pick an advancement.]


    Yes! Sweet, sweet, glorious level-loot. Leveling this much gave me a rush, like a high. I needed a word for it. Julius sadly distracted from my mad internal cackling by asking us. ¡°Alright, everyone who leveled up, raise your hand.¡±


    All of our hands went up in the air. Success!


    ¡°I got a new skill!¡± I proudly announced.


    ¡°[Ranger¡¯s Lore]?¡± Kallisto asked.


    ¡°Yup!¡± I proudly wanted to show it off.


    ¡°What mana burn rate did you get it at, per day?¡± Maximus asked.


    I did some quick math, which mostly consisted of me re-arranging my display to show per day consumption instead of per hour consumption.


    ¡°12,288 mana regeneration per day!¡± I proudly stated, sure I had a high score. The higher the burn rate on a skill, the more powerful it was. By the same token, the higher the burn rate, the lower your mana regeneration would be. It was all a trade-off, as was nearly everything with the System.


    The long low whistle out of Arthur confirmed that was, indeed, a ridiculous number.


    ¡°You¡¯re a Ranger now Elaine. I can¡¯t make you take it, but you should take it.¡± Julius suggested.


    I dumped [Lost and Found] for it.


    The governor was waiting for us as we arrived.


    ¡°Success?¡± He asked. We were all grinning maniacally, high on success, but I guess he wanted verbal confirmation.


    ¡°Success!¡± Julius, being the boss, got to be the one to say it. The governor quickly whispered in someone¡¯s ear, who went off like a shot, as fast as any courier.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to invite you all to a feast at my villa this evening.¡± The governor said.


    My stomach gurgled, reminding me that the amount of skills, and mana, I¡¯d burnt through would require a feast¡¯s worth of food. I nodded my head furiously, noticing that Artemis had already broken into the dried pork. She caught my eye and passed me some.


    ¡°We¡¯d love to.¡± Julius, my savior!


    People scurried off, as we went to park the wagon by the guard¡¯s barracks.


    ¡°Nice of him to feed us.¡± I said conversationally to Julius. Arthur snorted.


    ¡°If we hadn¡¯t killed the monster, you can be sure we¡¯d be politely thanked for our efforts, and been left to fend for ourselves.¡± Arthur rudely educated me. I looked at Artemis. She nodded in confirmation.


    ¡°Success is rewarded. Failure isn¡¯t exactly punished, but we¡¯d get the cold shoulder.¡±


    ¡°Even if we worked just as hard?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yup. Success is easy. Failure comes after a lot more work and effort.¡± Julius pointed out.


    ¡°Alright, we¡¯re here, the horses are taken care of. You¡¯re all free until sunrise tomorrow. Governor has a feast around sundown, feel free to show up, or not show up. Your call. Elaine, if I can borrow you for a second?¡± Julius asked.


    Everyone but Artemis vanished, off to do gods knows what. Actually, I had a pretty good guess. Kallisto was going to try and find someone to chat up. Arthur was going to see if he could get a bard to write a song about the fight. Maximus was going to try and find an interesting Classer, or possibly get in a fight. Or do both. At the same time. Origen ¨C probably wanted to find a tattoo artist for this latest triumph. Did he even have room left? Did it count enough for him to get a tattoo of it, or was this commonplace for him? Hmm.


    ¡°Yes boss?¡± I asked respectfully. He handed me a pouch full of coins. I hefted it, hearing a wonderful clinking of coins together, a solid weight of security.


    ¡°Payment for being a tagger-on healer during the fight. First payment for being a Ranger. Congratulations again.¡±


    I smiled and thanked him. The double-pay was above and beyond, and we both knew it, and neither of us were going to say anything about it.


    ¡°Come on healy-bug. Let¡¯s go!¡± The pixie-haired lightning mage called out to me. I scurried along, falling in behind Artemis, fully expecting we¡¯d head to the baths again.


    Which we did. Stopping at every. Single. Foodstand. Hot pitas. Mystery meat on a stick. Some cheesy concoction. Fish, so much fish. We¡¯d buy a small meal¡¯s worth at each stand, and eat it on the way to the next stand, slowly pinballing our way back to the baths. I was so hungry from this morning, and now that the excitement from being a real Ranger ¨C me! ¨C was wearing off, my stomach was letting itself be known again. I kept rubbing the badge, now pinned on my tunic, still not believing it was real.


    We ate our way through town, me treating Artemis at some stalls with my pile of loot, Artemis buying me some extra tasty treats she thought I¡¯d like. My stomach was a void, a bottomless pit that demanded more.


    We made it to the baths, where I had my first dilemma. Normally, you went into the baths like a bath, leaving your things behind in a secure spot. However, I didn¡¯t want to leave my nice new badge behind. I kept rubbing it and looking down, and I was standing in the pseudo-locker room, torn. Artemis saw my hesitation, and rolled her eyes.


    ¡°Like this healy-bug.¡± She said, weaving the badge intricately into my hair. ¡°Julius didn¡¯t say it, but do not lose that badge. We¡¯d need to hunt it down, and, well, with your track record, maybe we should just permanently tie it to you¡­.¡±


    I glared at Artemis, offended. That¡¯s not to say they hadn¡¯t gotten a taste of [Lost and Found] working, and, well¡­ if I was being honest, the criticism, and concern, was fair.


    I breathed in and out, letting my annoyance go.


    ¡°Understood. I love this badge too much to let it go.¡±


    ¡°Good! Now scrub.¡± Artemis said, handing me a hardened sponge made out of, well, sponge. Turns out it was originally some seaside critter.


    I made a whining noise, only to see a smile from the devil himself cross Artemis¡¯s face.


    ¡°You¡¯re a Ranger now. A junior Ranger now. Listening to your senior Ranger is natural, mmm?¡± She said, pushing the sponge into my hand, turning over in the water.


    ¡°Now scrub.¡±


    Damnit. I knew there was a catch!


    Around sunset ¨C not that we could tell in the steamy baths, but Artemis had a second sense for it ¨C we hauled ourselves out, dried off, got dressed, and headed off towards the governor¡¯s villa. We weren¡¯t too interested in rubbing elbows with the movers and shakers of Virinum, but the food? The food was another matter entirely. We were the ones who¡¯d been using skills, and as such, mana, the most, and while we¡¯d raided every food stand between the barracks and the baths, the prospect of a feast with more food ¨C that importantly, we didn¡¯t need to pay for ¨C was enough to make it our plans for the evening.


    The villa was easy enough to find ¨C big, grandiose, and a number of rich-looking people heading towards it, with all sorts of light sources floating around. I eyed what could only be called a floating lantern. Must be a skill of some sort. Must be expensive.


    We arrived at the gates with our lead eating boots on, ready to do serious damage to whatever food was ready. We were stopped by the guards ¨C not Guards, just guards ¨C who didn¡¯t recognize us.


    ¡°Excuse me, this party is for the Ranger squad, and prominent members of Virinum. You¡¯re not on the list.¡± He said, giving us a smug and pompous look.


    Artemis and I traded looks of disbelief. Disbelief had many flavors. Disbelief of bad news. Disbelief of incredulity. Disbelief of fact. It had many subtle nuances, many tiny ways of being different.


    Mine was some hot, fiery outrage. How dare they! Couldn¡¯t they see my badge, see that I was a real Ranger now! They were just looking down on me, rabble rabble rabble.


    Artemis¡¯s flavor of disbelief was fairly nuanced. Amused, mostly. A type of disbelief flavored with impending schadenfreude. She¡¯d been through this a dozen times, and would go through it a dozen times more. I let her handle the talking this time, although I ¡®helped¡¯ by giving them the stink-eye.


    ¡°Yes,¡± She started. ¡°I¡¯m well aware. See, I¡¯m not from around here. Neither is she. This little badge riiiiiiiight here,¡± She pointed to the Ranger eagle, prominently on her chest. ¡°Is my entry ticket. Rangers, right?¡±


    Disbelief, from the guards. Flavored with ¡®can you believe the audacity?¡¯ Artemis sighed, rolled her eyes, and shot a lightning bolt from one hand to the next, causing us ¨C and most of the people nearby ¨C to jump, and clap their hands over their ears.


    ¡°Look familiar? Perhaps from today¡¯s fight, that I¡¯m sure you were all watching from safely behind the walls?¡± Artemis gave them a Look, one foot tapping impatiently.


    The guard, unable to meet Artemis¡¯s challenge, looked at me, and seized the moment.


    ¡°Fine. But she can¡¯t come in.¡± Artemis opened her mouth, no doubt to give another scathing retort, but I was on fire today. Mostly copying Artemis.


    ¡°See this badge riiiiiiiiiiiight here?¡± I asked, puffing out my chest, pointing at my shiny new badge that was all mine. ¡°Says I¡¯m a Ranger. I was out there, this morning, not safe behind the walls.¡± I stuck my tongue out at him, ruining the moment.


    The guards were looking doubtful, and Artemis chimed in, thinking I¡¯d done my part to stand up for myself. ¡°Short pipsqueak, ran directly towards the monster 300 levels above her when he got hit. Hard to see the details of someone so short in armor when you¡¯re sooooo very far away. Plus, and this should matter more to you,¡± Artemis leaned in, real close, and her voice became somewhat threatening. ¡°another Ranger is vouching for her. Piss off.¡±


    The guards were not inclined to piss off, not when they were, presumably, being paid good money to do so, but Kallisto swung by, arm-in-arm with a beautiful lady.


    ¡°I thought I heard the sound of my favorite lightning mage! So glad you came, Artemis!¡±


    With one more confirmed Ranger, and presumably whatever mover and shaker Kallisto had picked up giving confirmation by her simple presence, we were let in.


    It was a wonderfully opulent party, and it gave me a brief flashback to Kerberos¡¯s villa. I shuddered slightly at the memory, before perking up as we found the food.


    Yummy, yummy food.


    Artemis and I plowed through the offerings, making the barest hint of small talk to avoid being actively rude. It helped having food in your mouth, fewer people wanted to have a sustained conversation. We wolfed down food. We ate like we hadn¡¯t seen food in weeks, like a pigs at a trough. We wouldn¡¯t care what the food was, but there was so much of it, and it was so tasty, that we could afford to be picky, while still eating like we were breathing air. There were all sorts of interesting drinks, and with no drinking age, I sampled a few.


    ¡°Watch it Elaine, the drinks here are brewed by master [Brewer]¡¯s, and are aimed at people with a high vitality. They¡¯ll hit you like a wagon at full speed if you¡¯re not careful.¡± Artemis warned me. I carefully nodded, showing that I was absolutely not drunk at all. Just tipsy.


    I saw Julius here and there, properly rubbing elbows with the high and mighty, looking like he wasn¡¯t having the time of his life. Pitfalls of being the boss.


    In this celebration of gluttony, my keen eyes were on the constant lookout for mangos. Those juicy, blessed fruit from the gods, my raison d¡¯etre, my one true love. Not a single one here. Made me think about what the mango-seller had said, something about the supply being interrupted. Why had it been interrupted? Ooh, something that looked like pigs-in-a-blanket!


    The party started to wind down, and Artemis, Julius, and I drunkenly headed back arm-in-arm-in-arm, our swaying mostly balancing each other out so we all remained stable and upright.


    Ok, fine, it was mostly my swaying between the two of them, since they knew how to hold their liquor and I had gone a teeeeny bit overboard. Could I even drunk being cure? [Medicine] said yes, but it was a whooozy yes. Nah, no need, I was sober. Totally sober. Better not say anything though.


    What happened next was fairly hazy. I remember getting back to the wagon, getting tucked into a sleeping bag of some sort. A peaceful, blissful night¡¯s sleep.

 Chapter 48 – Virinum VI

    I woke up hating life. My head was murdering me, and a quick check through [Medicine] told me that I had a hangover, and that none of my skills were hangover cures. Dehydration. I needed to let Julius know that dehydration was a weakness of mine.


    I groaned, head pounding, as I rolled over on the floor of the wagon. Water. Must find water. The door flung open, the light burning my eyes, as Artemis, with a fake-cheery voice designed to cruelly torture me said.


    ¡°Rise and shine! Time for our meeting!¡±


    I felt ¨C and probably looked and smelled ¨C like death warmed over. But I was a Ranger now. Me! A Ranger! I gotta show up. I gotta prove I¡¯m worthy of this.


    But doing it all with a hangover? Oh, kill me now. Artemis passed me a waterskin, which I greedily guzzled


    With a groan, I dragged myself out, following Artemis to where the meeting was. I wasn¡¯t quite sure, my lack of social graces combined with a hangover interfering with everything fuzzed things ¨C [Centered Mind] had nothing for hangovers apparently ¨C but I¡¯m sure there were a bunch of glances and secret smiles directly towards me. Something something look at the poor hungover girl.


    [Healing Aura] was helping though, along with the water, and I was perking up as the meeting began.


    ¡°Alright everyone.¡± Julius started. ¡°What went well, what didn¡¯t go well. Origen, you start.¡±


    Origen shrugged and gave a thumbs up. Julius rolled his eyes, trying to mimic his words non-verbally like Origen did.


    ¡°Maximus?¡± Julius asked.


    ¡°Double-headed spear did fine. I¡¯d want to look into something like that to stake down flippers in future fights ¨C it worked amazingly well.¡±


    ¡°Elaine?¡±


    ¡°I froze. I need to practice not freezing, and moving the moment there¡¯s a problem. In a perfect world, I¡¯d know ahead of time, and start moving before anyone¡¯s hurt.¡± A lot of words for someone who¡¯d just woken up, but I had spent a good amount of yesterday analyzing and planning.


    We kept going around, discussing what went well, what failed.


    ¡°Hey Artemis,¡± I said, remembering something I¡¯d thought of when I saw last night¡¯s demonstration. ¡°I thought of a non-lethal skill for you, might have helped in the fight. You needing to knock the monster off-track made me think of it.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Artemis and Maximus asked in tandem, leaning forward to hear me better.


    ¡°Yeah, a flash-bang! Big burst of light, loud clap of thunder, and you can really disorient someone. It¡¯s a non-lethal way to disabling someone. Should be doable with Lightning, but what do I know?¡±


    Artemis and Julius both looked interested, glancing at each other.


    ¡°You do need a way to take someone down besides sticking them in a stone box.¡± Julius pointed out.


    ¡°That is a lot of mana. Let me see if I can make something work with just my manipulation skill. I¡¯ll see if I get offered something when I next level up.¡± Artemis looked thoughtful, but blessedly didn¡¯t start experimenting during the meeting.


    ¡°Origen. Elaine. Class-up?¡± We both nodded our head, a look of surprise on my face that Julius was tracking us so closely. Well, more that somehow, he knew Origen was ready to class up.


    ¡°Let us know when you¡¯re ready, we¡¯ll guard you while you class up.¡± That was a nice offer, and I had a better understanding of why that was the case now. You were completely and totally helpless and vulnerable while classing up, and it was obvious what was happening. It was rare, but not impossible, for someone to go ¡°missing¡± during their class up. Some thieves and gangs just couldn¡¯t resist someone with an almost literal glowing neon sign of ¡°I can¡¯t resist and won¡¯t do anything for several hours.¡± I had more to worry about than Origen, but even he wouldn¡¯t like waking up naked with no clothes.


    Artemis, as always, had great advice for me. ¡°You should talk with Maximus.¡± Well, less advice, and more where to get the best advice. I bristled at the thought that I wouldn¡¯t think of that myself, but breathed, letting the hot anger leave me, the cool rational stay behind.


    I hunted down Maximus, and asked for his advice. Naturally, the first thing he asked for was a full breakdown of all my stats, skills, and levels.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 14]


    [Mana: 2470/2470]


    [Mana Regen: 5536]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 22]


    [Strength: 20]


    [Dexterity: 20]


    [Vitality: 41]


    [Speed: 32]


    [Mana: 247]


    [Mana Regeneration: 695]


    [Magic Power: 243]


    [Magic Control: 773]


    [Class 1: [Light of Hope - Light: Lv 128]+]


    [Light Affinity: 128]


    [Calming Aura: 109]


    [Medicine: 111]


    [Healing Aura: 108]


    [Detailed Restoration: 103]


    [Flashlight: 93]


    [Greater Invigorate: 101]


    [Centered Mind: 100]


    [Class 2: [Shadow Healer - Dark: Lv 91]]


    [Dark Affinity: 91]


    [Deaden Pain: 75]


    [Surgeon''s Scalpel: 78]


    [Attack Bacteria: 69]


    [Parasitic Remover: 36]


    [Tissue Removal: 76]


    [Cure Toxin: 82]


    [Privacy: 68]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 71]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 72]


    [Pretty: 96]


    [Vigilant: 104]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 105]


    [Ranger¡¯s Lore: 1]


    [Running: 70]


    [Learning: 100]

 Chapter 49 – Classing up I

    I open my eyes, back in the library of my soul. Librarian was waiting for me with a smile, and this time, she was dressed in a beautiful long tunic, as deep purple as I¡¯d ever seen before. If this was in the real world, there¡¯d be houses cheaper than her- my- dress.


    ¡°Welcome back!¡± She came over and gave me a big hug. ¡°You¡¯re back so much faster than I expected!¡± She was right ¨C I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d be back here for years! Being with the Rangers, diving into that fire, had driven my levels up faster than they had any right to.


    ¡°Why the tunic? It¡¯s lovely by the way, I wish I had one.¡± I said with a note of longing in my voice.


    A slow, almost sad, smile went across her face.


    ¡°It¡¯s because, in your heart, Pallos is home now. Not Earth. If we get another starter class ¨C if the third class unlocks for us ¨C we¡¯ll get [Child of Pallos].¡±


    In one sense, I was sad. Earth was gone, and I was truly a Child of Pallos now. In another, it just brought to the front of my mind something that¡¯d been lurking there for a while. I wasn¡¯t really an Earthling anymore, no matter how much I was leaning on the whole ¡°reincarnated¡± thing right now. I was a Pallosian. I think that¡¯s what we were called.


    ¡°Right this way.¡± Librarian led me to an area she¡¯d carefully setup, filled with books on wonderous classes.


    Oh, none of these were my class-up options, not unless I wanted to do a complete class change and revert back to level 8, grabbing a new initial class in the process. I did have dozens, if not hundreds of new options ¨C my increased stats and achievements over time helped. No, these were stories of adventure, of romance, of interesting-potential-Elaines that could¡¯ve been, but weren¡¯t. There was no fiction section in the real world, there were no repositories of knowledge, no internet and the hundreds of thousands of books. I only had this one library, with interesting books. I was going to make every minute count.


    There was something strange about time here ¨C it went both fast and slow. I could spend several hours reading, and a moment would pass outside, but conversely, I could spend 10 minutes here, and 15 could pass outside. It was fairly arbitrary, and not even Maximus could explain what was going on.


    Reminded me of stories of the Fairy Realm. I sat down, looking at the rainbow-colored pile of books in front of me, and started to read.


    [Werewolf Lover]. A steamy romance novel, where the title basically said it all.


    [Monster Tamer - Small]. Taming the smallest critters as animal companions. Cute cats. Singing birds. Small, snappy dinosaurs. So cute!


    [Flexible Weapon Novice]. A story where I became an apprentice to Maximus, learning all sorts of weapons, how to smoothly move between them. Nunchucks! Swords! Shuriken! Lances! Axes and polearms, bows and arrows, pots and pans, a giant purple ¨C who would fight with that!?


    [Flame Invoker]. A delicious story of throwing fireballs, of the flames within me becoming more real, more physical. But mostly a large application of fireballs to whatever problems occurred. Fireballllsssss.


    [Speedster]. Where I took my running to the extreme, learning tricks of the trade from Julius. How to be fast, how to not get hit, how to take [Running] and move it to the next level, and beyond!


    [Fairy Supplicant]. Petitioning the Fae, dancing with the Sidhe. Dark deals with the Unseelie court, graceful moments of beauty with the Seelie. A bizarre and wondrous tale. A fantasy novel for a place like Pallos!


    [Stealthy Scout]. How Arthur does all his tricks, a bible. Sneaking into towns. Stalking in forests. Vanishing when people¡¯s backs were turned, showing up in the middle of a crowd like magic. I could practically hear my voice turn gravelly. For some reason, the book was written like a film noir.


    [Inscription Apprentice]. Learning the secrets of runes and inscriptions, being able to make all sorts of oddities and wonders, where the knowledge of Earth met the magic of Pallos. Fridges. Ovens. Moving carts. And more!


    It was a kinda boring book though, I wonder why Librarian included it.


    [Light-Shaping Illusionist]. Movies! I could make, and play, movies! Granted, watching them was hard, but I always enjoyed a good tale of fame and fortune off of my own hard work.


    Ok, fine, it wasn¡¯t my own hard work, but there were no copyright lawyers on Pallos.


    There better not be ¨C I¡¯d hate myself forever if I somehow accidentally invented them, or caused them to be made.


    I closed the last book with a contented sigh, looking at the thousands of other novels scattered about. Just one more couldn¡¯t hurt right¡­?


    A soft cough behind me reminded me that yes, I needed to keep on moving. With a great big huffy sigh, I got up, heading over to the stairs.


    The first class-up books were kept on the ground floor. The delicate chain blocking off the staircase had vanished when I came back to do my second class-up, and I followed the stairs up. While the first floor was rows upon rows of library shelves, packed with books, the second floor was more muted, dozens of 4-seater tables, with a book at every place to sit. The chain that¡¯d been there last time, blocking off the 3rd floor, was now gone, and it was up that staircase I climbed, heart pounding.


    What would I get? What was there? My future was above these stairs, just a few more steps! I wiped my sweaty palms on my tunic ¨C how was I sweating here!?


    The books here were even fewer ¨C around a dozen ¨C and each one was enclosed in a glass case, like the rarest and most precious of books. I looked around again. I would be able to read and check every single one.


    While the 1st floor books were colored depending on how strong they were ¨C or so it seemed ¨C these books were clearly colored with a different color scheme. Verdant green, brilliant white, soft yellows and misty blues all caught my eye, along with more.


    I decided to start with the book closest to me, a soft yellow cover, indicating it was the Light element, with a pink title, and work my way around in a circle.


    [Artemis¡¯s Eager Pet - Light] Was the title, back in the familiar configuration. I turned to the Librarian, arching an eyebrow. Really?


    She walked over, and seeing the title of the book, facepalmed. ¡°Really Elaine? What have you been doing to get this class?¡± I looked away, guilty at that. Right, she wasn¡¯t the one that made the classes, just guided me. It was my choices and actions that lead to it being an option. I peeked inside, because it was a book.


    Yeah, it was fairly demeaning. The only potentially useful thing in it was an [Artemis Finder] skill, but even that had poor shades to it. Moving on.


    [Glutton of Virinum - Light] Was the name of the book, and I wanted the library to open up and swallow me whole. There was a reason for all that food! I needed it after blowing through so much mana! All of the skills were related to eating. [Unhinged Jaw]. [Rapid Consumption]. [Instant Digestion]. [Compact Figure]. The last one would make me look pretty to my perception no matter how much I ate ¨C a dream from Earth. I shook my head at it. Not worth it.


    [Breaker of Chains - Wind] was up next. It didn¡¯t look healer-based, but the name was intriguing enough for me to take a look. Requirements: Broken out of captivity. Your desire to be as free as the wind. With this class, you¡¯ll never be chained down, always able to escape like the breeze. +16 Free Stats per level.


    I eyed it, wavering. It spoke to me on a deep, primal level. In the end, I reluctantly put it down, moving on.


    In a book somehow a clear crystal color, while also being opaque, was [Foundation of the Hospital ¨C Arcanite]. I didn¡¯t bother reading it. It wasn¡¯t an option, just letting me know that I¡¯d been close to being able to get the class. I moved on, and started to get some options I¡¯d consider taking.


    [Splendid Medic ¨C Light] Requirements: [Light of Hope]. 500+ Mana Regen. Healing the poorest, the outcast, those who even wish you harm. The ideal medic, you bring hope to the sick and injured, that they can find salvation in your skills. +2 Free Stats, +4 Mana, +8 Mana Regen, +4 Magic Power, +10 Magic Control per level.


    A direct upgrade of my current class, but I wasn¡¯t too sure. It felt like ¡°yeah¡­ you got to a class up¡­ congratulations¡­¡±, like someone at the DMV stamping paperwork to get your license. Sure, it was an upgrade. But it was a reluctant one. I¡¯d done so much more than just heal people, and I expected some of my class options to reflect that. I put it on the table, creating a ¡°shortlist¡± of books that were acceptable to me. It wasn¡¯t ideal, but it wasn¡¯t unacceptable the way [Artemis¡¯s Eager Pet - Light] had been.


    Speaking of reflecting¡­.


    [Picture of Health ¨C Mirror] Requirements: Be consistently in good health. Healed those you saw. Mana 250+, Mana Regeneration 250+, Magic Power 250+, Magic Control 250+. You are the very picture of health, and in your reflection, you can restore others to the same level of well-being that you are currently at. +4 Free Stat, +8 Vitality, +12 Mana, +12 Mana Regen, +12 Magic Power, +12 Magic Control per level.


    I read it a bit further. I¡¯d be able to restore people at a distance! They¡¯d get healed up to however healthy I was at the time. The problem immediately jumped out at me.


    I couldn¡¯t heal myself anymore. If I got hurt, that¡¯d be like everyone in the team getting hurt. If I hadn¡¯t been invited to the Rangers, if I wasn¡¯t a Ranger myself now, it¡¯d be tempting. As it was, it¡¯d make me a glass-cannon healer, shattering in a single blow. It would mean that I wouldn¡¯t have to do suicidal runs like the one to save Kallisto¡¯s life, but as Artemis¡¯s tapestry of scars attested to, the glass cannon in the back was not safe.


    Still, it was an option, and it was an upgrade. Moving on.


    [Oathbound Healer ¨C Brilliance] Requirements: Faithful adherence to the [Oath of Elaine to Lyra]. You took a solemn vow to protect and heal, and by and large, you¡¯ve mostly been sticking to it. With this, the Oath settles deep into you; you become a living, breathing embodiment of it.


    I didn¡¯t bother to check the stats, or the skills, before throwing the book away. That sounded suspiciously like my mind would be hijacked and thoroughly bound, and I got into this in the first place trying to escape chains.


    Yes, I¡¯d taken the Oath. Yes, I followed it, even to my detriment, even when it looked like Kallisto might run me through. But I had a choice. This sounded like it¡¯d remove even the illusion of choice I¡¯d given myself, and Elaine would vanish, to be replaced by a living, breathing flesh-golem following the commands of the Oath.


    No.


    Librarian threw me a dirty look as she picked the book off the floor, and carefully put it back into its case. ¡°You know, that one gave almost 130 stat points per level.¡± She curtly informed me.


    My heart wavered the smallest hair at that, my desire for stats and to not be a burden nudging the meter.


    A green book caught my eye next.


    [Viridescent Druid ¨C Verdant] Requirements: Love of healing all things, great and small. Magic stats all 150+. Healing skills. Willingness to heal non-humans. Your open mind and desire to heal has you trying healing animals as well as humans. With this, your dream comes true ¨C you can heal animals and plants, as well as humans. +6 Free Stats, +2 Vitality, +2 Dexterity, +4 Mana, +4 Mana Regen, +6 Magic Control, +4 Magic Power per level.


    I whistled, opening the book, peering into the depths. It showed me, glowing green light around me, every step restoring a tree, healing a bird¡¯s broken wing. Beloved of animals and plants, able to having a glowing green radiance heal all things great and small. I narrowed my eyes as I checked carefully. Yes, I could still heal humans, but they got no special benefit or extras. I could also heal myself still. Ok, good, good, there wasn¡¯t an obvious trap here. I stacked it on top of the [Splendid Medic] book already there.


    [Therapeutic Bard ¨C Sound] was next up. I paged through it idly, not really thinking I¡¯d take it. I loved music, but I hadn¡¯t played anything here. I had never been much of a player anyways, more a listener. I got slightly more interested when I realized it worked off of me singing ¨C I could sing people into better health, and all who heard me got its benefits. There was even a chapter where, with the right set-up, I was able to get a healing noise echoing throughout an entire town, a feat of mass-healing that none of the other classes came even close to. I went back to the start, and looked over it again. The healing wasn¡¯t particularly strong healing ¨C this was a trade-off of individual power, for bulk, mass-healing. Let me check those stats¡­


    +10 Free Stats, +6 Dexterity, +6 Speed, +8 Mana, +5 Mana Regen, +4 Magic Control, +10 Magic Power per level. Not bad.


    I placed it on the table with [Viridescent Druid], the seemingly-innocent book I thought I¡¯d discard making the shortlist.


    [Goddess-Touched Priestess of Papilion - Mist] was next, an offer to become Papilion¡¯s mouthpiece once more offering itself up. I eyed it warily, not even lifting it out of its case. Something related to Papilion showed up every time I changed my class, and small alarm bells were starting to go off. Had Librarian really showed me the class last time because it was one of the more powerful ones? Or was there something more sinister going on?


    I shook my head. Librarian was me. I had to have faith in myself. If my inner soul was compromised, I was doomed already. I looked at her, and she slowly nodded at me, confirming that she was I, and I was her, and we were one and the same, untainted.


    Next book.


    [Enduring Courier ¨C Wind] Requirements: [Running] over level 50. Ran for hours on end without stopping. Used skills to continue running.


    I stopped reading at that point. There was no way that was a healer-tagged class, and I¡¯d worked too hard at it to pitch it for running, as much as I loved it.


    Sure, I loved running, but I was a Healer, first and foremost.


    I moved onto the next book, checkered lights on a black field. Most of the glass cases had one lock that Librarian undid as I arrived at them, this one had two.


    [Constellation of the Healer ¨C Celestial] Requirements: Light-aligned and Dark-aligned healing class. 150+ in each magic stat. Affinity for the stars and sky. You have walked beneath the Dragoneye Moons, healing all they can see ¨C and more. +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic Control, +15 Magic Power, per level


    I read it carefully, eyes going wide. This was a merged class! It took both my Light and my Dark class into a single one. It was less powerful than the two classes working in tandem ¨C even as they were now ¨C but it was flexible. Problem was, it was still touch-range only. I weighed my options. Was that enough to disqualify it? I¡¯d seen the problems being touch-range caused, and this wasn¡¯t going to help me in the physical stat department. It did have a bunch of free stats though¡­


    I decided that was musings for later, and I added it to the shortlist.


    The next class was one I was sure would be here, and it was.


    [Fire Rescuer - Light] Requirements ¨C Dove into a fire to rescue someone. Bravery in the face of flames. You¡¯re insane. Completely, certifiably, insane. You run into a burning building, poorly equipped, to save people. Congratulations. With this class, you can do it again, with protection from flames, protection from smoke, the ability to find people and pull them out, and the ability to cure fire-related injuries. +5 Free, +9 Strength, +8 Dexterity, +8 Vitality, +7 Speed, +1 Mana, +3 Mana Regen, +3 Magic Power per level.


    I hesitated over the class, before deciding that it met my shortlist criteria well enough to make this round of cuts. I was unsure about the stat focus suddenly being physical ¨C although it made sense, and I did need a lot more physical stats.


    ¡°Hey Librarian, what do you think?¡± I asked, gesturing at the five books in front of me. [Splendid Medic]. [Viridescent Druid]. [Therapeutic Bard]. [Constellation of the Healer]. [Fire Rescuer]. She sat down in front of me, looking at the books. Upside down. I guess she had a skill for that.


    ¡°Well, that depends what you want.¡±


    ¡°The first book is if you¡¯re happy and content with what you have, and you want to go a bit further with it. The second one is if you want to start healing animals as well, possibly moving you to be some sort of Veterinarian in the future. Weaker heals, larger scope. The bard class is similar ¨C more people at once, but a weaker heal. The Celestial class is a merger ¨C weaker than your two classes working together, but you get a class slot freed up. You take a quarter-step away from being a Healer, but can gain so much more ¨C even something like a Wood healing-class to compliment it. Lastly, Fire Rescuer is a laser-focus on a particular niche. You¡¯d be great at it, but you¡¯d run into the [World Traveler] problem.¡±


    Right, where opportunities to BE a [Fire Rescuer] would be limited. I re-read through the book, realizing that healing people normally would also be weakened. Injuries relating to fire, I¡¯d be amazing at, but other things? I gently set it to the side. Strike that out.


    I put [Splendid Medic] off to the side as well. That was my ¡°If I hated the rest¡± option, not my first option. Continuing on.


    [Therapeutic Bard] was the next one that bit the dust. I wouldn¡¯t have been able to pull a stunt like saving Kallisto, and from the look, and sound, of the Rangers, small, moderate healing wasn¡¯t their concern, it was the big, sudden injuries. The Rangers were 6 ¨C 7 with me ¨C people, not 700.


    My eyes were drawn like magnetism, like the eyes of the moon, to [Constellation of the Healer]. I had weaknesses, I had strengths. This kept all of my strengths, and let me handle my weaknesses, by giving me another class. Fuck. That was insanely strong now that I was thinking about it.


    [Viridescent Druid] also kept most of my strengths, while covering one of my weaknesses ¨C range ¨C but the healing light it¡¯d provide was, upon careful reading, weaker than what I currently had. [Constellation] was a bit weaker, but it was more due to compression of skills than a powering-down of skills. It still left me vulnerable; needing to touch people to heal them, but that weakness of mine could be mitigated by my second class, also shoring up multiple weaknesses at once.


    [Constellation] it was. Silently, knowing I¡¯d made my choice, we reverently put the books back, and headed downstairs. We made it to the library checkout desk, where I handed over my book for the Light class and the Celestial class, and waited for Librarian to check the book out to me. She stared at me.


    ¡°Yes?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I need the [Shadow Healer] book as well.¡± She said, holding out her hand.


    Oh right, whoops. Combined class and all that. I fumbled it out ¨C where had it been hiding? ¨C and handed it over. She took the two books, and handed me one back.


    ¡°Goodbye Librarian. I hope to see you soon.¡± I said, waiting to leave, to wake back up. She just gave me a Look.


    ¡°You need a second book, remember?¡±

 Chapter 50 – Classing up II

    Right! I got to pick a second class! Which meant more reading time!


    ¡°Elaine, you don¡¯t have all day to keep reading. It¡¯s already been hours and hours.¡± Librarian, knowing what I was thinking either through mind reading or just being me, put a damper on my enthusiasm. Hang on.


    ¡°The books you picked earlier. They weren¡¯t just for my fun, were they?¡± I asked, pieces of the puzzle coming together with a click. I thought I¡¯d seen a theme.


    Librarian gave a slow, secret smile. ¡°They were picked for your fun. However, knowing the Celestial class was an option, I might of, oh, selected with an eye towards picking a second class.¡± Her face went from smiling to frowny, as she picked up a book.


    ¡°However, you dumbass! Don¡¯t come in here with level 1 skills!¡± She said, smacking the book down in front of me.


    [Ranger-Mage] started at me balefully. I checked the requirements. Level 10 Ranger Lore was the only thing I was missing. I facepalmed. Yup, I was a dumbass. I¡¯d agree with any insult Librarian threw at me; it was like channeling myself. Gods, talking with her was trippy.


    Moving on. I was in a bit of a pickle. Even when I was a kid, I had some idea of what I wanted when I went to class-up. I went in fully expecting to upgrade my Light class, and all of a sudden, I needed to pick a new class. I had some time to think ¨C it wasn¡¯t like I was in a life or death crunch right now ¨C unless we¡¯d gotten attacked and people were desperately waiting for me to wake up? I shook my head at the thought. Sidetracked. That¡¯d be like one of the novels I¡¯d been reading here.


    I ignored the fact that all the novels here tried to mimic what my life would be like.


    Moving on. One of the big appeals of the Celestial class was that I could pick a second class to cover my weaknesses. Time to do some thinking.


    I had Light and Dark healing covered. That naturally covered me for Water as well, since it was mostly weak versions of all healing. Although Water could fix my blood loss problem, and handle dehydration. Too niche to devote an entire class towards. That left Wood, which focused on making medicine. I could pick that, and go deep into healing ¨C basically be triple-classed in it ¨C but who¡¯d buy medicine and potions from me when I could just heal them directly? Well, someone who might need it when I wasn¡¯t around. That wouldn¡¯t be the Rangers though. No, I needed to pick something to cover my weaknesses, ideally while playing to my strengths.


    Right now, my obvious weakness were my physical stats. While I was level 128, a level 35 or so fighter could probably just punch me, and I¡¯d be lights out. A 10-year-old with a physical focus was stronger than me. Ideally, I¡¯d get something to help cover that weakness.


    At the same time, if I split my second class to purely something physical, I¡¯m not sure it¡¯d work. Jack of all trades, master of none. Maybe I should lean into my magical stats, and pick something that used those stats to help keep me safe.


    Like an invisible hand had grabbed my head, I turned and looked at the book Librarian had smacked down in front of me. [Ranger-Mage]. Fuck. That would¡¯ve been perfect, wouldn¡¯t it? A mage-class focused on how Rangers do things?


    I took a deep breath in and out, and went to look at what else was being offered. Librarian, through her hinting, was right. I should pick something that I could be taught and mentored in. Picking up something like a Wood-based healer class, when I had no potion or medicine teacher, was asking for disaster. The natural extension of that is I should pick something that I could be taught in, and the question was practically ¡°Who do I want to learn from¡±, which translated into ¡°Who would I like to be?¡±


    Artemis instantly sprang to mind. I coldly crushed my hero-worship of her deep down, and vowed to give everyone an equal chance, and evaluate them all on their merits.


    Origen I quickly looked at, and ditched. Healing was complicated enough, and learning how to inscribe things wouldn¡¯t cover my weaknesses at all, it¡¯d just increase the workload on my plate. Learning how to carve runes seemed like a full-time job in and of itself, and while I was ok not being the best at something, being mediocre at this felt the same as just being bad at it. Moving on.


    Arthur¡¯s I eyed, before deciding it met the shortlist criteria. I slowly realized something as I read over the book, thinking about Arthur.


    ¡°There was a second class being mentored by him, wasn¡¯t there?¡± I asked Librarian. She nodded. My sneaking suspicion was rising.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to regret this. What was it?¡± I asked, mentally preparing myself for the blow.


    [Cruel Poisoner] was the book she brought out, and I was glad to see the System didn¡¯t feel like I had the right mentality for the class. I met the rest of the requirements though, which just brought a stab of pain through my heart again. Why did I ask? My curiosity in here caused problems.


    Still! Sneaky, sneaky wilderness healer! It appealed. Arthur, less so. I kept the Stealth class as an option.


    I didn¡¯t have an option from Kallisto. I was too far away from being a tank, and I was still allergic to social skills ¨C something he had in spades. Thinking about it, I should ask him for lessons anyways. I hated how right mom had been. However, that was for another day. Either way, no class from him.


    Julius was next, and my love of running shot learning how to be a speedster right to the top of the pile. I eyed the title somewhat warily. Could I be The Flash with this? I wasn¡¯t ready to commit to anything yet, but it went to the top of the pile, along with whatever thinking I did about Artemis.


    I decided to take a look at the [Monster Tamer ¨C Small] class. It was solid, but there was so rarely a single, solid companion ¨C more of a steady stream. This wasn¡¯t like Damonus¡¯s class, where he had a mass number of small creatures at his questionable command, but no matter if it was a dinosaur or a cat, the short lifespan of a small creature came back again, and again.


    The class would be so much better if I¡¯d taken the Verdant class I¡¯d been offered, and I could heal my animal companion well. At the same time, if I¡¯d taken it, I wouldn¡¯t have the animal companion class as an option to choose from.


    My heart had broken, had shattered into a thousand pieces, when I lost Lyra, and the closeness of the bonds required for [Monster Tamer] did mean with the joy of companionship, there¡¯s be the pain of loss.


    I couldn¡¯t do it. Not that frequently. Maybe if there was a medium or large Tamer class, or extended lifespan skills. I had more options though.


    Maximus was last, and his book was interesting. Flexibility was the name of the game. I wouldn¡¯t want to be the strongest, or the best, at anything, but I would know the whole rock-paper-scissors of weapons, and know what beat what. While I wouldn¡¯t be as good, I¡¯d know how to find and exploit weak points.


    I allowed myself to think of Artemis. Magic, magic, and more magic. Blasting magic. Subtle magic. Defensive magic.


    I took a huge breath in, and explosively let it out. Damnit. There was no way I was passing up a chance to be a mage, not when my plan A of healing was so good. I could finally arrive at my long-cherished dream of throwing fireballs around.


    Hang on, this wasn¡¯t the time to be dreaming, or thinking small.


    ¡°Hey Librarian,¡± I asked. ¡°Is there a mage-class that lets me use fireballs and fly?¡± Two birds, one stone. Two birds, one stone. She looked at me with a twist of her lips, eyes crinkling up.


    ¡°Not that you can take right now. But, if you want to get started on the path¡­¡± She trailed off as I nodded my head furiously enough to give myself brain damage if this was the real world.


    ¡°Let me get you the starter class.¡± She said, getting up and vanishing into the stacks.


    My heart was racing. Flying! Fireballs! As seconds stretched into minutes, a slightly more rational part of myself took over.


    Mages, for the most part, leveled up by killing things. I wasn¡¯t a killer. I¡¯d sworn first, to do no harm. How was I going to level high enough to get to the flying fireball Elaine?


    I mercilessly crushed and discarded that part of me. FI-RE-BALL! FI-RE-BALL! I chanted mentally. I knew I wasn''t being entirely rational, but it spoke to my heart, sang to every fiber of my being. Even if I just ended up being a one-class girl, the healing class was strong enough to carry me. This fit me like a second skin, this was me. My dream since I was reborn of being able to fling around fireballs was around the corner.


    Librarian reappeared with a book.


    [Firebug]. Who needed to read class descriptions? Not me! I bounced up to the check-out desk, eager waiting to check the book out. Librarian gave me a long, flat look.


    ¡°Read the description at least!¡± She said.


    ¡°But I know I¡¯ll like it. You picked it out.¡± I protested.


    I got a Look back. ¡°Fine, fine.¡± I held my hands ¨C one still clutching [Firebug] like a holy relic ¨C up in surrender.


    [Firebug - Fire] ¨C You¡¯ve burned with passion and desire to become a mage, to cast spells and use skills. You¡¯ve demonstrated an affinity for fire, using it, jumping into it, bathing in it. We don¡¯t recommend you keep doing the last one. Now master it. +2 Free Stat, +2 Mana, +1 Mana Regen, +3 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control per level.


    Much stronger than when I¡¯d been offered [Apprentice Mage] all those years ago ¨C I guess that¡¯s why it was [Firebug] and not [Apprentice Mage]. Having a bunch of extra stats and accomplishments probably went a long way towards having better initial classes.


    I went back to Librarian at the checkout desk, who finally let me check the book out. I gave her a hug, and when I pulled back from it, I noticed something new, something I should¡¯ve seen ages ago.


    ¡°Your eyes¡­¡± I trailed off. It was like looking into a galaxy, a hundred thousand pinpricks of light on the light blue field of her eyes. It was a thing of beauty. I got a huge grin back.


    ¡°My eyes? Your eyes! Like Artemis is bottled lightning, we¡¯re now going to reflect the entire starry night. It marks us as being Celestial-aligned.¡±


    That was so cool. I couldn¡¯t wait to show Artemis.


    ¡°By the way, when you wake up,¡± She started, then leaned towards me, whispering mischief. An evil grin cracked my face.


    ¡°Yessssss. Absolutely.¡± I said.


    ¡°Hope to see you soon!¡± I said, waving my newest class book at her.


    ¡°I hope so too.¡± She said, as the world changed around me.


    I came back to the real world, making sure to keep my eyes tightly closed, as I parsed through the dozens of notifications. They¡¯d notice soon enough that I was back, and I only had so much time to do this. Right, first things first, notifications.


    They were easy enough to see, even with my eyes closed. I have no idea how that worked.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve upgraded your first class ¨C [Constellation of the Healer] - Celestial]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve upgraded your second class ¨C [Firebug] - Fire]


    [*Ding!* Your skills [Light Affinity] and [Dark Affinity] have merged into [Celestial Affinity] ¨C 128]


    [Celestial Affinity] The astral painting above speaks to you, and with this skill, you can listen all the more. Increased efficiency per level when using Celestial spells.


    [*Ding!* Your skill [Calming Aura] has partially merged with [Healing Aura] to make [Warmth of the Sun] ¨C 105]


    [Warmth of the Sun] You¡¯re warm like the sun, and all who are near you feel the calm, warm, healing embrace. Increased control, radius, and strength per level.


    [*Ding!* Your skill [Calming Aura] has partially merged with [Centered Mind] and [Deaden Pain] to make [Center of the Galaxy] ¨C 101]


    [Center of the Galaxy] You believe that everything in the galaxy revolves around you. Only something of galaxy-shaking proportions can break your focus and resolve now. Increased mental stability, ability to ignore pain and other emotions per level.


    [*Ding!* Your skills [Detailed Restoration], [Attack Bacteria], [Parasitic Remover], [Cure Toxin], and [Tissue Removal] have merged into [Phases of the Moon] ¨C 68]


    [Phases of the Moon] As the moon waxes and wanes, so can you have your patient¡¯s bodies wane out problems and imperfections, and wax back to full health. Increased efficiency per level.


    [*Ding!* Your skill [Flashlight] has partially merged with [Privacy] to make [Veil of the Aurora] - 64]


    [Veil of the Aurora] As the Aurora hides the night sky, and shows the protection we have, so will the Veil hide and protect you and your patients. Increased protection, efficiency, and control per level.


    [*Ding!* Would you like to evolve your skill [Flashlight] into [Eyes of the Milky Way] - 88? Y/N]


    [Eyes of the Milky Way] Your eyes sparkle like the jug of milk tipped over by the gods, crossing the sky. With this skill, you can see the world clearly when the stars are shining. Increased vision clarity and range per level.


    [*Ding!* Your skill [Deaden Pain] has evolved into [Vastness of the Stars] - 70]


    [Vastness of the Stars] We are all just stardust, and it can make our pain seem so small, so insignificant, in comparison. Fades pain and mental anguish away. Increased potency and control per level.


    [*Error* You have lost the skills [Greater Invigorate] and [Surgeon¡¯s Scalpel].]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve upgraded your second class ¨C [Firebug] - Fire]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Fire Affinity]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Fire Resistance]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Fire Conjuration]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Flame Manipulation]!]


    That was a ton to read and process. For some reason, losing the two skills didn¡¯t cause the usual pain and nausea ¨C a freebie from the System for losing them to an upgrade, and not my own choice.


    Losing [Greater Invigorate] hurt, but [Surgeon¡¯s Scalpel] not so much. I just wasn¡¯t using it nearly as much as I¡¯d been using [Greater Invigorate], but night watch would suck a lot more without it. And waking up in the morning. And¡­ ok, this might be a bit of a pain.


    [Flashlight]¡¯s upgrade was next to look at. Everything else had been a straight-up replacement, but this was giving me a choice, offering me options. I looked at it carefully. It seemed to be a perception skill, that let me see in the dark.


    No, not in the dark. It let me see when ¡°The stars were shining.¡± My immediate guess would be outside, at night, when I could see a star, or the stars could see me. Interesting. I could see why it was an optional upgrade, instead of ¡°here you go.¡± No more indoor flashlights. No more light for others to see by. In exchange, I¡¯d be able to see others, without them seeing me.


    Also, I had some experience from my [Student] class evolving into [Shadow Healer] ¨C losing my Light affinity meant [Flashlight] would be much weaker, while my new Celestial-affinity would boost [Eyes].


    I decided to take it.


    ¡°Elaine? Elaine, are you back?¡± Artemis asked. Eyes still closed ¨C I didn¡¯t want to give up the game ¨C I quickly processed through the rest of my skills.


    I¡¯d been lying down the entire time, and I somehow sensed people crowding around me, wondering why I hadn¡¯t moved yet, in spite of my class change being done. This was it. This was the moment I was waiting for.


    I lifted my hand up, a single finger pointing to the sky, and focused on my new Fire skills. Thank goodness skills came with some basic knowledge of how to use and activate them, and with that, I conjured up a small flame onto the tip of my finger.


    The reaction was priceless.


    ¡°Why do you have fire!?!?!¡±


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 14]


    [Mana: 2500/2500]


    [Mana Regen: 5069]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 19]


    [Dexterity: 23]


    [Vitality: 41]


    [Speed: 32]


    [Mana: 250]


    [Mana Regeneration: 700]


    [Magic Power: 250]


    [Magic Control: 775]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 128]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 128]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 105]


    [Medicine: 111]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 101]


    [Phases of the Moon: 68]


    [Eyes of the Milky Way: 88]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 64]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 70]


    [Class 2: [Firebug - Fire: Lv 8]]


    [Fire Affinity: 1]


    [Fire Resistance: 1]


    [Fire Conjuration: 1]


    [Fire Manipulation: 1]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 71]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 72]


    [Pretty: 96]


    [Vigilant: 104]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 105]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 1]


    [Running: 70]


    [Learning: 100]

 Interlude - The Magic Elements Explained!

    The elements!


    We can see the 8 basic elements forming a circle around the edge - Fire, Dark, Earth, Wood, Water, Light, Wind, and Metal.


    Around those, we see Inferno, Void, Mountain, Forest, Ocean, Brilliance, Gale, and Mantle. These are all "Intensifications" of the basic elements. In other words, Inferno is when Fire meets Fire, Gale is when Wind meets Winds.


    How do you get these elements? The USUAL rules (Which Elaine promptly violates) is to have one, or both, of the elements in a Class, then do something relating to that element, while also doing things related to that element''s domain. I like blacksmiths for example.


    A blacksmith might have a Metal and/or a Fire class. This alone won''t be enough for him to get offered a Mithril class, or something similar. They''d need to work with Mithril, and not just a bit. After all that, with other mysterious criteria, they might be offered a Mithril class.


    Sometimes, you can just get offered an element out of the blue, like Elaine was. Those are rare.


    Jumping "sideways" from one basic element to another happens all the time. It''s nothing noteworthy. However, it''s extremely rare for an element to evolve to a secondary element it has no affiliation with. Dark will basically never turn into Mist, and it''ll never turn into something that contains an opposing element - for example, a Dark class can''t turn into Mirage, because Mirage is an evolution off of Light. This doesn''t apply to starter elements.


    A bit confusing. Let me explain some more secondary elements, and it''ll become clear.


    Fire + Earth is probably the easiest example. They merge, and become Lava, since Lava requires both, but it''s greater than Fire and Earth. Lavamancer!


    My attempts at posting Excel tables in here have failed a ton, so instead of a pretty chart, it''s going to be manual typing. Hurray.


    There was an order to this originally that got mauled horribly. Without further ado:


    Dark + Dark = Void. Think standard void mages. Please note that this is almost purely destructive, and a different element from Spatial, which we''ve seen offered on the [World Traveler] class. Almost pure destruction.


    Dark + Earth = Gravity. Fairly standard making things heavily, making things lighter, and increasing forces. Artemis was a Gravity mage in a few early drafts!


    Dark + Fire = Pyronox. Teased in chapter 4, they''re dark flames that burn with purification. It takes the concept of "Cleansing" and "Destruction" that''s both in Darkness and Fire, and brings it to life. I think I can do some really neat things with this.


    Dark + Metal = Spatial. It''s a bit more abstract how I got here. The darkness of space, the technology and shiny reflectiveness of metal. All the standard spatial magic goes here.


    Dark + Water = Ice. Water forms the base, and Dark sucks the heat out to create Ice magic.


    Dark + Wind = Miasma. "Bad" Air. Closely related to, but different from Mist and Poison.


    Dark + Wood = Decay. Part of the circle of life, something that Wood deals with a lot. The end of it is Decay, breaking down current life, preparing for new life.


    Earth + Earth = Mountain. An intensification of Earth. Bigger. Stronger. Heavier.


    Earth + Metal = Gemstones. Attuning stones to grab and store skills, which is the same as grabbing and storing magic. Elaine''s Diamond was the result of a Gemstone mage "attuning" it so it could store skills. I have many plans for this. More of an artisinal alignment, although it''s possible to use in a fight.


    Earth + Wood = Erosion. If Decay handled living things, Erosion handles structures. Both Earth and Wood can erode things - earth through earthquakes big and small, and wood through trees growing through things.


    Fire + Earth = Lava. See above!


    Fire + Fire = Inferno. Fire burns. Inferno consumes.


    Fire + Metal = Magic Metal*. And by this, it''s an abstraction - there are dozens of tiny elemental variations in here. Mithril. Adamantium. It''s the ability to work and shape that material directly, although there''s an inability to conjure up the material. Regular Metal-aligned people can''t work magic material with skills - it inherently resists. Useful property when making armor, PITA when trying to work it.


    Fire + Water = Steam. Not my most brilliant moment. To be fair, it can''t be done with either element alone, but it just feels bleh. A slightly more brilliant moment was when I tried to use Geothermal as an alternate element, catering to mer-folk and other creatures that live under water, but I''m not quite sure if I''m following through with that idea. What does geothermal even DO that water alone can''t?


    Fire + Wind = Storm. The fury and power of fire, when it meets the element of wind, can make a mighty storm. Artemis was also almost a storm mage, then I mathed out her power levels compared to a storm, and realized I''d be lucky if she could make a tiny amount of rain, forget a full-blown storm. When we see this, it''ll be good.


    Fire + Wood = Ash. Burning embers, coal, tendrils of burning heat and the fading light of embers. Has quite a few added "concepts" behind it, including the cycle of life


    Light + Dark = Celestial. One of my more inspired moments - What''s else is a brilliant juxtaposition of Light and Dark than stars and the moon twinkling on the backdrop of the void? Now, what Celestial does is a different question....


    Light + Earth = Arcanite. The ability to shape and manipulate the ubiquitous mana crystals. Another more artisinal element, although using it as a support class could lock someone out of using their own crystals in a fight.


    Light + Fire = Radiance. Light can''t hurt anyone. The burning light of Radiance can.


    Light + Light = Brilliance. An intensification of Light. Brighter. Stronger.


    Light + Metal = Mirrors. And possibly, the ability to mirror skills and spells!


    Light + Water = Mirage. Light on its own can only produce a white light. Water can bend light, and when the two are together, you get Mirage, which is where illusion-based magic lives.


    Light + Wind = Sound. From cutting noise, to an inspirational bard, Sound binds them all. A bard getting to sound in the first place might be a bit hard though.


    Light + Wood = Verdant. Growing power! We saw an early demonstration of this in Chapter 5 where plants were rapidly grown. Mostly used in agriculture, although a druid could use this to make plants grow fast in a fight.


    Metal + Metal = Mantle. I had a lot of debating if this could be Mantle or Core. Core was more technically correct, but Mantle was cooler. Rule of cool won.


    Water + Earth = Ooze. Slimes and other sticky problems!


    Water + Metal = Acid. Some science creeping in here. Deadly, melty acid. Sure, Bases are also pretty strong, and can do nasty stuff, and the class can handle bases. But between "Acid" and "Base", one sounds much better, and rule of cool strikes again.


    Water + Water = Ocean. Bigger. Deeper. Higher pressure. The monsters in the deep.


    Water + Wind = Mist. Some minor illusions here, confusion, mis-direction.


    Water + Wood = Coral. All living plants (And some creatures) under the sea. This one gave me tons of problems.


    Wind + Earth = Sand. Somewhat related to Erosion, but it can preserve as well as whip up a sandstorm. Death by a thousand cuts - then they''ll preserve your body for a thousand years.


    Wind + Metal = Lightning. [Lightning Bolt].


    Wind + Wind = Gale. Faster. Bigger. Sharper.


    Wind + Wood = Spore. Thousands of tiny plant seedlings, carefully controlled. Can also be used with toxic fungus spores.


    Wood + Metal = Poison. Wood can have weak poisons. Metals can be poisons. Metals in nature can be poisons. It worked too well.


    Wood + Wood = Forest. When nature calls, run.


    And now that you have both the circle and the elements, you can place where on the circle each element is, and see the icon representing each one!


    A handy table, since RR supports tables and Patreon doesn''t!


    Element 1Element 2Cool Pairing


    DarkDarkVoidDarkEarthGravityDarkFirePyronoxDarkMetalSpatialDarkWaterIceDarkWindMiasmaDarkWoodDecayEarthEarthMountainEarthMetalGemstonesEarthWoodErosionFireEarthLavaFireFireInfernoFireMetalMagic MetalFireWaterSteamFireWindStormFireWoodAshLightDarkCelestialLightEarthArcaniteLightFireRadianceLightLightBrillianceLightMetalMirrorsLightWaterMirageLightWindSoundLightWoodVerdantMetalMetalMantleWaterEarthOozeWaterMetalAcidWaterWaterOceanWaterWindMistWaterWoodCoralWindEarthSandWindMetalLightningWindWindGaleWindWoodSporeWoodMetalPoisonWoodWoodForest

 Chapter 51 – New Skills I

    I sat up with a mad cackle, looking at the faces around me. Julius had thunderclouds on his face. Artemis looked at my face, her eyes widened, then she was cracking up, muffled laughter coming from behind her hand. Kallisto looked like someone had stolen his favorite toy.


    ¡°Elaine. That better be a damn strong fire class.¡± Julius said, annoyance and disappointment in his voice. Wind him up, come clean. Wind him up, come clean. Which to pick¡­.


    ¡°Nope! Red!¡± I said cheerfully, ignoring the glares, doing my best to suppress a crazed giggle. I failed, and a high-pitched titter left my lips.


    If Julius¡¯s face were thunderclouds before, they were a full-on hurricane now. To his credit, he kept control over himself.


    ¡°Elaine. Report.¡± Julius ordered. Fine, fine, prank over.


    I stood up and saluted the way I was taught.


    ¡°Sir! When classing up, I was offered a merged class ¨C [Constellation of the Healer] ¨C a Celestial-aligned healing class. Since it was a merged class, my second class slot opened up. I took a Fire-based class ¨C [Firebug] ¨C to provide myself with added utility, and to help shore up my weaknesses.¡±


    Julius¡¯s face went from disappointment, directly to joy, directly to chagrin, as he realized the rest of the unsaid part ¨C that I¡¯d shown off my Fire class first as a prank.


    Artemis let her laughter fully go, and between great guffaws, managed to say. ¡°If you¡¯d used [Identify] on her, you¡¯d have seen she was still Healer tagged.¡± She finally got her laughter under control. ¡°Mage?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Mage!¡± I confirmed. She grinned.


    ¡°A baby mage, all for me to train! Huzzah! What else did you get? Moving to Celestial, and a merged class, should give you a ton.¡±


    Maximus chimed in. ¡°Also, we should know what you lost. It¡¯s the rare consolidated class that doesn¡¯t lose anything.¡±


    I gave them the full details, while continuing to summon and play with the flames. I was rewarded with some notifications.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Affinity] has reached level 2!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Conjuration] has reached level 2!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Manipulation] has reached level 2!]


    My eyes widened in realization. This is why Artemis was constantly playing with rocks and lightning! She was grinding her skills! As my thought trailed off, a flame came too close, and singed my hand. I didn¡¯t jump, just looked at the burn coldly, clinically.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Resistance] has reached level 2!]


    [Center of the Galaxy] was doing work. Yesterday, I¡¯d have jumped in surprise and started to suck my hand, before realizing I could restore it easily. [Deaden Pain] would¡¯ve turned the pain completely off, but it¡¯d have stung like crazy until I used it.


    Now? Now I was calm, collected, the center of all. A mere burn wasn¡¯t enough to bother me, to shake me. I still had full awareness of the pain, but it was like it didn¡¯t matter. It was no longer the all-consuming beast that took up more and more of my head, demanding attention. Instead, it was like a polite, well-dressed butler, informing me that the scuff marks in the entryway had been polished off. A notice of change, but non-demanding.


    Good. Upgrades. I realized my attention had been wandering, and I came back to the real world.


    ¡°¡­ paying attention?¡± Julius asked, arms crossed over each other. Whoops.


    ¡°Sorry! My new skills are telling me a bunch of things, and I¡¯m still processing them all. My bad.¡± I apologized sheepishly. Julius breathed in, then relaxed, letting the air out explosively.


    ¡°Fair enough.¡± He said. ¡°But that just reinforces my point. Normally, you¡¯d be on vacation now, free to do whatever. But we¡¯re cutting it short for you ¨C you need to get familiar with your new skills, your limits on them, and you need to update me by the time we leave, so I know what you can and can¡¯t do. Maximus, Artemis? Can the two of you help her out?¡±


    Maximus had that light of all-devouring knowledge in his eyes, a fancy new lab specimen hand-wrapped and gifted to his doorstep. I was probably in for some problems, but I couldn¡¯t quite bring myself to care, or feel scared. Hmmm.


    Artemis looked delighted. ¡°A mage! A mage! A mage for me to train!¡± She said, practically bouncing with glee.


    ¡°Alright, alright, get out of here.¡± Julius practically shooed us out of the wagon.


    We all went outside, and Julius, Kallisto, Origen, and Arthur all vanished, their jobs guarding us while we were upgrading done, free to do whatever they wanted. The sun was setting, and with a slightly guilty feel - still remote, still not enough to shake a galaxy ¨C I realized my reading binge had kept them here all day, instead of doing what they wanted.


    Maximus and Artemis faced me, as we were in the middle of town.


    ¡°What should we work on first?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Depends on you.¡± Artemis answered. ¡°Check out your new skills, or work on your fire magic?¡±


    I thought about it for a moment. ¡°New skills. [Center of the Galaxy] is screwing with my perception, and I need to get a handle on it before I forget what normal emotions are like; before I start to think that this is fine and normal. It started off pretty weak, but I can feel it getting worse and worse as the skill settles.¡±


    One quick explanation of what a galaxy was, and the discussion could properly take place.


    Maximus and Artemis glanced at each other, worry on their faces. Uh oh. Artemis tilted her head, deferring to Maximus¡¯s experience with the System.


    ¡°Yeah, it can be a real problem. Give me the details again.¡± The system expert said. I repeated what the skill did, and how I felt it affecting me.


    ¡°For example, I see that my hand¡¯s burnt,¡± I said, lifting it to show the small, weak burn I¡¯d given myself. ¡°and I feel it¡¯s burnt. But since it¡¯s not causing a problem, I don¡¯t see the need to fix it right now.¡±


    ¡°Ok Elaine, I want you to focus on your hand. I want you to try and care about the pain. Don¡¯t care about feeling the pain, just the caring part.¡± I focused, suddenly finding the idea of a burn on my hand not to my liking. I focused on [Phases of the Moon] to heal my hand, and stopped. Hang on. I should be smart about this.


    On one hand, I could keep healing like I¡¯ve always been healing, focusing on the medicine behind the act. On the other hand, [Phases of the Moon] seemed lunar-focused, with a strong description of the moon¡¯s waxing and waning to heal people.


    I should heal my burn in two halves. One by focusing on the [Phases of the Moon] imagery, and one by focusing on the medicine, and see which one worked better. I could use the amount of mana I used to tell the difference.


    I lifted my hand up, and decided to use the old, faithful medicine tactic first ¨C I could slice the healing in half that way. I was unsure if I could do it with [Phases], since imagining myself as a half-moon might have unintended side-effects. I focused, watching my burn shrink as it healed. I checked my mana. 14 used.


    I waited a few seconds, then repeated the process, this time imagining my hand as a crescent moon, and the light of the moon filling up, to become a whole moon, shining in the sky.


    Earth¡¯s moon, not one of Pallos¡¯s monstrosities.


    35 mana for that. Inefficient, but it still worked. Thinking about it, that might be why the 4 humor or 8 element theory of healing was still popular here ¨C it did work at the end of the day, just inefficiently.


    I saw the tension leaving Artemis¡¯s shoulders as my hand healed. Maximus smiled encouragingly. ¡°Now Elaine, can you try making sure most other emotions are, and impacting you properly? Let¡¯s start with happiness.¡±


    Maximus coached me through properly ¡°setting¡± my [Galaxy] skill, making sure the feelings and emotions I wanted showed up, that I could feel them properly, while less-desired emotions and feelings were suppressed.


    ¡°That¡¯s not to say,¡± Artemis started. ¡°that you can¡¯t be taken off-guard by happy news. But in the balance of things, that¡¯s probably a better way to live.¡± I nodded, agreeing with her. No more jump-scares! No more being startled by ambushes! No more freezing when someone gets hit! This skill was amazi-balls, and it was only the first skill!


    Ok, fine, the fourth. Affinity was boring as always, and Medicine was same old, same old. [Phases] I¡¯d already done some experimenting with.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do [Warmth of the Sun] next!¡± I said, excited to try out and experiment with my new skill.


    ¡°Hang on, let¡¯s first get out of town. You¡¯re a healer, but you¡¯re now also a mage, and skills can get out of hand. Also, you¡¯re a Ranger now ¨C the less people know about what you can do, and by extension your team, us, the better.


    ¡°Bluebeard could tell what we did at a glance.¡± I pointed out. Artemis snorted at me.


    ¡°Bluebeard knows how we work, and has been in the army since he was 16. Yeah, he knows everything forwards and back. Come on. Let¡¯s get out of town.¡±


    We left town without incident, making our way to an isolated-enough spot.


    ¡°Right, [Warmth of the Sun] time.¡± I said.


    ¡°Ok, see if you can manipulate the range, then see if you can change the healing or calming properties.¡± Maximus whipped out a scroll and some charcoal, to better take notes.


    The range ended up being fixed, and we weren¡¯t sure if the healing or calming properties could be edited. I left them on max just in case. The warmth property was felt though ¨C ¡°I thought it was your Fire class, not your Celestial class¡± Artemis remarked ¨C and I left that on moderately low. It was warm enough anyways, although it¡¯d be appreciated when it got wet and rainy.


    Maximus wrote that down ¨C ¡°See if Elaine can dry us with her skill.¡± He tapped his lips thoughtfully, then wrote down a few more notes. Or maybe ideas for other things to try?


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 101!]


    It wasn¡¯t quite dark enough to try out [Eyes of the Milky Way], but Artemis assured me that they were quite pretty, and that seemed to be enough for [Pretty].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 97!]


    We decided to do [Vastness of the Stars] next, which was all sorts of anti-climactic. I touched Artemis, used the skill, and suddenly, pain didn¡¯t matter to her. She could still feel it, she was still aware of it, it was most certainly an upgrade to [Deaden Pain] ¨C but that was it. We didn¡¯t have ¨C nor were we willing to manufacture ¨C mental anguish to test how well that worked.


    That left [Veil of the Aurora], and the display was nothing short of stunning.


    I suspect that even if I hadn¡¯t turned off surprise and awe with [Galaxy], that I¡¯d have been moved.


    I wrapped Maximus and Artemis with me inside of [Veil], and we gasped as empyrean lights blazed around us, strawberry pink mixing with vibrant greens and electric blues, twinkling and glimmering, a blaze of many lights surrounding us. I gaped as I looked around me, slowly turning to take in every inch, every mote of light. Artemis took a step back, eyes widening.


    Nothing was said. Nothing needed to be said. We just stood there, watching the Aurora Borealis, an inch away, blazing away in all its glory. I checked my mana.


    Barely anything was being used. I could keep this up all night.


    Seconds. Minutes. Hours. Days. I have no idea how long we drank in the wondrous sights, but all good things must come to an end, as Maximus rapped the light with his knuckle.


    ¡°This is probably the most beautiful skill I¡¯ve ever seen.¡± He admitted, and coming from someone who actively searched out every skill he could find, that was quite the compliment. I swelled up, half-expecting [Pretty] to level up again. ¡°It did mention a shielding component. Care to try it out?¡±


    With great reluctance I dropped it, and Artemis made a small, sad noise at seeing it go.


    Time to see just how good of a shield skill I¡¯d gotten.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 14]


    [Mana: 2500/2500]


    [Mana Regen: 5069]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 19]


    [Dexterity: 23]


    [Vitality: 41]


    [Speed: 32]


    [Mana: 250]


    [Mana Regeneration: 700]


    [Magic Power: 250]


    [Magic Control: 775]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 128]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 128]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 105]


    [Medicine: 111]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 101]


    [Phases of the Moon: 68]


    [Eyes of the Milky Way: 88]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 64]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 70]


    [Class 2: [Firebug - Fire: Lv 8]]


    [Fire Affinity: 2]


    [Fire Resistance: 2]


    [Fire Conjuration: 2]


    [Fire Manipulation: 2]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 71]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 72]


    [Pretty: 97]


    [Vigilant: 104]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 105]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 1]


    [Running: 70]


    [Learning: 101]

 Chapter 52 – Shield Skills with Artemis

    ¡°Artemis, do you want to handle this part?¡± Maximus asked.


    ¡°Sure! Elaine, barrier, or shield skills, are incredibly useful skills, I think that goes without saying. There¡¯re a few aspects to a shield that help determine how good it is. First is how fast it takes to generate. Second is how well it absorbs or dissipates attacks. Third is how long it lasts, fourth is how mobile you are, and fifth is additional utility or aspects. Quite a lot of that depends on the element it¡¯s made out of. Let me demonstrate mine.¡±


    Saying that, Artemis focused, and I could see rocks climbing up her legs, wrapping around her chest, arms, over her head ¨C basically a suit of armor growing under her clothes. When she was done, it was like looking at a statue made out of rock in the shape of Artemis, with Artemis¡¯s head.


    ¡°On the first point, this is relatively slow to form, and it has a fairly high mana requirement to form in the first place. However, I don¡¯t need to spend any more mana to dissipate attacks ¨C they¡¯re literally punching stone, and it absorbs and spreads the attack throughout. Biggest point in its favor. Also good against cutting attacks, not that we see many of those. It¡¯ll last a long time ¨C generally until I call the skill off. I¡¯m horribly immobile while using it though, which is part of why I almost never do, and it has utility against the elements. Come look!¡±


    So invited, I went up to the Artemis-statue hybrid, and started circling around her, knocking on the stone, feeling how it was like.


    ¡°Let me guess ¨C the immobility is why you don¡¯t use it all the time. Why didn¡¯t you use it in the fight? You were immobile then.¡± I asked after thinking about it for a while.


    ¡°High mana cost, and I¡¯ll only use it if something¡¯s actively coming after me. Rare to see something coming from that far away, and it¡¯s generally faster for me to just shoot whatever¡¯s a threat, instead of trying to get my shield up. It¡¯s my least-favorite skill, but it has saved my life too many times for me to consider getting rid of it.¡±


    My mind flashed back to that scene all those years ago, when Artemis was telling me about her scars. How an Abelisaurus had broken through, and chomped down on her, and that she¡¯d gotten the scars even with a defensive skill. This must be that defensive skill she¡¯d been talking about! It also gave me a lot more respect for Bluebeard and Katastrofi ¨C no wonder they were a one-man, one-dino murder machine, not if Katastrofi could casually bite through so much stone like that.


    And that was a wild dinosaur chomping down on Artemis, not a tamed and trained one. Everyone being nervous around Bluebeard made more sense ¨C it was Katastrofi they¡¯d been nervous about. Well, and Bluebeard being kinda their boss as well showing up when they were doing some slacking.


    I shook my head. Focus. This was about me, and my shield skill, not Bluebeard and Katastrofi. [Center of the Galaxy] did absolutely nothing for how distractable I was and my tendency to go off-course, sadly.


    ¡°What¡¯s next?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to test your shield, and we¡¯re going to test the elements one at a time. First, you need to practice putting your shield up and taking it down, and seeing how much mana that takes, how quickly you can do it, and how precise it is. Shields up!¡± Artemis cried at the end, doing a long, dramatic wind-up like she was going to pitch a baseball at me.


    Or one of her lethal rocks.


    [Center of the Galaxy] already was pulling its weight, as instead of screaming, flinching, or cowering, I simply raised [Veil of the Aurora], an explosion of splendid lights snapping into shimmering brilliance all around me.


    I wasn¡¯t sure what else Artemis wanted to test, and I couldn¡¯t tell. I figured I¡¯d just keep [Veil] up for now.


    A minute passed. Then a second. Still nothing. I shifted from one foot to another, wondering if I should drop the Aurora. Nothing was happening. Might as well.


    I dropped [Aurora] only to see Artemis, surrounded by levitating rocks, her hand pointing right at me. I snapped [Aurora] back up, figuring this was more practice, or she was testing me, right as what Artemis said registered.


    ¡°Wai-!¡±


    Hmmm. I cautiously dropped [Veil] to see a much-less threatening Artemis, exasperation written on her face. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and let it out explosively, trailing off at the end.


    ¡°I should¡¯ve figured you¡¯d have some unusual utility from a skill that evolved from [Privacy]. On one hand, it¡¯s a better [Privacy]. On the other hand, I have no idea what¡¯s going on inside your barrier while it¡¯s up, and you clearly have no idea what¡¯s going on over here either. Plus and minus. You could set up a nasty trick, move to an unusual position, or hide one of us who¡¯ll set up a nasty trick ourselves. On the other hand, someone can do the exact same thing to you.¡± Artemis said.


    I thought about it. She pretty much hit the nail on the head with that.


    ¡°The skill is fundamentally an upgrade of [Privacy].¡± I started out agreeing. ¡°The shield aspect seems to be secondary, so I¡¯m not too surprised the ¡®main¡¯ part is so good. It seemed to have a fast rise time.¡± I ventured on the last part. It had gone up immediately, and I couldn¡¯t imagine something snapping up faster.


    Artemis nodded agreement. ¡°Advantage of Light, and as a result, Celestial, is it does show up immediately, and bonus, it probably takes almost nothing to snap up. Downside is, you probably need to absorb every blow. Here¡¯s what we¡¯ll do. Extend your shield as far as you can, and stay on the right side of it. Keep an eye on your mana. I¡¯ll start hitting the left side of it, slowly at first, then harder and harder. Let¡¯s see how fast your mana goes, what happens when your shield¡¯s broken. After, we¡¯ll see if you can move [Veil] while it¡¯s up, how fast it can move, and if I can move it externally.¡±


    We tested. Slow hits. Fast hits. Sudden bursts, sustained damage.


    Could I move? Run? Jump? Could I shoot from inside of it? How far could it go?


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 102!]


    It turned out, my shield worked directly off my mana, and didn¡¯t really care where something came from. No shooting from inside! Breaking felt like a shattering in my mind, as the Aurora Borealis just faded away.


    Strangely, and we made a note to ask Maximus about it, I couldn¡¯t move myself and the shield while I was inside it ¨C but someone from the outside could lift me, shield and all, and move me, shield and all. It felt like being inside a snow globe when that happened, and I begged Artemis not to shake it with me inside.


    Of course, she shook it.


    However, the fact that I couldn¡¯t move it, but people outside of the shield could, left both Artemis and I scratching our heads, trying to figure out why.


    ¡°Eh, maybe it¡¯s because of the level.¡± Artemis shrugged.


    "Next up! Ground-stuff!¡± She announced


    ¡°Ground-stuff?¡± I asked, confused.


    ¡°Ground stuff.¡± Artemis confirmed. ¡°You have no idea how many Classers have holed up inside a shield of theirs, only for me to drive an earthen spike through them because their shield doesn¡¯t cover the ground. Right. Shield up!¡±


    With that vivid mental imagery in my mind, I snapped my shield up, covering me and an area of ground we¡¯d designated the ¡°testing area¡±. Aka, Artemis would shoot for it, I wouldn¡¯t be in the unoccupied shield-zone, and if she broke through my shield I wouldn¡¯t turn into Elaine-paste. Especially since if my shield was broken, it meant I was out of mana, and couldn¡¯t heal myself. Risky stuff. I¡¯d burned myself down to no mana ages ago, which was fine from a ¡°turn the shield on¡± perspective, but less fine from a ¡°oh no Artemis just impaled me with her famous spike¡± view.


    I stood there tapping my foot. Artemis had to have tried by now, right? With a noise like shattering glass in my mind, [Aurora] went down, and Artemis was there with her sword.


    My barrier used my mana to stay up and block blows, and I¡¯d been running on fumes for a while. My regeneration rate was high enough compared to the initial cost of setting it up ¨C practically nothing ¨C that I could comfortably keep putting it up for experiments, but Artemis was showing a slightly more practical side by breaking my barrier when needed with a weapon, instead of mana.


    That, or my regen rate was rivaling, or even higher than, hers. I didn¡¯t ask, but with my focus on control and regeneration, and her focus on mana and power, I might be there. A scary thought.


    ¡°10 outta 10 healy bug.¡± Artemis said. ¡°I got no purchase on the ground below you. Seems your shield is properly isolating you, even if it doesn¡¯t look like it. If I can¡¯t get purchase on the ground, hostile skills can¡¯t get in without breaking it first. No surprise butt-spike for you!¡± She grinned at the last part, and I could feel parts of myself puckering up at the thought.


    ¡°Last thing to try for tonight. Let¡¯s see if you can throw up a partial barrier.¡±


    ¡°Partial barrier?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, not a full shield. You have almost no cost to a shield, but with the downside of not being able to see or move, it might be worth seeing if you can throw up part of a barrier. Heck, see if you can throw up multiple partial barriers. Some in a row, some connected to each other, let¡¯s see what we¡¯re working with.¡±


    More testing, this time of my fine control. I focused, and got a partial barrier up, but it felt, for lack of a better term, ¡°wobbly.¡± With practice, it¡¯d become easier to make strange shapes, and keep them up. I tried to add a second [Veil], nothing. I tried making a second segment of the shield, nothing. I tried to ¡°stretch¡± and expand my current [Aurora], and got it to expand a bit. From the level of concentration and focus needed to do that though, it¡¯d be easier to just drop the shield and re-imagine it.


    I could make my shield in most shapes inside of a roughly 7 meter radius around me. I couldn¡¯t wrap a space that didn¡¯t include me though, and if I wanted to more than ¡°half-wrap¡± something, I needed to be included.


    A shield, not a prison. Protection, not procurement.


    Lastly, if I snapped a partial shield up, then walked away, leaving it from my range, it¡¯d fade away once I was too far away. My range seemed to be roughly 7 meters for now.


    We ended the session on that note, the sun having set ages ago. I hadn¡¯t noticed ¨C [Eyes of the Milky Way] seamlessly converting what I saw to day time light levels. I told Artemis about that.


    ¡°That¡¯s useful, but I¡¯m not convinced it¡¯s worth a full skill. Night vision for a healer that can conjure up not only a light show, but fire? I¡¯d consider ditching the skill later down the road.¡±


    I pouted at that ¨C I thought the skill was badass ¨C but I couldn¡¯t deny that Artemis was right. I had a ton of ways to light things up anyways, night-vision was almost useless. That made me realize though.


    ¡°Hey Artemis, how can you see in the dark?¡± I asked. She snorted at me.


    ¡°Dark? What dark? You¡¯re a giant, walking display of lights, saying ¡®Shoot me! Shoot me!¡¯ from miles away. Good if you get pinned down and need help ¨C we¡¯d be able to see you from a distance. Bad if you¡¯re trying to hide.¡±


    She cocked her head, thinking. I beat her to the punch. ¡°Let me see if I can change the brightness when I set up [Veil] ¨C and if I can change how bright it is once it¡¯s up. Might be a poor way to signal someone.¡±


    Artemis made an agreeing noise. ¡°Also, if you¡¯re pinned down under your shield, you could flash it for help.¡±


    I focused on the brightness of the lights as I launched [Veil]. Launching it was getting easier and easier as I practiced it more, and with some focus, I got a slightly brighter barrier up. Not terribly brighter, but a small, noticeable amount.


    I tried to pulse it, feeling that same ¡°lever¡± in my skill, but nothing happened while it was up. Dropped the shield, repeated the process, but dimmer. Same thing. I could make it a bit dimmer, but I was still a blazing beacon, a light of hope, a one-girl disco show.


    ¡°Right, we¡¯re dropping the idea of having you call for help, or for being less-than-subtle. We should ask Maximus though, see if he has any ideas."


    ¡°Good job healy-bug. Let¡¯s call it a night. Tomorrow ¨C fire time!¡± Artemis practically bounced with glee back to town.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Veil of the Aurora] has reached level 65!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 103!]


    We got to the town gates, only for me to realize that they¡¯d closed hours ago. Artemis looked nonplussed.


    ¡°Over or under?¡± She asked me.


    ¡°Uuuuh¡­¡± I said, looked around in confusion.


    ¡°You¡¯re right, over¡¯s a much better idea. Shh! Be quiet!¡± Saying that, she grabbed my hand, and suddenly the walls were falling.


    No, the walls weren¡¯t falling ¨C we were being lifted up on a rocky platform! Up, up, over the walls, and then we landed on top of them, sweat pouring off of Artemis¡¯s face.


    ¡°I thought you were out of mana!¡± I hissed at her.


    ¡°I was out of fun mana. That was my reserve!¡± She hissed back. ¡°Why do you think I landed us on top of the wall instead of on the ground?¡±


    We tensed up as we heard a patrol of guards, torches shining, start to approach.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 14]


    [Mana: 2500/2500]


    [Mana Regen: 5069]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 19]


    [Dexterity: 23]


    [Vitality: 41]


    [Speed: 32]


    [Mana: 250]


    [Mana Regeneration: 700]


    [Magic Power: 250]


    [Magic Control: 775]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 128]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 128]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 105]


    [Medicine: 111]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 101]


    [Phases of the Moon: 68]


    [Eyes of the Milky Way: 88]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 65]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 70]


    [Class 2: [Firebug - Fire: Lv 8]]


    [Fire Affinity: 2]


    [Fire Resistance: 2]


    [Fire Conjuration: 2]


    [Fire Manipulation: 2]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 71]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 72]


    [Pretty: 97]


    [Vigilant: 104]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 105]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 1]


    [Running: 70]


    [Learning: 103]

 Chapter 53 – Dodging the Guard

    I tensed up as I heard them coming, then relaxed, remembering that we were Rangers, and could probably just flash our badges to get out of trouble. I could see them perfectly well, although they couldn¡¯t see me all that well on top of this roughly 20-foot (~7 meter) tall wall. Artemis had a crazed grin on her face.


    I knew that look. That was the look she had right before she blew up a pillar as a ¡®demonstration¡¯. That was the look she had right before she¡¯d ask me to do some crazy exercise. That was the ¡®run now and don¡¯t look back¡¯ look.


    There was nowhere to run to. I was in for it now.


    In a surprisingly serious tone of voice, Artemis said. ¡°Ranger Elaine. You are trapped on a wall with hostiles closing in. Your Ranger badge is useless. You¡¯re escorting a VIP with no relevant skills, and bad physical stats. Your goal: Get yourself and the VIP to base safely, before dawn. Ready, set, go!¡±


    Crap, an escort mission. Never really played that many games, but everyone moaned about them. I gave Artemis the side-eye. Fine. I had to get us out of here? I¡¯d get us out of here. I grabbed Artemis¡¯s hand, and was delighted in watching her eyes go from mischievous to terrified as I pulled and whisper-yelled, so nobody would hear us.


    ¡°Jump!¡±


    The wall was high, but the fall wouldn¡¯t be lethal. Not with an Artemis cushion, and worst-case, I could heal us back up eventually. We stepped off the edge of the wall, suddenly plunging towards the street below. When we were nearly at the bottom, I threw up [Veil of the Aurora], and prepared for a bad time.


    No idea why I couldn¡¯t move [Veil], but it¡¯d fall with me. Magic made no sense. We hit the ground, and I felt [Veil] shatter on impact, all 1433 mana I¡¯d regenerated so far being consumed in an instant. I heard a sharp crack from Artemis¡¯s ankle, and she went down hard.


    ¡°Fuck, Artemis, are you ok?¡± I asked, bending down next to her. She hissed in pain, and through gritted teeth, reprimanded me.


    ¡°What part about safely did you miss!?¡± She complained. I smiled cheekily.


    ¡°Well, for one, I¡¯m a Healer, so as long as I heal you up between here and there, you¡¯ve arrived safely. Nothing was mentioned about staying safe the entire time. Two, you forgot your pillow. I gave it to you so this wouldn¡¯t happen, hmmm?¡±


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Ranger Lore] has reached level 2!]


    Artemis just groaned as I pulled on her arm. ¡°Come on, up. Let¡¯s get going. Let¡¯s see if we can ask some guards for help.¡± Artemis wrapped an arm around me, and limped alongside with me.


    ¡°I said you couldn¡¯t use your badge Elaine.¡± She reminded me.


    ¡°I know.¡± I said cheekily. ¡°Who said I was going to use my badge? You¡¯ve taken a nasty accident,¡± Artemis glared daggers at me for that. ¡°And I¡¯m helping you to a healer. Remember, I grew up around guards. I know how they tick.¡± We took a few more limping steps, at which point I hit Artemis with [Vastness of the Stars].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vastness of the Stars] has reached level 71!]


    I made a surprised noise at the notification, as the pixie-haired lightning mage let out a sigh of relief.


    ¡°I leveled.¡± I said with surprise.


    ¡°Not surprised. That¡¯s the point of these types of exercises. Puts you under high stress, high-stakes situations relatively safely. It¡¯ll never be as good experience as actually doing it, but it¡¯s solid. Ranger training is basically two years of situational training. By the way, in your plan, how do you convince the guard that you¡¯re taking me to a healer, when you¡¯re healer-tagged?¡± Artemis said. Interesting. Something vaguely resembling a school did exist, but only for Rangers. Maybe there were more out there, and Aquiliea was just too backwater to know?


    ¡°A girl, healer-tagged? Please. They¡¯ll assume I¡¯m an apprentice or something, and I¡¯m taking you somewhere better.¡± We limped along for another few moments.


    ¡°Artemis, help me out, as a mentor not as my training partner here for a moment. If we were actually doing this, should I stop for a moment to get enough mana to heal the VIP up, or should we keep moving, and I do the healing once I have enough mana? I¡¯ve been thinking about it, can¡¯t quite figure it out.¡± I asked.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Ranger Lore] has reached level 3!]


    Artemis grunted. ¡°Good that you¡¯re thinking about it. The answer is: It depends. Are pursuers right on your heels? Do you need to be moving? Is the injury causing that many problems? Work it out, think about it, then decide. Don¡¯t half-ass things, it¡¯ll mean you die, and worse- fail.¡±


    I thought about it for a moment, checked [Vigilant] ¨C all quiet - then plonked Artemis down on the floor of the alley we were in, behind some crates.


    ¡°Right, I thought about it. Wait for enough mana to heal you.¡±


    Artemis glared at me from the ground, rubbing her butt. ¡°Gentle! I¡¯m a VIP, remember?¡±


    I snorted. ¡°More like a VAP.¡±


    ¡°VAP?¡± Artemis asked, leaning against a crate to climb to her feet. I eyed her appreciatively. Her ankle didn¡¯t hurt, but she knew enough to still keep weight off of it so she wouldn¡¯t do more damage.


    ¡°Very Annoying Person.¡± I said, sticking my tongue out at her. I checked my mana ¨C I had regenerated a few hundred points, and I figured I could fix Artemis¡¯s ankle at this point. Touching her and focusing, I used [Phases of the Moon], waiting for a notification.


    ¡­ Any minute now¡­.


    Drat. No level. Artemis could tell what I was thinking, and rolled her eyes. ¡°Decision time healy-bug. Do you want to do this the hard way, or the easy way? I wanted to see how you¡¯d get off the wall ¨C I thought I¡¯d get you trapped - and you did that admirably. The rest is easy mode, especially with your plan of talking with the local guards. Honestly, I wouldn¡¯t have thought of that ¨C guards and I tend to get along like oil and fire. Your dad excluded.¡±


    I weighed my options. On one hand, it was fun sneaking around town, dodging guards, pretending I was smuggling a VIP into town. On the other, I¡¯d gotten my fill dodging guards as a kid, and I wasn¡¯t in the mood to do more of it, not after a class up and an intense session of skill training.


    ¡°Let¡¯s head back. Today was exhausting, tomorrow¡¯s going to be worse. I don¡¯t have [Greater Invigorate] to help with a lack of sleep either.¡±


    Artemis looked at me in horror, seemingly just putting the pieces together. ¡°Nooooo! My morning pick-me-up. Revert! Reveeeeeeert!¡± She grabbed my shoulders and ¡°gently¡± shook me at that.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s head back.¡± It was almost that easy. We just walked back to where we were staying, making a fun little game of dodging guards, but not taking it too seriously.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t [Oath] stop you?¡± Artemis asked. ¡°I¡¯d imagine it wouldn¡¯t let you shove someone off a wall.¡±


    Good question.


    ¡°I had a greater reason ¨C the harm from being caught and captured, then injured. I may prevent greater harm, but it needs to be real.¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t real though.¡± Artemis pointed out. ¡°It was just for fun.¡±


    I grinned at her.


    ¡°The real reason? I didn¡¯t push you, you jumped on your own. I had a way to try and prevent harm ¨C [Aurora] ¨C for myself, and that was enough. I wouldn¡¯t practice it though; I could tell it wasn¡¯t thrilled. Not enough to lose a level, but if I did it, say, a half dozen times, knowing what I know now? Probably would get penalized ¨C possibly even more harshly than just losing a level.¡±


    We arrived back at the wagon ¨C we didn¡¯t want to try to go into the barracks at this time of night, it¡¯d just be awkward, and as I entered, I encountered a familiar, but strange, sensation.


    Darkness.


    [Eyes of the Milky Way] had kept everything nice and visible, but being in the wagon made everything dark again. I turned around to see what the outside looked like. Bright and moonlit.


    It was bizarre. From how bright the outside looked, inside here it should be well-lit from spillover light. But it wasn¡¯t, since the brightness was artificial, from a skill, not from sunlight. I closed my eyes and shook my head. This would take some getting used to. Might be harder to sleep without shelter as well, unless¡­.


    Yup, I could turn the skill off if needed. On, off. On, off. On. Perfect.


    ¡°Bit of feedback healy-bug,¡± Artemis said with her mouth full, mangling and mauling the words. ¡°Try to tilt your shield next time, see if you can slide down it instead of making it take the full brunt.¡±


    I tried to process what Artemis was saying, but my stomach rumbled, reminding me that I¡¯d spent hours casting skills with no food, and that I¡¯d skipped quite a few meals today, on account of classing up.


    ¡°Hey Artemis ¨C ¡° I started to ask before she cut me off.


    I heard a gulping noise. ¡°You¡¯re a Ranger now. You don¡¯t need to ask permission.¡± She said, seemingly reading my mind.


    With her permission, I grabbed some food, and chowed down, Artemis and I eating in companionable silence in the middle of the night, having the wagon all to ourselves.


    We finished up, and I gave Artemis a big hug.


    ¡°Thanks. I appreciate everything.¡± I said.


    ¡°Awww healy-bug. Anytime for you.¡± She hugged me back, and we stayed like that for a few moments, a moment of peace, of calm, of philia, of ludus.


    ¡°Hey Artemis,¡± I asked. ¡°What do you want from life? Do you want to be a Ranger forever? Or is there something you¡¯re working towards?¡±


    ¡°Woof. That¡¯s a tough one. Why¡¯d you ask?¡±


    I stared up at the darkness of the wagon. ¡°Well, now that I¡¯m a Ranger, I wonder. I wonder what it¡¯s like. I wonder why I don¡¯t see old Rangers, or former Rangers. And I want to know more about you. What does Artemis want from life?¡±


    There was a long silence, stretching out awkwardly. A minute passed. Then a second. I waited. It was a deeply personal question, and I could suppress the eternal fidgeting inside of me for this.


    ¡°I¡¯m not quite sure.¡± Artemis finally said. ¡°I¡¯ve just been going from one thing to the next, and landed here. Kinda like you.¡±


    ¡°On Rangers getting old though ¨C most of us don¡¯t. We¡¯ve already lost two Rangers this run, and we¡¯d have lost Kallisto if it wasn¡¯t for you. That¡¯d have been our entire frontline down, and that¡¯s the start of a Ranger team wipeout. A probable result would¡¯ve been us needing to cut the entire route short, which would be a huge black mark for all of us.¡±


    ¡°Has that happened before to you?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Don¡¯t ask.¡±


    More silence.


    ¡°What do you want from life?¡± Artemis turned it back on me. I paused for a moment, thinking. What did I want from life?


    ¡°Freedom. Sovereignty. The ability to do what I want. But I still have a few more years to figure it out.¡± I stuck my tongue out at Artemis, breaking the spell.


    We chatted a bit more around bites of food ¨C we were in town so we didn¡¯t need to ration as much ¨C before eventually going to bed. It was late, tomorrow was going to be busy.


    I tucked myself in for a good night¡¯s sleep, ready to ravage the refined rations remaining in Virinum tomorrow.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 14]


    [Mana: 2500/2500]


    [Mana Regen: 5069]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 19]


    [Dexterity: 23]


    [Vitality: 41]


    [Speed: 32]


    [Mana: 250]


    [Mana Regeneration: 700]


    [Magic Power: 250]


    [Magic Control: 775]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 128]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 128]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 105]


    [Medicine: 111]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 101]


    [Phases of the Moon: 68]


    [Eyes of the Milky Way: 88]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 65]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 71]


    [Class 2: [Firebug - Fire: Lv 8]]


    [Fire Affinity: 2]


    [Fire Resistance: 2]


    [Fire Conjuration: 2]


    [Fire Manipulation: 2]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 71]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 72]


    [Pretty: 97]


    [Vigilant: 104]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 105]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 3]


    [Running: 70]


    [Learning: 103]

 Chapter 54 – Shield skills with Maximus

    I woke up the next morning to a mighty roar, a lion asserting it was king of the jungle, a dinosaur triumphantly claiming its territory.


    My stomach declaring the morning plans, which was FOOD.


    I sat up, immediately awake, only to find a bowl of food next to me. My money was on Artemis. I promptly chowed down, got up, only to realize: Now what?


    I was supposed to be training my new skills, and today was fire. Fire. Heat and dancing flames. Eventual fireballs. Eventual flying. Couldn¡¯t come fast enough.


    I headed out of the wagon, and paused. More food, or training? Heaps of food, or training?


    My stomach rumbled. A housecat, asserting dominance. A dog, letting someone know it was his territory. Fine. Food it was, and maybe I could bump into Artemis while I was out and about.


    Or Maximus. He was pretty good with the skills thing. I skipped along to market, intending to raid the food vendors as hard as I could with my now-significant funds. I went, got a small mountain of food, then realized something on the way back to the wagon.


    I had time off. Actual, real, time off. I¡¯d been moving so fast, for so long, that time where I didn¡¯t have an immediate direction, immediate things to do, felt so long ago. It must¡¯ve been what? The summer solstice? When I last had free time like this? Let me think¡­


    After the solstice was the never-ending cycle of work and chores, then Artemis had showed up in Aquiliea ¨C I suppose eating dinner with her kinda counted as free time, but then again, we always needed to eat ¨C then the whole mess with the fire, recovering, Kerberos, running away from home, camping, bandits, meeting up with the Rangers, and non-stop training.


    Yeah. Free time.


    What did I even do with my free time? I could play in the park, but it felt almost undignified. I could¡­.


    Hmmmm¡­..


    Screw it, I could heal people. Have a little vendor stall, but instead of pitas, ham on cheese on bread (would it kill you to add an extra slice of bread to make a sandwich!?), have discount healing. There might be a Light healer here, there might not be, but either way I¡¯d get healing to people who ordinarily couldn¡¯t afford it.


    Was it work? Was it play? Did it matter? It was making the world a tiny bit a better place, and it was already enough of a shit show that every little bit helped.


    Operation ¡°Elaine¡¯s discount limb restoration¡± (I had to work on the name, that was the sketchiest thing I¡¯d ever come up with) came to a screeching halt as I got back to the wagon (something else we needed a real name for), and found Maximus waiting for me. Another Ranger! Perfect!


    ¡°Hi Maximus!¡± I said, bounding over happily. Training time! Fire!


    He cuffed me on the head, hard.


    ¡°Owe, fuck, what was that for?¡± I asked him, rubbing my head. It was less about the reaction to the pain ¨C thank you [Center of the Galaxy] ¨C and more about the actions behind it.


    ¡°Elaine. You¡¯ve been told not to wander off on your own in towns. We move in pairs for a reason. You don¡¯t have an emergency signal skill, and even if you did, you haven¡¯t told anyone about it.¡±


    ¡°But- ¡°


    ¡°No buts. As. A. Team. Got it?¡±


    ¡°Yes Maximus...¡± I said, poutily looking down, kicking a rock. ¡°What should I do if nobody¡¯s around?¡± Afterall, I¡¯d woken up, and there wasn¡¯t anyone around. What else was I supposed to do but soothe the savage beasty called my stomach?


    ¡°You wait. This is our home away from home. Stick to it until someone comes by. For reference, I was just inside the barracks. If you¡¯d waited more than a moment, you wouldn¡¯t have been alone. Notice how I stayed here, waiting for you?¡± My roasting continued, as I held my head down.


    ¡°Ready to start working on your skills?¡± Maximus changed the topic.


    ¡°Yes!¡± I exclaimed loudly, shame from being scolded quickly burned away. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    I wanted to sprint to the gates as fast as I could, but the scolding was fresh in my mind, even if the shame was gone. I carefully, carefully, walked with Maximus as we made our way through the gates, outside.


    ¡°Right, might as well catch me up on your shield. Tell me all about it.¡± I told him everything we¡¯d learned yesterday.


    ¡°What ratio of mana spent on a skill to mana spent dissipating the attack did you end up getting?¡± He asked at the end of it.


    I stared at him blankly, no idea what he was talking about. He facepalmed.


    ¡°Of course. Artemis. She¡¯s absolutely brilliant at attacking and finding weaknesses ¨C I wouldn¡¯t have thought to try launching attacks from inside the shield for example ¨C but doesn¡¯t go about things in a rigorous way. She wouldn¡¯t think about checking mana consumption ¨C she¡¯s all about using all her mana immediately.¡± He looked to the sky, arms wide, in a pose of ¡°why me oh Lord. Why must you torment me so.¡±


    ¡°Right. Let¡¯s find out how much your shield can take, by the numbers. Shield up! I¡¯m going to launch a skill that takes 10 mana, then 100 mana at your shield. Pay attention, and look at how much your mana drops each time.¡±


    I did exactly what he said, noticing a small blip of 8 mana, then 83 mana lost.


    I dropped my shield, reporting what I¡¯d found.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we try 1000 mana?¡± I asked. I got a withering look back.


    ¡°Not all of us are made out of mana. I don¡¯t have a mana pool that large. Why do you think it takes me so long to reshape a weapon, and why I do it ahead of time? It¡¯s all on my regeneration.¡±


    Whoops. Didn¡¯t mean to show him up. Nobody likes being shown up, especially not by a kid less than half their age.


    ¡°Well, at least your physical stats are all really good!¡± I tried to cheer him up. I got an eye roll back.


    ¡°Elaine, my ego¡¯s not that fragile.¡± He crossed his arms, tapping his fingers thoughtfully.


    ¡°Ok, you have a solid shield, but you need almost as much mana to oppose a skill as it takes to use the skill. That¡¯s pretty good with your mana pool and regeneration ¨C you should be relatively safe from mages. Unless they burst down your shield using a large mana pool, like Artemis. Also, generally speaking, you can only oppose a skill up to the point of your magic power. Again, someone like Artemis with a higher Magic Power than you can blow your shield up, before getting through all of your mana. However, that¡¯s bad when it comes to physical blows ¨C you¡¯ll burn through your pool in no time. Since your shield actively burns mana when it¡¯s hit, not when it¡¯s created, and it brings blows to a halt, we need to do two types of training with you and your shield.¡±


    I was paying rapt attention. I¡¯d been playing with my shield, and I thought I¡¯d come up with some good ideas ¨C like using it to break a fall successfully. From Artemis¡¯s and Maximus¡¯s comments though, I¡¯d just been scratching the surface of what was possible.


    ¡°How does [Oath] interplay with that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No idea. It¡¯s a self-made skill. What do you think?¡±


    I looked over [Oath].


    ¡°I think, if I¡¯m shielding someone else, protecting them like I¡¯ve sworn to, that it¡¯ll kick in. Otherwise, it¡¯s just another skill.¡±


    Maximus pursed his lips. ¡°Well, better than nothing I suppose. One last note ¨C be careful of shield-destruction skills or buffs. They¡¯re rare, but they do exist specifically to take out skills like yours. Then again, we should be protecting you from that sort of problem, as you protect us. Ah well. Let¡¯s start.¡±


    ¡°First off is reflex training. You have a snap-shield, and you¡¯re incredibly fragile stat-wise. I¡¯m going to throw things at you ¨C most of us will, it won¡¯t just be here, today, it¡¯ll be something ongoing ¨C and you need to snap your shield up to block it from hitting you. We¡¯ll focus on speed first, finesse and size of the shield ¨C the smaller the snap the better - second. It¡¯s more important to stay safe than to get it perfect.¡± I nodded along. Good practice if anyone shot arrows at me, and this Ranger business was all sorts of dangerous.


    ¡°The second practice is less fun.¡± Maximus started by apologizing to me. That was ominous. Nobody apologized for giving me training. ¡°It¡¯s called ¡®Take it or shield it¡¯, and it¡¯s something I made up here.¡±


    ¡°Take it or shield it?¡± I asked as Maximus drew his sword.


    ¡°Yeah. Stating the obvious ¨C you¡¯re a healer. If I¡¯m swinging a sword at you, but it¡¯s going to be a shallow blow, it¡¯ll be less mana for you to take the hit and heal it, than to shield it. For example, shield up, one blow.¡± I threw my shield up without a moment of hesitation, almost missing the last part. I watched a huge blow hit my shield, draining 422 points of mana. I dropped my shield, looking at Maximus.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± He said, lunging towards me, almost as fast as I could track, sword coming down on a narrow slice on my arm.


    I jumped back, [Center of the Galaxy] shielding me from the burning cut along my arm, the pain of betrayal sharp like spilt blood.


    ¡°What the fuck!?¡± I shouted.


    ¡°Heal it. Check the mana.¡± Maximus ordered. I did. 32 mana ¨C it was a shallow cut, easy to stitch back together.


    ¡°How much did it take to shield the hit? How much did it take to heal the hit?¡±


    ¡°422. 32.¡± I said, eyes widening as I realized what he meant, and what the implications were.


    He nodded approval at my epiphany. ¡°Exactly. Shield it, or take it? Blows that¡¯ll be shallow, that¡¯ll be superficial, you should probably take it. Deep thrusts should probably be shielded. Lethal blows, of course, should be shielded. You need to assume unknown blows are lethal, or incapacitating. Arrows are tricky ¨C barbed will be a problem, poisoned will be a problem, but otherwise should be taken. Requires amazing reflexes to tell on the fly, and you quite simply don¡¯t have them¡­¡­ Yet.¡±


    That was the scariest yet I¡¯d heard in my entire life.


    ¡°I should also dodge them, especially if I have reflexes like you¡¯re talking about.¡± I pointed out; glad I could add another piece of the ¡°keep Elaine alive¡± puzzle going. I cast a brief, regretful thought to skipping out on that [Dodging] skill all those years ago. Maximus made an agreeing noise. ¡°And not be in a fight in the first place!¡± I added in.


    Maximus threw a pebble at me, hard, fast. I tried to dodge it, but it hit. Point made, point made.


    ¡°Right. Let¡¯s practice shields first, then we can move onto ¡®shield or hit¡¯.¡± He said, his point being made. I didn¡¯t have nearly the stats to be dodging blows right now.


    ¡°Also, turn off [Center of the Galaxy] while we do this. The pain will be good for learning.¡±


    Fuck.


    We practiced. I wish training montages were a thing. No. I had to take every blow, feel every unblocked rock hit me. They stung especially hard, knowing they didn¡¯t need to hurt at all.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Veil of the Aurora] has reached level 66!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 104!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Ranger Lore] has reached level 4!]


    I got some solid notifications and levels out of practicing to snap shields up. [Ranger Lore] was a bit of a surprise, but I guess I was low-level in it, which made it easy to level, and training with a Ranger was Ranger-ish enough for a level.


    That was my logic anyways. After a few hours of shield-snapping practice, Maximus called a halt.


    ¡°Good work. This will continue, but you¡¯re getting better and better with it. Constant vigilance. It¡¯ll keep you alive.¡±


    I giggled, imagining Maximus with a crazy eye. Maybe with some careful editing¡­.


    I had [Vigilant]! Maybe it could tell me when something was coming.


    Feel an itch, snap shields. Feel an itch, snap shields.


    Unless I was in town. There was a constant low-level pinging and itching when in town, usually due to various street urchins eyeing up my purse. It made it nearly useless in towns, and¡­


    Holy shit. That¡¯s why Artemis spent so much time in the baths or with the guards. Her reflex wasn¡¯t a shield ¨C it was lightning and rocks in the general direction of the problem. There had been incidents, and she was trying to minimize them without dulling her reflexes.


    I groaned. Would this be my life now?


    ¡°Let¡¯s move to shield or hit.¡± Maximus continued on, oblivious to my revelations. I made a small whining noise. ¡°But my tunic¡­¡± It was still my only good tunic, and the thought of losing it after only a few days hurt me, hurt [Pretty]. Fortunately, normal skills didn¡¯t lose levels like [Oath] could.


    ¡°But my tunic nothing. Elaine, are you a Ranger or a kid?¡±


    I fired up at that. ¡°Ranger!¡± I said, loudly, proudly.


    ¡°Then act like one! We go through dozens of tunics! There will be new ones! Now start!¡± With that, he whipped some long, flexible weapon towards me, something like a sharp blade on the end of a rope.


    The weapon was a bitch. It was medium-range, and it could stab, slash, and move and attack from various inventive angles, as flexible as its user. I¡¯d see it coming one way, and it¡¯d twist in mid-air to strike at a different angle.


    ¡®Shield or hit¡¯ was much worse, and my poor tunic was in bloody shreds by the time we were done. [Center of the Galaxy] was on for this, since it¡¯d help me practice getting hit in a fight and immediately healing ¨C and partially practicing ¡°did this even need healing.¡±


    Maximus had brought a handful of blood-restoration potions, which I reluctantly held my nose and drank.


    Hang on, could [Vastness of the Stars] help with foul tasting potions? A quick experiment said yes, [Vastness] could help with terrible-tasting medicine. I don¡¯t think I¡¯d ever level from using it this way, but it was creative. I half-expected [Learning] to level up from that.


    [Oath] was happy. I hadn¡¯t cut myself, I hadn¡¯t asked to be mauled to heal myself, and so I could happily practice healing under stressful conditions well. I suspected that if I asked to do this, for that purpose, [Oath] might be a little less happy. It was a stupidly complex skill, with shades and nuances I still was unsure about.


    I panted as I fixed another cut, throwing up a partial shield to handle another incoming blow. Maximus¡¯s control was perfect ¨C he could make something look like a lethal blow, and if I screwed up or misjudged it, he had the ability to pull it short, turn what would be a massive injury into something less lethal. He still gave me shit over it, but it was reasonable.


    All of the training paid off with a bunch of levels.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Veil of the Aurora] has reached level 67!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 105!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Ranger Lore] has reached level 5!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 69!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Center of the Galaxy] has reached level 102!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 112!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Warmth of the Sun] has reached level 106!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 70!]


    ¡°Good work Elaine. Your ability to work hard at this is fantastic. Let¡¯s take a break, and then work on your Fire skills.¡±


    I collapsed on the ground, exhausted. This had taken a ton out of me, and the only thing preserving some modesty with my shredded tunic was the huge amounts of blood coating me. Getting back to town would be interesting to say the least.


    Maximus broke out some food, and I happily chowed down. I needed more food. So much more. My morning raid had been paltry, and casting skills as fast as I could, burning mana at the rate I¡¯d been using it at, would mean I¡¯d need even more food.


    Still, nothing could extinguish the burning flame inside of me, the passion I had for what was to come next.


    Fire.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 14]


    [Mana: 2500/2500]


    [Mana Regen: 5069]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 19]


    [Dexterity: 23]


    [Vitality: 41]


    [Speed: 32]


    [Mana: 250]


    [Mana Regeneration: 700]


    [Magic Power: 250]


    [Magic Control: 775]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 128]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 128]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 105]


    [Medicine: 111]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 101]


    [Phases of the Moon: 70]


    [Eyes of the Milky Way: 88]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 66]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 71]


    [Class 2: [Firebug - Fire: Lv 8]]


    [Fire Affinity: 2]


    [Fire Resistance: 2]


    [Fire Conjuration: 2]


    [Fire Manipulation: 2]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 71]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 72]


    [Pretty: 97]


    [Vigilant: 104]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 105]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 5]


    [Running: 70]


    [Learning: 105]

 Chapter 55 – Fire Training

    ¡°Let¡¯s work on your new Fire skills now. From the sound of it, you got classic mage skills, right?¡± Maximus asked, pacing back and forth in the wooded clearing.


    ¡°Right. Along with [Fire Resistance].¡±


    ¡°Ok, first lesson on being a Fire mage: Don¡¯t.¡±


    I tilted my head quizzically at that. Maximus grimaced.


    ¡°I wish I had Artemis here to demonstrate. Either way, a pure, stand-alone Fire mage isn¡¯t particularly strong or powerful. It¡¯s not the weakest type of mage ¨C Light probably wins that, although you don¡¯t really get Light mages, just healers ¨C but it¡¯s near the bottom.¡±


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± I asked, playing along, prodding Maximus to continue his lecture.


    ¡°It¡¯s a lack of stopping power. Yeah, fire¡¯s scary. You hit someone low-level, you hit a non-combatant, you hit someone who spooks, and they¡¯ll flinch, or run. Bonus points there. You hit someone scary? They¡¯ll plow right through the flames to get to you, since the easiest way of dealing with a Fire mage is to kill her. Fire burns, but it takes some time to kill someone, to finish them off. Compared to say, an Earth mage, where a stone through the head is the end.¡±


    ¡°Hence, lesson one: Don¡¯t become a Fire mage.¡± Maximus continued.


    ¡°Fire is fantastic when combined with all sorts of other elements. Fire and Wood ¨C flaming projectiles. Fire and Metal ¨C Superheated projectiles, possibly molten projectiles. Fire and Earth ¨C trap someone in an area with limited air, then burn the air out, suffocating them. Fought a Classer once that used Fire and Ooze ¨C would create a sticky substance that burned incredibly hot. Stuck to people as well, no way of getting it off, just burning.¡± Maximus shuddered at the memory. ¡°Lost two Rangers putting him down. The point is, Fire alone is weak. Fire combines well with all sorts of elements, as long as you¡¯re smart about it.¡±


    ¡°How would it combine with my Celestial Healing class?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Poorly.¡± Maximus didn¡¯t believe in sparing my feelings at all. ¡°If you were after mass destruction, I¡¯d say, for example, you could start a massive fire inside of the forest, then snap your shield up around you. You keep your air in, your mana regeneration rate is high enough that the fire probably couldn¡¯t burn you out, and everyone nearby burns and chokes to death while you¡¯re safe.¡±


    ¡°The problem with that,¡± I started, as Maximus finished.


    ¡°Is your [Oath]. Yeah, hence Fire being, frankly, a terrible choice for you. Limited utility ¨C sure, making a campfire and keeping us warm is nice, but it won¡¯t do well in a fight ¨C and limited potential in a fight unless you¡¯re quite a few levels higher than whoever or whatever you¡¯re fighting. You also don¡¯t have a second class open to give utility to your Fire class ¨C it is your utility.¡±


    He paused, thinking.


    ¡°Everyone has a guide when they¡¯re classing up. Didn¡¯t yours give you any warning at all?¡±


    I looked down and muttered quietly.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± He asked, cupping a hand around his ear.


    ¡°I said, I just wanted to have fireballs and to fly! She picked the class on that potential future!¡±


    Maximus facepalmed.


    ¡°Elaine, you¡¯re brilliant, and sometimes oh-so-dumb. I sometimes forget that you¡¯re a kid. Gods. Ask for utility next time, instead of guessing at it. You¡¯d get something better.¡±


    ¡°As we mentioned, Fire has a lack of stopping power, and doesn¡¯t quite have the direct damage like Metal or Earth. However, a benefit of a mage, and the Manipulation and Conjuration skills, is you¡¯re only limited by your imagination. For example, while you can¡¯t light someone who has high vitality on fire directly, you can light their clothes on fire. You can conjure flames in front of their face, preventing sight and vision. You can try to get flames into an open mouth or nose - incredibly distracting, no matter how powerful you are, or how weak the flames are. Incredibly high heat - once you get enough levels, power, and control - can disintegrate monsters, but at a much, much higher cost than other elements to do similar amounts of damage."


    "That''s kinda the point I''m making. You can do a bunch of things with Fire, but some of them will cost a lot more than other elements to get the same result. On the other hand, some things are easier for you than other elements. You don¡¯t need to constantly focus on your flames ¨C conjure them to start, and let them burn. They¡¯ll turn into ¡®real¡¯ flames soon enough, fueling themselves. In that respect, Fire goes a lot further than say, Water or Earth. Be creative. Be imaginative. And now, let¡¯s begin our practical lessons.¡±


    Maximus gave me a quick rundown, which basically consisted of practicing making flames, then going through various exercises, making them dance and do different things, and a half-dozen other control exercises.


    I focused on the stick, a bundle of dry twigs at the end. Fire. Flames. [Fire Conjuration]. With mana, effort, and focus, the tip burst into flames.


    Now, I needed to stop conjuring the flames, and let it burn ¡®naturally¡¯. I watched it, meditating, observing, seeing how the flames consumed, the embers burned. I reached out with [Fire Manipulation], feeling myself ¡°connect¡± with the flames, trying to make them dance to my will.


    A pebble came whizzing out of nowhere, hitting my shoulder with a sharp crack.


    ¡°Owe, what the hell Maximus?¡± I asked, healing my shoulder with [Phases]. No need to rub an injury when you could make it go away.


    He snorted at me, looking down at me where I was sitting.


    ¡°Constant. Constant. Vigilance. That means when you¡¯re meditating. That means when you¡¯re relaxing. That means when you¡¯re playing with fire, and healing. We¡¯re not losing you to a stray arrow, or a random opportunistic ambush. Not when we can prevent it.¡±


    That made me think. ¡°How do you deal with attacks?¡± I asked. I got a frown back.


    ¡°I don¡¯t. If I¡¯m lucky, I¡¯ll see it in time to dodge, otherwise, I need to eat the attack. I have the stats to survive it. If I¡¯m lucky. You don¡¯t. We¡¯ve been lucky so far fighting dumb monsters, but the moment we¡¯re against Classers? Elaine, I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯re aware, but you¡¯re the main target. In a fight against someone with intelligence, they¡¯re going to try and kill you first, and you have no way of surviving. You¡¯re Healer-tagged. As a ¨C¡° instead of finishing his sentence, he threw another rock at me. This one I threw my shield up in time to block.


    I tried to glare at him, but my heart wasn¡¯t in it. I hadn¡¯t quite realized yet that there was a giant ¡°kill me¡± sign on my back, but reflecting on it, yeah, made sense. It wasn¡¯t like Kallisto had a skill to force people to attack him or anything ¨C it was all a decision by the person or monster doing the attacking. Maximus¡¯s words doubled my resolve to strengthen myself. To not be a burden. To save those I could.


    I went back to working on manipulating flames, to make them dance to my will.


    I wonder if I could make a dress out of flames?


    It was hard, like I was reaching through thick sludge, manipulating fine tools with heavy rubber gloves.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Manipulation] has reached level 3!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Affinity] has reached level 3!]


    At the low level I was at, I both gained levels easily ¨C much more so with [Learning] being such a high level ¨C and felt the effects of the level up much more profoundly. Suddenly, it wasn¡¯t thick sludge, it was more like a hearty soup. The rubber gloves shed a few pounds, and movements that were previously impossible were now doable. I eyed my mana. 2500/2500. I was using less mana than my regeneration rate.


    My stick burnt out, and I figured I¡¯d try pushing [Conjuration] to the limits. I aimed up, and threw out as much fire as I could.


    A small jet of flames left my finger, going a few inches then sputtering out. It was a steady stream, and I could hear the roaring of flames.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Conjuration] has reached level 3!]


    As I got the notification, the flames roared higher, wider, thicker. Yessss. Fire.


    Then some pieces of the puzzle clicked. I¡¯d need to conjure a lot of flames. Which would take a lot of time. A lot of mana. And a lot of food. Leveling up skills like this, grinding like this, never sounded so unappealing.


    But Fire.


    And fireballs.


    It would all be worth it. I just needed to keep my eye on the prize.


    A few hours of grinding later, and Maximus called it quits.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Manipulation] has reached level 19!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Conjuration] has reached level 19!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Resistance] has reached level 14!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Affinity] has reached level 19!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Firebug] has leveled up to level 9! +2 Free Stat, +2 Mana, +1 Mana Regen, +3 Magic power, +1 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Strength from your Element!]


    ¡­.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Firebug] has leveled up to level 19! +2 Free Stat, +2 Mana, +1 Mana Regen, +3 Magic power, +1 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Strength from your Element!]


    ¡°I¡¯m impressed,¡± The too-plain man said. ¡°that you were able to go for so long. I expected you to tire out ages ago.¡±


    ¡°What exactly would tire me out?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, your¡­ right, your mana regeneration.¡± Maximus facepalmed. ¡°Easy enough to remember when talking about your 128 class. Easy to forget when teaching someone at level 8. I should know better.¡±


    His tone turned apologetic. ¡°Sorry about that. Let me treat you to a meal.¡±


    Yessss. Free food. The best.


    We headed back to town, and I had more questions as my stomach rumbled.


    ¡°What should I do about my free stats? I know Artemis wants me to immediately put them into my physical stats.¡±


    Maximus hummed thoughtfully. ¡°You¡¯re in a safe spot right now. Let¡¯s just leave them there ¨C I¡¯ll let Artemis walk you through distributing them. I¡¯m not getting between her and her project.¡±


    I kicked his shin at being called a ¡®project¡¯. My stomach roared, reminding me of my current predicament.


    ¡°How do mages normally pay for food? Like, Artemis meditates a ton, and I haven¡¯t really hit this situation before where I¡¯m burning so much mana, although I imagine healers get paid enough to cover their costs.¡± I asked, tagging along in my ruined tunic. We¡¯d get sooo many looks for this.


    Maximus glanced down at me. ¡°Julius didn¡¯t cover this with you?¡± I shook my head. He turned his head up, looking at the gates. ¡°We pay for your reasonable food expenses, especially when training as hard as you¡¯re going to be. Remind me, when we¡¯re stocking up for our next leg to bring extra for you.¡±


    I felt my heart grow two sizes at the care everyone was showing me.


    ¡°Do you know why I didn¡¯t get a skill at level 10?¡± I¡¯d been looking forward to my first magic skill.


    Maximus shrugged. ¡°In theory, no. We¡¯re not sure why you didn¡¯t get a skill. In practice, people that get a bunch of skills when they hit a class ¨C like most mages ¨C don¡¯t get offered a skill for a while, or only get offered skills rarely.¡±


    I wanted to ask more, but we arrived at the gates, drawing all sorts of looks.


    ¡°Next.¡± The bored guard called out, as we stepped forward.


    ¡°Hi, we¡¯re the-¡° Our jack-of-all-trades started, only to be interrupted by the guard.


    ¡°Hold on. Off to the side.¡± He said, pulling Maximus off to the side. Vigilant itched as a second guard grabbed my shoulders and steered me away.


    ¡°Hang on, we shouldn¡¯t be separated!¡± I said as I was hustled off.


    Maximus wasn¡¯t kicking up a fuss, and it was the local guard. I liked the local guard, and my appearance, was, well, concerning would be putting it mildly. Kinda made sense that they¡¯d whisk us away for some extra questions.


    I ended up in what I could only call an interrogation room, when a senior-looking guard walked in. Senior-looking by his walk, and by how everyone else was deferring to him.


    ¡°Are you ok?¡± He started off by asking.


    ¡°Yup! I¡¯m fine!¡± I said perkily.


    He eyed me doubtfully, looking me up and down.


    ¡°You do realize ¨C¡° He started. I felt comfortable interrupting.


    ¡°That you need to know what¡¯s up with all of this?¡±


    He nodded stiffly, clearly many years away from the last time someone flippantly interrupted him. Ah well, he¡¯d live. More importantly, I¡¯d live.


    ¡°Training with Maximus. We¡¯re both Rangers.¡± Saying that, I took my badge out from my pouch, where I¡¯d been keeping it safe. My pouch was blood-stained at this point, a dark reddish-brown. I eyed it. It was still solid for now, although I¡¯d have to check if bloodstained pouches attracted monsters in the wilderness.


    So many things to check!


    The guard looked me up and down again, eyebrows near his hairline.


    ¡°You¡¯ll forgive me for wanting to check. There¡¯s a Ranger squad in town right now, if you want to change your story, miss¡­.?¡±


    ¡°Elaine. Yeah. See if you can get Julius. He¡¯s the boss.¡±


    ¡°Miss Elaine. You do realize the penalty for impersonating a Ranger is a 5,000 rod fee, which generally means a lifetime of slavery, right?¡±


    ¡°No, I didn¡¯t, but good to know.¡±


    The guard hit the table in front of me with a fist.


    ¡°Stop lying! How is a girl like you a Ranger!? How can you claim to be a Ranger, but not even know the basics! I¡¯m trying to help you out here, but I can¡¯t if you keep digging yourself in a hole! Bluffing won¡¯t work.¡± He yelled, clearly frustrated at me.


    Ah. Hmmmm. Yes. Looking at it from that point of view, I did look like Sketchy McSketchface. Well, honesty¡¯s the best policy, and let me try.


    ¡°I got field promoted after the fight the other day. I was the short one next to the flashy mage on the wagon, that ran out when the one near the monster got hit. I¡¯m the team¡¯s healer. I got a new skill out of the fight, a shield skill, and we were practicing it. Part of the practice was taking shallow hits, and healing them, instead of blocking. Hence all the mess.¡± I said, gesturing down at, well, the massive mess.


    ¡°I get that it looks sketchy, so I¡¯m happily going along with you for now. But stop trying to do me favors, and get a way to verify who I am. Maximus ¨C the dude with me ¨C should also be verifying.¡±


    The badge was still on the table between us, as the guard narrowed his eyes at me.


    ¡°Fine. But I¡¯m going to confiscate this first.¡± He said, reaching for the badge.


    I half-expected him to do something like that, and the warning ahead of time was enough notice. He was faster than me, stronger than me, but not as fast as a skill, as I snapped up a [Veil of the Aurora] between his hand and the badge, a small wedge of shield, giving me enough time to swipe it back as his hand bounced off of the skill.


    ¡°No.¡± I said, looking at him challengingly. Julius had told me to never, ever lose it, and I wasn¡¯t going to cause more problems, not after I¡¯d already been yelled at by Maximus over not splitting up.


    I wonder if I was going to get yelled at more for this? Ug. That¡¯d be the worst.


    The senior guardsman stood up, drawing himself up to his full height. It looked like things were going to escalate even further, when another guard entered the room. He read the room, then crept over to the guard and whispered something in his ear. I kinda wanted a hearing skill instead of a vision skill right now.


    It was like watching a balloon deflate, as the senior guardsman went from ¡°large and intimidating¡± to ¡°deferential.¡±


    ¡°Ranger Elaine. I apologize. You¡¯re free to go. Have a nice day. Just¡­ try to get on some new clothes, and maybe a bath?¡±


    I briefly considered making them pay for a bath for me, but decided that¡¯d be pushing my luck too far.


    ¡°Oh, you better believe a bath¡¯s my next stop! Then a tunic store. This was my last one. I should start buying them in bulk!¡± I paused, thinking for a moment. What would Kallisto say?


    ¡°I totally understand where you were coming from though, it does look bad. I appreciate everything you do to keep the town safe.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for your understanding Ranger Elaine. Could we, er, offer you a bucket of water and a spare tunic¡­?¡±


    I thought about it for a moment. It¡¯d be nice to be half-clean again, and the guards probably didn¡¯t want me starting a small riot by walking around like something out of a horror movie.


    ¡°Yes please, that¡¯d be wonderful.¡±


    Some scurrying about later, and I was cleaner, in a too-large tunic.


    ¡°Sorry, it¡¯s the smallest we have, it¡¯s just you¡¯re¡­¡±


    ¡°Short?¡± I said, finishing the random guard¡¯s sentence.


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    I finished up, meeting Maximus at the exit to the guardhouse where we¡¯d been whisked away to.


    ¡°Alright, you¡¯re all set. Let¡¯s head back.¡± He said, pointing his thumb over his shoulder roughly in the direction of the marketplace.


    My stomach rumbled, reminding me that it¡¯d been horribly abused, and wanted food now. Off to the market!


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 14]


    [Mana: 2720/2720]


    [Mana Regen: 5170]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 33]


    [Strength: 30]


    [Dexterity: 21]


    [Vitality: 41]


    [Speed: 32]


    [Mana: 272]


    [Mana Regeneration: 711]


    [Magic Power: 282]


    [Magic Control: 782]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 128]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 128]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 105]


    [Medicine: 111]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 101]


    [Phases of the Moon: 70]


    [Eyes of the Milky Way: 88]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 66]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 71]


    [Class 2: [Firebug - Fire: Lv 19]]


    [Fire Affinity: 19]


    [Fire Resistance: 14]


    [Fire Conjuration: 19]


    [Fire Manipulation: 19]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 71]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 72]


    [Pretty: 97]


    [Vigilant: 104]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 105]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 6]


    [Running: 70]


    [Learning: 105]

 Chapter 56 – Adventures in Virinum I

    Maximus and I raided the market, him treating me. I mostly think it was because he was feeling bad about forgetting how long I could go, and he knew how to get Julius to pay him out of the team¡¯s funds more easily than I did, but either way, I wasn¡¯t going to complain about someone else buying the food, and handing it to me.


    ¡°Alright Elaine, that¡¯s probably enough.¡± Maximus said, eyeing me as I scarfed down yet another fish-on-a-stick monstrosity.


    ¡°Bumph a wanmph mooar¡± I said with a mouthful of food. I got an evil eye from Maximus in return.


    Swallowing, I tried again.


    ¡°But I wanna eat more.¡± I said, with 95% less food sprayed.


    He looked at me amused.


    ¡°Yeah, but we should head back for now.¡±


    I glanced up at the sky. Mid-afternoon by the sun¡¯s position. I guess it wasn¡¯t really food time.


    ¡°Fine, fine, let¡¯s go.¡± I said, heading back to the wagon with Maximus.


    ¡°You know,¡± I said, nimbly dodging yet another obstacle in the road. ¡°we should name the wagon. Calling it ¡®the wagon¡¯ all the time is a pain.¡±


    ¡°Go nuts. What do you want to call it?¡± Maximus asked.


    ¡°The Argo!¡± I said, having thought of this ahead of time.


    ¡°Sure. It¡¯s now the Argo. Don¡¯t get too attached to things though, they¡¯ll often get blown up in our line of work. Spears can be fixed and replaced, people can¡¯t.¡±


    We made our way back to Argo, where Julius and Kallisto were setting up a tall banner, with the Ranger¡¯s Eagle in full flight, gold on red. I looked at Maximus and cocked my head, silently asking.


    ¡°We set the banner up to let people know ¡®hey, Rangers are here! Come talk to us if there¡¯s a problem.¡¯ We didn¡¯t do it earlier because we were fighting the monster, then needed a break, and we don¡¯t bother in villages because everyone already knows we¡¯re there. Now that we¡¯re in town, someone will be on-shift to chat with people as needed.¡± Maximus happily educated me


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Ranger¡¯s Lore] has reached level 7!]


    ¡°Great, you two are back. Anything interesting?¡± Julius asked.


    ¡°Semi. Elaine¡¯s got the basics down on snap-shielding and basic control over her flames and fire. Too low level to be of any use, but her stamina and ability to constantly output them is impressive ¨C should level up fast. Oh, and we¡¯re throwing things at her now to hone her reflexes.¡±


    Three pairs of eyes turned and looked at me, the way a dog looks at a rabbit ¨C playfully predatory.


    I wasn¡¯t going to wait around. I snapped my shield up, noticing three dents in my mana almost immediately.


    I dropped my shield, and started to gloat.


    ¡°Ha! I¡¯ve been practicing! I am invici-¡° I was cut off as Julius tossed a second pebble at me, too fast for me to notice or block. It hit my shoulder with a sickening crack, and I stumbled and fell.


    ¡°Still a rookie.¡± Julius half-smiled, half-smirked at me. ¡°Not bad for just getting your skill ¨C you¡¯re able to somewhat anticipate attacks, and that¡¯s half of it. Don¡¯t think you¡¯re safe though ¨C don¡¯t ever think you¡¯re safe.¡±


    I healed my shoulder, feeling something go pop in there as things wriggled disconcertingly back into place.


    ¡°Why so hard?¡± I complained.


    ¡°Because you¡¯re a healer. You can take it, so we don¡¯t need to hold back nearly as hard in fights and in training. Get used to it. You¡¯ll improve faster, and we need you improved from where you currently are.¡± Julius said.


    ¡°On that note, Kallisto, Elaine, you two are on reception duty for the rest of today. You¡¯re both free tomorrow ¨C Artemis will be taking over.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯ll hate that.¡± Kallisto said.


    ¡°She¡¯ll live.¡± Julius shot back. ¡°Elaine, I¡¯m delegating telling Artemis to you. She¡¯ll take it better from you.¡± He paused a moment, thinking. ¡°Don¡¯t let her talk you into swapping, or joining her, or anything. Tomorrow you and Kallisto are off and paired up.¡±


    I saluted Julius, letting him know I¡¯d gotten it and understood.


    Julius and Maximus vanished together, off to do gods knows what. I popped into the Argo to grab a snack, while Kallisto rustled up a table and some chairs from the Guard.


    We sat down together, waiting for the first person to show up, as I chowed down happily, dried meat in one hand, hunk of cheese in another. Kallisto eyed me.


    ¡°Busy morning?¡±


    ¡°Crazy.¡± I responded as a piece of cheese went down the hatch, before I took another bite of the mystery meat. I didn¡¯t want to know, I didn¡¯t want to know, I repeated the mantra in my head. ¡°Maximus had me practicing all sorts of shield stuff, then we did a ton of fire practice. On top of yesterday¡¯s shield practice with Artemis, I¡¯m ravenous. I could eat a whole cow.¡±


    I thought about an entire cow for a few moments there, how big they were, and amended myself.


    ¡°A whole sheep. Maybe not a cow. Well-cooked, fresh, tender ribs¡­. Mmmmm¡­..¡± I closed my eyes, fantasizing about all the tasty food I could eat.


    ¡°Hey Kallisto, I have some questions for you.¡± I asked, bored as we waited.


    ¡°Shoot.¡±


    ¡°Do mages get fat? If I don¡¯t get enough to eat, will I end up short?¡± I asked.


    Kallisto shrugged.


    ¡°I see Artemis eat tons of food, and she¡¯s exceedingly fit and in-shape. No idea about other mages. No idea on the short thing. Why would not eating enough result in you staying short?¡± He asked.


    I facepalmed. Basic nutrition ¨C what little I had left ¨C was still too advanced for here. Whatever. I could almost see Papilion¡¯s point when he shredded my knowledge of Earth. If what I had left was ground-breaking, what on Pallos would what I lost do?


    We chatted casually about various things, Kallisto being a surprising font of knowledge on dealing with people, and how to be sneaky in towns. I looked at him sideways.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you put that knowledge to good use.¡± I said sarcastically, imagining the mischief he must get into.


    ¡°I do Elaine. I¡¯m not a peeper. There¡¯s no need for me to be one.¡± He said, flipping his hair heroically.


    Damnit, he was probably right. He¡¯d just ask nicely and get to see everything he wanted to.


    I was brought out of my musing by someone walking up to us, a twitchy, nervous-looking man with teeth stained purple.


    ¡°Hi, are you two the Rangers?¡± He asked, looking up at the banner planted beside us, then down at us ¨C mostly me ¨C doubtfully. I pointed to the badge on my chest.


    ¡°Yup! What can we do for you?¡± I asked in my best customer service voice.


    ¡°Well, there are these huge ¨C and I mean really enormous ¨C slimes coming from the sewers. Big as a house! The guards aren¡¯t doing much about them, please can you help?¡±


    I looked at Kallisto, unsure of my response. He put on his best diplomatic smile. ¡°Sure! We¡¯ll take a look into it. Where abouts are they found?¡±


    ¡°I last saw one on the intersection of Potter¡¯s and Fisherman¡¯s street.¡± He said. Kallisto indicated for me to take some notes. I fumbled out the bamboo and charcoal, and started writing.


    ¡°Thanks, we¡¯ll look into it.¡± Kallisto politely thanked the man, and he twitchily walked off.


    I was in that strangely uncomfortable stage where I¡¯d both eaten my fill, and was ravenous for more. I literally couldn¡¯t eat another bite though.


    ¡°Do we go to Potter and Fisherman now?¡± I asked, eyeing the open back of Argo.


    Kallisto snorted. ¡°Unlikely. First off, slimes are a job for the guard. Second off, a slime that big? We¡¯d know about it now, not from a Purple Flower user. Don¡¯t you have a problem with Purple Flower where you¡¯re from, um¡­¡±


    ¡°Aquiliea.¡± I supplied. ¡°I¡¯ve bumped into users now and then. Couldn¡¯t cure their addiction, but is that any reason to discount what he¡¯s saying?¡±


    Kallisto rolled his eyes. ¡°Yeah. We get dozens of fake or bad reports or requests for every one real problem we get. How credible the reporter is factors in. If the high priest of the temple came to us about a massive slime, we¡¯d probably poke around. If four Purple Flower users came to us about giant slimes, we¡¯d take a look. One person, on a drug known to cause hallucinations?¡± Kallisto arched an eyebrow at me. ¡°I¡¯ll give it a pass.¡±


    A few more people came and went, some with reasonable-sounding tales, others wanting us to slay sea monsters so large, the town would be a single bite for it.


    ¡°For that one,¡± Kallisto said as the woman walked off. ¡°if the monster did exist, we¡¯d be bailing, not trying to fight it!¡±


    I chuckled at that.


    ¡°Tomorrow, we¡¯re a pair.¡± The Ranger¡¯s tank stated.


    ¡°Yes?¡± I responded, not quite sure where he was going with this. Kallisto suddenly looked uncomfortable for some reason.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m hoping in the evening, that you¡¯d be, ah, more willing to go along with my plans. In exchange, during the day, let¡¯s do what you want!¡± He said the last part quickly, hoping to skate over the first part.


    I eyed up. ¡°You¡¯re just trying to get laid, and we need to stick in pairs.¡± I puzzled out.


    ¡°Guilty.¡± He said.


    I sighed. ¡°What does that entail for me?¡±


    Kallisto brightened up, practically shining like the metal his hair seemed to be made out of.


    ¡°Not much! Just know where I settle in for the evening, and you¡¯re done. If I go missing, Julius would know where to start investigating.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t walking back on my own also break the ¡®stay in pairs¡¯ rule?¡± I asked


    Kallisto shrugged.


    ¡°Minorly, technically, yes. No worse than your kerfuffle at the gate earlier. We do recognize that we get split up briefly at times.¡±


    I thought about it. I didn¡¯t really have any plans yet, although maybe I could do some healing. Virinum might have a powerful Light healer, but I doubt they did discount work.


    ¡°Fine. But help me with what I want.¡±


    ¡°What do you want to do?¡±


    ¡°I want to heal a bunch of people, and I want to make it cheap and affordable. So anyone can get fixed up, regardless if they can pay or not.¡± Might even level up [Oath] while I was at it.


    ¡°However, I¡¯ve never been particularly good about finding people, or letting people know what I can do. With your gift of gab, I figure you can help me find people, and we¡¯ll work off of that.¡±


    Kallisto made some muttering noises to himself.


    ¡°You can¡¯t get a clinic started, and I doubt any healer would just let you walk into their place and steal all their business. How do you plan on doing this?¡±


    I shrugged.


    ¡°I have no idea. That¡¯s why I¡¯m asking you for help. My goal is to help as many people as possible, that don¡¯t usually have access to the type of healer I am, and to do it in a way that helps them, and keeps me well-fed.¡±


    ¡°Let me think about it. I think I can get that to work.¡± Kallisto sounded super excited about this. I suspected it was because I wasn¡¯t contesting his evening plans, giving him a free pass, in exchange for doing not much on his part.


    The afternoon slowly turned into evening as Arthur showed up, joining us now and then, but mostly hanging out in the wagon, the occasional foul smell coming out of it killing my appetite.


    ¡°Arthur, that better be vented by the time we need to sleep!¡± Kallisto warned.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, it¡¯ll be fine.¡± Arthur brushed him off.


    The guard barracks. I was sleeping in a real bed tonight, away from whatever Arthur was doing.


    The day wound down to a close, as Artemis eventually showed up, looking as wrinkled as a prune.


    ¡°Artemis!¡± I said happily, bouncing up to her. ¡°You¡¯re back!¡±


    ¡°Heya healy-bug.¡± She said. ¡°What¡¯s up.¡±


    ¡°I got coated in blood today ¨C don¡¯t worry it was mine ¨C ¡° Artemis¡¯s look of concern on her face reminded me that my blood being all over me wasn¡¯t a good thing, ah well, oops. ¡°and I am dying for a bath. And some new tunics. I can¡¯t be solo come with me please?¡±


    Artemis looked at Kallisto, leaned over to see Arthur inside, shrugged.


    ¡°Sure, why not.¡±


    ¡°Oh by the way you¡¯re on desk duty tomorrow.¡± I said rapidly. I got a sour look from Artemis.


    ¡°Julius told me to tell you.¡±


    Artemis rolled her eyes. Kallisto butted in.


    ¡°He probably didn¡¯t want to listen to you try and whine your way out of it.¡±


    A blessedly uneventful, but too-short bath, a shopping trip later, and before I knew it, I was in bed, in the guard¡¯s barracks, drifting off to sleep.


    Tomorrow, I¡¯d see just how many people I could heal in a day. 5? 5 was a lot. Kallisto would have to work hard to find 5 people. Maybe 10 if he was really lucky, and word spread a bit.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 14]


    [Mana: 2720/2720]


    [Mana Regen: 5170]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 33]


    [Strength: 30]


    [Dexterity: 21]


    [Vitality: 41]


    [Speed: 32]


    [Mana: 272]


    [Mana Regeneration: 711]


    [Magic Power: 282]


    [Magic Control: 782]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 128]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 128]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 105]


    [Medicine: 111]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 101]


    [Phases of the Moon: 70]


    [Eyes of the Milky Way: 88]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 66]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 71]


    [Class 2: [Firebug - Fire: Lv 19]]


    [Fire Affinity: 19]


    [Fire Resistance: 14]


    [Fire Conjuration: 19]


    [Fire Manipulation: 19]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 71]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 72]


    [Pretty: 97]


    [Vigilant: 104]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 105]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 7]


    [Running: 70]


    [Learning: 105]

 Chapter 57 – Adventures in Virinum II

    I woke up after yet another terrible night¡¯s sleep, yawning and stretching. At least I was clean. I got my stuff together, heading out to the wagon with the banner fluttering in the breeze. I took a deep breath of the sea air, long years of living next to the sea combined with the season suggesting, hinting with a wink-nudge, that a storm might be brewing, was thinking of coming in.


    Today would be fine though. I hung out for a while at the ¡°waiting¡± desk ¨C Artemis was grumbling under her breath about being ¡®stuck here all day¡¯, and generally giving off a malcontent air ¨C snacking on some breakfast, waiting for Kallisto.


    Kallisto eventually showed up, and I kept snacking as he grabbed some breakfast, popping back out of the wagon, somehow looking fresh and clean, in spite of never having gone near the baths. I eyed him suspiciously. Did he have some sort of skill for that? Something to help his game? Ah well.


    ¡°Ready Elaine?¡± He asked, polishing off his breakfast in record time.


    ¡°Ready! Can we stop by the courier guild first? I¡¯d like to send a letter.¡±


    Kallisto shrugged. ¡°Sure, no skin off my back. Day¡¯s yours.¡±


    We explored town a bit, asking for the occasional directions to the courier¡¯s guild. We found it, and I popped in to send a letter back home, as promised. I¡¯d delayed on sending it, but a day or so of delay didn¡¯t matter, not when I¡¯d been gone so long.


    The letter took a few tries, and cost me a few extra coins as I needed to keep rewriting things. I wanted to tell them all about the monster attacks, and how I¡¯d helped, but I didn¡¯t want them to worry too much. I settled on shorter and sweeter.


    Dear Mom and Dad,


    Hey! It¡¯s Elaine! I¡¯m still alive and well.


    I managed to bump into Artemis, and I¡¯ve been travelling with her and her Ranger team. We¡¯re in Virinum now! It¡¯s both like Aquiliea, and not like Aquiliea at the same time. Lots of clay, not a lot of dyes. I hit level 128, and my classes merged! I¡¯m a Celestial Healer now! The skills are so pretty, I¡¯ll show you when I¡¯m in Aquiliea next!


    I¡¯m staying with the Rangers for now ¨C they¡¯re all so nice! Julius is the boss, Origen is the strong silent type with a thousand tattoos, Maximus has been teaching me about the System, Kallisto¡¯s really nice, Arthur¡¯s the size of a mountain and can somehow vanish, and you know Artemis.


    I love you two tons! I¡¯m safe and happy. I hope things are going well!


    Your loving daughter,


    Elaine.


    I decided that telling them I was a Ranger now would just freak them out more, and left that out. I eyed my letter critically, the most recent iteration.


    A bit smudged, a bit stained, but otherwise good enough. I brought it up to the counter, gave directions where in Aquiliea to deliver the letter, lightened my pouch considerably for the delivery fee, and headed back out with Kallisto.


    ¡°Healing,¡± I said, starting a conversation. ¡°how do you suggest I find people to heal?¡± I had some ideas, but Kallisto was the master. If his idea was no good, I could always fall back on mine.


    ¡°Pretty simple!¡± He said. ¡°Follow me!¡±


    I followed Kallisto to the large, central market.


    ¡°We¡¯re not allowed to setup a stall here in the town center.¡± I said, pointing out the obvious. ¡°The local guard would probably be pissed if we setup our own operation outside of the lines, without paying taxes.¡± Ideally, I¡¯d have a place in the center market, but the cost was far outside of what I could afford, especially if I wanted to heal people cheaply. It was an option to setup a stall next to the Argo, but that was kinda out of the way. Not a lot of foot traffic.


    ¡°Yup!¡± Kallisto said. ¡°Which is why we¡¯re not going to set one up ourselves. However, we can ask around, and see if someone would let us use part of their stall.¡±


    ¡°Why would they do that?¡± I asked, dodging another group of people as we were in the thick of the babble that was the market. Big stalls, small stalls, colorful stalls, the main difference being painted ceramics causing the riot of colors instead of dyed cloth.


    ¡°Advertising.¡± Kallisto answered, casually slapping the hand of a kid reaching for his pouch. I eyed the kid. Hand didn¡¯t look broken, no need for me to intervene. Instead I protectively grabbed my pouch, and locking eyes with him, stuck my tongue out at him. He scattered. ¡°We get a small corner of the stall, yell a bunch about discounted healing. People come to us, and while you¡¯re healing them, or if we¡¯re lucky, waiting in line for healing, they¡¯re right next to the merchant, who¡¯s selling them things. Everyone wins. Unlikely to work for a specialty merchant, but a general goods or food¡­. Ahha! Let¡¯s try here.¡±


    Saying that, Kallisto stopped at a large, sprawling stall. Calling it four or five stalls glued together would only be inaccurate in the glue part of it. Nailed together? Nailed together. Food, pottery, trinkets of all sorts were arrayed in a dizzying manner all over. The far section even had a nice assortment of jewelry.


    Kallisto began negotiating briskly as I looked over the jewelry, eyes widening. This wasn¡¯t the twisty copper that Bakus was making all those years ago. No, these were gold and silver, with Arcanite being used as gemstones. I wanted. I wanted very badly.


    ¡°How much?¡± I asked about the smallest piece I could see to the man keeping close guard over the jewelry. He named a price that I couldn¡¯t come close to affording. My shoulders slumped, and he smirked at me, making a ¡°shoo¡± motion with his hands.


    ¡°Elaine, good news!¡± I almost jumped as Kallisto started talking with me. ¡°Not only is Kosmimatus ok with us sharing some stall space, he¡¯s even willing to pay for everyone!¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± I asked, sure there was a catch. Kallisto leaned down conspiratorially. I threw up [Veil of the Aurora] around us, just another flash of bright skill-color in the marketplace.


    ¡°The payment is optional, and sadly we¡¯re touching politics.¡± Politics, bleh. The look on my face must¡¯ve been transparent, as Kallisto followed up. ¡°He¡¯s gearing up to run for Senator. He¡¯d like to buy your services for a full day, and not only will he draw traffic to his stall, he¡¯ll be buying a ton of good will. Not only that, but he¡¯ll be shielding you from the ire of anyone you¡¯re undercutting. Instead of being ¡®that wandering healer coming in and undercutting us¡¯ to the local healers, you¡¯re now external hired help, and any annoyance they might feel gets directed to Kosmimatus, since it¡¯s his fault, not yours. Since he¡¯s just doing it to buy good will, they won¡¯t care nearly as much as someone coming in to just help.¡±


    This politics nonsense was making my head spin. I just wanted to heal people, damnit! Why was it suddenly complicated? And people getting mad just because I wanted to help, and being less-mad when it wasn¡¯t for a good purpose? People made no sense.


    ¡°And?¡± I asked, knowing there was more.


    ¡°And we wouldn¡¯t be doing it as Rangers. Rangers don¡¯t get involved in politics, at all. Too much potential mess. Imagine if every candidate we supported won ¨C or if we supported someone and they lost. Either way our image is tainted, and our work harder. Pins off, and you¡¯re just a healer, and I¡¯m just your bodyguard.¡±


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Ranger¡¯s Lore] has reached level 8!]


    Kallisto thought for a few more moments. ¡°I think I accurately stated what you can do, but I might have oversold you. Today might end up being high-pressure, although you¡¯re free to snack on other things Kosmimatus is selling.¡±


    Free food? Free food. The politics was hard, but food and jewelry to heal?


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll do it.¡±


    I dropped [Veil], and put one and one together.


    ¡°Hey wait, you picked this one because there¡¯ll be more women to flirt with.¡± I accused Kallisto.


    ¡°Guilty!¡± He said, not a shred of remorse on his face. ¡°But it works out for you, so what do you care?¡±


    I rolled my eyes, as we went over to Kosmimatus, a robust man with pianist fingers.


    ¡°This must be Elaine!¡± He said with gusto, with vigor! ¡°Kallisto¡¯s been telling me all about you! Forgive me, you look a tad young, and while you are clearly both Rangers ¨C congratulations on becoming a Ranger at such a young age ¨C I hope you don¡¯t mind if I ask for a small demonstration?¡±


    I looked him up and down. ¡°Sure, I don¡¯t mind a small demonstration, but could I get a small demonstration of your jewelry offering? I hope you don¡¯t mind.¡± I said the last bit cheekily, figuring that while, yes, he¡¯d been asking very politely, and it was a reasonable offer, I¡¯d treat him the same way he treated me. Golden rule and all that.


    Kosmimatus blinked a few times, clearly processing what I¡¯d just said. Once it clicked for him, he roared with laughter.


    ¡°The audacity! The panache! I like you! Here!¡± He made a ¡®come-hither¡¯ motion with his finger, as a pair of dazzling earrings lifted themselves off of the mini-pillow they¡¯d been on, floating over. ¡°Arcanite ok? I have Arcanite and Metal classes, I¡¯m a [Magical Jeweler], and while I do work with some of the more common gems, well, I don¡¯t have anything for Celestial.¡±


    I nodded greedily, looking at the earrings being offered. For a day of healing!


    Well, display for a display, and [Veil of the Aurora] was my flashiest skill. I waved my hand ¨C completely unneeded, but I was trying to put on a display ¨C and the Aurora Borealis stretched above us, a dazzling display of lights.


    I smiled smugly, half-expecting some oohs or ahhs from the market. Nada. Just another merchant with a light display advertising. Drat.


    Kosmimatus got some of his helpers to rearrange things, and soon the stalls were re-arranged into roughly a long horseshoe, just barely wide enough for three people, with me at the ¡°top¡± of the horseshoe, looking in. There was a small gap next to me for people to exit. I looked at the setup, slightly confused, then got it.


    Ah, so as people came to me, they¡¯d have to walk past everything being sold. If there was a line, even better ¨C they¡¯d had to wait next to all sorts of enticing items, and, well, while you¡¯re here, might as well pick up that loaf of bread you needed¡­.


    Clever! I admired Kosmimatus¡¯s business sense, of which I had none. Didn¡¯t really have the time or ability, and I¡¯d always allowed word of mouth to do work for me.


    I settled into my seat behind the stall, with Kallisto lounging next to me, looking like a cat in the sun. Our pins were off ¨C couldn¡¯t tacitly endorse anyone ¨C and I settled in, waiting for the first person to show up.


    I played with my fire as I waited, making sure to keep the flames low enough that my regeneration could keep up. Not as efficient training as just flat-out making things burn, but I¡¯d be able to heal to the best of my abilities if someone showed up.


    It took some time, and it was Kallisto of all people who managed to land me my first patient. He was chatting up yet another woman who¡¯d stopped by to look at some of the necklaces on display ¨C I¡¯d already put my earrings on, and I was in the process of attuning the Arcanite to myself ¨C when I suddenly heard my name.


    ¡°¡­ Elaine here could fix that. Right?¡± Kallisto said.


    I had no idea what I¡¯d just been signed up for, but I was going to seize the moment. ¡°Right!¡±


    She looked at me up and down, then shrugged. ¡°I do believe it can not get any worse. Alright deary, take a look.¡± She rolled up her sleeve, and showed me her arm, where there was a long, nasty-looking scar.


    ¡°Just confirming, you want me to remove the scar?¡± I asked, wanting to make sure I didn¡¯t punt my first patient after not hearing what Kallisto had been saying.


    ¡°If you would be so kind.¡± She responded.


    ¡°Alrighty, come here ¨C I require physical touch.¡±


    She offered me her arm, and I stood up ¨C damn being short ¨C stretched up and over the stall, touched her arm, hitting her with a [Vastness of the Stars] ¨C healing was itchy and uncomfortable, and I might as well put my best foot forward. I focused on [Phases of the Moon], reflecting on removing scar tissue, bringing back fresh, healthy flesh. The scar vanished, and all my work yesterday paid off, and got pushed over the edge.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 71!]


    The scar tissue turned into untanned flesh, marking where she¡¯d had the scar. Her other hand flew to her face, covering her open mouth.


    ¡°Oh my! Thank you! What do I owe you?¡± She asked, reaching for her pouch.


    ¡°Nothing!¡± I said proudly. ¡°Kosmimatus is sponsoring me healing anyone and everyone today, so tell everyone! Free healing here today!¡± I leaned in, whispering conspiratorially. ¡°I can also restore limbs, and just about any serious injury! Completely free! I¡¯m only in town for a few more days though ¨C let your friends know! I¡¯m sure one or two of them have a scar, or something more serious, they want fixed, or know someone else that needs something fixed.¡±


    I winked at her, as she got a thoughtful look on her face. She straightened up, and stalked off with purpose, as Kallisto looked at me open-mouthed in horror, a shocked look of betrayal on his face.


    ¡°Elaine! You ruined my chances with her!¡±


    I stuck my tongue out at him. Too bad!


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 14]


    [Mana: 2588/2720]


    [Mana Regen: 5170]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 33]


    [Strength: 30]


    [Dexterity: 21]


    [Vitality: 41]


    [Speed: 32]


    [Mana: 272]


    [Mana Regeneration: 711]


    [Magic Power: 282]


    [Magic Control: 782]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 128]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 128]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 105]


    [Medicine: 111]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 101]


    [Phases of the Moon: 71]


    [Eyes of the Milky Way: 88]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 66]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 71]


    [Class 2: [Firebug - Fire: Lv 19]]


    [Fire Affinity: 19]


    [Fire Resistance: 14]


    [Fire Conjuration: 19]


    [Fire Manipulation: 19]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 71]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 72]


    [Pretty: 97]


    [Vigilant: 104]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 105]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 8]


    [Running: 70]


    [Learning: 105]

 Chapter 58 – Adventures in Virinum III

    After the lady left ¨C I never caught her name ¨C I went back to playing with fire, trying to make a careful circlet for myself without lighting my hair on fire. I had [Fire Resistance], but my hair wasn¡¯t fireproof.


    Yet. One day¡­.


    I finally got the flames to play nicely, evenly flaring out to make it more a crown than a circlet, and my efforts and manipulation were rewarded.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Firebug] has leveled up to level 20! +2 Free Stats, +2 Mana, +1 Mana Regen, +3 Magic power, +1 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Strength from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Affinity] has reached level 20!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Conjuration] has reached level 20!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Manipulation] has reached level 20!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 98!]


    [*Ding!* For reaching level 20, you¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Fuel for the Fire]!]


    [Fuel for the Fire] You are constantly eating, needing to restore your energy after burning it all away with flames. This skill will help you eat more, eat faster, and convert it to energy more quickly. Increased food to energy and food to mana conversion per level.


    I took the skill, eyeing it suspiciously. Really System? Really? This was the first real Fire-mage skill I was getting? Not fireball, but a gluttony skill?


    I closed my eyes, breathing in, breathing out. It was a skill. It was magic. I was already becoming old and curmudgeonly, complaining about skills I was getting. Next thing you know I¡¯d be saying that System Day was disappointing! I was turning into my mother! Help, help!


    Let¡¯s try this again.


    Woohoo! A new skill! [Fuel for the Fire]! I could eat more! I¡¯d top my reserves up faster! Who knows, maybe down the line I could eat interesting things and change my flames! Whoosh! Green fire! Blue fire! Purple fire! More practically, it seemed like eating would help me restore my mana directly.


    Maybe it¡¯d let me eat wood, and use that as flames!


    I knuckled myself at the last idea. Or I could just light it on fire, like a normal person.


    What was a normal person here even like?


    ¡°Elaine.¡± Kallisto¡¯s voice snapped me back to normal. ¡°Got anything you¡¯d like to share?¡± He asked, looking at me significantly.


    I threw up [Veil] around us quickly. ¡°Leveled up! New skill! [Fuel for the Fire]! Seems to help me convert food to energy and mana.¡±


    Kallisto made an appreciative noise. ¡°Ok, super fast. I¡¯m no Maximus, I dunno this stuff as well as he does. I think your skill is a bit stronger than you give it credit for, especially with all the casting you do. Lemme try to rustle something up for you.¡±


    I dropped [Aurora], and started snacking on some food Kallisto rustled up. Probably just asked Kosmimatus for something. I eyed what I was eating. Something cheap.


    A second lady showed up, wanting a scar removed. I happily obliged her, and she seemed surprised that yes, it was indeed free. I saw her do some shopping, and happily move on.


    The trickle of people turned into a flood, and before I knew it, to my great surprise, I had a line. I never had a line in Aquiliea! The power of PR. Or free stuff.


    And, I suppose, the power of being able to restore limbs and scars, along with being free. There were some notable events throughout the day.


    A street kid came up to me, wanting me to come with him to fix his sister. I looked at Kallisto.


    ¡°What?¡± He said. ¡°You should stay here.¡±


    ¡°I know. I want you to go with him to pick her up, and bring her back here. She¡¯s really sick from the sound of it, and right now I¡¯m Kosmimatus¡¯s golden goose. Nothing¡¯s going to happen to me while I¡¯m here.¡±


    Kid had a frowny face. ¡°Kallisto¡¯s great! Everything will be ok.¡± I reassured him.


    Kallisto went off with the street kid ¨C I still didn¡¯t have his name ¨C as I saw other patients.


    Most of what I fixed was minor. A fish hook that had caught deep in a shoulder that never properly healed got fixed, the man getting a full range of motion back in his arm. An old man, getting cataracts in his eyes as he aged, getting his vision restored back to its prime. Enough lost fingers and fingertips to fill a jar. A wayward nail that¡¯d been stepped on recently. Too many teeth to count ¨C easy to lose, expensive to fix, easy to live without. Removing the ¡°expensive to fix¡± part changed the math on getting them restored quite a bit.


    A few army veterans, wanting a top-off, just to make sure nothing was degrading.


    My high control got to show off a bit. An old man who came for a different problem left with his formerly-restored teeth having nerves again. An elbow poorly healed could work properly. A leg with a limp could move freely again. A poorly, bulk-fixed patch of skin from a veteran was reformed and reshaped, becoming more like his original flesh, and less like a flesh-covered quick-fix patch.


    It helped me see that my control was much higher than I was giving it credit for, that I was able to do more than some other Light healers. I¡¯d only see the ¡°failed¡± efforts though, not the successful ones. Reverse-survivor bias at work. I shouldn¡¯t let it go to my head.


    Some problems I couldn¡¯t fix. A parent, driven to her wit¡¯s end, with a child that just wouldn¡¯t speak. I explained to her that nothing was wrong with her kid, that¡¯s just the way he was, to embrace it and learn to live with it. Her hateful glare lingered in my mind, as unjustified as it was. A woman, bringing along her ranting and raving father, who upon investigation probably had lead poisoning. Nothing I could do with that. Death. Death was unfixable, permanent. Not everyone had realized that death had visited. I fixed what I could, saving some lives.


    Some were strange. A man, lean, with a swimmer¡¯s look, a small, fresh cut on his arm with dirt rubbed in it, intent on sniffing me. I healed him and kept my distance. Diving for the potential loot the monster left behind was more dangerous than I thought. A twitchy-looking man, who insisted on privacy ¨C I offered everyone [Veil] out of courtesy, but he demanded it ¨C who then revealed that he¡¯d accidentally offed his genitalia in an ¡®accident.¡¯


    ¡°No, please, I don¡¯t need to see.¡± I said, touching him and fixing him. ¡°There won¡¯t be a second time, please be careful.¡± I deeply regretted that Kallisto was off helping the kid. Next time I should have Artemis, and have her with me.


    Marriage implications. Soooo many marriage implications. ¡°Oh poor dear, all on your own. I have a son/cousin/brother only 2/3/4/5 years older than you, you two would be just perfect together.¡± Ew no. I politely turned them down, and thought about getting a fake ring to stave off potential other offers.


    Interesting that rings were used here to indicate marriage, but they went on the middle finger, not the fourth finger. Arcanite was the usual stone of choice, but if you managed to get your significant other¡¯s elementally-aligned gemstone to their element, that was considered better.


    A man with rotting feet. An amputation ¨C they were dead ¨C and a regrowth later (it was easier than trying to restore the feet), and they were as good as new. I suspected the man had diabetes, and while I could fix his pancreas, if it was type II he was doomed to go down the path again. I gave it a shot. He¡¯d have to pray to Aion if it came back.


    A reminder that my job wasn¡¯t curing people. My job was pushing back the date that Black Crow would come to collect, and hopefully have people live a long enough life that White Dove would visit instead.


    Speaking of Black Crow, Kallisto showed back up, carrying a small girl looking so sick, I could almost see Black Crow sitting on her, pecking away at her life. I got up and rushed over, the latest man in line complaining that it was finally his turn, and who was this cutting in?


    I put my hands on her, and not knowing quite what was wrong, focused on healing her back, on beating the disease, on restoring her to hale and healthy. The lack of a good image of what was wrong, of how I was fixing her, caused me to burn a lot more mana than normal. Fortunately I was staying topped up, partly due to my new skill. The older brother immediately rushed over, checking over her, making sure she was fine. She opened her eyes, and there was a bunch of crying and hugging.


    This. This right here. This is why I healed. This is why I picked healing. These moments, this saving of lives, is why I picked this path, is why I stayed on the path. It was the little moments, the small things, that made it all worth it, that could let me endure the snide remarks about my age and evil glares when I couldn¡¯t fix something.


    The two kids had a quick, hurried discussion, then came over to me.


    ¡°Excuse me miss,¡± The boy said. Oh gods no I was becoming miss. I was too young to be miss! ¡°are you sure there¡¯s nothing we can do for you?¡± I smiled at him.


    ¡°Tell other people. I don¡¯t know how long I¡¯ll be here, so tell as many people who are sick that I¡¯m around. I¡¯m sure it¡¯s not just your sister with a problem is it? I¡¯m free, there are no strings attached.¡± I told him.


    He looked at me suspiciously. ¡°There¡¯s always a price. I was desperate, but I¡¯m ready to pay it.¡±


    I snorted at him. ¡°Yeah, there is a price.¡±


    ¡°I knew it!¡± He said, half-triumphantly, half-bitter at being tricked.


    ¡°Kosmimatus already paid it. He¡¯s getting paid by a bunch of people knowing about him, and buying things from him. Something about running for Senate. Be nice to him, maybe don¡¯t steal from him. We all win.¡±


    The slum kid¡¯s eyes widened, putting the pieces of the puzzle together, as he ran off. Slum kid network was about to see me have a bunch more patients, and Kosmimatus was probably going to see a decline in thefts.


    For like, a week. I had no illusions how far good will went when it came to being hungry.


    The day continued with brisk business, with a few little snags.


    I went completely out of mana a few times, and after some quick negotiations with Kosmimatus, I was allowed to pull the mana out of the Arcanite jewelry he had on display, letting me top up when things were particularly busy, or I had a string of more-serious injuries to heal.


    Kosmimatus was kinda mad about the number of street urchins that showed up to be healed, and we butted heads on that. I pointed out that the deal was to heal anyone, while he didn¡¯t see the value in letting ¡°a bunch of thieves¡± close to his wares where they could be easily stolen ¨C normally they¡¯d be shooed off. The other part was, street urchins didn¡¯t vote, had no political pull. They wouldn¡¯t ¨C couldn¡¯t ¨C help him on his run for Senator.


    We compromised ¨C if anyone stole while in line, they¡¯d be kicked out, and it was made clear to them as they got in line what the deal was. Street kids didn¡¯t show up for minor problems, and none of them ended up displaying a willingness to get kicked out of a life-saving chance for healing over a loaf of bread.


    [Vigilant] got real annoying, pinging quietly during the start of the day, and increasing in volume constantly. Being the center of attention meant, well, I was the center of attention and people were looking at me. I probably looked wealthy ¨C Healer that can restore flesh, has a bodyguard, was young so probably from a rich family, had super-fancy earrings? Oh yeah, some less-savory types were eyeing me up as a mark. Thank gods for Kallisto hanging around! Bless Julius for making us go around in pairs!


    Hard work was rewarded well, as I got a few levels. The lack of stress made it less than a fight, but quantity was a quality of its own, and the variety was staggering.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 129! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 130! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Celestial Affinity] has reached level 129!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Celestial Affinity] has reached level 130!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Warmth of the Sun] has reached level 106!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 112!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 72!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 73!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 74!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Veil of the Aurora] has reached level 67!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vastness of the Stars] has reached level 72!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Identify] has reached level 72!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 105!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 106!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 106!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fuel for the Fire] has reached level 6!]


    The day wrapped up without major incident, the market thinning but me still having a line.


    ¡°I¡¯m out of mana.¡± I complained to Kallisto as I finished healing another scar ¨C not nearly as well as some others, due to being low, but an improvement on the dude¡¯s face.


    ¡°Use another one of the Arcanite pieces.¡± Kallisto said, bored out of his mind. He¡¯d made three ¨C three! ¨C arrangements for that evening, and a dozen more for the rest of the week somehow, and was, in his own words ¡°full up.¡± He¡¯d spent the last few hours looking menacing, but I¡¯d thought I¡¯d heard snoring at one point. I was grateful for him being around either way.


    ¡°They¡¯re all dry. I drained them all.¡± I answered back. Kosmimatus was closing down shop, and I could see that he was ready to go, practically rubbing his hands in glee at how much he¡¯d sold, and probably more importantly to him, how many connections made and hands shaken he¡¯d been able to do. His Senate run was off to a good start, if I was any judge of politics.


    ¡°Listen up! Last call! Does anyone need serious healing? Have a missing finger or tooth or something else that¡¯s a problem?¡±


    Someone in the middle of the line yelled out.


    ¡°I have this nasty scar¡­¡±


    ¡°Real problem?¡± I yelled, even louder.


    There was a bunch of disappointed muttering as the few people left in line realized they were missing last call, and they weren¡¯t going to luck out. One woman stayed behind.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to be a bother, but my foot¡­¡± She trailed off, lifting the hem of her tunic to reveal a club foot.


    ¡°Yeah, ok, give me some time to restore enough mana for that.¡± I said, as everyone was packing up around me.


    ¡°Elaine! Any chance you¡¯ll be here tomorrow?¡± Kosmimatus asked.


    ¡°Got more jewelry?¡± I asked, impish grin on my face. ¡°Oh, and a fresh supply of Arcanite so I can go longer?¡± Upping my demands! Loot him for all he¡¯s got! CEO Elaine in the house!


    ¡°Sure!¡± Kosmimatus replied with a Cheshire Cat grin so wide I suddenly realized I was the one who¡¯d just been taken for a ride.


    Ah well, the levels were good, and the jewelry divine. Hang on, could jewelry end up being actually divine, with goddesses and the like running about? Let me think about ¨C


    ¡°ELAINE! Come on, let¡¯s go.¡± Kallisto was shifting from foot to foot, eager to get a start to his evening.


    ¡°Fine, fine, coming, see you tomorrow!¡± I waved at Kosmimatus, who took a moment away from organizing everyone packing up his wares to wave back.


    We trotted down the street as the sky rapidly darkened ¨C not that I noticed with [Eyes of the Milky Way]. Convenient skill that, if the worthiness of devoting a whole slot to it was questionable.


    ¡°What¡¯s the plan?¡± I asked Kallisto. I thought I knew, I wanted to make sure.


    ¡°Find the place. I go in. You hang out for a short while, check if I get kicked out quickly or not. Usually if I¡¯m inside a short while, I¡¯m able to be there the whole night. Remember where I am, head back to where we sleep, and if I don¡¯t show up in the morning, raise hell and lead the team back here, where they¡¯ll start looking for me.¡±


    I eyed him.


    ¡°How many times has the team come over, prepared to raise hell, only to find you in a compromising position?¡±


    Kallisto stumbled at that, windmilling his arms crazily to catch his balance.


    ¡°Uh, well¡­.¡±


    I snorted.


    ¡°Yeah ok. I have another session tomorrow in the market place! I don¡¯t want to be late!¡± I showed off my new earrings, elegant silver dropping to Arcanite bobble. ¡°I intend to get a complete set!¡±


    Kallisto rolled his eyes. ¡°Those are terrible for a fight. They¡¯ll get ripped right out. Go for Arcanite studs, harder to catch.¡±


    I pouted at how right he was. Damnit!


    Kallisto found a house, checking it carefully before smoothing his hair back.


    "Alright Elaine, this is it! See you tomorrow!"


    "Hang on. This seems like a bad idea. Me, walking back alone? I have a skill that helps me sense danger, it was going off earlier you know. Julius did say to stick in pairs."


    "Well, is your skill going off now?" Kallisto asked, annoyed at me getting cold feet at the last second.


    I checked it. Silent.


    "Look, we do this all the time. Do you think Julius watches and waits when we''re paired up? Do you think Origen decides to tinker with his inscriptions in the street while I''m having fun? No! They check where I''m going, and head back."


    I made an unhappy noise.


    "Come on Elaine, are you a Ranger, or a kid?"


    "Ranger!" I proudly stated, puffing my chest out, pleased at my new status.


    "Exactly! What kind of Rangers would be scared of walking through a town alone? If your danger-skill was going off right now, I''d be concerned, but it''s not. Plus those are usually just thieves, and low-level at that - high level thieves can counter that skill."


    "Listen, worse comes to worse and someone steals your pretty new earrings - they''re gorgeous by the way, they sparkle like your eyes - I''ll get you a new pair out of my savings. It''ll be all on me."


    I weighed my options. On one hand, Julius had said not to be separated. On the other, Kallisto had some great points, and I''d spent half a lifetime sneaking around towns at night. I knew how to sneak around. I could get myself from A to B no problem, I was a town girl! I didn''t even need to dodge the guard this time, I could just hook myself up to a patrol until I got back.


    "Alright, fine, enjoy." I said


    Kallisto gave me a brilliant grin, then turned and knocked on the door. The door opened, he got yanked inside by a pair of slender arms, and all I saw was a thumbs up from him before the door slammed shut.


    Welp. I guess I could just head back now, no need to wait. I took careful note of the house, seeing the painted clay pattern that distinguished it from the rest, got my bearings roughly where I was in town, and started to head back.


    I was careful - I poked my head around a corner, checked for [Vigilant] alerting me to anything. Only when it was clear, only when it was quiet as a mouse, did I go forward, slowly leapfrogging my way through town. Sure, it was overkill, and the thieves from earlier had moved onto richer targets - why wait half the day or more to try to get a few coins from a healer with [Vigilant] that wasn''t even charging for healing and had a bodyguard when there were richer targets that could be stolen from now - but why not play it safe?


    I¡¯d made my way down a few streets when [Vigilant] screamed bloody murder at me, went from 0 to 100, and, from my prior experiences, [Center of the Galaxy] keeping me firm and steady, not jumping in surprise, I was able to immediately snap up a full-body [Veil of the Aurora], wincing as I watched my mana ¨C get brutally chunked.


    2655/3080 Mana.


    I was under attack.

 Chapter 59 – Adventures in Virinum IV

    I was incredibly thankful for [Center of the Galaxy] ¨C there was no way I¡¯d have reacted in time without it, and I¡¯d be in a full-blown panic right now instead of calmly assessing the situation.


    First off, I needed to move, to run. I wasn¡¯t prepared for a fight, I wasn¡¯t a fighter, and this was an ambush. First rule of fighting, don¡¯t. If I stayed turtled up in my shield, it¡¯d get hammered until I was out of mana, break, and then I¡¯d be helpless. Not an option.


    I crouched down into a sprinter¡¯s start, ready to move. I dropped my shield, and almost immediately re-formed it into a long, enclosed tunnel that I could sprint down, to the max length of my shield, around 7 meters.


    Then I turned around, and kept my sprinter¡¯s crouch, facing the shimmering wall of my [Veil]. Duh I¡¯d run down the tunnel I just made. My attackers saw me ready to sprint, ready to run, saw me put up a tunnel. Of course, I¡¯d be at the other end. I had no plans of being at the other end.


    I waited a heartbeat, four, heart racing so fast I could barely count. I wanted to give them enough time to reach the other side, give me distance. I watched my mana drop ¨C 2211/3080 ¨C and knowing that my attacker had hit my shield again, I dropped it, taking off like a shot towards where I¡¯d left Kallisto. I¡¯d take any guards as well.


    ¡°Help! Murder!¡± I yelled out, wanting to cause as much of a commotion as possible, twisting my head to look behind me.


    Three men were there. One I vaguely recognized from somewhere, built lean and wiry, like a swimmer, one built like a brick shithouse, lumberjack axe over one shoulder, and one short and skinny man in robes, holding a staff, looking like a stereotypical mage out of a book. I mentally dubbed them ¡°Swimmer¡±, ¡°Lumberjack¡±, and ¡°Idiot Mage¡±.


    Idiot Mage slammed the butt of his staff against the ground, and suddenly I wasn¡¯t running on firm road, my feet sinking into the ground with every step. Swimmer started running towards me, and it was like I was being chased by Maximus ¨C not quite as fast as Julius, but oh so much faster than anything I could do.


    I snapped up [Veil] to work as flooring, running on a shimmering aura. I checked my mana. 1440. Step. 954. Step. 362. Holy shit that burnt so much mana. I turned it off, feet sinking into the ground, drawing my trusty knife.


    Swimmer came at me, and I blasted flames at him, turning the flames as he dodged, keeping them between me and him.


    ¡°HELP! MURDER! MURDER!¡± I kept yelling out. Maybe time to be inventive.


    ¡°HELP! FIRE! FIRE!¡± I continued yelling, performing a bit of arson on the shop behind me. Sorry unknown shopkeeper. My life means more to me. I¡¯ll try to make it up to you.


    Lumberjack and Idiot Mage were rushing over, and Swimmer was staying out of the flames. He kept trying to dart in, only for me to blast another set of flames towards him, as hard as I could. I threw [Veil of the Aurora] up as high as I could, hoping that one of the other Rangers just so happened to be looking up, seeing a signal.


    Damnit, now I know why signals had to have sound as well.


    ¡°You¡¯re sure this is her?¡± Lumberjack asked Swimmer. ¡°She¡¯s not supposed to have Fire!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure! I checked earlier, she can still do Light and Dark healing! From the looks of things, she classed up and got a secondary element.¡± Swimmer replied.


    It clicked where I¡¯d seen him before. The weird patient that had a shallow cut with dirt rubbed in it, who sniffed me weirdly. It made no sense for someone to visit a healer for that, let alone rub dirt in it, but if he was checking that I was both a Light and Dark healer, it made sense.


    ¡°This is a bad idea.¡± I said, panicking as my mana was nearly out. ¡°You¡¯re attacking a Ranger. This doesn¡¯t end well for you.¡±


    Cries of panic, someone else had taken up my cry of ¡°Fire!¡±, I just needed to stall a bit longer. Lumberjack snorted. ¡°Inventive excuse. Nestor, Paris, take her.¡± Swimmer darted in, incredibly fast, and punched me in the face. My head snapped back, and I windmilled my arms, trying to keep my balance, looking up at the sky, at the moons staring down at me, coldly mocking me with their merciless gaze. I felt my feet get kicked out from under me, as I landed on the ground. Mud rose up around me, trying to wrap around me, cocooning me, and I shot one last desperate blast of flames, a clumsy attempt at the Ranger Eagle in circle on the wall.


    The mud wrapped around me, leaving a tiny bubble in front of my face for air. Just enough air for now, they had to let me go soon.


    Right? My end wasn¡¯t going to be slowly suffocating in mud. They had to know about air, and that people suffocated without enough air. Especially what seemed to be a mud-mage.


    I could feel myself getting picked up, getting moved around. Mostly through dizzying turns ¨C it was completely pitch-dark inside my bubble, as I was entirely encased in mud. I tried moving experimentally, not making any headway.


    Mud was conjured, so it was likely that struggling against it with my meager stats wouldn¡¯t help. Otherwise I¡¯d try to drain Idiot Mage¡¯s mana, then make a break for it when he was drained. My mana would be full up soon, and I could work on a break for it then. If that didn¡¯t work, try, try again.


    The jostling and moving hadn¡¯t stopped, and the air was starting to get stuffy and warm. Breathing was getting harder, my breaths coming more rapidly. Panic was rising, I was going to die here, die suffocating in an air pocket in mud. I didn¡¯t want to die! I had too much to do, I was finally free, free to live my life! My head started to pound, as I tried to pulse [Phases of the Moon] through me to heal me, to give me air.


    I tried to project a skill through the mud I was encased in, but it felt like my skill couldn¡¯t penetrate. Fucking hell.


    For some reason, air wasn¡¯t a thing [Phases] could do. Thinking about it, it kinda made sense, but also didn¡¯t for so many reasons. Whatever. Think later. I needed out now.


    I hadn¡¯t wanted to use flames earlier ¨C they¡¯d splash right back onto my face, and burn what little air I had, but if I was out of air, I was out of options.


    I was steeling myself to endure massive burns again when the top of the mud cocoon opened, and I found myself looking up at Swimmer, Lumberjack, and Idiot Mage. I took some deep, gasping breaths as they looked down on me, thankful for air.


    ¡°Question for you.¡± Lumberjack asked. I was in no mood to answer questions, as I blasted fire at all three of them. Idiot Mage leaned back, Swimmer gracefully dodged, and Lumberjack just let the flames splash over him. His shoulders slumped, a disappointed tone to his voice.


    ¡°Look, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way. We¡¯re supposed to bring you back in one piece ¨C Elaine, right? ¨C but you¡¯re a healer, and the hard way is a lot harder because of it.¡±


    I spat at him. I wasn¡¯t going to make anything easy, and since ¡°dying¡± didn¡¯t seem to be on the menu, and pain was a distant memory with [Center of the Galaxy], I didn¡¯t see what they could do that¡¯d be worse than the situation I was already in.


    Thinking about it, I was half-free, and able to use skills. I threw up a pillar of [Veil], as high as it could go, an attempt to signal that something was here. Idiot Mage walked over, dissolving the cocoon with a tap of his staff.


    Honestly, who used a staff and robes? Armor and swords, that¡¯s where it was at. Robes and a staff didn¡¯t do anything! Armor did! Spears did! Gah. That¡¯s why he was Idiot Mage. I started to climb to my feet.


    My attempt to get up was cut short as Idiot Mage lifted his staff up, and brought it down on my back. I felt a crack, the wind blown out of me as I rolled in the dirt, tumbling along. I felt something on me, a glowing light coming from my back.


    I tried to get up again, and Lumberjack¡¯s eyes got cold and merciless.


    ¡°The hard way then.¡± He took his massive axe, slung over one shoulder, and flipped it, so he was holding the blade, with the handle out. It was clear he meant to cripple, not kill. He moved over to me, bringing the handle down hard.


    I threw my arms up, trying to defend against the strike, only to see a smirk cross his face. Damnit, I got baited into this. The handle came down on my arms with a sickening crack, as I stumbled back down into the dirt. Fuck. Swimmer came over, opened his mouth. Didn¡¯t care what he had to say. Blasted him with fire. I could fix my arms later.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± Swimmer yelled, jumping back. ¡°She¡¯s got an anti-pain skill of some sort.¡±


    Idiot Mage came near, hitting me a few more times with his staff, each blow landing with a crack. Each time it connected, a blindingly bright sticky, squishy thing attached to me. Had to be some sort of skill.


    Lumberjack stepped back, hefting his backwards-held axe. ¡°Anti-pain skills can be broken. Nestor, how much longer on your [Glowing Mud] skill?¡±


    Idiot Mage ¨C I had a name for him now, but I was keeping that ¨C jumped forward, hit me again, another glowing blob on me, and jumped back.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know! Her Regeneration rate is insane for her level!¡±


    ¡°Well keep hitting her!¡± Lumberjack snapped back. He looked at me, trying to get back on my feet without using my arms.


    I got up, looking at him defiantly, then torched the grass in front of me, a wall of flame and confusion. I took off running into the night, able to now see perfectly clearly, [Eyes of the Milky Way] guiding me, flames flickering behind me. I stumbled on some brush, and suddenly, Swimmer was there, kicking my legs out again, causing me to stumble, fall. I tried to break my fall with my arms, only to watch my forearms fold on themselves as I tried to use my broken, shattered arms.


    [Center] pulsed, I could feel the damage I¡¯d just done to myself, a little closer than when they¡¯d first been broken. I tried to get up, and there was Lumberjack, axe held like a baseball bat, swinging for my legs.


    I threw up [Veil] in the way, knowing it¡¯d be a heck of a lot more mana to heal that injury than to tank it.


    It didn¡¯t matter. Lumberjack went right through it, the shattering noise in my mind telling me I was now out of mana, as his axe handle went through the veil, then my legs, breaking them.


    [Galaxy] broke at that, and I screamed as I fell to the ground, all the pain hitting me at once. My broken arms, compounded by me trying to catch myself on them. My legs, in enough pieces to make a spider happy. Some cracked ribs from Idiot Mage, hitting me with his staff. Bruises all over, scrapes and burns and cuts I hadn¡¯t even noticed.


    Pain. Agonizing, overwhelming pain. I screamed and writhed, only realizing it made it worse. I tried to hit myself with [Vastness of the Stars], to make it go away, to fade like stardust, but nothing. I screamed as the three watched, heads together.


    Don¡¯t talk! Help me!


    ¡°Shut her up.¡± Lumberjack ordered, and Idiot Mage gestured, a shot of gunk flying from his hand, hitting my face, sealing my mouth.


    I must scream and I have no mouth.


    The sharp, piercing cries of agony were replaced with muffled screams instead. Swimmer looked worried.


    ¡°Boss, that was a lot of damage we just did. It¡¯d be no good if she died, we won¡¯t get paid.¡±


    Lumberjack looked sour. Maybe. I couldn¡¯t tell, not with every nerve on fire, agony wracking my body.


    ¡°You have your healing mud right?¡± He asked Idiot Mage. Mud! Mud wasn¡¯t clean enough to be healing!


    Idiot Mage nodded.


    ¡°Use that. Good chance she has a passive healing skill as well. Should be enough to prevent a slow death.¡±


    He bent down, looking at me.


    ¡°Alright, I hate doing things the hard way, but you insisted. Here¡¯s the deal. Kerberos has hired us to bring you back. Now, we have nothing against you, and I don¡¯t take any pleasure in hurting you, but we will if we have to. Cooperate, and the trip¡¯s nice. Don¡¯t, and the trip will be unpleasant, like this evening was unpleasant. The glowing things Nestor has on you eats your mana regen, so no more events like tonight can occur. Understand?¡±


    I nodded meekly, anything to stop the pain, to make it go away. It ate at me, it ate at my resolve, it ate at my ability to think clearly, to think properly. The flames I¡¯d lit were dying out, and I doubt anyone had heard my screams out here, out of town. Gods, if I¡¯d just been able to hold out a few more minutes, there¡¯d have been enough people around that they couldn¡¯t have snatched me.


    Why did I let Kallisto talk me into his hair-brained scheme? There¡¯s no way I¡¯d have gotten grabbed if I was in a pair. Or if I had lightning bolts like Artemis.


    Idiot Mage wrapped me up in more mud, a slightly different shade of brown, and I felt soothing energy move through me. I seethed with impotent rage. I didn¡¯t want to be soothed. I wanted the pain to go away, and I wanted to dance on their graves. The shell of the mud hardened around me, basically making an Elaine-Mud cigar with just my head poking out.


    They rolled me over to a small, open-aired wagon, and loaded me on, me cursing through the Ooze gag on my mouth.


    ¡°Ah, treasure. Can¡¯t let you have these.¡± Swimmer came over, and carefully, with a gentleness that belied the prior violence, took my hard-earned earrings off, dropping them into his pouch.


    ¡°Look, if you¡¯re good, I¡¯ll return them when we get back to Aquiliea. Ok?¡± Swimmer tried to barter with me.


    Unable to spit, I glared hatred at him. He rolled his eyes.


    ¡°Or not. A little bonus on a quest¡¯s always nice.¡±


    Gods. Fucking. Damnit.


    I hate adventurers.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 14]


    [Mana: 0/3080]


    [Mana Regen: 0]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 60]


    [Strength: 31]


    [Dexterity: 21]


    [Vitality: 41]


    [Speed: 32]


    [Mana: 308]


    [Mana Regeneration: 752]


    [Magic Power: 312]


    [Magic Control: 818]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 130]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 130]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 106]


    [Medicine: 112]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 101]


    [Phases of the Moon: 74]


    [Eyes of the Milky Way: 88]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 67]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 72]


    [Class 2: [Firebug - Fire: Lv 20]]


    [Fire Affinity: 20]


    [Fire Resistance: 14]


    [Fire Conjuration: 20]


    [Fire Manipulation: 20]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 6]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 72]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 72]


    [Pretty: 98]


    [Vigilant: 106]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 106]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 5]


    [Running: 70]


    [Learning: 105]

 Chapter 60 – Adventures in Virinum V

    I seethed as the three adventurers bustled around me. I was not a thing. I was not property. I wasn¡¯t some errant dog that needed to be fetched back.


    The whole legality of it was probably questionable to boot ¨C probably why they¡¯d smuggled me out of the town, instead of going through the gates during daylight. How had they pulled that off anyways? Probably bribed some smugglers or something. Jackasses, the lot of them. Arrest all the smugglers! Throw ¡®em all to the lions!


    First, I needed to get out of here. The three stooges had demonstrated that in a fight, or running away, I was no match for them at all. Also, while they weren¡¯t actively harming, attacking, or trying to capture me, [Oath] was a nuisance, and was insisting I shouldn¡¯t try to murder them in their sleep. If it wasn¡¯t active self-defense, it didn¡¯t count. No pre-emptive self-defensing, it didn¡¯t work.


    I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath. Planning for later, for when I saw their setup. First, cooperate, get out of the mud prison I was in, get my arms and legs fixed. There was no running away on no mana and broken limbs.


    A panicked thought flitted through my mind. What if they didn¡¯t let me go? What if they just left me like this, and my [Warmth of the Sun] combined with whatever low-level healing the mud was doing caused my bones to set all wrong? Could I even heal that? What if I was a deformed cripple for life?


    [Center of the Galaxy] kicked back in, turning back on, distancing me from the panic, taking away the sharp edge of pain, giving me clear thinking again. Gods, I wish I¡¯d known I could be tortured until the skill broke. I¡¯d have been 60% less defiant. I was going to give Artemis an earful when I next saw her.


    Nah, not Artemis. Maximus. It was his fault clearly, not mine. Plus, Artemis wasn¡¯t the skills expert, that was Maximus.


    Thinking of Artemis and Maximus made me tear up again. Would I see them again? Would I fail to escape, and get locked away in a gilded prison for years? I shook my head. Be positive! I¡¯d gotten away once; I¡¯d get away again. On one hand, it¡¯d be harder ¨C people knew I was trying to escape. On the other hand, easier. No town guards to pass through ¨C not that they¡¯d particularly care if I was just running away. A benefit! Higher levels. More survival skills. [Ranger¡¯s Lore] would stop dumb mistakes I¡¯d made the first time I¡¯d run away. It would help me pack. It would help me setup a campsite. It would help me hunt for survival.


    That all assumed I didn¡¯t make a break for on the road. Although, if I made it all the way to Aquiliea, I should escape in the direction of Ranger HQ at the capital ¨C it was a much shorter trip than trying to catch back up with the rest of the team.


    Speaking of, I wonder when they¡¯d try to find¡­ me¡­


    Holy shit, was that Arthur?


    [Eyes of the Milky Way] was a passive like [Warmth of the Sun], which was to say, it was always on, and it couldn¡¯t be disabled. Well, my other skills weren¡¯t disabled, my mana regeneration was disabled, which effectively disabled them. Same difference. If I hadn¡¯t drained my knife and earrings earlier in the day with my healing marathon, I¡¯d be able to draw them in, and use skills.


    Back to Arthur. A large, wriggling mass of a person ¨C roughly the size of a mountain fallen over ¨C was moving around on the ground, full of sticks and muds and reeds. However, it seemed that he relied quite a bit on darkness, and with [Eyes], I was able to see him ¨C well, his muddy outline ¨C well.


    I eyed my captors. I eyed Arthur. Had he seen me? Was it worth calling out? What would I call out to let Arthur know I was here, without tipping off my captors I was alerting someone? Fuckit. [Galaxy] was back up, and if they decided to beat me again, I¡¯d pretend I was in pain.


    I''d take the risk. I worked my jaw furiously to get rid of the gag they''d placed on me, managing to get it open a hair, enough to get some sound out.


    I took a deep breath, looking at Arthur, and yelled out.


    ¡°Helen of Troy!¡±


    Lumberjack came over and slapped me, hard, my head whipping back and hitting the dried, hardened exterior of the mud prison.


    ¡°Shut up! No yelling! Who¡¯s that?¡± He demanded to know.


    I thought fast. Eh, why not give the truth.


    ¡°Kidnapped person from a story, brought across the sea. That¡¯s who I am now! Helen of Troy!¡±


    ¡°What the fuck is Troy?¡± Swimmer demanded, a small, sharp, curved diving knife playing in his hands.


    ¡°I¡¯d shrug, but I can¡¯t. It¡¯s a story. Who says the place she¡¯s from has to exist?¡±


    Swimmer pressed the sharp edge of the knife against my cheek, gentle running it down my face. I shuddered.


    ¡°No more yelling. Understand?¡±


    I didn¡¯t dare to even nod. I just moved my eyes up and down rapidly, blinking away my terror. Thank the gods for the System.


    The mercenaries kept moving around, and the cart lurched into motion. Silver lining time ¨C this was the smoothest ride ever ¨C the mud was absorbing all the shocks, and it was like I was in a luxury car. Minus the bindings. I looked around, trying to spot Arthur.


    No Arthur. Nothing. Had he moved on? Did he notice me? I was kinda hard to miss, but at the same time, a head in a pile of mud wasn¡¯t the most obvious way of IDing someone.


    Less than a minute into our travels, I heard a high-pitched screaming arrow come nearby, along with a fast-moving light moving high up.


    Arthur¡¯s emergency signal.


    I started laughing with joy, I started crying with relief. I hadn¡¯t been forgotten. I hadn¡¯t been abandoned. Not only was I found, I was found almost immediately. I¡¯d been scared that it would take them until morning, until Kallisto stumbled back to the Argo, for them to realize I was missing. No, they¡¯d caught on early, and with all the beefs I had about Arthur, I was willing to forgive every single one. Bless our scout. Bless his tracking. I¡¯d sing The Iliad every night for a month if he got me out of this!


    ¡°Boss, I don¡¯t like that arrow. Looks and feels like a signal.¡± Idiot Mage said. ¡°We should move faster.¡±


    ¡°Yes, let¡¯s move faster. How?¡± Lumberjack replied, voice dripping with sarcasm. ¡°We can only move as fast as the mule. Stay on your toes, but there shouldn¡¯t be anyone chasing us.¡±


    Idiot Mage grumbled to himself. Swimmer came back over, murder in his eyes, twirling his knife around his finger.


    ¡°You. I told you to shut up, and yet, you keep making loud noises. What do I need to do,¡± At that he crouched down, gripping the sides of my jaw, forcing my mouth open. He grabbed my tongue, pulling it out. ¡°cut your tongue off?¡±


    I made noises of protest, shaking my head as much as I could with my tongue stretched out, eyes glued to the knife.


    ¡°I think you need a bit of a reminder. What I said last time didn¡¯t stick.¡±


    He slowly, cruelly, carved shallow slices in my cheeks, four horizontal lines, blood welling up and falling quickly, giving me the appearance of crying blood.


    ¡°This is your last warning. Next time, it¡¯s your tongue.¡±


    I shut up, not wanting to say a thing, not wanting to provoke Swimmer further. Arthur¡¯s signal had been less than a minute ago, it took time. I just needed to stall for time, and by that, I mean not get murdered before the calvary arrived.


    ¡°Why¡¯s the mule so damn slow tonight?¡± Lumberjack growled. Idiot Mage snapped back. ¡°It¡¯s nighttime! This is the best mule we could afford! No shit it¡¯s going to be slow at night!¡±


    I heard gentle footsteps land ¨C probably Swimmer, since he was the graceful one, Lumberjack would thud and I could barely see Idiot Mage out of the corner of my eye.


    ¡°Boss, problem.¡± Swimmer half-yelled, half-whispered out, in that low, urgent tone. ¡°Someone hit the mule. There¡¯s an arrow in its leg, that¡¯s why it¡¯s moving so slowly.¡±


    Lumberjack made a disgusted noise. Being purely audio sucked.


    ¡°How did you not notice this earlier?¡± He said.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t here earlier, I swear!¡± Swimmer protested. ¡°I think someone¡¯s after us.¡±


    I smiled, my face out of sight, a cold, vicious smile. Arthur. He was hunting them, and trying to do it in a way to not spook them while everyone else came. He might be able to pick off all three by himself, but there was no need to. It¡¯d be risky, and unlike me, where they had to hold back, they could go for the kill on Arthur. Or just kill me outright. Either way, waiting was the right move.


    I just hated it so. I wanted to be free. I needed to be free. To be out of this prison. To dance on their graves. Bah. Someone else would have to make the graves ¨C and make it fast.


    Gods I needed to pee. I hope they had some sort of plan for that. Patience Elaine. Patience is a virtue. I needed to just breathe in, breathe out, and wait.


    I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaated waiting. Despised it. I needed to tap. I needed to shift awkwardly. I needed to channel my restless leg syndrome. I¡¯d hum and sing dumb songs if I wasn¡¯t terrified of Swimmer and his knife. Let me check if I got any levels from all that fighting earlier.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 131! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Celestial Affinity] has reached level 131!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Warmth of the Sun] has reached level 108!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Center of the Galaxy] has reached level 105!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Eyes of the Milky Way] has reached level 89!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Veil of the Aurora] has reached level 70!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Firebug] has leveled up to level 21! +2 Free Stats, +2 Mana, +1 Mana Regen, +3 Magic power, +1 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Strength from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Firebug] has leveled up to level 26! +2 Free Stats, +2 Mana, +1 Mana Regen, +3 Magic power, +1 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Strength from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Affinity] has reached level 26!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Conjuration] has reached level 26!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Manipulation] has reached level 26!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Resistance] has reached level 22!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 107!]


    Welp, if I survived this, those levels would be good. Sadly, none of them helped me get out of this.


    An eternity passed, slowly moving forward as the three stooges were jumpy. I couldn¡¯t see them, but the occasional gasp and thunk let me know what was going on. I grinned to myself. Served them right.


    A screaming arrow appeared again, taking the mule in the throat, stopping the cart dead. I felt a flash of sympathy for the poor animal ¨C it never did anything wrong ¨C but that was quickly overwhelmed by my desire to be free, hope that help had arrived to save me.


    ¡°Rangers!¡± A voice I recognized as Julius announced. ¡°Weapons down, hands up, out of the wagon!¡±


    ¡°Hang on,¡± Lumberjack yelled from inside the wagon, one hand raised up, one hand on his axe, head lowered to the ground. ¡°Let¡¯s talk-¡°


    Artemis was obviously around, and was in no mood for talking. A rock, larger than normal ¨C I could tell by the sound ¨C went whizzing past me, and from the sickening sound of crushed flesh, shattering bone, and the spray of blood that went up, hit her mark.


    No notification for me. He was either alive, or the System didn¡¯t credit me with being involved. Go go team Ranger! Go Julius! Go Artemis! Smash them all!


    I hated them. I hated them with a passion I hadn¡¯t realized I could muster up. I despised Kerberos, loathed him, but didn¡¯t hate. Not like this. Not in this visceral way. I wanted to see them suffer. I wanted them to beg, like they¡¯d made me beg.


    [Oath] demanded that I do no harm, that I heal those sick and injured. It didn¡¯t demand that I was a perfect person, that I had to think like a saint. All in all, better that someone else do the grave-making. I had some dancing sandals ready.


    Swimmer and Idiot Mage promptly left the wagon, hands held up high.


    ¡°Down on the ground. Artemis, disable.¡± Julius was giving out orders, both blades out, tensed up. Maximus and Artemis were next to him, none of them in armor, both holding weapons. Maximus had a bog-standard weapon for once ¨C a spear ¨C I guess it was because he¡¯d been in a rush. The two lay down, and Artemis crouched down between them, putting her hands on both their heads. A flicker of lighting, and they both stiffened up. Maximus moved forward, putting his spear behind Swimmer¡¯s head.


    Artemis got up and sprinted over to me, still bound by mud.


    ¡°Elaine, oh gods Elaine, are you ok?¡± She asked, starting to rip the mud from me.


    ¡°No.¡± I choked out, tearing up. I was far from ok. I was rescued, but I wasn¡¯t ok.


    Artemis took a look down at the mud, at my tear, blood, and grime streaked face, and her face softened even more. She concentrated, waved her hand, and the mud flew off of me, revealing me with my broken limbs, glowing mud still attached. She focused, grabbed the glowing patches, and peeled them off of me, one at a time.


    Rage! Barely contained rage etched every line of Artemis¡¯s face. I wanted to curl up to her as she held me. I didn¡¯t. I don¡¯t think I could move my arms, although my mana was now regenerating at a good clip. Soon. I¡¯d be fixed soon.


    ¡°Mage.¡± I croaked out, nodding towards Idiot Mage who was down on the ground.


    ¡°Shhh, we know, rest.¡± Artemis said, pulling me closer and hugging me. I buried my face in her chest and cried.


    ¡°Julius-¡° Artemis said, only for him to cut her off.


    ¡°I know. I have eyes.¡± He said, fury in his voice.


    ¡°Arthur, Maximus ¨C take this one,¡± He said, kicking Idiot Mage. ¡°off to the side and interrogate him. We need the works. Artemis and I will handle this idiot.¡±


    A sigh of exasperation came from the bushes ¨C Arthur didn¡¯t like being called out that he was there. A chuckle slipped through my lips through my sobs. Heh. I¡¯d caught Arthur sneaking around.


    I focused, using the small amount of mana I¡¯d regained so far to fix the smallest problems I had. I should just wait and start fixing the major problems, but I couldn¡¯t.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Julius said, poking Swimmer with the business end of his sword. ¡°Start talking.¡±

 Chapter 61 – Adventures in Virinum VI

    ¡°First, name. Level. Stats.¡± Julius ordered.


    Swimmer promptly answered all the questions. I looked over. He looked like he was both metaphorically, and physically, sweating. Good.


    I mustered some energy together. ¡°Julius, heads up.¡± I said. ¡°If you hurt him, I¡¯ll need to defend and heal him. I don¡¯t have the energy to right now.¡±


    Julius looked at me, face morphing from enraged to concerned. He nodded.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll keep that in mind. You.¡± He said, poking Swimmer with his foot. ¡°Keep in mind that I¡¯ve just gone from ¡®poke you with the sword¡¯ to ¡®run you through¡¯, so don¡¯t think you¡¯re in a better spot now.¡±


    ¡°Now, why were you hunting our team?¡±


    ¡°Your team!?¡± Swimmer cried out, terrified. ¡°Nobody told us we were hunting a Ranger! We were told to bring back a runaway girl.¡±


    Julius looked like he wanted to poke Swimmer more, but thought better of it.


    ¡°Why? How did you find her?¡±


    ¡°We figured out she was heading north, and Virinum¡¯s the first town north. We got a hair sample, and waited here. The pay was amazing, so we just waited. Heard about a healer girl in the market, I have a skill that helps with smells, confirmed on smells, confirmed by a description of her looks, confirmed on skills and name, so we watched and waited. She had that big fellow with her ¨C we assumed she was shacking up with him for protection or something ¨C and when the two got separated, we struck.¡±


    Kallisto, that bastard. He¡¯d never hear the end of it from me. By the look on Julius¡¯s face, he¡¯d never hear the end of it from Julius either.


    ¡°How did you get her hair?¡± He asked.


    ¡°We had to steal it from her parent¡¯s house. They were completely uncooperative. Said she¡¯d taken her chance, that she¡¯d run away, and she¡¯d make it or not on her own skills, and they weren¡¯t going to help anyone trying to bring her back. Had to sneak in while they were gone to get some hair and clothes for a scent.¡±


    Go mom! Go dad! My feelings towards them was complicated, to say the least. On one hand, they basically tried to force my life with an arranged marriage to Kerberos. I didn¡¯t appreciate that in the slightest, and was still sour about it. On the other, I did love them, I knew they loved me, and I recognized that, as ill-guided as it was, they were trying to do what they thought was best for me. Almost every person in Remus got married, arranged by their parents. Even most people in the army were married! Artemis was the exception. Artemis, and a few priests, and most Rangers for that matter. In retrospect, I realize they had tried their hardest to get me a ¡°good¡± future by their standards. Someone my age ¨C not someone nearly twice my age. Someone they put effort into, not just any old person. Someone that promised a secure and safe future, almost no matter how badly things went, it was hard to lose that type of generational wealth their family had.


    They just failed miserably on the character check. Or maybe Kerberos could be charming in public. Either way, in spite of their best efforts, their real attempt at trying to improve my life, it wasn¡¯t for me, and here I was.


    I hadn¡¯t realized until now that they, if not supported my running away, were ok with it, and waiting to see what happened, of all things. Bizarre. I guess Artemis was more of an influence on them than I expected, or maybe she¡¯d primed them with her runaway talks. Or maybe they figured ¡°Ah, she¡¯ll come home when she¡¯s ready to, and someone dragging her back won¡¯t help at all.¡±


    One day I¡¯d need to have a real talk with them about all this. My emotions were complicated regarding it, and coming down off of the kidnapping high was doing me no favors in sorting them out. I¡¯d keep sending them letters, letting them know I was ok. It was the least I could do. They had earned it.


    Then again, they¡¯d never ask me or try to convince me to runaway ¨C it¡¯s like being a comedian. Only people that do it in spite of being told not to succeed. Either way, it sounded like I¡¯d get no grief from them.


    I felt my heart swelling with love, and with that, more hate towards Swimmer.


    More than a bit of hate was bleeding over to Kerberos.


    Julius continued to interrogate Swimmer, hardly flinching when he described the fights against me, how they¡¯d worked together to break me, physically and mentally. My mana was being restored at a good pace, and I healed my limbs one at a time, crying in relief, curling up to Artemis. She continued to hold me, stroking my hair as she glared murder at Swimmer.


    Lumberjack was lucky he¡¯d died quickly. I think if Artemis had the full story, he wouldn¡¯t have died nearly so fast. I started to breathe fast, rapidly, panting. He was dead. He was gone. I needed to burn that damn axe, but it was over. I was safe.


    Julius and Maximus met and talked, clearly comparing notes on the stories being told by the adventurers.


    Julius pulled me aside, and asked me for my version of the events. I told him everything.


    ¡°Good thinking on the Eagle in flames. The guard promptly got us, asking us what the fuck was up with that. You being with Kallisto, his usual habits, and knowing you had fire, we put one and one together pretty fast. Otherwise it would have taken us ages to find you, the trail would¡¯ve been cold, and this could have turned out much worse.¡±


    He paused, looking at me.


    ¡°Elaine, are you ok?¡±


    I thought about it some, Artemis¡¯s arms wrapping around me. I shrugged.


    ¡°Maybe. I¡¯m getting better.¡±


    Julius¡¯s eyes turned cold and steely.


    ¡°They¡¯ll pay. Kerberos will pay as well. Nobody- and I mean nobody, not a Sentinel, not a Senator, forget slimeballs ¨C attacks a Ranger and gets away with it. What do you want done?¡± Julius asked me.


    I shuddered. Artemis to the rescue!


    ¡°Julius, you can¡¯t ask her that.¡± She said.


    Julius frowned. ¡°Artemis, if she¡¯s a Ranger, she needs to be able to hold her own. She needs to make the hard choices.¡±


    ¡°Oh nonsense.¡± Artemis snapped back. ¡°Her skill binds her to only make one decision. Or do you think asking for someone to be executed will slide past ¡®First, do no harm¡¯? Look, there¡¯s no real question on the events, or the guilt, right?¡±


    ¡°Right.¡± Julius agreed.


    ¡°It¡¯s easy. Kill the last two, stick their head on a pike, call it a day.¡± Artemis suggested. ¡°See watch.¡±


    ¡°Artemis, wai-¡° Julius was too slow, as Artemis threw a blindly fast rock at Swimmer, who was still lying down. She followed it up with a burst of lightning, blinding and deafening me from point-blank range.


    I blinked, clearing my eyes, ears ringing. A quick shot of healing, and I could properly hear again.


    ¡°Elaine, I know you can hear me because you¡¯d heal yourself immediately. You probably won¡¯t be in the situation, but if you need to do something that Julius isn¡¯t going to like, make sure you do it before he orders you not to.¡± She sighed dramatically. ¡°Unfortunately, I won¡¯t be able to get the second one.¡±


    Julius finished blinking the bolts out of his eyes. ¡°Artemis!¡± He yelled at her. She tightened her hold on me. ¡°Hey, you didn¡¯t order me not to. You know I don¡¯t like leaving threats behind.¡± Julius was hopping mad.


    ¡°You know not to murder prisoners! That shouldn¡¯t have to be an order! I order you not to murder our last captive in cold blood. Let¡¯s head back, I think we have the full picture.¡±


    ¡°Hang on.¡± I said, wriggling out of Artemis¡¯s grip. ¡°Prick had some of my stuff. Stole it off of me.¡± I said, rolling over the extra-crispy dead body. Large hole through the chest. I looked on the other side. Even worse on the front, where the rock had exploded through. Ewwww.


    Whatever. I¡¯d seen enough damaged, injured, and dead bodies at this point to be somewhat numb to death. I grabbed his pouch, and opened it up.


    My earrings! They were on top, and it took me a moment to process what was under them.


    Pearls. Dozens of pearls. All different shades of soft pink to white, all large and white and shiny. Artemis popped her head over.


    ¡°Wow, he sure stole a bunch of stuff from you. Good thing you managed to find those pearls again.¡±


    Julius stalked off to where Idiot Mage was being kept. ¡°I heard nothing!¡± He yelled back.


    I glanced at Artemis. ¡°You know, Idiot Mage¡¯s still back there.¡± I said.


    ¡°Nah. I gotta stick with you for now.¡± She said, wrapping her arm around me in a sort of side-hug. ¡°Going to stick with you for the rest of the trip for that matter. Can¡¯t let my little healy-bug get hurt.¡±


    I leaned into her, appreciating the sentiment.


    ¡°Don¡¯t hurt Kallisto too much. I did agree, and really, how often are we actually attacked when in town?¡±


    Artemis rolled her eyes.


    ¡°Fine, fine, I¡¯ll go medium on him.¡±


    ¡°Hang on, I gotta do something.¡± I said, reaching back into the wagon, finding Lumberjack¡¯s axe. I looked at it, the dread instrument that¡¯d broken me, shattered me. I focused on it, willing it to burn.


    And burn it did, hot, fiery. It burned until there was nothing left but a red-hot axe head and ashes. Couldn¡¯t quite get my flames hot enough to melt iron or steel, whatever it was.


    Julius and co showed up, Idiot Mage walking along, hands bound together, binding back up to his neck.


    ¡°Back to Virinum we go. We¡¯ll hand him over to the guard once we¡¯re there.¡± He said.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Idiot Mage whispered to me.


    ¡°Sorry? SORRY!?¡± I turned to him, furious, pushing off Artemis¡¯s hands on my shoulders. ¡°The only thing you¡¯re sorry about is being caught! Abducting a girl, sure! Suffocating her, of course! Beating and torturing her until she stops struggling, why not! If I didn¡¯t have a team, if I wasn¡¯t a Ranger, you¡¯d be merrily carting me off to Aquiliea, letting Swimmer carve out pieces of my face. The only ¨C only ¨C reason you¡¯re still alive is I have a skill that¡¯ll punish me if I burn you where you stand. You¡¯re not sorry at all. You just hate that you got caught.¡±


    My [Oath] was a tricky thing at times. Other times, it was crystal clear what needed to be done, as much as I hated it, as much as I didn¡¯t want to do it. An Oath, a promise, a vow, isn¡¯t just for when things are easy. It¡¯s not just to cover the convenient cases. It¡¯s always. It¡¯s a way of life, no matter how much I hated him, no matter how much I despised him and wished Artemis would disobey orders and fry him.


    He was a creature in pain. I swore I¡¯d see him as such, and nothing else, when it came time to heal.


    I grabbed him, and viciously imagined him being healed back to full health. I didn¡¯t hit him with [Vastness], and I didn¡¯t imagine it in a gentle way. I hoped it hurt.


    Pain while healing was, after all, not harm. It was simply a part of healing. It was no violation of the letter of my [Oath].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 107!]


    ¡­.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 110!]


    I eyed my notifications. I probably could¡¯ve gotten more levels if I¡¯d forgiven him, and healed him with all my heart. Filling the spirit of the [Oath] would¡¯ve helped.


    Damn him though. I wasn¡¯t in a forgiving mood.


    Julius was chatting with the other Rangers, Maximus continuing to point a spear at Idiot Mage. I caught part of the conversation as I was invited in.


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking of going to Aquiliea myself to handle this.¡± Julius said. ¡°Artemis, you¡¯d be in charge. I can¡¯t have someone putting a bounty on a Ranger ¨C no matter how unintended ¨C and get away with it.¡±


    I surprised myself by jumping in.


    ¡°No.¡± I said.


    Julius turned to me, cocking his head.


    ¡°No, Kerberos is my problem. I¡¯m not saying we need to let him off the hook, but he¡¯s mine to deal with. I won¡¯t be able to deal with him now ¨C I don¡¯t have nearly the speed or ability to travel alone like you do ¨C but I insist I handle him. He¡¯s my chain to break. I want to make him pay. I need to make him pay.¡± I paused, saying the next part with conviction, with hate.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong. I will handle him.¡±


    Julius eyed me.


    ¡°Fine. But I¡¯m sending a letter back to Aquiliea, letting the local guard know. Him ¨C and his family ¨C are going to have to pay an incredibly stiff fine. Unless they¡¯re extremely wealthy, it¡¯s going to mean slavery for one or more of them, but not for terribly long.¡±


    I looked down, kicking a rock. ¡°They are disgustingly rich.¡± I muttered. Julius gave me a Look.


    ¡°And you still bailed on them?¡± He said, disbelievingly.


    ¡°Yeah. Kerberos was a prick. Not doing it.¡±


    Julius gave a low whistle.


    ¡°I¡¯d known the why, I just hadn¡¯t quite realized all the details. Good on you.¡± He said, patting my shoulder.


    We reached the gates of town, open for once at this time of night, manned by guards holding torches up high.


    ¡°Did you find her?¡± One of the guards called out.


    ¡°Yes. Killed most of the team that kidnapped her. They were moderately high level. Got her back in one piece.¡± Julius reported back.


    There were some cheers, and some grumbling, as a bunch of coins changed hands. Really? Gambling on my life, my fate, if I¡¯d be alive or found chopped up into a dozen pieces? I took a deep breath. I remembered the patrols I¡¯d tagged along with. The joking nature that many guards had, even on serious cases. It was their way of staying sane. I was just another case, another ¡°dead or alive¡± coinflip to them. I was alive, people were happy. I should just let it be, not be another victim who screamed bloody murder over the whole thing.


    I was never gambling like that again though.


    I was never going to be a victim again.


    Artemis grabbed my hand, and steered me through the crowd, through the streets, until we¡¯d found a bath that was still open. She guided me in, and we sank into the dark steam together, Artemis continuing to hold me, reassuring in her presence, letting me know I wasn¡¯t alone.


    I cried again, held by Artemis, the memory of the brutal beating going through my mind again. She reassured me, listened to me as I told the whole story again, running a hand down my arms as I mentioned them breaking, showing me that they were firm and whole again.


    She was, more than anything, there for me, with me in the dark hour, a flickering beacon showing me light and hope.


    I must¡¯ve dozed off at some point, because the next thing I knew, I was waking up in the wagon, curled up to Artemis who was hugging me in her sleep, protecting me, shielding me.

 Chapter 62 – Leaving Virinum

    I got up, yawned, stretched. Artemis rolled over, muttering something unintelligible. I leaned back, pressing up against some chest of supplies or another, and just waited for Artemis to be awake enough to hang out with.


    It was the least I could do after last night.


    Kallisto eventually showed up, popping his head into the Argo.


    ¡°Hey Elaine! Glad to see you made it back safely last night!¡± He said, dropping off some supplies and picking up some other stuff.


    I glared murder at him. Artemis woke up fully at that, and glared extra-murder at him. Kallisto paled.


    ¡°Errr¡­ did something happen I should know about¡­?¡± He asked sheepishly.


    I had fully intended to give Kallisto a dose of [Vastness of the Stars] before Artemis got to him. Oh well.


    We all stared at each other for a moment, in some sort of strange stand-off.


    ¡°Kallisto.¡± I said, deciding to be somewhat helpful. ¡°Run.¡±


    To his credit, he was off like a shot, but there was no beating lightning. I stayed in the Argo, listening to poor Kallisto¡¯s fate. If I paid enough attention, I¡¯d be able to hear his last words. Maybe carve them on his barrow.


    ¡°She¡¯s a girl! Not a fully grown man! It¡¯s dangerous for her to walk streets alone, at night, in the shit part of town!¡±


    ¡°But Artemis, she agreed!¡± Kallisto tried to defend himself.


    I peeked out to see what was happening, only to see lightning branching out from Artemis¡¯s fingers, playing over Kallisto, writhing on the ground. Some less-than-convincing screaming was coming from Kallisto.


    ¡°Agony. Oh Agony.¡± I raised an eyebrow at that. Not in as much trouble as I¡¯d feared.


    ¡°Of course she¡¯d agree to your hairbrained scheme, she¡¯s desperate to stay with us! You. Do. Not. Leave. Her. Alone.¡±


    Each of those last words were punctuated with a sharp crack of thunder, hammering the point home to Kallisto.


    I tuned out what was happening. He was the tank anyways, and Artemis clearly knew what she was doing. If it got out of hand ¨C which I doubted it would, Artemis had control ¨C there were some other Rangers around. I wasn¡¯t going to stick my nose in that.


    What she said was interesting though. I reflected on myself somewhat. Would I really go through any hairbrained scheme, for risk of being kicked out otherwise?


    Well, yes and no. Anything obviously bad I wouldn¡¯t participate in. For example, jumping off a bridge. Might be able to survive that though. Would I jump off a bridge if asked or ordered to?


    Oh fuck, Artemis was completely right. I would jump off a bridge for the team. I¡¯d probably figure ¡°eh, there¡¯s a reason for it, and I can probably heal myself after¡±, or some other ludicrous self-deluded reasoning. I¡¯d go along with almost any hairbrained scheme that wasn¡¯t ¡°Jump into a meat grinder¡±, or ¡°season yourself and jump into the dino¡¯s mouth¡±, or equally really far out-there requests.


    Note to self- reflect on, and think about what I was being asked to do. Follow orders. Think about requests.


    Things with Artemis were safe.


    Probably safe, I mentally amended to myself, looking at Artemis¡¯s latest stunt. Oooh, that had to hurt.


    After some time, Artemis lifted herself back into the Argo. Wordlessly, I headed out, to see a somewhat well-done Kallisto lying on the ground, staring at the sky. I rolled my eyes at his melodrama.


    I crouched down, touched him, and healed him all the way back.


    ¡°Woo thanks Elaine!¡± He said, more cheerfully than I¡¯d believe possible. Did he have a [Play Dead] skill or something? ¡°Last time Artemis did that, it stung for a week!¡±


    ¡°Last time?¡± I asked skeptically, wanting to know more.


    ¡°Yeah, when we first got this team together, I tried to get, well, together, with Artemis. She gave a prompt lesson about keeping things professional.¡±


    I helped him up, and he turned to me, half-bowing, half-saluting.


    ¡°Elaine. I¡¯d like to formally apologize for my actions last night. They were unbefitting a Ranger, and directly caused you harm. Can I make it up to you? Can you forgive me?¡±


    I blinked, taken aback. I hadn¡¯t expected something so sincere from him, taking responsibility and asking for forgiveness.


    ¡°Of course, I forgive you!¡± I said. I wasn¡¯t so petty, so small-minded, that I couldn¡¯t figure out who the real culprit was. Kerberos, and the mercenaries he hired, were the responsible ones. Not Kallisto. ¡°You don¡¯t need to do-¡° My brain caught up to what my mouth said, and I shut up. I was going to say ¡®You don¡¯t need to do anything to make it up to me.¡¯, but this was a chance!


    Hmmmm. Kallisto was always happy to give me tips on fighting, on socializing, like the rest of the Rangers were happy to teach me things. What could he do for me¡­.?


    Chores. Lots of chores.


    ¡°You can do my clean-up tasks.¡± I smiled impishly at him. There were good reasons for me to learn how to do most tasks ¨C setting up and breaking down camp, hunting, cleaning game, and dozens of other chores that I had to do along with the rest of the Rangers ¨C but cleaning? I had two whole damn lifetimes of cleaning things up. I knew how to clean. There was no value in doing it more, and there was no ¡®learning¡¯ anything.


    ¡°Sure! I¡¯ll be happy to do your clean-up tasks until the next town!¡± Kallisto smiled brightly, happy to have been forgiven, happy to be let off the hook.


    I shook my head.


    ¡°No no, you misunderstand me.¡± Kallisto¡¯s smile vanished. ¡°For the rest of the round. Until we¡¯re at Ranger HQ.¡± His face fell.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you just roast me for a few minutes like Artemis?¡± He whined. I pointed at him.


    ¡°Maybe this will give you an appreciation for all the women who are expected to clean up after men their entire life! It¡¯s only a bit more than a year and a half, you¡¯ll survive. Who knows, maybe it¡¯ll help you on your adventures!¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine, it¡¯s what you want, I can do that for you.¡± Kallisto said. ¡°And again, I¡¯m sorry. It won¡¯t happen again.¡±


    I gave him a quick hug.


    ¡°Hey Healy-bug, you¡¯re with me today. We only have a few days left in town, is there anything you need to do?¡± Artemis showed back up, probably didn¡¯t want to loom over me while I was talking with Kallisto.


    ¡°Yeah, I want to talk with Kosmimatus, the jeweler. See if he can help me with-¡°


    Artemis interrupted me.


    ¡°-those wonderful pearls of yours, that have always been yours. A gift, from your fianc¨¦ to you.¡± She slowly nodded at me.


    Right. Technically should be handed over to the local authorities. Everyone was willing to turn a blind eye in this case, but it was a reminder I shouldn¡¯t be crowing about it, or announcing it.


    ¡°Yes, exactly! I also need to find a shop, and apologize for burning it in my desperation. Come with me Artemis?¡±


    ¡°Always healy-bug. Always. We should probably leave some coins quietly at the store though ¨C not a good look to have Rangers committing arson in town, mmm?¡±


    We headed back down to market, where Kosmimatus still had his stall, arranged in the same pattern as yesterday ¨C and a line of people who seemed to want me.


    ¡°Elaine! My favorite healer! There you are!¡± Kosmimatus cried out happily, coming over with great exuberance, arms held out wide like he wanted to hug me. No word that it was almost lunch time, and I should¡¯ve been here ages ago, per our agreement.


    Artemis stepped in front me of, shielding me from Kosmimatus. ¡°Hey, sorry, she had a rough night last night.¡± Artemis said. ¡°Kidnapped, beaten, tortured, the works. Give her a bit of a break, k?¡±


    Kosmimatus paled, then brightened. ¡°Ah, but you¡¯re here now! Able to heal those who come!¡± His voice dropped, as he whispered conspiratorial to me. ¡°Or you could join me! Become my personal healer! Just think, safety and security instead of Ranger Danger. I can pay better than they can!¡± He straightened up, winking at me.


    I looked to Artemis, who had a careful poker face on.


    ¡°Nah, I¡¯m good. I would like to make another deal with you though.¡± I said, taking out the pearls I¡¯d gotten. ¡°I¡¯d like to trade these in for some more Arcanite. And,¡± I said, taking off my earrings. ¡°These are horribly impractical in a fight. Can you make them a bit more robust, less likely to fall off or get tangled?¡±


    Kosmimatus¡¯s eyes went wide at the pearls. ¡°Of course! Would you like a necklace, or something else?¡±


    ¡°Something else please ¨C I have a pendant from my parents, and it¡¯d just feel awkward wearing the pendant and a necklace or amulet.¡±


    ¡°I assume you don¡¯t want me to stud it with Arcanite?¡± He asked.


    I nodded. ¡°No thank you. I like it the way it is. Reminds me of home.¡± I said, touching the pendant beneath my tunic.


    ¡°Well then! I have an idea. Trust my judgement?¡± He asked. I looked at Artemis, who shrugged.


    ¡°Julius and Kallisto are the mind readers, not me.¡± She said. ¡°Your call. You¡¯ll never get better if you let other people barter for you.¡±


    Welp. On one hand, I trusted Kosmimatus a hair, to do his job. On the other, my experience trying to barter all those years ago reminded me that I was shit at bartering.


    Might as well go for it.


    ¡°Can you add in a few coins? Add in whatever healing I¡¯m doing today to it. Half the pearls now, half later?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Can do. As for the pearls, all now. I need to check the quality.¡± Kosmimatus said. ¡°No way do I risk pissing off the local Ranger squad while they¡¯re in town. Your stuff is safe.¡±


    Kosmimatus went off to both rub elbows with people, sell things, and work on my stuff all at once. Busy man, I could see why he¡¯d gone far with that sort of work ethic, and honestly, skills made it all possible. While a jeweler from Earth would need to spend hours crafting and making custom pieces, he seemed to be idly wiggling his fingers while in a conversation, bits of metal and pieces of Arcanite floating around in a swirl.


    Time for me to do my part. Might as well grind some skills while I was here.


    I sat down, and tended to a steady stream of patients, being rewarded with a few levels for my efforts.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 132! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic Power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Celestial Affinity] has reached level 132!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Warmth of the Sun] has reached level 109!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 75!]


    After a few hours of work, things were starting to wind down a bit. Kosmimatus came back with the modified earrings.


    They were a work of art. They were much more closely held to the ear, and surrounding the main Arcanite gem were dozens of tiny flecks of Arcanite, catching and reflecting light into thousands of tiny dazzling rainbows, little pinpricks of light.


    ¡°For you! Thank you!¡± He said, practically rubbing his hands in glee, passing me a tiny pouch filled with coins ¨C my extra. ¡°They shouldn¡¯t move as much in a fight, and see, the edges are rounded,¡± He flipped them over, showing the smooth backs and bottoms of the earrings. ¡°so they won¡¯t catch on things as you¡¯re moving. Granted, I could make them something real special without the requirement, but, alas, you seem determined to continue on. Are you sure I can¡¯t make you an offer to stay.....? I have a nephew that¡­¡±


    Ack. And conversations with him had been going so well up until now.


    ¡°Thank you, it¡¯s lovely. Not interested.¡± I said curtly. My tone softened slightly, becoming more curious.


    ¡°Just for my knowledge, how badly did I get ripped off on this?¡±


    Kosmimatus didn¡¯t have the good grace to look guilty. ¡°Everything is a business transaction. You¡¯re happy, you got something of value. I¡¯m happy, I got something of value. It¡¯s hard to quantify just how much you¡¯ve gotten from this, just like I won¡¯t quantify how much I¡¯ve gotten from this.¡±


    Artemis and I rolled our eyes in sync. Merchants.


    We exchanged goodbyes, and headed back to the Argo, making a quick pit-stop in front of a lightly burned store. I dropped off the coins Kosmimatus left me in the owner¡¯s hand, and walked away, ignoring his confused questions.


    ¡°Hey Arthur!¡± I said cheerfully, seeing him hanging around. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I mentioned it to you the other day, but my skill let me see you when you were trying to hide!¡±


    He grunted. ¡°Which one?¡±


    ¡°[Eyes of the Milky Way]. It lets me see in the dark, when the stars are shining.¡±


    ¡°Mmmm. That might do it. At night I rely on light and shadows to help me hide ¨C being able to see right through that hurts. It might also be penetrating other parts of my skills, so it makes sense.¡±


    He paused, thinking.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to keep in mind that, under the right conditions, you can see me when others can¡¯t. Julius, Kallisto, and Origen are usually able to spot me when hiding, and I¡¯ll flash signals and information to them. I¡¯ll remember I can also do that with you.¡±


    We hung out for a while, Julius eventually showing up.


    ¡°Elaine, a reminder that tomorrow¡¯s our last day here, then we¡¯re heading out. Make sure you wrap up anything you need to do.¡±


    ¡°Thanks! Will do.¡± I said. I was pretty sure I was all set.


    ¡°On that note, I¡¯ve had a long, long talk with Kallisto. I can¡¯t get into all the details, but he¡¯s being fairly harshly punished. Above and beyond what you, Artemis, and Arthur, and everyone else dished out. Don¡¯t make a habit out of it.¡± Julius said, giving me a Look.


    ¡°You¡¯re also getting anti-charm training from him.¡± Julius said. ¡°It¡¯s one of the standard courses all Rangers go through, and until the other day, I thought it was one of the more useless classes. Well, you¡¯re going to get it now, and from one of the best.¡± Julius finished.


    I wanted to groan. More things to learn and do.


    The next day, Artemis and I headed to the baths, our last chance to be properly clean for a long, long time.


    While we were there, we had a talk about my free stats, and my physical skills.


    ¡°You¡¯ll never be able to take hits like Kallisto can, or be as flexible as Maximus. Fire being your element isn¡¯t doing you any favors ¨C strength doesn¡¯t do much for you. If only you were an Earth mage.¡± Artemis signed dramatically. I hugged her reassuringly. She really wanted me to have been an Earth mage for her to train.


    ¡°With that being said, you want most of your points in speed and dexterity, with the occasional point in Vitality. You¡¯ll stay alive by not getting hit, but you need enough vitality to not only keep up with what people are doing, but to survive when you are hit long enough to heal yourself. If you get pasted, there¡¯s not enough left of you to heal.¡±


    ¡°With that being said, I¡¯m no Maximus. First, do you have enough points to get those three stats to level 50?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I should have more than enough.¡± Saying that, I put in my free stats, getting the three stats Artemis was talking about to 50.


    Polyphemus would be proud ¨C I finally got most of my physical stats to 50.


    ¡°Good. From here on out, for now, let¡¯s distribute your stats 2 in dexterity, 2 in speed, and 1 in vitality. Keep 10 free points spare just in case there¡¯s a problem.¡±


    I did what Artemis said, feeling a rush of power well up inside of me, flowing through me. I hadn¡¯t gained this many stats all at once, as a percentage of my total, since I was a kid, and the feeling was indescribably strange.


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 10]


    [Strength: 32]


    [Dexterity: 64]


    [Vitality: 57]


    [Speed: 64]

 Chapter 63 – Adventures on the way to Perinthus I

    Of course, that conveniently ignored the fact that there were two more towns between here and Perinthus. We left town, and my training, and learning, from the Rangers redoubled. I worked on my skills ¨C all of them, from class to general ¨C and continued to learn all sorts of interesting tips, tricks, and Ranger knowledge. A few villages after Virinum, a couple of weeks later, and Artemis started another evening of training after our travelling was done.


    ¡°Elaine, your training with the bare-bone fundamentals of fighting are good enough. That¡¯s not to say you¡¯re any good, but you have enough of a foundation where we can move to the next step. I¡¯m going to start teaching you how to use a shield and spear, because you¡¯ll get a lot more value out of learning that immediately, to help keep you alive.¡± Artemis started off training by letting me know I¡¯d graduated to the next level of difficulty.


    ¡°For the most part, you won¡¯t have the strength to be going through someone. As a result, your main goals are learning how to block, and learning how to brace the spear, to let a monster ¨C or an idiot ¨C impale themselves on it. Origen¡¯s reinforced the spears, so they won¡¯t break ¨C either the monster will break, or the ground will break.¡±


    Artemis walked me through the proper way to hold one of the Legion shields, the proper way to hold a spear. They were long things, tapering off to a point, not at all like how I¡¯d imagined a spear to be.


    ¡°Now, just because you¡¯ve impaled something, doesn¡¯t mean you¡¯re safe ¨C far from it. They¡¯re now even closer to you, hurt, angry, and you¡¯re the closest thing to them. Hunker behind this shield,¡± She knocked on my shield for effect. ¡°And possibly layer your skill-shield behind that.¡±


    I threw up a full-body [Veil], blocking a rock that Origen threw at me. Artemis glared at him.


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to teach Elaine how to use a spear and shield!¡± She said with annoyance.


    ¡°Constant vigilance.¡± Maximus said, not taking his eyes off the dinner he was cooking. I considered throwing a rock at him myself.


    ¡°Artemis, if you wind them up, they¡¯ll make a game out of throwing pebbles at me all evening, and we¡¯ll never get anything done. Come on.¡± I said.


    Artemis grumbled, correcting my stance, showing me how to thrust with a spear properly, and, possibly more important for me, how to run away while holding onto a spear.


    She quickly amended that lesson to ¡°how to run away without tripping over your spear.¡±


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 106!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Ranger¡¯s Lore] has reached level 23!]


    ¡°Good work Elaine.¡± Artemis said, looking like none of the exertion had touched her. I was panting and sweaty, my tunic practically sticking to me.


    ¡°I have an idea.¡± Artemis said, with a gleam of mischief, of happiness.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± I asked, dreading whatever was to come. Artemis¡¯s ¡®ideas¡¯ usually meant more torment for me, and I was already beat from today¡¯s exercises.


    ¡°A bath!¡± Artemis said happily.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯d love one. Where?¡± I asked, managing some sarcasm.


    Instead of answering me, Artemis grabbed my hand, and we were off. To the stream we¡¯d camped near.


    I eyed the water. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s nice¡­ and¡­. cold¡­¡± I said, trailing off as the INCREDIBLY OBVIOUS application of fire magic came to me.


    ¡°I got it. You make the bath, I heat it up.¡± I said, pieces of the puzzle clicking together.


    ¡°Yup! I can¡¯t do it alone, you can¡¯t do it alone, together, team ¡®bath on the road!¡¯¡± Artemis exclaimed happily.


    ¡°We gotta keep this a secret from everyone else. Otherwise they¡¯ll all want a turn.¡± I said, thinking fast. Also, more so thinking that if everyone wanted a turn, it would mean less for me.


    Artemis carved out a small, cozy bath out of river mud ¨C it didn¡¯t need to be that firm ¨C capturing some water with it. I blew all of my mana applying flames to the construct, and we settled down into the water, [Veil] providing a privacy shield.


    The lukewarm water.


    Ah well, it was a few degrees warmer than normal.


    ¡°Elaine.¡± Artemis said, tone not too pleased. ¡°We have got to get your Fire skills higher level.¡±


    I nodded agreement. Baths. A bath on every stop. I¡¯d kill for one.


    I¡¯d probably have to.


    The next day, I was driving the Argo, all by myself! I¡¯d reached a level of proficiency with keeping the horses on more-or-less the straight and narrow ¨C they were smart, they didn¡¯t need much more from us ¨C and since the rest of the Rangers were sick and tired of the ¡®boring¡¯ task, and I was the low girl on the totem pole, it was falling to me more and more often to stare at endless stretches of road, while everyone else was entertaining themselves however they saw fit. Gambling, dice, story-telling, hunting, exercise ¨C there was a lot of ¡°hurry up and wait¡± going on.


    We were entering a forest, and I turned a bend to see some logs across the road, [Vigilant] going nuts.


    No shit sherlock. I didn¡¯t need [Vigilant] for this.


    ¡°Whoooooaaaa!¡± I called, pulling the reins back, slowing the horses to a stop. Men ¨C former slaves, marked as dangerous by the brands on their forehead ¨C stepped out from the forest, bows and spears at the ready.


    ¡°Halt!¡± A big, leader-like bandit called out. ¡°The road here is dangerous! For just a small toll, we can clear the road for you, and make sure there¡¯s no more danger for you in the forest!¡±


    I rolled my eyes at him. Arthur was somewhere, and he was either hunting, or had an arrow trained on the bandit leader.


    ¡°Juliiiiuuuuuussss¡± I called over my shoulder. ¡°We¡¯re being robbed.¡±


    ¡°Well, see how they do it!¡± Julius called back from inside, loud enough for me to hear, softly enough that the bandits wouldn¡¯t.


    ¡°They want a toll for safe roads, and to remove the logs.¡±


    There was the sounds of a brief kerfuffle behind me, some yelling, the oh-so-familiar sound of someone getting smacked.


    ¡°Well, go on then. Pay them.¡±


    I grumbled in outrage. We were Rangers! Why were we paying a toll to bandits! This was totally, completely, unfair!


    ¡°How much is the toll?¡± I asked sourly.


    ¡°Half of all the coins and goods you have!¡± The bandit leader said menacingly.


    ¡°Julius, they want half.¡± I yelled over my shoulder.


    ¡°Hey, pay attention to me!¡± The bandit leader yelled. ¡°It could be¡­ dangerous¡­ not to.¡±


    I rolled my eyes at him.


    ¡°Eh, half¡¯s fine. Ask if they have a governor¡¯s writ, and which one. Pay them half your coins and see.¡± Julius called back.


    I grumbled. Why were we entertaining them?


    ¡°Apparently I¡¯m supposed to pay you half of my coins.¡± I said darkly. ¡°My coins! My precious, hard-earned coins! By the way, do you have a governor¡¯s writ, whatever that is?¡± I asked.


    The bandit¡¯s eyes narrowed at me. ¡°We don¡¯t have a writ, whatever that is. Now hand over your coins!¡±


    I snorted at him, but opened up my pouch, checking how many coins were on me. I kept a good amount of my stash in my chest inside the Argo, but I never knew when I¡¯d need some.


    20 coins total. I counted out 10 and tossed them to the leader, throwing them one at a time. This one high, this one fast, let¡¯s see if I can brain him.


    ¡°Listen here you little shit,¡± The bandit leader was starting to get into a real rage at my cavalier treatment of him, and my complete lack of concern over the robbery.


    He never got a chance to.


    ¡°I surrender.¡± One of the bandits near the back dropped his spear, raising his hands up. All of us ¨C bandits, bandit leader, me, and I swear I felt some eyes peeking out of the wagon ¨C turned and looked towards him.


    ¡°What!?¡± The bandit leader stomped over and cuffed him over the head. ¡°What do you mean, ¡®I surrender¡¯? We¡¯re the Brazen Bunch! We rob travelers-¡°


    One of the bandits coughed at that. ¡°Take tolls boss, we take tolls.¡±


    The bandit leader let out an exasperated sigh.


    ¡°We take tolls, we don¡¯t surrender to the people giving us protection money! How are we supposed to intimidate-¡°


    The same bandit coughed again. ¡°Protect. Boss, protect, not intimidate.¡±


    ¡°You. Shut up.¡± The bandit leader pointed to the interrupting bandit with a lung problem. ¡°How are we supposed to protect anyone if we¡¯re surrendering to them!?¡±


    ¡°Boss, think about it.¡± The kneeling, surrendering bandit said. ¡°Wagon with just a healer girl at the reins. A really fucking high level healer for a girl her age. She has absolutely no fear whatsoever of us ¨C like she¡¯s completely sure she¡¯s protected. She doesn¡¯t give two shits about us, our weapons, or that she¡¯s surrounded. She¡¯s playing games with the coins she¡¯s throwing at us! I don¡¯t know what¡¯s in that wagon, but she¡¯s talking with them, seeing if we should be ¡®allowed¡¯ to rob her. I know my odds are better surrendering now, than dealing with whatever¡¯s in there. Look, our best-case odds are the girl¡¯s the daughter of some rich citizen, and she¡¯s driving for a lark, and the wagon¡¯s full of second-rate bodyguards. I have no idea what the worse-case is, but it can¡¯t be good.¡±


    That prompted a few bandits to pause and think.


    ¡°Or she has an acting class, or skill, and she¡¯s bluffing! You, girl! Open the wagon up! We¡¯re searching it for contraband!¡±


    ¡°Julius, they want to search the wagon.¡± I called out over my shoulder.


    ¡°No, they¡¯re not allowed.¡± Julius called back.


    ¡°Sorry, you¡¯re not allowed.¡± I told them back. This game of telephone was getting annoying.


    One bandit dropped his weapons and ran. We all stared after him in silence. The bandit leader facepalmed.


    ¡°This is getting ridiculous.¡± He said. ¡°Our first robbery, and it¡¯s going all to shit.¡±


    Interrupting ¡°bandit¡± ¨C not sure he deserved the title anymore ¨C coughed again. The fakest noise you¡¯d ever heard.


    Julius sighed, loudly enough that everyone heard him.


    ¡°Elaine, your acting sucks.¡± He said, emerging from the Argo, full armor on, Ranger Eagle pinned to his chest. ¡°Also, make sure you stall longer next time. Well, Brazen Bunch is it?¡± Julius asked, looking down on them.


    There were a chorus of cries of dismay. ¡°Aww fuck, we just tried to rob the Rangers.¡± One of the bandits cried out. The bandit that had preemptively surrendered started chuckling.


    ¡°SHUT UP!¡± Roared the bandit leader. ¡°What does the local Ranger group want? We¡¯re not going back, but we¡¯re not looking for a fight.¡± He said, tightening his grip on his spear.


    ¡°Well, mostly I wanted to check if you were a reasonable sort or not. You passed. Not a murderous lot, seem mostly new to this, not inclined to kill people at a moment¡¯s notice, and you¡¯re offering protection along this stretch of road. Here¡¯s your chance at being conscripted into the guard of whatever town¡¯s nearest, getting a Governor¡¯s Writ, and being licensed to guard caravans on the road. What say you?¡±


    The bandit¡¯s eyes were as large as saucers.


    ¡°What about us being runaways?¡± The bandit leader asked suspiciously. Julius shrugged. ¡°I don¡¯t really care about that, nor will the governor. Rather, I¡¯ll make sure he won¡¯t.¡±


    An arrow went whizzing from the bushes, close to Julius¡¯s face, impacting one of the bandits with a bow, who went down, foam bubbling from his mouth, blood from his eyes.


    I snapped my shield up, careful not to include Julius. I scrambled up, scrambled back, and dropped it right before entering the Argo.


    There was some yelling going on outside, but it was strangely peaceful yelling. I popped back out. Arthur was there.


    Ah right. That had been one of Arthur¡¯s trademark poison arrows, not the bandits starting to shoot at us. From the look and sound of things, further blows had been avoided.


    ¡°Sorry boss. He was lining up to take a shot.¡±


    The bandit leader spat.


    ¡°He hated the government. Hated the Army, Rangers, Sentinels, Investigators, tax collectors,¡± There were unanimous sounds of agreement from all of us at that one. Common hatred for taxes uniting us all! ¡°all government workers. I can believe it.¡±


    I looked at him. ¡°You seem pretty chill for us having just killed one of your men.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well, he almost killed our chance at legitimacy. Not needing to camp in the cold? Being able to buy freely? He just joined recently, didn¡¯t know him that well. Eh.¡± He shrugged.


    ¡°Speaking of though,¡± The bandit leader asked. ¡°How can we get anything done with these brands?¡± He pointed to the brand on his forehead, same as most of the bandits had. A mark, indicating someone was a dangerous slave, usually due to a combination of skills, and a willingness to use them against others.


    Julius smiled.


    ¡°It just so happens that we have a powerful Celestial healer with us. If you take us up on our offer, you can negotiate with her to get your brands removed.¡±


    ¡°How much?¡± The bandit leader asked. ¡°We can¡¯t afford expensive healing.¡± He said with a frown.


    I felt my face grinning, channeling the Cheshire Cat, almost splitting my face as my lips stretched ear-to-ear.


    ¡°Half of your coins. Plus ten.¡±


    If looks could kill, I¡¯d be dead at the sour look on the bandit leader¡¯s face. He brightened up quickly though, and started tossing coins at me, one at a time.


    Some high. Some low. Some fast. Some ¡°Let¡¯s try to brain Elaine.¡± I scrambled to catch them, the points I¡¯d been putting in dexterity and speed paying off.


    Fair enough Mr. Bandit. Fair enough.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 14]


    [Mana: 3560/3560]


    [Mana Regen: 5864]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 13]


    [Strength: 33]


    [Dexterity: 64]


    [Vitality: 57]


    [Speed: 64]


    [Mana: 356]


    [Mana Regeneration: 799]


    [Magic Power: 359]


    [Magic Control: 859]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 132]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 132]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 109]


    [Medicine: 114]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 105]


    [Phases of the Moon: 77]


    [Eyes of the Milky Way: 89]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 74]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 73]


    [Class 2: [Firebug - Fire: Lv 27]]


    [Fire Affinity: 27]


    [Fire Resistance: 23]


    [Fire Conjuration: 27]


    [Fire Manipulation: 27]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 12]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 74]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 77]


    [Pretty: 99]


    [Vigilant: 109]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 111]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 23]


    [Running: 70]


    [Learning: 106]

 Chapter 64 – Adventures on the way to Perinthus II

    It took a few weeks, but we made it to the town of Genua without further noticeable incident, and had a nice week off, doing not much. It was a welcome relief from the road, the petty disputes we resolved, the random attacks, the urgent calls in the night. We left Genua, and headed to Tolosa, the next town on our route.


    There was one of those lovely days in late winter when spring was pretending it had arrived, but it wasn¡¯t quite around yet. No matter how I sliced it, it was a wonderful day, a blessed break from the nearly never-ending drizzle turning the ground to mud that was winter in Remus. A break, a change from when I¡¯d left Aquiliea all that time ago in the late summer. Close to five, six months ago. An entire lifetime ago. I was part of the team now, a Ranger. The sky was clear and blue, the sun high and warm. We were a few days out from Tolosa, having lunch, when trouble struck.


    Origen and Arthur were out hunting, while Maximus and Julius were having a light spar. Artemis and I were chowing down as hard as we could ¨C constantly practicing magic did that to your appetite, and it helped level [Fuel for the Fire]. Weird skill. I wasn¡¯t complaining. Kallisto was hanging out, alternating between joining in on our conversation, and yelling commentary at Julius and Maximus.


    ¡°Just hit him!¡± He yelled unhelpfully at Maximus.


    ¡°What do you think I¡¯m trying to do!?¡± Maximus yelled back in frustration.


    Julius paused a few steps away, chuckling.


    ¡°See, this is why being fast¡¯s the best. You¡¯re higher level than me, but if you can¡¯t touch me, it¡¯s useless!¡±


    Artemis glanced over.


    ¡°Elaine could hurt you more than Maximus could, and she¡¯s half your level. And the class that¡¯d be hurting you is like, level 30, compared to both of your 200+ classes.¡± She pointed out. ¡°On the other hand, Maximus would barely notice. You know it¡¯s all a trade-off.¡±


    A huge shadow fell over us, and like everyone in the Republic of Remus, young to old, male and female, rural hunters to city-dwellers, we reflexively looked up to the sky.


    [Vigilant] went nuts.


    There they were. The terror of the skies. The reason for the fear, sharpened so long it had turned to instinct, the doom of travelers, the reason the wagon was encased in metal.


    A flock of Ornithocheirus. Flying dinosaurs, nothing terribly special by itself ¨C heck, I might be able to fight one, if I was given full armor, weapons, prep time, excess Arcanite to keep casting fire spells, and an enclosed arena to stop it dive-bombing me constantly ¨C but they travelled in massive flocks, hundreds to thousands strong.


    And. They. Were. Hungry.


    Their standard tactic was to dive-bomb prey, hitting fast and hard. Hit hard enough, and it was lethal. They¡¯d then start chowing down, ripping and tearing flesh.


    You could only pray their dive bomb was lethal, and not crippling.


    They were the reason everything was built out of stone. They were the reason hastily constructed shanty towns didn¡¯t exist outside of the town walls. They were part of the reason why it was so hard to expand, to build a new town.


    The standard tactic was to duck and cover, to hide inside a building. Occasionally, if an attack got bad, or enough things worked out, a massive effort with spears could drive them off a town. They¡¯d learned that, for the most part, towns were poor pickings. Lots of spears, food was usually in stone.


    There was still enough dino-food in a town to tempt them to attack now and then.


    We moved as fast as we could. We didn¡¯t bother trying to grab our supplies, pick up a spare sparring shield, nothing. It was directly to the Argo with us, neatly falling into a line as most of us aimed for the back of the Argo, which was the entrance currently facing us.


    Our horses were insanely, ridiculously well-trained. Charging into a fight with a Nothosaurus. Patiently standing still when attacked by goblins. Following the inexperienced commands of a 14-year-old girl.


    14 and a half! And change!


    Anyways. With all that experience, with how obedient they were, it came as a bit of a surprise to me when I heard them whinny, and take off at full speed, loose items coming out of the back door of the wagon.


    Our safety was bailing as fast as they could, not that I blamed them.


    Julius stepped on the speed, flitting around to the front of the wagon. I¡¯m not quite sure what he did there, what arcane levers were pulled and which straps cut, but suddenly the horses were free of the Argo, running with sharp neighs of terror.


    They had a snowflake¡¯s chance in hell being able to escape in their harness. They didn¡¯t even have that chance while attached to the Argo.


    The Argo continued rolling down, the momentum combined with the slight slant we were on giving it wind, having it pick up speed. I couldn¡¯t see what Julius did, but he managed to get it to stop, safety once more staying still.


    I was the slowpoke. I had [Running], I had 50 speed, but I was still the slowest member of the team, and in the back, falling further and further behind. The Ornithocheirus screamed, and I glanced up to see some of them split from the flock, preparing to dive-bomb us.


    Preparing to dive-bomb me.


    Maximus made it to the Argo first, promptly vanishing through the doorway, making sure he was clear of the entrance, so we could run in unobstructed. I saw a flash of Julius moving off to the side, as Kallisto and Artemis made it into the wagon.


    50 feet. 40 feet. [Vigilant] went berserk. I threw up a [Veil of the Aurora] like a ceiling, only to stumble as it almost immediately broke, taking hundreds of points of my mana with it. A single physical blow, so powerful it overloaded my Magic Power. I still had mana, but the monster had overloaded what the shield could tank in a single hit ¨C a heavy monster dive-bombing from such a height, it was no surprise.


    And it was only one dinosaur. The only reason it hadn¡¯t managed to land right on me, was [Veil] had hidden me, had helped foul its shot.


    I was alive. But there was an angry, hungry dinosaur staring me in the face, eyeing up its next meal.


    I reflexively used [Identify], having never been so close to one, never been this face-to-face with one.


    If I ever had been, I¡¯d have been turned into dino-chow already.


    [Ornithocheirus].


    Surprisingly low level. Strength in numbers and all that. I had no time to try and analyze though, as it darted its beak towards me, jaws open.


    I dropped and rolled, throwing up another shield between me and it, thanking all the gods out there for [Center of the Galaxy]. I¡¯d never be able to dodge without it, would be in two pieces, with one of them going into the belly of the beast.


    Julius showed up with the wind at his heels, scooping me up, throwing me over a shoulder, running me over to the Argo. I was bouncing over his shoulder, looking back and up, seeing a few more flying terrors break off, start circling. One decided that yes, we looked tasty enough, and dove down towards us.


    I stared death in the eye, unflinching, and abruptly the sky turned to metal as we entered the Argo at full speed, not slowing down in the slightest.


    With a bang, a thud, and a clatter, along with the highly unpleasant sound of bones breaking, Julius and I came to a halt against the other end of the Argo, the closed and locked door on the other side trembling as we hit it at nearly full speed.


    My legs felt cracked, if not broken, and a scream from Julius told me he wasn¡¯t uninjured either. Artemis threw the door shut, but didn¡¯t bolt it.


    ¡°Origen.¡± Julius gasped out.


    Maximus slowly shook his head.


    ¡°Haven¡¯t seen him. Maybe Arthur¡¯s hiding him?¡± He suggested.


    I hit Julius with [Vastness] ¨C our fearless leader might as well have a clear head ¨C as I spent a moment evaluating Julius¡¯s injuries.


    There was blood all over his face, but that seemed to be from a broken nose more than anything. His arms were in poor shape.


    Fine. Good enough to heal him ¨C knowing what I needed to fix, and how they should be fixed, did wonders for my healing efficiency. It would take an absurd multiplier if I just focused on ¡®healing¡¯, versus focusing on what injuries I was fixing where, and how they were being fixed. I touched him, focusing on restoring him, on his arms becoming whole and healthy like the full moon.


    Julius shook his head as his arms and face were reformed. I eyed my work. One day I¡¯d figure out cleaning blood off at the same time.


    ¡°Elaine, Artemis. You¡¯re both clear to draw mana from the Argo. Keep it over 40% reserves ¨C that¡¯s how much we usually need to fuel the enchantments against one of these attacks.¡±


    I saluted my understanding. Artemis probably already knew all of this; it was for my benefit he was reminding me.


    I looked at Artemis. Maybe it was also for her benefit, I mentally amended.


    ¡°Time to focus.¡± Julius called us to order. ¡°Origen and Arthur are still out there. Arthur I¡¯m not worried about, it¡¯s Origen I¡¯m concerned about. Plans?¡±


    Maximus immediately spoke up.


    ¡°Artemis makes a stone tunnel to help Origen make it. Elaine supports with snap-shields as needed.¡±


    ¡°Fine. We¡¯re doing that. Kallisto, back door. I¡¯ll handle the front. Elaine, Artemis, top up your mana now.¡±


    I put my hand on the walls of the Argo, drawing from the attuned Arcanite that was embedded into the walls. On the other side, Artemis was doing the same. I hadn¡¯t even seen her cast any spells!


    ¡°Better idea.¡± Kallisto yelled. ¡°Julius, grab Artemis and sprint to Origen. Artemis raises a hut, camp out in it.¡±


    Julius spent a fraction of a second thinking about it.


    ¡°New plan. Kallisto¡¯s plan. Artemis, grab as much Arcanite as you can. Elaine, you¡¯re on shields here, back up Kallisto. Remember ¨C 40%.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s here.¡± Kallisto yelled from the back. Artemis and I moved there, as Kallisto slid over to the side. I noticed with a start that he had gotten all of his armor on already, and his spear and shield were leaning up against the rear wall, ready for action.


    Julius picked Artemis up in a piggyback as I fumbled my earring off.


    Fuck it, I had no time.


    I moved to rip my earring off, pausing as [Oath] screamed bloody murder about self-mutilation like that.


    Gods damnit Oath. I¡¯m trying here.


    I shoved the one earring I¡¯d taken off ¨C the left one ¨C into Artemis¡¯s hand, right as Julius shot off.


    I hear Maximus closing and bolting the door behind me properly, as I laid down on my stomach to get a better view of what was going on. Otherwise, I¡¯d be trying to look through Kallisto, as he held a guard¡¯s stance at the door.


    Origen had seen us, and gave a warrior¡¯s salute, hand over heart, half-bowed towards us. The only thing I could think of was:


    Ave Imperator, morituri te salutant.


    Hail, Emperor, those who are about to die salute you.


    He looked ¨C he felt ¨C just like a gladiator who was in the arena, ready to pitch his life against the endless hordes of monsters. The only question was, how many monsters would he bring down with him? The ending wasn¡¯t in doubt.


    Origen had no weapon. He¡¯d abandoned it, or left it with Arthur, when the Ornithocheirus had shown up. He started to charge towards us, leaping forward to avoid a dive-bombing dinosaur, rolling to the side as another one snapped at him. Even from as far as I was, I could see glowing lines from the inscription all over him, his own personal style of fighting coming to bear as he burned his mana to boost his stats.


    Dodging one, dodging two or three was easy. But they kept coming, a dozen more peeling away from the flock above, trying their chance at some fresh man meat. Julius was running, sprinting as fast as he could with Artemis on his back, the occasional flickering bolt scorching the dinosaurs, keeping them at bay.


    I frowned. Artemis had more than enough juice to blast them out of the sky ¨C why wasn¡¯t she?


    Questions for later.


    ¡°We should close the door.¡± Maximus said, eyes glued to the scene just outside. ¡°They¡¯ll attack us next, and they¡¯ll know we¡¯re here once we close up. It makes it harder for us.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Kallisto said, not moving an inch.


    ¡°Yeah, we should.¡± I said from my position on the ground, continuing to watch.


    ¡°There¡¯s no way we do that before we see what happens is there?¡± Maximus asked rhetorically.


    ¡°Nope.¡± Kallisto and I chimed in together.


    We watched with bated breath as more and more Ornithocheirus came down, flocking around Origen.


    He leapt over one snapping beak, then bent over backwards to dodge a wing swiped at him. He used that momentum to do a backwards hand-stand, narrowly avoiding a dinosaur trying to land on him.


    But there were too many of them. A kick from one of the dinos got his arm, and he went down. A beak went down, a scream came over the cries of the dinos, making it to us, as Artemis and Julius arrived.


    I couldn¡¯t hear Artemis speak, not from so far away, but a massive eruption of lightning from their area, and a dozen of the dinosaurs falling, twitching and burning, cleared the area for us to see Origen, streaked with blood. Earthen walls started to rise around them, and -


    I felt myself being dragged away from the door, crying in protest. Kallisto closed the door as soon as Maximus finished dragging me away from the entrance, bolting it shut.


    I was never a patient person. Waiting in the Argo, hearing the thuds and thumps of the dinosaurs outside, the whole wagon shaking as they butted against it, trying to crack us open like a mussel to get to that sweet, tasty human meat inside.


    I put on all of my armor, helmet, shield and all. The enchantments should hold, the inscriptions fresh, the wagon full up on mana. If they didn¡¯t, if by some freak accident they broke in, I was not going to go gently down their throat.


    ¡°Why is nobody worried about Arthur?¡± I asked, only just realizing the obvious question.


    ¡°He grew up basically in the wilderness. We suspect ¨C he won¡¯t say ¨C that most of his skills came from needing to survive attacks like this, and worse, regularly. This sort of attack? This is easy for him.¡± Kallisto said.


    Hun. Interesting. I¡¯d never thought of Arthur¡¯s background before, but it made sense.


    ¡°Elaine, please stop pacing, you¡¯re driving me insane.¡± Maximus ordered tensely. ¡°If you need something to do, check your level-ups.¡±


    Ugh. Fine.


    [*Ding!* Your Party has slain a [Ornithocheirus] (Wind, lv 185)]


    13 repeats later¡­


    [*Ding!* Your Party has slain a [Ornithocheirus] (Wind, lv 188)]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 133! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Celestial Affinity] has reached level 133!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Warmth of the Sun] has reached level 111!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 116!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Center of the Galaxy] has reached level 109!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 81!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Veil of the Aurora] has reached level 76!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vastness of the Stars] has reached level 75!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Identify] has reached level 76!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 111!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Running] has reached level 75!]


    Yay. Levels. What about Origen?


    I didn¡¯t even care that I was being a grump, I needed Origen to be alive. I continued pacing, occasionally throwing my hands out for balance when the Argo took a particularly bad hit.


    ¡°This is a pretty light attack.¡± Kallisto remarked.


    ¡°Idiot.¡± Maximus threw a look of disdain at Kallisto. ¡°It¡¯s because Artemis fried a dozen of them. They hate being attacked, but more than that, it means a ton of fresh food for them to eat, and it probably brought down half the flock on their head. We¡¯ll be lucky if they¡¯re alive. Blasted cannibal birds.¡±


    I paled at that. I hadn¡¯t realized. Town attacks were always all-flock events, and I hadn¡¯t quite put two and two together on only part of the flock attacking, and them getting pissed. Also, free food.


    ¡°We need to-¡° I started heading towards the door, only for Maximus to trip me with a foot.


    ¡°Stay put. If you go out there and turn into their lunch, there¡¯s nobody to heal Origen. Artemis is a survivor. Wait. That¡¯s an order from the current commander.¡±


    The chain of command was Julius>Artemis>Maximus>Kallisto>Origen>Arthur. I didn¡¯t yet rate. Plus, if everyone else was gone, I was alone, and in command by default. I¡¯d gotten pulled aside quietly by Julius one night, who told me that if that happened by some fluke, to make my way to Ranger HQ by boat, and go from there.


    Blah. I got up, and continued to pace around.


    The cries of the Ornithocheirus started to fade, and thumps became less frequent.


    ¡°Should we check now?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No. Wait.¡±


    I waited another minute.


    ¡°How about now?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡­..


    ¡°How-¡°


    ¡°I will say when we check. Not before. Wait.¡±


    After an indeterminate amount of time passed, Maximus carefully unbolted the door, cracking the door open a hair. Kallisto was ready in a defensive stance, prepared to bash in any dinosaur poking their long snout in. I was ready to throw up [Veil], which would be much more useful when there weren¡¯t hundreds of feet of momentum behind them. My heart was pounding so loudly I could hear it in my ears.


    Nothing. All clear.


    ¡°Elaine. Stay.¡± Maximus ordered. ¡°Kallisto, cover Elaine. Our healer goes down here, and we¡¯re losing at least one person.¡±


    I wanted to scream in frustration. Artemis was out there! She could be hurt! She needed me! What if it was too late by the time I got there, what if I found her, life slipping away?


    Kallisto shifted his stance slightly, seemingly reading my mind.


    ¡°You won¡¯t always get orders you like.¡± He said. ¡°But you need to follow them. It¡¯s for all of our good.¡±


    I wanted to scream. Instead I waited for the all-clear signal from Maximus. I got it, and Kallisto got out of my way as I shot out, towards the mound that Artemis had made.


    The mound, a bright red from blood, painted all over it. The mound, with dozens of dino-prints in it, holes where the Ornithocheirus had stabbed through.


    The mound, that was the potential grave of three of my closest friends.


    I started to tear up. I couldn¡¯t lose them. I couldn¡¯t lose my friends again. Not like this. I started to claw at the earth, losing vision as my eyes blurred.


    I barely saw Maximus doing something out of the corner of my eye. Was he ¨C was he rolling his eyes at me? The jerk! They were his teammates as well! Why ¨C


    The mound rumbled, as a small hole was created.


    ¡°Awkwardly,¡± Artemis said from inside, as my heart leapt in my chest in joy. ¡°I seem to have used all my mana getting us safe, and I can¡¯t actually dig us out.¡±


    I started to cry-laugh in joy, as I fumbled at my other ear, my second earring. It took me four tries, but I got it off, passing it to Artemis.


    ¡°Thanks healy-bug.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯s Origen?¡± I called in.


    ¡°Eh, without a healer, he would have a bad time. As it is, he¡¯ll be fine.¡± Artemis said.


    A slightly exasperated sound came from Julius.


    ¡°Elaine, we do know first aid, and how to treat most injuries you know. How do you think the average Ranger squad does it? How do you think we did until now?¡± He said from inside the mound, voice echoing oddly.


    The mound came down, and I rushed inside, touching Origen, healing him up. It would¡¯ve been extremely nasty for him, normally requiring treatment at Ranger HQ, but he would¡¯ve been fine, still able to inscribe armor from inside of the Argo. Fortunately, he was now back up and ready to keep going. He¡¯d need a solid chow-fest though.


    Shame there were no dinos to eat. I wanted a taste, after they¡¯d almost eaten me. Eat, or be eaten, never felt so literal.


    I cried as I hugged Artemis, then Julius and Origen in turn. I was so thankful they were alive!


    ¡°Now comes the hard part.¡± Julius said, stony faced. Everyone else groaned as well.


    ¡°Hmmm? What¡¯s up?¡± I asked, confused. There was some joke everyone was in but me.


    ¡°We gotta push the wagon the rest of the way to the next town.¡±


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 14]


    [Mana: 3770/3770]


    [Mana Regen: 6082]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 31]


    [Strength: 35]


    [Dexterity: 64]


    [Vitality: 57]


    [Speed: 64]


    [Mana: 377]


    [Mana Regeneration: 821]


    [Magic Power: 378]


    [Magic Control: 878]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 133]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 133]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 111]


    [Medicine: 116]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 109]


    [Phases of the Moon: 81]


    [Eyes of the Milky Way: 93]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 76]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 75]


    [Class 2: [Firebug - Fire: Lv 29]]


    [Fire Affinity: 29]


    [Fire Resistance: 25]


    [Fire Conjuration: 29]


    [Fire Manipulation: 29]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 20]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 76]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 79]


    [Pretty: 100]


    [Vigilant: 111]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 111]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 44]


    [Running: 75]


    [Learning: 107]

 Chapter 65 – Adventures on the way to Perinthus III

    Pushing the cart was boring, exhausting work. Blessedly, Julius had us on a sort of rotation, where some of us could get a break. There seemed to be some vague math involved regarding our strength and vitality stats, and how often we were on break. However, having even lower stats then moved the needle back up on how often I was pushing ¨C maybe Julius was hoping I¡¯d get another natural strength or vitality point.


    The long and the short of it was, Arthur and I were on break together, and he was taking me hunting! This wasn¡¯t the first time he¡¯d let me shadow him while hunting, helping me blend into the environment, learning what tricks I could without having any skills to back it up.


    Usually, I was using a short bow like Arthur¡¯s. I was keeping very quiet on the existence of longbows and crossbows, not that I knew how to make them. Turns out, these short bows, with their poor weight pull and strength, were the best humanity had figured out. After being penalized just from suggesting pulling all the lightning out of a body to kill someone to Artemis, I wasn¡¯t about to start importing improved weaponry to Pallos. For all I knew, I¡¯d get penalized every time one was used.


    Arthur got massive use out of his short bow though, skills making up for what materials failed to provide. Made me wonder just how much stronger people would be with good weapons and good skills.


    Today though, today I was hunting with my fire. Almost in a primitive, girl vs nature way.


    ¡°Won¡¯t always have a bow.¡± Arthur said. ¡°It¡¯s easier to learn how to burn living creatures when they¡¯re your dinner, and not someone trying to kill you.¡±


    I¡¯d instinctively tried to burn Swimmer and the rest of the mercenaries back when they tried to kidnap me, but Arthur was right ¨C I didn¡¯t have any experience ¡®properly¡¯ burning something to death. From my memories, I recalled it being a particularly terrible way to go.


    And I had thought fireballs were so cool. Bah.


    However, I set my teeth together and moved on. Being a healer meant that I¡¯d seen all flavors of horrific injuries. Being a Ranger meant that I¡¯d seen all sorts of creatures dying, monsters preying on humans being slain. This was just the natural next step ¨C practice for if, when, I needed to apply my flames to defend myself again.


    I suspected somewhat that Artemis had put Arthur up to this, a way to gently ease me into using my flames lethally.


    We got ready, which consisted of me rolling in the dirt to help camouflage myself, so I¡¯d blend into the ¡®native¡¯ looks, then grabbing all manners of local plants, carefully sticking them to me, weaving them into my clothes and hair, in a way to help me blend in, merge with the undergrowth. In all my times hunting, I¡¯d never been offered a [Disguise], [Hunting], or [Tracking] skill ¨C Maximus said it was because they were rolled into [Ranger¡¯s Lore], and I could feel the skill working as we prepared, letting me know that if I stuck plant A on my shoulder, it¡¯d look wrong when I was lying down, and to instead put it on my hip.


    ¡°Ready?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°Ready.¡±


    We took off on a loping run, to get away from the Argo and the rest of the team huffing and puffing over it ¨C they¡¯d scared everything in a large radius around them, and anything that wasn¡¯t scared off was too big game for me to try and tackle.


    I ran directly behind Arthur, which was the only way I could keep up with him. My eyes kept wanting to slide off of him, to keep checking the rest of the horizon. They kept telling me that ¡°this was just more landscape, I should look at the rest of the landscape, keep my eyes peeled, be vigilant for other monsters¡±.


    Arthur¡¯s skills at work. I was getting a bit better at seeing glimpses of him now and then, almost always during the night when [Eyes of the Milky Way] gave me an unfair advantage, as Arthur¡¯s attempt to blend into the night was soundly defeated.


    [Oath] stated ¡°First, do no harm.¡±. However, it operated off of my thoughts and feelings, to a certain extent, and non-sapient creatures didn¡¯t make the cut. If I was a vegan of some variety, they might¡¯ve made the cut. Skills were weird. It was even harder since it was a self-created skill, that I had nobody to bounce it off of, nobody to compare. Maximus didn¡¯t even have a similar skill that he knew of that he could compare it to ¨C he just guessed off of what he knew, off of basics that the entire System seemed to work off of.


    Arthur slowed down, and I slowed with him, then he crouched down. I faithfully mirrored him.


    He pointed at some scat.


    ¡°Deer.¡± I whispered to him, familiar with this game of his. He nodded, a beaming smile of approval splitting his face. It wasn¡¯t just Artemis that enjoyed teaching me things.


    He pointed to some animal tracks that I¡¯d completely missed ¨C I needed more levels in [Ranger¡¯s Lore] ¨C but once I had the start of them, I could follow them, starting to see more.


    Fresh deer tracks.


    Arthur hung back now, letting me track the deer, proving what I¡¯d learned from him. We followed the trail for some time, before Arthur roughly grabbed my shoulder, pulling me back.


    I knew more than to verbally say anything. I looked back inquisitively, to see a serious face, finger over his lips. He slowly pointed. I followed his finger to see what he was pointing at.


    Ah. The deer. I¡¯d almost ran smack into them without noticing, I¡¯d been so focused on the tracks.


    Arthur indicated to me, letting me know that the ball was in my court. I looked at the deer. Older, male. A perfect target.


    The deer was in-range of my flames, but the closer I got, the shorter distance I¡¯d need to have flames travel, the less chance he¡¯d get to notice and run, the higher chance for success.


    We crept closer and closer, until I got as close as I thought was possible. I had no weapon with me, just my trusty knife. This was all about using fire.


    I breathed in, breathed out, sharpening my focus, letting the world around me fall away. I could do a large cone, a massive burst of flames, or I could have fewer, hotter flames ¨C the power and control required were the same.


    I decided on wider flames ¨C they were more likely to hit, to cause some damage, instead of a lucky dodge resulting in nothing.


    I mentally prepped myself. This was going to be ugly.


    But it wasn¡¯t all that different from using a bow. Was it?


    I pointed ¨C an almost completely useless gesture, apart from getting part of me that much closer to the deer ¨C and let out a torrent of flames at the deer.


    The deer screamed as flames licked over it, and took off running, the smell of burning hair and flesh filling my nose with a disgusting smell. [Vastness of the Stars] helped ¨C a low cost of mana for an improved quality of life ¨C as Arthur and I took off running after the deer.


    It was hurt, badly, that much was clear. It wasn¡¯t so hurt that it fell over and died, but it was going slower than normal, screams of agonizing pain ripped from its throat.


    It would¡¯ve stabbed me in the heart, hurt to the quick hearing its pain if it wasn¡¯t for [Vastness], if it wasn¡¯t for [Center of the Galaxy].


    Arthur decided that me chasing a deer down for possibly hours wasn¡¯t a good use of our time, and loosed an arrow while on the run after the deer. An impossible shot for a human from Earth looked easy to do coming from Arthur, and the deer slowed down ¨C not dead, not even lethal poison. If I was a betting girl ¨C and I was these days ¨C I¡¯d say Arthur used the same poison he¡¯d used on the adventurer¡¯s mules.


    The deer slowed, and I caught up, blasted a stream of concentrated, hot flames at its head.


    To my horror, felt at the edges of [Center] but not invading my mind, not impacting me like it should, blessedly not causing me to stumble and fall, the deer survived that, screaming in pain and agony, eyeballs oozing around charred flesh.


    ¡°Knife.¡± Arthur told me, and I drew my knife, advancing on the deer, hoping to slit its throat or stab it somewhere vital.


    ¡®No stopping power¡¯ indeed. Maximus hadn¡¯t been kidding.


    A short tussle later, and I got a notification.


    [*Ding!* Your party has slain a [Deer] (Wood, lv 36)].


    Arthur put his hand on my shoulder.


    ¡°Good hunt.¡±


    I closed my eyes. Was it? Were flames the best choice for me, something that killed slowly, painfully? I still think being a mage was correct for me, but I should look into switching elements. Something that wasn¡¯t as nasty as fire was. I should have a long talk with Artemis and the rest of the team about this. Maybe be a Lightning mage like Artemis.


    We brought the deer back, and by that, I meant that Arthur effortlessly picked the entire thing up, slung it over one shoulder, and took off, with me needing to spend all of my effort keeping up with him. The advantage of physical stats once again made blindingly obvious ¨C he had the same, if not longer, reach than a mage, could go on almost endlessly like a physical fighter, and had massive lethality from poison. Compared to shrimpy me, who was good for a short while in a fight, then couldn¡¯t keep up on a run.


    I was having some minor regrets about my build.


    I shook my head. I was comparing myself, a teenager with less than a year¡¯s real experience, to Arthur, in his physical peak, that had been doing this his entire life from the sound of it. Apples to apples, not apples to whales.


    We set up camp after another long day of pushing the cart along to Tolosa. No more lazing about while the horses pulled! We hadn¡¯t seen hide nor hair of them after the attack, and the smart money was on them being dinosaur scat at this point.


    Arthur, Maximus, Kallisto, and Julius were the main force behind moving the Argo, while Origen, Artemis, and I leaned in and put in effort, but we knew it was more to show that we were all in it together, less than any real contribution to the movement. Sure, with Kallisto¡¯s strength, he could probably get the wagon moving on his own, but it was easier for all of us to work as a team.


    Julius had also said something about teamwork.


    The upshot of all of it was at the end of the day, we were all exhausted and sweaty, and the lack of a nearby river made it all the worse. At least it wasn¡¯t summer or anything like that, although we were creeping further and further north, and it was getting warmer the further north we went.


    We set up camp ¨C campfires made easy thanks to me being a mobile flamethrower ¨C and we chowed down on the fresh deer, courtesy of Arthur and I.


    As I was playing with the campfire¡¯s flames, manipulating them in various ways ¨C much to Origen¡¯s angry body language as I was making cooking all the more difficult ¨C I got a notification, my earlier experience along with this play pushing me over the edge.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Firebug] has leveled up to level 31! +2 Free Stats, +2 Mana, +1 Mana Regen, +3 Magic power, +1 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Strength from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Affinity] has reached level 31!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Conjuration] has reached level 31!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Manipulation] has reached level 31!]


    Kallisto and Origen decided to spar, which was more practice for Origen than Kallisto.


    ¡°Elaine, are you full up and able to heal?¡± Kallisto asked.


    ¡°Yeah, why do you ask?¡± I said.


    ¡°Because we¡¯re hoping to go hard, like a real fight. Just not going for lethal blows. Should help us level up faster. Having you on-deck and ready to heal in case we make a mistake, or land a hard blow, makes it possible. What do you say?¡±


    ¡°This is a bad idea.¡± I said. ¡°You should stay safe.¡±


    ¡°Excellent idea!¡± Artemis said. ¡°I bet Origen does at least one terrible blow!¡±


    ¡°How do you judge that?¡± Maximus asked. ¡°I¡¯m game, but we¡¯d need a judge. Otherwise we argue if a blow¡¯s terrible or not, and that just causes bad blood.¡±


    ¡°Elaine can be the judge, right?¡± Artemis glanced at me.


    ¡°Heck no. I object to this whole idea! I¡¯m not helping.¡±


    ¡°Plus she¡¯d just agree with you.¡± Maximus said.


    ¡°No betting on this.¡± Julius cut in. ¡°Kallisto, Origen, ready?¡±


    ¡°Ready.¡± Kallisto said.


    Origen nodded seriously, not taking his eyes off of Kallisto.


    ¡°Hang on, -¡° I protested, only to be cut off by Julius.


    ¡°Go!¡±


    With that, Origen lunged at Kallisto, who stood there solidly, waiting for Origen to commit to an attack before moving his shield in the way, solidly holding his ground, poking with his spear to keep Origen honest.


    Origen was the third-weakest on the team physically, but even that was stronger than most guards. It was a testament to the sheer ridiculousness of the rest of the Rangers that he was near the bottom.


    Made me wonder ¨C Origen with all of his enchanted armor and other extras he had VS any one of the Rangers without their Origen-supplied enchanted gear. Who would win? It¡¯d probably be close ¨C Kallisto was so far ahead by virtue of the fact that he was only defending with enchanted armor. If he had to land a blow, that¡¯d be a different question.


    The fight, semi-predictably, ended in a draw, with neither side landing anything that could be remotely called a terrible blow. I healed both of them of the minor scrapes and bruises, sighing in exasperation.


    ¡°Really? Do you really have to go that hard?¡± I asked them, mostly rhetorically.


    ¡°Good practice.¡± Origen said.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Kallisto agreed, panting with exertion. ¡°Good to practice against someone who¡¯s not holding their blows back. We should do this more often.¡±


    ¡°This is a terrible idea! What if you¡¯d taken a blow that I couldn¡¯t heal!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s why they weren¡¯t aiming for the head or neck.¡± Arthur rumbled. ¡°You can heal anything else in time, and it¡¯s not like there¡¯d be so many blows, or people, that you get overloaded.¡±


    I growled in frustration, and threw my hands up.


    ¡°Fine! Whatever! I completely disagree, but whatever, I can¡¯t stop you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good experience for them.¡± Maximus butted in. ¡°The added stress, the fact that it¡¯s live and ¡®real¡¯, almost no-holds-barred fighting, means they¡¯ll level faster as a result. Means they¡¯re more likely to survive a fight.¡±


    Blah. It all made sense, and I was conflicted. On one hand, yes, they were improving, they weren¡¯t at risk of serious harm. On the other hand, I was being asked to endorse people hurting other people, actively, not in self-defense, which is where my current line was drawn. Hunting? Absolutely. Defending yourself? Of course, I was no pacifist, who insisted that non-violence at all times was the way. Hurting someone else? My current line.


    But this was sparring, this was self-improvement. This was helping survival. I shouldn¡¯t have a reason to be against it now, did I? This would take some more thinking, but my mind was slowly- oh so slowly- being changed.


    I just hope it led somewhere that I could live with at the end of the day.

 Chapter 66 – Adventures on the way to Perinthus IV

    Artemis had one of her terrible grins on her face as she looked at me.


    ¡°Whatever it is, I want no part in it.¡± I said, cutting her off as she opened her mouth.


    Her grin, if anything, became even more terrible.


    ¡°That¡¯s the beauty of it. See, you can¡¯t deliberately hurt yourself to heal, or burn yourself for your fire resistance. But if we were¡­¡±


    I shielded a pebble thrown by Arthur, glaring at him.


    ¡°See, my point!¡± Artemis exclaimed. ¡°We already do ¡®shield it or take it¡¯ training with you, we already keep you on your toes with throwing pebbles at you, what¡¯s wrong with adding fire to the mix?¡±


    There were nods going around the circle.


    ¡°No. No no no no no.¡± I protested, shaking my head and backing up as they closed in on me.


    Long story short, that¡¯s how I found myself tied to a spear-turned-roasting-stick, being gently rotated right above the fire.


    ¡°At least do it to my legs!¡± I yelled in protest. ¡°My poor tunics!¡±


    ¡°We have gone through quite a few of her tunics.¡± Artemis conceded. ¡°Move the offering to the left!¡± She proclaimed grandly, like she was making a sacrifice at the temple.


    Hang on, did the gods go for that sort of-


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Resistance] has reached level 27!]


    ¡°Argh!¡± I yelled in frustration.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Artemis asked, concerned. Good to know it wasn¡¯t all fun and games for her.


    I felt dizzy as I was rotated once again. Ground. Artemis. Sky. Julius. Ground. Repeat.


    ¡°I hate that it¡¯s working!¡±


    Arthur lost it at that, madly laughing at my distress.


    ¡°You know healy-bug, you can always extinguish the fire.¡± Artemis pointed out.


    ¡°Duh. I know that.¡± I replied, my voice probably doing strange things as I was rotated as I spoke. ¡°[Oath] seems to bar me from causing harm. It requires that I heal. However, it doesn¡¯t seem to enforce removing harm. But I can¡¯t ask, or suggest. To be exact, I don¡¯t want to, and find out if [Oath] dislikes it. Nor can I suggest hurting someone else. Not that I would ¨C it¡¯s ethically wrong.¡±


    Artemis rolled her eyes. ¡°Bah. Ethics. Who needs ¡®em?¡±


    Julius cuffed the back of her head. ¡°You do! That¡¯s who!¡± He gave her a very Significant Look.


    ¡°Yes boss.¡± She said respectfully, a hair meekly.


    Origen approached my rotating, burning-and-healing legs, sprinkling some herbs on them, while quietly chuckling to himself. He got a laugh out of everyone but Julius, who just rolled his eyes.


    ¡°Ok, stop the ride, I want to get off.¡± I said, having had enough of this.


    Instead, Arthur started turning the spear even faster, [Center of the Galaxy] having nothing for dizziness.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ going¡­.to¡­.¡± I tried to say, as my nausea got worse.


    The vomit-spiral was epic. Only a little got on me.


    ¡°New rule.¡± Julius said, rubbing dirt to help clump the mess and get it off of him. Couldn¡¯t spare the water, just in case something went horribly wrong. ¡°Do not roast Elaine over an open fire.¡±


    ¡°What about a closed fire?¡± Artemis asked.


    ¡°ANY fire.¡± Julius amended himself.


    ¡°How about Origen?¡± I asked darkly. My legs smelled like a well-seasoned steak. It was unnatural. Worse, it was making me hungry.


    ¡°Do not roast anyone over any fire.¡± Julius said, with a tone that he was done being asked to rule-lawyer.


    The evening settled after that, and most everyone went to bed. Artemis and I drew the short straws for first shift.


    ¡°Hey Artemis,¡± I asked, bored out of my mind, scanning our surroundings for non-existent threats. ¡°when you cast [Chain Lightning] the other day against the goblins, how did you get your voice to crackle like that?¡±


    Artemis shrugged. ¡°Just one of those strange system-quirks. Channel enough mana at once, say the skill, and your voice changes a bit. For me, it helps me focus and channel, especially a skill that large. I don¡¯t need to say it, but I had the time to, and with that much going on ¨C especially with Arthur hiding somewhere ¨C it was a solid warning to everyone what was going to happen. The System just amplified it.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°Makes sense.¡±


    Our watch ended without further incident, Artemis and I idly chatting in hushed whispers to not wake anyone up. Julius and Maximus got the second shift, and I went to sleep in the Argo.


    I woke up after a few hours needing to pee. I stealthily slipped out of the Argo, intending to find a quiet bush to put up [Veil] and do my business. Look, I didn¡¯t want to broadcast that I was peeing near the camp by putting up a giant ¡°LOOK HERE¡± sign in plain sight.


    I was sneaking around, when I overheard Julius and Maximus hush-whispering to each other, just like Artemis and I had done, in that unique tone that was both somewhat loud, but yet still registered as a whisper to the sleeping mind. No, what caught my attention mid-sentence was my name.


    ¡°¡­ Elaine before. Do we need to have it again?¡± Julius whispered.


    ¡°Humor me.¡± Maximus said. ¡°I still don¡¯t agree. I¡¯m not challenging you in public, and you¡¯re a good leader. I¡¯m trying to understand, so if I end up a team leader one day, I know the why better, the philosophy better.¡±


    ¡°I suppose you have earned being humored.¡± Julius said, in a tone that said Maximus had been humored many times before, taking a moment to collect his thoughts.


    ¡°What¡¯s the death toll on a Ranger squad?¡± Julius asked.


    ¡°Half the squad per round.¡± Maximus replied instantly. I was able to see Julius nodding clearly, thanks to [Eyes].


    ¡°Exactly. We lost two almost immediately. We almost lost Kallisto. Elaine most likely saved his life, and by extension, most of our lives down the line, right there. In that moment when she came up to me, after the hunt, already full up on mana again and able to heal, I saw a few things.¡±


    ¡°One ¨C Elaine¡¯s going to end up one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, healer in a generation.¡±


    ¡°Two ¨C There¡¯s no way once she properly grows into her power and skills that the Rangers could recruit her. We offer shit pay, relative to what she could get, and a life of danger versus ease. Yeah, there are the two healers at HQ who help, but it¡¯s more like they heal the occasional Ranger that makes it back to them in exchange for a badge and the rights to call themselves a Ranger, to improve their main business. There¡¯s no reason for them to be on the road.¡±


    ¡°Three ¨C I saw that she was able to strike off on her own. There was a cozy, new town nearby. It¡¯d be easy for her to leave, and set up a life on her own. Heck, Kallisto and Artemis told me that in the few days she was around town, she got multiple excellent offers to stay and set up a life. A good life, a solid life, one without threats and danger that she sees every day here.¡±


    ¡°So, I struck, then and there. She takes pride in being a Ranger. She takes pride in being one of us. She¡¯s now with us, and will be with us for what I pray is a long and fruitful career. I hope she blazes a new path, a new way ¨C Healers with Ranger squads. If we can stop losing Rangers so damn quickly, we might be able to get enough of us with the experience needed to nip more problems in the bud, instead of traveling town to town on these giant loops. We might be able to have each Ranger team cover three or four towns, instead of the dozen plus we currently need to handle.¡±


    Julius paused.


    ¡°I recognize your complaint. She¡¯s a kid at heart, no matter if she has those extra years reincarnated or not. For reference, I do believe her, as strange as the story is. The gods have been known to do stranger things. She¡¯s low-level ¨C she came to us at half the baseline level we expect of Rangers at minimum. She couldn¡¯t fight, and even now, she can barely fight. She just barely manages to pull her weight ¨C but she does pull it. I¡¯ll ask you this though: If she was high level enough, would she agree to join us? Would any healer with the requirements we have join us, risk life and limb on the uncomfortable road when they could make ten, twenty times as much healing elsewhere? When they have to leave their families and luxuries behind?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so.¡±


    There was a long pause.


    ¡°I still think there had to have been a better way of doing it.¡± Maximus whispered. ¡°There¡¯s a standard process, rules to be followed.¡±


    ¡°When we get to the end of this round, we¡¯ll do them.¡± Julius promised. ¡°She¡¯ll have the benefit of having trained with us, of getting levels with us, which should help her through the process. She might get some leeway ¨C we give mages leeway.¡±


    Maximus made a soft grunting noise. ¡°Her being a girl¡¯s going to count against her.¡±


    ¡°When does it not count against the women who try to join?¡± Julius asked. ¡°The pricks demand so much more of any woman who joins ¨C which is why each one that does succeed is famous. Artemis. Corvina. Brina. Asena. When it comes to male Rangers, you could probably name just as many that are famous.¡±


    I realized that the conversation was starting to drift off of me, and I should probably make myself scarce before they saw me ¨C there was no telling how good their vision was in the dark, my skill wasn¡¯t that unique, and I didn¡¯t want them to think I¡¯d been eavesdropping.


    I finished my business, made my way back into the Argo with my sleeping gear, and stared up at the ceiling for a while. Julius had given me a ton to think about.


    I hadn¡¯t really questioned the why on Julius asking me to be a full Ranger ¨C I¡¯d been too happy to process it, too terrified that they might change their mind to even allow myself to think the question. It made sense. My original plan was to get dropped off in Virinum, and to try and forge my own life there. Granted, it would¡¯ve been horribly derailed by Kerberos¡¯s bounty hunters, and tagging along with the Rangers was exciting enough that I didn¡¯t want to leave ¨C but Julius wasn¡¯t wrong to worry about it. The rest of his points made sense. Grab the healer while she¡¯s weak and needs protection, get her liking and used to the conditions, more people live. It was cold and calculating.


    But Julius, and the rest, had been anything but cold and calculating to me in my time here. I¡¯d never gotten anything but warmth and acceptance, no indication that I was considered anything less than a full member. Sure, I¡¯d just been involuntarily roasted, but that was no worse than Kallisto stealing Arthur¡¯s bow, nor Arthur retaliating by lightly poisoning Maximus¡¯s food, giving him the runs for days. (Kallisto had been mad at Maximus, and decided to get back at him by framing him.)


    All in all, Julius was making cold, calculating, level-headed decisions as the leader of the Ranger team, but was a friendly and personable person.


    I could like the person, and dislike the cold decisions their role forced them to make. I wouldn¡¯t want to be following someone, taking orders from someone, who was making flighty decisions, less than optimal choices to preserve feelings. There was a real chance we¡¯d all die then. Be unhappy with the role, not the player.


    Did this change my decision? Did this change my choice? I needed to think about it more, but I was leaning strongly in the ¡°no¡± direction. The feeling, the memory, of being so whole-heartedly accepted when Julius asked, at a speed so fast from the sound of it he had no time to plan it, was so genuine, was so real, that I knew in everyone¡¯s heart I was a member, regardless of what had been happening in Julius¡¯s head.


    On that happy note, I finally drifted back off to sleep.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 14]


    [Mana: 3810/3810]


    [Mana Regen: 6100]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 37]


    [Strength: 37]


    [Dexterity: 64]


    [Vitality: 57]


    [Speed: 64]


    [Mana: 381]


    [Mana Regeneration: 823]


    [Magic Power: 384]


    [Magic Control: 879]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 133]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 133]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 111]


    [Medicine: 116]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 109]


    [Phases of the Moon: 81]


    [Eyes of the Milky Way: 93]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 76]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 75]


    [Class 2: [Firebug - Fire: Lv 31]]


    [Fire Affinity: 31]


    [Fire Resistance: 27]


    [Fire Conjuration: 31]


    [Fire Manipulation: 31]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 21]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 76]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 79]


    [Pretty: 100]


    [Vigilant: 111]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 111]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 48]


    [Running: 75]


    [Learning: 107]

 Chapter 67 – Adventures on the way to Perinthus V

    Tolosa had been relatively relaxing - for me. Pushing the Argo to town hadn¡¯t been any fun, and had the guards make fun of us ¨C until we explained the why. That sobered them up quickly, and had gotten us looks of respect for surviving an attack ¨C Arthur doubly so for doing it without shelter.


    Kallisto helped me set up a similar healing agreement with another merchant ¨C although this time it was simple advertisement for him, and patients paid what they could for me ¨C and Artemis and I spent time yo-yoing between doing that, and the baths.


    The rest of the team didn¡¯t have it nearly so relaxing. There was some thief around that the guard just couldn¡¯t catch, and unlike my library-antics where the Rangers didn¡¯t care because I wasn¡¯t causing any damage, and the guard only cared because it made them look bad, this thief was causing problems.


    As a result, Julius, Maximus, and the rest spent the week running around, talking with people, laying traps, and generally tearing their hair out. It was made extra-hard by the fact that the army recruiters had stepped up, becoming much more aggressive with their recruiting, which had the general population feeling fairly sour towards us.


    Their sourness didn¡¯t extend to the ¡°discount healing¡± though, and Julius had praised me for some good PR. My very full coin pouches were the real reason why I¡¯d been so aggressively pursuing healing. When I got to Perinthus, I was going to drown myself in mangos. Empty out my storage chest to store more. Convince Julius that it should be a standard part of our rations. They were healthy fruit after all.


    Artemis and I were mostly useless at this sort of investigation, and it didn¡¯t seem like either her firepower nor my healing would be critical. Time off for us! Carefully not laughing as Origen pulled off half his beard in frustration ¨C it wouldn¡¯t do for us to rub it in that we weren¡¯t helping all that much on this case.


    I sent another bland letter off to home while relaxing.


    Dear Mom and Dad,


    It¡¯s Elaine!


    Still traveling with Artemis and the rest of the Rangers. It¡¯s a ton of fun. Very safe. Nothing to worry about.


    I realized I forgot to tell you about my new, second class! I¡¯m a Fire Mage now! It¡¯s useful for camping and cooking. I also got an eating-related skill ¨C Fuel for the Fire.


    We¡¯re in Tolosa right now, and Kallisto¡¯s been helping me find people to heal. I have lines now!


    We¡¯re heading towards Perinthus, where there¡¯s going to be so many mangos! I can¡¯t wait! I¡¯ll see if I can get some sent with my next letter.


    I hope Kerberos¡¯s family isn¡¯t giving you too much grief.


    Love you two a ton!


    Your loving daughter,


    Elaine


    They managed to catch the thief on the second-to-last day before we had to leave, which meant everyone else got one and a half day¡¯s worth of vacation. The last day arrived, and we all showed up at the Argo, new, not-as-well trained horses hitched up.


    Well, everyone but Arthur.


    ¡°He¡¯s probably hiding somewhere; we should just get going.¡± I said.


    Julius took a half-hearted swat at me.


    ¡°No Elaine. We wait for everyone. He hasn¡¯t checked in or anything. He knows what to do. At the same time, no emergency signal.¡±


    Our fearless leader frowned, thinking.


    ¡°Artemis, stay with the Argo. Lightning bolt if Arthur shows up again. Maximus with Elaine. Origen and Kallisto with me. Sweep the town, see if we can¡¯t find Arthur.¡±


    I piped up.


    ¡°Given how, uh, distinct, Arthur is, shouldn¡¯t we ask the guards for some help? They could help us search faster.¡±


    Julius nodded, acknowledging my idea, then shook his head.


    ¡°If we start to get desperate, yeah, we¡¯ll ask them. Let¡¯s see if we can clean up our own mess first before embarrassing ourselves.¡±


    ¡°How will we know to stop?¡± I asked, trying to make sure we were all on the same page.


    ¡°Artemis¡¯s signal.¡±


    Right, made sense.


    ¡°15 coins that we find Arthur drunk in a ditch somewhere.¡± Kallisto offered.


    Origen raised his hand, indicating that he¡¯d take the bet.


    ¡°I want in on that!¡± I said eagerly. I¡¯d dumped most of my coins into my chest inside the Argo ¨C and the fact that it was mine and not just borrowed while I was hanging-on still made me kick my feet in joy ¨C and if I lost a few coins, oh well. It was fun to gamble!


    I was responsible about it though ¨C I considered that I¡¯d spent 15 coins having a bit of fun, and I could afford to lose them. If I got anything back, it was a bonus. No gambling problem for me. Nope.


    Although, if I wanted to, I could afford one hell of a habit. Hmmmm¡­.


    We split up, me following Maximus around, constantly turning my head.


    ¡°So, errr¡­ not to ask dumb questions, but what am I looking for? Obviously, Arthur, but is there anything else I should be looking for?¡± I asked.


    Maximus shrugged.


    ¡°You basically got it. Arthur, or anything irregular.¡±


    I pouted at him.


    ¡°I¡¯m too damn short to see ¡®anything irregular¡¯!¡± I grouched. ¡°Not in these crowds.¡±


    Maximus shrugged at me.


    ¡°Well, keep an eye out for Arthur anyways. He¡¯s tall enough that even you could see him. Squirt.¡±


    I stuck my tongue out at him. Real mature of me I know.


    We spent a few hours combing streets one at a time, the anxiety in my chest slowly getting worse. Most drunks had woken up by now, were off the street, continuing with their lives. I kept glancing back vaguely in the direction of the Argo, hoping to see flickering Lightning.


    We kept searching, and suddenly, with a voice that made my heart leap into my throat, I heard Arthur!


    ¡°Elaine! Maximus! Over here!¡± He yelled.


    Maximus started laughing his ass off. I pushed my way through a few people to see what was so funny.


    Arthur was looking less-than-pleased in a crowd of about a dozen men, surrounded by Legion soldiers.


    ¡°SILENCE RECRUIT.¡± Bellowed a short Legionnaire, in full armor, chest coated with all sorts of medals. I eyed them. From what little I¡¯d been taught so far; I didn¡¯t recognize a single one.


    ¡°You have all signed up for the glory of the Legion! Rejoice, a new career awaits you!¡± He continued to yell, pitching his voice so it sounded lower than his normal timbre. I started cracking up as well, seeing why Maximus had found this so funny.


    ¡°Did you tell them Arthur?¡± Maximus said.


    ¡°Yeah! I woke up without my bow, surrounded by these idiots. Won¡¯t believe a word I said. I was this close,¡± Arthur put his fingers close together, with only a small gap between them. ¡°to busting out myself. But Julius would never let me hear the end of ¡®be nice to the Army¡¯ and ¡®keep the Rangers looking good¡¯, and so on and so forth.¡±


    ¡°SILENCE!¡± Napoleon-Complex yelled, poking Arthur with the butt of his spear. ¡°Your lies will not change the fact that you¡¯ve signed up! You were found drunk, with no friends nearby, no family! We will make something of you, a glorious soldier! One day, you might join the ranks of the elite, the Rangers, but you must start at the bottom!¡±


    Maximus took out his badge, flashing it at Napoleon-Complex. ¡°Hi. Rangers here. He¡¯s one of our teammates. Please let him go before there¡¯s a problem.¡±


    Napoleon-Complex managed to somehow look down on Maximus, in spite of only being my height.


    ¡°Fool! You will not trick me with some fake counterfeit! The Rangers are like Gods, sent down to walk among us! They are handsome! They are strong! They are the elite of the Republic! The ground shakes where they walk, the heavens split when they speak! You are the most average-looking man I have ever seen, there¡¯s no way you¡¯re a Ranger. This fine man here,¡± He pointed to Arthur, towering above him in spite of being several feet back. ¡°has the potential! And I will bring it out of him!¡±


    Somehow Napoleon-Complex managed to get that all out in a single breath, almost spraying spit as he spoke.


    Maximus quite possibly strained a muscle as he rolled his eyes. I hit him with [Phases] just in case he had.


    3 mana spent. Either topping up old injuries decaying, or he¡¯d managed to strain his eye.


    ¡°Elaine, go to Artemis, get her to signal urgent, then get everyone back here. This could get ugly.¡± Maximus told me.


    I saluted him ¨C properly, just to rub it in Napoleon-Complex¡¯s face ¨C and took off like a shot to where Artemis was hanging out with the Argo. Happily, my stats let me properly run and use the White lane.


    I got there without further incident, and informed Artemis what was going on. She shot up the signal, and before long, everyone was present.


    ¡°Elaine. Report.¡± Julius said, seeing just me without Maximus or Arthur, and making the obvious conclusion.


    ¡°Sir! Arthur¡¯s been conscripted into the Army. The officer won¡¯t listen to a word anyone says. Arthur¡¯s a hair from violence, and is hoping to resolve it non-violently. Something about getting an earful from you otherwise.¡±


    I then repeated everything the officer had said.


    Kallisto brightened up.


    ¡°Boss, I have the perfect plan!¡±


    Julius looked Kallisto up and down, then groaned.


    ¡°I know exactly what your plan is, and I hate that it¡¯d probably work. Do it.¡±


    I looked around, but nobody seemed to want to explain the plan, and I wanted to try and fit in, so I just went with the flow.


    Kallisto geared up in everything ¨C full armor, helmet, badge. Turned on his inscriptions, glowed with power. Kallisto was always heroically good looking, and he had taken it up to 11.


    As we walked back to where Maximus was, Ranger Eagle prominent, it suddenly clicked what the plan was. I side-eyed Kallisto. Really?


    We got to where Maximus and Arthur were, and just in time.


    ¡°Prepare to march!¡± Napoleon-Complex said. ¡°Forward, -¡°


    ¡°Halt!¡± Kallisto roared, striding forward.


    ¡°Sir Ranger!¡± Napoleon-Complex kneeled down towards him. ¡°It is my greatest honor to meet you! There have been people impersonating your greatness in the city ¨C like that man over there!¡± He pointed toward Maximus.


    I suppressed an urge to roll my eyes. Artemis didn¡¯t. Julius facepalmed, as Origen let out a hearty laugh.


    ¡°Holy shit he¡¯s just as bad as you said.¡± Artemis said.


    ¡°Yuuuuuuuuuuup.¡±


    ¡°You mean my teammate!?¡± Kallisto barked out. Napoleon-Complex paled a bit.


    ¡°Well sir,-¡°


    Kallisto cut him off.


    ¡°And why is another one of my teammates surrounded by your soldiers!?¡± He roared.


    If it was humanly possible to do so, I think all the blood would have left Napoleon-Complex¡¯s body. As it was, it was a good thing he was already kneeling, otherwise he would have fallen right over.


    He slowly toppled over. Ah. He¡¯d fainted entirely. I rolled my eyes, and walked over to him, hitting him with [Phases], just in case it was something bad. Nothing happened. I eyed him suspiciously. Was he faking¡­.?


    ¡°Hey Julius, while we¡¯re here, might as well get the rest of the people conscripted free. I doubt many, if any, of them are here voluntarily.¡±


    ¡°No. Elaine, I¡¯ll explain later.¡±


    I pouted at him as Arthur was freed, an exhausted-looking second-in-command fumbling to make everything happen fast enough.


    ¡°One last thing.¡± Julius said to the second-in-command. ¡°Tell the idiot over there to stop wearing fake medals. Next time, we won¡¯t overlook it.¡±


    A deep, weary sigh came from the poor second. It told of uncounted attempts to persuade, of cleaning up messes, of being in poor favor and assigned to this commander. I felt bad for him. He looked down, checking that Napoleon-Complex was still out cold.


    ¡°Sure you can¡¯t arrest him for that?¡± He asked hopefully.


    Napoleon-Complex twitched visibly.


    ¡°Sadly, he¡¯d get out fairly quickly, and probably be all the more miserable for it. You¡¯d end up bearing the brunt.¡± Julius said apologetically.


    Second¡¯s eyebrows moved a bunch, doing some mental calculations. I glanced at Origen. Another Laconian? He divined my question, shaking his head.


    Second¡¯s shoulders slumped, sadly said. ¡°You¡¯re right. Well.... good hunting, I suppose.¡±


    We left at that point without further incident, and ended up on the road, only delayed half the day all in all.


    ¡°What was up with letting the conscripted stay?¡± I asked Julius, lying on my sleeping bag on top of a pile of pillows, reveling in the fact that we had horses again, that I didn¡¯t need to push the Argo, that I could just laze about during the day. Even Artemis hadn¡¯t seen fit to put me through my paces. That probably wouldn¡¯t last long, but hey! I¡¯d take what I can get.


    Julius was of a similar mind, having arranged blankets and pillows to form an impromptu bean bag of some sort. Arthur was on driving duty ¨C punishment for being caught drunk, and rounded up. Something about having more personal responsibility when allowed to go solo with a signal.


    ¡°How much do you know about the Formorians?¡± He asked, answering my question with another question.


    ¡°Not much. People keep talking about them like they¡¯re the big, bad, scary thing, but nobody really expands beyond that.¡± Shrugging was kinda hard from my position.


    ¡°The short version is ¨C they¡¯re a race of massive, ant-like creatures. Not particularly smart, but strong. Fast. Vicious. And always pushing in from the west. There¡¯s a massive battlefield out there, where we¡¯ve dug in, where the Legions go. All except for the 3rd Legion. The Formorians aren¡¯t particularly smart. Not only are they unable to negotiate or even communicate with us, they simply throw themselves at our entrenchments in massive waves. Makes it easy to pick them off.¡±


    ¡°At the same time, they¡¯re strong. They¡¯re powerful. And they¡¯re almost unending. If the fortifications at Gibraldrian fall, the Formorians would sweep across Remus. We could try to build a new set of fortifications, but they wouldn¡¯t be as strong, and we¡¯d have a fraction of the humans to man the walls ¨C while the Formorians would have more land, more territory, to grow and develop, and be able to send more at us.¡±


    ¡°In short, we live on the knife¡¯s edge. That¡¯s why there are Rangers, and not an army squad at every town. If the Legions are desperate enough to move towards conscription right now, it means we¡¯re in serious trouble at the front lines, and the commander is asking for more troops.¡±


    ¡°Now, it¡¯s possible that the idiot back there was just trying to make his numbers to make himself look good ¨C he was certainly pompous and arrogant enough. Just in case though ¨C I didn¡¯t want to interfere.¡±


    I digested that for quite some time.


    ¡°They should let women fight as well. Double the number of people that are able to be there.¡±


    Julius nodded in agreement.


    ¡°Aye. The stubborn old gits in the Senate and the Legion Command haven¡¯t. There¡¯s an interesting phenomenon. High vitality allows you to live long ¨C much longer than someone without it. As a result, people with high vitality have longer to make it to positions of power, and once they get there, last longer than people without high vitality. The older you are, the more set in your ways you become. The natural result is you get a bunch of old relics in the Senate and in the Legion Command, set in their ways. A lack of flexibility might kill us all, and it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if the wall fell before they changed their mind.¡±


    ¡°At the same time, part of their logic is ¡®women are needed for children, men aren¡¯t, so let men have the dangerous roles and stop women from being soldiers.¡¯ I hate the logic, it feels wrong, but there is a long-term appeal I can see behind it.¡±


    ¡°Part of the reason I was assigned to this squad is I¡¯m much more open-minded. Hence Artemis.¡±


    The woman in question waved at us, lounging about like a cat ¨C boneless and liquid.


    ¡°Speaking of Artemis, do you want to handle what¡¯s different about this leg of the trip?¡±


    Artemis grimaced.


    ¡°I hate this part of Remus. Not nearly as tamed as it should be.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with it?¡± I asked.

 Chapter 68 – Adventures on the way to Perinthus VI

    ¡°Nothing¡¯s wrong with this area, so to speak,¡± Julius started to say. Artemis interrupted him.


    ¡°Long story short, there¡¯s still a bunch of beasts in the area.¡± Artemis said with a grimace. ¡°High-level Saber-tooth tigers. They¡¯re like Julius and Arthur combined ¨C sneaky, fast, and with high damage. They¡¯re incredibly fragile though, and easy enough to kill, if you survive the initial ambush.¡±


    ¡°Oh, and humans are on the menu for them.¡± Artemis finished up.


    ¡°That means,¡± I said, slowly putting the pieces together. ¡°That I¡¯m very much on the menu.¡±


    ¡°Yup! You¡¯d be a tasty snack for them!¡± Maximus semi-gleefully informed me. ¡°Small, vulnerable, low physical stats? You¡¯d be an appetizer before they try to eat Artemis.¡±


    Artemis swatted at him.


    ¡°Stop trying to scare her.¡±


    Maximus frowned at Artemis, crossing his arms.


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to tell her, nicely, that this area is dangerous to you, let alone her.¡±


    ¡°On that note,¡± Julius said, taking command again. ¡°Artemis. I¡¯m sorry. You¡¯re confined to the Argo, excepting bathroom breaks with Elaine, until we get to Perinthus. Elaine. You¡¯re not confined, but I strongly, strongly recommend you stay with Artemis.¡±


    Artemis made a noise of protest. ¡°Why am I confined but not her! This isn¡¯t fair!¡±


    Julius made a noise of agreement.


    ¡°It¡¯s because you¡¯re already on a hair-trigger. I can¡¯t imagine that creatures actively hunting you will make it any better. It will make it much worse ¨C every cracked twig, every broken fern, and you¡¯ll be sending off a rock in that direction, combined with a lightning bolt. Come on. I¡¯ve talked with your former teammates ¨C like I¡¯ve talked with everyone¡¯s former teammates. Artemis, you haven¡¯t gotten through this stretch of Pallos without a friendly fire incident once. You¡¯ve avoided fatalities, but you¡¯ve crippled two Rangers on this stretch.¡±


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t lethal! They got better!¡± Artemis protested.


    ¡°They only got better because you shipped them on a boat back to HQ!¡± Julius yelled back. ¡°No. This time, you¡¯re getting through this stretch of Pallos without a friendly fire incident. The only way I see that happening is if you stay in the Argo the entire time.¡±


    Artemis muttered darkly at Julius.


    ¡°Look on the bright side ¨C minimal chores! You won¡¯t need to drive the wagon. You don¡¯t need to brush down the horses. You don¡¯t need to cook, or clean, or anything else. Just stay here like some rich wife while we cart you around.¡±


    Artemis was still glaring daggers at Julius. He sighed.


    ¡°Alright, fine. You know it¡¯s an order. Tell you what. You can order Elaine around, since she¡¯ll be mostly stuck with you.¡±


    I made a noise of protest. This wasn¡¯t fair!


    ¡°Elaine, a reminder to you that Artemis has 12 years of seniority on you, and could order you around anyways.¡± Maximus whispered in my ear. ¡°Play along, keep Artemis happy, and we all get through this without being maimed or eaten.¡±


    ¡°Arthur.¡± Julius asked.


    ¡°Yeah boss?¡± Arthur sat up.


    ¡°I know you like wandering around, scouting about, and generally hunting whatever strikes your fancy. However, I need you on almost permanent overwatch. Your priority order is as follows. Protect Elaine and Artemis when they do have to pop out. Protect the horses. Protect the rest of us. Shoot down any stray cats you see.¡±


    ¡°Maximus. You¡¯re on rotation with Arthur. I know you like mixing up your weapons, but can you stick to javelins for this?¡±


    Maximus saluted, hand-over-heart.


    ¡°Can I at least have some variations in my javelins?¡± He asked.


    ¡°As long as they¡¯ll still work. I don¡¯t want a repeat of the Protoavis incident, you hear me?¡±


    Maximus simply nodded and saluted again.


    That¡¯s how we spent the next five weeks, rumbling down the last road to Perinthus. Artemis and I cooped up in the Argo, going slightly nuts, occasionally feeling the entire wagon lurch horribly as something got too close to the horses and spooked them. Never had to push though, Arthur and Maximus together killed anything getting too close. Night shift, and keeping the horses safe at night, was even more of a chore, apparently. Artemis and I were glad that we didn¡¯t have to participate in that, although we didn¡¯t rub it in the other¡¯s face.


    Too much. We were stuck inside, we had to entertain ourselves somehow.


    Artemis entertained herself in a variety of ways ¨C mostly bouncing between tormenting me, and having me work on my skills. Her particularly inventive torments combined the two. Arthur would knock on the roof so we could hear him every time he managed to get one. Good experience for him. The frequency of the knocks made me happy we were inside.


    ¡°Elaine, my loyal minion.¡± Artemis said, lounging face-up on a pillow fort she¡¯d made out of everyone¡¯s bedding.


    ¡°Yes, your royal highness?¡± I rolled my eyes at her. I regretted telling her stories about queens and castles. She¡¯d decided that while we were cooped up, she was the queen, and I was her minion.


    I didn¡¯t even have a noble rank in her made-up world! At least make me a princess, damnit!


    ¡°Feed me some ham.¡± She ordered, pointing at a dried leg of something that was most certainly not ham. I rolled my eyes. I was in for it either way. Either I fed Artemis what she was pointing at, and got in trouble for it not being ham. Or I fed Artemis some of the ham we had, and got in trouble for ¡®not knowing I meant that thing¡¯, or the variant, ¡®correcting the queen.¡¯


    Ah well. I grabbed what she indicated, drawing my knife, hearing Maximus knock on the top of the Argo. Twice.


    Good experience for him.


    I carved the meat ¨C saber-tooth cat, we were as vicious to them as they were to us, ¡®eat or be eaten¡¯ distilled down to its most fundamental form ¨C into small, bite-sized pieces, tossing them into Artemis¡¯s open mouth. I tried to carve faster than she could chew and swallow, but no luck.


    I absent-mindedly flared [Veil] as Julius threw another pebble at me. To his credit, he was trying to do everything ¨C be on patrol, helping protect us, while also staying in as much as possible to keep us company. The ¡°snap-shield¡± training was going well ¨C I was rarely getting hit these days, and I was able to get smaller and smaller shields up to protect myself against shots. When they came from a direction I could see.


    I¡¯d also managed to get ¡°half-shields¡±, like a turtle¡¯s shell, behind me when I couldn¡¯t see shots from behind. Kept my line of sight open, kept me seeing the world around me, letting me move and react.


    ¡°Ah peasant, you¡¯ve done wonderfully.¡± Artemis said, smacking her lips as the last chunk went down her hatch. ¡°Time for your reward!¡±


    ¡°Skill Training.¡± We both said, Artemis with sadistic glee, myself with resignment.


    My skills had been slowly falling further and further behind my level, with only my [Celestial Affinity] keeping up. When I had idly mentioned that, Maximus and Artemis had gotten a Look together. The long and the short of it was they were making me grind my skills as much as possible, throwing them through all sorts of exercises, and my skill levels had skyrocketed to more closely match my level. There was also a bunch of grinding on my healer class, but that was more due to patching up the minor scrapes and injuries Rangers constantly got themselves into.


    At the very least, there weren¡¯t massive gaps anymore in my skills.


    ¡°Which is what it should be.¡± Maximus had told me.


    ¡°Peasant!¡± Artemis said, trying not to laugh as she did her best ¡°queenly¡± voice. ¡°Crown me with flames!¡±


    I eyed Artemis¡¯s fortress of fluff ¨C that included my pillow. I eyed Artemis¡¯s head, resting on the pillows. The woolen, stuffed with wool, dry, very flammable, pillows.


    I looked at Julius, pleading in my eyes. He had no mercy.


    ¡°Your queen has given you an order. Now I¡¯m giving you one. Don¡¯t you dare light my sleeping roll on fire.¡± He told me sternly. His tone of voice softened. ¡°It¡¯ll be good practice for your control.¡±


    Fine, fine. I carefully lit a flame on my hand, and slowly moved it over to Artemis, who was staying blessedly still for this, eyes closed. The flames got near her, and I practiced cooling them down, making them colder, to not burn her. My high control helped immensely here ¨C I could control the flames, keep them tight, confined, keep them exactly where I wanted them. I could control how hot they were, blazingly hot to incinerate quickly, or cooler, to not set my stuff on fire. Or Artemis¡¯s. Or everyone else¡¯s. Blazingly hot was good. Half-burning just led to animals screaming in pain without killing them, which was no good, tying back to Maximus telling me about flame¡¯s lack of stopping power.


    I¡¯d always remember that deer, eyes wide in terror and pain as my flames licked over it, failing to properly take it down, the smell of burning flesh and singed hair searing disgusting offense to my nose. I¡¯d never been more thankful to follow Artemis¡¯s advice and manner, and always be carrying a bladed weapon ¨C dad¡¯s knife ¨C on me.


    The answer to my question I asked oh so long ago. ¡°Why do you carry a sword, if you¡¯re a mage?¡±


    The better to kill you with, my dear.


    Hunting that day had driven the unpleasant realities of being a Fire mage home, and I was under no illusions on what being a Fire mage meant anymore. It caused pain, it caused suffering.


    On the flip side, flames didn¡¯t kill instantly, the same way a rock or a lightning bolt did. Rather, the mana required for an instant-kill with fire was significantly higher, by several factors. If I was facing down a human, it was possible to use flames to incapacitate, then save. Was it better to deliver someone a swift death, or to burn them horribly, only to heal them and bring them back later?


    Hard questions. Hard choices. I¡¯d been sheltered in Aquiliea, not needing to stare at these terrible options and choose. I was a Ranger now, and needed to face the reality of the world in a closer, more visceral way.


    I focused on the flames continuing to burn while being merely unpleasantly warm, and split my focus to have them also surround her head, like a circlet or tiara. Artemis made some happy noises at the crown, at not being scorched, while Julius nodded in approval.


    Another stamp on the ceiling indicated another animal down. I carefully ¡®removed¡¯ the flames, and got to eating some ham, to restore my mana.


    If there ever was another fire, I would be in a great position to handle it. Grab, and remove.


    I was chewing on some food, when I got a long-awaited notification.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fuel for the Fire] has reached level 32!]


    ¡°I leveled. I finally got [Fuel for the Fire] to level 32.¡± I said with a tone of some surprise. I¡¯d been trying to get this last level for ages, to optimize my next class-up. Maximus and Artemis had insisted. The lady herself cracked an eye open.


    ¡°Congratulations! Time to class-up?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Yup! Well, I need to check with Maximus if he thinks I should get anything else leveled up. Lemme pee real fast first.¡± I said.


    Julius popped his head out, where Kallisto was driving.


    ¡°Hey, let¡¯s pause for a quick break. Elaine¡¯s at her 32 class-up.¡±


    I didn¡¯t see Kallisto¡¯s reaction, but I heard it.


    ¡°You know, I¡¯ve been doing this Ranger thing for years now. Seen all sorts of strange things. A Ranger, doing their level 32 class-up though? That¡¯s a new one.¡±


    He yelled the second part over his shoulder to me.


    ¡°Not that I mind Elaine! Nor am I judging. It¡¯s just¡­ strange. Nobody will ever believe me, and those stories are the best drinking stories.¡±


    I laughed at that. True! Nobody would ever believe a Ranger, best of the best, doing their level 32 class-up.


    Maximus yelled down from his position on top of the Argo.


    ¡°She¡¯s not the first Ranger to do a level 32 class-up! Minatus had a class merger on his level 256 class-up, and got a new secondary class. It¡¯s not that unbelievable Kallisto.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± I muttered, as Artemis and I got to the back of the wagon. Maximus stood above the door, looking around. He stomped twice to let us know we were clear, and we opened the door. I threw up a [Veil], creating a dome that covered us, and the side of the Argo. We hopped down, went to the side ¨C where nobody from inside the Argo could see us, and we were hidden from Maximus on top by the dome.


    We finished our business up, and started to make our way the few steps needed to get back in. Artemis¡¯s ear twitched, and that was all the warning I got before a barrage of stones, followed by a pair of lightning bolts, blasted the ground to the side of her, flecks of stone breaking off of my [Veil], showering me with sharp bits.


    ¡°Oww, what was that?¡± I said, healing the little nicks I¡¯d gotten.


    ¡°Just a rodent.¡± Artemis said, after having carefully looked down.


    ¡°Yikes, no kidding you¡¯re jumpy around here. If I¡¯m not careful, I¡¯m going to be your next friendly-fire victim.¡±


    Artemis shrugged at that. ¡°Maybe. I haven¡¯t killed any Rangers though. Julius failed to mention that these beasties do occasionally get the drop on a more fragile Ranger ¨C like you or me ¨C and that¡¯s another Ranger name on the Indominable Wall.¡±


    ¡°Indominable Wall? Also, how do normal people get through this stretch?¡± I asked, climbing back into the Argo.


    ¡°Indominable Wall is where all fallen Rangers have their name carved, to remember their sacrifice.¡± Julius said. ¡°The odds are good all of our names ¨C yours included ¨C will end up on it.¡±


    ¡°As for how normal people get through this stretch ¨C usually in a large caravan. The more people there are, the less likely the cats are to attack. Loud noises, skills, and it becomes doable. No, what impresses me are the farmers here. There¡¯s not a lot of livestock, mostly grain, fruits, Blue Claw Peppers that alchemists love so much and are staples in so many potions, but they¡¯re able to hold their own.¡±


    Maximus yelled from on top of the wagon.


    ¡°It¡¯s because all the bad ones are dead! Under the pressure of living here, anyone that survives is going to shoot up in levels. There are benefits to living near the frontier, and fast, high levels is one of them!¡±


    Eh, made sense.


    ¡°By the way,¡± Maximus continued to yell. ¡°If you peek out of the Argo to your left, there¡¯s a small herd of Ctenosauriscus off to the side!¡±


    Dinosaurs! I eagerly poked my head out, looking off to the left. Some medium size, lizard-like dinosaurs were grazing. They were four-legged, with their shoulder being a few inches higher than my hips. They had a long, low sail starting at their head, cresting large on their back, then trailing down their tail, with green scales.


    ¡°Cool!¡± I said happily, always one to see a new dinosaur, as much as this one looked like standard boring herbivore #9.


    ¡°Tasty.¡± Artemis said. ¡°Hey Julius, can you get Arthur to bag us one of these for later? They¡¯re great eating.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re also tough enough to survive the saber-tooth cats that roam the area.¡± Julius pointed out.


    ¡°And Arthur can hunt just about anything.¡± Artemis retorted. ¡°I can¡¯t leave this damn wagon, they¡¯re delicious eating, come on.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine, we¡¯ll ask Arthur to hunt the tasty dinosaurs.¡±


    I eyed them up, thinking. On one hand, potential bonded animal. On the other¡­ they weren¡¯t that cute. I passed on asking Arthur to try and find me an egg. Cute. Cute was the name of the game. Cute, and would stay with me forever.


    ¡°Artemis, can you go on overwatch for a minute while Maximus helps Elaine before she classes up?¡± Julius ¡®asked¡¯. ¡°Please, please don¡¯t hit Arthur while he¡¯s hunting. Or Origen. Or anyone.¡±


    ¡°Sure thing boss.¡±


    Artemis climbed up, as Maximus traded spots with her.


    ¡°I know most of your stats, give me the quick breakdown of what you have.¡± Maximus said.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 14]


    [Mana: 5700/5700]


    [Mana Regen: 6031]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 44]


    [Strength: 36]


    [Dexterity: 80]


    [Vitality: 65]


    [Speed: 80]


    [Mana: 570]


    [Mana Regeneration: 1044]


    [Magic Power: 535]


    [Magic Control: 1078]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 144]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 144]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 118]


    [Medicine: 124]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 127]


    [Phases of the Moon: 105]


    [Eyes of the Milky Way: 95]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 111]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 128]


    [Class 2: [Firebug - Fire: Lv 32]+]


    [Fire Affinity: 32]


    [Fire Resistance: 32]


    [Fire Conjuration: 32]


    [Fire Manipulation: 32]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 32]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 80]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 80]


    [Pretty: 102]


    [Vigilant: 111]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 111]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 66]


    [Running: 75]


    [Learning: 120]

 Chapter 69 – Classing up!

    I opened my eyes to see Librarian, cracking a huge smile at me.


    ¡°Yay! You¡¯re back!¡± She bounced over, giving me a bone-cracking hug.


    ¡°I¡¯m back! I seem to have free time to read as well, no getting in anyone¡¯s way!¡± I cheerfully declared. ¡°Barring us slipping up for the first time and someone getting horribly mauled, I¡¯m not needed for anything either! It¡¯s perfect.¡±


    Librarian facepalmed.


    ¡°Damnit! You just had to jinx it didn¡¯t you!¡±


    My hand flew to my mouth.


    ¡°Fuck. You¡¯re right. I jinxed it."


    ¡°Yup.¡± Librarian said.


    ¡°Directly to the second floor then?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s just go right there.¡±


    Librarian and I walked up the stairs to the second floor, seeing the staircase in the middle of the room to the third floor blocked off again by a thin, elegant chain. There was definitely some fuckery going on. I had no curiosity about what was behind it, no desire to circumvent the delicate chain and explore the upper floor. Nor was I mad that I was clearly being manipulated in some way.


    It was the strangest thing.


    ¡°Weird how it was open last time, and it¡¯s closed now.¡± I commented.


    Librarian shrugged.


    ¡°Just the way things are.¡±


    I looked around at the tables, in neat rows, neat columns. Each one was a standard library ¡°reading table¡±, with four chairs, two on each side. In front of each chair was a book, almost every single one in the room having a red cover.


    ¡°Let¡¯s start with the non-Fire classes.¡± I decided. Advanced classes away! Librarian went and grabbed them.


    [Artemis¡¯s Enthusiastic Pet - Water] was first. I glared at Librarian. She gave me a sassy smile back.


    ¡°You did ask for the non-Fire classes.¡± She said gleefully.


    My gods. Was I that obnoxious? I must be. I resolved to be a little less literal, a hair less annoying.


    [Queenly Minion - Dark] showed up. Role playing like that was enough for a class? Sheesh. It was good to keep that in mind, if I wanted to move evolutions in a certain direction. I suspected the ¡®Dark¡¯ element was more along the lines of ¡®Artemis would be the [Evil Queen] the [Hero] needs to slay¡¯, and less about the element itself.


    [Purificatress ¨C Pyronox] was next up. I took a quick flip through it. Mostly relating to burning out infection and disease with cleansing flames. I already had that with my [Constellation of the Healer] class though ¨C I didn¡¯t need more healing, the whole point of this class was the added utility. This class, while cool on cleaning, cleansing, and disease destruction, overlapped horribly with my first class. I looked carefully. There were a few things this class could do that my healing class couldn¡¯t, primarily around setting up sterile fields and curse-breaking, but I quickly determined that added too little to my kit to justify an entire class dedicated to it.


    Would¡¯ve been useful back when I was treating Lyra.


    [Escape Artist ¨C Earth] was up next, giving me a different way to try and escape bindings.


    I¡¯ll admit, I wavered. After my experience at the hands of the mercenaries, after the pain and torment they put me through, I never wanted to be at someone else¡¯s mercy again.


    Then again, with solid skills, a good class, I wouldn¡¯t be captured in the first place. Getting kidnapped just to level up seemed like a poor decision, and would push me towards getting captured, not away.


    [God-Touched Flame-Bearer of Papilion ¨C Mist] ¨C the usual chance to become one of Papilion¡¯s minions on Pallos showed up. How did a class described as Flame be Mist aligned? A mystery I wasn¡¯t eager to explore first-hand. Interesting that it was now God-touched, instead of Goddess-touched. Was it what Papilion was feeling at the time I entered the realm? When Papilion made the class? Or something else entirely?


    I was slightly curious at how many stats it gave me, having not checked since I¡¯d seen the class for the first time.


    +400 Free Stats per level.


    I cursed. Papilion knew how to make his class attractive.


    I took a deep breathe in, then out, letting my self-control assert itself over my greed, letting my rationality take over.


    Freedom, not godly minion.


    ¡°Let¡¯s look at the Fire classes now.¡± I said. I hadn¡¯t expected to change elements, to no longer be Fire, not so early on. It was worth a check, and an easy way to filter out some choices.


    I¡¯d accepted Fire. Pallos wasn¡¯t a kind place, a nice place. My youthful naivety had been burned out of me. I¡¯d wanted to be a healer, someone that cured others, that fixed them. I¡¯d wanted to do no harm, and I still stuck by that.


    But Swimmer and the others had hammered home that even in towns, other people were threats. The Ornithocheirus attack had reinforced that humans were puny little things in the food chain. We¡¯d worked out that the Nothasaurus had likely been driven away from another zone. The highest-level thing I¡¯d ever seen was too small a fish to survive elsewhere.


    I needed to be able to protect myself. I needed to be able to defend myself. The conversation I¡¯d overheard from Julius and Maximus reminded me that while I was a Ranger right now, when this round ended, I¡¯d be at Ranger Academy. I wouldn¡¯t be here anymore; I wouldn¡¯t be protected by this team. A [Pretty], healer-tagged girl? I needed firepower. Mom had amazing foresight to insist I get [Vigilant]. Or just knew the shape of the world. Not really that amazing when I spent 20 seconds thinking about it.


    Look at Artemis. The only free, independent woman I knew, and it seemed to be virtue of her massive firepower.


    I¡¯d had long talks with Artemis and Maximus about different elements, different methods. Apart from Metal and Earth, most of the elements were a fairly nasty way to go.


    Wood could do solid balls of wood, but it had a similar problem to fire, in that it was less-effective. Instead, Wood mages tended to have ¡®death by a thousand cuts and splinters¡¯. Possibly a better way to go than burning, but not by much.


    Water blasted decently well, but at the end of the day its lethal method was usually drowning, which took significantly longer and was harder to pull off than Fire. It was also easier to ignore water attacks ¨C if someone was strong or heavy enough, they¡¯d just splash off.


    A dinosaur wouldn¡¯t stop short of a lethal attack.


    Wind was low down on the lethal chart as well, short of being very close range for nasty cutting attacks. Good if you wanted to be up close and personal, and to quote Maximus ¨C ¡°Excellent for hamstringing someone in a fight, then running a spear through them.¡±


    Bit of a mixed bag there, but a spellsword could use Wind to great effect. I wasn¡¯t a spellsword.


    Light was right out as an offensive element. I didn¡¯t think I was the first to think of hard light, I wouldn¡¯t be the last, and I wasn¡¯t going to try and be the pioneer of it. I¡¯d leave that to the academics, not that I¡¯d seen any of those in Remus so far.


    Dark was like a stronger, more lethal Wind. Get close to a Dark mage, and they could just vwooop critical parts of you away. Higher vitality made it harder to just directly¡­ remove¡­ someone from existence, but it could be done. And you didn¡¯t need to remove the entire person, just, say, their wrist. Or their necks.


    Exactly like what I¡¯d done to Iola.


    It was still painful. I¡¯d come to terms that taking a life in defense of my own would never be pretty, clinical. Fire spoke to me, there was no other way to describe it, and Maximus and Artemis had encouraged me to keep walking down the path I was on. My other two options were a restart, or a side-jump. A restart would have me start over from scratch, and there were no promises that path would be better, prettier, cleaner. A jump would come with a fairly significant loss in power, and it would ripple through my entire choice.


    Like how [Shadow Healer] was so much weaker than [Light of Hope], and all of its offered classes would be at least a tier below what a ¡°committed¡± path looked like.


    Evolving Fire into something cleaner, into something that wasn¡¯t as messy though, was on my list. I didn¡¯t like burning animals and monsters to death. I recognized the need, that was all.


    Inferno. Steam. Storm. Lava. Pyronox. Radiance. Ash. Those were the advanced forms of Fire I could look forward to, that I could hope to evolve it into. I had done some thinking on them, but hadn¡¯t quite settled on which element I liked the most. I also hadn¡¯t been offered anything interesting enough, so the whole question was moot.


    Maximus wasn¡¯t sure what Fire and Metal combined into. Only hole in his elemental knowledge, he claimed.


    There were non-offensive Mage options. Wood and Water were solid at that, binding roots, water prisons. It barely slowed down people who could attack me from a distance, and would require me to get up close and personal to kill them with my own two hands. Doing it from a distance seemed better.


    One day, I might not have a team of people that had my back. Worse, one day they might die, and I¡¯d be on my own, needing to travel on my own to HQ, to report the loss of the team, bring everyone¡¯s final words back.


    I started to walk through the room, just glancing at titles. It was a fairly efficient system ¨C there was no way I could read all of the books here (Ok, fine, I could happily read them all, but I¡¯d jinxed it and didn¡¯t have the time, and half of them were probably just subtle variations on each other). However, what was incredibly obnoxious was the red titles on the red covers, almost the same shade of red to boot ¨C it made me really squint to see the title of each book.


    [Hellbelle]. [Inspiring Spark]. [Flame-scorched Healy-bug]. I raised my eyebrows at Librarian at that one. She shrugged at me. Must be something to do with Artemis always calling me healy-bug, and my current class being [Firebug]. Moving on.


    [Grill Mistress] caught my eye, just due to the absurd name. Cooking food that boosted healing. And provided some other temporary buffs. Ack! Another healing-related class slipped in here.


    It was clear now that my evolutions were strongly impacted by my Celestial class and tag. Good to keep in mind for the future!


    [Roaster] I initially assumed was another cooking-class, but when I started reading it, it was more of an insult-based class. Insult someone badly, and the burn would become physical, real. I could literally taunt someone to death.


    [Flamebearer]. [Burning Devourer]. [Arsonist]. Burn down towns, get levels. Next please!


    [Firehand]. [Pyromancer]. [Spark of Fire]. [Mango-mad Pyromaniac]. I did like my mangos¡­.


    [Friendly Fire] was somewhat interesting, in that the flames were all completely harmless. It was more like an appearance-related class, working off of [Pretty], than a ¡°point-and-blast¡± mage. I suspected some healing elements might eventually work their way into a future evolution as well.


    I don¡¯t think the saber-tooth cats would find me attractive enough to skip a meal. Skip that class.


    [Emberstorm]. [Flame of the Traveler]. [Guiding Flame]. [Emberbug]. [Butterfire]. [Flambee]. What was up with all of these bug-related classes!?


    Right, [Firebug].


    [Lady of Fire]. [Flame of Memory]. [Torchbearer of Remembrance]. [Burning Revolutionary]. Being a revolutionary while being a member of the army was a poor life choice.


    [Firecracker]. [Firebrand]. [Thermophridite]. [Brand of Fire]. [Flameseeker]. [Thermophile]. Pick Greek or Latin endings, and stick with it damnit!


    [Guiding Flame]. [Flame-Kissed Witch]. [Firebender].


    The holy grail. [Ranger-Mage].


    ¡°Is there a better class than this one?¡± I asked Librarian, looking around at the dozens of other Fire-related classes being offered.


    ¡°Define better.¡± Librarian asked me, hands on her hips.


    Mmmm good point.


    ¡°Can evolve into me flying. Will help me survive. Will help me contribute to the team.¡± I thought a moment more.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s pretty much it.¡± I finished up. ¡°Unless you have other ideas on aspects I might need?¡± Time to see if I could game the System at all.


    ¡°How about stats?¡± Librarian asked. ¡°There¡¯s another class that doesn¡¯t do some aspects as well, but has slightly better stats. It¡¯d be good long-term thinking. Also, [Ranger-Mage] is also available later on ¨C it¡¯s not just a level 32 class. It¡¯s also a 128 and 256 class.¡±


    Oooh, that was attractive.


    ¡°Let me see both of them.¡± I asked.


    Librarian brought the books to me, as I sat down to look through them.


    [Ranger-Mage] Requirements: Mage Class. Ranger¡¯s Lore at level 60 or higher. A member of the Republic of Remus Ranger¡¯s. One of the elite guardians of the Republic, roaming around to solve problems the locals can¡¯t. Defending the meek. Protecting the weak. Solving disputes, and being justice incarnate. Take this class, solidify your identity. +3 Free Stats, +2 Strength, +3 Dexterity, +3 Vitality, +3 Speed, +5 Mana, +4 Mana Regen, +4 Magic Control, +5 Magic Power per level.


    [Pyromancer] Requirements: A deep, burning love of fire. Fire-based Mage Class. All Fire-related skills maxed out. You yearn for it. You desire to burn, to blaze, to see the flames roar up. Take this class, and Burn. +5 Free Stats, +14 Mana, +8 Mana Regen, +14 Magic Power, +8 Magic Control per level.


    Gods, this was a harder decision than my 128 class-up, when I got [Constellation of the Healer]. They were so close to each other! It wasn¡¯t like one was an Inferno element and the other was an Ash element ¨C they were both Fire. They were both mages, and so close to each other.


    ¡°What¡¯s the difference between the two? I need help.¡± I asked.


    Librarian shrugged.


    ¡°Ranger-Mage is more flexible, it has more miscellaneous utility skills, and obviously it¡¯s more physical. Pyromancer is more ¡®point-and-blast¡¯ mage. They¡¯re both as easy as each other to level up ¨C Ranger-Mage will reward you for doing Ranger things, while Pyromancer will reward you more for playing with fire. It¡¯s a toss-up.¡±


    I puffed my cheeks out, blowing air through them. Fine. Research time.


    I sat down with both books, Librarian bringing me pen and paper. Bless Librarian, able to get me a pen here. There were no pens or paper in Remus, it was so much easier than wrangling with bamboo and charcoal.


    I checked the skills, those that I could see. [Pyromancer] was a bit more direct, a bit more blunt, more magical. [Ranger-Mage] was a bit more subtle, a bit more conceptual. All in all, a draw in that category.


    Out of a fight: [Ranger-Mage] was probably a bit more useful.


    In a fight: [Ranger-Mage] was more useful if someone got close to me. [Pyromancer] was more useful if I was with my team, and I was behind them, protected, sheltered.


    Future me, assuming I lived that long: [Pyromancer] gave better overall stats, by a not-insignificant chunk. It played into, and synergized, with my current build, with my current direction.


    However, [Ranger-Mage] neatly fed my physical stats, freeing up those free stats to allocate how I wanted.


    But I would either put them back into magic stats ¨C a net loss against Pyromancer ¨C or I would be putting them into physical stats, potentially splitting myself too far. I was no Maximus, able to somehow make hybrid stats work ¨C and I barely had any use for them, apart from baseline survival. I wasn¡¯t supposed to be in physical fights, I was supposed to be protected.


    But that protection could ¨C and had ¨C failed at times. When I was punched in the face, I needed to be able to do more than stumble back.


    Let me try phrasing this another way. [Pyromancer] was a higher-risk, higher-reward pick, while [Ranger-Mage] was a low-risk, low-reward class. Could I stomach the risk?


    Let¡¯s see. Goblins had attacked us while we were on the road, but we¡¯d handled that neatly. The terrors from the skies had also tried to eat us for lunch, but we handled it well. As well as it could be handled. The Nothasaurus had been tricky, but we actively went to hunt it. The damn adventurers had hunted and attacked me, but if I had stuck to Kallisto like I should¡¯ve, that wouldn¡¯t have happened. Or at the very least, we¡¯d have given a much better showing of it.


    There were constant random, low-level attacks from dinosaurs and other monsters that didn¡¯t quite realize where they stood in the food chain, and they usually graced our cooking pot.


    Most of that was before my Fire class even showed up, and my Fire class had been kinda useless until now. If this was my healing class, I needed practicality and healing. This wasn¡¯t my healing class. This was an almost-free secondary class that I had time to grow into something powerful. [Ranger-Mage] would help me today. [Pyromancer] would help me tomorrow. I believed in Artemis, in my team. I would make it to tomorrow, and reap the benefits from having [Pyromancer].


    ¡°I just realized. Ranger-Mage was offered to me at level 8, right?¡± I asked, confirming.


    ¡°Right.¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯s now being offered again.¡±


    ¡°Yeah ¨C your Ranger¡¯s Lore is high-enough level. The class will keep being offered every time, and the higher Ranger¡¯s Lore is, the stronger the class becomes.¡±


    ¡°Stronger than Pyromancer?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Stronger than most things you could be offered.¡±


    ¡°Alright. I went through Ranger-Mage, I saw the skills, but I wanted to check with you ¨C is there any skill in Ranger-Mage that Pyromancer doesn¡¯t have, that could justify me taking Ranger-Mage over Pyromancer?¡± I was leaning towards Pyromancer strongly, I wanted to check. I wanted to be thorough.


    ¡°There¡¯s a body-strengthening and enhancing skill.¡± Librarian replied. ¡°Best thing it has over Pyromancer.¡±


    That did it. My decision was made.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to check this book out please.¡± I said, handing my choice over to Librarian.


    She looked down and smiled.


    ¡°I approve.¡±


    We went through the motions of going downstairs, returning my old class book, checking out my new one.


    ¡°Goodbye Librarian. I hope to see you soon!¡± I said, giving her a hug which she returned with enthusiasm.


    ¡°Goodbye Elaine. I¡¯ll be waiting for you!¡±


    I left through the door, opening my eyes, and groaning.


    Arthur was lying down in the Argo next to me, glowing lines around him. I recognized them as Origen¡¯s healing field, not that he got much of a chance to use it with me around. Arthur was moderately badly injured, lines of blood coming out of a dozen different holes from his chest, legs, and arms. The smell of burnt hair and ozone filled the air.


    I had totally jinxed it.


    I leaned over, touching Arthur, pumping [Phases] through him, watching his skin re-knit.


    ¡°Nice of you to rejoin us.¡± Julius said drily.


    ¡°What happened?¡± I asked, thinking about Arthur¡¯s injuries. They didn¡¯t look at all like a saber-tooth cat attack, nor any other monster attack.


    ¡°Well, Artemis is now officially on chore duty for a month once we get out of here.¡± Julius started. I looked over to Artemis who had a mixed look on her face ¨C guilt, horror, and relief all warred on her face.


    ¡°In short, you were gone a long time, I went to pee, almost got jumped by one of the cats, blasted the hell out of it, and Arthur justMightHaveBeenRightBehindIt.¡± Artemis said, the last bit in a rush.


    Julius glared. ¡°More or less, yes.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I was actually under attack!¡± Artemis protested. ¡°Arthur would¡¯ve been fine anyways, even without Elaine being here.¡± She pointed out.


    I thought back on his injuries. They looked awful, but they hadn¡¯t been life-threatening, even before Origen¡¯s inscribed healing field kicked in.


    Arthur sat up with a groan, then quickly found his voice.


    ¡°How many times have I asked you to check your line of fire for me!?¡± He yelled at Artemis.


    ¡°You¡¯re bloody hidden most of the time! How the fuck am I supposed to check for you!? Especially when a monster is trying to take my head off!?¡± Artemis shot back, clearly feeling like the wounded party, guilt in her voice indicating she knew she screwed up.


    Or didn¡¯t screw up. Depending on your point of view.


    ¡°The worst part is, I had a ton of money riding on ¡®No Artemis friendly-fire incidents¡¯ on this stretch of the road.¡± Julius griped.


    Artemis turned to look at Julius, her face priceless. A mixed look of shock and anger, of betrayal and outrage.


    ¡°You ¨C You ¨C¡° She sputtered, pointing at Julius, at a loss for words.


    ¡°Right, I¡¯m going to dodge whatever¡¯s about to happen.¡± I said to nobody in particular, going to a corner and throwing up [Veil].


    I did not want to get mixed up in whatever happened next. Time to see my new class!


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve upgraded your second class ¨C [Pyromancer] - Fire]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pyromancer] has leveled up to level 33! +5 Free Stats, +14 Mana, +8 Mana Regen, +14 Magic power, +8 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Strength from your Element!]


    ¡­.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pyromancer] has leveled up to level 39! +5 Free Stats, +14 Mana, +8 Mana Regen, +14 Magic power, +8 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Strength from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Affinity] has reached level 33!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Conjuration] has reached level 33!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Manipulation] has reached level 33!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Resistance] has reached level 33!]


    ¡­..


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Affinity] has reached level 39!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Conjuration] has reached level 39!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Manipulation] has reached level 39!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Resistance] has reached level 39!]

 Chapter 70 – Arriving in Perinthus

    A few more days passed, and we were nearly out of the nasty stretch of road, approaching Perinthus. It was getting hot and muggy, practically tropical. Arthur and Artemis were still pissed at each other ¨C Arthur due to taking the flak of one of Artemis¡¯s shots, Artemis because she felt she was being unfairly blamed for what was, in her mind, a perfectly reasonable self-defense response ¨C there had been a monster attacking her, it wasn¡¯t like she jumped at a twig snapping, and Arthur had been doing his normal invisible routine, how could she have seen him? ¨C which made things tense as we rolled along.


    ¡°Psst healy-bug,¡± Artemis whispered to me as we settled in for dinner together, away from Arthur. ¡°can you heal me while I eat? I think Arthur managed to spike the soup again, and I don¡¯t want to show him it worked.¡±


    I rolled my eyes at her, but did what she asked. No mana spent.


    I took a bite of my soup, and almost gagged on it. It was foul, disgusting. I pulsed [Phases] through me, just in case, although I didn¡¯t think Arthur would use anything too strong on a teammate ¨C Julius would quite literally murder him over it.


    The fact that I could taste it, and it was so nasty, also spoke to Arthur¡¯s non-lethal attempt.


    ¡°Arthur!¡± Artemis yelled, storming over to where he was sitting. My hair ¨C getting long again ¨C started to rise up around me.


    ¡°Artemis!¡± Julius yelled with a whipcrack voice. ¡°Stand down!¡± He barked at her.


    ¡°He fucking poisoned Elaine!¡± Artemis yelled in fury.


    ¡°I know.¡± Julius said, tone pissed. ¡°Arthur, explain yourself. I get you and Artemis are feuding, but there¡¯s no reason to bring Elaine into it.¡±


    Arthur grunted. ¡°Sorry Elaine. I¡¯d made it obvious I¡¯d spiked the soup. I assumed Artemis would force you two to swap. If I¡¯d poisoned Artemis¡¯s soup, you¡¯d have gotten it.¡±


    ¡°Right, that¡¯s it.¡± Julius said, still mad. ¡°Both of you outside, right now. No weapons, no skills, you two are going to brawl until this is both out of your system. After this, I don¡¯t want to hear another word about it.¡±


    ¡°This is unfair to Artemis.¡± I piped up, loyally defending her. I was kinda mad at Arthur to boot ¨C he ruined my soup, half-poisoning me. I don¡¯t know what it was, but it was dosed for someone with Artemis¡¯s vitality, not mine. ¡°Arthur¡¯s much stronger than Artemis.¡±


    Julius narrowed his eyes at me, tripping him up as he was trying to administer discipline.


    ¡°Artemis, you can use your [Stone Skin] skill. If Arthur¡¯s willing to hit you hard enough for it to hurt you, it¡¯ll hurt him more. Elaine, you¡¯re on standby to heal ¨C we also need you to enclose the area in [Veil]. We should be outside of the saber-tooth cat range, and we¡¯re not in Serpopard territory yet, but just in case there are some wanderers around. Maximus, you¡¯re on overwatch. Origen, do you have any inscriptions that could help?¡±


    Origen tilted his head, thinking, then shook it.


    ¡°Right. Elaine, I want 600 push-ups from you after Artemis and Arthur are done.¡±


    I opened my mouth in protest ¨C I couldn¡¯t do nearly 600 pushups, not with my stats ¨C then closed it, realizing the number would just go up if I argued it. My punishment for tripping up Julius as he was trying to administer discipline.


    We set up an arena, Artemis and Arthur both taking up stances like boxers as I enclosed the arena in shimmering light.


    ¡°Remember. Nothing that might even injure or cripple. Punches only. Nothing at the face, nothing below the belt. We have a healer on-hand, but that doesn¡¯t mean you can go nuts ¨C what if something hits Elaine¡¯s shield hard enough to drain her mana right as you land a heavy blow? The two of you will fight until you¡¯re no longer mad ¨C or too tired to cause problems. Ready, FIGHT!¡±


    At the last word Julius raised his arm, and Arthur charged at Artemis, only to promptly fall flat on his face.


    ¡°You¡¯re cheating!¡± Arthur accused, getting back up and pointing at Artemis, clad in stone armor.


    ¡°Me? You¡¯re the one that can¡¯t walk straight! It¡¯s not my fault if you trip over a random rock.¡±


    I eyed said rock in question, unnaturally smooth. Artemis was totally cheating. This wasn¡¯t nearly going to be the one-sided beatdown I was concerned about.


    A fairly brutal hand-to-hand brawl occurred. Arthur was massive, and had no problems using his size and stats to pummel down on Artemis. Artemis was tricky and slippery ¨C she never directly used a skill, not that we could see, but her footing was always perfect, sometimes seemingly sliding her out of the way, or absorbing hits for her, while Arthur was constantly off-balance, not able to bring his full weight to bear. Artemis¡¯s punches back were slow, restricted by the stone around her ¨C but at the same time, she was coated in stone, while Arthur had to keep punching stone.


    After a long, drawn-out slugfest, both Arthur and Artemis were on the ground, gasping for air.


    ¡°Are you two finally done?¡± Julius asked coldly. Arthur nodded his assent. Artemis got in one last punch.


    ¡°That was for Elaine.¡± She panted out. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m done.¡±


    ¡°Good. I want no more issues from you two over this, understood?¡± Julius asked, arms crossed. Artemis and Arthur both mutely nodded.


    ¡°Elaine, they¡¯re all yours.¡± Julius said. I walked over, giving Artemis a hand up and healing her, then touching Arthur and healing him. He was much too large for me to offer a hand up to, he¡¯d just pull me down instead.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 112!]


    Well, either I was close, or healing someone somewhat happily after they¡¯d lightly poisoned me was good juju.


    That was, fortunately, the end between Artemis¡¯s and Arthur¡¯s feud. They didn¡¯t exactly kiss and make up, but things were a lot less tense between them. Arthur didn¡¯t even trip on random rocks anymore! We also went back to having good, freshly caught food ¨C animals were no longer ¡°mysteriously¡± escaping.


    My push-ups though, were harsh. It took me the remaining days until we arrived at Perinthus to complete them, with Julius adding 10% of the remaining pushups to my total every day they weren¡¯t complete.


    Arms burning in agony, we arrived two days later at Perinthus.


    Well, I assumed it was Perinthus. There was a huge make-shift wooden wall that stretched all around a large area, manned by army Legionaries.


    Army Legionaries, facing inwards. Like they were containing something, holding the town prisoner, and not caring at all about threats from the outside.


    ¡°What the¡­.¡± Julius said, looking at what was going on, somehow managing to read the banners that were flying. A theoretical part of my education, I hadn¡¯t quite gotten to the ¡®which army banners represented what legion¡¯ yet. It just hadn¡¯t been important enough. ¡°Why¡¯s the 3rd legion here? I know there¡¯s some problems, but the 3rd?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s with the 3rd?¡± I whispered to Artemis.


    ¡°Internal suppression. They handle rebellions.¡± Artemis whispered back. ¡°Bad, bad news to have knocking on your door.¡±


    ¡°Right, I¡¯m going to find out what¡¯s going on.¡± Julius said, hopping down. He trotted over there where a senior-looking Legionnaire. I could tell he was senior because he had more bling on him ¨C bigger helmet, brighter colors, larger plume. A terrible idea, but I guess they weren¡¯t too concerned with other humans spotting them and trying to kill them.


    Being internal suppression though, primarily focused on handling other people, I¡¯d imagine they should be more concerned. Ah well, who was I to question military doctrine, and the strange shit they got up to.


    After a quick talk, Julius jumped back.


    ¡°I knew there was a plague here, I hadn¡¯t realized how bad it was. They¡¯re letting food in, people in, but once in, there¡¯s no going out. They¡¯re trying to contain the plague, and not have it spread. It¡¯s apparently pretty nasty. I¡¯m thinking we should go around. Thoughts?¡± Julius asked.


    ¡°Fuck no!¡± I exploded, surprised at my own ferocity. ¡°We¡¯re Rangers! What does that mean we do?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Solve the problems locals can¡¯t. This isn¡¯t a problem we can solve though.¡± Maximus butted in. ¡°It¡¯s a plague. Plagues happen. They pop up, kill a bunch of people, then die out. It¡¯s part of life.¡±


    ¡°What am I, chopped liver?¡± I shot back. ¡°I¡¯m a healer. I know more about diseases and plagues than probably anyone in Remus, and that¡¯s with my knowledge being more tattered than a tunic after a training session. I can hit fungus, bacterial, viruses, parasites, and more! Quick, Julius, how do plagues happen?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Well, they just spontaneously occur when there are enough people in one place.¡± He said, frowning at me.


    I shook my head. ¡°No. There¡¯s a cause, a reason. Bacteria, or a virus, causes it, and it spreads. How it spreads depends on a bunch. Maybe it¡¯s the water. Maybe it¡¯s the air. Maybe it¡¯s food, or fleas, maybe an animal, maybe a person has it. I have holes on this ¨C huge holes ¨C but even then I remember the story of ¡®Typhoid Mary¡¯, who spread a disease all over the place, unaware that she had it. We should be here. We should be trying to fix this. This is what Rangers do.¡± I said passionately.


    Julius hesitated. ¡°You¡¯re right, but you¡¯re just one person. And you¡¯re proposing tying up the entire squad. What can you do alone?¡±


    I shrugged. ¡°My best. Look, the mere fact that I¡¯ve put you onto finding the cause, instead of just waiting for it to burn out, is progress on its own. You¡¯re an amazing investigator, one of the best ¨C remember that thief in Tolosa? You were able to track him down. This would be similar ¨C find out how the disease is spreading, trace it back to its source, destroy the source. Meanwhile, I do what I can to heal people.¡±


    Julius continued to frown.


    ¡°Fine. We¡¯re putting this to a vote. This isn¡¯t something we can fight, but Elaine makes good enough points. Elaine, I¡¯m assuming you¡¯re ¡®for¡¯ jumping in. Kallisto, begin.¡±


    ¡°No way. Sorry Elaine,¡± He turned towards me, apologetic. ¡°but I can¡¯t fight this. I can¡¯t fight disease. If I¡¯m going to risk dying, it¡¯s with a spear in my hand and an enemy I can point to. I already don¡¯t like my odds of surviving this round, I don¡¯t want to make it needlessly worse.¡±


    ¡°Origen?¡± Julius asked.


    He shook his head slowly, from side to side, making his vote obvious.


    ¡°Maximus?¡± Julius asked.


    ¡°Yes. I want to see if Elaine¡¯s theory is correct. Could you imagine how much it¡¯d expand what we knew if she was right? It¡¯d be incredible! Most of her other stuff has panned out. For the price of a single Ranger squad ¨C which, worse-case, we can hole up in the Argo as Elaine heals us, our risk of death is unlikely ¨C we can leap our knowledge forward. We should go.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m voting no.¡± Julius said. ¡°There¡¯s no telling how long this will take. We could fix a problem here, while a half-dozen other problems fester. Artemis?¡±


    ¡°Heck yes! I¡¯m with healy-bug all the way!¡± Artemis happily declared, hugging me from behind.


    ¡°Arthur?¡± Julius asked. ¡°You¡¯re the deciding vote.¡±


    ¡°Sorry Elaine,¡± Arthur said, making my shoulders slump. I could hear his voice change tone, a grin entering it. ¡°I didn¡¯t mean to poison you the other day. I vote yes. Might be able to incorporate the plague into my poison, who knows.¡±


    That was a horrifying thought ¨C Arthur, being able to shoot plague-triggering arrows? I just hoped disease wasn¡¯t in the Poison-element domain.


    Julius shot Arthur a foul look, which he returned with a mad grin. I guess he wanted to make it up to me, and stick it to Julius at the same time. Either way, the result was the same.


    ¡°Fine. I¡¯m capping our visit here at six weeks ¨C and even then, if we spend that long, our vacation at other towns is going to be cut short. Problems this big should be handled by a Sentinel, but I guess they decided a bloody entire Army Legion would work as well.¡±


    ¡°First things first though ¨C food. It¡¯s possible that since this area¡¯s under quarantine, that food¡¯s limited inside. Sure, it¡¯s possible they¡¯re still letting food in ¨C trying to starve a population out is the number one way to guarantee a massive riot and attack, along with a bunch of angry farmers on the outside, but it¡¯s possible that it¡¯ll be limited. There were sixty thousand people in Perinthus before this plague started, so it¡¯ll be ugly. Let¡¯s spend a few hours hunting, as much as possible. We don¡¯t have the best methods to preserve food, but we might be able to trade some of it for preserved food. 5 pounds of fresh food for four pounds of preserved food is easily a good trade for both parties.¡±


    Arthur, Julius, and Origen spent a few hours hunting each, bringing back game for the rest of us to skin and prep. We had a small feast, stuffing ourselves, before preserving the rest the best we could before we went to chat with the guards.


    We made our way up to the gate, where we were stopped by the guards.


    ¡°Halt! Perinthus is under quarantine by order of the Senate. If you enter, the only ways you can leave are if the quarantine is lifted, or in a puff of smoke. If you¡¯re a farmer, please go over there to drop off your goods.¡±


    Julius flashed his Ranger Eagle at them. ¡°Hey! Local Ranger squad. We¡¯d like to go in.¡±


    That caused a lot of muttering between the guards, as one of them ran off ¨C probably to get another, higher-ranking officer to help out.


    The higher-ranking soldier showed up, and after much huddle and discussion, came to us with their verdict.


    ¡°Ok, we¡¯re letting you in, but same rules as everyone else ¨C you¡¯re let out once quarantine¡¯s over, or once you¡¯re dead. I don¡¯t want any Ranger fuckery getting you out ¨C the Senate itself has declared this area under quarantine.¡±


    Julius frowned at that, turning to us.


    ¡°Thoughts?¡± He asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like it boss. I assumed worse-case we could Ranger our way out.¡± Kallisto said.


    ¡°We still could.¡± Artemis pointed out. ¡°We just might need to leave the wagon behind.¡±


    ¡°Or make a tunnel for it with your skills!¡± I pointed out, eager to steamroll any opposition.


    ¡°We¡¯d still like to go in.¡± Julius said.


    The soldiers moved around, opening the wooden gates, and we passed on through, to a scene of carnage and death, a thousand black crows cawing as they hopped over a pile of smoldering bodies, picking and tearing at flesh that didn¡¯t quite get consumed by one of what appeared to be dozens of funeral pyres.


    ¡°Welcome to Perinthus.¡± One of the soldiers said, closing the gates behind us.

 Chapter 71 – Plague I

    The gate closed behind us with an ominous shudder, the sound of the bar metaphorically and literally locking us in. We were committed now, surrounded on three sides by the makeshift, manned Legion walls, and the Nostrum Sea on the last side.


    I started to have some self-doubt. What had I just dragged us into? Did I really think I could make a difference on my own?


    Artemis reassuringly squeezed my shoulder, getting some sort of idea what I was concerned over. A good reminder, that I wasn¡¯t alone, I wasn¡¯t trying to single-handedly solve a plague by myself. There was an entire Army Legion here. I was a 14-year-old girl. Birthday was coming up though, just another week and change! There was no way I was the only healer here. Sure, I was powerful. Sure, I had a solid grasp on what I wanted to do. This wasn¡¯t a dam with a small leak, where one well-placed girl could stick her finger and fix the problem. This was a full flood, where it¡¯d take dozens of people working together to fix and rebuild. My major contribution was already done ¨C letting the people who could do something about it know about the problem, namely that there had to be a source or reservoir for the plague, and work off of that.


    ¡°Elaine.¡± Artemis said, seriously.


    ¡°Yeah?¡± I asked, tilting my head back to look at her.


    ¡°Stay inside the Argo. Don¡¯t look outside as we¡¯re going through.¡± Artemis said kindly, velvet-wrapping the order.


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Because it¡¯ll end terribly.¡± Kallisto jumped in, surprising me with his analysis of my skills. ¡°You¡¯ll be obligated to help someone. Then the next person. It¡¯ll be unstructured. Messy. More people will come, demanding healing. Then what? You¡¯ll be obligated to help them. You¡¯ll be out of mana. And I¡¯ll tell you, people, next to a healer that can heal them, fix them, but isn¡¯t? It¡¯s not gratitude you¡¯ll be getting. It¡¯ll be hate. This plague¡¯s been going on for months. These people here are likely stressed, scared, terrified. Give them hope, and snatch it away? They¡¯ll tear you apart, and I mean that in a very real, visceral way. Then we have to step in. Then suddenly, it¡¯s the Rangers invading the town, putting people to the sword. Coinflip if the city¡¯s in a bad way, and it sparks a riot. The 3rd legion here isn¡¯t helping that ¨C usually when they show up, it¡¯s ¡®exterminate them all¡¯.¡±


    Kallisto shrugged.


    ¡°I¡¯m not trying to scare you. It¡¯s just one possibility. The fact that it¡¯s a likely possibility, and the price to avoid it is small, means I agree with Artemis ¨C stay in, don¡¯t look outside.¡±


    I crossed my arms and pouted.


    ¡°When will I ever heal anyone?¡± I demanded.


    ¡°Carefully. In a controlled manner.¡± Maximus said. ¡°Clinics are common in the first place. People know there¡¯s a place to go and get healed. Heck, some healers might be here, betting they can get enough experience to level a ton. Others might be here to earn their fortune. A healer with the right skills, and a good business sense, could get enough money to last a lifetime from a plague.¡±


    ¡°If they live.¡± Julius pointed out.


    ¡°If they live.¡± Maximus agreed. ¡°It¡¯s the rare healer that¡¯ll fall to a plague. No, it¡¯s exploiting enough sick and angry people that¡¯ll do it. It¡¯s a fine, fine balancing act to try and make a fortune in a plague. Too much, and you get a mob. Too little, and you don¡¯t make a fortune. Easier to charge almost nothing ¨C or to charge nothing at all, and try to simply gain dozens of levels.¡±


    ¡°Listen.¡± Origen grunted. We all turned to him, listening carefully. Artemis started grinning madly, but didn¡¯t bother enlightening the rest of us.


    He rolled his eyes at us.


    ¡°No, listen.¡±


    Artemis¡¯s cackling turned into full-on laughter.


    ¡°Listen! There¡¯s a bard of some sort using a powerful skill!¡± Artemis said.


    We all went very quiet, and I could softly hear some notes drifting by, subtle, under the noise of the Argo creaking along, the sounds of anguish and misery getting louder as we approached the town.


    ¡°Hey, I got offered a class like that.¡± I realized. ¡°Sound-related, weak healing over a large area.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, the dude¡¯s probably getting a level a day, or more, at this rate. His only limit is his mana regeneration.¡± Maximus observed.


    I could hear us entering the town. I was concerned that we didn¡¯t seem to stop at the gates at all. That implied that there was no guard, or that the guard was so busy that guarding the gates, one of the fundamental guardy-jobs, was so low priority it was being completely neglected.


    It was aggravating, not being able to stick my head out, see the town.


    I could smell it though. The rotting stench of foul death and decay, mixed in with the normally-cheery sea breeze.


    ¡°How can they possibly quarantine the town if it¡¯s also a port?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Either they have their own ships, or they sank everything. Knowing the 3rd, knowing how they¡¯re usually ¡®slash and burn¡¯, and knowing they don¡¯t have any ships ¨C they probably sank everything down to the fishing boats.¡± Julius grimly guessed. ¡°I¡¯d need to poke around somewhat to find out more. Probably have archers nearby to shoot down anyone trying to swim for it.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s going to cause a lot of starvation.¡± I pointed out the obvious, remembering how much of my diet was fish when I lived in Aquiliea. Heck, most of the towns in the Republic were on the shores of the Nostrum Sea, and sea shipping made most of the inter-town logistics. According to Maximus¡¯s lessons.


    There were grim looks all around.


    ¡°Plagues are bad business. People start dying. Food gets interrupted. Starvation causes more problems. Services are interrupted ¨C sewers, baths, water, guards, food, entertainment, everything. It causes more problems, more deaths, and it spirals horribly.¡± Julius said.


    ¡°How are they usually handled?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Usually, we just contain it, and let it burn itself out. This one¡¯s been going on a bit longer than normal, from the reports I got, but it¡¯s nowhere close to the record.¡± Julius said. ¡°If it wasn¡¯t for you being so sure that there¡¯s a source that can be turned off, we¡¯d have skipped this place entirely.¡±


    ¡°Not a source.¡± I said, correcting. ¡°A place where it¡¯s stored. This could be a bad water source. Fleas. Rats. Sewers. It¡¯s not the same as a source. Subtle difference, but it¡¯s there. Either way, if you figure out what the reservoir is, and get rid of it, that¡¯ll go a long way to getting this treated.¡±


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 125!]


    ¡°How do you know all this? More reincarnation knowledge?¡± Maximus asked.


    ¡°Kinda. A little bit of reincarnation knowledge with [Memories of a Distant life] sharpening them is giving ¡®structure¡¯ for [Medicine] to work off of. [Oath] is multiplying my medical knowledge, and all of it combined is letting me see and know enough to get you all started.¡±


    Maximus nodded. ¡°Makes sense.¡±


    We quieted down as we kept travelling through the town, probably to the main guard barracks where we normally set up.


    The sounds of agony and misery were getting louder. A woman, finding her husband had succumbed. A man, grieving over his son. An old woman, a young boy, both begging for food on the street, weakness in their voice.


    They didn¡¯t have much time left. Not from the strength left in their voice.


    The sound of a scuffle, no holds barred. An agonizing crack, something breaking badly.


    It would be nearly impossible to get any sort of medical attention for that. I closed my eyes. What Kallisto said earlier rang true. I couldn¡¯t heal them all. Not here. Not now. I ¨C


    [*Error* All Skills -1 level.]


    [Reminder: Oaths are Binding.]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Celestial Affinity] has reached level 144]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Affinity] has reached level 39!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Resistance] has reached level 39!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Conjuration] has reached level 39!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Manipulation] has reached level 39!]


    Pain. Pain wracked me, tore through my body. I started to scream and thrash, trying to make it go away, trying to make it stop. It didn¡¯t care about [Center of the Galaxy], nor did my attempt at [Vastness of the Stars] do anything about it. This was pure torment, direct from the System, penalizing me for turning my back on someone. I screamed, screamed myself raw and hoarse, and thrashed in torment, as it felt like my whole body was burning up, then freezing, then thrown onto a bed of nails, followed by more indescribable torments.


    It was agony. I tried everything to make it stop. Throwing flames wildly. Clawing at my arms, my face. Curling up, rolling over.


    Nothing I did would make it stop, would stop the pain from invading me. I still saw, still heard, the world around me, but I was no longer processing it.


    After time ¨C indeterminate length, with the pain killing all other senses ¨C the pain stopped, and I found myself lying on the floor of the Argo, coated in sweat, having soiled myself, panting and gasping, tunic in shreds where I¡¯d torn myself. Walls of stone surrounded me, and my fingernails were bloody where I¡¯d been scratching at them, at myself.


    ¡°Elaine? Elaine are you ok?¡± Artemis asked, peeking over concerned.


    [Center of the Galaxy] instantly worked its magic ¨C not that it had ever stopped working, just whatever the System had done completely bypassed the skill, totally different from when Lumberjack and co and broken it ¨C and I healed myself, fixing all of my immediate, obvious problems.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I said, sitting up.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Artemis said, dissolving the walls, rushing in next to me, embracing me.


    ¡°[Oath].¡± I said. ¡°I heard the fight outside, the person getting hurt. I knew he¡¯d be hurt, be in major trouble without healing. I thought about what you said before, and made the conscious decision to not help. I got notifications ¨C lost a point in all my skill levels, a System reminder that oaths were binding. Then pain.¡±


    Artemis said nothing, just holding me tighter. Maximus edged forward a hair, still looking wary.


    ¡°Elaine, throw up [Veil] around us, right now.¡± He ordered. I did as he said, seeing him relax.


    ¡°Ok, good. No more repeats of that. We should¡¯ve done this in the first place. Didn¡¯t think this could happen.¡± He said.


    ¡°Yeah. Why was this response so much worse than last time?¡± I asked him. ¡°Any ideas?¡±


    He hummed to himself thoughtfully, as I opened my chest of supplies. Spare tunic, spare tunic, ahha! Time to change.


    ¡°My best guess ¨C and it¡¯s only a guess mind you ¨C is that last time you accidentally violated your [Oath]. This time, you deliberately violated it.¡±


    I frowned at him.


    ¡°I had a good reason! Usually that works for the System! It didn¡¯t complain when I let Arthur and Artemis fight, it didn¡¯t complain when I waited to heal Idiot Mage, it lets me spar, it was OK when some people in Virinum didn¡¯t get healing ¨C why was this different?¡±


    Maximus shrugged.


    ¡°No idea. Perhaps it was the way you intended things? Like with Artemis and Arthur, you always intended to heal them after. They weren¡¯t your patients then. You did heal Idiot Mage as close to the first moment when you were able to. The people in Virinum were ok with their current state, they just wanted an improvement. This, though¡­ this was the first time you heard someone that needed help, and chose to turn your back.¡±


    ¡°Why on Pallos did I level?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You leveled?¡± Artemis asked with surprise.


    ¡°Yeah, right after I lost some of my skills, I got them right back.¡± I said.


    ¡°Were those the skills at the cap?¡± Maximus asked.


    ¡°Yup. Ah ¨C they were ready to level anyways?¡± I puzzled it out.


    ¡°Probably. No matter how you slice it, it¡¯s bad.¡±


    ¡°Do you think I¡¯ll be ok when healing people in a clinic?¡± I asked, suddenly worried. If I was going to be penalized even when giving it my all¡­.


    ¡°Unlikely. You weren¡¯t penalized in Virinum, or any of the towns and villages we stopped at ¨C you were genuinely giving it your all. I strongly suspect that as long as you¡¯re trying, as long as you¡¯re not turning you back on someone who needs help, that you¡¯ll be fine. It¡¯s only if you decide not to help someone that punishes you. Granted, we¡¯d need to try it out a few more times to know that¡¯s the case¡­ and I suspect you¡¯re against that idea.¡± Maximus finished, as I furiously shook my head.


    ¡°Right. Artemis, stay here with Elaine. She was cooped up for weeks to entertain you, now you can be cooped up with her to entertain her.¡± Maximus said. ¡°We¡¯ll knock twice on [Veil] to let you know when it¡¯s a good time to come out.¡±


    Blah. Waiting. I let him out, then flopped down, looking at the ceiling.


    ¡°Hey healy bug, what do you want to play?¡± Artemis asked cheerfully, sitting down next to me.


    I mutely shook my head, continuing to stare up. I¡¯d been given a lot to think about.

 Chapter 72– Plague II

    After some time passed ¨C Artemis finally managed to talk me into playing knucklebones with her, but her stat advantage made it frankly unfair ¨C I got a polite ¡°knocking¡± on my shield. I lowered the shield, and the rest of the team hurried in.


    ¡°Shield up.¡± Julius ordered, and I quickly complied, wrapping the entirety of the interior of the Argo in [Veil].


    ¡°You know, I could get used to this. Never have to worry about eavesdroppers again.¡± Julius remarked.


    ¡°Do we get a lot of those?¡±


    ¡°Usually harmless. Kids that want to listen in on the big bad Rangers.¡± Arthur said. ¡°Also, Origen¡¯s written soundproofing inscriptions all over the place, which work well enough for the purpose.¡±


    ¡°Right. Here¡¯s the situation. There are a number of healers working in the town, and they form a bit of an enclave, so to speak. They¡¯re not all working together, exactly, but they meet up frequently enough, about once a week. There¡¯s another meeting tomorrow, and they¡¯re eager to meet you Elaine. We¡¯re going to hold still for now, until you get a better idea of what we¡¯re looking at, what we need to find. Elaine, that¡¯ll be on you. Don¡¯t be afraid of getting it wrong, of sending us in the wrong direction.¡±


    ¡°For evenings, we¡¯re all staying in the Argo, doors barred. It¡¯s getting ugly out there, and I wouldn¡¯t put it past this town to break into a riot ¨C disease, starvation, and the pressure of the 3rd breathing down their neck, knowing they¡¯re close to all being exterminated, does not make for a reasonable population. On the downside, we¡¯re clearly Army, in the middle of town, accessible, and with a wagon full of food. On the upside, Elaine¡¯s going to be buying us a ton of goodwill, and we¡¯ll be making it clear that we¡¯re in the same boat as all of them. Artemis also has intimidating firepower should it come to that.¡±


    I imagined Artemis with the Argo¡¯s mana reserves vs an angry mob. I didn¡¯t see Artemis winning ¨C but I didn¡¯t see most of the mob survive either. Waves of sharp cobblestone as buckshot into an unarmored crowd? Yikes.


    ¡°Time for new standing orders while we¡¯re in town. Kallisto. You¡¯re going to be celibate.¡±


    ¡°You can¡¯t ¨C¡° Kallisto started to protest.


    ¡°I absolutely can. We¡¯re basically in a warzone. Arthur. One mug an evening. Bardic activities to daytime only.¡±


    Arthur saluted.


    ¡°Artemis. I think this goes without saying, but no baths. I don¡¯t even think they¡¯re functioning.¡±


    Artemis muttered darkly to herself, then glanced at me with a gleam in her eye. I could guess what she was thinking. Sea water + earthen tub + healy bug¡¯s flames. I looked at her, and shook my head. I wasn¡¯t going to have a drop of spare mana. Or a single spare second.


    ¡°Origen. Self-tattoos only. This will be a great victory, worthy of that space between your shoulders you¡¯ve been saving. Delay friend, it¡¯ll be worth it.¡±


    Origen slowly nodded his assent.


    ¡°Elaine. Feel free to try and heal anyone you come across. Everyone else ¨C feel free to stop Elaine forcefully. The last thing we need is for people to think we¡¯re torturing the local friendly healer, which is what it looks and sounds like when Elaine loses an [Oath] level. Elaine, any problems with that?¡±


    I thought about it, then shook my head. ¡°It should work.¡±


    ¡°Good. Every evening when we¡¯re back here, I want you to heal everyone, just in case. I don¡¯t want the plague to take anyone out. I also doubt anyone will have free time to do as they please.¡±


    I chimed in. ¡°It¡¯ll also be easier to heal everyone daily. It¡¯d take, for example, one mana to heal you early on, but like 90-100 mana to heal you later. I don¡¯t have the exact numbers ¨C I¡¯ve done no work on this so far ¨C but that¡¯s the idea. No matter how we look at it, constant, low-level prevention is easier than trying to handle it later.¡±


    ¡°As for moving around,¡± Julius continued. ¡°We¡¯re going to be broadly moving in two groups. One¡¯s the Healing group. The other¡¯s the investigation or extermination group. Elaine anchors Healing, I¡¯ll anchor Investigation. We need a big signal in each group, which mean Arthur and Artemis. For obvious reasons, I¡¯m sticking Artemis in Healing, which means Arthur¡¯s with me. Origen, you have some extra healing utility, so you¡¯re with Healing. Maximus, Kallisto, you¡¯re with Investigations, because you¡¯re good at it, and if there¡¯s a problem, it¡¯s more likely to be with Investigations than anything else. We¡¯re going to wait and see what the healers have to say about the plague before we start digging into possible causes tomorrow ¨C I honestly don¡¯t know where to start with this sort of thing, so we might as well consult the experts first. Questions?¡±


    ¡°Food.¡± Kallisto asked. ¡°We just came off a long leg, and while we ate a lot of game and foraged a bunch, we¡¯re not exactly in tip-top shape.¡±


    Julius nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯ll make sure to stock up what and when I can. If it¡¯s obvious we¡¯re hoarding food, or buying food and not eating it, we¡¯ll be a target again. Artemis, hold off on practicing. Elaine, hold off on fire practice. Naturally, if someone¡¯s coming at you, blow them to pieces. Heal people that need it. Any other questions?¡± Julius asked.


    There was a pause as we looked around, a slow shake of the head from Origen. Another shake, and we were all shaking our heads.


    ¡°Right. Well, we¡¯re all here for the evening, and since we can¡¯t roam the streets, and there¡¯s no watch to be had ¨C who¡¯s turn is it for a story from Elaine?¡± Julius asked.


    Arthur raised his hand with a grin, and everyone groaned as they knew what was coming. The Iliad.


    I didn¡¯t even bother asking. I sighed, then put on my best ¡°singing face¡±, and went to town.


    ¡°Rage! Sing Goddess, Achilles¡¯ rage,¡­..¡±


    We woke up the next morning, and I promptly wrapped myself and Artemis in a little bubble of [Veil]. We did our morning routine, then waited. We were moving the Argo to our new base of operation, near all of the other healers, at the grand temple of the town.


    I went over what I wanted to say one more time. I¡¯d practiced this. I¡¯d rehearsed it. I was ready.


    Clever that, having all of the healers in one spot. Made for an easy place to find healing, and healers could support each other. It was also easier for what remained of the guard to stand watch, be vigilant. This plague only ended in one of three ways ¨C it burned itself out, the healers stamped it out, or the 3rd legion burned it out. By killing everyone and everything here. Nobody wanted that, and everyone who traveled here knew the risks. The people who lived in the town, the victims of the plague though - they never had a chance to evaluate the risks.


    Getting inside was tricky, but the Rangers pulled it off, somehow getting me into the temple where the other healers were meeting without [Oath] causing problems. There was only one person to heal, someone sick and lying down in the alley. A quick touch, a quick [Phases of the Moon], a ton of mana, and I was all set.


    I hesitated at the doorway. Not because I was about to meet a dozen other powerful healers. Not because I was worried about them judging me, or dismissing me, or not wanting to hear what I had to say. Not because I was concerned about the inevitable dismissals and sexism.


    No, the doorway was on fire. Specifically, a sheet of well-contained black flames filled the doorway, replacing it as a door.


    ¡°I know that¡¯s Pyronox.¡± I said, eyeing it uneasily. ¡°I¡¯m just having a hard time talking myself into walking through it.¡± Memories of the last burning building I¡¯d been in flashed through my mind, remembering how terribly scarred I¡¯d been from it. Heck, if I hadn¡¯t gotten [Detailed Restoration] then, who knows what my fate would be right now. Much worse, in all likelihood.


    Normal flames would be better than this Pyronox. I could seize them, control them, make them bend to my will. Pyronox, for all it acted like flames, wasn''t fire, wasn''t something I could manipulate with my [Fire Manipulation].


    Artemis rolled her eyes, then picked me up, slung me over a shoulder, and started to walk me through the door.


    ¡°Wait! Wait! I¡¯ll walk!¡± I said, not wanting my grand entrance to be slung over someone¡¯s shoulder. Artemis put me down, and I walked through quickly, not wanting to give her another chance to throw me through.


    The Pyronox tickled, and was pleasantly warm. Not at all like I¡¯d feared.


    The rest of the Ranger squad followed through, as we looked at the large room we were in.


    It had clearly been one of the important rooms in the temple ¨C and very well could still be one of the important rooms, just lent out for our meeting ¨C filled with mostly men, wandering around, chatting in small groups.


    We were all dressed to the nines. Full armor, minus the helmet, but capes ¨C a brilliant red, untouched, unstained by the dirt and muck of the road, designed to impress and do not much else, they were horribly impractical ¨C and our badges, prominently displayed.


    A minor susurration went through the crowd ¨C the Army wasn¡¯t particularly well-liked, and at first glance, the Rangers looked like the hard fist coming down.


    Or that they were trying to intervene, take some measure of control. Also not desired, not wanted. Us dressing to the nines did give off some of that impression.


    I looked around the room, as they looked at us. The colors were mostly muted, undyed cloth. We were on the opposite end of the Republic from where Aquiliea, and the dye industry, were, and showing off wealth right now was probably a poor life choice for healers. ¡°Look at me, I¡¯m rich and charging you money as you¡¯re poor and starving.¡± Didn¡¯t matter if you were saving someone¡¯s life, that just left a sour taste in people¡¯s mouth.


    First was a strange person, wrapped in fine bamboo, head to toe. I couldn¡¯t tell if it was a man or a woman under all of that, and they were carrying a medium sized harp ¨C anything larger wouldn¡¯t be portable. This was possibly the same person we¡¯d heard yesterday. Mummy-Bard, I mentally dubbed them.


    A tattered-looking man was next, who looked to be in his early 20¡¯s, in animated conversation with a second, bored-looking man. The second man was going grey at his temples, powerfully built, with a half-dozen younger men behind him. Interestingly, the tattered-looking man seemed to be roughly the equal of the older man, while the gaggle of younger men stood by, quietly drinking in their conversation. I mentally dubbed them Tattered-Man, Templar (because he looked like he¡¯d be one in another time, another era.), and I lumped the young men behind him as The Apprentices.


    A wiry, bare-chested man was eating food, not talking with anyone. Scars crisscrossed his chest and back, in such a pattern that it was clear that he¡¯d been whipped in the past ¨C many times. And his brazen display seemed to want to rub it in everyone else¡¯s face, that he was here in spite of all of that.


    That, or he was hot. We were in one of the hottest climates in Remus, during the early spring. I needed to invent air conditioning as soon as possible. Damn you Papilion, if you¡¯re going to rip away the knowledge of how air conditioning worked, why couldn¡¯t you also remove my knowledge of air conditioning? This was not love. It was not sweeter to have loved and lost, than to have never known love. This was just torture.


    I mentally dubbed him ¡°Whipping Man¡±. I was sure I¡¯d get his name sooner or later.


    Another strange fellow was a short, portly man, wearing a bag tied over his head. He had a pair of body-guard looking fellows following him, and a nervous-looking kid following him around, head on a swivel. With my amazing naming sense ¨C really, they should be paying me ¨C I named him Sack-Head.


    There were more people milling about. I spotted a few women here and there, supporting each other. They must be like mom ¨C moderately strong healers, with no real education on the matter, who were rising to the occasion, to heal their sister, their husband, their kid. Their fellow townspeople.


    Amazing how suddenly women were valued in a pinch, and were suddenly, seemingly, a vital resource when push came to shove. Maybe some norms would be changed as a result. I could only hope.


    A few of the people milling about looked to be more of the trained fighter type than healers. Sure, some healers were clearly fit, clearly worked out regularly ¨C Templar sprang to mind as an example ¨C but they didn¡¯t have that fierce look I¡¯d come to associate with guards, Rangers, and soldiers.


    With the way they followed some of the healers around, and the way they were eyeing each other up, it made me think they were bodyguards. Probably not needed here, but who wanted to take the risk? Plus, it was possibly more relaxing to be in here, than out there, with angry people, not knowing what was happening to the person you were supposed to protect.


    Or I was being horribly na?ve, and there was a dark undercurrent between the healers.


    Would be pretty stupid to try and kill someone here though ¨C it¡¯d be like shooting someone in a hospital, except all of the doctors are magically empowered.


    Templar broke off his conversation with Tattered Man, and they both walked over to us. A couple more people broke off their conversations, and headed over to us, including, I noticed approvingly, one of the women.


    Six healers stood in a semi-circle in front of us. Tattered Man, Templar, the woman, Sack-Head, and two other men. I assumed that this was the de-facto leadership bunch of the healers. Whipping Man, I noticed, wasn¡¯t too far behind them, listening in, but clearly deferring. The apprentices were doing the same, but shooting glares at Whipping Man. No love seemed to be lost there. Sack-Head¡¯s apprentice seemed unsure of himself, eyes constantly darting around.


    Templar crossed his arms in front of his chest. Tattered Man kept glancing back and forth between different members there. Woman Leader stared at us fixedly.


    ¡°What can we healers do for the Rangers?¡± Templar asked, breaking the slightly awkward silence.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 14]


    [Mana: 6680/6680]


    [Mana Regen: 6111]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 174]


    [Strength: 43]


    [Dexterity: 79]


    [Vitality: 65]


    [Speed: 80]


    [Mana: 668]


    [Mana Regeneration: 1100]


    [Magic Power: 626]


    [Magic Control: 1121]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 144]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 144]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 117]


    [Medicine: 124]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 126]


    [Phases of the Moon: 104]


    [Eyes of the Milky Way: 94]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 110]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 127]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 39]]


    [Fire Affinity: 39]


    [Fire Resistance: 39]


    [Fire Conjuration: 39]


    [Fire Manipulation: 39]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 31]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 80]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 79]


    [Pretty: 101]


    [Vigilant: 110]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 111]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 67]


    [Running: 74]


    [Learning: 119]

 Chapter 73– Plague III

    ¡°What can we do for the Rangers?¡± Templar asked sourly. Julius smiled, his best PR smile ¨C brilliant, teeth showing, not touching his eyes at all.


    ¡°Actually, it¡¯s more ¡®what can we do for you?¡¯¡± Julius said. ¡°We¡¯re here to help. We¡¯ve brought a fairly powerful healer along with us, and we plan to do some work as a team. We¡¯ll get to that in a minute.¡±


    ¡°First, I¡¯d like to introduce Elaine. Her full background is classified ¨C what I can say is she¡¯s extremely knowledgeable, and has an education in diseases and plagues unmatched by most. I can also say there¡¯s some divine mischief going on with her, but I can¡¯t go into exactly what they are. She¡¯s also a full member of the team, a Ranger in her own right. Everyone, meet Elaine.¡±


    Julius shuffled around, letting me step forward. I felt imposing, powerful, wise, and oh-so-short. Speech time!


    ¡°Hi everyone, I¡¯m Elaine!¡± I said, giving a little smile and wave. I felt so fake. ¡°I¡¯m a Celestial-aligned healer, and I¡¯m here to help. I have a background on diseases that I¡¯d be happy to share with anyone interested. I also have a powerful [Oath] skill that¡¯s giving me an extra 3500 Magic Power, and 6300 Magic Control. It¡¯s also not particularly high-level ¨C nor am I ¨C and it only gets stronger as I level up, and as the skill levels up. Any questions?¡± I took a deep breath, having said all that in one go. Public speaking. I thought I¡¯d be great at it, turns out I was only ok.


    There was some muttering, then Templar took charge again.


    ¡°Welcome Elaine! I¡¯m sure we have a bunch to talk about. Let¡¯s introduce ourselves, then start talking. I¡¯m Markus. I¡¯m a Pyronox-aligned Healer. I specialize in burning out disease and corruption, and keeping areas clean and pure. The doorways are my skill, and it makes sure that anyone entering the room is clean, and the room itself is clean. I don¡¯t know how the plague forms, but even if it¡¯s spontaneous, from too many people, it¡¯d just get burned out the moment it forms in the room. If it spontaneously forms inside of someone, they¡¯d get cleansed before stepping out. These here behind me are my apprentices. A motley mix of Water and Dark, and one of my Light apprentices came along. I¡¯d also like to talk about what role the Rangers will be taking ¨C from the sound of it, it¡¯s not just personal protection, is it?¡±


    Julius shook his head. ¡°Elaine, can you handle this part?¡±


    ¡°Sure! It¡¯s nice to meet you Markus. My knowledge of disease and medicine tells me that there¡¯s a reservoir, a place where the disease is, and how it spreads. It might be in the water, in a contaminated well. It might be fleas, living on rats. It could be people, jumping from person to person. The way the plague spreads might be water, air, bug bites, contaminated food, rodents, or more.¡±


    I decided to identify him. [Healer]. Higher-level than some of the Rangers, in the 260-270 range. This guy knew his stuff, and could be considered a classer in his own right. I was close enough to see his eyes, and dark flames flickered in them, the same way lightning flickers in Artemis¡¯s, and my eyes were the stars above.


    Pyronox.


    Some of Markus¡¯s apprentices scoffed at me. One of them opened his mouth, starting to say something, as Markus whirled on him and cuffed him.


    ¡°We listen to all healers, great and small.¡± He said, rebuking the apprentice who was looking down at his feet. His fellow apprentices had mixed reactions ¨C some seemed to agree with the aggrieved apprentice, others were happy it wasn¡¯t them being disciplined. ¡°Yes, she¡¯s young. Yes, she¡¯s low-level. Yes, she¡¯s a girl. However, I don¡¯t see any of you being vouched for by a Ranger squad, and being called a full Ranger now, do I? When the gods step in and meddle with your life, when you feel you¡¯ve learned as much from me as possible to strike out on your own, then you can feel free to ignore other healers. Until then, you follow my lead, my rules. And part of that is listening to other healers, and what they have to say. Regardless of how far-fetched it is.¡± He threw a look at Tattered Man at that. Interesting.


    ¡°Eye contact.¡± Sack-Head said. ¡°I¡¯m convinced that part of this plague is transmitted by direct eye contact.¡±


    We turned and looked at him, my eyebrows quirking up. Disease didn¡¯t spread by eye contact! That was silly. It was more likely that it was spread by airborne transmission. It did explain why he was wearing a sack over his head though ¨C if he thought it was transmitted through direct eye contact, a sack over his head was a good way to avoid that.


    ¡°Nice to meet you Elaine, my name¡¯s Caecilius. I¡¯m a Mist-aligned [Plague Healer]. My secondary class is possibly mage, possibly healer ¨C it¡¯s never been high enough level to tell, and the class itself doesn¡¯t tell me. Does help with my work. I go from place to place dealing with plagues, they¡¯re my specialty.¡±


    He was a [Healer]. In the 290-300 range. I couldn¡¯t see his eyes, due to the bag he was wearing over his head, but I was dead curious what Mist eyes looked like. I wanted to whistle. I checked Artemis. I checked him again, carefully. Artemis was a hair higher ¨C in the 300 to 310 range. It was close. This was a strong, strong healer. Wandering around from plague to plague seemed to pay off in spades as far as level was concerned.


    ¡°On that note,¡± He continued. ¡°I¡¯m convinced that this is two plagues we¡¯re dealing with, not one. There¡¯s the main plague, with the coughing, the bleeding, the sores, and the puss, and there¡¯s a second plague, with the diarrhea, vomiting, and tongue-swelling.¡±


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 120!]


    ¡°I¡¯ve told you before, that makes no sense.¡± The one lady present said, snapping at him. ¡°I¡¯ve lived here all my life. We haven¡¯t had a plague here in decades, and you¡¯re saying that we got hit by not one, but two plagues at the same time? You don¡¯t know this place; you don¡¯t know how things are. We¡¯re right next to the Kadan Jungle, we get diseases all the time, but a plague like this is on a completely different level. It just doesn¡¯t make sense that two plagues occur at the exact same time. Plus, a number of people have all of the symptoms ¨C vomiting, diarrhea, coughing, bleeding. How do you explain that?¡±


    ¡°Hi, by the way. I¡¯m Verta, Water-aligned, I¡¯m so pleased to meet you!¡± She said at full speed, enthusiastically shaking my hand. ¡°I¡¯d love for you to tell me everything you know ¨C and the other healers local to this town who know what things are like here.¡± She said that last part darkly, shooting a glare at Caecilius.


    She showed up as [Laborer]. Somewhere around 180. I bet her healing class was at a similar level. Lowest level so far by a wide margin ¨C probably a combination of doing ¡®just town¡¯ healing like mom, and not being given the same chances as everyone else ¨C like mom. Normal eyes marked her first class as being one of the base eight elements, not that it¡¯d tell me anything with her displayed class being a non-healing class.


    Like me, when I was nothing more than a town healer.


    ¡°I¡¯d be delighted to! One of my skills asks me to spread medical knowledge when I can.¡±


    ¡°Does that relate to your massive stat increase skill? Or is it something different?¡± Tattered Man joined the conversation. ¡°I¡¯m Ponticus. Light-aligned healer.¡± Caecilius snorted derisively at him. ¡°Less-than-useful in a plague sadly. I showed up, figuring that I might be able to do something, and, well, Light has a huge hole when dealing with diseases. Sadly, nobody seems interested in handling scrapes and the like ¨C I thought this would be a good leveling chance for me, everyone focused on the plague, injuries occurring, who wouldn¡¯t want your friendly neighborhood Light healer around? Sadly, nobody has any coin to pay for it¡­.¡±


    I checked out his level. [Artisan]. Somewhere between 230 and 240. In spite of his young age, and poor decision to try and be a Light healer in a plague town, he somehow managed to be at a respectably high level. His eyes seemed almost faceted and glimmering, and as he talked, was slowly changing color from blue to green. I glanced at Artemis, who mouthed ¡°gemstone¡± at me. At that level, his second class ¨C his healing one ¨C couldn¡¯t be too far behind. I was an abnormality with the disparity between my levels.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Identify] has reached level 81!]


    ¡°That¡¯s because you keep trying to charge people extortionate prices! This isn¡¯t the capital, stop charging capital prices!¡± Templar ¨C Markus ¨C berated him.


    Ponticus muttered darkly, but didn¡¯t have much more to say. I mentally marked him as ¡®brilliant healer, idiot at business¡¯, before realizing to my chagrin that I probably also fell in the same category. Thank goodness I had Kallisto, Artemis, and the rest of the Rangers looking out for my best interests.


    ¡°I will say, I¡¯m curious about that skill of yours as well.¡± One of the unremarkable members said. ¡°Can you go into detail about it? I¡¯m Berucus by the way, Dark-aligned healer.¡±


    ¡°Sure, I¡¯d be happy to! Fair warning, it¡¯s restrictive, but powerful. Here it is:


    First, do no harm.


    Healing is my art.


    I will use all of my knowledge and tools at my disposal to heal those that come to me.


    I will heal those I see to the best of my ability.


    I will apply all measures that are required to my patients.


    I will never see a patient as anything other than another creature in pain.


    I will not discriminate who I heal based on class, sex, race, what gods they pray to, nor by any other means.


    I will defend the patients under my care from harm and injustice.


    I will only take up a knife to defend myself or my patient.


    I will admit when I do not know how to heal a patient.


    I will respect the privacy of my patients, and hold in confidence anything that is said to me.


    I will teach and spread my knowledge to the best of my abilities, asking for no recompense. ¡°


    The eyebrows of the healers were steadily rising in a uniform manner.


    ¡°What¡¯s the payoff for something that restrictive?¡± Templar ¨C Markus, the Pyronox dude ¨C asked.


    ¡°For me, 5% increased knowledge, Magic Power, and Magic Control when dealing with healing-related issues. Or, in other words, when it¡¯s level 20, it doubles my abilities. When it¡¯s level 40, it triples my abilities, etc.¡± I said, noticing Verta looked confused, remembering that education was not a strong suite of Remus ¨C especially not women¡¯s education.


    ¡°Downsides?¡± Templar, the Pyronox asked.


    ¡°Losing a level in [Oath] under minor breaks. Pain, losing a few scattered levels on medium violations. No idea what deliberately, purposefully breaking or going against it would do.¡± I said.


    ¡°Possibly death.¡± Maximus helpfully added in. ¡°Probably just an escalation of penalties. We¡¯re not entirely sure, as Elaine¡¯s been carefully following it, and different oaths have different penalties. Safer to assume it¡¯s lethal. Part of why the System is locked for young kids, to stop them doing something idiotic like making eternal vows.¡± Every word of Maximus was like a knife in my chest. I¡¯d wondered on the consequences of deliberately breaking [Oath], of trying to shatter it. Whoops.


    The part about being idiotic also drove a hammer home, my pride and arrogance I¡¯d had as a reincarnated kid not only killing Lyra, but permanently binding me. I could just imagine how much worse it could¡¯ve been if [Oath] wasn¡¯t so well-worded, or so I thought. Bless the self-defense clause.


    At the same time, I wouldn¡¯t want to give [Oath] up. It was my promise, my vow, practically a way of life. It gave me structure and meaning, living up to something bigger, better than myself.


    Templar turned and looked to his apprentices. ¡°Any of you willing to try this?¡± He said. ¡°This is a chance for you to shine, if it works as advertised. However, it comes at a risk. Think carefully before you decide.¡±


    There were some looks shared, glances all around. Who was willing to step forward, take this Oath, see if it would even result in a skill? Who was going to go out on a limb, and listen to a kid so much younger than them, a girl to boot.


    Who would be the first to take the Oath after me?


    One of them finally spoke up.


    ¡°Ah, I¡¯ll do it. Can¡¯t leave the pretty Ranger hanging now can I?¡± He said with a wink towards me. I wanted to shudder. His motives were transparent, and he was at least 5, 6 years older than me. Poker face. Now more than ever I needed a poker face.


    ¡°You¡¯ll need a strong degree of sincerity to make it work.¡± Maximus jumped in, saving my skin. ¡°Oath, Vow, Promise, and other such related skills require effort and commitment.¡±


    ¡°Chill.¡± Laid-back apprentice said. ¡°I got this.¡±


    He spoke the oath, suddenly being serious. At the end of it, he suddenly started blinking rapidly, the way someone surprised by a System notification would.


    ¡°By Aion.¡± He swore. ¡°That¡¯s some skill.¡±


    ¡°Details?¡± Asked Maximus and Templar ¨C Markus! I had to get his name straight ¨C at the same time, glancing at each other, recognizing fellow seekers of knowledge. Just so happened they overlapped here.


    ¡°[Elaine¡¯s Oath]. A healing oath, a solemn vow of your dedication towards helping and healing others. 4% per level to healing knowledge, and magic control and power while healing. A warning, that Oaths are binding.¡±


    ¡°Yeah be careful about that part. It¡¯s not kidding.¡± I shuddered at the memory of breaking the oath the other day.


    ¡°It¡¯s your call if you want to take it.¡± Markus said. ¡°It¡¯s your chance at greatness ¨C just look at that girl over there. Level 140 or so, and a full Ranger ¨C probably on the basis of her Oath.¡±


    ¡°If it helps, you can still defend yourself no problems.¡± I chimed in, eager to have him take it. Hey, who didn¡¯t want their name immortalized in a skill that someone else had? ¡°It just stops you from taking offensive action preemptively. Oh, and don¡¯t ignore people asking to be healed. Kinda hard in a plague actually¡­¡± I trailed off, realizing that giving him this skill in the middle of a massive disease outbreak might not be the best introduction to the skill.


    ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡± He said grimly, making up his mind.


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Markus asked him. The other healers were watching him raptly, eager to see what happened to the first penguin pushed off the cliff. Were the waters safe, or was there a deadly trap in them?


    ¡°Yes. You should know why I am.¡± He gave a significant look to Markus.


    ¡°You know I¡¯d never kick you out.¡± Markus said.


    ¡°Yeah, but I feel like a burden. Maybe this will help.¡±


    Markus sighed. ¡°It¡¯s your call.¡±


    I could tell he took the skill, as I got a notification at the same time.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! A skill you created has been passed along to others! A tiny amount of experience that other people gain with the skill will go to you as well.]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Teaching]. Would you like to take this skill? Y/N]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Teaching Medicine]. Would you like to take this skill? Y/N]


    I thought about the skills being offered, checking my current general skills. Mmmmmmmmm. [Recollection of a Distant Life] was my weakest general skill, but I liked it more than a low-level teaching skill right now.


    Maybe one day I¡¯d be a teacher. That sounded nice.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 14]


    [Mana: 3970/3970]


    [Mana Regen: 6111]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 174]


    [Strength: 43]


    [Dexterity: 79]


    [Vitality: 65]


    [Speed: 80]


    [Mana: 668]


    [Mana Regeneration: 1100]


    [Magic Power: 626]


    [Magic Control: 1121]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 144]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 144]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 117]


    [Medicine: 124]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 126]


    [Phases of the Moon: 104]


    [Eyes of the Milky Way: 94]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 110]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 127]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 39]]


    [Fire Affinity: 39]


    [Fire Resistance: 39]


    [Fire Conjuration: 39]


    [Fire Manipulation: 39]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 31]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 81]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 79]


    [Pretty: 101]


    [Vigilant: 110]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 111]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 67]


    [Running: 74]


    [Learning: 120]

 Chapter 74– Plague IV

    Maximus tilted his head at me, clearly noticing that I¡¯d gotten notifications and wanting to know more. I shook my head at him, indicating that I¡¯d tell him later.


    ¡°Be careful at first with it, until you¡¯ve got the hang of it. It should level quickly here, which should be quite a boost for you.¡± I said. ¡°Feel free to let your fellow, er, apprentices stop you by the way. No penalty for trying and failing.¡±


    ¡°By the way, after this meeting¡¯s over, I¡¯m hoping to give a brief lecture on all the things I know relating to the human body and disease, specifically knowledge I think will be useful for fighting this plague. You¡¯re all invited ¨C and so are all the other healers here ¨C I think it¡¯ll help.¡±


    I stepped back, deferring back to Julius.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to know what steps you¡¯ve taken so far to handle this plague.¡± Julius asked. ¡°It¡¯ll give us a stepping point to work off of.¡±


    ¡°As I mentioned before, I have a few skills relating to plagues.¡± Caecilius stated, crossing his arms. ¡°There¡¯s two plagues. There was briefly a third one, but that vanished almost as soon as it showed up.¡±


    ¡°We tried to purify everyone in the town.¡± Markus jumped in. ¡°Had every single person leave the town through one gate, with the help of the guard. Every healer participated, so we could do it in a single go. People lined up, got healed by one of the healers, then stepped through my Pyronox gate just to be sure. Halfway through, people realized that plague was still going from the people outside; was bouncing around from person to person. A minor panic occurred then.¡± From his tone, ¡®minor¡¯ and ¡®panic¡¯ were both massively understating what had happened. I could only imagine ¨C people being told they were healed, going into a large field outside with a lot of other people, then realizing the plague was ripping through the theoretically safe people? Cripes.


    ¡°No healer would confess to having screwed up, and even if they did, my Pyronox should¡¯ve gotten it. The 3rd legion was in the area, and they lost patience at that point. They gave the healers ¨C and a few people per healer, usually the wealthiest who could bribe their way into having a spot with them ¨C an out, then walled the rest of us in. The healers left are the ones who decided to stay.¡±


    ¡°Why on Pallos did the 3rd let healers and some people leave, when it was clear they didn¡¯t have it under control?¡± Julius asked with a frown. ¡°I get letting people who are clear leave. I get forcing everyone to stay. But forcing everyone to stay, and only letting some people out? It smells.¡±


    Markus nodded.


    ¡°I believe a large sum of money changed hands, and ¡®letting some healers out¡¯ was simply a convenient excuse, a cover story. No matter how you look at it, there hasn¡¯t been reports of the plague outside of Perinthus, so either it worked, the plague is localized to sprout here, or they quietly killed all of them once they were out ¨C to not start a riot on ¡®they¡¯re killing healers.¡¯¡±


    ¡°To boot, they¡¯re not letting any more healers out.¡± Verta jumped in. ¡°Some bullshit reasoning.¡±


    Julius narrowed his eyes. ¡°Once this is over, we might have a visit with them. Before that, we have more pressing issues.¡±


    Yikes. That sounded difficult. A mass ¡®purify every single person in town¡¯ event didn¡¯t work? People were still sick after it?


    Julius was still front and center with Markus, as I turned to Maximus to whisper notes to him.


    ¡°My first thought is something that¡¯s both inside and outside the town ¨C I¡¯d lean towards rodents and insects. Although something acting so fast as to be visible still outside the town? Either this plagues an incredibly quick killer, or a healer screwed up and let sick people through. But someone obviously sick wouldn¡¯t make it through ¨C they¡¯d get stopped either physically, or cleansed by Markus¡¯s barrier. I need to know more.¡±


    I waited for a brief lull in the conversation, then jumped in.


    ¡°Excuse me,¡± I said with all the grace of a wrecking ball. ¡°how could you tell that people were still infected?¡±


    ¡°A few people started coughing and bleeding while outside.¡± Caecilius, the sack-on-head man told me. ¡°It worked on what I¡¯m calling Plague 2, the diarrhea, vomiting, and tongue-swelling one, but Plague 1, the bleeding and coughing one, was in full force.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s so weird. Thanks for telling me.¡± I said, having a bunch of thoughts I was keeping to myself. I knew diseases. Somewhat. Not terribly well. Not as well as a doctor would, but better than most people on Pallos. But if I went around saying ¡°you¡¯re wrong, you¡¯re wrong¡± to the people that had been here for months, on my first day here? I¡¯d probably end up eating a ton of crow. My social graces were practically non-existent, but I¡¯d been working with Kallisto, and had some vague ideas on how to not be a complete idiot in a social setting.


    Contradicting someone more than twice my level, with decades of experience in general and months for this disease specifically, fell into ¡®being a complete idiot.¡¯ I¡¯d gather evidence, see the disease for myself, make my own conclusion, talk with them. Try to bring them around to my way of thinking.


    Kallisto had reminded me that while I knew my stuff, my credibility was probably pretty low. Directly going against the famous-seeming [Plague Healer] would destroy it beyond repair.


    Julius, Markus, Caecilius, and the rest kept talking for a bit longer, me paying rapt attention, but not much more interesting was said. The conversation eventually broke up, the informal leaders wandering around to chat with others.


    We split up into pairs, Origen being the odd man out with Maximus and Arthur, Kallisto and Artemis working together, and Julius and I as a team. We weren¡¯t in pairs this time out of a worry that something would happen ¨C Maximus, Julius, and Kallisto were the best at gathering information and investigating in a social manner, while the rest of us were less-useful at that. This way, any good information would make its way back to the Ranger¡¯s collective think-tank.


    I started off by meeting Whipping Man, who smirked at seeing my eyes roam over his many scars, lashed into him by the cruel bite of a whip.


    ¡°Hi. Hesoid.¡± He said, introducing himself. I used [Identify] on him, and got back [Mage]. Somewhere in the 235-245 range. His eyes swirled with darkness.


    ¡°You¡¯re a healer?¡± I asked, slightly skeptical.


    ¡°Decay-mage actually.¡± He said. ¡°Turns out, with the right application of my skills, I can cure some of the people in the town. Caecilius, the [Plague Healer], is completely right in my opinion. There are two plagues. I can cure one, but it¡¯s a coin toss if someone I ¡®heal¡¯ from the second one lives or not. Doesn¡¯t make me that popular I¡¯ll tell you, with a reputation that I ¡®might¡¯ heal you. Doesn¡¯t help that most people aren¡¯t distinguishing the difference between the two, and just assume it¡¯s one big plague. Which makes sense ¨C how can two plagues descend at once? This area knows disease, it knows how to fight off sickness, so two outbreaks stretches the imagination.¡±


    Wow. That was a lot.


    ¡°Are you local to the area?¡± Julius asked.


    ¡°Yup! Lived around here all my life. Love this town, greatest town in the Republic. Wouldn¡¯t want to leave here for anything. When the call came, I decided to see if I could stretch my skills to help, and, well, I barely can.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the story with your scars?¡± I asked, fascinated. ¡°I can fix them for you if you¡¯d like.¡±


    He laughed at me.


    ¡°Ah, lassie, I can¡¯t tell you how many healers here have offered that for me, but usually in a pair! It¡¯s amazing how one so young can heal so well. No, I appreciate the offer, but I like ¡®em. I was a slave for a few years, working as a field hand. Overseer had a nasty hand, liked the whip. I got my lucky break, little more than a year ago, got offered this Mage class on a class-up, and took it. Worked off my debt, and now I¡¯m a freeman. Too damn hot to be wearing tunics, and I like how uncomfortable everyone gets looking at my scars ¨C too many people are soft, they don¡¯t like the reminder of how slavery can be in the Republic. My little revenge.¡± He said with a smile.


    ¡°Neat.¡± I said. I didn¡¯t like slavery all that much, and while I¡¯d seen a number of former slaves, both escaped and those who¡¯d genuinely worked their way out of it, most tried to erase their past, blend in like any other freeman. After all, short of advertising it like Hesoid did, there was no way of telling that someone was a former slave, not unless they¡¯d been branded as dangerous. Most people liked to smoothly integrate back into society, and even owned a slave or two of their own.


    Those made the best, or the worst, slave owners according to the grapevine. Either they remembered their time, and were kinder, more humane as a result, or saw their slaves as an outlet for all their pent-up anger, and the cycle continued.


    We thanked Hesoid for his time, and wandered the room, chatting with some other healers, getting to know them and their story. They followed a theme ¨C usually a local slave/freeman/citizen from the area ¨C most of the foreign healers bailed when the 3rd announced they were closing the town down ¨C with a Water/Dark healing class, with the occasional rare Light or advanced element showing up. Most were of the opinion that this was a single plague ¨C two plagues hitting at once was unheard of, and this was their town, their whole lives.


    They knew how disease and sickness worked, and it showed up in spurts, usually from the nearby Kadan jungle, the healers would fix everyone who got sick, and life went on as normal. If anything, they were more prepared than the average town for a plague, but on the other hand, the fast, constant response to many little outbreaks had left them somewhat unprepared for a larger, sustained outbreak.


    Eventually we got around to Mummy-Bard, as I¡¯d dubbed him, holding a harp, with a bodyguard looming over his shoulder. He was standing in a corner, not being terribly social, but at the same time, nobody forced him to be here, nobody was holding a spear to his throat and making him talk to people instead of being outside, playing his harp.


    I approached, and he made some gestures to his bodyguard. Interesting. Was he mute? The bodyguard stepped forward, intercepting us, and growled.


    ¡°She can talk. You can¡¯t.¡± He said, pointing at Julius.


    We traded looks. I identified him, as I was sure Julius was also doing. [Healer]. Either just got his 256 class-up, or was on the cusp of it. I shrugged. Healer-tagged. What was the worst that could happen?


    Then again, I was also healer-tagged, with blazing flames at my fingertips. I was still in full armor, cape swirling around me like some sort of hero. It felt frankly awesome. How often did you get to wear a cape and look like and feel like a badass, and not awkwardly being the only one wearing one?


    Focus Elaine, I told myself.


    Julius shrugged back, and nodded his agreement. I stepped forward, only to feel, less than see, a type of barrier spring up around us.


    It took me a moment to realize what had happened. I couldn¡¯t hear anyone else, but I could still see them. Ah, some sort of sound skill. I couldn¡¯t see his eyes ¨C how did [Identify] even work when you couldn¡¯t really see a person, so wrapped up in cloth? Magic shenanigans. ¨C but it seemed obvious that his element was Sound, and creating a sound-proof barrier seemed like child¡¯s play for the element.


    ¡°Hello.¡± SHE said with a soft voice. ¡°I¡¯m Glacia. I overheard your conversation earlier with Markus and the bunch. It¡¯s wonderful to meet you Elaine.¡±


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 14]


    [Mana: 3970/3970]


    [Mana Regen: 6111]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 174]


    [Strength: 43]


    [Dexterity: 79]


    [Vitality: 65]


    [Speed: 80]


    [Mana: 668]


    [Mana Regeneration: 1100]


    [Magic Power: 626]


    [Magic Control: 1121]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 144]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 144]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 117]


    [Medicine: 124]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 126]


    [Phases of the Moon: 104]


    [Eyes of the Milky Way: 94]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 110]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 127]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 39]]


    [Fire Affinity: 39]


    [Fire Resistance: 39]


    [Fire Conjuration: 39]


    [Fire Manipulation: 39]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 31]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 81]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 79]


    [Pretty: 101]


    [Vigilant: 110]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 111]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 67]


    [Running: 74]


    [Learning: 119]

 Chapter 75– Plague V

    My eyes went wide, like a mango cut in half, and my mouth opened. ¡°You¡¯re a girl!¡± I said, pointing accusingly.


    She laughed, a high, tinkling laugh, like the chime of a bell. ¡°Yes, but stop pointing, or your fellow Ranger will think there¡¯s something wrong. One of my skills stops sound from escaping, but if you look too agitated, he might come in anyways.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s with the¡­¡± I gestured broadly.


    I couldn¡¯t see her face, but living with Origen had given me a mastery over reading body language. Her subtle shifts indicated annoyance, but a restrained annoyance, trying to not let me see it.


    That, or it was the thick layers of cloth she was wrapped in. That must be so hot in this climate! Whipping-man, the bare-chested Decay Mage was closer to my idea of the right way to dress here, not layers upon layers of clothing.


    ¡°Not all of us can be a Ranger, with a bunch of Classers as an escort, the fabled name of a Ranger behind them. Almost nobody here knows I¡¯m a woman, and honestly, I¡¯d like to keep it that way. You know why.¡± She said, with a hint of bitterness in her voice.


    Sadly, I did. I only had a few years of the nasty flavor of sexism that Remus had, and I was sick and tired and furious at it from the first day, and while Glacia probably had decades of this nonsense. No wonder she found a way to continue working without a constant stream of belittling, nagging, and general put-downs ¨C I approved!


    ¡°How do you talk with people that need help?¡± I asked, remembering her healer tag.


    ¡°Like this.¡± She said, with a distinctly masculine voice. [Galaxy] stopped me from jumping, but it was startling. ¡°I also don¡¯t do that much talking with people, it¡¯s tricky and difficult. What I do doesn¡¯t need much face-to-face interaction with people.¡±


    ¡°What do you do?¡± I asked. I had some idea ¨C the harp and the music as we came into town made it kind of obvious ¨C but I wanted to hear it from the horse¡¯s mouth, so to speak.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m a Sound healer. I play music, and depending on what I play, I get to generate a variety of effects.¡± She started.


    ¡°Wait, so they¡¯re not all skills?¡±


    Mummy-bard shook her head, a great rustling of cloths rubbing together.


    ¡°No, I have three skills working together, and I can make almost any effect I¡¯d like. Usually healing.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s so cool! Can you teach me how to play?¡± I asked, quite honestly feeling like I was getting side-tracked, but not caring too much.


    ¡°Not now. There¡¯s no time.¡± Glacia got me back on-track.


    ¡°How do you get paid if you¡¯re doing a town-wide broadcast? How fast do you level up?¡± I asked.


    I got a sense that I¡¯d be getting a Look if I could see her. Instead, Glacia took a teaching, mentoring tone with me that I appreciated.


    ¡°Getting paid is hard ¨C I run a weekly collection, and try to get enough to get by. Tough with the food prices, and so many people see me as not needed, so they don¡¯t pay. It was workable before the 3rd closed the town off ¨C I miscalculated how much people would stop paying me. It¡¯s making it rough.¡±


    ¡°But enough about me! Tell me all about yourself! A woman healer, a full Ranger, and at such a young age! I¡¯m so jealous, you¡¯ve made it, and openly as well! I simply need to know everything!¡±


    I hesitated. We were keeping our cards close to our chest for a reason, but Glacia should be safe to share it with, right? Another woman healer, someone who could understand the struggles I went through? Artemis was fine and all to chat with, but in some senses we lived in two different worlds, were two different sides of a coin ¨C she killed, I saved.


    In the end, I remembered Kallisto, and the brutal anti-charm training that Julius made Kallisto give me as part of his apology for talking me into making a bad decision. ¡°People with high charm, or other social skills can read you, know more about you than you can guess. Only some of it is skill related. Other parts are just pure experience on their part. When in doubt, stick to your rules. They exist for a reason.¡±


    This suddenly felt like I was being drawn in, like I was slowly being persuaded to give up information. Sticking to my guns. Sticking to the story.


    ¡°Sure! Let me tell you all I can. I¡¯m Elaine. I¡¯m a Celestial healer, from a merger of Light and Dark healer classes. I¡¯m quite a bit older than I look ¨C mostly due to that Divine nonsense with the goddess interfering with my life ¨C and that same Divine nonsense dumped a bunch of medical knowledge into my head. Basics on how the body works, blood and bones, fingers and toes, and the like. I¡¯m a relatively new Ranger, but it¡¯s been wonderful working with them so far. Nice to meet you!¡±


    Practiced. Rehearsed. Gave nothing away that wasn¡¯t immediately obvious, painted enough of a picture to make additional questions and inquiries socially awkward for anyone trying, neatly deflecting them. Was all, technically, the truth ¨C a part I¡¯d insisted on.


    Kallisto had spent a good amount of time crafting it for me, and lecturing me on the aspects and benefits of it. There were a lot more parts to it ¨C ¡®social obligation¡¯ among other terms ¨C but at a point, it just all went over my head. I might¡¯ve gotten it if I wasn¡¯t so allergic to social things.


    ¡°Oh, ok.¡± Glacia said, sounding somewhat hurt.


    We chatted a bit more, the tone decidedly less nice ¨C Glacia still sounded hurt, and I didn¡¯t blame her, I was feeling bad as well, then the conversation naturally ended.


    ¡°Hey, do me a favor?¡± She asked me.


    ¡°Sure!¡± I said, still feeling bad.


    ¡°Could you not tell other people I¡¯m a woman? Life¡¯s hard enough as-is.¡±


    ¡°I totally get it.¡± I said.


    We split up, and Julius and I continued rounding the room, talking to everyone. There were only about 20, 30 healers in total, and from the sound of it, from us talking with everyone, this was nearly every single healer in town, apart from one or two reclusive healers. They were either being anti-social, or dead, and their complete lack of presence both at the meetings and healing in general had the betting pool on dead. Still, that put us at either 20 healers left for 60,000 people worse-case, or 30ish healers for 40,000 people, depending on how many healers were left and not talking, and how many people in the town had left before the 3rd closed the town ¨C or were dead.


    Tattered-Man ¨C Ponticus the Light healer ¨C was the last person I chatted with at the end.


    ¡°Celestial, eh?¡± He asked me. Given that he knew the answer, I wasn¡¯t quite sure what to do about that question.


    ¡°Yup.¡± I finally settled on.


    ¡°Got a [Restoration] variant?¡± He asked. A harmless enough question.


    ¡°Yup!¡± I answered.


    ¡°Cool! A neat trick with that is this.¡± He said, drawing his knife. Julius tensed slightly, but didn¡¯t do anything else ¨C he knew he was so fast, being focused on speed, that he could run three circles around Ponticus, do his taxes, and slit his throat before he got close to me ¨C not that we thought there was any threat. He sliced his pinky off, grabbing it in his other hand, and with a sparkling of light, a new pinky was formed.


    He then popped his finger into his mouth, and started chewing. Around bites, mouth open so wide we could see what was going on, he was talking to us.


    ¡°[Greater Restoration] usually takes a ton of internal energy to use, making it annoying to level up via self-mutilation normally. However, if you eat the offending part, you recycle the food, making it easy and practical to level up!¡±


    He looked at us, a gleam of mischief, delighting in our discomfort. I excused myself, and Julius and I retreated, both looking more than a little green.


    ¡°I think I¡¯m going to be sick.¡± I said, holding my stomach. Julius said nothing, but the tight lines all over his face suggested that he¡¯d clamped down hard on his throat muscles, keeping his breakfast down.


    ¡°Light cannibalism. Lovely.¡± Julius eventually choked out in a strained manner. I nodded furiously.


    ¡°Elaine, I¡¯d like to apologize for the roasting incident. Also, let¡¯s never, ever do training similar to that again. Nope. No way. If that¡¯s what Light healers with a powerful [Restoration] skill do, let¡¯s keep you far away from that.¡±


    I nodded hard enough to look like a woodpecker, hard enough to give myself a concussion.


    ¡°That was so gross. And I¡¯ve stuck my hands into bleeding people. Grossest. Thing. Ever.¡± I said.


    We chatted with the [Plague Healer] next.


    ¡°Caecilius, right?¡± I asked him. He nodded in agreement.


    ¡°Phewf, I¡¯m terrible with names! Are these events usually this long?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Not usually ¨C a new healer is cause for celebration, although more and more it¡¯s people getting the chance to class up and choosing healer, at which point they¡¯ll come to one of these events to find a master to become an apprentice to. Sadly, we seem to lose healers at the same rate we get them, and it¡¯s usually the newer healers that die. Which is fortunate, in some senses ¨C we don¡¯t want to trade an experienced healer for a new healer. Every loss is a tragedy though.¡±


    ¡°Is that usual?¡± I asked. My horror quotient for the day had been met, nothing short of Caecilius cutting off a hand and chowing down would disturb me now.


    ¡°Speaking of, the first few patients you heal you need to send to me, Markus, or one of the other healers you initially met.¡±


    I narrowed my eyes at him, displeased at being told what to do, at this healer thinking he could give me orders.


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, to make sure you can actually cure disease, and don¡¯t do a half-assed job at it. Almost worse than no cure at all, people lose faith in us. We can¡¯t have that happen.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s how Markus works ¨C his apprentices do the bulk of the healing, then they go to him so he can apply the finishing touches. It lets him handle a lot more patients than most healers, and gives his apprentices solid practice and level.¡±


    I glanced at Julius, who tilted his head, deferring the decision to me.


    ¡°Thank you. I¡¯ll consider it.¡± I said.


    ¡°You should level quickly here. This plague¡¯s some of the best experience I¡¯ve ever encountered when dealing with an outbreak.¡± Caecilius said.


    There was a lot to consider. My pride warred with keeping things smooth and running. It was likely I rivaled the [Plague Healer] in control, if I didn¡¯t surpass him in it, and I was confident that my knowledge of disease was better than his. On the flip side, he was specialized in disease, which probably granted him a significant boost towards hitting disease.


    Fine. I wasn¡¯t as good as the premium plague expert in Remus. I was at least as good as some of the other ¡®top tier¡¯ healers here though. Being questioned, being forced to prove my qualifications rankled. On the other side of the coin, I did need them to listen to me down the line, and being a maverick wouldn¡¯t do me any favors.


    We all gathered back up as the event wound down. There were sick people to heal after all, and everyone had gotten a crack at the shiny new experienced healer, a rarity when the town was locked down. From the sound of it, these events were usually just a bit of mingling, wishing happy birthday to anyone who¡¯d gotten one in the last week, congratulating each other on some levels ¨C an occurrence so frequent, usually they just congratulated classing up ¨C and sharing any new information among each other, which was rarer and rarer.


    We¡¯d spread the news that I was going to teach as much as I could, as much as I knew about medicine and disease after the meeting, but seeing everyone trickle out ¨C including Verta, who¡¯d asked for help, Markus, the Pyronox and his apprentices, the apprentice that¡¯d taken [Oath], and Glacia, sent stabbing pains through my heart.


    They¡¯d been happy enough to entertain me, listen to me on the surface, but nobody thought I had any real chops, any knowledge worth sharing. What could a 14-year-old girl, around level 140, possibly know? Really drove home that the only respect I¡¯d gotten, the only reason anyone had given me the time of day, was my badge, and the presence of my team with me.


    ¡°Ah, cheer up.¡± Artemis said. ¡°They probably went way over time getting to meet you and chat, and want to get back to helping people. You¡¯ll get them next time!¡±


    I let Artemis give me an awkward side-hug, squeezing me against her.


    Markus¡¯s Pyronox doorways flickered and vanished, letting us know he was done, gone, out of range.


    ¡°Let¡¯s head back to the Argo.¡± Julius said, and we did just that, piling into the wagon next to the temple. Fortunate back-door into the alley meant I only saw one sick person, taking a moment to heal them and move on.


    ¡°[Veil].¡± Julius ordered, and having practiced, I immediately snapped up a [Veil of the Aurora] around all of us.


    ¡°In order. Report. Anything interesting you saw or heard. Elaine, we¡¯re starting with you, then at the end, you¡¯ll give your impressions. Go.¡±


    I hesitated over what I was going to say, before coming out and saying it. Team first.


    ¡°You know the person wrapped in clothes with the harp?¡±


    ¡°Glacius?¡± Julius asked, having gotten the name from other conversations.


    ¡°Glacia, as it turned out. Sound-healer, a woman under all that apparently.¡±


    Julius frowned. ¡°How do you know?¡±


    ¡°Well, she told me.¡±


    ¡°With her voice?¡± Maximus pointed out.


    ¡°Yeah, how else would ¨C oh.¡± I said, the pieces of the puzzle clicking together. She¡¯d been able to pitch a man¡¯s voice to me as well.


    ¡°There¡¯s no way to tell from her voice alone is there?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No, and everyone else thinks Glacia is a man. So she- or he- is either lying to you, or lying to everyone else. No matter how you slice it, it means she¡¯s lying. I don¡¯t think it¡¯s important right now, there¡¯s no reason for us to care, but it does mean we need to evaluate anything she tells us carefully.¡± Julius said. ¡°Kallisto. Did you pick anything up?¡±


    ¡°Yeah boss ¨C most of the guards are at the temple where we¡¯re at, the marketplace where they distribute food, and the docks, where they¡¯re preventing fights and problems from everyone fishing. Speaking of, it seems like half the town¡¯s given up on their normal trade, and have taken up fishing from the docks. It¡¯s one of the only ways to get food here that the 3rd hasn¡¯t restricted.¡±


    ¡°That makes sense with what I¡¯ve heard.¡± Maximus added. ¡°The guard seem to have been particularly hard-hit, along with fishermen and merchants. Apparently, the captain of the guard, and some of the more senior guardsmen were among the first to die of the plague. They¡¯re more than a bit disorganized as a result, which might be part of why we didn¡¯t see them at the gates. I have some thoughts on that, but Elaine, what¡¯s your thinking?¡±


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 14]


    [Mana: 6680/6680]


    [Mana Regen: 8785]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 174]


    [Strength: 43]


    [Dexterity: 79]


    [Vitality: 65]


    [Speed: 80]


    [Mana: 668]


    [Mana Regeneration: 1100]


    [Magic Power: 626]


    [Magic Control: 1121]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 144]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 144]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 117]


    [Medicine: 124]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 126]


    [Phases of the Moon: 104]


    [Eyes of the Milky Way: 94]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 110]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 127]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 39]]


    [Fire Affinity: 39]


    [Fire Resistance: 39]


    [Fire Conjuration: 39]


    [Fire Manipulation: 39]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 31]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 81]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 79]


    [Pretty: 101]


    [Vigilant: 110]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 111]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 67]


    [Running: 74]


    [Learning: 119]

 Chapter 76– Plague VI

    ¡°I¡¯m going to tentatively agree that there are two plagues.¡± I said, thinking about what everyone had told me, evaluating their reliability, just like I had to when on-duty in town to take complaints that Rangers got. ¡°I would guess that at least one, if not both, can be transmitted directly from person to person. There¡¯s no way it¡¯s by eye contact though ¨C disease just doesn¡¯t work that way! There¡¯s no way for the bacteria, or virus, or whatever, to leave through the eyes. It¡¯s possible for disease to enter the body through the eyes if it¡¯s in the air. Maybe that¡¯s what he meant when he said ¡®It¡¯s transmitted by eye contact.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s call them the Bloody Plague and the Vomiting Plague for now.¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯ll make it easier to determine what¡¯s going on. From what we know, the Bloody Plague somehow managed to still get outside of the town, in spite of all the healers trying to do a mass-cleanse event. Which is weird for a few reasons. How did it get outside? And assuming it was on something like rats or insects, how did people develop symptoms so fast? You don¡¯t go from ¡®infected¡¯ to ¡®problem¡¯ within hours, it usually takes days! If it was that fast, why hasn¡¯t it burned itself out yet?¡±


    ¡°However, the fact that the Vomiting Plague didn¡¯t show up outside the town suggests that it¡¯s more normal. I¡¯d guess that it¡¯s sourced inside the town somehow. Our best initial bet with it is to talk with people, see what they all have in common. Maybe they all buy food from the same vendor. Maybe they all use the same bathroom. You know how to investigate better than I do.¡±


    ¡°Any questions for Elaine on this initial approach?¡± Julius asked.


    ¡°How do we protect ourselves from getting the plague?¡± Kallisto asked almost instantly.


    ¡°Well, if I knew that, this would be easy. Let¡¯s try sticking to just our food and water stocks for now. Wear a cloth mask. If you believe the [Plague Healer] that it¡¯s transmitted by eye contact, wear a sack over your head like he does. As time goes on, let¡¯s slowly expand what we do ¨C one person at a time ¨C and see if anyone catches the plague. I¡¯ll be healing all of us every evening, and if the plague was so fast to kill people same-day, it wouldn¡¯t have enough time to spread to kill more people ¨C it¡¯d burn itself out too fast.¡±


    ¡°But you just said it was going that fast, which made no sense.¡± Kallisto pointed out, doubt and worry in his voice.


    I frowned. He had a point. The evidence before me was contradicting what I knew. Be stubborn, stick to my guns, or be flexible, adapt, incorporate the new knowledge into what I knew?


    ¡°I hate to say this,¡± Julius asked. ¡°but you mentioned Papilion had done terrible things to your memory. Is it possible ¨C just asking if it¡¯s possible ¨C that this piece of information got removed as well, and you¡¯re not realizing it?¡±


    I thought about it. How much did I really remember of those few, terrifying minutes in the Realm of the Gods? It¡¯d been a long, long time since Biology class, could I simply have forgotten, and not realized it? I could detect holes in my memory, now and then, but there was no substitution for just¡­ forgetting¡­ something.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ possible.¡± I reluctantly conceded.


    ¡°Well, worse-case, if someone comes down with the plague, you can just come to me. I find it hard to believe that it could kill you so fast between showing symptoms, and making it to me. While I¡¯ve only treated that one person, it didn¡¯t seem too hard. I¡¯ll make sure my earrings are always topped up as an emergency ¡®heal a Ranger¡¯ reserve to boot.¡± I reasoned out.


    I got nods around the circle, and even Kallisto relaxed a hair. Origen gave me a great big toothy grin, and a thumbs up.


    ¡°Anything else healing-related?¡± Julius asked. Heads shook around the circle.


    ¡°Right then. Town-related issues that you noticed or heard about. Go.¡±


    ¡°There are two cults that seem to have sprung up as a result of the plague.¡± Maximus said, leaning forward. ¡°Like most religious fanatics, they agree on most things, then differ on the details.¡±


    ¡°I heard some of that as well.¡± Artemis chimed in, lazily sitting back. ¡°Something about the Fae?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, they¡¯re both convinced the plague is the work of the Fae, it¡¯s in-line with other mischief they¡¯ve worked.¡± Maximus said. ¡°Although, it¡¯s on a completely different scale.¡±


    I rolled my eyes. Fairies. Pallos had their fair share of fairy tales, and while I¡¯d initially been excited about them, a complete and total lack of them ever showing up made me convinced they were just that ¨C fairy tales. Sure, maybe they weren¡¯t ¨C there was a higher chance than normal that they were real ¨C but their complete and total lack of touching on my life had me categorize them as ¡°extremely rare¡± if they did exist.


    ¡°What are the differences between the two cults?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, one seems to think the answer is appeasing the Fae. Get rid of horseshoes, leave them shiny offerings, playing nice music, etc. The Appeasers. Their logic is that the Fae must be angry, and only by making them happy will we be fine.¡± Maximus explained.


    ¡°The other cult thinks the answer is to make the town as unappealing to the Fae as possible. Ward them off, drive them out, and they¡¯ll take the plague with them. Horseshoes, Symbol of the Five Gods, salt, the works.¡±


    ¡°Which brings them into direct conflict with each other.¡± Our resident mountain-bear-man hybrid growled out.


    ¡°That¡¯s interesting, but does it do anything for us right now?¡± Julius asked.


    ¡°Appear neutral.¡± Origen said, some of his rare words. ¡°Don¡¯t look like we¡¯re on either side.¡±


    He looked at me significantly. I looked at him back, blanking. He looked at my chest.


    Right, my pendant from mom. Symbol of the Five gods and all that. I tucked it into my tunic, and he gave me a thumbs up. Would it kill him to talk more?


    There was some more shuffling around as we hid shiny items, and Maximus reluctantly put away his newest weapon, some monstrosity of spikes and chains that I couldn¡¯t even begin to properly describe, opting instead to carry a standard short sword, made out steel.


    ¡°Right, do we need anything else before we go?¡± Julius asked us. We finally all shook our heads.


    ¡°Elaine, last-minute advice how to not get infected?¡± Julius asked.


    ¡°Wear a mask. Don¡¯t eat or drink anything that¡¯s not from our stores. Try not to get too close to people. Wear long clothes, cover your arms and legs, don¡¯t let bugs bite you. Don¡¯t touch infected people. Avoid getting blood in or on you, although I seriously doubt this is blood-borne.¡± I rattled off immediately.


    ¡°Ok, Investigation team, grab some food and let¡¯s go, we¡¯re eating as we move. Healing team, Artemis, you¡¯re in charge, do what you want. Let¡¯s go.¡± Julius said.


    I dropped my [Veil] ¨C overkill really, in the Argo with the sound-proofing enchantments anyways, and Julius, Maximus, and Arthur all grabbed some food, wrapped a piece of cloth around their face, and headed out. Kallisto made a noise of protest, shoved an entire fruit in his mouth, threw a bag over his head, and scrambled out after them.


    He was taking this ¡°don¡¯t get infected¡± thing seriously. Must be really worried about it.


    ¡°Grab some food, let¡¯s go.¡± Artemis ordered. Origen and I quickly grabbed some food, I got myself a waterskin and filled it up from our reserves, and we were off.


    We¡¯d parked the Argo near the main temple, which was pulling multiple duties at once. Besides the normal role for worship and acting like a primitive bank, it was also a central location for all the healers to set up their clinics, a single, centralized location for people to come to, at which point they could ¡°window-shop¡± for whoever they wanted to heal them. It was good for them, it was good for us, and I was forcibly reminded of a food court in a mall. ¡°What do you want, spicy-Water healer for 8 coins, a delicious cheese-coated Dark healer for 11 coins, or a Light-healer that always gives you the runs after for 3 coins?¡±


    We went back into the temple, and weaved our way through the marble halls, the heat and humidity being stifling. Whose bright idea was it to build a temple like this in a tropical location? It made no sense.


    Lots of what people did made no sense.


    Markus had helpfully set us up with a room, and I managed to get there without too much incident, mostly by repeating the following mantra to myself on repeat.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to help, I¡¯m willing to help, they will come if they need help, they are getting help on their own.¡± I repeated it over and over, the truth of the matter helping [Oath] stay happy, even as some sick people shuffled past me, on their way to another healer.


    We found my spot at the end of a hallway ¨C subtle snub, or ¡°this is our only free room¡± ¨C impossible to tell ¨C and I got settled into a chair, while Artemis leaned up against a wall.


    Origen was going to be our social interface, our way of communicating and semi-advertising, and would help lead people from the main room people were gathering in to our room-turned-clinic.


    We were so doomed.


    Origen set up a series of inscriptions all over the room before we got started, as a junior member of the temple stopped by.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re here, good.¡± He said. ¡°Can I help you with anything?¡±


    ¡°Well, we need some help letting people know that we¡¯re here, and we¡¯re able to help people.¡±


    ¡°Right, you¡¯re in the Aster room. What type of healing are you offering, and what price?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Celestial healing, no coins. It¡¯s free.¡± I said.


    ¡°Can you do all the Light and Dark tricks?¡± He asked, seemingly mentally taking notes. Right, reading and writing were rare skills here. I¡¯d gotten spoilt being around the Rangers constantly.


    ¡°Yup! Unless there are tricks I don¡¯t know about. Curing diseases, injuries, lost limbs, and the like, I can do.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you want to be free?¡± He asked. ¡°You could charge quite a bit, and people would pay. You¡¯d be maxed out on patients to heal, and still making enough.¡±


    I hesitated at that. It wasn¡¯t that the money wasn''t attractive ¨C it was ¨C if I had extra coins, I could do things, like make sure Glacia had enough money to keep going. It sounded like she was struggling. But at the same time, it''d close the door to the poorest people, who not only deserved healing, but could also be spreading the disease.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure I want to be free.¡± I glanced at Origen. He shrugged. The temple helper left the room, Origen following. Artemis and I settled in, waiting for the first person.


    It didn¡¯t take long. All of the other healers had people? Another healer showed up, and was ready to see people? New healer was free? In a short time ¨C if I was a betting girl, I¡¯d say the exact length of time needed to walk from the room to the main chamber, say ¡°free healer¡¯s available¡±, then shuffle back at the speed of the man before me ¨C I had my first patient.


    He was coughing, a dry, hacking cough, followed by a high-pitched intake of breath after. He was covered with open sores oozing a disgusting mixture of pus and blood. Yup, Bloody Plague.


    I shook my head. I should disabuse myself of these ideas. I should tackle it with fresh eyes, and draw my own conclusions. In some ways, hearing everyone¡¯s thoughts ahead of time had poisoned the well, made it harder for me. I had grooves that my thinking wanted to go into.


    ¡°When did you notice the, errr, problems?¡± I asked, slightly stumbling over my wording.


    ¡°Started coughing a week ago, lightly. Got worse. Two days ago, it vanished, I felt like a new man. Then today it came back, worse. Woke up with the cough, and when I saw the sores and pus, made my way over here fast. Thank all the gods and goddesses you¡¯re here, I didn¡¯t think anyone would take me!¡± He said, grabbing my hand.


    ¡°Where do you live? Where do you normally work?¡± I asked him. He gave me his answers, and I mentally noted them.


    The ick was significantly diminished by Ponticus¡¯s display of self-cannibalism earlier, along with [Center of the Galaxy]. I hit him with [Phases of the Moon], imagining the bacteria (or virus ¨C I split my thoughts on it) being burned out, his lungs being hale and whole, the pus gone, the sores closed and healed. Benefit to being Celestial ¨C I could both purge the disease, and close the wounds. Dark and Water healers could purge the disease, but the sores would be left to heal on their own, leaving scars at best, and an avenue for new infection at worse.


    I checked my mana. It took 611 points of mana to heal him. With my mana regeneration at around 8785, that was¡­ about 14 people an hour. About one person every four minutes. 140 people in 10 hours, plus a few more for overnight regeneration. With a mana pool of 6850, that was another 21 people or so people I could heal.


    ¡°Thank you, oh thank you!¡± He said, trying to hug me with his pus-stained clothes. Artemis intervened, carefully stopping him from crushing me, separating us. I was never so happy that she was around before, and shot her a grateful look. She winked at me. He read the mood, and left, giving us a brief moment before the next patient arrived.


    ¡°Come over here.¡± I told Artemis.


    She came a bit closer, and I leaned over, tapping her, pulsing [Phases of the Moon] through both of us. I took a small amount of mana, Artemis took none. She dodged infection this time.


    The variable amount of healing needed after each patient ¨C 20 or so many, that might be used not at all if we dodged getting infected, to 40 or so if we both got hit ¨C would throw my calculations on how many people I could heal off.


    Shortly after a woman was carried in on a stretcher by what looked like her husband and kid.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with her?¡± I asked, as a foul smell reached my nose.


    ¡°Started leaking from both ends, hard, like a water-mage blasting someone. Just¡­ not water.¡±


    Well, with that disgusting imagery, I looked down at her. There was some vomit caked to her lips, and I didn¡¯t let my eyes wander down further. I placed my finger on her forehead, burning out the bacteria (or virus, or parasite, or whatever else was the problem) out from her.


    346 mana. Strange. Why the large difference?


    She didn¡¯t get up though, didn¡¯t start jumping with joy. I narrowed my eyes, remembering my [Oath]. I hated doing this. I had to.


    I will admit when I do not know how to heal a patient.


    ¡°Can you see Verta, or one of the other senior healers with your wife? She¡¯s terribly dehydrated, she needs a bunch of water. I don¡¯t have a skill that can help with that¡± I said. ¡°You could also boil a bunch of water, and try to feed it to her.¡±


    They nodded and hurried off, the son throwing me a nasty look, a look that said ¡°why did we bother with the discount healer.¡±


    Bah. She was disease-free. Just wasn¡¯t at 100%.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 112!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 145! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Celestial Affinity] has reached level 145!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 125!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 105!]


    I looked at my regeneration. Yikes, going up fast enough that it would cause my calculations to constantly change. Good grief.


    I tapped Artemis and I to heal again, neither of us needing any healing. Not directly human to human transmissible? Or just lucky this time?

 Chapter 77– Plague VII

    Patients continued to come and go, with varying amounts of mana costs. My initial guess had been horribly off. The two patients I¡¯d seen were among the worst cases of each, and established a sort of ¡°cap¡± on how much mana I¡¯d use at most. Less-severe cases took less mana. Not that I saw many of those.


    Once we¡¯d gotten a bit of a rhythm down, it got easier. Origen helped find and ferry people back and forth - the central organization didn¡¯t extend so far as to provide the service themselves, they left it to us. The only other person besides me without an apprentice was Glacia, who didn¡¯t see anyone directly, she just used a massive area heal. And Hesoid, but I had no idea what his system was. Then I healed them, and if they needed water, I¡¯d send them to Verta, or one of the other Water-healers. The length of the hallway, the time it took to chat with them briefly to get an idea of what symptoms they had, what their problem was, and to cure them, was just barely keeping on top of my mana regeneration.


    In other words, I could do this all day. As long as I had enough food.


    Julius and Arthur stopped by with an incredibly detailed map of the town. I raised my eyebrows. That must¡¯ve been tricky to acquire, although I had no doubt that he was more than happy to ¡®request¡¯ it directly.


    He looked at me, seeing my gaze. ¡°From the governor himself.¡± He said. ¡°We¡¯re setting it up here, and as we trace different cases, learn where they live, we¡¯ll put a marker on the map. As you find out where your patients are from, you can also put a marker down. Maybe we¡¯ll see something by visualizing it like this.¡±


    Artemis and I nodded our approval. Julius placed the large hide map on another table they acquired ¨C fortunately this room was rather roomy, normally being a worship space ¨C and dumped out dozens of tiny pins, each with a small amount of dyed cloth on the end. Probably courtesy of the governor again.


    ¡°Red for Bleeding. Blue for Vomiting. Orange for major injuries. Green for other. We¡¯ll swing by now and then, if you change your mind about it being two plagues, let us know, and we¡¯ll merge or split as needed.¡± Julius said, placing down a half-dozen Red and Blue pins. Artemis picked up a few, placing them down where patients had said they lived. I hadn¡¯t realized she was paying attention.


    Sometime later, Markus, the Pyronox, showed up at my door, [Oath]-apprentice in tow.


    ¡°Elaine, am I bothering you?¡± He asked, right as I finished healing another patient of the Bloody Plague.


    ¡°No, what¡¯s going on?¡± I asked.


    ¡°First off, congratulations. All of your patients are coming out completely clean. You¡¯ve burned the disease out of them well. Good work!¡± He smiled at me.


    I knew I was doing a good job, but hearing it so earnestly, so honestly, from one of the senior healers, someone who had decades of work doing this, to be recognized for what I was doing and my skills, had me resisting squirming in happiness. I couldn¡¯t stop a stupid grin from breaking out on my face though. I completely ignored the fact that they¡¯d been intercepting and checking my patients without letting me know.


    Artemis gave my shoulder a friendly squeeze, quietly congratulating me in her own way.


    ¡°I¡¯m also impressed that you had the presence of mind to send a patient you couldn¡¯t fully fix to Verta. That was an excellent call on your part, and shows a maturity I wouldn¡¯t expect from someone your age.¡± He continued on.


    ¡°Well, she does have some Divine screwery going on.¡± Artemis said, lazily inserting herself into the conversation. ¡°She¡¯s quite a bit older than she looks, which causes her no end of problems. Or do you think we normally let 14-year-olds be full Rangers?¡±


    Markus tilted his head forward, silent acknowledgement of his mistake.


    ¡°You can hear it, but the evidence of my own eyes, and her low level relative to the other proper healers here, made me think otherwise. I should¡¯ve properly taken her age into account. I chose to believe what I was seeing, instead of what I was hearing. Now that I¡¯ve seen otherwise, well, that¡¯s part of why I¡¯m here.¡±


    ¡°The other reason I¡¯m here is Herodotos here. He took that [Oath] of yours, he¡¯s a Water-aligned healer, I figured I could kill two birds with one stone by lending him to you. You can teach him some ins and outs of how that [Oath] works, he can fix any water-loss problems you encounter, and you stop sending patients all over the place.¡± That last one got me a glare that had me shifting uncomfortably in my chair, amplified by my guard being down from the prior high I was on. Look, it was my first day, ok?


    Artemis and I glanced at each other.


    ¡°We need to have a quick chat, ok?¡± She said, gesturing to me. Before I heard his reply, I snapped [Veil] up, the original skill it evolved from brought back to its primary purpose, a private place to chat.


    ¡°Thoughts?¡± I asked Artemis, knowing she clearly wanted to chat about this.


    ¡°On one hand, my sense that someone¡¯s trying to spy on us is going off. On the other, all of his concerns and reasons are legitimate, and it¡¯s not like we¡¯re currently running an investigation on them. An extra person to help can probably make us go a long way. Your thoughts?¡± She asked.


    ¡°We¡¯d share anything we learned anyways. Gotta be a little careful about my background, since Julius has suddenly decided it¡¯s classified. However, the help outweighs the problems, and if we need a private chat, well, [Veil]¡¯s here to help."


    Artemis snorted at me.


    ¡°It¡¯s easier to say ¡®classified, Divine intervention¡¯ than try and explain your story. If you want to tell someone, go for it.¡±


    Fair enough.


    I dropped my [Veil], smiling at Markus and Herodotos. ¡°Sure, you can stay. Pull up a chair!¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Elaine. Looking forward to working with you in the future. You¡¯ll go far.¡± Markus said, as he started to leave the room.


    ¡°Oh, looks like your next patient is here. I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to hold you up.¡± Markus said, doing an awkward shuffle around the door as Origen showed up with the next patient.


    ¡°Hello, welcome! I have an apprentice with me today, hope you don¡¯t mind.¡± I said cheerfully. I doubted they¡¯d mind ¨C who got a chance to get free healing.


    The woman made a confused noise, pointing back and forth between us, the omni-present stench of death and rot becoming a hair stronger as she got closer.


    I rolled my eyes.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m teaching today, he¡¯s the apprentice. We got it right.¡± I said, guessing and answering the obvious question. The poor lady looked to be in so much pain and misery she didn¡¯t care about the details, just about getting healed.


    ¡°Right, Herodotos, what would you do at this point?¡± I asked him, putting my hand on her arm, in a spot between two oozing sores.


    ¡°Well, it seems like this disease causes an imbalance of black bile and blood ¨C too much black bile, and too much blood. The body we see here is trying to expel the excess humors to bring itself back into balance, so we should focus an image on those two humors being in excess, and leeching them out to restore the body.¡±


    My eyebrows were practically vanishing into my hair.


    ¡°How much mana does it take for that to work?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Markus is great! He only needs 1800 mana to burn out a plague this bad out of the body, and restore the humors.¡± Herodotos enthusiastically told me, clearly proud of his teacher, wanting to brag about him. ¡°However, it takes me closer to 2400 mana, and I don¡¯t quite get them all. Part of that¡¯s because of my element.¡± He said sadly. ¡°Part of it is my low control, leads to me being inefficient.¡± He hung his head slightly.


    I made a non-committal noise. At that cost, I wasn¡¯t going to have my water dispenser on legs waste his mana that inefficiently. I focused, healing the lady up to full, and dealing with the normal enthusiastic greeting that came after. We also got where she lived, and Artemis put another pin in the map. It was slowly coming together ¨C there wasn¡¯t enough showing to get any ideas yet ¨C but it was taking shape.


    She left, and Herodotos looked at me strangely.


    ¡°So, uh, did you forget to do something?¡± He asked me.


    I could feel Artemis looking at him.


    ¡°Forget what? Let me know while the patient¡¯s around if you think I¡¯m forgetting something. Making sure they¡¯re ok is worth more than my ego.¡± I said.


    ¡°Payment! Money! Sweet sweet coins!¡± Herodotos said enthusiastically. ¡°Markus said I¡¯d get half of what you made if I stuck with you.¡±


    Artemis and I looked at each other, then burst out laughing.


    ¡°Markus pulled a bit of a prank on you I think.¡± Artemis said, unable to shake the chuckles. ¡°We¡¯re not charging anything.¡±


    Herodotos¡¯s face was priceless. A mixture of outrage, of indignation, and a bit of chagrin at having been so thoroughly had, at getting pranked by his teacher, and inadvertently, us.


    ¡°My understanding of medicine is completely different from yours.¡± I started a short lecture while the next patient was heading down. ¡°To me, this plague comes from tiny, tiny, so small you can¡¯t see them, so miniscule they don¡¯t even have a class, creatures, that invade your body, and grow and multiply. They¡¯re called bacteria. Markus has over a hundred levels on me, but it only took me 770 mana just now to cure her. Part of that¡¯s my high control, no idea what Markus has but I¡¯ve got to be rivaling him. Part of that is I have a much better picture of what¡¯s going on, and what I need to do.¡±


    ¡°Ah, but Markus has a boosting skill as well. Not as strong as ours, but he has one! Most people have some sort of boosting skill.¡± Herodotos said, loyally defending his master.


    I tilted my head in acknowledgement of him probably being right, of Markus having better stats than me. It just made my accomplishment all the better.


    I also remembered Maximus mentioning something a long time ago about most classes having some sort of boost or another. Julius probably had a conditional boost to his speed stat, Origen probably had more control when dealing with inscriptions. Lose a skill slot, get some stats, I¡¯d be crazy to think I was the only one with a skill like this.


    They just didn¡¯t have the same raw power ¨C or restrictions ¨C that I had.


    He looked at me skeptically as the next patient came in. A short conversation ¨C this was a kid, and it looked like he¡¯d been hit with both plagues ¨C a quick healing, I passed him off to Herodotos to fix the hydration problem ¨C and we had a few more minutes while Origen went to grab the next person.


    ¡°Where does bacteria live normally?¡± He asked, skepticism written on his face. If Markus didn¡¯t have a policy of ¡°listen to all healers, great and small.¡±, I¡¯m sure I¡¯d be ignored.


    ¡°Oh everywhere. Air. Water. Other creatures. Our bodies have a bunch of tiny defenders as well, that are constantly fighting them.¡± I was seized by inspiration. ¡°Like how we¡¯re constantly fighting the Formorians. If the walls break, and they flood in and cause a ton of damage, that¡¯s like the disease getting a foothold, and us becoming sick as the disease ravages our body.¡±


    The hours flew by, me lecturing Herodotos on medicine, patients coming in and out, pins on the map constantly growing, some from me, some from the Investigation pairs popping in and dumping a bunch onto the map all at once. A shape was starting to form, but I was too busy right now to focus on it. I was low on mana, I¡¯d seen patients at a rate just a hair higher than my regeneration ¨C down to my last 500 or so, and going a bit slower to keep my regeneration abreast of new people coming in ¨C and I glanced over at Herodotos. His eyes were still glazed over. They¡¯d been glazed over for the past two hours or so.


    Probably just still processing what I was telling him. I was about to jump into my next lecture ¨C how blood circulated throughout the body ¨C when a knock on the door interrupted my thought process. Artemis tensed. Today had been incredibly boring for her, which, if anything, put her on more of a hair-trigger. She started to wind up a throw, conjured rock appearing in her hand. Before I could say anything, Markus let himself in.


    Rude.


    Artemis half-stumbled as she aborted the shot, gracefully rolling it into a strange maneuver that I could only think of as ¡°I always meant to do this.¡±


    I rolled my eyes at her.


    ¡°Might want to wait a moment after knocking.¡± I said to Markus¡¯s surprised face. ¡°Artemis is a hair¡­ twitchy¡­ and having walked through saber-tooth cat territory has done absolutely nothing for her and her reflexes.¡±


    Artemis fake-coughed at me in annoyance. My eyes were going to get strained at this rate.


    ¡°What can I do for you Markus?¡± I asked, changing the subject.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s getting pretty late, I was hoping to grab my apprentice back.¡± He said, eyes drifting over to the map we had laid out. ¡°Unless you have any more need of him?¡±


    Herodotos was off like a shot before I could say a single word. ¡°IThinkShe¡¯llBeFineWithoutMeLet¡¯sGo!¡±


    ¡°Well, sounds like you had fun. Let¡¯s go.¡± Markus said, one last long glance at the map before turning and leaving without another word.


    I rolled my eyes at him, Origen fortunately bringing another Bloody Plague victim.


    ¡°Hey Origen, can you focus on bringing more patients with bleeding wounds, oozing pus? I¡¯ve lost my water source.¡±


    Origen nodded acknowledgement, and I continued working.


    And working.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 146! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Celestial Affinity] has reached level 146!]


    ¡°Elaine, we should get dinner.¡± No need right now, there were people to see.


    And working.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 126!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 106!]


    ¡°Healy-bug, should we stop? Call it a night?¡± Artemis asked. I ignored her.


    And working.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 113!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Warmth of the Sun] has reached level 118!]


    And ¨C


    Julius and company came back after another patient.


    ¡°Yay, you¡¯re back.¡± I tried to say with enthusiasm, but I couldn¡¯t muster up any energy. Today was exhausting, and I was ravenous. There were more people to heal though.


    ¡°It¡¯s incredibly late. We were waiting for you, but when you weren¡¯t showing up, we got worried and came over. Is everything ok?¡± Julius asked.


    ¡°No.¡± I said grumpily. ¡°Too many sick people. Too many people almost dying. Too many¡­¡± I trailed off, gesturing wildly at the air around me.


    There were glances traded all around.


    ¡°We are,¡± Artemis¡¯s words were interrupted by a massive yawn coming from her. ¡°fine!¡± She said explosively, riding the end of the yawn.


    More glances. Use your words damnit. I was tired. I was holding on by a thread. I needed to see another patient. Then another.


    Origen brought another patient in, and I waited a few more moments, making sure I had enough mana to properly heal him. I put my hands on him, focusing, pouring mana into him and burning out the disease once again. Ran out of mana. Waited another moment, healed him again. Still had some left. Proper job done. I stifled a yawn as he walked away, peeling off his bloody shirt, seeming to throw it in the hallways as he left. Litterbug. Needed trashcans. Needed¡­ I dunno, I was exhausted and tired.


    ¡°Elaine.¡± Julius said, carefully. ¡°You¡¯re out of mana aren¡¯t you.¡±


    I nodded sleepily. I wondered how he knew.


    In an oh-so-careful voice, like he was talking to a stray cat that he was trying to coax closer, Julius asked me.


    ¡°Elaine, why don¡¯t you draw in mana from your earrings, and see if we have the plague at all?¡±


    ¡°Sure thing.¡± I tried to say, but it came out somewhat stifled, somewhat stilted. I wasn¡¯t that tired!


    I did what he said, trying to heal everyone from the Investigation team. Everyone needed a fairly solid burn through my resources. The only exception was Kallisto, who pumped his fist victoriously.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you take a short rest?¡± Artemis suggested gently, after a few more looks around were suggested. ¡°Just until your mana¡¯s almost full again.¡±


    I tried to think about it. It was hard, like wading through a swamp. If I waited¡­. Then healed a bunch all at once¡­ it was the same number of people. Ok. I could take a short break.


    I leaned back, and relaxed a hair, allowing my eyes to close.


    I woke up to bright light, staring at the ceiling of the Argo the next morning.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 14]


    [Mana: 7020/7020]


    [Mana Regen: 9185]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 198]


    [Strength: 43]


    [Dexterity: 79]


    [Vitality: 65]


    [Speed: 80]


    [Mana: 702]


    [Mana Regeneration: 1140]


    [Magic Power: 653]


    [Magic Control: 1157]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 146]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 146]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 118]


    [Medicine: 126]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 126]


    [Phases of the Moon: 106]


    [Eyes of the Milky Way: 94]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 110]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 127]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 39]]


    [Fire Affinity: 39]


    [Fire Resistance: 39]


    [Fire Conjuration: 39]


    [Fire Manipulation: 39]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 31]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 81]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 79]


    [Pretty: 101]


    [Vigilant: 110]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 113]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 67]


    [Running: 74]


    [Learning: 120]

 Chapter 78– Plague VIII

    I woke up, ravenous, and slightly confused. Wasn¡¯t I just in the clinic room inside the temple? As I slowly shook sleep off, and Elaine.exe booted up fully, the fogginess in my head vanishing, I realized what must¡¯ve happened.


    My ¡®one moment of rest¡¯ had led to me passing out, falling into a sleep so deep I hadn¡¯t noticed being carried back to the Argo. I must¡¯ve been more tired than I thought, gone longer and harder than I believed.


    Well, there was no changing what had happened. Time to get up, get back in the clinic, and get back to healing people.


    ¡°Morning Elaine!¡± Artemis jumped on me playfully, having me go half-splat back into my sleeping bag. ¡°How¡¯re you feeling?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Blah.¡± I tried to say. Being hungry, thirsty, and my face in my sleeping roll made it come out unintelligible, even to me.


    ¡°Here. Eat.¡± Artemis said, thrusting a bowl of food and a cup of water into my hands. I ate and drank without thinking about it, without checking what I was even eating.


    ¡°Welcome back.¡± Julius said drily, in a non-too-amused tone. ¡°You need to work on pacing yourself.¡±


    I didn¡¯t agree ¨C there were people to be saved, ¡®pacing myself¡¯ just translated to ¡®let people die¡¯, but I nodded anyways, too hungry to argue.


    The rest of the team was lounging around in the Argo, making it somewhat cramped. Yay for being short! I wasn¡¯t feeling the pinch nearly as badly as Arthur was.


    Speaking of, he was still dozing as well, so it was nice to not be the last one awake for once.


    We waited for a bit, killing time until Arthur woke up, sleepy and grumpy. Ah well.


    Arthur ate, then we got down to business.


    ¡°Yesterday, Investigations went around and talked with people all over town. Docks, marketplace, main streets, back streets, everywhere. Stories seem to be roughly the same. Plague showed up about a year ago. People aren¡¯t reliable about the symptoms though ¨C most insist that the plague showed up with everything all at once, a few people say it changed around two months in to include the vomiting.¡± Julius said, quickly summarizing his findings. ¡°We put in as many pins as we found cases of. Also, some of the coins seemed a bit strange to me. Origen, can you check?¡± Julius asked, handing over a handful of coins to Origen.


    ¡°Artemis, Elaine, what were your findings from yesterday?¡± Julius asked, as Origen started to trace mysterious inscriptions.


    ¡°Bleeding Plague is almost certainly transmissible from person to person.¡± I started. ¡°Vomiting Plague isn¡¯t transmissible from person to person. I can¡¯t be completely sure of it, but Bleeding Plague patients occasionally needed me to heal Artemis or myself, while that never happened with Vomiting Plague-only patients.¡±


    ¡°Oh,¡± I said, realizing I should state the obvious, even though we¡¯d half-discussed it yesterday. ¡°I completely agree with the [Plague Healer]. There are two plagues, not one. I have no idea what¡¯s going on if they both showed up at the same time. If the second one showed up after the first, it could be enough things broke down to let the plague in.¡± I said.


    Julius and the rest of the team traded looks with each other.


    ¡°People are unreliable.¡± Kallisto stated. ¡°They think they remember one thing, but they¡¯re completely wrong about it. Who remembers exactly when things start? I bet there are things on this trip we wouldn¡¯t remember, forget the relatively irrelevant details of a plague. All people know is when it started, and that it¡¯s killing them.¡±


    ¡°Elaine, I need details on the second plague. Can a person with the disease pass it onto someone else that doesn¡¯t have it, indirectly? Or is there a source constantly spewing out disease? I¡¯m unclear on this.¡± Julius asked.


    I weighed what he was saying, thinking about it.


    ¡°Indirect transmission, like re-infecting a vector, then having that vector infect someone else, is totally possible.¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s how the Black Plague spread. A flea had the disease, would jump on someone, bite them, infect them. Other fleas would also jump on later, bite them, get infected. They¡¯d then move onto other people. They were both the reservoir, and the method of infection. Kill all the fleas, and you were set.¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t kill all the fleas in a town.¡± Arthur said. ¡°There¡¯s no way.¡±


    ¡°No, but you can kill almost all the rats, and tackle the disease from that direction. And if you know ¨C you announce that fleas are the problem, to kill fleas, to kill rats ¨C people should put forth an effort towards it. Enough to make a dent, and possibly get this under enough control to burn it out, without the 3rd deciding to do their own version of burning.¡± I said.


    There was a pause there as everyone digested what I was saying, only for Origen to interrupt.


    ¡°Counterfeit. Mage-Conjured.¡± He said, holding up the coin and a metal plate with glowing inscriptions.


    ¡°Gods damnit all, another thing to worry about.¡± Maximus cursed.


    ¡°20 coins it¡¯s a newish mage that has no idea what they¡¯re doing.¡± Kallisto immediately took out some coins. ¡°The lack of detail suggests a low control level. Any takers?¡±


    Julius said nothing, just had a deep frown on his face.


    ¡°No.¡± Origen said.


    We all looked at him. He gave an exasperated twitch of his beard, clearly annoyed that he¡¯d have to talk and explain this to all of us.


    ¡°No. We shouldn¡¯t go after this mage. He¡¯s keeping the town afloat. How many people did you see with bad coins? Do you think they¡¯re all stupid, all unable to figure out they¡¯re fake?¡± He said, a month¡¯s worth of words in a single go.


    ¡°Laconia is poor. Yes, we have soldiers. We¡¯re the mightiest warriors in Remus.¡±


    There were some boos and jeering at that, but it was more of a good-natured rivalry. The floodgates were open though, Origen had found his voice and he was not going to stop until he¡¯d said his piece.


    ¡°But none of that money stays. Soldiers come with money, spend it. Then farmers come, take some money. Merchants come, and more money vanishes. Tax collectors. Buying metal. Buying wood. Buying pretty dyes. Wool. Four months after the soldiers have left, the man with 10 coins left is as rich as the governor. Trade stalls. People start getting hungry, not because they don¡¯t work, or don¡¯t have goods, but because there are no coins to make it work. People start bartering, and it gets somewhat ugly, until soldiers come back. Flood the town with coins. And it repeats. It¡¯s why I practice Inscriptions. I want to show my fellow Laconians a new way. A new path forward. People will come all over to see me, to buy my things, and more will follow in my footsteps.¡±


    Advanced economics from Origen? You could push me over with a feather, and from the looks of it, you could push almost all of us over with a feather.


    ¡°Here has the same problem. Money leaves. Money doesn¡¯t come back. Who¡¯s paying for things from a plague town? Nobody. This mage is the only source of coin, the only reason things in this town aren¡¯t even worse. He¡¯s probably rich. He¡¯s also saved the town. We ignore.¡±


    Origen sat down, arms crossed at that pronouncement. Julius was blinking, owl-like, still trying to process what he heard. Maximus had started writing down what Origen was saying, but had paused halfway through.


    ¡°Well then.¡± Julius said, pausing. ¡°That¡¯s a lot. Thanks friend, we¡¯ll do as you say. Focus is still on the plague.¡±


    ¡°If¡­¡± Julius said slowly, thinking about it. ¡°If we hear a large number of complaints about this mage, whoever he is. Then we might look into it. For now, we¡¯ll leave it.¡±


    ¡°Question.¡± I said, jumping in, wanting to change the topic. ¡°Could we have another person on the Healing team? Right now, Origen¡¯s on his own a bunch while he ferries people back and forth, and with how important it is to stick together, well¡­¡± I said, trailing off.


    Julius immediately shook his head.


    ¡°Our team splits in two. We talked last night. Origen¡¯s either in the room where there¡¯s a dozen guards, or in the hallway to your clinic. That¡¯s close enough to additional armed forces. You were able to last a solid chunk of time, as a healer with no physical stats, against three level 200ish assailants. Origen is stronger than he looks. Short of the entire guard deciding all at once to murder him, he¡¯d last long enough for you and Artemis to back him up.¡±


    ¡°If something can kill all three of you, we¡¯re doomed anyways. We do lose a Ranger squad about once every twenty years that way, either to a rebellion just starting in a town as Rangers arrive, and the team trying to single-handedly suppress it, or due to a Ranger squad being so abusive that the entire local guard comes down on them without waiting for a Sentinel to handle the issue.¡±


    ¡°No, what worries me is a riot. This town is prime for one, and it¡¯s only a matter of time before some stupid incident causes the two cults to tear each other¡¯s throat out, at which point the 3rd would be entirely justified at razing the town to the ground.¡±


    Artemis had a grim, faraway look, making me suspect she¡¯d been in the midst of a riot. Or two. Or perhaps had even incited one. Knowing her, very possible that she¡¯d incited a riot, perhaps even deliberately.


    ¡°Do we need to know anything else before we get going? Or do you need anything from us?¡± I asked, itchy to start, to get back healing. I was regenerating mana, and my mana pool was full, wasting it. I was cognizant of the time, of every four minutes or so passing being another person I didn¡¯t, couldn¡¯t save.


    ¡°A quick round of healing for all of us.¡± Kallisto quickly jumped in, having the sack over his head already.


    I refrained from rolling my eyes ¨C a healthy fear of the plague was better than a cavalier attitude towards it, and hit everyone with a dose of [Phases] just in case.


    Everyone was fine.


    ¡°I think you¡¯re all set. Stay safe.¡± Julius dismissed up, shooing us out with his hand.


    I was off like a bolt, Artemis on my heels, Origen slowly taking up the rear. We were still near the temple ¨C where had the horses been stored? ¨C and I quickly found my way back to my work room, Artemis on my heels. Origen had gone directly to the main patient room to grab someone.


    I settled in for a long day of healing.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 127!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 107!]


    ¡°Elaine, I¡¯m dropping off Herodotos and another apprentice for you. Good luck today.¡± Markus said, Herodotos and another apprentice shuffling in as I continued to stare at the map. There was a pattern here, I knew it. I just needed to see it.


    ¡°Welcome. When you¡¯re full on mana, feel free to do a bit of healing. Otherwise, help me re-hydrate people who have the Vomiting Plague. Ok?¡±


    ¡°Ok.¡± He said.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 114!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 108!]


    ¡°There¡¯s no way blood circulates. It oscillates. Is this the nonsense you¡¯ve been saying is so good?¡± Unnamed apprentice said to Herodotos, between yet another lecture.


    I wanted to cry in frustration, but Artemis simply filled the room with her power, all of our hair standing on end. It kept discipline, it kept people questioning me, but at the point of a sword ¨C or lightning bolt ¨C wasn¡¯t how I wish it was done.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 109!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 147! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Celestial Affinity] has reached level 147!]


    ¡°Artemis, I¡¯m going to dump my free stats into my Mana Regeneration, ok?¡±


    Artemis looked like she wanted to protest, but closed her mouth as another patient was brought in on a stretcher. I could see the gears turning in her mind, the calculation of lives saved, the odds of her changing my mind.


    ¡°You know best healy-bug.¡±


    [Mana Regen: 11,485] (Per Hour)


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 110!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Warmth of the Sun] has reached level 119!]


    ¡°Elaine. Eat.¡± Artemis ordered.


    ¡°Just after this patient.¡± I brushed her off.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been saying that for the last 20 patients. Eat.¡±


    ¡°Hang on, one moment.¡±


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 111!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 115!]


    ¡°What do you mean, dead?¡± The husband was crying, tears flowing down his face, facing the truth, his wife was gone. The son wasn¡¯t accepting it, becoming angry, hand on his sword.


    ¡°Liar!¡± He yelled at me, drawing his sword.


    Artemis disarmed him. Literally.


    ¡°Behave.¡± She said, as the husband threw himself on top of his son.


    ¡°Mercy, please!¡± The husband yelled. ¡°I¡¯ve lost everyone else.¡±


    I sighed.


    ¡°Give him here. I¡¯ll fix his arm.¡±


    Thousands of mana needed to fix his arm. I gave him an evil eye.


    ¡°Because of your rash actions, ten people aren¡¯t going to be healed. I won¡¯t have the mana for it.¡±


    The pain of his arm being removed had been enough to cool him down, and he had the grace to look ashamed.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 112!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 113!]


    ¡°It¡¯s an interesting question,¡± New-apprentice said, having warmed up to me over the course of the day, regardless of my ¡®radical¡¯ ideas. ¡°if you should¡¯ve healed that man or not.¡± He said, referring to the idiot Artemis disarmed.


    ¡°Who¡¯s worthy of healing?¡± He stated.


    ¡°Everyone. Not a question.¡± I said, still pissed and sour at him, exhausted from being kind and caring to all my patients today. I just had no bandwidth left, nothing to give to anyone else.


    ¡°Well yes. But in his case, if you didn¡¯t fully fix his arm, just stopped the bleeding, he¡¯d live. And you¡¯d be able to save ten or more people from the plague. Was he a good use of your mana? Could there be a better use for it?¡± He was picking up steam, as I healed another patient, Origen turning around to get someone else.


    ¡°Probably not.¡± I reluctantly conceded.


    ¡°Which leads to a follow up. You¡¯re healing the very sickest patients. Most of the other healers won¡¯t touch them.¡±


    ¡°What!¡± I squawked out in indignation, looking every inch a 14-year-old. ¡°Why!?¡± I demanded, turning on him in a fury.


    He leaned back, raising his hands up defensively. Artemis tensed ¨C bored and on a hair trigger was a bad, bad combination.


    ¡°It¡¯s something Markus teaches all of us! Heal one person who¡¯s going to die today, or heal ten people who¡¯ll die next week. If you heal the one person, seven out of the ten people will need the same level of healing in three days. By then, you can only heal one of them. The other six die. Each person you heal today, when they¡¯re that sick, on death¡¯s door, damns the other six to a grave.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve must¡¯ve seen the pyres. The gravediggers and their wagons in the street, collecting bodies. Heard the cries of family members discovering their loved one dead. We¡¯re nowhere close to having this under control. By handling the moderate cases, we prevent them from escalating, reducing the overall number of dead. Moderate cases also don¡¯t need whatever touch-ups you¡¯re doing to fix sores, bad lungs, and whatever other damage is present.¡±


    I looked at him in horror.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t know?¡±


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 121!]


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 14]


    [Mana: 2415/7190]


    [Mana Regen: 11485]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 43]


    [Dexterity: 79]


    [Vitality: 65]


    [Speed: 80]


    [Mana: 719]


    [Mana Regeneration: 1370]


    [Magic Power: 667]


    [Magic Control: 1175]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 147]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 147]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 119]


    [Medicine: 127]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 126]


    [Phases of the Moon: 113]


    [Eyes of the Milky Way: 94]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 110]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 127]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 39]]


    [Fire Affinity: 39]


    [Fire Resistance: 39]


    [Fire Conjuration: 39]


    [Fire Manipulation: 39]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 31]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 81]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 79]


    [Pretty: 101]


    [Vigilant: 110]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 115]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 67]


    [Running: 74]


    [Learning: 121]

 Chapter 79– Plague IX – The Greater Good

    I was familiar with the concept of triage. Badly injured, injured, and weakly injured. Ignore the weakly injured, they¡¯d be fine. The badly injured would take up huge amounts of resources to fix, while the injured were prime targets for healing.


    From the sound of it though, what was being advocated was to just hit the weakly injured, the mildly sick, maybe treat the injured, and damn the badly injured, and the terribly sick entirely.


    There was knowing the concept as a vague thing from back when I was on Earth, and now being the healer, being the person performing triage, the one who says ¡°I¡¯m sorry. You die, so that person can live.¡±


    I was strongly tempted to develop a drinking habit to forget. Living with the choice I¡¯d need to make would mark me.


    I spent the rest of the evening healing as I thought on the new apprentice¡¯s words, his thoughts echoing through my head with every patient, sending a stabbing knife of guilt through me.


    Did I just damn more people healing that girl? Was the old man¡¯s life worth saving, at the expense of someone else¡¯s?


    Should I weigh the two lives against each other, and only heal the ones I don¡¯t find wanting?


    How many old people were worth a young boy¡¯s life? Two? Ten? Did I need to calculate how many expected years of life were left, and only when the old-people years outweighed the young boy¡¯s expected life-years, should I heal the elderly?


    What about quality of life? The young boy would enjoy life more than any single elderly individual, but then again, I had to look at their aggregate quality of life, not just any one of theirs.


    Should I ask them if they were willing to sacrifice their lives for the young boy¡¯s? Was it fair of me to push the burden onto someone else, to force them to collectively decide? Didn¡¯t that pressure the one or two people who felt like they wanted to live, but didn¡¯t want to speak out, to go against the crowd?


    No, I¡¯d have to be the one making the decision. I was the healer. The responsibility was mine.


    It had never felt so heavy. Being at the bottom of the ocean, crushed by pressure. Atlas, holding up the world. It weighed on me, chaining down my limbs, slowing me down, making it hard to breathe. Making me hesitate.


    Damning even more people with my indecision.


    ¡°Origen, can you grab four people next time?¡± I asked, coming to a decision. He nodded at me, leaving me with the most recent patient, a mother and daughter, both sick.


    ¡°Hey you,¡± I said to the still-nameless apprentice. ¡°can you grab Markus? I¡¯d like to talk with him about this more.¡±


    He opened his mouth to protest, and Artemis stepped in to quash any objections before they started.


    ¡°She¡¯s the lead healer here. You listen to her orders. Heck, I even listen to her orders in this room. She¡¯s the goddess here, you¡¯re just her minion.¡±


    I shot Artemis an appreciative look, as Nameless Apprentice muttered something under his breath and shot off. Origen showed up with four people, who I healed in rapid succession, throwing up a quick [Veil] around each one for privacy, getting my mana low enough for a moderate conversation to not reduce the total number of people I could heal.


    A brief moment of rest, which was rudely interrupted by Artemis physically shoving some food into my mouth.


    ¡°Eat.¡± She said sternly, angrily, crossing her arms.


    ¡°I thought she was the goddess.¡± Herodotos said sassily.


    Artemis casually sparked him, causing him to jump and yelp in pain.


    ¡°Tormenting my apprentices?¡± Markus asked jokingly as he entered the room.


    ¡°Yup! Going to do something about it?¡± Artemis asked, challenging him.


    Markus just laughed it off. ¡°Nah, they¡¯re under your supervision, how you choose to run things is up to you. They know they¡¯re free to strike off on their own whenever, and will probably be ready to once this plague¡¯s over. Interesting map.¡± He said, nodding to the heavily-pinned map.


    He turned to me, getting serious.


    ¡°Elaine, I heard you needed help and advice. What¡¯s going on?¡±


    I explained to him the concept his apprentice had taught me, and explained the turmoil I was now going through.


    He sucked in air through his teeth, looking at me with sympathy.


    ¡°Interesting. A lot of theoretical knowledge, but not a ton of practical knowledge. I assume Lady Ranger over there will give me problems if I ask too many questions on your classified background, but I¡¯m dead curious who your master was, at the very least.¡±


    I shook my head. ¡°Never had one. Learned a bit from my mom, like most town healers. But I was never an apprentice.¡±


    That got me a strange look, and a cough from Artemis, reminding me that it was best to keep my background under wraps, and probably pulling double-duty as a subtle threat to Markus. Solid work for a single cough.


    ¡°Well, some basics on the concept. You¡¯re right that it¡¯s a tricky and difficult thing. I call it ¡®Justice¡¯. Who is worthy? Who isn¡¯t? More importantly, when we can only save some people, not everyone, who do you save? How do you fairly, and equally, distribute scarce medical resources to people?¡±


    He stood up straight, assuming a lecturing posture. Herodotos immediately snapped into a ¡®learning¡¯ pose, with a speed that could only come from hours of drilling and practice. I figured it¡¯d be polite to try and mimic him, and I did.


    ¡°First off, the choice is always yours to decide who to save, and who not to. Nobody can force you to make a different call, although many will pressure you to heal someone else. Feel free to tell them to stick it where the sun don¡¯t shine. At the same time, it can be worth considering politics. Save the governor¡¯s sick elderly father, or a baby. The baby is almost always right to heal. But if the governor will throw you out of town if his father isn¡¯t healed, you lose access to everyone else in the town, and can¡¯t help a single one of them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve been in that exact situation, about, oh six years ago. It¡¯s ugly. There is no right call, both are wrong. You can only make your best call, and pray to the gods.¡±


    I closed my eyes, bowing my head. This was making it both worse, and better, at the same time.


    ¡°Second off, there are more factors than just the patient themselves. A father, supporting a wife and four kids? Well, saving him saves more than just him, it saves his entire family. If you pick a kid over him, you¡¯ve saved one kid, but damned three more to death.¡±


    His tone turned sympathetic.


    ¡°Tell you what. I¡¯ll tell you my order of healing. If you¡¯re lost, if you¡¯re struggling, maybe this will provide a foundation for you to work off of. Change it, evolve it, to fit your own criteria.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll heal babies, kids, young men and women, pregnant women, and people whose entire family depend on them, who are only mildly ill first. I¡¯ll heal anyone else who¡¯s mildly ill next. Then I repeat the same group, for badly ill people, then anyone else who¡¯s close to death after them. Lastly, I¡¯ll heal orphans and slaves, mild to terrible.¡±


    ¡°Why are they last?¡± I said, wanting to burn with rage at his choice, at his casual dismissal of slaves and street urchins.


    ¡°They¡¯re unlikely to survive anyways; likely to starve and die even with my best intervention. Why should I waste resources on someone who¡¯s going to die anyways, when there are others who¡¯ll live a long and healthy life?¡± Markus said, coldly dismissing them.


    At the same time, if he wasn¡¯t cold, practically cruel, about it, could he even live with himself? Would the guilt crush him, the remorse kill him?


    Artemis put a steadying hand on my shoulder, squeezing.


    ¡°I wish you the best of luck Elaine. You¡¯re doing amazingly, and if nothing else, you¡¯ve given hope to the very sickest people who are waiting for help. Most of us are targeting the less-ill, trying to get on top of the disease. The ones you¡¯re healing believe they¡¯re too far gone, and you¡¯re their last hope, their beacon so to speak.¡±


    Every word was like a stab into my heart, causing pain. Did he know how much harder he was making this?


    ¡°I need to get going now. I hope I helped.¡± Markus said. I mutely nodded my head.


    ¡°Oh, something for you to know, since you never had a formal master.¡± Markus said. ¡°Don¡¯t worry too much if you get a kill notification on someone. It happens to all of us.¡±


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 122!]


    He turned and left, and I threw up [Veil], ran to Artemis, and bawled in her arms. Knowing that would have saved me so many years of torment, nights of anguish, guilt over Lyra no longer fresh, but a constant sore, aching wound across my heart. Artemis didn¡¯t know the full story, but she could guess, as she held me and rocked me.


    After a few minutes, Artemis interrupted my pity-party.


    ¡°Alright healy-bug. Let¡¯s get you back out there and fixing people. I don¡¯t know what happened, but it¡¯s too easy to guess. What¡¯s done is done. You need to focus on the people in front of you, get to saving them. Here,¡± She said, taking some cloth out, wiping my face and nose. ¡°let¡¯s get your serious super-healer-ranger face on! You can do it! Yeeeaaaahhhh!¡±


    I sniffed appreciatively, getting my super-healer-ranger face on, dropping [Veil].


    ¡°Origen.¡± I said, having him pop back in. ¡°New priority ordering. Go in age, from youngest to oldest, grabbing the sickest. Also, if you see something, see someone, that you think should be brought to my attention, who should be healed, feel free to grab them instead.¡±


    Origen nodded, showing his understanding, at getting a hint of my dilemma. My solution was far from perfect, might even be worse than Markus¡¯s solution.


    At the same time, Origen also knew the crushing burden I was placing on him. In many senses, I was abdicating my responsibility, easing myself into it slowly. By having Origen act as the filter, the decider, of who I saw, he was effectively running triage, being the arbiter of Justice, deciding who got medical attention, and who would have to wait. I¡¯d given him guidelines, I was taking on some of the responsibility, but I wasn¡¯t fooling myself ¨C a non-zero portion of the responsibility was Origen¡¯s.


    Bless him. I¡¯d tell whatever tales he wanted.


    It sounded like I was the last bastion of hope for many though, and I didn¡¯t want to snatch that away from them, to cruelly crush the last dream, the last hope, that people had.


    I used to be the [Light of Hope] after all, and I was sticking to that root.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 114!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 128!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Warmth of the Sun] has reached level 120!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 116!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 148! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Celestial Affinity] has reached level 148!]

 Chapter 80– Plague X

    The rest of the week passed in a blur, a haze of pain, red flags, sadness, sickness, hide map, disease, death, blue flags, rot, blood, a random scattering of orange flags, vomit, pus, way too many hours spent staring at the map, thinking, trying to tease the pattern out, to see what was happening, punctuated by four rocks from Artemis through an offending limb. She was a hair more considerate, and tended to only take out a hand, instead of the entire arm ¨C much cheaper for me to heal mana-wise. More people saved.


    She did some grumbling about ¡°precision shots¡± and ¡°not good form¡±, but I appreciated it anyways.


    There was one outright murder from Artemis, as she ¡°didn¡¯t think she could stop him in time without killing him.¡± I was too numb to care. You¡¯d think people would learn by now that healers had bodyguards, and not to try and pull stunts.


    Then again, maybe things weren¡¯t as emotionally charged with the ¡°Sick, but not at death¡¯s door¡± patients. Another subtle benefit of skipping over the direly ill?


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 150! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* For reaching level 150, you¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Moonlight]!]


    [Notice: All your class skill slots are full. Replace a skill for [Moonlight]?]


    [Moonlight]: The phases of the moon are visible to all who look up at them and see them. Able to apply [Phases of the Moon] at range, whenever moonlight touches them. [Phases of the Moon] applies with a significant efficiency penalty. Penalty increases with distance. Increased range, decreased penalty per level. Current range: .1 meters. Current penalty: 1000% increased cost per meter.


    I hesitated briefly over the skill, before indicating I needed a quick break by raising my hand. The three apprentices with me ¨C Markus was rotating them spending time with me, partially because I was making them work hard, harder than they worked with him, and partially because he wanted them to have exposure to my ¡°interesting¡± ideas ¨C all relaxed, tension bleeding from their bodies as I snapped up a [Veil] around Artemis and I.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Artemis asked, a graceful mix of tense and relaxed, somehow looking perfect through the exhausting days.


    ¡°Hit 150. New skill offered.¡± I said, sharing the details of [Moonlight] with her.¡±


    ¡°Take it.¡± Artemis said almost instantly. ¡°[Eyes of the Milky Way] isn¡¯t that powerful, and you gain the ability to heal at a short ¨C soon to be longer ¨C range. You¡¯ll still be mostly hands-on, the skill is limited, but it gives you an advantage, a possibility of stabilizing a serious wound as you¡¯re getting to whoever needs help. Arriving a few moments earlier might be the difference between life and death for them.¡±


    ¡°Plus, that sounds similar to how battlefield power-healers work.¡± She said.


    I tilted my head, asking the question without saying anything. Origen was rubbing off on all of us.


    ¡°They have massive area, well, healing would be putting it a bit strongly. They can close injuries, prevent death, but it¡¯s bad flesh, poorly formed. You¡¯ve seen some of it with injuries that weren¡¯t well-healed. That¡¯s the mark of a power-healer, with poor control. They have a massive range, and if you¡¯re on a battlefield, you want one watching over you ¨C they¡¯ll save your life long enough for a control-healer to reach you and heal, like you do. That fixes the temporary fix, gives it the ability to feel and move properly. Sometimes, there just isn¡¯t a control-healer around to do the secondary fix, and you¡¯ve fixed more than a few of those injuries.¡±


    Artemis hummed a moment, thinking.


    ¡°Glacia is likely a power-healer, if she counts as a healer. Hard to tell with her skills. Huge area, mediocre effectiveness.¡±


    ¡°Also, you¡¯re getting up there in level. I don¡¯t think I was as high as you at your age. You might be offered more skills evolving, than brand-new skills, as you keep going up. Something to consider.¡±


    ¡°The long and the short of it is, you¡¯re dipping into the power-healer domain a bit with this. Your class evolved from a control-healer, so it¡¯s not too efficient, but any extra trick is worth it. Your class has evenly distributed stats, which makes me think it wants to be a little bit of a Power healer, a little bit of a Control healer. This seems like a Power-related skill, in contrast with all of your other Control-related skills. I don¡¯t think [Eyes of the Milky Way] are doing that much for you, and the situations the skills are in are similar ¨C at night, under the sky. Seeing more, or healing an injury? Which one¡¯s better in your opinion?¡±


    I thought about it briefly. I had other sources of light ¨C mostly my flames, but [Veil] had some incidental lighting. Not being able to see in the dark would suck a bit, I¡¯d gotten used to it, but it wasn¡¯t the end of the world.


    Also, I didn¡¯t think Artemis was completely right. The moons did come out during the day. It was rare, but it happened. At the same time, I doubted it would work during a New Moon, when the moons weren¡¯t showing up. Same difference, but I¡¯d be even more locked towards knowing exactly what the moons were doing at any given time.


    I dumped [Eyes of the Milky Way] for [Moonlight]. I felt nauseous, close to vomiting at losing a skill of that level. My stomach was much stronger after seeing Ponticus ¨C the Light healer that ate his own finger ¨C and after wading through a swimming pool¡¯s worth of bodily fluids from my healing clinic. It would be some time before I could start practicing with the skill, getting the level up ¨C the current penalty was harsh, and the range small, but I was sure that would change with time.


    ¡°Hey Artemis, um..¡± I said, trailing off, looking at her hopefully, wishing that she¡¯d read my mind.


    She tousled my hair affectionately.


    ¡°Yeah, your eyes are still starry.¡±


    Yay!


    ¡°Elaine, you¡¯re leveling way too fast.¡± Maximus said that evening.


    I was too exhausted to really fight or argue with him.


    ¡°Is that bad?¡± I managed to ask, eyelids like lead.


    ¡°No, just strange.¡± He said.


    I¡¯m not sure exactly what Artemis said, since I was falling asleep, but it was something about how hard I was working.


    I stared at the map. Red pins were all over, with a higher density near the shores, and clustered around the temple. Was there something about the sea, something about the temple causing the plague? Or was this just reporting bias?


    Were there more people that lived near the docks with fishing equipment, so they were out fishing, and catching it? Or was there a foul wind coming off the sea, infecting people?


    If it was a bad wind, why would other towns not have it?


    Could it be from rats that came in on ships, and were settled near the docks?


    But then why the cluster around the temple? Was that just reporting bias? Round and round in circles I went.


    ¡°Plague? There¡¯s no plague!¡± An elderly man insisted from a stretcher, being carried by his son and daughter-in-law.


    They glanced at each other, and turned to me.


    ¡°Look, you don¡¯t need to convince him, but can you heal him anyways?¡± The son ¨C not too much older than me - begged me.


    I rolled my eyes and healed the man, saying nothing. Some people, honestly.


    I was happy that an older man was showing up. Were we getting a handle on the plagues? Was I enough to tip the scales?


    ¡°You think the Fae are behind it, right? Right?¡± A sick lady asked me.


    I made a non-committal noise.


    ¡°I knew it! The Fae are mad at us. We need to make them happy, so they leave us alone.¡±


    I made another non-committal noise.


    The plague was back out in force. I was healing younger and younger people now.


    The blue flags were different. One-quarter of the town ¨C the side away from the sea ¨C had almost no infections. Then like there was a line drawn in the middle of town, cases suddenly showed up.


    Was there some inscription buried in the town, warding plague off? Why, how, could there be a line drawn in the town, where people living on one side of it got the plague, and people living on the other side were fine?


    Hours of staring at the map, thinking, meditating. There was an answer here. I had all the pieces of the puzzle. How did they fit together?


    ¡°Elaine, can you check a bunch of people to see if they¡¯re still infected?¡± Maximus asked at one point, popping in with Arthur. Julius and Kallisto must be off somewhere else, looking into some other aspect.


    ¡°Sure.¡± I said.


    Over the day, Maximus proceeded to bring in a dozen different healthy people, the vast majority of which were completely fine, and a few scattered here and there needed a few points of mana to heal them.


    ¡°Interesting.¡± Was all Maximus would say about the problem, while Arthur frowned. ¡°Very interesting.¡±


    I dreamed of the damn map. Every night, it started off blank, then one pin, two, dozens, hundreds more would land in it. Sometimes it was the shape of the real map. Sometimes it was different. Every night it was laughing at me, mocking me. ¡°Can¡¯t you figure me out?¡± It¡¯d say, sometimes forming a mouth, other times the hundreds of little pins would sing in unison. ¡°Isn¡¯t it sooooo obvious? Every day you can¡¯t figure out my secret, more people die.¡±


    Then more pins would come down, a whole rainbow of colors, then turn into flames, burning bodies piled high, evidence of my failure burning into my eyes, filling my nose with smoke, the smell of burning and decaying bodies.


    I was going to burn that damn map once we¡¯d figured this out.


    ¡°You think the Fae are behind it, right? Right?¡± A sick man asked me.


    I made a non-committal noise.


    ¡°I knew it! The Fae are mad at us. We need to drive them out, so the plague will leave!¡±


    I made another non-committal noise.


    We got to the day before the weekly healer¡¯s meeting, during the late afternoon, as I looked over my levels gained for the week. They were quite something.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 160! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Celestial Affinity] has reached level 160!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 151!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 149!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Warmth of the Sun] has reached level 125!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 135!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Center of the Galaxy] has reached level 128!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fuel for the Fire] has reached level 33!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 124!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vastness of the Stars] has reached level 128!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Veil of the Aurora] has reached level 111!]


    Origen was bringing in another patient ¨C a young kid this time, we¡¯d been slammed hard and I was back to treating very young, very sick children ¨C and we went through the usual routine. Just the Vomiting Plague. Herodotos did some light healing, then passed the kid off to me to finish the job.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 150!]


    I gave her parents the usual lecture.


    ¡°She should be better now. However, the disease can come back. Be careful around others, be careful with fleas, rats, insects, and bad food. Wear a mask. Or a hood, some people think those help. Boil your water before drinking it.¡± I said, reciting the usual tips and tricks.


    ¡°Good luck, and I hope I don¡¯t see you again!¡± My little joke. Some people appreciated it.


    They thanked me profusely ¨C so nice when they did that instead of treating me like it was expected of me, or that I was dirt, or making some snide comment about my age or gender. Herodotos was convinced it was because I wasn¡¯t charging ¨C another lesson of his from Markus, that people were more grateful when parting with their money.


    I looked at the map, and suddenly, things clicked.


    [Medicine] leveling up. [Oath] applying to knowledge. A framework from Earth. Hundreds of patients with the Vomiting Plague coming through my room.


    The line through town. The river, snaking through town down to the sea.


    The river, that people drank out of.


    Boiling water. Disease in water.


    ¡°The Vomiting Plague is Cholera!¡± I said, getting up so fast my chair hit the back wall.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Recollection of a Distant Life] has reached level 80!]


    ¡°You figured out the Vomiting Plague?¡± Artemis asked. The question was repeated by the apprentices.


    ¡°Yes!¡± I practically shouted. ¡°I figured it out!¡±


    ¡°Get Julius?¡± Artemis asked.


    ¡°Yeah, get him now.¡± I confirmed.


    Artemis let off a low thundercrack, reverberating through the hallways. Origen skidded into the room a moment later, hand on his weapon.


    ¡°Stay here with Elaine. I need to grab everyone else.¡± Artemis said, off like a shot.


    Origen looked at me confused. I was too excited.


    ¡°I might have figured out the Vomiting Plague!¡± I said, jumping up and down with excitement.


    The apprentices looked at each other. I pointed to Herodotos.


    ¡°Can you grab Markus for me please?¡±


    He scampered off, as I heard the distinct rumbling of Artemis¡¯s bolts through the temple walls. Three bolts, the lowest priority ¡°need you now¡± signal she had.


    In no time at all, Markus, Julius, and the rest of the team were crammed into my tiny room. We kicked the apprentices out to make more room.


    ¡°What¡¯s so urgent?¡± Julius asked, while Markus said the same thing, phrased slightly differently.


    ¡°I¡¯ve worked out the Vomiting Plague.¡± I said. ¡°My [Medicine] skill hit 150, and it was like a thousand pieces of a puzzle suddenly came together, and I realized what was going on. It¡¯s a disease called Cholera.¡± I said.


    ¡°Look at the map. Look at where the cases are. See the line basically going through town? People drink from the river, and almost entirely, they go to the nearest part of the river to get water from. That¡¯s why there¡¯s the line. People upstream of whatever¡¯s causing the problem are fine. People downstream are getting sick.¡± I said, pointing furiously to every part of the map as I described it, almost tripping over my words in my excitement.


    ¡°The way Cholera works is it¡¯s in the water supply. Someone drinks the water; it goes into their stomach. It grows and multiplies, and causes the vomiting and diarrhea. The tongue-swelling is unrelated, I don¡¯t think Caecilius was right on that. People¡¯s vomit and diarrhea are full of the Cholera bacteria, which then end up back in the water supply, to continue the cycle.¡± I said.


    ¡°Towns usually have inscriptions on the grates to handle dangerous things getting in.¡± Maximus pointed out.


    ¡°Yes, and that helps with things coming into the town. Not handling things that are sourced, are originated from the town itself.¡± I said impatiently. Couldn¡¯t he see?


    Markus held his hand up, interrupting.


    ¡°Elaine, this is amazing. This is perfect. The weekly healer¡¯s meeting is tomorrow, it¡¯s already getting pretty late, can you present all of this to us then? This is bigger than just me; everyone should be present to hear this. Less than half a day¡¯s difference won¡¯t matter, and being able to tackle this properly, all of us, is worth the delay.¡±


    I bounced my leg impatiently, shifting my weight around. What did he mean, wait? People were dying now! We had to handle it now!


    ¡°Fine.¡± Julius said, dismissing Markus with a wave of his hand.


    ¡°Details Elaine. It¡¯s better that we hear it now, and we can cross what you¡¯ve told us against what we¡¯ve learned. It¡¯ll make a better presentation tomorrow, and we might be able to act on it.¡± Julius said, pulling out another scroll.


    ¡°It¡¯s water-based. Find out where people are drinking their water from, and trace it.¡± I said, giving the bare-bones answer. ¡°We need to keep drinking from our personal stores. It¡¯s primarily in the river, but there are other drinking sources, wells in the town. We need to find out if those are contaminated or not. The primary source is the river though, or at the very least, it¡¯s the most obvious.¡±


    I took a moment to stare at the map.


    ¡°There¡¯s an extra-large cluster here and here,¡± I said, pointing to two spots on the map. ¡°Perhaps there are contaminated wells there.¡±


    ¡°Our water stores are nearly out.¡± Arthur said. ¡°It¡¯s been almost six weeks since we last restocked in Catona.¡±


    ¡°Then boil anything for a short length of time before drinking it.¡± I said. ¡°Or drink beer. It should be safe.¡±


    Arthur was going to love that.


    ¡°Fine, we have enough to work off of. Investigations, let¡¯s go. Elaine.¡± Julius said, pausing to turn and look at me, putting a hand on my shoulder, looking me square in the eyes. ¡°Fantastic work. Worthy of the best Rangers.¡±


    I had to turn away as Julius and the rest trickled out. I didn¡¯t want them to see me wiping away tears of joy and happiness that were involuntarily welling up at his praise.


    Artemis gave me a hug from behind.


    ¡°Good work healy-bug.¡±


    The rest of the day couldn¡¯t go by fast enough. I even left willingly at the end of the day, only to find myself staring up at the ceiling of the Argo, unable to sleep.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 14]


    [Mana: 9400/9400]


    [Mana Regen: 14091]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 6]


    [Strength: 37]


    [Dexterity: 129]


    [Vitality: 90]


    [Speed: 130]


    [Mana: 940]


    [Mana Regeneration: 1655]


    [Magic Power: 842]


    [Magic Control: 1409]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 160]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 160]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 125]


    [Medicine: 150]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 128]


    [Phases of the Moon: 151]


    [Moonlight: 1]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 111]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 128]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 39]]


    [Fire Affinity: 39]


    [Fire Resistance: 39]


    [Fire Conjuration: 39]


    [Fire Manipulation: 39]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 33]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 81]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 80]


    [Pretty: 101]


    [Vigilant: 110]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 135]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 67]


    [Running: 74]


    [Learning: 122]

 Chapter 81– Plague XI

    The next morning rolled around, and I was jumpy and bouncy as could be. I was the first one awake, and I woke up half the team as I eagerly put on every piece of my armor, greaves banging and clattering on vambraces as I rushed through the process of putting everything on.


    Artemis groaned and rolled over, throwing a pebble ¨C without any skill behind it ¨C at me. It was satisfying to hear it clang against my armor and drop off, without me feeling a thing.


    I wouldn¡¯t dare to think I was invincible. Last time I¡¯d started to say that, Julius had half-broken my shoulder. There was always a bigger fish. Watching stones bounce off of me without any effect, though, was still incredibly satisfying. Only a few steps down from eating a mango.


    Artemis just made another complaining noise at the additional noise she managed to make, and shortly after, everyone was awake.


    ¡°Relax.¡± Maximus said, eating his breakfast, as I was shifting from foot to foot as fast as I could.


    I gave him a Look, trying to say that I was already using all my self-control to stay in the Argo, to not just run out and run to the meeting hall already, whooping and screaming about Cholera.


    It¡¯d probably diminish the impact if I did it that way, I mused to myself. I had to look calm, presentable, reasonable. Not the crazy girl babbling about ¡°wild¡± and ¡°outlandish¡± medical theories.


    Some of my impatient energy must¡¯ve been transmitted to the rest of the team, as they were dressed and fed in record time.


    Well, it was an eternity of torment for me.


    We made it to the meeting hall, and we were the first ones there, some temple staff moving chairs and tables around in mysterious ways known only to them and their gods.


    Everyone started to trickle in, and Markus spread the word that I had Big News. Waiting far too long, there were finally enough people around for me to start. We commandeered a table, with most of the important healers sitting around it, while I was standing. Most of the apprentices, and a number of the less-powerful healers were just milling about. [Oath] was the only reason I had a literal seat at the table, instead of being one of the nameless background healers that could only look on. Well, [Oath] and being a Ranger. Without [Oath], it¡¯d just be Julius at the table, and I¡¯d get all the news and information second-hand.


    To my satisfaction, a good number of the looking-on healers were higher level than me.


    We had Markus, the Pyronox, master of a half-dozen or more apprentices. Caecilius, the [Plague Healer]. Ponticus, the Light healer with questionable dietary preferences. Verta, stout head of the local healers. Hesoid, the Decay mage, applying magic in interesting ways. Berucus, the powerful Dark healer. Glacia, still wrapped in cloth, lying to someone, gender still unknown to me. The last healer that was part of the council. I never caught his name, or what he did.


    ¡°Today¡¯s meeting should be interesting. Let¡¯s first get some minor points out of the way. Ponticus, would you like to start?¡± Markus said, bringing the meeting to order.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to congratulate both Hesoid and Glacius for classing up this week.¡± He said. A murmur went around the table, a round of scattered applause.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to compliment Elaine on her massive growth this past week.¡± Hesoid said next. ¡°It¡¯s good to know that she¡¯s gotten some of that remarkable growth rate we¡¯ve all experienced. While she hasn¡¯t hit a class-up, she must¡¯ve gotten what, 15 levels this past week alone? An astounding growth rate, the likes I¡¯ve rarely seen. By a similar token, I heard that she¡¯s been hitting the sickest patients at an incredible rate. You¡¯re a credit to us all.¡±


    There were some congratulatory noises heading my way, and I looked down, blushing.


    ¡°Verta? Do you have anything?¡± Markus asked.


    ¡°We lost Daphna last night.¡± Verta said somberly, pouring some water on our celebratory mood.


    ¡°Oh no! What happened?¡± Berucus asked.


    ¡°She was mugged on her way home. Didn¡¯t survive.¡± Verta said grimly. ¡°All healers should get a guard escort on the way home. We stay so late, it¡¯s not safe for us on the street. Those of us that are healer-tagged look like targets. If it¡¯s that they think we have money, or just that we seem like an easy target for outrage over the plague, who knows.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s look into that. Caecilius?¡±


    ¡°Now that we¡¯re in the more serious and somber notes, it seems like the plague¡¯s become worse. More people are sick, and the people who are sick are even worse off.¡± He said.


    There was some scattered agreement around the table.


    ¡°Julius, do you have any news before we get to Elaine¡¯s news?¡± Markus asked.


    Julius gave a small jerk of his chin, and Maximus and Kallisto were suddenly near the table as well.


    ¡°Poor news I¡¯m afraid. In other times us Rangers would come down hard on this, but given the situation, I¡¯m handing this over to the rest of you to determine what happens.¡± Julius said in a serious tone that demanded attention, but not a grim, dark tone.


    ¡°Sounds serious.¡± Markus said.


    ¡°We¡¯ve determined, using Elaine to confirm, that not all healers are properly, fully healing people.¡± Julius said. ¡°Furthermore, the healer in question seems to be targeting wealthier patients to not fully heal, only suppress the disease, so they have to come back to him later. It¡¯s clear that this healer¡¯s able to fully, properly heal patients when he chooses to, and is deliberately choosing not to.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s preposterous!¡± Berucus cried out. ¡°I¡¯d never do that!¡±


    Julius looked at him, as everyone else slowly turned to look at him as well.


    ¡°When did I ever say it was you doing it?¡± Julius said softly. Berucus paled, looking around at the table. ¡°I do thank you for your confession though, it makes proving this much easier.¡±


    Berucus looked around, panic on his face. He tried to get up and bolt away, only for Maximus and Kallisto to put their hands on his shoulders, keeping him in his chair.


    ¡°Right, normally people committing fraud are turned over to the guard.¡± Julius said conversationally. ¡°Given the scale, and the impact of what he¡¯s done, normally we¡¯d step in and administer justice, a much harsher sentence than fraud normally gets, which is a 40 rod fine, or twice the amount stolen, whichever is higher. However, I recognize that these are abnormal times, and I turn justice over to the rest of you to determine and administer.¡± Julius said.


    ¡°On that note, if anyone else has similar ideas, just keep in mind that we¡¯re in the area, taking a long, hard look at anything and everything plague-related. We¡¯re all in this together, let¡¯s try not to make things worse.¡± Julius ended his speech.


    The rest of the healer¡¯s council glanced at each other.


    ¡°We¡¯ll deal with you later.¡± Markus said, glaring at Berucus. If looks could kill, Verta would be charged with murder. Not that she¡¯d ever be convicted.


    ¡°Sorry for not looping you in Elaine.¡± Julius leaned over and whispered to me. ¡°Didn¡¯t want your sense muddled by wondering the what-ifs, and you have enough on your plate without worrying about a healer running a scam.¡±


    I nodded slowly. I didn¡¯t like not being in the loop, but at the same time, I wasn¡¯t needed for this, besides being a disease-detector. I already had enough on my plate, healing a constant stream of patients, thinking about the disease, trying to work it out, staring at the map, trying to find patterns, wondering if I was damning six other people by healing the one sick person, teaching the apprentices in bursts and spurts. My plate was more than full, and wondering ¡°are some of the healers deliberately not helping¡± wasn¡¯t something I needed to also be thinking about. I appreciated Julius and Maximus not stretching my responsibilities.


    ¡°I¡¯m guessing,¡± the [Plague Healer] slowly said. ¡°that from the sound of it, you have even bigger news?¡±


    I glanced at Julius, who lowered his head fractionally. That¡¯s all I needed to finally explode.


    ¡°I think I¡¯ve worked out what we¡¯re calling the Vomiting Plague, what Caecilius called Plague 2. It¡¯s a disease called Cholera.¡± I said, rolling out the map that I¡¯d spent countless hours staring at, hundreds, if not thousands of pin points on the map.


    ¡°Quick lesson on germs. There are hundreds, thousands, of tiny creatures living everywhere. Gnats look like giants compared to them. They live in the water, the air, the ground, - everywhere. Most are harmless. Most of the harmful ones our bodies fight naturally, without a problem. The last few remaining ones cause disease.¡±


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath] has reached level 136!]


    I was getting skeptical looks around the table. Markus rescued me.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been having my apprentices sit with Elaine all week, learning her ideas. Most of their efficiency has improved. Given her backing, given what she¡¯s been able to do in a week, I believe it¡¯s worth listening to her, and evaluating the idea on its own merit.¡±


    That shut up the mutterings going around the table.


    ¡°Thanks Markus.¡±


    ¡°The way Cholera works, is it lives in the water. You drink it. It multiplies inside of you. You get sick, you vomit, you have diarrhea. That expels the bacteria, it hits water again, and the cycle continues.¡± I explained.


    ¡°Look at the map.¡± I said, pointing to the blue dots scattered all over the city. The other healers huddled around the map, Julius leaning back with a proud smile on his face. ¡°If we assume that the water¡¯s the problem, you can see a line roughly here, going downstream, of people with Cholera, or the Vomiting Plague. Very few people upstream of the river have the disease, but quite a lot of people have it downstream.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t the river just wash it all away?¡± Hesoid asked skeptically.


    ¡°It should. Which means somehow, more is getting into the river.¡± I said.


    ¡°The outhouse on Carpenter¡¯s street.¡± Verta gasped. ¡°One of my healers complained that it was smelling terrible, that the enchantments on it were dead. It¡¯s right there,¡± she said, pointing to a spot on the map right where the river started to have plague cases. "The people responsible for that area are either dead or fled, and it, like dozens of other things, haven¡¯t been fixed or maintained.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s leaking into the river, that could cause the entire outbreak. Someone gets sick drinking the water, they go to the outhouse, it ends up dumping back into the river.¡± I said. ¡°Fix the outhouse, fix the leak, and it should, mostly vanish. It¡¯s possible that there¡¯s more than one contaminated source at this point, but we¡¯d be playing ¡®remove the sources¡¯, and it should get a positive spiral. As we remove a source, hundreds of people aren¡¯t getting it, which means fewer areas are potentially getting contaminated.¡±


    ¡°Do you know anything about treating this disease that doesn¡¯t require a skill?¡± Markus asked thoughtfully.


    ¡°It kills via dehydration. You don¡¯t need to cure the disease if you can get people to drink enough uncontaminated water. Boiling water is enough to make it safe.¡± I said, pleased as punch that everyone was listening to me! Things would happen! ¡°Sure, they¡¯ll still feel terrible, but Herodotos, for example, could single-handedly prevent people from dying. Their bodies will fight off the germ invaders on their own, and then they¡¯ll get better.¡±


    I tilted my head, thinking for a moment.


    ¡°Of course, it might be more efficient, and help stop the spread of the disease, by having him just flat-out heal the patient. Bit of a wash really.¡±


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 151!]


    I leaned back as everyone processed the bombshell, eager talking with each other. The hubbub of noise was terrible; so much so that it was attracting everyone else to the table to see what all the fuss was about. I just smiled, and enjoyed.


    I¡¯d done my part. Fought the disease with everything I had, worked my ass off, found out what the disease was. Brought it to the attention of people with more local knowledge than me, and Verta was able almost immediately to figure out the problem. Ha! Go local healers. That¡¯ll show the big fancy out-of-town healers who the real heroines were.


    The extra levels were just a bonus.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 14]


    [Mana: 9400/9400]


    [Mana Regen: 14091]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 6]


    [Strength: 37]


    [Dexterity: 129]


    [Vitality: 90]


    [Speed: 130]


    [Mana: 940]


    [Mana Regeneration: 1655]


    [Magic Power: 842]


    [Magic Control: 1409]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 160]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 160]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 125]


    [Medicine: 151]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 128]


    [Phases of the Moon: 151]


    [Moonlight: 1]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 111]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 128]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 39]]


    [Fire Affinity: 39]


    [Fire Resistance: 39]


    [Fire Conjuration: 39]


    [Fire Manipulation: 39]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 33]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 81]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 80]


    [Pretty: 101]


    [Vigilant: 110]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 135]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 67]


    [Running: 74]


    [Learning: 122]

 Chapter 82– Plague XII

    True to the prediction of Julius and Markus, the Cholera bombshell, the revelation of what the disease was and how to fight it, completely derailed the rest of the meeting. Some couriers were brought in and dispatched, and suddenly everyone was interested in seeing what was going on, in being part of the action.


    I¡¯d lit the spark, carefully fanned the flames, and now I could sit back, and enjoy the roaring fire of action it¡¯d become. Something like this was far larger than any one person could do on her own, but I did my part. I¡¯d worked together with a team, we¡¯d figured it out, then brought it to everyone¡¯s attention. They had better tools than we did to actually fix, and solve the problem, and now that they knew what it was? It¡¯d be easy.


    Relatively speaking.


    Kallisto, interestingly enough, had a good suggestion.


    ¡°Boil or Beer.¡± Was the slogan he came up with, to tell people how to safely get liquids. Boil your water, or drink beer, and I suspected there¡¯d be no more beer in town by the end of the week.


    I eyed Kallisto. Did he just inadvertently plant the seeds for another riot? The limited food coming into town wasn¡¯t helping at all, although maybe if this plague calmed down the 3rd would relax, and normal trade would resume.


    ¡°Might not work.¡± Caecilius said sagely. ¡°I tried something similar with sacks on heads, to stop the spread. Problem was, people didn¡¯t distinguish between the two plagues, and people didn¡¯t wear them right. When people, who thought they were doing things right, still got sick, it undermined the entire attempt. It was soon after the failure of the mass-heal event, and our credibility took an even steeper nosedive.¡±


    Ouch.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here.¡± Artemis said to me, Origen beside her.


    ¡°There¡¯s basically nothing we¡¯ll be able to do at this point, might as well get back to healing people.¡± She said.


    I looked around, pleased as punch with what I¡¯d done. I¡¯d half-hoped that between my demonstrated knowledge, and Markus¡¯s apprentices learning from me that I¡¯d be able to give a lecture on medicine, but it seemed like fate was conspiring against me once again. There was always next week.


    Plus, I was regenerating mana into a full mana pool. That wasn¡¯t helping people, not directly.


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s go.¡± I said.


    The three of us worked our way through the temple, until I got to my work room, Origen off to gather more patients.


    I didn¡¯t have the map ¨C it was still being stared over by, well, everyone, but I¡¯d get it back soon enough.


    We settled in for more healing, and a more or less normal day.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 161! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Celestial Affinity] has reached level 161!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 152!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 153!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 152!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Warmth of the Sun] has reached level 126!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 137!]


    I expected the day to be different somehow. For there to be music in the air, birds bursting into song. We¡¯d figured out one of the plagues!


    Well, there was music in the air, but that was Glacia¡¯s doing.


    The day wrapped up, and once again I was practically dragged out of my workroom, back to the Argo, where we locked up for the night, glowing inscriptions bolstering our defenses.


    Useful things, inscriptions.


    I woke up the next morning feeling refreshed and happy. Another day to heal! From the sound of it, the outhouse had some broken pipes, so instead of dumping waste into the sewers, it had been dumping waste into the river. Which had been feeding the cycle.


    A pair of wells were also identified, the map returned to me ¨C apparently there¡¯d been a bit of arguing over that, with Caecilius wanting to take control of it, but Julius had put his foot down - and we had a new color marker for ¡°new¡± Cholera cases, to see if any more sources were identified, we could try to cut those off. There was a strong optimistic air.


    ¡°Morning sleepyhead.¡± Artemis said cheerfully, hands behind her back.


    I narrowed my eyes at her.


    ¡°You¡¯re far too cheerful and nice this morning.¡± I said. ¡°What are you plotting?¡± I pointed my finger at her accusingly.


    Artemis took one hand out from behind her back, placing it on her chest, looking all offended.


    ¡°Me? Plotting? I¡¯d never.¡± Artemis said.


    The fact that she was still hiding stuff behind her back made me seriously doubt her.


    I looked around. The other Rangers were stifling giggles. Some coins changed hands.


    ¡°I feel like I¡¯m being pranked, but I have no idea what¡¯s going on.¡±


    Everyone suddenly stared intently behind me, where Julius was. I whirled around, only to see his last finger curl down, the end of a countdown.


    ¡°Happy Birthday Elaine!¡± They all called out.


    ¡°Oh.¡± I said, pulling up my status.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 15]

 Chapter 83– Plague XIII

    The apprentices looked at each other nervously. Herodotos swallowed, paled, steeled himself, then said. ¡°There was a runner. You should go see for yourself.¡±


    Artemis tensed, coiled up like a spring ready to fire. Not one of those small little springs that used to be in pens. No, she was one of those heavy-duty large springs, that once it went off, it would ruin someone¡¯s day.


    My hair raised up around me, and chunks of stone from the wall separated out, going to Artemis¡¯s hands, where she held a double handful of them.


    ¡°Lead.¡± She ordered. This wasn¡¯t one of her nice orders, her ¡°I¡¯m telling you something nicely but expect you to follow anyways in spite of my flippant tone.¡± This was her serious face, ¡®Do what I say right now or suffer the consequences.¡¯, the tone promising those consequences would be lethal. Herodotos nervously led us down a hall, around a corner, to where a number of guards were milling around a pair of bodies. This wasn¡¯t Artemis who¡¯d need to snap a stone into existence or use a bolt before hitting a problem ¨C this was Artemis with her weapons at the ready.


    From the tone, and how nervous everyone was acting, I didn¡¯t blame her.


    ¡°They said they found them here.¡± He said, before wisely bailing.


    Artemis pushed me behind her, and we went forward, guards parting. I peeked around her to find Origen and a teenager ¨C probably the patient he was bringing to us ¨C on the floor.


    I rushed over.


    ¡°No. No no no no.¡± I said, trying to deny what I was seeing, putting my hands on him, trying to pump healing mana through him. I could restore the flesh, then the brain, then spark it back, and Origen would be back, sitting up with a grin, would probably even speak a few words, letting me know it¡¯d been such a close call, and he was so grateful I¡¯d saved him.


    ¡°Everyone back.¡± Artemis barked out, hair getting even higher. The guards decided staying near the clearly pissed, hair-trigger mage was a poor life choice, and that bailing was the better part of valor, leaving us alone.


    Nothing. He was gone. Massive sores covered him, and he was lying in a pool of blood, like so many other victims of the plague. My healing found no purchase; my skills restored no flesh. If normally I got a vague sense of a moon waxing full, there was no moon. Maybe, if I focused hard, a shattered ring of a moon destroyed. How could the plague take him so fast? This was impossible. He was healed regularly, last time less than 30 minutes ago, even with the break I¡¯d taken.


    Artemis put a hand on my shoulder.


    ¡°Elaine, grieve later. We need to leave, now.¡±


    I shook my head, mutely denying. Artemis picked me up.


    ¡°Elaine, until proven otherwise, a dead Ranger is assumed to be murdered. We need to get to the wagon, and notify everyone else. Until we¡¯re together, we¡¯re under attack. Now move!¡± Artemis yelled the last part at me.


    I¡¯d never seen her so scared. I¡¯d never seen her so scary.


    I moved, started running down the halls, to the back door where we were parked. Artemis thundering behind me, static electricity charging the air.


    We weren¡¯t in a terribly populated part of the temple, and people got out of the way. A door started to creak open as I was running past it, and Artemis sent a rock, followed by a bolt of lightning through it. I hesitated, and peeked in the door as I slowed my run. Those injuries were incompatible with life.


    ¡°Keep moving.¡± Artemis said, tone chilly, tone scared. Artemis fully believed she was in a war zone, threats jumping out from every corner, and I couldn¡¯t fully blame her for the belief.


    I picked up the pace, back to a full run, as fast as I could in the temple hallways.


    If there was no time to heal, no gap between ¡°Fully alive¡± and ¡°Dead¡±, [Oath] didn¡¯t say a word. It only acted upon things I could act upon.


    We made it out to the alleyway where the Argo was, and instead of running inside, Artemis ordered me. ¡°Up, on top of the wagon. Cover my back.¡±


    I did exactly what she said, scrambling up on top of it. A single lightning bolt pierced the clear blue sky, shattered the deceptive calm.


    Her ¡®emergency right now¡¯ signal. Only used in a fight, or the death of a Ranger. ¡®Drop everything and come here as fast as you can.¡¯


    Artemis put a hand on the side of the Argo, and I could see it glowing as she pulled mana from it.


    The door to the temple got closed over with stone, the back of the alley sealed, a stone covering hiding the sun and clouds, and a series of stone spikes, pointing forward at a 45-degree angle, pointing forward, to the entrance of the alley, the only way in. Protection on all sides.


    She climbed up onto the Argo with significantly more grace and finesse than I¡¯d managed, then looked around, head on a swivel.


    A guard started to approach.


    ¡°Excuse me, we can¡¯t have-¡° He started to say, only for a rock from Artemis whizzing to his feet and exploding in shards to cut him off. He winced in pain, but deciding that there was no reasoning with Artemis, backed off.


    Lesson was clear. When Artemis was mad, when she was in this state ¨C stay away. Stay far away. I couldn¡¯t decided if I was blessed to be under her aegis, or strapped to an out-of-control rocket.


    It was clear that Artemis still had some control. She hadn¡¯t blasted the guard like she could¡¯ve, it was clear she was firing warning shots.


    We spent a tense few minutes, until we heard Julius call out.


    ¡°Artemis, we¡¯re all here. We¡¯re going to come around the corner now, ok?¡± He said.


    ¡°Prove it. Badge and ID code.¡± Artemis yelled back. Artemis never asked for ID codes.


    There was some muttering, then a hand slowly ¨C oh so slowly ¨C came around the corner, holding four Ranger¡¯s badges. Julius rattled off a seemingly random set of words, and Artemis relaxed a hair.


    ¡°Come over, fast.¡± She said.


    Julius and co turned the corner, only for their eyebrows to almost uniformly fly off their face. They looked some more, and their gaze turned steely.


    ¡°Origen?¡± Arthur asked, blinking away a tear.


    ¡°Dead.¡± Artemis said.


    ¡°Right, everyone into the Argo.¡± Julius ordered.


    I hopped down, entering the wagon, as everyone else filed in. I felt a rumbling right before Artemis came in, which I assumed was her sealing off the alley¡¯s entrance, providing us a miniature fort in the heart of town.


    ¡°Origen¡¯s dead. Looks like the plague.¡± Artemis said, without any preamble. ¡°Patient he was bringing to us was found next to him, also dead of the plague.¡±


    ¡°Plagues don¡¯t work that fast!¡± I cried out in frustration.


    ¡°They clearly do.¡± Maximus said derisively, practically sneering at me. ¡°You say plagues don¡¯t spread by eye contact. This one is. You say plagues don¡¯t work that fast. We have a dead Ranger proving otherwise. You¡¯ve been wrong about this, and so many other things, why should we keep listening to you?¡±


    I half-screamed in frustration.


    ¡°It¡¯s like the plague uses fucking magic, which it can¡¯t because shit that small doesn¡¯t get classes!¡±


    There was dead silence at that. You could hear a pin drop, the pin drop, as everyone went still, my screaming voice echoing through the Argo in a strange way.


    Almost as one, we said the same thing, at the same time.


    ¡°Classer.¡±


    ¡°Elaine¡¯s insistence that plagues didn¡¯t spread by eye contact should¡¯ve been a clue.¡± Artemis said. ¡°She knows diseases better than any of us, and the [Plague Healer] was sure it was spread by eye contact. We should¡¯ve listened to both, and realized it earlier.¡±


    ¡°Everyone¡¯s been commenting on the leveling rate.¡± Maximus said. ¡°They¡¯ve been saying it¡¯s faster, stronger, better experience than any other plague they¡¯ve worked. It makes sense if they¡¯re opposing a classer, not opposing a run of the mill plague.¡±


    ¡°The mass-heal event.¡± Kallisto contributed. ¡°It showing up outside of the town? Classer didn¡¯t want to get caught, didn¡¯t want a tried-and-true method to reveal him. Must¡¯ve deliberately sabotaged it.¡±


    ¡°The head of the guard being one of the first to fall to the plague.¡± I said, seeing the whole puzzle come together. ¡°It was a targeted snipe, like Origen was. They didn¡¯t want the guard organized and looking for them, they needed confusion and a lack of a strong response. The guard¡¯s been too busy on standard protection and patrol, they don¡¯t have the people that usually notice the patterns around.¡± My knowledge of how guards worked came in handy. How did I not see this earlier!?


    Julius closed his eyes in grief, in regret. ¡°I think it¡¯s one of the healers. When we came down hard on Berucus, we mentioned that we were watching them, and we¡¯d find out wrongdoing. We must¡¯ve spooked him into acting, into targeting us directly for kills. Can¡¯t have the Rangers looking too closely, like the guard would¡¯ve. That, and Elaine solving one of the plagues in her first week here. He, or she, knew it would only be a matter of time before we figured it out. Origen was on his own, easiest one to pick off. In the temple, where we think the murderer is. If it wasn¡¯t for Elaine¡¯s knowledge, we¡¯d just think he was just another victim of the plague. Just like the guards thought the head of the guard dying was just another victim.¡±


    Arthur grunted. ¡°Killing off an entire town is amazing experience.¡± We glared at him, a fresh reminder of his callous suggestion to poison half of Virinum refreshed in our minds. He held up his hands. ¡°There are other possible reasons. I agree he¡¯s probably with the healers though. When hunting like this, you want to see the response, be able to react to it. The best place for the hunted to hide, is with the hunters. They never look at themselves.¡±


    ¡°Real fast.¡± Julius said. ¡°Let¡¯s go down the list of possible people, and the why. Then we¡¯re sealing the temple, and interrogating everyone inside. This Classer¡¯s willing to murder in broad daylight, in the middle of a healing temple, they¡¯re not going to immediately run. They¡¯re going to try and blend in, like they¡¯ve been blending in all this time. First off, who benefits?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Verta.¡± Artemis immediately said. I glared a betrayed look at her. She glared back. ¡°Her, and the other maligned healers in this town, finally have respect. They finally have people looking up to her, up to them. She has a chance to reach 256, a milestone she¡¯d likely never get in her entire life. Elaine, don¡¯t give me that look. 10, 15, 20 more years in your shoes, if you were stuck in town, forced to marry Kerberos? I¡¯d put you at the head of a rebellion, and more than one has started for similar reasons.¡±


    I froze. There was no way Artemis could know about me being offered a [Revolutionary] class, but clearly Artemis knew me.


    ¡°Markus.¡± Kallisto said. ¡°Has a bunch of apprentices, they¡¯re expensive to feed, hard to get enough experience for all of them, hard to get each one of them the hands-on experience they need. One plague, all of them are high enough level to strike off on their own, rich and famous. He¡¯s been spreading his apprentices all over, in theory to learn from other healers. Possibly to spy on them as well? It¡¯d be a perfect information network. If it¡¯s one of the apprentices, they could keep spreading the plague from different places, so even if someone suspected it was a healer, the pattern wouldn¡¯t make sense. Who keeps track of apprentices anyways?¡±


    ¡°Caecilius.¡± Maximus said. ¡°He¡¯s all about plagues, and at almost level 300, he must be slowing down. Perhaps he¡¯s making a plague to fix, since he might not have work otherwise. He mentioned that his second class might be mage, and might relate to healing. Causing a plague is completely related to healing, in a twisted way. Two classes synergizing like that, causing both the poison and the cure, should, would, cause both to rapidly rise together, ending up at a much higher final point than either one alone.¡±


    ¡°Might be his apprentice.¡± I mentioned. Maximus tilted his head to me, acknowledging my contribution, half-apologizing for earlier.


    I was still kinda mad at him, and wanted a real apology, but I knew it wasn¡¯t the time or place.


    ¡°Hesoid.¡± Arthur suggested. ¡°Not even a healer, might be the cause. Ex-slave, might be out for revenge. Has the leveling pace you¡¯d expect from someone killing a lot of people. Not even a healer.¡± There was some head nodding at that.


    ¡°Ponticus?¡± I suggested timidly. ¡°His sense of right and wrong are, um, non-standard, and he¡¯s been shown to make poor decisions.¡±


    Julius shuddered. ¡°He¡¯s a Gemstone Artisan, and while I doubt he has enough gems for a sustained plague like this, it¡¯s theoretically possible. I think. Maximus?¡± He asked, turning to him.


    Maximus hummed, fingers twitching as he did some arcane calculations known only to himself.


    ¡°That would be an insane number of gems.¡± He finally settled on. ¡°He can barely afford a proper tunic. Maybe if he spent everything on gems¡­ but he¡¯s so young. The problem with Hesoid being the source, is Decay doesn¡¯t have plagues in its domain. Although Decay is extremely rare, I¡¯ve never met one before.¡± He conceded in the end.


    ¡°Bacteria is the source of a lot of decay, I don¡¯t see why it couldn¡¯t expand slightly to include a plague.¡± I pointed out. Maximus shrugged at me.


    ¡°Glacia¡¯s been lying to us, and everyone from the start.¡± Julius said. ¡°She ¨C or he ¨C has a demonstrated wide-area effect, large enough to cover the entire town. I don¡¯t know what motive he, or she, could have, but with the amount of lying done, and demonstrated skills and abilities, she¡¯s worth looking into.¡±


    There were nods of agreement, and I found myself reluctantly nodding along.


    ¡°Do we need to take a second look at Berucus?¡± Artemis asked. ¡°Seemed pretty mad that we caught onto his scam, and maybe he was infecting people and releasing them, as the source. Easy to disguise seeding the disease as ¡®failing to properly heal someone¡¯ ¨C even we thought he was just scamming people for money. Gives the motive as well, he¡¯s one of the healers that¡¯s become incredibly rich as a result.¡±


    Julius sucked some air in through his teeth. ¡°Sure, although I was convinced he was just scamming for more money. Worth a second look, people have been known to pull wool over my eyes before. Also, after the penalty inflicted, no longer incredibly rich.¡±


    ¡°Right, everyone gear up. Full armor, weapons, helmets. Artemis, Elaine, top yourselves up to max from the Argo. Someone acts twitchy, kill them. This Classer¡¯s killed thousands, if not tens of thousands of people, and has shown a willingness to attack Rangers. Don¡¯t give Elaine a chance to heal them, don¡¯t make her choose. We¡¯re already coming down hard on the healers, and we could spark a riot if we do this poorly.¡±


    ¡°We could spark a riot anyways boss.¡± Kallisto said, sliding on his laminar vest.


    ¡°That we could. Artemis, only open up the side door. I want this place like a fortress. Gives us a safe spot to retreat to.¡±


    A few minutes later, and we were geared to the nines. Helmet, spear, sword, shield ¨C I have everything except a spade with me.


    The capes were left behind. This wasn¡¯t intimidation, or looking good.


    This was serious.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 15]


    [Mana: 9740/9740]


    [Mana Regen: 14491]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 30]


    [Strength: 37]


    [Dexterity: 129]


    [Vitality: 90]


    [Speed: 130]


    [Mana: 974]


    [Mana Regeneration: 1695]


    [Magic Power: 869]


    [Magic Control: 1445]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 162]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 162]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 126]


    [Medicine: 153]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 128]


    [Phases of the Moon: 154]


    [Moonlight: 1]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 111]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 128]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 39]]


    [Fire Affinity: 39]


    [Fire Resistance: 39]


    [Fire Conjuration: 39]


    [Fire Manipulation: 39]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 34]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 81]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 80]


    [Pretty: 101]


    [Vigilant: 110]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 139]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 67]


    [Running: 74]


    [Learning: 122]

 Chapter 84– Plague XIV

    Artemis re-opened the side door, and we strode in. Julius in the lead. Then Arthur, Maximus, me, Artemis, and Kallisto taking up the rear. Artemis for the large line of fire, Kallisto for taking hits, me in the middle, to protect the healer, and Julius in front as the face.


    We moved in force, striding in. My hair would be doing wild things under Artemis¡¯s electrical field, if it wasn¡¯t for the helmet over my head. Arthur¡¯s bow was out, arrow knocked. Maximus was making some experimental swings with his latest weapon, a short baton, ideal for enclosed spaces. The only non-lethal weapon out, the better to move through some obstacles. Julius didn¡¯t have his shield, instead playing with the blades at his waist. My weapons were sheathed, not that they were my first or second resort. I still had my short sword, my knife. Kallisto was walking backwards, shield and spear hefted, poised, pointed, at the ready, head on a swivel. We were taking no chances.


    We quickly encountered some guards, who snapped to attention seeing us. There was a difference between casually walking around, and clearly being here, ready and looking for a fight.


    ¡°Seal the temple.¡± Julius ordered, in a tone all the more dangerous for how soft it was. ¡°We¡¯ve located the source of the plague, and it¡¯s someone currently inside the temple. Seal it, and don¡¯t let anyone in or out. We also need a team to help us organize things, and keep both the worshippers and people asking for help calm, safe, and out of our hair.¡±


    The two guards saluted again, had a quick discussion among themselves, and shot off in two different directions.


    A more senior guard came up, more directions were issued, and soon we had the three hallways that led to healer¡¯s workrooms sealed off by the guards.


    ¡°Sir, reporting, someone killed a healer earlier.¡± One of the guards saluted. ¡°It¡¯s not just your teammate that¡¯s been killed.¡±


    Universal glares were shot at Artemis, who stood there, unrepentant.


    ¡°That was me. I assumed we were under attack ¨C which we were, which we are ¨C and he startled me, practically jumped out at me and Elaine. I had no time for a proper threat evaluation, and treated him as a hostile. We¡¯re more than prepared to pay the price.¡± Artemis said.


    A half-muttered line about ¡°so far under budget for Artemis-incidents¡±, some nasty looks from the guard, and we continued on.


    ¡°Tell them nothing, except they¡¯re to stay put, by order of the Rangers.¡± Julius said. ¡°We don¡¯t need anyone getting spooked; we don¡¯t need anyone coordinating together. If guards start dropping dead of the plague, start killing. I hope it doesn¡¯t come to that, but I¡¯d rather have everyone in the temple die along with the source of the plague, than let whoever is doing this loose to continue.¡±


    That statement got quite a few looks, and some slow, reluctant salutes. People generally liked healers. The idea of putting the healers, along with the priests and other people in the temple, all to the sword, was not an idea anyone wanted to entertain.


    The idea was in their head now, and if push came to shove, they¡¯d do it. Amazing what people could do when it was ¡°us or them.¡±


    It¡¯d put me in a hell of a hard spot if that happened though. Already we were playing a game called ¡°keep the sick people away from Elaine¡±, just so I wouldn¡¯t sidetrack us all by stopping and healing them. I¡¯d announced my [Oath] to all the healers, and we believed it was one of them causing the disease. They knew my major weakness, and by extension, they knew the weakness of the rest of the team. It was not a good look.


    ¡°We¡¯d like to talk with Ponticus.¡± Julius said. He didn¡¯t share his reasoning with the rest of us, but my best guess? Ponticus was the least-likely to be the source of the plague. His abilities, combined with his age and presumed timing of arrival, just didn¡¯t bear out him being the problem. The more healers we could align, and get working with us, the stronger we¡¯d be, the more weight we¡¯d have, the less we¡¯d need to watch our backs.


    We were led to where Ponticus was, and I noticed there were two guards on every door. I approved. I¡¯d been coached early on about interrogations ¨C basically, my role was to shut up, say almost nothing, unless I thought they were lying about something medical. Even then, it was to discreetly let Artemis or Julius know, not start shouting about it.


    My prior attempts to interrogate mom, and how masterfully Artemis had managed to tease out what I¡¯d been doing way back when, came back to me, reminding me at how much of a master interrogator I was not. It was possible to do more harm than good by sharing the wrong information, or by speaking out of turn.


    We filed into the room in order, all of us standing against the wall, facing Ponticus, sitting in his chair, sweating hard. Heck, I¡¯d be sweating if faced with six angry, armed, ready-for-action Rangers, even if I was completely innocent.


    Which I was. Innocent, that is. Most of the time.


    We spent a moment staring at Ponticus, before Maximus spoke up.


    ¡°It¡¯s clear you¡¯re heavy on gemstones. Please set them down, and step away from them. At the end of this, you¡¯ll get them back, but we¡¯d prefer for you to not have loaded unknown gems at the ready.¡±


    Ponticus¡¯s hands clenched and unclenched, as he blinked rapidly, looking from face to face. I was the friendliest-looking one, with only a frown, maybe a tear leaking from one eye.


    Tear? What tear? I wasn¡¯t crying.


    His shoulders slumped, and he slowly ¨C oh so slowly, in a ¡°please don¡¯t murder me where I sit¡± way, reached into his tunic, and brought out a long strip of cloth, with gems interwoven into it. A dizzying array of gems and colors. Diamond. Ruby. Emerald, sapphire, purple and green and red, throwing all sorts of colors everywhere.


    I saw a few eyebrows go up. This was clearly somewhat unexpected.


    The sash of gems, as I was calling it, was passed off to Maximus, who started staring intently at it, muttering under his breath, checking every gem before moving onto the next one. The rest of us stared at Ponticus silently, as he sweated.


    ¡°Wha-what¡¯s this all about?¡± He asked. We continued staring at him, waiting for Maximus. For what else, I didn¡¯t know.


    Ponticus seemed to come to a decision, crossed his arms, and sat back, silently staring back at us. After an indeterminate amount of time, Maximus spoke up.


    ¡°Can you please demonstrate that your secondary class is Light healer?¡± He asked.


    The not-at-all-reluctant cannibal snorted.


    ¡°Sure, let me pull a knife so you can all blast me away and claim I attacked you.¡± He said derisively.


    I felt, rather than saw, Artemis roll her eyes, as she launched a tiny pebble at his finger, neatly severing off a fingertip. Ponticus screamed and fell to the floor, as the other Rangers tensed up.


    I started to take a step forward ¨C damnit Artemis, you knew I¡¯d have to help, why do it? ¨C when Ponticus stopped yelling, and presented a whole, complete hand. A standard trick of a Light healer, along with other elements associated with it.


    ¡°Happy?¡± He asked in a nasty tone.


    Most of us relaxed.


    ¡°Yes, sorry.¡± Julius spoke up for the first time. ¡°We¡¯re fairly certain one of the healers is causing the plague, and we needed to establish your elements. Being a Gemstone-aligned Artisan made it both easy and hard with you.¡±


    He paused a moment to let that sink in.


    ¡°Please stay in the room. Feel free to use defensive skills if you think you¡¯re under attack, but don¡¯t leave. We¡¯re all twitchy here.¡± He said.


    Ponticus nodded furiously at that.


    ¡°I¡¯m never leaving the capital again.¡± He vowed as we started to leave. ¡°Never, ever, ever.¡±


    I rolled my eyes at his cowardice. Expensive gems like that, and not one, but two high-income classes, all while probably being a Citizen and male? He had it made, and was whining about small problems. Toughen up.


    We left the room, having a quick meeting together.


    ¡°Thoughts?¡± Julius asked.


    ¡°Clean.¡±


    ¡°Clear.¡±


    ¡°Not our man.¡±


    ¡°Exceedingly unlikely to be the cause of this disease. Unless he¡¯s managed to set up an array somewhere to quietly pump the town full, but that doesn¡¯t match up with Origen¡¯s murder, nor does he have anything deactivated on his gems that could do it.¡± Maximus gave a long analysis. We had to trust him on it, none of us had that level of knowledge and expertise in the System.


    ¡°Next?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Caecilius, the [Plague Healer].¡± Julius said grimly. ¡°If he¡¯s clear, he¡¯s a powerful asset.¡±


    We marched down the hallway to where his room was, and entered like before, one at a time. Caecilius was in the room, looking calm, while his twitchy apprentice looked even worse than before.


    I narrowed my eyes at him. We¡¯d been looking at the main healers, but what about the apprentices?


    I quickly used [Identify] on him. Almost the same level as me, if not lower level. Most likely didn¡¯t have the needed magical OOMPH to murder a bunch of people, including downing Origen quickly.


    And his level would be much higher after that much killing that much.


    ¡°What can I do for you?¡± Caecilius asked calmly. ¡°There¡¯s clearly some sort of bother, to have you all riled up.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d like you to remove the sack on your head first please.¡± Julius said. ¡°We recognize that the plague¡¯s spreading via eye contact, and we have some questions for you. Serious ones.¡±


    Caecilius slowly took the bag off his head, to show the visage of an old, old man. His sharp, intelligent eyes slowly looked at each of us, one at a time, like he was the one interrogating us. They looked distant, like there was a deep fog present in his eyes, waiting to burst out and cover the town. Mist.


    ¡°Ah,¡± He said softly. ¡°there¡¯s been a loss. I¡¯m so sorry.¡±


    ¡°Healer Caecilius.¡± Julius said softly, firmly, treating him with kid gloves. Interesting. ¡°I apologize, but we have reason to believe that it¡¯s a Classer responsible for this plague. Furthermore, we believe it¡¯s one of the healers. Could we get a demonstration of your classes please, to rule you out?¡±


    ¡°What sort of vile man would deliberately inflict so much suffering?¡± Caecilius¡¯s veins were bulging, his nostrils flared in anger. ¡°It¡¯s a violation of all we hold sacred! Why, I ¨C¡°


    His apprentice fortunately interrupted him.


    ¡°Master, that¡¯s what the Rangers are here for. Give them a hand?¡± He said.


    ¡°Ahem, right.¡± Caecilius coughed awkwardly. ¡°I hope you don¡¯t mind a demonstration?¡±


    Julius shook his head.


    ¡°Kinda hoping for one yeah.¡± Artemis said, with a faux casualness that I knew hid a tightly, tightly wound spring. One crossed wire, one errant twitch, and KABLOOY! She¡¯d explode into action, and someone would probably also be exploding.


    ¡°Right. First, [Mist of Rejuvenation].¡±


    Caecilius dramatically spread his arms, and a light, airy mist appeared around him, slowly moving to coat us.


    It felt good, like the best spray of mist on a hot day, energizing me, filling me with happiness and glee. Some minor scrape I hadn¡¯t even noticed until now itched as it healed rapidly.


    ¡°Very good.¡± Julius said. ¡°Can we see your second class please?¡±


    ¡°Naturally. Please be warned, this skill is bright, and potentially blinding. [All is Purified before the Sun].¡±


    A blinding light came from Caecilius, burning away the mist, causing us to turn away at the brightness. It quickly faded, and we turned back to him, and the incredibly spotless room. No grime. No mud. There wasn¡¯t even dust left in the air.


    I quickly glanced down. Armor was spotless. That was a handy skill. Kallisto would be pleased he¡¯d have less of my armor needing to be cleaned.


    ¡°Radiance.¡± Maximus said, eyebrows quirking up.


    Julius half-bowed to Caecilius.


    ¡°Thank you. I apologize again for the imposition.¡±


    ¡°Let me come with you. Someone spreading a plague? I-I-I-¡°


    Julius could see where this was going.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you stay behind us, in the hallway? You can listen in, and if a problem occurs, you can use some of that healing mist or burning radiance to give us a hand. We¡¯d prefer someone without a combat class to not be in the room, but we¡¯d appreciate you lending a hand.¡± Julius said.


    The [Plague Healer] got up, anger at the unknown plague carrier on his face. Couldn¡¯t be good for his heart, not at his age.


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t have a combat class.¡± The twitchy apprentice said, pointing to me.


    I grinned maniacally, pointing a finger up, flames erupting from them.


    ¡°I don¡¯t?¡± I asked, savoring the look on his face.


    Priceless.

 Chapter 85– Plague XV

    ¡°Right, we still need to talk with Verta, Berucus, Glacius, Hesoid, and Markus.¡± Julius summarized for us once we got out. ¡°I¡¯m not sure if we should talk with Markus first or last. If he¡¯s the problem, and his apprentices are in on it, it¡¯s going to be a fight.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯s a fight, why don¡¯t we separate them first, then talk to them one at a time? If one of the apprentices cracks, we can hit them all first, before tackling Markus.¡± Arthur said.


    Julius nodded agreement.


    ¡°Right, order¡¯s going to be Berucus, Glacius, Verta, Hesoid, then Markus.¡± Julius said.


    We filed along to the next room, where Berucus was located. We filed in, one at a time, the [Plague Healer] staying in the hallway.


    ¡°What!¡± Berucus said, jumping up. ¡°You already handed me over to Verta and the other town healers, and it¡¯s been hell. I haven¡¯t done anything else wrong, please, you gotta believe me. I don¡¯t know what Verta¡¯s said, but I¡¯ve stayed honest!¡±


    His tone lowered.


    ¡°Please, is there any chance I could be sold into slavery for a few years instead? Being under Verta¡¯s command is hell. They all hate me. They hate me passionately, and they¡¯re not afraid to show it. Please!¡± He begged us.


    I recoiled slightly in surprise at the strength of the emotions in his words. It seemed like the justice the healers had decided to mete out was to make Berucus subordinate to Verta, and the other town healers. The ones whose friends and family he¡¯d been harming by not properly healing them.


    Or maybe, he¡¯d been seeding the plague, under the guise of getting repeat business.


    ¡°We¡¯re here on a different matter.¡± Julius said grimly. ¡°It¡¯s become clear now that someone¡¯s been deliberately spreading the plague, and, well, you allowing plague patients to walk away from your clinic, still infected, is a bad look. We need to know your second class and element please.¡±


    If possible, Berucus got even paler.


    ¡°I have no way of demonstrating my second class.¡± He said.


    Glances all around. Hands tightened on weapons. Arthur fully drew his bow, waiting on a signal. Artemis was the only one unchanged, but she was in a perpetual state of being on edge, lightning bolts needing no wind-up time.


    ¡°Right, I hope you understand when we ask you to discharge all your mana please.¡± Julius ordered curtly. Our speedy leader called over his shoulder.


    ¡°Guards! We need rope, cloth, and a guard here please.¡±


    A moment later, four guards came in.


    ¡°This him?¡± They asked, watching Berucus slowly discharging his mana by constantly casting skills.


    ¡°We¡¯re unsure, but we can¡¯t verify he¡¯s not. We¡¯d like you all to keep an eye on him while we talk to the other suspects.¡±


    Julius paused a moment, looking at them.


    ¡°It shouldn¡¯t take us more than a few hours. He might be innocent. We¡¯d like him in one piece please.¡±


    Berucus started crying, which was awkward for all of us. One of the guards applied what I recognized as [Guardsman¡¯s Buff], the same skill dad had, which ate up all of his regeneration to boost his vitality. Artemis lightly danced over, tapped him with her hand, and danced back. Her own disabling skill, just in case.


    We left him tied up, blindfolded, four guards with their weapons drawn ¨C their everyday-carry knives, not their batons, for a lethality that the guard didn¡¯t usually go for ¨C as we quickly discussed before moving on.


    ¡°On one hand, he has a dozen markers of the source of the plague.¡± Kallisto said. ¡°On the other, he¡¯s either an extremely good actor, or just flat-out doesn¡¯t have the mental fortitude to be murdering thousands of people.¡±


    ¡°We know this person¡¯s a good actor; they¡¯ve blended in this long.¡± Artemis pointed out.


    ¡°Let¡¯s move on. I¡¯m not convinced yet that he¡¯s done it, but it¡¯s a distinct possibility.¡± Julius said.


    We moved onto Glacia¡¯s room next. We filed in, and her bodyguard stepped forward, loyally protecting and defending her, even against the might of the Rangers, horribly outnumbered.


    ¡°Stand down.¡± Glacia said, in a male voice. I narrowed my eyes. Was she a he, and had been tricking me?


    ¡°Glacius. I apologize for the intrusion.¡± Julius said. ¡°There¡¯s a classer on the loose, one creating a virulent plague. Your abilities are demonstrably wide-area, and Elaine¡¯s let us know you¡¯ve been keeping secrets, one way or another. I hope you understand when we say we need a demonstration.¡±


    Glacia held her hand up. ¡°Fine. I¡¯m going to use a skill to mute sound from escaping the room. Please do not be alarmed.¡± She said in a masculine voice.


    A snap of her fingers, and the same clear, shimmering barrier we spoke in the first time showed up.


    ¡°Elaine, I¡¯m disappointed in you.¡± Glacia said with a feminine voice, slowly unwrapping herself. ¡°I thought I could trust you.¡± She said with a voice full of hurt.


    I couldn¡¯t look her in the eyes. I felt bad.


    ¡°Don¡¯t blame her too much. Someone killed one of our teammates, and frankly, you¡¯re looking likely.¡±


    ¡°Why, because I have the audacity to be disguised as a man, just to be treated equally?¡± She snapped out bitterly.


    ¡°No, because the skills you¡¯ve told us about are wide-ranging, you mentioned you can create nearly any type of effect, you have a demonstrated history of lying, and the plague recently got stronger, right as you classed up.¡± Julius rattled off the points on his fingers.


    ¡°Can¡¯t be her.¡± The bodyguard said with a grunt. ¡°We showed up months after the plague started. Shouldn¡¯t that be enough to rule her out?¡±


    Julius turned and looked at him.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯d be enough. Could anyone vouch for you?¡±


    ¡°Markus. Hesoid. Caecilius.¡± Glacia rattled off almost immediately.


    Artemis and Julius exchanged a look, while Arthur, Kallisto, and Maximus kept their weapons trained on Glacia and her bodyguard. Possibly husband? Friend? Was more than just a bodyguard to be sure, for her to trust him with her secrets like this.


    ¡°Right, we¡¯ll check. Stay put please. Feel free to use defensive skills if you think you¡¯re under attack from this Classer, but don¡¯t do anything that might be interpreted as an attack.¡±


    We filed out, and had a quick talk with Caecilius. He confirmed that Glacia had arrived far after the plague had started. Something we could¡¯ve checked before, but we wanted to shake the tree and see what fell out.


    We went to Verta¡¯s room next, and filed in.


    Julius went for the silent treatment, just staring at her with his arms crossed. She started back.


    ¡°Fine, you got me.¡± She said, and my mouth almost fell open in surprise. ¡°But I¡¯m not giving up who my compatriots are.¡±


    I tensed up, ready for a fight. I couldn¡¯t believe it was Verta! Strangely, nobody else was tensing up.


    ¡°So we¡¯re clear here,¡± Julius said clinically. ¡°Are you confessing to being a revolutionary, or the one creating and distributing the plague?¡±


    Verta went white, then green, followed by a lovely shade of red, right back to white.


    ¡°I, uh, um-¡° she stuttered out, hand over her mouth, looking back and forth wildly between us.


    ¡°Revolutionary then.¡± Julius sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. ¡°Let me guess. Surrounded by the 3rd, thinking it was unfair, getting together with other like-minded people to break out, or at least go down swinging, using your spot as a healer to act as central communication, if not one of the leaders outright from your demonstrated leadership and organizational skills. Did I miss anything?¡± He said.


    Verta looked like she could be knocked over with a feather. After a few moments of doing her best fish impression, she shook her head. Words had failed her entirely.


    ¡°Any idea on who the source of the plague could be? We think it¡¯s one of the healers.¡± Julius said.


    Verta just shook her head mutely.


    ¡°Listen,¡± Artemis said, interrupting. ¡°here, today, right now, we don¡¯t care about your plots and schemes. We¡¯re going to figure out who¡¯s doing this, and cut off the source of the plague. Don¡¯t cause any trouble, and we won¡¯t bother you before we leave. Take it from me though ¨C don¡¯t try violence. The 3rd¡¯s all too happy to continue justifying their existence, and they¡¯ve put down rebellions ten times as large, with people twice your level leading them. You¡¯ll do more good for whatever cause you think you¡¯re fighting for by being friends with, or annoying, your town¡¯s Senator. Take it from me.¡±


    I looked around, at the other Rangers pretending they¡¯d suddenly gone deaf. More undercurrents I didn¡¯t know about, and, well, when in Remus¡­


    There wasn¡¯t anything else to do, and we awkwardly left the room, and headed over to Hesoid¡¯s room. We paused outside the door.


    Quietly, Julius said to all of us. ¡°I¡¯m not liking this. There¡¯s quite a few factors pointing to Hesoid right now. He was here before the plague started. He¡¯s not a proper healer. He has good cause to be angry at people. His rate of leveling is absurd. Artemis, Arthur, he so much as twitches in a way you don¡¯t like, open fire. You¡¯ll get no second guesses from me on this one.¡±


    He gave Artemis a significant look, which she just brushed off. The nameless healer¡¯s death meant nothing to her, was just another casualty. He was letting her know that there was no problem here.


    We filed into the room, only for Hesoid to smile and wave at us.


    ¡°Hey! What can I do for you all?¡± He asked, still bare-chested, scars coating his chest. His words about ¡®his little revenge¡¯ echoed through my mind, making me eye him up. Maybe his revenge was not so little after all?


    Julius gave him the silent treatment, only for Hesoid to smile even more while looking at us. Patience. Patience was the name of the game, to see if he¡¯d crack under the silence and start talking.


    I haaaattteeeed being patient, at being so quiet and still. I¡¯d pulled it off for the others, but only because they started talking so early.


    ¡°Well, we¡¯re here to-¡° I started to say, only for Julius to cut me off with a slice of his hand.


    ¡°Here to what?¡± Hesoid asked innocently. I got evil eyes from most of the other Rangers, promising an ungodly number of push ups and other terrible retribution waiting for me down the line.


    Damnit.


    Julius sighed.


    ¡°Here to check if you¡¯re the source of the plague. Sorry. We¡¯re checking everyone; we believe it¡¯s one of the healers.¡± He said.


    ¡°Ah, how do you plan on doing that? Ask me if I could poison anyone for you?¡± Hesoid said.


    ¡°No. We¡¯re wondering if we could get a look at your second class.¡± Julius said.


    ¡°Sure. Bring me a tree, or some other plant, and I¡¯ll show you a harvesting skill. My other class is a [Fieldhand] variant, Wind-aligned.¡± He said.


    Kallisto poked his head out of the door, and had a quick chat with one of the guards. A few minutes of silent staring later, with me mostly looking at my feet in shame at having talked out of turn earlier, and a potted plant was brought to us.


    Strange that they had those here. Then again, why not have something inside the temple for a bit of greenery?


    ¡°Permission to use a skill?¡± Hesoid asked.


    ¡°Granted.¡± Julius said.


    With a blur of motion, Hesoid¡¯s hand moved all over the tree, leaves shaking and falling, and his hands expertly catching and stacking every leaf.


    ¡°Tada!¡± He announced.


    We all looked at Maximus, who sucked in some air through his teeth.


    ¡°Skill. Not stats.¡± Was his verdict. I wish I knew how he¡¯d figured it out.


    Julius nodded. ¡°Thank you, we appreciate the demonstration.¡± He said, surprising me by turning and filing out.


    Caecilius looked at us, and raised an eyebrow, asking a question. Julius shrugged, then we huddled up and started to talk.


    ¡°Thoughts?¡± Julius asked once we were all outside.


    ¡°I hate to say it, but clear.¡± Maximus said grouchily. ¡°That was totally a skill being used there.¡±


    ¡°Hang on, something¡¯s bothering me.¡± I said.


    ¡°Same here.¡± Arthur and Artemis chimed in unison.


    ¡°[Veil]. Speak.¡± Julius ordered. I threw up [Veil], excluding Caecilius.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t it be his main class?¡± Artemis asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s the one that concerned me as well. Murder on that scale would cause so much leveling, if his class was secondary, it should now be primary.¡± Arthur pointed out.


    ¡°Decay doesn¡¯t have plagues in them.¡± Maximus said.


    ¡°Well, why not? And how do we know he¡¯s decay?¡± I fired back. Bacteria caused decay!


    ¡°Well, he told us he¡¯s Decay, and his eyes indicate that.¡± Maximus said defensively.


    ¡°Decay looks like swirling darkness?¡± I asked, confirming.


    ¡°Well, ah. I see the problem.¡± Maximus said. ¡°He¡¯s the first Decay I¡¯ve met, and there are more elements I¡¯ve never seen.¡±


    ¡°We need to get him to demonstrate his main class.¡± Julius said. ¡°Not by healing a patient.¡±


    With horror I put two pieces of the puzzle together, whispered them out so softly, I could barely hear them. [Veil] stopped outside noise, allowing the other Rangers to hear me.


    ¡°If he¡¯s a Decay mage, he should¡¯ve been able to hit Cholera.¡± I whispered. ¡°He said he could only hit the first plague. If he¡¯s responsible, he could probably handle his own plague. But not others.¡±


    Dead silence. There wasn¡¯t even a rustle of clothes, a clink of armor, not even a breath taken.


    ¡°Go hard?¡± Artemis asked.


    Julius closed his eyes. The weight of responsibility. The pressure of command. It was on his shoulders. His word, his action, the wrong twitch of his head, would consign a man to death. Possibly an innocent man. All on my half-remembered knowledge.


    ¡°Go hard.¡± Julius ordered.


    ¡°Everyone, form up.¡±


    The advantage to my shield ¨C nobody could see what we were doing. Nobody could see rocks hovering around Artemis, a sign she was ready to fire dozens of them off. Nobody could see Arthur, drawing his bow to full, additional arrows hung loose in his hand, ready to flip into position to fire faster. Nobody could see Maximus, cursing softly as he put away his weapon, drawing some weapons that only looked like throwing knives. Nobody could see Julius in a sprinter¡¯s crouch, ready to get up close and personal in case our initial barrage failed to kill him. Nobody saw Kallisto, kneeling in front of us with his shield ready, giving us clear lines of fire, while ready to pop up and take the brunt of any retaliation.


    The most dangerous spot of all, more likely to take a bolt in the back than something from the front. Complete and total trust in us to not hit him anyways.


    Lastly, me, in the back. Not preparing a single Fire skill.


    Even against a mass murderer, I couldn¡¯t attack him first. A fight would have to be self-defense. I needed to never let my [Oath] details slip again.


    ¡°Elaine, your orders.¡± Julius said quickly, in his crouch. ¡°The guards are going to be in our line of fire. We¡¯re going through them, with no warning. Heal them. Keep them alive. Try to talk with the other guards, stop them from coming down on our head. Caecilius should help with his presence, and his healing. Make sure he doesn¡¯t heal Hesoid.¡±


    We turned to the side of the [Veil of the Aurora] where Hesoid¡¯s room was, where he was sitting, waiting, unaware that the execution squad was coming.


    ¡°Three. Two. One. GO!¡± Julius said, and many, many things happened, more or less all at once.


    Artemis knew me, probably better than I knew myself. Her first wave of rocks, scattered like buckshot in a wide arc, was launched at her usual blistering rate before [Veil] was even down. The goal was to take out the door, the walls, turn them into sharp shrapnel to pepper the room with lethal debris, and to clear our line of sight and movement for everyone else. This was the attack that was going ¡°through¡± the guards posted on the door, and we were all praying that it wasn¡¯t immediately lethal, that they could hold on for the few seconds needed for me to get to them.


    That the injuries weren¡¯t so bad that I wouldn¡¯t be able to stabilize two of them; that I wouldn¡¯t be made to choose which one lived, and which one died.


    [Veil] went down, and the first wave of shots went through the guards, the door, and the walls, smoke and dust exploding into the hallway, obscuring my vision.


    From the actions of everyone else, I¡¯m not sure their vision was obscured.


    The guards screamed and started to go down hard, as a second and third wave of rocks came from Artemis, going right over the heads of the downed guards. Lightning was avoided, either because she couldn¡¯t actually see, she wanted to hold something in reserve, or that dust + lightning was potentially lethal to us.


    Arthur fired off an arrow, then three more in rapid succession, taking less than a second to fire them all. Skills demonstrating their use, no human archer from Earth could pull, aim, and fire that fast. And he was aiming. He notched a fifth arrow, but held it back.


    Maximus was the jack of all trades, master of none. He could fill any role, and he threw out several waves of throwing knives, before grabbing his main weapon and moving in behind Julius.


    Julius had waited for the initial set of barrages to go off before charging in, which in practice meant he waited a single second before moving. The wall wasn¡¯t even done falling before he moved.


    I didn¡¯t have nearly the stats or the skills Julius had. However, once he was off, I was running as well, less than a heartbeat later, a fraction of a second. The guards were finishing collapsing, having been torn apart by Artemis¡¯s buckshot. I slid down next to them, not wanting to foul anyone¡¯s line of fire, touching them both, not bothering checking their injuries, just focused on healing them, forcing [Phases of the Moon] through them as hard as I could, working on making them whole and healthy.


    I used the image of a crescent moon becoming full. It was better than no image at all, and seemed appropriate with the skill¡¯s name, and my alignment as a Celestial healer. I felt my mana drain at an alarming rate, nearly emptying out. A combination of their terrible injuries, and my poor image.


    They were alive though.


    [*Ding!* Your Party has slain a [Pestilence of Hatred] (Miasma, lv 260)//[Quick Field Hand] (Wind, lv 144)]


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 15]


    [Mana: 9740/9740]


    [Mana Regen: 14491]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 30]


    [Strength: 37]


    [Dexterity: 129]


    [Vitality: 90]


    [Speed: 130]


    [Mana: 974]


    [Mana Regeneration: 1695]


    [Magic Power: 869]


    [Magic Control: 1445]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 162]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 162]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 126]


    [Medicine: 153]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 128]


    [Phases of the Moon: 154]


    [Moonlight: 1]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 111]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 128]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 39]]


    [Fire Affinity: 39]


    [Fire Resistance: 39]


    [Fire Conjuration: 39]


    [Fire Manipulation: 39]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 34]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 81]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 80]


    [Pretty: 101]


    [Vigilant: 110]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 139]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 67]


    [Running: 74]


    [Learning: 122]

 Chapter 86– Plague XVI

    ¡°Got him.¡± Everyone said, almost in unison, like a practiced motion. Caecilius was a bit slow on the uptake, only just now casting his Radiance skill, burning and purifying the dust in the air, giving me a clear view of what was going on. I took a quick glance at him. He looked sweaty and nervous, and I could see why Julius didn¡¯t want him near the action. With reflexes like those?


    The dust was clear, and I could see Hesoid¡¯s body. Rather, it was more mauled and pasted flesh that had formerly been his body, on the ground, in the ruined remains of the chair and table. Rocks had ripped through his limbs and peppered his body. Four arrows were in his chest, in a neat diamond. A single throwing knife was in his leg ¨C not Maximus¡¯s finest moment. His head was cleanly separated from his neck, from what I could only assume was Julius¡¯s work. It was too clean to be Artemis¡¯s work.


    This didn¡¯t feel like a fight, so much an execution or assassination. Immediate, overwhelming force with no warning at all. Best way to handle a Classer, someone who could, and from the notifications, was, killing thousands of people.


    Speaking of notifications, I probably had a half-dozen of them I needed to check on in a moment. The pounding of guards coming over in a hurry stopped me from checking, and prompted me to double-check what was going on with the guards under my hands.


    They were shaking and nervous, understandably so ¨C they¡¯d been on more or less normal guard duty, when outta nowhere they were bombarded with an attack. To them, it seemed like the Rangers randomly fired and attacked them, only to heal them up a moment later. A confusing, and not very fun, position to be in.


    ¡°Just stay still.¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯ll be OK. We figured it was Hesoid causing the plague, and we didn¡¯t want to give him a moment to react.¡±


    The guards were slightly calmed by that, and my [Warmth of the Sun] was doing some solid work, but they decided that staying on the ground was the right way to stay alive. Rangers walking around killing people and all that.


    The guards rounded the corner in force, batons out and ready.


    ¡°We got him.¡± Julius said grimly. ¡°Miasma element, the class name made it clear he created the plague.¡±


    ¡°Can anyone confirm that?¡± One of the younger guards shouted out.


    Julius just stared at him. Several of the other guards also turned slightly to stare at him. He wilted under the pressure.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± He muttered, looking down.


    ¡°Right. I don¡¯t want to explain this a dozen times, why don¡¯t we round up everyone who wants to be present in the main hall, and I can explain this once?¡± Julius said. ¡°It¡¯s been a hard day on everyone, if someone decides they don¡¯t want to be present, they don¡¯t have to be.¡±


    All but four guards ran off. Two were still on the ground, but slowly coming to the realization that no, they weren¡¯t in trouble, and yes, they were going to live, and ¡®why did I ever sign up to be a guard¡¯ was 50-50 on running through their mind.


    ¡°Bring us to our teammate¡¯s body.¡± Julius said somberly. I glanced back at the two guards on the ground. They looked fine. I healed them again, just to make sure.


    We moved through the hallways, to a room where Origen¡¯s body lay. Julius walked up to him, then unbuckled some armor, looking intently at his skin, at the tattoos all over his body. Maximus looked over his shoulder.


    After some soft muttering and pointing, Julius closed the armor, put his hand on Origen¡¯s forehead, and bowed his head slightly forward, closing his eyes. Everyone else repeated the motion, and I mimicked it, trying to fit in, seeing that it was the right thing to do.


    ¡°Origen, my teammate, my friend. You were one of the bravest, most intelligent warriors I¡¯ve ever known. You looked at the town you lived in, that you loved so much, and found a way to improve it, make it better for all your kinsmen. Your selfless impulse led you down this path, not as strong as other warriors. Not as quick. But you found ways to make yourself stronger, quicker. You found ways to make the rest of your team stronger, quicker. You gave up personal glory, for the betterment of all.¡±


    Like a chant, a ritual, one known to all the Rangers but not me, everyone said in unison.


    ¡°Brave Ranger. Your time to rest has come. May White Dove take you to a better place. Your deeds will not be forgotten. We will remember you.¡±


    Short. Simple. I seared those words into my mind. I burned Origen¡¯s smiling face, his twitchy beard, his shoulders which could say so much, into my memory. Below Lyra¡¯s face.


    I will not forget you. I vowed, a second name added, a second memory to treasure and preserve.


    I opened my eyes, wiping the tears off my face, seeing everyone else still half-bowed, eyes closed, in their own personal recollections of Origen.


    Half of a Ranger team doesn¡¯t make it through each round on average. The words echoed in my mind, and I looked around the room.


    Looked at Artemis.


    This was her 7th round. Six rounds before this one, average of four teammates lost, another three lost so far this round. 27 teammates lost. 27 times she¡¯d bowed her head, recited the words, added another face to her list of memories. Maybe more, she¡¯d mentioned a team wipe at one point. Maybe less ¨C it was only an average.


    Those were just her teammates. Her friends and family from when she grew up. She never talked about them, and I knew it was because, apart from my mom and dad, they too, were all dead.


    It hit me then, the sheer force of how much Artemis had to be holding back, holding in. That life as a Ranger meant constant loss, constant death.


    Why Julius had such a fire to get a healer on the team, even if it was a young, green teenager.


    One by one we opened our eyes, tilting our heads up, waiting in utter silence for the rest to finish. There wasn¡¯t a single dry eye, not even Arthur¡¯s.


    Julius was the last to finish, taking twice as long as anyone else.


    ¡°Right, let¡¯s take his body to the Argo, then handle things here.¡± He said.


    We all helped lift him up, in spite of Kallisto probably being able to do it single-handedly. Arthur with his arms down, to me with my arms almost over my head. We solemnly went through the halls, emptier than ever, then out the door, and placed his body in the Argo.


    ¡°Right. I don¡¯t mean to be callous, but we need to finish handling things here.¡± Julius said with a slight sniffle.


    Reluctant nods went around the room, and we reentered the temple. We weren¡¯t quite as successful navigating the hallways, and I needed to stop three times to heal someone who was just wandering around the temple, looking lost.


    The Pyronox doors were back in place, and we entered, a radically different entrance from the first time we came in, capes sweeping behind us. We were dusty, dirty, and tear-streaked.


    A commotion started once we entered, and Julius lifted a hand.


    Dead silence spread across the room.


    ¡°You¡¯ve probably all heard pieces of the story by now.¡± He started off. ¡°This plague was caused by a Classer. Hesoid. We caught and executed him earlier today. Any questions?¡±


    A moment of silence, then the hall, filled with guards, healers, previously unseen priests, and quite a few people ¨C likely people looking for healing that got healed while everyone was waiting for us ¨C exploded in sound, as everyone had a question.


    Glacia, wrapped back up like a mummy, slipped up next to Julius, and with a few deft strokes of her harp, complete silence descended upon the room. She pointed to someone, and suddenly we could hear him, and only him speak.


    He asked a question. Julius answered. Back and forth it went, questions, answers, sometimes questions that Julius could only shrug and say ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Like ¡°Does this mean the plague will just vanish?¡±


    The question that made me deeply uncomfortable was. ¡°How did you figure it out?¡± Julius promptly gave me full credit for it, completely glossing over the fact that it¡¯d been a team effort to investigate the cause. The rest of the team showed their affection in various ways at that, from Artemis¡¯s reassuring shoulder squeeze, to Kallisto doing a full-on headlock and rubbing his knuckles on my hair.


    After what must¡¯ve been half an hour or so, most of the questions had been answered, most of the non-healers had drifted away.


    ¡°Now what?¡± Berucus asked, as we huddled closer.


    ¡°A mass heal event.¡± I promptly answered. ¡°It failed last time due to sabotage. Both plague¡¯s sources have been cut off, the only thing left is remaining human to human transmission. Cleanse everyone in the city, and the problem should be over.¡±


    There was quite a lot of discussion over that idea, but in the end, we decided to do it, with the Ranger name being leaned on heavily to make it work. Me being given credit as the woman of the hour helped push the idea through for the other healers. The prior failure of the healers to make it work had somewhat tainted the idea, but Rangers putting their name on the second attempt should make it work.


    That was the idea, anyways.


    The meeting finally broke up after that, and we met back up at the Argo quickly. I decided to quickly check my notifications, after having put them off for so long.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 163! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Celestial Affinity] has reached level 163!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 155!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 156!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 154!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Warmth of the Sun] has reached level 127!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 140!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Running] has reached level 75!]


    I had a feeling ¨C no way of actually knowing ¨C that my experience and gains were due to saving the two guards, and not at all related to Hesoid. My only real evidence for that was [Veil] failing to level up.


    ¡°Tonight, we lay Origen to rest. However, there¡¯s still a good portion of the day left. I¡¯m going to visit the 3rd, and have a chat with them. Partially to let them know what¡¯s going on with the plague, and partially to see what exactly happened with them letting some people out of the city, then immediately closing it. Something about that smells, and now that the plague¡¯s hopefully winding down, we can spare some attention to it.¡±


    Julius spent a moment eyeing up each of us, some calculus known only to him running through his mind.


    ¡°Arthur.¡± He finally decided. ¡°You¡¯re with Elaine the rest of today. Artemis, everyone else, you¡¯re with me.¡±


    We all had questions. Nobody argued. We had too much to do.


    Arthur and I headed to my workroom, tripping over and healing a half-dozen patients along the way. What were the guards doing? People shouldn¡¯t be leaking through the temple like this.


    Along the way, after pausing to heal another person who was lost and wandering the hallways, we passed Markus¡¯s workroom.


    ¡°Hang on.¡± I said, knocking politely on the door. I¡¯d thought it was rude when Markus just barged in on me, I wouldn¡¯t do the same back.


    ¡°Enter.¡± Markus said.


    I popped my head in, looking at his set up. Four apprentices had their own little desk, with Markus having a larger workstation behind them. Dark flames flickered behind him, giving the whole place an ominous feel. Or perhaps a reassuring feel, seeing that much healing power on casual display. What did I know. People went up to the apprentice, got healed, paid their due, then went up to Markus, who finished healing them, checking over the apprentice¡¯s work. Clever that, having all the ire of paying money deflected onto the apprentice.


    ¡°Elaine!¡± He called out cheerfully, waving me over. I came over, Arthur bending under the door to follow in. Doors weren¡¯t built to Arthur-size, or rather, Arthur wasn¡¯t built door-sized.


    ¡°Congratulations again on your accomplishment! Your work is amazing. What can I do for you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to borrow Herodotos.¡± I said. ¡°Have him collect patients for me.¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± Markus said. ¡°I regret that we haven¡¯t had time to listen to one of your lectures. I¡¯m really beating myself up over that. From the sound of it though, you have so much more to teach than can be captured in a lecture or two.¡±


    He called Herodotos over, then hummed to himself, fingers drumming on the desk.


    ¡°It¡¯s a shame that you¡¯re leaving, and that you can¡¯t write. Maybe you could ask the Rangers for lessons, then make a manual, explaining all the medical things you know. If I recall, the Ranger Headquarters are in the capital. I¡¯d pay handsomely for a manual written by you, with everything you know. Maybe a project for when you¡¯re on the road?¡±


    My eyes narrowed at him. The idea was solid, but¡­


    ¡°I can read and write.¡± I said coldly, as I turned and left, Herodotos in tow.


    ¡°Whoops, sorry!¡± Markus called out, chagrin in his voice as I left.


    We made it to my workroom, where I assigned Herodotos to only grab the sickest patients, no matter what the age. If this plague was winding down ¨C which it better be ¨C cutting off the sickest people from healing might save the most lives. It¡¯d be so much faster to get every person healed if you ignored the few massive resource drains in favor of getting the plague cured faster.


    I ignored the little voice telling me that it might take long enough to work through every person in town that this was the wrong call. I had to have faith in myself. I could do this.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 15]


    [Mana: 9910/9910]


    [Mana Regen: 14691]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 42]


    [Strength: 37]


    [Dexterity: 129]


    [Vitality: 90]


    [Speed: 130]


    [Mana: 991]


    [Mana Regeneration: 1715]


    [Magic Power: 883]


    [Magic Control: 1463]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 163]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 163]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 127]


    [Medicine: 154]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 128]


    [Phases of the Moon: 156]


    [Moonlight: 1]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 111]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 128]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 39]]


    [Fire Affinity: 39]


    [Fire Resistance: 39]


    [Fire Conjuration: 39]


    [Fire Manipulation: 39]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 32]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 81]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 80]


    [Pretty: 101]


    [Vigilant: 110]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 140]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 67]


    [Running: 74]


    [Learning: 122]

 Chapter 87– Plague XVII

    The day didn¡¯t end up being that long or grueling, from a healing perspective. It didn¡¯t stop me from beating myself up, thoughts going round and round in circles.


    All the pieces of the puzzle had been there. All the little things about Hesoid, and the plague, hadn¡¯t added up properly. If only I¡¯d been able to see clearly, earlier. If only I¡¯d put it together. If only I didn¡¯t have the doubts plaguing me. If only I was more confident, more self-assured. If only I knew more about magic and the System. If only I had more lessons from Julius, from Kallisto, in investigations, into solving puzzles when people murdered other people. I could¡¯ve put it together. I could¡¯ve seen he was the one doing it.


    I could¡¯ve saved Origen. Now, he was gone forever.


    Would Artemis judge me for my failure? Would she look at me with disdain, think it was my fault he was dead?


    I shook my head at that. Focus. Just heal. Save this person. Save the next. Redeem myself in some small way. Origen was dead. These 10, 20, 30, 40 people ¨C they would all live.


    That had to count for something, right?


    I was feeling light-headed and dizzy at the end of the day, when the rest of the Rangers came to tell us they were done, and it was time for Origen¡¯s funeral.


    Artemis gave me a Look, and with a start I realized that without her shoving food in me, I¡¯d completely forgotten to eat. Sheepishly, I took the offered cheese and vegetables, and chowed down as we walked through the hallways back to the Argo. I will admit, the food became a lot less appetizing as I had to heal pus-filled sores, and seeing the occasional bloody footprint. However, I chugged along. I¡¯d seen worse. Kallisto looked positively green seeing me heal someone, then immediately take a big bite of food.


    I made sure to be pretty visible when doing so.


    ¡°How¡¯d it go at the 3rd?¡± Arthur asked.


    Julius half-frowned, half-smiled.


    ¡°Good and bad, depending on how you look at it. On one hand, there was some money changing hands that shouldn¡¯t. On the other, it means that yes, there was a problem, and we had to root it out. Some heads will roll, and one of them will literally roll. On a positive note, sounds like they¡¯re going to de-escalate, and maybe even send a detachment over to help tomorrow, and over the coming week.¡±


    Artemis snorted at that.


    ¡°Yeah, like the 3rd¡¯s ever been helpful before.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re extra bodies.¡±


    ¡°That are more likely to spark a riot than anything else.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ll be under our command.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re just trying to steal our credit and the good PR, hoping that some will rub off on them.¡±


    Julius threw his hands up in frustration.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like I can tell them no! We can only order them around so much!¡±


    We exited the temple, to the alley where the Argo was parked. Artemis had clearly swung by at some point and cleaned it up. The spikes were gone, the earthen walls receded back. There were minor details that spoke to the place having been terraformed recently, a stone too smooth, a wall missing cracks, but by and large Artemis had done a good job.


    There was also a small pyre of wood that¡¯d been collected and neatly stacked in the alleyway.


    Without much fanfare, Origen¡¯s body, stripped of everything but a simple tunic, was placed on the pyre. We looked at it for a brief moment, then Julius unrolled a scroll he¡¯d been holding.


    This was the fanciest scroll I¡¯d ever seen. The back was coated in inscriptions, and it was made out of leather, not bamboo. It was painted in intricate colors, and I saw Julius tucking away a fancy, protective case.


    In other words, this was probably the most important scroll we had with us.


    He scanned through the scroll, until he found the place he was looking for.


    ¡°Origen¡¯s will.¡± Julius announced. Everyone bowed their heads reverently. I copied them, closing my eyes.


    ¡°Nothing of mine is to be burned. I will face the afterlife the way I faced this life, with nothing. I will make of myself what I can.¡±


    ¡°Give my coin to my sister, Asena, in Laconia.¡±


    ¡°For my inscription pens, tools, and notes. Find a boy in Laconia, one who doesn¡¯t want to be a warrior, or who isn¡¯t cut out for it. Pass them onto him. Pass my dream onto him. Teach him that it¡¯s ok to not be a warrior.¡±


    ¡°For my weapons, armor, and other instruments of war that are mine, and not from the Rangers. Give them to the town of Laconia, so another warrior may be better equipped. May it protect them, in the way it didn¡¯t protect me.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t desire a tomb, nor a place to mark my passing, beyond my name on the Indomitable? Wall. I wish to become dust, to fly on the wind, to see all of Pallos in that manner.¡±


    ¡°I hope this is never read, but if it is, I hope I went down swinging. I hope you got whatever killed me. My only regret is that I won¡¯t see Laconia grow and thrive, the way I know it can.¡±


    ¡°My best,¡±


    ¡°Publius Origen Cicero.¡±


    Kallisto cracked up and sobbed, two short, curt sobs. He put a hand on Origen¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°You went down swinging. Be at peace.¡± He softly cried.


    There were a few more minutes, for us to process our feelings, for us to say goodbye in our own quiet, private manner.


    Very private.


    ¡°Elaine. Would you do the honors?¡± Julius asked.


    I stepped up, all eyes on me.


    I needed this to be hot. Hotter than I¡¯d ever done. Hot enough to cremate Origen, hot enough for the bones to turn to dust, for there to be no smell.


    Hot enough to free him, turn him to dust in the wind. Hot enough that all of him could see the entirety of Pallos.


    I glanced at the Argo. I wasn¡¯t full on mana, and even if I was, what I was being asked to do, the temperature I needed, would require not only pulling on the Argo¡¯s reserves, but it¡¯d push my Magic Power to the max.


    Whatever. Failure was not an option.


    Doing this in an alley felt almost irreverent, and somewhat strange. I left that choice to Julius.


    With a small burst of flames at the base of the pyre, I ignited the wood. I stepped back for a moment, leaning against the Argo, pulling mana in. I let fire do what fire did best ¨C grow and spread, as it built up power and momentum burning through the wood.


    I seized control of the flames, a combination of [Conjuration] and [Manipulation] letting me make the flames higher, hotter.


    Bone needed an absurdly high temperature to burn, to turn to ashes, and I kept pushing, pouring more mana into things. The flames got hotter, changing color, from red, to orange, to a pale yellow.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pyromancer] has leveled up to level 40! +5 Free Stats, +14 Mana, +8 Mana Regen, +14 Magic power, +8 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Strength from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Affinity] has reached level 40!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Conjuration] has reached level 40!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Manipulation] has reached level 40!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Resistance] has reached level 40!]


    [*Ding!* For reaching level 40, you¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Burn Brightly]!]


    [Burn Brightly] ¨C You¡¯ve pushed your flames to the limit, and now the limit¡¯s moved. Your flames burn brighter, hotter, stronger, more ferociously.


    I took the skill, and half-staggered as with a mighty roar, the pyre turned into a pillar of flames, the heat pressing on me, in spite of my [Fire Resistance]. The other Rangers backed up in a hurry, with Maximus giving me a knowing look with a quirk of his eyebrows.


    The faint smell of burning changed, things burning so cleanly there was barely a smell. Well, almost ¨C my eyebrows were getting a little crispy, and I had to keep grabbing and putting out little fires being started from the residual heat.


    Burning down the temple was a sure-fire way to start a riot.


    I could hear the notifications as [Burn Brightly] leveled up rapidly, feeling mana course through me as fast as I could draw and use it. It felt like my insides were burning up, and pain started coursing through my body, drawing intricate patterns through my body, as I kept pushing mana out as hard as I could.


    In almost no time at all, the fuel, and Origen¡¯s body, had turned to dust, were nothing more than ashes, as per his final request. A small amount remained behind, only for a light breeze to pass through, picking them up, swirling them away.


    It was probably just my imagination, but I thought I saw a hand, waving goodbye.


    So ended Ranger Origen, brave warrior of Laconia, master Inscriptionist.


    A solemn moment passed.


    Arthur sneezed, and the moment was broken. We went into the wagon, and the last of our beer and good food was broken out. We spent the remainder of the evening getting drunk, and sharing stories of Origen with each other.


    I had the presence of mind to clear the alcohol out of my system before going to sleep, and checking how far [Burn Brightly] had leveled.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Burn Brightly] has reached level 20!]


    We woke up early the next morning, and it was time for the major project. Attempting to cleanse the entire town, chase the last of the disease out of it. This was going to be a massive undertaking, requiring the coordination abilities of dozens of people, and every single healer.


    We dressed to the nines, polishing our armor from yesterday, red capes back in action. When the call had come out that a full-town-cleanse attempt was occurring again, it was under the Ranger name, we were putting our reputation on the line. We needed to be visible, we needed to look good, we needed to inspire confidence that this would work.


    All of us bowed as we passed the front of the temple, a statue of Etalix, The Storm, prominently displayed before the entrance. This one was in a different pose, depicting Etalix emerging ferociously from some sort of cloud.


    A storm cloud? Dust? Ashes? Something else? From what I¡¯d learned of elements, any number of elements could be responsible for the cloud.


    Or was it just another aspect of ¡°Storm¡±?


    Nobody had been able to tell me anything more about the Guardians, although from the way Julius got tight-lipped instead of denying knowledge, let me know he might know a hair. Did he have an unusual upbringing which gave him the knowledge? Or was it something all Ranger team leaders were taught?


    We made it to the main gate, pushing our way through packed streets. In spite of people trying to part for us, the streets were still extremely crowded, even at this early hour. Everyone wanted to be first out, to feel the relief of freedom, to remove the Sword of Damocles hanging over their head. It didn¡¯t help that everyone was taking their animals with them. We had no idea how long the event would last, and horses, chickens, cats and dogs, and all manner of other, interesting exotic animals, native of the local jungle and tamed, were present. Minor spats between various animals broke out, and I saw someone get kicked by a mule. I winced. That had to hurt. [Oath] didn¡¯t bother me this time as we continued through the crowd ¨C they were in line to be healed by, among others, me, and apparently saying ¡°Hang on, I need to get in position.¡± Was acceptable, unlike my earlier ¡°I¡¯m going to ignore you.¡±


    Good to know. Good to know. How did we not think of this before, and pick a different route to walk down?


    What was done was done, and it was good to have this aspect of [Oath] suddenly, involuntarily, explored.


    The way it was arranged was like this. A temporary barrier split the street approaching the gate in half. Some members of the 3rd were at the end of the barrier, directing people to the left side, or the right side. One of the uses we¡¯d found for them, where they¡¯d be under our supervision. We didn¡¯t trust them in the town proper, nor did we trust them out of our sight. All of their training was on ¡°kill the hostile/kill the problem¡±, and almost nothing on deescalating. They also didn¡¯t live there, weren¡¯t invested, and would face almost no consequences for misbehaving.


    Hence, a short leash. We needed the extra bodies though, and it gave the 3rd reassurance that this was being done properly, and they could go away without razing the place down.


    I wonder how they picked the people from the 3rd to come. Were they the ones out of favor? Was this a punishment duty? Or were there some true believers, people who had faith and wanted to see this resolve well?


    A mystery. I didn¡¯t care enough to find out, my plate was more like a buffet with how much I had to do.


    We split up the exit into two sides. The left side was for people the guards deemed looking healthy. The right side was for people that looked like they were sick in some way. A very simple form of triage.


    Caecilius¡¯s apprentice, and two of the town healers under Verta, were on the left side as well. Their job was a secondary screening, to spot anyone who looked like they might be somewhat ill that the guard had missed, and hit them with a dose of healing.


    That took the pressure off Caecilius himself, who had a massive fog bank of healing (it probably had some fancy skill name) for people to walk through, to hit any last bit of disease missed, or people who weren¡¯t symptomatic. His job was full-time on working and managing that skill, along with closing it down temporarily if he found himself getting overwhelmed. The majority of the town would be walking through that mist, and he was going to be stretched to his limits, healing literally tens of thousands of people solo. Sure, they all looked healthy, but they probably all had just a little bit wrong with them. The sheer quantity of people he was handling justified his presence doing that alone. Finally, everyone, from both lines, would walk through Markus¡¯s Pyronox flames across the main gate ¨C the final stopgap measure, the final check to make sure no disease escaped the town.


    That was the simple side.


    The right side was for people who were sick. We weren¡¯t dealing with any injuries, just disease, or at least, that was the official position. Unofficially, I suspected most people who were both injured and diseased as they came through would find their injuries just a bit better. For example, if someone came with a nasty gash, well, healing everything under the gash properly didn¡¯t look any different, but would make a world of difference for the healing itself.


    We didn¡¯t want people with persistent injuries deliberately getting themselves sick for the free bonus healing. We had too much on our plate already, without people making our lives harder.


    We were set up into waves, so to speak.


    The first wave consisted mostly of apprentice, weaker, or newer healers. Generally if you were one of those, you were also the rest. Their main job was triage, splitting people into roughly three lines. The ¡°technically sick¡±, the ¡°moderately ill¡±, and the ¡°barely hanging on.¡± Real formal. They were strongly encouraged to dump any healing they could into people, but quite honestly weren¡¯t expected to manage much. It was more a measure to make them feel good, make the people they were helping feel good, and for them to get a number of levels.


    The healers were distributed more or less evenly across the three lines. Healers that were lower-level were more likely to be on the ¡°technically sick¡± line, while healers with higher levels, or more importantly, higher regeneration and power, were in the ¡°barely hanging on¡± line.


    A healer considered powerful headed each line. Verta headed the ¡°technically sick¡± line, and that line gave us the most concern. It had the most healers assigned to it, and we anticipated most of the sick people would be in the line. However, as powerful as Verta was, she wasn¡¯t as strong as the rest of the high-tier healers, she was more like the most powerful moderate healer. Most of Markus¡¯s work and mana consumption we thought would come from her line, as even after she was done healing she might not have fully gotten them clean and purged.


    Verta, bless her heart, recognized that we weren¡¯t being mean when we made that assessment, that we were being practical. She kept completely, blessedly silent when it was mentioned she¡¯d be more-or-less working directly with the 3rd.


    Berucus was heading the ¡°moderately ill¡± line, his chance at getting back into people¡¯s good graces. There were dozens of eyeballs staring at him, and this was his last shot. Knowledge of what he¡¯d done was not public, and if he managed to pull this off, a stiff fine would be all the remaining punishment for him. His deeds wouldn¡¯t be made public, he¡¯d be free to go home, and he was well-incentivized to make this work.


    I headed the last line. The ¡°barely hanging on¡± line. It was a mixture of acknowledgement of what I¡¯d done, recognizing my skills, a reflection on my history of aiming for and treating the sickest patients from day one. Quite frankly, the number of healers that could be described as ¡°powerful¡±, ¡°in the city¡±, ¡°not assigned to another task¡±, and ¡°could fully burn out disease¡± was down to just me.


    It helped as well that I insisted we try to heal the people ¡°barely hanging on¡±; that I refused to write them off to better heal others. It would be easier to skip them. It would be faster to skip them. I¡¯d done lots of thinking on Justice, Triage, and ethics; examined my [Oath] and my own mind. I couldn¡¯t leave them behind. I wouldn¡¯t.


    I would become powerful enough, strong enough, that it would never be a question again.


    After the apprentices got to them, after the moderate healers got to them, and after the anchor, or head of the line, got a chance to heal, they¡¯d then walk through Markus¡¯s Pyronox gateway, our final barrier against problems.


    We¡¯d debated them going through Caecilius¡¯s cloud as well, but Caecilius didn¡¯t think he could manage the extra load. He already had most of the town walking through his skill.


    Ponticus was still utterly useless as a Light healer, and my understanding of why Light healers were so rare jumped a dozen notches. Handling disease was so much more practical, so much more important, and was seen so much more in day to day life. Heck, look at my leveling rate on my Light class versus my Dark class. There had been almost no demand for my Light healing, while my Dark healing had gotten as many levels in two years as my Light had gotten in six. Sure, age, more stats meant I leveled faster, etc. etc., but the truth remained.


    That, and most Light healers weren¡¯t dumb enough to come to a plague town.


    However, just because he was useless as a healer didn¡¯t make him entirely useless. He was assigned to act as a mediator, and a central point of contact for healers, to then bring issues and problems to the Ranger¡¯s attention, or to Markus¡¯s attention, depending. He had enough clout, and was recognizable enough, with his gemstone sash on and sparkling in the sun, for people to come to him with problems. A great filter of sorts.


    Glacia was staying mostly out of sight, but not out of mind. She was going to play her heart out, doing her best to buff everyone. Invigoration, boosted healing speed, possibly something to help healers. I had no idea how bards or Sound healers worked, and Glacia was not forthcoming with her secrets. Not after my perceived betrayal. With how crowded the streets were, I anticipated she¡¯d get a minute of play time, if that, before running out of mana and needing to recharge.


    I¡¯d eat my hat if she didn¡¯t level today.


    Glad I wasn¡¯t wearing a hat.


    Every healer, apprentice and up, had some member of the 3rd following them around, looming menacingly. Not exactly a great vibe, but hopefully it¡¯d deter violence.


    Kallisto was assigned as my bodyguard for this. Artemis had a rock-solid belief that violence was the solution to problems, and people getting lightning-bolted in the middle of town, in a massive crowd? That riot we were all trying to avoid. Kallisto¡¯s method of defense was to put himself between me and the problem, then talk them down. Hits that would be lethal to me could easily be butterfly farts to our golden-haired tank, and he¡¯d be able to talk people down with his smooth social skills.


    It also freed up Artemis to be a lightning bolt in the right place, at the right time. Like, say, if the members of the 3rd decided to do something moronic.


    As much as we disliked the 3rd being present, they did free up the entire guard to sweep through the town, and patrol it. They had a few different objectives.


    First, they wanted to make sure that everyone got out. Some people were stubborn holdouts of some variety. Either they didn¡¯t believe in the plague, didn¡¯t see the value in leaving, were convinced it was a plot to rob their valuables, were concerned about looters, or were just plain too sick, injured, or old to leave town ¨C no matter how it was sliced, no matter their reasoning, they were going round to make sure everyone left.


    Or were in fact looters, out to try and snag untold valuables while nobody was around to guard them.


    They were also out in force to stop looting, fights, and all manner of other criminal mischief that the less-savory side of town was doubtlessly going to get up to with nobody around, and unsecured houses full of valuables all over the place. The fear of people stealing things wasn¡¯t entirely unfounded.


    Their last major goal was to stop anyone from sneaking out other ways. This was, to my brief understanding of how they were going to work this time, and my greater understanding of guards in general, to be accomplished by patrolling the wall, and talking to the local smugglers. A ¡°Hey, look, I know you¡¯re ¡®not a smuggler¡¯, but we need no people to escape through other means for the next few days.¡± Conversation.


    I suspected that any smuggler who wouldn¡¯t play ball would rapidly find there was no longer a blind eye to them. The guards were pissed after they found out their former captain had been assassinated, and that wool had been pulled over their eyes, and the gods help any smuggler who decided to cross them today.


    One or two people with the disease would probably just burn out. There was a slim chance they¡¯d reignite the plague though, and at that point, the 3rd would give up and raze the place to the ground; put every living being to the sword.


    The meatheads probably hadn¡¯t thought about what would be done to them after they probably ended up infected themselves.


    Most of the healers had gotten themselves some Arcanite, and there was some shuffling, some redistribution of it. Quite a lot of it ended up in a sort of ¡°community pot¡± that any of the healers could access, although from how some of the master healers and apprentice healers were whispering together, and the envious looks shot at me, the avaricious looks shot at the Arcanite, I suspected they were being told it wasn¡¯t for them.


    More Arcanite, more spare mana, for me, Markus, Caecilius, and other powerful, top-tier healers. We were the final line, the ones who couldn¡¯t fall. I felt a bit bad for the other healers, who wouldn¡¯t get this chance to use skills as often. Not as much skill casting, especially for a healer, translated into fewer levels.


    Word had also gotten out what we were doing, and there was a request that if anyone had spare Arcanite, to let one of the healers draw off of it, to help the whole process go faster. Who knew how useful it¡¯d be.


    Unfortunately, after the last healing event ended in failure, a bunch of healers had left town. Even though the death toll was in the thousands, people were sicker on average, partially because the plague had been spreading faster than healers could contain it, and partially because Hesoid had classed up before we got to him, increasing how deadly the plague was, how virulently it spread, his final ¡°fuck you¡± to all of us before he died.


    The final result was the ratio between healers, powerful healers, normal people, and sick people, had been skewed badly, in the wrong direction.


    Another aspect of me being considered a powerful healer. While there were quite a few other healers around my level, with a half-dozen being a higher level than me, [Oath] was providing me with a nearly 8x multiplier to my control and power, bumping me to at least Markus-tier, if not higher. My strong grasp of medicine, and [Medicine], helped me form better images, dramatically increasing my efficiency, lowering my cost of healing compared to other healers. I didn¡¯t know what sort of boosts they had, but at the end of the day, all those aspects came together, to have me be considered another one of the powerful healers.


    The line started to move, and after a few minor hiccups, we started to move. Patient after patient, body after body, one person after another came under my hands, was touched as I formed the best image I could, of burning disease out, restoring people, closing sores, bringing them back to the best, the healthiest, person they could be.


    It was an endless slog, and the world around me fell away, to just be the person in front of me. And the next. And the next. And the next. And the next.


    Kallisto would occasionally move fast, intercept some punch or skill or something. I had no time, no ability, no bandwidth to see what was happening, check what was going on. I had faith that he¡¯d keep me safe. There was just me, and the patient. Two entities, locked in a spiral as old as time, that would continue on until humanity vanished forever. Healer and patient. Doctor and invalid. The great fight against Black Crow and White Dove, pushing back the day death comes knocking. That was my job.


    From a baby, sick with a high fever. Not the plague, but some other serious illness, who now had her whole life in front of her. To the great grandfather, who probably wouldn¡¯t make it the week, even after I poured almost 2000 mana into him, fixing his current problems. I wonder how much more that would¡¯ve been if two other healers hadn¡¯t gotten to him first.


    Every. Last. Person.


    That was my goal. That was my mantra.


    ¡°Next person. Next person. Next person. Next person.¡±


    There was clearly excitement of various sorts going on throughout the day. I caught Artemis half-flying on one of her stone platforms at one point, willing to burn massive amounts of mana just to get to some problem or another that much faster. I heard one of Arthur¡¯s emergency signal arrows go off, and I half-started at that, hours of drills having ingrained a bone-deep reflex in me. Fortunately, Kallisto grabbed me, stopping me from haring off.


    Night fell. The moons came up, glaring down at us. Displeasure radiated from them. ¡°Just let them die.¡± They seemed to whisper. ¡°Just let them all die.¡±


    Two moons, slitted like a cat¡¯s eye, baleful orange beating down on us. Two practically identical messages.


    I shook my head. I was being silly, letting my imagination run away with me in my exhaustion.


    Food was put in my hand. I ate. Another patient came, another patient left. I glanced up. People were sleeping in the street, keeping their place in line. I glanced to my side. Caecilius had closed up shop, needing sleep. The other lines had also closed for the night, and I could see the junior healers looking at me, pleading in their eyes.


    I breathed in, breathed out, quickly thinking about it. They were useless burnt out. I couldn¡¯t demand that they keep the same pace as me.


    ¡°Go.¡± I said, waving my hand. Some thanked me. Some just left. Cries of sadness, of despair, came from the line.


    I glanced behind me. Markus¡¯s Pyronox was still up. A precaution against anyone getting a bright idea to try and sneak through it in the middle of the night. Rather, if anyone was going to be sneaking, we wanted it through his barrier. They¡¯d be cleansed on the other side, and security seemed¡­ lax.


    Whatever. Barrier was still up. I could still heal.


    ¡°Listen up!¡± I yelled, not really caring if I woke anyone up. ¡°I¡¯m still open. I¡¯m still going. I¡¯m here until I drop.¡±


    There were a few scattered cheers, some happy murmurings. Mostly from relatives, people bringing their sick parent/child/brother/wife to me.


    I couldn¡¯t stop. Sure, the other lines could. It made sense. They wanted to be fresh, they could afford the time.


    This teenager, that I was healing right now? She might not make it to morning. This 50-something man on a stretcher? Dead by noon tomorrow. A delay now, would delay treatment for everyone in the line, push them all back.


    Some past their expiry date.


    Two of the attacks Kallisto had deflected had been because of bad news like that, pronouncements that someone brought to me just hadn¡¯t quite been in time. I think. I wasn¡¯t paying that much attention to anything not directly healing-related.


    It wasn¡¯t like I could bump them up the line, heal them faster or sooner. This was the emergency priority line. Everyone needed treatment, and they needed it now.


    ¡°Healy-bug, you ok?¡± Artemis asked, and I jumped about a foot in the air. A few guards looked my way, but seeing everything was fine, went back to watching.


    ¡°When did you get here?¡± I asked, half-jumping.


    ¡°When the sun set. Kallisto wanted a break. You should also take a short break, get a tiny bit of sleep.¡± Artemis said, hand on hip.


    I pouted.


    ¡°You¡¯re just going to let me sleep until morning again.¡± I grumbled at her.


    ¡°Not this time Elaine. I promise.¡± Artemis said, suddenly serious. Wasn¡¯t even using my nickname.


    ¡°Look, your efficiency has got to be dropping like a rock in a well. You¡¯re taking longer and longer on each patient, and as you get tired, your image is getting shaky, it¡¯s not as strong, not as efficient. You end up using more mana per person. I¡¯m willing to bet you¡¯re starting to lean on your moon images, instead of the proper medical images. It¡¯s making things worse. Take a quick nap, heal a dozen people, then take another nap. Rinse and repeat, until you¡¯ve gotten enough sleep. Look, new parents do this all the time, you can do it as well.¡±


    Artemis crossed her arms, brooking no argument. The old lady who was next in line, wheezed at me.


    ¡°Deary, sleep. I¡¯ve held on for 86 years. I can hold on for a short while more.¡±


    With opinion against me, I laid down on the rough stone floor, bunched up my cloak to give myself a fraction of a pillow, and closed my eyes.


    It felt like I had just blinked, when I was being violently shaken awake by Artemis. I checked my mana. 400 points or so from full, and my head was killing me. I¡¯d felt clear-headed when I laid down, but now I was fuzzy, the eternal curse of the power nap.


    I sat up, healed the old lady. She was right, she¡¯d made it. She made it to the Pyronox gate ¨C did Markus have a skill that let it persist even in his sleep or something? The line shuffled forward, the next person.


    ¡°Next person. Next person. Next person. Next person.¡±


    I settled into what I was calling my ¡°Night rhythm.¡± I only woke up once to someone bleeding and clutching a hand. I healed him, glanced at Artemis, raised an eyebrow. She shrugged, then put a finger over her lips.


    Aka, ¡°Hey, I had to disable him silently. You were sleeping.¡±


    Forget the other people sleeping here, Artemis had no concern for them.


    I briefly checked my notifications.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 164! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Celestial Affinity] has reached level 164!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 165! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Celestial Affinity] has reached level 165!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 156!]


    ¡­..


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 160!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 155!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Warmth of the Sun] has reached level 128!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 141!]


    More levels. More time. More regeneration, but a higher max mana. Same amount of sleep. Roughly. Too tired to check if I could get, or lose, a few extra minutes of sleep either way. That time was better spent sleeping.


    I fell into a pattern. Sleep. Heal. Bite of food.


    Sleep. Heal-heal-heal-heal-heal-heal. Food.


    Nine days, a blur of people. Young, old, single, large families. Middle class and poor. Almost everyone wealthy had fled the town when the chance arrived.


    Break? What break? A few minutes snatched here and there for sleep was all I got.


    Julius wasn¡¯t going to do anything about the people who¡¯d bribed their way out of town. As unethical as it was, in the end, they¡¯d committed no crime.


    Things were starting to wind down. Lines were shorter, and there were more people popping their head out, checking out what was going on, then getting to the end of the short line. The ¡°we¡¯re not going to let anyone loot our stuff but not be made to leave.¡± people.


    They went through happily.


    Then we were in the final stretch. Almost all of the other healers had left by this point, leaving just Verta, Caecilius, Markus, and me left. Most of the 3rd was gone as well, and it was creepy, being in a town that looked empty, without a soul around. Like going to school after hours. There was just a sense of wrongness.


    The guards were physically hauling out the last few holdouts. The ones who were convinced this was some sort of conspiracy, those who refused to leave at any cost.


    One of the last ones was plonked down in front of me.


    ¡°I refuse. I refuse healing, I refuse to leave town, I refuse it all.¡± He said, stubbornly crossing his arms, obviously incredibly sick. Clearly stubborn.


    Interesting. I was big on medical consent, and treatment. If someone didn¡¯t want to be treated, they weren¡¯t a patient, and [Oath] released me from trying, or needing, to heal them. This idiot in front of me was, apart from his suicidal desire to not be treated, seemingly sound of mind.


    Which brought the question. Should I override his refusal? Did I know better than him what to do with his own body? Good communication between patient and healer was critical. They should know what was going on with their body. They should have sovereignty over their own facilities. It fostered trust. It was the right thing to do.


    It was oh too similar to the constant quandary I found myself in, where society thought they knew better than I did what I wanted, how they kept trying to pin me into certain roles, certain jobs.


    And yet, the man in front of me was clearly very sick with the plague. If we allowed him to stay, when people came back, he could just reinfect them all, and the outbreak would continue.


    Did his right to sovereignty override everyone else¡¯s need for safety and security?


    No. There was a limit to selfishness, and that line was drawn when you endangered a dozen others, let alone almost 50,000 people. The problem was laying hands on someone who was moderately high level. Heck, even at level 100 I was able to take off the hand of someone I didn¡¯t want near me, let alone this man at a much higher level, with unknown classes, elements, and skills.


    Which is why I wasn¡¯t alone.


    I looked at the four guards who¡¯d hauled him over.


    ¡°Can you make sure he¡¯s disabled enough for me to treat him?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Hey, wait-¡° The man protested, before disappearing under a flurry of batons. I winced. That hadn¡¯t been what I meant, and if it wasn¡¯t for me being freed from [Oath] due to his prior refusal of treatment, I would¡¯ve needed to intervene. Ugly on all counts.


    A slightly mauled man was in front of me, not resisting at all. I healed him up, purging the disease, then fixing all of his injuries. I threw a foul look at the guards.


    ¡°Come on, really? Making me spend that much more mana on him?¡± I yelled at them, with Kallisto ¨C it was his turn on ¡®protect Elaine¡¯ duty ¨C giving them a Look, adding his own weight.


    They had the good grace to look slightly embarrassed.


    ¡°Sorry miss.¡± One of them said. ¡°We appreciate everything you¡¯re doing, and we know holdouts like this could ruin it all. We live here. We were frustrated, and took it out on him.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t let it happen again.¡±


    It took one last day to get the last few people out of town. The guards were last, neatly arranging themselves into four columns, before jogging out as a unit from the town. Maximus arrived, driving the Argo, horses retrieved from wherever they¡¯d been stored.


    Markus walked up to me, his previously impeccable appearance ruined, looking as haggard and exhausted as I felt.


    ¡°Solid work. You¡¯re done.¡± I heard him say.


    ¡°I can keep going!¡± I protested. I could keep going! I could keep healing.


    ¡°No, you misheard me. We¡¯re done.¡± He said. ¡°The guard¡¯s confirmed the town¡¯s clear, and have left. We¡¯ve cleared all the healers. Rangers got cleared out. It¡¯s over.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re done.¡±


    I stumbled over to the Argo, trying and failing to pull myself in. A half-dozen helping hands came out, pulling me up, pulling me in. I took three steps over to where my bedroll was laid out, and collapsed in it, full armor and everything, letting myself instantly fall to sleep.


    It was over.

 Chapter 87.5 Bonus Chapter: Julia and Elainus react to Elaine running away.

    Elainus was on patrol with Catonus through the streets of Aquiliea. Standard. Predictable. Every foot where it should be, every person where they belonged.


    It was good, knowing where people belonged, where things belonged. It made it easy to tell when something was different, something was wrong.


    Like Bakus today. Bakus always had three tables for his wares, and carefully had four rows of goods, neatly arranged on it. There¡¯d usually be holes here and there, as he sold off his copper wares throughout the day.


    Today though, he only had three rows. A small detail, nothing looking obviously wrong, but not all was right. The advantage of always being on the same beat, of talking with the same people. Being friends with most of the community.


    ¡°Bakus! How¡¯s it going?¡± Elainus said, striding up to the table. Catonus kept looking around, keeping an eye on the rest of the going-ons of the street.


    ¡°Elainus! Fine, fine.¡± Bakus said, trying his normal cheer. Not quite making it.


    ¡°You sure? You seem a bit slim on the goods today.¡±


    Bakus grimaced.


    ¡°Copper supply¡¯s been interrupted. I thought the trader was late, but no, he never showed up. No idea what happened to him, but I¡¯m a bit low on copper right now. It¡¯ll be a few more days before the next one shows up. Till then¡­¡± He shrugged and gestured to his tables. ¡°Fewer things to sell.¡±


    Elainus made a mental note to stick around the area a bit more in the near future. It sounded like Bakus was going to be alright ¨C a trader not showing up wasn¡¯t the end of the world, but it meant his business would be a bit slower in the near future. The guard being around a bit more would discourage petty thieves, and give Bakus a bit more breathing room.


    And, with this, he could kill two birds with one stone. He¡¯d been planning this anyways, but was waffling over if he should or shouldn¡¯t. This was the perfect little nudge into ¡®should¡¯.


    He quickly looked over what Bakus had, until he spotted a nice, elegant copper bracelet, with fancy whorls and swirls that reminded him of the sea.


    ¡°How much for the bracelet? Elaine¡¯s getting married, and I want to get her something nice.¡± Elainus said, bursting with pride and joy as he told Bakus, his mind wandering to his daughter that had caused him so much consternation and worry, so much joy and happiness.


    Catonus coughed, having heard Elainus say this at least 40 times this round alone. Maybe 50? It was getting old, although he understood Elainus¡¯s excitement. His only daughter was getting married!


    Bakus named a price, and the haggling started. Elainus didn¡¯t haggle very much. One part out of a superstition that it might bring bad luck, especially on a wedding present, to have too much haggling on it. One part that some people ¨C he suspected his daughter included ¨C weighted the value of an item by how much it cost. And one part trying to subtly lend a helping hand to Bakus, who¡¯d need it in the next week or so. It¡¯d be an insult to just directly buy it, but not haggling too hard was perfectly acceptable.


    He dropped the bracelet in his pouch, and they carried on their round. People where they should be. Things where they should be.


    Oh sure, it was a town, people were in constant motion, a constant state of change. But it was about the acceptable range. A woman, wearing clothes not as nice as usual? Could just be time for laundry. A woman, wearing a tunic with tears in it, who¡¯s usually meticulous? Worth a quick hi, a quick check of how things were going. Don¡¯t push too hard, don¡¯t be nosy, but give people an outlet, a chance to see if they had a problem to chat with the guard about.


    It was also a chance to keep telling people about Elaine. The town was a community, and everyone gossiped. People had told Elainus about happy events in their life often enough, that they didn¡¯t mind hearing about his happy event.


    After his round, he made his way home. Pushed the door open, and could immediately tell things were out of place.


    First, Elaine¡¯s cot was nicely made. She never made her cot. Her money rod, which she spent so much time and care carefully threading the little extra bits of money she got was empty. None of her usually strewn about clothes were present.


    Most telling though was Julia, his light, his love, standing there, arms crossed, tapping her spoon on her arm.


    Tap. Tap. Tap.


    ¡°Do you know what your daughter has done now?¡± She said, glaring at him.


    It was pointless to point out Elaine was their daughter when Julia got like this.


    ¡°If I had to guess, ran away from home?¡± Elainus said, putting the pieces of the puzzle together. It wasn¡¯t exactly like Elaine was subtle, as much as she tried to be.


    Like when it turned out she was the one breaking into the library at night, practicing how to read. Somehow, she thought they wouldn¡¯t notice that she was always tired, with bags under her eyes, on the nights the library was broken into. That she¡¯d been getting some lessons how to read, which occurred right before the library incidents started. That somehow, even spotting her running away from the library, she thought her own dad wouldn¡¯t recognize her.


    Elaine was as subtle as a brick when it came to keeping secrets.


    ¡°Exactly!¡± Julia cried out at him, menacing him with her spoon. ¡°This is all your fault! I told you to leave the marriage thing up to me. I told you to let me ease her into the idea. But noooo. You knew better. You had to try and exert your authority.¡±


    ¡°On someone who looked up to, and takes literal lessons from, Artemis. Just how exactly did you see this going?¡± Julia said, getting a head of steam.


    ¡°But-¡°


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear buts from you!¡± Julia cried out, walloping him with the spoon.


    It made a sharp crack as it hit his arm. It didn¡¯t hurt, not in the slightest ¨C Elainus had long since gotten enough vitality to ignore things like that. He still made a pained noise, like it had done something.


    Julia¡¯s life was hard enough. She knew she was powerless in the world, there was no sense in ruining the illusion that she had some small measure of control while at home, in the house. She knew it as well, which is why she never tried the stunt outside the home. It was more reassuring her that yes, he was listening, and yes, they were partners, a team. Anyone would say it was strange. It was just how they operated.


    Bless Artemis for playing along.


    A long argument ensued. From whose fault it was, to what to tell Citizen Prasinos, to what to do next.


    After a few candles of arguing ¨C more subdued, Elainus and Julia didn¡¯t want the neighbors talking that much ¨C something of a truce was established. They¡¯d wait a few days to see if Elaine came back, as most runaways did, before talking with Citizen Prasinos, and letting him know what happened. However, the ¡®what to do next¡¯ was still a source of dispute, and they decided that better decision-making could occur in the morning, after getting what little sleep they could from the remainder of the night.


    Elainus got up the next morning, and popped over to the barracks to request the day off. ¡°Personal issues.¡± He mentioned. Another guard stopped him on the way out.


    ¡°Hey, I saw Elaine heading out the North gate yesterday. Did she make it back home ok? Is everything alright?¡±


    Elainus¡¯s mouth twisted a moment. ¡°Everything¡¯s fine.¡±


    He jogged back home, only to find a courier waiting for him.


    ¡°Message for you. Would you like me to read it to you?¡±


    ¡°Sure, come in!¡± Elainus said, excited. News about Elaine, hopefully, although the timing of it was strange.


    Julia came out, and they stood in the living room together, clutching each other, as the courier unrolled the scroll, and started to read.


    Dear Mom and Dad,


    I¡¯m ok, and I love you both very much. I refuse to marry Kerberos, and I¡¯ve decided to make my own fortune. I¡¯ll be trying to meet up with Artemis ¨C I¡¯m sure she¡¯ll be able to help. I¡¯ll let you know when I¡¯ve settled down somewhere.


    Love,


    Elaine.


    Julia was practically crying at the end. Usually, couriers asked if a return message was required. This one was smart enough to read the room, read the mood, and quietly left, leaving the scroll behind.


    ¡°Well, she has a plan, which is more than most runaways could say.¡± Elainus said, trying to console Julia.


    ¡°So help me, if she doesn¡¯t come back safe.¡± Julia said, threatening.


    Elainus could only nod. He wanted to break down in concern as well, but had to be strong. They couldn¡¯t both break down at the same time.


    His turn would be later.


    ¡°Well, hey, at least she¡¯s willing to let us know she can read now.¡± Elainus said, changing the topic of conversation.


    ¡°Think she¡¯ll ever tell us her other secret? The big one?¡± Julia said.


    ¡°I hope she does. We can¡¯t be too surprised that she seems to be god-touched, not after we had to pray so hard for her in the first place.¡± Elainus said.


    Julia nestled her head against his chest.


    ¡°We got one. One. She¡¯s it, our only child, our only chance. She needs to be safe. I¡¯d call off the marriage in a heartbeat if it meant she¡¯d be home and safe.¡±


    Julia started crying. ¡°I thought this was going to be best for her. I thought this would keep her safe, keep her happy, give her a better life, get her everything she needed in life.¡±


    Elainus kept hugging her, consoling her.


    A few days later, they accepted that Elaine had either successfully ran away, or had encountered some terrible fate. It was Elainus¡¯s turn to break down, as Julia comforted him. The talk with Citizen Prasinos, Kerberos¡¯s father, was awkward, but he was somewhat understanding. Kerberos was there for the conversation, and Elainus didn¡¯t like the look in his eyes. It was the look of a predator, an angry one, and Elainus regretted not being more involved in the proceedings.


    A conversation with Julia later indicated that she¡¯d completely missed the look, and thought he¡¯d looked nothing but concerned.


    ¡°A mask.¡± Elainus thought. Julia was fantastic in so many ways, but she didn¡¯t have as much experience with the seedier, nastier side of humanity, the same way Elainus did. After seeing the look on Kerberos¡¯s face after ¡®his property¡¯ had ran away, Elainus was determined to call it off.


    When a trio of adventurers came by, saying they¡¯d been hired to find Elaine, and help escort her home, it was all too obvious what was going on. Elainus and Julia refused to give them any help whatsoever, practically throwing them out of the house.


    Almost two months later, the first two letters arrived, just a day or two apart. The first one was from Elaine.


    Dear Mom and Dad,


    Hey! It¡¯s Elaine! I¡¯m still alive and well.


    I managed to bump into Artemis, and I¡¯ve been travelling with her and her Ranger team. We¡¯re in Virinum now! It¡¯s both like Aquiliea, and not like Aquiliea at the same time. Lots of clay, not a lot of dyes. I hit level 128, and my classes merged! I¡¯m a Celestial Healer now! The skills are so pretty, I¡¯ll show you when I¡¯m in Aquiliea next!


    I¡¯m staying with the Rangers for now ¨C they¡¯re all so nice! Julius is the boss, Origen is the strong silent type with a thousand tattoos, Maximus has been teaching me about the System, Kallisto¡¯s really nice, Arthur¡¯s the size of a mountain and can somehow vanish, and you know Artemis.


    I love you two tons! I¡¯m safe and happy. I hope things are going well!


    Your loving daughter,


    Elaine.


    ¡°She¡¯s alive! And with Artemis! Thank goodness, she¡¯ll keep her safe.¡± Julia said.


    Elainus raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°She got an advanced element already. Wow.¡±


    The courier walked away happy, with almost two rods worth of a tip.


    A second letter arrived, from Artemis.


    Heya Beanpole and Daisy!


    You¡¯re probably aware, but Elaine ran away from home. No worries, she¡¯s safe with me and the other Rangers. We arranged a deal where she¡¯ll heal us, and keep us safe, in exchange for some basic food, lodging, and minor pay.


    Last few weeks have been hectic! Went through the Great Bamboo Forest again, saw some wild construction. Didn¡¯t know you could make an entire village out of nothing but bamboo! The roads have been relatively safe, only the occasional little hiccup here and there.


    Virinum has fantastic clay, and they make pots and jars, the best I¡¯ve seen in the Republic. I wanted to send one to you, but the courier kept hemming and hawing at the price, and not promising that it¡¯d be delivered intact.


    Now he¡¯s shooting me a nasty look.


    Now he¡¯s rolling his eyes.


    Now ¨C


    Anyways! Elaine¡¯s with me, and she¡¯s safe and sound. Don¡¯t worry.


    Love,


    Artemis


    PS: Elaine¡¯s officially a Ranger now. See you in two years!


    ¡°WHAT DOES SHE MEAN, ELAINE¡¯S OFFICIALLY A RANGER!?!?¡±


    Julia¡¯s scream could be heard through half the neighborhood.

 Chapter 88– Plague Aftermath

    I must¡¯ve died.


    Something went horribly wrong at the end of the healing session, and I was dead. I¡¯d been good in my last life, and I¡¯d been sent to heaven as a reward for all my good deeds, for healing people, for my [Oath], for saving Perinthus.


    That was the only logical explanation as to why I was waking up to piles of mangos heaped all around me!!!!!!!


    There was some vague sleepiness, some mild exhaustion, that instantly fled as a surge of adrenaline went through me, as the happy dopamine hit my system like a rush at seeing the almost literal mountains of mangos piled around me.


    Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaannnnngooooooooooooooooooooos!


    Mango mango!


    Hardly daring to, with a trembling hand, I reached out to touch a mango, only to pull it back at the last moment. What if it was an illusion? What if this was the product of a fever-dream of some sort, and it would all vanish upon close inspection?


    The wagon lurched, a mango fell off one of the piles, rolling down, landing squarely on my head. It was like being punched.


    ¡°Ouch.¡± I called out, rubbing my head.


    ¡°Careful Artemis!¡± Kallisto yelled. ¡°Don¡¯t take turns too sharply, you¡¯ll knock the mangos over.¡±


    With great effort, I refocused my eyes away from the mangos, to see what was beyond their heavenly visage. The walls of the Argo.


    Right. I wasn¡¯t dead, I was still alive. And somehow, somewhere, between the time I¡¯d passed out exhausted from my multi-day healing marathon, and now, we¡¯d acquired a frankly absurd number of mangos, piling them into the Argo.


    I fought myself out of my bedroll, noticing that somehow, somewhere along the line, I¡¯d been changed out of my armor, and back into clean, fresh clothing. Bless Artemis.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re awake.¡± Maximus said, peeling a mango and slowly eating it, one slice at a time.


    Alright. I was awake, alive, in the Argo, there was no immediate crisis, and I was surrounded by mangos.


    I gave Maximus a half-nod as I greedily grabbed a mango, found my knife next to me, drew it, and dug into the mango. And the next one. And¡­


    ¡°Next mango. Next mango. Next mango. Next mango.¡±


    ¡°Oh, Elaine, you¡¯re ¨C holy!¡± Artemis popped in for a moment, letting the horses drive themselves. She promptly slipped on one of my discarded mango peels.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Traps] Would you like to replace a skill for [Traps]? Y/N]


    I promptly dismissed the notification, having no interest in traps.


    What? Putting the mango peels away properly took away from precious, delicious, mango-eating time.


    Artemis windmilled wildly, catching herself on another pile of mangos, going down with the entire pile. I winced.


    Not my fault there.


    Artemis came up, bits of mashed mango all over. My eyes widened in realization.


    Noooooo! Precious mangos wasted! The consequences of my actions, delivered in the harshest, most immediate, brutal way possible!


    Eh, I suppose Artemis was fine as well. Whatever. Second fiddle to the mangos.


    I got a glare from Artemis as she tried in vain to pick out pieces of mango from her hair, tunic, hands¡­ yeah, she gave up.


    ¡°You know, I had thought you¡¯d be happy, delighted even seeing the mangos we got. I thought, maybe, just maybe, you¡¯d hoard them a little, growl at us like a kitten as we ate some. I never imagined you booby trapping the wagon though.¡±


    I lowered my eyes, mouth twisting.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± I said, with maybe, oh, 85% of my heart in the apology. It¡¯d been an accident after all! Still my fault.


    ¡°How¡¯d we end up in heaven?¡± I asked.


    I got an eyebrow quirked up at me.


    ¡°Errr, how¡¯d we end up with so many mangos?¡± I said, correcting myself.


    ¡°As you know, Perinthus wasn¡¯t able to get nearly as much food as normal, leading to all sorts of problems. Farmers didn¡¯t want to bring as much in as normal. That, however, didn¡¯t stop them from growing food, then, well, sitting on it basically. Some shipped it further down the road to Massilix, or to another town. Some just prayed the plague would lift.¡±


    ¡°Our work ¨C your work ¨C in Perinthus meant amazing PR. PR occasionally translates into little favors, into life being a hair easier. This time, PR translated into people loving the Rangers, and almost all the farmers have some relative or another in town. A number of people have temporarily fled to stay with their relatives, just to make sure the plague¡¯s gone, or hedging against the 3rd changing their mind.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve basically been treated like heroes since we left, and when we encountered a mango farmer who both had a large stock of unsold good, a strong need to resupply ourselves, and knowing you were the star of the operation, well, Julius made the executive decision to load up on mangos. Hence,¡± Artemis winked at me. ¡°heaven.¡±


    ¡°Go nuts. Not only have you earned it, but you burned all your damn reserves again.¡± Artemis gave me a significant look at that.


    ¡°Do that again, and you¡¯ll find your qualifications in jeopardy. You can¡¯t save anyone if you¡¯re dead. You die, more Rangers die, then a lot more people die from problems we don¡¯t handle. Look after yourself first.¡± Artemis told me, flipping to stern.


    ¡°She¡¯s right.¡± Julius hopped in, a gust of wind coming behind him. ¡°Protect your team. Protect yourself. Protect others. In that order.¡±


    Artemis snorted.


    ¡°There¡¯s some philosophical differences on the ordering of the first two points.¡± Julius amended, peeling a mango for himself.


    ¡°These are good. I can almost ¨C almost ¨C see why you¡¯re so obsessed with them.¡± He said.


    ¡°What levels did you end up getting? Your color has changed a bit, I¡¯m curious as to the exact numbers.¡±


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 166! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    ¡­¡­.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 180! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Celestial Affinity] has reached level 166!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Celestial Affinity] has reached level 180!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 161!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 180!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 180!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Warmth of the Sun] has reached level 140!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 158!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Center of the Galaxy] has reached level 132!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fuel for the Fire] has reached level 36!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Ranger¡¯s Lore] has reached level 81!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 123!]


    What was [Learning] doing in there? I quickly distributed my free stats the way Artemis wanted me to ¨C 2 speed, 2 dexterity, 1 vitality ratio.


    ¡°Bloody hell.¡± Maximus cursed and I jumped. When did he get here?


    ¡°Elaine, you are, quite frankly, absurd. You¡¯ve gone from level 100 to level 180 in a year. One year. Yes, it¡¯s been filled with danger. Yes, you¡¯re trying to punch way above your weight. It¡¯s still a leveling rate that can only be described as ¡®insane¡¯, ¡®absurd¡¯, and ¡®unbelievable¡¯. It took me until I was 26 to get a similar level.¡±


    ¡°She did just perform a massive feat.¡± Artemis pointed out.


    ¡°And I have [Learning].¡± I pitched in.


    ¡°Sure, and you were opposing a Classer with a high level, who was trying to kill you and everyone else, and it was a massive marathon, with every person being life and death. The added stress and difficulty made it easier to level, along with the size of the feat being larger, and the sheer number of people, and¡­.¡± Maximus trailed off.


    ¡°Basically, a bunch of stars aligned, and it was some of the best experience possible.¡± I tried to summarize.


    ¡°Yeah, pretty much.¡± Maximus admitted. ¡°I¡¯m still a bit jealous.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of, my Fire class is falling way behind. Only level 40 after so many months. Heck, I got as many healing levels in two weeks that I¡¯ve gotten in the what, 8, 9, months I¡¯ve had this Fire class? I need to work on it.¡±


    ¡°Yes you do, healy-bug.¡± Artemis said affectionately.


    ¡°Usually, one class being much higher level helps ¡®pull up¡¯ your other class, so to speak.¡± Maximus said. ¡°Just on virtue of being able to throw more stats at the problem. You saw it early on, when you got those quick, early levels simply meditating and practicing moving your flames around. Well, your class is no longer low-level, and meditating and practicing is no longer novel, so you¡¯re getting significantly less experience as a result. You haven¡¯t moved into proper mage-activities with it on a frequent basis, so it¡¯s no wonder it¡¯s stalling out.¡±


    ¡°You probably noticed with [Burn Brightly], but your actions can impact, or influence, what skills you¡¯re offered. Extra-important as a mage, since you¡¯re offered skills so rarely.¡± Maximus said. ¡°Consider what you want, and practice in that direction. If you¡¯re lucky, you¡¯ll be rewarded.¡±


    Interesting. I needed to put my thinking cap on. First though, I needed brain fuel to think about this. More mango.


    ¡°Did we ever wrap up the counterfeiter?¡± I asked, thinking back on Perinthus, and the terrible coins being used.


    ¡°Yup. I had the guard point him out to me when we were doing the mass heal event. Pulled him aside for a quiet chat. Let him know he wasn¡¯t in trouble this time, but he was now known to guards and Rangers as a counterfeiter, and if any unusual coins entered circulation, he¡¯d be the first one questioned.¡±


    ¡°Also gave him a scroll of recommendation to the mint. If he got some more levels, if he wanted to, he could travel to the capital, and get a job there. He¡¯s shown more level-headedness about generating coin than most trained mint-mages.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of unfinished business¡­.¡± Julius said, looking at me ominously. ¡°I believe you owe me 5,000 pushups. 5% added per day they¡¯re not complete.¡±


    Damnit. Me interrupting and ruining Hesoid¡¯s interrogating coming back to bite me in the ass.


    I decided to not-so-subtly change the topic.


    ¡°Hey Artemis, you mentioned you wanted to know more about teaching, and schools.¡± I said.


    ¡°Yeah, the idea¡¯s fascinating. Dozens of baby mages for me to train? I-¡°


    Artemis was cut off halfway through.


    ¡°Artemis, shouldn¡¯t you be on the reins?¡± Julius asked. I noticed we¡¯d come to a complete stop. With a guilty look on her face, she exited out the front, and we kept on moving.


    ¡°Speaking of, we¡¯re moving through the Kadan jungle now. It¡¯s your time to shine, ¡®healy-bug¡¯¡± Julius said, with a look of glee on his face.


    Oh no.


    ¡°Oh no.¡± I said, melodramatically acting fearful.


    ¡°Oh yes.¡± Julius said, with an all-too happy smile. ¡°See, normally this stretch of the road is almost as dangerous as the last one. Different set of dangers though. Instead of saber-tooth cats, there are seropards. Instead of raptors from the sky, there are all sorts of poisonous snakes, toads, frogs, disease, and all manner of other ugly nonsense.¡±


    ¡°Thick underbrush near by when we camp. Water that¡¯ll make you puke out everything inside you. Snakes that look like a stick, that¡¯ll bite you full of poison the moment you touch them.¡±


    ¡°You counter every single one of them.¡± Julius said, his look evolving into glee. ¡°Nothing kills that quickly in the jungle, and you can burn down any overgrowth on the campsites at night. Nothing will be able to sneak up close, and when someone does get bitten or sick, you can just cure us. It¡¯ll be perfect!¡± He said cheerfully.


    ¡°I¡¯m not getting a single good night¡¯s sleep am I?¡± I asked rhetorically.


    ¡°Probably not.¡± Julius said, trying to comfort me.


    Great.


    ¡°Well, if you¡¯re getting sick or hurt at night, I can use it to try and grind out some initial levels of [Moonlight]. From the way it¡¯s worded, I think the first few levels will be the hardest, and it¡¯ll get more efficient from there.¡±


    ¡°On a more serious topic.¡± Julius started to say, then paused, stalling out awkwardly.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I asked.


    He closed his eyes, breathing in and out.


    ¡°[Veil] please.¡± He ordered. I complied.


    ¡°Origen¡¯s death brings this into sharp relief. Not wanting to be too morbid, but the odds are always stacked against us. Elaine, we need to write your will, so your last wishes are known in case the worst happens to you.¡±


    Oof. I¡¯d started to commit the sin every teenager made ¨C thinking that I was invincible. Oh, sure, in an academic sense I knew I could die, I saw people die all the time. It was always something that happened to ¡®other people¡¯ though, not me. I could heal myself. I had people protecting me. I¡¯d be fine.


    This conversation we were having was a solid wake-up call that no, I was mortal, and people expected me to die.


    I thought about it for a moment. It didn¡¯t take long.


    ¡°Let Artemis take any memento she¡¯d like from what I have on me. Give the rest to my parents.¡±


    ¡°Would you like to tell them about, err,¡± Julius said, gesturing broadly at me, then up in the air.


    I thought about it. Did I want to tell my parents I was reincarnated? The genie was out of the bottle after all.


    I shook my head.


    ¡°No. I want to tell them, but I want to tell them in person. They deserve to know.¡±


    Julius scribbled furiously on his scroll, a not-fancy one. I suspected maybe it¡¯d get transferred later, or maybe it had inscriptions to prevent tampering.


    ¡°Oh, one last thing.¡± I said.


    ¡°Take your time. This is important, I¡¯m happy to stay all week if needed.¡± Julius said, grabbing one of the mangos I¡¯d enclosed with us.


    I don¡¯t know if he was trying to subtly send me a message, but the message I got was ¡°I¡¯ll keep eating mangos while we talk, so chop-chop.¡± That¡¯d be totally out of character for him, but my mangos!


    ¡°Markus gave me the idea to write a manuscript of all healing-related things I know. If it¡¯s done, or half-done, or whatever, and I die, see if you can get it to him.¡± I thought about my goals and intentions, then amended my words.


    ¡°No, copy it. Get it to as many healers as possible that you think can use it, or can spread it themselves. Take it out of my coin, and send whatever¡¯s left to my parents.¡±


    Julius nodded at me.


    ¡°Wise choice.¡± He said, as he rolled the bamboo scroll up, tying some string around it.


    ¡°May I never need to unravel this.¡±


    I nodded agreement. Never.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 15]


    [Mana: 12940/12940]


    [Mana Regen: 17730]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 26]


    [Strength: 26]


    [Dexterity: 220]


    [Vitality: 135]


    [Speed: 220]


    [Mana: 1294]


    [Mana Regeneration: 2063]


    [Magic Power: 1125]


    [Magic Control: 1776]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 180]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 180]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 140]


    [Medicine: 180]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 132]


    [Phases of the Moon: 180]


    [Moonlight: 1]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 111]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 128]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 40]]


    [Fire Affinity: 40]


    [Fire Resistance: 40]


    [Fire Conjuration: 40]


    [Fire Manipulation: 40]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 36]


    [Burn Brightly: 20]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 81]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 80]


    [Pretty: 101]


    [Vigilant: 110]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 158]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 81]


    [Running: 74]


    [Learning: 123]

 Chapter 89– Sing my name, for a thousand years

    It took us a few weeks to travel through the Kadan jungle, and we were nearly out, setting up for the evening, when Julius pulled me aside.


    ¡°I¡¯ve finished my pushups!¡± I said defensively. I¡¯d expected to be berated about them some more, and I ended up doing almost 10,000 in the last few weeks, as the interest-pushups kept piling on.


    By some miracle, I¡¯d gotten a natural point in Strength for my efforts. I¡¯d gotten two more points from [Pyromancer] leveling up twice, my burning deforestation efforts paying off slightly.


    He shook his head at me. ¡°I didn¡¯t want to talk with you about that.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve noticed you¡¯ve changed your sparring behavior.¡± Julius said to me.


    I saluted.


    ¡°Yup! I had quite a few long talks with Artemis, and I¡¯ve worked out that holding back in a spar doesn¡¯t help. I was too afraid of hurting someone, and causing harm, but after we worked it out, I¡¯ve come to realize it might cause more harm to someone in the long term by holding back.¡±


    Julius nodded approval.


    ¡°The other thing I¡¯ve noticed is your strength seems to be severely lacking.¡±


    I looked square in Julius¡¯s face. A year ago I wouldn¡¯t have been able to talk with him, short of asking for directions to Artemis, let alone square up and confess my faults. Not that I considered my low strength a fault.


    ¡°Yup. Only 28. The Fire class is putting some points into it, but the Dexterity trade-off keeps eating whatever few points end up in it.¡± I said.


    ¡°No surprise there. Your speed is finally high enough, that combined with [Running], I¡¯m going to give you some lessons on how to fight like a speedster, and how to counter one. We¡¯re called mage-killers for a reason.¡± Julius said.


    I¡¯d like to think the lessons were about fighting at high speed. They weren¡¯t. They were more focused on how to carefully place a blade, how to use fine control to overcome defenses, how to spot chinks and cracks in armor, and stab a spear into those openings.


    How to simply not be there when someone took a swing at you. How to deflect attacks, instead of trying to take them head on. How to redirect force.


    I also got to try Julius¡¯s blades, which were entirely unlike the short sword I¡¯d been using. They were longer, slender and curved at the end, designed only to slice. They reminded me a bit of a scimitar, maybe one crossed with a sword. Hard to describe, weapon terminology wasn¡¯t something I was big on.


    I also got to show off some new tricks I was practicing. [Veil] was a fantastic shield. When it got hit, it took mana. I¡¯d learned from the fights I¡¯d been in, against the Ornithocheirus, from the adventurers. [Veil] cost me no mana if it didn¡¯t get hit, and I used it to obscure vision, move, then drop it before it could get hit, keeping all of my mana up and preserved. Helped in a fight. I could also put a thin bar up in front of someone¡¯s head, completely blinding them.


    It only worked on each of the Rangers once, before they figured out they could just headbutt it and drain my mana. Still, a nifty little trick.


    Another trick I was working on was taking inspiration from Bluebeard¡¯s story of Fire-Foot Felicity, and her burning footsteps. I couldn¡¯t do exactly the same, but I could make small spurts of fire emerge from under my feet as I ran, which would cause anyone chasing me to have problems.


    If it was good enough a trick to get a Sentinel sent after you, it was good enough a trick for me. I¡¯d just need to, you know, not burn down a fleet of ships after robbing them blind, and getting one of Remus¡¯s top killers sent after me.


    We sparred over the remaining trip to Massilix, with Julius showing me, in what he considered to be slow motion, and was just barely visible to me, how a speedster would try to kill a mage.


    Or a healer. ¡°Same thing.¡± In his books.


    Foot-high tripping hazards with [Veil] didn¡¯t work too well, nor did blasts of flames. The best I came up with was a knee-high [Veil], which usually ended up just stalling Julius, as he¡¯d crash into it, stopping, occasionally tripping, but at the same time, breaking [Veil], and blowing through huge amounts of my mana reserves. He¡¯d then get back up, and demonstrate why speedsters were mage-killers.


    ¡°Chin up.¡± He said, removing his swords from my throat after another training session where I¡¯d gotten ¡®killed¡¯. ¡°You¡¯re able to stall me for a good 10, 15 heartbeats. Should be enough time for a teammate of yours to come to the rescue. If not, well¡­¡± He shrugged. ¡°Mage-killers have that title for a reason.¡±


    Lovely. I redoubled my training efforts.


    We rolled into Massilix a short while later, nearing the Summer Solstice. Usually, there was a great big party on each of the Solstices and Equinoxes, and this time, we might be able to have it in town! Huge party time!


    Massilix also marked, in many ways, the halfway point of our round, the great path Ranger Team 4 was on. It was also the northern-most point of the Republic, a contrast to Aquiliea, which was almost, but not quite, the southern-most point. We¡¯d traveled along the eastern edge of the Republic, the land of wild and untamed Saber-tooth cats. Perinthus had been at the northern-most coast of the Nostrum Sea, and we¡¯d gone even further north, through the Kadan Jungle, to Massilix. The vast ocean, just called The Ocean, halted humanities expansion northwards, and by extension, our own trip. The capital was almost dead center of the Republic, although the Nostrum Sea was in a funny shape, almost like three great lakes merged together in the center. It was on the southern coast of that central shape that Ariminum, the capital, was located. Its convenient location in the center of the Nostrum sea, the center of the Republic, let it stretch its long arms all over the place, for better access to all corners of the Republic.


    That, or the Senate, and wealthy citizens living in the capital, wanted lots of buffer between themselves and the wilderness. Depended how cynical you were.


    The long and the short of it was, every two years, when Rangers completed their rounds, every single Ranger team was in the capital at the same time for the Solstice. It was a time for all the Rangers to see each other, to socialize and mingle, build a sense of comradery.


    On a darker note, it was the time to update the Indomitable? Wall with the names of the fallen, and for fresh graduates from the Ranger Academy to be integrated into their new teams. For teams to be shaken up, rearranged, balanced.


    I¡¯d seen most of the problems Rangers handled, and it was clear I was being put through their own version of boot camp, trying to get me prepped and ready enough to enter the Ranger Academy myself once we arrived. It was ass-backwards ¨C who was a Ranger before they were at the Academy? ¨C but I suspected that in no time at all, I¡¯d find myself knocking on the gates, requesting entrance.


    If they even had gates.


    Massilix was a strange town in many ways. It was one of the few towns not on the Nostrum sea ¨C instead, it was against a vast ocean, so large nobody had ever seen land elsewhere. They were mostly cut off from the rest of the Republic as a result, with only a path through the Kadan jungle, and a dangerous route down the coast in a ship, to one of the three other oceanic towns, being their contact.


    However, they got the best of quite a few worlds. Not only was the weather tropical year-round, practically on the equator, or so I surmised, but there were the luxuries of the Kadan jungle, like mangos, readily available, and the entire grand bounty of the ocean at their doorstep. Pearls, fish, coral, sea monsters of all sorts ¨C the last one was mostly a harvest on high level monsters that had died and washed up, there was no active hunting of them. Legends had it that a fishman once managed to [Identify] one and live, and claimed it was blue in color.


    Nobody had any idea what level blue correlated to. If there was any relationship between the color of [Identify], and the color from classing up ¨C my [Pyromancer] class was orange, a whole tier above red. Red was above pink, and most humans were somewhere on the pink to red spectrum.


    Orange, a whole tier above that, had offered me 49 stat points per level.


    Blue, the class offered by my meeting with Papilion, was 400 stat points per level. All of them free stats, it would¡¯ve been more if they were assigned stats.


    And that was a single legend, from a single fisherman, untold decades ago, who survived.


    The ocean was a scary place, and I wanted nothing to do with it. Not until I¡¯d gotten a lot more levels. Dry land for me, please and thank you!


    The town looked, well, there was no other word for it but beat. Kids weren¡¯t happily skipping along the grey zone, laughing and playing tag. Merchants were half-heartedly shouting their wares. The guards had eyed us with a defeated look, as they let us in, not even asking Artemis to discharge her mana.


    We made it to the barracks, and instead of releasing us, Julius ordered us to stay put.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to find out what¡¯s going on.¡± He said.


    I whined, so softly it could barely be heard. Several pairs of heads turned and looked at me, glaring.


    No, not at me, I realized. At Artemis, who¡¯d been significantly more vocal about her unhappiness.


    The highest form of treachery occurred as I turned and gave Artemis a glare as well, covering for my own mistake. She swatted me.


    We hung around for a few minutes, taking bets on the problem.


    ¡°A plague!¡± I said, feeling fresh and rejuvenated after the last few weeks, ready to tackle another disease, experience those sweet, sweet level ups.


    ¡°Monster.¡± Arthur said. ¡°We¡¯re at the ocean.¡±


    ¡°Any monster wouldn¡¯t stick around, or we¡¯d be asked to take it out. My bet¡¯s on a Classer.¡± Maximus said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s start a pool, 20 coins each?¡± I proposed, pulling out some coins. Arthur and Maximus quickly pulled out some money, then Kallisto plonked down a handful of coins.


    ¡°Corrupt guard.¡± He said. ¡°It¡¯s why nobody¡¯s really willing to chat with us, and why the guard seems to not care.¡±


    ¡°People would talk to us though.¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°If we had the Ranger flag up, which we don¡¯t yet.¡± Kallisto said.


    Artemis threw some coins in the pot.


    ¡°Corrupt governor, Selkies, or any other problem not yet named.¡± She said.


    We protested that. ¡°Not fair! You can¡¯t claim everything else!¡± I said.


    ¡°Not without a larger buy-in.¡± Arthur said.


    Artemis rolled her eyes, threw in a few more coins.


    ¡°Happy?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Betting all done?¡± Julius asked, causing me to jump. When had he gotten there!?


    ¡°Yup.¡± Artemis said.


    ¡°Who bet monster?¡± Julius asked.


    We all turned to look at Arthur, who raised his hand.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry to say, you win the pot.¡± Julius said, a little smile flitting over his face as Arthur¡¯s face went crestfallen, then happy, scooping up all the coins into his arms, then funneling them into his pouch.


    ¡°Sea monster¡¯s been terrorizing the fishermen. Seems to have learned that humans result in good eating. Deep, deep red in color reported from the survivors.¡±


    ¡°There are a number of fishermen who are high level, from hunting coastal monsters all their life. They specialize in dealing with these types of monsters, and are almost better than we are at this specific task. When you include how many of them there are, they¡¯re probably better than we are.¡± Julius acknowledged.


    ¡°Most of them died trying to fight this.¡±


    Grim looks passed around.


    ¡°Planning session?¡± Artemis asked.


    ¡°Planning session.¡± Julius confirmed. We unharnessed the horses, putting them away in the guard¡¯s stable, then we piled into the Argo, and I used [Veil] around us.


    ¡°First off, I need to know if anyone¡¯s not in tip-top shape. Artemis, begin.¡±


    Artemis saluted.


    ¡°I have no special, interesting, or otherwise deadlier than normal projectiles.¡± She said. ¡°Furthermore, the combination of jungle and seashore makes more of the native stones around here smooth. Good for speed, bad for penetration and damage. All in all, a little less deadly than usual. Tip-top shape otherwise.¡±


    ¡°Arthur?¡±


    ¡°I have every poison I could want, except for one particularly rare sea urchin, which I¡¯m hoping to pick up here. The Kadan is excellent for me.¡± He reported. ¡°Low on buster arrows, but I could always use more. From the sound of it though, I don¡¯t think buster arrows would do much.¡±


    ¡°Maximus?¡±


    ¡°Might take a few days to reforge my weapon into something that can punch up to a sea monster. If the locals can¡¯t handle it though, I doubt I can make something better.¡± He said.


    ¡°Kallisto?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d love a floating inscription of some sort. I¡¯m bad at swimming. Barely passed the class.¡± He said. There was a heartbeat of pause, of remembering Origen, and we moved on.


    ¡°Elaine?¡±


    ¡°My armor doesn¡¯t fit. Again.¡± I said. Puberty a second time was miserable, and I had a set of sometimes-form-fitting armor that let me know exactly when I¡¯d gotten an inch taller, a centimeter wider. There was something like an uncanny valley effect going on, where armor that used to fit me exactly was off a hair, it was so much worse than regular armor. It kept Maximus on his toes and grumbling, but I¡¯d seen the smile as he got more and more levels in his armor/metal/weapon reshaping skill, as he had to constantly keep up with me.


    ¡°Right, Maximus, quickly fix Elaine¡¯s armor ¨C I know it¡¯s a short adjustment time ¨C and Arthur, you get one candle¡¯s worth of time to find your poison before we go and scout this thing out. Kallisto, you¡¯re with me to find a sheep. Break.¡± Julius ordered.


    Artemis and I glanced at each other. Enough time to visit the baths¡­.?


    Maximus nixed that idea before it could even fully form.


    ¡°Elaine, I need you wearing the armor so I know what needs to be fixed.¡±


    Fineeee.


    In a short whirlwind of activity, we were on the town walls, while a sheep was out on a rickety little boat, at risk of tipping over with any given wave. When the wind blew just right, we could hear some distant, plaintive bleating. Arthur was somewhere down on the rocky beach, hidden. Appropriate, the mountain-sized man finally blending into something vaguely mountain-related.


    The locals weren¡¯t too happy about us ¡°baiting¡± the monster closer, and ¡°teaching it that food is here.¡± The current attitude seemed to be one of ¡°wait long enough, and it¡¯ll go away¡­ we hope.¡±, which was fairly defeatist.


    After hearing about how the monster had wiped out dozens of their more experienced big game fishermen, I could see why though. There was nothing to be done, in their opinion, although the town could sustain itself on the local farms and Kadan Jungle well enough. The lack of fishing and ocean products was causing a depression, it wasn¡¯t risking wiping the town out.


    The sun was low in the sky, when the monster struck, blindingly fast. It looked like a massive sea serpent, one right out of the books, but was so fast I barely got a look.


    Huge. Huge, and much faster than anything that size had any reason being. Monsters getting stats and skills was simply unfair. No wonder humanity was basically cowering around the Nostrum sea, unable to voyage out too far.


    We regrouped in the Argo, Arthur having managed to get off [Identify] on it.


    ¡°Red. Extremely red. So red everything else I¡¯ve seen is pink.¡± Arthur said grimly.


    ¡°I¡¯m never calling anything red again, not unless it¡¯s close to that.¡±


    Artemis broke out some cosmetics. I raised an eyebrow ¨C I didn¡¯t realize she had that. Maybe I could ¡°borrow¡± some to work on [Pretty].


    ¡°Do I have a similar shade?¡± She asked, opening her box of cosmetics.


    Arthur hummed as he looked in the box, taking a small splinter of wood, messing around with some of the pigments.


    Red


    ¡°Right. Placate, Kill, Drive off, or Tolerate?¡± Julius asked, naming our four methods of handling monsters.


    ¡°They¡¯re tolerating it right now.¡± Kallisto pointed out.


    ¡°Not particularly happily.¡± Julius retorted.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think we can placate, kill, or drive it off.¡± Artemis said pessimistically. ¡°It¡¯s an ocean monster. We are, pun intended, completely out of our depths trying to deal with it.¡±


    ¡°We could try to poison it.¡± Arthur said.


    Maximus rolled his eyes. Julius held up three fingers. Two fingers. One finger.


    ¡°You always suggest poison!¡± We all chorused out.


    I¡¯d been with the team long enough to be able to join in on the chorus, the only obvious difference left from me to everyone else was my short stature, and being obviously a teenager.


    Arthur muttered darkly, as our brainstorming session continued.


    The major problem was, we¡¯d have to fight on a ship, or in water. Fighting on a ship was three steps away from fighting in water, since the monster could, and would, just destroy our boat. Then we¡¯d be in its element, horribly outnumbered.


    At the end of a long brainstorming session that¡¯d gone deep into the night, Julius leaned back.


    ¡°I hate saying this.¡± He said. ¡°I think we need to call in a Sentinel for this problem. It¡¯s outside of our paygrade; it¡¯s too large for us.¡±


    There were some slow, reluctant nods around the table. I peeled and ate another mango. The piles of them had gotten low, and I stopped eating them as my entire meal.


    My personal chest was still stuffed with them though. Emergency rations.


    ¡°Who do you think they¡¯ll send?¡± Arthur asked.


    ¡°Ocean. Magic. Destruction. Probably not Hunting.¡± Julius said, ticking titles off his finger. ¡°Bluebeard has some powerful magic, but Katastrophi¡¯s entirely unsuited for the ocean. It¡¯s Ocean¡¯s element and domain, so he has a large leg up, but from the look of it, this monster¡¯s too big. Destruction and Magic might be able to punch up that far, but it¡¯s a long shot. Destruction usually needs a stationary target.¡±


    He shrugged. ¡°Won¡¯t be our problem. Arthur, help me write the request? You got the best look at it. Everyone else, you¡¯re free.¡±


    Artemis and I were off like one of her rocks, into the dark streets. The baths should be working, but we¡¯d have to work hard to find one that still took people this late at night. A bit of sneaking, a few polite run-ins with some guards, and we found our bathhouse.


    Baths, oh blessed baths, oh holy baths, how I¡¯ve missed you so. It¡¯d been almost three months since Catona and my last bath, and in the dim light, flickering through steam, we extricated a whole season, an entire jungle, and a plague¡¯s worth of dirt, mud, grime, and other unpleasantness that had fused into an unholy mess of ¡°ick.¡±


    By the time we were done and exited the building, we were blinking in the early morning light. We headed back to the Argo, me picking up a dozen more tunics ¨C in a larger size! ¨C before crashing to sleep in the wagon once we got back.


    We were woken up to maniacal laughter, Arthur prancing about the wagon, whooping and yelling in an uncharacteristic display of glee, of joy. He kept hitting his head on the roof, but even those constant hard knocks weren¡¯t enough to get to him.


    ¡°I did it! I did it!¡± He kept yelling.


    Artemis threw a mango seed at him, that she¡¯d clearly been keeping for just such an occasion.


    ¡°Did what?¡± She asked. Julius popped in at the commotion, clearly having been on Ranger-help-desk duty.


    ¡°Arthur, what¡¯s going on?¡± Julius asked.


    ¡°I did it! I killed the monster single-handedly!¡± He yelled, finally letting us know what all the fuss was about.


    My eyes nearly popped out of my head.


    ¡°What level was it?¡± Artemis asked.


    ¡°957!¡± Arthur yelled, pumping his fist.


    ¡°Did you get it as a solo kill?¡± Julius asked quickly.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Arthur did a happy, walking-backwards dance. The ¡°I¡¯m so good dance.¡±


    ¡°Ha! Julius!¡± Arthur yelled, with a huge grin. ¡°Better start running to catch that courier. They¡¯ll be pissed if they get a request for a Sentinel when I¡¯ve already handled the problem.¡±


    Julius cursed, and suddenly it was like the inside of the Argo was filled with a storm, as Julius moved at top speed, grabbing a bunch of gear together, ending up in full armor.


    ¡°Artemis, you¡¯re in charge. If I¡¯m not back in three weeks, carry on without me.¡±


    With that, he stepped on it, and was gone.


    Arthur chuckled, still delighted.


    ¡°Heh. Longer vacation, fame, and best of all? I got my 256 class-up from that.¡± He said.


    ¡°Man of the moment!¡± I cheered him on, his happiness infecting me, causing a silly grin to split my face.


    Artemis put her hands on his shoulders, reaching up to manage it.


    ¡°Arthur. Seriously, congratulations.¡± She said, giving him a hug.


    Artemis stepped outside, and I heard triple bolts going off, the signal for Maximus and Kallisto to come over.


    ¡°Right, I¡¯m in charge. Tonight, a feast, a party! Tomorrow, you can class up, we¡¯ll guard you while you¡¯re at it.¡± Artemis said.


    ¡°They will sing my name for a thousand years!¡± Arthur cried out triumphantly.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 15]


    [Mana: 13220/13220]


    [Mana Regen: 17889]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 38]


    [Strength: 29]


    [Dexterity: 219]


    [Vitality: 135]


    [Speed: 220]


    [Mana: 1322]


    [Mana Regeneration: 2079]


    [Magic Power: 1151]


    [Magic Control: 1788]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 180]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 180]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 140]


    [Medicine: 180]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 134]


    [Phases of the Moon: 180]


    [Moonlight: 35]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 115]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 131]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 42]]


    [Fire Affinity: 42]


    [Fire Resistance: 42]


    [Fire Conjuration: 42]


    [Fire Manipulation: 42]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 38]


    [Burn Brightly: 25]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 86]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 85]


    [Pretty: 103]


    [Vigilant: 114]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 158]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 84]


    [Running: 80]


    [Learning: 125]

 Chapter 90– Brigantium I

    Autumn. Three months after Arthur had slain the sea monster, two months after Julius had made it back, complaining that he ¡°was a sprinter, not a marathon runner¡± and other such grumblings, we rolled into another town, Brigantium, another stop on our route.


    My leveling rate had slowed down massively, and I was seeing glimpses into why people ended up around level 150-200 lifetime, with only the best, the people constantly throwing themselves into danger, getting to the higher levels.


    Well, that explained my [Constellation of the Healer] class slowing down. My [Pyromancer] class was doing a ¡°normal¡± rate of leveling, which for a ¡°get out there and murder things¡± was more of a slow rate, especially with the stats of [Constellation] pulling it along.


    We got to town, Artemis happily fired off a dozen thunderbolts, marking our entrance to town. One day they¡¯d get the idea that hey, maybe Ranger-Mages or other government-related mages didn¡¯t need to discharge their mana before entering a town, that it didn¡¯t take too much time for them to regenerate enough mana to cause a problem if they really wanted to, but for now, that was the way things were. It made me laugh every time though, the glare Artemis shot me. I wasn¡¯t tagged as a mage, I was tagged as a healer, so I was let in no problems, the red carpet practically rolled out for me, in spite of the fact I was a mage as a second class. Not that we advertised that.


    Nobody ever gave that particular policy high marks for being well thought out. It was interesting to see a small strand of extremely tall trees right outside the gate though, with nothing else near them. Most likely the work of a Wood mage being asked to blow their mana before being allowed into town.


    We got into town, and heard some bards singing songs. I frowned, while Arthur had a huge grin crack his face.


    Turns out, Arthur was right. Slaying a monster that high level, single-handedly? Yeah, that was the stuff of epic songs, and before we¡¯d left Massilix, there had been a dozen different songs being sung about him. In the end, there was one really good song that had made it out of Massilix, but it gave him an ear-splitting grin every time we came into a town, and he heard his name being sung ahead of time. No need to hire a bard to write his song, it was already being sung!


    On the other hand, my experience was a bit less pleasant. Glacia was a bard at the end of the day, and left Perinthus with a mild grudge against me, for ¡®betraying¡¯ her secret, and being part of the group that had come down on her, and all but accused her of mass murder. There was an epic song about Perinthus and the plague, and Hesoid being slain. It was less popular than Arthur slaying the monster by a margin, but it was making its rounds, a song we¡¯d hear once in town to Arthur¡¯s dozen.


    My name wasn¡¯t mentioned once. Ponticus, the practically useless Light healer, had the fewest mentions, at eight. Hence my foul mood, and general grumpiness towards bards.


    We settled in towards a fairly standard entrance, and started to move towards town to set up at the guard¡¯s barracks, as usual.


    Losing Origen hurt. I hadn¡¯t realized just how many little inscriptions and enchantments were in the Argo, making life easy for us, keeping things simple. From minor things like better food preservation, extending how long food was good for by a day or so ¨C minor, but noticeable, done without making things cold, without a fridge like I¡¯d suggested all that time ago when I was first joining up ¨C to making the walls slightly more dust and dirt-repellant, to the more major ones like the horses being able to see in the dark, all of our chore workload had increased with him gone, and his inscriptions slowly wearing out.


    Our armor inscriptions were still good, but only due to how rarely we needed to use them. However, we no longer sparred with them, instead saving them for the fights where we needed them. The support, like a good janitor, like a good IT professional, nobody appreciated what they did until they were gone, and problems started to pile up. Not big problems, more like ¡®the horses threw a shoe again because they¡¯re no longer magically attached to their feet¡¯ problem. Which means a delay, find a farrier, get it fixed, and move on. Maximus¡¯s metal manipulation only worked for weapons, another twist of skills being funny, and, well, that was that.


    Blessedly for me, Kallisto was sticking to his redemption, and was taking on all of my cleaning chores still. He was well and truly forgiven ¨C but it¡¯d be a cold day in hell before I let him off the hook, and signed myself up for more chores.


    The long and the short of it was, as the horses pulled the wagon through the street, Artemis and I were subtly inching our way towards the rear exit. I was finally somewhat fluent in Ranger sign-language, and Artemis was giving me a low to the ground countdown.


    3.


    2.


    1.


    GO!


    At that last signal, Artemis and I burst out of the rear of the Argo, Artemis artfully kicking it with her heel on the way out, causing it to close again. We were off like a shot, losing ourselves in the crowd. It took much longer these days to be done with getting everything set, and we¡¯d quite literally kill for a bath, after a few weeks on the road. Dodging a few chores was dozens of steps below murder.


    Sure, Julius could always catch us, order us back, and make us wait until everything was done before we could be off. It was a bad look though, and punishment after the fact also worked, without undermining his authority as badly. Not that escaping like this didn¡¯t undermine him, but¡­.


    But I had nothing. Artemis was a bad influence on me.


    Laughing madly, we fled into the crowd, a direct line to the bathhouse Artemis had spotted, prompting the countdown in the first place. It was much easier to hop off the Argo near a bathhouse, than go all the way to the barracks, then try to find one.


    A hop, a skip, and a jump later, and we were soaking in blessedly warm water, steam so thick it made the area off-limits to asthmatics.


    ¡°Ahhhhhhhhhh.¡± Artemis let out a long sigh of contentment as more weeks of dirt were scrubbed off. ¡°Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I¡¯m liking this idea of being a, what do you call it? Teacher? Never needs to go weeks without a bath again is appealing.¡±


    ¡°What do they call the people at the Academy who train Rangers?¡± I asked. There had to be some overlap.


    ¡°Instructors.¡± Artemis promptly replied.


    I had a [Veil] wrap us, muscles loosened from the hours of soaking, wanting a quick private chat with Artemis.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± She asked me.


    ¡°I¡¯m wondering if I should keep allocating my stats the same way.¡± I said.


    ¡°Share.¡± Artemis asked, pulling herself upright.


    I¡¯d been working hard on my skills as we traveled, but a lack of a Major Incident had more skill levels than class levels go up. [Constellation of the Healer] had also slowed down from town-healing, mostly due to how high of a level it was. I hadn¡¯t really initially bought that people could commit murder against other humans for levels, but seeing how badly I¡¯d slowed down, I could maybe see why. Maybe.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 15]


    [Mana: 14150/14150]


    [Mana Regen: 18726]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 92]


    [Strength: 32]


    [Dexterity: 219]


    [Vitality: 135]


    [Speed: 220]


    [Mana: 1415]


    [Mana Regeneration: 2163]


    [Magic Power: 1231]


    [Magic Control: 1861]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 183]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 183]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 148]


    [Medicine: 183]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 140]


    [Phases of the Moon: 183]


    [Moonlight: 66]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 118]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 132]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 45]]


    [Fire Affinity: 45]


    [Fire Resistance: 45]


    [Fire Conjuration: 45]


    [Fire Manipulation: 45]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 45]


    [Burn Brightly: 35]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 88]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 91]


    [Pretty: 105]


    [Vigilant: 120]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 160]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 110]


    [Running: 90]


    [Learning: 130]

 Chapter 91– Brigantium II

    I sheepishly slinked back, and started working on the work needed, namely, grabbing one of our massive water kegs, rolling it down to a nearby well, filling it up, and bringing it back. It kept me out of Julius¡¯s eyesight ¨C out of sight, out of mind ¨C and let me have fun with my new and improved strength stat.


    Look at me! Bodybuilder Elaine in the house! I could just barely lift the massive keg of water when it was full now, but I ran a serious risk of crushing myself. I rolled it instead, pleased as punch.


    With almost no words exchanged, we finished everything up. The look I got from Julius implied that I¡¯d somewhat redeemed myself by coming back early, without Artemis. Interesting¡­ maybe it¡¯d be worth coming back early more often, get most of the benefits of an early bath, then let Artemis take most of the ire? Plans within plans, plots within plots, mastermind Elaine is here and plotting.


    ¡°Kallisto, you¡¯re with Maximus. Elaine, you¡¯re with me today.¡± Julius said once we were all settled.


    ¡°Errr¡­ could I be with Kallisto instead?¡± I asked, figuring he was better for handling Artemis¡¯s fallout.


    Julius¡¯s eyes narrowed as he looked at me, wheels turning in his head. He put it together. I was back early, Artemis was nowhere to be found, and I was explicitly trying to not be teamed up with him.


    He threw his hands up in the air.


    ¡°Fine! For the love of all the gods, be discreet this time! We don¡¯t need a repeat of Pisae!¡±


    I nodded sheepishly, while Kallisto grinned roguishly.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go?¡± I asked him.


    He nodded, and we headed off to the slums, walking here and there, keeping a weather eye out for strange lightning, or sprays of earth and rocks, or anything that could be a non-standard Artemis signal. If she used one of her standard signals, it meant she was acting as a Ranger, and for everyone to come right now, like what happened in Perinthus. Otherwise, she was trying to stay under the radar. Relatively speaking.


    We wandered the streets, armor and Ranger Badge on, seeing what life was like. Some people saw us, and frantically scrambled away, clearly guilty of something. We didn¡¯t care that much, we had no leads, nothing to go on, and whatever they were doing wasn¡¯t serious enough for us to have been told about it.


    Other people were happy to see us, a solid, reassuring presence. I had no illusions though, for every person in the slums happy to see us, there were more that were unhappy to see us, victims of perceived or real injustices at the hands of the guard, a Citizen, or someone else. Not my business, not today, although if enough people came up to us, telling us that there was corruption in the guard, we¡¯d take a look.


    It wouldn¡¯t surprise me if Julius took a look at them every time, keeping them on the straight and narrow. It was hard for corruption to set in deeply when a Ranger team visited every few months, keeping people honest.


    Come up to us and chat, people did. There was a name we heard in whispers a few times, with fear, with people checking over one shoulder before whispering it to us, between telling us perfectly normal things.


    ¡°Nero.¡± A teenager whispered to us, fear in his eyes, between telling us what the catch of the day was, and the best place to buy bread. All unsolicited.


    ¡°Nero.¡± An old man spat at us, loudly, clearly unafraid of any reprisal saying his name loudly would bring.


    ¡°Nero.¡± A woman brought us to a back alley, before tearfully telling us about him.


    That did it for us.


    ¡°Artemis is about to go head first into that isn¡¯t she?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yeah. We¡¯re ready to back her up, but it sounds like it might get ugly. Let¡¯s see if anyone else is around to help out.¡± Kallisto said, head on a swivel.


    We went to a clear square, and I climbed up onto a slightly higher statue, pointed my hand up, and focusing on [Burn Brightly], made the tallest, brightest pillar of flame I could manage.


    Strange how I could manipulate the brightness and color, without changing the temperature now. Less strange was how darn long [Pyromancer] was taking to level up. I was being punished for my impulsive choice in the most boring way possible ¨C a ridiculously slow leveling speed, even at low levels.


    This wasn¡¯t my emergency signal- my skills didn¡¯t rate one yet, but if I could make the flames loud enough, I¡¯d qualify ¨C but if any of the other Rangers happened to look my way, they could see Kallisto and I were asking for backup. Not serious backup, but a bit of extra help.


    ¡°200 coins says Artemis is after this person.¡± I said, sliding down the statue after a few minutes. Healing was good business, gave me enough coin to make what would¡¯ve been an absurdly large bet a year ago easily. I was starting to see why Rangers had such a hard time getting powerful healers, not when I was making buckets of coin even after I charged a pittance.


    ¡°No deal.¡± Kallisto said, shaking his head.


    Arthur, of all people, showed up after some time.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Nasty fellow called Nero¡¯s apparently around. We think Artemis is already going after him, we¡¯re hanging out as back up.¡± Kallisto said, quickly bringing Arthur up to speed.


    Arthur got a huge grin. ¡°Hey, either we get the person, or we get to roast Artemis. Or both. Win-win.¡±


    I threw him a look, punching his leg. Arthur winced slightly, and swatted lightly at me.


    ¡°Feels like you tripled your strength.¡± He said, rubbing his leg.


    I swelled up with pride. My punches had previously been like butterfly farts on him, now a full-strength punch could get him to notice me. Barely.


    That was kinda depressing, thinking about it. Ah well, I could always use flames to get noticed. Setting someone¡¯s clothes on fire was a sure-fire way to get their attention.


    ¡°Yup! It¡¯s over 100!¡± I said.


    Kallisto rolled his eyes.


    ¡°Finally. It ¨C¡°


    He was interrupted by what could only be described as Artemis¡¯s ¡®signal¡¯, an explosion of stone, ice, and lightning bolts from three blocks over.


    We didn¡¯t even need to glance at each other, we were off like a shot. I was still working on running with flames, and little spurts of flame came out from my feet on every push, trying to give me a bit of an edge, make me move a bit faster. It was on the famous roads of Remus, so there was no chance of setting anything aflame.


    We turned a corner, pushing through the crowds of people getting out of the way. Nobody wanted to stick around when Classers started throwing around literal lightning bolts, and a quick glance over my shoulder showed the guard was hot on our heels, heading towards the action.


    Artemis was there, panting, blood running down from dozens of ice spikes in her, clutching the stump of her left arm. A stone plate in front of her face dropped to the ground, having protected her head from an ice spike. A head shot was a head shot, and was basically unhealable. A ¡°fried extra-crispy¡± body was lying a few meters away from her, and it didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out what happened, nor to figure out that this was most likely Nero.


    I pumped my arms, moving my legs even faster. Needed to get to Artemis. Needed to heal her.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Running] has reached level 91!]


    Artemis was in no danger of dying, not between now and when I got to her, but I was still upset with how the moon was moving, making [Moonlight] currently unusable. I¡¯d love to stabilize her, stop the bleeding, before I could do a more thorough healing session. No luck.


    Instead I slid the last few feet to her, touching Artemis and using [Phases of the Moon] as strongly as I could, healing her, restoring her arm, feeling ice shards get expelled from her body, clattering around us, one hitting me on the head.


    ¡°Whoof. Thanks.¡± Artemis said, in no position to say more.


    Kallisto and Arthur had arrived a moment ahead of time, clearing the way, taking up a defensive pose around her. Arthur¡¯s hand briefly drifted towards one of his emergency signal arrows, before pausing and moving back. Artemis hadn¡¯t seen the need to signal, and the situation was more or less under control, for a given definition of ¡°under control¡±.


    The guard moved in a moment later, and now we were in an incredibly awkward situation.


    ¡°Thank you for arresting the Classer.¡± The squad leader told us, moving towards Artemis.


    We glanced at each other, carefully not looking at Artemis.


    ¡°Um. Sure. No problem.¡± Kallisto said, caught off-guard, without golden words on his silver tongue for once.


    ¡°We¡¯ll take it from here.¡± The guard said, leaning in towards Artemis.


    ¡°Errr, could we handle it please?¡± I asked, thinking fast. I knew guards. What would they like to hear, that was the truth¡­?


    ¡°This Classer is known to us, and has caused us lots of trouble in the past. We¡¯d like to handle her if at all possible.¡± I said, with a completely straight face.


    What? Every word of it was true.


    Kallisto had a master poker face, but Arthur had to pretend to be interested in the sky, shoulders occasionally shaking as he suppressed a laugh.


    The guards frowned at us, clearly sensing something was up.


    ¡°Fine. But the fine still needs to be paid.¡±


    I glanced at Kallisto. It¡¯d come better from him.


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    The guard named a figure that made my mouth drop open. Kallisto raised an eyebrow, while Arthur let out a barking laugh.


    ¡°¡­Sure. Come with us?¡± Kallisto invited the guard, bending down to grab Artemis.


    Most of the guards dispersed, leaving just the squad captain and his partner to follow us as we ¡°escorted¡± the ¡°prisoner¡± back to the Argo.


    All the gods and goddesses smiled on us, as we didn¡¯t break out into laughter once. A few snickers escaped my lips, which I managed to roll into a cough. I was still getting suspicious eyes boring into the back of my head.


    We made it back, and Kallisto went into the Argo, grabbed the main money chest, and brought out enough coin to pay Artemis¡¯s fine. We then unceremoniously threw the ¡°prisoner¡± into the wagon, and climbed in, closing the door.


    I got [Veil] up just in time to contain us all bursting into laughter. Even Artemis had recovered enough to find it hilarious.


    ¡°This Classer is known to us, and has caused us trouble in the past.¡± Arthur said, pointing at Artemis through tears of laughter. ¡°You couldn¡¯t be more accurate.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe that worked!¡± Kallisto yelled, pumping his arm. ¡°So many problems dodged! No need to extract Artemis from jail!¡±


    ¡°On that note,¡± Arthur said, tone becoming serious. ¡°Artemis, you¡¯re probably confined to the Argo for the rest of our stay here. At the very least, stay here until Julius has a chance to stop by.¡±


    Artemis didn¡¯t even bother arguing, just flopped down on her bed roll. Arthur left, and Kallisto stepped out for a moment. We were still paired for the day.


    ¡°Was it worth it?¡± I asked.


    Artemis¡¯s look turned serious.


    ¡°I¡¯d do it again in a heartbeat. That was one of the worst.¡±


    I slowly nodded to Artemis, going over to my chest and rummaging through it. Where was it ¨C AHHA!


    I tossed one of my few remaining, ¡°eat in case of emergency¡± mangos over to Artemis, who deftly caught it out of the air, slowly nodding at me. A small speck of stone was conjured, and Artemis started to carefully peel the mango with just the sharp edge, working on her control, finding a way to entertain herself while confined.


    ¡°You mentioned wanting to teach one day.¡± I said to Artemis. ¡°Try practicing some beginner lectures. Maybe write down particularly good lines or ideas. Start a manuscript, like I have.¡±


    ¡°Good idea. Any ideas where to start?¡± She asked, looking at the ceiling.


    ¡°Start at the basics. What you taught me all that time ago. [Meditate] being the base skill, types of mages, etc.¡±


    The look on Artemis¡¯s face grew thoughtful, as she started to rummage around for some charcoal.


    I hopped out, joining Kallisto.


    ¡°Standard set?¡± He asked.


    ¡°No, I want to help the people Artemis just freed.¡±


    ¡°No money in that.¡± Kallisto pointed out. I gave him a flat look.


    ¡°It¡¯s not about the money. It¡¯s about helping the people that need it the most. Do you think there¡¯s a more battered group in the town right now? Well, one that we know about? Do you think any of them will get a chance at a healer? They¡¯re scared, lost, and confused, and Artemis being ¡®arrested¡¯ instead of getting her usual chance at helping them out is doing them no favors. Come on. You substitute Artemis, let them know what they can and should do now, and I¡¯ll fix them up.¡±


    What happened to the slaves when Artemis killed off the ringleader? It was strange.


    The easiest was when they were illegally capturing and pimping or selling people. Cut off the head, kill a half-dozen lackeys, and get everyone we could back home. That was easy, simple. ¡°Simple.¡±


    From the sound of it, Artemis had stumbled on one of the harder cases, where everything Nero was doing was, technically, legal, just horribly unethical. What happened to his business? What happened to his slave contracts?


    Under the letter of the law, they passed to his next of kin, if he had no will. If there was no next of kin, it was handed off to the governor¡¯s office to handle, which usually resulted in a bit of a mess. Generally, the governor simply declared them all freemen, and asked if anyone would like to sell themselves back into slavery. Anyone who chose to do so would be able to keep all the coin they got selling themselves, and send it to support their family, if they didn¡¯t feel they had a better option.


    It was a coin toss if people would take them up on the offer if Artemis was the one freeing them. On one hand, she only went after the worst of the worst, people who beat, abused, and mistreated their slaves the worst. Some former slaves still had some fire, some gumption, and were happy to throw off their chains. Others had been in a pit of despair so long, they couldn¡¯t imagine any other future, any other way of life.


    We didn¡¯t argue with those. Artemis¡¯s crusade wasn¡¯t against slavery, it was against women and girls being horribly abused.


    At the same time, nobody would be freed if the slave contracts went to the next of kin. This is the gap we were stepping into, and, by all metrics, improperly exploiting. Kallisto was going to off-handedly mention that the records were bad, and, well, if they just vanished, just ended up with some distant family, nobody would be able to tell they were slaves¡­


    Our job wasn¡¯t handling or enforcing slavery. Our job as Rangers was handling large threats to Remus, and we could make a very roundabout argument that we were heading off dissent and rebellion in the early stages.


    After all, we¡¯d arrested the Classer responsible for the brutal, public murder.


    Quite a few hours later ¨C sadly, no levels ¨C the sun was down, and we were heading back to the Argo, for Kallisto to drop me off safely before heading out on his own.


    Bless him, he¡¯d learned. He was big, beefy, and could handle himself well enough, while I, well, wasn¡¯t.


    We were halfway to the barracks, when the haunting cry of ¡°Fire! Fire!¡± came up. We glanced at each other, Kallisto kneeled down, and I hopped on his back. Off he went!


    Sure, it¡¯d be better for me if I ran there, but I¡¯d get there faster piggybacked. It was pointless earlier due to how close we were, but the red glow was far away. Distance running, a ride from Kallisto, who focused in physical stats, got us there faster.


    We made it to the fire, where a familiar scene was playing itself out. A fire brigade arguing with the owners. Blessedly, there were no screams coming from the building, but the fire brigade had made a barrier, not letting anyone else come close.


    ¡°Halt! By decree of the governor, only members of the fire brigade may come close to a burning building!¡± A pompous lackey cried out, stepping boldly in front of us, raising his hand.


    I grabbed my badge at my belt, raised it high over my head, angling it to catch the firelight. I glanced up. The moons were out, crimson and ominous, watching our little drama in the corner of the world.


    The lackey saw the badge, and his lips curled in a sneer. The sneer was rapidly wiped off his face as he realized that Kallisto wasn¡¯t stopping, and was about to go through him. His paycheck clearly didn¡¯t rely on allowing himself to get run over by Rangers, and he dove out of the way.


    The weak link in the fire bridge barrier did not get out of the way, and Kallisto ran through their arms, a crack coming from them. I threw a [Moonlight]-boosted [Phases of the Moon] in their direction, watching my mana drain horribly, but getting their arm fixed.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Moonlight] has reached level 67!]


    And we were in, burning wood surrounding us.


    I tapped Kallisto and slid down, only now hearing a mild cry for help. Not desperate, not young. It gave the feel of a polite lady asking for help, and could you please hurry along before I get desperate? However, a cry for help was a cry for help, and whoever was making the noise clearly couldn¡¯t get out on her own.


    Kallisto shot off, deeper into the flames, while I focused around me, grabbing a clump. Extinguishing it. Grabbing the next set of flames, dousing them. Steadily moving in the direction Kallisto had moved.


    [Fire Manipulation] was good for more than just setting fire.


    I looked around, trying to find the largest hearts of flame, the places where removing a large chunk of fire would do the most good.


    Grab, extinguish. Grab, snuff out.


    Pull on the mana stored in my earrings. Grab, quench.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pyromancer] has leveled up to level 46! +5 Free Stats, +14 Mana, +8 Mana Regen, +14 Magic power, +8 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Strength from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Affinity] has reached level 46!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Conjuration] has reached level 46!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Manipulation] has reached level 46!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Resistance] has reached level 46!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fuel for the Fire] has reached level 46!]


    I wasn¡¯t scared of the flames. Not anymore. They came from me, were a part of me. All I needed to do was reach, and they were mine to control, mine to make dance to my tune.


    And tonight, mine to douse.


    I had to be careful though. I couldn¡¯t tackle nearly the entire fire ¨C I simply didn¡¯t have the mana for it, even after pulling in all the mana from my Arcanite, even after giving it some time for my massive regeneration to kick in. The scale was completely different from what I could handle, and I needed to be intelligent about what I hit, when, and where.


    Instead of say, the entire beam, I could hit the center, and parts of the edges, and kill the fire there. The remainder would hopefully burn itself out.


    Grabbing the entire fire, removing all of it at once, was the domain of a power-mage, with massive Magic Power and Mana. I was more focused on Mana Regen and Control, in spite of the distribution of my [Pyromancer] stats.


    A hallway. A room. Jumping back as a beam, weakened by the flames I¡¯d just removed, fell down anyways. The place wasn¡¯t going to be in good shape when I was done, but it sure was going to be in better shape than if I did nothing, or if hundreds of gallons of water and sand were poured in.


    I followed the path I believed Kallisto had taken, only to see him emerge from the flames like a phoenix out of myth, carrying a woman. I made sure to quickly grab the flames around him, remove them from existence. I walked up to them, touching them both, pulsing [Phases] through them, focusing on burns, on lung damage from the smoke.


    Kallisto nodded to me, and without another word, bounded out of the house. He was a tank, able to run through ¨C quite literally ¨C a house on fire, and emerge unscathed on the other side, even carrying someone. Wasn¡¯t built to stay in a fire for a sustained period of time though.


    A workroom, filled with dozens of vials, herbs in all states, mysterious implements scattered all over. Must be an alchemist who lived here. I spent extra care making sure his livelihood was saved.


    I kept my ears perked, hearing almost nothing. No more cries for help. No wails of a trapped kid. Nothing but the roar of flames, steadily decreasing as I played a one-girl-fire crew.


    I spent a half second wondering why more people didn¡¯t take on a Fire mage class, before remembering how slow my leveling was. Who wanted to be stuck as a low-level most of their life? Who wanted to dive into flames unpaid? Speaking of pay, what job could a mage hold, that a specialist in a town couldn¡¯t do better? The charcoal maker was better at burning wood, the smith was better at his forge. I was only safe because I could heal myself of most injuries, because I didn¡¯t fear my lungs being seared from the toxic smoke. I was only paid because I was a Ranger and a healer.


    Speaking of, I needed to be careful. My hubris in Perinthus was a solid reminder that this world had magic, and with all the herbs floating around, there could be magic smoke of some flavor that could do strange things to me.


    Also, normal hallucinogens could be a problem.


    I had no idea how long passed, but soon I wasn¡¯t alone in the house, some other people running around, lending a helping hand. A Ranger-Mage, even without the class, diving into your home and killing a ton of the fire clearly inspired confidence, and the low lighting probably meant they didn¡¯t get a good look at me, didn¡¯t have any notions of my skill based on my appearance.


    Or maybe, and the thought warmed my heart, they had seen me, and had faith anyways. It put a small, secret smile on my face, casting strange shadows as flames danced around me.


    As embers danced around me.


    As nothing but ash swirled around me.


    I walked out to an irate fire brigade squaring off against Kallisto. He turned and looked at me.


    ¡°Oh great, all set?¡± He asked me, winking.


    ¡°Yup.¡± I answered, somewhat tired. Not quite exhausted, but I wasn¡¯t going to have clinic tomorrow. Just a long sleep, followed by trying to get all the infernal smoke out of my hair. I¡¯d let it grow long again, as poor of a life choice as it was, being on the road. I liked it though, and because I liked it, [Pretty] was happy.


    Kallisto turned to the brigade, arms crossed, forming a human wall. I stepped up next to him, and we took out our badges.


    ¡°Do you really want to continue arguing with two Rangers, after one of them single-handedly took out a fire?¡± Kallisto asked softly. ¡°How do you think this ends for you?¡±


    There were some nervous looks around. Clearly Kallisto had been waiting for me before challenging them, sticking around to make sure I¡¯d be safe on my way back.


    ¡°But-¡° one of them started to say, getting cut off by another, leaderly-looking one, who was deep in thought.


    ¡°Listen. You know where to find us. Lodge a complaint! We¡¯re in town for another week. Or don¡¯t. She¡¯s a healer. A healer. Practically useless by most standards, and single-handedly took care of a fire. Me? I¡¯m a dual-classed warrior, and significantly stronger than she is. Want to see what I can do?¡± Kallisto asked, flexing.


    That got a few of them to leave, muttering angrily about not being paid. It wasn¡¯t fair, or right, having a fire brigade that was privately ran. No fires, no pay. Or rather, no money from the burning house, no pay. That broke them, and more and more streamed away, leaving just the leader, who took one last look at us, snorted, and stalked off.


    Kallisto laughed, punching me in the arm, causing me to stumble over from the force.


    ¡°That¡¯s how you do it! Alright, let¡¯s go drop you off at the Argo. Assuming Artemis hasn¡¯t burned it down in her boredom. Then I gotta get to the baths ¨C I¡¯m late for my first appointment!¡±


    ¡°What, you didn¡¯t get an appointment with the lady here?¡± I shot back.


    He laughed.


    ¡°That¡¯s next week.¡±


    I facepalmed. I guess I asked. Kallisto was incorrigible.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 15]


    [Mana: 3854/14290]


    [Mana Regen: 18655]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 18]


    [Strength: 102]


    [Dexterity: 220]


    [Vitality: 135]


    [Speed: 220]


    [Mana: 1429]


    [Mana Regeneration: 2171]


    [Magic Power: 1244]


    [Magic Control: 1867]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 183]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 183]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 148]


    [Medicine: 183]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 140]


    [Phases of the Moon: 183]


    [Moonlight: 67]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 118]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 132]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 46]]


    [Fire Affinity: 46]


    [Fire Resistance: 46]


    [Fire Conjuration: 46]


    [Fire Manipulation: 46]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 46]


    [Burn Brightly: 35]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 88]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 91]


    [Pretty: 105]


    [Vigilant: 120]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 160]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 111]


    [Running: 91]


    [Learning: 130]

 Chapter 92– Libraries and babies

    Winter was here, and it wasn¡¯t that bad. The environment was more conducive to massive squalls and storms, and I had a grand time jumping around in the rain, letting the wind blow, feeling the might and power of the storm. Laughing at the rain, jumping in puddles. Being a kid, free from the weight of saving, healing, fighting.


    Killing.


    We¡¯d made it more to the north-western edge of Remus, and the next stop after this town was hopping on a boat, and taking a nice long trip on the Nostrum Sea, to be dropped off near the capital, and Ranger HQ, to finish our round. It was looking like we¡¯d finish a bit early, which translated into tons of extra vacation time. Extra vacation time translated into more time to heal people, which in practice meant more time to acquire money, and spent it on mangos, which should be flowing once again now that Perinthus wasn¡¯t under quarantine.


    At the same time, getting to Ranger HQ, and the grand Ranger meet-up that happened every two years, also meant that I¡¯d be leaving the team, and going to Ranger Academy for two years. The long and short of it meant, I was being put through my paces at a furious rate, with everyone, and especially Julius, wanting me to do well once I got there.


    The best way to gain experience, and to level up classes and skills, was in a fight. Life and death fights were the best, which I somewhat objected to. My objections didn¡¯t mean too much when Artemis carved out a ring with me in it, and Maximus and Arthur would toss in some low to medium level monster they thought I could handle into it.


    It was amazing experience, both for my levels, and general fighting experience. I¡¯d become more amenable to it over time. I was fighting monsters that were preying on humans, that needed to be culled anyways. Always in a team though, but I was starting to throw some gouts of flame here and there, usually when the other Rangers determined the monster was so weak as to not be a threat, when the monster didn¡¯t require 100%.


    Fighting in a team, not contributing much to the kill, resulted in miserable experience rates though, especially when I only came in when they felt there wasn¡¯t a threat to life and limb.


    Not that much could threaten limbs when I could just restore them.


    Not that we got complacent ¨C overestimating yourself, underestimating a monster, was how many, many names got written on the Indomitable? Wall.


    None of that in a town though! I was paired with Maximus today, and we were raiding the town¡¯s library! Happy day!


    Sure, it was useless for leveling up any of my classes, but we made a good team. Maximus wanted to get any and all System-related information he could find ¨C information on classes, skills, levels, abilities, elements, really, anything at all ¨C and I just wanted to read, mostly fun or interesting stories.


    Turns out, there was a good amount of overlap between the two! Interesting stories usually had great skill descriptions, and information about amazing classes tended to have cool stories attached to them.


    We split the library more or less in half, and skimmed through books. If we found a scroll we thought the other person would like, we made sure to grab it for them. Naturally, we picked up cool stuff for ourselves.


    I dumped six scrolls onto the table where Maximus was sitting, carefully reading through the record he was looking at, taking notes on his own scroll. Without lifting his head, he pointed at a scroll a bit apart from the rest.


    ¡°That one¡¯s the story of Senator Cicero. The politics are somewhat dry, but the historian is well-known for bringing the stories to life. Right up your alley.¡±


    I pointed to a scroll, dusty with age.


    ¡°I think that one might handle the Fire plus Metal advanced element.¡± I said. ¡°However, it conflicts with itself. It mentioned Mithril, Adamantium, Hihi¡¯irokane, Orichalcum and Electrum as elements, and mentioning there¡¯s more. I have no idea what to make of it.¡±


    Maximus, for once, dropped what he was reading and with a strange mix of eager and reverential, seized the scroll. Like the most religious sacrament, he opened it up, starting to scan the contents. A frown quickly went over his face.


    ¡°You¡¯re right, this is a bizarre account. It seems to say that there¡¯s dozens of elements for the Fire + Metal combination, each one some type of metal with magical properties. Like they have inscriptions or skills in them by default.¡±


    It sounded interesting, but I didn¡¯t see myself going down the magic metal route. I¡¯d never seen or heard of them before this, and I doubted I¡¯d be able to do anything relating to it. I was deep into the account of Senator Cicero. I had to give it to the historian who wrote this ¨C he could make dry, dusty politics the most exciting thing I¡¯d read all year. Not exactly a high bar to clear, being on the road so often, but a girl couldn¡¯t be choosey.


    We spent some companionable hours reading, swapping scrolls and analysis. Mostly discussing skills. I¡¯d think a skill was cool, or get an idea for a skill, and Maximus and I would try to work out, with our combined knowledge, if it was possible, and how such a skill could work.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 141!]


    Solid level for a day¡¯s work in a non-combat setting. Even better because it was fun!


    We wrapped the day up, and the next day, I woke up, expecting more of the same. Nope!


    ¡°Elaine, I figure today you could use a minor dose of humility.¡± Maximus started out by saying.


    I looked at him outside of the Argo, me still inside of it. I thought about what Maximus¡¯s idea of ¡®a minor dose of humility¡¯ probably looked like.


    I closed the door. Bolted it shut.


    A few minutes of banging and yelling on the door later, I relented.


    ¡°Alright, fine, do you worst.¡±


    We stopped outside of a clinic, the picture of a baby making it clear that this was a healer specializing in childbirth, a midwife. Had to get inventive when people couldn¡¯t read or write!


    ¡°I¡¯m going to give them a story. Try not to mention you¡¯re a Ranger, it¡¯ll just get everyone walking on glass around you, which defeats the point of this.¡± Maximus instructed me.


    I mutely nodded, pushing down the urge to proclaim and feel like I was the best healer ever. Maximus had clearly been thinking about this, and skills were skills. Mine were, as skills went, extremely broad, and I had a mountain of stats behind my healing skills. However, I had a sneaking suspicion that Maximus was trying to show me something, and after having eaten crow over the plague in Perinthus being transmitted via eye-contact, being magical, I was keeping my mouth well shut, until whatever lesson Maximus wanted to teach me was imparted.


    ¡°Hello.¡± Maximus said, walking in.


    The woman welcoming people in looked quickly between Maximus and I, and blessedly decided to not make any assumptions.


    ¡°What can we do for you two?¡± She asked.


    ¡°My apprentice here has a, shall we say, strange experience set, mostly handling injuries and disease. Hoping that she could work with someone, preferably lower-level than her, and get some exposure to childbirth.¡± Maximus said.


    The lady looked between us, clearly having used [Identify], then told us. ¡°Wait here one moment. Let me get the healer.¡±


    She popped into a back room, bringing out an older, thinner lady. She looked between us, before lasering in on me.


    ¡°You¡¯d like to get some experience with childbirth?¡± She asked.


    I nodded.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    Maximus smoothly stepped in.


    ¡°She¡¯s incredibly good with injuries and disease, in all manner of high stress situations. I¡¯m concerned that she¡¯s starting to think she can do it all, and childbirth is a solid area where her skills don¡¯t apply that well.¡±


    She looked at me, scanning up and down.


    ¡°160 coins.¡± She said. ¡°That¡¯s the price for the lesson.¡±


    I didn¡¯t even bother looking at Maximus as I counted out the coins from my pouch.


    ¡°Alright, come on. You, stay here.¡± She pointed at Maximus, who took a seat in one of the recliners in the lobby.


    She strode down the hallway, with me keeping up the best I could. This was a healer who was clearly specialized in childbirth, something mom had wanted me to become when she found out I was a Light healer. Our first big argument, my first major act of rebellion all those years ago, had been taking [Light of Hope] instead of a midwife class like mom had wanted. This was again like looking at a branch in the tree that ¡°might¡¯ve been¡±, a person, a life, I might¡¯ve enjoyed.


    Or not enjoyed, depending. Too many what-ifs off of that.


    ¡°Breakdown of your healing skills.¡± She asked.


    ¡°Pain management, of the ¡®don¡¯t care¡¯ variety, medium healing and calming aura, full restoration and disease destruction skill.¡±


    She stopped, turned around, and looked at me.


    ¡°You have a Restoration variant with an anti-disease skill in the same skill?¡±


    I nodded. She raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°What kind of power and control do you have behind that?¡±


    I hesitated a moment, not sure if I wanted to say. I relented, and told her.


    ¡°18,000 control, 13,000 power.¡±


    I got a whistle at that.


    ¡°How have I not heard of you before? And those stats at your level don¡¯t quite make sense.¡± She asked pointedly.


    ¡°Errr¡­.¡± I said awkwardly, not wanting to mention I was a Ranger, nor go too deep into [Oath].


    ¡°Anyways, I can see why the person with you ¨C I don¡¯t believe he¡¯s your master, not with your skills and stats ¨C wanted you to come here. Wait here.¡± She said, pointing to a small resting area. ¡°I¡¯ll come get you when something interesting shows up.¡±


    Blah. Waiting.


    And waiting.


    And waiting.


    And¡­


    She came back, and found me being silly, playing with fire. I¡¯d made a fancy stage, and I had little flame actors running around, trying to mimic Romeo and Juliet. What? I was really bored, and it was good practice.


    I got a raised eyebrow.


    ¡°Alright, come on. We¡¯ve got something interesting.¡±


    I followed her through the clinic, getting to another room, a woman clearly in labor, a second healer next to her.


    This healer was much younger, just a year or two older than I was, with sandy blonde hair.


    ¡°Report.¡± The older healer snapped out. The younger healer jumped up.


    ¡°Cord¡¯s wrapped three times, water¡¯s broken, fully dilated, breeched.¡± She rattled off.


    ¡°What¡¯ll happen if we do nothing?¡± She asked. I suspected it was for my benefit.


    ¡°Death for both.¡± Sandy ¨C my nickname for the younger healer ¨C replied.


    The older healer turned towards me.


    ¡°Your solution?¡± She asked.


    I tapped my knife.


    ¡°Numb pain, slice in carefully, pull baby out, cut the cord, restore mom and baby back.¡± I said, after thinking about it for a few minutes.


    I got a raised eyebrow at that.


    ¡°Your solution?¡± She asked Sandy.


    ¡°Turn everything around, and it should be easy going from there.¡±


    She nodded.


    ¡°Do it. Show Elaine here how it works.¡±


    I used [Identify] on Sandy.


    [Healer], around level 110.


    ¡°[Turn].¡± Sandy said, her hands grabbing the air and moving.


    ¡°[Turn]. [Turn]. [Turn].¡± She repeated.


    ¡°And [Out].¡±


    The senior healer cursed, and jumped into position, just in time to catch the baby. Sandy half-collapsed in a chair, exhausted and worn out by her use of skills. I stood back as a flurry of action resulted, mom, baby, and healer doing dozens of things I was entirely unfamiliar with.


    After almost an hour of standing in the corner, out of the way, not able to really help or do anything, the senior healer had a moment to chat with me.


    ¡°I hope that helped.¡± She said.


    I slowly nodded, processing. I was politely but unceremoniously shown the door, and I slowly walked back with Maximus, deep in thought.


    ¡°What did you learn?¡± He asked. He¡¯d also make a good teacher, maybe an instructor at the Academy.


    ¡°Well, bringing life to the world is a joy.¡± I started off slowly, stating the obvious. I¡¯d gotten the rush from saving a life many times over, and it never got old. Bringing new life into the world though, was an entirely different story. It was a similar rush, a thing of beauty, but, different, in many ways.


    ¡°Also, someone lower level than me, with a tenth of my stats, even someone in my domain, healing, with the right skills, can massively outperform me.¡± I said.


    Maximus nodded.


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly the lesson I wanted you to learn.¡± He said. ¡°Your skillset is broad, and powerful. It¡¯s what we look for in a Ranger. Never forget though, the more narrow a skillset, the more powerful it is in the right situation. The healer you worked with, she probably can¡¯t set a bone, cure an illness, restore an eye, or a hundred other things you can do. However, in the right spot, she¡¯s more powerful than you are, at a much lower level.¡±


    He paused a moment, letting me process what he just said.


    ¡°This also applied to combat. Generally, people who are focused in a single, tiny aspect of combat get themselves killed early. They have a single, strong trick, and the moment the trick¡¯s defeated, they¡¯re helpless or worthless. Wind Weasels are a solid example of a monster doing this. Their claws are sharp, and if they can claw someone in the right way, they can punch through defenses of people many times their level, when an ordinary monster would do nothing. However, outside of that single trick, they¡¯re practically helpless. A kid, who hasn¡¯t even unlocked their class, can simply kick them to death. Not generally a threat to people. Extremely narrow focus, but powerful inside of that focus. The broader you are, the more fields you¡¯re invested in, the worse you are in each field, but the more flexible you are.¡±


    Maximus shrugged.


    ¡°It¡¯s part of why I research skills, research the System. I want to know about all sorts of skills, narrow applications. How far can you go? If instead of one domain, you¡¯re in two, are you half as strong? A quarter? Or are you only nine-tenths as strong? At which point, it¡¯s probably worth being in two domains, not one. What about a third? At what stage is it worth branching out? At what point do you call it quits?¡±


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 142!]


    I seized the moment.


    ¡°You should work with Artemis. She¡¯s thinking of making a school to teach magic. You could test your theories on young students, see what happens.¡±


    Maximus seemed to mull it over.


    ¡°It¡¯d be in the capital. Dozens of libraries, hundreds of thousands of people, millions of skills, you¡¯d never be bored.¡±


    I had no idea if Artemis was interested in teaming up with Maximus over this, but hey, it couldn¡¯t hurt.


    Maximus looked at me thoughtfully, and we continued to walk to the Argo, in silent contemplation.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 15]


    [Mana: 16310/16310]


    [Mana Regen: 20004]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 114]


    [Strength: 114]


    [Dexterity: 219]


    [Vitality: 135]


    [Speed: 220]


    [Mana: 1631]


    [Mana Regeneration: 2307]


    [Magic Power: 1427]


    [Magic Control: 1978]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 185]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 185]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 155]


    [Medicine: 184]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 155]


    [Phases of the Moon: 185]


    [Moonlight: 92]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 136]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 134]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 58]]


    [Fire Affinity: 58]


    [Fire Resistance: 58]


    [Fire Conjuration: 58]


    [Fire Manipulation: 58]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 58]


    [Burn Brightly: 58]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 95]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 94]


    [Pretty: 107]


    [Vigilant: 125]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 165]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 122]


    [Running: 103]


    [Learning: 142]

 Chapter 93– A Dozen Different Methods of Death

    Spring was here, spring was here! Life was skittles, and life was beer. The most wonderful thing about the late spring, though, was birthday time! Woohoo!


    We were just about done with our round of Remus, and the Argo, along with the rest of us, was on a merchant boat, heading towards the capital. We¡¯d hit all the towns we needed to, and going overland back to the capital would take too long. A nice, leisurely trip on the boat was just what the healer ordered, and was some solid winding-down time for everyone.


    Heck, even the monsters didn¡¯t bother us, but then again, there were virtually no monsters within shore-view of the Nostrum Sea. Most sailors swore up and down that there was something deeper in, and there were no ships that tried to directly cross the sea. Not anymore.


    Not my problem! Being on the ship was boring, that was my problem. People we assumed were pirates sailed close to us at one point, saw the Ranger banner we had displayed, saw an eager Kallisto, Maximus, Julius, and Artemis, itching to blow off some steam, and kept right on sailing. We had fun throwing taunts after them.


    I was straight-up banned from using any sort of Fire magic, short of the sails catching fire or something equally catastrophic. Which kinda sucked, because I was a level 59 [Pyromancer], and I was eager to see what my next mage skill would be.


    I spent some time running up and down the length of the ship, until someone important-ish ¨C I never got his name ¨C yelled at me, and I went back to the Argo, for some more lessons. Work on the medicine manuscript I¡¯d been writing, taking Markus¡¯s suggestion to heart. I was down to polishing and editing it. Bah, editing. The bane of all writing. It made it better, but it was so boring, so tedious. So painful. I believed it would do the world some good, if only I could get some good PR on it. After some time I might leave and spar with someone ¨C usually Artemis, usually without skills ¨C have a meal, rinse, repeat.


    I was in the Argo, lying on my back, feeling everything tilt one way¡­ then the next. One way¡­ then the next, gently rocked by waves. I threw a ball up and enjoyed watching it curve in interesting directions before coming back down. Caught it, repeated. Caught it, and ¨C


    We came to a jarring halt, causing me to roll over, ball hitting me on the head. I didn¡¯t care ¨C LAND!


    I was off like a shot, out the rear of the Argo, around the front, there was the dock, pump the legs, go, go, go, get ready to jump, kiss the ground and-


    Julius grabbed me.


    ¡°Elaine, perfect! Can you harness the horses to the wagon please?¡±


    Drat.


    I nodded, Julius dropped me, and I trudged off to harness the horses, not quite being able to trade my sea legs for land legs yet.


    A few hours later, I wished it was that easy to trade sea legs for land legs, as I bow-leggedly tried to run. Something about ¡°struggling through adversity¡± or some nonsense.


    ¡°It¡¯s funny to watch Elaine stumble around and make bets on it¡± was more what I thought was going on, with the sound of laughter and coins changing hands behind me.


    ¡°Why isn¡¯t anyone else being made to run?¡± I asked, holding onto a tree for dear life.


    ¡°Because the rest of us know how to handle ourselves on dry land, and aren¡¯t nearly so entertaining.¡± Maximus cheerfully retorted.


    A few days later, a week away from the capital, I woke up in the Argo as usual, and bounced out of bed.


    Birthday! Woohoo!


    It was still dark, and Arthur and Maximus were still on night shift as I practically exploded out of the Argo. I had too much energy, and I burned it off running, jumping, cartwheeling, and generally making an early-morning nuisance out of myself.


    Wasn¡¯t every day a girl turned 16 after all.


    I ducked, dodged, and generally blocked debris thrown at me from an annoyed Julius and Artemis, who were still trying to sleep. I only calmed down somewhat when Arthur pulled out a vial of something, and just held it up ominously.


    Ok, ok, hint taken. I didn¡¯t want to find out what that was. I wanted to enjoy my birthday, not spend it in the woods losing my lunch.


    After way too long, everyone was up, the horses were fed, and breakfast was had.


    ¡°Happy birthday Elaine!¡± Artemis said. ¡°You remembered this year!¡±


    I stuck my tongue out at her.


    ¡°Ha! Anyways, here¡¯s our gift to you.¡± She said, pulling out a package.


    I carefully peeled into it, a luxurious black tunic showing up.


    ¡°It¡¯s a bit big right now.¡± Julius said, as I turned it over, looking at it. ¡°I took a brief run to the capital to get it made and had one of the highest level [Seamstress]es I knew work on it. One of her skills is a solid estimate of what size it needs to be in the future. The other? You can imbue it with your skills, and it¡¯ll reflect them.¡±


    I tilted my head, puzzled.


    ¡°It¡¯ll throw off harmless flames.¡± Artemis said. ¡°I have a similar tunic, throws off little lightning bolts. Great fun at parties!¡±


    Ooooh nice.


    We spent about another hour celebrating, then we were back on the road, tunic carefully tucked away in my chest.


    I looked at my twoish years worth of loot. There wasn¡¯t much. A full set of armor. Arcanite earrings, which had gotten more tiny stones embedded in them as I asked more [Jeweler]¡¯s to improve them over time, a massive reservoir of mana for me in an emergency. My medicine manuscript, the original. I planned on getting it copied a dozen times over by some [Scribe]s once we reached the capital, then giving some copies to Markus, other healers, and honestly, anyone and anywhere I thought would be useful. The new woman¡¯s tunic I¡¯d just gotten, which on Earth would probably be described as a dress. A few trinkets, little mementos from some of the places I¡¯d been.


    I¡¯d be in Ariminum for some time. I hope I could add some letters from my parents to the pile. How were they? I hope they were doing ok. It was easy to send letters to them. It was hard to get letters back, as I was constantly moving.


    What I thought was an absurd amount of money. Julius had pulled me aside one day and mentioned I wasn¡¯t even making a tenth of what I could be making in the capital, or most other towns, if I settled down and charged appropriately.


    ¡°I still choose to be a Ranger.¡± Was my response, which got a brilliant, beaming smile out of him. I did appreciate the candor; how honest and upfront he was about my situation. It¡¯d sour our relationship if he¡¯d tried to hide it, if he was anything less than totally honest with me.


    I tried to repay his honesty with honesty of my own, and working my ass off, to make them all proud of me.


    Notice I didn¡¯t mention other tunics. That was because I¡¯d ceased to think of them as ¡°mine¡±, and they were more ¡°what¡¯s getting destroyed this week in training.¡± It wasn¡¯t like I didn¡¯t try to wash the blood out and stitch them back together. There was a point where it no longer mattered, where it was easier to chuck them and buy another set. For some reason, [Ranger¡¯s Lore] didn¡¯t help with stitching up tunics or washing blood out of them, which I thought was patently unfair.


    After the party, Artemis had an announcement to make.


    ¡°Today¡¯s a happy day. I don¡¯t want to overshadow Elaine¡¯s birthday, but I don¡¯t want to have this come as a last second surprise.¡±


    We all looked at her, with bated breath.


    ¡°I¡¯m announcing that this is my last round as a Ranger. Teaching Elaine has been a great joy, and she¡¯s been whispering about founding a school to teach magic to people of all ages. I¡¯ve got years of pay socked away; I¡¯m going to give it a shot. Gives me time to see old friends, make new friends.¡±


    ¡°Even better,¡± Julius said, riding the momentum. ¡°We beat the odds! More than half of us survived!¡±


    That got a grand cheer from us. Hurray to surviving! Hurray to beating the odds!


    Well, that had the party extended, and we made it an even bigger party. A Ranger, retiring alive? Practically unheard of. A creature out of myth and legend.


    Late afternoon, as we were happily moving along the home stretch, Arthur and Julius had a furious whisper session.


    I was as curious as a cat, so I poked my head over.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Julius said, uncharacteristic hesitation on his face. ¡°Do you want to find out now, or tomorrow?¡±


    Well, when he put it like that, there was no way I¡¯d say ¡°tomorrow¡±.


    ¡°Now please!¡± I said eagerly.


    Julius licked his lips nervously.


    ¡°As you know, how you became a Ranger was, shall we say, unconventional.¡±


    I nodded, none of this being new.


    ¡°Once we get to the capital, you¡¯re going to be recommended for Ranger Academy, and go through their training. Complete the training, and you¡¯ll be properly ratified as a Ranger.¡± He said.


    I slowly nodded, not sure where this was going. Arthur interrupted.


    ¡°What Julius isn¡¯t saying, is it¡¯s his skin on the line if you fail out. Not because of a failed recommendation to Ranger Academy ¨C because of the field promotion, followed by failure. They could strip him of his leadership role at best, kick him out entirely at worst.¡±


    I blinked, taken aback. Julius looked pissed.


    ¡°I was hoping she¡¯d go into it low-pressure.¡± He said.


    Arthur shrugged. ¡°Better that she know. Might help her hang on when it gets tough.¡±


    ¡°Anyways, the long and the short of it is, you¡¯ll be expected to handle monsters of all types on your own, even as a healer. Part of, I suspect, why we just don¡¯t have healers. Most can¡¯t hold their own against even the weakest monster.¡± Julius said. ¡°Arthur¡¯s found a small enclave of goblins, and I was thinking to send you in there alone to take them out. Think of it as a sort of capstone to the round, proof of how far you¡¯ve come, and a pre-entrance exam to the academy, all rolled into one.¡±


    I slowly nodded. Made sense, with Julius putting his livelihood on the line for me. It wasn¡¯t ideal, but goblins so close to a major population? Unlikely they could cause problems for the city, but there¡¯d be some travelers they could waylay, and the heart of Remus, where we were in, where the capital was, had more lax restrictions on buildings. Nothing big and scary, apart from the monsters in the sky, made it this far in, and even then, there were enough powerful humans, [Ranger]s, [Mage]s, and more, that could shoot them down, let them know that ¡°this area was off-limits.¡±


    ¡°How many?¡± I asked, getting my game-face on.


    Julius and Arthur glanced at each other.


    ¡°10.¡± Arthur finally said. Julius raised an eyebrow at that.


    ¡°Fine, fine.¡± Julius said, raising his arms in surrender. ¡°We should get settled in for the night, puts us closer to the goblins for you tomorrow.¡±


    We did just that. Artemis and I were treated like the richest Senators, practically paraded around as we celebrated again. No need to worry about our food stores at this stage! We were on a fairly busy road, one of the main arteries of the Republic, and got a number of looks at the party we were throwing.


    We politely declined some people who asked to join us. This was by Rangers, for Rangers.


    I had the sense that tomorrow, it was back to chores for me, and Artemis would practically be carted back to the capital.


    We got up the next morning, butterflies in my stomach. I slowly, carefully prepared myself in the morning. Hearty meal. Lots of water. Fresh, new tunic.


    Maximus had adjusted my armor again. Laminar vest. Vambraces. Leather-and-metal skirt. Greaves-that-were-more-like-shin guards. Helmet.


    Knife. Sword. Those were standard I could wear them, so why not. Spear. Shield. I was going to fight, to kill, not just as support. Swords were side-arms, flexible weapons for a dozen situations. Spears were the main weapons of war, of the cold calculus of death. They were no good in a cramped space, but if I could get some goblins out in the open? There was no better tool.


    Goblins were weak enough that even with my low strength, my low physical stats, I could reasonably fight them. They probably had more physical stats than I did, but I was also sitting on a mountain of magical stats, which were my main weapons. The spear, the shield, and the rest were just a bonus, equipment making up any gaps in physical stats.


    Killing with a spear took no mana.


    Arthur and Artemis took me to where he¡¯d spotted the goblins, Arthur in his usual scouting outfit ¨C light armor ¨C and Artemis in a red tunic, with just a short sword with her. I raised an eyebrow at her over that. She snorted at me.


    ¡°What? No monster in this part of Remus can hurt me. Classers can, and there¡¯s more than enough of them in Ariminum, but not monsters.¡±


    We snuck through the forest, birds singing, crows cawing, bushes rustling as various animals were startled by our passing. Lucky rabbit, we¡¯re not hunting you today.


    We arrived at the top of a hill, and Arthur pointed down. In a little clearing, in a depression in the forest, were a few goblins lazing about, one poking at a cooking pot of some sort. Arthur vanished, Artemis looked at me and nodded.


    Here goes.


    Goblins were fucking sentient, and it was a miserable day I discovered that. It meant I couldn¡¯t just ambush and pick them off one at a time, they needed to attack me first. [Oath] wouldn¡¯t let me initiate an attack. However, it didn¡¯t mean I needed to be dumb about it. There was no way I¡¯d just walk into their camp, and have a 10 vs 1 start. Good way to end up with Elaine in the cooking pot! Or worse.


    I snuck around, trying to find some isolated goblins on sentry duty. Like they had the discipline to post sentries. Nah, more likely to find one returning from a hunt or something.


    I carefully moved through the brush, not wanting to be visible to the main goblin ¡°camp.¡±


    I spotted a goblin, crouched over some plant or another. A mushroom? Whatever. I crouched down, and gently extending my spear, tapped him on the shoulder, immediately bracing myself.


    I¡¯d only gotten a little less than two years practice fighting, from the very first day Artemis taught me how to stand properly, how to fall properly, all the way how to carry and use a spear. With my build, with the time spent drilling versus other Ranger activities, by all reason, I shouldn¡¯t be that good with a spear, with weapons, with fighting.


    That¡¯s where I got my most mileage out of [Ranger¡¯s Lore]. It, quite frankly, helped me fight. Gave me instincts. Helped me moved, guided my hand. The massive passive mana consumption it had, along with the level I¡¯d gotten it to, finally made it good enough to use in a fight. Not as good as a dedicated skill to it, like [Fighting], but it was still strong.


    But man, skills were weird. It basically translated to ¡°learning about the judicial system in Remus and Ranger¡¯s place in it also improved my ability to fight¡±. Which, by my old-Earth logic, made no sense.


    By Pallos-logic, nothing was more natural.


    The goblin jumped, turned, had a choice. Walk away, and I¡¯d be helpless to stop him. Run to his camp, get his goblin buddies, attack as a group ¨C nothing I could do there. Maybe be smart about it and retreat.


    Be an utter moron, and charge the warrior who was braced with a spear at the ready.


    Nobody gave goblins high marks for intelligence.


    First method of death. Ran through the chest with a spear. Simple. Elegant. Bloody. Distant.


    Not fast. The goblin clawed at me, trying to get to me, screaming at me, until his dying breath. My shield stopped that from being anything close to a problem, but hearing the slowly weakening fists on the shield made me shudder.


    [*Ding!* You have slain a [Goblin Forager] (Wood, lv 87)]


    I reminded myself that I didn¡¯t make him attack me. That if he was willing to attack a kitted ¡°warrior¡± at the drop of a hat, he¡¯d do the same to travelers.


    To kids.


    I had time. I carefully wiped the blood off the spear, wandered around to try and pick off any more goblins.


    I was circling around, when I heard a guttural yell from my left. I started to whirl, keeping my spear close, my shield up, before realizing there was a bloody tree in the way of my spear.


    Without a moment of hesitation, I dropped my spear, drawing the knife at my hip, as two goblins burst out, charging at me, practically on top of me.


    I planted my shield down, as they were too close to do much else, one of them hitting the shield hard.


    It was completely unneeded, but I took a deep breath in, then explosively breathed out, summoning flames as I did so, pumping their heat up as high as I could go with [Fire Manipulation] and [Burn Brightly]. Hey, I could pretend to be a dragon, right? The flames bathed the second goblin, causing him to yell in pain, rolling on the forest floor. I hopped back, unable to finish the goblin right now, unwilling to be any closer to a creature trying to kill me than I needed to be.


    The first goblin got around the shield, the shield having done its job to buy me critical seconds to deal with the second goblin, and was on me a moment later, tiny dagger in his hands, stabbing at me, trying to reach my face, my eyes. I stabbed back, just as hard, us falling to the ground in a vicious, stabbing, bloody, rolling mess.


    He ended up on top of me, knife in my face, as I got a notification.


    [*Ding!* You have slain a [Goblin skulker] (Water, lv 83)]


    Second method of death. A brutal knife fight. I couldn¡¯t tell exactly which wound had done him in, or the combination. With a squelch, I extracted my hand ¨C and knife ¨C from his guts, and stood up.


    I peeled the dagger out of my face, using [Phases of the Moon] as I did so, imagining the flesh, tendons, blood and muscle being fixed and restored as I did so. It came out, and I threw it off to the side with a disgusted clatter. The blow hadn¡¯t been worth using [Veil] to shield, as it was cheaper to heal the injury, than to block it.


    I didn¡¯t want to think where, exactly, that knife had been. A surgeon would physically throw anyone out of the hospital who¡¯d offered it to her for surgery.


    I walked over to the second goblin, lying down, still. I hadn¡¯t gotten a notification yet, but he looked out of it. Did I need to heal him? He was no longer a threat. He¡­


    [*Ding!* You have slain a [Goblin rogue] (Dark, lv 84)]


    The System blessedly fixed my musings.


    Third method of death. Technically, heart failure. The burns all over his body caused blood and other vital fluids to leak away, causing a fatal drop in blood pressure. The cardiovascular system couldn¡¯t keep up, desperately trying to pump nothing, coming to a stop. Was it a lack of air to the brain? When is a creature truly dead?


    Right now, it didn¡¯t matter.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pyromancer] has leveled up to level 60! +5 Free Stats, +14 Mana, +8 Mana Regen, +14 Magic power, +8 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Strength from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Affinity] has reached level 60!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Conjuration] has reached level 60!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Manipulation] has reached level 60!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fire Resistance] has reached level 60!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Fuel for the Fire] has reached level 60!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Burn Brightly] has reached level 60!]


    [*Ding!* For reaching level 60, you¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Rapidash]!]


    [Upgrade [Running] to [Rapidash]? Y/N]


    Rapidash: Move as fast as wildfire, run as quickly as a blaze. Increased speed per level.


    I hesitated a moment, then took the skill, watching my [Running] vanish, to be replaced by a level 60 [Rapidash]. Perfect. Free general skill slot to boot. I¡¯d need to work with Artemis to see what I could take for that new, open slot.


    I wiped my knife clean and sheathed it. I spent a moment practicing with [Rapidash], running back and forth, enjoying my explosive speed at times.


    I¡¯d need a lot more work with the skill, a lot more practice. Right now, I didn¡¯t have the time or the mana for it, and I was leaving little burning trails behind me. In a forest.


    I¡¯d be so doomed if I started a forest fire here. Execution was exceedingly rare as a punishment. In the entire round, with all the criminals we¡¯d dealt with, with all the murders we¡¯d handled, there was a single case where Julius had determined execution was the right punishment, ignoring Classers that couldn¡¯t be captured, only put down. The corrupt officer from the 3rd who¡¯d let a bunch of potential plague-carriers out of the town. The army had different rules to boot. But if, somehow, I managed to start a forest fire big enough to burn down the capital, I¡¯m sure I¡¯d face the executioner¡¯s axe.


    Which generally took the form of being thrown into the arena, and monsters and gladiators being sent at you until you died. Might as well get some coin and entertainment out of criminals. Better than sticking them on a cross outside of town, and potentially luring monsters closer, teaching them that humans were on the menu.


    All the noise from the fight, and from my testing my new skill, had the goblins charge up to me. [Vigilant] gave me a moment of heads up. Instead of immediately charging at me, they used some skills, some tactics, to start slowly circling me. The two dead goblins at my feet made them wary.


    I drew my short sword. I had no time to try and find my spear; nor pick it up even if I knew where it was. They¡¯d pounce at that weakness.


    They slowly circled me as I twisted and turned, not quite sure the best way to handle this. I knew I didn¡¯t want to give them more time to get into position, otherwise I¡¯d just start eating attacks from behind, eventually getting overwhelmed and killed ¨C or worse.


    If they weren¡¯t going to come to me, I¡¯d go to them. With a roar, I burst forward at a goblin with [Rapidash], keeping my shield solidly in front of me, activating the inscriptions Origen had left in my armor. The decaying inscriptions, which probably only had one or two uses, or months, left in them. I¡¯d wanted to keep them as a memento, but there was no point if I was dead.


    Ramming the goblin with my shield worked far too well, and I didn¡¯t even need to stab with my knife as the goblin¡¯s head stayed put while the rest of him moved, and I got a notification.


    [*Ding!* You have slain a [Goblin Chef] (Fire, lv 91)]


    Fourth method of death: Skill-empowered shield rush, resulting in a broken neck.


    However, that was not a sustainable method. I felt my arm, my shoulder, my clavicle, go snap, crackle, pop in the most disconcerting way, my arm and shield slumping, no longer responding to my commands properly. I wasn¡¯t a physical fighter, I didn¡¯t have the vitality to be running around the field, smashing into goblins. I was being turned into paste, just like they were.


    My money on a paste-contest was the goblins winning.


    There were two goblins near the [Goblin Chef] that I¡¯d just battered, and they swiped out at me, one stabbing with a rusty blade, the other slashing with a knife. The stab would be nasty to heal. The slash would end up light.


    I threw up a small [Veil], hopefully too small for the goblins to see what had stopped it, large enough to cover the blow, over the rusty blade heading towards me. I threw my arm in the way of the knife, working on deflecting it like I¡¯d trained with Julius, letting it clatter over my vambrace, pushing me slightly off-balance.


    I was out of the circle though, and I fled even further with [Rapidash], getting more distance on them. I quickly focused on my broken bones, healing myself with [Phases of the Moon]. I checked my mana.


    10598/16760


    Plenty of mana left.


    I was a mage, not a fighter. Magic stats, not physical. My blades were my last resort, my desperation in-close, not my first move. It had been right to kill the first goblin with the spear ¨C it was easy enough. The second time I was in single combat, it had been wrong to tussle with blades. I wasn¡¯t a close-in fighter, I shouldn¡¯t be letting monsters fight their way. It was a miracle I¡¯d survived that.


    I wasn¡¯t making that mistake again.


    [Vigilant] was basically useless, since it was constantly alerting me to monsters, but I paid attention to a slightly higher spike of alarm, forcing my screaming muscles to lift up my shield as a crude arrow came in, clattering harmlessly on the shield.


    Fine. Extra complications.


    The goblins weren¡¯t for tactics anymore, as they rushed over to me, screaming warcries. I really, really hoped Arthur had properly scouted the area, and I wasn¡¯t going to get flooded by more surprise goblins.


    It¡¯d be just like him to do something like that, add a few extra goblins to the mix to make it hard, keep me on my toes.


    Charging like they were made it a bit easier on me. I threw out a thin, condensed jet of flames, as hot as I could, at the lead goblin¡¯s head and chest. I then threw myself backwards without looking, [Rapidash] working in both directions, and repeating myself twice more, putting so much force, so much heat and mana, behind each jet of flames, spending a few seconds channeling each time, that they just burned and charred their way through the goblins entirely.


    No stopping power my ass. Just needed more firepower, that¡¯s all.


    Fifth method of death: Torso and head removed by a massive gout of flames.


    Sixth method of death: No heart or lungs, removed by a jet of fire.


    Seventh method of death: Throat and carotid artery sliced finely, cauterized, burned out, by a thin whip of condensed fire, so close to plasma.


    Each kill faster. Each kill more efficient. A small, distant part of me was screaming that I was becoming an efficient killer, that I was a healer, and what was I doing!? I ruthlessly squashed that part of me. Right now, it was me or them. They could walk away. They weren¡¯t.


    On the third jump backwards, I rammed into a tree, dazing myself, causing me to fall forward, slump to the ground.


    I came to a few moments later, feeling grimy goblin hands feeling me, a goblin standing on me, tearing at my armor. Goblin teeth in my thigh.


    I screamed, and unleashed chaotic flames in every direction, wildly stabbing around me with the sword still in my hand. Three notifications later, stopped, only to realize my clothes, the tunic under my armor, the little leather straps keeping my armor together, were on fire, that I¡¯d melted some of the little metal rivets, and they were melting into my skin, burning into my flesh.


    [Fire Resistance] didn¡¯t extend to my own clothes. Nor did it work on heated metal pressed into me, branding me.


    I would¡¯ve stopped, dropped, and rolled, if I hadn¡¯t already completed the first two steps. I rolled, putting some physical effort into extinguishing the flames, before seizing them and extinguishing them with [Fire Manipulation].


    The metal was harder, but was cooling off. I only kept my head thanks to [Center of the Galaxy], but I hit myself with [Vastness of the Stars] to shore it up. I then took my knife, and carefully sliced into myself, gouging out the cooling metal, healing myself with [Phases].


    That didn¡¯t quite get everything, and I drew in mana from my earrings, and did a poorly-imaged, full-body [Phases of the Moon] on myself, bringing me back to fully healed. Thankfully, the goblin archer had decided to approach me when I brained myself, preventing a game of cat-and-mouse.


    Eighth method of death: Multiple stab wounds from a short sword.


    Ninth method of death: Tried to substitute air with fire.


    Tenth method of death: Burning.


    My outfit was basically completely destroyed, to the point where I¡¯m not sure Maximus could even fix it. There was basically nothing leather left, all the tiny straps burnt away. I was no blacksmith, but I suspected there was some fancy metal-ness going on with the armor, stuff that had been completely destroyed by heating and cooling it down. It¡¯s why I¡¯d been told not to bother with making flaming swords and spears, it just did something to ruin the metal. One point for a mage not wearing armor ¨C they didn¡¯t need to deal with it melting into them when they cast their own spell too closely.


    Mages wearing armor had gotten thirty something points this fight. At least.


    I waited a few minutes for things to cool off enough for me to carry them back, gathered them up, and looked around, spotting Artemis with her bright splash of red standing on a hill.


    Oh. Right. She¡¯d never left; I¡¯d been watched over the entire time. Nerves of steel from her to let the goblins literally climb on me without interfering.


    Then I saw him. An 11th goblin. A clever, sneaky, quiet goblin.


    One that had been taking a nap, high up in a tree. One with a long, mean butcher¡¯s knife. One right above Artemis, who silently, stealthily let go of his branch, falling to Artemis¡¯s head.


    I was nowhere close; I couldn¡¯t do anything. It didn¡¯t stop me from screaming out, from trying to throw a [Veil of the Aurora] as far as I could, hoping against hope that it¡¯d reach, that it¡¯d block the silent, lethal blow from above.


    Eleventh method of death: Decapitation.


    I was nowhere near powerful enough to heal an injury like that; heck, calling it an injury would be a massive understatement. Decapitation was more than a lethal wound, and I wasn¡¯t in range for [Moonlight], even if there was a moon out. The [Veil of the Aurora] didn¡¯t reach; didn¡¯t come close.


    A massive crack split the air, a pillar of lightning erupted, blinding me, deafening me.


    Twelfth method of death: A massive lightning bolt, striking three times.


    Alternatively: Getting too close to a twitchy Artemis.


    I practically cried as I ran up the hill, stumbling, falling at times as I tried to blink the flash out of my eyes, as my ears bled. I dropped my armor when I got close, giving her a huge hug, crying into her tunic.


    ¡°There, there healy-bug.¡± Artemis said, consoling me. ¡°I¡¯m ok. I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m a cut above the rest.¡±


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 16]


    [Mana: 30/16760]


    [Mana Regen: 20363]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 138]


    [Strength: 116]


    [Dexterity: 218]


    [Vitality: 135]


    [Speed: 220]


    [Mana: 1676]


    [Mana Regeneration: 2343]


    [Magic Power: 1466]


    [Magic Control: 2009]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 186]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 186]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 158]


    [Medicine: 184]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 158]


    [Phases of the Moon: 186]


    [Moonlight: 104]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 145]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 135]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 60]]


    [Fire Affinity: 60]


    [Fire Resistance: 60]


    [Fire Conjuration: 60]


    [Fire Manipulation: 60]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 60]


    [Burn Brightly: 60]


    [Rapidash: 60]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 96]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 111]


    [Pretty: 120]


    [Vigilant: 130]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 167]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 129]


    [: ]


    [Learning: 148]

 Chapter 94– Entering Ariminum, The Capital

    Artemis and I slowly made our way back to the Argo, and when we got close enough, Artemis had me pause.


    ¡°Should probably throw up [Veil] for a minute while I grab some spare tunics.¡± Artemis said.


    I looked down, at the clumps of armor and weapons held against me, sandals and helmet being the only properly placed items.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s probably a good idea.¡±


    I threw up [Veil] for a minute while Artemis made a quick trip to and from the Argo, coming back with a tunic. I quickly got into it, and we made our way back, climbing into the Argo to a pair of raised eyebrows.


    ¡°Um.¡± Julius coughed. ¡°Normally I can tell how a strike went by how people come back, but I have no idea this time.¡±


    ¡°10/11.¡± Artemis said. ¡°She missed the assassin one, got the rest of them. Last three were an ugly mess, I almost needed to step in to help with them. On that note, Elaine, want to share your good news?¡±


    It took me a moment to realize what Artemis was saying.


    ¡°Right! I got a new skill ¨C [Rapidash]! Movement skill, evolved off of [Running], and now I have a free general skill slot!¡±


    ¡°Nice, any other levels?¡±


    Right, levels. I should check on that.


    Hang on, my [Pyromancer] class had all my skills capped, and with how much I¡¯d practiced each skill without getting levels in the class, I¡¯d just get spammed with notifications that each skill had leveled up as well.


    Let me, for now, disable skill level up notifications for [Pyromancer] when I got a level. Oh, but let¡¯s make a system notification for when a skill didn¡¯t level instead. Bless the System allowing for customization like this.


    Heck, that customization, and some auto-customization, was how people who were illiterate could understand the System in the first place. A combination of verbal cues, or just telling people made it all work.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pyromancer] has leveled up to level 61! +5 Free Stats, +14 Mana, +8 Mana Regen, +14 Magic power, +8 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Strength from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pyromancer] has leveled up to level 62! +5 Free Stats, +14 Mana, +8 Mana Regen, +14 Magic power, +8 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Strength from your Element!]


    I felt slightly cheated at that. Only two levels? Really?


    I was ignoring the fact that I¡¯d gotten one mid-fight. How was I supposed to rage against the System if I was being reasonable?


    At the same time, it was ¡°only¡± five, six, a real stretch for seven if you included the goblin I¡¯d shield-bashed goblins, that I¡¯d killed using my [Pyromancer] class, and I was more than twice their level as I did it. From that perspective, two levels was more than generous.


    I wonder if [Pyromancer] being lower level than the goblins, and it being a many vs one, situation helped as well. System needed to come with a detailed user manual, not all this guesswork.


    Blah. No matter how I wanted to whine, a level for every two goblins I¡¯d killed with [Pyromancer] was solid.


    That also leaned even more towards ¡°Don¡¯t kill things with weapons if you don¡¯t have to.¡± Lots of potential experience just poofed into the void, although I did get some residual experience.


    Maybe that¡¯s why not everyone was walking around with belts of gemstones, blasting away merrily? A massive reduction in experience gained making it worthless to grind with, only good for last-second life-saving measures?


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 187! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Celestial Affinity] has reached level 187!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 187!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Veil of the Aurora] has reached level 146!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Veil of the Aurora] has reached level 147!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Center of the Galaxy] has reached level 159!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Center of the Galaxy] has reached level 160!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Ranger¡¯s Lore] has reached level 130!]


    ¡­.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Ranger¡¯s Lore] has reached level 133!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 131!]


    That was more like it!


    ¡°A pair of [Pyromancer] levels. A scattering of general and healing levels.¡± I replied. ¡°Nothing fancy.¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t expect it from goblins, although, you were outnumbered.¡±


    We settled in, and the horses started to pull the wagon, Arthur on the reins.


    ¡°After action report. Elaine, go. Artemis, I want to hear your take on it after.¡±


    We both saluted Julius, then I settled down and began.


    ¡°I started off not attacking the goblins directly, instead trying to pick off stragglers. This was correct. My [Oath] skill didn¡¯t let me directly attack them, instead I needed to almost literally tap the goblin on the shoulder first.¡±


    That line got a facepalm from Julius, and uproarious laughter from Kallisto and Maximus.


    Julius looked towards the ceiling, like he was begging the gods, ¡°Why me.¡± I carried on.


    ¡°Ran him through with a spear. That was the correct move, as I was able to dispatch him without a problem.¡±


    Except to me, the memory of fists banging on my shield, steadily growing weaker.


    ¡°His cries didn¡¯t seem to attract the rest of the goblins, and I kept going. Encountered two more goblins. Burnt one, ended up in a knife fight with the second.¡±


    I paused a moment, hesitating.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t have gotten in the knife fight. Should¡¯ve just burned him like I did the other one.¡±


    ¡°The rest of the goblins attacked me then. I let them start to encircle me. Shouldn¡¯t have done that. Broke out, stopped trying to fight physically. Kited and burned them well.¡±


    ¡°Then I made a potentially lethal mistake, by not looking behind me as I used a new skill. Brained myself on a tree.¡±


    I shuddered at that. If I hadn¡¯t recovered so quickly, if Artemis wasn¡¯t on overwatch, I¡¯d be in a very different position. Hopefully eaten.


    ¡°I one part panicked, one part had good reflexes as I came to, burned and stabbed the remaining goblins.¡±


    I looked down at the marred, strap-less remains of my armor.


    ¡°I might have gone a hair overboard.¡± I said with a straight face.


    That got another chuckle out of Kallisto.


    ¡°You also completely missed the last goblin.¡± Artemis said. ¡°Anyone else, I¡¯d be dead. Always assume your intel is bad ¨C especially if it comes from Arthur!¡±


    She yelled that last part through the open door.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Arthur yelled back, objecting.


    ¡°Your verdict?¡± Julius asked Artemis.


    ¡°Well, she¡¯s puny, she¡¯s scrawny, doesn¡¯t scout well, and can barely handle herself in a fight.¡±


    I hung my head at that.


    ¡°She passes!¡±


    Twin goddess of the moon dammit all. I should¡¯ve known Artemis was winding me up.


    ¡°Right, just a few days to the capital, and a new movement skill. It¡¯ll be invaluable during your training, so we¡¯re going to practice it. Elaine, you¡¯re with me. We¡¯re going to run suicide sprints from here to the capital and back until the Argo arrives. Maximus, refit an armor set for Elaine. You never know.¡±


    I groaned loudly.


    ¡°Arthur, feel free to drive slowly. Artemis needs to have a nice, slow, triumphant return to retirement.¡±


    I almost groaned again, then shut up. Julius would just make the Argo go slower each time. We had vacation time we were burning into!


    We packed a lunch, then started running, me practicing [Rapidash] in various ways. On one hand, I had some intrinsic familiarity with the skill, since it was an evolution of [Running], which I¡¯d used for years. On the other, it was a brand-new skill, and I needed to learn the quirks of it, the ins and outs.


    It rapidly became clear that I didn¡¯t have a good handle on the skill. After a few aborted moves, after one grab too many where Julius had to yank me, stopping me from running into another traveler, we took a break.


    ¡°Elaine, what¡¯s your speed, vitality, and magic power?¡± Julius said, as we stopped by the side of the road.


    ¡°220, 135, and 1506.¡± I quickly rattled off.


    Julius rubbed his eyes, doing some math.


    ¡°Right, you have effectively around 1700 points of stats dedicated towards moving fast, but only 135 vitality. You need at least an eighth of the stats in vitality that you have towards movement.¡±


    I tilted my head at him, brushing some hair out of my eyes.


    ¡°Vitality is perception. Right now, your movement stats are outstripping your perception by a solid chunk. You need at least¡­¡± Julius trailed off, fingers twitching as he did the math. ¡°216 points in vitality to keep up with yourself.¡±


    Ah, made sense. There was no one stat that could be used at the expense of the rest ¨C everything was a balance, and I¡¯d managed to unbalance myself by getting a movement skill that worked off of my power, instead of my speed.


    ¡°It might also be useful for you at Academy.¡± Julius said cryptically.


    I wasn¡¯t going to pry. Academy info was something of a secret, and the fact that Artemis had let slip in Virinum about Academy training methods was something she got penalized for. Apparently, if you knew too much about Academy, you could target specific skills to help you pass Academy, which did not necessarily translate to being a good Ranger. As a result, there was an information blackout on what was useful or helpful, and getting this much from Julius was enough to get him in serious trouble if I let it slip.


    I vowed to never let it slip.


    100 points into vitality we go! I kept the rest spare, for use at Academy. I never knew when I¡¯d want a particular stat to help me with a particular problem. I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d get in a situation where it mattered, but I was holding off for now. My life wasn¡¯t under threat.


    We started running again, and I could suddenly keep up with my movements again.


    As crowded as the roads were, with travelers, merchants, pilgrims, and the occasional immigrant looking to shelter under the walls, we were given no hassle. Mostly because we blazed past too fast for anyone to complain, but also because we just looked like a pair of couriers on delivery.


    Actual couriers on delivery passed us regularly, some of them giving us shit for how slow we were. One particularly obnoxious courier ¨C


    ¡°Ha! Slowpokes! I can¡¯t believe anyone would give you a delivery so important to have two couriers run it! And who ever heard of a Fire-based courier anyways!¡± He yelled, flipping us the bird as he passed us.¡±


    I looked at Julius, who was all sorts of mad-looking.


    ¡°Go. I¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    I could see the indecision briefly warring in his head, before he stepped on the gas. I blew [Rapidash] to keep up, hear their conversation.


    ¡°Bet you two rods I can make it to the gate before you.¡± Julius yelled at the obnoxious runner.


    ¡°Ha! You¡¯re on old man.¡±


    Julius stepped on it, and the obnoxious runner cursed as he tried to keep up.


    I tried to keep a smirk off my face.


    A few hours of running later, and the shining walls of Ariminum came into view.


    They were massive. Most of the towns I¡¯d been through had standard, low, ¡°whatever stone is nearby¡± walls. These were twice as tall, at almost 15 meters high, with regular guard towers along the walls. Guards, the same guards I knew everywhere, patrolled the wall, with the addition of a bow. Perhaps a concession to the shanty town? I didn¡¯t know my stone, but it looked like the entire thing was made out of marble, or some other nice, shining white stone. Perhaps a skill was involved in making them look so nice?


    What else was different was a sort of shanty town outside the gates. Clearly, the capital was so secure, that people felt like living just outside the walls was viable. There was still some fear of a monster attack, as we all looked up as a cloud passed over the sun, but it clearly wasn¡¯t so bad that people did anything to live inside the walls ¨C or move.


    I twisted and turned my head, trying to absorb all the sights, even though I wasn¡¯t even in the walls yet.


    ¡°Elaine! Over here!¡± Julius said, sporting a huge grin. ¡°Your cut.¡± He said, handing me a few coins.


    ¡°Crushed him?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Crushed him. Mostly running backwards. I wish you¡¯d seen the look on his face¡­¡± Julius said, trailing off.


    ¡°Anyways, back we go!¡± Julius said, starting to run. Over his shoulder, he yelled.


    ¡°And this time, it¡¯s your turn to run backwards! You need the practice!¡±


    I cursed, weaving through the crowd. Damn being short. Damn not being able to see things as well. Damn suicide sprints. Damn suicide sprints while running backwards with unfamiliar skills through a crowd while short and unable to see anything!


    A few exhausting days later, the Argo was pulling up to the walls.


    ¡°Do Rangers get a special lane for entering the city?¡± I asked, as we were stuck in mankind¡¯s most hellish invention. Traffic.


    ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s an emergency/priority lane. We could take it, but why clog it up when a real emergency could show up?¡±


    Hours of slow waiting later ¨C I¡¯m pretty sure we got cut in line a few times by smaller, more agile individuals ¨C we made it to the gates.


    ¡°Name, purpose of visit?¡± The guards asked, the usual guardy mixture of ¡°extremely professional¡± and the standard ¡°Bored out of my mind.¡±


    Kallisto opened his mouth, but Julius cut him off with his hand, a ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting two years to say this¡± grin splitting his face.


    ¡°Ranger Team 4. Victorious return.¡± He said, pulling out his badge. The rest of us also pulled out our badges, grinning at the look on their face.


    We were waved in without further fanfare, although some of the guards and other people at the gate tried to give us trouble of the fangirling variety. Felt nice, although it might get old one day.


    ¡°Right, plan for the day.¡± Julius said as we moved through the crowded streets, looking like most other streets in Remus. ¡°Get settled at HQ. Get Elaine settled somewhere. Then I need to report to command, while the rest of you are free. Remember, meeting on the Solstice ¨C don¡¯t miss it!¡±


    I kept craning my head around, trying to see all the sights. The capital was, for lack of a better word, more than the other towns we¡¯d been through. There was more pottery and frescos in the windows than there was in Virinum. There were more dyed clothes than Aquiliea. There were ¨C hang on, mangos!


    I quickly hopped off the wagon, and moved over to the vendor, where I¡¯d spotted a few mangos for sale in a tiny, neglected corner. If I was ever queen, mango-neglect on that scale would be a capital punishment. Death would be too good for anyone committing such a heinous crime. No, acquiring more mangos for me would be the penalty. Nobody who committed such abuse should be permitted to keep them.


    A short transaction later, made doubly expensive by everything in the capital being more expensive, doubly so at my clear inability to negotiate well, my allergy to social skills and skills like [Bartering] striking again, and doubled again when it was obvious I¡¯d pay any price for them, I had a small stash of mangos again.


    Mangos oh mangos, I¡¯d never have to deal without you again.


    Transaction complete, I hopped back into the Argo, and we continued on.


    To another set of walls.


    ¡°Forgive my stupid question.¡± I said, looking at the guards patrolling the wall. ¡°but why are we leaving the city?¡±


    Artemis just chuckled at me.


    ¡°We¡¯re not. The city¡¯s been built over centuries, and every time it expands, it keeps the old walls. The city¡¯s a messy patchwork of expansion and segments, with the Senate and most important government buildings being in the central district. The closer you are to central, the more expensive it is.


    I looked around in wonder.


    ¡°This is the cheapest district?¡± I asked in disbelief.


    ¡°Yeah, pretty much.¡± Artemis replied.


    We continued on, passing gate after gate, the buildings becoming larger, fancier. More money used for the construction.


    There was one house, small, tiny compared to its neighbors, which had a wide, large courtyard, and was blinding to look at. I squinted, and ¨C


    ¡°Is that building made of Arcanite.¡± I said, jaw dropping. I tried briefly to calculate how much that¡¯d cost, and failed when there were too many 0¡¯s.


    Julius snorted.


    ¡°No, just the walls studded with it. Local guard hates it. People keep trying to steal from it, the inscriptions in the floor activate, makes a huge noise, everyone comes running, it constantly blinds people ¨C it¡¯s a damn pain in the ass, that¡¯s what it is.¡±


    We continued on, wonder after wonder. Some peacocks in a yard. An Archaeoceratops on a long leash and brightly colored harness, marking it as tame, looking like a dog. A ferocious, magical, could-eat-a-person dog.


    Well, a dino-dog with a Sand affinity, judging by the small dust storm following it around. Scary stuff, dinosaurs that could use magic skills, that didn¡¯t just have a boatload of passives. Glad it was tame, and not, oh, say, a Lava-aligned Abelisaurus, or a Lightning based Serpopard.


    I eyed it as we passed.


    ¡°And that¡¯s legit?¡± I said, pointing.


    Artemis didn¡¯t even look.


    ¡°Yup.¡±


    In no time at all, we were at Ranger Headquarters. Alive. In one piece. Only three team members down, and arguably with an extra one added.


    The building was massive, and there was a huge gate, five meters tall, two doors a meter and a half wide, marking the grand entrance. The Ranger symbol, golden Eagle in flight against a golden circle, adorned the door, almost as large as it was. A pair of guards were at the door, and with a start, I realized they had a golden Eagle pin on their armor.


    Not the leather and batons of the guard. No, they had full combat armor and weapons.


    Julius stood forward, presenting his badge.


    ¡°Ranger Team 4. We¡¯re home.¡± He said simply.


    The guards said nothing. They just smiled, and opened the doors for us.


    Home.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 16]


    [Mana: 17210/17210]


    [Mana Regen: 20721]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 62]


    [Strength: 118]


    [Dexterity: 218]


    [Vitality: 235]


    [Speed: 220]


    [Mana: 1721]


    [Mana Regeneration: 2379]


    [Magic Power: 1506]


    [Magic Control: 2039]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 187]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 187]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 158]


    [Medicine: 184]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 160]


    [Phases of the Moon: 187]


    [Moonlight: 104]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 146]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 135]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 62]]


    [Fire Affinity: 62]


    [Fire Resistance: 62]


    [Fire Conjuration: 62]


    [Fire Manipulation: 62]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 62]


    [Burn Brightly: 62]


    [Rapidash: 62]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 96]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 120]


    [Pretty: 120]


    [Vigilant: 131]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 167]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 133]


    [: ]


    [Learning: 148]

 Chapter 96– Prelude to a meeting

    There were a dozen or so temporary rooms at Ranger HQ that Rangers could use when they were in town. Generally, that translated to ¡°when there was the grand meeting of Rangers every two years¡±, which further translated to ¡°First come, first served.¡±


    The Ranger lifestyle was nomadic, and most didn¡¯t bother owning a home. There was no point. Those that were brave enough to have families, that had relationships strong enough to survive the distance, who didn¡¯t bring their families with them, had a house in the capital, and much, much nicer accommodations than what we had. Which was almost mandatory, as there weren¡¯t enough rooms to accommodate all the Rangers.


    Even when only half of them came back.


    I was now in a strange position. I was both a Ranger and not a Ranger, and keeping my head low was the name of the game. Rather, I wasn¡¯t going to be able to enjoy any of the benefits of being a Ranger, while being under all the same restrictions. The worst of both worlds.


    The long and the short of it was I was bunking with Artemis, in a small, spartan room. There was a cot and a chest in the small room, and Artemis locating and hauling in a second cot made the room fairly cramped. Budget restrictions resulting in ¡®get Rangers out of their room and mingling¡¯. Or training. Or relaxing outside. Or¡­


    I was no logistical and architectural expert. I left that to those smarter than me. Who knows, maybe it was just pure budget.


    The day started off with Artemis getting a pair of letters. I don¡¯t think she got them via the standard delivery method. At least, I hoped the standard delivery method wasn¡¯t ¡°throw them from far down the hallway at the door.¡±


    I heard a pair of soft thumps on the door, and standing next to the door, I opened it to see a pair of letters on the ground, one half-opened from its flight, as a courier ¨C they had special ones that only handled intra-HQ messages ¨C fled around the corner. One eyebrow went up at that, and as I turned back to bring the letters in, I noticed a red warning signal on Artemis¡¯s door.


    Rude. Understandable, but rude.


    I handed them to Artemis, noticing that one was banded in fancy colors, and one looked like a normal letter from the courier¡¯s guild.


    ¡°What do they say? What do they say?¡± I asked, watching Artemis¡¯s face do all sorts of interesting moves.


    ¡°Well¡­.¡± Artemis said, drawing it out. ¡°A few things. Most are my business, but some relate to you. Anyways, long story short, morning¡¯s free, we¡¯re meeting with some people for lunch, then we each have different meetings in the afternoon.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Who? Who?¡± I asked, with all the patience of a hyperactive 16-year-old.


    ¡°Only one I¡¯ll tell you is I¡¯m meeting with Command this afternoon.¡± Artemis said, sticking her tongue out at me.


    She paused a moment, then relented.


    ¡°Getting the idea in your head now, so you can get used to it. You¡¯re meeting with Priest Demos this afternoon. He specializes in god or goddess-touched individuals. The Senate insists that everyone powerfully god-touched meet with him, and what¡¯s going on with you is close enough to qualify. He¡¯s really nice, don¡¯t worry.¡±


    Well, now I was worrying. Sounded close enough to a government vivisectionist for me to be concerned. Back then I¡¯d been desperate to stick with the Rangers, to do anything to be brought along, to not be sent back. However, now the specter of being captured and interrogated for all my secrets was rearing its head, with the added benefit? Downside? Of completely skipping the ¡®captured¡¯ part.


    At the same time, the way Artemis was phrasing it made it sound almost routine. ¡°God-Touched in line one. Goddess-Touched in line two. If two or more gods have impacted your life, please fill out form 4-E.¡± It certainly sounded rare from some of the way Artemis was mentioning it ¨C one priest for the entire Republic? The fact that there was a priest, and a process, indicated that it couldn¡¯t be that rare now, could it?


    Being real for a moment, what were my options? Trying to bust out of the city on my own ¨C which in practice meant just walking out ¨C and striking out on my own, again? There was a slim, but non-zero chance that I¡¯d get someone sent after me ¨C it was a bad look when you refused a meeting with the government inspectors. It wasn¡¯t impossible, but I had too many roots here. Might as well have that meeting.


    ¡°Enough about that! What do you want to do this morning?¡± Artemis asked enthusiastically.


    I patted my set of scrolls, the manuscript of all medical knowledge I knew, starting with [Oath], arranged into eight scrolls. ¡°I¡¯d like to get to a scribe to make a bunch of copies of these, then send them out. Shouldn¡¯t take too long, right?¡±


    Artemis shrugged. ¡°Nope, let¡¯s go!¡±


    Artemis dressed, not to the nines, but more like the sevens. A simple men¡¯s tunic, for the freedom of motion, her cape, and her Ranger¡¯s Badge. I was in a regular tunic, reveling in the ability to pick and wear nice clothes without any concern.


    We weren¡¯t just on vacation-but-keeping-an-ear-out. We were on vacation. Crime gets committed? Classer attempts to blow up the city? Slave rebellion breaks out?


    For once, not our problem. Not only was there a full Ranger squad ¨C Team 1 ¨C dedicated to nothing but protecting the capital, there was Ranger Team 0, AKA half the Academy Instructors nearby, and Sentinels called the capital home, for a variety of reasons. Close to the Academy, close to the Senate, in the middle of the empire, good living, and more. There was also the Senate guard, the town guard, and personal guards. Any problem would be steadily escalated up the chain, and quite frankly, if the entire chain of problem solvers situated in the capital couldn¡¯t handle the problem, we wouldn¡¯t make a difference.


    Hence, actual, real, blessed vacation. Hence the fancy clothes. And spending some time making myself look nice, because I could.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 121!]


    We left HQ, and Artemis got directions to one of the best scribes in the city. Which probably translated to one of the best scribes humanity had, barring some amazing scribe deciding to settle with family, away from the heart of the Republic.


    ¡°Why the badge, even though we¡¯re on vacation?¡± I asked Artemis.


    ¡°Believe it or not, staves off a lot of harassment. People [Identify] me, they see the badge, the level, and the class, and decide they have better things to do.¡±


    Artemis looked at me with a strange expression.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to have the opposite problem I¡¯m afraid. The higher level you get tagged as a [Healer], the more persistent people will get.¡±


    Blah, that was going to be more than a bit of a pain in the ass. Already I got a low-level background noise of people suggesting I marry their son/brother/nephew/grandchild/friend/distant relative, mixed in with the occasional obscene suggestion or wild proposition. I thought I was already at peak harassment.


    Nope! Not according to Artemis.


    A problem for future-Elaine. I should get a fake marriage ring to dissuade suitors. Today, I had scrolls to work on!


    We were in the innermost district of the Ariminum, and the already-impressive roads that connected all the towns of Remus together were even more impressive. I could see some light, glimmering inscriptions on these roads.


    ¡°What do the inscriptions do?¡± I asked, as we navigated and turned down another road, happily in the white lane. Artemis¡¯s cape and badge had a secondary effect of, while not clearing a path for us, smoothing it along.


    Artemis didn¡¯t even look.


    ¡°If they¡¯re the same as when I was told about them, skill and stat suppression field. They won¡¯t stop a skill, but they¡¯ll make it harder to get the same effect out of them. A spark, not a bolt. A candle, not a bonfire. They also connect to the walls, and there¡¯s a giant set, layers upon layers of inscriptions, on the walls ¨C mostly defensive - fueled by a massive core of Arcanite located somewhere top-secret.¡±


    She shrugged.


    ¡°At least that¡¯s what I was told. Ask Bulwark when you¡¯re at Academy. One of his jobs is knowing this, although it¡¯s the Inscription Masters that keep it all running.¡±


    We turned, and found ourselves in front of the shop.


    What was unique about this store, what I hadn¡¯t seen a single time before in all my time on Pallos, what made it stand out in the most subtle way, was the signage.


    It simply said ¡°Scribe¡±, and was made unique by sheer virtue that it was a word, and not a picture of the services. Most scribes used a scroll and quill, but this one was clearly more discerning, only wanting people who could already read to use his services.


    We entered, and a little bell went off. More small, fancy things I hadn¡¯t seen anywhere else.


    ¡°Welcome. What can we do for you?¡±


    I plonked my scrolls down on the counter.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to make as many copies of these as possible, with¡­¡± I paused, reaching down to grab my 4 money pouches, the total sum of nearly every spare coin I had.


    Wasn¡¯t doing that much else with them.


    My hand only found three of my pouches though, and I grimaced at the smooth end of my last pouch string.


    ¡°Welp. 12 rod¡¯s worth of coins.¡± I said with a resigned sigh.


    Artemis looked down, eyebrow quirking.


    ¡°Damn. That¡¯s a good thief. I didn¡¯t even notice him. Or her. Brave to steal under the literal nose of two Rangers.¡±


    Artemis quickly checked her own pouch, finding it intact, unmolested.


    The scribe said nothing on the matter.


    ¡°May I ask as to the nature of the scrolls you¡¯d like duplicated? There are some things I won¡¯t copy.¡± The scribe said, somewhat pompously, but eyeing Artemis¡¯s badge.


    ¡°Military documents also have a premium attached to them.¡±


    I smiled.


    ¡°A medical manuscript, containing the sum of all the medicine I know. Hoping to get as many copies as possible.¡±


    ¡°To sell?¡±


    ¡°To give out to other healers. I want to have the knowledge spread far and wide, and I¡¯m willing to fund it myself.¡± I said.


    I got a long stare, followed by the scribe opening the scrolls, glancing at a few lines, repeating with the rest of them. Somewhat rude, but I suppose there wasn¡¯t really a way for a scribe to copy the documents without reading them.


    ¡°For you, for this. 75 coins for a signature, which will mark you as the owner, creator, originator, etc., of the set. 32 coins per copy for base ink, 48 for moderate, and 64 for fancy ink.¡±


    ¡°Is the price for a set, or per scroll?¡±


    I got a long, flat look from the scribe, before he gently shook his head.


    ¡°For a set.¡±


    Artemis nudged me, encouraging me to take the deal.


    ¡°Sounds good! I¡¯ll take the base ink.¡± I said.


    The scribe went to the back room, then reappeared with a fancy-looking quill. It glittered and shimmered in a dozen different colors. That didn¡¯t come from a normal bird.


    ¡°This is my standard speech I give all customers. Please do not be offended if you are aware of any of this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m doing a standard mana signature. This will let you, or anyone else, verify that it¡¯s your signature on the document. This helps with authenticating that you are the author. If there¡¯s a dispute over the signature, you can bring it to any scribe, who¡¯ll verify it for a small price. While only one signature is required, I recommend signing in a few different places. It prevents anyone from cutting the portion out.¡±


    ¡°Now, if you¡¯ll relax, let me use a skill on you. [Authenticated Signature].¡±


    I relaxed, feeling a skill wash over me. I quickly unrolled the scrolls, signing at the bottom of the scroll, and at the top, right under the title of the scroll.


    Elaine.


    I kept it short, sweet, simple. I didn¡¯t bother with a title, or anything fancy. Just ¨C Elaine. That was me.


    I quickly signed all 8 scrolls, feeling my mana drain somewhat. A brilliant, rainbow-color signature slowly appeared.


    I did some quick math. Carry the 3¡­.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to get 21 copies please!¡± I cheerfully said, grabbing my pouch to dump the coins on the counter.


    Artemis coughed at me, then leaned over to whisper in my ear.


    ¡°Might want to save a few coins to hire couriers to deliver them to all the healers. Saves you the effort of tracking them all down yourself ¨C especially after you¡¯re too busy with Academy.¡±


    The scribe helpfully jumped in.


    ¡°We do offer a service where we¡¯ll ask the couriers to deliver the scrolls where you¡¯d like it. Unfortunately, I doubt you have enough coin, even after 20 scrolls, to pay the couriers, let alone our modest fee on top.¡±


    I gave my best kitten eyes to Artemis, who sighed and pulled out a few coins needed to cover the difference.


    Hey, I¡¯d brought more than enough, it wasn¡¯t my fault I¡¯d been robbed halfway!


    The scribe brought out eight scrolls, and unrolled them. With a gesture, ink started to flow out of a pot, onto the scrolls, perfectly ¨C and neatly, much more neatly than my charcoal scribblings ¨C replicated what I¡¯d written.


    Hang on ¨C he hadn¡¯t needed to read my scrolls in the first place!


    Within a few minutes, the first set was copied, and he rolled up the originals, handing them back to us.


    ¡°To be clear, you¡¯d like a copy delivered to the top 20 healers, right?¡±


    ¡°Right. Can you make sure Markus is on the list? Markus, the Pyronox?¡± I said, remembering my half-promise to him.


    The scribe pursed his lips.


    ¡°Fine.¡±


    Our business concluded, we left, and Artemis was practically bouncing as we walked down the road. Which was strange ¨C I was usually the jittery, overexcited one.


    We exited the central part of town, and moved a few districts down, where the pleasant smell of a dozen types of roasting food met my nose, mixed with the omnipresent scent of the sea.


    I looked around. These were, for the first time since coming to Pallos, actual, honest-to-all-the-gods-and-goddesses, restaurants. Not a food stand, not a vendor, not a merchant or farmer selling goods. Restaurants.


    We weaved our way through, Artemis having some sort of sense for where we were going, what she wanted. She found a place, and started to enter.


    ¡°Halt!¡± A girl ¨C she couldn¡¯t be more than my age ¨C with pink hair and purple eyes, wearing a rich purple tunic with a minor stain on it, stopped us. How bloody rich do you need to be to let your purple tunic get stained, and not care!?


    ¡°I am Cornelia, daughter of General Augustus, Commander of the 2nd legion, Guardian of the Wall, Defender of mankind, Warden of¡­¡±


    Artemis and I glanced at each other, shrugged, and walked into the restaurant anyways, ignoring Cornelia. A blue fish with a harpoon through it marked the name of the place.


    ¡°Any idea who that was?¡± I asked her, thinking maybe it was someone she was familiar with.


    ¡°No idea. Anyone leaning on their parent¡¯s name like that though can be safely ignored. Not attacked, but ignored.¡± Artemis said. ¡°Careful if they have a lover or suitor though, they can be irrational.¡±


    I took mental notes. Powerful parent meant a shield, not a sword.


    I was too busy looking around the restaurant, thinking on the meeting we just had, and missed Artemis talking quickly with the greeter at the front. She led us through the crowded restaurant to a private room.


    The doors opened, and the last people I expected to see were there.


    ¡°Mom!? Dad!?¡±


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 16]


    [Mana: 17210/17210]


    [Mana Regen: 20721]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 62]


    [Strength: 118]


    [Dexterity: 218]


    [Vitality: 235]


    [Speed: 220]


    [Mana: 1721]


    [Mana Regeneration: 2379]


    [Magic Power: 1506]


    [Magic Control: 2039]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 187]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 187]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 158]


    [Medicine: 184]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 160]


    [Phases of the Moon: 187]


    [Moonlight: 104]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 146]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 135]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 62]]


    [Fire Affinity: 62]


    [Fire Resistance: 62]


    [Fire Conjuration: 62]


    [Fire Manipulation: 62]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 62]


    [Burn Brightly: 62]


    [Rapidash: 62]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 96]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 120]


    [Pretty: 121]


    [Vigilant: 131]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 167]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 133]


    [: ]


    [Learning: 148]

 Chapter 97– Reunion

    I stood there, stunned at seeing my parents again, heart beating like a galloping horse, frozen, not even able to muster up enough presence of mind to shoot Artemis a betrayed look. They also froze, staring at me, looking me up and down.


    The tension is the air was palpable, so thick it could be cut with a knife.


    ¡°Wha- how?¡± I stammered out.


    Trust Artemis to crack a joke.


    ¡°Elaine, I¡¯d like you to meet my good friends Julia and Elainus. Julia, Elainus, I¡¯d like you to meet Elaine. She¡¯s one of my Ranger teammates, and the best healer I know.¡±


    Mom threw a nut at Artemis, and the tension was broken. Slowly, hesitantly, mom got up, while dad stayed seated. She took a nervous half-step towards me, arms opening up.


    Tears flowing down my face, I threw myself into mom¡¯s arms, only to feel her crushing hug around me. I nestled in deeper, remembering when I did this so recently, a lifetime ago.


    Although mom was shorter than she used to be. No, it wasn¡¯t that she was shorter, it was that I was taller.


    ¡°We missed you so much. We were so worried about you.¡± Mom sobbed into my hair, as her arms slowly rubbed my back, forming large, soothing circles. ¡°I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re ok.¡±


    ¡°I missed you too.¡± I said, simply hugging mom harder.


    I didn¡¯t notice dad getting up, just that suddenly he was hugging both of us, bands of restrained strength around the two of us.


    We spent a timeless second together like this, an immortal moment. A time, not seared into my memory like so much blood and violence had been, but gently pressed, like a flower in a picture book.


    The moment was shattered as what could only be a waiter entered the room. He quickly apologized and tried to back out, but the moment was gone.


    ¡°No, no, come on in.¡± Dad said, beckoning him over as we all sat down around the table.


    The waiter told us our options ¨C almost entirely fish-based, no surprise given the picture of the restaurant, that the place was called The Blue Harpoon ¨C and vanished a moment later.


    We sat around in silence as the door to the room closed. With the moment of everyone greeting each other over, it was now awkward again. Artemis, bless her treacherous little heart, broke the silence.


    ¡°How was the trip?¡± She asked, popping another nut into her mouth. I eyed the dish she was getting them out of. Looked like it was for four, but at her rate of consumption, and mom throwing them liberally, I wasn¡¯t going to get any. I grabbed a handful, then asked a follow-up.


    ¡°How did you even know we were here?¡± I asked. Sure, I¡¯d sent a trail of letters home, but that didn¡¯t mean they knew where we were, or that we¡¯d be here.


    My parents glanced at each other, then looked at Artemis. She leaned back.


    ¡°Did you really think you were the only one sending letters back home to Julia and Elainus?¡± Artemis asked, mostly rhetorically.


    ¡°But-¡° I said. They were my parents!


    ¡°But nothing. They¡¯re my friends, I¡¯m allowed to talk with them.¡± Artemis said.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you mention you were a Ranger!?¡± Dad said rapidly, with a wide, proud grin on his face.


    ¡°Uh- bu ¨C I didn¡¯t want you to worry!¡± I said, finally getting some words out. I shot Artemis a dark look. Ooooh, she¡¯d pay for telling them. Beetles. I was going to get beetles into her bed.


    Although, wait, if I did that, and I was sleeping in the same room, good chance they¡¯d end up on me. I had to re-think this. I had to-


    Shit. I was distracting myself from the conversation at hand. With some effort, I realigned myself back to the present, the here and the now.


    ¡°We were going to worry anyways!¡± Mom exclaimed. ¡°Did those adventurers ever catch up to you? I got a bad feeling off of them.¡±


    Artemis and I quickly glanced at each other. She subtly tilted her head at me, letting me know the ball was in my court.


    ¡°Yes, but no.¡± I said. ¡°They tried, but weren¡¯t particularly good at it.¡±


    Dad snapped his fingers together.


    ¡°The letter. The one that said Kerberos¡¯s family had hired mercenaries to attack a Ranger. That was you, wasn¡¯t it.¡±


    ¡°Yup!¡± Artemis cheerfully butted in. ¡°What happened?¡±


    Mom and dad glanced at each other.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure.¡± Dad finally admitted. ¡°It would¡¯ve been a bad look for me to march up with the rest of the Guard to their villa, so I was on patrol. All I know is a massive fine was paid, and Kerberos vanished. A few weeks later, Citizen Prasinos swung by, and we agreed to call off the marriage. No sense in having something arranged when neither of you were around. You¡¯re a free woman.¡±


    It was like cloudy skies I never knew had broken, like a heavy bag was lifted from my head. I just sat there, jaw open, hardly daring to believe my ears.


    Mom artfully leaned over, taking a finger out, and pushing my jaw back together.


    ¡°All we ever wanted was for you to be safe and happy, your future secured. We¡¯re not a large, extended family, we have no relatives. This room is the entire family ¨C yes, you as well Artemis. I had honestly believed a marriage to Kerberos ¨C a Citizen, from a wealthy family, from Aquiliea, someone the same age as you, who wouldn¡¯t need you to change your class into something to help the family business, who would somewhat let you be you? We couldn¡¯t see you going down a path of true independence, not with the way Remus insists women are attached to men. I know that¡¯s what you wanted, but it seemed impossible. I did my best to try and get you the best future you could possibly have!¡±


    ¡°Most kids ¨C me included ¨C hate and resent the idea that they¡¯re going to be married. Everyone warned us about it. It¡¯s why we didn¡¯t listen to you. We assumed it was normal teenage rebellion, and that you¡¯d cool off, go with it, and be happy, like so many people ¨C men and women alike ¨C do when they¡¯re being told they¡¯re getting married off. Heck, your father and I liked each other, wanted to be married to each other, and still hated the idea! It¡¯s practically tradition to hate the announcement, and to declare it won¡¯t be you. I¡¯m sorry again for not listening to you.¡± Mom said.


    Mom shot Artemis a look, then with a masterstroke, one that with every word had Artemis sinking into her seat, which somehow managed to get her to look like she wished the ground would open up and swallow her whole, with brutal, cruel, unmatched betrayal, threw her under the bus.


    ¡°After all, I¡¯d asked Artemis if she was willing to take you under her wing around Remus, as a Ranger tag-along, and she said no.¡±


    I shot Artemis a foul look. Seriously? Screw the fact that beetles would end up in my bed. She was getting a pile of them. Maybe I¡¯d see if one of the other Rangers would let me bunk for a night.


    Artemis mumbled some half-excuse from under her breath, so faint I couldn¡¯t make out what she said. I was still glaring daggers at her. She seriously was willing to send me to the wolves? Mom had asked her to take me with her?


    The food showed up at this point, interrupting the conversation. I took a deep sniff. Heavenly. Thinly sliced mango on top of I-don¡¯t-care-which fish, infusing the soft flesh with eau de mango.


    We dug in with gusto.


    Oh dear gods, the chef must be over level 250. This was heavenly. This was divine. Energy filled my every limb, each bite lingering with taste in my mouth, changing and morphing with a brilliant aftertaste.


    I needed to get rich enough for my own personal chef. New life goal. Money now had meaning.


    ¡°What changed your mind?¡± Dad asked around a mouthful of what he was eating, some massive sea-monster steak by the look of it.


    Artemis and I looked at each other.


    ¡°I¡¯ve kept this one a secret for you healy-bug. Gotta spill at some point.¡±


    Beetles and worms. I can¡¯t exactly keep it a secret if Artemis has said there¡¯s a secret, now could I?


    Fine. I faced down charging monsters four times my level. I faced a plague, dinosaurs dive-bombing me from the sky, goblins trying to murder me, and Artemis¡¯s training. I¡¯d survive this.


    I wanted to do this anyways, I just hadn¡¯t quite expected for it to be today, now.


    I steeled myself, and dropped the reincarnation bombshell.


    ¡°I was reborn. I used to live on another world ¨C it was called Earth by the way, that¡¯s why my first class was [Child of Earth] ¨C and somehow, my soul got lost in the void after I died. Papilion found my soul, lost, wandering, and stuck me on Pallos. Hence, I¡¯m here.¡± I said, giving the bare bones in a few sentences.


    Mom and dad barely even blinked.


    ¡°I¡¯d always wondered what was going on with you.¡± Mom said. ¡°You were too clever, and too smart. Even had a priest once check if you were a changeling or not. Said you were human, you basically never reacted to cold iron, among a dozen other things, and, well, you¡¯re the result of us praying to all the gods for a child.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what?¡± I said, more surprised by mom¡¯s revelation than they were by mine.


    Dad snorted at me.


    ¡°Did you ever wonder why you were an only child with two healthy, vigorous parents?¡±


    What did he mean ¨C oh no. oh no. Cursed knowledge entered my mind, and I gagged, miming wiping my tongue, the flavor of mango in my mouth souring.


    ¡°You¡¯re a blessed child, the result of us praying to the gods ¨C and now we know to thank Papilion - and we weren¡¯t too surprised to see you were likely god-touched. I will say, reincarnated is a new one ¨C our guess had been intelligence and accelerated learning, and that was cemented in our mind when you took [Learning].¡±


    I blinked at that.


    ¡°You knew?¡± I said.


    Mom snorted.


    ¡°You¡¯re as subtle as a brick, oh daughter mine, and about as good at keeping secrets. We¡¯re your parents. Of course, we knew something was up. Like when you were learning how to read.¡±


    ¡°Which we thought was again, due to a learning blessing.¡±


    ¡°Or breaking into the library.¡±


    Elaine, Master Spy was more like Elaine, the Incredibly Obvious. Right. No secret missions, no spying, no double-crossing, no important secrets, none of that in my future. Unless I got real, solid training in being subtle during Academy.


    We continued to chat, opening up to each other in a way we¡¯d never done before.


    ¡°Oh, I almost forgot. I¡¯d bought this for you as a ¡®congratulations on getting married present¡¯, but I¡¯d understand if you don¡¯t want it.¡± Dad said, pulling out an intricate, beautiful copper bracelet.


    ¡°Oh wow, it¡¯s beautiful!¡± I said, twisting and turning it, seeing how the wave pattern caught the light. ¡°Bakus¡¯s work?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yup! Glad you like it.¡± Dad said.


    I continued my stories, my tales. They were fascinated by tales of Earth, how things were there. Me? I was processing through dozens of emotions as I mechanically answered questions.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Recollection of a Distant Life] has reached level 121!]


    First off, and most importantly, what hadn¡¯t really been in doubt but had still kept me up at night, wondering ¨C my parents loved me. Total, unconditional love. They¡¯d been a bit misguided in their attempts to marry me off, but they had honestly believed it was best for me. The reincarnation thing? It was interesting, but it didn¡¯t stop a fundamental truth we all knew to be true ¨C I was their daughter.


    Putting myself into their shoes, I could almost see myself making a similar choice. A daughter, growing up. A society that demands everyone is a member of a household, headed by a man. A culture that had no problems marrying 14-years old¡¯s off to 25-year old¡¯s. Where people died, and women were expected to do huge amounts of unpaid, unrecognized work ¨C not only rearing children, not only keeping the house running, but also helping the husband with his job and trade. Kerberos, from many angles, like mom had said, was ideal. In that respect.


    What hadn¡¯t been ideal, what mom confessed she completely missed until dad picked it up later, was his poor character. She¡¯d tried to hedge at one point, saying that many teenagers were brats and grew out of it ¨C especially with my guiding hand.


    Fat chance. I wasn¡¯t one to be fixing someone up.


    Second ¨C they weren¡¯t going to try and control my life anymore. They¡¯d even try to smooth things out for me in the future. However, I was warned ¨C when dad eventually died, I was on my own, in a society that didn¡¯t let women own property, enter contracts, or a dozen other issues.


    I¡¯d live. I had enough power as a healer to always make coin, and desperate people had no trouble handing the money over to a woman, although some frowned that there wasn¡¯t a man to pick up the coins.


    However, by extension, mom would also be on her own, and we were less sure of her future.


    ¡°Although, gods willing, Themis will be old enough by then.¡±


    ¡°Themis?¡± I asked, not placing a face to the name.


    ¡°Yeah, Themis. Kid you saved from the fire, the slave boy that was given to us. We adopted him, he¡¯s a member of the family now. His System Day is around the corner. Wants to be a guard, like me.¡± Dad said, pride in his voice. A healing daughter for the healing mom, a guard son for the guard dad. Was anything more perfect?


    A face sprang to mind then, memories of flame and blood, the first limb I¡¯d ever restored coming to mind. I smiled at that. One good deed became another, and it sounded like, if heavens blessed it, everything would turn out alright for everyone.


    ¡°That reminds me ¨C dad lean over.¡±


    Dad obliged, and I touched him, healing him again, fixing his eye to a level of detail that I couldn¡¯t have managed with my skills and stats back when I first fixed it.


    ¡°Whoa ¨C Elaine, this is amazing!¡± Dad said, looking around. ¡°I could see before, but it was pretty blurry, but now, everything¡¯s so clear! Thank you!¡±


    I just grinned at him.


    We spent almost another hour chatting ¨C mom being enamored with Earth, and women being nominally equal, although in practice that was¡­ less than reality¡­ when Artemis suddenly sprang up.


    ¡°Shit! Elaine! Your meeting at the temple!¡±


    ¡°Fuck! My meeting with Command!¡± Artemis yelled, throwing some coins on the table and sprinting out the door.


    We spent a moment staring after her, then burst into harmonious laughter. A high voice, a low voice, and a third voice, a perfect blend of the first two.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 16]


    [Mana: 17210/17210]


    [Mana Regen: 20721]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 62]


    [Strength: 118]


    [Dexterity: 218]


    [Vitality: 235]


    [Speed: 220]


    [Mana: 1721]


    [Mana Regeneration: 2379]


    [Magic Power: 1506]


    [Magic Control: 2039]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 187]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 187]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 158]


    [Medicine: 184]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 160]


    [Phases of the Moon: 187]


    [Moonlight: 104]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 146]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 135]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 62]]


    [Fire Affinity: 62]


    [Fire Resistance: 62]


    [Fire Conjuration: 62]


    [Fire Manipulation: 62]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 62]


    [Burn Brightly: 62]


    [Rapidash: 62]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 96]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 121]


    [Pretty: 123]


    [Vigilant: 131]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 167]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 133]


    [: ]


    [Learning: 148]

 Chapter 98– Government Vivisectionists

    We left the restaurant, and I realized to my dismay:


    ¡°I have no idea where the temple is.¡±


    Most towns had a single grand temple, dedicated to all the gods and goddesses. It made numerous aspects of organized religion easy ¨C a donation to one god was a donation to all of them, or so the priests said. If you needed to pray for, say, a healthy child and a good harvest, it meant you didn¡¯t need to bounce around to multiple temples. It also meant that a few priests could service dozens of gods, pooling resources together efficiently. Otherwise some of the less-worshipped gods might not have anything.


    We asked for directions, and my parents followed me as we started to head over to the temple.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind, but why are you following me?¡± I asked them.


    ¡°What, we can¡¯t spend time with our daughter?¡± Mom asked, faux-offended. I rolled my eyes at her.


    ¡°Practically speaking, we¡¯re going to the temple to give you a hand.¡± Dad said. ¡°I¡¯m going to open an account with the temple for you.¡±


    Oh right. I¡¯d gotten, if not unaware of how Remus worked, complacent at least. Temples acted as an early precursor to banks. There were no banks or bank accounts, you stored your money at the temple. Another benefit to a single, massive temple, as opposed to scattered temples to individual gods ¨C better security on your vault and money.


    As a woman though, noooo, I couldn¡¯t possibly open an account. The priest would just tisk me, and tell me to bring my husband to open the family account. From the sound of it, dad was off to open an account for me, mention I was family and could use it, and get the key, or token, or whatever indicated that the account was mine.


    I wonder how Artemis pulled it off? My bet was, she went in with thunder and fury, and bowled people over until she had an account, the rules - and law - be damned. Yeah, I could totally see her doing that.


    We hurried through the streets at a brisk pace ¨C I was somewhat late for some meeting or another, with a Priest Demos ¨C but we spent as much time as possible catching up.


    Which, to my great surprise, was mostly me catching up on what was going on in Aquiliea. I hadn¡¯t imagined that at all. I¡¯d imagined that I¡¯d be telling my parents all about my adventures as a Ranger.


    Nope, Artemis, the traitorous toad, had spilled all the beans ahead of time. Including Perinthus. It didn¡¯t mean it had registered.


    ¡°Wait, you really were the hero of Perinthus?¡± Dad asked, for the 6th time.


    ¡°Yup. Pissed off Glacia though, she didn¡¯t write me into the song. Just ¡®The Rangers.¡¯,¡± I said, skipping down the road, ignoring the foul looks I got. Screw you, I was happy, I wanted to skip.


    ¡°But how?¡± Mom must¡¯ve asked for the 3rd time.


    ¡°Knowledge. Knowledge from the other world. There¡¯s no magic there, we had to make do with pure science. They figured out how disease works, and how to beat it. With that knowledge, I get a dramatic boost to how good my healing is, and gave me a rudimentary framework to work off of. Add in the rest of the team, and, well, we did it.¡±


    It was fun being able to finally brag and show off. There was no point talking to the random passerby¡¯s on the road, and the rest of the team knew exactly what I¡¯d done. This was my first chance in a year to really brag about my accomplishment, and I was going all-out.


    After too much time chatting, we finally made it to the temple doors.


    ¡°No, Flavia married Kolius? Really?¡± I said, two distant faces coming together in my mind.¡±


    ¡°Yes really. Expecting their first soon.¡± Mom replied. ¡°We¡¯re here now.¡±


    We bowed in unison to the statue of Etalix, surrounded by what could only be lightning bolts ¨C one day I¡¯d figure out the deal with guardians ¨C and entered the temple.


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m here for a meeting with Priest Demos.¡± I said to the acolyte who seemed to be manning the information desk. He had a bored look on his face, which was immediately wiped away, replaced by a look of interest. He eyed me up and down with some curiosity.


    ¡°Priest Demos? You¡¯re sure?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure.¡± I said, trying not to let the impatience color my voice.


    ¡°What¡¯s your bestowal? How strong is it? Where ¨C¡° The acolyte was starting to get going, before getting cuffed by a passing priest, who looked mad.


    ¡°Acolyte Aeschylus. That is wholly inappropriate to ask a petitioner asking after Priest Demos.¡± He hissed at the poor acolyte, while twisting his ear. Aeschylus was making all sorts of pained noises. I felt a little sorry for him.


    He turned and bowed towards me.


    ¡°Pardon me. Let me lead you to Priest Demos.¡± The priest said.


    I turned and hugged my parents, before following him down the hall. I reached over and tapped Aeschylus as I passed him, hitting him with a quick [Phases of the Moon] to top him up.


    ¡°What¡¯s Priest Demos like? Are there a lot of people who come talk with him? Does anyone ever, like, not leave after talking with him?¡± I pestered the priest with those questions and a dozen more as we walked through the hallways of the temple.


    This was a big temple. Made sense, since it was the main temple of the main city, nominally servicing hundreds of thousands of people that lived in the city. Practically speaking, the city was large enough to support a few smaller temples, dedicated to specific gods ¨C the one I knew of was Aion, Goddess of Life ¨C but the temple was still massive.


    The priest was stoic in the face of my ceaseless barrage of questions, although the lines on his forehead were getting steadily deeper. Finally, at long last, I annoyed him into submission, into giving me the sweet nectar of answers.


    ¡°Priest Demos handles all god-touched individuals. We¡¯re instructed not to say much, because it could interfere with his work. Please, we¡¯re almost there.¡± He said, voice warbling slightly.


    The priest knocked on the door, a small, light, tip-toeing around the big boss rap, then straightened up, smoothing some non-existent crease in his tunic.


    ¡°Come in.¡± A voice far too soft to make it through the door somehow did, and I opened the door, walking into¡­


    I don¡¯t know what I expected, but this wasn¡¯t it. Government vivisectionists, with sharp tools and implements. A gaudy chamber, flaunting the wealth of the big boss of the big temple.


    No, what I got was a simple, modest room, a table and two chairs, and a kindly looking priest sitting at one of the chairs, in a simple robe, and a full, neatly trimmed beard. His hair was entirely white, and he had a simple pendant on.


    My eyes snapped to the table, where there were two mangos. Someone had dished. Someone had leaked my secrets to him ahead of time, and I was being bribed.


    Bribe away!


    The door closed behind us, and the priest gave me a smile.


    ¡°Hello Elaine. It¡¯s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.¡±


    I felt warmth and happiness fill the air, I felt myself relax, be calm.


    Hang on. That wasn¡¯t right.


    I pointed my finger at him, awareness of the aura allowing me to dim the effect on me, but wanting it completely off anyways.


    ¡°No auras.¡± I said, completely disregarding the fact that my own [Warmth of the Sun] was operating at full blast.


    ¡°Of course, forgive my impudence.¡± He said, and I suddenly felt the warm fuzzy butterflies vanish, the cool air of the temple once again circulating.


    ¡°I was told you, ahem, enjoyed mangos. May I ask you to sit with me and chat for some time?¡± He said, gesturing towards the seat in front of me.


    Well, chatting for the price of a mango? Oooh, I¡¯d do so much more than chat for mango. And it wasn¡¯t like I hadn¡¯t spilled all my secrets already.


    I sat down with all the grace 218 dexterity afforded me, which was respectably superhuman, if irrelevant against other physical classers at my level.


    I promptly chowed down on one mango, while greedily eyeing the second one. I could see Demos¡¯s beard crinkle with a small, hidden smile, as he gestured towards the second one.


    ¡°Have both, if it would please you.¡±


    I didn¡¯t give him a chance to change his mind as I swiped the second one. I liked this priest.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard, from a little bird, that not only are you god-touched, but a full Ranger to boot! How impressive.¡± He said, still calmly sitting back.


    Welp, time to pay the piper. Cheaper than coin for the mangos, but I could make more coin if I was healing. Hang on, this chain of thought bore thinking about. What was the best way to maximize mangos/hour?


    I shook my head. Focus. Here and now. Here and Now.


    ¡°God-touched is an interesting way to put it.¡± I said, carefully not spraying precious mango everywhere. It¡¯d be a crying shame, nay, nearly criminal, for me to lose mango like that. ¡°There was a god ¨C or goddess, depending on how Papilion is feeling ¨C involved, but it felt more like Papilion was cleaning house, less so than touching me.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± The kindly priest asked. ¡°Would you care to elaborate?¡±


    ¡°Sure. One moment I was at home ¨C on Earth, a different world entirely ¨C and the next, I was in the Realm of the Gods, screaming and clutching my head. Papilion said something about a ¡®lost soul¡¯ and ¡®removing traumatic memories¡¯, so I have no idea what happened to get me there. Next thing I knew, Papilion was talking about reincarnating me as a Golden Crow, and ripping memories deemed ¡®too dangerous¡¯ out of my head.¡±


    ¡°Like what?¡± He asked.


    I gave him a Look.


    ¡°Ahem. Would you happen to have any examples, or knowledge, of what got removed?¡±


    I trawled my mind, suddenly drawing a blank. A blank on blanks. Heh.


    ¡°Well¡­.¡± I said, drawing it out. ¡°Physics. Chemistry.¡±


    ¡°What are those?¡± He asked. I shrugged.


    ¡°If I knew, I wouldn¡¯t be mentioning them would I?¡± I said.


    ¡°I do know about glasses. Clear material over your eyes, made your eyesight better.¡±


    ¡°How do they work?¡±


    ¡°See, that¡¯s exactly the problem. I know what they are, but when I try to know how they work, I just draw a blank, a nothing.¡±


    ¡°Fascinating. What else do you remember?¡±


    ¡°Medicine! Biology. Anatomy.¡± I pulled out the set of scrolls I¡¯d kept with me. ¡°I¡¯ve already written everything I know down, and I¡¯ve asked a scribe to copy and distribute them. They¡¯ve helped me immensely with my healing, and I¡¯ve taken an [Oath], inspired by how medicine is done in my world, to help with healing.¡± I offered the scrolls to him. ¡°Would you like to take a look.¡±


    ¡°If it¡¯d be no imposition.¡± Demos said in a stately manner, arching an eyebrow at me. I nodded my head, and he took the scrolls from me, unravelling them, and scanning over them.


    His bushy eyebrows went up a half-inch, and I suspected with his many long years of service, and his many encounters with ¡°god-touched¡± beings, that this was an expression of the greatest surprise.


    ¡°Would you mind if I made a copy for the temple?¡± He eventually asked, after skimming over the 5th scroll.


    ¡°Nope! Make a ton. Give ¡®em out. I just spent all my money making copies to send to other healers. Oh, and my [Oath]. That¡¯s in there as well.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve mentioned that before. Tell me more?¡±


    I found myself opening up to the kindly, grandfatherly man. It became clear to me after some time that this wasn¡¯t just a priest, this was The Priest. And he was a master interrogator. And yet, he was so kind, so polite, so respectful, I couldn¡¯t bring myself to care that I was being subtly manipulated to give him all the knowledge I had, everything I could dredge up.


    Cars and trucks, the internet, books, libraries, government structure, literature, politics, wars. A light skimming on all of those, we didn¡¯t have nearly the time for deep, in-depth dives on any of them.


    I stoutly refused to give away any knowledge of weapons, both from an ethical and practical standpoint. I refused to give better ways for people to kill other people ¨C even though said weapons would be primarily turned against monsters trying to eat people ¨C and from a practical standpoint, my [Oath] would probably punish me for it, and while I had no way of knowing, I suspected it might be worse for knowingly breaking it.


    It was the aspect he was most interested in, the one we spent the most time dancing around. It was becoming clear that, yes, this was still a government vivisectionist, and he was seeing if he could get immediate, practical, military use out of me. There was a war for survival going on, as much as I¡¯d been sheltered from it.


    All in all, I was glad for [Oath], giving me an easy excuse to refuse anything weapon or war- related.


    No bombs. No napalm. Not even the thing that wiped out an entire city, every detail surrounding it wiped from my memory, so thoroughly cleansed out I didn¡¯t even want to examine it too closely.


    Nearly everything else was wrung from me. When Priest Demos realized just how much literature I had in my head, how many stories I could tell, how many tales I could sing, he did something which I suspect he¡¯d never done in all his years of kindly chatting with blessed individuals.


    He gave up.


    He didn¡¯t plunge the depths of every story, didn¡¯t bother analyzing Star Wars, didn¡¯t care about the plot of Harry Potter. In his own words, ¡°I think we have better things to discuss. You could be famous as a bard if you wanted to.¡±


    However, after we were done with our exhausting, marathon-like conversation, I had some sympathy for the poor mangos I ate. This must be what a mango¡¯s like, all wrung out, every little scrap of knowledge scraped from me to be eaten by the priest.


    I¡¯d even gotten a bunch of levels!


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Recollection of a Distant Life] has reached level 122!]


    ¡­.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Recollection of a Distant Life] has reached level 131!]


    I was starting to think the skill was reaching the end of its useful life though.


    He did look as pleased as a fox in a henhouse by the end of it though.


    ¡°This was a most fruitful discussion.¡± He said, beard twitching slightly.


    I groaned at the terrible pun. I have no idea if it was deliberate or not, but with how careful every word was, I believed it was on purpose.


    ¡°What happens next?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, I get to tell the powers that be that your blessing is in the ¡®harmless or useful¡¯ category, and we all go on our way.¡±


    The deadly implications of that clicked into place, and I froze up. The fact that ¡°harmless¡± and ¡°useful¡± were lumped together implied a gradient composing of ¡°dangerous¡± and ¡°more dangerous¡±, and ¡°we all go on our way¡± implied ¡°We don¡¯t go on our way¡± being the other option.


    That might also be why he¡¯d been interested in weapons and other technology surrounding killing others. He might have been testing if I had the potential to kill lots of people with the knowledge I was bringing in, if I was going to be another murderous Hesoid, but with better, stronger methods. If that was the case, the existence of my [Oath] probably helped.


    I felt Demos turn his calming aura back on, and I glared at him, throwing up [Veil] briefly to not feel the Aura. I had no illusions that I could stop him if I wanted to ¨C my [Identify] earlier had put him quite a bit over Artemis, like level 340 or so ¨C but it was more so the message. My hackles were up, and after having spent the last two years as a Ranger, they didn¡¯t go back down easily.


    I turned it back down, glaring at him.


    ¡°I apologize.¡± The Priest said, half-bowing from where he sat. ¡°A habit, a reflex, from so many years teaching Acolytes.¡±


    I closed my eyes, breathing in, breathing out, letting it go. We were all good here. Julius was exceedingly unlikely to throw me to the wolves if he thought I¡¯d get harmed. Not unless he thought I was some sort of mass-murderer, which [Oath] neatly neutered.


    ¡°Is there any small favor we could do to make up for the ugly misunderstanding at the end?¡± Demos asked me.


    ¡°N- uh, yes!¡± I said, remembering earlier. ¡°I¡¯d like a small bag of worms and beetles please.¡±


    I got the first unrestrained emotion from the priest at that, genuine, taken aback surprise.


    ¡°Ok, I¡¯m not one to pry ¨C well, yes I am, but not for this ¨C but whatever for?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Artemis. Sold me out horribly. I¡¯m dumping them in her bed as revenge.¡±


    The priest facepalmed.


    ¡°The fact that I know who Artemis is scares me the most.¡± He said drily. ¡°Please don¡¯t have me preside over any funerals.¡±


    I gave him a flat look.


    ¡°Do you even know Artemis?¡± I asked him, comfortable enough after all our chatting to be a bit sassy.


    ¡°Do you?¡± He shot back.


    I had nothing for that. I stuck my tongue out and left.


    ¡°Still a kid, even with all those extra years.¡± He whispered to himself as I left.


    I patted my carrying pouch. Still had my scrolls, and my sad, deflated money bags. I wonder how the priest knew I was telling the truth. Was it simply the details, the interlocking information, the sheer inability to conjure up all the information at once, like I¡¯d convinced the Rangers? Or was his Divine Bestowal related to truth-detection, something far outside the System, but within the domain of the gods.


    I met my parents at the entrance ¨C they looked so bored having spent hours doing nothing but sit while I was chatting ¨C and an acolyte that handed me a slightly squirming bag.


    My parents eyed the bag.


    ¡°Do we want to know?¡± My dad asked, with no small amount of trepidation.


    ¡°For Artemis!¡± I cheerfully told them.


    Mom facepalmed.


    My dad handed me a very fancy key, a long, thick thing made out of metal, with small flecks of gems and Arcanite strategically located, soft lines of inscriptions tracing mystical patterns.


    ¡°Your bank key. Use it to access your vault. If you lose it, it can¡¯t be easily replaced, so do not lose it. Understood?¡±


    I nodded my understanding.


    ¡°Hang on, let me deposit my scrolls real fast.¡± I said.


    A quick deposit later, a whirlwind goodbye with my parents ¨C with promises that we¡¯d meet tomorrow, although ¡°Don¡¯t tell Artemis where¡±, and an escort to Ranger HQ later, and I was carefully sneaking into my ¨C well, Artemis¡¯s ¨C room, with a bag full of bugs. Cackling, I picked up my roll first ¨C gotta get it clear first, wouldn¡¯t want to end up with bugs in my roll¨C and emptied the bag into her cot. Serves her right, throwing me under the bus like that, giving away that I had a secret, not taking me with her initially, spilling everything to my parents.


    Right. Time to find Julius¡¯s room.


    After a bunch of navigating around, asking for directions, and twice insisting that no, I was not a prostitute, no matter how it looked that a young woman was hauling around a cot inside of Headquarters, I found Julius¡¯s room.


    I knocked, and he opened the door.


    ¡°Elaine? Is everything ok?¡± He said, stepping back, letting me in the room.


    I hauled myself in the room, closing the door behind me.


    ¡°Yup! But you might want to barricade the door.¡±


    ¡°Artemis probably knows to find me here, and she won¡¯t be happy.¡±


    Julius paled at that.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 16]


    [Mana: 16930/16930]


    [Mana Regen: 20563]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 65]


    [Strength: 116]


    [Dexterity: 218]


    [Vitality: 235]


    [Speed: 220]


    [Mana: 1693]


    [Mana Regeneration: 2363]


    [Magic Power: 1480]


    [Magic Control: 2027]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 187]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 187]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 158]


    [Medicine: 184]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 160]


    [Phases of the Moon: 187]


    [Moonlight: 104]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 146]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 135]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 62]]


    [Fire Affinity: 62]


    [Fire Resistance: 62]


    [Fire Conjuration: 62]


    [Fire Manipulation: 62]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 62]


    [Burn Brightly: 62]


    [Rapidash: 62]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 96]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 131]


    [Pretty: 123]


    [Vigilant: 131]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 167]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 133]


    [: ]


    [Learning: 148]

 Chapter 99– The Grand Ranger Meeting

    The Summer Solstice was here, and I woke up bright and early with the sun. Artemis still hadn¡¯t enacted her revenge for the ¡°bugs in the bedroll¡± stunt, and I knew she wasn¡¯t the type to simply go ¡°oh well, you got me, I deserved it, well done.¡± The suspense was almost worse than any revenge she could enact.


    But today was the Solstice, the day of the Grand Ranger Meeting ¨C or so I was mentally calling it.


    ¡°Reminder Elaine.¡± Julius said. ¡°Meeting starts right after lunch, in That Room.¡±


    ¡®That Room¡¯ didn¡¯t have a name. It was the only unnamed room in HQ, and arguably, the entire building was built around it. It was a large amphitheater in the center of the building, able to seat hundreds, and the most important part of HQ was located there. The one part of HQ we¡¯d all fight ¨C and die ¨C to defend, before letting it get ruined.


    The Indomitable Wall.


    Fortunately, that didn¡¯t seem to be a concern today, and I happily skipped off to the baths for a good scrub. I wanted to be, to look, my absolute best today. The event was important enough to warrant it.


    Blessedly, the solstice was the longest day of the year, which gave me the most time to get ready, to be prepared. Unfortunately, the rest of the city was also partying, the solstice being the main summer festival.


    The long and the short of it was, everything was crowded, and most things were a bit more expensive. At the baths, I wasn¡¯t able to get a little cubby to store my things, so I just brought my tunic with me in the bath, carefully balancing it on my head.


    Washing while balancing my tunic, pouch, and more, on my head, was a real challenge. Fortunately, I wasn¡¯t the only one with this problem, and I teamed up with another teenager in the same position to fix the problem. I held both of our stuff while she scrubbed, then we traded, and she held our stuff while I scrubbed.


    Perfect!


    We left, said goodbye, and I was off through the streets, trying to stay as clean as possible. [Veil of the Aurora] saved me ¨C and a half dozen others ¨C from a cart going a bit too fast down the road, through a cow pat some other animal had left. Thank the goddesses. I did not want to re-do the baths.


    There seemed to be a [Beautician] class, or at least a few stores ¨C run by women! Although owned by their husband ¨C dedicated to purely makeup and cosmetics. I¡¯d considered splurging on a session for the upcoming event, but when I saw the ¡°Summer Solstice Spectacular Sale¡± price, I¡¯d decided to simply buy some makeup and apply it myself. Bonus ¨C I could avoid lead and other metals I remembered were toxic, although I didn¡¯t know all of them. One day I needed to work on being able to cure heavy metal poisoning, else I¡¯d go stark raving mad ¨C literally. I acknowledged I was already a little crazy for doing this Ranger thing. The target audience was the wives and daughters of the richest citizens and senators who had literally millions of coins. The price had been outrageous before I discovered that it was the price measured in rods, not coins. Hence, doing it myself. I had the practice. I was going to look good.


    Not perfect. Not bombastic. Not the star of the show or anything. Just ¨C good. [Pretty], not beautiful.


    I made it back, got ready. Got my fancy tunic that I could imbue skills into ¨C my flaming dress, I thought of it.


    ¡°Hey Artemis,¡± I said, popping into her room, seeing her put on the last pieces of armor, fancy red cape with no helmet. ¡°how do I look?¡± I gave a short twirl, letting some flames flicker over the dress.


    She glanced over at me.


    ¡°Wow! You look great healy-bug!¡± She said, getting up, making a move as if to hug me, then changing her mind. Didn¡¯t want to mess up my outfit, which I appreciated.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 124!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 125!]


    Awww yes. [Pretty] levels.


    ¡°What do you think? Ranger Badge or no?¡± I asked, badge in hand, miming putting it on my chest, over my left breast.


    I had no concerns about Artemis getting revenge on me today. It was in good fun at the end of the day, and today was too important, had too much meaning for the two of us, for horseplay. Artemis sucked the air through her teeth.


    ¡°In your shoes, I wouldn¡¯t.¡± She held a hand up to forestall any complaints I might have. ¡°You¡¯ve earned it. You deserve it. You have the right to carry it. But you¡¯re going to be in front of everyone today ¨C every Instructor. Every Ranger in Team 0 and Team 1. Every Sentinel. Half the recruits. You¡¯re already going to stand out like a sore thumb ¨C I checked, you¡¯re both the youngest recruit this year by three years, and, no surprise, the only girl. Wearing the badge will only make you stick out more, and people who would otherwise leave you alone might be tempted to measure themselves against you, to ¡®prove¡¯ to themselves ¨C or think they¡¯re proving it to others ¨C that either they belong, or you don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°At the same time, some of the Instructors might approve of the gall, of you being unafraid, of proudly flying the flag in face of adversity. It¡¯ll earn you brownie points there.¡±


    I frowned. Damnit. Politics of some flavor or another was rearing its ugly head.


    I shook my head.


    ¡°All the Rangers are wearing the full fancy armor, right?¡±


    ¡°Right.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d stick out in a way I don¡¯t like ¨C not wearing the standard uniform. I¡¯m not sure on all the politics and implications, but I don¡¯t see it ending well.¡±


    Artemis patted my shoulder.


    ¡°Good call.¡±


    We had a small lunch ¨C no crumbs, juice, or anything that could possibly make a mess massively restricting what I could eat ¨C then headed off towards That Room.


    We entered, and I got another look at the room. I¡¯d taken a peek earlier just to get an idea, so I wouldn¡¯t be overwhelmed and look like a country bumpkin the first time I entered, so I wouldn¡¯t gawk around awkwardly and possibly embarrass the rest of the team. I¡¯d do them proud.


    There was a central oval, with the Indomitable? Wall against one skinny edge, on a platform. Rows of stone benches filled the rest of the central pit, all facing towards the wall.


    Or facing away from the wall, if you were a monster like that.


    In circles around the central pit, steadily rising rings of seats were present, like, well, any amphitheater.


    There were, appropriately, 24 teams. I imagined there was one team for each skill the average human had access to, although the existence of a team 0 threw that for a loop. There were 16 rows of benches, with an aisle in the middle. 12 rows for the 24 teams, and the remaining 4 rows for command, support, Team 0, and other important VIPs that snagged one of the coveted ¡°central¡± seats.


    The non-central seats were for the legions of support staff. The farrier, the quartermaster, the horse trainer, the armorer, everyone¡¯s favorite person, the paymaster, the janitors, the scribes, the healers, the Inscriptionists, and the legion of other support staff that meant we could roll in, get a full set of food, armor, rations, a wagon, trained horses, pay, not bother with politics, have a route set for us, new, well-trained recruits to join the team, and just go.


    Graduates of Ranger Academy, those who¡¯d completed everything, were in the audience as well. Their time would come, their names would be called.


    Additionally, people who wanted to, could buy tickets to the event, and from what I¡¯d heard, the tickets were pricey. Anything to up our meager budget, and with not a whole lot of early afternoon events, this was a place for movers and shakers to meet and mingle, usually of the martial type.


    Tickets were free for widows, for children whose father¡¯s name was written on the wall.


    I was in the row with Team 4. Julius. Artemis. Kallisto. Maximus. Arthur.


    A copious gap where Origen should be.


    A less-obvious to me, but still present, gap where the two members of the team who¡¯d started off with the Ranger, but had died before I got a chance to meet them, should be. It wasn¡¯t that there wasn¡¯t room for them, less so that they didn¡¯t have a psychic presence in my mind the same way Origen did.


    I looked around the room as other people came in. I was an ¡°extra¡± on Team 4, but I was far from the only extra around. A number of women were scattered through the benches where the teams were located, wives to Rangers. One bench even had three kids, solemnly lined up, with the smallest, cutest little togas on them.


    Bold move that. By custom, by tradition, only people who were on the rounds could claim a spot in the lower seats, and the presence of the kids indicated that they were traveling with their dad around Remus.


    A few people of all shapes and sizes were scattered around, people the Ranger team had recruited in the field, and had simply never left. Like I was, when I was first picked up by the team. Without a doubt they were all heading to the Academy after, the only difference between us was I¡¯d been offered a position as a full Ranger. I was glad I¡¯d decided to not wear the badge ¨C right now I blended in, wasn¡¯t making a fuss.


    There were a few animals scattered around. A hawk, on a Ranger¡¯s shoulder. A bear, fur gleaming metallic, given wide berth ¨C even on his own team¡¯s bench. A protoavis, hopping from foot to foot.


    The larger dinosaurs had been left outside, a concession to the size constraints inside the area, their sheer danger level, and the practical fact that they couldn¡¯t fit through the door.


    Twenty chairs were present on the stage before the Indomitable Wall, along with a podium. I eyed it, glowing lines of inscriptions all around it.


    ¡°Twenty coins says there¡¯s a sound-amplifying enchantment on the podium.¡± I whispered to Maximus, who, while not a betting man, could always be suckered into something System related.


    He rolled his eyes at me, but to his credit, didn¡¯t swat at me. My hair was too well done for anyone to mess with it.


    ¡°I know it has a sound-amplifying enchantment on it, it¡¯s not my first time here.¡± He drily pointed out.


    ¡°Ah, right.¡± With great effort, I suppressed the urge to fidget. This was not the time, and I could not screw up my outfit.


    The last of the crowd was shuffling in, and slowly, as the appointed time arrived, a hush fell over the crowd.


    A single drumbeat, one stick hitting stretched hide. Bam.


    Bam.


    Bam ¨C Ba-ba-duh-duh-dum.


    The sound of drums slowly came in, more and more of them, beating a solemn beat. Fifteen men filed in, all dressed in the standard Ranger armor, red capes with no helmets. All had the Ranger Eagle on the chest, but in two different ways.


    The first eight men had the circle, with a pair of laurels surrounding the circle. The indicator of Ranger Command, the eight men who oversaw the entire operation. Four Rangers, promoted to command. Two sent from the Army, however they saw fit. Two from the Senate, however they worked it out.


    Behind them marched another seven men, this time with a sunburst around the Eagle. I recognized Bluebeard marching along.


    Arthur whispered in my ear, pointing to them in turn.


    ¡°Hunting. Bulwark. Sealing. Sky. Nature. Destruction. Ocean. Magic, Night, Brawling, and Acquisition aren¡¯t here it seems like. Their seat is still open for them if they do make it.¡±


    Command marched to the stage, each one stepping in front of a chair, then in a single, smooth, coordinated motion, pivoted and turned around. I raised an eyebrow at that. Even the Senators pulled it off? My bet was ex-military. Could be lots of practice ¨C this was the event for Rangers.


    The Sentinels made it to the stage, to their seats, but weren¡¯t as coordinated, simply turning around as they each made it to their spot. Made sense ¨C they were all busy men, and didn¡¯t act as a unit.


    One of the Commanders stepped up to the podium.


    ¡°Welcome, to the Ranger Convocation!¡±


    A loud cheer broke from the crowd, myself included.


    A fairly long speech came from the Commander, followed by three more speeches. Acknowledgements of accomplishments. Thanks. Praise to the Senate. That one I bet was to get more funding, and/or propaganda. I carefully schooled my eyes, not rolling them. No bets on the people on stage having enough vitality boosting their perception to see everything that was going on, and probably taking mental notes.


    The speeches were, somehow, incredibly boring, and I somewhat filtered them out. I stayed looking at the stage ¨C it¡¯d be the height of rudeness not to ¨C but I was drifting away.


    The speeches were boring.


    It was only when the Indomitable Wall was mentioned that I snapped to, paying attention again, checking to see exactly what had just been said.


    ¡°¡­ and now, it¡¯s time to carve the names onto the Indomitable Wall.¡±


    An old, powerful looking man from one of the VIP seats stood up, and walked to the stage, each step careful, measured. Placed slowly but firmly, exactly where he intended it to go.


    The drums started to play again, a slow, solemn, melancholy beat. Each name said here, said now, was a life cut short in defense of Remus, a peak warrior killed. This would be, in many ways, their only remembrance, their only legacy. A name, stated. A phrase, uttered. A carving, in a stone wall.


    Then we¡¯d move on. People would frequently visit the wall, but as time went on, fewer and fewer people would come for a specific name. Soon, they¡¯d just be an engraving that eyes would wander over, maybe widening as they noticed they held the same name as a fallen, or in awe at the sheer number of names carved.


    It was not a small wall. There was not a lot of spare room.


    ¡°Team 2.¡± The Commander announced.


    The man, who I could only assume was the leader of Team 2, got up, and with the weight of the world on his shoulders, marched up to the stage, got behind the podium, and faced the crowd.


    ¡°Lucius Viducius Draco.¡± He called out.


    We bowed our heads, reciting in unison.


    ¡°Brave Ranger. Your time to rest has come. May White Dove take you to a better place. Your deeds will not be forgotten. We will remember you.¡±


    The man who¡¯d walked up to the stage tapped on the wall, and the name of the Ranger appeared in the next open spot. A powerful, high-level [Stonemason], able to carve names with a tap. The perfect class, the perfect skill, the perfect level, for here and now.


    Another name. Another recital.


    A pause.


    Team 2¡¯s leader got down. Only two dead. A success.


    Team 3¡¯s leader went up next. He was young to be a team leader.


    Too young.


    There was nobody else on the bench.


    Seven names were recited. A near-miss from a full team wipe. Given how badly the last man looked, given how he was shaking, the haunted look on his face, the thousand-yard stare in his eyes, for all practical purposes, it was a full team wipe.


    Team 4 was called next, and Julius took the stage.


    ¡°Alexander.¡± He called out, meeting the eyes of the audience, scanning through each of us, back ramrod straight. Not backing down.


    ¡°Brave Ranger. Your time to rest has come. May White Dove take you to a better place. Your deeds will not be forgotten. We will remember you.¡±


    ¡°Vel Icarus Aulus.¡±


    ¡°Brave Ranger. Your time to rest has come. May White Dove take you to a better place. Your deeds will not be forgotten. We will remember you.¡±


    ¡°Publius Origen Cicero.¡±


    ¡°Brave Ranger. Your time to rest has come. May White Dove take you to a better place. Your deeds will not be forgotten. We will remember you.¡±


    I called it out like I¡¯d called out the rest of them, tears streaming down my face. I thought I¡¯d handled the guilt. No, it was still there, reminding me that Origen had voted against entering the town, that I¡¯d basically dragged him there anyways, and he¡¯d died for it.


    Julius came down to the slow beating of the drums, as the remaining teams came up one at a time. His eyes were closed, fists clenched. It couldn¡¯t be any easier for him to go through this, than for anyone else. Harder even. He was the one who made the calls, who was responsible for each and every one of their deaths. Was there something he could¡¯ve done better? Could Investigations have only had three people in it, working as a single unit, to have given Origen backup, so he wouldn¡¯t be traveling solo?


    Would that have helped, or would the deadly miasma spewed out by Hesoid have claimed two Rangers, not one?


    What if, what if, what if. The curse of command.


    Some teams ¨C like Team 0, Team 1, Team 8, Team 14, and Team 17 got off scott-free, not a single casualty.


    Team 13 completely wiped, and one of the Commanders read off the list of all their names. It wasn¡¯t mentioned if they had any tagger-ons, if there was a wife or kids who¡¯d died as well.


    No mention of how they fell.


    Silence followed the last name called out.


    There was no need to call for a moment of silence. We gave it naturally; they¡¯d given their lives. The moment stretched into two, into four, into eight moments of silence. Not even the kids made a peep, not even a rustle of cloth.


    One of the Commanders got up, and walked to the podium, the moment broken.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to congratulate the new Academy graduates. As you hear your name, please approach the stage.¡±


    ¡°Trainee Acilius, approach.¡±


    A man jumped up from the trainee section, and walked onto the stage. A handshake, a Ranger Badge changing hands, and he held his hands up triumphantly, new badge in hand.


    A polite applause met this, and he jumped down, going towards an area that seemed to be marked off for new graduates.


    ¡°Trainee Alus, approach.¡±


    It rapidly became clear the order was alphabetical, as one name after another was announced.


    As names were called, I looked around. There was a whole section dedicated to Academy graduates, but some were getting uglier and uglier looks on their face. I suddenly realized ¨C they weren¡¯t necessarily graduates yet. They were finding out, here and now, in front of everyone, if they passed and were assigned to a team or not.


    Ouch. Can¡¯t find a nicer way to tell people they¡¯d washed out?


    ¡°Now, it is time to announce the new teams for the following round.¡±


    ¡°Team 1. First, I¡¯d like to congratulate Galenus, for his promotion to Team Leader. The remaining members of the team are as follows:¡±


    He read off a list of seven names, a cheer coming from each one, all from the ¡°already a Ranger¡± section.


    Team 1 was the team assigned to the capital, and only the capital after all. It made sense that they were only the best. No raw recruits for them!


    Name after name, team after team was announced. Julius was now Team 6, still a team leader. I let out a little sigh I didn¡¯t know I was holding. They weren¡¯t holding me against Julius ¨C yet. Kallisto Team 8. Maximus Team 11.


    Most of the time, when someone¡¯s name was called, they yelled out, or raised their hand, so future team mates got an initial impression of them. They¡¯d meet and mingle later, starting to get to know each other. Talk with former teammates. Get a read on the people they¡¯d be spending the next two years with.


    In Julius¡¯s case, pay out a bunch of bets that he¡¯d prevent an Artemis friendly-fire incident.


    Artemis¡¯s name wasn¡¯t called. Neither was Arthur¡¯s.


    ¡°It¡¯s not there. Elaine, it¡¯s not there!¡± Arthur said to me, growing frantically excited, but subdued, restrained.


    ¡°What¡¯s not there?¡± I hissed to him. He just shook his head, muttering to himself.


    The last few names were called. Mine wasn¡¯t among them, not that I¡¯d expected it to be. I had a slim hope that they¡¯d just skip right over making me do Academy, and keep me as a Ranger.


    ¡°And now, something special. Ranger Artemis, approach the stage.¡± A different Commander had the podium.


    Artemis beamed, and with what could only be described as ¡°maximum non-military grace and decorum¡±, bounded up to the stage.


    ¡°Artemis has been with us for 14 years ¨C an amazing 7 rounds. She¡¯s survived every one of them, although, not without a few, ah, incidents.¡±


    That got a round of chuckles, and some cheers, hoots, and boos.


    ¡°I am pleased to announce that as of today, Artemis is becoming the rarest of Rangers. One retired with distinction. Everyone, please give Artemis a hand.¡±


    Thunderous applause. Regardless of her reputation ¨C although from the looks of it, being ¡°twitchy and alive¡± was well-lauded, compared to ¡°dead and anything else¡±. Then again, a whole 14 years of surviving as a Ranger? Artemis probably had seniority on almost all the other Rangers, and could rival entire teams combined.


    And a Ranger, retiring, one taking it with as much grace as Artemis was? Yeah, it made people happy. It gave them hope, a reminder, that one day they too might be on the stage with thunderous applause, retiring happy, instead of being written onto the wall.


    I looked at the wall. I looked at the one, only publicly retiring Ranger.


    I didn¡¯t like those odds.


    Didn¡¯t stop me screaming myself hoarse with cheers for her though. I wanted to be the loudest, damnit! She was my teammate, my mentor!


    Team 4 had the blessed distinction of, yes, being the loudest, all of us having fresh memories of Artemis saving our lives. There were a number of scattered Rangers throughout, equally enthusiastic, former teammates of Artemis celebrating her accomplishment.


    ¡°Artemis, would you like to say a few words?¡± The Commander said, giving the stage to her.


    ¡°Of course! Thank you everyone!¡± Artemis said, to more applause.


    This was going to take forever.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to say it¡¯s been the best time of my life, working with all of you. You gave me a home when I needed it. You gave me direction, and meaning. Thank you.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pleased to announce that I¡¯m starting up a school for mages, anywhere from just unlocked, to as far as they¡¯ll go. You want your kid to be a mage? You want help becoming a caster? Come to the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft, and learn it all!¡±


    I winced. Advertising? Really? Then again, when else would Artemis have a captive audience of some of the richest members of society, the movers and shakers of the Republic? A good chance to get her name out there.


    The rest of the crowd didn¡¯t have such a negative take on it, and her announcement was met with more cheer. I think she could¡¯ve said anything, and been met with thunderous applause.


    Artemis waved and jumped down from the stage, striding back over to where we were.


    Arthur looked like he was going to have a heart attack. Pale and sweaty, hands trembling. I touched him, pulsing [Phases of the Moon] through him just in case.


    Did they forget about him or something? Was he being fired?


    Was he currently having a heart attack or something?


    ¡°Lastly, Ranger Arthur, please approach the stage.¡±


    All the Sentinels got up at that. While they hadn¡¯t been lounging ¨C they were the pictures of military perfection ¨C they hadn¡¯t exactly been cheering and making a bunch of noise otherwise.


    ¡°Go on Arthur, you can do this.¡± I whispered to him, giving him some support. He¡¯d paste me if he leaned too hard.


    He took a deep breath, and with perfect, military precision, the type that would bring a tear to a drill instructor¡¯s eye at it¡¯s sheer correctness, he marched up to the stage.


    ¡°A Ranger. At least one round. The undisputed best in his field. A grand feat. An open seat. The ability to survive on your own. Powerful combat prowess. Able to move through Remus, solving problems.¡±


    ¡°Arthur, you¡¯re a master of all types of poisons, and your classes, skills, and fighting style reflect it. You single-handedly slew a monster over level 1000, you can survive an Ornithocheirus attack in the open, have masterful stealth abilities, and are one of the best [Rangers] we know.¡±


    I mentally snorted at the blatant propaganda, inflating the monster¡¯s level.


    ¡°Arthur. We hereby name you, The Toxic Sentinel.¡± The Commander said, pinning a badge, with an eagle inside a starburst onto his chest.


    A roar came up from the crowd, the sound of it making a physical, pressing thing.


    I didn¡¯t care all that much ¨C I was screaming myself hoarse with the rest of them.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Ranger¡¯s Lore] has reached level 134!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Ranger¡¯s Lore] has reached level 140!]


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 16]


    [Mana: 17210/17210]


    [Mana Regen: 20721]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 62]


    [Strength: 118]


    [Dexterity: 218]


    [Vitality: 235]


    [Speed: 220]


    [Mana: 1721]


    [Mana Regeneration: 2379]


    [Magic Power: 1506]


    [Magic Control: 2039]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 187]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 187]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 158]


    [Medicine: 184]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 160]


    [Phases of the Moon: 187]


    [Moonlight: 104]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 146]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 135]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 62]]


    [Fire Affinity: 62]


    [Fire Resistance: 62]


    [Fire Conjuration: 62]


    [Fire Manipulation: 62]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 62]


    [Burn Brightly: 62]


    [Rapidash: 62]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 96]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 131]


    [Pretty: 125]


    [Vigilant: 131]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 167]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 140]


    [: ]


    [Learning: 148]

 Chapter 101– Ranger Academy I

    The rest of the day after the Ranger Convocation ¨C I finally had the name for it ¨C was spent in a giant party in The Room. Food and drink were brought out, and everyone had a chance to mingle, a chance to chat with each other. A chance to say hello to new teammates, and goodbye to old ones.


    Even the ones written on the wall.


    Ranger Team 4 ¨C the old one, not the new one ¨C was particularly busy, arguably the center of attention. Artemis retiring, and old teammates were crowding in to say goodbye, other Rangers wanting a word with one of the living legends, and in at least two cases, the movers and shakers of Ariminum wanting to sign their kid up at the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft.


    And of course, we also had Arthur, the newest Sentinel.


    Or, as we were now starting to call him, Toxic.


    The problem was compounded by the other Sentinels hanging out with Arthur, wanting to get to know him better, getting a better feel for the newest member of their most exclusive club.


    With the celebrity-like status of the Sentinels, more people wanted to see them, effectively making Ranger Team 4 the center of attention, which I didn¡¯t want to be.


    Maximus and I eventually managed to escape ¨C Julius felt obligated to stick with people, while Kallisto reveled in being a social butterfly ¨C and hit the buffet line.


    Which generally consisted of Maximus taking a small sample of everything, to better expand his horizons, while I hoovered up the mangos.


    Artemis popped out at one point, dumping a leg of ham on my plate.


    ¡°Eat.¡± She ordered me.


    I gave her a look.


    ¡°You know I¡¯m not allowed to tell you anything about Ranger Academy.¡± Artemis said, seemingly going off on a wild tangent.


    Artemis dropped lots of little hints like that, all technically within the letters of the orders every recruit at Ranger Academy was given, but probably breaking the spirit. What I heard it translate to: ¡°There¡¯s going to be massive mana consumption at Academy, best get your reserves up.¡±


    Hang on. That didn¡¯t make sense. Blowing tons of mana was fine, it was ¨C


    ¡°Eat up, they¡¯re going to underfeed you.¡±


    There we go.


    The party continued, people breaking up into groups, mingling, doing general party-ish things.


    Parties were not my jam, and I kept finding myself feeling, being, isolated. Artemis tried to stick with me, but she kept having people come up to her, congratulating her on her retirement. Arthur was in an even worse swarm, and while I was no stranger to constant streams of patients in a clinic, this was so much worse on so many levels.


    There was no neatly defined relationship of what I was to everyone else. Tagger-on? I was more than that. Ranger? Not quite ¨C especially when I wasn¡¯t called to be in a team. Socially, I was an odd duck, both my age and gender separating me from everyone else. There were a few young kids, but they were young kids. The recruits for the current batch weren¡¯t here, and the grapevine had the youngest graduate of the current year being 22.


    All in all, the party was more on the ¡°awkward¡± end of the spectrum, than the ¡°fun¡± end.


    A few things were fun though.


    ¡°Hey Julius!¡± I called out to him, waving my arm, wandering over.


    ¡°Oh hey Elaine.¡± Julius said, stopping his conversation with seven other people, one of them a woman.


    ¡°Hey Julius! New team?¡±


    ¡°Yup! Getting to know each other, off for some teambuilding exercises soon.¡±


    ¡°Who¡¯s this?¡± The woman asked.


    ¡°This is Elaine. Interesting character we picked up on my last round. About to enter Ranger Academy.¡±


    ¡°On that note ¨C Elaine, this is probably goodbye for now. I hope to see you at the next Convocation, as a full Ranger¡­ again.¡± Julius held out his hand for a handshake.


    I gave him a hug instead, trying to crush him with my 118 Strength. Puny against a higher-level, physically-based Ranger. Strong compared to anyone from Earth, anyone without points in Strength.


    ¡°You better stay alive. Get another healer to tag along with you.¡± I muttered into his armor.


    We spent a moment like that.


    ¡°Again?¡± The woman asked, after an appropriate amount of time saying goodbye.


    ¡°Well, you see¡­¡± Julius started to explain my story, and I decided to make myself scarce.


    I found Kallisto, flirting with two incredibly good-looking, wealthy-looking women. I shook my head at him. Some guys had all the luck.


    ¡°Kallisto!¡± I sidled up to him.


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Elaine, his former teammate. Great dude Kallisto. Can¡¯t go wrong.¡± I said, being a quick wing woman for him. Not that he¡¯d need the help.


    ¡°Elaine! This is probably goodbye for now, you¡¯re about to be vanished off to Ranger Academy aren¡¯t you?¡±


    ¡°Yup! Best of luck out there, stay safe! See if you can get a healer to tag along with you. Especially you, you need someone to patch you up if you get ran over by a level 400 monster 20 times your weight.¡±


    ¡°You got ran over by a level 400 monster? I have to hear that story.¡± One of the ladies asked him, fluttering her eyes.


    ¡°Well¡­.¡± A grin split Kallisto¡¯s face, knowledge that he was in, so to speak, as he started to explain the story of the Nothasaurus, now thirty stories tall, with teeth larger than the Argo, and I went off to find Maximus.


    Maximus was, to only a raised eyebrow from me, deep in conversation with the Nature Sentinel, who was holding an entire amphora ¨C basically a fancy jug ¨C of wine, happily drinking right from it.


    Nobody would want to pour themselves a drink out of that after he¡¯d had his way with it, but from the rate he was going at, I didn¡¯t think that¡¯d be a concern.


    I decided to respectfully hang out, and not interrupt the powerhouse who could literally flatten me with a thought.


    Interesting that idea ¨C if someone got strong enough, could they literally kill someone with an errant thought? If they briefly got mad, and activated a massive skill, would it fire? Was there a way to stop that, to restrain yourself? Or were high-level hotheads doomed to eventually kill someone on impulse?


    A solid question, one possibly for the Nature Sentinel. Another day.


    Maximus and Nature were in a deep discussion, and I decided a little bit of eavesdropping would be socially acceptable. We were at a party, it wasn¡¯t like I was sneaking up on them, nor were they in a private room or something.


    ¡°¡­ Mithril, and Adamantium.¡± Maximus said. ¡°Speaking of, here¡¯s Elaine! She found the scroll in question.¡±


    Nature turned to me, and he was intense. He was built like a brick shithouse, with a modest layer of fat on him ¨C not that anyone could call him fat, but it was clear he was no body sculptor. It reminded me of a bear, a lion, an apex predator that had some extra weight on him because he was just that successful at hunting down other creatures in the jungle.


    He eyed me up and down, and grunted.


    ¡°Good find. See you at Academy.¡±


    With that, he turned and walked away, Maximus and I staring after his back.


    ¡°Don¡¯t mind him too much. All the Sentinels are a bit strange. Arthur¡¯s the most normal of them, but give it some time. He¡¯ll have as many screws loose as the rest of them.¡± Maximus said.


    I gave him a Look for that.


    Maximus and I spent a bit of time chatting, about nothing much. Mostly Arthur.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see that coming.¡± Maximus said, for the 3rd time.


    ¡°Yeah, I had no idea. Anyways, let me know if you find any good stories on the road. I¡¯ll be waiting to hear from you.¡±


    ¡°Thanks! If anyone has an interesting skill at Academy, see how much you can get out of them. Mana, range, ability, versatility, how often they can use it ¨C anything and everything.¡±


    ¡°Sure! Stay safe!¡±


    ¡°Stay a Ranger.¡± Maximus shot back.


    We shook hands, and I wandered off, determined to use [Identify] on every single person, this being a great chance to level the skill.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Identify] has reached level 97!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Identify] has reached level 98!]


    Eventually, I found my way back to Artemis¡¯s room, where I¡¯d dragged my cot back.


    I changed, and not having much left to do, flopped back down, only to jump up with a scream.


    ¡°All the gods dammit Artemis! Why mice!? Why today?!¡± I yelled into the void.


    The remaining two weeks until Ranger Academy passed in a blur. I spent the first week with my parents, who eventually had to leave, to head back home. Dad could only spend so much time away from being a guard, and the trip to and from Aquiliea took weeks in the first place.


    We visited all over town. The colossus statue over the harbor, which locals claimed was a statue of Herculix. A grand library that I had to reluctantly tear my eyes away from ¨C I only had so much time with my parents. The Mausoleum, a series of incredibly elaborate burial methods for the rich and famous, to show off for eternity.


    I mentally snorted at that one, [Recollection of a Distant Life] helping out. It¡¯d last until the Republic fell, and tomb robbers got to it. If a high level [Tomb Raider] hadn¡¯t already snuck in.


    All too soon, I was saying goodbye to them. I didn¡¯t know if I¡¯d be able to write or not, but they promised to try and make it to graduation.


    I spent my last few days wandering around the city, suddenly feeling lonely. Artemis still had her room at HQ for some reason, and I was still bunking with her. However, she was running around like her hair was on fire, getting her school started. Lots of work, founding a school. Wasn¡¯t as easy as hanging up a sign on a door it seemed like, and she was a one-woman operation. From what I could see, she took to it with the same determination and grit that she took to being a Ranger, with significantly fewer friendly-fire fatalities.


    I also raided the library, but with Academy starting soon ¨C the gap between graduation and the new class starting was to give the instructors a break, or so I¡¯d gathered ¨C it felt like my doom was hanging over me. I tried to stick with a light exercise routine, to not fall too much out of shape.


    The last day before Academy started broke, and I woke up to an empty room, Artemis most likely having gotten up when the deadly moons were still high up. I gathered everything that could be considered my worldly possessions ¨C the pendant and knife mom and dad had gotten for me rated as my most valuable, my manuscripts a close second, my new bracelet and dress a distant third, along with my other knick-knacks ¨C and headed down to the temple. I deposited them all with the temple, keeping just a spare tunic, a few loose coins.


    I¡¯d handed my Ranger¡¯s badge back ¨C temporarily, and with great reluctance.


    I headed down to the baths, having a sneaking suspicion that ¡°luxury bathing time¡± wasn¡¯t part of the Ranger Academy curriculum. If there was time to get yourself clean, ¡°freezing water¡± was probably how they did it. With sharks. Little mini-freezing water sharks, to ¡°encourage¡± you to bathe faster.


    I took the plunge into the warm, steamy baths, and got to thinking. Didn¡¯t have much else to do.


    Would I get my own bath at Academy? Were women rare enough that they were just thrown in on their own? How did they handle sexual harassment? The team I¡¯d just been with had been fantastic, maybe due to my age, maybe due to their maturity, maybe due to Artemis having bolted them into shape before I came along. Alone, with hundreds of other men? With [Pretty]? Cripes.


    At the same time, Artemis had made no mention of it, and she was fiercely protective, like a mother bear.


    I liked mother bear Artemis.


    To counter that, it¡¯d been years, over a decade, since Artemis was at Academy. Also, Artemis was, to put it mildly, extremely aggressive, having no problems zapping people who annoyed her.


    I literally couldn¡¯t, not until they¡¯d committed some action that was overtly hostile, that I could justify a response with flames and burning.


    I¡¯d see.


    I was driving myself nuts in the bath, and finally got out, toweled myself off, got dressed, and headed back to HQ. A quick meal, and I went to bed early, Artemis still out and about, busy with her school.


    I spent hours tossing and turning, nerves creating a massive twist in my guts.


    ¡°Up! Up! Come on, let¡¯s go!¡± Artemis yelled at me, rudely waking me up.


    ¡°Academy.¡± I said, bolting straight up in bed.


    ¡°Yup! Move, move, move, move! Get your skinny ass in gear, or I¡¯ll skin you and feed you to a cat!¡± Artemis yelled at me, point blank.


    My mind caught up with what Artemis was saying, and I paused, half-dressed, looking at her.


    ¡°Wait, what? A cat?¡± I asked, confused. Artemis never yelled like this, never had bad insults like this.


    Artemis¡¯s grinning face fell. ¡°No good?¡± She asked. I shook my head.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°Well, being a senior, retired Ranger, and opening a school up for mages, and being, among other things, an amazing former Artillery Mage, and living in the capital now, I was approached and asked to be an Instructor at Academy. Part-time, I¡¯m going to be one of the people yelling at you, trying to convince you to quit.¡±


    Artemis paused a heartbeat, letting that sink in.


    ¡°Was practicing my yelling.¡±


    I gave her a single arched eyebrow.


    ¡°Maybe stick to the lightning bolts?¡±


    ¡°Lightning bolts!? Lightning bolts!? What do I look like to you, some pint-sized lightning bolt mage, who can only zap things!?¡±


    I thought about it for a moment, then nodded.


    ¡°Yup.¡±


    ¡°Drop and give me 20 recruit!¡±


    I carefully schooled my face to not give away how little I thought of 20 push ups as punishment, and did them. Artemis needed some serious help on the drill instructor front, but I wasn¡¯t going to be the one to tell her.


    Nah, I¡¯d let someone else sass her too far, let her bolt the hell out of them, and go from there. If Artemis was using me as a test dummy to sharpen her verbal wit, I wasn¡¯t going to make the knife going into me any sharper.


    Thankfully, The Room was where new recruits to Academy met for the first day. What happened after that, I had no idea. Nobody would tell me, or rather, they were under orders not to.


    We all found spots on the main floor, jam-packed like sardines. I was lucky in one sense to be on the main floor ¨C unlucky in another, in that I couldn¡¯t see much besides the back of the people in front of me.


    Damn being short.


    I got some strange looks from the people standing next to me, who glanced at each other.


    ¡°She¡¯s a healer.¡± One of them said, with some surprise. The other one looked down at me, obviously using [Identify] or something, and raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°Don¡¯t see that every day.¡±


    They glanced at each other, then shifted themselves slightly, to give me a bit more room, shield me a hair.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said, meaning it. I¡¯d have appreciated being involved in the conversation, but hey, I could be offended that they¡¯d done all that without even saying hi to me, or appreciative that they were preventing me from being crushed. Seriously, was the requirement to join this year to be twice my weight and height or something!?


    A hush spread through the crowd, and I decided my dignity was worth less than seeing what was going on. I stood up on the bench, finally able to see over the heads of the rest of the crowd.


    ¡°Welcome, new Ranger Academy recruits!¡± A member of Command yelled from the podium.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 16]


    [Mana: 17210/17210]


    [Mana Regen: 20521]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 62]


    [Strength: 118]


    [Dexterity: 218]


    [Vitality: 235]


    [Speed: 220]


    [Mana: 1721]


    [Mana Regeneration: 2379]


    [Magic Power: 1506]


    [Magic Control: 2039]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 187]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 187]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 160]


    [Medicine: 184]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 160]


    [Phases of the Moon: 187]


    [Moonlight: 104]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 146]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 135]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 62]]


    [Fire Affinity: 62]


    [Fire Resistance: 62]


    [Fire Conjuration: 62]


    [Fire Manipulation: 62]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 62]


    [Burn Brightly: 62]


    [Rapidash: 62]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 98]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 131]


    [Pretty: 125]


    [Vigilant: 131]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 167]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 140]


    [: ]


    [Learning: 148]

 Chapter 102– Ranger Academy II

    ¡°Welcome, new Ranger Academy recruits!¡± A member of Command yelled from the podium.


    A modest cheer came from us.


    ¡°It is an honor to welcome you to the class of 4798!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to thank the Instructors, the members of Ranger Team 0, and the Sentinels who have chosen to impart their knowledge to each of you. Each and every one of them works tirelessly to train you, to instruct you, to help give you the skills needed for you to survive out there once we¡¯re done with you.¡±


    ¡°You are the best Remus has to offer, and have passed a grueling pre-selection process. Through this training, you will become one of the elites, the best of the best, the pinnacle of humanity ¨C a Ranger.¡±


    Pre-selection process? Welp, one of the benefits of being named a Ranger on the road ¨C I guess I was allowed to completely skip that.


    ¡°The training will be difficult. It will be hard. Right now, there are 509 of you. Only about 110 of you will make it to graduation. Only about 100 of you will be selected to become a Ranger. If you fail, you¡¯re automatically able to re-enroll, and try again.¡±


    ¡°And now, I¡¯ll pass you off to Ocean.¡±


    He sat down, and a tanned, sleek, fit man, like Swimmer but better in every respect, with swirling tattoos in teal ink that looked like waves on his face took the podium


    ¡°Without further ado, Trainees! On me!¡±


    Bless Artemis and the rest of the team teaching me proper military commands and discipline. About two-thirds of the trainees immediately started moving, following Ocean as he jogged out of the arena. The remaining trainees quickly caught on, and followed as well, mixing in with the crowd.


    Ocean set a brisk, but not unreasonable pace through headquarters, then out onto the street, as we slowly fell into ranks and rows behind him.


    Well, it was clear who came from the army, and who came in through the external selection process. The army people ¨C I considered myself in that group ¨C ended up in neat ranks and rows as we jogged in unison through the town. The non-army people ended up either figuring it out quickly, and getting their own place in the formation, or getting jostled out to the side, to fall behind the rest of us.


    We didn¡¯t go down the main, central road through the city, but we were on one of the major arteries. People took a look at us jogging through the roads, the sheer implacable mass of bodies, and decided that when an implacable force met their very moveable object, it was time to get out of the way.


    At least, that was my assumption. I could mostly see the back of the person in front of me, and a bunch of people pressed to the side of the road, under awnings and in alleys.


    At one point I saw a massive wave of water lifting a wagon up and out of the way, the casual display of power by Ocean sending a shiver down my spine.


    The guards didn¡¯t try to stop us in the slightest, the gates opening well before we got there, and the 500+ trainees jogging through, the instructors and Team 0 taking up the rear, catching anyone who might¡¯ve fallen behind.


    We made our way down to the docks, where three large ships were waiting for us. We loaded up, and set sail.


    As the sailors pushed the boats off from the docks, a wave of loneliness hit. My parents were gone. Artemis might show up now and then, but she was busy doing her own thing. Julius. Kallisto. Maximus. They were all gone, off on a new round. Odds were, one of them would never return.


    I suppose Arthur, or as he might now go by, Toxic, might be around now and then. Depends how much he needed to learn as a Sentinel, how much they needed him to solve problems, and how much he wanted to teach. Still ¨C in quite a few senses, I had nobody here.


    I didn¡¯t want to be arrogant ¨C Perinthus, Maximus, and a number of other incidents had taught me that I never knew enough, that I was never good enough, that I had to always strive to be better. However, Arthur had spent a good amount of time teaching me poisons and woodcraft, how to hunt and survive in the wilderness. If he was teaching anything, did he have anything new to teach me that he hadn¡¯t already imparted in the almost two years we spent together?


    It took less than an hour to make it to a large island, the home of Ranger Academy.


    I expected austere military barracks, maybe stone, maybe shitty huts. I expected that maybe we¡¯d be made to camp in the woods, learning to build our own shelters. Perhaps we¡¯d be assigned a wagon and tents, like Rangers on the road were, to learn to live that lifestyle.


    I did not expect what could only be summed up as ¡°decadent opulence.¡± There was a massive, sprawling villa made out of marble, statues and fountains of water, dozens of healthy, happy-looking slaves bustling around, moving plates of food around.


    Were¡­ were those escorts lounging about and waving? Were we at the right place? This was the fearsome Ranger Academy? We didn¡¯t end up at a luxury resort for the rich and famous?


    Nope, the boat was going to the dock attached to the villa.


    ¡°What on Pallos?¡± I asked the person next to me, the same one who¡¯d helped shield me in the arena. He looked at me, hesitated, then said.


    ¡°I¡¯m a repeat. I¡¯m not allowed to say anything about what goes on, but it is part of the Academy.¡±


    I narrowed my eyes. That wasn¡¯t a ringing endorsement of the place. There wasn¡¯t a note of longing, of happiness at seeing Hotel Luxury again. There was a tired, exhausted note. Not all was what it seemed.


    We disembarked slowly.


    ¡°Septimus. Room 6.¡±


    ¡°Octavius. Room 44.¡±


    As each person got off the boat, they reported to one of the instructors, who looked up their name, and told them which room they¡¯d be in.


    ¡°Elaine.¡± The instructor looked at my name, and hesitated. Uh oh.


    ¡°Stand here for a minute.¡± He finally said. I walked to the spot he pointed at, getting a glimpse at the clipboard as I did so.


    ¡°Have her wait.¡± Was the only thing written down.


    Well then, that was not a promising start to Academy.


    I hung out, only to see a familiar gigantic shape jogging towards me.


    ¡°Arthur!¡± I called out to him, waving happily.


    He only frowned at me. My hand slowly dropped to the side. Was he pissed at me? Did he not like me or something?


    ¡°Trainee Elaine.¡± He said, as formally as he could, then paused, waiting for me.


    ¡°Trainee Elaine, when I address you, I expect a ¡®sir¡¯ at the start and end of everything you say. Do you understand me?¡± Arthur said again.


    Ah. Right. This wasn¡¯t the casual Ranger group anymore, the six of us happily traveling together as equals. This was Ranger Academy, where Arthur was one of the hotshots, the amazing Sentinel, and I was just another Trainee at the bottom of the totem pole. I¡¯d gotten some drilling on this, but it hadn¡¯t quite clicked until now that here and now was when it was relevant.


    ¡°Sir! Yes sir!¡± I said, throwing in a salute for good measure.


    ¡°Very good. While we¡¯re here, I¡¯m Toxic. Come with me.¡± Arthur said, and started to jog up to the villa, passing lines of new trainees making their way to their room.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Training]! Would you like to take this skill?]


    Training: Hoorah! You¡¯re an army recruit, and you have a long way to go trainee! This skill gives extra experience when training, and makes picking up skills and learning from the instructors that much easier! 1.5% boost to all experience per level when being trained. Note: Only applies to army training.


    Well, I had a free skill slot, and this let me kick the can down the road of what skill I wanted to get. I was pretty sure this skill stacked with [Learning], and a good amount of Ranger Academy seemed dedicated to raising my skills. Maybe I¡¯d get lucky enough to class up, or be able to work with some of the instructors on good skills.


    [Recollection of a Distant Life] I had a sneaking suspicion was reaching the end of its useful life as well. I¡¯d written my manuscripts, the total sum of all medical knowledge I had, and the only thing left were tales and stories. It¡¯d gotten me into the Rangers, but now I was here on my own merit.


    Unless I decided to take some sort of Bard class as my second class. It¡¯d be an interesting evolution to be sure, but it¡¯d take me out of direct combat, doubling up on the support. If it was a support class, and not some sort of wandering bard related thing.


    A decision for another day.


    We made our way into the villa, and it was even nicer on the inside than the outside. Artwork, marble busts, and trays of delicious food scattered the hallways, and jugs of wine could be found on every other corner.


    The hell was going on here? This looked like paradise.


    We reached a room, labeled room 100.


    ¡°Ar-Toxic, what¡¯s going on? Sir.¡± I said, confused, belatedly remembering to add the ¡°sir¡± at the end.


    Arthur looked at me, hesitated, then shook his head.


    ¡°I¡¯m also being tested, seeing if I can keep secrets now that I¡¯m a Sentinel. Can¡¯t tell you, Trainee Elaine.¡±


    Hmmmm, interesting. Alrighty then.


    We entered the room, and it was nice. Very nice. There were even some mangos on a tray.


    The fuck was going on?


    ¡°Ahem. Trainee Elaine, at attention.¡± Arthur said. I turned around, snapping to attention.


    ¡°As may be incredibly obvious to you, you¡¯re a girl.¡±


    I resisted rolling my eyes, since Arthur was doing it for me.


    ¡°While we believe every Trainee will hold themselves to the highest standard, there have been incidents in the past. Here¡¯s an emergency signal disk. Pour some mana into it, and break in case of, ah, an incident. We really don¡¯t want any casualties.¡±


    I was having a hard time keeping a poker face at Arthur¡¯s clear discomfort over having to give me this lecture. It was good to know that they¡¯d thought of this before, and had a system in place.


    Honestly, thinking about it, it was more likely there had been numerous problems in the past, and Arthur¡¯s mention of causalities made me wonder if this was to solve the problem before a body count started to pile up. Artemis must¡¯ve been what, 18 when she went through Academy? Ooooh yeah, I could totally see Artemis causing a number of casualties. I was a healer, young, and honestly, vulnerable-looking. Yup, time to keep this disk with me.


    ¡°Quite frankly, after the first 3 months, there¡¯s never been an incident, so you can probably relax after that.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t sleep with anyone, and please, please don¡¯t get pregnant. They¡¯ll throw you out for the second one, and get really mad at the first one.¡±


    ¡°If an instructor approaches you, there¡¯s a chance they¡¯re being an idiot and trying to test you, in spite of being told not to. If an instructor persists, know you can always say no, and talk to a Sentinel about it.¡± Arthur paused a moment, then added. ¡°I recommend Night or Ocean. They¡¯re the serious ones that you¡¯re likely to find.¡±


    Arthur was fuming red at this point, and I let a chuckle escape at how incredibly uncomfortable he seemed.


    ¡°Understood Trainee Elaine?¡± He finally finished and asked me.


    ¡°Sir! Yes sir.¡± I responded.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Training] has reached level 2!]


    He relaxed.


    ¡°Good.¡±


    I cracked a grin at him.


    ¡°Never had to give the talk before?¡±


    ¡°Ug no. That was terrible.¡± Arthur said, clearly relaxing back into his ¡°Arthur¡± role, and no longer ¡°Toxic.¡±


    I grinned at him.


    ¡°Why, Arthur, I never knew that-¡°


    ¡°Elaine, if you finish that sentence, I will damn you to thousands of pushups.¡±


    I grumbled something under my breath about ¡°abuse of power¡±.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Training] has reached level 3!]


    Seriously System?


    Then again, I wasn¡¯t going to complain.


    He gestured around the room.


    ¡°I¡¯m told to tell you to make yourself comfortable and at home. Mingling occurs later on, where you can meet the other recruits. When the big gong strikes, assemble in the front courtyard ¨C you have 45 heartbeats to get there, and fall in formation. Any questions?¡±


    I opened my mouth to ask about his first statement, then closed it. Arthur was also being tested, I reminded myself.


    ¡°Sir! No sir!¡± I said, saluting. Might as well do this properly.


    Arthur saluted back, then left. I grabbed the mangos, and sat on the bed, thinking as I peeled and ate them.


    Everyone was being incredibly, suspiciously cagey about this villa. Clearly, it wasn¡¯t all it was cracked up to be. Arthur telling me ¡°He was told to tell me to make myself comfortable¡± translated to he didn¡¯t think I should make myself comfortable and at home. The recycled Trainee on the boat not having good things to say about the place reinforced that feeling.


    However, Artemis telling me to eat, trying to stuff me, suggested that if nothing else, I should chow down.


    I ate everything in the room, then started to roam the hallways, grabbing food and chowing down, a one-girl whirlwind of gluttony. Mmmm, I had been offered a glutton class once upon a time¡­


    I made some polite conversation with some of the other trainees, most of which were reveling in the luxury and excess, a few with a hard look in their eyes joining me on my quest to give myself indigestion.


    However, as the sun started to get lower in the sky ¨C I could tell from the open-aired courtyards scattered throughout ¨C my fellow gluttons slowly dropped out of the eating contest. Figuring that they had advanced knowledge, or were recycled, I decided that when in Ranger Academy, do as the Rangers, and stopped eating as well.


    I started to work my way towards the front courtyard, dodging some trainees with giggling women on their arms. The fuck?


    I found the front courtyard, and just hung out, making some small talk. I noticed a half-dozen animals that I hadn¡¯t seen before, including an Ornithocheirus with a saddle, a massive bear, steam billowing off of it like it had just left a hot tub ¨C or was Steam-aligned - a muzzled saber-tooth tiger, all lean muscle, flexing its claws, a pair of wolves, one with a bright, shiny coat, one matted dark as night, curled up with each other, a massive potted plant in a wheelbarrow ¨C what?


    I knew Rangers tended to be strange people, as it required a certain type of crazy to get to the levels needed, and to sign up for a job with such a high fatality rate. It hadn¡¯t quite occurred to me just how much crazy there was, and that it¡¯d be concentrated at the Academy.


    In the front of the courtyard, there were two gongs. One was a massive thing of bronze, twisting pillars supporting it, glowing inscriptions on it, at least 10 meters in diameter. The other was much smaller, the size of a normal gong, maybe one meter in diameter, simple looking, but with even more densely written inscriptions on it.


    One of the instructors walked out, nodded at us already in the courtyard.


    ¡°You¡¯ll do well.¡± He said to all of us, before walking up to the big bronze gong and punching it as hard as he could.


    Booooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnggg


    The sound of the gong reverberated through the island, calling us to attention.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 16]


    [Mana: 17210/17210]


    [Mana Regen: 20521]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 62]


    [Strength: 118]


    [Dexterity: 218]


    [Vitality: 235]


    [Speed: 220]


    [Mana: 1721]


    [Mana Regeneration: 2379]


    [Magic Power: 1506]


    [Magic Control: 2039]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 187]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 187]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 160]


    [Medicine: 184]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 160]


    [Phases of the Moon: 187]


    [Moonlight: 104]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 146]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 135]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 62]]


    [Fire Affinity: 62]


    [Fire Resistance: 62]


    [Fire Conjuration: 62]


    [Fire Manipulation: 62]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 62]


    [Burn Brightly: 62]


    [Rapidash: 62]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 98]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 121]


    [Pretty: 125]


    [Vigilant: 131]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 167]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 140]


    [Training: 3]


    [Learning: 148]

 Chapter 103– Ranger Academy III

    The sound of the gong reverberated through the air, the inscriptions lighting up. It was strangely quiet for how close to us it was, and if I had to guess, there was both a dampening, and amplification going on, letting the noise of the gong echo through the entire island, letting people know wherever they were.


    One trainee immediately stepped forward in the courtyard, raised an arm, and yelled out ¡°On me.¡±


    A number of people started to fall into rank and file to the side and behind him, and I joined in. I mentally dubbed the trainee who¡¯d called out the fall-in ¡°Leadership Material.¡±


    Those of us in the courtyard already filled out the first few rows, and there were sounds of scrambling, tripping, swearing, and some clanks, clangs, excessive swearing, and one loud shattering noise from behind.


    I kept my eyes forward, not that turning around to look behind me would have me seeing anything. If nothing else, I needed to learn how to fly so I could see over groups.


    Not that I couldn¡¯t step on [Veil], but the mana consumption was horrible. It was easier for me to fix a shattered body in terms of mana than to use [Veil] as a stepping-stone.


    After a time I¡¯d guess was exactly 45 heartbeats after the initial gong strike, the instructors pounced, yelling obscenities at the trainees who were showing up late.


    They were creative, I¡¯d give them that. I didn¡¯t think the trainee¡¯s grandmother could bend that way, regardless of what the instructor said.


    The side of my lips curled back in a grimace at another particularly offensive insult. Wasn¡¯t that going a hair too far¡­?


    In short order, the vast majority of us were in formation, waiting for the instructors to begin their next lecture, while about a quarter of the trainees were in the back, getting smoked by the instructors for being late.


    Must not smile. Must not crack a grin at someone else getting punished. That was a one-way ticket to getting punished myself.


    ¡°Trainees, listen up! I am Quintis, your Senior Drill Instructor! From now on, you will speak only when spoken to, and the first and last words out of the dung pit you all call your mouths will be sir! Do you slimes understand me!?¡±


    ¡°Sir, yes sir!¡± We sounded off, some of us more with it than others. A few ¡°understood¡±, and at least two ¡°affirmative¡± replaced ¡°yes¡±, but for the most part we were in unison.


    ¡°For the next two years you will sleep here! Learn here! And if the gods smile upon us, some of you might become good enough to be a Ranger! Just know, at any time, anytime of day or night at all, you maggots can crawl over to that silver gong over there and tap it! If you do, you are free! Free from sleeping in the mud, the leeches in your boots, the worms in your food! Free to go back to the villa, and enjoy all the wonderful luxuries every god and goddess has seen fit to place on this beautiful planet! Free to enjoy the life each and every one of you is capable of living, with your skills and abilities! You will also be paid a frankly ludicrous amount of money for no longer wasting my time! The sooner you quit, the more you get! Do you understand me!?¡±


    ¡°Sir, yes sir!¡± Another cry came out, more unified.


    The purpose of the villa became crystal clear with his statement. It wasn¡¯t a trap, really. It was more of a lure, a way to see who couldn¡¯t tough it out, who¡¯d rather have a life of ease and luxury instead of the hardships of being a Ranger.


    It made sense. Anyone who¡¯d give up at the hardships now, was likely to give up during the hardships on the road. By making it as nice as possible, anyone who¡¯d choose a life of ease, a life of luxury, over being a Ranger, over the Ranger¡¯s mission, would be selected and filtered out.


    It could also be an anti-corruption measure. Who would be tempted by wealth, luxury, ease, women, men? The only temptation not present was power.


    It¡¯s why Arthur couldn¡¯t tell me to get comfortable ¨C he didn¡¯t want to see me get used to that standard of living, to be drawn back to it.


    A commotion came from the back, louder than before.


    ¡°but-¡°


    ¡°Don¡¯t care! You¡¯re out! Get! Onto the boat with you, you¡¯re being shipped out.¡±


    Must. Not. Look.


    From the sounds of the yelling and the instructors, genius back there had decided he didn¡¯t need to show up to formation, was too busy enjoying himself, and had mouthed off to the instructors. He was being thrown out as a result.


    Idiot.


    The Senior Drill Instructor continued to yell at us for a bit, and the short version was as follows. Over the next week or so, we¡¯d get the bare-bone basics of how to do basic army things, for those of us without proper, formal training. Most of the people coming in from the army had already done that, but about a third were ¡®external¡¯, and needed to learn some really basic stuff, like saluting, marching, and other basics.


    Then would be three months of hell, which caused the instructor to stop swearing every three words, and almost gleefully told us everything about it. Training, 22 hours a day, being pushed to our limits and past them. Sleep? Sleep might happen, now and then. Maaaybe 4 hours a week, if we were lucky. Food? Yeah, we might get some rations here and there. If the instructors felt we¡¯d earned it.


    For three months.


    Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone wavering, starting to show cracks at the mere description of what we were going to go through. I had bets on him not making it. If hearing about it was causing that much indecision?


    After much yelling and hollering, which was somehow incredibly boring but I forced myself to focus on it, we were told to fall out, get in lines, and have a conversation with one of the instructors.


    We did what we were told, and ended up in roughly 50 lines of 10 people each. I ended up in Quintis¡¯s line, and when it was my turn, I stood in front of him and saluted.


    ¡°Sir! Trainee Elaine reporting as ordered. Sir!¡±


    Good first impression, good first impression, don¡¯t get on the Senior Drill Instructors bad side.


    ¡°Give me 200 burpees peanut!¡± Quintis promptly yelled at me.


    I hated burpees. Pushup, followed by jumping in the air, only to go right back down to a pushup. I did what he said anyways.


    ¡°Do you know why you¡¯re doing burpees!?¡± Quintis yelled at me.


    ¡°Sir!¡± pant, get a breath in. ¡°no sir!¡±


    ¡°You are not Trainee Elaine! You are Ranger Elaine, and will refer to yourself as such! Do you understand me?¡±


    ¡°Sir! Yes sir!¡± I yelled out, as I did the standing up part of a burpee.


    ¡°Ranger Julius saw fit to promote you. Now, you weren¡¯t one of mine, but now you will be. However! Until your pansy ass quits Academy, you are a Ranger, and will not besmirch the name by referring to yourself by anything else! Are we clear?¡± Quintis yelled at me.


    ¡°Sir! Yes sir!¡± I yelled back.


    I had a feeling that I had a bunch of eyes on me at this point. Dammit all. So much for trying to stay relatively low-profile. At the very least, Quintis, maybe, possibly seemed to vaguely be happy that I was here, and didn¡¯t seem to massively hate that I¡¯d become a Ranger outside of his precious Academy.


    ¡°Right then. Ranger Elaine. I need a report on the following. Can you swim? Can you read? Can you write? Do you know your numbers? Can you¡­.¡±


    A long, long list of questions came from Quintis, and I answered to the best of my ability, while still doing burpees.


    I could swim, read, write. I could march, salute, dig a latrine, couldn¡¯t build a fortification. Made me a bit of an oddball, and Quintis muttered to himself on that one, although apparently, I wasn¡¯t the only one. Kids of soldiers usually missed fortification building as well. I couldn¡¯t sail, my knots were terrible, my wilderness survival passable, my first aid knowledge top-tier. I had an aura. A dozen other questions, probing to see what I could already do, what I¡¯d need training on.


    I felt pleased by my answers, the knowledge I had coming in. I¡¯d gotten a thorough practical education on my way here from Julius and the team, and upon reflection, it was like what they taught me had been tailored just for here and now.


    Which it kinda was. They were teaching me practical Ranger skills, and Ranger Academy was all about being taught practical Ranger skills.


    I was an offensive mage + support, and I wouldn¡¯t classify myself as a physical fighter or utility. Strange how Support and Utility were broken out into separate groups, but six of one, half dozen of another, and I was considered to be Support. I didn¡¯t have any animal companions, or any ¡®other¡¯.


    ¡°Right, last questions. Do you have binding or restrictive skills?¡±


    I blinked. Was this a standard question? Was this a-


    ¡°Ranger Elaine! Stop standing there with your thumb up your ass and answer the gods-damned question!¡±


    Right.


    ¡°Sir! I have a powerful restrictive [Oath], surrounding harm, fighting, and healing. Sir!¡±


    ¡°Well spit it out! I haven¡¯t got all day!¡±


    Ah curses.


    I recited the [Oath] as I continued to do a burpee, the physical exertion making it hard to talk. One moment I was talking to Quintis¡¯s face, the next I was detailing [Oath] to the ground, whispering my secrets to Gaia. I did get a whistle out of Quintis for my efforts though.


    ¡°Right, you¡¯re going to be handed off to Night eventually.¡± He said, forgetting to curse me out in the middle.


    ¡°What are you still doing here Ranger Elaine!? Get out of here! Next!¡±


    After some time milling around on the field, we were called into formation again.


    ¡°All of you are Ranger Trainees! As a result, you selkie-looking slimes should all be offered the skill, [Ranger¡¯s Lore] as of¡­ now! Take it! It¡¯s an upgrade of [Soldier¡¯s Solidarity], and will be one of the most useful skills you worthless heathens will ever see!¡±


    ¡°You will also be judged by how high you get it!¡±


    ¡°Basic training starts tomorrow! You shit-stains are all dismissed!¡± Quintis yelled, freeing us.


    I headed back to my room, not wanting to mingle, checking over my level up notifications.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Training] has reached level 4!]


    ¡­.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Training] has reached level 11!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 149!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 185!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Center of the Galaxy] has reached level 161!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Ranger¡¯s Lore] has reached level 142!]


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 16]


    [Mana: 17210/17210]


    [Mana Regen: 20521]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 62]


    [Strength: 118]


    [Dexterity: 218]


    [Vitality: 235]


    [Speed: 220]


    [Mana: 1721]


    [Mana Regeneration: 2379]


    [Magic Power: 1506]


    [Magic Control: 2039]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 187]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 187]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 160]


    [Medicine: 184]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 160]


    [Phases of the Moon: 187]


    [Moonlight: 104]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 146]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 135]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 62]]


    [Fire Affinity: 62]


    [Fire Resistance: 62]


    [Fire Conjuration: 62]


    [Fire Manipulation: 62]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 62]


    [Burn Brightly: 62]


    [Rapidash: 62]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 98]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 121]


    [Pretty: 125]


    [Vigilant: 131]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 167]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 142]


    [Training: 11]


    [Learning: 149]

 Chapter 104– Ranger Academy IV

    I made my way back to my room as the sun fell, the moons starting to slowly rise, slitted pupils watching this part of my journey. I grabbed a quick meal from one of the platters lying around, and contemplatively munched on it. If I had to guess, from the way some of the other recruits were busy eating earlier, and the various hints dropped by Artemis, combined with sheer logic, that the hell months didn¡¯t feed us enough.


    I nodded to myself. That made sense.


    As I fixed myself my own sandwich ¨C I still had to teach other people how to make them ¨C I considered my plan of attack. Would it be better to scuff as much as I could now, then have the sharp fall-off once the hell months started? Or was it better to start weaning myself now, to not have that sharp spike of hunger pains at the start?


    I wandered into my room, still lost in my own thoughts.


    What about sleep? No way we weren¡¯t going to get sleep deprived, not with how often I¡¯d pulled watch, not with how often we¡¯d gone gallivanting off in the middle of the night to handle some crisis or another. Should I start weaning myself down now, or-


    My musing was interrupted as someone entered my room.


    ¡°Hey you. Want some of this?¡± A shirtless man said, indicating to himself.


    I couldn¡¯t help pulling a disgusted face at him.


    ¡°Ug, no.¡± I said. ¡°Please leave.¡±


    ¡°Aww come on, don¡¯t be like-¡° He started to say, only to get interrupted by a hiss.


    I¡¯d heard snakes of all stripes in the Kadan Jungle. I¡¯d heard louder hisses, meaner hisses, and the sound and cadence of the noise made me think of a snake.


    However, none of their noises broke, shattered [Center of the Galaxy] in quite the same way. None of them brought about a deep, primal fear, rooted in my very bones, fight-or-flight instinct screaming at me to move, to run, to flee for my life.


    I couldn¡¯t move a limb, the fear was paralyzing, an apex predator here for me. There was no running. There was no hiding. There was no fighting. There was only groveling.


    A second man entered the room ¨C fully clothed bless him ¨C and he was a pale, thin man, with red eyes and white hair, stalking forward with his hands clasped behind his back. My guess was he had albinism.


    Softly, oh so softly, he spoke, every word defying how I knew sound should work, piercing through the static background noise, he spoke.


    ¡°Did you not hear the lady? Your presence is neither requested nor desired. Leave.¡±


    I seized the moment to [Identify] him. I had to know what I was dealing with.


    [Warrior].


    He was higher-level than the Nothasaurus, by a good chunk. If I had to guess, from all my experiences, he was just shy of level 500.


    I wondered ¨C first real class at level 8. Second class at level 64. Was the third class at level 512?


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Identify] has reached level 99!]


    I dismissed the notification ¨C it wasn¡¯t supposed to show up during high stress or combat situations.


    I suddenly felt a sense of release, as I regained control over my limbs.


    ¡°Oh yeah? Who are you? Why should I-¡° The man started to bluster.


    I gave him a Look, like he was the biggest idiot in the world. Which he might be. Did he not [Identify] the person in front of us? Did he not realize that the person was higher than both our levels combined? Was he one of those idiots who didn¡¯t have [Identify], or was he scared, and simply lashing out?


    ¡°I am Night, first among the Sentinels. This is my island. I will brook no disrespect.¡± He said, and suddenly I was on my knees, bleeding from my ears, unable to hear anything as everything in the room shook.


    Night and the man were gone, and I healed myself with [Phases of the Moon], [Center of the Galaxy] kicking back in.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Center of the Galaxy] has reached level 161!]


    I blinked, looking around. It was like a bomb had gone off in here. What had¡­


    With a polite knock on my doorframe ¨C I no longer had a door ¨C Night was present again.


    ¡°Please, walk with me.¡± He politely said, and with the display of power, and his previous declaration, I wasn¡¯t going to say no.


    We slowly walked through and out the villa in silence, Night only pausing to request a slave to get my room fixed. The slave¡¯s attitude was telling ¨C deferential, but not terrified. Nor surprised at the damage.


    ¡°I apologize for the unpleasantness.¡± He started off saying, finally breaking the silence. ¡°There always tends to be one who thinks my orders are mere suggestions. They must be reminded of their position.¡±


    I suppressed a shudder. It was clear that Night placed himself above all the other trainees ¨C and for that matter, he might be placing himself above all the other Sentinels. Which, by implication, was placing himself above most of humanity.


    ¡°What happened to¡­¡± I said, gesturing back towards the villa.


    Night snorted.


    ¡°He went for a long swim. He should be able to make it. Only about half a mile or so, and the moons are out tonight.¡±


    I looked at him. There wasn¡¯t a drop of water on him. Either he was able to accurately hurl a person half a mile, he could run on water, or he was just so fast that he could towel himself off and change clothes in the brief time he was gone.


    Which meant the explosion in my room earlier had been from Night moving that fast, the blast of air so loud, so powerful, it caused a minor explosion. From 0. While carefully accelerating a second, not as durable person.


    Fucking hell. What sort of monster was I talking with?


    I swallowed a nervous lump in my throat.


    ¡°What do you want with me?¡± I asked, looking directly at him.


    He laughed.


    ¡°Ah, brave little otter. I wanted to have a discussion on your [Oath]. I am, shall we say, something of an expert on restriction skills, and yours has potential to be problematic during the training that is to come.¡±


    I had never been called an otter before, but if the highest-level human in existence wanted to call me an otter, I¡¯d swim on my back and carry a pebble.


    ¡°Restriction skills?¡± I said, wanting a clarification on the terminology, and there seemed to be no better person to ask.


    ¡°Yes. Skills which bind you, and give you power as a result. I am Night. It is an open secret that I am restricted to operating when the sun is not present. The skill strengthens me, empowers me to reach untold heights.¡±


    Which might be why he was such a high level. He could punch far, far higher than normal, and as long as he hunted during the night, he could slay monsters higher level than him, getting a large bonus to exp for punching up. Being able to reliably kill monsters his level also helped.


    ¡°My concern is multifold. People will be injured. We need to know who can push through minor injuries, and still accomplish what needs to be done. We can not have individuals get used to being healed now, then find that they falter and fail when present in the field. This will kill many, many Rangers.¡±


    ¡°At the same time, I do not wish to separate you, to put you through a trial of one. It is unfair to everyone involved. You will not bind to the others, develop a sense of comradery. At the same time, you will be resented, accused of acquiring special favors through less savory means. This too, can not be allowed to pass.¡±


    ¡°Tell me. How do we make this work?¡± Night said.


    We walked, taking a slow lap around the villa, as I thought on the problem, fingers tapping against my side.


    ¡°Well¡­. If someone¡¯s at risk of dying, there¡¯s no way I¡¯m not going to try and keep them alive.¡± I started off saying.


    ¡°Acceptable, and please do. We have a pair of healers, but they are not always on-hand, and preventing training accidents is to be desired. My concerns are more low-level injuries, broken bones and the like.¡±


    ¡®Broken bones¡¯ and ¡®low level injuries¡¯ didn¡¯t go together in my book, but this was Night, and his scale and perspective were clearly different.


    ¡°If people explicitly ask me to not heal them, I won¡¯t. I believe, for the most part, in self-determination, in letting people make their own choices. Have people ask me to not step in on minor injuries, and I won¡¯t be restricted. Now, if someone comes to me and asks for healing, I will heal them, regardless of the consequences.¡±


    Night gave me a long look, as we continued to walk.


    ¡°This is acceptable. Tell me more about overriding people¡¯s choice.¡±


    ¡°When the impact is more than just the person. Perinthus, some people refused healing. They put the entire town at risk, for what? Their ego? Some strange desire to not want help? Some sense of pride? No, at that point, the good of the many outweighed the desire of the few, and they were healed, regardless.¡±


    We walked again in slow, contemplative silence.


    ¡°What if you had to let one die, to let two more live? Three? What if you had to kill one person, to save four? Five? At what point does your [Oath] free you, let you make decisions to kill, instead of save?¡± He finally asked.


    I stopped, staring at him, thinking. He stopped, turning, looking at me with those intense eyes.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± I finally said. ¡°I know I couldn¡¯t deliberately launch an attack on the Classer causing the plague in Perinthus, regardless of the damage he was doing. Fortunately, I had a team to cover me.¡±


    ¡°If your team was not present, what would your course of action have been?¡± He said, each word carefully articulated.


    ¡°Told the guard. Told other healers. I wouldn¡¯t have shouted it from the rooftops ¨C that would¡¯ve sparked a riot. Possibly confronted him, let him launch the first attack, then go from there.¡± I promptly replied. I¡¯d done a lot of thinking on the subject.


    ¡°If you see a powerful archer drawing a bow at you, stacking skills, what could you do?¡± Night asked me, seemingly changing the subject.


    ¡°[Veil] to hide myself and block the arrow, move into a different position, evaluate if I should be fighting or running.¡± I said. Another situation I¡¯d had some thinking on.


    ¡°You do not need him to fire first to attack back?¡± Night asked.


    I shook my head.


    ¡°It¡¯s clear the archer¡¯s hostile. My [Oath] is restrictive, it doesn¡¯t mean I have to be stupid.¡±


    ¡°What if someone was attempting to merely restrict you, just bind you? They meant you no harm, they simply wished to kidnap a powerful healer.¡±


    ¡°Attack the bindings. Throw up my shield skill. Attacks against my shield are obviously hostile against me, and I can go from there.¡±


    ¡°If said hostile parties chose not to attack your barrier, and simply erected a prison around you?¡±


    I hesitated, not wanting to say that I¡¯d probably be in serious trouble.


    ¡°Very well.¡± Night said, properly interpreting what my silence meant. ¡°The solution is to get your secondary class to the point where the question is meaningless.¡±


    We walked for some more time in contemplative silence.


    ¡°Excellent pairing of classes, by the way. It used to be the traditional pairing for healers to take a mage class secondarily. Did you come up with the pairing yourself, or did you discover some account of it with your great joy in reading historical accounts?¡± Night asked.


    I suppressed a shiver. He knew way too much about me. It was kinda creepy.


    ¡°I came up with it on my own. Why did the pairing fall out of favor?¡± I asked.


    Night shrugged.


    ¡°Pure healers stayed in camps and towns, becoming wealthy. Healer-mages went out and fought. Over time, the healer-mages died out, as those that fight tend to do, and youngsters looking to become healers did some basic calculations. Stay, and become wealthy and respected, or go, and become dead. Is it any wonder that healers ended up entirely backline? Mages get a full sixteen skills to defend themselves against attack with, while healer-mages tend to only have eight. On the other side of the coin, it¡¯s exceptionally rare for those that find themselves with a calling to become a mage deciding to take up the more peaceful mantle of healing.¡±


    ¡°Hence, healer-mages dying out as a combination.¡±


    We continued to walk for a bit, then reached the front of the villa again.


    ¡°Miss Elaine. It has been a pleasure. I wish you the best of luck in the coming weeks.¡± Night formally said. ¡°I do hope none of the earlier unpleasantness will occur again.¡±


    I saluted, knowing when I was being dismissed.


    ¡°Thank you Night.¡± I said, turning and leaving.


    The next few days were relatively straightforward. Early wakeup, formation, a run around the island, then get some bare-bone essentials drilled into us, mostly for the benefit of the non-army members who had joined. That way, when the instructors told us to do something, we¡¯d know what exactly they were asking us to do. Break for lunch, more drills, then more laps and light exercise.


    The two wolves were hilarious, marching in lockstep behind us with a pair of goofy grins. They didn¡¯t need to, but they were clearly having the time of their lives making fun of us. Or participating. Hard to tell.


    I had a brief talk with the owner of the wolves, who said the black one¡¯s name was Moon.


    And the white one¡¯s name was Moon.


    Why you¡¯d name your two wolves the same thing, I had no idea. I had to stifle a laugh every time he asked ¡°MoonMoon¡± to do something though. Odds were good, the wrong Moon would do it ¨C and from the glint of mischief in their eyes, it was deliberately to wind Wolfy up.


    [Ranger¡¯s Lore], [Learning], and [Training] were all enjoying the current activities, seeing a few points in the first two, and a modest jump in the last one.


    We had the first drop out three days in ¨C the dude with the carnivorous plant in the wheelbarrow. He said he couldn¡¯t risk his plant¡¯s health, but I personally, privately thought he was sick of wheeling it around everywhere.


    Four more dropped out before the end of the first week, all muttering and complaining about it being ¡°too much.¡± Too many pushups, too much running, too many orders, just ¨C too much everything. They weren¡¯t given the nasty treatment the first person who¡¯d been thrown out was, but they were somewhat looked down on by the rest of us.


    Hey, we were sticking it out, and they were quitting less than a week in. Of course, I¡¯d look down on them somewhat.


    I was pleased to see the dude who¡¯d tried harassing me was in the lot. He asked to leave after five days, constantly looking over his shoulder, jumping at every little noise, looking like he¡¯d seen a ghost. Probably just a result of being on the receiving end of Night¡¯s displeasure. Good.


    Another day of training wrapped up, and I went to bed, intending to get a full night¡¯s sleep. Tomorrow was the last day before the hell months started. I¡¯d come up with a few ideas, but one in particular stuck with me as I saw people leaving.


    [Identify] had severely diminishing returns if you looked at someone you¡¯d already [Identify]¡¯d once. Otherwise you could just sit there and [Identify] the same person for hours on end to grind it up.


    With [Training] providing a nice exp boost, and [Learning] most likely going to level up a good amount, I was only going to [Identify] people once they quit, and my chance of IDing them basically vanished. By waiting though, I¡¯d maximize the amount of experience I could get out of them, because [Learning] and [Training] would be higher level.


    A crack of lightning woke me up in the middle of the night, along with the all-too-familiar sound of rocks whizzing by, impacting on the ground or pillars, causing an explosion of noise. The primal roar of a sea monster pierced the air, reverberating, striking fear into my heart.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 132!]


    Not nearly as badly as Night though, and instructors were moving through the villa, yelling at us to move, to run, to fall into formation in front of the building.


    Which I promptly did, wondering if Artemis was out there somewhere, throwing lightning bolts and rocks. It was her style.


    I got outside, a massive deluge of rain pouring outside of the villa, a shimmering golden barrier separating the villa from the elements. Other trainees were running to the courtyard to fall in. I started to run through, head on a swivel, ducking as a projectile went whizzing over my head.


    The duck was unneeded, but I was getting concerned. What was going on here? Were we under attack? Who¡¯d attack Ranger Academy, with some of the Sentinels hanging out? Was it just a monster attack?


    I made it to the formation, neither at the front nor the back.


    Senior Drill Instructor Quintis walked out to the front of the formation, a cruel grin on his face.


    ¡°Welcome Trainees, to the hell months!¡±


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 16]


    [Mana: 17210/17210]


    [Mana Regen: 20521]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 62]


    [Strength: 118]


    [Dexterity: 218]


    [Vitality: 235]


    [Speed: 220]


    [Mana: 1721]


    [Mana Regeneration: 2379]


    [Magic Power: 1506]


    [Magic Control: 2039]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 187]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 187]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 160]


    [Medicine: 185]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 161]


    [Phases of the Moon: 187]


    [Moonlight: 104]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 146]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 135]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 62]]


    [Fire Affinity: 62]


    [Fire Resistance: 62]


    [Fire Conjuration: 62]


    [Fire Manipulation: 62]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 62]


    [Burn Brightly: 62]


    [Rapidash: 62]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 99]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 131]


    [Pretty: 125]


    [Vigilant: 132]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 167]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 144]


    [Training: 28]


    [Learning: 150]

 Chapter 105– Ranger Academy V

    The rain poured behind the barrier, gusts of wind causing it to go sideways at times. The trees flailed wildly, and it was strange to be warm and comfortable behind the barrier, as the elements howled outside.


    ¡°Welcome Trainees, to the hell months!¡± Quintis shouted.


    ¡°At any time, you worthless goblin-loving maggots can choose to leave hell months, and return back to the sweet, tender embrace of the villa! You will be warm! Fed! Safe! Escorts to meet your every need! All you need to do, is tap that gong over there!¡± He said, pointing to the silver gong, now taking on a dreadful psychic weight.


    ¡°Before we begin, we have a pair of unusual restriction skills with us. Ranger Elaine! Trainee Diao! Front and center!¡±


    We moved to the center, where Quintis clapped a hand on both of our shoulders.


    ¡°Ranger Elaine is obligated to heal unless you explicitly ask otherwise! You will now ask otherwise!¡± Quintis roared out.


    In a slightly softer tone, he followed it up.


    ¡°Ranger Elaine will disregard and still save your worthless life if it¡¯s needed.¡±


    A bunch of muttering came from the crowd.


    I will admit, this was strange. Nobody was being directly coerced to ask me to not heal them ¨C and I could still at any time ¨C but I felt this was strongly pushing [Oath].


    At the same time, it wasn¡¯t like [Oath] demanded I fix every little bruise and scrape, nor that I need to touch everyone and heal them just incase there was some lurking disease I didn¡¯t know about. This was simply making sure it extended a bit further than usual.


    ¡°Trainee Diao is obligated to fight to the death if challenged! None of you will challenge him to a duel, spar, fight, or any other feat or contest. Understood!?¡±


    I yelled my understanding with everyone else. How on Pallos had he managed to stay alive and un-arrested by the guard with that type of restriction skill? Was he a gladiator or something before becoming a Ranger?


    ¡°Lastly, some of you think you can use your aura skills. You would be wrong! If you troll-screwing scumbags can keep your aura to yourself, you may use it! Else, turn it off!¡±


    ¡°If you are caught using a wide-spread aura, you will be thrown out! This is a personal challenge, not a test of who can get closest to people with beneficial auras!¡± He screamed out, in that cadence only drill instructors could manage.


    I withdrew [Warmth of the Sun] to only include me, and, looking at the pouring rain, upped the temperature.


    ¡°You are permitted to use skills, as long as they only impact yourself!¡±


    ¡°Now follow me!¡± He yelled, and jogged through the barrier.


    I followed, along with everyone else. Passing the barrier was a strange sensation, that could only be described as ¡°tingles of light¡±, like my leg had fallen asleep and was waking up with an angry buzz, but all over my skin.


    The storm hit me like a physical wall, buffeting me, almost bowling me over. The rain was freezing, colder than anything I¡¯d ever felt before.


    Heck, we were in a nearly tropical climate, during the summer. This should be a warm rain, not a freezing rain.


    Ah. There was a skill at work.


    We ran down to the sandy beach, where the first of many torments began.


    ¡°Trainees! Down in the sand, and roll!¡±


    I threw myself to the ground and rolled in the sand, as ordered. It got everywhere ¨C my hair, my hands, my clothes, inside my clothes, in my sandals ¨C there wasn¡¯t an inch that wasn¡¯t coated in cold, sticky, irritating sand.


    ¡°Up! And run!¡± Quintis ordered.


    We ran ¨C no longer jogging ¨C and it quickly became clear who had builds that were physical, and who had builds that were more based on skills.


    Seeing a brief opening through flashes of lightning, I activated [Rapidash] to try and stick with the main group. There were instructors lurking in the back, and I didn¡¯t want to be the unlucky girl they pounced on.


    Lightning continued to crack the sky, great spiderwebs like reaching branches segmenting the stars before the rumble came down, the weight of the thunder pressing down on us, interspersed with howls of wind and rain driving into us.


    The bright lights from the villa pierced the storm, mocking us, letting us know it could all be over soon.


    We started to run around the island, and on a particularly muddy patch, after the burst of speed from [Rapidash] was gone, I slipped and fell into the mud. I tried to catch myself with my hands, but it was too deep, my face planting into it, mud getting into my eyes, my nose, my mouth.


    A hand grabbed my shoulder and violently threw me back. I windmilled, then landed on my back in the mud, back and hair getting caked. I was now a mud-monster.


    ¡°Ranger Elaine! Are you alright!?¡± One of the instructors screamed in my face, a violent tone to gentle words.


    I half-saluted from my position in the mud.


    ¡°Sir! Yes sir!¡± I called out, mud spraying from my mouth.


    ¡°Then why are you not running!?¡± He screamed.


    I got back to my feet, continuing to run after the group. Nice of the instructor to make sure I wasn¡¯t busy drowning in mud. It would¡¯ve been a real awkward way to go.


    We made it back around to the sandy beach where we¡¯d started, close to the villa, only to get new orders.


    ¡°Halt! Drop, 500 pushups!¡±


    I dropped and started to do pushups. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a dozen of the instructors descend upon us, one of them heading towards me.


    ¡°Ranger Elaine! What type of push up pace is that!?¡± He screamed at me. ¡°Faster!¡±


    I redoubled my efforts, arms already starting to feel the burn. Satisfied, the instructor moved onto some other poor sod, yelling at them in a similar manner.


    I didn¡¯t dare slow down, mentally dismissing [Training] level-up notifications as they showed up.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Training] has reached level 29!]


    ¡­.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Training] has reached level 35!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Ranger¡¯s Lore] has reached level 145!]


    I¡¯d murder to have my [Greater Invigorate] skill back at this moment.


    We kept running and exercising as the storm calmed down, and the sun came up, my stomach rumbled I figured we¡¯d stop for food any minute now.


    Any minute now.


    Any¡­


    I was feeling light-headed as the sun peaked in the sky, having been working out with everyone for roughly the last 10 hours without a single break.


    Curses. I see why Julius had made a comment on vitality and Academy.


    I opened my menu, and, without really thinking too hard on it, dumped my remaining 62 free stat points into vitality.


    I immediately felt somewhat better, and perked up as I saw some bread being brought out. A second, smaller tray of food was brought out, filled with meat.


    My face fell, and there were cries of dismay, as one of the instructors gestured dumping sand all over the bread.


    ¡°Trainees! Lunch is served! Half a loaf per person!¡± Quintis yelled out at us. ¡°Companions that eat meat line up over there.¡± He pointed to the smaller tray.


    Ah. Not getting people¡¯s companions killed. That was a one-way ticket to not recruiting anyone with companions, and they could be powerful.


    ¡°Fuck this.¡± One person yelled, staggering off towards the villa. I quickly threw an [Identify] his way, to get the experience. No level, sadly. One of the instructors leapt over to him, and helped him along the path of shame, the path to quitting. Quintis had a sadistic grin on his face.


    ¡°Right then! Anyone else want a real meal? No? Then what are you doing, form a line, move!¡±


    We scrambled into a line, and quickly, with exhausted military efficiency, grabbed our half-loaf of sandy bread.


    I half-heartedly brushed the sand off, then bit into it, the hard, stale texture nearly breaking my teeth, grains of sand grinding my gums.


    It was the most delicious thing I¡¯d ever eaten. I wolfed it down within seconds of getting it. Warm, slightly salty water was also served, and downed with gusto. There was plenty of water, it was just somewhat nasty. They weren¡¯t trying to kill us.


    We were given maybe five minutes of rest before the instructors were yelling at us again.


    The afternoon started, more of the same, with the exception that a blowing sandstorm covered us, tiny grains pelting us, getting in our eyes. My limbs were feeling heavy, my eyelids drooping.


    The rain of projectiles being shot over our head was never-ending, causing me to flinch and jump every time, occasionally flickering [Veil of the Aurora] reflexively to shield myself.


    Some Trainees stopped caring about the shots, which had me frowning to myself with the tiny amount of extra energy I could muster up. Ignoring potentially lethal blows was a great way to get yourself killed one day.


    We continued on through the day. Through the night. And right back into the day. We were fed again at midnight, frozen bread instead of sandy bread.


    More dropouts. And we were still in the first 48 hours of hell months.


    The physical aspect was hard. The sheer boredom was almost harder.


    A week passed, more of the same. More dropouts.


    ¡°Trainees! Groups of eight, by height!¡± Quintis yelled at us.


    Ug. More running. Fine, fine. I got up and started to run along with the other trainees, only for an instructor to get in my face and yell at me.


    ¡°Ranger Elaine! What is your malfunction! Group up by height, nitwit!¡± He screamed in my face, spit practically flying into my face.


    I wasn¡¯t the only one, as the other trainees who¡¯d started to run on auto-pilot also got roasted.


    Groups of eight were rapidly formed, and I quickly found myself isolated.


    Men, as a rule, were taller than women. Generally speaking, as a person got older, they got taller.


    Not only was I the youngest recruit, not only was I the only female recruit, I was also on the short end of the spectrum for a woman. I was roughly 155 cm tall. The shortest man who was still with us was 170 cm tall, and it only got worse from there.


    The instructors moved along, smacking people around, getting them into proper groups of eight. One group had a group of six, another had nine people in their group. Yelling about ¡°proper counting¡± and questioning their intelligence and their ancestor¡¯s sexual choices.


    ¡°Ranger Elaine! What are you doing!?¡± Quintis yelled in my face.


    I gave a wobbly salute, as my coordination had fled along with my lack of sleep.


    ¡°Sir! There¡¯s nobody even close to my height, sir!¡±


    ¡°Are you sassing me Ranger Elaine!?¡±


    ¡°Sir! No sir!¡±


    He looked around with a gleam in his eye, mentally measuring people, seeming to agree with me.


    ¡°Wood! Earth! Metal Mages! Raise your hand!¡± He called out.


    A few scattered hands were raised, and he grabbed the closest one.


    ¡°Make Ranger Elaine platform shoe! She must be taller!¡±


    The mage muttered something to himself, making me a pair of tall, thin metallic stilts. In my sleep-deprived haze, I eyed them, unsure how I¡¯d ever keep my balance, or how they could support my weight.


    ¡°Do you call these platform shoes?! Ranger Elaine is a person, not a mantis! She will be running in your group; do you want to fail!?¡± Quintis continued to yell.


    The mage hurriedly fixed the problem, and suddenly I had platform shoes to use. They were heavy, awkward, and unwieldly, but now I was at the proper height for whatever the instructors had planned next.


    ¡°Form up in your group! Follow me!¡± Quintis yelled.


    As we started to run after Quintis, who never slowed down the pace, my respect for the Senior Drill Instructor went up quite a few notches. Not only was he sticking with the murderous pace he set the rest of us, eating the same food we were, he was also keeping an eye on all of us, finding and solving problems in a quick, practical manner.


    We ran to the center of the island, the omni-present light of the villa promising warmth, food, sleep, clothes. My tunic was already ruined, in shreds, and I was coated in sand, mud, and other disgusting fluids that I didn¡¯t want to think too hard on. My new boots were killing my legs, the extra weight and unsteady balance doing me no favors.


    Bless [Center of the Galaxy] for keeping me sane. I¡¯d need to check on my levels at some point, but I was too tired to process them right now, didn¡¯t have the bandwidth. The recurrent background *ding!*¡¯s reassuring me that I was making amazing progress, as hellish as this was.


    A series of seasoned, gargantuan logs, glowing with inscriptions, were in the middle of the island, and we were ordered to grab a log each as a team.


    ¡°One, two, three, LIFT!¡± I said, coordinating my team. Nobody else was doing it, and I seemed to be the only one with a mental stability skill, still able to process things.


    More of the same was next, except we were now carrying a massive log, designed to be a challenge even to high-strength individuals, around with us.


    The log got steadily heavier and heavier, and I strained, doing my best to pull my weight.


    Suddenly, the log got much heavier.


    ¡°Blah.¡± Someone on my team said, shaking his arms. ¡°Just need a quick break.¡±


    That was clearly the wrong move, as the instructors descended upon him like eagles to prey, a whole flock tearing and yelling.


    ¡°You do not give up on your team! Everyone pulls their weight!¡± Was the main refrain.


    Two minutes later, he was heading to the villa, tears in his eyes. From what I¡¯d heard, he hadn¡¯t been forced to quit ¨C the instructors had verbally brutalized him until he left of his own volition. There was the standard yelling they did, then there was that.


    I didn¡¯t want to be on the receiving end of that.


    One of them tapped the log, and suddenly it was lighter, designed for seven people to carry it, not eight. And by lighter, I meant it was just as heavy as it was before Slacker decided to stop pulling his weight.


    Those were some impressive inscriptions. I quickly glanced at my mana, seeing that there was a moderate drain on it, probably what fueled said inscriptions.


    Being made to shoot myself in the foot like that was easily the worst part about carrying the log.


    Another day. Another week. Of running around with the damn heavy log above our heads, more people dropping out. One team had a single giant of a man, just a hair shorter than Arthur, single-handedly carrying a log himself.


    That¡¯d be one hell of a weapon.


    The elements kept changing around us. Thunderous gales turned to sandstorms, sandstorms turned into sleet, sleet turned into snow, with frozen icicles flying through the air. Billows of choking smoke, banks of noxious coughing gas that made us all tear up, boiling steam making us wish for the sweet release of the frozen snow to return, followed by more heat as all the elements vanished, and the hot, hot tropical summer sun beat down on us.


    The food never got better, but there was plenty of water. They wanted to push us to the extreme, not kill us.


    Crawling through conjured ooze, worse than any mud. Stickier. Smellier. Nastier. It clung to our limbs, foul stench clogging our noses. I wished I was crawling through dirty diapers; it would¡¯ve been an improvement.


    A month later, the tone shifted slightly.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± I yelled, as a stinging sensation hit my arm, blood being drawn. I quickly healed myself with [Phases], and threw up [Veil] as another projectile was shot at me.


    ¡°They¡¯re shooting at us!¡± I yelled, the remaining four members of my team groaning.


    That made us all jumpy, as we no longer knew if the omni-present sound of projectiles flying over our head were designed to miss, or aimed at one of us. We dropped the log more than once as someone got jumpy, diving to defend themselves instead of carrying the log.


    The instructors were Not Amused by that at all, and one chronic dodger found himself leaving in tears.


    Games were played with the logs. Races.


    The first team could rest until the last team made it. The last team got no rest.


    Turns out, it¡¯s possible to put a log down as a team, and fall asleep, in seven seconds. Getting even 40 seconds of sleep was a worthwhile endeavor. We were well-motivated to move fast.


    Everyone else had the same motivation. The all-physical teams did amazingly well.


    The more mage-centric teams struggled, like mine. It was completely random if a team was physically or magically based, and some drew shorter straws than others.


    We ran up to the center of the island, where we dropped the logs down.


    ¡°Congratulations! You are all slightly less worthless for having made it halfway through!¡± Quintis yelled at us. ¡°You have earned yourselves a rest!¡±


    It was like Black Crow had come down and killed every single Trainee, as we all collapsed to the ground in unison, desperate to get some sleep. Rocks? Water? Someone else¡¯s rank foot? None of that mattered, the sweet siren of sleep summoned.


    I woke up, to a hazy fog covering everything, unable to even see the person next to me. The villa was still visible, cutting through the fog like a false beacon.


    A soft voice whispered to me, coming from nowhere and everywhere at the same time.


    ¡°You killed him.¡±


    ¡°Nobody will want you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s your fault.¡±


    ¡°Why would the gods touch you of all people? You¡¯re worthless.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll only kill more people.¡±


    ¡°Nobody will marry a girl who¡¯s a killer.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be your fault again.¡±


    ¡°Why are you here?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a good healer. For a girl.¡±


    ¡°You killed her.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the point?¡±


    ¡°You should quit.¡±


    ¡°No! She should die!¡±


    ¡°If you had done nothing, she would be alive.¡±


    That, and a thousand other words whispered to me, pressing on my sanity, rooting through my mind, unearthing my deepest, darkest secrets. I shook my head. Just words¡­ just words¡­.


    ¡­. But it was my fault Origen died. I had killed Lyra, as surely as if I¡¯d pushed her off a bridge.


    Were the voices right? Would I just kill more?


    Hours. Hours of the voices whispering to me, tormenting me.


    The fog lifted with the dawn, and maybe a third of people were no longer around.


    I got up, and started to walk to the villa. The voices had been right.


    I took three steps, and hesitated.


    What would Kallisto say?


    What would happen to Julius? He¡¯d be demoted, right? Maybe thrown out?


    What would the look on Artemis¡¯s face be? Would understanding and acceptance be worse than the disappointment?


    Shaking my head, I turned back, rejoining the group. Quintis gave me a stink-eye, another recruit almost broken.


    We continued running, the boredom returning rapidly, the ¡®rest¡¯ having been a trap, a sleepless night full of mist taunting us.


    Another lap.


    Another lap.


    Another lap.


    Another-


    The instructors descended upon me as a single unit, a horde of rats onto a single morsel of cheese.


    ¡°You¡¯re worthless!¡±


    ¡°Your parents must not care about you to let you do this. Are they trying to get you killed?¡±


    ¡°Useless!¡±


    ¡°Just be dead weight on your team!¡±


    ¡°Who ever heard of a healer Ranger!¡±


    ¡°Girls should stay at home!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll just distract your team!¡±


    ¡°Just go home and have some babies!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re only here because you spread your legs for the right person!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll stick a knife in you!¡±


    ¡°Your hysterics will bring your team down!¡±


    ¡°Go home!¡±


    ¡°Nobody needs a childbirth expert on the road! What else could you possibly know?¡±


    ¡°Go away!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re so damn ugly with your hair all muddy like that!¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t want you!¡±


    ¡°Nobody would want you!¡±


    Hundreds of insults, threats, promises of mutilation, harm, and more came from all the instructors, demeaning me, causing tears to well up in my eyes and fall from my face in hot streaks.


    But I kept on running. I wasn¡¯t going to quit, they¡¯d have to force me out themselves.


    ¡°She¡¯s not quitting.¡±


    ¡°Next!¡±


    And just like that, I was free, free from the swarm of instructors, and I blinked, looking around, only to see them descend upon another trainee, hurling abuse at that one.


    Something about their mother and sealskins.


    Three minutes passed, and in spite of having made it two months, through all the trials so far, the instructor mob did him in, and he raised his hands in surrender, walking towards the villa.


    I was in the back of the pack, and I got to watch them cleverly isolate, then torment each trainee in turn. [Veil] was on almost permanent flicker-duty, deflecting a constant barrage of shots heading my way. As trainees quit, unable to put up with the abuse, the combined focus of all the Instructors, I threw an [Identify] their way, barely remembering my plan to grind the skill.


    Other trainees didn¡¯t have as many shots aimed at them, but my combination of shield skills and healing left me receiving the bulk of the barrage. Every other trainee had at least a dozen minor injuries from impacts, and it seemed like whoever was controlling the attacks wanted me to join them.


    And yet, once the ¡°instructor mob¡± portion was done, it was suddenly easy, as easy as it had been at the start. That is to say, it was only running, no sleep, shit food, and environmental hazards. The shots started to go over our head again, the ooze pit vanished, the insanity mists were nowhere to be seen, and there were no traps, no logs to carry, no instructors screaming threats in my ear. No races, no cruel games pitting us against each other, with the reward being sleep.


    Just a single, unified body of Trainees, who¡¯d all gone through hell together. An unspoken bond was between us all, binding us together, making us a single, cohesive whole. I could see why Night was reluctant to isolate me, why he wanted me to have this bond with everyone else.


    The last two weeks felt almost perfunctory. Not a single person dropped out.


    ¡°Fall in!¡± Quintis yelled, and by sheer sleep-deprived instinct, we assembled into our formation.


    ¡°Cooooooooooooongratulations! You¡¯ve all passed!¡± Quintis yelled at us.


    There wasn¡¯t a single cheer, just a mass-collapse event as we all settled into the sand right where we were to go to sleep.


    Walking to the villa? Clean sheets and food?


    Nope. Not worth it. Sleep now.

 Chapter 106– Ranger Academy VI

    I woke up to a servant ¨C or slave, probably a slave ¨C bringing in a tray of food into my room. I bolted up, realizing I was in clean clothes again.


    There was a note on my bedside table.


    Hey Healy-bug!


    Congratulations! I¡¯m so proud of you!


    Can¡¯t wait to see you later.


    Cheers,


    Artemis


    What was unsaid was she was probably the one who¡¯d brought me back and changed me.


    I got up, both ravenous and not hungry. I¡¯d adapted to life with barely any food, a subsistence level just above starving. I glanced at the offerings ¨C a weak soup, designed to slowly get me back up to ¡°full speed¡± so to speak.


    I ate it, then found sleep claiming me again. I figured it was safe to sleep ¨C we¡¯d just been put through three months of torturous hell, we¡¯d demonstrated we could take it. They needed us recovered for whatever came next.


    ¡°Rise and shine sleepy head!¡± Artemis said, as loudly and obnoxiously as possible.


    I sprang out of bed, saluting Artemis, deeply honed reflexes from the last three months kicking in.


    ¡°Ranger Elaine ready to ¨C oh hey Artemis.¡± I said, my brain kicking in halfway through, processing that I was out of hell months, and it was, well, Artemis!


    ¡°That¡¯s Instructor Artemis to you, Elaine!¡± Artemis said, sending massively mixed signals.


    ¡°Sir? Yes sir?¡± I said.


    Artemis preened.


    ¡°That¡¯s more like it.¡±


    Worst. Drill. Instructor. Ever. I wasn¡¯t complaining.


    ¡°What happens now?¡± I asked, sitting up, seeing a tray of slightly more substantial food had been left in my room.


    ¡°Well, you¡¯ve all passed the hell months. Congratulations by the way ¨C I was worried about you. At this point, you¡¯ve all but made it ¨C it¡¯s exceedingly rare for someone to drop out at this stage, and it¡¯s usually due to either outside influences, a training accident, or an injury so crippling that a Trainee drops out.¡±


    I tilted my head. ¡°What could that be?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Usually something breaks in their head, and they walk away. Swear to never fight again or some nonsense.¡±


    Mental trauma, basically. Without the proper word for it. Something I couldn¡¯t even heal. Well, not magically. And I knew I wasn¡¯t equipped to try and properly treat it nonmagically. Although, sympathy and a willing ear went a long way¡­ thoughts for another day.


    Also, I disagreed with Artemis. It wasn¡¯t nonsense.


    ¡°What happens next?¡± I asked, between a mouthful of bread. Hot, warm, straight-out-of-the-oven bread. It tasted like heaven. Soft flakes of tender goodness melting in my mouth.


    Best part? No sand.


    Just how good would a mango taste if I could get my hands on one? The thought was sheer bliss.


    ¡°Well, you get a week to rest and recover. You spent four days sleeping already, so practically it¡¯s only three days. In the meantime, the Instructors are planning an individual course for each of you, although a lot of classes will intersect.¡±


    ¡°Huh?¡± I asked, confused. Hey, I was still sleep deprived. The only thinking I¡¯d done in the last three months had been ¡°Put one foot in front of the next¡±, and the ¡°careful thinking¡± part of my brain was still rebooting.


    Artemis sighed.


    ¡°Let¡¯s say you have a ranger class, like Arthur ¨C the one that shoots arrows. And you can¡¯t read, or sail. You¡¯d get the general Ranger class, a class on reading, and a class on sailing. Along with everyone else that needs those classes. Depending on how good you are at shooting arrows, you might or might not be signed up for archery classes.¡±


    ¡°Then take a, say, healer. You can read, can¡¯t sail. You¡¯d get signed up for the general Ranger class, you¡¯d skip the class on reading, and get signed up for the class on sailing. You¡¯d be exempted from the class on healing, but signed up for the class on how to be a mage, because your mage abilities and levels suck.¡±


    Ouch.


    ¡°You¡¯d be in the same sailing and general class as the ranger we talked about before, but you wouldn¡¯t be in his reading class, and he wouldn¡¯t be in your mage class.¡±


    ¡°Personalized education for everyone, but the classes are for all.¡±


    Artemis¡¯s eyes unfocused, the typical signal of someone receiving a System message.


    ¡°Hey, I leveled! [Teaching] up!¡± She said, pumping her fist.


    ¡°Nice!¡±


    Something clicked.


    ¡°Hang on, aren¡¯t you not supposed to tell me things about Academy?¡± I asked.


    Artemis gave me a Look.


    ¡°One, I¡¯m an Instructor now. It means I¡¯m allowed. Two, the main thing we want to keep under wraps are the Hell Months. It¡¯s a bit too easy to prepare for them if you know what¡¯s coming. A skill like your [Center of the Galaxy], and high vitality makes it quite a bit easier to pass than we¡¯d like.¡±


    I could practically see Artemis rubbing her hands in glee at the first point. She always did like having privilege. Not that I could blame her ¨C every benefit she got was hard-fought and hard-won.


    ¡°Don¡¯t repeats get to know though?¡±


    ¡°Sure, but anyone kicked that hard, and coming back anyways is hard to stop. They¡¯re clearly dedicated.¡±


    The logic didn¡¯t quite sit right with me, but again, who was I to question the more interesting practices of the army. Wasn¡¯t the first, second, or even third time they did stuff that I didn¡¯t agree with. For now, I¡¯d be a good minion, and play the game by their rules.


    ¡°Most Trainees get assigned a Sentinel as a mentor, depending on where they think their skillset lies. Ideally to help them with any skills that aren¡¯t obviously covered by other classes. Which is good and bad.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± I said, encouraging Artemis to continue.


    ¡°In theory, it¡¯s to get some wisdom from the strongest humans in existence. In practice, people good at blowing things up aren¡¯t great at teaching them.¡±


    I gave Artemis a flat look at that. She cuffed me.


    ¡°Don¡¯t give me that look! I¡¯m a great teacher!¡±


    ¡°Some are better than others. Sky is notoriously flighty, and I honestly think he resents being promoted to Sentinel. His life of relatively carefree flying around as a Ranger became one of responsibilities, being on-deck to move Sentinels from A to B, along with myriad other job duties. He hates it, and does whatever he can to avoid ¡®extra work¡¯, aka anything he decides is beneath him. Don¡¯t get me wrong, in a pinch he¡¯ll be there, but if you get him as a mentor, you¡¯re lucky if you get one meeting with him the entire time ¨C he¡¯s usually either shirking responsibilities to fly around, or he¡¯s flying a Sentinel to a hotspot.¡±


    ¡°He does teach a class on flying, although I suspect it¡¯s more because he gets sanctioned time to fly around, which is what he wants to do anyways, than out of any desire to teach.¡±


    ¡°Sealing and Ocean are some of the best teachers. Destruction has passion, but he¡¯s terrible at teaching. Magic always has something new and interesting, but rarely gets anyone assigned to him. Bulwark is similar ¨C only Inscriptionists and defense specialists get assigned. He mentored Origen.¡±


    ¡°Almost nobody gets assigned to Acquisition, or at least not openly. Rumors are, he gets assigned to teach people less savory skills. Theft and assassination, among others.¡±


    ¡°Nature believes in the school of hard knocks, which also means he doesn¡¯t have to do it. Expect to get thrown into the Kadan, and walk out a year later. Lowest pass rate, highest number of drop-outs after Hell Months, but there¡¯s no arguing with his results ¨C his trainees have the highest survival rate.¡±


    ¡°Brawling is totally average, but gets solid levels out of his trainees. Most fighters end up with him. I know he mentored Kallisto and Maximus.¡±


    ¡°No idea on Toxic, the mysterious new Sentinel.¡± Artemis said with a straight face. I punched her in the arm.


    ¡°Come on, Arthur loved teaching me all about poisons and hunting.¡±


    Artemis cracked a grin.


    ¡°Sure! No idea how he¡¯ll help people on their particular style of fighting though. The point is to help people on their path, not throw people on yours. Might split assassin training with Acquisition, thinking about it.¡± Artemis said, looking thoughtful.


    ¡°Lastly is Night. The best, but only takes one Trainee a year. He was my mentor back when I did Academy.¡± Artemis said. ¡°My bet? You¡¯ll end up with Night. You¡¯re arguably the most promising Trainee this year, although you¡¯re not a Trainee, and you have both night-related skills, and restriction skills, something that Night handles.¡±


    She shrugged.


    ¡°I¡¯m not in on the meetings, I¡¯m just a part-time Instructor. Might end up teaching you magic, might not. You kinda know everything I¡¯d teach already, it¡¯d be a waste of your time.¡± She said.


    ¡°Right, I¡¯m off. Enjoy the next few days! Eat lots ¨C but don¡¯t stuff yourself too much. There¡¯s a bath in the lower levels of the villa that¡¯s almost never used ¨C it¡¯s good for us. Cheers! And again, congratulations.¡±


    Artemis hugged me at the end, and I hugged her back, happiness filling my heart. I¡¯d made it!


    She headed out, and as I finished eating, I decided to take a peek at my level ups.


    I got a whiff of myself before I got to see them, and decided that this could be handled after a bath. I¡¯d been changed to sleep, but I had months of literal filth still caked onto me. Bless Artemis for not saying anything, and hugging me anyways.


    A hop, skip, and a jump to the nice, luxurious, heaven-sent, warm, blissful, one-girl bath, and I was reviewing my level-ups. Hmmmm¡­ let¡¯s merge all the level ups from the same skill together, and skip the middle. Just the start and the end.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 188! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 189! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    That was honestly pretty disappointing. Three months, only two levels? Blah.


    To be fair, I was only healing myself, and I was only healing the lowest of low-level injuries. Sore feet, cracked skin, minor cuts and bruises, the occasional shot from one of the Instructors that I wasn¡¯t able to shield with [Veil]. All in all, I¡¯d done almost nothing in my class, and through that lens, two levels was generous. The added stress, and the [Learning] and [Training] multipliers were the only reason I¡¯d gotten two.


    I think. The System didn¡¯t exactly give out details like that, much as I¡¯d like it to.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Celestial Affinity] has reached level 188!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Celestial Affinity] has reached level 189!]


    Sometimes, it was hard to see what the Affinity skill did.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Warmth of the Sun] has reached level 161!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Warmth of the Sun] has reached level 189!]


    Ding ding ding! Wild success! Keeping the aura on a tight, full-blast, constantly needing and relying on it did wonders for the level.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Center of the Galaxy] has reached level 162!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Center of the Galaxy] has reached level 189!]


    A second capped skill! I threw my hands up happily, not caring that it got water everywhere. A brief twinge of guilt went through my mind at whoever had to clean it up, but then again, they¡¯d just spent the last three months in a warm, cozy place. My sympathy was, probably improperly, limited.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 188!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 189!]


    No way to tell if that was from the healing I¡¯d done, or the over-leveling I¡¯d done earlier. I wasn¡¯t complaining.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Veil of the Aurora] has reached level 147!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Veil of the Aurora] has reached level 181!]


    Turns out, blocking shots non-stop for months was great for [Veil]¡¯s experience. Not quite enough to cap it, but enough.


    [Vastness of the Stars], [Medicine], and [Moonlight] refused to budge¡­ which was fair. I hadn¡¯t used the skills at all.


    Speaking of, what was [Moonlight] at?


    [Moonlight]: The phases of the moon are visible to all who look up at them and see them. Able to apply [Phases of the Moon] at range, whenever moonlight touches them. [Phases of the Moon] applies with a significant efficiency penalty. Penalty increases with distance. Increased range, decreased penalty per level. Current range: 10.4 meters. Current penalty: 351% increased cost per meter.


    I¡¯d worked the math out at one point ¨C it got 1% more efficient per level, and .1 meter per level.


    Right. Onto [Pyromancer].


    [Pyromancer]?


    Hello? System? Is this thing broken?


    With the most reluctant *ding!* I got a notification.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pyromancer] has leveled up to level 63! +5 Free Stats, +14 Mana, +8 Mana Regen, +14 Magic power, +8 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Strength from your Element!]


    Naturally, I got all of my skills leveling up one.


    I suppose not burning anything to the ground would bar me from significant [Pyromancer] experience, although I hoped I¡¯d get some residual experience from everything else, and constant use of [Rapidash].


    Nope, apparently not enough. Fine. One level it is. General skills, don¡¯t let me down!


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Identify] has reached level 100!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Identify] has reached level 125!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 133!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 177!]


    Welp, being constantly shot at for months clearly had a fantastic effect on [Vigilant].


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 168!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 180!]


    Wait, what? What was [Oath] doing there?


    I checked over the exact wording of [Oath], and it hit me.


    I will teach and spread my knowledge to the best of my abilities, asking for no recompense.


    The scrolls I¡¯d sent out. Took the scribe long enough, probably took longer for them to get to healers, and for them to be read, tested, and approved, but ¨C I bet that¡¯s where I was getting those [Oath] levels. I anticipated a steady stream of experience from it.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Ranger¡¯s Lore] has reached level 145!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Ranger¡¯s Lore] has reached level 160!]


    Ranger¡¯s Lore continuing to be the silliest skill. How did running around an island improve my ability to track animals? How was lifting logs in a team helping me fight?


    I¡¯d break my brain thinking too hard about it, and the room had enough steam without any escaping from my ears.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Training] has reached level 36!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Training] has reached level 100!]


    Sweet! This would give me a massive boost to everything I did here, and was probably responsible for everything else going up so fast. It¡¯d be invaluable for the rest of Academy, and I could, maybe, try to cap most of my skills while I was here.


    It¡¯d also help me level [Pyromancer], which was in serious need of help.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 151!]


    A perfunctory level. Better than nothing. Let¡¯s do some math, blah.


    Training ¨C 1.5% boost per level, 100 levels. 150% boost.


    Learning ¨C 1% boost per level, 151 levels. 151% boost.


    So either a 300% boost, which was a 4x multiplier to experience while here, or if I was lucky, they stacked well, and I would get a 6.25x multiplier. Roughly. I didn¡¯t want to try and calculate the extra 1%.


    I leaned back, finally getting the last of the mud out of my poor, abused hair.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 126!]


    That skill could also use some serious help. I wonder if they¡¯d help me level it?


    All too soon, the day came for training to resume, and we were in formation in the villa courtyard again.


    ¡°Trainees! I¡¯m proud of each and every one of you! Barring an unfortunate accident, all of you wonderful people will make it to graduation! That doesn¡¯t guarantee that you¡¯ll get a spot as a Ranger, but it¡¯s the closest you handsome people will get!¡±


    The tonal shift from Quintis had all of us nervous, even though we didn¡¯t show it. He¡¯d gone from calling us ¡°shit so bad not even maggots would eat us¡± to ¡°wonderful, handsome people.¡±


    Was severe mental whiplash the last test of mental fortitude? I eyed the silver gong, an escape from the mad lunacy of Quintis. I wasn¡¯t alone in my sudden self-doubt.


    ¡°If you indicated you can read, please see Instructor Jason when your name is called. If you can¡¯t read, please see the Instructor who raises their hand when your name is called!¡± Quintis called out.


    ¡°First! Ranger Elaine!¡±


    Welp. Rank hath its privilege and all that. I fell out of formation, and headed over to where Jason was.


    I stopped in front of him, and saluted. He saluted me back, and handed me the top piece of paper.


    I walked away, reading over the schedule.


    ¡°What on Pallos?¡±


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 16]


    [Mana: 17550/17550]


    [Mana Regen: 20797]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 24]


    [Strength: 118]


    [Dexterity: 218]


    [Vitality: 297]


    [Speed: 220]


    [Mana: 1755]


    [Mana Regeneration: 2419]


    [Magic Power: 1533]


    [Magic Control: 2075]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 189]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 189]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 189]


    [Medicine: 185]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 189]


    [Phases of the Moon: 189]


    [Moonlight: 104]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 181]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 135]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 63]]


    [Fire Affinity: 63]


    [Fire Resistance: 63]


    [Fire Conjuration: 63]


    [Fire Manipulation: 63]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 63]


    [Burn Brightly: 63]


    [Rapidash: 63]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 125]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 131]


    [Pretty: 126]


    [Vigilant: 177]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 180]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 160]


    [Training: 100]


    [Learning: 151]

 Chapter 107– Ranger Academy VII

    I looked over my schedule with no small amount of concern.


    4th Gong: Physical Exercise


    5th Gong: Breakfast


    6th Gong: Wilderness Survival


    8th Gong: Legal and Justice


    9th Gong: Investigations


    10th Gong: Sparring Overwatch


    11th Gong: 1 on 1 Sparring


    12th Gong: Lunch


    13th Gong: History, Politics, and Geography


    14th Gong: Obstacle Course


    15th Gong: Monster Slaying


    16th Gong: Flying


    17th Gong: Leadership


    18th Gong: Dinner


    19th Gong: Mage Training


    20th Gong: Survival, Escape, Resistance, Evasion Training


    21st Gong: Toxic


    22nd Gong: Night

 Chapter 108– Ranger Academy VIII

    History, Politics, and Geography followed lunch.


    ¡°The geography of a town is instrumental in the history of the town, which ties into the politics. The three are closely entwined, unable to be separated. Let us start with Ariminum, the capital. It is located on a peninsula that juts deep into the Nostrum Sea, making it an ideal center. Every town on the shores of the Nostrum are able to quickly and easily get to Ariminum. The peninsula it¡¯s located on is ideal for defense, and our grand Republic was founded here, as we could easily secure the borders. Is it no wonder that the town should then become the Capital? Geography becomes history. History becomes politics. You will learn about every town, their geography, their history, their contributions to the Republic, and their recent Governors and Senators. You never know when knowing the background will be critical to solving some problem or another.¡±


    The obstacle course was blessed relief from the brain-frying interactions and difficulties that was politics. I was a healer, dammit! I wasn¡¯t some political mastermind, thinking seven steps ahead in the demented game of chess that was human interpersonal relationships.


    Then again, I was severely lacking in that department, maybe they wanted to fix that? The Instructors here were smart, and they clearly had a plan.


    ¡°Trainees! You will do this in two sets. The first is twice around the island, the speed run! The second is ten times around the island, the marathon run! You will be scored and ranked in the order in which you return.¡±


    ¡°On your marks!¡±


    ¡°Get set!¡±


    ¡°Go!¡±


    And we were off.


    I half-expected some sabotage, people subtly interfering with each other, maybe one of the Earth artillery mages making the footing uneven or something.


    Nope. Oh, we were competitive as hell. We all wanted to win. But the bond forged in Hell wasn¡¯t going to be shaken by something so trivial as the first contest through the obstacle course.


    I happily blew [Rapidash] to stay near the head of the pack of runners ¨C the speedsters had already outstripped us all ¨C as we got to the first obstacle ¨C a series of balance beams over mud. Even with my barely enhanced physical stats, it was a breeze, 16 of us at a time jumping onto one of the 16 beams and running across, taking our turn so we didn¡¯t foul each other¡¯s jump onto the beam.


    Our politeness didn¡¯t extend to lending a helping hand, it was more that not interfering was best for all of us. As someone carelessly slipped off the beam and into the mud, we didn¡¯t help out, apart from checking that he was ok, and hadn¡¯t landed face-first.


    MoonMoon had a barking laugh at the poor dude¡¯s misfortune, and I couldn¡¯t help cracking a small, schadenfreude-fueled smile. At the same time, I had no illusions that it¡¯d be me in the mud pit one day, and other people cracking a smile as MoonMoon laughed at me.


    Ropes came next, needing to climb up one of many dangling ropes, then down a ramp on the other side.


    A giant ladder. Wooden slats inverted into a V. Thin metal bars, making a cage we had to crawl under.


    I had fun with that one ¨C as short as I was, it was easy mode. Hulk struggled, as he could only barely fit in, let alone move forward. He managed to get an entire lane to himself, nobody wanting to get stuck behind him.


    A tightrope. Ropes in a pattern slightly above the ground, that we needed to not touch as we hopped through. And a dozen other tests of speed and agility.


    I finished with about twenty people behind me on the first two laps.


    ¡°Good work Trainees! That¡¯s the speed course, designed to let mages and others that rely on abilities and mana show off! Now it¡¯s time for the endurance course, where people with physical abilities get to strut their stuff! On your marks, get set, go!¡±


    Fuck.


    I finished second from last, and the only person I beat was Hulk, who managed to get stuck in an obstacle.


    Monster Slaying was next, and I think it was the only course every single one of us had.


    ¡°There are four ways of handling a monster.¡± Hunting started off by saying, while Katastrophi eyed us menacingly.


    How did they get her to the island!?


    ¡°Tolerate, Drive off, Placate, or Kill. Ranger Elaine, can you name the fifth method?¡± Hunting asked me, putting me on the spot in front of everyone.


    I saluted.


    ¡°Sir! Call in a Sentinel, like you, sir!¡±


    Bluebeard grinned at me.


    ¡°Exactly right! Now, for the most part, Kill is the method you¡¯ll be going after. We¡¯re going to start off reviewing the other three briefly, then the rest of this course will cover all sorts of different monsters you could encounter, and the best way to kill and bait each type. Let¡¯s begin...¡±


    Bluebeard¡¯s class ended, and I was off like a shot.


    Flying.


    I¡¯d done tiny amounts with Artemis, which were more ¡°Get lifted into the air by rocks¡±, but this was the real deal, or so I imagined.


    We set out, and there were six of us assigned to Sky, who hovered above us in the air.


    ¡°Flying! Flying¡¯s the best thing ever. I¡¯m here to help you all fly, then you can try to catch me in the air. Advice, I¡¯m supposed to give you all advice, hmmm¡­ don¡¯t fall.¡±


    He pointed to four of us.


    ¡°You, you, you, and you. You all have weak flying. Come and get me. You and you.¡± He said, pointing to the remaining two, then hesitating.


    ¡°I¡¯m supposed to help you learn how to fly. Well, it¡¯s simple. Use your skills in a way to fly, and they¡¯ll evolve into a flying skill.¡±


    He paused a moment, thinking.


    ¡°Eh, why not.¡± He said swooping down and tapping both of us.


    ¡°You¡¯re now both 80% lighter. Good luck! The rest of you, come and get me!¡± He said, speeding off.


    Well shit. This was the least useful lesson ever.


    Right, time to put on the thinking cap.


    ¡°Any idea what we¡¯re supposed to do?¡± I asked Barrier, who was the other poor unfortunate who couldn¡¯t fly yet, and had been selected for this.


    ¡°I have no idea.¡± He said, jumping up experimentally, shooting much higher than expected.


    ¡°I¡¯m flying! I¡¯m flying! I¡¯m ¨C oh no.¡± He said, as gravity reasserted itself. It was weaker, but it wasn¡¯t gone.


    He started to fall, but instead of screaming, summoned one of his panes of light, landing on it hard.


    I could practically see a lightbulb go off in his head.


    ¡°Hey, wait, I can just-¡° He said, jumping off the pane of light in mid-air, summoning a new one to land on.


    Well, I had [Veil], and I could mimic that trick. [Veil] was a massive mana hog when I stood on it, but at 20% weight, it should only take 20% of the mana. Being unable to move [Veil] myself had been a source of much frustration over the past two years, but suddenly, it was the greatest asset of the skill!


    With a whoop, a holler, and a shout of glee, I jumped up, summoning [Veil] to catch me, watching my mana drop like a rock, then drain rapidly.


    Mana: 15777/17550


    Wow, that was close. The initial landing ¨C which I¡¯d done near the peak of my jump, with minimal downward velocity ¨C had cost nearly 700 mana. With only 1533 magic power, I¡¯d shatter [Veil] if I landed too hard. How was Barrier doing ¨C


    With a scream, Barrier came tumbling out of the sky, only for Sky to come blazing down like a peregrine falcon, catching him before he hit the ground.


    ¡°Idiot! Watch your mana!¡± Sky cursed him out thoroughly.


    ¡°And you! Don¡¯t make the same mistake!¡± He yelled at me.


    I nodded, jumping from [Veil], letting it flicker out before summoning a new one.


    I hopped four more times before stopping, having roughly half my mana left.


    From what I¡¯d seen, and what I¡¯ve been told, using skills in a way was a good way to evolve them in that direction. However, did I want [Veil] to end up being my flying skill? It was stupid useful as a shield, as privacy, and I wanted to keep it that way.


    [Rapidash] was my movement skill, and if I had a flying skill, it would be significantly less useful. I had to figure out how to fly with [Rapidash].


    I thought about it some, and sighed. The only thing I could come up with?


    Launch myself as high into the air as possible with it, and hope to stick the landing. Either with [Veil] slowing the blow, or letting myself hit hard, and healing.


    [Oath] gently reminded me that the second option wasn¡¯t exactly kosher. Right, catching myself with [Veil] it was.


    I bent my knees, and for the first time, tried to use [Rapidash] while jumping. It worked, I went up, far higher than any jump could get me, and at the peak of the jump, summoned [Veil] for a moment.


    I then pushed horizontally off of [Veil] with [Rapidash], wincing as the familiar sensation of [Veil] shattering like a pane of glass went off through my mind.


    Success though! I was soaring through the air!


    I was really high up though, able to see most of the island, and Sky and the other trainees moving through the air. Time to let myself down, gently, gently¡­


    I caught myself on a [Veil] before I let too much speed build up, and repeated the process four more times on my way down, before landing hard on the ground. A quick healing, just in case, and I was ready for a second attempt.


    My mana was too low after that second attempt to risk a third one ¨C I didn¡¯t want to have to be plucked out of the sky by Sky. It¡¯d be too embarrassing.


    It had been less than 10 minutes since the class started.


    One by one, over the next 10 minutes, the four ¡°already-fliers¡± had run out of mana, and were grounded.


    ¡°Ha! This class is so weak! Right, good luck, see you tomorrow!¡± Sky said, taunting us, flipping in midair, then flying away.


    Flying away, in the most aggravating fashion.


    We looked at each other.


    ¡°Cards?¡± One of them suggested.


    I shrugged.


    ¡°Sure, why not.¡±


    Flying Lessons 10 minutes of lessons, 50-minute break. Sky¡¯s anti-gravity buff wore off before I could get enough mana to try again.


    Worst. Instructor. Ever. Artemis rose a dozen notches in my head ¨C at least she cared!


    ¡°Leadership!¡± Instructor Quintis roared at us. ¡°Leadership is about communication! About seeing what needs to be done, and doing it! Delegation! Communication! Trust! If you¡­..¡±


    Whoof. More lecture classes. After nearly breaking a third of the bones in my body from Sky¡¯s class, I was grateful for grounded classes that didn¡¯t involve a high risk of bodily harm.


    Why was I in leadership though? I was practically allergic to social skills, and the only people that-


    A brilliant lightbulb went off in my mind. History. Politics. Investigations. Legal. Leadership. They were all skills Julius had; these were all classes I could imagine he¡¯d taken once upon a time. Was I being groomed to be a team leader?


    As Quintis roared about inspiring trust, about getting people to look up to you, I shook my head. It was possible, I mused to myself, but I¡¯d have an incredibly hard time getting people to look up to me, as young and female as I was. People looked up to Artemis because she had years of experience, and the firepower to back it up. I had neither.


    At the same time, I was in this class because I knew jack shit about leadership, and they were going to teach me all about it. Maybe I¡¯d be good enough at the end. Maybe they wanted to give me a good foundation, for years down the road.


    I mentally shrugged, and redoubled my efforts. Everything I did here would reflect on Julius, on Artemis, on Arthur. I¡¯d do them proud.


    Especially since it seemed like one of my classes was with Arthur.


    Dinner was bliss, and then I was off to Mage Training, a two-on-one class with an instructor. There was one other fire mage Trainee at Academy, although what I gathered, he had Fire and Earth, and was aiming to merge them into being a Lava mage. Ambitious, trying to merge at 256, but he¡¯d be massively rewarded if he pulled it off.


    ¡°Fire. Fire is a wonderful thing. There are eight disciplines of fire.¡± The Instructor started off by saying, as I listened with rapt attention. This Instructor was an Inferno-aligned mage, who could teach me all sorts of things that a cursory overview from Artemis and Maximus couldn¡¯t.


    ¡°Inferno. Pure, raging flames.¡±


    ¡°Wildfire. The untamed fury of nature. Lava¡¯s part of that.¡± He looked significantly at the other mage with us.


    ¡°Hearth. The warmth of the fireside.¡±


    ¡°Forge. The fires of creation, and invention.¡±


    ¡°Candle. The light of the way.¡±


    ¡°Pyromancer. I don¡¯t think I need to teach you anything on that one.¡± He said, looking at me significantly.


    ¡°Berserker. The mental aspect to it, throwing all away for power now.¡±


    ¡°Beast-flames. The ferocious aspect that monsters can tap into.¡±


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pyromancer] has leveled up to level 64! +5 Free Stats, +14 Mana, +8 Mana Regen, +14 Magic power, +8 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Strength from your Element!]


    I sat up straighter at that. What was that, 50 words, and I¡¯d gotten a whole level out of it? This Instructor knew his stuff!


    ¡°You probably already know this, but your element is likely to evolve into one of the eight advanced Fire elements. Inferno, Steam, Pyronox, Radiance, Ash, Lava, or Storm. Nature was telling me that Fire plus Metal can be a magic metal of sorts, but given the extraordinary rarity of it, I wouldn¡¯t hold my breath.¡±


    ¡°Storm is also unlikely. It¡¯s solid for warriors, rangers, weather-sensors, and a dozen other professions, but for mages like us, it¡¯s unlikely. Rather, not unlikely, so much as incredibly impractical. There¡¯s not much you can do as a Storm mage, the sheer scale of what you need to impact is far beyond what a human can manage. Hasn¡¯t stopped the occasional idiot from taking it, and almost entirely crippling themselves.¡±


    He paused, looking at me.


    ¡°Listen. If you ever get the urge to take Storm, please, I beg you, think four, five times about it. It¡¯s a mistake. Don¡¯t do it.¡±


    I nodded slowly. Listen to the ridiculously experienced Inferno mage, who can make you level up just by talking.


    ¡°Right, enough talk. Best way to level up as a Fire mage? Burn stuff down. Monsters preferred, and while I don¡¯t have any right now, some should start to come in soon, unless we make a trip to the colosseum. Which will happen as a group somewhat frequently. For now, let us begin. I¡¯d like to see your flames.¡±


    I showed him, and my training began.


    ¡°Survival! Evasion! Resistance! Escape! This is the unfortunate training needed when, not if, you find yourself against more people that you can handle! This is the training needed when you need to single-handedly put down an entire rebellion, when the 3rd is occupied or unable to reach you!¡±


    ¡°You will be taught survival skills. Hit and run tactics. How to evade capture. Identify and take out targets. Resist torture and interrogation, how to make it worthless. How to escape being confined, sabotage supply lines, frame rebellion leaders, poison wells, and more!¡± Quintis yelled at us.


    This was again one of those classes everyone had.


    And this time, most of the Sentinels were present.


    My ears had perked up at ¡°escape being confined¡±, and I¡¯d gone from ambivalent on the class, to wanting to be the best at it.


    Well, the best at escaping.


    ¡°This is easily your most important class, and the one we weigh the most heavily when determining your final ranking, and as a result, your placement!¡±


    Our hardest class began with Arthur ¨C Toxic, as he should be called here ¨C handing out a weak poison to each of us.


    I grinned as I downed it, activating [Phases of the Moon]. No poison for me!


    I looked around. The moons had risen, and this seemed like a good chance for [Moonlight]¡­. Although they didn¡¯t want to be healed, they needed the training.


    I¡¯d get to heal them at the end of class, and get some experience then.


    SERE training was off to a bang.


    ¡°Toxic.¡± I formally saluted to Arthur. ¡°Ranger Elaine, reporting as ordered.¡±


    ¡°Elaine! Sit!¡± Arthur said, grinning at me. ¡°I¡¯m glad I managed to snag you.¡±


    Wait. Waaaait a minute. This didn¡¯t sound like training. This sounded like-


    ¡°Let¡¯s start with The Iliad!¡± Arthur said with a mad grin.


    I cursed to myself. Arthur didn¡¯t want to teach me stuff, he wanted a bard!


    Arthur seemed to sense my mental eyerolling, and with a perfectly straight face, said. ¡°It¡¯s for leveling up your [Recollection of a Distant Life] skill.¡±


    Ah well. The big scary Sentinel wanted a song, he¡¯d get a song.


    ¡°Rage! Sing Goddess¡­.¡±


    At the end of it, I got thunderous applause, and I sensed ¨C I wasn¡¯t checking, not until the end of the day ¨C that I¡¯d just gotten some significant [Recollection of a Distant Life] levels.


    Night. Sky. Bulwark. Ocean. Hunting.


    Five Sentinels emerged from the shadows, and I saw a few more instructors beside. I tilted my head in confusion.


    ¡°What? Everyone else is done, we¡¯re here for the show!¡± Sky said, pumping his fist with enthusiasm.


    Arthur snorted.


    ¡°Politely, we¡¯re here to see what else you know, what else you can teach us. Maximus did his best, but he had a one-track mind. I also have a one-track mind, and I¡¯m quite frankly not smart enough to figure out as much as I can from you.¡± Arthur admitted, leaning in towards me.


    ¡°Let me start with a question I was too embarrassed to ask before. When I killed that Sea Serpent, I used almost all my poison stock. I kept getting notifications on smaller creatures killed for a week after. Obviously, they ate the Sea Serpent, but that got me thinking. There has to be more to that, right? There¡¯s some greater concept at work?¡±


    ¡°You mean a food chain, or a food web?¡± I said, surprised.


    Arthur snapped his fingers at me.


    ¡°Yes! That¡¯s a great word for it. Tell me more.¡±


    ¡°Please Ranger Elaine.¡± Night said, eyes gleaming at me. ¡°I implore you¡­ tell us everything.¡±


    I looked around, at a number of Sentinels, the peak of humanity, looking at me hungrily. I imagined their fingers twitching, ready to split me apart to find out all my secrets. The cruel moons shined down on me, unblinking, laughing at my plight. I gulped. Priest Demos had been a cakewalk compared to this.


    I mentally revised Toxic¡¯s class to be the hardest one.


    ¡°Let us walk.¡± Night invited me once I was done answering their questions for the past hour.


    ¡°You have been busy.¡± Night said, stating the obvious. ¡°However, I wish to ask, have you had time to meditate on the inquiry I gave to you the prior time we met?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± I was drawing a blank.


    ¡°No matter. Permit me to refresh your memory. If you had to slay one to permit two to live, could you do it? Three? Four? At what point can you bring yourself to commit murder, for the greater good?¡±


    Ah, that question.


    ¡°My answer ¨C to become strong enough that I don¡¯t need to answer.¡± I said.


    Night stared at me, crimson eyes boring into me.


    ¡°A poor answer.¡± He softly said. ¡°But an answer none the less. Let us bring you to that state of being together. I have some ideas on that subject.¡±


    We walked a few moments, lost in thought. This seemed to be Night¡¯s methodology ¨C a few sentences, contemplative silence as we digested what the other had just said.


    It was driving me nutty. If it wasn¡¯t for a large, healthy dose of fear I felt towards Night, I¡¯d be antsy and agitated.


    I didn¡¯t dare near Night. I was too scared. In that sense, he was perfect for fixing my inattention and hyperactivity.


    ¡°Tell me about your general skills. You had a slot open, last I knew.¡±


    ¡°I got [Training].¡± I promptly said. ¡°1.5% experience boost per level while, well, here.¡±


    We walked slowly, a few more steps around the island.


    ¡°A fine skill.¡± He said softly. ¡°But we shall replace it shortly before leaving. It is an interesting balancing act. As you keep it, every other skill rises. But if you replace it too late, whatever skill you get after will be weak and infirm, unable to pull its weight. Tricky, tricky¡­¡± He muttered to himself.


    More silent, contemplative steps.


    ¡°Has any other of your general skills come under contemplation for replacement?¡± Night asked me.


    I hesitated.


    ¡°[Recollection].¡± I finally said.


    Step. Step.


    Night shook his head.


    ¡°The skill is new to me. But from tonight alone, do you not see how useful, how powerful, the skill is? You had the undivided attention of the most powerful forces Remus had to offer.¡±


    ¡°And you will continue to have that attention. Already Toxic is planning new, better ways to use his poison to kill monsters that plague us. Instead of trying a single, massive dose, as is his wont, he shall try poisoning dozens of smaller animals, prey to the monster he wishes to slay. There is more in your mind, more you know. I suspect, it forms a strong part of your core, of who and what you are.¡±


    My thought process when I was with Papilion came back to me. I¡¯m only dead, when people have forgotten me. If I removed that anchor, was the old me dead? Would the memories fade?


    Should they fade? Should I permit them to go away? Should the me from before be allowed rest? What was a person? When did the past you die, and the new you take over?


    Was it every day? Never? Did it take a lifetime?


    I see why Night was in the habit of taking time between each sentence, each statement.


    ¡°Questions for another night, I believe.¡± He said softly. ¡°Meditate upon your skills, your stats. Who you are. What you are. Tonight, however, we shall work on a different skill, polish you until you shine like the gemstone you can be.¡±


    ¡°We shall teach you how to dance.¡±


    I blinked owlishly at him. What?

 Chapter 109– Ranger Academy IX

    Spring of the first year of Ranger Academy.


    Well, technically, the year rolled over on the winter solstice, so it was more like the second year, but, well, either way, nine months after the Academy started.


    The lesson plan I¡¯d been given was - more or less - daily. Occasionally, Sky would be substituted by another Instructor as he went off on some mission, or Bluebeard ¨C Hunting ¨C would be gone for weeks at a time as he handled some problem.


    Other times, like today, we were on a field trip, designed to give us practical experience in real situations. Goblin encampments were the favorite, the creatures seemingly inexhaustible. Usually quite a bit bigger than the 11 I¡¯d be asked to tackle, which made me wonder if Arthur had whittled them down to size before sending me in. Wilderness survival trips were a close second, and arena fights against monsters third.


    I went over my armor again, making subtle adjustments to it. This wasn¡¯t Maximus¡¯s beauty that he¡¯d carefully crafted for me, no. That was somewhere in the Ranger¡¯s armory, but it was off-limits to me. Something about ¡®learning how to use standard armor¡¯ and ¡®it won¡¯t always be a skin-tight fit.¡¯


    Bah humbug.


    I stumbled and nearly fell as a particularly large wave rocked the frigate we were on, chuckles coming from the rest of the team. I flipped them off good-naturedly ¨C they all had Sailing as a lesson, and had solid sea legs.


    I checked the last few clasps on my vambraces ¨C they were tight, and my armor was on me securely. The only concession to non-standard armor I had was a large quantity of Arcanite woven into the laminar vest I was wearing, with the idea being that I¡¯d only pull the mana in case of emergency, to save someone else. It¡¯d be a fail if I pulled it for non-critical reasons, but I had a bunch of leeway. Alive and failed was much better than dead.


    I looked around at the team ¨C my team ¨C as we headed away from the island where Ranger Academy was, back to the capital.


    Wolfy, with MoonMoon.


    Oozy, with his explosive arrows. We weren¡¯t going near him, or to be accurate, we weren¡¯t going near his quiver, even MoonMoon was staying far away. He wasn¡¯t offended ¨C he just laughed, pleased that we considered him dangerous enough to avoid.


    Barrier was around, pacing nervously. He¡¯d gotten better, both with his barrier usage, and with flying. Still didn¡¯t have a flying skill though, although he seemed to think he was close.


    It felt like someone had acquired a cloning vat, or was some sort of [Master Cloning Biologist] or something, and pumped out dozens of the Artillery Mages. I knew it was because there was standard training for all of them, and for the most part they took all the same skills, but it was still unnerving, only being able to tell them apart by their scars and subtle differences in their hair color.


    We had Artillery C with us, as I¡¯d mentally ¨C and verbally ¨C dubbed him.


    Levitator was with us, and to his displeasure, he was starting to become more and more like a mage that threw things every day, instead of a clever duelist who used weapons from afar.


    The first step had been the Instructors convincing him that his weapons didn¡¯t need handles ¨C after all, he was using Wind to guide them, he didn¡¯t need to hold them.


    Then it was that spear tips were more efficient than swords.


    Then it was that using more tips, faster, was better than slowly whittling someone down.


    Before Levitator had realized it, he was basically an inefficient Metal mage. He still stubbornly clung onto two shields and two swords ¨C one for his actual hands, one for his skill-hand-thing ¨C under the logic that he¡¯d never run out of stuff that way.


    Still, we shared a secret smile as he muttered and cursed about it.


    We had Lava, who after many nights talking with Night, the Sentinel filling in all sorts of gaps in my knowledge and education, that along with his element, I figured he had some type of restriction skill. He always ¨C no matter the situation ¨C started off a fight slow, then after a few minutes, erupted into violent motion, overpowering whoever he was against. It was a coinflip if he¡¯d win a three-vs-one if he managed to get to that point.


    I hadn¡¯t pushed for specifics, and he wasn¡¯t forthcoming with them. It wasn¡¯t critical for this mission, although if it ever was, I¡¯d ask.


    Hector was along, one of the Three Musketeers. Hey, I was biased. I liked guards ¨C even former guards ¨C and I¡¯d taken the time and effort to learn his name. He had the standard set of armor and weapons every Ranger had, but kept his trusty baton, which he¡¯d reach for first.


    ¡°Too many skills relating to it.¡± He¡¯d confided in me at one point.


    We had one of the nameless front-line soldiers rounding out the team. They were fairly interchangeable, none nearly as charming as Kallisto.


    Instructor Jason was with us, providing a guiding hand, since he knew the who, what, where, when, how, and why. It was his job to get us to the right place, and open the right doors ¨C namely, the Colosseum today.


    ¡°Hey Wolfy, what have you learned about today¡¯s mission?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°For the thousandth time, I have a name, you know.¡± He said, shooting me a look.


    MoonMoon both gave off a strange, barking laugh, as the white one nuzzled me, and the black on nuzzled Wolfy, clearly approving.


    ¡°Yup! Wolfy!¡± I cheerfully told him.


    ¡°Be glad you have a name.¡± Artillery Mage C said. ¡°I¡¯m just ¡®C¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Artillery Mage C!¡± I said, with a note of mischief in my voice.


    He rolled his eyes.


    ¡°You see what I mean.¡±


    Hector looked smug.


    ¡°Well, some people have a proper appreciation for the guard.¡±


    Levitator smacked him with the side of his floating blade.


    ¡°What I don¡¯t get is why there are nine of us.¡± Soldier said. ¡°Squads are always eight people. Nine is just wrong. It¡¯s unnatural.¡±


    He¡­ had a point.


    Wolfy laughed.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t noticed that Elaine¡¯s always in a team of nine?¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s because they want people to get used to fighting in a ¡®full squad¡¯, not with a healer at the ready.¡± I said.


    ¡°That makes no sense.¡± Oozy said. ¡°Whatever team you¡¯re in will be eight people, and it¡¯s not like teams don¡¯t have utility or support that they need to protect, and the support fights as well. Hell, you throw some mean flames around, there¡¯s no reason the healer designation should grant you an exception.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re almost there.¡± Instructor Jason said.


    The ship landed at the dock, sailors and dockhands expertly performing their dance.


    We jumped off before everything was ready, not even getting a batted eye from the dockhands. It wasn¡¯t every day a squad of heavily armed soldiers ¨C or in our case, Ranger Trainees ¨C landed, but it happened frequently enough that nobody blinked when it happened.


    A quick jog through the streets, people parting for us like Moses and the Red Sea ¨C the perks of being in full combat gear ¨C and we were at one of the ¡°challenger¡± gates to the Colosseum, instead of the ¡°audience¡± gates.


    Instructor Jason had a quick word with the guard.


    ¡°Right, you¡¯re all set. Reminder, Ranger Elaine is in charge.¡± He said.


    ¡°Why?¡± Lava said. We looked at him, shocked at the audacity.


    ¡°Rank.¡± Instructor Jason said curtly. ¡°Are you seriously going to argue this now? Questioning command right before a mission, a fight?¡±


    Lava muttered something, but shook his head.


    ¡°Go get ¡®em.¡±


    We jogged through the twisting hallways in formation. There¡¯d been an¡­ incident¡­ the first time I¡¯d come here, where I healed most of the gladiators I¡¯d bumped into. Which had caused a ripple effect of pissed and happy people, and, well, the less said about That Incident the better. Ever since then, our route had been clear every time I¡¯d gone through.


    We made it to the gates, a pair of air-lock like gates, such that when they opened, nothing from the arena could escape.


    ¡°Wolfy. Got anything about today¡¯s mission?¡± I asked him again, now that we finally had a moment. He was good at sniffing out information he had no right to have, to the tacit approval of the Instructors. Now, if he ever got caught somewhere he shouldn¡¯t be, that¡¯d be a different story.


    ¡°No large rebellions caught, no army squads arrested and sentenced, and no famous criminals.¡± He quickly recited. ¡°A few adventurer teams have returned in the past few weeks, including two famous hunter groups. They don¡¯t send gladiators against Trainees ¨C bad for everyone, there must always be a designated winner. My bet is we¡¯re fighting monsters.¡±


    ¡°Barrier, maze?¡±


    He shrugged.


    ¡°Funnel probably¡±


    I nodded.


    ¡°Do that. Soldier, Lava, Hector ¨C you¡¯re our frontline. Levitator, Wolfy ¨C you¡¯re protecting Artillery C and Oozy. Barrier, I want your back to the wall so you can focus on funneling, and throw up any shields as needed. I¡¯m going to be next to you, and I have shit secondary barriers, and jump in as needed to heal. There are no moons, so I¡¯m touch-only. Wolfy, I leave MoonMoon to you ¨C you know what to do with them better than me, and I can¡¯t heal them nearly as well. Keep them alive, I can¡¯t do much for animals. Understood?¡±


    ¡°Sir, yes sir!¡± They said, saluting me.


    It gave me a little thrill that ran through my body at that.


    We paused a moment, and seeing his moment, C spoke up.


    ¡°It¡¯s Artillery Mage C, thank you very much.¡±


    We laughed at that, as the heavy metal grate was lifted up. We walked out, to the roar of the crowd, an [Announcer] with a Sound-class doing his thing.


    ¡°Froooooooooom the North Gate! Future protectors and guardians of Remus! We give you - A Ranger Trainee Team!¡±


    We got a moderate, but not thunderous applause from the crowd. We weren¡¯t Rangers, and quite frankly, we were C-list entertainment. A warm-up for whatever today¡¯s main event was. A full Ranger squad might be B-list, while the best [Gladiator]s were A-list.


    Or a Sentinel. Brawling was a fan of showing up when he was bored, and regularly threw wrecking balls through the schedule. Given his fame and popularity, the organizers were happy to accommodate him.


    I just hoped he wouldn¡¯t be our opponent today. That would suck. We¡¯d get the shit beaten out of us for as long as it was funny. The rumor mill had it, eight problematic Trainees were put in a squad once, and Brawling had given them all an extensive ¡®lesson¡¯ in front of the crowd. We didn¡¯t think we¡¯d all screwed up that badly, but hey, the Instructors worked in mysterious ways sometimes.


    We quickly got into formation, Barrier snapping up tall panes of Brilliance around us, leaving a small entrance to funnel whatever monster was coming at us to the frontline, keeping whatever was coming from the more fragile ¨C and deadly ¨C backline.


    ¡°Froooooooooooom the South Gate! The most vicious dinosaur living in Pallos! With teeth the size of swords, a tail that can break bones, and a jaw that can shatter stone! Victor of seven fights, Albius, the Abelisaurus!¡±


    We all cursed, in various interesting ways.


    ¡°I can¡¯t hold that!¡± Barrier screamed in terror.


    I punched his arm, not being tall enough to cuff him properly.


    ¡°Then don¡¯t! Barrier down, everyone scatter, hit-and-run! Sacrifice a limb if needed to stay alive, I¡¯m here, I can save almost anything!¡±


    The barrier went down, and we scattered, as Albius charged into the arena, coated in vines squirming all along its body.


    ¡°Caster Monster!¡± We called out.


    Every living being had a Class, and an Element. Some dinosaurs were locked to one, or a derivative ¨C most fliers were Wind or Wind-adjacent, for example.


    Usually, it just reflected what type of skills they¡¯d have ¨C for example, fliers had flying-related skills, weight and endurance and speed.


    Rarely, like MoonMoon, like Albius, the monster would get skills that would physically manifest, or that they could cast. In this case, this seemed to be Wood-aligned, with vines snaking along its body. We didn¡¯t know what they could do yet, but it couldn¡¯t be anything good.


    Not with seven wins under its belt.


    ¡°Who was supposed to lose this one!?¡± Soldier screamed out as we scattered.


    Light Moon ran to the middle of the area, barking fiercely at Albius, while Dark Moon slunk into the shadows cast by the walls and the sun, moving to flank. Light Moon started to flash bright light at Albius¡¯s eyes, aiming to blind and disorient him. I briefly considered trying to blind with [Veil], but ditched the idea ¨C he was moving too fast, and having [Veil] shatter was a good way to blow through mana.


    C took a few exploratory shots, only for the thick vines to absorb the hits.


    ¡°I need an opening!¡± He yelled.


    ¡°Conserve and save until then!¡± I yelled back.


    Right, C was set.


    Oozy fired an arrow, deadly black mist exploding over Albius¡¯s face. The dinosaur just roared, fear striking my heart, and continued charging with no regard for what happened.


    Our three frontliners scattered, splitting apart, stabbing from the flanks, cutting into the vines. Lava¡¯s head snapped back as one of the vines ¡°punched¡± him back.


    Dark Moon appeared, swiping at the leg, Darkness punching through the vines, a light scoring appearing on the leg.


    I hesitated. Just a moment, as I thought and processed what was going on.


    Fine. Today was our lucky day, and I seemed to be a perfect counter to the wrecking machine pitted against us.


    [Rapidash] twice to get me to the side of Albius, then I unleashed everything I had, going for a ¡°wide¡± application of fire, trying to set as many vines as I could on fire, to burn away his defenses.


    I was too close. It was too risky.


    A sickening crunch and crack went through my body, and I found myself hitting one of Barrier¡¯s panes of Brilliance, my arms and legs not responding to my commands as I slumped down to the floor of the Arena like a sack of potatoes.


    The announcer roared something, and the crowd was going wild. I couldn¡¯t hear them, nor could I see, as my helmet was twisted around, blocking my vision, a distant ringing in my ears as I started to pulse [Phases of the Moon] through me, not even bothering to do a full diagnostic first.


    The heal would be horribly inefficient, but given that I think I¡¯d broken my neck, I wasn¡¯t going to complain too much. Living was a priority right now, and it wasn¡¯t a sure thing.


    Feeling my body restitch itself, a sudden, well, enlightenment as I could feel my arms and legs again, the disconcerting sensation as the bones forced themselves into alignment, causing my body to flop around as they pushed against the ground to make it work.


    I felt the healing stop, my body finished repairing, my helmet still over my face. I experimentally twitched a limb or two, only to feel myself get picked up and flung.


    Fuck this.


    With a small burst of flames, I burned away the leather strap holding my helmet on, letting it fly off while I was still in the air. I got a glimpse of Albius¡¯s foot having landed right where I had just been, Lava saving my life by throwing me out of the way, risking his own in the process.


    Burnt and smoldering vines covered Albius, where previously they had formed an impenetrable armor. Deep gouges scored its side, and blades danced around it.


    This wasn¡¯t going well. I got up, and started calling out orders.


    ¡°Levitator! Oozy! Aim for the eyes! Blind it! Kill its sense of smell! Barrier, shield! Everyone who can, hit the right leg!¡± I called out, seeing that trying to directly kill the dinosaur wasn¡¯t working.


    A focused effort on the leg finally bore fruit, as after a few blows, we cut a tendon, and the leg was dragging, the dinosaur no longer charging around. A spurt of blood came from the dinosaur¡¯s face.


    ¡°Everyone back!¡± I called out.


    We regrouped on the other side of the area from the enraged, crippled dinosaur. I put hands on each teammate as they made it over, making sure they were full healed. I checked my mana.


    About 4,000 left. Screw this, I¡¯d take a fail if it came to it.


    I breathed in, feeling the mana from the Arcanite in my armor flowing into me.


    ¡°Right, it¡¯s currently crippled and enraged. The crowd¡¯s going to hate us for this, but they¡¯re not the ones down here. Oozy, Levitator, Artillery C, you¡¯re going to hit it from a distance until it¡¯s dead. I blew through most of my mana, and I¡¯m running on the emergency reserves. I¡¯d got a bit if needed, but let¡¯s not trigger a fail.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just going to move in, stab it with my spear.¡± Lava said.


    ¡°No. Stay back, it¡¯s not worth it.¡±


    He sneered at me.


    ¡°I listened to you at first, but if you think you can steal the kill just because you¡¯re sleeping with the Sentinels, you have ano-¡°


    ¡°Stand down.¡± Soldier barked at him. ¡°Ranger Elaine is in charge, and regardless of how little you like it, her orders are law.¡±


    I gave him a level look, fighting down frustration and anger that was bubbling up.


    He did just save my life, risking his own in the process, and was only bringing this up now, when we were relatively safe. It didn¡¯t excuse it, but it was¡­ mitigating.


    ¡°If you believe you¡¯ve been unfairly robbed, bring it up with Senior Drill Instructor Quintis. That dinosaur is capable of performing lethal blows that I can not save you from. My primary goal is to keep everyone alive. My secondary goal is a success on the mission.¡±


    Argh. I wish I had more to say, more elegant words. Words that would flow like honey, convince and persuade people to my way of thinking, so they could just understand.


    Whatever. I¡¯d settle for obedience for now.


    I stoically turned my back on our frontline, now our backline, as C, Oozy, and Levitator performed their bloody work. I tuned out the boos from the crowd.


    Wolfy tapped my shoulder.


    ¡°They want you to call it off, let the dinosaur live another day.¡±


    I glanced at him. I glanced at Lava. This would mollify his complaint, and he was the best man for the job.


    ¡°Lava. One spear, thrown through the head. Try to finish it fast before they stop us.¡±


    A mad grin came over his face, and throwing his spear like a javelin, impaled Albius through the head. It worked due to him explosively erupting, like his element and nickname implied, and the rest of them having worked through the dinosaur somewhat. Lava was just the final blow.


    A dismayed cry came up from the crowd, and some old produce was thrown our way. I didn¡¯t care, [Veil] deflecting some, Barrier getting the rest with his shields.


    [*Ding!* Your Party has slain an [Abelisaurus] (Wood, lv 333)]


    We beat a hasty retreat out the North gate, the crowd clearly in no mood to be celebratory with us.


    ¡°Thoughts?¡± I asked, as we navigated our way out of the arena.


    ¡°It was a setup, a test, or a mistake.¡± Hector immediately replied. ¡°That was far higher level, and more difficult, than it should be, and we ran a strong risk of dying. Additionally, that dinosaur was clearly a favorite. We don¡¯t get fed the favorites to kill and level off of.¡±


    He paused a moment, thinking.


    ¡°Does anyone here have some political connections they haven¡¯t mentioned? Anyone a Senator¡¯s kid or something? General¡¯s son?¡±


    We shook our heads. He shrugged.


    ¡°Probably a mistake then.¡±


    We got back on the boat to the island, and I decided to check my level up notifications.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 198! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pyromancer] has leveled up to level 99! +5 Free Stats, +14 Mana, +8 Mana Regen, +14 Magic power, +8 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Strength from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pyromancer] has leveled up to level 100! +5 Free Stats, +14 Mana, +8 Mana Regen, +14 Magic power, +8 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Strength from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Celestial Affinity] has reached level 198!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Center of the Galaxy] has reached level 198!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 198!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Veil of the Aurora] has reached level 198!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Training] has reached level 151!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 198!]


    [*Ding!* For reaching level 100, you¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Fireball]!]


    I pumped my arms, immediately replacing that skill with [Fireball].


    When Night had found out I¡¯d unlocked [Dragon¡¯s Breath] at level 80 ¨C which I told him via pantomime, the most amusing way of communicating a new skill ¨C he¡¯d hissed at me, and forbade me from ever using the skill. ¡°The risk is not worth the rewards. If you decide to persist, to use the skill, I will slay you where you stand.¡± He said, and I¡¯d sadly watched my level 80 skill stay at level 1 forever.


    I suppose I unlocked it by constantly breathing out flames, one part a memory from how well it worked against the goblins, three parts from seeing how successful Spitter was spraying acid out of his mouth in duels, and simply imagining dragons breathing fire.


    But now ¨C now it was all worth it. Every insult, all the pain, almost dying today.


    I had [Fireball].


    With a whoop of glee, I ran to the back of the boat, and started firing off as many [Fireballs] as I could into the Nostrum Sea.


    [Fireball]!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 16]


    [Mana: 14852/24400]


    [Mana Regen: 25604]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 360]


    [Strength: 156]


    [Dexterity: 213]


    [Vitality: 297]


    [Speed: 220]


    [Mana: 2440]


    [Mana Regeneration: 2903]


    [Magic Power: 2148]


    [Magic Control: 2475]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 198]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 198]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 189]


    [Medicine: 188]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 198]


    [Phases of the Moon: 198]


    [Moonlight: 160]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 198]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 138]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 100]]


    [Fire Affinity: 100]


    [Fire Resistance: 100]


    [Fire Conjuration: 100]


    [Fire Manipulation: 100]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 100]


    [Burn Brightly: 100]


    [Rapidash: 100]


    [Fireball: 1]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 130]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 144]


    [Pretty: 128]


    [Vigilant: 185]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 195]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 166]


    [Training: 150]


    [Learning: 198]

 Chapter 110– Ranger Academy X

    Four days before Summer Solstice. The halfway mark of Ranger Academy.


    We were all assembled together, full armor and weapons, a rare break from the constant lessons.


    ¡°Trainees! You¡¯ve managed to make it this far. Congratulations! Today, we¡¯re hosting a tournament, to see which one of you is the best fighter in individual combat! Support and Utility will get their own bracket! Any questions?¡± Quintis roared at us.


    A half-dozen hands shot up.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad to see no questions! Trainees, move out!¡±


    I suppressed a chuckle as I jogged along with everyone else to the waiting ship. We still fell for that one.


    Military discipline was one thing, but Rangers were notoriously lax, and enough time had passed from the Hell Months where some quiet whispering occurred as we were heading along to the ship.


    ¡°What do you think¡­.?¡±


    ¡°Mages? Against Warriors? Is that fair?¡±


    ¡°To who? The mages or the warriors?¡±


    We got on the ship, and started to sail towards the capital.


    ¡°Obviously the mages have an advantage. A one-on-one fight? Short of a mage-killer, the mage will win.¡±


    ¡°For like, two, three rounds. Then they¡¯re out of mana, and a mage with no mana is a dead mage.¡±


    ¡°Not if they take out all the warriors first!¡±


    ¡°No way they all get taken out first.¡±


    I tuned out the endless debates, focusing on my own problem.


    I¡¯d come round ¨C and as a result, [Oath] had come round ¨C to the idea that sparring was good. Sure, minor injuries could occur, but they¡¯d always be fixed, and in the long-run, it was good. It helped sharpen people, it increased their chances of survival. It was a net benefit, and nothing I did to people caused damage. Not that I was blasting flames, nor did I have the stats to properly make it through our sparring armor and cause any harm. Sparring was kosher.


    The ship landed, and we neatly exited, jogging down the streets in formation to the arena. We were going to be good entertainment, but we were nothing like the grand plans the colosseum had for the Solstice. We were a warm-up, and one that didn¡¯t even justify being that close to the main event.


    On the obvious note, when someone was trying to kill me, I had no problems performing violence right back at them.


    What was the right move in a duel that wasn¡¯t meant to train, or improve, but to rank, and show off? To determine who was better, who was the best?


    I didn¡¯t have anyone I could bounce it off. Night was my go-to on [Oath] dilemmas when Artemis wasn¡¯t around, but like most of our missions and ¡®live¡¯ practice, this had come out of the blue, to better mimic ¡°real¡± conditions.


    Having gone through the ¡°real¡± conditions myself, I knew that scouting, prep, and planning was the name of the game, not throwing people in blind. The only ¡°blind¡± fights we had was when we were attacked ¨C by Classers or goblins or other monsters ¨C and those we didn¡¯t have the luxury of getting our armor on ahead of time.


    I shrugged to myself, and the shape of a plan started to take hold. I knew what to do. I knew exactly what to do¡­


    I was classified as one of the ¡°Support and Utility¡±, blessedly not having to fight against a dedicated mage. They¡¯d chew me up and spit me out, especially in a duel like this.


    Our group was the first one to go ¨C we were less exciting than the mages, warriors, and rangers, aka the cool shiny explosive group.


    For once, I wasn¡¯t on ¡°stop the fight and heal¡± duty. The Ranger healers had that handled today, since in theory that was their job. Also, free tickets to the show for them, and a good day¡¯s pay. What was there to not like?


    I could see why convincing healers to go on the road, and not stay in town healing, was so difficult.


    ¡°Elaine. ELAINE!¡±


    I snapped to it as Instructor Jason called my name.


    ¡°Huh? What? Yeah?¡± I said, jumping slightly.


    ¡°You¡¯re up. Come on.¡±


    Whoops! Good thing this wasn¡¯t important.


    I walked out to the announcer calling me.


    ¡°From the East gate, Trainee Elaine!¡±


    A polite smattering of applause, some hoots and hollers.


    I looked at my opponent. It was Aura, who specialized in a dozen different supporting auras. He could buff himself with it, but his real power was in being able to buff everyone around him ¨C selectively. Incredibly useful in a team fight, pretty awful in a 1 v 1. It did make him a better fighter though.


    We saluted each other, and I implemented my dueling strategy ¨C Operation ¡®she¡¯s lost her marbles.¡¯


    I kept my sword sheathed, planted my spear, and raised my hand up into the air, conjuring the largest, fattest gout of flame I could muster. There was no density to it, barely any heat ¨C it was mostly for show. I threw a few fireballs around the arena, making sure they hit sand, far away from Aura or any spectators.


    ¡°Burn! Burn! Burn my pretties! Burn him to the ground! Burn the sand! Burn the stadium! Burn the people, ignite the town, let all be consumed by the all-devouring flames! The pretty glow of embers against the sky, the roar of the inferno in my ears! I wish to see it all, and it starts here, it starts today, it starts ¨C with you!¡±


    ¡°Come closer, lie down upon the sandy altar of blood that is the floor of this colosseum, and give yourself over to the consuming flames! Free your body, free your mind, let all your worries burn away!¡±


    ¡°Let us start a wildfire! A grand inferno to burn the city down! Hundreds of levels! Together, we will-¡°


    Aura didn¡¯t let me finish, charging towards me, spear leveled at me. I cursed, turning the flames off, keeping my hand up in the air.


    ¡°I surrender.¡±


    My early exit of the tournament afforded me a good seat to watch the rest of it, not that I paid it that much attention. Even being in the stands was a serious risk, that I¡¯d see something that would demand I jump into the arena, and put a stop to it, heal the person who¡¯d gotten injured. Bless the medics on standby, they always arrived before I was more than halfway out of my seat.


    Operation ¡®Pretend I¡¯d gone nuts¡¯ had been a complete failure. I figured that Aura wouldn¡¯t want to tangle with a mage ¨C correctly ¨C and I¡¯d tried to bluff having snapped and gone nuts, ready to burn him down.


    He¡¯d just shaken his head, put a hand on my shoulder, and told me.


    ¡°Ranger Elaine. We know you too well. We know you wouldn¡¯t go crazy like that, and even if you did, your [Oath] would stop you. If you did go crazy, the only solution would be to kill you anyways ¨C what Rangers are for, literally what we¡¯re training to do. Lastly, your acting sucks.¡±


    With that smarting analysis of my shortcomings, I spent the rest of the day in the stands, watching.


    The finals, to the surprise of some, was Hulk against Lava, the mages having run out of mana after a few rounds, then getting roundly beaten up by the remaining physical Trainees. In the end, while the mages had gotten some lessons from Artemis, none of them had her ability to efficiently take people apart over extended periods of time.


    This wasn¡¯t the first time this particular duel had occurred. Hulk usually had an edge, although if Lava could get going, it was anyone¡¯s duel.


    It was short. Hulk was one of the few people who used their own weapon. If I was being generous, I¡¯d call it a large quarterstaff. If I wasn¡¯t feeling generous, it was a small tree with the branches trimmed off.


    Lava had already erupted a half-dozen times today, and the volcano was out of fuel. Hulk simply beat him down with brutal efficiency until Lava surrendered.


    Aura ended up winning the support side of things. His buffs got him to the stage of a weak warrior, which was far above the combat prowess of most of the other supports. Barrier was his opponent in the end, and he didn¡¯t make the mistake the other utility Trainees made, which was getting too close. Instead, he kept dancing back, whacking at the shields Barrier made, then threw things at Barrier from a distance, not falling for the fake ¡°I¡¯m out of mana¡± Barrier was pretending to have, in a last-ditch attempt to lure Aura closer.


    Alchemist was declared an honorary third place, having not been allowed to properly compete. It¡¯d be too expensive, and too dangerous.


    I snuck to the back of the boat on the way home, and threw a few fireballs into the water. It was satisfying, watching the soccerball-sized ball of flame go whizzing off, hitting the water and erupting into a ball of flames.


    Even Artemis had been slightly surprised at the enthusiasm I¡¯d taken to practicing - and leveling up - [Fireball], me throwing them at every spare moment.


    Morning run? [Fireball] into the sea.


    Obstacle course? [Fireball] before the balance beam, [Fireball] on the balance beam, and one last [Fireball] as I jumped off the balance beam. All into the Nostrum Sea, conveniently to my right as I did all this.


    I¡¯d been banned from throwing [Fireball] anywhere else, after the third incident.


    We don¡¯t talk about those.


    We made it back as the sun was setting, had a lovely dinner at the Villa.


    ¡°Ranger Elaine.¡± Arthur ¨C or Toxic, as he was when he was calling me by my formal name ¨C ¡°Our lessons continue tonight.¡±


    I saluted, the effect dramatically diminished by the entire apple held in my mouth.


    ¡°Understood.¡± I tried to say, but it came out more ¡°Undastoof.¡± The perils of talking with your mouth full.


    Reflecting on it, it was strange. I¡¯d seen most of the Sentinels at dinner, except for Night and Magic. The others were rare ¨C only if they were around ¨C but they did show up now and then.


    For that matter, had I ever met Magic?


    The ¡®lessons¡¯ with Arthur were no more than the Instructors and Sentinels wanting free entertainment out of me. Apparently, it was an open secret amongst them that any bards or bard-like classes, when they rarely joined the Rangers and passed to the lesson portion of training, got press-ganged into entertainment services. It got boring on the island, especially when you weren¡¯t a Sentinel, able to easily come and go back to the capital on a whim.


    Given how close we were to the Solstice, I had a special play in mind.


    ¡°Welcome! Come one, come all, to Elaine¡¯s nightly performance! Tonight, a special one, for the season ¨C A Midsummer¡¯s Night Dream! By the Bard himself!¡±


    I got some scattered applause, one of the Instructors particularly pleased with Shakespeare letting me know his appreciation. I curtseyed at the crowd ¨C involuntarily having gotten some social graces beaten into me by sheer virtue of practice. I really could make a living as a bard.


    Or, more likely, I could try to pass off my second class as being Bardic, the correction and amplification from [Recollection] doing a weak mimic of the class.


    ¡°Be advised, fair maid;


    To you your father should be as a god,¡­.¡±


    The tune and words of A Midsummer¡¯s Night Dream came out, the effect massively diminished by me trying to play every single role. I had a dozen different masks, each with a number on them, that I put on for each different role. Thesues was a mask with a 1 on it, Hippolyta with a 2, and so on and so forth.


    As with all the works of Shakespeare, it was a hit, and I bowed to the applause at the end.


    50-50 on [Recollection] leveling. It hadn¡¯t leveled up for the last few performances, and Midsummer¡¯s was new enough that I had a shot.


    Come on, come on¡­. Yes!


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Recollection of a Distant Life] has reached level 152!]


    The Instructors left, most off to bed, or whatever other entertainment they had planned for themselves, while Night and I went for our usual walk, his guidance and mentorship invaluable, the reason I¡¯d gotten most of the levels I had. We¡¯d talked about various general skills I could get, along with solid stat builds to go along with them, inventive uses of my skills, and long, deep discussions on my [Oath], somehow managing to probe and discover all the boundaries without triggering or causing problems.


    ¡°Your performance tonight was elegantly done.¡± Night always started the conversations, usually after we¡¯d walked in silence for some time.


    I knew the game; I knew the pattern. He was happier when I mimicked him. Him arranging the fight against Albius, as well-meaning as the intention had been to get me experience, still weighed on my mind though. Walking was good for thinking, for processing. Step. Step. Step. Step.


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Step. Step.


    ¡°With that being said, I have come to realize that you are like an infant who¡¯s somehow managed to unlock their System, throwing around skills without a care for the world, nor the damage and destruction that could be caused. This must be rectified.¡±


    I wanted to say something, I had a powerful urge to defend myself.


    I shut up. Night knew what he was talking about.


    ¡°Creatures that are nothing more than stories, myths and legends, nothing more than a dream to you are very present here. You¡¯ve already been lectured on one, and yet, you persist in being flippant. Creatures like centaurs, elves, dwarves, selkies, goblins, orcs, trolls, and so many more ¨C yes. They are safely ignored, dismissed. Oh, do not mistake me ¨C they shall kill you as quick as anything, but they are entertaining fodder for discussion.¡±


    ¡°The Fae are not. They do not hear when they are called, but may come none the less. They do not follow the rules. They are unbound by the System. If you could, if somehow you managed to slay one, you would receive no reward, no accolades from the System, no experience. You would also invoke their wrath, which is not survivable, instead of their ire. They may look human, they may act human, but they could not be further from human. The way they think, what they want, are entirely foreign to us. Never think you understand them.¡±


    Bless Night for insisting on silent contemplation after each sentence. He¡¯d just dropped a dozen bombshells on me.


    And for most of them, my mind broke, unable to get past a simple question, a simple problem which hadn¡¯t come up before, which I hadn¡¯t even realized back when Julius shut me up all that time ago.


    How could he know?


    Nobody I knew spoke of elves and dwarves. Centaurs weren¡¯t even a figure of stories, there were no lessons on how to slay trolls, or how to battle orcs. Yet, Night just casually dropped all of them, like he had personal experience with it.


    And if D----ns were so dangerous, so deadly ¨C how did anyone know about them? How did that knowledge survive, how was it passed on?


    Curiouser and curiouser. Night hated questions about him, and I wasn¡¯t going to poke the bear, not when the bear was already¡­ irritated¡­ with me.


    ¡°The fae are elusive and secretive, generous and helpful, even-handed and fair, cruel and spiteful, all in one, all at the same time. The less you deal with them, the better off you shall be. Indeed, strive to never interact with them.¡±


    ¡°For you to know about the Fae. Take heed, for I shall not repeat myself.¡± Night said.


    ¡°


    Strike no deal with them, make no bargain.Take nor offer a gift.Be nothing if not polite and courteous. Give no insult.Do not lie. They can not lie, but never think they speak the truth.Keep your word.Do not give them thanks.Do not partake of their food or wine.Do not spy, nor violate their privacy.Do not give them your full name¡­ a task you might struggle with. Give them a moniker if you must.Do not violate their rings.


    These things seven may grant protection against the Fae, each in its own manner.


    Cold Iron, pressed to flesh.A four-leaf clover, to grant vision.Wearing clothes inside out, to confuse, amuse, and befuddle.Salt, sprinkled around in a circle.Arcanite, pulsing with mana to blind.The Symbol of the Five Gods, worn sincerelyA wreath of holly, a crown upon your head.¡±


    ¡°We arm our soldiers with steel, not only because it is better than iron, but because we do not wish to give systemic offense to the Fae. A single individual, or even a collection individually deciding to protect themselves will go unnoticed. A large attempt to ward them off will cause offense, and the full might of mischievous faeries would descend upon the troublemakers. Accidental warding would be one thing, but as I have the knowledge to the contrary, it would be seen as an affront.¡±


    We walked, for maybe twenty minutes in silence as I engraved that knowledge on my soul. After the time, Night spoke again.


    ¡°I wish to compliment your work in Perinthus. I had not heard of the wide-scale attempt to ward off the Fae, and if that knowledge had been brought to me, the outcome would have been¡­ different.¡±


    A vision of fire and steel, of a town being put to the sword, ran through my mind, and I shuddered.


    ¡°What¡­ mischief¡­ can the Fae Folk wrought?¡± I asked, finding myself slipping into Night¡¯s manner of speaking. Blah. It was like gristle in my teeth.


    Night chuckled, amused.


    ¡°Whatever mischief they please. They are unbound by the System. They can do what they want.¡±


    ¡°Swapping a newborn babe with a changeling. Luring you in to dance, dance until your legs are bloody stumps, dance until you must dance with your hands, for your legs are no more. Hide things of yours, move them, misplace them ¨C that is the least of the harm they may bring. Lead you astray, with pixie-lights and will-o-wisps, into a bog to your demise. Or worse, into one of their rings, where you may emerge the next day, a hundred years older ¨C or a hundred years later, with only a day having passed for you. Music, entrancing and beguiling. It seems oh so safe to just listen, to hear, to get just a bit more of the magical, otherworldly tunes ¨C but you shall listen until you die. Accept a gift of a pebble, and they shall demand the gift of your firstborn in turn. For to them, this is a fair trade. Accept a flower, and they may ask for the heart of your lover, and you will be compelled to fill said bargain, to give them said gift in return. Cruelty and fair play ¨C by their standards, which you could be bound to.¡±


    With that troubling note, we spoke no more, as I struggled to digest and remember everything that was said.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 17]


    [Mana: 26710/26710]


    [Mana Regen: 27637]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 492]


    [Strength: 164]


    [Dexterity: 212]


    [Vitality: 297]


    [Speed: 220]


    [Mana: 2671]


    [Mana Regeneration: 3107]


    [Magic Power: 2347]


    [Magic Control: 2651]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 205]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 205]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 190]


    [Medicine: 190]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 205]


    [Phases of the Moon: 205]


    [Moonlight: 165]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 205]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 138]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 108]]


    [Fire Affinity: 108]


    [Fire Resistance: 108]


    [Fire Conjuration: 108]


    [Fire Manipulation: 108]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 108]


    [Burn Brightly: 108]


    [Rapidash: 108]


    [Fireball: 108]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 131]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 152]


    [Pretty: 129]


    [Vigilant: 188]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 197]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 168]


    [Training: 154]


    [Learning: 205]

 Chapter 111– Ranger Academy XI

    Early winter of the second year of Ranger Academy.


    ¡°Trainees! Fall in after dinner!¡± One of the instructors roared at us as we were eating dinner.


    Those of us sitting at the same table all turned our heads to stare at Wolfy, who¡¯d more than earned his reputation for intel-gathering.


    ¡°What? I have no idea.¡± He said.


    We good-naturedly pelted him with breadcrumbs.


    ¡°This is so unfair.¡± He said, brushing the crumbs off his tunic when we were done. ¡°None of you knew either, why am I the one that gets penalized?¡±


    ¡°Because we expect you to know!¡± Dancer cheerfully said. ¡°Any bets?¡±


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s gotta be a non-standard class, right?¡± I said.


    ¡°Duh. It¡¯s not the first time they¡¯ve done this.¡± Aura gave me a look like ¡°Are you dumb or something?¡±


    I sank down a bit and muttered darkly to myself. Next time I¡¯d [Fireball] him¡­


    We fell in after dinner, most of us being smart enough to keep it light.


    ¡°Mages! On me!¡± A familiar voice called out. My eyes widened.


    Artemis!!


    I blew [Rapidash] just to be in front, grinning like a lunatic as I met Artemis¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Heya Ranger healy-bug.¡± She said, grinning back. ¡°We¡¯re going to have fun today!¡±


    In a more serious tone, she called out. ¡°Mages! Follow me!¡±


    We jogged, following Artemis ¨C Instructor Artemis ¨C to a large field.


    ¡°Attention Trainees! I¡¯m Instructor Artemis. Most of you know me, some of you don¡¯t. I was a Ranger for 14 years, and retired recently. Special lecture today on fighting other mages. Rules are as follows: remove the lower left leg, you win. Trainees, attention! Spread out in a single-file line.¡±


    We shuffled around quickly.


    ¡°Ranger Elaine. Fall out.¡± Artemis said. I stepped out of formation, and walked over to her as she beckoned.


    ¡°Wait a moment, then heal.¡± She whispered to me. ¡°Stand away from me.¡±


    I knew what Artemis said would make sense in a minute or two.


    ¡°I know, I know, most of you think you¡¯re hotshots. Who¡¯d like a duel to start?¡±


    There were some nervous mutterings, then one of the Trainees raised his hand.


    Artemis didn¡¯t even blink. A quarter of a second later, the rock had finished going through the Trainee¡¯s knee, and he was on the ground screaming.


    I waited a heartbeat, then moved over to him, healing him up.


    ¡°First rule of mage duels! There¡¯s no such thing as a fair fight!¡± Artemis said, leaning forward, lifting her left leg up and behind her.


    ¡°Would anyone else like to try?¡± She said, from the awkward pose that also made her almost unbeatable.


    ¡°Also, because at least two of you are getting the bright idea to attack me first ¨C you¡¯re not allowed to attack the Instructor without announcing your plan first.¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s-¡° one of the Trainees said.


    ¡°Not fair?¡± Artemis finished. ¡°Exactly. You should never be in a fair fight. There¡¯s no such thing. Hit them from behind. Hit them when they¡¯re not looking. Hit them without announcing yourself. Hit them, six against one when they¡¯re sitting in a cell.¡±


    Artemis paused a moment, letting it sink in.


    ¡°There were plenty of Rangers with notions of fair play. They¡¯re dead. I have no notion of fair play. I¡¯m retired. Do the math. It¡¯s much, much easier to say ¡®I¡¯m sorry, I screwed up and hit or killed the wrong person¡¯ than it is to attend your own funeral. Attendance is mandatory for that one.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve screwed up plenty of times. I¡¯ve killed dozens of people by accident, or who weren¡¯t actually a threat. On one level, they haunt me. On the other ¨C yeah, I¡¯m pretty happy to be alive.¡±


    ¡°Just about all of you know how to use your class and magic well. I¡¯m here to teach you as many tricks about fighting dirty as possible.¡±


    ¡°Anyone have a powerful shield skill?¡±


    Barrier ¨C for some reason he was in the class ¨C raised his hand.


    ¡°Great! Shield up!¡±


    He promptly put his shield up, then looked at Artemis, defiant look in his eyes.


    ¡°Great!¡±


    Artemis threw a few rocks at the shield.


    ¡°Now, normally this barrier would be hard for me to break. It¡¯s also a good one, and I can¡¯t conjure up rocks or lightning inside the barrier to hit him ¨C remember that trick by the way, it¡¯s good for killing most barrier mages ¨C however, watch this trick.¡±


    ¡°Trainees! New orders! Bring down that barrier!¡±


    Barrier went pale as all sorts of projectiles were sent his way, a massive barrage of rocks, metal, wood, flames, water, an air blade, and more. I started running towards him, seeing how this would end.


    ¡°Trainees! Halt!¡± Artemis shouted out.


    Barrier was pretty beaten up, but nobody had gone too hard. His legs were a mangled mess though, and I started to patch him up.


    ¡°First dirty trick ¨C bring friends. No such thing as a honorable 1 vs 1 duel, not in our line of work. Let¡¯s continue¡­.¡±


    ¡°Ranger Elaine. Excellent, you are on time.¡± Night said, at the start of Toxic¡¯s entertainment time.


    Night looked around, and spotted Instructor Jason.


    ¡°Ranger Jason. Remain. The rest of you ¨C leave.¡±


    There wasn¡¯t even an angry mutter at Night rudely killing entertainment hour, just muttered, respectful ¡°Night.¡± and salutes as each Instructor took their leave.


    Also, wait ¨C Ranger Jason? Not Instructor Jason?


    Most of the Sentinels stuck around.


    ¡°We have arrived at a decision. Toxic. Prepare what you need. Ranger Jason. Full exploratory gear. Sky ¨C get the ship ready. Ranger Elaine. With Ranger Jason, get a second set of gear. Nature. You may come if you¡¯d like. Meet back here on the next gong strike.¡±


    I saluted, and followed Ranger Jason, who had a pained look on his face.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I asked him, suddenly an equal with the titles used.


    ¡°Blah. Night¡¯s going on a long trip, you, Toxic, and Nature are going along, and Sky¡¯s going to be transporting. Me? I drew a short straw, and I¡¯m going to be gone for a few weeks, maybe a month or two. No idea with you. Although, maybe we¡¯re going together? Impromptu wilderness survival trip, that you¡¯re on because you¡¯re a Ranger? Giving me some backup, a team of two?¡±


    We arrived at the Instructor-only portion of the villa, and being escorted in by one of the Instructors was enough to not have anyone challenge me. We made it to what I assumed was their armory, filled with armor, weapons, and all manner of survival tools and packs.


    This wasn¡¯t the slightly aged stuff they had Trainees use. This was the good stuff.


    A gruff older man I immediately mentally dubbed ¡°Armorer¡± was sitting in the room, stitching a cloak back together, the material looking good as new under his careful ministrations.


    ¡°Ranger Elaine. Fourth armor set on the right is yours. Get it on, I¡¯ll adjust after. Ranger Jason. Seventh set on the left. I hope I don¡¯t need to adjust it more.¡±


    The Look Armorer gave Jason let him know that he better not have gained any weight, and I silently resolved never to be on his bad side.


    ¡°Two exploratory packs please.¡± Jason asked, putting his armor on. I did the same, a few places a little tighter, a little less comfortable, from how I remembered it.


    Armorer grunted, walking in the back, coming out with two large backpacks, shovels hanging off the side, a sleeping roll on top. He walked over to me, put a hand on my armor, and, with a speed that put Maximus to shame, my armor immediately fit, like a snug second skin. Even the padding under it shifted to cling to me, like it¡¯d been vacuumed on.


    Thinking about it, it¡¯d be hell to get out of, but then again, I suspected I was going to be in this for some time.


    We geared up, and met back in the courtyard.


    Arthur was being, well, Toxic, and I could see what Maximus had meant by ¡°getting stranger.¡± He was carrying a massive ¨C and I had no other word for it ¨C dresser on his back, dozens of little sliding wooden boxes neatly labeled, and a huge corked gourd.


    ¡°Do I want to know?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, a benefit of being a Sentinel is support.¡± Arthur cheerfully told me. ¡°I have all sorts of poisons now, from all over! Neatly delivered to me. This here,¡± He said, patting the gourd. ¡°Is a special project, and most of the reason for our trip.¡±


    ¡°Pray, tell me, why do you see it appropriate to give all this information to Ranger Elaine?¡± Night said, stalking in from the shadows.


    Toxic saluted him.


    ¡°Sir! She¡¯s going to be our teammate on this mission. Shared information is worthwhile, and my personal evaluation is that she¡¯s need-to-know.¡±


    Night hissed in an amused fashion.


    ¡°Well reasoned. It looks like Nature will not be joining us. Sky, get down here.¡±


    The last line was directed up, and Sky dropped down.


    ¡°Aww, but we still had more time until the gong!¡± He complained.


    Night just gave him a long, flat stare, until Sky wilted.


    ¡°Alright, alright, let¡¯s go already!¡±


    Sky shot off into the distance, and Night gave a long-suffering sigh at his antics.


    We made our way to where Sky had shot off, to find what looked like at first glance to be a small sailboat, with enough room for a dozen people to be seated comfortably, and five large Arcanite stones, seated in the middle of the boat, locked in by mystical rings. Inscriptions glowed all over the boat, a trail of little lights along the rim, and at the top of the sail.


    ¡°Hop on, hop on! Let¡¯s gooooo!¡± Sky said.


    We gave Toxic room as he went on first, nobody wanting to be near his chest or jug of extremely deadly poisons. Or Toxins. Ranger Jason hopped on next, I followed him, and without a whisper, or movement of air, Nature appeared out of nowhere, leaping into the boat, settling down without a word. Night raised an eyebrow at this, but with aristocratic grace, settled into the boat as well.


    The boat was on dry land, but with all the magic I¡¯d seen, I wasn¡¯t going to question anything.


    ¡°Hope you have a strong stomach! By the way, if you fall off, I¡¯m not catching you. You¡¯re on your own.¡± Sky said.


    Night hissed at him.


    ¡°If Toxic¡¯s gourd should fall, you will retrieve it, understood?¡±


    Sky wouldn¡¯t meet Night¡¯s eyes, as he muttered something about ¡°personal responsibility¡±, but then went around, tapping all of us.


    ¡°95% weight reduction! And now, for the main event!¡± He said, wind starting to howl around us, sail catching the wind.


    ¡°Up! Up! And awaaaaaaaaay!¡±


    The wind caught the boat, and the combination of skills, inscriptions, and generally good construction, caused the boat to catch the wind, lifting us off the ground.


    ¡°Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!¡± Sky yelled in pure glee, hand on the Arcanite. ¡°This never gets old!¡±


    Night had a smile, and Arthur looked positively giddy. Nature just looked dour, and Ranger Jason looked like he was going to be sick.


    ¡°Westwards.¡± Night ordered.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I got it.¡± Sky shot back.


    We started flying, a powerful gale at our back, moving our little boat along the currents of the air.


    ¡°Ranger Elaine. This is the Pegasus. While it¡¯s no great secret that Sentinels have ways of rapidly moving around Remus, we prefer for you to not shout about it from the rooftops. Understood?¡±


    I saluted.


    ¡°Sir! Yes sir!¡±


    ¡°Very good. Ranger Jason will soon demonstrate some of the more interesting aspects of the Pegasus.¡±


    I heard some soft cursing from him, his face in a deep frown.


    ¡°Could we at least land ¨C¡°


    ¡°No.¡±


    More cursing and swears, softly, self-directed. Night seemed to let it slide.


    We traveled through the night, going at a blistering pace, the miles beneath us being devoured, occasionally dipping through the clouds as Sky had some fun moving us up and down.


    ¡°First crystal down!¡± Sky cheerfully informed us.


    Everyone else seemed to be trying to doze, and I mimicked them.


    A few hours later ¨C ¡°Second crystal down! Time to shine Jason!¡±


    Ranger Jason cursed, and opened up his bag. Two of the massive Arcanite Crystals were removed, dimmer than before, having been completely depleted. They got packed into his bag.


    ¡°Best of luck!¡± Sky said, tapping him.


    ¡°Hang on, wait a mom-¡° Ranger Jason tried to say, before Sky physically threw him out of the boat.


    As we were going through a cloud.


    ¡°I haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttttttttttttteeeeeeeeeeeeeeee ttttttthhhhhhhhiiiiiiiii-¡°


    I leaned back with surprise.


    ¡°Uhhhh-¡°


    ¡°Arcanite is heavy. People are heavy. Once the two crystals are drained, it is worth removing them, to make the rest of what we have last longer. At the same time, Arcanite of that size is exceptionally valuable. Ranger Jason now needs to make his way back to Headquarters with the Arcanite, so it may be used once more in the future.¡±


    Basically, thrown off with ridiculously expensive, heavy crystals, in the middle of the wilderness, and expected to make his way back to HQ with them.


    Alone.


    No wonder he¡¯d looked so sour at the duty.


    ¡°Where are we heading?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The frontlines. Toxic wishes to try a new way of poisoning the Formorians, and your knowledge could be useful as he refines his attempts.¡±


    Oh.


    We continued to fly through the night, trying to doze fitfully, as Sky kept making happy noises, occasionally making the Pegasus swoop about ¨C waking us all up, making us glare at him.


    Dawn broke, we broke into some light breakfast, Night scowling as he threw a cowl over his head, wrapping himself up in his cloak, and generally did all he could to subtly stay out of the sun.


    ¡°Hey Elaine, you never mentioned your level 200 healer skill.¡± Arthur said, making some conversation. ¡°It¡¯s usually something good.¡±


    I snorted at the memory.


    ¡°I was offered [Astrological Horoscope]. Something about ¡®reading the stars to learn what was wrong with a patient.¡¯ Wasn¡¯t worth the spot ¨C [Medicine] and my own experience does most of that already. I¡¯m also sour on the snake-oil that¡¯s astrology. I¡¯d rather just throw more mana at the problem if it comes to that.¡±


    Arthur shrugged.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know enough about it to comment. Shame the 200 skill was a dud though.¡±


    I shrugged, not having much to say. After some time, we had some lunch, and then we arrived.


    At the frontlines. The eternal war against the Formorians, trying to overrun humanity. The walls, holding them back. The 4th ¨C 20th legion, locked in never-ending conflict.


    The massive pseudo-city of camp followers, making sure the soldiers¡¯ every need was met. This was the first major encampment that didn¡¯t have complete surrounding walls, just a sprawl of humanity.


    The destination of our journey.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 17]


    [Mana: 28120/28120]


    [Mana Regen: 28953]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 576]


    [Strength: 168]


    [Dexterity: 212]


    [Vitality: 297]


    [Speed: 220]


    [Mana: 2812]


    [Mana Regeneration: 3239]


    [Magic Power: 2466]


    [Magic Control: 2766]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 210]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 210]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 193]


    [Medicine: 192]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 210]


    [Phases of the Moon: 210]


    [Moonlight: 177]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 210]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 139]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 112]]


    [Fire Affinity: 112]


    [Fire Resistance: 112]


    [Fire Conjuration: 112]


    [Fire Manipulation: 112]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 112]


    [Burn Brightly: 112]


    [Rapidash: 112]


    [Fireball: 112]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 133]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 156]


    [Pretty: 130]


    [Vigilant: 192]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 199]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 172]


    [Training: 160]


    [Learning: 210]

 Chapter 112.1– Ranger Academy XII

    The frontlines were vast. Even from our vantage point so high in the sky, the walls and encampments stretched to the horizon, beyond my view. The feature that immediately caught my attention were three massive walls. I couldn¡¯t see how tall or thick they were, but the fact that the people walking on them looked like ants spoke to an enormous size.


    Large slabs of stone jutted out from the walls at regular intervals, a perpendicular slice pushing deep into hostile territory. It reminded me of a cross between Pride Rock from The Lion King, and Minas Tirith from The Lord of the Rings. There seemed to be people hauling sleds full of rocks up the slope of the juts. Empty sleds were brought down, and I kinda wanted to try sledding down the hill.


    Between the three walls were two sections, full of neatly organized and regimented tents, dozens of tents making up the short section between the walls. I mentally dubbed it the ¡°Military¡± section. Outside of the third wall, on the ¡°safe¡± side, was a wild riot of tents, wooden shacks, the occasional stone building, and it was safe to say that the words ¡°planning¡± and ¡°organization¡± weren¡¯t to be found in any of the documents governing that area. I mentally dubbed it the ¡°camp-follower¡± section. It was the perfect offering to Xaoc, God of Chaos, and the place could practically be a temple to him, if Xaoc went for that sort of thing.


    As we started to come in for landing, more details became clear. Soldiers patrolled both the ¡°military¡± and the ¡°camp-follower¡± section. Wooden walls, of a more normal size, were in layers in the ¡°dangerous¡± section outside the walls.


    I got my first good look at the Formorians. They were huge, jet-black ant-like creatures, slightly larger than the average man, with massive, crushing mandibles, an endless black tide that covered the earth.


    They charged in endless waves, into a solid phalanx formed by the soldiers, two deep. The rocks being hauled up the stone juts made it to the top, where mages magically grabbed them, throwing them without any apparent aim into the vast, endless horde of Formorians.


    There was no need to aim. Any shot would land.


    Screams and cries came from the battlefield, stretching endlessly from horizon to horizon. There must¡¯ve been literal millions of the Formorians, and less than a tenth of that in human manpower.


    A massive gout of flames came from one section.


    A billow of yellow gas from another.


    Ice shards, tripping vines, blurring spears, red blades, ballista arrows, metal buckshot, lightning bolts, crashing water, searing light, toxic spores, ashen spikes, brilliant shields, lava shots and so many, many more skills were constantly unleashed upon the endless, never-ending, never-ceasing horde.


    We clearly passed some type of boundary, as my System went nuts.


    [*Ding!* Your Army has slain a [Formorian] (Wood, lv 120)]


    [*Ding!* Your Army has slain a [Formorian] (Wood, lv 120)]


    [*Ding!* Your Army has slain a [Formorian] (Wood, lv 120)]


    [*Ding!* Your Army has slain a [Formorian] (Wood, lv 120)]


    [*Ding!* Your Army has slain a [Formorian] (Wood, lv 120)]


    [*Ding!* Your Army has slain a [Formorian] (Wood, lv 120)]


    [*Ding!* Your Army has slain a [Formorian] (Wood, lv 120)]


    [*Ding!* Your Army has slain a [Formorian] (Wood, lv 120)]


    [*Ding!* Your Army has slain a [Formorian] (Wood, lv 120)]


    [*Ding!* Your Army has slain a [Formorian] (Wood, lv 120)]


    [*Ding!* Your Army has slain a [Formorian] (Wood, lv 120)]


    [*Ding!* Your Army has slain a [Formorian] (Wood, lv 120)]


    [*Ding!* Your Army has slain a [Formorian] (Wood, lv 120)]


    Hundreds ¨C no thousands ¨C no, more ¨C notifications were steaming past me in a dizzying array, *Ding!*¡¯s going off like a battalion of machine guns.


    I disabled all notifications dealing with Formorians. Holy.


    ¡°Heh. Pay up.¡± Arthur said to Sky, holding his hand out.


    ¡°Oh, come on! You warned her! No fair!¡± Sky whined.


    Arthur shook his head.


    ¡°I did no such thing. Pay up. You lost fair and square.¡±


    Sky grumbled, but paid up, a money pouch changing hands.


    ¡°What was the bet?¡± I asked.


    ¡°How fast you¡¯d turn notifications off and return back to us. Happens to everyone.¡±


    I tilted my head.


    ¡°Everyone ¨C every single person ¨C on the frontlines is considered to be part of the Army, according to the System, from the soldiers doing the fighting, to the washer-women cleaning clothes. Everyone gets a tiny portion of the experience, and the more you¡¯re participating in your class to assist with the war effort, the more experience you get.¡± Arthur explained.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s real shit though.¡± Sky said. ¡°A solo kill¡¯s worth more than twice as much experience as killing a monster with a partner. The more people you have, not only is the experience spread out among more people, there¡¯s less of it to go around. There¡¯s several hundred thousand people here, making the experience shitty.¡±


    ¡°Unless you directly participate in the combat.¡± Night said, the first words he¡¯d said since the sun came up, sounding particularly grumpy.


    ¡°Yeah, but even then, it¡¯s almost impossible to get over 180.¡± Sky grumbled.


    ¡°Which is exactly why we request new Trainees to be level 180. It demonstrates a strong commitment to the frontlines, and only the smart, the strong, make it that far.¡±


    ¡°Do people die that much?¡± I asked, horrified by the prospect.


    Nature scuffed at me, the first sound I¡¯d heard from him all trip. I jumped, having forgotten about him.


    ¡°No. But it¡¯s easy to be a coward, to simply hold the line.¡±


    ¡°We have arrived.¡± Night said, as we landed close to the biggest tent I¡¯d seen so far, the fabric of the tent red, with purple trimming.


    ¡°Nature. You are free to do as you please. Report to this section¡¯s Centurion once a week such that you can be located, if the need arises.¡±


    ¡°Sky. Report back here in three days¡¯ time.¡± Night gave out his orders.


    With a whoop, Sky was off, flying towards the danger zone. I felt a minor surge of admiration, as his first thought was to help with the grand war humanity was engaged in.


    Three seconds later that admiration crashed to the ground, and I facepalmed as I saw him flying back from the danger zone, to the safe zone, circling for a moment before going in for a landing.


    Night pulled his cloak around him more tightly as a number of guards tensed up, obviously unhappy at a bunch of Classers suddenly landing right next to what was one of the head honcho¡¯s tent.


    ¡°Toxic.¡± Night said, and Arthur flashed his Sentinel¡¯s badge, Eagle within sunburst.


    The guards stood down and saluted, but kept a wary eye on us.


    ¡°We wish to meet with General Augustus.¡± Night said. ¡°Could you please inquire as to his availability?¡±


    One of the soldiers stepped forward and saluted.


    ¡°Sir! Who should we say is here?¡±


    ¡°Night. Toxic.¡± Night said.


    Three of the guards went pale at Night¡¯s name, and scurried off. The squad commander looked around.


    ¡°Can ¨C oh.¡± He said, realizing that some of his minions had already left to do Night¡¯s bidding. Given the extreme loyalty required to be the guard of the head honcho ¨C I recognized Augustus¡¯s name from the strange pink-haired girl back in the capital ¨C Night had some serious pull.


    In a moment, the guards came back, and we were swiftly escorted into the tent.


    With all these hotshots around, I resolved to shut up and not embarrass anyone.


    General Augustus was one of those short, intense people. The tent was large, but spartan, only the necessities in place. A massive table, dominated by a map. A cot in a corner, a few trappings of living. Some chairs, a number of aides milling around.


    [Identify] Away!


    [Leader].


    Holy ¨C that was what, level 370? Hard to tell, I didn¡¯t have a lot of practice IDing high-level people. And when I did, they weren¡¯t forthcoming as to what their level actually was.


    ¡°Night. Pleasure to meet you again.¡± Augustus said, saluting. Night saluted back, just as deep, deferentially.


    ¡°General Augustus. A pleasure, as always. I¡¯d like to introduce Toxic, the newest Sentinel. We are here to attempt a new method of attacking the Formorians.¡±


    General Augustus frowned at that.


    ¡°Given Toxic¡¯s title, I assume it¡¯s not a large-scale casting.¡±


    Night shook his head.


    ¡°I am always the one counseling against them. I remember what happened in 4466. 4179. No. Large-scale magic like what Destruction can do has no place here.¡±


    General Augustus relaxed.


    ¡°Good! What do you need?¡±


    ¡°Two mage outcrops. One Advanced, one Standard. Five extra-large, charged Arcanite crystals for my transportation. ¨C we shall provide you three uncharged ones. Twenty-four extra-small mage packs, twenty-four extra-large mage packs. Accommodations. A single small shift of guards. Two would be plenty. A single Wind mage, or other Classer capable of preventing backblow.¡±


    General Augustus had thunderclouds on his face.


    ¡°That¡¯s a massive allocation.¡± He grumbled. ¡°How long do you need the outcrops for? Also, the packs are strategic ¨C they¡¯re not for casual casting like you seem to be asking. And two sets? Toxic¡¯s one, who¡¯s the other for?¡±


    ¡°Ranger Elaine here.¡± Night said. ¡°She is providing support for Toxic. I give no timeframe in which he shall be finished. Ranger Elaine¡¯s requirements and support are of a shorter timeframe. I do believe we have a significant chance at causing massive damage, however. Else I would not be here, making requests.¡±


    Night paused a moment.


    ¡°I shall also directly participate for a week.¡±


    ¡°Two weeks!¡± General Augustus attempted to negotiate.


    Night shook his head.


    ¡°You know I can not be away that length of time. Attempting to negotiate is in poor taste. A week, along with the travel on either end, is the longest I can be away. Additionally, Nature has seen fit to bring his presence here, and will be doing¡­ whatever he wants. Killing Formorians is probably part of that, but I shall not commit to what actions he shall take.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine.¡± General Augustus raised his hands in surrender. ¡°Just be open to a chat with me in the future, when the time comes.¡±


    Night gave a self-deprecating smile.


    ¡°For the Warden of the Wall? Anytime.¡±


    I noticed he didn¡¯t say ¡®for you¡¯, he said ¡®for the Warden of the Wall.¡¯ My politics lessons coming in handy!


    ¡°Right. Aide Paraceltus! Get what Night needs together.¡±


    One of the aides snapped to attention.


    ¡°Sir! On it.¡± He said.


    ¡°Follow me.¡±


    We followed Paraceltus, who grabbed more aides, issuing more orders. A brisk, efficient whirlwind of activity occurred, and before I knew it, the three of us were in a tent, with forty-eight backpacks along the four walls.


    Arthur poked his head out of the tent, and requested dinner from one of the guards, who hurried off to do his bidding. He came back into the tent, grinning.


    ¡°Gods, I love being a Sentinel at times.¡±


    ¡°Remember the responsibilities of your station.¡± Night gently reprimanded him.


    Arthur saluted.


    ¡°Yes Night.¡±


    ¡°Good. Tonight, we shall begin.¡±


    Night proceeded to detail the plan over dinner, simple soldier¡¯s fare.


    Night fell, and Night¡¯s mood noticeably improved. I grabbed my backpack, and Arthur grabbed his. The moons were out, full and large, staring at us with those creepy eyes. Hey, at least [Moonlight] would work.


    To my surprise, I was using the extra-large one, while Arthur was using the small.


    ¡°For you use significant amounts of mana rapidly, while Arthur only needs the occasional top-up.¡± Night explained to me. Arthur had his mysterious jug, leaving his dresser of poisons behind.


    ¡°Toxic. Mage Outcropping J-31.¡± Night informed him. ¡°Ranger Elaine. With me, Mage Outcropping J-16.¡±


    Toxic saluted, then climbed the stairs up the second wall, where he could access the start of his Outcropping, a tunnel through the stone allowing free movement along the wall, while stairs cut into the side let him climb up.


    Night and I made our way through the camp, out of the walls, into the ¡°dangerous¡± side of the wall.

 Chapter 112.2– Ranger Academy XII

    Not that the area immediately outside of the wall was dangerous ¨C the layers of wooden fortifications helped, along with the real frontline, the actual soldiers fighting for humanity, being deeper in. It looked to me like the logic was to slowly build wooden fortifications, inching forwards, pushing the Formorians back eight feet at a time. That, or it gave more room for ebb and flow. The complexities of the war eluded me ¨C I had a simple mission. I left the high-level analysis to the [Generals] and [Strategists]


    We made our way through the maze of fortifications, Night pointing out various signs and what they meant, until we arrived at the start of my Outcropping, significantly different from Toxic¡¯s. It started out here, on the wrong side of the wall, and it didn¡¯t go nearly so high. It was, quite frankly, designed for weaker mages, those who couldn¡¯t project force nearly as far.


    Or, politely, who didn¡¯t drop rocks on their enemy¡¯s heads. Gravity was still deadly, and the Army had no problems exploiting the weakness.


    We jogged along the Outcropping, narrow, rickety, barely wide enough for one person with good balance, steadily rising higher and higher, until we reached where the soldiers were in direct combat with the Formorians, soldiers moving in a single unit, Phalanx strong, tower shields down in a solid, interlocking pattern, spears out, stabbing in a practiced, uniform manner. A second line of soldiers were behind them, spears long enough to cover their fellow ahead of them. Whenever a soldier took a bad blow, deadly mandibles crushing through a shield and an arm, the soldier behind them would grab them, drag them back, then take their place in line.


    A third line of soldiers were on double first-aid duty, and wall-building duty. When an injured soldier was thrown back out of the line, three soldiers would pounce, quickly wrapping the injury up, stabilizing the soldier long enough for them to make it back to the wall, where the healers had set up large tents to process the casualties.


    When enough soldiers had fallen from the 1st and 2nd line, a number of soldiers from the 3rd line would backfill in, and the entire 3rd line would reshuffle to continue to be balanced, and continue to be building the fortifications.


    The meatgrinder had reached peak military efficiency centuries ago.


    From what I could see, it wasn¡¯t ¡°The Formorians are attacking! Quick, get into position!¡± No, it was endless. 8-hour shifts of combat were the norm, at which point the next set of lines came out, replacing the lines out, and the combat continued.


    Every day. Every night. Endless, ceaseless.


    For. Centuries.


    How did the Formorians get so many bodies? How were they not stacked like cordwood, a massive wall made out of dead bodies? How ¨C oh, they grabbed their dead and hauled them back. Probably to eat, and reprocess into more bodies.


    I couldn¡¯t think of many other reasons they¡¯d drag them back.


    As we passed the soldiers and the lines, crossing into enemy territory, high enough above them that they couldn¡¯t reach us, but low enough that I could reach them with a really long spear, I used [Moonlight] and [Phases of the Moon] to heal every single soldier in range, my mana almost immediately draining to nothing, a combination of the sheer number of soldiers in range, and the frankly terrible image I had ¨C just ¡°heal¡±.


    Wonder if I could get a ¡°multi-processing skill¡± of some sort. It¡¯d help me think about each heal I was doing


    I pulled mana from the backpack, the frankly ludicrous amount of Arcanite crystals packed in it, and just kept right on going, healing all those in range as we crossed to the sea of Formorians, some of them seemingly to look up and chitter angrily at us.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 211! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 212! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    I squashed the other notifications. [Celestial Affinity], [Center of the Galaxy], [Phases of the Moon], [Veil of the Aurora], and [Learning] all made it to 212 as well.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Moonlight] has reached level 178!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Moonlight] has reached level 179!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Moonlight] has reached level 180!]


    Man, this backpack full of Arcanite was good stuff! Healing people right in the thick of the fighting ¨C even if they weren¡¯t directly at risk of dying ¨C was amazing experience.


    A slight cheer came from behind us, as the soldiers realized a healer had just passed by, patching them up. I waved, not looking.


    Cool girls don¡¯t look back.


    We reached the end of the Outcropping, and Night looked around, satisfied.


    ¡°Good. This will do. Do not hit me.¡± He said.


    I looked around. Hordes of Formorians were marching past us, on their way to attempt to topple humanity ¨C straight into the meatgrinder. A few Formorians flowed backwards, carrying bodies with them.


    This was, quite honestly, a scary place to be. Hit the Outcropping too hard, a small earthquake, a moment of vertigo and I could lose my balance, and fall into the endless horde. There was absolutely, zip zero zilch, chance I¡¯d survive falling. None at all. Not even a divine miracle could get me out of that.


    ¡°Begin.¡± Night ordered, and with some small amount of trepidation, I threw a [Fireball] into their midst, the light of the fire briefly illuminating the ants before impacting. It exploded with violence and fury, a few Formorians staggering under the blow.


    [Oath] was silent. They were exactly what they looked like ¨C oversized ants, a killing machine. There was no twist, they weren¡¯t secretly sentient, just a black tide threatening to overrun the whole world.


    Well, I had fantastic regeneration, and a small mountain of mana on my back. I could quite literally do this all night ¨C and that seemed to be the plan.


    With the unrestrained glee of a [Pyromancer] who¡¯d finally gotten a real, legitimate target, a good cause, and no need to restrain herself, I fired off as many fireballs as I could, in just about every direction.


    Mage Outcroppings were either so high up, or so far forward, that mages could unleash skills without needing to worry about friendly fire. Which was the whole point of having them sticking out like this.


    ¡°Very good. I shall take the right-hand side. Please limit your attacks to the left.¡± Night said, and with that, he stepped off the Outcropping, falling into the horde.


    ¡°Night!¡± I screamed in concern, only to see him gracefully land on top of a Formorian, punching straight through, blood and ichor spraying everywhere. He rode the body to the ground, then did the most frightening thing.


    He laughed. The unrestrained laughter of a lunatic, of a killer unleashed. Red blades emerged from him, and started to swirl around him, and he began casually walking through the horde, spinning blades around him slicing and shredding all who came too close.


    Slowly, his range of blades, the area they were active in, started to expand, becoming larger and larger, and he started to jog, then run, Formorians falling by the dozens ¨C no, by the hundreds ¨C as he ran back and forth through the battlefield, a one-man maelstrom of death.


    ¡°What are you doing, Ranger Elaine?¡± Night asked me, annoyance in his voice, ignoring as his lethally spinning blades around him cut down Formorians by the hundreds, the deadly ants realizing the threat in their midst and attempting to converge on him.


    There wasn¡¯t enough Formorian left after he was done with them for them to be able to drag a body back.


    With a start I realized I¡¯d stopped shooting off [Fireball], and went back to my barrage, feeling bad.


    I sometimes killed one, maybe two Formorians with my shots ¨C although I was injuring a bunch ¨C but compared to Night¡¯s hundreds killed every dozen seconds, I was nothing more than a drop in the bucket.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pyromancer] has leveled up to level 113! +5 Free Stats, +14 Mana, +8 Mana Regen, +14 Magic power, +8 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Strength from your Element!]


    Well, a leveling up drop in the bucket.


    At the same time, with the light of the moons illuminating, and the flashes of [Fireball] screwing with my night vision, the endless black tide of Formorians didn¡¯t relent. Didn¡¯t end.


    Even Night¡¯s efforts were a drop in the bucket, although the soldiers behind him probably appreciated the reduced pressure.


    ¡°I¡¯m off for a brief run. I¡¯d like to see how Toxic is handling himself. Do take care not to fall off Ranger Elaine. It would be a shame to lose you.¡±


    I mutely nodded, and Night took off, whirling blades around him slicing and dicing.


    What were those even made out of? I found myself wondering.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Ranger¡¯s Lore] has reached level 173!]


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 17]


    [Mana: 28600/28600]


    [Mana Regen: 29432]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 606]


    [Strength: 169]


    [Dexterity: 212]


    [Vitality: 297]


    [Speed: 220]


    [Mana: 2860]


    [Mana Regeneration: 3287]


    [Magic Power: 2506]


    [Magic Control: 2808]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 212]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 212]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 193]


    [Medicine: 192]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 212]


    [Phases of the Moon: 212]


    [Moonlight: 180]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 212]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 139]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 113]]


    [Fire Affinity: 113]


    [Fire Resistance: 113]


    [Fire Conjuration: 113]


    [Fire Manipulation: 113]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 113]


    [Burn Brightly: 113]


    [Rapidash: 113]


    [Fireball: 113]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 133]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 156]


    [Pretty: 130]


    [Vigilant: 192]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 199]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 173]


    [Training: 160]


    [Learning: 212]

 Chapter 113.1– Ranger Academy XIII

    ¡°Blasting the hell out of the Formorians¡± eventually became a chore, and I started to mix up my attacks, manipulating flames to hit Formorians closer to the Outcropping I was on, mixing it up with the [Fireball]s I was throwing further out. [Fireball] had a longer range than my manipulation and control skills, and had more bang for the mana used, but - and I couldn¡¯t believe it - I was getting bored of throwing endless, extra-large-backpack-of-Arcanite-fueled [Fireball]s. There was just no variation.


    My night vision went to hell in a handbasket with all the flames being thrown around, and I was oh-so-briefly regretting ditching [Eyes of the Milkyway]. Ah well. [Moonlight] was much, much better.


    I¡¯d occasionally see flashes of light from other Outcroppings further down. There seemed to be a Lightning mage to my left, lightning bolts like Artemis¡¯s crackling every 70 minutes or so, and some sort of Brilliance mage to my right, a rain of Brilliance arrows showering down every 40 minutes or so.


    The natural conclusion, I mulled as I threw more fireballs into the crowd, was other mages traded off on the Outcroppings, blowing all their mana, then trading spots while they regenerated up. I had a backpack full of mana, so I was able to single-handedly hog the spot.


    Something was wrong. I didn¡¯t need to be able to hog a spot to give Toxic support ¨C hell, I wasn¡¯t doing any supporting at the moment. I didn¡¯t need this massive backpack of mana, fueling a [Pyromaniac]¡¯s every dream.


    What was going on?


    I had lots of time to think ¨C I didn¡¯t really need to aim, just occasionally pause as Night flashed by, trail of gore left in his wake. However, no matter how I put the pieces together, it didn¡¯t quite fit.


    The only conclusion I came to, was this was probably related to my lessons being heavily focused on leadership and the like, relating to the Rangers maybe wanting to make me a team leader? Maybe they¡¯d decided I was doing well enough in my lessons, and wanted to get my level high enough to justify it?


    But this was absurdly expensive. Why not just, I dunno, let me be a Ranger for a few years, and let my level rise naturally that way? Get a solid core of other Rangers who knew me before making me a team leader?


    And who ever heard of a team leader right out of Academy? Ok, fine, so I wasn¡¯t right out of Academy, but still.


    I continued puzzling and blasting for most of the night. Didn¡¯t have much else to do, besides make sure I didn¡¯t fall under any circumstances. I¡¯d die horribly.


    Eventually Night jumped up onto my Outcropping, and bless [Center of the Galaxy] for not having me fall.


    ¡°Excellent work Ranger Elaine.¡± Night said, in his usual formal manner. ¡°Let us return, and see what progress Toxic has made. I trust you still have mana in reserve?¡±


    I saluted.


    ¡°Sir! Yes sir.¡± I said, not quite sure why I was going full-formal.


    Night nodded.


    ¡°Excellent. Follow.¡±


    We walked down the outcropping, endless tides of Formorians on either side, rushing to their doom in the meatgrinder.


    ¡°Why do they keep attacking?¡± I asked.


    Night shrugged.


    ¡°I do not know. Eight times I have attempted to dive deep, to find and cut off the source. Eight time I have failed. There are larger, more powerful Formorians, and once inside their nest, I would be overwhelmed and crushed. Even I am not powerful enough to directly challenge them in their lair, nor am I able to fight a Broodmother. I am certain, however, that the Broodmothers, the Queens of the Formorians, are leveling, and leveling well, from all this.¡±


    Night shrugged.


    ¡°They do not desire to communicate, nor do anything other than consume. For the most part, I have given up attempting to solve the problem myself, rather keeping an eye out for those with the talent to potentially solve the issue. Hence Toxic, and to a smaller extent, you.¡±


    I nodded, as the dawn started to light up the horizon. We reached the frontlines, where a massive roar of approval came from the soldiers. Night lifted his right hand in the sky, clenched in a fist, and from the sound coming from the soldiers, it was like their favorite team had just won the Superbowl.


    ¡°Night! Night! Night! Night!¡± A chant came from them, the soldiers energized by his mere presence, throwing the Formorians back with vigor.


    Night smiled, a pure smile of genuine happiness, at seeing more soldiers alive from his efforts, at the cheering of the crowd, his efforts to protect being rewarded.


    The moons were setting as the sun was coming up, promising a perfect, cloudless day, and I took the chance to blast out [Moonlight]-empowered [Phases of the Moon], seeing dozens of small injuries heal up.


    I ignored the level-up notifications. There had been a lot of those recently, and I wanted to see them all once we were done.


    Night and I walked back.


    ¡°With your leftover mana, and Arcanite, we shall take you to one of the healer¡¯s stations. I believe you wish to do some good there, correct?¡± Night asked me, pulling his cowl up to hide himself from the sun.


    ¡°Yes please.¡± I said, eagerly looking forward to it. I was so bored of blasting endless waves of Formorians.


    We made our way to a large tent, rows of soldiers on stretchers outside, each marked with one of two strips of cloth ¨C a green, or orange strip. Soldiers from the frontlines were coming up in either pairs or trios, either one soldier supporting a second, wounded one, or two soldiers carrying a third on a stretcher. A half-dozen support staff milled around, receiving each soldier in turn. They¡¯d get marked with a green strip of cloth, an orange strip, or immediately sent into the main tent, an efficient triage system.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to help. I¡¯m here to help. Let me get in position to do the most good.¡± I mentally repeated to myself, fighting off the urge to just start blasting healing around. The green-strips would be fine ¨C heck, some of them were only technically injured. The orange-strips needed some help, but it was the people that weren¡¯t given a strip, just sprinted right into the tent, that required the most help.


    I needed to be in that tent, helping.


    ¡°Ranger Elaine. I trust you¡¯ll be able to find us once you have completed your task here.¡± Night said. I¡¯d barely started to nod when he was off like a shot, back in the direction where our tent was.


    He really didn¡¯t like the sun.


    I made it to the entrance of the tent, where a pair of guards waited.


    ¡°Everyone needs to wait in line and be triaged first.¡± One of the guards recited mechanically, not even looking at me properly.


    ¡°Hi, Ranger Elaine here. I¡¯m ¨C ¡°


    ¡°Don¡¯t care. Everyone needs to be checked out by triage, Ranger or not.¡± The guard said.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to-¡°


    The guard looked down with a frown.


    ¡°Was I not clear?¡± He asked, gripping his spear.


    ¡°Are you fucking dumb?¡± I shot back, tired of trying to be polite. ¡°Have you bothered to [Identify] me? Can you not see I¡¯m a fucking healer, trying to get in and help?¡±


    The other guard lost it, doubled over laughing, as the first guard went red, then purple, veins throbbing on his head.


    ¡°Go in, go in, healers are always welcome.¡± The second guard said, tears of laughter in his eyes. ¡°Forgive him, we get way too many people trying to skip the line, trying to pull rank for some reason or another.¡±


    The first guard came to a decision, and unhappily relaxed. ¡°Go in.¡±


    I didn¡¯t thank them on my way in. I was feeling petty.


    Long story short, after the guards it was relatively smooth sailing for me to get, for the lack of a better word, a booth.


    ¡°Pull down the red tassel when you¡¯re out of mana. Pull the green tassel down when you¡¯re ready to accept patients.¡± One of the helpers told me.


    I experimentally pulled down on the green tassel, the red one lifting up via a simple pulley.


    ¡°Sounds good! I¡¯m just here briefly until I run out of mana.¡± I said, getting a foul look from the helper, who muttered something about ¡®part time workers¡¯ and ¡®no work ethic.¡¯


    I resisted sighing and rolling my eyes. Seriously people. Instead, I patted my backpack.


    ¡°I have a lot of mana.¡±


    The look in the helpers eye changed somewhat, as he put one and one together. I wasn¡¯t here for a dozen patients or so ¨C I was here for potentially hundreds.


    Green tassel down, the first patient was brought to me, the two soldiers with him flopping his hand onto my booth as he lay, barely breathing, not really conscious, on the stretcher. I got eyed by the soldiers, who decided that I must¡¯ve been screened at some point, and that it was a 17-year-old girl in the healer booth, not the grizzled 40+ man they expected.


    ¡°Left stomach, long cut.¡± The first soldier recited. I glanced down at the man I was going to heal, seeing that was indeed the primary injury, although they¡¯d neglected to mention the guts hanging out. I touched him, focusing on the injury they¡¯d mentioned, pulsing [Phases of the Moon] through him, watching the guts get sucked back into his stomach, wound stitching back up.


    ¡°Thanks!¡± One of the soldiers said. The other just threw me a dirty look, and the three of them walked out.


    That was pretty much how it went. Injured soldier came up, and either him or his friend would give a short description of the injury, saving me ¨C and the other healers ¨C the trouble of diagnosing the problem, letting us quickly get to the needed image to rapidly heal them in an efficient, if not perfect, manner, balancing mana usage with rapid healing, to get to the next patient, who might be critical.


    There was no telling when a critical patient would come in, but mostly I was on a steady diet of orange patients. A green patient came in at one point, grumbling about the long, long wait.


    ¡°Look, see that guy over there?¡± I said, pointing to a soldier being rushed in, screaming, missing his legs. ¡°That gets you immediate attention. Lose some legs, and we¡¯ll see you first.¡±


    The soldier ¨C both green in seniority, and now green around the gills ¨C mutely nodded, letting me fix his arm, before moving on.


    It took me about an hour and a half to finally run out of mana, at which point I made my excuses and took my leave.


    ¡°Ranger Elaine.¡± The helper saluted me on my way out. ¡°We appreciate your help at any point.¡±


    I smiled at him, mentally snorting. I probably threw something of a wrench in their operation, a healer randomly showing up, causing a kerfuffle, then leaving again after a short time, but hey ¨C that was more of a ¡°them problem¡± than a ¡°me problem¡±. Plus, I was helping people.

 Chapter 113.2– Ranger Academy XIII

    I snuck out the back, not wanting to get trapped in the triage section in the front. Now that I was no longer getting myself in a position to help, [Oath] would demand I stop and heal people, and given my immediate proximity to the healing tent, I had a few minor issues getting out, mostly around pausing people heading that way, regardless of severity, and fixing them up.


    I made it back to find Toxic eating, Night just hanging out, a set of soldier¡¯s rations ¨C triple the norm, standard for a heavy mage - out for me.


    ¡°Ranger Elaine. Welcome back. Sit, eat. How was it?¡± Night asked me.


    I sighed, and tucked in with gusto.


    ¡°Some hiccups getting in. Idiot guard wouldn¡¯t let me get a word in sideways about being a healer. After that, relatively smooth sailing, although escaping was a hair tricky.¡±


    Night nodded.


    ¡°Excellent. Toxic¡¯s already reported back.¡±


    Arthur grunted.


    ¡°I¡¯ve fired thousands of those poisoned arrows out. It¡¯s still going to take months, if not years, of doing this before we see results.¡± He griped.


    ¡°Help me out.¡± I said, around a mouthful of bread that I¡¯d torn into with bestial ferocity. ¡°What¡¯s different this time from the usual attempts to poison these monsters, which I have to assume has been done before.¡±


    Arthur nodded.


    ¡°Yup! Our best guess is, a long time ago someone tried poison. It didn¡¯t work too well. Then a more lethal, faster-acting poison was developed. Eventually, we hit upon something strong enough to kill the Formorians before they hit the shield-wall of the frontline soldiers ¨C anything slower than that wasn¡¯t worth it. Problem was, it was also pretty damn toxic to our soldiers. It was refined, improved, and we hit on a poison that was cheap mana-wise, fast-acting, and had almost no impact on our soldiers. We¡¯ve been sticking to that for hundreds of years now. Sure, once in awhile someone will try a slowing, or a sleep, or a confusion, or some other type of crippling poison, but it turns out flat-out killing them is the most effective use of mana. We didn¡¯t try to develop it further from there, we¡¯d hit upon what we thought was peak efficiency.¡±


    ¡°However, it¡¯s clear that the poison used doesn¡¯t really impact whatever recycling of the bodies the Formorians do. I¡¯ve been working on a poison, with your help and the System, to hopefully manage to get back to the Queens, killing them once and for all, ending the threat of the Formorians.¡±


    I sat there, munching on the cheese ¨C slightly stale ¨C as I processed what Arthur was saying.


    It clicked.


    ¡°Hang on, you¡¯re talking about genocide.¡± I said, slowly dawning horror at the realization.


    Arthur thought about it for a moment, then nodded.


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ¡°Ranger Elaine. We have been locked in conflict with the Formorians for centuries. It is clear this only ends with one of us ended as a species.¡± Night said.


    ¡°Maybe, but ¨C this is genocide.¡± I said, voice laced with horror, cheese dropping from my grip.


    ¡°Yes. Do you have a problem with killing the creatures attempting to end us all?¡± Night asked.


    ¡°No, but I have a problem with trying to make them extinct!¡± I said, getting up to my feet, looking around. Didn¡¯t they get it?


    ¡°Tens of thousands of other solutions have been tried. Each and every one of them has failed. They will not negotiate. They will not relent. There is nothing there but hunger, and a desire to see us all dead. Please, Ranger Elaine, enlighten us. What else is there?¡±


    ¡°There has to be something apart from fucking genocide!¡± I shouted. ¡°I¡¯m not participating in this.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure you wish to declare that?¡± Night said.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Even if we should strip your Ranger qualifications, pitch you from Academy, and leave you here, with barely the clothes on your back, for defying my orders?¡±


    I froze at that. I remember the last time someone had considered one of Night¡¯s orders a suggestion - thrown into the ocean. Night did not like being disrespected, nor his orders ignored.


    His arguments about what needed to be done with the Formorians wasn¡¯t wrong, either. I couldn¡¯t object to a solution without presenting a better one ¨C that was just poor form.


    But no matter what, I couldn¡¯t condone genocide. I couldn¡¯t participate. I had to have some lines, even in this line of work, that I wouldn¡¯t cross. Some ethics, even not [Oath]-restricted, that I stuck with.


    Heart pounding, tears forming in my eyes, I saluted Night.


    ¡°Sir! Yes, even then.¡±


    I closed my eyes, waiting for the hammer to drop. I could only hope that he threw me into the ¡°safe¡± half, and didn¡¯t decide to just directly feed me to the Formorians.


    Instead, I heard a hissing laughter.


    ¡°Very well, little otter. It is good to have some ethics, some morals, even if they are, ah, inconvenient. Far better than your mentor, Artemis, who I had some concerns that you would follow.¡±


    ¡°However, you still stand because they are merely inconvenient. Challenge me on a greater issue, and I shall not be nearly so lenient, nor tolerant of your beliefs.¡±


    Night paused a moment, collecting his thoughts.


    ¡°To be clear, you shall not interfere with Toxic¡¯s mission?¡±


    I was going to have a heart attack with how fast my heart was going. I hit myself with [Vastness of the Stars], just to try and keep my composure. And not have my heart explode on me. Be bad for my health. Although, with my healing, and having recently fixed my broken spine, it wasn¡¯t impossible to¡­


    I refocused on Night, answering his question.


    ¡°Sir! I won¡¯t interfere. Simply not participate.¡±


    Night nodded.


    ¡°Alright. However, there is a greater mission which you need to focus on, between bouts of combat. Namely, you need to check to make sure what Toxic is doing isn¡¯t blowing back on us, and isn¡¯t poisoning us as badly or worse than it is the Formorians. Given the mechanism involved ¨C poisoned arrows fired a long distance ¨C I do not believe this is as significant of a risk as some of the other poisons we have tried over the years, but it never hurts to be safe, to be careful. Now and then, I ask you to wander around, talk with other healers, see if they have noticed an uptick in poisoned soldiers or the like.¡±


    I mean, we didn¡¯t always know what we were healing, one of the joys of magical healing. But yeah, I could keep an eye out for a new disease which could be linked to what Arthur was doing.


    I saluted, happy and excited to be able to do something I wanted to do, to help with something not conflicting with my ethics. Being a check that the poison expert didn¡¯t start murdering our side was the perfect job for me.


    ¡°Of course I¡¯d be more than happy to!¡±


    ¡°Very good. We shall continue. Tonight. For now, I believe we could all use a rest.¡±


    I collapsed on a seat, like a puppet with its strings cut, hardly believing what had happened. I¡¯d opposed Night, and somehow survived. For now.


    We fell into a rhythm pretty quickly ¨C Wake up at dusk, eat breakfast/dinner, head out to the frontlines, blast away for hours, return as the sun rose, blow the last of my mana healing people, make it back to the tent, have a brief chat with Arthur and Night, repeat.


    A week passed like this, then Night was ready to leave, to head back towards the capital. He had a few parting words for us.


    ¡°Ranger Elaine. This is a valuable chance you have been offered. Do not squander it. You will likely be offered a class-up for your [Pyromancer] class in the near future. I¡¯d encourage you to not take it, if you have any intention of taking [Ranger-Mage] as your next class. Wait. Allow your [Ranger¡¯s Lore] to rise, which shall boost the power of [Ranger-Mage]. Additionally, your [Constellation of the Healer] will assist with the additional stats. The experience does not vanish into the ether, it builds and accumulates.¡±


    ¡°Wait on spending your free stats, unless an emergency occurs. I shall think upon where is best for you to allocate them.¡± Night said, giving me some solid advice.


    ¡°Toxic. Do not be afraid to try new things, different things. You have proven yourself, time and time again. Failure is acceptable. I¡¯d rather this take thirty years, and succeed, than to fail because you tried to accomplish it in three. Do not pressure yourself too harshly.¡±


    With that, Night left with Sky.


    Then it was just me and Arthur. We switched to a saner daytime schedule, and Nature occasionally joined us, a massive, hulking, silent figure. He didn¡¯t say much, but clearly wanted some companionship now and then, and to listen to more of my stories that I told during our downtime.


    We spent until late Spring like this, our backpacks of Arcanite finishing recharging right as the last one was spent. The ability to cast like I had unlimited mana did ridiculous things for my experience. I don¡¯t think it was possible to design a better leveling experience ¨C and maybe that was the point. Night was right; this was the chance of a lifetime. Months passed. The leveling was epic.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 213! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 240! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pyromancer] has leveled up to level 114! +5 Free Stats, +14 Mana, +8 Mana Regen, +14 Magic power, +8 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Strength from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pyromancer] has leveled up to level 128! +5 Free Stats, +14 Mana, +8 Mana Regen, +14 Magic power, +8 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Strength from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Celestial Affinity] has reached level 240!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Warmth of the Sun] has reached level 194!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Warmth of the Sun] has reached level 198!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 193!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 202!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Center of the Galaxy] has reached level 213!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Center of the Galaxy] has reached level 233!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 213!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 240!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Moonlight] has reached level 181!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Moonlight] has reached level 240!]


    Moonlight: Range: 24 Meters. 89.6% Increased cost/meter.


    After capping [Pyromancer] I¡¯d been more inclined to spend mana getting [Moonlight] up to speed, than throwing more fireballs into the unending horde. Didn¡¯t stop me from doing it, but my priorities had shifted.


    [Veil] hadn¡¯t leveled at all. I hadn¡¯t needed to use it.


    [Vastness] was also unused, and I was starting to think about axing the skill if a good skill was offered to me.


    All of my [Pyromancer] skills capped, which given how much I¡¯d practiced the skills without getting good [Pyromancer] experience in the past, made sense.


    Also, with the sheer number of [Fireball]¡¯s I¡¯d thrown.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Identify] has reached level 134!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Identify] has reached level 136!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Recollection of a Distant Life] has reached level 157!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Recollection of a Distant Life] has reached level 159!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 193!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 195!]


    I was a little surprised at that. Turned out, it only really did anything when I was moving through camp. The Formorians just didn¡¯t seem to care enough to trigger the skill. Other people though? According to my skills, they were the real threat.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 200!]


    Another surprise. My best guess were my scrolls still circulating around, or people taking my [Oath] starting to funnel experience to me.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Ranger¡¯s Lore] has reached level 174!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Ranger¡¯s Lore] has reached level 182!]


    Training didn¡¯t move an inch. Maybe it was because I was acting as a Ranger, not a Trainee? It¡¯s not like I was training for anything, more than I was standing and blasting ants. Not exactly Ranger training.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 213!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 214!]


    The lectures from Night had done most of the work, and little bits I learned about life on the frontlines did the rest.


    I was more than pleased with the opportunity I¡¯d been given, and I think Night would agree ¨C I hadn¡¯t squandered my chance.


    And hey! My birthday was around the corner!


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 17]


    [Mana: 35460/35460]


    [Mana Regen: 36219]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 1032]


    [Strength: 184]


    [Dexterity: 210]


    [Vitality: 297]


    [Speed: 220]


    [Mana: 3546]


    [Mana Regeneration: 3967]


    [Magic Power: 3079]


    [Magic Control: 3406]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 240]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 240]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 198]


    [Medicine: 202]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 233]


    [Phases of the Moon: 240]


    [Moonlight: 240]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 212]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 139]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 128]+]


    [Fire Affinity: 128]


    [Fire Resistance: 128]


    [Fire Conjuration: 128]


    [Fire Manipulation: 128]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 128]


    [Burn Brightly: 128]


    [Rapidash: 128]


    [Fireball: 128]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 136]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 159]


    [Pretty: 130]


    [Vigilant: 195]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 200]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 182]


    [Training: 160]


    [Learning: 212]

 Chapter 114.1– Ranger Academy XIV

    I blasted yet another Formorian, hitting exactly the one I¡¯d been aiming for. I believed the Artillery Mages now when they said they could hit the exact target on the other side of the island. There was basically nothing else to do besides call shots and take them, and frankly, it didn¡¯t matter if I missed ¨C one Formorian was just like another. The real challenge was making sure you tracked the one you called, that you didn¡¯t lose track of your called shot in the endless mass of bodies.


    However, the baleful moons were starting to rise, watching me, staring at me, practically stripping me naked before their gaze. I hated them, as nice as [Moonlight] was as a skill, and speaking of, the moons being up was my cue to leave.


    [Pyromancer] was significantly less fun to try and level when it was at the cap. Sure, I knew I was getting experience, and when I finally classed it up, I¡¯d be grateful. But with a complete and utter lack of feedback on the skill, I sometimes struggled to keep focus, especially with the monotony of throwing fireballs into an endless horde of Formorians.


    Oh, all the gods and goddesses above, I was getting old. [Fireball] was becoming boring. I blamed sheer overuse. I¡¯d easily cast over ten thousand of them, basically non-stop daily for months. Anything would get old repeating it that much.


    Healing people never got old though, seeing wounds vanish, new life being given and restored. Made me fairly popular to boot, which I had mixed reactions to.


    I made my way down the Outcropping, to find the current frontlines in their usual shieldwall, efficiently stabbing the Formorians with spears and swords. They probably got better experience than me in some senses ¨C the System penalized just how darn safe it was for me to casually throw fireballs into the horde from a distance, compared to being in the thick of things. I mean, technically I was in the middle of the horde, blasting away. Still, was pretty safe. On the other hand, I could throw [Fireball] for literal hours, and was hitting, and possibly killing, a lot more Formorians than an individual soldier on the frontlines could. All things considered; I didn¡¯t mind. It was still combat and killing experience, and that already had a large boost.


    The Century ¨C a subsection of a Legion ¨C that was assigned to the particular Outcropping where I was located was more than happy to see me. Patients that were critical were still whisked off to the healer¡¯s tents as quickly as possible, and there was the omni-present row of bodies with a stained white sheet over them, the few that had died today, but everyone that would normally be marked as green or orange patients were leaning up against the Outcropping, waiting for me.


    I got close ¨C might as well be as efficient as possible ¨C and let out a [Phases of the Moon], the moon¡¯s light letting me use [Moonlight] to heal everyone in a single go. The mana drain was atrocious, but that¡¯s what the extra-large backpack of Arcanite was for.


    I got more than a modest cheer at that, mostly because healers didn¡¯t come to the frontlines like this, and because after a few months, the only people that hadn¡¯t gotten a touch of my rapid healing were the brand-new recruits, the ridiculously good grizzled veterans, or the cowards who managed to never be in the line.


    Three soldiers were waiting for me at the bottom of the Outcropping as I stepped down, and I restrained a sigh. Didn¡¯t put a smile on my face though.


    ¡°Oh blazing hot mage, would you-¡°


    ¡°No.¡± I said, shooting the first one down.


    ¡°Hey, want to go for a walk later on?¡± The second one asked, much more politely.


    ¡°No thank you.¡± I curtly said, meeting his courtesy with some of mine. Not a lot ¨C the conclusion was foregone, and bugging me anyways.


    I swear the first one had asked me out at some point a few weeks ago. I didn¡¯t keep track.


    The two saluted and walked back to their duties, getting laughed at by their fellow soldiers, while I gave a Look to the Centurion, the boss of this section. He shrugged.


    ¡°Look, I know you hate it, but it makes my life so much easier. Just think, without the ¡®two a day¡¯ lotto more might be trying. Thank you again, Ranger Elaine. You¡¯re the angel of our Century.¡±


    I¡¯d used up a decade¡¯s worth of long-suffering sighs months ago, and I simply saluted him, the Centurion saluting back.


    Healing at the frontlines directly was much more convenient for me than finding my way to the healer¡¯s tent, and handling the mess there. The injuries were less severe, less likely to take a life, which reduced the experience. That was balanced out by the fact that I was casting on the front lines, and also hitting people directly in the shield-wall, those in the thick of the fight.


    Why [Moonlight] worked on people hiding behind their shield, under armor, and not on people under a thin stretch of tent canvas was one of those inexplicable mysteries of the System. I¡¯d gotten some solid practice at figuring the ins and outs of how the skill worked, the Century that was around my Outcropping all too happy to give me a hand experimenting. Wasn¡¯t every day a high-level healer decided to hang out, and being a Ranger helped.


    Being a pretty woman also helped. I thought darkly to myself. I shrugged. Couldn¡¯t do anything about that, and the Centurion had been a total gentleman the entire time, making sure that everyone toed the line and didn¡¯t harass me. Too badly.


    I made my way back to the tent, expecting to see food, Arthur, and possibly Nature. I felt bad for Nature¡¯s mentees ¨C he¡¯d been away from them for far too long. Did one of the other Instructors take over at that point? They must, otherwise poor Wolfy and the others wouldn¡¯t get any guidance.


    Instead, I found food, Arthur, and Night, who immediately stopped their conversation. Night turned to me, and looked me up and down.


    ¡°Ranger Elaine.¡± He said, in his soft, sound-defying way, every word making its way to my ear, cutting through the background noise of the camp.


    ¡°It is good to see you have taken full advantage of this opportunity. We are returning to Academy momentarily. We are simply waiting on Nature, and for the Pegasus to swap out its Arcanite stones.¡±


    I saluted.


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    I shucked off my backpack, then started to chow down. Night would let me know when we were going, and I wanted to get some food in me first.


    There was some running around, and in a moment, we were leaving. I asked one of the guards to let the Century I¡¯d been hanging out with know that I was leaving, and not to rely or hope I¡¯d be around to heal them anymore. It could get nasty if people waited around all day, only for me to never show up, then end up much further back in line for healing when they eventually made it to a tent.


    Before we left, the Quartermaster swooped in with a vengeance to reclaim the backpacks I¡¯d been using. They were seriously heavy-duty strategic stuff, and they wanted them back ASAP in case of an emergency.


    I felt no guilt over it. The powers that be decided I should be using them, and they¡¯d traded ¨C Arthur was a strategic resource, and Nature was also doing gods-knows-what, and at least two Sentinels hanging around was good enough. Not my decision ¨C I just made sure it was put to good use. There was definitely funkiness about.


    Before I knew it, I was back in the Pegasus with Night, Sky, and Nature, flying along in a sailboat above the clouds.


    Goddesses, I wanted to fly. I sent a quick prayer off to the twin goddesses of the moons, beseeching them to hear my prayer.


    It was strange. I never got the same vibe off the goddesses that I did off the moons. They were the goddesses of the moons, but maybe they weren¡¯t related to the Dragoneye Moons?


    We traveled along, Nature and I giving a brief report of what we¡¯d been up to. Nature had, in his own words, ¡°gone for a long walk¡± in Formorian territory, but from the sound of it, he¡¯d mostly paralleled the walls. He didn¡¯t think he could safely go deeper into their territory ¨C something about stronger variants on defense, as opposed to the endless, low-level attackers sent at us. Still, he¡¯d been practicing how to survive with the endless hordes constantly around him, in every direction, for a potential deep dive later on.


    Night didn¡¯t seem all too amused, and I couldn¡¯t see how Nature could do a deep strike himself if Night couldn¡¯t. Still, I had to give him credit ¨C a high level classer spending months doing almost nothing but murdering the crap out of Formorians must¡¯ve relieved some pressure.


    I gave a detailed breakdown myself, and Night looked thoughtful at the results, while Sky remained a pain in the ass.


    ¡°I do believe it¡¯s time to drop your [Training] skill for something else. I have been thinking on it, and I do believe we are due for a long discussion on the matter.¡± Night said.


    I suspected the ¡°long discussion¡± would be Night telling me what skill I would take, him politely listening to my objections and reasoning, then cleverly dismantling everything I said. Maybe I¡¯d just skip most of it by agreeing ¨C he¡¯d be right in the end.


    ¡°Also, it has recently come to my attention that you have never deliberately killed another.¡± Night said, and a slow, creeping chill crept over me at that pronouncement.


    ¡°This must be rectified. An execution has been scheduled for six days from now. You will be present. I will accept no argument on the matter.¡± Night decreed, and that did nothing good for my mental state, spiraling down a staircase of self-doubt and anxiety.


    First, Night¡¯s wording of deliberately. Just how much did he know about me?! Was it simply a lucky guess, knowledge that most healers had accidental kill notifications sent? Or did he really know me inside and out? Had I let it slip in one of our many conversations? Did he piece it together from other bits of information?


    And an execution. That, in so many ways, directly conflicted with ¡°First, do no harm.¡± Night had to know that. There couldn¡¯t be a mistake. Especially with him saying he¡¯d accept no argument on the matter.


    Think Elaine, think. There was something else going on here. What did I know?


    Night was an expert ¨C the expert ¨C on restriction skills.Night was my mentor, and there was no way he didn¡¯t know about my restriction. Hell, we¡¯d spent many nights discussing it.There was no way Night was setting up a situation where I had to break my [Oath].


    I shook my head at that point. No, that wasn¡¯t correct. Maybe Night knew how [Oath] worked, and knew it would shatter, and I wouldn¡¯t be bound by it anymore. Maybe he was trying to break [Oath], and free me, turn me into a killing machine. It didn¡¯t seem likely, but point 3 wasn¡¯t a conclusion I could make. What else was there?


    The use of the term ¡°execution¡± ¨C it was exceedingly rare for someone to be executed in Remus. It basically never happened. Fines, leading to slavery, was the solution for just about every single crime. Executions didn¡¯t happen ¨C everyone could still be a member of society, of the human race, even if it was chained up with other slaves quarrying stone. After seeing the front lines, I was convinced that this was a better solution than the death penalty. Also, I wasn¡¯t an executioner, although, Night had enough pull to change that.The use of the term ¡°scheduled.¡± It meant an event, a time and place. Most executions took place immediately, skills and classes making keeping someone prisoner who knew they were going to die difficult. Sure, there were imprisonment skills and classes, but it was still hard to keep someone down, especially if they knew there was no hope.Someone being executed, and knew they were being executed, wasn¡¯t going to be low-level. Being polite, people who were fairly low level didn¡¯t usually have the power to cause the type of damage that warranted arrest and execution. Unless it was political power, like heading a rebellion or something, but that sort of activity tended towards leveling a bunch¡­ unless it was caught early¡­


    Yeah, I don¡¯t think I can do anything with point 6.


    Dawn broke as I was musing, Night huddling deeper into his cloak as the rest of us ate breakfast. I continued musing, Nature being stoic, and Sky too focused on enjoying flying to make much conversation.


    Whoever it was, likely didn¡¯t know they were being executed.I was being asked to ¡°Execute¡±, not ¡°Assassinate¡±.


    A random thought came to me, letting me put the pieces of the puzzle together.


    We often were put in fights in the Colosseum, against monsters.


    There was a Colosseum fighter that some powers that be somewhere wanted dead, probably someone who¡¯d screwed with the wrong person in some way, shape, or form, and had been sold into slavery as a result, most likely to the Colosseum. Someone called in a favor to Night or something, asking for a Trainee to bump them off.


    Must be one hell of a favor to ask Night to do something. Could be another Instructor, or someone the Rangers ¨C probably in Team 1 ¨C owed a favor to, who then traded it up the line.


    We arrived, and after a short, brief visit to the armorer to return my gear, I practically sprinted to the one little bath that I thought of as mine.


    I was disgusting, in so many senses of the word. I¡¯d fought, ate, drank, and slept in my armor the entire time I¡¯d been at the frontlines. It had gone on all those months ago, and hadn¡¯t come off once the entire time. Blessedly, I¡¯d stopped smelling myself ages ago, but the sheer need to scrub myself to within an inch of my life was overpowering me.


    Which is exactly what I did.


    There was an awkward moment in the middle where I needed to ask one of the many slaves hanging around for help rotating the bath water, it was getting that filthy that quickly. Apart from that, bliss. Pure, relaxing bliss, as water finally ended up in my much-abused pores, which hadn¡¯t seen air in months.


    Scrubbing the dirt out of my matted hair, I got a notification.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 131!]


    Combing it out got me yet another one.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 132!]


    Finally!


    I got back into the swing of classes fairly soon, my absence having been noted, but not terribly commented on. I wasn¡¯t the only one who¡¯d been vanished for a period of time. A large portion of the class had gone on a ¡°practical¡± wilderness survival excursion, some other unlucky Trainees had gotten ¡°Special Attention¡± from a Sentinel ¨C apparently Wolfy had been instructed to live in Saber-tooth cat territory for months, somehow surviving it. MoonMoon had a few additional scars, making them look extra-dashing. What was remarked on was how many levels I¡¯d gotten. Most Trainees get 20 levels in their primary class through Academy. I was pushing 60.


    I kept very, very quiet about my second class¡¯s skills and level gain.


    ¡°I have two experience boosting skills.¡± I said over one lunch. ¡°[Learning] and [Training].¡±


    ¡°I grabbed [Training], but didn¡¯t get nearly as many.¡± Hector griped at me.


    I shrugged.


    ¡°Maybe because [Learning] boosted how fast [Training] went, which in turn boosted [Learning] again, which then boosted everything? It stacks really well.¡±


    There was some muttering at that, and I realized ¨C what if someone took all experience boosting skills? Just how high could they reach?


    ¡°Ranger Elaine! Today, you are reporting to Instructor Artemis for special training!¡± Quintis yelled in his usual manner, giving me a stink-eye.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what you did to make her mad enough to pull Artemis out of her school during the day, but you better make her happy by the end of the day! Do you understand me?¡±


    ¡°Sir! Yes sir!¡± I said, suppressing a grin. I knew exactly what I¡¯d done, but I was surprised Artemis went so far as to take a whole day.


    I met up with Artemis, who had a stormy look on her face.


    ¡°Ranger Elaine, reporting!¡± I said, saluting.


    Artemis couldn¡¯t do it. She couldn¡¯t keep the face up, as a grin split her face from ear to ear.


    ¡°Happy birthday healy-bug!¡±


    Having an Instructor to kidnap you away from training for a day was a horrible abuse of power, and totally worth it.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 18]

 Chapter 114.2– Ranger Academy XIV

    Holy shit, was that-


    A man bounded out of the North Gate, with an almost completely bare torso, filled with rippling muscles. His right arm was bare, except for a sword in his hand. His left arm was armored from the shoulder down, ending with a rope net, small metal balls woven throughout. A vambrace with five gems protected his forearm, two of them glowing.


    And his face ¨C


    His face was all too familiar, but no longer fat and pudgy. He¡¯d burned the fat off in the arena, but I could remember all too vividly the last time I¡¯d seen him, the fear and revulsion I¡¯d felt, later morphed into an icy hatred after he¡¯d sent adventurers after me.


    ¡°Kerberos.¡± I practically spat out, and did spit after saying it, trying to wash my mouth of the foul word.


    A quick [Identify] gave me [Warrior]. Somewhere around 145 or so. I had a large advantage in terms of stats and levels, and he probably didn¡¯t know about me being a mage. I probably looked like a tasty sacrifice.


    Thinking quickly on it ¨C his class was probably some sort of [Gladiator] with the way he¡¯d been introduced. He was specialized for this sort of work, while I was a generalist. Maximus¡¯s lesson on how specialists could punch way above their weight class when in the right situation came back to me, and I resolved to be extra-careful, regardless of the level and stat disparity.


    He wasn¡¯t wearing a helmet, and I saw his eyes widen.


    ¡°Elaine.¡± He said as venomously as a viper.


    He started to walk a slow circle around me, oh-so-slowly getting closer.


    ¡°[Announcer]! Amplify me!¡± Kerberos shouted up.


    ¡°Ladies and Gentlemen! Citizens and Freemen! It looks and sounds like there¡¯s more to this fight than what it seems! Direct from the Demon of the Pit himself, let¡¯s hear it from Kerberos!¡±


    That announcement got a lot more cheering than anything earlier ¨C seemed like people liked a grudge match. I could see what Kerberos was doing, having seen it in a dozen duels I¡¯d been on overwatch for ¨C he was trying to slowly close the distance on me without me noticing, confusing me with his shifting, ever-changing steps.


    I took a large step backwards, adjusting. Yeah, I wasn¡¯t going to let someone that close to me, not that easily. Probably gave away that I had some idea what I was doing though.


    ¡°This bitch here¡¯s supposed to be my wife!¡± Kerberos said, and the crowd fucking loved that. A grudge match between almost-spouses?


    ¡°She ran away from home, and when I sent some people to make sure she was safe, and bring her back home, instead she framed me! Framed my family, for a heinous crime! We were forced to pay tens of thousands of rods, and I got sent here!¡±


    Lots of boos in my direction. [Vigilant] pinged, and I neatly sidestepped some rotten cabbage thrown my way. I threw a dirty look at one of the vendors selling rotten food.


    ¡°But now! All will be right! The gods have seen fit to throw this cunt in the arena against me, a tasty, high-level healer for me to level on! I¡¯m going to beat her, fuck her, then force her to crawl, begging forgiveness!¡±


    A sickening roar of approval went up from the crowd, and I felt my stomach drop out at that.


    However, he was still an idiot. With that last sentence, I wasn¡¯t bound anymore.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to make her suck-¡°


    I used Artemis¡¯s trick, imbuing my voice with power, with fire.


    Also, Artemis¡¯s trick of not fighting fair. I wasn¡¯t going to announce what I was doing; I wasn¡¯t going to be sporting. I wasn¡¯t here for that.


    ¡°[Fireball].¡± I intoned, a massive ball erupting from my fingertip, racing off to Kerberos. His eyes widened, his speech interrupted in the middle, as the [Fireball] directly landed on him and exploded, as hot and powerful as I could manage. There was no warming up, there was no playing around. No declaring that the fight began, no trash-talking back, no pandering to the audience.


    As Night said ¨C and I was completely onboard with him now ¨C this was an execution, one that I was all too happy to participate in. Arranged by Night, not as a favor, but as a way to get rid of someone Rangers hated the most ¨C someone who¡¯d attacked a Ranger, and had somewhat gotten away with it. By sheer virtue of still being alive. I¡¯d said I¡¯d take care of it all those years ago, and, well, now I was taking care of it.


    The announcer was screaming, the crowd was going nuts. I tuned them out, they didn¡¯t matter. [Veil] hid me as I moved through the sand, repositioning myself.


    I dropped [Veil], only to see Kerberos looking off to my right, horrible burns on his skin starting to slowly reform.


    I had a small hope that a single, well-placed [Fireball] would end the fight, would be enough to kill him in a single go. I could usually kill a Formorian with a direct hit like that, but no such luck. Either his stats were heavy in vitality, or he had some skill to help him survive. Probably the latter. Damn specialization.


    I didn¡¯t say anything this time. I just threw another [Fireball], the shout from the crowd his only warning. To his credit, he threw himself out of the way, only getting nicked by the edge of the explosion. It still caused his leg to eat it. I¡¯d evaluate the damage later.


    The follow-up [Fireball] landed directly on him, and he barely managed to roll out of the way of the third one, jumping back to his feet.


    He was panting, coated in burns, patches of his skin peeling off. He looked at me, with hate and venom in his eyes, only one light on his vambrace remaining.


    Bastard was blatantly cheating, bringing gemstones in to heal him, and nobody was calling him on it.


    He started to charge me head-on, and [Fireball] seemed to be working, so I threw another one at him, eyes widening in surprise as a shimmering barrier snapped around him, the last light on his vambrace going dark.


    Fucking rich pricks and their gemstones.


    [Rapidash] helped me get distance again ¨C I had to be slightly careful, as I was unbalanced again, my stats not quite properly aligned, but I was just getting distance, I wasn¡¯t trying to do anything fancy, not going at full power- and I threw another [Fireball] at him, taking a moment to check my mana.


    18344/35460


    I¡¯d gotten a little too used to having endless mana to throw skills around with, and I decided to bide my time for his shield to go down ¨C it couldn¡¯t last long, not with how gemstones worked.


    I let him get closer and closer each time before blowing [Rapidash] to regain distance, wanting to draw out how long this took. He was hurt. He was slowing down. Time was usually against the mage in a mage vs physical confrontation, but not this time. I¡¯d hurt him, and hurt him badly, and I wanted to draw it out. Mostly from a logical perspective, he was hurting, and drawing the fight out was to my advantage. A small part of me was happy he was suffering. Thank goodness he wasn¡¯t that high level ¨C well, relatively speaking. Nor was he a speedster.


    As I let him get closer for the 3rd time, keeping a wary eye on his net, I fucked up. He had something, some sort of gap-closing skill, had been faking how badly he was hurt to get closer, and he blurred as he moved fast, suddenly getting within range, throwing his net at me.


    However, his shield went down for that, and I blasted flames at the net, [Burn Brightly] incinerating the ropes. I got peppered with incinerating hot little metal pieces from the net, but I wasn¡¯t trapped. It wasn¡¯t going to slow me down. I¡¯d done worse to myself.


    Kerberos¡¯s right arm drew back, then started to stab forward, trying to impale me, cripple my leg. I threw a [Veil] in the way, in the awkward spot on his elbow, arresting his momentum in a way that was exceedingly mana-efficient.


    He snarled at me, so close I could smell his breath, spitting on me. Getting close to a powerful Classer, one with mana, one trying to kill you, was always a terrible idea. It was going to be me or him in just a few seconds.


    At this range, I could use [Fire Conjuration] and [Fire Manipulation], and I wasn¡¯t limited to just using them. I shot two hot, narrow jets of flame, one at his groin, one at his chest, making it hard to block and defend against both. They had potential to do damage, but they weren¡¯t my main attack. I could use more than one skill at a time.


    I reached up with my right hand, grabbed his face, and from point-blank range ¨C


    ¡°[Fireball].¡±


    It blew his head clean off his shoulders, exploding into a hot, charred mess. It was blessedly hot enough that there was no spray of blood, just burning chunks of human flesh gently raining down around me, smelling sickeningly of pork.


    [*Ding!* You have slain a [Retiarius] (Water, lv 145)// [Thraex] (Fire, lv 140)


    I swore off pork then and there. I was never eating it again. The rest of the world came into focus, as the sound of the crowd and the announcer came back to me.


    ¡°Citizens and Freemen! There we have it! In a surprise twist of events, Healer Elaine has reversed the tables on Kerberos, and blown his head clean off! Is this the start of a new legend?¡±


    I unsteadily got to my feet. Right, the Ranger¡¯s Eagle. I pointed up, and threw it up, made out of flames, as strong as I could make it.


    The announcer¡¯s voice cut out. Superimposed over my Eagle was a second, giant one, as large as the arena. The light from the sun was cut out, as some skill killed the lighting. From all around, loud enough for everyone to hear, soft enough that it seemed like it was a whisper in your ear, came a voice.


    ¡°This is what happens to those who attempt to arrange an attack on a Ranger.¡±


    With that, the illusion, and the voice, faded.


    The crowd exploded, and even the announcer was at loss for words for a moment.


    I didn¡¯t care. I had already walked out.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Ranger¡¯s Lore] has reached level 183!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Ranger¡¯s Lore] has reached level 190!]


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 18]


    [Mana: 35460/35460]


    [Mana Regen: 36219]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 1032]


    [Strength: 184]


    [Dexterity: 210]


    [Vitality: 297]


    [Speed: 220]


    [Mana: 3546]


    [Mana Regeneration: 3967]


    [Magic Power: 3079]


    [Magic Control: 3406]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 240]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 240]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 198]


    [Medicine: 202]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 233]


    [Phases of the Moon: 240]


    [Moonlight: 240]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 212]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 139]


    [Class 2: [Pyromancer - Fire: Lv 128]+]


    [Fire Affinity: 128]


    [Fire Resistance: 128]


    [Fire Conjuration: 128]


    [Fire Manipulation: 128]


    [Fuel for the Fire: 128]


    [Burn Brightly: 128]


    [Rapidash: 128]


    [Fireball: 128]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 136]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 159]


    [Pretty: 132]


    [Vigilant: 195]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 200]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 190]


    [Training: 160]


    [Learning: 212]

 Chapter 115.1– Ranger Academy XV- Classing up!

    I stumbled out of the arena, having held up a good front for the crowd, to where Ocean ¨C and Artemis ¨C were waiting.


    ¡°Good work Ranger Elaine.¡± Ocean said, formally saluting. Holy shit, I was being saluted by a Sentinel.


    Artemis shot him a dirty look, pulling me into a hug.


    ¡°Good job healy-bug. Proud of you. You¡¯re free now. Need a moment?¡±


    I nodded, resting a moment, gathering my thoughts, then getting up.


    ¡°Right, let¡¯s head back.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t want to watch Brawling?¡± Ocean asked.


    ¡°I want to get as far away as I can from the crowd that was screaming for me to be raped in front of all of them, thank you very much.¡± I said, the memory like oily grease on my mind. I spat, trying to get the taste out of my mouth.


    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s ditch those losers.¡± Artemis said, as we started to walk out.


    Ocean sputtered behind us.


    ¡°The stands are filled with Citizens! Senators! At least two other Sentinels! And more! You can¡¯t just call them all losers!¡±


    Artemis shot him a look, which impressed me. She was willing to sass a Sentinel. ¡°I can, and I did.¡±


    We made it back to Ranger Academy without further incident, where I technically had the rest of the day off.


    It was freeing. I hadn¡¯t realized how much mental load was taken up by Kerberos, wondering where he was, when he¡¯d strike next at me. I had nothing for mental trauma, and his goons torturing me was easily the worst memory I had. Him being dead and gone was freeing, blissful. I was practically skipping and whistling from that.


    I still made it to Sky¡¯s lesson, but apart from that, I took it easy. Who didn¡¯t want to fly?


    There was no way I¡¯d stand Night up though, and we met at the usual time and place.


    ¡°Ranger Elaine. Most excellent.¡± He started off by saying.


    I¡¯d had time to cool off, and while I wasn¡¯t about to start going down a pacifist path, I just felt sick. I¡¯d literally blown someone¡¯s head off, and I¡¯d had every reason to do it. It was the right thing, it was self-defense, I¡¯d do it again, but Night kinda had a point. I¡¯d never deliberately, directly killed another person before, and it was a whole new experience. The sheer intensity of the emotional fallout from it being Kerberos, the demon who¡¯d been on my back, was doing me no favors as well. My emotional state was all over the place.


    It was good to cope with the emotion. It was healthy to process it.


    Bless the contemplation between each sentence, the silent walking to process thoughts. I had a sense that I was going to pick up this habit of Night¡¯s in the future.


    ¡°I believe, in the few weeks left to us, that it is time for you to class up. I shall make no comment on what I believe you should take, except to listen to those who have, with the best of intentions, given you advice.¡±


    Classing up time! My spirits lifted considerably at that.


    ¡°Now, with that being said, let us discuss your general skills. Your [Training] skill has reached, more or less, the end of its useful life. You made most excellent use out of it, but at this time, I believe we should replace the skill, and use the remaining time to get your new skill as high as possible, along with getting used to your new abilities, should you change element, or get a particularly interesting new skill.¡± Night said.


    ¡°I recommend you get [Reflexes]. It will help with your reaction time. The hope is, one day, it will evolve with your [Vigilant] into [Speedster¡¯s Perception], a most useful skill.¡±


    We took a few moments while I digested what he said. It made sense, but¡­


    ¡°I know I encouraged Artemis to take the skill once upon a time. I do not know what has happened with her and the skill, but I have reason to believe she still has it or an evolved version.¡±


    I thought about Artemis, and her superhuman reaction time.


    [Reflexes] it was! Not that I was going to argue with Night over it.


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to say one way or another if taking [Reflexes] now and then classing up will be better than keeping [Training] and classing up. [Training] isn¡¯t that useful, and is unlikely to impact your choices, and [Reflexes] will simply be too low to help.¡±


    Night shrugged.


    ¡°It¡¯s unfortunate, but the additional experience gained by [Training] more than makes up for it. Let us discuss your stats.¡±


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 1032]


    [Strength: 184]


    [Dexterity: 210]


    [Vitality: 297]


    [Speed: 220]


    [Mana: 3546]


    [Mana Regeneration: 3967]


    [Magic Power: 3079]


    [Magic Control: 3406]

 Chapter 115.2– Ranger Academy XV- Classing up!

    I made it to the room labeled Ranger-Mage, and a tiered podium met my eyes.


    There were five levels to the podium, a small stand in front of it with a sad, battered book, then a few more books scattered around the room. I figured I¡¯d start with the sad book, the scattered ones, then make my way around the room.


    [Ranger-Mage ¨C Mithril]

 Chapter 116.1– Ranger Academy XVI

    [*Ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve upgraded your second class ¨C [Ranger-Mage] - Radiance]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Ranger-Mage] has leveled up to level 129! +10 Free Stats, +5 Speed, +5 Vitality, +20 Mana, +20 Mana Regen, +20 Magic power, +20 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Strength, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Ranger-Mage] has leveled up to level 180! +10 Free Stats, +5 Speed, +5 Vitality, +20 Mana, +20 Mana Regen, +20 Magic power, +20 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Strength, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    Yes! Straight to level 180! I needed to sit down and do some math ¨C the number seemed high ¨C but I was pleased as punch over it.


    [*Ding!* Your skill [Fire Affinity] has evolved into [Radiance Affinity] - 128]


    [*Ding!* Your skill [Fire Resistance] has evolved into [Radiance Resistance] - 128]


    [*Ding!* Your skill [Fire Conjuration] has evolved into [Radiance Conjuration] - 128]


    [*Ding!* Your skill [Fire Manipulation] has evolved into [Radiance Manipulation] - 128]


    Absolutely no surprise here. I¡¯d half-hoped that I wouldn¡¯t need the [Radiance Resistance] skill, but then again I was channeling ridiculously hot sunbeams next to my skin. Probably all of the Fire-evolutions required the resistance skill, except maybe Mithril.


    Or I could dump it and burn my hand off every time I used a skill, or burn my face off when breathing fire.


    Hang on, I couldn¡¯t breathe fire anymore. I could¡­


    I could shoot lasers (Fine, beams of radiance) from my eyes. Yessssss.


    The resistance skill could live.


    [*Ding!* Your skill [Fuel for the Fire] has evolved into [Sun-Kissed] - 128]


    Sun-Kissed: The gentle warmth of the sun shines down on you, loving you, caressing you. The sun is the source of all life, and places a gentle kiss upon you. Additional Free Mana Regeneration while in sunlight. Solar-powered! No food required! .2% Increased Mana Regeneration per skill level.


    [*Ding!* Your skill [Burn Brightly] has evolved into [Blaze] - 128]


    Blaze: The sun shines through your skills, letting them burn like the sun. Increased heat and damage to all offensive Radiance skills per level. -1024 Mana Regen.


    [*Ding!* Your skill [Rapidash] has evolved into [Radiant Steps] - 128]


    Radiant Steps: Your steps brim with light, leaving glowing footsteps in your wake. Increased movement speed per level.


    [*Ding!* Your skill [Fireball] has evolved into [Nova] - 128]


    Nova: A small, exploding sun. Increased speed, control, heat, damage, and explosion radius per level.


    [*Ding!* Would you like to move [Warmth of the Sun] from [Constellation of the Healer] to [Ranger-Mage]?]


    I blinked. That was new. Kinda made sense though ¨C the skill could easily be from either Element. I declined to move it over, keeping the healing skill with the healing class, but I resolved to experiment with the ¡°warmth¡± part of the skill ¨C maybe I could make the aura warmer than before?


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Radiance Affinity] has reached level 129!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Radiance Affinity] has reached level 180!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Radiance Resistance] has reached level 129!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Radiance Resistance] has reached level 180!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Radiance Conjuration] has reached level 129!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Radiance Conjuration] has reached level 180!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Radiance Manipulation] has reached level 129!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Radiance Manipulation] has reached level 180!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Blaze] has reached level 129!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Blaze] has reached level 180!]


    No surprise there! I¡¯d been blasting flames at Formorians for months on end.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Nova] has reached level 129!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Nova] has reached level 180!]


    I¡¯d been blasting them with [Fireball] as well. Onto the more painful ones¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Radiant Steps] has reached level 129!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Radiant Steps] has reached level 155!]


    Well, that was better than I could¡¯ve hoped for, given how little I was using [Rapidash] on the frontlines.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Sun-Kissed] has reached level 129!]


    ¡­


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Sun-Kissed] has reached level 140!]


    And I was back to grinding a really slow skill. [Fuel for the Fire] had taken me ages to get capped, and now I had another mostly passive skill that I had to deal with.


    I really, really hoped that [Phases of the Moon] could handle skin damage and skin cancer, otherwise I was in for a one-way ticket to trouble.


    [*Ding!* For reaching level 150, your skill [Radiant Steps] has evolved into [Talaria]!]


    Talaria: The winged sandals of Hermes, forged by Hephaestus, made out of radiant light. Wear sandals, strap them on, and step on sunbeams to take flight! 4% decreased cost per level, increased speed per level.


    ¡°Yes!¡± I screamed out, sitting up, throwing my hands up!


    ¡°Ack!¡± I heard a scream, and I looked around, processing.


    Right, my room. Where I was being looked after.


    ¡°Ranger Elaine! Are you ok!?¡± One of the women came up to me, face creased in concern. ¡°Is anything wrong? What happened?¡±


    ¡°Huh? I¡¯m fine.¡± I said, only for my stomach to betray me, sound echoing throughout the room. *Gurgle gurgle gurgle*. A sudden wave of hunger and embarrassment came over me.


    ¡°Totally fine.¡± I said, trying to keep a straight face. The lady grinned at me, pointing to a tray of food.


    ¡°Of course, Ranger Elaine. We appreciate the week-long break. We were just concerned; I¡¯ve never heard of someone taking so long to class up.¡±


    She nodded at the other slave, who promptly vanished.


    I started to eat, discovered that yes, I was ravenous, just like someone who hadn¡¯t eaten in a week, and chowed down with vigor.


    It was weird, adjusting to eating without [Fuel for the Fire]. I¡¯d gotten used to the skill helping me, and now it was gone. It was like I kept reaching for a crutch that wasn¡¯t there.


    I paused a moment, slowing down so I could eat without choking. Choking was another thing that [Phases] couldn¡¯t heal right now, although¡­ I could just blast my throat open, remove the problem, and heal it back up again. It wasn¡¯t harm when it was saving my life.


    Let¡¯s not choke. How about I review my stats instead?


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 18]


    [Mana: 50400/50400]


    [Mana Regen: 45874]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 572]


    [Strength: 236]


    [Dexterity: 203]


    [Vitality: 560]


    [Speed: 480]


    [Mana: 5040]


    [Mana Regeneration: 5092]


    [Magic Power: 4410]


    [Magic Control: 4369]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 240]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 240]


    [Warmth of the sun: 198]


    [Medicine: 202]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 233]


    [Phases of the Moon: 240]


    [Moonlight: 240]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 212]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 139]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 180]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 180]


    [Radiance Resistance: 180]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 180]


    [Radiance Manipulation: 180]


    [Sun-Kissed: 140]


    [Blaze: 180]


    [Talaria: 155]


    [Nova: 180]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 136]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 159]


    [Pretty: 132]


    [Vigilant: 195]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 200]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 190]


    [Training: 160]


    [Learning: 212]

 Chapter 116.2– Ranger Academy XVI

    The rest of the day passed mostly uneventfully, as I spent time sunning myself grinding [Sun-kissed] and eating a week¡¯s worth of food. I was what, 100lbs//45 kg soaking wet, or thereabouts. Skipping meals was bad for me.


    This skill was the greatest excuse ever to slack off. Experiments as to relative leveling speed vs skin exposed would need to be done ¨C but not here.


    I also decided to calculate what had happened with my [Ranger-Mage] class, not that I was complaining.


    Ok, let¡¯s pretend the Brilliance mage that was shooting every forty minutes or so was typical, and let¡¯s also pretend we had the same length shifts, which I was never sure about. He showed up for about two minutes or so, fired off all his skills, and was gone after that.


    Let me pretend he was typical, although with Brilliance having a +2 every level to mana regeneration from the double Light, that wasn¡¯t always the case.


    With that ratio, I was twenty times as efficient as the unknown Brilliance mage, so I was, roughly, getting twenty times the experience.


    I was there for roughly six months, at twenty times¡­


    Holy shit. I¡¯d gotten the experience of the average mage being on the frontlines for ten years.


    And if the Lightning mage was anything to go off of, if he was more typical ¨C it was closer to twenty years of experience.


    Granted, that wasn¡¯t how it worked, and the comments about people tending to cap out around 180 on the frontlines rang in my mind, but wow. Yeah. Serious, serious experience.


    Why wasn¡¯t this the norm? The theory about being made a team leader was making more sense ¨C at 240/180, I was starting to have some serious, serious firepower. Not Artemis levels, not yet, especially not with her having both 256 evos ¨C but I could pack a wallop, and I was certainly at the power level of an experienced Ranger.


    A slave let me know that my evening meeting with Night would be as usual, and when the appointed hour arrived, we met up, starting our usual slow walk around the villa.


    ¡°Ranger Elaine. I was starting to become concerned about you. Was there some trouble with your class-up?¡± Night started off asking.


    I had a minor twinge of guilt at that.


    ¡°No, but I wanted to spend time reading.¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh? Elaborate?¡± Night said, gesturing at me to carry on.


    I took a deep breath. This was going to sound ridiculous, but if Night wanted to know, I¡¯d tell him. Secrets were a short way to get in huge amounts of trouble, and I¡¯d already defied Night once. I wasn¡¯t able to start making life hard.


    ¡°Where I come from, reading for pleasure is a popular pastime. It isn¡¯t here. Heck, there aren¡¯t even books here! As much as I¡¯ve tried to tell people how they¡¯re made, the materials are just all wrong. My classing up location is a grand library, with thousands, or tens of thousands of books. Sure, they¡¯re all about potential classes, but they read like a novel. Classing up¡¯s the only time I ever get to see or read them, my only chance to pursue the activity. I was making full use of the time.¡± I told Night.


    He looked at me with ¨C was that pity? We walked, the ball being in Night¡¯s court, taking as long as needed for him to process and think.


    ¡°I had never considered such a thing.¡± Night said. ¡°To be torn from one¡¯s world, yes. To lose friends and family, a tragedy. But to also lose one¡¯s hobbies, one¡¯s means of enjoyment? To know they no longer exist, and are only in your soul?¡± He pulled a face.


    ¡°Somehow, that is just one insult too many. But enough of that. Tell me about your class.¡±


    ¡°[Ranger-Mage] ¨C Radiance!¡± I excitedly told him. ¡°I also finally managed to get to fly!¡±


    Night started to laugh, pausing a moment to catch his breath.


    ¡°Of course you¡¯d take Radiance!¡± He said. ¡°Let me guess, it completely fails to synergize with your Celestial class?¡±


    I didn¡¯t make an uhhhhh noise. I¡¯d been better trained than that. Lemme see¡­


    [Moonlight] operating when the moons were out.


    [Sun-kissed] and [Talaria] operating when the sun was out.


    Those were my only time-restricted skills.


    ¡°Unless there¡¯s an eclipse!¡± I cheerfully said.


    Night just rolled his eyes.


    ¡°You can hope for the two classes to eventually reach some type of equilibrium, for the skills to help each other remove their restrictions. Aside from that, a solid choice. I am also pleased you decided to take [Ranger-Mage], showing a dedication towards being a Ranger.¡±


    I smiled at that, and the rest of the walk was spent discussing the fine details of my skills. At the end of it-


    ¡°I will attempt for you to visit Instructor Artemis¡¯s school to help you learn the finer details of your class. While Lightning isn¡¯t Radiance, many of the aspects of having an extraordinarily quick element apply.¡±


    Oooh, field trip to Artemis¡¯s School of Sorcery and Spellcraft! Fun!


    The next day, having joined a boat of Trainees off to the Colosseum for some more training, I found my way to Artemis¡¯s school.


    It was somewhat outside of the walls, the stunt only possible due to how safe the capital was. Several low, stone buildings surrounded a large field, where skills and large displays of magic were being fired off.


    I wandered in ¨C there wasn¡¯t really a gate or a fence or anything resembling an entrance guard or greeter ¨C and figured that since the field was where the action was happening, might as well head that way.


    I made it to the field, where a bunch of teenagers were lined up, Artemis lecturing. Some younger kids were off to the side, meditating on a bench.


    Artemis was saying something about proper tracking, then threw a bunch of thin earthen disks into the sky. Immediately, the dozen or so mages tried to fire off skills, aiming to hit them.


    In a word, target practice.


    ¡°Elaine! Hey Elaine!¡± Artemis called out, waving to me.


    ¡°Everyone, this is Ranger Elaine, one of my first students, now a full Ranger. Listen well, and one day you can be like her!¡± Artemis said.


    I smiled and waved, being good PR for Artemis, resisting rolling my eyes. I¡¯d been a full Ranger before becoming a mage, but I wasn¡¯t going to announce that. Artemis¡¯s school was going well, but it was clear she hadn¡¯t had huge amounts of money dumped on her out of the blue.


    ¡°Elaine¡¯s here to practice her new class, and get a new skill. If you¡¯re interested in getting [Reflexes], come join! Otherwise, pay attention, and learn how to get the [Reflexes] skill if you ever need it ¨C or want to teach it to someone.¡±


    ¡°Ready?¡± Artemis asked me.


    I nodded.


    ¡°Block!¡± Artemis said, whizzing a pebble at me, her trademark attack at a fraction of the speed. I threw up [Veil] as fast as I could, watching my mana take a small hit.


    I dropped [Veil], only to see Artemis throwing more pebbles at me. Shield, shield, more shield, getting them smaller, doing it faster, until-


    [*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Reflexes]! Would you like to take this skill?]


    Reflexes: One of the most important aspects of survival ¨C quickly reacting to problems coming at you. Improved reaction time per level. -128 Mana Regen


    I swiftly hit yes, throwing my hands up in surrender, then promptly doubling over with nausea as I lost [Training] at level 160. Fuck. I¡¯d forgotten how sick losing skills made me.


    ¡°I got it, I got it.¡± I said.


    One of the students raised his hand.


    ¡°How do we teach them if they don¡¯t have a shield?¡± He asked.


    I looked at Artemis. Reasonable question.


    ¡°You make them catch it instead. Also needs to be slower. If you¡¯re a Fire, Air, Water, etc. mage, you can just throw pebbles at them. It takes longer to trigger the skill, but the general idea is the same ¨C make people react to something coming at them.¡± Artemis explained.


    ¡°Right, Caius, can you work on stone pulls with everyone?¡±


    To my amusement, one of the students ¨C Caius, I assumed, clumsily saluted Artemis, then started yelling, getting the other students to get ready to hit the stuff he was throwing up.


    ¡°Right, what do you need?¡± Artemis said.


    ¡°Radiance! Need practice, Night said you were good for fast stuff.¡±


    Artemis nodded.


    ¡°Yup! With Fire, things were either too close to you for it to matter, or you had to track where things were ahead of time with your [Fireball]. Radiance is a bit different. It¡¯s just there, immediately. It¡¯s difficult to stop or counter as a result, but when it is stopped or countered, your bag of tricks is diminished. Be careful against Mirror ¨C they will straight up wreck you. Arcanite, and Ice you need to be slightly worried against. On the other hand, you do horrible things to Brilliance barriers, and usually Radiance is good against Mirage and Mist.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to throw things up, and you¡¯re going to hit them. Then we¡¯ll move onto me throwing things at you, and you disintegrating them before they hit you. It¡¯ll train your reflexes as well. Ready?¡± Artemis said, and I nodded.


    She threw a pebble up in the air, and I focused, willing a thin beam of Radiance into existence. Suddenly, the beam was just there, and the pebble blasted to pieces.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Reflexes] has reached level 2!]


    ¡°Good! Just like that. Carrying on¡­¡± Artemis said, throwing three pebbles up in the air. I blasted one, two, three.


    ¡°Eh. Blast all three at the same time. Come on.¡± Artemis said, repeating the procedure. ¡°You won¡¯t always have time to hit them one at a time, learn how to focus and split your attention. Let¡¯s see how many we can work you up to¡­¡±


    Four. The answer was I could handle four beams at once.


    ¡°There¡¯s a skill you could take to try and help you handle more things at once, if that¡¯s what you want later on.¡± Artemis told me.


    I mentally marked it down, if I could get [Vigilant] and [Reflexes] to merge.


    ¡°Right, let¡¯s practice your new skill ¨C what was it again?¡± Artemis asked.


    ¡°[Nova]¡±


    ¡°Right.¡±


    [Nova] it turned out, was basically the Radiance version of [Fireball]. Worked the same way, but cooler. A small marble of blinding light was shot out ¨C it had travel time unlike the Radiance beams ¨C hit a target, and exploded into a blinding ball of fire, like a small exploding sun.


    It seemed like [Radiance Resistance] helped a bit with not blinding myself with my own attacks.


    ¡°Hey Artemis, can you try flashing me with a bunch of lightning? I want to see if that still blinds me.¡±


    Artemis instantly complied, and I cursed as my vision went white, blinding the spots out of my eyes.


    Nope. [Radiance Resistance] was good only for my stuff, not other people¡¯s. Had to check if it helped against hostile Radiance, but given how [Fire Resistance] worked, it might.


    Artemis came up to me at the end, beaming.


    ¡°Good work healy-bug! Hey, just a few more weeks until graduation. I heard Julius is already back!¡±


    ¡°Ahhh! Why¡¯d you tell me! I won¡¯t have a chance to see him until graduation, and now I know! Good to hear he survived though.¡±


    ¡°Yeah! I¡¯ll be at graduation ¨C I gotta see my healy-bug graduate.¡± Artemis said, looking off into the distance at her students, a strange note in her voice.


    ¡°Artemis ¨C are you crying?¡± I asked, incredulous.


    She swooped down and hugged me ¨C darn her unnaturally long legs!


    ¡°My little healy-bug is graduating Ranger Academy! Of course I¡¯m happy!¡±


    I hugged Artemis. What else was there to do?


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 18]


    [Mana: 50400/50400]


    [Mana Regen: 45746 (+14257)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 572]


    [Strength: 236]


    [Dexterity: 203]


    [Vitality: 560]


    [Speed: 480]


    [Mana: 5040]


    [Mana Regeneration: 5092 (+1425.76)]


    [Magic Power: 4410 (+44100)]


    [Magic Control: 4369 (+43690)]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 240]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 240]


    [Warmth of the sun: 198]


    [Medicine: 202]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 233]


    [Phases of the Moon: 240]


    [Moonlight: 240]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 212]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 139]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 180]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 180]


    [Radiance Resistance: 180]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 180]


    [Radiance Manipulation: 180]


    [Sun-Kissed: 140]


    [Blaze: 180]


    [Talaria: 155]


    [Nova: 180]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 136]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 159]


    [Pretty: 132]


    [Vigilant: 195]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 200]


    [Ranger''s Lore: 190]


    [Reflexes: 15]


    [Learning: 212]

 Chapter 117.1– Ranger Academy XVII- Graduation

    The Summer Solstice. Graduation.


    I¡¯d spent the remaining few weeks primarily working on [Reflexes], with some added work in [Talaria] and [Sun-kissed]. A few other skills got some levels, notably [Oath] got one and [Vigilant] liked the [Reflexes] training. I could see how the two were closely related. [Vigilant] would warn me of a problem, and [Reflexes] made it easier to do something about the problem. [Center of the Galaxy] was also surprisingly synergistic with it, removing the startle, letting me move immediately.


    Yesterday had been an easy day ¨C there was running in the morning, and that was it. I didn¡¯t even have my talk with Night, with the idea being that we¡¯d get a good night¡¯s sleep.


    I didn¡¯t sleep a wink. I don¡¯t think anyone else did either.


    Out of sheer habit, we assembled in the courtyard on the 4th gong, as we¡¯d been doing for over a year and a half. It was like the Instructors knew what we¡¯d do ¨C or more likely, had decades of experience with other Trainees doing this ¨C and there was a set of armor for each of us, waiting and ready, with our names pinned on it.


    My familiar set was there, and almost shaking, I put it on.


    I wasn¡¯t the only one with a serious case of the nerves, and we moved through, helping each other get the armor on, finding out today if we¡¯d get the Ranger Eagle to go with it, or if we weren¡¯t selected to be a Ranger.


    The choices were varied for those of us not selected. Repeating Academy, which had all sorts of benefits ¨C you¡¯d get an entirely new set of lessons to take, combat and sparring lessons to help boost your level. Becoming a guard, soldier, or mercenary of some sort, ¡®passed Academy but didn¡¯t get selected¡¯ was a solid, solid recommendation.


    Of course, becoming an adventurer was also on the menu, but I didn¡¯t think anyone would stoop that low. We were all better than that. We had standards.


    On occasion, people who failed out would strike out on their own, open a business, or discovered a love of sailing while at Academy, and became a sailor, a captain, or, famously, one became a pirate.


    Also known as ¡°how to get a Sentinel sent after you.¡±


    They did not look kindly on almost-graduates turning to a life of crime. Reflected badly on all of us.


    I suspected that the primary test was an aptitude one, a test of character, one last way for the Instructors ¨C and Command ¨C to cut people they found unsuited, or who¡¯d failed their classes. For example, I was betting that Spitter would fail. He consistently failed to follow orders properly, and had never stopped spraying deadly acid into people¡¯s faces when sparring. He was my number one problem when I was on sparring overwatch, and he always had some sort of shit excuse for it.


    I would never voice that out loud, nor would I make bets on it. It would be in poor taste, and saying ¡°I don¡¯t think Bob will make it¡± would be one of the only ways to shake, if not break, the bond between us all.


    Wolfy showed up, and we helped him get ready. I was grooming Moon, making his fur coat look positively luxurious.


    I kinda wanted one of my own. So soft!


    Once Wolfy was fully geared up and ready, and MoonMoon was positively shining, we pounced.


    ¡°Alright Wolfy, give up the goods. What are the numbers?¡±


    ¡°What makes you think I know!¡± He protested.


    We looked at each other.


    ¡°That¡¯s not a denial.¡± I said, taking charge.


    He grumbled to himself.


    ¡°98 Rangers down. 112 Trainees graduating ¨C well, including you Elaine. Unknown how many Rangers will formally or semi-formally retire, but it¡¯s usually two to four. That includes anyone who asks to be permanently promoted to Team 0. My guess? 10 of us don¡¯t make it.¡± Wolfy said, spilling the goods.


    The sun came up, bright and shining, promising a day of clear skies and beautiful weather, finding us all ready. Ocean was back, and a single ship was waiting for us. We lined up to file onboard. I was in the front ¨C again, rank having its privilege. Some of the Trainees, like Lava, kinda resented it, but having survived almost an entire round had given me a layer of respect. The other Instructors treating me as a Ranger had gone a long way to boot, and making it to graduation should, at least, give Julius a clear.


    Almost everyone could sail ¨C myself and a few other Trainees excluded ¨C and while we could do it ourselves, this was our moment. We were being escorted.


    Night had asked me the other day to put my remaining free points into my Power and Control, and while I hadn¡¯t gotten a great reason why, I wasn¡¯t about to argue.


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 8]


    [Strength: 236]


    [Dexterity: 203]


    [Vitality: 560]


    [Speed: 480]


    [Mana: 5040]


    [Mana Regeneration: 5092 (+1435.944)]


    [Magic Power: 4636 (+46591.8)]


    [Magic Control: 4636 (+46591.8)]

 Chapter 117.2– Ranger Academy XVII- Graduation

    Speech! Speech! Speech!


    And I was promptly put to sleep by his speech. And the next Commander¡¯s. And the next. And ¨C were all eight of them seriously going to be giving slightly different variations of the same speech? Cripes.


    My ears perked up, and I started paying attention again when we got to the important part.


    ¡°¡­ and now, it¡¯s time to carve the names onto the Indomitable Wall.¡±


    The same stonemason from last time stood up from the VIP section, and walked over to the wall. He walked slowly, like stone moving, but the atmosphere was solemn, serious. Nobody would dream of interrupting his walk, of asking him to hurry along.


    The drums started to play again, a slow, solemn, melancholy beat. Each name said here, said now, was a life cut short in defense of Remus, a peak warrior killed. This would be, in many ways, their only remembrance, their only legacy. A name, stated. A phrase, uttered. A carving, in a stone wall.


    Some of us would move on. It was clear to me now, that others didn¡¯t. Artemis clearly remembered, and remembered well. I also remembered; I wouldn¡¯t forget. The first time I¡¯d been here it felt like I was preserving the memory. No, that wasn¡¯t the important one. It was returning here, returning to where the memories were preserved, to remember them once again ¨C that was the important part.


    No wonder every Ranger would fight to the death before allowing That Room to fall. I¡¯d stand in front of the wall and take a lightning bolt for it.


    ¡°Team 3.¡± The Commander announced, Team 1 and 2 having been blessedly spared.


    Team 1 was the capital team, the best of the best. It was no surprise that none of them died, and since there was an omni-present Ranger presence, it was no surprise that nothing became a large enough threat.


    Team 2 just got flat-out lucky.


    The leader of Team 3 got onto the stage, and read off the first name.


    ¡°Theopropides.¡±


    I chanted, with everyone else.


    ¡°Brave Ranger. Your time to rest has come. May White Dove take you to a better place. Your deeds will not be forgotten. We will remember you.¡±


    The Indomitable Wall was tapped, a new name carved onto it for eternity.


    We repeated the process. A name. A recital. A tap.


    Wolfy¡¯s intel had been good. 98 names. 98 recitals. 98 taps. 98 new names on The Indomitable Wall.


    Team 10 got fully wiped.


    Team 13 also got fully wiped, again.


    I was starting to wonder if there was some curse on team 13.


    Silence naturally fell, as the last name from Team 24 was called out. Remembrance, once again. Respect for the fallen.


    Not even Kallisto¡¯s kid made a peep.


    One of the Commanders got up, and walked to the podium, the moment broken.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to congratulate the new Academy graduates. As you hear your name, please approach the stage.¡±


    ¡°Trainee Aebutius, approach.¡±


    Aura ¨C I finally knew his name! ¨C jumped up, and marched onto the stage. A handshake, a Ranger Badge pinned to his neat armor, and he triumphantly held his hands up.


    ¡°Congratulations to our newest Ranger!¡± The Commander said, and we applauded.


    The other Trainees were the most enthusiastic.


    Name after name was read out, until-


    ¡°Trainee Echelaos, approach.¡±


    The man next to me got up, and marched up to the stage. My heart was going a million miles an hour. My palms, sweaty and clammy. I forced myself to breathe, to not hyperventilate.


    This was it. This was the moment. It was about to be my turn to-


    ¡°Trainee Eteonous, approach.¡±


    My heart plunged into my shoes, as Lava patted my shoulders. We¡¯d never gotten to like each other ¨C got along like two wet cats in a bag ¨C but even here, at this moment, at the lowest I¡¯d ever felt, the bond between us Trainees, we who¡¯d gone through the Hell Months together, was unshakeable.


    Hang on, I realized, blinking through tears. I¡¯d always been called Ranger Elaine, even all through Academy. Was I just not called up because I didn¡¯t need to be graduated to a Ranger?


    My heart hit my shoes, and bounced back up, but I was anything but stable. I¡¯d find out soon. So soon.


    My heart managed to re-invent the yo-yo. Deeply unpleasant.


    Exactly 103 Trainees were graduated, the 9 of us who hadn¡¯t been called up with sad, ugly looks on our faces. Spitter was present, as well as Hulk. My bet with Hulk? He was a brute, through and through, and wasn¡¯t smart enough to properly be a Ranger. He was a fantastic fighter, but that was it. Couldn¡¯t track, talk with people well, hell, anything outside of a basic order he struggled with. He¡¯d make amazing money as a bodyguard.


    Still, I had no time to focus on others, I was worrying about myself.


    ¡°Now, it is time to announce the new teams for the following round.¡± The Commander said, and I immediately started paying rapt attention again, to see if my name would be called out.


    No, I told myself. To see what team I¡¯d be in. I was going to make it. I had made it. It¡¯d just be a bit weird walking down from the stands to my new team, but hey, I¡¯d manage it.


    ¡°Team 1. Velius, Kallisto, Fufius¡­¡± The Commander started reading off names, and happy day, Kallisto was promoted to Team 1! Maybe he was being given some consideration for being married, a way to make married life work as a Ranger? Either way, good for him! He was now an elite of the elites!


    Names were read off, and as time went on, I started to get nervous. Maximus¡¯s name was read off ¨C Team 15 ¨C but my name wasn¡¯t said anywhere.


    Nor was Julius¡¯s.


    Hang on, let me check something really fast ¨C


    General Skills


    [Identify: 136]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 159]


    [Pretty: 132]


    [Vigilant: 198]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 201]


    [: ]


    [Reflexes: 95]


    [Learning: 212]

 Chapter 118.1 – Ranger Convocation

    I held my hands up as the crowd roared approval, my mind shorting out.


    Me. A Sentinel.


    Many things suddenly made sense, but for every answer I got, I ended up with two more questions.


    Me always being in teams of nine, with me in command. It wasn¡¯t a team of nine- it was a team of eight, plus one. A full Ranger squad, with a Sentinel in command. Practice.


    But wasn¡¯t I too low level to be a Sentinel? Wasn¡¯t my combat prowess not enough? Who¡¯d even listen to me, when push came to shove, when there was a roaring dinosaur charging at us?


    The trip to the frontlines, being given massive resources. It was to get my level up, get my stats right.


    But why? Was Night playing ¡®build-a-Sentinel¡¯? Was it off of sheer potential, [Oath] promising that I¡¯d get there, or was I already one of the best?


    I mentally shook my head, as my arms were raised up in front of the cheering crowd. I¡¯d ask Night later. Or maybe Ocean now, if I could grab him for a few minutes. Ocean was responsible and helpful; he¡¯d have answers and be willing to tell me. Unlike Sky.


    Julius said a few more things, and the crowd broke up, milling around, starting to talk with each other.


    Well, like a third of them. It felt like the remaining two-thirds started to descend upon me, and I was starting to get some serious anxiety. I didn¡¯t like social things! I didn¡¯t do social gigs!


    And I¡¯d just been offered up as a slab of meat before hundreds of hungry wolves, all salivating and wanting a bite.


    That voice came back, impossibly close, whispering in my ear even though nobody was around.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got this. We¡¯re all here, and will help screen people somewhat, so they don¡¯t all rush you.¡±


    ¡°Probably should introduce myself. Magic. Mirage-Sound. Glad to properly meet you, Dawn.¡±


    I put my arms down, getting ready to greet the first person. Julius beat me to it.


    ¡°Elaine ¨C Dawn now I suppose ¨C congratulations. You¡¯ve done me proud.¡± He said, beaming at me.


    I couldn¡¯t help it, his grin was infectious, his happiness contagious, uplifting my spirits. Heck, he was a Leader, he very well might have a [Raise Spirits] skill or something.


    ¡°I nominated you for Sentinel way back when, since the feat¡¯s hard. I thought it¡¯d take more than a decade before they agreed! And look at you! Level 240, give or take! That¡¯s incredible.¡± Julius said.


    ¡°Thanks!¡±


    The other Sentinels came up to me, offering their congratulations, calling me Dawn for the first time.


    I rolled the word over my tongue.


    ¡°Dawn.¡±


    It was solid. I liked it. Could¡¯ve been so much worse ¨C Healing, for example. Recovery. I shuddered at the thought of all the bad names.


    The rest of the crowd made it to the podium, then it was sheer hell on Pallos. Heck, give me the Hell Months back. It¡¯d be easier to handle than all this¡­ socializing. Bleck.


    ¡°Dawn! Congratulations on your promotion!¡± The first Ranger had made it up to the stage, someone I recognized as being from Team 1.


    ¡°No chance I can get a top-up healing is there?¡± He asked, grinning. I happily tapped his hand, pulsing [Phases] through him. I have no idea if that took any mana or not- my regen was high enough for it to immediately recover, if anything was spent.


    ¡°Thanks! Congratulations again! We hope we won¡¯t need you ¨C but if we do, we¡¯ll be sure to call!¡±


    I smiled and thanked him, the second person coming up, another Ranger.


    He glanced down, and asked the worst question.


    ¡°No chance you¡¯re single is there?¡±


    I just gave him a Look, that was apparently not terribly effective.


    ¡°Not interested.¡±


    Bless the old Team 4. I¡¯d never gotten grief from them.


    Everyone ¨C fucking everyone, even the Rangers ¨C had a ¡°nice, unmarried relative¡±, or worse, actively propositioned.


    Kallisto eventually made it to the stage with his wife.


    ¡°Kallisto! You made it, you¡¯re alive! And married!? What happened to the playboy I knew!?¡±


    His wife punched Kallisto in the arm, juggling the baby with another.


    Kallisto just laughed it off.


    ¡°Cordelia happened! One look and I was smitten,¡±


    ¡°As usual.¡± I said, having no mercy.


    ¡°one thing led to another, and we were married!¡± Kallisto finished.


    Cordelia rolled her eyes at that.


    ¡°He¡¯s neglecting the part where I had to sneak into the Ranger¡¯s wagon to start the trip together.¡±


    I nodded my approval at that.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t believe you pinning down Kallisto any other way.¡±


    Kallisto half-heartedly swatted at me.


    ¡°Anyways, this is Flora!¡± Kallisto said, gushing over his baby. ¡°She¡¯s the sweetest, best, most perfect, wonderful¡­¡±


    Kallisto went on in this vein for some time.


    ¡°¡­ baby there ever was!¡±


    I smiled, and looked at her. She looked something like a mashed potato.


    ¡°She¡¯s so cute!¡± I said, faking enthusiasm. Babies weren¡¯t really my thing.


    ¡°Anyways, Kallisto,¡± I whispered to him, leaning my head forward. ¡°Any chance I could borrow your ring? The mob¡¯s relentless.¡±


    Cordelia was clearly listening in.


    ¡°Here, borrow mine real fast. I totally get relentless suitors.¡± She said.


    ¡°Bless you. How¡¯d you manage?¡± I asked, slipping the ring on.


    ¡°Poorly. I¡¯m the daughter of a Senator ¨C his only daughter. Everyone wanted a piece of me. Fake ring¡¯s good, making it known to direct everything to your dad works best, though only if he¡¯s in on it.¡±


    Good, good, taking notes.


    ¡°He probably would be, he¡¯s here somewhere¡­ just ended up at the back of the crowd. Thank you so much Cordelia, I¡¯ll get this back to you at the end of this.¡±


    She laughed.


    ¡°It¡¯s more that I knew Kallisto would happily lend you his, then he might start getting ideas.¡± She said, glaring at him.


    ¡°Of course not, love.¡± He said, clearly smitten. ¡°You¡¯re the only one for me.¡±


    How the hell had Cordelia managed to wrap Kallisto around her finger like that? Wow.


    Hang on ¨C was that why Kallisto was Team 1 now? His wife¡¯s dad pulled a string? The idea wasn¡¯t impossible. Rangers did their best to avoid politics, but it didn¡¯t mean it couldn¡¯t happen.


    Remus society was fairly permissive, and just because you were married didn¡¯t mean or imply monogamy. Bit of a valve on the arranged marriage thing. From the sound of it though, Cordelia had somehow convinced Kallisto to go steady with her.


    A ring did help though, for a variety of reasons.


    Kallisto, Cordelia, and Flora hung out on stage, while more people came up. More of the members of the audience were coming up on stage, as a number of Rangers had already said hi, or were discussing with their team.


    This sucked. This had to count as harm, right? Mental anguish? Trauma? I could start blasting in self-defense, and jet away, right?


    With a sigh, I politely healed someone else, a surprising amount of mana vanishing. Oh. He¡¯d really needed the help. Maybe this wasn¡¯t the worst¡­


    A commotion came, and I saw Artemis flying over the crowd, skipping the line with mom and dad in tow on top of a large stone slab.


    The person she cut in front made a noise of protest, but she ignored him.


    ¡°Elaine! We¡¯re so proud of you!¡± Dad said, giving me a hug. I gave him my strongest hug back, suddenly realizing ¨C I was much higher level than he was.


    Mom and Artemis piled in, and we spent a long moment like that, shielding me from the rest of the crowd. I took a moment to relax, some of the tension bleeding off.


    ¡°Dad.¡± I mumbled into his shirt. ¡°Dad, you¡¯ve gotta shield me from all these suitors. Just tell them all no. Or make up that I¡¯m engaged or something.¡±


    Mom laughed.


    ¡°Sure, will do!¡± Dad said.


    It got better from there, and Maximus made his way over.


    ¡°Dawn! Congratulations!¡± He said. ¡°Now that you¡¯re a hotshot, I dunno if you¡¯d want a copy of this fascinating story I found¡­¡± He waved a scroll at me.


    ¡°Gimme!¡± I said, grabbing it.


    ¡°Thanks for looking out for me.¡± I said, tone serious.


    ¡°Anytime. Hey, now that you¡¯re a Sentinel, might be able to call you in on injuries.¡±


    I shrugged.


    ¡°Hell if I know. I only found out today. No idea what¡¯s going to qualify as ¡®call in Dawn¡¯ or not.¡±


    Maximus shrugged.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s going to be tricky. My best bet are mass casualty events. Like, if Destruction is sent somewhere, I bet you¡¯ll tag along to clean up his mess.¡±


    I had to remind myself that any problem Destruction was sent on, he¡¯d be going regardless. I¡¯d just reduce the body count, which was my whole raison d''etre.


    ¡°Do you know if Arthur¡¯s around? I assume he¡¯s alive, his chair¡¯s here. Unless they decided to give both me and the retiring Commander a chair ¨C I was worried about that.¡± Julius asked me. I shook my head.


    ¡°Frontlines. Up to something.¡± I said.


    ¡°That¡¯s a shame ¨C I was hoping we could get the entire old Team 4 together for dinner, to celebrate your accomplishment, and all of us surviving.¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± Kallisto asked, popping back round with Cordelia. I slipped her ring back, with a mouthed ¡°thanks¡±.


    ¡°We should go out, celebrate!¡±


    ¡°Ah, why not. Elaine, Maximus, Artemis?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m in.¡±


    ¡°My treat!¡± I said.


    ¡°Errr¡­ assuming I¡¯ve been getting paid.¡±


    Artemis gave me a Look.


    ¡°Seriously? You don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve been getting paid or not? That¡¯s like, the first thing to do! Who works without pay?¡±


    Mom lightly punched my shoulder.


    ¡°Clearly she does. Always insisted on getting paid ¨C I taught her well ¨C but never cared how much she got paid.¡± I got a slightly disapproving, mostly proud, look from her.


    Ocean popped around.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t all of you meet at The Blue Harpoon tonight? I gotta grab Dawn for some Sentinel stuff.¡±


    Julius almost saluted before catching himself. He was a Commander now, one of the head honchos. Other people saluted to him, not the other way around. Clearly, he was still settling in, but by the long speech he¡¯d given, they¡¯d clearly prepped him ahead of time. Probably had a long interview or something.


    Would I need to interview with Command?


    Man, why didn¡¯t I get prepped? So unfair. Would avoid a heart attack and a half.


    Maximus and Kallisto saluted and left, and Artemis left with a cheery wave, arms hooked into mom¡¯s and dad¡¯s arm. Looked like they were off for a fun day in the city!


    Ocean, Brawling, and Hunting led me out of That Room, down to the basement of Ranger HQ.


    ¡°The first thing to know is, your badge. While the Ranger¡¯s badge shows our authority, the Sentinel¡¯s badge actually does things. Namely, it keys you to the wards, and lets you pass certain barriers.¡± Ocean started off by saying, as we reached a desolate stretch of a basement corridor. There was nothing here, and so I was betting¡­


    ¡°We have ¡®official¡¯ quarters up above ¨C if you don¡¯t want to buy a house ¨C but our real quarters are down here. Helps avoid people being pests, and on a more serious note, avoids assassins and thieves.¡±


    ¡°I mean, we recruited the biggest thief in history.¡± Bluebeard ¨C Hunting ¨C muttered grumpily. ¡°Night was fine for all that.¡±


    ¡°Night has a reputation to maintain, and having Acquisition deflects blame onto him.¡± Ocean retorted.


    I blinked.


    ¡°Wait¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, Night¡¯s the deadly assassin. Acquisition¡¯s mostly a thief. Spatial. Can just teleport objects to his hand if he¡¯s close enough.¡± Brawling said. ¡°Knows enough to teach the trade, knows enough to teach new Rangers how to assassinate unsuspecting targets, but we don¡¯t want to start training and creating good hitmen. We did that once. Ended terribly. Night had to hunt them all down personally.¡±


    I was a Sentinel now, and apparently, that meant the curtains were being pulled back, and I was getting a look at the inner, real workings of how things were done.


    ¡°Lot of smoke and mirrors.¡± A voice said from behind me, and I nearly jumped.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Center of the Galaxy] has reached level 234!]


    Instructor Jason was behind me, and I narrowed my eyes.


    ¡°You¡¯re not Jason. You¡¯re Magic.¡± I said.


    ¡°How do you know I haven¡¯t always been Magic, simply disguising myself as a humble Instructor?¡± He asked.


    ¡°I watched Sky throw Jason out of the Pegasus. No way he did that to another Sentinel.¡± I said. Investigation class away!


    He shimmered, turning into a plain-looking man. I didn¡¯t believe it was his real appearance.


    ¡°Yup, you got me.¡±


    ¡°Stop distracting her. Dawn, watch this pattern.¡± Ocean said, tapping some random parts of the wall. With a rumble, the wall folded back, revealing a passageway.


    ¡°Through we go!¡± Ocean said, and I stepped through into a luxurious passageway.


    We passed doors on either side, until we got to one a few doors down, a sun painted on the door.


    ¡°This is your suite. It¡¯s yours, until you die. We have a passage from here to Ranger Academy island. It¡¯s a bit of a jog, but it beats waiting for a ship. Of course, you could just fly over.¡±


    ¡°Every morning, around 7th Gong or so, we meet quickly here.¡± Ocean said, pointing to a comfortable room that reminded me strongly of a living room, just mostly underground. ¡°That way if something¡¯s come up that needs one of us, some problem a Ranger¡¯s told us about, we can find you and dispatch you.¡±


    ¡°Last thing.¡± Ocean said, opening a red door. ¡°Down here is one of the capital¡¯s great secrets, and you need to know about it.¡±


    He spent some time fiddling at the entrance of the door.


    ¡°Right, traps are disabled. Keep your badge on, that disables the rest of them. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    We walked very carefully down the hallway, to another door, and a massive room, with a giant slab of quartz in the middle.


    The thing was massive, plunging down into the depths of the earth, over 80 meters by 20 meters on each side. Glowing lines of inscriptions lined the crystal, and spiderwebbed from it to all the walls, mystic runes speaking a language I didn¡¯t know, but Origen would¡¯ve.


    ¡°We call this The Heart. As you know, skills can be stored in gemstones. Well, gemstone mages and artisans can do interesting things, and long story short, this generates a massive barrier to protect the capital if a serious problem occurs. Only a Sentinel can activate it ¨C which now means you.¡± Ocean said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s head back.¡± Brawling grunted. Dude was massive, like a stereotypical bodybuilder.

 Chapter 118.2 – Ranger Convocation

    We made it back to the living room, where we settled down into the luxurious seating. I¡¯d grabbed a chair that looked simple, but was so soft it basically ate me.


    I had to get me one of these. Or two. Couldn¡¯t be too hard to drag one to my new suite could it?


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you have some questions.¡± Ocean said, prompting a flood from me.


    ¡°Why me? I get that I was promoted, but I don¡¯t feel like I meet the requirements. Especially not on the combat front, I¡¯m only 180 in [Ranger-Mage].¡±


    Ocean nodded.


    ¡°Good question. Frankly, the requirements we state aren¡¯t the real ones. The real ones are ¨C best in your field. A grand feat, that demonstrates your usefulness to the Sentinels. An open seat. A level that¡¯s not embarrassing ¨C which is usually tied to the first one. The right character. The rest are just fluff.¡±


    ¡°Smoke and mirrors!¡± Magic said, poofing outta nowhere. I rolled my eyes at him.


    ¡°Let me guess, you do that all the time.¡± I said.


    Brawling started laughing his ass off.


    ¡°She¡¯s got you figured, and it¡¯s only the second time you¡¯ve done it!¡± He said, slapping his knee.


    Magic just looked sour. ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡±


    ¡°Hang on, you said you¡¯re Mirage and Sound. But all the stories say you can cast any type of magic, making you the Magic Sentinel. Is it all just¡­?¡± I said, hardly daring to believe.


    Magic bowed, then straightened up with a flourish.


    ¡°Nope! See!¡± He said, flipping his tunic inside out.


    Dozens ¨C hundreds ¨C of gems were strapped to a sash against his body.


    ¡°I have a support staff, mostly gemstone artisans and people who I use to find and get powerful skills from Classers. Costs a pretty penny, but in the end, I can make a convincing illusion ¨C sight and sound included ¨C of any skill I want, and I can make it in reality. Costs an arm and a leg, but that¡¯s the secret ¨C I¡¯m the front of a dozen Classers working together to create one of the more powerful second-tier Sentinels. Speaking of, I¡¯ll probably want to get your [Phases of the Moon] skill. Great healing spell. Actually, it might become one of the standard gems we carry around, for that matter. A panacea skill?¡± Magic said, fanning himself.


    ¡°Why all the¡­¡± I said, gesturing.


    ¡°Smoke and mirrors? We operate solo. A large part of our protection is our mystique. By making it look and seem like we¡¯re invincible, we can bluff our way out of problems.¡±


    Ocean started to tick off his fingers.


    ¡°Night¡¯s helpless in daytime. Acquisition can be killed by a stiff breeze. He¡¯s probably even worse than you on the combat front, if we¡¯re being honest. Sealing¡¯s only good in single combat. Bulwark has limited offensive capabilities. Sky struggles to kill things under shelter. Destruction takes ages to channel a spell. Away from water, I¡¯m pretty mediocre. Nature struggles in cities, or rather, where there are no plants. Toxic¡¯s poisons don¡¯t work half the time against big, big monsters ¨C although you probably knew that already. Hunting¡¯s the most well-rounded of us, but a bad stinkbomb and Katastrofi¡¯s down for the count. Brawling has no range, and Magic is really three midgets in a toga.¡±


    Magic threw something at Ocean, who ignored it. It vanished upon hitting his face.


    Ocean shrugged. ¡°That¡¯s not to say we¡¯re weak or anything. But we all have serious, serious weaknesses. Ranger teams are carefully crafted such that people are able to cover each other weaknesses, so there are no glaring holes. That falls apart once people start to die, but we try to have redundancies for that reason. Anyways. We work to cover and mitigate each other, and the joy of being a Sentinel is we only send people after the right problem. Sky will never be asked to take out a fortified position, just like I¡¯m never going to be sent inland. Acquisition¡¯s only sent to retrieve items, just like Night doesn¡¯t fight in the day. And it¡¯s not like any of us are slouches.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, stop saying I have no range. I have plenty of range!¡± Brawling protested.


    ¡°Throwing a rock with no skill doesn¡¯t count as range!¡± Hunting protested.


    ¡°It does when it works!¡±


    ¡°Anyways.¡± Ocean said, bringing the conversation back. ¡°There are three tiers of Sentinels.¡±


    ¡°The first tier is Night and Hunting. The strongest, best-rounded Sentinels. Even then, Hunting barely made it in, and there¡¯s some debate on it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m honestly flattered to be mentioned in the same sentence as Night, but I don¡¯t fit.¡± Hunting said modestly. ¡°I¡¯m a top second-tier at best. You should also be considered a tier one.¡±


    ¡°Nah, I¡¯m not that good. My ¡®out of water¡¯ weakness is too big.¡± Ocean said modestly.


    ¡°Well regardless. Magic, Destruction, myself, Nature, Brawling, and Toxic make up the second tier. We¡¯re all in on sheer combat capabilities, each of us having a different method of fighting, and monsters and Classers we¡¯re good against.¡±


    ¡°The third tier are Sentinels that are in because they¡¯re the best at something. Bulwark is the best wall-builder and Inscriptionist in Remus. A monster takes out a town wall, and Bulwark is out there almost immediately to stabilize the situation before a goblin horde or worse can take advantage.¡± Ocean continued.


    ¡°Sealing is in a weird place. The short version is, single-combat, he¡¯s practically unbeatable. Can seal people away in barriers, and slowly stop them from casting anything. Reflects attacks, applies ranged mana drain, and 1 vs 1 only Night could stop him. At the same time, he doesn¡¯t ¨C or can¡¯t easily ¨C kill. Imprisons well though. Hence Sealing.¡± Ocean said.


    Hunting snorted. ¡°Keep in mind our definition of ¡®can¡¯t easily kill¡¯ is radically different from everyone else¡¯s. We¡¯re talking about top-tier Classers, people like Artemis. Someone like the average Ranger Academy graduate is killable enough to not even enter into our ¡®can we kill them or not¡¯ calculation. Experienced Rangers and up is where our line starts, and that doesn¡¯t include ambushes.¡±


    ¡°Sky¡¯s unmatched in aerial combat, and he¡¯s good at dropping rocks on people on the ground. At the same time, there were other Rangers with grand flying feats and were faster and stronger in the air. He was picked because of his Gravity class, being able to move a number of people around Remus faster than anyone else. Our rapid deployment ¨C for everyone except Hunting.¡± Ocean continued.


    ¡°You¡¯re our backup when it¡¯s a problem on the Nostrum.¡± Hunting pointed out. ¡°You¡¯re also able to move Katastrofi around, which Sky can¡¯t.¡±


    Ocean tilted his head in acknowledgement, before continuing.


    ¡°Acquisition¡¯s a master thief. You wouldn¡¯t believe how often something sensitive gets stolen, and he needs to bring it back. Worst part is, it¡¯s usually some political game, where its information changing hands. Still, that gives him good practice for when we need to re-collect something important. His combat prowess is possibly worse than yours ¨C he¡¯s all about stealth and stealing things, not fighting. At the same time, we know there are better thieves out there, and he acts as a deterrent, as well as being a lightning rod so Night¡¯s not blamed for assassinations.¡±


    ¡°And now you. Your healing prowess is probably legitimately the strongest broad-healing, although I know a Caecilius that might give you a run for your money in a plague situation.¡±


    ¡°Hey, I know him! Great dude!¡± I said.


    Ocean nodded. ¡°Exactly. Right now, we have a hole in our ability to heal. Heck, we¡¯re all about smashing and killing problems, not healing people. We leave that to civilians. But, well, you¡¯re strong enough, and you qualify. I¡¯m eager to see how it works out! At the same time, all of us help with the public perception of Sentinels.¡±


    ¡°I hate the arena so much.¡± Brawling jumped in. I turned to him; mouth open in shock. ¡°Not allowed to kill anyone. The fight¡¯s always fixed in my favor, not that it needs to be fixed. But nooo, can¡¯t risk me losing a fight. There¡¯s never anything strong enough to be a real challenge. Evvvvvvverrrryone wants to talk with me, wants a piece of me, and I need to be a great fucking showman, instead of fighting people. I could end most fights in seconds, instead I need to drag them out.¡± If we weren¡¯t in the living room of the Sentinel¡¯s space, I suspect he would¡¯ve spit.


    ¡°I need to be the serious one.¡± Ocean said. ¡°Constantly attending the Command meetings, keeping an eye and pulse on politics, making sure that things don¡¯t start going wrong for us. Not why I signed up ¨C believe it or not, a long time ago I started as a fisherman. Wind in my sail, a harpoon and a plan, a struggle to get dinner on my plate. One thing led to another, and¡­¡± He shrugged, as if to say ¡®here I am!¡¯


    ¡°On that note, I think you¡¯re both going to love and hate your role ¨C just like the rest of us.¡± Ocean said. ¡°You¡¯re going to be the social pretty face, the healer saving everyone. People will see you, like you, and by extension, like us. [Pretty], single, and free healing? We¡¯ll hopefully get less flinching when people see the rest of us, not to mention what you can do with a rapid response the next time we hear of a plague. We can just send you, and the 3rd never gets tied down in a single spot for a year again. We spent the last two years getting information out of you, and we know there¡¯s more. Also, as you attend events, people will gain a positive perception of you, and by extension, us and Rangers. It¡¯s not something that¡¯ll pay off anytime soon, but you¡¯ve got over a hundred years easy to sway people. A whole generation of movers and shakers will grow up knowing you, creating what they think is a good back channel ¨C and warm fuzzy feelings towards us.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t give you better ways of killing.¡± I promptly said. We¡¯d had the discussion a few times already, but I figured it was best to reiterate it.


    Brawling waved his hand. ¡°Bah. We¡¯re good enough at that.¡±


    ¡°Those rebellions were miserable.¡± Magic said. ¡°At least two rebellions started off of that, because they heard the 3rd wasn¡¯t able to move. Figured they¡¯d take their shot. We had to come down hard before more people heard about them, and we had a real problem on our hands.¡±


    Hunting groaned. ¡°Don¡¯t remind me.¡±


    ¡°Also, most Sentinels you see have been Sentinels for years, if not decades. We¡¯ve all had time and resources to help boost our levels up high. Part of our mystique being our high level. Once we¡¯d decided that yes, you should be the newest Sentinel, Night stuck you on the frontlines to get some basic experience. It happily coincided with us deciding to execute the plan to try and get Toxic to do some serious damage on the frontlines. Same meeting, believe it or not.¡±


    Hunting interrupted.


    ¡°Speaking of Toxic, you¡¯ve seen the type of support he gets. You¡¯ll get similar support, although one that can¡¯t be done is any sort of bodyguard. Ruins the invincible image.¡±


    ¡°What other questions do you have?¡± Ocean asked.


    ¡°There are two other healers that are already Rangers. Why not one of them?¡± I asked.


    ¡°They¡¯re support staff, and, quite frankly, you were almost made support staff as well, instead of a full Sentinel. However, you have combat capabilities, are a real Ranger, and have an excellent character. You wouldn¡¯t balk at being sent to a combat zone, you can mostly solo walk from A to B. And hey, worst-case, you can hijack a Ranger team or join a caravan.¡±


    I snapped my fingers.


    ¡°That¡¯s why Rangers get so damn nervous when a Sentinel shows up.¡±


    Brawling nodded.


    ¡°A part of it, yeah! Hijack and redirect to a completely different town, completely throwing off their round, and murdering a year¡¯s worth of vacation time if not more. Or requisition supplies ¨C we¡¯re much more free to ¡®borrow¡¯ a Ranger¡¯s gear than try the stunt in town. That, and we know what Rangers have, and that it¡¯s good quality. Try not to do that too much, although if you do, try flirting a bit.¡±


    I shot him a withering look.


    ¡°Fat chance.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯d make them happy!¡±


    I tried to put some pieces of another puzzle together.


    ¡°Hang on. The Ranger Academy villa. The connecting tunnel. It wasn¡¯t originally an Academy was it?¡±


    Ocean shook his head.


    ¡°Good catch! No, it used to be our private island. Then some idiot Sentinel 400 years ago started teaching, and we didn¡¯t have a strong political grasp. Before we knew it, we¡¯d been press-ganged into teaching, the villa got converted to a honeypot, and we need to spend a few hours every day teaching.¡± Ocean pulled a sour face. So did the rest of the Sentinels.


    ¡°Hence why I take my ¡®keep my finger on the pulse of things¡¯ job seriously.¡±


    We spent more time chatting, getting to know the basics of being a Sentinel, of my new job.


    Short version: Lots of support and equipment to go along with a host of new duties and responsibilities.


    ¡°By the way, feel free to walk around without your badge on. You wouldn¡¯t believe how many people can¡¯t recognize us without the badge on ¨C comes from us flaunting it when we do have it on, so people focus on the badge, not the person.¡±


    ¡°Works extra-well for me!¡± Bluebeard grinned.


    I stared at him, his distractive¡­ bluebeard¡­ a huge marker.


    ¡°Seriously? Even with that?¡± I said, pointing to his beard.


    He laughed.


    ¡°Between the badge and the dinosaur, almost nobody recognizes me without them. It¡¯s great fun!¡±


    ¡°On that note,¡± Ocean said. ¡°in a few days, you and Commander Julius will be having a meeting with all of us, as we bring you up to speed on a few of the other secrets.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have a clinic next to HQ for you. Both for the public perception, and light experience while you¡¯re in town.¡± Ocean said.


    I stared at him.


    ¡°You¡¯re serious?¡± I asked, with some disbelief.


    ¡°Of course!¡± He said.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to get almost nobody, and it¡¯ll look worse than no clinic.¡± I said. ¡°The type of people who live in this area already have their own personal healer, and the people who need to be here, I bet that if the guard doesn¡¯t disallow them from being here, they¡¯ll be heavily discouraged. Come on. Set me up in the slums or something. Central market squares are also good.¡± I said.


    Ocean pursed his lips, while Magic just laughed at him.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see. On that note, I believe you have a meeting with your friends soon?¡± He asked.


    ¡°I do! Mind if I leave?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Not at all! Remember, while we¡¯re senior, in theory, we¡¯re all equal. You¡¯re a Sentinel now. You can, for the most part, tell us to stick it where the sun don¡¯t shine.¡± Ocean said.


    ¡°Ha! Anywhere Dawn is the sun¡¯s shining!¡± Brawling said, slapping his knee at the frankly terrible joke.


    ¡°Just don¡¯t tell that to Night. He¡¯s the only tier one, the boss, the highest level by almost 100 levels, for a reason. He says jump, even Katastrofi asks how high.¡± Bluebeard said, a note of reverence and respect in his voice.


    I saluted ¨C it felt wrong not to ¨C and made my way out of the Sentinel Suite.


    Party time!

 Chapter 119.1 – A date

    I made my way to the temple first, wanting to get my stuff back. I kept my Sentinel badge in my bag, suddenly feeling covert. Master of Disguise Elaine here!


    I had basically no trouble getting into my vault. To my surprise, there was a small mountain of coins.


    I kept a poker face while the attendant was fussing around, guessing that I¡¯d been getting paid while at Academy. That, or it was a promotion bonus.


    Or Sentinels were paid stupid well and this was one day¡¯s pay.


    Either way, asking ¡®why do I suddenly have so much money¡¯ to the bank attendant wouldn¡¯t get me any answers, and possibly asked ¡®why do you not know why you have money? You sure this is your family¡¯s vault?¡¯


    I poured my pouch full of coins, reclaiming my knife, pendant, dress, and bracelet. I had solid living quarters now, and I could keep stuff there.


    A hop, skip, and jump later, I was at The Blue Harpoon, having dropped off some stuff and spare coins at my new home.


    Julius, Kallisto, Maximus, and Artemis were all there, already seated at an outdoor table.


    ¡°To the woman of the hour!¡± Julius toasted me as I sat down.


    I beamed back at him.


    ¡°To the man of the hour! Commander Julius!¡± I said, a wide grin on my face. I was still on the high of being promoted ¨C me, a Sentinel ¨C but I wasn¡¯t about to forget who¡¯d pinned the badge on my shirt.


    ¡°To Kallisto¡¯s new wife!¡± Maximus toasted.


    ¡°And his kid!¡± Artemis.


    ¡°To your new school!¡± Kallisto said.


    We all had something to celebrate, and the food came out soon after ¨C I bet Artemis had been the one to order the same thing I¡¯d gotten last time we were here.


    We tucked in, sharing stories of our latest adventures.


    Julius had promptly hired a healer to join their team, taking a bet on an apprentice who was close to graduating, promising him solid, but not amazing pay, but the chance to get experience and a reputation. He¡¯d saved them a dozen times over, and Julius was feeling pleased with himself, having managed to find the right combination of price and experience.


    The fact that it took so long for the first Ranger on his team to die meant they were never at risk of ¡®cascading¡¯, aka when the first Ranger dies, it¡¯s easier for the second one to die, and so on.


    Healer was now happy, had a wide variety of experience, money, and a reputation to try and start his own clinic. Granted, all that had come with a not insignificant risk of ¡®dying horribly¡¯, but the gamble paid off.


    Kallisto only had eyes ¨C and therefore memory ¨C for his wife and new kid, and we heard endless stories about them, him gushing profusely over them in a way we¡¯d never heard him before. It was sweet really.


    Maximus had a most interesting round, with dozens of one-of-a-kind situations.


    You know. Typical Ranger stuff.


    ¡°¡­anyways, we finally figured out what was happening. Two Classers, not one. They¡¯d charge a gemstone, and stick it in a loaf of bread or something. Then the animal speaker would convince an animal ¨C usually a bird ¨C to bring it somewhere and would be allowed to ¡®eat¡¯ it as a result, promising unbelievable rewards for success and fantastical punishments for failure. Animals are dumb, they kept believing her. Bird would peck at the bread, crack the gemstone, and it would cause a massive explosion. Of course, the Classers were somewhere completely different ¨C and visible ¨C as a result. Always had an alibi.¡±


    Maximus shook his head.


    ¡°It was unbelievable. Took us three weeks to properly hunt them down.¡±


    There was a slow, but steady stream of people that passed our table, people just out for a walk, or going from A to B.


    It was at that point that an absolute vision of a woman passed by our table. Long, straight, black hair, clear, pale white skin, bright red lipstick. She was wearing an elegant, simple red woman¡¯s tunic, no ring on her left hand, and looked to be around my age. She moved with grace and beauty, and like everyone in Pallos, looked more than moderately fit.


    She was so beautiful. She was so cool. She was so -


    ¡°Elaine. You alright?¡± Artemis asked, snapping my attention back to the here and now.


    ¡°Huh? What yeah I¡¯m fine.¡± I said, a flush going over my face.


    Kallisto was grinning at me like a maniac.


    ¡°I¡¯d know that look anywhere! Elaine! Why did you never tell me you were interested in women? The adventures we could¡¯ve had!¡±


    I shot him a withering look.


    ¡°One. I was too busy trying to catch up and learn how to be a Ranger. Two, I was way too young!¡±


    I muttered under my breath, but from the look on Kallisto¡¯s face I knew he¡¯d heard me anyways.


    ¡°Three, I¡¯m interested in both, not just women¡­¡±


    Everyone at the table had a wide grin on their face. Oh gods no. The teasing would be merciless.


    ¡°Well, go on, ask her out!¡± Kallisto said merrily.


    I blushed, shaking my head.


    ¡°No way. A guy would be easy. I¡¯d just walk right up, smile, and ask. A girl though? She¡¯s so cool. So beautiful. I have no idea if she¡¯d even be interested.¡± I said, shifting uncomfortably.


    Artemis started laughing her ass off, while Maximus started to choke, pounding his chest.


    ¡°You ok?¡± I asked, and he nodded.


    Julius coughed.


    ¡°Kallisto, given your talents, and recent marriage, you have a mission.¡± He said, pointing a fork at him.


    ¡°Get Elaine a date with her.¡± He said, pointing to the lady.


    ¡°But-¡° I tried to protest.


    ¡°No buts! This is coming from your Commander. Our Elaine¡¯s all grown up! She was a great wingman for you Kallisto, least you can do is return the favor!¡± He said, the second part directed at Kallisto.


    Artemis threw a nut at him. Good ammo that.


    I threw a nut at Julius.


    Kallisto jerked his head in the direction the lady had gone down the street.


    ¡°Come on. We¡¯ve got our marching orders. Let¡¯s go!¡± He said, grabbing my hand and pulling me along.


    Damn Kallisto and his beefy physical stats! Damn my lack of physical stats! That¡¯s why he was able to pull me around!


    I sighed to myself as we went through the streets. I was lying to myself and I knew it. I wanted to meet up with her. I wasn¡¯t resisting at all, heck, I was moving my feet as quickly as I could.


    She was visible, the woman in the red dress, and we caught up to her.


    I stopped moving my feet, fidgeting behind Kallisto, heart beating like a drum. Holy shit. Oh my gods. We were doing this.


    I sent a quick prayer to the moon goddesses for help. They seemed like the right ones to ask.


    Why did none of my Ranger Academy lessons cover romance!? Why didn¡¯t Night teach me how to approach a woman, instead of how to properly cut down a tree!?


    I blinked, and suddenly-


    ¡°Jaclyn.¡± She practically purred, offering her hand. She had such incredibly piercing grey eyes!


    ¡°Elaine.¡± I said shyly, taking and shaking it.


    She eyed me up and down, and I suddenly felt self-conscious. Why hadn¡¯t I worked on getting [Pretty] higher!?


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we meet tomorrow evening, and get to know each other a little better, mmm?¡± She asked, nervously licking her lips with a slim, delicate motion.


    I nodded, like a bobblehead shaken too hard.


    ¡°Out-outside The Blue Harpoon?¡± I asked, desperately casting my mind around for a place that wasn¡¯t Ranger Headquarters.


    She thought for a moment, then leaned over and whispered in my ear.


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    And that one word sent a tingling thrill through my entire body.


    She turned and walked away, and Kallisto and I headed back. I gave him a HUGE HUG. The BIGGEST ONE EVER.


    How the hell had he pulled that off!? Twenty seconds of me not paying attention, being too worried and overthinking everything, of missing whatever dozen words or so Kallisto had said, and she was asking me out! I needed to respec into a pure charisma build or something.


    ¡°You¡¯re the BEST Kallisto!¡± I said, trying ¨C and failing ¨C to keep my giddy happiness out of my voice, crashing down from the stress and adrenaline high I¡¯d just been on. Asking someone out for the first time ¨C or rather, as it turned out, somehow being asked out ¨C was quite the thrill, an experience unlike any I¡¯d had before.


    I was very conveniently forgetting all the men who¡¯d asked me out before. I¡¯d just been entirely uninterested in them, mostly due to the situation and whatever age gap there was. And they weren¡¯t that interesting, frankly.


    I felt like skipping and humming on the way back, and screw it! Today had been perfect! I hummed and skipped and twirled my way back, to where the remaining three were at the table.


    Artemis gave me a silly grin.


    ¡°Went well did it?¡±


    ¡°Yup!¡± I said, mindlessly eating the mango-coated food, barely noticing that it was mango. ¡°I have a date! Tomorrow evening!¡± I said, all excited.


    ¡°Think she¡¯d like a mango? I should get her a mango. Everyone loves mangos.¡±


    I continued blathering on, to the amused looks I was being shot from everyone else. I didn¡¯t notice the teasing at all.


    I had some idea of how Kallisto felt.


    =


    I woke up the next morning at what would be 4th gong, out of sheer habit. I had a few days off, at least until the great big ¡®here¡¯s more behind the curtain stuff¡¯ meeting. Once the Hell Months started, I¡¯d participate in that somewhat, and once Academy got going, then I¡¯d have real work.


    Bless that little break they gave everyone, even if the vacation time was abysmal. Two, three weeks every two years? We needed a union. I¡¯d have to talk with Ocean about it. Sounded like his domain.


    Not really knowing what to do with myself, I found breakfast ¨C free for Sentinels inside our HQ ¨C and around 7th gong I was in the living room, watching as everyone filed in one at a time.


    Well, everyone not on assignment.


    Naturally, Night led the meeting.


    ¡°Welcome Dawn. I can not tell you how pleased I am with your progress, and that you have made it here, joining the rest of us.¡± He said, in his usual slow fashion.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority] has reached level 191!]


    Woohoo! Doing Sentinel-things got Sentinel levels! I doubted I¡¯d get many more for attending meetings, but hey. Novel stuff seemed to give a lot of bonus experience. Or repeating stuff had diminishing returns. One of those anyways.


    I sat up straight. Being the center of attention of all the Sentinels? Child¡¯s play. It¡¯d happened a hundred times ¨C well, closer to six hundred times ¨C over the last two years.


    A date though? [Recollection of a Distant Life] was very helpfully reminding me that I¡¯d never gone on a date in my last life, and this was my first one.


    Ever.


    Barring having been on a date right before I died and the memory was stripped, I mused to myself.


    I mentally shook my head, bringing myself back to the meeting. Yikes I was jaded, if I could just lose focus like that in front of all the Sentinels.


    ¡°We will be outfitting you with a standard set of gems, along with acquiring you a set of your own. Moonstone and Sunstone are the Celestial and Radiance gems, and are fortunately quite cheap. On that note, your [Phases of the Moon] is going to be added to our standard bag of tricks. While we have several gemstones that in combination can produce the same effect, we don¡¯t have a Classer in our organization that can reliably produce a related skill, in a gemstone so cheap.¡±


    There were more than a few happy noises at that announcement, mostly coming from the ¡°Tier two¡± Sentinels, the more combat-happy ones. Extra-loud from Magic, who relied hard on gemstones.


    ¡°Potions, armor, Arcanite, and inscriptions will also be provided. Now, I will confess, you are the first dedicated healing Sentinel we¡¯ve ever had. We¡¯ve had a few regenerators in our time, but not healing on the scale like you can do. Think about it. Is there anything that would make your life easier, boost your skills further?¡± Night asked.


    ¡°The ability to make the moons come out whenever I wanted?¡± I asked, somewhat flippantly, after a moment of thought.


    Magic started laughing, while Sky facepalmed.


    ¡°That is sadly beyond our capabilities for now.¡± Night said with a straight face. ¡°Do let us know if anything else occurs to you as an idea.¡±


    ¡°I mean, a boatload of Arcanite, but I assume that¡¯s a given?¡± I said.


    ¡°We do outfit most mages with a large amount of Arcanite, yes. I suspect you might even end up desiring it as much as Destruction does. I caution you not to grow reliant on it, for it is the doom of many mages when they wake up one day, and it¡¯s gone.¡±


    Night gave me a significant look, and with a nervous gulp I remembered my duel against Kerberos, where I¡¯d nearly made the same mistake of thinking I had unlimited mana when I no longer did.


    ¡°With that being said. I declare a week of vacation for everyone except Dawn. You are entirely free to do as you wish.¡± Night pronounced, and there was a great shuddering, a destroyed chair, as the room evacuated, all the Sentinels pushing their superhuman stats to the max to enjoy every last second of time.


    I blinked. Night couldn¡¯t have cleared the room faster if he tried. A disaster of epic magnitude would¡¯ve had a slower exit.


    ¡°With my apologies Dawn. You need to learn the basics and fundamentals of how we operate, as well as getting properly outfitted. Fundamentally, I believe you will end up on slightly fewer missions than the average Sentinel, although you might handle higher body counts ¨C or be doing your best to reduce them at the very least.¡± Night said.


    I saluted, hand over chest.


    ¡°Now come. Over here is where we keep basic potions stocked ¨C although you might want a few additional ones¡­¡± Night said, giving me a more in-depth tour of what I was mentally calling ¡®the Sentinel Armory¡¯, a series of rooms located inside the suite where all manner of gems, weapons, armor, potions, inscriptions, and more were located.


    ¡°Quick question.¡± I asked, as Night was showing me the frankly staggering array of weapons we had, none of which I could use well. I was a short sword and spear woman. Maximus would¡¯ve been in heaven though.


    ¡°Clearly more people than just us have access to these rooms, right?¡± I said.


    ¡°Yes, but only four. The head of Potions, Gemstones, Inscriptions, and Armory are granted access. Anything else they can simply communicate the problem to the relevant authority, and get the proper response from them. I do not know if Ocean mentioned it, but you were nearly made the head of Healing, a new branch. A combination of the organization needed to make that happen, your combat prowess, your usefulness in the field vs your relatively limited use at HQ, and the, quite frankly, terrible organizational skills you demonstrated at Academy made us choose a more, ah, standard path for you.¡±


    I hadn¡¯t thought my organizational skills had been that bad, but then again, Night was talking about heading up a major department in the Rangers. Which my organizational skills were not up to at all.

 Chapter 119.2 – A date

    Before I knew it, it was lunch, and Night was yawning.


    ¡°Right, see you tomorrow morning, more of the same.¡± He said. ¡°I¡¯m off to bed.¡±


    I saluted ¨C him being the boss made it more than appropriate ¨C and suddenly, I was free, with a whole day in front of me to worry over my date later tonight!!!


    Ok, breathe in, breathe out. I was the bloody Dawn Sentinel. No date could stop me!


    Although, what if those voices had been right? What if she found out that I was a Sentinel, and it scared her off? Knew that I¡¯d killed, and didn¡¯t want someone with blood on their hands?


    My stomach was doing flip-flops, the butterflies inside throwing a rave.


    Ok, think. Plan. Execute. This was like getting ready to slay a monster, or diagnosing a patient before healing them. This was the same as any other problem, and I¡¯d been trained how to handle problems.


    The Problem: I wanted Jaclyn to like me, and I wanted our date to go well.


    What could I control: Myself. My equipment. My planning.


    Right then.


    I was totally going to wear my dress, the one that I could imbue elements into. It was fancy, fun, and simply perfect.


    Bracelet and pendant were in. Knife?


    Knife was in. It was pretty standard, and it¡¯d be given to me when I was a kid. I wasn¡¯t about to reject it.


    Right. That¡¯s what I currently had. What else could I use?


    Cosmetics. I had absolutely none.


    Something for my hair. Again with the ¡°not having anything.¡±


    My hair was pixie-short again, the Frontlines having been terrible for hair. However, I¡¯d slowly been letting it grow out, and now that I was a Sentinel, I could consider going for long hair. I liked my hair long.


    Other resources: A huge pile of coins.


    Today¡¯s mission: Go out into town, buy cosmetics, get something for my hair, possibly get a little gift of some sort.


    Potential obstacles: Thieves, like the one that had stymied my attempt to get tons of scrolls.


    Additional goals: Maybe new sandals? My current ones were, putting it nicely, very practical and had many miles on them. I could get something new and shiny.


    If I had time.


    Right! Order of operations time!


    I should bring my dress with me. One of the [Beauticians] must have a way to change.


    I should scout out the location and the surrounding area, and work from there.


    I nodded to myself. Right. I had a plan. Let¡¯s execute it.


    I grabbed one of the larger pouches ¨C more like a courier¡¯s bag ¨C and carefully folded my dress into it. I left HQ, and started off by scouting the scene of the future battle date. Knowing the terrain was important. Geography impacted history, history impacted politics, and-


    I shook my head. Nope. Those lessons were going to be completely useless here. Focus.


    I made my way through town, back to the restaurant. Along the way, all the people eyeing me up yesterday and today finally paid off.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 199!]


    A good omen! Everything was coming up Elaine!


    Right, The Blue Harpoon was with a bunch of other restaurants, and there were merchants nearby, selling food. It was in a nicer-but-not-the-nicest district, and there were a number of high-end stores in the area. They weren¡¯t the best in the capital, but they were pretty good.


    A quick mental calculus of added cost vs added improvement to appearance, vs extra travel time to potentially reduce or remove said added appearance, was done, and I settled on nearby stores.


    I swung by the food vendors, and picked up a dozen mangos, coins changing hands. I tried to have a nice afternoon snack of only six mangos, enjoying the sun on my face as I ate on a bench in a little park.


    Darn butterflies were going to ruin everything.


    I kept the remaining six for later, excited to share the sweet nectar of mango with Jaclyn.


    I moved the name over my tongue.


    Jaclyn.


    My first date!


    I kicked my feet happily at the thought.


    I stopped my imagination from going on a runaway train of ¡°what-ifs¡± and ¡°laters¡±.


    Right. I still had hours to go, but I was going to start getting ready now.


    I washed my face off, then went to the [Cobbler] to get myself a new, fancy pair of sandals. After much browsing and hemming and hawing over it, I got a simple, sturdy, comfortable pair, that didn¡¯t look like it had hundreds of miles of wear on them, that made me look and feel [Pretty].


    The baths were next, a solid, full-body scouring, rubbing my body clean to within an inch of its life. I was going to practically sparkle.


    Alright, the [Beautician] was next. I found a store, and went in.


    ¡°Hi! How can we help you?¡± The woman behind the counter cheerfully asked me.


    ¡°Wellllll¡­¡± I said, drawing it out. ¡°I have a date tonight!¡± I exclaimed, letting the happiness leak out. Might have been a bit of a Radiance glow as well.


    ¡°Oh my goodness! How exciting!¡± She said, showing as much excitement as I was feeling. ¡°And let me guess. You want some help for the big event?¡±


    I did my best woodpecker impression.


    ¡°Alrighty! Well, it¡¯ll be a rod, before the cosmetic price is factored in. Is that ok?¡±


    Pricey!


    ¡°Sure. However, no lead or mercury cosmetics. Is that ok?¡±


    ¡°Sure, but that limits us quite a bit. Can I ask why?¡±


    Whoops. I¡¯d managed to put my foot in it. This was going to be all sorts of awkward.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t get mad. They¡¯re a slow, slow poison. I¡¯m a healer, and I can¡¯t handle them.¡± I said, closing my eyes, waiting for the inevitable anger.


    She just laughed at me.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know where that rumor came from! Lead¡¯s perfectly fine, we¡¯ve used it for decades! But sure, we can skip it if you¡¯d like.¡±


    Close one! I wasn¡¯t going to argue with them. We could both quietly think the other one was a lunatic, and I wasn¡¯t going to go on a one-woman crusade against the entire cosmetics industry, not when I wanted their help badly.


    ¡°Last question! Do you have one or more appearance skills? And if so, which one? [Beautiful], [Sexy], [Pretty], [Attractive], [Lovely], [Gorgeous], [Exquisite], [Splendid], [Fabulous], [Fine-looking], [Jade Beauty], [Eye-Catching], [Good-looking], [Cute], [Ravishing], [Stunning], [Resplendent], [Dashing], [Mesmerizing], [Alluring], [Imposing] or any of the other ones?¡±


    I blinked. I hadn¡¯t even realized how many there were¡­ and the System was busy offering them all to me.


    Ooooh the things I could do with eight appearance skills.


    ¡­ The number of people that¡¯d bug me with eight appearance skills. I¡¯d stick with [Pretty].


    ¡°[Pretty]!¡± I said, happy it was near the top of the list.


    ¡°Great! Our [Pretty] expert is with someone else. You can wait a bit to see her, or you can see someone else.¡±


    I glanced at the sun. Plenty left.


    ¡°I¡¯ll wait!¡± I said.


    I waited, and ended up with the [Pretty] expert in no time.


    ¡°[Pretty] right?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Yeah!¡±


    ¡°Ok cool! I¡¯m Albina ¨C nice to meet you! Light touches then ¨C [Pretty] works best when just a touch is applied.¡±


    ¡°I heard you have a big date tonight!¡± Albina said, all happy and excited for me.


    ¡°Yeah!¡±


    ¡°Come, sit, sit! New person, old person, tell me all about them.¡±


    ¡°Well, so, I kinda, maybe, possibly, saw them yesterday, and well, asked them out. Kinda. Well, she ended up asking me out. Um. Yeah.¡± I said, fumbling the entire thing horribly.


    ¡°Ha! I remember my first date.¡± She said fondly, starting to bustle around me. ¡°Why, it was a lovely autumn evening, and¡­¡±


    I sat there patiently while she did her thing, chattering away happily.


    ¡°Oh, do you want longer hair? I assume you want it short, but¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait, you can grow out hair!?¡± I exclaimed.


    ¡°Yup! Costs extra, but it¡¯s a skill of mine!¡± Albina told me, picking up strands of hair and putting it down.


    ¡°Fuck! Why didn¡¯t anyone tell me! I¡¯d have gotten it grown out weeks ago!¡± I cried out.


    She suddenly looked sad, patting my shoulder.


    ¡°I dunno what you did to get way over level 220, 230 at your age, but you clearly didn¡¯t spend a lot of time in towns.¡±


    I felt a pang of sadness go through me at that. She was right. I¡¯d ditched anything remotely resembling a normal life years ago, when I ran away from home.


    I closed my eyes, breathing in, breathing out, resetting myself mentally.


    ¡°Ran away at 14. Bunch of time in the wilderness.¡± I said, all of it true. I don¡¯t know why I was suddenly being cagey about being a Ranger ¨C no, a Sentinel. Maybe I just wanted to feel somewhat normal, a typical woman for a day.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we go for shoulder blade length? I can give it some subtle curls, really bring your eyes out.¡± She suggested.


    ¡°Sure!¡±


    The [Pretty] expert did her work, and it was amazing.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 133!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 134!]


    ¡°Would you believe I leveled twice.¡± I said, changing into my amazing dress.


    ¡°Oooh! Yay!¡± She said. ¡°My record¡¯s three time, but never on someone so high level! I also got a level from you.¡±


    She paused, blinking.


    ¡°Two levels from you.¡±


    I laughed.


    ¡°My [Pretty] level isn¡¯t all that high.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, well, you¡¯re something special. I got a main class level, which I got one recently. I¡¯ve had three people since then, and I leveled off of you. Twice.¡±


    I got my dress settled, practicing flowing Celestial through it, the starry sky showing on the dress, tiny little comet-illusions going off of it.


    I was feeling very [Pretty]. I had a little twirl, feeling the weight of my new hair doing strange things.


    It was one thing to slowly grow out hair. It was quite another to suddenly have a bunch.


    Eh. Albina had been so nice, and why not, it wasn¡¯t every day I could pull this off. There was a chance I¡¯d become famous soon, and my anonymity would vanish.


    I paid her, left her a nice tip, then at the end, paused as I was on my way out the door.


    ¡°All your levels might have been because I¡¯m Sentinel Dawn.¡± I said, winking at her, then leaving. One two, and from right outside the store, I heard her-


    ¡°Oh my god we just had a Sentinel in the store!! She was a woman!!¡±


    Oooh this could be fun.

 Chapter 119.3 – A date

    The sun was setting, and I found a spot to hang out near The Blue Harpoon. Pouch was full, and well-guarded. Mangos acquired. I was darn [Pretty].


    My heart was pounding.


    My belly was doing flip-flops.


    I had an invasion of butterflies in my stomach.


    Sweaty palms, short breath, and a tight chest. I kept pulsing [Phases of the Moon] through me, and I seriously considered ¡®blacklisting¡¯ ¡®first date nerves¡¯ on [Center of the Galaxy].


    I didn¡¯t, mostly because it was non-combat, and because if I turned off every inconvenient emotion, I wouldn¡¯t be human anymore. No, I¡¯d ride the emotional rollercoaster, and enjoy it, as much as I could.


    I froze, as a thought crashed over me like a thunderbolt.


    What if Jaclyn didn¡¯t like [Pretty] girls? What if her style was more masculine?


    Bah. I was [Pretty], and she¡¯d take me as I was.


    Oh goddesses I hope she¡¯d take me as I was. The thought was¡­ pleasant.


    What if she changed her mind? What if she stood me up? What if she¡­


    Round and round my thoughts went, self-doubt rising.


    The sun set, and the moons rose, voyeurs to my first date. I shook my fist at them, only to hear a high, clear laugh.


    ¡°Jaclyn!¡± I said, jumping.


    ¡°Not a fan?¡± She asked, nodding up.


    I shook my head.


    ¡°Not at all. Here! A mango! I love em!¡± I said, handing her one of my precious ambrosia made fruit.


    She gave it a casual look, putting it into her bag.


    ¡°Thank you! Want to go for a walk?¡± She asked.


    She wanted to walk! She didn¡¯t want to just politely let me know she wasn¡¯t interested!


    ¡°Of course! Your dress is so nice!¡± I said, falling in step beside her. She was about a head taller than me, and it was nice.


    ¡°Thanks!¡± She said.


    My high went down like three notches when she didn¡¯t return the compliment.


    ¡°Want to get something to eat?¡± I asked, figuring this was safe territory.


    She glanced at me, eyeing me up and down hungrily. She hesitated, then bent over to whisper in my ear.


    ¡°I¡¯d love a little snack later.¡±


    Did she mean¡­?


    My high went right back to 10/10, then proceeded to break that and end up at a solid 13/10.


    ¡°I¡¯m very tasty.¡± I said, trying to flirt back. She smiled at me as she drew back up to her full height.


    ¡°I hope so!¡± She said, winking.


    I felt bold enough to grab her hand, and wow, she must have a lot of physical stats. I checked her out with [Identify].


    [Artisan]


    Like 130 or so? Was that typical for someone of her age? Did Artisans have a lot of strength? Depended what type I guess.


    Even mentally I was babbling.


    I suddenly realized ¨C I had no idea what was normal. I¡¯d been handling Classers, guards, high-level people in cities, but didn¡¯t have that great of a barometer for normal.


    ¡°How old are you?¡± I decided to make some idle conversation. Got a sour look in return.


    ¡°Older than I¡¯d like to admit!¡± She cheerfully told me.


    Alright, alright. Hint taken.


    This date was feeling strange. She was showing interest ¨C a lot of interest ¨C but only sometimes, and was being cagey about personal things. Like what she actually did. ¡°Worked in the family business¡± was as vague as possible.


    A food vendor was selling strips of seasoned roasted beef, a small crackling fire dimly lighting up his stand. I was feeling a bit peckish, so I stopped and looked.


    ¡°Could you get that one?¡± Jaclyn asked, pointing to an unseasoned one at the end.


    I shrugged, not really having any dog in the game. ¡°Sure! Do you want one?¡±


    ¡°Nah, I¡¯m good.¡±


    A quick negotiation later, and we were continuing to walk through the streets, making small talk. Things were getting somewhat better, I polished off my snack, and soon we were near the park.


    ¡°Walk in the park with me?¡± Jaclyn asked, a glint of mischief in her voice promising maybe doing a bit more than walking.


    ¡°Yeah!¡± I said.


    The moons were out in full force, and they were reflected red in her eyes. Goddesses, her eyes. They were so beautiful. So charming.


    Heck, she might even have something like [Charming Eyes]. I wanted to get lost in them. I wanted to swim in them.


    We made our way through the park somewhat, getting to a little, private grassy hill. She turned, and, hesitating a moment, leaned down to kiss me.


    My heart was going to explode out of my chest with how fast it was beating, an entire drumline furiously beating.


    She was going to kiss me!!!!!!


    I tilted my head back, feeling her strong arms around me, her soft body pressing into me, strawberry lips pressing on mine.


    I gave a happy squeal, lifting one foot up behind me as I pressed back, kissing her with fervor, with joy, with happiness, a rush of emotion coursing through my body. She stepped back a moment, and I was in love. Totally, utterly in love.


    She leaned forward again, kissing me again, one hand in my hair, firmly pressing my head to hers, one on my back, holding me against her. I wrapped my arms up and under her armpits, securing myself as I was slightly bent over backwards. I let out a soft moan as our lips met again, only to feel her tongue starting to invade my mouth.


    I let it, feeling it explore my mouth, wrapping around my tongue. It stayed a moment, our kiss extending further and further, then it was my turn to try to be bold. I stuck my tongue in her mouth, exploring a bit, only for-


    ¡°Ouch!¡± I cried out, pulling back.


    ¡°Muh toung.¡± I said, having my tongue hanging out of my mouth, tingling sensation going over it. ¡°owww.¡±


    ¡°Oh let me see that.¡± She said, sounding excited.


    I obediently stuck my tongue out at her, giving her flirty eyes in the process. She locked eyes with me, her red eyes still reflecting the moons, the moons behind her glowing. I wanted to flip them off¡­ but maybe I was ok with them seeing everything.


    She sucked on my tongue for a moment, then gave me another deep kiss, one I happily reciprocated. She tugged at the shoulder of my dress, still shimmering Celestial, and I let her reveal a shoulder.


    I didn¡¯t want to go too far tonight, but I was totally game for making out. Maybe some light petting.


    She broke the kiss off, then slowly came in again, holding me tighter than ever, aiming to kiss my neck, start trailing kissing down my body and-


    [Vigilant] went nuts.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vigilant] has reached level 200!]


    [*Ding!* Would you like to merge [Vigilant] and [Reflexes] into [Bullet Time]?]


    I reflexively hit yes, and the world slowed around me, giving me time to think, to process. I still moved at the same speed, but I thought and could think so much faster ¨C invaluable with Radiance and near-instant-cast spells.


    The pieces of the puzzle came together with a click.


    Pale skin.


    Only seen at night.


    Hypnotizing, captivating eyes. That one might just be me.


    Licking her lips, eyeing me like I was meat.


    Sharp things in her mouth ¨C fangs.


    Eyes red even though the moons were behind her. Reflections didn¡¯t work that way.


    Disliked seasoning ¨C more specifically, the garlic.


    Not eating any other food. Mango heretic! Never dating anyone who dislikes mangos again.


    Making sure she had a nice, solid grip on me. Physical stats far beyond what her level suggested she should have, especially with the [Artisan] tag.


    And a class, offered to me a lifetime ago.


    [Apprentice Vampire Hunter].


    Jaclyn was a bloody vampire, and I¡¯d all but gift-wrapped myself and delivered myself to her. Hells, you could argue with all the effort I put into being [Pretty] today, that I had gift-wrapped myself.


    And neatly delivered myself into a private, secluded location so she could have, in her own words, a little snack.


    I¡¯d even called myself tasty. Yikes.


    It wasn¡¯t enough, it wasn¡¯t proof. I didn¡¯t want today¡¯s date to end, I didn¡¯t want to believe, to have my feelings come crashing down around me.


    At the same time, I wasn¡¯t about to become dinner.


    I threw up a small [Veil] around my neck, and time resumed its normal speed, hearing a small pair of clinks as she hit the [Veil] around my neck.


    ¡°Jaclyn¡­ there¡¯s no chance you¡¯re a vampire is there?¡±


    She pulled back and hissed at me, lips drawn back, revealing a pair of sharp fangs, and suddenly the gentle strength on my arms turned crushing, bones breaking under her formidable grasp.


    My heart broke at the same time my arms did, my first crush (fine second), my first romance ruthlessly destroyed, a lie the entire time. [Bullet Time] activated again, time slowing.


    Fuuuuuuuuccccccckkkkkkk [Bullet Time] was awful for getting injured. I was feeling every bit of my bone stress, then break and shatter, one piece after another as her grip tightened, muscles flexing as she went for more moves.


    I couldn¡¯t bring myself to perform lethal shots, not when it wasn¡¯t absolutely needed, not when I had so many levels on her. Not when we¡¯d been making out literally 5 seconds ago. A thin, [Blaze] ¨C powered beam of Radiance shot from me, drilling through her right shoulder, then her left, burning through muscle and bone and ligaments, shoulder sockets destroyed, her arms becoming useless before they could finish trying to rip my arms off.


    She screamed, a high, inhuman noise, and [Bullet Time] ended, the threat to my life gone as she ran, scattering like the wind, arms held limply at her side. She left me heaving, tears streaming down my face as I cursed, healing myself back up with [Phases]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Bullet Time] has reached level 189!]


    Why!? Why had this gone so badly!? The first time I put myself out there, and the person was an inhuman vampire who just wanted to eat me!


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Center of the Galaxy] has reached level 235!]


    My heart was lead, in my sandals, and I fled, crying, back to headquarters, ignoring the guards asking me if everything was ok. I made it back to my room, and holed up in my bed, blankets around me, wallowing in my sadness, despair, and self-pity.


    I really, really needed a mopey, angsty set of music right now to listen to.


    I must¡¯ve spent a really long time crying and moping, because there was a knock on my door.


    ¡°Dawn?¡± Night¡¯s voice came from the other side of the door. ¡°Are you alright? It is past time for our meeting, and it is not like you to be late.¡±


    Ug. Responsibility. I was still in my dress, tears having wrecked my makeup horribly.


    ¡°Fine, be right out.¡± I said, wiping my face ¨C I¡¯d need to launder this dress later, or pay someone to do it for me ¨C and opened the door.


    To Night.


    Great avoider of sunlight.


    Pale skin and red eyes.


    Who¡¯d I¡¯d never seen eat.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± I screamed, slamming the door shut. ¡°You¡¯re also a vampire!!¡±


    [Bullet Time] How else can you dodge bullets? When your life is in mortal peril, sense the attack and your perception will speed up, giving you the time to think about your actions. Increased perception increase, total length of time increased per level. -64 mana regen.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Age: 18]


    [Mana: 50400/50400]


    [Mana Regen: 45234 (+3360.72)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 8]


    [Strength: 236]


    [Dexterity: 203]


    [Vitality: 560]


    [Speed: 480]


    [Mana: 5040]


    [Mana Regeneration: 5092 (+1435.944)]


    [Magic Power: 4636 (+46591.8)]


    [Magic Control: 4636 (+46591.8)]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 240]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 240]


    [Warmth of the sun: 198]


    [Medicine: 202]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 235]


    [Phases of the Moon: 240]


    [Moonlight: 240]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 212]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 139]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 180]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 180]


    [Radiance Resistance: 180]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 180]


    [Radiance Manipulation: 180]


    [Sun-Kissed: 141]


    [Blaze: 180]


    [Talaria: 160]


    [Nova: 180]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 136]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 159]


    [Pretty: 134]


    [Bullet Time: 189]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 201]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 190]


    [: ]


    [Learning: 212]

 Chapter 120.1 – History Lessons

    ¡°Dawn? May I come in?¡± Night asked, politely knocking on my door.


    I fell back, scrambling to get away from the door, away from the thing on the other side, an inscription providing light for the room throwing crazy shadows over my face.


    ¡°No! You can¡¯t enter!¡± I yelled out, trying to remember my vampire lore.


    ¡°That¡¯s how it works right? I don¡¯t give you permission and you can¡¯t come in right?¡± I asked, only before realizing the monumental stupidity of asking my enemy for advice on his weaknesses.


    I heard a deep sigh from the other side of the door.


    ¡°I am not entering because the place is yours, and I value your privacy. I would not intrude upon you, especially when you are distressed. Would you at least be willing to discuss the latest events with me, so I may understand what has transpired?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d feel a lot better with more people around!¡± I said, suddenly feeling like a hostage negotiator. Except I was also the hostage.


    Ok, think. There was one door to the area. If Night went through the door, I¡¯d be able to get Radiance beams on him, no trouble.


    Except he was so high level compared to me that he could probably just shrug it off, even if I went for the eyes.


    The realization was almost freeing.


    I was a dead woman if Night wanted me to be a dead woman. My only chance at survival, at freedom, was to make Night happy.


    System, oh System, hear my prayer. Give me a skill to make Night happy with me, give me a skill to help me survive this!


    [*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Tasty Blood]!]


    You have got to me kidding me.


    I rejected the skill. I was hoping for something more social, like [Silver Tongue] or something.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Tastes like Chicken]!]


    No way.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Mid-Night Snack]!]


    This clearly wasn¡¯t helping. Back to hostage negotiations.


    ¡°How do I know you won¡¯t just eat or kill me at the end?¡± I said, starting to think a bit more.


    More silence from the other side of the door. Night¡¯s habit of long pauses between speaking was going to be the death of me.


    ¡°I am Night first. I am the leader of the Sentinels second. Protector of humanity third. Guardian of Remus fourth. Patriarch of a vampire lineage fifth. You are Dawn. You are a Sentinel, one of mine. I place you, and your well-being, above one of my idiot descendants.¡±


    What.


    ¡°What?¡± I said, confusion clear in my voice.


    More exasperated sighing.


    ¡°Could I please come in, or could you please come out, and we can discuss this face-to-face? It is difficult speaking to a door.¡±


    Fine. Operation ¡®Make Night Happy In A Way That Doesn¡¯t Get My Blood Sucked¡¯ is a go.


    I opened the door to find Night a respectful distance away, clearly trying to not spook me. He looked me up and down, and discreetly coughed.


    ¡°Ahem. Would you like a few minutes to straighten yourself up?¡±


    Mmmm. He had a point. I was a hot mess.


    I ducked back into my room, splashed water on my face ¨C my suite had everything, luxurious bed, a living room, a fully stocked bathroom with a small bath and everything, basically a penthouse suite on Pallos, magical inscriptions providing all the luxuries.


    I probably would¡¯ve had this life, or a similar one, married to Kerberos. No wonder my parents had thought it was good for me. He was dead now, and I had it anyways, on my own merits. Much better.


    I finished washing up, changing into a new, simple tunic. I put my dress away somewhat carefully, unsure if I¡¯d ever wear it again. Good memories and bad linked to it.


    I left the room, and found Night in the central living room, having claimed a large, plush chair for himself. I took a recliner on the other side.


    ¡°First, while you are clearly upset, I would like to check ¨C you are physically ok, correct?¡± He asked.


    I shot him a withering look.


    ¡°I¡¯m a stupidly powerful healer. Duh I¡¯m ok physically.¡±


    ¡°If I may pry, what has occurred to make you so upset?¡±


    I glared at him, then realized he had no way of knowing.


    ¡°Vampire. Tried to take a bite.¡± I sourly said, expecting some sort of retribution.


    He hissed, and I realized why it had sent such deep fear into me the first time I¡¯d heard it, when he was mad. He was an apex predator, and I was his prey.


    ¡°Which one of my idiot progeny tried to take a bite out of one of my Sentinels?¡± He hissed in anger. ¡°Edward? Vlad? Lincoln?¡±


    I blinked. I hadn¡¯t realized there were so many ¨C but then again it made sense.


    ¡°Jaclyn.¡± I said.


    Night blinked. Then blinked again.


    A long silence stretched between us, much longer than usual. Shit. Was she a favorite of Night¡¯s or something?


    The silence continued to stretch on. Had I somehow broken Night?


    ¡°Right. Ahem. Regardless of how you feel, yes, Jaclyn.¡± He said, normally smooth words slightly stuttering.


    Wait. Did I just throw Night off by having gone on a date with a woman?


    ¡°First off, did you get bitten?¡± He asked.


    I shook my head.


    ¡°Good. It¡¯s not the worst thing to have happen, but it makes things less complicated. Now that we¡¯ve established you¡¯re ok, will I need to be burying a body ¨C or did you not leave a body?¡±


    ¡°Crippled her shoulders.¡± I said. ¡°Blew through both of them, disabling her arms. She ran off after that.¡±


    More damned silence. I was never going to play cards with Night, not with that poker face.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Night said. ¡°While you would¡¯ve been justified in removing her after her affront to you, I must confess I never enjoy hearing about the loss of one of mine ¨C Sentinel or otherwise.¡±


    ¡°Normally, I dislike your approach, and I was the one who instilled the lesson in Artemis ¨C do not leave threats behind. Granted, she¡¯s taken that lesson further than I believe is reasonable, though not out of bounds, but she is a discussion for another day. However, today, I am thankful for your restraint.¡±


    ¡°Does everyone else know about you?¡± I asked. He seemed awfully unconcerned that I knew.


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s one of the things you and Commander Julius were to be educated on in a few days, along with a number of other critical pieces of information. Normally, the terrors of the skies are also part of your education, but you came to us knowing it already.¡±


    I didn¡¯t know what to say to that, and it felt like tumbleweeds were rolling through the room.


    ¡°I have decided. You deserve a history lesson, a full one. You may tell the others, but I¡¯d prefer you didn¡¯t. Call it my own desire for privacy.¡± Night said.


    I nodded, eager to hear more, my curiosity and desire for stories getting the better of me.


    ¡°What year is it?¡± Night asked, out of the blue.


    I had to think about it for a moment. It wasn¡¯t something we used every day.


    ¡°4798.¡± I replied.


    ¡°Yes. And what does that number represent?¡± Night asked.


    More thinking, back to System Day at the temple way back when.


    ¡°Years since creation?¡± I ventured a guess.


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty close. Off by a few decades.¡± Night said. ¡°But it¡¯s close enough. More accurately, it¡¯s how many years since Herculix was born.¡±


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 213!]


    Wait. Vampire. Spoke of ancient events.


    ¡°You-¡° I said, not daring to finish the sentence, not daring to believe.


    ¡°Yes. I was not born.¡± Night said. ¡°I was created, at the dawn of time, when the big five gods and goddesses saw fit to create Pallos, and populate the planet with all manner of creatures.¡±


    ¡°It was the worst moment of my life. One moment I didn¡¯t exist. The next moment, I was. A full adult, head crammed full of useless knowledge. A full language. Without the information of what language was, or how to use it. I didn¡¯t even know how to stand! I had no history, no practical knowledge, no memories. A bundle of poorly thought-out instincts. I fell to the ground, twitching, as I tried to process what had happened, what was going on. Beams of light were coming down from the heavens as I did this, as the gods kept their cruel experiment going, creating all manner of creatures, of horrors.¡±


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 214!]


    ¡°The gods were new to creation. Pallos and its natives were their first attempt. Or rather, if it wasn¡¯t their first attempt, I shudder to imagine what their first did look like, what ungodly horrors were created and unleashed to justify a purge, a mulligan on creation. Regardless. I was blessed, lucky to not die in those first few days as so many tens of thousands did, killed by their own body, killed by the gods forgetting something as fundamental as a mouth, misshapen, bloody things that only existed for a few brief moments of agony then died.¡±


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 215!]


    Ok, you know what System? Shush. I¡¯m listening to the ancient vampire talk about creation. Let me know what the gains are at the end.


    ¡°Some were plain unlucky. I saw a creature created next to me, only for a larger one to be created directly on top of him, instantly crushing him to death. One body I came across was clearly just the gods having figured out eyes, then trying every single type of eye onto a single being, simply to experiment. Nothing but flesh and eyes, dead mere moments after having been created, all for the gods to learn more, to see what would happen, how different types of eyes worked.¡±


    ¡°The world was hard and rocky, lava spurting out from the ground. The gods figured out that we needed soil, and the great soiling occurred, burying every creature in feet upon feet of the stuff.¡±


    ¡°Most small creatures were created or re-created after the event. Myself, I had to dig out of it. For all I knew at the time, being buried alive was a frequent occurrence. I spent weeks making sure I was always high up, such that when a repeat of the event occurred, I wouldn¡¯t be buried again. More fragile plants were created then, damning those who had been able to survive in the lava fields to being buried.¡±


    ¡°But the gods were improving, steadily creating better and better races as a whole, as a rule. I¡¯d like to think Vampires were one of the later races, as we were blessed with an immortal lifespan, fantastic physical prowess, and strong racial traits from the System.¡±


    ¡°Sadly, we vampires have some of the worst leveling I¡¯ve ever heard of. I¡¯m nearly 5000 years old, and still have yet to break level 500. Part of it is my role as a guardian, a defender, but more significantly was the fact that we are simply a failure from the gods.¡±


    ¡°My belief is the gods found a template that somewhat worked, and decided to continuously improve upon it. That is why so many creatures and monsters are human-like. Or, as the gods would put it, that is why so many creatures and monsters are elf-like.¡±


    ¡°For the elves were the god¡¯s last and greatest humanoid creation, their peak, the pinnacle. Blessed with endless lives, rapid System growth, as much knowledge as they could give them at the start. The gods also cheated. Every other species was spread all over the planet, scattered to every corner, to see who and what would survive, and what would perish.¡±


    ¡°Not the elves. No, they were all created in a single area that the gods cleared ahead of time, given advantages no other species were.¡±


    ¡°Thanatos, the God of Death, made his greatest creation around this time. Black Crow//White Dove. An endlessly flipping coin. Two as one, you will be visited by only one, but both are always present.¡±


    ¡°White Dove takes those who go willingly, while Black Crow drags the unwilling away.¡±


    ¡°White Dove saw that many, many races, species, and yes, even some individuals she would never meet, for age does not touch them. She cursed them then, cursed them all.¡±


    ¡°I do not know what each race got. I know that we vampires lose access to our System-granted skills and stats when under sunlight.¡±


    ¡°Hang on ¨C is that why you don¡¯t go into sunlight? Not your [Oath] or whatever?¡± I asked, feeling lied to.


    Night grinned at me, like Prometheus after he stole fire.


    ¡°No ¨C I figured, while I¡¯m already bound to not show up in the sun, why not take a restriction skill, formalize it, and gain power from it? The curse isn¡¯t from the System after all, I am permitted to double-dip.¡±


    I blinked. He was just cheating!


    ¡°The curse felled most of my fellow vampires, becoming prey during the daylight hours when most beasts roamed. Most of my brethren have taken a similar restriction skill, although a fire mage one was so dumb as to declare he¡¯d burst into flame should sunlight ever touch him.¡±


    ¡°The idiot burst into flames three decades later when the gods decided to experiment with a second sun.¡±


    Night shook his head at the memory.

 Chapter 120.2 – History Lessons

    ¡°It was humanity, who offered us a place at their fire. Humanity, who was willing to guard us during the day, as we guarded them during the night. Humanity, who protected us, as we were cursed to level so slowly, our early years being some of the hardest of them all. Humanity, who tolerated us at level 20, 25 when they were already leaping forward, some of the earliest, strongest pushing 300, 400 as the cruel world created amazing opportunities. Humanity, who saved what I believe were the last three vampires, the progenitors.¡±


    ¡°I am one of them. And I am eternally grateful.¡±


    We paused a moment for me to digest.


    Wow. Just.


    Wow.


    Night wasn¡¯t just old, he was old.


    I was still trying to process the rest as he continued.


    ¡°They allowed us to occasionally feed from them, to take what we needed from them. They sheltered and protected us, and we helped them in kind, expanding their tribe¡¯s territory and influence, meeting other tribes in turn, banding together for survival. Petty disputes mean nothing before the beasts and monsters out there.¡±


    ¡°Once the gods finished elves, they turned their hand towards other creatures, winged beasts of the sky, leviathans of the deep. I believe that they felt they perfected the humanoid form, so they reached still higher, for a greater form.¡±


    ¡°Thousands upon thousands of beams of light over the oceans and seas, populating the depths with creatures still unknown. I will not set foot over the ocean.¡±


    ¡°For that matter, there is some great monster in the Nostrum sea ¨C a massive plant, stretching across the entire depths. Anything too far from shore gets grabbed and pulled down by thorny vines. I have been working on a solution for a few centuries, but have nothing so far. That¡¯s one of the secrets, the creature in the depths, the reason we are shore-faring, and do not directly cross the Nostrum Sea.¡±


    ¡°Blessedly, it prevents anything large from forming in the Nostrum, keeping the threats minimal, compared to the size things could grow to unchecked. The only price is being unable to directly cross. The price, so far, has been worth it. Hence not spending too much time on the issue, compared to the Formorians.¡±


    ¡°Back to the skies.¡±


    ¡°Rocs. Golden Crows. Quetzal. Thunderbirds. Griffins. Phoenixes. Tapajaras. Wyverns. And so many more. Each one greater, fiercer than the last.¡±


    ¡°A flying island showed up, but as to what¡¯s going on with that, I haven¡¯t the faintest idea.¡± Night shrugged.


    ¡°Then, their final creation. Only a few dozen beams of light lit the sky that night, but the terrors of the sky, the overlords of creation were created.¡±


    Dragons.


    ¡°Their reign of terror was immediate and brutal. Our only saving grace was, at first, they were just as content to murder and maim each other as the rest of creation.¡±


    ¡°After some time, they ceased fighting each other, and turned to the rest of us.¡±


    ¡°One in particular saw fit to attack the lands where humanity was struggling to eke out an existence. For what purpose, I have never found out. Perhaps it simply enjoyed sowing mayhem and chaos, reveling in destruction, at watching all of creation flee before it, groveling before its might.¡±


    ¡°There was nothing we could do but pray and supplicate ourselves before the overlord, who didn¡¯t care for us in the slightest. No, if anything, us calling to it and offering sacrifices seemed to offend it, speaking its name seemed to enrage it. It is why the name, and the knowledge, is taboo, although informing new team leaders once every two years or more doesn¡¯t seem to be enough to provoke its wrath, and let us clamp down on any idiots who find ancient records and get ideas.¡±


    ¡°We could be wrong about it hearing us when we speak its name. I am unwilling to risk it or test it.¡±


    Night paused, collecting his thoughts.


    ¡°What I am about to tell you is speculation from me, only some of which I have seen.¡±


    ¡°I believe, as they continued to oppress all of creation, a number of beasts, monsters, and beings from around the planet decided to fight back. I only know of one, but as Etalix engaged with the annihilator, none of his kind came to assist. Etalix summoned storms, throwing massive bolts of lightning at the destructor. Great blasts of ice and acid came from the ocean, spatial tears ripping the very fabric of the world, skills of a level I can¡¯t begin to dream of assisted him.¡±


    ¡°The fight was, at best, a draw. At worst, a loss for Etalix, but either way, they were no longer an omni-present feature in the sky.¡±


    Night reverentially bowed his head.


    ¡°I do not believe he was fighting for us. Nevertheless, he is our Guardian, the reason we still exist today. That fight is the reason we venerate him, place a statue of him before every temple.¡±


    ¡°At this time, yet another band of humans left, to follow and praise Etalix. Among their number, just another face in the crowd, was Herculix. I do not know what transpired, only that many decades later, there was great rejoicing from all humans, as he accomplished some great feat that even the System recognized, permanently making him a part of humanity¡¯s record.¡±


    Wow. That¡¯s why we worshipped Etalix.


    Yup, I was going to offer more than a few prayers to him, giving thanks, even though prayers to him didn¡¯t drain mana the same way praying to the gods drained mana.


    ¡°Anyways. The great battle carved out two more sections of the Nostrum, nearly connecting it to the Ocean in some places, a permanent scar of the battle. It wasn¡¯t even an aim of the winged being to do so, they were simply missed shots. That is the scale of the power of those beings, rearranging the surface we live on with little more than an idle thought. The landscape was scarred in many other ways.¡±


    ¡°Time passed, humanity recovered, and began to expand. Many times, humanity has decided to do something dumb. Often, I¡¯ve been tempted to intervene, to correct them and set them on the right path.¡±


    ¡°I have refrained. I have seen too many warlords, too many powerful humans who thought they knew better, crushing the rest under their heel. At times, choices I believe were wrong turned out to be right. It forced me to face the truth ¨C I am a warrior, not a leader. I would end up being nothing more than a petty warlord, and I have seen the fate of every petty warlord.¡±


    ¡°As such, I took the role of guardian. After Gideon founded the Sentinels and Rangers, I took my place with them, and have stayed here since then, providing a guiding hand, remembrance of fatal mistakes so they are not made again ¨C at least, not made without several words of caution in the ears of those who would make them.¡±


    ¡°Eventually, the edge of humanity¡¯s expansion reached the edge of the Formorian expansion, and we began to skirmish, then battle, then war. One day, like an Inscription activated, they went from a stream to an inexhaustible tide, seemingly throwing every body they have at us.¡±


    ¡°We have tried all sorts of manner to slay them, but they are unending, unceasing. Many times, people have gotten the brilliant idea to cast some large-scale skill. Usually, it works the first time, so they attempt it a second time, a third. Inevitably, one of the skills hits our lines, breaks our walls, and they flood in. I stop potentially species-ending stupidity like that, along with any Classer too powerful for another Sentinel ¨C or occasionally a Sentinel himself who¡¯s gone rogue.¡± Night said.


    ¡°But that gets off track. Know this. I have an unending, undying debt of gratitude towards humanity, and consider myself one of their guardians ¨C as well as you. If a conflict should emerge between my kind and humanity, between vampires and Sentinels, I shall always be on the side of Sentinels.¡±


    He stopped, the massive flood of words over. I was still soaking in them, trying to remember and process everything he said.


    No wonder he took so long before saying anything. Anything he heard, anything he did, had to be catalogued, processed, checked against nearly five millennia of knowledge and experience.


    And bless his habit. It let me do a boatload of processing.


    I¡¯d never thought that creation was, well, creation. I¡¯d been told it, but it never really processed, never really hit. I¡¯d never thought what it¡¯d be like to be one of the beings created, suddenly placed upon the planet with no frame of reference.


    And creating! Gods weren¡¯t perfect, and their early creations were clearly subpar. Given what I¡¯d seen, given what I knew, I strongly suspected after some time they decided to just plagiarize successful models from Earth, and possibly from other locations.


    Made sense why so many things were humanoid though, just the gods saying ¡°well this seems to work, let¡¯s keep trying!¡±


    But that casual cruelty, of creating and forgetting, of throwing a bunch of beings into the pit and seeing how it shook out for their own amusement jived exactly with what I¡¯d felt from Papilion, who¡¯d happily stripped my memories and threw me into the world.


    I must¡¯ve spent an hour or more processing, thinking, going through everything Night said. He waited. He was patient.


    He literally had all the time in the world. No wonder he was so unconcerned with the passage of time.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I finally said, having wrapped my head around most of it.


    ¡°Now that you have a light background of me and mine, we can hopefully address last night¡¯s unpleasantness.¡± Night said. ¡°Generally speaking, we can feed on blood in one of a few different ways.¡±


    ¡®Light background¡¯ my ass.


    ¡°The first and most common are slaves, who get their debt paid off exceedingly quickly in exchange for not asking too many questions as to what¡¯s going on.¡±


    ¡°The second are animals, foul, not particularly tasty, the experience is so tiny even against our vast needs as to be ignored, but we can survive consuming them.¡±


    ¡°The third, sadly, are people like you. People who appear weak physically, but have a high level. Strong vitality makes feeding harder, while higher levels are, somehow, tastier.¡±


    ¡°I strongly discourage this practice, and Jaclyn will be experiencing my extreme displeasure later on for trying.¡±


    I did not want to think of what creative tortures a nearly 5,000 year old vampire could come up with.


    ¡°When a vampire feeds, they can do it in one of a few different ways.¡±


    ¡°The first is to inject a substance that causes ¨C or maintains ¨C sleep. This is how we feed on our slaves without them knowing, being able to return them back to civilization proper once we are through with them without them spreading the word about us.¡±


    ¡°The second is to attempt to turn the person we are feeding upon, and this is how more of us are created. I carefully limit who can turn, and when we turn more to our kind, and I make sure the person is always, always willing. More than a few Vampires have seen fit to challenge me on this. They do not survive the challenge.¡±


    Yeah, pissing off the 5,000 year old vampire who survived creation is a good one way ticket to the afterlife.


    ¡°If we expand too much, too far, it is inevitable that humanity will see fit to exterminate us, for you do not have the same memory that we do, you do not remember us guarding the fire at night, all those millennia ago, nor do you remember my ¨C our ¨C years of service defending Remus against all threats.¡±


    Night shrugged.


    ¡°Before I ask my next question, a few more points.¡±


    ¡°First off, Jaclyn will be made to apologize to you, in-person.¡± He thought a moment. ¡°If she hasn¡¯t been tended to by a healer by then, I¡¯d be eternally grateful if you fixed her up.¡±


    I rolled my eyes. I¡¯d have to once she was in front of me anyways.


    ¡°Sure, can do.¡±


    ¡°Second off, I¡¯ve heard that your parents plan on moving to the capital, to be closer to you. As recompense, I¡¯d like to offer them a house in the central district.¡±


    I blinked. Wow. That was- wow, that was a lot of money to throw around.


    I suppose when you were around when the city was founded, you had a lot of assets from centuries of accumulation.


    ¡°Um. You¡¯d have to ask them. Um. I think they¡¯d love that though!¡± I said.


    Night nodded.


    ¡°Very good. And now, to my question.¡±


    I saw him hesitate, then maybe, possibly, change his mind with lightning speed.


    ¡°Would you be willing to heal my brethren when the need arises?¡±


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 240!]


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 18]


    [Mana: 50400/50400]


    [Mana Regen: 44496 (+3360.72)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 8]


    [Strength: 236]


    [Dexterity: 203]


    [Vitality: 560]


    [Speed: 480]


    [Mana: 5040]


    [Mana Regeneration: 5092 (+1435.944)]


    [Magic Power: 4636 (+46591.8)]


    [Magic Control: 4636 (+46591.8)]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 240]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 240]


    [Warmth of the sun: 198]


    [Medicine: 202]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 235]


    [Phases of the Moon: 240]


    [Moonlight: 240]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 212]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 139]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 180]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 180]


    [Radiance Resistance: 180]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 180]


    [Radiance Manipulation: 180]


    [Sun-Kissed: 141]


    [Blaze: 180]


    [Talaria: 160]


    [Nova: 180]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 136]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 159]


    [Pretty: 134]


    [Bullet Time: 189]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 201]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 190]


    [: ]


    [Learning: 240]

 Interlude - Bonus Content - Black Crow//White Dove

Black Crow! White Dove!

 Chapter 121 – Winding down

    I blinked. That was¡­ a surprisingly low-level question, for all the build-up involved.


    ¡°Um. Sure. Why not?¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯d be obligated to do it anyways.¡±


    Some tension left Night, tension I hadn¡¯t even seen build up.


    ¡°Good. I was concerned that the well might be poisoned, and a conflict or problem between us might occur. It is also difficult to find a healer who does not discover our secret, which continues to be an awkward point. At this point, are you satisfied with our conversation? Do you still have concerns for your safety or well-being?¡±


    ¡°I mean, let your other vampires know that I¡¯m off-limits, make sure there¡¯s no retaliation, and sure, I have no problem with it. I¡¯ll heal anything and anyone that¡¯s not trying to kill me or a patient of mine.¡± I said, chin held high.


    ¡°Excellent. Onto other matters.¡± Night said, and the tone shifted again. No longer was he Night, an ancient vampire teaching history to Elaine, he was now Night, leader of the Sentinels, instructing Dawn how things were done.


    ¡°Hang on, quick question.¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m wondering if you know anything about the moons?¡±


    He blinked at me.


    ¡°The moons? Why would I know anything about them?¡±


    ¡°Well, they seem somewhat unnatural to me. Earth had nothing like them, and I figure you might know something.¡±


    Night shrugged.


    ¡°The gods not only experimented with life, but the stars, moons, and even the suns. Blue, red, orange, white, one, two, four ¨C the gods tried all manner of suns, moons, stars and constellations. After everything shook out and settled down, after, oh, the first thousand years or so, the sky appeared as it does now.¡±


    That wasn¡¯t really an answer. Ah well.


    Night carried on, business as usual.


    ¡°A set of gemstones has been prepared for your use.¡± He said, handing me my vambraces, the inside part which touched my skin now twinkling with dozens of gemstones, Arcanite mixed with Moonstone, Sunstones scattered throughout with a dozen of other tiny gems mixed in.


    ¡°Arcanite needs no introduction. You can store your Celestial skills in the moonstones ¨C I personally recommend your [Phases of the Moon] primarily, with a [Veil of the Aurora] or two mixed in, for emergency shielding. The rest of your skills likely have no use stored.¡±


    ¡°For your Radiance skills, while technically possible to store Conjuration, it is a poor move. Radiance, like Light, Brilliance, and others, simply moves too quickly. You¡¯d waste the entire skill. With that being said, I recommend storing [Nova] in it, with perhaps an emergency [Talaria] or two to catch yourself falling if you should make a mistake while flying.¡±


    I looked over my skills. Yeah, I agreed with Night on all of that.


    Something about having nearly 5000 years of experience on me does good things for analysis. No wonder his advice was always spot-on. Thousands of years of experience, and a single trainee to advise.


    Could also be that he was too damn busy to do more than one trainee.


    ¡°Now, we have what I call the standard set of gemstones we issue all Sentinels. They are expensive, and single-use, which is a large part of why Ranger squads don¡¯t have them. Rangers also cover each other, while we operate solo.¡±


    ¡°You have a [Light], [Gust], [Water Conjuration], [Shocking Paralysis], [Watery Manacles], [Brilliant Barrier], [Mana Void], [Tracks-be-gone], [The Stars Reveal], [Tripwire Alarm], [Summon Knife], [Revealing Radiance], [Cast Scream], [Invisibility with eyeholes], [Muffle], [Amplify Voice], [Wall Buster], [Curse Breaker], and a [Feather Fall]¡±


    ¡°Most are self-explanatory. [Shocking Paralysis] is a rare physical-disabling skill that prevents any movement, although be warned, skills can still be used. [Mana Void] drains and prevents mana from regenerating. One of Hunting¡¯s skills. If you need to take a Classer prisoner, those two skills are what you use.¡±


    ¡°I see the chances for you to use these skills to be minimal. However, most Sentinels need them, and I saw no reason to limit your options.¡±


    ¡°[Watery Manacles] summons handcuffs if you need to take someone low-level, with non-threatening skills prisoner. Again unlikely, but potentially useful. Mainly present so the powerful skills don¡¯t need to be used against someone low-level. Ocean¡¯s work.¡±


    ¡°[Brilliant Barrier] will encase you in a shield much more powerful than your [Veil], one that you can both move with and see through. Thank Sealing for this one.¡±


    ¡°[Tracks-be-gone] is a powerful, powerful anti-tracking skill. As you move through the woods, low-level damage you cause to your surroundings will be reverted as you continue forward, erasing all traces of your passage. It won¡¯t work on, say, a large branch being broken, but most things smaller than that it¡¯ll work on. Critically, it also works on smell.¡±


    ¡°[The Stars Reveal] is to see in the dark without giving away your position with [Light]. It¡¯s harder to recharge than [Light] is, but when stealth is paramount, it is useful.¡±


    ¡°[Tripwire Alarm] is one of those skills that every few decades we try to add to the kit, it fails, we remove it, and carry on. I keep my peace on these experiments, hoping that it¡¯ll work this time ¨C I can be wrong ¨C but so far, it hasn¡¯t been promising. It creates a loud noise if someone crosses into your campsite ¨C for a single night, for a single site. Not the best.¡±


    ¡°[Revealing Sunlight] is an anti-illusion spell. Illusions require very little in terms of power and mana, just requiring good control. Low-level illusionists can cause devastating damage as a result. The hard part is knowing an illusionist is at work, but this will strip all illusions within a large range around you.¡±


    ¡°[Invisibility with eyeholes] ¨C When cloaked with true invisibility, you can see exactly as much as people can see of you ¨C namely, exactly nothing. This one¡¯s from Magic, cloaking yourself in a way nobody can see, except through a tiny slit. You can duck down and be truly invisible, or stand up and peek through it. Incredibly potent. Works best with [Muffle]- also Magic¡¯s ¨C to not be heard either.¡±


    There was a pause, and I opened my mouth to ask the obvious question.


    ¡°You can still be smelled.¡±


    ¡°[Wall Buster], like the name suggests, destroys a wall. Do not use it on a city wall unless in the most dire of emergencies. Or if Bulwark is around to fix the problem.¡±


    ¡°[Feather Fall] is Sky¡¯s ability to reduce your weight, a second way to save you if your [Talaria] should fail. Say¡­ if a cloud moved over the sun while you were high up.¡±


    ¡°Normally, there are a number of healing and anti-poison skills included. We felt that simply providing you with more moonstones would solve that issue. Related, the head of Gemstones would like to borrow you to craft a large number of gems with your [Phases of the Moon]. Naturally, at your convenience. Preferably a few days from now ¨C all of our spare moonstone went into your equipment, and he is currently attempting to acquire more. Discreetly.¡±


    ¡°Questions?¡±


    I shook my head.


    ¡°Good. Take some time to familiarize yourself with your new equipment, attune yourself to the new gemstones and Arcanite. Your other equipment has all been upgraded, purely with additional Arcanite.¡±


    ¡°We are working to secure you a stall in the 3rd-largest marketplace in the capital, having taken your suggestion seriously. You are free to set whatever price you want ¨C or no price at all ¨C but the quartermaster insisted I ask if you could throw a few coins that you inevitably make towards helping us on the rental of the stall.¡±


    I expected Night to have some sort of distasteful look at the prospect of needing to manage money, but nothing. Thinking about it, he probably did care, as it was another aspect of being a Sentinel. Couldn¡¯t pretend money was like water when it wasn¡¯t, and doing so was a bad idea. Solid, practical considerations, mixed with making sure we had every tool we needed.


    ¡°On a different note. In a week or so Ranger Academy will begin with a fresh set of recruits. You are invited to assist with the Hell Months ¨C indeed, I think it could be beneficial to you to see how it happens. For Academy purposes, I believe putting you in charge of all healing-related education would be appropriate. After all, you have literally written the defining work on the topic.¡±


    I saluted, bowing my head forward slightly, trying and failing to hide a grin, which turned into a slow smile instead.


    ¡°On the subject of Academy, I ask that you attend some of the planning sessions, as we attempt to solve this year¡¯s puzzle of which classes go when, and who goes where. As for mentorship, there are no healers this year, however, there is a single bardic Trainee. If he should pass the initial selection criteria, I am of a mind to pair him up with you, so that you may better expand his repertoire of songs and tales.¡±


    Night shrugged.


    ¡°Seems to be the best fit.¡±


    ¡°One last note. Roughly a week from now, there is the first social gathering we hope you shall attend.¡±


    I pulled a face at that. Blah. Socializing.


    ¡°Right, any questions?¡±


    I thought for a moment, feeling a sly smile creep onto my face.


    ¡°With the socializing plan, I¡¯m going to need some help working on my [Pretty] skill. I have a plan in mind, it¡¯ll cost somewhat. How do I best go about that?¡± I asked, thinking of Albina.


    ¡°Speak with the Quartermaster. Negotiate what is reasonable with him.¡±


    I mentally pumped my fist. YES!


    ¡°Best way to find my way to various places in HQ? Like the gemstones dude or the Quartermaster?¡± I asked, planning out my line of attack.


    ¡°Just ask anyone who works here. They can direct you.¡±


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t screw with our look?¡±


    ¡°All new Sentinels tend to ask around, given how little time is spent at Headquarters not in That Room, their quarters, or one of the living spaces. It¡¯s practically tradition for new Sentinels to get lost and need to ask how to get to the more obscure places. Helps humble them a bit, helps remind everyone here that yes, we¡¯re only human,¡± Night had a little chuckle at that. ¡°and yes, they can talk with us.¡±


    ¡°I tried at one point to keep us mysterious and above everyone, but that ended in disaster. Mistakes and problems weren¡¯t pointed out, people being too scared to tell us, or thinking we already knew it all and were invincible.¡±


    Night yawned, a huge, gaping yawn. I checked inside his mouth real fast. Couldn¡¯t see any fangs. Did they only come out for feeding?


    ¡°Right, I¡¯m off.¡± He said, getting up and vanishing down the hallway to his quarters.


    Welp, nothing for it. I was a Sentinel now, and apparently that meant a boatload of free time. It being a vacation for everyone was helping, and I suspected it¡¯d mean I¡¯d end up with a bit more work later on¡­ but not that much more work.


    I paid the price, by being one of humanity¡¯s best, by always being on-call for a disaster. But I could see the point of whoever it was 400 years ago that said Sentinels should teach, and I could see the point in us having little tasks here and there, like Ocean with politics and Brawling with the arena. Our days were really empty otherwise. The better to improve ourselves¡­ or kick back and enjoy.


    Weird. So weird. I¡¯d had unstructured days off here and there, but now almost my entire day ¨C heck, my entire life ¨C was looking unstructured. Guess it was up to me to do something with that, fill my days with something.


    Healing seemed like a solid way of doing it, a vocation I could ¨C and did ¨C build my life around. There had been a good reason way back when that I¡¯d picked [Apprentice Control Healer], and the ability to lead a fulfilling life was part of it, the call I felt to help and to heal.


    Just, with a standard clinic, like every other healer had.


    Rather. That only male healers had. Bah.


    And I¡¯d have my clinic free and clear, all to myself.


    Only took four years of difficulty and danger to accomplish, along with a massive knowledge base from reincarnation. No biggie. Anyone could¡¯ve done it.


    Technically, I didn¡¯t have it free and clear. The Rangers owned it, but¡­


    Man, this was not a productive line of thought. On to other things. Like breakfast!


    Lunch rather. The conversation with Night had been long.


    Quartermaster, Gemstone dude, then some solid sleep. I didn¡¯t need as much, vitality helping out, but it wasn¡¯t like I was one of those 3000+ vitality monsters. I still needed ¨C wanted ¨C sleep, and after the absolute monster emotional rollercoaster I¡¯d been on since I last slept, I was looking forward to some good Z¡¯s.


    I found the Quartermaster after a bit of sleep-deprived wandering ¨C there was no anonymity for me here, not in the heart of Ranger territory. Almost everyone had been at the Convocation, almost everyone had seen me become Dawn. It wasn¡¯t like there were that many women running around HQ in the first place.


    The Quartermaster was tall and slender, and gave off a brisk, efficient, penny-pinching air. I got the sense that he¡¯d complain about damaged armor, saying that you could¡¯ve sacrificed a leg to save the greaves or some nonsense like that. Not that I could blame him on the penny-pinching part. Everyone probably wanted all the resources in the world, and it was his job to turn the limited Senate funds into enough armor, weapons, goods, and most importantly, pay, for the entire organization.


    Surprised I was talking with him, and not one of his endless minions. Who all required pay, and looked like they were driven harder than slaves working in a field.


    Which, from my very brief conversation with the Quartermaster, might be the case. Money didn¡¯t grow on trees and all that.


    After a short negotiation, which consisted of me telling the Quartermaster what I wanted and him immediately lowballing me on what I could have ¨C and me accepting said lowball, not wanting to piss him off this early into our relationship.


    Maybe he¡¯d warm up to me as I started feeding him coins? Actually, if I managed to make enough healing, and pay enough back into the pot, I could end up his golden goose¡­ and golden geese got fattened up.


    Granted, I¡¯d make and have more just keeping it all to myself, but I was feeling not only a sense of responsibility, but of gratitude, towards the Rangers and all they¡¯d done for me. It was the least I could do to give back somewhat.


    After my mango budget was taken care of.


    And a little shopping budget.


    And a ¡°fun with mom/dad/Artemis/other¡± budget.


    And¡­ yeah I¡¯m not sure how much would end up back in the Quartermaster¡¯s pocket.


    Oooh, but I needed to make friends with a good mango merchant. Maybe a standing, recurring order of some sort¡­ yes¡­ yes¡­


    I was sleep deprived and rambling. Gemstone dude.


    Gemstone dude practically glittered, and I meant that both metaphorically and literally. He had sparkly dust all over him, remnants of little bits of gems getting crushed and just sticking to him, and a greedy sparkle in his eye.


    I immediately saw why Quartermaster was so penny-pinching. Gemstone dude would suck him ¨C all of us ¨C dry in a heartbeat given the chance.


    I charged the few Moonstones he had left with as much [Phases of the Moon] as I could. It was weird filling them up. I focused on ¡°heal¡±, and the gemstones acted like a person that needed to be healed, mana draining out of me and into the stones. I could then sense when it was ¡®healed¡¯, aka the gemstone had taken as much mana as it could handle. They¡¯d have terrible efficiency when used, but then again, they weren¡¯t being used for casual things, they were being used for ¡®oh god I lost an arm//got poisoned by a snake in the middle of the wilderness¡¯, where anything was better than nothing, where even if [Phases] wasn¡¯t enough to fix everything, it should be enough to stabilize the problem long enough for the Sentinel to get better help.


    There was no cafeteria or anything inside of HQ, but there were a half-dozen food vendors who set up shop nearby, the large number of hungry people from HQ enough to support them, never mind the other businesses and government buildings in the area.


    I grabbed food from the closest vendor, probably overpaying, downed it without a thought, somehow found my bed, and crashed. The System helpfully reminded me that I was a Sentinel, and had done a bunch of new Sentinel-ish stuff.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Sentinel''s Superiority] has reached level 191 -> 195]


    Tomorrow would be the start of the rest of my life.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 18]


    [Mana: 50400/50400]


    [Mana Regen: 44496 (+3360.72)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 8]


    [Strength: 236]


    [Dexterity: 203]


    [Vitality: 560]


    [Speed: 480]


    [Mana: 5040]


    [Mana Regeneration: 5092 (+1435.944)]


    [Magic Power: 4636 (+46591.8)]


    [Magic Control: 4636 (+46591.8)]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 240]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 240]


    [Warmth of the sun: 198]


    [Medicine: 202]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 235]


    [Phases of the Moon: 240]


    [Moonlight: 240]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 212]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 139]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 180]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 180]


    [Radiance Resistance: 180]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 180]


    [Radiance Manipulation: 180]


    [Sun-Kissed: 141]


    [Blaze: 180]


    [Talaria: 160]


    [Nova: 180]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 136]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 159]


    [Pretty: 134]


    [Bullet Time: 189]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 201]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 195]


    [: ]


    [Learning: 240]

 Chapter 122 – What to do with myself

    I woke up the next morning, somewhat refreshed and feeling alive and well again. I got ready ¨C I was going to get so spoiled with my own bath.


    Night and Jaclyn were waiting for me when I exited my rooms, Jaclyn looking contrite.


    Hang on ¨C weren¡¯t these Sentinel-only quarters? Night, abusing his privilege somewhat. Not that I was going to call him out on it.


    ¡°Sorry for trying to eat you.¡± Jaclyn said, and I raised my eyebrows at that. Seriously? That was the worst ¡®I¡¯m apologizing because I¡¯m being made to and not because I actually feel bad¡¯ I¡¯d ever heard.


    ¡°Apology accepted.¡± I said, somewhat curtly, not really feeling it. If she¡¯d been sincere, yeah I¡¯d be happier.


    Ah well, I¡¯d take what I could get. Night might be in trouble though, if his vampires were starting to get other ideas, even with his presence nearby.


    ¡°Are your shoulders ok? Do you need them fixed up?¡± I asked, this time with some real concern. She wasn¡¯t moving her arms much, if at all, and her shoulders looked much bulkier than usual under her tunic.


    I¡¯d gotten some real good looks at her shoulders after all.


    I could see the struggle on her face, Night being impassive, before she admitted. ¡°No, I could use some help.¡±


    Poker face. Gotta keep a poker face. Oh, how it must sting to ask me for help, after having tried and failed to take a nibble out of me, getting blasted by me, and now needing me to fix her up.


    I said nothing, just took a few steps closer and healed her.


    Even though I knew what the problem was ¨C shoulder-holes, caused by Radiance beams from the prettiest mage in existence ¨C it was a massive mana-sink. I think it was because my class was primarily aimed at healing humans, and while Jaclyn was close enough that I could fully, properly heal her, I was clearly eating a hefty penalty.


    Although, novelty was rewarded! New experiences! New creatures! New injury types, forgiveness, and the quite frankly higher-than-expected difficulty resulted in rewards!


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 241! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Celestial Affinity] has reached level 241]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 203->204]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 241]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Moonlight] has reached level 241]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 202->204!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 241!]


    Yay [Moonlight]! It had a boatload of excess experience, and I was being rewarded.


    Hmmmm¡­ maybe I could convince another vampire to try and take a bite out of me¡­


    I shook my head at that. Same thinking as when Artemis suggested throwing me into another fire. Sheesh. What was I coming to?


    Jaclyn was politely but firmly kicked out, so we could have our quick meeting. ¡°Nope, everything¡¯s good¡± was the long version of the meeting, and we left to go our separate ways.


    I didn¡¯t want to think about it, but it occurred to me ¨C if Night really wanted to punish Jaclyn, he¡¯d do it after I fixed her major injuries. Yeah, let¡¯s not think too hard on that.


    Who needed armor in the safe city? A simple tunic, like the ones I¡¯d worn most of the time I was on vacation as a Ranger, was the name of the game. Did need to get used to my new stuff at some point.


    Clinic wasn¡¯t ready yet, and I¡¯d gotten most of my gear set. I could practice with it¡­ or I could go bug Artemis at her school, say bye to mom and dad as they were going to leave back to Aquiliea ¨C needed to pick up their stuff before they could move ¨C and, hmmm¡­ what else to do¡­


    Oh, I could bug Markus or something. Could be fun. See if I could get a trusty mango-merchant to buddy up with, strike a deal with Albina.


    Right. This was a full to-do list.


    I left my quarters, and not knowing where mom and dad were, but knowing where Artemis¡¯s school was, I wandered down that way.


    She lived just a hair out of town, and not having much better to do, I just stuck to the streets, just moving along with the crowd, enjoying being anonymous.


    Enjoying only seeing people¡¯s backs less. Ah well. I was in no rush.


    I hit my first snag at the gate to the great outdoors, a problem I hadn¡¯t even hit in Aquiliea.


    ¡°Purpose of leaving?¡± The guard asked me, in the same bored monotone from having asked the question dozens of times every hour, every day, for years.


    ¡°Visiting a friend!¡± I said cheerfully.


    The guard looked me up and down doubtfully.


    ¡°Where¡¯s your husband?¡± He asked.


    Oh goddesses I was going to have to go through this again.


    Worst part was, I generally liked guards. Argh!


    ¡°Not married.¡± I said curtly.


    ¡°Well, what about your father?¡±


    ¡°Trying to find him. Hence going to see my friend, she might know where he is.¡±


    ¡°Well, why didn¡¯t you just ask the guard instead?¡±


    ¡°Because I want to see my friend? Nothing against that is there?¡±


    ¡°No, but it¡¯s not safe out there for a girl.¡±


    The worst part was calling me a girl. Sure, I was young, but 18 was an adult by any standard ¨C doubly so in Remus, where I¡¯d be considered a woman for years by now. I was starting to see tinges of red.


    ¡°Do I look low level enough to be in danger?¡±


    ¡°You look like a healer. So automatically, yes.¡±


    I gritted my teeth in frustration. Pull rank or walk over, pull rank or walk over¡­


    Let¡¯s try diplomacy one last time.


    ¡°Do you have a real, good reason to not let me out?¡±


    ¡°My own judgement is enough, preserving your safety."


    Fuck this guy. I¡¯ma just walk over.


    ¡°Fine.¡± I said, taking a few steps back, making sure I was properly in sunlight. I activated [Talaria], and started to run up, up, over and out, ignoring the cries of the guards and the other people trying to leave.


    Ok, not totally ignoring them. I flipped the guard off on my way out, ignoring his cries of protest. Bless men¡¯s tunics.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Talaria] has reached level 161]


    I landed on the other side of the wall without too many problems. The sun was high enough that the shadows weren¡¯t too long. I really needed to upgrade [Talaria] and get rid of the ¡°running on sunbeams¡± part, it was going to get me killed one day.


    There was a minor commotion as I landed ¨C fliers were rare, given that there¡¯d only been six of us at Ranger Academy, and Ranger Trainees were among the best of the best ¨C but I quickly acted naturally and just started walking, blending in with the crowd.


    I wanted to grit my teeth in frustration. There was an entire fucking shanty town outside the walls! It was clearly safe! What sort of idiot fucking guard wanted to stop me from leaving!? What type of shit attitude was that!?


    Oooh, I was tempted to have a talk with the guard captain on the way back.


    I made my way to Artemis¡¯s school, only to find the worst thing possible.


    A sign.


    ¡°Closed for the Solstice. Come back soon!¡±


    Was the entire world on vacation!?


    Actually, thinking about it ¨C probably yes. While Artemis could run the school constantly, she had a bunch of wealthy kids in it, who probably wanted to spend the festivities around the Solstice with their parents. Mom and dad were in town, and Artemis was probably spending time with them. It hadn¡¯t been exactly clear where I was, and just like that, we did our best ¡®two ships in the night¡¯ impression.


    I grabbed a large fallen branch, and with some clever use of [Radiance Conjuration] and [Radiance Manipulation], I burned a message into the now-much-flatter branch.


    Artemis,


    Elaine.


    Living at Ranger HQ.


    Swing by sometime!


    And I was outta room. Oh well, she¡¯d get the message. I could come back another day.


    I made my way back into town, back through the same gates. Getting in was, ironically, easier than getting out.


    ¡°Purpose of visit?¡± Guard asked, same bored tone.


    ¡°Returning home?¡± I asked, not quite sure how to answer that.


    ¡°Welcome home.¡± The guard said, waving me in.


    See? Wasn¡¯t that easy!?


    ¡°Hey, yeah, that¡¯s her!¡± I heard the guard from earlier yell, pointing at me.


    I found myself at the wrong end of the attention of a bunch of angry-looking guards, including one who I assumed was the captain.


    ¡°She blew right through the gates when I denied her exit!¡±


    ¡°For no good reason.¡± I protested, defending myself.


    ¡°Miss, that¡¯s still not a good reason. I¡¯m going to ask that you come with me.¡± The captain said, fingers drumming on the baton.


    Ooooh, I could pull this card for the first time. It was going to feel so good. I could see why people liked doing it.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard this every day.¡± I said, slowly ¨C didn¡¯t want them getting any wrong ideas ¨C reaching for my pouch. ¡°But do you know who I ¨C not my parents, not my husband, not a relative, who I am? I¡¯m thinking no.¡±


    The captain looked thoughtful, my tone of pride and note of joy giving myself away. He wasn¡¯t the captain for nothing.


    Idiot guard was sneering though, but the rest of the guards were reserved, looking to their captain for guidance.


    ¡°Ha! We don¡¯t care who you are, we-¡°


    ¡°Shut up.¡± The guard captain said, cutting him off. ¡°Miss, I better like what I¡¯m going to hear.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t resist the smile that split my face in half from ear to ear, as I finished pulling my Sentinel badge out of my bag.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn, at your service.¡± I said, showing the badge in all its splendor.


    Instant salutes, from everyone but Idiot Guard, who just looked like a fish out of water.


    ¡°Sir! Err, ma¡¯am? Apologies. Go ahead. I¡¯ll deal with him. Have a nice day.¡±


    I kept my mad grin on as I left, resisting the urge to pump my fist. Wasn¡¯t a move I wanted to pull that often, but when the situation called for it? Yes please.


    And now, I was back in the crowd, not too many people having noticed what just happened. Whoosh! Secret Agent Elaine!


    Ok, fine, anyone who really wanted to could track me.


    Where to next? Albina, probably.


    I navigated my way through the winding maze of the city, grabbing lunch along the way. Found her ¨C well, technically, probably her and the other [Beautician]¡¯s husbands store, but for practical purposes, her store, and entered.


    ¡°Welcome! How can we help you?¡± The lady at the counter asked, then did a double take.


    ¡°Wait, are you Dawn?¡±


    I scratched my head awkwardly.


    ¡°Yeah, but I¡¯m here for me, not on business. No rush.¡±


    Annnndddd that went in one ear and RIGHT out the other. Alternatively, she stopped listening at ¡®yeah¡¯. Either way, she went tearing off to the back.


    I rolled my eyes ¨C I was going to do a lot of that ¨C and took a seat. There wasn¡¯t anyone else waiting, and given the time of day and the lack of any big events, I wasn¡¯t surprised.


    Albina came hurrying out a moment later, and curtseyed to me.


    ¡°Dawn! What can I do for you?¡±


    I laughed ¨C in hindsight a poor move.


    ¡°Relax, relax! I¡¯m still Elaine! Here as Elaine. Chill, I¡¯m still human.¡±


    A look flickered in her eye, and she straightened up.


    ¡°Well, come on back! You gotta tell me how the date went!¡±


    My face involuntarily twisted.


    ¡°Ah, not well?¡± She said, reading the obvious body language.


    ¡°Sadly not.¡±


    ¡°Well, come on! Tell me all about it. Come, come!¡± She said, grabbing and steering me to the back.


    ¡°You sure? I¡¯m not taking you away from anything?¡±


    ¡°Nothing important! Boring inventory. Sit! Do you want a do-up? It¡¯s on the house, least I can do after you got me so many levels last time!¡±


    Well, kinda what I wanted.


    ¡°Sure! Hoping to work on my own [Pretty]! Wanted to speak with you about that by the way¡­¡± I said.


    We had a lovely conversation, where I told her an abridged, heavily redacted version of the date ¨C I wasn¡¯t about to let slip vampires, not when I was being trusted with secrets, not when it seemed like they were mostly under control.


    Albina was wonderful, making all the right noises at the right times, offering a sympathetic ear. I mentioned my plan of visiting regularly, and she immediately offered me not only a discount, but to make her way up to HQ.


    ¡°After all, being the personal stylist for a Sentinel? Oooh, you¡¯ll make me famous.¡±


    ¡°Ha! Come over more often then, with that discount. It¡¯s not like I need to pocket the extra or anything!¡±


    ¡°Sure!¡±


    She got silent a moment, then asked a question that made happiness, tinged with a hair of sadness, in my heart.


    ¡°Are lead and mercury really poisonous?¡±


    I gave a deep sigh.


    ¡°Yes. They¡¯re not fast. They¡¯re slow. Very slow. And they don¡¯t directly kill ¨C just cause madness.¡±


    A long silence behind me, then some forced cheer.


    ¡°Well! You¡¯re Dawn. Guess I¡¯ll have to change my stock around. The alternatives are more expensive, and don¡¯t look as good, but if it¡¯s better¡­¡±


    I patted her arm ¨C only place I could easily reach from the angle I was sitting at.


    ¡°It¡¯s for the best. Hey! Maybe you¡¯ll start a fashion trend!¡±


    She laughed at that, her normal cheer restored.


    ¡°I can only hope!¡±


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 135]


    ¡°A level! Huzzah!¡± I called out.


    ¡°Woohoo!¡± Albina said, celebrating with me. ¡°Good timing, I just finished up.¡±


    ¡°Maybe that¡¯s what triggered it?¡±


    ¡°Usually is.¡± She said. Well, she was the expert, I wasn¡¯t going to argue with her in her chosen field of expertise.


    ¡°Thank you! See you in three days at HQ, around lunch?¡±


    ¡°Yup!¡±


    ¡°Great! I¡¯ll send a runner if something comes up.¡±


    ¡°Cheers! Chin up! You¡¯ll find someone!¡±


    I gave her a thumbs-up on my way out the door.


    Hmmmm. Let¡¯s find Markus now.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 18]


    [Mana: 50570/50570]


    [Mana Regen: 44696 (+3373.92)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 20]


    [Strength: 236]


    [Dexterity: 203]


    [Vitality: 560]


    [Speed: 480]


    [Mana: 5057]


    [Mana Regeneration: 5112 (+1441.584)]


    [Magic Power: 4650 (+47430)]


    [Magic Control: 4654 (+47470.8)]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 241]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 241]


    [Warmth of the sun: 198]


    [Medicine: 204]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 235]


    [Phases of the Moon: 241]


    [Moonlight: 241]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 212]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 139]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 180]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 180]


    [Radiance Resistance: 180]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 180]


    [Radiance Manipulation: 180]


    [Sun-Kissed: 141]


    [Blaze: 180]


    [Talaria: 161]


    [Nova: 180]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 136]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 159]


    [Pretty: 135]


    [Bullet Time: 189]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 204]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 195]


    [: ]


    [Learning: 241]

 Chapter 123 – Medical Manuscript

    The classic problem occurred ¨C I had no idea where Markus was. However, he had to be something of a feature, and the courier station was always ridiculously well-marked. Most towns had three to five, on the sheer basis of inter-town communication being made easier that way ¨C nobody would walk halfway across town to get a message delivered when they could simply walk to the destination to do so.


    The capital had a bunch more, by sheer virtue of how large it was. I wandered around, enjoying the sights ¨C I was in no rush ¨C until I saw a sign indicating a courier station. I poked my head in, waiting in a short line until it was my turn at the counter.


    ¡°Hi! Delivering a letter? Dictation, or do you have it ready?¡± The man behind the booth asked with brisk efficiency.


    ¡°Hoping for directions actually! Looking for Healer Markus and his clinic.¡±


    ¡°One moment.¡± The man said, standing up and walking back. I heard some muttering and the clattering of scrolls ¨C probably trying to look up where he was.


    Fortunately, there was more than one counter, and I wasn¡¯t holding the line up.


    ¡°Right ¨C which Healer Markus?¡± The [Clerk] asked me after some time.


    I blinked. Wow. There was more than one?


    ¡°Markus the Pyronox?¡± I said, with a question. ¡°Has a bunch of apprentices? Well, he did last I knew him.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, got it.¡± The [Clerk] said. ¡°You¡¯ll want to go down fisherman¡¯s street, then make a turn at cobblers¡­¡±


    He proceeded to give me the directions, and I left him a small tip. Least I could do for taking up his time, and they all needed to eat as well. Nice of them to not charge for information, even though it took time.


    Then again, he was probably paid by the couriers directly, regardless of how much they made. Oh well.


    I made my way through the city, only for [Bullet Time] to activate on a particularly crowded stretch.


    I looked down ¨C in slow motion, [Bullet Time] didn¡¯t help speed me up, just gave me more time to think ¨C and saw a short, tiny thumb-knife heading for my pouch strings.


    I was in love with [Bullet Time]. I had time to think! Although I could see the knife still moving at a steady pace towards my pouch. Clearly the world kept moving around me, and if someone was fast enough, [Bullet Time] wouldn¡¯t save me. Like against Night.


    Hmmmmm. I looked over, to see a short, fierce-looking girl at the other end of the knife, face screwed up in concentration.


    Blasted high-level [Healer] tag making me look tasty.


    [Veil] it is! I threw a careful one up, just around my pouch, right at the tip of the knife. I started to move my hand, and time resumed as normal.


    She was faster than I was ¨C no great accomplishment ¨C but the combination of the surprise [Veil] stopping and deflecting her attempt, moving her hand in strange ways, along with my pre-emptive movement, allowed me to slap her hand shortly after my perception turned to normal.


    She looked startled, but to the [Thief]¡¯s credit, just vanished into the crowd.


    Blah.


    Strange though. [Bullet Time] had nothing about thieves trying to steal my stuff.


    Then again, my Sentinel badge was in my pouch, and Night would murder me if it got stolen.


    Bonus though! It only activated when there was trouble ¨C not when anyone eyed me up.


    Ah well. We were all trying to live, and while I wasn¡¯t a charity, nor was I going to let my stuff get stolen, it wasn¡¯t like I was so mad as to try and chase her down. I¡¯d gotten a long, hard look at what life was like near rock-bottom when I tried to run away, and I wasn¡¯t about to forget it, not even in my new, privileged position.


    Such was life.


    I found my way to Markus¡¯s clinic, still mulling over life and society and the like.


    I entered, to see what I thought was more or less a standard clinic layout for Pallos, with what was clearly Markus¡¯s personal touch of Pyronox flames in little holders, dark light flickering over the place.


    I looked around. This place looked more like a villain¡¯s lair than a medical clinic, but hey, there was no accounting for taste. The number of people hanging out in the lobby attested to the fact that Markus was doing well, and the flames probably indicated that Markus was indeed around.


    ¡°Hello, can we help you?¡± The man at the counter asked.


    ¡°Hey! I¡¯m hoping I can chat with Markus at some point.¡±


    The dude frowned. Oh boy. What now?


    ¡°Generally, we ask that patients see an apprentice first, with Markus providing the final touch. Can I ask what your problem is, or would you prefer to discuss it with an apprentice privately?¡±


    That¡­ was surprisingly reasonable. Everyone probably came in, wanting the head honcho himself to look after them, which would overload Markus and screw the apprentices out of experience.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m just here for a social call.¡± I said. ¡°I helped Markus in Perinthus, and wanted to swing by.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± He started to say, but got interrupted.


    ¡°Elaine!¡± Herodotos exclaimed, having just entered to grab his newest patient. ¡°Elaine, is that you?¡±


    ¡°Yup! In the flesh!¡± I said, drawing myself up to my full, short height.


    ¡°Hang on, lemme grab Markus real fast!¡± Herodotos said, vanishing into the back.


    ¡°Wait! Your patient!¡± The poor dude at the counter called out after him.


    I shrugged at him.


    ¡°Sorry! Didn¡¯t mean to make it hard.¡±


    Markus popped in a moment later.


    ¡°Ranger Elaine! It is you! Come, come, let¡¯s talk!¡±


    He hesitated a moment, looking at the lobby, most of the patients staring at him.


    ¡°Mind a quick healing session so we can talk?¡±


    I grinned at him.


    ¡°Not at all. Race to see who can heal more people?¡±


    Markus said nothing, a massive burst of Pyronox coming out from him, engulfing everyone in the room.


    ¡°Sure. I win.¡±


    I blinked. Ok, wow. Yeah. I suppose that was an option if you wanted to close down for the day.


    ¡°Mind if I do a restoration at the door?¡± I said, as the people in the lobby blinked, processing what had happened. Man, they¡¯d get mad next time they showed up and needed to wait.


    ¡°Not at all! People don¡¯t usually come to me with a problem like that.¡±


    Softer, to me. ¡°I¡¯d appreciate if you didn¡¯t charge.¡±


    Why would ¨C ah. It¡¯d look a lot like I was poaching his work if I charged, and it¡¯d be frankly rude.


    ¡°Not at all!¡±


    I got to the door ¨C a few people had left already ¨C and quickly topped up everyone as they headed out. On all but one person, I used so little mana I didn¡¯t even notice it. One person required a hefty dose, and looked revitalized.


    We got back to what I could only describe as the villain¡¯s lair, the final boss¡¯s location. A large, long room, steadily ramping up and in, towards a massive chair-throne-monstrosity, red drapes intermixed with pillars of Pyronox, reaching from floor to ceiling.


    I eyed it doubtfully, half-expecting music to start playing.


    ¡°Love what you¡¯ve done with the place.¡± I said, as neutrally as I could.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it great!¡± Markus said, pleased to show off. ¡°It took me ages to get it all right, but now! Nobody will forget Markus¡¯s Miracles!¡±


    Unforgettable was one word for it, yeah.


    A lightbulb went off.


    Moonlight. Being hit by the moon.


    However, if I had a bunch of mirrors or good gemstones or something, I could make moonlight bounce around wildly in a room, hitting everyone present. I could then perform mass heals, because everyone was being hit by moonlight.


    I mentally filed the idea away for another day. It¡¯d be good to remember if I was ever building a more permanent clinic, or getting a spot not in the market. Should probably start thinking about a permanent clinic, thinking about it. Why not?


    Markus gathered his apprentices together ¨C a lot more than he had in Perinthus, maybe he¡¯d gotten more or not brought them all the first time - and sat on his throne, the king surveying his domain, black and red together.


    I had to admit, it left an impression.


    ¡°Everyone, this is Ranger Elaine, the author of the Medical Manuscripts that I¡¯ve had you all read. Her knowledge of medicine, I must admit, is unparalleled. Also the ¨C literally ¨C unsung hero of Perinthus, managing to solve the root cause of the plagues there. She¡¯s swung by to chat a bit ¨C hopefully about medicine! If you have any questions, this is a good time to ask her.¡±


    I swelled up at his compliments.


    ¡°Thanks! Happy to, one small correction though. I¡¯m no longer Ranger Elaine.¡±


    ¡°Oh, sorry to hear that.¡± Markus said, seeming genuine. ¡°If you¡¯re looking for a place to work, I¡¯m sure we can work something out.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Sentinel Dawn now.¡± I said, crazy grin cracking my face. Man, this was never going to get old.


    You could¡¯ve heard a pin drop ¨C even the Pyronox flames just stopped for a moment as Markus processed what I¡¯d just said.


    ¡°I¡¯d heard some rumors, but ¨C wow, congratulations, just wow!¡± Markus said.


    ¡°What¡¯s your element?¡± One of the apprentices said, unable to restrain himself anymore.


    ¡°Celestial!¡± I said, happy to tell him.


    ¡°Did you also take the [Oath]?¡±


    ¡°I made it!¡±


    ¡°What are your stats like?¡± A third apprentice asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s rude, don¡¯t ask her that.¡± Markus reprimanded him.


    I shrugged.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind. Just don¡¯t ask me if I¡¯m single or for a date or anything like that. That¡¯s rude. I have over 50,000 in magic power and control when I¡¯m healing.¡±


    Dead silence again. Markus cradled his face in his hands.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t steal my apprentices from me.¡±


    I laughed at him, patting him on the back. ¡°No intention of doing so!¡±


    ¡°I have a question from your Medical Manuscript. In scroll 5¡­¡± One of the apprentices had a detailed question, which I did my best to answer.


    And another.


    And another.


    And ¨C I was interrupted by one of the apprentices jumping up.


    ¡°By the gods! I just leveled!¡±


    I shot him finger guns. Not that anyone knew what those were.


    Markus still had like 30 levels on me, but my knowledge was different.


    ¡°Yeeeaaaahhhh! Good job! Next question! Let¡¯s see who levels next!¡±


    Three more levels. After hours of Q&A, I eventually stretched.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 205!]


    ¡°I gotta get going. Markus, do you know where Caecilius is? Or Ponticus? Or anyone else from Perinthus? I seem to remember Caecilius having an apprentice, and I figure I should bother him, along with some of the other people from Perinthus.¡±


    Markus had a slightly awkward look on his face.


    ¡°He¡¯s in Deva right now. Left a week ago. Something about a small coughing plague, nothing serious.¡±


    ¡°Oh? Why aren¡¯t you there?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Bad business. It sounds like it¡¯s really mild ¨C barely qualifies as a plague. Perinthus almost wrecked me, and Deva¡¯s tiny, as towns go ¨C only like 5,000, maybe 10,000 people. Caecilius can probably clear it up in a week or two, as long as it¡¯s not some disaster like Perinthus was. No sense in all that travel time and expense for basically no pay. Nah, I¡¯m staying here for now.¡±


    I lasered in on what he said. Deva. Small town.


    Travel time.


    This sounded perfect.


    Perfect for getting out of that damn social event a week from now.


    ¡°Thanks Markus!¡± I said, waving to him as I bounded out. ¡°See you in a few weeks!¡±


    ¡°Wa-¡° Markus started to say, but I wasn¡¯t listening. I was off like a shot.


    Dusk was falling as I hustled back to Ranger HQ, grabbing dinner on the way from a vendor.


    I should probably get my pay to my suite. Get a little vault there or something.


    I was basically done for the day ¨C I shot off too quickly in hindsight, wanting to find Night and ask him about Deva, but ah well, he was off, doing mysterious vampire-Sentinel stuff.


    I got changed into nightclothes ¨C I had blasted nightclothes now, I didn¡¯t have to sleep in the same outfit ¨C and laid down to rest, doing nothing but stare at the ceiling.


    Deva.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 18]


    [Mana: 50570/50570]


    [Mana Regen: 44696 (+3373.92)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 20]


    [Strength: 236]


    [Dexterity: 203]


    [Vitality: 560]


    [Speed: 480]


    [Mana: 5057]


    [Mana Regeneration: 5112 (+1441.584)]


    [Magic Power: 4650 (+47662.5)]


    [Magic Control: 4654 (+47703.5)]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 241]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 241]


    [Warmth of the sun: 198]


    [Medicine: 204]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 235]


    [Phases of the Moon: 241]


    [Moonlight: 241]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 212]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 139]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 180]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 180]


    [Radiance Resistance: 180]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 180]


    [Radiance Manipulation: 180]


    [Sun-Kissed: 141]


    [Blaze: 180]


    [Talaria: 161]


    [Nova: 180]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 136]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 159]


    [Pretty: 135]


    [Bullet Time: 189]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 205]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 195]


    [: ]


    [Learning: 241]

 Chapter 124 – Preparing

    I woke up, and practically sprang out of bed. Not because of a plague, not because of doing something as a Sentinel for the first time, not because of the adventure.


    Because it¡¯d get me out of a fancy social thing.


    Socializing. Putting on a fake smile and dealing with people all day. Well, if it was people I knew and liked, that¡¯d be one thing. A bunch of random strangers, most of who were probably dicks? Meh. Pass.


    I mentally got my arguments together, and was seated in the living room as Night showed up.


    ¡°Dawn. Excellent punctuality.¡± Night said, sitting down. I had the sense that he¡¯d always do the same thing every time, like he¡¯d perfected a routine centuries ago.


    ¡°Julius is getting instruction later, and I hope for you to formally meet with Command once he¡¯s settled in. That¡¯s all I have.¡± Night said.


    He¡¯d been around the block a few thousand times, and could see I was brimming with the urge to talk.


    ¡°Do you have something Dawn?¡± He asked, politely and formally.


    ¡°Yes! So I went to visit my friend Markus ¨C the Pyronox dude from Perinthus, bunch of apprentices, decent-ish dude but a bit of a prick at times ¨C anyways, I wanted to see if he knew where Caecilius was, the [Plague Healer], anyways, long story short, apparently there¡¯s a little tiny plague in Deva, and I was thinking that it¡¯d just be absolutely perfect for me getting my feet wet as a Sentinel to go over and see what I can do, like a trial run, shake down all my stuff before something really bad comes up and my clinic isn¡¯t even fully ready to go yet and...¡± I trailed off, having nothing more to say.


    Night just raised an eyebrow at me.


    ¡°Sure this is not some ploy to get out of social engagements?¡±


    With a completely straight face ¨C I don¡¯t know how I managed that ¨C ¡°It totally is. But the cause, and purpose, and arguments behind it are genuine.¡±


    Night just laughed at me. Man, he had to be really easily amused to still laugh at dumb stuff like that. Gotta find amusement where you can, I guess.


    ¡°Your points are persuasive. I am also not in the habit of dictating what you can and can not do. I agree an initial run to get used to your gear and equipment could be good.¡±


    He spent some time thinking.


    ¡°When the second Ranger team leaves Deva, I expect you to leave one way or another. We can not have a Sentinel tied down in a single location for that long, potentially away from more catastrophic events that may come up.¡±


    I saluted, indicating my understanding.


    ¡°Good. Yes, this will be an excellent chance for you to shake down your knowledge and understanding, and given that a Ranger team is headed your way ¨C a week or so from now, and they must take the standard method of travel, instead of the more rapid method that Ocean is likely to employ ¨C you shall have some form of backup should things start to go poorly.¡±


    Well, that was a real ringing endorsement.


    ¡°Now. You should prepare your gear, visit the quartermaster for supplies, and make any other arrangements you see fit before you leave. Perhaps a message to your friends, or leave a message here. We have a [Clerk] who helps manage that. I shall find Ocean ¨C he will enjoy the excuse for a trip.¡±


    ¡°Additionally, this has let me finalize the thoughts I had on your last general skill. Social skills are not your thing, correct?¡±


    I nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never even been offered one.¡±


    ¡°Most unusual, but not unheard of. Well then. I believe you should attempt to gain the skill [Persistent Casting]. It allows you to use skills while you sleep, as the name suggests. Being able to sleep under your [Veil of the Aurora] could offer you some additional shelter and protection when traveling. Additionally, you can keep your auras running, and, maybe ¨C I am unsure on this point ¨C keep your healing going, to immediately begin to repair damage if you should be attacked in a manner that immediately breaks your [Veil] while you slumber.¡±


    ¡°How do I get the skill?¡±


    ¡°Simply try to keep a skill running as you go to sleep. If this is troublesome, you can also try a sleeping potion, which makes the sleep portion simple.¡±


    Dangerous things, sleeping potions. It was easy to get addicted to them ¨C not, like, craving them, but the human body just stopped producing the whatever-it-is that helps people sleep, making one more and more reliant on them. I¡¯d consider it.


    Not having this defense could be even more dangerous.


    And it wasn¡¯t like it was just having a shield up. No, it was having a shield up, and a number of anti-detection things going on as well, like ¨C nobody could see it was me curled up sleeping, nothing could smell me, skills couldn¡¯t be cast on me directly, and more! I had full faith in my wilderness survival, but this would just help more.


    I¡¯d seen a few other trainees with similar skills, and I was pretty sure Markus had the skill ¨C that¡¯s how he kept the Pyronox gates up permanently.


    Right! New skill!


    While I¡¯d gotten almost no chances to think about it, I did still harbor some vague dream of having an animal companion of some sort, and I knew that¡¯d take a general skill slot when it happened. Hmmmm. Was it worth working on a skill for it ahead of time?


    Eh. Gotta stay alive first. I¡¯d take [Persistent Casting], and evaluate my options if I ever ended up with a potential animal companion.


    Not a plant though. Not after seeing the poor Trainee with the wheelbarrowed plant.


    Not a mineral either. Did those even exist?!


    Still, I was a Sentinel now, and part of that was insane resources at my disposal. I should find Hunting, and have a long, long discussion with him about it. He¡¯d know all the tips and tricks, he¡¯d be able to guide me and give me good advice. I could use a guardian, now that I was mainly operating solo, and a companion seemed to be just the ticket.


    Thoughts for another day.


    What did I need for this trip?


    Well, my standard bag of tricks, which was now a massive standard bag of tricks.


    I¡¯d have to see what the Quartermaster provided me. I assumed a travel kit of some sort, a bedroll, although a tent was questionable, given that I should have skills to help with that.


    Yeah, ok, first stop was the Quartermaster, and I¡¯d go from there.


    After a trip through HQ ¨C I was starting to get the hang of the layout of the place, not just the easy stuff ¨C I was at the Quartermaster¡¯s place.


    ¡°What do you need?¡± One of his helpers asked me.


    ¡°Going on a mission! Need supplies.¡±


    I got a flat look from him. Yikes, being a Sentinel carried absolutely no weight here did it?


    ¡°What type?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not quite sure. Traveling to a town, handling a problem there, heading back.¡±


    ¡°Right, a civilization pack. Although ¨C is the town going to be mostly standing when you get there?¡±


    Mmm. Yes, that would be a standard question for Sentinels wouldn¡¯t it?


    ¡°Should be. Relatively minor problem.¡±


    Muttering ¡°I¡¯ve heard that one before.¡± the helper vanished into the back room.


    ¡°Shit. I jinxed it didn¡¯t I?¡±


    Wood, wood, I needed to knock on some wood¡­


    Twenty minutes later or so, he showed back up with a pack.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got some standard traveling supplies ¨C bedroll, pillow, tinder, axe¡­¡± He went on for some time, detailing every single piece of equipment I was being given.


    ¡°Now, we went light on the supplies¡­¡± He said. Light. Ha! More supplies than we were given most of the time as Trainees. I suppose that was kinda the point though ¨C we needed to know how to survive on the bare basics. I was being given a lot more than the bare basics, but only what could fit in a large backpack.


    Wait. Shit. My plan.


    ¡°¡­but mostly we¡¯ve made sure that you have a sizeable stash of coins, to be able to buy what you need. You can naturally requisition stuff in an emergency, but please don¡¯t.¡±


    I looked at the ¡°standard backpack¡±, sized for someone at least a foot taller than me. I thought about my half-baked plan of using a metric ton of Arcanite to solve the problem.


    Welp. That wasn¡¯t going to happen.


    ¡°Any chances that I could get a pouch of Arcanite?¡± I asked. I might as well get some extra, and saddle myself like a beast of burden.


    I really needed an animal companion, if only to pull a Hunting and strap a million bags and saddles to it.


    Dude pursed his lips at me.


    ¡°Let me see what I can do.¡±


    ¡°Or three pouches!¡± I called after him.


    Welp. Let¡¯s see where this went.


    He came back with two large pouches.


    ¡°Fully charged. They¡¯re counted. Bring them back.¡± He said.


    ¡°What do I look like, Acquisition?¡± I shot back.


    ¡°I dunno. For all I know, you are Acquisition, on your latest prank. Framing the new Sentinel would be exactly your thing¡­¡± He said, looking at me suspiciously.


    ¡°Oh. Good to know.¡± I faintly said.


    Maybe I should leave something shiny in my room, something I didn¡¯t care about, well-hidden with a note saying ¡°you found it! Now leave the rest of my stuff alone!¡±


    Right. I was fairly well equipped, and unlike my first, disastrous camping trip, I was trained and ready for this. I could do this.


    Plus, I had a speedy ticket there. It was only on the way back where I might need to do more than just hang on.


    I¡¯d plan for getting back later, another day. For now, I needed to focus on getting all my stuff done.


    I asked around and got directions to our own little courier outfit. Between the Rangers hanging out, Command needing to talk with everyone, all the logistics people, and of course, the Sentinels, we had our own little runner¡¯s outpost, where we could write and drop off messages. Convenient! It was slower than other places ¨C from what I¡¯d gathered, we had two couriers. One was practically a half-Sentinel, one of the best of the best, designated as support instead of a Sentinel ¨C in other words, the [Courier] equivalent of what I¡¯d almost become. He got most of the support that Sentinels got, along with equivalent pay, and most of the benefits. Just not the clout or visibility.


    His entire job was to be on-deck constantly, able to sprint priority messages from A to B.


    Then there was a second [Courier], or two ¨C it was never clear ¨C who handled the more mundane messages. Came in, grabbed the latest mail, vanished to deliver it. Rinse and repeat. It¡¯d take some time to get stuff delivered as a result ¨C there was usually a queue ahead of your letter, but it was cheap! Free, even.


    I wrote a series of letters out, quickly detailing what was going on and where I was going.


    Artemis,


    Heya! Missed you when I tried to find you.


    Heading off to Deva. Small plague, no big deal. Swing by some time when I¡¯m back!


    Pass my second letter off to mom and dad for me?


    Cheers,


    Elaine.


    Mom! Dad!


    Haven¡¯t been able to find you. Miss you. Hope we could hang out more.


    Although I hear you¡¯re moving to the capital! Hurray! We can spend a ton of time together!


    Long story short, Night¡¯s offered to give you a very nice house. Don¡¯t worry, I didn¡¯t do anything too weird to get it.


    Love


    Elaine


    Albina


    Heya!


    Something¡¯s come up, and I gotta run. Sorry, I have to cancel our appointment. I¡¯ll send a letter once I¡¯m back.


    Cheers!


    Elaine ¨C Dawn


    Markus,


    Heading off to Deva, going to give Caecilius a hand.


    Would love to chat more with you ¨C and other healers! When I get back.


    Any chance you could help arrange something?


    Cheers,


    Elaine


    I think those were all the letters I needed. I looked at the pile.


    Fuck me, I only had four people in the world I wanted to send letters to? Two of them were more business than pleasure?


    My mind flashed to Lyra. Goddesses, I still missed her. Time was supposed to heal all wounds. Well, it wasn¡¯t fresh and raw, but it still hurt.


    I checked over my stuff again. Yeah, I was all set. Bless the Quartermaster and how thorough he was. I checked my armor. It was perfect, fitting to me like a glove. Good thing, I¡¯d probably be living in it again. I wasn¡¯t going to trust a medium-sized villa¡¯s worth of armor to the average bathhouse¡¯s security and general trust.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority] has reached level 196!]


    Potions were set. Gemstones were all charged. Arcanite was glowing from all my stones.


    Eh. It was getting late, I didn¡¯t have much else to do. I was going to stop by That Room, and pay remembrance to Origen, then swing by the temple and send some prayers. One to Etalix. One to Lyra. Some to the goddesses of the moon. Maybe one to Papilion, if I was feeling generous.


    Maybe I¡¯d get a miracle one day.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 18]


    [Mana: 49440/49440]


    [Mana Regen: 40176 (+3075.6)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 7]


    [Strength: 236]


    [Dexterity: 203]


    [Vitality: 560]


    [Speed: 480]


    [Mana: 4944]


    [Mana Regeneration: 4660 (+1314.12)]


    [Magic Power: 4312 (+44198)]


    [Magic Control: 4312 (+44198)]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 241]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 241]


    [Warmth of the sun: 198]


    [Medicine: 204]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 235]


    [Phases of the Moon: 241]


    [Moonlight: 241]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 212]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 139]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 180]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 180]


    [Radiance Resistance: 180]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 180]


    [Radiance Manipulation: 180]


    [Sun-Kissed: 141]


    [Blaze: 180]


    [Talaria: 161]


    [Nova: 180]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 136]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 159]


    [Pretty: 135]


    [Bullet Time: 189]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 205]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 196]


    [: ]


    [Learning: 241]

 Chapter 125 – Traveling to Deva

    I woke up in the morning to a lovely notification.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Persistent Casting]!]


    Persistent Casting: Alright, alright, fine, you can keep active skills running in the background, even when you¡¯re not focusing on them. Mana drain per active skill persistently cast. Decreased mana drain per level per skill. Max two skills cast at once.


    Well, this looked like both a useful skill, and one that would be obnoxious to grind up. Nothing for it, I guess.


    Had to spend a moment processing how it worked though ¨C the wording was confusing. I got it after a moment.


    It cost me mana, above and beyond the skill, to have a skill under [Persistent Casting]. However, as I leveled the skill up, it took less mana.


    I also bet the skill would evolve, and let me [Persistent Casting] more skills at once as it got higher leveled. Just made sense to me.


    I threw up a [Veil] around me, then focused on letting [Persistent Casting] ¡®take over¡¯ managing it, feeling the mental load just vanish.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Persistent Casting] has reached level 2!]


    To do: Test if I could feel it shattering.


    To do: Test if I¡¯d wake up from it breaking. No sense if having a defense if it didn¡¯t alert me.


    Mmmm. Which reminded me.


    To do: Test if [Bullet Time] would activate from a deadly attack from outside [Veil].


    Then again, with the strong privacy aspects, would I even detect it? Ugh. Be bad to only know about a bad attack once it was through [Veil].


    The natural result ¨C [Veil] should be as large as possible if it was the case that [Bullet Time] didn¡¯t activate.


    Stuff to test another day.


    I healed myself with [Phases of the Moon], idly noticing a few points vanishing, before coming back. Natural decay, some minor illness, or what? I then got a full-body [Phases of the Moon] ready and primed, constantly going off.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Persistent Casting] has reached level 3!]


    I wasn¡¯t even going to dare to think I was invincible ¨C but any blow I took would get healed as soon as I took it, as long as I had mana. I hadn¡¯t really thought about it when Night was suggesting it, but as I got it ready and set, it started to dawn on me that it could be used that way.


    On the flipside, someone sticking a knife in me and keeping it in me might drain my mana at an atrocious rate. Like, with my [Oath]-boosted power, it could almost zero me out in seconds. Trade-offs.


    I finished washing up and getting ready ¨C damnit, I was already getting soft, I was going to miss my morning bath. It was still early, so I decided to triple-check all my equipment. Backpack, ready. I¡¯d taken everything out of it, checked each piece of equipment and gear over, checking for defects, seeing how it was all put together, figuring out, most critically, what wasn¡¯t there, then re-packing it all.


    I also had a solid grasp of how many coins I was bringing along, on top of my normal ¡®fun spending money¡¯ mango budget in my personal coin pouch.


    Armor ¨C oiled and ready, every gem shining with a properly imbued skill. I would¡¯ve liked some time to practice using the utility gems, but there was the combination of not having enough time, and each use being obnoxious to recharge. One use, then it was off to a long, winding adventure with the gemstones dude to get a new one slotted into my armor. You¡¯d think they¡¯d have a number of practice gems around or something. Ah well.


    The shield one was the only one I suspected I might need to grab in an emergency, but I¡¯d try to remember the rest.


    I had a bad feeling that I¡¯d forget about them at some critical point when they could bail me out. Maybe I should make a habit of reviewing them every day, so I¡¯d remember them when they came up.


    Weapons ¨C interestingly enough, no spear. I was operating solo, in a mostly non-combat manner. By the same token, my shield was a much smaller thing than I was used to, no longer one of the massive tower shields that we used to interlock with each other. Another concession to me wanting to move fast, avoid combat, and if I was in combat these days ¨C flying was a much better defense than blocking stuff.


    My ability and time to fly was directly related to my weight. I¡¯d taken the effort to sit down and calculate it out. My mana regeneration was, in sunlight ¨C the only time I could fly was when [Sun-kissed] was helping me out ¨C roughly 12 mana/second regenerated.


    With no equipment on, I spent roughly 21 mana/second flying, spending 9 mana/second in total. Fully geared up, I was at 34 mana/second, burning 22 mana/second total ¨C more than twice the burn rate. With my current mana pool, I could go well over an hour with no gear, and a measly half an hour geared up.


    Roughly. Good timekeeping was hard here. Sure, there were sundials, but they weren¡¯t the best. Also, when I flew geared up, it was unlikely I was just flying, and not fighting for my life. Which turned my fly time from half an hour to practically nothing. Depending on my mana consumption on the rest of my skills.


    And this was before I pushed [Talaria] to make me go faster, instead of just hovering there or casually walking.


    Blah. Mathing it all out somehow took some of the magic out of it. Moving on.


    Potions were all set, in an easy to access satchel on my belt. The Arcanite was similarly attached to my belt, and I¡¯d taken the time to attune it all to me, letting me grab more mana with a breath. Same with the armor.


    Which also screwed with the flying math. Whatever.


    I left my suite, fully geared up, and waited for Night.


    Who showed up in short order, Ocean popping in a few minutes later, in a simple tunic.


    ¡°Dawn. Ocean. Excellent.¡± Night started. ¡°No new emergency or call has come in. Ocean, would you be so kind as to ferry Dawn to Deva so she may begin her first mission?¡±


    Ocean saluted.


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    Not that there was any question of him saying no. But Night seemed to like his routine, of the formal back and forth. Probably helped keep everything organized.


    ¡°Right. We are all set here.¡± Night said, standing up.


    ¡°Hey Dawn. Need anything else, or are you ready to go?¡±


    I blinked at him.


    ¡°Um. I¡¯m ready. What about you?¡±


    Ocean laughed at me.


    ¡°I¡¯m not the one going on a mission! Plus, we¡¯re taking my boat. Most of my gear¡¯s stashed in it.¡±


    ¡°Alrighty then. Let¡¯s go I guess?¡± I said, still taken somewhat aback by the abruptness of it all.


    Well, more so that Ocean being completely gearless had thrown me for a loop. Anyways. I was processing and getting back with the program.


    ¡°Yeah!¡± Ocean said, with all the excitement of a schoolboy who¡¯s been given permission to raid the candy store.


    Unsupervised.


    A hop, skip, and a jump through town, me hurrying to keep up with Ocean, who¡¯d basically thrown away all his dignity to move quickly, and we were at the docks.


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t you have moved a bit slower!?¡± I said, once we were walking over the wooden planks to a location only Ocean knew. ¡°Everyone was looking at me like there was some emergency! Which a fully geared Sentinel running through town really looks like!¡±


    Ocean scratched his head awkwardly.


    ¡°Oops?¡±


    ¡°Oops! You¡¯ve been doing this longer than I¡¯ve been alive! What do you mean, oops?¡±


    Ocean shrugged, a wild grin on his face.


    ¡°I just couldn¡¯t wait to get here. Come on, hop in!¡±


    Ocean gestured to a respectable, mid-sized sailboat. It wasn¡¯t fancy, there were no luxurious ornaments or carvings on it, but as I looked around ¨C cursing my lack of sailing lessons to not have the proper knowledge of this ¨C everything was perfect. There wasn¡¯t a single splinter out of place, the ropes had a solid, well-used, well-maintained look, grooves were cut in the wood where the ropes met plank. It was a thing of beauty, crafted perfectly, well-loved and maintained for decades.


    I hopped on, wobbling a bit as the whole boat moved with me. Yup. I needed a [Sea Legs] skill.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Sea Legs]!]


    ¡­


    Oh System, while you¡¯re granting wishes, can I get a few extra skill slots?


    Nothing. Rats. [Sea Legs] would have to rot.


    ¡°Hey Ocean, what¡¯s this made out of?¡± I said, stroking the unfamiliar wood. I was no great carpenter, heck I barely knew my oak from my pine from whatever-the-hell the Kadan Jungle grew ¨C but the wood seemed strange.


    ¡°Ironwood!¡± Ocean cheerfully told me. ¡°Ridiculously rare. It doesn¡¯t grow here. Once every few years a trunk will float down one of the rivers from outside of human lands, and, well, the stuff¡¯s more than a bit expensive. Has properties normal wood doesn¡¯t, like really slow self-repair if you pour mana into it.¡±


    I looked around the medium-sized sailboat, made out of practically one of a kind magical wood. My knees felt weak. I sat down.


    With a faint voice, I asked.


    ¡°How much did this cost?¡±


    Ocean laughed.


    ¡°You could probably buy a whole block of houses in the fancy district of the capital instead of this boat.¡±


    I whistled, as we started to pick up speed.


    Ocean was happy. Grinning, smiling, laughing, closing his eyes, letting the wind wash over him. We spent time in silence, Ocean navigating with his eyes closed somehow through all the other ships trying to dock. We made it out to the open sea, and picked up speed ¨C way more than I thought was possible with the wind and the waves they way they were.


    After some time, Ocean started to speak.


    ¡°When I unlocked, I got [Heart of the Sea] and [Love of the Ocean]. I instantly took them. The skills have stayed with me ever since. There¡¯s nothing I love more than the waves, the sea, the ocean breeze. Doing this? This is the life.¡±


    I made a positive noise, not quite sure what to say to Ocean.


    ¡°Anyways, this is your first outing. Congrats! Deva¡¯s a lovely place. I think I¡¯m going to hang out there a bit, do some sailing, talk with the local fishermen. Maybe enter a largest fish contest or two. Good way to extend my vacation without Night knowing about it. Shhh! Don¡¯t tell him!¡± Ocean said, winking at me.


    Unsaid ¨C he¡¯d be around if I needed backup, training wheels on my first excursion. Hopefully I wouldn¡¯t need them.


    We spent some more time sailing, before I got an idea, warm sun on my face.


    ¡°I want to see how [Talaria] works when I¡¯m already going fast.¡± I said.


    ¡°Sure, knock yourself out.¡±


    I took a short running hop, and I was up, up, and away with [Talaria]. Ocean¡¯s boat started to slowly pull ahead, but I¡¯d managed to confirm that my speed persisted, for the lack of a better word. I could go far if I could get enough of an initial boost.


    I landed back down on the boat, Ocean having slowed down a hair to let me catch up.


    ¡°Tell me about Radiance.¡± Ocean said. I looked at him funny. Shouldn¡¯t he know already?


    Ocean saw my look.


    ¡°I¡¯m great at dealing with Radiance mages. Water screws their attacks something fierce, and I always have a ton. I¡¯m curious what it¡¯s like from your perspective.¡±


    Well, why not bounce info and questions off of the super experienced, at best the 2nd, at worst the 4th, most powerful Sentinel.


    ¡°Radiance is fun! Burning light, immediately hits the target, narrow and focused. As my power goes up, I obviously get more damage, but the smallest beam I can use gets bigger. As my control goes up, I can re-shrink the beam back down. Hence, a balanced mix between the two are optimal.¡±


    Ocean snapped his fingers at me.


    ¡°Explains that one dude, oh, 15 years ago. Dude kept using really fat beams of radiance ¨C larger than I was. I went completely overboard on the defense, but it didn¡¯t hurt nearly as badly as I thought it would.¡±


    I looked at him. I had some doubts that this was brand-new info to him, but hey. He wanted to chat, and I wasn¡¯t a sailor-type. Heck, being as far from shore as we were was making me all sorts of nervous.


    I didn¡¯t see myself taking up life on a ship anytime soon.


    Oooh wait, while he was here, I could do some testing.


    ¡°Hey Ocean, I got a new skill. Want to test a few things with it. Mind giving me a hand?¡±


    ¡°Sure, why not? What do you need?¡±


    I explained to him my thoughts on [Persistent Casting] and [Bullet Time] that I had earlier. Ocean looked thoughtful.


    ¡°Sure, I can do that. Lift your vest up, show me your stomach, flip a coin and put your [Veil] up.¡±


    ¡°Flip a coin?¡±


    ¡°So you can tell when your skill activates.¡±


    Made sense. I awkwardly shifted around, revealing my vulnerable stomach to Ocean. I flipped a coin high, throwing up [Veil] around me, looking at my stat screen.


    Hmmm. [Sun-Kissed] didn¡¯t work under [Veil]. Wasn¡¯t testing it, but hey. I¡¯d take what I could get. I passed [Veil] off to [Persistent Casting].


    Next thing I knew, I felt [Veil] shattering, and the world around me slowed, as Ocean¡¯s knife was heading for my stomach, a vicious side-slash that¡¯d open me up from left to right.


    I tried to lean back, watching the knife moving at almost-normal speeds, while my body was slow and sluggish, like in water. I tried a second [Veil]. I tried to melt the knife with a Radiance beam.


    Fuck me I¡¯d forgotten how much I hated getting hurt while under [Bullet Time]. Sure, it was distant because of [Center of the Galaxy], but apart from that, I could feel my stomach splitting open, skin and muscles parted, sharp steel rearranging my guts. Even stranger was my persistent [Phases of the Moon] immediately fixing the damage behind the knife.


    Blessedly, the knife finally exited the other side, and time resumed as normal. A gasp I¡¯d been working on finally finished.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± I yelled.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Center of the Galaxy] has reached level 236]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Persistent Casting] has reached level 4->11!]


    ¡°No good?¡± Ocean said with a frown, looking at his way-too-clean knife. ¡°Amazing healing by the way. I was convinced I¡¯d get some fish chum out of you with that, but barely a speck of blood. I¡¯ll say it now. I apologize. I didn¡¯t think your healing was good enough, that a Sentinel couldn¡¯t qualify on just that, but I wasn¡¯t going to argue with the powers that be, and you did technically qualify.¡±


    He paused.


    ¡°I am completely convinced otherwise now. That was the single most stunning display of combat healing I¡¯ve ever seen or heard of. You¡¯re basically unkillable¡­ while you have mana.¡±


    I thought I was immune to compliments and flattery. Noooooope.


    I couldn¡¯t stop a mad smile crossing my face. ¡°Thanks! Gotta work on it though ¨C that was a bad heal.¡±


    I thought about it. I¡¯d given the persistent cast an image of ¡°heal¡±. I groaned, putting my head in my hands.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    ¡°I am going to need to make a stupidly complex image for my passive heal.¡±


    I thought about it. A stupidly complex image.


    ¡°Got some rations? Figure I should grab lunch before starting. I might be a really bad traveling companion while I get this worked out.¡±


    ¡°No worries! Fun trick.¡± Ocean said, getting out a pair of clay mugs.


    Ocean waved his hand, a spurt of water from the sea filling both mugs.


    ¡°Here. Pure, perfect water, courtesy of a skill.¡±


    I took a sip of the glorious, perfect water.


    ¡°Wow. That¡¯s some skill.¡±


    ¡°Thanks! Never need to worry about water.¡±


    We ate, Ocean happily chatting about the sea, the creatures, telling me about knots and sails and tacking and wow this was a lot of info going in one ear and out the other.


    I suspect missing the Sailing class hadn¡¯t gone unnoticed by Ocean, and he had clear passion for the subject, wanting to share his love of the sea with me. I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d get [Love of the Ocean] anytime soon though.


    ¡°Thanks Ocean!¡± I said, having polished lunch off in record time. ¡°This might take quite some time ¨C don¡¯t get worried if I¡¯m under for quite a few hours.¡±


    Ocean waved his hand.


    ¡°I get it. Shoo. Make it perfect. Staying alive might depend on that one day.¡±


    I threw up [Veil], passing it off to [Persistent Casting]. I wanted zero distractions on this.


    Right, full-body, perfect heal. This was going to take some time. Let¡¯s start with the heart. How was the heart put together? How did it connect to the vascular system? How did that hook up to the lungs? Muscles? Stomach?


    How did lungs work? Bringing air in, connecting to the vascular system, bringing air to the muscles, which had nerves making them twitch, all attached to the skeletal system, giving everything support and structure ¨C and also making new blood cells, connecting it back to the vascular system. The nerves also ran through the body, firing impulses, letting the brain control fingers, toes, arms, legs ¨C everything. Running along the spine, bringing me back to bones, protecting the kidneys, liver, stomach, guts, lungs ¨C back to the heart.


    Eyes. Immune system. Mouth. Tongue. Nose. Nostrils. Hair. Nails.


    Every single bit of human anatomy I knew.


    Creating that image took me hours, a full, detailed mental picture of the complete human body.


    Then I was off to diseases. Viruses, bacteria, fungus, parasites, cancers, and everything else I could think of. I couldn¡¯t get them all, but I tried to catalogue as many as possible, and the cure, the solution ¨C mostly just phasing them out of existence, in the same way the moon waned to nothing.


    I moved onto other injuries, other problems. My earliest [Detailed Restoration] healings, restoring arms, fixing eyes. Reforming skin.


    How bones needed to be shifted back into position, realigned properly to heal. Bone fragments either put back in their place, or removed. The tiny ligaments and bones in the wrist. The beating of the heart. Function of the brain. Kidneys filtering blood, liver producing enzymes to digest food.


    Hundreds, thousands of ways of being hurt. Almost every single one was drawn on from experience, from plague victims in Perinthus, to soldiers manning the walls against Formorians. The lady coming up to me at one of my stalls, fixing the urchin kid¡¯s sister.


    Injuries I¡¯d never seen, and their unusual method of handling. Like crush injuries. Couldn¡¯t restore the leg, that¡¯d just do bad things to me. Instead, amputation was correct, cutting off the blood flow to the area, moving away, then restoring. A delay on the healing, to properly save myself.


    Bonus ¨C it¡¯d mean my [Persistent Casting] wouldn¡¯t futilely try to heal me and drain all my mana in a useless mission. Huh. Never thought of that before. This new skill had so many implications that I hadn¡¯t thought of.


    Was totally worth the skill slot. Was totally worth listening to Night.


    I finally finished, putting in a few extra broad-spectrum tweaks to my image, some catch-alls, before opening my eyes.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 242! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Celestial Affinity] has reached level 242]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 205->210]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 242]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Moonlight] has reached level 242]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Persistent Casting] has reached level 12->35]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 242]


    I dropped [Veil], only to realized I¡¯d been under a lot longer than I thought, and we were tied to the docks at what I assumed was Deva.


    ¡°Welcome back.¡± Ocean said drily, handing me a mug.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 18]


    [Mana: 49600/49600]


    [Mana Regen: 40336 (+13186)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 18]


    [Strength: 236]


    [Dexterity: 203]


    [Vitality: 560]


    [Speed: 480]


    [Mana: 4960]


    [Mana Regeneration: 4676 (+1318.632)]


    [Magic Power: 4325 (+44331.25)]


    [Magic Control: 4325 (+44331.25)]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 242]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 242]


    [Warmth of the sun: 198]


    [Medicine: 210]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 236]


    [Phases of the Moon: 242]


    [Moonlight: 242]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 212]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 139]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 180]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 180]


    [Radiance Resistance: 180]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 180]


    [Radiance Manipulation: 180]


    [Sun-Kissed: 141]


    [Blaze: 180]


    [Talaria: 161]


    [Nova: 180]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 136]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 159]


    [Pretty: 135]


    [Bullet Time: 189]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 205]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 196]


    [Persistent Casting: 35]


    [Learning: 242]

 Chapter 126 – Deva I

    I blinked, taking the mug from Ocean, downing it. It woke me up, made me realize just how hungry and thirsty I was. Without saying anything, Ocean refilled my mug, handing me more field rations, which I promptly devoured.


    ¡°How long?¡± I asked, between mouthfuls.


    ¡°Three days. I was starting to get concerned.¡± Ocean said.


    Three days!? No wonder he was getting concerned!


    I chowed down ravenously, then started to break into my backpack. Ocean grabbed my arm, stopping me.


    ¡°We¡¯re at a town. Better buy stuff here, and save your rations for on the road.¡±


    Mmmm. Good point.


    ¡°What happens now?¡± I asked, refocusing on my mission.


    ¡°Well, a good majority of the time, there¡¯s the Ranger team that called you hanging around to give you a debrief. Usually trying to contain whatever mess is going on. On occasion, they¡¯ve left to continue their round, and the info¡¯s been left with the local guard, or the next team¡¯s around to give you the run down ¨C enough time could pass between the message and you getting here that the next team¡¯s arrived.¡±


    ¡°The remaining usual case is an information package, on all the details of a problem. Usually a fast-moving problem, or a slippery classer. At which point it¡¯s a hunt to find the problem ¨C and almost every time Hunting is sent on those.¡±


    ¡°This time, you¡¯re practically chasing rumors though, which is going to make it hard.¡±


    ¡°Or easy, depending on the prevalence.¡± Ocean shrugged.


    ¡°Anyways, we¡¯re here. You¡¯re the boss. You decide what to do.¡±


    Well then. Investigations and Leadership classes were suddenly coming in handy, and the History, Geography, and Politics lessons were useful in giving me context to do everything in. Good foresight.


    Ok, let¡¯s think about this, do some planning. A plague was something massive. I could try to one-woman army my way through it ¨C which was the whole idea of a Sentinel ¨C but so many people were touched and impacted that there was no way I could organize a response on my own.


    I was the daughter of a guard, grew up around them, and had nothing but respect and admiration for them. They were also the perfect people to work with on this, having the personnel and the network to make anything I needed happen.


    A significant part of authority and leadership was being recognized as the authority, as the leader. The governor was the governor because everyone decided he was. If I walked in and started making demands, good chance I¡¯d be ignored. If I walked in on my own, there was a good chance I¡¯d be questioned if I really was a Sentinel, or making stuff up. Same deal as when I was a Ranger.


    Being the first woman Sentinel was still ringing in my mind, and odds were good Deva had never heard of me, not with the speed Ocean traveled, not with the non-critical aspect of it.


    One of the best ways to be recognized as an authority figure ¨C have another authority figure, a well-known one, introduce you.


    My eyes turned to Ocean.


    ¡°Right. Here¡¯s the plan. I¡¯m going to walk around a bit, get a general feel of the place. See if there¡¯s a super obvious plague or anything, grab lunch, then I¡¯ll swing back, grab you, and we¡¯re going to talk with the captain of the guard together.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Ocean said, leaning back. ¡°This is your mission, not mine.¡±


    It seemed like all the Sentinels liked testing and challenging each other a bit. More to see what the thinking and logic was than anything else. I¡¯d seen Night do it to Toxic.


    ¡°Sure. All I¡¯m asking is for you to introduce me. With my age, gender, and height, it¡¯s likely I¡¯d be disbelieved when I mention I¡¯m a Sentinel, which undermines all of us. Gods know it happened enough when I was a Ranger, and that was traveling with a full team. Having a well-respected, well-established Sentinel introduce me in the first place though will go a long way towards mitigating that.¡±


    Ocean nodded.


    ¡°Right. Well-reasoned. I¡¯ve already talked with the [Harbor Master], and you¡¯re all clear to enter town.¡±


    ¡°Thanks!¡± I appreciated that.


    I left Ocean¡¯s boat, and started to wander around town. There were a number of people with faintly purple teeth. Wonder if they had a problem with drugs here. My ¡®wandering around town¡¯ was really more me just hitting up every food vendor I could between healing people on the street.


    I¡¯d frankly forgotten about that. The severity of a few people hacking their way down the street obligated me to stop, and ask if they¡¯d like to get healed.


    Most said yes. A few looked at me distrustfully and declined, either biased against a woman, refusing to acknowledge they were sick, or simply believing there had to be some catch to the ¡®free healing¡¯. Couldn¡¯t blame them, enough conmen ran around. The disease wasn¡¯t at the stage where I was going to force an override on their decision ¨C not yet.


    There was certainly a minor problem going on, but business was, by and large, as normal. I suppose any plague where news left the town about it ¨C Deva was tiny, relatively speaking, maybe 6000 people ¨C would be large enough to see.


    I got a solid look at the disease to boot. After the 12th patient or so, I was pretty sure I had a nearly complete picture, barring rare symptoms. Didn¡¯t matter. Not for curing a disease. Markus¡¯s rumors had been fairly accurate. Lots of coughing, some bloody flecks in the worst cases. Well, the worst cases that were still out and about.


    No carts of dead people. Nobody yelling ¡®bring out your dead¡¯. No mass pyres of bodies.


    A low-level plague, perfect for me to cut my teeth on. By now I had a solid grasp of what the disease was, how it worked, and how to cure it. The added [Medicine] and [Oath] levels, along with flat-out experience, did wonders.


    No major reservoirs, purely human to human transmission. No strange magical twists. Just simple pneumonic plague. Easy enough to cure.


    I made my way back to the docks, where Ocean was happily sitting, legs dangling in the sea, having somehow obtained ¨C or taken out from his own stash ¨C a fishing rod, happily trying his hand at dinner, casually chatting with some of the other fishermen. I dare say, he was trying to be somewhat normal.


    I sympathized. Although it¡¯d only last until someone [Identify]¡¯d him really.


    I tapped him on the shoulder, carefully not calling him Ocean. Most people would probably think it was just a weird name, but, well, I had no idea how famous Ocean was amongst sea-faring people, just like most people not involved with medicine didn¡¯t know how famous I was.


    Heck, I had no idea how famous I was. Markus and his apprentices seemed to think I was a hot shot, with my Medical Manuscript, but I had no idea if that extended at all, or was purely a local phenomenon.


    ¡°Heya. Got a few minutes for me to borrow you?¡±


    One of the fishermen started to say something crude, but Ocean cut him off.


    ¡°Sure, let¡¯s go.¡±


    Finding the captain of the guard was trivial. We went up to a patrol, and asked them nicely. They were happy to point us to where we wanted to go. Something about me being in full army-issued combat gear helped grease the wheels.


    We found the Guard¡¯s Barracks easily enough, and getting in was as simple as walking in. Our first real obstacle was outside of the captain¡¯s office, where a pair of guards were hanging out. Made sense ¨C didn¡¯t want just anyone to be able to waltz into his office.


    ¡°Name and purpose of visit?¡± One of the guards asked, in standard guard leathers and baton. Tone wasn¡¯t bored. Wasn¡¯t excited. Purely professional.


    We glanced at each other, and I tilted my head ever so slightly towards Ocean.


    ¡°Sentinel Ocean. Sentinel Dawn. Here to speak with the captain.¡± Ocean said, in his best ¡®professional¡¯ tone. He took out his badge, and showed it. I followed suit.


    Bless the guards. They looked at each other, and one said ¡°Please wait a moment¡± while the other one vanished into the captain¡¯s room. He came out a moment later.


    ¡°Go on in.¡±


    We entered to see the captain sitting behind his desk, a dozen scrolls scattered all over. Paperwork bamboowork. Couldn¡¯t escape it even on Pallos.


    ¡°Welcome. Can¡¯t ever say I¡¯m happy to see a Sentinel, let alone two. What¡¯s going on?¡± The captain said, straight to business.


    We showed him our badges quickly, then put them away. Ocean shrugged, and in a friendly, casual tone started talking.


    ¡°I¡¯m Ocean. I¡¯m just rapidly deploying Dawn here, and given the scale and nature of the problem, we felt that introductions were in order. Dawn¡¯s had some, ah, historical problems with people not believing her existence.¡±


    The captain looked me over, up and down.


    ¡°Yeah, I can believe that. No offense, but I wouldn¡¯t believe you¡¯re a Sentinel. Never heard of you, and you don¡¯t look like one.¡±


    I gave a half-twitch of my mouth, half-bemused one-sided smile. The ball was now in my court.


    ¡°Yeah. I get that a bunch. I¡¯m Dawn, nice to meet you. Grew up around guards, big fan.¡± I said, offering my hand to shake. Making connections. Establishing common ground.


    Socializing. Bleck.


    The captain, bless him, took my hand and shook it.


    ¡°Pleasure to meet you. Now. What problem¡¯s caused you to come all this way? Is there some Classer I don¡¯t know about who¡¯s going to ruin my week? Some rampaging dinosaur about to destroy my walls?¡±


    I schooled myself to not look at Ocean for support. This was my ball, this was my court. I was in charge here.


    ¡°Pretty simple. I¡¯m all about healing. Heard rumors of a low level plague ¨C well, not that low level, not if I¡¯m hearing about it ¨C and we figured I¡¯d jump in and stamp it out while it was in the early stages, before it got nasty.¡±


    The captain frowned.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have a plague.¡± He said, steel in his voice.


    ¡°You absolutely do. It¡¯s not what you usually think of when you think of a plague, but give it another week, another month, and you¡¯ll have a full-blown problem on your hands. I¡¯m here to kill it now, before it becomes a serious problem.¡±


    The captain frowned, drumming his fingers on his desk.


    ¡°What would you need from us?¡±


    ¡°Mostly depends on the full severity. I haven¡¯t gotten a chance to do a full dive. However, a full town purge should work in short order. Caecilius, a [Plague Healer] over level 300 is rumored to be in town. Was thinking of recruiting him, recruiting some local healers, and in more or less a single night, getting everyone through the gates, healed up, and that¡¯s it. We¡¯re done. The guard would be invaluable for helping organize the event, and keeping the peace. I¡¯m a single woman. I can¡¯t direct thousands of people to do the same thing at the same time on my own, especially not as a stranger. The guard can. I can organize the healers ¨C if I know who they are. Again, something the guard¡¯s intimately familiar with.¡±


    He still looked unhappy.


    ¡°Look, I just need some solid cooperation for a few days, then I¡¯m out of your hair.¡± Find a way to align incentives, make it so we¡¯re all on the same page. ¡°I¡¯m trying to stop this from becoming something much worse, something that takes weeks or months to resolve. I get that it doesn¡¯t look like much now. Heck, it could even burn itself out. Why risk it?¡±


    Lastly, sweeten the pot.


    ¡°I¡¯ll also be hanging around for some time after, offering free healing. I don¡¯t know if you¡¯ve got a powerful Light healer, but I¡¯m naturally able to fix just about any problem.¡±


    I paused a moment, thinking about it.


    ¡°Guards and retired guards would naturally get priority.¡±


    ¡°Fine. Let me speak to the governor about it. He¡¯d need to sign off on this.¡± The captain said. It was clear we were being dismissed.


    ¡°Does lunch tomorrow sound like a good time to meet up again and chat?¡± If I left it to him, I¡¯d never talk with him again, just another person in the long line of VIPs wanting his time. I needed to take the initiative.


    ¡°Make it dinner. Will probably meet with the governor at lunch.¡± He said, taking out another scroll, starting to read it.


    Fine, fine. Hint taken.


    Ocean and I left without saluting. In the field, as Sentinels, people saluted us first, then we saluted them back. It indicated rank, indicated that they considered us higher up the food chain. To salute first would indicate that we thought the captain was higher ranking than we were, and that we¡¯d listen to his orders.


    Not how we worked.


    Still. Politics. Bleck. Just arrange everyone in front of me, a small mountain of Arcanite, and the moons at my back, and this would be done in an hour.


    We made it outside, and started to meander back towards the docks, occasionally getting hijacked by someone sick.


    ¡°Not bad.¡± Ocean said. ¡°Not bad at all.¡±


    I beamed at the compliment. I¡¯d gotten chances to practice leadership at Academy, but it was in an academic sense, Lava challenging me being the only real leadership hurdle I¡¯d experienced. Now I was out in the real world, putting into practice what I¡¯d learned for the first time.


    ¡°Well, tomorrow¡¯s another day.¡± I said. ¡°Gotta see if I can find Caecilius, and see if I can start organizing other healers. Need to get this done one way or another.¡±


    Ocean nodded at me.


    ¡°By the way, my help here is done. It¡¯s all on you now. Good luck!¡±


    Ah dammit. Fine. I¡¯d manage.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 18]


    [Mana: 49600/49600]


    [Mana Regen: 40336 (+3086.16)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 18]


    [Strength: 236]


    [Dexterity: 203]


    [Vitality: 560]


    [Speed: 480]


    [Mana: 4960]


    [Mana Regeneration: 4676 (+1318.632)]


    [Magic Power: 4325 (+44331.25)]


    [Magic Control: 4325 (+44331.25)]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 242]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 242]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 198]


    [Medicine: 210]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 236]


    [Phases of the Moon: 242]


    [Moonlight: 242]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 212]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 139]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 180]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 180]


    [Radiance Resistance: 180]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 180]


    [Radiance Manipulation: 180]


    [Sun-Kissed: 141]


    [Blaze: 180]


    [Talaria: 161]


    [Nova: 180]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 136]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 159]


    [Pretty: 135]


    [Bullet Time: 189]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 205]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 196]


    [Persistent Casting: 35]


    [Learning: 242]

 Chapter 127 – Deva II

    I woke up in the guard barracks, them being the best place for me to sleep. Bless the added padding Sentinel armor got. While it wasn¡¯t terribly comfortable, it was at least bearable. And the Hell Months had gotten me well-suited to sleeping in, well, anything and anywhere really.


    I spent some time chatting with some of the guards over breakfast. I liked guards, and if we were going to be working closely, I wanted them liking me and putting forth a good effort, not grumbling about the Sentinel coming in and upending everything.


    More leadership stuff. I was happier doing this.


    We finished up, and I left to wander the streets.


    As a rough ballpark, a healthy town without major problems had roughly one full-time healer for every thousand people, and, for lack of a better term, a ¡®partial¡¯ healer for every six hundred or so people. Verta and my mom would both have qualified as a ¡®partial¡¯ healer, someone who wasn¡¯t healing full time, just someone with it as one of their classes, who did some healing now and then. Oh, and apprentices. They counted as well. Before I¡¯d gotten [Detailed Restoration] and ran away from home, I¡¯d qualified as one as well.


    Anyways. With Caecilius and his likely apprentice, the 5-7 full time healers, and the 9-11 ¡®partials¡¯, I was looking at 16-21 healers in total for this operation.


    Max.


    Some might be sick. Some just might want to sit it out. Some of the partials might not be allowed to participate. Bleh.


    I started to walk through the streets, drawing all sorts of looks. It was clear I wasn¡¯t a guard, and Rangers and the like didn¡¯t usually walk around armored. Some pointing and muttering occurred when people spotted my Sentinel badge, the badge being rare enough, and Deva far away enough from the capital, that it wasn¡¯t exactly a common or well-known sight, in spite of how well-known Sentinels were.


    I was looking for some of the other healers, to chat with them. See what they knew, see if they were up for a mass heal event.


    I hadn¡¯t appreciated just how much organization had gone into Perinthus, and all of the healers working together. Trying to one-woman my way through all of this, to solving the problem? Yikes. Harder than I¡¯d thought.


    I saw a sign, a herb leaf, indicating that a healer¡¯s clinic was here. I entered, only to find myself in what was basically an apothecary.


    Either I¡¯d read the sign wrong, or this was a rare wood-healer, one who brewed tinctures and tonics, as opposed to simply throwing mana and skills at the problem. They were handy when you weren¡¯t in town, and only made irregular trips, or suspected you¡¯d need something on the road, or just wanted a backup of some sort.


    Either way, I was of the opinion that yes, Wood healers were ¡®real¡¯ healers.


    ¡°Hello, can I help you?¡± A man called from the back, stepping out into the main store area.


    ¡°Oh no.¡± He said, seeing me, turning tail, and sprinting to the back of the store, knocking down a shelf of potions along the way.


    I raised my eyebrows. What was that all about?


    ¡­.


    I decided to poke around the store a bit. ¨C I practically felt obligated to, and I was allowed to. Potions, neatly labeled. Herbs, hanging from the ceiling. Well, anything that¡¯s making the dude abandon ship so fast wasn¡¯t going to be out in the open. Time to poke around in the back?


    I pushed my way through the door leading to what was probably his living quarters, feeling like I was intruding. Just a quick little peek around¡­ is there anything super-duper obvious that I¡¯d need to make a fuss about?


    Bed, clothes, trapdoor, table, kitchen, recliner ¨C wait, trapdoor?


    Damnit. Please no underground slave ring, please no underground slave ring.


    I went down the open trapdoor ¨C seriously, what was the point if you were just going to leave it open ¨C finding myself in what could only be a skill-empowered underground grow operation.


    Flowers. Dozens of purple flowers all over the place, in various stages of growth. Perfectly normal for an alchemist/Wood healer/apothecary to be growing their own herbs¡­


    Except these weren¡¯t herbs. These weren¡¯t purple flowers.


    These were the Purple Flowers, the dangerous, addictive drug that stained teeth purple. I¡¯d never seen them in person before ¨C something about not having all that great an interest in trying out drugs ¨C but I¡¯d gotten descriptions of them, and these fit perfectly.


    Ah shit. I knew there¡¯d been a bunch more people than normal running around with slightly stained teeth. Welp. This was going to be a mess.


    Couldn¡¯t I just heal a plague, like a normal healer? Instead, I was going to be down a healer for the mass heal event, and it wasn¡¯t like Deva was swimming in them.


    Looking around ¨C the grow operation was, from the small theoretical knowledge I had on the topic, way more than a town this size needed.


    Man. All the dude needed to do was play cool, and I¡¯d have never noticed. But noooo. Assumed Sentinels were all-knowing, all-powerful, and his ego assumed I¡¯d been sent after him.


    I went pale as I realized I had a problem.


    Drugs on this scale were a lot of money. And I was deep inside the dude¡¯s lair. He was either bailing, or getting reinforcements, and getting trapped in here against a bunch of angry, potentially drug-addicted Classers would end poorly for me. Being a Sentinel, I could try to intimidate my way out of it, but yeah. I wasn¡¯t going to stick around.


    Dammit. Where was a local guard patrol? I was handing this off to them. Way above ¨C hang on, that was all wrong now ¨C way below my paygrade. Plus, a team of guards was better suited for handling this than I was.


    I groaned, realizing another consequence.


    I¡¯d have to ask to directions to another healer now. I just couldn¡¯t catch a break, could I?


    ¡­¡­..


    Guard informed, I was outside the door of another healer. Four other healers, this one included, called Deva home.


    ¡°Hello?¡± I said, stepping inside.


    ¡°Heya! Um.¡± The [Receptionist] said, his standard greeting completely thrown off by my attire. ¡°Is something the matter?¡±


    ¡°Well, yes, but not urgently so. Hoping to chat with the healer when he¡¯s next free?¡±


    The man nodded furiously, before vanishing into the back. I sighed.


    It was better than being outright dismissed, ignored, or doing a massive accidental drug bust I guess?


    The healer came out, demeanor suggesting ex-military. Made me think of the healers on the frontlines ¨C was he retired from that?


    A quick peek at his level with [Identify] suggested that was the case, as his level was much higher than I¡¯d guess normally ¨C around 260 or so.


    ¡°Sentinel.¡± He said, throwing off a crisp salute. Definitely ex-military.


    ¡°Healer.¡± I said, with the same respectful tone, throwing back a perfect salute of my own.


    ¡°Come, let¡¯s talk about whatever your issue is.¡±


    ¡°I hope I¡¯m not disturbing you too badly.¡± I said. I really did hope that.


    ¡°For a Sentinel, anything.¡± He said. He only had eyes for the badge, wasn¡¯t seeing me behind them. That, or the badge was overriding. I wasn¡¯t going to argue.


    ¡°I¡¯m Dawn. Nice to meet you.¡± I said, trying to set the tone of the conversation, extending my hand for a shake.


    ¡°Flavinius. Coral healer. Blood specialist.¡± He said, taking my hand, the formal tension somewhat eased.


    ¡°I specialize in healing.¡± I said, somewhat stating the obvious. ¡°Rumors reached us about a minor plague here, and quite frankly, I just got promoted last Convocation. We figured this would be a solid first mission for me, let me cut my teeth on operating as a Sentinel, instead of as a Ranger.¡±


    Honesty. Candor. I did my best not to lie, but I figured being completely open with Flavinius would get me far.


    He nodded at me.


    ¡°Not that deadly. Somewhat persistent. Has the potential to become larger. Yeah, I can see this being a solid initial mission. What do you need from me?¡±


    I explained my plan of a straightforward mass-heal event. It did seem to be the standard, initial response to a plague, when sources and reservoirs weren¡¯t well known.


    Flavinius nodded.


    ¡°Seems wise to handle this ahead of time. Which other healers have you talked with, and what¡¯s the next step?¡±


    Bless him. Bless ex-army medics. No arguing, no questioning, just agreement.


    I scratched my head awkwardly.


    ¡°Well, I tried to talk with some Wood healer, but he just screamed and ran. Turned out to be growing a huge amount of Purple Flower.¡±


    ¡°Really? He was the cause of the problem?¡±


    ¡°Well, unless he was renting out his basement to his neighbor and didn¡¯t want to be implicated.¡± I said with a straight face.


    Flavinius laughed.


    ¡°Who else?¡±


    ¡°Nobody so far. I know I¡¯m also looking for a [Plague Healer] Caecilius, rumored to be in town. Incredibly powerful, specialized in this sort of work.¡±


    ¡°Well, I know them all. Why don¡¯t I arrange for all of us to have a meal together this evening?¡± Flavinius suggested.


    I opened my mouth, almost agreeing, before remembering ¨C I was booked for the captain of the guard this evening.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got an appointment with the captain of the guard. Tomorrow, lunch?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Perfect.¡± He said.


    Bless him. I whole-heartedly endorsed the idea, and Flavinius even went so far as to suggest hosting it himself.


    At this point, I made it my mission to locate Caecilius. However, my geography knowledge was muttering at me, saying that something wasn¡¯t quite right¡­ I needed a quick talk with Ocean.


    ¡­¡­


    ¡°Yo.¡± I said, plonking down next to Ocean, who was sitting with his new fishing friends. ¡°Quick question for you.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Ocean said, as the other fishermen were giving me mixed looks. No ¨C giving Ocean mixed looks. ¡°Who¡¯s this and why¡¯s the blasted Sentinel treating him so casually?¡± Was what the looks said.


    ¡°Just how far from the capital are we, and how long is the trip normally?¡±


    ¡°Ten days.¡±


    That might be why Caecilius wasn¡¯t super obvious. If he¡¯d left when Markus thought, he¡¯d have just gotten here.


    Wait.


    Holy shit Ocean was fast. No wonder he was the secondary rapid deployment.


    Still. He should be around somewhere, although maybe he was still getting settled in. I could ask Ocean for help ¨C but I¡¯d gotten most of the help I wanted from him, and something like this was mundane, low-level. I felt the need to prove myself, and it wasn¡¯t like finding Caecilius would make or break things.


    ¡°Cheers thanks!¡±


    Ocean waved, and re-cast his line, the hook and bait going an improbably far distance. I narrowed my eyes. Was there even that much line¡­?


    Skills. Who knows, maybe that was part of his [Love of the Sea].


    Right. If I was Caecilius, where would I be? I doubt he¡¯d be wandering the streets like I was. He didn¡¯t have any sort of obvious stall in the marketplace, like I tended towards.


    Where did I find him last time? The temple.


    Seemed to be a good place to go looking for him. Every town had a temple, and while they didn¡¯t specialize in healing, they could, occasionally, do some minor healing, and people often went to the temple for¡­ things¡­ like¡­


    Yeah my religion wasn¡¯t particularly good. Apart from occasionally showing up to pray for Lyra, and being amused to watch my mana bounce around as I sent a prayer off, I didn¡¯t really do much with it. The existence of gods and the like should¡¯ve maybe had me take a more active, direct interest, but there¡¯d always been something else to do. The priests spoke of miracles and divine revelation, but it was impossible for me to tell if they were real miracles, real divine revelations, or more Oracle of Delphi-style ¡®prophecies¡¯ and the like. Miracles directly from the divine, or ¡®miracles¡¯ that were just smoke and mirrors, and the clever application of skills?


    Magic made it really hard to tell if a miracle was real, or just some skill.


    Anyways. I could see a wandering healer setting up in the temple, instead of a market square, and I made my way over to see if he was there ¨C or had stopped by there ¨C healing the occasional person as I made my way through the streets.


    The temple wasn¡¯t nearly as big as other temples I¡¯d seen, but Deva wasn¡¯t particularly large. I made my way inside, to speak with the [Acolyte] inside.


    ¡°Welcome. What can the temple do for you today?¡± He asked. Dude looked old. Not old-old, but late 50¡¯s, early 60¡¯s easy. Curious. Did he never want to be a priest, or was there some reason he never went up the ladder? Or was there something else going on?


    Ah well.


    ¡°Heya! I¡¯m looking for Caecilius, a [Plague Healer]. Think he might¡¯ve stopped by here?¡±


    ¡°First room on the left.¡± He said. ¡°He asks for payment up front.¡±


    Well then. That was remarkably easy!


    ¡°Thanks!¡± I said, making my way over.


    I got to the door in question, and knocked.


    ¡°Come in.¡± A voice I recognized said.


    I entered, to finally find Caecilius and his apprentice! Hurray!


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 18]


    [Mana: 49600/49600]


    [Mana Regen: 40336 (+3086.16)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 18]


    [Strength: 236]


    [Dexterity: 203]


    [Vitality: 560]


    [Speed: 480]


    [Mana: 4960]


    [Mana Regeneration: 4676 (+1318.632)]


    [Magic Power: 4325 (+44331.25)]


    [Magic Control: 4325 (+44331.25)]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 242]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 242]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 198]


    [Medicine: 210]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 236]


    [Phases of the Moon: 242]


    [Moonlight: 242]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 212]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 139]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 180]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 180]


    [Radiance Resistance: 180]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 180]


    [Radiance Manipulation: 180]


    [Sun-Kissed: 141]


    [Blaze: 180]


    [Talaria: 161]


    [Nova: 180]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 136]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 159]


    [Pretty: 135]


    [Bullet Time: 189]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 205]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 196]


    [Persistent Casting: 35]


    [Learning: 242]

 Chapter 128 – Deva III

    ¡°Caecilius!¡± I said, happily opening my arms.


    ¡°Elaine?¡± He said, somewhat surprised, blinking as he looked at me.


    His apprentice just made an annoyed noise. Sheesh. Dude never liked me.


    ¡°In the flesh!¡± I said, twirling around, showing off somewhat.


    He blinked a few more times, processing.


    ¡°Congratulations on your promotion to Sentinel.¡± He said. ¡°What title did you get?¡±


    Mmmm. He¡¯d been around the block a few times, and probably had as much experience as an entire Ranger team put together. He¡¯d probably seen his fair share of strange and unusual things, and me being a Sentinel might break his top 100, if I was lucky.


    ¡°Thank you! Dawn.¡± I said, answering his question.


    A strangled noise came out of the apprentice, eyes bulging in jealousy. His face was turning all sorts of interesting colors.


    Heh. I was probably 10 years younger than him, and had like 60 levels on him.


    ¡°Would I be correct in thinking that you are indeed the author of the Medical Manuscript?¡± Caecilius asked, pulling a scroll out of his bag.


    ¡°Yup!¡± I said, recognizing that he¡¯d pulled out scroll 1 of it. ¡°Markus put me up to it after Perinthus, and I spent almost a year writing it. Managed to get it distributed right before Academy.¡±


    Caecilius blinked, doing some mental math.


    ¡°They made you a Sentinel right out of Academy?¡± He asked, the first note of surprise in his voice.


    Yesss. Broke his top 20 surprising things in all likelihood.


    ¡°Kinda. I did it ass-backwards. Ranger first, Academy second. Sentinel third.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s quite the story. I¡¯d love to hear more of it.¡± Caecilius said.


    Man, his apprentice was just not coping at all. It was pretty funny, not going to lie.


    ¡°About that ¨C I¡¯m trying to arrange a short meeting between all of the town¡¯s healers tomorrow, for lunch. Markus put me on to you possibly being in town, and I wanted to invite you to it. Share info about the plague, discuss a possible plan of attack.¡±


    Caecilius gave me a little knowing smile.


    ¡°Using the Perinthus methods?¡±


    ¡°Shamelessly.¡± I said.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be there.¡± He said.


    His apprentice made a strangled, frustrated noise, and left the room.


    ¡°Great!¡± I said.


    I gave him the directions, and the time, and set out myself.


    Ok, healers secured. Guards ¨C kinda secured. Depended on the meeting this evening.


    Man, who thought that ¡°healing a town¡± would devolve into ¡°run around arranging meetings all day.¡± This was, quite frankly, not what I was for, and not my skill set.


    Hang on. Magic was able to get a support crew of Gemstone artisans helping him out. Toxic clearly had people sourcing poisonous stuff. Could I get a high-level [Administrator] to help me out? Someone who could sniff out the right people, arrange meetings and connections, get the right people in the right room?


    Wasn¡¯t a bodyguard. Helped shore up a weakness. I was going to be in more mass casualty events, where massive organizational skills were critical. My skills were OK, and people were being generally cooperative and helpful. It was a miracle really that things were going so smoothly, that people were looking at the badge and not me.


    It wouldn¡¯t always go this smoothly, nor would I always have the time to arrange meetings and get people together in a slow, smooth manner, as opposed to diving head first into healing and stabilizing as many people as Elaine-ly possible. Someone to do that for me ¨C or a small team ¨C seemed to be just what I needed, to deal with the small details so I could actually do my job.


    Right. I was basically free until the evening. Time to get at it, see how many people I could heal. The more I did now, the fewer I¡¯d need to do later.


    A few hours of ambling through the streets later, and I had a much greater appreciation for Caecilius¡¯s method, along with the people that helped me get a stall in the marketplace for free healing. I¡¯d tried, but nobody wanted to bite. I either looked intimidating, or like a bad deal ¨C people would be too focused on me, if that made sense.


    Another point for a helper ¨C help me get a solid spot to heal from. I considered the temple, but that¡¯d just throw a wrecking ball through what Caecilius was doing. That, and if nothing else, I was out and about and visible while doing this. The [Pretty] healing Sentinel offering free healing. It¡¯d make my attempts to do a mass healing later maybe easier, as I was getting to know people.


    6000 people was a small town. If everyone knew I was in town by the end of tomorrow, I¡¯d believe it.


    Evening started to fall, and I made my way back to the guard¡¯s barracks. Meeting time with the guard captain.


    I introduced myself to the guards, who were clearly expecting me. I was swiftly escorted to the captain¡¯s office.


    There was a man with the captain. Sitting down, he was at least a head shorter than the captain, which made him taller than me still. He had longer hair, tied back into a neat bundle at the back of the head. He was wearing a simple tunic, the simplicity betrayed by the quality of the cloth and the rich blue dye used to color it.


    While he didn¡¯t look pissed, he had a distinct ¡°unhappy¡± air about him.


    The captain stood up, while the man stayed seated.


    ¡°Governor Gaius. I¡¯d like to introduce you to Sentinel Dawn.¡± The captain said formally.


    Oh shit. I knew I was forgetting to talk with someone. The governor. Yup. That might be an important person to have a chat with directly, instead of through the captain.


    Man, he¡¯d even hinted at it to me.


    Whoops. No wonder he looked annoyed. I¡¯d dropped into his town, and started running around doing all sorts of things without once talking with him. He probably should¡¯ve been my first contact. I was too used to being a Ranger, to letting Julius handle that sort of thing, and in Perinthus the governor had been notably MIA.


    I saluted him, closed fist over my chest, bowing slightly.


    ¡°Governor. Dawn here. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you. I apologize for not coming to meet with you earlier, I ended up otherwise occupied.¡±


    Right. A ¡®mea culpa¡¯, a show of deference, a polite half-excuse that we could all use to gracefully exit ¨C if he wanted to.


    Dear gods, I hated politics and socializing. I needed helpers. As soon as possible. Just get me a conga line of people that needed healing. Have person come in. Elaine-Heal-Bot 3000 lays hands. Heals. Next person!


    The Heal-Bot 3000 was easy. The line was hard.


    I looked up, to see the governor looking much happier. Me deferring to him, apologizing to him, clearly went a long way.


    ¡°Dawn. A pleasure to meet you.¡± He said, with a surprisingly high-pitched voice. ¡°What brings you here?¡±


    I gave the short version of the plague, along with reassurances that of course he probably already knew all this.


    ¡°What do you hope to do?¡± He asked.


    ¡°A mass-heal event.¡± I promptly replied. ¡°My skills, knowledge, and experience are letting me know that this is purely a human to human transmission disease, which means that if we cure everyone, the plague¡¯s done. Over. Gone. I go home, everyone continues on happy.¡±


    ¡°Human to human?¡± The governor asked.


    Whoops. Common medical knowledge not being so common strikes again!


    ¡°Diseases can transmit in a variety of different ways. Person to person, animal to person, water to person, contaminated food, bad air, insects, parasites, and more. Some diseases are purely internal, things like cancer, diabetes, and more. This current one is purely person to person, meaning we don¡¯t need to exterminate all the rats or find a contaminated well or anything.¡± I continued to ramble on about diseases ¨C just a short, quick overview ¨C before looking around, realizing I¡¯d lost my audience.


    I coughed awkwardly. Was it my fault that I found talking about disease easier than managing meetings and politics and organization?


    The governor and the captain looked at each other.


    ¡°Yup. Most certainly a Sentinel.¡± The governor said. The captain nodded in weary agreement.


    Hey! What did he mean by that!?


    ¡°Help me out. Why is this a problem now? I¡¯m aware that we have a minor disease going around, but how is this any different from any other minor disease that we get?¡± The governor asked.


    I winced. Dude was smart, and was going to roast me hard.


    Screw it. Honesty was the best policy, and it¡¯d worked for me so far.


    ¡°Honestly¡­ it¡¯s not. You may have guessed, but I¡¯m relatively new at being Sentinel. This is a shakedown run, so to speak, me getting my legs. As opposed to most Sentinels which just go off and murder some moderately high level monster, I have to deal with a bunch of people.¡±


    Something in my tone must¡¯ve betrayed me, as both the captain and governor started laughing at me.


    ¡°Wait, wait, don¡¯t tell me,¡± The governor said, between fits of laughter. ¡°brilliant at healing. Terrible with people.¡±


    I felt my lips pursing together. They looked up at me, and started laughing even harder.


    ¡°Alright, alright.¡± The governor said, calming down. ¡°I think I¡¯ve got the picture here. We¡¯ve got a bit of a problem ¨C I will acknowledge that ¨C and I do appreciate you coming in to smash the problem in its early stages. Or late stage. Can never tell with these things.¡±


    He had a point there.


    ¡°Tell you what. I¡¯ll help you organize this, but put in a good word, or fifty, into your report.¡±


    Oh bless him, I¡¯d hire a bard to sing his praises from here to Aquiliea if he was able to handle most of this. Granted, him organizing it also meant he could claim most of the spotlight ¨C and credit, and good will ¨C for the save, but at this point I didn¡¯t care. I¡¯d been dealing with people too much. The relief must¡¯ve shown on my face, as he got a sharp grin.


    I should probably do a deep session of weighing the pros and the cons against each other, but I was tired. I wasn¡¯t any good at wrangling people together. He had the recognition, and the authority, and I was happy to hand it off/delegate to him.


    ¡°Sure!¡± I said, thrilled that it was no longer my problem. ¡°I¡¯m working on organizing the other healers in town ¨C I¡¯m meeting with them tomorrow ¨C but in terms of mass, bulk-healing, I work best under moonlight. New Moon was a few days ago, so any time shortly after sunset works best for me to heal dozens of people in one go. Additionally, Caecilius is in town ¨C a [Plague Healer] ¨C and he¡¯s also got bulk healing.¡±


    The governor gave me a sharp nod.


    ¡°I¡¯m familiar with Caecilius, and him being in town does give merit to the idea of knocking the disease out now. Normally, I¡¯d use a party outside the walls as an excuse, but the solstice just finished, and everyone¡¯s still partied out. However¡­¡± He said, drumming his fingers against the chair arms.


    Man, he¡¯d stayed seated the entire time I was standing. That had to be some sort of power play or something, but again, I just didn¡¯t care enough at this point. I just wanted this to be done and over, a line of people in front of me to heal.


    We hammered out a few more little points, and agreed to meet again tomorrow ¨C at the governor¡¯s place.


    Perfect. Now I just needed to meet with the healers!


    Endless. Damn. Meetings. Next time I was going to the party, at least the pain and agony would only be an hour or two, instead of this protracted, drawn-out affair.


    Seriously, just shoot me now.


    ¡°On a last note, I¡¯d like to congratulate Dawn on her apprehension of the Purple Flower grower.¡± The captain said.


    ¡°Oh?¡± The governor asked.


    ¡°Yeah, she single-handedly took down the entire thing.¡±


    ¡°ehhh¡­ funny story that¡­¡± I said.


    ¡°Do tell.¡± Gaius said, leaning forward.


    ¡°Well¡­ I just walked into his shop.¡±


    An awkward silence stretched between us.


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that was basically it.¡±


    The governor facepalmed, while the captain ¨C clearly already knowing the story ¨C laughed himself sick.


    I couldn¡¯t help it. The mirth was contagious. I cracked a smile.


    ¡­..


    ¡°Welcome Sentinel Dawn!¡± Flavinius said, opening his front door for me personally, at my lunch appointment the next day.


    His digs were nice. A big, fancy villa, as nice as anything else this town had. Heck, it even rivaled the governor¡¯s place! Again, it was brought into sharp focus for me how nice healers had it, how wealthy they could become with little to no risk, or danger.


    As we walked through the villa, Flavinius playing the perfect host, pointing out artwork and statues and the like, as slaves bustled through, I mentally revised my estimate. My Sentinel quarters were nice, but this was indeed a tier of luxury higher, if only for the extra room for artwork and frescos, and having a large support staff able to wait on you hand and foot.


    Ah well. My bed was made ¨C well, not made, I¡¯d gotten up too fast ¨C and I was happy to lie in it.


    We made it to the room, and one of the healers instantly got on my nerves.


    ¡°Oh, hey, serving girl, get me another jug please.¡± He said, comment directed to me.


    Ok, be cool, be calm, don¡¯t-


    ¡°Fuck off.¡± I said, barely suppressing throwing him the finger.


    Welp, so much for that. And good initial impressions.


    This was going to go swimmingly.

 Chapter 129 – Deva IV

    I looked around the room. Lavish. Luxurious. Probably standard for how a healer lived. Whatever.


    What was more interesting were the people here. Four men sat around a central table loaded with the tastiest of ¨C was that a mango!?


    Heck yes it was.


    Ok, focus. Back on topic.


    Caecilius was seated, eyebrows climbing up into his hair, eyes twinkling with amusement and swirling with Mist, marking his element. His poor apprentice wasn¡¯t cut out for this sort of life, making strangled noises in the background.


    Three other men were seated around the table. The dude mistaking me for a servant I was mentally dubbing ¡®Wine Slob¡¯, because he was asking for wine and looked like a total slob. His back was to me ¨C he hadn¡¯t even looked. Probably guessed I was a servant by my footsteps ¨C it wasn¡¯t like I was quiet, and it wasn¡¯t like I was making big, heavy plodding footsteps like a giant would. Couldn¡¯t see his face, but dude was pudgy, grease stains on the shoulder of his tunic where he was clearly wiping his fingers off.


    ¡®Relaxed¡¯ was what I dubbed the dude who was sitting ¨C no, lounging ¨C in the most carefree manner. He didn¡¯t even glance over or blink at our little altercation.


    ¡®Blue¡¯ was the last dude, on account of having a love affair with the color. His tunic was cyan, with dark blue threads woven, making patterns in his tunic.


    Normal so far.


    A blue bracelet. Blue hair. Blue sandals. I could practically hear a song being sung in my head.


    Brown eyes though. Unlucky him. Would¡¯ve been perfect with his theme. They were incredibly shiny, and if I had to bet, I¡¯d bet on him having a Mirror element. Had the same eyes as Mirror from Ranger Academy.


    I shouldn¡¯t have named him Mirror. Ah well.


    He was focused on the altercation, slowly putting down his cup.


    Wine Slob started to turn around, stormy look on his face.


    ¡°Who do-¡° He started to say, only for Flavinius to step in, trying to keep the peace.


    ¡°Peace all. Let¡¯s not fight in my home. Let me introduce Sentinel Dawn, the newest Sentinel, focused purely on healing. Dawn, this is¡­¡± He proceeded to rattle off everyone¡¯s name. They went in one ear, and out the other.


    However, Flavinius had been nothing but kind, courteous, pleasant, and helpful. I could keep the peace for him ¨C as long as Wine Slob didn¡¯t poke the bear again.


    Wine Slob was a Decay healer, focused on removing disease, and other problems. Blue was indeed a Mirror healer, and from the sound of it, had a class like the [Picture of Health] class I¡¯d been offered a long time ago. Relaxed was Steam, which worked a lot like Caecilius, except he had a warming effect with all his skills.


    Honestly, not judging Caecilius, but Steam seemed better than Mist in a straight up one to one comparison for healing. Then again, Caecilius had almost 100 levels on the dude, so element clearly wasn¡¯t everything. Whatever.


    There were a number of apprentices off to the side, who had been chatting with each other, but fell silent at our little altercation. Most were older than me, which was doing me no favors. Whatever.


    ¡°¡­ In conclusion, Sentinel Dawn is here to knock out the Coughing Illness before it becomes anything more serious.¡± Flavinius said, finishing up the introduction, and outlining the problem.


    Yeah. Helpers. I needed them. Like Sky needed the Pegasus, or Ocean needed his boat, they were a vital tool I didn¡¯t think I could manage without.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said, saying something before Wine Slob could get a word out. ¡°While it¡¯s not a problem now, it has the potential to become a problem later. An ounce of prevention¡¯s worth a pound of cure and all that.¡±


    The blank looks said that my idiom had completely failed to hit the mark. Ah well. The concept was there.


    ¡°Anyways. As Flavinius said, I¡¯m here to straight up knock the plague out before it can become a larger problem. I¡¯m working with the governor, but I¡¯d also like your help.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s in it for us?¡± Blue asked, in a reasonable tone. Not aggressive, not challenging, just curious.


    I blinked at him.


    ¡°Um¡­¡± I said, at a loss for words. Like, wasn¡¯t it obvious?


    ¡°Experience? No more plague? A clean city?¡± I said.


    ¡°Pay, girl. He¡¯s asking about pay.¡± Wine Slob said, rubbing his fingers together. ¡°A sickness like this is good money for us. As long as it¡¯s under control, why should we be concerned with eliminating it? Are you sure you¡¯re any good at this healing business, and shouldn¡¯t just leave it to men who know what they¡¯re doing?¡±


    There was general nodding around the table ¨C even Flavinius was reluctantly nodding. Caecilius had a bit of a frown.


    You know what? Screw this dude.


    ¡°Without pay, you won¡¯t help?¡± I asked, looking around. Bunch of reluctant nods.


    Bloody hell. This is what happened when the government didn¡¯t believe in any sort of government programs. Heck, I could name exactly four ¨C technically five things the Senate funded. Town walls, roads, the Army, including Rangers and Sentinels, tax collectors, and themselves. Of course, governors also raised taxes, but that was mostly to pay for the local guard, and enforce whatever rules they saw fit in their town. Everything else was left to a laissez faire approach.


    Hence, fire brigades refusing to extinguish fires, unless the property was sold to them first.


    Hence, cripples who couldn¡¯t afford healing being left to die.


    Hence, orphans. With no orphanages.


    Hence, healers unwilling to stamp out a plague in its infancy. Bad for business. Why not just let it run its course for some time, milk it for all it¡¯s worth? If it gets too bad, well, business booms more.


    Remus, and Pallos at large, was still relatively new, as far as worlds and civilizations went. The concept of ¡°band resources together because it¡¯s easier for us to all do things as a group instead of individually¡± had clearly made its way through ¨C it was the fundamental basis of government ¨C but what should be done as a group was still, shall we say, a hair shaky. Like healthcare. There¡¯d be fewer sick people if the town just taxed everyone, then paid the healers to heal everyone, no questions asked. Globally better for everyone. The healers still get paid, people still get healed, but a bunch of friction vanished. If people wanted stuff above and beyond simple healing ¨C say, someone old wanting constant healing to feel their best ¨C they could still pay for it.


    But nooooo. The government was hands-off. Let people figure it out themselves. Which led to this mess.


    Ok, to be fair ¨C I was being paid by the government. If I was totally on my own, not Sentinel Dawn but just Elaine, [Wandering Healer], I might have a very different take on things. I might not be trying to heal everyone for free ¨C I¡¯d want to get enough money to, you know, eat and such, and pay for travel. No way would I travel on the roads alone, without an escort.


    Nobody was exactly wrong here. The Senate should really figure out this properly.


    Well ¨C I thought back to my Legal lessons. It was a town by town issue, so the local Governor should be the one figuring it out.


    Not my challenge, not today. Getting a proper medical system arranged was a challenge for another time and place, and ideally, someone who reveled in that sort of diplomatic wheeling and dealing. Just needed to find the right person, get the idea in their head¡­


    I mentally shook myself. Focus.


    At the same time, they weren¡¯t exactly hurting for money. Everyone was rich, not that I blamed them for making a living, and I¡¯d inadvertently increased their workload by accidentally removing one of the other healers in town.


    I drummed my fingers on my arm.


    ¡°Fine. What would you each want for a single evening of healing as many people as possible? I¡¯m not asking for you to cure any ailment, simply targeting the affliction in question.¡±


    ¡°Eh. Don¡¯t we just need to cure people who look sick?¡± Relaxed asked, contributing to the conversation for the first time.


    ¡°No, but yes.¡± I said, after a moment¡¯s thought. ¡°It¡¯s possible to have the sickness and not show it, but still spread it to others. In that sense, you need to heal everyone. At the same time, Caecilius and I are able to mass heal people.¡±


    I thought about it for a moment, doing some lightning calculations in my head. The town was small. Not everyone was sick ¨C or rather, the people who were more sick required amounts of mana that were significant, the rest were so small as to be ignored.


    ¡°Honestly. End of the day I can do this entire thing on my own.¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m asking for your help both as a courtesy to you, and to make my life a bit easier. With that being said, let¡¯s discuss pay for a night¡¯s work¡­¡±


    With that, I sat down, grabbed that mango that had been sitting on the table, tempting me with its luscious goodness, and started peeling ¨C and negotiating ¨C in earnest.


    Darn mango was practically all pit.


    After a few painful hours of negotiating ¨C didn¡¯t they all have a clinic to run that they needed to get back to ¨C we¡¯d hammered out a deal.


    Rather, I¡¯d hammered out a deal with Blue, Flavinius, and Caecilius. Wine Slob wanted too much ¨C I wasn¡¯t willing to meet his price ¨C while Relaxed didn¡¯t seem to care enough. ¡°Too much work¡± in his words.


    I also suspected I¡¯d been fleeced horribly in the deal, but didn¡¯t know enough to say otherwise.


    I left the meeting, angry and frustrated. Wine Slob had taken every chance to belittle me, although his crestfallen look when I¡¯d basically said ¡®screw it, I¡¯m not going to bother dealing with you¡¯ let me know that he was a hair disappointed that he wouldn¡¯t get paid for the mass heal event. Thought he could bend me to his will, that just because I was a woman I¡¯d cater to his whims. Ha! Not likely.


    Caecilius had been the most reasonable, followed closely by Flavinius. They both extorted a bunch of money out of me, but hey, that was life.


    Blue drove a much harder bargain, arguing on the basis of being able to bulk-heal. Caecilius taking a single, bulk payment helped negate a bunch of that, and both Blue and Caecilius were getting a single payment.


    Flavinius had argued well on being paid per-person. In short, if he managed to heal around 400 people, he¡¯d make a heck of a lot more than the others. Which really wasn¡¯t fair, since they would all be healing more people on average than he was ¨C but on the flip, Flavinius could really only heal people that were visibly ill.


    This whole thing was a gods-damned mess. I was doing this solo next time.


    Or maybe¡­


    ¡°Caecilius! Hey Caecilius!¡± I said, catching up to the elderly man as we left Flavinius¡¯s place, all the polite formalities having been sorted out.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn.¡± Caecilius said, perfectly polite, even half-bowing. ¡°I thought our business was mostly concluded in the prior meeting?¡±


    ¡°Oh for today¡¯s stuff, sure! However, I wanted to have a chat with you about a different, long-term arrangement.¡±


    Caecilius looked at the sky, at the sun starting to head towards the horizon. He sighed, a deep, weary noise that spoke of ¡®darnit, the day¡¯s totally shot isn¡¯t it?¡¯


    ¡°Of course Sentinel Dawn.¡± He said, hands folded in front of him. Blah.


    ¡°Short, short version, for you to think about.¡± I was shit at reading body language, but I was getting a ¡®tired of all this damn politicking¡¯ vibe off of him. Not that I blamed him. I felt the same way.


    Please just give me a conga line of people to heal, or a bunch of people in one spot with the moons out. The frontlines were blessedly uncomplicated in that respect.


    Maybe I could ask to hang out there now and then?


    But then all the Ranger Trainees would be missing the best healing education possible¡­


    Then again, they¡¯d lived so far without me.


    Focus. Here and now.


    ¡°I foresee that we¡¯ll end up working a solid amount together. Whenever I can be spared, and the plague¡¯s big enough, I¡¯ll also be sent to handle it. No idea how it works on my end, but I know I can have a few people as helpers. I could probably try to wrangle something with you, get a number of your expenses paid, a few privileges, to just¡­ keep doing what you¡¯re doing, and give me a helping hand when I need to handle a plague. No need to give me an answer now, just think about it.¡±


    Caecilius blinked. His apprentice was trying to catch flies.


    ¡°That is an exceedingly generous offer, Sentinel Dawn.¡± He said after a moment, giving me a quarter bow. ¡°I will have to think on it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, no worries. Not even sure if it¡¯s fully possible, but it should be. You can give an answer at Ranger HQ at any time! Don¡¯t even need to catch me here. You are based out of the capital right?¡±


    He slowly nodded at me.


    ¡°Have a good day.¡±


    I recognized a ¡®I am so ready to get out of here¡¯ when I heard it. Heck, I was of the same frame of mind.


    ¡°Thanks! You too!¡±


    He walked away.


    Ok¡­ back to the governor I guess?


    Dear gods. Endless meetings. Shoot me now. I needed a helper.


    I paused a moment, thinking.


    I needed a helper¡­ or to get a level so high I could just flat-out purge a town on my own in a single go.


    Hmmmmmmmm.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 18]


    [Mana: 49600/49600]


    [Mana Regen: 40336 (+3086.16)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 18]


    [Strength: 236]


    [Dexterity: 203]


    [Vitality: 560]


    [Speed: 480]


    [Mana: 4960]


    [Mana Regeneration: 4676 (+1318.632)]


    [Magic Power: 4325 (+44331.25)]


    [Magic Control: 4325 (+44331.25)]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 242]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 242]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 198]


    [Medicine: 210]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 236]


    [Phases of the Moon: 242]


    [Moonlight: 242]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 212]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 139]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 180]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 180]


    [Radiance Resistance: 180]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 180]


    [Radiance Manipulation: 180]


    [Sun-Kissed: 141]


    [Blaze: 180]


    [Talaria: 161]


    [Nova: 180]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 136]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 159]


    [Pretty: 135]


    [Bullet Time: 189]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 205]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 196]


    [Persistent Casting: 35]


    [Learning: 242]

 Chapter 130 – Deva V

    Three days. It took three whole days of meetings and wrangling and preparation and gods-knows-what-else to finish working everything out, and getting everything, and everyone, organized.


    It was a far cry from Perinthus, where we¡¯d been able to get everyone done in a day. Motivation, and prior organization went a long way.


    Bless the governor. He¡¯d organized nearly the whole thing, and not only that, he was paying some of the healers. Sure, it was only a quarter or so of what I¡¯d offered them, but the removal of some stress helped.


    I had a suspicion that he was going to end up with a lot more in his pocket at the end of it, once he did all his politicking-things well. ¡°I paid for the people to heal everyone¡± and all that.


    While people didn¡¯t elect their governor ¨C it was decided by the Senate ¨C popularity was a factor that was considered, and the Senate would never remove a well-loved governor, which this one was well on his way to being. Well ¨C they¡¯d never remove one that wasn¡¯t actively planning a rebellion or something. Why a governor would plot a rebellion, I dunno. Rich, powerful, got everything you want? Anyways. He could probably also raise taxes, under the excuse of ¡°Had to fix that plague//pay for this event¡±, and people wouldn¡¯t grumble too much.


    Excess tax ended up in the governor¡¯s pocket, of course. His pay for running things well. That was ripe for abuse. More of my lessons coming in handy!


    They¡¯d still grumble, of course. Nobody was happy when the tax man came around. But the tax man would just get deep sighs and the occasional insult, instead of a shallow grave in the backyard. The governor would get his taxes, and I¡¯d get my damn politics headache removed.


    Never. Again. I was going to camp outside of Night¡¯s room until I had minions to help me out with this part of it again. I hadn¡¯t given Kallisto and the like enough credit for making my life smooth and easy in the past. Or all the people in Perinthus who made things smooth.


    Nor was I going to discount organizational and social skills. With all the damn work I¡¯d been putting in, I¡¯d hope to get an [Organize] skill or [Meetings] or SOMETHING like that offered to me. But noooo, the System had it out for me.


    I looked over my skills quickly.


    [Phases of the Moon] - arguably the best healing skill possible.


    [Talaria] ¨C Letting me fly.


    [Fireball], later [Nova]- The System giving me exactly what I wanted.


    Heck, getting [Detailed Restoration] at level freaking 100 ¨C that was amazing, and quite literally saved my life.


    Fine. The System loved me, it just tormented me by not giving me anything social. Not that I¡¯d take it¡­ so what was I doing complaining?


    Back to the healing event.


    We¡¯d split the town into 12 districts, each one roughly 500 people. Sure, the wealthy district had fewer, with the average made up by the slums, but potato, potato. It was being billed as a massive party, an extra festival, all sponsored by various wealthy citizens.


    Man, how did he do it? Convinced a bunch of people to throw a moderate party for the whole town? I was impressed. I would never have thought of the idea.


    Ocean, to my great surprise, even chipped in a hair. Not enough to count as help, but, well, he¡¯d managed to fish a fairly large sea monster out of the Nostrum, and had happily sold it to the organizers. ¡°Try out exotic sea monster ¨C Extra tasty!¡± had more than a little bit of appeal, and was helping get some of the more reluctant people out and about.


    The guard was going through and talking with the last few stubborn holdouts. Flavinius was starting out stationed in the wealthy district, giving personalized healing to the rich and powerful, which was a lot of hand-holding and bedside manner, for not a lot of actual healing. Still, even if he wasn¡¯t getting his money¡¯s worth out of me, he was making it back tenfold in connections and a personal touch on the richest. I suspect his clientele would dramatically increase after this, especially with the Wood dude¡¯s patients needing new homes.


    Heck, if I had billed it this way from the start, he¡¯d probably have worked for free. Ah well. I was happy that he was getting one of the better deals, given how nicely he¡¯d treated me, and how much he¡¯d helped.


    He was also on-deck to run around the town with the guards, going directly to anyone who refused to join the event directly, and just flat-out healing them. We suspected we might miss a few people here and there, but the situation wasn¡¯t nearly as urgent as Perinthus was, and the disease was more liable to burn itself out if we missed one or two people. Especially if they were so reclusive as to skip a big party paid for by someone else, and managed to dodge the guard¡¯s attention.


    Caecilius had eight districts, and Blue had four to manage. Caecilius had more on the basis of being specialized for this type of work, and quite frankly being dramatically stronger. He could do more than twice as much work and healing as Blue could, but we¡¯d settled on this split.


    Privately, I¡¯d told Caecilius that I¡¯d double what I was paying him, but to please not gloat or boast about it, otherwise I¡¯d need to do a whole second round of negotiating with everyone. He seemed pleased at the recognition, and my attempt at fair treatment of everything, and had agreed without making a fuss.


    There was some muttering between him and his apprentice, and what I¡¯d gathered was the apprentice was going to try his own skills first, do what he could, before Caecilius cleaned up.


    I had no idea what Blue¡¯s plan was, but it was probably similar.


    My role was both easy, and hard.


    I was doing everyone.


    In the same way Markus had set up his Pyronox gates as a back-up for any last bits of healing, I was going back over where Blue and Caecilius had already done their healing, and doing a secondary heal, to catch anything they missed.


    Or in Caecilius¡¯s case, anything he Mist.


    Artemis was a terrible influence on me.


    All my work with Night had resulted in me having a strong, strong grasp on my [Oath]. Something I hadn¡¯t mentioned a ton with the other healers was my free healing sessions after ¨C throwing a rock through their business ¨C but not only was it part of what I¡¯d offered the guards for their help, before realizing I¡¯d been an idiot and should¡¯ve just talked with the governor directly, but it also let me see and heal basically everyone in town without [Oath] kicking in and demanding I take a detour.


    I was just going to heal the current disease, and any and all problems were for tomorrow.


    Sure, if someone was critically injured, I¡¯d step in and help, but most problems could wait a day.


    The sun was setting, and after some time, the moons started to rise ¨C the only way we¡¯d make this work honestly, if I had to lay hands on everyone we¡¯d never succeed, and it was nice to throw a party in the evening ¨C as the governor started his speech to the wealthy district.


    I was on a makeshift stage with him, dressed to the nines. Part of my contribution to this whole thing ¨C showing up, looking good, making the governor look good. I was treading dangerously close to politics and being political, but the entire damn mess was politics and political, and there was no dodging it at a certain point. Just had to look as neutral as humanly possible, smile and wave, and get out as soon as I could.


    At last his speech was winding down, and fortunately he¡¯d given me a heads up for this next part.


    ¡°¡­and now, Sentinel Dawn, with a few words!¡±


    Whyyyyy did I have to give a speech.


    ¡°Thank you so much governor!¡± I said, mustering up as much cheer as I could. ¡°I¡¯m not going to hold you all ¨C let¡¯s get started!¡± I said.


    A cheer from the crowd, a dirty look from the governor.


    Hey.


    He didn¡¯t say anything about a long speech, and I was sick and fed up of all the social stuff. I was never ever dodging a party to go to one of these ever again. A party I could at least¡­ well¡­ no that wouldn¡¯t work¡­


    Eh. A party was over after a few hours of agonizing.


    This? This was ENDLESS DAYS of hours of agonizing.


    Anyways.


    It was kicked off, and Flavinius had already started socializing. I was staying on the stage, waiting a moment or so, shaking hands and plastering a smile on my face as people came to meet me.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn! What a pleasure to meet you!¡± Another nameless, faceless dude in a purple toga said, offering his hand.


    I took it and shook it.


    ¡°It¡¯s such a lovely town here! So peaceful! So quiet! I¡¯d love to spend more time here!¡± I said, faking enthusiasm.


    Dude beamed at me, completely missing that his name had gone in one ear, and out the other. Good trick, complimenting the town. Everyone had some small amount of civic pride. Usually.


    ¡°Have you seen how the light hits the harbor at sunset? Prettier than any gemstone! Why¡­¡±


    Yup. A real fanatic.


    Blessedly, all I needed to do was nod my head and make appreciative noises, and nobody else butted in. Dude was content to tell me all about the town.


    Come on Blue, where were you? I needed you to kick off your bulk heal before I threw mine out, then I could start swinging round to the areas where Caecilius was managing.


    A shimmering series of flashes that went on for almost a minute, noises from the crowd, and I was jealous. Dude had a much larger area of effect. Was a lot slower than I was though.


    Oh well. That was my signal.


    ¡°Excuse me, gotta start now.¡± I said, politely smiling at the dude.


    ¡°No worries! Thanks for letting me blather on!¡± He said, giving me a cheery wave.


    Note to self: Find people who loved to talk, and were high enough on the food chain, and let them talk to me for hours on end when at my next social thing. That was so much easier and less painful than I¡¯d imagined.


    I walked through the crowd, focusing on [Phases of the Moon], empowered by [Moonlight]. I focused on healing only the plague, on catching anything that wasn¡¯t caught.


    On one hand, I didn¡¯t need line of sight to people I was healing. On the other, if a group of kids hid under a table and declared it their fort ¨C good fun that ¨C [Moonlight] wouldn¡¯t touch them.


    My mana did some wild fluctuations. It was basically impossible to tell if someone nearby was severely ill, or if it was someone right at the range of my area of effect being a little sick. The [Moonlight] distance penalty was harsh.


    To offset that, I kept ¡°flickering¡± it ¨C turned it on, healed, turned it off, walked around a bit, turned it on again. I made a few rounds ¨C it was possible that someone was sick and somehow walking in a way that exactly avoided me ¨C but this was good enough.


    This wasn¡¯t Perinthus, where we had to get every single person. There quite frankly wasn¡¯t the political will for it, and having a big party like this was the best we were going to manage.


    I had some fun diving under tables though.


    ¡°Rawr! The great monster is here!¡± I announced to the kids, diving under a large table that they¡¯d commandeered to play with.


    ¡°Yar! Get her!¡± One of the kids waved a stick around, with great enthusiasm.


    There had been two sides to their fight, and it looked like they had been playing ¡°Humans versus Formorians¡± ¨C Deva was more on the west coast, so it made sense. The war was a lot closer and a lot more real for them, than it was where I grew up.


    However, the great Sentinel-Monster was fun and novel enough that they were suddenly all humans, and ganging up on me.


    Perfect. I¡¯d get to contact all of them, and I wasn¡¯t going to just heal the Coughing Illness from them ¨C I¡¯d smack them with everything I had.


    About 15 minutes of roughhousing later ¨C hey, it was fun, and I was in desperate need of a break ¨C the monster was ¡°slain¡±, and screw the ¡°bad optics¡± of the Sentinel, in her gear, being the monster and killed by kids. It was good, clean fun.


    I got up, dusted myself off, grabbed my guard escort, and we were off to the next party/gathering!


    I had a little map with me, with the order of who was doing what where, and long story short ¨C I did a lot of running around town, from spot to spot.


    More monsters were slain, although I did mix it up once, doing a surprise appearance as myself, a Sentinel, when it looked like one side was badly losing. Same difference really.


    I made it to the last stop on my merry heal-go-round ¨C the slums ¨C and checked my mana, and my Arcanite.


    I was doing well on both.


    ¡°Caecilius! How¡¯s it been?¡± I said, initially greeting him. Somehow, in the mad rush around, moons glaring down on us and torches flickering light all over the place, we hadn¡¯t bumped into each other. Spoke to a well-executed plan in my opinion.


    ¡°It¡¯s going well. Any issue on your end?¡± He asked, dignity in his voice betrayed by the chicken on a skewer leaving grease marks all over his fingers and chin.


    I resisted the temptation to laugh.


    ¡°Nope! Blue¡¯s only so-so on his bulk healing. I don¡¯t think I had a single person who needed anything more from any of your sections.¡±


    Caecilius looked pleased with himself, pride in his word lacing his voice.


    ¡°Why thank you. Mist is pretty good at getting everyone.¡±


    I refrained from mentally wincing. [Moonlight] was, like, a C at best for bulk healing. Hopefully I could upgrade it on the next class-up.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m pretty sure with a solid supply of Arcanite, you could¡¯ve knocked the thing out by yourself.¡±


    Caecilius smiled at the compliment.


    His apprentice jumped in.


    ¡°Not without me!¡± He said.


    ¡°No, probably not.¡± I replied, too happy to do anything.


    ¡°Anyways, you wouldn¡¯t mind if I did some mass healing?¡± I asked, gesturing around broadly. The party in the slums barely qualified, although it looked like someone had pulled a string, and the bulk of Ocean¡¯s sea monster was here.


    ¡°No, but it might deteriorate the relationship you have with the other healers.¡±


    I shrugged.


    ¡°Not my problem¡± I said, focusing on [Phases of the Moon] to the max range of [Moonlight]. I mentally winced at the mental image that was forming ¨C just ¡®heal¡¯.


    Screw it.


    I focused, and discovered a new trick. I didn¡¯t need to say the skill, just be focusing on it.


    With a voice that tinkled like the stars, a word laced with moonlight, an intonation that invoked the vast skies above, I said:


    ¡°Heal¡±


    Limps vanished. Eyes restored. Fingers fixed, and arms un-broken. A new lease on life was given to dozens within my range, as my mana vanished in a second. I breathed in, pulling more mana in, and repeated the process, watching most of my mana disappear again.


    Caecilius blinked at me, looking around, processing what I¡¯d done. It was his turn to start catching flies.


    ¡°What? What¡¯d she do?¡± His apprentice asked.


    Caecilius didn¡¯t answer him directly.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn.¡± He said, as politely and formally as he could manage. ¡°That was incredible. Could my apprentice perhaps follow you and take some notes the next time you perform a feat like that?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± I said, a little puzzled by his request, then it clicked.


    ¡°Oh. Yeah, I¡¯m going to do it again in a moment. Just gotta move to a different place in the crowd.¡±


    Caecilius bowed to me, then straightened up. Seeing his apprentice still looking bemused, he cuffed him.


    ¡°Owww.¡± The apprentice said, rubbing his head.


    ¡°Follow Sentinel Dawn. Watch her. Try to learn. She¡¯s the most powerful healer alive right now. Her area isn¡¯t the largest, but her speed and detail is unrivaled.¡±


    Awww shucks.


    I gave Caecilius a brilliant smile at that.


    ¡°Thanks! Let¡¯s go apprentice!¡± I said, diving into the crowd, who was just starting to process that some of them no longer had old injuries.


    I repeated the process twice more, draining a good chunk of my Arcanite in the process. I did have a frankly absurd amount of the stuff though.


    I was slightly offended that I wasn¡¯t getting credit for my moves though ¨C once the crowd figured out what was going on, they descended upon poor Caecilius, giving him thanks and credit.


    I snuck out, after answering a few questions from the properly-awed Apprentice. Hey, he got a nickname now. Sort of.


    I worked my way through the empty streets, to the guard barracks, where I had a little room/cubby thing, and crashed. I¡¯d check my level up notifications tomorrow ¨C I¡¯d gotten a few. Hurray!

 Chapter 131 – Returning Home I

    I yawned and stretched as I got out of bed. I felt absolutely filthy, having lived in my armor this whole time. I briefly contemplated taking a risk and having a bath anyways, before banishing the thought. Ocean¡¯s boat was fast, and hey, who knows, maybe he could like, dunk me in the water and drag me along.


    Oooh! Maybe I could water-ski or something! A rope, a plank, and a strong grip was all I needed! Ocean was super fast ¨C yes, yesss, this could be a ton of fun.


    My joy was shot down brutally as I looked around my cubby, and saw a little note on the desk.


    Dawn,


    Excellent work.


    Part of being a Sentinel is getting back to HQ on your own after your mission¡¯s over.


    I recommend joining a caravan or a merchant¡¯s ship.


    Good luck!


    Ocean.


    That rat-faced bastard. I was going to murder him once I got back to headquarters.


    Ok, fine. I now needed to travel across half of Remus by myself. No Sentinel boats or airships, no Ranger wagons.


    At least I was better prepared from when I initially tried to run away from home. I still cringed at my idea of ¡°prepared¡±, along with how naively I thought I¡¯d just catch up to a bloody Ranger team. They were no slouches in the movement department. I¡¯d now gotten years of wilderness training, along with flat-out practical experience. I could, if I wanted to, literally walk across Remus back to the capital.


    That would take me weeks, if not months. I wasn¡¯t exactly a physical classer. I was no courier, no Julius, who could just flat out run across Remus.


    Right. Solo travel was out of the question. That left joining up with someone who had better, faster transportation.


    On rare occasion, there were couriers who could ¨C generally as a team of two to four ¨C transport a person from A to B. They were insanely expensive, but when it came to a low-level, or just straight up non-combat-oriented but important person needing to quickly get somewhere, and had the money to fund it, they were the people to go to.


    They were generally in the capital, and usually if you weren¡¯t in the capital you¡¯d need to send a letter to them, requesting them, saying where you were, and where you¡¯d like to go.


    You could buy a house with what they charged for one trip.


    They were out of the question. They weren¡¯t in Deva, it¡¯d take ages for the letter to go round trip, and quite frankly my dignity wouldn¡¯t let me. I didn¡¯t want to wait around, then be carted around like a package. I wasn¡¯t a wilting flower.


    Granted, ¡°package¡± looked like anything from being physically carried on someone¡¯s back, to a small luxury wagon, pulled by a horse and someone with serious skills. Mmmm. The last one would be an option, if I could afford it. I had a lot of money. I didn¡¯t have that tier worth of money, not to spend on one trip.


    Plus, the quartermaster would murder me.


    I could probably earn that much money if I put my mind to it, but that seemed to be a lot of effort for not much in return. As opposed to just traveling, oh, not in luxury.


    I wasn¡¯t a pampered brat. I¡¯d survive a different method of transportation.


    I really needed to talk with Bluebeard about companions. A massive dino to stomp around on? Yes please!


    Or maybe a flier. Oooh, I should get a flier ¨C that way if we ended up in serious trouble, we could both fly up and dodge the trouble. How bad would I feel if we got surrounded, and I could fly away but my companion couldn¡¯t?


    Speaking of dignity, I should consider how I wanted to travel. Did I want to be Sentinel Dawn, the world shaking as I stepped? (Ok, shaking a very small amount. Tiny footsteps and all that.) Or did I just want to be Healer Elaine?


    I almost immediately decided on Healer Elaine. I could always let the cat out of the bag, but stuffing a cat back in a bag? Yikes, no. I¡¯d get clawed horribly. I swear they all had [Aim for the Eyes] or something.


    Alright.


    Healer Elaine needed to get from Deva, to the capital.


    To start off with, I don¡¯t think Healer Elaine could possibly exist in Deva. Literally everyone in town had gotten a good look at me. That also meant I couldn¡¯t hitch a ride with Caecilius. Also that would be so awkward. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m a badass Sentinel, and I want you to work for me¡­ also can I get a ride?¡±


    Nope. That¡¯d be traveling as Dawn, not Elaine.


    So now my options were¡­ I looked at the letter and groaned.


    My options were, practically speaking, an overland caravan, or hopping on a merchant ship, or some other ship moving from where I was, to the capital.


    A merchant ship was significantly faster than a caravan. Water being the great mover and all that. It wasn¡¯t even close.


    Heck, pretend both moved at the same speed, and it was, by some magic, the exact same distance from A to B. The ship could travel through the night, while the caravan couldn¡¯t. The ship was on water, which didn¡¯t have hills, rocks, fallen trees, and more.


    Add in that ships tended to sail faster than an average caravan, and it wasn¡¯t really a contest.


    Ship it was. Or was it a boat I needed? Whatever.


    Ok, I had something of a to-do list now.


    Wrap up my obligations here, which mostly consisted of some free healing, but not enough to piss off Flavinius or Blue, who¡¯d been super helpful.I should totally set up near Wine Slob¡¯s clinic. Get some nice petty revenge.A short hop, skip, and jump to a nearby town. This should be pretty easy, possibly doable in a day, depending on what the nearby area looked like.Find a ship heading to the capitalBuy passage on the shipDid I need bodyguards? Would Healer Elaine have bodyguards? Shit, she probably would, just for appearances sake. And someone to handle problems for me.And naturally, get back to the capital.


    Right. This seemed to be a solid plan of attack. Mostly, I needed money. A bunch of money. The Quartermaster dude knew his stuff, loading me up with more money, and less survival gear.


    Ok, first thing first. Free healing. Mostly for the guards.


    ¡­ You know what? I was super burnt out on politics and negotiation and stuff.


    I left my room, and navigated my way to the front door of the barracks.


    ¡°Heya!¡± I waved to one of the guards, standing around, looking bored on ¡®hang out in the barracks¡¯ duty, aka ¡®field complaints from people¡¯.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn.¡± He said, formally saluting. ¡°What can we do for you?¡±


    ¡°Well, long story short ¨C free healing for guards.¡± I said. ¡°Got a chair or a table or something I can set myself up on?¡±


    ¡°Yeah sure, one moment.¡±


    Like, 15 minutes later, I finally had a table. And basically no patients. It wasn¡¯t like I¡¯d heavily advertised my free healing. Nor was I super interested in doing it. I was still tired.


    Sure, some word of mouth would happen, but by the time it really had spread round, I¡¯d be outta here.


    I¡¯d be feeling bad about it if I hadn¡¯t just gone through a superhuman amount of effort to organize the anti-plague event.


    Speaking of, let¡¯s see the levels!


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 243! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 244! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    Two levels!


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Warmth of the Sun] has reached level 199]


    Being around crowds of moderately ill people paying off.


    I had to do some thinking on the skill, maybe talk with Night or other powerful healers. Could [Warmth of the Sun] turn into something powerful, a massive, persistent healing aura with enough power and juice behind it to make a noticeable difference? Or was it doomed to always be a background skill, one that made me feel warm ¨C literally.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Celestial Affinity] has reached level 242->244]


    Yawn. No surprise there.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 210->212]


    A level here, a level there, and soon you were talking some serious levels!


    Still, this was a miserable leveling rate for what was going to turn into weeks of effort once you considered the return trip. No wonder most people lifetime capped out at a lower level than what I was at.


    I¡¯d need to see about putting some serious work into my healing. Maybe Night would bless a trip to the front lines, and I could, I dunno, fly from spot to spot on the frontlines healing people? I can¡¯t imagine better experience.


    A little voice whispered in the back of my mind that a civil war or major rebellion would be much better experience.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 242->244]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Moonlight] has reached level 242->244]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Sun-Kissed] has reached level 142]


    Surprise! I needed to work on my tan.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 206]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority] has reached level 196->201]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Persistent Casting] has reached level 35->45]


    Like. It wasn¡¯t a ton of levels, but it also wasn¡¯t a ton of time either. Had to work on it some more.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 242->244]


    Hang on.


    This made no sense.


    My [Persistent Casting], like all my other low level skills, shot up like crazy. But once it was around 200 or so, I slowed way down. I should be continuing on at a good clip ¨C [Learning] was capped, and giving me a generous experience boost.


    But it didn¡¯t feel like I was getting a generous experience boost. Something was strange. I¡¯d need to have a nice talk with Night about it.


    [Pretty] was due to level once I got back! I was half-tempted to let Albina take a stab at me from my worst, but I decided against it. I had standards.


    I leaned back in my chair, drumming my fingers against the side.


    Ok. Not advertising ¨C big mistake. Not on the healing or not healing front, but because I was boooooored. Guard in. Guard out.


    Guards in.


    Guards out.


    Complaining townsfolk in.


    Complaining townsfolk out.


    Hmmmm.


    Maybe I should eavesdrop on them. Subtly. Maybe I¡¯d hear something like another Nero, another Octavia that could use a sizeable helping of Sentinel justice. Not that I could do what Artemis did, but my [Oath] had nothing against acting like bait, then self-defensing an attacking party to pieces.


    Being short, skinny, and [Healer] - tagged helped. Being famous did not.


    I scooted over, listening in, ready for my next ADVENTURE!


    ¡°¡­ just because you were fishing there yesterday, doesn¡¯t automatically mean you get to fish there today! You can¡¯t keep coming to the guard and asking us to arrest everyone who ¡®takes your spot¡¯, because it¡¯s not your spot!¡±


    A fishing dispute. Lovely.


    A market dispute, where a guard went out to adjudicate the dispute between two stall owners.


    An accusation of theft, which got me excited until I realized the supposed thief was in custody.


    A broken wagon in a busy street, a team of guards hustling to help get it out of the way, and traffic moving again.


    All stuff I¡¯d seen and heard a dozen times over when I was a kid, shadowing the guards on their rounds. Zzzzzz.


    Thinking about it ¨C Octavia had been the outlier, and it wasn¡¯t like Deva was massive and bustling to the point where I¡¯d see cases like hers all the time.


    I frowned to myself.


    Heck, cases like hers didn¡¯t usually end up at the guards.


    I should probably hang out by the river, where laundry was done.


    I¡¯d do a lot more good down there than here.


    I wandered over to the captain of the guard¡¯s office, where the two guards immediately recognized me and saluted.


    ¡°Let me get him.¡± One said, moving towards the door.


    There were yelling noises coming from the other side of the door. Someone was getting horribly roasted.


    ¡°Hang on! It¡¯s not urgent. I can wait if needed.¡± I protested.


    I got a look of disbelief from the guard.


    ¡°No, seriously. I¡¯m just hanging around, just letting the captain know where I¡¯ll be if he needs me. Nothing worth interrupting him if he¡¯s busy.¡±


    After an eternity ¨C ok, 20 minutes ¨C of waiting, the door to the captain¡¯s office opened. A chastened guard exited, holding back tears.


    Yikes.


    I brushed him as he passed me, healing him with [Phases of the Moon]. Dude got roasted so badly it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if it ended up physically burning him. I remember the [Roaster] class I¡¯d been offered all that time ago.


    The guards gave each other a quick look, a fast mental coinflip going on between them. One of them lost, and opened his mouth.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn to see you sir.¡± He said, and cringed just a bit.


    ¡°Why by all the gods above did you leave her waiting!?¡± The captain came out, roaring at the dude.


    ¡°Whoa! Chill! I asked him to. Nothing important!¡± I said, leaping to the poor dude¡¯s defense.


    ¡°Dawn. Come in.¡±


    ¡°Eh. It¡¯s just real fast. I¡¯m going to probably wander down to where the laundry¡¯s done, and hang out there. If any guard needs healing, of any sort, send them that way. I¡¯ll be there for free healing for all of you.¡±


    He blinked at me.


    ¡°Um. Ok.¡±


    Great!


    With a hop, skip, and a jump, I was off to the river.


    I halted halfway there, turned around, and went back to the barracks. I grabbed a long, brown cape-tunic-thing, and wrapped it around me. I looked ugly as sin ¨C [Pretty] was complaining ¨C but at least I wasn¡¯t radiating SENTINEL DAWN HERE. Like, it was still clear who I was, but it wasn¡¯t super obvious anymore.


    Back to the river!


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 18]


    [Mana: 49920/49920]


    [Mana Regen: 40656 (+3107.28)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 40]


    [Strength: 236]


    [Dexterity: 203]


    [Vitality: 560]


    [Speed: 480]


    [Mana: 4992]


    [Mana Regeneration: 4708 (+1337.072)]


    [Magic Power: 4351 (+44815.3)]


    [Magic Control: 4351 (+44815.3)]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 244]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 244]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 199]


    [Medicine: 210]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 236]


    [Phases of the Moon: 244]


    [Moonlight: 244]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 212]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 139]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 180]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 180]


    [Radiance Resistance: 180]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 180]


    [Radiance Manipulation: 180]


    [Sun-Kissed: 142]


    [Blaze: 180]


    [Talaria: 161]


    [Nova: 180]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 136]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 159]


    [Pretty: 135]


    [Bullet Time: 189]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 206]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 201]


    [Persistent Casting: 45]


    [Learning: 244]

 Chapter 132 – Returning Home II

    Chapter 132 ¨C Returning Home II


    The river had been moderately exciting. I kept hoping to hear a thread of adventure, of an injustice that needed to be rightened, but nope. Nada. Nothing. No great adventure to go on. It was a relief.


    I did manage to get a bunch of healing in, and spending time at the river was more fun when I wasn¡¯t scrubbing clothes or waiting for things to dry. I had mixed feelings on being at the center of attention. Back in Aquiliea, I¡¯d been angry and miserable, convinced the world was out to get me, still feeling raw and aching from Lyra¡¯s death. I¡¯d turned down what I now recognized were genuine overtures at friendship, content to simply withdraw into myself.


    I¡¯d done more than a bit of growing up since then.


    It didn¡¯t stop the constant smiling, the touching and healing everyone who asked ¡®just in case¡¯, nor the non-stop barrage of questions from being draining and tiring, but it wasn¡¯t the massive chore I had made it on myself before.


    Heck ¨C dare I say it ¨C that type of socializing was almost¡­


    Almost¡­


    ¡­nice?


    Either way, I¡¯d spent three days there, before bailing once word had spread I was hanging out here, healing everyone who asked. The area had started to turn more into ¡°The place to meet Sentinel Dawn¡± rather than ¡°The place to do laundry¡±, and I was starting to get the stink eye.


    Plus, nobody could say I hadn¡¯t filled my promise!


    Had to keep that in mind though ¨C where everyone was gathering to do chores together was a fantastic area of communication, where anything happening in a town was chattered about.


    How had I forgotten that?


    One of the women had been so grateful that I¡¯d healed not only her, but all her kids as well, that she offered to fix up what I was calling my ¡°disguise tunic¡±. Basically, I went from ¡°obviously wearing full armor under bad clothing¡± to ¡°pudgy body with a slender face¡±.


    As long as I wasn¡¯t wearing my sword under it, I looked fine. My potion satchel also fit under, no problem.


    Which was apparently an ideal body shape for Remus. When everyone was skinny, having a few extra pounds was attractive.


    Weird how cultures work that way.


    Long story short ¨C well, medium as it may be ¨C I¡¯d left Deva, jogged over to the next town over, lamenting my lack of [Running], spent a night camping next to a ring of mushrooms, and entered the town without too much trouble.


    I was wandering around as Healer Elaine, working on getting back to the capital. Healer Elaine would naturally need some bodyguards ¨C and on a practical note, they could help me deflect some problems ¨C however, the ¡®temporary bodyguard¡¯ market was slim.


    Slender.


    One could even call it non-existent, especially for a one-way trip like I wanted.


    Especially when I wanted to keep my secret identity. Mostly out of ¡°I don¡¯t want to be bugged.¡±


    Which is how I found myself in front of the worst building in any town. The last place I ever wanted to be. A wretched hive of scum and villainy, where no person of repute ever found employment.


    The Adventurer¡¯s Guild.


    I hesitated at the doorway. Did I really need bodyguards¡­? I could just do this on my own¡­?


    ¡°Hey sweetcheeks! Wanna have a good time?¡± Someone passing on the street catcalled to me.


    I entered. Fuck it. I was going to get someone or three to, at the very least, handle catcallers. Adventurers were pretty low on my totem pole. Catcallers were even lower.


    Dirt and bacteria were above both. They were at least useful most of the time!


    Also, adventurers could be used as a ¡®face¡¯, aka, I wouldn¡¯t need to negotiate passage on a ship. I could get someone else to do it for me, someone who wouldn¡¯t be looked down on, condescended to, or just flat-out denied based on appearances.


    Even if they were ¨C it was their problem to handle. Not mine.


    I looked around. I was expecting dirt and grime, a seedy-looking place three seconds away from lawlessness, if not outright brawls. Instead, I got a relatively clean, if sparse, room, a few tables and chairs scattered around. A counter, with a few clerks ¨C one in a heated argument with a team of three, them gesturing to a pelt of some sort and yelling loudly, the clerk with a stubborn look on his face.


    A number of low-lives adventurers were hanging around the room, generally with some misshapen set of armor and weapons, no real rhyme or reason to anything they had. A large board dominated one of the walls, color-coded pieces of paper with words and pictures on them scattered throughout.


    Probably the quests. My bet? Pictures for the ones that couldn¡¯t read, while the words had the details. A white piece of paper had a picture of a skull and crossbones ¨C some signs were fairly universal ¨C a picture of a slime, then twenty smaller slimes under it. I took a quick peek.


    E-Rank Quest.


    Slay 20 slimes in the sewers.


    32 coin reward.


    Seemed fairly straightforward.


    ¡°Hey! Healer chick!¡± Someone called to me. I turned to them, grumpy.


    ¡°What?¡± I snapped at him.


    ¡°Wanna join our team?¡± The dude asked ¨C a level 180 [Warrior].


    ¡°No.¡± I said.


    ¡°Aww, come on, don¡¯t-¡°


    ¡°I¡¯m here to give a quest, not take one.¡± I said curtly, ducking under his arm and stomping over to the desk. Bah.


    ¡°Hiya! I heard something about giving a quest?¡± The [Adventurer¡¯s Clerk] asked me.


    ¡°Yes. Hoping for an escort from here to the capital.¡± I said.


    ¡°Ok. Are you expecting to be moved there, or do you have transportation?¡±


    ¡°Hoping to book passage on a boat or something.¡±


    The [Adventurer¡¯s Clerk] made some notes.


    ¡°Anyone or anything after you?¡±


    ¡°Errr¡­ not to my knowledge.¡± I said. Kerberos¡¯s dad might have a mild grudge against me, but I didn¡¯t even know if he¡¯d gotten the news yet. Non-Sentinel, non-courier travel was slow, and I didn¡¯t see the news rating a high priority message.


    I got a skeptical look at that.


    ¡°Any bounties on you?¡±


    Hmmm. That was an interesting question. Was there a standing bounty on Sentinels? Did some criminal organization want our heads? Was there some dark, shady slave ring that¡¯d pay thousands of rods to be able to say they sold a Sentinel?


    ¡°Not from the government.¡± I eventually hedged.


    That got me a raised eyebrow, and a few chuckles from people overhearing.


    Furious scribbling at that ¨C much longer than what I¡¯d said.


    ¡°Want to tell us why you¡¯re going to the capital? There¡¯s a premium on secrecy.¡±


    ¡°Um. Going home?¡± I said, not quite sure how to answer that.


    I got another flat look.


    ¡°Ok. Want to tell us how you ended up here?¡±


    ¡°By boat? Or ship? Never can remember the difference between the two.¡±


    The poor clerk.


    ¡°Right, I¡¯ma call that a half-secret.¡±


    I thought fast. I didn¡¯t want to spend more money than I had to.


    ¡°I mean, my prior escort bailed on me, wanting to teach me a lesson.¡± I said with a straight face.


    Sounds of laughter from behind me.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ that¡¯s going to increase the price.¡± The [Adventurer¡¯s Clerk] told me.


    Dammit!


    ¡°Do you want a small, medium, or large escort? And do you want it to be A, B, or C ranked?¡±


    ¡°Lemme guess. Higher ranked is more expensive, bigger is more expensive.¡±


    I got a look of ¡°Well duh¡±, but to the clerk¡¯s credit, he smiled and kept on going.


    ¡°Naturally!¡±


    ¡°Could I pay some with healing? Like, old injuries, restored limbs, etc?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll make a note of it, and you can negotiate with anyone who wants to take it.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of, how does it work from my end?¡±


    ¡°Well, people or groups come up, asking to take the quest. We vet them, to make sure they meet our standards. For example, if you ask for A-rank adventurers, we wouldn¡¯t allow C-ranks to take it. However, if a B-rank wants to take a C-rank quest, we¡¯ll let them. At which point, we¡¯ll send them to you, and if you¡¯re happy, they¡¯re hired. You give us the money, and they get half the pay now, half later. You¡¯re also expected to pay for transportation, but they¡¯re expected to pay for their own provisions.¡±


    He paused a moment, then went into ¡°standard speech¡± mode.


    ¡°The Adventurer¡¯s Guild can¡¯t guarantee the safety of anyone, nor will its members commit suicide in the face of unreasonable odds. Additionally, for slaying or retrieval quests, adventurers may bail at any time. Payment on those quests is only delivered upon completion anyways.¡±


    Yeah, yeah.


    Seemed reasonable. I didn¡¯t really need an escort. I needed warm bodies to run interference, and smooth my path.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take a C-rank small team.¡± I said.


    ¡°You sure?¡± The [Adventurer¡¯s Clerk] said.


    I then got a long up-sell pitch, which I finally killed by relenting.


    ¡°Fine, fine, B-rank small team. If it¡¯s not too pricey.¡± I said.


    I was named a price.


    I thought on how many coins I had on me, and how much passage on a boat for four people probably cost.


    ¡°Nevermind. C-Rank.¡± I said. ¡°Can¡¯t afford the B-Rank.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± The clerk looked slightly embarrassed.


    The price dropped. I gave him a glare, for trying to fleece me.


    The price dropped a teeny tiny amount more.


    ¡°Fine. Also mention a quarter of the price off for anyone who needs serious healing beforehand.¡±


    Not said ¨C I¡¯d heal them anyways if they asked, and really needed it. I wasn¡¯t about to stoop to their level, and not help people who couldn¡¯t pay.


    But, hey, if I could get a free escort out of it? That was a form of payment.


    ¡°What can you heal?¡± He asked.


    I grinned.


    ¡°Everything.¡±


    Not entirely true, but anyone who made it to be an adventurer in the first place had injuries I could treat.


    They had little spartan rooms, both for adventurers looking for a place to crash, and for people like me, people requesting an escort mission and who didn¡¯t want to go haring all over the place.


    A small escort was looking for 3-5 people, and with the rank, and relative ease of the mission, it wasn¡¯t long before I had the first person knocking on my door.


    ¡°Enter!¡± I said. Job Interviewer Elaine here!


    Manager Elaine?


    Oh gods no.


    HR Elaine!?


    I¡¯d lived too long. I¡¯d seen myself become the villain.


    A giant of a man ¨C well, like, two heads shorter than Arthur, but a bit broader ¨C walked in.


    ¡°Here for the escort mission.¡± He said, looking at me with a half-sneer. ¡°Just do what I tell you, and I¡¯ll get your pretty little head back to the capital, safe and sound.¡±


    I blinked at him, taken slightly aback.


    ¡°Would you listen to me in a fight or a pinch?¡±


    He snorted at me.


    ¡°Fuck no.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Next!¡± I said.


    ¡°But-¡° He looked crestfallen, surprised that I dare have the gall to deny his request.


    ¡°I have no intention of working with someone who can¡¯t listen to me.¡±


    ¡°But you can¡¯t fight!¡± He protested.


    Ah shit. Was my cover blown? Healer Elaine couldn¡¯t fight.


    Meh. I just needed people willingly to listen to me, and at the bare minimum, he didn¡¯t treat me with respect.


    ¡°Out.¡± I said firmly, pointing to the door, suddenly realizing I was kinda trapped in here.


    Or¡­ not. I still had [Wall Buster].


    Hmmmm. Good to remember.


    My quest was popular, but my ¡°incredibly high standards¡± ¨C AKA ¡°Listen to me¡± ¨C meant it took some time to get my team ready.


    Brutus, a bare-knuckle brawler who mostly wanted the free passage to the capital. He took the healing discount option, and I fixed a half dozen poorly set broken bones, and a dozen more cracked ones.


    What was the dude doing!?


    Either way, he was a level 170 [Warrior]. Sure!


    Cassia, who¡¯d lost her arm somewhere along the line. She¡¯d been trying hard to earn enough money to afford a healer, and would¡¯ve done anything to be healed.


    She¡¯d gotten demoted to D-rank after losing her arm, and D-rank quests barely paid for the necessities of life, forget about amassing enough money for an expensive Light healer. She¡¯d been given special dispensation to apply, since with two arms she was a lean, mean B-ranker.


    She almost strangled me with joy when I fixed her arm.


    ¡°Don¡¯t¡­ kill... employer¡­¡± I¡¯d gasped out, pounding on her back.


    She probably felt the armor under my disguise tunic, but said nothing.


    ¡°You¡¯re the best! I¡¯ma start off by staying right here to stop anyone getting ideas!¡± She said, immediately leaning back on a chair like a tightly wound tiger, spinning a pair of knives in either hand, still flexing and looking at her new arm like it was a miracle.


    In many senses, it was a miracle for her.


    Another [Warrior], although I was pretty sure at this point that there was no [Rogue] designation or anything similar. I didn¡¯t see her in a straight up brawl, more being clever and slipping a knife past defenses. Level 180ish.


    Not that I saw us fighting.


    Atticus was last, with a fierce little protoavis on his shoulder. He seemed unwilling to listen to orders, but¡­


    ¡°By the goddesses, he¡¯s so cute!¡± I said, moving my finger in front of his protoavis, perched on his shoulders, wing-arms gripping the dude¡¯s mop of black hair.


    He burped, and a small little puff of fire came out.


    ¡°Whoops, haha, sorry.¡± Atticus said. ¡°He does that all the time.¡±


    ¡°So cute!¡± I squealed over him.


    ¡­I was a total sucker for it.


    He was a [Ranger], although I didn¡¯t see a bow or anything. Maybe he had a class related to his absolutely adorable little beastie, and that was enough? Around level 150, seemed low, but then again, there was his protoavis, which was also 150. I vaguely remembered something about bonded companions always being fixed at your level, with how experience was shared and what not.


    I should learn more about what classes got what designation. At what point did an [Artisan] making potions turn into a [Healer] designation? At what point did an all-rounder class ID as [Warrior] versus [Ranger]?


    Interesting questions for another day! I¡¯d have to bug Maximus when he was next in town, that seemed to be exactly the sort of thing he would know.


    Cassia rolled her eyes, but to her credit, didn¡¯t say anything. It wouldn¡¯t surprise me if she was having some doubts ¨C after all, I didn¡¯t seem to be taking this all that seriously.


    Didn¡¯t really feel I needed to.


    With my nominal escort assembled, it was time for the next challenge ¨C finding a ship to take us!


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 18]


    [Mana: 49920/49920]


    [Mana Regen: 40656 (+13370.7)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 40]


    [Strength: 236]


    [Dexterity: 203]


    [Vitality: 560]


    [Speed: 480]


    [Mana: 4992]


    [Mana Regeneration: 4708 (+1337.072)]


    [Magic Power: 4351 (+44815.3)]


    [Magic Control: 4351 (+44815.3)]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 244]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 244]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 199]


    [Medicine: 210]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 236]


    [Phases of the Moon: 244]


    [Moonlight: 244]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 212]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 139]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 180]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 180]


    [Radiance Resistance: 180]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 180]


    [Radiance Manipulation: 180]


    [Sun-Kissed: 142]


    [Blaze: 180]


    [Talaria: 161]


    [Nova: 180]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 136]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 159]


    [Pretty: 135]


    [Bullet Time: 189]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 206]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 201]


    [Persistent Casting: 45]


    [Learning: 244]

 Chapter 133 – Returning Home III

    I gathered our motley crew together.


    ¡°Hey all! Nice to meet you. Why don¡¯t we quickly get familiar with what we all do? I¡¯m Elaine, a [Healer]. I¡¯ve got most of the Light and Dark tricks. You get a problem, talk with me, I¡¯ll patch you up!¡±


    ¡°Brutus.¡± Brutus grunted, not super social. ¡°Hand to hand combat. Anyone down for a quick brawl? We¡¯ve got a healer on hand.¡±


    Cassia gave him the side eye. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Cassia. Knives. Quick and nimble. If it looks like I¡¯m ducking out of a fight ¨C I¡¯m not, I¡¯m either working on a flank, or grabbing Elaine here and getting her somewhere safe ¨C since that¡¯s our main goal.¡±


    ¡°HA!¡± Brutus roared. ¡°A coward¡¯s way! Just beat up any problem, and she¡¯s safe!¡±


    I missed the Rangers. Dear gods, I missed the Rangers so badly. I was regretting my choices immediately. The sheer lack of professionalism.


    Also, ideally, we¡¯d work and train as a team for a few weeks before moving out, getting to know each other and our fighting patterns, but¡­ time was money.


    Almost literally, as I¡¯d need to pay more the longer this took.


    ¡°Atticus. This here¡¯s Alpha.¡± He said, pointing to the protoavis on his shoulder. It squawked at all of us, letting us know in no uncertain terms who was boss.


    ¡°I know you didn¡¯t really say, but could you at least give us a hint why you wanted an escort to the capital?¡± Atticus said.


    Cassia and I gave him a Look.


    ¡°Ok. Imagine you¡¯re the captain of a merchant vessel. Some pint-size girl comes up to you, wanting a ride. What do you say?¡±


    ¡°No? The sea¡¯s no place for a lone woman?¡± Atticus asked, trying to see the trick in the question.


    I facepalmed as Cassia laughed her ass off.


    ¡°That¡¯s why she needs a damn escort!¡± She said. ¡°I heard her trying to arrange for the quest ¨C wanted the bare minimum. You basically just need us to smooth things for you from here to the capital, no?¡±


    ¡°Exactly!¡± I said. ¡°Also, as to why I¡¯m going to the capital ¨C I live there. I don¡¯t live here. Hence. Needing to get home.¡±


    I looked at Brutus, hulking giant, disappointed that we weren¡¯t going to have a friendly getting-to-know-you brawl. I looked at Atticus, slightly scruffy looking, but otherwise fairly presentable.


    I weighed the odds of Brutus making it to the docks and back without a fight.


    Nah.


    If anything, I¡¯d be taking bets if he got over or under three fights.


    Cassia would probably have the same problem I¡¯d have.


    ¡°Hey Atticus ¨C can you find and arrange transportation for us on a ship to the capital?¡±


    He looked at me. He looked around, at Cassia flipping knives, and Brutus getting bored and starting to lift his chair as a workout.


    ¡°A wise choice. Sure. What¡¯s our budget?¡±


    With a huge amount of stealth I took off my backpack, turned around so the contents were hidden, and started rummaging through it.


    Ok, so it was obvious I was trying to keep the contents secret.


    I looked at my much-diminished stash of coins. I reserved half a rod¡¯s worth ¨C for my own food ¨C and named how much was left.


    ¡°Ehhhh. Yeah lemme see if I can make that work.¡± He said. ¡°Mind if I head out?¡±


    Alpha squawked at me, letting me know it wasn¡¯t a request. I rolled my eyes at the imperious bird.


    ¡°Yeah, go nuts.¡±


    Atticus left, and I looked around. Brutus was now doing pull ups on the doorframe, while Cassia was twirling a knife around with her newly created arm, still looking at it like it was a marvel.


    ¡°I still can¡¯t get over this.¡± She said. ¡°You¡¯ve given me a new lease on life. You sure you don¡¯t need a long-term bodyguard?¡±


    I hesitated.


    ¡°Maybe. Let¡¯s talk about it later?¡±


    ¡°Yeah sure.¡±


    I expected there to be a snag, a snafu, some problem. A thief in the night. Atticus running off with the coin, instead of paying passage. A captain who took one look at us and refused passage. Cassia cutting herself as she re-learned her arm. It went almost entirely smoothly, and I found us packing up to leave nearly seven days later.


    Seven very boring days.


    Hey, it wasn¡¯t every day a merchant was leaving for the capital.


    Brutus, predictably, was the problem, as he insulted and tried to brawl nearly everyone on the way to the docks.


    Except the guard. He wouldn¡¯t mess with the guards, and that gave me a happy warm smile that I kept to myself. He did flip them off when their back was turned though, which just continued to give me a low opinion of him, and adventurers in general.


    I was trying to be nice, to give them a shot without my prejudices showing. It was hard.


    After the third brawl with a sailor ¨C we were so close to the boat, dammit! ¨C I had to pull him aside and remind him.


    ¡°Look, please, we¡¯re all trying to get to the capital. If the guard gets mad at you, you¡¯ll have to pay the fine yourself.¡±


    He looked stunned at the revelation.


    ¡°But I¡¯m guarding you!¡±


    ¡°But I don¡¯t need guarding from someone you pick a fight with!¡±


    ¡°How else could they know you¡¯re not to be messed with! Plus, free healing. Always nice. I can fight all day!¡±


    I pinched the bridge of my nose. Adventurers.


    ¡°Look, please just follow along.¡±


    We boarded the boat, and while I hadn¡¯t quite thought of it, I was fine with the arrangement.


    Basically, Cassia and I got a room together, and Brutus and Atticus got a room together.


    On the other side of the boat.


    Not great for escorting me around, but ah well, Cassia was nearby, and I wasn¡¯t expecting problems.


    I¡¯d kinda expected to have my own spot by myself, but this worked. I wasn¡¯t going to complain.


    We had a quick huddle as we got on board and stashed our stuff.


    AKA I kept carrying around all my gear, because I didn¡¯t trust anyone to not rifle through it.


    ¡°Captain says it¡¯ll take three weeks to get there. We¡¯re not expected to help, but we¡¯re expected to stay out of the way. Meals are twice a day in the mess, and we¡¯re welcome to join. Might not be the best food, but hey. It is what it is.¡±


    Three weeks!? It had taken Ocean three days!


    I looked around the creaking ship. It was big. Four layers of decks, each one loaded down with crates of stuff ¨C trade goods from the town to the capital.


    From the smell I was getting ¨C wine. A boatload of wine.


    This was also one of the larger trading vessels I¡¯d seen.


    Made sense to be so slow¡­? Maybe?


    Heck if I knew.


    ¡°Sounds good.¡± I said.


    ¡°Also¡­¡± Atticus said, then looked at me, looked at Cassia¡¯s knives, and hesitated.


    ¡°What?¡±


    He took a step back.


    ¡°CaptainSaidNotToTemptTheSailorsThisIsAShipNotABrothel.¡± He spat out as fast as he could, then turned and ran.


    Cassia was most certainly a physical class, specializing in both speed and dexterity. I¡¯m pretty sure she stabbed extra-hard, and poked him a few times more than she normally would, on the basis of me being around.


    First day ¨C first hour ¨C and we were already leaving blood on the planks.


    Wonderful.


    This trip was going to go swimmingly.


    Our cabin was tiny, and we didn¡¯t even have beds, just a pair of hammocks. Didn¡¯t even have anywhere to store our stuff, just a few ropes tied to the wall.


    ¡°Usually this is the 3rd mate¡¯s quarters.¡± Cassia happily told me, expertly tying her bag to the wall. ¡°Nice of them to let us have it.¡±


    Uh huh. Nice.


    Well, nothing for it.


    I tied my bag to the wall, blessing Ocean for having given me a crash course on knots, even though I remembered like, three. I know he¡¯d taught me a better knot for this, but I had no idea what it was.


    ¡°I¡¯m not one to pry¡­¡± Cassia said.


    ¡°But you¡¯re going to pry.¡± I said with a sigh.


    She held her hands up in surrender.


    ¡°I just wanna know if whoever owns your armor knows you have it, and will be coming after us! Is it some soldier that you¡¯re on the run from? Oooh! Or is there some romantic story! Tell me everything!¡± She said, eyes gleaming.


    I gave her a flat look.


    ¡°¡­ how about knucklebones?¡± She suggested.


    Meh. Anything to change the topic.


    Cassia wrecked me. I¡¯d forgotten just how badly I lost at physical games of skill.


    She didn¡¯t even need to cheat!


    I ended up spending most of my time in my cabin, bored, going more than slightly nuts from the boredom. The ever-present wine fumes didn¡¯t help, and if it wasn¡¯t for sleeping under [Veil of the Aurora], I believed I¡¯d wake up tipsy. I¡¯d specifically excluded alcohol from my [Persistent Casting], wanting to have the option of getting drunk now and then, knowing I could always purge it with [Phases of the Moon] if needed.


    And bonus! I never needed to worry about liver damage or anything else like that! Being a healer was awesome.


    When I did wander out now and then, Atticus and Brutus were, to their credit, always somewhat around, and we¡¯d all eat our meals together. ¡°Sailor Slop¡± it was called, and I eyed the mess somewhat uneasily before figuring that I¡¯d eaten worse during hell months, and that I could heal myself if it ended up being that badly poisoned.


    The fact that I tucked into it with only a moment of hesitation seemingly won me high marks in the mysterious calculations of the sailors. Which led to them propositioning me and Cassia. Which led to Brutus happily, cheerfully, and entirely unbidden ¡°defending¡± us ¨C usually with his fists.


    I didn¡¯t need ¡°defending¡±, nor did Cassia! Blasted unprofessional adventurers.


    Which led to an unhappy captain. Despite the fact that I healed everyone up.


    And since it was touch-based, the sailors quickly got it in their head of ¡°sexually harass Elaine, get touched by her after a short beating¡±


    Perverts.


    Which led to me spending all my time in the cabin, to minimize more problems.


    Which led to me not noticing the mist rolling over the boat.


    Which led to me missing the non-existent sound of a ship creeping through the waves towards us.


    Which led to me not hearing the cloth-wrapped footsteps of pirates landing on the deck, three at a time.


    No, the first time I became aware of any of this, realized there was a problem, was when the door burst open, and Atticus and Brutus slowly backed into the room, making it cramped beyond belief. It was hard to see past them, especially as we got pushed all the way to the back of the room, my back pressed against the hull, but I could see some brightly colored slashes of cloth, swords, and mean, gravely noises.


    ¡°Alright! Hands in the air, where we can see them!¡± A nasty voice came through. ¡°We¡¯re the Silver Manacles! Resist and be run through!¡±


    Joy. Pirates.


    ¡°You lot are adventurers, right?¡±


    ¡°R-right.¡± Atticus stuttered out, his protoavis completely silent.


    ¡°What are you lot doing here?¡±


    ¡°E-e-escorting her.¡± Atticus said, pointing to me.


    Somehow a minor gap appeared, and the pirates could now see me.


    The lead pirate had no parrot, no eyepatch, no peg leg, I was disappointed. Instead he just looked hungry and mean, and was eyeing me up with no small amount of glee.


    ¡°A pretty [Healer]! I¡¯ve always wanted me one of those!¡± He said.


    ¡°Right then. You lot have a quest or some shit to move her, right?¡±


    ¡°R-r-right.¡± Atticus said.


    I was starting to see why he was only level 150. Complete fear in the face of adversity.


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s thirty of us, and three of you. How about we pay you to stand down, we¡¯ll tie you up or some shit, and you can claim you tried and failed. We¡¯re doing the same with the sailors ¨C only taking half their shit, and nobody dies.¡±


    Atticus¡¯s head bobbled like it had lost all bones. Brutus just folded his arms.


    Cassia, bless her, stepped in.


    ¡°And you promise nothing will happen to me?¡±


    Aaaaand there went my evaluation of her.


    The pirate eyed her up.


    ¡°Yeah, no, nothing.¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡± She said.


    ¡°I fixed your arm!¡± I cried in protest, unable to believe the treachery.


    She shot me a sympathetic look.


    ¡°I know. I¡¯m sorry. But there¡¯s nothing I can do.¡±


    I looked to Brutus.


    ¡°I love a good brawl. But one against forty? I can¡¯t do that. Nobody can win one against fifty.¡±


    ¡°Ha! Hear that missy? Now come along, real quiet like, and this will be over soon enough.¡±


    I looked around the tiny, cramped room. The three adventurers, with Cassia the only one showing an ounce of shame. The pirates, leering at me, promising a terrible end.


    I unhooked the clasp of my cloak, letting it fall to the ground, rolling my shoulders, getting ready for a fight.


    ¡°Fucking useless adventurers.¡±


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 18]


    [Mana: 49920/49920]


    [Mana Regen: 40656 (+13370)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 40]


    [Strength: 236]


    [Dexterity: 203]


    [Vitality: 560]


    [Speed: 480]


    [Mana: 4992]


    [Mana Regeneration: 4708 (+1337.072)]


    [Magic Power: 4351 (+44815.3)]


    [Magic Control: 4351 (+44815.3)]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 244]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 244]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 199]


    [Medicine: 210]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 236]


    [Phases of the Moon: 244]


    [Moonlight: 244]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 212]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 139]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 180]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 180]


    [Radiance Resistance: 180]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 180]


    [Radiance Manipulation: 180]


    [Sun-Kissed: 142]


    [Blaze: 180]


    [Talaria: 161]


    [Nova: 180]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 136]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 159]


    [Pretty: 135]


    [Bullet Time: 189]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 206]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 201]


    [Persistent Casting: 48]


    [Learning: 244]

 Chapter 134 – Returning Home IV

    My disguise tunic ¨C bless the woman who¡¯d stitched it for me ¨C fluttered to the ground, inscriptions lighting up as I activated them.


    There was a stunned silence as I quickly walked back ¨C deeper into the room ¨C grabbing one of the ¡°all in one¡± boosting potions I had in my potion satchel which I¡¯d kept on me the entire time, quickly downing it.


    I had to make several snap calls right now, without the time to think about them fully and properly. I was a mage, and I was alone. I was up against a bunch of warriors, in close, cramped quarters. Heck, you could barely swing a sword in here, let alone do anything else.


    With how everyone had shoved themselves into the room, I¡¯d been pushed to the very back of the room, separated from my bag.


    And my sword.


    I had my ever-present knife on me though, and with how cramped everything was, a knife was infinitely better than a sword. I didn¡¯t want to be close enough to anyone to start stabbing though. The rule on physical versus magic Classer fights was when the physical Classer closed in, they won.


    I didn¡¯t need it ¨C I was a healer first, a mage second, and stabbing someone with a sword was plan F, aka everything¡¯s fucked, but it would be nice to have.


    Not all that critical, so I left it behind. I¡¯d pick one up from a pirate. They were all close enough to each other for my purpose.


    I had my knife, and I had my magic. That was enough for me. Better than trying to push through the crowd, grab my bag, rifle through it, get my sword, and go.


    I had some specialized gemstones, and some powerful gemstones. I didn¡¯t want to blow the powerful ones right off the bat. Like Sealing¡¯s barrier gem. That was a ¡®break in case of emergencies¡¯, and while bad, this wasn¡¯t at that level of emergency yet.


    I needed space. I needed a lot of space, and I needed it fast.


    As I was guzzling the potion as fast as I could, my other arm reached out, touching the wall of the ship.


    Bless not needing to say skills. Otherwise I¡¯d never have been able to use [Wall Buster] on the wall while I was drinking down the last of my potion.


    The resulting explosion brought people back to their senses.


    ¡°Get her!¡± The pirate called out.


    The adventurers weren¡¯t entirely useless. They made it slightly harder for pirates to follow me, filling up space in the cramped cabin.


    Internal moveable ballast. Basically, all they were good for.


    I didn¡¯t want to blow us all up, and the adventurers were, at this point, technically neutral. I couldn¡¯t harm them, not even as collateral damage, so throwing [Nova] around was out of the question.


    A thin beam of Radiance though, was entirely on the menu. I shot it out at the first pirate pushing his way through the cramped room, aiming for his face and eyes. He went down with a scream, and some knives started to fly towards me, mostly over Cassia¡¯s head, activating [Bullet Time]. I threw up [Veil], noting my mana getting chunked as the knives hit.


    I took a quick moment to look outside.


    A deep, heavy fog covered everything, but I could distantly, faintly, see the sun shining.


    Fog? In the middle of the day, with the sun shining through it? This was a skill.


    And Radiance was good against Mist, which fog had to be part of. I started to blast as much Radiance as I could in a powerful cone, sweeping it around, trying to do enough damage to the skill to break it, to allow the sunlight to shine though and give me a flight path.


    I dropped [Veil] so I could see. Benefit of a snap-shield. I could drop it and raise it, as long as some skill wasn¡¯t persistently pushing on it ¨C like a gout of flame or pressing a blade into it or something.


    I looked back at the pirates starting to move. Kerberos¡¯s surprise movement skill was still fresh in my mind, and if a pirate got a hand on me, they¡¯d be able to use their superior physical stats and bulk to just pin me down and hold me, and I¡¯d flat-out die at that point. Like, I could kill the first one, but I¡¯d still be pinned by the body, letting the second one get to me. The third. The fourth. It was how mages died, and they¡¯d talked about making me a slave, which strongly implied that they had mana-disabling skills. Or some other skill that could cripple and disable me.


    Fuck. That.


    Best to get moving now, and avoid any surprises like that. Either movement surprises, quick-slash moves, or a crippling skill of some sort.


    I wanted to give my attacks on the Mist enough time to break the skill, to let the sun shine down on me, letting me grab some airtime with [Talaria]. Being a flier, being up above everyone else, being able to rain down attacks on them, was exactly the position I wanted to be in. Much better than the cramped quarters that let physical dudes get a chance at me.


    I¡¯d probably need to re-enter the ship at some point, but I had a plan for that. I needed nobody to be looking at me when that happened though.


    Still, I wasn¡¯t going to stick around. If I waited any longer, they¡¯d either break [Veil] and be close enough to me to grab me, or drain all my mana hitting [Veil] hard. Both were bad. I gave one last sweep of Radiance, the sun showing up. Perfect!


    It had only been about five seconds since I¡¯d blown a hole open in the hull. If one thing had been hammered into my head ¨C fights were fast.


    I jumped off the side of the boat, grabbing the sunlight with [Talaria] ¨C


    Only for a fogbank to roll back over me, canceling out my skill.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± I yelled, as I dropped down.


    While [Veil] was an option, standing on my [Veil] still ate mana at an atrocious rate. I¡¯d only used it to break my fall so I didn¡¯t land too hard on the ground, but I was going to hit water ¨C no need to slow down too much. I¡¯d just swim back out.


    Didn¡¯t stop me from using [Veil] right before the water, so I didn¡¯t sink too deep. I wanted to be mostly near the surface, to easily get back out. Water wasn¡¯t my domain at all, and I was scared of going too deep.


    Of the monsters that had to be lurking below.


    I hit the water, having dropped some 5 meters or so to it, [Veil]-bouncing not included, and promptly started to sink like a rock. I stabilized and started swimming back up after only dropping half a meter or so under water. A reasonable depth, easy enough to swim out of. I opened my eyes, the water making everything look weird.


    On Earth, if a person, regardless of how strong a swimmer they were, fell into the water wearing a bunch of armor, they would drown.


    Bless stats. Bless potions. Bless the inscriptions on my armor.


    All of it made swimming doable, like I was wearing a normal outfit. I started to kick and work my way back up, before I processed exactly what I was seeing.


    Three pirates ¨C I had to assume they were pirates ¨C had been lurking underwater, blades drawn.


    And they were swimming towards me.


    Fuck.


    Fuck fuck fuck fuck.


    Radiance was almost completely useless inside of water like this ¨C the water split the beam, and all the heat and energy was just eaten by the water, which dispersed it all over the place. Basically, I cooked the water, not whatever was threatening me.


    And I¡¯d jumped out without a weapon. Although, I still had my knife. A knife, underwater though, where their skills reigned supreme? Nah. Better to ambush them with Radiance.


    And the pirates seemed to have some ability to either breathe underwater, or stay under a long time. They could just¡­ grab my legs and pull me down until I drowned.


    They reached me, and I¡¯ll admit, I started to panic, thinking I was dead. I burst through the surface of the water, and I took great big gasping breaths, choking and coughing out water.


    Air! Life! Fuck the water, I knew it was a bad idea to be over it.


    Ocean was a certifiable lunatic, wanting to be in and near water.


    Two of them went to either side of me, weapons in hand, and, instead of grabbing my legs and pulling me to the depths -


    Surfaced next to me.


    With their blades still drawn, pointed to me in warning. I practically went cross-eyed trying to see one of them.


    Hint. Taken.


    ¡°Listen missy.¡± One of the pirates was saying. ¡°I know being a slave¡¯s bad, but dying¡¯s so much worse! Just give it a few years, eh?¡±


    I blinked at him.


    Did he ¨C


    Ha!


    Sexism strikes again, in my favor! He was too busy seeing the pretty female face that he missed the ¡°armored like hell¡± and ¡°glowing dangerously¡± parts.


    And I hadn¡¯t been crippled either! [Healer] tag striking in my favor!


    Wait, why would there be pirates in the water? Why would they so naturally point swords at me instead of drowning me, and instantly start talking about ¡®slavery not being that bad?¡¯


    Ah. 500 coins said that people tried to jump ship ¨C or throw cargo overboard ¨C to dodge the pirates all the time, and they were here to quite literally fish the ¡®valuable cargo¡¯ out of the water.


    It wasn¡¯t that they were missing the glowing armor or anything. They probably just didn¡¯t care, didn¡¯t register as a threat. I¡¯d dived overboard, which implied I wasn¡¯t a fighter, and to be fair, I was a healer-tag, with two swords at my throat.


    Heck, in their shoes, I¡¯d assume I was doomed.


    Two pirates. One on either side. Two blades pointed at my neck.


    It was pretty clear cut, but I saw no reason to not, you know, negotiate a hair. I¡¯ll give them half a chance to live.


    ¡°Unhand me or die.¡± I said. As I said. Half a chance.


    Their grip tightened, and I felt some skill take hold, trying to move all my mana regeneration to¡­ something else. Was that an underwater breathing buff they were trying to give me, crippling my mana in exchange? Made sense ¨C the guard had a similar skill to take people prisoner, it was only logical that ¡®fish slaves out of the water¡¯ pirates had a similar crippling skill. Prevent pretty slaves with [Nova] from blowing them all up while they slept.


    Right then.


    I had the [Curse Breaker] gem ¨C I was going to kill them both, and see if the curse persisted. Then I¡¯d consider breaking it.


    Although, if it really was underwater breathing, I might want to keep it around. Seemed handy in the current situation.


    I wasn¡¯t going to give them the time.


    I wrapped my hands around the first dude¡¯s sword ¨C his hands were too far away ¨C mentally throwing both a [Nova] and a tight beam of deadly Radiance at the second dude. I wasn¡¯t quite sure how much to kill the dude, and I wanted ¨C needed ¨C him dead, so I could fight the dude in front of me. No sense trying to perfectly kill both of them, only for both to live then kill me. I¡¯d take my chances in a grappling 1v1 then maybe killing both, or maybe being in a 2v1.


    [*Ding!* You have slain a [Shallow Diver] (Water, lv 130)// [Slaver Pirate] (Metal, lv 111)]


    The blast from [Nova] burned and scarred the first dude, the second one having been instantly killed. I¡¯d expected the first pirate to try and run me through, at which point I¡¯d do my best to deflect, dodge, or just plain sink to avoid the attack, but instead he reflexively brought his hands up to his face, trying to protect his eyes against the burning [Nova] explosion that¡¯d occurred point-blank, ripping the sword right out of my hands. It¡¯d be a futile attempt to try and restrain him physically somewhat, but hey. It was better than doing nothing.


    He sliced himself somewhat with his sword, and I finished the job with a brief burst of Radiance through his head, right before I started sinking again.


    I kept my eyes open underwater, seeing the pirate¡¯s sword dropped right in front of me.


    I grabbed his sword before it could sink into the depths.


    Now I was armed with something a little more dangerous than a kitchen knife.


    The curse was also gone. Ah well, so much for underwater breathing. I¡¯d probably have broken it anyways, just to get the regeneration back. I had tons of Arcanite, but every bit mattered.


    I started to just widely blast Radiance into the mist around me, as I looked around.


    I took a moment to take stock of my surroundings. The mist was starting to clear ¨C all my work on it had clearly managed to break the skill, and now that it wasn¡¯t powered by a skill, the sun was doing its thing. The merchant ship was large, and there was a much smaller ship tied up next to it ¨C obviously the pirate¡¯s ship. They didn¡¯t seem to be moving much, which was good. Easier for them to board, easier for the three underwater pirates to hang about, easier for a skill to roll a fogbank out and coat them. I seemed to have come out on the other side of the ship than the one I blasted open ¨C so no crowd of people looking down on me. I had a few moments of relative alone-ness. Except for that one pirate still underwater.


    Right. First things first. I needed to get out of the water. [Talaria] didn¡¯t work when my feet were underwater. Fortunately, the last diver pirate was staying far away from me ¨C I could see him swimming under me, like a deadly shark, waiting to strike in a moment of inattentiveness.


    I scrabbled against the smooth hull of the ship, unable to get any purchase to lift myself out of the water. No luck.


    The pirate ship had oars out on one side of it, the side not hooked up to the merchant¡¯s ship. If my next few things didn¡¯t work, I¡¯d swim over there. I wanted to avoid doing a bunch of swimming, it would make it easier for a pirate to spot me and try to shoot me while I was in the water.


    I tried to stab the hull of the ship with the sword. It just deflected off.


    Bloody skills. The captain probably had something like [Strong Hull] or something equally absurd, preventing my relatively light blows from landing or gaining any purchase.


    My evaluation of [Wall Buster] went up a dozen notches, before I remembered Night telling me not to use it on town walls, unless I really had to.


    Yeah, if it could take out a town wall, a ship¡¯s hull would be like paper before it.


    Ok, I couldn¡¯t lift myself out of the water enough to get a purchase with [Talaria]. Time to be inventive, before I was forced to swim and expose myself more.


    Think¡­ Think¡­


    This was the most awkward solution.


    I flipped myself upside down, and started doing a weird stroke ¨C mostly just moving myself a bunch ¨C until my feet were sticking out of the water, and the rest of me was under water. I activated, and could feel [Talaria] gaining purchase, at which point I half awkwardly ¡°stepped down¡± upwards, half swam up and out of the water, until I was fully out.


    A quick, athletic half-flip later, and I was upright again, climbing fast until I was looking down on both ships.


    I had a nice, bright Radiance glow coming out of me ¨C not so bright that you couldn¡¯t look, but bright enough that you¡¯d need to squint, or shade your eyes.


    The rising of the sun.


    The Dawn had arrived.


    I mentally cursed that a leather skirt was part of the standard outfit. I needed to talk with the Quartermaster about a different outfit.


    I used the [Amplify Voice] gem to make myself loud.


    ¡°Pirates!¡± I said, grabbing everyone¡¯s attention. I winced ¨C there was nothing in the skill that stopped blowback. How did people not go deaf using this skill?


    ¡°I am Sentinel Dawn.¡± I said, quickly thinking of and discarding a dozen different things to say. Whatever. Keep it short and sweet, speak their language.


    ¡°Fuck off or die.¡±


    Yeah, that was about as straightforward as I could manage.


    Dozens of pirates boiled out of the ships, onto the deck. Including the pirate that had been the leader of the pirates accosting me, and a very fancy-looking pirate, who I mentally dubbed ¡°The Boss¡±. Looked like the boss.


    ¡°Kill her!¡± He shouted, loud enough that the voice carried to me. With a roar, the pirates started to throw weapons and skills at me, most not coming close.


    Fine then.


    ¡°Anyone may surrender at any time by kneeling down and putting their hands on their head.¡± I announced. Had to give people a way out, otherwise they¡¯d all fight to the death. Give people a retreat and all that.


    ¡°The rest of you ¨C¡±


    ¡°Perish.¡±

 Chapter 135 – Returning Home V

    Time to put my SERE training to the test, push it to the limits. It¡¯d been designed for a full Ranger team against a rebellion or large bandit camp ¨C but one Sentinel against a few dozen pirates was roughly the same scale and ratio.


    I started to pulse the Radiance glow around me rapidly, pushing it to full strength one moment, withdrawing it to almost nothing the next, then pushing it out again. It was possible to adapt to a constant, bright glow. It was almost impossible to adapt to a disco-ball style rave ball, constantly flashing bright lights. I was going through a dozen cycles per second.


    Warning: Looking at Sentinel Dawn may trigger seizures for people with photosensitive epilepsy.


    The attacks started to go askew, even more than before ¨C most people weren¡¯t equipped to shoot down a rare flier in the first place ¨C and I kept moving as fast as I could, remembering to constantly draw in additional mana out of the Arcanite in my armor, making sure I was perpetually topped off.


    It became rapidly clear that there was at least a Wood and a Metal mage, who I mentally added to my list with the Mist-aligned pirate that had to be running around. I wouldn¡¯t put it past them for there to be other types of mages, but so far, their attacks were easy enough to avoid. Screwing everyone¡¯s vision up was great. Hard to hit what you can¡¯t see.


    A few shots did come close, but they were spent, clattering harmlessly off my armor.


    And being a flier, well, air versus ground combat was pretty easy from my perspective. Just drop stuff on them.


    Like [Nova].


    I started to drop [Nova] on crowded clumps of pirates, then rapidly changed to ¡°whatever pirate I could still see¡± as a half-dozen kill notifications came streaming in, and the pirates ¨C captain included ¨C vanished off the deck to below-decks on both ships, leaving with me the smoky remains of some small fires burning.


    I didn¡¯t use my beams, because they were only effective in a relatively short range. [Nova] could travel much further, and it kept me out of range of more skills, as well as making attacks travel twice as far to get me.


    One [Nova] was generally enough to kill the average pirate, and just over a second worth of Radiance beams on a head killed. From the looks of their classes, that was for physical Classers. Magical Classers would probably go down faster.


    I eyed the ships, and for a moment, seriously considered just burning both of them down. I shook my head.


    There were innocents on the merchant ship for sure, and from the classes and what I¡¯d seen of the pirates, they were busy capturing a bunch of people to sell off as slaves. While their boat was more like a longboat, and it¡¯d break apart and give people a chance to swim away, there was no telling if people were chained to each other, chained to the hull, or something else.


    The merchant¡¯s ship would end up being a coffin for anyone inside without a good underwater breathing skill, and even then, there was no telling how far it could be pushed.


    Plus, I still wanted a lift home.


    Could I¡­ just steal the pirate ship and sail that away on my own?


    I considered it, before realizing that there was no guarantee that people on the ship would know how to sail. I cursed my lack of sailing lessons.


    Fine. The hard way it was.


    I flew over to the pirate ship, and proceeded to happily set as many sails and ropes on fire as I could find though. It shouldn¡¯t spread too badly, not with skills being involved, and it might light a fire under the pirate¡¯s asses.


    Although ¨C whoops, sails burned really fast.


    I also tried to burn things that looked important. Blowing stuff up was so much easier than building stuff.


    I did a quick sweep, looking at the various weapons that had been dropped, either by a panicking pirate, or by one of the pirates I¡¯d managed to kill. I found a sword that was almost exactly like the usual short swords I was used to using. Army surplus? A caravan raided? Some soldier turned to a life of crime?


    Irrelevant questions honestly. I upgraded.


    Eight down so far. Generally between level 110 to 160. The dude had said there were thirty pirates, but after the goblins, I didn¡¯t believe that was the right number. They either inflated the number, to seem more intimidating, or deliberately undersold the amount. Still.


    More of the pirates seemed to be on the merchant ship than the pirate ship, so I decided to start with the pirate ship. I looked at the deck, flames surrounding me as the ropes burned, toppled barrels rolling around. I looked at the two entrances, open, inviting me in like a wolf invites a rabbit into his maw.


    No way there weren¡¯t weapons readied for me.


    At the same time, there were no eyes on me. I could finally implement the next part of my plan.


    Time to be clever.


    I¡¯d been given a bunch of gemstones to help me out, and some were a lot stronger than others. [Light] was pretty weak, all the way up to the [Wall Buster] I¡¯d used, and another skill I considered the strongest I had on me.


    [Invisibility With Eyeholes].


    I cast it, seeing my body just¡­ vanish. It was disconcerting, to say the least. Like, how did it know to move with me? How did it keep my sword invisible? How did¡­


    I wasn¡¯t going to overthink it. All hail magic. All hail skills.


    To play it safe, I also hit myself with [Muffle], and [Tracks-Be-Gone]. No idea if the [Tracks-Be-Gone] would do anything, but hey. I was in a bit of a pinch here.


    I did some experimental jumps, seeing the eye holes jump with me. I then willed it to stay as I dropped down, and the entire world dropped away from me, inky darkness surrounding me as I lay down on what I assumed was the deck of the ship, the eye slits shining light inside.


    Freaky.


    I stood back up, and got the eye slits realigned. Right. I could see out of it, and they could only see my eyes, if they were looking in the right place. Talk about major advantages! At the same time, I was slightly worried. Radiance was the bane of Mirage skills ¨C if I blasted too many shots through the skill, would I break it?


    Possibly. Possibly not. I needed this skill too badly to risk it though, which left¡­


    Laser eyes.


    Meh. I suppose I could also slip an invisible knife between their ribs, or slit their throat.


    Oh wait ¨C something to try really fast¡­


    Nope. Couldn¡¯t fly while invisible. No sunlight reaching my feet.


    Fine then. Sneaky [Arcane Trickster] Elaine time!


    I glanced at the other ship, still tied to the pirate boat. I had a plan I wanted to use to get in¡­ but it¡¯d need to wait for the bigger, badder boat. Fewer people here, I could test run how this went.


    From my understanding of invisibility, I was still there, just hidden. I had a good grasp of myself, I knew where all my limbs were without needing to look or see them or get any sort of feedback.


    People would look for me at head level. My major weakness right now were my eyes being seen.


    My solution? Crawl on the floor. Especially the first few times, before they caught on that I was invisible, I might be able to sneak past some eyes.


    I was seriously tempted to stick the sword in my teeth. Horribly impractical, but I was fighting pirates.


    Sadly, practicality won out.


    I considered just blasting through the floor, although I couldn¡¯t see who was on the other end.


    Although... could I drill little holes through the planks, then look down through them, and snipe whoever I saw?


    The idea seemed to have merit, although as I thought about it, I realized a key weakness.


    I¡¯d have to block the hole with my eye as I looked, which would give them a great ¡°Shoot here¡± indicator.


    However, the idea was still valid for a distraction.


    I ran up and down the length of the hull, looking down and firing little blasts of Radiance, just enough to burn through the deck, not enough to do much more than that. Took me a few tries to get the hang of it, but hey. It worked.


    It was also a solid destabilization trick. Make them worried. Make them afraid. Make them think I was everywhere, that I could kill them at any time. More SERE tactics.


    Heck, if they were an encampment, I¡¯d just raid them every night, taking out one or two each time. Sadly, they were not, and I¡¯d need to sleep eventually.


    Wait.


    I could totally do that couldn¡¯t I? Hide on the boat, sneak out, kill a pirate or two, then sneak back to a hiding spot? Like a murderous stowaway?


    Eh. It¡¯d take a long time, and I had no idea how long [Invisibility with Eyeholes] would last. I¡¯d need to ask for more gemstones. Why did they only outfit us with one each? Plus, they could just sail away to their pirate hideout, then I¡¯d need to deal with more pirates.


    Although ¨C were pirate hideouts a real thing, or something fake? Too many blasted holes in my memory to tell. Fuck Papilion.


    Fine. I¡¯d pretend they were real, to avoid bad situations. Gotta ask Ocean later.


    I was saving my [Cast Scream] for the merchant¡¯s ship, and I felt brave enough to crawl along the ground to the entrance towards the lower deck of the pirate¡¯s ship. I took a quick peek in.


    Seven pirates, none of them looking at me. Dozens of slaves, huddled along the side, collars around their neck, chained to each other, chained to the walls. I broke out in a nervous sweat. Glad I hadn¡¯t burned the ship down.


    There were four large benches on either side, with a nice cushion on them. Four massive oars were in and folded, one per bench. The other four, on the side of the water, were out. Interesting. Instead of a bunch of galley slaves rowing the boat, the pirates elected to have a few powerful pirates row instead. Stopped a slave with a good skill from fouling everything up ¨C or a slave without good skills slowing them down ¨C letting them go much faster.


    They weren¡¯t terribly well organized though. Crates and barrels were strewn all over, no real organization that I could see. Coils of ropes, some primitive torches here and there cast light and shadows all over.


    The pirates were huddled near each other, looking at the ceiling. Six of them had weapons drawn, and the last one was pointing with his finger.


    Mage?


    [Identify] confirmed a mage, level 170. Yikes.


    There was a creaking noise, and the pirates all whirled towards it.


    Just normal ship noises.


    I had them jumpy though, which was nice.


    They were grouped up, which was less nice. Ideally, they¡¯d all be separated.


    I considered throwing a [Nova] at them, and trying to one-shot the entire group.


    Blasted slaves made it hard.


    Hmmm.


    I eyed them up. I eyed the slaves up. I thought about [Nova].


    I shook my head. No [Nova] blast in the middle, followed by a short-range scuffle, then hopefully healing anything who¡¯d gotten hit. The odds of someone dying ¨C hell there were at least two kids I could see ¨C before I got to them was too high. No yelling stuff, framing a slave for it. [Muffle] was still active, didn¡¯t even know if I could say anything without breaking the skill. Those would all end badly,


    I had to¡­


    I had to¡­


    Damn all the gods and goddesses, I had to wait. Wait for them to chill a bit, wait for them to break apart from the group. I¡¯d done a great job spooking them and making them not watch the entrance, making them convinced I was going to snipe them from above.


    Too good of a job.


    I did some more poking around, only to realize one slave was starting to follow me with his eyes.


    And that¡¯s my cue.


    I went to one of the benches, and hid under it. It¡¯d be hard to step on me here, hard to bump into me, hard for anything really to disturb me. My plan was basically, wait until they were separated, snipe one, hide under another bench. Repeat.


    The slaves started to mutter, and after some time the pirates realized I¡¯d ¡°left.¡±


    ¡°You go check.¡±


    ¡°No, you go.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t tell me what to do!¡±


    A slave let a little giggle escape.


    ¡°Shut up!¡± The pirate said, and I heard the sounds of smacking flesh, a cry of pain.


    Patience. I consoled myself.


    ¡°You, you, and you! Go!¡± A new voice chimed in. ¡°Hit opposite doors at the same time, and just peek out! Move!¡±


    ¡°Why should I?¡± A fifth voice whined.


    I heard a lethal whizzing noise that I associated with Artemis, although the tone was somewhat different.


    ¡°That¡¯s why!¡± The voice shouting orders said.


    Grumbling and stomping around. I took a quick peek out ¨C nobody would notice my eyes, blue against the shadows ¨C and it sounded like it was time.


    I crept out, then hesitated. Take out the person alone? Or the mage?


    I looked at the dude, back turned to me. I looked at the mage, wooden spheres whistling around him. I only got one surprise strike before people realized I was here.


    A mage could be hard to fight. Much easier to jump him, and kill him before he could start throwing powerful skills around.


    I waited, keeping low to the ground.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to look on three, ¡®kay?¡± The pirate who¡¯d gone to the door said.


    ¡°Kay.¡± The other pirates on the other side of the ship said.


    ¡°One¡­¡±


    And let¡¯s GO! No sense in waiting for them to be fully wound up.


    I blasted the mage with a tight beam of Radiance, drilling straight through his head, even managing to burn a second pirate. I dismissed the notification ¨C he had been a [Pirate Mage ¨C Wood] ¨C electing instead to roll across the room, and hopping on top of one of the more sturdy-looking crates.


    The mage had dropped fast. Downside of weak physical stats.


    Ugh. That could be me one day. Dead from a surprise attack to the head before I even knew I was being attacked.


    ¡°He¡¯s in here!¡± They yelled, and started looking around wildly.


    The not dead pirate was on the ground, screaming in agony.


    ¡°Mirage!¡± One of the pirates yelled, starting to swing his sword back and forth as he stalked down the center walkway.


    Heh. Being tiny had advantages. They wouldn¡¯t try poking where I was. To boot, they probably hadn¡¯t gotten a good look at me.


    As he passed, and more eyes were facing away from me than towards me, I blasted the side of his head. It made me slightly sick, but I¡¯d gotten the hang of how to properly headshot the pirates ¨C I needed just a hair more than a quick burst of sustained damage. A quick burst got the blinded pirate from earlier, and the pirate screaming in agony now.


    Well, that¡¯s when they were physically built, with a bunch of stats in vitality. The mage had considerably less, which is why he¡¯d gone down so fast.


    I ducked and rolled to another bench, hiding under it.


    Two pirates dead, one crippled. Four left. I could probably take all four of them, but why risk it?


    ¡°Stay together! Stay together!¡±


    ¡°No fuck this, the Sentinel¡¯s in here with us, I¡¯m getting out!¡± One of the pirates yelled.


    ¡°Same here! Captain¡¯s on the other ship, he¡¯ll know what to do!¡± A second pirate yelled out.


    I heard the pattering of feet, and made a split second call. I didn¡¯t want news of me being invisible to spread, especially not to the other ship. I thought they¡¯d be a lot more isolated, a lot more spread out, and a lot easier to snipe one at a time, and knowledge that I had an invisibility skill would ruin all that.


    I ran out, only to see the pirates emerging from the other side. They hadn¡¯t noticed the pair of eyes ¨C combined with part of my nose I suppose ¨C floating on the other side. They coughed as the smoke hit them, and I opened fire, happily throwing a [Nova] their way, followed by beams of Radiance.


    One kill was clean. The other one got some tortured screams out before the flames claimed his life. I winced slightly at that one.


    The System gave me two more kill notifications, letting me know they¡¯d been handled.


    I walked down the stairs openly, not bothering to hide. Two against one? I was happy with those odds. My major concern was breaking my invisibility at this point.


    ¡°You killed them right? You¡¯re in here with us right?¡± One of the pirates was yelling, tremor in his voice betraying his fear.


    I spent a brief moment looking at it from their point of view. A single, hidden, silent killer, picking them off one at a time, as smoke slowly filled the area? A killer who couldn¡¯t be seen, couldn¡¯t be reasoned with, and was just out for blood? A killer, claiming the name of Sentinel, the best of the best?


    I was their worst nightmare made flesh.


    One of the pirates grabbed a kid, hoisting him up, rattling his chain and all the chains attached to him.


    ¡°Show yourself! Or the kid gets it! You can¡¯t let a kid die, right?¡±


    I rolled my eyes. Idiots.


    I walked up to him, and he saw my eyes at last.


    ¡°Ahha! Now drop the invisibility, put your weapon down, or the kid gets it!¡±


    I didn¡¯t say anything, just walked closer. The other pirate was nearing, clearly excited that their ploy was working.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get any closer!¡± He said, trying to back up, getting yanked back by the kid¡¯s chain.


    Meh. I was close enough.


    I blasted him in the face with Radiance, a thin beam, aiming for the eyes ¨C good trick that ¨C and the pirate went down with a scream, his arm flexing, slitting the kid¡¯s throat. A hot spray of blood coated me, and while I didn¡¯t have a great grasp on the skill ¨C it was a gemstone skill after all ¨C it felt like it was flickering, as I got coated in blood.


    I lunged forward, dismissing the notification that the pirate was dead, laying my hand on the boy, pumping [Phases of the Moon] through him. It brought an invisible smile to my face, seeing his neck seal back up.


    He was still pale though, so very pale, and I quickly reached for one of the blood loss potions I made sure to have on me. I uncorked it, shoved it in his mouth, then turned as quickly as I could, to make sure the other pirate wasn¡¯t trying anything.


    Well, he was trying something alright ¨C surrender. On his knees, weapon down, hands behind his head. Blabbering that he surrendered.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t kill me please don¡¯t kill me I surrender¡± He said, on and on, repeating himself. I wrinkled my nose. It stank down here, slaves not exactly having the best of hygiene, but I was pretty sure he¡¯d just contributed.


    I grabbed one of the ropes lying around ¨C for some reason that didn¡¯t become invisible, go figure ¨C and tied him up, being wary for any sudden tricks. There were none.


    I looked at the pirate who¡¯d gotten a blast, who¡¯d stopped screaming and was now just on the floor, whimpering. I sighed, tied him up as well, and healed him.


    I¡¯d sworn I¡¯d heal anyone, and he was about as down and out as possible.


    I looked around. I wasn¡¯t going to leave the slaves like this, but I couldn¡¯t exactly ask for a key. However, most seemed to be hooked up to some sort of ¡°master chain¡± that wove through everyone, so the logical move was¡­


    Ahha! That¡¯s where it was bolted to the hull.


    I burned through all four places it was bolted to ¨C two on each side ¨C and the slaves figured out pretty quickly from there what was going on.


    ¡°Thank you!¡±


    ¡°Thank you so much!¡±


    One grumpy dude tried to throw cold water over the whole thing, just sitting there with arms crossed, not helping take the chain out from his link.


    ¡°They¡¯ll just beat us even harder when they get back. No point in trying.¡±


    Sourpuss.


    With the first ship taken out, and a total of 15 pirates down, I prepped to take over the merchant¡¯s ship.


    Time for the hard one.

 Chapter 136 – Returning Home VI

    I paused a moment on my way up and out of the pirate ship, taking the stairs like a normal person. Everyone had been thanking me. Which implied they could see me. Which meant¡­


    I looked down. Yeah, the invisibility had worn off. Not only was I coated in blood, but I could see my sandals and shin guards. Drat.


    I hesitated a moment, before deciding to take a quick dunk in the sea, to hopefully wash everything off. I emerged from below the decks, only for me to spot pirates on the deck of the merchant¡¯s ship.


    Who promptly spotted me.


    ¡°There he is!¡±


    You¡¯d think, with all the pirates who¡¯d seen me, that they¡¯d get I was a woman. But nooo. Deadly Sentinel murdering them all had to be a dude.


    I promptly launched myself up, having a clear view of the sky after burning all the sails and other nonsense. Also, since my invisibility was down, flying was back on the menu. A number of arrows and other projectiles were shot my way, most of which flat-out missed, some of which needed [Veil] intervention, and one arrow needing a small twist to dodge.


    Then I was back up in the air, far above them, and, well, there really was only one way this could end.


    Five [Nova]s later, four kill notifications, and the top deck was mine again, the rest of the pirates having scurried below deck.


    Shame they couldn¡¯t just stay on the deck and trade shots with me until the fight was over. It¡¯d be so much easier.


    Right. 17 pirates dead, two out of commission. I still wanted to take that dunk ¨C although I needed to get some rope to easily pull myself out of the water.


    Like, there was no practical reason, except ¡°not smelling like blood¡± and ¡°reducing the personal ick factor a hair.¡±


    A length of rope, some inexpert knots, and ramming my not-so-trusty blade into a plank to find it once I was done later, and I was lowering myself into the water, making sure I was on the sunny side of the boat.


    [*Ding!* Your party has slain a [Storm Sailor] (Water, lv 145)// [Reluctant Pirate] (Wood, lv 94)]


    [*Ding!* Your party has slain a [Linesman] (Wood, lv 129)// [Pirate] (Dark, lv 63)]


    Wait, what?


    I spent a moment thinking, as I scrubbed the blood off, watching it sluice off.


    Ah. The prisoners.


    That I¡¯d left with a bunch of angry, recently freed slaves.


    Whoops.


    I cringed, waiting, expecting [Oath] to punish me. Nothing. Too abstract? Too far? It wasn¡¯t me doing it? Or was the fact that it was a genuine mistake in the heat of combat enough?


    Either way ¨C wasn¡¯t going to make that mistake again.


    I kept a wary eye out for any pirates who were in the water who might take the chance to stab me, or any sea monsters attracted by the blood. I had no idea what lurked below, and I doubled my resolve to avoid boats in the future.


    All too quickly ¨C I¡¯m sure I was missing some spots ¨C I hauled myself back out of the water, let [Talaria] take over the climbing, grabbed my stolen sword, and hacked myself out of the ropes. I looked over towards the merchant¡¯s ship.


    Hard mode time.


    I flew over the ship, looking down at it. There were three main entrances, and I was willing to bet they were all guarded ¨C and the pirates had plenty of time to arrange traps and the like. I was also no longer invisible, able to just sneak in.


    Hmmmm. I should make my own entrance. Or¡­


    Lemme see if the exit I made was an entrance now. The quarters had been extremely cramped, which is why I wanted out, but maybe it was an in now ¨C especially since I was now flying and free, if there was a pirate on the lookout, free snipe.


    I didn¡¯t need to fight all the pirates at once. I just needed to fight every pirate one at a time. 5v1 would see me dead. Five 1v1¡¯s would have a pile of pirate bodies.


    I flew over to where I¡¯d blasted a hole in the side of the merchant¡¯s ship, and flipped myself upside down, slowly lowering myself to peek in through the top.


    Sneaky on top of sneaky.


    The three useless adventurers were there, looking somewhat uneasily out at the water. Door was closed. I quickly withdrew my head.


    My bag ¨C with my good weapons, among other things ¨C was there.


    Like. I¡¯d stayed basically within arm¡¯s reach of them the whole time I¡¯d been on the ship, but nooo, when push came to shove there just hadn¡¯t been enough time to grab it, versus managing the situation.


    The useless cargo had clearly been bought off, and I wasn¡¯t going to risk them deciding that they were on team pirate now, versus team themselves. At the same time, they were three moderate to high level combat classes, and I didn¡¯t want to tussle with them if I didn¡¯t need to. They¡¯d also shown themselves to be useless, and I couldn¡¯t rely on them.


    Refocusing to the pirates, even by conservative estimates, I¡¯d probably killed half the pirates. If pirates were guarding each of the entrances, they were divided up even more.


    Divide, and conquer.


    I landed back on top of the ship, breathing in, making sure I stayed topped up and maxed out. Screw it. I had a ton of mana, and I was going to throw mana at the problem. I took aim at the door at the front ¨C the bow? ¨C of the boat, and unleashed a flurry of [Nova]s at it.


    There were skills at work, but the end result was a smoking hole where the door used to be, and two kill notifications. Any trap, ambush, or whatever on the other side was now non-existent, blown apart by my [Nova]¡¯s.


    It wasn¡¯t [Fireball], but it did one heck of a solid copy of it.


    I trotted over to the smoking hole formerly known as a door, and grimaced.


    I¡¯d completely overkilled it.


    The door was gone.


    The pirates were gone.


    The traps were gone.


    The stairs were gone.


    The ropes were gone.


    The floor was gone.


    Basically ¨C I¡¯d need to drop into a dark hole, with no sunlight, and pray that I both landed well, didn¡¯t land on a sharp, broken jug ¨C broken crates were strewn about, cracked and broken pottery leaking wine, and the sharp edges had to be somewhere ¨C then pray a bunch of pirates weren¡¯t running to the source of the commotion.


    Fine then.


    I flew out, and around the ship. I found a spot, and threw [Nova]s at it until the wall broke, then quickly bailed before getting a good look at it.


    Five spots. I blasted five more holes in the hull of the ship before I was satisfied. This wasn¡¯t the pirate ship, where everyone could see everything below decks. This was a huge merchant vessel, packed with goods, with multiple layers of decks. Which included a bunch of walls and other stuff, which translated into being hard to run around in.


    It also had holes on three different layers, although none too close to the waterline. I did want to catch a ride home at the end of the day, and sinking my ride would be terrible. Also, [Oath] would brutally punish me for it.


    I paused a moment, doing some quick self-reflection.


    Why was I stalling? Why was I being so careful? Why was I taking this so slowly?


    Like. Dropping into the hole would probably be a bad move, but making five more holes as distraction? Blowing huge chunks of mana swiss-cheesing my ride home?


    I took a deep breath, and examined myself. A meditation of sorts, while keeping my head on a swivel, making sure I wasn¡¯t about to be attacked.


    ¡­and that was the crux of the matter, wasn¡¯t it? I was under attack, I felt like I was under attack. In a word ¨C I was afraid. Afraid of being captured, afraid of being sold into slavery, and all that entailed. Afraid of dying. Afraid of failing.


    And it was people I was running around killing, not aggressive goblins. It shouldn¡¯t make a difference, but it did. My opponents were smart. They were cunning. They were murderous. If they got their hands on me, I¡¯d suffer terribly, beyond anything I could imagine.


    This hadn¡¯t been a short fight to boot. It was a long, grinding affair, and I had the initiative to boot. Which meant I decided when the next action happened, when the next risk to my life and limb occurred. It wasn¡¯t a quick bout like Kerberos, or even a slightly longer fight like the goblins.


    The self-reflection, as poorly timed as it was, was good for me. It let me face my fears, let them pass over and through me.


    I smacked my cheeks, giving myself a pep talk.


    I was Sentinel Dawn! Heck yeah! These pirates had nothing on me!


    I flew over with [Talaria], and just walked into one of the holes I¡¯d made. A pirate lunged out at me, screaming, and I drilled a hole through his chest. Took a second to drop him.


    He collapsed, blade swinging out in one last, weak, futile effort to hit me.


    I let it hit my armor and slide right off, the force and angle too weak to do anything to me.


    I was Dawn.


    I left the room, exiting the ship again, poking into another hole I¡¯d made.


    ¡°He-She¡¯s here! She¡¯s here!¡± The pirate yelled, running away.


    I ¨C fucking hell.


    I couldn¡¯t shoot someone in the back who was obviously running away, regardless of what his group was trying to do.


    Blasted freaking [Oath].


    I bailed, and did a tour de holes, managing to snag two more pirates. Each one died almost as soon as I saw them, crushing them with my major advantage of stats and levels. It helped give me the confidence that I could do this, that I could walk through the ship and just kill them all.


    Blah. I didn¡¯t like being the bloody butcher. Nice thing about Radiance though, it left smoking holes, not explosions of gore.


    I revisited the first new and improved entrance to the ship, wrinkling my nose at the smell of cauterized flesh with wine. The pirates had learned, and they were no longer in the rooms, keeping watch. My hit and runs had whittled them down even further, and I was feeling confident enough to start stalking the innards of the pirate ship.


    I used a [Cast Scream] to make one hell of a noise, before zooping over to another entrance, gracefully landing right inside.


    I flung the door open ¨C no careful, cowering moves from me, not now, not anymore.


    I stalked through the ship, killing a pair of pirates I came across. The first one opened a door halfway through the hallway, the other turned a corner at an unfortunate time.


    They both died almost immediately after I saw them, and identified them as a threat. Maybe I could¡¯ve just flat-out fought my way out ¨C but this was easier. Safer. Why take a risky fight, when you can just slowly whittle them down one at a time? Killing them all was killing them all, no matter how fast ¨C or slow ¨C it took.


    I hated being the lethal predator stalking the ship though, the stuff of nightmares made real. I wanted to fix people, heal them, restore them, not cause smoldering holes to appear in them.


    Why couldn¡¯t they have left me alone?


    It felt like hours I¡¯d been stalking the ship, finding and sniping pirates one at a time, dodging and running when it sounded like a group of them were roaming together.


    Thirty sets of one versus one. Not one set of thirty versus one. A lethal game of cat and mouse.


    I dropped to another floor, bending and absorbing the impact. Doors burst open around me, eight pirates surrounding me, charging at me.


    An ambush, carefully prepared and laid for me. They¡¯d worked out that I was avoiding their groups, and laid a trap for me, where I couldn¡¯t hear them moving around. Yay [Bullet Time]!


    I couldn¡¯t fly. I had to deal with them all here and now. My endless reviewing of gems immediately gave me an answer, the emergency button I always had at the edge of my awareness, as I activated Sealing¡¯s powerful [Brilliant Barrier].


    Panes of hard light snapped around me, trapping me with three pirates. One I recognized as the same one who¡¯d been acting as the leader in the room, who¡¯d paid off the adventurers and tried to capture me.


    One pirate dove in a tackle for me, the second one lunged low, their blade trying to pierce my stomach, the third one ¨C the ¡®sub-leader¡¯ ¨C slicing high.


    Fucking hell.


    I leaned back, the world moving around me in slow motion, moving my blade to parry the high stroke, going for a beam of Radiance through the second pirate going for the gut shot.


    I wasn¡¯t going to make it in time, I wasn¡¯t going to be able to kill him before he skewered me like one of the food vendors arranging mystery meat on a stick.


    I threw [Veil] in the way, hitting and stopping the blade, as the tackling pirate made it to me, starting a full-body tackle.


    While they could maybe be put to better use somewhere else, no point if I was dead. I hit the tackling pirate with both [Shocking Paralysis] and followed it with [Mana Void] just to be safe. I¡¯d killed enough people at close range with a surprise skill to not risk it.


    The tackling pirate was completely crippled, unable to do anything. Perfect.


    However, my parry of the high blade wasn¡¯t going well, the blade being forced out of my hands as my meager physical stats were crushed by his. I¡¯d tried to do a parry where I was simply redirecting the force, the classic move for someone with lower stats than the opponent, but it was all for naught. Either he had a skill in play ¨C common for someone using blades ¨C or his physical stats were just so monstrous that I was like a butterfly fart.


    Sadly, I¡¯d somewhat fucked up, and the tackling pirate¡¯s continued momentum and size were more than enough to keep bowling me over, forcing me into the path of the blade I¡¯d just leaned back to dodge. [Veil] was still doing full-time duty keeping my innards alive, blocking the low stab, as I felt the blade bite into my neck.


    I hated getting injured in [Bullet Time], and yet, every time I was injured it was during it. Dangerous attacks and all that. Serious drawback to the skill.


    I felt the cold blade bite into my neck, splitting skin, slicing through muscle, one centimeter at a time. A spray of blood as my carotid artery was split, a gust in my throat as my windpipe was opened to the air.


    And still I was pushed forward, the blade going deep and deeper into my neck the longer the stroke was. I had way too much time to think, and I could easily calculate that it wasn¡¯t going to entirely decapitate me, but it was going to be close.


    My spine was spared, barely. I did feel the blade scraping against my spine, glancing off instead of biting and severing. One hell of a disconcerting feeling.


    The stabbing-low-pirate died, a notification popping up. I immediately turned the Radiance onto the throat-slashing pirate, aiming for his eyes, trying to pop and boil them out of his head before continuing to penetrate his skull, aiming for his brain ¨C which really, any damage to would be enough to kill.


    I wasn¡¯t going to use [Veil] to stop the blade ¨C I needed it out of my neck.


    A rippling sensation as my [Persistent Casting] [Phases of the Moon] healed the injury right behind the blade, rendering the blow that should¡¯ve been lethal nothing more than a mana drain ¨C and not a particularly bad one at that.


    Didn¡¯t stop a fine spray of blood spray-painting the room that [Brilliant Barrier] had created, the outline of the throat-slashing pirate painted behind him.


    The blade exited my neck, time sped up again, my sword spinning off into the distance. I landed hard, the frozen body of the crippled pirate still on me, pressing me against the pane of light.


    Showing me the angry pirates on the other side.


    No ¨C not angry. Scared. Disgusted. They¡¯d just seen my throat slit, and nothing seemed to happen. Except it looked like two of their fellow pirates were now dead. Completely disabled looked a lot like dead.


    And I was nicely shielded. Pirate body on one side, pane of light on the other. I couldn¡¯t see particularly well, but the screaming let me know that the throat-slashing pirate was in bad shape. Having the eyes boiled out of your skull will do that to you.


    I could barely see him out of the corner of my eye, the body blocking most of my view, but it was close enough to fire Radiance at him. Head shots were nice and clean, but I was at a shit angle to see properly. I simply kept firing thin lances of Radiance around, figuring that I¡¯d just char holes through him until I hit something critical ¨C or until he¡¯d had enough holes in him that he couldn¡¯t maintain living.


    I¡¯d been pretty clear on the surrender conditions. I didn¡¯t see the need to repeat myself.


    I winced as the pirate blindly swung his blade out towards me, instead hitting his fellow pirate who was shielding me, gouts of flesh gouged out.


    It was a bad look to the pirates outside the barrier, and I saw first one, then the rest, turn and flee.


    The throat-slashing pirate clearly had felt his blade connect, and had to assume it was me. He went nuts on the offense.


    It was kinda gnarly, I had to admit. The throat-slashing pirate was slashing into the tackling-now-meat-shield pirate, large chunks of gore being ripped out and splattered against the Brilliant walls surrounding us, caging us together.


    I quite honestly felt a little bad, a little responsible, a lot loving my meat shield, and I had tons of mana to spare. I threw mana into healing my meat shield, while continuing to fire Radiance through the pirate.


    Slash. Slice through muscle and tendons, skin and bone. Spray it against a wall.


    Heal. Restore the broken and battered body.


    Radiance. Throw another beam through where I thought his center of mass was.


    Scream, as I hit him, as I continued to chip away at him.


    Repeat.


    He started to slow down, then stop, collapsing to the ground.


    A notification let me know that I¡¯d killed the pirate, and I heaved my meat shield off of me, still frozen.


    That had to hurt. There¡¯d been nothing in what Night told me about pain-removal or mitigation.


    Ah shoot. This would¡¯ve been a perfect time for [Vastness of the Stars]. I¡¯d have to remember it next time a high-pain situation arrived.


    Still, he was more useful than the adventurers.


    I patted him.


    ¡°Better take [Meat Shield] as your next class.¡± I suggested, not at all helpfully.


    I took a look around. No more pirates ¨C they¡¯d all fled from the undying lunatic and her trusty meat shield.


    I¡¯d caused no small amount of damage to the ship though ¨C Brilliance barriers had a weak spot to Radiance, and some of my beams that had drilled through the pirates had kept right on going, gouging out chunks of the ship.


    I wanted a lot more of these barriers though. Being able to hole up and just shoot out? Yes please, this seemed like a great build. Shame I didn¡¯t have a third class to grab [Barrier Expert] with. Time to make friends with Sealing ¨C and the Quartermaster. Or just buy a bunch of quartz myself.


    This was going to be my ride home. If the captain didn¡¯t murder me for all the damage I¡¯d caused. Heck, at this rate, I was causing more damage than the pirates would¡¯ve.


    Not my problem though. I¡¯d sink the entire ship before letting myself get captured.


    I rubbed my neck, smooth skin under my hands, not a trace of the violation that had just occurred to it present. I shuddered involuntarily.


    That had been close. Way too close. Another quarter of an inch, another half a centimeter, and my head would¡¯ve been separated from my neck.


    Although ¨C I¡¯d healed so fast. I¡¯d been healing the entrance of the cut before the sword had even exited my neck, as disconcerting of a feeling it was ¨C both to feel and to know. Could I even be decapitated by a thin sword like that; could a clean cut kill me?


    Not something I was eager to experiment with at all.

 Chapter 137 – Returning Home VII

    I got up, looking at the burning hole in the middle of the ship.


    Right. Time to find another way.


    I started hunting through the ship, strangely not finding any pirates.


    I clambered onto a crate, grabbing onto the lip of the deck ¨C another hole of mine ¨C and pulled myself up. I distantly heard a voice calling.


    I slowly went towards the voice.


    ¡°Parley! Sentinel! The pirates wish to parley!¡± A sailor was calling, walking through the hallways.


    ¡°Parley! Sentinel- holy shit!¡± He called out, as I turned the corner, sword pointed towards him. It paid to be careful.


    He was holding his hands up.


    ¡°The pirate captain wants to speak with you he said he¡¯ll kill innocents if you don¡¯t meet please don¡¯t kill me.¡± The poor sailor said as fast as he could.


    I snorted at him.


    ¡°I only kill pirates. Anyways. Lead the way.¡± I said.


    ¡°By the way, how many are left?¡± I asked him.


    He shrugged at me.


    ¡°Not completely sure miss- ma¡¯am ¨C Sentinel?¡± He said. ¡°One of em¡¯s got a Mist skill, something fierce and all twisty-like. It cloaks them, hides them, and I know for-sure he¡¯s making fake pirates show up, then vanish, hiding their true number. Can¡¯t be more than twenty, and if you gave me some good enough odds, I¡¯d bet under 10. Only if the odds were real good though.¡±


    A twist, a turn, a ladder, and we were near the door of the captain¡¯s quarters.


    ¡°He¡¯s in there.¡± The sailor said, a tremor of fear going through his voice.


    Clearly, someone was listening on the other side, and the door opened.


    ¡°Come in!¡± A voice I recognized as the pirate captain¡¯s said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll warn you though ¨C we¡¯ve got the so-called leader of this sluggish mess here, along with a dozen sailors! If you try anything, they¡¯ll all die!¡± He said.


    I hadn¡¯t planned on throwing [Nova]s through the door until they were all dead, but, well, now I wasn¡¯t going to. It was a good idea though!


    ¡°I¡¯d rather not.¡± I yelled back.


    Going into close quarters, alone, surrounded by pirates? I wasn¡¯t completely stupid. Most of my bag of fancy tricks was gone, I was down to mostly just my own skills, and they weren¡¯t exactly super combat focused. Good, yes, but not ¡°walk into a trap deliberately and expect to win¡± good.


    I¡¯d only beaten the last ambush by using three of my most powerful gems that I had with me.


    ¡°Come in, or we start slitting throats!¡± The pirate captain yelled.


    I suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. Did these pirates only have one trick up their sleeve?


    ¡°I really don¡¯t care. Honestly.¡± I yelled back.


    ¡°Their blood will be on your hands! As surely as you slit their throat yourself!¡±


    Honestly. Pirates. Almost as bad as adventurers. At least they were honest about their scum and villainy!


    ¡°No, it won¡¯t be. I¡¯m here. You¡¯re there. You¡¯re the one slitting throats, not me. Why on Pallos would I take a shred of responsibility for your actions? That¡¯s just moronic.¡±


    Dead silence followed that pronouncement. Tumbleweeds would¡¯ve blown through, if it wasn¡¯t the wrong place seven times over.


    ¡°We want to leave.¡± The pirate captain finally came out with. ¡°With the merchant¡¯s tax.¡±


    Not damn likely. Not after all the mess I¡¯d gone through.


    ¡°Please agree.¡± A second voice I recognized as the merchant captain.


    I couldn¡¯t resist. I rolled my eyes.


    ¡°Leave the slaves and your loot behind, and you can go free.¡±


    More silence. I couldn¡¯t help myself, I kept talking.


    ¡°All the slaves have already been freed, and I have control of your boat. I could just sink this boat, and sail away. Why should I accept your terms?¡±


    I had no idea what I was saying, no idea if my negotiations were any good.


    ¡°You gotta sleep at some point! We can just kill you then!¡± The pirate leader shouted back.


    ¡°So do you. I¡¯m a Sentinel. I only have half my bag of tricks, but even then, I can burn the ship down and fly to shore, pick you off one at a time, never let you sleep, throw poisonous gas into the hold, go invisible, have shields, blades, dozens of tricks more that I won¡¯t tell you but you¡¯ll discover at the worst time, and a nearly unlimited supply of Arcanite. I¡¯ve literally trained for years how to do this. The only reason I¡¯m negotiating is you¡¯re literally not worth the effort, nor me explaining to the Quartermaster that I need to restock everything. Dude¡¯s a grouch. Huge pain in the ass to work with.¡±


    I paused, letting that sink in, hoping my casual attitude and ¡®killing you is no problem, dealing with the paperwork is a hassle¡¯ approach projecting more confidence than I felt.


    ¡°You? You¡¯re just another day, and a particularly obnoxious one at that. I¡¯ll repeat what I said earlier. Fuck off, and I¡¯ll let you go. I literally don¡¯t care enough to hunt you all down.¡±


    I was bluffing like hell. Half the tricks I mentioned I¡¯d already used, the other half I had only on a technicality. Like the poison gas. I could make a poisonous gas if I screwed with the potions and Radiance enough. I assumed the gas was poisonous anyways, it was the dose that made the poison after all.


    Technicalities. I did try to avoid lying.


    I also couldn¡¯t see a way to take them prisoner. The sailors had been shown to just bend over, the adventurers were useless. Them surrendering to me would necessitate managing up to a dozen prisoners, and I literally couldn¡¯t handle that many. They¡¯d murder me in my sleep.


    More of a pause, some soft arguing. I had an idea, a way to kick them while they were down.


    ¡°By the way, one of your lieutenants got the drop on me with a team of people. Eight against one. He managed to slit my throat and everything. He¡¯s dead, I¡¯m not, because I¡¯m a bloody Sentinel. Ask yourself, how do you kill someone undying? Ask the pirates that were there what happened. Well. They missed the end, I guess. Too much gore in the way to see what happened.¡±


    You could hear a pin drop after that, only interrupted by a dry retching noise coming from the quarters. Heh. At least one of them had a weak stomach.


    ¡°Fine!¡± The pirate captain yelled after an eternity. ¡°How are we doing this?¡±


    Erm. Welp. I had no idea.


    Ok, think, think. I needed to, erm.


    Ok. I needed the pirates off this boat.


    I needed the ex-slaves and loot from their boat to my boat.


    I needed¡­ I actually didn¡¯t care after that point.


    ¡°Right, you¡¯re all going to leave this ship, while the slaves and loot are moved from your boat to this one.¡±


    ¡°Hang on, what are you defining as ¡®loot¡¯? We need to eat!¡±


    I pursed my lips at that. Shit. I really couldn¡¯t let them starve to death, that would be cruel. And a violation.


    ¡°Meh, fine, I don¡¯t care too much about your food and water stores.¡±


    ¡°Get the good food!¡± A voice called from the cabin, one I hadn¡¯t heard before. There was a smack, and a cry.


    Well. Least I could do for the brave sailor.


    ¡°And the good food.¡± I said.


    ¡°Fine, fine, we¡¯re coming out now.¡± The pirate captain called out.


    ¡°No.¡± I said, taking a few steps back.


    I was bluffing like hell. If they all charged me at once? I¡¯d take down a few, but I¡¯d die. I couldn¡¯t win 1 versus I-dunno-how-many. Not with most of my gems blown.


    The last fight had been far too close for comfort.


    A pause.


    ¡°How do you want to do this then?¡± A frustrated voice called out.


    Eh. What could one more hole hurt?


    ¡°Break out from the hull, and jump into the sea.¡± I said, remembering the one last diver pirate who was hanging around. ¡°You can climb back into your boat.¡±


    A pained voice, the agony of the seaborn listening to some poor landlubber mauling all the terminology.


    ¡°Ship. She¡¯s a ship, not a boat.¡±


    What-ever.


    ¡°Not all of us can swim!¡± He said, sudden inspiration striking.


    I narrowed my eyes. There was treachery afoot.


    ¡°Use some of the wood from the walls to float!¡±


    ¡°Planks.¡± A new voice chimed in.


    ¡°Hull!¡± New voice number-I-lost-track.


    ¡°Please stop mauling the language and my ship.¡± The merchant captain called out. ¡°I¡¯d rather the pirates killed me instead.¡±


    No gratitude. Honestly. It wasn¡¯t like I¡¯d made this twenty times more difficult for the merchant captain, nor turned ¡°lose half your cargo¡± into ¡°lose almost all your cargo and most of your ship¡±.


    ¡°Break the wall and all jump out.¡± I ordered, the slightly humorous note that had been creeping into my voice gone. ¡°Alternatively, I can just start shooting [Nova] into the quarters, and taking my chances that there¡¯s enough people left around to move this tub to land.¡±


    ¡°Fine. FINE! You win.¡± The voice came out.


    I¡¯d eat my hat if there wasn¡¯t treachery afoot.


    And yet ¨C From my position down the hall, I saw them expertly taking apart part of the hull, to the anguished cries of the merchant and the sailors, then jumping out one at a time, most of them holding a log. Plank.


    Whatever.


    After some time, the pirates seemed to be all gone, including a flashily-dressed one.


    ¡°All clear?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Clear.¡± A shaky voice came from the cabin.


    Welp. Time to discover what surprise they had in wait for me.


    It¡¯d be dumb for me to walk in there though.


    ¡°Alright. Come out.¡± I said, winding myself up like a spring. Something bad was going to happen. Pirates and dealing fairly?


    One by one, the sailors exited the room. None had weapons, but I was suspicious. This was going too well, and the sailors looked scared.


    ¡°Stop.¡± I said, halting the line of sailors leaving the room, pointing my sword at them.


    ¡°What¡¯s the trick?¡± I asked them.


    They all glanced at each other, but tellingly, didn¡¯t deny there was a trick. Nor did they confirm one.


    A soft sound behind me. [Bullet Time] activating. The start of a word, deep and heavy as the ocean depths.


    Bless Artemis and her relentless hours of training. Bless Ranger Team 4, and throwing pebbles at me for two years. Bless all the training I¡¯d gotten.


    I threw a [Nova] behind me, while throwing up a [Veil] close to me after a brief moment ¨C enough to clear the [Nova] away from me, so I didn¡¯t end up blowing up my own skill against my shield. I started to duck and roll.


    [Veil] broke, as I heard the roar of [Nova] detonating in someone¡¯s face. I activated my stored [Veil]s, only for those to also get promptly broken as well.


    I felt the back of my armor bending, absorbing an impact, starting to push me forward.


    I unleashed every single [Nova] I had behind me. All the stored ones, in all my gemstones on me. A brutal barrage, capable of incinerating just about anything, a one-time explosion of power and heat.


    My armor, separating before the blow.


    Cold iron, piercing my back.


    Breaking my spine.


    Mashing my heart.


    Cracking my sternum.


    Exploding out of my chest in a rain of gore.


    I tried to gasp, getting no air, like a fish out of water. More than my heart, the bottom of my trachea had gotten blocked, a wooden shaft stopping air.


    I spasmed, trying to scream in pain, in agony, as [Center of the Galaxy] was broken, trying to fall as my legs no longer wanted to support me, being held upright by the cruel harpoon skewering me like a fish on a stick.


    I panicked. [Center of the Galaxy] was no longer giving me the cold, distant detachment. I scrambled, trying to grab the harpoon, to somehow pull it out of me. I started spamming my skills, all of them, desperate for one to land, to miraculously pull me out of this.


    [Bullet Time] was still active. It had been less than a second since I¡¯d heard the soft, careful footfall behind me. Without it, I¡¯d be speared through, only just starting to react now.


    [Phases of the Moon] was working crazy overtime, and I tried a poor image on top of it. Can¡¯t hurt to heal twice right?


    Nothing happened. I was already focused on healing myself.


    [Nova] was castable again, and I fired it behind me.


    [Veil] felt kinda useless. Didn¡¯t stop me throwing one up. Anything. Everything. To stay alive. To see another day.


    Only to promptly drop [Veil] as I realized I could fire a beam of Radiance behind me.


    I was starting to fall, to drop, my back crackling and sizzling, flesh boiling off of me. Fucker was trying to cook me alive on top of everything else?!


    I remembered from earlier about pain and a skill of mine. [Vastness of the Stars] saved my life, giving me a calm detachment from the situation, doing a poor [Center of the Galaxy] substitute, but saving me either way.


    Now I had time, and the ability to think, not scream silently in my mind as I felt consciousness start to fade, as my body started to topple over.


    I wasn¡¯t dead yet. I think.


    Oh gods did he get a kill notification on me already, and I was just in the last vestiges of a fever-dream?


    Problem: I had a harpoon through me, a stake through my heart, and I couldn¡¯t heal while it was present.


    Solution: Remove the harpoon. I didn¡¯t need to kill the pirate short-term, I just needed it gone.


    More specifically, I needed the harpoon shaft where my heart belonged gone. I could feel something hard and metal against my back where the harpoon had entered, a catch of some type stopping a harpoon from going too deep. I also had no idea how much longer it was. Trying to just pull it through wouldn¡¯t work. I needed to cut the harpoon in half first.


    I stopped the Radiance beam behind me. No notification? Just how tough was this dude?


    I focused the Radiance inside of me, focusing where my heart should be, darkness creeping in on the edges of my vision.


    Spots swimming in my eyes.


    I still couldn¡¯t breathe; blood was no longer being circulated. I grabbed the harpoon sticking out of me, and tried to pull. It was slick with blood ¨C all of it mine ¨C and I slipped as I tried to get ahold of it, cutting my hand on the wicked barbs on the front.


    I finished my fall, landing on my side, watching blood pool under me. So much blood. I could swim in it! Yay blood swimming pool!


    I was going delirious from blood loss. To do: Drink a blood potion.


    The pressure my circulatory system was under sprayed another huge gout out in front of me, painting everything red.


    Oh fuck me I hope he didn¡¯t pull it back through.


    Or ¨C I hope he did. I¡¯d heal right back up the moment it was gone.


    Wait, how could he pull it back if I was on the floor? What - ?


    Vision fading, I threw another [Nova] behind me, grabbing again at the harpoon, getting a better grip.


    My vision faded to black.


    A black crow watched me in the darkness. Beady, unblinking eyes stared at me.


    With a silent scream, air still blocked by the wood, I heaved, pulling the front half of the harpoon out of me, instantly feeling flesh reknitting behind the pull.


    My spine was still broken, my lungs closed off, but I had a heart again. The first beat was like the loudest drum I¡¯d ever heard, the silence having been deafening. Vision returned, the crow fleeing with an angry caw, his prey denied to him.


    For now.


    Burning seemed to be good, and I threw another [Nova] over my shoulder breathed, panted on the floor, trying to avoid drinking too much of my own blood.


    It was all wrong. Blood should stay inside of me! Wasn¡¯t for swimming.


    I slipped off the harpoon, now cut in half and lubricated with my blood, my spine and all the other muscles and organs in the middle regenerating as well.


    I didn¡¯t catch myself on the way down, just kept blasting, [Nova] after [Nova] behind me.


    ¡°Stop. Stop! STOP!¡±


    Screams caught my attention, the sailors yelling at me, and I paused.


    Oh.


    I¡¯d killed the dude ages ago. While [Center] was broken, when the heat washed over me and started cooking me ¨C that wasn¡¯t his skills. That was the combined heat and power from all my stored [Nova]s going off at once, breaking through my Radiance resistance and starting to cook me alive.


    I¡¯d just missed the notification in my panic, my desire to live removing anything not immediately essential to my survival from my awareness. Fight or Flight was a hell of a drug.


    I spent some time panting and heaving on the ground, sailors running around me ¨C giving me a wide berth, throwing me terrified, horrified looks ¨C to try and contain the frankly absurd fire I¡¯d started. Multiple [Nova]¡¯s all in the ship¡¯s vulnerable belly? All stacked together? Oof. If this ship was still able to sail, it would be on virtue of the captain having skills keeping it all together.


    I¡¯d be lucky if I hadn¡¯t sunk us all. I was in no state to be swimming, crashing as adrenaline fled my system, whoozy from the lack of blood.


    I slowly crept my hand towards my potion pouch.


    Why was there a floor in the way? Why was the floor so wet? Man, that was a lot of blood, someone was probably badly hurt.


    ¡°Miss? Miss, are you ok? Belay that, miss, are you alive?¡± The merchant captain asked me.


    I groaned in affirmative, then realized my work wasn¡¯t done.


    ¡°Up.¡± I tried to order, but a dry hacking came out instead, the blood that had flooded my lungs when the harpoon violated them, from when I¡¯d inadvertently breathed some in, coming up instead. A brutal, hacking and coughing session occurred, as I tried to get blood and other crap out of my lungs, and sweet, sweet, delicious air into them.


    A sailor helped pick me up, and I looked at the horribly mauled body of the pirate captain.


    Heh. Extra-extra-extra-extra crispy.


    [*Ding!* You have slain a [Pirate Captain of the Fog] (Mist, lv 210)// [Shallow-Sea Monster Whaler] (Ocean, lv 205)]


    ¡°Help me.¡± I croaked. I hated to show weakness, not now, but I didn¡¯t think I needed to be afraid of the sailors. They were all looking at me like I was a monster.


    I mean, from their point of view I¡¯d been ambushed, skewered from behind, run all the way through ¨C and lived. Yeah, I¡¯d be pants-shitting terrified of any monster who shrugged off a stake through the heart, who looked like a sweet and innocent nothing until that moment.


    An amused thought flitted through my head. No way would any of the sailors here dare harass me again. Some were probably saying some prayers right now, that the specter of vengeance wouldn¡¯t descend upon them now that I¡¯d revealed my true colors.


    Others would probably use it to brag. Whatever.


    They wouldn¡¯t stop staring at my chest. I mean, I know sailors were on the cruder side, but that was just rude, especially since it wasn¡¯t like I had-


    I looked down, at the twisted and bent metal of my armor bursting out, coated in a thick layer of slowly-drying blood, pale flesh pulsing underneath it to the beat of my heart.


    Ah hmmm yes. I might stare as well.


    You all get a pass.


    This time.


    I limped as I walked, mostly because some of my armor was still in my flesh, having been bent inwards in the first place, then healed around it. It was too large, too solid for [Phases of the Moon] to remove.


    A stiff breeze could knock me over at this stage. I¡¯d literally come under the attention of the grim reaper, and even though there were, what, nine pirates left? No idea, could barely keep my eyes open, the sailors had been shown to not have that much of a backbone, and they could try to overrun the ship again.


    I could only hope they didn¡¯t try. I gasped out some instructions to the sailor next to me, orders to make a show of force, to let the pirates know that I¡¯d won, I was still alive, and angry.


    ¡°Give them the uh.¡± I said, trying to think, trying to process. Damn potion bag had broken. ¡°The ¡®don¡¯t make me come over there¡¯ speech. Like to kids. Yeah. That one.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t forget their captives. Or their loot.¡± I reminded the sailor, who grinned at the prospect of being placed in charge of acquiring the loot.


    I had no doubt a sizeable chunk of it would vanish. I didn¡¯t care.


    One of the sailors nodded and ran off. How many were helping me? I was starting to regain some strength, regain some vitality. Not enough to fight well ¨C besides blasting someone to pieces with Radiance of course ¨C but enough to start moving better on my own. I felt like I was going to keel over at any point, my hands ghostly pale from the lack of blood.


    Smoke and mirrors. I wasn¡¯t forgetting that catchphrase of Magic¡¯s again. I had to look strong if any pirate saw me. Or the adventurers.


    With some help, I limped back down to my room, opening the door.


    Seeing the three adventurers still there, backs to the wall with the door, staring at the empty space where the hull used to be.


    Right. I couldn¡¯t sleep here.


    Also ¨C


    ¡°Fucking useless adventurers.¡± I spat at them, grabbing my bag, turning and limping away. To whatever room still had four walls and a hammock.

 Chapter 138 – Returning Home VIII

    I unsteadily moved through the hallways, feeling myself crashing hard. My sea legs weren¡¯t really working anymore, and I leaned against a wall for a moment, waving the sailor off.


    I felt my arm being lifted up, and I saw Cassia next to me, putting my arm around her neck, then lifting in a way that I could still walk ¨C but she was holding most of my weight. She gave me a knowing look.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know much about being a Sentinel. I do know what ¡®badly hurt and trying to hold it in¡¯ looks like.¡±


    How ¨C right. Her arm. She¡¯d lost it at one point.


    ¡°Tell you what. I know where the captain¡¯s quarters are. Let¡¯s get you bunked there.¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I grunted, putting one foot in front of the next, letting her lead.


    Bless her, she didn¡¯t ask.


    ¡°First mate¡¯s?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± I said, after a moment of thought. I didn¡¯t remember deliberately trashing it, but who knew.


    I could sense that she was brimming with questions. She didn¡¯t ask any, instead grabbing my bag to carry.


    After far too long ¨C we had to go around a few holes, some of them still-burning, wading through some slowly draining puddles of wine here and there ¨C we finally got to some room or another that I assumed had to be the first mates.


    Like the rest, spare, a small chest with what I assumed was personal items, and a hammock.


    ¡°Do you want out of that?¡± Cassia asked me, eyeing my armor.


    I stifled a groan as I looked down, flexing my back in a way that the broke parts of the armor cut into me.


    I¡¯d regenerated around it after all, and I didn¡¯t enjoy metal spikes in my back.


    ¡°Please.¡± I said around clenched teeth.


    It was one hell of a chore, and I stopped a scream leaving as Cassia finally ripped the armor out of my back.


    She blinked at the spray of blood, immediately cut off by my healing.


    ¡°Wow. That¡¯s ¨C just, wow.¡± She said, with no small amount of disbelief.


    She held the armor up, looking straight through the hole in the middle.


    ¡°Wow.¡±


    She might¡¯ve said something after that. I had fallen into the hammock, and was already asleep.


    I woke up, and started to process all the notifications I¡¯d skipped over.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has leveled up to level 244->246! +10 Free Stats, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic power, +15 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Celestial Affinity] has reached level 244->246!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Medicine] has reached level 210->215!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Center of the Galaxy] has reached level 236->242!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has reached level 244->246!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Moonlight] has reached level 244->246!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Veil of the Aurora] has reached level 212->216!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Vastness of the Stars] has reached level 139->144!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Ranger-Mage] has leveled up to level 180->188! +10 Free Stats, +5 Speed, +5 Vitality, +20 Mana, +20 Mana Regen, +20 Magic power, +20 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Strength, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    I ignored all the notifications of my capped skills getting re-capped.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Sun-Kissed] has reached level 142->145!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Talaria] has reached level 161->163!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Identify] has reached level 136->137!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Bullet Time] has reached level 189->198!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 206->210!]


    Wait- oh, healing the pirate that just tried to murder me, saving his life. Counted for something good!


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority] has reached level 201->206!]


    That had been a very Sentinel-y thing I just did.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Persistent Casting] has reached level 48->55!]


    Honestly, leveling the skill up was kinda useless.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Learning] has reached level 244->246!]


    More capped skills staying capped! Huzzah!


    The kill notifications sobered me up. I did give a bit of a thought to the people I¡¯d killed, the lives I¡¯d ruthlessly ended. On one hand, they¡¯d all chosen a life of piracy, of robbing people, selling them into slavery, and murder.


    On the other ¨C I didn¡¯t know their circumstances. I didn¡¯t know if they¡¯d been gang-pressed into service, if they were runaway slaves turning to piracy out of desperation, or what. It¡¯d been fairly clear that they weren¡¯t the ¡°put everyone to the sword¡± type, willing to negotiate, buy guards off, and only take half the merchant¡¯s goods, not stripping them to the bone.


    Hell, if they had asked really nicely I might not have cared ¨C the merchant being robbed was the merchant¡¯s problem. My only complaint would be how long they took. Not that I approved, but between ¡°fine, whatever¡± and ¡°Stalk through the halls of the ship murdering pirates one by one¡±, I know which option I preferred.


    Well. ¡°Not being attacked by pirates¡± was the top choice.


    And sure, I was a Sentinel, but I was a non-combat one. Someone like Brawling or Toxic would probably be expected to clean them all out if attacked, and if my identity was called out, I¡¯d probably need to as well. But Healer Elaine had no such responsibility. Healer Elaine ¨C and Dawn, at Headquarters, in private, could let pirates slide, especially when the odds were as stacked against me as they had been.


    What was done was done, and I mourned, grieved for their loss. Grieved for the cold necessity that forced me to aim pinpoint beams of Radiance through eyes, that forced me to fly up high and bombard people with exploding balls of burning Radiance.


    I wanted to give myself time. Time to process the emotions, my thoughts and feelings. Time to recover, to heal mentally. Time, so I wouldn¡¯t end up scared of pain, time, so I wouldn¡¯t harden my heart too much, so I wouldn¡¯t lose my sense of empathy.


    Time, so I wouldn¡¯t turn into a cold, remorseless killing machine.


    I really needed a good [Therapist].


    I was distracted by a knock on the door, and a heavenly scent coming through.


    ¡°Come on in!¡± I said, much more cheerful than I felt.


    It wasn¡¯t like I hurt ¨C physically, I was fine, apart from missing half my blood. Well, ok, fine, that wasn¡¯t fine, but still.


    No, I was hungry. Ravenous. Famished. Starved. Peckish.


    FEED ME.


    FEED ME NOW.


    Cassia opened the door, carefully managing to sway with the ship in a way to keep the food on the plate. I eyed it. No way I¡¯d pull that off, the delicate balancing act while daintily keeping food on the plate.


    Oh no. I¡¯d have to scarf it down. Woe is me.


    I could feel my saliva glands go into overdrive as the plate approached.


    ¡°You good?¡± Cassia asked, carefully, politely. Not wanting to set off the murderous lunatic.


    I nodded furiously ¨C not trusting my throat ¨C and extended my hands out, in the ¡°gimme¡± gesture.


    Cassia obliged, and I tore into what had to be dino-steaks.


    Bless the sailor that had told me to grab the ¡°good food¡±. He knew what he was talking about!


    It was meaty and delicious, perfectly seared ¨C there had to be a [Sea Cook] or something ¨C and it was better than the best steak I¡¯d ever eaten.


    Hunger was the best spice.


    Cassia found a seat on the first mate¡¯s sea chest, watching me inhale dinner. They¡¯d piled it extra large ¨C extra high ¨C whatever, and I barely blinked as a particularly bad swing had one of the steaks fall off and land on my lap.


    5 second rule. It was still good.


    ¡°So¡­.¡± She said, seemingly hesitant, watching my gluttonous moves. ¡°Sentinel, eh?¡±


    I nodded between bites. Mouth was too full, and it was impolite to talk with your mouth open.


    ¡°Explains why you didn¡¯t seem to care how well we could fight.¡±


    More nods.


    ¡°But what did you need us for?¡± She asked.


    I lifted the plate in response, still not saying anything.


    ¡°Food?¡±


    I thought about it a moment, then slowly nodded, then shook my head.


    Charades were fun!


    Cassia looked frustrated though. I decided to give her a hand, some normal human interaction after the vicious mess.


    I took a moment of pause. Mostly so I could speak, and not go ¡°mumph mumph mumph.¡±


    ¡°Sentinel can be exhausting.¡± I said. ¡°Sometimes, it¡¯s just easier to travel as Healer Elaine, than Sentinel Dawn. Like. Half the captains probably wouldn¡¯t want a Sentinel on-board, and the other half wouldn¡¯t talk with a woman. Or see me as a girl. And assume all sorts of things, making my life hard. A few adventurers to grease the wheels? Makes my life much easier, for what should be a cakewalk.¡±


    Cassia couldn¡¯t suppress the amused look on her face.


    ¡°Given that you basically did twenty times the damage to the ship that the pirates would¡¯ve done, I can¡¯t really say I blame the captain for not wanting a Sentinel onboard.¡±


    I snorted.


    ¡°Blame the pirates. I didn¡¯t ask for them to try and kidnap me, I offered them multiple chances to surrender and leave. They didn¡¯t take them. What was I supposed to do, quietly let myself get sold into slavery?¡±


    Cassia made a motion as if to pat me, then pulled back.


    ¡°By the way, not sure if you know, but¡­¡± She said, gesturing towards me.


    What?


    I looked down-ish.


    Oh right


    Being drenched in blood, then not doing anything about it, resulted in a lot of dried blood all over me. I wasn¡¯t exactly a stranger to it, but I could see how it might be slightly disconcerting.


    ¡°Wanna get me a bucket and a rag?¡± I asked.


    She was out of the room before I¡¯d even finished.


    ¡­


    A good amount of scrubbing later, a few delivered hot meals, a fresh tunic, and a couple days of sleep, and I was ready to tackle the loot.


    Loot! At long last, glorious, delicious, loot for me!


    I started off inspecting what we¡¯d gotten.


    First, was the good food, the dino steaks that everyone was feasting on. I had a feeling the captain was concerned I¡¯d be hijacking it all, and, well, if the crew just so happened to eat it first¡­


    I didn¡¯t blame them.


    Ingots of Noric Steel. Nice, but I had literally no use for them.


    The Quartermaster might, but I ran into the ¡°hauling crates of stuff around¡± problem.


    Bolts of fine material for making clothes. I was for sure grabbing a few.


    A scattering of furs. I¡¯d need to properly inventory them, then grab a couple.


    I realized as I looked through stuff ¨C I wasn¡¯t exactly hurting for money. Anything above and beyond my personal use, I¡¯d need to go through the effort of selling.


    I wasn¡¯t in a position to sell stuff. Merchants were. Plus, it was probably more lucrative to sell healing services anyways. The only benefit to grabbing stuff here was I didn¡¯t need to shop around, barter and trade.


    A whole marketplace to myself, where everything was free, courtesy of the five-finger discount.


    Plus, giving the stuff to the merchant with no arguments would probably go a decent way towards repairing our relationship. Not that I needed it repaired personally, but ¨C PR. I¡¯d basically blown his ship to pieces, and there was a world of difference between ¡°Tough luck deal with it¡± and ¡°oops, sorry, here¡¯s some money for you.¡±


    I was still going to take first pick of stuff ¨C dude was terrible at hauling passengers around, all too willing to turn a blind eye to what the pirates wanted to do with me ¨C but I couldn¡¯t imagine myself single-handedly hauling crates of stuff out of the ship, trying to store them, then sell them one at a time, all while people tut-tutted about the money-grubbing Sentinel who was practically robbing the poor merchant blind.


    Also, I remembered some vague lesson about how Rangers weren¡¯t supposed to take stuff from people we beat up for our personal use, instead turning them over to whatever local government there was. Sure, the rule was bent all the time, but there was a world of difference from ¡°oops where did those gems come from¡± and ¡°I need a warehouse to store my stuff.¡±


    Speaking of gems! The last crate, tucked in a corner, had been pried open and closed so many times that there was practically no structural integrity left on it. I simply reached out and lifted the ¡°hammered in¡± lid, to find a thin layer of gems on the bottom of a large crate.


    The little scratches on the inside let me know that this crate had started off full, and that dozens of little rats had been scratching at it. A pirate here, a pirate there, and shit the pirate I crippled.


    I¡¯d completely forgotten about him. Technically a prisoner. I didn¡¯t even have a cursebreaking gem to free him and feed him.


    Oops oops oops. To do: Check on the prisoner, see what happened with him. Drip water into his mouth if I needed to.


    I looked at the sad gemstones left all alone.


    I mean. At this point I¡¯d already basically called them mine, and it wasn¡¯t like there was a crateful of them.


    I poured them all and bundled them up. Would try to work with the Quartermaster ¨C or maybe the gemstone dude ¨C on getting them arranged for me.


    With a start I realized my armor would need some serious tender loving care. Yeah¡­ I was going to need to bribe the heck out of the Quartermaster to stay on his good side.


    I made it back to my quarters, dropped off the gemstones, and went back, ¡°shopping¡± through the furs and cloths, quickly getting lost in the dizzying array. Without some vendor telling me what was what, I had no idea what I was looking at.


    Bear fur? Wolf pelt? Monster leather?


    I patted and felt, and finally settled on one that was big, warm, and fuzzy, that I could just sink into. It¡¯d need some more work, but I could maybe turn this into a nice chair or something?


    The cloth was a bit easier. I ended up getting nothing. It was all fairly bulky, and there wasn¡¯t anything I saw as particularly special, just standard high-end cloth. With all the work that would be needed to turn it into a dress ¨C I might as well just buy one.


    And it¡¯d be kinda awkward to give a bolt of cloth to Albina and say ¡°Hey look! I got this for you on my latest trip!¡± Merchant-wrapped bulk-transport goods didn¡¯t exactly scream ¡°personal touch¡± so much as ¡°robbing people on the high seas.¡±


    Which technically I had.


    You know what was good for people? Gemstones. Artemis¡¯s brilliance all those years ago was brought into sharp relief.


    Blah. This was super duper disappointing. I¡¯d finally gotten a chance to loot the villain¡¯s lair, and¡­¡­¡­.. practically nothing. Good eating, some souvenirs for friends, and that was it. Having most of my things paid for by the government, and being in a profession that dabbling in it now and then earned me ludicrous amounts of money, made run-of-the-mill loot worthless to acquire.


    Which meant¡­ hmmm¡­


    Artwork.


    I should work on commissioning artwork and the like. I was no artist, I had no head for it, but I could pay other artists to make cool things for me! Everyone won!


    Healer Elaine, great patron of the arts.


    Yeah, I could make this work.


    It was the last day of the voyage back, getting late ¨C the captain wanted to land before it got dark ¨C before we finally met again. He¡¯d been avoiding me, and I was perfectly content to stay in my room, avoiding the frightened stares and scared whispers.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn.¡± He said, as politely and as formally as he could, bowing deep. ¡°I trust your trip was pleasant?¡±


    I gave him a Look. If looks could kill, he¡¯d be dead.


    Oooh! My looks could kill if I did it right!


    He looked nervous and fidgety.


    ¡°Ahem. There was quite a lot of damage to the ship, and ¨C¡°


    I waved him off. I had no time or patience.


    ¡°Yeah, you can have everything left. Fix up your ship.¡± He started to stammer out a thanks.


    ¡°Donate the rest to the Rangers.¡± I said, looking at him.


    ¡°I have ways of finding out if you don¡¯t.¡±


    The captain stammered something, as I turned and left. I had no time for any polite nonsense ¨C I was home!


    Also, my ways of finding out if he didn¡¯t were long, involved, and would probably be weeks of investigating and talking to people and staring at accounts and honestly way more effort than it¡¯d ever be worth. But it was technically true. I could find out.


    And hey! I¡¯d figured out a way to convert the loot into cash for the Rangers, which should make the Quartermaster happy enough with me to hook me up with some juicy stuff.


    I¡¯d deal with the adventurers later. They¡¯d been fairly loyal at guarding my door, not letting sailors pop in and bug me, and Cassia had been moderately entertaining. Still. They¡¯d failed at the crucial part, and I was due a reckoning at the Adventurer¡¯s Guild tomorrow.


    My backpack was now extra-extra-large, as it was carrying my mauled armor, my loot, and it had started life being extra-large and full to boot. Sure, I¡¯d spent a bunch of money, getting a concerning amount of space back, but still. I probably made an odd sight walking through town with a bag that large and awkward.


    Not that people didn¡¯t do things like that, abuse stats in that way ¨C it was more that their loads looked good and secured, and mine was done with bad rope on a rocking boat.


    I made it back to HQ fairly late at night, and not quite knowing what else to do, I stashed my backpack in the main living room area of the Sentinel¡¯s quarters, and found my suite.


    I took the longest, hottest bath of my life, reveling in the luxury that was my own bath in my rooms.


    Why had I ever wanted to go to Deva? This was soooo much better. I could suffer the occasional social engagement. Gods knows that missions have more social engagements than the occasional party.


    I scrubbed and combed, blood caked in hard to reach places finally coming undone, then I let myself relax, hot water easing the ever-present tension out of my muscles.


    Home.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 136!]


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 18]


    [Mana: 51840/51840]


    [Mana Regen: 42569 (+4049.1)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 150]


    [Strength: 244]


    [Dexterity: 202]


    [Vitality: 600]


    [Speed: 520]


    [Mana: 5184]


    [Mana Regeneration: 4908 (+1423.32)]


    [Magic Power: 4517 (+46525.1)]


    [Magic Control: 4517 (+46525.1)]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 246]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 246]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 198]


    [Medicine: 215]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 242]


    [Phases of the Moon: 246]


    [Moonlight: 246]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 216]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 144]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 188]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 188]


    [Radiance Resistance: 188]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 188]


    [Radiance Manipulation: 188]


    [Sun-Kissed: 145]


    [Blaze: 188]


    [Talaria: 163]


    [Nova: 188]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 137]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 159]


    [Pretty: 136]


    [Bullet Time: 198]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 210]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 206]


    [Persistent Casting: 55]


    [Learning: 246]

 Chapter ???? – The Coven of Fabulous Witches 0

    I made my way home after an exhausting day, and basically collapsed directly in bed. Sleep. Sleep was a wonderful thing. The best thing, really. Who didn¡¯t love a good night¡¯s sleep?


    Papilion. That¡¯s who didn¡¯t love a good night¡¯s sleep.


    ¡°You.¡± He said, entering my dream, doing his gnarly shapeshifting routine. ¡°You¡¯ve been on the planet for almost two decades, and you¡¯ve done absolutely nothing. No changes. I showed mercy. I showed kindness. And you¡¯ve spurned me, spurned my classes.¡±


    I tried to protest, to explain. Papilion was doing that thing again where he wanted a ¡°discussion¡± but wouldn¡¯t let me say a word.


    ¡°Prepare to be changed into a Golden Crow!¡± Papilion announced, and with that pronouncement, the world started to grow larger around me as I shrunk, wings replacing arms, feathers replacing fur, growing a third leg.


    With an indignant squawk I took flight, only for a bolt of lightning to strike me.


    I woke up with a gasp, covered in a fine sheen of sweat. I rapidly patted myself all over, making sure I still had everything, that I was still me.


    I heaved a sigh of relief. All was good.


    I got out of bed to get a drink of water, and promptly fell through the fairy ring that had grown beside my bed in the middle of the night.


    Oh no! The Fae are entirely unbound by any rules, and they''ve yoinked Elaine so hard, she ended up in a different novel! Read the next part here! Link!

 Chapter ???? – The Coven of Fabulous Witches III

    Poor Larry, the clerk in the store all six of them had found themselves in, led the way down the street. Ariane followed imperiously behind him, like nothing else could be more natural than the mortal bending to her every whim. Ilea came next, the multi-dimensional hopper always having a way home. This particular adventure was significantly less trippy than some of the other realms she¡¯d been in.


    Broccoli and Elaine came after. Getting yoinked from A to B wasn¡¯t exactly new, but it wasn¡¯t like they had 30 different skills dedicated to it.


    40? It was hard to keep track sometimes.


    Candle and Eve brought up the rear, intrigued by the prospect of seeing new, different weaponry, unsure what this new world would bring.


    ¡°Soooo¡­ Vampire?¡± Elaine asked Ariane.


    ¡°That is correct,¡± Ariane said, not taking her eyes off the road, off the horizon, scanning for some store that screamed ¡®HEAVY FIREPOWER¡¯.


    ¡°My boss is a vampire progenitor. Old dude, like 5000 years old or something.¡± Elaine said, trying to make some sort of conversation. Kinda flubbing it awkwardly.


    ¡°A progenitor? Is he obnoxiously self-confident?¡± Ariane asked, suddenly a lot more invested in the conversation.


    ¡°Mmmm. Kinda. Looks down on just about everyone - well, he¡¯s got the levels and stats and power and position to do so - but, like, also lets everyone mostly do what they want and feel is needed. Just steps in when we¡¯re, like, going to all get ourselves killed doing something extra-stupid.¡±


    Ariane snorted.


    ¡°Typical. They rely too much on their powers, and power is a crutch. You wouldn¡¯t happen to have a vial of his blood, would you?¡±


    Elaine really didn¡¯t have anything to say to that.


    Meanwhile, in the back, Broccoli and Eve were having a conversation.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll get your loaf of bread one day Ms. Eve.¡± Broccoli said. ¡°I know! Let¡¯s go together, and make you a loaf!¡±


    Eve sighed.


    ¡°No, it won¡¯t work. It never works. Something will just go wrong, I know.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s okay!¡± The irrepressible, perpetually cheerful Broccoli said. ¡°We can just try again!¡±


    ¡°But it¡¯ll break again.¡± Eve pointed out.


    ¡°But then we try, try, and try again! One day, we can do it! I just know it!¡± Broccoli replied. ¡°I believe!¡±


    The two started to get into a circular argument in the back, and Candle sighed. She knew it was going to have to be up to her to break them out of the loop they¡¯d found themselves in, but she couldn¡¯t get a word in edgewise.


    Meanwhile, Elaine and Ilea had gotten chatting.


    ¡°You¡¯re also a healer?¡± Elaine asked, confirming her earlier observation. Self-decapitation and still being alive helped significantly with the guess, but Elaine¡¯s [Identify] was on the fritz. She was getting back rainbow-colored eldritch nonsense instead of anything reasonable, and wasn¡¯t taking any chances.


    ¡°Yup!¡± Ilea confirmed. ¡°Also - ¡®also¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Same here! Although, I can¡¯t regrow my entire body.¡± Elaine said, briefly thinking about and discarding adding a ¡°yet¡±. Either way, Ilea was clearly more powerful in every way. ¡°Any tips?¡±


    ¡°Work on your resistance skills. Try to get as many as possible.¡± Ilea promptly answered without thinking, almost like she¡¯d been asked the question hundreds of times and was sick and tired of it.


    ¡°I have one¡­¡± Elaine said, trailing off. ¡°But I have limited skill slots. I could only get seven more, tops, and that¡¯s if I dumped all my other general skills. Heck, I don¡¯t even know if I can get resistance skills as a general skill.¡±


    Ilea paused, looking at Elaine with horror, the thought of having ¡°only¡± eight resistance skills too much for her.


    She closed her mouth, and patted Elaine on the shoulder with a look of pity.


    ¡°Good luck.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Larry said.


    ¡°Yessss. Show me the weapons.¡± Ariane said, throwing open the doors and striding inside.


    ¡°Shopkeeper! I wish to peruse your finest firearms!¡± Ariane declared, as the rest of the gang piled in behind her.


    The floor creaked ominously under Ilea. She looked slightly guilty, and the floorboards bent back into position.


    Roughly.


    They took a look around the store. It wasn¡¯t particularly impressive. A few pistols were in a glass case, a couple of single-shot rifles on one wall, a few sad, scattered boxes of ammo on the other. You could shrink the store to a third of its size, and there¡¯d still be leftover room for more merchandise. Not exactly the most amazing of places.


    ¡°Whaddaya want?¡± The bored store owner asked from behind the glass case. ¡°It¡¯s a five-day minimum wait to purchase any guns while the check clears.¡± He said in a monotone, ¡°damn these window shoppers¡± tone.


    Ariane looked around, disappointment clear on her face.


    ¡°Well. If this is the best that can be done, there is nothing for it. I will simple have to-¡±


    Candle sniffed.


    ¡°I smell chocolate. And gunpowder. Under there.¡± She said, pointing to a now rather-obvious trapdoor.


    Everyone piled in, ignoring the protests of the shop owner.


    It was clear that the store upstairs was a decoy, a front. The real weapon store was down here.


    And oh, what a weapon store it was.


    A giant, cavernous space hosted the weapons.


    Rows upon rows of every conceivable gun was merely the start. From front-loaded single-shot rifles, to beautiful ivory-engraved pistols, moving to fully automated weapons, into the miniguns, straight to the anti-aircraft weapons, skipping weapons that were loaded onto tanks, and transitioning right into guns that would be right at home on a battlecruiser. 127mm to 155mm guns, too large for any human to pick up and carry.


    Blessedly (cursedly?) Ariane wasn¡¯t human. Things like ¡°too heavy¡± didn¡¯t apply, and she was giddy like a schoolgirl, moving from one large gun to the next, picking one up, ¡°sighting¡± down the barrel, and putting it down, only to move onto the next.


    And yet. Guns were barely the start.


    Grenades were next. Smoke, fragmentation, stun, flash-bangs, cluster, big, small, little. You wanted a grenade? They¡¯ve got em!


    Hiding innocently inside the grenade section, just, hanging out there, was a rack dedicated to bread. All types. White, wheat, sourdough, baguette, pita, brioche. It was like a mad baker had baked every single bread in existence, and just placed them in ¡°Gluten¡±, next to ¡°Grenade¡±.


    Eve eyed the bread.


    Eyed the grenades.


    Put one and one together.


    ¡°EVERYONE DOWN!¡± She yelled, throwing herself to the floor.


    Ilea was replaced with a winged, horned demon of ash, tendril trailing from behind her.


    Elaine snapped up a shield, shimmering and glowing like the Aurora Borealis.


    Everyone else threw themselves to the ground.


    ¡­


    ¡°Excuse me Ms. Eve, but what are we waiting for?¡± Broccoli asked. ¡°I¡¯m okay with this, but shouldn¡¯t something be happening?¡±


    Eve spluttered.


    ¡°The grenades - the bread - they - argh!¡± She said. ¡°The moment I get close to the bread, something will go wrong and destroy them. Most likely, the grenades will blow up, then ALL of them will blow up, and it¡¯ll be bad.¡±


    The ashen demon nodded.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯d be pretty bad. I¡¯ll shield all of you. Just get a bit closer to trigger it.


    ¡°Are you quite certain?¡± Ariane asked, uneasily eyeing a grenade labeled ¡°high incidindary¡± ¡°That does not appear to be the safest course of action.¡±


    Ilea shrugged.


    ¡°If it¡¯s going to go wrong, might as well be in a controlled situation.¡±


    Hesitantly, then slowly going forward, Eve crept towards the bread. One step, a pause. One step, a flinch, expecting a massive explosion to tear through the facility.


    Ten steps away.


    Five steps. The closest she¡¯d ever been to Bread since getting the Quest.


    Three steps.


    Two.


    One.


    Hesitating, disbelieving, Eve reached out with one hand, touching a loaf of banana bread. Could it be this easy? Was her Quest at long last complete?


    It felt weird. Eve had expected the bread to be soft, pliable. Something you wanted to eat. This was cold. Hard to the touch. Unyielding. It -


    ¡°THIS ISN¡¯T FUCKING BREAD!¡± Eve cried out, grabbing it and throwing it to the floor. ¡°ITS ANOTHER DAMN FUCKING GRENADE! ARGH!¡±


    The loaf-grenade hit the floor.


    In two pieces.


    Right next to the ¡°H¡± for ¡°High Explosives¡±


    ¡°Oh Fu-¡± Eve got out, right before the grenade went off.


    It was Candle who saved them all. She drew, at lightning speed, a rune in the air that froze the grenade, stopping it from going off, saving them all from an untimely end.


    Well. Untimely for everyone but Ilea. She¡¯d have survived it.


    Missile launchers. Bazookas. Land mines. Sea mines. Air mines. Space mines. Bayonets. Carbon-fiber knives and swords. Flamethrowers, from tiny to XXL. Mortars, artillery trucks, jeeps, tanks, grenade launchers - conveniently next to the grenades - missiles, torpedos.


    Submarines. Helicopters. Fighter jets.


    The pi¨¨ce de r¨¦sistance.


    A large bomb in a crystal case, surrounded by beeping counters. It was unlabeled, with just the name ¡°Fat Boy¡± on it.


    ¡°No. Nope nope nope no.¡± Ilea said, vanishing the weapon. ¡°Absolutely never not nope.¡±


    ¡°How large is this place?¡± Candle asked, voice echoing throughout.


    No answer was given, as a roar of gunfire preceded maniacal laughter.


    ¡°Yes. YES!¡± Ariane cried out, as the unyielding firestorm resumed. ¡°This is IT!¡±


    The others stopped their wandering, and made their way over to the noise.


    Ariane had found miniguns were exactly to her taste, and was busy test-firing a larger-than-life one at the firing range. The barrels slowed down as she finished firing the latest rounds at the now-former targets, revealing that someone had been visited by the ¡°Good Idea¡± fairy, and had placed bayonets on the end. One per barrel.


    ¡°Alright, alright, I think I¡¯ve got the hang of this.¡± Ariane said. ¡°Watch.¡±


    Moving to another section, she pressed the trigger, and the minigun spat out bullets with a roar.


    In under a second she stopped, and pointed gleefully at her work.


    Two hundred dummies were in the section, each with a single bullet expertly placed in a lethal spot.


    ¡°This is perfect.¡± Ariane declared.


    Nobody was inclined to argue with her.


    ¡°Um, excuse me Ms. Vampire.¡± Broccoli asked. ¡°Should you really be doing that without the permission of the person who owns the place? He might be sad.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm. You bring up an excellent point. I must find the owner of this establishment, and reimburse him.¡± Ariane said.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we all find something we like, and pay at the end?¡± Elaine suggested.


    The looting began.


    Ariane grabbed the minigun, then started picking up, testing, and strapping weapons she deemed ¡°acceptable¡± to her back. She started to look a bit like a hedgehog. Sniper rifle, assault rifle, hand guns, and more. The author¡¯s not a gun nut, and can¡¯t really comment past this. Lots of guns.


    Ilea grabbed a little of everything. Some grenades, some bazookas, a few guns. Her ashen limbs behind her rearranged themselves, each one holding a gun.


    A one-woman army of weapons.


    Quite frankly, a downgrade from her normal fighting prowess. Still, it was fun, and hey, who knows, maybe she¡¯d get another 10 general skills from it. A [Missile Launcher] skill, a [Grenade Launcher] skill, a [Bazooka] skill, an [Anti-Aircraft weaponry] skill....


    Illea had to collect them all.


    Eve looked around morosely, before deciding that her current weapons were just fine.


    Elaine picked up a handgun, and went to the firing range. She experimentally, inexpertly, tried to fire a few shots at the targets.


    ¡°Do you require assistance or instruction as to the use of firearms?¡± Ariane asked her.


    Elaine hesitated.


    ¡°Yes, but I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve got the time to learn how to use a gun properly. Like. I¡¯d need to aim and track and such.¡±


    Ariane tilted her head.


    Elaine figured a practical demonstration would work better. She didn¡¯t even need to point. One moment she was standing there, the next a beam of burning, golden light shot from her, piercing straight through a target dummy¡¯s head.


    Ariane hissed at her.


    ¡°No sunlight!¡±


    ¡°Relax, it¡¯s not sunlight, it¡¯s Radiance. Looks the same, feels the same. Isn¡¯t sunlight. Does sunlight make you explode into flames?¡± Elaine asked rhetorically.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Ariane hissed back.


    ¡°Ah, um. Sorry?¡±


    Candle found the ¡°field rations¡±, which ranged from ¡°technically edible¡± to -


    Well. Candle never found out what they ranged to. She stopped at ¡°Chocolate.¡±


    She transformed into a massive, mighty dragon - still relatively tiny inside the space - to better load herself up with chocolate.


    She didn¡¯t know why coconut-flavored chocolate was considered an army ration, but she wasn¡¯t going to complain.


    Broccoli looked around, ears flat.


    Then she spotted the swimming pool. Everyone else was busy finding weapons. Broccoli didn¡¯t think weapons were needed. Just a nice chat and a hug! That¡¯s all anyone ever needed, really.


    Broccoli got to the swimming pool, and eyed it doubtfully. Was asking for a swimming pool of water too much? Instead, it was full of ammo, just loosely piled around.


    With a diving board.


    It was a gun nut¡¯s version of a Scrooge Mcduck money tower.


    Eventually, the looting shopping spree came to an end, and everyone got back together.


    ¡°Hang on.¡± Broccoli asked. ¡°How are we going to pay for any of this?¡±


    There was an awkward moment as everyone took out what they had.


    Elaine had some round iron coins with a triangle in the middle.


    Ariane had a few bills.


    Nobody else had much more that was better.


    ¡°How are we going to get out with all this stuff?¡± Elaine asked, doubtfully eyeing Ariane and her many guns.


    ¡°Also, we should talk about how we get to the island.¡± Eve said. ¡°Apparently, the metal birds can fly?¡±


    Candle snorted, small flames emerging from her nostrils. Elaine took a few steps back, making sure she was well and clear from the Dr-


    No don¡¯t say it don¡¯t think it. It¡¯s not a D----g. Just a transformed human with poor taste. It must be.


    ¡°I¡¯m bigger and faster than anything iron. Can¡¯t even see how it flies.¡± She said.


    Some cajoling, begging, pleading, bribery, and flattery later, and Candle had agreed to take them all to the island.


    ¡°Now we¡¯ve gotta pay.¡± Ilea said, using space magic to transport them all back to the main store.


    ¡°Proprietor!¡± Ariane commanded. ¡°You have a most impressive selection of weaponry. You may become a supplicant, for a generous donation.¡±


    He snorted.


    ¡°What, you think you¡¯re some sort of jedi, waving your hand around like that? Fancy mind tricks don¡¯t work on me. Only money.¡± He said, drawing the last two words out and rubbing his fingers together.


    Broccoli eagerly offered up everything she had.


    ¡°Here you go mister! It¡¯s all I¡¯ve got.¡±


    He looked doubtfully at the offering.


    ¡°That¡¯ll pay for three bullets.¡±


    Elaine offered her coin pouch - along with a few diamonds.


    ¡°Now we¡¯re talking! That pays for the training dummies and rounds you all used.¡± He said.


    Ilea rolled her eyes, and out of nowhere, summoned a giant chunk of gold, larger than she was.


    A look of greed crossed the storekeeper¡¯s face for a brief instant.


    However, the added weight of the gold was one insult too many for the floorboards. Ilea did a Wile-E-coyote.


    Read the next part here!

 Chapter 139 – After Action Report

    A knock on my door woke me up, after not nearly enough sleep.


    Ok, fine, after not nearly enough beauty sleep. I¡¯d been getting way more than enough sleep on the trip home, and it wasn¡¯t like I needed a solid eight hours of sleep, not with my vitality.


    I groaned, rolled over, and got up. Morning meeting. Blah. Seems like not even coming off a mission was enough to get me out of it.


    I opened the door, going straight to it, finding nobody there. Ocean was three doors down knocking on another door though.


    ¡°Morning.¡± I grunted at him, shuffling over to the living room.


    ¡°Morning!¡± Ocean said, obnoxiously cheerful.


    I made it to the meeting-slash-living room, where most of the Sentinels were. My armor ¨C puncture hole and all ¨C was on prominent display in the middle of the room.


    Uh oh. That hadn¡¯t started there. Was I in some sort of trouble?


    ¡°Dawn. Welcome back.¡± Night said, as politely and formally as ever.


    ¡°Glad to be back!¡± I tried to muster some cheer up, kinda succeeded, and got ¡®tired-cheer¡¯ as my voice.


    Ocean came back, shaking his head. Night frowned.


    ¡°Well, now that everyone who will be here is here, does anyone have pressing business before we begin Dawn¡¯s after-action report?¡± Night asked. Formal. Polite. One step at a time.


    Carefully checking things off a checklist perfected hundreds of years ago. He never knew what was coming up, even though I had no doubt he¡¯d heard every message and communication already. Still. We all had our own information sources, never knew when something would come up.


    Brawling, of all people, half raised his hand, put it down, looked down and blushed, then raised his hand.


    ¡°Brawling.¡± Night said, acknowledging him.


    He mumbled something under his breath.


    ¡°What?¡± I asked, not hearing him.


    ¡°I said, my badge got stolen!¡± He cried out, humiliated.


    Oh whoops.


    Night frowned at him. Acquisition, of all people, jumped into the conversation.


    ¡°Night, don¡¯t be too hard on him. It¡¯s the latest game in thieving rings, to target Sentinels and go for their badge. It¡¯s the mark of a master thief, and rumor has it that the System will even reward anyone who pulls it off with better classes.¡±


    Night slowly turned and stared at Acquisition, fixing him with his eyes.


    Softly, slowly, dangerously, he spoke.


    ¡°Do they not recall what happened the last time they made a game out of stealing Sentinel badges?¡±


    I shivered at that, at his tone. Acquisition awkwardly rubbed his head.


    ¡°Erm. When was that? I don¡¯t even know.¡±


    Night paused a moment, processing.


    ¡°Not even 200 years ago.¡±


    ¡°Night. Come on. Thieves are semi-organized, but none of their stuff persists. They don¡¯t have long-lasting organizations. There¡¯s no cultural memory on these sorts of things. You could¡¯ve run a purge 40 years ago and they wouldn¡¯t remember!¡±


    Night continued to stare, then deflated.


    ¡°Fine. Retrieve Brawling¡¯s badge. Make polite reminders about us being off-limits. Teach them that next time, I will do the reminding, and it shall not be polite.¡±


    A vision flashed through my eyes. Night, like the time we¡¯d fought together on the frontlines, except instead of Formorians, he was standing on piles of dead [Thieves] ¨C the fierce girl who¡¯d tried to rob me staring at me with glassy, dead eyes from the bottom of the pile.


    Nope nope nope. 1000% couldn¡¯t let my badge get stolen. I wasn¡¯t going to be the flashpoint for Night giving everyone a ¡°less-friendly reminder¡±.


    ¡°Any other business?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, real fast¡­¡± Ocean spoke up. ¡°I think there¡¯s something we all need to do before hearing Dawn¡¯s after-action report. Sealing, would you do the honors?¡±


    Ocean winked at me, before Sealing took action.


    Sealing nodded, and a barrier sprang up around me ¨C this one made out of reflective material.


    Like. I was technically kinda trapped, but I had no fear. Kind of a dick move, whatever was going on, but if all the Sentinels wanted me dead, or captured, there was literally nothing I could do about it. Plus, Ocean had winked at me. Clearly, there was something fun going on, some surprise being arranged.


    For me? Possibly! Some reward for Sentinels completing their first mission? Some ¡°welcome in, you succeeded¡± tradition?


    After a few minutes the barrier dropped, some fading words half-echoing.


    Ocean looked like a cat with cream. Everyone else had various looks of greed, avarice, or in Night¡¯s case, exasperation.


    ¡°Right. Dawn, report.¡±


    I gave my report, arriving in Deva, the Purple Flower bust ¨C that got no end of laughter ¨C the endless meetings and running around and general giant pain in the ass that was Deva.


    ¡°In conclusion,¡± I said, wrapping Deva up before I got to the ¡®returning home¡¯ portion. ¡°I found that I need some helpers, in the same way Magic has artisans working on his gems. I¡¯m not going to be sent on missions for one sick person. I can¡¯t see it happening, not even for a Ranger. Or rather, if they do happen, Sky will drop me off, I¡¯ll heal them, then we¡¯ll turn right around and head back. Either way, irrelevant.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to be sent when there are hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of people hurt, sick, injured, and generally in need of healing. Spending all of my time running around, trying to organize things is a waste of my time, of my talents, it makes us look bad, and most critically ¨C it doesn¡¯t get people healed.¡±


    I took a deep breath before continuing.


    ¡°I could¡¯ve knocked out the plague in a day with the right support network. Two days at most, because I recognize it could take some time. I lucked out this time, it was a shakedown run, to find out how things can go poorly. If this was a disaster where a rapid response was critical, where I was the first on the scene ¨C I can¡¯t be spending my time corralling people. I need helpers.¡±


    ¡°On the helper note ¨C I¡¯ve extended an invitation to [Plague Healer] Caecilius to be a member of my team, exclusively for plague-related problems. I don¡¯t want to go terribly in-depth on the reasoning why ¨C it¡¯s a long, detailed affair for another day ¨C but I believe he¡¯d be useful.¡±


    ¡°The armor! Tell us about the armor!¡± Sky shouted from mid-air. ¡°Don¡¯t care about your team, we gotta know what happened to your armor!¡±


    Night blurred and next thing I knew, there was a loud crack, and Sky was falling from the wall, groaning.


    Night hissed at him.


    ¡°Patience while Sentinel Dawn is reporting on her mission, problems, and potential solutions. This may be boring to you. For her, this is her life.¡±


    Sky weakly nodded, and I resolved to go round to tap him later. Had to have something cracked at least. Didn¡¯t feel that bad for him, although Night¡¯s reaction might¡¯ve been over the top.


    Then again, Night seemed to be in a foul mood right now.


    ¡°Getting back was an adventure. After Ocean decided I was going back on my own,¡± I shot Ocean a foul look at that, which he merrily waved off. ¡°I decided to book passage on a ship. Taking some advice, I decided to travel incognito, not flashing around my status.¡±


    Night nodded. ¡°Wise. A Sentinel, seeing which ship can take her home? A poor look.¡±


    I bit off a smart-ass retort. Night wasn¡¯t in the best of moods. Don¡¯t sass the moody 5,000-year-old vampire.


    ¡°Anyways. Since I¡¯m a young, [Pretty] healer, I decided that ¡®Healer Elaine¡¯ should have bodyguards or an escort. Grabbed three adventurers from the local guild to act as such.¡±


    Ocean gave me an approving smile.


    ¡°They¡¯re solid.¡±


    I shot him a withering look.


    ¡°Everything was fine, until we got raided by pirates. They didn¡¯t attempt to board and murder everyone ¨C they were simply ¡®taking a toll¡¯, which the merchant was unhappy, but willing to pay.¡±


    Some nodding around the room. Fairly classic tactics.


    ¡°Then they decided they wanted a high-level healer slave.¡±


    The room exploded into laughter at that. Sky and Magic were on the floor rolling with laughter. Brawling was giving great guffaws. Bulwark, a thin, reedy man with ink-stained fingers, who looked like he should be an engineer, not a Sentinel, was laughing so hard that he needed to take deep wheezing gasps. Even Night was quietly chuckling.


    I explained how the fight went down, including being impaled and barely surviving.


    ¡°Wait wait wait no no no.¡± Sky said, looking crestfallen. ¡°Your armor got broken like that while you were wearing it?¡±


    I looked at him. Everyone was staring at me intently, except for Night, who was rolling his eyes, and Sky, looking down at the ground, kicking some nothing. Hard to kick the ground while in mid-air.


    ¡°Er, yup!¡± I said.


    The room exploded with noise, mostly Ocean.


    ¡°Ha! Pay up! All of you, pay up!¡± He cackled, as bags of money flew around the room, from person to person ¨C most of it ending up at his feet.


    The coin dropped.


    ¡°You were betting on me!¡± I said, with more than a bit of outrage. The privacy, the secrecy, the ¡°surprise¡± ¨C nooo, that was just making sure nobody could see me, and I couldn¡¯t put my thumb on the scale while the betting pool of ¡°how did Elaine¡¯s armor get wrecked¡± was going on.


    ¡°Shamelessly.¡± Ocean said, with more than a bit of smug.


    I narrowed my eyes at him.


    ¡°Ocean was only able to call it because he got a sneak peek of my skills ahead of time, so he knew I could survive a blow like that.¡± I announced.


    The murderous looks on most of the Sentinel¡¯s face, combined with Ocean¡¯s look going from smug to concerned ¨C priceless.


    ¡­.


    ¡°Ahem.¡± Night said, after the minor brawl. ¡°Shall we return to business?¡±


    ¡®First, do no harm.¡¯ Was the start of my [Oath], and while sparring was kosher, brawls were not. Not that I was terribly likely to do well, or survive ¨C Magic had started off by vanishing, Sealing threw up a barrier around himself, and Brawling¡­


    Well. He hadn¡¯t earned the Brawling title by accident.


    RIP the furniture. I was getting myself a nice, soft, fur chair, and it was going to stay in my room, where it wouldn¡¯t get wrecked.


    ¡°Mistakes Dawn made, and areas of improvement.¡± Night said, clarifying.


    ¡°Got separated from her weapon.¡± Brawling promptly said.


    ¡°I was pushed back! I wasn¡¯t going to go deeper in to get it! I¡¯m a mage!¡± I protested.


    ¡°Let yourself get dropped into the water when you¡¯re unsuited for it.¡± Ocean ticked the point off his finger.


    Oh man. He was going to have no mercy.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t try to fall in. I had no other directions I could go. Up wasn¡¯t possible there would just be more ceiling and I can¡¯t fly without light, not to mention cargo possibly falling on me, down would just be deeper into the ship, left and right were basically the same as down, I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d be able to win a straight-up fight, and I wanted distance and air.¡± I desperately tried to counter.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t just sink the boats and be done with it.¡± Sky threw in.


    I glared at him.


    ¡°I¡¯m literally System-bound not to!¡±


    Night held up a hand before it could devolve further.


    ¡°Might I remind everyone that Dawn operates under a stringent set of circumstances. Please factor those in when analyzing her performance. Dawn ¨C this analysis does you no good if you simply protest every criticism thrown at you. Think, analyze, and learn. You have a skill for that, no?¡±


    Whoof. Five sentences, and everyone in the room needed a visit to the burn ward.


    There was a long thoughtful silence.


    ¡°Bit trigger-happy on the gemstones. Might¡¯ve been able to use fewer. At the same time, not aggressive enough. You gave them time to regroup and think. Should¡¯ve hit them like thunder and lightning. Shock and awe ¡®em.¡± Magic said, our resident expert on gemstones and how to optimally use them weighing in.


    ¡°Teach me at some point. Still new to using them.¡± I said.


    Magic grinned.


    ¡°Sure! Most of us need to adapt to how to use gemstones ¨C they¡¯re rare enough, and the kit¡¯s large enough, that it takes time to get in the habit of it.¡±


    ¡°I know you didn¡¯t try to get in the water, but you still picked an overseas route while being unprepared for aquatic combat.¡± Ocean said, quite a bit nicer.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t have your own watch arranged.¡± Hunting said. ¡°You relied on the merchants to do things properly, which let them get the drop on you.¡±


    ¡°You let your prejudice get the better of you.¡± Acquisition said. ¡°Once you¡¯d regained ¨C or were even considering boarding ¨C the merchant ship again, you had three additional combatants nominally on your side. You didn¡¯t even check if they would work with you, you didn¡¯t see if there was something they could do. You just wrote them off, and almost died in an ambush because of it. If they had your back? You wouldn¡¯t have needed to blow Sealing¡¯s barrier; you wouldn¡¯t have taken a harpoon through the back.¡±


    ¡°I-¡° I started to defend myself, before closing my mouth and shutting up.


    He was right.


    Three dedicated combat specialists, who nominally were willing to throw themselves into danger for money ¨C who¡¯d already been paid to do so to boot ¨C and I¡¯d completely disregarded them. Heck, once the pressure was off, once they were no longer getting a sword to their neck while massively outnumbered, once there was a Sentinel they were supporting? It¡¯s likely they would¡¯ve joined me with great enthusiasm.


    ¡°I will do my best to remember it in the future.¡± I said.


    ¡°Could¡¯ve taken the pirates prisoner by imprisoning them on their ship, and having them towed behind the merchant vessel, using the former slaves as extra manpower.¡± Acquisition observed.


    Ouch. Right again.


    More problems were pointed out. More roasting. More analysis.


    More improvements.


    However, salvation came from an unexpected direction.


    ¡°I want a number of [Nova]¡¯s from you.¡± Sealing said. ¡°The ability to fire attacks out from inside my shield is great, and the current Radiance attack I have is worse than your [Nova].¡±


    ¡°Your use of [Invisibility] was great.¡± Magic chimed in. ¡°Textbook perfect use. Usually, it can last a bit longer, but¡­¡± He shrugged. ¡°Lemme see if I can get you some more.¡±


    We went from a roast, to highlighting the good points, the strong points. Brawling was still circling my armor.


    ¡°I still can¡¯t believe you survived that.¡± He said, shaking his head.


    ¡°The hard part was it being stuck inside me. If it had gone straight through it would¡¯ve been a cakewalk.¡± I cheerfully said.


    Acquisition went green. I had to remind myself that however low on the combat totem pole I was, he was lower.


    ¡°This is all well and good.¡± Night said. ¡°But the Hell Months are continuing, and I do believe we have spent quite enough time on this after-action report. Ocean. If you are not too busy, can you finish off the pirates please?¡±


    Ocean thought about it a moment, then saluted. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I know roughly where they might hole up after a defeat as bad as Dawn¡¯s talking about.¡±


    ¡°Good. We can not let anyone with the idea of trying to murder a Sentinel live, especially after Dawn was so generous as to give them a way to simply leave the premise unmolested. As for the merchant captain¡­¡± Night said, tapping his fingers thoughtfully. ¡°From the description Dawn has given, and the near complete destruction of both his cargo, and his ship, I do believe he will go bankrupt, unless ship prices have dramatically changed since the last time I checked. As his only crime was to¡­ not stand up to pirates who were invading his ship, unknowingly letting them have a crack at a Sentinel ¨C I can not place greater blame on him. Financial ruin seems appropriate for one ruled by greed.¡±


    Seemed a bit harsh, but on the flipside, he hadn¡¯t done anything to me. Standing off to the side when threatened wasn¡¯t a crime.


    Unless you were a bloody adventurer hired to do something about it!


    ¡°As for the adventurers ¨C Dawn, I trust you will handle their punishment.¡±


    Yesssss.


    ¡°I¡¯d love to, but I need some ideas about what¡¯s possible and not.¡±


    ¡°Chop off a finger!¡± Brawling suggested.


    ¡°Take their weapons, armor, money, clothes, food¡­¡± Acquisition started listing off everything a person could possibly own.


    More bad ideas from people. Lots of them.


    ¡°Send them on a quest! Oooh, make them get you mangos from Perinthus!¡± Sky suggested.


    ¡°Get them demoted in rank at the guild.¡± Ocean finally weighed in.


    ¡°Ooooh, I like.¡± I said. I¡¯d have to work on it some, but yeah, apparently higher rank = better paying jobs, and getting demoted for failing a quest seemed like a painful, but reasonable penalty.


    Also, there was no way I was letting them get paid for the quest. They¡¯d failed miserably.


    Or, at the very least, I was getting a refund. I was going to go in there, and raise hell until I got what I wanted. Sounded like fun.


    ¡°Right. Does anyone else have any other business before we adjourn, and go back to the Hell Months?¡± Night asked.


    Nobody said anything.


    ¡°Right. Dawn, excellent job on your first mission. Everyone, dismissed.¡± Night said.


    Half the Sentinels, including Magic and Ocean, got up and started to walk towards the long corridor that led to the Ranger Academy island. I was slightly bored, and wanted to keep hanging out, so I decided to head down with them.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 18]


    [Mana: 51840/51840]


    [Mana Regen: 42569 (+4049.1)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 150]


    [Strength: 244]


    [Dexterity: 202]


    [Vitality: 600]


    [Speed: 520]


    [Mana: 5184]


    [Mana Regeneration: 4908 (+1423.32)]


    [Magic Power: 4517 (+46525.1)]


    [Magic Control: 4517 (+46525.1)]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 246]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 246]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 198]


    [Medicine: 215]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 242]


    [Phases of the Moon: 246]


    [Moonlight: 246]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 216]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 144]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 188]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 188]


    [Radiance Resistance: 188]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 188]


    [Radiance Manipulation: 188]


    [Sun-Kissed: 145]


    [Blaze: 188]


    [Talaria: 163]


    [Nova: 188]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 137]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 159]


    [Pretty: 136]


    [Bullet Time: 198]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 210]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 206]


    [Persistent Casting: 55]


    [Learning: 246]

 Chapter 140 – Smoke and Mirrors

    I jogged along with everyone, with the pace being set slow enough that I could keep up ¨C along with Magic, and the other, less physically-inclined Sentinels. I had no doubt the physical ones could just blast ahead, and be there in minutes, but, well, being a Sentinel was a lonely job, and it looked like the companionship, and bond, was somewhat strong when we were all hanging out together.


    Who else knew what we did? Who else could relate to the job?


    ¡°All in all, good work.¡± Ocean said, jogging beside me.


    ¡°Yeah, fantastic job!¡± Magic said, on my other side.


    I narrowed my eyes at him and poked him. My finger went right through.


    ¡°Even here?¡± I asked.


    The mirage of Magic shrugged.


    ¡°Habit. If I¡¯m never thinking ¡®this is safe, I can show myself¡¯, and ¡®this is dangerous, I should hide¡¯, I can never goof and get it wrong. You never know when you¡¯ll be attacked, you never know when you¡¯re in danger.¡±


    ¡°Constant vigilance.¡± I said, remembering Maximus¡¯s lessons¡­ among other things.


    Magic ¨C well his illusion ¨C beamed at me. ¡°Exactly! You get it!¡±


    I studied his illusion carefully. It was so lifelike. Muscles moved and flexed as they should, his tunic fluttered as he jogged ¨C it even moved a bit as I waved my hand near it.


    ¡°Cripes. You¡¯re all control, aren¡¯t you?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Control, Mana Regen, and physical stats, yeah.¡± He answered.


    ¡°Dawn. Something for you to consider.¡± Ocean said. ¡°You¡¯re likely going to be in this role what, 100, 200 years or so? You might want to do some long-term thinking and planning.¡±


    I immediately paid my full attention to Ocean, the rest of the world falling away.


    ¡°Tell me more.¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯ve leveled up fast. Insanely fast by normal standards, roughly on par with how most Sentinels end up. Well, skipping the boost at the front lines. Regardless, you¡¯re approaching 256 on your primary class. It¡¯s going to be your last class up. Now, if your classes were both dedicated towards healing, it¡¯d be worth considering a reset. Granted, people that pull off a reset are incredibly rare, but the rewards are often worth it. However, that¡¯s irrelevant in your case ¨C what if you reset, and you need to handle another plague? No good.¡±


    ¡°With that being said, you¡¯ll want to stall once you hit 256 on your main class. Get your second class up as high as possible. The more stats you have, the higher your skills are, the better your options will be. The better options you have, the better stats you get, the better evolutions for your second class once it hits 256 as well. Unless you decide to reset your second class at 256. Gotta tell us if you do that though, we¡¯ll stick you on the front lines to get that back up.¡±


    ¡°Either way, my advice ¨C stall out once you hit 256.¡±


    I thought about it. Made a ton of sense.


    ¡°Anything else on the long-term planning?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Cultivate contacts, resources. People your age who are high level, who are going places. You¡¯ll bump into them often enough as time goes on.¡± Ocean said.


    Acquisition popped over, overlapping with Magic until Magic threw a disgusted look and dropped back.


    ¡°Might be worth talking with the Adventurer¡¯s Guild, see who¡¯s high level at a young age. What¡¯s high level at a young age is for you to figure out. Bonus ¨C it might help with your prejudice against them. You can also handle the failed quest while you¡¯re at it.¡±


    ¡°Screw that!¡± Sky said, flying aggravatingly above us. He was basically lounging, and letting the breeze he conjured up float him down the tunnel. ¡°Let¡¯s talk about Hell Months! Anyone got a trainee they have their eyes on? Anyone see any trainees they want to drop out?¡±


    ¡°Is it fair for us to target trainees?¡± I asked, somewhat bemused.


    ¡°Yes, but no, but really yes.¡± Magic said, having enlarged himself, completely overlapping Acquisition. Scary stuff. Looked like one person, but I knew it was a different person under that.


    ¡°Magic, I swear to Xaoc, get this damn illusion off of me or I¡¯ll steal all your gems.¡± Acquisition cursed Magic out, the voice coming from the illusion. The illusion popped, and flickered into a new spot.


    He shot Acquisition a dirty look.


    Hang on. Wasn¡¯t Acquisition supposed to be out stealing Brawling¡¯s badge back? I started to try and poke him, and he expertly weaved out of the way.


    ¡°Magic. I swear to the moon goddesses, if you¡¯re impersonating Acquisition as well, I will¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t say I¡¯d hurt him. ¡°do something we¡¯ll both regret.¡± I finished lamely.


    I am totally getting an anti-mirage skill at some point. I did not want to spend my life questioning what was real and what was fake, not when magic could create such perfect fakes.


    Acquisition said nothing. He was either an illusion, or enjoying winding me up. I had a lot more respect for the poor Quartermaster who needed to figure out if he was issuing me stuff, or an illusion stuff. And from the sound of it ¨C Acquisition also had disguise techniques or illusions.


    Radiance was apparently great at killing illusions. Could only hope to get a skill for it.


    Maybe¡­ maybe I could lose [Nova]? I¡¯d need to think about it more.


    As Ocean said ¨C I needed to do some long, long term planning on stuff, and my build. And I had numerous experts to consult.


    I blinked.


    I was also an expert, that people would be consulting. I needed to be knowledgeable, and I also needed people myself that I could talk with, and trust, who were around.


    Like¡­ a Ranger Commander, who probably had a high-level insight into the world, what was happening where, where resources were allocated.


    Like¡­ a Ranger, assigned to Team 0, an expert on all things social, able to navigate me through difficult situations.


    Like¡­ a brilliant and amazing mage who¡¯d founded one of the first large-scale magic schools.


    I could lean on them. They could lean on me. It sounded good.


    Actually ¨C could I start teaching at the school? Start training up a generation of healers, possibly steer some of them towards the Rangers? It¡¯d meet Julius¡¯s goal, it¡¯d help me spread my knowledge ¨C yeah, I had to go visit Artemis at some point.


    I shook my head and refocused. Magic had been talking the whole time.


    ¡°Sorry ¨C can you say that again?¡± I asked.


    I got a sour look. I ignored it. It was an illusion ¨C Magic could be projecting any emotion at all. But wow, what mastery of human emotion and facial expressions to just effortlessly project any emotion he wanted.


    ¡°Sometimes, we spot something in a Trainee we don¡¯t like. Someone who won¡¯t work with others. Someone who¡¯ll throw others under a wagon. Or just our personal biases. Like Sky will try to snipe most potential fliers out ¨C less work for him.¡±


    ¡°Hey! I like having fliers!¡± Sky protested.


    ¡°You like having exactly one bad flier.¡± Ocean retorted. ¡°So you get your fun, but don¡¯t need to actually do anything.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of. Tall mage, black hair. I¡¯m not completely sure, but he seems to be a Sand mage, and I swear he¡¯s trying to foul other trainees when they run on the beach. There¡¯s an unusually high number of trips and falls.¡± Ocean said. ¡°There¡¯s been more sprained ankles this year than the last six Academy classes combined. 600 coins to anyone who can get him to drop out.¡±


    ¡°Do we directly target him, or¡­?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Kinda.¡± Ocean said. ¡°Usually we find something that the Trainee¡¯s bad against, and the take that particular problem up to 16. They dislike cold? Lots of cold environments. They don¡¯t handle bad food well? Lots of bad food. Everyone¡¯s equally miffed, but they¡¯re hit harder than others. If they¡¯re able to persist through it, well, they¡¯re in. Helps stop our personal bias from gatekeeping someone who deserves to be in.¡±


    I thought about that. Kinda made sense. There was probably at least one person who didn¡¯t like the idea of me or Artemis going through Academy, but they couldn¡¯t target us directly ¨C they could only do stuff we didn¡¯t like to everyone, and hope they got us. If we persisted, pushed through the challenge ¨C well, we¡¯d proven we deserved to be there.


    ¡°Are petty grudges or attempts allowed?¡± I asked, having a plan.


    ¡°Yeah sure, but don¡¯t be too surprised if we don¡¯t go too hard for it.¡± Ocean said.


    ¡°Petty. I¡¯d like the bard out.¡± I said.


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± Magic asked.


    ¡°Because I¡¯d have to mentor him. Without him, I have no mentees, and more free time.¡± I said, laying my cards on the table.


    Sky laughed his ass off, flying high above us. We were in the long tunnel to the Academy at this point, a long underwater thing connecting it to the mainland.


    I really hope the tunnel didn¡¯t collapse, or get hit by a monster. Although, if it did, I couldn¡¯t imagine wanting to be anywhere besides next to Ocean.


    ¡°Also, I got a new trick I¡¯d love to try.¡± I said. ¡°Magic, can you give me a sound amplification?¡±


    Magic said nothing, but there was suddenly a gemstone flying at me out of thin air. Magic¡¯s hiding spot most likely ¨C and equally likely that he¡¯d moved right after throwing the gem, the same way I moved after hitting people. That was a massive level of paranoia.


    Although ¨C between Brilliant barriers, and Mirage illusions, which was stronger?


    ¡°Anyone know anything about unlocking the third class?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Should be level 512, although nobody¡¯s ever been able to confirm it.¡± Magic said. ¡°Fits the pattern. First at 8, second at 64, third at 512. Night¡¯s getting close, might get there in our lifetime.¡±


    Hmmm¡­ Maybe I could aim for it. Seemed to be a solid long-term goal.


    ¡°We¡¯re here!¡± Sky whooped, and darted ahead.


    A twist, a jump, and a shout ¨C thanks to Sky ¨C and we were overlooking the Trainees being put through their paces by the Instructors, Quintis¡¯s voice echoing all the way over.


    ¡°Cold?¡± Magic asked. Ocean shook his head.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do rain. Give all the instructors a break.¡±


    I blinked at them. Wait just a minute¡­


    Magic did something, and I saw the Instructors start to peel off one at a time, replaced by¡­ an exact copy of themselves. Who were still yelling at the Trainees.


    I looked at him, wide-mouthed. Ocean winked at me.


    ¡°Smoke and mirrors. This is some of the best non-combat experience Magic can get. Now, it¡¯s my turn.¡± He said, jogging down to where the Trainees were.


    I saw a storm start to form ¨C but only around the Trainees. From where I was standing, it looked flat, the backside of a storm, the CGI window laid bare. A grand illusion. As Ocean got near, it started to rain, and from my vantage point, I could see that Ocean was making it ¡°rain¡± on the Trainees by conjuring water right above them.


    To them, it looked like a bad summer squall coming out of nowhere. From where I was standing?


    Smoke. And. Mirrors.


    Sky nudged me.


    ¡°Go show us your new trick you were talking about!¡±


    I glanced up. It was still bright and sunny everywhere the Trainees were not ¨C and Instructor Quintis ¨C no wait, he was grabbing a meal and lying down to take a nap, Magic, pretending to be Quintis, had all the Trainees drop and do a bunch of pushups.


    AKA, making it easier to maintain the illusion. AKA, giving all the Instructors a break.


    Sentinel. Seeing behind the illusion, seeing the reality behind the hellish training, and how the combination of skills made it all possible. I was impressed.


    Heh. I was going to make this insanely hard on Magic. Who knows, maybe the added complexity to the illusion would help him level?


    ¡°Switch them to jumping jacks. Or something else where they need to look up.¡± I said to Magic ¨C or at least where I assumed he was, it was impossible to tell ¨C and got ready to take flight.


    ¡°Hang on.¡± A voice came from next to me. ¡°Are you going to do Radiance stuff?¡±


    ¡°Err, yeah, why?¡±


    ¡°Is it going to be complicated?¡±


    ¡°Yup.¡±


    ¡°Yeah ¨C let¡¯s let them get soaked awhile longer. With how complex this is to hold, and with how Radiance burns though Mirage, you¡¯d probably break the illusion. We¡¯ll get them after they¡¯re good and wet.


    Sounded like a plan. Didn¡¯t want to break the illusion for the Trainees.


    I looked down. There were a lot of trainees. We must be fairly early into the Hell Months. Even as I watched, someone got up, and started stomping off to the gong.


    ¡°Oooh, Ocean got one!¡± Magic said.


    ¡°What, shouldn¡¯t that partially count as yours?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yeah, but I do so much, they all count as mine.¡± Magic said, waving his hand.


    I watched for some time more, before Magic spoke to me.


    ¡°Alright, do your stuff.¡±


    I grinned. I was going to have fun with this!


    Ocean stopped dumping water on the Trainees, Magic had the storm ¡°move on¡±, and then I was up, flying above the Trainees as Magic had them start doing sit-ups.


    ¡°The Dawn has arrived!¡± I yelled, voice amplified, as I started to repeat the ¡°bright pulsing light¡± trick ¨C being careful that nothing was too bright as to cause long-lasting harm or vision problems ¨C causing more than one Trainee to yell and cover their eyes ¨C only for Instructors, a mix of real ones and Magic-mage illusions, to stomp over and yell at them.


    This was fun!


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 18]


    [Mana: 51840/51840]


    [Mana Regen: 42569 (+14233.2)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 150]


    [Strength: 244]


    [Dexterity: 202]


    [Vitality: 600]


    [Speed: 520]


    [Mana: 5184]


    [Mana Regeneration: 4908 (+1423.32)]


    [Magic Power: 4517 (+46525.1)]


    [Magic Control: 4517 (+46525.1)]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 246]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 246]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 198]


    [Medicine: 215]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 242]


    [Phases of the Moon: 246]


    [Moonlight: 246]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 216]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 144]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 188]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 188]


    [Radiance Resistance: 188]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 188]


    [Radiance Manipulation: 188]


    [Sun-Kissed: 145]


    [Blaze: 188]


    [Talaria: 163]


    [Nova: 188]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 137]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 159]


    [Pretty: 136]


    [Bullet Time: 198]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 210]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 206]


    [Persistent Casting: 55]


    [Learning: 246]

 Chapter 141 – Autumn

    I had a ton of fun flashing all the Trainees.


    Wait.


    Phrasing.


    After I¡¯d had a ton of fun blinding the Trainees with light ¨C getting two to quit, a solid first effort ¨C I landed, and started to make my way back, Ocean keeping me company.


    ¡°Seriously. You did a solid job on your first mission.¡± Ocean said. ¡°My first was a disaster. I was too used to working in a team, and I kept expecting someone to cover me. It took some time, and a few mistakes, to realize I was on my own. Didn¡¯t seem to happen with you ¨C you just flawlessly moved into the role.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s an added layer of complexity to dealing with experts in their environment, and not only that, but you pulled it off with no collateral damage. I¡¯m impressed as anything. Do I wish you¡¯d cleanly taken care of all of them so I didn¡¯t need to clean up? Yes. At the same time, the number of missions where we don¡¯t need some extra clean up are usually the ones where we¡¯re cleaning up in the first place. Hell, even Night occasionally needs a bit of extra ¡®help¡¯ when people spot him in places he shouldn¡¯t be, and he¡¯s not leaving a trail of bodies as an example. Usually a quick chat and a large bribe¡¯s enough.¡±


    Wow.


    ¡°You¡¯re also not a combat specialist, and you performed admirably against dozens of killers. That also weighs in.¡±


    ¡°Anyways, tell me more about the pirates¡­ every little bit helps.¡±


    I gave as many details as I could remember, about both the pirates and the ship, watching Ocean wince as I horribly mauled nautical terms.


    ¡°I deeply regret agreeing that you didn¡¯t need sailing lessons.¡± Ocean said, with feeling. ¡°Maybe we should fix that¡­¡±


    A lightbulb went off.


    ¡°Oooh! Let¡¯s do an anatomy lesson for the trainees! Let me know if you¡¯ve got a spare body around, and we can see which Trainees quit as I dig around through an open corpse, displaying organs and explaining what they do!¡± I said. ¡°Might as well figure out who¡¯s squeamish now! Plus, it¡¯ll let me get a head start on lessons. I am going to be teaching medicine and first aid, right?¡±


    Ocean looked thoughtful. ¡°It should work. We¡¯ll see. Related ¨C your stall¡¯s all arranged. It¡¯s up to you what hours you want to be there, apart from the morning meeting of course.¡±


    Ocean gave me directions to it.


    ¡°Perfect. Do you think the Quartermaster will make a slightly custom leather skirt?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Depends, what do you need?¡± Ocean asked.


    ¡°To not flash people when I¡¯m flying.¡±


    Ha! Got him. Ocean looked slightly embarrassed at that.


    ¡°Ah, yeah, he can probably work something out for you.¡±


    Time to play a game. How many people can I make uncomfortable with my request?


    One. The answer was one. Only Ocean. The Quartermaster barely blinked at my request before approving it.


    ¡°Speaking of, it¡¯ll be a few days before your gear¡¯s all set. You did quite a number on it. There¡¯s a second set in an emergency, but it¡¯s just normal armor, no inscriptions or anything. It¡¯s already fitted for your size. Let¡¯s hope there¡¯s no problems.¡±


    Dude was in a foul mood. I could only hope the merchant came through for me.


    ¡°Oh right! Here!¡± I said, handing over most of the gemstones to the Quartermaster. I kept a few to myself ¨C mostly Quartz, for Sealing to add more of his barriers to ¨C but the rest I was happy to donate back to the community pot.


    The Quartermaster gave me a Look. I gave him a smile.


    Standoff.


    He sighed.


    ¡°Fine, fine, thank you. Don¡¯t make a habit out of it.¡±


    What was that supposed to mean!?


    I suppose we weren¡¯t supposed to usually come back with piles of loot from slain enemies. Something, something, bad habits, something, something, opening the door to grift and corruption.


    I wasn¡¯t keeping them for myself! I was¡­


    No wait. I had kept half of them for myself.


    I handed back the Arcanite I¡¯d requisitioned ¨C and I hadn¡¯t even slipped a few away for my own use! I figured it was better to get on his good side now.


    And with that, I had an open day! I popped down to what I was calling the mailroom, checking if I had anything. Letter from Albina, asking me to let her know when I was back in town. Letter from Artemis, asking me to swing by. Letter from my parents, letting me know they were off to move, that they loved me, they regretted missing me, and to stay safe.


    Dammit! Missed them. I¡¯d have to catch up with them another time. Needed to let them know about the house and everything.


    I penned a quick letter to Albina, letting her know I was back in town, and ready to start our sessions again. With nothing else to do, I packed up my stuff, and headed out to my new healing stall.


    I stepped out into the moderately busy street, and needed a moment to collect myself. The last few weeks had taken a bit more of a toll on me than I thought. I¡¯d been living in my armor, prepared and ready for an attack at any time. Then an attack actually did come, and my paranoia levels had gone through the roof.


    I refocused. I had skills. I was skilled. I¡¯d been able to handle the pirates, one against goddesses-knows-how-many. I was in a town, the town, there were guards, normal people, and I wasn¡¯t going to be ambushed by dozens of people with no help in broad daylight.


    I was as safe as I could be.


    I briefly debated walking around with my badge on my tunic, but axed the idea. Acquisition hadn¡¯t gotten a chance to ¡®talk¡¯ with all the thieves yet, and I didn¡¯t want to be the one raising my hand in tomorrow¡¯s meeting, confessing that I¡¯d lost my badge as well. If thieves could remove a badge from Brawling, of all people, I had no illusions that I could keep mine safe.


    I was going to make it at LEAST a year before wishing I hadn¡¯t ditched [Lost and Found].


    I looked down at my coin pouch. I looked around where I was. Perfectly safe ¨C at Ranger Headquarters ¨C but in the rich, fancy district.


    I went back to my room, dropped off almost all my coins, and rustled up a spare pouch, which I put where my coin pouch usually was, adding a few coins to it. I tucked my ¡°nice¡± pouch into my tunic, along with my badge.


    A nice, easy, ¡°here steal this one¡±, and a thief would need to be reaching somewhere real awkward to get the real pouch.


    Unless they had a skill like Acquisition did, that let them teleport stuff around.


    I¡¯d love to wrap it in [Veil], but I still didn¡¯t get to move my own [Veil] around. Hamster-balling my way around might be a bit broken.


    [Bullet Time] activated on that one thief, but she didn¡¯t look high level. I imagine high level thieves would have counter-counter measures. And¡­


    There was probably a whole world of cat and mouse I didn¡¯t know about. All I knew was, I was the cheese.


    Eh, screw it. I¡¯ll just leave my badge behind in my room, and I was going to be Healer Elaine today. Hopefully that wouldn¡¯t cause any problems getting the stall, but¡­ whatever. I¡¯d take problems as they came.


    What¡¯s the worst that could happen?


    I¡¯d made it to the marketplace where my new digs were apparently located. Somewhere between here and there a master thief had lifted my decoy purse. If I were a master thief, looking to grab a Sentinel badge, I¡¯d hang out near HQ, and try robbing everyone who left.


    An actual master thief would probably have a better plan than that, but. Eh. Tomorrow, hopefully the thief question would be resolved, and I could go around in full gear and badge.


    It wasn¡¯t that I was afraid or concerned of getting stolen from ¨C it was that I was afraid what Night would do to them. I didn¡¯t want to be the inciting incident for a bloodbath. Plus ¨C I could only lay low for so long! Might be fun to get to know my neighbors as Healer Elaine, instead of Sentinel Dawn.


    Secret identity away! Not that there was any particular reason for it, or anything I was super worried about.


    I wove my way through the crowd, merchants shouting their wares ¨C and where they were from, which was a bit different from most towns ¨C women and their children shopping, moms trying to corral kids while bartering, kids bored of being herded around trying to ESCAPE for ADVENTURE!


    Heh. I remember doing that. It was tons of fun.


    Well. The ones that did escape usually went for adventure, but half the time ended up brawling in the street.


    Guards patrolled, keeping an eye out for thieves, thieves lurked, keeping an eye out for unguarded goods and purses, and merchants tried to grow extra eyeballs and mouths, to talk with more people, establish that personal connection to get people to fork over a few extra coins ¨C all while lamenting how they would all starve at the price offered ¨C skills fired, a chaotic mess.


    You know. An average marketplace.


    I got to my stall, and I had to hand it to the Rangers ¨C they sure knew how to do things well, if sparingly. My spot wasn¡¯t the prime spot, nor was it pushed to the edges. The stall had no frills, just a wooden ¡°display¡± area, and a stool for me.


    Clearly, no expense was spared.


    At the same time ¨C stall space was expensive. Honestly, I was kinda surprised that nobody had ¡°liberated¡± the spot.


    I sat down on the stool, taking my spot, when a little inquisitive voice started talking with me.


    ¡°I would not do that if I were you.¡± A girl said to me, from my side, behind the stall.


    I looked at her. Must be somewhere between 10 to 12.


    She was great at making me feel short. She was taller than I was.


    ¡°Oh? Why¡¯s that?¡± I asked her. Empty spot, local warning me off, I¡¯d be an idiot not to listen ¨C even if it was a kid telling me.


    Wasn¡¯t too long ago I was her age after all. I wasn¡¯t going to make the mistake of thinking kids were dumb. I needed at least another decade before I was convinced they were idiots.


    ¡°The guard gets annoyed.¡± A merchant ¨C who I assumed was her father ¨C answered.


    ¡°Do you know what about? Elaine, by the way. Nice to meet you.¡± I said, offering my hand. Might as well get to know my neighbors. Who knew when we¡¯d need to ask each other for some help here and there? Also, dude seemed to have some serious fruit selection, along with other odds and ends. A complete, detailed, and thorough scan of everything he had revealed no mangos.


    What type of two-bit fruit merchant neglected mangos? Honestly.


    At the same time ¨C chance to get a good hookup.


    ¡°Neptune. Apparently, the stall¡¯s reserved.¡± He said, shaking my hand. ¡°Whoever¡¯s rented it out got some serious clout and money. Able to afford a stall, not put anything in it, then have the guard look after it?¡± He whistled.


    ¡°I¡¯m Autumn!¡± The girl said. ¡°What do you do? I neeeeeever see girls selling stuff. Plus, you don¡¯t seem to have any stuff. If you need a break you can sit with us!¡± She said, suddenly getting an idea and brightening up.


    ¡°Don¡¯t bug her Autumn.¡± Neptune said.


    I gave her a smile.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mind. Really. Also, um, how to put this.¡± I said, scratching my head somewhat awkwardly. ¡°Pretty sure this stall¡¯s for me.¡±


    Neptune pointed at a guard who was wandering over to us.


    ¡°I¡¯m not the one you need to convince.¡±


    I sent a quick prayer off to the goddesses that this would be a quick and painless interaction.


    ¡°Excuse me miss ¨C this stall¡¯s reserved.¡± The guard said.


    ¡°Yes ¨C for me.¡± I countered.


    He frowned. No. Please. Shoot me now.


    ¡°Name?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Should be under Dawn. Probably.¡± I said.


    His frown deepened.


    ¡°Probably?¡±


    ¡°No idea what name it got reserved under. What evidence would you accept for this being mine?¡±


    The guard muttered something to himself, and blessedly, left.


    ¡°Thought your name was Elaine.¡± Autumn said. ¡°It¡¯s not good to lie to guards.¡±


    She closed her eyes, and like she was reciting a rule, she carefully enunciated.


    ¡°Rule 4. Only lie to people when they¡¯re buying your stuff, and never lie to the guard.¡±


    ¡°Autumn!¡± Her father said, horrified. ¡°What¡¯s rule 14?¡±


    ¡°Never tell other people the rules, unless ¨C oopsies.¡± Autumn said, looking slightly abash. ¡°Forget I told you anything.¡± She directed that second one to me.


    I laughed at her.


    ¡°I have two names! That¡¯s why I gave you one name, and the guard a second name!¡±


    Autumn looked at me suspiciously.


    ¡°Girls don¡¯t get two names. How did you get two names? Oooh! Are you on the run from the guard?¡±


    Her dad cuffed her at that.


    ¡°Be nice.¡± He said, then got distracted by someone trying to buy his stuff.


    ¡°If I was on the run from the guard, would I be happily claiming a stall? Would I be cool telling the guards to take a close look at me?¡±


    She frowned at that. I could practically see the steam coming out of her ears.


    ¡°Ok. Fine. So what do you sell? You don¡¯t seem to have anything. So that means you sell a skill. And you [Identify] as a [Healer]. You heal people!¡± Autumn said, clearly working it out as she went along.


    ¡°Yup!¡± I said cheerfully.


    ¡°Dad, dad, dad, can I hang out with Elaine? I wanna learn to be a [Healer]!¡±


    ¡°If she agrees. You need to pay for it with your own money.¡± Her dad said, clearly well-rehearsed, and very distracted, trying to close the sale.


    Well. The sale was going to be made. The only question was how many coins would be moving around.


    I got the BIGGEST puppy-dog eyes from Autumn.


    ¡°Will you please teach me how to be a healer? Nobody ever wants a girl apprentice. I promise I won¡¯t be a pest. I can pay you¡­¡± She started fumbling at her pouch.


    My heart almost broke at the second sentence. She was totally right. Nobody ever gave girls the time of day, never gave them a chance to be an apprentice, to learn. Best-case is what she had ¨C her dad teaching her the tricks of his trade.


    ¡°Sure! Grab a seat, pull it up, and I¡¯ll show you how it¡¯s done. For free.¡± Autumn gasped, then turned around and bolted back to her stall.


    With happy whooping noises, Autumn grabbed what was clearly her seat and wrestled it over to my stall, all of three feet.


    ¡°Ok, great! Tell me all about it. Although, um. You need a sign.¡± Autumn pointed out. ¡°Rule 6. Always let people know what you¡¯re selling. Oh! We sell fruit.¡±


    Good point. I didn¡¯t have anything to make a sign with ¨C except, of course, skills. [Veil] would be perfect.


    ¡°How would you make a ¡®Free Healing¡¯ sign?¡±


    Autumn looked at me with horror.


    ¡°Rule 1! The golden rule! Always always always get paid! Never do anything for free!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m teaching you for free, aren¡¯t I?¡±


    Ahhh. The delicious look of conflict. Her Rule 1 versus her desire to learn how to be a healer.


    ¡°Consider giving me a little help with the stall your payment.¡± I said, unable to keep an amused note out of my voice.


    ¡°Alright! Nobody will believe free. Make it one coin. Then when people want to pay, you¡­ you¡­¡± It seemed to physically pain Autumn to say it, and she croaked it out in a whisper. ¡°You tell them it¡¯s free.¡±


    I tapped the side of my nose with a finger.


    ¡°It¡¯s free¡­ but I accept donations. Sometimes, believe it or not, you can make more money by having people give you what they think is fair.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you lose a lot of money like that?¡± Autumn asked me.


    ¡°How would I lose money?¡±


    More steam came out of her ears, until the lightbulb went off.


    ¡°You don¡¯t pay anything for your stuff! You can¡¯t lose money! No, wait. Yes, you can. The stall fee.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t paying it, not that I¡¯d tell her that. Did remind me to give a portion back to the Quartermaster. They were providing me with everything, the least I could do was give some back.


    Autumn rubbed her hands avariciously. Inspiration struck.


    ¡°Also, I¡¯m going to have you collect donations from people.¡±


    ¡°We have a deal! Rule 20. Only renegotiate deals if they get better for you.¡± She recited.


    I shot her a look. Little squirt thought she could out-maneuver me. I was mostly useless at this, but not entirely useless.


    ¡°It¡¯s part of your apprenticeship, while you learn. I need my apprentice to be doing something useful ¨C unless you can think of something more useful to be doing while you know no medicine and have no skills, hmmmm?¡±


    I could see by the look on her face that I¡¯d gotten her.


    ¡°Do you have a sign skill?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Sign skill?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, to make a sign for your stall. Are you sure you¡¯re supposed to have this stall? Novice merchants don¡¯t set up here. They need to be in the lower markets first, before they can get enough money to set up here. How did you even afford a stall in the first place?¡±


    Smart kid.


    I winked at her. ¡°You¡¯ll find out! I have a flashy skill I can shape, if that¡¯s what you mean.¡± I said, conjuring [Veil] up in the shape of a tiny stall. Took a bunch of focus to make something that detailed, as opposed to my usual ¡°shield myself and don¡¯t die¡±, but hey. It was good practice.


    ¡°Yeah ok. Like. Make a broken arm or something as the stall sign. Have a single coin next to it. Healing, one coin. Ok, your turn, tell me all about healing.¡±


    Having felt that she¡¯d finally paid her dues, Autumn¡¯s merchant instincts took over, giving her the poise and confidence to make demands of me. Clearly, we had a deal, and in her mind, since she¡¯d ¡°paid¡± me already, she felt free to plunder me for all I knew.


    Cute kid.


    I threw up a three-dimensional sign of a broken arm, with the picture of a single coin next to it, then mentally ¡°tied it off¡± with [Persistent Casting].


    ¡°Out of the eight basic elements, four of them can be considered ¡®healing¡¯ elements. Light, Dark, Water, and Wood. Wood is for making potions and other related remedies, Light is for creation and restoration ¨C like [Restoration], which can restore limbs. Dark is destruction and removal ¨C like diseases, and other icky things inside the body. Lastly, Water kinda does a little bit of everything, but it doesn¡¯t do it as easily, nor can it restore limbs.¡±


    I smiled, repeating a lesson I¡¯d heard a decade, a lifetime ago, on the basics, the fundamentals of healing.


    ¡°What are you?¡± Autumn asked, looking up at my sign, the Aurora Borealis swirling above us.


    ¡°Celestial. It¡¯s a combination of Light and Dark.¡±


    ¡°Woooooow. So cool.¡± Autumn said, and I recognized the star-struck look.


    I smiled at the first person that seemed to be approaching me for healing.


    ¡°While you can just throw mana and skills at a problem, it helps to know exactly what you¡¯re curing, how it¡¯s broken, and why your fix works. It can help you figure out bigger problems, along with being more mana-efficient. Less mana used means more patients seen, which means more money. Now, let¡¯s see what¡¯s wrong with this lady¡­¡±


    Autumn nodded furiously, and listened with rapt attention as I talked with the lady, diagnosed her problem, explained what was wrong to both her and Autumn, then healed her.


    Autumn was remarkably well-educated, as she pulled out some charcoal and bamboo, starting to take notes.


    I was totally getting a cute apprentice out of this free healing deal.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has reached level 211!]


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 18]


    [Mana: 51840/51840]


    [Mana Regen: 42569 (+4049.1)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 150]


    [Strength: 244]


    [Dexterity: 202]


    [Vitality: 600]


    [Speed: 520]


    [Mana: 5184]


    [Mana Regeneration: 4908 (+1423.32)]


    [Magic Power: 4517 (+47654.35)]


    [Magic Control: 4517 (+47654.35)]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 246]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 246]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 198]


    [Medicine: 215]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 242]


    [Phases of the Moon: 246]


    [Moonlight: 246]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 216]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 144]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 188]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 188]


    [Radiance Resistance: 188]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 188]


    [Radiance Manipulation: 188]


    [Sun-Kissed: 145]


    [Blaze: 188]


    [Talaria: 163]


    [Nova: 188]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 137]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 159]


    [Pretty: 136]


    [Bullet Time: 198]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 211]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 206]


    [Persistent Casting: 55]


    [Learning: 246]

 Chapter 142 – Schools

    Teaching Autumn was fun! She drank up everything I had to tell her, and it was nice having someone else handle the financial side. She was ruthless.


    ¡°Just think of all the cosmetics you¡¯ll now save on because you don¡¯t have those scars!¡± Autumn harangued the latest patient, a woman who¡¯d gotten badly scarred from a plague, scars all over her face now gone. ¡°Surely, a lifetime¡¯s savings should be worth more than a few coins today, as a gesture of gratitude! Why¡­¡±


    Relentless. Best part? People didn¡¯t feel entirely comfortable bartering properly with her. They did feel comfortable just blowing her off and walking away ¨C but Autumn was telling something about ¡°social gratitude¡± making most people at least stay and hear her pitch ¨C at which point she roped them in, and ruthlessly milked them for everything they had.


    Scary.


    How much worse would the dad be when I tried to negotiate for a mango-line?


    Oooh wait.


    I could get Autumn to do it for me!


    Autumn got quite a fat purse from the lady, and somehow, in spite of paying through the nose for free healing, she hummed a happy tune as she left the stall.


    Wow. I should¡¯ve gotten me an apprentice years ago. I¡¯d be swimming in it by now!


    ¡°I leveled! I leveled! Dad! I leveled!¡± Autumn leaped off her stool, it clattering to the ground, as she rushed over to where her dad was mid-negotiation.


    ¡°Whoa! You leveled!¡± Neptune said, breaking off his haggling. Dude cared more about validating his kid than making his sale. Solid dude. ¡°And you leveled yesterday as well! Nice!¡±


    They gave each other a high-five, then he turned to finish his sale.


    He quickly wrapped up his sale ¨C not haggling anymore, just completing it ¨C before turning back to Autumn.


    ¡°Have you learned anything interesting?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! Selling services is weird.¡±


    ¡°What else?¡±


    ¡°I totally want to be a Light healer. I can make so much money! And I don¡¯t even need to buy stuff!¡±


    He ruffled her hair.


    ¡°Gotta get a Light healer to apprentice you first!¡±


    Autumn ran over to me, grabbed my hand, and dragged me over.


    ¡°Elaine! Elaine will apprentice me! Right right?¡±


    The merchant looked at me. Blinked. Blinked again.


    I recognized the look. The ¡°holy shit the System is telling me WHAT¡± look. Also known as ¡°I just ID¡¯d her and wow.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the price of apprenticeship?¡± He asked me, clearly re-evaluating me.


    ¡°Ask Autumn. She negotiated it.¡±


    ¡°Sure, but as her dad, I¡¯d like to hear it.¡±


    I shrugged.


    ¡°Help running my stall, mostly. Help negotiating deals. I haaaaate negotiating and wringing money out of people, she takes that burden, I get a bunch more, and I get to teach. What¡¯s there not to like?¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m concerned you¡¯ll get bored, or your husband or whoever will bar you from teaching.¡±


    I thought about that.


    ¡°Being concerned that I won¡¯t always be around is a legitimate concern, especially because I do travel a fair amount, and I can¡¯t ¨C won¡¯t rather ¨C take her with me. I can leave teaching materials for her though. She can already read, which is a huge plus.¡±


    Neptune drummed his fingers.


    ¡°Maybe. We¡¯ll see. Can she still learn from you without a formal apprenticeship?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, of course!¡±


    Neptune could be a piano player with how fast his fingers were going.


    ¡°Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee?¡±


    Autumn piled on the charm, in the obnoxious way only kids could get away with.


    ¡°Alright, alright, fine.¡± Neptune held his hands up in surrender. ¡°Don¡¯t take a second class without discussing it with me first, ok?¡±


    Autumn nodded furiously, willing to accept any conditions.


    ¡°Alright. Have fun!¡±


    ¡°Ahem. Apprentice.¡± I said, putting on my best ¡°serious-face-and-tone.¡±


    ¡°Yes Elaine?¡± She asked, immediately looking at me with all her attention.


    ¡°Your first official task¡­¡± I said, drawing it out.


    ¡°YES?¡± She was way too excited.


    ¡°Get me a deal to constantly buy mangos from that fruit vendor.¡± I said, pointing to her dad.


    Autumn paled in horror. Her dad starting laughing his ass off.


    Ahhh minions. How did I ever live without them?


    Autumn and her dad started to get in a heated discussion, which I kept half an eye on. Her dad was getting a proud look on his face, as this was probably the first time they¡¯d earnestly conflicted on selling and buying ¨C and she was holding her own.


    I have no doubt they¡¯d done hundreds, thousands of ¡°practice negotiations¡±, or even bartered over little things. Heck, it could practically be a tradition of theirs.


    This was different though. This was a ¡°real¡±, large-scale deal.


    I started chuckling to myself as I realized something. Sure, Neptune had a bunch of levels and experience on her, and in theory had the edge.


    Except Autumn knew exactly what he paid for stuff, and knew that he had to say yes. After all ¨C it was for Autumn¡¯s teacher, and it was her first mission. He couldn¡¯t make her look bad off the bat.


    He might¡¯ve been making it a bit easier on her ¨C but maybe he was making it harder, both protecting his own pockets, and it would probably be better experience for both of them. The real thing always gave more experience than practice, and somehow, the System knew the difference.


    I healed a few more people, noticing the hole in my money jar as Autumn wasn¡¯t wringing people for everything they had on them, and spotted a familiar face through the crowd.


    I waved to Kallisto. He waved back, mimed a salute, and vanished.


    20 coins says that was the guard checking up that I was who I claimed to be, and Kallisto, being in town, was probably elected to be the one confirming it. I should hang out with them at some point. Maybe they¡¯d need a hand on some mission or another, and I could quite literally save a life or two.


    Shame he couldn¡¯t hang out and chat. Was probably insanely busy with being a Ranger, and with his baby. I couldn¡¯t imagine they were getting a lot of sleep.


    Maybe I should see if they were down for dinner at some point? Eating alone at Headquarters wasn¡¯t good for me. I needed people to chat with, friends.


    Autumn negotiated me a deal that she assured me was ¡°totally awesome¡±, and rejoined me at the table for the rest of the day.


    ¡°One of my most powerful skills is called [Elaine¡¯s Oath].¡± I said, deciding that the fundamental basics and philosophy of healing and medicine would be a good starting point. I also gave her the shortened version of the name, the one that people taking the [Oath] would get. ¡°It works like this¡­¡± I said, explaining the [Oath], the reasoning, and the effect.


    Autumn frowned at me.


    ¡°That¡¯s a dumb [Oath]. Plus, who names a skill after themselves?¡±


    Ouch. From the mouth of babes comes truth.


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± I asked her, between patients.


    She didn¡¯t answer, just rubbed her fingers together.


    ¡°Money! I can¡¯t make nearly as much money if I take the [Oath], than if I didn¡¯t have it.¡±


    ¡°You can heal bigger injuries with it.¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Yeah, or I could just take more time. You instantly heal people. Probably way too much power. Mana Regeneration would be the key stat.¡±


    The hell kind of education was she getting that she was this knowledgeable about the System already!?


    I decided not to tell her about bulk and mass healing.


    I shrugged.


    ¡°Your call! That¡¯s the idea and the basics. Let¡¯s move onto diseases¡­¡±


    This was great.


    All things must come to an end, and the day was wrapping up. I bid farewell to Autumn and Neptune, and decided to head down to Artemis¡¯s school. I¡¯d deal with the adventurers tomorrow, when I could run around with my badge again.


    Oh boy. I couldn¡¯t wait to see the look on Autumn and Neptune¡¯s face tomorrow.


    I wasn¡¯t bothered on the way out of the gates, but the guards did helpfully remind me that the gates were closing soon, and to try and make my way back before then.


    The trip to Artemis¡¯s school was uneventful. I made it to the school grounds as long shadows started to dominate. It looked like school was closed ¨C I didn¡¯t see lightning bolts raining down, nor flying rocks or any other obviously magical goings-on.


    ¡°Artemis! Hey Artemis!¡± I yelled out, wandering through the grounds. There was no sign about the place being closed. I was impressed. More buildings had been erected, made out of stone.


    The really obvious bulb went off. Artemis. Artemis was single-handedly using major, large-scale manipulation to create the buildings. Sure, technically you could conjure them up, but then you get into the degradation problem, where conjured material didn¡¯t last.


    Either way. This was major, major, impressive stuff.


    Although ¨C was Artemis even here?


    ¡°Healy-bug! Over here!¡± A familiar voice called out.


    ¡°Artemis!¡± I skipped over happily, giving her a hug.


    ¡°Heya! How¡¯ve you been? Missed you!¡± Artemis said, reciprocating the hug.


    ¡°Ooof. I was in Deva. Minor plague, Purple Flowers, and pirates.¡±


    ¡°Tell me all about it.¡± Artemis said, leading me to what I had to assume were her living quarters.


    ¡°Heya Elaine.¡± Julius said once we got there. Hurray! More people!


    ¡°Julius!¡± I said, giving him a hug. Him calling me Elaine, and being so casual, meant that he was here socially, or at the very least, he wasn¡¯t expecting us to be in Commander-Sentinel mode.


    We sat down, Artemis poured herself a large drink of something that smelled terribly alcoholic, and offered me a pour, which I accepted. She filled Julius¡¯s cup, and we all settled down to chat.


    ¡°Julius, quick, close your eyes.¡± I said. I got a frown, but he complied.


    I gave Artemis an Iolite gemstone, which I¡¯d liberated from the pirates, then the merchants. Lightning was rare, and finding an Iolite gemstone was almost as rare. She happily took it from me, and I flashed back to the day all those years ago where she¡¯d found a diamond for me to store my Light skills in.


    I wasn¡¯t quite supposed to have liberated the gems, but as long as I wasn¡¯t too obvious about it, I wouldn¡¯t get in trouble. Blatantly handing it off to Artemis in front of a Commander was being too obvious about it though.


    Artemis pocketed it with a wink. She knew exactly what was going on.


    ¡°Ok, open your eyes Julius.¡± I said.


    ¡°What, no present for me?¡± He teased.


    The only answer to that was the dreaded tongue sticking out.


    ¡°You¡¯re my boss, it¡¯d look bad.¡± I said with a straight face.


    He just chuckled and rolled his eyes at me.


    I told her the whole story, start to finish, and she was a fantastic audience. They groaned at the right places, laughed in the right spots, and commiserated with me over the uselessness of adventurers.


    ¡°After all,¡± She said. ¡°If they were any good, they¡¯d be Rangers, not adventurers!¡±


    We clicked our mugs together, and took another sip.


    ¡°How¡¯s the School going?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well enough. I¡¯m crazy busy. Never a quiet moment.¡±


    ¡°Thought about hiring other teachers?¡± I asked. ¡°Maybe get some tutors in here?¡±


    Artemis grimaced. ¡°I¡¯ve been trying. Either they¡¯re unskilled, believe they¡¯re better than me and want to take the whole thing over, or demand such outrageous sums as to not be worth it. Or all three!¡±


    ¡°How about administrative staff, to help things keep moving along, so you only need to focus on the important stuff?¡±


    Artemis nodded at me.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve got one helper for that. Dude¡¯s a lifesaver. Handles all the payments, money, and logistics. Doesn¡¯t help me when a student decides it¡¯s ¡®funny¡¯ to show me what they learn and attack me out of the blue, and I almost take their head off as a result.¡±


    Wow.


    Artemis, showing restraint?


    Heck, these days, I might take someone¡¯s head off before recognizing it wasn¡¯t a real attack!


    I poked Artemis, making sure she was real, and not Magic¡¯s sick idea of a joke.


    ¡°Who are you, and what have you done with Artemis?¡± I asked.


    She swatted me.


    Rubbing my head, I figured I could give Artemis a hand.


    ¡°Hey. I¡¯m probably not as good as you are, but I could teach some healing here on a part-time, nightly basis, when I¡¯m in town.¡±


    Julius snapped his head towards me, staring at me intently. It probably sounded like a dream come true for him. A Sentinel and a former Ranger, both teaching at a school? People would, by sheer virtue of who their teachers and mentors were, be drawn to the Rangers. And since I was training healers, it was exactly what Julius wanted ¨C healers joining the Rangers.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see about getting you a sizeable stipend if Dawn teaches here.¡± Julius told Artemis.


    ¡°Hey! Shouldn¡¯t I be the one getting the stipend!¡± I protested.


    Artemis frowned at that, thoughtfully swirling her wine cup.


    I wanted to keep talking, keep making my case, but I knew I didn¡¯t need to. Artemis and I were on pretty similar wavelengths. She knew what I could do, she could see the implications.


    ¡°Sure.¡± She said.


    I pumped my fist. More people to train!


    We spent a few more hours catching up. Artemis, mom, and dad had indeed spent a ton of time together. Artemis was delighted to hear about Night¡¯s offer for a house ¨C mom and dad had asked her to see if she could find a location, and Night¡¯s offer took one more thing off her plate.


    Julius gave me a side-eye at that. He knew something had to be up, and with his relatively recent introduction to vampires, who knew what he was thinking.


    However, I couldn¡¯t miss the deep stress lines that etched Artemis¡¯s face. She looked like she¡¯d aged, something I¡¯d missed last time I saw her, at graduation. The high of being promoted to Sentinel had caused me to miss a lot of things.


    I felt a little bad. A little guilty. I¡¯d persuaded her to leave the Ranger lifestyle, where she clearly fit, and try this out. A new thing.


    ¡°Artemis?¡± I asked, in a lull in the conversation.


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Are you happy?¡±


    She took a large swing of wine, and her face just lit up.


    ¡°A student of mine got offered [Artemis¡¯s Student ¨C Lightning] yesterday. He took it. Another one¡¯s been accepted to the army¡¯s artillery mage training. A third¡¯s been recognized by his parents. It¡¯s just indescribable, the feeling of watching people grow and become stronger, their joy as they learn something new, as they get some new trick. Am I happy? Oh yeah. It¡¯s all worth it, for those little moments.¡±


    I gave her a hug.


    A moment passed.


    Then a second.


    ¡°Heya Artemis?¡±


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Can you lift me into town? The gate¡¯s probably closed by now.¡±


    Julius snorted at me.


    ¡°What, you think they wouldn¡¯t open the gates for a Commander? Come on. Let¡¯s head back.¡±


    Drat. I¡¯d been half looking forward to breaking into town again.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 18]


    [Mana: 51840/51840]


    [Mana Regen: 42569 (+14233.2)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 150]


    [Strength: 244]


    [Dexterity: 202]


    [Vitality: 600]


    [Speed: 520]


    [Mana: 5184]


    [Mana Regeneration: 4908 (+1423.32)]


    [Magic Power: 4517 (+47654.35)]


    [Magic Control: 4517 (+47654.35)]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 246]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 246]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 198]


    [Medicine: 215]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 242]


    [Phases of the Moon: 246]


    [Moonlight: 246]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 216]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 144]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 188]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 188]


    [Radiance Resistance: 188]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 188]


    [Radiance Manipulation: 188]


    [Sun-Kissed: 145]


    [Blaze: 188]


    [Talaria: 163]


    [Nova: 188]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 137]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 159]


    [Pretty: 136]


    [Bullet Time: 198]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 211]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 206]


    [Persistent Casting: 55]


    [Learning: 246]

 Chapter 143 – Companion information

    Julius got us through the gates no problem, although he got a number of funny looks.


    Entering late at night, escorting a woman less than half his age? I briefly considered spiking his wheel, but decided that we were probably going to have a long working relationship together, and annoying him too much was probably a poor idea.


    ¡°Leveled up a bunch from that?¡± Julius asked me, referring to Deva.


    ¡°Yup! Good experience.¡± I said.


    And that reminded me.


    I¡¯d been sitting on my free stats far too long, and I decided to finally allocate them, splitting them between vitality and speed, evening them out then splitting the remainder. I¡¯d need to do some serious thinking as to which stats I needed to prioritize on my next class up. A solid discussion to have with Night at some point.


    Before long I was back at Headquarters, had another luxurious bath, and the next morning was rolling around. Time for another meeting!


    Ocean wasn¡¯t around ¨C on pirate clean-up duty ¨C but Acquisition was looking smug.


    ¡°I¡¯ve reached a compromise with most of the high-level thieves in the area.¡± He said. ¡°They¡¯ll tell the remaining ones. Anyone who¡¯s not high level we don¡¯t need to worry about.¡±


    I raised my hand and gave him a Look. Thieves were the bane of my existence.


    ¡°Most mid and low-level thieves aren¡¯t playing ¡®best thief¡¯ contest and trying to rob Sentinels.¡± Acquisition said, giving me a flat look. ¡°The deal I struck with them is we¡¯ll have a cloth on us that they can try to snag instead.¡±


    Night gave him a Look.


    ¡°That is unacceptable. Sentinels are not playthings.¡±


    Glares around the room at Acquisition.


    Acquisition held up his hands.


    ¡°I know. I KNOW! But they¡¯re lawless. How am I supposed to get them to start following our laws? This is one of the only things they¡¯d accept. They¡¯ll get bored soon enough, plus,¡± Acquisition grinned, like he¡¯d stolen something invaluable. ¡°the cloth in question is easy to manufacture and copy. I¡¯m going to simply flood the area with it, soon it¡¯ll be impossible for the thieves to tell if a trophy is genuine or not, then they¡¯ll get bored and go back to robbing Senators and grabbing fancy statues and the like.¡±


    He turned to Night.


    ¡°Or just, you know, let me declare myself the best thief in Remus, prove it by robbing the Senators of their clothes while they¡¯re in the Senate, and stop the pissing contest that¡¯s thieves trying to one-up each other by robbing us.¡±


    I tuned out the rest of the argument and the debate. I thought being a Sentinel would be interesting and exciting, not arguing about the merits of government-sponsored thieves, and how to get thieves out of our business.


    After a point, Night released us, but Brawling and I were the only ones to leave. Everyone else was enjoying the discussion too much.


    Brawling headed out ¨C he didn¡¯t have tons to contribute to the Hell Months, being an almost pure physical Classer, and screwing with Trainees seemed a lot less fun without anyone else around. I gave them a pass. The Dawn wouldn¡¯t rise this morning.


    Make it even worse on them, if they could never guess when I¡¯d show up and start a light show.


    My armor was back and fixed, and I picked it up from the Quartermaster. They worked fast. Then again, 90% of their job was getting Rangers and their gear set, but the 10% of the job dedicated to supporting Sentinels? That got top priority.


    I swung by the Gemstone dude, and we had a nice chat. The long and the short of it was ¨C with my improved knowledge of the System with how [Persistent Casting] worked with my images, I made some of the Moonstones I was charging with [Phases of the Moon] ¡°better¡±. That was to say ¨C some Moonstones I made good at handling cuts, some I made better at dealing with poisons ¨C basically, they were all heal-alls, but some did a better job at healing a specific type of injury.


    The Gemstone dude seemed to know exactly what I was doing though, and I trusted him to properly pass it off to the other Sentinels.


    I cursed. Bluebeard. I still wanted a long chat with him about companions.


    I hurried back down to our meeting room, and I was lucky enough to catch him.


    ¡°Hunting! Hey, Hunting!¡± I called out, waving to him.


    ¡°Dawn! What can I do for our newest Sentinel?¡± He asked me.


    ¡°Companions! Hoping to have a nice long talk about them. Hoping to get your input.¡± I said.


    He eyed me.


    ¡°Yeah, I can see why one would be perfect for you. Have you eaten breakfast yet?¡±


    I shook my head.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we grab a bite to eat together, and I can tell you all about them? I¡¯m not surprised you¡¯re interested, not after seeing you with Katastrofi.¡±


    I blinked at him.


    ¡°You remember that?¡±


    ¡°Of course I remember that! Do you know how few people want to get near Katastrofi? Then there¡¯s a girl, hanging out with a full Ranger team, who has [Detailed Restoration] of all the skills, who instead of fleecing me for everything I have on me wants a ride?¡±


    Well. When he put it like that.


    ¡°Lemme gear up real fast.¡± I said, quickly darting into my room, changing into full armor ¨C with my cape.


    The cape of ¡°I¡¯m here to look badass, not get in a fight.¡±


    Capes were terrible for fights, unless you had skills or something. Too easy to snag on things, and they did nothing for you in a fight.


    Hunting quirked an eyebrow up at my outfit.


    ¡°Planning on getting a discount somewhere?¡± He asked.


    I did my best flycatcher impression.


    ¡°A lot of stores will give us a discount if we show up looking like that.¡± Hunting said, nodding at me.


    ¡°No ¨C well, now yes ¨C but no, I was planning on yelling at the Adventurer¡¯s Guild.¡±


    ¡°Careful with that. Yell at them for screwing up with ¡®your good friend¡¯, not with you. Reputation and picture of invincibility and all that.¡±


    Ooooh good point. ¡°Yes, Sentinel Dawn hired adventurers to protect her¡± ¨C everything said after that would go in one ear and out the other. The rumor mill would have a field day though. Not that the Guildmaster probably didn¡¯t have my number, but again ¨C plausible deniability.


    ¡°Sounds good!¡±


    We wandered through the city, and I was a little surprised we didn¡¯t just grab a bite at the first vendor and called it a day. Rather ¨C I grabbed something, and was letting my breakfast rapidly cool as Bluebeard seemed to be picky, looking and dismissing vendor after vendor.


    ¡°Whatcha looking for?¡± I asked, after the 8th vendor in a row got dismissed.


    ¡°Bulk meat.¡± Hunting answered. ¡°First rule of companions ¨C they eat before you do. Katastrofi requires huge amounts of food, and my usual vendor¡¯s not in town, and my backup¡¯s having supply problems. Gotta find someone who doesn¡¯t screw with the meat too much, and who won¡¯t charge me too much.¡±


    ¡°Thought the armor was good for a discount.¡±


    ¡°It is. But when a merchant smells money, and my need to buy? Doesn¡¯t stop large scale purchases being expensive.¡±


    Bluebeard eventually finished his shopping, and we headed out of town. Bluebeard was balancing a stack of meat, all of it still raw and dripping.


    I kept my distance.


    My outfit got me a straight pass through the gates, and Bluebeard nodded in a familiar way to the guards, who just cheerily waved him through. If he fed Katastrofi daily ¨C which was possible I guess, but I didn¡¯t know enough about dinosaurs ¨C the guards would get to know him real well.


    My question of ¡°where did you store a multi-ton dino¡± and ¡°how did Hunting make this all work¡± were answered as we arrived at a large, sprawling villa located outside the town walls. A huge ¡°pen¡± was arranged for Katastrofi, but given that I could hop over the fence, it seemed to be more of a social warning, than anything that could stop Katastrofi. She could literally step over it ¨C or on it ¨C and not even notice. Well-trained to stay inside.


    Very graphic signs posted around made it abundantly clear, without using a single word, that stepping inside the pen would result in being eaten.


    With Remus¡¯s justice system, the guards might not even talk with Hunting over it.


    Hunting whistled, and Katastrofi came bounding over, great footsteps shaking the earth as the Abelisaurus came bounding over like an overeager puppy. She gave me a look, a sniff, and having determined that I was no threat, and that breakfast was here, happily snatched huge chunks of meat out of the air that Hunting was throwing at her.


    ¡°It¡¯s good practice.¡± Hunting said, seeing my look. ¡°Lots of small flying things that she needs to bite. Your companion is your life, your other half. Some treat them as just a pet, a tool. Then they wonder why they never bond, why the System never offers them the [Companion] skill. They¡¯re so much more than pets.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s almost a lifelong commitment to have a companion. They change you, change you in many ways unique to each bond, and you¡¯re changed in return. Abelisauruses aren¡¯t particularly smart, but Katastrofi¡¯s incredibly intelligent. She got that from me. I¡¯m stronger, faster, and heavier.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not all sunshine and rainbows. I¡¯m meaner. Angrier. Quicker to lose my temper, to throw a punch. I¡¯ve got self-control, but it¡¯s an unpleasant feeling, feeling rage bubble up at the most innocent and harmless of things and needing to fight it down. Katastrofi¡¯s missing some of her instincts, can¡¯t naturally do things other Abelisauruses do without thinking. She eats tons more than other dinosaurs, but she¡¯s a lot more energetic. It¡¯s give and take.¡±


    ¡°I also need twice the experience to level in anything. It¡¯s mitigated by Katastrofi splitting any experience she gets with me. It¡¯s why people don¡¯t just bond with anything. When she was born, she was level 1 like anything else is. I was stuck at the same level for years while she grew up, until she caught up with me in level. It¡¯s why people don¡¯t just get a companion ¡®just because¡¯ ¨C there are real downsides to go with the upsides. You need to make sure it¡¯s worth it.¡±


    ¡°You also lose a general skill slot, or with rare classes, you lose a class skill slot.¡±


    Hunting gave me some of Katastrofi¡¯s breakfast, and I started tossing the hunks of meat to her, watching with delight as she snapped it out of the air.


    ¡°Oh! Something I almost didn¡¯t mention. It¡¯s hard, bordering on impossible, to bond with a fully grown creature. Their minds are formed already, their bodies have grown. They have a personality. You need to have almost exactly the same mindset ahead of time to bond with a grown creature, otherwise it just won¡¯t work, for whatever reason.¡±


    I nodded. ¡°You mentioned you thought a companion would be good for me?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. You¡¯re young, which helps. You two can mold each other. It gets harder the older ¨C and more stubborn and set in your ways ¨C you get. You¡¯ve got plenty of strengths, and some glaring weaknesses, which a companion easily covers. You¡¯ve got a good, caring heart, which is a major plus. You¡¯d do well, unlike, say, Magic, who¡¯d just see the animal as another tool.¡±


    Katastrofi¡¯s breakfast was over, and with Hunting¡¯s encouraging nod, I moved forward, to slowly stroke her scaly legs. They were surprisingly warm to the touch, and she made a low growling noise, which almost sounded like a cat trying to purr.


    A t-rex, making a content noise. What was the world coming to?


    I had a thought.


    ¡°Can people bond with each other?¡±


    Bluebeard sucked in air through his teeth.


    ¡°Technically ¨C TECHNICALLY ¨C it¡¯s possible. I think. I¡¯ve seen nothing to suggest it isn¡¯t, but it¡¯s like trying to bond a grown creature, but eight times as difficult. Both parties start off highly intelligent. Both parties have their own sense of self, have their own dreams and ambitions. If there¡¯s any shred of doubt, it won¡¯t work. And it¡¯s all too easy to think ¡®what if they¡¯ll change in the future? What if¡­¡¯. So many ¡®what-ifs¡¯. But yes. The famous romances bards sing about, when they sing of people in lifetime commitments, above and beyond mortal means ¨C that¡¯s usually bards taking a System bond and putting it into extra-flowery terms. If you somehow pull it off, congratulations, you¡¯ve got a romance for the ages.¡±


    He eyed me.


    ¡°No offense, but I doubt that¡¯ll happen with you. You¡¯re too strong, too powerful, at a young age, isolated and alone. I have no doubt you¡¯ll find a measure of happiness one day, but someone exactly like you who you¡¯d bond with? We¡¯d already know about them.¡±


    Well, Romance with a capital R was pretty far out of my mind at the moment, with my latest stab at it almost ending with me drained of all my blood. I was insatiable, and I wanted, needed, to know more. Interrogation away!


    ¡°What do you recommend for me? Also, Wolfy had multiple companions, how did that work?¡±


    ¡°Wolfy?¡± Hunting asked me.


    Whoops.


    ¡°Erm. Dude in my graduating class, had two wolves as his companions.¡±


    ¡°Ah. Generally, it¡¯s hard to get multiple companions, but wolves are one of the exceptions. They naturally fall into packs, and his arrangement and bond with them is probably pack-like. Something more solitary ¨C like a saber-tooth cat, like a bear ¨C is unlikely to work for a multi-companion bond.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of, that Wolfy of yours got extremely lucky with not one, but two casters. Generally, you bond early on, before you know what skills they¡¯ll get. The smarter the creature, the higher chance of being a caster, and bonding does help with that. Still. Casters are rare.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not my Wolfy!¡± I protested.


    Bluebeard stared at me, fierce eyes over blue¡­ beard¡­ examining me.


    ¡°As for you. You lack in the physical department. Low level, something like a wolf would work well, something that could carry you, move you quickly between places, and that could physically fight and block things for you. A saber-tooth cat is more of an ambush fighter, and doesn¡¯t quite have the same ability to move or take hits for you, for example.¡±


    ¡°But you¡¯re Sentinel Dawn. You can do better than a single wolf. I won¡¯t discount the value of a pack of casters, but that¡¯s a different story.¡±


    I could see that Hunting was working towards something here, and was basically thinking out loud.


    ¡°Bears start to look more attractive, and are a solid option. They can be tricky, along with anything that gives live birth, because you want to bond early ¨C but the momma bear is going to object. Usually violently. And bear cubs need a lot of coddling when they¡¯re very young. It¡¯s tricky striking the right balance. Still. You¡¯ve got the time, money, and resources to do it right, so they¡¯re on the table, while they might not be an option for people without a support network.¡±


    Made sense, made sense. I could see myself riding a bear, then curling up with it in the evening, basking in its luxurious fur.


    ¡°Now, I¡¯m horribly biased, but I¡¯m a big fan of Abelisauruses. Large. Powerful. Will eat all your problems. Egg-based. Doesn¡¯t need a lot of care early on. Long lifespan. Carries all your stuff. Keeping them as an adult is tricky,¡± Bluebeard gestured behind him, at his massive villa and even larger area for Katastrofi to wander around in. ¡°but the payoff is worth the price.¡±


    He looked at me, continuing to look thoughtful.


    ¡°Now, you¡¯re small. Lightweight. And can fly. Which means fliers are on the menu. There¡¯s nothing worse than being in a bad spot, being able to fly away yourself, but needing to leave your companion behind. I know of at least two Rangers who probably could¡¯ve saved themselves, but chose to stand and fight with their companion and died as a result; who didn¡¯t want to leave their companion to die on their own. Knew one Ranger consumed by guilt for leaving their companion behind to die. There are a dozen different types of fliers, but all but two aren¡¯t worth mentioning, for reasons I¡¯ll get into.¡±


    Hunting leapt, in a single bound, up onto Katastrofi, then beckoned to me, indicating that I should climb up. With a delighted noise, I nimbly climbed up ¨C a far cry from the first time I¡¯d done this.


    I sat down in front of Hunting, and with barely a movement, Katastrofi started to walk, then run, then run. With great bounding strides, she ate up ground, and I could feel my hair waving behind me wildly ¨C probably annoying the shit out of Hunting.


    I couldn¡¯t help it. I let out a scream, the exact same I would going down a rollercoaster.


    ¡°Wooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!¡±


    We slowed down to a more reasonable, less hair-in-face pace, as Bluebeard finished up his lecture.


    ¡°The first option is an Ornithocheirus. Nothing wrong with them, they¡¯re common, their nesting grounds are easy enough to find ¨C heck, we¡¯re constantly tracking them and trying to cull their population down, and dozens of eggs enter circulation annually as a result ¨C we know how to saddle them, how to train them, and more.¡±


    ¡°Most other fliers aren¡¯t native to Remus, and will only fly over rarely, and it¡¯s even rarer for them to nest here. They¡¯re also weaker than the second option, and both being harder, being rarer, and being weaker are all enough strikes against them that it¡¯s not worth bothering to go after them.¡±


    ¡°No, the creature I think you should aim for, that if you¡¯re game for we¡¯ll try to find, that you could put a quest in the Adventurer¡¯s Guild for, is one of power and strength. One that can create thunder with its wings, and Lightning from its eyes.¡±


    ¡°A Thunderbird.¡±


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 18]


    [Mana: 51840/51840]


    [Mana Regen: 42269 (+17791.5)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 244]


    [Dexterity: 202]


    [Vitality: 635]


    [Speed: 635]


    [Mana: 5184]


    [Mana Regeneration: 4908 (+1779.15)]


    [Magic Power: 4517 (+47654.35)]


    [Magic Control: 4517 (+47654.35)]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 246]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 246]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 198]


    [Medicine: 215]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 242]


    [Phases of the Moon: 246]


    [Moonlight: 246]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 216]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 144]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 188]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 188]


    [Radiance Resistance: 188]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 188]


    [Radiance Manipulation: 188]


    [Sun-Kissed: 145]


    [Blaze: 188]


    [Talaria: 163]


    [Nova: 188]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 137]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 159]


    [Pretty: 136]


    [Bullet Time: 198]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 211]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 206]


    [Persistent Casting: 56]


    [Learning: 246]

 Chapter 144 – Adventurer’s Guild

    Bluebeard gave me a bunch more advice on companions, and more on getting a Thunderbird. The long and the short version of it was ¨C nobody was known to have a Thunderbird in Remus currently. The last one had died 40 years ago, and while Thunderbirds were rarely seen high up in the sky, usually front-running or in a storm, acquiring an egg was rare.


    ¡°Put in a quest at the Adventurer¡¯s guild. There¡¯s enough lunatics around that might go for it. Of course, you won¡¯t be the only one trying to get one, but the answer to that¡¯s easy. Tell them we¡¯ll outbid anyone and everyone else. There¡¯s having a status symbol, then there¡¯s trying to out-bid the Sentinels, who are officially trying to acquire one. Yeah, it¡¯ll cost us, but we¡¯ll all chip in.¡±


    ¡°Lemme guess. If something else cool comes in, like more ironwood, I¡¯ll chip in to help get that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Exactly! It¡¯s not that we¡¯re poor, but we have limited funds, and putting up a bit of our own cash goes a long way to convincing other people to open up their purses.¡±


    Made sense.


    ¡°Why the Adventurer¡¯s Guild though?¡± I asked, making my distaste for them abundantly clear.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s kinda their niche. They¡¯re basically a clearinghouse for Classers who don¡¯t want to join the army or the guard, or find honest work as a bodyguard. Going out on a potentially futile, multi-year excursion is a terrible waste of resources for us, let¡¯s be honest. Can¡¯t send a Sentinel after it, although I might have a slim shot at finding one. Can¡¯t send a Ranger team after it. Our support staff isn¡¯t equipped for that sort of thing, they¡¯re too weak. No way the Army goes and gets it. Not their purview, and if they did find one by some miracle ¨C whoever¡¯s in charge would claim it for themselves, and there¡¯d be an ¡°accident¡±, and whoops, a general has a new Thunderbird. Hiring someone to try and do it is like trying to find a single, specific coin in the entire city. Better to put a bounty on it, then pay up when some lucky fellows stumbles on it. That way, we don¡¯t need to pay all the people who try, and fail, to acquire it. Believe it or not ¨C it¡¯s cheaper and faster this way.¡±


    My world was crashing around me. Adventurers. Potentially useful.


    I needed a few minutes to come to terms with the fact that, yes, this might actually be a solid job for an adventurer.


    But ¨C but then I¡¯d be indebted to one; I¡¯d need to feel gratitude towards one.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t other Sentinels have companions?¡± I asked, changing the subject somewhat.


    Hunting started to tick off his fingers.


    ¡°Night apparently tried one a long time ago, but the heartbreak when he inevitably outlived his companion was, in his own words, ¡®a horrendous experience that I do not wish to repeat.¡¯ Magic¡¯s got the wrong temperament, nor does it fit his style of being hidden. Destruction¡¯s been on the lookout for one, to help guard him while he channels a skill, but his standards are high. He¡¯s trying to find a fully-grown caster that he can bond to, he¡¯s unwilling to wait and gamble on a newborn. Bulwark, Sealing, Acquisition, and Brawling have no desire to have a companion. Ocean has an open bounty on ¡®something big¡¯ that¡¯s aquatic, although none of the proposed creatures so far have met his exacting standards. Nature prefers to subvert large numbers of creatures, talking with them and bending them to his will, instead of a true partnership, and I dunno enough about Toxic to speculate.¡±


    I thought about Arthur, and his great love for hunting, and his slight cruel streak. Maybe he could bond with a venomous snake or something. Would be a pretty good fit.


    Bluebeard and I kept chatting for some time, continuing to ride Katastrofi the entire time. This was really nice. Yesss. One giant companion, just what the healer ordered.


    I thanked him for his time, and headed back into town. I grabbed lunch, got directions to the Adventurer¡¯s Guild, and once again found myself outside a hive of scum and villainy.


    To be fair ¨C and I was trying really, really hard to be fair ¨C it was a very nice building. Polished marble and the like.


    I entered, in full Sentinel Dawn gear, and immediately had the undivided attention of everyone in the lobby.


    Conscious of everyone staring at me, I walked up to one of the clerks at the counter, completely bypassing the line. It wasn¡¯t that I was a line skipper, nor did I think myself too good or something to stand in it here or want to show them up ¨C but literally nobody was moving or doing anything, and it was in all our best interests for me to get taken care of, and keep moving along.


    ¡°Hi. Sentinel Dawn for the Guildmaster, or someone similar in this building.¡±


    That got things moving again, and I was efficiently bustled away to a very nice-looking office.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn. A pleasure to meet you. I¡¯m the Guildmaster.¡± A man walked into the office a moment later, powerfully built with a close-cropped blond haircut and a purple tunic. I quickly identified him as I shook his hand, my eyebrows quirking up.


    [Mage]. Over level 330.


    He also looked significantly surprised at seeing me, and he kept glancing off to his right.


    I suppose the Rangers didn¡¯t have a monopoly on powerful Classers, and the dude at the top of the Adventurer¡¯s Guild was probably no slouch.


    As much as it pained me to admit it.


    ¡°Guildmaster. How interesting to meet you!¡± I said, keeping my thoughts and feelings about adventurers out of my voice.


    I couldn¡¯t say I was pleased to meet him, or anything like that, because it¡¯d be a bald-faced lie.


    Twisting the truth I was ok with. Flat-out lying? Less so.


    ¡°Sit, sit, what can we do for you?¡± He asked.


    I had a choice, which order I asked for things. I decided a high level, read, expensive quest would put him in a better mood for when I asked him to bring down the hammer.


    ¡°Two things! The first one is on behalf of the Sentinels.¡± I said, and that got him even more at attention.


    ¡°What can we do for our illustrious guardians?¡± He said, looking over to the right again.


    ¡°What¡¯s over there?¡± I asked him, my curiosity finally outweighing my desire to place my quests.


    He grimaced at me, and with an apologetic tone, explained to me.


    ¡°Anti-mirage inscriptions. You have no idea how often someone figured they¡¯ll disguise themselves as someone more important to get a meeting with me. Usually, I get told there¡¯s a Sentinel waiting for me, it¡¯s some poor mage who¡¯s quite surprised that I can see through them. The fact that it¡¯s not working now means you¡¯re the real deal ¨C although I keep checking to confirm that yes, it¡¯s still working.¡±


    I gave a light chuckle at that.


    ¡°I get that a bunch. Real deal. Anyways. I¡¯m hoping to put in a quest for a Thunderbird egg, if anyone can find it.¡±


    The Guildmaster leaned back in his chair.


    ¡°We already have an open quest for one. We know we can always sell it if we find it. What makes yours special or different?¡±


    I shrugged.


    ¡°Not a ton, but we¡¯re willing to pay quite a bit more for it. We¡¯re hoping the Adventurer¡¯s Guild would think of us kindly if they ever got the chance to dispose of one. It¡¯s not like you¡¯d take a financial hit.¡±


    I was channeling Night a hair, aiming for some nice, flowery language, especially since it didn¡¯t sound like this was something they were jumping at, nor were particularly excited for.


    ¡°I¡¯ll make a note of that.¡± He said neutrally.


    Welp, so much for buttering him up.


    ¡°On a different, less happy, note, some adventurers recently had a B-ranked escort mission to get my good friend healer Elaine to the capital. Instead of escorting her, they attempted to sell her to pirates, which forced my personal intervention. I am not happy with them, to say the least.¡± I said, crossing my arms and staring daggers at the Guildmaster.


    I was selectively presenting the truth, tilting it in the worst way possible, but I felt fair was fair. Taking payment for turning a blind eye to pirates trying to enslave me was basically the exact same thing as selling me into slavery, and I wasn¡¯t feeling particularly generous.


    ¡°That sounds serious. How did you find out? And what do you want done?¡±


    ¡°I was nearby. I¡¯ve thought about it, and I believe demotion would be most appropriate for failing a B rank quest so abysmally.¡±


    Oh, I wanted a heck of a lot more to happen to them. A heck of a lot more. But if I asked for too much, I¡¯d get denied entirely. Probably. Hard to tell.


    ¡°I¡¯d suggest Cassia be demoted to C-Rank, and I can¡¯t remember the other two names, but I¡¯d suggest they get demoted to D or E-Rank. She was moderately useful after the action.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll keep that in mind.¡± The Guildmaster said.


    ¡°Possibly a refund, if possible.¡±


    ¡°If Healer Elaine comes and personally asks for one, she¡¯s likely to get it.¡± The Guildmaster said neutrally.


    Damnit! He was onto me.


    I eyed him unhappily. Fine. I wasn¡¯t going to scream and rage against him, and insist I get my way ¨C I¡¯d just send Night or something after him, to ¡°remind¡± him where adventurers were in the food chain.


    ¡°Lovely. Thank you so much.¡± I said.


    Eh. Let¡¯s throw him a bone, get some more patients, and start spreading my healing through word of mouth. After all, I¡¯d sworn that when it came to my patients, I¡¯d see them as nothing but another creature in pain, regardless of how sketchy their life choices may be.


    ¡°As part of what I¡¯m doing while I¡¯m hanging out in town, not on assignment, I¡¯m offering a mostly free healing clinic. Feel free to send adventurers who lose limbs and the like my way. I take donations, but if they can¡¯t pay anything, that¡¯s fine as well.¡±


    ¡°What can you do?¡± He asked me. I stopped myself from sighing. It was a fair question to ask a healer. Still.


    ¡°I am Dawn. I was promoted on the basis of my healing power.¡±


    I turned and left at that. He could figure it out from there. I wasn¡¯t going to carefully hold his hand and explain it.


    There was a bard singing in the main room when I got back, putting on a performance. That reminded me. I still had a minor grudge against Glacia, and I had the perfect revenge. Equally petty. Would take a bit of time.


    I made my way back to headquarters, where I got directions to the Quartermaster, after trying and failing to find another Sentinel. We were all busy people after all, anyone trying to find me would have one heck of a time with all the bouncing around town I did.


    ¡°What.¡± The Quartermaster asked me.


    Grumpy grumpy. Just because I¡¯d destroyed thousands, if not tens of thousands, of coins worth of armor, inscriptions, gemstones, Arcanite, supplies, and more on my first trip. You¡¯d think a Sentinel never limped home with most of their stuff destroyed before.


    ¡°Hoping you could direct me to one of the bards we use?¡±


    ¡°I suppose you¡¯ll be wanting coin for that as well.¡± He grumbled at me.


    ¡°Yup!¡±


    Lots ¨C lots ¨C of grumbling as he walked back into the storeroom. ¡°Coins not growing on trees.¡± Was shot over his shoulder, along with ¡°bloody Sentinels never footing the bill¡±, and ¡°Sentinels being a bottomless money pit.¡±


    Yikes, ok, ok, hint taken. I was going to pay for stuff out of my own pocket. Like the second song I wanted the bard to make. And the scroll.


    I grabbed my scrolls ¨C my personal set of the Medical Manuscripts, for copying ¨C then headed back out.


    Busy busy busy. I almost missed being a Ranger, where the days were a little easier in a lot of sense. On the other hand, I was in a position to do a lot more good, to help a lot more people. Trade-offs. This would pay dividends down the line.


    I went to the scribe, and got myself another set of copies of my scrolls ¨C only costing 10 coins a scroll this time, as opposed to the 32 coins per scroll I¡¯d paid last time. Steep discount for being a Sentinel.


    I got all but one sent out to random healers ¨C literally, I asked them to just send them to random healers ¨C then made my way to the local bard, one that had a good relationship with the Rangers.


    He had a pretty sweet deal. Only sing good things about us, and we¡¯d keep sending songs to him.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn!¡± He cried out effusively, seeing me enter. ¡°The newest, prettiest Sentinel! I¡¯ve been dying to meet you! You¡¯ve been the talk of the town! The name on everyone¡¯s lips! I¡¯ve gotten a dozen different tunes penned just for you! Seeing you now, in the flesh, my muse, a dozen new tunes have sprung to my lips! Yes, yes, you¡­¡±


    The dude had a gift for gab, and I was not immune to flattery.


    I liked this dude!


    I let him go on in the same vein for quite some time, enjoying someone who seemed to unabashedly enjoy me being around. I suspected a small part of it was the ability to write a woman heroine ¨C he mentioned something about ¡°not needing to write bulging muscles this time¡± ¨C but he seemed to genuinely enjoy his work.


    ¡°So!¡± He finally said, after I-don¡¯t-know-how-long. ¡°While my work is brilliant enough, has enough genius for you to personally seek me out just to hear it direct from my mouth, I have no illusions that you came only to hear my singing. What can I do for you; how can I make my favorite muse happy?¡±


    I explained about Deva, and the pirates.


    ¡°Adventure! Saving lives! Darring-do! Yes, YES! I can make something work with this. But this feels, ah, forgive me, almost mundane. Regular. You do not seem to seek fame and fortune, I doubt you¡¯d remember little old me without prompting. Something else brings you to my door! What tale would you like to hear, what song would you like me to sing!?¡±


    I grinned at him. His sheer energy was infectious.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s a fun one. Self-deprecating. A bard cut me out of the song of Perinthus entirely, after I was one of the main contributors. I¡¯m still feeling just a hair sore over it, and I was wondering ¨C could you write a song about bards cutting people out of songs? Could be a fun way to poke at your fellow musicians. Preferably if their name rhymes with ¡®Blacia¡¯¡±


    He looked thoughtful for a moment, tapping his lips with a single finger, before snapping his fingers and pointing at me.


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 18]


    [Mana: 51840/51840]


    [Mana Regen: 42269 (+17791.5)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 244]


    [Dexterity: 202]


    [Vitality: 635]


    [Speed: 635]


    [Mana: 5184]


    [Mana Regeneration: 4908 (+1779.15)]


    [Magic Power: 4517 (+47654.35)]


    [Magic Control: 4517 (+47654.35)]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 246]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 246]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 198]


    [Medicine: 215]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 242]


    [Phases of the Moon: 246]


    [Moonlight: 246]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 216]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 144]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 188]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 188]


    [Radiance Resistance: 188]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 188]


    [Radiance Manipulation: 188]


    [Sun-Kissed: 145]


    [Blaze: 188]


    [Talaria: 163]


    [Nova: 188]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 137]


    [Recollection of a Distant Life: 159]


    [Pretty: 136]


    [Bullet Time: 198]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 211]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 206]


    [Persistent Casting: 56]


    [Learning: 246]

 Chapter 145 – Sentinel Dawn

    Well, with the bard done, and the day elapsing, I wanted to make my way to the market, and start building a reputation. Get some experience in, maybe get a level. Although, normal, single-person healing in a safe location, when the injury was relatively mild was terrible experience these days. It¡¯d take me weeks, if not months, to get a single level ¨C and that was after [Learning] had boosted my experience. Most people who worked their profession their entire lifetime ended up with a lower level than me. I couldn¡¯t expect good experience and levels from this ¨C but it wasn¡¯t the reason I was doing it.


    I was doing it because I wanted to. Because that¡¯s what drew me to healing in the first place. A calling, a way to make the world a better place, one [Phases of the Moon] at a time. Sure, in the grand scheme of things fixing cataracts in an aging woman was minor. For her? She could see so much better. She could see her grandkid¡¯s face clearly. It meant the world to her.


    Sometimes I¡¯d be healing a splinter. Sometimes, I¡¯d be restoring an eye. Either way, I needed to stop thinking about it, and go and do it.


    Being in Sentinel gear was great. Crowds parted before me like the red sea, and the hustle and bustle and pushing through crowds that I needed to do in my normal clothes wasn¡¯t present. The only thing I needed to be concerned about were wagons, who couldn¡¯t move fast enough to get out of my way.


    Which didn¡¯t stop [Wagon Drivers] from apologizing profusely. I just smiled, told them it was no problem, and walked around it, like a normal person.


    It was funny that because of my size, most people didn¡¯t see me until I was nearby, at which point they started as they tried to clear a path. After the 5th ¡°don¡¯t worry about it¡± I gave up, and saved my breath.


    I made it to the marketplace where I had my stall, and winked at the guard who¡¯d accosted me yesterday, who¡¯d tried to ¨C probably correctly in his estimation ¨C kick me out. Gently. Not too hard.


    I held no grudge. From his point of view, it was perfectly reasonable.


    I made my way giddy with glee to my stall, to find Neptune and Autumn at the next stall, busy bartering and trading with passing customers. They didn¡¯t seem to notice me, so engrossed in their trading, and I took a seat down at my stall, still as sparse as ever, and put my bag down next to me.


    ¡°With all due respect, Sentinel, I believe the stall¡¯s taken.¡± Neptune said, as politely and as deferentially as possible.


    Oooooh, I was going to have fun with this.


    ¡°Oh? Tell me more.¡± I asked, leaning over and looking at him, smile dancing on my lips.


    Autumn had gotten a good look at me, and she was starry-eyed, bouncing up and down with excitement. I winked at her, and put a finger on my lips. The universal signal for ¡°shhh don¡¯t tell him.¡±


    She didn¡¯t, but she grabbed his hand and tugged at him.


    ¡°The spot¡¯s taken, and while I¡¯m sure the owner won¡¯t mind¡­¡±


    Ah, I¡¯ve had enough fun. He had turned around, and was busy staring at my chest ¨C namely, my badge.


    ¡°Dad!¡± Autumn exclaimed.


    ¡°I¡¯m-¡° He started to say.


    ¡°Hey. My eyes are up here.¡± I said, note of amusement in my voice. No way to see anything, not with the armor I had on, but hey. The line was still good.


    Instead of looking up, he looked down.


    I rolled my eyes. I was trying here!


    ¡°Autumn, would you do the honors?¡± I asked her.


    She nodded furiously, so hard I was afraid she¡¯d hurt herself.


    ¡°Dad! It¡¯s Elaine!¡± The words exploded out of her mouth, practically tripping over each other.


    ¡°Wha?¡± Neptune looked up, and blinked, mouth forming a great big O.


    The look on his face!


    The look on her face!


    Priceless.


    Me sitting down, clearly claiming a spot, had, like moths to a flame, drawn quite a crowd towards me. It was almost impossible to have a quick, private chat with Neptune, as dozens of people pressed forward, all wanting a ¡°quick chat¡± with me.


    I hadn¡¯t quite thought this all the way through. I¡¯d assumed it¡¯d be like when I was a Ranger and healing. Rangers, however rare they were, weren¡¯t that rare. You could see a half-dozen every few months in town, and there was a squad permanently running around in the capital.


    Sentinels, however, were an entirely different breed. We were the venerated best, with the closest contact most people had with one of us was Brawling at the arena. Even then, he was hyped as a celebrity, and all of us, and the organization, were all considered A-list celebrities.


    And I¡¯d just sat down in the middle of town, and basically made it known that I was open to chatting with everyone.


    At first there¡¯d been a sort of nervous crowd. Who wanted to talk with the Sentinel first? Who knew what my temperament was?


    Autumn sadly betrayed me. She was fearless ¨C still a kid ¨C and rightly assumed that I¡¯d be the exact same as ¡°Healer Elaine¡±. Which opened the floodgates.


    Mostly to people who didn¡¯t want or need healing. Which was defeating the entire point. Still, I was polite, chatting, and desperately needing some help.


    ¡°Autumn.¡± I bent down to chat with her quickly, throwing a [Veil] up for privacy. ¡°Could you get a few guards over here? This is going to cause some problems.¡±


    She nodded, immediately getting it.


    I dropped [Veil].


    ¡°Alright, go!¡± I said, watching her expertly scamper through the crowd ¨C even sliding between someone¡¯s legs at one point when the press of bodies was too much.


    The guards arrived in a quick manner, and broke the crowd up somewhat. Mostly, they focused on stopping the press of bodies from getting too large, which would inevitably turn out poorly.


    I really, really didn¡¯t want to know what poorly entailed.


    I eventually solved my problem with the most unlikely of solutions.


    Autumn.


    ¡°You know,¡± I said to her, faking how casual I was being. ¡°If there are all these people who just want to talk with me, and not get healing, we get paid a lot less. Which means you get paid a lot less. Isn¡¯t me talking with all these people and not getting paid a violation of your rule 1¡­?¡±


    The little merchant was off like a shot. People were standing between her and her precious, precious coins.


    ¡°Hi! Here for healing?¡± She asked the next person, really aggressively.


    ¡°Well, no, I heard that-¡°


    ¡°Well clear out! This is for healing! NEXT!¡± She shouted, shooing the dude away.


    I had to bite my hand to stop myself from laughing out loud. The way my shoulders were shaking made it obvious what was happening. Neptune had no such reservations.


    Eventually, the novelty of Sentinel Dawn hanging out in the marketplace wore off, helped considerably by the guards and by Autumn chasing off hanger-ons, keeping the stall for just healing.


    Not that all manner of extremely minor, questionable healing was suddenly and mysteriously showing up. I¡¯d never seen anyone come to a healer for a scraped knee before, but now they were everywhere. Ah well. I wasn¡¯t about to start sending the message that I was for ¡°serious healing¡± only ¨C it¡¯d just scare off people who thought ¡°Oh this is no big deal¡± and miss a serious tumor growing or something.


    During one lull, I finally got a chance to talk with Autumn and Neptune properly.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you say you were a Sentinel at first?!¡± Neptune asked, still bowing and scraping somewhat deferentially ¨C but more towards a ¡°client with a LOT OF MONEY¡± way than a ¡°sucking up¡± way. Similar, but slightly different. A hair less odious. I was pleased that his merchant instincts were taking hold again. It meant I couldn¡¯t have caused that much brain damage.


    I shrugged at him.


    ¡°Mostly because I¡¯m Healer Elaine first and foremost, and it¡¯s a better way of getting to know people. Plus,¡± I said, lowering my voice conspiratorially and throwing up [Veil] around us. ¡°Between me and you, thieves are the bane of my existence, and there had been a sort of game to grab Sentinel badges. We get in serious trouble if we lose one.¡±


    Autumn¡¯s eyes went wide.


    ¡°Wait. You can get in trouble?¡±


    I chuckled at her.


    ¡°Of course, I can get in trouble! Everyone¡¯s got a boss. Except maybe your dad.¡±


    Neptune snorted at me.


    ¡°I have a boss. My clients!¡±


    Fair enough. I wasn¡¯t going to debate merchant-ness.


    I pulled the Medical Manuscripts out of my bag, one scroll at a time.


    ¡°Anyways. Here. For you to study when I¡¯m not around. It¡¯s just about all of my healing knowledge in one spot.¡±


    Autumn immediately tore into the first scroll. Neptune coughed.


    ¡°Ahem. What do you say?¡±


    ¡°Oh right. Thank you for the present.¡± Autumn said, almost automatically, eyes still glued to the manuscripts.


    She brought a smile to my face.


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome! When I¡¯m traveling, you should read those! Ask me questions about them when I¡¯m about. Plus, you get to see more healing!¡±


    I looked at Neptune. He looked back.


    I could see that he knew now. When I said I was ¡°traveling¡±, I was on a mission. Something so big, so nasty, that a Sentinel was called in to fix.


    Something that meant that I might not be coming home after.


    I dropped [Veil].


    ¡°Right! Next patient!¡± I called out, getting Autumn¡¯s attention, and continuing her education.


    I was glad that she was treating me, more or less, the same as before. A nice touchstone.


    All good things must come to an end, and as the sun was setting, the marketplace was closing up.


    Neptune and I had a long, long talk about Autumn and apprenticing. Who would¡¯ve thunk, being a Sentinel radically changed his ideas and thoughts of Autumn being my apprentice.


    I¡¯d decided. When I was walking through the streets, whenever I could with the moons up and out, I¡¯d blast [Moonlight], just generally being a solid healing beacon for anyone lucky enough to be nearby. It probably wouldn¡¯t help terribly with my experience, but again. It wasn¡¯t about the experience; it was about helping.


    Ok, fine, I¡¯d probably get a solid chunk more experience from walking around with [Moonlight] up than I would from the marketplace. Still. I was doing good things for the Sentinel¡¯s reputation, and that had to make Night and others happy.


    Which reminded me ¨C I¡¯d need to start doing social events again.


    Speaking of social! Albina was waiting for me at Ranger HQ when I got back!


    ¡°You¡¯re back! Alive! Are you ok? Were there any problems? Come, come! You¡¯ve gotta tell me all about it!¡±


    I let Albina start to drag me off, before realizing she had no idea where to drag me off to. With a laugh, I showed her to my ¡°public¡± quarters, which I¡¯d barely visited, and let her do her thing, while I gave her an extremely pared-down version of what had happened.


    For example, the pirates were pared down to ¡°a small spot of bother¡±. She didn¡¯t need to know how close I¡¯d come to dead, how much of my blood I¡¯d left behind.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Pretty] has reached level 137!]


    The Sentinel morning meeting, the next day. Usual round of business, and I was quite frankly surprised how much business we could generate daily.


    ¡°Dawn has begun to work in the marketplace, offering steeply discounted healing. Her work has been exceedingly popular, and according to the local guards, popular to the extent of nearly causing a riot.¡± Night said, once the meeting had gone on for some time, and it was my business being discussed.


    Whoops.


    ¡°With that being said, now that the local guard is more apprised of the situation, I do not anticipate the issue arising again. The novelty of Dawn healing in public should wear thin after some time, and I would like to recognize her excellent contributions.¡±


    A brief round of applause, somewhat cursory. I didn¡¯t mind. Anything to keep the meeting going faster.


    ¡°With that being said. Dawn. You are correct in that you need someone to help handle the large-scale organizational aspects when you go on a mission, which is somewhat unique to you, and your situation. Bulwark occasionally faces similar issues, however, he simply needs strong locals to assist, which is entirely different from the large-scale organizational issues you find yourself presented with. We have worked out a person to go with you on some of your larger-scale missions, to handle the organizational aspect while you handle the healing.¡±


    Oh great. They picked someone without checking if I¡¯d work well with them. With how casually sexist most of the country was, it¡¯d be a miracle if they were happy taking orders from a girl, likely one half their age.


    ¡°Ranger Kallisto seemed to be the perfect fit for the assignment. Not only do the two of you have a prior history ¨C I am correct in understanding that it is a positive prior history, yes?¡±


    I mutely nodded. Right. Kallisto would be absolutely perfect.


    ¡°The two of you not only have a prior history, but Ranger Kallisto is a member of Ranger Team 1, permanently stationed in the capital, has excellent social skills, can smooth multiple paths, and, the Quartermaster was particularly insistent on this point, doesn¡¯t cost anything more.¡± Night continued.


    ¡°Additionally, you have your first meeting with Command later today. It is expected that you will dress well.¡±


    Groans from the other Sentinels.


    ¡°Those are the WORST.¡± Sky yelled. ¡°Run Dawn, run now before they catch you! You don¡¯t get in too much trouble for skipping meetings!¡±


    Night turned to glare at Sky.


    Sky bailed.


    The last shred of an illusion I had of Sentinels being highly professional bailed with him.


    I spent the morning screwing with the Trainees along with the other Sentinels, then before long, I was at the doors to Ranger Command.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn. Enter.¡± Julius¡¯s reassuring voice called out. Was he speaking on the basis of being the most junior Commander, or on the basis of knowing me personally?


    With sweaty palms, I entered the room, head held high, projecting more confidence than I felt. Fake it till I make it. I¡¯d heard for ages that there was a Sentinel to break ties if Command disagreed or was split on something, but there was none now.


    I guess ¨C I guess I was the tiebreaker. Able to cast votes and make decisions that would impact the entire Ranger organization ¨C and my vote was the only one that mattered. Since I¡¯d only be voting when it was a draw, when I needed to decide the course of the organization.


    I felt the weight of my obligations settle on me, and I could see why Sky wanted to be slippery, why he wanted to avoid it. It was heavy, a pressing, crushing weight of responsibility. A wrong vote could literally end with a city destroyed, as resources or people were in the wrong spot, at the wrong time and place.


    I wasn¡¯t going to be Sky.


    I wasn¡¯t going to dodge and skirt my responsibilities.


    I was going to rise to the occasion, rise to the challenge.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn. Thank you for making time for us.¡± Julius said.


    I saluted him.


    ¡°Commanders. What can I do for you?¡±


    ¡°Well, fairly routine. We¡¯d like to know how your mission in Deva went.¡±


    Ranger Command Scrolls on Sentinel Dawn, nomen Elaine, written by [Historian] Herodotus.


    Promoted to Sentinel on the Ranger Convocation of 4798.


    Class 1: Healing, Celestial


    Class 2: Mage, Radiance


    Promoted to Sentinel at level 240, on recommendation from Ranger Julius. See scroll: ¡°Commander Julius, 4798-48XX.¡±


    Feat: Single-handedly curing a town of 60,000+ of multiple plagues, including a deadly Classer responsible. See scroll ¡°Plague of Perinthus, 4795¡±


    Voting: 5 in favor. 4 against.


    Of note: First woman Sentinel. First Sentinel promoted on a healing basis.


    Experimental. Watch career closely, determine if additional Sentinels on a healing basis are desired.


    Date: Summer, 4798.


    Mission: Deva. Minor plague. Dawn petitioned to attend to the plague as a test run of her abilities and equipment. Motion approved, 8-0.


    Result: Plague cured within days. Medium-sized illegal drug operation destroyed. Medium-sized pirate crew entirely destroyed.


    Petitioned to have a team member to handle organizational matters, to allow Dawn to focus on healing.


    Petition approved, 6-2. After a brief search, Ranger Kallisto was assigned to the matter. See scroll ¡°Ranger Kallisto, 4794-48XX¡±


    Petitioned to have a team member that additionally handled plagues.


    Petitioned denied, 8-0. Reminded Dawn that this was her area of expertise.


    Date: Winter, 4798.


    Mission: Massalix. Tsunami destroyed a large portion of the city. Motion to send Bulwark and Dawn approved 7-1. Motion to send Magic denied, 5-4. Bulwark and Dawn sent to restore the city walls, and cure injuries in the population.


    Result: Outer walls rebuilt in two days. Population ¡®fully healed¡¯ within seven days. Three sea monsters slain. One bandit group eliminated.


    Date: Spring, 4799.


    Mission: Volcanic eruption in Pompius. Motion to send Dawn approved 8-0. Motion to send Brawling denied, 7-1.


    Motion to send Brawling approved, 8-0.


    Result: Brawling dug out significant portions of the town. Dawn healed a large number of civilians, curing crippling injuries from toxic gasses, among others.


    Pompius declared destroyed. Scouting for a location for a new city.


    Brawling and Dawn escorted the survivors to a new location.


    Ranger Kallisto widely praised by both Sentinels for his organizational efforts.


    Date: Summer, 4799.


    Mission: Rebellion entrenched outside of Aquiliea. Destruction sent to handle the problem. Dawn petitioned to join. Denied 5-3. Petitioned a second time, strongly. Mentioned Aquiliea is her hometown. Additional arguments made. Approved, 5-4.


    Result: Rebellion refused to negotiate. Attempted to kill Destruction and Dawn. Fought their way out.


    Destruction destroyed the entire settlement.


    Dawn healed the survivors. Schism reported among the survivors, causing infighting.


    Rebellion crushed.


    Recommend sending Dawn on additional rebellion suppression missions.


    Date: Summer, 4799.


    Mission: Plague in Genua. Motion to send Dawn approved 8-0.


    Result: Dawn sent. Plague cured within two days. Reported a potential problematic Classer. Follow-up report sent to the guard, to pass onto the next Ranger squad.


    Date: Fall, 4799.


    Mission: Ranger Team 13 reported massive casualties, in Virinium. Reported Virinium has no Light healer capable of healing them. Requesting assistance. Motion to send Dawn approved 5-4. Dawn broke the tie.


    Result: Sky ferried Dawn over, Team 13 was fully restored, and able to continue, instead of all needing to be retrieved. Additional Ranger team in the field.


    ¡°Discussion on Rapid Deployment Healers¡± scroll directly related.


    Incidents with Sentinel Dawn.


    During her first mission in Deva, one pirate was taken captive. Had significant complaints about Dawn torturing him, by constantly healing him as he took repeated sword strokes, without any form of pain blocking.


    Complaint was found to be substantiated, with extenuating circumstances excusing Dawn. Dawn is additionally System-Bound to not cause incidents or harm in a deliberate manner.


    Dawn was not reprimanded in any way for this.


    Dawn repeatedly requests deployment to the frontlines, to provide additional healing and experience. Requests generally granted. Dawn is still a lower level than we¡¯d like for a Sentinel.


    During her mission in Massalix, Dawn located and healed a number of a local Selkie tribe, against the objections of both the locals and Bulwark. Refused to back down in her defense of them, refused to allow their extermination. Bulwark was unable to publicly refute her, due to the current policy of not allowing Sentinels to violently disagree in public.


    Tribe of selkies escaped whole.


    No selkie attacks reported in Massalix.


    Date: Fall, 4798.


    There were hopes that Dawn could provide a social face for the Sentinels and Rangers, to provide a friendly face.


    This hope has been entirely dashed.


    Motion to disallow Dawn from attending any other social gatherings passed 8-0. She may not attend, even if she wishes to with an invitation.


    See scroll ¡°After Action Report on the Pastos Incident¡± for full details.


    Dawn reports seeing Toxic on the frontlines, but that Toxic will not meet with her. Dawn has expressed concern over this, given a prior positive history.


    Dawn is reminded that Ranger Command doesn¡¯t get involved in personal matters between Sentinels.


    Mission: [REDACTED]. Date: Fall 4799. See scroll: [REDACTED].


    Result: Dawn missing in action.


    Presumed alive.

 Chapter 146.1 – Major Interlude – Iona – The 300.

    Iona grunted as she was thrown to the ground, air exploding out of her lungs.


    ¡°Point!¡± The arbitrator yelled. ¡°Match! Winner ¨C Hrund!¡±


    Hrund grinned down at Iona, offering a hand. Iona took it, letting herself get pulled up by Hrund.


    ¡°Good bout.¡± Iona said, keeping the bitter feelings of loss out of her voice.


    ¡°Good bout. Hey, maybe if your dark class wasn¡¯t restricted, it¡¯d be a better fight.¡± Hrund said.


    Iona let the bitter feelings of loss wash over and through her, letting her normally cheerful disposition show.


    ¡°Yeah! Hey, you did great. Regardless of how restricted I am, you would¡¯ve beaten me. You got this! You can win the tournament!¡± Iona said, patting the shoulders of the shorter girl.


    Hrund¡¯s face lit up.


    ¡°You really think so?¡±


    ¡°Yeah! You¡¯re strong, and you¡¯re fast. Hit ¡®em before they know what¡¯s coming. Who knows, maybe you¡¯ll impress the Valkyries so much that they¡¯ll call it your feat of bravery!¡±


    Hrund pumped her fist.


    ¡°Yeah! Although, it¡¯s usually a feat of bravery in battle to get promoted from squire.¡±


    Iona shrugged. She knew that was the case, but she was trying to pump Hrund up. Iona would feel a heck of a lot better losing in round one if her opponent managed to take down the entire tournament.


    Wishing Hrund luck once again, gathering her practice weapons ¨C a wooden shield and a wooden axe ¨C Iona carefully and neatly put everything away, then headed down to the stables.


    Being a squire sucked in a bunch of ways. She had to run around, do all the chores of her knight, then do chores of other Valkyries, depending on if they had a squire or not, and if their squire was around or not. ¡°Cleaning the stables¡± was high up on the list of shitty tasks, but work was work.


    One day Iona would be a Valkyrie, then she¡¯d be the one with a squire to do her tasks.


    Sure, she¡¯d probably have even more on her plate, but the tasks would be more fun. In theory.


    Iona shook off the negative thoughts, and focused on the positive. Training. Resources. A big honking castle to live in. Friends, companions. A mission.


    ¡°Heya Iona!¡± Alruna called to Iona as she trudged through the stables. ¡°How¡¯d it go?¡±


    Iona wanted to shoot Alruna a glare that said ¡°I¡¯m here mucking out the stables how did you think it went¡±, but instead sighed, and bent the knee to Alruna, clasping her hands awkwardly in a salute.


    Saluting with a pitchfork was strange. Iona had a brief flash of regret that she didn¡¯t drop the pitchfork beforehand. Whatever.


    Alruna gestured for Iona to get up, which Iona promptly did. She gave a glance to her knees. The day, somehow, had managed to get even shittier.


    ¡°Hrund beat me in the first round. She was too fast and strong.¡±


    Alruna shrugged.


    ¡°Happens. Don¡¯t let it get to you. The tournaments aren¡¯t that important anyways.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but I wanted to get permission to class-up!¡± Iona said, no small amount of frustration in her voice.


    ¡°You¡¯ll get it eventually. Patience. It¡¯s not like classing-up is a guaranteed reward for winning. Heck, getting permission from winning a tournament has only happened what, three times in the last ten years? Plus you¡¯re here, and not, oh, mucking out the stables in some village.¡± Alruna said, having Iona wince at how accurate the comment was. Without Alruna¡¯s generosity, without her agreeing to take Iona with her, Iona would be a farmer¡¯s wife in all likelihood right now. The unspoken message, ¡°be grateful for what you have¡±, was all too clear.


    Still. Right here, right now, there wasn¡¯t a lot of difference between ¡°Mucking out the Valkyrie stable¡± and ¡°mucking out a normal stable¡±. The animals were a bit larger, much deadlier, that¡¯s all.


    ¡°Your build ¨C heck, my build ¨C isn¡¯t suited to fancy tournament fights and flashy displays. You knew that when you decided to follow in my footsteps. Is it any surprise that someone with a build dedicated to single combat beats you?¡±


    Iona frowned over piles of muck that she was cleaning out of Trikey the Triceratops¡¯s stall. Alruna had the worst naming sense.


    Second worst. Sigrun¡¯s was terrible, and she was in charge of titles.


    ¡°No¡­¡± She said reluctantly.


    ¡°Cheer up!¡± Alruna said, grabbing a package off a shelf. ¡°I do believe it was your birthday last week. A little late, but the delay was worth it. Our best Enchanter worked on it!¡±


    Iona stepped up the pace. She¡¯d love nothing more than to just throw the pitchfork to the side, and tear into Alruna¡¯s present, but she did things properly. Correctly. Slowly and carefully, making sure all the t¡¯s were crossed and the i¡¯s dotted. Which sucked when there was a birthday present waiting ¨C especially a 16th birthday.


    Alruna kept playing bonding with Trikey as Iona worked around them. Occasionally Trikey would rub her tail up against Iona, but apart from that, the two of them were in a world of their own. Companions. Partnered, probably for life.


    Squires weren¡¯t allowed companions. Instead, they were expected to learn how to treat and handle a massive variety of animals, from small, knee-high shadow cats, to the powerful Griffin fliers, all the way up to the largest beasts. Sigrun, the grandmaster of Order Valkyrie, commanded a massive Spinosaurus, which towered over most of the other creatures.


    Serratrix had a separate pen. Not only did rank hath its privilege, but size, power, and pure logistics did as well.


    Sorok, and a few other ¡°supermassive¡± creatures also got their own place. Squires generally didn¡¯t tend to them. Too easy to get squashed.


    It made Iona wonder ¨C given the chance, would she take a supermassive creature? They were superexpensive to go along with supermassive. She had a shortlist that was much too long of creatures she¡¯d like, with a triceratops topping it. Alruna¡¯s influence.


    The philosophy was to expose the squires to a wide variety of creatures, and see which one clicked and meshed with their way of thinking. Years of working with the animals, becoming accustomed to them and their needs also helped dramatically with bonding down the road. A few Valkyries were unable or unwilling to bond to a companion to use as a mount, and while they were still Valkyries, they were lower down in the invisible pecking order among them.


    Still heads and shoulders above the squires.


    Who in turn were slightly above a number of the support staff, but that relationship was tricky, to say the least. On paper, a squire outranked a [Scribe]. In practice? It came down to years in service.


    Trikey¡¯s stall cleaned, Iona decided to forgo her usual generosity, and not clean a bunch of other stables, instead carefully unwrapping the present Alruna had gotten for her.


    She weighed the flat, heavy package, about as long as her arm. Heavy. She had an idea what was waiting for her inside.


    She slowly, carefully unwrapped the package, carefully preserving the paper wrapping. A gleaming axe, curved with a wicked edge, revealed itself. A leather grip, a slight bend. A short axe designed for war, for killing.


    ¡°Enchanted for durability and sticking to you, mainly.¡± Alruna said, letting Iona admire the weapon for some time. ¡°With your skills, you don¡¯t need sharpness. Also. I¡¯m looking to do another round through the kingdom soon ¨C or even through Lithos again! You¡¯re skilled. You¡¯re brave. We can probably find you some scrap that¡¯ll count as a feat of bravery. Anyways. You¡¯ve got years before you¡¯re 22 and need to find something else to do. I know you¡¯ll make it.¡±


    Overwhelmed with emotions, Iona wanted to hug Alruna. Holding a deadly weapon was not proper hugging procedure though, and it¡¯d have to wait.


    Trikey nuzzled Iona, almost bowling her over.


    Alruna smiled, seeing the look on Iona¡¯s face.


    ¡°Again. Happy 16th birthday. Why don¡¯t we do some training together, while everyone else is busy watching the tournament?¡±


    Iona wanted to pump her fist. Years of discipline drilled into her stayed her hand ¨C but not a grin on her face.


    Woo! Personalized training time with Alruna!


    Iona was on a run around the castle. It¡¯d been a week since the tournament and Alruna¡¯s present. The sun was shining, and Iona¡¯s long strides were eating up ground, long blonde hair tied into a neat braid. She was running with a bunch of other squires, all of whom were at level 128 in both classes, all waiting for permission to advance.


    The squires with a Wind-aligned class took the lead, followed by the Fire-aligned squires, then the Water-aligned. Wind was speed, and Fire being strength let those squires abuse their power, to convert it into speed. Water was careful and flowing, elegantly and precisely placing their feet in the right places.


    But as time went on, the Fire-aligned classes flagged and fell behind, as they burned energy faster than anyone else. The Earth-aligned classes plodded along, massive endurance letting them keep going at their slower top speed for longer. As Wind and Fire classes became exhausted, they fell back, behind the Earth-aligned classes. And the Light-aligned classes.


    Light didn¡¯t directly help. Iona wasn¡¯t faster, wasn¡¯t stronger, nor was she tougher. What she did, better in some ways than Earth, was last. [Overflowing Invigoration] gave Iona nearly endless energy, allowing her to run, and run, and run, and run, and run. It¡¯s why if she got lucky in the first few rounds of a tournament, she had a strong shot at winning the entire thing. Everyone else would be exhausted, and Iona was there, fresh and ready, eager to go.


    It was a toss-up if the Light class or the Earth class was better in the long-haul. It really depended on the respective stats everyone had, skills, and most importantly ¨C grit.


    There was one other squire with a Light class, and she also had a Wind class. She was aiming to be one of the light, fast Valkyries, riding a pterodactyl, griffin, or some other fast flier, screaming from the sky to hit and run.


    At the end of the run, Iona was in 7th place. The Wind + Light runner was in first, and a number of non-human recruits were between Iona and her. Most were beastkin of various sorts ¨C Rabbit, cat, dog, fox, even a lumbering bear-kin ¨C and the last was a werewolf.


    The bear-kin was also the only one taller than Iona, and it was by a hair as the bear-kin was 6 foot 2/ 188 CM.


    Really, it was frankly unfair how much of an advantage the System gave non-humans. They were showered with physical stats, while humans had to deal with only a +1 Free Stat. Not only that, but raw, baseline, they were significantly stronger than humans were. A bear-kin with 500 strength would be able to beat a human with 500 strength nearly every time.


    At least humans had the flexibility to assign their stats where they wanted to. It made them better casters, better mages, by a small margin.


    Iona was toweling the sweat off of her when the grand central bell started to toll. She frowned ¨C it shouldn¡¯t be the top of the hour, that bell had gone off recently near the end of their run.


    It kept going, and going, and Iona looked around at the other squires.


    Something was wrong.


    At first one squire, then the next, then all of them, abandoned the next part of the daily training, and started to stream back to Castle Valkyrie, to find someone who knew what was going on, and ask them for help.


    They weren¡¯t knights, they weren¡¯t Valkyries ¨C yet. Still in training. They¡¯d brag and boast how they were the future leaders, the knights in shining armor that everyone would look up to. Yet, when push came to shove, they were lost, still looking for guidance of their own.


    The Valkyries had a grand hall, a room where they could all fit. Iona squeezed in the back, seeing over most of the heads of everyone there, to where Sigrun was standing, in fierce discussion with a number of other senior Valkyries ¨C Alruna included ¨C along with a scout.


    Iona couldn¡¯t quite tell which organization the scout was from, but he was the center of attention.


    A decision was reached, and Sigrun made an announcement to the room.


    ¡°A goblin horde is coming from the mountains, tens of thousands strong, if not larger. If they make it through the Wobby pass, they¡¯ll spill out into the plains, scatter, burn, murder, loot, and pillage their way through the kingdom ¨C and others nearby. They¡¯ll be nearly impossible to stop. The mountains force them to come through the pass though, and we¡¯re going to head off to stop them. We¡¯ll be calling for reinforcements from the Order of the Red Lions and the Righteous Divine Fist Sect, along with calling for the King¡¯s army. We¡¯re also sending out messengers to as many other organizations as possible.¡±


    Sigrun took a moment, a heartbeat, letting it sink in.


    ¡°Valkyries. Move out.¡±


    Iona had to rescue one of the smaller squires from the sheer crush of bodies as everyone tried to leave through the same door at the same time.

 Chapter 146.2 – Major Interlude – Iona – The 300.

    ¡°Squire Iona.¡± Alruna said, arms out stiffly as Iona bustled around her, fastening clasps and tightening straps, getting Alruna into what she called her ¡°serious war gear.¡±


    ¡°Valkyrie Alruna.¡± Iona said, mimicking her formality.


    ¡°You¡¯re coming with me on this. We need every body.¡±


    Iona fumbled the strap she was currently trying to thread, needing three tries to stabilize her hands enough to get it threaded.


    Finally, when she thought she had control of her voice again, she responded.


    ¡°I¡¯m honored.¡±


    Alruna snorted.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be. Tighten that strap more. More. MORE! There you go. This isn¡¯t some honorable fight we¡¯re going to. This is a slaughterhouse, bloody butcher¡¯s work. What Sigrun didn¡¯t mention was how many of us were going.¡±


    Iona froze, doing some mental calculations.


    ¡°Hang on¡­¡± She said, thinking about how many Valkyries there were. How many squires.


    How many goblins.


    ¡°300. 300 of us are going to hold the pass, including squires. Not including companions.¡± Alruna said.


    Iona froze.


    ¡°We¡¯re all going to die.¡± She whispered.


    ¡°Yes. We are.¡± Alruna grimly agreed.


    Iona was riding on the back of Trikey, swinging her new axe experimentally. Fearfully. Iona was suited up as well as any squire was ¨C as well as the rest of the squires were ¨C which wasn¡¯t saying much. Sure, the dinosaur-hide vest was well padded, she had armored gauntlets, a strong round shield, a helmet.


    Iona shot an envious look at Alruna.


    She looked like a moving, metal fortress, wings on her helmet the only minor decoration.


    Trikey was nearly as well-armored, with a few more open joints to better move ¨C or charge. Trikey was running, faster than any human could run, a full stampede of all the other Valkyries and their varied companions with them.


    They kept a solid distance from each other. No telling when a stegosaurus would lash its tail out, or when one of a Hydra¡¯s head would want to take a bite out of someone. All the animals were trained, and bonded ¨C but why risk an accident?


    ¡°Iona.¡± Alruna directed behind her without saying anything. Iona instinctively straightened up, something in her tone of voice making her pay attention.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t hear this from me.¡± She said, and Iona leaned closer, as close as the straps keeping her secured in Trikey¡¯s saddle would allow, letting Alruna whisper to her. Not that it was really needed, not with the distance between each of the Valkyries, not with the thundering roar from each of their mounts.


    ¡°Class up.¡± Alruna said.


    ¡°What, right now?¡± Iona asked in disbelief.


    ¡°Yes, right now.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have permission.¡± Iona protested.


    ¡°Who cares? You¡¯ll either be dead, or be able to beg permission after. I can¡¯t imagine anyone applying the penalty to a survivor of this. Might as well see what the System gives you.¡±


    Iona hesitated. She wasn¡¯t supposed to class up, not without permission, and Alruna, nice as she was, wasn¡¯t technically allowed to give permission.


    ¡°I know what you¡¯re thinking. I¡¯ll send you back if you don¡¯t class up.¡± Alruna threatened.


    Iona was many things. Among others, the threat of being called or thought a coward was a powerful motivator. She leaned forward, focused on classing up both of her classes, and fell into the world of her soul.


    Iona opened her eyes. The temple was somehow even larger, even grander. Her guide Priestess was there again.


    ¡°Iona. Welcome back.¡± She said, with a voice full of warmth.


    ¡°Priestess. Thank you.¡± Iona said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Priestess calmly said, leading Iona deeper into the temple.


    Iona had time, if she wanted. Time to check all her options, time to read over every choice.


    Time ¨C that could be better used adapting to her new classes, her new skills. With the fight upcoming, Iona had no time to spare.


    Planning. Training. Years of calculation, accumulated knowledge of the Order Valkyrie, and long discussions with Alruna had Iona¡¯s next class-up pre-planned. She knew what would be offered, and she knew what she¡¯d take.


    Or rather ¨C she had a strong outline of what she¡¯d be offered, and what she¡¯d take. Any minor variation would be just that ¨C minor.


    Still. As Priestess led Iona to the altar where she¡¯d pray and change her class, Iona still stopped and prayed at the altars to the gods and goddesses. It was only right, it was only natural, to give them their due, to show loyalty, fealty, and devotion.


    Iona believed that you kneeled to exactly three people in your lifetime.


    Kneel to your mentor, your trainer, your teacher, the one who¡¯s given you everything. Usually also your parent.


    Kneel to the gods and goddesses, the divine beings above who watch over everyone, who give you life, who give you purpose.


    Kneel to your lover, the one who drives you forward, who makes you more, who makes you strive to be the best person you can be.


    Iona didn¡¯t believe in such nonsense like ¡°completing yourself¡±, ¡°the other half of a soul¡±, ¡°fated lovers¡±, ¡°love at first sight¡±, or other such nonsense. Relationships, she gathered, were not like that at all.


    Not real relationships.


    To neutral or unaligned altars Iona prayed to Lunaris and Selene, her favorites.


    They got to the room hosting the classing-up altar, when Iona hesitated.


    ¡°Did I get¡­?¡± She asked, trailing off. Priestess understood.


    ¡°Of course. A minor variant, as you¡¯d expect. Still. Exactly what you¡¯re looking for.¡± She said.


    The tension went out of Iona¡¯s shoulders.


    ¡°Good. Good! I can¡¯t wait! And the second one?¡±


    Priestess gave Iona a Look, like she was a moron.


    ¡°Yeah, ok, ok, I get it. Of course it¡¯ll be there.¡±


    Iona opened the door to the room, eyes fixed on the altar. She knelt, prayed, and felt the class change, evolve.


    Merge.


    [Constellation of the Warrior ¨C Celestial]


    The second class was even easier. A well-worn, well-tread level 8 class. Well known, well-defined, Iona had made sure she¡¯d gotten the requirements for it a dozen times over. Her efforts were rewarded by a higher starting color than usual, and a minor variant.


    [Smooth Shot Archer ¨C Water]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Warrior] has leveled up to level 169! +2 Free Stats, +15 Strength, +15 Dexterity, +15 Vitality, +15 Speed, +9 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    Iona took a quick look at her new skills.


    Strength from the Stars: The boundless stars forever twinkle, as boundless energy courses through you. Improved stamina per level. -36000 mana/day.


    Blade of the Crescent Moon: Imbue your weapons with the sharp edge of the moon, cutting and slicing through all that would block your way. Deeper penetration per level. Costs mana per activation.


    Moon¡¯s Descent: The moons above, endlessly heavy. Lift the moon up, imbue your strikes with their weight. Converts strength stat to mass when striking blows. Improved strength to mass ratio per level. -24000 mana/day.


    Gaze of the Stars: The stars look down upon you with perfect clarity, as you see the flow of battle and combat with perfect clarity. See in the dark. See through light obfuscation. Improved perception per level.


    Iona started with surprise as [Cute] merged into the next skill she got. Surprise! Minor variations did change things up.


    Stellar Body: The constellations above shine down, immovable, immutable, in the same way your body shines, empowered by the stars to be tougher, stronger, better-put together. .5% increased Vitality per level.


    Nothing was mentioned about [Cute] or looking good, but it had to be in there somewhere. Skills sometimes did more than described, especially when other skills got merged into them. Iona would bet that the [Cute] merger basically, well.


    She groaned as she realized the pun.


    In some ways, a bit of a downgrade. Mergers were like that. In many ways, an upgrade, and Iona got a ranged class to go with it!


    Also, new free general skill slot! Iona needed to think. She needed something to help survive the coming fight.


    [Smooth Draw] was self-explanatory, but [Still Water] needed a look.


    Still Water: Your mind is as tranquil as the surface of a pond. Any impacts simply ripple through, restoring the mind to its former calm. Increased calm per level.


    Iona wanted to pump her fist. A mental stability skill! Yes! She¡¯d lost her old one as her Light and Dark class merged, but the System taketh, and the System giveth.


    Shame that it was at level 1 though. It would¡¯ve been nicer at a higher level.


    Iona had no doubt that it¡¯d jump by leaps and bounds in the upcoming fight.


    While she was still alive.


    Over 40 levels of accumulated experience though ¨C yes please. Iona was delighted to say the least.


    Trikey moved again, Iona¡¯s head smashed against Alruna¡¯s unyielding back, and Iona was reminded that, yes, the world kept moving around her in spite of her focus on classing up.


    ¡°Welcome back.¡± Alruna said, sensing Iona starting to move under her own power again, as she leaned back, rubbing her head.


    ¡°Most uncomfortable class-up ever.¡± Iona complained.


    ¡°Got what we planned?¡± Alruna asked.


    ¡°Yup! Celestial warrior, Water ranger.¡± Iona said. ¡°Also, a new free general slot!¡±


    ¡°Nice! What merged?¡± Alruna asked.


    ¡°[Cute].¡±


    Alruna twisted in her saddle to give Iona a Look.


    ¡°The hell were you doing to get that skill to merge!?¡± Alruna yelled at Iona.


    ¡°I dunno! I got [Stellar Body] and it just did!¡± Iona protested.


    Alruna started laughing.


    ¡°Well, grab something like [Dodge] or [Reflexes]. Should help a bit.¡±


    Iona decided on trying to get [Dodge]. Better to not get hit at all, right? [Reflexes] would just be her trying to dodge things anyways, might as well get the narrower, more specialized skill.


    ¡°Good work. I think we¡¯ll have some time for you to get used to it. Anyways, now that you¡¯re a squire with a ranger class, you¡¯re going to be assigned to Sorok.¡±


    Iona shot Alruna a betrayed look, that Alruna obviously couldn¡¯t see.


    ¡°Why!? I¡¯m your squire!¡± Iona protested. ¡°I¡¯m supposed to cover Trikey¡¯s rear. You can¡¯t do that alone!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not geared for what we¡¯re heading into.¡± Alruna said, briskly rebuffing Iona. ¡°You can make full use of your new ranger class on Sorok¡¯s platform. You¡¯ll be safer. And, more importantly, you¡¯ll have a larger impact on the battle from there.¡±


    Iona gave a leery look at Sorok, a massive brontosaurus that the Valkyries had built a solid platform on. He was practically a mobile fortress, and the only reason they weren¡¯t moving faster was they were moving at Sorok¡¯s maximum speed already.


    Iona opened her mouth to argue more, then close it.


    ¡°Yes, Valkyrie Alruna, the Perpetual.¡± Iona said, agreeing, letting her minor displeasure known by giving Alruna¡¯s full title.


    ¡°Look, I know you don¡¯t like it. You¡¯ll change your mind after this is over. Hey! It could be worse.¡±


    Iona quirked an eyebrow up.


    ¡°How could it be worse than outnumbered hundreds to tens of thousands, when we¡¯re all going to die?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not an Immortal. It¡¯s not the start of another round of Immortal Wars.¡±


    That was an excellent point. Iona shut up, and worked on getting used to her new skills before the battle.

 Chapter 146.3 – Major Interlude – Iona – The 300.

    The Valkyries had made it to the pass before the horde. Some scouts were sent deeper in, to raise the alarm when the horde arrived. Some Earth mages were busy reshaping the terrain to better favor them. The one Arcanite mage was busy setting up some large-scale wards and buffs, sacred ground that when one of the Valkyries were standing on it, she would be stronger, faster, tougher.


    Well. As long as the Valkyrie¡¯s mana lasted. It was a rare build for a reason.


    The pass was a bit too wide to collapse, too wide to build long walls tall enough to matter in time. Instead, the decision was made to get the ground as flat and level as possible, to allow the Valkyries and their companions perfect footing. 150 Valkyries and companions, side by side, with Sorok anchoring them in the middle, and they still all had plenty of room between all of them. At the level the Valkyries operated at, blows and swings were large and lethal, which meant for practical purposes, they could hold the pass.


    Collapsing enough rocks that the clever, burrowing goblins couldn¡¯t get through or around? An impossible task in the timeframe. Instead, narrowing the narrowest portion of the pass, and improving the terrain for the Valkyries and their mounts, took priority. No more ankle-breaking holes, no more awkward ledges that¡¯d come up suddenly and break a raptor¡¯s leg.


    Alruna worked with Iona briefly to get [Dodging] offered to her, which Iona promptly took.


    ¡°Could probably get something a bit better if we had time and the records.¡± Alruna said. ¡°This¡¯ll do in a pinch. Now.¡±


    ¡°Sleep.¡± Alruna said, still in her full gear, lying down on a thin blanket. Between the size of the blanket and Alruna¡¯s weight in her gear, Iona didn¡¯t see it improving anything. Still. It was Alruna¡¯s call. ¡°We don¡¯t know when you¡¯ll get another chance.¡±


    Iona mutely nodded, her stomach clenching and unclenching.


    Hastily, she erected a small altar ¨C really, just a stick stuck in the ground, with a crude symbol carved into the top ¨C knelt down, and started to pray.


    Selene. Lunaris. Hey again! Hope you¡¯re doing well.


    I¡¯m going into battle soon. Don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll make it.


    Hope I¡¯ll be able to talk with you again soon!


    Don¡¯t take this the wrong way, but I hope it¡¯s some time before we meet in-person. Like, I¡¯m not opposed, but I don¡¯t want to die just yet.


    All the best,


    Iona.


    Iona opened her eyes to two women standing next to her. They were wearing long, flowing robes, a radical departure from the leather and metal everyone else was wearing. One was dressed in soft yellow, the other in a light cyan. They were larger than life; one was taller than Iona, the other shorter.


    ¡°Iona. My child.¡± The first one, the tall one in blue, said, her voice like twinkling chimes in the wind.


    Lunaris.


    ¡°Iona. My friend.¡± The second one said, her voice the warmth of a meadow in spring.


    Selene.


    The two voices spoke together, spoke as one, interweaving and overlapping.


    Well, this was awkward. Iona had just mentioned not wanting to meet them quite yet, and, well, whoops. Here they were.


    Awkward didn¡¯t begin to cover it.


    ¡°You have a bit of a trial ahead of you.¡± They said, clearly highly amused.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been faithful your entire life, giving with barely asking anything in return.¡±


    ¡°Except Lux.¡± Iona said, hardly daring to believe the words coming out of her mouth. Alruna was going to beat her black and blue for the sass.


    Well, it wasn¡¯t really sass. More like, correcting a potential¡­


    Well. Goddesses didn¡¯t make mistakes.


    ¡°We are sorry. She is dead, and gone.¡± They said, sorrow, raw and present, in their voices. ¡°On this eve of the trial, we have a blessing for you, most faithful believer.¡±


    Their voices split again.


    ¡°From me, sight.¡± Selene said, moving to one side of Iona, somehow still standing up, and kissing Iona¡¯s right cheek at the same time. ¡°The moons see all, and now you can see everything the System grants to any living being.¡±


    ¡°From me, comprehension and speech.¡± Lunaris said, kissing Iona¡¯s left cheek. ¡°May no language bar you. May you understand, and be able to speak with, all of humanity, elves and their ancient tongue, and every other tongue spoken under the vast sky.¡±


    Iona¡¯s mouth opened and closed wordlessly, tears streaming down her face, the tears somehow avoiding the two kisses placed on her cheeks, shining in the light.


    The goddesses embraced her, one on either side, lifting her up from the ground.


    ¡°Of course. That¡¯ll only help if you survive this.¡± They said.


    ¡°Good luck!¡±


    And with that, they were gone.


    A shimmering barrier of celestial light that had surrounded Iona vanished with them.


    Sigrun was waiting there.


    With a lot of other Valkyries.


    ¡°What the fuck just happened?¡± She demanded.


    Iona gulped.


    Getting to the head honcho¡¯s attention had not been on her to-do list.


    A long interrogation later, some practice with her blessings, and the Valkyries mostly left Iona alone.


    Iona mentally cursed Alruna for sleeping through her entire ordeal. Although, it would be just like Alruna to crack an eye open, see they weren¡¯t under attack, and figure whatever the problem was could be managed the next morning.


    Iona noted with more than a bit of amusement that after Sigrun¡¯s interrogation of her, and the Valkyries confirming that, yes, Iona was now goddesses-touched, an absurd number of makeshift altars had been raised, with a number of squires and knights kneeling and praying to whichever god they worshipped.


    Suddenly, everyone had found religion. The gods and goddesses directly manifesting tended to do that to people.


    Sigrun had been slightly pissed that Iona¡¯s blessings didn¡¯t seem to directly relate to the fight at hand, and had cursed thoroughly that she didn¡¯t get something like ¡°one against one hundred thousand¡± or some absurd blessing that would save them all.


    She¡¯d been extra-pissed when Iona had said that she didn¡¯t think she could call down a miracle. ¡°What¡¯s the fucking point of fucking religion if you can¡¯t fucking call down a fucking miracle!?¡± Sigrun had yelled, before storming off.


    Iona hadn¡¯t realized that Sigrun¡¯s cursing could be quite so verbose. It was like she worked in swears the same way others might work in oils or clay.


    She settled down on a blanket, the butterflies in her stomach gone. Entirely.


    Iona spent some time trying to identify what she was feeling.


    It was¡­ peace.


    Iona had gotten her biggest hopes, her biggest fears, validated. Lunaris and Selene were out there. They heard her. They listened. They knew of her.


    They had blessed her.


    They had let her know that Lux was gone, forever. No divine intervention would fix or change that. It was freeing, in a way.


    There was clearly something of an afterlife. If the gods were real, there had to be something after death, right? ¡°Gone¡± wasn¡¯t entirely annihilated, right?


    Either way. Iona was much more ready to meet the goddesses again.


    Iona laid down on her own blanket, staring up at the sky. She blinked, and ¨C


    And the sun was coming up, as scouts were running through the camp, yelling that the horde was almost here.


    Iona scrambled to get Trikey something vaguely resembling breakfast, since it was likely his last meal.


    ¡°Sorry they¡¯re not apples.¡± Iona whispered to Trikey, patting him on his beak-like snout as he chowed down. He nuzzled Iona, almost bowling her over. How aware was he? Did he know this was probably the end for him?


    ¡°Iona. MOVE!¡± Alruna yelled at her, and Iona scurried over to Alruna¡¯s side, to help secure the straps that would keep her attached to Trikey, for better or worse. She got the last strap set, as Alruna threw a pack at her.


    ¡°Yours. Get to Sorok.¡± Alruna ordered, then flicked Trikey¡¯s reins to get him into position.


    Iona grabbed her shield, slung it over her back, then took her pack ¨C much heavier than normal ¨C and ran through the camp, dodging all manner of other Valkyries, companions, and squires getting ready. She made it to Sorok, with two long rope ladders leading from the platform down to the ground.


    One for going up, one for going down.


    Iona grabbed the ladder, and nimbly climbed up to the top.


    ¡°Goddess-blessed.¡± Hrund said at the top, greeting her.


    ¡°Don¡¯t give me that. Please.¡± Iona said. ¡°I haven¡¯t earned a title, and-¡°


    Iona couldn¡¯t bring herself to say ¡°it wasn¡¯t a big deal¡±. Because it was. Effortlessly understanding all the languages Sigrun had thrown at her last night had been eye-opening, to say the least.


    So was seeing Sigrun¡¯s stats, not that she¡¯d ever admit to peeping.


    What sort of monster had three well-developed classes before 40?


    ¡°Still! I can¡¯t believe they let you class up because of that! How¡¯d they get permission?¡± Hrund asked Iona.


    Iona winced at the memory of Sigrun tearing into her over classing up without permission, all while Alruna had blissfully snoozed. Not fun. Sigrun had blessedly ended it by throwing her hands up, and promising to punish Iona once this was all over.


    Iona really, really, really hoped that Alruna was right, and that if they lived, she¡¯d be let off scot-free. With the way Sigrun¡¯s eyes had promised murder, Iona almost wanted the goblins to get her.


    Still. Iona didn¡¯t want even the misconception to spread. She interpreted her [Vow] to correct misconceptions that she herself inadvertently spread.


    At least, that¡¯s what Iona told herself.


    ¡°Alruna told me to. Said I¡¯d either end up dead here, or get forgiveness.¡± Iona said, giving Hrund a Look.


    Hrund understood it.


    Iona got a bow, and found where the arrow stashes were. They were deeper on the platform. It was going to be obnoxious, shooting a dozen arrows, then running back for more. At the same time ¨C the platform swayed and moved with every step Sorok took, with every sweep of his giant tail. Too close to the edge, and things risked tipping over.


    Hence some safety railings.


    Iona looked around from her position on Sorok, high up above the battlefield.


    The Wobby pass was a bare, rocky pass, a relatively thin slice through the mountains, with high rocks on either side. Impossible to climb, even for the bold and tenacious goblins. It was cut so deep, and so sheer, that rumor, accepted as fact, was some great blow by a creature with thousands of levels had made it.


    The local geography demanded that creatures ¨C or goblin hordes ¨C emerging from certain places all needed to travel through this one, relatively thin pass.


    Of course, it was still wide enough that 150 Valkyries and their mounts, Sorok included, all arranged side-by-side, still had significant gaps between them. They couldn¡¯t dismount and lock shields together like legions of antiquity.


    The flip of that was, each Valkyrie had enough space to strut their stuff, to fire off their largest, most powerful attacks without fear of hitting each other. Additionally, it meant they could all be mounted.


    Iona looked down, enjoying the perspective for a brief moment. Sorok had turned to the side, letting all the squires not mounted with their knight be on a single side, facing the incoming horde. They were all issued a fairly standard bow, with three of the squires having snagged longbows, being specialized in them. A half-dozen Valkyries were also on Sorok, both not having a companion, and having skills more of the long-range variety.


    ¡°Heya Iona.¡± Hrund said. Iona glanced at her with her new blessing, and saw that Hrund had taken the chance to class up as well.


    A quick look down the line of squires showed an overwhelming majority had gotten a similar sort of talk. There was barely a squire at 128 left.


    Can¡¯t be executed if you were dead.


    ¡°Shame we don¡¯t have a Forbidden Four mage with us.¡± Hrund said. ¡°They¡¯d be perfect for this.¡±


    Iona looked at Hrund standing next to her with shock.


    ¡°They¡¯re illegal! The only thing they¡¯re good for is mass-murder!¡± Iona protested.


    ¡°Yeah, but¡­ isn¡¯t that kinda what we¡¯re doing here?¡± Hrund pointed out.


    Iona opened her mouth, thought about what Hrund was saying, and closed it.


    She hated to admit it, but Hrund was right. A Forbidden Four mage would be perfect right now. Deadly clouds of Miasma, aerosolized poison, or self-replicating spores would do horrible things to the goblin horde. Illegal in every civilized nation, which didn¡¯t stop a number of them from keeping a few hidden, in reserve.


    Nobody ¨C not even the tiny Nime nation, who openly strutted a number of Forbidden Four classers, promising a terrible toll on anyone who tried to invade ¨C would condone or tolerate a Void mage. They tended to randomly explode, and take out whole cities with them when they did. At a minimum. Nobody quite knew why.


    A few times in history, a brave man or woman would take a Void mage class, and attempt to take meticulous notes, which were immediately sent out from their location. An attempt to record their skills, their experiments, to see what was happening.


    Some would randomly blow up. Some lived long lives. There was no difference detected between the two.


    Nor had a Void mage managed to ¨C with what scarce records there were ¨C deliberately blow themselves up. It was hit or miss, seemingly entirely random.


    One extremely high-level researcher from the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft had two classes devoted to survival and self-regeneration. The best tank of several generations. She took a Void mage as her third class, went to the wilderness, and attempted to cause an explosion.


    She survived, had no idea how it had happened or what she did differently, and swore off using Void magic, switching into something a bit more reasonable.


    Void warriors, artisans, laborers, and more were all permitted and allowed. Mages were not. Similar to how Spore was one of the best elements for a farmer. A level of fear and paranoia surrounded the element, and people who decided to walk the path were well-advised to keep their Void element as their highest class, so they¡¯d identify properly. Otherwise, mayors, magisters, and mobs didn¡¯t have a very high tolerance towards people with the Void element.

 Chapter 146.4 – Major Interlude – Iona – The 300.

    A horn blew, and the first goblins started to make their way over the crest, funneled into the pass.


    Drums started to beat, pulsing waves of energy coming off of Sorok¡¯s back as a Valkyrie began her beat. Iona felt energized and strong. She jumped a few times, just to get some of the jitters out of her system.


    ¡°Hold!¡± One of the Valkyries that Iona recognized as Hara, the Incandescent shouted, raising her hand in a fist.


    Discipline was good. None of the squires made it as far as they had by having terrible nerves, or by ignoring orders ¨C especially before a battle.


    The first goblins made it, and were easily, almost carelessly, dispatched. Iona watched Alruna use an incredibly long, flexible sword, and just sweep through the goblin, meeting no resistance as she did so.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! Your party has slain a [Fleet-Foot Goblin] (Gale, 171)// [Quick Goblin Scout] (Wind, 165)]


    Iona turned off notifications for goblin kills that she wasn¡¯t personally involved with. She would need them for when she was fighting, to make sure a blow was lethal. She didn¡¯t need to know about everyone else¡¯s efforts.


    Alruna¡¯s classes were Void and Brilliance. Void gave her weapons unparalleled piercing strength, able to simply go through nearly anything, at the price of mana and skills. It was expensive to do, but that¡¯s what her Brilliance class was for. Mana, mana, and more mana, along with boundless energy to fight for hours on end.


    Days on end.


    Hence her title, ¡°The Perpetual.¡±


    Alruna, when geared for what she called ¡°a real fight¡±, used two swords, one in each hand. Both were incredibly thin, needing no mass or weight behind them ¨C only Void skills ¨C to simply carve through steel, flesh, and bone. The first was long, great for massive sweeps. It was slow though, and some small, nimble, goblin-like creature could dodge the blow, and come in close while Alruna was overextended.


    Which is what her second, much shorter sword was designed to handle.


    Iona¡¯s musings were interrupted as more and more of the horde came over the hill, and Hara, the Incandescent dropped her hand.


    ¡°Loose!¡±


    Iona bent her bow, feeling it smoothly bend in a way she¡¯d never experienced when training on bows before. Already, the effects of her new class were being felt. Iona loosed her arrows, along with the other squires.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Smooth Draw] has reached level 2!]


    There wasn¡¯t a need to aim.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Smooth-Shot Archer] has leveled up to level 9! +1 Free Stat, +3 Strength, +2 Dexterity, +1 Vitality, +1 Speed, +1 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Dexterity from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Archery] has reached level 2!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Water Affinity] has reached level 2!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Still Water] has reached level 2!]


    ¡°Fire at will!¡± The Incandescent shouted, before starting to fire off her own attacks.


    Iona suppressed a moment of annoyance at the small sun¡¯s worth of Radiance magic radiating off of Hara. She was the Valkyrie. Iona was the squire. The pecking order was clear.


    Plus.


    Iona didn¡¯t even need to look. Just fire arrows as fast as she could into the squirming, endless horde.


    Free levels!


    Free stats!


    She¡¯d need every stat once the arrows ran out.


    The horde was streaming down the pass, being crushed and compressed into a small area. A writhing mass of green flesh, with glowing, crimson eyes. Weapons of all sort, magic staffs, crude bows, rusty knives, sharp claws, foul teeth. The goblin horde had arrived in strength, and were moving and roiling over one another, chittering and yelling, as they boiled towards the line the Valkyries had established.


    With the fluttering of a banner, the Valkyries charged.


    Hundreds of tons of expert flesh, glowing enchantments, plain steel, and a few weapons edged with magic metal moved with thunderous power towards the horde. Iona literally saw goblins go flying as the press of companions, squires, and Valkyries met the front lines of the horde.


    Iona loosed the rest of the arrows she had with her, then sprinted back to get more, remembering to breathe around a nervous lump in her throat.


    This was it.


    This was life or death.


    Not just for them, but for huge portions of the kingdom. Goblins got out here, they¡¯d split and scatter, burning and looting their way through the kingdom.


    There was a girl out there. Somewhere, in some village. Iona¡¯s efforts here would keep her safe, would protect her from goblins bursting in the middle of the night.


    Iona almost stumbled as she felt her [Vow] take hold, boosting her physical stats more than five times. She was protecting. She was defending.


    This was her cause. This was her calling.


    She made it to where the spare arrows were kept, and grab a handful of ¡°real¡± arrows.


    They had an expert in making arrows with them, although sadly she didn¡¯t have access to the Arcanite reserves. The arrows being conjured up weren¡¯t quite as good as ¡°real¡± arrows, mostly because it was more valuable to have two smaller, lighter arrows instead of one big arrow. Still. The expert had solid mana regeneration, and had been constantly pumping out arrows ever since the call had gone out.


    They were better than nothing.


    Iona¡¯s eyes wandered over the battlefield.


    Shiva, the Destroyer. She stood on top of a sarcosuchus, whirling a massive glaive around her in a complicated pattern. All Iona could see was a bloody blur as goblin parts rained around her, unable to get past the shimmering metal cage formed around Shiva from her deadly dance.


    More goblins went into the sarcosuchus¡¯s mouth than there was possible room inside the dinosaur for.


    Tavi, the Voracious. Darkness and Decay, she used a spear ¨C along with having a devastating ¡°deathtouch¡± ability, where with a simply touch she could carve out and remove important parts of a goblin, set their flesh rotting from the inside out. A success story ¨C an orphan from the streets, raised up to become a Valkyrie, one of the best, one of the elites. She never got over starving as a kid, and somehow had the standard Valkyrie figure, in spite of constantly eating. Even as flesh rotted around her, even as blood sizzled near her.


    Quinta was, of all things, a slime companion. Deadly Acid and Ooze, the slime simply engulfed bodies, and you could see the faces contort in silent screams as they were dissolved. Eaten alive by the slime.


    The Inviolate. She wielded a mace and a massive tower shield, and was a combined healer-warrior. Sadly, her healing was focused entirely on herself, and her class was focused on taking and holding ground. Nothing short of death could get her to move from her position, and her insane self-regeneration on top of thick armor and thicker shield made that a nearly impossible proposition.


    Speaking of healers. The only healer the Order had was an old man, entirely unsuited to a battlefield, perpetually stuck at level 256. Healers weren¡¯t allowed to go any higher. Nobody ¨C nobody ¨C would give them permission. He¡¯d only be a liability. He¡¯d demand a squire attend to his every need, regale them with how ¡°genius¡± it was that the author of the Medical Manuscripts had signed his name only ¡°Healer¡±, and be entirely unable to get to a Valkyrie in battle. He¡¯d been left behind. Any survivors would be able to get to him, to fix any wounds, any injuries.


    Ha. Like there¡¯d be any survivors.


    The Unstoppable. A bear-kin, Storm and Lava. She towered over most of the other Valkyries, armed to the teeth. Quite literally. She had sharp metal caps over her teeth. She was slow to get moving, but once she had a bit of momentum, well ¨C The Unstoppable.


    The Unbreakable. Gravity nonsense. Blows that came to her were lightened, doing almost nothing to her. She¡¯d lash back out with a thin rapier that hit like her Tyrannosaurus Rex.


    The Untouchable. Mist and Mirage. She was somewhere inside the thick mists, and flowing blood from the region attested to the deadly butchery she was performing. Can¡¯t hit what you can¡¯t see, and the tiny amount of visibility every illusionist needed to see was offset by the confusing, shifting mists hiding even that tiny weakness.


    The Shiny. Sigrun had been exhausted when naming her after a particularly harsh battle. Mirror on Mirror, every blow returned, every skill mimicked back at the caster.


    The Creator stood on her golems, pseudo-creatures of metal and stone pummeling down on goblins, impervious to their blows. She¡¯d always said the golems were her companions, that they could do anything a companion could do.


    Iona doubted they could give affection back, although she had to admit it ¨C The Creator looked at her golems the same way Alruna looked at Trikey.


    The Swift, screaming down with her griffin from the skies above, impaling a high-level goblin casting powerful spells in the backline, then back to the skies in a flash, too fast for a counter-attack from endless goblin horde.


    Sigrun herself.


    Valkyries weren¡¯t like the crazy Sects, who somehow had it in their head that might made right, and the highest-level person should be the boss. That was, quite frankly, crazy talk, and more than one Sect had fallen to pieces when a powerful individual, with no leadership qualities to speak of, ended up the boss. No. The Valkyries selected their leader on administrative and leadership qualities, a Valkyrie with a vision, one who could weave a path through the complicated world. Sigrun was the leader on those qualities, and those qualities alone. If she was level 260, she would¡¯ve still been selected to be the Grandmaster of the Order.


    Her monstrous level and abilities were simply Sigrun being Sigrun, a peerless Knight in addition to her leadership and administrative abilities.


    Three classes. Iona had gotten a look at them, and could now see and recognize them in action.


    Mantle. Sigrun¡¯s blade was impossibly sharp, and when it inevitably chipped, simply reformed anew. Any blow that dented her armor was fixed and restored the moment later. Offense paired with defense.


    Verdant. Not a choice most warriors went for, but one Sigrun clearly had seen potential in. The ability to make small changes to herself ¨C effectively self-doping, along with granting the boundless energy of plants and sunlight.


    Lightning. Sheer, raw speed. [Lightning Step] moving Sigrun from one place to the next in a flash, blade cleaving all along her path.


    Attack. Defense. Sustainability. Speed. Resilience. Sigrun had everything but weight, which was entirely irrelevant when it came to dealing with a goblin horde. She was everywhere at once, shining shield on one hand, gleaming sword in the other, goblins falling to pieces all around. A Valkyrie on one side of the battlefield could have a problem, and Sigrun would be there, covering her back silently, without a word, then in a flash be on the other side of the battlefield, running some powerful spellcaster through.


    150 Valkyries. Each one trained for years, each one specialized, each one a lethal killing machine.


    150 Squires. Trained¡­ for a few less years. More generalized, eyeing up a specialty to branch into in the future. A future that would never come.


    It wasn¡¯t enough.


    It wasn¡¯t close to enough.

 Chapter 146.5 – Major Interlude – Iona – The 300.

    Three hours in, the first squire fell. A lucky blow from a goblin took her head clean off, riding on the back of the Valkyrie¡¯s megalania.


    The Valkyrie simply cursed, and with a pair of blows, separated the squire¡¯s body from the harness, letting it fall into the seething horde.


    Not a hair was ever seen of her again.


    It was only two hours after that the first Valkyrie fell.


    The Spider used her long, long hair in several thick braids to lift herself up, above the battlefield, then dozens of thinner strands of hair with Darkness to puncture through eyes, chests, heads, and more. She would brag of being a ¡°front-line mage¡±, and gave all sorts of shit to ¡°weak mages who stayed in the backline.¡± A long running feud with Incandescent.


    The goblins had figured her out, and a team of suicidal goblins had thrown what could only generously be called ¡°expired cooking oil¡± all over her.


    A second suicidal team of goblins had jumped on her with torches.


    It wasn¡¯t enough to kill a Valkyrie, but with her hair burning and falling around her, she was unable to keep herself up and supported, and fell into the horde with a scream, a sea of sharp blades ready to catch her.


    Other Valkyries had seen what was going on, and were charging their way over.


    Still.


    A mage, surrounded by rusty blades on all sides, missing the flagship part of their kit, didn¡¯t last long, regardless of training, armor, Sigrun cutting through half of them, or anything else.


    Her body was recovered, dozens of blades held by dead goblins indicating how she¡¯d died.


    The Untouchable must¡¯ve died around the same time, mist slowly dispersing. How do you kill a hidden, invisible killer?


    The goblin answer was to flood the area with bodies until one bumped into said killer, then start hacking away. The Untouchable was primarily focused on evasion, with invisibility being her strength and forte. Without that, she was weaker, and her tactics left her plight unknown to her fellow Valkyries, who weren¡¯t even aware that she¡¯d been in danger.


    Iona fired, and fired, and fired, unceasingly into the endless horde.


    It was like half a cup of water into a forest fire.


    A full day, defending the pass.


    A full night, without a single goblin passing. No low cunning, no tricks, no attempts to flank or sneak succeeded.


    And yet.


    The bodies started to pile up.


    Eight fast Valkyries behind the main action ran down goblins who tried to dodge fighting and slip through.


    The rocks ran slick with blood.


    Footing became treacherous.


    Nearly irrelevant for goblins. A major disadvantage to them didn¡¯t really matter, with how poorly the odds were stacked against them in a single fight anyways.


    Significantly deadlier for a Valkyrie. A horse slipped, going down screaming, pinning its rider¡¯s leg under its crushing body.


    Life was so fragile.


    It only took one blade finding the right gap to end a Valkyrie.


    And yet.


    Feats of heroism at every turn.


    Alruna carefully killing every goblin above a downed squire in a single sweep, letting her get back to her feet, buying enough time for The Swift to swing down for the rescue.


    Sorok moving into position, wiping out hundreds of goblins with every sweep of its metal-spiked tail.


    A squire leaping off her Valkyrie¡¯s mount, tackling and killing a goblin who¡¯d gotten into The Creator¡¯s blind spot, who was moving in to assassinate the coordinator of the fearsome golems.


    Any other time, the squire would¡¯ve been Knighted on the spot. Nobody had the time to Knight her.


    It was worst for Iona when they ran out of arrows. Well ¨C ran out of arrows for squires. The remaining supply of conjured arrows went to the one Valkyrie who used a longbow, who couldn¡¯t conjure up her own arrows.


    Iona swore to get an arrow conjuration skill, to never be left in a pinch like this again.


    She looked around at the field, at the situation. Evaluated what she could do. No way could she survive the drop down into the battle. It wasn¡¯t the fall that was the issue, so much as the forest of steel waiting on the other end. Not that they were inclined to let the squires into the battle without a Valkyrie.


    Alruna, for example, was far too deep in the fighting for Iona to join her.


    The sun began to set once again, and exhaustion began to set in. Wounds started to accumulate. Nothing serious, but the invincible image each Valkyrie had started to crack as their armor bent from heavy blows, bruises accumulating.


    Small, slow trickles of blood like the laziest river emerging from cracks in their armor, from the small joints. Nothing big. Nothing deadly. Not yet.


    But it accumulated. Slowly. One small cut at a time, with each small drip of blood, they slowed. As time went on, wounds festered.


    Poison was in the goblin¡¯s bag of tricks. It wasn¡¯t honorable fighting, but the only creature in the pass that had any illusions of glory was The Vainglorious.


    Goblins weren¡¯t insane enough to use airborne poison, nor did they have the desire ¨C or time ¨C to poison the earth itself. Blades, barbs, sticks, claws, feet, gloves, [Poison Bite] skills and a thousand more methods and deliveries the goblins used. It made it extra-hard on the Valkyries. It was impossible to tell if a blow was going to be harmless, or be poison.


    Even poison was shrugged off by most of the Valkyries, their massive vitality helping their body fight off the crude methods of the goblins.


    And yet.


    Now and then a goblin would¡¯ve found a particularly nasty snake, located a deadly spider. The poison from those wounds would also be fought off, but not before flesh rotted, before muscles decayed.


    Without a healer, there was no restoring a leg with a gaping hole in it. A bitten arm would have muscles weakened.


    The System improved what was already there. A warrior with 500 strength was stronger than a painter with 500 strength. A bear-kin was stronger than a human. When muscles rotted away, when poison took its toll, there was less for the System to work with, less for the System to improve and amplify.


    Fighting was generally quick, brutal work. Fights were fast, even faster if they were deadly. A short struggle, a knife across a throat, a blade between ribs, a skill in the right place at the right time ¨C a fight lasting more than fifteen seconds was exceedingly rare, and usually only happened when both fighter¡¯s had better defenses than attacks.


    Battles often lasted for hours, but again, it was rare for an individual to be involved in a battle for more than a few minutes of screaming and blood. A front-line soldier was the only one fighting, at least until they slowed down, and died.


    To be replaced with a new front-line soldier, joining the bloody fray.


    Or, you know. The commander might be sane, and just rotate out tired troops for fresh ones.


    As for armies, the vast majority of them were made out of conscripts. Peasants, given a spear and told to march in a particular direction. Some were smart or lucky enough to have a [Soldier] class, the rest were farmers with a pointy stick.


    Armies like that tended not to have huge amounts of cohesion or discipline, and fell apart quickly once they started to take losses. As few as 2% losses were enough to break and rout the army, and a single, extremely powerful, Classer could do that alone.


    The Valkyries? They¡¯d been at it for an entire day. Then a second day. The attack had started at sunrise, and as the shadows grew long, they were still at it. The sun rose, and goblins continued to die. The sun set, just as it set on the goblin¡¯s lives. The Valkyries had taken significant losses, but showed no signs of stopping, of giving up, of routing. If anything, they simply dove into the fray once more.


    But slower.


    Slightly slower.


    And with slightly fewer of them.


    Shiva slowed, her deadly whirling glaive becoming just barely visible to Iona¡¯s eye. Small gaps started to appear in her defense, and she retreated to a more defensible position.


    The Swift had slowed down on her snipes, a goblin every four minutes becoming a goblin every five. Every six.


    Every ten.


    The Unstoppable. Every volcano cooled after erupting, every storm blew itself out.


    The Banshee, whose voice was getting hoarser and hoarser.


    Indeed, as Iona looked around, there was one group, and three Valkyries, who weren¡¯t slowing down.


    The squires, stuck on top of Sorok¡¯s platform. Unable to reach the thick of the fighting, for now. The future of the order, protected somewhat.


    Frustrated. Angry. Watching the girls they¡¯d grown up with, trained with, lived with, get cut down, one after another. Watching their mentors, their teachers, die, one at a time.


    Honestly somewhat useless with the current formation. They didn¡¯t have the combat capabilities to be in the midst alone, the armor, the levels, or the stats. Squires were paired with Valkyries for a reason.


    Sigrun, the Grandmaster. Leaning on her monstrous levels and stats, leaning on her Verdant element.


    The Creator, with golems that never tired, never needed a break. They wouldn¡¯t slow ¨C if they ran out of mana, if the Arcanite in them ran dry, if The Creator ran out of mana, they¡¯d simply stop.


    Alruna, the Perpetual. A build terrible for tournaments, for honor duels. A build designed for war, for large-scale conflict. She just kept going and going and going and going and-


    ¡°Iona.¡± Hrund said to her, in a low, urgent voice. ¡°We can¡¯t stay up here.¡±


    Iona slowly nodded in agreement.


    ¡°We should ask Incandescent to leave.¡± Iona said.


    Incandescent worked by firing bursts of burning Radiance into the horde, then pausing. Iona knew she was sitting on a ton of Arcanite, but hadn¡¯t used any of it.


    Iona was judging Incandescent somewhat for it. Sure, she knew the theory that it was only for emergencies, but if this wasn¡¯t an emergency, what was?


    ¡°We did. She said no.¡± Hrund whispered back.


    ¡°Then it¡¯s a no.¡± Iona said.


    Hrund shot her a look, but left, talking with other squires.


    Iona watched them, conflicted.


    She glanced at Incandescent. Incandescent looked back, frowned, shrugged, and fired off another burning ball of Radiance, exploding once it made contact.


    ¡°I know what they¡¯re doing. I disapprove, but I can¡¯t stop them. Too busy.¡± She said. ¡°Stay.¡±


    Iona stayed. Stayed as the rope ladder was thrown down. Stayed as the squires ¡°stealthily¡± climbed down it.


    Walked over as the last one went down, and pulled the ladder back up. It felt cruel on one hand, but Iona wasn¡¯t going to let the goblins have an easy path up. Easy access to Sorok¡¯s flanks.


    Winced as Sorok didn¡¯t give two shits about the squires, and kept moving as he needed to, as he was directed, crushing one underfoot with a sickening squish, a scream cut short.


    Watched as the squires formed a solid shield wall, working in concert.


    Watched as most of them got ripped apart. They didn¡¯t have the gear for what they were trying to do, not at the level they were at. There was a reason squires were paired with Valkyries. There was a reason they¡¯d been told not to go down.


    A number of squires broke at the casualties, turned and ran.


    Some escaped.


    Some.

 Chapter 146.6 – Major Interlude – Iona – The 300.

    A few squires that stayed made it, the nearby Valkyries picking up who they could.


    The only thing that was seen of the rest was a single arm, taken by a goblin as a trophy, used as a demoralizing weapon.


    That goblin died fast, even by the standards of the slaughterhouse that Wobby pass had become.


    The Valkyries continued to slow. There was no one heroic goblin taking them down, no massive skill coming out of nowhere. Just the slow accumulation of damage, pain, poison, cuts and bleeds.


    If there was one small blessing, it was that the goblins weren¡¯t entirely suicidal. They lacked Forbidden Four mages as well. Didn¡¯t stop their poison, but it was small-scale, localized. Less deadly than the occasional Darkness warrior, who tried to pierce and void armor and limbs. A Forbidden Four mage might have done terrible things to the Valkyries ¨C but it would¡¯ve backfired on the goblins even harder.


    Rather. It was possible they had some. They weren¡¯t using them if they did.


    Did it matter? Iona didn¡¯t think so.


    The Valkyries continued to slowly die, the ever present drumbeats echoing throughout the pass.


    And as a Valkyrie died, a hole appeared in the already stretched-thin line. Causing each one to stretch more, to cover impossibly more ground.


    Letting more goblins stream through.


    Surround them.


    Kill more.


    Mitigated by the sheer volume of dead bodies forming walls.


    Choke points.


    Kill corridors.


    The fight was ever-changing, ever-moving, ever-shifting. Iona found it impossible to follow, even as her [Gaze of the Stars] leveled like crazy.


    The moons rose above the fight, the omnipresent eyes watching and see what happened below. Iona kept thumbing her axe nervously, taking her shield off her back, pacing, then putting it back. She wasn¡¯t in the fight ¨C yet. She was ready.


    Why wasn¡¯t she being allowed in!?


    Iona looked around, and had a startling moment of clarity as she saw The Shining die.


    We¡¯re on the verge of a total rout.


    Iona obviously wasn¡¯t the only one who¡¯d seen this, and a trumpet blast rang out, blasting through the battlefield, cutting through the din, blaring over the endless drumming. The Valkyries started to group up, get closer to each other, and fight their way to Sorok.


    Slowly dismounting as they got near the brontosaurus anchoring the line.


    Covering each other.


    Leaving massive holes in the line.


    Holes, that goblins started to stream through, stream past, into the widening pass.


    Out to the greater kingdom.


    Failure, on most counts. They¡¯d barely held for three days and nights at this point.


    A knight on a fast mount could cover two hundred miles in a day. They might not be ready for a fight at the end of it, but the distance was manageable. Reinforcements should be near.


    And yet. They weren¡¯t.


    The Valkyries were grouping up, bunching together in the middle of the pass. A hard rock, jamming the flow of ceaseless goblins.


    ¡°Down.¡± Incandescent ordered, and Iona needed no further prompting.


    Four other squires had stayed behind.


    Only one other followed Iona.


    With the dismissive look the Valkyries gave the three remaining squires, Iona wouldn¡¯t be surprised if they were booted from the order for cowardice.


    Not that it would matter.


    They were all dead, one way or another. What was the point of being a coward now?


    Iona made her way down the ladder, getting rope burn as she mostly let herself drop, only grabbing on the rope to slow herself down somewhat. She hit the ground, and moved to where she belonged.


    Alruna¡¯s side.


    Covering her side.


    Iona had been in fights before. She¡¯d been in extermination missions. These weren¡¯t the first goblins she¡¯d faced.


    But seeing the unending horde charging at her gave her pause. Made her hesitate. Caused fear and terror to strike at her heart. [Still Water] helped.


    Iona didn¡¯t crush the fear. She didn¡¯t purge the terror from her heart. She simply lived with it, letting it lend fuel to her first desperate strike against a goblin, empowering her blows.


    Iona waited for the first goblin she¡¯d have to fight to come to her. Alruna had done a mighty sweep, bisecting a dozen goblins, and only a few had the reflexes and cunning to dodge. Two were heading towards Alruna.


    One was heading towards Iona.


    Iona felt her heart thundering in her chest. This goblin was using the most gobliny of weapons ¨C a crude knife. Another close-in fighter, like Iona was. She let the goblin strike at her, letting her shield take the blow. Her arm, empowered by stats, by her [Vow], moved her axe, enchanted by the best the Valkyries had, wicked blade gleaming a light cyan by [Blade of the Crescent Moon], simply cleaving through the goblin, with barely a hint of resistance.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! Your party has slain a [Shanker Goblin] (Acid, 199)// [Goblin Chef] (Spore, 185)]


    Iona did a double take. Two advanced elements? Yikes.


    Also, a Spore-chef? Iona did not want what he was cooking.


    A rock came whizzing out from the crowd, Iona dodging. Barely registering the level-up notification from the skill.


    Hearing a yell from behind her as it hit the back of the head of another squire. A potentially fatal distraction, if not outright fatal on its own.


    Another goblin. Iona took a strong blow to her shield.


    Another one.


    Another one.


    Another one. A cut to the shin, so bad it briefly forced Iona to one knee.


    Another one.


    Another one. Stabbed by a wooden spear, impossibly manipulated through a skill. No room to dodge properly. Weakened by the padded armor, still cutting through some abdominal muscles. A brief chill, a vicious splash of blood, mingling with everything else¡¯s.


    Another one.


    Another one.


    A Valkyrie fell. The circle tightened. The speed of goblins slipping through increased, just a hair.


    Another one.


    Another one. A rock to the head, Iona¡¯s life saved by her helmet. A cut opened up over Iona¡¯s left eye.


    Another one. Iona lost use of her left eye, as blood from the cut made it impossible to see.


    Another one.


    Another one. A strong slice on Iona¡¯s axe-arm, as she misjudged a distance.


    Another one.


    Another one. Iona¡¯s axe was wrenched out of her hands, made it a few inches away, then magically returned to her hand, letting her bury it in the surprised goblin¡¯s head. Her life saved by the enchantment.


    Another one.


    Another one. Iona felt her shield-arm crack in the most disconcerting way, as a particularly burly goblin smashed a large club into her.


    Another one.


    A companion fell. The circle stayed the same size, the stegosaurus¡¯s incredible bulk forming a natural wall of steel and flesh.


    Iona was sent to guard the back, to kill goblins trying to make their way over the corpse. Or through it.


    And the circle shrank, just a hair, by the absence of a single squire.


    Iona nearly died as she slipped on the smooth stone slick with blood.


    Drowning in one of the shallow stone depressions was a real risk. It was how they¡¯d killed The Inviolate. Tripped her and drowned her in a pool of blood. Sigrun had been otherwise occupied, unable to flash to her rescue, rescuing a dozen others instead.


    Not all the goblins were idiots. Crafty, smart goblins were legion, and once they¡¯d noticed The Swift was no longer picking goblins off left and right, some seriously powerful goblins took to the field, raining Lightning down on the circle.


    Incandescent demonstrated what ¡°an emergency¡± was, as she filled that particular section of the horde with an ungodly number of blasts. A smooth, glassy circle was all that was left of the spot when she was done.


    Only for blood to start seeping in, pooling and filling it.


    The hydra roared, as a head was cut off, and Iona watched in sick fascination as two heads grew from the stump.


    Angry.


    Rapidly snapping at goblins, who screamed and tried to flee. Too many goblins pressing in gave them nowhere to run to, and they went down the hatch.


    The sun rose. The sun set.


    Half the Valkyries were left.


    Half the companions were left. Not always the same half.


    Only a small number of squires left. Mostly the lucky few who¡¯d survived with their Valkyrie so far, or who hadn¡¯t left Sorok of their own volition.


    It was noon on the second day when it hit Iona - delirious from a lack of food, from having sweated out most of her water, yet another crude poison coursing through her veins, causing her vision to swim, making her hallucinate ¨C when the truth of the matter became reality for her. She¡¯d denied it in her heart of hearts, believed that this would just be another tale, her moment of glory.


    Ha. Glory. There was no such thing here. Just butchers. Chop. Chop. Chop.


    I am going to die here.


    This was her grave. This was her funeral.


    Iona shook her head, casting aside the fatalistic thoughts, getting a small ember, a small spark of hope.


    I will survive.


    Alruna seemed to have come to the same conclusion, a grim look on her face replacing her usual calm demeanor in fights.


    The goblins had figured out how to make the Valkyries angry. Drag a companion¡¯s body away. Cook it in front of them.


    Eat it in front of them.


    The goblins that did so were of the particularly stupid variety, as not only were they making it harder for their fellow goblins to get into the fighting, but they¡¯d all die, as the Valkyries targeted them.


    Targeted them ¨C over closer, more dangerous goblins. After all, a detached [Strategist] would note that goblins eating mid-battle was no threat. A [Historian] might note the poor decision making.


    Ha.


    Who were they, what were they, to pronounce judgement from so far away? When had they seen their friends, their companions, their lifelong partners eaten in front of them? Anyone would be enraged.


    Nobody broke. Not anymore. Nobody ran. Not after the squires had bailed, only for whooping goblins to run most of them down. Nobody offered surrender.


    What was the point of breaking?


    Where could you run to?


    Death was preferable to surrender at the hands of goblins.


    The only thing they could do was stand, and fight.


    Fight to the last woman standing.


    Fight to buy time.


    Fight to slow the horde down.


    If they were not here, this tough bunch of Valkyries, the horde could pour through uncontested. As it was, goblins couldn¡¯t physically pass through the Valkyries, had to engage them. Had to fight them. It was only on the fringes, the edge, where more cowardly goblins slipped through, down the pass, out into the plains.


    And villages.


    A few ¨C only hundreds per hour, as opposed to the tens of thousands ¨C was a manageable number. Difficult. Damage would be done. But possible to hunt down, to exterminate. Cities wouldn¡¯t be sacked; towns wouldn¡¯t be pillaged. Only villages would be burned.


    Iona was hellbent on there being one less village burned. One more life saved. It would be her invisible, unknown legacy. Someone out there was going to be alive because of her actions here, today. Iona had no idea who it¡¯d be. They¡¯d have no idea who Iona was.


    But.


    Her. Actions. Mattered.


    Could there be a finer end?


    ¡°Out!¡± The Creator yelled, and the circle shrunk again, as the golems were left on their own for one last set of attacks, before running out of mana.


    Left frozen, they were quickly dismantled by goblins, never to be reanimated again.


    A goblin swung at Hrund, and she weakly attempted to parry. She was unable to keep a grip on her blade, pure exhaustion having weakened her.


    She barely resisted as she was run through, glassy eyes staring at the sky. All the strength, all the speed, all the dexterity, didn¡¯t matter before the cruel realities.


    Injuries. Wounds. Bites. Scratches.


    Exhaustion. Fatigue. Weariness.


    Cuts. Stabs.


    Poison.


    Exactly what Alruna¡¯s build was designed to defeat.


    Exactly what Alruna had insisted Iona build around to beat.


    Boundless energy. Peerless penetration. A build unsuited for tournaments. Perfect for slaughter. Why injure, when you can kill? Why overpower, when you can outlast?


    The sun set, and there were eighty in total. A rider with a red banner, not a Valkyrie, flew overhead. Circled them once.


    Left.

 Chapter 146.7 – Major Interlude – Iona – The 300.

    The sun rose on thirty left. Barely a speedbump at this point. Goblins swarming around them, after better, easier, more plentiful prey.


    Sorok had died, brought low by powerful skills and rocks slick with blood, crushing a number beneath him as he fell. The drums, silenced at last.


    The Valkyries drums. The goblins had their own sick beat, their own tempo they moved to.


    ¡°Where. Are. They!?¡± Alruna yelled at Sigrun.


    ¡°Why the fuck do you think I know?!¡± Sigrun yelled back. ¡°They should¡¯ve been here yesterday!¡±


    Iona had kept a small spark of hope alive. It died at that.


    The rider had seen them. Had signaled to them.


    The sun was setting on thirteen of them left. No reinforcements had come yet.


    Companions included.


    The Swift was no longer around, her and her griffin brought low by a trap. It had required goblins to sacrifice themselves, but when had they not?


    The Voracious had died, goblins willing to die to land a blow. Her build didn¡¯t matter in the face of suicidal foes, of accumulated harm.


    There was now a great stampede around the Valkyries, goblins climbing over the bodies of their fallen dead to reach the plains below. The Valkyries could barely slow them down at this point, forcing those nearby to reckon with them, not nearly enough of a presence to force a large number to stop, to significantly slow the horde.


    Tens of thousands of goblins had started off in the horde, closing in on one hundred thousand.


    The Valkyries, the measly 300 of them, had slaughtered tens of thousands of them, gotten their bodies stacked so high that the size of the pass had shrunk, forcing the goblins to constantly contend with them. That is ¨C if they could properly turn dead goblins into building material. If goblins had any problem at all over walking over their own dead.


    Iona shuddered at a goblin casually reaching down and ripping off the arm of a dead goblin, and starting to happily chow down on it, barely giving the Valkyries a glance as he strolled down the pass.


    Barely caring as his fellows died to the Valkyries.


    Others took to the high ground made by the bodies. Pelting them with slings and primitive arrows.


    Throwing skills at them. Mages and skills weren¡¯t restricted to humans, and with The Swift no longer assassinating powerful goblin mages, with the high ground, with the ability to reach out and kill goblins from a distance all but gone, more and more mages were coming out of hiding.


    Not just mages had skills.


    There was no such thing as a primitive arrow shot, not when skills were involved.


    And then there was 12.


    And then there was 11.


    And then¡­


    The goblins¡­


    Stopped.


    They stopped trying to run around. They stopped trying to kill the Valkyries.


    They did keep climbing up the bodies though. Over and through, down the pass.


    Through the crowd, a particularly large goblin emerged.


    In a broken language spoken by the Valkyries, he spoke.


    ¡°Surrender. Or. Die.¡± He croaked out, clearly unused to the tongue.


    Sigrun held up her hand, reminding everyone that she was the boss.


    ¡°We¡¯ll discuss it.¡± She said.


    Shocked and betrayed looks from half the survivors.


    The other half knew it was a ploy to stall for time, to stall for some mythical reinforcements.


    ¡°Short time only.¡± The goblin said, before vanishing into the crowd.


    ¡°We¡¯re not-¡° Iona started to say, before Alruna covered her mouth.


    ¡°Shhh. Dunno if they can hear us. Drink.¡± She ordered.


    Iona brought her waterskin to her mouth, hoping against hope that she¡¯d gotten another miracle and the waterskin had been magically refilled since the last time she checked.


    Nothing.


    The world was still blurry around her.


    The last Water mage squire had died yesterday.


    Sigrun took a moment.


    ¡°All of you here, present now.¡± She said to the three remaining squires. ¡°Can call yourselves Valkyries.¡±


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Squire¡¯s Steadfastness] has evolved into [Valkyrie¡¯s Valor]!]


    Iona smiled, happiness blooming in her heart, even through the terrible conditions. She¡¯d spent more than half her life working towards this goal, waiting to hear those magical words from Sigrun¡¯s mouth.


    The situation could be slightly better though. Like seeing the next sunrise. Being able to tell someone about her promotion.


    ¡°You decide now.¡± The grouchy goblin was back.


    Sigrun looked at the Valkyries. Looked at the goblin, head held high, back straight, sword and shield relaxed by her side.


    ¡°No.¡± She declared.


    Sigrun had a slim chance of getting out of this alive. She could blitz down the pass, fight and escape out on her own with sheer power, speed, and skills.


    She might be able to bring one person with her.


    Iona suspected that once it was just Sigrun, or just Sigrun and one other person, that they might just leave. Why fight to the death for nothing?


    The goblin grunted, and Iona realized she understood him.


    ¡°Fire.¡± Was what he said, and the goblins that had been climbing up the mountain of bodies unleashed all manner of stones, arrows, skills, javelins, and more, down upon the hapless Valkyries.


    The Valkyries interlocked shields and huddled under it, Serratrix curling up intelligently, creating a massive Spinosaurus-size bulwark.


    ¡°We are so dead.¡± Alruna said.


    ¡°You don¡¯t say.¡± Iona retorted, all fear of retribution gone, an exhilarated thrill running through her as she broke the rules.


    What was Alruna going to do, kill her?


    Somehow, that broke the tension, and the Valkyries laughed.


    What else was there to do, when death was rattling on their shields? Heating up their shields, so hot they¡¯d need to drop them, open a hole in their wall, rain arrows in through it. Kill more. Cascade harder.


    Rain started, a pitter-patter, rapidly becoming a downpour.


    Cooling off their shields.


    But ¨C hang on. Iona frowned. There wasn¡¯t the distinct sound of water hitting metal that she¡¯d expect to hear from rainfall. Instead, screaming, high pitched cries of agony that twisted the knife right in her ears.


    Slowly, one at a time, the Valkyries peeked over and through their shields, to see what was happening.


    Green rain was pouring from the skies, leaving a neat circle around the Valkyries untouched. As each droplet touched goblin flesh, smoking, sizzling holes were left behind.


    The screaming was stuff of nightmares.


    Iona looked up.


    High in the sky, a figure floated, wearing the customary gold and crimson robes of a level 2000+ member of the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft.


    ¡°The rat-faced BASTARDS.¡± Sigrun yelled from on top of Serratrix. All the Valkyries were on Serratrix ¨C he was the only surviving companion, although his glorious sail was shredded and torn, and he was barely limping along. The Order of the Red Lion had ¡°patched him up the best they could¡±, which was a bald-faced lie.


    The Valkyries had waited until the acid rain had ceased, then needed to wait even longer before the pass was safe enough to walk down; that they wouldn¡¯t dissolve in puddles of deadly acid left over. The fumes though ¨C all of them needed serious attention from healers after what the acidic fumes had done to all of them.


    The Order of the Red Lion, the kingdom¡¯s army, headed by the 2nd prince, and the Righteous Divine Fist Sect had met them halfway down, taken care of them, and helped them retrieve what little was left of the bodies of their fallen, including wrapping up most of the weapons and armors for easier transportation. At which point, the Valkyries promptly left, not wanting to be gawked at. Wanting to lick their wounds at home.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Alruna asked. They were finally far away enough from the other forces to have half a conversation.


    ¡°They set up a second defensive line further back, and left us all to fucking die. I know the Orders don¡¯t get along, but trying to wipe us out?!¡± Sigrun yelled. ¡°The only reason any of us are alive is the fucking School of Sorcery and Spellcraft had a bored Classer wanting to take a look! The Orders wanted to loot our dead fucking bodies! Even as-is, we don¡¯t have a fraction of the bodies or armor we should have, and I fucking know the goblins didn¡¯t take them all!¡±


    Sigrun wasn¡¯t quite making sense ¨C being up for that many days in a row, with that much of an emotional rollercoaster would do that to anyone ¨C but the point was there.


    Iona didn¡¯t quite agree with Sigrun¡¯s ranting and raving. By the time the scout had flown overhead, the horde was pouring around them. Any defensive line constructed would¡¯ve needed to be much, much larger, and much longer. They couldn¡¯t let goblins escape anymore than the Valkyries could, for much the same reason.


    And pushing back against an unending horde, when disadvantaged and on the back foot? Sending in a strike team to retrieve them? Iona didn¡¯t think it would be a wise move. It was unfortunate, but between the risk of losing their own line, and letting the horde break out, versus saving some powerful warriors who signed up for it?


    Enough knights in the Red Lions had [Oath]s that demanded they act honorably. That would¡¯ve frowned upon deliberately leaving a nominal ally to die when there was any other choice.


    And there were literal mountains of dead bodies. Finding all the fallen Valkyries and their gear, especially when some had been stripped and carried away mid-battle, was impossible given that Sigrun had them moving out in less than a day.


    It didn¡¯t stop Sigrun from being pissed as hell, and blaming the Order and Sect for the massive losses the Valkyries had taken.


    ¡°But we survived.¡± Iona pointed out, feeling a lot more confident, a lot more at ease. Blessing every breath of air, every blade of grass, every caress of the wind, the setting sun, the twinkle of the night stars.


    ¡°We did. It was a pyrrhic victory though. They won. The Valkyries have been destroyed.¡± Sigrun said bitterly. ¡°After we saved their kingdom and lands to boot. They were all ¡®oh, it¡¯s such a shame your numbers have been reduced so far. We¡¯re going to take over managing Soria town.¡¯ And the worst part is I can¡¯t even say they¡¯re wrong! We can¡¯t manage Soria town anymore, or almost any of the others.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re as good as dead.¡± Sigrun finished.


    Iona took a moment to look at her level-ups. ¡°Epic¡± didn¡¯t begin to cover it.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Warrior] has leveled up to level 256! +2 Free Stats, +15 Strength, +15 Dexterity, +15 Vitality, +15 Speed, +9 Mana Regen, +2 Magic power, +2 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    All of her skills had also capped out at 256 ¨C except her Water archery skills, which were all capped at 32. Iona had no doubt it¡¯d shoot up massively once she classed it up.


    ¡°Sigrun. Permission to advance my class again?¡± Iona asked.


    ¡°Yeah, fine, whatever. I don¡¯t care. We¡¯ll just say it was needed in the heat of battle. Nobody¡¯s going to give us any grief, not when we¡¯ve been practically wiped out. You can all advance.¡± Sigrun said bitterly. ¡°Might as well do it before we¡¯re given the official notice that the number of Classers we can have is being reduced.¡±


    There was no joy in Iona. Not with the loss. Not with all her friends dead.


    A pause passed, before Shiva spoke up.


    ¡°Gotta title the new Valkyries.¡± She said.


    ¡°Ah right. You.¡± Sigrun said, pointing to the first of the three newly promoted Valkyries. ¡°Errr. Goblin Slayer.¡±


    The Goblin Slayer took her new title with a neutral expression. It wasn¡¯t the best, but it spoke of an epic feat, and expectations to come.


    ¡°You.¡± Sigrun said, pointing to the next one, pausing a moment, straining hard to think of something, coming up basically blank. Letting her terrible naming sense take over. ¡°Goblin Smasher.¡±


    Everyone winced at that one. Sigrun pointed to Iona last.


    ¡°You.¡± She said, and everyone waited for the hammer of terrible names to swing and smite Iona. If it was bad enough, nobody would ever call Iona by her name ever again.


    ¡°I have a Celestial element!¡± Iona said, thinking fast, hoping to derail Sigrun into a different thread, a different terrible naming sense. Anything to not be ¡°The Goblin Musher¡±


    Sigrun looked around briefly, at the twinkle of the new stars, the last rays of the sun vanishing over the horizon, at the rising of the moons, and named Iona.


    ¡°The Dusk.¡±


    [Name: Iona]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 16]


    [Mana: 2520/2520]


    [Mana Regen: 152256]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 378]


    [Strength: 2309]


    [Dexterity: 2310]


    [Vitality: 2579]


    [Speed: 2579]


    [Mana: 252]


    [Mana Regeneration: 1946]


    [Magic Power: 462]


    [Magic Control: 462]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Warrior - Celestial: Lv 256]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 256]


    [Combat Instincts: 256]


    [Weapon Mastery: 256]


    [Strength from the Stars: 256]


    [Blade of the Crescent Moon: 256]


    [Moon''s Descent: 256]


    [Stellar Body: 256]


    [Gaze of the Stars: 256]


    [Class 2: [Smooth Shot Archer - Water: Lv 32]]


    [Water Affinity: 32]


    [Archery: 32]


    [Smooth Draw: 32]


    [Still Water: 32]


    [Blind Shot: 32]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Analyze: 180]


    [Valkyries Valor: 256]


    [Dodging: 256]


    [Footwork: 256]


    [Vow of Iona to Lux: 256]


    [Charming: 169]


    [Education: 222]


    [Dinosaur Husbandry: 234]


    Other


    Blessing of Selene and Lunaris

 Chapter 147 – A day in the life I

    Waking up at the right time was a well-ingrained habit at this point. I woke up, stretched, and looked around my room.


    I¡¯d moved back with my parents a year ago, because why not? It had taken them a few months to move, but once they were living in the capital, the villa Night had ¡°gifted¡± them was huge, so much so that it felt like we were rattling around in it sometimes. It would¡¯ve been a waste not to live there. We were ¨C more like, I was ¨C able to afford to pay someone to help clean the whole place, and it was most certainly a full-time job.


    Mom really, really appreciated the help. She even had her own little clinic! She was rarely in it though. She took a much more personalized approach, having a small, select group of women that she treated, along with their kids. Having a house in the fancy part of town meant that all of our neighbors were also fancy and rich, giving us automatic social standing, and made up the majority of her clients.


    I didn¡¯t begrudge her the choice. We all had different priorities. She was healing, she was putting her skills to good use, and she was busy living her best life.


    Dad had originally wanted to become one of the guards that worked at Ranger HQ, but I shamelessly put my foot down on it. No way was he going to be a regular at my work. That would just be way too weird. And awkward. Dad saluting me as I went to work? Daily?


    Nope nope nope.


    There was some minor potential for grift, corruption, and general nepotism that I wanted to get ahead of to boot. I would never participate, but there was no telling what happened in the background. I wanted no part of it, and the doors were firmly barred.


    Having a Sentinel as a kid opened doors for him everywhere though, there was no denying it. He managed to end up as a member of the Praetorian Guard, the elites defending the Senate.


    Which was extra-cushy, because the biggest threat to the Senate were loiterers. Dad basically got to walk around with Senators all day, and hear the most interesting things.


    Which were naturally shared with mom and I. As the Senate saw it, Dad was simply keeping things in the family, and only sharing it with women to boot. Whatever. Everyone talked to their spouse. Who cared?


    I was a frequent visitor ¨C teacher, really ¨C to Artemis¡¯s School of Sorcery and Spellcraft.


    As was Julius. I had some sneaking suspicions why Julius was a constant visitor there, but nothing confirmed.


    I had absolutely no problems letting Julius know the gossip I¡¯d overheard ¨C which inadvertently gave the Ranger half of Ranger Command a very good look into the current inner workings of the Senate. Sure, we were their minions. Sure, we had two Senators on the Ranger Command directly. Didn¡¯t mean they always talked with us, and let us know everything that was going on.


    Master Spy Elaine. Totally tripped right into the role. Not like I was passing anything super secret or confidential, but Julius seemed to find it interesting, and Night had blessed the activity, and didn¡¯t try to find me anything else to do, apart from the marketplace healing.


    The Pastos incident had been over a year ago, and nobody was letting me forget it.


    I was entirely unrepentant. I¡¯d do it again in a heartbeat. Either way, the less that was said about Pastos the better.


    I had a nice, large, luxurious bed ¨C topped with that fur I¡¯d liberated from the pirates way back when. Forbidden fruit tasted the sweetest, and I slept extra-well on it.


    My gear was on an armor stand, along with everything needed to maintain it. I semi-regularly brought it to the Quartermaster ¨C especially when it was damaged ¨C but being my gear, it was my responsibility.


    It was my life on the line if something went wrong. Wasn¡¯t about to take a risk over something so minor, not when all it took to fix was time.


    I nearly got in the habit of taking a trophy every time I was in a major fight, or solved a major problem, but Night had given me a Talking To.


    My trophy-collecting ended before it began, and I didn¡¯t even buy souvenirs. After Night¡¯s little Talking To, I didn¡¯t even want a sniff of suspicion that I was doing anything uncouth. Nope. Nu-uhm. No way.


    After all was said and done, I was paid really well, and my living expenses were fairly minimal. Not only was everything I needed provided for, apart from extra clothes and food, but I was making serious, serious money at the marketplace. I gave Autumn a generous allowance, kept increasing my personal hoard of coins, donated some to the general household fund, and even then, I had a bunch leftover.


    Which I used on artwork! I had a number of high-quality frescos in my part of the home, along with some paintings, and marble busts.


    Of me and my family. I was working on a ¡°Sentinel Series¡±, but I kept a strict budget on how much I spent on artwork each month. It was tempting to blow more, but I had self-control.


    For artwork.


    I had various little chests and wardrobes for my clothing. I liked mixing it up. Some days were armor days, full on Sentinel Dawn. Other times, I liked wearing some [Pretty] clothes. All depended on my mood, and what was on my plate that day.


    I got up, out of bed, and put on my gear. Fancy armor day! No helmet, red cape. I looked quite dashing. I¡¯d considered getting someone with a Wind element class to follow me around and blow air on me. Constant cooling breeze, and permanent cape fluttering.


    Too impractical.


    I made my way out of my room, smiling as I saw my younger adoptive brother Themis, who was groggily heading to the kitchen as well.


    ¡°Themis! Morning! How¡¯s it going?¡± I asked him, all cheerful like.


    I got a foul look and a grunt.


    Teenagers, I swear. I mean, technically, he wasn¡¯t a teenager, not yet, still had another year to go, but moody and untalkative? Oh yeah, he had that down pat. He was going to be a right terror as a teen, unlike me, the model of a cooperative teenager.


    Apart from the whole ¡°running away from home and worrying my parents sick¡± part.


    ¡°Training with the guards today?¡± I asked.


    I translated his grunt as ¡°yes¡±.


    I considered a few other questions I could ask him, discarded them, and shrugged. Whatever. My poor brother was tragically lost to me, victim of hormones for the next 6-8 years or so. He¡¯d grow up, hopefully realize he was a dickhead like most teenagers, and our relationship would improve.


    Wouldn¡¯t stop me mercilessly teasing him while I had the chance. Not this morning though.


    ¡°Morning mom!¡± I said, entering the kitchen ¨C a massive affair now, much larger than the cramped little room we called our kitchen back in Aquiliea.


    ¡°Elaine! Themis! Good morning!¡± Mom said, sitting at a table, eating her breakfast.


    Themis just grunted. I wasn¡¯t the only one getting the grunt-treatment.


    ¡°Busy day?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Oh, you know how it is. One appointment in the morning, two in the afternoon, it¡¯s either light or crazy, depending.¡±


    Yup. Mom¡¯s work being the personalized healer also made her a type of pseudo-therapist, where she listened to all the various problems the rich and powerful had ¨C most of them made up or self-imposed. Like, ¡°The new pillars are simply wonderful, but they clash with the pool aesthetic.¡± I¡¯d seen enough sick and near-death patients from the slums, enough fights and bloody clashes to have absolutely no sympathy whatsoever for those types of problems.


    Mom was better than me at that, and she was the sympathetic ear who could cure their physical ailments, which people interpreted as also being able to solve their mental ones to boot. Hey, it worked for her, it worked for them. Who was I to judge.


    ¡°Think we¡¯ll be able to have lunch together?¡± I asked her.


    Mom tapped her lips thoughtfully.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. Valentina tends to talk quite a bit.¡±


    I nodded my understanding.


    I grabbed some fruit and veggies from the kitchen ¨C mangos and carrots ¨C and walked out the door with them, contentedly munching on them while I made the short trip to Ranger HQ.


    ¡°Sentinel.¡± The guards respectfully saluted, while I offered them a cheery wave. I made my way down to the Sentinel meeting room/living room, bumping into Acquisition on the way.


    ¡°Acquisition!¡± I said, happy to see him.


    ¡°Dawn.¡± He said, respectfully.


    ¡°I¡¯d like my purse back please.¡± I told him, holding my hand out.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t me!¡± He protested.


    ¡°Yes, but they installed you as the best thief. You¡¯re all the thieves¡¯ boss. One of them took my purse, you¡¯re the boss, ergo, you took it, and now need to return it!¡± I said, cheerfully explaining my extremely poor logic to him.


    ¡°I don¡¯t control them!¡± He continued to protest.


    I just held my hand out and glared. With a sigh, he pulled out my pouch and returned it to me.


    ¡°Probably half the coins were gone already anyways.¡± He grumbled to me.


    ¡°Eh, whatever. I like my pouch. It¡¯s got a sun stitched on it, for me!¡± I told him for what must be the thirtieth time, cheerfully pointing out the sunburst on it. Sunburst for Sentinel, Sunburst for Dawn. It was perfect. And mine.


    ¡°The fact that every time it gets brought to my attention and I need to get it back makes it a game for the other thieves.¡± Acquisition complained. ¡°More of them target you as a result!¡±


    ¡°Yup.¡± I cheerfully replied. ¡°And I make no effort to stop them. They¡¯ll eventually get bored of the game, and hey.¡± I said, tone going from ¡®excessively cheerful¡¯ to ¡®dead serious¡¯ ¨C ¡°It¡¯s not badges they¡¯re trying to steal anymore. Eventually they¡¯ll realize that I¡¯m letting them have it, it¡¯ll stop being a cool thing to do, and they¡¯ll move on.¡±


    Acquisition shuddered. His little talk about ¡®don¡¯t steal Sentinel Badges¡¯ hadn¡¯t hit the mark, and when Sealing¡¯s badge had gotten stolen ¨C Night had words with the thieves of the town.


    Well.


    Night had no words. The thieves had quite a few of them, mostly ¡°please spare me¡± and ¡°Oh gods no¡±. Acquisition got declared the head honcho of thieves, demonstrated his prowess by stealing the clothes off of Senators while they were in session, and demonstrated he should be the boss by getting away with it.


    I was glad I¡¯d been away on a mission when it happened.


    Ocean nodded to us when we arrived, taking our seats. I had a preference for a big fuzzy chair, and I figured the trick to preserving it was throwing a shield around it when a brawl started.


    I had a realization dawn on me.


    Man. It must kinda suck to be Ocean or Hunting. In a normal organization, they¡¯d be groomed to take over leadership one day. Except. The head honcho of the Sentinels, Night, was an immortal vampire. Kinda hard to take over when your boss had been in the job a thousand years, and was aiming to stick with it for at least another thousand.


    Everyone trickled in, including, to my minor surprise, Nature. We all sat down, and Night began the morning meeting.


    ¡°Well, now that everyone who will be here is here, does anyone have pressing business before we begin Nature¡¯s after-action report?¡± Night asked. Formal. Polite. One step at a time.


    Carefully checking things off a checklist perfected hundreds of years ago. He never knew what was coming up, even though I had no doubt he¡¯d heard every message and communication already. Still. It was somewhat disconcerting to hear the exact same message and question every single time someone completed a mission.


    We looked around at each other, giving subtle shakes of our heads.


    ¡°Right. Nature. Please begin.¡± Night said.


    ¡°Multiple caravans had been vanishing in the Kadan. Two Ranger teams couldn¡¯t locate anything. Went there, started sniffing around. Didn¡¯t find anything. Decided against recruiting a bunch of animals to help me look around ¨C the Kadan is just too big. Decided to start joining caravans incognito until something struck. Took three trips until we were attacked. A big sucker of a tree had become a treant, and not only that, but it had a number of other treants under its command.¡±


    Nature shuddered.


    ¡°Couldn¡¯t keep the rest of the convoy alive. Living trees working as a team are tough, and my skills couldn¡¯t get purchase. They¡¯re not trees, they¡¯re not animals, I had to do it the hard way.¡±


    I winced at that mental image. Treants were tricky with Nature¡¯s skillset. He had a number of wood-related skills, but against something that actively resisted them? It was almost a counter to his abilities.


    Ironically, I would¡¯ve had an easier time with it. Radiance against wood? Yikes. Too easy. Fire would be even easier.


    Nature gave a detailed breakdown of the fight, which consisted mostly of ¡°dodge stuff and slowly chop multiple self-healing trees in half.¡± It sounded incredibly tedious.


    ¡°Thoughts on areas of improvement for Nature?¡± Night asked us.


    ¡°Could you have kept multiple animals either on multiple convoys, or scouting up and down the line until you found something, then rushed over when they got a hit?¡± I asked. ¡°No need to play the ¡®hit or miss¡¯ convoy game that way.¡±


    Nature frowned, but nodded at my remark.


    ¡°Should¡¯ve broken the branches first.¡± Brawling said. ¡°You took too long going for a direct kill, before realizing you needed to whittle them down first.¡±


    I groaned, along with most of the other Sentinels, while looking at Brawling with amazement. I didn¡¯t realize he had it in him.


    He looked around, and the coin dropped.


    ¡°Pun not intended.¡±


    Magic had a new trick. Fake rotten fruit materialized in all our hands, and he made it ¡°move¡± convincingly as we threw it at Brawling. Sadly, it had no heft, no weight ¨C but it was fun anyways.


    More analysis, and before long, it was time for training at Ranger Academy. I had a morning class, so I was off, jogging with Ocean down the great tunnel to the Academy. He taught sailing in the morning as well, at a slightly later time. Had a half-dozen mentees that he taught while I taught everyone else medicine.


    I gave a quick blast around me with [Shine]. Nothing showed up, nothing disappeared. No Magic shenanigans. He¡¯d started avoiding me ever since I got the skill, and applied his own paranoia against him.


    After all. I never knew when there was an invisible threat somewhere nearby.


    He¡¯d been incensed when I used his own logic against him. Out of respect for his own, well-justified, paranoia, I didn¡¯t use it during our daily meetings. A truce, of sorts. Both of us protecting ourselves.


    I¡¯d heard enough stories of his after-action reports to mentally degrade his ¡°paranoia¡± down to ¡°completely reasonable caution¡±.


    A bonus to [Shine]- it made me look awesome while it was going. A constant glow around me, and I happily tied it off with [Persistent Casting], to give myself a permanent anti-mirage skill running, without needing to think about it.


    And light in the dark.


    And I looked awesome.


    ¡°I¡¯m so glad I don¡¯t have any mentees.¡± I said with gusto. I had enough on my plate.


    Ocean gave me a sour look.


    ¡°Rub it in, why don¡¯t you?¡± He said, no spite in his voice.


    ¡°Sure! It¡¯s great that I don¡¯t have mentees! Fabulous! Fantastic! Wonderful! Brilliant! Great! Thank you so much for getting that one bard to quit!¡±


    ¡°Ok, ok, I get the point.¡± Ocean said, pained. ¡°Please stop rubbing it in now.¡±


    I stuck my tongue out at him. He¡¯d literally asked for it.


    We made idle small talk as we reached the end of the tunnel leading to Ranger Academy, the tunnel ending in a sprawling, luxurious villa that housed the Trainees that had passed the Hell Months.


    Ocean waved to me, and headed over to the docks, where he¡¯d be teaching. No surprise he wanted aquatic-based education.


    I got myself ready where I¡¯d be teaching. I¡¯d gotten a dead body of a relatively healthy man procured for me, and I¡¯d annoyed the hell out of the Quartermaster by insisting I was involved with every single step of procurement. There was no way I was getting involved in the unethical body acquisition business, not even by turning a blind eye. No. My standards bordered on absurd. Had to be almost completely healthy. Needed a willing family. Needed not a whiff of foul play.


    Most of the Trainees were assembled. I had it arranged like an amphitheater, with me in the middle, and rows of Trainees around me, looking down.


    ¡°Morning!¡± I said, bright and cheerful as ever, before jumping into my standard speech. It helped orient me, it helped wake the Trainees up and let them know that yes, it was time to start thinking again. ¡°I wish I was given enough time to teach you enough medicine to be useful. Sadly, I only have time to lightly go over everything once, and pray to all the gods and goddesses that it¡¯ll be enough. Get a real healer with you when you travel. It¡¯ll save your life.¡±


    ¡°Today we¡¯re going to review the digestive system.¡± I said, flipping open the Y-shaped cut on the body, grabbing the intestines, and displaying them for everyone. ¡°We previously followed food down the mouth, and into the stomach. Now we¡¯re going to follow the path through the small intestine, large intestine, and colon, then review common injuries and emergency remedies.¡±


    I paused a moment, letting the more industrious students scribble. I mentally marked three who were basically falling asleep in my class. I had the ability to review my students, and my criteria was real easy ¨C don¡¯t sleep in my class.


    When it came time for us to solve the giant puzzle of who ended up a Ranger, those three would be on the bottom of my recommendations. End up on the bottom of too many Instructors and Sentinel¡¯s lists, and a promotion to Ranger at the end of Academy wasn¡¯t in the cards.


    It was possible that they¡¯d make it up with extreme strengths in other categories. As I said. I was only one, small piece of the puzzle. Just another cog in the machine.


    I gave them a brief ¨C far too brief ¨C lecture and overview on the digestive tract, focusing on common injuries, along with basic management.


    ¡°Onions are fairly rare, but if you happen to be in a region with them, make onion soup and drink it. Then carefully smell around the wound. If you smell onion ¨C you¡¯re not going to heal naturally. You must get to a healer. You will die otherwise, regardless of your vitality stat.¡± I said, hammering the point home.


    It was technically possible to naturally heal from an injury that would normally kill someone with enough Vitality, especially when talking about slow injuries like gut wounds. I wasn¡¯t about to start sticking that notion in people¡¯s head. Before I knew it, people would be telling me about mages with 100 vitality biting the dust, and how I¡¯d said that it¡¯d be ¡°fine¡±.


    Rangers tended to be a smart bunch, but exposure to medicine and first aid like I was teaching was a first for many. I was, arguably, literally the leading expert on the subject.


    Far too soon, with far too many salient points left, did the gong go off, marking the end of my class. With how much material I needed to cover, an hour a day for almost two years wasn¡¯t nearly enough. I could barely handle covering normal pathology, let alone getting into abnormal! Best I could do was a light skim over everything, and pray enough of it stuck when it came to first aid.


    I spent a lot of time on injuries and stabilization first aid. It was the critical skill I was trying to impart after all.


    I thoroughly washed my hands afterwards, got the body back on ice, to use again later, and with a skip to my step, I headed back to Headquarters. It was one of those mornings where I had an appointment with Albina!


    The joy of being a Sentinel. People came to me, not the other way around.


    ¡°Albina! Good morning!¡± I cheerfully greeted her as I made it to my ¡°public¡± space at Ranger HQ.


    ¡°Elaine! So glad you¡¯re here!¡± Albina cheerfully gave me a friendly hug. I returned it, flashing [Phases of the Moon] through her quickly, making sure she was in peak health, awkwardly trying to not press too hard around her large baby bump.


    ¡°Yup! No dire emergency ripping me away this time!¡± I said, happily taking my seat. ¡°What¡¯s up for today?¡±


    ¡°Nothing special! Standard [Beautician] session. Nails, hair, makeup, and I¡¯ve got three outfits for you to try, although I think you¡¯ve seen one of them before!¡± Albina happily chirped, awkwardly waddling around me. She was due in about a month, and I was keeping a laser eye on her health. I kept trying to make my way down to her place, so she wouldn¡¯t have to walk up here, but she kept beating me here handily, and insisting that we do it here.


    At a certain point, arguing more would just be condescending, and both her and baby were in perfect health.


    I had a sneaking suspicion that her husband had barred her from doing any other work, and the only reason she still saw me was he didn¡¯t dare tell a Sentinel that her personal [Beautician] was no longer available. It¡¯d explain the sudden jump in time and care Albina suddenly had about two months ago.


    It was her personal business, and she knew I had a sympathetic ear, and would rain fire down for her if needed. Some careful inquiries got nothing, and I wasn¡¯t going to pry too deeply. Not when she seemed genuinely happy, not while she remained healthy.


    Albina worked her magic, and all of our time together had been good for her and her levels and classes. She¡¯d gotten a Mirror element class, which let her, well.


    Do the most obvious Mirror trick for a [Beautician].


    ¡°What do you think? Like it?¡± She asked, a mirror magically appearing in front of me, reflecting myself in it.


    I was way paler than a woman who was regularly outside should be. A combination of my constant self-healing with [Phases of the Moon] and getting half my face burnt off again in Massalix didn¡¯t lend itself to a tanned complexion.


    Or to scars. I¡¯d be so horribly scarred over every inch of my body if it wasn¡¯t for magical healing.


    Even though I did spend half the summer tanning, trying to level up [Sun-Kissed]. A light tan, not a deep tan.


    Bright blue eyes, flecked and sparkling with the stars, anchored my face, surrounded by long, slightly wavy light brown hair. The benefit to hanging out with Albina a bunch was I could cut my hair whenever I went on a mission ¨C long hair was hell to maintain on the road ¨C then immediately get it regrown when I got back.


    A heart-shaped face contained a happy grin and a cute nose. I looked good, I knew it, and I had [Pretty] reinforcing it, and a [Beautician] bringing out the best in me, making me look as good as supernaturally possible.


    ¡°Thanks! I love it!¡± I told Albina. ¡°I have no plans for lunch, wanna join me?¡±


    She made a bunch of fussing noises before agreeing.


    Life was good.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 19]


    [Mana: 58840/58840]


    [Mana Regen: 49245 (+23244.375)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 407]


    [Strength: 271]


    [Dexterity: 199]


    [Vitality: 770]


    [Speed: 770]


    [Mana: 5884]


    [Mana Regeneration: 5635 (+2324.4375)]


    [Magic Power: 5121 (+59915.7)]


    [Magic Control: 5121 (+59915.7)]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 256]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 256]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 215]


    [Medicine: 240]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 256]


    [Phases of the Moon: 256]


    [Moonlight: 256]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 245]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 147]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 215]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 215]


    [Radiance Resistance: 215]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 215]


    [Shine: 104]


    [Sun-Kissed: 165]


    [Blaze: 215]


    [Talaria: 215]


    [Nova: 215]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 151]


    [Pristine Memories: 200]


    [Pretty: 152]


    [Bullet Time: 230]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 234]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 240]


    [Persistent Casting: 111]


    [Learning: 256]

 Chapter 148 – A day in the life II

    Lunch with Albina was wonderful. We¡¯d grabbed a bite to eat, and were moseying through the streets.


    ¡°Could I interest you in a play at the amphitheater?¡± Albina asked me.


    I hesitated a moment. They did have some good stuff right now.


    ¡°Sorry, no. I gotta spend time in the market.¡± I said, shaking my head. I felt a little bad for Albina. Still had energy, not a ton to do. Unfortunately, I was also busy, and had things I needed to do.


    Albina didn¡¯t push, just switched topics and happily told me all about her plans for the baby. Names they¡¯d picked out, a [Carpenter] who¡¯d made a crib for them.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be there, right?¡± She asked again, nervously.


    ¡°I can¡¯t promise that.¡± I said, trying to gently let her down. ¡°You know my work.¡±


    She looked down, and I patted her shoulder, letting [Phases of the Moon] work its magic. I also tried to push [Warmth of the Sun], making it nice and warm.


    I was so damn happy that [Phases of the Moon] had evolved to handle blood loss when I hit 250.


    ¡°Hey, listen, even if I¡¯m not around, ask Markus, or one of the other healers. I know a great [Midwife]! They¡¯re fantastic! Could even ask my mom for help. Listen. You¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    I really hoped her husband would let her keep working after the kid. It was a sad reality that babies and kids needed an insane amount of work, and the mom had to do most of it ¨C they were up feeding the kid in the first place, it was ¡°only natural¡± that they do a bit more than that, and poof! Suddenly, they had no time to keep working a job.


    Hence, quite a large number of people being reluctant to take girls on as apprentices. If they were just going to get married, have a kid, and stop working, ¡°what was the point¡±, was their logic.


    I hated the logic.


    I also couldn¡¯t deny that having a kid would completely and totally derail my work as Sentinel Dawn, which had sadly kept my attempts at relationships fairly platonic.


    I did drag my lunch out just a hair to spend more time with Albina, paid her for the month, tipped her generously, then she was off, back home. I went back to HQ, grabbed my gear ¨C I was still in the fancy outfit Albina had gotten me in ¨C and headed back home.


    Totally mis-planned the day. Should¡¯ve just gone out in a tunic. Now I was hauling my gear around in a bag back home, instead of just tucking a spare tunic in my quarters.


    I mean, sure, I could put my gear in my quarters, but I liked having it near me. It was comforting, almost. It helped me sleep better at night.


    Whatever. It wasn¡¯t like I was on any schedule but my own, once my morning meeting and classes were handled.


    It was hilarious how when I went out in the morning, crowds parted before me, and I could get from A to B at basically max speed. In a tunic, without my gear on?


    A leaf in the wind, and by wind I mean crowds of people bustling and jostling around. I almost missed the days of being allowed in the grey zone, the part of the road where people with insignificant stats were allowed, mostly so they didn¡¯t get crushed by mistake.


    Such was life in the city. Fortunately, we were in the rich, wealthy, read: uncrowded part of town, and I got back home without a problem.


    ¡°Themis! You around kiddo?¡± I called out as I wandered through the villa I called home.


    No answer. Must still be at guard training. Oh well, not like I wanted him for anything special.


    I dropped my gear off, carefully re-arranging it back on the armor stand, wiping off a small amount of dust that I¡¯d gathered throughout the day.


    I was tempted to stay in all day. I¡¯d gotten a few scrolls from the library, the only reason they¡¯d let them leave the building was I was a Sentinel, but no. I was called.


    Not out of duty, but out of my own sense of obligation.


    I was so tempted to just read a little¡­ but I knew the moment I started reading ¡°a little¡± the next thing I knew I¡¯d be hearing a call to dinner, and I¡¯d have lost the entire afternoon to reading.


    I would know. I¡¯d done it more than once. I wasn¡¯t going to have a repeat performance today.


    I made my way down to the marketplace, amused by the crowds. I could just fly over there, but I was wearing the wrong tunic for it. Plus it was nice to walk sometimes. No more crowds parting! I was practically invisible without my gear, without my badge pinned to my chest. I¡¯d put it in my real pouch, inside my tunic, while leaving my ¡°steal this¡± pouch on the outside.


    Also known as my ¡°annoy Acquisition¡± pouch.


    I slowly made my way through the bustling crowds, eventually making my way to the marketplace where I had my stall.


    My daily mango was placed on my stall, untouched even though it was unwatched.


    Well, unwatched by me. I already had a bit of a line waiting. The appeal of free medical attention was too much for most people to pass up. And between Autumn, Neptune ¨C my mango hook-up ¨C and the line, well, there were too many eyes on the ¡°unattended¡± mangos for street urchins to steal.


    It didn¡¯t stop them from occasionally nabbing it and running. Nobody was super inclined to chase after them, and gratitude only lasted so long. A kid starving on the street didn¡¯t care that I¡¯d patched them up two weeks ago if they were going to starve today.


    It kinda stung, but I wasn¡¯t going to start cracking down on it. I just used it as my daily barometer, a type of omen. Mango present? Good day. No mango? Bad day.


    ¡°Elaine! Elaine! You¡¯re here! Yes!¡± Autumn said, jumping down from her seat at the stall next to mine and running over to me.


    The beanpole was getting even taller than me. I knew I was short, but it still rankled.


    ¡°Autumn! You ready?¡± I asked her, grabbing one of the mangos, and carefully peeling and slicing it with Radiance.


    Made the inside a little overcooked at times, but it was worth practicing my control every day. Especially since I¡¯d lost [Radiance Manipulation] for [Shine].


    Didn¡¯t really miss the skill. The only thing I really noticed was I couldn¡¯t curve [Nova] balls anymore. Radiance was weird that way.


    She nodded furiously.


    ¡°Alrighty! Let¡¯s go!¡± I said, before settling in to see the first patient of the day.


    The man showed us his arm, with more bends in it than normal.


    ¡°Alright Autumn, what¡¯s the problem here?¡± I asked her. There was some fancy rule about ¡°not talking with mango in your mouth¡±, but I was the VIP here. Nobody was going to tell me off.


    Except Autumn. Maybe. The only respect I got from her was in my ability to teach her how to make mountains of money.


    ¡°Broken arm.¡± She promptly said, stating the obvious.


    The man being healed blessedly kept his mouth shut. Nobody was a stranger to apprentices, and ¡°Free healing¡± tended to smooth over a lot of speed bumps.


    ¡°Can you fix it?¡± I asked her.


    She hesitated.


    ¡°Maybe. I¡¯d try to realign the bones, then use [Boost Natural Healing] on it. That should hopefully fix the problem.¡± She hedged.


    ¡°Hopefully?¡± I said, prodding her. Gotta give my apprentice a hard time. It was how she learned.


    It was one of the greatest joys in my life so far when she¡¯d taken ¨C with Neptune¡¯s blessing ¨C a Light healer class as her second class when she hit level 64. Literally brought tears of joy to my eyes.


    ¡°Rule 4 of medicine. Medicine is an art, not something that can be weighed and measured.¡± She recited.


    She¡¯d made up the rules herself. I was so proud.


    ¡°So can you?¡± I asked her.


    I could see the struggle on her face.


    ¡°No.¡± She finally admitted.


    ¡°Good call.¡± I said, leaning over and tapping the dude, hitting him with both [Vastness of the Stars] then [Phases of the Moon]. With a sickening crunch his arm realigned.


    Autumn held out her hand, staring at the dude with huge, accusing eyes.


    ¡°I thought it was free.¡± He grumbled, handing over quite a few coins.


    ¡°It is! Thanks for your donation!¡± Autumn said, whisking away the coins so fast her hand almost blurred, even with my improved vitality. I swear she had a skill for that. [Mine, Mine, they¡¯re all Mine!] or something.


    The line continued to shuffle through, Autumn carefully taking and examining each patient one at a time, while I oversaw her work, and healed behind her, making sure whatever the problem was got fully fixed.


    She only had Light healing, which meant she was stuck with boosting and restoring, and [Restoration] variants were high-level skills which she didn¡¯t have yet. The path of being a Light healer was rough at the early levels, which is why most healers didn¡¯t go down that route.


    Which was part of why healers that did manage to not only make it through the early levels, but were lucky enough to get a [Restoration] skill, made so much money. There was no price that could be put on getting a hand back, on regrowing a leg.


    Didn¡¯t stop Autumn from trying. She was going to end up very, very wealthy.


    Well, her family was.


    The line kept going, and the scourge of my existence showed up.


    Stalkers.


    They made me somewhat nervous. Sure, I could blast them to pieces if they threatened me or Autumn, but they didn¡¯t. They just showed up, whispered to each other, and stared.


    The guard occasionally cleared them out ¨C being a VIP had perks ¨C but they always came back.


    Staring at me.


    Creepy as fuck.


    Being a VIP had downsides to boot.


    A very large coin purse got placed on my stall.


    ¡°Heya! Want to go on a date?¡± The dude asked, as Autumn whisked it away.


    ¡°No, thank you.¡± I said after a moment.


    The dude¡¯s face fell, as Autumn rubbed her hands in glee. The sign had been her idea, and while I wasn¡¯t a fan, it did cut down on unwanted proposals significantly.


    Ask Dawn on a date! 800 coins! No refunds. She¡¯ll probably turn you down.


    I¡¯d insisted on the last part.


    Fortunately, he took it with good grace. I¡¯d occasionally given a date a shot, but they¡¯d all been horrible busts so far. A few people got mad due to absolutely terrible reading comprehension, and seemed to think paying to ask was the same as me agreeing.


    Autumn was all fire, and took no prisoners.


    Like. I hated the sign with a burning, fiery passion, but it was the single best way to get people to bugger off and leave me alone. A ¡°No dates¡± sign was simply taken as a challenge, and nothing at all was also seen as an open invite.


    Next in line was a sort of ¡°non-emergency ambulance¡±. An enterprising set of teenagers had realized that there was a market for picking up someone really old or sick, and carting them over to me. They charged a bit, and we¡¯d had a long talk together, making sure they didn¡¯t lie to people, and charge them the full price of a healer, then claim ¡°oh you paid us already, that¡¯s the same as paying the healer.¡±


    Didn¡¯t stop the occasional patient with dementia from causing problems, but all in all, it was a solid service they provided. I didn¡¯t have the time and energy to hunt for sick parents holed up in their home ¨C they did. They also provided the transportation, originally on a makeshift gurney, which they¡¯d upgraded.


    I didn¡¯t know what it was like for them when I didn¡¯t show up, but Autumn had laughed herself sick when she tried to tell me what it was like.


    I never did get the full story out of her.


    The day passed, and we made surprisingly good money for being ¡°free healing¡±. Autumn was practically rubbing her hands in glee. Money, training, experience, and levels? Money-grubber paradise.


    I glanced at the sun, and saw it was getting a bit lower than I¡¯d like.


    ¡°Right. I want to close up.¡± I told Autumn.


    ¡°Awww, you sure?¡± She asked me, giving me the trademark puppy eyes.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I firmly told her. ¡°Everyone, start moving!¡± I called out.


    The massively decimated line started moving, and I held my hand out in a ¡°side-five¡± gesture. As everyone passed, they gave me five, I blasted healing through them, and they moved on.


    Downside to being at the back of the line ¨C a much longer wait.


    Upside ¨C no Autumn harassing you for coins.


    It was only about eight people left in line, and we were done in under a minute.


    ¡°Right, now what?¡± I asked Autumn.


    She rolled her eyes at me.


    ¡°Already stashed the coins ages ago, dunno why you¡¯re asking me.¡± She said.


    I had a deal with Neptune, where basically he held onto my coins, and got most of them deposited in the right place for me. He took a small cut, and I trusted him not to skim more off the top.


    Not when I was his kid¡¯s lucky break.


    I stretched and made my way through the crowds, to a nice home. I knocked on the door and let myself in.


    ¡°Kallisto! Cordelia!¡± I called out. ¡°I¡¯m here!¡±


    ¡°Elaine! Welcome!¡± Cordelia said, juggling Flora. ¡°Come, sit! Kallisto just got back, he¡¯ll be ready in a minute.¡±


    Shame I couldn¡¯t give Cordelia a hug, not while she was holding Flora.


    I sat down at the dinner table, with a pair of slaves bustling around, getting the last touches ready as Cordelia directed them.


    I¡¯d gotten mom and dad to not use any slaves, instead hiring a freeman. The ethics argument didn¡¯t sway them that much, but me paying for it did. Cordelia had no such compunctions, and I¡¯d run the argument into the ground ages ago. I stopped bringing it up, to keep the peace. We both knew where we stood on this.


    Didn¡¯t stop me from trying to convince Kallisto when we were out on missions together though.


    ¡°Kallisto!¡± I happily called out to him, waving.


    ¡°Elaine! Glad you could make it!¡±


    Dinner with Kallisto and his family. A wonderful time of day.


    ¡°Anything new?¡± I asked him.


    I got a discreet look from him, a quick flash of Ranger hand code which said something along the lines of ¡°yes, ugly.¡±


    ¡°Nope! Same old, same old. Guard likes being able to handle most things. I swear sometimes they just send us on busy work so we¡¯re not constantly in their hair, reminding them of just how much better we are.¡± He said.


    His hand code had sent an entirely different message. He¡¯d been on something so nasty and ugly, he didn¡¯t want to mention it in front of his wife and kid. It was his call, and frankly, having occasionally gone on one of his missions as back up ¨C yeah. I got it. Didn¡¯t approve, but I got it.


    ¡°Guard good!¡± Flora said, throwing some food.


    I¡¯d never thought I¡¯d be using [Veil] to defend against this type of attack.


    All too soon, dinner ended, and I was heading out of town, to Artemis¡¯s School of Sorcery and Spellcraft. It was out of town, but the capital was so darn safe.


    Also, it was guarded by Artemis, who rivaled some Sentinels in combat prowess, and had absolutely no problems applying lethal force, much to some ex-burglar¡¯s, well¡­


    ¡­Can¡¯t exactly experience chagrin if you¡¯re dead.


    ¡°Artemis! Julius! How¡¯s it going?¡± I asked them, making it to the school. A few of the healers I was about to lecture to were hanging around.


    ¡°Good! How¡¯s your day been?¡± Artemis asked.


    ¡°Same old, same old. Nothing new or exciting.¡± I said. ¡°Oh! Autumn got another level today!¡±


    Artemis grinned at me. She knew the joys of teaching well.


    ¡°I look forward to when she joins as a student.¡±


    Julius snorted.


    ¡°Like the little merchant would ever pay for something she can get for free.¡±


    Artemis casually swatted at him, which Julius leaned to avoid without looking.


    No ¨C he¡¯d been leaning even before Artemis started moving.


    If I didn¡¯t know better, I¡¯d swear they acted like an old married couple.


    ¡°Here to give your recruiting pitch?¡± I asked Julius.


    ¡°Yes. We need more healers.¡± He turned to Artemis.


    ¡°I was lucky enough to get Dawn casting the tie-breaking vote. We can pay any Ranger-Healers more!¡± Julius said.


    I grinned. I¡¯d been particularly happy to be in that meeting. One of the earlier ones.


    I didn¡¯t mention to him that the Sentinels had a long discussion on it ourselves, and we¡¯d also voted on the measure, privately, which had determined how we would vote.


    Hey. We were allowed our secrets.


    ¡°Anyways, they¡¯re waiting for you.¡± Artemis said.


    I happily went into one of the lecture halls, where a good number of healers ¨C mostly apprentices ¨C were waiting for me. I lectured once a week, and it was good for everyone. Artemis¡¯s school was exploding in popularity, and everyone in the room was leveling.


    Incredibly tiring to work on and prepare a lecture though, but I was doing good. I was making the world a better place, and all it took was hours of my time.


    I mean, I had to prep the Ranger¡¯s lecture to boot, but that was literally my job, and I was determined to do it well, unlike Sky who just winged it.


    I probably should be paying attention to Autumn¡¯s rule 1 ¨C always get paid ¨C but while I had energy, I was going to keep the lectures up. I was feeling burnout start to creep up now and then, but¡­


    Ok, fine. I¡¯m not sure how much longer I¡¯d be able to keep these up, not without help. I needed to talk with Night, and possibly Command about it. If I started charging, dozens of people would vanish.


    ¡°Welcome! Thank you everyone.¡± I said, looking at the crowd.


    ¡°Today, I¡¯m going to talk about the immune system, how it works, what it does, and how skills can influence it ¨C for better or worse.¡±


    I started my lecture, talking about the basics, white blood cells, their role in fighting off disease. How most weren¡¯t even noticed.


    How Light could bolster and strengthen the system.


    How Dark could purge disease.


    How the immune system didn¡¯t learn anything when a direct purge was done, making the person vulnerable to re-infection.


    Well, more vulnerable. There was nuance, especially since the immune system would¡¯ve gotten a look, and had at least some immunity, and could potentially build off of that, and¡­


    ¡°Remember. Medicine is complicated. It¡¯s an art.¡± I said, as a bell in the back of the room lightly chimed.


    [*Ding!* [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] leveled up! 234 -> 235]


    One of the apprentices had gone up and hit it, indicating he¡¯d leveled up. A particularly brilliant suggestion from Artemis, it went off two, three times a lecture. People rarely got more than three levels from listening to me lifetime, even if the material was wildly varied, but as word spread that one could literally level up just by listening to me talk, well.


    I had a nice revolving door of low and mid level healers coming by to listen.


    I was making a difference.


    Maybe I should travel more?


    The lecture wrapped up, and Artemis, Julius, Artemis¡¯s helper, Julius¡¯s bodyguard ¨C Commanders were expected to have bodyguards, unlike Sentinels, who had to look invincible ¨C all settled in for a lovely nightcap.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯m going to get at least five applicants for Ranger Academy.¡± Julius said, sipping at his mug.


    ¡°Oh? That many talked with you?¡± Artemis asked.


    ¡°A heck of a lot more than that talked with me.¡± Julius responded. ¡°But I only think a small number will actually join.¡±


    I smiled, and we clinked mugs.


    ¡°No poaching my students!¡± Artemis fiercely told Julius. ¡°They¡¯re mine!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d never poach them.¡± Julius said with a straight face.


    And he wouldn¡¯t. He¡¯d just dangle the potential of being like Artemis in front of their face, and they¡¯d sign up in droves. Most students of hers seemed to think ¡°going to Ranger Academy¡± the natural, logical next step once they¡¯d learned a ton of magic from her. Passing the entrance exam was being seen as the ¡°graduation test¡± from the school, no matter how hard Artemis tried to disabuse them of the notion.


    Ah well.


    Her problem.


    Life, for me?


    It was good.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 19]


    [Mana: 58840/58840]


    [Mana Regen: 49245 (+23244.375)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 407]


    [Strength: 271]


    [Dexterity: 199]


    [Vitality: 770]


    [Speed: 770]


    [Mana: 5884]


    [Mana Regeneration: 5635 (+2324.4375)]


    [Magic Power: 5121 (+60171.75)]


    [Magic Control: 5121 (+60171.75)]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 256]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 256]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 215]


    [Medicine: 240]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 256]


    [Phases of the Moon: 256]


    [Moonlight: 256]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 245]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 147]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 215]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 215]


    [Radiance Resistance: 215]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 215]


    [Shine: 104]


    [Sun-Kissed: 165]


    [Blaze: 215]


    [Talaria: 215]


    [Nova: 215]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 151]


    [Pristine Memories: 200]


    [Pretty: 152]


    [Bullet Time: 230]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 235]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 240]


    [Persistent Casting: 111]


    [Learning: 256]

 Chapter 149 – Massage

    The lecture wrapped up fairly late at night. Fortunately for everyone involved, it wasn¡¯t short like the Ranger Academy one, where I needed to dump as much info as I could in as short a period as possible. I had time to properly explain everything, and explain how everything intersected, how magic applied to it ¨C mostly.


    I was still mostly clueless on what Wood stuff could do, besides ¡°make potions¡±. As to what they could make? My best guess was walking into a store and seeing what was for sale.


    I wasn¡¯t nearly good enough to present lectures on the stuff, although I¡¯d been chatting with one particularly high-level dude, trying to convince him to start his own lecture series in tandem with mine.


    All I could offer him was advertising, and ¡°why would I give away all my secrets for maybe a few sales from people who don¡¯t need my stuff¡± was his current logic.


    I think I might be getting to him though!


    ¡°Hey! We¡¯re leaving!¡± Julius announced to the healers, who¡¯d taken the time post-lecture to mingle somewhat while Artemis, Julius, and I spent time chatting.


    That quickly killed the socializing, and Julius and I had a crowd following us as we made our way back to the gates.


    By sheer virtue of our positions, the guards would open the gates for Sentinel Dawn and Commander Julius ¨C and basically nobody else. They¡¯d begged, pleaded, and tried to bribe me to host my teaching sessions inside the city walls, but I was unmovable. Helping Artemis, boosting her school, was more important to me than inconveniencing some guards ¨C as much as I liked guards.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn. Commander Julius.¡± The captain said, saluting us as we entered, and as all the other healers started to stream down the streets, to where they lived.


    ¡°Heya Cicero! How¡¯s it going?¡± I asked him, waving happily.


    I got a pained look.


    ¡°It¡¯d be much better if you didn¡¯t teach so late at night. Please. The bribe¡¯s at 7000 coins now.¡± He pleaded.


    I laughed.


    ¡°Wellll¡­ I could say yes¡­ but then you¡¯d still need to bribe Commander Julius. He¡¯d keep going out to flirt with Artemis.¡± I said, shamelessly deflecting the blame onto him, letting him take some of the heat.


    ¡°Wait ¨C Artemis told you? That was supposed to be a secret!¡± Julius complained.


    ¡°Sh- YOU WHAT!?¡± I said, turning to Julius and looking at him open-mouthed. ¡°you- Artemis ¨C What!? When!?¡±


    I wasn¡¯t exactly coherent.


    Julius had color in his cheeks.


    ¡°Oh, she hadn¡¯t told you. Um. Can we pretend you heard nothing?¡±


    I shook my head at him as the guards wisely vanished. When powerhouses argued in the street, the guards were there to arrest them.


    When powerhouses who outranked them a hundred times over argued in the streets, the guards vanished.


    ¡°Oh no, you gotta tell me everything.¡± I said, walking towards him.


    Julius was, fundamentally, a speedster. In spite of us being similarly leveled, his class was a higher tier quality-wise than mine, and, well, speedster vs mage was tilted towards the speedster.


    Especially when they decided to run away.


    Humph. I was going to ask Artemis really nicely about this tomorrow. Artemis had no trouble zapping me if I was sassy ¨C I¡¯m pretty sure she went extra-hard, knowing how unkillable I was.


    Kinda made sense, thinking about it. Julius had been hanging around Artemis¡¯s school constantly for¡­ oh shit. Quite a long time now.


    He¡¯d been spending way more time than what could be explained by just wanting to pop in to see an old friend or see how the school was going. No wonder he was always there when I popped by.


    I felt a grin crack my face as I wandered through the streets, back home. I did a little hop, skip, and a jump, clapping my hands together. Ooooh, I was going to have so much fun with this!


    The city had a fairly active nightlife. A different set of vendors took over, selling more late-night snacks. Jugglers, bards, and other entertainers took to the streets, strutting their stuff as crowds of colorfully dressed people walked around, occasionally stopping to watch amazing displays of athletics and skills.


    It was amazing what people could do with skills.


    I turned [Shine] off while I walked through town. The tiny chance that someone was sneaking up on me invisible, vs ruining a third of the acts I came across ¨C well. One was a lot more dangerous than the other, and angry jugglers could really pack a wallop.


    There were a number of prostitutes out and about, and I got a few good eyefuls until I saw one that brought me up short.


    She was wearing a very short leather skirt, a sort of silvery shirt, with a great big sun on it. Kinda, almost, if you squinted really hard, looked a bit like armor that the army used.


    That Rangers used.


    That Sentinels used.


    ¡°Come have a lovely night with Sunrise!¡± She called out. ¡°Stay until the sun rises!¡±


    Yeah, what? Tonight was great for short-circuiting my brain.


    Was that supposed to be me!?


    Holy.


    Shit.


    I hadn¡¯t quite realized I was so famous that prostitutes were dressing up as me. On one hand, it was kinda gross. On the other, much larger hand ¨C I was weirdly flattered.


    I had to know more.


    ¡°Hi!¡± I said, waving to her, walking over.


    ¡°Hello.¡± She said, with a sultry voice. ¡°Want to have some fun until dawn?¡±


    Yup. That was not an accident.


    I took out my badge.


    ¡°Hi. I¡¯m Sentinel Dawn. I¡¯ve got a few questions¡­¡± I said.


    She went from pale to white, and sat down fast, burying her head in her hands, mumbling something.


    ¡°Sorry, what?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°I¡¯m so dead.¡± She said a little louder.


    Oh shit. I made her cry. I didn¡¯t mean to.


    I sat down next to her, slightly awkwardly patting her back.


    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s ok. I just want to talk. Is there somewhere a little better¡­?¡± I asked her, looking around at the street we were on. Kinda awkward place to have a chat.


    Sniffing into her shirt, with a defeated look on her face, she nodded and got up. I got up as well, feeling awful.


    We entered what was probably a brothel, and after I got inside ¨C


    Yup. Definitely a brothel.


    We got stopped halfway across the first main room, which was large, full of people, and roughly one tunic for every three people.


    ¡°Hey Sunrise, is everything ok? She¡¯s not bothering you is she?¡± A large man asked, putting a hand between me and her. I let him.


    Sunrise nodded, and yeah. I mean, she was clearly crying, I would see what was wrong. I figured I¡¯d step in.


    ¡°Heya! I¡¯m Dawn. I saw Sunrise here, had a few questions for her, made her really upset, and now I want to make sure she¡¯s ok.¡±


    The bouncer crossed his arms.


    ¡°She¡¯s ok. Now scram.¡±


    Sunrise tugged on his arm.


    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s ok. She¡¯s Dawn.¡± She said.


    ¡°Yes, and you¡¯re Sunrise. Who cares?¡± The bouncer said.


    ¡°No. She¡¯s Dawn.¡± Sunrise said.


    The penny dropped for the bouncer. It never got old. The situation was serious, but I couldn¡¯t help but have a huge grin crack my face.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn, nice to meet you.¡± I said, extending my hand.


    The bouncer gave me a terrible salute instead, like someone who¡¯d watched a dozen guards in plays, but was never a soldier himself.


    ¡°I apologize. But¡­ I have to know. Is she going to be ok?¡± He asked.


    I liked this brothel! They looked after their own. Half the stories I¡¯d heard would have them throwing Sunrise out before the night was over.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s the hope! That¡¯s why I want to chat. She broke down crying when I introduced myself, and, well, I feel kinda responsible.¡±


    The bouncer nodded, and we found ourselves in a back room.


    ¡°You¡¯re not mad?¡± She said through some sniffles.


    ¡°Well, only if someone¡¯s making you do it.¡± I said.


    She mutely shook her head.


    ¡°What¡¯s your story anyways?¡± I asked, figuring to change the topic somewhat. People liked talking about themselves, right?


    Slowly, hesitantly, she started telling me her backstory. It was pretty straightforward. Orphaned at an early age, was a [Thief], grew up, got older, and turned to the oldest profession to make ends meet.


    There was an awkward gap in the middle that I interpreted as ¡°became a slave, ran away, and am still technically a runaway slave¡±, but I didn¡¯t ask more.


    ¡°And then I heard more and more about a Sentinel Dawn who was a woman, and I got this idea. It worked so well!¡±


    ¡°Well, then go for it, but be a little more discreet.¡± I said. ¡°I know how hard it is for you. Scratch that, I don¡¯t. I know how hard it was for me, and I know you¡¯ve gotta have it harder than me. I¡¯m not going to begrudge you making a living however you can, as long as nobody¡¯s forcing you to do this. It¡¯s more than a little creepy that people are paying that well to pretend to have sex with me, I¡¯m not going to lie. But they¡¯re the creepy ones, not you. You¡¯re cool.¡± I said, patting her.


    ¡°For real?¡± She asked me.


    ¡°Yeah. For real.¡± I said, almost getting strangled by her hug.


    ¡°Thank you thank you THANK YOU!¡± She said, and I realized she had to be around my age.


    I had a sudden vision of our roles being reversed, if dad¡¯s eye injury had been worse when I was a kid. How close had I been to this?


    ¡°What can I do for you? Anything? I can probably talk Marcellus into giving you a session if you¡¯d like ¨C he¡¯s stupid high level. Or, um, ¡° She said, thinking fast, then listing off a bunch of options.


    I laughed.


    ¡°No, no, I¡¯m good. Although, I do have a free clinic if anyone needs help. I know some diseases can cause serious problems.¡±


    Sunrise nodded at me. I¡¯d gotten her real name, but Sunrise just fit.


    ¡°Please? Are you sure? I can¡¯t even give you a massage or anything?¡± She asked.


    She really, really wanted to say thanks somehow, and it had been a long day.


    ¡°Yeah, sure, a quick massage, why not.¡± I said.


    ¡°EEee! Yes! Ok, lie down real quick, on your stomach.¡± She said, and I complied.


    Her hands tentatively, gently, reached my shoulder, and oh goddesses. There had to be skills involved, and fairly high level ones to boot.


    I let out a pleased noise, and Sunrise leaned in, finding her confidence, which made it even better.


    I was wobbly-legged on my way back home. That was amazing. Fabulous. I could see why some people spent all their money at a brothel, and Sunrise hadn¡¯t even been super high level!


    I was totally going back. Would probably get the VIP treatment, especially after I¡¯d given everyone free healing.


    Well, everyone who¡¯d been available. Hopefully word of my healing stall in the marketplace would spread to boot! Some of the girls had been really sick.


    They were better now, and it warmed my heart.


    I got home in no time at all.


    ¡°Heya dad! Good day?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Ugh. Same old, same old. I was with Senator Kosmimatus today. Some farmers want there to be a tax on bamboo.¡± He rolled his eyes at that.


    ¡°An entire day. Bamboo taxation. The worst.¡±


    Master spy stuff was generally extremely boring.


    ¡°Why did they want a tax on bamboo?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Honestly? Because they sell wool, and they¡¯d sell more with a bamboo tax. That¡¯s it. That¡¯s the entire story.¡±


    Sometimes government got it right. Other times, they wildly missed the mark.


    ¡°Welp, sounds like you had fun.¡± I told him.


    ¡°Fun? Fun!? I had to stand there all day! My biggest challenge was not yawning.¡±


    I laughed at his, as I waved, heading to bed.


    ¡°Goodnight dad. You know what I¡¯m going to say.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah. Don¡¯t go near your rooms when you¡¯re sleeping. I got it.¡± Dad said.


    I took a quick dip in my bath ¨C the villa was big enough to have more than one, and I¡¯d claimed one as my own, personal bath ¨C before going to sleep.


    Daytime was great. Friends. Family. A great job, freedom to do what I saw fit, a calling. People liking me. Preferential treatment. The ability to pursue my hobbies.


    Nighttime ¨C less so. That¡¯s when the dreams came.


    I¡¯d almost ended up addicted to sleeping potions at one point. I¡¯d cut them out entirely, and sworn to never touch one again.


    I got into a fresh, simple tunic, and laid down in bed. A whole bed, all to myself.


    Come on.


    Gotta sleep.


    Maybe tonight will be fine.


    I let my eyelids get heavy and close.


    I opened them to a sea of blood, all caused by me.


    ¡°Murderer.¡± Iola, the bandit leader whispered to me. ¡°You killed me. Just too cowardly to do it yourself.¡±


    I tried to shoot her, burn her alive. I had no magic, no skills. I just waded against the tides of blood, trying to escape from her.


    Tides of blood, that I¡¯d spilt personally.


    ¡°Murderer.¡± The pirate captain spat at me. ¡°You weighed your freedom against twenty lives, and decided they had to die. Probably killed the merchant and his family as well, after ruining their livelihood. How is that a fair trade? How is that an ethical trade?¡±


    I tried to run from him, only to encounter members from the rebellion.


    Survivors of Destruction¡¯s skills, who I¡¯d healed.


    ¡°Bitch. You healed them, just to divide us. You¡¯re responsible for the in-fighting. You killed all the survivors, as surely as if you¡¯d wielded the knife yourself.¡±


    Lyra.


    Oh goddesses no, not Lyra, not tonight. Please.


    Anything but Lyra.


    ¡°You.¡± She said, forever eight in my dreams, forever staring at me with pained eyes. ¡°You ¨C¡°


    It was blessed relief when the door to my room exploded inwards, a huge man bursting in. I was awoken, adrenaline flooding my system, fight-or-flight kicking in.


    I blasted the man with a thin beam of Radiance, designed to kill ¨C or at least burn his eyes, so he couldn¡¯t see, while unleashing a [Nova] right at him.


    ¡°Da- WHOA CHILL¡± He yelled, taking the [Nova] head-on.


    ¡°wha- Brawling!?¡± I yelled, confused, still waking up.


    ¡°Holy shit, are you ok!?¡± I asked, crashing as I realized I wasn¡¯t in fight or flight.


    Oh fuck [Oath] don¡¯t punish me for this, I genuinely thought I was under attack.


    No punishment. Bless the reasonable aspect of it. That was close.


    Sadly, a good chunk of my room hadn¡¯t survived my [Nova]. I winced. I¡¯d need a new wardrobe.


    I snapped back to Brawling. He waved his hand.


    ¡°Just a little warm, I¡¯m fine. Anyways. Emergency. Gear up.¡±


    Oh fuck this must be one hell of an emergency. Nothing ¨C nothing ¨C couldn¡¯t wait until the morning meeting.


    Until this, clearly.


    I looked at him. He looked back.


    ¡°Come on! Move!¡± He tapped his foot, looking at me.


    I finished waking up, and one and one clicked.


    Holy shit we were in a bad emergency, if Brawling was waiting in my room for me to gear up.


    Modesty forgotten, I jumped out of bed, stripped out of my tunic, and started to gear up.


    New tunic ¨C designed to be worn with my armor.


    Laminar vest. Sunstone and Moonstone woven throughout, internally, along with a ton of Arcanite. Inscriptions woven throughout, for toughness. Strength. Speed. Dexterity.


    A minor one to keep my badge on, no matter what happened.


    Sandals. [Talaria] required them.


    Shin guards. More inscriptions. More stones.


    Vambraces. They held my special, one-off gemstones. All the Sentinels traded skills with each other, giving us part of each other¡¯s kit.


    Helmet.


    No cape.


    Our ¡°serious¡± gear.


    I went around the room, making sure I had the last pieces of my kit. Short sword. Inscribed again, but nothing special, nothing out of the ordinary.


    I glanced at Brawling.


    ¡°Threat level?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Bring it all.¡± He said.


    I took down my tower shield off the wall. Grabbed the spear behind it.


    I hadn¡¯t used this shield since I became a Sentinel. Same with the spear.


    Small round shield got added.


    ¡°Got everything?¡± Brawling asked, having helpfully stamped out the small fire.


    ¡°Check me over.¡± I said.


    ¡°No time. We¡¯ll do it on the way.¡±


    Before I could object, he¡¯d picked me up and we were moving. Brawling was not only higher level than me, but had a higher tier class, and was all physical stats and buffs.


    I didn¡¯t like being carried like this, but it was the fastest transportation possible. I kept my mouth shut for expediency.


    In a flash, we were in front of Ranger HQ, where a number of guards were clearing the street in front of the building. Some people were curious and looking on, but being pushed back.


    ¡°Here we are ¨C whoa!¡± Brawling said, putting me down, then immediately picking me up and moving me.


    I hated being an almost literal stick that could be thrown around, but I could see the reasoning as the Pegasus, our rapid deployment sky ship, landed hard in the street.


    Mostly in pairs, the rest of the Sentinels showed up, usually one of the more physically minded transporting one of the slower, more magically based ones.


    Quartermaster was awake, and organized a few of the guards to start throwing bags into the Pegasus. A shattering noise accompanied one of the bags, and with a curse he just threw the bag off to the side.


    Holy.


    Our penny-pinching Quartermaster just throwing stuff around? Breaking tons of valuable stuff and not caring?


    We were in deep shit.


    I got onboard the Pegasus, finding a seat near the front, and staying out of the way. I started giving my gear a double check. I¡¯d put it on in a rush, and I wasn¡¯t going to die due to a loose strap.


    We finished getting ready, when Night showed up at last, with one of the people I least expected.


    Priest Demos.


    ¡°Excellent. We are all here.¡± Night said. ¡°Ocean. Acquisition. You two stay behind. The rest of you ¨C board. We leave now.¡±


    Ocean and Acquisition saluted.


    I didn¡¯t question him. We had seven large, glowing Arcanite crystals in the middle of the boat ¨C extra fuel for wherever we were going.


    We all boarded in short order. No double checking. Quartermaster desperately throwing as much stuff as he could in the boat.


    ¡°Ocean. You¡¯re in charge if we don¡¯t come back.¡± Night said.


    ¡°Sky. Max speed. Frontlines.¡± Night said, and in just a few moments, I felt myself becoming lighter as Sky reduced gravity¡¯s influence on all of us, then a large breeze came, filling the sails, lifting us up, up, and away, speeding us westward, one last pack from the Quartermaster falling short.


    ¡°I apologize for the short notice.¡± Night said, seeing that rushing wouldn¡¯t get us there any faster.


    ¡°The Formorians have breached the walls.¡±


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 19]


    [Mana: 58840/58840]


    [Mana Regen: 49245 (+23244.375)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 407]


    [Strength: 271]


    [Dexterity: 199]


    [Vitality: 770]


    [Speed: 770]


    [Mana: 5884]


    [Mana Regeneration: 5635 (+2324.4375)]


    [Magic Power: 5121 (+60171.75)]


    [Magic Control: 5121 (+60171.75)]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 256]+]


    [Celestial Affinity: 256]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 215]


    [Medicine: 240]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 256]


    [Phases of the Moon: 256]


    [Moonlight: 256]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 245]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 147]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 215]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 215]


    [Radiance Resistance: 215]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 215]


    [Shine: 104]


    [Sun-Kissed: 165]


    [Blaze: 215]


    [Talaria: 215]


    [Nova: 215]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 151]


    [Pristine Memories: 200]


    [Pretty: 152]


    [Bullet Time: 230]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 235]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 240]


    [Persistent Casting: 111]


    [Learning: 256]

 Chapter 150 – Formorians I

    There was dead silence at Night¡¯s pronouncement. He would say more, in time.


    I looked around. Magic. Destruction. Sealing. Sky. Night. Nature. Brawling. Demos. Myself.


    The peak of humanity, speeding along in a little boat, high in the sky, off to contain the breach.


    ¡°From the courier¡¯s report, both official and what he saw, this is it.¡± Night said. ¡°The Formorians have brought everything to this battle, which is how they breached the walls in the first place.¡±


    Destruction swore.


    ¡°Wait ¨C they got through all the walls?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Night nearly hissed at him.


    ¡°How the fuck did they do that?¡± Brawling asked.


    I was wondering that myself. Humanity was able to hold the line with soldiers on the ground, the wooden palisades behind them the first line of defense. A maze of smaller, wooden walls was behind that, where we were occasionally pushed back, but had extra defenses.


    Then there were three gigantic walls, layered, high and thick, made out of stone. The only times they ever went down is when humans did something monumentally stupid, and broke them. Or when the army decided to ¡°leap frog¡± a set of walls forward, claiming more ground against the Formorians.


    ¡°For the most part, we mostly just see what I shall call ¡®Formorian Soldiers¡¯ or simply ¡®Soldiers¡¯¡± Night said, getting into teacher mode. I was used to his lectures, having been on the receiving end for almost two years.


    ¡°There are a number of other types. I believe we do not see these types normally, because they are much more expensive for the Formorians to produce, and they are used for defensive purposes.¡± Night said. ¡°Only when we push deep, when we begin to threaten their nests, do they appear.¡±


    ¡°Nature, please let me know if you¡¯ve encountered a type I have not.¡± Night said. ¡°It has been quite a few years since I last attempted a dive, and new Formorians may have been created since then, or some rare breed may now exist.¡±


    Nature nodded.


    ¡°There are Shooters, Spitters, and what I shall call Royal Guards. Shooters are beetle-like, with a large number of sharpened, poisoned spikes on their back. They specialize in shooting down fliers, and are the primary reason we do not simply drop poison on top of the Formorian nests. Spitters, as the name suggest, spit streams of acid out of their mouth. They resemble large worms. They are used inside their nest, to ambush and attack invaders from all directions.¡±


    Night¡¯s muscles rippled as he suppressed a shudder.


    ¡°The last type I have directly seen and engaged in combat are the Royal Guards. They are ten meters tall, a bulbous body with massive mandibles and thick armor. None of my attacks could penetrate their armor and cause harm to them. By the same token, they do not handle small, nimble targets well. That was inside their lair, however, with dozens of other Formorians assisting, and outside, without additional distractions, well. They may be more manageable.¡±


    He paused a heartbeat. Wait, did he even have one¡­?


    ¡°I do not know why the Formorians saw fit to have such large guards. What they are supposed to defend against, I do not know. Nature. Are you aware of any other types?¡±


    Nature grimaced.


    ¡°Maybe. I had bursts of acid come out of the ground now and then. It sounds like the Spitters. Maybe. Doesn¡¯t sound like their method of operation.¡±


    Night nodded.


    ¡°Should we expect attacks from below?¡± Sealing asked.


    Night hesitated a moment.


    ¡°Possibly. Generally, the Earth mages present on the frontlines collapse any tunneling attempt. However, I believe they will be otherwise occupied.¡±


    That was one way of putting it.


    ¡°Hang on, hang on, how did they breach the walls!?¡± Sky asked.


    ¡°Reports say it was a number of Royal Guards. The exact details are unknown to me at this time, however, with their size and bulk, I can believe this to be the truth.¡±


    ¡°That matter is irrelevant. It has happened. The Formorians bringing their defensive units forward suggest that the Formorian Queens themselves have emerged, and are coming. This may be our single best chance to slay them.¡± Night said.


    ¡°Assuming there are no other Queens in reserve.¡± I pointed out. Night tilted his head in agreement.


    ¡°Assuming there are no other Queens that have stayed behind, correct.¡± Night said. ¡°However, even if there are some in reserve ¨C slaying this many, when they are out of their domain, when they have left their lair, should be enough to tilt the odds in our favor to the point where we may take the offensive.¡±


    I looked around at us.


    ¡°So, what¡¯s the plan?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I am hoping to discuss this with all of you at this time. I believe the objective is to slay the Queens. The breach, and the containment of Formorians who have made it through the wall, is of secondary concern. Any objections?¡± Night asked.


    There were heads shaking around the open air sailboat, except for Priest Demos, who was frowning.


    ¡°I object.¡± He said.


    ¡°Noted. Reason?¡± Night asked.


    I blinked. Night was treating Demos as, well, not an equal, but the same as the rest of the Sentinels.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t your job to protect humanity? Shouldn¡¯t we be mending the wall, stopping the spread, and then handling the Queens?¡± He asked.


    ¡°I regret to inform you that Bulwark is away on a mission.¡± Night said. ¡°The location isn¡¯t conducive towards picking him up. We shall have to make do without for the time being, and what I propose to slay the Queens will likely destroy the walls anyways.¡± Night said.


    Ooooh shit. The walls. The massive, thick stone walls were going to be collateral damage!?


    ¡°With no further objections. The plan is simple. Destruction, begin channeling what you believe to be your best spell for the situation. Demos, pray for a miracle. The rest of us are to defend them while they prepare their skills. Once they have done that, we attempt to clean up.¡±


    Well, when Night put it like that, who was I to object? Just, you know, casually wait for Destruction to channel one of his stupid long channeled skills, pray for literal miracle to bail us out.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we just kill the Queens directly?¡± Brawling asked, some frustration in his voice.


    ¡°I do not believe we are strong enough.¡± Night said. ¡°I could not slay a Royal Guard, and while the Queens are unlikely to be combat-focused, I do believe they should be a higher level than the Royal Guards. Tougher. If we find, for whatever reason, that we are capable of slaying Royal Guards, we shall re-evaluate.¡±


    Brawling nodded.


    ¡°Sky. Once you have dropped us off, I expect you to retrieve Bulwark. He is currently in Buthrotum.¡±


    Sky saluted.


    ¡°Do we know how long Hunting¡¯s going to be?¡± Magic asked.


    ¡°I believe he shall be a day or two behind us. However, the larger issue at hand is him getting to us.¡±


    ¡°Wait, we¡¯re not going to be behind the army lines?¡± Magic asked.


    We all sorta gave him a Look. Seriously dude? Us, behind the army?


    ¡°No.¡± Night gave him a curt response. ¡°We will not. Destruction¡¯s magic rapidly loses potency the further from him it needs to be, and by having Destruction cast on top of himself, we reduce the amount of time needed to hold.¡±


    A memory of a small tornado ripping through a rebel camp flashed before my eyes.


    ¡°On TOP of us!?¡± I practically shrieked.


    Night gave me a flat look.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Welp, suicide missions. The price I pay for the good life.


    Then again, half our missions were suicide missions. I generally tended to show up after, but, well ¨C I¡¯d be lying if I said stuff tended to be safe.


    Destruction closed his eyes, and I recognized the meditative pose. He was gathering mana, gathering power together. He had a skill ¨C [Channel] or something ¨C that let him cast a skill over time, instead of instantly. Took longer, but he could pour a lot more power into the skill in the end, unleashing destruction on an apocalyptic scale.


    ¡°Initially landing will be the most dangerous portion of this.¡± Night said. ¡°Gods willing, we shall arrive at nighttime. Now. Does anyone else have long preparations to make? Dawn?¡±


    Ooof. I knew exactly what he was asking.


    ¡°I could class up now.¡± I said, thinking about it. ¡°Or¡­ I could change my [Persistent Casting] on [Phases of the Moon] to turn myself into a ¡®healing touch stone¡¯ so to speak. Touch me, get instantly healed.¡±


    ¡°That would work even when you¡¯re sleeping.¡± Magic said approvingly.


    I continued to think out loud.


    ¡°I just barely got to 256, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m sitting on a bunch of levels. It¡¯s my last class up. It should improve my skills. It¡¯s not like I need to mass heal, just heal a few people. Any levels I get while doing this provide stats which I can then use. This isn¡¯t the optimal class up. There¡¯s no use being optimal if I¡¯m dead. At the same time, my skill set will be entirely new, I won¡¯t have any time to practice with them. I don¡¯t know how long it¡¯ll take. Thoughts?¡±


    I didn¡¯t mention that I probably had access to a Blue class. Although, they probably wouldn¡¯t insist I take it, with it probably being a non-healing class.


    ¡°Don¡¯t class up.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Do.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t.¡±


    Right then. That seemed to make it clear. I wasn¡¯t going to class up.


    ¡°Hey all, I know we¡¯re about to start planning and all, and Dawn¡¯s going to be working on her thing while Destruction channels and Demos prays and all, but ¨C I need half the boat.¡± Nature said.


    Most of us shuffled over, giving him plenty of room. It was getting real cozy over here, but I wasn¡¯t going to ask why. We were all a strange bunch in the first place.


    ¡°Whyyyy?¡± Magic asked, petulantly.


    Night slowly turned his head and affixed Magic with a Look.


    ¡°Ok, ok, fine¡­¡± he said, shuffling over.


    ¡°Nah, it¡¯s a good question.¡± Nature said. ¡°I¡¯m going to prep a bunch of seeds to start growing, and I can get them started now. They¡¯ll explode with growth once we land. Much easier on me.¡±


    Magic also muttered about some prep work he wanted to do, and Night and Sealing started going through the packs, seeing what we had.


    My eyes went wide as I watched Sky walk forward, grab one of the large, now spent, Arcanite crystals in the middle of the boat, and just heave it overboard.


    ¡°Um.¡± I couldn¡¯t help myself, leaning over the edge to try and watch it fall into the darkness.


    Sky shrugged.


    ¡°This is do or die. What was I going to do, keep it the whole time? For what? We can always buy more one day.¡±


    I swallowed a nervous lump. He had a point. Time for me to do my part.


    I wrapped myself in [Veil], tying it off. With great reluctance, I undid my previous [Persistent Casting] of [Phases of the Moon], the great safety net which had kept me alive dozens of times falling away.


    I immediately started working on it again, this time making it so anyone touching me would be healed. Kinda dangerous in some ways ¨C I might try to heal a Formorian touching me.


    I might not. My current healing kit was pretty human-focused.


    My full review of healing, injuries, and medicine went quite a bit faster this time than last. Constantly teaching helped, and this not being the first time I did it made it easier. Before long, I was dropping [Veil], looking back around.


    The Pegasus was even more cramped. We were all still crammed in one half, with Nature taking up the other half. A thin layer of dirt covered the floor, with a bunch of tiny seedlings popping up, sun shining brightly on them.


    Sealing handed me some wrapped food ¨C field rations, blah ¨C and a water skin, which I greedily downed.


    ¡°How long?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Two days.¡± He replied.


    Welp. That was better than the three days the last time I did this.


    ¡°Do not forget to allocate any free stats any of you may have.¡± Night casually said from deep inside a thick covering, and I felt like the comment was directed at me. Given the scale of where we were going, given that this was going to be a marathon fight against not particularly bright enemies, given my role was to be a healer ¨C Mana Regeneration it was, all 407 free points I¡¯d been sitting on.


    I was also handed a heavy pack.


    ¡°Arcanite and field rations.¡± Sealing told me. ¡°We split everything up equally. If we¡¯re separated, you should have everything you need.¡±


    ¡°Thanks!¡± I said, meaning it.


    He patted my arm. I noticed my mana dropping a hair, then recovering.


    ¡°Thank you. Without a healer¡­¡± He trailed off, not finishing the sentence.


    Yeah. Without a healer, we wouldn¡¯t last three days against the Formorians, let alone three weeks. Or however long Destruction needed.


    ¡°Any timeline on that miracle?¡± I asked him, seeing Demos awkwardly kinda-kneeling in prayer. We were all real cozy with each other, and there wasn¡¯t the room for full proper kneeling-in-prayer-ness.


    ¡°These things take time, and are fickle.¡± Night grumped from underneath his layers. ¡°The gods ¨C or god, in this case ¨C may choose to answer now. He may never choose to answer, and bringing Priest Demos turns into an exercise in futility. Still. I do not believe this god will choose not to respond to our prayer, not in our dire hour of need. Enough on that. We have determined our initial plans, which while we shall need to heavily modify as the course of battle demands, is a starting point.¡±


    Also known as ¡°no plan survives contact with the enemy¡±. Usually, we were trained to be the one interrupting the plan though. Unpleasant for the shoe to be on the other foot.


    Night, Sealing, and Nature all detailed the plan to me, and I was able to provide some additional input, a few minor modifications, which were discussed, and added or rejected as needed. In the end, we had a round dozen plans, covering a number of likely contingencies.


    I didn¡¯t like plans E or F. Those plans assumed I was dead.


    All too soon, the sun was setting, as we approached the walls from up high.


    I looked down. How could I not?


    I couldn¡¯t see details, just masses of bodies, and the walls. The three gleaming walls had a single, huge gap punched right through them, in a single line. The black tide was pouring through, with the occasional brown spot slowly moving through and around ¨C what I had to assume were the Royal Guards, visible from such a distance.


    Not all was lost in the space between the exterior and middle wall though. While there was a massive breach going through all three of them, between the middle wall and the wall against the Formorian side had been the soldier¡¯s encampment. It was clear they had rallied, and on either side of the breach, were holding the line, stopping them from flooding inside.


    It was a terrible position, but it was better than the ¡°camp follower¡± side, which had no such soldiers to hold the position.


    There were no Formorians flooding in that portion of the wall.


    There was no point.


    Just a few straggling Formorians, dragging bodies away to be recycled.


    Well. Not really recycled when they started off human.


    And then the breach itself! A puncture wound, direct into the heart of human territory. A black stain, a plague, a blight spreading throughout.


    Or it would be, if it wasn¡¯t being contained by a thin red line, soldiers desperately rallying to hold the line here and now, one last thin veneer preventing utter devastation.


    Even as I watched, I saw a Royal Guard all the way on the Formorian side of the wall start to run, the brown blob starting to pick up incredible amounts of speed and momentum, run through the breaches in the wall, and simply run straight through the last defensive line, crushing hundreds of Formorians and dozens of soldiers.


    A squad was dispatched, and a number of still brown bodies suggested the army had figured out some method to deal with the Royal Guards, but the damage was done. Formorians flooded through the gap, and the thin red line became impossibly thinner as soldiers were shuffled around to accommodate the new, larger battlefield they now had to contend with.


    There were a few little spots of humanity on the walls, but only on the wall closest to humanity¡¯s side.


    And then, there were the Queens.


    It was obvious what they were.


    One hundred meters tall, vaguely crab-shaped, wider than they were tall, the Queens were wreathed in Mist, only the outline visible, distant on the horizon. We could only just barely see them, and that¡¯s because we were flying so high up. Tentacles that could only be called ¡°small¡± in relation to the main body were visible, wriggling through the Mist, constantly dipping down to the ground, then going back up.


    Eating bodies?


    Laying eggs?


    Who knew?


    What did it matter?


    We were totally fucked.

 Chapter 151 – Formorians II

    Sky kept us flying right over the battle lines, over the walls, and with slowly dawning horror I realized what ¡°the deeper in we get the better¡± meant.


    We were going to land right inside the horde. All the plans we had on hiding and shielding and holding ground suddenly made a lot more sense.


    Like.


    It was one thing to plan to be in the middle of the fighting. It was another to see us flying high over the endless horde, and realize the closest human would be thousands of Formorians away.


    Destruction opened his eyes, and slowly ¨C slower than a normal human, forget his massive System enhancements ¨C got up. Without saying a word, he slowly put his arms out, and Night put on his backpack.


    Destruction could move, and fight somewhat, while channeling his huge spell. Nothing impressive, but it wasn¡¯t like a level 160 combat Classer could get the drop on him in single combat while he was channeling. He wasn¡¯t going to pull an Artemis and rip through hordes, but he wasn¡¯t defenseless.


    However, defending himself had a price, namely, mana. Mana that could be used to fuel his spell instead. The more Destruction needed to defend himself, the longer this would take. He also went slower and slower the more he channeled, and at a point, moving would destroy the spell entirely. That¡¯s how it was explained to me.


    ¡°Higher. Sky, HIGHER.¡± Night yelled.


    Sky¡¯s eyes went as wide as mine, as we sharply tilted upwards. Night never yelled.


    Then we were over the endless army, flying fast. The moons were up, half-full, waxing larger, staring at our adventure, crimson light flooding the plains, watching the army.


    Watching us struggling against the ceaseless black tide.


    I jumped up and down experimentally, making sure my pack was fastened well to me, mentally checking that I could ¡°tap¡± into the spare Arcanite. Triple checking that my [Feather Fall] gem was well-charged.


    I was not looking forward to this next part. I knew why it was better for it to be during the evening ¨C Night ¨C but I¡¯d kill for some sunlight right now for [Talaria]. At least it was dusk, so I wasn¡¯t totally blind.


    I really regret giving up [Eyes of the Milky Way] right now. If only I had known, I¡¯d have given up [Vastness of the Stars] instead.


    I disabled all System notifications. I didn¡¯t need the distraction, no matter what it was. I might miss a skill, but it was better than a bad distraction at the wrong moment.


    ¡°Go!¡± Night yelled, and that was it.


    We were off.


    Brawling was the first to run off the back, giving a side-five to Sky as he jumped off.


    Nature¡¯s plants suddenly started growing, some of them forming a thorny armor over his gear, the rest ¡°nestling¡± inside the thick vines that were now covering him. He also ran off the back of the skyship.


    Then it was my turn, and with a yell, I ran off the back, hitting Sky¡¯s hand right before I jumped off.


    Sky was a powerful Gravity mage, among other things. Usually, I¡¯d seen him use his skills to make us lighter. Now, he was using another skill. Not make us heavier ¨C apparently, that did nothing ¨C but to make us fall faster.


    We were jumping off in order of tankiness, and that had me Concerned with a capital C that I was third in line. Magic was arguably tankier, but he needed to blow a gem every time he had to defend himself. Sealing was jumping with Destruction, to protect him, while Night was personally escorting Priest Demos.


    And then I was off the end with a scream, jumping from way too high up without a parachute, dropping fast, wind whipping around me. I briefly considered doing a skydiving pose, where I was spread-eagle, before remembering that defeated the point of trying to go faster.


    I twisted in mid-air, and made the snap call to go down head-first. I wanted to be able to see what was happening.


    What was happening, was that the horde had noticed us. Rather ¨C the shooters had, and I twisted my head as [Bullet Time] activated, dodging a nasty-looking spike that whizzed past my cheek, drawing a thin line of blood that was instantly healed.


    That seemed to almost be a ranging shot of sorts, and as I dove down, faster and faster, more and more shots headed my way.


    Dozens of spikes, fired up from the ground at me.


    I twisted and turned, dodging some of them, but the speeds I was working with didn¡¯t lend themselves to dodging a ton. [Bullet Time] was a literal life saver. Whenever a shot came too close, whenever a spike threatened to pierce my head, it would activate, spiking my perception of time. I then had a multitude of choices. Try to incinerate it with a beam of Radiance, twist out of the way, shield it with [Veil], deflect it with my physical shield, or take the hit.


    A high-stakes, high-speed version of the ¡°tank it or shield it¡± training I¡¯d gotten with the Rangers so many years ago.


    I tended to combine ¡°twist out of the way¡± and ¡°tank the shot¡±, letting poorly-angled shots deflect off my armor. Anything that looked like it¡¯d land solidly on my body I used [Veil] for. I didn¡¯t want to foul up my vision. Lastly, anything heading for my face got aggressively destroyed with Radiance. Last thing I needed was a spike through the head. I didn¡¯t think I could recover from that.


    I also had my physical shield, which I held tight against the front of my body, shielding half of me from attacks. I could ¡°fall¡± on it, but with the angle it was at while I was falling, it helped deflect shots. I had no doubt that the spikes fired by the Formorians could go through the Inscription-enhanced shield, at which point the time I had to see and react to the attack would be dramatically lowered.


    Plus, I wouldn¡¯t really have a working shield at the end of it.


    I wasn¡¯t perfect. I was dropping faster than any human could fall naturally, and Shooters were firing incredibly powerful shots, strong enough to shoot down fliers much higher up than I was. Speed turning into height and all that. I couldn¡¯t get them all. a grunt, I wrenched a spike that had sunk into my shoulder out, shooting out five more beams, incinerating five more shots, as [Veil] flickered around me, catching another six shots.


    It got easier once [Bullet Time] stopped turning on and off, and just permanently stayed on.


    I cursed as what I could only call a ¡°puff ball¡± exploded around me, and started coughing violently as dust, spores, particles, whatever, entered my lungs instead of air.


    Which of course led to a lot more spikes making it through my ¡°pin-point¡± defenses, slamming into my gut, piercing my calf- and staying there.


    Then another puff ball exploded on me, and as I cleared my way through a chain of clouds, eating a dozen more spike shots, suddenly the ground was close ¨C real close.


    Way too close.


    I didn¡¯t have enough swears and curses in my vocabulary for what was going on as I tried to activate [Feather Fall] in time, while flipping myself mid-air to not land head-first.


    Well.


    At least I was close enough to the ground that the anti-air Formorians had stopped shooting at me.


    I summoned a [Veil] under my feet, almost immediately breaking through it, but bleeding a good amount of speed as I did.


    I was still going far too fast as I landed, fortunately not on the ground, instead going through some poor Formorian Soldier. Chitin cracked as I exploded through the soldier, rapidly turning it into some puddle of goo and gore.


    Most of it on me.


    In me.


    And oh so awkwardly, having gone feet-first when wearing a leather skirt. I needed a bath. Stat.


    I landed hard on one knee, surrounded by Formorians, spitting Formorian guts from my mouth. I¡¯d managed to slow myself enough between [Feather Fall], [Veil], and using a Formorian as a landing pad, that I didn¡¯t turn myself into paste when I hit.


    Did turn a Formorian into paste though.


    The Formorians immediately noticed my landing ¨C honestly, it¡¯d be kinda hard to not notice ¨C and I was beset on all sides, unable to fly up and away.


    I threw a [Nova] behind me, killing another Formorian with a thrust of my spear, killing another two with beams of Radiance. Had to go kinda wide on them, burning a hole through their ¡°head¡± didn¡¯t drop them the same way it dropped a human.


    I had a lot of experience killing Formorians.


    And yet.


    There were way too many of them, crowding around me, pushing in at me.


    I would¡¯ve died in a minute or two, if another Formorian hadn¡¯t exploded next to me in a shower of gore.


    ¡°Ha! Dawn! You¡¯re crazier than I am!¡± Brawling roared, as he started to kill Formorians in a circle around him with rapid thrusts of his spear ¨C and giving me a bit of breathing room.


    He took a brief moment of respite to grab the spikes that had gone into him, and just yank them out. I eyed him jealously. While they¡¯d gone fairly deep into me, they¡¯d barely scratched him, his high vitality letting him almost literally shrug them off.


    His hand blurred as he moved it forward, touching my nose ¨C one of the only exposed parts of me. His slowly bleeding wounds snapped closed in front of my eyes, a nasty bruise on his face just vanished.


    My new [Persistent Casting] of [Phases of the Moon] working well.


    Barely speaking, we went back-to-back, and I drew my short sword. Brawling covered most of the circle we were in, while I covered his back, securing his blind spot.


    I have no idea how long we were fighting, back-to-back against the endless horde, when Nature dropped in on us. Given how short the time between each of us jumping off was, it had to be under a minute. Time did weird things in combat like this.


    He simply shrugged, and the spikes caught in his thorny vines wrapping around him simply fell off. He made a motion like a farmer throwing seeds, the tiny seedlings he¡¯d been growing flying into the ground around us.


    Verdant trees, more thorny vines, entangling bushes, tripping roots and more ¨C all manner of deadly plants, centered by a huge plant with a bulbous red center, and sharp ¡°teeth¡± with a maw large enough to eat me in a single bite.


    Obviously carnivorous, it lashed forward, grabbing a Formorian in its jaws, and with two sharp bites, ate it whole.


    I gave it a wide berth. I wasn¡¯t going to risk the barely-controlled plant deciding to try a little Elaine snack.


    The plants started to crowd the area, making it harder for the Formorians to reach us.


    I looked up, only to see Night and Sealing dropping fast, angled to land near us. Destruction was near Sealing, and they had a shimmering barrier of light, of Brilliance, around them, a pair of wings made out of hard light helping Sealing fly towards us. Shots just bounced right off, although the extra glowing light had attracted more attacks towards him.


    Night just had what I now recognized as blood violently flowing around him, intercepting all spikes and just¡­ vanishing¡­ them. Priest Demos was held in his arms, as he dropped towards us, feet-first.


    Sealing and Night landed with basically no problems, which had me more than a bit jealous.


    Night dropped Demos into the circle of what I was calling the Grove, and Destruction made his way over as well. Night, Brawling, and Nature without a word, executed the next part of the plan, which was basically ¨C they ran around the perimeter of the grove, killing as many Formorians as possible as quickly as possible. Night and Brawling had the majority of the perimeter, while Nature handled only a small slice of the circle, along with maintaining the entirety of the defenses.


    Sealing was working on his magic, glowing lines of white radiating from his position, as Priest Demos was encased in blinding light. Demos was encased in Brilliance, having his backpack of supplies inside with him. I had no idea what his combat capabilities were, but from what I¡¯d gathered, ¡°non-existent¡± summarized them. Destruction had more of low walls made of Brilliance, that completely covered him when he was sitting, but low enough that he could easily pop over and lob a few shots over if he felt like it.


    With that, Demos and Destruction were relatively safe and secure.


    Push came to shove, the barriers wouldn¡¯t stop the Formorians breaking them down and killing Demos and Destruction. They¡¯d last as long as Sealing¡¯s mana did, which wouldn¡¯t be super long under a sustained assault. No, they were good for preventing stray shots from accidentally killing one of them when nobody was paying attention.


    I had no idea where Magic was or what he was doing. He was supposed to be here! He was supposed to be the emergency backup! If something was going wrong on Brawling, Night, or Nature¡¯s side, he was supposed to jump in and cover them.


    Like. It was entirely possible that he was lurking here, hidden, invisible, and would only jump out of his invisibility when he was needed. It was totally what Magic would do. It was still winding me up, not being able to see or hear him.


    My job was, in theory, straight-up healing. I was supposed to be obvious, and keep my head on a swivel, checking if anyone was taking too many hits and needed a dose of healing, and to stay obvious if, say, Brawling wanted to duck inside the grove and get healed.


    A lack of Magic made that problematic.


    ¡°I¡¯m now backup!¡± I yelled, firing a [Nova] in the space Night just left. Screw it. I was going to operate like Magic wasn¡¯t here, and oh boy was I going to give him an earful once I found him again.


    By the time it landed, Night would be gone, and a new Formorian would be there ¨C hopefully blasted to pieces by [Nova]. It wasn¡¯t much, but I didn¡¯t have a ton of mana right now. Sure, I had a bunch of Arcanite lying around that I could grab, but that was for emergencies.


    This was going to be a marathon, not a sprint.

 Chapter 152 – Formorians III

    The grove was the centerpiece of our strategy here. Short, stout trees formed a medium circle around us. Right now the space was luxurious ¨C well, as far as luxurious is when what you¡¯re talking about is described as ¡°miniature¡± ¨C but as more Sentinels showed up ¨C namely Hunting, namely Katastrofi ¨C it¡¯d get real cramped, real fast. At the same time, the smaller the perimeter, the less we needed to defend.


    We had five trees and one massive carnivorous plant anchoring the grove, solid wood and greedy greenery forming the pillars. Grasping bushes and thorny vines would make it a struggle for any Formorian to reach us, while we could easily just stab them with a spear while they tried to get in.


    The Formorian Soldiers were blessedly dumb. They had exactly one tactic ¨C wave assaults ¨C and their threat was in their sheer number and mass. There was a reason humanity had been able to hold the line for untold centuries, with the greatest threat being ourselves.


    Dumb, and no real obvious skills to boot. There were no caster Soldiers, they only had a single class, unlike, say, goblins. There was a reason Night had been able to straight-up walk to their hives in the past, and attempt to kill the Queens. Staying in one place was almost easier than walking through the horde.


    Nature had spent a good amount of time practicing this particular trick to boot. When Night had taken me and Toxic to the front lines, Nature had hitched a ride. I realized now that he¡¯d been practicing just this among other things, how to make little sheltered groves inside the Formorian horde. It probably wasn¡¯t for this exact scenario, but we were all adaptable.


    It helped that Night could single-handedly keep the entire horde off of us during the night.


    Sealing stood up, and the inscriptions that he¡¯d been working into the ground flared up with pure light, then dimmed down, into a simple glow, casting the interior of the grove in a soft light.


    ¡°I¡¯m no Bulwark, and my Inscriptions are mediocre.¡± Sealing said. ¡°This should be enough to stop Spitters from ambushing us from below though.¡±


    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s amazing!¡± I said, trying to put more happiness and amazement in my voice than what I actually felt. It could be amazing, but I was so ignorant on Inscriptions, I couldn¡¯t be properly amazed.


    I looked around, Night, Brawling, and Nature outside the bushes, Sealing, Demos, Destruction, and myself inside the vines.


    ¡°Where the hell is Magic!?¡± I cried out in frustration, seeing more bodies go flying as Brawling simply moved through them, outside the grove¡¯s protections. ¡°He¡¯s supposed to hide us!¡±


    Sealing gave me a look.


    ¡°If he¡¯s not here by now, I¡¯m assuming he¡¯s dead.¡±


    That sobered me up real fast.


    This was going to get much harder.


    The first night was the hardest. I spent most of the time fidgeting, throwing out ill-advised [Nova]s just to keep my mana from being full, while Night, Brawling, and Nature did their bloody work. Having full mana at this point was practically a sin.


    We were assuming Magic was dead, and we were falling back on our plan D. Sealing was erecting complex barriers to funnel the Formorians into a single choke point, where any one of us could, in theory, hold them back.


    The tricky part about the barriers wasn¡¯t raising them. The tricky part was the ¡°Formorian-be-gone¡± aspect, where they wouldn¡¯t try to just bash the walls in directly. Sealing mentioned something about ¡°reflecting the Formorians back on themselves¡±, or some other complex mirror nonsense.


    I was pacing in circles, around and around the barrier protecting Destruction and Demos. I¡¯d claim I was doing it so I could constantly see the battle, get a 360-degree view of what was going on. No. It was because staying here, being the support, was driving me insane. I felt like I should be there. I felt like I should be fighting directly.


    I popped out a few times to tap everyone, making sure they were fully healed. A few scratches fixed, a nasty cut healed. Nothing major. At the same time, if we allowed injuries to pile up on themselves, we¡¯d slowly get bled to death. That¡¯s what I was for!


    ¡°Speed up, Sealing!¡± Night yelled. ¡°Daybreak arrives!¡±


    I started, seeing the now-ominous glow on the horizon. Surviving without Night, without the barriers, would be tricky, to say the least.


    ¡°I can¡¯t do one hole! Three holes!¡± Sealing yelled.


    As alike as all of us Sentinels were, we all had different curses at his pronouncement.


    His barriers rose, leaving three equally spaced gaps around the circle. Two of the gaps were wide enough for two Formorians to get through at once ¨C or three people shoulder-to-shoulder to block. The last was narrower, enough so that only one Formorian could squeeze through at a time.


    ¡°Dawn. Nature. Brawling.¡± Night ordered, pointing to each one of the entrances in turn.


    Sealing sat down with an exhausted look on his face, safe inside the grove. Recovering his mana. I dunno what else all the stuff he was doing took, but he looked exhausted. I didn¡¯t tend to get nearly so tired casting my stuff, but for all I knew he had to do some terribly complex thing to get his stuff working. Was probably some sort of power stunt or skills working in tandem, like my [Phases of the Moon] with my [Persistent Casting].


    Naturally, I got the small hole, where I¡¯d only need to contend with one Formorian at a time.


    ¡°Yell if you need healing!¡± I reminded everyone as I ran to my position, the bushes and vines parting unnaturally as I passed the barrier, spear out in front of me, ready.


    With a blur of motion, Night moved into the grove. He took out two brightly glowing gems. As the light dimmed from one, a small earthen part-umbrella, part-mushroom structure rose up. Then the second gem dimmed, and what I recognized was Sealing¡¯s barrier snapped up around it, leaving a small opening. Night slipped in through that, and used a sheet to cover the entrance to his miniature ¡°hut¡±.


    Well. That explained how he kept himself safe during the day. He probably had enough room in there to do a little bit of fighting, in case of emergencies. Then again, if Night was fighting inside his hut, we were all doomed.


    I didn¡¯t have too much time to think about it though, I was now in the thick of it.


    The first Formorian soldier charged at me, an ant-like being taller than I was. Large clicking mandibles were on the front of its face, its main weapon. It charged at me, and I downed it almost instantly with my favorite trick ¨C Radiance through the head.


    I needed to burn through quite a bit more of its body before it actually stopped, but that just took more mana. It fell with a thud in front of me, entirely blocking the entrance.


    I had maybe half a second of gloating that the entry was now fully blocked and safe before the body was picked up and flung back by another Formorian Soldier, while a third one proceeded to charge at me.


    So I killed that one.


    Rinse.


    Repeat.


    Rinse.


    Repeat.


    I kept an eye on my mana ¨C it wasn¡¯t dropping super fast, but it was being eaten up quite a bit faster than my regeneration could keep up with. As the sun finished rising and hit me, my [Sun-Kissed] kicked in. My mana dropped significantly less quickly once the first rays of light hit me, but the damage to my mana bar had been done.


    An hour and a half passed, my mana slowly but steadily draining down. At about 30% left, I felt the need to change my technique. At this rate, I wasn¡¯t going to make it to lunch, let alone nightfall. It was fortunate that the Formorians were morons, and I just needed to stick with the same formula. Again. And. Again.


    I figured it was time to mix it up a bit, and try to kill a Formorian with my weapons.


    I killed one, then I killed two more behind it for good measure once the body got cleared, just to give myself a little bit of extra time to set myself up. I braced myself the way I¡¯d been taught by Artemis, so very long ago. Kneeling on one knee. Shield planted in the ground in front of me. Spear up and out, braced against the ground behind me. Eyes peeking over the top of the shield ¨C barely.


    The next Formorian charged at me, like they usually do, mandibles opening and closing, promising a swift end if I found myself inside of them.


    Well.


    Probably significantly less swift for me than someone else.


    It charged, I braced, and it hit me like a truck, knocking me flat on my back, tumbling through the dirt and getting unceremoniously stopped by the tree trunk. I groaned, looked up, and realized more Formorians were starting to come in through the passageway, removing the body of their fellow.


    Shit!


    ¡°Brawling!¡± I called out, starting to blast away ¨C a [Nova] directly at the entrance blowing up all the Formorians.


    ¡°You¡¯re fine!¡± He yelled, glancing at me, seeing a bunch of charred bodies and nothing else.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do that!¡± Sealing yelled at me. ¡°Do you have any idea how badly that destabilizes the barrier!?¡±


    I flipped him the bird as I got back into position.


    ¡°I need some damn help! I don¡¯t have infinite Arcanite anymore!¡± I yelled back, drilling and taking down another Formorian.


    ¡°Fine. Kill two I¡¯ll kill one.¡± Sealing snapped at me.


    I killed one.


    ¡°One!¡± I yelled


    Killed a second one.


    ¡°Two!¡± I yelled back.


    ¡°Drop.¡± Sealing ordered, and I took a knee, to better spring back up once Sealing was done.


    Another Formorian charged me, and I stared at it as it approached, feeling nervousness bubble up in my chest. Sentinels were like a family ¨C a distant family. Sure, we hung out every day, chatted, and worked together. We almost never worked together though, never fighting as a unit. Two Sentinels sent on a mission was the top, the absolute cap that we¡¯d ever seen, and half those missions involved me.


    As a result, while we had some ideas of each other¡¯s capabilities, while we rarely sparred with each other to keep ourselves in tip top fighting shape ¨C or in my case, keep trying to bring me up to an acceptable level of close combat competency, ¡°acceptable¡± here being ¡°beat people with twice my stats and experience¡± ¨C we didn¡¯t practice working together, the same way Ranger squads practiced working together.


    The first practice being in the heat of battle where humanity¡¯s fate was in question was, putting it politely, a strategic mistake.


    I only hoped that I wouldn¡¯t end up in the [Historian]¡¯s scroll as ¡°Dawn died due to a strategic mistake. Motion for Sentinels to practice fighting together rejected, 3-5.¡±


    And yet. We were not at the peak of humanity for no reason. It wasn¡¯t like this was Sealing¡¯s first rodeo. Given how old the dude looked, he must have decades of combat experience under his belt. We had all started out as Rangers, working together in teams of eight. We all knew how to work as a team. And a single Formorian? With basically no pressure on him?


    A spear of Brilliance impaled the Formorian, going just as deep as I recognized as ¡°lethal¡±. Obviously not Sealing¡¯s first time against Formorians himself.


    We kept going in this pattern, and only needing to kill two out of three was enough. My mana was back on the upswing.


    Time passed in the most boring way, my mana fell, and then, blessedly, it was nighttime.


    Or rather ¨C it was Night time.


    Basically, the moment the shadows hit us, Night emerged from his little hut.


    ¡°Mine.¡± He called out, a single word, and we all retreated back into the grove. Sweat was pouring off of Brawling and Nature, and my stomach was growling. I hadn¡¯t eaten since before we jumped off the ship ¨C a mistake on my part, not eating last night, but I¡¯d been so worried.


    I took a look around. Night was easily, single-handedly, holding all three entrances alone.


    ¡°You good Night?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Rest, Dawn.¡± Was all he said.


    I stayed standing, struggling with my own emotions. I should be there. I should be helping. I should-


    Brawling gently, with a force I couldn¡¯t resist anymore than I could resist a mountain being pressed on me, pulled me down to the ground, in a sitting position.


    ¡°Eat.¡± Nature said, shoving a ration bar in my hands. ¡°Maging is hungry work.¡±


    My stomach growled in rebellion, but he was right. First things first though. I leaned over, making sure to touch everyone, blasting them with some healing. I gave Brawling a Look.


    ¡°You obviously can cover your entrance and do more. See. Me. When. You. Get. Injured.¡± I said, smacking my fist into my hand on every word.


    ¡°But-¡° Brawling started to say. I felt comfortable cutting him off. I was the healer.


    ¡°No buts! I will walk over to make sure you get healed next time.¡± I threatened him. ¡°Remember Pompius?¡±


    He looked suitably chastised, and figuring that my work here was done, it was time to look after myself.


    I chowed down voraciously.


    Brawling brought a sad looking water skin up to his mouth, tilted it all the way back, and cursed. He turned it around in his hands, and showed up a nasty gash in it.


    ¡°Blasted spikes got it on the way down.¡± He complained, throwing it across the grove.


    ¡°Shame.¡± Sealing said. ¡°What went wrong, what can we do better?¡± He asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m the weak point.¡± I promptly pointed out. ¡°I¡¯m not a physical Classer, I can¡¯t hold my entrance the entire day.¡±


    ¡°You came damn close though!¡± Brawling said, happily patting me on the back with spine-shattering strength.


    ¡°Yes, but ¡®close¡¯ will leave us all dead.¡± I pointed out unhappily, wordlessly handing my own waterskin to Brawling, who proceeded to drain the whole thing. Fuck! I should¡¯ve topped myself up first.


    ¡°Ideally, Brawling doesn¡¯t need to cover two entrances.¡± I said. ¡°Although, maybe it would work?¡± I said, tilting my head at Brawling.


    ¡°It does¡­ and I can do it¡­¡± Brawling said, thinking about it. ¡°But it has us skirting on the edge of disaster.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m already the backup.¡± Sealing said.


    ¡°I think I can help with this.¡± Nature said after a few moments of silent eating, the only noise being Night dismembering a Formorian limb from limb. It sounded like someone breaking crab legs.


    ¡°Oh?¡± I asked, eager to hear more.


    ¡°Yeah. Let me grow some particularly resilient thorns. It won¡¯t stop them, but it will slow them down, and it sounds like that¡¯s all you need. Heck, it might even let you fight them without going heels over ass like earlier.¡±


    I flushed and looked down, focusing on my ration bar. I hadn¡¯t realized everyone had seen it.


    Ooor, the crumbs of my ration bar. I grabbed my backpack, and started to dig through it to get out more.


    ¡°Pace yourself.¡± Destruction said, carefully saying each word, eyes still closed in concentration.


    Aww fuck he was right. I was ravenous, I could eat a whole cow, but we only had so many rations. I was going to go to bed hungry, to better pace myself.


    ¡°Break out a [Water Conjuration] gem?¡± Sealing asked.


    Nature¡¯s fingers twitched as he performed some calculations.


    ¡°Yes. Plants are all new, they could use the water.¡±


    My disappointment must¡¯ve been clear on my face, as Brawling laughed and gave me another overly-enthusiastic ¡°pat¡± on the back, air exploding out of my lungs.


    My mana dropped. He¡¯d somehow hurt me enough to trigger my healing.


    ¡°Easy!¡± I complained at him.


    Brawling just laughed at me.


    ¡°We all ready for a [Water Conjuration]?¡± Nature asked.


    I leaned over and grabbed Destruction¡¯s waterskin. Priest Demos was still sealed away, deep in prayer. I nodded at him.


    ¡°What about him?¡± I asked.


    Sealing made a sound like an aborted snort.


    ¡°He¡¯s barely going to move, or do anything. His stats will keep him going, and he¡¯s got three waterskins in there. He¡¯ll be fine until this is over.¡±


    The ¡°one way or another¡± was left unsaid.


    ¡°Ready? Set? Go!¡± Nature said, water appearing from his hands like a hose.


    I knew it had to be a Sapphire he had in his armor ¨C probably his vambraces, if he had the same arrangement I had ¨C but it was still cool to see. In order, we quickly put our waterskins up to the faucet, then stepped back to let someone else fill their skin up. After I¡¯d filled my waterskin up, I drank deeply from it, until it was entirely empty, then stepped up again to refill the skin. I also made sure Destruction¡¯s skin got a full refill, and handed it back to him.


    It didn¡¯t take too long for all of us to be sloshing, and Nature then turned and started to water his garden. The incongruous sight of a gardener tending to his garden in the middle of a warzone, in the middle of what might well be humanity¡¯s last hurrah was, well¡­


    Difficult to process.


    We got our sleeping rolls out, nothing more than a thin blanket to put between us and the ground. My stomach was all butterflies.


    I was really supposed to sleep? Here? Now? Hungry? While a war was raging on not five feet away from me?


    ¡°Pssst.¡± Brawling ¡°whispered¡± at a volume that could deafen a child. ¡°How long until you think we start eating Formorians?¡±


    I made a gagging noise, and got a serious answer from Sealing.


    ¡°You¡¯ll start eating them tomorrow, Nature two days from now, and Dawn and I will partake on the third day.¡±


    Oh gross.


    I looked around, and decided that a calculated risk was in order. I stripped out of my armor and gear, and maintained it, digging all of the Formorian goo out from the cracks, checking that my shield hadn¡¯t been too badly compromised, and more.


    I still couldn¡¯t get the idea of eating Formorian out of my head though.


    With that lovely image in mind, I hoped my nightmares would be more flavored towards unsavory cuisine, as opposed to my usual fare.

 Chapter 153 – Formorians IV

    I snapped upright as I heard someone moving, instinctively preparing an attack. I relaxed as I saw Brawling acting like a sneaky bull in a china shop, trying to get a bit of a fire going as the sky started to get lighter.


    I eyed one of the trees, now somewhat de-branched. I shook my head. Those were part of our protection, and Brawling was cheerfully burning it for some morning heat and light?


    I got up ¨C I¡¯d slept lightly in the first place, and it was bloody cold in the morning. I shook off a thin layer of dew, and huddled around the fire Brawling got started. All judgement aside, I was pretty thankful for the fire. I was unhappy about the damage, but hey. I wasn¡¯t going to let that sour the results for me.


    My stomach protested, and I grabbed my bag, hauling it around, and even less sneakily than Brawling, rifled through it until I found more rations.


    I eyed them. I thought about how hungry I was. I thought about Sealing¡¯s prediction.


    Fuck it. I was going to eat Formorian today, just to show him up. The Hell Months hadn¡¯t been too long ago, just what? Three years ago? They probably made us eat worse then. Compared to Sealing, who¡¯d probably been on a steady diet of good food for decades.


    Ok, that probably wasn¡¯t fair to Sealing, who¡¯d been a Ranger for far too long before being a Sentinel for far too long.


    Still! I was hungry, and feeling somewhat adventurous! Bring on the Formorian legs! I¡¯d like to place an order for one Formorian steak, done extra-extra-extra well!


    Sealing and Nature eventually woke up, and we huddled around the fire, eating breakfast and getting some water inside of us. I was lucky ¨C I could drink and fight at the same time. I didn¡¯t need to physically do anything to cast, just will Radiance into being. Brawling and Nature? They needed to physically thrust a spear for most of their kills.


    Nature could use his plant-magic to kill stuff, but that was tricky. Much easier to just use a spear.


    The only sounds was the fire crackling, food being chewed, Formorian bodies breaking under Night¡¯s tender ministrations, and the sound of Formorian Soldiers being thrown back by their fellows. It was eerie how quiet they were.


    ¡°Same 2-1 as yesterday?¡± I asked Sealing. He frowned a hair.


    ¡°Could we do 3-1?¡±


    ¡°Sure!¡± I said. My mana had held up well enough with him taking so many off my plate, I figured I¡¯d return the favor. I was pretty sure I could manage 3-1, or even 4-1.


    Brawling finished his business ¨C thank all the gods and goddesses above that we had Nature making bushes and trees ¨C grabbed his equipment, and walked to ¡°his¡± entrance, cursing about the early dawn.


    Right. Because the sun would be rising directly in his eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯m in!¡± Brawling yelled at Night, getting into position.


    The blur of motion that was Night stopped making rounds between all three entrances, and just blurred back and forth between two of them, now pausing for a moment here and there, letting us see him as he lazily waited for the next Formorian to attack.


    ¡°You probably want to beat Nature to your post.¡± Sealing whispered to me. I gave him a quizzical look, but he only smiled mysteriously at me.


    Deciding that Sealing knew something I didn¡¯t, I decided to take my position. I grabbed my spear, double-checked that my sword hadn¡¯t, like, gotten grimed stuck inside the scabbard, picked up my dented shield, and walked to my spot.


    I mean, I maintained my gear every evening, but double and triple-checking never hurt.


    ¡°Dawn. Excellent initiative.¡± Night complimented me, before zipping off to the last entrance.


    One shot. Two shot. Three shot. Kneel, Brilliance-spear from Sealing, and one-two-three-four, the musical dance of death resumed.


    ¡°Dawn. Hold your own entrance. Sealing. Maintain the last.¡± Night said.


    I heard an inventive curse from Nature ¨C vines going there sounded deeply unpleasant. I was too busy looking and fighting, killing the endless horde, while I overheard the conversation behind me.


    ¡°Does it have to be me?¡± Nature ¨C whined!? Dude barely spoke at all, and whining wasn¡¯t what I expected from him.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Night said, and the pieces clicked.


    We were Night¡¯s dinner ¨C or in this case, breakfast. Obviously it wasn¡¯t going to be that bad, but from the sound of it, none too pleasant.


    As I heard all manner of interesting noises behind me, I resolved to always, always be first back into the fray. I ate other creatures. Other creatures didn¡¯t eat me.


    The law of the jungle had never been so clearly on display here. Eat, or be eaten. Kill and eat the Formorians, or be killed and eaten by them.


    Also, there was always a bigger fish ¨C or in this case, vampire.


    After the noises stopped, and Night seemingly ¨C I couldn¡¯t see behind me ¨C went back to his hut, I called out.


    ¡°Nature! Tap my shoulder before you get back in the fight!¡± I called out. ¡°You¡¯ll feel better and fight better.¡±


    Bless [Phases of the Moon] evolving at 250 to include blood loss.


    Nature tapped my shoulder, getting healed up, then sprinkled some seeds in the entrance.


    ¡°Keep the passage clear for a minute.¡± He said, and I started blasting quite a bit further out. Thick, thorny, low to the ground vines erupted, crawling and growing along the ground.


    ¡°They won¡¯t stop a Formorian, but they will slow them down. They¡¯re also fairly resilient. They¡¯ll survive being stepped on more than others.¡±


    ¡°Thanks!¡± I said, appreciating his help.


    ¡°Sealing! Let me try this solo, see if I can do it alone!¡± I called back.


    ¡°Understood. Let me know if you need help.¡± He responded.


    And I could! Nature¡¯s twisty vines slowed the Formorians down enough that my regeneration could just barely keep on top of it.


    Day 2 had nothing special. Simply a repeat of day one, without needing to land first. Nature¡¯s vines helped, and I was able to finally hold my entrance alone.


    ¡°Hey Dawn! Try to drag some of your Formorians in! Yours are the least mashed!¡± Brawling yelled as night was falling.


    I¡¯d shoot him a dirty glare if I could. I was not a physical Classer! I wasn¡¯t fast enough, strong enough, to dart in, grab a body, and throw it back. Heck, I wasn¡¯t entirely sure if I even could drag one of the bodies back in. Sure, I had solid strength, but Formorians were big, heavy suckers.


    Nature, blessedly, knew the score, and threw back a few bodies.


    ¡°Idiot.¡± Was all he yelled at Brawling.


    Night took over shortly after, and we retreated back into the grove. Nature took to butchering the carcasses with practiced efficiency.


    ¡°Dawn! Would you do the honors?¡± Sealing asked me, handing me a gooey slab of Formorian.


    I eyed it doubtfully. ¡°Green goo¡± described it well. I was seriously reconsidering my resolve to eat Formorians today.


    Ah well. I¡¯ll cook it first, see what happens after.


    Using some careful Radiance control, I slowly cooked the meat, watching my mana drain away. Ironically, it took a lot more mana to cook meat than to kill a Formorian ¨C killing just required a thin, narrow beam while cooking took a lot of energy over a large area.


    Still. Formorian steaks were cooked in short order, and the smell was indescribably foul. I cut myself off a hunk, and suddenly I was the center of attention. Even Destruction took a moment to crack an eye open and look at me.


    I eyed the somewhat more solid green goo. Welp. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. I took a bite, and retched.


    Wet socks. That was the best way of describing it. Wet. Socks.


    No wonder this wasn¡¯t a staple food. No wonder we didn¡¯t try to capture and eat as many bodies as possible to supplement army rations. There¡¯d be a rebellion in three days, never mind that the frontlines rebelling would spell doom for all of humanity. I was seriously considering going hungry, but no.


    I had a point to prove.


    I gamely chewed on, not bothering to try hiding the revulsion on my face. I swallowed.


    ¡°That was terrible.¡± I spat out ¨C quite literally, I was spitting out tiny pieces still stuck in my mouth.


    Brawling threw up his hands and cheered, while Sealing and Nature looked sour. Bags of money traded hands.


    ¡°Seriously!?¡± I asked. ¡°When did you get the time to gamble on this!?¡± It made no sense! We were all in close quarters! When had they managed to pull this off!?


    Brawling laughed, and took a bite himself.


    ¡°Oh dear gods this is worse than I remember.¡± He said, twisting his face in a grimace.


    The evening continued. A moment of peace and quiet, before the slaughter tomorrow.


    Day 3 rolled around, and the sun was up high. I was blasting Formorians, bored out of my skull. There was only so much ¡°the fate of humanity hangs in the balance¡± that could keep me interested, along with ¡°These Soldiers will murder you dead if they get the chance¡± that kept me focused. My thoughts were wandering, and my mind wasn¡¯t on-task at all, when I got a surprise that had me jump seven feet in the air.


    Quite literally ¨C I started climbing with [Talaria].


    ¡°Heya Elaine.¡± Arthur said, popping up next to me.


    ¡°ARTHUR!?¡± I yelled, before [Bullet Time] activated, warning me of incoming spine attacks. The Formorians didn¡¯t tolerate fliers, or anything too high up, at all ¨C that¡¯s why nobody was on the walls. The Shooters couldn¡¯t shoot stuff on the ground though ¨C they were pure anti-air.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on? How¡¯ve you been? How did you get here?!¡± I asked him, landing again, continuing to shoot Formorians.


    I took a moment to look at him, the fire-wait-wait-wait-fire pattern well-ingrained at this point. He looked like hell. Huge racoon eyes, a scraggy, untrimmed beard poorly hiding sunken cheeks, and other signs that he¡¯d completely let himself go.


    The smell was probably related to that, but after having bathed in Formorian guts then getting cooked in the sun for three days, I probably didn¡¯t smell like peaches either. I wasn¡¯t going to judge him on that.


    The giant of a man licked his lips nervously.


    ¡°I-¡° He started to say, before Night interrupted him.


    ¡°Toxic. Report.¡± The voice echoed from Night¡¯s hut. I half-started. I didn¡¯t think he was awake! Then again, his sleep needs were probably minimal. It kinda made sense that he stayed awake as emergency overwatch. Maybe?


    Arthur gave me a look, then vanished, to report to Night. He spent the entire day inside the hut, and no matter how I strained my ears, I couldn¡¯t hear anything that was going on.


    He was fast asleep by the time the rest of us finished up for the day.


    Day 4 came all too fast, and Arthur took over handling my section. He was fairly physically focused, poison not requiring huge amounts of stat investment. While using his bow and arrow might¡¯ve been better, Arthur was still Arthur, a giant of a man with a wagonload of physical stats. He hadn¡¯t come with his spear and shield, so I lent him mine, and he went to perform his bloody work.


    That put me back in the grove with Sealing, and I ended up on ¡°break¡± duty. Basically ¨C I rotated through the different openings, single-handedly keeping them safe while Brawling, Nature, or Toxic took a fifteen minute or so break ¨C basically as long as I could keep two Formorians constantly coming at me down before my mana started to get low, with enough padding in case something went wrong.


    The jump in time I could last between one and two Formorians at a time was massive. Against one I could last much longer, because my regeneration was helping. Indeed, I could even keep it up all day, with Nature¡¯s vines giving me a hand.


    With two though, that math went out the window ¨C all my regeneration was accounted for and then some, and my mana went down at a solid clip. It did regenerate nicely once I was back on overwatch duty. It also meant that I could regularly walk around, tapping everyone to make sure they were fully healed, that a little cut they were brushing off wouldn¡¯t turn into something worse. Making sure that nobody died from a thousand cuts, that injuries didn¡¯t slow anyone down.


    Still, everyone appreciated the breaks.


    I swear Arthur was still avoiding me, as he almost instantly ¡°fell asleep¡± the moment we were done. I wasn¡¯t going to force the issue.


    Day 5 everything went to shit mid-afternoon.


    The Formorian powers that be had noticed us. A Royal Guard came charging at us, basically an entire city block of chitin, flesh, and mandibles, trampling over dozens of smaller Soldiers in its effort to get to us. We¡¯d be flattened in a heartbeat.


    Sealing sprang into action with a curse.


    I figured the walls he made before, with ¡°Formorian-be-gone¡± basically on them, had to be some sort of power stunt, combining skills together in new and different ways, similar to how it took me time to make myself a ¡°healing beacon¡±. I got to see his skills in action, in their element, as he stared down a charging Royal Guard, the monstrous creature towering over us, and seal it in shimmering light. He grunted as the Royal Guard hit the side of the barrier and broke it, but the Royal Guard had lost significant momentum breaking the cage. Sealing immediately reformed a new cage, a second barrier. The Royal Guard hit that one, and I could almost see the cage bending ¨C but holding.


    The monster started to thrash inside, as glowing runes lit up the inside. The Royal Guard¡¯s attacks started to slow down.


    ¡°Dawn! I can¡¯t hold it! Go!¡± Sealing yelled at me.


    Time for a fun move!


    Using [Talaria], I flew up, dodging some shots that Shooters fired at me, [Veil]ing others, and shooting down the rest with Radiance. I went above the seal, where the Shooters couldn¡¯t see me anymore, and hovered right above the Royal Guard.


    I could land on the barrier, but that¡¯d just tax it more, and the normally unflappable Sealing was yelling at me to hurry it up.


    Keeping in mind that Night mentioned struggling with these, I went a little nuts. My standard drill of Radiance through what I thought was the head, fully powered up unlike the weak beams I¡¯d been using on the Soldiers ¨C and I unleashed not only my own [Nova]s, but all of my stored ones.


    The beauty of Radiance was I could straight-up bypass Brilliance barriers. Sure, by the same token, Mirror wrecked me hard, but right now, Sealing and I made a great one-two punch.


    Sealing also coated the inside of his barrier with his other element ¨C Mirror ¨C which had the effect of amplifying and redirecting a good amount of the damage. Any stray Radiance just went right back to roasting the Royal Guard.


    I had quite the collection ¨C it was basically the only skill I kept inside my Sunstones.


    The cube containing the Royal Guard lit up like a sun ¨C but even brighter. I squinted, then conceded, turning my head away from the incandescent explosion below me, all while keeping up the beam roughly where I thought the Royal Guard¡¯s head was.


    I turned on System notifications just for Royal Guards, to see when I got it.


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Formorian] (Erosion, lv 750)]


    I had no time to admire myself as I was nearly entirely out of mana. I¡¯d gotten to the point where I could fly forever, in the sunlight, without any gear on.


    I was fully geared, and wasn¡¯t quite able to keep myself up forever. Still, it only took me four mana per second, and I wasn¡¯t that far from the grove. I made my way back in, landing with a lot more grace and elegance than I was feeling.


    ¡°Good work Dawn.¡± Sealing said.


    ¡°Nah, it was all you.¡± I modestly said. ¡°Without you dramatically weakening it, I would¡¯ve had no chance. Plus, those were all my [Nova]s.¡± I said, grimacing.


    ¡°Less than wise.¡± He pointed out, grabbing a ration bar and digging in. I felt I deserved one as well, and joined him.


    ¡°Yeah, sure, but what else was I going to do?¡± I asked, mostly rhetorically.


    Sealing chewed in contemplative silence.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± He finally admitted.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a blasted combat Classer, fundamentally.¡± I pointed out. ¡°Get Brawling to do it next time. Or Nature. I dunno.¡±


    ¡°Getting someone in with the Royal Guard is extraordinarily high-risk.¡± Sealing pointed out. ¡°Not only do they need to be engaged before my barriers and weakening kick in, but then they need to engage them in hand-to-hand combat.¡±


    He had a bunch of good points.


    ¡°I guess I¡¯m going to start recharging my gems.¡± I said. ¡°And pray no more Royal Guards attack.¡±


    ¡°Dawn. Sealing. Come closer. I dislike needing to yell.¡± Night called out to us.


    We approached Night¡¯s hut, then we went to either side of it, and stood, backs to the hut, keeping an eye out on Toxic, Brawling, and Nature, making sure they were ok, that they didn¡¯t need help. Or rather, being in a position to help them if something happened.


    ¡°Sealing. Are you capable of only crippling a Royal Guard inside your barrier?¡± Night inquired.


    He spent a few moments thinking about it.


    ¡°Kinda. See, the way it works¡­¡±


    A long technical explanation followed, which apparently Night understood and it went way over my head. I¡¯d love to know more, but this wasn¡¯t exactly the time and place to get a comprehensive education on the matter.


    Short version: Yes, he mostly could, but he lost a few tricks.


    ¡°Right. Dawn. Work on recharging your Sunstones. I shall wake you up during the night to better assist. When you are fully charged, you are on Royal Guard slaying duty. However, that shall not always be possible. When you are not ready, the three of us will work in concert if it is day time to slay one. Dawn, you will escort me under [Veil] to the Royal Guard. Sealing will seal myself and the beast together, using the methods he described. You shall keep the sun off of me with your [Veil of the Aurora] while I kill the monster.¡± Night decreed.


    I felt the urge to salute overcome me, and I did. No reason not to. For all I knew Night could tell.


    ¡°Possible problem.¡± I said, thinking about it. ¡°I¡¯m not sure how to make the transition.¡±


    ¡°Explain yourself.¡± Night said.


    ¡°So. [Veil] is generally a single solid sheet that I can conjure up. It¡¯s ¨C ah I¡¯ve got the answer. Night, my [Veil] is moveable by someone who¡¯s not me. I can make it, and move with you while you move [Veil], and keep the sunlight off of yourself. You can then reposition it right before you get there, and I can fly on top of Sealing¡¯s barrier to keep myself safe!¡± I proudly worked out.


    ¡°It is dangerous to take to the air with the Shooters around.¡± Night pointed out. ¡°Additionally, a number of their attacks will land on Sealing¡¯s barrier, stressing it even further.¡±


    ¡°It held up to my attacks.¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Barely. Only due to how Radiance and Brilliance interact.¡± Night pointed out acridly. ¡°Sealing¡¯s barrier will also need to contain me.¡±


    That was an excellent point. I shrugged, before remembering they couldn¡¯t see me.


    ¡°Sure, but I¡¯m at high-risk inside the middle of the damn horde. I¡¯ll also be missing one of my key combat tricks ¨C namely, my [Veil]. Sorry. Flying on top is my best ¨C hence our best ¨C chance. If it¡¯s not possible for whatever reason, we¡¯ll do something else and figure it out on the fly.¡±


    ¡°Fine. Do what you must.¡± Night coldly dismissed me.


    I knew a dismissal when I heard it, but I was curious.


    ¡°Hey Night.¡± I asked.


    ¡°What?¡± He grouched back.


    ¡°I mean, I¡¯m no slouch, but I was just able to kill a Royal Guard. I¡¯m not exactly a combat-focused Classer like you are, but you mentioned struggling with them. How? Why weren¡¯t you able to kill them like I did?¡± I asked, dead curious.


    I got a long-suffering sigh back.


    ¡°It was outside its lair. It did not have a Queen in direct support. It did not have Spitters or Soldiers working with it. A small fortune of gemstones was used. You had Sealing¡¯s full might ¨C a specialist in handling large creatures exactly like said Royal Guard ¨C giving his full support, in his area of expertise. I last tried some forty levels ago. Lastly, I did not use my final killing stroke when I last fought a Royal Guard. I did not want to let the Formorians know I had it, not when I hoped to use it on the Queens themselves.¡±


    Ah. Right then. Time to stop annoying the ancient vampire, not when one of his life-long goals was in front of him ¨C and when failing at his self-imposed lifetime mission was a possibility.


    Plus ¨C Night always seemed grouchy when the sun was out. A hidden aspect to his curse? I remember him being much more pleasant when we had our long evening discussions together in Ranger Academy.


    It could also be stress, I suppose.


    I slumped to the ground, keeping one eye on Brawling, and the other eye on Nature, kinda splitting my view. Sealing had Toxic¡¯s back, and I started to recharge gemstones once I was over half my mana.


    Depending on the size of the gemstone, I could recharge roughly five gemstones per hour. It would take me, what, a little less than two days of constantly recharging gemstones to get myself fully back up?


    That assumed I did nothing else. Like heal Brawling. Or give Nature a break. Or¡­


    Yeah. I had way too much to do, and not nearly enough mana.


    I got to work.

 Chapter 154 – Formorians V

    Day 6 started off like the rest, although the night was a pain in the rear. Night kept waking me up every 30 minutes or so to keep working on recharging my gems. Waste not, want not was the motto on mana. The morning was boring. The afternoon was interesting.


    I was bored, holding my entrance, looking around, when I saw a familiar tie-dye splash of color come barreling towards us, surrounded by what looked like a cloud of dust or something.


    I blinked and rubbed my eyes, making sure I wasn¡¯t hallucinating from a lack of sleep, some new poison the Formorians were using, or anything else.


    Nope. That was Hunting and Katastrofi, plowing their way through the horde to reach us.


    ¡°Hunting incoming!¡± I yelled. ¡°He¡¯s moving fast! Royal Guards are starting to go after him!¡±


    The last part I yelled as I saw not one, but two Royal Guards take notice of Hunting, and start charging towards him as Katastrofi scythed through the Formorians.


    ¡°Night!¡± I yelled back, throwing up a [Veil] like we¡¯d planned. ¡°Going to need some help here!¡±


    Night was next to me in a flash, the only indication of his passing being a strong breeze making my leather skirt flutter. He started barking out orders.


    ¡°Nature. Hold all three entrances. Sealing, Dawn ¨C on me, like we planned. Brawling, Toxic ¨C work with Hunting to stall the second one.¡±


    Nature cursed, and got to work. I didn¡¯t see what was going on, but I figured I¡¯d see what was happening when we got back.


    Night held up his hand in a fist, while the other one held up a part of the [Veil] I¡¯d brought down. [Veil] was like a giant, absurd umbrella right now, but huge ¨C large enough to give Night a solid amount of darkness to work in.


    Katastrofi was charging towards us, full-speed. The Soldiers were practically a speedbump, but I suspected I¡¯d need to tend to Katastrofi¡¯s legs when this was done. There were only so many razor blades one could run through before they started to have an impact.


    We stood at the entrance. I was nervously bouncing on my feet, Toxic was thumbing arrows, Sealing and Night were both standing unnaturally still, and Brawling was keeping the gap clear with great enthusiasm.


    We watched the three of them converge, and when it became obvious Hunting wasn¡¯t going to make it, Night simply dropped his hand.


    We moved.


    Brawling was the vanguard, the spear through the horde, merrily beating the shit out of the Soldiers, and carefully blasting them out of our way.


    I was frankly a little impressed at his controlled violence. It was far too easy to swing a spear hard enough to go through a Formorian, simply bisecting them. The problem with that was, there was a Soldier body left over that we¡¯d need to climb over. Sure, we were all superhuman enough to pull it off, but it would still slow us down. Instead, Brawling was carefully applying and exerting force in a way that just ¡°flipped¡± Formorians like a pancake back into the horde, keeping a path clear for us.


    He was flipping enough that even as the horde tried to close back in on us, we had enough room to keep going.


    Brawling. The best physical combat Sentinel. Given that, what, half of all Rangers if not more were physical combat fighters, it meant something. Unlike myself, who one could argue I was promoted on the basis of ¡°nobody else is a healer¡±, Brawling had more than enough competition for the position. He showed us why, how, he¡¯d earned it.


    ¡°We¡¯re not going to make it!¡± Brawling yelled at us, and a moment later there was a collective wince as the first Royal Guard plowed into Katastrofi¡¯s side, the two locked in mortal combat.


    Hunting jumped off her back as the Royal Guard hit her, and started stabbing with his spear. The name of the game was ¡°avoid the jaws.¡± I had no doubt that even Katastrofi would be sheared in half if she ended up in the deadly mandibles.


    ¡°Toxic! Brawling!¡± Night yelled, pointing at the Royal Guard locked in combat with Hunting.


    Night then peeled off, Sealing and I following him, as we headed directly for the second Royal Guard, the [Veil] still acting as an absurd umbrella. It was starting to take some fire, some Shooters objecting to the object in the sky, but it wasn¡¯t anything that [Veil] couldn¡¯t handle. Nothing was so strong that it threatened to break [Veil], although my mana took a hit on every shot. It was why I didn¡¯t use it to stop sustained attacks ¨C it was a great way for me to lose all my mana.


    There was no such thing as normally in the situation, but originally I had planned on dropping back, then flying up and over, and staying safe above my own [Veil] and Sealing¡¯s own barrier. The Formorians had Shooters, but Sealing¡¯s barrier, plus me kinda hiding, would solve that.


    Of course, no plan survives contact with the enemy, and this one was no exception. The plan had assumed that Sealing would be safely inside our defenses, and not in the middle of the horde.


    Which naturally led to me, by myself, surrounded by Formorian Soldiers on all sides, needing to hold them off of Sealing single-handedly while he channeled his barrier, sealing Night and the Royal Guard alone together.


    This wasn¡¯t the time for finesse or subtlety. This wasn¡¯t the time to carefully conserve my mana, not when I needed to cover more than just myself in the middle of a gods-dammed horde.


    I blasted and blasted and [Nova]¡¯d and blasted away. [Nova] was good for clearing a chunk of Formorians, but it was horribly, horribly inefficient. I could kill a lot more Formorians with the same amount of mana that [Nova] took. It just took a lot more focus to do so ¨C hence the occasional use of [Nova].


    ¡°Sealing! Get your back to your damn barrier!¡± I yelled at him, continuing to run around him in a circle like some kid on a merry-go-round.


    Blessedly, he didn¡¯t argue with me, instead taking slow steps to get his ¨C well, he didn¡¯t bother turning around ¨C his front to the barrier, just staring in at the cage fight between Night and the Royal Guard.


    I wasn¡¯t paying too much attention to the other fight, but a high-pitched scream caught my attention. I watched in horror as the Royal Guard¡¯s jaws closed on Brawling, slicing him cleanly in half at the waist, guts and blood spilling out.


    ¡°Night! Finish it now and get me to Brawling!¡± I yelled. ¡°I don¡¯t give a shit about saving some long cooldown move! Save Brawling.¡± I said, starting to run towards him.


    Sealing must¡¯ve popped several gems, because he was suddenly surrounded in a secondary barrier, glued to the first one. A number of Formorians moved in to attack him, but I wasn¡¯t paying too much attention.


    Had to reach Brawling.


    I fought my way through the horde, indiscriminately firing away, not being too careful about preserving my mana, drawing on my reserves.


    ¡°Dawn! [Veil]!¡± Night yelled from behind me, and I reflexively toggled my [Veil] off, then back on, creating a new, larger ¡®umbrella¡¯ for Night. There was a brief, inhumane scream from behind me as Night encountered daylight ¨C kinda surprised it hurt so much, although maybe it was due to injuries suddenly kicking in or something ¨C then he was next to me, carrying the umbrella, moving us through the horde at an unbelievable speed.


    Even with [Bullet Time] I couldn¡¯t process how fast we were going, until [Veil] above was replaced by a solid, never-ending ceiling of flesh and chitin, the weight of a hill psychically pressing down on me. I saw bodies flash and Formorians die by the dozen, as Night used his blood blades to carve a path through them, depositing me next to Brawling.


    Well. Next to half of Brawling, the half that was ¡°him¡±. I had no time to try and find his other half, no time to ask Night to hunt it down. Emergency stabilizing medicine time.


    I landed next to Brawling, the light fading from his eyes, hands slowly clawing futilely at his guts, trying to put them back inside his body.


    ¡°Daw¡­..¡± He started to say, head slumping back.


    My hand was already moving, already reaching for his face. I touched it, and thanks to [Persistent Casting], I didn¡¯t even need to focus, or make an image, or anything.


    Pelvis and waist, legs and feet were recreated in a second, as my entire mana pool emptied out into him. I drew more mana out of the Arcanite, and watched more vanish, until it stabilized. Brawling groaned and rolled over, clutching his head.


    ¡°What a headache.¡± He moaned. ¡°I¡¯m never drinking again. Worst. Dream. Ever.¡±


    ¡°Brawling!¡± I couldn¡¯t help it; it came out as a shriek. ¡°Not a dream! GET US OUT!¡± I yelled, slapping at his back with both my hands like beating a drum.


    Sure, I could walk out, but Brawling was magnitudes of order faster than I was.


    Or Night could just carry us out I suppose.


    To his credit, Brawling rolled over and jumped up. I mock-shielded my eyes.


    ¡°And get some damn pants!¡±


    I needed a clothing-regeneration skill.


    Night carried me while Brawling just ran out, cursing his lack of sandals as he squished through Formorian guts. We made it out, and Night yelled. ¡°They are clear! Sealing!¡±


    A barrier sprang up around the Royal Guard, Night, Brawling, Katastrofi and Hunting inside. Sealing, Toxic, and myself outside. Toxic and I got to work keeping Sealing safe.


    It was a lot easier with help, especially of the physical classer type.


    I had no idea how long it took, but I was tapping my Arcanite reserves again just to keep up, Toxic and I having our backs to Sealing, who had a hand on his barrier.


    I got lucky. I glanced in at the right time, to see Hunting on top of the Royal Guard, thrusting down with his spear to perform the lethal takedown.


    The barrier went down, and the Sentinels came out, bloody and bruised. I drew in more mana from my Arcanite, and healed up Night and Brawling. Hunting waved me off, pointing to Katastrofi. The injuries were a bit more serious this time ¨C Hunting had an arm dangling uselessly, while Brawling was limping. Well, more serious than the usual bumps and scrapes. Less serious than getting sliced in half. Katastrofi had a series of nasty-looking gashes on one flank, great bloody footprints trailing behind her.


    ¡°Dawn. Katastrofi. Everyone else, escort back. Move!¡± Hunting barked out orders, which even Night complied to.


    I nimbly climbed up and onto Katastrofi, watching my mana drop to nothing and stay there. Dangerous move that, but any mana I pulled at this stage would drain right into her, healing her numerous injuries, while not protecting me any further. I was completely reliant on the other Sentinels to defend me, while my mana drained into healing Katastrofi.


    I glanced down, getting a better idea of her injuries. She had some nasty, nasty injuries on her flank, to the point where I was wondering how she was still moving. Super-dino, I guess. Companions, and creatures in general, also got a number of skills. They were just usually less than visible, although something had to be keeping her going.


    I stayed basically flat to Katastrofi while we headed back to the grove, where Nature was busy holding all three entrances. The massive carnivorous plant was holding one entrance, while Nature was bouncing between two more entrances, one coated in vines, the other having a bush in the way, killing Formorians.


    ¡°Hunting. How are you?¡± Night asked.


    Hunting gave Night a look.


    ¡°Katastrofi¡¯s injured.¡± He flatly said.


    ¡°And Dawn is managing her. Can you hold an entrance?¡±


    Hunting hesitated, then nodded.


    ¡°The small one.¡± He said, pointing at it with his still-good arm.


    Sealing made a strangled noise as Katastrofi nearly stepped on the barrier. I didn¡¯t know much about Sealing¡¯s magic, but it couldn¡¯t be good for it. He conjured up a quick ramp, which she used to step up and over.


    Nature had no such luck with the grove, and I winced as Katastrofi trampled most of the perimeter, before settling down, wrapped about Destruction and Priest Demos¡¯s barriers.


    Ugh. We were going to have to get real cozy with each other. It was going to be cramped before we added a large dinosaur to the mix. Maybe I could sleep on Katastrofi? Then again, did I want to be that high up?


    Toxic, Hunting, and Nature each took an entrance, with Nature stoically taking the responsibility, not even muttering about needing a break or anything. Night retreated to his hut, and I mentally checked him off the list of ¡°needed healing¡±. He¡¯d gotten a solid touch after his battle with the Royal Guard.


    However ¨C we were back now, and while Katastrofi was busy draining all my mana, she was clearly stable enough. She had crashed, physically and metaphorically, and was busy sleeping. My regeneration was respectable, but she was massive, and I was eating a gargantuan penalty for her being so far away from being human.


    I figured it was better to touch everyone up, then get back to healing her. Hunting, after all, needed healing. He¡¯d brushed me off before, wanting Katastrofi to get medical attention before him. I could respect the sentiment, but given how long it would take me to finish healing Katastrofi, versus how long it¡¯d take me to fix Hunting, it was a no-brainer whose turn it was.


    I got up, and did a round, making sure everyone else was also patched up. Nature was practically untouched, and Arthur needed some nasty slices healed up. I paused when I got to Hunting.


    ¡°Your feet!¡± I said, pointing to the huge bloody footprints his half-feet were leaving. ¡°Holy! Why didn¡¯t you say anything!?¡± I yelled at him.


    He fixed a steely look at me, mechanically thrusting and killing Soldiers.


    ¡°Katastrofi gets attention before I do.¡± He said, in a tone that said ¡°Duh, and you¡¯ll never get a Companion if you ask dumb questions like that.¡±


    I folded my arms.


    ¡°She¡¯s resting, and she takes way more mana than any of you do. You¡¯re defending her right now while she¡¯s hurt. What good is your defense if you fuck up because you¡¯re hurt?¡±


    Hunting wavered a moment, before nodding at me. I touched him.


    ¡°Lift one foot up, then the other.¡± I instructed him, and he did, the bottoms of his feet magically recreated. I couldn¡¯t do it when the ground was in the way. He winced as he put them back down.


    ¡°No callouses.¡± He said, answering my unasked question.


    ¡°How¡¯d you kill the Royal Guard anyways?¡± I asked him.


    He shrugged with his non-spear shoulder.


    ¡°I¡¯m a Void mage. I¡¯m Hunting. I¡¯m really good at killing stuff.¡±


    I mean, sure. That was as much of an explanation as anything.


    ¡°What happened to your feet?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The Royal Guards are Erosion. Started eating into me the moment I touched them. We need to be careful for more than just their jaws. Their entire body can erode us away simply by touching us.¡±


    I nodded, and with not much else to say, wished him luck and carried on. The part about the bodies potentially eroding away anyone or anything that touched them was interesting from a healing perspective, but I was going to do my damnest to never be close enough to touch. I¡¯d be so dead if that happened.


    Sealing was fine, although he looked drained, and had some Arcanite out in front of him. Made me think he had to go through some of his reserves as well.


    With everyone else topped up, I went to see Brawling, who¡¯d blessedly found something resembling pants.


    Sure, he was going to have an even worse time sleeping now that he¡¯d cannibalized his blanket, but at least he wasn¡¯t streaking anymore.


    ¡°Heya Brawling.¡± I said, sitting down next to him. ¡°How are you holding up?¡±


    I wasn¡¯t prepared for the bone-crushing hug from him.


    ¡°Dawn! You literally saved my life! Seriously thought I was a goner there. Thank you. Best healer ever. You ever need anything let me know. For real.¡±


    Brawling was fairly effusive in his thanks, and I got the life-size doll treatment. I couldn¡¯t even get a word in sideways!


    After a few minutes of my view rapidly changing, I¡¯d had enough.


    ¡°Brawling! Let me go!¡± I yelled at him, and with a look of minor chagrin, he did.


    ¡°One minor complaint though. Not everything¡¯s the same size.¡± He said, with a completely straight face.


    I thought fast.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. There was only so much enlargement I could do, given the initial small size I was working with.¡± I said with my best poker face. ¡°On the bright side, you¡¯re twice the man you were earlier.¡±


    Brawling groaned and mimed an arrow through the heart, mock-falling over. I cracked a grin.


    My healing couldn¡¯t change anything. It simply restored back to the bodies natural state. How it knew how much muscle mass Brawling had before? Only thing I had for that was magic.


    I looked around. Everything seemed ok for now. I went back to Katastrofi, and the mana I¡¯d managed to recharge vanished in an instant as I touched her, one of the injuries on her side getting noticeably smaller as I did.


    I refrained from sighing. At least I¡¯d get a good night¡¯s sleep tonight. All I had to do was stay touching Katastrofi, and all the mana I regenerated would go right back to healing her. Making good use of every drop of mana I had!

 Chapter 155 – Formorians VI

    Day 7. It turned out that my blowing up the Royal Guard with all my [Nova]s on day 5 had basically lit a massive beacon, and what remained of the army had seen it. When Hunting had shown up, they were able to point him in roughly the right direction. Brave man, charging into the horde, having complete faith that we were still there, and would help him make it the rest of the way.


    Also, there was no more defensive line. The Formorians had breached it, and were busy pouring into the countryside. The army was hunkering down wherever they were, keeping themselves safe in little pockets, like we were, hoping the flood would slow down enough that they could regroup, reseal the walls, and purge all the Formorians that had leaked in.


    Given the situation, I had my doubts that the ¡°usual¡± methods would work, especially now that the Formorians had demonstrated an ability to breach the walls themselves.


    Not terribly much happened today. I finished healing Katastrofi, and Hunting declared that she needed the day to finish healing, and there was no sense in switching up the working method. Brawling also had the day off, which he used to perform stretches and exercises, ¡°making sure everything still worked¡±.


    I didn¡¯t point out the obvious. I didn¡¯t want him making sure EVERYTHING still worked.


    Had to be quite something, getting sliced in half and surviving.


    Day 8. Brawling was back in action, although he mentioned if there was another Royal Guard, he wanted to be the one holding down the fort. Losing everything below his belly button seemed to have shaken some core belief of his, cut his personal illusion of invincibility in half.


    I kept an eye on him. Being a healer wasn¡¯t just giving him a new pair of legs. Right now, I was willing to be an ear as well, listening to his concerns and fears.


    Katastrofi took one of the large entrances, happily chomping down on Formorians. Snack, snack, throw, snack.


    Hunting was hanging out, carefully watching her throughout the day, making sure she was back in peak physical condition. On one hand, it hurt a bit to think that he thought I¡¯d do a subpar job. On the other ¨C I¡¯d seen their bond; I¡¯d seen how they worked together. In my shoes, I¡¯d also be carefully checking my companion over to see if there was anything wrong.


    Arthur pulled me aside once the day was over, and Night had taken over. He still looked terrible.


    ¡°Elaine, can ¨C can we talk?¡± He asked, hesitantly. Not at all the strong, confident Arthur I remembered.


    I wrapped us up in [Veil], since there was absolutely no room in the grove in the first place, not with Katastrofi settling in happily. She¡¯d eaten probably a third of her weight in Formorians, and the glutton was now settling in for a long snooze.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I gently asked. Arthur had been avoiding me every time I visited the frontlines, had been avoiding me ever since we got here, and now, finally, seemed ready to talk.


    ¡°I ¨C promise you won¡¯t tell the others?¡± He started off asking.


    I weighed the request in my mind.


    ¡°If it¡¯s not causing immediate risk to us, I won¡¯t say anything.¡± I promised after a moment. ¡°Although if it¡¯s medically related, I¡¯m [Oath]-bound to keep your secrets.¡±


    I really really hoped that it wasn¡¯t a medical secret that threatened everyone¡¯s health. No idea what one could be, but hey. Weirder things had happened.


    ¡°Ok. Um. It¡¯s not. Um. How do I put this¡­¡± Arthur trailed off. I kept my silence, not wanting to spook him here.


    He closed his eyes and visibly steeled himself, confessing his sins.


    ¡°Elaine. I¡¯m killing people.¡±


    The words tumbled out of his mouth explosively. I caught myself from saying anything, from immediately blurting out accusations or recriminations. Arthur was clearly being tortured by this, he obviously wasn¡¯t gleefully murdering people in their sleep and bragging about it, like some of the Classers we¡¯d handled when we were on a Ranger team together.


    I forced a smile on my face, and nodded at him, encouraging him to keep going.


    ¡°It¡¯s the poison. We designed a slow poison, one that would persist and stick, one that would poison water, that would poison the ground. Working off your food chain idea. Working off how heavy metals work, how they poison people. I studied people, studied cases, and with a few other poison experts, we made something new. Poison has a habit of back blowing onto us, and we guessed this might do the same. It¡¯s why we brought you to the frontlines initially. We wanted, we needed, to know if this was going to cause the same problem.¡±


    I nodded, not letting the horror I was feeling show on my face. I saw exactly where this was going.


    ¡°Well, usually poison acts fast, and we see it back blowing into us within a week. We decided to be extra-conservative, and basically have you stick around as long as possible until your graduation came up. Six months. Six months without a single problem, without a single notification that the poison was hitting us. Figured that was good enough, and with how sensitive the System can be on kill notifications, we were cautiously optimistic about it.¡± Arthur continued.


    He closed his eyes, and his voice became strained.


    ¡°The gods have a sick sense of humor. I got the notification that I¡¯d killed a soldier the same day I got a notification that I¡¯d killed a level 180 Formorian. Obviously, the poison was now in their hives, and it was working. At the same time, it was now hitting us.¡±


    Arthur paused, and the haunted look came back to his eyes.


    ¡°Night and I met and discussed it. Eventually, he decided that it was ¡®acceptable collateral damage¡¯, and that I was to continue on.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t keep my face entirely straight and smiling at that. Heck, my supportive smile had been fading the whole time.


    ¡°Come on Elaine. Please don¡¯t give me that look.¡± Arthur begged. ¡°Night¡¯s logic was that we lose soldiers all the time. Now we were trading them for potential, real gains. And. He. Was. Right.¡± Arthur said that last part in a depressed triumphant tone. ¡°Spitters started to die, then Shooters. Some other variant we haven¡¯t seen. But the kill notifications on people started to speed up.¡±


    Chemotherapy. Arthur had been effectively performing chemotherapy on a grand scale. ¡°I¡¯ve got poison, and I think the poison will kill you before it kills us.¡±


    I think.


    Of course, it could go horribly wrong ¨C like it was now ¨C but as a grand scheme, I had to admit it was exactly like treating cancer.


    I disapproved. Strongly. Vigorously. The chemotherapy analogy broke down almost immediately. First, people with cancer had almost no other options, besides ¡°just die¡±. Second, people with cancer chose to have chemotherapy. Nobody had chosen this, besides Night and Toxic. For all I knew, Night hadn¡¯t even told Ranger Command about it. It was also being kept under wraps, kept secret.


    And speaking of. Nobody had told the people here, on the frontlines, that it was happening. A slow poison like Arthur was talking about? It probably looked like natural causes half the time, or just slowed a soldier down enough that they were eaten by a Formorian, the kill credit and experience split between Arthur and the Formorians. Heck, it might not even register as an army kill in that situation.


    Or if it did, it might just be put down to another brawl or something. I didn¡¯t know enough about self-kills like that. ¡°Your army has slain one of its own¡± probably wasn¡¯t a System concept.


    Argh! Where was Maximus when I needed him?


    Actually.


    Focus.


    Arthur was here, and he needed my help. Needed my absolution at least, which I could give him.


    ¡°Hey, listen, listen, you did the best you could.¡± I said. ¡°What¡¯s done is done. What matters is how we tackle this going forward. We¡¯re either going to win or lose. If we lose, what does it matter, we¡¯re all dead. If we win, I¡¯ll declare the area a disaster zone or something, and we¡¯ll just pack up and leave. Shouldn¡¯t be too hard to handle from there, especially since it¡¯s a slow poison.¡±


    I stood up to pat him reassuringly on the shoulder. Damn he was big.


    ¡°Worst part is, I feel this is all my fault.¡± He said, gesturing round to the walls. I know what he meant though.


    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault!¡± I protested.


    ¡°It is.¡± He said, looking at me with a steely gaze. ¡°I managed to kill a Queen.¡±


    Well then. That explained a bunch. Like why they were now all-out attacking.


    My repertoire of comforting maneuvers was weak. I patted him on the shoulder again.


    I quickly checked Arthur¡¯s level. [Ranger]. Wow. I didn¡¯t have Artemis around to compare, but he was giving her stiff competition, if not outright higher than she was. That must¡¯ve been, what, 80 levels in three years or so? And he¡¯d only get stronger the longer this fight went on.


    Rapid leveling in dire straits. It was a well-known phenomena, although one only the most desperate voluntarily went through.


    ¡°Good job! And hey! Now we¡¯ll get the rest of them! By the way, what level were they?¡± I asked.


    ¡°The one I got was level 1021. Three classes though, not one. They¡¯re clearly smarter than straight up monsters, even though they¡¯re tagged as monsters.¡± Arthur explained to me. ¡°Mist, Forest, and Decay. I got the impression that Mist was their combat class, Forest was their production class, and Decay was a recycling class for them.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense. Do you think we should tell everyone else that?¡± I asked. It was skirting the line if he said no ¨C the information seemed relevant.


    Arthur hesitated a moment.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get Night to tell everyone. Nobody will question him how he knows. I just. I don¡¯t think everyone else would understand, you know?¡±


    Privately, I disagreed. All of us had been tasked with defending humanity. We had all been Rangers, gone through trials that proved we were in it for the mission, not for glory or money. I couldn¡¯t even see Sky being so callous as to make jokes and poke fun at Arthur for accidentally killing people ¨C then being told to keep going.


    ¡°Yeah, sure, that sounds good.¡±


    ¡°Also, I¡¯m sorry for avoiding you.¡± Arthur looked down, shame-faced. Didn¡¯t mean much when I was still at belly-button height on him. ¡°Night ordered me not to tell you, because you¡¯d go ballistic, and probably end up causing problems. It¡¯s why I was avoiding you.¡± He said, and a huge weight seemed to lift off of him at the confession.


    I patting him reassuringly. ¡°I¡¯ll do what I can to make it right. I promise.¡± I said, mind already whirring with what would need to be done to fix it.


    We made some more small talk, then rejoined the rest of the group.


    Day 9 rolled around, and we had a good rotation going, to the point where Brawling was helping Night during the night.


    Also had a good rotation of warm bodies to feed Night. I hadn¡¯t been on the menu yet, and I was making myself far too useful and busy in the mornings when Night went looking for dinner.


    We were also comfortable taking on a single Royal Guard at a time, although knowing the Queens were coming was filling me with an existential dread.


    Early morning, and we were all in position, doing our thing. I was focusing on refilling my gemstones with [Nova], just keeping an eye out on things. The gemstones still weren¡¯t full, because I kept needing to do minor healing things. Honestly, now that so many of us were here, it was getting easier as the pressure was reduced on us.


    Brawling called out. ¡°Look! The Pegasus!¡±


    Most of us snapped our heads to look, and yes, high in the sky, barely a dot, was a little brown smudge.


    Cripes. Just how much perception did the dude have? Did he have additional vision skills, something like [Eagle¡¯s Eye]? Or was it raw vitality that was letting him see it?


    And with perception linked to vitality, and vitality linked to toughness, and Brawling undoubtedly having skills to make himself tougher ¨C I wasn¡¯t going anywhere near a Royal Guard¡¯s jaws.


    ¡°Dawn! Toxic! Sealing! On me!¡± Hunting yelled, getting on Katastrofi. The rest of us climbed on, as Hunting shielded his eyes, keeping an eye on what was going on.


    ¡°Bulwark¡¯s unlikely to land directly here, so we¡¯re going to go out and grab him.¡± Hunting explained to us. ¡°I want us ready.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to use [Shine] to let them know we¡¯re here.¡± I said, giving Hunting a chance to strike down my proposed move.


    ¡°Good call. Do it.¡± He said, and I gave everyone a moment to look away before turning the light show on [Shine] to the max, along with flickering bright Radiance. I was almost impossible to miss.


    Instead of seeing a tiny figure though, the Pegasus started to get larger and larger, drawing a massive amount of anti-air fire from the Formorians.


    Absurd amounts. I thought we¡¯d gotten it bad when we dropped in on them, but obviously, the larger the object, the more Formorians noticed and started shooting at it. At the same time, the hull of the boat formed an armor of sorts. Either way, the Pegasus was dropping like a rock, straight down.


    Hunting cursed.


    ¡°The idiot¡¯s going to land on us at full speed! Sealing! Dawn! Barriers! Brawling! Prepare to catch!¡± He called out.


    I hopped down off of Katastrofi, and made my way to the edge of our defenses, putting my back to the wall. My barrier and Sealing¡¯s didn¡¯t play terribly nicely together.


    Sealing put up his barriers, wonderous multi-layered things that you could still see through. I added mine on top, a single layer of Aurora Borealis, looking like a way too thin coating of chocolate icing on a massive vanilla cake.


    I missed icing. And vanilla. And chocolate. And raw sugar. And so many more foods. [Pristine Memories] let me know exactly how good it all tasted.


    Honestly, I missed food that wasn¡¯t live and murderous 20 minutes ago. My standards were in the mud right now.


    Focus.


    Sky came in like a meteor, Bulwark clearly having worked his magic to reinforce the hull. It was covered in layers and scales of overlapping stone, spikes mostly bouncing off, shattered. A few embedded themselves into the rocky exterior, but none penetrated. They weren¡¯t slowing down in the slightest, and I refrained from wincing as my barrier was instantly shattered.


    Sealing was a certifiable monster, but then again, so was I. I¡¯d just healed a person who was bisected. Sealing only lost two of his barriers to Sky¡¯s stunt, leaving them an awkward height, with the boat broken in half.


    I looked up, and refrained from groaning.


    ¡°Brawling, careful when you catch them.¡± I said, starting to head over.


    It turned out, even superhuman bodies didn¡¯t do well going from 200 to 0 in about half a second. Extra-not-well when your name was Sky, and you were a magical Classer.


    Sealing released the barriers, and Hunting and Brawling caught Bulwark and Sky respectively, extra supplies raining down around us along with all manner of wood and broken stone.


    I used [Veil] on myself to shelter from the raining debris, then walked over to Sky and Bulwark and touched them, healing them back up. I kept a poker face as I heard their bones crack back into place.


    ¡°How does freaking Dawn land better than you Sky?¡± Brawling demanded. ¡°You¡¯re Sky. Doing dumb shit like that¡­.?¡± He trailed off, shaking his head as Sky wormed out of his arms, floating in his aggravating way.


    ¡°I was fine! Honest! I just didn¡¯t expect some idiot to put a blasted barrier between me and the ground! I¡¯m Sky! I totally could¡¯ve stuck the landing!¡± He protested.


    ¡°Yeah, but you¡¯d have killed half of us if you goofed. Including Priest Demos. We couldn¡¯t take that risk.¡± Hunting pointed out, looking somewhat grumpy. ¡°As-is, you only showered us in crap.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but I brought food. Good food!¡± Sky protested.


    All of Sky¡¯s sins were forgiven in an instant. At least by me. He could¡¯ve broken half the walls if he¡¯d brought good food. I tuned out the argument, and started rummaging through the bags he¡¯d brought. There had been enough time, and Sky had clearly made a pit stop at the capital. The Quartermaster, given more than 15 minutes notice, had properly managed to get everything settled and ready, and we had a heck of a lot more stuff now.


    I grimaced as I opened a bag, and a bunch of freshly-broken Arcanite was revealed to me. Like. They¡¯d still work, and still hold mana, but two small stones didn¡¯t quite hold as much as one stone twice as large. Sure, it was possible to fuse them together, but it was a time-intense activity.


    Like the bag, that was irrelevant. I kept digging, as some of the others went back to defending the choke points. Bulwark had already started to work. He first went up to Priest Demos, and layered additional protections around him, both in stone and in glowing inscriptions. I figured that Demos was the most vulnerable of us all, and Bulwark was making extra sure that he would be fine. Bulwark was relentless. As soon as he finished that task up, he was already circling our defenses, stroking his chin and muttering under his breath.


    There was a bag that literally had my name on it, obviously meant for me. I opened it and started digging through it, to see what was meant for me.


    At last! I found it! The Grail, mana almost literally from the heavens! Salvation! Redemption! I was blind, but now I can see! I was lost in the barren desert, but now I am found! The sun had risen, chasing away the dark time of Formorian for food! Through many toils and dangers we preserved, only to arrive at the holy land that was in front of me! My wretched self was saved!


    It had been smushed flat, wrecked by the massive forces placed on it by Sky¡¯s abrupt stop, followed by a second insult from the fall to the ground. Its skin was rendered, flesh spilling from the insides to form a sticky, gooey mess inside the bag, smearing itself over all the other vittles in the bag, and yet, the most beautiful thing I¡¯d ever seen. The one object that would make me forgive Sky all his slacking off, which would have me singing the Quartermaster¡¯s praises ¨C and making sure I donated extra to his coffers.


    I grabbed it quick, holding it to me like it was the most precious thing in the world.


    A lone, solitary, slightly mashed mango.

 Chapter 156 – Formorians VII

    Day 10. Sky had not only brought us a bunch of supplies from the Quartermaster, but the Quartermaster, bless his shriveled little heart, had gotten all of our families to gather up and send us each a small pack. Hence the mango. I only found the letters in the morning, when taking an early-morning inventory of everything I¡¯d been brought. Autumn had gotten the mango for me, along with a letter, written in neat, Very Careful words.


    Elaine!


    Be careful out there! They said you¡¯re doing something dangerous, and you might be gone awhile. MAKE SURE THEY PAY YOU EXTRA. I¡¯ll be really disappointed in you if you don¡¯t get them to pay you more. Stay alive. I miss you. We get a lot less business when you¡¯re not around, and frankly I want the extra cash.


    Cheers!


    Autumn.


    I laughed at the little merchant¡¯s sheer transparency. I had no doubt that she wanted me back for me. I also had no doubt that she was bemoaning the lost coin while I wasn¡¯t around.


    Mom and dad also sent me a letter, along with a few changes of clothes. I appreciated the gesture, but I was going to be quite literally living in my armor for the foreseeable future. Then again, the moment this was over I could change. So it was worth it in the end, I guess.


    Elaine,


    We¡¯ve gotten told some of what¡¯s going on. Be safe, oh beloved daughter of ours. We sent you a few things we think you¡¯d need! We¡¯ve also fixed your room back up. Can¡¯t wait to see you back safe and sound!


    Love,


    Elainus and Julia.


    They had taken up most of my bag with a pillow. Not exactly standard wilderness fare, but¡­


    ¡°Bugger off Sky.¡± I said, clutching my pillow to me. ¡°You had every chance to get yourself a pillow on your supply run.¡±


    ¡°But Daaaaawn¡± Sky whined at me.


    ¡°But nothing. My pillow. Git. Shoo. Leave me alone.¡± I said, making a shooing motion.


    ¡°It¡¯s already so cramped though! Come on, just half.¡± Sky pleaded with me.


    I decided to take the risk, and sleep under the bushes that night. Sure, it was about as comfortable as ¡°sleeping in a bush¡± could be, but Sky and Bulwark being added to the mix made the place even more cramped.


    I mentally cursed to myself as I saw Sealing and Bulwark decide to sleep in Night¡¯s hut. Damnit! That could¡¯ve been me!


    Almost literally though ¨C I snoozed, I lost.


    Bulwark had helped out a ton. He performed some large-scale Arcanite inscriptions, along with having classes based on warding and protection. Sealing¡¯s power stunt was Bulwark¡¯s walk in the park. He laid down a number of Inscriptions to boost our stats while we were on our ¡®home turf¡¯, increased stamina regeneration, made sleep better, made us appear even more hidden to the Formorian senses, and a dozen other minor quality of life improvements.


    Day 11. Thick clouds covered the sky, starting a miserable downpour on us. The winter rains were arriving a bit early, and this far south, they were cold.


    Thunder and lightning started to rumble in the clouds, as the deluge got everything soaked. We stuffed Night¡¯s cabin full of all of our supplies ¨C much to his grumping as we started chucking stuff at him while he slept ¨C but he¡¯d live. We weren¡¯t going to start eating moldy food, or sleeping on wet blankets.


    ¡°Elaine! Quick, come here!¡± Hunting called to me urgently, and I ran over to him as fast as I could.


    I put my hands on him, expecting some grievous injury to get close. Hunting just patting my hand with his left hand, his free hand a blur as he kept stabbing Formorians.


    ¡°Whoops! Nothing¡¯s wrong. No. Look up! In the sky!¡± Hunting said, pointing up with his left hand.


    I shielded my eyes and looked up into the pouring rain, flashes of lightning across the sky lightning it up.


    ¡°What am I looking for?¡± I asked, not seeing anything.


    ¡°There! Two thunderbirds!¡± Hunting said, pointing again with emphasis. ¡°They¡¯re traveling westward. Maybe when this is over, we should go take a look!¡±


    I squinted, trying to see.


    Maybe. A flash of too many wings, a crack of thunder, and I could vaguely see the outlines of two massive birds, each with far too many wings, dancing around each other, lightning playing around them.


    Lightning making it really damn hard to see them.


    ¡°Yes. We should take a look.¡± I agreed with Hunting. ¡°If we survive this.¡± I added dryly.


    My humor in contrast with the pouring rain wasn¡¯t lost on me.


    After much muttering and consulting and discussion, Bulwark slowly erected a pavilion of sorts to keep the rain mostly off of half the grove. Katastrofi was too large to make a shelter over her as well as the rest of us. That seemed somewhat suspect to me ¨C wasn¡¯t it just the support pillars that needed to be enlarged? ¨C but what did I know, I wasn¡¯t an engineer. For all I knew, ¡°Just make the supports bigger¡± was like someone saying ¡°Why don¡¯t you just make their bones bigger to make them taller?¡± It didn¡¯t work that way.


    Long story short, I darted around, making sure everyone was fully healed up, before settling back under the pavilion, enjoying the lack of rain. I cranked up [Warmth of the Sun] to the max, which promptly backfired on me as I got zero personal space as everyone not on ¡°holding the gap¡± duty crowded around.


    Such was the price of being a heater.


    Day 12 saw the Formorian Queens show up on the horizon right as the sun was starting to set. We had a full rotation at this point, where Night no longer needed to single-handedly hold all three entrances at night.


    Day 13 everything went to shit again. The Royal Guards were called that for a reason, and the few we¡¯d seen here and there were clearly just advance scouts or something. We killed two in the early morning, then three more came for us.


    We had about a minute to plan our defenses.


    ¡°Brawling! Take over the defenses! Everyone else! Here!¡± Hunting yelled out, and we dashed over in seconds. Hunting was already drawing little figures in the mud. Night even showed up, the heavy cloud cover hiding the sun. He normally didn¡¯t even show up when there were clouds, but hey. The stakes were high.


    ¡°Three Royal Guards coming in fast. I don¡¯t think we can kill them all easily, not before they overrun us. Sealing, Dawn. The two of you have one Royal Guard. Katastrofi and I have a second. Toxic, Nature, Bulwark, Sky ¨C you¡¯re on the third. Night, can you assist?¡±


    Night spent less than half a second thinking.


    ¡°I will watch, and jump in if assistance is required. Otherwise-¡°


    ¡°Ok, great.¡± Hunting interrupted him. I appreciated it. Night tended to pontificate, and without Hunting interrupting him would take seven minutes to say ¡°I¡¯ll be on backup.¡±


    ¡°Shame we don¡¯t have Ocean here, not with the rain. Dawn, blow your gems on this one. Everyone else. Try not to blow any gems. Once we¡¯re done with ours, we¡¯ll swing by to help. Questions?¡± Hunting asked.


    ¡°Sky, can you give us a float over?¡± I asked. I didn¡¯t want to plow through the horde if I didn¡¯t need to.


    ¡°Yeah, but there¡¯s a narrow band between the Formorian Soldiers being unable to reach you, and the Shooters attacking you. You won¡¯t have the same control I have to stay in the band, not with your flying skills.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t risk it then.¡± Hunting said. ¡°Move out.¡±


    Toxic and Nature blazed a trail for Bulwark to follow, while Sky stayed in the narrow band he had deemed as ¡®safe¡¯, dipping down to pick up rocks and throwing them at Formorians. He was really out of his element here.


    Hunting jumped on Katastrofi, who roared a challenge at one of the Royal Guards before charging out.


    Sealing and I stayed within the defenses, waiting for the last one.


    I will say, in all the fights I¡¯d been in, in all the challenges I¡¯d faced, with all the adversity I¡¯d overcome ¨C a monster the size of a three-story building charging at me never failed to strike fear deep into me. Like before, like always, I let the fear in, acknowledged it, and let it pass through.


    [Center of the Galaxy] helped.


    Sealing layered barriers up, bleeding momentum as the Royal Guard crushed through them all, finally judging that either enough speed had been lost ¨C or more practically, that the Royal Guard was practically on top of us. His barrier thankfully held; the beast trapped within.


    It was with a lot less stress that I stepped closer to the barrier, and unleashed all of my stored [Nova]s.


    A brilliant eruption of heat and light exploded out from me, passing directly through Sealing¡¯s barrier, exploding directly onto the Royal Guard. The heat and the light of the Radiance lit the place up like the sun was directly ahead, never mind the clouds.


    I blinked as the fiery inferno calmed down. My eyes widened in realization.


    ¡°Sealing! No notification! It¡¯s not dead!¡±


    He cursed as the Royal Guard became visible again. I guess it was a tactical mistake on my part. The front where it chewed things up was a lot tougher than the rest of it, by sheer virtue of that¡¯s where it usually got hit. Last time I¡¯d hit it from above. However, it was moving slowly, unsteadily. Sealing made a snap judgement call.


    ¡°I can hold it until Hunting or someone else gets back. Might even be able to kill it. Keep a mana reserve for healing. See if anyone else needs help. Go!¡± He ordered.


    I mean, he can tell me to go, but it¡¯s not like I needed to actually go and do anything. I took a look at Hunting, and how he was doing.


    I didn¡¯t see Hunting, but I did see Katastrofi, his enormous ¨C well, against the Royal Guards, small ¨C Abelisaurus no longer charging at the Royal Guard, but locked in a deadly dance, as she dodged attacks and continued to roar challenges at the Royal Guard. It wasn¡¯t going great for her ¨C the Soldiers were working her over, as she was unable to defend herself on all sides, in spite of her tail sweeping away dozens of Formorians at a time ¨C but I had full faith that Hunting was hard at work somewhere in the mess.


    Even as I watched, Hunting leapt up, nimbly climbing the Royal Guard, expertly avoiding its mandibles. I mentally winced ¨C with how corrosive the skin was, with their ¡°anti-small stuff¡± defenses, Hunting had to be losing layers off his skin at a bare minimum. My bet was he¡¯d have something close to bloody stumps when he got back.


    And yet.


    He reached the top of the monster¡¯s head, and seemed to just drop straight down. Through the beast.


    Just ¨C a nice, wide hole under him where there no longer was Royal Guard, just a void, rapidly sucking in air.


    The Royal Guard collapsed, dead, but I didn¡¯t see Hunting emerge.


    Doing some quick math¡­ yeah. He was probably stuck in there until he could either dig himself out, or climb back out. Neither option sounded pleasant.


    ¡°Sealing. Night. Might need to rescue Katastrofi.¡± I said. ¡°Hunting took down the Royal Guard, but looks stuck as a result.¡±


    Night was next to me ¨C not quite in a flash. Moving at more normal speeds.


    ¡°Accursed clouds. Half the time I have my System-access. Half the time I do not. Dawn, if you would do the honors?¡± Night asked.


    I wordlessly made a large umbrella out of [Veil]. Night grabbed me in one hand, grabbed the umbrella in the other, and was off like the world¡¯s deadliest lady.


    Making it to Katastrofi was hardly a challenge, although I wanted to keep an eye out on the third fight. Persuading Katastrofi to leave Hunting¡¯s side?


    ¡°Here dino dino dino dino!¡± I said, much in the same tone that people called cats. ¡°Bluebeard¡¯s safe inside! You¡¯re not safe. Let¡¯s get you back to safety, then come back out when Bluebeard comes back out, ok?¡± I said, as Night kept the area around us safe.


    Katastrofi leaned into me.


    Oh my. What big teeth you have.


    She sniffed. Once. Twice.


    I was getting to her!


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right. Let¡¯s keep you safe so Bluebeard doesn¡¯t worry, ok?¡± I told her in my best soothing voice. I had no idea if she could understand me or not, and I briefly considered what the heck my life was coming to that I was trying to negotiate with a dinosaur in the middle of a monster ant horde while a vampire progenitor was keeping me safe, but hey! I gotta just roll with it. If I didn¡¯t roll with it, I¡¯d go nuts.


    I was forced onto my knee and clamped my hands over my ears as Katastrofi objected to my proposal, roaring her defiance.


    ¡°Ok! OK! I get it!¡± I said, thinking fast.


    ¡°Night! What do we do!?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I will attempt to dig him out. Please secure the rear with Katastrofi.¡±


    I wanted to groan. More defending myself in the middle of the horde. I wasn¡¯t equipped for this.


    The worst part was, Katastrofi had picked a position by the Royal Guard¡¯s head to wait for Hunting. Reasonable, when you consider that¡¯s where he went in. But instead of a half-circle to defend, we needed to defend almost an entire circle¡¯s worth. Just me and Katastrofi.


    Katastrofi was at least smart enough to see what we were doing, and helped us out by being the terror she was built to be.


    Quite frankly, I was almost more of a hindrance on the ground than a help.


    ¡°Good dinosaur you know me please don¡¯t eat me.¡± I said in a calm, soothing voice as I grabbed one of Katastrofi¡¯s harnesses, and hauled myself up, onto her back. ¡°I¡¯m here to help, good dino.¡± I said, patting her neck.


    ¡°Right! Kill them all!¡± I proudly announced, having no illusions about how well my orders would be followed.


    There was a world of difference between seeing Katastrofi in action, riding her, and then actually being on her when she was in action. My perception couldn¡¯t keep up, and since I wasn¡¯t in ¡®going to be dismembered in the next second¡¯ danger, [Bullet Time] didn¡¯t activate.


    [Center of the Galaxy] was the only thing keeping my lunch in, as she whirled and struck, slaughtering Formorians by the dozen. I stayed looking to one side, then the other, occasionally firing out a strong beam of Radiance when I saw a target of opportunity nearby. I was in no position to do fine beams, to make sure I exactly killed a Formorian and nothing else.


    I didn¡¯t dare use a [Nova]. For all I knew, Katastrofi was mid-swing, and I¡¯d just friendly-fire her.


    In a brief moment of pause, I saw the team that had gone after the 3rd Royal Guard limping back to the grove, injuries clear on a number of them. I hit my thigh in frustration. I wanted to be there! I needed to get to them, to heal them! Instead, I was stuck here, because freaking Hunting didn¡¯t have a blasted escape plan properly worked out!


    I have no idea how long Night and I stayed here, but the sun was setting, and the clouds were starting to part. Which meant Night might be in trouble when he got out of the blasted body. How long did it take to dig someone out of a body anyways?!


    The Queens had been getting larger and larger, and as they got closer, dread was mounting within me. The crab-like beings were massive, on a scale I couldn¡¯t properly comprehend. Through the thick mists surrounding them, I could see one massive crab-like leg rise, slowly move forward, then plant itself down again. Tentacles writhed from every surface, some dipping down to the ground and back up in a never-ending dance, feeding and laying more eggs.


    I couldn¡¯t see any way to even slow it down, let alone anything as crazy as kill it. If it stood still, and I had twenty years, I might be able to do some damage. Depending on how tough naturally it was. Probably tougher than I was thinking. I could maybe beat a tentacle. One of the smaller ones.


    How, by all the gods and goddesses, were we supposed to kill one, let alone three!? The task seemed impossible to me. Generations of combat before my time attested to the fact that, yes, it seemed impossible.


    And this was with them out of their lair to boot! How much more dangerous were they when they had the home field advantage, when they were on the defensive?


    No wonder Night had never gotten anywhere. No wonder Toxic¡¯s move was such a breakthrough.


    He¡¯d killed one of those!? How had he only gotten 80 levels?!


    Still. Hunting and Night eventually exploded out of the Royal Guard, coated in goo, signature blue beard gone.


    ¡°Night. Dawn. Thank you.¡± He said, glancing around, immediately assessing the situation. ¡°Katastrofi. Follow.¡± He said, and took off through the Formorian Soldiers. I had to grab on as Katastrofi loyally bounded after her companion, and Night followed at what could only be described as a ¡°leisurely¡± pace, never mind the speed we were going at.


    We arrived back at the grove, and I promptly hopped off to heal everyone. A variety of moderately bad injuries all around, with Hunting having gotten the worst of it. Not only was the outside of the Royal Guard corrosive, but everything on the inside was as well. It was like he¡¯d gotten steadily rained on by deadly acid, eating away at him.


    Night also needed a solid amount of healing, managing to once again drain all my mana out. I had saved him for last for that reason, his inhuman nature straining my skill.


    I could totally see him touching me in my sleep in the middle of the night. In a non-creepy way, of course.


    Healing didn¡¯t bring back his magnificent blue beard, and he ran his hand over the shiny dome of his bald head.


    ¡°Well. Guess I¡¯ve got a new look now.¡± He said with good humor.


    ¡°Ooooh, I can see myself in this!¡± Sky said, hovering over Hunting.


    Hunting swatted at him. Sky dodged.


    ¡°Dawn. Toxic. Bulwark.¡± Hunting said. ¡°Defensive duty for now. Brawling¡¯s been on it long enough.¡±


    I refrained from grumbling. It had been long enough since I last took a full shift, and not just relieving someone, that it was fair for me to do it.


    Ah well.


    Day 14?


    I was woken up in the middle of the night by Night yelling.


    ¡°It is time! Everyone, to arms! Bags on! Destruction! It is now or never! We can not wait for Priest Demos any longer! Do it!¡±


    Adrenaline was one hell of a wake-up drug. Seeing the Queen only a few miles away, seeing what looked to be a wall of Royal Guards charging towards us, and I was awake, alert, and in full fight-or-flight mode within seconds.


    Everyone else was jumping to attention, with Sky shooting off into the air as fast as he could. I had no time to wonder where he was going, as everyone was desperately throwing their bags onto their back. I hurried to follow suit.


    The moons were out again, full. Staring. Watching. Unnatural. Crimson light flooded the plain, basking everything in red.


    Then Destruction spoke.


    It was only a single word.


    It spoke of Mother Earth, turning over in her sleep. The planet, taking a breath. The rock and mantle below, scratching an itch. Tectonic plates shifting and sliding, of great tension relieving itself with a sudden, quick snap. The forces that skills could bring, of the might any living being on this planet could wield. As he spoke, it sounded like rocks and stones tumbling over one another, gravelly voice exerting his will upon the world, reshaping it. Destruction Spoke, and the world responded.


    ¡°[Earthquake].¡±


    I didn¡¯t feel it at first. I didn¡¯t see the impact, didn¡¯t see the effect. I had a brief moment of wondering if it had been a dud, before a sudden large jolt occurred, the ground underneath me deciding that it was going to be somewhere else, and damn all the people and things above it. I went tumbling to the ground, head smashing on a tree.


    ¡°Careful Dawn!¡± Night reprimanded me.


    I bit back a curse. No shit I was trying to be careful.


    The ground buckled and heaved, Nature¡¯s carefully-grown trees falling. Bulwark¡¯s earthen barriers reinforced by Sealing¡¯s skills also couldn¡¯t survive the disruption, and they collapsed.


    The Formorians weren¡¯t having a great time of it either, and as I watched, a great rift split the ground, swallowing hundreds ¨C thousands ¨C of Formorians, as they tumbled into the abyss. Soldier, Shooter, Royal Guard ¨C none of that mattered, the earth ate them all.


    The rift continued to expand, snaking its way in the wild, unknowable method of an earthquake towards the Queens. Even as I watched, the crack opened up near enough to the Queen¡¯s feet, and her great weight was too much for what remained of the cliff wall. Half the Queen fell into the chasm, only her great bulk reaching from side to side stopping her from falling all the way through.


    But the earthquake wasn¡¯t done yet.


    With a snap that no force on the planet could survive, the chasm closed, crushing a good third of the Queen with it. The tentacles on that Queen went crazy, flailing all over, crushing and killing dozens of Royal Guards who were moving towards her, to better aid and assist the fallen behemoth.


    The earthquake continued, bucking and heaving, us Sentinels thrown around like a leaf on the wind. Through it all Priest Demos remained knelt in prayer.


    Until he wasn¡¯t.


    He got up, and spoke with a soft voice.


    The world stood still for a moment.


    ¡°Ah. That did it. We have our miracle.¡±


    Warm waves of divine power started to radiate out from Demos.


    The sky was cloudless, and yet, the heavens split open, and a radiant glow brighter than the sun burst forth, lighting up the plains with golden light. The air shuddered as the God made his judgement and intervention known, all living beings within sight of the miracle cowering before the raw divine power on display.


    Sentinels and Formorians included.


    A pillar of divine flames reached down from the heavens, seeming to almost gently and tenderly wrap around one of the remaining Queens, then purging and scouring the Queen from existence. The blast of heat and power hit us with a roar, returning sound to the world. The force blasted around anything that had been in the camp and not nailed down.


    I was a lightweight, and got included in the ¡°not nailed down¡± portion, tumbling and cursing as I was blown back. Not terribly far, but enough for it to be a pain.


    The heavenly flames were merely the announcement, the initial strike opening the skies. The inferno faded, leaving behind a charred husk of the Formorian Queen, and a notification that our party had slain it. I wasn¡¯t going to argue with getting credit. Behind it, a legion of angels poured through the burning rift. Humanoid, with great white feathered wings and enormous burning swords, they descended down from the heavens above, down to our mortal plane, and fell upon the last monstrous Queen.


    Scorching swords sliced through vicious tentacles, cauterizing purple flesh. Heavenly weapons sought out chinks and nooks and crannies, plunging deep into the Queen¡¯s shell, and emerging with an explosion of steaming flesh and golden, holy flames.


    The angels were clearly corporeal, less than fully divine. A tentacle wrapped around an angel, crushing him, throwing the body with broken wings plummeting to the ground. Another had her wings torn off, turning herself into a final strike with her sword as she plunged down.


    She landed on the Queen, and kept furiously hacking away at tentacles until another one turned her into paste.


    The Shooters noticed the new aerial threat, and turned their attention to the angels, hundreds, thousands of spikes firing up towards them. Most were deflected, or did nothing to the heavenly beings, but now and then one would fall, pierced by too many attacks to keep going.


    The earthquake was keeping them in check though, side rifts opening up and consuming hundreds of Formorians, Shooters included.


    Then the earth got back to heaving and bucking under my feet, and I was back to keeping myself alive.

 Chapter 157 – Formorians VIII

    Suicide missions were called that for a reason. In this case, namely, we were channeling and launching an earthquake on top of us, as powerful as could be. We were at the epicenter, where the ground was constantly deciding to be somewhere else at high speed.


    Sky promptly took flight, flying high, going up, up, and away, speeding towards the angels.


    ¡°Sky! Don¡¯t do it! The Shooters-¡°


    Night bit off what he was going to say, as Sky was clearly ignoring him.


    From what I could briefly see though, the Shooters weren¡¯t ignoring him, never mind the earthquake, never mind the legion of holy angels.


    I really, really wanted to try and heal some angels. See them up close and personal. Maybe talk with them? Get a few feathers?


    ¡°Bulwark. Toxic. Dawn. Escort Priest Demos to the walls, and attempt to secure them. Sealing. Hunting. Brawling. Nature. On me. We will strike at the Queen while she is weakened. We shall ensure our victory.¡±


    I opened my mouth to argue, to advocate for me getting to see the angels, then closed it. It was right for me to head back. I would be a massive force multiplier among the soldiers defending themselves, while I¡¯d barely be a help here. Sure, I might pull someone from the brink of death, but I might also end up being a liability where they were going.


    All Sentinels were equal, but some ¨C namely Night ¨C were more equal than others. I wasn¡¯t going to start arguing here and now. Not when it was such a coin flip.


    ¡°Hang on.¡± Destruction said, holding his hand up. We paused.


    ¡°I keep notifications on.¡± He said, unable to hide a smug grin passing over his face. ¡°And with that little stunt just now, I hit level 520.¡±


    Holy ¨C I whistled and clapped like everyone else did. He¡¯d just gotten what, a eighty levels in one go or something absurd like that?


    ¡°Turns out, you get your 3rd class at 512 like we were thinking. I¡¯d love to grab a class now, but since the experience stays and I need to do some thinking on what to grab, I¡¯m going to delay.¡± Destruction said.


    There was some grumbling at the announcement ¨C we all wanted to see him grab a third class, to see if there was anything special about it.


    Destruction yawned.


    ¡°Do wish I could sleep though, or grab a nap. My [Sleep Storage] skill only goes so far.¡± He grumbled.


    The four of us on the ¡°return and defend¡± team grouped up, while the strike team grabbed what they could, getting the lion¡¯s share of the remaining supplies, then started running. They needed to do a long loop ¨C the earth was split, forcing them to detour. Katastrofi couldn¡¯t make the gap.


    Watching Destruction work on his own, when he wasn¡¯t channeling a skill, was quite something. It was like Artemis on steroids. Artemis, if she had unlimited mana. Pebbles kept levitating themselves around Destruction, then firing away in every direction like grapeshot, leaving dozens of Formorians dead and twitching behind him. An uncountable flurry of stones were whizzing around him, creating a deadly shield that would shred anything near him.


    Almost all regeneration. He could keep this up for hours, and that was after he¡¯d unleashed a massive earthquake.


    I mentally shook my head. Sentinels. Crazy powerful, the lot of them. Which had me eyeing Priest Demos, who¡¯d pulled off a stunt nearly as crazy and as strong.


    ¡°Miracles, eh?¡± I asked Priest Demos, keeping my footing through the shaking earth. Like, mid-earthquake wasn¡¯t really the time for a casual chat, but like, what else was I doing? Well, besides rapidly finding religion. All praise¡­ who again?


    He closed his eyes.


    ¡°A lifetime of service, of devotion, all for this one moment.¡± He said. ¡°It wasn¡¯t for this moment. It wasn¡¯t with ulterior motives that I worshipped the God of Conquest. It just felt right. He rewarded me with the ability to see lies so many decades ago, touched me in a manner similar to Papilion¡¯s touch on you, although different in so many ways. Then it came to now, came to this moment. I begged intervention. The temple back in the capital also had worshippers beg for intervention. Finally, the god decided to intervene. It comes at a significant price to his divine power. Angels come from faithful mortals that are selected and asked to join. Those that died are forever gone. The god will need centuries, if not longer, to recover from this intervention.¡±


    Priest Demos smiled, with his eyes closed.


    ¡°Lastly. I¡¯m not going to make it.¡± He said, and at that, I leaned forward, touching him, making sure he was fully healed. Only a few points of mana left, which I surmised was from how banged-up he¡¯d gotten ¨C we¡¯d all gotten ¨C in the earthquake.


    ¡°No Dawn ¨C eh, Elaine. This is my time. See. My old friend White Dove has come to take me away.¡±


    I¡¯d be dammed if there wasn¡¯t a white dove now sitting in one of the branches of a downed tree. I eyed it somewhat unhappily.


    I¡¯d initially taken to White Dove/Black Crow being a superstition until I¡¯d been visited by the specter of Black Crow on the pirate ship. I still kept falling for the ¡°but it¡¯s just a folk story¡±. One day I¡¯d stop making that mistake.


    Probably just in time for the story to actually be a folk story. That¡¯d be the day, when Sentinel Dawn¡¯s scared of the chicken-legged house. Hang on, chicken-legged housed sounded totally plausible on Pallos.


    Mimics? Yeah, I could see some chests holding voracious all-consuming monsters.


    A living cookie?


    Ok, no, that was going too far. Cookies couldn¡¯t live. Maybe they could be puppetted by someone else ¨C that was all too easy to believe ¨C but being alive? No way.


    Anyways.


    Black Crow I¡¯d fought hundreds of times, with each patient I¡¯d pulled back from the brink, with each life I¡¯d saved. White Dove? She was a whole different kettle of fish. She came to those who were at peace with death, who were ready to go.


    What did I do?


    I was sworn to help, to heal, to fight off death, to do grim battle with Black Crow over lives. To shoo him away, to give people more time under the sun, to let them see another dawn. If Priest Demos was suicidal ¨C a fairly common case for White Dove to show up, as the stories went ¨C it¡¯d be easy. Sit on top of him, talk him out of it.


    But he wasn¡¯t. He simply knew his life was at an end, and was happy to take the grim reaper¡¯s hand, and walk onto the next step of his journey, the next chapter in his¡­


    ¡­ life felt like the wrong word here.


    ¡°Elaine. Do not worry about me.¡± Priest Demos said, locking eyes with me, giving me a kindly, grandfatherly smile. ¡°I assume your healing beacon is still on. Listen. Take my hand, so you know you did all you could, so you don¡¯t need to worry about what happens next.¡± He said, offering me his hand. I took it.


    ¡°Tiberius.¡± Priest Demos said, turning to Bulwark.


    ¡°Priest.¡± He respectfully said.


    ¡°You¡¯ve grown up to be a fine man. I couldn¡¯t be prouder. I would never imagine the kid I sheltered from the streets to become the man you are today. Be at peace. Marry that woman. Name a kid or three after me.¡± He said, cracking a grin. Bulwark cracked one right back.


    ¡°Alright, just for you, I will!¡± Bulwark said, wrapping Demos in a hug.


    I let go of his hand, to better let Demos and Bulwark say goodbye.


    They eventually let go.


    ¡°Toxic ¨C Arthur, if I remember correctly?¡± Demos said. Arthur nodded stiffly.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what haunts you so. If it is atonement and absolution you seek, I can give it to you. If it is penance, I can also give it to you. Go forth, and do good in this world. Do good, until you believe you have done more good than harm. Go out, and improve the lives of your fellow man, however you best see fit. One day, the scales will be balanced, then tip back towards you, and you shall know peace.¡±


    That short little speech seemed to lift thousands of pounds off of Arthur, as he wrapped the Priest in a large, fierce hug.


    ¡°I will. I will.¡± Arthur sobbed. Bulwark and I exchanged a glance, a silent vow to never mention his crying.


    ¡°Right. I do believe my time is up. Elaine, if you would do the honors?¡± Demos said, holding out his hand again. I took it again, my heart racing, my palms suddenly sweaty.


    I just realized that this could go terribly wrong for me. If I somehow kept Demos alive through the attentions of White Dove, I¡¯d have the literal grim reaper mad at me ¨C possibly going after me.


    I steeled myself. Every day was a battle against Black Crow. I wasn¡¯t going to get scared now. I wasn¡¯t going to back down now, not when this was just another fight, another time and place to push back a death-date.


    It didn¡¯t stop a nervous lump from forming in my throat as Demos faced the white dove ¨C White Dove ¨C and spoke to it.


    ¡°I do believe my time has come, and I am ready.¡± He said.


    There was no fanfare, no trumpets, nothing.


    Priest Demos simply dropped dead from perfect health while holding my hand, while my healing was pulsing through him, without me spending a single point of mana.


    So ended the tale of Priest Demos, a boy who loved the gods, and was loved in return by them. A teenager, who¡¯d been visited by one god in particular, touched and blessed by him. A young man, who¡¯d taken up a blue class in the name of his god. The high priest, who¡¯d guided and mentored dozens of other god¡¯s touched in the decades, nearly two centuries that he¡¯d lived. The man who¡¯d taken kids off the street, sheltered them, given them life and meaning and purpose. And lastly. Humanity¡¯s great savior, who¡¯d called down a miracle in our hour of need.


    Such was the tale of Priest Demos.

 Chapter 158 – Formorians IX

    I gently lowered Priest Demos¡¯s body to the ground, stepping back. Bulwark moved in, and I tugged on Arthur¡¯s arm, to better give him some privacy.


    It was weird. I¡¯d never gotten the hang of sea legs, but my earthquake legs seemed to be fine.


    Arthur was also deep in thought, and I wasn¡¯t going to disturb him. The Formorians had stopped attacking for now, but I suspected it wouldn¡¯t be too long before they were back at it.


    I shut up, and said nothing, letting the two of them have their moment of peace. Heck, I had some thinking to do myself.


    Demos letting me hold his hand did just as much as he¡¯d guessed it would. I wasn¡¯t struggling or self-doubting my actions or choices, which immediately gave me a measure of peace.


    However, there was now the certain knowledge that there was no fighting White Dove. If she wanted someone, there wasn¡¯t a damn thing I could do about it, at least as my skills were now. It was likely my skills would never be good enough.


    At the same time, as the stories went, White Dove only took those who were willing, and Priest Demos had gotten more than a little bit of divine attention just now. I had brushed up against the gods once again, and the sheer scale, the sheer difference in power, made me want to run screaming the other way.


    I was so glad I had never taken one of Papilion¡¯s classes.


    A loud noise came from where Bulwark was, and Arthur and I turned and looked. A large stone statue of Priest Demos emerged from the ground, larger than life, standing protectively over a tomb made of stone. We let Bulwark take his time, carefully having the stone imprinted with fancy patterns, putting up a plaque describing Demos and his life¡¯s work. Putting down basic defenses and complex inscriptions, so the Formorians wouldn¡¯t bother the tomb.


    As impatient as I was, as much as I wanted to get moving, I left Bulwark alone. Instead, I idly punched Arthur¡¯s leg. Left. Right. Left. Right. Dude was unfairly tall. He just glanced down and basically shrugged.


    Thinking about it, he probably had more stats at this point than anyone else on the old team. His massive evolution at 256, combined with all the levels here? Yikes. Heck, he might be rivaling some of the other Sentinels in stats, given that he seemed to see a nice big level spike as well.


    I was getting kinda excited to class up myself, and I was going to do so the moment I could. I¡¯d been checking on my stats and level ups now and then as we fought, but now I took a high level summary look at everything I¡¯d gotten up until now.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Ranger-Mage] has leveled up to level 215->256! +10 Free Stats, +5 Speed, +5 Vitality, +20 Mana, +20 Mana Regen, +20 Magic power, +20 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being Human! +1 Strength, +1 Mana Regen from your Element!]


    [*Ding!* [Warmth of the Sun] leveled up! 215 -> 217]


    Oh wow. If [Warmth of the Sun] was leveling up, I was in for it. In a good way.


    [*Ding!* [Medicine] leveled up! 240 -> 251]


    [*Ding!* [Veil of the Aurora] leveled up! 245 -> 256]


    All my Ranger-Mage skills, except for [Shine], maxed out as well.


    [*Ding!* [Shine] leveled up! 104 -> 111]


    I mentally cursed. I should¡¯ve kept [Shine] going semi-permanently at night. I probably would¡¯ve maxed it as well.


    At the same time ¨C I was spending most nights recharging my [Nova] gems. I didn¡¯t exactly have mana to luxuriously waste.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked the Class skill [Sun Spike]! Would you like to replace a skill with [Sun Spike]? Y/N]


    Sun Spike: You are the inviolate sun, high above all other beings. With this skill, you strike down all small things that dare approach you. Increased number of projectiles that can be shot down, increased power of attacks, increased range per level.


    I thought about the skill. Basically, it seemed to be a point-defense system. A reward for diving through the Shooter¡¯s spikes from high up, a skill that would let me do it again.


    At the same time, it seemed like a skill that just mimicked stuff I could already do with a combination of other skills. Plus, and this was super petty, I didn¡¯t like the phrasing of the skill.


    I denied the skill.


    [*Ding!* [Bullet Time] leveled up! 230 -> 256]


    [*Ding!* [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] leveled up! 235 -> 252]


    [*Ding!* [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority] leveled up! 240 -> 256]


    [*Ding!* [Persistent Casting] leveled up! 111 -> 182]


    [Sun-Kissed] maxing out was sweet though! I¡¯d been struggling to raise that skill¡¯s level for some time now, and getting it capped here and now was great!


    I glanced at my stats. On one hand, I didn¡¯t want to punt and screw up my stat allocation. On the other, this was it. My last evolution for my Celestial class that I¡¯d ever get. I¡¯d hate myself if I missed a good evolution because I was short a few stat points. At the same time, we were still in the middle of a war zone, and I didn¡¯t exactly have time to chat with Night, Julius, Artemis, and the rest of the Sentinels to optimize my build.


    Then again, I kinda knew the score at this point. I knew what to expect, I knew my build.


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 451]


    [Strength: 312]


    [Dexterity: 194]


    [Vitality: 975]


    [Speed: 975]


    [Mana: 6704]


    [Mana Regeneration: 6903 (+4417.92)]


    [Magic Power: 5839 (+68608.25)]


    [Magic Control: 5839 (+68608.25)]

 Chapter 159 – Formorians X

    I took a look around the infirmary, a frown on my face. Usually, there were booths of healers, and a line of injured soldiers waiting their turn, sorted by severity. That¡¯s normally how this worked.


    Instead, what I saw were rows upon rows of injured soldiers, with a number of slightly-less injured soldiers running around with buckets of filthy water and bandages. It was still night time, and the long, long tent was poorly lit. All I saw were unending rows of men, going into the darkness. The stench of rot and decay, blood and vomit, bile and gore filled the air.


    Nothing new there.


    Screams and cries filled the air, men in agony begging for relief. Crying out for their families, for their loved ones.


    ¡°Find me the healer, or whoever¡¯s in charge.¡± I ordered my gofer.


    I missed Kallisto already. He would¡¯ve preemptively read my mind, and already had the whole story for me. Instead, I was back to doing this the hard way.


    I grabbed one of the soldiers who was running around, and not wanting to go through another song and dance routine, started by flashing my Sentinel badge.


    ¡°Hi. Area with the most critically injured?¡± I asked him. I didn¡¯t get a salute in return, on account of him missing the needed hand.


    He hesitated a moment, just from the sheer surreal nature of a Sentinel showing up in his tent, but pointed me in the right direction.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said, tapping him, letting a grin go from ear to ear. The look on his face, as his arm regrew, and a dozen minor cuts and bruises got fixed.


    Gratitude and relief, thankfulness and joy. A new lease on life, a body made whole again.


    There was an argument to be made to wait until I had a full sense of the situation. Until I had an eagle-eye view of everything going on, to put my mana to the best, optimal use. That we¡¯d need my power somewhere else.


    I couldn¡¯t do it. Not here, not now, not this time. I went from soldier to soldier, lying side by side, packed like sardines in the infirmary, touching each one, healing them. Getting them ready enough to get back in the fight.


    Which naturally had the soldiers further down in the line start to clamor and shout for me, for me to skip the line and heal them now.


    ¡°I¡¯m the grandson of Senator Lucius! Heal me next!¡± One voice cried out.


    ¡°I have a wife! And kids! Do me next!¡± Someone else added in.


    In the most pompous and arrogant tone I¡¯d ever heard, so over the top as to be ridiculous.


    ¡°Well, bugger to all of you. I am the son of a baker. I obviously take priority.¡±


    I cracked up laughing at that, hitting another person, and if I didn¡¯t think it¡¯d cause Serious Problems, I would¡¯ve gotten to him next just for the joke. If I started down that path though, it could end up problematic. Better to have the appearance of fair and neutral in my healing.


    However, I¡¯d been a bit arrogant coming into the infirmary, and starting to heal.


    Magic worked on a bunch of different things. Skills. Stats. Difficulty. Size. Image. All were factors in how much mana I used in a skill. One of the biggest, most important aspects was the size of the injury. A small cut took hardly anything, while regrowing an entire arm cost thousands of mana. Disease was easy and hard in that respect. The better I knew what I was dealing with, the more efficient I was, the less mana I used. However, fundamentally, disease didn¡¯t have a huge amount of mass to it, which seemed to be one of the most critical aspects of not using lots of mana to cure it.


    A poor image of the disease Hesoid was using, the fact that it was a magical plague and not natural, the fact that it was backed by skills as well, was why it had cost me so much more to cure his diseases, versus the natural outbreak of cholera that had been going on in tandem. I also needed to heal the damage done by the disease.


    However, it was generally on a small scale, as these things went. It was why I could attempt to cure an entire tiny town of a weak plague. Diseases just didn¡¯t cost that much mana. Part of why Dark and Water healers were more popular than Light healers. You could see a lot more patients for the same amount of mana, on top of a higher effectiveness at lower levels.


    Only at 100, when I¡¯d first gotten [Detailed Restoration] did I start becoming an effective Light healer. Even then, I¡¯d needed the boost from [Oath] just to start getting anywhere.


    Restoring limbs was an entirely different ballgame. There was a reason it had taken me three castings of a skill just to restore a kid¡¯s arm back when I first got the skill, and that was a kid. A single, scrawny kid, with a small arm. The larger the person, the larger the arm, the more mana it took.


    The question wasn¡¯t my power, or my control. I¡¯d demonstrated that with Brawling, curing him being bisected.


    It was easier to reattach a limb than to recreate it. All the flesh was still there, it just needed to be reconnected, and what little rot and problems had set in needed to be fixed. Growing a limb wholesale was a different problem, by an order of magnitude.


    The question was the sheer scale of the problem.


    The first dozen patients were easy, and I hardly noticed the problem.


    The second dozen the half-eye I permanently kept on my mana was sending a little warning bell that my mana was dropping fast.


    By the third dozen, I knew I was in trouble.


    I started to slow down. Chat with each soldier for a minute, stalling for time to think, and stalling for time for my mana to regenerate. The beauty of the ¡°booth¡± method of healing is it took some time between patients, time that I could regenerate my mana, as opposed to the ¡°blitz through everyone as fast as possible¡± method that I was currently employing.


    I looked around, and spotted exactly the person I needed.


    Well. Thought I needed.


    They looked well into their middle-ages, and identified at level 240. His insignia suggested that he was a Centurion, one of the lower-leveled commanders. A young Centurion likely had bought the spot, or had gotten in on connections and the like. A battle like this, being on the frontlines, might have knocked some sense into them. It might not have. However, someone who¡¯d broken past 180, and gotten themselves all the way to 240? Someone who, in spite of an age that suggested decades in the military was a Centurion? I couldn¡¯t guarantee it, but it hinted at a lifetime of service, of being promoted from the lowest ranks all the way to Centurion on sheer merit and skill. Exactly the sort of person who could discreetly lend me a hand.


    ¡°Centurion! It¡¯s been so long!¡± I gleefully said, arriving by his side. A quick look at his injuries suggested that falling rocks was the cause of his injuries, not Formorians. Made sense. Didn¡¯t get to be this old on the front lines, without knowing how to best battle Formorians. Night and General Augustus talking about ¡°not using large-impact skills¡± way back when I first arrived at the front lines had a much more sobering reminder.


    ¡°Here, let¡¯s spend a few minutes catching up!¡± I said, wrapping us with [Veil of the Aurora], the initial privacy aspect of the skill coming back. The skill was so useful!


    He looked at me as I touched him and healed him.


    ¡°Begging your pardon, Sentinel, but I¡¯ve never seen you before.¡± He said.


    ¡°I know. I apologize.¡± I replied. I could see the gears turning, and before I could say anything else, he started speaking.


    ¡°Which means you need something from me. Something private, that you don¡¯t want getting out.¡± He paused, continuing to think. I figured I¡¯d spare us the game of ¡°figuring it out¡±, and just talk with him.


    ¡°I¡¯m going too fast, and running out of mana.¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯ll look more than a bit bad when I heal a bunch of people, and suddenly stop. Mind giving me a hand?¡±


    The Centurion was sitting up and stretching, checking that, yes, he did indeed have his stomach back. He looked at me, spent a moment thinking, then nodded.


    ¡°Mostly. I can move down and partition the area. Once you reach the end, you¡¯ll have ¡®healed¡¯ everyone present. Can¡¯t stop people talking though.¡±


    I shrugged.


    ¡°Can¡¯t stop them talking, or making it back indeed. I just need things to not turn ugly when I go ¡®heal, heal, heal, sorry you drew the short straw¡¯, without burning through all the Arcanite I have in reserve. My regeneration is high, and I will be able to get to everyone in time. I just need the time!¡±


    He frowned.


    ¡°We don¡¯t have time. Not with the way the assault is going.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not the only Sentinel here, and I can only do so much.¡± I pointed out. ¡°But I can do something. Come on. Work with me here.¡±


    The Centurion seemed to think that, yes, indeed, he was back in one whole piece, and saluted me, fist over chest.


    ¡°As you command, Sentinel.¡± He said, and I dropped the [Veil], moving onto the next patient.


    The Centurion moved down the line, deeper into the dark confines of the infirmary. I continued my work, spending a moment chatting with each soldier, carefully checking what had happened.


    I could¡¯ve probably gotten away with it anyways, but I had to acknowledge that being a [Pretty] healer in the middle of a warzone was probably helping. Nobody was minding me spending a few moments chatting them up.


    If I could somehow stretch each conversation to a minute or so, I¡¯d be able to do this forever. A secondary plan.


    ¡°This looks bad, how¡¯d it happen?¡± I said, chatting with a soldier sans a leg.


    A minor look of disbelief crossed his face ¨C obviously a Formorian had taken it off ¨C but it was quickly replaced with a misplaced confidence. Surely, he could tell an epic tale of heroism and valor, enough to woo a maiden¡¯s fair heart.


    ¡°It was a Formorian! Twice as large as the norm, it ripped its way through our line! Soldiers fell left and right as it barreled through us. It was just me between it and the vulnerable camp! ¡®This is it.¡¯ I told myself. ¡®This is what I¡¯ve been training for, this is my moment of glory.¡¯ Ah, alas, as I struck it with a mortal blow, it hit me right back with its dying breath, taking my leg with it! Such a monstrous Formorian wouldn¡¯t die without extracting a price!¡±


    I kept a smile on my face, mentally rolling my eyes in the biggest circle possible. Translation: He goofed killing a perfectly normal Formorian, who took his leg off in a moment of inattention. Someone must¡¯ve screwed up the shield wall to boot, to allow it to happen.


    I had no doubt by the time he got back home that he would be slaying a Royal Guard in single combat, the only soldier between it and the rest of Remus.


    Still, his long-winded nature gave me time, time for my mana to regenerate. I patted him on the shoulder and plastered a smile on my face. Good bedside manner, that.


    ¡°How heroic! A new leg, for your service. Can¡¯t help you with getting new armor though. Good luck!¡± I said, slowly standing up and moving to the next patient.


    Zig-zagging across the aisle every time also burnt more time, so I did. The Centurion came back, and noticed me.


    ¡°Sentinel!¡± He said, in the fake-friendly voice. ¡°I¡¯m impressed! You¡¯ve almost entirely cleared this tent, as usual!¡±


    I mentally cursed.


    How I translated what he said: ¡°No way to break the tent in half or anything. Gotta go until the end. Not a ton more patients left.¡±


    Curse the shit lighting in here. I had no idea how much more tent there was.


    Although, the light was starting to get better. I made a poker face.


    Dawn had arrived. In multiple senses.


    I carried on regardless.


    I was starting to tap my Arcanite, dropping the dangerously low reserves even further, when I reached the end of the tent. I looked back behind me, and smiled.


    From what little I could see, the tent was nearly empty. Most of the soldiers, having gotten fixed up, decided that getting out of here was the right move. Occasionally I¡¯d seen a squad leader move through, grabbing the members of their squad that had healed up but were loitering around, not terribly eager to get back in the action.


    It couldn¡¯t be good for their mental health. Imagine. Losing an arm, not being healed, spending who knows how long staring at the dark tent ceiling, thinking he¡¯ll be a cripple for life ¨C or at least until a good healer can get to him, if he could ever afford one. Most likely reliving the moment they were injured.


    Then boom! I come through like the sun rising over the horizon, breaking their night, bringing the day. They¡¯re healed! Whole!


    I loved the title Dawn.


    And with military efficiency ¨C which is to say, incredible at some times, horribly inefficient at others ¨C they¡¯re yoinked right back to the front lines where they were injured, to be fed back into the all-consuming grinder that was the Formorians.


    As much as I wished I could do some sort of mental health counseling ¨C now was not the time or the place. Nor did I have any sort of training or skills for it.


    I wish I did. I could probably handle my nightmares better if I did.


    The gofer was waiting near the end of the tent. I eyed him. I was regretting picking him, of all people, to help show me around. Should¡¯ve just grabbed the most competent-looking person around.


    Then again. The fact that he was showing me around meant he wasn¡¯t in the line right now, and from what I¡¯d seen so far, I wasn¡¯t impressed. For all I knew he¡¯d get his shield-mate killed ¨C or sent to this tent.


    ¡°Um, head healer said, um, he wasn¡¯t going anywhere for anyone, and if you want to speak to him, you¡¯ll need to go to him yourself.¡± He stammered out.


    I suppressed a flash of anger and irritation. I¡¯d pulled similar stunts myself, and I couldn¡¯t complain when someone did it to me. Didn¡¯t stop me from getting annoyed.


    The gofer led the way, and I found myself in a large, well-lit tent. There were a large number of injured soldiers, clustered in groups. A full line of well-armed soldiers were around, nervous, on edge. Clearly in some sort of ¡°riot control¡± mode.


    I blinked, processing.


    Ah.


    They didn¡¯t want soldiers resorting to physical violence. Fairly standard guards for a healer. Took me way longer than it should¡¯ve for me to realize that. I was obviously tired, and it was starting to show.


    I kept looking around. There was one healer, and a few helpers that were performing basic triage.


    Except ¨C the triage was different from what I was used to.


    I was used to a three-tiered system. Green was for walking wounded, people with injuries, but eh, not only would they live, but they could still move under their own power. Orange was for the badly injured, those who needed medical attention, who couldn¡¯t really move under their own power. The tent I¡¯d just cleared, I was realizing, was entirely full of Orange-tier injuries.


    Last was Red. ¡°Immediate attention or death¡± was the Red criteria, and whenever triage was being performed, no matter where in the world, Red was seen first. They got to skip the line.


    Which was still happening here.


    However, I saw a soldier get bustled in at full speed, screaming in agony, crying for his mother, and trying to hold his guts inside with one arm. He¡¯d been sliced down his left side, everything from his left shoulder to left hip was gone, ribs exposed to the world, and he was trying to keep what was left of him inside his body. Even as I watched, something ¨C a kidney ¨C fell out, as everyone shifted slightly to get the man to the healer first.


    The healer touched him, and instead of a body shimmering back, the wound was simply closed.


    I narrowed my eyes. Dude was straight up dead with what he was missing. Like. Not immediately, but I could think of a dozen different ways he¡¯d end up dead anyways.


    Yet, everyone seemed to accept this as normal, and I begrudgingly had to admit that he was no longer a Red case, just a severe Orange.


    Still ¨C not terribly unusual.


    Where it got weird was a Green was next. A relatively minor injury ¨C a nasty gash to the shoulder ¨C was entirely healed up. The soldier saluted, grabbed his gear, and hustled back out the door.


    There was still a never-ending bombardment of people coming to the healer, and the dude looked exhausted. Like he hadn¡¯t gotten a good night¡¯s sleep in a month.


    Right. Time for me to step in, and if nothing else, help this poor healer get some damn sleep.


    I started to march over, only for the guards to move to block me.


    I¡¯d so had it with this shit.


    I just gave them my best death-glare, and pointed to my badge. Gave it a bit of a [Shine] to boot.


    The guards decided that being on the wrong end of a Sentinel¡¯s ire ¨C even if she was short and female ¨C wasn¡¯t the best career move, and gave me no problems. I made my way over to the healer.


    ¡°Healer.¡± I said, arriving next to him.


    ¡°What.¡± He said monosyllabically, exhaustion coating his every word. I made a snap call.


    ¡°Take a break. I¡¯ll take over. Sentinel¡¯s orders.¡± I said, nodding to his guards.


    ¡°Need-¡° He said, and knowing he¡¯d do exactly this, I cut him off.


    ¡°I¡¯m a healer. I¡¯m taking over. Take. A. Break.¡± I said, as his guards ¨C friends ¨C grabbed him under the arms and started to move him to a little cot in a corner.


    I recognized the cot. Same type I¡¯d used in Perinthus. The ¡°crash where I¡¯ve arranged my healing station because it¡¯s just me against the unending tide¡± cot.


    Poor dude. I sympathized.


    I turned to see the crowd, half-grumbling that the Sentinel had basically just axed their healer. I checked my mana, still low after having stretched it thin clearing out the tent. I threw my backpack into a corner, out of the way.


    Right. The only reward for good work ¨C more work.

 Chapter 160 – Formorians XI

    The first order of business was reassurance, to calm and placate the crowd. Yeah, I was a Sentinel, yeah I could say jump and everyone in the tent would ask me how high. Didn¡¯t mean that angering a bunch of already on the edge people was a smart move. I actually had no idea what I [Identify]¡¯d as right now. My highest class was displayed ¨C and I was tied, 256 to 256. I had no idea what the tiebreaker rules were. First class in the list? Prior highest class? Or did it ¡°look¡± and see how much experience I had stocked up, and display that?


    My heart skipped as I realized something terrible, an awful possibility occurring to me. If my [Ranger-Mage] class was displayed first, that might mean my eyes were showing Radiance, not Celestial. I liked my star-speckled eyes too much to lose them, even briefly!


    Either way, I had the crowd of injured men looking at me, and pain caused people to do stupid things. It was easier to lash out at people, especially when it looked like I¡¯d taken away their lifeline.


    I thought as fast as I could while I started speaking to the crowd.


    ¡°I am Sentinel Dawn.¡± I announced, cursing that my short stature meant that most people couldn¡¯t see me. Not everyone knew what all the Sentinels did, especially when my name wasn¡¯t something like ¡®healing¡¯. ¡°I am Sentinel based on my healing powers and abilities, and I¡¯m here to provide assistance.¡±


    My mind was racing as I went over some basics. One healer. Huge crowd. Lots of injured people. A healer ran ragged. Shit triage.


    ¡°I already cleared out a full tent of wounded, and they are now back in action.¡± I called out, which got a number of appreciative murmurs. It wouldn¡¯t surprise me if most people knew at least someone badly injured, a squad mate if not a friend, and hearing that I¡¯d single-handedly cleared out a tent of wounded?


    Immediate street cred. There was now another healer around, one with some serious juice if my Sentinel title was anything to go off of.


    Thank goodness for the careful reputation and image management we all did. It was paying off in spades right now, as we needed to land and have people listen to us now.


    ¡°Who¡¯s next?¡± I asked, and the people who were keeping things straight and sane shuffled the next person forward.


    I looked at him. A Green, by any metric. I wasn¡¯t going to start throwing stones here and now, and my mana hadn¡¯t recovered yet from clearing out the entire triage tent. I healed him, noticing only a small dip in my mana, and I refrained from slapping my forehead as the puzzle finally clicked.


    I must be tired and exhausted. That was the only reason it took me this long to figure it out. Wish I had [Greater Invigorate] right now.


    They were desperate, and their healer ¨C I¡¯m not even sure they had more than one ¨C couldn¡¯t keep up with the casualties. Someone had made the call, either the healer or whoever was in command, to throw a quick-fix bandaid on whoever was about to die, and to fix up people who had minor injuries, so they could get back in the fight. Prioritizing getting as many people fighting-fit right now with as little mana as possible.


    It made cold, sickening sense. Fortunately, my mana was regenerating a hair faster than the minor injuries coming in could drain it ¨C and I had the healer busy sleeping and regenerating himself.


    In addition ¨C the call hadn¡¯t been made yet to abandon Reds, and only work on Greens. If the situation got worse, I could see that call being made.


    I spent a little more time thinking about it. Why were there so many wounded soldiers in the tent, when Green and Red were getting priority?


    Glanced at the snoring healer.


    Ah. He probably had a skill similar to my [Warmth of the Sun], and by cramming a bunch of people together, he was maximizing the impact of the skill.


    How similar healing skills overlapped with each other wasn¡¯t an area I had much experience with. That would require time and research, and while I was all for the pursuit of knowledge, what would be required to pursue that knowledge I was firmly against.


    If nothing else, it would mean that I¡¯d need to be in close contact with a large number of injured people, and not heal them. That wasn¡¯t kosher, nor was that in line with my [Oath].


    I mean, yeah, I was in close contact with a bunch of people right now that I wasn¡¯t healing, but at the same time, I was trying to heal as many of them as Elainely possible.


    The only time to even get some information was in situations like this one, and it wasn¡¯t like we could easily compare person to person. Healing was an art.


    Either way, I was feeling somewhat pleased that my mana was regenerating at an acceptable rate, when another Red casualty came screaming in on a stretcher.


    Literally screaming.


    I took a quick diagnostic look as he was rushed to me, and touched him as soon as he arrived, entirely fixing his injuries. I didn¡¯t just downgrade him from Red to Orange, I downgraded him to ¡°battle ready¡±. Well. Except for all the broken and missing gear, but that wasn¡¯t my problem.


    ¡°Thank you so much, I thought I was a goner!¡± The soldier said.


    I plastered a smile on my face.


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome. Next!¡± I called, channeling Autumn. I had no desire for small talk right now. Not when the little reserves of mana I¡¯d gotten back had just been wiped out entirely.


    Arguably I should make small talk. I should delay, get my mana up. I was just so tired though. On the small decisions, I was making the easy choice, not the right one, and being a brusque grump was what I wanted to do.


    I was mentally thanking myself for deciding to see how the current system worked before making changes. No wonder it was ¡°stabilize Red, fix Green.¡± Dealing with the masses of Orange would drain more mana per soldier, resulting in fewer soldiers back on the front lines.


    I glanced back at the healer, still dead to the world. I pitied him. He must¡¯ve been stuck in this cycle for ages, with no relief. A quick nap here and there, interrupted by soldiers barging in with another Red that needed stabilization right now, only to get back in the healing groove until he passed out again, exhausted. Day after day, week after week, of non-stop back-to-back healing.


    No wonder he was at level 256. The stress and environment were perfect for power leveling, but he obviously never had a time to grab a class up. Heck, with how his cheekbones were showing, it looked like he barely had time for a meal.


    This sucked, but I needed the other healer alive. My demonstration earlier had me believing that one healer couldn¡¯t keep on top of things, with Orange casualties steadily piling up. However, I¡¯d gone through like a whirlwind, and knocked out an entire tent full of Orange casualties. I think it was enough to tip the balance.


    Even as I was looking through, new Orange soldiers were entering the tent, while some who¡¯d been in here some time were being encouraged to leave, to make room for newcomers. Made sense. A deep cut needed basic clotting, but once a soldier was no longer at risk of bleeding out, for example, it was prudent of them to move onwards to one of the tents, and give a spot for someone else.


    It had been a long night, followed by a long day, fighting for our lives. I¡¯d seen earthquakes, divine fire, angels descending from the heavens. The end of Priest Demos, fighting through the endless Formorians, climbing a wall, orienting ourselves into a new place, a new camp, healing an entire tent of grievously wounded soldiers, and now this. Frontline triage.


    Of course, none of the soldiers here knew what I¡¯d just been through. They didn¡¯t know the bone-deep weariness that was setting in. They just saw a Sentinel, an invincible presence in their mind, show up, relieve their healer, and start healing. I couldn¡¯t flag now, couldn¡¯t call it quits after an hour or so and trade off with the still-resting healer.


    By all accounts, I should wake the dude up so he could use his mana, then go back to sleep. At the same time, the healer was clearly in need of a long, long rest.


    I weighed it in my mind as I continued healing. The needs of the many, versus the needs of one. Obviously, the healer had been picking the needs of the many every single time. How much was enough? How much sacrifice could a single person be asked to make? Where was the line?


    I made the snap, arbitrary decision that the line was here and now. Also, I was ravenous. Starving, even.


    ¡°Heya.¡± I said to one of the guard-soldiers, who had seamlessly transitioned from guarding the still-nameless healer, to guarding me as I did my work. ¡°How do meals around here work?¡± I asked him.


    He looked at me with an ¡°oh shit¡± look, and saluted.


    ¡°Apologies, Sentinel.¡± He said. ¡°It didn¡¯t occur to me.¡±


    He gestured with his head to one of the other guards behind me, who I heard leaving the tent.


    ¡°Get a bunch! I¡¯ve had a crazy night!¡± I turned and called to him.


    Room service. Perfect.


    Then again, the current healer probably already had a similar set up.


    It was like having Kallisto around! Except I could almost literally walk in and hijack the entire arrangement.


    I didn¡¯t entirely want to be chatty, but I did need info. Blargh. Sleep is what I needed.


    ¡°So.¡± I said conversationally to the chatty guard, as I continued to deal with the steady trickle of soldiers coming in. In, touch, leave. In, touch, leave. ¡°Why¡¯s there only one healer?¡± I asked him.


    He saluted me, which I thought was a bit over the top, but then again. Chain of command. Better to be safe than sorry when one¡¯s a grunt, dealing with the highest levels.


    ¡°Begging your pardon Sentinel, but most of the healers were quartered in another portion of the wall to begin with. The Formorians breached the walls in multiple locations, and it was only a lucky fluke that Healer Myron was in our section to begin with. Something about hanging out with friends. We¡¯re able to communicate with some of the other sections, but we¡¯re not exactly able to properly meet up with them to exchange supplies ¨C or healers.¡± He said. ¡°The huge suckers keep randomly charging through.¡±


    Welp. Ok then. That explained a bunch.


    ¡°Can one of you get me a runner, courier, messenger, whatever?¡± I asked. Gofer was still hanging around, but his stunning lack of competency had me wishing for an actual runner of some variety. For all I knew, I¡¯d ask him to find Bulwark, and he¡¯d end up inside the Formorian lair.


    Another one of the guards vanished, off to do my bidding.


    The next wounded to show up was Green. Green. Green. Red!


    It was like a demented game of red light, green light, and I was thanking my lucky stars that I wasn¡¯t the one needing to have the conversation with injured legionnaires that, no, sadly, they didn¡¯t fit into the right healing category, and would have to wait.


    The endless treadmill of casualties continued. Breakfast arrived, and I happily ate with one hand, while continuing to heal with the other blood-soaked hand. I winked at one soldier who looked particularly repulsed that I was cheerfully chowing on chicken while healing. Much better than Formorian!


    The soldier who¡¯d gone out came back, finding his way back into position. I eyed him as I continued healing, but said nothing. He¡¯d report soon enough.


    ¡°Sentinel. The Legate says he has no messengers to spare.¡± He said. ¡°He also ordered you to come see him.¡±


    I twisted in my seat to look at him, arching an eyebrow. The soldier was staring ahead, ramrod straight, with a face that said to never play poker with him.


    ¡°He is familiar with the chain of command?¡± I asked him after a moment, turning back, continuing my heal-a-thon.


    ¡°With all due respect, Sentinel¡­.¡± The soldier trailed off.


    Ah. Quite possibly one of those. The polar opposite of the grizzled veteran I¡¯d asked for help earlier.


    Oh well. Wasn¡¯t much I could do about it. Barring him trying something incredibly stupid like trying to arrest me mid-healing, and I could ignore him.


    And it wasn¡¯t like I was alone. Bulwark and Toxic were also running around. Plus, said idiot would need to convince a number of other soldiers to go along with his plans, and when it came to being between a rock and a hard place?


    It wasn¡¯t like I was the one ordering soldiers into battle. I was the one saving their lives, saving their comrade¡¯s lives.


    Being a healer was awesome at times. I felt nearly untouchable.


    I stopped a manic grin from crossing my face as I kept up the healing line. Wouldn¡¯t be good for people to think I was grinning at their misfortune.


    ¡°Well, if he needs me, he knows where to find me.¡± I said, with a nonchalant shrug. ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯d be anywhere else, or doing anything else.¡±


    My stomach rumbled in protest. Heaping breakfast had barely put a dent in it.


    I decided to straight-up own it. It¡¯d only be embarrassing and awkward if I made it embarrassing and awkward.


    ¡°Any chance anyone could rustle up some breakfast?¡± I asked with an entirely straight face. ¡°I just showed up, and I have no idea where the mess is.¡±


    I got three strange looks and one strangled chuckle at that. I somehow managed to keep a poker face the entire time.


    I acquired a second breakfast, midday snack, early lunch, regular lunch, an ¡°oh look at the time, we should get lunch¡±, a nice afternoon snack, early dinner, regular dinner, late dinner, and I was chowing down on a midnight snack when healer Myron woke up.


    I nodded over to him, blinking sleep out of my eyes. I was talking with my mouth full, but who cared about etiquette in a warzone?


    ¡°I think both of us could use a large meal.¡± I said loudly, to nobody in particular. Screw it. I was still ravenous from the marathon healing session.


    The designated meal-fetcher rolled his eyes, and left the tent. I had no idea what the poor [Quartermaster] or [Chef] thought ¨C ¡°No, no, for real, I¡¯m getting all these extra meals for a Sentinel. No seriously, we have one in our healing tent now, and she¡¯s hungry. Yes, she. Dawn. Healing. Yes, there¡¯s a healing Sentinel.¡±


    Communication in Remus was spotty at best. Good songs were the best chance of word getting around about us, and it wasn¡¯t like people had been singing about me for decades, long enough for me to be a household name. I had some notoriety in the capital, but outside of there? No idea.


    Myron bolted upright, having gotten a solid 14-16ish hours of sleep. He hit his forehead with his hand, and scrambled up.


    ¡°Dolts! Imbeciles! Fools! Why did you let me sleep so much!?¡± He roared at the guards, shaking his finger at them. ¡°People are dying! They need me! It is- ¡°


    That was my cue!


    ¡°It¡¯s time for you to chill.¡± I said. ¡°I got this. Or rather, now you got this while I take a nap. Wake me up in¡­¡± I trailed off, doing some quick mental calculations. ¡°64 patients. Cheers!¡±


    I waved off the spluttering indignant noises the dude made, and skipped over to the corner.


    My gear included my blanket and pillow that I¡¯d been using while in the grove, and I¡¯d settled an internal debate ages ago.


    Where should I sleep?


    I wasn¡¯t a dumbass. I wasn¡¯t about to put myself in a position of vulnerability around a bunch of strange men. That was just inviting trouble, Sentinel or not.


    No, the easiest, safest place to get a good hour sleep was¡­ right here.


    I set my cot up next to where Myron had his cot, closed my eyes, and was out like a light.

 Chapter 161 – Formorians XII

    Fortunately ¨C or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it ¨C I was woken up a short time later, feeling somehow worse for the power nap.


    I had the presence of mind, and I was in that weird place between too tired and not getting enough sleep, that I didn¡¯t wake up blasting.


    The eternal curse, the quandary surrounding naps. Be tired, take a nap. When you wake up, you somehow feel worse than when you went to sleep.


    Still, I¡¯d gotten a solid chunk of sleep, no matter how short. I got up, saw the second midnight dinner I¡¯d ordered but never managed to eat next to me, and inhaled it.


    Almost literally.


    I got up, stretching liberally to work out the kinks in my neck and my arm. Somehow, I¡¯d pinched myself slightly on my armor as I slept, and it was obnoxious. I didn¡¯t get myself fully awake though, there¡¯d be no point.


    There was still the permanent multitude of Orange tier wounded waiting for healing, and with basically no warning, I started walking through them.


    ¡°You¡¯re healed. You¡¯re healed. Healed. Healed, now shoo. Healed, get out of here. Healed, go away. Healed, clear out. Healed. Healed, goodbye. Healed.¡±


    I blitzed my way through the tent, clearing nearly every soldier who was waiting for healing, except for those at the back of the line. I managed to empty out my entire mana bar, and with a yawn, stumbled my way back to my cot.


    People were trying to talk at me, but I was still exhausted. I¡¯d pulled off a solid 24-hour insane marathon, and I wanted my beauty sleep. I basically ignored everyone, except the food-retriever.


    ¡°You.¡± I sleepily said, singling him out. ¡°Is there some dire emergency I need to know about?¡±


    ¡°Well, no, but-¡°


    ¡°Right. Food please. Wake me up in fifty patients.¡± I said, collapsing back down.


    I had the option of telling people that I was a healing beacon, that touching me while I slept was enough to get them fully healed.


    The natural consequence of that would be a bunch of strange men pawing at me while I slept. I¡¯d run completely out of mana, then I¡¯d have strange men persistently touching me while I slept, trying to slowly heal themselves up.


    No.


    I don¡¯t remember my head hitting the pillow, but the soldier was insistently shaking my shoulder.


    I brushed it off with my hand, head in my pillow.


    ¡°I said 50 patients.¡± I grumped, mostly into my pillow. No idea what it sounded like on the other end.


    ¡°Begging your pardon Sentinel ¨C it has been 50 patients.¡± A nervous voice came from the side.


    I got up with a groan. It felt like a blink, and my head felt even worse. The tent was full again. Naturally. No rest for the wicked.


    No rest for the good either.


    Heal. Chow. Drink. Sleep.


    Repeat.


    After another six rounds, I got up, bleary-eyed, but realized I wouldn¡¯t be able to fall back asleep. I mentally cursed. I hate that. The stage of ¡®I got enough sleep to not go back to sleep¡¯, at the same time as ¡®sleep deprived enough to be suffering¡¯.


    Nothing I could do about that. Might as well get back to healing.


    ¡°Healer Myron.¡± I said as politely as I could, shuffling up next to him after clearing the room again.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn.¡± He said with stiff formality. ¡°Sorry for my outburst last time we spoke.¡±


    I shrugged.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been there, more than once. I get it. No hard feelings.¡±


    I gave him a critical look. Still looked like he¡¯d been through the wringer, but hell, everyone here did. I had to give him credit. Whatever ego he had, whatever quirks and demands he had, he¡¯d single-handedly kept this unit alive.


    Breakfast was acquired, and the marathon was on.


    A guilty, fleeting thought was sent towards Toxic. I¡¯d promised I¡¯d see and relieve him on the frontlines, but I¡¯d gotten no chance to.


    But oh, the difference a single healer made. One of us could just barely keep on top of the critically injured patient, and patch up the lightest, easiest to cure of the wounded. Two of us?


    I was ripping through patients like a tornado.


    Thinking about it, that analogy might not be my best phrasing.


    Either way, three intense days of trading off, with only one bad aftershock of Destruction¡¯s earthquake in the middle, and we were down to a magic number.


    Zero. Patients were healed as they entered the tent, by Myron or myself.


    I didn¡¯t have a way to calculate it directly, but it seemed like the rate of new patients over time was diminishing. I could totally believe it was Toxic doing enough work to slow things down, Bulwark making improvised defenses, or enough fresh soldiers on the line that generally upped the safety.


    Or that massive walls weren¡¯t being dropped on their head anymore. Earthquakes and poor building codes were a deadly mix. The frontlines had been here long enough that a number of semi-permanent structures existed. Had existed.


    Anyways. No matter how it was sliced, we were on top of things.


    I wanted to stretch, but didn¡¯t. I was coated in filth and grime. I¡¯d never truly gotten clean ever since I landed feet-first on a Formorian, and it¡¯d only gotten worse from there. Dust got blown up, coated the freshly-sprayed on gore, then it dried into an unholy mess. Being elbow-deep in dried blood and desiccated gore would be an improvement, because that would imply it stopped at my elbows.


    My efforts hadn¡¯t gone unrewarded though.


    [*Ding!* [Medicine] leveled up! 251 -> 256]


    [*Ding!* [Warmth of the Sun] leveled up! 217 -> 231]


    [*Ding!* [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] leveled up! 252 -> 256]


    [*Ding!* [Persistent Casting] leveled up! 182 -> 189]


    I suspected I¡¯d managed to get a solid amount of stockpiled experience to boot.


    ¡°Cheers Myron.¡± I said, heading towards the door. I was leaving my backpack behind. Seemed like a safe enough spot. ¡°I¡¯ll be back later to patch up anyone who slips through the cracks.¡±


    I heard some dark muttering behind me, and I cracked a self-satisfied grin. Perks of being a Sentinel, even in a warzone. I got to do what I wanted.


    At the same time, only people with the right mentality ended up as a Sentinel. I somehow doubted I¡¯d be in this position if my inclination towards seeing a large number of injured and wounded soldiers wasn¡¯t ¡°stick around and help¡±.


    I headed towards the frontlines, and since there was a fairly direct route between the emergency triage and healing area, and the frontlines, well. It was pretty easy to intercept and heal everyone who needed it. Not like I could ignore them, not with my [Oath].


    Still, the attitude, and the feel, of the camp was significantly different from when we¡¯d dropped in earlier. Little structures were popping up again, tents were whole, and the rows between tents were military neat again. People were cheerful, almost upbeat. Wildly different from the healing section, but then again, people missing limbs tended not to look on the bright side of life.


    I frowned as I kept moving. The deadly meatgrinder was far. Much further than I expected.


    Heck, for that matter, why was the healing section so far from the battle in the first place? We should¡¯ve been on top of it, to more easily get people to us.


    I did eventually find my way to the battle, Toxic¡¯s massive form unmistakable. I didn¡¯t bother calling out. I wasn¡¯t loud enough, and I was small enough that I¡¯d never be seen. Didn¡¯t help that Sentinel armor was like Ranger armor, which closely mirrored Legion armor. I was just another short form in the press of soldiers.


    I did have skills though, and there were some rickety, unstable platforms for mages to use.


    ¡°Hey!¡± I called up to an Earth mage on the platform closest to me. ¡°I want that platform!¡± I yelled to him.


    He barely glanced down at me, before shooing me with his hand.


    ¡°Bugger off! First come, first serve! You know the rules!¡±


    You know what? I was actually fine with this style of rudeness. No sexism, no elitism, no whatever-ism ¨C just plain, simple, ¡°I was here first.¡± I could totally respect that. I¡¯d do the same thing.


    Didn¡¯t mean I was going to let it slide.


    I held up my Sentinel badge, and let it [Shine]. I coughed.


    No reaction.


    ¡°Ahem.¡±


    Nothing.


    ¡°Ahem.¡± I said, quite a bit louder.


    ¡°Now listen here you ¨C holy shit Sentinel please take it!¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at the abrupt tone shift, and the sheer speed the mage moved at to vacate the spot. Didn¡¯t bother walking down, just jumped off and vanished, presumably to dodge my non-existent ire. Couldn¡¯t have moved faster if I¡¯d lit him on fire.


    Not that I¡¯d extensively considered lighting people on fire and what their reactions would be when I had a Fire element. Noooooo.


    Ok, fine, I had, it was a practical combat aspect to it. I blamed Maximus.


    I climbed up on the mini-outpost, and took a good look at what was going on.


    Let¡¯s see¡­


    Four rows of footsoldiers, shoulder-to-shoulder, shield-to-shield, from one wall to the next. Spears flashing with deadly grace and precision, careful rotations preventing the Formorians from getting any deeper. Toxic, centering the line against the endless black tide.


    I blinked.


    Hang on ¨C not an endless black tide. The Soldiers weren¡¯t nearly as densely packed as they usually were, nor were they as organized and mechanically dangerous as usual. Were the Formorians running out of soldiers? Were we winning?


    Right, things seemed fine here, with Toxic mostly as moral support. Time to get his attention!


    I fired a few [Nova]¡¯s into the Formorians, having them skim close to Toxic, but not too close as to possibly hit him. Close enough that they¡¯d be impossible to miss though.


    I also toned down the power significantly. I wanted something bright and distracting, something to get Arthur¡¯s attention. Didn¡¯t care about doing damage, and I wanted to preserve my mana for healing.


    WeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeBOOM!


    It was a heck of a lot more relaxing when the pressure was off.


    A half-dozen [Nova]¡¯s later, and Toxic glanced back. [Shine] full blast, and I jumped up and down, waving my hands.


    I literally couldn¡¯t be more obvious if I had a neon sign.


    Actually, for that matter, I could kinda make a neon sign.


    I used [Veil] to make a large arrow pointing downwards at me, continuing to jump up and down like a maniac.


    Arthur waved back, and turned back to face the Formorians. He stepped forward, out of formation, and continued to fight as his spot in the shield-wall was filled by another soldier.


    He then did what I could only describe as the ¡°Sentinel Special¡±, where he single-handedly went back and forth along the line, killing dozens upon dozens of the Soldiers single-handedly, in front of all the soldiers.


    Which got them all sorts of riled up.


    ¡°Tox-ic! Tox-ic! Tox-ic!¡± The chant came up from the crowd, as Arthur did some grandstanding, killing Formorians in particularly large and showy motions.


    I stifled a laugh. Sneaky snipey Arthur, expert in bows and poisons, fighting Formorians with a spear and grandstanding? He must be hating every minute of it, but probably saw the need to show off, to boost morale.


    ¡®There¡¯s nothing wrong here! Look at me! We¡¯re invincible!¡¯


    Or some message like that. I left that type of stuff to other Sentinels whenever possible.


    Eventually Toxic finished his grandstanding, and made his way through the lines, the shield wall unsafely parting like the Red Sea to let him pass. I hopped down as he got near.


    ¡°Arthur! Good to see you! Sorry I didn¡¯t swing by earlier; the casualty rate was atrocious.¡±


    I got a grin from him, probably the first one he¡¯d had in months.


    ¡°Elaine! Glad you made it. What¡¯s up?¡± He asked.


    I shrugged, suddenly realizing I didn¡¯t have much to say, no real plan or anything.


    ¡°Not much. I promised I¡¯d swing by, and I am. Is there a place where we can quickly catch up?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Yeah, we got our place set up. Tried to find you to let you know, but had no luck.¡±


    I gave him a flat look.


    ¡°Did you try, oh, I dunno, the infirmary!?¡±


    Arthur looked at me.


    ¡°Yeah, first place we sent a runner to. Said you weren¡¯t there, which confused us.¡±


    We walked in silence a moment, while I processed what he said. A light went off, and I snapped my fingers.


    ¡°The idiot Legate. He¡¯s been trying to get me to see him. Kept sending people to ¡®order¡¯ me around. The guards working the infirmary are fairly protective, and probably just brushed your dude off.¡± I said, putting a likely solution to the puzzle together.


    Arthur shrugged.


    ¡°Totally possible. That, or the dude was straight up incompetent.¡±


    I nodded in agreement. I¡¯d gotten some recent, hands-on experience with incompetent gofers.


    ¡°Well! Here we are!¡± Arthur said, throwing open the tent flap of an extra-large tent. The interior was ¡°as luxurious as possible considering the situation¡±, which basically meant extra layers of blankets on the three cots in the space, little dividers splitting the room up, and a table with food on it, surrounded by four stools. Sorry Nature. The grove was nice and all, but the tent was just flat-out better in every aspect. Like privacy!


    It was weird. Of all the things, the fact that they¡¯d gotten a spot ready for me touched me the most. I gave Arthur a grimy hug.


    ¡°Lunch?¡± He asked, gesturing to the table. I needed no encouragement, as I sat down at the table, grabbing a plate and digging in.


    ¡°Lunch!¡± I agreed happily.


    ¡°What have you been up to?¡± Arthur asked, digging in himself.


    ¡°Oh, nothing surprising. Found the first aid tents. Healed until I was out of mana. Rinse, repeat for days. They had another healer, we basically traded off. Nothing super special.¡± I said, downplaying it a bit. ¡°How about you?¡±


    Arthur groaned.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s been terrible. It¡¯s all morale management. First had to come in like one of Artemis¡¯s lightning strikes, shock and awe, the great big bad Sentinel come to save everyone. Nearly had to beat the entire line back on my own for the desired effect. Then I needed to play at being a [Bard], and work up the great big battle we had against the Queens. If anyone asks, they¡¯re all dead, and I killed one in single combat.¡±


    I laughed at that.


    ¡°They¡¯re all probably dead at this point. We only saw one alive before we left.¡± I said, swallowing a bite. ¡°Otherwise, we would¡¯ve seen it by now. We weren¡¯t that far away from the walls that we wouldn¡¯t see it days later.¡±


    ¡°Sure, but then where are the rest of the Sentinels?¡± Arthur asked, my train of thought clearly derailing his.


    I shrugged.


    ¡°No idea. They might be holed up deep down for whatever reason. They might have returned to another section, and are working as a stabilizing force over there. They might be doing one of a dozen other things.¡±


    ¡°Reasonable. Anyways. I¡¯ve been working with Bulwark when I¡¯m not projecting confidence. We move forward, he has his crew move in and put enough stone in the broken wall, then works his magic. Fixed wall! We¡¯ve more than tripled the size we have secured, and joined up with a number of other groups.¡±


    I frowned at that.


    ¡°How did I not notice more healers, new healers, or a change in patients?¡± I demanded.


    Arthur shrugged.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s because it¡¯s happened more on the other side. The gap here is too large to easily bridge, so Bulwark¡¯s been working more on the other end. I imagine the injured from this side stay the same, and healers take over more on the other side. You mentioned having a bunch of extra people that needed healing, and it took you, Dawn, the Sentinel for healing, three whole days to work through the backlog. Imagine other healers, but they only get relieved once we¡¯ve expanded far enough that new patients aren¡¯t making it to them.¡±


    I groaned, and put my hands in my head.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Arthur asked me.


    ¡°I was planning on classing up now, and I was going to ask you to guard me while I did it.¡± I said. ¡°Now I feel like I need to go out and help the other healers instead.¡±


    ¡°Were you planning on classing up both classes?¡±


    ¡°Just the healing one for now.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm. Well. We¡¯ve got a momentary lull right now, and your [Oath] doesn¡¯t demand you run out right this second to help, right?¡± Arthur asked me.


    I reluctantly nodded.


    ¡°For just a few hours to a day of classing up, at the bare minimum, you get more mana regeneration. The pressure¡¯s low here, and you can figure out your new skills without getting everyone killed. Who knows when you¡¯ll next have a chance to class up? Plus, Bulwark swings by every night. He can help as well. Who knows when we¡¯ll end up too busy to help out.¡±


    I spent some time thinking about it. The dire emergency was over. I¡¯d stabilized the situation. There wasn¡¯t an immediate demand for me. Heck, I was running around right now on a semi-social call. I was probably sitting on a mountain of experience points, which would help me out with my regeneration, which was my current bottleneck. I was in a position to get some solid practice in with my new skills. Also, Arthur was right. I had no idea when the next time I¡¯d be in a somewhat safe position, with someone I trusted to look over me.


    Still. I felt bad about it.


    I closed my eyes, coming to a decision.


    ¡°Right. I¡¯m going to class up. Just the healer class though. Let me grab my stuff from the healer¡¯s tent, fix up anyone I can to give them some breathing room, then I¡¯ll be right back to class up.¡±


    I jogged slowly down to the infirmary, intercepting and healing up soldiers whenever I could. Benefit of moving slowly. Made it, wished the healer luck, mentioned it might be awhile before I showed up again, grabbed my stuff, and I was off like a shot. Before the idiot Legate¡¯s messengers or whoever could try to waylay me.


    I hurried back, making sure to heal anyone I encountered. I still felt bad about this, but I was back in the tent in no time. I chucked my stuff into the little divided out portion of the tent that was ¡®mine¡¯.


    ¡°Ready?¡± I asked Arthur. He shot me a thumbs up.


    ¡°Ready!¡± He said.


    I settled onto my cot, full gear still on, helmet and all. I closed my eyes, and let myself fall into the world of my soul.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 19]


    [Mana: 70000/70000]


    [Mana Regen: 62338 (+44800)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 2]


    [Strength: 311]


    [Dexterity: 200]


    [Vitality: 1000]


    [Speed: 1000]


    [Mana: 7000]


    [Mana Regeneration: 7000 (+4480)]


    [Magic Power: 5839 (+74739.2)]


    [Magic Control: 5839 (+74739.2)]


    [Class 1: [Constellation of the Healer - Celestial: Lv 256]+]


    [Celestial Affinity: 256]


    [Warmth of the Sun: 231]


    [Medicine: 256]


    [Center of the Galaxy: 256]


    [Phases of the Moon: 256]


    [Moonlight: 256]


    [Veil of the Aurora: 256]


    [Vastness of the Stars: 147]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 256]+]


    [Radiance Affinity: 256]


    [Radiance Resistance: 256]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 256]


    [Shine: 111]


    [Sun-Kissed: 256]


    [Blaze: 256]


    [Talaria: 256]


    [Nova: 256]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 151]


    [Pristine Memories: 200]


    [Pretty: 152]


    [Bullet Time: 256]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 256]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 256]


    [Persistent Casting: 189]


    [Learning: 256]

 Chapter 162 – Celestial Class up! I

    I opened my eyes, seeing Librarian again.


    ¡°I¡¯m back! With a second class in the tank, ready to upgrade whenever!¡± I said, pumping my fist.


    ¡°Yeah! You go!¡± Librarian said, holding her hand up for a high-five, which I happily hit.


    She was in comfortable, simple clothes this time round, a lovely cyan tunic which was my favorite. Current favorite.


    ¡°No time to read right now.¡± I said, pulling an exaggerated sad face. ¡°But! Next class up I¡¯ll make sure I have all the time needed to read!¡±


    Librarian tapped her nose.


    ¡°You know, if it was all about reading, you could just reset your class, and keep resetting it every time you hit level 32.¡±


    ¡°Ooooh! That¡¯d be so fun! I¡¯d probably end up dead. No defenses, and if nothing else, I¡¯d annoy people to the point where they¡¯d want to murder me with too many week-long binge reading sessions.¡± I said.


    It suddenly hit me, and I felt a tear or two well up. I moved to hug Librarian, who hugged me back.


    ¡°This is the second to last time I¡¯ll ever see you.¡± I said, stifling some tears. ¡°Once I class up [Ranger-Mage], that¡¯s it. I¡¯m done forever. I¡¯ll miss you.¡±


    Librarian patted me on the back.


    ¡°Cheer up! Destruction hit 512, so did Night! We¡¯re part of a generation that¡¯s hitting 512, and you were with them as they took down the Queens! We¡¯ve got a strong shot at hitting 512, and we¡¯ll see each other again!¡±


    I smiled at her, gave her another hug.


    I was her, and she was me. She¡¯d miss me as well. Hopefully she was right, and we¡¯d meet again.


    Would she even still exist? Doomed to wander the library forever, alone? What did Librarian do when I wasn¡¯t here anyways?


    Or were we the same person, one whole entity, when not here? Did she simply split off when I came?


    I shook my head.


    Enough metaphysical questioning. While I wasn¡¯t on a time crunch, I didn¡¯t have a ton of time to waste.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see them!¡± I said. ¡°Although, I should probably skip all the non-healing sidegrades. No way am I taking them, and I¡¯m not exactly in a position to take my sweet time on this.¡±


    ¡°Reasonable!¡± Librarian responded.


    I had a sudden brain wave, as Librarian led me up the stairs.


    ¡°Unless there¡¯s something, like, really epic I should know about?¡± I asked her inquisitively.


    ¡°Hmmmm.¡± She said, pausing, one hand on her hip, the other finger tapping her lips. ¡°There is a class related to killing Formorians. Green-tier. Also the usual ¡®you met Papilion and survived¡¯ class.¡±


    I waved her off.


    ¡°No interest. Also, ¡®survived¡¯? By whose definition?!¡± I asked her.


    She shrugged.


    ¡°The System¡¯s.¡±


    I honestly didn¡¯t know if I expected anything else.


    We resumed our trek up the stairs, higher and higher until we got to the 4th floor. A number of books, all glistening like the night sky, sat on pedestals, surrounding a multi-colored door that led nowhere.


    That would naturally lead somewhere. This wasn¡¯t the real world; it didn¡¯t have to make sense. More trippy magical world stuff.


    I¡¯d make a bet that whatever class I took would be through that door, but I was going to be thorough. Maybe that was some super special class or another, but it¡¯d have some heinous drawback. I wanted to know what my other options were first.


    Given the colors, everything was Celestial. I felt a bit locked in, but hey. That was the price of an advanced element.


    Plus, I loved my Celestial healing. Wouldn¡¯t want anything else.


    My first choice was [Oathbound Healer]. I idly flipped through it fast. The class somehow managed to strengthen my [Oath], giving it a +7% per level instead of the current +5%, and also impacted mana regeneration, giving it a +2% to regeneration per level of [Oath]. It also made [Oath] a class skill, and while the class book didn¡¯t directly say it, I knew that [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority] would then kick in and apply, boosting it even further. My Magic Power and Control would end up at quite frankly ridiculous levels when I was healing.


    The stat distribution was amazing to boot. +5 Free Stats, +50 Magic Power, +50 Magic Control, +80 Mana Regeneration, +80 Mana per level. That was nothing to sneeze at, offering almost four times as many stats per level than [Constellation of the Healer] had given me.


    At the same time, it added to my [Oath], making it more restrictive. I¡¯d need to actively seek out people I knew were in trouble, and I¡¯d need to always put them before myself. I¡¯d also no longer have the option of making a choice ¨C it would be made for me.


    Nooooooo thank you. It would probably get me killed, with the type of situations I found myself in.


    Still. It was kinda nice to see that my adherence to my [Oath] was recognized by the System. I thought back to Idiot Mage, the mud mage who¡¯d been one of the adventurers trying to kidnap me, who I¡¯d healed even after all he¡¯d done to me. My actions being reflected back, granting me a class option? Probably.


    Would the class be even stronger if I hadn¡¯t screwed up in Perinthus?


    The next book had me stop short, and was tempting just from the title, and some minor infamy.


    [Ranger-Healer]. I¡¯d literally be the first person ever to have this class, and it shot to the top of the shortlist. It wasn¡¯t the flashiest class. It didn¡¯t have anything super special in it, but it was strong. Slightly improved healing, a solid stat distribution, and a focus on keeping me alive, so I could keep a squad alive.


    It came with an interesting skill ¨C [Lifeline]. I could designate up to seven other people to ¡°connect¡± with, and while they were in a generous range ¨C that expanded with the skill level! ¨C I¡¯d automatically heal them from my mana pool, at a significantly reduced distance penalty. It would almost be like they were on top of me.


    This was one heck of a skill! I wouldn¡¯t need to do suicidally brave stuff like run towards a monsters eight times my level to save someone.


    Then again, at this point, fighting something eight times my level was completely hopeless. Which made having a skill that meant I didn¡¯t need to be so close to the action more appealing. Naturally, anything eight times my level would be over level 1500, which, like, I dunno if all of the Sentinels combined could fight against.


    Not exactly my current forte. Sure, I¡¯d just done small squad tactics with the rest of the Sentinels, but that was more of a once in a lifetime occurrence, rather than my daily job.


    I found some wood and quickly knocked it, after having mentally jinxed it. I didn¡¯t want a repeat of the Formorians.


    Mass casualty events were more what I was dealing with these days, and my ability to run those wasn¡¯t improved at all.


    Still. There was nothing wrong with the class.


    [Magical Plague Doctor] was next up, a mimic of Caecilius¡¯s class, a reward for my work in Perinthus. Not only was the class amazing at handling mundane plagues, but it could also handle plagues of a magical nature. What was pants-shittingly terrifying though, was the implication that there were natural magical plagues. Ones that obeyed their rules, and their rules alone, and all my medical knowledge would be mostly irrelevant in the face of them.


    A side-grade, mostly downgrade honestly, was presented to me in the form of [Constellation of the Midwife], which was interesting in some respects. It would hyper-focus me on babies and childbirth, but I¡¯d be the single best person in the world on it. From conception, to gestation, to childbirth and infancy, a mother and child under my care wouldn¡¯t fear anything, from defects to death. Heck, I could even help a mother produce milk, and a baby latch and feed.


    At the same time, it was a side grade at best. I¡¯d lose a bunch of my current healing prowess. The stats per level were pretty bad. Less than half of what I currently got per level, about a tenth of what [Oathbound Healer] offered. I wouldn¡¯t be able to cure a plague ¨C unless it was in a mother or baby. I wouldn¡¯t be able to restore limbs ¨C unless it was in a baby.


    It did let me fix things I normally wouldn¡¯t be able to fix though, which was interesting. Normally, if a child was born without an arm, my healing wouldn¡¯t be able to change that.


    Remus was a shit place though, and children born without an arm were left to die. Still had me furious that the practice existed, although I understood the why. Wound me up to no end though. This class would give me the chance at stopping that. Locally, at least.


    I felt indecision take me. That was a part of society I deeply hated. The System was offering me a way, a chance, to change that, single-handedly. Was turning my back on this class the same as turning my back on the innocent babies?


    I kept the class in my shortlist. I¡¯d need to do some serious philosophical thinking on the matter.


    [Kekkaishi] was up next, and it was mostly a side-grade again. It took [Veil of the Aurora] and made it the primary focus of the class, instead of [Phases of the Moon]. I could make more barriers, move my barriers, strengthen them. I could make sharp barrier edges for cutting, animated barriers, and more!


    I suspected that Sealing had an advanced Brilliance version of this class, never mind that it was the same tier as his class.


    It was interesting to read about, but my healing would become self-only. I wasn¡¯t terribly interested in that. Fundamentally, I believed myself to be a healer first and foremost. Losing the ability to heal others was a no-go in my book.


    Sure, there was an argument to be made that if I prevented anyone from getting hurt, that was better than healing them. Except I couldn¡¯t be everywhere. Wasn¡¯t possible.


    [Eternal Blazing Sun] was the next book on offer. My stunt with the pirates had unlocked it, and the short version was I lost the ability to heal others, in favor of healing myself. I¡¯d be, for all intents and purposes, practically unkillable. I eyed the name of the class, and I eyed the contents.


    [Undying Cockroach] would be a better class name for this. Decapitation, thrown into acid, cooked by flames, frozen solid, digested, and so many more ways to not die. The only things I¡¯d fear were imprisonment, suffocation, or stakes through the heart. Or stakes through the brain. Really, staking was¡­


    Actually, reading more ¨C I¡¯d get a skill at level 400 that would make it damn hard to stake me.


    I could do crazy things, like take acid baths, enjoy super-poisoned cakes, and more!


    Imprisonment was still a possibility, and I shuddered as I read about it. The class was entirely self-preservation, and it¡¯d be all too easy for an Earth or Metal mage to encase my feet in stone, and throw me into the sea. I¡¯d sink down to the bottom, drowning, suffocating constantly until I either starved or died of old age.


    Horrifyingly, I could probably catch enough stuff at the bottom of the sea to make death by old age the only real possibility. That was a fairly messed-up chapter, where I¡¯d let fish eat me as bait, only to catch them back and eat them alive.


    There would be no [Center of the Galaxy] to stabilize my mind, to make me not suffer. It sounded like a terrible way to go, and worse ¨C I couldn¡¯t heal others with the class.


    Same issue as the [Constellation of the Midwife]. The Sentinels might be Unhappy that I wasn¡¯t a strong healer anymore, and there was a non-zero chance I¡¯d get the boot. It¡¯d be like if Sky no longer had his flying Gravity class. He didn¡¯t really belong in the Sentinels without it.


    I didn¡¯t quite know how Sentinels were terminated, but I suspect I¡¯d be taking an early retirement. ¡°Sentinel Dawn has decided to spend more time with her family¡± or some other nonsense like that. Would probably ruin it for women for centuries to boot. ¡°Oh, last time we tried it was a disaster. No can do.¡±


    I was well aware of the unfairness of being a trailblazer. I had to be more than perfect in some ways, and it was aggravating to be held to standards that others weren¡¯t.


    [Professor from the Stars] offered me a chance to move more into the teaching role, a reward and amplification for all the hard work I¡¯d done teaching the Rangers, mentoring Autumn, lecturing at Artemis¡¯s school, writing and spreading my Medical Manuscript, helping out other apprentices, and so many other things I¡¯d done! It preserved most of my current healing abilities, but I would give up most of my utility for teaching skills.


    Interesting. Not quite the direction I saw myself moving in, but I saw the appeal of the class, and how I¡¯d earned it. The ability to use skills to make teaching easier was appealing, and I wouldn¡¯t be burning out quite so hard on the teaching.


    The last class book was [Radiant Nebula of the Healer], and it opened my eyes to a possibility I just hadn¡¯t considered yet, and I honestly felt stupid for not having thought it through before.


    [Constellation of the Healer], for all that I loved it, was focused on healing one person at a time. I¡¯d gotten lucky with not one, but two area heals, but both of them were, quite frankly, weak. [Warmth of the Sun] simply boosted an individual¡¯s natural regeneration, while [Moonlight] was a bit stronger, the stacking distance penalty was painful.


    [Radiant Nebula of the Healer] fixed both of those issues. Technically, I¡¯d be losing out on some individual healing power, but my [Oath] was boosting my stats to a ridiculous degree. So much so that the small loss of individual healing power wouldn¡¯t be noticed.


    In exchange, my healing aura got a significant boost, and I lost a portion of the penalty on [Moonlight], while increasing the range.


    The class looked and felt custom-tailored to the current situation. Bulk, mass healing. Interestingly, it looked like the area of effect healing was ¡°natural¡± healing. In other words ¨C better make sure bones aren¡¯t misaligned or anything.


    At the same time, if someone did heal improperly, I could always swing back after and fix the individual problems. Another nice benefit was that since it boosted a person¡¯s natural regeneration, fighting off diseases and plagues would be guaranteed (ok, fine, likely) to result in natural immunity down the line.


    I chewed my lip in thought.


    Three classes that all gave me pause. Three different directions. Being a squad healer, being a midwife, or being a massive area of effect healer.


    While I didn¡¯t quite know all the ins and outs of how this place worked, the multi-colored rainbow door in the middle of the room was basically screaming ¡°the class you¡¯re going to take is here!¡±. The other books were good for thinking, good for reflecting on. Heck, I hadn¡¯t thought that [Warmth of the Sun] could be that powerful, when focused on. I hadn¡¯t realized that a skill like [Lifeline] could exist, nor that it was possible to fix some physical birth defects. Checking the other classes, reading about them, was educational.

 Chapter 163.1 – Celestial Class up! II

    I put the books back down, mentally marking their location.


    ¡°Hey, I can come back here if I don¡¯t like what¡¯s through the door, right?¡±


    ¡°Yup! It¡¯s just, ah, complicated through there.¡± Librarian said.


    Good to know I wasn¡¯t locking myself into anything.


    Complicated, eh? I opened the door, and saw¡­


    ¡­ the other side of the room. Anti-climatic in a way.


    I stepped through it and ended up in a starfield, floating in space. Dozens, hundreds of stars surrounded me, connected to each other in clusters with thin little lines, forming a field of constellations around me. Some of the stars were brightly lit, most of them were dim. The constellations were of all different sizes, some big, some little. The stars themselves had as many sizes as there were stars, from tiny pinpricks that I could barely see, all the way to some ¡°stars¡± that looked more like small moons.


    I had a large glass cylindrical container, taller than I was, wider than I was, hovering in front of me. It was filled with a glowing, shimmering substance that looked like bottled starlight. The top was open, and tiny little motes of starlight, little twinkling points that looked like fireflies occasionally came off the top.


    I looked down. I was floating in space, more stars and constellations below me. I tried to move around a bit, finding that I was able to reposition myself at will. The door was gone, but I had no doubt that it¡¯d be easy to find my way back to the library if I needed to.


    A book was on display in front of me, on a stand hooked up to the glass container. It was a strange, shifting multi-colored thing, like the doorway I¡¯d come through.


    [The Dawn Sentinel] Requirements: Sentinel. Title ¡°Dawn¡±. Healed over 100,000 people (non-unique). Killed a creature over level 750. Participated in killing a monster that threatened humanity that was over level 1000. Cured plagues. Handled volcanic fallouts. Dealt with tsunamis flooding cities. Trailblazer. Contributed to human¡¯s medical knowledge. You are Sentinel Dawn, and you bring light and hope to those who see you. A peerless healer, you have worked your way to the top, selflessly sacrificing yourself whenever needed for the betterment of others.


    Although ¨C there were no stats listed.


    I looked down, and on the stand, there were nine marked indents. I experimentally pressed the first one once.


    The book changed slightly, and the summary at the end now had a ¡°+1 Strength per level¡± on it. It seemed like the starlight level in the container went down just a hair.


    Pressing on each of the icons did exactly what I¡¯d guessed ¨C put one point into each of the stats for the class. The level of starlight dropped a tiny fraction of an amount.


    Alright, time to check the most important thing ¨C could I put the points back?


    The answer was yes! I could put them back in! Success!


    I played around with it a bit more, and did some experimenting. Turns out, I had a whopping 631 stat points per level that I could allocate. I was stunned. That was more than eight times the number of stat points per level that I had access to before. There had to be some catch.


    I checked what would happen if I made all the starlight Free Stats. Turns out, I could only get 504 stat points out of it. Message received. There was a penalty for the flexibility that Free Stats offered. It was worth properly planning out what I needed and where, and minimizing the number of Free Stats that I used.


    I looked around at the stars and constellations around me. There were dozens, if not hundreds, of constellations around me, but only a dozen or so constellations had stars that were brightly lit. Eight of those were lit up with a faint yellow glow, while the rest were a blazing white.


    I looked at one constellation that was glowing yellow, and it was simply composed of four stars connected in a line, each one larger than the prior one. The last one was ¡°small moon¡±-sized. It was almost the center of everything, tiny threads in the sky linking it to every single other constellation up there, like the heart.


    Like the center of the starry sky.


    It seemed fairly simple, and I focused on it, trying to study it.


    The sky helpfully expanded around it, most other constellations vanishing to give me a better look at this one.


    One star at the bottom was lit up, glowing yellow, and the rest were dark. All four stars were big though. Not the largest, but hefty. There was a faint image around the entire constellation, making it clear that the constellation was a scepter, the sovereign ruler.


    Or I was just reading too much into it.


    Looking at the one star that was lit up in the constellation, I could faintly see what skill it represented.


    [Celestial Affinity].


    It was the lowest star in the constellation. I focused on the second star, large in the sky, and with a force of will, made it light up!


    [Celestial Authority] it said. It took me a moment for the penny to drop.


    It was a skill tree! I could customize what skills I got!


    I was pretty sure.


    I glanced at my vat of starlight.


    My now heavily drained vat of starlight. A solid chunk had gone into lighting the star up. I went back to the stats, and put all the starlight into mana regeneration. 375 stat points. So, lighting up the [Celestial Authority] star cost me 256 stat points.


    Hang on, where was Librarian when I needed her? This seemed to be exactly the sort of question I had her for.


    ¡°I thought it¡¯d be more fun if you figured it out yourself.¡± She said, popping up. ¡°Spirit of adventure and exploration and all that.¡±


    I grumbled to myself, a huge grin on my face. She knew me too well. I totally enjoyed figuring it out.


    ¡°What am I missing?¡± I asked her. ¡°I think I¡¯ve got it all set.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Except you can also strip points from the constellations you already have skills in.¡± She said. ¡°This is it. Last chance we¡¯re going to get to upgrade this class. We¡¯ve gotta make it good. We should take a look around, and look at all the skills. Then pick eight skills we want, and put all our points into them. Buy all the perks we want. Put whatever starlight remains into our stat allocation.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s gotta be more to it than that.¡± I said.


    Librarian nodded.


    ¡°Yup! Depending on how much we put into a skill, passive skills might take up more mana ¨C or more starlight. Also, if we put fewer points into a skill, we might get it later on. It might require that we get a higher level before it¡¯ll unlock, and it might be weaker as a result. Still, it¡¯s a trade-off worth thinking about and analyzing.¡±


    ¡°Any idea why I¡¯m basically getting to build my own class, instead of taking something the System¡¯s offered me?¡± I asked.


    Librarian shrugged. ¡°No idea. Got lucky, maybe the System thinks you¡¯re worthy, maybe you hit some accomplishment. Heck, maybe this is how monsters class up or something! Honestly, I have no idea.¡±


    The monster thing sounded dubious at best. I was going to make the most of this though. Once in a lifetime opportunity and all that.


    I looked around and cursed.


    ¡°There are hundreds of constellations here. Literally. Hundreds.¡± I said. I picked a random unlit constellation. A raven in flight, twinkling stars making everything from the beak to the wings, shining eyes and sharp claws.


    Allergies. This set of constellations was everything to do with allergies. Detecting what someone was allergic to. That ranged from getting weak responses, to getting exact details, depending on how many points I put into it. Stopping a response. Helping the immune system at the start. Straight-up rewiring the immune system at the end, to remove the allergic reaction.


    I looked around some more.


    There was a constellation full of what I could only call ¡°dead¡± stars. It wasn¡¯t that they were unlit, just ¨C straight up dead. It was in the shape of a stuffed children¡¯s toy. With some imagination, it could be a teddy bear, a bunny rabbit, a fox, or if you squinted hard, a bird of some sort.


    Seemed kinda interesting. I focused on it to see more, and groaned when I realized what skills the constellation was for.


    Bedside manner. A social skill.


    Apparently, my allergy to social skills went deeper than I thought, and even the representation of the skill in celestial form was indicated by dead stars. I couldn¡¯t think of a better way to indicate that it was a hard no on the skill.


    I tried to light up the stars, for the sake of thoroughness and completeness. Nothing happened. They were dead, and the skills were clearly closed off to me.


    ¡°Any chance I can get this all in book form, to better organize what¡¯s going on?¡± I asked Librarian. I loved books, and we were in a library. Why was I stargazing? I could see someone stargazing to pick classes, but that would be for a completely different person. I was a book gal. Give me paper and ink to manage!


    With a wave, Librarian gave me a cozy little book cubby, with the hundreds of books surrounding me. Eight of them glowed yellow ¨C my current skills. More glowed white, but they were dwarfed by the hundreds that were mundane. A few blackened, charred books were my dead skills.


    Way to rub it in System.


    I grabbed the eight books representing my current skills.


    [Celestial Affinity] was an automatic keep. The fact that every single class came with an affinity skill, and that it looked like it was the center of absolutely everything, with everything seemingly relying on it? I wasn¡¯t taking my chances on not having it. Also, being the middle of everything had it as a contender to upgrade ¨C although the prohibitive cost was making me hesitate.


    [Warmth of the Sun] was a keep, and I was looking to upgrade it heavily. [Radiant Nebula of the Healer] had shown me just how powerful area of effect healing could be, and I wanted to open myself up to the possibility. I wanted to have a healing aura strong enough that simply being in the triage tent would get most injuries that could heal naturally, to heal naturally. It was represented as a grand tree, a trunk leading to many different branches. I had a few core stars lit up along the trunk, surrounded by a few smaller stars. Just one branch had a few stars lit up. I took a close look at them ¨C it was the warmth aspect of the skill.


    [Medicine] likewise was a keep. I was a hair leery on how much knowledge I could possibly lose without it. It combined with [Pristine Memories] was the entire basis of how efficient I was. Of all constellations it could be, it was represented by a lantern. Most of the frame was lit, and a dozen little stars were shining inside of it. A fairly complete skill, although a number of dim stars inside it suggested there were untapped depths to the skill.


    With that being said, it was low on the list. If push came to shove, I might ¨C maybe ¨C under dire conditions ¨C axe the skill. Sure, my ability to lecture at Artemis¡¯s school might also be axed, and I¡¯d probably end up a much worse mentor to Autumn, but I might be able to remember enough off of my scrolls, and it would be possible to re-learn it all the hard way. Especially with [Oath] and [Pristine Memories] boosting me.


    For now, my knee-jerk reaction was that I was going to keep it. I would do some thinking and meditating on the issue though.

 Chapter 163.2 – Celestial Class up! II

    [Center of the Galaxy] had saved my life a hundred times over, if not more, and I was eager to make it more powerful. No question there. The constellation was an elegant tiara, a band of smaller stars with larger stars forming the points.


    [Phases of the Moon] I was confident was a top-tier, almost perfect healing skill. I planned on taking a look, and seeing how complete it was. Maybe I¡¯d finish the skill off by being able to handle lead poisoning. Would be kinda cool.


    I took a look at the constellation, and promptly ate crow.


    [Phases] was represented by a massive constellation of an angel, with only one of her wings ignited, shining brightly. The angel held a harp, and completely disconnected from the wings representing [Phases], a portion of the harp was lit up, looking like a crescent moon. I took a look at that portion, and saw it was its own skill.


    [Moonlight]. My best guess was the disconnect between the two portions of the constellation is why it was in two skills, and if I could somehow connect the two, the skills would merge.


    Speaking of [Moonlight].


    [Moonlight] was a skill I was looking to upgrade. Or maybe sidegrade? [Lifeline] from [Ranger-Healer] had looked sweet, and if [Warmth of the Sun] was upgraded into an aura as strong as I wanted it to be, my ranged healing would only come into effect when I was directly in a fight, probably with another person or two.


    Putting it another way ¨C I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d need to hit dozens and dozens of people at once. I was looking to change this skill up. Depended how everything else shook out.


    [Veil of the Aurora] was also on the table for serious upgrades, although I suspected I was starting to get greedy. I wanted to be a super single target healer + area of effect healer + utility + amazing barriers. I had a ton of starlight, but I probably didn¡¯t have that much. The constellation was almost predictably a shield, with a single large star ignited, and like three other smaller stars burning with light.


    Dozens, if not hundreds, of other stars were in the constellation, and I took a quick look over them. My bet was if I¡¯d taken the [Kekkaishi] class that most of this constellation would ignite.


    Also, if I blew all my starlight on super cool skills, I might not have the stats to back them. It was a careful balance I had to walk. If I turned all my starlight into stat points, my skills would suffer. If I turned them all into powerful skills, I wouldn¡¯t have the stats to back them.


    And the last skill was why I had so much trouble. If only I liked [Vastness of the Stars], I¡¯d just keep all my current skills, and to heck with the other stuff. Sadly, I disliked it, and it had to go. Which meant I needed to browse all these other skills for a good one to replace it.


    Time to blatantly cheat!


    ¡°Hey Librarian! Can you get rid of a bunch of these that I won¡¯t like or won¡¯t use?¡± I cheerfully asked her.


    Librarian had grabbed her own cozy chair in the reading cubby, and was engrossed in a book of her own. Typical me behavior. I was slightly jealous that I wasn¡¯t the one doing that, but as it was, I was going to be spending a huge amount of time here, browsing through books.


    She held up her hand, one finger up.


    Tick. Tock.


    I looked around at the night sky, deciding to take a peek at a few more skills that I¡¯d never have access to, whose stars were dead.


    A rainbow, therapeutic skills to help me talk people through trauma. Apparently, that was too social for me, but I noticed with interest that magically healing the trauma wasn¡¯t part of the skill. Perhaps it was in another skill, and I would have access to that?


    A gavel, which somehow translated to public health management. No thank you. A minion with skills like that would be nice though.


    She got to the end of her chapter, carefully put in a bookmark, then looked up as she snapped the book closed.


    ¡°Right. Let me get on that.¡± She said, and a whirlwind of activity occurred. A small pile of books ended up next to me, while the vast majority stayed on the shelves. Two of the books next to me were even glowing white!


    I paused, inspiration suddenly striking.


    ¡°Heya Librarian. Is there a skill to bring someone back from the dead? Revival, or something?¡± I asked her, crossing my fingers.


    ¡°Sorry. That¡¯s impossible for the System.¡± Librarian said. ¡°Namely, the part where it all goes wrong is it¡¯d require manipulating the soul, and there¡¯s no class or skill that can do that. Gods and Goddesses can do some soul manipulation ¨C like with us, and with Priest Demos ¨C but even they can¡¯t fish a soul back from Samsara.¡±


    ¡°So, short version, no revival skill?¡± I asked.


    ¡°No revival skills.¡± Librarian confirmed.


    I was disappointed, but what could I do? I couldn¡¯t force a skill to appear that wasn¡¯t there. It was satisfying to know that it wasn¡¯t because I couldn¡¯t get the skill, that it wasn¡¯t part of the class, but instead that it was flat-out impossible for anyone. Even goddesses.


    It was always a bit strange when Librarian busted out knowledge like that though. I clearly didn¡¯t know it, but Librarian suddenly knew it, in spite of being me. The System making things a bit easier.


    Right! Enough with the impossible, back to the possible!


    I decided to tackle the two glowing skills next to me first. What skills did Librarian think I would like, that I¡¯d already been offered and declined?


    The first one was the constellation that [Eyes of the Milky Way] had come from. Seeing under the stars. Although there were only a few little points in the skill. It could get much more powerful. There were hidden depths to the skill, potential for evolution, that I hadn¡¯t considered.


    Of course they were all eye skills, and of course the constellation was a beautifully detailed pair of eyes.


    I wished I had a mirror, and extensive time to compare. I wondered if the pattern of stars I was seeing in the eye was the same as my eyes.


    Shortlist.


    The next one was a diagnostic skill, an elegant cloak speckled with stars. I had to get me a cloak like that. I looked at it briefly, and remembered getting offered the Astrology-like skill. Well, how the stars were lit up in the constellation explained it. Great on the diagnostic part. Terrible on the communicating the information to me part. I¡¯d suspect it was more of the allergy to social skills if the stars weren¡¯t alive. Unlit, but alive.


    Shortlist. Didn¡¯t hate the idea, but I still felt I could just throw mana at the problem, especially with [Medicine]. Like, it would replace [Medicine] in all likelihood, but that would mean rejuggling things, and it might not even be as strong.


    Well. Probably different. I don¡¯t think I was giving the skill enough credit, especially when some of the stars hinted at offering the ability to detect magical problems.


    I¡¯d need to cross-reference [Medicine], and see if there was a way to evolve it to check for magical problems. I never got a good read on Hesoid¡¯s disease, and maybe I could strengthen [Medicine] to get a read on problems like that in the future.


    Ugh. This was going to give me a headache from how complex it was. Still. It was literally the rest of my life. I wasn¡¯t going to rush it. Although, I was slightly regretting classing up now, when I was a hair crunched for time. It was going to add a bit of extra stress to the whole process.


    A book that was holding the [Lifeline] skill was next up. I took a close look at the [Lifeline] skill. Stars for more people. Stars for longer range. Stars to more efficiently heal over a distance. Stars to reduce the cooldown of ¡°hooking up¡± someone to the skill. Stars for communication, from me to them. Stars for talking back.


    The skill was an entire section of the angel constellation that held [Phases of the Moon] along with [Moonlight], and I shortlisted it as well.


    Everything being on the shortlist was kinda meh, but what else was I to do? The skills were all solid, and making cuts was difficult.


    Seven books relating to children, childbirth, babies, mothers, and defects. Specialty skills. Skills to remove foreign bodies. Like swallowed pebbles, peas shoved up noses, or harpoons in chests.


    Constellations. So many constellations everywhere.


    A quill and inkpot, for teaching skills that I would¡¯ve gotten if I¡¯d taken the [Professor] class.


    A lion, for buff skills to make people stronger, faster, tougher. I earmarked that one. If nothing else, being able to turn off someone¡¯s mana regeneration would make me significantly more comfortable trying to take them prisoner, which would allow me to be less lethal in fights.


    I still had some of that shiny naivety, some deeply seated belief to not kill people when possible. Sadly, most of the time it straight up wasn¡¯t possible, and it hurt on the inside when I had to kill to defend myself. I wasn¡¯t going to stop, but it wasn¡¯t like I enjoyed it.


    A tidy stone well, a skill that increased my mana pool. I hesitated, before deciding that this wouldn¡¯t make the shortlist.


    A bonfire, a skill that removed curses and debuffs. I¡¯d been hit by a few curses here and there, but I¡¯d always had the right gemstone on me to purge it and deal with whoever was trying that nonsense. I decided against shortlisting the skill, because I had other ways of handling the problem.


    The halo of the angel, making me realize just how absurdly large the [Phases of the Moon] skill was. The halo portion was good for a healing buff that I could put on people. I checked it carefully, getting more and more interested the more I read.


    For the price of a chunk of mana, I could strongly improve someone¡¯s natural healing. It would take up most of their mana regeneration, but while they were near me, they¡¯d heal like my [Phases of the Moon] was on them. When they got further away, the magical healing would wane, and their own body¡¯s natural healing would be kicked into overdrive, naturally fixing and healing them.


    It was a single-target, buff version of what I wanted my [Warmth of the Sun] to turn into at a distance, and a single-target, moderate distance ranged heal for [Phases]. Bonus ¨C it let me disable someone¡¯s mana regeneration!


    The more I looked, the more stars I saw, the more hidden depth to the skill I was starting to realize. I forced myself to close the book with a snap, marking it and putting it on the top of the shortlist. The full in-depth analysis would occur after I finished getting my entire shortlist together.


    A banner, a skill that would let me use my healing skills offensively. I recoiled at it, and shot a nasty look at Librarian as I pitched it.


    Healing was my art, my calling, my reason for being. I wasn¡¯t going to twist and pervert it into something that killed. That was all manner of wrong.


    A shining gemstone, and I saw my old friend [Invigorate] in the constellation, along with [Greater Invigorate]. Ooooh, I wanted my coffee-in-a-skill back, the ability to be instantly up and refreshed and energized returned to me.


    Bonus ¨C some of the stars were even partially lit! Onto the shortlist ¨C now a longlist ¨C it went!

 Chapter 164.1 – Celestial Class up! III

    Of course, once I saw that perk in a skill, I wanted to go back and cross-reference my [Phases of the Moon]. I¡¯d try to find the corresponding stars inside the constellation. Not every skill I was offered, not every new thing, was a subset of the constellation. Some were their own, but I took the chance to look around and see what I was missing in the constellation, check if it was reasonably close enough to ignite and make mine, without needing to make a long string of stars to the skill. After all, igniting random stars in the middle of the constellation, that weren¡¯t connected to anything else, was a good way to get it offered as a new skill, not as an expansion of a skill.


    At least, that was my understanding of it.


    Magical herbs. Petrification. ¡®Strange metal sickness¡¯, whatever that was. Something about being close to some types of metals could make you sick? It was considered a mundane ailment? How did I not know anything about this? It was weird. I thought I had knowledge of everything mundane. Yet, looking at this skill, it was clear that, yes, I did have some hole in my knowledge, something so large that I didn¡¯t even know I had a hole. Nor did it neatly connect to anything else, no obvious trails that lead to a gap.


    I knelt and groaned, holding my head. It hurt. Pain. Nothing external, just pure internal agonizing and headaches.


    I put a few points, grabbing the skill, and moved on, determined to ignore it.


    Lead poisoning was a different ailment, and a bit more obvious, and I was going to be happy grabbing that skill. At last! Mercury poisoning. Gold and silver poisoning ¨C each one got a tiny little star. Stars to boost efficiency. Stars to connect to the [Moonlight] portion of the constellation, which would merge and fuse the two skills. That was a long, long, long chain of stars. I could barely make it if I spent way too much starlight on it. Stars to make my healing automatic, which gave me a moment¡¯s pause.


    ¡°Hang on.¡± I said, pointing to the ¡®automatic¡¯ star. ¡°This isn¡¯t factoring in my other skills at all, is it?¡± I asked Librarian.


    ¡°Nope!¡± She cheerfully informed me. ¡°Except yes. Some skills will be based off of other skills you have. Makes them easier to get. Other skills don¡¯t. It¡¯s not quite arbitrary, but the rules around it are complex enough that they might as well be. It¡¯ll cost a heck of a lot more to remove it from your other skill entirely, and move it over here. Pay a premium to cram it all into one. Or rather, gotta pay either way ¨C with using more skill slots, or using more starlight.¡±


    Which interestingly implied that stars cost more starlight the more that were lit up. I decided to quickly check on it, picking two random stars inside [Phases].


    Actually ¨C hang on. Let¡¯s be smarter about this. I took the starlight out of the callous star, and allocated all of my points into mana regeneration. I then carefully took starlight out of mana regeneration until I had enough starlight to ignite the star, giving me a careful measurement of exactly how much it took to make it happen. Giving me units to work with.


    Ignited the first one. It took me 10 stat points to make it happen. Removed the starlight. Ignited the second one. 12 stat points. Ignited the first one again.


    This time, it cost me 11 stat points to ignite it, instead of 10. Message received. The bigger and better the skill, the more it would take to continue to expand it. Made sense. Meant I couldn¡¯t just make one uber skill and call it a day.


    Well, ok then. Most of what I couldn¡¯t handle was in what seemed to be the ¡°magical ailments¡± section of the constellation, and I quickly wrapped up grabbing the few tiny stars in the ¡°mundane¡± section.


    I was delighted that parasites, viruses, bacteria, prions, fungi, cancer, blood loss and all other manner of mundane problems were lit up, along with restoring flesh and carving out dead material. The ¡®Restore muscles properly¡¯ perk was also lit, which explained why Brawling didn¡¯t need to start working out again once I¡¯d restored his legs. It was satisfying to know that my skill was pretty damn good.


    It just could be better.


    Just not everything. Fixing autoimmune diseases was still beyond my reach, although I¡¯d somehow never encountered one so far. Lucky me!


    Unlucky them. I probably hadn¡¯t encountered one, because nobody had survived long enough for me to get to them.


    I made an impulsive move, and lit up a ¡°restore callous¡± star. It was tiny, and would barely cost me anything.


    There was a skill book for magical ailments to compliment the [Phases of the Moon]. Skills for everything under the stars, skills for everything the moon had seen. It was exhausting, seeing every book, every skill, then cross-checking it against what I had. Weirdly, this constellation wasn¡¯t part of the [Phases] constellation, but there was near-perfect overlap. Anything in this book had a corresponding star in [Phases], while being a completely different skill.


    Weird. If I was going the route of wanting to heal magical ailments, if I wanted these perks in the skill, I¡¯d just upgrade [Phases] instead, grab a cluster inside the skill as its own stand-alone skill, and hope it merged with the main healing down the line. Still. It made it a bit easier to see how it all worked together, seeing what the System considered the ¡°magical ailment healing¡± skills all bundled together.


    To call this complicated would be an understatement. I would love to take a thousand notes on everything in the library and bring it back and supplement my Medical Manuscripts with the information. Sadly, [Pristine Memories] didn¡¯t work here, and all my mental energy was being devoted to not screwing up this once in a lifetime chance. I was pretty happy that decision paralysis hadn¡¯t struck, and that I was chugging along, putting in the needed legwork to make this all work out properly.


    Although, I didn¡¯t have [Pristine Memories] back when I was on earth, yet it was clarifying those memories. I¡¯d need to check, but I wasn¡¯t hopeful. The System didn¡¯t seem to be the type to helpfully give me free information from classing up.


    Librarian was a lifesaver, and she¡¯d gotten me a blank book for me to take notes in. There were somehow sticky notes as well, and I was getting deeply buried in piles and piles of paperwork, as I carefully checked and cross-checked every potential skill, and how it could possibly slot in against the rest of the skills. If what I wanted from skill A was doable from skill B, or perhaps expanding skill C could make it work?


    It was a dizzying labyrinth of skills and combinations, and I had barely even touched on more stand-alone skills like [Warmth of the Sun], to see what and how I wanted to upgrade that skill!


    Thinking about that ¨C I should go through the skill and check what I wanted from it. Increased size, increased healing speed. Oooh! There was a perk to make some of the resources come from my mana instead of the patient! Basically, not starving people as I healed them.


    A restaurant might pay me good money to not take that perk though. Ah well, their loss. I didn¡¯t see myself getting into the restaurant business anytime soon.


    Also, the warmth aspect was a few stars in and of itself. I didn¡¯t think I needed that, not when I had Radiance, and I was probably going to yoink that part of the skill. Technically a downgrade, but it¡¯d give me more starlight to allocate elsewhere. Would also make the rest of the tree a hair cheaper to upgrade.


    I didn¡¯t put starlight into them yet ¨C I was still in the note-taking part. Back to the books!


    The next constellation ¨C a mask ¨C caught my eye, a few of the stars not quite lit up ¨C but neither were they dim.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± I asked Librarian. She took a peek over my shoulder.


    ¡°Cosmetic surgery.¡± She said. ¡°Reshaping faces, bodies, etc. The half-on stars are where you¡¯re getting some support from [Pretty]. My guess? It¡¯s how and why general skills influence class skills. Bet that [Ranger-Mage] also has some impacts here and there, meaning it¡¯s a heck of a lot cheaper to turn those stars on.¡±


    I thought about it for a moment. Not out of any consideration for taking the skill, but for the implications and what they meant.


    ¡°If I take a bunch of stars based off of that, would [Pretty] merge into it?¡± I asked.


    Librarian thought about it for a minute or two.


    ¡°Probably.¡± She said cautiously. ¡°No promises.¡±


    It was good to know, and I put the book off to the side. I liked being [Pretty], but I had no desire to get into the cosmetic flesh reshaping business.


    Books upon books, stars upon stars. There wasn¡¯t an obvious ¡°save¡± or ¡°undo¡± method, just lots of notes, so I was a hair reluctant to pull all the starlight out of all the other skills, and get cracking. I wanted a full picture of everything before I started working on stuff.


    Of course, all that got thrown out the window when I stumbled upon a particular book, deep in the stack of ¡°potential skills¡±.


    It started off innocently enough, an ouroboros for the constellation. Fancy, but there wasn¡¯t any real rhyme or reason relating the constellation to the skill. I started to read the skill, feeling some strain from the mountain of books and notes I¡¯d already taken. Mental fatigue was still a thing here.


    I read the skill once, not quite properly processing what it said, and what the perks did. I must¡¯ve misread it.


    I stood up and stretched, chatting with Librarian.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been at this too long. Misreading stuff now.¡± I said. ¡°Gotta focus more.¡±


    She arched an eyebrow at me.


    ¡°Be careful. This is it.¡± She gently rebuked me. I held my hands up.


    ¡°I know, I know. That¡¯s why I¡¯m taking this short break. Right! Back to it!¡± I said, sitting back down. Ready to read the skill properly, see what it did.


    I read the skill again. It did¡­ wait.


    I hadn¡¯t misread it.


    It did what!?


    And the other perks also did¡­ holy shit.


    When they were combined together, that would mean¡­


    My heart started to speed up, my throat tightened up in nervous anticipation as the pieces of the puzzle clicked together


    ¡°This is it.¡± I forced the words out of my throat. ¡°This is the skill.¡±


    I didn¡¯t bother with the math, with carefully checking how much each star cost. I just moved all my starlight from stats, back to the container.


    I tried to light all the stars up, and only got through seven of them before running out of starlight. I needed all of them lit up. I needed this skill.


    I made a strangled noise, and grabbed the unused skills, ripping the starlight out of them and dumping them back into the skill. Nine out of twelve.


    ¡°Whoa, whoa, chill!¡± Librarian said, as I started to reach for my current skills, intent on draining those. ¡°First off, breathe. Think. It¡¯s not going anywhere. It¡¯s not going away. Second, you don¡¯t need the entire skill lit up. Third, what about everything else? What about the rest of our plans, what about stats? We need those.¡±


    What I should do is put the book down and go for a short walk to clear my mind. Instead, I just sat there, not even blinking, not wanting to risk the skill somehow vanishing or being misplaced if I looked away for even a moment.


    Librarian sat next to me on the fuzzy chair. She put her hands over mine.


    ¡°Ok, look, I get it. Yeah, super exciting. The best skill ever. Calm down. Think.¡±


    My mind was whirring, unable to calm down. Unable to think. Stuck in an endless loop.


    I had to have this I had to have this I had to have this I had to-


    Librarian cuffed me over the head, as hard as she could. I almost saw stars from the blow.


    ¡°Ow! Fuck! What was that for!?¡± I yelled at her.


    ¡°Resetting you.¡± She said, one hand on her hip, other hand pointing an accusing finger at me. ¡°It¡¯s. Not. Going. Anywhere. Now focus. What do we need?¡± She asked.


    I just gave her a Look and pointed to the skill. She rolled her eyes at me.


    ¡°What else do we need? What do we want upgraded from our other skills?¡±


    Fortunately, I¡¯d been taking copious notes. Everything I¡¯d been thinking of had been knocked right out of my head. I pored over the notes, pointing to a few dozen different stars I¡¯d been wanting to ignite.


    ¡°Ok, good. What are we willing to sacrifice?¡±


    Well, that had been all the other skills, but I already yoinked their starlight. I looked through stuff some more.


    ¡°The privacy aspects from [Veil]. While shielding Night was nice, I doubt we need to keep it just for that. Also the colors and light from it.¡± I reluctantly admitted. ¡°Heat from [Warmth of the Sun]. A bunch of the anti-emotion stuff from [Center of the Galaxy]. I¡¯m on the fence with [Medicine] as well, we¡¯ve got a bunch of great options, and I think we can manage with [Pristine Memories] and [Oath]¡¯s knowledge boost.¡±


    ¡°Alright, good. Now, we don¡¯t need this skill to be at full power right now. We can lower the amount of starlight in it, which means it¡¯ll unlock when we¡¯re higher level. This will give us enough starlight to get most of what we want, although they might also be dim, and unlock when we¡¯re higher level. Plus.¡± Librarian waggled her finger at me. ¡°We can¡¯t use everything on skills! We need to have stats at the end of this!¡±


    Oh shoot, she was right. I¡¯d almost forgotten that.


    Librarian looked over the book containing the skill, and pointed to four stars.


    ¡°We really only need those four ¨C oh, and grab that fifth one as well. Let¡¯s put as little starlight in it as possible, and it¡¯ll unlock later on.¡±


    I frowned at that.


    ¡°But I want it now.¡± I half-whined at her.


    ¡°Yeah, but you don¡¯t need it now, do you?¡± She said. ¡°You need it later on. It¡¯s basically useless today, right?¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± I reluctantly admitted. Librarian was right about that. I didn¡¯t need it now; I didn¡¯t need it today. Heck, I had no use for it this year!

 Chapter 164.2 – Celestial Class up! III

    ¡°Ok, good. Now, we¡¯ve got a choice. We can power up our skills now, but get fewer stats per level. However, we¡¯ll probably level a bit faster. Or, we can put less starlight into the skills, and get more points per level, but it means we delay some of our skills upgrading.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re sitting on a pile of experience, right?¡± I asked, trying to confirm. I¡¯d been at 256 for a few months, but I hadn¡¯t done anything that would¡¯ve been worth a bunch of levels. Just standard city healing. However, participating with the attack on the Formorian Queens, being part of the party that killed two of them, along with hundreds of Royal Guards ¨C mostly killed in the earthquake ¨C followed by the marathon healing here had to be worth quite a lot of experience. Heck, Destruction had gotten almost a hundred levels, jumping him from the 400¡¯s to the 500¡¯s, which was pure insanity.


    ¡°Should be!¡± Librarian cheerfully agreed, and I cursed the only partially-knowing aspect.


    ¡°Should probably rearrange it back to the starfield.¡± I said. The books had been fantastic to see and cross-reference stuff, but it¡¯s not like my notes would vanish. There was something about seeing the sky in the full visual that just appealed to me for this last step. ¡°Let¡¯s only have the eight skills I¡¯ll be using. We¡¯ve yoinked the starlight from all the other skills, right?¡± I asked Librarian.


    She gestured, like grabbing a moonbeam out of the air.


    ¡°Yup! Now we do!¡±


    I eyed up the now very full container of starlight. It was moderately tempting to keep it as pure stats.


    Then again, better skills? Even more tempting. A delicate balancing act that I¡¯d need to walk. I¡¯d gotten a treat with being able to essentially build my own class, but the power came at the price of complexity. The eternal trade-off.


    I decided to call each stat point worth of starlight a single unit.


    I decided to keep [Moonlight], even though something like [Lifeline] might be better. Turns out that [Moonlight] was pretty cheap ¨C hence it not being that strong ¨C and I invested some starlight to make it a hair less restrictive. Not a ton, it was still going to be a conditional skill, but for only 12 starlight across four stars I was upgrading the skill by leaps and bounds.


    There were a half-dozen stars in [Moonlight] which would help with ¡°multi-tasking¡± so to speak, where I¡¯d be able to focus on and improve everyone¡¯s healing. Like, right now when I did massive area of effect heals, I just focused on ¡°heal¡±, which worked but was a terrible image, and hence terrible efficiency. With the little cluster of stars, I¡¯d be able to picture everyone¡¯s injuries at the same time, and think about and focus and heal each one in a custom manner, dramatically improving my efficiency.


    It sounded neat, and I took the stars. Those were a bit more expensive, costing me 40 starlight.


    [Celestial Affinity] I left it as-is. It was expensive to upgrade, and while it probably got stronger, I wasn¡¯t chomping at the bit to change it. It would help if I knew what the upgraded version did, and I might regret it, but at the current cost? I was going to pass.


    [Warmth of the Sun] got a lot of love. Stars to boost the range. Perks to boost the speed, by a significant factor. The ability to go through mundane walls. Being able to go through magical walls and barriers was crazy expensive, and I didn¡¯t really see the need for it. An entire branch towards using my regeneration to improve the power and quality. It cost me a total of 82 points of starlight, and I was looking forward to seeing what it could do after these upgrades.


    [Medicine] I decided to axe after way too much time spent thinking about it. I got back over a hundred points of starlight from it, and I invested them into the healing buff skill, the halo portion of the gigantic angelic constellation. There were just so many hidden depths and complexities to the skill, I was eager and excited to try them out.


    I wasn¡¯t looking forward to leveling the skill up from level 1 though. That was going to be painful. Maybe sticking it on some of the Sentinels before they sparred with each other would be a good way to help it level. Plus, I could be a bit lazier when they were sparring.


    [Center of the Galaxy] had a bunch of things stripped from it, but I increased the pain resistance and the calm and collected aspect when in a fight. That was the part that had saved me a hundred times over. All in all, it was starlight neutral, as I reallocated starlight around the perks.


    I had enough introspection to realize that I¡¯d grown up and matured while leaning on the crutch that was [Center of the Galaxy]. I hadn¡¯t needed to handle the fallout from intense negative emotions for years, and I¡¯d need to work on my self-control. It was going to suck, but I couldn¡¯t be seen as a whiny brat who threw tantrums and complained about small stuff.


    The mere fact that I was aware of it would probably help.


    The angel constellation that [Phases] was in now had three separate portions lit up, that would all work with each other. I¡¯d tackled the [Moonlight] portion, I¡¯d handled the halo that dealt with the buff. Now it was time to work on and upgrade the healing portion directly. The stars I was eyeing up to full light up right now mainly dealt with things being stabbed in me. A few to deal with suffocation.


    [Phases] was my keystone skill in my primary class. The skill, more than anything, defined who and what I was, and a total of 98 points of starlight illuminated the skill. Improvements. Improvements all around. Magical ailments, the stabbing thing, and a dozen more items that looked like they might be useful one day in the future. Like heavy metal poisoning. A dozen points towards handling what I thought Arthur¡¯s poison was, based on our brief conversations. Most of them would be coming down the line in the future, but I felt I could wait.


    Heck, I was sitting on a massive pile of experience. ¡°Waiting¡± could easily just be ¡°until I woke up and everything leveled up like crazy.¡± With that being said, I focused on getting more stars partially lit, rather than making sure a few stars were lit right now.


    ¡°Removing objects that were stabbing you¡± was an expensive set of stars though, and I didn¡¯t have that much spare starlight. I decided not to light all of the ¡®stabbing stars¡¯ up. I focused my starlight on items in my upper torso and my head. In theory, I could still get staked through the gut or something, and I¡¯d just have to deal with it. Honestly, I was fine with that.


    My logic was that being staked through the gut wasn¡¯t a swift death, so I¡¯d have time to handle it. Being staked through the heart, vampire-style, would kill me in seconds. I wanted my skill to be able to handle it. Mundane stabbing wasn¡¯t a concern, so I didn¡¯t see the need to even partially buy the skill off. Why waste my precious starlight on something like that, when they could be stats instead?


    It was with great sadness that I barely upgraded anything in [Veil of the Aurora], instead mostly hitting it with nerfs. Minor, technical nerfs, but nerfs nonetheless. Less privacy. No more light, or pretty colors. Actually, that second part was arguably a buff, and a pretty strong buff to boot. I could now try to hide with the [Veil], instead of lighting a beacon that screamed ¡°Dawn is RIGHT HERE!¡±. Being a solo operative now, stealth was more important than signaling to teammates. Also, I could see what was going on the other side of my shield. Previously, I had no idea what was happening on the other side of my shield. Had the attack landed? Missed? Or was Artemis preparing another nasty trap?


    I wouldn¡¯t have that concern anymore, so it was a win in my book.


    The System considered it a nerf, but when I looked at it that way, I felt like Prometheus stealing fire. Not only had I improved the skill for my purposes, but I also got starlight out of the deal. A total steal.


    I used the bonus starlight I¡¯d gotten to grab a few little stars. For myself only, I could attach it, I could move it around a little, and it was now flexible when I wanted it to be. I might be able to do cool stuff with that, especially now that it was a more close-in to myself skill, focusing properly on the aspects of keeping myself alive and well.


    I still think that being able to full-on do all the cool barrier stuff would be awesome, but I hardened my heart and made the choice.


    Stars for sharp barriers. Multiple barriers. Moving barriers. Conditional barriers. Those, and dozens, hundreds, of additional options remained dark. Only a small part of the constellation was lit, and the rest would remain forever outside my reach. Possibly.


    What I found super interesting was it seemed like I didn¡¯t have the full constellation. It seemed like some stars had lines that led nowhere ¨C or led to stars that I couldn¡¯t see.


    I suppose I did start from [Constellation of the Healer] and not [Constellation of the Barrier-Mage]. It wouldn¡¯t really make sense to have access to all the powerful barrier skills and aspects in what was fundamentally a healing class.


    And that was it. I was done with the initial pass-through.


    I eyed the starlight. It had a good amount, but I was greedy for more. Every point mattered, because every point would turn into stats. Every stat I had would always be applying to everything I did. I¡¯d unlocked everything I thought was cool; that I felt I needed.


    Iteration time!


    Time to see how useful things were, evaluate skills and perks not only on their own merit, but how they synergized with and interacted with everything else I had.


    I cut the suffocation aspect from [Phases of the Moon], seeing a significant amount of starlight return. That had been a crazy expensive perk, and I avoided water like ¨C


    Well. I didn¡¯t avoid it like the plague, given that I dived into plagues head-first. Still. The starlight didn¡¯t justify the investment. Like, if I was suffocating, the skill would just keep me alive while I had mana, then I¡¯d die anyways. Expensive skill, niche use, that was a formula for elimination.


    Healing animals and dinosaurs from [Warmth of the Sun] bit the dust as well, returning a whopping 35 starlight. I¡¯d had the awkward realization that it¡¯d also heal animals and monsters hostile to me, unless I specifically bought the perk to exclude things from my aura, which was expensive. Also, healing animals and dinosaurs with [Warmth] was a pretty niche use anyways. Spend more starlight on a niche ability, or get it back? It was pretty obvious what the correct choice was.


    All but one perk from healing non-humanoids from [Phases of the Moon] also got axed. Rough translation ¨C I could heal Night and other vampires, following his old request, but I was going to continue to have a steep penalty healing other creatures. The further away from a human the System considered someone or something to be, the worse my healing efficiency would get, eventually turning into a ¡°are you sure you want to lose all your mana for no reason?¡±


    I frowned, and hesitated over that. I wanted a companion, and if I didn¡¯t have the stars at least partially lit, I¡¯d always have a gigantic penalty when healing said companion. Hunting had mentioned possibly going after the thunderbirds, and, well¡­


    I lit up one more star in the ¡°non-humanoid animal healing¡± section.


    I looked at my starlight. I looked at my skills. Improvements!


    I cut the ¡°super efficient mass visualization¡± aspect from [Moonlight]. I hated it, but I didn¡¯t do mass heals under [Moonlight] often enough to justify needing the extra efficiency. Plus ¨C I¡¯d just upgraded [Warmth of the Sun] a bunch. It was cannibalizing where I needed the skills, and a solid amount of starlight returned for it. Heck, if I threw that starlight into mana or mana regeneration, I basically got back everything I just lost from having the skill! After getting a few dozen levels, of course. Super-duper long run, it was going to work out even better.


    I looked at my starlight, and I was now much happier with how much I had left. I had enough to think about what my skills would look like.


    I was going to have only seven skills for quite some time, given how dimly I¡¯d lit the ouroboros skill. I had room for a cheap pick up to temporarily hold onto and fill the slot, and with great glee, I grabbed a few points from the [Invigorate] skill.


    I reviewed it, eight times, to see if there was anything else I wanted. I kept going back and forth on stuff, turning a star on one round, turning it off the next. Skill, or stat. Stat, or skill.


    I looked back, finally content with my skills and my remaining starlight. It wasn¡¯t the best. When push came to shove, I leaned towards powerful skills, going a bit lighter on the stats. Stats came from everything, while skills were unique and one-time.


    Now it was time to figure out what stats I wanted, and in what ratio.


    To begin, Free Stats were significantly more expensive than assigned stats. As much as possible, I wanted to carefully and properly plan out my stats, and minimize how many Free Stats I¡¯d get. Like. Why bother getting four Free Stats per level when I¡¯d just put them all into Speed? Might as well use that starlight to get five points of Speed.


    I had a delightful amount of starlight left. 487 stats to distribute, which was simply crazy. I rubbed my hands in glee, eager to start distributing.


    First off, my Magic Power and Magic Control as it pertained to healing was flat-out batty. The boost that [Oath] was providing was significant, to say the least. I¡¯d probably put a few points in Power and Control just so they wouldn¡¯t stagnate, so I¡¯d be able to slowly improve over time. It was also useful when I needed to perform bulk, mass-healing all at once. I could only heal as many injuries as I had power. The quality of the healing would also be impacted by my control. Plus, it helped out my [Ranger-Mage] class. Still. Not the primary focus.


    Physical stat-wise, Speed and Vitality were the name of the game, and I could use some of each. A bit of Dexterity to keep up with it would be nice as well. Strength was useless, as far as I used it.


    No, the stats I needed the most were Mana, and Mana Regeneration. There was a tension between the two.


    Mana was good for fights. Mages died when they ran out of mana, and my healing was strong enough to drain my entire bar in an instant. At the same time, as Sentinel, I had constant access to huge reserves of Arcanite, able to pull and extend my staying power.


    Mana Regeneration was good for enduring, and long-lasting problems. Most of the problems I ran into these days required massive regeneration, from holding the Formorians, to healing tents upon tents of injured soldiers.


    I was frankly exhausted. Not physically, but mentally. I was in the world of my soul, in soul form. It was impossible to be physically exhausted. Mentally though? I¡¯d been slicing and dicing skills and points for what was probably days on end, and having had ¡°mana versus regeneration¡± debates in the past, I decided to say screw it.


    Even split on the two. Most of my points were going into it anyways.


    I started pressing icons.


    Strength was almost pointless. If nothing else, I¡¯d consistently get a few points of it here and there from leveling up [Ranger-Mage] once I finished classing it up.


    Three points to Dexterity.


    24 points to Speed and Vitality.


    48 points to Magic Power and Magic Control.


    170 points to both Mana and Mana Regeneration.


    Zero free stats per level.


    I looked at the book, exhausted.


    [The Dawn Sentinel] it proudly displayed, having turned a dark green. On top of being dark green, powerful on stats, I knew that most of the power of the class was in the skills, not in the stats. Being able to entirely customize the class was an unbelievable power, and it was probably even stronger than the raw numbers suggested. It was better than tailored for me ¨C I¡¯d tailored it myself.


    Most of my skills would probably change their name, to reflect the new abilities I had. I was going to flat out lose [Vastness of the Stars], and after getting my replacement and temporary skills, I wouldn¡¯t be getting another skill for a long, long time.


    It was all going to be worth it. I¡¯d gotten to see what the skill was going to be called once I¡¯d get it. I knew what it would do, and the mere thought of it sent my heart racing as I bit my lower lip in nervous anticipation.


    [The Stars Never Fade].


    I would be able to see Librarian again in the future.


    I would be able to turn back the clock of time on myself, effectively rendering me ageless.


    Or, to put it another way -


    Immortal.

 Chapter 165 – Skills Skills Skills

    I opened my eyes, eager to see what I got, what the name of the skills would be, what level everything would hit. Before I could see anything, a powerful wave of nausea overcame me, the loss of the high-level skills hitting me hard. I turned over, tried to hold it in, failed, grabbed a random thing and vomited hard into it, retching and heaving as my empty stomach demanded that everything left, resulting in me spitting bile.


    Wiping my mouth, I ignored the rest of my surroundings, the disgusted noises I heard, and immediately focused on my notifications.


    I¡¯d left the name of all of the skills to be something of a surprise. Well, except for the bloody Immortality skill, but I just had to know.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Constellation of the Healer] has upgraded into [The Dawn Sentinel]!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [The Dawn Sentinel] has leveled up to level 256->305! +3 Dexterity, +24 Speed, +24 Vitality, +170 Mana, +170 Mana Regen, +48 Magic power, +48 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    Cha-CHING. Holy stats. I¡¯d what, doubled my mana and mana regeneration in one go? Yikes. That was good stuff. No wonder Artemis had seemed so much stronger than everyone else. No wonder Sentinels were so powerful.


    Then again, [The Dawn Sentinel] was by all accounts an absurdly powerful class. The only other person I knew of with a dark green class was Arthur, but on the other hand, I didn¡¯t know the quality of the other Sentinel¡¯s classes.


    Magic claimed his were pink, but that was probably a lie designed to throw me off. I really hoped we¡¯d screwed up, and the ever-paranoid, always-cautious dude would show up again.


    Back to my new skills!


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Warmth of the Sun] has upgraded to [Cosmic Presence!]


    Cosmic Presence: The cosmos is omni-present, always roiling and moving, always reshaping itself over eons. Your presence is like the cosmos, omni-present around you, and you renew and fix those around you. Increase the natural healing of everyone around you. Increased speed and range per level. Passive skill, costs 7777 Mana Regeneration.


    First new skill! [Cosmic Presence] sounded totally cool, and I was excited to see it in action, to see what it could do.


    [*Error* You have lost the skill [Medicine]]


    I had this sudden moment of horror. What if I was completely wrong, and I wasn¡¯t getting a replacement skill for quite some time? What if I¡¯d just screwed myself hard?


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Center of the Galaxy] has upgraded into [Center of the Universe]!]


    Center of the Universe: Your ego has only grown over time. From the center of the galaxy, you now see yourself as the center of the universe, as all of existence revolves around you. Improved pain resistance and mental stability per level.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Phases of the Moon] has upgraded into [Dance with the Heavens]!]


    Dance with the Heavens: The heavens cycle above you, each object participating in the grand dance of life. The sun heals and restores, the moons remove that which does not belong, while the stars adjust everything to their proper place. Panacea skill. Improved efficiency per level, improved power per level.


    I was thrilled with the new name, but I wasn¡¯t completely sure what the leveling up would do. I already had a terrifying amount of power, and I was pretty darn efficient with my images.


    Then again, with losing [Medicine] my efficiency was going to dip a hair.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Moonlight] has upgraded into [Wheel of Sun and Moon]!]


    Wheel of Sun and Moon: Your power to restore life comes from the sun, as your power to remove harmful substances comes from the moon. Now, heal those that are touched by either the sun or the moon! Ranged healing. Range increases per level. Penalty reduced per level.


    [*Error* [Veil of the Aurora] has downgraded into [Mantle of the Stars]


    Mantle of the Stars: You weave a cloak of starlight to wear for yourself. Improved manipulation and defense per level.


    [*Error* You have lost the skill [Vastness of the Stars]]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! For hitting level 300, you¡¯ve unlocked the Class skill [Solar Infusion]!]


    Solar Infusion: The sun burns brightly, forever fueled, immune and immutable. With this skill, you¡¯ll be able to impart your healing on someone else, letting the power persist in them, keeping them hale and whole. When they are further away from you, the skill will also increase and improve their natural healing. Increased radius where [Dance with the Heavens] applies per level. Increased amount of mana that can be placed in the skill per level. Increased efficiency at transforming their mana regeneration into natural healing.


    The skill had almost double the range of [Wheel of sun and Moon], and it came without the distance penalties, along with letting me donate more and more generously into the ¡°mana pocket¡± that came with the skill. Situations like Brawling being cut in half wouldn¡¯t be nearly so dire. Still bad, I¡¯d probably still need to help, at least until the skill leveled up a ton, but it was better than what I had before.


    I could also disable someone¡¯s mana regeneration. I was fairly certain that since it was a healing skill, [Oath] would apply when I tapped someone with it, which meant a corresponding increase in the maximum amount of mana regeneration I could ¡°eat¡± from them. Or, putting it another way, I felt more comfortable disabling someone, without worrying about a skill coming out of the blue and killing me.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! For hitting level 300, you¡¯ve unlocked the Class skill [Sunrise]!]


    Sunrise: Good morning, rise and shine! Have a nice big cup of sunshine, and be awake, alert, and energetic, ready to meet the day! Warning: Not a sleep substitute.


    [Sunrise] and [Solar Infusion] starting off at level 1 each was going to be painful. Then again, I felt like I had unlimited mana and regeneration, and I could just spam the skills non-stop to help level them up. Onto the level up notifications!


    [*Ding!* [Celestial Affinity] leveled up! 256 -> 305]


    [*Ding!* [Center of the Universe] leveled up! 256 -> 285]


    [*Ding!* [Dance with the Heavens] leveled up! 256 -> 305]


    [*Ding!* [Wheel of Sun and Moon] leveled up! 256 -> 271]


    [*Ding!* [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] leveled up! 256 -> 270]


    [*Ding!* [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority] leveled up! 256 -> 305]


    [*Ding!* [Learning] leveled up! 256 -> 280]


    [*Ding!* [Bullet Time] leveled up! 256 -> 268]


    Sweet, sweet levels. Yessssss. I looked over my new and improved stat sheet.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 19]


    [Mana: 153790/153790]


    [Mana Regen: 133517 (+98425.6)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 51]


    [Strength: 293]


    [Dexterity: 347]


    [Vitality: 2176]


    [Speed: 2176]


    [Mana: 15379]


    [Mana Regeneration: 15379 (+9842.56)]


    [Magic Power: 7897 (+106609.5)]


    [Magic Control: 7897 (+106609.5)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 305]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 305]


    [Cosmic Presence: 231]


    [Solar Infusion: 1]


    [Center of the Universe: 285]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 305]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 271]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 256]


    [Sunrise: 1]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 256]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 256]


    [Radiance Resistance: 256]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 256]


    [Shine: 111]


    [Sun-Kissed: 256]


    [Blaze: 256]


    [Talaria: 256]


    [Nova: 256]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 151]


    [Pristine Memories: 200]


    [Pretty: 152]


    [Bullet Time: 268]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 270]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 305]


    [Persistent Casting: 189]


    [Learning: 280]

 Chapter 166 – Party

    I was still curled up and feeling miserable when I felt a mass that could only be Brawling¡¯s plonk down next to me.


    ¡°Heya.¡± He said. ¡°Yeah, this sucks. We won, at what price? Tell you what. Best thing for it? Go out and do something. Take your mind off of things. I¡¯m sure there¡¯s a dozen soldiers that need some help. From getting too drunk, if nothing else. Or heck, have a drink or five, wander around, get in trouble. Find a handsome soldier and get laid. Dance on the walls. Join us playing dice. Nature¡¯s cheating, but Toxic isn¡¯t. Just find something to do, something to keep your mind off of things as you process.¡±


    I sniffled.


    ¡°Are you cheating or not?¡± I mumbled into my knees.


    Brawling guffawed at that.


    ¡°Not telling!¡± He said, with what I could now kinda tell was forced, fake cheer. He was hurting like all of us, but had better coping. Somewhat.


    ¡°That¡¯s a yes.¡± I said, lifting my head and giving him an accusing look. ¡°I suck at cheating. No way am I going to play.¡±


    ¡°Awww, come on! Just a bit?¡± Brawling said, cajoling me.


    A plan came to me. In spite of the heavy weight on me, I cracked a grin.


    ¡°Ok, fine, just a bit.¡± I said.


    Brawling bolted up, and offered me his hand. I took it, accepting his help to get up. We wandered over to the table.


    I was being eyed up like a seal in front of a bunch of sharks. I gave them wide, innocent eyes. Like a lamb to the slaughter.


    ¡°I¡¯m out.¡± Nature said. ¡°She¡¯s got something up her sleeve. Nobody looks like that.¡± Nature said, pointing at me. ¡°Nobody with Dawn¡¯s experience looks that innocent and na?ve going to a game where she knows people are cheating.¡±


    ¡°Oh come on!¡± I protested. ¡°How is that fair? Both you and Brawling are cheating horribly ¨C heck, for that matter, Toxic¡¯s also cheating, you just haven¡¯t caught him yet ¨C and when I come to the table, suddenly you¡¯re out?¡±


    Nature smirked, and I suddenly realized I¡¯d been had.


    ¡°See. Told ya she¡¯s got something up her sleeve. Come on, let¡¯s go.¡± He said.


    I sat down at the table, mentally cursing. He might¡¯ve ruined everything.


    Still. I ponied up a few coins, and threw them into the pot.


    ¡°Night?¡± Brawling prompted, after everyone else ¨C Nature included, I guess curiosity won out ¨C had thrown a few coins or chips in.


    With a long-suffering sigh, Night threw a few coins in as well, and dice started to shake.


    I wasn¡¯t cheating. Well, I kinda was, but I wasn¡¯t. I was banking on everyone else cheating for me. See, how else were you going to get the reluctant, but loaded, sucker who was terrible to the table?


    The dice finished rolling, and it took me a moment to process what they¡¯d landed on.


    ¡°I won!¡± I cried out, playing up the excitement, scooping the pot over to me.


    ¡°Yeah! Fun, right?¡± Brawling said, a huge smile on his face.


    ¡°Yup. Anyways, thanks all. I¡¯m out.¡± I said, a predatory grin splitting my face as I scooped up my winnings.


    The look on Brawling¡¯s face ¨C priceless. Stunned disbelief. Nature just started laughing.


    ¡°Told you she had something up her sleeve! She played you all like a lute! Oh man, losing that round was totally worth it just to see the look on your faces! Ha!¡±


    The answer for how you get the reluctant sucker to play ¨C have her win a few times. Get her hooked on the feeling, wanting to play more.


    It wasn¡¯t like we hadn¡¯t played similar games when I was a Ranger.


    Toxic winked at me. I flipped him his coins back ¨C and a few extra.


    ¡°Wait! Why does he get his coins back!?¡± Brawling sputtered with indignation.


    Night snorted at our antics, and deigned to chip in.


    ¡°Because Toxic and Dawn were on the same Ranger team together. He clearly has a strong grasp of her talents and abilities, and assisted with her victory just now. Most likely he even knew what would happen after. Instead of ruining her fun, he participated as a willing accomplice. Dawn is simply repaying the favor. Also, how you lot have not caught onto Toxic¡¯s method of cheating is simply disgraceful. Honestly.¡± He said, shaking his head.


    I glanced at Night.


    ¡°How are you cheating?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°I do not need to cheat. I am too wealthy for that.¡± Night said, practically sniffing with his nose in the air.


    ¡°He flips the dice when he feels like it.¡± Toxic stage-whispered to me.


    Night gave Toxic an affronted look.


    ¡°I have not informed the others of how you are manipulating the game of chance to favor yourself.¡± He pointed out dangerously.


    I grabbed a double handful of rations, and left before another one of the Sentinel¡¯s famous brawls erupted.


    I wandered around camp, munching on the rations. There wasn¡¯t a shred of good food left ¨C everyone had eaten it in the earlier celebration, which I had missed, and the logistics were still interrupted. That¡¯d need to get fixed quick, before it became a larger issue. Didn¡¯t seem to concern most of the soldiers, however. The mood, from how I could gauge it, was mixed. Some soldiers were celebrating, loud parties around non-regulation fires. The Centurions obviously didn¡¯t care, as I saw a number of them celebrating and joining in themselves.


    Others were sad, mopey, tucked away in corners with a mug.


    I wandered around, not quite sure what I wanted to do.


    ¡°Hey girly! Wanna have some fuuuuuuuuuuuun?¡± A drunken soldier asked, leering at me as his friends laughed.


    I shot him a disgusted look and a finger, and got struck by inspiration. The sun was out, my range had increased, and I had a new skill to test out.


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon] was my new ranged skill for [Dance with the Heavens], and I focused, applying it to just the one dude. I wanted him cured of his ¡®alcohol poisoning¡¯, and with a slight mental frown, I realized a few things.


    First off ¨C my image on [Persistent Casting] was entirely gone. I¡¯d need to rebuild the whole thing from scratch.


    Second off ¨C an image, the knowledge of how getting drunk worked on a fundamental level in the human body, and what I¡¯d need to do to cure intoxication wasn¡¯t springing into my mind like I was used to. I had to spend a moment straining and thinking.


    Right. Alcohol. The active ingredient ¨C and the thing that was causing most of the issues ¨C was the namesake alcohol. As it was digested, the liver produced a substance that counteracted the alcohol, breaking it down. Getting drunk, however, was a product of drinking more alcohol than the body could break down at a time, resulting in alcohol in the cardiovascular system, interfering with parts of the brain. The coordination part of the brain was particularly susceptible to the effects of alcohol ¨C hence a loss of balance.


    It also had a release of dopamine, which made people feel good. I couldn¡¯t ¨C wouldn¡¯t ¨C interfere with dopamine and other natural side effects, but the alcohol itself? Yeah, I could handle that. Technically a poison, although handling and managing alcohol had been its own unique star, given the unique status of alcohol in society.


    Once the alcohol was gone, everything else would clear itself up. With a thought and a glare, I instantly sobered the soldier up, and kept on going, ignoring the confused cries from behind me.


    Ethically, I was walking a bit of a thin line here. I was pushing a boundary, and I could almost feel [Oath] grumbling at me. My justification for why I was on the right side of the ¡°informed consent¡± portion of medical ethics was the dude was clearly so sloshed that he¡¯d completely missed that he was harassing a Sentinel, which suggested that he had more in him than was healthy.


    I felt the loss of [Medicine]. It was going to take me a bit more mental effort to heal someone efficiently.


    Then again, I¡¯d gotten so much mana that I wasn¡¯t going to notice the slight decrease in efficiency. I¡¯d also gotten an entire new skill!


    Well worth the trade-off.


    Brawling had suggested getting laid but I had standards. Probably wasn¡¯t happening.


    What else had he suggested? Helping people out.


    I figured I should see if there were any people at the infirmary, and practice my new skills while I was at it. I wanted to get a good handle on them.


    I wanted to squeal with joy. My new skills were so damn cool! Like, I¡¯d already cast a ranged heal in daylight! The moons were one heck of a restriction, but the sun? It had cost me hardly any starlight to buy that particular perk, and was more than halfway to removing the restriction entirely!


    And, that was just one tiny perk on one tiny skill!


    We¡¯d left for the frontlines in a rush, and we¡¯d naturally grabbed our combat gear. Our ¡°looking good¡± gear ¨C namely, our red cloaks ¨C had been left behind. Good way to get tangled then killed in a fight. Now we were out of the fight, in camp, and I had the perfect idea.


    With a careful thought, I used [Mantle of the Stars] to create a shimmering cape of stars down my back, clasped around my neck. I took an experimental step forward, and not only was I able to move my cape of starlight, it also fluttered mysteriously as I moved, no gust of wind needed.


    I bit my knuckle to stop myself from squealing in girlish delight in the middle of camp. This was so blasted cool!!!


    I puffed my chest out as I strode through camp, feeling like a total badass with my shimmering cape of stars trailing behind me. Right. [Mantle of the Stars] tested, [Wheel of Sun and Moon] tested, [Sunrise] used earlier. [Center of the Universe] wasn¡¯t super easy to test, but it was so similar to [Center of the Galaxy] that I didn¡¯t bother. Plus, similar to [Bullet Time], it usually only activated in bad situations.


    [Solar Infusion] was up, and ideally I¡¯d like to get some time to properly examine what [Cosmic Presence] was doing. I¡¯d poured a ton of starlight into the skill, and I wanted to know how it worked.


    Problem was, [Solar Infusion] was almost a ¡°pre-healing¡± skill. I should find Brawling or someone who was going to spar, and hit them ahead of time.


    [Cosmic Presence], on the other hand, I could try to test now. Would¡¯ve been better if the fighting was still going on, but eh. I couldn¡¯t complain too much that people weren¡¯t dying anymore.


    I continued to wander through the nigh-endless camp, crossing the occasional awkward stretch of extra-muddy ground, with no tents, and suspiciously smooth walls with an obviously different texture. Clearly where the Formorians had broken through, and where Bulwark had worked his magic to reform and reseal the walls.


    The celebration was one long never-ending party, from squads grouped together, celebrating their time and survival, to soldiers who just so happened to have their tents nearby ¨C it looked like almost everyone was partying. Everyone had broken out whatever little comforts they had with them, and was liberally sharing them around.


    It was a tragedy that the camp followers section of the walls had also gotten broken into. I¡¯d like to imagine that as soon as the first Formorian had gotten through the walls, that they¡¯d all run away. I studiously avoided thinking about the narrow gates between the walls, how when people panic they stampede, and the likelihood that a crush of bodies would¡¯ve trapped the camp followers in-between the walls, their safety turning into a death trap as Formorians scythed through them, grabbing and dragging their bodies back to the Queens to be eaten and turned into nutrients for more Formorians.


    Nope. Nuh uh. Wasn¡¯t going to think about it. There was nothing I could do for them, although it was clear that the lack of camp followers was being sorely felt. I don¡¯t think I¡¯d passed a party yet where I hadn¡¯t been invited, and the sheer number of invitations that got walked back when someone saw the Sentinel badge let me know it wasn¡¯t my status that was earning me invites.


    To be fair ¨C everyone was in a real friendly mood, and most of the other soldiers wandering around were getting invited to little parties here and there. Still. I resolved to find my way back to the Sentinel¡¯s tent soon enough.


    Entertainment of all flavors was on display. Dice, dancing, and drinking were popular, but games of all sorts were also on display. Heck, one Centurion looked like he¡¯d organized all the squads under his command into a miniature sort of Olympics, which had a roaring crowd of their own.


    It was inevitable that small fights and brawls would break out, and anyone I saw nursing an injury I hit with [Dance with the Heavens] at range with [Wheel of Sun and Moon]. I missed [Medicine] again, and felt the loss of the skill with the inefficient healing. At the same time, I had so much mana, I only noticed that it was less efficient because I was looking for it. Didn¡¯t want to get bogged down in social niceties, but it was entertaining to hear the cries of realization that a broken arm was suddenly fixed, or a twisted ankle rightened. Stealth healing! Still didn¡¯t get me what I wanted, which was testing my remaining skills.


    Soldiers were a violent bunch, and more than a few liked blood sports. It was with no surprise in the slightest that I heard the distinct sound of weapon against armor, and I had enough experience to identify these as ¡°sparring blows¡±, and not blows that were aimed to injure and maim.


    I took a quick right turn, and followed my ears, discreetly putting my Sentinel badge away. If I showed up with my badge, the soldiers would assume I was there to shut them down entirely, and it could get ugly. I had no intention of doing that. Where there was fighting, there were injured people. This was a chance for me to see just how powerful [Cosmic Presence] was, while making sure the fights stayed non-lethal.


    Heck, if I was lucky I could try [Solar Infusion], although I was pushing my [Oath] a bit here. I was enabling people to hurt each other, with the fact that they were going to hurt each other anyways acting as a balancing or mitigating factor. The fact that they might hurt each other more pushed back on that, and I was walking a thin line here.


    Like. I really shouldn¡¯t. But I was too excited! I wanted to try out my new skills! It was the perfect chance!


    I ignored the little voice in my head saying that I should turn back.


    I did stop and pay attention when the little voice in my head reminded me that I¡¯d dumped the emotion-dampening aspects of [Center of the Galaxy], and that I¡¯d resolved to check my emotions.


    I wasn¡¯t being a whiny brat though, or throwing a temper tantrum. I was simply taking a risk, eager and excited. Were those such bad emotions?


    Resolved, I pressed on, squeezing myself into an extra-large tent. The stitch marks along the side spoke to a clever soldier, a half-dozen tents joined to form an extra-large fight club.


    There was a packed crowd. Of course there was a packed crowd, shouting and jeering and waving coins around.


    My biggest challenge was seeing what was going on, as I cursed my short height. I could hear what was happening no problem. Seeing though? I could see backs, and that was it.


    An adventure that consisted of slipping, sliding, pushing, swearing, climbing, and a whole lot of cursing got me a better view of what was going on.


    Two men wrestled in the central arena. One was big and burly, the other smaller and nimbler. Some half-naked men jumping up and down excitedly off to one side, and another banged-up soldier being half-carried away by his buddies, who were patting him in a reassuring way. I heard the standard roar of the crowd, baying and hooting, cheers of joy when their dude got a solid punch in, which was immediately mirrored by cries of dismay by people rooting for the punchee.


    I pushed and shoved my way over to the section with the waiting fighters.


    ¡°Hey. Hey! Hey!¡± I called out, barely able to hear myself over the crowd. No way the people warming up would be able to hear me either. Ugh.


    Also, the thought crossed my mind that by using skills on the people about to fight, that there¡¯d be a lot of deeply unhappy people as a result. Blargh. Combine that with using [Solar Infusion] on people about to fight, which would let them fight harder and hurt each other more ¨C never mind that they¡¯d heal it right back up ¨C and I gave up on testing [Solar Infusion] for now. I¡¯d just need to wait for a more reasonable spar, instead of dealing with a fight pit.


    No, this was a great chance to test out [Cosmic Presence] though. I groaned with half the crowd as the small nimble dude got a grip on the bigger dude¡¯s arm, and threw him across the arena. The crack of breaking bones announced the end of the fight, and the winner raised his arms up in victory, to the cheering of the other half of the crowd.


    Body size and obvious strength weren¡¯t everything, not when skills and stats came in to put their weight on the scale.


    I lasered in on the poor fellow being carted away by his buddies, and started to follow them, overhearing the first soldier bemoaning their loss, and their lack of drinking funds.


    I made a detour towards some of the other fighters who had lost, and were nursing injuries. I mentally cursed not getting ranged healing indoors, but then again, that had been an expensive, expensive star to light, and it was rare that I needed to heal at a range inside.


    Naturally, since I¡¯d jinxed it, fate conspired to immediately put me in a situation where I wish I had it.


    [Oath] satisfied, I made it out of the tent, and spotted the injured dude being carried by his fellow soldiers. I noticed with a critical eye that a number of nasty bruises were starting to blossom on the dude who¡¯d lost the fight.


    They made it to the tent, and I was in a bit of a pickle. Just standing out here was all sorts of awkward, and I was getting some funny looks.


    I felt a bit awkward, like I was kinda stalking him ¨C well, I guess I was stalking him ¨C so I figured I might as well introduce myself.


    ¡°Hiya!¡± I said, walking up to them.


    One of them opened his mouth, only for the second one to elbow him.


    ¡°Welcome, healer.¡± The second one said, throwing a significant glare at the first one. ¡°What business do you have here?¡± He asked, throwing another pointed look at his friend.


    I mentally rolled my eyes. Yeah, yeah, hint taken.


    ¡°Here to help out. Have a new skill I¡¯m looking to test.¡± I said, deciding to have some fun and threw my most sinister smile on. With the most cartoonishly evil voice I could muster, I pointed to the fighter who¡¯d lost. ¡°And I¡¯ve found my test subject!¡±


    Ok, maybe not the best introduction, but hey. Gal¡¯s gotta have fun somehow.


    They looked at each other, while the injured dude just groaned.


    ¡°What are you going to do to him?¡± The first one asked.


    ¡°Absolutely nothing!¡± I proudly declared, which got some confused looks. I rolled my eyes this time.


    ¡°Trying out my new passive skill.¡± I said, clearing up the confusion a hair.


    ¡°Maybe you should just move along¡­¡± The first soldier said doubtfully.


    Eh. I suppose I deserved that.


    Having run out of social tolerance, I decided to press the magic ¡°I get my way¡± button.


    I pulled out my Sentinel badge.


    ¡°How about now?¡± I asked them conversationally, and got salutes in return.


    I loved the Sentinel badge. I don¡¯t know what I¡¯d ever do without it, or the authority and listen-to-me-ness it granted me.


    ¡°Honestly ¨C just upgraded a skill, and I¡¯d like to see it in action.¡± I explained, moving closer and sitting down. ¡°Supposed to be a passive heal, and I want to know how well it works. Your buddy here¡¯s perfect, because he¡¯s got a dozen bruises all over the place. Nothing life-threatening, and bruises are easy to watch heal. Long enough timeframe that I can get an idea, guaranteed to heal, not life-threatening in any way, shape, or form. Figure I can hang out here while he¡¯s healing up, see exactly how well it works.¡±


    Alcohol was the great social lubricant, and I¡¯d make the two soldiers all sorts of nervous. I didn¡¯t have alcohol but I had the next best thing ¨C money.


    Even better, it wasn¡¯t my money! And they¡¯d been complaining about a lack of drinking funds. Time to make some new friends!


    I grabbed my smaller coin purse, and tossed it to one of the soldiers, who caught it with a satisfying noise.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you rustle us up some beer?¡± I ¡®suggested¡¯, and with my badge on my chest and my coins in his hand, the soldier moved like it was an order from a god above.


    Which made me all sorts of sad again, remembering Priest Demos, which led to me remembering everyone else who¡¯d died.


    The dude who¡¯d been left behind sensed the mood, and we sat in morose silence until the beer showed up. We all cheered up considerably after it appeared.


    I had some fun chatting and trading stories with my three new temporary best friends. They had all sorts of crazy stories, and the fish kept getting larger with each one. I kept an eye on the pit fighter, and I was surprised and pleased with how he was healing.


    It took about thirty minutes for his bruises to go through the entire rainbow, and at two weeks for bruises to fully vanish, that was one hell of a pace. That was what, 168 hours in a week times two, into thirty minutes? I had no way of keeping good time, so I was what, improving someone¡¯s natural healing speed by 600 times or so?


    However, vitality was throwing a massive wrench into the equation here. People with higher vitality naturally healed faster than people without it, and soldiers tended to have a good grasp on that concept, along with other physical classers.


    I eyed him up, cursed that I¡¯d dumped [Medicine] instead of expanding it to help me know how stats interacted properly with magic skills. I checked his level, mentally cross-referenced it with numerous Ranger Academy trainees I¡¯d dealt with and their injuries, and guessed that his own natural healing was roughly twice what it would normally be, just from his stats.


    A much better guess was probably speeding up naturally healing by a factor of 300, which would multiply against whatever vitality he had naturally.


    [Cosmic Presence] wouldn¡¯t restore limbs, and I needed to re-set one bone which healed wrong, but at the rate I was healing, I was more than pleased. Heck, a number of injuries that would normally be slowly fatal would now just straight-up heal on their own simply by my presence.


    Blood loss and related problems also shouldn¡¯t be a problem anymore, not unless the blow was so massive as to likely be fatal anyways.


    For example, if someone had their femoral artery sliced open, a knife slicing their inner thigh open. A traditional example of a blow that, while not immediately lethal, would quickly turn lethal from a loss of blood.


    Now? With me around?


    Not only would the injury clot incredibly quickly, in spite of the size, but the cut itself would almost immediately scab over and repair itself. On top of that, any blood lost would be rapidly ¨C in terms of blood restoration timeframes ¨C restore itself.


    It wasn¡¯t just a 300x or so rate of improvement with healing. The body helped itself, and the effects on one system improving helped other parts of the system improve as well. Everything was connected in the body, everything worked with each other.


    And this was just for a single person! My aura could fill maybe half a stadium.


    I suspected, but had no real way of finding out, that the only thing I needed to be concerned about were immediately lethal blows, and injuries that removed significant portions of the body. Apart from that? My mere presence was enough.


    Well, that and some aspects of diseases.


    Take the Black Plague for example. People got sick with all manner of symptoms. Then, like a miracle, like a Goddess had descended from the skies and touched them, people would feel miraculously better. They were cured! They¡¯d avoided the grim reaper!


    Then they¡¯d drop dead two days later.


    Most symptoms of a disease weren¡¯t the disease itself. Most symptoms was the body¡¯s own immune response kicking in to fight the disease. Fever? A raised temperature made the body a more hostile environment for disease, killing it off faster than a human would die. Headaches? Lethargy? The body¡¯s way of saying ¡°Whoa, slow down, we¡¯re sick here. Don¡¯t do something dumb like try to hunt. Go rest.¡±


    The feeling better was a complete and total collapse of the immune system as the Black Plague overwhelmed the body¡¯s defenders, killing them all. People felt right as a fiddle! Then the Plague finished killing everything else in the body, and people dropped dead.


    [Dance with the Heavens] solved that issue entirely, and it combined with [Wheel of Sun and Moon] gave me strong anti-plague skills, along with the ability to troll drunken soldiers.


    I mentally cursed not getting [Cosmic Presence] while the war with the Formorians was still going on. I¡¯d have saved uncountable numbers of people just by standing there.


    At the same time, without the war coming to a close I would¡¯ve never gotten the skill. No use crying over it, I had a cool new skill! It was as awesome as I could¡¯ve hoped for.


    Even better ¨C my estimates were just estimates. For all I knew, it would range from three hundred times as fast, to six hundred times as fast. Good timekeeping. I really wanted good timekeeping.


    Whistling, a bit tipsy, I made my way back to the Sentinel¡¯s tent, eager to share my discoveries.

 Chapter 167 – Mourning

    I skipped along, singing drunkenly and off-key. Didn¡¯t care, was too happy. Cool new stuff everywhere!


    Awesome healing skills away! I could heal a person fully that I was touching, I could heal them at a distance, I could preemptively heal with [Solar Infusion] ¨C in theory, still needed to test it ¨C and I passively healed people around me!


    All that, in one class! Most healers that I¡¯d chatted with needed two classes dedicated to healing to properly work their stuff, and here I was, having compressed it in one class! I was pleased with my class and my skills, and I felt like it was justified.


    Randomly [Identify]ing people indicated that I wasn¡¯t the only one who¡¯d gotten a ton of levels. People tended to cap out at 180 on the frontlines if they were ¡°only¡± fighting Formorians ¨C [Scribes], [Camp-Followers], [Generals], and more not included ¨C and yet, most of the soldiers I saw were well above 200. The added stress and peril of the walls falling, of humanity getting pushed to the brink of extinction, fighting Royal Guards ¨C well, that was enough to push the survivors up significantly.


    I pitied any soldier who¡¯d taken a [Formorian Slayer] class or something similar. If the Formorians were gone ¨C truly, actually, totally dead ¨C then they¡¯d have a hard time leveling the class, and their specialized skills were likely useless. Additionally, the hard time leveling meant they¡¯d be unlikely to hit 256 to be able to change their class.


    Then again, while I appreciated the sacrifice any soldier who¡¯d taken a dedicated killing class had made, I was slightly skeptical as to what, if any, long-term plan they had. Soldiers did retire eventually ¨C doubly so if they had a strong combat class to help them survive, like, say, [Formorian Slayer] ¨C and if they went into it without a plan of what to do after, well, that was kinda on them.


    The stats they¡¯d gotten from leveling up would stay with them forever though, and one of the beauties of physical Classers was they weren¡¯t tied to their skills. Having 4000 strength was 4000 strength, regardless of what else your skills said and did. Didn¡¯t need a skill to pick up and throw blocks of bricks around, nor to till a field. Sure, they helped, but physical Classers were crazy flexible.


    Unlike magical Classers, who lived and died by their skills.


    Flexibility versus specialization. When it came to fights, it was more a question of burst versus sustained.


    I shook off my mental mutters as I made it back to the Sentinel¡¯s tent. A roaring fire was outside of it, and all the Sentinels were around it, staring into the flames, chatting and drinking.


    The weight of our presence kept nearly everyone else away. There was one person I vaguely recognized, and I did a double-take as I finally placed him.


    A Ranger. He was the head of team¡­. 9? Maybe? It¡¯d been quite some time since the last Convocation, but it would make sense that any nearby teams got ordered over here, or just came of their own volition when they heard the news. Only dude comfortable enough, unawed by our presence, to come up and chat.


    At the same time, ¡°Head of a Ranger Squad¡± didn¡¯t exactly remove our aura of mystique, and I joined the rest of the Sentinels.


    ¡°Welcome, Dawn!¡± Night cheerfully greeted me, clearly in a much better mood now that the sun was gone.


    ¡°Night! I¡¯mmmmm back!¡± I cheerfully, not-at-all-drunkenly, called back to him. Must not say the vampire thing must not say the vampire thing must not ¨C


    ¡°Didja get your third class?¡± I blurted out, managing to not say the ¨C you know what, I was going to stop thinking about it.


    Night smiled.


    ¡°I have gotten the opportunity to do so, yes.¡±


    I made some more polite conversation with Night, reminded strongly of the many nights we spent together, slowly walking around the Ranger Academy island. After some time, I spotted Bulwark and headed over, eager to share a few words with him. Hadn¡¯t seen him since we¡¯d gotten here, after all.


    ¡°Bulwark! Good work on the walls! They looked good!¡± I said, cheerfully toasting my mug at him.


    ¡°Dawn. Excellent work with the soldiers. Caught a whole stream of them exiting one of the infirmaries you were in. Don¡¯t mind the walls though, they¡¯re a rough job. I need to go back over them and fix them properly later.¡±


    Note to self: Chat with all the Sentinels about this area being a disaster.


    I kept moving around, chatting with the rest of the Sentinels. Toxic, all moody in his mug, permanently tilted back as he tried to get hammered. Hard work, with all that extra mass and vitality. Then again, alcohol brewed by people with the right classes was good for counteracting high vitality. Which is why I had to be somewhat careful about what I grabbed. Then again, I could always partially cure myself down to the right level of drunk. Destruction, making water sculptures, having them move around in a jerky, uncoordinated fashion. Practicing and showing off his fancy new class. First person any of us had ever heard of reaching 512, and getting a third class.


    Poor Night. Relegated to a footnote, since Destruction classed-up first, and would get all the fame for the act. I could practically hear the tune that the Ranger¡¯s bard would use, both for the epic battle, Demos¡¯s sacrifice, and Destruction¡¯s power and growth.


    That was assuming the bard was honest. Or that the Sentinels gave him the honest, real story, for that matter. We were the victors, we were writing the history. It¡¯d be whatever we said it was.


    I was strongly on the ¡°tell the damn truth¡± side of things, but it occurred to me that if we all agreed that something happened, it¡¯d be in the history books as having happened that way.


    Scary.


    For that matter ¨C Night might¡¯ve had Destruction go first, just so he could stay in the shadows.


    Too much thinking for how many drinks I had in me.


    Brawling and Nature were arms-over-shoulders with each other, loudly belting out songs. Nobody was bold enough to tell them just how horribly off-key they were, but there it was.


    I didn¡¯t see Hunting around the fire, and I decided to poke in and check up on him. I entered the tent, and saw him curled up and lying down. I hit myself with [Dance with the Heavens]. I wasn¡¯t going to fuck this up horribly by being too drunk.


    I sat down next to him. I didn¡¯t say anything, I didn¡¯t do anything but sip my mug.


    I didn¡¯t think anything else needed to be done. Just some companionship, letting him know he was not alone in the world.


    I don¡¯t know how much time passed before Brawling popped in.


    ¡°Dawn. Hunting. The memorial¡¯s going to begin.¡± He said.


    I got up and left, and after a moment I heard Hunting get up and join me.


    Night stood in front of us all, fire flickering large behind him.


    ¡°Sentinel Hunting. Sentinel Dawn. Sentinel Destruction. Sentinel Bulwark. Sentinel Nature. Sentinel Brawling. Sentinel Toxic.¡± Night said. ¡°Thank you all for coming here tonight.¡±


    ¡°Tonight we are gathered to remember our brothers-in-arms who have died, fallen against the Formorians in their last, desperate strike. Each one a master of their craft, protectors and defenders of humanity.¡±


    Couldn¡¯t help it. The waterworks started, and the only dry eyes were Night¡¯s inhuman ones. Even then, there was a glimmer to them that wasn¡¯t entirely explained by the lighting.


    ¡°Sentinel Sealing fell fighting against the Formorian Queen, stopping nearly a dozen Royal Guards simultaneously. His efforts opened a pathway, allowing for myself and Sentinel Hunting to strike at the Queen. His work was not in vain, as all of humanity can now rest more easily as a result. He made the highest sacrifice possible, the last sacrifice, and his name shall forever be remembered on the Indomitable Wall.¡±


    Night closed his eyes, and with a start I realized this wasn¡¯t any easier on him than it was on us. Losing another Sentinel was like losing a friend to him, regardless of how many centuries had passed. He still felt. He still grew attached and lost, let the pain and the grief rip through him time, after time, after time.


    I should have a chat with him. I should start working on some long, long, long term plans, along with acquiring coping methods. Why stumble through it in the dark, when I¡¯ve got someone to give me a hand?


    I mentally slapped myself. Funeral. Fucking focus.


    ¡°Sentinel Sky fell fighting against the same Formorian Queen, as he moved in to assist the angels that Priest Demos called down upon them.¡± Night said, keeping it short and sweet.


    Or rather ¨C this was the kindest possible description of Sky¡¯s end, who¡¯d been a fucking idiot to think that he was invincible in the sky, that ¡°lowly ground-grubbing bugs¡± weren¡¯t able to take him out. I hadn¡¯t seen his end, but from what I¡¯d gathered up in bits and pieces and snatches ¨C he wanted to see the angels, be close to them, fight with them. Ignoring the fact that they were probably significantly more powerful than he was, and they were dying anyways. Sheer hubris had brought Sky low, disregarding entities on the ground.


    I bet that if the Formorian anti-air had been fliers, that Sky would¡¯ve treated them with the proper respect they deserved, and he wouldn¡¯t have ended up dead.


    Or hell! If he¡¯d just bloody stayed with the rest of the team!


    It made me so mad. Sky was essentially dead because he¡¯d been an idiot, and did something dumb.


    I was stewing in such a self-inflicted rage that I¡¯d missed the rest of the short portion of Sky¡¯s speech. Which just got me madder at myself, and more than a bit sad. This was Sky¡¯s end. This was his funeral, and I got fucking distracted. This. Sucked.


    ¡°I would like to bring our attention to our last casualty.¡± Night began, and the outraged look on Hunting¡¯s face just poured oil over my anger. Night¡¯s callous dismissal of Katastrofi was earning him no brownie points here.


    ¡°Katastrofi, while not a Sentinel, was companion to one. Brave. Fearless. A terror to all who beheld her magnificence.¡±


    Hunting let out a choked chuckle at that, his face rapidly turning from rage to relief, from anger to gratefulness.


    ¡°Bound Companion to Sentinel Hunting, Katastrofi was more than just a beast of burden. More than the deadliest killing machine in a century. She was aware. She made friends, held grudges, was a part of our family like any other Sentinel was. Indeed, I believe that her name belongs on the Indomitable Wall. Now. I wish for a moment of silence, of remembrance.¡±


    I closed my eyes and bowed my head, repeating their names in my mind. Sealing. Sky. Katastrofi.


    Katastrofi. First one I¡¯d met, my introduction to real, live Sentinels, in the flesh and blood. Sentinels had been creatures out of myth and legend until I¡¯d met her, and she had been my first chance ever to ride a dinosaur. Her tie-dye color scheme was etched into my memory, the riot of color unforgettable.


    Sky. One of my teachers, who, in spite of his poor reputation and even poorer teaching methods, had successfully helped me to get a flying skill. As much as he gave off an aloof air, as much as he just winged his lessons, he was around when I first started. He caught my fellow trainees as they fell. He was careful to warn me about the skies, and the perils they could hold.


    Sealing. I hadn¡¯t had as much time interacting with him, but he¡¯d given off a kind vibe. Made sure that I was shielded when one of the Sentinel¡¯s brawls broke out. Selflessly helped me out, without teasing or rebuke, as I¡¯d had trouble holding my portion of the grove.


    Lastly, there was Magic. I spent a brief moment wondering why we weren¡¯t mourning him, before remembering that he¡¯d been declared missing in action. The ultimate magic trick ¨C he¡¯d made himself disappear! He was presumed dead, but barring additional evidence, the passage of enough time, or, we hoped, him popping up one day declaring himself alive, he was going to stay as missing in action.


    The more time that passed, the less likely it seemed. Magic¡¯s paranoia, illusions, and invisibility was great for dodging the arrow with his name on it.


    The barrage of spikes labeled ¡°To Whom It May Concern¡±, however, was an entirely different story.


    Magic was no coward. He was no shirk. He wouldn¡¯t have bailed on us, he wouldn¡¯t have gone invisible and stayed on the Pegasus. He had been a soldier, then a Ranger, then selected from the Rangers as one of the best of the best, an elite, a Sentinel. For all his quirks, for all his paranoia, he wasn¡¯t one to run from a fight.


    I was hoping that he¡¯d broken his leg in the fall, and being unable to reach us, had holed up somewhere, quiet, invisible. Part of that theory was dampened by the knowledge that he had a half-dozen Moonstones with my old [Phases of the Moon] in them, a cure-all that would fix any injury he had.


    My heart refused to write him off. I¡¯d have faith that he was still alive out there, until Night declared otherwise. We were Sentinels. Stranger things had happened than vanishing on a mission and showing up a decade later, with wild and fantastic tales.


    ¡°I first met Sealing when I was a fresh recruit at Ranger Academy.¡± Brawling spoke up, breaking the silence, words punctuated by the fire crackling. ¡°He told me that I was a muscle-bound idiot, and that I needed to start thinking one day.¡±


    Brawling shrugged.


    ¡°Still wondering when that day will be.¡±


    A few cracked smiles, a half-hearted chuckle.


    ¡°I first met Sky at Ranger Academy.¡± I said, surprising myself. ¡°His lesson on flying was basically ¡®don¡¯t hit the ground¡¯, which was about as useless of a lesson as you can imagine. Somehow, that was good enough to get me a flying skill.¡±


    A couple more chuckles. A few more smiles.


    On and on we went through the night, each of us trading stories of the Sentinels, of Katastrofi. Sharing memories, making a new one. Trading, just a little bit of each other.


    My resolve strengthened. My desire grew stronger.


    Sky. Sealing. Katastrofi. Their names would end up on the Indomitable Wall, carved in stone to remember for all eternity.


    Screw that. I was going to carve them into my memory, into my recollections. I¡¯d have a [Pristine Memory] of them. I was going to become immortal, and remember them forever, a never-ending living legacy for all of them. All I needed to do was level up like crazy, and unlock [The Stars Never Fade].


    It wouldn¡¯t be the same, but they, too, would be timeless, forever immortalized in my memory.


    My list was growing longer.


    Lyra. Origen. Sealing. Sky. Katastrofi.


    I closed my eyes again; more tears squeezed out.


    More names would join the list. It was inevitable.

 Chapter 168.1 – Aftermath

    Our celebration of everyone¡¯s lives had gone on for hours, and the sky was already starting to lighten as we all went to sleep. I hit my pillow and was out like a light.


    A soft hand on my shoulder, and I bolted upright, ready to fight, to blast, to protect myself and ¨C oh, it was just Night.


    ¡°Huh? Night? Whazzup?¡± I asked him, adrenaline fleeing and the siren song of sleep soothing me back down. My eyelids were so heavy, I was ready to go right back to sleep.


    A pounding headache was letting me know that I¡¯d gotten maybe 15 minutes of sleep tops, and the tent getting slightly lighter as the sun threatened to break over the horizon let me know that, yes, almost no time had passed. I was totally ready for more sleep.


    ¡°Dawn. I apologize for disturbing your rest. However, I wish to speak with you, alone.¡± Night said.


    Welp, up and at ¡®em. [Sunrise] was a miracle skill, and I was happy to see a notification for it leveling up.


    [*Ding!* [Sunrise] leveled up! 2 -> 3]


    My eyes flew open as energy bounded through me, although my headache was a persistent reminder that I was running on practically no sleep.


    Note to self: Spam the heck out of the skill to try and get it leveled up faster. With my power and regeneration shooting up, I should be able to level it quickly.


    Assuming the amount of power I shot through the skill impacted the leveling speed, and there weren¡¯t more arcane aspects to leveling up that I was unaware of. Danger I knew about, stress I knew about, properly using skills was a yup.


    Right, well, I¡¯d try to remember to use [Sunrise], although it was a risky move. If I spent all my time thinking about using my skill, I wouldn¡¯t be paying attention to other things.


    Like the private conversation my technically-not boss and 5,000 plus year old vampire and I was going to have.


    I shook my head as I got up, and followed Night out of the tent.


    Focus.


    I fell in naturally by his side as we walked through the cold and dark camp, passing by the occasional party that refused to die, in spite of most of the participants being stone-cold out.


    I was reminded of our many walks together, our discussions. If I had my way, if I managed to do everything right, we¡¯d have a bunch of centuries like this. Kinda intimidating to think about. At the same time, Night clearly knew how to stay alive. It was probably safe to get somewhat emotionally attached, since he wasn¡¯t going anywhere anytime soon.


    ¡°Dawn.¡± Night said, and paused.


    Step.


    Step.


    ¡°Yes?¡± I asked, thanking my lucky stars (ha! I probably had a few of those, given that my element was Celestial) that [Sunrise] had woken me up, stopping me from slurring my words in spite of the massive sleep deficit I was running.


    Classing up wasn¡¯t really sleep, and I¡¯d been running myself ragged for awhile, before the party and the mourning.


    ¡°First off, I would like to say, excellent work. You are a credit to all of us, to all Sentinels, and to humanity as a whole.¡±


    My heart swelled three sizes at his praise. Praise I didn¡¯t know I wanted, but nonetheless struck deep inside, resonated with me. Put a great big silly grin on my face. No matter how hard I worked, no matter how hard I tried to school my expression, it was stuck on.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I managed to say, with only a bit of warbling.


    Step.


    Step.


    I loved the processing time built into Night¡¯s discussions. Let me organize my thoughts.


    ¡°Before I forget, I wanted to let you know I got offered [Ranger-Healer] when I was classing up. Given the history of the Rangers, I think it¡¯s a first. Wanted to let you know about it.¡±


    Night gave me a long look, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.


    ¡°Excellent work Dawn. From our prior conversation, I recall you did not take said class?¡± He half-asked, half-stated. I had told him about the special class after all.


    I shook my head. I figured I¡¯d eventually tell him, given the long history I expected us to have together. Why not tell him now?


    ¡°I got [The Dawn Sentinel].¡± I told him. I wanted to explode and tell him all about [The Stars Never Fade], but I didn¡¯t even have the skill yet. It¡¯d feel a bit like bragging.


    I also kinda wanted to feel out Night¡¯s reaction to it ahead of time. He¡¯d been a paragon of reason and virtue the entire time I¡¯d known him, if a bit long-winded. However, as a human I¡¯d level up significantly faster than he would, and would eventually overtake him, in relatively short order. Well, as far as the timeline he worked on was concerned. And that I would soon be working with. Either way, I¡¯m pretty sure his reaction would be favorable, but eh. I was in no rush to tell people about a skill I¡¯d get many years in the future.


    ¡°An excellent choice. There have been a few Sentinels over the years who have had the choice to perform their level 256 class-up, and out of those, the ones who have taken the class corresponding to their titles have all done well. I believe a part of that is since Sentinel encompasses a great many things, you acquire strong experience for a wide variety of activities, which should help you level at a rapid rate.¡±


    We paused for a moment, to keep walking as I digested that.


    I wasn¡¯t too surprised that I wasn¡¯t the first Sentinel to perform their 256 class-up. Heck, thinking about it, my level had never been called out when I was being promoted. I assumed it was because they didn¡¯t want to bring attention to my low level, but perhaps it was just that it wasn¡¯t anything special. ¡°The 11th lowest-level Ranger to be promoted¡± didn¡¯t quite have the same ring to it. For all I know, in the earliest days of the Rangers and Sentinels, they just took who they could until a solid system was sorted out.


    Which in some ways made me being the first woman Sentinel all the worse, but I wasn¡¯t about to explore that tangent.


    ¡°I would like to speak about the main subject at this time. While this may be a touch premature, I believe once everything has been arranged and analyzed, most of us will be heading home.¡± Night said.


    ¡®Most of us¡¯, and ¡®private conversation¡¯ translated into ¡®you¡¯re not coming with us.¡¯ At least, that¡¯s how I saw it.


    ¡°What do you plan for me to do?¡± I asked bluntly, still on the high of Night¡¯s compliment.


    Step.


    Step.


    Night hummed to himself, a single held note.


    ¡°It is complicated. Let me attempt to give you the compressed version of what I believe will be happening next, along with skipping over a thousand tiny details. Like the inevitable coup that at least three generals are planning. Oh, sure, it will occur after the cleansing of the Formorians inside of human lands, but as the Generals finish mopping up the remnants, their armies will only grow more loyal, their fame spread, and themselves closer to the capital.¡±


    ¡°Wait, but ¨C¡° I started to say, only for Night to whirl and slash his hand in front of me in a violent motion, cutting me off.


    ¡°Permit me to finish.¡± Night said, a note of displeasure in his voice. ¡°We have much to cover, and your namesake arrives. No, we will not be participating. We are Sentinels. We are neutral. This is no mere rebellion, no slave uprising. The government is scratching and turning itself over. It happens. Remus will survive. No, a side issue, a minor note in all of this, is you would be all-too-tempted to join the fray, not to fight, but to heal. Inevitably it would be noted that a Sentinel was participating, assisting some general or another, then ugly politics would rear its head and drag us in, kicking and screaming. Either we are seen to be fermenting and participating in the rebellion, assisting one general over the rest, or it is civil war among the Sentinels, which detracts from our primary purpose and mission. Either way, we lose.¡±


    Night fiercely breathed in and out, and I realized this was no picnic for him either.


    ¡°We are taking the long view, staying neutral, and our mission of protecting humanity will continue uninterrupted. Now. As I said. This is a minor side-note. The Formorian Queens are all dead ¨C so we believe. The endless waves of Formorians have ceased.¡±


    A pause, a note of victory and triumph.


    Step.


    Step.


    ¡°Now, Hunting has just lost his sworn companion, the other half of his soul, the reason for his being. I have seen it before. It is devastating him, tearing him apart. I do not wish to lose another Sentinel, not when we have three seats to fill already. Especially not when two of those seats are critical seats, and Hunting¡¯s seat is also critical.¡±


    I half-opened my mouth to object to Night writing Magic off like that, but closed it. Magic was likely dead. It was no treachery to assume that was the case and operate like he was gone. It was just cold pragmatism. Made me wish we had properly mourned Magic like everyone else though.


    The ¡°critical seats¡± thing I hadn¡¯t even heard of, but with Night¡¯s habit of letting us think and process, I was able to examine the idea. Kinda made sense, from his point of view. We always needed a Sentinel that could get us moved around quickly, that could let us deploy to any place in the Republic within two days. Without that, we¡¯d lose a huge amount of our effectiveness.


    I couldn¡¯t tell if Night considered Sealing¡¯s or Magic¡¯s seat to be critical ¨C I could see arguments either way ¨C but I could see Hunting being critical.


    I had no illusions that I was critical. Maybe if I demonstrated my usefulness over the decades and centuries, my seat would morph into a critical one, but that¡¯d be kinda moot, since any plan that involved ¡°Replacing Elaine¡± usually also involve ¡°Because she died.¡±


    I could eventually retire though. A thought for another day.


    This immortal stuff was ridiculously trippy. It was almost as bad as when I got promoted to Sentinel, and all my plans got thrown out the window. Was it too much to ask for that a 5-year-plan get properly executed for once!?


    ¡­ I said, being 19.


    ¡°It is my experience that the best thing possible is for Hunting to be given a mission, a quest, a job to take his mind off his grief, and keep him focused on other things. It is no guarantee, and I could be incorrect, however, simply allowing him to wallow is a poor move. Especially as he is prone to retreating to his estate, which has marks of Katastrofi all over it. I believe it will simply fuel his despair.¡±


    I could see where this was going. I gave a customary pause, as short as possible, before replying.


    ¡°Let me guess. You want to send him into Formorian lands to check that everything¡¯s properly dead, but mostly to keep him busy.¡±


    Night nodded at me once it was clear that was all I had to say.


    ¡°Correct. Now, for the tricky part, the part that I do not wish to state in front of the rest of the Sentinels, and the reason for our private discussion.¡±


    I was all ears. I didn¡¯t even need [Sunrise] to get me all perked up and listening.


    Actually, for that matter, I should probably use a [Sunrise] just to keep myself going. Grinding experience and all that.


    [*Ding!* [Sunrise] leveled up! 3 -> 4]


    Hurray! More levels! I should do it some ¨C


    I should listen to bloody Night and not get distracted!


    Focus.


    Sleep deprivation was one way to make sure my mind was on permanent wander mode.


    ¡°I wish for you to accompany Hunting on his mission. Nominally, it is to provide him support and back up, along with allowing you to flex and practice your new abilities somewhat away from prying eyes. Prevent Toxic¡¯s poisons from getting to him. I truly have this concern, as the concentration should be significantly higher the deeper into the Formorian lands the two of you travel. Additionally, it is to give Hunting some relief, and allow him to take breaks and have support.¡±


    He was right ¨C the excuse was fairly weak, and I¡¯d normally object to it. I wasn¡¯t just a support minion. I was the one with support minions.


    Step.


    Step.


    ¡°In reality, I wish for you to watch over him. Provide him support, yes. Support of the type he¡¯d get from Katastrofi, in a sense. Prevent him from mentally reaching out for her, only to find a gap, an emptiness. It should help distract him. Lastly, I do not wish for him to commit suicide, and I believe your presence nearby will help. You are calming. Soothing. You blunt rough edges. You are often happiness and light, and I believe you will prevent Hunting¡¯s mind from straying towards darker territory. However. If I state this in public, in front of the others ¨C especially Hunting ¨C most of the purpose of sending you is lost. Thus, our conversation now.¡±


    We reached some mysterious point as the sun¡¯s rays were starting to creep down the wall, walking at a brisk clip back to our tent.

 Chapter 168.2 – Aftermath

    I thought over what Night was saying.


    Basically, he was killing thirty birds with one stone. We needed to check that the Formorians were fully uprooted. Hunting needed something to do ¨C and his role happened to coincide with ¡®go find Formorians and make sure they¡¯re dead¡¯. There was a potential civil war brewing, or so Night believed. I hadn¡¯t seen hide, hair, nor whisper of anything like that, but I trusted Night¡¯s analysis on that. I wasn¡¯t the most politically astute, and it wasn¡¯t like I hung out with generals, nor would the generals send a polite letter to the Senate telling them about it.


    Heck, it was almost Julius Caesar-like. Or Sulla. I didn¡¯t know my Roman history all that well. Massive victory, huge, loyal army, no external enemies left ¨C only thing to do was to march home and declare oneself emperor.


    Sounded like more than one general had that plan. There was probably some vast web of politics and intrigue, and the more I thought about it the sicker I felt. Night was totally right. I would try to get involved, if only to heal people, and simply hanging out would cause problems. Heck, knowing me, I¡¯d end up getting roped into some scheme or another, think I was being nice and helpful, and OOPS! Turns out I¡¯d accidentally dragged everyone into some massive mess, just by trying to be helpful.


    I knew I could be a bit of an idiot with politics and the like, which is why I tried to run screaming from it. Usually that wasn¡¯t a problem, because ¡°kill the monster, save people¡± wasn¡¯t terribly complicated, but when people were fighting each other, it got real tricky real fast.


    Getting me out of the way, out of the mess before it could properly begin was an okay move. I¡¯d honestly rather stick myself in a wagon, close the door, and get carted back to the capital while sleeping and eating good food, but hey. There were more problems to fix. For all I knew, the cart would get hijacked without me being aware of it, and I¡¯d be carted around as a healing beacon, all while thinking I was out of the mess.


    Sending me with Hunting seemed to be the second or third best solution to the ¡°Dawn¡¯s going to cause problems¡± problem, but it did solve a number of other problems.


    It wasn¡¯t like most of those other problems that I was solving could be easily aired out in public, in front of the rest of the Sentinels.


    Right then. I was feeling the steam coming out of my ears. This wasn¡¯t the type of problem I was equipped to handle, and I was going to happily pass it off to someone who I believed had my best interests ¨C all of our best interests ¨C at heart, and listen to what he wanted to do.


    After all the time processing, we were nearing the tent, Night looking distinctly nervous.


    ¡°Right. I¡¯ll do it.¡± I told him, as the tent came into view.


    Night smiled, a huge, predatory slash across his face.


    ¡°Most excellent.¡±


    I paused outside the tent, and a grumpy look crossed my face.


    ¡°Night. Can we have some privacy ¨C some real privacy ¨C for a second chat?¡± I asked him.


    He looked at my face, and slowly nodded.


    ¡°Follow.¡± He said, opening the tent-flap, allowing me to enter first. I did, thanking him, and we made our way to Night¡¯s portion of the tent, where with a thought red liquid snapped around us, surrounding us, cutting us off from the rest of the world.


    ¡°Night.¡± I said, organizing my thoughts.


    ¡°Dawn. I am listening. Speak.¡± He said, with a serious look on his face. I¡¯m glad that he treated me seriously, that he listened to me.


    ¡°I recognize that your position is difficult.¡± I said, trying to be somewhat diplomatic. It was hard, interacting with people and yelling at your boss, especially when stupid sleep deprived. I felt a cold trickle of sweat going down my back that had nothing to do with the temperature.


    ¡°However, that¡¯s no excuse for not letting me know what was going on here! I could¡¯ve been here! I could¡¯ve been saving people! Heck, I was here, if I¡¯d known there was a problem, I could¡¯ve been working on it! People are dead as a result, that didn¡¯t need to be! Why didn¡¯t you tell me!?¡±


    I¡¯d started off calm, but got more and more upset as I went through my rant. Fuck. No more emotional stability from [Center of the Galaxy]. It¡¯s what I wanted, but¡­


    What was done was done.


    ¡°Dawn. If you were here, you could not have been deployed to Aquiliea. If you were here, you would not have saved the souls in Pompeius. There are dozens of calls for Sentinels every month. You know that we must choose when and where to deploy, to optimally save the largest number of people. You know this. The balance of the scales would not be appropriately tipped by your knowledge and presence. It was a decision I made. Now, do you have any further objections or comments?¡±


    I turned and angrily stamped off, Night dismissing the barrier before I hit it.


    I hated how right he was.


    I got a few more hours of sleep. All of us needed the rest, and it was late afternoon by the time I was woken up again.


    My internal clock was totally screwed. Getting back on a normal sleep cycle was going to be all sorts of fun.


    All of us, except for Destruction, got up, fixed some food ¨C rations were starting to run low, with the supply lines having been cut off when the Formorians broke through, then the huge party following our victory was pushing our supplies dangerously thin ¨C then we sat around the central table, Destruction¡¯s snoring punctuating our conversation.


    He¡¯d stayed awake for almost three weeks straight. We were all willing to cut him some slack.


    Night laid out the situation once again, going much more in-depth into the upcoming movements and potential changes in governing structure that was being planned. I was half snoozing through it, half doing my own thinking.


    Just because a rebellion was headed by a general, with a significant portion of the army behind him, didn¡¯t make it any less of a rebellion. Night having spent thousands of years in the military might be skewing his view a hair on the matter. It wasn¡¯t like this was the first time someone had taken a chunk of the army on their way to ¡®correct¡¯ things in Remus.


    At the same time, by the sounds of it, something like 70%+ of the army was getting involved in some way, shape, or form. I was no political genius ¨C heck, I was a political moron ¨C but when that much of the army, the people with the sharp swords and deadly skills were saying ¡®this person¡¯s the new boss¡¯, well. It was kinda hard to argue with them.


    The only people that would be arguing with them were the other parts of the army that wanted someone else to be the boss, and yeah. It was shaping up to be real ugly, real fast, if there wasn¡¯t some nice place for the army to be. In a way, the Formorians had been good. They were a source of external pressure keeping everyone united. Almost the literal minute the external pressure was gone, we fell into infighting and bickering.


    Blah. Working together for the common good was just too much for some people.


    I kept listening in on the conversation, not having much to add. It was all ¡®implied support¡¯ this and ¡®appearance of neutrality¡¯ that. I got a bit more interested once we moved on from the topic.


    ¡°Do you want me to stay here to turn the fortifications into a town?¡± Bulwark asked. ¡°It¡¯s out of the way, and it¡¯s part of what I do. It helps that the only people it¡¯ll look like I¡¯m helping are the soldiers staying out of the fight, which should help with our appearance of neutrality. We already have walls, the expensive part¡¯s done. If it wasn¡¯t for the breach, the place would already be a town.¡± Bulwark said, to almost everyone nodding along to what he was saying.


    Toxic and I exchanged horrified looks. A quizzical tilt of my head, a sharp jerk by his. Silent, non-Ranger-standard communication.


    Afterall, everyone here could read Ranger communication.


    ¡°No.¡± Toxic and I both said together.


    Night looked at us and frowned.


    ¡°Are you certain?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Absolutely.¡± I said, giving him a look. One that tried to say that he better go along with my plan if he wanted me to go along with his.


    Ok, fine. I was going to help Hunting out either way. I didn¡¯t want him diving deep into despair anymore than Night did. I liked Hunting too much for that.


    Toxic took in a deep breath.


    ¡°It¡¯s the poison I was using.¡± He said, chin up, staring unblinkingly at each one of us until he moved onto the next person to lock eyes with.


    ¡°It¡¯s poisoned the land, the soil, the water. It¡¯s poisoned everything, and it¡¯s cycling back through. Anyone that lives here, anything that¡¯s grown here, will have small traces of the poison.¡±


    Brawling sprayed the water he was drinking out of his mouth, onto all of us. A shield flickered in front of Bulwark and Night as they expertly deflected the surprise attack.


    Toxic stoically accepted the spray as his due punishment. Nature seemed delighted to get some water for his plants ¨C well, water that didn¡¯t come from his mug, and Hunting seemed to just not care.


    Destruction was snoring through it all.


    Which left me, spluttering with indignation as I got sprayed. I didn¡¯t have the reflexes to handle surprise water attacks from close-range, not without [Bullet Time] giving me a hand. For all that [Bullet Time] occasionally stretched to help me with not quite lethal situations, there was no way it was going to help me with surprise water.


    I shot my deadliest, most withering look at Brawling, who was still staring at the mug with a look of horror.


    ¡°Dawn! Quick! You gotta save me!¡± Brawling said, reaching across the table to touch me.


    I kept up my mad face as I touched him, letting [Dance with the Heavens] pulse through him.


    No mana drained.


    ¡°Thanks! Thought I was a goner. Cute angry face by the way.¡±


    Right.


    ¡°You idiot! If the poison was bad enough to kill the physical Sentinel after being diluted a million times, we wouldn¡¯t be sitting here discussing it, now would we!¡± I shouted at Brawling. ¡°We¡¯d all be dead a dozen times over!¡±


    Brawling looked kinda sheepish at that, and was getting unimpressed looks from the rest of the Sentinels.


    ¡°If Toxic were that lethal, there wouldn¡¯t be a single living soul in the camp.¡± Night softly said. ¡°Nor would we have had this issue with the Formorians. We digress. Back to the subject at hand. Dawn. Toxic. New towns and cities are troublesome to arrange and build, to say the least. Properly founding a new location is a massive undertaking, requiring scouts, an army legion, a nearby quarry, and mining large quantities of stone to build walls in the first place. We have an opportunity here, a town, ready-made and able to accept settlers, with pre-established trade routes. On the other hand, the area is slightly poisonous.¡±


    Night closed his eyes, thinking about it, then opened them up.


    ¡°Right. While this situation is larger than just us, we move as a unit. We move as one. Our words have weight, meaning, gravitas. What will our recommendation for the future of this encampment be? Discuss.¡±

 Chapter 169 – Sentinel Meeting

    The conversation about what to do with the frontlines, now maybe being turned into a town, went on for hours. I was surprised that we got so sidetracked on the issue, but then again, I suppose we weren¡¯t all going to be in the same place for some time, and Toxic and I were the experts on the subject.


    With the current plan Night and I had hatched, my expertise was going away for some time. If we were going to resolve the issue, we were going to resolve it now.


    On the ¡°turn the place into a town¡± side, we had Nature and Bulwark, with Night leaning in that direction.


    On the ¡°call the place a disaster¡± side, Toxic and I were the staunchest supporters, with Brawling providing eager, if haphazard support.


    ¡°The economic realities, and difficulties of forming a new town, strongly support that we divert the current resources in an optimal fashion.¡± Bulwark pointed out, circling back to the fundamental argument that he was working off of. Large-scale construction like this was insanely expensive. It was hard to overstate how expensive.


    ¡°Getting a number of healers to immigrate to the new town shouldn¡¯t be terribly difficult. Indeed, it should be simple to lure them to this place, with the allure of a constant stream of patients.¡± Night pointed out, trying to be somewhat neutral but once again showing that he was leaning towards the ¡°Town¡± faction.


    ¡°Yeah, but then how are you getting people to join?¡± Brawling ¡®innocently¡¯ pointed out. Dude was shrewder than he let on. Asked ¡®dumb¡¯ questions, which were striking at the heart of the problem.


    Half the time he acted like an oaf, and the other half he acted like a cunning strategist. I kept yo-yoing if the first one was entirely an act that he put on, to make people fall for the ¡®dumb brute¡¯ stereotype, then he could whammy them when they weren¡¯t looking.


    ¡°Telling people ¡®Move here! Pay frequently for healers because it¡¯s poisoned!¡¯ isn¡¯t going to encourage a lot of movement.¡± Brawling continued to point out.


    ¡°Speaking of the economics of the situation.¡± I jumped in. ¡°What¡¯s this place even going to produce? All the money that had come in here was from soldier¡¯s pay. Without that money coming in, what would this theoretical town even make?¡± I asked. ¡°With no trade goods, nobody will come. Like Laconia.¡±


    I swear I almost saw Origen¡¯s smiling face, as I half-parroted his arguments, his reason for becoming an Inscriptionist and his detailing of the problems that Laconia faced. Arguably the last thing he¡¯d ever managed to teach me.


    ¡°People will come.¡± Nature argued. ¡°Cheap, plentiful land is attractive to any number of retired soldiers, and others who are being crowded out of some of the more compact cities. Where would you rather live? In a small apartment in the capital, or being able to purchase a large tract of land, inside city walls, for the same price? Not everyone will take the offer, but enough will. What people do from there is up to them, but there¡¯s more than enough land to grow enough crops to support the city on its own merits. Heck, the Formorian land might be some of the richest land we¡¯ll ever have the chance to expand onto. They would¡¯ve cleared out anything and everything that could be a threat. Almost monster-free land? People will be lining up for it.¡±


    I decided to switch track, to a potentially more profitable line of argument.


    ¡°Sure, people might grow stuff. Wheat, even. Poisoned wheat. Who¡¯s going to want to buy it? Putting that aside for the moment, what woman¡¯s going to want to come here, and poison all her kids? Knowing that kids are more vulnerable, that it takes less poison to kill one.¡±


    I glanced over, and saw Arthur¡¯s blanched face.


    ¡°Sorry Toxic.¡± I said, patting his arm in what I hoped was a reassuring way.


    ¡°How many?¡± Hunting asked, contributing for only the third time in three hours.


    Toxic instantly knew what Hunting was asking, and had a response.


    ¡°371 people in the last 430 days.¡± He said, without a moment¡¯s hesitation, a small shudder going through his body. Numbers that must be carved into his mind, a litany recited.


    ¡°The camps are ¨C were ¨C huge.¡± Hunting pointed out. ¡°The number of dead versus the number present are highly suggestive that, while it will be a problem, it¡¯ll be a minor problem at worse. Also, conjured material decays over time. Worst-case, eight years from now there¡¯ll be no poison.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s accelerating. Also, we thought this might take years. I didn¡¯t directly conjure the poison. I enhanced an existing poison. It acted a bit like one of Dawn¡¯s diseases, where it multiplied inside the Formorians. It¡¯ll last decades, if not centuries.¡± Toxic pointed out. Then again, that was new information to us, since we had no way of knowing that.


    ¡°It¡¯ll hopefully decelerate now that you¡¯re no longer contributing more poison to the mix.¡± I said, feeling like a traitor for making a point against the ¡°Disaster¡± team.


    Still. I had strong notions about fair play and discussion, and it¡¯d be unfair for me to not bring it up.


    ¡°At the same time, it would probably keep accelerating for some time, as the poison builds up and reaches critical mass.¡± I said, trying to give the other point of view.


    ¡°Also, while women might not want their families poisoned, it¡¯s usually the Patriarch of the family who¡¯s making the decision.¡± Bulwark pointed out, in what was a fairly diplomatic manner.


    Still had me somewhat annoyed. Also, Bulwark was obviously not married.


    ¡°You think that the Patriarch¡¯s wife doesn¡¯t have his ear, and can¡¯t twist it as needed?¡± I asked him, in that soft tone that let him know that he was on dangerous, thin ice.


    Bulwark looked at me, heard my tone, and decided to shut up and concede the minor point.


    Night spent most of this looking thoughtful.


    ¡°Toxic. How difficult would it be for a Classer with the right skills to remove your efforts, and restore the place to its natural state?¡± He asked.


    Arthur sucked in air through his teeth.


    ¡°Decades, if not more. It¡¯s spread far, it¡¯s spread deep. It¡¯s spread all the way to the Formorian lairs, it got deep inside their hive.¡±


    Brawling slipped in another ¡®innocent¡¯ question.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you just grab it with your skills and be done with it?¡± He asked, wide-eyed and ¡®innocent¡¯.


    If even I had caught onto his act, I doubt it was fooling anyone else. It did give a nice avenue for Toxic to expand.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a Poison mage, I¡¯m a Poison ranger. I create, enhance, and spread, I don¡¯t manipulate or anything like that. I can¡¯t go around and grab my poison; I can¡¯t pick it back up. That¡¯s the purview of a different class.¡±


    Toxic frowned.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t help that I built a poison that wouldn¡¯t degrade naturally. We thought it¡¯d take a lot longer for this to have an impact.¡±


    I had a moment of inspiration.


    ¡°Remember how Brawling sprayed water everywhere earlier?¡± I asked, getting some nods and side-eyes as people tried to figure out where I was going with this. ¡°Imagine a week later, a month later, coming back here and trying to pick up every drop of water that he sprayed. That¡¯s the problem with Toxic¡¯s poison. It¡¯s had time to spread out and travel. It¡¯s not easy to just wave a hand and fix it.¡±


    We continued the discussion and argument for hours more, Destruction waking up and joining in the later half. He was mostly lost as to what was going on, and kept mostly silent.


    ¡°Right.¡± Night said, once we¡¯d all had a late dinner, having spent way too much time on the matter. ¡°I believe I have an acceptable compromise, which I would like to bring forth as a proposal for how we shall move forward on this matter, and how we shall advise the powers that be to act on the matter.¡±


    ¡°First. The location should be turned into a town. Economic realities demand it.¡±


    I was throwing Night a sour look, which just bounced right off of him.


    ¡°However, the matter of Toxic¡¯s work can not be ignored. Those wishing to come here shall be well-informed of the matter. Additional healers will be well-incentivized to come, potentially being paid for by the governor. After all, they are providing a constant service to all. That particular point may need some negotiating with whoever ends up taking command of the area. Lastly, we will need dozens of men with the appropriate classes and skills to come, and work on purging the land itself, freeing it from the insidious toxins that have come to rest in it.¡±


    Interesting. Between my upcoming work with Hunting, the impending civil war, this area being somewhat safe and needing some healer¡¯s presence, I saw the possibility that I might be here for quite a few years. Maybe bouncing back and forth between here and the capital. I¡¯d still want to see my family.


    I reluctantly nodded my approval at the plan.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like it.¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯d rather nobody died, and the area was closed off until it was totally purged. But¡­.¡± I trailed off, looking around. ¡°There¡¯s no way I¡¯m getting that, is there?¡±


    The looks I was getting suggested that, no, I wasn¡¯t getting that.


    ¡°Fine. But I¡¯d like to make a minor suggestion. Advertise heavily that I¡¯m against it.¡± I said, crossing my arms, trying to throw Night another pointed look.


    Everyone else had more suggestions, more little modifications to the plan that we pitched in and added.


    As everyone was talking, a realization dawned on me.


    Long term planning. The frontlines, probably going to be turned into a town ¨C tentative name Feronia, although we didn¡¯t decide that ¨C was going to be a ghost town for some time. People would need to move, immigrate. A governor would be needed, etc. Shame that the camp followers were all ¡®gone¡¯, if they weren¡¯t they¡¯d be the perfect start to the town. They just wouldn¡¯t leave, and boom! Roaring town.


    Anyways. The long and the short of it was, there was large amounts of land for extraordinarily cheap prices here, right now. Over time, over decades and centuries, if all went well, the town would become populated, squeezed by the walls, and real estate prices would rise.


    I had wagonloads of money. Ok, technically, as the law saw it, my dad had wagonloads of money. He knew better than to try and argue it with me. He¡¯d tried once, and mom had given him such a telling off, then made him sleep in the vestibule for a week. Anyways.


    Sentinel pay was lucrative, on top of my healing business. Sure, I only got a tiny fraction of what I could be getting, but I was still pulling two large, generous incomes. I was probably going to find myself living in Feronia anyways, to help with the poison. Night¡¯s example of ¡®how to become fabulously wealthy as an immortal¡¯ was still in mind.


    I grimaced to myself. I was about to be a massive hypocrite wasn¡¯t I? ¡°Don¡¯t move to Feronia! Ignore the fact that I¡¯m purchasing huge swaths of land here!¡±


    The optics were subpar to boot.


    Although¡­ everything being in my dad¡¯s name to the rescue! I wouldn¡¯t be buying it, oh no. Marcus Elainus Cato would be buying it, and generously allowing the Sentinels to base out of the estates while any Sentinel is in town. It was long-term excellent for me, it worked short-term, it just made me feel a hair icky.


    Blah. The more I bought, the more expensive everything else would be. The whole thing was a messy, convoluted circle, and I had perfect entry-level theoretical knowledge on the subject, courtesy of [Pristine Memories], from having read a book on the subject decades ago. Didn¡¯t mean I knew how it¡¯d turn out, nor which theory would be correct and apply.


    A problem for future-me. I should get in the habit of reducing the number of future-me problems.


    We finally came to a consensus on how we Sentinels wanted to handle the question of the new town. Of course, we¡¯d need to convince the powers that be ¨C the Senate, in this case ¨C to our viewpoint, which meant convincing command, the endless meetings with Senators. Which had me come to a realization¡­


    ¡°Ocean¡¯s going to hate us for this. His input would¡¯ve been great.¡± I lamented.


    That got a few chuckles around the table, which quickly turned into roars and howls of laughter.


    Brawling was wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.


    ¡°He. He he. Yeah. I¡¯ma buy him a beer then break the news to him. You should all come watch. Make bets how far he sprays it.¡±


    Night was also chuckling.


    ¡°Sadly, I do not believe we will all be present for such an event. Bulwark. I believe with our current plans, that you have work that you should do. Is there anything that would prevent you from deploying here?¡±


    Bulwark cocked his head, spending a moment drumming his fingers on the table.


    ¡°Not that I can think of. Let me know how long you can spare me, it¡¯ll let me know what¡¯s priority to build, and how much effort I can spend on it.¡±


    Made sense. He couldn¡¯t just blink and be done; he had a ton of planning to do. A one-man civil engineering department. If he only had a week, he¡¯d probably do slap-dash repairs on the walls about to fall over. If he had a month, we¡¯d get a solid grid of roads to go with it. If he had a year, the foundation of a dozen homes and businesses would be laid, temples and marketplaces laid out, with the city divided into planned grids, ready for people to descend upon it.


    If he had a decade, with all the resources at his disposal and no pesky people in the way to slow him down, he¡¯d build the framework of a city that would last for centuries.


    Of course, if he was told he had a decade, then three weeks later got pulled to a critical hotspot, none of his work would be usable. He would¡¯ve spent the entire time measuring and planning.


    There was a long pause as Night thought, juggling hundreds if not thousands of things in his mind. The more I saw of Night the more impressed I was. Not only was he a peerless fighter, arguably the strongest we had in spite of Destruction¡¯s new class, but he was also a brilliant administrator, inspirational leader, and learned mentor.


    ¡°Eight months. I believe you can be away, here, for eight to fourteen months, depending on how the flow of the whole mess occurs. This is predicated that there is not another incident like Massalix which threatens to have us lose an entire city.¡±


    Night got an angry look on his face as he thought of that, and angrily spat out.


    ¡°I do not wish to speak ill of the dead, but Sky, that moron, has left us in a critical bind. Not only have we lost the Pegasus, but Sky himself is dead, unable to assist us with rapidly deploying into critical locations.¡±


    Night spent a few more moments thinking, as we all traded awkward looks with each other after his outburst.


    The silence was only awkward if we made it awkward, and oooooh boy, did we make it awkward.


    ¡°Right.¡± He said after a moment, breaking the silence. ¡°I am exercising my emergency powers. We have a quorum of Sentinels present. Does anyone object to Ranger Falerius being promoted to Sentinel?¡±


    I was not as up to date on the potential Sentinel candidates among the Rangers. I wasn¡¯t going to throw wrenches here and ruin it though. I indicated that I had no objection, along with the rest of the Sentinels.


    ¡°Ranger Falerius is hereby promoted to Sentinel, title Maestrai. Brawling, his team should be approaching Deva. You are tasked with retrieving Ranger Falerius, informing him of the good news, and heading towards the capital with him.¡±


    Brawling saluted.


    It was going to suck for his team though. ¡°Hey, yeah, one of your stronger Rangers? We¡¯re yoinking him. Good luck not dying on the rest of the round!¡±


    ¡°Bulwark, as we just discussed. You will be staying here, working on turning the encampment into a town.¡±


    ¡°How many squads can I take?¡± Bulwark asked.


    Night frowned.


    ¡°One Century.¡± He said. ¡°Be careful to only take a Century from a general who declares himself to be entirely neutral. Elsewise, we risk being accused of subtly sabotaging one faction or another.¡±


    Bulwark saluted his understanding, mouth twisting in distaste. Politics.


    ¡°Hunting.¡± Night said, dishing out orders rapid-fire. ¡°I apologize that we did not get a chance to thoroughly discuss this in-depth. I need you to scout the Formorian lands, and hunt down any remaining Formorians. We need certainty that the threat has been terminated, once and for all. Investigate their lairs, burn their home, crush any eggs you find. Dawn will accompany you for support purposes, primarily to mitigate Toxic¡¯s poison should it prove to be at a sufficient quantity to cause issues once you are so deep within their territory.¡±


    Hunting didn¡¯t salute, just gave a weary nod.


    I saluted, having enough self-control not to give Night a knowing look. ¡°Did not get a chance to discuss this in-depth¡± I was totally interpreting as Night deliberately putting the item last on the agenda, then rushing it through. Didn¡¯t want other people digging too deeply into it. Maybe he¡¯d let the others know once we were gone.


    ¡°The rest of us shall return home, to respond to any problems that have arisen in our absence. If there is nothing else¡­?¡± Night trailed off, giving us a chance to say anything. A series of shaking heads confirmed the non-answer.


    ¡°Dismissed.¡± Night said.

 Chapter 170 – Heading Out

    The meeting had gone on fairly late, and in spite of sleeping half the day, I was able to instantly fall asleep the moment my head touched the pillow.


    A dreamless night I was oh-so-thankful for, followed by waking up in the morning. Hunting and Destruction were still asleep, and Night was semi-dozing on a stool, half slumped forward.


    Did he even sleep?


    Either way, I got up, and somewhat reluctantly, shucked off my armor and gear. I was down to just my filthy tunic that I wore under it, but such was life.


    I found a cloth, along with the other implements needed to maintain my gear, and with a heavy sigh, started to work at it.


    Weeks of non-stop fighting and sleeping in the mud had done terrible things to my armor, and I was about to spend days, if not weeks, more in the wilderness with Hunting. It wasn¡¯t that I dreaded going or anything, just ¨C I wanted a hot bath. Clean clothes. Less dirt under my nails, hair that wasn¡¯t greasy and matting.


    I grabbed a lock and looked at it.


    I gave an overly dramatic sigh, before taking out my knife and giving myself a haircut, grumbling under my breath about it. Albina was going to half murder me for this. Hope I didn¡¯t miss the baby.


    Speaking of Albina, I should write her a letter to let her know what was going on. Should write mom and dad a letter as well. Probably Themis and Autumn to boot. Definitely going to send one to Artemis.


    Except ¨C problem. I looked around at the tent. The military tent. The tent we¡¯d hijacked. The supplies of ¡°emergency fight now.¡±


    The pen was mightier than the sword, but when Formorians were attacking we elected to use swords and spears. They were strangely unreceptive to our pleas and eloquent words. Hence, letter-writing supplies were in short supply.


    Blargh. I¡¯d need to hunt some supplies down. I put my armor down for a moment, and popped my head out of the tent.


    Excellent. We had a pair of guards, basically bouncers so nobody would bug us without it being important.


    Or, as I thought of them, future minions.


    ¡°Heya. Can you grab me some writing supplies?¡± I asked one of the guards, arbitrarily picking one.


    He saluted.


    ¡°Sentinel. With all due respect, it¡¯ll be difficult due to-¡°


    ¡°Great!¡± I cheerfully interrupted him. ¡°See you soon!¡±


    Rank hath its privilege. In this case, sending soldiers on likely unreasonably difficult tasks, and expecting them to get done.


    I was doubly thankful that I wasn¡¯t the one running around looking for writing supplies, not when he had mentioned how hard it was. No idea why it was hard, which had me extra-happy I wasn¡¯t the one trying to track it down.


    I went back into the tent, and kept working on my gear. I looked around, and embarrassingly, in a manner that was entirely unsuited to my station and experience, realized I was missing some of it.


    ¡°Toxic!¡± I yelled at him. ¡°Where¡¯d my spear go?¡±


    I¡¯d given it to him back at the grove where we were fighting the Formorians, since he¡¯d snuck over without his. I¡¯d been blasting ever since then, not bothering to retrieve my theoretical main weapon.


    Losing, when I was in the perfect position, a one versus one against a Formorian Soldier had soured me on even trying to use a spear against them, let alone a weapon less suited to killing things. In theory, I could probably dance around a Formorian and poke it full of holes and slowly kill it, but honestly, that was a pathetic way of going about it. After all, I could flicker a beam of Radiance through it and just kill it that way.


    Still. It was my weapon, and I wanted it back. If nothing else, I didn¡¯t want to have to explain to the Quartermaster that I¡¯d lost my weapon, and I needed a new one issued. I¡¯d get an earful from him.


    ¡°Spear? What spear? Don¡¯t try to steal mine when you lost yours.¡± Toxic said, shooting me a dirty look.


    My mouth opened in outrage, and I pointed a finger at him, planning on giving him a pint-sized lecture.


    ¡°You dick! You-¡°


    ¡°Nah, just fucking with you. Here you go.¡± Arthur said, grinning like crazy and holding the butt of the spear out at me.


    I grabbed it, then punched him in the arm.


    It was ok, because with my measly strength, and Arthur¡¯s vambraces and thick skin, I couldn¡¯t hurt him anyways. No harm, no foul.


    I kept working on my gear as the rest of the Sentinels did their own thing. Hunting eventually got up, and after some moping around, plonked down next to me as I kept maintaining my stuff. With a deep sigh, he stripped his gear off, and started to use the maintenance equipment I wasn¡¯t using to work on his own gear.


    We spent some time in companionable silence, working on our stuff as the other Sentinels popped in and out, doing whatever they believed needed doing.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to need a lot of food.¡± Hunting eventually said, the first words I¡¯d heard out of him all day.


    I bit my tongue, closing the floodgate of words that wanted to pour out of me. I wanted to ask him all sorts of things, like how was he doing? Was he ok? Did he want to talk about it?


    I¡¯d let him know I was available to chat soon, then leave him be. If he wanted distance, I¡¯d give him distance. If he wanted an ear, I¡¯d give him an ear.


    Not literally though. I could regrow my ears, but I was rather attached to them. Plus, peeling off body parts as a party favor was just icky.


    ¡°Yup. Should try to grab as much as we can before the soldiers get to it.¡± I agreeably added.


    Hunting grunted.


    ¡°Shame Acquisition isn¡¯t around. He¡¯d have a dozen sheep outside our door by now, ready for the slaughter.¡±


    Unbidden, the ghost-aroma of fresh mutton filled my nose, making me want to drool. I could feel my salivary glands activating in response. So unfair. Food. Good food. Oh, how I missed tasty food.


    Well, soldier rations were better than Formorian.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯d be nice.¡± I agreed.


    ¡°Or pigs. Could go for some nice ribs right about now.¡± Hunting said.


    I wanted to encourage him on this train of thought, I really did. His mind was slowly going off of Katastrofi, and onto other topics, like our survival in the near future. Survival was good. Planning to survive was better.


    Pork, however, I¡¯d sworn off of ever since I blew off Kerberos¡¯s head, and his roasting body had smelled exactly like pork. I couldn¡¯t even think of it without the memory rising up in my head, [Pristine Memories] backfiring slightly as it gave me perfect recall over the situation and the details.


    Details that I could now see and remember in all their gory detail, that I had missed the first time. Details like ¨C


    I quashed the memory. Nothing good came out of going down that route.


    ¡°Fresh fruit.¡± I added in.


    ¡°Carrots.¡±


    We kept trading foods back and forth, things we¡¯d love to have. Slowly, oh so slow, Hunting was brightening up. Thinking of other things. Sure, a large shadow was still being cast over him, he was still in darkness, but I was making him look towards some light.


    One could even say I was having him look at distant light on the horizon.


    Our banter was interrupted by one of the soldiers entering the tent.


    ¡°Reporting! A Sentinel requested writing supplies?¡± He announced to the tent in general, saluting with one hand while carrying a banged-up satchel in the other.


    ¡°Ooh! That was me! Thanks!¡± I said, hopping up and getting the supplies from him.


    ¡°While you¡¯re here, we need a month¡¯s worth of food and supplies for two Sentinels.¡± Hunting ordered.


    A look of despair flashed over the poor minion¡¯s face, before he schooled his expression and reluctantly saluted.


    ¡°As you command¡­¡± He said, turned on his heel, and practically fled before we could give him more unreasonable requests.


    Well, they sounded reasonable to us, but we were lofty and on high, not having a great grasp of the greater situation in and around the camp. I knew intellectually that food supplies were running dangerously low, and that there were constant noises of squads of soldiers running around the camp coming from outside our tent.


    Not my problem.


    I put aside the last of my gear that I could fix, and picked up the writing satchel. I sat down at the table, got out the blank scrolls, frowned as half the charcoal had been turned to dust and was getting everywhere, and laid it all out in front of me.


    ¡°Just checking, nothing we¡¯ve done or are doing is top-secret, right?¡± I asked, speaking to nobody and everybody at once.


    ¡°Rebellion.¡± Night said a single word from where he was dozing on his chair. I wasn¡¯t completely sure how to interpret that, but I decided that meant to stay entirely mum on the subject.


    Of course, I wasn¡¯t going to risk my friends and family getting blindsided by it. They were worth too much to me.


    Lots of wiping ¨C my filthy tunic now had a dozen black streaks going through it as I didn¡¯t have anything better to use ¨C and careful writing with what little charcoal I had left, and I had a few letters to send back home.


    Artemis!


    Big fight, killed a bunch of Formorian Queens, wild party. I¡¯m OK, Night¡¯s OK. Sadly, it looks like I¡¯m going to be stuck out here for awhile. More Sentinel stuff to do. Don¡¯t know when I¡¯ll be back ¨C it¡¯s a mess out here. I¡¯ll try to write lots!


    On a different note ¨C why didn¡¯t you tell me about you and Julius!? I¡¯m so happy for you two! You¡¯ve got to tell me everything when I get back!


    Well, not everything.


    Almost everything!


    Things, for reasons I can¡¯t say, might start getting real crazy and hectic near you. Stay safe. Keep your students safe. If everything starts going crazy, hunker down and protect yourself. There¡¯s no reason to go out and get involved in nonsense. Not allowed to say anything more.


    I classed up! Got my next healer evolution! It¡¯s so exciting! I can¡¯t wait to get back and tell you all about it! It¡¯s the best thing ever! I have so many cool tricks now!


    Cheers,


    Elaine


    I looked at the letter, satisfied. Artemis could read between the lines. She wouldn¡¯t know exactly why, but she¡¯d figure it out quickly enough once rumblings started.


    Hey mom! Hey dad!


    I¡¯m safe and sound at the frontlines, after a whole big mess. We defeated the Formorians!! I¡¯m needed for a secondary mission, but it¡¯s low-danger. No big healing mess, no disaster, I just need to help out another Sentinel as he pokes around the former Formorian land.


    There was a lot of poison used, and I¡¯m just making sure he stays safe and alive.


    On that note.


    There¡¯s going to be a new town founded here, and I suspect I¡¯m going to be spending a lot of time here. While I should be back really soon, the land grab might start before I¡¯m able to travel back, and I could be hijacked for more things, if not outright told to stay here and deal with the fallout. Two requests.


    Can you make a large purchase of land out here happen


    2. Don¡¯t come out here yourselves. It¡¯s not worth the risk. It¡¯ll get cleaned up eventually, at which point the land purchase will pay off


    3. Tell as many people as you can not to come out here. I¡¯d hate to see more people die because of it. Arthur keeps getting notifications about the poison killing people, and it¡¯s tearing him apart.


    Anyways! I got my healer class to class up! It¡¯s super strong now! I can¡¯t wait to show you all the neat stuff I can do with it! I can even preemptively heal people! In theory. Haven¡¯t been able to test it out yet. Should be good for sparring.


    The food out here is terrible. I even had to eat Formorian! I can¡¯t wait to get back home and eat your delicious cooking again.


    There might be some messes coming down the line. Dad, you should probably take a long vacation once you start hearing about things. No, seriously. Take the vacation. Bring mom and Themis with you. Maybe stay at Artemis¡¯s place for a few weeks or months, show the arrogant squirts at the Academy how guards handle unruly mages.


    Lots of love, can¡¯t wait to see you again!


    Your loving daughter,


    Elaine


    I was less than thrilled that I¡¯d asked for two things, then ended up writing three, but that was life. The bamboo was so smeared and half-ruined already that experience said that I couldn¡¯t make the spot-editing work, not without running dark charcoal smears throughout the entire thing.


    Dad being a member of the Praetorian Guard had me worried. They were the most likely to be in the line of fire when all this went down, the only physical protection the Senate had once the Generals were removed from the equation, or assumed to be hostile. If armed soldiers tried to forcefully break in, the Praetorian Guards were the only ones who would stop them ¨C which would end with a lot of dead guards. My only hope was there¡¯d be such overwhelming force that it wouldn¡¯t turn to violence.


    Better for everyone if mom and dad were on vacation. Preferably with Themis, so nobody had the half-baked idea of throwing all the guards and guards-in-training at whatever nonsense was going to happen.


    I¡¯d hopefully be back home before that happened, and able to physically defend my family myself. Barring that, the other Sentinels could help, but given that they probably wanted to protect their own families, they might be stretched too thin.


    Between ¡°Protect my own family¡± and ¡°Protect my friend¡¯s families¡± and ¡°Protect my co-worker¡¯s families¡±, I knew which one was getting the short stick.


    Albina!


    Hope you¡¯re doing well! Hope the baby¡¯s doing well! I¡¯m safe and sound, although duty calls. I¡¯m going to be out here for some time, doing Sentinel work.


    You might hear about a new town being founded out here. Whatever you do, don¡¯t move out here. There are problems with toxins in the water, the ground, and more. It¡¯s a slow poison, it¡¯ll take time to notice, but it¡¯ll kill off a baby quickly. Don¡¯t come.


    There might be a spot of bother heading towards the capital. Close your doors, keep your head down. Knowing me might not be positive in the upcoming mess, so maybe don¡¯t advertise it heavily, or rely on it for protection.


    Maybe it will help, what do I know about politics?


    I¡¯m a complete wreck from this trip though. I¡¯m going to want you all day once I get back ¨C or as much time as you can spare if the baby comes first.


    I still hope to make it for the baby though! I can¡¯t wait! So excited for you!


    Cheers,


    Elaine


    I didn¡¯t want to seem like I was one-upping her by mentioning my class up. There was a strong chance Albina would never get 256 in her lifetime.


    Unless I managed to level up fast enough, and start putting my thumb on the scale.


    As I started to ¨C well, pen would be the wrong word to use here, given that charcoal sticks I was using ¨C write a letter to Autumn, my mouth twisted in a wiry grin. My recognition of the real estate opportunity here was only thanks to Autumn¡¯s relentless chattering about money, and her endless rules on how to get lots of it.


    Autumn!


    I¡¯m safe and sound! They didn¡¯t pay me extra, but I found a way to make a few extra coins anyways. Buying land in a new town. Should be profitable.


    I hope you¡¯re keeping up with your studies. I¡¯ll be checking when I next come back!


    You might hear about a new town popping up. DO NOT MOVE HERE. The land¡¯s poisoned, and that¡¯s bad for business. Also, you¡¯re a Light healer, and while I shouldn¡¯t need to remind you, I just know you¡¯re seeing coins and rods, and ignoring my warnings. You¡¯re a Light healer, which means your ability to deal with toxins and poisons that are here are practically non-existent. Trust me.


    Even if you class up first, wait for me. I need to check that your skills can handle this, it¡¯s a nasty one. You won¡¯t realize a problem until you need to spend dozens of rods on a cure.


    With that being said, guard and soldier supplies are likely to spike in price soon. Might want to get ahead of the curve on that. Food might also become more expensive, although sticking around the capital might be a poor choice.


    Best of luck. Stay safe until I can get back! Study hard. Poke Markus or Caecilius if you have any questions, they should be able to help you.


    Cheers,


    Elaine.


    Honestly, the only way to get Autumn to listen to me was to threaten her pocketbook. Saying ¡°don¡¯t do it, it¡¯s dangerous¡± would probably have her disregard my advice in favor of more coins.


    ¡°Don¡¯t do it, it¡¯ll cost you money¡±, on the other hand, was the perfect tool.


    I sat back and looked over my letters. I nodded with satisfaction to myself.


    Perfect.

 Chapter 171 – Let’s go fly a kite

    We spent the rest of the day getting ready, and I was woken up bright and early by Night.


    ¡°Dawn. Good morning. We are meeting in a few minutes. Please prepare yourself.¡± He said.


    [Sunrise] continued to be the best skill ever, as I was awake almost instantly. Groggy to bright-eyed and bushy tailed in seconds.


    I spotted the packs that Hunting and I had prepared for our trip, visited the latrine, found some more rations, and was sitting at the table with a huge grin as everyone else woke up, in various states of groggy.


    Brawling somehow had boundless energy, and he was awake, while Destruction was half-huddled under some blankets, with a mug of something warm in his hands, taking the occasional sip.


    I could make everyone else bright and cheery, alert and awake. It was almost more fun not to though, to be the obnoxiously cheerful one in the morning. I¡¯d suffered annoyingly awake people often enough. My turn!


    ¡°Good morning.¡± Night said. ¡°Enough time has passed that I believe a return to normalcy is in order. I have not been made aware of any incidents that would require a Sentinel¡¯s attention. Does anyone have any other business?¡±


    We all shot Night a look that would promise swift death for interrupting our sleep for¡­ a meeting that did nothing. Blowing a hole in the roof of the tent might let enough sunlight in fast enough to disable Night, letting us pile on before he could retreat to the shadows¡­


    Then again, there was something to be said for returning to a somewhat normal state of affairs. The apocalypse was over, time for business as usual. Vacation days were extraordinarily rare in this line of work, generally a few days around the Ranger Convocation. That was only because, with all the Rangers in the capital, we wouldn¡¯t be hearing about any critical problems.


    Unless Ranger Command noticed a pattern from everyone¡¯s after-action reports, and sent a Sentinel to deal with the problem.


    It still didn¡¯t stop me from trying to plot Night¡¯s demise as the meeting went on. It was significantly more fun than participating, ignoring the fact that [Oath] would never let me act on any of it.


    ¡°After action analysis?¡± Brawling suggested. ¡°While it¡¯s still fresh in our minds?¡±


    ¡°While we¡¯re still all here?¡± Toxic added.


    Night nodded, and Destruction groaned.


    ¡°Need more sleep. I did my part to the letter.¡± He said, stumbling away from the table, and collapsing onto his cot.


    I swear, he was asleep before he was even done falling down. He still had a serious sleep deficit from being up for weeks on end.


    We all glanced at him, then looked at each other. I shrugged.


    ¡°I believe that Destruction performed admirably, and may skip this meeting.¡± Night tactfully said. Better to grant permission when the outcome was the same anyways. Stopped his authority from being undermined.


    ¡°I¡¯ll start, I guess.¡± Toxic said. ¡°We should¡¯ve had a plan in place for if we killed a Queen, and they counterattacked. We were caught with our tunics down.¡±


    There was some muttering of agreement around the table, and I was nodding my head.


    ¡°On some accounts, you are correct, on others, I find myself disagreeing.¡± Night stated. ¡°We previously had plans to account for such an occurrence, however, after hundreds upon hundreds of years of planning and drills, without a single event occurring, I determined that the time spent planning for such an event, along with constantly needing to re-work said plan in the face of a changing number of Sentinels and their abilities, to no longer justify the small risk of the Formorians changing strategy to an all-out assault. Yes, we were caught unprepared. However, I do not believe preparation for every single contingency is a proper use of the limited resources we have. Indeed, Toxic was not the first attempt at a similar strike. Why, I remember¡­¡±


    I tuned out Night¡¯s history lesson, and listened with half an ear on the rest of the after-action report. Most of it focused around the decisions around who was brought, and what they¡¯d done.


    The stickiest point was if Toxic should¡¯ve been part of the strike team or not. The rest of the Sentinels spent almost an hour discussing it, while my mind wandered as my eyes drifted around the tent, tapping a foot impatiently.


    I just wasn¡¯t in the mood to analyze the fight that¡¯d killed a number of us in great detail, especially as I hadn¡¯t been part of it. It was too fresh, too raw a reminder that I¡¯d never see Sealing again. Never hear one of Sky¡¯s quips. Never ride Katastrofi again.


    The only contribution I had was when the question of if I should¡¯ve been in the strike team or not was brought up.


    ¡°I hate to say it, but no. It was right for me to return to the walls.¡± I reluctantly said. ¡°From what I¡¯ve heard, I¡¯m not sure I could¡¯ve stopped any of the fatalities, I would¡¯ve slowed you down, and I saved dozens of soldiers here, and got hundreds or thousands more back into fighting shape.¡±


    Endless bloody discussion. I wanted to just get up and leave, walk away, but that¡¯d be rude. I don¡¯t think my vacant look and lack of contributions went unnoticed, but eh. I was trying. I had half an ear out listening, and if I thought I had something, I¡¯d contribute.


    I wasn¡¯t pulling a repeat of ignoring my parents at Kerberos¡¯s place. Just¡­ an almost repeat.


    After far too much discussion on the topic, we wrapped up, and went our separate ways.


    ¡°Hey Hunting!¡± I called out, as he was double-checking everything. ¡°Do you think we¡¯ve got time for me to class up quickly?¡±


    I hadn¡¯t intended to class up my [Ranger-Mage] class anytime soon, but with the huge boost in stats from [The Dawn Sentinel], along with the achievements for killing the Royal Guards and Queens, I felt like I might just be ready. I had a suspicion that my mage class would overtake my healer class though, which would change my eyes from Celestial to Radiant.


    As petty as my desire to keep my eyes Celestial was, as much as I wanted them to stay starry, cold logic dictated that I should probably class up. We were in a relatively safe spot, about to go out and explore unknown lands, and I felt comfortable with my achievements, levels, and stats. I didn¡¯t think I could improve my offerings too much more at this point.


    Blah. Classing up now would also mean no reading time, which sucked. Who knew how many decades it would be before I got a chance again?


    Hunting looked at me thoughtfully.


    ¡°Do you think you can finish classing up in an hour?¡± He asked.


    I thought about it. There was no way I was going to gimp my future prospects by rushing my class-up, not when the class might stick with me for the rest of my life. If I got another chance like the Celestial class up, where I got to build my own class? I was going to take it.


    Ignoring that, I was going to carefully and properly look through my options. I wasn¡¯t going to rush it.


    ¡°No.¡± I honestly said. ¡°No way.¡±


    Hunting nodded at me, seemingly satisfied.


    ¡°Right, then let¡¯s get moving. Night mentioned that it¡¯s about a two-week trip to the lair. Now, that¡¯s with him only being able to move at night, and fighting through a Formorian horde, so it should be faster with just us.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a slow poke.¡± I pointed out. ¡°I¡¯m not nearly as fast as you or Night. Night, walking through the horde, only at nighttime, is still faster than I am on an open road.¡±


    Hunting looked down at me and frowned.


    ¡°We¡¯ll figure something out. Come on, gear up. I want to see the carcasses of the Queens while it¡¯s still light out.¡±


    I gave him a bit of a glare, letting him know that I didn¡¯t need him telling me what to do when it came to preparing to get out there. Still, he wasn¡¯t wrong. It just rankled.


    ¡°What are the odds of me getting a halfway clean tunic in my size?¡± I asked, picking at the filthy fabric.


    Hunting eyed me.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you get a spare one in the care package we were sent?¡±


    I hit my forehead with the palm of my hand. Yes. Yes, I did.


    I tore into the package, and got a clean tunic. One of my favorites ¨C mom knew me well. I happily changed into it, grimacing slightly as I felt clean cloth pressing against filthy skin.


    The worst part was feeling the cloth pressed tight against my skin once again as my armor was snugly fitted over the tunic. It was clean though, which was an improvement from my prior state of being.


    I¡¯d totally go toe-to-toe with a Royal Guard for the chance at a hot bath.


    It took me significantly more time to get ready than when Brawling had barged into my room, what, a month ago or so? Felt like a lifetime ago.


    Mostly because I wasn¡¯t fueled by a liter of raw adrenaline coursing through my body, and also because I was double and triple checking every strap and buckle, jumping a few times experimentally to make sure everything was properly secured.


    One last check through my bag and gear, making sure I had everything, and Hunting and I were off!


    Armor on, helmets off. Spear and tower shield attached to our massive packs, short swords at our waist.


    Technically, the helmets should be on our head. They were off as a concession to both comfort, and visibility. We wanted our full range of vision, since we wanted to see things. We didn¡¯t think we were getting into fights. I wasn¡¯t concerned that some angry mage would try to put a rock through my head.


    We walked a long way through the camp, seeing some soldiers drilling, and others packing up their tents and gear. It was clear that large-scale movement operations were about to begin. I trailed slightly behind Hunting, since he looked every inch what people imagined a Sentinel should look like. Apart from his head, which had a fine layer of fuzz as his hair was regrowing from his ¡®rip the Royal Guard apart from the inside¡¯ misadventure. Either way, his commanding stride, appearance, and badge prominently pinned on his chest resulted in soldiers getting out of our way with a respectful ¡°Sentinel¡± and a salute.


    If he was 20, 30 years younger he might¡¯ve been interesting.


    Still. It was quite a long distance to get to one of the still-operational external gates. We could¡¯ve just gone over the wall directly, but I guess this gave us a bit of time to shake down our stuff, realize we¡¯d forgotten an extra pair of socks of something.


    I half-stumbled catching myself. Dammit! I did forget an extra pair of socks! I wasn¡¯t about to suggest we turn around just for socks though.


    We found a gate, and paused for a moment, one last final check before we were out and about.


    ¡°Hang on, before we get going, can I try a new skill on you?¡± I asked Hunting.


    He shrugged.


    ¡°Sure, why not?¡±


    I tapped him, putting a [Solar Infusion] on him. There was no obvious indicator, no lit up halo or anything. I was a little disappointed. Sure, that had been an offered perk that I hadn¡¯t taken, what with how each point of starlight being super important. Still. I¡¯d kinda hoped to get a freebie.


    ¡°What¡¯s the skill supposed to do?¡± He asked me.


    ¡°Preemptive healing.¡± I replied. ¡°Heals you like I¡¯m touching you while I¡¯m nearby.¡±


    If looks could kill, Hunting would¡¯ve just murdered me. His eyes, pitch black like the void, bore into me.


    Guess whatever he was doing had been enough to get his mage class above his fighter class.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t think to mention that this was a regeneration-disabling skill before you put it on a mage!?¡± He yelled at me. ¡°It¡¯s a damn good thing I¡¯ve got curse breaking skills! This is how you get a teammate killed Dawn! Think! Mages need all the mana they can get, and you know I¡¯m a spellspear!¡±


    I looked down, and mumbled ¡°I did ask for permission.¡±


    Hunting either didn¡¯t hear me, or didn¡¯t care enough as he stalked off, through the gate. I scampered after him, grumbling as he peeled away at his pace, leaving me in the dust.


    Blah. I guess I hadn¡¯t fully and properly thought through the reactions of mages to the skill. Like, it was a great boon towards physical classers. They hardly used their mana regeneration in combat. They might, on occasion, use their mana pool.


    I had thought about the ¡°stop people regenerating, and potentially be able to be less lethal as a result¡± aspect.


    I just hadn¡¯t quite put the pieces together that Hunting, who was a physical Classer, would get pissed off because I was screwing with his magical side. Yeah, he was right, I hadn¡¯t thought all the implications all the way through.


    And worse ¨C I hadn¡¯t even gotten a level out of it!


    Blasted physical classers and their blasted speed. Ugh.


    I made it through the walls, and there must¡¯ve been some enchantment or inscription on them. The moment I stepped through, the smell hit me, and I looked out upon the field.


    The black field, filled with dead Formorian bodies. Around the base of the walls and some distance away the bodies had been cleared up, and soldiers were working in teams to throw Formorian bodies onto huge pyres. Dead bodies continued out, almost as far as I could see.


    It was a good thing they were burning all the bodies. I was fairly certain that the army knew that leaving a bunch of bodies around was a recipe for disease, and who knew what nastiness the Formorians could brew up when dead? Still, it was being handled, which meant that I wouldn¡¯t need to throw a wrench in the plans by insisting we cut back early as a plague-prevention measure.


    ¡°How¡­¡± I asked, trailing off.


    ¡°Trampled over the bodies to get to the next row. At a point, they just stopped moving, and stood to fight.¡±


    I eyed the bodies. I looked at the clear sky.


    ¡°Welp, I¡¯m going to fly over all this mess.¡± I said, barely keeping the glee out of my voice.


    ¡°Won¡¯t you run out of mana in like, an hour?¡± Hunting asked me.


    I gave him a mad grin.


    ¡°Not anymore! I can fly forever!¡± I told him, as cheerfully as humanly possible. ¡°I restore almost 64 mana a second, and even with all this gear and equipment on, it costs me about 23 mana a second. I can fly forever!¡± I joyfully repeated, stepping up into the air.


    ¡°As long as you¡¯re outside, in the sun, with no clouds, or a Classer who can interfere.¡± Hunting said, ticking points off his fingers. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s get a move on.¡±


    Hunting took off, and I immediately struggled to keep up. Didn¡¯t matter that he had to wade through bodies. In spite of his bulk and equipment, his dexterity was on full display as he gracefully bounded from body to body.


    To contrast, I wasn¡¯t much faster with [Talaria] than I was normally. Sure, I could step up high like I was walking up stairs, then dive down and try to redirect some of that speed, but it barely counted.


    However, I was struck with inspiration.


    ¡°Hunting! Hey, Hunting!¡± I called down.


    Hunting looked up, and I mentally thanked the Quartermaster for modifying my standard leather skirt into a skort.


    ¡°What?¡± He asked.


    I tossed down a rope, holding onto the other end.


    ¡°Pull me along!¡± I called out, trying and failing to restrain the glee I was feeling. This was going to be so much fun!


    I tied the rope off around my waist, as Hunting grabbed the other end.


    He looked down at the rope, back up at me, shrugged, and started to walk, slowly accelerating into a run.


    I clamped my mouth shut, as I was buffeted around like a kite on a windy day.


    This was so much fun!!!


    I had to find ways to convince Hunting to do this with me more often.

 Chapter 172 – The Formorian Lands I

    I had a pretty good view, although I was a bit lower to the ground than I would¡¯ve liked. I had to keep stepping up to maintain height, because Hunting¡¯s pull was downwards as well as sideways. Wasn¡¯t quite able to ¡°air-ski¡± through the sky, although now I was hoping an evolution of [Talaria] would permit that.


    Hunting moved at an incredible pace, barely noticing the changing, shifting terrain below him. A testament to the usefulness of dexterity.


    He¡¯d occasionally just leap over a large crack in the earth, a permanent reminder of the massive spell that Destruction had channeled and unleashed on the Formorians.


    I didn¡¯t have to do anything. I just enjoyed myself. Front flips, backflips, twisting myself up and pausing to let Hunting unwind me like a top, ¡°belly-surfing¡± and more! I was having the time of my life up here, never mind that we were on a mission. I didn¡¯t have a good view of Hunting¡¯s face from where I was, but little hints suggested that he was entertained by my antics, as much as he tried to keep a ¡°stern and serious¡± face up.


    After far too short of a time ¨C like, four hours of being a kite wasn¡¯t nearly long enough for the novelty to wear off ¨C we approached the enormous bodies of the slain Queens. I dropped down. I¡¯d like to say I dropped to the ground, but there wasn¡¯t enough ground left to stand on. Just bodies.


    I coiled the rope around one shoulder after landing. I didn¡¯t want to have to bother retying it later.


    Formorian Soldiers. Shooters. Worm-like creatures I suspected were Spitters. Small hills of Royal Guards.


    Cruel red splashes on pure white wings, angels crushed and brought low. Broken swords and shattered halos.


    I eyed the massive bodies of the Queens.


    ¡°They¡¯re absolutely, totally, completely dead, right?¡± I asked Hunting.


    He nodded at me.


    ¡°I¡¯m looking at all three notifications for them now.¡± He confirmed. ¡°Had the same thought as you.¡±


    I looked around.


    ¡°I know you want to poke around them, but no way am I camping here tonight. No way. Not happening.¡± I said.


    Hunting looked around.


    ¡°Surprised scavengers haven¡¯t gotten to this yet. Hang out here, I¡¯m going to get a close look at the Queens. Don¡¯t touch them, might throw a wrench in one of my skills.¡±


    I had no desire to touch the Queens. Even in death they terrified me, an errant twitch enough to crush Hunting to paste, let alone me.


    How the hell had the strike team managed to finish one off!? Even with angels helping, even with an earthquake launched on top of them, they were massive behemoths. Like, put me on top of the main part of the crab-like body, give me six months, and I¡¯m still not sure I¡¯d even hit anything vital, let alone kill one.


    I decided to take a look at the fallen angels. There¡¯d been all sorts of idiomatic expressions involving angels, along with the occasional ¡®fairy tale¡¯ about them ¨C like when that centurion had called me the angel of his group ¨C but it hadn¡¯t quite clicked for me how and why angels would be known on Pallos.


    Of course, there were stories about angels because angels existed. I¡¯d heard no stories about demons, but they were now high up on my ¡°to be concerned¡± list.


    Then again, I¡¯d heard nothing about ¡°evil¡± gods, or anti-gods. Even Xaoc and Thanatos, responsible for Chaos and Death, were revered as proper deities. Sure, chaos and death weren¡¯t popular deities to worship, and people who did occasionally got the stink eye from more superstitious fellows, but it wasn¡¯t like they were considered evil or some nonsense. Death was a part of life, like chaos was a part of order, and vice-versa.


    Still. Note to self. Be on the lookout for demons. ¡°How to recognize, infiltrate and destroy a cult¡± wasn¡¯t a Ranger Academy lesson, which made me think cultists in dimly lit basements weren¡¯t all that likely.


    Heck, if there was a way to summon demons, I bet Night would¡¯ve summoned a dozen of them and unleashed them on the Formorians. Or had a droning, 6000-word essay on why it was a terrible idea.


    Normally I¡¯d be telling myself at this point to focus, but I was on standby, with instructions to not screw with the Queens. Distraction away!


    I decided to look at the angels, likely a once in a lifetime opportunity ¨C even with my massively expanded lifespan.


    While they looked human with magnificent white bird wings from a distance, nobody, not even someone who only had a rough sketch or idea of what a human looked like, would confuse us. On top of the unnaturally good looks and fine features, even in death there was something more about them, something Divine. No creatures would look at an angel and think they were anything other than a heavenly being.


    I¡¯d had a half-baked thought of getting a few angel feathers, but something about them gave me pause. Even broken and bloodied, coated in mud and left to rot, I didn¡¯t dare desecrate their bodies. It just felt wrong. I couldn¡¯t tell if it was something divine causing the feeling, or just my own sense of ethics rearing its head, but I didn¡¯t want to touch their body, not even to bury them or to arrange them into a pyre. Burning the body where it had fallen felt equally wrong, and I left them there, untouched. For all I knew, there was a deadly curse unleashed on anything messing with their bodies. Or something. I wasn¡¯t a priest, heck, I barely stepped into a temple.


    I should probably reconsider that policy.


    However, a number of feathers had broken off ¡®normally¡¯, and were scattered around. I entertained myself by hunting down a dozen intact feathers, each one a foot-long and pristine white.


    I carefully pressed most of them into my pack, and tied two to the haft of my spear. I wanted to tie one into my hair, but it was too short right now for that. Couldn¡¯t wait to get back to the capital, and have Albina grow it back out. She¡¯d probably have fun with the angel feathers to boot. Could get me a cute look with them.


    Before I did that, I should probably check with a priest that I wasn¡¯t going to, like, annoy all the gods and goddesses by doing it. Then again, the lack of the strange feeling when I touched the loose feathers, versus the bodies of the angels, was suggestive.


    Either way ¨C I was keeping myself well entertained while Hunting did whatever it was that was taking so much time.


    If I was a betting girl ¨C which, with the right situation, I totally was ¨C I¡¯d bet that he¡¯d found Katastrofi¡¯s corpse, and was busy saying his goodbyes, his final farewells. He¡¯d probably also legitimately find whatever he was looking for, but eh. I¡¯d just keep upping my feather stockpile. I wasn¡¯t picky for the first few, but now I¡¯d only accept the perfect, unbroken ones.


    One body, however, didn¡¯t give off the same feeling as the rest. Like a magnet, pushed away from everything else, I was naturally pushed to it.


    I looked at the body, perfect flesh and heavenly features.


    I practically jumped a foot in the air as the body shuddered, taking a breath.


    Holy! The angel was alive!


    I sprang into action, activating [Wheel of Sun and Moon] to immediately start the healing process. Wounds closed, and wings straightened out, feathers regrowing in a flash.


    I walked closer, and knelt down.


    I froze as I reached my hand out, less than an inch away from the angel¡¯s flesh. I had no idea what would happen if I actually touched the angel. Bad things, maybe? I eyed my mana.


    Zero.


    Somehow, I¡¯d completely drained all of my mana on this already. Sure, I had a distance penalty with [Wheel of Sun and Moon], but I didn¡¯t think angels were so far from humans as to entirely drain me on relatively minor injuries, and still not be completely healed. Although, he looked almost entirely healed. There might be something else wrong, something that I couldn¡¯t see. Would have to give him another shot.


    The decision to start pulling from my Arcanite and heal the angel or not was no decision at all. I¡¯d never leave another intelligent creature in pain. I had plenty of the stuff.


    As I pulled some mana in, I reflected that this could be a perfect way to trap me if needed. Just throw injured, innocent people at me until I was out of mana, then attack.


    I mustered my courage, and leaned forward to touch the angel, healing him again. This time, my mana didn¡¯t drop all the way to zero, but it was low.


    ¡°low.¡± Ha. It was more mana than I had total five years ago.


    The angel opened his eyes, and they were captivating. No other word for it.


    No, literally. They were indescribable. I couldn¡¯t even tell you the color, the shape of the eyes, the type of pupil, nothing. I¡¯d locked eyes with something distinctly Other, in spite of the similarity in bodies.


    He sat up, and without a word, with a single beat of his powerful wings, was fly-floating right above me.


    I was entranced. I couldn¡¯t take my eyes off him.


    He leaned forward, and while I should¡¯ve felt fear, I didn¡¯t.


    I did have the presence of mind to [Identify] him, which¡­ had no result. It was like trying to [Identify] a rock. Just didn¡¯t register to the skill. Maybe that¡¯s why it had taken so much mana to heal him?


    ¡°Thank you.¡± He said, after an indeterminate amount of time. His voice was like his eyes, with no words in any language I knew being able to even start to describe what I was hearing. Leaning forward, he placed a chaste kiss on my forehead, and simply vanished, leaving behind nothing but a few motes of divine flame.


    I just stood there like an idiot, rubbing my forehead where the angel had kissed it.


    I felt robbed though. Healing an angel, which required my entire mana pool and then some, an entirely new experience, repairing wings, and so much more ¨C and I didn¡¯t level!


    Maybe it had something to do with the fact that I couldn¡¯t [Identify] the angel?


    An indeterminable amount of time later Hunting came sprinting out. That didn¡¯t look good. That wasn¡¯t the steady jog of ¡°I just want to get from A to B¡±, this was a full-out sprint.


    I dropped the coil of rope around my shoulder, letting it fall to the ground in a theoretical neat pile as I quickly repacked my backpack and swung it back on. Naturally, rope was rope, and it promptly tied itself into a half-dozen knots, in spite of my careful efforts. I then started to fly, climbing high while the rope uncoiled under me, knots tightening into annoying lumps in the middle of the rope. I had no idea what was going on, but Hunting clearly wanted to move fast, and I was going to make it easy for him.


    He slowed down as he grabbed the rope, making sure to not jerk it hard enough that it¡¯d break. Neither of us had a skill like [Strong Rope] or [Unbreakable Line] or anything like that. Well, I didn¡¯t know all of Hunting¡¯s skills, but it was a good bet. Unlike Ocean. I¡¯d bet he had a skill like that.


    Either way, we were off like one of Artemis¡¯s famous pebbles, and as the sky darkened, I instinctively looked up, a trained habit ingrained in every kid since they were little.


    A flock of Ornithocheirus darkened the sky, and I cursed as they started to circle the Formorians. One dove, then a second, and with a flurry of wings and cries, they all dove down onto the bodies. Fresh meat for them! Bonus ¨C it didn¡¯t fight back!


    I cursed, while Hunting just kept speeding along. A few headed our way, and I made the snap decision to shoot them down.


    Usually we didn¡¯t want to kill them if we were attacked. It¡¯d just increase the amount of food nearby, which would get more of the flock attacking us. However, this time, the entire flock was already coming down, off to eat the tasty Formorian bodies. Killing a few would make no difference.


    Three dived at me, the tasty, shiny morsel being tangled tantalizingly on rope, nice and high in the air just for them. I tensed, watching them dive, needing them to be close enough before my Radiance was able to reach them.


    Blasted magic. The light from Radiance could travel forever, but the burning, destructive aspect had a limited range.


    Fortunately, [Nova] wasn¡¯t as limited, and I unleashed four low-powered [Nova]¡¯s as the Ornithocheirus got closer. With their speed, angle, and twisting way of diving, I wasn¡¯t quite sure I¡¯d be able to hit them with a single powerful [Nova], so I elected for a wide coverage, guaranteed to hit and do some damage instead of being a poorly stacked coinflip of maybe killing them, or totally missing.


    [Nova] hit, one of the birds tumbled down, while the other two were singed, and then they were much closer, [Bullet Time] activating and giving me clarity and time to think.


    More precisely, it gave me time to aim. Otherwise, trying to hit the twisty, high-speed fliers would be difficult.


    The easier one I eyeballed, and threw a [Nova] directly at it, fairly certain that it¡¯d connect. The harder one I just drilled a beam of Radiance through its open mouth, stopping when I saw the wings no longer flapping, and a flash of light from behind it.


    Two notifications let me know that the two Ornithocheirus were dead, and I had a brief moment of elation before realizing that [Bullet Time] hadn¡¯t stopped.


    I mentally swore as I realized what was happening. The Ornithocheirus had been on a perfect intercept course, dive-bombing from above. Now that they were dead, their gravity assist was the only thing moving them, and one was on a direct course to land on me, dead or not.


    I threw up [Mantle of the Stars] between me and it, dropped [Talaria] to let myself fall faster, then snaked out my arm to grab onto the rope, tensing and pulling it with my entire body¡¯s worth of muscles. The combination of movement and shields proved effective, as the body slid off of [Mantle of the Stars].


    It all happened so fast, I needed a bunch of small moves to properly move myself enough to have the Ornithocherius bounce and slide off instead of a direct hit.


    Then we were out, far away enough from the flock that we were no longer interesting. Or, putting it another way, the massive almost literal mountain of dead flesh was far more appealing than we were.


    Didn¡¯t stop Hunting from making amazing time across the Formorian lands, going deeper and deeper, still jumping over the occasional crevice from Destruction¡¯s work. There were fewer of them now, as his earthquake only went so far.


    I¡¯m not sure that an expert tracker was needed for this. The Formorian Queens weren¡¯t exactly subtle about their movements, and a three-year-old could¡¯ve followed their tracks. Hard to miss the divots they imprinted into the earth with each step of their monstrous crab-like legs.


    Hunting ran for hours more, and when the sun set, he grumbled, picked me up in a princess carry, and continued to make good time.


    Wasn¡¯t a huge fan of the princess carry, but given that I was wearing a large pack, full of sharp pointy bits, and he was wearing a large pack, our options were limited.


    Eventually we got to where Hunting judged to be far enough, and I watched in fascination as he built an entire small campsite underground, voiding out large portions of the ground to make a narrow entrance that expanded into a tiny enclosure that barely supported the two of us and our packs.


    I put my stuff down and uneasily looked at the ground above us. If that came down on us, we were so dead, and it wasn¡¯t like we had support beams or anything. Just being in this cave made me nervous, forget sleeping in it.


    Still, Hunting seemed like he knew what he was doing, although I dreaded a repeat performance of this.


    We grabbed dinner together, no fire. We did close off the entrance with some tarp, and I used my Radiance to make the inside nice and warm and toasty. Some comforts of home.


    ¡°What were you looking for?¡± I asked Hunting.


    ¡°Eggs.¡± He replied. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t surprise me if the Queens laid the foundation for a new generation as they were dying. Especially the first and the last one. They died slowly, and would¡¯ve had enough time for a last-ditch desperation egg. Wouldn¡¯t be the first time something like that happened.¡±


    ¡°And we stopped because of the Ornithocheirus attack.¡± I reasoned out. ¡°Because if there are any eggs, they¡¯ll just eat them.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. Saves us the trouble of trying to burn the area clean, saves the soldiers the effort of needing to come out and burn all the bodies one at a time. It¡¯ll be a pain if they decide that this means food lives here, and they frequently return, but that¡¯s a future problem.¡±


    I frowned.


    ¡°This is going to suck.¡± I said.


    ¡°How so?¡±


    ¡°They were loaded up with Toxic¡¯s poison. Now they¡¯re going to fly all over the damn place while the poison concentrates inside of them, and drop dead in random places. It¡¯ll just keep spreading, and spreading.¡± I said.


    Hunting grimaced.


    ¡°Ouch, really?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Yup.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you cure or fix it?¡± He said.


    ¡°Only when it¡¯s in a human ¨C or near human ¨C and only if I know about it. Some Ornithocheirus drops dead near a village, a wolf eats the body, a farmer kills and eats the wolf, well, I¡¯ll never know about it.¡±


    ¡°Nasty stuff.¡± Hunting commented.


    ¡°I was against the whole idea.¡± I grumbled.


    He gestured around the tiny cavern.


    ¡°Worked, didn¡¯t it? We won. A few people dying here and there of poison¡¯s a small price to pay. Heck, I bet fewer people die of poison than would die on the front lines. That¡¯s a net benefit, right?¡±


    I just grumbled bad-naturedly to myself, not saying any words but letting Hunting know my feelings exactly. I didn¡¯t have a strong logical argument to what he was saying, just an emotional one.


    Urgh. The whole thing reminded me that I had no idea what happened when Arthur¡¯s toxin was burned. For all I knew we were aerosolizing the crap out of it, and everyone in the camp was going to be breathing it in.


    What a mess.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 19]


    [Mana: 153790/153790]


    [Mana Regen: 133517 (+98425.6)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 51]


    [Strength: 293]


    [Dexterity: 347]


    [Vitality: 2176]


    [Speed: 2176]


    [Mana: 15379]


    [Mana Regeneration: 15379 (+9842.56)]


    [Magic Power: 7897 (+106609.5)]


    [Magic Control: 7897 (+106609.5)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 305]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 305]


    [Cosmic Presence: 231]


    [Solar Infusion: 1]


    [Center of the Universe: 285]


    [Dance of the Heavens: 305]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 271]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 256]


    [Sunrise: 4]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 256]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 256]


    [Radiance Resistance: 256]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 256]


    [Shine: 111]


    [Sun-Kissed: 256]


    [Blaze: 256]


    [Talaria: 256]


    [Nova: 256]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 151]


    [Pristine Memories: 200]


    [Pretty: 152]


    [Bullet Time: 268]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 270]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 305]


    [Persistent Casting: 189]


    [Learning: 280]

 Chapter 173 – The Formorian Lands II

    I¡¯d be lying if I said the night was restful. Hunting and I traded watch shifts, with [Sunrise] being a lifesaver. Getting a few levels out of it to boot didn¡¯t hurt.


    Still, sleeping was a terrifying experience. As little ground as was above us, I could still imagine it coming collapsing down onto me, hundreds of pounds of rock and dirt burying me alive. Didn¡¯t make for restful sleep, and as little as it¡¯d help if the worst happened, I slept wrapped up in [Mantle of the Stars], with [Persistent Casting] letting me maintain it. Sure, I¡¯d still get buried alive, but I¡¯d get a few more seconds to curse Hunting to eternal damnation before I died.


    Fortunately, Hunting knew his stuff, and I survived the surprisingly chilly night. I suppose it was almost winter, and we¡¯d been heading steadily south-west. I probably took a bit longer on watch than was strictly fair, but while on watch I didn¡¯t need to be in the jaws of the deathtrap. I was woken up by Hunting as the first light of day broke over the horizon, and with only a bit of fumbling did we get the entire campsite broken down and packed up.


    ¡°Right.¡± I said, mentally cursing to myself at Hunting¡¯s bizarre knot arrangement. ¡°New plan. I set up my stuff, you set up your stuff, and we both take down our stuff, and our stuff only.¡± I proposed.


    I got a stink-eye from Hunting, which I didn¡¯t feel was warranted.


    ¡°I mean, I did set everything up last night.¡± He fairly pointed out.


    ¡°Yes! I¡¯ll cook, you dig a hole in the ground, it¡¯s fair?¡± I tried to reason, knowing it wasn¡¯t that fair.


    I got some grumbling noises from Hunting.


    ¡°Look. We each like our stuff done a particular way. Yeah, you¡¯re doing most of the work, both during the day and to dig stuff out. But, like, it just makes sense for us to arrange our own stuff. Look, I¡¯ll handle the rest of the communal activities?¡± I offered. ¡°[Sunrise] pick me up?¡± I said, sweetening the deal.


    I got a grumpy noise of assent, smacked him with [Sunrise], and got a level up notification.


    [*Ding!* [Sunrise] leveled up! 7 -> 8]


    If my old [Medicine] skill and general human knowledge hadn¡¯t contradicted it, I would¡¯ve believed that the System released happy chemicals to everything that leveled up. As-is, I knew the happy feeling was pure me. The joy of a low-level skill ¨C I got to watch it rise rapidly.


    Hunting and I started the day off jogging in a direction that he¡¯d divined. Sun wasn¡¯t high enough yet for me to start flying, and being towed along like a kite had some downsides. Namely, it was hard to talk when I was going that fast.


    ¡°How would you manage if you were solo?¡± Hunting asked me as we started to move along.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t.¡± I bluntly replied. ¡°My skillset is primarily handling other people, which generally implies civilization. Worst-case, there¡¯d be trees or bamboo and such to base a campsite off of, which I could then use to build a light structure or something. Middle of nowhere? I¡¯m useless, and I know it.¡±


    I decided to change the topic, before Hunting started to dig deep into my skillset, and realize I was entirely unsuited to be here. Dude was smart, and the gears would start turning, and he¡¯d be right back on thinking about Katastrofi.


    Then again, when a part of your life as significant as that is torn away, it¡¯s hard to think about other topics. Rather, it¡¯s easy for any topic to lead back to the subject.


    Watching how Hunting was coping, the grief still marked around his eyes in spite of his attempts to be stony-faced about it, was having me think twice about a companion. Especially if I was going to pull a Night, and live thousands of years.


    When I bonded to a creature, I¡¯d probably extend their lifespan. In a perfect world, I¡¯d bind to something that increased my natural lifespan. That would give me more time to hit whatever obscenely high level I needed to get [The Stars Never Fade]. I hoped I¡¯d unlock it at level 400. Most people, heck, most Sentinels didn¡¯t make it that far in their lifetime, but I was already over level 300 before I was 20. An obscene leveling pace, no matter how it was sliced, and participating with the Formorian assault just now should give me a solid leg-up. Even if I only got one level a year, I was on track to hit level 400 before I died of old age.


    Granted, in the line of work I was in, ¡°death by old age¡± was a literal joke we told each other.


    However, even if I could extend and expand a companion¡¯s lifespan with the mere act of bonding with one, there was no guarantee that they¡¯d last long enough. Say I found the best kitten ever. I could expect a cat to have a 20-year lifespan, baseline. Their skills could extend it out to 30, 35 years, and I might be able to even double that to 60, 70 years. Might not be level 400 by then though.


    The joke, of course, being a cat becoming a companion to anyone. Cats didn¡¯t have owners, they had staff.


    Which, if I was doing this the slow and careful way, would mean waiting until I got the immortality skill first, before finding a companion. Opportunity was knocking right now though, and I¡¯d be foolish not to answer its call. Heck, answering opportunity when opportunity came knocking, was how I got here in the first place. That, and making my own chances and luck.


    Figured I should make some more conversation while I was down here though, and leave the deep philosophical thinking to when I was flying.


    HA!


    Who was I kidding, I¡¯d be too giddy with delight to be thinking about stuff.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?¡± I asked Hunting, shaking myself out of the thinking pit I¡¯d found myself in.


    I got a look that basically asked if I was a moron, and I shut up. Hunting was usually nicer than this, but grief did strange things to everyone. In Hunting¡¯s case, it just seemed to make him an asshole, when he was usually nice. Which, quite honestly, was a totally understandable reaction. I didn¡¯t like being on the receiving end of it, but if it helped, well, I could tolerate it for a few days more. Or however long my patience lasted for.


    ¡°Do you still have your healing touchstone skill?¡± Hunting asked me after an awkward pause.


    I shook my head.


    ¡°It¡¯s a combination of skills that requires some prep work.¡± I told him. ¡°Haven¡¯t gotten the chance to re-do it yet.¡±


    ¡°Might be worth doing while we¡¯re moving today.¡± Hunting ¡®observed¡¯, seemingly giving me an order.


    I wrinkled my nose at that.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give it a shot. It won¡¯t be nearly as good as it was before. Less time, distracted, and last time I did this I had a third skill that helped with this, that I no longer have. [Medicine]. Better than nothing though.¡± I worked out, thinking out loud as I went.


    Well, I wasn¡¯t doing much else when flying. Might as well do something semi-useful. I wouldn¡¯t be nearly as efficient ¨C I needed to find a solid multi-day period to recreate my image ¨C but it¡¯d be better than nothing.


    ¡°Nothing¡±, of course, being the absolute time of my life as I was able to fly-surf freely through the air. I should totally get Julius to do this with me when I got back to the capital. Who was going to stop us?


    For that matter, it was going to take me a lot longer this time to properly recreate the image, without the crutch of [Medicine]. I could replicate everything without the skill, I was just eating inefficiencies everywhere. I¡¯m sure I¡¯d be eternally grateful for it once [Solar Infusion] started to get some good use.


    The sun rose a little higher, basking us in the morning light. I promptly tied a rope around my waist, handed one end off to Hunting without a word passed between us, and took off!


    Flying! Flying never got old. I was starting to think about what I wanted from [Ranger-Mage] evolving, and [Talaria] upgrading and losing the light restriction was high on my list.


    For that matter, I hadn¡¯t done a lot of thinking on what I wanted my next evolution of [Ranger-Mage] to look like. It had been, what, level 210 a month ago? When I didn¡¯t spend that much time blowing stuff up if I could help it? Yeah, I thought I had a few more years before I was ready to class it up, and that I¡¯d had the time to think about what I wanted and needed, and for my experience to shape my wants and needs from the class.


    While I¡¯d rocketed up to 256 in [Ranger-Mage], I didn¡¯t feel like I had the deep, rich well of experience that I had with [Constellation of the Healer]. Heck, I¡¯d had [Constellation] for literally twice as long as I¡¯d had [Ranger-Mage] for. It was kinda unfair, how much faster combat and fighting classes could level up, given the right conditions.


    ¡­ I complained, having boosted my own healing classes multiple times in deadly situations. From plagues to tsunamis, from Formorians to volcanic eruptions, all the way to Destruction knocking over walls as a side-effect from his earthquake and crushing people, I¡¯d zipped around all over the country healing people, and getting serious experience for it.


    I kept thinking about [Ranger-Mage] and what I wanted out of it when I got the chance to class it up as the sun rose high in the sky, and started to fall again.


    I couldn¡¯t recommend trying to eat while being towed along like a kite. Almost choked on my rations, and drinking? It¡¯d be easier to drink and run. Maybe we could¡¯ve stopped for lunch, but I was already feeling like a burden ¨C literally, I had to be kited along ¨C and I wasn¡¯t going to suggest stopping.


    After an early, early lunch, I decided to start working on my new image, linking [Dance with the Heavens] up with [Persistent Casting]. I didn¡¯t have the greatest focus, basically needing to be walking on a treadmill the entire time I was trying to focus on my entire knowledge of medicine, recalled through [Pristine Memories].


    It helped that I¡¯d done it before, and I simply recalled the last time I did this. Problem was, I didn¡¯t have as much time, so it was more like skimming a book than a thorough, in-depth read, occasionally being jolted out of my thinking as Hunting stopped for a moment, and I kept going, only for my leash to get yanked as I drifted too far.


    Still, progress was progress, and my efficiency was improving. I¡¯d want to completely re-do this when I got the chance, but something was better than nothing. Also, a lack of efficiency wasn¡¯t bothering me too much, as I¡¯d just increased my mana pool to a ludicrous degree. Ideally, I¡¯d have perfect efficiency ¨C my own pride in my abilities demanded I go for it, before I even touched practical considerations ¨C but for now, this would have to be ¡®good enough¡¯.


    We made solid time, with Hunting occasionally stopping to check on something. I wasn¡¯t sure what, since there were clearly no eggs, and the path the Queens had taken could only be made more obvious with a giant neon sign, and even that would¡¯ve only improved it slightly.


    I was also continuously amused by Hunting pulling me along. As he pulled me along, I pushed up. As I pushed up, he was also pulled up just a bit, creating a strange bobbing effect. Basically, I was lifting some of his weight as well. Fun stuff!


    We spent a few days traveling like this. Death-trap of a campsite, some chit-chat in the morning, traveling through the lands, finding a spot at night, some more lighthearted chit-chat, a quick pulse of [Dance] to make sure we weren¡¯t being secretly poisoned by Arthur¡¯s poison, and back to the death-trap.


    One day, I spotted some ugly, brownish-purple hills in the distance as we continued to make good time. One hill was whole and intact, while the other three were broken and shattered into pieces.


    ¡°Hey Hunting! Pause a moment!¡± I yelled down to him, dropping with [Talaria]. I could drop faster, but why bother?


    ¡°What?¡± Hunting asked me, short, but not rude. He¡¯d slowly, oh so slowly, been coming round and being slightly nicer and more reasonable the past few days.


    Good timing as well, because I¡¯d been getting close to blowing up at him. There was only so much rudeness and mean-spirited remarks I could take. Heck, if I hadn¡¯t been paranoid that I wasn¡¯t quite emotionally stable yet from losing [Center of the Galaxy], I¡¯d have blown a gasket already. Only the fear of being painted as ¡°emotional¡± kept my temper in check.


    ¡°That way.¡± I pointed in the direction we were already going, feeling somewhat lame about it. ¡°Strange mounds.¡±


    Hunting gave me a sharp nod.


    ¡°Probably the lairs and nests themselves.¡±


    He looked up at the sun. Mid-morning.


    ¡°Right, let¡¯s head on over.¡± Hunting declared.


    On one hand, I wish he¡¯d asked for my input. On the other, I was wildly out of my depth and I knew it. It was faster and more efficient to just follow the lead of the massively experienced dude with almost 200 levels on me.


    Hunting had done well for himself in the leveling department, fighting all the Royal Guards and Formorian Queens. Being able to single-handedly fight a Royal Guard when we were together was great experience, and I bet he¡¯d killed more on the fight against the Queen.


    We continued jogging over ¨C I wasn¡¯t taking the risk in the air, not when Shooters could still be around, some last rearguard on the hive ¨C and in roughly 30 minutes, crested over a little hill, to see the hives in all their grotesque glory.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 19]


    [Mana: 153790/153790]


    [Mana Regen: 133517 (+98425.6)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 51]


    [Strength: 293]


    [Dexterity: 347]


    [Vitality: 2176]


    [Speed: 2176]


    [Mana: 15379]


    [Mana Regeneration: 15379 (+9842.56)]


    [Magic Power: 7897 (+106609.5)]


    [Magic Control: 7897 (+106609.5)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 305]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 305]


    [Cosmic Presence: 231]


    [Solar Infusion: 1]


    [Center of the Universe: 285]


    [Dance of the Heavens: 305]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 271]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 256]


    [Sunrise: 11]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 256]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 256]


    [Radiance Resistance: 256]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 256]


    [Shine: 111]


    [Sun-Kissed: 256]


    [Blaze: 256]


    [Talaria: 256]


    [Nova: 256]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 151]


    [Pristine Memories: 200]


    [Pretty: 152]


    [Bullet Time: 268]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 270]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 305]


    [Persistent Casting: 189]


    [Learning: 280]

 Chapter 174 – The Formorian Lands III

    The ground had transitioned to hard rock ages ago. Centuries of Formorians marching over the ground, trampling any growth that might occur, had long since scoured the ground to a bare nothing.


    The brownish-purple hill was visible, with two shattered remains of similar hills on one side, and a third destroyed hill on the other. A hill for each Queen. My bet was the Queens had been holed up inside, and when one died, the other three burst out of their lairs, and went on their rampage.


    The wind shifted slightly, and the stench of mountains of flesh, rotting in the sun for weeks on end, hit us. Hunting pulled a disgusted face and leaned back, while I retched. That was just an ungodly terrible smell.


    ¡°Whole or broken first?¡± Hunting mused out loud, voice strained as he kept his throat clamped shut.


    ¡°Broken.¡± I said, not wanting to come face to face with a dead, rotting Queen, the source of the stench so soon. I wanted to work up to it. I needed to work up to it.


    ¡°Should do the whole one.¡± Hunting said, rubbing his hand over his stubbly chin, face twisted in an unhappy look. Clearly the prospect of going into the whole lair didn¡¯t amuse him either. ¡°See what a normal lair looks like, before we see one that¡¯s been ruined.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the boss.¡± I went for a neutral tone, but didn¡¯t quite manage to keep the disgust out of my voice. Not at him, not at the situation, but at the stench.


    We approached the hill, seeing a half-dozen large tunnel entrances in front of the hill.


    Rather, I was strongly suspecting that they were tunnel exits, designed for legions of newly-hatched Formorian Soldiers to exit, continuing their endless march towards humanity. Some were probably entrance holes, designed to permit Formorians carrying food back into the hive.


    I voiced my thoughts.


    ¡°Some are probably entrances, some are probably exits. Is it worth figuring out which one is which?¡± I asked Hunting.


    He shrugged.


    ¡°Not right now. Let¡¯s just pick one and see what¡¯s there.¡± He said. ¡°Once we finish one, if it¡¯s not obvious, we¡¯ll take a look and see if we can find the other.¡±


    Plan sounded as good as any. We picked a random tunnel entrance, one that vaguely looked like it led to the intact mound, and headed in.


    The tunnels were deceptively large, and we entered into a tunnel that sloped downwards, large enough that a Royal Guard could¡¯ve moved through it ¨C although with barely any clearance. Which was still an absurdly large size.


    ¡°Be on your guard. The entire fight, we never saw a Spitter.¡± Hunting reminded me. I nodded. For all the talk of the worm-like acid-spraying creatures, I hadn¡¯t seen a single one. Part of that might¡¯ve been because of Sealing¡¯s work to prevent them from attacking us from below. But it was entirely possible that they were just too slow outside of the lairs to come along on the attack, and had been left behind.


    I was just starting to wonder what to do about lighting ¨C I was probably going to use my skills ¨C when Hunting moved.


    He lunged towards a wall, jabbing it quickly with his fist. It was so fast I couldn¡¯t follow his movements, although I did notice the telltale whisps of darkness behind his movement.


    With a yank, he pulled a long worm out of the wall, and threw it to the ground with disgust.


    ¡°Spitters.¡±


    I looked down at the Spitter. There was no head left for me to examine, just a clean cut that started halfway down the body. There was a long, slimy-looking grey body, leaking orangish blood from where Hunting had neatly severed it.


    Not terribly interesting.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t detect that at all.¡± I said after a moment of examining the Spitter.


    ¡°Not in your skillset, is it?¡± Hunting asked.


    I shook my head.


    ¡°Illusions and mirages I can handle, no problem. Straight stealth, I¡¯ve got nothing. Well, apart from lighting up the whole area. Won¡¯t spot them swimming through rocks or whatever these things do though.¡±


    That settled the lighting question for me. I made myself [Shine], as strong as I could reasonably make it without draining my mana horribly, and felt somewhat pleased that Hunting needed to at least squint to look at me directly. The tunnel was lit up, brighter than the outside was, and we continued on.


    Hunting would dart from place to place, jabbing the walls and killing Spitters. Now and then he¡¯d kneel down for a punch, or jump up to superhuman heights and hit the ceiling.


    Fortunately, he stopped pulling the Spitters out of the walls. No need to step over bodies. It might¡¯ve clogged the tunnels they were moving through, or something. Heck, for all I knew they could swim through rock like it was water. I knew nothing about these monsters, and my knowledge of what was and wasn¡¯t possible with magic was constantly challenged. At this point, I should assume everything was possible.


    Although I hadn¡¯t seen or heard of any time travelers, and in theory those should be super obvious. Like, one would¡¯ve come to visit by now? Right? That only ruled out backwards time travel though, said nothing about forwards.


    Thinking about it though ¨C we were always time traveling. Forwards. Usually at one second per second. The thought made me crack an amused grin, although I didn¡¯t laugh. Wasn¡¯t the time or the place, and Hunting would think I¡¯d lost my marbles.


    We kept traveling like this, going deep and deeper into the endless tunnels. Side-branches started to show up, then more and more, creating a dizzying labyrinth.


    After the third tunnel, Hunting grabbed his spear, attached to his backpack as was Legion standard, and walked with the butt of the spear dragging on the ground. His skills were on full display as the end of the spear cut through the ground like putty, leaving a strong, obvious line behind us, the path to get back out. A ball of yarn for the labyrinth.


    I could only hope there were no minotaurs.


    We could legitimately get lost forever down here without the marker. Fortunately, it wasn¡¯t like something marked on a wall or anything. It was almost impossible to miss the deep furrow in the hard stone that Hunting was making.


    It was funny to see it suddenly wildly zig-zag all over the place as Hunting would dash to a wall to kill another Spitter. A violent history, written as a squiggly line.


    I was honestly not doing much, besides being a bright, portable light source. Hunting seemed to know exactly what he was doing, and quite honestly didn¡¯t seem to need me.


    Then again, he was totally in his element. Flipping it on its head, it¡¯d be like me in a triage tent. Sure, Hunting could act as one of the guards keeping things going smoothly, but it wasn¡¯t exactly in his wheelhouse. He¡¯d feel just as useless there as I felt useless here.


    That¡¯s what I told myself, to not feel as bad.


    Hunting kept his head on a swivel, and at one point suddenly stopped, and took three steps backways, head snapping to the right.


    ¡°Dawn. Look.¡± He pointed down one of the side paths, which immediately opened up into a massive space.


    I looked at it, I looked at the main path we were on. Seemed close enough.


    ¡°Yeah, we should totally take a look.¡± I said, heading that way.


    We got to the room, and ¡°big¡± didn¡¯t start to cover it.


    It obviously wasn¡¯t one of the Queen¡¯s resting places. It was like a massive cylinder, going up higher than my light could easily reach, and dropping deeper than we could see. The air was warm and moist inside the shaft.


    On every wall grew huge mushrooms, covering every surface. The only surfaces that weren¡¯t touched were dozens ¨C hundreds ¨C of other tunnel entrances that also opened up into the room.


    Hunting grunted.


    ¡°Well, guess this is how they were getting enough food. Will probably want to burn it on the way out.¡±


    I looked around. Some of the mushrooms looked hale and hearty, but others had telltale signs of rot, black edges to their earthy brown tones. I had to wonder if Arthur¡¯s poison had reached out to the extent where it had even poisoned their food supplies, creating a lethal cycle where his poison just stayed and accumulated, until it overwhelmed the Formorians.


    We backed out, and kept going.


    I honestly wanted no part of burning food sources. I could do a lot in the name of self-defense. There were large stretches of activities not covered by ¡°Do no harm.¡±


    But burning the food source of the Formorians, when I knew a young, intelligent, baby Formorian Queen could eat it?


    For whatever reason, that was beyond the pale for me. I¡¯m not sure if it¡¯d trigger [Oath] or not ¨C my bet was no ¨C I just couldn¡¯t do it. I didn¡¯t feel the urge to stay, or to try and clean the poison out, but burning food was a step too far for me.


    Hunting turned and started walking back, while I took a moment more to admire the food cylinder. It was quite the structure, a monument to insectoid genius. It was a heck of a lot easier to admire when I knew that most of them were dead, and weren¡¯t busy trying to kill me.


    I headed back to the main tunnel where Hunting was waiting for me, when a spray of green acid came out of the ceiling, hitting me full in the face.


    ¡°Argh! Fuck!¡± I screamed out, clawing at my face. While my trusty helmet had taken the brunt of the attack, some had slipped past and got covering my left eye, eating my face. The smell of dissolving flesh hit me, a sharp contrast to the ever-present rotting smell of the dead Queen, while I heard my flesh sizzle.


    Hunting blurred as he leapt over me, stabbing the hole the Spitter had come out of.


    I ripped my helmet off, cursing Spitters, cursing [Bullet Time], cursing the whole damn mission.


    One eye was blind, and with my other hand I furiously tried to wipe the acid off my face.


    I cursed as most came off, but some stayed behind, adhering to my face and eyes.


    ¡°Gods dammit all!¡± I swore, clawing at the stuff, peeling it away in strips.


    Hunting was looking at me with a disgusted look on his face as I finished getting the last of it off. I tried to blink to clear my eye, except after my eyelids closed it wouldn¡¯t open up again.


    ¡°Why is this sticky!?¡± I screamed. ¡°Fucking eye!¡± I swore.


    I had nothing for dealing with problems ¡°outside¡± of my body, like dirt. Or in this case, stuff that was sticking to me that wasn¡¯t actually causing ¡°problems¡±, as the System seemed to define it. Good to know that gunk traps were a potential problem before I walked into a gunk pit or something.


    I dunno, I wasn¡¯t thinking too clearly, blasted gunk in my eyes.


    ¡°Here, hold still.¡± Hunting said. I held perfectly still, as his hand approached my face.


    ¡°You can heal just about anything, right? Including eyes?¡± He asked me.


    ¡°Yeah, but-¡° I started to say, only to feel fresh air against bone for a brief moment, before my eye regrew itself.


    ¡°Blah.¡± I said, getting over the brief moment of not having an eye, then my vision popping into 3-D again as it regenerated.


    Hunting was still looking at me with a strange look.


    ¡°What?¡± I asked him, all sorts of pissed off over the completely harmless attack having slowed me down so much.


    ¡°Never saw anyone peel their own face off before, that¡¯s all.¡± Hunting said, in that carefully neutral tone I recognized as ¡°oh that was so gross but I don¡¯t want to show it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, that¡¯s me. Can heal from most hits, but I generally have to eat them first.¡± I grumbled. ¡°Also, that attack just seemed irritating. I thought these were a big deal?¡± I asked Hunting.


    He kept giving me a look, and knelt down to the floor, where some of the acid was still puddled. Some of it was green, the rest a nasty yellow. He delicately put his finger into the green portion, and I was met with the sound and smell of sizzling flesh again, as the tip of Hunting¡¯s finger vanished.


    He promptly touched me, healing himself back up.


    ¡°Dangerous stuff, but my guess is you just heal too fast for it to do anything.¡± He said.


    ¡°Except for having it turn to annoying goop sticking to my face.¡± I grumbled, running a hand over my hair. Still had it all, although there was a sticky matted section.


    Albina was going to get so much of my money to fix all this.


    I looked at my helmet, pitted with marks from where it took the brunt of the attack. I gave a melodramatic sigh.


    ¡°I have a skill that warns me about dangerous attacks, but I guess it didn¡¯t activate because the attack isn¡¯t dangerous to me in the slightest. Just incredibly annoying.¡± I griped.


    Hunting pursed his lips at me.


    ¡°No offense, but why don¡¯t we head back, and make a camp. You can hang out there, while I go exploring. It¡¯ll be faster without you, and at this point I¡¯m doubting there¡¯s anything here that can threaten me.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t hurt me either.¡± I pointed out, kinda wanting to go back but being stubborn about it. I didn¡¯t want to feel like I was being sent home while Hunting went out to play, but it kinda felt like that.


    Hunting pointed to my helmet.


    ¡°Yeah, but it can wreck your gear.¡±


    Excellent. A beautiful excuse for me to get out of here.


    ¡°Welp, the [Quartermaster] is probably throwing all manner of fits over the entire expedition already. Let¡¯s not make it any harder on him than it needs to be.¡± I said with far too much cheer, already walking back along the incredibly-obvious furrow that Hunting had left behind.


    ¡°No, we wouldn¡¯t want that.¡± Hunting said, letting humor color his voice. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go.¡±


    I happily followed Hunting back out of the lair.


    I could see why Night had such a hard time assaulting the place. A Royal Guard could completely block the tunnel, and as I had first-hand experience with, they were much tougher from the front than one of the sides.


    Add in Spitters shooting from any direction, and Soldiers pouring around from all directions, and I could see an assault being problematic, to say the least.


    Then, with a bit of intelligence, a second Royal Guard coming in from behind? Yikes. An attacker better hope they noticed before all the side tunnels were cut off.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking.¡± Hunting said as we jogged out at a good clip. ¡°I¡¯ve got access to my third class, like Destruction and Night. I¡¯ve had success so far with picking two completely different classes, and making them complement each other. I saw it with Brawling, and seeing it again in action now, well¡­¡±


    Hunting shrugged as he trailed off. I seized on the chance though. Anything to distract him. Get him thinking about the future. I dunno, I wasn¡¯t a damn therapist, I was entirely the wrong person to bring this to.


    ¡°I assume you want all the healing tricks, not just some of them?¡± I asked him. Hunting nodded.


    ¡°Right then. The System likes to enhance classes off of your other classes, and more so off of your elements. I still have no idea what your fighting element is, but if you want everything in one class you¡¯ll want Celestial. With that being said, you¡¯ll want a Light starting class, to bounce off of your Void mage class, and get a stronger Celestial evolution. At the same time, you can¡¯t just snap your fingers and become a healer, unlike a mage. It requires significant study and education. Let¡¯s arrange some classes together once we¡¯re back in the capital.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to be stuck out here?¡± Hunting asked me.


    ¡°Eh, maybe. Worse-case, read my Medical Manuscripts. They¡¯ve got most of what I know in them. You just won¡¯t be able to ask me clarifying questions, and they¡¯re not exactly geared for beginners to just pick up and read.¡±


    ¡°Also, don¡¯t other advanced elements have everything?¡± Hunting asked me.


    ¡°Yeeeeesss¡­¡± I dragged it out. ¡°But I know Celestial inside and out. I can recommend and suggest stuff off of it. Fair warning. Light healer is incredibly difficult to level at lower levels, and it¡¯s not the most useful of elements to start with. I do think it¡¯ll pay off long term though, which is why I suggested it.¡±


    ¡°What are my other options for all-in-one healing elements?¡± He asked me.


    I shrugged.


    ¡°In theory, I think Radiance can do it all, but I haven¡¯t seen it and I don¡¯t see you getting a strong evolution into Radiance. Basically, you want a Light-aligned class with a destruction-aligned class, which is why Celestial is so darn good.¡±


    I paused a moment, thinking.


    ¡°It¡¯s more work, both learning and maintaining, and I know almost nothing about it, but you could also try the alchemy and potion-making route.¡±


    Hunting grunted assent.


    ¡°What other classes have you been thinking about?¡± I asked him, curious.


    ¡°Speedster. Make myself faster than even Night. Flier. High mobility, drop things from on high. Ranger. I don¡¯t have the ability to hit things well at a distance. Crafting. Make my own gear, possibly take an Inscription class. Like that potion making class you suggested. Hell, just settle down and take a hobby class. I¡¯ve got some mosaic designs floating around in my head that I¡¯d just love to put down in clay. The added stats alone would improve my combat capabilities, and I already have enough kill-things skills.¡± Hunting enthusiastically told me about all his cool plans.


    Boys and their toys. Never got old.


    I suppose I got that way about certain topics.


    ¡°Fighting style is pretty set to boot.¡± I added in. ¡°I¡¯d love to see what kind of mosaics you could make!¡±


    I clearly touched a button, as Hunting went onto a long outpouring of his ideas. Behind those pitch-black eyes was, to my great surprise, the soul of an artist. Our relationship had always been friendly, but professional, and even when we hung out we usually talked about Katastrofi, his great love and passion.


    Hunting kept talking as he dug out another campsite with his Void skills, making it larger than usual. I kept hearing about clay types, and how they impacted the final product. My eyes were glazing over like Virinium¡¯s clay, which apparently was the best, as the sun set.


    Fortunately, I was saved from Hunting¡¯s tirade as the light dipped over the horizon.


    ¡°Crap! I gotta get back to scouting. Thanks for listening! Leave a message if you need to leave.¡± Hunting said, starting to head back.


    ¡°What if I get attacked?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Then blow something up, or make it obvious there was a fight or something.¡± Hunting replied back, starting to vanish back into the tunnel.


    I shrugged. What else was I going to do?


    Being strongly support-aligned was a bore at times. It was rare, but it happened. Like now.


    I settled down into the larger, cozier version of the camp Hunting usually dug out of the hard rocks. Void was super duper convenient for that.


    With everyone else grabbing and thinking about third classes, and my hopeful-immortality coming, I should start thinking about a third class. Plan it out ahead of time, instead of stabbing blindly like I¡¯d done up until now.


    The thought of classing up briefly flitted across my mind, before I dismissed it. I wasn¡¯t safe, not by any stretch of the imagination.


    Upgrading and re-doing my [Persistent Casting] with [Dance with the Heavens] was a much better use of my time though.


    I settled in, and started to focus.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 19]


    [Mana: 153790/153790]


    [Mana Regen: 133517 (+98425.6)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 51]


    [Strength: 293]


    [Dexterity: 347]


    [Vitality: 2176]


    [Speed: 2176]


    [Mana: 15379]


    [Mana Regeneration: 15379 (+9842.56)]


    [Magic Power: 7897 (+106609.5)]


    [Magic Control: 7897 (+106609.5)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 305]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 305]


    [Cosmic Presence: 231]


    [Solar Infusion: 1]


    [Center of the Universe: 285]


    [Dance of the Heavens: 305]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 271]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 256]


    [Sunrise: 13]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 256]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 256]


    [Radiance Resistance: 256]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 256]


    [Shine: 111]


    [Sun-Kissed: 256]


    [Blaze: 256]


    [Talaria: 256]


    [Nova: 256]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 151]


    [Pristine Memories: 200]


    [Pretty: 152]


    [Bullet Time: 268]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 270]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 305]


    [Persistent Casting: 189]


    [Learning: 280]

 Chapter 175 – The Formorian Lands IV

    With Hunting gone for the next couple of days, there wasn¡¯t much to do. Sure, I re-did my [Persistent Casting] with as perfect of an image as I could get. I played with my new skills, pushing [Mantle of the Stars] as hard as I could, weaving a series of complex images and pictures. Re-doing the [Persistent Casting] took me two days, and I felt that they were well-used. With a small amount of luck, it¡¯d last me for years.


    [*Ding!* [Persistent Casting] leveled up! 189 -> 190]


    Honestly, the skill leveling up was kinda useless. My mana regeneration was large enough that I literally couldn¡¯t tell that [Persistent Casting] was using some of it.


    While it was hard to set up, I also practiced throwing out my [Mantle], and grabbing and ¡°pulling¡± stuff slightly. I wasn¡¯t going to be able to pick anything up off the ground, but if someone came at me at a glacial pace, I might be able to foul a spear strike.


    Of course, at the speeds I was working with, I¡¯d just be better off doing practically anything else under the sun or moons. It was like throwing a cape underwater. Slow to start with, then magic nonsense kicked in and seemed to make it even slower. In a world of stats, of physical classers, supersonic rocks, and poisoned gas, the trick wasn¡¯t going to get me very far.


    But I was booooooooooooooooooooooooooooored. Sitting here all alone, with nothing to do. Being a soldier, being a Ranger was boring work half the time. However, we were a team. We found ways to entertain ourselves, usually by playing games with each other, or sparring, or self-improvement of one sort or another. Almost none of the activities were solo activities.


    I did a solid amount of exercise, but I was no fanatic. I couldn¡¯t do that all day. I mean, I had skills to be the ultimate bodybuilder. Between [Sunrise] granting boundless energy, and [Dance with the Heavens] able to heal anything, it would be way too easy to lift heavy rocks, get stronger, and lift even heavier rocks with absolutely no cooldown whatsoever. I could get close to the physical fitness of an Olympian in just a few days.


    I had no desire to be Olympic-class. Although, the games were starting again this summer, and I did want to watch.


    Oooh, wait. I could totally be a trainer for one of the contestants.


    I spent a few hours fantasizing about being a trainer for an athlete, instead of, well, becoming a grade-A athlete myself. Beyond a strong baseline that I felt I needed to have to be a proper Sentinel, I had no desire to push myself further. It was a heck of a lot more fun to imagine finding some poor kid off the street, and being the ¡°gruff young mentor¡± who took her from zero to hero, dominating the entire Olympics! Every event! Gold to my student! I could even play up the ¡°crazy person in the shadows¡± persona.


    I was crazy bored, and imagining stuff was entertaining.


    However, there was only so much playing with myself that I could do.


    I wanted to bemoan the lack of books, but there was nobody to complain to. I tried to see if I could conjure up Librarian to talk with¡­ although, upon reflection, that might be more that a little nutty, talking with myself like that.


    I was going nuts staying in the underground campsite, with only the light from the entrance showing the passing of time.


    I did what any incredibly bored person did.


    I took a walk.


    I wanted to leave Hunting a note, but we didn¡¯t have any writing supplies. It¡¯s not like we were expecting to send letters from the middle of the wilderness.


    I tried to carve a little message into the hard walls of the campsite with my Radiance, but burning light versus stone?


    Yeah, the stone kicked my ass.


    I shrugged, and leaving my pack behind, making sure I still had my sword, I crawled out to get some sunlight, warmth, and fresh air.


    I still reeked, having spent more than a month away from a bath at this point. I¡¯d literally kill for a bath, and only feel a little bad for it. Add in me staying inside the cave for a few days, and whoof. It was bad in there.


    I emerged from my cave, and shielded my eyes as natural light hit them. I hissed at the sun, briefly pretending I was a vampire.


    ¡°Ack! Away with you, vicious day-star! I curse your brightness! Go bother someone else!¡± I said, covering my face with my arms and rolling around on the ground.


    ¡­ look, I was bored.


    Having had my fun pretending to be a vampire, I decided I was now Elaine, Explorer Extraordinaire! Off to map strange new lands!


    I looked around me, trying to decide what way to go. There was the lair, back the way we came, or the two other directions. I arbitrarily picked one, and started walking, then flying. Didn¡¯t go up too high, the sun was still in the air, but the day was moderately cloudy. Didn¡¯t want to get knocked out of the sky. Sure, I could probably survive any fall at this point. It didn¡¯t mean it was pleasant to fall screaming out of the air.


    Plus, the Spitters were still around. Who knew if there were some Shooters or not?


    I went on a little flight, making sure that I could always see the hive. Basically, I ended up doing a great big circle around the lair, keeping it as a landmark to make sure I didn¡¯t get lost.


    That¡¯d be incredibly dumb. I always made sure I knew exactly where the hive was located. It was right¡­ over¡­


    There. Phewf. Close one.


    I flew back towards the hive with some relief. Elaine, the Explorer was ready to become Elaine, the Indolent. At least for like, another day or two.


    Making it back to the lair? Easy mode.


    Finding the relatively small hole that Hunting made, a basic level of disguise towards our little campsite underground? When everything around the lair looked the same?


    That took me until the sun set, and even then I spent another two hours walking around with [Shine] on, cursing that I hadn¡¯t made an obvious marker or packed myself a lunch or anything.


    Still, I did manage to find it, and happily tucked myself away. I hadn¡¯t appreciated how warm the campsite was, especially after a bit of focused Radiance work to heat it up, nor how nice the bedroll could be, or food! Hunger was the best spice.


    I wrapped myself up in the bedroll, stealing Hunting¡¯s supplies to bulk up my blankets. It was getting awfully chilly at night, a combination of the southernly direction we¡¯d traveled, and it being early winter now.


    I closed my eyes and happily drifted off to sleep, wrapped up safe and sound in my [Mantle of the Stars].


    My nightmares decided to stomp all over my happy time. The Formorians were now working with the pirates and bandits.


    Somehow made the nightmares a bit easier to handle.


    ¡°That was ugly.¡± Hunting said, somehow managing to speak clearly in spite of shoveling food into his mouth at top speed.


    ¡°Tell me more.¡± I said, not at all interested. Anything that a Sentinel was calling ¡®ugly¡¯ I wanted no part of, but at the same time, we were a team. We were the only real support network for each other, the only people that had some idea of the trials and tribulations we faced.


    Elaine, the Good Listener was here! Hunting had shown up the next day, looking exhausted. Going for days on end, no matter what stats one had, would do that to a person.


    Hunting had gone back into the lair, navigating through the twisting labyrinth, killing Spitters as he went. He did some damage to a few of the mushroom pits that we¡¯d seen, but eventually gave up on trying to ruin them all.


    ¡°Then, I¡­¡± He said, trailing off with a thousand-yard stare. He shook his head.


    ¡°Never mind. Let¡¯s rest up. The Formorians are no longer a threat.¡±


    ¡°We going to head back?¡± I asked, unable to keep the eagerness from my voice. Baths. Food. More baths.


    Screw it, I was going to turn myself into a prune when I got home. Just spend a week inside the baths. I¡¯d let Night know where to find me if there was some emergency or another, but I was going to get clean.


    Mmmm. I had Autumn as an official apprentice. I¡¯d make her do the fetching and carrying to keep me well-supplied when I was in my week-long bath.


    I was so deep in my own fantasy world that it took me a few seconds to process what Hunting had said.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± I asked incredulously.


    ¡°No, we¡¯re going deeper.¡± He said.


    ¡°Because¡­.?¡± I tried to keep my tone neutral, but some of my aggravation must¡¯ve slipped through. We¡¯d been on a long mission.


    ¡°Because I want to get a sense of what¡¯s on the other side. I want to get some idea of why all the Formorians came towards us. They only had the four Queens. Why did they risk them all on an attack? Why didn¡¯t they scatter, to make sure some of them survived? It smells.¡± Hunting said.


    I wrinkled my nose. I hadn¡¯t quite gotten used to the putrid stench, although I could kinda ignore it.


    ¡°Sooo¡­ you want to take a peek, and see what happened?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Yeah basically. For all I know, the ocean wraps around and they were trapped by the water, with no other place to go. Maybe there¡¯s a canyon, or mountains that they couldn¡¯t pass. Either way, the biggest danger is our food running out.¡±


    ¡°How are we going to mitigate that?¡± I asked him, only to get a look in return.


    Arms held out in a particular way, which could only mean one thing.


    Ugh.


    ¡°I hate being carried.¡± I muttered under my breath.


    We sprinted through the lands at top speed for three days. Hunting had been humoring me before, when he kited me along on the end of a string. Now I was seeing what a physical Sentinel, over level 500, could do when he wanted to.


    He was moving so fast, I could barely see what was going on. Not that there was anything to see, just endless beaten rock on one side, cloudy sky on the other.


    I¡¯d totally try to take a nap if it wouldn¡¯t be super awkward. This was somehow even more boring than being in the campsite. I needed skills to amuse myself.


    Or, like, a portable library. Full of books.


    I needed to convince people to start making books first. My attempts had failed miserably, mostly on scrolls being superior in most ways currently.


    I¡¯ll confess, I half-dozed. At least Hunting was staying super-healthy, as he was constantly touching me and getting healed.


    Then Hunting came to an abrupt stop, jolting me out of my semi-slumber. He never stopped like that, and I went from 20-100 instantly, half-jumping out of his arms at the same time that he dropped me, landing gracefully, ready for whatever was coming.


    Well, what we were facing was dreaded by people and armies, not only in this world but on Earth as well. They had stymied thousands, and broken hundreds of spearheads against its bulk. A towering colossus, colored a dark reddish-brown, its length reached from horizon to horizon, and it was over two dozen meters tall. It cast a long shadow, reaching and stretching out, grasping at us.


    It spoke of timeless strength, a menacing strength that promised to crush all those who came at it. A strength, so close to being a fundamental force of the world ¨C of the worlds ¨C arrayed against us.


    Walls. Wooden walls, stretching as far as the eye could see. While there were clearly more than one log that had gone into building the structure, there were no obvious breaks or changes from piece to piece.


    Well, not from this distance.


    Wooden walls ¨C not built by any human. At least, not any humans we knew of.


    Hunting was busy getting his shield and spear ready, and I geared up, sliding my sword out of the scabbard into my hand.


    ¡°Careful. Let me do the talking.¡± Hunting said. ¡°Don¡¯t do anything unless you absolutely have to.¡±


    I nodded my assent, not wanting to contradict Hunting, even though I didn¡¯t quite agree with him. There were quite a few things I¡¯d want to do preemptively, like running away, shielding, and more, but this wasn¡¯t the time or the place to argue, or make decisions by committee. Hunting was more experienced than I was, and was one of the top-ranking Sentinels, in spite of our theoretical equality.


    Best to present a united front in the face of whatever this was.


    We spent a few tense moments looking at the massive wall, before silently looking at each other, shrugging, and starting to walk towards it.


    A bearded face, made tiny by the distance to the top of the wall, popped out and spotted us.


    Under normal conditions, I wouldn¡¯t be able to hear what he was saying, but he was so loud, and there was nothing else making noise or between us and him, that I was just able to make out what he was yelling.


    ¡°Attack! Attack! The Formorians are attacking!¡±

 Chapter 176 – Dwarves I

    Hunting and I looked at each other with concerned bemusement. On one hand, the call to arms from the wall was mildly worrisome to put it gently. On the other, we just couldn¡¯t get over being called Formorians.


    The call to arms went on for a few minutes, Hunting and I awkwardly trading looks between each other then the wall, before a number of bearded faces popped over the walls.


    I was not impressed with the response time. At all.


    I was significantly more impressed ¨C and concerned ¨C when panels in the wall started to slide apart, and huge arrows, powered by massive ballistas, poked out of the walls.


    I promptly ignored Hunting¡¯s instructions to not do anything unless absolutely needed, and raised my hands.


    ¡°Whoa! Don¡¯t shoot!¡± I yelled at them, getting a withering look from Hunting.


    I shot him a ¡°Are you fucking serious¡± look as he started to hunker down behind his shield.


    ¡°Hold! Hold fire!¡± A different voice called from the wall.


    More inquisitive faces popped over the wall ¨C along with a bunch of crossbows. I heard a loud curse, and some of the faces vanished.


    I¡¯m pretty sure we weren¡¯t supposed to hear what was happening, but the dudes were loud. Also, I¡¯m pretty sure the guy wanted all his minions to hear the dressing down.


    ¡°Thofur Krelur the 93rd! You worm-ridden cheese-for-brains idiot! Do those look like Formorians!? Are they large, menacing ants!? Is that an unbreakable, unending tide? What was that? I didn¡¯t hear you! That¡¯s what I thought! NO!¡±


    More faces popped up, took a look at us. Vanished again to discuss, this time at a quieter volume.


    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re not Formorians?¡± Another head popped up and asked us.


    We looked at each other.


    ¡°Think we should say we killed them?¡± I whispered to Hunting, only 60% confident that they couldn¡¯t hear us from a distance.


    Hunting looked at me, clearly weighing my words in his mind. He eventually shook his head.


    ¡°They clearly seem hostile towards the Formorians, but what if they consider us to be a bigger threat because we killed them? Nah, we can always let them know later.¡±


    Wasn¡¯t going to argue with that.


    A number of the ballistas withdrew into the walls, which would¡¯ve been more reassuring if the three that were pointed towards us had also gone back in the walls. No, those ones turned to aim at us, which I didn¡¯t consider to be an improvement at all.


    Eventually a door in the wall, so cleverly done that it was impossible to see that it was there at all, opened up, and a very nervous-looking, very short man with a massive beard walked out. Trembling somewhat, he walked towards us.


    The penny dropped.


    They weren¡¯t human.


    These were dwarves.


    He had on armor, but it was strange. I was somewhat biased from my experiences. I expected metal and leather, same as what we had. Instead, everything seemed to be made out of a shiny wood.


    No ¨C varnished wood. But it only looked like wood. I had enough experience with armor to see that it didn¡¯t move like wood at all, in spite of it obviously being wood.


    It didn¡¯t look slapped together either. It was strong, solid, and had that polished look to it that high quality crafted goods tended to have.


    ¡°Hi! I¡¯m Elaine! Nice to meet you!¡± I said, waving cheerfully at him. Everyone liked cheerful!


    He got close enough for me to identify him.


    [Warrior]. Around level 280 or so?


    How was someone so damn high level so scared? He should be a fearless warrior.


    He was clearly [Identify]ing us as well, as he bowed towards us.


    ¡°Healer. You grace us with your presence, and I wish to invite you to break bread and share salt with us.¡±


    I glanced at Hunting. That was an encouraging start to things!


    ¡°Thofur Krelur the 93rd! Sheep have more sense than you! Stop extending hospitality to them until we know more!¡± The voice from the wall yelled down.


    ¡°She¡¯s a healer! Tradition demands that we extend hospitality!¡± He yelled back.


    That statement caused a lot of muttering on the wall, and more than a bit of yelling. Not enough to get anything concrete, but it seemed that when ¡°Tradition¡± and ¡°Border Security¡± collided, there was a strong question of which one took priority.


    ¡°Fine! Healer! You grace us with your presence, and I wish to invite you to break bread and share salt with us!¡± The command dwarf yelled from the wall.


    I glanced at Hunting. He shrugged, and whispered to me.


    ¡°Seems to be an in. Let¡¯s take it, see what they¡¯re like. This tradition of theirs seems strong, and you¡¯re unlikely to get hurt by it.¡±


    I nodded, grinning.


    ¡°Everyone likes healers.¡±


    Thorfur Krelur the 93rd suddenly turned, and ran screaming back into the walls.


    ¡°Void mage! Void mage! He¡¯s a Void mage!¡±


    And it had been going so well to boot.


    Thorfur Krelur the 93rd ¨C it only seemed appropriate to say his entire name, given that every time we heard his name it was the full thing ¨C was running screaming back to the wall, and the ballista all came thundering back out of their holes. More holes in the wall opened up, and large gemstones, surrounded by glowing lines and Arcanite, popped out.


    Naturally, they all turned and pointed at us.


    I had no idea what skills were stored in those gems, but I didn¡¯t want to find out.


    ¡°Void Mage! You have six seconds to leave!¡±


    ¡°Six!¡±


    Hunting and I looked at each other, briefly at a loss for words. If they¡¯d attacked immediately, we¡¯d be on the move, shielding and shooting and getting the heck out of here. The countdown starting at six, and not ten to boot?


    Weird.


    ¡°Five!¡±


    That got us talking, mostly over each other.


    ¡°I should stay.¡±


    ¡°You should stay.¡±


    I tilted my head, letting Hunting take the lead, and the reins.


    ¡°Four!¡±


    ¡°They like you, they¡¯re clearly traditional, you¡¯re unlikely ¨C scratch that, impossible ¨C to be harmed. Plus, you could easily fly out if needed.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± I said.


    ¡°Three!¡±


    ¡°They should have writing supplies. Get some. Take notes, lots of notes, on anything and everything. From the people you meet to the food. Get it all. I¡¯m going to head back, and get a real team sent out here to relieve you.¡±


    ¡°Two!¡± Our time was running out.


    ¡°Hopefully Night and Ocean, at the bare minimum. Maybe more. Anyways. Good luck, and when in doubt, shut up and don¡¯t do anything.¡± Hunting said, continuing to give me the crash course.


    ¡°ONE!¡±


    Hunting mock-groaned.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe the architect of the Pastos incident is being used as a diplomat. What did I ever do wrong in life? We¡¯re all doomed.¡± He said.


    ¡°Good luck.¡± Were his parting words, as he vanished so fast it made my hair whip around.


    I stared at the wall, the ballistas and glowing arrays of gemstones armed, primed, and pointed at me.


    I held up my hands again.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t shoot.¡±


    ¡°Hold! Hold! Withdraw!¡± Commander-dwarf was yelling and shouting. One by one, then in a sudden wave, the various arrays and ballista were withdrawn, folding back into the wall in such a seamless manner that I couldn¡¯t tell they were there.


    With a bunch of muttering, most of the dwarves vanished off the wall, while I stood outside, awkwardly not moving.


    Was I supposed to say something? Walk up? Stay here?


    The awkwardness of the moment just made the seconds stretch out, longer and longer. I was just starting to think I should turn around and try to catch Hunting, when a door in the wall opened up, and Commander-dwarf showed up.


    ¡°Sorry about that.¡± He said, before straightening up ¨C hilariously, shorter than me still ¨C and going all formal on me.


    ¡°I am Tilruk Falvim the 91st.¡± He said, then stopped, staring at me expectantly.


    ¡°Um, hi. I¡¯m Elaine.¡± I said.


    If the area wasn¡¯t a complete disaster, we would¡¯ve had tumbleweeds. Tilruk Falvim the 91st¡¯s eyebrows started to climb a bit. I got some divine intervention, and the penny dropped for me.


    ¡°No, really. Elaine¡¯s my full, entire name. We don¡¯t do numbering. Well, some people number their kids, but they do it as their name, not as an add-on. Like Septima. She was super nice. Helped me at the river, kept reminding me when I lost stuff. Or like Octavia. She was the 8th kid. Got the name eight. Yikes, I haven¡¯t thought about Octavia in ages.¡± I said, wincing as I remembered her fate.


    Almost mine.


    I was completely punting this, wasn¡¯t I? First human contact with another intelligent, reasonable civilization, and I was blathering.


    I didn¡¯t count goblins as intelligent or reasonable, and selkies were inexplicably murderous. Although, I had somewhat worked with that one tribe¡­


    Focus.


    Tilruk Falvim the 91st seemed to mentally struggle for a moment. I could see his beard twitching every which way, as different parts of him went to war. No idea what that was, reading normal people was hard enough, let alone dwarves. before relaxing and deciding that what I said had been good enough.


    ¡°Greetings, Healer Elaine¡­ how old are you?¡± He said, half-bowing, adding the last part sort of as a question.


    I saw no reason not to answer that.


    ¡°19.¡± I said, which got an eyebrow quirking up in surprise.


    ¡°19, 19¡­ that¡¯d put you in the 94th generation¡­¡± He mused out loud.


    ¡°Greetings, Healer Elaine the 94th¡± Tilruk Falvim the 91st formally said again.


    I had this feeling that I was about to deal with a large amount of formality and repetition. My sanity was going to be in question at the end of this.


    ¡°Sure, Elaine the 94th, why not.¡± I said, agreeing amicably. I wasn¡¯t about to go into titles and alternative names, not until I had a better grasp of what was what.


    Also, I had a feeling that explaining what a Sentinel was wouldn¡¯t turn out great. Maybe they¡¯d respect me for mentioning I was recognized as one of humanity¡¯s best. Maybe they¡¯d be unhappy that I was in an organization full of ¡°kill stuff dead¡± people. Maybe that¡¯d strip the respect for my healer title away.


    Not like I was hiding it, not with my armor on and weapons obviously visible on my waist and pack.


    I just had no idea about anything.


    Which, honestly, was par for the course when it came to anything social.


    I¡¯d gotten a blessed reprieve ever since Pastos.


    I threw a quick [Identify] onto Tilruk, and got back a [Leader], around level 340 or so.


    When in doubt, use a mirror.


    ¡°Greetings, Leader Tilruk Falvim the 91st.¡± I said, a heck of a lot more confidently than I felt, and bowed back.


    ¡°Healer. You grace us with your presence, and I wish to invite you to break bread and share salt with us.¡± Tilruk said, giving the formal-seeming invitation a third time. My theory of ¡®lots of repetition¡¯ was confirmed to boot.


    ¡°I¡¯d love to. What next?¡± I said, figuring I¡¯d try the direct route.


    Maybe it¡¯d be easier to be so far off of their normal traditional route, than to try and mimic it? Instead of trying to sing their song and being horribly off-key, I wouldn¡¯t sing, and I¡¯d just talk instead. Or some logic like that.


    I dunno. I didn¡¯t do social stuff. I¡¯d call this a win if I managed to get out of this without starting a large-scale war. Small war, sure. That was a win in my book.


    He hesitated, then gestured, a near-universal ¡®come on in, the door¡¯s open.¡¯


    ¡°Come! Follow me.¡± He said, and I walked through the door in the wall.


    I got a close, close look at the wall. I¡¯d mentally marked where one of the ballistas had retracted into the wall ¨C right above the door I was about to enter ¨C and no matter how close I got, no matter how carefully I looked, there wasn¡¯t even the line of a seam.


    I stepped through the door, and it was like I¡¯d been drowning, and I¡¯d come up for air for the first time in my life. Light had touched my face, when I¡¯d lived in darkness. Water, quenching a thirst I never knew I had.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [The Dawn Sentinel] has leveled up to level 305->306! +3 Dexterity, +24 Speed, +24 Vitality, +170 Mana, +170 Mana Regen, +48 Magic power, +48 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    [*Ding!* [Celestial Affinity] leveled up! 305 -> 306]


    [*Ding!* [Dance with the Heavens] leveled up! 305 -> 306]


    [*Ding!* [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority] leveled up! 305 -> 306]


    ¡°Whoa!¡± I cried out, hand over my heart, breathing rapidly.


    ¡°Are you ok? Is something wrong?¡± Tilruk said, looking concerned and worried, eyebrows furrowed.


    ¡°Ok? Ok!? I feel better than ok! I feel great! I feel wonderful! This is magical! Amazing! Fantastic! What did you do!? What is this? An inscription? Wow! It¡¯s one heck of an inscription! I¡¯ve gotta know how to do this!¡±


    Tilruk was looking at me like I¡¯d gone mad, which, in retrospect, wasn¡¯t an unfair assessment.


    Slowly, like he was talking to a child, like he couldn¡¯t believe what he was asking, he spoke.


    ¡°Hang on. Are you talking about the feeling of leaving the dead zone?¡± He asked.


    [*Ding!* [Learning] leveled up! 280 -> 281]


    ¡°I dunno! If you mean that fantastic feeling just now, then yes!¡± I said, before my brain caught up to my mouth.


    ¡°Wait, what do you mean, dead zone?¡±


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 19]


    [Mana: 155500/155500]


    [Mana Regen: 135176 (+99520)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 52]


    [Strength: 293]


    [Dexterity: 350]


    [Vitality: 2200]


    [Speed: 2200]


    [Mana: 15550]


    [Mana Regeneration: 15550 (+9952)]


    [Magic Power: 7939 (+107176.5)]


    [Magic Control: 7939 (+107176.5)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 306]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 306]


    [Cosmic Presence: 231]


    [Solar Infusion: 1]


    [Center of the Universe: 285]


    [Dance of the Heavens: 306]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 271]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 256]


    [Sunrise: 13]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 256]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 256]


    [Radiance Resistance: 256]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 256]


    [Shine: 111]


    [Sun-Kissed: 256]


    [Blaze: 256]


    [Talaria: 256]


    [Nova: 256]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Identify: 151]


    [Pristine Memories: 200]


    [Pretty: 152]


    [Bullet Time: 268]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 270]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 306]


    [Persistent Casting: 189]


    [Learning: 281]

 Chapter 177 – Dwarves II

    Tilruk continued to stare at me as the doors closed behind us, a soft teal light emitting from strips against the wall in the tunnel.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t come through the dead zone?¡± He asked me.


    ¡°I have no idea what that is.¡± I repeated, confused as hell.


    ¡°Tis the place you just left.¡± He said.


    ¡°The Formorian lands?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Yer, that¡¯s part of the dead zone.¡± He confirmed. ¡°The other side where you live shouldn¡¯t be dead.¡±


    ¡°How would I know if it was part of the dead zone or not?¡± I asked him.


    I got a strange, pitying look from Tilruk.


    ¡°You would know.¡± He simply stated.


    ¡°I clearly don¡¯t!¡± I said in frustration.


    ¡°Maybe you call it something else.¡± He reasoned out. ¡°Where do you start to get that feeling that nothing¡¯s right? Where once you return from it, it feels like the rich smell of trees and wood have returned, and all¡¯s right with the world?¡±


    I gave him a blank stare.


    ¡°The feeling I got when I came in through the walls was the first time in my entire life that I¡¯ve felt that.¡± I said.


    ¡°But ¨C but you¡¯re over level 300 before you¡¯re 20!¡± He sputtered out as we started to walk down the tunnel again.


    ¡°Thank you! I worked hard for it. Almost died. A lot.¡± I said, shuddering at some of the memories. ¡°Plagues, earthquakes, wars, volcanoes, tsunamis, Formorians, monsters, run of the mill dinosaurs, kidnappers and more!¡± I said, ticking them all off my finger. I¡¯ll admit, seeing him go slightly green was quite fun.


    He stared at me in open-eyed shock and awe.


    ¡°Ye realize the dead zone eats experience, right?¡± He slowly said.


    I stopped and stared at him.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    The whole story slowly came out, as we were both too stunned by the other¡¯s revelation to keep walking through the tunnel.


    In short, according to the dwarf¡¯s traditional history, which all dwarves were extensively educated on, the Formorians had tried attacking them once upon a time. A brief mental comparison against Night¡¯s recollections of events suggested that they had attacked the dwarves harder than humanity at first, which made sense if they knew about the dead zone.


    However, once the dwarves had driven the Formorians back, and discovered the dead zone, they basically said ¡°fuck it.¡± What was the point of trying to claim ¡°dead¡± land? If people felt miserable inside of it, and got significantly reduced experience, what was the point?


    So, they carefully measured exactly where the dead zone started, and built a massive wall around it. The Formorians had attacked quite a few times, but as time marched on, they had stopped.


    Still, tradition demanded that the wall was manned, guarded against Formorians or whatever other threat the dead zone generated. Not that they thought anything could be a threat, not with the large experience gain imbalance.


    It did make me wonder though ¨C what, exactly, could be ¡®eating experience¡¯? That had terrifying implications. There was some grand force out there that could interfere with everyone¡¯s System access.


    The existence of one suggested, but didn¡¯t promise, the existence of more than one. Although maybe it was the land itself, and not some creature, artifact, plant, fungus, elaborate curse, disease, godling, or other being that was eating the experience?


    Like. Did vampires radiate a dead zone around them?


    That¡­ didn¡¯t quite make sense. Not with how Night and the other vampires moved around, and with how precisely the wall was located on the edge of the dead zone. With Night being on the frontlines, I¡¯d expect the dead zone to have moved somewhat. Given the precision and timelines involved, I would expect that it was stationary, whatever the problem was.


    Or the zone was just dead, and it was a quirk of the world. I¡¯d need to try and find out one day.


    I seriously doubted it was the Formorians. They were dead, and after all, the ¡°living¡± zone was at the edge of their territory.


    I needed to tell Night all about this. Probably the Senate as well.


    There were a billion implications to this.


    I was practically fuming by the time I¡¯d heard it all.


    ¡°You¡¯re telling me, my entire life, through all my struggles, I¡¯ve only been getting half the experience I should normally be getting!?¡±


    It wasn¡¯t fair of me to yell at poor Tilruk. Don¡¯t shoot the messenger and all that. I. Was. Furious.


    ¡°Or less.¡± Tilruk whispered.


    I punched the wall. It was an unrestrained punch, with all my strength and weight behind it, with all my anger and frustration behind it. A trained punch, one I¡¯d thrown thousands of times.


    My low strength, high vitality, and persistent healing all stopped my hand from being rightfully broken. [Center of the Galaxy] even killed any pain I might¡¯ve felt. All in all, a completely useless punch.


    Did make me feel a bit better though.


    ¡°Whoa! Easy there!¡± Tilruk said.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± I apologized, instantly feeling bad. In a minor win, my feelings of shame and regret flooded over me hard enough that I was no longer feeling terrible about having lost half my lifetime experience. Or more.


    ¡°Just. Friends of mine have died because I was too weak. People I¡¯ve known and cared about are gone because my level was too low. Hearing that it was because I lived in the dead zone? That sheer blind bad luck probably caused it? That I should be level 600 instead of 300? It¡¯s deeply upsetting.¡± I said.


    Tilruk patted my arm, and we kept walking.


    ¡°If it makes you feel any better, you should only be about 50 or 60 levels higher, not 300.¡± He said, without a lot of conviction.


    I rolled my eyes, and composed myself.


    ¡°I apologize for my outburst.¡± I said again, this time with more feeling.


    ¡°It¡¯s understandable. Hey, thinking about it, you probably spent a lot more time working on each class. Your class quality should be higher as a result.¡± He said, and shot me an inquisitive look.


    ¡°Yeah, my healer class is dark green.¡± I said. Sure, it was probably super-secret ¡°don¡¯t let them know how strong you were¡± information, but screw it, I was never great at keeping secrets.


    Tilruk let out a low whistle.


    ¡°That¡¯s a mighty powerful class you¡¯ve got there.¡±


    ¡°Thank you! Do you mind if I ask¡­?¡± I trailed off, not really wanting to ask. ¡°Don¡¯t tell people about your stats¡± was still deeply ingrained into me, which had asking about stats and skills being equally rude.


    ¡°Orange.¡± He said, with obvious pride, then deflated.


    ¡°I worked my axe to the handle a dozen times, and Orange was the best I got.¡± He said, a strange mix of pride and unhappiness mixed together.


    Heck, if my 256 class was Orange, I¡¯d be pretty upset as well. Then again, I did just show him up massively.


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because life in the dead zone is harder?¡± I suggested, trying to claw back some benefit to having had most of my experience eaten.


    ¡°Aye, and since it takes more time for you to level up, you¡¯ve got more time to get achievements.¡± Tilruk added in.


    Did I just successfully pull off some minor diplomacy!?


    I pinched myself, before rolling my eyes at [Center] completely killing off any negative aspects of the pain, just letting me know I¡¯d been pinched. How could I check if I was in dreamland or not if pinching didn¡¯t work?!


    Tilruk abruptly changed the subject.


    ¡°What were you doing traveling with a Void mage?¡± He asked me, all curious. ¡°For that matter, you¡¯re not also a Void mage, are you¡­?¡± He looked at me warily, hand wavering madly between his side, and itching towards his sword.


    I didn¡¯t want to find out where ¡°hospitality¡± and ¡°kill the Void mage¡± landed.


    ¡°Nope! Radiance is my second element!¡± I said, letting myself [Shine]. I suppose that it didn¡¯t show I was Radiance, that I could be Light, Brilliance, Mirage, or something else similar ¨C but either way it demonstrated I wasn¡¯t a Void mage.


    [*Ding!* [Shine] leveled up! 111 -> 112]


    I pursed my lips in how damn unfair leveling up seemed to be all of a sudden.


    ¡°What¡¯s up with Void mages anyways?¡± I asked him. ¡°Sure, Hunting¡¯s super strong, but why the concern over them?¡±


    I got another long look, as the end of the tunnel through the wall approached.


    ¡°The long-horned pansies keep telling us they randomly explode, taking out a city at minimum with them. Doesn¡¯t matter the level of the Void mage, level 30 or level 3000. Boom. The pointy-eared bastards are a right pain in the rear, pardon my expression, but when they swing by to warn us of stuff, they¡¯re usually right.¡± Tilruk grudgingly admitted.


    ¡°They¡¯re shit at working with wood though.¡± Tilruk added in, seemingly needing to regain some pride back.


    That¡­ was a ridiculous amount to unpack.


    ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± Tilruk announced, as we made it to the end, right before the door leading out.


    I decided to aim for some last-second flattery. All the talk about wood made me think they considered it important.


    ¡°I¡¯m impressed.¡± I said, waving my hand around, gesturing at the wood all around us. It was impressive. Dozens of different shades of wood, and not a single obvious joint, join, or break in the wood. Also, some of it was glowing, providing light, without any obvious inscriptions. Those pieces of wood were some master inscriptions. I was about as subtle as an elephant in a library, but eh. It was impressive.


    ¡°Ah? At what?¡± Tilruk asked me.


    I gestured around me.


    ¡°This! All this wood, so beautifully crafted.¡±


    I could hear the smile in his words. ¡°Aye. We dwarves are masters of wood. From finding good places to plant trees, to creating the perfect soil, nurturing seedlings, to growing giants. We¡¯re masters of it all.¡±


    Pride and admiration colored every word he spoke.


    ¡°Then the cutters, in the right season at the right place come along, chopping the tree down and removing branches.¡± He said, and his voice was significantly less respectful when mentioning them, but then it yo-yo¡¯d right back.


    ¡°The sawyers remove the bark, season the wood, and cut it into planks as needed.¡±


    Tilruk¡¯s tone took a reverential tone, the sort that was usually reserved for priests. Heck, with the way he was talking, it almost seemed like a religion.


    ¡°Then the carpenters get the wood, and oh! What wonders they perform! From the [Grand Wall Carpenter]s that made this wall, all the way down to the [Living Armor Carpenter]s who made my armor,¡± Tilruk took a moment to beat his chest with a single fist, a sharp knock telling me just how sturdy it was. ¡°the carpenters make everything that we use to live.¡±


    ¡°Cool.¡± I said, not having anything better to say. I¡¯d clearly hit a spot of pride. When in doubt, shut up.


    Note to self: Compliment whatever dwarf I was talking with on whatever wood-related thing he or she seemed to have going on.


    ¡°Anyways, letting you know about them now. They outrank us, and there¡¯s further complication depending on what type of wood they work on. Don¡¯t worry about that, although don¡¯t offend anyone who works on redwood or higher. Anyways! Let¡¯s go!¡±


    Tilruk Falvim the 91st opened the door, letting the bright light in. I squinted as I got my first good view of how another country, another civilization, another species lived.


    Wood. Wood everywhere.


    I¡¯m not sure why I was even slightly surprised.


    It was clear that the posting next to the dead zone wasn¡¯t one of the plum assignments, and that most, if not all, of their budget went to maintaining the actual wall. Oh, nothing was in disarray, but it was clear that things had been built properly ages ¨C maybe decades or centuries ago, I had no idea what they could do with wood ¨C and just sort of left there. A few dwarves were sparring, axes and swords and spears flashing and hitting wooden shields with solid thunks, but even more dwarves were just spectating, lounging around and watching with a mug of what I assumed was beer in their hands.


    The buildings all gave off a strong militaristic vibe, and even though we¡¯d just exited the tunnel in the wall, I could already see where the tightly packed buildings abruptly ended, edging against a forest.


    Militaries were similar the world around. I would¡¯ve needed to be blind, as well as deaf, to miss the sparring ring. The large number of many-windowed buildings that all looked exactly the same had to be the barracks. The large, boring-looking building was a warehouse of some flavor. Armory or granary, I had no idea. I didn¡¯t want to poke around, and be accused of spying.


    I mean, in a sense I totally was spying, because everything I saw would eventually end up in front of Night, and, unless another Sentinel showed up in a hurry, I¡¯d probably end up in front of the Senate.


    No reason to give the dwarves a sense or idea that I was hostile, or give them a reason to try and kill me.


    I¡¯d go down fighting, but there was no question that I¡¯d go down.


    Then again, I had to remember ¨C even Tilruk, a commander, only had an orange-tier class. The difference in tier was starting to become more significant than the raw levels would suggest, and the people I was looking at were weaker than I¡¯d expect them to be.


    Still. I didn¡¯t want to get into a fight. Heck, throw me into the infirmary, and let me work my magic!


    Speaking of, there were a few more unique structures, with slightly more polish than the other ones. I was out of my depth guessing what, exactly, they were. Did the Quartermaster get his own building? The armory? Spare gems for the arrays? The infirmary, like I was wondering about? Was that a stable for some sort of exotic creature? A central place to control arrays and the ballistas?


    Only so much guessing I could do, but one building was all too obvious, and it was the one Tilruk started to take me towards.


    ¡°Come on. Let¡¯s go meet the commander of this section, and break bread.¡± My dwarven companion said, leading the way to the fanciest building, one with a flag on it. Green Oak against a blue field.


    At least, I assumed it was an oak. I hadn¡¯t paid too much attention to trees in my survival lessons beyond ¡°this one¡¯s poisonous¡± and ¡°The wood of that tree will ruin anything you cook.¡±


    Wood was wood, and would all burn.


    Anyways!


    The headquarters!

 Chapter 178 – Dwarves III

    Tilruk escorted me towards the building I had to assume was the headquarters. A pair of stout, slightly more serious looking guards were at the door, wooden helmets open enough to allow their intricately braided beards to flow down.


    I eyed up the beards and spent a few moments thinking.


    Normally, the Rangers considered long hair to be an impediment in a fight. Easy to grab and pull, and I¡¯d gotten good at cutting my hair short, as much as I wanted it long. I swear my hair was like a yo-yo at times. Long, short, magically long again, burnt off.


    Anyways. The coarseness of the beard, along with how it was tied with little pieces of wood and beads woven in made me think that trying to stab or slice through said beard would end poorly, and it did make for a strong neck guard.


    Wood was still the name of the game, and the building, while large and fancy and headquarters-like, still somehow gave off a strong ¡°log cabin¡± vibe. I don¡¯t know if it was the neatly stacked logs making up the walls, the wooden shutters, or sloped roof that was making me think log cabin, in spite of the huge size, but there it was.


    ¡°Tilruk Falvim the 91st¡± one of the guards saluted and respectfully greeted him.


    It was a little unsettling. Rangers and Legionnaires saluted by thumping our right hand in a fist over our heart. The dwarves saluted by smashing their fists together, gauntlets and all. Sounded like someone knocking sharply on a door once.


    ¡°I am here to meet with Briga Glof the 90th on a matter of moderate importance.¡± Tilruk said.


    I mentally gave him the stink eye as I was only of ¡®moderate importance¡¯. I liked being the super-important person that got things done. I would¡¯ve hoped that being the first contact from a civilization within the dead zone would be enough to jump me up.


    Ah well. Couldn¡¯t have it all.


    The guards eyed me up.


    ¡°Healer.¡± The second one respectfully said, bumping his fists together in salute.


    ¡°Who¡¯s she? Some dwarf from the metal clans who isn¡¯t even old enough to grow her first beard who wandered over?¡± The guard grumbled unhappily into his beard.


    Idiots. They existed the world around, and no culture or race seemed to be immune to them.


    Then again - I was short enough to be a tall dwarf, and we didn¡¯t seem to look that different. Being slightly generous to Grumpy, as I was nicknaming him, his line of thought was reasonable, if off.


    Also, the revelation about metal clans? Oooooh, I wanted to know more. Heck, this entire thing made me want to know more about everything. How they got wood to do all the things I saw them doing with it. Maybe I should ask for a tour at some point? Get a list of magical woods and what they could do?


    I was totally getting ahead of myself.


    ¡°Visitor from the dead zone.¡± Tilruk eventually answered. ¡°Figured Briga Glof the 90th was the person to bring her to.¡±


    The guards glanced at each other and shrugged.


    ¡°Not our place to say if your reason¡¯s good or bad for seeing Briga Glof the 90th¡± Grumpy said. ¡°Might want to leave the weapons behind though.¡± He added, eyeing up my spear, still on my backpack, and the sword on my hip.


    I frowned at him, and nothing more was said on the subject.


    My estimation of their martial prowess was rapidly plummeting.


    Another round of knock-on-wood salutes, and we entered the building. It was nothing special on the inside, although all the ceilings were lower than I was used to in Remus. I imagined there were no Arthur-sized giants roaming around.


    A hop, a skip, and a jump later, and we were knocking on the door to who I assumed was Briga Glof the 90th.


    ¡°Enter.¡± A contralto voice called out, making my ears twitch in surprise.


    We entered into a large wooden room. This one was a bit fancier and better decorated than the previous militant hallways we¡¯d gone through. There was a fancy painting on the wall, a number of tiny dwarves working industriously around a large tower. Upon closer examination, the ¡°painting¡± was actually just a large number of tiny wood chips, each one carefully painted and placed together, like a large puzzle.


    Six different potted plants - saplings - were neatly tucked into corners, with two more flanking a large, elaborate desk. The desk itself was a work of art, looking like it¡¯d been carved out of a single piece of wood, with a different dwarf having been carved into each of the legs, and a picture of a heroic battle of dwarf versus something was carved prominently in the front.


    If the enemies were goblins, I couldn¡¯t tell. The artist seemed to have deliberately made them as ugly and awful as possible. No points for guessing how they felt about said enemy, even in victory.


    The rule of ¡°Armor got more ornate and decorated as rank went up¡± seemed to hold true for dwarves as well, with Sentinels still being the only group of people who went for simple armor.


    Except our capes. And our badges. And the silly amount of Arcanite and gems woven into our armor. And - ok, fine, we just did ornate a different way.


    Behind the desk was a large flag, same as outside, and a bookcase.


    I locked eyes with the dwarf I assumed was Briga Glof the 90th.


    ¡°Briga Glof the 90th.¡± Tilruk said, saluting in the same strange knuckle-clapping way.


    ¡°Tilruk Falvim the 91st.¡± Briga Glof the 90th said from behind the desk, saluting back. A benefit of their salute ¨C it was easy to do while sitting down.


    My brain caught up to my eyes, and I barged forward.


    ¡°Whoa, is this a bookshelf!? You have books!?¡± I said, ignoring the stunned look from Tilruk and the glare from the commander.


    I grabbed the first book I could see on the bookshelf, and read the title out loud, savoring every word.


    ¡°Playing with his wood: An in-tree-mate guide.¡±


    There was dead silence at what I said. I felt heat rush to my cheeks as I realized what, exactly, I was holding and I¡¯d read.


    ¡°Um, yeah, I¡¯m going to just put this back¡­¡± I said, only for a skill to take the book and rip it out of my hand.


    ¡°YOU!¡± Briga Glof the 90th roared at me, and I felt a skill grab me and violently move me, placing me into a chair at high-speed in front of her desk. ¡°What are you doing!?¡± She screamed at me.


    ¡°And you!¡± She yelled, pointing at Tilruk. ¡°What are you doing bringing this cretin before me!?¡±


    Tilruk was shooting daggers at me, which I suppose I deserved. He saluted, in the most polite ¡°Get me out of trouble¡± military manner I¡¯d ever seen.


    ¡°Tilruk Falvim the 91st reporting. Healer Elaine the 94th came out of the dead zone with a Void mage. Claims to be part of a civilization living inside the dead zone. Offered her hospitality, as tradition demands for a healer, and brought her to see you, so that we may all break bread together.¡± He said.


    80 coins said he was leaning on tradition to bail himself out of trouble. Another 200 coins said that tradition demanded he get punished anyways.


    Or rather ¨C that Briga Glof the 90th would say that tradition demanded he get punished.


    I got the stink-eye, which I couldn¡¯t meet. Embarrassment flooded through me again, and I looked down at the floor.


    Nice paneling.


    ¡°Hi I¡¯m Elaine nice to meet you.¡± I mumbled.


    ¡°Tell me, Healer Elaine the 94th.¡± Briga Glof the 90th said with a dangerous voice. ¡°Is pawing through others personal belongings normal from whatever backwater place you come from?¡±


    ¡°No ma¡¯am.¡± I mumbled to the floor, still embarrassed.


    ¡°What made you think it was appropriate to go through my personal belongings?¡± She asked again.


    ¡°Sorry! I love books a ton, and it¡¯s been almost 20 years since I last saw one! I just wanted to read¡­¡± I said, putting a pitiful, plaintive note in my voice at the end.


    ¡°You have great taste?¡± I tried to rectify the situation somewhat.


    Nope. More evil glares.


    I matched it, letting the shame fade away.


    I locked eyes with her, feeling some of my confidence return.


    Screw being Healer Elaine the 94th. I was Sentinel Dawn, and I had the class, skills, stats, levels, and experience to back it up. No two-bit commander on a semi-neglected fortification was going to stare me down.


    Even though I had read the cover of her smut book.


    Out loud.


    In front of her minions.


    She gave an amused grunt after some time.


    ¡°Not entirely spineless after all. Tilruk! Bring us bread, for the three of us to share. In the Willow room, if you¡¯d please.¡± She ordered.


    Tilruk saluted and hurried off.


    I got another side-eye, followed by a sigh.


    ¡°Come. Let us break bread and share salt, and I¡¯ll listen to your tale.¡± Briga Glof the 90th said, getting up from behind her desk.


    I followed her as she exited her office, and we made it to another room.


    I expected a picture of a willow tree as the door, or something.


    No. Of course not.


    They had a fully grown, miniature willow tree inside the room, branches reaching up to the ceiling then forming a graceful curtain around the edges of the room.


    A sturdy, ornate table dominated the room, with chairs around said round table.


    ¡°Come! Sit!¡± Briga Glof the 90th said, gesturing around. ¡°Feel free to put your pack down by the wall.¡± She pointed to a spot, where I happily shucked my backpack.


    My strength and general fitness usually made it a non-issue, but it was still awkward to lug around, plus I did get tired.


    Also, sitting in a chair with a big backpack on? I¡¯d look ridiculous.


    After my bookshelf fumble, I was being a hair more careful. I looked at the table. Completely round, no hints there.


    The chairs though, each one was seemingly made out of a different wood. Or had a different color at least. I had a sneaking feeling that a ¡°proper¡± dwarf could look at the chairs and instantly identify which one came from what type of tree, and the ¡°right¡± chair to sit in, if any, depended on the wood.


    I skipped a reddish-looking one, and sat on a pale chair. Birch? Was this birch? I hoped so. I think that was low on the wood totem pole? Probably wouldn¡¯t cause offense by sitting here.


    Unless TRADITION demanded that the healer always sit in the third chair from the left, or the maple tree was always reserved for the healer.


    Shit. There was probably some tradition like that. I should¡¯ve asked instead of just sitting. My plan of ¡°just do whatever and don¡¯t try to follow tradition¡± might backfire when there was a distinct way of doing things.


    Tilruk came back, with a simple tray of bread, and a small bowl of salt. Without hesitation, he served me a small loaf, then looked at me expectantly.


    Time to ask, and stop guessing at shit I had no idea about.


    ¡°What¡¯s the traditional thing to do here?¡± I asked him, gesturing. Behind him I saw Briga Glof the 90th crack a grin, then quickly suppress it down.


    Score!


    ¡°Dip the bread in the salt, and take a bite.¡± Tilruk said.


    I did exactly what he said, chewing thoughtfully on the bread as Tilruk moved on.


    He served Briga Glof the 90th the second loaf, and himself the third. Both of them performed the same ritual, dunking the small loaf of bread in the salt, and ritually eating it.


    I felt like I was expected to say something here, and, just blind guessing, I figured I¡¯d go with my ¡°do something sincere and hope it panned out¡± plan.


    ¡°Thank you for granting me shelter, food, and hospitality.¡± I said, deciding to just check off all the boxes. ¡°And letting me in. Talking with me. Meeting with me. Helping me level. Educating me¡­¡± I said, ticking the items off my fingers.


    Briga Glof the 90th gave Tilruk a significant look, who made himself scarce.


    ¡°Speaking of educating, I¡¯d love to know more about where you¡¯re from, and what you are. Do you really live in the dead zone?¡± Briga Glof the 90th asked.


    That was a big question. I figured I¡¯d tackle it one at a time.


    ¡°As far as I know, yeah.¡± I said, stretching in a luxurious manner. The feeling I¡¯d had the entire time I¡¯d been in dwarven territory was fantastic. The intrinsic happiness and completeness that I hadn¡¯t known was missing. ¡°I¡¯m in a group of people that are some of the highest-level humans Remus has, and we just barely got the first of us to hit level 500, which is a rarity. Only managed that after killing the Formorians. Dozens of Royal Guards at level 750, and the Queens, over level 1000.¡±


    Tilruk came back at this point, wheeling a trolley loaded with food.


    Including apples! And pears!


    ¡°What are those called?¡± I asked, pointing to them, totally side-tracked. I could eat an apple again! I could taste a sweet, juice pear once more!


    Sure, I hadn¡¯t been the biggest fan of pears back on earth, but a chance to try them again! Oh my heart be still.


    ¡°Apples.¡± Briga Glof the 90th said in the standard language we all spoke, pointing to the apples. ¡°Pears. They¡¯re tasty, you should try them.¡±


    ¡°Thanks! It¡¯s been ages since I last had one!¡± I said, happily accepting the apple from Tilruk and biting in, closing my eyes in delight as an explosion of flavor erupted in my mouth.


    I got a look for that.


    ¡°How have you eaten them before without knowing the name?¡± I got asked, with a tone of genuine curiosity.


    I froze, juice dribbling down my chin. I chewed slowly while I thought about it.


    I was not having another interview with government vivisectionists. I wasn¡¯t going to go over the whole reincarnation shtick, not again. This time, I could bail, and was going to.


    I also didn¡¯t want to lie to them.


    Think. Think. Think!


    ¡°Um. Long story?¡± I said, happily starting on the pear. ¡°What other questions do you have?¡±


    ¡°Does nobody have a beard?¡± Tilruk blurted out.


    I smiled. Easy question!


    ¡°Men can grow beards, women generally can¡¯t. However, with the exception of one city, culturally, men shave in Remus.¡± I answered.


    ¡°Wait ¨C they voluntarily shave!?¡± Briga Glof the 90th asked with surprise. ¡°And you can¡¯t grow a beard at all?¡± She said, with a tone of extreme pity.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry to hear it.¡± She said, moving her hand as if to pat my shoulder.


    Briga Glof the 90th opened her mouth as if to ask another question, then closed it.


    ¡°Tilruk. Can you please get Quartermaster Dwen Flidi the 90th, Executive Officer Kolran Dem the 91st, Head Builder Khelvem Kroku the 91st, and Captain Dwen Flidi the 92nd here? I believe they should be present for what Healer Elaine has to say.¡±


    A quick shuffling around, a delicious lunch eaten in relative silence ¨C I had no idea what the steak was, but it had a delicate, sweet, and juicy note to it. Didn¡¯t have that strong flavor I associated with most dinosaur meat, but who knew. They probably had radically different dinosaurs here to boot!


    I wanted to know more. I wanted to know everything.


    Four more dwarves filed in, three of them with a book and quills. The better to take notes, I guess? Or read under the table during yet another ¡°boring¡± meeting. Heck, I totally would¡¯ve read under the table during most of the Sentinel meetings if there had been any books to read!


    I had to get as many books as possible from the dwarves. I also needed to import the book technology. Heck, forget spending my money on artwork or real estate. I could manufacture books instead!


    Wait, shit. That would require authors and writers to make stuff to print.


    Hmmmmmmm.


    I¡¯d need to import it from the dwarves then. Might be a bit of a pain, but if I was going to be living in the border town anyways, might as well get some trade started.


    Assuming there wasn¡¯t going to be a war.


    ¡­ I could totally see Night trying to redirect the generals into attacking the dwarves over having a civil war though. For all that he was espousing neutrality, I could see him seizing the chance for relative stability, especially against an opponent who showed no interest in invading back. Humans were warlike enough, and tribal enough, to jump at the chance to boot.


    I was going to get a massive headache from all of this.

 Chapter 179 – Dwarves IV

    Four dwarves filed into the room, without Tilruk. Shame. I liked him, and hoped he¡¯d stick around.


    Briga pointed to each in turn, and repeated their names, making introductions. I had so many new things today, and life was so strange, that they all sadly went in one ear, and out the other.


    Ok, sure, I could probably recall the names with [Pristine Memories], but nicknames were just easier.


    Instead, I mentally labeled them ¡°Braids, Beads, Woven, and Messy¡±, depending on what their beard was. Braids had long braids on the side of his beard, Beads had a bunch of beads in her beard, Woven had a complicated, intricate pattern in her beard, and Messy required no description for his beard.


    Not that one would be easy to give.


    I tuned back in after Briga went over the names.


    ¡°Everyone, this is Healer Elaine the 94th. She¡¯s had an interesting journey to get here.¡±


    There were mutterings of greetings around the table, and four almost-identical offers to share bread and salt.


    Oh, for fuck¡¯s sake. I¡¯d already shared bread and salt!


    I had a feeling I was going to be thoroughly sick of bread and salt by the time I was done here.


    Maybe that¡¯s why they venerated healers so much. Nobody could tolerate the constant ¡°tradition¡±, and nobody signed up to be one.


    ¡°She¡¯s a¡­ actually, what are you?¡± Briga asked me, seemingly realizing she¡¯d never asked.


    ¡°Human. I¡¯m a human.¡± I said.


    ¡°Human.¡± Briga said, savoring the word. ¡°We¡¯re dwarves.¡± She said, giving me the standard name for the species in the Pallos common tongue.


    ¡°How do we even speak the same language?¡± Braids asked.


    We all turned and looked at him.


    I blinked.


    That was an excellent question.


    ¡°We¡¯re speaking our traditional language.¡± Beads muttered into her beard. ¡°How did you get our traditional language?¡± She asked me, peering at me suspiciously.


    ¡°I have no idea.¡± I replied, thinking about it.


    We spent a few moments pondering quietly about it, before I snapped my fingers.


    ¡°Night!¡± I exclaimed.


    I got puzzled looks around the table.


    ¡°Sorry. Night. My boss. He was around during creation. Told me language got dumped in his head. He¡¯s been around, for, well, forever, as I said. You mentioned you¡¯re speaking your traditional language, so, maybe not too much linguistic drift. Night, and the other vampires, have probably stopped our language from drifting too far.¡±


    That¡­ was a hell of a feat thinking about it. It¡¯d been almost 5000 years since creation. Neither language had drifted at all? We could still understand each other, when it only took a few hundred years for languages to change to an unrecognizable state?


    I suppose massively increased lifespans probably threw any number of wrenches into linguistic drift, and it¡¯d take thousands more years for languages to properly diverge.


    Or they never would. What did I know, I was no linguist.


    ¡°Your boss?¡± Messy asked, while everyone was looking at me like I¡¯d grown an extra head. ¡°What do you do?¡±


    That seemed to snap them out of whatever funk they were in. Briga smacked him upside the head.


    ¡°You know someone of the first generation?¡± She asked me, with a reverent tone.


    ¡°Um. I guess? No idea how your generations work though.¡± I answered, more than a bit confused.


    ¡°How could they have someone from the first generation though?¡± Woven asked, a frown being magnified on her beard. ¡°Entirely possible that this Elaine has gotten it wrong. The time involved¡­¡±


    She shook her head.


    ¡°Close to impossible.¡±


    Briga shot Woven a look.


    ¡°Proper respect is due to our guest that has accepted our hospitality.¡± She rebuked Woven.


    There was some more bickering over Night, before Briga raised her hand.


    ¡°Enough. Healer Elaine. You said he was your boss? What do you do?¡±


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m a Sentinel. Sentinel Dawn.¡± I said, putting a smile on my face and pointing to my badge.


    ¡°What does a Sentinel do?¡± Briga asked. ¡°Is it an organization of healers?¡±


    I laughed. I wish we had some of those!


    ¡°No, military.¡± I said, getting a bunch of hostile looks in return.


    Mmmmm.


    I kinda deserved that didn¡¯t I?


    ¡°How does that work?¡± Briga asked me.


    That kicked off a long, long conversation between the six of us. I dimly recognized that I was being pumped for information, just like I was trying to get some information out of them.


    If it was a game, I would¡¯ve totally lost. By a huge margin.


    They were fascinated by the account of the end of the Formorian war, although they were entirely disinterested in the gods and the angels, practically waving them all away. Not terribly religious. They venerated their ancestors, and placed great stock on what generation someone was in.


    I couldn¡¯t quite keep a lid on Destruction being able to create massive earthquakes, although I probably played it up a bit. Oooh humans! Super scary!


    I was honestly trying to not start a war. I have no idea if what I was doing would backfire or not.


    ¡­ why did we think this was a good idea again?


    At the same time, nothing I told them was exactly secret. Most everything was standard knowledge, like the fact that Remus has a Senate, and that Rangers existed in teams of eight.


    Things like average level, class quality, how many Sentinels there were and what our jobs were?


    I kept a lid on all that. I wasn¡¯t going to tell a clearly military force the details of our top-end.


    I was bad at diplomacy; I wasn¡¯t terminally stupid.


    We talked for hours, and I got to know some of how they were structured.


    Their country was called Nolgrod, and there was a second country of dwarves called Khazad. That bit of information they were a little reluctant to part with, but it mainly seemed like some sort of bad blood, or rivalry, between the two. Not out of any concern for the information.


    ¡°What do they do?¡± I asked, trying to channel Brawling a bit. ¡®Innocent, na?ve questions.¡¯


    ¡°They rip up the earth.¡± Messy said with a frown. I was getting good at reading beards! ¡°They grab and they take stone and metal, which will never be restored, and build their own monstrosities with them.¡±


    ¡°Plus, they¡¯re all wrong on the generations.¡± Beads grumbled. ¡°They¡¯re on the 41st right now, which is all wrong. Not at all what our ancestors wanted. This is the 94th generation!¡±


    Translation: When the guard dwarf had asked if I was from the metal clan, that was a derogatory way to ask if I was a dwarf from Khazad. Also, those were the dwarves that used metal, while the Nolgrods used wood.


    Which started an hour-long propaganda speech on the superiority of wood versus metal, with all of the dwarves happily patting themselves on the back about how they were sooooo much better.


    Which got more than a few dirty looks thrown at my equipment, which naturally got my hackles up.


    ¡°Like take Healer Elaine¡¯s vambraces.¡± Beads said, gesturing to me. ¡°Sure, the metal¡¯s plenty hard, but the moment it gets a scratch, she¡¯d need to return to a metal crafter just to get them fixed! Every time! Living wood¡¯s much better, it¡¯ll just repair itself.¡±


    I was beyond cranky. The shots weren¡¯t deliberately at me, but, well, they hurt, and I¡¯d just spent a bunch of time in Hunting''s unhappy company.


    ¡°Sure, but can vambraces made out of living wood do this?¡± I asked them, taking it off, and flipping it around. Showing them the dozens of gemstones interwoven into the armor, that normally pressed against me.


    I smirked as they all looked avariciously at my gemstones.


    Wood is superior my ass. I smugly thought to myself. Maybe they were just ragging on the Khazad because they were jealous of all the gems they probably got from mining?


    Then again, they had many hundreds of valid points as to why making everything out of wood was good. I wanted to know more ¨C a lot more ¨C and hey, I might be getting a third class one day. I should start doing some light thinking about it. Maybe there was something to be said for wood, carpentry, and making things out of wood? A hobby, combined with making my own armor that could adapt to me and repair itself?


    Magic was so damn cool. I still held onto that girlish excitement. There was so much I could do with it! Unlimited potential, endless possibilities! An open third class that I could properly plan for, while having maturity, and experienced advisors, was the most exciting thing ever!


    I¡¯d been a frog in a well when I¡¯d picked my first second class ¨C [Student] ¨C and I¡¯d been fairly haphazard with leveling and classing it up. Thankfully it merged into my first class, but then I¡¯d grabbed a [Firebug] without having knowledge or experience to back it up.


    Now I could see a third class coming down the line, and-


    Wait.


    I wanted to hit my face, I felt so dumb.


    Dead Zone. Eats experience.


    I totally needed to do healing and leveling stuff OUTSIDE of Remus! I¡¯d level so much faster!


    And I got more experience by doing new things¡­


    I wonder if the dwarves needed a strong, free healer?


    I should be paying more attention to what they¡¯re saying about my vambraces. Damnit! Totally the wrong time to have an epiphany.


    ¡°Are those all your gemstones?¡± Beads was asking, a note of disbelief and longing in her voice.


    Yesss. Everyone liked shiny stuff, and a quick mental review had that what I¡¯d missed was mostly the dwarves asking rapid-fire questions. The only other thing I¡¯d missed was every dwarf protesting that, yes, gems could fit into wood just fine. I could totally gracefully re-enter the conversation here, and it wouldn¡¯t look like I¡¯d missed anything.


    Bless [Pristine Memories]. While it didn¡¯t help me focus, it mitigated the heck out of getting distracted.


    ¡°Nope! Got more¡­ all over really.¡± I said, realizing that I might¡¯ve said just a hair too much. I didn¡¯t want to give away all of my armor and gear¡¯s tricks. It¡¯d be possible to extrapolate that the rest of the Sentinels were geared in a similar way, and I¡¯d already established that Sentinels were THE elite fighting force of Remus, the absolute best of the best. I didn¡¯t think I wanted to give them a good look into what our top-end could do.


    Heck, mentioning that Night was a vampire was probably going too far to boot. I was a little surprised that they hadn¡¯t asked about the word. Were there more vampires around? I¡¯d need to let Night know. They knew we had some floating around, and he couldn¡¯t do mysterious strikes, hit and runs with total confusion.


    I wanted to stop examining everything through the lens of a war. It was painful, and saddening to think about. Trade, and the exchange of ideas is what I wanted. Peace and harmony.


    Still. I was being looked at differently. Like I¡¯d shown them I was a walking arsenal.


    Which, to be fair, I was. I puffed up slightly at the realization.


    I hadn¡¯t quite put it together, but I had almost single-handedly taken out a level 750 Royal Guard. I wouldn¡¯t deny that Sealing had helped, not only trapping, but probably weakening the Royal Guard, in a 1v1 combat that was his prime ¨C but I¡¯d done the damage in the end.


    I was fully charged up, and had used almost none of my other gems. Only [Feather fall] was out of commission, and given how rare it was for me to fall out of the sky, I didn¡¯t have more than the one. Usually because I could see clouds coming, break my own fall with [Mantle of the Stars], and I ended up back at Ranger HQ often enough to recharge the gem if I did end up using it.


    Gems were expensive, and [Feather Fall] barely pulled its weight in the first place. The price to reward ratio on additional [Feather Fall] gems simply wasn¡¯t there.


    Of course, I¡¯d just jinxed it, and I expected to see myself getting blown out of the sky any day now.


    Focus.


    Holy shit my focus was bad today. Too much time around people and being diplomatic had destroyed my ability to properly focus. I was an introvert, dammit, and I needed recharge time.


    The topic veered off into some more light chit-chat, as nature decided she wanted to give me a ring. I¡¯d been going for hours non-stop after all.


    ¡°Excuse me.¡± I asked politely. ¡°Could someone point me to the restroom?¡±


    The dwarves glanced at each other.


    ¡°Commander Briga Glof the 90th.¡± Woven said, formally. ¡°I request permission to have leave, and get back to my work. I can show Healer Elaine the 94th where the bathrooms are.¡±


    Briga thought about it for a quick moment.


    ¡°Granted.¡±


    Woven got up from the table, beckoning me to follow, which I happily did, leaving my backpack behind.


    Everything important was on me, after all.


    A twist and a turn, and Woven pointed down one last hallway.


    ¡°End of the hallway, turn left, they¡¯re right there. Impossible to miss.¡± She said, and I thanked her, heading down the wooden hallway, turning left.


    Impossible to miss, yes.


    Impossible to figure out as well.


    Two heavily stylized trees were on two doors, each one clearly a restroom. It probably made perfect sense to the native inhabitants which one was the men¡¯s room and which one was the women¡¯s room. Naturally one of the trees was obviously male, and the other obviously female.


    Pretty sure trees had a sex. Nature would know for sure.


    Heck, Nature probably could easily guess.


    Just how had I ended up here!?


    There was no way I was going back to the meeting room and asking for help with the bathroom. No way on Pallos was I going to embarrass myself like that.


    Well. 50-50 chance, and I picked one at random to enter.


    Thankfully, it was a single-person bathroom.


    Less thankfully, it was confusing as hell.


    There were two holes in the wall, and one hole on the floor. A chain from above, a slider, a button, and a lever met my eyes.


    What.


    The.


    Fuck.


    45 minutes later, I opened the door a crack. Seeing nobody around, I quickly darted out, and closed the door, briskly walking away from the scene of the crime.


    They¡¯d probably be able to figure out it was me, but I wasn¡¯t going to stick around for someone to point a finger at me. Time and distance and all that.


    The building was laid out in a logical, military manner, which made navigating the paneled hallways easy. I went back to the meeting room directly, kinda surprised that they just let me wander around without an escort. Either they were incredibly lax, or hospitality was taken incredibly seriously here. Perhaps, because I had accepted their hospitality, it was assumed I wouldn¡¯t do anything bad to them?


    I needed to know more.


    I made it back to the room. Tilruk had come back, and everyone else had left. My ¡°short break¡± had been anything but. I couldn¡¯t really expect everyone to hang around for me, although they¡¯d probably gotten a strong chance to talk about me or something.


    Why did they even have a lever for that?!


    ¡°Healer Elaine the 94th.¡± Tilruk said. ¡°Commander Briga Glof the 90th would like to see you in her office.¡±


    More wooden navigation. I was spending so much time around wood I was starting to see subtly different shades in the color of the wood that made up the building. It probably meant something.


    We made it back to her office without incident, where Tilruk knocked on the door.


    ¡°Healer Elaine the 94th to see you.¡± He announced me.


    Briga looked up from her desk, as my eyes ended up locked on her bookshelf. I know I should probably be looking at her, but books! At long last!


    I had to figure out a way to get a few.


    ¡°Healer Elaine the 94th.¡± Briga politely greeted me, standing up from her desk. ¡°It was a pleasure to meet you.¡±


    ¡°Likewise!¡± I said.


    ¡°We had a discussion about you, and would like to propose a plan, if it suits you.¡± She said.


    ¡°Sure, what¡¯s the plan?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You coming, and the existence of, ah,¡± Briga quickly flipped through her notes on her desk. ¡°Remus, is a much larger event than I¡¯m prepared to handle.¡±


    I nodded. Made sense. If I didn¡¯t have the Sentinel title, it would be entirely outside of my ability to handle.


    Ok, fine, it was totally outside my ability to handle. My Sentinel title only gave me some legitimacy. I could, somewhat, a little, speak for the government.


    The Senate would throw a hissy fit if they knew, but Sentinels had a lot of leeway. We could get yelled at, pay docked, but, end of the day, if Night thought we¡¯d acted somewhat rationally, we were protected.


    What were they going to do, lose one of the guardians of the Republic? Not have the right people when the next disaster hit, one so large that a Ranger team couldn¡¯t handle? Especially after we¡¯d just lost a number of Sentinels?


    Nah. ¡°Don¡¯t start a major war¡± was the bar I needed to clear, and it wouldn¡¯t be too hard if I shut up, stayed polite, and figured out how the bloody heck those bathrooms worked.


    ¡°We¡¯d like to send you to the capital with a strong escort, so you can talk with someone much more important than I am.¡± Briga said.


    I thought about it a moment. It seemed like a totally reasonable request, and while it might be awkward getting back, having talked with someone important seemed like a win.


    Although, maybe I should stay? Wait until a [Diplomat] or someone showed up? Then again, what [Diplomat]s were there, anyways? It wasn¡¯t like Remus regularly engaged in foreign relations.


    I suppose inter-city conflicts counted. Or guild conflicts. Or¡­


    Ok, fine, there were probably a bunch.


    Still, the pros outweighed the cons. Like, be polite, be nice, go along with what they wanted for the most part. They want me to break bread, dip it in salt, and eat it? Sure! They want me to use a confusing bathroom? Why not! They want me to travel to the capital to meet bigwigs? I see no reason not to!


    I think? I wasn¡¯t the right person for this at all. Less likely to start a war by agreeing to just about any reasonable request though. ¡°Give me all your stuff//tell me all of Night¡¯s skills//Give us your all-access Sentinel badge¡± ¨C hells to the no, and I¡¯d fight them if they insisted.


    But ¡°Go meet a bigwig¡± seemed totally fine.


    I wished I had some way of contacting Hunting, or whatever other person showed up, and letting them know what was going on. Thinking about it, it was unlikely that they¡¯d send Hunting, not with the way the dwarves had tried to react with extreme violence towards him, just for being what he was.


    ¡°I should probably leave a letter, explaining where I¡¯ve gone if anyone else shows up looking for me.¡± I said.


    ¡°How will they know it¡¯s from you?¡± Briga asked me.


    I shrugged.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you have a [Scribe] who can make authentic signatures or something? They know what my signature looks like.¡±


    I¡¯d shoved enough Medical Manuscripts in the Sentinel¡¯s faces, and I¡¯d authenticated more things besides. It wouldn¡¯t be too hard to prove it was me.


    Some quick arrangements later, and I was writing a letter, awkwardly standing in Briga¡¯s office as I did so.


    To whom it may concern,


    There is a 10,000 coin reward for getting this letter to a Sentinel.


    I, Sentinel Dawn, am journeying deeper into the dwarven land. They¡¯d like me to meet with some of their leadership, just as an initial meeting of sorts. I don¡¯t see any reason not to. I¡¯ve been well-treated so far, and believe a friendship is in the future.


    From what I¡¯ve found out so far, the dwarves are strong traditionalists. Following along with what they want to ¡®traditionally¡¯ do makes them happy.


    We live in something called the ¡®dead zone¡¯, which ¡®eats¡¯ experience. We¡¯ve all been getting dramatically reduced experience our entire life. I¡¯ve been leveling up like I was level 80 ever since I got here. Worth exploring the edges of the dead zone, and getting out.


    With us being in the dead zone, the dwarves have no desire to expand towards us, or be in conflict with us. However, their defensive position is powerful enough that, according to them, the Formorians gave up entirely on attacking them.


    With that being said, the guards on the wall here have the level of an experienced Ranger, although I suspect they don¡¯t have the same quality or richness of experience that a Ranger would have. Being in the dead zone means that we take significantly longer to level, which means we have more achievements by the time we class up, which gets us better classes, which has a positive accumulation effect that the dwarves lack.


    They are masters of wood, able to carve and shape it however they please. I strongly recommend attempting to form polite relations with them, and trade with them. They¡¯re fascinated by the gems I have, and given their complex relationship with mining, I suspect gems, like moonstones, would sell extraordinarily well here. By the same token, they¡¯ve found a way to cultivate and grow all sorts of magical woods, which we don¡¯t have in Remus.


    I¡¯ll be doing my best to get back after meeting with some of their leaders back in the capital. Leaving this letter to let you know that I¡¯m ok.


    Let my family know that I¡¯m OK.


    Cheers!


    Sentinel Dawn


    Elaine


    ¡°Moonstone¡± was my way of saying ¡°Yes, everything is totally ok.¡± ¡°Sunstone¡± was my ¡°Problem¡± word, AKA I was being forced to write the letter.


    Including neither would just cause confusion. On someone like Hunting, we¡¯d assume the letter was being dictated to him.


    With me, Night would probably just assume I¡¯d forgotten.


    We each used the gems corresponding to our elements. It¡¯d be totally natural for me to mention that I¡¯d blown through half the [Nova]¡¯s in my Sunstones, for example. Which would let them know not all was kosher.


    Which didn¡¯t matter, because everything was kosher.


    ¡°All set?¡± Briga asked me as I signed with a flourish, the [Scribe]¡¯s skills giving my name the distinct signature.


    I opened my mouth to say ¡°Sure!¡±, then closed it, and eyed Briga¡¯s bookcase.


    ¡°No chance I could get a few books for the road, is there?¡± I asked with an impish grin.

 Chapter 180 – Dwarves V

    Briga had quickly realized that, given enough books, I would happily stay in the room I¡¯d been given and not cause mischief.


    Even me wandering around caused mischief. Not only did Briga decide that I needed a full escort of guards, it wasn¡¯t quite clear who was being guarded.


    The crazy human wants to wander around? Ok, sure ¨C but what to do when the crazy human wants to poke her head into the armory, out of sheer, bored curiosity?


    Do we say no, and risk a diplomatic incident? Do we say yes, and risk her killing herself?


    All in all, bored, curious, and enough firepower to level a building was a bad combination, and for the low, low price of a few of Briga¡¯s less-loved novels, I was out of everyone¡¯s hair. I get books, Briga avoids headaches, hurray!


    And oh, to read books again! Tasty, delicious morsels to devour, sweeter than any mango. Lasted longer to boot. I could read again!


    I wasn¡¯t a careful, patient reader. I wanted to read the books, and I wanted to read them now. Briga had lent me five books, probably figuring that it¡¯d take me a day per book, with a few extras for me to have some variety and choice.


    However, I was a well-rested Radiance mage, which meant that even when the glimwood dimmed as the sun set, I could turn on my own reading light, and read far into the night.


    Unfortunately, that also had a chef profusely apologizing to me, as I neglected to eat the food that had been brought to me.


    ¡°Oh generous Healer Elaine, are you most certain that the food is to your liking?¡± The chef ¨C whose name I missed in his rushed introduction ¨C wrung his hands nervously.


    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s totally tasty!¡± I protested, around a mouthful of cheese and bread.


    Fondue. They had fondue here! Tasty, delicious, decadent cheese, with little cuts of bread on dippers! Dip in the bread, swirl it around, and mmmm! Delicious! Magic kept the timber bowl both warm, and unburnt. There were some spices in the mix that I couldn¡¯t quite identify, and it was sheer bliss.


    I swallowed, and continued on.


    ¡°I¡¯d just been so busy reading, I totally lost track of time, and meals.¡± I said, raising the book I¡¯d stubbornly kept in my hand while eating one-handedly.


    Look, it took time to get a bookmark, put the book down, then pick it back up and find the page again. Time that could¡¯ve been spent reading instead!


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± He asked again. I wanted to sigh, roll my eyes, and throw him out of the room so I could eat fondue AND read at the same time in peace. Instead of placating the chef.


    However.


    Politeness, social niceties, and being diplomatic, AKA not starting a war, meant that I had to talk with the dwarf, and reassure him that, yes, everything was AOK. I was fairly certain that snubbing the chef wouldn¡¯t result in a war, but then again, Pastos had started over something almost as small.


    I was already in the history books for Pastos. I wasn¡¯t going to go in the history books as the starter of ¡°The Great Fondue War¡±.


    Small talk and ego management it was!


    I hated ego management. Especially when the thrilling adventures of Carpenter Durin awaited! He was currently imprisoned deep in the orc¡¯s dungeon, but had a tiny amount of wood that he¡¯d smuggled in. I was pretty sure he¡¯d be whittling a tiny key to escape with, but who knew! He could¡¯ve come up with something even cleverer to escape with!


    I finally got the chef to leave me alone by asking him for a dozen pots of fondue for the road, which seemed to properly reassure him that everything was good, and I was happy.


    Back to Durin!


    The foolish and slovenly orcs had left him a bed and a bench in his cell, naturally made out of wood, which he carved into a full suit of armor, weapons, and a shield. He then carved the tiny chunk of wood that he¡¯d smuggled in into a pick, to pop the hinges of the jail and break out, slaying all the captors, and rescuing the girl with the bushiest, best-groomed beard.


    The quality of writing wasn¡¯t that great. Like. Why did he need to carefully bring in some wood if half the cell was made out of it? Did the author really expect me to believe that orcs were so dumb that they put the hinges inside the cells? However, I wasn¡¯t going to complain. It¡¯d been so long since I¡¯d read any book that I¡¯d take a child¡¯s book using less than 50 total different words.


    However, it was a fascinating insight to how dwarven culture worked. Nothing spoke more strongly to a culture, and what they believed was right and wrong, than their popular works of art.


    Oedipus was a great example from the Greeks, and the values they espoused. Similarly, I was getting glimpses of dwarven culture and values from reading.


    Of all things, [Learning] leveled up from all my reading. I¡¯d also gotten a [Persistent Casting] level, just from my already-on casts, and keeping [Shine] on in the evenings when I was reading.


    Which had leveled up. Three times.


    It was absurd how easy levels were coming to me again. It was completely and totally unfair. I¡¯d spent my whole life on hard mode!?


    If nothing else, the dead zone information was critical. I was happy I¡¯d written the letter to Night, although I hoped the Senate didn¡¯t get the idea in their head to try something dumb like invade.


    [Sunrise] had leveled up a good amount, but that was probably more because it was low level and I was spamming the heck out of it. Still hadn¡¯t gotten a good chance to practice [Solar Infusion].


    ¡°Hey, go get yourself hurt¡± could easily end poorly, and I was trying to avoid problems.


    Either way, I needed to be practically dragged away from my books when the time came to leave for the dwarven capital.


    I made my way out with my gear, to a large, open-air wagon, pulled by two massive yaks. There were seven dwarves in total, all of them as tall as I was, but twice as thick, stocky, and covered in various degrees of wooden armor. Some had what I¡¯d consider to be ¡°heavy¡± armor, while others were lighter. Seemed like a case of convergent logic, where both humans and dwarves had a level of agreement of how much armor should be on what type of Classer. I saw Tilruk, and six more dwarves I didn¡¯t recognize.


    Tilruk was back, doing the introductions.


    ¡°Everyone, this is Healer Elaine the 94th. Saying this once more. She¡¯s a high-ranking member of her government, and your mission is to safely escort her to the capital, so she can meet with the clan leaders. Healer Elaine the 94th, these dwarves will be your escort. They are one of the best teams we could assemble. First, the leader is Lule, the 89th.¡±


    ¡°Charmed to meet ya.¡± She said, extending her hand out. I shook it, giving her a critical look.


    Frizzy red hair hung around a warm, smiling face, a pair of gentle brown eyes with the strength of a mountain behind them, dominated what little of her face could be seen behind her beard. She was showing up as a mage, and a strong one to boot. I wasn¡¯t quite sure, because I didn¡¯t quite have the experience needed, but I was guessing around level 380 or 390.


    Obviously, they were taking this seriously, and bringing their A-game.


    ¡°This is Warrior Fik the 86th.¡± Tilruk introduced the next dwarf. My eyebrow quirked up in surprise at hearing the low generation number. It was something like every 50 years or so was a new generation, which meant he was, what? 8 generations behind me? Like, 450 years old or something?


    Wow.


    Unkempt silver hair framed eyes that made me think of Arthur¡¯s, which made me think he was a Forest element. His gear spoke towards expecting heavy fighting, like he¡¯d be in the thick of things. His beard was just as messy as the hair on his head, and he gave me a polite, formal bow.


    ¡°Healer Elaine the 94th.¡± He stiffly said. ¡°You grace us with your presence, and I wish to invite you to break bread and share salt with us.¡±


    Lule rolled her eyes at him.


    ¡°Healer Elaine will be sharing lots of bread with us, I¡¯m sure. Is this the time or the place?¡± She gently rebuked Fik.


    He glared back at her, and sniffed.


    ¡°Tradition is to be maintained at all times.¡± He said, practically with his nose in the air.


    Oookaaay then. I¡¯ve found the dwarf who knows all the traditions, and seems to be super-traditional even by dwarfish standards. If I have any questions on traditions, I should ask him.


    If I can ever figure out the traditional way to ask.


    ¡°Fik, I know you¡¯re retiring this run, but can you just¡­ keep it simple for this?¡± Tilruk asked, somewhat pained.


    More sniffing.


    ¡°I suppose there isn¡¯t a traditional method to handling¡­ humans¡­ I shall endeavor to create sensible traditions.¡±


    Everyone else in the circle groaned at that. I mentally bumped him up a few notches in my ¡°pain in the rear¡± chart.


    He was a [Warrior], around level¡­ 340? Hard to estimate. Went down a few notches, comparing his generation and level to Lule¡¯s generation and level.


    Although maybe Lule was an outlier?


    ¡°Moving on!¡± Tilruk said, clearly trying to regain control of the conversation. ¡°Warrior Drin the 89th. Scout Glifir the 90th. Mage Toke the 90th. Healer Ned the 92nd.¡± Tilruk said, pointing to each in turn, probably not wanting a repeat of the prior derailment.


    Or just wanted to get his job done and to get out of here.


    Drin was up first.


    [Warrior], with the gear to support that assumption. ¡°Normal¡± blue eyes, in so far that not having an element present was ¡°normal¡± at his level. At roughly 380 or so, not having an advanced element on his highest class seemed weird to me, although Ned didn¡¯t have an element either. Had his entire beard and hair in braids.


    Maybe they knew something I didn¡¯t about advanced elements?


    He was the first one to talk with me after Tilruk¡¯s introduction.


    ¡°A pleasure!¡± He said, shaking my hand. ¡°Long shot, but you wouldn¡¯t happen to have any bugs from Remus, would you?¡± He asked me.


    I was no [Diplomat]. I couldn¡¯t carefully school my expression, not when thrown a curveball like that.


    ¡°What?¡± I asked, somewhat stupidly.


    ¡°Bugs, you know! Little critters, beautiful things. Usually have six legs and wings.¡±


    I stuck my finger in my ear and rubbed it around. I was sure I was mishearing him. Or there was a language barrier, or linguistic drift that I was encountering for the first time. Language had been flawless up until now, but there was always a chance.


    Lule buried her head in her hands.


    ¡°Ye lot couldn¡¯t have kept the lid on being weird for half a day? A quarter of a day? No?¡±


    I looked at Lule in confusion. She gave me a pitying look back.


    ¡°Aye, he¡¯s that mad about bugs.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, see!¡± Drin said, pulling out a jar, and popping the lid open. A golden substance met my eye. ¡°Tree sap¡¯s great for preserving bugs in! I¡¯ve got a whole collection!¡±


    Well. I had encountered a lot of bugs on my travels, and this seemed like a chance to make some sort of connection. I smiled at Drin.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got the Kadan Jungle, with almost endless types of bugs. Maybe you¡¯d like to travel there some day?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Sounds fun!¡± He answered back.


    ¡°Scout Glifir!¡± Glifir happily butted in. ¡°Got a map of Remus?¡±


    Glifir¡¯s eyes were glittering and reflective, in a subtle way. I initially guessed Mirror, but quickly revised my guess to Ice after a few moments. A [Ranger] was his [Identify], and crazy high to boot. Around level 400? A hair under?


    Hard to tell. I didn¡¯t have a lot of experience [Identify]ing people that high level. I should check if tradition allowed me to ask, and get better at figuring out high level people.


    Hey. Some elements were tricky to work out. Like Maximus¡¯s now-infamous mixing up of Hesoid¡¯s Miasma and Decay eyes.


    ¡°Nope!¡± I said. ¡°Might be able to draw you one though.¡± I said, then instantly regretted opening my big, fat mouth.


    [Pristine Memories], combined with a map back at Ranger HQ meant that, yeah, I could make a damn good effort at a full map of Remus. Except giving a full, detailed map of everything might be a bad idea. Be good for leveling up [Pristine Memories] though.


    I was going to murder Hunting when I got back. The longer I stayed, the worse the idea of me acting as a diplomat/first contact seemed.


    Hopefully I could show off my healing. Everyone liked healers.


    Fortunately for me, I¡¯d never practiced drawing. My map was going to make a 3-year-old with crayons look like an artistic genius.


    ¡°That¡¯d be great!¡± Glifir grabbed my hand and enthusiastically pumped it.


    Mage Toke came to my rescue.


    ¡°Healer Elaine! Wonderful to meet you! I¡¯m looking forward to this trip together!¡± She said, taking my hand and pumping it furiously. Her blue eyes, set narrowly within their sockets, contained a murky darkness, and her brown, wavy hair was pulled back into a neat ponytail. She¡¯d gone for the ¡°woven¡± style with her beard, and at some point I needed to ask what the different styles meant.


    If anything.


    If I could somehow find the traditional way to ask.


    Whoever the Senate eventually sent over was going to need the patience of a saint, and the memory of an elephant. This was crazy.


    Then again, I suppose that¡¯s what I was for? To get a rough feel of things, and let people back home know what was what?


    Either way, Toke was a [Mage], and from the looks of it, roughly in the middle, around level 360 or so.


    I turned to the last member of the group, Healer Ned.


    ¡°Greetings, Healer Elaine the 94th.¡± He mechanically (woodenly?) said to me, saluting with the strange half-clap.


    ¡°Greetings, Healer Ned the 92nd.¡± I replied back, mentally giggling. I was the same level as he was! And he didn¡¯t have fancy eyes!


    [*Ding!* [Identify] leveled up! 151 -> 152]


    While it was nice to level [Identify] up, gaining an extra half a meter on the range didn¡¯t seem like it¡¯d do much for me.


    Blonde, shaggy hair was under tight control, while Ned¡¯s beard was neatly combed, but otherwise unornamented.


    ¡°Right! Reiterating a bit, Healer Elaine, our sole mission is to escort you to the capital. Please, come and take a seat, permit us to be your protectors and wardens.¡± Lule said, the last part in a ritual tone of voice I was coming to recognize as Tradition, with a capital T.


    ¡°Why thank you, I¡¯d be delighted to have you as my protectors and wardens.¡± I said, climbing up into the open-air cart.


    The cart not having a top felt all manner of wrong to me, grated at every instinct I had. Still, when in Rome¡­


    Ned took a seat opposite to me ¨C clearly, being a healer had some small privileges at least ¨C and Fik took the reins of the yaks.


    Yaks. Still couldn¡¯t get over that.


    With a sharp snap of his wrist, the cart started to move, with the remaining four dwarves ¨C Leader Lule, Mage Teko, Warrior Drin, and Scout Glifir taking positions around the cart. It was clear that I was the VIP, with a comfy seat and no work to do.


    I could get used to traveling in style.


    We almost immediately went from ¡°military outpost¡± to ¡°deep forest¡± in like, 40 steps. It was quite something.


    Glifir looked to Lule, who nodded at him. He jogged off into the woods, scouting I assumed. The remaining three dwarves changed how they were walking, moving to form a triangle around the cart.


    The rest of the cart had chests and crates of supplies, and a medium-sized package literally had my name on it.


    I decided now was as good of a time of any to mentally review what equipment I had, and what was in the package with my name on it. My bet was tasty, tasty fondue. I had promised the chef I¡¯d take some with me.


    First off, most importantly, was my armor. Vambraces, containing my gem supply. I was out my [Feather Fall] gem, but I still had dozens of utility gems, and dozens more [Nova]¡¯s. I felt confident in my ability to handle most single-monster threats with them.


    Attacks by multiple powerful creatures, I was less sure about, but then again, I wasn¡¯t exactly a fearsome combatant. I¡¯d probably just try to fly away.


    Among my utility gems, I¡¯d had some time to review, revise, and otherwise swap gems out slightly from the standard set. I¡¯d dumped [Light] ages ago ¨C I was a Radiance mage, I could make my own light ¨C but kept [Gust], [Water Conjuration], [Shocking Paralysis], [Watery Manacles], [Brilliant Barrier], [Mana Void], [Tracks-be-gone], [Tripwire Alarm], [Summon Knife], [Cast Scream], [Invisibility with eyeholes], [Muffle], [Amplify Voice], [Wall Buster], and [Curse Breaker]. I¡¯d also dropped [Revealing Radiance], since it was [Shine] with a different name.


    Instead, after my massive success with [Invisibility with eyeholes], I¡¯d picked up a few more gems, and gotten Magic to charge them.


    Which made me want to use them all the less. It was one of my last mementos of him, physical proof that he¡¯d existed.


    I could probably trade out [Mana Void] for something else, now that I had [Solar Infusion]. Which I needed to practice.


    I also needed to chat with Ned, trade medical knowledge. I¡¯d like to think my knowledge was unmatched, buuuuut I could be wrong.


    Nah. Secretly I was hoping for the chance to show him up massively, and demonstrate who the better healer was. Both of us at exactly the same level? I had to compare notes. My class quality was probably better, but he had two whole classes dedicated to the art, while I just had the one. I was pretty sure I¡¯d win ¨C the powerful, top of the class healer wasn¡¯t sent to the boring frontlines, while I was the pinnacle of humanity, but hey! I could be wrong.


    I wasn¡¯t usually this competitive, but¡­ eh.


    Moving onto the rest of my gear. Lamellar vest flowed into a tough leather skirt, studded with metal. Most of my Arcanite was woven into the chest piece, easy to access and pull from. Also easy to remember where it was, when I needed to maintain my gear. Shin guards protected my sandals, which was super important. No sandal meant no flying, and I¡¯d still found few threats that could properly take down a flier.


    I had a helmet, which had helped block a Spitter¡¯s attack. It wasn¡¯t looking in great shape.


    All of my armor had inscriptions running through them. Inscriptions for strength, for speed, toughness and dexterity. It boosted me, and was unnaturally difficult to damage.


    In theory.


    In practice, anything that was able to get to me, and meant me harm, could probably shear right through it. Then again, it did stop and help with minor attacks, usually of the overwhelming variety. It was good for dealing with a boulder exploding near me, and a hail of pebbles raining down on me. The armor would neatly deflect most of it.


    For that matter, while I¡¯d worked out most of the kinks, there was only so much I could do, and the armor still had dozens of scrapes and dents from when I went sky diving out of the Pegasus. I was going to keep my mouth shut about that, so the dwarves wouldn¡¯t laugh themselves silly and tell me about how wood was oh-so-superior.


    Weapons. Sword at my hip, spear attached to my bag. I didn¡¯t have my knife, because when Brawling had burst in my room informing me that it was GO TIME, I wasn¡¯t exactly grabbing my full kit ¨C just my ¡°fight right now¡± kit. I hadn¡¯t drilled with the sword and the spear since coming here. Didn¡¯t want to give anyone the wrong idea. Was my weapon of last resort, although it worked decently as a threat. If I pointed a finger at someone, they¡¯d just laugh, or not get it.


    Pointing a sword? Universal gesture. Could also help in a desperate situation. Like if a Mirror monster attacked me.


    Heck, a level 60 Mirror monster would give me trouble. Hence backups.


    My bag had rope, a trowel, my horribly abused shield attached to it, packages of field rations and water bottles, half eaten down from the trip across the Formorian lands. A bedroll, a canvas, a small metal skillet, and some fire making supplies helped round out my gear. I was fully confident in my ability to survive in the wilderness for extended periods of time, especially when it was forest, with wild animals that could be eaten and such, and not a barren wasteland.


    Lastly, the pendant mom had gotten me for my awakening day. I¡¯d worn it basically non-stop ever since, although I¡¯d needed to replace the leather cord a few times now. I knew more now, and while I knew it didn¡¯t have any sort of inscriptions or anything, I still kept it and wore it. For luck. For protection.


    I opened up the package addressed to me, to round out my supply check. Six large sealed wooden containers met my eye, clearly the chef¡¯s fondue in easy-travel-mode. I noticed Ned giving them a jealous look.


    I¡¯d share one, and see if he¡¯d open up.


    Shame we didn¡¯t have one more ¨C I could give one to everyone. The way to the heart was through the stomach, after all.


    No pesky sternum in the way.


    At the bottom, there were a few more books. Briga had clearly seen how effective keeping me entertained was ¨C completely out of trouble ¨C and had gone the extra mile to keep me entertained, and out of trouble, while I was heading back to the capital.


    They would have a lot of trouble trying to explain to Night that they¡¯d misplaced me. Ooooh, Night would not be happy to learn that they¡¯d lost one of his precious Sentinels. There would be more than a few violent words at that.


    I glanced through the titles of the books Briga had sent to me, my cheeks burning up as I read one of the covers.


    Oh.


    OH.


    I don¡¯t think she meant to include that one!

 Chapter 181 – Dwarves VI

    The seven of us traveled along the dirt road, deeper into the forest, and deeper into the dwarven country. The trees only grew bigger, and the forest became denser as we made our way along the ever-winding road.


    I¡¯d been a Ranger, and a Sentinel, far too long. My instincts were constantly reminding me that, with the poor light filtering in through the canopy, that my regeneration was likely cut, and that I wouldn¡¯t be able to fly around if needed.


    I eyed the sunbeams again, mentally amending the statement.


    I¡¯d need to jump from sunbeam to sunbeam, like a spider swinging from one part of her web to another, if we got into a fight. Also, a stiff breeze would make it all go haywire¡­


    I should just stick to the ground.


    I wondered what Nolgord was, what the system of government was. SOMEONE had to be in charge of making the roads, after all, and traditionally it was a government that did it. Pooling resources to do stuff no one person could do and all that. Roads were the classic example.


    Kingdom? Empire? Republic? Clans? Some other form of government that I was unfamiliar with? I should find out at some point. Some basic, simple questions like that I hadn¡¯t bothered to ask, but now found myself wondering about.


    Speaking of roads, their roads were significantly worse than Remus¡¯s roads. I didn¡¯t ask, because I didn¡¯t want to seem to be showing them up, but if I had to guess, the dwarves'' border wasn¡¯t exactly high priority, and wood rotted and decayed over time. The sheer expense needed to make the roads out of wood and maintain them would be ruinous, and the money could be better spent elsewhere.


    That, or they just didn¡¯t care, not with the excellent craftsmanship of the wagon. I¡¯d take the dwarves oh-so-comfortable ride on the dirt roads over the Ranger¡¯s wagon on Remus¡¯s stone roads.


    I eyed a root in the road, carefully watching it as the yaks pulled the cart over the root. I didn¡¯t feel a thing! If I hadn¡¯t been carefully watching, I would¡¯ve never known it was there.


    All of the dwarves except for Ned were busy scouting around, guarding the cart, and generally gossiping with each other. I tried briefly to listen into their conversation.


    ¡°¡­ thought she could order me around! Me! When I¡¯m of the 87th generation, and she¡¯s of the 93rd!¡± Fik said, working himself up.


    ¡°Not even a carpenter. The audacity of it all.¡± Drin muttered into his beard, to nodding heads all around.


    Ooookay then. I had absolutely nothing to contribute to the conversation, although I¡¯m sure I¡¯d learn a ton from listening in.


    Ned was sitting in the cart with me, which I was guessing was special treatment for healers. I hadn¡¯t seen him and Lule discuss anything about what he was supposed to do, he just jumped right into the cart like he belonged, and she hadn¡¯t said a word about it. I assumed it was because he was a healer.


    At the same time, nothing about him screamed that he was wealthy. Almost every healer I¡¯d met ¨C myself included ¨C could be described as upper class, by sheer virtue of our class and skills. Even I still looked wealthy, having an entire set of armor, woven with dozens and dozens of gems and Arcanite crystals.


    There were no such signs on Ned. My first guess was that since he was stationed at the border wall, he was part of the military. Since he was part of the military, he wasn¡¯t being paid as well, or wasn¡¯t able to properly display his wealth ¨C just like healers at the frontlines.


    However, the veneration, respect, social standing, and how they were letting him get away with doing almost nothing, made me think that he was being ¡°paid¡± with social standing and status, instead of money.


    Which was an interesting way of doing it. It meant that every dwarf could access medical care and attention, for the price of some politeness. It would explain why the dwarves all seemed to be on their best manners around me. Not only was I acting as a de facto diplomat, but I was a healer to boot.


    ¡°Hey Ned.¡± I called out to the other healer.


    I got a stinkeye, and a stare.


    ¡°Healer Elaine the 94th. Is there something I can help you with?¡± He asked me.


    I blinked, taken aback.


    ¡°Um. What¡¯s up?¡± I asked him, somewhat lamely. I just wanted to try making some small talk.


    ¡°Trees.¡± He curtly replied, crossing his arms and looking at me like I was a moron.


    Fine, fine. Either he didn¡¯t like me for some reason ¨C entirely possible ¨C or I¡¯d screwed up some tradition thing, and he was mad about that.


    Like¡­ oh shoot, I hadn¡¯t said his title or his generation when I called out to him. All other conversations started with that.


    Mentally facepalming, I made a mental note to do that every time I started a conversation with one of the dwarves. I wasn¡¯t about to try and restart the conversation though.


    ¡°Healer Ned the 92nd.¡± Lule said, with an unamused voice. ¡°Be polite to our guest.¡± She rebuked him.


    Which had him looking even grumpier.


    Well. There wasn¡¯t going to be a conversation here. There wasn¡¯t anything for it, but to dig into the new books Briga sent me.


    I put the extra-special book to the side ¨C no way was I reading that in front of everyone ¨C picked up A Tale of Two Trees, turned on a small [Shine] and tied it off with [Persistent Casting] to have permanent light, and started reading.


    I was only reading for a moment, and the cart was already coming to a stop. I turned off [Shine], and looked around me, blinking as I tried to adjust to the much darker light levels.


    I glanced up, seeing the dusky sky high above. There was no way I¡¯d been reading that long, right¡­?


    I glanced down at my book. My now 3/4ths read book.


    Whoops.


    I hurriedly packed it away, and got up.


    ¡°Hey, Leader Lule the 89th!¡± I called out, carefully making sure I gave her title and generation.


    She turned to me, axe in one hand.


    ¡°Healer Elaine the 94th.¡± She politely said. ¡°Is there something I can do for you?¡± She asked.


    I half shrugged.


    ¡°I mean, I¡¯d like to help. Just tell me what you need me to do!¡± I said, years of experience with the Rangers and training at Academy prompting me. Everyone pitched in, barring unusual circumstances, like injury, sheer exhaustion, or any number of other factors. None of which seemed to apply here, and many hands made light work.


    Lule looked at me with a frown on her face, tapping one foot against the ground.


    ¡°On one hand, we¡¯re supposed to be doing what you want, within reason.¡± She slowly said, clearly thinking out loud. ¡°On the other, it¡¯s all sorts of wrong to have you work on this¡­¡± She said, trailing off.


    I thought fast.


    ¡°Because of Tradition?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Aye. And who ever heard of the VIP digging a latrine?¡± She agreed amiably with me.


    ¡°Would it be easier for you if I¡­ didn¡¯t help?¡± I forced the heretical words out of my mouth, in the interest of having things go easily, and keeping everyone happy.


    Well, everyone but me. I was willing to sacrifice a bit of happiness to keep everyone else happy though. Greater good and all that. Was kinda built into me with how I picked up healing as my vocation. Probably should double check that I wasn¡¯t being too selfless at some point.


    Still, I didn¡¯t want to step on their honor or their pride or I-don¡¯t-know-what by insisting I help and awkwardly inserting myself into their system. So, I sat in the cart and watched.


    It was fascinating.


    Rangers would¡¯ve set up tents, a perimeter, a campfire, and a watch. The dwarves were setting up a campsite as well, with one notable, major difference.


    They were building a lean-to, on the spot. It seemed way too big for us though.


    Drin and Fik were doing the heavy lifting. They went out into the forest with their axes ¨C the same ones they¡¯d kept near them all day as they escorted me ¨C and with a mighty crash, a medium-sized tree was felled, and they got to work. Branches were hacked off, Glifir further measured and cut, and Lule, despite being the team leader, followed Teko¡¯s directions when and where to put logs roughly into position. Once a log was in place, Toke worked some of her magic ¨C her second element obviously being Wood ¨C and the log would bind to its neighbors.


    Ned just stayed with me in the cart, practically with his nose in the air.


    I didn¡¯t like Ned much.


    The lean-to ¨C now much closer to a full cabin ¨C sprang up over the course of almost two hours, as I watched with open-jawed amazement. A careful fire was lit, and at that, Ned left the wagon and seated himself around the fire.


    He was sitting on the ground, and I figured I¡¯d just mirror what he did. Seemed to be safe, we were both healers.


    Also, I was glad that the impromptu carpentry seemed to be limited to walls and a ceiling. I don¡¯t think I could¡¯ve taken it if they made chairs, tables, the whole works. That¡¯d just be blatantly unfair.


    Ned looked around, muttered into his beard, and with great reluctance, went back to the cart, grabbed some rations and a skillet, and started cooking.


    I eyed him somewhat doubtfully. I couldn¡¯t tell if Ned was lazy, and reluctantly performing his task. I couldn¡¯t tell if he ¡®Traditionally¡¯ wasn¡¯t supposed to be cooking, and was bending for the sake of expediency. Or if he was just plain hungry, bored, or something else.


    It wasn¡¯t like I could ask him. ¡°Hey Ned, are you super lazy or what?¡± No, better keep my mouth shut.


    Soon enough, everything was built, and I started to make small talk with the rest of the dwarves as they came in one by one, having finished their tasks.


    Lule looked around, hands on her hips, standing above the rest of us while we ate and chatted.


    ¡°Good work all of ye.¡± She looked around the place. ¡°Goin¡¯ to be a wee bit cramped in here though.¡±


    I looked around. The place seemed cavernous enough. All of us would be able to sleep with our arms out, and not touch each other. What could¡­


    ¡°Drin the 89th.¡± Lule said, and with a grimace Drin got up and left.


    My confusion vanished as the yaks were brought inside, along with the wagon. Guess this is why it was more like a lean-to, with a fairly open side. Let the yaks in. I wrinkled my nose as their pungent smell hit me again.


    Well. I see why this was going to be cramped.


    Also, yak fur closeish to fire? I hoped the yaks had a fireproof coat.


    Still, the food was good! Ned¡¯s cooking was solid, and as much as I disliked him, I had to give him props for it.


    ¡°Mind if I go hunting tomorrow?¡± Glifir asked. ¡°Get something fresh for the pot?¡±


    ¡°Aye. Just make sure ye keep yer ears open. Don¡¯t go harryin¡¯ off, and forget about us.¡± Lule responded after a moment¡¯s thinking.


    Glifir got a huge grin on his face, and bumped his knuckles together in the way the dwarves saluted.


    We wrapped up dinner, and the evening entertainment began!


    Namely, me.


    ¡°Trade you a story.¡± Toke offered.


    Stories! I could totally do stories.


    I had so many stories.


    Actually ¨C I had a challenge for myself. I wanted to out-story all the dwarves.


    Combined.


    ¡°A long, long time ago, in a land far, far away¡­¡±


    Being the VIP was good, and bad.


    Good: I avoided the scut work like digging the latrine, and yikes, did the dwarves take their temporary latrines seriously. Not needing to dig one out though? A major win in my books.


    Bad: Lule insisted that herself or Toke escorted me to the latrine. Which was six different shades of embarrassing. At least it was a hole in the ground, and not one of their six-stage contraptions.


    I had figured out how the dwarven plumbing worked. Step 1 was to pick the right gender¡¯s bathroom. Steps 2-6 were natural results of that.


    Why dwarves decided that vomit needed its own hole, I¡¯ll never know.


    The latrine was bad enough. It was worse when we were on the road.


    ¡°Could I have some privacy? Please?¡± I begged Lule, Toke, and, for some reason, Ned.


    ¡°We¡¯ve gotta protect ya.¡± Lule said, a slight note of sympathy in her voice.


    ¡°Never know when a purlovia¡¯s going to get you. Or a raptor. Or a hellhound. Or a vermillion bird. Or a¡­¡±


    Lule smacked Ned over the head.


    ¡°Stop scarin¡¯ her! If a vermillion bird attacked, we¡¯d all be dead anyways.¡± Lule rebuked Ned.


    Which didn¡¯t stop the three of them from looking at me, looking around, as I squeezed my legs together.


    Cursing myself ten thousand times for removing the privacy aspects from [Mantle of the Stars], I still threw it up around me. Since it was now a mantle, and now somewhat flexible, I tried to layer it back on itself, like folding a piece of paper. Again. And again. And again.


    Then I said fuck it, and blasted a powerful [Shine] all around me. Sure, it sent up an ¡°Elaine¡¯s peeing here!¡± beacon for the whole world to see, but nobody could actually see me.


    Which only slightly mitigated the problem.


    [*Ding!* [Shine] has leveled up! 112 -> 113]

 Chapter 182 – Dwarves VII

    It only took a week for me to suspect that something was up. As a Sentinel, I was used to rapid, rapid deployments from A to B.


    Even as a Ranger, we quickly moved from place to place when needed.


    The lower level dwarves had similar levels to experienced Rangers, although the class quality and combat experience was less. Either way, the problem remained.


    We shouldn¡¯t be going this slowly!


    Yaks weren¡¯t exactly known for their high-speed moves, but as undignified as it was, there were a billion ways to go faster. Like, plain running. Or jogging.


    I decided to politely ask about this.


    ¡°Hey Lule.¡± I asked one morning, as the dwarves were bustling around getting everything packed up. To my great confusion, they completely took down the lean-to as well, letting it ¡°return to nature.¡±


    To each their own, but it did explain why there weren¡¯t a million lean-tos in various stages of decay all over the place.


    ¡°Healer Elaine the 94th.¡± Lule responded back, taking a few steps to be closer to me.


    I looked around, seeing the other dwarves. I refrained from sighing. No way would we be getting some privacy. I¡¯d try to be discreet about it though.


    ¡°Why are we moving so slowly?¡± I asked, mentally patting myself on the back for not accusing Lule of nefarious means. Diplomatic win!


    I got a long stare, followed by her shoulders slumping.


    ¡°Ah, you got us.¡± Lule said, cheer returning to her voice. ¡°We could¡¯ve moved you faster, that¡¯s true.¡±


    Goosebumps rose all over my arms, as I mentally marked where each of the dwarves was, and their capabilities.


    Ideally, I¡¯d hit Ned first, and hit him hard ¨C except I couldn¡¯t, not if he wasn¡¯t attacking me. The shadows meant that flying was almost impossible, although my higher regeneration was on.


    Toke was almost literally in her element, those being Dark and Wood. Being in some dark woods, well¡­


    ¡°We just wanted to show you all the good things we have in Nolgrod! More practically, the faster we move, the harder it is to give you a proper escort, and proper protection. It also,¡± Lule lowered her voice into a conspiratorial hush, as I leaned over to hear better. ¡°let us send a runner ahead to the capital, and give people more time to prepare for your arrival.¡±


    She thought a moment more.


    ¡°We can try to pick up the pace, if you¡¯d like?¡± She offered.


    I relaxed massively at that, and stopped cataloguing threats. That was all perfectly reasonable.


    I thought about it a moment, then shook my head.


    ¡°I leave the choice in your capable hands, Leader Lule the 89th.¡± I smiled at her.


    If there was something more nefarious at hand ¨C I felt well-equipped to handle it.


    Seemingly satisfied, Lule moved on.


    ¡°Hey Lule. Can you tell me about a Tradition of yours?¡± I asked her. ¡°I¡¯m trying to know more, and I figure this is a good time to ask.¡±


    ¡°What do you want to know?¡± She asked back. ¡°Usually takes us decades to figure them all out.¡± She said, chuckling at some private memory.


    I shrugged.


    ¡°I dunno. Anything?¡± I asked.


    She looked thoughtful for a moment.


    ¡°I expect we¡¯re going to be hunting at some point. We usually bury the head of the creatures we kill.¡± She said. ¡°Shows respect, and helps them return to the cycle of nature.¡±


    ¡°Cool.¡± I said, not having much more to add.


    We seemed to speed up a bit after that conversation. Our breaks were a little shorter, and we pushed a little further on both ends of the candle. Nobody seemed to mind.


    The trees were starting to change though. First was the largest tree I¡¯d ever seen. All seven of us touching hand-to-hand wouldn¡¯t be enough to get around the girth of the tree, and it soared ever upwards, into the sky. Impossibly large, and yet, entirely mundane.


    A redwood tree.


    Of course, later that day, the tree was immediately replaced as ¡°the largest tree I¡¯d ever seen¡± when I saw an even larger redwood tree.


    And they just kept getting bigger.


    The hills that we were going over became larger and larger to boot ¨C so slowly I hadn¡¯t quite noticed it ¨C but when we reached the top of one particularly large hill, I saw where we were heading.


    A huge, sprawling mountain range was in front of us, coated with redwood trees.


    No bets where we were headed!


    Three days later, a miracle occurred. It started to snow!


    Huge, lazy flakes started to come down from the sky, dancing on subtle breezes. They teased, swapping and exchanging positions, before gently and gracefully landing on the forest floor, where they quickly melted.


    Tradition be damned, I¡¯d only seen snow once since coming to Pallos, when it had been a particularly cold winter in Aquiliea, which was already near the southernmost portion of Remus. With a shout of glee, I hopped out of the cart, and started chasing snowflakes around with an open mouth, greedily trying to catch them with my tongue.


    Some of the dwarves chuckled as I bounded around, intent on catching ALL THE SNOWFLAKES.


    It was fun, although my gear got mud splattered all over it. Didn¡¯t care! There were snowflakes to nom! Delicate structures to catch on my nose, and look at cross-eyed for a brief moment before it melted!


    Snow!


    Shame that it was the first snow of the season, and none of it was going to stick. I would¡¯ve loved to make a snow angel.


    The thought of grabbing an Ice class for my 3rd class, whenever it happened, briefly flitted through my mind before I dismissed the idea. It would be a ton of fun, but "fun¡± wasn¡¯t the primary goal of a third class.


    Or... maybe it could be?


    What I needed to do was get a scroll- or a book! - and start writing down all of my ideas for a 3rd class. Then talk with Artemis ¨C and Night, Julius, and the rest of the Sentinels I guess ¨C about it, and see what they thought.


    Either way, even if I didn¡¯t get Ice for my 3rd class, a vacation home somewhere snowy, where I could have snow if I wanted?


    That sounded like a solid goal!


    The pitfall of snow that I always forgot ¨C cleaning up. Also, wet mud rapidly became cold mud, and while I loved snow to bits, I was, at heart, from a tropical and sub-tropical climate. Vitality helped, but I didn¡¯t exactly have tens of thousands of points in the stat. As such, with my relatively lightweight gear, designed more towards keeping cool than staying warm, I wasn¡¯t the happiest of campers.


    Or I wouldn¡¯t be, if it wasn¡¯t for MAGIC! My armor had inscriptions woven throughout, and a relatively minor one that I¡¯d forgotten about was some minor heating. Sure, it¡¯d burn itself out soon enough, as all Inscriptions did without maintenance, but it¡¯d help me stay warm.


    Being a Radiance mage also helped me stay warm, as with some fine control, I carefully dried out most of my clothes. I could also use it on myself to try to get warm, although my [Radiance Resistance] made that a little difficult.


    A muffled scream escaped my throat as I burned a hole through one of my socks though.


    One of my socks ¨C that I didn¡¯t have a spare pair to replace it with. I¡¯d been wearing them with sandals ¨C HERESY! - because it was bloody cold, and comfort came before fashion.


    Welp. At least I¡¯d be fashionable now.


    ¡°Healer Elaine the 94th. Everything alright with ye?¡± Lule asked me, having heard my muffled scream.


    My cheeks were red from the cold, which hid the blush of embarrassment. I just lifted my sock which had recently found religion, staring at Lule through the hole.


    ¡°Everything¡¯s perfectly fine.¡± I said in the most monotone voice, as my eye stared at her through the hole.


    She just laughed and walked away. Better than most reactions I could¡¯ve gotten.


    I spent the rest of the time drying out my stuff, and peeling dried mud off, cursing my decision not to go back and get my spare pair of socks when we¡¯d left camp.


    ¡°Purlovia! We¡¯re eating purlovia tonight!¡± Glifir eagerly bounded into the lean-to we¡¯d set up for the night, a furry beast slung over one shoulder. From the angle I was at, it was hard to tell what the creature looked like.


    He heaved, and with a thump, the body of the purlovia landed on the floor.


    Fik was frowning intently at Glifir, who noticed his look and rolled his eyes.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I was getting to it.¡± His voice took a ritual tone, one I associated with Tradition.


    ¡°The hunter has come back with his prey! Yet, this could not have been done without the strength and support of the clan. As such, I give this back onto you. Who wishes to join me in this feast?¡±


    ¡°I wish to partake.¡± Fik said, way too fast.


    ¡°I wish to partake.¡± Each of the dwarves said, one at a time.


    Welp. This one seemed to be easy mode.


    ¡°I wish to partake.¡± I added in, getting looks of approval all around.


    Score!


    ¡°Do you have a skill to purify food?¡± Ned asked me.


    I did a double-take.


    ¡°A food purification skill?¡± I repeated, somewhat dumbly.


    Ned got that annoying superior look on his face that made me want to punch it.


    ¡°Aye. A skill that makes food safe to consume, no matter who eats it.¡± He smugly informed me, going over and touching the purlovia.


    Ned was somewhat of an annoying git. He loved finding things I couldn¡¯t do, then somehow mentioning that he had the skill, and would occasionally explain to me in excruciating detail how it worked, implying the whole time that I was a bad healer for not knowing it.


    I had no idea why he treated me like that. Oh, there was nothing I could obviously point to, but we were never going to be good friends.


    Maybe it was because of the generation thing? Ned being in the 92nd generation made him at least 50 years older than me, and probably a lot more. Could be as much as 149 years older than me ¨C and I¡¯d gotten to the same level as him, while being in the dead zone. Maybe he was just jealous?


    Either way, I¡¯d tolerate him for now, and hopefully wouldn¡¯t see him again after this trip.


    Toke took the purlovia outside, and started to skin and prep the meat.


    There was no real rhyme or reason to who did what. It wasn¡¯t like there were assigned tasks, although the dwarves fell into various roles naturally. Some of the dwarves stood out in my mind more than others.


    Lule was, to no surprise, the organizer, making sure it all got done.


    Fik avoided doing anything that wasn¡¯t directly assigned to him.


    Ned pitched in whenever Tradition let him. My estimation of him went up slightly ¨C he wasn¡¯t lazy, just hidebound.


    Gilfir loved roaming around, and I was hoping he¡¯d supplement our rations more often.


    Toke always seemed to be in the right place, at the right time, for the highest-visibility job.


    Drin was flat-out a hard worker. Did keep his mouth running permanently though.


    My role was storyteller and VIP.


    ¡°Ever had purlovia before?¡± He asked me, and I shook my head.


    ¡°It¡¯s OK. Pretty good for a game animal. Spicy.¡± He happily told me.


    ¡°Spicy!?¡± I whipped my head towards him, in complete disbelief.


    ¡°Aye. Spicy!¡± Drin happily told me. ¡°Supposed to attract Snow Moths. Been trying to get one for my collection. They only come out in winter, with the snow, and I¡¯m usually on border duty when it happens. Why, twenty years ago I had my chance! Almost managed to get one. You see, the problem I had was¡­¡±


    Drin liked to talk. I was perfectly content to get him started on something, and just let him ramble along. However, there was one point that annoyed me to no end.


    ¡°¡­and best of all, Lightning can stun people!¡± Drin said, a trail of purlovia grease skating over his beard.


    ¡°I mean, sure, stunning someone is great, but why not just kill them?¡± I asked, more than a little skeptical ¨C and wanting to defend Artemis¡¯s methods. I did somewhat approve of his fanatical appreciation of Lightning though.


    Given how long Drin would take to answer, I had enough time to get a nice, solid purlovia bite. I teared up at just how damn spicy it was, snot running out of my nose. However, after a literal lifetime of relatively bland food, even gamey food that was spicy was amazing.


    ¡°I mean, I do kill them!¡± Drin happily tapped on his axe, still at his waist. ¡°But making someone completely stop for a moment or two takes almost no power or mana!¡±


    ¡°Ya still need a boatload of control!¡± Lule added in.


    ¡°One stat instead of four!¡± Drin retorted.


    ¡°Does it do no damage?¡± I asked, getting curious. It sounded a bit like what I¡¯d suggested to Artemis ages ago ¨C rip out the Lightning from the nervous system, and just stop someone dead. Quite literally.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t need to.¡± Drin muttered into his beard. ¡°Wears off over time, good for spars.¡±


    I noticed he didn¡¯t mention taking prisoners, and with how much he loved to talk about the benefits of his method of fighting, there¡¯s no way that was an oversight.


    My bet? In spite of his high level, he¡¯d gotten it the slow way, hundreds of years of sparring and minor conflicts, maybe some fights against beasts. Not a lot of experience trying, or needing, to kill other intelligent creatures.


    ¡°I¡¯m kinda curious about it now. Can you disable me?¡± I asked.


    Lule looked nervous at that, but I had everyone else¡¯s attention.


    ¡°I¡¯m warning you, it¡¯s not pleasant.¡± Drin said.


    I grinned at him.


    ¡°Oh go on, let me see!¡± I said, offering a hand.


    He looked at Lule, who buried her head in her hands.


    ¡°Do what you must.¡± A pained noise came from her.


    There was no winning from her point of view. Either she tries to ruin my fun ¨C telling the VIP ¡°no, don¡¯t do that relatively harmless thing¡± ¨C or the VIP is, technically, attacked by a teammate.


    Drin touched my hand, and I rapidly pulled it back as I felt like I¡¯d been zapped.


    I waved my hand in the standard ¡°that smarts¡± move. Mostly for show, because [Center of the Universe] killed the pain.


    Drin was looking at me bug-eyed.


    ¡°How¡¯d you stop it!¡± He asked, somewhat outraged.


    ¡°Wait, that was it?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    ¡°Try again?¡± I offered my hand back to him. Another zap, and I was still completely mobile.


    Ned started laughing, and in a strangely familiar move, threw an arm around my shoulders.


    ¡°Drin, I¡¯ve told you! Doesn¡¯t work on us healers.¡± He grinned at me.


    ¡°Well, good healers.¡± He amended.


    My happy thoughts towards him turned into mental daggers. He hadn¡¯t said anything because he¡¯d assumed I was a bad healer!


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you lot pipe down? We¡¯re arriving in Lundar tomorrow.¡± Lule said, relief on her face.


    ¡°Healer Elaine hasn¡¯t even told us a story yet!¡± Toke protested.


    I winked at Lule.


    ¡°Alright! One story!¡± I said, searching my memory for a nice, short story. Everyone wins!

 Chapter 183 – Dwarves VIII

    We rolled into Lundar the next day. Tall wooden palisades surrounded the town, taller than most of the walls I¡¯d seen in Remus. Advantage of living in a redwood forest and making everything out of wood ¨C it was easy to supersize things that needed to be supersized. Redwoods were giants, with their biggest downfall being how long they took to grow. Add in skills and magic, and poof! A fantastic material to make everything out of.


    I was becoming sold on wood being a superior material to stone. Then again, I doubted that wood could turn into an instant wall. Bulwark was good at turning ground into an instant wall if needed. However, that was something of a niche use, compared to the insta-cabins the dwarves built every night.


    Then again, it might not be fair to compare the two. All of the dwarves had the level of a Sentinel, if not necessarily the raw stats to back it up.


    Lule wandered over to me as we approached the gates.


    ¡°Leader Lule the 89th.¡± I politely greeted her.


    ¡°Healer Elaine the 94th.¡± She responded back.


    Traditional greeting over ¨C I was getting sick to my stomach of Tradition ¨C we could now start the ¡®real¡¯ conversation.


    ¡°What do you need from me here?¡± I bluntly asked.


    ¡°Normally, we¡¯d just spend the night, then move on.¡± She said. ¡°However, with you being around, we should pay our respects to the mayor. He¡¯d be offended if we didn¡¯t.¡±


    Ego management. Yaaay.


    ¡°Any chance of getting a bath while we¡¯re in town?¡± I asked.


    Months. Literal damn months since I¡¯d been able to get halfway clean. I swear some Formorian guts were still in my ear canal, having been baked, then frozen, then I don¡¯t want to know what. I¡¯d burn half the town down if it meant getting clean.


    Lule looked me up and down.


    ¡°Slim¡­ but we¡¯ve got a¡­¡± She said a word I¡¯d never heard before. This was happening a bunch on this trip. We spoke the same language, but some words we¡¯d used in Remus out of necessity, while the dwarves had invented stuff of their own.


    The start of the languages drifting?


    ¡°A what now?¡±


    ¡°Big room, hot rocks, pour water on the rocks, bunch of steam. Sit in the steam.¡± Lule said, using the smallest words she knew. ¡°A sauna!¡±


    It wasn¡¯t a bath, but I¡¯d take anything.


    ¡°Cool! Any way you could wrangle a visit?¡± I asked, deciding to throw my dignity to the wind and give her my best puppy eyes.


    She threw her head back and laughed.


    ¡°Of course! We¡¯d all like to!¡±


    On one hand, I didn¡¯t want to share. On the other ¨C sharing was a lot easier than burning half the town down.


    Welp. When in Nolgrod, do as the Nolgrodians.


    Getting into town was easy, we were practically waved in. Lule went forward to meet with the mayor, while Toke led the rest of us to the sauna. She dropped back to me once we got there.


    ¡°Elaine!¡± She cheerfully greeted me. ¡°I¡¯m guessing you¡¯ve never been to a sauna before?¡±


    ¡°Nope! Looking forward to it!¡± I said, practically drooling.


    ¡°Right, so they¡¯re a very traditional place.¡± Toke started to give me the run-down. ¡°You take your clothes off in the antechamber, grab a towel, and enter the sauna proper. With your gender, generation, level, and occupation, there¡¯s a specific area where you should sit. Don¡¯t worry too much about the rules determining it ¨C I¡¯ll just point you to the right spot. When you¡¯ve had enough, leave through the door on the other side, jump in the pool, then the door will lead you back to the antechamber, where you left your stuff.¡±


    I froze at that, doing some mental calculations.


    ¡°No chance I can bring my gear with me? Like, in a bag or something?¡± I asked Toke.


    She made a disapproving hmmmmmmmmmmmm.


    ¡°Probably not. But! Nobody would dare touch your stuff! The sauna is practically sacred. It¡¯d be against tradition.¡± She said, trying to reassure me.


    I eyed Toke skeptically. It was probably traditional not to rape and murder, but I¡¯d bet every single coin I had that it happened anyways.


    I went deep into the think tank.


    Option 1) Take the risk, strip my gear off, and get blessedly clean. Run the risk that nobody decides to snag the unique and extraordinarily expensive gear that I had.


    Option 2) No risk, no sauna. Stay filthy, but safe.


    The decision was no decision at all.


    ¡°Sorry Toke. I think I¡¯ve gotta pass.¡± I said, steeling my voice.


    Fik patted my arm, before hustling his bustle through the door.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got the right idea. You never know when thieves are about.¡± Ned helpfully told me. ¡°Or murderers. Why, 700 years ago, there was a murder in a sauna! Can you believe it!¡±


    I blinked at him. I had no idea if he was trying to reassure me that I¡¯d made the right choice, or was mocking me.


    ¡°Was it someone important?¡± I asked, having no idea where he was going with this.


    ¡°Nah.¡± He said dismissively, as everyone else went in. ¡°Just two woodcutters having a disagreement.¡±


    ¡°In 700 years.¡± I said, rethinking things as I looked at the sauna. Tradition was that strong?


    ¡°Aye. Was a huge scandal at the time. Still. Can never be too safe. That¡¯s why I¡¯m going in!¡± Ned said, cheerfully going through the door.


    I was so confused. Was he saying I was smart for not going in? Or that it was safer to be in the sauna than not?


    Where was Ocean when I needed him? Or anyone else, for that matter?


    ¡°I¡¯ll protect you.¡± Glifir said. Long experience with Arthur stopped me from jumping up when he showed up. That, and he wasn¡¯t as good as Arthur. I¡¯d noticed some tell-tale whisps of Mist hanging around, which was a fairly good indicator that Glifir was about.


    ¡°Thank you Glifir.¡± I politely thanked him.


    Toke looked like she was going to give me a sour look, then her shoulders slumped.


    ¡°I¡¯ll stick around until Ned and Fik get back.¡± She grumbled.


    ¡°Sorry. It¡¯s not that I don¡¯t trust you, it¡¯s that¡­¡± I let my voice trail off.


    Inspiration struck me. Mostly true!


    ¡°It¡¯s traditional for Sentinels not to leave their gear when in the field.¡± I said, mentally pumping a fist at that.


    I got a bit of a side-eye for that, followed by a grudging nod. It was only a lie in technicality ¨C a Sentinel in the field didn¡¯t leave their gear behind. Heck, even when traveling incognito I kept it on under whatever cloak or tunic was acting as a disguise that day.


    Truth was, I didn¡¯t trust them entirely. There was no history between us, no connection. I was a ¡®diplomat¡¯, and they were the escort. A purely transactional basis. They hadn¡¯t gone through Ranger Academy, they didn¡¯t have the same bonds forged. I hadn¡¯t grown up here, I wasn¡¯t a dwarf. I wasn¡¯t steeped in tradition like they were, and I did keep stepping on toes.


    It¡¯s why I hadn¡¯t classed up. I didn¡¯t trust them to guard me for the day. Silly, when I was letting them guard me every day ¨C but there was a difference between being awake and alert and guarded, and being completely helpless.


    Eh, I¡¯d class up when I got back. All this stuff I was doing was going to help my evolutions. Plus, I¡¯d be damned if I got skunked out of my reading time again.


    Speaking of reading time ¨C no privacy had meant I hadn¡¯t gotten a chance to read the special book. Oh well.


    Toke snapped me back to reality.


    ¡°You don¡¯t feel secure being away from your defenses.¡± Toke said, giving me a solid excuse for all of us to be happy.


    ¡°Exactly! I¡¯ve been in enough nasty situations to be paranoid.¡± I happily latched onto her answer.


    Glifir gave me a Look.


    ¡°Yeah. Your age, your level, the dead zone?¡± He said, and whistled. ¡°Don¡¯t worry your pretty little head here though! Glifir¡¯s got it.¡±


    It was a good thing Glifir was the scout. He was so overprotective I could strangle him if I was exposed to him for too long. I could protect myself.


    We kept making some small talk for a few hours while the rest of the team enjoyed the sauna. Even Lule showed up briefly, saw that I was hanging out, seemingly happy, and made her way in.


    Being the boss had its benefits, and she was the last one out ¨C even after Toke and Glifir had a full trip.


    ¡°Ah ¨C Healer Elaine the 94th ¨C was the sauna not up to your standards?¡± She asked me.


    I grimaced at her.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t want to spend too much time separated from my gear.¡± I answered back.


    She stroked her beard thoughtfully.


    ¡°Let me see what I can do. It wouldn¡¯t be right for you to miss out on a sauna!¡±


    The rest of the team murmured in agreement.


    ¡°Aww, you don¡¯t have to.¡± I said, hoping that Lule would manage to make it happen.


    ¡°Nonsense! We¡¯ll figure something out!¡± Lule promptly replied.


    I decided not to mention just letting me bring my stuff in with me. Tradition seemed to be so deeply ingrained into the dwarves that they literally couldn¡¯t think of just¡­ breaking the tradition.


    ¡°Anyways, the mayor would like to have a feast with us tomorrow evening. It was the fastest he could make it work.¡± Lule said.


    We were given a small cabin inside the town walls for the night ¨C courtesy of the mayor. It had a cozy fireplace and everything! Super nice, and I was feeling extra-bad, being the only grimy one while everyone else was fresh and clean. It was nice, being inside with a fire, with a howling cold wind rattling the shutters.


    Lule came back, letting a cold blast of air in with her. There was much yelling to ¡°close the accursed door already!¡±, which I might have participated in.


    ¡°Aye, pipe down you lot, I¡¯m closing it as fast as I can.¡± She yelled back, stomping her way in.


    ¡°Healer Elaine.¡± She said, cutting off my generation. No idea if that was a familiarity thing, or just getting lax.


    I¡¯d noticed as time went on, everyone was being less and less formal about titles and generations. I was suspecting it was a familiarity thing.


    ¡°Leader Lule.¡± I said, trying to mimic her.


    ¡°Still interested in trying out the sauna?¡± She asked me, getting right to the point.


    ¡°Yup!¡± I had a feeling that she¡¯d pulled some strings for me, and I wasn¡¯t about to throw her hard work out the window.


    ¡°Great. I¡¯ve solved your issue.¡± She said. ¡°Toke. Join us?¡± Lule gave a standard ¡®suggestion-that-was-actually-an-order¡¯ to Toke.


    Toke said nothing, just got up and joined us by the door. We huddled up, and headed out into the night.


    The wind went straight through my gear, biting me to the bone. Fortunately, the town wasn¡¯t gigantic, and we made it to the sauna.


    ¡°How¡¯s this going to work?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well. I figured if nobody else was around, you could have a private session, by yourself, and not have to worry about your fancy armor. The sauna¡¯s usually closed at night, but we got you in. I¡¯ll be showing you around, and Toke can look after your gear. Now go! Enjoy!¡± Lule followed me in.


    I was touched. The lights ¨C more glimwood ¨C were still on, and I was finally in the sauna.


    I had a brief moment of hesitation. I was, after all, going to be trusting someone else with my gear. What if something happened to it?


    At the same time, I hadn¡¯t gotten this far by taking no risks ¨C although this seemed to be a superfluous risk, one that I didn¡¯t need to take.


    Or was it?


    Alright, let me work through this at lightning speed.


    I slowly started to unbuckle and strip my gear off. The leather skort was easy ¨C it had to be, for prolonged time in the field ¨C but everything else was a maze of straps. I didn¡¯t even need to think about it, taking my gear off and putting it back on was second nature, but it burned time while I thought.


    First ¨C the dwarves seemed to feverently believe that the sauna was sacred, and nobody would try anything.


    Second ¨C Toke would be guarding my stuff. Throughout the travels, the dwarves had given no signal that they meant me any harm. A random dwarf might try something, but if the team I was with wanted to hurt me, it¡¯d be better to just ambush me as a group of six, instead of letting me know the jig was up in a two versus one situation.


    Third ¨C I was going to be meeting with some important person or another. I reeked. I¡¯d kept my armor clean and maintained ¨C as well as I could ¨C but there was no helping my tunic, my hair, etc. At the very least, I shouldn¡¯t smell so offensively that they¡¯re put off their food.


    Fourth ¨C I just liked being clean. I didn¡¯t think a sauna would be nearly as good as a real bath, nor did it seem like I had a chance to do proper laundry, but it was something.


    Fifth ¨C Lule had gone through some effort for me. Showing that I could follow along with the Traditional stuff would probably earn me brownie points in her book. I had no illusions that she wouldn¡¯t be whisked away by the dwarf¡¯s version of vivisectionists, and relentlessly interrogated about her interactions with me, and what she thought of me. It¡¯d probably be an insult not to.


    I was getting a headache.


    Fine.


    Sixth ¨C my stuff vanishes? I didn¡¯t need it. I was trained as a Ranger, and I was a mage, not a warrior. The town was in one spot. While the dwarves were much higher level on average than I expected, I had full confidence in my ability to fight ¨C or, more likely, run away ¨C if push came to violent shove.


    On the downside -


    I¡¯d be fighting naked. Not that it was a problem, although the cold might get to me.


    The sun was down, which meant my extra regeneration and flying was down and out for the count. At least until sunrise.


    I was horribly outnumbered.


    The extra Arcanite was nice. The [Nova] gems were my trump card. The utility gems could get me out of almost any situation. The armor turned blows away.


    I was a total badass even without them. I believed in my abilities.


    I finished stripping down, leaving my gear in a well-organized fashion, with Toke looking somewhat admiringly, somewhat enviously at it. Wasn¡¯t doing much for my confidence, but hey.


    ¡°Right! Here¡¯s a towel.¡± Lule said, throwing me a large, fluffy towel.


    She then walked into the steam room, and I followed.


    The room was like a giant corner ¨C two walls, with tiered, wooden seating around a stout iron container. A large basin of water was next to it, and a pile of firewood on the other side. A ladle was sticking out of the basin.


    I kept a smirk off my face. For all the talk of the superiority of wood, when push came to shove the stove was made out of metal, and the fireplace back in the cabin was made out of stone.


    Lule was stroking her beard, and after a moment¡¯s thought, pointed to a seat.


    ¡°It¡¯d be proper for you to be seated there.¡± She said, and having no reason to object, I put my towel down, and sat on it.


    Some arcane muttering, a log thrown into the stove, and a ladle of water over the top later, and the room filled with hot steam. Far hotter than I¡¯d expect, with far more steam.


    Skills or Inscriptions at work. My bet was a few powerful skills by the owner.


    I relaxed as I let the steam wash over me, and as I started to sweat buckets.


    I simply didn¡¯t have the experience with a sauna to be able to tough out the hotter steam, nor did I have a monster amount of vitality to throw at the problem instead. I threw in the towel ¨C well, not literally ¨C after only twenty minutes.


    [*Ding!* [Pretty] leveled up! 152 -> 153]


    I had sweat pouring down from me as I called out to Lule.


    ¡°Hey, sorry, I think I¡¯m done. I¡¯m just not built for this.¡± I said to her.


    She looked¡­ disappointed?


    ¡°It was wonderful, don¡¯t get me wrong!¡± I said, making my way to the exit ¨C not the same door as the entrance. ¡°I just have terrible vitality, and it¡¯s my first time. I gotta work up to something this hot.¡±


    ¡°Ah, no worries. Come on, onto the next part.¡± Lule said with a grin.


    I was relieved. I thought she¡¯d be disappointed that I¡¯d called it quits so fast.


    Then again, passing out because I was trying to prove something would be even dumber.


    We made it to the next room, which was a large pool.


    My eyes went as wide as saucers. I could try to get clean here!


    Without a word to Lule, ignoring her predatory grin, I cannonballed into the pool, only to come up spluttering and shivering.


    ¡°Why is it so bloody c-c-cold!¡± I yelled at Lule while holding myself and shivering, who promptly doubled over in laughter, wheezing and pointing at me.


    ¡°The look on your face! Going right in like that! Ha!¡± She said, not answering the question but clearly enjoying my misery.


    As deep as the cold was biting, as much as I was risking serious damage to my teeth ¨C not that any damage would stick ¨C the desire to finish getting clean overcame any other objections I might have, and I rinsed in the magically-below-freezing pool, teeth chattering and fingers going blue by the time I hauled myself out.


    Still, I was a clean little ice cube, and with Lule¡¯s help we were able to find someone who could magically make the non-armor parts of my outfit clean.


    Missing the stench that could raise the dead, in a clean and presentable outfit, I felt ¡°armed¡± and ready to do the deadliest battle yet since coming to Nolgrod.


    A social event.

 Chapter 184 – Dwarves IX

    ¡°Ok, one more time Lule.¡± I said, as the seven of us were walking to the Mayor¡¯s house. ¡°Let¡¯s go over what I should and shouldn¡¯t do.¡±


    ¡°Aye, I¡¯ve told you. Just relax! Yer an honored guest. Yer fine.¡± Lule tried to brush me off.


    I was having none of it. Proper prior planning and all that.


    I was coming round to the dwarves Tradition. They had rules for everything! Rules for how to talk, how to eat, how to walk.


    All I needed to do was learn ALL THE RULES, and I¡¯d never set a foot wrong! No awkward blunders! No putting my foot in my mouth!


    Some were easy, like ¡°respect the ancestors.¡± They had some serious ancestor-worship going on, which was why they were mostly unfazed by gods, religion, angels, and the like. On one hand, I kinda saw their point. Their day-to-day lives were built by the work of their ancestors, and they all believed they were standing on the shoulders of giants ¨C errr, normal-sized people. Giant by dwarf standards. Anyways!


    Some were harder, like the winter solstice traditions, or the exact calculation of where a dwarf was located in dwarvish society ¨C or where to sit in a sauna! While I¡¯d gotten the information in theory, I¡¯d yet to succeed putting it into practice.


    Sure, the rules could grate on me somewhat, like the endless invitations I got, but that seemed to be a small price to pay to remove awkward moments forever.


    I ignored Glifir¡¯s protests that I didn¡¯t need it down perfectly.


    ¡°Right! When I come in, I say ¡®I thank you for your gift of hospitality, for sharing of hearth and home?¡¯, right?¡± I asked Lule.


    She sighed and rolled her eyes.


    ¡°Hearth, home, and bread.¡± She replied.


    ¡°Hearth, home, and bread.¡± I repeated to myself.


    [Pristine Memories] should be helping with this, but it took time to properly dig through all my memories to find the right lesson. I was working and practicing with Lule to make it second nature, habit, so that when it came time to give the right response, I didn¡¯t stand there for 20 seconds trying to find the right memory.


    [*Ding!* [Pristine Memories] leveled up! 201 -> 202]


    We kept talking, reviewing the rest of the greetings and potential customs I might encounter. Lule was a treasure, a veritable font of knowledge, and in spite of her belief that I didn¡¯t need to do all this, was happy to entertain my requests for knowledge.


    We made it to the door, and knocked, four times in a Traditional pattern. I only knew there were a bunch, but only knew the one that Lule knocked.


    ¡°Invited guests have arrived.¡±


    There were more complex and formal variants on it, I¡¯d been told, but they were for ~extra fancy~ occasions.


    The door opened, and we were led to a large banquet hall, tables forming a T-shape.


    A small dwarf with a magnificent red beard, looking like it was made of fire, greeted us. If not for Lule¡¯s lesson, I might¡¯ve mistaken him for a greeter of some sort, and not the mayor himself.


    ¡°Ha! Healer! You grace us with your presence, and I wish to invite you to break bread and share salt with us!¡± He enthusiastically greeted us ¨C mostly me.


    I glanced at Lule, and put my game face on. Big smiles! Can¡¯t be too big, no grimaces.


    ¡°I thank you for your gift of hospitality, for sharing of hearth, home, and bread.¡± I replied, mentally patting myself on the back for landing it.


    Or wait. Shit. Was this a case that I should¡¯ve used the healer counter-greeting instead? No time to check, better cover my bases.


    ¡°And your sharing of salt. Yes.¡± I said, refraining from facepalming as I somehow punted it horribly.


    All that prep work. Why did I try?


    Right. The dude¡¯s happy grin, as he passed me a loaf of bread and a small bowl of salt. I dipped the end of the bread in the salt, and took a big bite.


    ¡°Mayor Dibo Birber the 88th, at your service.¡± He said, politely giving me a half-bow.


    I glanced at Lule. Host first, then the guests, in hierarchical order. Lule¡¯s combination of Leader and 89th beat out my combination of healer, diplomat, and 94th, via arcane rules that Lule had explained to me, and I somehow failed to properly execute in practice.


    However, I did know that ¡°non-dwarf¡± was one of the rules, and it counted against me.


    ¡°Leader Lule the 89th.¡± She said, doing the same half-bow.


    ¡°Healer Elaine the 94th.¡± I said, finishing the formalities.


    I got a great big grin from Dibo.


    ¡°Come! Sit! I¡¯ve heard that you¡¯re not a dwarf! Is that true?¡± He asked, peering at me intently.


    ¡°Um, no. I¡¯m a human.¡± I said, taking a seat on his left at the head of the table. The honored guest position.


    ¡°Would I bring a nameless to you?¡± Lule asked, with amused exasperation.


    Nameless? What? I looked to Lule, then the rest of the dwarves, with a question in my eyes, but none of them would answer me.


    Glifir mouthed ¡°later¡± though, which was nice. The five other members of the group saluted Dibo, one at a time, in their own ranking order, then went to the lower tables to find a seat.


    Sitting down to eat, I noticed, was a much less structured affair, and more a massive free-for all. Glad not everything was rigid! Could you imagine? Everyone needing to shuffle seats every time someone new showed up?


    Lule sat next to me, and I noticed with interest that there was a dwarf wearing metal on Dibo¡¯s right.


    ¡°Who¡¯s this beardless lass? You¡¯re not playing one of your games by putting a nameless above me, are you?¡± He grumped, and I promptly didn¡¯t like him.


    Still. Diplomat. Social. Time to be polite.


    With a smile that didn¡¯t come close to reaching my eyes, I went through the introduction ritual.


    ¡°Healer Elaine the 94th.¡± I said, giving him a half-bow. ¡°Human! I¡¯m from Remus, a country inside the dead zone.¡±


    ¡°Miner Thabo the 35th.¡± He eventually reluctantly said, clasping his wrists with his hands. ¡°What¡¯re your people doing, sending someone so young here?¡± He grumbled at me.


    I had this brief moment of whiplash as I thought the dwarf was over 3000 years old ¨C more than half the time Pallos had been around, by all accounts ¨C only to remember my travel-mates muttering about Khazad dwarves screwing up the generational count, and doing it totally different. Must be one of those.


    I shrugged.


    ¡°I was available, and I get the sense that we¡¯re a much shorter-lived race than dwarves are. I was traveling with a Void mage, and, well, the border guards didn¡¯t take kindly to him.¡±


    The hall fell silent, and I got stares from just about everyone.


    Ah screw it. It¡¯s funny seeing their reaction.


    ¡°Bluebeard¡¯s not so bad. Nice guy. We hang out a bunch.¡± I said, letting a manic grin slowly unravel on my face.


    The conversation slowly started to resume, as Thabo shook his head at me.


    ¡°You lot sound crazy. Which is good!¡± He said, hurriedly realizing what he¡¯d said. ¡°We¡¯re looking for crazy.¡±


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Well, we¡¯ve located Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair, full of every type of treasure imaginable. From raw mithril to growing ironwood, diamonds the size of eggs to actual eggs from creature of every shape and size, strange objects which defy all knowledge to magical herbs, the dragon¡¯s a huge collector! We figure all we need to do is evict her, and we¡¯ll be rich for generations!¡±


    It was my turn to stare at him, pale and open-mouthed.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Mayor Dibo asked me, with no small amount of concern.


    I swallowed and mentally reset myself.


    How do I say this?


    Hmmmm.


    The awkward pause dragged on, as I struggled to find words. Finally, a bad analogy came to mind. Hopefully it¡¯d work.


    ¡°Like you¡¯re scared of Void mages, we¡¯re scared of¡­ well¡­ what you were talking about. We have a belief that they can hear us when we say their name, and it¡¯s taboo.¡± I got out, carefully phrasing my words so I didn¡¯t say the D-word.


    I got looks like I was crazy.


    ¡°Lun¡¯Kat flies overhead every few decades or so.¡± Dibo said, with the careful tone of voice one used on a skittish horse. ¡°She¡¯s given us no problems so far.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t about to get talked down so badly.


    ¡°You¡¯re planning on poking her in her home though. I¡¯ve known Bluebeard for a decade, and he¡¯s had decades of service more. No problems from him either.¡± I bit back.


    ¡°That¡¯s not the same!¡± Lule argued.


    ¡°Peace. Peace!¡± Mayor Dibo said, interrupting everyone. ¡°Let¡¯s eat, and discuss happier topics. Healer Elaine, what can you tell us about your hometown, and where you were born?¡± He said, steering the conversation somewhere wildly different.


    I didn¡¯t mind the change of pace, and I started to talk about my hometown as food came out.


    ¡°Well, I was born in a mid-sized town called Aquiliea. It had a river going through it, and it was on the shores of the Nostrum sea, a great big sea in the middle of the Remus Republic, connecting most of the towns to each other. Growing up, I¡­¡±


    I took the occasional mouthful as I talked about my town and history. There was some pork mixed in with the bread and beans, and I mentally cursed. I hadn¡¯t checked what the food was, nor did I mention my aversion to eating it.


    It only took half a thought to remember the smell of Kerberos¡¯s burning flesh in the arena. There were some memories I treasured, and would carry forever, like Artemis dancing with Lightning. Others? Others I wished I could erase.


    I picked around it, hoping I wasn¡¯t causing some great offense, as the discussion continued. Some tankards of ale were brought out, and I carefully sipped on mine. They were ok, but nothing spectacularly amazing. I felt slightly let down, but I didn¡¯t let it show. There was more to come.


    After the whole dragon-Void mage spat, I was feeling more relaxed. The dwarves didn¡¯t seem to take arguments all that personally, and it was looking like it¡¯d be hard to say something offensive enough to start a war over.


    The meal was finally over, and I sat back with a full stomach.


    ¡°Right! Time for the good stuff!¡± Mayor Dibo shouted, and a huge keg was rolled in.


    ¡°Healer Elaine! This stuff¡¯s so strong, it¡¯ll put a beard on your chin!¡± Mayor Dibo happily shouted to me.


    ¡°Ah, let me see!¡± I yelled back at him, getting in the spirit of things.


    Right! Traditional message!


    ¡°I¡¯ll drink your beer here! I¡¯ll drink your beer there! I¡¯ll drink your beer anywhere!¡± I said, to a few approving grins.


    ¡°Drink till ye drop!¡± Lule said, happily taking a huge mug of frothing ale from one of the dwarves who was pouring mugs off the keg.


    I got passed one, and started to tip it into my mouth, getting it in just in time to hide a wicked, evil grin.


    This wasn¡¯t the first time people had tried to get me terribly drunk for one reason or another. Usually with impure motives.


    For some damn reason, people kept trying to get a healer drunk. I could instantly purge myself of alcohol in an instant, and it was always amusing to drink people under the table by blatantly cheating.


    I was no good at cheating at cards, dice, or other games, but drinking?


    I considered it mostly fair game, as I was tagged [Healer]. They had their chance of knowing. I wasn¡¯t going to advertise it.


    We all clanked our mugs together, and bottoms up!


    The fact that [Bullet Time] activated as I brought the mug up to my face gave me a moment¡¯s pause, but I mentally shrugged, made sure [Dance with the Heavens] was busy healing me, and started to down the mug.


    Strong didn¡¯t begin to cover it, as my throat seized up as the powerful brew burned all the way down. I couldn¡¯t manage it all, and came spluttering back up after just two mouthfuls.


    All it tasted like was tingly alcohol, like I was drinking a strong spirit directly, and not some sort of ale. Still, the alcohol was purged as it hit my system, and I wasn¡¯t about to show defeat after two drinks, not when everyone else was going bottoms up.


    Bottoms up it was! I kept a half-eye on my mana, seeing it occasionally flicker a few points away, only to be instantly refilled. Strong stuff.


    At the end, I could see the bottom of the mug, but why was it spinning? It shouldn¡¯t be spinning. Spinning was baaaaad.


    I put the mug down on the table, frowning.


    They never told me this was a fun room! The table kept tilting back and forth, and I stuck my tongue out and bit it in concentration as I tried to carefully put my mug back down on it.


    Which, with much effort and concentration, I managed.


    ¡°Yay!¡± I said, throwing my arms up, feeling all sorts of tingly and happy all throughout my body.


    There was a roar of approval ¨C and quite a few more laughs. The room was spinning in several directions, the tables going one way, the walls another. The windows were happily spinning in place on the walls, and there were bright sparks of color going off.


    What fun! I needed a cool room like this for myself! Wonder how much it¡¯d cost. I could afford it! Being rich was AMAZING.


    ¡°Alright! I¡¯m immune to alcohol! Bring me the next one, so I can drink you lot under the table without you realizing anything!¡± I yelled, getting another round of laughter ¨C and more than a few drinks sprayed, as some dwarves tried to laugh and drink at the same time.


    Lule carefully put her hand over my mug.


    ¡°You¡¯ve probably had enough.¡± She said, as Thabo said. ¡°Lightweight.¡±


    ¡°Hey! I am not a lightweight! I¡¯ll prove it! Gimme another!¡± I said.


    ¡°Healer Elaine. You are drunk.¡± Lule said. ¡°Our ale has a lot more than just alcohol in it. We put in tingle-weed, which has magical properties that work just like being drunk. Otherwise, none of us would be able to ever properly enjoy ale once we¡¯d leveled up some.¡±


    That sobered me up real fast. There was a world of difference between not realizing I was drunk, and being forcefully made aware of it.


    I looked around the room, still spinning somewhat, sparks of color going off.


    I could no longer tell reality from fiction, and my fight-or-flight reflex was going off full blast. I could feel a cold calmness overtaking me, ready for the worst.


    I started to walk, trying to leave before someone attacked me or something, promptly hitting the table in front of me and half-folding over it.


    Danger.


    Danger.


    NO!


    No danger. Just drunk. Badly drunk. Don¡¯t start blasting. Do no harm. Don¡¯t murder a house full of happy dwarves because I couldn¡¯t hold my liquor. That¡¯d start a war.


    Proooooooobably.


    Wars were bad. Bad was bad.


    I felt someone grabbing my arm. Pulling me back. Going to ¨C oh wait, it¡¯s Lule. Lule was ok. Right?


    Hang on, her mouth was moving. I should listen to her.


    ¡°Elaine! Are you ok?¡± She asked again.


    I thought about it. Was I ok? Well, I¡¯d gotten ripped to another world, but I¡¯d adapted. So OK there. I¡¯d escaped an arranged marriage, so I was OK there. I was a Sentinel, which was mostly OK, but I didn¡¯t sleep well at night. Which wasn¡¯t OK. So did that make me OK in the end? Or did my problems end up-


    ¡°Elaine!¡± Lule said, bringing my attention back to her.


    Ah right. She wanted to know if I was ok right now.


    I shook my head.


    ¡°Not ok.¡± I said. ¡°Gotta leave.¡± I tried again, and tried to stumble out.


    ¡°You sure?¡± Lule asked, supporting me.


    I nodded, trying to dampen down the rising panic. I jumped as a nearby dwarf suddenly raised his hand, preparing to attack me.


    A shot through the head would be fastest, but I didn¡¯t want to kill him, plus the angle was bad ¨C it might hit someone behind him. A joint shot would be better, plus it wouldn¡¯t ki ¨C oh wait no, he was just getting a drink. Not attacking me.


    ¡°I have to get out.¡± I repeated to Lule, stumbling forward.


    Fuck it.


    I closed my eyes, and let Lule guide me out. I opened them again when I felt the cold air blasting on my face again.


    Lule kept me steady as we staggered down the street.


    We made it back to where we were spending the night. Bless having my own room.


    ¡°Beard Lule the 700th.¡± I said, madly giggling after. She had a beard! I was totally being polite with giving her a TITLE! And a generation! 700 seemed right.


    I got a frown back, and I remembered what I wanted to say.


    I got a little more serious.


    ¡°Lule. For real. I¡¯m super drunk. I already struggle when I sleep. I¡¯m alone, in a place with no friends at all, and I¡¯ve been in more fights and seen more people die than you¡¯d believe. Whatever happens. DO NOT DISTURB ME. I almost attacked three different people thinking they were trying to hurt me in there. Someone walks in, and I can¡¯t promise I¡¯ll tell they¡¯re friendly before I start shooting. Just. Leave me be.¡±


    I didn¡¯t wait to see or hear her reaction. I just curled up under the blankets, and tried not to cry.


    I was a healer. I wanted to help people. I hated that I was on a hair trigger. I hated that I had nightmares. I hated how I¡¯d developed a reflex of blasting first, and asking questions later.


    Was it too much to ask for a simple life? Was it too much to just have things be easy?


    Why me?


    I woke up the next morning with a pounding headache, that no amount of [Dance] could get rid of. I closed my eyes, wishing the pain would go away, would go bother someone else. My head being super-foggy wasn¡¯t helping.


    When was the last time I¡¯d had a headache? One that I couldn¡¯t magic away?


    It was¡­.


    Argh.


    Thinking hurt.


    Thinking bad.


    But.


    Hurty no go away if no think.


    I probably needed water. Then again, this was a magical hangover, caused by more whatever-the-fuck the dwarves used to make their ale more potent.


    With a groan, I rolled over, and got out of bed.


    At least I¡¯d de-filthified, and whatever potent blend of herbs the dwarves used didn¡¯t want to involuntarily exit. Bless the small things in life.


    At the same time, embarrassment, shame, and remorse flooded over me.


    I¡¯d gotten so drunk. ¡°Couldn¡¯t-stand-up¡± drunk. ¡°Needed-to-be-carted-out¡± drunk. At a fancy, formal function.


    I tried to remember what I¡¯d said last night, and as soon as I remembered, I wanted to crawl right back under the covers and hide away, until nighttime when I could sneak out. With any luck, Lule and the rest of the team would be too busy looking for me before the real diplomats could arrive, and make a better first impression than I had.


    The real question was ¨C hide in the ground, under a rock? Or high up in a tree?


    The dwarves were short, and low to the ground, which made being under rocks a little trickier as a hiding spot. At the same time, they loved and venerated the gigantic redwoods, so they were probably looking up a bunch.


    Neither was a winning move.


    Maybe I could play it off as ¡°getting totally sloshed was the human way?¡±


    That might save some face, but it didn¡¯t help the embarrassment I was feeling in the moment.


    Bleargh. Lying here and wallowing wasn¡¯t going to improve my situation, nor my headache. I needed to gal up, and face the music. The sooner I tackled this, the sooner it¡¯d be done.


    I stumbled out of my room to see Fik sitting at the table, idly moving three pebbles in an orbit. What was interesting was the way they wavered and wriggled as they moved near each other. Which, assuming he wasn¡¯t deliberately trying to do that, meant that either he was an Earth mage of some sort, or more likely, he had some other element that he was using to manipulate stones as if he was an Earth mage.


    ¡°Healer Elaine the 94th!¡± He happily greeted me from where he was sitting. ¡°You¡¯re up! Heard you downed an entire mug. Good job! I didn¡¯t think someone your age, without a beard, could manage it. Why, I remember my first mug, when I became an adult! Sprayed half of it across the room! Barely got any of it down my throat, but eh! Better than Drin. He was actually sick, can you believe it? Oh! Right! Hangover cure¡¯s right there.¡± He pointed to a drink, still not getting up, and I thankfully stumbled over and downed it.


    Sure, it was probably brewed for dwarven anatomy, not human, but my head was murdering me, and Fik enjoyed nattering on. If I didn¡¯t know better, I¡¯d say it was deliberate.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I forced out, wincing as each word sent a spike of pain through my head, like an icepick through the eye.


    I thankfully grabbed and downed the hangover cure. How did medicine always taste awful the world around?


    For that matter, I hadn¡¯t needed to properly drink medicine for years and years. My healing was just that good for just about everything.


    My head started to feel better ¨C then worsen. Still, the fogginess was gone, and with a few extra braincells working, I realized I might¡¯ve made it worse.


    Medicine was complicated. There was a reason I¡¯d gone into the easy ¡°touch and heal¡± style of medicine, rather than the ridiculously complicated field of trying to brew potions. There were some benefits to being an alchemist, but one of the downsides was just how damn tricky it was.


    A gross, massive oversimplification worked like this. See, if I had not enough of, say, insulin, and I got a shot of insulin, happy days! I¡¯d live! However, if my blood-sugar levels were already fine, and I got a shot of insulin, I¡¯d go dangerously hypoglycemic. In short, if the problem didn¡¯t exist for the medication to counteract, it could cause just as much harm as the initial problem itself.


    I¡¯d happily purged myself of alcohol, so when I¡¯d drunk a magically-brewed cure that handled residual alcohol and intoxication, along with whatever magic drugs were in the ale, I¡¯d screwed it. I¡¯d already purged myself of alcohol hours ago, so the ¡°counteract alcohol¡± and ¡°counteract alcohol derivatives¡± portion of the brew had nothing to properly work on ¨C and was doing goddesses-knows-what to my body.


    I gave the empty hangover cure the evil eye, scrounged up food and drink, and retreated back to my room.

 Chapter 185 – Dwarves X

    Two days later, we were back on the road, winding our way up a mountain to a ¡°great vantage point.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a bit of a detour, but I¡¯d thought ye¡¯d like to see the best view in Nolgrod!¡± Lule enthusiastically told me.


    ¡°I¡¯d love to see it!¡± I said, distinctly feeling on the back foot. After the utter disaster that had been meeting the Mayor, I was down to do anything Lule thought was a good idea. I¡¯d like to be back in her good books. Anything to get a good word in with the important people on the other side.


    ¡°Ah! When the sun hits just right, it¡¯s like the entire mountain sings!¡± Drin enthusiastically entered the conversation.


    ¡°Are there any good bugs to be found up there?¡± I asked him, having finally caught onto the way to butter him up.


    He shook his head.


    ¡°If anything, it¡¯s a bad spot. Not too many bugs live on the peak.¡± He told me.


    ¡°Oh.¡± I¡¯d almost assumed there was some sort of super-duper rare bug living in the highest reaches of the mountain. A fun little diversion as we tried to catch it, only to be outwitted in the end by something with a brain the size of a speck of dust. Nope. No such luck.


    ¡°It¡¯s great for seeing the stars though! Lusebalt Summit has no trees on the top, and at night, the sky just opens up!¡± Fik told me. ¡°I¡¯ve been dying to show you the constellations, but the trees keep hiding them from us. Now I can show you the Carpenter, the Anvil, the Firefly, and my personal favorite, the Lyre!¡±


    ¡°Sounds like fun!¡± I told Fik, only for Glifir to hurry back from scouting, concern on his face.


    ¡°Leader Lule, we¡¯ve got a problem.¡± He said, and his tone caught my attention, while the lack of a generational honorific caught everyone else¡¯s attention.


    ¡°Report.¡± She said, as weapons were drawn.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got a Chupacabra stalking us.¡± He said. ¡°Probably wants the yaks. Wanted me to see him.¡±


    Lule¡¯s beard creased in a way that I associated with frowning. Helmets started to go on heads, and I grabbed mine as well, getting it strapped onto my head.


    No need to get my armor on, I lived in it.


    ¡°It¡¯s trying to wear us down. Catch us off-guard when we¡¯re exhausted.¡± She finally declared.


    ¡°Toke. Ned. Rest. Sleep if you can. Drin. You¡¯re on stare-down duty for now. Keep eyes on it permanently. It shouldn¡¯t attack while it knows we¡¯re watching. Glifir. You¡¯re still on scouting, let us know if anything else is coming. Nothing else should want to mess with a Chupacabra, but it might have a mate, and be trying something tricky. Fik. You¡¯re with me on guard duty.¡± Lule rapidly assessed the situation, and handed out orders.


    ¡°What do you need me to do?¡± I asked, feeling somewhat left out. ¡°I have a skill to restore and energize, which could help if it¡¯s trying to exhaust us.¡±


    I got a quick glance from her, a weighty look.


    She gave a curt shake of her head.


    ¡°Nothing. It is our pride to protect you.¡± She said.


    I shut up, although the moment the Chupacabra came into view, I wouldn¡¯t hesitate to heal everyone, or take some shots of my own.


    Wonderful thing about Radiance was the travel time ¨C or lack thereof. I was unlikely to foul anyone¡¯s shot with my attacks, although I¡¯d announce it.


    Should probably lay off the [Nova]¡¯s. Especially in a forest.


    The Chupacabra took that moment to growl, and reveal itself through the trees.


    It looked vaguely like a large, mangy dog, with a row of sharp spines down against its back. It growled at us, loudly, making sure we knew it was there ¨C then spat a sizzling glob of something orange at us, which arced up high, then broke into a fine rain. The Chupacabra promptly faded back into the trees after its attack.


    Toke lazily waved her arm, and shimmering darkness spread above us, shielding us from the acid rain.


    ¡°No problem to shield this, but this is going to be a pain.¡± She said with a frown.


    Lule sighed.


    ¡°No rest for the hard-working.¡± She muttered into her beard.


    I was inclined to agree.


    Three attacks later, and I¡¯d had enough.


    ¡°Oi! You little shit!¡± I yelled at it, jumping up and hitting it with a cone of [Shine]. I walked towards it, eyes promising murder, as the light stopped it from slinking off too far. I threw a [Nova] after it, but it was gone before it landed.


    So much for ¡°not throwing [Nova] into a forest¡±. That hadn¡¯t lasted long, although with the colder, wetter weather the odds of starting anything bad were slim.


    I went back to the cart, muttering.


    ¡°Any reason we¡¯re not doing more to annoy it?¡± I asked Lule, stomping back after the Chupacabra ran off.


    ¡°No point in getting ourselves riled up.¡± Lule answered me after a moment¡¯s pause.


    ¡°Mmmm. It might think we¡¯re not quite as soft anymore though.¡± I said.


    ¡°Yeah, but if we never do anything, we say we¡¯re so strong we don¡¯t care about it.¡± Drin joined the conversation.


    ¡°We need to block its attacks already. Not exactly a show of strength.¡± I grumbled.


    ¡°Fine! I¡¯ll help ye on the next trade.¡± Lule said.


    Which is exactly what she did. Next time the Chupacabra showed up, Lule did her best Artemis impression, and threw a few rocks its way. Nothing landed, but it was taking longer and longer between harassments.


    We stopped earlier than usual, to set up camp. The Chupacabra lurking about made it take twice as long as we needed to move more carefully, and avoid getting picked off.


    Watches were arranged, three pairs of two, and in spite of my volunteering, I wasn¡¯t assigned to any of them.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a shield though! I can help!¡± I protested.


    ¡°It would be improper.¡± Was all Lule replied to my protestations.


    I settled in, fully expecting to be attacked in the night. I didn¡¯t lie down at all ¨C I just half-slumped against the wall, helmet on, shield on my arm and spear in my hand.


    I slept fitfully, jumping at every shift change, at every loud snort, every cracked twig.


    I was practically awake when the call came.


    ¡°Attack! Hellhounds! Attack!¡± Drin yelled, and I was on my feet in a flash, as Ned ran into the lean-to, with Drin taking a position in the entrance.


    The entrance was way too large for him to block by himself though.


    First thing first ¨C see what was going on. I used [Shine], bright enough to light the area up, but not so bright that a dwarf looking at me would go blind. It was a good trick to make it super bright and blink it when not working in a team. In a team though, I needed to be considerate.


    Ned was out with Drin, and there was already a shimmering connection between the two. As the rest of the dwarves were roused and exited, Ned hooked them up.


    As for the hellhounds themselves, they were like mid-sized dogs. Bigger than a small dog, smaller than a medium-sized dog, they were a weird size. They barked and leapt and bounded over each other, a shifting, whirling mass of animal that was hard to get a good number on. I¡¯d wager over thirty, what they lacked in individual size they made up for with individuals.


    Some had smoke trailing out of their mouth, others seemed to leave ash in their wake. A few didn¡¯t seem to have any obvious elements, although most of the pack being casters didn¡¯t speak well for us.


    Then, as if my light was the signal, they charged, and everything became a chaotic mess.


    With a dedicated healer on the team, I went on the offensive. I started by throwing three [Nova]¡¯s at the mass, trying to break them up. Then, when I saw an isolated hellhound, I¡¯d try to drill a beam of Radiance through their head.


    I felt a bit like I was a one-trick pony at times, but hey. It was a good trick.


    The hellhounds were fast, but I was able to just barely track them, which let me carve deep into their flesh when I had a moment.


    Fik joined Drin near the entrance of the lean-to, and Toke and Lule each worked their magic, closing the entrance somewhat. Toke had extended the walls a hair, closing the entrance, but leaving herself small slits to shoot out of. Lule did the same on the other side, but instead of wood she used stone. I mentally winced at that, because the sheer volume of conjured stone would¡¯ve had a major impact on her mana pool. Artemis had done similar tricks ¨C with a wagonful of Arcanite fueling her.


    It was good, because now we were properly safe and secured inside.


    Bad, because now I didn¡¯t have a clean shot to hit the hellhounds.


    Mist spread across the battlefield, and Glifir seemed to fade away. Not quite invisible, but blurred. He walked right past Fik and Drin, and scooted around, out of view. Given the hellhounds weren¡¯t violently ripping him to shreds as he walked past them, he¡¯d probably concealed his scent somewhat. Or there were other skills at work.


    Still, they made a solid team. Toke and Lule on the flanks, protected by the lean-to¡¯s walls and their own protections. Fik and Drin in the middle, Ned, having healing connections on everyone but me. Glifir in the Mist, an occasional icy blade flashing down to kill an isolated hellhound, then fading back.


    Drin hadn¡¯t shut up about his method of stunning and killing, and mentally I¡¯d been poo-pooing it. It hadn¡¯t stopped me for even a moment, and I¡¯d thought he was all talk.


    Well, I got to see it in action. A hellhound would leap at him, mouth full of flames, and he¡¯d block with his shield. As he blocked, a loud crack echoed, and the hellhound would fall, stunned.


    Drin would then swing his axe down.


    Honestly, I felt bad for the hellhounds. They were literally stunned immobile, defenseless, as Drin hacked them apart with one or two blows.


    I noticed that he never went for the vitals on the first blow, and while my estimation of him and his tactics as a warrior went up, my belief of how good of a person he was went way down.


    I was slightly concerned about his shield, constantly warding off flaming attacks while being made of wood, but every time it was scratched, the wood regrew, keeping his armor looking pristine, never mind that he was in the middle of a bloody battle.


    I had a brief debate of ¡°wagon or yak¡±, before deciding on the wagon. I climbed up onto it, and, half-hunched over due to the ceiling, looked back towards the battle.


    Yup, between the top of Drin¡¯s head, and the ceiling, was a gap wide enough for me to comfortably throw Radiance beams through, although I didn¡¯t want to risk a [Nova]. I stifled a chuckle ¨C I was in the exact position and pose Artemis had been in when we got attacked by goblins, back when I first joined up with the Rangers.


    From my angle, I wasn¡¯t able to hit anything in the fighting, but I could hit some of the hellhounds that were skirting around near the back. Generally not lethal, but I stung badly enough that most of them limped away, licking charred flesh.


    Lule was a heck of a lot stronger than I gave her credit for. She was holding a little hammer, and swinging it up and down, behind the protections of her barrier.


    A much larger hammer made out of stone was outside, and with every swing of her hammer, it came crashing down, crushing hellhounds with started yelps of pain¡­ only for the gory hammer to rise again, continuing its bloody work.


    The hellhounds weren¡¯t taking this lying down. Seeing the first few waves get smashed, they backed up a bit ¨C right into Radiance laser range. Still, a few of the ashen hounds seemingly exploded, coating everything in thick ash, with small bits of burning embers dancing through the air. They burned and scorched when they landed on small bits of exposed skin ¨C but fortunately for me, I didn¡¯t have a lot of that. Not that a minor burn would slow me down.


    The ashen veil hid their attacks though, and spears made out of glowing ash shot out of the darkness, with us only being able to see and react to it a moment before it connected. [Shine] was amazing against Mirages, but physically filling the air with ash was a different story.


    However, the ash neatly ate up my Radiance. Sure, I could probably try to burn through it, but that¡¯d be a large waste of mana. Instead, I decided to survey the field, to see if there was anything else I could be doing.


    I looked at Drin and Fik, and briefly considered throwing up shields near them, to help them deflect attacks. They looked like they had things under control.


    I had no idea on Glifir, who was either enjoying the added layers of confusion ¨C or had been knocked out of his Mist by it. Either way, I wasn¡¯t going to run out and break the formation when I didn¡¯t know if he was even in trouble. It¡¯d just cause more problems.


    Now, if he called out for help, or made some noise that indicated he needed healing, we¡¯d have a problem.


    Ned still seemed to have the healing well in hand, Lule was still doing hammertime, and Toke ¨C


    Toke didn¡¯t seem to be doing much, although she had one hand on the lean-to, and another on her barrier. Maybe she was reinforcing the wooden lean-to against the hot ash, preventing us from getting trapped in here? Maybe making wooden spikes on the outside, to stop a hellhound gnawing on the wood? Shooting wooden balls out?


    I had no idea, but she looked fine. Not all skills were flashy.


    Last were the yaks, and my eyes widened as I threw a [Mantle] over both of them.


    Luxurious fur + burning embers + multi-ton beast of burden = disaster.


    Welp. There wasn¡¯t much else I could do at this point, besides provide overwatch as the fight continued. I briefly debated trying to finish off the hellhounds that Drin was stunning, but that would require shots between his legs. His rapid footwork meant I could never be sure that he wouldn¡¯t step in front of my beam, which had nothing like a friend or foe identification system. Hamstringing my ally wasn¡¯t a great way to endear me.


    So here I stood, Sentinel Dawn, healer, Radiance mage, being a wet blanket so the yaks wouldn¡¯t catch on fire and murder us all. Not exactly my finest moment, or the best display of my combat abilities. The dwarves just worked so damn well as a full team though.


    I did occasionally dismiss and re-form my shield when a flaming projectile came in, catching it and making it roll to the ground before it could hit something delicate and wooden, but Commander Briga¡¯s assurance that she¡¯d gotten a capable team to escort me was proven in fact as they defeated the hellhounds with strong teamwork.


    Without fanfare, without notice, there were no more attacks, just angry barking fading away.


    We stayed there for quite a while longer, as the wind slowly blew the ashes away through the trees.


    Lule¡¯s arm dropped, and with a thud that shook the entire lean-to, her massive stone hammer dropped as well.


    ¡°Well, that was quite something.¡± She remarked. ¡°Anyone got a flavor of hellhound they prefer?¡±


    Some of the dwarves shouted their preference, while others did their own thing. Glifir showed back up without a scratch.


    I just shook my head, and after checking that the area was somewhat secure, laid back down in the wagon and tried to get some more precious sleep.

 Chapter 186 – Dwarves XI

    I bolted awake as I heard a branch break, slamming against the side of the wagon, peering over, ready to do battle again.


    Blasted hellhounds interrupting my sleep again, why I ¨C


    Oh wait.


    It was Fik, coming back with an armful of firewood.


    Nothing to see here¡­ I figured I should check my notifications from the battle before.


    [*Ding!* [Mantle of the Stars] leveled up! 256 -> 257]


    System? Hello, System? Are you there?


    I flopped over in annoyance. SERIOUSLY!? One measly level for a life or death fight?! Out of the dead zone my ass. I should¡¯ve gotten a lot more for¡­


    Wait.


    I was an idiot.


    Of course I wasn¡¯t getting any levels. [Ranger-Mage] was capped out, and I still hadn¡¯t gotten a chance to evolve it. The attack by the hellhounds just reinforced my decision to hold off on classing up ¨C I wasn¡¯t safe here. Sure, I had my escort, but I didn¡¯t quite trust them enough to look after me for days on end while I was potentially classing up.


    I¡¯d done practically no healing to boot. Just a few embers on my arm, and if that had been enough to level me up, I¡¯d be stripping and jumping into a fire again.


    The rest of the dwarves were waking up, and breakfast was soon being cooked ¨C fresh hellhound.


    ¡°That was a right mess.¡± Drin said, to nodding heads all around as we chowed down. The hellhounds tasted smoky, and it wasn¡¯t a particularly pleasant type of smoky. More like they¡¯d been caught in a bad fire.


    Yet, Glifir was, if anything, undercooking them. It wasn¡¯t an issue with the chef, so much as the source material. Hey, who was I to complain? At least it was novel.


    ¡°Aye.¡±


    ¡°Yup.¡±


    ¡°I hate my sleep being interrupted.¡±


    ¡°We going to make it to the peak today?¡± Toke asked Glifir.


    He paused his cooking a moment to check the map.


    ¡°We should¡­¡± He said, trailing off, glancing at Lule. ¡°Unless you¡¯ve got other plans?¡±


    She shook her head.


    ¡°Nah. Let¡¯s make it up there, and camp for the day. Enjoy the view. Have a break after that nonsense last night.¡± Lule said.


    The small talk resumed, and I was frankly shocked. No after-action analysis? No consideration of what went well, what went wrong, what could¡¯ve been done better? No mention of the yaks nearly igniting?


    I restrained myself. Maybe they just did things differently here. Maybe it was Tradition to wait a day before doing an after-action analysis or something. I wanted to speak up and start a conversation about the battle, who did what, what worked, and everything ¨C years with the Rangers had ingrained the habit in me, and even as a Sentinel we went over each other¡¯s combat once the Sentinel was back.


    Sure, those were less useful, given that each Sentinel was literally at the top of their game, but the conversations helped, cross-pollinated ideas and information if nothing else. We didn¡¯t consider ourselves too good for it.


    Still. I was mindful that I wasn¡¯t the best diplomat, and I wasn¡¯t about to say or hint that the dwarves were bad, or wrong, or something else.


    Plus, I didn¡¯t see it mattering all too much. Their team was their team, and I was just a hanger-on. I could do an after-action analysis on my own actions, some quiet introspection while we traveled.


    I had to say ¨C I could totally get used to not needing to do anything, and being carted around.


    Right!


    This was going to completely, and totally, ignore the diplomatic repercussions of my actions. Gods and goddesses, I missed being in Remus, where all I needed to worry about was not looking corrupt, and not making Sentinels look like they were easy targets.


    From a combat perspective, my first mistake was not making my capabilities clear to Lule and the team. I hadn¡¯t insisted that we drill together, I hadn¡¯t insisted that we work out tactics and how to integrate me into their formation. For example, if Lule¡¯s and Toke¡¯s barrier had been a little skinnier, Fik and Drin could¡¯ve been a bit further apart, and I would¡¯ve had room to be more actively engaged, instead of taking potshots over their head from the wagon.


    Or the lean-to could¡¯ve been wider, to accommodate the same. Alternatively, Drin and I could¡¯ve worked on our tactics, and made room for me to kill hellhounds that he stunned ¨C or other monsters.


    Right. That was the pre-combat analysis.


    During the fight, what could I have done better?


    Shielding the yaks was critical, and if I hadn¡¯t been there to do that, we would¡¯ve been in serious trouble. I should¡¯ve talked with Toke though, and seen if we could¡¯ve shared a shooting hole, especially since Toke didn¡¯t seem to be using it all that much. Could¡¯ve stuck a finger out, and blasted [Nova] from it.


    Right! After-action analysis complete!


    I looked around. The dwarves were keeping a steady eye on the forest around them, obviously not completely ignoring last night. Nobody was talking, seemingly to better hear what was going on around us. Ned was his usual stoic self, which left me to my own devices.


    I could re-read a book, and I probably would, but first! How would I have handled the attack if I was solo?


    Well, based on their appearance, I was guessing that they had a good sense of smell. My [Invisibility with Eyeholes] gem would¡¯ve been less useful, so I would¡¯ve needed to pair it with my [Tracks-be-gone] gem. I would¡¯ve blasted a path to the tree, and tried to climb it in the confusion. Once I was high up in the tree, I would¡¯ve been safe enough to wait for them to go away ¨C or for daylight. Once daylight hit, I¡¯d just fly away, after climbing the tree enough.


    I eyed yet another redwood. That would¡¯ve been a lot of climbing.


    The plan B would be to get my back to a tree, shield my sides, and judiciously blast away with [Nova], both the skill and my gems, and use Radiance beams to handle individual hellhounds that survived. Use my [Gust] gem when the ash hellhounds filled the air with ash. Use the spear and shield for anything that got too close.


    Actually! Thinking about it! With how [Mantle] worked now, I could try to hold a weak monster back with it, and stab it with my spear.


    Satisfied that I¡¯d done a proper after-action analysis on my own abilities, I grabbed my book and went back to reading.


    ¡°Hey Glifir?¡± I asked him, as he was on scouting break.


    ¡°Elaine! What can I do for you?¡± He asked me.


    ¡°Are you familiar with thunderbirds?¡± I asked him, figuring if anyone knew about him it would be Glifir.


    ¡°A little, why?¡± He asked me.


    ¡°Well, frankly, I¡¯ve been thinking about getting a companion, and part of the reason we headed this way was to see about poking around a pair of thunderbirds we saw heading this way.¡± I confessed.


    Glifir shrugged.


    ¡°You lot are probably quite a bit different than we are, but we don¡¯t believe in ¡®looking for¡¯ a companion. If it happens, it was meant to happen. No sense in trying to force it.¡± He said.


    Fik was making some strangled noises.


    I opened my mouth to keep prodding him about it, then closed it. I had time, I might as well continue to try and be diplomatic. The dwarves had relaxed somewhat, but were still somewhat touchy around me. ¡°No sense in trying to force it¡± and Fik ¨C the stout traditionalist ¨C making unhappy noises made me think the subject might be a touchy one for the dwarves.


    Right then. Operation sneaky Elaine hunts for a thunderbird egg begins!


    Maybe I could ask for an egg as a present? Not say what it was for?


    Ooooh! Maybe there was some sort of market where I could buy one! It wasn¡¯t unheard of in Remus for eggs to be bought and sold, although usually it was some of the more common dinosaurs being bartered. I was game to barter some of my gems away for a thunderbird egg. The Quartermaster, and the rest of the Sentinels, would totally understand. Heck, it¡¯d probably even be a steal, trading something replaceable for something almost irreplaceable!


    Right then. Operation ¡°sneaky egg acquisition¡± had a plan!


    We reached the top of the mountain, and the view was to die for.


    I could see why we¡¯d decided to detour over here, even though climbing the mountain with the yaks and the wagon was one heck of an ordeal, and probably added a few days to our journey.


    A gorgeous, sprawling vista met my eyes. Mountain after rolling mountain, all covered with redwood trees, banks of mist hiding in the shadows. A few breaks in the canopy in some of the valleys suggested towns that the dwarves had carved out, chopping down the trees for space.


    If I looked the way we came, I could, in the distance, barely see the walls the dwarves had built to hold back the Formorians, and marked the end of the dead zone.


    Then, like a needle in heaven¡¯s eye, a defiance of the gods and whatever creatures ruled the skies, rose a wooden tower. Even from the vast distance, several mountains away, it was visible to the naked eye.


    ¡°The Sierra Obelisk.¡± Ned pointed, obvious pride in his voice. ¡°Our greatest creation. Generation after generation of dwarf has worked on, labored upon, the tower, reaching far into the heavens, a demonstration of dwarven ingenuity. It is our temple and our pride, our seat of government and our inerasable mark upon this world.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s amazing.¡± I didn¡¯t even need to pretend to be amazed. I couldn¡¯t imagine the years ¨C centuries ¨C of effort needed to erect such a tower, nor the engineering ingenuity required, the maintenance, replacing old timbers ¨C it just boggled the mind.


    Bulwark would love it. Heck, he¡¯d love everything about the dwarves, from their ¡°structures on the go¡±, to the tower, to the wall, to everything. I should totally recommend that he make his way over, spend some time comparing notes with their engineers.


    I should put that on my to-do list! ¡°Get Bulwark a meeting with someone as nerdy as he is¡±.


    We spent the rest of the day drinking and goofing off. I spent a bunch of time just staring at the incredible scenery, just blown away by my tiny size in the grand scheme of things, the vastness and majesty of nature.


    There was one small mar to the fantastic scenery ¨C a small ventilation shaft, made out of stone. Fik kicked it grumpily.


    ¡°Bloody Khazads.¡± He said, as I wandered over, wondering what he was doing. ¡°We work so hard to keep nature pure and pristine, for there to only be traces left of us when we intend it to be so. That¡¯s why we take down our lean-tos. That¡¯s why we build out of wood. When we leave a place, nature can reclaim it, for future generations. We remind ourselves that we have our bounty due to our ancestors with our generation numbers, and remind ourselves that we need to preserve for our future.¡±


    Quite the rant coming out of him.


    ¡°But?¡± I prompted, and he kicked the ventilation shaft again. It was fairly large, with a narrow entrance that was just a hair too narrow for me to squeeze myself through.


    ¡°Khazads don¡¯t believe in that. They believe the earth and stone is theirs to take and shape. When they¡¯re done, they just leave things behind, and build strongly enough that nature almost never reclaims what is hers. They scar the earth, forever.¡± He said, pointing to the shaft.


    ¡°This mountain top was pure! Pristine for generations of dwarves to visit and enjoy! Then the Khazadian mine expanded underneath, and they built a shaft here, to get air down in the mine. Nature is trying to warn them, suffocate them for their insolence, but do they listen? Noooo. They just mar her further, blasphemy on top of blasphemy. Now everyone who visits this mountain needs to look at their ugly, temporary work.¡± He said.


    I had absolutely nothing for that. Fik was sounding like a True Believer, and there was no reasoning with those.


    ¡°Ale?¡± I offered him a mug of blessedly not as powerful stuff.


    He took the mug from me, and downed it in one angry go.


    ¡°Ahhhhh, that¡¯s the stuff. Right! Let¡¯s get back to it!¡± He said, heading back to the group.


    I headed back as well, noticing with a little giggle that Glifir was trying to draw a map of the area ¨C but staying far, far away from the edge.


    ¡°You know, it¡¯s easier to see and map if you go right to the edge!¡± I cheerfully called out to him, only to get a death-glare in response.


    Heh! Who¡¯d ever heard of a map-maker who was scared of heights?


    The rest of the day went well, setting up a lean-to, setting a watch, and going to sleep after a long session getting the constellations explained to me.

 Chapter 187 - The Dragoneye Moons I

    Most nights I expected to be attacked in my sleep, and my dreams were a constant reminder of the threat I was under. I was trying to get better, to improve, to heal myself of the problem, and was getting less jumpy when woken up by surprise.


    All that improvement went out the window - not that there was a window anymore - as I was woken to a world-splitting roar, and our lean-to exploded, wooden logs transforming into a hail of deadly shrapnel.


    [Bullet Time] activated and adrenaline kicked me awake, making [Sunrise] redundant. I used it anyway.


    [*Ding!* [Sunrise] leveled up! 45 -> 128]


    Holy shit what?!


    The levels were wildly distracting. I disabled System notifications. I had no time for them, especially since the huge level gain told me that whatever was going on was dangerous. More lethal than anything else I¡¯d been near, by a wide margin.


    I refocused on staying alive, thanking [Bullet Time] for having given me the extra thinking time.


    The wooden splinters were already tearing through the dwarves, and I reflexively coated myself in [Mantle of the Stars], entirely out of position to aid them.


    I activated all the Inscriptions in my armor. Speed, strength, toughness of my flesh, hardness of my armor. Perception and reflexes, Sentinel armor had almost everything. I had no idea what was going on, and I wasn¡¯t holding back.


    Seeing the barrage incoming, I started to dive behind my backpack, with the tower shield I¡¯d been lugging around the entire time on its side. I almost never used it, and had mentally cursed it a dozen times. Now I was grateful for something to try and hide behind.


    Basic math was my enemy. The splinter assault was moving at incredibly high speeds, whatever force that had destroyed the lean-to launching the projectiles at high velocity. I had jumped up when I heard the explosion, and I was still on my way up, trying to cross my arms over my face, when the splinters crashed into my barrier.


    [Mantle] held for a moment, stopping a few of the larger wood shards, and a dozen of the smaller ones. Then it shattered and the rest of the splinters slammed into me.


    Most of the shards that hit my armor just bounced right off. A few left minor dents, but the superiority, wisdom, and paranoia of always wearing armor - even in my sleep - paid off massively.


    My leather skort got pin cushioned, but it held, keeping my thighs safe. Likewise, shin guards and vambraces protected my extremities.


    No, where I was in trouble were my hands, elbows, knees, and worst of all, my head. My arms weren¡¯t going to make it in time to guard my face, and desperate times called for desperate measures.


    I launched a [Nova] point-blank from my mouth, trusting that it¡¯d hit some splinter and detonate in my face. I¡¯d much prefer large-scale burns over my body and face to a splinter through my head.


    I knew I could heal full body burns.


    In theory I could recover from a splinter through my head. I wasn¡¯t eager to test that particular theory. Being wrong would be fatal.


    [Nova] did indeed blow up in my face, washing me with Radiance. [Radiance Resistance] helped me, but not my clothes, gear, or bag.


    My angel feathers bit the dust, only the ones in my pack safe.


    I healed just about as fast as I took damage, and even before my vision was restored, I blindly reached out with [Wheel of Sun and Moon], trying to slap healing on the dwarves. They were busy picking themselves up off the ground, having been rudely woken up.


    Death by wooden splinters was, generally, a relatively slow, painful way to go. Worse-case was a splinter through the eye or heart, but death by a thousand cuts was likelier. Nobody was dying on my watch though, and I¡¯d like to think I was faster than Ned.


    Not that he¡¯d ever admit it.


    I took a stance, ready to run, fight, heal, blast, whatever had caused the problem.


    Also, where was Drin? He was supposed to be on watch - why hadn¡¯t he warned us.


    I looked around, and spotted Drin. He picked himself up off the floor


    ¡°It¡¯s Lun¡¯Kat! Lun¡¯Kat the dragon!¡± He was yelling and pointing, running back to the cabin.


    ¡°Lule! Toke! Talk to me!¡± He screamed, grabbing logs and heaving them away.


    I glanced at him, tied off [Wheel of Sun and Moon] with [Persistent Casting] into a permanent, if terribly inefficient, heal aura, and took stock of the situation.


    Drin had pointed me in the right direction. I had a great vantage point from the mountain summit we decided to stay on, and could see for miles in every direction.


    I could barely make out the massive walls down on the plains, but in the opposite direction I could see the Great Tower the dwarves had built. Were building? They weren¡¯t entirely clear on it. Either way, it marked their capital, their pride and joy. I could tell there were two towns by the large gap in trees, nestled into a pair of valleys. A line of flames blossomed and split the mountains, from beyond the horizon to far past where I could see, like a sword of fire, leaving a trail of flame and devastation. Even as I watched, the flames grew, grasping hold of the forest and growing greedily.


    They didn¡¯t care that it was cold and winter. They didn¡¯t care that it had snowed recently, and that everything was supposed to be wet.


    They were dragon¡¯s flames, magical and all-consuming.


    And there, high up in the sky, far and only just barely visible thanks to my vitality, flying with deadly, sinuous grace, was the living catastrophe. Black, iridescent scales, powerful wings, legs that ended with claws as long as swords, and a mouth full of teeth like curved daggers. Billowing flames poured from her mouth, burning all in their path.


    Lun¡¯Kat, the dragon.


    I cursed the idiot dwarves. The Khazad dwarves, the metal and stone workers, who had tried to recruit me on their inane quest to ¡°evict¡± a dragon and loot her lair.


    No guesses how that had gone, and it seemed like Lun¡¯Kat was taking it out on the dwarves. The wrong dwarves, but that distinction was probably lost on her. If she even cared.


    She spent a moment, high up in the sky, looking down. Not at us, thankfully. I don¡¯t think we would¡¯ve survived the attention. Then, she vanished, leaving a trail of fire descending from above, and I saw a shockwave rippling outwards.


    ¡°Brace! Incoming!¡± I yelled, looking around to find some sort of shelter. The first blast had half-wiped the summit clean, while making more of a mess at the same time. The shattered ruins of our lean-to, a few trees that were toppled over and blown towards us, and the top of the old mine ventilation shaft were the only things up here with us.


    The yaks were flat-out gone. I suspected they¡¯d fled in terror, not that any of us could try to do anything to stop them, not when we were too busy trying to survive.


    I didn¡¯t want to be near the logs, so I turned and ran towards the mineshaft.


    I was moderately quick. 2200 points in speed, and solid physical fitness.


    While I was quick, and while it took almost fifteen seconds for the sonic boom to hit, the summit was large, and I wasn¡¯t quite able to make it to the shelter of the mine ventilation shaft before it hit. I threw [Mantle] up, and braced for impact.


    It wasn¡¯t worth blowing one of my gems on. It was just going to hurt like hell.


    Naturally, [Mantle] got shattered, and I was picked up and slammed back onto the hard, rocky ground. I felt my ears pop again, as they were broken and restored in almost the same moment. I pushed myself up, only to feel one of the dwarves grab my arm, and start pulling me.


    ¡°Come on healer!¡± Fik said, pulling me up. ¡°Got to get you to safety!¡±


    I let a bitter laugh escape. Safety? What safety? Nowhere was safe when a dragon was rampaging above, merrily burning the countryside to the ground.


    I looked around as we scrambled over to the vent shaft, a tiny outcropping of stone. Built sturdily enough that the sonic boom hadn¡¯t knocked it over.


    Good stuff.


    The rest of the dwarves were there, huddling around what little shelter we had. There wasn¡¯t one without significant bloodstains on them, but that was the only mark they had of the damage that had been done. Their living armor, combined with Ned and I, had kept everyone alive.


    ¡°Elaine! Good! We need to get out of here!¡± Lule shouted at me.


    I looked around. The mountain was half-ruined, with trees flattened all around us. Getting down would be an obstacle course over broken trees that could shift at any moment, crushing us under their bulk.


    A second burning line cut through the mountains, a second slash making a cross with the first. Smoke was rising, and the dragon was high up in the air again.


    Vanished again.


    ¡°Incoming!¡± Half of us yelled, as we all scrambled to get to the other side of the stony shaft before the shockwave hit us.


    Toke threw up a large barrier of darkness, and I added in my own [Mantle], having no faith that her shield alone would protect us.


    They didn¡¯t, but between the two shields, and the ventilation shaft, we were almost entirely fine. My ears popped again, and I noticed with some concern that my mana had been dropping fast. Between the shields and the constant healing from the bone-rattling not-even-intended after effects of Lun¡¯Kat simply moving around, my mana was getting chipped away.


    The last slash had created a wall of fire vaguely behind us, but now it was all too obvious - nowhere was safe. Part of the second flaming slash looked like it was awfully close to one of the towns. I hoped the dwarves, with all their love of wood, knew enough to handle a forest fire.


    Even if it was magically generated.


    Lun¡¯Kat stayed high in the air, looking down at the country.


    Looking specifically at the tower, the dwarves¡¯ pride.


    Fik grabbed Lule¡¯s arm, and pointed up.


    ¡°Look! The stars!¡±


    We all looked up. It took me a moment to notice, to realize what was going on.


    It looked like the sky - no, every star in the sky - was falling, coming down to earth.


    An entire sky¡¯s worth of stars, now significantly larger, started to rain down across the entire mountain range, causing devastating explosions wherever they landed. Giant redwoods jumped and snapped like twigs, and the entire mountain shook with the devastating impacts, as stars spent minutes - that felt like an eternity - raining down from the heavens, causing explosions and destruction where they landed.


    We were lucky that none landed directly on the summit, although some were close. I felt thankful that I¡¯d been knocked over, as a fallen redwood went spinning over our heads, as if it was a tiny boomerang, and not a hundred-meter giant of a tree.


    Still, one of the branches casually scraped my leg. Not only did the force grab me and send me tumbling, but the flesh and muscle sheared off and bones broke ¨C only for my healing to instantly kick in and re-knit everything. [Center of the Universe] kept the pain at bay, keeping me alert and aware, and not having pain wracking my body and interfering with my thoughts.


    I¡¯d be so dead if I wasn¡¯t a healer.


    On one hand, the stars falling was an illusion, revealed as the real stars rapidly reasserted themselves in the sky. Then again, a skill that actually ripped the stars out of the sky would¡¯ve probably ended the world already.


    At the same time, the spell was of apocalyptic proportions, destroying and devastating the countryside. It was plenty powerful enough.


    I picked myself up off the ground again, noting the relatively small chunk of my total mana needed to survive that attack. Bless my massive mana pool.


    I was also debating the wisdom of getting back up when it was likely that I¡¯d just get immediately knocked over again.


    Blah. I was getting wrecked here, and I wasn¡¯t even the target of the attack. I was getting badly hurt by tertiary effects of attacks.


    Human lands were to the north, while the dwarven capital was to the south. Mountains stretched far to the east and the west, as well as continuing south.


    The dwarves tower? Their great pride?


    It was gone. Entirely annihilated.


    Several mountains away, a lone redwood remained standing untouched among the broken remains of its fellow trees. In spite of craters indicating that several stars had landed on or near it, it stood tall, defiant against the attack.


    I squinted my eyes at it. It didn¡¯t quite seem like it was staying in one place, but the distance made it hard to judge.


    No, no, I was right. It was moving.


    It was a treant, not a tree. Disguised as just another tree in the forest, this one was anything but.


    It took a few moments to speed up. And up. I realized that I was seeing visible, rapid movement from a giant of a tree, several mountains away. Nothing that big, that far away, should be that quick.


    [*Ding!* You are in the presence of Guardian Yurok, The Plague]


    I glared at the System notification. I¡¯d disabled them, damnit! Obviously, the System didn¡¯t care about me disabling notifications.


    Also - wait. Guardian? Like Etalix?


    The notification also explained something I¡¯d never thought of before.


    How did we know the name of a dinosaur?


    If Yurok was anything like Etalix, the answer was now obvious- a System notification.


    Clouds of red gas poured off of Yurok, flowing towards Lun¡¯Kat in the air.


    No bets what it was, when gas came off of something with the title ¡°The Plague.¡±


    With a derisive flap of her wings, Lun¡¯Kat blasted a wave of wind through the gas, dispersing and scattering it to the winds. Some landed on the hills, trees crackling and dissolving as it hit.


    Some were blown towards us on the hill.


    ¡°Shields!¡± Toke yelled, and I threw mine up behind hers.


    While I intellectually knew that the shields were helping, it didn¡¯t feel like it as both were shattered. [Bullet Time] activated, giving me all the time to think. Not wanting to try and tank the deadly spores from a monster powerful enough that there was a bloody System announcement about it, I rapidly ran through my list of options, before cracking a grin.


    The gem I¡¯d never used, which had always been an afterthought, saved our collective ass. [Gust] summoned a blast of wind, blowing the spores away from us.


    Until about twenty minutes ago, I would¡¯ve called the blast of wind powerful. Having seen Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s sky-shaking blasts as she casually traveled from place to place, my idea of the pecking order of the world was entirely upended, my place right at the bottom of the totem pole reaffirmed. I was the ant with the best healing power, but that didn¡¯t make me any less of an ant.


    The wind tore through the cloud, pushing most of the spores away, with some at the edges wildly spinning around in a circle.


    One tiny spore was ejected from the whirling wind, and in a split-second decision, considering how much harder it¡¯d be to heal Toke than myself, I pushed Toke out of the way, taking the hit myself.


    I instantly crumpled, vomiting blood and black bile, as my arms blackened, necrosis setting in and racing up along them, withering first my blood, then skin and muscle, sending it sloughing off my bones before they too were liquefied, the vile black goo which had moments ago been attached to my body splashed onto the ground, so toxic that the stone beneath me discolored. And yet it wasn''t done, as the toxic plague invaded my chest, blackening and rotting my organs. It was only my instantaneous healing which kept me alive, organ puree being replaced by intact and healthy flesh, only for the cycle to repeat as I flickered between ¡°healthy¡± and ¡°on the brink of death.¡± Necrotic flesh filled my body displacing what was left of my torso and forcing me to cough up what toxic sludge hadn''t spilled out from around my armor. On my hands and knees, I spat out more blood and bile, and wiped my mouth.


    ¡°Why did you do that!?¡± Toke yelled at me.


    ¡°Healing myself is more efficient.¡± I groaned back, looking at my mana.


    That one spore had taken a 30k chunk out of my roughly 150,000 mana pool. I shuddered to think how much it would¡¯ve cost with a cross-species penalty.


    Someone would''ve died.

 Chapter 188 - The Dragoneye Moons II

    I felt someone smack my head. I stood up and glared at Lule, who was giving me the stink-eye.


    ¡°We¡¯re here to protect you! Let us do our jobs!¡± She yelled at me. ¡°We have Ned, who can also heal us!¡±


    I noticed that there were thin, shimmering lines between all of the dwarves and Ned. I bowed my head at Lule.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± I said, meaning it.


    Ned and I healing a dwarf was probably more powerful than me just healing myself.


    Maybe.


    ¡°Ned, I need to know, what¡¯s your magic power?¡± I asked him.


    He looked at me with wary eyes, saying nothing.


    ¡°Tell her!¡± Lule yelled at him.


    He sniffed.


    ¡°Over four thousand.¡± He said, with the most pompous voice, like there was no way I could possibly beat that.


    ¡°Four thousand? Four thousand!?¡± I yelled at him. ¡°What the fuck do you think you¡¯re going to do with four thousand magic power?! I¡¯m sitting at over one hundred fourteen thousand magic power when I heal, and I could barely manage that attack! That took me thirty thousand mana to manage, and it still almost instantly killed me! Four thousand power is just going to get everyone killed!¡± I couldn¡¯t help but say that last part contemptuously.


    Fuck letting one of the other dwarves tank an attack. Ned didn¡¯t come close to making up for what I¡¯d lose in efficiency.


    Ok, so yelling at them wasn¡¯t exactly fair, but I wasn¡¯t in the mood to go through this carefully. Something about watching my flesh writhe as it disintegrated only to be restored was doing a number on my mood.


    The dwarves were looking at me like I was a monster. I realized I might¡¯ve screwed up a bit, and quickly backtracked a hair.


    ¡°I did mention I was the best healer humanity has. That means something.¡± I pointed out.


    Nope. Was still getting looks like I¡¯d grown seven extra heads.


    The awkward moment was interrupted by an earth-shattering roar, my eardrums popping again as they got blown out and instantly healed.


    The rest of the dwarves were grimacing, and I noticed that they all had blood running out of their ears as well. I dunno if my healing or Ned¡¯s (ha! Like he was doing much with his low-powered healing, compared to the [Wheel of Sun and Moon] I had going on them!) was keeping them up, but either way we were all in deep shit.


    From the east, a dinosaur, eight times the size it had any right to be, a behemoth of a monster, crested a mountain, roaring in challenge. It was bipedal, hunched over with a long, crocodile-like jaw, dark green scales, and a massive fan on its back.


    A cascade of Lightning sparks leapt from the Mist-wreathed titan as it moved.


    I¡¯d seen that dinosaur, that Spinosaurus, before. In front of every temple, carved out of the finest marble. I¡¯d grown up on stories of him, of hearing how he was the guardian.


    Well, I could see him in the flesh now.


    [*Ding!* You are in the presence of Guardian Etalix, The Storm].


    Etalix bellowed once more, the night sky turned greenish, and in a single moment three tornadoes formed out of the sky and descended, whipping up debris, coalescing into spinning, lethal forces of nature.


    Unlike Destruction, who clearly could barely manage a small tornado after weeks of channeling, and couldn¡¯t control it once unleashed, Etalix had perfect control over the three large tornadoes he¡¯d instantly summoned. They worked in tandem, harassing and chasing Lun¡¯Kat, whirling dervishes of indiscriminate destruction.


    Yurok wasn¡¯t standing still either. It was constantly releasing multi-colored clouds, and given how much we¡¯d struggled with just a single spore, I was keeping a wary eye on them ¨C and paled as the tornadoes sucked some of the gas up, becoming colored instruments of destruction and plague. Lun¡¯kat soared over Yurok, strafing it with dragonfire, but Yurok wasn¡¯t taking it lying down. A disk of blackened wood surrounded him, as some large skill was cast.


    Even Lun¡¯Kat didn¡¯t seem to like whatever Yurok was doing, as she roared and twisted aside.


    Yurok was burning though, dragonfire crawling through its branches. The treant shuddered, and the layer of burning bark shed, restoring the treant to its natural state. Solid skill, that.


    Or was it just a natural ability all treants had?


    I should be running. I should be hiding, fleeing, doing what I could to survive.


    Instead, I stood entranced, hypnotized by the battle of the titans I was witnessing. In a moment of insanity, I wanted one of the guardians to pass close enough that I could [Identify] them.


    Then, in one of her many passes over the mountains, continuing to burn and fight with the guardians, Lun¡¯Kat stopped one of her attacks near the mountain we were on.


    Close enough for me to [Identify].


    [Lun¡¯Kat, the Stygian Deceiver].


    Seeing it gave me a massive, pounding headache, and I felt liquid - blood - ooze out of my eyes, ears, and nose. One of her eyes twisted and locked onto me.


    I immediately dropped to the ground and prostrated myself, saying nothing, remembering that Night had said the dragons didn¡¯t seem to like worshippers talking to them. For all I knew he was wrong about that, but challenging, running, or defying Lun¡¯Kat all seemed like ways to end up dead via a casual flick of her wings, and prostrating myself seemed like it might have a small sliver of a chance for survival.


    I had no shame in admitting that Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s direct attention terrified me to the point where I peed myself. The ability to drop the sky on a country as an opening move was enough power for me to be properly scared.


    And yet, even as my face was pressed into the hard stone, my only chance at survival being Lun¡¯Kat ignoring me, the memory of her eye was burning in my mind, filling my thoughts as I mentally chanted prayers to every god and goddess I knew to keep me safe.


    I¡¯d seen that eye before.


    I mentally cursed the dwarves who were making a clamor, although from the sound of it Lule was stopping them doing anything terminally stupid, like attacking Lun¡¯Kat.


    I swear, if the dwarves got me killed, I was going to spend the entire afterlife haunting them. I¡¯ll ask to be reincarnated as the most annoying creature, specifically to pester them in the next life.


    Notice of my short-term survival arrived as another shockwave, significantly stronger than any other, washed over me, cracking my head against the hard stone.


    Bless my healing.


    Heat started to rise from the latest batch of dragonfire brought forth by Lun¡¯Kat, as she¡¯d set our mountain ablaze.


    With us still trapped on the summit.


    The dwarves were doing something near the mineshaft, but I couldn¡¯t tell what. I was too entranced by what I was seeing.


    The clouds crackled with green lightning, a lightning bolt jumping from cloud to cloud, coming from the distant north. I saw the bolt pause a moment, seemingly thinking, then descend down to earth ¨C wreathing the mountain we were on, forming a curtain of green lightning all around us.


    Fortunately for us, it didn¡¯t hit the top of the mountain, and the lightning reformed itself. A gigantic serpent, clad in rainbow scales encircled the mountain, facing Lun¡¯Kat and hissing, with such power that my teeth rattled together.


    [*Ding!* You are in the presence of Guardian Galeru, The Rainbow].


    Bonus! It happily landed on the burning wood, crushing it, and formed a nice barrier between us and the flames!


    Of course, it also meant we were trapped on the mountain.


    There was a brief shimmer, then a half-dozen more snakes were on a half-dozen of the surrounding mountains


    Large coils wrapped around the mountain, as green lightning seemed to arc constantly from Galeru - and the copies - towards Lun¡¯Kat, a steady stream of power and damage from Galeru and her clones, enough to fry a city in a heartbeat. It filled the air with enough static electricity that my hair was wildly dancing about.


    Lun¡¯Kat seemed to simply shrug off the attack, barely noticing. She simply exhaled an inferno of Pyronox, bathing Etalix in black flames. He vanished beneath the flames, a huge explosion of Mist expanding in every direction.


    I seized the chance to [Identify] the massive snake coiling near me.


    [Guardian Galeru, The Rainbow] I got back.


    Had no idea if the [Identify] was black because of its high level, or if guardians had a black [Identify]. Either way, it seemed to be on the same tier as Lun¡¯Kat - although the way Lun¡¯Kat was simply shrugging off its attacks made it clear who was superior.


    Looking around, the Mist that Etalix had exploded into was reforming on another mountain, and the dinosaur¡¯s massive shape was becoming clearer. Neat trick, that, being able to turn into Mist and just be completely invulnerable for a time. Maybe. I¡¯d need to get the skill itself and see what it did.


    Never thought that Mist would be high up on my to-acquire list, but hey! Learned something new every day.


    The tinkling of windchimes came to me, starting off slowly, then steadily getting louder until each noise was like a high-pitched gong going off in my ears.


    [*Ding!* You are in the presence of Guardian Asura, The Destroyer].


    I looked, and running on the wind from the north, light radiating from behind it, a beam of Radiance coming from its horn, was a unicorn. Pure white fur, a mane of silver and golden hooves that galloped on nothing but air.


    The beam of Radiance from its horn went straight through Lun¡¯Kat, and my heart leapt into my throat. Did Asura just kill the dragon?


    That would¡¯ve been too easy. Lun¡¯Kat shimmered, then shattered like a mirror. I put one and one together - we¡¯d been getting our asses kicked by an illusion, a Mirage.


    Heck, we hadn¡¯t even been the subject of the attacks. The mere shockwave of Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s illusion moving around was enough force and power to knock us on our asses constantly.


    Asura¡¯s Radiance washed over the mountains - and us - breaking and shattering all illusions. The many clones of Galeru also broke, which led me to think that the guardians didn¡¯t exactly have strong teamwork.


    However, Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s true body was revealed, and the guardians shifted their attacks, which started to land.


    Runes drawn in massive, mystical light formed behind Asura, spitting forth dozens upon dozens of different types of attacks. Magic missiles and arrows, beams and chains, small bolts and arcing lightning were just some of the attacks that spilled forth from the mandalas being instantly drawn behind Asura. There was even an extra-large Mandala that took time to charge, then unleashed a powerful beam.


    Far more attacks than skill slots alone could account for, each of them aiming at Lun¡¯Kat ¨C who ignored the arrows, broke the chains without noticing they existed, and dodged the charged attack with a twist of her wings.


    Asura wasn¡¯t the only one ramping up their attacks. Yurok had stood still for some time, but moved again - together with the entire downed forest around him. Trees stood once again and each one began to launch branches at Lun¡¯Kat, a veritable avalanche of wood heading her way.


    No snowflake thought it was responsible for the avalanche, but it was like when the lean-to had turned into a splinter attack. One splinter was harmless, but when massed, it could be problematic.


    These ¡°splinters¡± were the size of normal trees, given that they were the branches of redwood giants, animated once more.


    Etalix¡¯s tornadoes were both helping and not, as they sucked in some of the barrage, and flung them back out at high speeds. Some were accelerated towards Lun¡¯Kat, others shot to nowhere.


    Some entered the plague tornadoes and vanished, presumably consumed and corrupted by the poisons Yurok was emitting.


    A few shot towards some of the other guardians, who either dodged, blocked, or disregarded them. They didn¡¯t seem like intentional attacks, just a force of nature being a force of nature.


    Lun¡¯Kat expelled another black blaze, seemingly into the air, but instead of attempting to burn anything, dozens, hundreds of little dragons spawned from the black fire, flying down onto the controlled trees, and attempting to burn them with their own black Pyronox.


    Some got sucked into the tornado, never to be seen again.


    But the forest was burning even harder. Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s initial passes, her deadly red streaks of fire were growing larger, smoke creeping across the sky. The miniature dragons she summoned were spreading pyronox flames, and it was with no small amount of concern that I saw they were sticking to rocks - and continuing to burn.


    Dragonfire. Didn¡¯t seem to care about the normal rules of what was flammable - it just burned everything.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get hit by the flames!¡± I yelled to the rest of the dwarves, who had taken up a defensive position.


    I got a ¡°no shit¡± look back.


    Drin. Fik. Lule. Ned. Glifir. All in a semicircle around me, backs to the shaft, all with their shields out.


    ¡°Hang on, where¡¯s Toke?¡± I asked.


    I got a glare from some of the dwarves. Lule just pointed to the old ventilation shaft.


    ¡°She¡¯s gone in, trying to use her Darkness magic to widen the passage enough for us. We¡¯re trapped here otherwise.¡± Lule said.


    Given that Galeru was about ten meters wide, and wrapped around the entire mountain, trapping us on the peak, that made sense. I didn¡¯t think even an entire mountain would be enough to keep us safe, but it was better than being out in the open, tornado winds whipping around, needing to constantly shield against random splinters, colorful gases, and stray lightning bolts.


    Speaking of, my pack was gone. Entirely. Somewhere in the mess it had been picked up and blown away, and I was thanking my lucky stars that I hadn¡¯t fallen to temptation, and I¡¯d always slept in full gear, as uncomfortable as that had been.


    No idea what happened to the yaks either. I¡¯d bet money on their souls, if they had them, busy queuing up for reincarnation by the time dawn arrived.

 Chapter 189 - The Dragoneye Moons III

    The battle continued, the six of us on top of the mountain partially shielded by Galeru - partially put in the line of fire because she was there.


    Lun¡¯Kat soared up high, so high that I could barely see her. Then, wreathed in flames, she descended like a meteor onto Etalix.


    I didn¡¯t think there was a skill involved ¨C just sheer bulk, speed, stats and physicality.


    Etalix exploded into Mist again, but the mountain he¡¯d been standing on was annihilated by the sheer force of Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s impact. ¡°Small¡± rocks the size of villages went flying everywhere, the earth shook from the impact, and a boulder the size of Ranger Headquarters came spinning towards us.


    Galeru lazily flickered her gigantic rainbow tail towards the boulder, shattering it.


    Causing thousands of high-speed stones to rain down on us, deadlier than any skill Artemis could produce.


    I tried to shield and dodge the best I could, but end of the day, it got ugly. Drin and Fik took up a defensive stance, shielding the rest of us, and Fik used his magic ¨C which I now recognized as Gravity ¨C to grab and haul the worst offenders out of the way.


    I threw up a complicated [Mantle], woven with dozens of holes in it. My goal was to block the largest pieces of stone still flying at us, even as Fik frantically moved them out of the way.


    Between Drin and Fik¡¯s physical shields, my magical shield, and Fik deflecting the majority of the deadly projectiles, we were ¡°only¡± rained on by the ¡°little¡± stones.


    Enough rocks to kill a normal person by stoning, but none of us were normal. We all had armor on, and between my healing and Ned¡¯s meager contribution, we survived. Broken bones were almost immediately re-knit, and some large dents in our armor was the only evidence left.


    We survived the side-effects of a Guardian deflecting the after-effects of a dragon¡¯s purely physical attack.


    Toke needed to dig that hole faster. Although, the evidence was clear ¨C not even an entire mountain was enough protection, not if Lun¡¯Kat decided to remodel.


    It was a little hard to see the sky, because of Galeru¡¯s constant green Lightning attack. Lun¡¯Kat roared again, and beasts and monsters from myth and legend peeled off of her. Griffins and Wyverns, Rocs and Vermillion Birds, all made out of constellations, bright, starry, and shimmering, all were summoned with every flap of her deadly wings, and engaged the Guardians.


    Asura simply released a beam of Radiance from her horn, piercing the constellations sent after her, while a fan of Lightning came from Etalix, disintegrating his attackers. The griffin and other entities sent after Yurok somehow, in spite of being made out of stars, seemed to age, sicken, and die, while Galeru¡¯s tail went from rainbow-colored to a shimmering mirror and slapped an attacking flock of wyverns, returning them to sender. The wyverns tried to attack Lun¡¯Kat, but they were all killed in a single burst of dragonfire.


    Still, the attack had distracted the guardians, forced them on the backfoot. Lun¡¯Kat used the moment of distraction to devastate the country, burning and razing as she pleased.


    To say she held a grudge was understating it a hair. I was all on Team Guardian at this point ¨C Team Dragon seemed to want nothing more than to devastate everything she saw, while Team Guardian seemed to be ¡°stop that.¡±


    A rift tore open the sky, and high-pressure water sprayed out, directly hitting Lun¡¯Kat, slamming her down. All manner of fish, sharks, and other deep-sea creatures poured out through the rift. There was even a small kraken, who immediately started to struggle and flail as it went from the bottom of the ocean, to the middle of a mountain range. I couldn¡¯t help it. A manic giggle escaped my lips.


    Heh. Fish outta water.


    [*Ding!* You are in the prese-]


    A System notification was aborted as Lun¡¯Kat summoned a shimmering ribbon made of an Aurora Borealis, and whipped it around, slicing through the rift, forcing it to collapse. The Aurora-whip continued on, barely slowing from destroying the rift, and sliced clean through a half-dozen mountains, forming brand-new passes all throughout the range. Skinny, narrow, impossible passes - but the fact that I could see them from mountains and miles away suggested they were significantly wider than they seemed.


    I had no idea it was even possible to abort a System notification. They¡¯d always seemed to instantly show up for me, but the evidence in front of me suggested otherwise.


    With a speed that was unbelievable for its huge size, one of the mountains that had gotten cut by the Aurora-whip, much deeper in the range and hardly touched otherwise by the epic battle that was occurring, stood up.


    I could see the ripples race through the earth as the local part of the planet rearranged itself to a mountain standing up, tectonic plates shifting and stone splintering as a secondary shockwave traveled behind it.


    Not again.


    A creaking groan, the sound of the earth itself standing up, washed over me as the soundwave hit. I braced myself with some of the dwarves, and managed to stay standing up.


    The giant looked pissed, and given that some of the starfall bombardment had hit him, I would be too. With three steps, each one shaking the earth hard enough that I felt it from mountains and miles away, he stepped from mountain to mountain, striding to Etalix. Instead of helping him, he gave Etalix a mighty kick - one that went straight through him, as he turned into Mist and reformed himself on another mountain.


    The giant wasn¡¯t done though, as he turned on Lun¡¯Kat, and with a hand the size of a town, swatted her out of the air, down to the ground.


    With that, the sky flickered.


    I looked up.


    The moons.


    Out.


    The baleful red of the moons no longer washed over the battlefield. The ominous eyes no longer stared at me. Instead, two pale orbs hung where the moons were. One pale yellow, the other a pastel blue.


    The pieces clicked.


    The dragon¡¯s familiar eyes.


    Mirage and Celestial elements.


    A title of ¡°The Deceiver¡±.


    The Dragoneye Moons were an illusion, cast by Lun¡¯Kat! A mirage, coating the moons. A casual display of immense power, a flex, demonstrating Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s superiority, how she was always there, always watching, an apex existence.


    I stared down, at Lun¡¯Kat, who was recovering on the ground. Bleeding.


    With a scream, raw and primal, loud enough that once it hit from over a mile away it still blew my eardrums - again - Lun¡¯Kat flew up at the giant.


    I didn¡¯t know much about dragons, but she looked pissed.


    She opened her mouth, and shimmering, silvery flames exploded out like a lance, burning through and bisecting the giant, who dropped like a sack of potatoes.


    A mountain-sized sack of potatoes that took 15 seconds to fully fall, sending waves rippling through the earth, destabilizing our footing, causing us to grab onto each other to stop ourselves falling.


    Fortunately, our mountain hadn¡¯t gotten knocked over yet, and I couldn¡¯t quite believe that was a real problem we had to be concerned about.


    The giant¡¯s arm weakly came up as he was lying down on the ground, filling in a valley with his bulk.


    I cursed as I realized he wasn¡¯t dead.


    My fucking [Oath] was going to get me killed, wasn¡¯t it? This was the end of the line for me.


    I started to run down the mountain, ignoring Lule¡¯s cries for me to stay with them.


    I had never hoped for another intelligent, living creature to die when it wasn¡¯t trying to harm me before. Even as I reached Galeru, and her wall of shimmering scales, I was praying that the giant would die, pretty please, and free me from my self-imposed and totally futile obligation to help.


    Even with all my mana, with all my Arcanite, there was no way in hell I could save the giant. There was no way I could even get to him in time, not with needing to cross a mountain and change before he bled out. I couldn¡¯t start to heal on the scale of the injuries. Maybe if it was, like, missing a fingertip or something I could help.


    And, of course, Galeru was wrapped around the mountain, the massive rainbow serpent another obstacle. It only took a few minutes of running at top speed, dodging falling trees and jumping over secondary fires, to reach the first set of coils that I¡¯d need to cross to reach the giant.


    I looked at the wall of flesh and rainbow scales, trying to figure out how to get over them, hoping that Galeru didn¡¯t shift or get hit, which could easily crush me under her. She wouldn¡¯t even notice.


    A pillar of starlight came down from the skies, roughly where the giant had fallen. I felt relieved. The giant was likely dead, and I was free from my attempt to heal him.


    I eyed Galeru¡¯s massive body.


    Fuck it. It was likely I died here, but if not, I was going to get myself some crazy experience.


    I dashed forward, touched her body, and with the worst image possible, applied a [Solar Infusion], then pushed a [Dance with the Heavens] through her.


    I also flickered [Shine] briefly, figuring with all the illusions running around I might randomly hit one and get some experience. At the same time, I didn¡¯t want to attract attention, hence only doing it when sheltered by Galeru, where it could just be another twist of her scales causing the light; where it¡¯d be drowned out by her lightning.


    My mana instantly zeroed out, and I was hopping back and running up the hill, refilling my mana from my Arcanite reserves.


    Lule met me as I was jogging back up the hill.


    ¡°Fool! Why!?¡± She yelled at me, grabbing my arm and pulling me along, back up the hill.


    ¡°Have to heal.¡± I gave a curt answer.


    ¡°Even if it costs your life!?¡± She yelled back.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    My answer was calm, serene. I¡¯d accepted my fate. With my lifestyle, with how I acted, with my impending immortality skill, there was only one way my life would end.


    Dying as I ran to heal someone.


    When accidents were removed, when old age, disease, and cancer were gone, the only end for me was a violent one.


    Or a really, really complicated accident. Given my lifestyle, violently was where a smart girl put her money.


    Well, I wouldn¡¯t. I wouldn¡¯t be able to collect, not unless there was another accident with my soul and I got another do-over.


    We made it back to the summit, and my eyes were drawn to Etalix, shrouded in a rapidly expanding swirl of rain and clouds.


    ¡°Hurricane!¡± I yelled, as the swirl exploded into a full-force typhoon, stretching to blanket the mountains, blinding us with winds going hundreds of miles per hour and battering us with sheets of freezing rain.


    ¡°Get into the shaft!¡± Lule yelled, and the rest of the dwarves started clambering feet-first into the mineshaft.


    No idea if Toke was done expanding it enough for us to fit, but at this point, being stuck in a mineshaft seemed to be safer than staying on the summit. The dwarves slipped through one at a time, Lule helping them through, acting as the rearguard. Boldly making sure that all of her charges were safe before getting to safety herself. A true leader.


    [*Ding!* You are in the presence of Guardian Ho-O, The Conflagration].


    I could see white bursts occurring deeper in the storm, and Lule got bowled over by a chunk of ice hitting her square in the head.


    It was just us two on the peak - the rest of the dwarves had already bailed down the shaft. I ran over, cursing Etalix and the clouds for hiding the moons, preventing [Wheel of Sun and Moon] from working.


    I really needed to remove all my restrictions on my healing.


    At the same time, [Cosmic Presence] was doing work. There was almost no bleeding, and I slipped on the icy, slick rocks, arriving at Lule¡¯s side.


    I threw more healing into her, [Dance with the Heavens] still a solid touch-skill, and she groaned as she sat up.


    ¡°Move!¡± I yelled at her, and we supported each other as we tried to get to the shaft.


    Something had inserted a crapton of Ice into the fight, and since magic was magic, instead of dispersing, the hurricane was now throwing around freezing water and ice, which was adhering to, and freezing, the slick rocks on the summit.


    Somehow, I doubted that anything called The Conflagration was responsible for Ice. Then again, I couldn¡¯t see what else could be causing it.


    The storm blew one of the Pyronox dragonlings into us, and it squawked, seeing prey. It breathed Pyronox flames on us, even as I tried to blast it apart with [Nova] and beams of Radiance.


    Damn storm ate half my attacks.


    Ice cracked as Lule ripped stones from the mountaintop and threw a barrage into the black flames. The stones just rippled through¡­ and a moment later came right back to pelt us as the storm grabbed and redirected them.


    Normally, I¡¯d just tank lightly thrown stones and let myself heal. A bruise, a broken bone at worst, wasn¡¯t worth the mana cost of shielding.


    Problem was, with the icy, slippery footing, I was concerned about slipping, falling, at which point I¡¯d lose all control.


    I [Mantle]¡¯d it, at the same time the dragonling blew Pyronox flames at us. Two birds, one stone!


    Except for the flames sticking to the [Mantle], and my mana starting to drop at an alarming rate. I canceled the [Mantle], expecting the flames to vanish.


    No. Of course not. These were dragonfire, derivative or not. Something as mundane as being in an icy storm, with rain pouring on them and lacking any fuel source wasn¡¯t enough to stop them. They surged forward, blown by the wind, onto Lule and I.


    Onto just Lule. She moved at the last moment, pushing me out of the way and throwing herself in front of the flames, getting coated by them. Just like I¡¯d jumped in front of Toke. Then the dragonling continued, blown past, and was gone, out of range, out of reach, of the two of us.


    The black flames started to surge and spread, greedily devouring Lule¡¯s armor and spreading to her beard and face as she stoically tried to beat the flames out.


    ¡°Strip!¡± I yelled at her, making the snap call to thrust my left arm forward and touch her, pumping healing mana into her.


    Lule grabbed at bits and pieces of her gear, throwing burning chunks of living wood everywhere. I was careful about the flaming pieces and [Mantle], only briefly flickering it up to stop a piece hitting me.


    Yet the black flames spread across her body, over her head, down her legs.


    Touching my hand, starting to spread up my arm.


    I looked at my hand through the flames, seeing that it was still whole, still perfectly intact - even though my mana was dropping rapidly, as the flames consumed my flesh, only to be instantly restored.


    They started to lick forward, hitting my vambrace.


    My vambrace - full of gemstones.


    There was a snap, a crackling of energies, and a [Nova] exploded out, impacting and immediately exploding on my arm as the Pyronox ate into and destabilized the gem. It wasn¡¯t a full explosion, it wasn¡¯t as strong as it could be, and it was one of my smallest gems, located on the edge.


    Still, it made it clear that my gemstones were now a liability, and I fired off all of my [Nova]¡¯s with the wind, making sure they wouldn¡¯t blow back and hit me.


    The wind and icy rain extinguished them rapidly, a brief moment of heat the only remnant.


    ¡°Go!¡± Screamed Lule. ¡°Leave me!¡±


    ¡°No!¡± I yelled back.


    She didn¡¯t answer, but collapsed to the floor, screaming and writhing as she was consumed.


    She clawed at her face as she screamed, her flesh soft and melting like putty. Her thick fingers were able to dig deep into her flesh, and just pull chunks of her burning face off, flames rushing to fill in the gap even as my mana healed and restored the lost flesh.


    She tried to levitate stone from around her, to encase herself in rock. More than a few stones tried to get through me, and I was once again thankful for my armor, even as my arm got crushed by her manipulation.


    I ripped my arm free, once again free of dragonfire, and restored my hand. I didn¡¯t hold it against Lule at all, she was trying everything to survive. Given how my hand was now free of flames, it had a strong shot of working.


    Then again, everything on fire had been amputated, which helped.


    For a moment it looked like her self-created tomb worked, that she¡¯d smothered the flames. Then brown stone turned black, and the flames burst forth once more, casually consuming the rocks.


    There was a pop as fat in her abdomen finished liquifying, then the water boiled over and exploded out of her. Sizzling filled the air, so loud I could hear it over the flames, and I redoubled my vow to never ever eat pork again.


    I went to a knee, putting a hand on her, trying to burn through the flames with Radiance, seeing if I could somehow combat them. I drained the mana out of my Arcanite, pushing things longer, further.


    Trying to smother the flames with [Mantle].


    Rolling her on the ground. Awkward, when I was only using one hand. I refused to let my other hand catch fire.


    It was only when my mana dropped to nothing, and Lule stopped moving did I get up. I felt terrible. All I¡¯d managed to do was prolong her suffering. What would¡¯ve taken seconds had instead been a prolonged session of torture and agony, as I made her burn alive ¨C and consciously ¨C for far longer than was needed. However, I would need to mourn her properly another time. I looked down at her with sorrow, then turned to myself, and the black flames that were now past my elbow.


    No idea why they¡¯d gone slower on me than on Lule, but I wasn¡¯t going to complain. Maybe it was a limitation on the skill? It had generated dozens, if not hundreds, of the little Pyronox dragons, who were breathing deadly cursed flames all over the place, each of which resisted everything that could be thrown at them. Perhaps poor chaining was the reason the entire world hadn¡¯t burned down already.


    Healing hadn¡¯t worked, time, cold, water, starving it of air - nothing seemed to work on these cursed flames.


    The only thing that had given them pause was amputation.


    Welp. Nothing for it.


    I turned off my [Persistent Casting] of [Dance], and drew my sword. I looked at my arm, breathed in once, twice, steeled myself, and swung, awkwardly trying to hack my arm off at the bicep.


    The bad angle, a short sword meant for stabbing, with no real edge to it, and my low strength relative to my vitality made it an ugly, ugly job. That was before the mental aspect of ¡°I¡¯m cutting my own arm off!¡± started to yell at me. I was starting to feel woozy and light-headed from the blood loss, as I added yet another problem to the storm.


    The bone was extra-hard to hack through, and I¡¯d been contemplating trying at the shoulder, where there was the joint, when I managed to make it through.


    Still, with my arm off, I¡¯d regenerated enough mana to do a small heal, closing off the wound, and restoring my blood.


    I was going to need every drop of mana for what came next.


    I gave one last regretful look to my arm, picked up and tossed by the wind, and turned towards the mine ventilation shaft. I sheathed my sword, and one-handedly picked myself up, preparing to drop down the shaft.


    Then the wall of the hurricane passed, and I got a brief moment in the eye of the storm.


    Lun¡¯Kat was still high in the air, superior, dueling flames with a bird-like creature made out of pure flames.


    A Phoenix. Ho-O.


    Yurok was continuing to emit gas, tendrils of the noxious poison reaching out like hands to grasp Lun¡¯Kat, who casually ignited it with normal flames. As ¡°normal¡± as dragonfire was anyways. The flames roared down the poisoned spores, back to Yurok, causing explosions the entire way down.


    Ashen spears rained from the Phoenix, magical missiles fired from the Unicorn, surrounded by mandalas, green Lightning arced from Galeru, and icy missiles descended with alarming regularity from the sky, striking indiscriminately.


    Lun¡¯Kat shrugged off nearly every attack, elements sliding off her shimmering black scales, roaring dominance. Flames roared and consumed as far as my eyes could see, from the walls in the north to beyond the horizon in the south, heedless of the pouring rain and cold. A burning hellscape, brought to Pallos, choking and smothering with the thick smoke being poured into the atmosphere.


    It was like the world had ended.


    In the eye of the storm, in one of dozens of areas cleared out by the fight, a pyramid of sand rose. Taller and taller, until it was almost the size of one of the redwoods. Then it crumbled and collapsed, and a strange creature was revealed.


    It was a gigantic turtle, but instead of a tail, there was a viper. Both heads were locked onto Lun¡¯Kat. It was at least 40 meters tall, and significantly longer before the snake half came into play.


    A Xuan Wu. Just as legendary as a phoenix, just as mythical as a dragon.


    [*Ding!* You are in the presence of Guardian Hebai, The Mountain].


    My hair rose around my head, as a pillar of Lightning, nearly as wide as a town, descended from the sky, directly onto Lun¡¯Kat, blinding me.


    Deafening me.


    Without the ability to see or hear anything, and having been strongly reminded that I had no business there, I dropped down the shaft that Toke had made, only for local gravity to increase an insane amount.


    I could only hope that the shaft led to safety, and that the rest of the dwarves had made it to safety.

 Chapter 190 Minor Interlude – Autumn – The Letters I

    ¡°Healing! Free healing!¡± Autumn yelled into the crowd, cursing the lack of Elaine¡¯s presence. Just by being around, Elaine had moneybags lining up down the market aisle, most of the cash-holders wanting to meet the famous Sentinel, with the rest having legitimate injuries that needed tending to.


    By herself? Autumn didn¡¯t do nearly as well. She was running headfirst into the problem that Elaine had warned her about ¨C low-level Light healers couldn¡¯t do much, so coin-dispensers tended not to visit them.


    Autumn was trying Elaine¡¯s trick. Somehow, she¡¯d stumbled upon a fantastic method for getting the sweet clanking of coins into her jar, all while having the poor former owners of said coins smiling all along.


    ¡°Is your healing truly free?¡± A bounty bringer came up to Autumn, who [Merchant¡¯s Appraisal]ed her lightning-fast.


    A heavy pouch on her waist ¨C but it was all wrong. The little shapes and bulges being made from the contents didn¡¯t match the outline of coins at all. Decoy purse! Autumn approved of deceiving thieves, but not merchants. Nooo.


    Her clothes were high-quality, but well-worn. A light breeze blew through, ruffling her clothes a hair. One part of her tunic didn¡¯t move quite the right way, revealing a second pouch tucked into her clothing.


    Yet, that tiny glimpse was all Autumn needed to get a good estimate of exactly how many coins this particular supplicant could bestow upon her.


    Autumn would get her purse filled, one way or another.


    This wasn¡¯t a big fish, but it wasn¡¯t a small one either.


    First! The hook! Get the tasty fish with the golden scales ¨C err, purse ¨C interested.


    ¡°Yup! Completely and totally free.¡± Autumn said, internally smiling as she got the sentence out without stammering or losing her cool once.


    She¡¯d practiced saying that with her dad at home, needing hundreds of attempts and repetitions before she could say it in a smooth, natural, believable way.


    The phrase itself was a violation of Rule 1 ¨C Always, always, always get paid. Yet, it was needed. Lure the target in, then shake them down for everything that would rattle loose.


    Of course, nobody believed Autumn was giving away free healing. It boggled the mind of even the most na?ve of targets.


    Autumn mentally revised that.


    Of the most na?ve of targets that still had any money worth getting.


    ¡°I¡¯m in it for the experience. Hard to level up my class.¡± She explained, watching the guardian of the green¡¯s face carefully. A tiny amount of sympathy showed, but not enough.


    ¡°My master left on a trip, and abandoned me to my own devices.¡± Autumn added in, putting on a sad face.


    Lying was bad. It was a sure-fire way to destroy one¡¯s reputation as a merchant. It didn¡¯t matter if the lie was a terrible backstories, faking freshness, to flat-out selling defective goods. Autumn could make a few quick coins today ¨C and never make another coin again, not with a destroyed reputation.


    Honesty was best.


    It didn¡¯t mean she couldn¡¯t present things in the best light possible for herself! Elaine had technically run off again on some mission-or-another, and she¡¯d been gone a few weeks now. Autumn wasn¡¯t worried....


    Ok, Autumn was worried. It wasn¡¯t like Elaine to be gone this long on one of her missions.


    The custodian of cash¡¯s face took on a more sympathetic look. Yes! I¡¯ve got her!


    ¡°I¡¯m doing this for free in hopes of getting enough levels to make it on my own.¡± Autumn said. ¡°Also, since I can¡¯t promise I can fix you, it would be wrong of me to charge. However, if I manage, a small donation to keep me going helps. Whatever you want to pay!¡± Autumn said, inevitably slipping from her ¡°pity story¡± tone of voice, into her ¡°sales¡± tone of voice.


    She mentally cursed. She was working on it, but she¡¯d been working at keeping the ¡°pity story¡± tone of voice during her pitches. Ah well, it looked like she was fine.


    ¡°Hmmmm. Ok, thank you.¡± The minder of the moola said, turning and leaving.


    ¡°Tax collectors!¡± Autumn cursed as she slumped in her stool. Another one that got away. Her money! Her precious money ¨C oh, and experience ¨C was walking away! Drat.


    A heavy hand landed on her shoulder.


    ¡°You should probably read some of the scrolls Elaine left for you, hmmm?¡± Autumn¡¯s dad, Neptune, said.


    Autumn slumped her shoulders, glancing down at where the scroll she was currently on was.


    ¡°I should, but...¡± She trailed off, not quite sure how to articulate her concerns, why she didn¡¯t want to read it right now.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a betrayal to read them. Nor is thinking she¡¯s dead.¡± Neptune said. ¡°Heck, part of her instructions to you, her apprentice, was to read them when she wasn¡¯t around. Have you been doing that?¡± Neptune asked her with a Look that said he knew exactly how much she¡¯d been reading them ¨C or how little.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m still confused about this one part...¡± Autumn said, trying to defend herself.


    ¡°Then read a different part. I know medicine builds on itself, but you can read a different thing, and get more questions for when Elaine gets back.¡± Neptune said. ¡°Think of how happy Elaine will be!¡±


    Autumn frowned, then brightened up.


    Yes.


    She¡¯d have ALL THE QUESTIONS for when Elaine got back! She might even level!


    ¡°Right! I¡¯m on it!¡± Autumn said, pulling out a different scroll with gusto, and diving into it.


    She could try to get some more suckers with silver, but digging into medicine sounded more fun at the moment.


    She unraveled the scroll, and started to read.


    Impact and Symptoms of each type of organ failure.


    Dry stuff ¨C but learning it would bring Autumn one step closer to her goal of a swimming pool full of coins.


    ¡°Working hard?¡± An amused voice said, and Autumn snapped her head up, information about collapsed lungs and breathing patterns fleeing her mind.


    ¡°Yup!¡± She said, recognizing the golden goose from earlier. In tow was a sulky-looking boy, without a single coin on him. Autumn categorized him as ¡°totally broke¡±, then dismissed him from her attention.


    However, the potential payment patron was with penniless, so Autumn took a second look.


    ¡°My kid hurt his hand. Can you take a look?¡± The bounty bringer asked me.


    ¡°Of course!¡± Autumn¡¯s [Money to be Made] skill was alerting her. She¡¯d considered ditching the skill, because it really only went off when it was blindingly obvious that a sale could be made.


    Autumn extended her hand, and gave an encouraging smile towards Broko. He slowly unfolded his arms, and presented a slightly mangled hand towards Autumn, who started looking at it with a critical eye.


    She didn¡¯t have anything for the pain, so she tried to minimize the amount of poking and prodding she did. Still, two of the fingers were somewhat mangled. Autumn sighed in relief. It was something she could handle.


    She hated money walking away once she diagnosed the problem ¨C and it wasn¡¯t something she could fix. Autumn swore she could hear the sweet clanking of coins bouncing against each other when bacon bringers bailed.


    ¡°Right, hold on a minute.¡± Autumn said, diving into another pack, and grabbing some bandages.¡°Ok, this is going to hurt a bit.¡± She said, as she ¡®massaged¡¯ the fingers roughly into the right position, keeping a poker face as bone scraped against bone. Destitute winced, but didn¡¯t try to pull his hand back.


    Autumn grabbed the two mauled fingers - ¡°ring¡± and ¡°middle¡± Elaine called them ¨C and wrapped each one with the neighboring finger, before using a skill of hers.


    ¡°[Speedy Recovery]¡± Autumn said out loud, because how else would the Capital Conferrers know that she was also performing a limited, exclusive skill, that would normally cost money?


    Autumn felt the fingers in her grip slightly rearrange themselves, and she silently cast the spell a few more times. No need to display that she couldn¡¯t do it in a single shot.


    After a half-dozen casts, she let go, and put on her sweetest smile.


    ¡°Just give it a week of rest in the bandages, and you should be all set!¡± She said. ¡°The extra fingers are wrapped to give it support, and while it¡¯s probably good now, we wouldn¡¯t want to stress it and cause a problem by starting too early.¡± Autumn said.


    She¡¯d screwed that up once, and it¡¯d sucked. The ingrate had come back, yelling and screaming, and the only reason a wrecking ball hadn¡¯t gone through Autumn¡¯s reputation is Elaine had shown up the next day, back from a mission of hers. He hadn¡¯t dared kick up a fuss with Sentinel Dawn sitting RIGHT THERE.


    Autumn sighed. She missed Elaine.


    Back to the good part!


    Payment.


    Autumn rapidly looked over her most generous gold giver, rapidly evaluating dozens of factors while [Merchant¡¯s Calculation] ran, all while speaking to her.


    ¡°As you know, I¡¯m a free healing service. Always have been! It¡¯s good for my experience. With that being said, a few coins donated towards me helps me keep going.¡± Autumn said, going over her daily-edited and rehearsed speech, modifying it for what she thought this particular loot leaver would like. ¡°If you could donate just 17 coins, that would mean the world to me.¡± Autumn said, [Merchant¡¯s Calculation] coming back with the number.


    It evaluated dozens of different factors that Autumn knew about, from the quality and wear of her clothes, the town they were in, the location in the marketplace, the likely size of her household and family, a blind guess of how generous she was, the goods she was carrying, and most importantly of all, the size of her purse, how many coins were left in it, and a strong guess on how much shopping she had left to do in the day.


    It was the moment of truth as the Moola Mom pursed her lips, running her own calculations, looking between Autumn and Impoverished, before giving her a curt nod and dropping the coins in Autumn¡¯s eagerly outstretched hand, who promptly whisked them away to her secure coin storage.


    ¡°Thank you so much!¡± Autumn said, playing up the ¡°thankful kid¡± angle. ¡°Please come again, and tell your friends! I¡¯m good for scrapes you don¡¯t want mom to know about.¡± Autumn said, telling the last bit in a whisper to pauper.


    Rule 25. ¡°Everyone can get money in the future.¡± Her patient had no money ¨C today. He couldn¡¯t donate anything ¨C today.


    Future patient? Future Autumn? There could be money there, and sowing good seeds today could reap a bountiful harvest in the future. Autumn was young. She could take the long view.


    She happily waved off the pair, as a runner arrived.


    ¡°Are you Autumn? Daughter of Neptune?¡± He asked, looking between a letter and her, confusion visible on his face.


    Nobody sent expensive letters cross-country for a kid after all.


    Not unless you had as much money as Sentinel Dawn, and equally little sense in spending it.


    ¡°Yes! That¡¯s me! Gimme gimme!¡± Autumn said, grabbing a handful of coins and thrusting them at the runner. Tips weren¡¯t needed, but they were polite, and a good way to get good service, and Autumn didn¡¯t care how many coins she spent, not if it meant getting Elaine¡¯s letter faster.


    [Merchant¡¯s Calculation] told her that she was handing over 20 coins, but Autumn ignored it. The runner handed the letter over, and Autumn eagerly tore into it.


    Autumn!


    I¡¯m safe and sound! They didn¡¯t pay me extra, but I found a way to make a few extra coins anyways. Buying land in a new town. Should be profitable.


    I hope you¡¯re keeping up with your studies. I¡¯ll be checking when I next come back!


    You might hear about a new town popping up. DO NOT MOVE HERE. The land¡¯s poisoned, and that¡¯s bad for business. Also, you¡¯re a Light healer, and while I shouldn¡¯t need to remind you, I just know you¡¯re seeing coins and rods, and ignoring my warnings. You¡¯re a Light healer, which means your ability to deal with toxins and poisons that are here are practically non-existent. Trust me.


    Even if you class up first, wait for me. I need to check that your skills can handle this, it¡¯s a nasty one. You won¡¯t realize a problem until you need to spend dozens of rods on a cure.


    With that being said, guard and soldier supplies are likely to spike in price soon. Might want to get ahead of the curve on that. Food might also become more expensive, although sticking around the capital might be a poor choice.


    Best of luck. Stay safe until I can get back! Study hard. Poke Markus or Caecilius if you have any questions, they should be able to help you.


    Cheers,


    Elaine.


    Autumn¡¯s face went through a whole range of emotions reading the letter. Happiness that Elaine was safe. Despair that she didn¡¯t get paid extra. Pride that she somehow managed to wrangle some profit out of it anyways ¨C and that clearly her lessons were sinking in, if Elaine was starting to look for profitable opportunities.


    Deflected guilt that she¡¯d gotten back to her studies before she¡¯d gotten the letter ¨C how had she known Autumn was slacking!?


    The rest? The rest was going over Autumn¡¯s head, and was far more complex than she was willing to deal with.


    ¡°Dad? Hey dad?¡± She asked, tugging on his sleeve.


    Neptune finished up his sale, and turned to Autumn.


    ¡°Yeah?¡± He asked her.


    ¡°Elaine sent a letter. Not sure what to make of it.¡± Autumn said, handing the letter to Neptune.


    He read it with a frown.


    ¡°Right. What do you think we should do?¡± He asked Autumn.


    ¡°Try to figure out what¡¯s going on, because Elaine doesn¡¯t know business at all.¡± Autumn promptly replied. ¡°For all I know, Elaine thinks there¡¯s more food coming, and wants us to buy it when prices are low.¡±


    Neptune barked a laugh out.


    ¡°That would be like her, you¡¯re right. Let¡¯s focus on what is here though. A new town. What does a new town need?¡± Neptune asked, going into tutor mode.


    Autumn thought about it.


    ¡°People?¡± She hazarded.


    ¡°Yes, and?¡± Neptune prompted.


    ¡°Buildings?¡±


    ¡°Go on.¡±


    ¡°Buildings need stone.¡± Autumn said. ¡°But I never heard of stone being bought in large quantities.¡±


    ¡°Because it¡¯s not. It usually goes from the quarry to the building site, and the front lines have their own dedicated quarries. For that matter, most of the buildings probably will come from those quarries.¡± Neptune said.


    Autumn kept thinking about it, pitching other ideas, only for Neptune to correct her, or encourage her.


    Finally she snapped her fingers.


    ¡°Metal! Iron!¡± Autumn said. ¡°Need it for all manner of tools, and there¡¯s going to be a ton of soldiers retiring to become farmers! They¡¯re all going to need metal for their tools! Is there an iron mine near the frontlines?¡± She asked, only for Neptune to give her a huge smile and ruffle her hair.


    ¡°Nope! They funnel everything through the capital, where they outfit the soldiers before sending them to the frontlines. They also run supplies through here. Iron¡¯s the perfect thing to buy! Also, if Elaine¡¯s somehow correct about soldier supplies, metal¡¯s a key component. Plus, it¡¯s not food! What¡¯s wrong with stockpiling food?¡± Neptune asked Autumn.


    Autumn rolled her eyes.


    ¡°Rule 31. Don¡¯t stockpile anything that¡¯ll get you ripped apart by a mob.¡± She recited. ¡°Drugs, dangerous animals, and food in a famine, plague, or drought are all good examples.¡± She continued, going past the rule and reciting part of her teachings.


    ¡°Very good! Right, this is your chance. How reliable is Elaine? How good is our information? And how much do you want to put on this?¡± Neptune asked Autumn.


    Autumn didn¡¯t hesitate.


    ¡°Everything!¡±

 Chapter 191 Interlude - The Letters II

    Lightning played over Artemis¡¯s body, as she bent over in agony, her muscles spasming as the lightning wreaked havoc on her.


    A moment later, she straightened up as she¡¯d grabbed the lightning herself, wrapping it up into a neat ball in her hand.


    ¡°Good try.¡± She told Horatio, who was looking concerned.


    ¡°Um¡­¡± He said, gulping and trailing off as his eyes locked onto the ball of Lightning that Artemis was holding onto.


    ¡°Lightning is a fantastic element, as I¡¯m sure you know.¡± Artemis said, keeping half an eye on Horatio, and the other on her students, who were surrounding the area, watching her exhibition duel/lesson.


    Artemis took a practical approach to teaching magic. There was practicing shooting earthen plates - then there was practicing fighting another person.


    There didn¡¯t tend to be a whole lot of earthen plates lurking in the wilderness, trying to kill young mages.


    ¡°It¡¯s quick. It¡¯s deadly. It¡¯s versatile.¡± Artemis continued, giving her full attention to her students as poor Horatio threw up defense after defense.


    Artemis glanced, and quickly evaluated his defenses. Not enough. Not for the point she was trying to make. She did wish he¡¯d make flashier defenses though. It would make the demonstration stick all the better once she shattered them.


    ¡°Horatio¡¯s mistake, was trying to use Lightning against another Lightning-element mage.¡± Artemis said, trying to keep how happy and proud she was of Horatio out of her voice.


    He¡¯d picked Lightning as his element, in an attempt to emulate her. Elaine had totally been right. This teaching stuff was wonderful. She got to see the kids dropped off with her grow and learn, and she longed for the day when one of them properly surpassed her.


    Elaine didn¡¯t count. She was Sentinel based on her healing abilities, and as much as Artemis took credit for her physical and magical combat prowess, she knew that she was still a better, stronger mage than Elaine was.


    ¡°Once it¡¯s too far from Horatio, the Lightning he conjured up wasn¡¯t under his control anymore. Can anyone tell me what the second issue with using the same element against a mage is?¡± Artemis asked, looking around.


    This was a fairly basic introductory lecture, so she didn¡¯t expect anyone to immediately know the answer.


    Still, after a moment, with Horatio still frantically erecting defenses, a small flame went up. Artemis insisted on conjuration being used to answer questions, and it helped both with conjuring the element, and controlling it.


    ¡°Yes?¡± She said, pointing at one of the students, and mentally sighing at Horatio. He¡¯d forgotten one of her key lessons - a good offense was a good defense. His fighting will had been broken by how casually Artemis had defeated his first attack.


    Artemis overwhelming him right here and now with attacks was a basic lesson to demonstrate the point she was trying to make, but it wouldn¡¯t work to solidify his basics. She¡¯d need another student to spar with him, to get that lesson in his head properly.


    She quickly ran the students through her head.


    Theseus would be a good partner.


    ¡°Because you have [Lightning Resistance]?¡± The student asked nervously.


    Artemis gave him what she thought was an encouraging grin.


    ¡°Exactly! There are a number of elements which mages get the resistance skill for. Lightning is one of them. Not only was Horatio¡¯s attack dramatically weakened by my resistance, but he gave me a nice chunk of Lightning to use for myself. Watch!¡±


    Horatio had finally gotten enough defenses up to survive what Artemis was about to do. She took the ball of Lightning, and like an Olympic shot-putter, she threw it back at Horatio.


    She added a few low to the ground rocks in the mix. Keep him on his toes, if they didn¡¯t remove them entirely. She¡¯d given him enough of a chance to arrange his defenses, Artemis wasn¡¯t going to give him any more of a chance than that.


    The Lightning ball ripped through his hastily-erected shields, then as it got too far away from Artemis, exploded out in all directions, playing over his flesh. The pair of rocks she¡¯d thrown down low then hit both his shins, and Artemis winced a hair as she heard the secondary crack of bones breaking.


    Fortunately, the healer on-hand was already moving, having gotten used to Artemis¡¯s methods by now.


    ¡°Lastly, Lightning is great because it¡¯s so loud, and so bright, that it hides other attacks.¡± Artemis loudly announced, pointing to Horatio who was clutching his leg.


    [*Ding!* [Teaching] leveled up! 188->189!]


    Ha! Yes! Another level!


    Artemis loved [Teaching]. It gave additional experience to her students when they were learning, and doing stuff at the school she taught at. It gave them a solid level boost when it was all tallied up.


    Best of all, it stacked with them if they got [Education], [Learning], or a similar skill!


    Horatio wasn¡¯t screaming, thank goodness. That was always awkward when a student started yelling and screaming in pain. One of the first lessons Artemis tried to get out of them - screaming and crying did nothing. Worse than nothing, it distracted your teammates, and let the enemy know you were hurt, injured, and worst of all, still alive. The ultimate ¡°kill me now¡± signal.


    She walked over to Horatio as most of the students muttered to themselves. A few were looking a bit green, and those either quit, or pushed through and became some of the better students, as they drove themselves hard.


    ¡°You ok? I hope my performance wasn¡¯t too shocking.¡± She asked him, leaning over and offering a hand. She didn¡¯t mean physically, of course - the medic had seen to that - more of his ego, and mental well-being.


    ¡°Yeah. Totally forgot about the rocks.¡± He said, taking her hand and accepting the assist up. Artemis shook her head.


    ¡°When have I ever gone easy?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Um. Most days. New students, intermediate students, most of the advanced students.¡± Horatio said, starting to tick off his fingers.


    Artemis swatted him.


    ¡°Oi! If you¡¯ve got enough vigor to sass me, you can run laps. Go on! Get!¡± She yelled at Horatio, trying and failing to keep the laughter out of her voice.


    ¡°What are the rest of you looking around for? 10 laps! Get going!¡± She yelled at the rest of the watching students. ¡°Can¡¯t be any good as a mage if your body can¡¯t keep up!¡±


    With some muttering - a few of the newer students had come in good clothes, they¡¯d learn soon enough - the students followed Horatio on laps around the Academy.


    Artemis still felt like she was an imposter, that she had no idea what she was doing. All she did was a haphazard set of lectures on what she knew, mixed it up with some practical demonstrations, add in some sparring and physical exercise, and that was it!


    Well. And sat with each student in one-on-one sessions, talked over their build, and gave them nudges, direction, and advice. Still, it felt weird that people were coming to her for advice.


    As the slowest student rounded the corner, out of sight, Artemis saw a delightful sight for the eyes.


    Julius!


    She kept her expression carefully schooled. They were keeping their relationship under wraps for good reason. Still. They knew each other well enough to see the tight little lines, mirror gigantic grins on their face barely suppressed.


    ¡°Commander Julius.¡± Artemis said, giving him a salute.


    ¡°Artemis.¡± Julius said, handing her a letter. ¡°Letter from Sentinel Dawn.¡±


    Artemis gave Julius a quick look, then opened the letter, turning herself so only she could read it.


    Julius tried to shuffle around to see, but Artemis kept twisting to keep it hidden.


    ¡°Hey!¡± Julius protested.


    ¡°Shoo! My letter, from my healy-bug.¡± Artemis said, flapping a hand at him.


    ¡°She¡¯s my Sentinel!¡± Julius protested.


    ¡°Did she send you a letter?¡± Artemis asked, giving him a look.


    ¡°Well, no...¡± He said.


    Artemis got the smuggest look on her face.


    ¡°My healy-bug. My letter.¡± She said, starting to read it.


    Her face went from happy-grinning to serious real fast as she read the letter, and she silently handed it over to Julius when she was done.


    Artemis!


    Big fight, killed a bunch of Formorian Queens, wild party. I¡¯m OK, Night¡¯s OK. Sadly, it looks like I¡¯m going to be stuck out here for awhile. More Sentinel stuff to do. Don¡¯t know when I¡¯ll be back ¨C it¡¯s a mess out here. I¡¯ll try to write lots!


    On a different note ¨C why didn¡¯t you tell me about you and Julius!? I¡¯m so happy for you two! You¡¯ve got to tell me everything when I get back!


    Well, not everything.


    Almost everything!


    Things, for reasons I can¡¯t say, might start getting real crazy and hectic near you. Stay safe. Keep your students safe. If everything starts going crazy, hunker down and protect yourself. There¡¯s no reason to go out and get involved in nonsense. Not allowed to say anything more.


    I classed up! Got my next healer evolution! It¡¯s so exciting! I can¡¯t wait to get back and tell you all about it! It¡¯s the best thing ever! I have so many cool tricks now!


    Cheers,


    Elaine


    ¡°I haven¡¯t even gotten Night¡¯s report yet.¡± Julius said with a frown.


    ¡°Mmhmmm.¡± Artemis said, with a distinctly unamused tone.


    Julius didn¡¯t really notice.


    ¡°What she¡¯s written here implies some sort of large-scale event ¨C one that we¡¯d be better off weathering, instead of trying to fight. So it can¡¯t be all bad...¡± Julius said, his mind working rapidly as it considered and discarded a dozen different possibilities, before finally settling on the right one.


    ¡°Can¡¯t be monsters, can¡¯t be environmental, so it needs to be people. Can¡¯t be small, otherwise Rangers, Sentinels, or the 3rd Legion would handle it. It needs to be bigger than all three combined ¨C which is the majority of the army. What could they be doing to make Sentinel Dawn concerned enough to send a letter? A coup¡¯s the only thing I can think of.¡± Julius reasoned out.


    He paled.


    ¡°That might be why I haven¡¯t gotten Night¡¯s report yet. The runner might¡¯ve been told to take it nice and slow ¨C or even intercepted. He¡¯ll be furious, but what¡¯s done is done.¡±


    Artemis smacked Julius over the head.


    ¡°Never mind that! We¡¯ll just take the students on a field trip.¡±


    ¡°We?¡± Julius asked dumbly.


    ¡°Yes, we. After you let the cat out of the bag with Elaine!¡± Artemis yelled at Julius, her face as thunderous as her famous element.


    ¡°Oh, um, that. She tricked me!¡± Julius said. ¡°Implied that you¡¯d told her!¡± He held up his hands, praying to Aion that he¡¯d get off lightly.


    ¡°Elaine. Tricked you.¡± Artemis said, with a tone of disbelief. ¡°Elaine couldn¡¯t trick a newborn rabbit, let alone one of the most cunning Ranger Commanders.¡± She said, electricity crackling between her fingers.


    Julius tried to bail.


    He was fast. A speedster, and high level, with a powerful class.


    He wasn¡¯t Lightning-fast.


    Artemis activated one of the Inscribed Scrolls she had. Cheaper than a gem, but single-use, she couldn¡¯t wait for the day when she could reliably get a gem, and charge it with a similar skill.


    ¡°Twenty more laps everyone!¡± She yelled, her voice being amplified throughout the school, as the Inscription burned through the scroll, the material unable to handle the power coursing through it.


    Damn cheap things. She cursed as she chased after Julius.


    Two weeks later, Julius was in his office, doing scrollwork. Endless scrollwork. If Ranger Command had told him how much scrollwork he would be doing when he got promoted, he might¡¯ve said no.


    Ah, who was he kidding. Julius would¡¯ve said yes anyways.


    He finished off the current report ¨C a request for a Sentinel, to handle a mine that nobody came out of ¨C and leaned back to stretch in the sunlight, coming in through a narrow window.


    A smile played over his face as he remembered his latest adventure with Artemis. Gods, she was radiant to be around. Witty, smart, strong. Didn¡¯t take shit from anyone ¨C himself included. He wanted to marry her, but knew what her response would be.


    Didn¡¯t stop him from having a ring tucked into his desk drawer, for a day he thought proposing would work.


    A knock came on the door, interrupting his musings. He straightened himself back up ¨C always had to put on good appearances.


    ¡°Enter.¡± He said, and the Ranger¡¯s internal runner popped in.


    ¡°Mail for Command.¡± He said.


    Julius rubbed his eyes and motioned him forward. Downside of being the newest Commander ¨C all the scut work was his.


    He motioned the runner forward, and took the scrolls from his hand. There were a lot of scrolls, far more than usual, and he narrowed his eyes.


    Extensive paranoia was part of the job, and he had a sense that a full meeting of all the Commanders was in the near future.


    He checked the dates on the scrolls, seeing that they¡¯d been dated over roughly three weeks. Someone had been tampering with the mail.


    First was a missive from Night. Short, sweet, to the point.


    Victory. The Formorians have been defeated.


    A scroll, dated two days later, gave Julius the full details of what had transpired, including the casualty count.


    ¡°Kyros.¡± Julius ordered, the guard in question popping into his office a moment later, saluting.


    ¡°Run down to the apothecary. I¡¯m going to need a lot of stamina potions.¡± Julius said, handing over a few coins. He lowered his voice.


    ¡°And if you want to get into some good graces, the rest of the Commanders will probably want some once the meeting gets started.¡± He said with a wink.


    Everyone won if Kyros was the one pre-emptively helping. If Julius did it, it¡¯d look like he was being presumptuous. If one of the guards did it? Well, they were just being diligent.


    Still, potentially promoting one Sentinel was a headache. Now they had multiple open seats, which created a dizzying maze of potential promotions.


    The next scroll came in, which detailed Night using his emergency powers to promote Ranger Falerius to Sentinel, title Maestrai. Julius felt the flavor of his headache change. One problem was gone, creating three more in its wake ¨C the inevitable endless arguing over if Night had overstepped his authority or not being the first one.


    Julius had spent a lot of time with Artemis. Artemis, who¡¯d been mentored and taught by Night once upon a time. That, combined with what he¡¯d seen of the reclusive leader of the Sentinels, let him know that Ranger Command existed in part because Night didn¡¯t want to handle it. He was the power behind the council, the reason Rangers had lasted so long.


    Night wanted to promote a Ranger to Sentinel? It was done, and arguing it was a waste of time. It wouldn¡¯t stop the fools from the Senate protesting until they were blue in the face.


    ¡°Lykos.¡± Julius ordered, his other guard stepping into the room and saluting. ¡°I need Sentinel Ocean here, on medium to high priority. Thank you.¡± He said, dismissing him.


    Ocean was probably findable, given how reliable he was. He was also hyper-aware that he was the only combat Sentinel left to deploy, and there was at least one festering problem that a Sentinel would usually be sent to handle, that was currently being sat on.


    Ugh, and Sealing was dead. He would¡¯ve been the go-to Sentinel for that particular problem, which meant Night might have to be deployed.


    Except Sky was gone and the rapid deployment Sentinel, Maestrai, was brand-new, not even in town or given the shakedown, and...


    Julius thanked his lucky stars that there were eight Ranger Commanders, not one. That particular issue was one that would be solid for the entire council to discuss.


    Moving on.


    Scroll after that detailed the deployment of all the Sentinels. Brawling to fetch Ranger Falerius ¨C pardon, Sentinel Maestrai ¨C and Hunting and Dawn into the Formorian lands, ensuring all the Formorians were dead.


    The next scroll was extensively detailed an incoming coup, along with each faction, allegiances, strengths, and estimations of how the fighting would occur. Night must¡¯ve spent days working on this, and it included simple instructions.


    ¡°Do nothing.¡±


    A pain, but full instructions were given. The council would argue furiously over it, and the Senate would then be informed by the Senate Commanders, but that was going to be their headache, not Julius¡¯s.


    The next scroll was Julius¡¯s headache though, and had him reaching for his hidden jug of wine.


    Hunting and Dawn had made contact with another civilization! One that built large wooden walls, as far as Hunting could see. His estimation of their military strength was mixed. While the walls were expertly crafted and the weapons second to none, the actual manpower and discipline of the soldiers manning it were severely lacking.


    However, they took a shine to Sentinel Dawn, and they¡¯d made the snap decision to leave her there, to make a good first impression.


    Julius needed a single stiff drink to get through that particular scroll. He¡¯d been Elaine¡¯s team leader, once upon a time. He knew Elaine.


    Elaine? First contact?


    The last scroll confirmed his worst fears.


    ...Three days before we arrived, the sky lit up in all manner of fantastical colors, and two soldiers on watch claimed the stars and moons did strange things. Still, we carried on....


    Julius knew exactly what night that had been. Rumors of the moons flickering to a different shade for a brief while were so widespread as to be fact. Heck, one particular Senator with a slightly looney reputation was suggesting changing the calendar to have the ¡°night of the flickering moons¡± be year 0.


    He was roundly laughed at for the suggestion, but it¡¯d been made.


    ¡­ When we arrived, there were no walls. No civilization. Instead, smoldering buildings, some still weakly on fire, others with warm embers inside, met our gaze. There was a forest and mountains further on, but what was not charred and blackened was still alight, merrily burning away.


    We spent days searching, but we could locate no sign of Sentinel Dawn....


    Julius read the report over three times before drinking the entire jug of wine, eyeing up the scroll in the room that detailed Sentinel Dawn¡¯s exploits.


    Including the Pastos incident.


    Damnit Elaine! What did you do this time?! Julius thought, as he prepared the necessary paperwork.


    Sky ¨C Killed in Action.


    Sealing ¨C Killed in Action.


    Magic ¨C Missing in Action, Presumed Dead.


    Dawn ¨C


    Here Julius hesitated a moment. He hadn¡¯t been there, but he could imagine the scale of the devastation. If Elaine was alive, she would¡¯ve worked her way back over to Remus.


    At the same time, maybe there hadn¡¯t been enough time for her to work her way back over? Elaine was tough, almost unkillable. And while the report stated they¡¯d stayed a week, maybe there was something that prevented her from making it back.


    Either way, Julius judged that the circumstances of her disappearance didn¡¯t merit assuming the worst. He wasn¡¯t looking forward to telling Artemis, or the rest of Elaine¡¯s family.


    Still. It was with a heavy heart that he wrote the words about the plucky girl he''d picked up once upon a time, feeling that in many ways it was his fault.


    Dawn ¨C Missing in Action, Presumed Alive.

 Worldbuilding - What caused the deadzone?

    Hey!


    One of the things I''ll unfortunately never be able to say in-story - What caused/causes the deadzone?


    Due to what it is, and the nature of it, I have *no way* of getting the information to Elaine in-story. Since I can''t get it to Elaine, I can''t get it to you, the readers.


    Well, the deadzone has been posted to Royal Road now, and they''ve gotten some time to speculate. Not nearly as much as everyone else has, but hey. That''s why you''re my patrons - you get advanced goodies that RR doesn''t get.


    And you''ve all gotten plenty of time to speculate.


    Didn''t speculate? Stop reading!


    ...


    ...


    ...


    Alright, you were warned!


    The deadzone is caused by the massive plant that''s living in the Nostrum sea. The very same plant that prevents cross-sea travel, making the people of Remus stick to the shores. The same plant that Night doesn''t think is a problem, because it prevents anything else from growing inside the sea.


    And he''s right about that! No giant sea monsters in the Nostrum because the plant''s eating them all.


    Now, I hate it when things seem to be introduced out of the blue, or are this convenient in stories. So I was hinting at it for a long, LONG time.


    Back in October.


    https://www.patreon.com/posts/43364547


    It''s not really an oddity if it''s only eating things now is it?


    It came around when I asked myself; "What stops someone else from coming in and evicting humans from their nice, cosy spot in the world?" Because Remus''s location is almost like a paradise in many ways. Good climate, easy transportation, good food, a variety of locations and places to be - it''s ideal in many ways. Why didn''t someone else move in and evict the humans?


    Dead zone.


    I also hate the "MC starts in the weakest spot" trope, so I balanced it. Since it''s experience being eaten, and not like mana density or something like that, it takes longer for people to level up. Well, the System still sees all the stuff they do, and if a carpenter needs to carve twice as many chairs to level up, his (improved) classes will reflect that!


    A trade off that most anyone wouldn''t make - after all, you can always live outside the deadzone and carve twice as many chairs - but it''s an effort not many people will make. So an advantage.


    Ask me anything else about the dead zone!

 Chapter 192 – The Fall

    I dropped straight down the darkened old mine ventilation shaft, pulled extra-hard by whatever Gravity nonsense was going on. The shaft was now wide enough for the dwarves, courtesy of Toke. More than wide enough for me. I needed to get out of here before another stray fraction of an attack came over the mountain peak and my luck ran out.


    The dwarves were a stocky bunch, and I immediately tried to twist, pressing my remaining arm against one side of the shaft and my feet pressed against the other side, trying to wedge myself in.


    Toke¡¯s carving away of the stone with her Dark magic had left the shaft supernaturally smooth. Despite the stone surface, it was difficult to get any sort of traction to properly slow myself down with.


    Which, of course, had me rapidly speeding up as I futilely tried to get a proper grip, my sandals burning with the friction. The Gravity was fluctuating as well, letting me know that the fight outside was still going on. After just three seconds, during a pause in the increased gravity, I gritted my teeth, and properly jammed my hand into the wall.


    Skin peeled off, leaving a long, bloody streak on the wall as muscle tore, giving me the mother of all rugburns. I opened my mouth in a silent scream as I managed to come to a halt, taking a few deep breaths, and considered my next moves.


    It was pitch black in here, only a few small stars in a circle of light above me. An Elaine in a well.


    I¡¯d completely emptied my mana in my futile attempt to heal Lule, and I didn¡¯t even have any Arcanite reserves left to top myself off with. Given that I associated ¡°Mine ventilation shaft¡± with ¡°Long, straight, and ends with hard stone¡±, I expected a long, long fall, followed by splat that I¡¯d hopefully survive. The rest of the dwarves had also taken the same passage, but Toke would¡¯ve gone in slow-mode, as she cleared the shaft one length at a time, which would¡¯ve stopped her from a hard landing. Most of the dwarves were physical-based, which would allow for rough, but survivable landings.


    I was worried about Ned, but a healer with a full bar of mana should be fine. He might break a few bones, but his level was high enough that I wasn¡¯t concerned about his fate. Even if he only had 4000 magic power.


    Mine? It was dicey. I was going to go down as slowly as possible, to give myself time to regenerate enough mana, so I could un-splat myself at the bottom. That¡¯s why I wasn¡¯t restoring my arm, and trying to do this one-handedly. If I fixed my arm now, I¡¯d just need to fix it again at the bottom.


    Nah, better to go down one-armed, and heal it later, when I had more mana.


    Still, [The Dawn Sentinel]¡¯s stats were working overtime, restoring roughly 38 mana per second. Ideally, I¡¯d have a full mana bar, and bounce off my shield a few times on the way down to bleed speed, then be able to fully resto-


    I cursed as my thought process was interrupted by the small circle of stars seeming to fall, and I recognized Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s attack from earlier, where she brought down the entire sky on the countryside. If the skill had a cooldown, it wasn¡¯t particularly significant, and I let go, allowing myself to drop.


    I wanted a lot more mountain between me and that attack.


    Naturally, this would be the exact moment that Gravity decided it didn¡¯t want to work nearly as well, and instead of accelerating down at full speed, it was more like I had a lazy slide, right as I wanted to go full speed.


    My bet was the Xuan Wu was doing this, since the Gravity nonsense had only started after he¡¯d shown up. He was probably trying to slow down all the stars, and reduce the impact of the stars.


    I didn¡¯t care about that, I just wanted to go down!


    Which of course had me rudely yanked at the wrong moment, back to free-falling like somewhat normal.


    I did spend a bit of precious mana restoring my rugburnt hand, before trying to slow myself down again, blessing [Center of the Galaxy] for letting me ignore the burning pain in my feet. I managed to briefly slow myself to a halt, only for the entire mountain to start shaking as some attack or another hit, dislodging me and causing me to tumble down, into the pitch-dark depths.


    I made the snap call that knowing when I was about to hit something solid was worth losing a bit of extra mana, and I used [Shine] to project light down the shaft, twisting my neck so I could see.


    Nothing but darkness.


    The mountain was shaking, not quite as violently the further I fell, but I was picking up so much speed that I wasn¡¯t able to wedge myself in the shaft any further. Faster and faster I hurtled down, trying to summon [Mantle of the Stars] to slow my fall enough to get a grip, only for my blood-slick feet to fail once again.


    I only got a quarter-second warning that I was about to land, but with [Bullet Time] activating, that was enough.


    It had to be enough.


    I tied off the worst image possible to my [Dance with the Heavens], linking it to [Persistent Casting].


    ¡°Heal the head. Then the rest.¡±


    As I did that, I twisted my body such that I¡¯d land feet-first, like a gymnast finishing her routine. I fought the instinct to cover my head with my arm, instead putting it out.


    Another support to break before I did.


    Hopefully long enough for my healing to kick in.


    I hit the ground hard, screaming as [Center of the Universe] broke, feeling my shins snap, my kneecaps pop off, my femur break. My shin guards snapped, and my leather skort was entirely useless for stopping anything here.


    My pelvis shattered, my spine bent and popped, and my arm turned into a triangle.


    My armor creaked and broke, small pieces flying off in random directions.


    I kept screaming as the pain overwhelmed me.


    As I stopped, only to topple over, bleeding from uncountable places where bone had punctured through flesh, my mana dropping to, and staying stubbornly at, 0, as every drop I regenerated went toward healing the massive injuries I¡¯d just sustained.


    ¡°Elaine? Elaine! Ned, get over here!¡± A voice I identified as Fik said, as I screamed and screamed and screamed, until my lungs reminded me that I needed air in them to scream more.


    A light came over, four concerned faces looking down at me.


    I breathed in. It hurt. Agony wracked my body, and twitching in response just caused more agony, causing me to flail and spasm. Wounds that had already closed over thanks to the rapid passive healing from [Cosmic Presence] opened backed up, spraying one of the dwarves in hot blood. He reeled back, spluttering and pawing at his beard.


    Then ¨C relief. Blessed, cooling relief washed over me, and I could see the red-painted bones sticking out from me slowly retract back into my body, my one arm twisting back into position. It felt like it took an eternity, but couldn¡¯t have been more than six or seven seconds.


    Made me appreciate my significantly higher power.


    ¡°Get ready to catch Lule!¡± Glifir said, and I was unceremoniously rolled out of the way, still one-armed. I rolled through a few puddles, getting soaked and splattered with mud. I coughed and spat, trying to clear my throat. I tried to get up, only for my legs to fail me, and I faceplanted onto the hard stone, cracking my head hard enough that I saw stars.


    Fine.


    I was just going to lie here for some time, long enough to recover somewhat. It sucked that one of my legs was in a pool of freezing cold water, but eh. I couldn¡¯t bring myself to care enough to move it, not with the energy level I was at.


    Being out of mana ¨C and wanting it all for healing my arm ¨C meant no [Sunrise]. Downside of being a healer-mage. Out of mana? Out of tricks.


    Still.


    We were under no threat.


    Wait.


    A thought slowly percolated to the surface of my thoughts.


    Four dwarves?


    I cracked an eye open, looking at them. The four dwarves looked rough. Even Drin¡¯s armor, which normally healed itself instantly, was battered and broken. There were the dents I¡¯d expect from a long fall, but claw marks?


    Burns?


    I groaned, and turned off my [Persistent Casting]. I hadn¡¯t knocked myself out, hadn¡¯t needed to keep healing going while unconscious. No sense in wasting mana on shit healing, not when the mines didn¡¯t seem nearly as safe as I¡¯d first assumed.


    That, and I could get a much more efficient heal if I spent half a second thinking about it. Honestly, it was a win all around.


    I rolled and pulled myself up slightly, leaning against the wall I could barely see in the flickering light the dwarves had on them.


    Wasn¡¯t worth using any mana on my own light.


    ¡°De-¡± I tried to say, only to cough and hack again. I licked my lips, wetting them.


    ¡°Dead.¡± I managed to croak out.


    ¡°What?¡± Fik asked, glancing back.


    ¡°Dead. Lule didn¡¯t make it.¡± I repeated, starting to get my voice back, closing my eyes at the memory.


    I got an angry snort from Ned.


    ¡°So much for 114,000 plus magic power.¡± He said, mocking me.


    I creaked open an angry eye at him.


    ¡°It was dragonfire. I blew 300,000 mana trying to save her. The dragonfire didn¡¯t care.¡± I retorted, curling my hand into a one-finger salute.


    My hand was still on the floor, and Ned probably didn¡¯t know what it meant. Still. It was the thought that counted.


    ¡°Still left yourself enough mana to drop down.¡± Ned sneered at me.


    ¡°Fuck you.¡± I said, with as much feeling as I could put behind it. ¡°I dropped with no mana, and no Arcanite.¡±


    Saying that exhausted me, and I put my head back against the wall, closing my eyes.


    ¡°How much danger are we in?¡± I asked, getting silence back.


    I kept my eyes closed.


    ¡°You¡¯re probably thinking that you still need to escort me. Yes. Fine. I¡¯m not helpless. I need to know what we¡¯re up against.¡± I said, wishing they¡¯d just understand.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know.¡± Drin said after a moment. ¡°We jumped fairly quickly. When we landed, there was no sign of Toke. We got attacked by some monsters though.¡±


    ¡°How dangerous?¡± I repeated myself, mentally running through what resources I had left.


    My [Nova] gems were all gone.


    My Arcanite was drained, but I still had all of it. It was part of a layer that hadn¡¯t snapped off. I was out my shin guard, but I still had my right vambrace ¨C which meant I still had my utility gems. The only one I¡¯d blown was [Feather Fall], although I slightly regretted that I¡¯d brought just one.


    Oh well. I survived the fall. I was alive.


    ¡°They¡¯re not as dangerous as we are!¡± Drin crowed.


    ¡°Oh shut up. They¡¯re just as strong as a dwarf, and it¡¯ll get us killed not to admit it.¡± Glifir argued back.


    That started off rounds of bickering, which seemed unwise given our predicament. I decided to take stock of what I had, while my body slowly finished reknitting itself. Ned had done a lot, but there were minor issues that still needed to be addressed.


    My armor was bent, battered, and not exactly in one piece anymore, and my sandals were in dubious enough shape that I doubted [Talaria] would work. Not that ¡°flying¡± and ¡°cramped tunnel¡± went well together. I didn¡¯t have my pack, spear, shield, or helmet.


    I had my short sword.


    My lucky pendant.


    My talent, training, skills, and System.


    Speaking of ¨C I had half a moment to process. I wonder what levels I¡¯d gotten?


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [The Dawn Sentinel] has leveled up to level 306->355! +3 Dexterity, +24 Speed, +24 Vitality, +170 Mana, +170 Mana Regen, +48 Magic power, +48 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    Bloody hell. Healing Galeru, trying to heal Lule, being on the edges of the fight with a bloody dragon, and surviving secondary dragonfire off a skill, then surviving the fall, all outside of the dead zone, was good for some serious, serious experience.


    [Learning] multiplying things probably helped to boot.


    [*Ding!* [Celestial Affinity] leveled up! 306 -> 355]


    I wonder if watching the sky fall helped at all with affinity?


    [*Ding!* [Cosmic Presence] leveled up! 231 -> 269]


    That seemed like a lot. Then again, the skill was sort of subtle. I¡¯d been actively healing just about every injury as it occurred¡­ so really, getting two levels would¡¯ve been a win, let alone freaking 38.


    It did make me think that, since my [Persistent Casting] was off, that whenever I took an injury and I didn¡¯t need to immediately heal it to save my life, that I should consider letting [Cosmic Presence] take a crack at it first. The skill was powerful enough now that it could possibly get some serious experience. A snowball effect, basically.


    [*Ding!* [Solar Infusion] leveled up! 1 -> 110]


    And the winner for biggest level jump in a single occurrence goes to - [Solar Infusion]! Previous casts on Hunting had gone nowhere, since he almost immediately broke the skill. Thinking about it, putting it on Galeru might¡¯ve been suicidally stupid, if the big snake decided it didn¡¯t like me.


    She probably didn¡¯t even notice that I¡¯d done anything.


    Welp, the skill now had some decent power behind it, and I¡¯d need to work with the rest of the team on how to best utilize it.


    [*Ding!* [Center of the Universe] leveled up! 285 -> 355]


    I didn¡¯t think the skill breaking when I hit the ground had helped a ton, but it killing pain so I could keep healing Lule, then hack off my own arm to save my life?


    Yeah. Good experience. Also reminded me that I was completely, totally out of the dead zone, and good experience was the name of the game.


    [*Ding!* [Dance of the Heavens] leveled up! 306 -> 355]


    I half-expected the amount of experience the skill had just gotten to somehow break the skill cap imposed by the System.


    300,000+ mana went through the skill, in a combat situation with multiple guardians and a dragon, healing dragonfire. Not just regular dragonfire, but skill-backed dragonfire.


    Ok, so I was letting the myths and legends surrounding dragons get to me. It might not be that special, but it was from a monster at such a high level it caused bleeding just to [Identify] it.


    Then again.. Galeru hadn¡¯t caused that problem.


    Money on dragons being stupid good. Or just having some skill like [Identify-Me-Not]. I could believe it.


    Couldn¡¯t wait to get to the skill.


    [*Ding!* [Wheel of Sun and Moon] leveled up! 271 -> 311]


    The constant shockwaves I¡¯d healed the dwarves through paid off with a nice smattering of levels. Sadly, Etalix had clouded the sky, which stopped me from using it later on.


    I wasn¡¯t going to complain, not with the literal hundreds of combined levels I was getting.


    [*Ding!* [Mantle of the Stars] leveled up! 257 -> 315]


    I¡¯d been abusing [Mantle] hard, and the massive jump showed. Kinda wished it¡¯d overtaken [Solar Infusion], but I couldn¡¯t win them all. Plus, I¡¯d cast the skill a dozen times, not once.


    [*Ding!* [Shine] leveled up! 115 -> 188]


    [*Ding!* [Identify] leveled up! 152 -> 200]


    [*Ding!* [Identify] has upgraded into [Long-Range Identify]!]


    [*Ding!* [Long-Range Identify] leveled up! 200 -> 355]


    While the upgrade didn¡¯t seem all that potent, a quick check told me that I¡¯d more than quadrupled the range, while also being able to identify a group in one go.


    I wasn¡¯t going to complain about free, more powerful skills.


    Especially not when a new record was set, and I got 200 bloody levels in a single skill from two [Identify]s after a whole freaking lifetime IDing people to get 152 in the first place.


    Ugh. I shouldn¡¯t have wasted my time, and just come here in the first place and ID¡¯d Lun¡¯Kat. BOOM! No time wasted, no grinding needed. I¡¯d also have to check, but I might be able to [Long-Range Identify] anything that I could reasonably see at this point, barring, like a giant sleeping like a mountain.


    [*Ding!* [Pristine Memories] leveled up! 201 -> 205]


    I had no idea what the skill was doing here, but I¡¯d take it.


    [*Ding!* [Pretty] leveled up! 153 -> 154]


    What. Why?


    [*Ding!* [Bullet Time] leveled up! 268 -> 269]


    [Bullet Time] not activating as I was plunging to my death was the source of no end of irritation for me. I could¡¯ve used the extra processing time! I could¡¯ve tried to heal bone, keep them together to force more of the impact to work on breaking unimportant bones.


    Bah. I suppose willingly jumping to my doom didn¡¯t count as an attack.


    [*Ding!* [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] leveled up! 270 -> 300]


    Willingly running to my doom to save another creature, and spending everything I had on Lule was recognized, and rewarded, by the System.


    I glanced at my stats and nearly had a heart attack. First, finishing up the rest of my skills, blitz-style.


    [*Ding!* [Sentinel''s Superiority] leveled up! 306 -> 355]


    [*Ding!* [Persistent Casting] leveled up! 192 -> 255]


    [*Ding!* [Learning] leveled up! 282 -> 340]


    [Learning] oh [Learning], how I loved you as a skill. Steadily increasing multipliers to my experience? It was the only reason I was as high level as I was.


    I looked around. A dim light, held by the four dwarves, my only companions down here in the mine. Water, dripping from above. The occasional shake as some powerful attack or another caused the mountains to shake.


    My pack, spear, shield, and one vambrace ¨C gone.


    I was battered and injured ¨C although that was temporary ¨C in a mine filled with monsters, the only people nominally on my side not all seeming to like me very much. I had no food, it was freezing cold, and the water here was questionable. There was a battle of the titans overhead, and from what we¡¯d seen, ¡°an entire mountain¡± wasn¡¯t nearly enough of a defense. I had no map, no directions, no idea which way was out.


    I let a soft chuckle escape my lips.


    I¡¯d been spending my time trying to dance and play politics, to be in polite society. It was no surprise that Ned looked down on me, was dismissive almost to the point of cruelty. It was no wonder that they treated me like a slightly dumb flower, to not even let me risk hurting myself as they built camp.


    I wasn¡¯t a diplomat, and it was a dumb fucking idea to have sent me as one. Hunting and I should¡¯ve just gone back together.


    I was a Sentinel. I danced with Black Crow, I flirted with White Dove. I was a tease, coming to the brink of death, wriggling my eyebrows suggestively at them, then laughing as I spun away, out of their grasping claws.


    Stealing away a partner, that I¡¯d ripped out of their claws, saving to live another day.


    An abandoned mine, full of monsters? Danger around every corner?


    I hated acknowledging it, but I couldn¡¯t deny it any longer.


    I was in my element.


    They wouldn¡¯t know what hit them.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 19]


    [Mana: 0/239290]


    [Mana Regen: 216486 (+153145.6)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 101]


    [Strength: 274]


    [Dexterity: 497]


    [Vitality: 3376]


    [Speed: 3376]


    [Mana: 23929]


    [Mana Regeneration: 23929 (+15314.56)]


    [Magic Power: 9997 (+149955)]


    [Magic Control: 9997 (+149955)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 355]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 355]


    [Cosmic Presence: 269]


    [Solar Infusion: 110]


    [Center of the Universe: 355]


    [Dance of the Heavens: 355]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 311]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 315]


    [Sunrise: 128]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 256]+]


    [Radiance Affinity: 256]


    [Radiance Resistance: 256]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 256]


    [Shine: 188]


    [Sun-Kissed: 256]


    [Blaze: 256]


    [Talaria: 256]


    [Nova: 256]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 355]


    [Pristine Memories: 205]


    [Pretty: 153]


    [Bullet Time: 269]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 300]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 355]


    [Persistent Casting: 255]


    [Learning: 340]

 Chapter ??? - Dragoneye Mortis 1.1

    Whatever Vita expected to be doing this morning, it sure wasn¡¯t hurling head-over-heels through an unknown void. Like getting sucked down a river, she tumbled uncontrollably, no memory of how she got here and no idea where ¡®here¡¯ even was. Time seemed to have no meaning here, space was nothing but a force pulling her along. She¡¯d given up struggling, spending her time pulling mana into and out of her soul. What else was there to do? Only when she was unceremoniously dumped into the middle of a field, landing face-first in the grass, did she come back to her senses.


    And then the voices start.


    [*Ding!* Welcome to Pallos!]


    [Name: Vita]


    [Race: nn ¡ê??¨´Z9¨¤o? A?a/£¤W¨¤ ?¡À?¨´B¨¨! +4 Free Stat points per level.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [Child of Nothing] has leveled up to level 1 -> 8! +4 Free Stat points per level from your class, +10 Mana for your race per level, +1 Speed and +1 Dexterity from your element per level!]


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! You can now advance your class!]


    ¡°Class? What¡¯s a class?¡± Vita growled, standing up to look around. ¡°Who is saying all this? Where am I?¡±


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Observe]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Identify]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Meditate]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Lying]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Conning]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Stealing]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Walking]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Running]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Climbing]!]


    ¡°Ow! Ow, stop dinging!¡±


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Gymnastics]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Throwing]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Dodging]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Polearms]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Jumping]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Spotting]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Survival]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Knives]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Combat Reflexes]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Poison Resistance]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Pain Resistance]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Food Prep]!]


    ¡°What is this? Stop yelling at me!¡±


    ¡°Aww, the poor thing is confused!¡± the first voice tittered.


    ¡°We should probably just choose for her,¡± the second commented.


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Mood Detection]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Lie Detection]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Food Detection]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Stomach Capacity]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Monster Muncher]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Corruption]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Blasphemy]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Cannibalism]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General skill [Pedicide]!]


    ¡°Pedicide!?¡± Vita snapped.


    ¡°Really? You want that one?¡± asked the first voice.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not sure it will come in handy, but if you insist!¡±


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Passive skill [Vigilant]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Passive skill [Adaptable]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Passive skill [Active]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Passive skill [Learning]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Passive skill [Loyal]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Passive skill [Dedicated]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Passive skill [Intimidating]!]


    [*Ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Passive skill [Cute]!]


    [*Error!* SKILL SELECTION OVERRIDE!]


    ¡°Right, well, we¡¯re choosing Pedicide¡­ and she¡¯ll probably need Polearms¡­¡± the second voice mumbled.


    ¡°Stealing!¡± the first voice insisted. ¡°Stealing is fun!¡±


    ¡°Right, okay, Stealing¡­ probably Survival? Oh, and Loyal, we should make her Loyal.¡±


    ¡°Give her Corruption!¡±


    ¡°We are not giving her Corruption. We¡¯re already going to be in trouble for this.¡±


    "Conning, then! Everyone loves a good con! I can''t wait to see what she does with that!"


    ¡°Right, Conning. And¡­ Intimidating, in case she gets delayed.¡±


    ¡°And Cute!¡±


    There was a pause.


    ¡°You want her to be Intimidating and Cute?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    ¡°Shut up and show yourselves!¡± Vita shouted furiously, finally scrambling to her feet.


    At least all her gear was intact, even if something seemed to be blocking her soul sense. She looked up, down, left, right, trying to find the source of the voices. She felt nothing, but everywhere she looked things just seemed more wrong. A bright blue sky, devoid of even a single floating stone. Some kind of super bright pain-orb floated up there instead, causing suffering whenever she tried to look at it.


    ¡°Show ourselves?¡± one of the sing-song voices cooed, high-pitched yet oddly androgynous. ¡°You¡¯ll never see us if you merely look around.¡±


    ¡°Because we¡¯re on top of your head!¡± squeaked the other, suddenly leaning down over Vita¡¯s face.


    ¡°Ack!¡± Vita jumped, smacking at her scalp as the two giggling creatures leaped off her head and fluttered into the sky, buzzing around her.


    They looked like tiny, doll-size humanoids, naked yet genderless, dashing about on dragonfly wings as they laughed at Vita¡¯s ineffectual attempts to swat them.


    ¡°Where am I?¡± she demanded. ¡°What do you want with me?¡±


    ¡°This one does not listen to the System!¡± one giggled. ¡°Foolish, foolish! You must listen to survive here!¡±


    ¡°You are on Pallos! We brought you here to send you on a grand quest!¡±


    ¡°The grandest of quests!¡±


    ¡°Atop the spire of stone, a treasure unmatched in beauty and worth awaits! In the direction of the setting sun you will find it guarded by a beast most foul!¡±


    ¡°Most hungry!¡±


    ¡°Most vile! There, you will slay the creature and claim your prize! Only then will the champion be sent home!¡±


    ¡°...Fuck off!¡± Vita snapped. ¡°If you can teleport me all the way to crazy land, then deal with the stupid creature yourself! Just zap it a few thousand feet into the air and leave me alone!¡±


    Seriously, this could not make any less sense. Vita was becoming increasingly convinced that she was hallucinating, possibly under some sort of cognimancy spell. Two tiny, flying, riddle-talking bug people definitely pushed things well over the cliff of possibility.


    ¡°The prize! The prize! We cannot claim the prize for the hero claims the prize!¡± the two fairies sing, clasping hands and dancing in a circle in the air. ¡°The champion from beyond the world shall quest and seek the prize!¡±


    ¡°Nope, nuh-uh,¡± Vita grumbled, starting to walk off. ¡°Fuck this Capita shit, I¡¯m out. How do I wake up?¡±


    ¡°Well, first, you go to sleep,¡± one of the fae answered, turning to face her with a grin.


    ¡°More fucking riddles!?¡± Vita complained.


    ¡°No,¡± the fae answers. ¡°Initiate class advancement.¡±


    ¡°What is a¡ª¡±


    [*Error!* CLASS ADVANCEMENT OVERRIDE!]


    With a snap of the fae¡¯s fingers, Vita found the ground flying forward to meet her once again, unconsciousness rapidly approaching.


    ¡°I told you we should have gotten one from Earth,¡± the other fae complained. ¡°They always pick these things up faster.¡±


    ¡°Eh,¡± their companion responded. ¡°Call our sibling. We can do that too.¡±


    --


    Elaine groaned and rolled over in her sleep. She¡¯d been missing home, and was sleeping with her mom¡¯s pendant in her hands. Peaceful sleep eluded her though, as she was tormented by nightmares. By failure, by death dealt to her friends and dealt by her own hand.


    Her hand tightened, like it was fighting the grip of someone strangling her, then loosened, dropping her pendant.


    Three fairies popped in around her.


    ¡°She¡¯s unprotected! Get her!¡± The one the size of a hummingbird yelled, pointing at Elaine.


    ¡°Just because you¡¯re the tallest¡­¡± Grumbled the short one, weaving her hands, dusting Elaine with power.


    ¡°Wait! The Quest! We must tell her the quest!¡± The tallest one, still hummingbird-sized, said.


    ¡°Oh right. Flowers! Gotta get the flowers!¡± The middle one said.


    ¡°Idiot! You didn¡¯t make it into a riddle!¡± The shortest one reprimanded, buzzing her wings with crossed arms.


    ¡°And now, I steal the sun!¡± the middle one interrupted, snapping her fingers.


    Vanishing Elaine.


    ¡°Maybe we should¡¯ve woken her up, before telling her the quest.¡± The tallest one said, tapping her chin, then shrugging.


    ¡°Ah well. It¡¯s her fault for sleeping.¡±


    Elaine woke up four feet off the ground, and falling fast.


    She cursed a foul invective, trying to activate [Talaria] right before she landed. She hadn¡¯t slept with her sandals on though, so the skill failed to activate, dumping a surprised Elaine face-first into the dirt.


    She immediately flipped up, on guard, ready to fight against whatever had attacked her. Being teleported around wasn¡¯t exactly a friendly move.


    She narrowed her eyes at the still and silent jungle around her, mentally noting that the sun was high in the sky. She¡¯d been moved a long, long distance.


    Or massively slept in.


    No System notifications. Elaine felt her heartbeat pick up, as she quickly tried to check her status. She breathed a sigh of relief as it popped up.


    Just to make sure, she flickered through a few active skills really fast. [Mantle] still worked, [Shine] still lit things up, and Elaine pointed up and fired off a [Nova].


    Perfect. Her skills still worked. Her mind was entirely intact - this time.


    A bush rustled, and Elaine whirled around, seeing a human-sized dinosaur flying through the air towards her. Its feathers were broken and patchy, but its claws were long and its teeth were vicious.


    [Bullet Time] activated as Elaine leaned back, firing a narrow beam of Radiance through the raptor¡¯s head. It drilled through in an instant, but Elaine didn¡¯t get a kill notification. Cursing, she fired off a [Nova], throwing up [Mantle of the Stars] behind the skill, protected by a mystical wall of shimmering stars.


    [Nova] landed with a roaring explosion, blasting the raptor to pieces in a fiery, golden inferno, yet there was still no kill notification.


    How tough is that thing!? Elaine cursed to herself as five more raptors leapt at her from the bush. Five more headshots, no notifications, and Elaine blew another [Nova] at point-blank range, swearing as her shield needed to protect her from her own skill as well, burning mana she couldn¡¯t afford to waste.


    Everything settled for a moment, and Elaine took a look around, seeing six burned and broken bodies laying on the earth jungle floor in pieces. Elaine picked the one that seemed to be in the most pieces, and piece by piece, started to incinerate it.


    Halfway through, it clicked.


    ¡°Puppets. Or body hijackers. Or zombies. Wait, it can¡¯t be body hijackers, they would¡¯ve gotten killed. Spore jackers.¡±


    Elaine threw her hands up in frustration.


    ¡°Either way! Not a living creature, no kill notifications.¡±


    She moodily kicked one of the re-dead raptor¡¯s bodies.


    ¡°And no experience by the look of it. Great. Just great.¡± She complained, continuing to talk to herself. Helped distract her from the fact that she had no idea where she was, or which way home was.


    Still, this was hardly the first time Elaine had been almost literally thrown into a jungle with no equipment to survive, so she didn¡¯t bother to waste any time panicking about it.


    A screech made Elaine turn her head, and immediately she saw dozens, if not hundreds of raptors storming across the jungle towards her.


    That part was new.


    Elaine started running away, to give herself more time and space against the raptors. She blindly fired [Nova]s behind her as fast as she could - it wasn¡¯t like she needed to aim to hit 5, 6, 7 of them at a time! As the dead started to fall, however, their master took notice.

 Chapter ??? - Dragoneye Mortis 1.2

    The explosions also helped get her attention.


    ¡°...The heck sort of monster did they find?¡± Vita mumbled to herself, planting a shard of her soul into yet another dinosaur corpse and feeling it spread throughout the inside like the branches of some ethereal tree. The body rose, her power flowing through it. The Dreg stood and waited for instruction.


    ¡°Follow me and attack on my command,¡± Vita ordered, drawing her spear.


    Each of the dozens of dinosaurs in earshot moved into formation, surrounding their master in as even a formation as possible. [Voice of Command] and [Coordinated Horde] at work, she supposed. Dreg zombies were infuriatingly stupid, and back home they¡¯d barely be able to walk without tripping over each other. This¡­ ¡°system¡± stuff was definitely a bit weird and abstract, but Vita couldn¡¯t deny how helpful it was. Especially since, for some insane reason, nothing in this damn world had a soul. Her army was made out of Dregs because she couldn¡¯t make anything but Dregs! If not for the [Horde Queen] class, she¡¯d be sunk.


    Her other class seemed like kind of a dud.


    More blinding explosions thundered nearby as Vita mounted a raptor zombie, riding it as her force approached. Anything capable of unleashing magic that powerful would easily overpower an unled section of her horde, but Vita was hardly above letting her minions tire whatever it was out, especially now that the system changed the stakes. Her entourage leaped over the half-vaporized bodies of her former minions, and she raised a hand.


    ¡°[Soul Reclamation],¡± Vita muttered, feeling a leap in power as the shattered dust of her broken shards spiraled towards her in a radiant swirl. At least she wouldn¡¯t lose any parts of herself invested in the Dregs, even if they got smashed to dust. Still, Vita hated this damn world. There was nothing here she could feel with her soul sense. Nothing but her.


    Which was why she ended up so surprised to find a human shooting the explosive blasts at her army.


    Hmm. Threat or potential ally? It probably depended on their opinion of animancy, considering that she was currently riding a zombie. Without her soul-sense, Vita couldn¡¯t get a good handle on how powerful this armored kynamancer was, but the way she was tearing through the raptors like wet tissue paper felt like a pretty good hint. Just to be safe, she quietly subvocalized an order, letting [Voice of Command] carry it to her minions. Hidden zombie raptors started circling around to flank the human. If things went badly here, they¡¯d be able to attack her from all sides. Given the wary distance she was keeping from the Dregs, she wasn¡¯t a close-in fighter. Probably since she¡¯d just blow herself up with whatever that offensive kynemancy spell was.


    The human noticed Vita, immediately identifying her as the source of the zombie raptor plague by merit of her riding one of them, and shouted her way.


    ¡°Oi! You! Call off your raptors!¡± she yelled.


    Oh, hey, she was talking. Vita decided to take that as a good sign.


    ¡°Okay.¡± Vita answered, glancing over at her attacking zombies. ¡°Stand down!¡±


    The raptors immediately halted in their tracks. Elaine blinked in surprise. That didn¡¯t usually work. A quick [Long-Range Identify] picked the girl up as a [Mage], maybe in the high-two hundred low-three hundred range? A potential threat, but unlikely to be a big one.


    ¡°Um. Hi. I¡¯m Elaine,¡± she said, waving a hand but not coming closer. A cape, seemingly made out of stars, appeared on her back. ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    ¡°...Vita,¡± the girl muttered in answer, not meeting Elaine¡¯s eyes. Getting a good look at her, Elaine realized this ¡®Vita¡¯ seemed barely thirteen years old, the poor thing. Although she was also armed and armored to the teeth and surrounded by an undead raptor army, so point in her favor there. None of her equipment seemed to be metal, though, for whatever reason. Maybe it was cultural, like the Dwarves?


    ¡°Vita. Cool. So do you know where this is, kiddo? I seem to have gotten yoinked again, and I have no idea how to get home.¡±


    ¡°...M¡¯not a kiddo.¡± Vita grumbled, eyes narrowing. Why did people keep calling her that? ¡°And no. I have no idea. This place is weird and the sky is empty and blue and something called ¡®the system¡¯ keeps screaming in my ear and nobody has a fucking soul. Why doesn¡¯t anyone have a soul?¡±


    ¡°I am pretty sure I have a soul,¡± Elaine insisted, raising an eyebrow. It wasn¡¯t like she could have gotten flung through the aether and drop-kicked into Pallos without one. ¡°And, wait, are you from somewhere without a system? Oh man! Are you from Earth?¡±


    Vita blinked.


    ¡°You mean like¡­ the ground?¡±


    ¡°Guess not,¡± Elaine muttered to herself. ¡°[World Traveler]. Gotta be more than one place. Plus, there was that whole mess with the fairies and those other people that one time¡­¡±


    Elaine snapped her fingers.


    ¡°Fairies! Did any faeries do anything to you?¡±


    Vita scowled.


    ¡°That depends. Are fairies like... tiny assholes with bug wings that never answer any questions?¡±


    Elaine looked more than a little nervous at that description.


    ¡°Fairies are wonderful people who simply enjoy a few harmless pranks now and then. Yup yup.¡±


    Elaine locked eyes with Vita and slowly nodded twice. Or, she tried to lock eyes with Vita, but Vita seemed distracted, not looking in her direction.


    ¡°They¡¯re of the most perfect tiny size,¡± she said, pinching her fingers together in roughly the size of a fairy. ¡°And they¡¯re the most beautiful, elegant, gorgeous people ever, with enough power to pull a half dozen people from different planets into one spot for a practical joke. Aren¡¯t they just AMAZING!¡±


    Elaine was slowly shaking her head at the last part, praying to Papillion and all the other gods and goddesses in the great sky above that this Vita would pick up the hint.


    Vita did not pick up the hint.


    ¡°...No, can¡¯t be them, then,¡± she concluded. ¡°Mine were annoying assholes. They stuck me with a bunch of dumb skills, talked like crazy people, and then I ended up getting attacked by¡­ whatever these things are.¡±


    She motioned at her menagerie of undead dinosaurs.


    ¡°I got excited when a few of them shot lightning at me, but of course they can¡¯t replicate the trick once I¡¯m controlling them. Fucking Dregs.¡±


    Elaine facepalmed.


    ¡°Right, what did your totally-not-fairies ask you to do? For all I know, they told me while I was asleep, and considered it fair game. Then again, this is still Pallos, I could just try to find my way home normally¡­¡± Elaine muttered to herself. ¡°Do you have any sandals on you?¡±


    That is... certainly a question a person could ask someone that just attacked them with zombies, Vita thought to herself.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you are going to be shocked to learn that I do not,¡± she deadpanned, kicking her legs lightly to show off her leather boots and greaves. ¡°Is that really an important question right now?¡±


    ¡°Well, if by some miracle you did, I could fly and look around.¡± Elaine said, as if acquiring sandals equalling flight was the most normal and reasonable thing possible. ¡°Guess I¡¯ll have to climb a tree instead. Ook ook, imma monkey.¡±


    Vita blinked, not sure how to respond to that.


    ¡°Um, have fun, I guess?¡± she hedged. ¡°If you can find a ¡®spire of stone¡¯ in the direction of whatever the fuck a ¡®setting sun¡¯ is, that¡¯d be a big help. Apparently the assholes are keeping me hostage here until I kill something there and claim a prize for them.¡±


    Elaine was already halfway up the tree, moving far faster and more nimbly than Vita would¡¯ve given her credit for.


    ¡°...Do you not know what a sunset is?¡± Elaine asked, as she slowly scanned the horizon. ¡°Do you not have a sun? Are you some sort of mole-person, living under a planet? Is that why you¡¯re short?¡±


    Elaine was finally taller than someone. Finally.


    ¡°Firstly, fuck you, I¡¯m still growing,¡± Vita snapped. ¡°Secondly, the only kind of son I know of is the family member, thirdly no I¡¯m not a goddamn mole person and fourthly what the shit is a planet? I¡¯ve heard you say that word twice but I have no idea what it means.¡±


    Elaine slowly looked down at Vita. Mostly because she was still in the tree. She blinked.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you tell me about where you live, and we¡¯ll compare notes while we walk that way?¡± She said, pointing in a direction. ¡°Saw some big fuck-off temple-looking thing, which is probably where we should go, one way or another.¡±


    Elaine then just jumped out of the tree, nimbly slowing herself down with little flares of starlight steps that appeared under her feet.


    ¡°Huh,¡± Vita muttered, watching the scintillating magical flares. ¡°You are a really powerful kynamancer, aren¡¯t you? Well, we don¡¯t have to walk if you don¡¯t want to. Feel free to pick a zombie, any zombie.¡±


    She casts a hand out to indicate her horde of unblinking, unliving reptiles.


    ¡°I promise they don¡¯t bite. Unless you do anything stupid.¡±


    Elaine shrugged.


    ¡°If they don¡¯t bite my head off, I¡¯ll be fine. I can just regrow stuff.¡±


    Vita eyed Elaine, wondering exactly how that worked.


    ¡°Why would you tell me that? Also, wouldn¡¯t you just starve if I had them keep biting you?¡±


    ¡°Maybe, but you¡¯d have to bite me a lot. I¡¯m pretty mana-efficient.¡±


    ¡°But where do you get the mass from?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s created from mana.¡±


    Vita¡¯s eyes went wide. What? That was incredible! The possibilities were endless!


    ¡°How efficient is it?¡± she asked excitedly. ¡°If you cut off your arm and then eat your arm, is that enough food to regrow your arm again? Less? More? I bet if we chopped off enough of your body parts and I hid soul shards in them we could create a mass-enslavement trap zone. What about blood loss? Do you get dehydrated? Can you create water too? Oh shit, I¡¯m so happy I found you. I thought I was going to starve out here!¡±


    Elaine looked at the raptors they were riding on, and back at Vita.


    ¡°Starve? Really?¡± she asked with a quirked eyebrow. ¡°Also, I¡¯m attached to my body parts. Pun intended. Yes, I can regrow more. No, I don¡¯t plan to lose an arm. Even if it¡¯s for a, um...¡±


    Elaine stumbled over ¡®good cause¡¯, because really, she couldn¡¯t see it that way. ¡®Let me be an endlessly regrowing food source for the hungry offworlder¡¯ was low, low down on her ¡®to-do¡¯ list, no matter how friendly and disarming said offworlder might be.


    ¡°Of course I¡¯d starve, I don¡¯t recognize any of these plants and I don¡¯t know the meat-treating spell,¡± Vita explained, as if that were some common sort of thing. ¡°Although¡­ I guess you have a good point. If you¡¯re a strong enough biomancer to regrow limbs mid-combat and form matter out of mana¡ªwhich I thought was impossible, but I¡¯m assuming it¡¯s one of these weird ¡®skill¡¯ things¡ªyou probably can make meat safe. We can eat one of the zombies if you want. Hey!¡±


    She pointed at one of the raptors and snapped her fingers.


    ¡°Head to that lady over there, rip your arm off, and give it to her, would you?¡±


    Elaine¡¯s eyes bugged out as the raptor did exactly that, a sick tearing sound echoing between the trees as the arm¡¯s bones and tendons were ripped out of the shoulder. It politely offered her the morsel with its remaining forelimb.


    ¡°Um. Thank you. For your¡­ arm.¡± Elaine managed to choke out, minding her manners. She held the arm up, and let golden, burning light emit from her hand to the arm, starting to cook it.


    ¡°Why are you doing that? Is that your meat prep magic?¡± Vita asked.


    ¡°No, this is cooking it. Because I like cooked food. Meat¡¯s generally safe to eat, except for parasites, bacteria, possibly prions if you¡¯re real unlucky. Cooking handles almost all of those. Ascaris suum, listeria, salmonella, and probably a dozen different tropical diseases I don¡¯t know about.¡±


    ¡°Never heard of any of that. What about heat-resistant magical diseases?¡± Vita asks seriously.


    Elaine shrugged.


    ¡°A possibility. Worst-case, I¡¯ll just heal myself,¡± she said, taking a huge bite of roasted raptor wing.


    ¡°Mmmmmmmmmmmmm. Tastes like chicken.¡±


    ¡°Wh- hey! Give me some!¡± Vita complained, spurring her riding raptor closer.


    ¡°Sure, here you go.¡± Elaine said, handing over the roasted arm. ¡°Let me know if you want any healing.¡±


    ¡°Sure, I¡¯ll take free healing. Mom always said to take everything free you can and to never piss off the healer! ...Or was that ¡®make¡¯ everything free? Eh, it works either way.¡±


    Elaine looked at Vita, amused.


    ¡°Gotta eat the arm first before I try healing you of any problems the arm can cause, yeah?¡±


    ¡°Oh, right.¡±


    Vita took a brief moment to decide whether trusting this random stranger was worth eating zombie flesh over, immediately decided that yes, obviously it was, and chowed down on the chicken wing. Er, raptor arm.


    ¡°Right! Healing please!¡± Vita said.


    Elaine just glanced at Vita, making sure both were in sunlight, then her jaw dropped.


    ¡°WHAT THE HELL!?¡± she yelled. ¡°Are you even human!? Healing you just drained every drop of mana I had!¡±


    Elaine seemed to check something floating in the air, then did a double-take.


    ¡°And what¡¯s up with my mana regeneration!? You are human, right?¡±


    Vita shrugged, taking a moment to swallow her zombie flesh.


    ¡°Depends on who you ask,¡± she answered frankly. ¡°Why do you care? I thought you said you were something called a monkey.¡±


    ¡°Because my healing has efficiency factors. If I can imagine what I¡¯m doing? More efficient. If I¡¯m closer to you, or touching you? More efficient. If I¡¯m healing something small, rather than large? Less mana. The more human someone is, the more efficient I am. Restoring an arm takes a few thousand points. You? For an internal bacterial problem that might not even be there?¡±


    Elaine leaned in, intensely studying Vita, drinking up every detail about her.


    ¡°Over one hundred thousand mana gone in an instant. Vita. Are you sure your System says you¡¯re human?¡±


    Vita fronwed, following Elaine¡¯s lead and glancing at something invisible in the air.


    ¡°...My ¡®race¡¯ category just says a bunch of jibberish characters. I just thought the whole thing was broken or something, though. I mean, my mana is listed with a period and an ¡®e¡¯ and shit like that. Not even real numbers.¡±


    Elaine¡¯s mouth opened, paused, and closed again.


    Open¡­. Pause¡­. Close.


    ¡°Yeah, okay, I¡¯m going to call the race thing a bug and say that¡¯s why healing you is so inefficient,¡± she said. ¡°Don¡¯t lose an arm or anything, I¡¯m not sure I can regrow it.¡±


    ¡°What about my mana?¡±


    Elaine shuddered.


    ¡°Please tell me the numbers after the E are small. Please.¡± She begged.


    ¡°Um, it says¡­ nine point four five three seven seven E... forty-three? And my mana regen is negative a thousand something.¡±


    Elaine just shook her head.


    ¡°Right. Negative mana regen can kill you, if you let your mana get to 0. That¡¯ll happen for you in¡­¡±


    Elaine twitched her fingers a few times.


    ¡°I stopped counting at a few trillion years. You¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a long time,¡± Vita opined. ¡°But you said it was just broken, right?¡±


    ¡°The race sounds like a bug. The mana?¡±


    Elaine shuddered, changing the topic.


    ¡°How about we get a move on to that ziggurat? Also, do you have some sort of mana regeneration buff? My numbers are going crazy.¡±


    Vita shrugs.


    ¡°Uh, I think so. My [Infinity Beyond the Veil] skill might be doing that. Kind of a pretentious name, right? Whatever brought me here picked all my classes and skills without giving me a say in the matter, so I¡¯m not totally sure what everything does. This [Maw of Mana] class seemed totally pointless since people can¡¯t run out of mana anyway, but¡­ I guess you can? I bet that sucks. Also, how come it¡¯s purple?¡±


    Elaine gave Vita a look. Okay, so maybe the girl was a lot stronger than her level let on.


    ¡°So¡­ about telling me where you¡¯re from?"


    "Oh, right, I mean, I don''t know if there''s much to say. I''m from Verdantop island? Country of Valka?"


    Elaine answers Vita with the kind of flat, blank look that made it clear she¡¯d never heard of those places.


    "Have you heard of either of those places?" Vita asked anyway.


    Elaine sighed. The girl was more than a little strange, not picking up on expressions, only rarely emoting, and never making eye contact. She was probably somewhere on the Autism spectrum. That had to be wretched in the type of medieval society that the girl¡¯s equipment seemed to imply she was from.


    "No. I have not,¡± Elaine clarified. ¡°You mentioned something about the sky being the wrong color and not knowing what the sun is so I imagine we''re from different worlds entirely."


    "Yeah, my sky is yellow," Vita confirmed. "And all the other islands are visible above, while you guys have¡­ nothing. It''s weird. Is this not like¡­ one of the top islands, or something? Oh! Maybe it is! Maybe you guys can run out of mana because we¡¯re super far away from the Mistwatcher!"


    "See, now it''s my turn to ask you what that is," Elaine prompted.


    ¡°Um, it¡¯s the big mass of eyeballs and tentacles tens of thousands of miles across that you see when you go to the edge and look down? And gives people souls, though¡­ hmm. I guess you don¡¯t have one.¡±


    ¡°I still definitely do,¡± Elaine protested, though Vita ignored her. Still, a mass of eyeballs and tentacles tens of thousands of miles across? What the hell? What kind of insane Lovecraft world is this girl from?


    ¡°Also, the planet we¡¯re on has no edge.¡±


    ¡°What happens when you walk in one direction forever then?¡± Vita asked instantly, since obviously there had to be an edge somewhere. Maybe they just hadn¡¯t found it?


    ¡°You end up back in the same spot,¡± Elaine answered easily, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.


    Vita hesitated, wanting to argue more, but decided to leave it be. As long as she never saw the edge, what did it matter to her?


    ¡°So¡­ okay, maybe we¡¯re not orbiting around the Mistwatcher at all,¡± Vita admitted hesitantly. ¡°But¡­ what does that mean? Where are we? Is this your¡­ ¡®world?¡¯¡±


    ¡°I think so,¡± Elaine said. ¡°Although we¡¯re a long way from where I¡¯m used to. This world is called Pallos.¡±


    ¡°Oooh! Yeah, Pallos! That¡¯s where the naked flying assholes said I am!¡±


    Elaine winced.


    ¡°Please, please stop calling them that¡± she begged. ¡°We really do not want to make them mad.¡±


    Vita frowned, looking around.


    ¡°I¡­ guess I need them to get home, so that¡¯s fair. Do you think they¡¯re listening to us?¡± she asked.


    Gods, I hope not, Elaine thought to herself.


    Instead of answering, she spurred her raptor on, trying to make it go faster. The lifeless construct reacted by... not reacting at all.


    ¡°Uh, you okay there?¡± Vita asked. ¡°Are you trying to make it go faster? Let me. Speed up!¡±


    The raptor Elaine was on shot off, and she swore as she tried to keep a grip. Raptors weren¡¯t exactly made for riding, nor was Vita any sort of master [Leatherworker], able to make a saddle.


    Vita didn¡¯t need one. The Dregs carried her with unnatural grace, like she was some sort of royalty, and she seemed utterly unbothered by the bareback journey. Dropping Vita? Literally unthinkable. Mostly due to a lack of brainpower. Elaine¡¯s butt was not so lucky, but what was ranger training for if not being flexible enough to ride a zombie dinosaur?

 Chapter ??? - Dragoneye Mortis 1.3

    As they traveled, making small talk, comparing notes about the two, three worlds they knew about, Vita¡¯s undead horde grew. Zombie raptors jumped and tore apart other, lesser creatures, bringing the kills to Vita like a particularly proud gaggle of cats. Vita didn¡¯t even seem to glance at the bodies, but each one brought to her was soon reanimated into her service. Monkeys and snakes, raptors and the occasional crocodile, beasts from the paleozoic to cambrian era all joined Vita¡¯s ever-growing swarm.


    I could totally get used to not having to do all the heavy lifting for once. Elaine thought with wide eyes, seeing the numbers grow. At the same time - should I be stopping this? If Vita turns on me, I can¡¯t handle that many monsters at once. Especially since I¡¯m pinned to the ground.


    I should totally ask her to cook another raptor for me, Vita thought.


    ¡°Hey, can you cook another raptor for me?" she then asked, hardly one to let anything get between thoughts of food and the potential acquisition of food.


    ¡°Suuuuure¡­ but can it start off dead-dead? Like, not moving dead? And not ripping its own arm off?¡± Elaine shuddered.


    ¡°Sure, I guess,¡± Vita answered, shrugging slightly. ¡°Stop moving.¡±


    At Vita¡¯s order, the entire raptor horde promptly froze like someone had taken a photograph and made it reality. Elaine nearly flew off her mount at the sudden halt, but held on. Glassy-eyed frozen raptors surrounded her in every direction.


    ¡°Take your pick!¡± Vita told her happily.


    Elaine facepalmed, but figured this was the best she was going to get, not without another long, awkward conversation.


    ¡°Raptor or something else?¡± Elaine asked, noting the wide variety of animals in the horde. Raptors were the dominant species, but there was enough variety if Vita was feeling spicy.


    ¡°I¡¯m the furthest thing from picky,¡± Vita answered. ¡°I¡¯ll eat anything you cook.¡±


    Elaine was getting ideas. Terrible, terrible ideas.


    ¡°How hungry are you¡­?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Vita answered, without a hint of humor.


    ¡°Mind if we eat more than one of your- um - one of the, um, ah¡­ creatures?¡±


    Elaine was still struggling with ¡°zombie¡±


    ¡°I will eat. Anything. You cook for me.¡±


    Elaine had a brilliant grin split her face.


    ¡°Right! One jungle smorgasbord coming right up!¡± she said, deftly navigating through the horde, playing discount Noah.


    Instead of two of each animal for an ark, it was one of each animal for the firepit. Vita watched with enraptured attention, a grin widening on her face with each animal Elaine selected.


    ¡°How hungry are you, exactly?¡± Vita asked. ¡°You like eating monsters too? My team always thought it was gross.¡±


    Elaine shrugged.


    ¡°Using mana - well, technically, regenerating mana - is hungry, hungry work. I¡¯ve been away from towns, in the wilderness often enough to just not be picky. When it¡¯s do or die, eat or starve? Everything looks like food.¡±


    ¡°Huh. Most of my experience starving has been in the towns.¡±


    Elaine patted Vita in what she imagined was a comforting way, though Vita mostly just stiffened up at the touch.


    ¡°Well, don¡¯t worry about it. I¡¯ll make sure you¡¯re well-fed here.¡± She said, expertly burning through dino-joints and roasting each piece one-handedly, then handing it off to Vita. The other hand already had a hot, greasy raptor-wing, as Elaine tore into it between words.


    ¡°We¡¯re friends now,¡± Vita declared, and immediately started tearing into the food with startling speed.


    The impromptu barbeque continued until the pain orb - err, sun - fell, both young women displaying appetites far outside their weight class. Vita watched with awe at the growing sunset, her childlike face morphing into the greatest display of emotion Elaine had seen on her since they met.


    ¡°What is that? Oh, wow. It¡¯s like¡­ like giant blotches of flower colors in the sky!¡± she announces, raising a grasping hand as if trying to touch one.


    Elaine glanced over, and with a lazy wave, summoned a [Mantle of the Stars] next to Vita.


    ¡°For closer looking.¡± Elaine said, eyes up at the endlessly spiraling stars above winking into view as the sun finishes passing over the horizon.


    ¡°Woah. You¡¯re right, the sky is just¡­ going dark,¡± Vita whispered, idly pawing at the mantle. ¡°Where¡¯s that thing you talked about? Your kinda-sky-island? The moon?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll come. Just give it time.¡±


    ¡°This is so cool. I still can¡¯t believe all the light in your world comes from such a tiny ball! And now all these white dots¡­¡±


    Vita stared open-mouthed at the sky, for once her hidden, inner eye being the one of her three incapable of seeing an otherworldly beauty. Utterly entranced, a look of childlike joy and wonder on her face as she tried to trace the stars above, count them, understand them via any sort of equivalent from her world yet coming up empty.


    And then she saw the moon.


    Moons.


    Two full moons rose above the horizon, washing the land in their baleful red light. Two moons, with crimson irises and slitted pupils, looking anything like a pair of eyes, overlords of the world looking down upon all the puny mortals below them. A snake, freezing a mouse in its gaze. A dragon, watching the world she owned from above.


    The Dragoneye Moons.


    For a fraction of an instant, Vita froze, her breath gone. Then an overwhelming terror consumed her features, and she bolted, trying to hide from the sky behind a tree.


    ¡°Oh fuck, it¡¯s here!¡± Vita hisses. ¡°I don¡¯t think it saw me! Elaine, we can¡¯t let it see me, we can¡¯t. The raptors aren¡¯t fast enough to¡­ oh shit, oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck¡­¡±


    ¡°Calm down! Calm down! Breathe!¡± Elaine said, sliding next to Vita. ¡°Okay, talk to me. What¡¯s wrong? What¡¯s here? They¡¯re just the moons. They¡¯re not going to hurt you.¡±


    Elaine mentally had a dozen asterisks on that particular statement, but the general idea was correct. Like, if some crazy high level Gravity mage decided to pull them into the planet, yeah, they could hurt, and it could be possible to do¡­


    But that was for another day.


    Elaine was struck with inspiration as Vita continued to freak out. She layered [Mantle of the Stars] over her gourmet companion, then lit up with [Shine].


    ¡°See? It can¡¯t see you now. Just stars and light here.¡± Elaine tried to soothe Vita.


    ¡°That¡¯s the eye the Mistwatcher used to look at me!¡± Vita squeaked, her tone suggesting not only terror but the revelation of some grand secret. ¡°If it glances my way again I might cause another perception event!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s a perception event, and the Mistwatcher is the big thing from your world, right?¡± Elaine asked.


    She didn¡¯t wait for an answer.


    ¡°Look, I have it on good authority that those moons have been there for over four thousand years. They¡¯re just rocks, created by mad gods and goddesses.¡±


    ¡°Yes! The Mistwatcher is a god! It¡¯s the god! And it has at least one eye which looks like that!¡±


    Elaine debated telling Vita about her experiences with gods and being in the realm of the gods, and how gods tended to stay there, and not really go to Pallos. Not unless a divine miracle was requested.


    She skipped all that, and thought about how Vita described the place she lived.


    ¡°You normally avoid its eye? Eyes? By being on the island, right?¡± Elaine asked to confirm.


    ¡°Yes, but now it¡¯s in the fucking sky!¡± Vita screeched.


    ¡°Sure, but I have an easy solution. Let¡¯s bury you in dirt and mud. Then it can¡¯t see you.¡± Elaine said matter-of-factly.


    There was no reasoning someone out of a position they hadn¡¯t reasoned themself into, and Elaine wasn¡¯t about to try and play therapist to Vita, and convince her that the moons were harmless. For all Elaine knew, they weren¡¯t actually harmless, given their unnatural state and complete and total not-how-moons-should-be-ness, but that was neither here nor there. She just needed Vita to get through the night, and one night at a time she¡¯d come round - or they¡¯d be done with whatever bullshit the fae wanted them to do this time.


    ¡°I¡­ have no idea if that will work,¡± Vita said hesitantly, ¡°and if it doesn¡¯t work, you, me, and everything remotely nearby is gonna get annihilated by a ten thousand mile long tentacle.¡±


    ¡°Okay, do you have any other ideas how to not get annihilated?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ no. I don¡¯t know. It¡¯s in the sky! It¡¯s not supposed to be in the sky! Maybe a cave? I don¡¯t know if a layer of dirt will do much, but I¡¯d feel safer with solid rock between us.¡±


    Elaine frowned, then brightened up.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got an idea!¡± She said. ¡°Can you let me command the zombies?¡±


    Vita nodded.


    ¡°[Queen¡¯s Commander],¡± she murmured, uncurling slightly and poking Elaine in the thigh.


    [Necromancer] Elaine in the house! Not where I expected to be a day ago, but hey, that¡¯s life.


    ¡°Right. You, you, and you - I need those three trees cut down and moved to the side. You, you, and you. Bring back wood. You and you - find stone. You four - cover Vita, don¡¯t let the eyes see her. You-...¡±


    Elaine started to efficiently bark out orders, like she¡¯d been trained to do it for years.


    She was used to intelligent Rangers though, not the near-mindless Dregs. Some of her commands were interpreted in interesting ways.


    ¡°No, not like that!¡± Elaine cried out, grabbing her hair in frustration as a raptor brought her a stick the size of her finger. ¡°Big wood! Like the trees!¡±


    Still, with much frustration, grumbling, ordering and reordering, Elaine¡¯s vision started to come to un-life.


    Charitably, it could be called ¡®A giant pile of logs and sticks.¡¯


    ¡°Here. Crawl inside.¡± Elaine said, as it started to come together. ¡°It¡¯ll shield you from the eyes in the sky, and we¡¯ll keep making it bigger and thicker while you¡¯re inside. Keep you safe.¡±


    Elaine lasered the leg off of one particularly bad-at-following-commands raptor, fried it, and passed it to Vita.


    ¡°Here, have a bite while you wait,¡± Elaine offered.


    I am getting way too used to lasering meat off of moving creatures.


    Vita, for her part, just grabbed the food between her teeth, nodding a quick thank-you before scurrying into shelter. From her perspective, hiding behind a tree hadn¡¯t gotten her killed yet, so hiding behind a structure of trees should hopefully work the same.


    Elaine kept working for hours, building the fort larger and larger, hoping that it wouldn¡¯t all collapse on itself. She occasionally threw in more pieces of the unhelpful raptor into the center, where a scrawny arm would dart out to grab it and drag it into its maw.


    Finally, Elaine felt like she¡¯d done enough. She roasted the last few pieces of the raptor, told the rest to ¡°Guard¡±, and crawled in herself.


    ¡°Hey. It¡¯s going to be okay,¡± Elaine said, lying down next to Vita. ¡°It¡¯s all going to be okay.¡± Elaine closed her eyes.


    Vita nodded numbly.


    ¡°Well, if it isn¡¯t, at least we¡¯ll probably die instantly before getting our souls eaten,¡± she muttered.


    Elaine didn¡¯t hear her. She was fast asleep.


    ¡°Wow. She¡­ passed out fast,¡± Vita mumbled to herself.

 Chapter ??? - Dragoneye Mortis 1.4

    When day finally rose, Vita still hadn¡¯t managed to do the same.


    Elaine yawned and stretched, her sleepy eyes going to instantly bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as she applied [Sunrise] to herself.


    ¡°Gooooooood morning! How did you sleep? Did the hut help? I hope it helped. It took me and the dinosaurs aaaaaaages to do. Well. You would know. You were watching! Whoof! I need to go burn off some energy. Then let¡¯s get to that ziggurat, and figure out what those fairies want! Let¡¯s gooooooooooo!¡±


    Vita blinked the tiredness out of her eyes, mentally cursing Elaine several different ways.


    Maybe it wouldn¡¯t be so bad if a perception event happens now if it spares me her early-morning energy. I want a soul. I miss souls. I wish I could eat one to keep me awake, but this stupid place doesn¡¯t have any!


    Vita was still trying to muster the strength to get up when Elaine popped back into the hut, brimming with energy.


    ¡°Oh! I almost forgot! Here¡¯s a snake skewer. One of the zombies got it last night. And a pick me up!¡± Elaine tapped Vita, pulsing [Sunrise] through her.


    A jolt of energy shot through Vita, waking her up faster and more thoroughly than anything she¡¯d ever experienced before.


    ¡°Woah, what the fuck?¡± Vita said suddenly, jumping to her feet. The child-like girl¡¯s potty mouth never failed to seem a little out of place. ¡°What was that? I feel way better!¡±


    ¡°[Sunrise]!¡± Elaine happily told Vita. ¡°My energy pick-me-up-go-forever skill! Never leave home without it!¡±


    She laughed like she made the best joke ever. Vita didn¡¯t see how it was that funny¡­ but she couldn¡¯t deny it was useful.


    Either way, between the food, the stream, and the zombie-raptor transportation, Vita and Elaine were off towards the ziggurat in no time.


    The horde grew fatter than Vita¡¯s and Elaine¡¯s waistlines, the most impressive part of which was that said waistlines actually managed to grow a little after their legendary barbecue. Each of them seemed remarkably incapable of putting on pounds. They spent the time luxuriously being carted around, feasting on the bounty of the jungle delivered practically to their mouths.


    Then, like a particularly small, fast, brightly colored and tasty bird, they were delivered to the foot of the ziggurat. It looked old, an ancient relic from before time began. Given the relatively young age of Pallos, that was entirely possible. The temple was overgrown with vines, the stone cracking. Each step was bigger than Elaine was tall, and the ziggurat seemed to soar endlessly towards the heavens - which wasn¡¯t at all what it looked like from a distance.


    ¡°Now what?¡± Vita asked, more annoyed and impressed by the structure.


    Elaine shrugged.


    ¡°If it was easy, the fairies wouldn¡¯t send us to do it, would they?¡±


    ¡°From what you told me about the tiny assholes, yes they would. Because it¡¯d be funny.¡±


    Elaine tilted her head, conceding the point.


    ¡°This has all seemed too easy so far, but¡­ zombies first?¡± Elaine asked.


    ¡°Yeah, sure, they¡¯re all replaceable.¡± Vita agreed. ¡°But where¡¯s the entrance?¡±


    Vita and Elaine looked around, not seeing anything. They circled the ziggurat, only seeing the giant steps repeated all around.


    Elaine looked at the overly large stairs, big enough that only Vita standing on Elaine¡¯s shoulders would be able to crawl up.


    One step.


    There had to be hundreds.


    ¡°What¡¯s the bet that the entrance is on the top of the ziggurat?¡± Elaine asked rhetorically.


    She knew the answer.


    It was on the top.


    It was always on the top.


    Vita sighed, silently agreeing. What a pain. Still, painful problems were what zombies were for. With a few quick, snappy directions, three zombies¡ªtwo raptors standing on each other and a third in front of them¡ªformed a climbable step that Vita and Elaine ascended up the first stair, enough of the horde following to make a second step and then a third and so on. The Dregs were not kind to their fellows, and the crushing, shambling footfalls of a zombie horde crawling on top of one another required the steps to be frequently replaced as they got periodically pounded into meat mush. Still, eventually the majority of the horde managed to reach the top. When only the zombies forming the stairs remained, Vita simply used [Soul Reclamation] to kill them all from a distance, leaving the unfortunate dinosaurs left behind to collapse back into restful death. Again.


    Turning back towards the entrance, the pair saw that the top of the ziggurat was filled with statues, pillars, and more. A giant golden bell, somehow whole despite the tests of time and the elements, stood proudly in the middle, over the largest statue. Cracked stone with hardy vines that had somehow grown through the literal mountain worth of stone were interspersed with little yellow flowers that gently blew in the breeze. Pillars in various states of ruin and decay were scattered in neat columns along the top, clearly having performed some ceremonial purpose once upon a time.


    Statues of suchia, each statue large enough for Vita and Elaine to comfortably rest in their enormous crocodilian mouths, lined the edges of the ziggurat. They were all facing the centerpiece of the ziggurat - a gigantic monstrous statue, depicting some part-suchia, part-fish, part frog with toothy mouths on its shoulders, knees, elbows, and a few other random spots.


    ¡°Wow.¡± Elaine breathed, gazing around the sights. ¡°This is quite something.¡±


    She walked forward, looking at each statue for a moment before moving onto the next one.


    ¡°Yeah, that thing almost has as many mouths as the Mistwatcher¡¯s soul.¡± Vita agreed, eyeing the statue in the middle. ¡°It¡¯s also sucking my mana. I can see it with [Eye of the Maw].¡±


    Elaine paled.


    ¡°That¡¯s not made out of Arcanite.¡± she realized.


    ¡°So?¡± Vita asked, glancing around the ancient temple with disinterest.


    ¡°So only living things and Arcanite get mana!¡± she yelled.


    Vita blinked.


    ¡°...So it¡¯s edible?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not the right question!¡± Elaine snapped, running back to the stairs.


    A deafening roar from a dozen different types of mouths burst out behind them, as the Cipactli ¡®statue¡¯ started to chase after the latest offerings brought to its altar.


    ¡°Attack while we climb!¡± Vita ordered the remains of her horde, suddenly changing direction. Without hesitation Elaine switched from running back to the too-large stairs to climbing one of the large pillars with Vita.


    They scrambled up while the zombies died in droves, seemingly incapable of even scratching the monstrous Cipactli. Elaine¡¯s ascent was boosted by her stats, Dexterity making sure she never put a foot wrong, Speed helping her hands quickly move from place to place, Strength letting her haul herself up sooner, and Vitality tying it all together.


    Vita had stats, but also something beyond them as well. It almost looked like Vita was a puppet, her limbs getting pulled around by some force that couldn¡¯t possibly be her muscles. Elaine figured there were more pressing things at the moment than worrying about it, though, even as Vita handily beat Elaine to the top.


    The monster roared, and crashed into the stone column, trying to shake Elaine and Vita loose. The two clung onto each other and the top of the pillar, holding on.


    ¡°Think you can handle it?¡± Vita asked Elaine, deathly calm as she stared down from her perch.


    Instead of responding, Elaine fired a [Nova] down at the monster, following it up with a beam of Radiance, trying to burn through its eye.


    ¡°Nifty.¡± Vita commented, as Elaine unleashed a burning inferno directly at the furious beast for 10 seconds non-stop.


    Then, abruptly, she stopped.


    ¡°Fuck,¡± she swore.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m out of mana.¡±


    Vita shrugged, as if this could not be any less of a problem.


    ¡°Take some of mine?¡±


    A terrible grin broke on Elaine¡¯s face, as she remembered that Vita seemed to have a skill to transfer mana¡­ and somehow had a mana pool measured in fucking tredecillions.


    It was like a second sun erupted on top of the ziggurat, as Elaine, finally unconstrained by pesky little things like ¡°running out of mana,¡± was able to unleash her full, unlimited arsenal. [Nova]¡¯s were dropped and exploded, looking like an entire galaxy worth of stars was exploding at once. Beams of Radiance mixed with cones and balls, wide-spread auras and surgical lasers. The air itself started to become uncomfortably hot with the sheer amount of heat and energy that bled off from the attacks. The stones blackened and cracked under the heat, and both Elaine and Vita started doing the ¡°the floor is lava and my feet are cooking¡± dance.


    Didn¡¯t stop Elaine in the slightest.


    The Cipactli roared, angered that the sacrifices brought to it were resisting, trying to tear down the sturdy pillar.


    In its boredom, it had knocked down and smashed most of the pillars on top of the ziggurat that it could. The architects, so long ago, had built the temple well, and what remained wasn¡¯t so easily brought down.


    Especially when being cooked alive. Eventually, the creature, used to being treated as a god, decided to stop sticking around and turned to flee.


    ¡°Oh, no you don¡¯t,¡± Vita growled. ¡°Quit shooting for a sec.¡±


    Without waiting for an answer, Vita lets herself fall from the pillar before suddenly kicking off of it, shooting towards the fleeing many-mouthed monster like a javelin. She hit it spear-first, to basically no effect on its stat-boosted crocodilian hide.


    "Vita!" Elaine yelpedin surprise, barely avoiding frying her with a stray nova. "What are you doing? Just let it go!"


    Ignoring her, Vita instead pulled out a huge fragment of her own soul, grinning as she pressed it into the body of the monster. With no soul of its own, or at least with nothing that Vita considered a soul for her purposes, nothing stopped her shard from spreading through the monster as if it was just another corpse. Her power strained against the living body''s muscles, causing the enormous beast to twitch and spasm as entirely different forms of movement went to war inside it.


    "All right!" Vita shouted back to Elaine, leaping off the monster. "Now hit it with everything you''ve got! As big as it gets!"


    "What skill is that?" Elaine asked, charging up the mother of all [Nova]. "This thing is way too high level to get crippled by one tap of just anything."


    Vita shrugged, scrambling back up the pillar.


    "No skill," she said. "Just part of me. Although I guess if you want to blame a skill for that trick¡ª"


    Elaine didn¡¯t wait for Vita to finish talking before unleashing the rest of her arsenal at once, the combination of seemingly limitless mana regen, prep time, and a mostly stationary target being all she needed to annihilate the temple-owner once and for all.


    "¡ªI would say [Soul Reclamation] is the one I like most," Vita finished, activating the skill and recovering her lost power. ¡°Back home I can¡¯t get free refunds.¡±


    The aftermath of the fight left little standing in what was once an altar to the ex-divine beast.


    ¡°So now what?¡± Vita asked, looking at the stones. They were so hot they were warping the air, making the floor look wavy. She could feel her skin start to crack, having nowhere near as much heat resistance as the woman who regularly shot lasers.


    Elaine shrugged.


    ¡°What did the fairies want?¡±


    ¡°They just said to ''slay the creature and claim the prize.'' Didn¡¯t say what the prize is, though."


    Elaine facepalmed.


    ¡°Of course. OF COURSE! It¡¯s never easy with them.¡± She looked around the room, trying to spot what this elusive prize could possibly be. ¡°Maybe the bell?¡±


    The enormous golden bell in the center of the room indeed looked like quite the prize. Vita¡¯s eyes went wide.


    ¡°Wait, is all of that metal? Yeah that would be the fucking prize all right. Fat lot of luck we¡¯ll have hauling that around, though.¡±


    ¡°Yeah¡­ why don¡¯t we just grab everything up here, just in case?¡± Elaine suggested. ¡°Maybe it¡¯s one of the statues. Or vines. Or pillars.¡±


    ¡°Or one of the flowers.¡± Vita said, picking one up that somehow, miraculously, survived the scorching inferno Elaine had unleashed on top of the ziggurat.


    Three tiny flying assholes popped in around Vita the moment she grabbed the flowers.


    ¡°The flowers! The flowers!¡± One cheered.


    ¡°She got the flowers! She wins!¡± The second one cackled.


    ¡°Plant genitals! Just the thing!¡± The third one swooped in and grabbed the flower from Vita.


    ¡°Ew,¡± said Vita, wrinkling her nose. ¡°So, I guess I got your prize. Do I get a prize?¡±


    ¡°Yes, of course!¡± One said. ¡°You can see my tonsils! A most rare and valuable prize.¡±


    ¡°Your what now?¡±


    Elaine facepalmed.


    ¡°The back of her throat.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s dumb.¡±


    Elaine cringed at that, while the fairy laughed in Vita¡¯s face.


    ¡°Too slow! You had the chance to see, and you did not! Like that, your prize vanishes!¡±


    ¡°If you guys had souls, I would shatter them,¡± Vita grumbled.


    ¡°From me, I give you¡­ COURAGE!¡± The next fairy said. ¡°No more will you fear to walk in the jungle! No more will you cower in your home!¡±


    Vita frowned.


    ¡°I¡¯m a hunter. I already regularly go into the forest.¡± She pointed out. ¡°Plus, didn¡¯t you see what I did to this jungle?¡±


    The fairy giggled.


    ¡°See? The best gift EVER!¡±


    Elaine was coming round to Vita¡¯s way of thinking. ¡®Complete assholes¡¯ and ¡®Would kill if I could.¡¯


    ¡°From me¡­¡± The fairy paused for dramatic effect, before realizing.


    ¡°Hey! You jerks let me go last!¡± He complained at the other two, who giggled at his misfortune.


    ¡°Too slow!¡± The first one said, zipping around him.


    ¡°Lazy bum, lazy bum¡± The second one sang.


    He just grumbled.


    ¡°GO HOME!¡± He yelled at Vita, who popped out of existence.


    Elaine¡¯s eyes bugged out.


    ¡°Um. If it¡¯s not too much trouble¡­¡± She said.


    The first fairy sneered at her.


    ¡°You¡¯re already home! Go fly back!¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t fly! I didn¡¯t bring my sandals!¡± Elaine complained before being struck by inspiration.


    ¡°Hang on. Send me back, and I¡¯ll tell you a secret,¡± she said, dreading making a deal with the Fae, but not seeing too many other options. Besides spending decades trying to get out of the place. Fairies liked secrets, right?


    ¡°Oooh! A secret! Tell me, tell me!¡±


    ¡°No, tell me!¡±


    Elaine held up a finger.


    ¡°Ah ah ah. Send me back first, then I¡¯ll tell you the secret,¡± she insisted.


    ¡°The secret will be mine!¡± One of the fae yelled, popping Elaine back to her home.


    ¡°Ok, now tell me the secret.¡± the fae demanded the empty air.


    There was, of course, no response.


    ¡°Hello? I¡¯d like my secret now?¡±

 Chapter 193 – Major Interlude – Iona – Julie d’Audrey I

    Dread Pirate Iona adjusted her tricorn hat as her commandeered ship cut through the waves, flying Iona¡¯s personal flag.


    The Wakacola sea wasn¡¯t the largest sea on Pallos, but it was one that technically fell under the Valkyrie¡¯s area of protection. Unfortunately, after the goblin catastrophe and the practical fall of the order, there were less than two dozen Valkyries left, which had them stretched to the breaking point trying to cover everything.


    Which meant some problems didn¡¯t get the attention they needed. Some problems grew.


    Like the current rampant piracy problem on the Wakacola sea.


    Grandmaster Sigrun was stubborn. She refused to shrink the scale that the Valkyries operated on, or the territory that was under their protection ¨C and that, in turn, paid them. That hadn¡¯t stopped other orders, sects, and nobles from encroaching on their territory, luring away towns with promises of prompt protection.


    Iona was conflicted on the matter. On one hand, she saw Sigrun¡¯s point. The Valkyrie order would come back, one day. By letting it shrink, the size they could grow to in the future, and the speed it would occur at, would be limited.


    On the other, if Sigrun had properly reevaluated the size the Valkyries could operate at, people wouldn¡¯t have gotten hurt. There wouldn¡¯t be pirates on the Wakacola sea. The Valkyries would have more time to train new recruits, although the pool of candidates would be shrunk.


    Iona was a full Valkyrie, and one of the extraordinarily rare people to be permitted to have a combat class above 256 without being sworn to nobility. A perk of the order, which the king of Rolland had yanked once news of their diminished size had reached him.


    Not before Sigrun had made absolutely sure that every surviving Valkyrie had classed up past 256 though. There¡¯d been some grumbling over it, but they¡¯d technically followed the laws as written. From what Iona could tell, the lords and ladies were slightly annoyed, and had decided.


    They¡¯ll die out soon enough. No sense in kicking up a fuss now. Just play the long game.


    Which had Iona ¨C and the surviving Valkyries ¨C pissed.


    They would not go gently into the night.


    Nor would they swear themselves to a noble, and let themselves get absorbed, becoming just another elite unit under some duchess. Their independence was just one small part of their pride.


    Which, from what Iona had gathered, was causing some more subtle tensions. Not all the nobility wanted the Valkyries gone. The king, in spite of yanking their ability to have more large classers, had given them some support. Mostly in the form of public speeches and a break in taxes, but it was more than nothing. It wasn¡¯t like he was some fantasy absolute ruler, able to do what he wanted. No, he needed consensus, and to get other nobles on his side. Which, in this particular case, he had some. Not all of the nobility wanted them gone.


    The only ones that wanted them to stick around lived nowhere close to the Valkyrie¡¯s lands, and gained nothing if they were fully eliminated. However, their rivals would gain.


    In short, the only people that cared for the Valkyries because they were Valkyries, and not because they stood something to gain or lose themselves ¨C were the Valkyries themselves.


    Still. There was more territory, and more problems, than the Valkyries could handle, and Iona was given more-or-less discretion to decide which problems she¡¯d tackle.


    She unfolded a letter with well-worn creases, which had prompted her to visit the Wakacola sea, and handle the pirate problem.


    My dearest Iona


    While our time together has been nothing short of extraordinary, I am deeply saddened to inform you that my father has discovered our relationship. He has delivered an ultimatum to me ¨C marry Matthieu d¡¯Baschet of the Baschet Trading Emporium, a most unpleasant man which I have told you about ¨C or join the Abbey of the Guiding Waves.


    I always knew that one day I would need to make a choice like this, and my answer was easy ¨C I have elected to become one of the nuns at the Abbey of the Guiding Waves, as a more peaceful life calls to me.


    We always knew our time together would be short, a brief fling, two ships passing in the night.


    Do not cry for me! I am happy with my choice. My only regret is that I was not able to see you one last time, not able to place one last kiss on your red lips. I was not able to feel your hands along my tail. I was not able to...


    The letter got quite a bit more lurid after that point, to the point where even Iona was flushing reading it.


    Yours,


    Sister Julie d¡¯Audrey.


    Well. If it was Julie¡¯s one regret that she¡¯d never see Iona again ¨C Iona was going to fix that.


    A small voice whispered in Iona¡¯s ear that this might not be the only letter Julie had sent out, but that was between Julie and the other letter senders.


    It helped that the Abbey of the Guiding Waves was on the Wakacola sea, and Iona was killing quite a few birds with one stone. Handling the piracy problem, seeing her old friend, possibly for the last time, and making sure that the Abbey where her friend was going to wouldn¡¯t be bothered by said pirates.


    All in all, a fairly neat and tidy arrangement. Sigrun hadn¡¯t even raised an eyebrow when Iona had come and requested the assignment, the dust from her old job still on her boots.


    Not that any of the Valkyries had time to get the dust off their boots. Too much to do. Which neatly looped around back to Iona¡¯s thoughts on reducing their size, and taking the time to properly recruit and train the next generation.


    Big, flashy deeds were great for recruitment though¡­


    Iona once again thanked her Patrons for her not being the Grandmaster, and someone else having all the headaches.


    ¡°Whatcha got there?¡± A nasally voice came from over her shoulder, and an embarrassed Iona whirled around, mentally reaching for her armor, ready to slam it into position, and physically reaching for her axe.


    It was just Woodrow ¡®Bird¡¯s Eye¡¯ Payne, one of the more reputable pirates, if such a thing existed. Iona had started small, and by ¡°small¡± she meant ¡°quietly requested passage on merchant ships until a pirate ship eventually visited, and murdered nearly the entire pirate crew.¡± It spoke to just how bad the pirate problem was that it¡¯d only taken three trips for her efforts to bear fruit, and not years.


    It amazed Iona that anyone was even still trying to ship goods around.


    The merchant crew had looked more than a little green as Iona had single-handedly slaughtered her way through the pirates, only sparing a few of the weaker, less combat-inclined ones.


    Still, Iona couldn¡¯t crew an entire ship by herself, nor did she even have any idea how. Hence, she spared a few of the more cowardly pirates, those without a [Piracy] class or skills, to better sail her brand-new ship around for her.


    Iona¡¯s ability to look at people¡¯s skills ¨C all of them ¨C was quite the boon. It wasn¡¯t perfect, but Bird¡¯s Eye lacked any fighting classes or skills, which made his story of being gang-pressed into service by pirates believable. The skill helped in fights in other ways.


    ¡°None of your business. You should go swab the sails or something.¡± Iona retorted back.


    She¡¯d spared him, and a dozen other pirates, to form some semblance of a crew.


    And directions.


    ¡°You sure? You do spend a lot of time... looking... at...¡±


    Bird¡¯s Eye trailed off as Iona¡¯s look steadily grew stormier with every word he said. She towered over him, and wasn¡¯t afraid of using a little intimidation. Especially not when it came to her personal matters.


    ¡°How about I get back to swabbing the deck or looking for ships, eh?¡± Bird¡¯s Eye said, quickly clambering up the line to the crow¡¯s nest.


    Iona sighed, and turned back to the waves. They weren¡¯t moving fast, but the pirates had been working together.


    ¡°This is a terrible mistake.¡± Petey ¡®Cowardly¡¯ Paddley said. ¡°Lord Admiral Bloodpyre¡¯s going to kill us all.¡± He cried out.


    Iona gave him a flat look. Nobody with the name ¡®Lord Admiral Bloodpyre¡¯ was going to scare her.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, you¡¯d kill us faster...¡± He muttered under his breath, continuing to haul lines as needed.


    Iona hadn¡¯t threatened anyone ¨C not directly. She¡¯d simply fought and killed most of the pirates, and had started yelling orders out to the remaining pirates, who¡¯d decided not to argue with the one-woman wrecking crew.


    Iona was slightly out of her depths here on the ship, and was somewhat regretting her choices. Still, the ship was moving, and with the collective spine of the remaining pirates not enough to support a mannequin, she wasn¡¯t afraid of treachery, or them steering her wrong.


    No way were they going as fast as they could. Or doing everything properly.


    Iona eyed a storm that was starting to brew on the horizon, weighing the chances of the ship making it through intact.


    Ah well. Worst-case, she could swim. Being a physical Classer was awesome.


    She leaned forward on the bow of the ship, taking a moment to enjoy the spray of the waves, and the rocking of the boat. Iona spent a few moments letting the sea water spray her long hair, then turned around, leaned back, and took in the view of the ship.


    She could see most of it from where she was, and it was an interesting angle. Iona took out her notebook and a pencil, and started to sketch the scene, as seen from where she was.


    Everyone needed a hobby, and Valkyrie Dusk¡¯s was one she could practice on the road. It was somewhat useful to boot, as her practice [Drawing] occasionally came in handy when she needed to sketch out a person¡¯s face, or make a crude map.


    Mostly, she drew the people and places she¡¯d been. When she came back from a mission, she dropped off her notebook, got a new one, and kept going. It made a sort of travelogue of her journey and adventures, snapshots into each of her missions.


    One day she¡¯d get a companion, and if nothing else, she¡¯d have more time on the road to sketch.


    Less time overall, as companions needed care, attention, and love, but more ¡°on-the-road" sketches.


    Possibly new points of view! Most certainly new subject matters to draw. She¡¯d have the cutest companion!


    Iona finished with a sketch of the ship, and since the storm hadn¡¯t quite blown in yet, she flipped the page, and decided to sketch Bird¡¯s Eye, high up in the crow¡¯s nest.


    Interesting view. Iona mused, as she tried to get the line of his jaw just right. Might give him the drawing when I¡¯m done.


    Might be good for morale.


    Iona continued working through the night, [Gaze of the Galaxy] giving her near-perfect vision.


    Fortunately, the storm mostly missed them, and was extremely mild.


    ¡°Cave¡¯s ahead!¡± Bird¡¯s Eye yelled, which had Iona glance around for a moment before climbing up the ropes to the nest herself.


    Yup. That was shore and a cave, just like the pirates had described.


    ¡°Full speed!¡± Iona shouted, pointing towards the cave.


    ¡°We are going full speed¡­¡± Bird¡¯s Eye muttered ¨C not quietly enough for Iona to not hear.


    ¡°But we¡¯ll crash.¡± Cowardly whined from below.


    ¡°So?¡± Iona asked, giving him a puzzled look. ¡°What do we need this boat for after anyways?¡±


    He opened his mouth, then closed it, a thoughtful look on his face.


    It looked completely wrong on him.


    They closed in rapidly on the cave, charting a course like a sailor that had four too many beers. The downside of eliminating all the competent pirates when she took over the ship. Iona didn¡¯t care too much, as long as they got there, but it was slightly irritating that the pirates would have more than enough time to prepare.


    She mentally shrugged. Such was life.


    A pirate ship came out of the cave to ¡°greet¡± Iona and her crew, with Iona¡¯s flag clearly indicating her allegiances.


    ¡°Not-Pirate.¡±


    Iona knelt, and sent a quick prayer to Selene and Lunaris, her patrons.


    ¡°Selene. Lunaris. I¡¯m going into battle now. Pirates. It¡¯s not going to be pretty. But it¡¯ll help the people here. They need protection. Anyways. Going to be in an abbey after this. I¡¯ll see if they¡¯re cool with me sending you a prayer from there. Talk to you soon!¡±


    Iona stood up, and mentally reached for her armor. With a thought, it flowed from her back, around her chest, down her arms and legs, the Mallium merging and contorting to her form, flowing like liquid before hardening once it was in position.


    The final touch was the helmet, the metal climbing up Iona¡¯s neck, flowing into position. A small pair of wings sprouted above her ears, the classic calling card of the Valkyrie order.


    Her round shield stayed on her back, unneeded for this stage.


    Iona had decided to focus on shortbows when everything was said and done. Her initial class had been good for all types of bows, but when the dust settled, the Valkyrie order had found itself poor in people, and rich in materials. It was easy to give Iona a full suit of Mallium armor ¨C all the remaining physical Valkyries had a full suit of armor, made out of magic materials. Iona had opted for flexibility, others had gotten suits with different properties.


    The remaining mages of the Valkyrie order were kitted out in gems and Arcanite, able to act like one-woman armies.


    In the end, there were a few odds and ends. Iona was already walking the archery path, and with one of the spare pieces being a shortbow made out of Springwood, famous for being able to take the abuse of a high-statted physical classer without needing a corresponding ¡°strengthen bow¡± skill, Iona had jumped on it.


    It was useful with her mixed fighting style as well. The bow neatly tucked on Iona¡¯s back, leaving her with a full range of motion when she got in close to fight.


    Since specialization came with greater power than being a generalist, and after a disastrous attempt to try and mix longbows with axe fighting, Iona had decided that shortbows were the direction she was taking herself in.


    Iona strung her bow, and [Gaze of the Galaxy] was helpful once more, magnifying and improving her vision. She decided to start off with some normal arrows, and wanted to make her first shot count.


    She glanced at the ship. The pirates were yelling something, but they were too far away and Iona honestly didn¡¯t care.


    Iona carefully examined the pirates on the ship, using her divine blessing to read their skills. Not all of them, just the important-looking ones.


    Iona spotted the captain, made obvious by his skills, and quickly looked over them. She grinned as she saw that he was more magically-inclined, and without a reflex skill like [Speedster¡¯s Perception] that might¡¯ve bailed him out.


    She nocked an arrow, and pulled her Springwood bow taut, the magical wood allowing Iona to bring her full [Vow]-boosted stats to bear.


    After all. This action was defending the denizens of the Wakacola sea. It was protecting the merchants, the sailors, and the ports. Most of the Valkyrie¡¯s missions were protection details of various sorts ¨C only items like Iona¡¯s planned detour after this wouldn¡¯t trigger her [Vow]¡¯s increased stats.


    [Chilled Mind] had a dozen uses, but one that Iona found nice was it magnified her perception dozens of times when she had an arrow fully drawn, making the whole world seem like it was moving in slow motion. [Shortbow Skills] stacked with [New Moon¡¯s Dance], which was multiplied by both [Valkyrie¡¯s Valor] and [Weapon Mastery].


    It helped guide her hand, read the wind, and make the tiny, subtle adjustments needed. Iona only got one initial shot, one surprise attack.


    She finished finding her aim, exhaled to relax, and let go, the arrow screaming across the distance in a moment.


    Planting itself directly in the important-looking pirate¡¯s eye.


    [*Ding!* You have slain a [Pirate Lieutenant (270 - Decay)]//[Loot Locator (260 ¨C Mantle)]]


    Iona let some of the tension leave her shoulders as the pirates started to madly scramble around, raising shields and preparing spells.


    A second ranging shot over their physical shields indicated a lack of barrier, and Iona prepared her next trick.


    [Ice Arrow Conjuration] summoned a crystal-clear arrow made out of ice, which Iona put on her bow. A benefit of the skill was it also let her fire said arrows, although anyone else trying to use the arrow would just have it shatter on them ¨C ice wasn¡¯t made for shooting with bows. Iona aimed high and fired, putting the arrow on a slow, lazy path that would bring it far over the top of the pirate ship.


    She rapidly drew and fired a second arrow, letting [Trick Shot] guide her. It did exactly what it needed to do, intercepting the Ice arrow when it was above the pirate ship, redirecting it to aim straight down at the pirates.


    Then it exploded into a dozen tiny shards, [Blizzard Shot] turning the arrow into an icy barrage. [Glacial Slow] then applied a chilling cold to all pirates hit, slowing them down. The pirates that had strong strength and vitality basically shrugged Iona¡¯s attack off, while more magically and speed-focused pirates were slowed down.


    Not that Iona needed the debuff to kill them all. She gave a mental sigh as the skill failed to level. Even massively outnumbered and surrounded, her level compared to the pirates was too high, and the task wasn¡¯t difficult enough. She¡¯d need to repeat the process a few more times, in the hopes of grinding out enough experience to get another level.


    The pirates weren¡¯t taking the attack lying down. Some of the stronger pirates were throwing out attacks on the very edge of their range. Small earthen bullets, throwing knives, javelins, arrows, wooden spikes, and dozens of other attacks came Iona¡¯s way. No Forbidden Four classers here today, although it¡¯s more likely that the pirates would turn on one themselves, rather than tolerate their presence.


    She was careful to twist and turn her head in such a way that nothing got in her eyes, but for the most part she let her armor, reinforced by her [Celestial Armaments] skill, take the blows, returning fire with her own arrows. In one part because dodging everything wouldn¡¯t work, in another for the sheer intimidating factor - ¡°None of your attacks matter.¡±


    Iona¡¯s ship stopped moving properly though, as the various pirates she¡¯d gang-pressed into service had vanished, deciding to risk her wrath rather than be in the line of fire of the rest of the pirates. She eyed the wooden deck dubiously.


    Generally, ships had captains, and the System recognized them as such. If anyone on this ship was the captain though, it was Iona, and she had exactly zero ship-related skills. No [Strong Lines], no [Unbreakable Sails], no [Reinforced Hull] skills for her. In short, the ship was made out of mundane wood, and acted like it.


    Which, given Iona¡¯s skill combination and stats, meant that she needed to be a little careful. She couldn¡¯t just try to jump the gap to the ships closing in ¨C she''d just punch right through the hull instead. The gap needed to be smaller, or the ship¡¯s deck reinforced in some way.


    However, Iona could keep screwing with the pirates. Even though they were hunkered down, there was always a little slit that she could plant an arrow in. If there were no easy targets of opportunity, Iona took the time to shoot the lines, causing rope to snap and whiplash across the deck, injuring pirates and making their ship lurch oddly.


    Which usually created more targets of opportunity. Rinse and repeat.


    Then the pirates came close enough, and Iona traded her shield on her back for the bow in her hands, then drawing her axe, giving it a few experimental swings. She half-hunkered down, and waited.


    If the pirates were exceptionally smart, and wanted Iona dead at all costs, they¡¯d sink the ship slowly, from a distance, then attempt to drown her with multiple water mages and underwater swimmers. Iona would be in one hell of a pickle if that happened, and would probably try to emergency grab [Swimming] or some other related skill to try and survive. That would let her bring her stats to bear, although ¡°trying to escape¡± probably wouldn¡¯t trigger her [Vow]¡¯s stat boost.


    Still, pirates were greedy, and ships were expensive. Iona was counting on them coming close enough to try to board, and capture the ship intact, especially as all resistance seemed to have stopped.


    She let a smirk cross her face.


    After all, they¡¯d pinned down the only fighter. They had more than enough people to kill one person, even though her level was quite a bit higher than theirs.


    They had more than enough people... if [The Dusk Valkyrie] wasn¡¯t a dark green quality class, a System reward for surviving the goblin horde. If Iona didn¡¯t have a [Vow], strengthening her physical stats seven, almost eight times over.


    Frustratingly, that made it harder to level.


    Right when Iona judged them to be close enough, she unfurled from her kneeling position behind her shield, and shot off across the deck, the wooden planks beneath her creaking in protest. As she got near the edge, she took a mighty leap, soaring through the air with a tiny boost from [Snowflake Drift]. It wasn¡¯t a particularly strong skill, but every little bit helped.


    As Iona mostly-hurtled, partly-floated across the gap, her perception sped up, making everything seem slower. It was a strange quirk of the System, and how massive vitality and perception worked. Everyone talked and saw things at roughly the same rate, until they needed the increase in speed. From attacks, to being late, to running fast, to wanting to have a super-quick conversation with someone else with equally high vitality ¨C or wanting to talk deliberately fast to screw with someone.


    Either way, however vitality worked, the world now looked like it was moving slowly for Iona, giving her all the time to think and process as she drifted between the two ships.


    A great white shark leapt out of the water on an intercept course for Iona, moving quickly ¨C from the perspective of an outsider. For Iona?


    She twisted in the air, and with the axe still in her hand, she punched the shark solidly on its nose, knocking it back down into the sea. It wasn¡¯t dead, but it was stunned, and whatever pirate was companion to the shark wasn¡¯t going to be too pleased ¨C nor was the shark likely to do it again.


    Still would be worth remembering. Extra motivation not to fall into the water.


    However, the punch completely threw off her trajectory. She was still going to land on the ship, just not in the optimal landing spot.


    Oh well. It didn¡¯t matter.


    Iona twisted again, activating [Moon¡¯s Descent] to increase her weight, landing feet-first on some poor unfortunate pirate, his neck cracking as Iona¡¯s speed and mass was far too much for him.


    Then she was in the midst of them, and a wolf among sheep would¡¯ve had a harder time.


    No, she was like a tiger amongst lambs. The pirates moved slowly to Iona¡¯s perception, each blade like it was dragging through water. Each shield too slow to block her, as she simply performed her [New Moon¡¯s Dance], weaving her axe around their swords, spears, and other weapons.


    In contrast, Iona moved like lightning, her axe flashing out to rip out a vulnerable neck, her shield striking forward to crush a skull. The whole time, the pirates moved in slow motion, and Iona didn¡¯t need to worry about parrying, blocking ¨C any of it.


    Just. Chop, dead, slice, kill. Bloody butcher¡¯s work. Man, woman, human, dwarf, orc, beastkin, ogre, young, old. Iona didn¡¯t discriminate, she tore through them all.


    There was no contest once the Valkyrie closed the distance to the pirates.


    She had significantly more respect for the pirate''s attacks once she was close though. There were a number of magic spells and skills that had great power, but terrible range.


    Iona bit off a curse as one pirate brought to bear some sort of darkness magic, and tried to slice her in half. Her helmet blocked enough of the attack, but it still slashed her nose open horizontally.


    She dampened down a flare of concern as she made sure to kill the mage with extreme prejudice. This wasn¡¯t the Wobby Pass, it wasn¡¯t Goblindeath, as the songs were calling it. It was just a single cut. Iona was roughly half-done with this wave of pirates to boot.


    She wasn¡¯t going to die screaming like most of the Valkyries had, a thousand small cuts chipping away at her until she had nothing left.


    Iona was a blender of death, Celestial and Ice whirling as she slaughtered the pirates. There was a tense moment as one mage, further back than the rest, managed to encase Iona in a watery sphere, lifting her off the ground and cutting off her air.


    Iona immediately began to struggle against the attack, thrashing with her whole body in an attempt to break the skill, flickering [Moon¡¯s Descent] on and off to bobble herself in the water, making it harder and harder for the mage to keep enough control to hold onto her.


    Then a pirate, seeing his chance at local fame and a silly number of levels, tried to stab Iona with a spear. Letting go of her axe, Iona grabbed the spear, and used it and the pirate as leverage to finally break out of the watery sphere.


    Iona liked axes the most, but all Valkyries had been cross-trained on a wide variety of weapons. That¡¯s why her skill was the broader [Weapon Mastery], and not the narrower, stronger [Axe Mastery], or some Celestial variant.


    So while it¡¯d been a few months since she last held a spear, much less practiced with one, she still felt comfortable hurling it with all her might at the Water mage who¡¯d bubbled her, the spear utterly annihilating his chest, the planks of the deck creaking under the sheer force Iona subjected them to. The mage wasn¡¯t even pinned or dragged along, the sheer force just ripping a massive hole through him without resistance, painting the deck with blood and gore.


    Iona caught her axe on the way down, punched her shield through another pirate, chopped a third in half, head-to-groin, and the fight was back on.


    She distantly noted a number of pirates abandoning ship, jumping off the sides, but she gave them no mind. She had bigger problems to worry about right now, and if she smashed the majority of the pirates ¨C and more importantly, their ships ¨C the few loose pirates who escaped would barely be a threat.


    In a maelstrom of blood and steel, the surface of the ship was cleared, and Iona went to clear the lower decks of the ship.


    It went about the same as the deck, Iona bursting into a room, killing pirates waiting in ambush with a single strike, or holding back her blow as a pirate cowered, no longer a threat. The only twist was a kid, no more than 10, trying to stab her in a room.


    Iona had a small amount of mercy for plucky kids, running to their doom. Even when said kid was trying to knife her to death. She defenestrated him after checking that he had a [Swimming] skill.


    Iona did need a new crew for this ship.


    It was only when she got to the lowest level of the ship did a painful, high-pitched whine start, causing Iona to bleed from her ears. She grimaced, and looked around.


    No pirates here. Normally Iona would assume a ¡°surrendering¡± pirate would be quietly using a skill on her ¨C more than one had tried something similar ¨C but no, there was nobody.


    Nobody visible.


    Mirage mages. Iona gave a sigh, and rearranged her helmet slightly to catch the blood coming out of her ears, going as deaf as a doorknob. She didn¡¯t want the Mirage-Sound mage to see that he was succeeding at hurting her. Right now, Iona¡¯s best bet was to make it look like the pirate was utterly failing, and get them close enough for her to handle.


    Iona strode back up to the deck, grabbing pirates as she went along.


    ¡°Hey! Need you to sail this ship where I say!¡± Iona grabbed a pirate by the scruff, yelled her orders, and continued up. She would¡¯ve ignored his protests, even if she¡¯d heard them.


    Damn Sound mage. Iona could feel his attack in her teeth.


    Iona continued through the ship, gathering up her new crew, entirely, literally deaf to their cries and protests.


    She left the kids alone.


    One pirate found his courage to try and backstab Iona. His knife just slid off her armor, and she whirled around, snapping his neck with a casual backhand.


    She waited a few heartbeats until she got the kill notification, then carried on.


    She made it back to the stairs leading up to the deck, and turned back around and faced the crowd.


    ¡°Stay here until I call for you!¡± Iona yelled, then walked back onto the deck.


    The ship looked like it¡¯d been rotated a quarter-circle, and while Iona was bad at ships, she wasn¡¯t that bad. The mage was obviously creating an illusion, hoping Iona would just walk right off the boat and into the sea below.


    Iona had no idea how he was doing it, but the Sound mage was still attacking her, and his weak attacks were starting to stack up and cause her problems. Iona had no idea how he managed to hide in the crowd ¨C probably disguised himself as just another pirate ¨C but since nobody else was clutching their ears and bleeding, he or she probably had line of sight to her.


    Iona went onto the deck, the floor slick with way more blood than most people would believe could fit in that many bodies.


    Not Iona. She¡¯d seen how much people bled. Had literally seen people drowned in blood.


    She casually put her axe away at her hip, and slung her shield over her back. This next move would be difficult.


    She walked down the deck, doing her best to act natural, like nothing was wrong. It only took a few steps into ¡°open air¡± for the pirate to drop the ¡°twisted ship¡± image ¨C it must¡¯ve been expensive to maintain, and had clearly failed. Iona¡¯s acting was fairly bad, and the Sound-Mirage mage was persistent. It¡¯d boggle the imagination that a persistent attack was doing nothing, and both Iona and the unknown mage knew that she was on a timer.


    Iona made it to the bow, then carefully walked along the jutting bowsprit, balancing on the thin wooden spur.


    She made it to the end of the bowsprit, looking like a maidenhead. Then in a single fluid motion, she took the bow off her back, drew the string back as she summoned an arrow with [Ice Arrow Conjuration], and fired an [Blizzard Shot] down the deck of the ship, thousands of tiny ice shards turning the top into a brief blizzard.


    Iona was already running down the bowsprit as she fired the arrow, and carefully watched the storm. The icicles weren¡¯t moving right in one spot, vanishing into a random space in the air and not coming back out the other side. Iona reached there, grabbed with both hands, felt flesh under her hands, and tore the mage in half.


    The infernal ringing in her ears stopped. It wouldn¡¯t heal her, or fix the damage, but it was done.


    Iona took a moment to compose herself.


    Safe. Not going to die.


    She needed to spend some time with one of those people who claimed they could heal the mind. Iona was a hair skeptical ¨C after all, most healers were instant, or nearly instant, but mind-healers claimed they needed months or years to work ¨C and needed to be paid the entire time, of course, and made no promises they¡¯d work. Iona was also crazy busy. Still, it was on her to-do list.


    Iona shook her head, mentally resetting herself. She inhaled, and yelled down at the pirates cowering below decks.


    ¡°Get up here, you scurvy lot!¡± Iona said, having no idea if they were actually scurvy or not. She knew it was a term healers used now and then, but didn¡¯t quite know what it meant. Still, sailors mentioned it constantly, and Iona was trying to communicate with them in a language they knew.


    ¡°Right! I¡¯m Dread Pirate Iona, and I¡¯m in charge now! Sail back into the cave!¡± Iona yelled, literally deaf to the complaints all around her. She simply pointed at the cave, and kept yelling until the pirates reluctantly turned the ship around, fixed the damage Iona had done to the ropes, and got it sailing back the right way.


    Iona could kinda see why these pirates in particular had been left to fester until now. The Valkyries, for all their training in a dozen different disciplines, never bothered to cover water travel. The Wakacola sea was the only significant body of water in the area they protected, and even then it was at the edge. There were just too many other useful skills to learn ¨C and Skills.


    Hence, the finer points of sailing a galleon were ignored. One or two Valkyries got lessons on sailboats and other small craft ¨C Iona in particular had taught herself how to row a boat, for romantically related reasons ¨C but nothing approaching this size.


    However, the pirates put their back into it. The steely-eyed Valkyrie who¡¯d carved through them like a knife through butter was there, completely ignoring every word they said, covered in fresh blood and small shreds of flesh, menacingly stroking the blade of her axe with an armored thumb. They didn¡¯t want to find out her method of enforcing her orders.


    A [Pirate Captain] would flog them, deprive them of rum, or have other, more cruel and inventive punishments.


    The Valkyrie? She¡¯d started off murdering most of the crew, and no pirate wanted to be the first to discover how she handled minor infractions.


    The commandeered ship sailed right back into the cave, Dread Pirate Iona at the bow.

 Chapter 194 – Major Interlude – Iona – Julie d’Audrey II

    Iona¡¯s eyes adjusted as they got in, and she was in the middle of a brief look around when massive earthen spikes detached themselves from the ceiling, impaling the ship, dooming it to the depths.


    Iona flung herself from the sinking ship, leaving the remaining pirates behind. The ones who hadn¡¯t died from the attack would sink or swim on their own merits ¨C mostly swim, the skill was easy enough to get, or to have merged into another skill. Their career had been enough to forfeit any protection Iona might¡¯ve extended towards them.


    Iona managed to make it to rocky ground inside the cave, rolling as she landed, making sure she¡¯d taken cover behind some rocks. She looked up, then around the cavern.


    While dimly lit, there were enough torches, and pure sunlight from outside, to see well enough. A couple of holes in the ceiling let some natural light in, with unnaturally large patches of grass and trees near where they landed ¨C the work of some skilled person amplifying what nature was providing. A clever Earth mage had made a number of large stalactites hanging from the ceiling. It meant that with nearly no effort, the stalactite could be broken off, the large mass plunging down on any unsuspecting invaders ¨C like Iona. Given the narrow cave entrance that ships would be forced to use, it was a solid defense.


    The pirates had nearly an entire port built inside. Four docks, with one ship left. Iona hoped that the pirates were ambitious, and she wasn¡¯t going to miss a fourth pirate ship out and about once she was done here.


    She mentally sighed. There was no way she was going to be that lucky.


    A variety of buildings were shoddily built of wood and stone. Even as Iona watched, they creaked and swayed in the breeze.


    Animals filled pens, sheep and chicken, pigs and cows. They were the primary beneficiaries of the unnaturally large patches of grass. Naturally, the pirates were the beneficiaries of said animals. They were packed against each other, each animal with practically no room to move. Not a humane practice, but only worth frowning over, possibly tut-tutting over later with a date.


    A building looked like a warehouse, another a tavern. The big one was probably where the mayor//pirate admiral administered from, and that one was probably a brothel.


    Almost a full, working town.


    Iona was briefly starting to reconsider the mission when she spotted the last pen, separated from the rest by a gap.


    All the better not to hear them screaming.


    People.


    Humans, dwarves, beast-kin, all had collars and chains. Even a harpy was present, weights cruelly punched through her wings.


    Iona felt revulsion filling her, almost forcing its way out, as the brothel and tavern took on new, ominous light.


    As she studied the town, she noticed a detail that she¡¯d missed on her first check, the distance and the light making the bodies swinging on the gallows hard to see.


    Left to rot.


    Fine.


    Iona wasn¡¯t quite sure how, but it looked like the pirates somehow thought she was still on the wreck. Perhaps a combination of the light and shadow as the ship passed into the cave, combined with the falling rocks and spray of breaking planks and splashing water had hidden her as she jumped off. Either way, nobody was approaching her hiding spot.


    However ¨C Iona had dramatically underestimated how many pirates there were. She believed she could take a ship full of pirates, especially as she could force the terrain to her benefit, and it was harder to surround her and kill her via a hundred cuts.


    Hell, she could take them all if it was a hundred one vs ones. She¡¯d trained under Alruna after all.


    But she was slowing. She¡¯d taken a few hits, point-blank instant spells cast right as people died, and had more than a few cuts, was bleeding from more than a few places. She kept reshaping and reforming her armor to close any holes, but it thinned her armor. Not to mention, Iona couldn¡¯t hear anymore. Missing an entire sense was bad news, especially if she needed to handle so many pirates at the same time.


    The Wobby Pass flashed through her mind again. The ratio was similar, and Iona was alone, without even a companion or another Valkyrie to watch her back.


    She knew she had limited time. What Iona needed to do was even the odds, and unorganized pirates were a lot easier to handle than organized.


    Fire. Fire was the answer. Sure, they probably had a water mage or eight around ¨C it was a good element for mages living on the sea ¨C but it¡¯d cause a distraction. Iona briefly cursed taking Ice, and not Fire for her arrows, before putting the thought aside. There were torches everywhere, and some looked like they were dangerously close to the main building.


    Ugh. That would probably end with Iona needing to save the innocents trapped in the buildings.


    Perhaps the slaves would participate. It would dramatically change the odds, even if they just acted as a distraction.


    Fire. Fire in a lot of places, but none too large. Nothing that would cause uninvolved people to burn alive.


    Iona¡¯s [Vow] would be pissed, and Iona would die shortly after.


    There was an elegant solution. Iona drew her bow, and carefully sighted.


    It wasn¡¯t the longest shot Iona had ever tried to make, but the size of the target at the range made it one of the hardest shots. About the size of the smallest coin, although blessedly not the size of the tiny bit of Arcanite embedded in every coin that provided its value. And the torch needed to fall the right way.


    Iona stilled her breathing, not even hearing her heartbeat in her ears. She sent a quick prayer to Selene and Lunaris, then a second one to Xaoc for good measure.


    Selene and Lunaris wouldn¡¯t mind. What Iona was asking for was a bit outside of their domain ¨C and entirely in Xaoc¡¯s.


    She drew the bow to full, and carefully worked on her aim, carefully adjusting for the slight breeze, trying to get a feel for the capricious wind and how it¡¯d grab and twist her arrow.


    Iona loosed, and cursed as a gust knocked the arrow off-course. A chicken squawked, but the pirates hadn¡¯t noticed her attack.


    They had noticed that she wasn¡¯t in the water, or the ruins of the ship, and had started to break up, searching the cavern.


    A second arrow pulled, aimed, and fired.


    Hitting the stone next to the torch.


    Iona bit off a curse as some pirates were getting closer and closer to her hiding spot. They were moving in a careful, methodical manner, but Iona was rapidly running out of time.


    She pulled one more time, and let the world fall away as she focused, ignoring even the incoming pirates who¡¯d see her any second now.


    Aim. Adjust. Observe. Adjust. Breathe. Adjust.


    And¡­ relax, the arrow springing forth from her bow like a horse at the races, like a dog promised a cookie. It eagerly crossed the distance, and Iona continued to focus, not moving, staring at the arrow, willing for it to land, to connect.


    Which it did. The arrow clanged against the holder, cheap like all the pirates¡¯ things. Quality holders had four brackets of metal, this had a single thin one made of wood ¨C not even stone. Their Earth mage had better things to do than arrange lighting, or was a late comer.


    Either way, the arrow went through the wood, cleanly breaking it. For a brief moment, the arrow itself held up the torch, a single narrow shaft of wood holding back disaster.


    Then the arrow finished its flight, shattering against the wall, as the torch slowly tipped over.


    Right onto the hairy pig¡¯s back.


    The torch fluttered, then caught, flames igniting, then rapidly spreading from pig to pig, trapped haunch to haunch next to each other.


    Concerned noises turned into loud squeals of fear, as the fire spread. The shoddily built pen couldn¡¯t contain the sheer panicked porcine mass, and the flaming pigs scattered throughout the settlement, letting everyone know in no uncertain terms that they were on fire.


    Setting small fires in every direction.


    The burning bacon was an excellent distraction, but Iona jerked as a club hit her head, sending her sprawling.


    Blah. Without [Moon¡¯s Twilight] active, Iona was a regular weight ¨C which, given her size, mass, and equipment was still a few hundred pounds. Light enough for another physical classer to move her with a solid blow.


    The pirate¡¯s cries went unnoticed, with all the yelling and screaming ¨C not that Iona could hear a word of that.


    Her time was limited though. Iona began the second round of bloody work, fighting her way towards the ¡°town¡±. Most of the pirates were running around, trying to deal with the searing swine and the fire. Those seeing the bloody, flame-lit rampaging Valkyrie descending upon them like the Goddess of War promptly decided that they¡¯d rather go chase the burning pigs. The ones waaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy over there.


    Their organization broken, panic rising, the pirates broke and fled. Iona quickly went through the buildings, making sure that nobody was about to burn to death, then quickly climbed one of the only remaining upright structures. She unslung her bow, preparing for the next stage.


    The first shot was a weak [Blizzard Shot] fired straight up, then raining back down on the town. Iona felt somewhat green as a few shards of ice rained down on recently released prisoners, her [Glacial Slow] hitting them and [Vow] being unhappy about the collateral damage. Still, it was for the greater good ¨C smothering the last of the fire so nobody was at risk of burning alive.


    It wasn¡¯t quite sporting or honorable to shoot fleeing pirates in the back, but the Valkyries only had those notions in a dueling arena. Additionally, Alruna had made sure those ideas were out of Iona¡¯s head entirely. Alruna was all about being out in the field, and getting stuff done. She had no time or patience for showy fights that got nothing done ¨C and as a result, neither did Iona.


    Arrows in the back of the head it was.


    Iona had dropped a dozen pirates, before needing to jerk her head out of the way. A flaming blue sickle passed where her head was, only for the flaming chain it was attached to suddenly stop, and jerk to the side, wrapping Iona up with burning flames.


    Has to be Inferno. Fire can¡¯t be solid. Iona thought, and let herself get pulled off her fragile ledge, [Celestial Armaments] flickering madly as it tried ¨C and failed ¨C to stop the attack from burning her armor.


    She landed to the ground with a thud, and saw her attacker. A demon, one hand holding onto the chain, and the other hand ending in a wicked hook ¨C also made out of burning blue flames. She sneered at Iona, full of confidence and looking all-too-smug.


    Iona could see the demon¡¯s foul mouth moving, forming words. Probably. Iona was still stone-deaf from earlier.


    It was a bit rare to see a demon here, and some people had prejudices against them. Heck, prejudices were everywhere. Anti-fliers, anti-tails, anti-male, anti-female, anti-human, anti-demon ¨C and that¡¯s not even getting into all the religious aspects, nationalism, or the myriad of other potential woes. Iona was pretty heavily anti-immortal, as were most people in Roland.


    Iona wasn¡¯t into banter, so she quickly scanned the demon¡¯s stats. [Blue Flames], [Weapon Creation], and [Move like a Wildfire] were the important ones, and Iona noted that the stat distribution had the demon like a speedster more than anything else. She flipped up, yanking the demon closer as she overcame her stance and weight, then grabbed the chain, flexing to break the bonds.


    The demon¡¯s mouth briefly opened up in surprise as Iona yanked the chain, bringing the demon along for the ride. Small flames erupted around her feet, but while in the air there was nowhere to jump off of, nowhere to go.


    And Iona was faster, thanks to [Vow].


    Iona finished reeling the demon into her grasp, and she quickly and efficiently broke her neck, letting her drop to the floor as the kill notification dinged.


    System notifications were extra-weird when Iona couldn¡¯t hear anything else.


    Before Iona could even take a moment, a high-speed knife appeared directly in front of her, right into the small gap in her helmet exposing her face. Iona leaned back, narrowly catching the knife in her teeth.


    She kept the movement back going as more knives appeared, but it was only the first one that gave her trouble. She spat it out, and looked around as she ducked and weaved, constantly moving in strange ways to not run eye-first into another knife.


    She saw him then. A pirate, gaudily dressed, on the last ship in the port. She gave him a quick look with her blessing.


    [Captain of the Black Shark] ¨C Wood


    [Blood-drenched Pirate Admiral of the Black Shark] ¨C Spatial


    The second class was significantly lower than the first one, and Iona was smelling a reset at some point in his history. This must be Lord Admiral Bloodpyre.


    The two classes was giving her a moment¡¯s pause. The narrower a class was, the more powerful it tended to be. The pirate had gone all-in on his ship. If he didn¡¯t have his ship, he lost nearly all of his class skills, and would cripple his ability to level up.


    Given that he was pushing 300, and had to have gotten them at 256 ¨C he knew what he was doing.


    Iona kept looking over the basics, not checking anything in-depth, and noted that the shark she¡¯d punched was companion to the pirate. One line in particular caught her eye.


    She couldn¡¯t help but laugh.


    Lord Admiral Bloodpyre


    [Name: Alfie]


    Not even Alfred!


    Iona still couldn¡¯t hear, but couldn¡¯t help saying something.


    ¡°Alfie? Seriously, your name is Alfie?¡±


    She couldn¡¯t hear the pirate¡¯s response, but from how he was going all red and swinging a saber around Iona could make some guesses.


    One last triple-checked confirmed that the man, like all of the other magic-users Iona had encountered so far, was a sorcerer, not a wizard. Oh, sure the System still [Analyze]d both as mages, but the wizards ¨C the ¡°real¡± mages ¨C were quite picky at the distinction, and bristled whenever people used the catch-all term ¡°mage¡± for them.


    It was a great way to distract them. Just start mentioning it to them mid-fight, and they¡¯d get distracted as they started to rant about the differences, and how they were sooo much better than sorcerers who only used System-granted skills, and not whatever nonsense the ¡°real mages¡± used.


    Iona had never heard what the ¡°real mages¡± used, she¡¯d usually gotten an arrow through said wizard¡¯s head by that point.


    Either way, Alfie didn¡¯t have any of the System skills that wizards usually had.


    Iona grabbed her bow, and fired a few arrows at the pirate. The ship itself seemed to come alive, wooden planks rearranging themselves in small ways to get in the way of the arrows.


    Bah. Blasted narrow classes, blasted narrow skills. Made Alfie unreasonably powerful on his ship, and simple arrows wouldn¡¯t do the trick.


    Either way, she wasn¡¯t going to stand back and let the pirate warp knives into her face. Iona carefully eyed the stone the port was built on, the wooden docks, and the pirate¡¯s ship, tied up, quickly calculating material strengths and distances. Then she put her round shield up, covering her face entirely, and started to run.


    She felt a number of weapons hit her shield, but she powered through them all, only staggering once as a ¡°small¡± anchor hit her. Then she was far enough, fast enough, and she leapt, crossing the gap from the port to the deck of the ship in a single leap.


    Then she was on the ship, gracefully moving from spot to spot as the ship itself seemed to rise up against her. The deck shifted and tried to open holes up for Iona to fall through, the planks twisted and tried to throw her balance off.


    Iona had far, far too much dexterity to be concerned about that, as she rapidly ran over to where the pirate captain was. Alfie kept summoning weapons into his hands, then throwing them, only for them to promptly flicker out of existence ¨C


    And back into existence at a random angle at Iona, who twisted, dodged, and deflected the attacks.


    She made it to the pirate, and with a savage grin, put her axe through his head.


    Or would¡¯ve, if he hadn¡¯t bloody teleported away!


    Iona cursed, then a mace hit her on the small of the back, with enough speed to make her stumble forward. She whirled around, seeing Alfie on the other side of the ship, the planks twisting and turning into more defenses.


    Iona realized she¡¯d screwed up. The pirate admiral had two classes relating to his ship, and was lord and master of his domain. Iona had boosts and powerful gear, but it wasn¡¯t quite enough for this fight, not when she needed to brave a hail of steel and wood, only to turn around and need to do it again.


    A new plan was needed. Iona fought her way to the front of the ship, then screamed in pain as a spear somehow managed to puncture her armor, her [Celestial Armaments] skill, her [Stellar Body] skill, and her vitality. She looked down at the spear, the tip blood, enchantments glowing along the length.


    Iona gritted her teeth. This wasn¡¯t the time to deal with the spear running through her flank ¨C and her brief lessons from the healer teaching the squires first aid once upon a time had told her not to. She just thanked Lunaris and Selene that it hadn¡¯t hit anything immediately vital, although it meant Iona was unfortunately due to find a healer next, instead of rushing to Julie.


    Whining and wailing and gnashing her teeth would do Iona no good now. Deal with the threat here and now, stop herself bleeding out later.


    Unlike the many squires and Valkyries, who never had a later to stop themselves bleeding out.


    Iona shook her head, resetting herself, and continued her charge towards the pirate. She briefly debated trying to extract the spear from herself and throwing it at Alfie, but no. Even if it could break the planks, he¡¯d just teleport out of range. She made it to him, faked an attack at Alfie, who just teleported away again. Iona twisted, and gracefully exited the ship, leaping back to dry land.


    Alfie was back up in the crow¡¯s nest, waving his saber around and probably taunting her. Iona didn¡¯t care enough to try and read his lips, not that she had any skill in the matter.


    [*Ding!* You have learned the General Skill [Lip Reading]. Would you like to replace a skill with it?]


    Iona dismissed the notification, instead studying Alfie and his skills in detail.


    Disgustingly, he had almost all his mana¡­ although one of his skills let him pull Arcanite from anywhere it was located on his ship. Which explained that, his skills weren¡¯t offering such a massive discount as to negate all his costs.


    A mage that could go forever? A complete nightmare.


    Attacking Iona from a distance was significantly harder than attacking her while she was on the ship, just due to the nature of his skills. It was easier to dodge the attacks, and Iona gracefully danced around the flurry of blades as they were conjured around her.


    She continued to read his skills, and a piece of the puzzle clicked. He could re-use weapons on his ship ¨C but once he conjured them off his ship, like he was doing now, Alfie couldn¡¯t re-use the weapon, not without leaving and gathering them back up.


    Iona kept reading his skills, getting more and more frustrated. He seemed to be invincible while on his ship, and ¨C


    Wait.


    That was it.


    Iona checked, and felt a vicious smile overtake her face. The pirate captain had a skill for the ship¡¯s hull. Unlike [Reinforced Hull], [Eternally Regrowing Bulwark] was an active skill, not a passive skill. The downside to a passive was it could be overwhelmed and broken, and since all of Alfie¡¯s power relied on him being on his ship, he¡¯d gotten a powerful variant that could heal whatever damage was done.


    At the cost of mana.


    Iona looked at her axe as she cartwheeled to avoid a flurry of arrows.


    She was not a lumberjack, but desperate times called for desperate measures.


    So began the dance between Iona and Alfie. She¡¯d hit the hull as hard as she could, with her axe, and with her gauntlets, having mentally reshaped the Mallium to form a row of spikes on her knuckles.


    Alfie wasn¡¯t taking this lying down, and continued his attacks. With more stable footing though, Iona was able to duck and weave ¨C although she occasionally screwed up, the spear going through her stopping one twist or another.


    Iona was bleeding though, painting the dock red even as she ripped and tore planks off the ship, keeping an eye on the captain¡¯s mana. She anticipated a trick, and even if the captain¡¯s mana was empty, she wasn¡¯t going back on the ship. Not with the ease that he could hide and pull more mana.


    No, Iona was staying here until the ship was sunk, and Alfie¡¯s power was gone.


    Distantly, she noted that the slaves seemed to be in the process of freeing themselves, aided by the slaves she¡¯d freed in town. She just hoped it¡¯d go smoothly over there ¨C Iona didn¡¯t have the ability to fight off pirates interfering with the slaves, not while keeping Alfie here busy.


    Iona¡¯s world was narrowing. The edges of her vision went dark, as she tunneled and focused solely on the task in front of her. Right before her vision became a single point, focused on the ship, she noticed that the shark was back, and circling.


    So much for the plan of going underwater to break open the last few holes to sink the ship. Iona didn¡¯t like the odds of her versus shark while underwater.


    The shark didn¡¯t like his odds versus Iona above water. Neither would move into the other¡¯s domain.


    Iona was getting frustrated though. It didn¡¯t feel like she was making progress, even though she knew she was. She also didn¡¯t know how she was going to finish sinking the ship ¨C not until a pig ran past her, screaming and on fire.


    Right.


    Iona grabbed the pig with her left hand, ripped open a section of the hull with her right, and before [Eternally Regrowing Bulwark] could fix the problem, shoved said scorching swine into the hull. Blood sprayed from her injury onto the hull, a bloody reminder of where she¡¯d inserted the first pig.


    Iona had no idea how well that would work, but even if Alfie instantly killed the pig, the fat and flesh would merrily burn. Iona hadn¡¯t seen an anti-fire skill, and she doubted that a pig would count as a weapon that Alfie could teleport.


    As she shoved the 4th pig into the ship, Alfie suddenly started to target the remaining surviving pigs. Iona didn¡¯t see that though, she was wholly focused on her task. The dock was getting slick with Iona¡¯s blood, as her constant movements and dodging of attacks worked the spear inside of her, enlarging the wound, letting her life blood spill into the water.


    Poor shark was going nuts ¨C so much tasty blood, bleeding right above him, and nothing to do.


    Finally ¨C finally - the smell of burning wood met Iona¡¯s nostrils again, and she looked up, to see thick, black smoke rising from the ship. Alfie¡¯s mana was dropping fast, and not going back up. It could be a trap, but at this point, the fire was raging through the decks of the ship.


    Iona staggered back to the rocky ground, not wanting to risk the shark trying one last stunt. She was slowing down though, which was bad as more attacks were able to solidly land, small cuts opening up on her face.


    Something gave way, and the ship started to go down fast. Alfie continued to scream impotently at Iona, who couldn¡¯t care less.


    Iona let out a curse as she saw Alfie jump from his ship into the water, and for him to emerge on the back of his shark, zooming to escape the cave and the sinking wreck of his ship. She was hurting, and hurting badly, and had hoped the ship sinking would¡¯ve been enough.


    Iona unslung her bow, letting [Strength from the Stars] continue to fuel her. Bless the skill for providing her with boundless energy, letting her fight and fight and fight.


    The Dusk Valkyrie nocked an arrow, took an almost lazy aim, and let it loose, staggering as the normally unnoticed recoil caused the spear inside her to shake, falling to one knee as darkness threatened her vision.


    [*Ding!* You have slain a [Captain of the Black Shark - 311] (Wood)/ [Blood-drenched Pirate Admiral of the Black Shark - 270] (Spatial)]


    With the notification, the confirmation of the kill, Iona couldn¡¯t hold on anymore. She pitched forward as darkness took her.

 Chapter 195 – Major Interlude – Iona – Julie d’Audrey III

    Iona woke up on a cart, rattling around.


    ¡°Hey you! You¡¯re finally awake!¡± An all-too-cheerful cat beastkin man said, with a voice like sharp, rusty nails in Iona¡¯s ears. His voice instantly gave Iona a headache.


    ¡°You were amazing! Like the Valkyries in stories! I¡¯ve started to write one about you!¡± He continued on, the words like the screaming of a tortured cat, digging into Iona¡¯s head and upgrading her headache.


    Iona would pay any amount of money to hear him shut up.


    ¡°I was kinda nervous, you were touch and go for a while there. Fortunately, my skill worked!¡± He said, and Iona¡¯s eyes snapped open.


    She could hear again! The entire fight being in utter silence had been a strange experience, and the man¡¯s ¨C healer¡¯s? ¨C voice wasn¡¯t nearly so irritating, as memories came flooding back.


    With a thought, Iona had her Mallium armor withdraw, back into a neat little bundle on her back. The volume remained the same, just the location differed.


    Iona could tell by the weight that she¡¯d lost a small chunk of it, and Mallium wasn¡¯t cheap. Every gram was precious.


    She sat up, and got her bearings.


    She was in a cart, pulled along by a pair of cows ¨C thanks to the pirate¡¯s pen ¨C and there was a whole convoy of people walking along the road. Iona recognized a few faces here and there, and started to put the picture together, along with the bard¡¯s Rory¡¯s help.


    Being able to peek at names was awesome.


    The slaves had broken free, and finished off a few pirate stragglers with a vengeance. Some had watched the end of Iona¡¯s fight with the pirate captain, and rushed over to help. Rory was a bard, and had a weak healing skill, which he¡¯d used on Iona. Clearly, it had worked well enough for Iona to wake up again. The former slaves had organized, looted the remainder of the town to the bone, and were now walking to the nearest town.


    Iona wondered if anyone had dived to the wreck, and tried to get at the treasure. It wasn¡¯t a deep dive, and from how much mana Alfie had pulled, it had to be loaded.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Iona said, after getting a few coughs out. She could¡¯ve kissed him, if his voice wasn¡¯t so annoying.


    ¡°No worries!¡± Rory said, plucking a few strings of his lute.


    Iona eyed it warily. How on Pallos had he managed to get a fully functional lute so fast?


    Was he secretly a pirate who was turning coat as fast as possible? Or did the pirates like their entertainment, and their entertainment needed an instrument?


    Iona took a quick moment to compose a prayer to Selene and Lunaris, while Rory was nattering on about something. How one slave had organized them all, etc. etc.


    Lunaris. Selene. I survived! Smashed the pirates into pieces. They shouldn¡¯t be bothering people too much anymore. The shark escaped though, and it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if in a few years it¡¯s a problem again. Oh well.


    I¡¯m off to see Julie! Or get a new squire. We¡¯ll see!


    Cheers!


    Iona


    ¡°A song!¡± Rory declared, and a number of former slaves shuffled in closer, to better hear him. ¡°Dedicated to our savior, The Dusk Valkyrie! I¡¯m sure you¡¯d like to hear it! Right?¡± He asked.


    Bad bards, and songs on the spot. Iona didn¡¯t know which was worse.


    ¡°Hang on, hang on.¡± Iona said, raising her hands. ¡°Why not something more classic to warm us up? How about a song from The Bard?¡± She asked, plaintively, hopefully.


    Anything to not hear about herself in bad song form. Iona almost wished Rory had left her deaf.


    ¡°A song from The Bard! Greatest of us all, songs passed down through untold millennia! Heroic in word, grand in stature! Yes! I will start with the song rumored to be The Bard¡¯s favorite!¡± He said, starting to strum his lute at speed.


    ¡°Rage! Sing, Goddess, of Artemis¡¯s rage!...¡±


    Rory¡¯s singing voice was as good as his speaking voice was bad. Iona leaned back, and let the music wash over her.


    Iona kept a careful eye out as they continued to travel. The Valkyries didn¡¯t really openly recruit, not in the way Iona thought they did. No, they waited for girls to do what Iona did ¨C approach a Valkyrie and ask. A few minor hurdles, arranged by the individual Valkyrie, and boom! That was how they got new squires.


    And while Iona was nice, polite, and paid extra attention to potential candidates ¨C none of them seemed interested in becoming a Valkyrie. Oh, they hung onto her every word, hero-worship in their eyes, but asking to be one? They couldn¡¯t imagine it, even with Iona¡¯s gentle nudgings.


    ¡°I was talking with some of the travelers, one Thofur Krelur the 525th, and he had news. Wanna hear it?¡± Rory asked her, and Iona was surprised at just how awful his speaking voice was.


    ¡°Yeah sure!¡± Iona asked, wanting to know more.


    ¡°A healer in The Great Tang is past 256!¡± Rory practically exploded as he shared the news, licking his lips nervously. His ears were twitching in excitement though. ¡°Oathbound to boot. Rumors have it that she can create Immortals!¡± He said, tail swishing at the thought.


    Iona let out a fake-groan.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me. It¡¯s war?¡± She said.


    Rory nodded.


    ¡°Yeah! Think of all the stories! Aerie already declared war, Nime is crawling out of their hole and also declared war!¡±


    ¡°Poor healer is going to get assassinated.¡± Iona said, frowning at the thought. ¡°Nobody can allow an Immortal who bestows Immortality to live.¡±


    Ugh. This is why Iona hated Immortals. One ¨C just one ¨C showed up, and three countries were at war. Thousands would die in fighting, and tens of thousands more would be a casualty of the war. Rolland shared a border with The Great Tang and Aerie, and would get dragged in as well, just for the chance to capture or kill the healer. If they couldn¡¯t have her, nobody could.


    Of course, the thinking was short-sighted. If Rolland somehow got ahold of the healer, all of Roland¡¯s neighbors would declare war. It was a giant game of ¡°pass the buck¡±, and it would continue until someone slipped a knife between the healer¡¯s ribs.


    Well. Given that it was a healer, slipped many, many knives into her.


    ¡°Wonder if more Immortals will show up, and try to rescue her.¡± Rory mused. ¡°They do tend to stick together. Could be an elf. Oh! Or even one of the legendary vampires!¡± Rory said, dreaming of meeting one.


    ¡°Vampires almost never leave their country.¡± Iona pointed out. ¡°You¡¯d need to travel to the Exterreri Empire to see one, and they¡¯re halfway around the world. Plus, any Immortal ¡®rescuing¡¯ her is just going to want her to make their friends and family Immortal as well. It¡¯s no different than a country grabbing her.¡±


    ¡°The vampire Sentinels occasional leave the border¡­.¡± Rory whined, in his annoying, contradictory way.


    Iona had enough of vampires and other immortals.


    ¡°So damn inconsiderate of the healer.¡± Iona groused. ¡°Setting off another round of Immortal wars.¡±


    ¡°Is it really an Immortal war?¡± Rory asked. ¡°There¡¯s only one after all.¡±


    ¡°Right. One Immortal. Four nations at war ¨C and the number will probably go up. That counts for me.¡± Iona griped. ¡°Good chance we¡¯re going to end up in it.¡±


    ¡°You mean the Valkyries?¡± Rory said, practically salivating at the information.


    ¡°Yeah ¨C wait no, don¡¯t tell people that.¡± Iona said, cursing her mouth.


    A bard? Keeping quiet?


    It would never happen.


    Iona and the rest of the former slaves made it to a local town soon enough, where Iona was able to get a healer to properly look after her injuries. A touch, a few coins begrudgingly changing hands, a map of the area, and Iona was off, to the Abbey of the Guiding Waves.


    She was a little sad that none of the girls had asked to become a Valkyrie. This particular mission had been one of the best chances Iona had in ages to acquire a squire.


    Iona shrugged her shoulders philosophically. Ah well. Next time. At least, the lack of a new squire let Iona see Julie, instead of heading back to the Valkyrie¡¯s base.


    She whistled a merry tune as she walked alone over the roads. The nice thing about being [Analyze]ed as a level 350+ warrior ¨C bandits didn¡¯t bother you at all. Nobody wanted to tangle with Iona, which was a huge pain when she needed to track them down, but great for traveling.


    [Tracking] was great for tracking bandits down, but it didn¡¯t seem like they had a strong local presence¡­ yet.


    Either way, five days of easy travel at a pace that would outstrip most low and medium level couriers with explicit movement skills had Iona eyeing up the Abbey of the Guiding Waves.


    The Abbey of the Guiding Waves was somewhat wealthy, given the obscene size and ornamentation of said building. It had gothic architecture on the front, which moved into flowing, wave-like walls and ceilings as the building moved towards the sea. The d¡¯Audrey family was wealthy, and it wasn¡¯t too much of a surprise to Iona that they¡¯d sent their daughter to this place.


    Probably required a significant donation. The cynical part of Iona said.


    Now, Iona could just walk in, ask to speak to Julie, and would probably be allowed to briefly chat with her. That was Iona¡¯s plan E. She wanted to have a long, erm, ¡°conversation¡± with Julie instead, and there was no way the Abbess would allow that.


    Disguising herself would be the easiest method, but of course Iona had taken a Vow, and part of it was never lying. Somehow, in Iona¡¯s mind, that extended to deceiving people via disguises, which caused of no end of irritation and challenges for her.


    Which left breaking in.


    Iona first secured her weapons. They wouldn¡¯t be allowed in the Abbey, and for her plan to work, she couldn¡¯t have them hanging around the entrance. She built a small cairn of stone, put her bow, arrows, axe and shield inside, then sealed it up with more rocks and dirt.


    A touch obvious, but Iona was willing to gamble that nobody in the next 12 hours or so would discover and disturb the cache she just built.


    Iona kept her armor, because it stayed under her tunic until she needed it. It was hard to see, unless you knew what you were looking for. The benefit of loose shirts.


    Iona walked out of the woods, down the path, and up to the front door, where one of the sisters was on door-duty. She was dressed in a simple blue robe.


    ¡°Hello Sister.¡± Iona said politely, giving her a small bow of her head.


    ¡°Greetings. Do you wish to visit the humble abode of the goddess of the Wakacola sea?¡±


    There was nothing humble about the gaudy Abbey, but Iona wasn¡¯t here to pick fights.


    ¡°I am. I was also recently saved from a brush with death, and I was wondering if there was an unaffiliated altar for me to give thanks to my patrons.¡± Iona said.


    Prayer could be done anywhere, but there was something special about praying at an altar. It was ok to pray to any deity from an ¡°unaffiliated¡± altar, and it was considered more than a bit rude to pray to a different god at a particular god¡¯s consecrated altar.


    ¡°Of course! We have a small altar for you to give thanks to your deities. Ness would appreciate a small donation for the upkeep of the Abbey.¡± The Sister said to Iona.


    Iona didn¡¯t bat an eye, fishing out a few mid-sized coins from her satchel, with small flecks of rubies in the middle.


    ¡°Naturally, I¡¯d want to help the good Sisters of the Abbey of the Guiding Waves.¡± Iona turned up the charm. The amount should be more than enough to keep the Sisters happy, and off her back.


    But not too much that Iona would suddenly be a VIP, to be buttered up in the hopes of getting more.


    ¡°Thank you! Do you mind if I check in your satchel? No weapons are permitted inside, nor are drugs and¡­¡±


    She then recited a long, long list of contraband, which included a few oddities.


    Who didn¡¯t like apples and vinegar in their Abbey?


    This particular goddess, apparently.


    Iona happily opened her satchel, showing coins, her drawing supplies, field rations, and miscellaneous supplies, like a rope.


    Iona followed the Sister, keeping her eyes peeled for Julie, and hoping that they didn¡¯t bump into each other now. This was the riskiest part of the plan ¨C if Julie saw her, the entire jig would be up. Iona was gambling that as a new initiate, Julie would be kept away from the paying guests until she learned how the abbey expected her to act.


    Which would make finding her super hard.


    Iona was led to the main room of worship, a grand chamber that had an altar and a large statue of Ness herself, missing a wall entirely. Instead of a wall, it opened up to the sea, and the breeze grabbed Iona¡¯s long hair and playfully whipped it about, as the smell of salt filled her nose.


    Iona took a moment to kneel before the altar to Ness. It¡¯d be rude to come all this way without saying hi to the goddess, as minor as she was.


    Hi Ness! It¡¯s Iona.


    We haven¡¯t chatted much, but I¡¯d just like to say hello! It¡¯s nice to meet you.


    Hey, so I¡¯m not here for the purest of motives, but at the same time, I don¡¯t mean you or yours any harm. In fact, I wish them the best. I just want to say goodbye to my friend. I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be able to visit frequently, and one way or another, our friendship is coming to an end.


    Please don¡¯t take offense. I mean none.


    Oh! There¡¯s a nasty shark that¡¯s now free and on the loose in your sea. You¡¯ll probably get some prayers about him. Heck, he might pray to you himself, I dunno how sharks think. Anyways! Take this first one from me ¨C keep people safe from the shark.


    Cheers,


    Iona.


    Iona had no idea how long she¡¯d spent kneeling at the altar, but she felt just a hair stiff as she got back up. A different Sister was there.


    [Magnetic Charm] was a great skill. While it didn¡¯t do something nearly as stupid as make people think something, or change their mind, it did help Iona read them. The way the Sister¡¯s gaze lingered on the view of the sea let Iona know that¡­ she really liked looking at the sea.


    ¡°It¡¯s a wonderful view, isn¡¯t it?¡± Iona said, giving a raw, genuine smile. It was pretty.


    A soft smile appeared on the Sister¡¯s face.


    ¡°Like none other in the world.¡± She said.


    Iona and the Sister made more small talk, while other nuns came in and out, and one or two other guests also came to pray. Both merchants, and Iona would bet they were asking for safe passage and favorable winds as they traded over the sea.


    And with that, Iona was in her ¡®this is a decent person¡¯ books.


    ¡°I¡¯m wondering where the unaffiliated altar is? I¡¯d like to pray to my patrons.¡± Iona asked.


    ¡°Follow me!¡± The Sister said. ¡°Just don¡¯t touch any of the artwork.¡±


    As they walked through the Abbey, the Sister gave Iona a brief tour.


    ¡°Over there are the kitchens, the dining hall¡¯s there, that¡¯s Mother Superior¡¯s room, those are the novice dorms¡­¡±


    On and on it went, with Iona mentally marking the novice dorms. That was her target. She was careful not to touch any of the artwork. It was one of the rules here.


    Nevermind that ¡°sneaking around in the dead of night¡± was probably against the rules.


    ¡°¡­ and here¡¯s the unaffiliated altar!¡± She said, finishing the tour.


    It was a tiny room, out of the way, dusty, practically a closet, but that was fine with Iona.


    ¡°Let me know if you need anything!¡± The cheerful Sister told Iona.


    ¡°I¡¯ll probably be here awhile. I¡¯ll be able to find my way out on my own though?¡± Iona said, noticing how the Sister was somewhat fidgety, looking somewhat impatient. Good chance that ¨C


    ¡°Yeah, ok!¡± She said, and turned and left.


    Iona closed the door with a grin.


    Unaffiliated altars were an afterthought in most temples and other religious buildings. The temple was to THE GREAT GODDESS, and, oh yeah, let¡¯s not offend the rest of the pantheon and include a secondary, minor altar for all of them.


    But the acolytes of a religious building tended to be focused on their particular god or goddess, and benevolently neglected the unaffiliated one. Hence the dust, and general unused-ness of the altar.


    This one was particularly bad, and Iona spent a few moments tidying it up, before kneeling to pray.


    Selene! Lunaris!


    Found an altar! Going to work some mischief. Nothing too bad, but I don¡¯t think Ness would approve. Let me know if she¡¯s going to smite me or send some [Paladin] after me.


    Iona smiled as she heard the goddesses laughing, knowing the prank she was going to pull. She had their approval¡­ which wasn¡¯t the same as having their protection.


    Anyways, I wanted to talk more about the pirates. See, I first heard about them when¡­.


    Iona didn¡¯t know how long she¡¯d been kneeling in prayer, just talking with the two goddesses. She¡¯d also checked her level-up notifications while praying, it was just part of how she did things. It felt right for her, and joy of joys, she got a level in [The Dusk Valkyrie], and three in [Traveling Archer]. When she got back up, it was dark.


    Nighttime.


    Perfect.


    Iona creaked the door open a hair, and quickly looked around. Nobody was around, but that didn¡¯t mean a nun wouldn¡¯t turn the corner any minute now. It wouldn¡¯t surprise Iona if there were some younger acolytes who had been sent to the Abbey, who snuck around at night ¨C and some of the Sisters patrolled the hallways, looking for wayward charges.


    The moons were up, and half full, throwing red light around everywhere. More than enough to see and sneak around by.


    Iona looked up, and briefly considered climbing up to the ceiling, and moving around up there. She had the stats for it¡­ but she wasn¡¯t sure if the ceiling could hold her. It looked delicate, almost art-like.


    And she had been told not to touch the art.


    Fortunately, traps and alarms were unlikely. Who trapped their own home? Who risked waking everyone up when one of the younger nuns snuck around?


    No, worse-case there was an alarm for one of the Sisters on-duty, but Iona imagined a perimeter alarm was much likelier than an internal one.


    And Iona had made sure to brazenly walk in through the front door before nightfall.


    Iona slunk around, silently padding through the hallways before reaching an intersection. She didn¡¯t have [Sneaking] or [Quiet Footsteps] or anything ¨C but she did have soft shoes and over 10,000 points in dexterity. Sadly, there was no way to justify this as [Vow]-worthy.


    Iona reached an intersection before the novice¡¯s dorms, only to freeze in panic as she heard footsteps.


    She quickly determined that they were coming from the novice¡¯s dorms, and fled back down the hallway, making sure she restrained herself to move slowly enough to not create a breeze, to not have her clothes rustle against each other and give herself away.


    Iona didn¡¯t have [Sneaking], but she and the other squires had totally done sneaking around the castle when they should¡¯ve been in bed once upon a time. Iona was no stranger to this game ¨C except nuns instead of Valkyries, and fleeing in embarrassment and not seeing Julie instead of a paddle and extra-hard training.


    Iona allowed herself to shed a single tear for the friends that she¡¯d lost, that she¡¯d never see again, before refocusing.


    She was losing another friend, but not to death, and this time, she¡¯d say goodbye.


    The Sister¡¯s footsteps receded down another hallway, and Iona seized the chance to blitz into the dorm.


    Now was the hard part. Dozens of closed doors, and only one was right. There were three options when Iona checked on a door.


    It was empty. Try again.It had Julie! Success!It had someone else. Time to run away!


    Iona thanked her lucky stars that she¡¯d decided to pick up [Tracking]. Not only did it usually help with hunting down whatever monster was causing trouble, but it¡¯d help now.


    In theory.


    Iona focused on her skill, her nose, and Julie, sniffing the air. She¡¯d had her face buried in her soft fur often enough, smelling like a lively forest in spring, with a hint of sunshine and berries.


    Iona was no beastkin, nor was she of a race that was blessed with an improved sense of smell. Almost 30,000 vitality together with [Tracking] somewhat made up for it.


    Near each room she¡¯d quietly sniff, seeing if the scent matched Julies.


    Weirdly, there was no smell from almost every room. Business wasn¡¯t doing well.


    Eventually, Iona hit a room that smelled right enough. Not perfect¡­ but Iona chalked that up to time and the new place.


    Iona strained her ears to see if anyone else was around. Not hearing the menacing footfalls of one of the nuns patrolling the hallways, she softly rapped on the door.


    ¡°Julie! Psst, Julie!¡± Iona hissed at the door.


    Nothing.


    Iona knocked again, a bit louder.


    ¡°Julie!¡±


    Nada.


    Iona knocked one last time, a rapid staccato drumming on the door. She froze as she heard movement in two rooms.


    The handle clicked, the door opened, and there she was, in all her tired glory ¨C Julie.


    ¡°Huh? Iona? Wha-?¡± Julie said, at cursed normal volume, as Iona barged in, putting a finger on her lips and closing the door behind her.


    ¡°Shhhhhhhhhhhh!¡± Iona whisper-hissed. ¡°Otherwise they¡¯ll find us!¡±


    Having gone from ¡°sleeping¡± to ¡°someone¡¯s barging in my room¡±, Julie was remarkably composed, not shouting ¨C just getting that mischievous grin that kitsunes were so famous for, amusement dancing in her eyes.


    The two of them said nothing, the only thing louder than their pounding heartbeats was the sound of the other acolyte asking questions of the hallway ¨C then the patrolling nun finding her, and softly yelling at her.


    Iona and Julie¡¯s face were both straining with restrained laughter, and at last, Iona couldn¡¯t take it anymore. She grabbed the pillow, shoved it over her face, and let peals of laughter break loose. Julie had better restraint, as she quietly laughed in that high, yipping way.


    After a few minutes, they were able to compose themselves.


    ¡°What are you doing here!?¡± Julie hissed at Iona.


    ¡°I wanted to say goodbye.¡± Iona said.


    ¡°You could¡¯ve just asked to see me!¡± She retorted.


    ¡°Yes, but then how could I have¡­¡± Iona trailed off a moment as she patted herself for Julie¡¯s letter. She unfurled it, and started quoting from it.


    ¡°How could I have kissed your lips one last time? How could I rub your ears, run my hands through your fur, massaged your-¡°


    Blushing, knowing the rest of the line, Julie snatched the letter back from Iona.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect you to sneak in!¡± She said.


    Iona winked roguishly at her.


    ¡°Nobody does! You didn¡¯t expect it the first time either, did you?¡±


    ¡°I did too!¡±


    Ok, fair point there.


    ¡°Well, look, I¡¯m here now. Why don¡¯t we chat? Talk about old times before you become one of the stuffy nuns.¡±


    Julie snorted.


    ¡°I swear, the Mother Superior must have a [Shove a Stick up your Arse] skill. All the nuns get stodgier and stodgier as time goes on.¡±


    Iona grinned at her.


    ¡°See what I mean?¡±


    Julie punched her in the shoulder.


    ¡°And what do you mean, ¡®old times¡¯? We¡¯ve only known each other for three years! We only spent like three weeks together total!¡±


    Iona¡¯s face went from smiling to sad. She tried to fight back tears.


    ¡°Julie¡­ that makes you one of my oldest friends.¡± Iona barely managed to get out.


    Julie¡¯s face fell, as she hugged Iona.


    Iona hugged her back, wrapping the smaller kitsune in her gigantic frame.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± Julie said, after a moment or three passed. ¡°I forgot.¡±


    Iona patted her on the back.


    ¡°It¡¯s ok.¡±


    They broke the embrace, and Julie hopped onto her bed.


    ¡°Hey Iona?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Do you still have [Drawing]?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, why?¡±


    ¡°Draw me. Get a picture of me as I am now, bring it with you.¡±


    The light played with the shadows to make an interesting portrait, but Iona had no trouble breaking out her drawing supplies, and starting to sketch Julie. Swift lines crossed the paper, drawing almost as fast as an experienced painter with classes and skills. Such was the tyranny of insane stats.


    As Iona drew, the two idly chatted, catching up on what had happened since they¡¯d last met. Julie told the mundane tale of the life of a trader, the discovery and subsequent ultimatum. Iona hung onto every word, hearing stories of a world not her own.


    ¡°Are you sure you want to be here?¡± Iona asked. ¡°It¡¯d be easy enough to walk out with you.¡±


    Julie nodded.


    ¡°What would I do? Where would I go? I¡¯m not strong like you Iona. I can¡¯t forge my own path.¡± She said.


    Iona privately disagreed ¨C anyone could forge their own path, especially with the System.


    But maybe that was just it. Julie didn¡¯t have the drive, the resolve, the fire needed to do that ¨C and hence, wasn¡¯t strong enough.


    Iona shrugged.


    ¡°If you¡¯re happy, I won¡¯t stop you.¡± She said.


    Julie smiled, and settled back down further on the bed. Lounging on the bed, in a pose well-suited to being drawn.


    Iona finished up, and showed Julie the portrait.


    ¡°Oooh! That¡¯s me! It¡¯s so good!¡± Julie cooed over the picture. ¡°Do yourself!¡±


    Iona rolled her eyes.


    ¡°With what mirror?¡± She asked.


    Julie got a mischievous look on her face, and slipped the habit down over one shoulder, exposing a breast.


    ¡°Well¡­ why don¡¯t you draw me like one of your Rolland girls then?¡± She asked with a sultry tone, waggling her eyebrows.


    Iona¡¯s drawing was fast, and not particularly good ¨C but she did manage to fill Julie¡¯s entire wishlist of ¡°things I regret not doing.¡±


    They only stopped when the sun was starting to peek over the horizon, and both of them were covered in sweat and other fluids.


    ¡°You need to get out of here.¡± Julie panted out, wrung out and exhausted. ¡°The Sisters will be mad if they find you.¡±


    Iona agreed. She already heard footsteps in the hallways as people were getting up.


    She gave Julie one last kiss.


    ¡°Hey. If you need anything ¨C just write! I¡¯ll try to swing by.¡± Iona said with a wink.


    Julie laughed and threw a pillow at Iona.


    ¡°Shoo! Get out of here! If they catch you here with me, it¡¯s the birch stick for me.¡±


    Iona grinned.


    The halls were filling up with nuns, and going out the normal way? Impossible not to get caught.


    However¡­


    ¡°All the rooms are the same, right?¡± Iona asked


    Julie nodded.


    ¡°Well. This is goodbye then.¡± Iona said, giving her one last hug.


    ¡°Goodbye Iona.¡± Julie said.


    They broke apart, and Iona focused, seeing if her latest stunt would qualify as protecting Julie. She felt no boost come over her, and she mentally shrugged. It wasn¡¯t needed, it¡¯d just be nice.


    Iona cracked the door a hair, and seeing nobody in the hallway for a moment, burst out of the room, entered the room next to Julie¡¯s ¨C to not implicate her ¨C and launched herself feet-first out the window.


    She ignored an alarmed shout as she landed on the grass outside the abbey, and was off in a sprint a moment later, off to her weapons cache, grinning all the way.


    Crying all the way.


    She made it back to her weapons, and as she slung them back on, considered what her next move was.


    The pirate¡¯s treasure was still at the bottom of the bay, and with the stupid amount of mana Alfie had used, was probably more than a bit valuable. The Valkyries could use it.


    There was the healer in the north, a flashpoint for a full-fledged Immortal war. Diving into the fray could be useful, although Iona would need to whisk the healer away somewhere nobody could find her ¨C probably into the Immortal lands, where such people were welcomed.


    Then again, Immortals brought the trouble on themselves, and for millions of others in multiple other countries. So thoughtless.


    It was a healer that needed help though. Iona was indecisive.


    In the other direction was getting back to the Valkyrie castle, and reporting back to Sigrun, and seeing what the next emergency that needed a Valkyrie was. Possibly getting a squire, expanding the order, demonstrating they still had value, etc.


    Bonus ¨C Randall was in the town around the castle, and it¡¯d been a while since she¡¯d visited him.


    Finally, there was finally spending some time on working on acquiring and bonding with a companion. Iona was one of the oldest Valkyries who¡¯d never tried to get one. Iona believed that she was good, that she¡¯d bond with one ¨C she¡¯d just never had the time.


    Choices, choices. She chewed on them ¨C and some jerky ¨C as she walked back through the forest.


    Onto the next adventure.

 Chapter 196 - Journey to the center of Pallos I

    I sat against the wall, exhausted, out of mana, as the dwarves argued.


    ¡°We need to go after Toke.¡± Glifir was insisting. ¡°It hasn¡¯t been that long.¡±


    ¡°We have no idea what¡¯s out there. Toke is strong. Whatever happened to her, we need to take this slow and careful, not just blindly rush in.¡± Ned argued back.


    ¡°I¡¯m with Ned.¡± Drin said, eyeing the flickering torch uneasily. ¡°We¡¯ve lost all of our supplies. Following up with Toke could easily get us wiped out.¡±


    ¡°We should find Toke. Our chances are better with her. Plus, if any of you vanished, you¡¯d want the rest of us to come find you, right?¡± Fik punctuated almost every word with a stab of his finger.


    Round and round they argued, making no progress, getting steadily louder. Without Lule to take charge, they were lost. There was no solid chain of command, no second to step up.


    I slumped against the wall. I missed Lule. She was a solid, kind presence. She kept me safe, even to the bitter end. She was the first person I¡¯d had die in front of me in a long time, without divine intervention or White Dove interfering. A cruel reminder that some things were beyond me, that I was still a small leaf to be blown around in the wind.


    I knew what I needed to do. I¡¯d literally been trained for this, to step up and take charge when needed. The idea had been for me to do this with Ranger teams, who were already primed to take orders from a Sentinel, but this wouldn¡¯t be too different.


    However, I just wanted a bit of a break. Lule¡¯s death and Toke¡¯s disappearance weighed on my mind. [Center of the Universe] was purely anti-pain, and without the emotional stability, I just wanted to grieve for just five minutes. Enough to regenerate my arm, and catch a breather after the battle above.


    The entire mine shook and rumbled, dust and rocks falling from the ceiling, as some powerful blow or another shook the very earth we were under. A reminder that the clash of the titans was continuing above, and that we were only tentatively safe here.


    It did shut the remaining dwarves up, and we spent a moment just hearing the steady drip-drip of water falling from the ceiling, the rainwater from Etalix¡¯s storm seeping in, and seeing a narrow circle of light from the torch. Some other sounds reached us, but it was hard to make out what they were. The mine was all sorts of weird when it came to sound. Some noises vanished, while others hit surfaces just right, bouncing them further than any noise had any right to go. An occasional click echoed through the mine, like a hammer delicately tapping.


    Something the size of one of the walls - which, given that this mine was dug out by the dwarves, wasn¡¯t much of an accomplishment - seemed to move in the dark. I mentally cursed.


    Not even a minute of rest. Not counting the time spent checking my stats and talking.


    Out of habit, I glanced at my mana, then did a double-take.


    I¡¯d regenerated how much?!


    Cripes.


    I regenerated my arm with a thought, only putting forth a minor effort to improve the efficiency. Sure, the inefficiency caused almost all of my mana to vanish, but I wasn¡¯t going to lollygag about when we were under attack.


    ¡°To arms!¡± I yelled, thanking past me a billion times for properly going through the drills and learning how to use weapons.


    While I was still trying to regenerate enough mana, I threw out a minor [Shine] all around me, eating into my regeneration, but at least showing us what we were dealing with.


    My sense of size had been right. It was the size, and roughly the shape, of a wall, a dark brown, almost black surface to better blend in with the tunnels. The light shining on it gave it depth though, and it was semi-translucent.


    A slime. The biggest damn slime I¡¯d ever seen, the first one out of the dead zone, but it was a slime nonetheless.


    I used my new and improved [Long-Range Identify] from like a meter away on the slime.


    [Deep-Dwelling Slime]. Roughly level 370 or so.


    Given the size and the level, I had serious doubts that my last dregs of mana would be enough to burn through it, and blow up the core holding the slime together. Instead, I used it on [Sunrise], figuring a clear head and a surge of energy would be more valuable for the upcoming battle.


    The presence of an enemy united the dwarves like nothing else would. Weapons were drawn, and I was happy to see that everyone had one - although Glifir¡¯s were made out of Ice. Lines connected from Ned to everyone else, including me.


    The slime lurched forward, and I danced back a hair, making sure to keep some distance between us. I stabbed out with my short sword, mentally cursing my lack of a spear and how damn close I needed to be to use my short sword, only for it to barely sink into the slime. In a moment, my sword was bounced out with such force that it rebounded out of my hand, deeper into the dark.


    I cursed my low strength, and made a mental note that I needed to re-examine my fighting style and physical training when I got back to Remus.


    I scooted back as Drin and Fik engaged, with Glifir pacing back and forth behind them, looking for some sort of opening.


    He was using knives made out of Ice, and if anything, they were worse for dealing with the slime than my short sword was. The slime also encompassed the entire tunnel, leaving no room for Glifir to flank it. I¡¯m honestly not sure what the roguish dwarf would even be able to DO to a giant slime. Like. They didn¡¯t exactly have vulnerable bits to stab in the back or anything.


    Didn¡¯t stop him from throwing a few knives made out of ice, but they barely penetrated before stopping and melting away or clattering uselessly onto the stone floor. That melting rate was far too fast to be heat, and implied a deadly, acidic end to anyone caught by the slime.


    ¡°Crush the core!¡± I yelled.


    Look, it was on the obvious side of things, but sometimes the obvious needed to be said.


    What was extra-hard was slimes, generally, were fairly impervious to physical attacks. We¡¯d lost both of our mage heavy-hitters, and I was straight up out of mana.


    Although, I was regenerating it at a crazy pace. I threw a 500-mana needle-thin beam of Radiance at the slime, only for it to practically vanish as it hit. I think the slime collapsed around it, but what I was shooting was narrow compared to the sheer bulk of the slime. In other words - it was doing damage, but there was just too much slime for it to matter.


    The rest of the dwarves were shouting and yelling, mostly war cries at the blocky menace.


    ¡°Anyone have Arcanite?¡± I called out, loud but calm. ¡°I might be able to hit the core if I get Arcanite.¡±


    Nobody answered. I hadn¡¯t seen anyone using it so far, and I wasn¡¯t too surprised.


    Drin yelled as he bashed his shield, charged to stun, at the slime, who recoiled slightly from the shock. Then it surged forward, trying to smother and overwhelm Drin. Fik slapped him on the side, and Drin flew back, further than he had any right to, as Fik also jumped back.


    Which reminded me. Fik was a spell-axe, with strong Gravity abilities to supplement his physical work.


    ¡°Fik!¡± I yelled at him. ¡°Can you kill the core?¡±


    He made a grasping motion in the air, then shook his head.


    ¡°No! I¡¯m not strong enough!¡± He shouted back.


    ¡°Retreat!¡± I ordered. ¡°We can¡¯t kill it!¡±


    The second weakness of slimes - just walking away. We couldn¡¯t kill it, but slimes weren¡¯t known for their terrifying speed. Just their resilience. If I had a full bar of mana, I¡¯d feel comfortable trying to kill the slime. I was fairly confident in my abilities to boot.


    Hang on - my bar had almost doubled recently. With only half a bar of mana, I felt like I could kill the slime.


    ¡°It¡¯s foolish to retreat! No slime can stand against the might of the Nolgordians!¡± Ned yelled.


    I whirled on him, but Fik beat me to the punch. Backing off, keeping a wary eye on the slime, he explained his logic to an outraged Ned.


    ¡°Healer Ned. Listen to Healer Elaine. She¡¯s correct, there¡¯s no benefit to fighting the slime here and now. I¡¯d like to retire one day, and not become slime food. We¡¯re going.¡±


    Ned stomped off with us, not stupid enough to let the slime eat him to prove a point.


    We retreated down the tunnels, the walls occasionally shaking. There were collapsed passages here and there, most of the cave-ins fresh, some of them ancient. Passages went up, passages went down, and I was wildly lost before long.


    It was asking too much that the dwarves would¡¯ve dug this out in a logical, sensible fashion. Instead the mines twisted and turned, looping back on themselves endlessly, chasing their precious metals.


    Eventually I saw a collapsed side-shaft, where the collapse was a moderate distance in. A pool of water was off to the side, water running down a wall to feed it.


    Perfect for my purposes.


    ¡°In here.¡± I called out, turning and walking in. Forcing the dwarves to follow me, or leave me behind.


    Something of their old mission remained, and I was basically the only light source. They followed me into the dead-end. I briefly considered using one of my gems, Sealing¡¯s shield, but decided against it. I was probably going to need it later, and he was dead. It was a momento of sorts, an irreplaceable skill.


    I did throw up [Mantle] across the entrance once everyone was in. The skill still didn¡¯t take any mana to activate. It only used mana when it was hit, and only when it was overloaded or I was out of mana would it break.


    ¡°Why here?¡± Drin asked after an awkward moment, as I folded my arms together.


    ¡°We¡¯re beat. We need to regroup and reassess, and it¡¯s not happening out there.¡± I said. ¡°We need a safe place to evaluate. Now. What did you all manage to get down here?¡±


    ¡°Why should we-¡± Ned started to say, but I cut him off.


    I was so done with Ned.


    ¡°You¡¯re listening to me because I¡¯ve been trained for this. I¡¯ve lived this. And the four of you, no offense, were spending more time standing around arguing, than getting anything done.¡±


    ¡°We needed to figure out the best course of action!¡± Glifir protested.


    I actually let him finish his sentence because he hadn¡¯t been a jerk.


    ¡°Making a bad decision is better than no decision at all.¡± I countered back. ¡°I literally have been trained to do this.¡± I was repeating myself, but it bore repeating.


    I glanced at the wall, seeing that it was still good. I took a seat, and beckoned everyone else to as well.


    I evaluated Ned briefly. We started off on the wrong foot, and things had just gotten worse. The stuff that needed to get done, needed to get done though.


    Ugh. Let¡¯s try something simple.


    ¡°Healer Ned the 92nd.¡± I politely said, giving him a seated half-bow. ¡°I recall that you have a food purification skill?¡±


    I got all sorts of looks from my sudden shift in tone. Ned stiffly nodded. I gestured at the pool of water next to me.


    ¡°In order to survive, we¡¯re going to need air, water, mana, defense, shelter and food. In that order. Air is taken care of, and is out of our hands if it fails. Water is here and now, and we should make use of it while we can. We¡¯re all regenerating mana for defense, and shelter is both everywhere and impossible, depending on how we look at it. Food is last, and while regenerating mana is hungry work, it¡¯ll be days to weeks before anyone starves to death.¡±


    I got some looks at that last part. I mentally shook my head.


    It¡¯s like they¡¯d never taken a long, hard look at what exactly can kill them, and how long it took. I had to remind myself that I was with a team from the wall, which wasn¡¯t exactly the dwarf A-team, nor was Lule here, nor did they get the same type of training that Rangers got.


    They were competent in their role, but they didn¡¯t have the all-rounder experience.


    I stared at Ned from my seated position, and slowly everyone else turned to look at him.


    I got a look from him that promised this wasn¡¯t over yet, but he walked over to the pool, knelt down and touched it, purifying the water.


    I didn¡¯t mention that it was entirely unneeded, since I could simply cure any problems that tainted water had. However, I didn¡¯t want to drink dirt or shit anymore than the next gal.


    ¡°Right. Once some basics are secured, I plan on going after Toke. Fik was correct. We don¡¯t leave people behind.¡± I said. ¡°If any of you ended up in a cave-in, would you want us to leave you, or dig you out?¡±


    There was muttered agreement at that.


    ¡°Scout Glifir. Can you get us back to where we initially fell?¡± I put our scout on the spot. We hadn¡¯t gone particularly far, slimes needing no great speed to escape, but it¡¯d be difficult for me to reverse engineer the path. I could try walking backwards with [Pristine Memories], but yeah. Slow and obnoxious.


    Glifir grinned at me.


    ¡°Sure!¡± He said, and instead of saying anything more, conjured up Mist in a convoluted shape.


    I studied it for a moment, seeing a main long wiggling part, and lots of little nubs attached to it before it clicked.


    ¡°That¡¯s a map.¡± I said stupidly.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s a map! We¡¯re here.¡± Glifir pointed to one spot on the map. ¡°And we fell here.¡± He pointed to the opposite side.


    Great skill for a scout!


    I beamed at him.


    ¡°This is great! Getting lost will be hard with this map.¡±


    There was no way I was going to curse it by saying ¡°getting lost will be impossible with this map¡± or any such nonsense like that.


    ¡°Right. Let¡¯s drink up, recover our mana, then head back. Any objections?¡± I asked.


    Ned and Drin shot me unhappy looks, but Glifir and Fik were nodding.


    Good.


    I changed my stat sheet to have mana done per second, since the numbers were otherwise getting high.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 19]


    [Mana: 5261/239290]


    [Mana Regen: 60.1 (+42.5)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 101]


    [Strength: 274]


    [Dexterity: 497]


    [Vitality: 3376]


    [Speed: 3376]


    [Mana: 23929]


    [Mana Regeneration: 23929 (+15314.56)]


    [Magic Power: 9997 (+149955)]


    [Magic Control: 9997 (+149955)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 355]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 355]


    [Cosmic Presence: 269]


    [Solar Infusion: 140]


    [Center of the Universe: 355]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 355]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 311]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 315]


    [Sunrise: 128]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 256]+]


    [Radiance Affinity: 256]


    [Radiance Resistance: 256]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 256]


    [Shine: 188]


    [Sun-Kissed: 256]


    [Blaze: 256]


    [Talaria: 256]


    [Nova: 256]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 355]


    [Pristine Memories: 205]


    [Pretty: 154]


    [Bullet Time: 269]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 300]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 355]


    [Persistent Casting: 255]


    [Learning: 340]

 Chapter 197 - Journey to the center of Pallos II

    We decided to spend some time - like an hour or so - resting up, everyone else topping their mana up and getting long, deep drinks out of the pool Ned purified.


    We were still processing what happened, Lule¡¯s death and Toke¡¯s disappearance. Everyone was handling it in their own way. The dwarves were chatting a bunch about what had just happened.


    ¡°No. There¡¯s no way the Sierra Obelisk fell.¡± Fik gasped in disbelief as Glifir mentioned the dwarves¡¯ tower falling.


    ¡°It¡¯s true! When the stars were coming down, I saw it collapse.¡±


    ¡°But it was in the middle of the city!¡± Ned cried out.


    I glanced over. He was crying unashamedly,


    ¡°We also lost Lule, if that Elaine is to be believed.¡±


    There was some venom in his voice, but it wasn¡¯t directed at me. Just, grief turning into anger.


    ¡°Peace Ned. Did it look like she had any mana when she came down? Her story is believable. She would have no reason to lie to us.¡± Fik pointed out.


    Ned just muttered unhappily into his beard, but seemed to accept it.


    ¡°No, what¡¯s terrible is we don¡¯t have her head. We can¡¯t bury her properly.¡± Fik said.


    ¡°Aye. Even if we manage to get back out, we¡¯ll need to be all sorts of lucky to bury her under a sapling.¡± Drin added, stroking his beard.


    That was interesting. I didn¡¯t know they buried dwarves under trees. An interesting take on reincarnation, and who knows? Maybe the great cycle of samsara recognized their actions, and put the soul of the departed into the tree for their next life.


    Glifir snorted.


    ¡°If we manage to get out, we need to help the survivors. Everything was burning, and I doubt there¡¯s anything larger than three stories standing. Every hand is needed for the living.¡±


    Some more nods of agreement, and more tears. I couldn¡¯t blame them. If I¡¯d seen the devastation that¡¯d just been unleashed rained down on Remus, I¡¯d be a tearful mess to boot. If I was stuck underground after such an event, knowing that I could heal thousands, but was unable to?


    Yikes. I was starting to get an idea of just how shitty they must all be feeling. Everything just - gone. Their whole lives upended.


    I was staying out of the conversation. I had nothing to add, nothing to say, no way to comfort them at the loss of everything they knew and loved. I was a stranger.


    Instead, I was thoroughly cussing out Hunting. That Void-brained, goblin-faced, grouchy son of a slime had fucked me over so hard.


    ¡°Hey Hunting, can I get some time to Class up?¡± I¡¯d asked him, but nooooooooooooo. No time for Sentinel Dawn to get a large power spike. Nope!


    I pulled grumpy faces as I re-imagined the conversation.


    ¡°Classing up? Nope. I angry grouch. You follow me.¡±


    Ugh. In his defense, leaving quickly was probably needed to get the Formorians before they were able to grow and scatter, and it did let him check out the Queen¡¯s bodies before they were eaten. And let me save the angel.


    Still. I was pissed that I was sitting on my 256 class-up for my Radiance class, and was in completely the wrong place to do it.


    My thoughts were rudely interrupted as everyone started to float - blasted Hebai must¡¯ve reversed Gravity again - a reminder that while there were slimes down here that we could fight and run and generally contend with, there were still Guardians and a dragon fighting out there, and attacks had destroyed entire mountains. We were at the mercy of fate, praying that Lun¡¯Kat wouldn¡¯t try to body slam Galeru, who was coiled right above us.


    The miles of rock would do nothing to stop her.


    Heck, even without smashing the mountain, a strong enough attack could shake the entire mine, causing rocks to fall and everyone to die.


    We were all more than a little unsettled at that, and it seemed to be time to leave. I checked my mana, noting that it was getting close to full, even as my stomach rumbled from the sheer hunger generating that much mana took.


    Blah. I was going to need to move up food the priority list. So many things to juggle.


    Speaking of juggling, I needed to do a check on what we had, and what we could do.


    ¡°Did anyone manage to grab any supplies on the way down?¡± I asked. I picked a moment where the silence and the grieving seemed to have gone on for some time, judging the moment to be breaking, but not intruding on, their grief.


    It was a judgement call though, and for all I knew I¡¯d flubbed it.


    ¡°The yaks had almost everything.¡± Fik noted with a frown. ¡°No idea what happened to them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got some snacks! Keep them on me for when I¡¯m scouting all day and don¡¯t have time to grab a bite. Do you need one?¡± Glifir mentioned, offering me a ration bar.


    I could eat a whole yak, but I declined. Partly for the appearance of being the selfless leader, mostly because I knew I¡¯d need it later. There was no sense in eating food now when we¡¯d had a solid dinner, what, 6, 7 hours ago?


    Given that the world had basically ended in that timeframe, it felt much longer.


    ¡°No thanks, we should save them for now. Unless Ned, you need a bite?¡± I asked him. Healing was hungry work - I knew it all too well - and Ned was probably feeling similar hunger pangs.


    ¡°I¡¯m good for now, thanks.¡± He said, as he forced himself to tear his eyes away from Glifir¡¯s snack.


    I also took a chance to drink, noting that the ¡°puddle¡± was quite a bit deeper than a little trickle of water coming in would account for. Something to keep in mind.


    While I waited for my mana to finish regenerating, I made a mediocre permanent image for [Dance with the Heavens] and [Persistent Casting], having lost the last one when I was falling down the mine shaft. It wasn¡¯t great, but if we hit a pocket of bad air or something, I wouldn¡¯t slowly fall asleep and die without noticing or being able to heal myself.


    That¡¯d be a humiliating way to go. ¡°Here lies Elaine. Died from poison gas while full on mana.¡±


    I quickly checked over the condition of the rest of the dwarves. Drin was helpfully regrowing bits and pieces of his armor, and I¡¯d eventually ask for some replacement pieces myself once everyone else was fully outfitted. I was down most of my pieces, but they belonged to the front-liners first, and not to the healer in the back.


    ¡°Right. Let¡¯s head back. Glifir lead, then Fik, Ned, myself, and Drin in the rear. Let¡¯s go!¡± I ordered.


    ¡°Hang on.¡± Drin protested. ¡°Fik and I should swap spots.¡±


    I eyed him for a second. I didn¡¯t want to argue, nor did I want to get undermined. I quickly weighed my options, painfully reminded that Leadership had been one of my least favorite classes.


    And I didn¡¯t even have the Chain of Command. Namely, the chain I could beat people with when they didn¡¯t follow my command - or at least that¡¯s how Quintis referred to it. I was operating off of sheer force of will and momentum, because the leader is the person everyone thinks is the leader. No belief, no buy-in, no leader.


    I didn¡¯t have to be the leader, but any of the dwarves would get us all killed from what I¡¯d seen. I liked staying alive, and I liked having more people able to keep watch while I slept.


    Drin was the only pure fighter we had. Like Maximus, he had a class dedicated to fighting and to slowly working on armor - in his case, he could flat-out regrow his armor and other people¡¯s armor, as well as wield Lightning stunning skills. When a fight came, he was in the front, and I¡¯d seen what he could do to hellhounds. It was frankly unfair.


    Fik was our other melee fighter, but he was a spell-axe. Instead of everything being physical, he was half-physical, half-magic, like Bluebeard - eerrr, Sentinel Hunting. Instead of Void magic, though, he had Gravity magic, which let him do all sorts of nonsense with moving stuff around.


    In theory. I hadn¡¯t seen giant applications in practice yet.


    ¡­ I suppose, worse-case, I¡¯d just team up with Fik or something and try to work my way out of the mine with just the two of us. Something to keep in the back of my head. My Oath only required me to wrangle suicidal idiots if they were actively injured.


    However, end of the day, the two of them were almost interchangeable. Drin wanted to be swapped? Sure, they filled the same role of ¡°be in front of everyone else.¡±


    ¡°Fine. Fik, Drin, swap. Glifir, let¡¯s go. We spent long enough getting ready, I want to try and get Toke.¡± I said.


    I didn¡¯t say the part where I thought the odds of her being alive were slim, especially after all this time. Sure, it¡¯d only been about an hour, but that was an eternity in monster-filled mines.


    I kept [Shine] going, at a slightly stronger rate now that I wasn¡¯t trying to get every drop of mana again.


    ¡°Slime!¡± Glifir yelled as he rounded a corner, and the rest of the dwarves tensed.


    I kept walking forward, past Ned and Drin, and peeked around the corner.


    Massive slime, stretching from wall to wall and floor to ceiling, chunks of dirt and metal floating in the gelatinous ooze. I quickly looked over it, but I wasn¡¯t able to tell the slime¡¯s core from the other chunks floating in it.


    I fired a beam of Radiance at one promising looking chunk, slightly surprised at how large the beam ended up being. I focused, properly narrowing it down, and reminding myself that I¡¯d increased my magic power and magic control by almost 50% in the last three hours or so.


    However, I wasn¡¯t going to be so lucky as to just hit the slime¡¯s core in one go, not with how high level it was and with my luck.


    The beam did pierce the slime and hit a floating bit of debris that I¡¯d hoped was the core, but the only thing that happened was the slime slumped a bit as it filled in the part of its body that I¡¯d vaporized.


    I narrowed my eyes.


    Fine then. We¡¯re doing this the hard way.


    I fired a few more quick Radiance beams, only to whiff on all of them before swapping gears. I used a cone of Radiance to hollow out a small hole in the slime, then followed it up with a [Nova].


    It was hard to tell when it worked, but I swear [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority] guided my timing, as the glowing ball made it right into the slime as the mass of it collapsed onto the [Nova], making the explosion extra-devastating inside the slime.


    Chunks flew everywhere, and the slime seemed to quiver with rage. It inflated, then decompressed, shooting high-speed slime chunks and bits of unrefined ore at us.


    I flared [Mantle of the Stars], and did a little heel-clicking jump and dance - purely mentally - as it FINALLY STOPPED AN ATTACK STONE-COLD.


    I dropped the [Mantle] and used the same combo again, and again, working my way through the center of the slime. I had some slim hopes that I could slice it in half, but no such luck.


    I was succeeding at reducing its bulk dramatically though, as not only did my Radiance beams utterly annihilate parts of the slime, but once [Nova] exploded inside the slime, it tore off large chunks, which landed on the floor, walls, ceiling, everywhere, wobbling like jello once it was separated from the slime¡¯s core.


    Mmmmm jello.


    I was so hungry. I was regretting passing up on Glifir¡¯s snacks. I¡¯d ask him later.


    I didn¡¯t have infinite mana, and I wasn¡¯t going to leave myself at zero again. When I had less than half of my mana left - ¡°only¡± 100k, an obscene amount by anyone else¡¯s standards - I stepped back, looking at the much-reduced slime.


    It was now a chest-high cube-shaped slime. We were all short to boot, it¡¯d be more like waist-high on Artemis.


    ¡°Drin. Fik. All you. Glifir. Check that nothing¡¯s coming up on us.¡± I ordered.


    I didn¡¯t say anything to Ned. As much as we were like oil and water, he would heal everyone, and I¡¯d already pushed him somewhat.


    ¡°Watch the floor! It¡¯s slippery!¡± Glifir reminded everyone, as he seemed to rapid-step past the slime, Mist rising from his footsteps.


    Drin and Fik stepped up, and now that the slime wasn¡¯t large enough to simply engulf and consume us all, it was easier. We stayed aware that the slime could still have some nasty tricks up its sleeve - which it did, trying to spray Drin with caustic goo when he got close - but Fik just redirected the spray elsewhere. Then a zap from Drin, a few cleaves from the pair, and the slime collapsed.


    [*ding!* Your Party has slain a [Deep-Dwelling Slime (Ooze - 378)]]


    [*ding!* [Shine] leveled up! 188 -> 189]


    ¡°Good work!¡± I said.


    Drin was grinning.


    ¡°Aye. This is the way to do it! No more running from oversized sewer-cleaners!¡± Drin happily said.


    I was eyeing the glops of slime that littered the hallway of this mine tunnel.


    The only thing I could think was ¡°chocolate pudding.¡±


    ¡°Healer Ned?¡± I asked politely.


    ¡°What?¡± He semi-grumped back. Neatly handling the slime seemed to have won me a few brownie points.


    ¡°Can you try purifying a slime chunk? We should check if they¡¯re edible.¡± I said, with the straightest face I could manage.


    He huffed, then got a sly grin as he pointed at a chunk.


    ¡°Try that one.¡±


    I¡¯d bet money that he hadn¡¯t purified it, but I wasn¡¯t going to call him on it.


    Welp. I was screwed either way.


    I went over to the chunk, and tried to grab a handful, only for it to liquify more than before and ooze between my fingers, falling back to the ground.


    I cupped my hands, and scooped up a chunk. I brought it to my face and tried to slurp it.


    Bleargh. Wet dirt. Not mud - wet dirt.


    It was terrible.


    I managed to somehow keep a poker face, then ¡°enthusiastically¡± drank the rest.


    ¡°Wow! You should try some!¡± I called out.


    Not technically lying.


    I was impressed. With how bad it was.


    And he should try some.


    Looking at me doubtfully, Ned tried a handful as well. A flash of disgust went over his face, before a broad grin and a wink my way.


    ¡°Glifir! Fik! Drin! You¡¯ve gotta try this!¡± Ned called out to the rest of the dwarves.


    Thinking about it - we were doing a lot of yelling. And sound was traveling through the mines.


    Well, hopefully someone would hear us and come help.


    Poor, trusting Glifir promptly tried some, but he gave up the game, retching at just how terrible it was. No matter how Ned and I tried to coax Fik and Drin, they wouldn¡¯t try it - and Fik cut it short.


    ¡°We need to find Toke.¡±


    That sobered us up, and got us moving again, following Glifir. He¡¯d point us to the next spot we needed to go to, then run as fast as he could, peeking down all the little side passages, expanding his map of the mine. I never knew when it¡¯d come in handy.


    Without additional hassle we made it back to where we¡¯d fallen down the ventilation shaft. The only thing of note was another large scale shudder as something hit the earth hard enough for us to feel it. We also heard the sound of a collapsing shaft somewhere in the mountain. Drin verbalized a prayer of thanks that we survived.


    It was a good thing I hadn¡¯t tried to find the way back - all the shaking and rattling had shifted things enough that I no longer recognized them, and I would¡¯ve walked right past this spot.


    Glifir went to one knee as he started looking around, pinching dirt and rubbing it. Practically sniffing a spot or two.


    I thought he might be playing it up for appearance sake, but if he got it done, he got it done.


    ¡°This way.¡± He eventually said, pointing down one of the side-shafts, and we were off.


    ¡°How was she? Could you tell?¡± Drin asked.


    Glifir hesitated a moment, then nodded.


    ¡°Being dragged.¡± He said. ¡°By several things with two feet.¡±


    Oh curses. My mental estimation of Toke just got revised to ¡°possibly alive¡±, which made me feel bad slightly goofing off with the slime food earlier.


    Speaking of the slime food, we needed to do an after-action analysis on the fight we just had..


    ¡°Glifir, keep leading us. Everyone else. We¡¯re going to do an after-action analysis on the fight we just had.¡± I called out.


    ¡°Why?¡± Ned asked.


    ¡°So next time we kill it faster, and work better as a team.¡± I retorted back.


    ¡°We¡¯re completely helpless without Elaine.¡± Fik noted. ¡°None of us could touch it without her magic.


    Drin gave me an over-the-shoulder look at that.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t mention you were a mage.¡± He said.


    I gave him a dumbfounded look.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t see me killing hellhounds last fight?¡± I asked after a moment.


    He scratched his nose.


    ¡°Well, errr....¡± He said awkwardly.


    I rubbed my eyes.


    ¡°This. This right here. This is why we do after-action analysis.¡± I said, to Drin¡¯s bashful nod and Fik¡¯s curt agreement.


    ¡°Should¡¯ve lured it around the corner!¡± Glifir yelled. ¡°Given ourselves more room to work with!¡±


    I smiled. This was exactly the type of analysis needed, and it was good to see someone getting into it.


    ¡°We should have an escape route ready if Elaine¡¯s out of mana again.¡± Drin pointed out.


    ¡°Should figure out how small the slime needs to be before we can physically kill it.¡± Fik observed.


    ¡°Yeah, but we don¡¯t have the time for proper experimenting, do we?¡± I countered.


    ¡°I felt useless most of the fight.¡± Fik grumbled back.


    ¡°Then keep your eyes on a swivel so nothing sneaks up on us!¡± Glifir retorted.


    ¡°He¡¯s got a point. There¡¯s got to be more down here. A lot more.¡± I observed.


    ¡°How do you figure?¡± Glifir asked, while Ned just muttered unhappily into his beard.


    ¡°Nothing exists alone. If there are slimes, they need to eat something. Whatever grabbed Toke also needs to eat, which means there¡¯s at least something smaller in here.¡±


    I paused a moment, letting them digest that.


    ¡°There¡¯s no way we¡¯re going to be lucky enough that there¡¯s nothing that eats them.¡±


    There was muttered agreement at that, and a strong ¡°Aye!¡± from Drin.


    I did some personal reflection on everything myself.


    My physical stats had completely changed around. My strength had gone down, and my speed had increased.


    I made a mental note that I needed to re-do my physical exercises as well. My strength and speed had wildly changed around, and I was faster, and didn¡¯t hit as hard. A long reevaluation of my style was needed. Then again, my strength was falling further and further behind, especially when compared to the monsters I was up against, and I needed to consider that perhaps the time where I could use weapons for anything other than intimidation and creatures far, far below my level was coming to an end.


    I was half in thought, half looking around when I heard a sharp twang come from ahead.

 Chapter 198 - Journey to the center of Pallos III

    There was a sharp twang, and a blur in front of me.


    A sickening thwack occurred, and a weak cough from Glifir, a spray of blood.


    ¡°Glifir!¡± I shouted as I ran forward, Fik looking on stupidly while a connection formed between Ned and Glifir. Drin ran forward with me, and we arrived at the same time.


    The light in Glifir¡¯s eye was fading as he coughed weakly, hands moving slowly up, then slumping back down. There was a broad axe, almost as long as Glifir was wide, embedded horizontally in his chest, nearly bisecting him.


    I grabbed him, flowing [Dance with the Heavens] through him, imagining blood and bone, muscle and sinew restitching together, and started to pull Glifir off the axe trap. Drin arrived a moment later, and together, with a strong yank and accompanying sickening squelch, we managed to get the axe out of his chest, my healing restoring his ruined chest as the axe left.


    I suppose Ned¡¯s healing was also helping, but between an unknown efficiency factor in what I was doing, and an unknown ratio of human to dwarf healing, I had no idea how much was me, and how much was Ned. It didn¡¯t really matter in the end.


    With an open mouth and glassy eyes, Glifir patted his chest.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ alive. I¡¯m alive. I¡¯m alive!¡± Glifir shouted, without a care in the world for who or what could hear us.


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re alive!¡± I cheerfully told him. Wasn¡¯t the first time I¡¯d handled someone being slightly off after I¡¯d yanked them away from certain death.


    [*Ding!* [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] leveled up! 300 -> 301]


    Being a healer was awesome!


    ¡°This had to be made by someone with skills.¡± Fik said, and I half-jumped, having completely missed him moving up closer. ¡°See, look, the whole thing¡¯s made out of stone. There¡¯s no way to get tension in it, not without there being a skill involved.¡±


    I looked at the trap, but ¡°How to build traps while stuck a mile underground¡± hadn¡¯t been one of my Ranger Academy courses. I was inclined to believe Fik, it wasn¡¯t like he constantly made bold claims out of nowhere.


    ¡°Whatever took Toke is smart.¡± Drin said, to Ned¡¯s eyeroll.


    ¡°A goblin could¡¯ve made that trap. It¡¯s not exactly elaborate.¡± Ned crossed his arms as he told us.


    ¡°Footprints are too big to be goblins though.¡± Glifir pointed out.


    [*Ding!* [Learning] leveled up! 340 -> 341]


    I had no idea where these levels were coming from, but I wasn¡¯t going to complain or look too hard at it. Maybe I was on the edge for some of them?


    ¡°All this talk is great, but we should keep going. Glifir, how are you on spotting traps?¡± I asked him.


    An awkward look passed his face.


    ¡°Umm. I can make traps no problem. I¡¯ve never needed to spot them though. I should be fine though.¡± Glifir said, awkwardly scratching his head.


    I gave it a moment¡¯s thought, then shook my head.


    ¡°I should be in the lead. As long as I have mana, I¡¯m hard to kill. When we get to an intersection or something, you tell us where to go. That should give you a bit more time to scout the side passages, and make sure nothing¡¯s sneaking up on us.¡±


    ¡°But I can¡¯t let you take the lead!¡± Glifir protested.


    Ooooh, that got my hackles right up.


    ¡°Can¡¯t? Can¡¯t!?¡± I yelled at him, channeling some of my ¡°Drill Sergeant Sentinel with Ranger Trainees¡± experience. ¡°Which way?¡± I demanded, fire and venom in my voice.


    ¡®Can¡¯t let me¡¯ my ass.


    Glifir exchanged looks with Drin, but said nothing. I narrowed my eyes, and stomped off in the direction we had been going, leaving the rest of the dwarves to catch up.


    I spent a moment reflecting on the axe that had nearly chopped Glifir in half. My strength wasn¡¯t exactly my strong suit, and I needed to be able to deal with weapons embedded that deeply in other people.


    Or did I?


    My train of thought was interrupted as I reached the next branching intersection, where I stopped and waited. I wasn¡¯t entirely enraged to the point where I¡¯d do terminally stupid stuff, like randomly pick paths when I couldn¡¯t follow the trail.


    ¡°Which way?¡± I demanded of Glifir when he caught up with the rest of the dwarves.


    He quickly looked down both paths, checking arcane stuff that only a [Tracker] could see, before pointing down one.


    ¡°This one but-¡±


    I ignored him as I swept by, making sure there was enough of a lead between me and the remaining dwarves, just in case there was a problem.


    I went back to reflecting on my axe problem. On one hand, I had basically nothing for massive weapons embedded into people. On the other, that was a fairly niche problem, given that people with oversized weapons replacing their respiratory tract tended to have short lifespans.


    Two hallways later, my musings were interrupted by coarse webs firing out of the walls, fired too fast for me to react without [Bullet Time].


    Which never activated, given that the trap was entirely non-lethal. It just wrapped me up in sticky webbing, and hoisted me feet-first into the air.


    The rest of the dwarves turned the corner, and Glifir rushed over, concerned, while Fik and Drin lost their shit laughing at me. Ned just smirked.


    I grinned back, as the blood rushed to my head.


    ¡°Mind giving me a hand here? I¡¯m a little tied up.¡± I said, punny inspiration striking.


    Fik groaned and mocked an arrow striking him, while Drin teased back.


    ¡°I should add spider webbing to my arsenal, for when zapping uppity healers doesn¡¯t work.¡±


    I stuck my tongue out at him as Glifir cut me down, carefully making sure I didn¡¯t hit my head on the way down. The spider webbing idea of Drin¡¯s was a good one though.


    I probably could¡¯ve burned the spiderweb away, but why spend the mana? I was using lots in rapid succession, and I was already ravenous. No need to blow mana needlessly, not when I had a team to do the same for me.


    I stood back up, picking off the strands of spider silk and trying to shake them off my hands as each one was a persistent bastard, who refused to leave.


    Glifir and Fik gave me a hand.


    ¡°You know.¡± I said conversationally. ¡°This probably means we can add spiders to the list of creatures down here.¡±


    Fik looked at the strand he had in his hands, and furiously wiped them on the side of the shaft.


    He didn¡¯t help too much with the rest of the clean up.


    The next blasted hallway had a sharp rock on a stick swing at me like a club. [Bullet Time] activated, and I threw up [Mantle] as I danced backwards. [Mantle] managed to hold the trap for a second before breaking - but that was more than enough time. I was long gone, and grinned as the trap vibrated in an impotent manner.


    I couldn¡¯t resist sticking my tongue out at it before the rest of the dwarves caught up and managed to see it. I had this trap thing down!


    I hadn¡¯t seen enough traps to fully flesh out the theory, but there was a chance that they were hunting traps. The axe trap had been kinda overkill, but other two traps seemed to be sized-up versions of game and hunting traps I had some basic knowledge of. Food wasn¡¯t exactly dropping from the sky here, and whoever was down here needed to eat.


    The halls continued to rumble, with all of us being pressed into the ground twice, and launched into the ceiling once. ¡°Aggravating¡± didn¡¯t start to cover it, although I was glad it was Hebai¡¯s Gravity attacks that were being obnoxious, and not one of Yurok¡¯s attacks filling the halls with poisoned gas or something.


    Up and down, left and right, corkscrews and ramps, we traveled through the mines. If there was an architect, some grand overseer seeing the planning of how the mines were excavated, they were quite mad.


    No, more likely that it was just some sort of free for all, with each dwarf having done their own thing.


    Three hallways later, and I sprung another trap. [Bullet Time] activated as a hidden stone axe, comically large, sliced towards my neck. I threw up a [Mantle of the Stars] in front of me, starting to grin as it stopped the trap stone cold.


    Only to feel the bite of a second axe from behind sink into my neck, slicing through my spinal column, paralyzing and crippling my body. It continued, in slow motion, at high speed, cutting through my carotid arteries, my windpipe, and the rest of my neck, as I desperately tried to heal and reattach my head to the rest of my body. I wanted to frantically claw at it, to scream the fear out. I couldn¡¯t move, I couldn¡¯t scream. I could only be aware of the steadily slicing axe killing me. I was crippled, and my vocal cords had been cut in half.


    The axe was too large, and continued to interfere, even as my new enhancement from classing up and improving [Dance with the Heavens] to get rid of foreign objects started to chew through the material.


    Then I was flying, up towards the ceiling, spinning in such a way that I could see a headless body, dressed in a mismatch of Sentinel gear, collapse to the ground, blood spurting out in great gouts as my heart continued to pump, having never gotten the message that the head was gone.


    My healing kicked in, and with a shudder and a tiny pop, I regrew my entire body in a single go. There was no slow, gradual regrowing, just matter instantaneously being recreated. A small shiver went through me, as hundreds of thousands of nerves reconnected in a single moment, flooding my mind with foreign, yet familiar, sensations.


    Physics got slightly confused at this, as my head was going in one direction, then suddenly a bunch of extra mass was added on, but contrived to cause as much annoyance as possible. I slammed into the ceiling, cracking my head against the hard stone, then fell back to the floor with an ungainly splat.


    I mentally cursed as my face landed in blood, and the rest of my body crashed into the hard, unyielding stone. My old body continued to exsanguinate, baptizing the new one in hot spurts of life¡¯s most vital substance. Being on my stomach was super uncomfortable, and I rolled over, getting blood in my hair, panting as I stared at the ceiling.


    That had been way too close.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [The Dawn Sentinel] has leveled up to level 355->357! +3 Dexterity, +24 Speed, +24 Vitality, +170 Mana, +170 Mana Regen, +48 Magic power, +48 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    [*Ding!* [Celestial Affinity] leveled up! 355 -> 357]


    [*Ding!* [Center of the Universe] leveled up! 355 -> 357]


    [*Ding!* [Dance with the Heavens] leveled up! 355 -> 357]


    [*Ding!* [Sentinel''s Superiority] leveled up! 355 -> 357]


    [*Ding!* [Long-Range Identify] leveled up! 355 -> 357]


    I checked my mana, only to see I still had tens of thousands of points left, having burned through some 80k points of mana for that particular stunt. I could totally improve that with a better image, and getting a good image back into my [Persistent Casting] was now high on my to-do list.


    Also.


    I¡¯d survived being decapitated!


    Down in the rapidly expanding pool of blood, I couldn¡¯t help myself. I lifted my hands above my head, deeper into the pool, and yelled.


    ¡°I did it! I survived a beheading! Headless Elaine - total victory! Woohooooooooo!¡± I howled my victory into the air, down the hallways as loudly as I could, kicking my feet in excitement.


    As long as I had mana, I was going to be super hard to kill. I already knew that, but now I knew it.


    Voices came to me.


    ¡°Whoa, whoa, WHOA! That did NOT just happen!¡± Fik yelled.


    ¡°That happened. That really happened. Pinch me, this has got to be the most elaborate dream I¡¯ve ever had. Between the dragon, and the battle, and everything burning down, and now Elaine surviving that? Dream. Only explanation.¡± Drin muttered to himself, like a man possessed.


    I didn¡¯t see who hit him, but I heard the smack.


    ¡°Argh! Son of a goat-fucker, that hurt!¡± Drin cried out. ¡°This is the worst dream ever. I even get hurt in it.¡±


    Another smacking noise.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t ask you to keep going!¡±


    ¡°We should check that she¡¯s ok.¡± Glifir said, which brought the pitter-patter of dwarf feet running on stone to my ears.


    ¡°Elaine? Elaine!¡± The dwarves were calling out, and four concerned faces popped up around me.


    I lazily waved a hand above me in confirmation that I could hear them.


    ¡°I¡¯m ok. Just need a moment.¡± I lazily said, continuing to just stare somewhat vacantly at the ceiling.


    After a moment I blinked, groaned and rolled over, getting back up, naked as the day I was born. I looked at my old body, and at myself.


    ¡°This is going to take a few minutes.¡± I said, grabbing and dragging my old body back. I started to strip it, feeling more than a little uncomfortable with the process. Not only did it feel like I was robbing the dead, but it was my body. Well most of my body, without the head and all.


    Robbing the dead took on strange flavors when it was my own dead body I was robbing. Just. Extra-squick.


    I let a cold pragmatism take over, along with a desire not to trapeze along down the cold mines completely naked, as I continued to undress my unmoving body.


    Never really knew my back looked like that.


    Bonus - all my clothes, gear, everything was now soaked in blood. Yaaaay me.


    The dwarves continued to be utterly incredulous in the background. A real peanut gallery.


    ¡°Her whole body. One instant.¡± Ned was muttering to himself, like a man possessed. He wasn¡¯t the only one.


    I finished stripping the body and realized I was missing something.


    My pendant. The one from mom.


    I dropped to my knees, before starting to search through the pool of blood, trying to find it. It had been around my neck, and given my old neck¡¯s current inability to hold anything, it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if it had fallen off.


    ¡°Whatcha looking for?¡± Glifir asked me, peering over my shoulder, poking me a bit as if to check that, yes, I was real and he wasn¡¯t hallucinating.


    ¡°A pendant. From my mom. It¡¯s good luck.¡± I said, smarting up a bit, and making my fingers into rakes, running them through the ever-expanding pool.


    A bloody, tear-dropped shape emerged from the pool, and floated over.


    ¡°This it?¡± Fik asked.


    I didn¡¯t need to see him to know he was grinning, his great bushy beard split.


    I found some running water and gave the stone a quick rinse, my pendant emerging from it.


    ¡°Yes!¡± I said, throwing my arms around him.


    Or tried to anyways. I was rudely halted mid-air as Fik jumped back, laughing.


    ¡°Now now, none of that. Get clean and clothed first.¡± He said, pointing at my pile of gear.


    I flushed. Yeah, I wouldn¡¯t want to be hugged by the naked bloody mostly-stranger either.


    There was something to be said for giving the clothes a quick rinse in one of the water puddles, but we were also going to drink from them at some point. Also, we¡¯d spent enough time here. There was enough urgency to finding Toke that said ¡°don¡¯t spend 15 minutes washing clothes.¡± I did quickly dip and wring them, to get the worst of it out.


    Although, waiting 15 minutes would get me enough mana to survive a second decapitation. I was starting to become a real powerhouse - while I had mana.


    I started to put on the blood-soaked clothes, wincing as the freezing-cold blood was pressed against my flesh. I had regrets about rinsing them quickly.


    Tunic: 8/10.


    Tunic drenched in cold blood: 1/10.


    It didn¡¯t even get me a [Pretty] level!


    Still, as I finished getting my clothes and armor back on, I couldn¡¯t help but think:


    This totally gave new meaning to ¡°Axe body spray.¡±


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 19]


    [Mana: 32584/242710]


    [Mana Regen: 219805 (+155334.4)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 103]


    [Strength: 273]


    [Dexterity: 503]


    [Vitality: 3424]


    [Speed: 3424]


    [Mana: 24271]


    [Mana Regeneration: 24271 (+15533.44)]


    [Magic Power: 10081 (+151719.05)]


    [Magic Control: 10081 (+151719.05)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 357]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 357]


    [Cosmic Presence: 269]


    [Solar Infusion: 140]


    [Center of the Universe: 357]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 357]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 311]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 315]


    [Sunrise: 128]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 256]+]


    [Radiance Affinity: 256]


    [Radiance Resistance: 256]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 256]


    [Shine: 189]


    [Sun-Kissed: 256]


    [Blaze: 256]


    [Talaria: 256]


    [Nova: 256]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 357]


    [Pristine Memories: 205]


    [Pretty: 154]


    [Bullet Time: 269]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 301]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 357]


    [Persistent Casting: 255]


    [Learning: 341]

 Chapter 199- Journey to the center of Pallos IV

    I took a moment to reorient myself in the mines. We¡¯d come from that direction, and were going in that other direction. Right.


    I glanced at my stripped, headless former body. It felt all sorts of wrong to just leave it. On a deep, fundamental level it was like leaving the dead unburied. On a more practical note, it could attract predators, and put them on their trail.


    Put them on my trail, and they¡¯d know exactly how tasty I was.


    ¡°Anyone got ideas for how to handle¡­¡± I gestured to what I was trying hard to not think of as ¡°my body.¡±


    There was no way in hell that I¡¯d consider eating my own body. I wasn¡¯t Ponticus from Perinthus, who happily ate his own fingers. That was fifty levels of NOPE NOPE NOPE.


    Never-ever NOPE.


    I¡¯d seriously consider violating [Oath] if any of the dwarves suggested it.


    Burning lethal holes in a body - my body - was easy mode, especially now that it was no longer System-enhanced.


    Shouldn¡¯t be System-enhanced. It¡¯d be all sorts of weird and creepy if the System still considered it part of me, and I¡¯d be faced with some really uncomfortable questions.


    It was a different matter entirely to try and burn away the WHOLE body though. Cooking, yes. Vaporizing, no.


    There was some awkward silence, and dozens of glances exchanged. For as chatty as the dwarves were when I¡¯d initially been decapitated, they were lost for words when it came to the practicality of cleaning up. Everything rumbled, some rocks and dust falling from the ceiling. The sanguine pool had ripples going through it, and a tiny wave. That seemed to break the silence, and Ned spoke up.


    ¡°You just regenerated. Your entire body. In one go.¡± He said, with a strange, halting flow.


    I was half-annoyed that the topic wasn¡¯t being addressed, half smug-pleased. Especially because it was Ned, who¡¯d been a huge pain. Well, I¡¯d shown him up before, and now I¡¯d irrefutably shown him up forever more.


    I decided to let smug-pleased win, and preened a bit.


    ¡°Yup! All in a day¡¯s work! Only took about a third of my mana pool to do so.¡± I said, immensely enjoying dropping the bombshell on them.


    After that particular revelation, I had no fear of flies, not with four flycatchers out and about. I gave them a few minutes of stunned silence, before realizing my usual trick of closing mouths with a finger on the chin wouldn¡¯t work here.


    Their beards were too big and bushy.


    Finally, Fik broke the silence.


    ¡°I could try to build a small cairn, but I don¡¯t have enough mana to do it in one go. You might be able to regrow your entire body in a second, but, uh, I don¡¯t quite have that much mana.¡± Fik said, somewhat stupidly.


    That seemed odd to me, even as a Spell-axe, even with a lower tier class, he should have enough. Then again - a cairn sounded like a LOT of mana, and we didn¡¯t exactly have much to spare.


    I decided to interpret his answer as ¡°it¡¯d be a bad idea to use that much mana¡± not ¡°I magically can¡¯t.¡±


    I made a decision, the only one I could.


    ¡°Right, let¡¯s move on.¡± I said, briefly looking at the blood, thinking about jumping over it, but figuring that the ceiling was too low for a proper jump. Seeing no other option, I walked through the kiddie-sized pool of blood, hearing the slosh-slosh of blood around my ankles.


    I heard some minor arguing behind me, and I glanced over my shoulder to see what was going on.


    ¡°Come on Fik! It¡¯ll only take a minute.¡± Drin implored Fik.


    I paused on the other side, curious what would only take a minute.


    ¡°Elaine made it through just fine!¡± Fik protested back.


    ¡°Yeah, but I don¡¯t want to be wringing blood out of my socks. No offense.¡± Drin said, glancing at me, catching my eye.


    ¡°Work work work.¡± Fik muttered, as he gestured.


    I quietly cursed to myself as I saw Fik carefully putting some stepping stones down.


    Right, that totally would¡¯ve been an option. Not sure why Fik had delayed crossing himself if he didn¡¯t want to put rocks down, but eh. I wasn¡¯t going to try to delve into his mind.


    It took a few minutes for Glifir to pick up the trail again, and I hesitated. My mana was regenerating at a good clip, but I didn¡¯t have enough to repeat that stunt.


    However, time was ticking, and as Glifir picked the trail back up, I confidently led the way. The amount of mana I needed to use to heal myself was directly related to how much mass I needed to restore and the quality of my image. If I just healed my torso, and left stubs for my arms and legs - ¡°scarred over¡± - I¡¯d be fine.


    Probably.


    I was willing to risk probably.


    Behind me, the dwarves were furiously whispering, and over all the other chittering, clicking, dripping, and new banging noises, I heard some of their conversation.


    ¡°She really just¡­¡±


    The rest trailed off, but I could imagine the gestures.


    ¡°Yeah, she did.¡±


    ¡°Ned, could you do that?¡±


    Dead silence.


    ¡°No.¡± He reluctantly admitted. ¡°Not even close.¡±


    I refrained from pumping my fist. I¡¯d wanted to prove who the better healer was, and, well.


    Superiority shown. Dominance established. Not only that, but he¡¯d been asked twice. And said it twice.


    I just needed him to do it a third time. There was something special, something magical, about Ned being forced to confirm I was the best three times.


    ¡°She didn¡¯t even take a break, think she can do it again?¡±


    ¡°No. That¡¯d be insane.¡±


    ¡°I totally can do it again!¡± I yelled over my shoulder.


    I couldn¡¯t help it. I strutted down the latest hallway, only for the cruel gods in the sky above to remind me that I was a puny mortal.


    The passage we were in shook, like a god had descended to Pallos, picked up the planet, and shook it like a snowglobe. I bounced off of walls and ceilings and floors, with no idea which one was which. Bones broke only to be immediately reformed, and an eternity, seconds, later, it stopped.


    I got up and shook my head. I then turned around, and sprinted to where the dwarves were, cursing that I¡¯d made [Wheel of Sun and Moon] depend on being able to see the sky. Totally useless down here.


    I glanced at my mana to see that¡­ I had more mana than when I¡¯d checked after the decapitation. My regeneration was simply insane, but I was starving. Needed to find some food soon. Should ask Glifir for a snack real soon.


    I got to the dwarves, only to see them groaning and picking themselves up off the ground, Ned looking like he¡¯d salvaged some of his wounded pride.


    ¡°We¡¯re all good here.¡± He told me.


    I glanced at the dwarves getting up, and shrugged.


    ¡°Right then!¡± I said, only to hear the steadily increasing roar of water.


    ¡°Brace!¡± Drin yelled, grabbing onto me and Glifir. Fik and Ned grabbed onto each other, and I managed to link hands with Glifir as a small wave of water rounded the corner, and kinda pathetically crashed into us. I¡¯d happily jumped into bigger waves in Remus, when I¡¯d had some downtime.


    I eyed the receding water, flowing around us, and slowly put the pieces together.


    Mines. A complex interlocking system, of shafts going gods-knows-where and collapsed passages goddesses-knows-where. Water flowing down and filling up where it can, only for a massive jolt to shake everything loose. Something had broken a water reservoir, and it¡¯d come crashing down, only for the speed and momentum to rapidly bleed out as it needed to turn corners and fill endlessly branching tunnels with water.


    ¡°Any chance of getting tracks out of this?¡± I hopelessly asked Glifir. I figured it was worth checking.


    I got an ¡°Are you stupid?¡± look back.


    ¡°With all due respect, no.¡± Glifir said. ¡°However, we can keep following the direction, and hope.¡±


    ¡°Your snacks are still dry, right?¡± I asked, failing to keep the longing and desire out of my voice.


    We weren¡¯t running anymore, or even jogging. No, wading through water, as it made [Shine] dance and reflect in crazy ways across the hallways, was the order of the day. It was currently waist-high, but that wasn¡¯t saying much on me. It was also draining fairly rapidly, to gods-knows-where.


    A hallway and a killed slime later, I eyed a collapsed rockfall trap, grateful that whatever force had shaked us to the bone had also shaken the traps loose. Made our job easier.


    I wasn¡¯t going to assume they¡¯d all been sprung, but I was going to boldly assume that water was not part of a trap, and that it would probably hinder whatever traps would go off.


    I could imagine a trap that was faster in water than in air. I couldn¡¯t imagine whoever was setting these traps would anticipate all the tunnels getting half-flooded and having the traps that were laid ready to be faster under water than above.


    I climbed up the pile of rocks, and half-crawled along them, the ceiling pressing above, to get to the other side. Of course, as soon as I landed and cursed the intractable mud that the dust and the water inevitably made all over me, I was called.


    ¡°Hey! Over here!¡± Glifir yelled.


    ¡°Do you need me?¡± I called back, hoping the answer was no.


    ¡°You should really see this!¡± Drin added in. Welp, back up and over I go. At least I was out of the water for some time.


    A hop, a skip, and a jump later, and I was staring at a pillar of ice. While we couldn¡¯t see the ends, it was clear that it continued far on up above us - and well on down below.


    Fik let out a low whistle.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to see whatever creature can make that.¡± He told us.


    I looked at him like he was an idiot.


    ¡°We probably did?¡± I said in a tone that tried, but failed, to not be patronizing.


    He had the good grace to look embarrassed.


    ¡°That was cold.¡± Glifir said, giving me a grin. Fik and Ned joined each other in groaning at the bad pun.


    Still. I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d seen whatever used Ice - so the Guardian must be firing them from such a distance, that the System didn¡¯t even give a presence notification. I¡¯m not sure how I felt about that.


    I crawled back over the rocks, and froze.


    ¡°Halt!¡± I yelled, and madly scrambled back over the pile.


    ¡°Drin! Shield! Fik! Get our other side! Glifir! Ned! Center!¡± I barked out orders. ¡°Watch the walls!¡±


    I don¡¯t know if it was my tone, how long they¡¯d been letting me be in charge, or the decapitation stunt - but they all snapped into position.


    ¡°What are we watching for?¡± Drin asked, eyes nervously darting around.


    ¡°I¡¯m not entirely sure.¡± I replied. ¡°But when I went over initially, it was just a tunnel. Now it¡¯s an intersection, and something just made a new crossing tunnel, perfectly smooth and steeply angled. I don¡¯t know what¡¯s worse - if it was digging deeper, or something from deep below trying to escape.¡±


    I¡¯d had enough making dumb assumptions. I was now assuming that under our feet were beasts and monsters of all levels, and creatures as strong as the guardians we¡¯d seen were resting below our feet, willing to burst out if we dug too deeply.


    I wanted out.


    ¡°Nothing that can move that much rock that easily is low level.¡± Ned said, to nods of agreement.


    ¡°Heck, even if it doesn¡¯t want to eat us, just trying to go through us like it goes through stone would be more than enough.¡± Glifir nervously added.


    ¡°Unless it¡¯s a skill to eat stone.¡± I said, which had a few shoulders stupidly relax some of their tension.


    After a few minutes of us ready for the walls to explode and a rock-eating monster of some sort to menace us, and nothing of the sort happening, we relaxed.


    ¡°Well. Better safe than sorry.¡± Ned said, to general nodding all around.


    My legs were freezing. The mines started off cold, it was winter, the water was cold, and the pillar of ice was probably chilling everything even more. As long as I was moving, I didn¡¯t notice it too much, but standing still was doing me no favors.


    We climbed back over the wall, and water was backfilling here as well. We all paused in solemn contemplation as a face-down body floated along the current towards us. Ned waded over and flipped the body over, revealing a blue-faced dwarf, who was very dead.


    Marks of violence were all over his body, his metal armor dented and broken in a dozen places, with a large gash in his chest indicating likely the fatal injury.


    ¡°Those aren¡¯t monster marks.¡± I said, pointing out the obvious.


    ¡°Orcs.¡± Fik spat, which had me glaring at him.


    ¡°Oi!¡± I shouted at him.


    ¡°What!? Orcs suck!¡± He grouched back.


    ¡°We all need to stand in the water you just spat in! That¡¯s gross!¡± I complained back at him.


    I was ignoring the fact that I¡¯d created pools of blood for everyone else to wade through.


    ¡°Orcs are the worst. Brutal savages, who love nothing more than to plunder and raid.¡± Drin said, spitting into the water.


    Honestly. No manners among any of the dwarves.


    ¡°We keep beating them back, but they¡¯re like cockroaches. They¡¯re impossible to exterminate, and when there¡¯s one, there¡¯s a dozen more. No true dwarf can stand their presence. They¡¯re a stupid, savage lot.¡± Glifir added.


    Ned just spat three times. I assumed that was once for the rest of us.


    ¡°I have a woodchip mural of our champion slaying dozens of orcs in my home.¡± Ned said, swelling with pride.


    Ah. That might¡¯ve been the ugly-as-sin creature on Briga¡¯s desk, the one I couldn¡¯t figure out. For all the ¡°we hate them¡±, they sure made a lot of artwork of the people.


    At the same time, the dwarves seemed to be spewing a lot of standard ¡°anti-other¡± propaganda. I¡¯d heard ¡°Uncivilized savages, good only for extermination¡± before, and it wasn¡¯t exactly in a positive context - or a correct one.


    ¡°I bet the traps were made by them.¡± Fik said with disdain.


    I¡¯d need to make my own judgement, but anyone with the ingenuity to create the wide variety of traps and snares I¡¯d seen was getting some high marks from me. They were leagues above goblins, and goblins already had enough sentience to give my [Oath] problems. I¡¯d want to chat with an orc if I could, just to get the other side of the story.


    ¡°It¡¯d be just like those brutes to not fight honorably.¡± He continued. Fortunately, not spitting this time.


    No. Noooooooooooooooooo.


    The dwarves had notions of ¡°honor¡± and ¡°fair play¡± in fights.


    Nooooooooooooo.


    We were totally doomed.

 Chapter 200 - Journey to the center of Pallos V

    In spite of the new lows I associated my dwarven companions with, we carried on. What else was there to do?


    I kept wandering through hallways, picking intersections at random, while the dwarves tried to keep up enough to stay within the radius of my [Shine], no other light making it down here.


    Which is why when I saw dim flickering flames, I instinctively held my hand up in a fist, Ranger hand-speak for ¡°halt¡± as I extinguished my [Shine].


    ¡°What did you do that for?¡± Ned complained as he waded up next to me, the sloshing of the other three dwarves giving away their position.


    Of course, my instinctive use of Ranger-hand speak meant nothing to the dwarves, although I glared at him in the dark. Not that he could see me.


    ¡°Shhh!¡± I said, futility pointing at the flickering light, cursing the inexperience and inability of these supposedly high-level dwarves.


    Sure, they fought decently well, but the moment they were outside their ¡°normal lane¡±, they did dumb shit all over the place. Like talk loudly when I¡¯d just tried to get us into stealth mode.


    ¡°Lights over there.¡± Drin hissed to Ned.


    Ok, fine, maybe it was just Ned that was a dumbass.


    ¡°Glifir, can you check it out? Quietly?¡± I whispered to him.


    ¡°I¡¯m not Glifir, I¡¯m Fik.¡± Fik replied, barely moving his mouth.


    Whoops. Wrong hairy dwarf ear when I¡¯d just turned off the lights.


    ¡°Glifir!¡± I whispered into the right hairy ear. ¡°Can you check out that light?¡± I said, pointing.


    ¡°Yeah, but not without them seeing me.¡± He said.


    I weighed my options, as I saw the light start to rapidly brighten.


    ¡°Retreat! On me. We want as much distance as possible.¡± I said, calling it out a bit louder. Whoever they were might hear us, but that was the price we paid for good communication.


    At this point, it wasn¡¯t like they didn¡¯t know we were here. My [Shine] was just as obvious to them, as their torchlight was to us. I also heard some low voices, coming from a throat I¡¯d never heard before. Not exactly an encouraging start.


    We waded backwards through the knee-deep water, fortunately draining. We made it to the end of the tunnel, where it branched again, and waited.


    I took a kneeling position, the water sloshing around me, but the rest of the dwarves stayed standing, weapons in hand, shields out in front. Drin had managed to re-armor almost everyone, although Ned still lacked a few pieces, and I hadn¡¯t gotten anything yet. Our fearless frontliners, Drin and Fik, stepped forward, shoulder to shoulder. I could see Drin¡¯s shield starting to crackle with Lightning, and Fik was getting some pebbles ready. Glifir was conjuring up Ice knives and letting them float in the water next to him, preparing to throw them.


    Being in the tunnels was cramping his style. Hard to sneak around people and fade into Mist when there was nowhere to fade to.


    ¡°Wait for my command.¡± I whispered to them, seeing four heads slowly nod back.


    We spent a terse moment waiting, as the torchlight grew brighter and brighter. My stomach gurgled, trumpeting our presence and location, and complaining that it¡¯d never been fed. Then they stepped round the corner.


    They were four brutish hulks, humanoid, with dark red skin and sharp tusks sticking up from their lower jaws. The tunnels were just a hair too short for them, and they needed to bend their heads to be able to move comfortably around.


    Even then, I saw the third one bump his head on the irregular ceiling.


    Probably the mentioned orcs.


    The only defining features I saw was the one in the lead carried a long stone quarterstaff, and the one that¡¯d bumped his head had a flame on his shoulder, following like a faithful dog.


    Right. Wood might be valuable down here, and skills were infinitely preferable as a light source.


    With a roar, the dwarves next to me exploded forward, bellowing warcries. I mentally facepalmed at them completely and totally ignoring the ¡°wait for my orders¡± part, and rolled with the new situation


    All the yelling made hiding in the dark completely useless, and killed any advantage of surprise we might¡¯ve gotten. With deep, guttural noises, sounding like barks, the orcs carefully retreated back down the hall.


    Not before I was able to get a [Long-Range Identify] off.


    Two [Warrior]s, two [Mage]s. Levels 350 to 400.


    ¡°Back! Back!¡± I yelled, only to be completely ignored. I sighed.


    I threw up a [Mantle of the Stars] at the edge of my range, just barely managing to catch Fik and Drin.


    Fik halted at the barrier, but Drin tried to plow through it. Fortunately for me, he wasn¡¯t able to get a lot of speed, thanks to the water slowing him down, but it did take a chunk of mana.


    A chunk of mana that I didn¡¯t have to spare.


    The orcs vanished back around the corner, and the flickering flame they were using was either extinguished or concealed. I let a light [Shine] come off of me, so we could see, and not have to suffer in absolute darkness.


    ¡°Fall back! Follow me!¡± I yelled, not caring that the orcs could hear me.


    ¡°But we need to-¡± Drin started to protest.


    I cut him off before he could get going.


    ¡°You need to follow my orders.¡± I said, my tone brokering no argument. ¡°They know the area. We don¡¯t. We didn¡¯t even know if they were hostile to begin with! After seeing you lot try to murder them though, they are now.¡± I said, glaring at them.


    ¡°I expected you to shoot them or something! You¡¯re a mage, right?¡± Fik complained to me.


    I glared at him, but didn¡¯t want to reveal [Oath], and how it limited me to self-defense and protecting patients.


    I needed the orcs to attack first. Given the lack of attachment I had with the dwarves, I¡¯d be hard-pressed to justify them as patients that needed defending, not until they started to get injured.


    Then I could fire at will.


    But again, I wasn¡¯t going to start shouting it from the rooftops.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t know they were hostile.¡± I repeated myself, emphasizing every word with a fist smacked into my open palm.


    Drin started to protest, as a funny smell reached me. I sniffed, trying to identify it.


    [Bullet Time] activated, as a massive, flaming glow came from around the corner.


    ¡°DOWN!¡± I tried to yell as I put up [Mantle] as a wall, while trying to dive into the water.


    The words felt like they were taking an eternity to leave my mouth. The flames would reach us before I¡¯d finished talking.


    [Bullet Time] was giving me way too much time to reflect.


    Once upon a time, I¡¯d grabbed Fire as my element for my [Mage] class. Maximus and I had many long chats about Fire, and how it wasn¡¯t a particularly good element for a mage.


    Not until it was paired with another element.


    With that being said, I was seeing exactly what Fire paired with a second element could do. In this case, their mage had filled the tunnels with Spore, Miasma, or something else, then lit the fuse.


    Causing the roaring explosion heading towards us.


    It was extra-nasty in the tunnels, since the explosion was well-contained and well-directed towards us, instead of being more dispersed.


    The last thought I had before the explosion ripped through my shield and washed over us was that the orcs seemed well-prepared for fighting in tunnels.


    Then with a mighty boom, the explosion and pressure wave washed over us, churning and splashing water, pressure making my teeth rattle so hard I bit part of my tongue off, flesh cooking and searing in the heat.


    My skin blistered under the heat, only for my body to immediately reabsorb it as I healed through the damage. Water swirled, picking me up for the ride, twisting and turning me so much that I no longer knew which way was up.


    Then it was over, gravity reminded me which way was down, and I was once more unceremoniously dumped on the floor, where I flipped myself up as water rained down around me. One of Glifir¡¯s knives inserted itself into my shoulder, and I wrenched it out with a curse.


    His bloody prep ended up turning itself against us. However, in his defense, I would¡¯ve never imagined things going like this, so I wasn¡¯t going to hold it against him. A good reminder that no plan survives contact with the enemy.


    ¡°Trying to blow me up¡± firmly put them into ¡°self-defense¡± territory though, and I was weapons-free.


    The rest of the dwarves were picking themselves up off the ground, a bleeding gash on Drin slowly closing at the same time Fik¡¯s arm with too many elbows was getting righted.


    Ok, fine, Ned was at least solid at being able to keep his teammates up.


    We were regrouping as the orcs charged around the corner, looking annoyingly healthy and hale for the stunt they¡¯d just pulled on us. The warrior with the quarterstaff charged at us, while the second one reached his arms out, one hand on either wall. I wasn¡¯t sure what he was up to, but I didn¡¯t want to find out.


    Our frontline charged in tandem, and I was forced to flare [Mantle] to stop a high speed rock - one of Artemis¡¯s favorite tricks, and clearly it was good enough to cross species - from braining me. A second shot headed my way, and I continued to play ¡°whack-a-mole¡± with fired rocks, keeping Ned and Glifir safe.


    The occasional shot headed towards Fik, but when it got too close it either curved away from him, or got redirected to the charging orc with a quarterstaff, where the stone seemed to just glue itself to him.


    Fights where multiple people could manipulate the same object, from [Earth Manipulation] to [Gravity Manipulation] to whatever the orc was using, got weird fast. Basically, whoever was closest to the object usually had the best ¡°grip¡± on it, but then stuff like magic power and magic control came into effect and -


    This was not the time.


    I probably could¡¯ve erected a full shield, but that would¡¯ve cut the three backliners out from the fight, and we weren¡¯t going to leave Drin and Fik by themselves, 2v4. That would be all sorts of dumb.


    Glifir started throwing knives, but dwarvish arms came nowhere close to the speed and volume a mage could produce. He was totally out of his element here, but was undeniably helping.


    I made a bright cone of [Shine], aiming at the orc¡¯s eyes. I then rapidly cycled it between bright and dim, and tied it off with [Persistent Casting]. A flashing strobe made vision hell, strong utility. Blinding people was one of my favorite tricks.


    I tried to move, so they couldn¡¯t just shoot rocks at where I¡¯d have been, only to feel a strong yank on my feet. I looked down, and swore.


    Whatever mage was throwing rocks had more tricks, and stone hands had come up from the ground, grabbing my legs, preventing me from moving. I pulled, but I wasn¡¯t nearly strong enough to rip my leg out from the trap.


    ¡°Glifir! I¡¯m trapped!¡± I yelled, hoping that he¡¯d be able to get me out of this mess.


    I wasn¡¯t going to stand there helplessly. At the same time that I was calling for help, I threw a [Nova] their way. I was too far to try and brain the mages with Radiance, but I figured [Nova] would keep them on their toes.


    I then fired a beam of Radiance at the charging warrior¡¯s head, who roared at me. His mouth was full of broken teeth, with bits of rotting meat stuck between them. He continued to twirl his quarterstaff one-handed, as the other hand reached up and grabbed the ceiling, grabbing a chunk of stone that became a stone helmet as he slammed it onto his head.


    I wasn¡¯t going to lie. I was a bit intimidated by that. My angle was now all sorts of shit, as Fik and Drin were in the way of lower shots.


    At the same time - I think I got his eye. Which would be a huge win in my book. I was a fan of blinding my opponents.


    The second warrior orc had been holding onto the walls, but as [Nova] approached at high speeds, he started to slam his fists together, muscles bulging as he seemed to physically pull the stone out of the wall, creating a shield.


    He wasn¡¯t quite fast enough, and the [Nova] impacted on him, exploding in blinding Radiance. However, he¡¯d pulled the stone ¡°doors¡± closed enough that between them and his body, the mages behind him were safe. Didn¡¯t stop him from becoming ¡°extra-crispy¡±. He¡¯d need to see a healer after this, or spend a week recovering.


    Naturally, I tried to finish him off. I sent a second one their way, only for him to finish ¡°closing the door¡± so to speak.


    [Nova] exploded harmlessly against the stone - but they were no longer shooting at us.


    The different types of shields struck again! His shield was slow, and it took time to make - but once it was up, he didn¡¯t need to spend another point of mana on the shield. In contrast, my shields were instant, but everything they blocked took mana.


    I could use the skill again, and I fired a third [Nova] down towards their backline, trying to keep them pinned. If we couldn¡¯t win a 5 versus 1, I dunno what we¡¯d do.


    Then Fik, Drin, and the quarterstaff orc all charged into each other.


    The orc was bigger, taller and meaner. He had no shield, but was charging with a quarterstaff held like a polearm. I was dubious about the weapon of choice, given that the tunnels and his size didn¡¯t exactly give him a range of motion to use it without hitting the walls - until he swung it in a vicious side-swipe.


    Given that his hands were scraping the walls of the tunnel, I was surprised that his staff didn¡¯t bounce off the walls, or break. No, the stone staff melded with the stone walls, and with bulging, straining muscles, the orc finished his swing, his weapon having gone through the stone.


    No, not quite through.


    Instead of a quarterstaff on the other end, a weapon that could generously be described as a warhammer emerged from the other side. More accurately, it was a big stick with a giant rock on the end of it, a chunk of the wall missing where his skills had ¡°grabbed¡± it from. It swung into Fik at a speed that made me widen my eyes and redouble my struggles against the stone hands that were holding me fast. They were slowly tightening, which I didn¡¯t like.


    I might be able to scrape the little pieces of Fik off the ground fast enough to heal him, but that relied on me being able to get to him.


    I was forced to duck as the wall of the tunnel turned into a spike, trying to impale my head. I rarely fought creatures with real intelligence actively trying to kill me and my party, and I was pleasantly reminded that healers were perpetually on the ¡®kill them first¡¯ list. It wasn¡¯t helping that the enemy mage knew where I was, by virtue of having grabbed onto my legs.


    The hammer connected, but instead of Fik being turned into paste, he was simply launched to the side and crashed into the tunnel wall. The landing looked rough, but he was still groaning and moving, with minimal blood loss, and a lot less dwarf-paste than I was expecting.


    I threw another [Nova] back at the mages in the back, trying to keep them pinned behind the shield. Not that it seemed to be doing much, not with the enemy Earth mage knowing exactly where I was and throwing blind attacks at me. Glifir had seen what I was doing, and kept throwing the occasional knife in that direction.


    Then, it was Drin¡¯s moment to shine. The orc¡¯s crushing swing had left him open, and Drin made full use of it, a flash of Lightning on his feet as he suddenly sped up and smashed his shield into the orc¡¯s stomach, making the orc stiffen up and freeze entirely.


    Not one to waste a chance, I threw a lance of Radiance through the orc¡¯s right shoulder. It wasn¡¯t a lethal blow, but trying to swing that absurd hammer would be much harder with only one functional arm. Glifir got a knife between the orc¡¯s ribs, and Drin opened up a vicious cut along the orc¡¯s gut.


    Glifir reached me at that, and started working on pulling me out.


    Then the orc was back in action, but hurt. He couldn¡¯t bring nearly his full strength to bear, not with an arm out of commission and his guts starting to spill out. He dropped his warhammer and punched Drin with his left hand, causing him to go to one knee - and hit the orc again with his shield.


    Glifir took one hand off of me, and flicked another knife at the orc, managing to somehow curve the knife up and under the crude stone helmet. I don¡¯t know what it hit, but there was a good amount of blood streaming from the bottom of the helmet.


    I threw another [Nova] at the orc¡¯s shield that protected their backline.


    Only half-powered though. I was running dangerously low on mana, having never gotten a solid rest, and Radiance wasn¡¯t exactly going to do a ton of damage to stone. I just wanted to keep them pinned. Since none of the orcs could see me anymore, I changed [Shine] to a safer ¡°lamp¡± mode, so we could see without me throwing blinding rays around.


    The orc crashed to the ground, and while there hadn¡¯t been a notification yet, he was clearly out of the fight. It was only a matter of time now, and ugh. There was a chance I might need to save him.


    Either way, his current threat was neutralized, and it was time to deal with the rest of the orcs, and get freed from the stone hands still gripping my legs.


    ¡°Drin! Need a hand here!¡± I yelled, as Glifir tried to give me an extra inch or two of height.


    I shielded a spike growing out of the ceiling, trying to impale me head to toe, delighted that my shield was strong enough to stop the spike. Ha!


    Only to discover that the rest of his team hadn¡¯t been idle behind the shield as a second large explosion ripped through the hallway.

 Chapter 201 - Journey to the center of Pallos VI

    The light of the explosion washed over us as I watched the expanding flames.


    I was low on mana. I¡¯d been in non-stop marathon mode, and fighting was expensive. Sure, I had more mana - but I could also blow through mana a lot faster. I just didn¡¯t have the reserves to handle another explosion, then handle the rest of the blasted fight.


    No, it was time to start pulling out my gems. Powerful, one-time use skills that we Sentinels all swapped and traded with each other, rounding out our kit to bail ourselves out of difficult or tricky situations.


    Like being out of mana, deep underground, watching a roaring explosion heading towards me and the other dwarves. Just another typical Sentinel mission. My stomach roared in protest, reminding me that I was technically starving. My brand-new body had no food in it at all when it was conjured up.


    I was totally going to acquire Glifir¡¯s snacks after this, one way or another.


    With deep regret over losing one of the last mementos I owned of Sealing, I blew the gem with his skill. Brilliant walls snapped around us, cutting off the flames from the fuel. I threw up a second [Mantle] behind it, just to be safe, but the barrier held against the explosion, incandescent flames against a shimmering barrier of light, with stars layered against the whole image.


    Sealing, still saving lives from beyond the grave.


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Stone Berserker] (Mountain - 370)/[Mountain Mauler] (Mountain - 316)]


    Fik had taken the moment to finish off the orc, the notification indicating that he was fully gone.


    ¡°Grab the body! We¡¯re out of here!¡± I yelled, as I started to retreat, only to be rudely reminded that I was trapped.


    ¡°Actually, Drin! Help me out here!¡± I shouted.


    ¡°On it!¡± Drin yelled, as Fik started to haul the orc¡¯s body down the tunnel.


    Drin grabbed one arm, and Glifir grabbed another. I opened my mouth in a silent howl as they yanked, and I felt bones breaking. Bless [Center of the Universe]. I was still stuck though.


    ¡°Do you mind?¡± Drin asked, hefting his axe.


    Ah fiddlesticks. Not this again.


    ¡°Do it.¡± I said through gritted teeth.


    Four sharp hacks later, and I was free, regrowing my feet once again. I didn¡¯t even have the tattered remains of my sandals left, and even if I found sunlight I wouldn¡¯t be able to use [Talaria]. Blast it all.


    We all got to the other side of the barrier, and I did a quick headcount. We were all here, and Drin and Fik were working together on the orc¡¯s body.


    ¡°Great! We¡¯re off!¡± I said.


    I dropped Sealing¡¯s barrier - it was a cube in the end, and had also sealed off our escape - and started to jog at a good clip, not too fast where if I took two turns quickly they¡¯d lose me, but not too slow that we¡¯d get caught up in the next explosion. The more distance we could put between us and the orcs, the better.


    We could kill them if we got the drop on them, and we had full mana. We had neither right now, and not only did the orcs have a home field advantage, but it was blindingly obvious that all their classes, skills, and fighting style revolved around being in the tunnels. It gave them too much of an advantage.


    I don¡¯t know how long we ran for, but we¡¯d gone a considerable distance before I halted us in a dead end.


    First things first.


    ¡°Is anyone still injured from that fight?¡± I asked. Heads reluctantly shook. My stomach awkwardly growled in the silence.


    ¡°Does anyone know or see of a threat to us right now?¡± I said, looking around in a large, exaggerated motion.


    ¡°Nope.¡±


    ¡°Nothing.¡±


    ¡°Clear.¡±


    Ned didn¡¯t say anything, just folded his arms over each other.


    Confirming with my own eyes that we seemed safe enough - barring monsters bursting through the ceiling, which was a distinct possibility - I threw up [Mantle] across the entrance to the dead-end, and took a seat, so fast it was like I was falling.


    Important things first.


    ¡°Glifir?¡± I asked him with a pleading voice, giving him my best puppy-dog eyes. No idea if they had puppies or anything, but it was kind of a universal gesture.


    My hope was rewarded as he rolled his eyes with a knowing smile, and handed me one of his snacks. I tore into it like a woman who hadn¡¯t seen food in weeks.


    Hunger was THE BEST spice. The hard, tasteless rations became positively divine.


    ¡°Come, sit.¡± I said, not quite keeping a slight tremor out of my voice. Life and death fights were a pain, and the crash of adrenaline was never fun.


    ¡°What about-¡± Glifir asked, before shutting up. I raised an eyebrow at him.


    ¡°What about¡­.?¡± I asked, encouraging him to finish his sentence. The amazing snack-hander-out could do no wrong in my books.


    ¡°Toke.¡± He reluctantly finished.


    ¡°She¡¯s probably dead.¡± Drin muttered unhappily into his beard, taking a seat. ¡°Orcs don¡¯t take prisoners, they take rations.¡±


    ¡°Disgusting practice.¡± Fik made his displeasure well-known.


    However, at Fik¡¯s words, slow nods went around the room. It seemed like we were recognizing that Toke was dead. I¡¯d need to grieve for her - and Lule - when I got a moment. I¡¯d done so a bit earlier, but I hadn¡¯t finished processing the grief. I was just shoving it away in a corner to process, to move.


    ¡°Right. We¡¯re taking a break here.¡± I announced. ¡°We¡¯re going to rest up, before tackling the rest of the mine. Our current goal is to escape. Does anyone disagree?¡±


    Furious nodding met my proclamation of our goal being to escape. Bit surprised it was nodding, but hey, different cultures and all that. I¡¯m glad we were on the same page, and nobody had ideas of trying to hunt the orcs down to the bitter end.


    ¡°Oh, Healer Elaine, what was that barrier there at the end?¡± Ned asked me, shuffling over towards me a bit. ¡°Is it related to how you were able to heal yourself from being beheaded? That looked like Brilliance. Did you get a third class and reset your first? Is that how you¡¯re so strong? That would explain the decapitation thing...¡± He trailed off, stroking his beard thoughtfully.


    I gave him a blank look, before laughing.


    ¡°No, if I¡¯d managed to hit 512 before I was 20, that¡¯d be one heck of an achievement!¡± I continued to chuckle at the idea. ¡°No, just good classes.¡±


    ¡°What I want to know.¡± Drin said, stroking his beard thoughtfully. ¡°Is why your Radiance beam didn¡¯t go right through the orc¡¯s head. You claimed to have what, 114,000 magic power? More now? You healed your entire body in one move, which supports that claim, but then you shouldn¡¯t have had trouble with the orc.¡±


    I felt some heat rise up my neck.


    ¡°Caught.¡± I said, the edges of my [Oath] going to be revealed. ¡°I¡¯ve got a skill that improves my healing power and control.¡±


    ¡°But the barrier?¡± Glifir interrupted. ¡°How did you have that?¡±


    I didn¡¯t want to tell them or show them, but, well. More cats outta the bag. Just hoped they wouldn¡¯t try to murder me in my sleep - not that they¡¯d shown any inclination for that so far, but you never knew. Starving, trapped in the mines, I wasn¡¯t one of them. I was Other¡±, and it was a lot easier to kill, butcher, and eat an Other than to resort to cannibalism. Especially when she was pesky and kept giving orders.


    I¡¯d hope that keeping them all alive counted for something.


    I tapped my right vambrace, the only one I had left. I¡¯d lost the left one to Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s flames.


    ¡°Gemstones. Sentinels are equipped with a wide variety of gemstones, with the most powerful utility skills we can reasonably find and purchase. That skill was-¡±


    I found my voice wavering, sadness crashing through the little hole in my mental defenses left by the crashing adrenaline. I powered through.


    ¡°-from a good friend of mine, who died recently.¡± I said, not stopping a few hot tears from falling.


    Sealing. There one day, then in a moment, a flash, he was away with the strike team, and never came back.


    Another day.


    ¡°Got more of those?¡± Fik asked, greed in his voice.


    I shook my head.


    ¡°Just the one. My role isn¡¯t a combat one, I just have a few tricks for self-defense.¡±


    ¡°Hang on, I-¡± Ned was interrupted by Fik, and honestly, I was more inclined to listen to Fik and answer him.


    ¡°Like what?¡± He asked, eagerly crowding around and looking at my bracer like it¡¯d give them magic abilities.


    I mentally smiled. Wood-obsessed as they were, everyone liked shiny gems.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a few invisibility gems, which are usually great.¡± I said, waving my hands at the rocky walls surrounding us. ¡°Like Glifir¡¯s discovered though, they¡¯re not nearly as good when there¡¯s nowhere to vanish to. Speaking of, we should talk about that fight.¡±


    I feel like a prayer had been answered somewhere. I¡¯d somehow redirected a conversation well. A diplomatic win had somehow occurred.


    ¡°Stopping our charge was a mistake.¡± Drin immediately called out. ¡°We should¡¯ve taken them from the start.¡±


    There were nods of agreement around.


    ¡°Help me out. Why? We weren¡¯t on the same page, which led to us kinda stumbling over each other.¡±


    ¡°Orcs are vile and cruel, and must be fought wherever they¡¯re found.¡± Ned said, practically sniffing, seemingly sidetracked from his question.


    The dwarves were so frustrating. I could scream and rip my hair out. I was seriously considering just taking my chances on my own. It was only out of a sense of obligation, guilt that Lule had died for me, along with the belief that, as a whole, they helped my chances more than hindered me, that kept me around.


    Ned - I disliked him strongly. But he was a competent healer, if incredibly obnoxious. He¡¯d patched me up without a moment¡¯s hesitation after I¡¯d fallen, and was out of mana, and constantly had heals up on everyone else. Ranged heals. It let me focus primarily on the fighting, and not need to run around slapping healing into people.


    Drin was a strong front-liner. He was too aggressive, but his ability to stun people was no joke. I had my doubts on how well it¡¯d work, before I saw how effortlessly he took apart the orc. It wasn¡¯t like he stunned them briefly, and that was it. No. He could chain his stuns, in a way that almost permanently crippled a foe, all while he took them apart with his axe.


    That, and he was regrowing everyone¡¯s armor. Stupidly unfair, but I made a mental note to ask for some anyway. Now that we were no longer in a rush, I wasn¡¯t taking a risk.


    Also, I was a dumbass. I should¡¯ve asked him for a set while we were moving around.


    That thought made me reevaluate myself.


    I hadn¡¯t quite given them a fair chance, or a solid shake. I¡¯d been paranoid, then slightly put off by them, and I¡¯d just retreated into my own mind and books that I¡¯d been given. I should¡¯ve been socializing with them, making friends. Instead, I¡¯d been stand-offish. Arrogant. Practically putting my nose in the air as high as Ned¡¯s. I¡¯d assumed I was better than them, just as much as Ned had assumed he was better than me.


    I was no great actor. There was no way they hadn¡¯t picked up on it.


    Fik was solid. He was supportive, and had amazing tricks with his Gravity magic, along with being a stout warrior. A classic spellblade, and was vocally supportive of the decisions I was making. Possibly to keep the harmony, but hey. I liked it.


    Then there was Glifir. He was completely out of his element, and I couldn¡¯t blame him much for it. It was just like when I tried to stab the slime, except I had the ability to fall back on my other weapons. He was trying to fall back to his plan B, but it was only so-so.


    At the same time, he seemed to genuinely enjoy being around me, and was nothing but helpful. His mapping abilities were priceless, and if I had to only have one dwarf with me, I¡¯d pick Glifir every time.


    Which had me circling back round to the idea that I genuinely might be better off on my own. Each time the dwarves pulled a dumbass stunt like the one in the fight against the orcs risked my life, and while I¡¯d heal a patient, there was nothing about preventing suicidally dumb idiots from jumping off a cliff.


    My only obligation was to patch them up after they hit the ground.


    I wasn¡¯t going to let the dwarves tie me to a boulder, and throw it off the edge.


    I realized some time had passed, with everyone looking at me.


    ¡°Ok, sure, but why charge? Why not retreat, and wait in ambush? Catch them around a corner, while they didn¡¯t know about us?¡± I asked. ¡°Help me understand, so we can work better as a team.¡±


    Drin held up his hand.


    ¡°Healer Elaine the 94th.¡± He said, and I was instantly giving him my full focus and attention. We¡¯d lowered how formal we were being, given the situation, so the full, formal title grabbed my notice.


    Maybe that¡¯s why they did it?


    ¡°None of us at the wall are, um¡­¡± He said, trailing off awkwardly and tugging at his beard. He looked around, and saw that nobody was going to help him. He sighed.


    ¡°None of us at the wall are really there because we want to be.¡± He said. ¡°It¡¯s a punishment detail, of sorts. Screw up. Go to the wall. The one out of the way where nobody is nearby and nothing happens for years. Serve however many years of punishment there. Come back.¡±


    I said nothing, waiting for him to continue. ¡°Sorry we¡¯re all fuck-ups that got sent to a shit detail¡± wasn¡¯t exactly endearing to me. Nor did it excuse their behavior.


    Drin¡¯s beard went through some awkward twitches here and there, as he worked something out internally.


    ¡°We¡¯re just, well, not trying to screw this up. If people knew we¡¯d run from a fight, our reputations would get even worse. Might even get years added to our time at the wall. If they knew we¡¯d ran from orcs, of all things, we¡¯d be lucky if they just threw us out.¡± Drin said. ¡°Win though? Kill a team of orcs in combat? We¡¯d be back home so fast, we wouldn¡¯t even be able to plant a tree to mark our passage. So it influenced me somewhat, ok? Baseline, it¡¯s a matter of honor for us. Tradition.¡±


    I had a lot of thoughts of where, exactly, those could be stuffed. I kept my cool. Drin continued.


    ¡°Hearing your questions, you¡¯re right. I¡¯m under a lot of stress. I screwed up. We screwed up. It¡¯s hard though, when your teammates are dying, and flames have wrapped your country. I don¡¯t even know if my family is alive.¡±


    There was a lot of muttering at the last one. Glifir patted Drin on the shoulder, who patted his hand back.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s terrible.¡± I said, sympathizing. My thoughts strayed to my family, especially my dad, who might get caught up in the civil war that was brewing. I didn¡¯t want to try and one-up them though, so I kept it to myself.


    ¡°Hey, look. Let¡¯s just try to survive, and get out of here, ok?¡± I said, swinging my arms out to half-hug Drin and Fik, who were sitting next to me. ¡°I imagine getting a diplomat out of a tight pinch is worth a bunch of honor, right?¡±


    There were some confused looks at that, and I plastered a cheery smile on.


    ¡°Look, you¡¯ve told me what you need. You know what I want. To get back home alive. Tell you all what. We get out of here, and I¡¯ll make sure you get assigned somewhere nicer. I¡¯ll tell ¡¯em it¡¯s a favor for me, for saving my life a dozen times over. Heck, I¡¯ll even make sure you¡¯re able to plant some trees along the way.¡± I had no idea what the last bit was about, but I was now resolved to find out.


    That got them happy, and I mentally celebrated. I¡¯d finally stopped treating them like automatons, and more like people. I¡¯d spent some time figuring out what they wanted, not just needed besides basic food and drink. I¡¯d worked out how to align our goals together.


    I was still so hungry though.


    That¡¯s what the orc body was for.

 Chapter 202 - Journey to the center of Pallos VII

    Hilariously, for all their cursing of orcs as uncivilized barbarians, the dwarves didn¡¯t utter a single word of objection to roasting and eating the orc. From how they savagely tore into the orc, they were a lot less squeamish about eating intelligent foes than I was.


    I had to ruthlessly murder the part of me that was screaming about eating a formerly intelligent humanoid. Glifir¡¯s snacks were good, but hunger and survival instincts teamed up to utterly shred the moralistic part of me that was saying ¡°no, don¡¯t do it!¡±


    In the end, my first bite of a creature that had formerly been intelligent and thinking was ravenous and drooling. I took great big bites of an arm that I¡¯d drilled Radiance through, and thoroughly enjoyed it.


    Fortunately, it tasted nothing like pork.


    We¡¯d agreed to eat, then plan our next moves, and I took a moment to check my level-ups, noting that everyone had gained quite a few levels. Glifir was on the low end at 9, while Ned was on the high end with 26. Between Lun¡¯Kat and the fight, I wasn¡¯t surprised.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [The Dawn Sentinel] has leveled up to level 357->358! +3 Dexterity, +24 Speed, +24 Vitality, +170 Mana, +170 Mana Regen, +48 Magic power, +48 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    [*Ding!* [Celestial Affinity] leveled up! 357 -> 358]


    [*Ding!* [Center of the Universe] leveled up! 357 -> 358]


    [*Ding!* [Dance with the Heavens] leveled up! 357 -> 358]


    [*Ding!* [Sentinel''s Superiority] leveled up! 357 -> 358]


    [*Ding!* [Long-Range Identify] leveled up! 357 -> 358]


    [*Ding!* [Mantle of the Stars] leveled up! 315 -> 318]


    [*Ding!* [Shine] leveled up! 189 -> 191]


    I chewed on the humerus thoughtfully, which must¡¯ve triggered a bout of insanity or something, as I briefly debated classing up. That sheer stupidity of that idea caused me to laugh out loud, which had all the dwarves looking at me like I was mad.


    Yeah, no, not going to try classing up in a place where everything was trying to kill me, ceiling included. I did trust the dwarves to look after me, and I cursed my earlier paranoia.


    What was done was done. I did note that I needed to work on [Sunrise], and make a habit out of using it in fights, if nothing else than to get more levels in it.


    The rest of the meal was in relative silence, as we were all too busy chowing down to have a proper talk.


    We ate the entire orc - I have no idea how honestly, it was some sort of miracle - except for the head and entrails, which we kinda, maybe buried, as was Tradition.


    And good hygiene practice. Which really was how a lot of traditions started. ¡°Hey, eating pig makes you sick, let¡¯s not eat pig.¡±


    ¡°Right, let¡¯s start with a map. Glifir?¡± I asked him, and he generated a sprawling map of where we¡¯d been so far.


    He¡¯d been a busy bee the entire time I¡¯d been face-tanking traps. In and out of side passages, the extent of his work was laid in front of us. He somehow managed to clearly mark dead-ends by having the Mist map terminate abruptly, and unexplored passages trailed off, indicating they still had potential. I hadn¡¯t quite realized how far we¡¯d gone, and I doubted I would be able to find my way back in a timely fashion, not without his map.


    Also - these had been some busy, busy dwarves. Then again, we¡¯d seen that other, non-dwarf creatures seemed to be making tunnels, and the Guardians were busy rearranging things, so who could tell.


    Speaking of the Guardians, it¡¯d been ages since the tunnels last shook. We were all hoping that it was over, but not a single one of us was willing to say it out loud.


    ¡°Right, we¡¯re here.¡± Glifir said, pointing to a spot on the map I wouldn¡¯t have guessed as our current location. ¡°And we dropped down here.¡± He said, pointing to a spot on the map that was lower than our current location.


    ¡°The way I see it, we¡¯ve got a few options, and a few non-options.¡± Glifir said. ¡°We¡¯re deep underground. Option 1 - keep going up ramps, and try to break through to the surface.¡±


    I was nodding at that, along with everyone but Fik.


    ¡°Option 2. We go back to the shaft where we fell, and try to work our way back up.¡±


    That had Fik nodding furiously.


    ¡°For the less-obvious choices.¡± Glifir said, and I was all ears.


    ¡°Option 3. Try to trace the orcs back to their base, and exit however they get out.¡± He said.


    ¡°Won¡¯t work.¡± Drin interrupted, twirling his beard. ¡°Traditionally, they live deep in the mountain. They don¡¯t have an exit, this is their home.¡±


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t mean they don¡¯t know an exit.¡± Ned pointed out.


    ¡°Yeah, but-¡± Fik started to argue, and I cut him off.


    ¡°Let¡¯s discuss all this if we think the five of us can pull off what, apparently, generations of Khazad dwarves couldn¡¯t.¡± I said, with a dry tone.


    ¡°We¡¯re so much better than they are.¡± Fik muttered with an angry tug of his beard, but dropped the argument.


    ¡°Thank you. Option 4, we stay here and wait for rescue.¡± Glifir said.


    There was a pause, before we all started laughing at the joke. Drin let out a huge belly laugh, while Fik cackled like a witch. Ned chortled, while I fell over laughing, struggling to get enough air in my lungs. Even Glifir let out some weak chuckles.


    ¡°Wait for rescue.¡± HA!


    ¡°Ok, ok, moving on.¡± He said, only for my renewed howls of laughter to interrupt him.


    I felt bad, but I couldn¡¯t help it.


    All good things - like a solid joke - must come to an end though.


    ¡°Right, option 5 - we try going deep. Real deep. Into the Below levels.¡± He said.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t those just rumors?¡± Ned asked.


    ¡°Too many rumors of them, too consistent. They¡¯re probably real.¡± Glifir said.


    ¡°But if they¡¯re just rumors¡­.¡± I ¡°asked¡±, letting my question trail off.


    Glifir shrugged.


    ¡°There¡¯s a reason I listed the option after ¡®Stay still¡¯.¡± he said. ¡°The rumors all agree that vast and powerful creatures live there, certain death, yada yada, you get the idea.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s all I¡¯ve got for ideas. Thoughts?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Build a small base, fortress, whatever, here. Keep it defended, set traps for food, explore to expand the scope of what we can see until we¡¯ve got more information to select the best plan.¡± Drin said.


    I stared at him.


    ¡°Oooh! What if we based it near the shaft we fell down? I can work on getting us out that way, while Glifir scouts, and Elaine, Ned, and you rotate between holding down the fort and hunting for food!¡± Fik excitedly told Drin.


    ¡°Yeah, that would work!¡±


    The two of them were building up a huge amount of energy towards their plan. Heck, I was getting excited!


    Which I needed to not do. I needed to step back, and evaluate things dispassionately.


    ¡°Checking a few basic things, sorry.¡± I said. ¡°Do we have any ability to go through rocks?¡±


    The dwarves all looked at each other like I was an idiot.


    ¡°No, not really.¡± Ned said.


    ¡°I mean, we can get through some collapsed passages, depending on how bad it is.¡± Fik pointed out. ¡°My Gravity magic is good for that sort of stuff.¡±


    ¡°We have no idea what¡¯ll collapse if we clear out rocks though.¡± Ned said.


    I reluctantly nodded my agreement with him. I wasn¡¯t going to mention my [Wall Buster] gem. I didn¡¯t even know if it¡¯d work, and explosively removing a rock blockage?


    Rocks fall, I die.


    ¡°We could end up bringing the whole thing down on us. Let¡¯s save that idea if we know there¡¯s an exit on the other side of a rockfall, but otherwise not try to get through rocks. Agreed?¡±


    Everyone but Glifir agreed, who grumbled about ¡°exploring¡± and ¡°a complete map¡± under his breath but otherwise let it be.


    ¡°Nobody¡¯s mentioned them, but are there Khazad dwarves down here?¡±


    ¡°The ground defilers are probably somewhere, yeah.¡± Fik grumped out.


    ¡°Bloody useless lot.¡± Ned said, somewhat agreeing with Fik.


    ¡°Only a few steps above orcs really.¡± Drin added in.


    ¡°We had dinner with one! Remember?¡± I said protesting Drin¡¯s assessment.


    ¡°Ok, fine, quite a few steps above orcs. Still, wouldn¡¯t want my daughter coming home with one.¡± Drin amended his statement.


    It was technically better, but not by much.


    ¡°And!¡± He said, getting worked up and mad. ¡°I remember that tree-rotted Khazad dwarf talking about trying to evict Lun¡¯Kat from her lair! I bet that¡¯s why she went on a rampage!¡± He said, fury, hurt, and anger in his voice.


    ¡°Yeah!¡± Fik agreed, flavored by rage.


    This was going to go downhill fast if I didn¡¯t butt in.


    ¡°Would they help us?¡± I asked. Not my most tactful question, but I wanted them to refocus.


    In a way that was like pulling teeth, like he¡¯d rather a limb get amputated, Ned answered.


    ¡°...Yes.¡±


    ¡°And they¡¯d probably have food, and know an exit?¡± I asked again.


    ¡°.... probably.¡± Glifir added in.


    Geez, don¡¯t all trip over yourselves with enthusiasm.


    ¡°Ok, help me out here. You¡¯ve got relatives that¡¯ll get you food, shelter, and an exit, and won¡¯t murder us on sight. What¡¯s there not to love about that?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re Khazad dwarves though!¡± Drin half-protested. ¡°We don¡¯t need their help.¡±


    I pointed the humerus I was gnawing on at him.


    ¡°I just ate an orc I needed to kill in mortal combat earlier today. I¡¯d really like not to do it again.¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s got a point, you know.¡± Ned pointed out, seemingly less annoyed than his usual state of being. ¡°We¡¯re all dwarves down here. Link up with the Khazads, and get news of what¡¯s happened above. The dragon is pro-¡±


    It pained me to interrupt Ned when he was agreeing with me, but I had to.


    ¡°Shhh!¡± I said, cutting through the rest of what he was going to say. ¡°They can hear you when you call their name.¡±


    Ned opened his mouth at me, saw something in my face, and closed it.


    Welp, topic of conversation massively deflected. Might as well go all the way.


    ¡°Where I¡¯m from, we have a vampire. A progenitor, from what you all call the first generation.¡± I said, smiling at their reaction. ¡°He witnessed the devastation ''they'' can unleash first-hand, and he believes that ''they'' hear you when you say their name.¡±


    I was getting some skeptical looks, and Glifir had some waterworks starting, but I plowed on.


    ¡°Now, I¡¯m not sure of how true that is, but after what we¡¯ve seen, who wants to risk it?¡± I asked.


    Dead silence.


    ¡°Let¡¯s not say Her name, or what she is then?¡± I suggested, getting a reluctant nod out of Fik. The rest of the dwarves didn¡¯t disagree though.


    However, I¡¯d just rudely reminded them that everything they knew and loved was probably gone, and I felt obligated to provide a distraction and direction.


    ¡°The way I see it, from what we¡¯ve been saying, there are two real options. First, we try to go up, towards the surface, and hope we bump into some Khazad dwarves while we¡¯re at it. The second option, we go back to where we fell down, and make a little fort while Fik works on getting us out. Waiting here, or trying to take the fight to the orcs, or going super deep, aren¡¯t really options. Are we all in agreement?¡±


    ¡°Well, with option 2-¡± Drin started to say, and I held my hand up.


    ¡°Obviously, whatever one we pick we¡¯ll need to hammer out the details on.¡± I said. ¡°Right, let¡¯s discuss pros and cons, then vote on what we¡¯ll do.¡±


    A lively discussion ensued, and the lines, and the pros and cons, were quickly established.


    Drin and Fik favored option 2, going back to the shaft and trying to work our way out. The pros of the plans were a defensible location, a known area, and a known exit. The cons of the plan were getting out would be difficult - Fik thought he could do it, but couldn¡¯t guarantee it - the fact that orcs were roaming the area, which would probably get us into a fight, then more and more as word got around that we were there. Food had already proven to be scarce in the location, even before the roaming slimes were factored in.


    Which left Glifir and Ned on option 1, going up and seeing if we could find an exit ourselves, or meet other dwarves. The exit would be much easier to use, if we could find it. We¡¯d be more likely to find a food source, and potentially pivot to Drin¡¯s fortress plan. Friendly dwarves could give us news and help.


    It also became clear that from how they were debating the issue - it was far too civil to call it arguing - that the points being made were aimed at me. Not only had I been accepted as the nominal leader, but I was the tie breaking vote.


    Which was interesting, it implied that the dwarven government - errr, probably former government, after Lun¡¯Kat was done with them - had some democratic features, and were pervasive enough that the average dwarf thought about voting.


    Anyways, to me, the answer was easy.


    ¡°We should go with option 1.¡± I said. ¡°Movement is life. We can build an OK fort, like Drin wants, but if - when - the orcs discover us, we¡¯re sitting ducks. We don¡¯t have anyone with an Earth or Mountain element - sorry Fik, Gravity doesn¡¯t count here - and if they know where we are, it becomes easy to surround and pin us down. Fik¡¯s also not entirely sure he can get us out of the shaft, so we might just spend days or even weeks, only to find out we¡¯re right where we started, but possibly weaker, and hungrier.¡±


    I shook my head.


    ¡°Against a superior force, we never want to directly engage. We¡¯d want to hit, run, and whittle them away, and barring that, retreat to get reinforcements. Stillness is death.¡±


    The only time I¡¯d gotten a chance to practice my ¡°one against many¡± tactics was when the pirates had tried to ambush me on the trip back from Deva. Now, I was operating on the proper scale of my team versus their team, but our objective wasn''t to kill the orcs, it was to escape.


    ¡°Does anyone have strong objections to going with option 1?¡± I asked, getting shaking heads in response - although Drin¡¯s was reluctant. I hadn¡¯t called a vote, because there was no need to. It was clear how things would shake out.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [The Dawn Sentinel] has leveled up to level 358->359! +3 Dexterity, +24 Speed, +24 Vitality, +170 Mana, +170 Mana Regen, +48 Magic power, +48 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    [*Ding!* [Celestial Affinity] leveled up! 358 -> 359]


    [*Ding!* [Center of the Universe] leveled up! 358 -> 359]


    [*Ding!* [Dance with the Heavens] leveled up! 358 -> 359]


    [*Ding!* [Sentinel''s Superiority] leveled up! 358 -> 359]


    [*Ding!* [Long-Range Identify] leveled up! 358 -> 359]


    That was a pleasant surprise. I suppose ¡°organize foreign soldiers and have them recognize your leadership, while fighting impossible odds¡± counted as Sentinel-y activity. I was still primarily a healer, but I could now get levels from doing some non-healer activities.


    Nice. It hammered home what Night was telling me about Sentinel classes being broad, and getting lots of experience for it. Being out of the dead zone was helping.


    ¡°Right then. Let¡¯s take a break to sleep, then move out when we wake up.¡± I said, moving over to the pool of water and getting a drink.


    There were general nods of agreement at that, and the dwarves started to try to find ways of making themselves comfortable.


    Me? Ha. I¡¯d literally slept like a baby in worse conditions during the Hell Months at Ranger Academy. In a tunnel, with only rocks as a pillow? Nightmares were my only concern.


    ¡°Sleeping time! How do we want to do this? If we have lights, we can see problems, but might attract problems. No lights, and we¡¯ll be entirely, totally blind, but we¡¯ll be able to see problems coming from a million miles away from their own light source. Thoughts?¡± I asked everyone.


    ¡°Bright lights.¡± Fik said immediately.


    ¡°No lights!¡± Drin countered.


    ¡°Very, very dim lights - enough for us to see, but not enough for others to see us.¡± Ned said.


    Ned¡¯s made the most sense.


    ¡°Super dim lights, enough that someone can go to the bathroom in the night, not enough where anyone can see us.¡± I said. ¡°Let me know when you¡¯re all settled in, and I¡¯ll dim the lights. Watch schedule - one person per watch. Drin, Ned, myself, then Fik. Glifir gets tonight off, he¡¯s been running around more than the rest of us. Since we¡¯ve got no method of time keeping, just go as long as you¡¯d like for a shift.¡± I said.


    I¡¯d taken the late-middle shift, which was usually considered the worst.


    The joys of leadership.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 19]


    [Mana: 246130/246130]


    [Mana Regen: 223123 (+157523.2)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 105]


    [Strength: 273]


    [Dexterity: 509]


    [Vitality: 3472]


    [Speed: 3472]


    [Mana: 24613]


    [Mana Regeneration: 24613 (+15752.32)]


    [Magic Power: 10165 (+152983.25)]


    [Magic Control: 10165 (+152983.25)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 359]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 359]


    [Cosmic Presence: 269]


    [Solar Infusion: 140]


    [Center of the Universe: 359]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 359]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 311]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 318]


    [Sunrise: 128]


    [Class 2: [Ranger-Mage - Radiance: Lv 256]+]


    [Radiance Affinity: 256]


    [Radiance Resistance: 256]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 256]


    [Shine: 191]


    [Sun-Kissed: 256]


    [Blaze: 256]


    [Talaria: 256]


    [Nova: 256]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 359]


    [Pristine Memories: 205]


    [Pretty: 154]


    [Bullet Time: 269]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 301]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 359]


    [Persistent Casting: 255]


    [Learning: 341]

 Chapter 203 - Journey to the center of Pallos VIII

    For once, I slept somewhat decently. The sheer terror that had been coursing through me for the past few hours led to a spectacular crash once I felt like I could sleep, and I didn¡¯t mind the rocky pillows. Or the rocky mattress. Or¡­


    Either way, after tying off [Mantle of the Stars] with [Persistent Casting] to make sure we had something of a shield against, say, invisible gas attacks in the night, I was out like a light.


    Ned woke me up for my turn on watch, and I woke up with the biggest crick in my neck. I stretched it out, noting that I was full up on mana, and my shields hadn¡¯t gone down.


    ¡°Hey, Healer Elaine.¡± Ned whispered to me as I got up. ¡°Mind letting the shield down for a minute? The orc¡¯s trying one last attack.¡±


    It took me a moment to process what he was saying, and I grinned. My grin rapidly vanished as my own stomach turned over, the orc indeed having one last fight in him.


    ¡°Yeah sure.¡± I whispered back, trying to be quiet enough so nobody else would hear. ¡°Go for it.¡±


    I dropped the shield, and noted with a raised eyebrow that Ned summoned a little ball of light for himself.


    That - argh! He¡¯d been asking me to keep doing the lights, but he¡¯d been perfectly capable of helping out this entire time!


    I put the shield back up after he passed through, and noticed the light fading as he wandered down a tunnel.


    And fading.


    Cripes. Just how bad did he think this was going to be?


    His light eventually settled on a dim glow, then after a while started to flicker rapidly. It went out entirely at one point, and after a few seconds, I started to get up, somewhat concerned about him. I¡¯d just taken a few steps to the shield, when the light went back on.


    Well, I wasn¡¯t going to disturb Ned when he was having that much trouble.


    After another minute or so, the light came back, brighter and brighter, and Ned stiffly walked around the corner, back to where we were. His legs were like boards, and he had a glassy, thousand-yard stare on his face.


    ¡°Ned? Ned, you ok?¡± I asked him, dropping the shield.


    He slowly turned towards me, and gave me a single, stiff nod.


    I would¡¯ve loved to stay and chat, but my stomach was rebelling against me as well. The meat had been purified and cooked, so it seemed that fundamentally orcs were as disagreeable in death as in life.


    And yes, I could see exactly why Ned had gotten such a distance, and had taken so long.


    While orcs were staying on the menu - I wasn¡¯t going to starve myself - they were now ending up near the bottom of said menu.


    I spent the rest of my shift getting a moderately good [Persistent Casting] of [Dance with the Heavens] arranged, and thanked my lucky stars that I could run more than three skills at once with [Persistent Casting]. I decided to make my casting this time be for anyone ¡°on-touch¡±. It would be a problem if a hostile orc managed to start grappling with me, but at the same time it meant I could just touch anyone on the team, and instantly heal them with a strong image behind it.


    I had the brief image of me trying to play catch with a dwarf¡¯s head - I touch it, they live, I miss, they die.


    I shook my head clear of that picture, and kept working on my image. When I thought it was good enough, I swapped shifts and went back to sleep.


    The morning - well, the time when we all finished waking up, being fully rested - rolled around soon enough, and Drin had finally finished making armor for everyone.


    ¡°Here you go!¡± He said, handing me over replacement parts for my gear. ¡°I tried to mimic what you had, but I had nothing for your shin guards.¡±


    Indeed, instead of the stout armor the dwarves used, Drin had tried to grow me a set of armor that was more like my own. My left vambrace was an exact mirror of my right, although he hadn¡¯t quite gotten the helmet or shin guards done right. They were a little blockier than I was used to, a little thicker, but I wasn¡¯t going to let that get in my way.


    ¡°Thank you Drin!¡± I said, happily hugging him.


    ¡°Drin.¡± Ned said, nodding along.


    I gave him a weird look, but Glifir interrupted. I started getting my replacement armor on.


    ¡°I think we¡¯re all ready to go! I¡¯ve got an initial pathway planned out.¡± He said, pulling up the map. ¡°Right, we¡¯re here.¡± He said, pointing to a spot. ¡°And I noticed an upramp here, which I think is our best shot at going up. Any objections?¡±


    I waited to see everyone else shake their heads before shaking my own. It was too easy as the leader to set the tone, and have people not speak up as a result.


    ¡°Right, let¡¯s get moving. I¡¯ll take point again, Ned¡¯s in the middle, Fik and Drin with Ned, and Glifir, you¡¯ll be running around, scouting around us. I plan on moving slowly, to give you enough time to check side passages. If you need something, yell at me, and I¡¯ll walk back to you. Sound good?¡±


    ¡°Yup!¡±


    ¡°Aye!¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    ¡°...Yes?¡± Ned asked.


    ¡°Ned, is there a problem?¡± I asked, looking at him.


    He gave me a vacant look.


    ¡°No?¡± He answered, somewhat hesitantly.


    ¡°Right! Let¡¯s go then!¡± I said, only to stop.


    Good leaders asked for directions when they were completely lost.


    ¡°Err, Glifir, what way am I going again?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Left, then down the third passage on your right.¡± He said.


    ¡­ I think the moving plan might need some revisions.


    ¡°Ned, is everything alright?¡± Fik asked Ned as I started to head down the passage.


    ¡°... Yes, I am ok.¡± Ned said after a moment. ¡°Just feel weird.¡±


    I wanted to offer some words to Ned, but what would I say? ¡°Yeah Ned, you¡¯re acting super weird?¡± He was finally starting to be nicer, and he was probably ok. Being a healer meant he could fix most physical problems on his own. I¡¯d probably insult him terribly if I offered to heal him instead.


    I¡¯d try to discreetly heal him next time I brushed near. But if he said he wasn¡¯t feeling great, and that he was ok? Eh, not much I could do with that.


    He did decide to show off his light skill though, so what I was mentally calling the ¡°reinforcement team¡± had their own source of light.


    We started to wander through the hallways, and the number of traps sharply decreased. We hit a few dead ends, needed to reverse course a few times as Glifir noted different directions seemed to lead more up than others.


    There was a disturbing lack of monsters. Glifir noted the occasional slime here and there, but were generally not in our way, nor chasing after us.


    We didn¡¯t see a point in trying to kill them. They weren¡¯t food.


    Speaking of¡­


    ¡°Food!¡± Drin yelled, and I heard a stomping foot echo through the hallways. I doubled back, only to see him pick up a bug off the floor and examine it.


    ¡°Want it?¡± Drin said, offering it to me with a smirk.


    I was no wilting daisy. I¡¯d eaten worse before.


    Thank all the gods and goddesses - ok, and I suppose Night - for making Ranger Academy.


    ¡°Sure!¡± I said, happily grabbing the bug out of his hand before he could retract his offer. Down the hatch it went!


    Wasn¡¯t great, but it was food. Gave me terrible heartburn.


    The look on his face was great though.


    ¡°Nobody ever takes me up on eating bugs.¡± He sulked and kicked the dirt.


    I stuck my tongue out at him.


    ¡°Tough luck!¡± I said.


    ¡°Do humans regularly eat bugs?¡± Fik asked me.


    ¡°Nah, but Rangers all need to as part of our training. Makes us think about it and remember they exist.¡±


    A lightbulb went off, in super slow motion.


    ¡°Drin¡­ how many bugs have you seen down here?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Hmmm? That was the - oh! I see what you¡¯re saying!¡± Drin said, getting all excited.


    ¡°What¡¯s she saying?¡± Ned asked curiously.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen bugs until now. Now I¡¯m seeing them! That must mean we¡¯re getting closer!¡± Drin excitedly told us.


    ¡°Yay bugs!¡± I said, throwing my hands up in the air.


    ¡°Yay bugs.¡± Ned echoed.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here!¡± Fik said.


    Glifir wandered over, and had clearly heard the conversation.


    ¡°I do think we¡¯re near an exit, look.¡± He said, generating the map with his Mist. It was getting fairly large, with all sorts of twists and turns.


    ¡°See this portion here?¡± He pointed out, near the edge of the ¡°explored map¡± as I liked to think of it. It looked vaguely like a hump coming out of the rest of it. ¡°I think we¡¯re actually in one of the mountains right now, back above ground. There should be an exit somewhere.¡±


    I looked at it. If I squinted just right, I could maybe see the mountain shape.


    I kept studying the map as the dwarves got cheerful.


    ¡°That¡¯s a lot of cave-ins.¡± I said, noting how many paths Glifir had tried that ended up with cave-ins.


    ¡°Hey, yeah, Elaine¡¯s right.¡± Fik said, studying the map.


    Glifir shrugged.


    ¡°What do you want me to say? They¡¯re all cave-ins, I promise, you can check.¡±


    ¡°We should!¡± Drin said. ¡°What if the Khazads collapsed the entrances behind them, and freedom¡¯s just a few rocks away?¡±


    We looked at each other, then at Glifir.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Bring us to the nearest cave-in that looks promising!¡± Drin said.


    ¡°Yeah!¡± Ned added in.


    Glifir looked down at the map, and grinned.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here!¡± He said.


    We ran to the cave-in, heedless of potential traps. We hadn¡¯t seen one in ages, and my theory of them being orc-generated and only around their territory was reinforced.


    We got to a cave-in, and slowed down. The issues were still present. We still had a lot of rock to move. We still didn¡¯t know if shifting the rocks would bring the whole thing down on us. None of us had any skills relating to this sort of work, with Fik¡¯s Gravity magic being the only thing close.


    The lure of freedom and escape called to us, and with barely a word, we unanimously decided to risk it.


    Drin, Glifir, and Fik were all at least half-physical Classers, and one of the benefits of physical classers was the flexibility. They didn¡¯t need a [Move Rocks] skill to get through rocks, they could just physically pick them up and move them.


    Or, as I got out of their way and watched, I thought one of the benefits to being a pure magic Classer was I got out of chores like these.


    Ned walked up to the rocks with everyone else.


    ¡°Can I help?¡± He said, getting strange looks from the rest of us.


    ¡°Nah, you¡¯re fine, there¡¯s not enough room for four.¡± Fik said.


    ¡°Oh ok.¡± Ned said, coming back and finding a seat near me.


    I gave him a look.


    ¡°You sure you¡¯re ok¡­?¡± I asked him, subtly brushing his shoulder and blasting a full-powered [Dance with the Heavens] through him. My mana dropped a few dozen points, but I wasn¡¯t quite sure if there was damage I¡¯d just healed, or if there was a tiny scrape from all the tunnel wandering that I¡¯d just healed, with an inefficiency penalty from Ned being a dwarf.


    Ned and I sat back as Glifir and co started to haul the rocks out of the cave-in.


    I shifted from foot to foot, my eyes drilling holes in the back of their heads. I couldn¡¯t wait. I wanted to get out. I needed to get out from this stone tomb we¡¯d found ourselves in. I needed to breathe fresh air, to feel sunlight on my face again. I¡¯d been keeping it together, because breaking down did me no good, but I hated being down here, trapped.


    So I was staring, hoping that through sheer force of will I could make them move faster, that I could see a crack of daylight that much sooner.


    I tapped the three dwarves, and hit them with [Sunrise] every time one passed, invigorating them and filling them with energy. No slowing down with me on watch! Full energy, get the rocks out of the way! I made sure [Shine] was nice and bright, and occasionally I was asked to move so they¡¯d get better light.


    Not nearly enough attention was paid to the ceiling, and the possibility of rocks falling and killing everyone though.


    Yet, far too soon, they stopped.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked, stepping up.


    Fik was tracing along the stone with his fingers.


    ¡°See this?¡± He asked, and we all leaned in.


    ¡°What am I seeing?¡± Glifir asked.


    ¡°There¡¯s no seam. Even though these are two different types of rocks.¡± Fik said.


    I looked at the rocks. One seemed to be completely different from the other one, but I knew somewhere between jack and shit about rocks. For all I knew this was normal.


    ¡°Ok?¡± I asked, not getting it.


    ¡°No, the whole thing.¡± Fik said, tracing his finger quickly along the seam, all the way up to the ceiling, down around the wall, and back to the floor. ¡°This is all one rock.¡±


    I groaned.


    ¡°Someone deliberately sealed this off.¡± I said, stating the obvious.


    ¡°Yes. Bad.¡± Ned said. ¡°We need to find a way out.¡±


    Ned was rapidly moving from weird to ¡°what is wrong with you?¡± but like, what could I do about it? Keep my distance, and sleep with one eye open just in case he was in the middle of cracking or going insane, and going to murder us all in our sleep.


    Ned was totally getting the ¡°full night¡¯s sleep¡± whenever we took a long rest next, just so somebody was also awake. I was also totally going to sleep in my [Mantle], while also using it as a shield. Benefit of a higher-level skill - I could make my shield even bigger, even more complicated.


    Everyone confirmed for themselves that the passage was indeed completely sealed, and everyone made an effort to break through.


    I considered using my [Wall Buster] gem here. This was almost the textbook situation for it. Trapped inside, only a thin layer between me and freedom? The temptation was so strong I nearly went for it, damn all the rocks that would fall all around me once I¡¯d done it. I might be able to get a small space between the falling rocks to survive in, and the dwarves might be able to dig me out before I died in some other way.


    However¡­ it wasn¡¯t quite urgent enough, or our situation dire enough, for me to risk it. I did make a mental note that if we got desperate, if we were on the brink of death, it might be worth it.


    I banished the thought of letting another dwarf take the risk. No. I was the toughest, the most likely to survive. I wouldn¡¯t sacrifice someone else to clear the way for the rest of us. Not unless things got worse.


    The rest of the dwarves had their own methods that they wanted to try.


    I personally stayed well away from Drin when he tried ramming his way through. Something about the idea of rocks falling on me in a mine spoke to me on a deep, primal level, and I wanted nothing to do with his nonsense.


    I personally tried to laser through for about half a second, before declaring it futile.


    ¡°Right, it seems like this passage is plugged. Do we want to try to clear another passage, or keep wandering until we find an exit or the Khazad dwarves?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Try another one.¡± Drin said, practically frothing at the mouth that he hadn¡¯t been strong enough to practically move an entire mountain.


    ¡°If one¡¯s plugged, someone did it.¡± Fik reasoned out loud. ¡°We¡¯d need to clear each blocked passage, and only then hope we found one someone missed. Who knows, maybe we¡¯ll get lucky.¡±


    ¡°We should find more people.¡± Ned said.


    ¡°And food.¡± Glifir added.


    That sealed it for me.


    ¡°Look, we¡¯re not finding any food here, and digging out boulders is heavy, hungry work. I can¡¯t imagine any reason why someone would seal the exits of the tunnel. However, we gotta work with what we have, which is sealed tunnels. Glifir, any chance you¡¯ve found vents to the outside?¡±


    He nodded. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve seen a few, but with no Toke, we can¡¯t widen them at all.¡±


    I mentally cursed, as I¡¯d forgotten that part.


    ¡°Right, we¡¯re going to keep looking.¡± I said, and we were off, through the mines.


    It was dull, tedious traveling. At one point I tripped a crude trap, where three stone spears tried to skewer me. We reversed directions at that point, figuring that we¡¯d reached the edge of orc territory.


    Several ¡°days¡± passed, with only the occasional insect for food. Drin was getting real popular as he found them, and shared them out. We even forced him to turn over a rare bug he didn¡¯t have in his collection for nourishment.


    I think he found a second one, and didn¡¯t tell anyone. I wasn¡¯t going to force the issue though.


    Ned kept acting weird, and I decided that he needed more sleep.


    Finally, after endless tunnels, and only Glifir¡¯s reassurance that, yes, we were exploring new parts of the mine - he had his great big fancy map to prove it, and I think he was secretly thrilled about being able to make such a large map - I sprung a new trap.


    Four sets of metal wires, each at a different height, whipped towards me, powerful enough to activate [Bullet Time]. I threw up my shield, protecting myself, and the highest wire completely missed me. It wrapped itself in complicated loops, tightening to an impossible-to-unravel knot.


    I did not want to be in the middle of that wire as it became a knot.


    The remaining three wrapped around my shield, and started to squeeze in. They weren¡¯t strong enough to break my shield, but they were strong enough to drain my mana at a good rate.


    ¡°Help!¡± I yelled, the reinforcement team hurrying along.


    Alas, the last wire was too low, and I¡¯d summoned my shield too close to me for me to be able to just drop to the floor, and let the wires finish their business above me.


    I looked at my mana. Still dropping, but I¡¯d be fine. Just to make sure, I finally blew my [Summon Knife] gem. I carefully unraveled part of [Mantle], letting my hands out with the knife, and started to saw on the wires.


    It was a bit of a silly gem at times, but I appreciated it all the more in situations like this where I absolutely needed something sharp. No idea if it¡¯d work, metal against metal and all that, but I wasn¡¯t going to risk it.


    Everyone else came around the corner, and with some effort, managed to break the metal wires.


    ¡°Thanks everyone, that was close!¡± I said, meaning it.


    That trap had the potential to kill me. If it didn¡¯t cut through me, if it instead just bound and strangled me? I wouldn¡¯t be able to break free with my measly strength, and I¡¯d totally die. I needed to reconsider how I did this whole ¡°trap-finding¡± business. Some traps had the potential to kill me, regardless of my shields or healing prowess.


    ¡°Ah, it¡¯s what we¡¯re here for. I¡¯m pretty sure one of us would¡¯ve died to those traps without you around.¡± Drin said, patting my shoulder fondly.


    I cracked a grin at him.


    ¡°Do you know what this means?¡± I asked, bending down and picking up some of the wire.


    ¡°What?¡± He asked, seemingly more to entertain me than actually wondering.


    ¡°Evidence of someone new!¡±

 Chapter 204 - Journey to the center of Pallos IX

    ¡°Elaine¡¯s right.¡± Glifir said, eyeing up the remains of the trap. ¡°This isn¡¯t the orc¡¯s crude work, may they die and never grow back.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡±


    ¡°Yup.¡±


    ¡°What do we want to do? Keep going, or wait here for someone to come round and check on the trap?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Let¡¯s keep going.¡± Glifir said, pulling out his map and spinning it around, seeing where we were now.


    ¡°Onwards. Sooner we find the Khazads, the sooner I can get a good meal.¡± Drin said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Ned encouraged.


    ¡°I see no strong benefit to staying.¡± Fik added in.


    I eyed the dwarves, the sentiment obvious. I weighed the options, and took a deep breath.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to stay.¡± I finally said, to the obvious dismay of the rest of the dwarves.


    This was it. The moment of truth. Did they trust my leadership, or was I about to have a mutiny on my hands?


    I got a bunch of quizzical looks, and I figured I¡¯d explain myself. Not like we were doing anything else.


    ¡°That trap almost got me. The orcs had crude traps of stone, while the dwarves are, at first glance, using much more elaborate traps.¡±


    ¡°You survived being beheaded.¡± Drin pointed out. ¡°You can survive almost anything.¡±


    ¡°What!?¡± Ned asked, and we looked at him again.


    The distraction was both unwelcome, and well-timed.


    ¡°Ned¡­¡± I asked slowly, with a calm voice like I was dealing with a scared cat. ¡°Do you not remember me surviving a beheading trap?¡±


    He looked thoughtful for a moment, then nodded.


    I glanced at everyone else, who were also looking concerned.


    ¡°Fik. With me. Glifir, Drin, hang out here.¡± I said, in a dangerous tone that suggested challenging me on this would be a shit idea.


    Fik and I walked back quite a bit, and I threw a [Long-Range Identify] over my shoulder, mainly checking on Ned.


    Still returned as a [Healer], right in the level range I¡¯d expect it to.


    ¡°Something is very wrong with Ned.¡± I said in a low voice, not even asking it as a question.


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Fik nodded, stroking his beard. ¡°He¡¯s been acting most unusual.¡±


    ¡°Problem is, I have no idea what to do about it.¡± I said. ¡°I can do...what?¡±


    ¡°Have you tried healing him?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I lost a few points of mana, but that was it.¡± I said.


    ¡°Remind me about your healing.¡± Fik asked.


    ¡°Panacea against - ah, it doesn¡¯t do magical herbs, or similar effects.¡± I said, remembering the dwarven ale.


    ¡°Maybe he¡¯s eaten something weird?¡± Fik suggested, seizing on that.


    ¡°That could explain it¡­¡± I said, thinking about his symptoms. It didn¡¯t match any drug I knew, but I was keeping an open mind. The dwarven drugs to get you drunk had done all manner of wonky nonsense to my body, that could only be explained by magic.


    Or lots and lots of different drugs.


    Then again, we¡¯d all been eating the same stuff. Anything impacting Ned would¡¯ve hit all of us.


    Except -


    I snapped my fingers.


    ¡°Insects. Drin¡¯s been feeding us all sorts of bugs. Let me grab him for a chat.¡±


    Fik shrugged.


    ¡°Sure, why not.¡±


    ¡°Well, either way, don¡¯t talk to Ned about it.¡± I said.


    I went to chat with Drin privately.


    ¡°Warrior Drin.¡± I said.


    ¡°Healer Elaine.¡± He replied back.


    ¡°Ned¡¯s all sorts of weird. Any chance it was an insect you gave him?¡± I asked.


    He frowned.


    ¡°Possible? Yes. Likely? Not at all. I believe I¡¯ve recognized nearly everything I¡¯ve grabbed. There aren¡¯t too many different bugs that live here, and it¡¯d need to look exactly like a bug I already know, while also causing that¡­ problem¡­ when eaten. And I would¡¯ve needed to have never heard about it.¡±


    He grunted.


    ¡°It¡¯s a good idea, but no. I doubt it.¡±


    We walked back together, and I grabbed Glifir for a private chat.


    I went over the same things Fik and I talked about, and he had another idea.


    ¡°Are, like, parasitic mushrooms a thing?¡± He asked. ¡°Whatever¡¯s wrong with him has been going on for a while, and maybe he keeps getting a dose of whatever¡¯s wrong?¡±


    I shrugged.


    ¡°They could be. Just about anything seems possible with magic.¡±


    ¡°How do we ask him?¡± Glifir said.


    ¡°Erm. We just ask him to strip and check him over?¡± I proposed.


    I got a side-eye at that, then a sigh.


    ¡°Yeah sure. Talk with Drin first.¡± He said.


    A quick talk with Drin - again! - and we were all on the same page.


    ¡°Hey Ned, can we check you for mushroom spores or something?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Sure!¡± He said, stripping out of his gear. We looked over him, seeing nothing of concern.


    ¡°Huh. I would¡¯ve put money on that being it.¡± Glifir said.


    I frowned, not knowing what to do.


    ¡°Glifir, how¡¯s the local map looking?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Eh, so-so. I¡¯d like to explore a bit more. If we can find a large intersection, the odds of someone finding us go up.¡± He said.


    I thought about that briefly.


    ¡°Alright. Need me to check for traps?¡± I asked, given that we were in the trap zone.


    ¡°Nah, I¡¯ll be fine.¡± Glifir said, waving me off.


    That seemed unusually out of character for him, given how careful he¡¯d been so far. Was everyone just slowly going insane down here?


    I watched with no small amount of trepidation as he carefully worked through the hallways, Misty steps behind him indicating some sort of skill. He made it to an intersection without any problems, and called us over.


    We headed over in a single-file line, with me taking up the rear position, right behind Ned.


    About halfway down the hallway, there was a deadly whirring noise, and a pained cry from Ned.


    ¡°Arghhhhhhhhh!¡± He yelled, as his arms fell off. ¡°Crusty eggshells that hurt!¡± He screamed out, looking down at his severed arms.


    ¡°Ned!¡± Drin cried out, hurrying back to him.


    ¡°Are you ok?¡± Fik yelled, moving back to support Ned.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, give me a moment.¡± Ned said, making a motion with the stubs of his arms like he was trying to wave them off, and failing because he had no arms.


    I started to hurry forward, only to see Ned start to regenerate his arms.


    My eyes narrowed. My grip tightened on my knife.


    ¡°Drin. Fik. Back off.¡± I said, lowering myself a hair into a fighting crouch, good for moving quickly.


    ¡°But he¡¯s-¡± Drin tried to protest.


    ¡°Now.¡± I snarled at him, practically growling.


    The image of a tiny kitten pretending to be a tiger flashed through my head, and I banished such intrusive thoughts.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Glifir asked, having caught back up.


    ¡°Ned¡¯s healing is wrong.¡± I said, staring at his slowly regrowing arms.


    ¡°It¡¯s wrong? How?¡± Fik demanded.


    ¡°Ned said he had over 4000 power, during the dragon¡¯s attack. Before he got almost thirty levels. That healing rate isn¡¯t 4000 power worth of healing.¡± I said, watching Ned like a hawk, slowly backing away to get more distance.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ kinda weak.¡± Fik said lamely. Drin was reluctantly nodding along.


    ¡°Oh come on! I¡¯m a healer! I know this stuff!¡± I protested.


    ¡°Yeah, but you¡¯re only, like, what, 20 years old? That¡¯s not a lot of experience, even if your race grows up fast.¡± Drin pointed out.


    ¡°Yeah, how do you know how fast I heal?¡± Ned smugly pointed out.


    [Oath] boosting my healing knowledge by an absurd percentage, along with a decade of experience. I didn¡¯t say that though. I was still hesitating over the efficiency problem.


    Ugh. I couldn¡¯t even attack Ned and prove my point once and for all. I didn¡¯t believe that he was an active, current threat to me.


    I mean, not only was I [Oath]-bound, but like, stone-cold murdering someone to prove a point wasn¡¯t what I wanted to do.


    Although - shit, he could just have a horrible efficient rate. That would slow him way down.


    Fuck. The words were already out of my mouth. I felt that nervous pit in my stomach, the one that occurs when I really, really screw up.


    ¡°Glifir?¡± I said.


    ¡°Ummmm. Let¡¯s keep waiting and seeing? It¡¯s a bit weird, but I dunno this healer stuff.¡± He said.


    ¡°You never did like me.¡± Ned pointed out.


    The pit in my stomach, the dreadful feeling of having really screwed up, was deepening.


    Thankfully, the heavy stomping of metal boots on stone started to faintly echo down the hallway. We exchanged rapid looks, promising that this wasn¡¯t over yet.


    ¡°Fik. Can you be the boss? If they¡¯re dwarves, they¡¯ll probably react better to another dwarf than a beardless unknown.¡± I said.


    Fik looked startled at the trust, and I mentally cursed.


    I¡¯d never established a chain of command after me. I¡¯d been too used to Kallisto managing it, and I¡¯d forgotten that minor detail.


    Because honestly, in the situation I was in, the only way I wasn¡¯t in charge was if I was dead.


    Still, Fik stepped up, and it was with mounting tension that we listened to the boots coming closer. I made sure to keep one eye on Ned, and one eye on the escape route I knew was clear.


    ¡°Maybe call out to them?¡± Glifir suggested.


    ¡°HO! Cousins!¡± Fik called out, his voice echoing through the hallways. ¡°We¡¯re over here!¡±


    There was a pause in the stepping noises, then the sound of rapidly marching boots headed our way. I primed my [Mantle] to be ready if anything happened.


    ¡°How did you get here!?¡± An angry dwarf encased in metal grouched at us, hefting a large, two-handed battle axe. ¡°You¡¯re supposed to be in Velduar! Wandering out like this could kill you!¡±


    We exchanged excited and awkward glances with each other.


    Fik stared at me, a desperate look in his eye. The look of someone who wanted someone else to take over.


    Fik was not natural leader material. I gave him a slight nod of encouragement.


    ¡°Um. We came in from somewhere else.¡± Fik said, having found some spine.


    ¡°What!?¡± The dwarf exclaimed. ¡°It¡¯s all supposed to be sealed up! You must tell us where there¡¯s a leak.¡±


    Glifir butted in at this point, generating the entire map of where we¡¯d been.


    ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± He said, pointing to a spot. ¡°And we came down an old air shaft that we widened over here.¡± He said, pointing to a now-familiar spot.


    The Khazad dwarf eyed the map, looked at Glifir, and sighed.


    ¡°Fine. I need to get you to one of our [Strategists], they¡¯ll figure out how to close it. Come on, let¡¯s head to Velduar.¡±


    ¡°Um. What about the traps?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Dwarves don¡¯t trigger them.¡± He said, before doing a double-take at me.


    ¡°Wait, how did you know about the traps?¡± He asked suspiciously.


    I was mentally screaming.


    Ned had triggered one!


    ¡°She¡¯s a human.¡±


    ¡°A human?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, from the dead zone.¡±


    One of the other metal clad dwarves peered at me, like I was some exotic bird or another.


    ¡°Is she safe?¡± He asked.


    ¡°What happened to her beard?¡±


    ¡°Can you really live in the dead zone?¡±


    The dwarves poked and prodded, questions coming so fast that I couldn¡¯t even respond to them. At least I got some distance from Ned.


    ¡°Oi! You lot!¡± The Khazad commander yelled. ¡°Give her space! We¡¯re near the edge of our patrol, let¡¯s talk when we¡¯re deeper in. Don¡¯t want any orcs sneaking in.¡±


    He muttered and seemed to adjust something.


    ¡°There! That should fix the traps for us on the way back.¡± He said, and scanned us one last time, before slapping his forehead.


    One of the guards nudged the battle axe dude.


    ¡°Healers!¡± He whispered, with the urgent tone I knew to interpret as ¡°casualties ahead.¡±


    ¡°Cousins! Right! You do things differently.¡± He said, turning towards us.


    ¡°Healer. Healer. You both grace us with your presence, and I wish to invite you to break bread and share salt with us.¡±


    I glared murder at Ned, who just smiled back in the most innocent way. Whatever was going on with Ned - he still had healing skills.


    I wanted to tell these guards about my concerns with Ned, but - getting to somewhere safe, with food, was a high priority for me right now. I was all too aware that I could totally die down here, and getting myself safe was higher up on my priority list, than taking Ned down with me.


    Ooooh, when we got back, I was going to tell everyone about Ned. Maybe I¡¯d use my human bigshot status, and talk with someone important about the issue.


    However, I was no longer the boss. Ranting and raving about the issue to the new dwarves, when the dwarves that actually trusted me and knew Ned hadn¡¯t been convinced? They¡¯d just lock me up in the looney bin, if they even allowed me in at all, and my credibility would get torpedoed before I could talk with someone important enough, alone, and convince them of my story.


    We made our way through the tunnels, which quickly morphed into sensible, reasonable, well-lit and arranged hallways. The dwarves spent some time idly chatting, talking about the trip, about the attack. Everything I¡¯d said about not saying the D-word clearly went out of everyone¡¯s head, as the Khazad dwarves freely talked about her, then my team did after a moment¡¯s hesitation.


    It¡­ was totally possible that Night, and as an extension, myself, were wrong about saying a dragon¡¯s name got their attention. Or if it did - it didn¡¯t matter. The dwarves were happily calling to her, and¡­


    Well, I suppose she had just annihilated all visible dwarven civilization, from the sound of it.


    A series of bright lights were in the final hallway, with a well-manned barricade at the end. The battle axe dwarf looked like he¡¯d been poleaxed.


    ¡°Ah, erm, right.¡± He said, nervously stroking his beard. ¡°I forgot this part, ah. This is awkward.¡± He said.


    I glared at Fik so hard, he must¡¯ve felt my eyes boring into the back of his head. He finally got the hint.


    ¡°What¡¯s awkward?¡± He asked.


    The patrol leader waved his question off.


    ¡°I¡¯ll let the commander explain it. She¡¯ll want to talk with that scout of yours, and the two healers.


    He gestured, and two of his minions stepped up.


    ¡°See that they¡¯re settled in somewhere nice after they¡¯re debriefed.¡± He glanced at us, remembering what we¡¯d said about eating bugs in the conversation back. ¡°Get them a hot meal or six.¡± He added on.


    ¡°Patrol coming through!¡± He announced, stopping.


    ¡°Stand by for a patrol!¡± One of the guards yelled.


    ¡°Relax, it¡¯s fine.¡± Battleaxe dwarf - I really should learn his name - said.


    A number of lights flashed, and Inscriptions lit up. Some frowning and muttering occurred.


    ¡°She says she¡¯s a human.¡± He said. ¡°From the dead zone.¡±


    A barrage of questions was fired my way, and I swear I was going back to Remus, if nothing else than to dodge all these annoying questions that I kept getting asked. Let someone else be the tip of the spear, and I¡¯ll come back to visit once I¡¯m no longer the pale beardless wonder.


    I mean, I¡¯d still be beardless, but I¡¯d no longer be the new, exotic specimen.


    ¡°Right, you three, with me.¡± He said, leading us through the well-manned barricade. I saw a number of [Warriors], a few [Rangers], and a couple of [Mages], all pushing or over level 400. Only took me one [Long-Ranged Identify] to get them all! They took this defense seriously. Layer after layer of defenses, crossbows, Inscriptions, and more, all jam-packed into this narrow hallway.


    I decided to keep my mouth shut on the obvious question of ¡°What if they dig below you?¡±, assuming there was a good answer to that - like ¡°we already have defenses down there.¡±


    This did not look like a new conflict.


    We made it through the blockade.


    We exited to a marvelous city, carved into the heart of the mountain.


    It was like they took an entire mountain, and carved out the entire heart of it. A few soaring pillars suggested that engineering, not magic, was holding up the ceiling, and the buildings were primarily built out of stone in a rough, block, Brutalist manner.


    That¡¯s not to say the seven-story apartment building in front of me was any the less impressive for it. No, the buildings either built out of the rock - or possibly, carved out of the rock as they built this city, were large feats of engineering prowess.


    It was also clear, looking around, that buildings had been built in several stages, so to speak. The underlying build and architecture - and I suspected the rooms inside as well - were blocky and practical, and then there were the decorations.


    Finely crafted metal filigree adorned every building, although most decorations ended abruptly around two stories up. Still, glowing moss and lichen of every color - some even slowly shifting through colors - adorned the buildings from that point up, basking the city in a multi-colored glow.


    And, from what I could tell, it was a real, proper city. Buildings of various heights stretched back, each one ¡°painted¡± in different multi-colored moss, creating a blinding display of lights. Dwarves hurried along crowded roads, where vendors were shouting their wares. We were in an isolated zone, a military area near the chokepoint into the rest of the mines, but we could still see the rest of the sprawling city.


    The ¡°inside¡± of the mountain seemed to be coated in a soft white moss, bathing the entire thing in an odd light. Hot red glows were scattered around the city, evidence of powerful forges working their craft, creating a strange, scattered lighting throughout the entire city.


    [*ding!* [Cosmic Presence] has leveled up! 269 -> 270]


    This beat the crap out of the tunnels!

 Chapter 205 - Journey to the center of Pallos X

    Glifir, myself, and whatever Ned was - heck, at this point I wasn¡¯t even sure it was Ned anymore - were rapidly led to another tall, blocky building. The glowing lichen was a pulsing red, making it visible from a distance, and the doors were extra-large. A constant flow of dwarves, armed and armored to the beard in well-used and clearly loved metal gear, marched in and out of the doors.


    I kept a wary eye on Ned the entire time, and I don¡¯t think it went unnoticed by our escorts that I walked in odd ways to avoid being too close to him. Fortunately, they didn¡¯t comment.


    We made it inside, and while this was obviously some sort of military establishment, the Khazads had ideas on beauty in all things. Metal arches flowed along the walls, from floor to ceiling, with artistic ¡°splashes¡± of flowing metal reminding me of water. The pillars were of subtle shades of different metals, and if this is how they treated utilitarian buildings, I couldn¡¯t wait to see their idea of artistry!


    Which gave me a sad pang as I thought about the dwarves I¡¯d been traveling with. I¡¯d seen the Sierra Obelisk, but what other art had they made? What objects of wonder and beauty had been casually razed by Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s rampage? How many years, centuries, of careful, painstaking work had just gone up in flames?


    How many precious books were up in flames, unreadable forevermore?


    My quest for a solid library that I could hole myself up in would have to wait some more.


    I¡¯d been trying not to think too hard of the literal millions, if not tens or hundreds of millions of lives that had been extinguished. The thought of it, the idea, was too painful, and I needed to be operational. I needed to be able to keep moving.


    Here though? I was starting to feel the wear of constantly being on guard, of constant paranoia and alertness. I was feeling myself starting to relax a hair.


    In spite of knowing I shouldn¡¯t, that Ned was near and possibly dangerous.


    It was all relative. Down in the mines proper, there were monsters lurking around every corner, every step could be a trap, and orcs were out for our blood. Which made Velduar like a siren song. No deadly traps. No orcs.


    Just Ned.


    His presence was enough to keep me on my toes, although he wasn¡¯t making any threatening moves. On one hand, I was cursing my [Oath], on the other, I wouldn¡¯t actually do anything to him.


    Still, my hostility didn¡¯t go unnoticed by our hosts, although they weren¡¯t saying anything. They were giving us the look that the guards gave to drunks that were arguing though. The ¡°Please don¡¯t fight, we don¡¯t want to step in and break everyone¡¯s skull.¡±


    We made it to a desk, and the truth of the world was laid bare.


    Everyone had paperwork.


    ¡°Urik. You¡¯re back from patrol early.¡± A gruff dwarf behind the desk said.


    ¡°Found this lot wandering around the edges of the patrol area.¡± Battleaxe dwarf - now I had a name, Urik - said, indicating to us.


    I awkwardly waved hi, noting we were still basically in a lobby as people were hustling and bustling around.


    ¡°Two of them are healers!¡± The administrative dwarf said, practically leaping out of her chair in excitement. ¡°You should¡¯ve started with that!¡± She said, berating Urik with a nasty tone of voice.


    Urik opened his mouth, probably to protest that he¡¯d only gotten a few words out and was getting there, but with a resigned look, closed his mouth. I knew the gesture well.


    ¡°Thoren. THOREN!¡± Admin-dwarf yelled, and a single dwarf, encased in metal like a can of tuna, hustled over and saluted.


    ¡°Thoren. We¡¯ve got two healers here. Your squad is now on protection detail, along with Urik¡¯s squad. I¡¯m sending them to Commander Glora now.¡± She ordered Thoren, glancing back down to her paperwork like there never was a question if he¡¯d obey her or not.


    Admins. Might not be in the chain of command, but they yelled and everyone else was jumping around.


    ¡°Right then! Follow me.¡± Thoren said.


    I glanced at Urik, but he seemed to be naturally falling in to follow Thoren, which made me think Thoren outranked him. There was probably an obvious way to tell, but for all I knew it was how their beard was braided, or the exact alloy of the armor they were wearing.


    In my defense, I¡¯d spent no time with the Khazad dwarves, and knew nothing about them. I actually had an excuse!


    ¡°What¡¯s up with us getting an escort?¡± I whispered to Glifir, figuring he might know something about the dwarves.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. This is weird.¡± He said, looking around like a tourist.


    ¡°Still making a map?¡± I teased, trying not to show how tense and on edge I was.


    He shook his head.


    ¡°It¡¯d be terrible form for me to make a map of their barracks.¡± He said.


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯d hang you for spying!¡± Thoren cheerfully told us, and it took me a moment to realize he was dead serious.


    That dampened the mood as we climbed tightly spiraling well-worn stone staircases. I insisted on walking behind Ned¡­ although maybe my paranoia was going a bit too far. I seriously doubted he¡¯d try anything while surrounded by guards.


    I managed to come to the conclusion that I was probably hurting my case, not helping it, as we arrived before some incredibly ornate doors, just one of a number in the hallway on this floor. There were some serious administrative chops going on here. Whoever had made them were masters of their craft, details spiraling smaller and smaller to the point where I was only seeing the smallest of them with the extra perception granted to me by my vitality - which made me think there were details even smaller that I was missing.


    Four guards flanked the doorway, and unlike the wood guards - heck, unlike the average guard I saw in Remus, my dad included - they were looking keen-eyed and on-point, ready to be moving and fighting at a moment¡¯s notice.


    Guard duty was boring, and guard duty in town, in a military building, on what was one of the higher floors? The one token guard to act as a gatekeeper should be falling asleep on his feet, not four guards on high alert.


    Thoren stopped a distance from the guards, and saluted.


    ¡°Is Tin Commander Glora in?¡± He asked.


    One of the guards popped his head in, and had a quick word with whoever was inside. He exited, shaking his head.


    ¡°Tin Commander Glora is occupied. She says to see Silver Commander Korun instead.¡±


    Thoren saluted back, and we were off again, to another door, another set of four guards.


    ¡°Bronze Commander Thoren with Steel Commander Urik here to see Silver Commander Korun!¡± He shouted out, having a completely different reaction.


    Cripes that was loud.


    I was tempted to tell him off, and to use his ¡°indoor¡± voice.


    Oh no. Oh no oh no.


    I was becoming my mother!


    I wanted to do something silly, to prove that no, I was still a kid, but this wasn¡¯t the time or the place for it, which was even worse!


    I should just lean into it and get a nice wooden spoon.


    The difference in greeting made me think that Korun was Glora¡¯s boss or something.


    Also, silver was over tin was over bronze was over steel? Confusion was going to be the name of the game here. It probably made perfect sense to the metal-obsessed dwarves, but I was totally lost.


    I shook my head and refocused.


    One of the guards poked their head inside, and seemingly satisfied at what he found, popped back out.


    ¡°He¡¯ll just be a minute.¡± He said.


    I exchanged an awkward look with Glifir, and shrugged. Not much to do but wait here.


    So we waited, occasionally having our whole group shuffle around in the little ¡°left-right¡± dance as other groups of armed dwarves marched by.


    One dwarf couldn¡¯t stop staring at us - specifically, his eyes rapidly flickered between Ned and myself - as he marched by in his team, with us pressed against the stone wall to get out of their way.


    ¡°What are you looking at!?¡± The leader screamed at him.


    ¡°Gold-Comman-¡± He started to say, only to get interrupted.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care! Eyes! Front!¡±


    Well, good to know that we were going to be a spectacle.


    I wasn¡¯t the most patient of gals, so me getting bored to the stage of tapping my feet wasn¡¯t exactly unusual. With that being said, we ended up waiting an uncomfortably long time, to the point where one of the guards peeked in again to make sure that Korun was still there.


    ¡°Enter!¡± A voice cracked out from the room, and half of us jumped at it. We quickly filed in, only to realize that maybe seven of us could fit, not the twenty-seven of us that was my team and the escorts.


    ¡°What is this mess! Why are there so many of you! Commanders only! Get! Shoo!¡± The same voice yelled, and I was brought along back in a tide of steel as half the dwarves tried to exit at the same time some were trying to get back in.


    We eventually managed to sort ourselves out, and Glifir, Ned, myself, and the two dwarf commanders were in the room with Silver Commander Korun.


    ¡°Right.¡± He grumped, shuffling paperwork on his desk and grumbling into his beard. ¡°I had said commanders only, but I suppose they¡¯re here for a reason. What can I do for - Why didn¡¯t you say you had healers?!¡± He screamed at Thoren, jumping up onto his desk, kicking paperwork everywhere. ¡°You know how hard pressed we are for them! Or wait. These aren¡¯t new healers are they? Someone who¡¯s switched their class over?¡± He peered at us a moment, then shook his head.


    ¡°Of course they¡¯re not. Too high level. That one¡¯s a Nolgardian to boot. I thought we¡¯d seen all the Nolgardians. But what¡¯s with this one?¡± He asked leaning forward to peer at me from an uncomfortably close distance. ¡°Mismatch of metal and wooden armor, healer-tagged, and beardless? What crime did you commit for that, and why haven¡¯t I heard of a beardless healer? We might¡¯ve offered you a pardon, depending. Which means you¡¯re new here. How?¡± He asked, finally pausing in his barrage of words to let someone else get a word in edgewise.


    I glanced at Thoren and Urik, only to see them studiously keeping their eyes on the wall ahead of them, not looking at us at all. I mentally cursed them.


    ¡°Hi! I¡¯m Elaine, a human from Remus, which is in the dead zone.¡± I said, starting a little speech. I briefly considered trying to explain that I was also Sentinel Dawn, but that would go down one heck a rabbit hole.


    ¡°Not a criminal.¡± I added in, figuring I¡¯d get that out of the way. ¡°Human women just don¡¯t grow beards.¡±


    I was getting strange looks - what do you mean human women don¡¯t grow beards? - and decided to get back onto the main crux of the story.


    ¡°One of my teammates and I made first contact with the Nolgardians here, and I was on my way to the capital when the, um,¡±


    I paused what I was saying, and flapped my arms like giant wings, while mimicking breathing fire.


    ¡°Yeah, when that attacked.¡± I said.


    ¡°The dragon?¡± Korun said, looking at me like I was a crazy person.


    I shushed him.


    ¡°Shhhhhhh! Don¡¯t say its name! It¡¯ll hear you!¡±


    He opened his mouth, exchanged bemused glances with the other commanders, and closed it. He looked at me thoughtfully.


    ¡°Two weeks ago I would¡¯ve called you nuts, and thrown you out the gates. Today? After seeing what¡¯s happened? I think I just might be looking silly the next time we discuss this¡­her.¡± He turned around, and made some markings on a piece of paper pinned to the wall behind him.


    ¡°What happened to the rest of your team?¡± He asked. ¡°Are they downstairs?¡±


    ¡°Oh, no, my teammate Hunting went back to tell everyone else that you were here. You¡¯re as new to us as we are to you. Plus, the border patrol didn¡¯t like him very much. Something about him being a Void mage.¡±


    He grunted.


    ¡°Yeah, good thing they didn¡¯t let him in. That¡¯ll end in tears one day, and a city turned to rubble. Right. Healer, healer, what are you here for?¡± He barked at Glifir, pointing at him with a finger.


    Glifir jumped at that, and Urik smoothly stepped in.


    ¡°They came from outside our perimeter, and breached their way into the old mines to escape the, um, ¡°


    To my endless amusement, Urik started flapping his arms as well. I could see a bright red blush spread up his cheeks, over his beard.


    ¡°Anyways! He¡¯s made a map, and can point us to where they broke in, so we can hole it up.¡±


    Korun grumbled, and started sorting through his papers, flinging them everywhere. He was basically making it snow, and it was a wonder he got anything done with that organizational system.


    Glifir just generated his map out of Mist, making it large, and pointed to the spot.


    ¡°It¡¯s here we fell down.¡± He said, pointing to the spot deep within the mines.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯d you manage that?¡± Korun asked, studying the map - namely, just how deep and surrounded by other tunnels it was.


    ¡°Widened an air shaft.¡± Glifir said.


    Korun grunted, as he kept shuffling through papers.


    ¡°Good trick that. Going to be a huge pain for us to fix.¡± He said, pulling out a paper, nodding at it, then scribbling furiously on it with an oversized quill.


    The paper was hovering in the air, which was making me think there was a skill of some sort. [Invisible Clipboard] or [Everything is a Surface] or something.


    There was so much cool magic in the world! I wanted to sit and talk with him, and learn all his skills!


    Heck, forget that, I wanted to know everyone¡¯s skills.


    ¡°Right, anything else from you?¡± He said, pointing his quill at Glifir, who shook his head.


    ¡°Right, out you go.¡± He said, pointing to the door.


    ¡°Um, go where?¡± He asked.


    Korun rolled his eyes.


    ¡°To where the rest of the Nolgardians are! Someone will be there to debrief you. Now shoo! Get!¡± He said, menacing Glifir with his quill, who vanished in short order.


    Not that his directions were exactly illuminating. I hoped Glifir would be ok, and they wouldn¡¯t, like, think he was spying on them or something.


    One of the guards could probably give him a hand.


    Korun kept standing on top of his desk as Glifir left the room, creasing the paper with his great big boots.


    ¡°Now, the two of you.¡± He said, sighing and plopping himself back in his chair. ¡°Both are true, proper healers, yeah? Got all the tricks?¡±


    Ned nodded.


    ¡°Not sure what all the tricks are, but if it¡¯s a mundane injury I can fix it.¡± I said.


    Korun grunted at me.


    ¡°Good enough. Right, we have a problem.¡± He said, and I mentally rolled my eyes. There was always a problem.


    What now? Healers were on strike? Deadly magical plague? All the healers had gotten locked outside when Lun¡¯Kat attacked?


    ¡°We¡¯re in a state of war with the orcs. I dunno how much you know about warfare, but healers are a high-priority target. They¡¯re soft. Easy to kill. Kill the healers, and attacks become deadlier. Killing is no longer mandatory, but crippling works even better. After all, a cripplied warrior needs to be looked after, taken care of, fed, housed. However, when a healer¡¯s around? A crippled warrior is back in the fight the next day.¡±


    I nodded. I¡¯d gotten similar lessons from Artemis and Maximus, about how in fights against other people, I¡¯d be targeted first. Heck, I¡¯d seen it in the fight against the orcs earlier, where their earth mage¡¯s attacks had almost all targeted me. Ned had gotten lucky by being further back than I was, but ¡®kill the healer¡¯ seemed to be semi-universal among intelligent beings.


    Yay me.


    ¡°Anyways, the orcs have been targeting healers, along with other targets of opportunity. They usually fail, but every success is a devastating loss for us.¡±


    ¡°Why would anyone ever leave town?¡± Ned asked, seemingly perplexed by the idea that anyone would want to. ¡°It¡¯s full of food.¡±


    ¡°Contrary to what you Nolgardians think, we¡¯re not idiots.¡± Korun said, giving Ned the evil eye. ¡°We¡¯re trying to keep the healers safe. However, orcs do occasionally manage to slip into Velduar, and when they do, they try to burn our food, undermine the supports holding the cavern up, assassinate our healers, and hit whatever else they think is critical that¡¯s unguarded. Two weeks ago, they managed to sabotage our sewage system. Shit was literally flowing through the streets. At least they can¡¯t burn down our buildings.¡±


    Oh. Yes. I hadn¡¯t considered that, but combine the ability to become mostly invisible with just about anything else? Yeah¡­


    It was like what I had done to the pirates, on a large scale. I was willing to bet that the dwarves had their own commando teams deep in orc territory, performing the same tasks. All was fair in love and war!


    I¡¯d let my [Shine] lapse, since there were actual lights here, but nope. It was not to be. I set a moderately powerful [Shine], strong enough to chew through mirages, weak enough that I still had a modest amount of mana regen.


    I got a Look.


    ¡°Anti-Mirage skill.¡± I said.


    He gave me a curt nod.


    ¡°Glad to see you¡¯ve got your head on your shoulders! Anyways, while the two of you are here, we need you patching people up. You¡¯ll also be assigned two teams of guards, and secured quarters. Some orc tries to come after you, just run, don¡¯t try to fight them. We believe there are three teams of orc Sabotaugers currently running rampant through Velduar, and most, if not all, of the members have their third class. Now, I won¡¯t lie to you. We¡¯ll do our best to keep you alive, but they managed to drop a building on one of our most senior healers last week. We¡¯ll do our best, but no promises.¡±


    Ned was frowning.


    ¡°Is it possible to forgo the escort?¡± He asked, and even Thoren and Urik turned to give him a stupefied look.


    ¡°No.¡± Korun said, without a moment¡¯s hesitation. ¡°We need you too badly to risk it. Healer Elaine. May I speak with healer Ned privately?¡± He asked.


    I nodded and stepped out of the room.


    Waiting¡­ waiting¡­ waiting¡­


    Wonder what they were talking about in there.


    Ned came storming out, an angry frown on his face. Urik was hurrying along behind him, and he and his team vanished after Ned.


    ¡°Healer Elaine. If I may speak to you?¡± Korun said, and I entered to see Thoren and Korun in the room.


    ¡°Hi. Thank you for your patience. Believe me, I wish you were currently patching people up, reforging their body like a smith fixes a broken sword, but there are a few things I¡¯d like to get from you before you begin. I¡¯d like to know your magic power, control, mana regeneration, classes, and skills.¡± He said, having a fresh sheet of paper ready.


    I blinked, and looked at Thoren, who nodded encouragingly at me.


    ¡°With respect - heck no.¡± I said, crossing my arm and cursing the lack of sunlight outside.


    ¡°Explain yourself.¡± Korun said, in a less friendly though not hostile tone.


    ¡°I¡¯m not just Healer Elaine. I¡¯m also Sentinel Dawn, a member of the Ranger organization in Remus. I was scouting our frontlines, because, politely, I¡¯m one of the best humanity has to offer. I¡¯m not telling a foreign military all of my tricks and secrets. I¡¯m delighted to heal people - just point me to them - but if you think I¡¯m letting you know what I can do? Not happening.¡± I said.


    Korun tapped his quill against his desk.


    ¡°I need a rough idea of what you¡¯re capable of, to manage estimates and juggle healers and their locations and assignments.¡± he said.


    That was fair enough. Administrative work was hard enough even when people weren¡¯t deliberately withholding information.


    Speaking of - I needed to tell him about Ned, and my suspicions around him. I¡¯d been mulling over it, and I was starting to see the shape of the problem.


    Still. He didn¡¯t need to know the full extent of my healing.


    I grinned to myself. I¡¯d give him the toned-down version.


    ¡°I can rip and tear through patients as fast as you can give them to me, without rest.¡± I grinned. ¡°Just point the way!¡±

 Chapter 206 - Journey to the center of Pallos XI

    ¡°Excellent!¡± Korun said, scribbling furiously on his paper. ¡°Now, the way we do things is we¡¯ve got the healer in a secured room, and we¡¯ll bring you one patient at a time. You heal them, we move onto the next one.¡±


    I frowned at that.


    ¡°Something wrong?¡± He said, picking up on my frown.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ that¡¯s pretty slow.¡± I said. ¡°Like, I¡¯ve done these types of events before. Last time I needed to have people brought to me I was half the level, and it was disease, not injury I was tackling.¡±


    ¡°And disease takes less to heal than injuries, right?¡± Korun said, flipping to another set of notes. ¡°At least, that¡¯s what my other healers are saying. Is the same true for humans?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Yup!¡± I cheerfully confirmed, seeing no harm in the knowledge, as he scribbled furiously on another piece of paper.


    ¡°Right. I¡¯m going to strongly caution you against healing like that, since being able to heal 36 people a day for thirty days is a lot better than you healing 216 people once then getting wacked by the orcs, but I¡¯ll allow it this time.¡± Korun reasoned.


    My eyes narrowed at ¡®allow it this time¡¯, but before I could properly dissect the statement, Korun had to go and make a mess.


    ¡°Ahha!¡± He said, jumping onto his desk again, renewing the paperwork snowfall. Seriously, how did he get anything done? His organization was terrible.


    ¡°We can have some secondary teams waiting nearby, see if we can lure the orcs out of hiding with you! Sure, it¡¯d suck if you died, but if we can get one of the Saboteur teams in the process, it¡¯ll totally be worth it. Guard. GUARD!¡± He yelled, one of the outside guards peeking in.


    ¡°Yeah boss?¡±


    ¡°Get me the Lead Commander, the Gold Commander, and the Adamantium Commander. Got a job for them.¡±


    ¡°Um. Sure boss. What do I say when they tell me to rust off, because they¡¯re hunting the orcs?¡± The guard nervously swallowed.


    ¡°THAT THIS IS AN ORC HUNTING OPERATION!¡± Korun screamed at him, like the poor guard was the one defying orders, and not the one stuck between a rock and a hard place.


    Said poor guard vanished, and Korun dropped to his seat again.


    I¡¯m not sure how I felt at how little regard he seemed to show for the potential of me dying, but eh. Can¡¯t have it all.


    ¡°Anyways. We have some nice accommodations for you, and I¡¯m going to see if I can get that blasted rabbit to up the security on your rooms. I am right in thinking you have nowhere to stay?¡± He asked, peering at me like I might have somehow acquired lodging in the fifteen steps needed to get here.


    ¡°Um, no.¡± I said. ¡°Something that you arrange sounds nice. I¡¯d like to stick with the dwarves I came with if possible.¡±


    Free lodging? Sure, I¡¯d take it.


    ¡°Good, good. I¡¯ll look into having some of them bunk with you. Perhaps that Ned, you¡¯re both healers, we can secure both of you for the price of one.¡±


    Wait. No. Not like that. Before I could say anything, Korun plowed onwards.


    ¡°Now, you¡¯re the frontline scout for you humans. Are you interested in meeting the Council of Elders, or no?¡± He asked me, carefully neutral.


    Oh gods no. Politics again.


    You know what? Fuck politics. Fuck trying to be nice and polite. Just fuck everything about this mission. I was totally done, and wanted nothing more than to go home and soak in a nice bath.


    ¡°Nope! No interest in the slightest.¡± I said, ignoring Thoren¡¯s incredulous look.


    I probably should¡¯ve agreed to meet, but at this point, I¡¯d call ¡°making it home¡± a big win.


    More scribbling.


    ¡°Right then. They¡¯ll eventually find out about you, and will probably insist on meeting later, but I won¡¯t send an urgent message saying you should meet.¡±


    More writing. Poor dude. I hope he had a class for all this. Some of his displayed skills suggested that he had some skills relating to admin work.


    I checked quickly. [Warrior]. Around level 450 or so.


    Ouch. Hope his second class was an administrative one. Then again, he probably got promoted once his second class was past 256, which meant no chance of a reset or side-grade. Downside to the way the System worked, but then again, someone didn¡¯t need an [Administrator] class to be a good administrator. They just wouldn¡¯t get magical assistance for it.


    ¡°Right! I think that¡¯s it. If there¡¯s nothing else, Thoren can guide you to one of the infirmaries.¡± He said, focusing back on his papers.


    This was my chance.


    ¡°Actually, there is one more thing.¡± I said, with my most serious ¡®there is a Problem¡¯ tone of voice. ¡°Healer Ned.¡±


    ¡°What about him?¡± Korun said.


    ¡°While down in the mines, he, well, changed. He went from being an ass, to being confused, stilted, then forgetting basic things that happened. I also believe that he set off one of the traps you laid down - you know, the ones that trigger on non-dwarves? Lastly, his healing rate doesn¡¯t match his claimed healing abilities.¡±


    Korun frowned at me.


    ¡°Most of those aren¡¯t quite problems. Healers - heck, everyone - lie about their abilities constantly. And he wouldn¡¯t be the first Nolgardian to have mentally broken or snapped after the attack. That happens. The trap thing concerns my beard, although, were you near him at the time?¡± Korun asked.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ I was right behind him¡­¡± I admitted, knowing how it¡¯d look.


    Korun nodded.


    ¡°That could do it then. But just to be safe, when he gets a moment break, we¡¯ll do another scan. Ask him politely to walk through an area we¡¯ve set to detect non-dwarves, and get one of our healers to check on him. Happy?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Any chance I could not bunk with him?¡± I asked, hoping to get some minor win. They weren¡¯t taking my complaints seriously, and it was going to end in tears. I just wanted to make sure they weren¡¯t ¡°boo hoo poor Elaine, we should¡¯ve listened.¡±


    ¡°If it makes you happy, sure.¡± He said, finding yet another piece of paper in his endless piles and crossing something off.


    I felt like Korun wasn¡¯t taking this as seriously as he should be - he hadn¡¯t seen it the way I had, didn¡¯t know the things I knew. He was just hearing a single verbal report from an unknown species, that was unverifiable and the concern didn¡¯t seem to be shared by others.


    I suppose a ¡°Let¡¯s double-check you are a dwarf¡± would have to be good enough. I mean, practically speaking, could they do anything else?


    ¡°Alright.¡± I said, nodding. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Ned was no longer my responsibility. I¡¯d kept my team safe, we were now in a new place, and I¡¯d given them a warning about him. What they did with that information was their responsibility. Only way I¡¯d be stepping back in is if he needed medical attention.


    Otherwise? I was washing my hands of the whole thing.


    ¡°Great! Thoren, if you¡¯d do the honors?¡± Korun said, dismissing us.


    Thoren and I left Korun¡¯s office, to meet the rest of Thoren¡¯s team outside. My stomach half-gurgled, reminding me that I¡¯d been eating nothing but insects for the last week.


    ¡°Any chance we can stop for some food on the way over?¡± I asked.


    Thoren hesitated a moment as we started to climb down the stairs, the dwarves keeping me in the middle of their formation.


    ¡°We could, but would you be able to eat something on the go? I don¡¯t know why Korun took so long.¡±


    I shrugged. Potato, potato, as long as they had potatoes I was good.


    ¡°Yeah, sure. I¡¯ve been eating insects for the past week or more - hard to tell time down here! I¡¯m ravenous, I could eat a whole orc again.¡±


    Thoren gave me a somewhat skeptical look.


    Ok, fine, so a whole orc was like three times my size.


    ¡°Really?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Yup, really. Got a Spatial stomach just for storing stuff.¡± I said with a totally straight face, then cracking into a laugh.


    ¡°Nah, Radiance as you saw - are seeing now - but I am hungry.¡±


    [Shine] was permanently on. Low-level not to wreck anyone¡¯s eyesight, but hopefully powerful enough to mess with illusions.


    He finally got the hint, and as we exited the dwarves military-administrative-I-don¡¯t-even-know building, had a quick word with one of his minions, who hurried off to find food.


    We moved through the streets, and I was more than a little embarrassed.


    ¡°Move! Out of the way! Healer coming through! Yeah, you, out of the way!¡±


    One of Thoren¡¯s minions shoved someone out of the way, and I could just flat-out die of embarrassment. I didn¡¯t want this treatment at all.


    I didn¡¯t need to worry about orc commandos, the dwarves would make me kill myself in shame.


    I should totally live in the infirmary for like, a week, then get out of here.


    We made it in, and infirmaries were the same the world around. The only notable part was the apparent multi-floor nature of the building - a gentle ramp led upwards - and that all the dwarves seemed to be military, with bundles of armor next to each bed, and a quick scan showed everyone [Identify]ing as a combat class, with only a few exceptions.


    I rolled my shoulders as I felt a huge grin creep onto my face. This was it! This is what I was made for! Good, wholesome healing.


    Thoren was running interference with the dwarves who were running the show, but ¡°we brought a healer to go nuts¡± greased a lot of hinges.


    ¡°Right, any reason not to get started?¡± I asked Thoren, who shrugged at me.


    ¡°I dunno, you¡¯re the healer.¡±


    Welp, nothing for it. What was nice with this many people in one spot - [Cosmic Presence] should be going nuts. It-


    [*ding!* [Cosmic Presence] has leveled up! 270 -> 271]


    Yeah, like that. I¡¯d just leveled it earlier today to boot! Probably should¡¯ve told Korun about the skill, but at the same time, it wasn¡¯t like they could move people in here from other buildings, and my aura was ginormous. Big enough to cover this building, while I was in it.


    The nice part with [Cosmic Presence] was with this many people here, I was preemptively healing everyone in my radius. My radius was large, and it did take a short amount of time with each person, which had the net effect that once I got going, each person would take less mana than normal to heal, given the amount of work [Cosmic Presence] had done before I¡¯d made it.


    I got to the first patient, and after a cursory look I tapped his foot and healed him up, noticing that the mana I lost was rapidly being restored. I probably could just burn my way through this entire building, like I claimed.


    I was excited. I turned off notifications, I wanted to see them all at once when I was done.


    Second patient was missing an arm. No problem, it was only around a few thousand mana to restore it with all six fingers, and I started to pick up speed.


    What was interesting with the two patients I¡¯d seen, was it looked like a Water healer, or a Water-aligned healer, had already seen to them. Cuts were closed, with that uniform fleshy look that I associated with magic healing, but the ¡°help your body along¡± variety, not the ¡°restore body parts¡± type.


    Third patient had gotten peppered with rocks, or something, and his chest was a mess. They¡¯d gotten the stones out, but he had torn muscles and broken bones everywhere. Nothing super major, but enough low-level damage to take someone out of a fight, and keep them out of the fight. I touched, and my eyes widened.


    ¡°60,000 mana!¡± I exclaimed, looking at the dwarf, and glancing back at my mana bar. ¡°Wow! Glad I made it!¡±


    Hang on. Being beheaded took almost that much mana, and the dwarf, while in bad shape, hadn¡¯t been a decapitated head lying on a bed. Also, 60,000 mana for one dwarf? I was going to need to eat crow at this rate.


    Then again, saving this many people from Black Crow kinda was eating crow in a sense.


    ¡°Um. Wow. Thanks, I guess?¡± He said, sitting up and flexing his arms.


    ¡°Hang on.¡± He said, looking at his right arm. ¡°What happened to my arm!?¡± He said in a panic.


    ¡°I healed it?¡± I asked, checking over his arm, touching him again. No feedback, no problems. ¡°It seems good. Skin, muscle, blood, bone, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Bone! That¡¯s what¡¯s wrong!¡± He yelled in anguish. ¡°It cost me 12,000 Drul to get enchanted metal to replace the bones in my arm!¡± He said, practically sobbing.


    ¡°Errrr¡­. Oops?¡± I said.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t anyone ever - oh hi¡± The dwarf had started to work up a real rage, yelling and screaming, before Thoren and the rest of his escort stepped in.


    They didn¡¯t say anything. They didn¡¯t need to. They all had their weapons drawn, and they loomed over the poor dwarf, who decided that shutting up was the better part of valor.


    It was kinda impressive, how people as short as I was could loom so well. I¡¯d need to take notes.


    ¡°Is this a common thing?¡± I asked Thoren.


    ¡°What part?¡± He asked back, somewhat confused.


    ¡°The metal in his arm!¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh yeah. All sorts of dwarves do it. Metal arm, steel ribs, built-in knuckles, iron hands. Heck, I replaced my leg bones to run faster. Dwarves do it for all sorts of reasons to boot! Those that worship the god of the forge believe it brings them closer to him, others do it so they can fight better, or want a hand that¡¯s immune to fire, or run faster, or just look good. I know one dwarf wi¡±


    I gave him a Look.


    ¡°And with all that metal in them, how, exactly, do they get any healing?¡± I demanded.


    Some confused looks and mutterings went around, and a runner was sent. It would be too much for me to expect meatheads to know how medicine worked. I barely knew how meatheading worked!


    ¡°So what did the metal in your arm do?¡± I asked the dwarf who I¡¯d inadvertently screwed.


    ¡°It was unbreakable. Had enchantments to make me stronger and faster. Had an [Earth Shot] enchantment mimic on it. Plus it kept me warm. And some other enchanter rust that I ignored. Now it¡¯s gone. All gone.¡± He said, morosely looking at his arm.


    ¡°Erm. I¡¯m very sorry. I haven¡¯t healed here before.¡± I said.


    I needed a solution to this problem.


    Hang on, while I was thinking, I could make myself useful.


    I was about to ask for everyone with metal in their arm to raise their hand, before reconsidering. That was, to me, the abnormal, but there weren¡¯t just metal-in-random-places dwarves and normal dwarves. There were also dwarves that were asleep, that might¡¯ve lost their hearing, or just plain weren¡¯t paying attention.


    ¡°Oi! Can anyone without metal implants raise their hand!¡± I yelled, only getting a few hands nearby up in response.


    This was going to take ages.


    ¡°Thoren. Can you get a pair of the guards to wander around, and get people to raise their hands? I¡¯m going to be moving at a good clip.¡± I explained.


    ¡°It is running the escort a bit thin¡­¡± He hedged.


    I rolled my eyes at him.


    ¡°They¡¯re going to be a short distance away. It¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    I spent a moment thinking, then realized I had more.


    ¡°Plus, I¡¯m the healer. I¡¯m the boss here. Work with me.¡±


    Thoren frowned, but then turned and pointed to two of the guards, who started shouting on their way down the infirmary.


    I decided to show them up, and wherever they went, I was right behind them, high-fiving every raised hand, instantly healing people back up.


    ¡°No metal? Good! High five, you¡¯re back in it, go!¡± I said, slapping the hand of another dwarf before moving onto the next. I heard him behind me.


    ¡°Ha! You spent the last ten years giving me rust about your oh-so-wonderful iron knuckles! Well, who¡¯s laughing now!¡± He said, teasing another friend of his in a good mannered way as he started to get his gear on, chuckling that he was finally free.


    Food arrived around this time, and I switched from high-fives to high-elbows, as I tried to keep a container of some sort of mushroom soup stable with one hand, and eat with the other.


    I¡¯d murder the bloody dwarves for making a game out of high-elbowing me and seeing if they could get me to spill a bit, but they were having too much fun with it. Way too high-energy for sick and injured patients. There was probably someone with an [Energize Patients] skill in the building.


    Or wait, it¡¯d probably be a Metal class or, hmmm. Mirror. Yeah, probably Mirror. [See how energetic I am!] or something like that.


    Either way, I was getting most of the food in me, and only a little on me, and orcish commandos weren¡¯t bursting through the ceiling, skills blazing.


    A few of the dwarves were sadder cases though. They listlessly lifted their hands for healing, and once I healed them, they just dropped their hands back to the side.


    Lifeless.


    Their bodies were whole, but their minds were broken, damaged in a way I couldn¡¯t repair. I was just thankful that none of them thought I was a threat, or started shooting skills at me.


    I¡¯d blazed through most of the floor when the minion sent to find out how metal was normally handled came back with another dwarf in tow.


    ¡°This is healer Elaine. She has questions about healing around Metallic Enrichments.¡± Minion-dwarf introduced us.


    ¡°Walk with me.¡± I said, handing my leftover bowl to a guard, and continuing to walk and heal. I did like my crowd of guards/helpers making my life easy.


    ¡°What do you need to know?¡± The dwarf asked me.


    ¡°Well, how healing usually works with the Metallic Enrichments.¡± I said, finger-touching another dwarf and healing his amputated legs in a flash.


    ¡°Well, the healer usually starts healing, and when they¡¯re done healing, they stop.¡± She said, acting confused. ¡°Most Enrichments resist healing, so it¡¯s not a problem.¡±


    I half-stumbled at that, but caught myself and continued on.


    ¡°Ah, see, I¡¯ve got a bit of a problem. When I heal someone, I automatically flush out all foreign materials.¡± I said.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t notice anything was wrong when he seemed healed, but it was taking ages?¡± The helper asked me.


    I shook my head as I kept walking, the guards rattling after me.


    ¡°Did the entire thing in one flash. 60,000 mana down the drain. The anti-healing probably explained why it took so much mana though.¡± I said, thinking about it.


    What was strange was I swore I¡¯d arranged my skills so that I could flush stuff out of the body like that - in my torso and head only! The fact that I could do it on large foreign objects in arms was puzzling me a hair right here and now. I was sure once I spent a few minutes thinking about it properly, it¡¯d come to me.


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible.¡± She scuffed at me. ¡°You¡¯d need-¡±


    ¡°I have over 100,000 magic power and control and the mana to match.¡± I said, cutting her off and enjoying a little smile to myself. I was underselling myself, but only telling the truth, and, well, those basic numbers were already out in the wild so to speak.


    One of the downsides to metal armor? Clumsily hitting each other with it made quite a nasty noise.


    I smiled to myself as the worst orchestra percussion symphony ever went into full swing behind me.

 Chapter 207 - Journey to the center of Pallos XII

    Making people trip when they heard my magic power and control wasn¡¯t going to get old anytime soon.


    However, I was faced with the most ridiculous, absurd problem I¡¯d ever heard of.


    I had too much power. I was healing out metal augmentations that the dwarves had installed in themselves. And it wasn¡¯t like they had a standard set they all used! Oh no, everyone had something different from the sound of it.


    I continued to walk through the tent, hitting up dwarves that were raising their hands while I thought about the problem.


    Let¡¯s take the dwarf with the metal bones. How would I heal that?


    Well, the problem wasn¡¯t ¡°How do I heal it¡± now, was it? It was ¡°How do I not heal it?¡±


    Which led me back to briefly reflecting on my [Oath]. I¡¯d sworn to heal everyone, yes. However, if someone had, say, prosthetic legs, and they were happy with said legs, regardless of performance?


    Well, then there¡¯d be no problem. If there was no problem, then I didn¡¯t need to heal it. The patient¡¯s wishes would triumph in those circumstances, unlike Perinthus and the plague, where the greater good came into play.


    I tapped another dwarf, fixing a nasty broken jaw, punctuating the thought.


    Ok. So, ideally, I¡¯d like to save their augmentations. My healing right now just smashed right through what was present, and replaced their metal with bone, ¡°healing¡± them back up.


    I stopped moving for a moment and facepalmed.


    ¡°Everything ok?¡± Thoren asked.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I¡¯m fine, just realized something dumb.¡± I said, getting moving again.


    I was healing them¡­ because of my [Persistent Casting]. The answer was now somewhat obvious. I needed to turn my [Persistent Casting] heal off again, then on each dwarf, figure out what metal they had, then make sure I healed around it. I¡¯d be playing it kind of close, but that¡¯s what my massive control was for.


    At the same time, my [Persistent Casting] was arguably what saved me from decapitation, and there were the orc commandos running around. Apparently, I was a high-value target, and as I considered how I would lead a team of Rangers to demolish an entire city, I had to reluctantly admit to myself that I¡¯d aim for the healers. Perhaps not first, but they¡¯d be on my list, and I¡¯d kill one if I saw an isolated or weakly guarded one.


    Thank all the goddesses I had [Oath] and would never - could never - make that decision.


    I¡¯d reached the end of this floor, and was staring kinda dumbly at the stone wall.


    ¡°Healer Elaine? Are you alright?¡± Thoren asked me.


    I gave him the murder glare for breaking me out of my concentration.


    ¡°Hang on. I¡¯m thinking.¡± I grumped at him.


    Goddesses, I hated being broken out of my focus. It was so damn hard to get back there. Right, where was I? Prosthetics, healing around metal, careful control, ahha! That¡¯s right.


    I could also focus, and ¡°limit¡± how much I was healing in any one go, which should give the anti-healing properties a chance to work. Or, um, not work, as the case may be.


    Right. Now that I had something of an idea, I needed to know more about how the metal implants worked. Take the bone augmentation for example. The whole human body was connected, and interconnected, again and again and again. The dwarvish body was likely to be fairly similar in many aspects. After all, the gods seem to have plagiarized everything, and while I wouldn¡¯t dare guess how a phoenix¡¯s biology worked, with it being made of fire and all that, I was willing to assume that dwarves were similar to humans.


    Said bone-replacement needed many things. Like, obviously the dwarves'' muscles still worked. That meant tendons were connecting the muscle to the bone-replacement. The other bones had to be connected, which meant the ligaments were in place. It was technically possible that the fenestrated and sinusoidal capillaries - the little blood vessels feeding the bone - were in place, but I had serious doubts about that. That would be extremely high-tier work, and while possible, the dwarves seemed fairly obsessed with metal, and less so with biology.


    I should write out a copy of the Medical Manuscripts for them. It¡¯d-


    No.


    Focus.


    Right, if I didn¡¯t think the blood vessels were directly connected with the metal - like, metal poisoning was potentially in the works even more so if it was - then that also meant it was likely that the bone marrow didn¡¯t have a replacement either.


    ¡°Healer Elaine! I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re safe!¡± Urik called out, barging through the guards, trailing his own escort.


    ¡°WHAT NOW!?¡± I practically snarled at him. I WAS BUSY DAMNIT!


    He barely batted an eye at my ferocity, being actually somewhat experienced and shit, and I cursed to myself.


    Oi! System! Give me an [Intimidation] skill or something! [Scary]! I needed a skill for this!


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Savage puppy]! Would you like to replace a skill for it?]


    No! I was not an angry puppy! Give me a real skill!


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Kitty Has Claws]! Would you like to replace a skill for it?]


    I briefly considered cursing the System out, but I was near a class evolution. There were wildly varying theories on how smart the System was, and how it responded to people¡¯s actions. The fact that I could wish really hard for a skill and get offered something was proof of that. I didn¡¯t want to piss the System off, and get subpar classes, if not shitty ones.


    With that being said, being ¡°cute¡± and ¡°adorable¡± was kinda grinding my gears here. It was clear from people¡¯s reaction, and the System¡¯s offered skills, that people weren¡¯t taking my angry grumpings seriously. If only I was a beefy six foot tall physical classer, that could intimidate people with a single look. Or had one as an escort who could practically read my mind.


    ANYWAYS. Back on task. Urik was talking.


    ¡°... no idea what happened!¡± He said. I continued giving him a vacant, half-snarling look, as my brain worked overtime.


    [Pristine Memories], bail me out here.


    ¡°Healer Ned just vanished! We¡¯re afraid the orcs got him, but we have no idea what happened!¡±


    Ah right. There we go.


    ¡°Ok, fine. How does that impact me here, now, and was it worth interrupting me?¡± I said, grumbly as hell that I¡¯d gotten interrupted twice as I was trying to figure out how to keep people alive.


    Seriously, all these delays were not good for the dwarves.


    Urik was slightly taken aback by that.


    ¡°Well, you two were traveling together, I thought you¡¯d care.¡± He said.


    Ooof. Right. That was kind of a bad look, to be like ¡°My buddy vanished, probably dead? Don¡¯t care.¡±


    ¡°Something was wrong with Ned in the first place, like I told your boss, I was assuming he¡¯d try to kill me at some point. How¡¯s Glifir, Drin, and Fik doing?¡± I asked, to blank looks.


    I rolled my eyes.


    ¡°The Nolgardian dwarves I was with.¡± I clarified.


    ¡°Oh! Still being debriefed. Probably getting fed, then we¡¯ll find a place for them.¡± Urik said after a moment¡¯s hesitation.


    I didn¡¯t quite buy that, but I was busy.


    ¡°Right. Anything else I need to know before I can get back to working on how to heal the people here?¡± I asked, irritation obvious in my voice.


    ¡°Hi, yes, can we come through?¡± A pair of dwarves with a stretcher asked, from way back behind the crowd. They both [Identify]ed as [Laborer], around level 110 or so. Young.


    Wait, the crowd?


    I blinked and looked around again. Thoren had all eleven of his minions back with him, all armored up, weapons at a relaxed ready. Then there was Urik, and his eleven minions, and the aisle in the infirmary wasn¡¯t exactly large.


    Three¡¯s a crowd, and we were twenty-five people.


    Oh no, don¡¯t tell me they were going to try and ¡°keep me safe¡± by permanently following me around, were they?


    Nooooooo. They totally were.


    ¡°Yeah, sure, come on through!¡± I said, shuffling myself out of the way.


    Thoren and Urik shared an indecipherable look, but we all slowly shuffled out of their way as they made it to one of the dwarves that hadn¡¯t gotten healed yet.


    ¡°Mage Toick, you¡¯re up!¡± One of the stretcher-carriers, carefully moving the dwarf over to the stretcher. My money was on some sort of skill.


    I ruthlessly crushed the idea of speculating on their classes and their system of healing and medicine before I got sidetracked by more stuff!


    However, the stretcher dwarves, and moving patients presumably to a healer, reminded me that they were thinking of using me as bait, since I was being high profile and stuff.


    I mentally snorted. If I was leading a team of Rangers, there¡¯s no way I¡¯d ever hit the ridiculously well-guarded target. That was asking for trouble. No, I¡¯d pick off a target somewhere else where there were fewer guards. Snipe the VIP when everyone was relaxed in public.


    Which meant eventually the pendulum would swing, the orcs would hit somewhere else, and when the guards all scurried off over to where the distraction was, then they¡¯d hit me hard.


    I should get out of town before then.


    Although¡­


    If I saw a well-guarded target, and I had, say, Artemis and a hiding spot, I might be tempted to have Artemis unload on the target, then bail to a new hiding spot.


    I nodded to myself.


    Right. Heal here, see how many dwarves and how much backlog I could clear out, then casually walk out, hopefully before my presence even registered on the orc commando¡¯s radar. It wasn¡¯t like people were talking with them, it was all observation.


    ¡­ Unless, of course, they used a Mirage skill to disguise themselves as dwarves. But I had a weak [Shine] going to dispel that. Argh!


    Anyways.


    Focus.


    I needed to work on healing, which meant I needed to finish working out the medical puzzle I¡¯d been presented with.


    Where was I?


    Bones. Ligaments. Tendons. Capillaries.


    Bone marrow!


    I¡¯d need to check, but I¡¯d be surprised if there was a bone-marrow replacement, especially since it needed the capillaries to make it all work.


    Also, there was no way they properly made bones be a store of calcium.


    Actually, there was an easy way to check those parts!


    ¡°Hey, question on metal implants - err, Metallic Enrichments.¡± I asked Thoren, looking over at Urik and making it clear I wanted his input as well.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know much about them, besides the obvious.¡± Thoren said. ¡°I can¡¯t even guess at some of the technical aspects.¡±


    I waved him off.


    ¡°Does anyone have a full skeleton of metal? That¡¯s been replaced, and not, like, someone¡¯s skill to have a [Metal Skeleton] or something?¡±


    I felt pleased with myself that I caught the possibility of a skill before being given bad info.


    ¡°Nah. The damn smiths won¡¯t work on you if you¡¯ve got both arms, legs, and your ribcage replaced.¡± A dwarf that was sitting up and watching us interrupted. ¡°I would know, they refused to give me any more and started muttering arcane mad-smith nonsense.¡±


    I looked at Thoren, who nodded slowly. Urik jumped in.


    ¡°Yeah, he¡¯s right. I¡¯ve heard the same thing.¡±


    Ok, that implied that it wasn¡¯t replacing biological functions. I was dead curious what the dwarf had done to himself, and why he wanted so much blasted metal in him. It had to hurt, and it had to be constricting his breathing. The chest was flexible for a reason!


    Unless they made it flexible. Magic was totally awesome like that! I was tempted to stick around and see just how much I could learn, how much I could get taught. I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d be able to use any of it¡­ I just wanted to satiate my curiosity.


    Right, fine. I needed to go in, heal a bunch, and avoid wherever there was metal. A long, complex puzzle boiled down to such a simple solution didn¡¯t quite sit right with me, especially considering any other damage they might have nearby, that I might miss as a result of my healing method.


    I wasn¡¯t totally thrilled with that, until another piece of the puzzle clicked into place.


    I could hang around for a bit after, and let [Cosmic Presence] finish the job!


    ¡°Ok, I¡¯m going to need to focus for a skill of mine.¡± I said. ¡°This is one of the skills that keeps me alive, and I need to be absolutely uninterrupted while I get it set up.¡± I explained to Urik and Thoren.


    ¡°Is this the best place for it?¡± Thoren asked me.


    I looked around. Crowded infirmary.


    I shrugged, and sat down on one of the beds I¡¯d made vacant.


    ¡°Sure, why not?¡± I said, dismissing my [Persistent Casting] of [Dance with the Heavens].


    I then re-did it, speedy mode, for just myself. That way if I brushed up against a dwarf, I wouldn¡¯t accidentally purge their metal implants. Honestly, it was a miracle it hadn¡¯t happened yet.


    Still, I had to balance a good image for myself, with getting to the wounded and injured. I spent enough time to almost entirely refill my mana bar - it¡¯d never recovered from the first dwarf I¡¯d ¡°overhealed¡± - and considered it ¡°good enough for now¡±.


    So many things to do, and not nearly enough time.


    ¡°Right. I think I can heal dwarves with metal implants, and not ruin them.¡± I said. ¡°However, I¡¯d like to look at a few, up-close and personal, to see exactly how it¡¯s all connecting together.¡±


    ¡°Um. Do you mean to slice me open?¡± The dwarf who¡¯d spoken up asked, looking somewhat nervous.


    ¡°I mean, yeah, I¡¯m going to have to.¡± I said, thinking out loud. ¡°If not you, then someone else. I need to take a look at how the tendons and ligaments are attached to heal them properly. I don¡¯t have what I need to see capillaries or anything that small, but I¡¯ve gotten a good guess on them.¡± I said.


    ¡°Who¡¯s got an anti-pain skill, and would like to be first?¡± I said, looking at a few unwilling test subjects enthusiastic volunteers.


    ¡°Errr, why don¡¯t you go ask one of the other healers¡­¡± The sitting-up dwarf said, nervously looking around at us eyeing him like a pack of wolves eyes a lamb. ¡°They probably know! Please don¡¯t slice me open like one of those mad smiths!¡±


    The last part came out frantically, and I sighed. Didn¡¯t he need to be sliced open to replace his arm in the first place?


    Wait. Right. Magic.


    I had no interest in being a smith, but I was getting crazy curious about their process and their work.


    ¡°Fine, fine. Anyone? Any big, tough dwarf ok with me slicing them open to see how they work, so I can get healing? Any dwarf with a beard big enough?¡± I asked.


    Nobody.


    I started to walk down the aisle, my overly large escort leading the way and following behind in an overly complex single-file line.


    This was absurd.


    ¡°Any dwarf. Annyyyy one at all willing to help me out.¡± I called out in a sing-song voice.


    ¡°I¡¯ll help.¡± One dwarf wheezed then coughed, ugly bandages all over the remains of his face. No guesses why he was wheezing, that was ugly.


    ¡°Great! Anyone have a sharp knife? You do have an anti-pain skill right? Where do you have metal in your body, I just need to take a quick look. Shouldn¡¯t take me more time than eating lunch!¡± I said, happily accepting a sharp knife a member of my escort handed to me.


    ¡°Uh, wait.¡± He said, wheezing some more. ¡°Nobody ever said,¡± He was really struggling with that breathing. ¡°Anything about slicing into me!¡± The poor dwarf got the last part out all in a rush.


    ¡°Awww, fine.¡± I said, pouting a bit. I just wanted to help them! Was that so hard?


    ¡°Anyone? Anyone care to test their metal mettle?¡± I called out.


    ¡°I¡¯m Forrous Metal-Hand the 38th!¡± One small dwarf with a big voice roared out. ¡°I¡¯ve never backed down from a challenge, and I won¡¯t back down now!¡±


    ¡°Excellent!¡± I said, a maniacal gleam entering my eye as briskly strode over to his bed. ¡°Where are your implants, and do you have an anti-pain skill?¡± I asked.


    He looked down at his hand, and my brain caught up with my ears.


    ¡®Metal-hand.¡¯ Derp.


    ¡°Great! Anything else?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Aye. Entire arm, shoulder, and half my ribs.¡± He said.


    ¡°Most excellent!¡± I said.


    I was totally getting a [Mad Healer] or [Overly Enthusiastic Vivisector] in my next Celestial class up.


    ¡°Numb to pain?¡± I asked him, and got a nod back, followed by a startled look.


    ¡°Wait, are you sure you¡¯re a healer? Aren¡¯t anti-pain skills standard?¡±


    ¡°I mean, yeah, but I wasn¡¯t using mine, so I dropped it.¡± I said. ¡°Now, hold still, this knife is a bit on the large side and I need to see small things.¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡± He said.


    I took his arm, and flipped it wrist-side up. I was actually quite pleased with Forrous Metal-Hand. It looked like he was trying to get half his body metal, and not only did he have a bunch of bones replaced, but it looked like there was a sheet of metal over his chest.


    A terrible idea, but I¡¯d get to see how that connected as well.


    I carefully looked at where the tendons in his wrist were, lined the knife up just right, and pressed down.


    Nothing happened. My knife bounced off his firm flesh, not even leaving a mark.


    ¡°Now what?¡± I complained.

 Chapter 208 - Journey to the center of Pallos XIII

    Forrous and I were staring awkwardly at the knife pressed against his wrist, that just wasn¡¯t cutting.


    I tapped the knife experimentally against his arm a few times, sharp-side down.


    ¡°Just how tough are you?¡± I asked.


    Forrous puffed his chest out.


    ¡°Tougher than your little knife!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, real helpful.¡± I said, as I leaned on the knife, seeing if I could pierce his skin in any way.


    ¡°Look, can you turn off your defensive skills? Please?¡± I asked.


    I got a Look, like I was a moron or something.


    ¡°They are off.¡±


    I was tempted to throw up my hands in frustration, but I was too aware of the knife I was holding onto.


    Curse my low strength, and his high vitality. This was absurd. It was making it all too obvious that blades might not be in my future at all, apart from a small knife to help me out.


    Then again, in all the years since I¡¯d lost the skill, this was the first time I missed [Surgeon¡¯s Scalpel]. One of the minor downsides of only having one healer class - I had all the main tricks down, but some of the more esoteric side-pieces were missing.


    It didn¡¯t bug me. I could heal, and keep people alive no problem. This was to make life easier for the dwarves, and not blow up their valuables. In a pinch, I could just heal them the normal way.


    I briefly considered using my Radiance to help me out. It¡¯d slice through the dwarf¡¯s arm, with fewer problems.


    However, Radiance had its own set of problems. Namely, the whole burning and searing part would burn and sear the delicate little parts of the body that I wanted to see in the first place!


    ¡°Anyone got a skill to help me out?¡± I called back to my way-too-large escort. ¡°Sharpening skills, anything?¡±


    A few dwarves started to step forward, which kinda made sense. Most of them probably had something metal-related, and making your blades sharp was a basic warrior skill.


    After some internal shuffling and glances, one minion was selected to help me out.


    ¡°Right! You can make things sharp?¡± I confirmed.


    ¡°Aye! And I¡¯ve got some Erosion skills, to weaken things I hit.¡± He confirmed.


    ¡°Perfect! What do you need?¡± I asked.


    Minion shrugged, and touched my knife and Forrous¡¯s arm.


    ¡°All set!¡± He said.


    Well, that was easy. I suppose I made my healing look just as simple.


    ¡°Can anyone make blood vanish, so I can see what¡¯s going on?¡± I asked the dwarves. ¡°Could be Water to wash it away or manipulate it, Wind to keep it clear, Dark to remove it, really, I¡¯m not fussy.¡±


    Twenty-four dwarves, each with at least two classes, and having at least 24 skills each. I got my new volunteer to give me a hand.


    ¡°Darkness mage, high control.¡± She said, not saying a word more.


    Didn¡¯t really need to!


    What I was basically doing was an exploratory surgery, to see just what the heck was going on. Not too different from a surgeon doing the same thing.


    Technically, I should wash my hands, especially after touching loads of injured patients. I didn¡¯t want a repeat of Lyra, but at the same time, I was going to heal him after, and I believed my [Cosmic Presence] aura would kill any infection in the cradle. Plus, he was going to get a healthy dose of healing after.


    I carefully sliced into Forrous¡¯s arm, noting that I was piercing the skin. My dexterity wasn¡¯t too high, compared to my level, but at baseline I had steady hands, and the 500 extra points helped me keep them steady as I slowly sliced into Forrous¡¯s arm, blood pooling and welling up, only to be whisked away by my helper.


    I kept slicing, making sure to avoid the tendons, until I hit the metal bones. I then smoothly sliced down the arm, keeping clear of anything important, like veins or ligaments.


    It wasn¡¯t easy. Human anatomy wasn¡¯t quite the same as dwarven anatomy, and there were just enough minor differences to keep throwing me for a loop. I was nothing if not adaptable though, and worked around them.


    I did accidentally hit the radial artery - or what would be the radial on a human - at one point, but a tiny burst of focused ¡°Heal this one injury only¡± and a little touch fixed that problem. Some of the medium-sized parts of the circulatory system I had no choice but to slice through, carefully sealing them after me so I wasn¡¯t going to end up swimming in blood.


    [Oath] didn¡¯t bother me. I was - and it was - familiar with the concept of surgery, and minor mistakes. I fixed the little mistake, and it was, globally, part of making him better. I couldn¡¯t deliberately cause harm, and I needed a damn good reason to do this operation - but because both were checked off, the operation was kosher, and little mistakes weren¡¯t punished.


    I couldn¡¯t imagine if little mistakes were punished. Bump into someone on the street? Lose a level. That¡¯d be impossible.


    I probably would be punished harshly if I went ¡°Lots of injured people that are horribly complicated to heal? Nah, I don¡¯t think I¡¯ll bother.¡±


    Then again, it wasn¡¯t in my nature to do that, so it was fine.


    Plus, I¡¯m sure Forrous preferred his blood inside him, no matter how gruff he might seem.


    I then put my knife down carefully, reached in with both hands, and peeled his forearm apart, to get a better look at what was going on. I used my hands to keep it open, and prevent it from snapping back shut, although I could feel the strain on them. I made a mental note to pass it off, and soon.


    I heard a retching noise or two, but ignored them. I did check on Forrous though.


    ¡°You good?¡± I asked, noticing that he looked distinctly green.


    Muscles tense in his neck, he gave me a tiny, curt nod.


    Ahh yes. The ¡°I¡¯m trying real hard to keep my lunch down¡± look. Still, I had consent, so I was going to take a peek under the hood! Err - arm.


    I started off by looking at the wrist, and all the delicate little bones there. Whoever had designed the hand hadn¡¯t wanted to deal with the wrist, so it was still all fleshy.


    I peered in, looking closely. The tendons made it all the way to the metal hand replacement, where they seemed to be ¡°grabbed and pinched¡± by tiny, delicate metal protrusions. They were a little covered up though, by a bit of flesh and blood and general ick. Still, I could see some tiny, densely-packed inscriptions keeping the whole thing running.


    I considered asking my assistant to clear off the material around the tendon-to-hand connection, but I figured the risk of her not knowing anatomy well enough, and accidentally deleting part of the tendon was too high of a risk.


    I went to the bones - errr, metal implants - next, nodding in approval as I saw not one, but two metal rods in his arm. The smiths had decided to try and imitate life, and not just stick one bone in the arm and call it a day.


    Except, they seemed to think bone didn¡¯t do much more than just provide support and structure for the body. Blah. Bones did so much more than that.


    I was totally going to get them a copy of the Medical Manuscripts. So many things to do, and I felt like the clock was ticking fast, and pressure was on.


    Ligaments and tendons were both ¡°pinched¡± by little grabbing ¡°claws¡± coming out of the metal bones. I continued to poke around, seeing how the connections all worked, how the whole thing was put together.


    I felt my hands getting tired keeping his arm open, and there was one last connection being blocked that I couldn¡¯t see.


    ¡°Should I be awake for this?¡± He asked with a nervous chuckle.


    ¡°Well, no. But while you are, here, hold your arm open. There¡¯s one last thing I can¡¯t quite seem to...¡±


    Finally, I¡¯d seen enough.


    ¡°Right. Forrous. Do you mind if I try healing a few little things while I¡¯m in here, just to test things out.¡±


    ¡°I, uh, don¡¯t like the sound of ¡®test things out.¡¯¡± He said.


    I looked at him, waiting.


    ¡°Well?¡± I asked. ¡°I didn¡¯t hear a no.¡±


    Forrous had a pained look on his face. I internally chuckled. His brash claim of ¡®I never turn down a challenge!¡¯ was now being tested as ¡°Let me take a quick look¡± turned into [Mad Doctor] Elaine would like to perform EXPERIMENTS! Hold still, this will only hurt for a second.


    ¡°Yeah, sure.¡± He said, with gritted teeth and closed his eyes.


    I carefully focused on healing just his tendon, seeing almost nothing happen.


    Heck, I couldn¡¯t even see my mana bar move, it was recharging at such a fast rate.


    At the same time, metal didn¡¯t start to suddenly vanish, the tendon didn¡¯t snap, nor did huge amounts of my mana go poof. So, healing parts that were connected, and just connected, were fine. There wasn¡¯t anything super special going on.


    I tried a few more things, and finally I was satisfied that I knew how to heal Forrous, and other dwarves with the same ¡°improvements¡±.


    ¡°Right, I¡¯ve got it now.¡± I said. ¡°You can close your arm.¡±


    He let go, and his flesh practically sprang back together. I touched it, and I focused on what I¡¯d done and sliced apart, along with managing the inflammatory response. I also focused on his primary injuries, and made sure that everything metal he¡¯d mentioned was explicitly excluded. Then I sent a thin, tiny trickle of mana into my [Dance with the Heavens] skill, watching my mana slowly tick away - no wait, I was regenerating just as fast as I was using mana - as his flesh re-knit in front of my eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯m healed.¡± He said stupidly.


    ¡°Yup! Implants are all intact to boot! Not only that, but now I¡¯ve worked out how to heal everyone with implants thanks to you.¡± I said, giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. ¡°Should be good for some bragging rights, eh? Thanks for volunteering!¡±


    He grinned.


    ¡°Aye! Nobody will ever be able to top holding my own arm open for the healer to poke around!¡±


    I made sure my surgery scalpel was returned back to the dwarf who owned it, who gave me a side-eye at it having been used that way.


    It was marathon time! Part 2!


    ¡°Thoren. Urik.¡± I said, getting my escort¡¯s attention.


    ¡°Aye?¡± They asked in unison.


    ¡°I need two dwarves to be ¡®frontrunners¡¯ so to speak, and get a solid idea of what metal each dwarf has, and what their injuries are. This is already going to take me ages, I don¡¯t need to be delayed waiting to hear everyone¡¯s life story.¡±


    Thoren nodded, and had a quick word with three of his minions, pointing them to the right spot.


    ¡°Need a bite?¡± Urik asked, and I nodded.


    ¡°Please.¡±


    Healing was stupid hungry work.


    We were unfortunately in the middle of the room, so I couldn¡¯t just do a clean sweep. Step by step, person by careful person, I made my way through the remaining patients.


    Blasted dwarves and orcs couldn¡¯t leave well enough alone, and new patients slowly trickled in. Still, I wasn¡¯t alone here. The other healers, while not visible, were felt by the teams of stretcher bearers coming down, grabbing someone, then bringing them up the stairs.


    There was a bit of a twist. Some patients had gone deaf, an explosion or something else having mangled their hearing so badly they couldn¡¯t hear what was being asked of them. Usually, I¡¯d hit them with some carefully aimed healing at their ears, then move on while one of the asker-dwarves got their full story. I¡¯d then swing by after my next patient to heal them, to not waste time collecting information.


    Once in a while a dwarf was catching a nap, or trying to sleep off their injuries. Some appreciated being woken up for a quick heal, others were grumpy, three woke up swinging, assuming they were under attack.


    Made me all the more thankful for my helpers, and it was a good reminder. I was approaching territory where people¡¯s specializations were shining. The physically-inclined dwarves could hit hard and fast, to the point where I¡¯d be in danger.


    If I was low on mana.


    Either way, I didn¡¯t want to be wrestling dwarves and digging axes out of my spine, and I was happy to let someone else do it.


    We worked our way down the room, then back down the other way, the room slowly but steadily emptying out.


    I then hit my first new snag.


    I stared at the dwarf¡¯s completely mangled arm. He¡¯d broken his arm badly, and his prosthetics were bursting out of his fleshy arm, forming a right angle like a nightmare of a compound fracture.


    ¡°Um.¡± I said, looking at his arm. The dwarf chuckled.


    ¡°Smith that sold it to me called it unbreakable. I¡¯d have a pair o¡¯ angry words for him, if it hadn¡¯t saved my life in the process.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s¡­ something.¡± I said, eyeing it up, and thinking fast.


    I was no smith. Heck, if it was raw iron, I doubted I could fix it, forget whatever complicated things were going on, forget whatever runes had been broken here that also needed fixing.


    I will admit when I do not know how to heal a patient.


    This totally fell into that category.


    Partially.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got two options here.¡± I said, eyeing the arm. ¡°First is, I heal you, but you¡¯d lose the fanciness going on in your arm. Second, I give you a little top-up, fix what I can, and leave you to someone who can fix this mess. Errr. I assume there¡¯s someone that can fix this¡­?¡± I said, realizing that it might not be fixable.


    He waved me off.


    ¡°Ironarm here just saved my life. This will sound a mite mad, but I¡¯m attached to the bugger now. It¡¯d feel like some betrayal to get rid of her. Nah, you¡¯re cleaning up everyone nicely, which means I¡¯ll jump the list for another healer soon enough. There¡¯s a few that work with smiths for exactly these types of problems.¡±


    Reasonable. Patient had declined treatment, and had a plan for getting proper attention in the future. Patient clearly knew the risks, and was willing to forgo treatment.


    It was one of those situations again, where I¡¯d offered help, and once declined, I allowed them their bodily autonomy.


    ¡°Right! Best of luck! Want an energy pick-me-up?¡± I offered.


    He shook his head.


    ¡°Got a skill for it. As long as my feet are touching the ground, I¡¯m good.¡±


    I pointedly stared at his feet, up in bed.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, you¡¯re real funny. Shoo!¡± He said, making a shooing motion with his good hand.


    On and on I went, smiling to myself as [Sunrise] kept me going, and my mana stayed high. Only a handful of dwarves refused treatment, most looking for a smith-healer, and a few didn¡¯t seem to trust my beardless nature, instead wanting to wait for a ¡°real healer, made of proper steel¡±. No idea what that was about, but I got the gist.


    I was only slightly offended. I mostly didn¡¯t care. I¡¯d been getting shit for my gender in Remus for so long, that getting shit for something else entirely out of my control by a few xenophobic dwarves practically slid right off. Or was it beardless-phobia? There seemed to be something about dwarves and a lack of beards.


    Whatever. I had too much other shit to do.


    On and on we went, food coming, people going, massive crowds of escorts and grumpy stretcher-bearers trying to get through us.


    Still. The passage of time, and my efforts, paid off.


    ¡°Wow.¡± Thoren said, as we looked at the practically emptied infirmary. His mouth open, he hesitated, then closed it again. Open¡­ and closed.


    ¡°Well, I thought you were good at boasting, but I¡¯ve gotta eat rust.¡± Urik said, looking at the nearly-empty infirmary. ¡°Feel like tackling upstairs?¡±

 Chapter 209 - Journey to the center of Pallos XIV

    I looked at the nearly-empty infirmary. The only people left were those who had refused treatment - even then I saw two of them taken away on stretchers, to be seen by a specialist - those too broken in the mind to keep going, those who we hadn¡¯t been able to rouse and check on.


    And those who had died before I got to them. They were rare, having been stabilized by front-line medics before getting here, but they were imperfect. Things occasionally slipped through. Usually minor¡­ but not always.


    ¡°One last sweep.¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m going to heal anyone who¡¯s slept right through all this. It suggests that, metal or no, there¡¯s something wrong with them that needs to be addressed.¡±


    I thought about it a moment more.


    ¡°I¡¯ll try to avoid healing their bones. No promises if they have an artificial organ or an iron ass or something, but at the end of the day, their health is more important than their augmentations.¡±


    We started to move back through the infirmary, at a much higher clip. I mentally checked on my Arcanite reserves.


    About half full. They¡¯d been slowly recharging, and I mentally cursed to myself. If I¡¯d been keeping careful, careful track of how much mana was in the Arcanite, I could¡¯ve marked time better.


    The train of thought got derailed as I reached the first patient. One of Urik¡¯s minions was shaking his shoulder, but there was no response.


    I looked over the dwarf, the only visible injury a nasty cave-in on the skull. My money was on a head injury of some sort. I mean, I didn¡¯t need a degree in medicine or special skills to make that guess.


    I shrugged, touched the dwarf, and focused on healing everything that wasn¡¯t bone. More mana than I would expect vanished, but not so much that I thought I¡¯d killed an implant or something. Just a few thousand, which was more than I¡¯d expect for no major injuries.


    Yet, the dwarf kept sleeping. I glanced at Thoren, who just shrugged at the confused look on my face.


    ¡°You¡¯re the healer, not me.¡±


    I shrugged. I¡¯d treated the unknown dwarf to the best of my abilities, and made a note to myself - don¡¯t get hit hard in the head. Like, I¡¯d treated head trauma a bunch, but this was hinting at some types and forms of brain damage being Bad News.


    I thought about the problem as I continued treating the remaining patients. There was, as far as I could tell, no mind magic of any sort on Pallos. The closest things were mental buffs to myself, like my own [Center of the Universe], and the occasional ¡°positive¡± aura, like the calm aura I used to have, or the happiness aura.


    Imagine if there was any type of mental magic? Merchants would be all over it so fast, fleecing people and forcing them to empty their pockets.


    It would get much darker from there. It wasn¡¯t a path I wanted to explore.


    The Guardian¡¯s fight against the dragon had nothing that I could see that resembled mind shenanigans.


    At the same time, that wasn¡¯t conclusive proof that there was no mind magic, just strong evidence that it wasn¡¯t around.


    The dwarf¡¯s head injury - and others - being unable to be easily fixed might be an extension of the no mind magic. For example, if his frontal lobe was destroyed, his entire personality could change. Would restoring the frontal lobe back to its prior configuration be mind magic?


    What if he liked his new personality?


    There was a dizzying array of questions and possibilities, and I reiterated my conclusion:


    Don¡¯t take bad headshots. Hopefully if I did, I¡¯d automatically heal myself back up before anything new ¡°settled in¡± so to speak.


    That, and I better hope I had my [Persistent Casting] going. If it wasn¡¯t up, a headshot could easily kill me, even if I had all my mana. Be an awkward way to go.


    I healed the last few people, then turned to Urik and Thoren.


    ¡°You mentioned upstairs?¡± I asked.


    Urik nodded, and without a word led the way to the gentle ramp near the entrance.


    We followed a pair of stretcher-carriers up the stairs. They were jamming the way, and I didn¡¯t feel like trying to slip past them, not when my entire escort would as well.


    Gods, they were awkward.


    We made it up the ramp, and it was totally different up here. Instead of rows of beds, there was a long hallway full of doors, about half of which had one, or in some cases, two guards. Three doors had four guards, all of who looked on high alert.


    ¡°What¡¯s up here?¡± I asked Thoren. ¡°Is this where the healers are?¡±


    He nodded.


    ¡°Doors with four guards are healers - the rest of their escort is inside, the theory being that the orcs won¡¯t use the hallways to attack. The rest are various high level fighters, commanders, and the rest who rate their own private room.¡±


    Even as I watched a pair of stretcher-dwarves be let into one room, another pair left a second room and hustled down the hallway.


    Inefficient, until I considered mana regeneration rates, safety, and comfort. Not everyone was, well, me.


    I strode to the first room, and opened the door.


    ¡°Intruder!¡± The dwarf inside yelled, as all hell broke loose.


    The dwarf was obviously a mage, and a high, high level one to boot. Flickering beams of Radiance met my eyes, trying to blind me, screw with my vision, and burn through my skull. Only once the beams were boiling my eyeballs did [Bullet Time] kick in, letting me see - barely - everything else that was coming at me. Like a damn bursting, a bunch of clear liquid fell from the ceiling, at the same time a roiling cloud of colorless droplets came hurtling at me, and numerous rocks came flying at me. The mage in question vanished behind a solid wall of burning Radiance, which might be a shield, or just a way to hide her location.


    Everything but the kitchen sink.


    Which were just the attacks I saw. I was able to see somewhat through the Radiance trying to blind me - although, damn that was annoying, especially with the strobing - and my eyeballs were healing just as fast as they were seared off, bless my [Radiance Resistance] and healing.


    I threw up a [Mantle] as I tried to leap backwards, only for the rest of my escort to throw up more shields than I could quickly count, as Thoren and Urik started yelling.


    ¡°Hold! Hold! By the Clans HOLD!¡± Thoren yelled. I missed what Urik was shouting, because Thoren was louder.


    Shields were breaking almost as fast as we could put them up, but after a moment the Classer inside the room seemed to realize that, no, this was not an assassination attempt on her life.


    Screams of pain and agony caught my ear, and I saw three dwarves rolling on the ground, most clutching their faces.


    I squatted down, patting two with [Dance with the Heavens], using a shit image of just ¡°heal them¡±, and I kicked the third one. I winced as two of them had implants and chunked over half my mana to heal. Bad images were extra costly with those damn implants. It made it extra-clear why they weren¡¯t usually an issue.


    They¡¯d probably curse me out later, but for now, I¡¯d made sure their lives were saved. I¡¯m not sure what hit them, but my bet was the clear liquid wasn¡¯t water.


    Thoren and Urik went into the room, and started to give the Classer a piece of their mind, each one yelling over the other. The exact words were lost to me - and probably whoever was in there - but the tone, and the message, wasn¡¯t.


    I just got myself up slowly and dusted myself off. That had been too close. A reminder that anytime, anywhere, someone could have enough power and will to just end me. Even someone on my own side.


    It¡¯d taken the combined efforts of nearly two full squads of guards on top of my healing to just keep me alive. Then again, I could see why the dwarf had a VIP room. She was incredibly powerful, an unparalleled [War Mage] who could unleash her entire arsenal in a second or two.


    I glanced up at the door, noting the holes the acid had sprayed out of. She¡¯d even set up traps ahead of time.


    Idiot. She could¡¯ve killed one of the other healers, or some other innocent - like she almost had.


    Then again, with my experience, given the chance to set traps I might well do so too.


    There was no winning. The world was a dangerous place, where threats lurked around every bush, every tree, every boulder, and, as it turned out, every hospital door.


    ¡°You¡¯re clear!¡± Urik called back to me. I stomped in, noted the war-mage¡¯s injuries, and slapped her full of healing.


    I might¡¯ve also deliberately blown out her augmentations, and replaced them with normal skin and bone. I was in a little bit of a pissy mood, having been almost murdered by the very patient I was trying to heal.


    I stormed back out before I could get her thanks, an apology, or worse - a realization of what I¡¯d done to her augmentations. I was pretty low on mana now, but with only a few rooms left, and the other healers, and my natural regeneration rates, I figured I¡¯d be fine.


    Anyone as high level as she was, who rated an entire VIP room all to herself, and was dressed in armor as fancy and shiny as she was in would be able to get a new set. That was my own, personal justification.


    The next few rooms we carefully knocked on, and sent a guard ahead to announce me. No repeats, although we did end up spending a good amount of time waiting around, where the three dwarves I¡¯d saved took it upon themselves to profusely thank me.


    Turned out, I needed to thank them as well. Two of them had Mirror skills that let them take the hit for me, while the third one had been standing next to me, and ate a faceful of acid.


    Blocking me from taking said same faceful of acid. Not that I hadn¡¯t been hit at all, but there was a difference between a full face of high-level acid, and just the side-spray.


    We got through most of the rooms in good order, dodging stretchers who shot part-grateful ¡°thanks for reducing our workload¡±, part annoyed ¡°You¡¯re in the way and reducing the number of levels I get¡± looks at us.


    Water off my back.


    No, the only significant snag was with one of the guards.


    ¡°Can¡¯t let you in.¡± He said, stubbornly guarding the door like he could fight all of us and win.


    In a sense, he probably could. If we attacked him, or tried to physically remove him, he¡¯d just need to scream bloody murder for everyone else to come down on us like a sack of iron ingots, and we¡¯d totally be in the wrong.


    Some of the dwarves we¡¯d healed were hanging around, just watching us work.


    ¡°Why not?¡± I asked curiously.


    ¡°You ain¡¯t one of the healers.¡± He said.


    ¡°You [Identify]¡¯d me?¡± I asked incredulously.


    ¡°Nope.¡± He said, staring past me to the wall on the other side of the hallway.


    ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t have the skill.¡±


    ¡°How do you tell what people are?¡±


    ¡°[Examine].¡±


    ¡°Well, did you [Examine] me?¡±


    ¡°Yup.¡±


    Silence as he stared at the wall.


    ¡°And?¡± I prompted.


    ¡°You ain¡¯t one of the healers.¡± He repeated. ¡°Can¡¯t let you in.¡±


    ¡°Could I get whoever¡¯s inside to confirm that he or she doesn¡¯t want me healing them?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Nope.¡± He said stubbornly. ¡°Can¡¯t let you in.¡±


    ¡°Can you let me in?¡± Thoren asked. ¡°Bronze Commander Thoren.¡±


    The guard looked nervous, but to his credit, held firm.


    ¡°Nope. Only the healers.¡± He said.


    I shared an incredulous look with Thoren, who shrugged in a ¡°I¡¯m so glad I¡¯m not the healer and this isn¡¯t my mess.¡± way. His job was to keep me safe, and I¡¯d talked him into giving a bit more help. It was clear that he was leaving me on my own for this.


    This left me with an interesting problem, which I pondered as I went to the next room.


    Patients who refused treatment were fine in my book. They didn¡¯t want my help? They didn¡¯t get it. No skin off my back.


    People who were attacking my patients? Also fair game.


    Someone peacefully denying access to a patient?


    Record scratch.


    I couldn¡¯t abandon them, the patient hadn¡¯t explicitly denied or refused treatment. I couldn¡¯t go through the blockage, it wasn¡¯t defending myself or my patient. Heck, they probably thought they were doing what was best for the patient!


    No, the only solution I could think of was to wait. Wait until the patient was healed, dead, I was allowed in, or another healer was allowed in.


    Hmmmm.


    I continued that line of thought as I healed more people.


    I didn¡¯t exactly need permission to heal. If I could somehow sneak into the room, I could heal whoever was there. Then again, with the hair-trigger state everyone was in, that would be a smart move, but not a wise move.


    I knew [Oath] had some problems, and could potentially put me in bad situations. Inadvertently, I seem to have stumbled upon one of the problems.


    Well, while I was hanging out waiting for him to be available to be healed, there was nothing stopping me from trying to hit up everyone else. Just as long as I wasn¡¯t abandoning him.


    The situation fortunately resolved itself, as the VIP¡¯s got treated quickly, and I was clearing out enough people to jump whoever was being guarded to the front of the ¡°to be healed¡± line. The stretcher crew made it to the VIP¡¯s room, was let in, and taken back out without a fuss.


    I wanted to roll my eyes at the whole thing, but the problem was over. I¡¯d just need to keep it in mind as a potential ¡°Oath-trap¡±, and just another way someone could exploit me if they knew about my [Oath].


    The rest of the floor was over in a whirl.


    ¡°By Wulfric¡¯s great grey beard.¡± Urik swore, after I went back downstairs and re-cleared out the new patients who¡¯d arrived since I got started. ¡°I¡¯ve never seen anything like that.¡±


    ¡°I want to give you my - our - deepest thanks, healer Elaine.¡± Thoren said. ¡°You¡¯ve saved countless lives, and we¡¯re indebted to you.¡±


    I waved him off.


    ¡°All in a day¡¯s work. Now. This looked like a military hospital. I imagine the civilian ones are about as poorly off? No, wait, worse. They would¡¯ve been hit, and people pulled towards this one.¡± I guessed, my voice only being described as ¡°tired-cheerful.¡±


    Like, 8 parts tired, with 2 parts forced-cheer. I bolstered myself with [Sunrise], but still. I was flagging.


    ¡°Yes, but¡­¡± Urik hedged.


    ¡°But what?¡± I asked.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to¡­¡±


    ¡°Appreciate it! I do! Same drive that brought me here, that had me clearing people out, is also why I¡¯m heading over to¡­ wherever it is¡­ and working my literal magic there. Ha. Magic. So much fun.¡± I said.


    ¡­ I was tired. I don¡¯t know how long I¡¯d been awake, but I¡¯d been traveling through the mines, nearly murdered three times over, had a massive marathon session, and was only still on two feet by the grace of [Sunrise].


    ¡°Sure you don¡¯t want to go to the quarters we¡¯ve prepared for you? Meet up with your friends?¡± Thoren confirmed.


    I shook my head.


    Thoren and Urik had a quick huddle with a few of the other guards, while one brought me something.


    Mmmm. Fresh chicken on a stick. How did they also have chickens here? I guess chickens were good at surviving, and universally tasty.


    Or maybe it wasn¡¯t chicken? Some exotic dinosaur that tasted just like it?


    ¡°Alright lass, it¡¯s your call. Onto the next place.¡± Thoren said, taking the lead.


    We rattled our way down the street. The only thing of note was a ¡°chicken-on-a-stick¡± vendor, with VERY fresh chicken - I watched him behead a chicken live, before instantly dressing it with some sort of skill and sticking it over the fire. A beast tamer of some sort, surrounded by a bunch of small, fuzzy animals that looked like large fuzzy balls of fur, with little snouts pointing out. They lept and snuffled over him in the most adorable way. I kinda wanted one.


    They [Identify]ed as [Sniffler], and Urik noticed my interest as we hurried along.


    ¡°Snifflers. Can train ¡¯em to smell metals of all sorts, but gotta be careful. If you teach them to find gold and iron, they¡¯ll lead you to both, and you¡¯ll never know which one it is until you get there.¡±


    Sounded like a dwarf¡¯s best friend, and was perhaps the cause of the twisting tunnels? Snifflers finding the closest metal?


    We made it to the civilian, er, ¡°hospital¡±, which wasn¡¯t saying much. There just wasn¡¯t the same large-scale organization like there was in the military. Still, injured people were injured people, no matter how many strange looks and curses over my lack of a beard I got.


    These dwarves had serious problems with people who didn¡¯t have a beard, and it was only thanks to my escort tirelessly explaining that, no, I wasn¡¯t a beardless dwarf, I was a strange newfangled thing called a human, that anything got done at all.


    ¡°Right. Next?¡± I called to Thoren hopefully after the last patient was done, hoping he¡¯d decipher my meaning.


    Thoren and Urik shared a conspiratorial look.


    ¡°Ah, we¡¯ve got just the place for you!¡± He said. ¡°Follow me!¡±


    ¡°Oh good. You¡¯re so nice. Thank you.¡± I said, blathering on a bit in my sleep-deprived, [Sunrise]-boosted state.


    [Sunrise] was just pure energy after all. It didn¡¯t remove tiredness, it just acted like a strong cup of 8-shot espresso, and it wasn¡¯t possible to live on pure espresso with no sleep all the time. The piper wanted paying, and I¡¯d happily pay him with interest. Eventually.


    Once I was done healing.


    We arrived at another building, arranged a little differently. It was a little narrower, and unlike the previous one and two story infirmaries, this was a good six stories.


    I squinted at it suspiciously.


    ¡°This is our next spot?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yup!¡± Urik confirmed, way too fast.


    I narrowed my eyes, then shrugged. Screw it.


    ¡°Right! Lead the way!¡± I said, giggling a bit as my escort took ages to file into the building.


    I looked around the - lobby? - as Urik had a quick word with some bored-looking dwarf in half military gear. Some light armor, a small weapon. No shield, helmet, etc. Words were exchanged, a key was acquired.


    ¡°This way.¡± Urik said, leading up tromping up the stairs.


    ¡°We skipped the ground floor. And the second floor.¡± I said, pieces of the puzzle coming together. ¡°Hang on, this isn¡¯t a hospital, this is-¡±


    ¡°Where you¡¯re going to GET SOME DARN SLEEP.¡± Thoren yelled at me, finger poking into my chest aggressively. ¡°You¡¯ve been at this for a day and a half, you¡¯ve run us all ragged, and you¡¯re almost entirely incoherent. You blew out six implants, with barely more than an ¡®oops¡¯! You need to sleep, we need to sleep. Now look, here¡¯s your room. Enchanted for you. We¡¯ve got a few luxuries in here, and we can get you more if you¡¯d like. It¡¯ll be guarded. Defended. This building is for important visitors. You¡¯re safe. Get. Some. Sleep.¡± He said, punctuating every word with a poke of his finger.


    ¡°If you really need to, we can keep going.¡± Urik said. ¡°We¡¯re not going to force you to stop.¡±


    Thoren¡¯s words sunk in. I looked at my escort - really looked at them. There were huge baggy raccoon eyes under most of their eyes, and the three dwarves that had taken a beating from that one [War-Mage] still had their armor in tatters. One of my guards tried to stifle a yawn, and failed.


    It was contagious. I yawned as well.


    I peeked into the apartment door Urik was holding open. It had nice carpeting. A sofa. An extra large, stuffed chair.


    I let myself get lured in a bit, checking out the bedroom. A huge four-poster bed, with enough layers of thick sheets that I could get myself lost in.


    It was cold. The bed was warm.


    I was tired. So very, very tired.


    The bed called to me.


    Hypothetical patients, somewhere, called to me.


    The bed won.


    I¡¯d check my level ups and start considering how to class up tomorrow.

 Chapter 210 - Journey to the center of Pallos XV

    I woke up, buried in great fuzzy sheets, my head on a massive fluffy pillow.


    So warm. So cozy.


    I turned over, snuggled deeper into the bed, and let myself go back to sleep.


    I woke up slowly, wrapped in warm blankets. First time in months and months and literal months I¡¯d woken up sleeping somewhere nice. No rickety airboat, no monster horde, no soldier¡¯s bedroll, no half-underground pit, no wooden lean-to, no rocky tunnels.


    I was ignoring the spartan, but nice digs that Nolgardian dwarves had, both at their border wall, and at the town I¡¯d visited. I¡¯d spent enough weeks down in the mines to feel like I¡¯d earned it.


    Dreamland was nice and all, but reality wanted to drag me back, kicking and screaming. I cracked my eyes open, saw that for whatever gods-forsaken reason that the dwarvish escort saw fit to have four blasted dwarves in the room with me, and closed my eyes again.


    Whatever. It was like I was sleeping in a barracks again or something.


    The downside to this not being the barracks is my I-don¡¯t-know-how-filthy clothes and armor just spent a night sleeping in here, and the sheets were ruined.


    Oh well.


    I decided to check all of my level up notifications from the comfort of my bed. I¡¯d need to leave eventually, but I wanted to delay as much as possible.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [The Dawn Sentinel] has leveled up to level 359->365! +3 Dexterity, +24 Speed, +24 Vitality, +170 Mana, +170 Mana Regen, +48 Magic power, +48 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    [*Ding!* [Celestial Affinity] leveled up! 359->365]


    [*Ding!* [Center of the Universe] leveled up! 359->365]


    [*Ding!* [Dance with the Heavens] leveled up! 359->365]


    [*Ding!* [Sentinel''s Superiority] leveled up! 359->365]


    [*Ding!* [Long-Range Identify] leveled up! 359->365]


    [*Ding!* [Mantle of the Stars] leveled up! 359->365]


    [*Ding!* [Persistent Casting] leveled up! 256->259]


    [*Ding!* [Learning] leveled up! 341->350]


    [*Ding!* [Learning] has upgraded to [Passionate Learning]]


    Passionate Learning: You have a deep and abiding love for learning in all forms. You are intrinsically motivated to seek out knowledge in all its forms, from written to oral, and when that doesn¡¯t suffice, you slice people open and get it directly. You¡¯ve broken into libraries, listened to oral lectures, got trained by Rangers, attended the harshest training humans on Pallos could think of, but were you satisfied? Of course not. You traveled to distant lands and met other races, just so you could read their por - err - books. You don¡¯t quit when stymied, no, instead, you pick up a knife and slice people open to get answers. Improved learning speed. +1.25% increased experience gain per level.


    [*Ding!* [Passionate Learning] leveled up! 350->354]


    [*Ding!* [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] leveled up! 301->308]


    [*Ding!* [Bullet Time] leveled up! 269->283]


    Holy. I needed to get all-out attacked by powerful mages twice my level more often. That was a lot of levels for one [Mantle].


    Actually - that had some disturbing implications I needed to work out, once I was done with the rest of my levels.


    [*Ding!* [Pristine Memories] leveled up! 205->206]


    I¡¯m not actually sure what leveling this skill up did for me. My memories were perfect now, and I could recall what I wanted. The description also didn¡¯t mention a big change per level.


    I guess not every skill improved over time. It was still worth leveling it up, just for it impacting the quality of my classes. It could also evolve later on, to something a little more impactful.


    [*Ding!* [Cosmic Presence] leveled up! 270->285]


    The skill was aggravating to level at times, with events like yesterday being one of the only ways to level up. Still, I had no doubt that I saved a large amount of mana in total, and I did look forward to seeing it used in a more active setting at some point.


    From a leveling perspective. Anything that gave it ¡°real¡± experience was a disaster. It was an annoying contradiction in being a healer - I didn¡¯t want people to get hurt, but I couldn¡¯t improve without large numbers of injuries. Which occasionally had perverse whispers in my ear, hoping for some disaster or another.


    Blasted intrusive thoughts.


    Maybe I should check out the triage tents, where the Water healers were patching people up before sending them over to the Light healers?


    [*Ding!* [Sunrise] leveled up! 128->132]


    I was leveling this skill up one level at a time. It really drove home for me how important sticking with and evolving skills, not resetting them, was. Sure, I had a bunch of stats I could throw at a skill to make it go faster, but it was obnoxious, no matter how I sliced it. I was glad I¡¯d been able to build my own skills for [The Dawn Sentinel], which should serve me well for the next, like 200+ years, but it was good to remember for my [Ranger-Mage] class that I needed to weigh a high-level mediocre skill against a low-level powerful skill. Sure, the powerful skill was better in the long run, but the mediocre skill would keep me alive long enough to get there.


    Also, [Sunrise] was doing a lot more work than [Solar Infusion] was. My plan had originally been to drop [Sunrise] in favor of the Immortality skill - whenever it decided to show up, hopefully before I or anyone I knew died of old age - but more and more it was looking like [Solar Infusion] might bite the dust.


    I¡¯d gotten one good use out of it. In months, and in multiple conflicts. There just wasn¡¯t the time to hit someone with it. It had seemed like a great idea when I was building my own class - preemptive, persistent healing? Wooo! - but in practice, it was coming up short.


    Well, that was it for the levels. I emerged a bit from my fortress of fluff, peering around the room. One of the dwarves noticed I was awake.


    ¡°Welcome back to the land of the living!¡± She said, with all the relief of a boring job getting more interesting. ¡°Thought you were made of metal, with how long you kept going, then how long you slept for. Plus, we weren¡¯t quite sure how long homans slept for. Water barrel¡¯s right over there, and some fresh clothes are over here. We found you some nice shoes as well, having noticed you missing yours and all. Thoren almost forgot to get you some.¡± She said, with a pained look on her face as she shook her head at her boss¡¯s idiocy.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said, starting to emerge from the thousand layers of woolly goodness. Now that I¡¯d slept in a real bed, I could feel the layers of accumulated grime and filth. A bath was next on the agenda. I must¡¯ve healed someone up with some sort of connection, right?


    ¡°It¡¯s human, by the way, not homan.¡± I gently corrected her. In the game of telephone, screwing up a new species name wasn¡¯t too hard to do.


    ¡°You were a bit, ah, focused two days ago, but I wanted to say - thank you.¡± One of the other dwarves spoke up. ¡°You helped 30 members of my clan get back on their feet.¡± She said.


    ¡°31 here!¡± The third one called out.


    ¡°It¡¯s not a competition. Is anyone going to keep watching the door?¡± The fourth one grumped.


    The other three looked at each other.


    ¡°No, not really.¡± The first one said. ¡°The rest of the squad¡¯s in the other room. Plus, it seems like the orcs have moved on. Mid-level administrators. So hot right now.¡± She said, miming fanning herself.


    ¡°Raeg!¡± The fourth one shouted out, in a scandalized way. ¡°That¡¯s totally inappropriate!¡±


    I¡¯d finished getting out of bed, and was busy having a drink or three of water from a barrel, using a ladle.


    ¡°Wait wait, don¡¯t tell me. Burned alive?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Thrown into molten metal. Orcs probably thought it was ironic or something.¡± Raeg corrected me.


    ¡°Right, well, I¡¯m awake and up now.¡± I rubbed the last bit of sleep out of my eyes, luxuriating in not needing to instantly be up and at ¡®em with [Sunrise].


    I poked my head out of the room, and facepalmed.


    Luxurious, well-guarded living quarters for one VIP, and a guard or two.


    Not enough room for twelve! The wonderful space I ¡°had to myself¡± had a dwarf every meter. It was like an overly packed party, with more metal and swords and less booze.


    Then again, Artemis thought the best parties had lots of knives.


    ¡°Thoren. Thoren!¡± I said, waving down the gruff commander of the guard. I noticed Urik wasn¡¯t around, and either they were changing shifts, or, like I¡¯d guessed, they¡¯d been moved somewhere else.


    The recent attack on the administrators suggested the second one.


    ¡°Healer Elaine. What can we do for you?¡± He said.


    ¡°Well, in order, I¡¯d like to get some food, a bath, and chat with my friends that I came here with.¡± I said. ¡°If possible, I¡¯d like to get some tools to maintain my armor, and someone who can clean up my outfit.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do. You saved literally hundreds of lives yesterday, I don¡¯t think there¡¯ll be any problems.¡± Thoren said, and a whirlwind of delicious activity occurred.


    I ended up doing some serious thinking when I was soaking in a bath - privately.


    The [War-Mage] who¡¯d almost killed me was well over level 550, and had three whole classes supporting her. Her twitchy barrage the moment I¡¯d entered the room spoke of a lifetime of hard battles and difficult training. She was, quite frankly, several cuts above Drin, Fik and the rest, and was probably as experienced as a senior Ranger. With the levels, and stats, of a Sentinel behind her.


    And she¡¯d been in the hospital.


    Granted, she had been in the VIP section, implying that she was one of the stronger dwarves, but that established where the power ceiling seemed to lie, roughly. There were possibly a few higher level dwarves running around - their rare, high level classers, like we had Sentinels - mostly because I couldn¡¯t believe I¡¯d somehow stumbled upon the highest level classer the dwarves had. Especially considering that she hadn¡¯t been seen first. She was just getting special treatment. A Sentinel would get seen first, then the leaders of Ranger teams. Only a second like Artemis would be left to ¡°wait a minute¡± while higher-priority people were taken care of.


    That was making a number of large assumptions and leaps in logic, that the dwarves treated people like humans did, but I literally had no other frames of reference to work off of.


    Which led me back to the orcs. From what I¡¯d seen and heard, there was a genuine war between the two sides. Which implied that one side couldn¡¯t just steamroll over the other. Now, I¡¯d been hearing all about how the dwarves were better, were winning, blah blah blah, they loved their propaganda as much as anyone else did.


    However. Slaying the orcs hadn¡¯t been an extermination mission. The dwarves didn¡¯t just move in, and the orcs died. No, they fought back. It was a war. There were orc commandos in the city right now, wreaking havoc. The dwarves obviously couldn¡¯t find them and kill them. Which implied that the orcs were able to dodge level 550, level 600+ dwarves. Which suggested they were around the same level.


    The orcs were smart, and found a new way to throw wrenches into the operation of the city. The leaders obviously seemed to have some protection, the grunts were relatively worthless, but the people in the middle that kept things organized and moving around?


    Well. I imagine more than a few pieces of government would work more smoothly without the presence of middle-management, but more would grind to a halt, and most would eventually buckle and fall apart.


    Especially if they just randomly filled the middle manager roles with people that had no experience. Ooooh, that could go very wrong. Be worse than no manager.


    Either way. I was getting distracted. I was in a nice, warm metal tub of a bath, so I could get distracted, but onto the main point.


    The orc commandos probably had three classes each, and were in teams.


    Two full teams of guards barely managed one single burst from one mage.


    If they came after me?


    I was so dead!


    It¡¯d be like if Hunting, Destruction, Ocean, and Night all decided to ambush me to kill me at the same time. There wouldn¡¯t be a fight, just an execution. Sure, the guards would help - they demonstrated they could hold off one classer, and I hadn¡¯t seen their counter - but none of that helped if they went for a long-range attack of some sort.


    Well. I¡¯d like to think it¡¯d take multiple attacks to kill me, and that I¡¯d be able to heal through a single attack. Maybe two or three. Four if they were bad.


    Did not want to test that at all.


    Which made me wonder why, in all these mountains, there wasn¡¯t a major concern over someone like Destruction bringing the whole place down. I couldn¡¯t imagine his build was that novel, and defenses of some flavor were probably in place.


    Or everyone was just winging it. Given what had been mentioned about spies, and how I¡¯d explicitly called myself a high-ranking member of the human¡¯s military, I wasn¡¯t going to go around asking about the city¡¯s defenses. That just seemed like a poor life choice, and a quick way to whatever they used as gallows around here.


    Either way, I needed to get out of town before the orc commandos got wind of a powerful healer undoing their fellow orc¡¯s hard work, and decided to remove my piece from the board. For the rest of the dwarves, this place was home, this was their war. Me? I was just passing through, and the more I heard, the more appealing making myself scarce sounded. I didn¡¯t want to be just another number in someone else¡¯s war.


    I¡¯d do what I could for people for a few days to rest up, then get the hell out of dodge. In a perfect world, I¡¯d get a team to escort me back home, but hell, I¡¯d settle for a map, or even just a ¡°Go that way.¡±


    I wanted to go home.


    I wanted to hug mom and dad.


    I wanted to see Artemis and Julius again, and get all the gossip.


    Kallisto and his wife and kid.


    Albina, and her baby.


    Autumn, and her never-ending supply of mangos.


    Heck, I even wanted to hear Night pontificate all night.


    I wanted to go home.


    Homesickness was attacking with great force. It might eventually go away, but for now, making it home seemed like the best course of action.


    Time to plan out how that was going to happen.


    Right, gameplan.


    Get fed, rested, and re-equipped. Maybe I could ask some of my guards if they¡¯d be willing to refill my Aquamarine gem with a Gale skill, or my Quartz gem with another strong barrier, or some other Brilliance skill. I also had an Amethyst gem, for a metal skill. Given that their culture seemed to revolve around the stuff, I felt like I could get a seriously powerful skill for myself.See if I could negotiate a guard, map, whatever.Leave. Preferably in one piece, before the orcs got wind of me.


    Honestly, it didn¡¯t need to be complicated. I mentally gave myself two, three days tops to get my relaxing and healing done and out of the way, before I left town.


    I¡¯d love to class up here and now, but I figured getting out of Dodge was more important, with the way the scales were currently balanced. Granted, it wouldn¡¯t take much to shift the scales - like finding out the orc commandos had been killed or driven off - but right now, leaving before classing up won by a tiny hair.


    I rolled a loosening shoulder in the warm water. Was I sure I couldn¡¯t stay a week?


    The vision of the dwarf¡¯s massive attack came back to mind, and I imagined trying to survive Night.


    Two days. I¡¯d gathered that I¡¯d actually spent almost a day and a half on my mad healing spree, and almost as long sleeping it all off.


    Now that I had a goal, and a deadline, luxuriating in the bath no longer seemed like a good idea. I was going to spend a solid week in the bath once I got back home though. I did wish I could spend enough time to fully recharge my Arcanite, but it¡¯d be like, half full, by the time I was ready to leave, which would give me enough of an edge, even if I was immediately attacked.


    With a plan in mind, I met with Drin, Fik, and Glifir for a quiet dinner, made un-quiet by my overly large escort. The meal was peaceful, eaten at a little ¡®outdoor¡¯ eatery with glowing brown moss on the building, and they were settling in alright. Where they were living was better described as ¡°hastily erected cheap and cramped apartment blocks for the Nolgardian refugees¡±, rather than anything as close to as nice as what I¡¯d gotten.


    ¡°You¡¯re being treated the way any healer should be traditionally treated.¡± Was Fik¡¯s take on the matter, to general nodding and agreement. I even caught one of the guards listening in and nodding her agreement.


    In short, the rest of the dwarves were as happy as they could be, given the situation. Sure, they¡¯d been debriefed for a few hours, and the accommodations weren¡¯t exactly what they hoped for, but it was far, far better than it could be. They were all trying to find news of friends and family - Drin¡¯s best friend hadn¡¯t made it, and Fik had found a distant cousin.


    I did get lured to a few smaller healing spots, which were mostly a few larger clans who had their own miniature hospital, and injuries that, either due to skill or an assassinated healer, hadn¡¯t been treated yet. Which led me to wandering down to the triage section, and helping out a bit.


    Which honestly ended up as me doing a lot of waiting around with everyone else. Most casualties occurred in the mines or in fights, and while most companies had a healer attached, it usually was not a dedicated one, just someone with a few ¡°patching up¡± skills who''d stabilize the wounded until they could make it back.


    Still, a few casualties trickled in. One of the healer dwarves was drinking copious amounts of water, which I asked about.


    ¡°Got a skill. Lets me recover mana by drinking water. I took it as a young dwarf, and I skimped on mana regeneration, in favor of stronger stats elsewhere. Problem is now¡­ I¡¯m stuck.¡± He explained between mugs of water.


    That was fairly interesting, and led me to thinking about [Sun-Kissed]. If I got out of here, would it be worth skimping on my regeneration a bit, because the skill was improving things?


    Either way, I loved learning about new magic! So cool. I didn¡¯t quite feel an affinity for water, but it was strong stuff.


    MAGIC!


    I played tourist, seeing the magnificent dwarven city, before finally getting an appointment with Silver Command Korun again, with Thoren.


    ¡°Hey Korun!¡± I said, cheerfully greeting him.


    ¡°Healer, err,¡± He shuffled through some papers, before finding the right one. ¡°Elaine! Yes! Thank you for your help. We estimate you helped¡­¡± He said, before shuffling some more papers around. Poor dude needed a memory skill.


    He found the piece of paper he was looking for, and his eyebrows shot into his hair.


    ¡°... a lot of dwarves.¡±


    He checked something on the paper, then flipped back to my paper.


    ¡°In two days?!?¡± He practically screamed. ¡°Healer Elaine, oh most wonderful healer, anything you want, anything you need, just say the word and I¡¯ll make it so. Also, I¡¯m getting Urik back to guarding you. He should¡¯ve mentioned how many people you¡¯d healed.¡±


    ¡°He tried to. I was there.¡± Thoren said.


    Korun just gave Thoren the ¡°Did you really correct me?¡± death-glare, which Thoren just repressed a smile at.


    ¡°Why thank you Korun!¡± I said, applying my best honeyed words. ¡°I¡¯m hoping to get home soon, and I was hoping, well, could you maybe spare a few people to help me out? A map that has the dead zone on it would be great as well, along with some supplies.¡±


    Korun nodded.


    ¡°Let me see what I can do. Come back tomorrow, at...¡±


    He cleared off all the papers from his desk, only for me to see that the surface of the desk looked like - was - a giant schedule. One with a dozen different colors on the column he dragged his finger down.


    ¡°After the last meal.¡± He reluctantly said, his finger tapping the bottom of his schedule.


    Great!


    I got clean clothes, and another nice tour of the city the next day. Thoren and the guards strenuously objected to me setting up an obvious ¡°free healing¡± booth in a market, and I had to reluctantly agree with them. It would put too large a target on my back, for too small of a benefit. Most people getting drive-by healing were fixing minor injuries. Didn¡¯t stop me from healing whoever I did see though, which was the norm for me. Walking around the city was good for [Cosmic Presence], although I didn¡¯t seem to be leveling it.


    I also took the chance in the afternoon to re-do my [Persistent Casting], making my self auto-healing have an excellent image to work with. Which in turn, would mean I was more efficient, and it¡¯d be that much harder to kill me.


    I still didn¡¯t make it auto-heal others though, since I didn¡¯t want to brush someone on the street and make them lose an expensive implant. I wasn¡¯t sure about the current conversion, but they sounded expensive.


    That ¡°evening¡± I found myself back in Korun¡¯s office, after a wonderfully large dinner that Urik paid for again. I¡¯m sure he had a budget of ¡°keep the healer happy¡±, but eh. I was going to be nice and polite to anyone paying for my food.


    ¡°Healer Elaine!¡± Korun said. ¡°I have excellent news for you!¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± I asked, excited.


    ¡°Yes! It took some wrangling, but I talked with my boss, who ended up, if you would believe it, talking with three of the clan leaders from the council of elders! We¡¯ll be happy to give you a full escort home, as soon as this conflict¡¯s over.¡±


    Good news, good news, good news - wait, what!?


    I took a deep, calming, centering breath. I wanted to fly off the handle, but I needed information, and flying off the handle here and now could be a poor life choice. In more ways than one.


    ¡°That¡¯s great!¡± I said, not quite managing to suppress the tightening in my throat, strangling my words a bit. ¡°How long do we think that¡¯ll be?¡±


    Korun flapped his hand.


    ¡°Not too long! Should only be 20, 30 years max. We¡¯ll make sure you¡¯ve got every luxury available here in Velduar, you¡¯ll want for nothing! Same deal the rabbit¡¯s got, honestly.¡±


    ¡°I see. If I¡¯m willing to leave a bit earlier, and strike off on my own?¡± I asked, fearing the worst.


    Korun got an awkward look on his face.


    ¡°Healer Elaine¡­ we need you. We need you badly. The clan leaders, once they saw how many people you healed in two days, ordered us to keep you here, happy, and healing by any means. The three H¡¯s Clan Leader Hakkar called them. Was quite pleased with himself. I really, honestly, think you¡¯ll be happy here while we sort out this little mess. Think of all the levels! You got a few just from the few days you¡¯ve been here already. Please don¡¯t make my job hard.¡± Korun said, getting near begging at the end.


    Healer Elaine was totally dead and gone at this point. It was time to be Sentinel Dawn, with all that entailed.


    ¡°Naturally, I won¡¯t make your job hard!¡± I said, carefully not lying. His job wouldn¡¯t be hard once I was gone, after all, and until then? I was going to be the perfect model of someone happy and content, so they didn¡¯t think of yanking my chain too tight. It¡¯d give me time and room to prepare, and heck, if I asked nicely, they¡¯d give me half the resources to escape themselves!


    After my first escape - not that there¡¯d be a second, but hey, I had to plan and prepare just in case - it¡¯d be almost impossible for me to, say, ask for a week¡¯s worth of travel rations and a waterskin.


    Which led me to another point. Korun wanted to keep me happy, and from the sound of it, I was the golden girl right now. That¡¯d fade with time, so if I wanted to cash in golden girl status, I needed to do it now, especially when asking for a largish favor.


    ¡°Hey Korun, my second class is ready to upgrade. Could I possibly get a few extra guards keeping watch over me while I handle that quickly? It¡¯d improve my healing capabilities.¡± I said, tapping my fingertips together nervously, under the level of his desk and eyesight.


    It¡¯d also improve my survival capabilities, and hopefully my flight. I didn¡¯t think flying, or anti-flying, would be high on the dwarves skill list.


    Hopefully they wouldn¡¯t think me a flight risk.


    Flying underground was super hard mode after all.


    ¡°Sure! Of course! Thank you, Healer Elaine, for being so understanding. Let me see what I can scrounge up for you. It might be a few days, is that ok?¡±


    ¡°Totally!¡± I said, shoulders slumping as they relaxed, unable to keep the relief from my voice.


    Yes, I was understanding of Korun and the situation.


    I understood that he was totally swamped, busy with a thousand things, and as a result not looking too closely into why I¡¯d want to class up now, right after our conversation.


    I understood I was a prisoner, a sweet bird in a golden cage.

 Chapter 211 - Radiance Class-up I

    I looked around one last time at the preparations made. Korun was as good as his word, and had gotten me some solid defenses for my class-up. Given that I was likely on some orc commando¡¯s hitlist, and would be completely unable to defend myself, I appreciated it.


    I wasn¡¯t going to speedrun the class up, but I wasn¡¯t going to spend a lot of time reading either.


    I had a barrel of water, and some dried snacks and jerky for when I got up. I was in a safe room, with Thoren and Urik¡¯s squads on guard duty, along with a few high level dwarven Classers, including the VIP that almost killed me.


    ¡°Sorry again.¡± She said, as I was settling down. ¡°Really thought you were there to finish me off. Name¡¯s Hakka.¡±


    I waved my hand at her.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, we all lived.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯ll continue to live if I have anything to say about it!¡± She said, her beard somehow looking ferocious and protective.


    Thinking about it. All the dwarves had their beard, even in the infirmary. There had to be quite a few people with beard-skills floating around. Heck, given how they prized their beard, ¡°free beard restoration service¡± was probably in the soldier¡¯s contract somewhere.


    Either way, I was wasting time. I closed my eyes, and fell into the world of my soul.


    ¡°Librarian!¡± I called, giving her a hug.


    ¡°Elaine.¡± She said, returning it, touching her forehead to mine.


    We spent a moment looking at each other, then breaking out into a fit of giggles.


    ¡°You look great!¡± I said, taking a look at her.


    Full Sentinel gear, fancy red cape that blew in the non-existent wind included.


    ¡°Thanks! You¡¯re looking good yourself!¡± She called back.


    I checked what I was wearing.


    Huh. Interesting.


    ¡°Right. Chop chop, we¡¯re on a tight schedule here.¡± I said, breaking free and striding briskly towards the stairs. Librarian hurried after me.


    I knew by now that she could modify things on the fly.


    ¡°Ok, first question, did I unlock building my own class again?¡± I asked, chewing on my lower lip slightly.


    Please please please...


    Librarian just shook her head.


    ¡°Drat. Any idea what I need to do to unlock it?¡± I asked her.


    She shrugged.


    ¡°I get some information, I don¡¯t get others. Plus, without even having the option, I¡¯m not told that it exists. Only because we remember it happening do we know it¡¯s an option.¡±


    Long story short, no.


    Well, that meant I could go look at other books. My plan had been, if I was able to build my own class, I¡¯d just go there directly and start cracking.


    ¡°Right, fine then. I¡¯m loving being a Radiance mage, it¡¯s doing what I want in a class.¡± I said as we started climbing. ¡°I¡¯m looking to stay in the same element, and generally improve my power for getting out of here. I need to still have strong self-defense, and I can¡¯t imagine not needing flight.¡± I said, then considered what I¡¯d said.


    ¡°Unless, of course, there¡¯s a way to turn me into a Radiance beam and move that way.¡± I said, thinking of Galeru and the fight with Lun¡¯Kat. She¡¯d turned herself into a bolt of Lightning to get to the fight quickly, and I wasn¡¯t going to lie, that sounded like a totally sweet ability.


    My heart wanted to be able to fly more than zip around as a beam, but turning into a ray of light sounded much more powerful. Then when escaping came into the mix? Being a prisoner for 30 years, which given how estimates worked really meant more like 60?


    Yeah, no. I was getting out earlier, even if I had to replace ¡°flying¡± with ¡°turning into a totally badass ray.¡±


    ¡°Nope! Sorry.¡± Librarian cheerfully crushed my dreams. ¡°I¡¯m not even sure what books would get you on that path.¡±


    ¡°You could see what was going on with [World Traveler] way back when.¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Yeah, because you had access to the class. Which meant I could see information about it.¡± Librarian countered.


    ¡°Fine, fine. Let¡¯s keep the side-grades to a minimum, but show me the powerful ones.¡± I said. ¡°As long as I can defend myself with it, and it gives solid stats, I¡¯m going to consider it.


    It broke my flying-loving heart more than a bit to say that, but I wanted out. And while my plan was to escape outside and fly away, plans D onward included escaping down into the mines, where flying wasn¡¯t exactly super useful.


    We continued up the stairs. The second level. The third level. Finally, we arrived at the fourth level, where I got to see what the library looked like this time.


    It was a cushy reading room, a chair bigger than I was in front of a roaring fire, a nice throw rug, all wrapped in tasteful mahogany and impossible lighting.


    Normally, I¡¯d scream bloody murder about a flammable rug in front of a fire, but hey! This place wasn¡¯t real, so it didn¡¯t matter.


    ¡°Sit! Let me bring you the choices.¡± Librarian said, and I sat down, only for the chair to be like the comfiest mimic ever, as it tried to absorb me into its fluffy depths.


    Instead of walking over to the tasteful bookcase, Librarian just held up her hand, and a book popped into existence.


    [Acolyte of Asura - Radiance] You have witnessed the unbridled might and fury of Guardian Asura, the Destroyer. You have marveled at her grace, beauty, and majesty. Her Radiance magic is second to only one other, and pierces through all illusions, as she gallops through the heavens on golden hooves. Take this class, and become a loyal follower of Asura to gain a fraction of her power. +10 Free Stats, +10 Strength, +10 Dexterity, +10 Speed, +10 Vitality, +128 Mana, +256 Mana Regen, +128 Magic Power, +256 Magic Control per level.


    I looked at Librarian with love in my eyes.


    ¡°You know me so well.¡± I said. She just winked back.


    I cracked the book open, and started speed-reading.


    There were two major flaws with the class, and they were linked. The first was, it used the method of casting that Asura used - writing out magical mandalas, circles, inscriptions - it wasn¡¯t quite clear - then having those cast spells. Strong. Versatile. Time-consuming. Problem was, I had no idea how to do that. The second part was the skills. I¡¯d need a whole suite of new skills to be able to cast like Asura did.


    Except¡­ I saw no knowledge portions.


    ¡°How would I be able to use this?¡± I asked Librarian. She leaned over my shoulder to check what exactly I was talking about.


    ¡°Ah, erm, right. You¡¯d need to learn from someone. Asura would be the best teacher, but looking at it sideways, doesn¡¯t it seem like they¡¯re just like how Inscriptions work?¡± Librarian asked.


    ¡°We have no idea how to make Inscriptions.¡±


    ¡°We could get some of the dwarves to teach us.¡± Librarian said. ¡°With [Passionate Learning] we¡¯d pick it up quickly, and that¡¯d give us time to bide until a good chance to break free came up.¡±


    I wanted to argue it more, mention that we had only seen standard Inscriptions so far, not anything special like Asura did, along with a whole host of other arguments - but I figured I¡¯d move on, see what the other choices were.


    ¡°Ok, is there anything that wouldn¡¯t make the shortlist?¡± I asked Librarian, who quirked an eyebrow at me, teleporting a new book to her hands.


    [Disaster Diplomat]


    I didn¡¯t bother reading it, I just gave Librarian a glare. She giggled at her prank.


    ¡°Ok, ok, fine, any books I asked for that wouldn¡¯t make it?¡±


    She shook her head.


    ¡°Your requirements basically shortlisted them all already.¡±


    I was somewhat pressed for time. I wanted to explore all the cool side-grades, and see what I¡¯d properly earned for myself. Heck, forget that, I wanted to go skipping through the library, reading every single book there was.


    Blasted staying alive, interfering with good reading time.


    ¡°Right. What are my top choices?¡± I asked, figuring I should just cut to the chase in an efficient manner.


    Boo efficiency.


    I already had [Acolyte of Asura - Radiance] shown to me. Librarian showed me the rest of the ¡°shortlist¡±.


    [Sentinel-Adept - Radiance] Sentinel Dawn. You have proved yourself to be not just a Ranger, not just one of the best Rangers, but a full-blown Sentinel in your own right. You are a living legend, a myth in the marketplace. You are the last line of defense that Remus has against threats, internal and external, and here you make your mark. You are Sentinel Dawn, promoted on your healing prowess, yet with powerful magics are at your beck and call. Magics that are powerful enough, that you shouldn¡¯t be called mage - but adept instead. Take this class, and continue to defend Remus. +32 Speed, +32 Vitality, +120 Mana, +120 Mana Regen, +64 Magic Power, +64 Magic Control per level.


    [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance] All that is gold does not glitter, not all those who wander are lost. You flit around from place to place like a little butterfly, sipping the sweet nectar of knowledge wherever you go. Visit a town? See the library, see what delicious fruits are on offer. You found a job that takes you all over the place, letting you visit and learn all about the great world around you. Remus wasn¡¯t enough to contain you, you had to venture even further, in pursuit of new knowledge. You¡¯ve seen guardians, attended academies, and when stymied in your pursuit of knowledge, you picked up a knife and sliced someone open to learn more about how they work. Take this class, and keep fluttering about and learning new things, and new magics! +8 Strength, +8 Dexterity, +70 Speed, +70 Vitality, +70 Mana, +70 Mana Regen, +70 Magic Power, +70 Magic Control per level.


    [Radiant Slayer of the Endless Formorian Swarm - Radiance] You, and the rest of the Sentinels, exterminated four of the mighty Formorian Queens, along with hundreds of their Royal Guards, and thousands, tens of thousands, of their lesser spawn. Outnumbered and outleveled, you stood firm with the rest of the Sentinels, as you executed a daring, desperate plan to bring them all down, and kill them. Take this class, and continue to kill Formorians. +100 Free Stats, +50 Strength, +50 Dexterity, +100 Speed, +100 Vitality, +300 Mana, +300 Mana Regen, +300 Magic Power, +300 Magic Control per level.


    [The Rising Dawn - Radiance] You are the sun rising over the darkest of nights, eternal in your quest to heal everyone in need and protect those under your care. You cannot be stopped or pinned down by others, traveling the world and meeting new species. Where you go, the Dawn arrives, shining light and hope into those you see. Yet while the dawn is normally a fleeting moment of time, you have spent weeks on end endlessly serving as the literal and metaphorical light of humanity. You never stop while there are those who need help, cannot be cut short of your task, and all who see you may forever rejoice. Take this class to truly become the Rising Dawn, a beacon of hope for people everywhere as they look up to you boldly marching forward in your quest to help others. +80 Mana, +130 Mana Regen, +85 Magic Power, +85 Magic Control per level.


    [Dragonforged Star - Radiance] Forged in dragonfire and tempered in celestial, your life shines ever brighter. The fires that end civilizations wash over you and you come out ever stronger. Take this class, may your light never cease and your fire never fade. +20 Free Stats, +100 Vitality, +60 Mana, +60 Mana Regen, +70 Magic Power, +20 Magic Control per level.


    [Radiant Immolator - Radiance] You¡¯ve found dozens of inventive ways to fight people and monsters with your Radiance magic, from using blinding light, narrow beams, [Nova]¡¯s, cones, eye lasers, balls from your mouth, and many, many more inventive techniques. Take this class, and lean into your destructive impulses. +40 Mana, +40 Mana Regeneration, +160 Magic Power, +160 Magic Control per level.


    [Draconic Prophet - Radiance] You have warned others of the dangers of dragons, and the fools failed to listen to your dire warnings, and paid the ultimate price. With the ability to wipe out an entire civilization in a single night, even when opposed by Gaia¡¯s chosen champions, dragons are the ultimate force of destruction. Go forth with this class, and illuminate the masses of their might and power, so all might cower before them. +50 Free Stats, +160 Strength, +160 Dexterity, +160 Speed, +160 Vitality, +50 Mana, +50 Mana Regen, +50 Magic Power, +50 Magic Control per level.


    [Light of Truth - Radiance] You have seen Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s great secret, and the mystery behind the Dragoneye Moons has been revealed to you. You playfully dueled with humanity''s best illusionist, and have seen peak illusionists in Lun¡¯Kat and Guardian Galeru. You¡¯ve tried to break illusions where you go, and light the path for others to follow you. Take this class, and see through all illusions, peel them back for the whole world to see the truth. +48 Free Stats, +8 Dexterity, +64 Speed, +160 Mana, +160 Mana Regen, +160 Magic Power, +160 Magic Control per level.


    [Exotic Chef - Radiance] Seared, Sizzled, and Scalded, you¡¯ve prepped dozens of exotic dishes on the road using your Radiance magic. We get it, you like cooked food from all around the world. Take this class, and stop awkwardly cooking with conjured Radiance, and properly grill yourself a steak or two. +4 Dexterity, +8 Vitality, +16 Magic Control per level


    I gave Librarian a look.


    ¡°Seriously? Two prank classes? We¡¯re in a rush here.¡±


    She winked and laughed, entirely unrepentant.


    ¡°Relax a hair! It¡¯ll make your decision easier.¡±


    [Pirate Hunter - Radiance] Those poor pirates are the lifeblood of Remus! Without them ignoring the letter of the law, and indiscriminately enslaving the people of Remus, the fresh supply of slaves gets cut off. How could you? Trying to destroy an entire industry.


    Well, if you must visit economic destruction on Remus, hop on board! We¡¯ve got pirates to hunt! +150 Free Stats per level.


    This was a boatload of classes. I immediately made some cuts, just for the sake of my own sanity.


    [Pirate Hunter] and [Exotic Chef] bit the dust. They were simply too weak, not with the other options I had left.


    Similarly, [Dragonforged Star] sounded totally cool, but it wasn¡¯t doing anything the other classes weren¡¯t, and with the dragon in the name, well, I was feeling reasonably skittish about them.


    [Draconic Prophet] was eliminated as well. It looked like it wanted me to be a physical classer, and was basically a side-grade. A legit option, especially as I¡¯d both gain a ton of levels from my stored experience, and I could discreetly level it in town, but even though a boatload of physical stats would help escape, I felt like doubling down on being a mage was the right call.


    The part about Gaia¡¯s chosen champions was interesting, but I had no time to delve into it.


    What would I even do with the information?


    That left me with [Light of Truth], [Radiant Immolator], [The Rising Dawn], [Radiant Slayer of the Endless Formorian Swarm], [Butterfly Mystic], [Sentinel-Adept], and I suppose I should keep [Acolyte of Asura] in the picture. It gave enough stats that a gigantic boost could be worth considering, especially if I weighed the risks and possibilities of learning how to cast that way from some of the dwarves here.


    It would also be a permanent reminder of Origen, some validation from beyond the grave that his ways and methods.


    Granted, if I went down that route, I¡¯d either try to escape early, and be missing a modest chunk of skills, as [Acolyte of Asura] overwrote them, which seemed suboptimal. Or I spent a bunch of time at risk of getting whacked by the commandos.


    Blah. Why couldn¡¯t I be in a more normal prison?


    [Light of Truth] had quite a lot going for it. I wasn¡¯t thrilled with the move away from some of my more combat and self-defense oriented aspects - I¡¯d lose [Nova] and [Blaze] entirely in favor of anti-illusion skills. I¡¯d keep [Radiance Conjuration], so I wouldn¡¯t be helpless, but my firepower would dramatically decrease.


    Offset, of course, by the increased stats.


    ¡°Can I test what my abilities would do if I lost [Blaze], but gained the stats from leveling up with the stored experience?¡± I asked Librarian.


    She shook her head.


    ¡°Sorry. No horseplay in the library. You¡¯d need to take the class first and give it a whirl.¡±


    ¡°Rotten mangos.¡± I cursed. So much for testing. I¡¯d have to jump in blind, and see what I got.


    There was also the future to consider. I was still [The Dawn Sentinel]. I got into scraps regularly. Replacing my combat class with a more focused anti-illusion class would strip me of a lot of defenses. Like, if I was in a Ranger squad, that¡¯d be one thing. I¡¯d know my place in a team, I¡¯d know if we needed more firepower or not, and I¡¯d know that once the round was over, I¡¯d be shuffled into a team that could take advantage of my abilities, and cover my weaknesses.


    Sadly, right now all I could count on was myself.


    ¡­. Fuck, I should¡¯ve asked Korun if they had a thunderbird egg or something else cool down here. Goddesses curse it all!


    I guess it wasn¡¯t too late to ask.


    [Radiant Slayer of the Endless Formorian Swarm] was the ultimate in ¡°Power today.¡± My stats would skyrocket to unbelievable heights, all while improving my combat skills.


    The problem was, what about tomorrow? The class revolved around killing Formorians, and, well, we were hopefully out of those. I¡¯d shoot up 50, 60, maybe even 100 levels, bask in an absurd number of stats, then¡­ they¡¯d stay there.


    I could only reset a class when it was ready for an evolution, and there wasn¡¯t one at level 512. Given the pattern, I¡¯d make a guess that the next evolution was at 1024, but maybe I should¡¯ve asked the dwarves first before I went under.


    Too late now.


    I was leaning towards ¡°no¡± on the class, but I wasn¡¯t far enough along to decide that for sure. However, the sheer number of Formorians I killed, into this class, was probably worth a solid chunk.


    Blah. The more I thought about it, the more I didn¡¯t think my life was in such immediate dire straits as to make my second class take, like, centuries to level up far enough before I could reset it. If I was unlucky, it¡¯d take over a thousand years.


    I wasn¡¯t even 20. The thought of something taking that long just boggled the mind. That assumed constant, active use to boot.


    [Sentinel-Adept] was the obvious choice. Easy experience. A stat distribution like I¡¯d done for [The Dawn Sentinel]. Upgraded skills.


    Simple. Easy.


    Boring.


    Reading the book was exactly what I thought it¡¯d be. Stay at the capital. Check on missions daily. Train new Rangers. Go on missions. Stop my aging, watch generations of Rangers and Sentinels come and go. Slowly drift into a myth and a legend in my own right, given my longevity, combined with my flashiness.


    No, not like that.


    Still.


    Boring.


    Granted, this was my entire life, and not just ¡°what¡¯s cool and interesting¡±, but at the same time, being here in my soul was time for some serious introspection. Librarian was wearing Sentinel gear. I clearly saw myself as a Sentinel.


    But was that all I was? Sentinel Dawn? Doubled up Sentinel class? Just another perpetual guardian of Remus, along with Night?


    It kinda locked me into a one-dimensional being. I was more than just Sentinel Dawn. I was also healer Elaine, daughter Elaine, friend, teacher, and mentor Elaine. Plus, I¡¯d just learned about the great big wide world around me, and doubling up on Sentinel basically meant I¡¯d need to go home and stay there for centuries. I¡¯d get another chance once I evolved [Sentinel-Adept], but like. That¡¯d take extra-long, being in the dead zone.


    Hmmmm. That wasn¡¯t quite correct, now was it? I got serious Sentinel experience for meeting with the dwarves, for crossing over into their land. Obviously, more than just missions and staying at the capital was what a Sentinel did, and it wasn¡¯t quite fair for me to pigeonhole the class - and my job - that way.


    Taking a class that was also my job did have significant benefits, in that I¡¯d be leveling it daily.


    Still, it brought the question up - if I had the chance, if there was perfect equality and peace in the world, would I still sign up to be a Sentinel?


    The answer was ¡°Maybe¡±, which was interesting on several different levels.


    I wanted to go home - but I also wanted to see all the cool stuff the world had to offer. Asura had shown me some magic, heck, all the Guardians had shown off cool skills. I wanted to see and know more, like what [Passionate Learning] had to say about me.


    Right. [Sentinel-Adept] was the safety class. The benchmark. If I didn¡¯t find anything better than it, I was going to take it. It was the natural evolution of [Ranger-Mage], but I wanted to see if I could pull off something better.


    [The Rising Dawn] felt like the natural next selection, Sentinel, Dawn, etc. It seemed like a different evolution of [Ranger-Mage], leaning more into ¡°Dawn¡± than ¡°Sentinel¡±. I read it over carefully.


    What was interesting, was that it rewarded (rewarding?) me for getting into marathon situations, along with swooping in to save the day. Seriously, there was a whole segment detailing that if I showed up with shining lights, I¡¯d get more experience for it. This class was almost ¡°Heroic savior¡± combined with ¡°Get into marathons.¡± Plagues and other disasters would be my jam, echoing the ¡°It¡¯s kinda like [Sentinel-Adept]¡± without actually being tied to being a Sentinel. I¡¯d get more experience, say, saving the dwarves, but I wouldn¡¯t get as much experience when I attended boring meetings, for example.


    Not that those were worth much experience.


    There was also a solid ¡°endurance¡± portion to it. [Sun-Kissed] would evolve to grant me energy and mana, which would let me free up a slot in [The Dawn Sentinel] for [The Stars Never Fade] once I got the skill. That hadn¡¯t been the plan, but I was a flexible gal. I¡¯d also get ramping experience the longer I was in a marathon situation, like, for example, fighting the Formorians endlessly.


    [The Rising Dawn] class felt like it rhymed with [Sentinel-Adept], without being it. It was a natural evolution, without being a safe, boring choice. At the same time, it gave me options on my ¡°safety zone¡± so to speak. An endurance and saving the day class, over a ¡°doing my job¡± class.


    Two classes left! I arbitrarily picked [Butterfly Mystic] to check out next.


    The class was based around experience, knowledge, and learning. Lots of experience. Learned something new? Experience. Did something new? Experience. Went somewhere new? Good amounts of experience. Learned new magic? Solid amounts of experience. Not like the tons of experience [Sentinel-Adept] or [The Rising Dawn] would get for a mission, but it wasn¡¯t like it was bad experience. Fighting, and generally casting, was still good experience to boot.


    It was almost like the System liked high-stakes situations.


    It was something of an all-rounder, and for some reason, I was reminded of Artemis¡¯s [Wandering Mage] class. I don¡¯t think it was getting a ton of experience these days, not with her stuck at her school, but who knew, maybe she took the students on field trips or something.


    Back on topic. While the class didn¡¯t have large experience gains for giant, flashy actions, it had solid accumulation for doing lots of different things, and I had to admit - I was never staying still. I was always doing something new, and I doubted that would be changing anytime soon.


    I¡¯d fairly often been offered main class evolutions based off of my general skills, from [Emergency Medic] way back when, to various [Pretty] classes along the way. I realized this was another one of those classes, based off of the [Passionate Learning] skill I¡¯d just picked up.


    While the class didn¡¯t offer amazing experience for particular actions, it did have another reward, one that I only noticed after reading through the book a few times and asking Librarian.


    ¡°What¡¯s up with all the skills?¡± I asked, having read that the ¡°me¡± in the story used, by my counting, the 23rd spell in the story. I¡¯d only started counting when I noticed the number seemed high to boot.


    ¡°Well, the class picks up new skills fairly easily. If you see an active Radiance skill being used, and you can figure out roughly how it works? If you want, the System will offer a weaker version of the skill for [Butterfly Mystic], depending on how much you understand. It¡¯s part of being a [Butterfly Mystic].¡±


    ¡°Ah, that would explain why book-me used [Elegant Radiance Nails] a few chapters after raiding the archmage''s not-so-abandoned tower, and seeing him use [Giga Laser Claws]. No chance I can use it for general skills or anything like that?¡± I asked.


    Librarian shrugged.


    ¡°General skills are already easy to pick up. You¡¯ve got [Passionate Learning] that boosts that even further. [Butterfly Mystic] wouldn¡¯t make a difference anyways.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­ is this unique to the class or something?¡± I asked, tapping the cover of the book.


    ¡°Nope! Everyone¡¯s skills are improveable and upgradeable. However, the threshold on improvements and upgrades is fairly high. Like when you went skydiving through the Formorian anti-air assault, that got you offered the pinpoint defense skill as a reward.¡±


    I nodded.


    ¡°How¡¯s this different than what every other class has coming naturally to it?¡± I asked, skimming through the pages and trying to find the answer.


    ¡°It lowers the threshold quite a bit, and makes everything easier to learn. For example, maybe you could¡¯ve picked the anti-missile skill up in an intense training session with Artemis throwing rocks at you, instead of needing to dive out of an airship into hundreds of thousands of Formorians to get offered the skill. Maybe [Rapidash] would¡¯ve upgraded to a Fire flying skill, instead of needing to wait for an evolution.¡± Librarian said. ¡°Heck, how we kept using [Light] to read in a narrow cone in the dark is how we evolved it to [Flashlight]!¡±


    ¡°Basically, faster skill improvements, and faster new skills, but it¡¯s not something super special and unique to the class.¡± I said, summarizing what Librarian was saying.


    ¡°Right. But don¡¯t discount being able to upgrade skills that quickly. Imagine if you¡¯d gotten a Fire flying skill, instead of spending a year and a half jumping into the air to try and get it.¡± Librarian said. ¡°Improved skills will also persist through future upgrades, although if things are improved, they¡¯re going to be kinda locked in for us.¡±


    Complicated class. Lots to think about, and it wasn¡¯t quite clear if all the added complexity came with extra power.


    Last up was [Radiant Immolator]. It wasn¡¯t some horribly complex class like [Butterfly Mystic]. It didn¡¯t take a long discussion with Librarian to figure the ins and outs of it. There was beauty in it¡¯s sheer simplicity. It did exactly what was on the tin. It was the ¡°Go forth and kill things¡± class. Fantastic firepower, a focus on making things dead, and keeping myself alive. There were no fancy tricks to it. No special ways of getting experience. No strange quirks.


    No. Just boatloads of experience for killing things, and all the tools to get it done. I wouldn¡¯t lose [Shine], [Sun-kissed], or [Talaria], and their upgrades would be tilted towards better ways to kill things, or protect myself.


    In many ways, it was what I fundamentally needed from the class. I needed to be able to protect myself in a hostile and violent world, and most of my experience I¡¯d gotten over the years was from killing things before they killed me. I loved flying, I liked not having to worry if what I was seeing was real or an illusion.


    Those were luxuries.


    Pallos wasn¡¯t a civilized place, for all I was in a giant city in the heart of a mountain. The law of the jungle held sway here, and just as I was empowered by the System, so were the monsters.


    This was the no-frills, no-fuss, defend myself class. The inherent conflict with [Oath] didn¡¯t matter, given how often I was in a fight for my life.


    So many choices, and none that stood out in a negative way, asking to be cut.


    I settled in, and got to work.

 Chapter 212.1 - Radiance Class-up II

    Seven classes to choose from. Seven strong options.


    I suppose, in many ways, that it was better than the alternative, of having no good classes available. Or only one OK class, that I was forced to pick.


    No, options were good, even if I was going to end up with a serious case of decision paralysis.


    ¡°What¡¯s the worst-case scenario on picking a class?¡± I mused out-loud, hoping Librarian would help me out with some analysis.


    ¡°That it¡¯s weak, and you hate everything about it, what it means, what it represents, and what you need to do with it.¡± Librarian promptly answered. ¡°The worst-case isn¡¯t a bad class, the worst-case is a class that actively harms you.¡±


    ¡°Like my fear about the [Prophet of Papillion] class.¡±


    ¡°Exactly! The other worse-case scenario is picking a class that actively draws hostility to you.¡± Librarian pointed out.


    I spent a moment thinking about that.


    ¡°Like the class Hesoid had. The plague-generating one.¡± I said.


    Librarian nodded.


    ¡°Right. Here, they seem to hate Void mages with a passion.¡± She observed, letting me work out the rest of it.


    I quickly thought about what Void was. Dark and Dark, and I had Celestial already.


    ¡°Do I have a level 8 Void mage to reset to?¡± I asked Librarian.


    She shook her head.


    ¡°No, just a level 8 Darkness mage. Should be easy enough to get a Void mage offered at 32. Probably be weak, but doable.¡±


    I thought about that for a brief moment before shaking my head and discarding the idea entirely.


    ¡°No, let¡¯s stick with the current offerings.¡± I said. ¡°They¡¯re all solid, and none of them actively harm me.¡± I mused out loud. ¡°It¡¯s a question of balancing the present against the future.¡±


    ¡°Right. Now, what¡¯s the argument for the classes with the more powerful stats now?¡± Librarian asked.


    ¡°Escaping, freedom, survival.¡± I said, rapidly listing the three points off.


    ¡°Are we in a cage, with an execution scheduled for next week? Are we chained to other slaves, about to be auctioned off? If the dwarves are as good as their word, and we stick around 30 years, able to explore and enjoy this city, what harm have we come to?¡± Librarian asked, and I winced.


    She had a bit of a point. It could be so much worse. I was a favored bird in a golden cage, not a slave forced to mine lead, or worse. I had guards, and not only was nearly my every need taken care of, but they went above and beyond to provide any luxury I wanted. The biggest concern was my friends and family dying in an accident before I could make it back.


    That, and my violent distaste for anything resembling shackles or chains that I hadn¡¯t chosen for myself.


    ¡°Let¡¯s look at classes with a balance for the future and the present then?¡± Librarian asked with an amused smile.


    I gave her a smile as warm as the cozy fire in front of us.


    ¡°Thank you Librarian. Really. I don¡¯t know what I¡¯d do without you. Probably get lost wandering all the options.¡±


    She chuckled.


    ¡°Yeah, I think that¡¯s why the System has guides. Could you imagine otherwise?¡±


    I thought about my first class up, and the thousands, if not tens of thousands of classes I was offered, along with all the questions I¡¯d had.


    ¡°Disaster.¡± I said.


    ¡°Yup! Complete disaster.¡± Librarian agreed.


    Focus. I thought to myself. Librarian was me, and I was her, and I could imagine the wild tangents we could get on if I allowed it.


    ¡°So, in conclusion, since we¡¯re not at immediate, dire risk of dying or worse, we don¡¯t need to hyper-focus on a strong class here and now.¡± I reasoned out. ¡°Need to balance the future with the present.¡±


    Librarian gave a curt nod.


    ¡°And the far future.¡± She pointed out. ¡°Not just 10 years from now, but 100 years. 1000 years.¡±


    With a small amount of reluctance, I cut [Radiant Slayer of the Endless Formorian Swarm]. If I was going to be executed in the morning, currently a slave of some vile [Slave Owner], or in some worse situation, I¡¯d probably take the class, just for the raw, immediate boost of power. I wasn¡¯t though, which left me with [Light of Truth], [Radiant Immolator], [The Rising Dawn], [Butterfly Mystic], [Sentinel-Adept], and [Acolyte of Asura].


    I was eyeing up [Light of Truth] next. It was on the shortlist due to the extra stats, and I did like how it was similar to [Light of Hope], my early Light healing class. However, it was in the running due to the ¡°escape¡± potential, with the extra stats boosting my combat capabilities enough to help me escape.


    Which brought it in direct comparison, interestingly enough, with [Radiant Immolator]. I wasn¡¯t quite sure how I felt about the class yet, if I was taking it or not, but for my purposes, it was a fair comparison.


    On skills: [Radiant Immolator] was far better for fighting and escaping. Everything it had was combat-focused. Heck, even the flying skill was combat-focused! [Light of Truth] had objectively worse skills for ¡°fight out and escape¡±, although it had a slightly better flying skill.


    On the stats: [Radiant Immolator] was +40 Mana, +40 Mana Regeneration, +160 Magic Power, +160 Magic Control per level. That was strongly tilted towards ¡°Just do damage¡±. [Light of Truth] had +48 Free Stats, +8 Dexterity, +64 Speed, +160 Mana, +160 Mana Regen, +160 Magic Power, +160 Magic Control per level.


    They were tied on the Magic Power and Magic Control per level, which translated to ¡°The skills would be just as strong as each other.¡±


    Assuming the same level gain, I¡¯d be just as powerful from a raw ¡°How much damage does my new [Nova] skill do?¡± perspective¡­ before the fact that [Radiant Immolator] would get a better [Nova] skill than [Light of Truth] came into play.


    Then, long-term, while I didn¡¯t enjoy killing and fighting, I did have my Radiance mage class for my own self-defense.


    In [Light of Truth]¡¯s defense, added mana and regeneration was strong for fights. However, it was a small stone on the heavily-tilted scales.


    In conclusion - [Radiant Immolator] was better than [Light of Truth] in every way but one I could easily measure right now, which meant I could cut it with a clear conscience.


    That also gave me some potential avenues for exploration and comparison. I¡¯d tackle that in just a moment.


    [Acolyte of Asura] was objectively the ¡°best¡± class of the lot, if I could use it. It met all my requirements, it was powerful, it worked short-term, long-term, and opened up a whole new world of spellcasting to me.


    ¡°Right. Pros and cons of [Acolyte of Asura].¡± I asked Librarian. ¡°How does this go horribly wrong for me, and what needs to happen for this to go right, and what are the chances of both?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Wrong - a bunch of skills get replaced when you take the class. You don¡¯t figure out how to cast properly, and you essentially cripple the class for years, if not decades before you work it out. All while the class is effectively disabled, you also wouldn¡¯t be leveling it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d still have [Radiance Conjuration]. Deadly beams - my main attack and defense - would still be available, while enjoying improved stats.¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Sure, but no [Blaze] weakens it, no [Nova] lowers how much damage you can burst out, no [Talaria] means you¡¯re stuck on the ground.¡± Librarian said, ticking the points off her fingers.


    ¡°Right, fine, how hard do you think it¡¯d be to work out casting magic? Clearly, Asura figured it out, and others must¡¯ve also worked it out. We can¡¯t be the first. Plus!¡± I said, getting excited. ¡°I saw Asura using dozens and dozens of spells while fighting Lun¡¯Kat. I have [Pristine Memories], I can recreate it!¡± I said, working myself up.


    I jumped up, and walked to another part of the room.


    ¡°Chair! Table! Pen! Paper!¡± I clipped out to Librarian, having all of them appear in front of me. I sat down at the desk and focused, ignoring the barely-repressed mirth behind me.


    ¡°Ok, the first one.¡± I said, putting the pen on the paper, focusing and trying to remember what I¡¯d seen.


    ¡­ part of it had been behind Asura. I had a lot of pieces, but not the full puzzle. That was fine. There¡¯d been more.


    ¡°... Second one.¡± I said.


    It¡¯d been at a fairly steep angle, not letting me get a good view.


    ¡°THIRD ONE!¡± I groused.


    It¡¯d been at a good angle, and unobscured, but I couldn¡¯t remember all the details. Not due to a lack of memory, but because it¡¯d just been too Goddess-cursed far away to see it all in the first place.


    Librarian¡¯s chuckles became full-on gales of laughter.


    ¡°I saw someone operate on a man once! I¡¯m sure I can operate on a baby!¡± She said, wiping some tears of laughter from her eyes. ¡°Come on. Asura was casting the most complex, the most powerful magic possible, the culmination of all her knowledge and experience. We don¡¯t even know the fundamentals behind it all, let alone have the power and control to cast the same spells Asura was casting. For all we know, each one is entirely unique, with no fundamental bits.¡±


    I grumbled to myself, idly drawing circles with my pen.


    ¡°Fine. I can¡¯t learn from Asura¡¯s casting.¡± I grumbled. ¡°I can use it for reference later on, but I won¡¯t figure out the fundamentals. Maybe if I had a team of researchers and a few decades we could work it all out, but¡­¡±


    ¡°But yeah, we¡¯d need to find someone else to learn from.¡± Librarian said. ¡°Which makes this the high-risk, high-reward option.¡±


    ¡°Odds that the dwarves have someone to learn from, and odds that they¡¯d teach me?¡± I asked Librarian.


    ¡°Pulling a number out of my ass¡­ 20% that they have someone. We haven¡¯t seen hide or hair of anyone casting like they do, and we have seen a few clans now. 95% chance that they¡¯d teach us though, they like you and want to keep you happy. Only if it¡¯s some giant secret, or someone as important as you are would they say no. Keep in mind though, this probably isn¡¯t something that can get picked up overnight. It¡¯d probably take years of study.¡±


    ¡°So, a 19% chance pulling numbers out of your rear end that things work out.¡± I grouched.


    ¡°Yeah, and spend years working on it. But that¡¯s if we want to learn stuff now. We can always learn it later.¡± Librarian pointed out.


    I put [Acolyte of Asura] off to the side. I¡¯d re-evaluate it against whatever other class I picked out of the remaining four. It wasn¡¯t the winner, but it wasn¡¯t getting cut either. It¡¯d be easier to argue for and against the merits against a single class.


    That left the four light green classes left. [Radiant Immolator], [The Rising Dawn], [Butterfly Mystic], and [Sentinel-Adept]. They were all fairly close to each other, and I basically needed to have a little tournament to decide the winner.


    Actually - that was a pretty good idea. I could have two classes go head to head, decide which one I liked more, then repeat with the winners.


    I looked at [Sentinel-Adept] vs [The Rising Dawn] and sighed. Nope, it wouldn¡¯t be that easy to decide.


    Time to do this methodically.


    Stats and skills first.


    [Radiant Immolator] had 400 points of stats, and all of them were Magic stats. The total wasn¡¯t as high as some of the other classes, but the distribution was in a good place.


    [The Rising Dawn] had 380 points worth of stats, and again all of them were magic. The distribution supported long, continuous casting sessions, which I approved of. The raw total wasn¡¯t as high as [Radiant Immolator], but the distribution on each was skewed towards what each class wanted to do.


    [Butterfly Mystic] was crushing it with stats. 436 points in total, but the distribution was suboptimal. Only 280 of them were in magic stats, with the remaining 156 being in physical stats. They were slanted towards ¡°Keep me alive and balanced¡±, and there was something to be said for the tyranny of sheer stats. The distribution could be quite a lot better though, I was less than thrilled with where I¡¯d end up.


    It was easily the most complicated analysis. It seemed to support traveling, moving around, lasting in harsher conditions, which only [Sentinel-Adept] seemed to hint at.


    At the same time, I was basically complaining that I¡¯d be tougher and faster, and that my strength would start rising again.


    When all the stats were magical, it was easy to compare them. [Radiant Immolator] had more stats than [The Rising Dawn], no question about it. I wasn¡¯t quite going to go into the analysis of Mana+Regen VS Control+Power, beyond the fact that both were distributed the way the class wanted. [Butterfly Mystic] brought up the question ¡°What¡¯s a physical stat worth?¡±


    I¡¯d finish up that line of thinking in a minute.


    [Sentinel-Adept] had 432 stats total, with 368 of them being magical. They were arranged almost the exact same way I¡¯d arranged [The Dawn Sentinel], which I found nice.


    Right. I had the stats and their distribution, and quite frankly it was a crapshoot. All of them had stats to support what the class wanted to do. None of them were bad, but [Sentinel-Adept] was the clear winner. I hesitated to call [Butterfly Mystic]¡¯s distribution bad, because speed and vitality were important. It just felt weird that I¡¯d be getting so much of them, and it made it a bit of an outlier.


    Ok, stats, at the end of the day, were a bit of a crapshoot. I wasn¡¯t getting anything from them. Nothing was jumping out at me as a ¡°Cut me!¡± or ¡°Pick me!¡±


    Next up, flying skills!

 Chapter 212.2 - Radiance Class-up II

    [Sentinel-Adept] had it easiest. [Talaria] would keep the same name, but lose all restrictions. I didn¡¯t need sandals or sunlight anymore, and I¡¯d be able to fly on a whim. I could stand, make tight turns that I couldn¡¯t before, and more. A straight up, simple evolution. I¡¯d be faster and more nimble.


    [Radiant Immolator] also evolved [Talaria]. It kept the restrictions, but in exchange, I got a point-defense system in place. While flying, the new and improved Skill would shoot down projectiles fired at me, at a significantly discounted mana price. Instead of 100 mana, I¡¯d use 60 mana on an equivalently powerful attack, and the discount would grow as the skill got stronger. Heck, a few chapters had me flying a hair off the ground at all times, always having my defenses on. Between that, and [Bullet Time] plus [Mantle], I ended up fairly hard to hit¡­ from small things.


    It didn¡¯t do anything about someone dropping a mountain on my head, and if it tried to zap something big and metal, I just ended up with superheated metal in my body. That was before someone cut my legs off flying. Sure, I could regrow them - but I wouldn¡¯t have sandals on my feet anymore, which would lead to a long drop.


    As my power and control grew, so would the strength and precision of my point defenses. It tied neatly together like that.


    [The Rising Dawn] had angel wings! Glowing, bright wings of soft light. I had to imagine that my interactions with the angel had rewarded me with them. They were restricted to daylight - and they promised to punch a hole through whatever clothes I was wearing - but it came with a significant speed boost. Which was totally in-line with the ¡°Show up dramatically at the right moment to save the day¡± theme that the class had going on.


    [Butterfly Mystic] had technically restricted flight, but practically unrestricted flight. It was only a bit faster than [Talaria] was - a strong jogging speed, instead of a brisk walk. I¡¯d get, surprise surprise, butterfly wings, which was the restriction. If there wasn¡¯t room to move them, I wouldn¡¯t be able to fly. Which was interesting - [The Rising Dawn] didn¡¯t mention a similar restriction. The ¡°learning¡± part showed up again. The more I looked at butterflies, birds, and at other flying magic, the better my flight would be. Not just from a ¡°The skill improves¡± way, but just sheer learning about different flight methods would let me use them.


    Hang on - it used my jogging speed for the baseline rate. Which meant it tied to my speed, so as my speed improved, my speed would improve. Heh. Classes distributing stats as they needed strikes again!


    I¡¯d improve by finding different types of butterflies as well. Birds would also work, but butterflies were best. Some flew at incredible heights, so high up that I suspected going that high would trigger the wrath of whatever Sky had tried to warn me about once upon a time. Others were fast, and I could improve the speed of the skill.


    Lots of small improvements was the name of the game. It arguably started off worse than the other flying skills, but could get better.


    Shame I was freaking underground right now! Birds and butterflies weren¡¯t famous for making lairs deep inside mountains.


    Either way - the flight skill¡¯s differentiation wasn¡¯t going to get me what I wanted or needed. I couldn¡¯t find a way to cut a class, or have one stand out from the rest.


    I was undeterred. I was going to keep working at it. I was going to find an answer.


    I started analyzing the rest of the skills, and how everything was put together, but it was an exercise in frustration.


    All of the classes had skills that supported what they were, and how they wanted to evolve. All of the classes were good.


    I was pacing in front of the fire as I finished the last skill analysis, the last comparison. I threw myself into the chair, letting myself sink into it.


    ¡°I need help.¡± I told Librarian. ¡°I¡¯m struggling to decide here.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s tough.¡± She agreed. ¡°Let¡¯s look at it from another direction.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m game. Anything.¡± I said.


    ¡°First off, with everything we¡¯ve seen - are any of them wrong?¡± She asked. ¡°Will we regret being [Sentinel-Adept] instead of [The Rising Dawn]?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I said, starting to see where she was getting at.


    ¡°Worse-case, we can flip a coin three times, then compare it against Acolyte.¡± She said. ¡°Let fate decide what we want, and we¡¯ll be ok with it.¡±


    I slowly nodded.


    ¡°Better to make a choice, than no choice.¡± I said. She shook her head.


    ¡°No, listen. None of them are bad. We¡¯ll be happy with any of the four. They are all us, they¡¯re all some aspect of who we are.¡± She said. ¡°You are a Butterfly Mystic. You are The Rising Dawn. You are a Sentinel-Adept. Lastly, you are a Radiant Immolator. That¡¯s all you. The question is - which one do you want to be?¡±


    I blinked, processing. That was an excellent point.


    I was all of those. The question was, which aspect did I want to focus on? Did I want to focus on grand heroics? Learning magic? Blowing things up? Or just, the ¡°plain and simple¡± Sentinel?


    [Sentinel-Adept] got cut as I was mulling it over. I¡¯d even initially hinted at it when I saw the class. I wanted to be more than just ¡°another Sentinel.¡± I wanted to be more than just a one-dimensional being.


    By similar reasoning, I cut [Radiant Immolator]. I had no problems blasting monsters to pieces, nor did I hesitate to fight other people.


    I didn¡¯t like doing it though. I didn¡¯t want to have to kill monsters and fight people. It was out of necessity, not love. Demand, not desire.


    The other classes would also help me stay alive.


    That left two classes, before I needed to compare it against [Acolyte of Asura]. [The Rising Dawn] versus [Butterfly Mystic].


    I boiled it down, and down, and down some more, and found that, fundamentally, it became a simple question.


    Did I see myself as - or did I want to be - Supergirl? Or was I the quiet person tucked away in the corner of a library, reading books and learning more about the world?


    On one hand, I loved the idea of heroics. I loved being the center of attention, of swooping in and saving the day. Sure, I didn¡¯t like the escort I had - but something fluttered in my heart when I was seen and recognized as Sentinel Dawn, the heroine, the savior. I enjoyed walking into an infirmary, and healing every single soul in there. I even liked the look on the adventurer¡¯s faces, after I single-handedly killed nearly every single pirate on the ship. I undeniably liked the attention and accolades from being heroic.


    On the other hand, I was currently curled up in a fluffy chair in a library with a book. My soul hadn¡¯t changed, there was no lying about who or what I was.


    ¡­ At the same time, calling it a ¡°Sit in the library and read¡± class was horribly wrong. It was a ¡°Get out of the library and learn stuff hands-on¡± class. It was a ¡°Slice people open to discover how they tick¡± class. It was a ¡°Go poke unicorns 10x your level and ask them for tips¡± class.


    It was a ¡°Join a team of Rangers and have them train you¡± class.


    I¡¯d learned more in a month of being with the Rangers than I¡¯d learned in years in Aquiliea. I¡¯d gotten more out of a single talk with Night than a whole book.


    Between ¡°fantastic heroics¡± and ¡°poking people to learn things¡±, which one did I like more?


    It was tough.


    ¡°Got any ideas?¡± I asked Librarian.


    ¡°[Pristine Memories] and [Passionate Learning] both support and help [Butterfly Mystic].¡± She said. ¡°It¡¯s not a lot, all things considered, but¡­¡± She trailed off, shrugging, knowing that I¡¯d get the rest of the message.


    She was right, it wasn¡¯t much. It was just a single feather on the scales.


    A single feather, from a newly hatched chick¡¯s downy fuzz, but when the scales were well-calibrated and perfectly even, it was enough to tip them a hair.


    ¡°So it¡¯s [Butterfly Mystic] then.¡± I said, a bit surprised. I wouldn¡¯t have guessed it would come out on top.


    I took [Acolyte of Asura] out, ready for the last round. Was [Butterfly Mystic] better than it? Which class did I want more? Fancy spellcasting? Or more standard fare?


    Did I think I could pull off what was needed to make [Acolyte of Asura] work? Could I learn how to make cool magic spells like Asura did?


    Librarian coughed softly.


    ¡°Yes?¡± I asked her, somehow not annoyed that she¡¯d interrupted my musings.


    ¡°Well¡­ [Butterfly Mystic] lets you pick up new magics as you see them, right?¡± She asked, when we both knew the answer.


    ¡°Right¡­ oh. OH!¡± I said, the pieces clicking together. ¡°If I ever meet someone who can teach me how to cast like this, I can get the fundamental skill from them!!¡± I said, jumping out of my chair.


    I deflated.


    ¡°Hang on. [Acolyte of Asura] needed a bunch of skills to work. There¡¯s not one fundamental skill.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk about this.¡± Librarian said. ¡°I¡¯ll advocate against the class, you advocate for it. Let¡¯s see what arguments we can hammer out, and what conclusions we come to.


    ¡°[Acolyte of Asura] is an advanced class, with a huge amount of power behind it. It has twice the stats of [Butterfly Mystic]. It¡¯s like comparing your [The Dawn Sentinel] to your [Light of Hope] class. Yeah, one¡¯s got much better skills, and can do a lot more. However, your interest in casting like this is fledgeling. New. What if you hate it? What if you can¡¯t use it well in a fight? Is it worth changing everything we do for it?¡± She asked. ¡°However, with [Butterfly Mystic] we get to dip our toes into it gently if we find a teacher. We¡¯d need a teacher anyways. Sure, it¡¯s not half as good, but it gives us options to improve and evolve, depending on what we find.¡±


    ¡°Sure, but the sheer power of the class suggests I¡¯m going to almost double my stats.¡± I pointed out. ¡°There¡¯s something to be said for becoming almost twice as strong.¡±


    I thought about it more.


    ¡°In addition, if I can figure this out, I¡¯ll be another frontrunner. Another ¡®human first¡¯.¡±


    ¡°You assume.¡± Librarian said. ¡°Plus, then your focus is going to be split in half. You¡¯re already stretched thin, teaching Autumn, teaching Rangers, teaching at Artemis¡¯s school, healing people. Now you¡¯re going to add a whole new field of study, one that you don¡¯t even know if you¡¯ll learn?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to be immortal. What¡¯s a few extra projects running around? Plus, then I¡¯ll have ways of leveling up both classes, instead of [Ranger-Mage] stalling out every time I¡¯m in town.¡±


    ¡°But we¡¯re not comparing against [Ranger-Mage]. We¡¯re comparing against [Butterfly Mystic]. Which also levels peacefully.¡±


    ¡°It requires new experiences, which won¡¯t be found in a town that we¡¯ve lived in for centuries!¡±


    ¡°I think a direct comparison is bad.¡± I said, not liking being on the losing end of the argument. ¡°[Acolyte of Asura] is the better class. I think the better question is - what¡¯s my risk tolerance? How much of a gamble am I willing to make?¡± I said.


    ¡°I think the better question is, how many decades is it going to be until we find a way to use the class well? And assume we make it back home - how is crippling your class for the foreseeable future going to go over with Night and the rest of the Sentinels?¡± Librarian analyzed, starting to pace in front of me.


    I pursed my lips at that. Shit. I¡¯d been so focused on the short term and the long term that I completely forgot the medium term.


    ¡°On one hand, not great.¡± I admitted. My missions had rarely been ¡®just heal things.¡¯ ¡°On the other? I¡¯d have a ton of stats to throw at any problem. Which would also strengthen [The Dawn Sentinel]. Bit of a wash.¡±


    Librarian shrugged. ¡°End of the day, it¡¯s risk tolerance. Do you want to gamble?¡±


    I did like gambling - a bit. In moderation. When I could tilt the table a bit towards me. Like when I gambled with the other Sentinels, and played them to make me win a hand. When I bet I could drink people under the table, knowing that I could cure myself of alcohol.


    Then - I walked away from the table. I took the small win I knew I could get, and I walked away when the outcome was uncertain. I¡¯d utterly missed my ¡°sure¡± gamble with the dwarves and their ale, and been punished for it. Not even my ¡°sure-thing¡± gambles always paid off.


    I gambled - on small things. I gambled - for fun, with small amounts of pocket change. Well, large for other people, but I was relatively wealthy.


    I didn¡¯t take all my money to a high stakes game. I didn¡¯t bet everything I had.


    I didn¡¯t take large gambles. Not since I ran away from home, and even that felt more like it was ¡°do or die¡±, rather than a risk.


    An unnecessary risk, since I had a powerful, perfectly viable option right in front of me.


    ¡°Right. [Butterfly Mystic] it is!¡± I said, picking up the book.


    Ha! Back to the bug theme. I¡¯d started off as [Firebug], and it seemed that I couldn¡¯t quite escape it.


    Now that the choice was made, I briefly let myself indulge in secondary aspects, enjoying the class. I liked the name. I thought it was super pretty. Plus, who would believe me?


    ¡°Yes, my ¡®firing lasers all over the place¡¯ class? [Butterfly Mystic].¡±


    I spent a few more minutes cooing over my choice, reading through the book again.


    I hesitated. I didn¡¯t want to go. I didn¡¯t want to leave. Librarian gently took my hand, and gently pulled on it.


    ¡°Elaine. You¡¯ve made your choice. It¡¯s time.¡± She said, leading me down the stairs.


    ¡°But I don¡¯t want to leave you!¡± I cried out. ¡°I don¡¯t know how long it¡¯ll be before I see you again.¡±


    Librarian smiled sadly at me.


    ¡°I know. But remember - I¡¯ll always be here, inside you.¡± She said, touching my heart with a single elegant finger. ¡°I am you, and you are me. I¡¯m not gone - just more apart of you, so close you can only hear me whisper.¡±


    We made it to the checkout desk, and I gave her a great big crushing hug, her Sentinel armor somehow not hurting or getting in the way. Soulspace rules. I tried to linger, to stay, to be with her some more. To be with her, with me.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to go.¡± I cried into Librarian¡¯s arms. ¡°I don¡¯t want to leave you. To not see you for decades, if not longer.¡±


    Librarian entertained me, and we spent an immortal moment together. A moment that was but an instant, an entire lifetime, and would need to last me decades or centuries.


    But all things must come to an end, and with great reluctance, fingers trailing slowly behind as I tried to elongate this one last moment, I eventually had to let go. All good things must come to an end, and with my skills, this would not be the end.


    ¡°See you soon.¡± I whispered.


    I woke up to a flood of notifications.

 Chapter 213.1 - Shiny New Skills! I

    I woke up to dozens and dozens of notifications. Even compressed, I had a good number to wade through.


    Also, my skin and flesh seemed to be crawling. It was disconcerting, but my [Persistent Casting] was still on, and my mana was¡­


    Wow. That was a lot of mana.


    It was also totally full!


    The crawling sensation stopped, and I made a note to check on what the heck that was later.


    Weirdly, I didn¡¯t feel super hungry or thirsty. I suppose it¡¯d hit me in a moment.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Ranger Mage] has upgraded into [Butterfly Mystic]!]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Butterfly Mystic] has leveled up to level 256->306! +8 Strength, +8 Dexterity, +70 Speed, +70 Vitality, +70 Mana, +70 Mana Regen, +70 Magic power, +70 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Strength, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    What! Bullshit! Only 50 levels!? I¡¯d been in the Formorian fight! I¡¯d actively contributed the entire way! And then, after that capped me out, I¡¯d¡­


    ¡­ done almost nothing with the class. I fought some hellhounds, fired a few potshots at a chupacabra, briefly flashed [Shine] in the dragon fight, fought a slime and did some lasering against orcs. I wasn¡¯t even sure if they were all worth enough experience to get a level, although the combined efforts were probably worth one level.


    Then again, I¡¯d done a bunch of new things! I met an angel¡­ ok, that was probably more healing class. I encountered the dwarves, and while my Sentinel class got some levels out of that, some of the knowledge had to count!


    Then again, I was arguing that leisurely reading books should be worth multiple levels at 300+, for a class that wasn¡¯t dedicated to reading. My argument felt thin even to myself.


    So it was all the Formorian War, which I¡¯d started at, what, roughly level 215?


    ¡­ maybe I shouldn¡¯t whine about almost 100 levels in less than six months. It felt like an eternity, but that was the time left, not the time behind.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Shine] has been upgraded to [Lantern]!]


    Lantern: The lantern, held high to guide others. The luminous fairy, fluttering inside the lantern, exuding golden rays light. The firebug, lighting the world up with her lantern. The moth, drawn to the flame. You are all these and more. You hold the lantern aloft, guiding your fellows through the dark, stripping away the lies and the falsehoods of darkness, revealing the world as it is to all around you. Destroy illusions around you. Minor sense for illusions. Improved illusion removal efficiency per level.


    While it seemed to be mostly the same skill, I wondered what ¡®minor sense for illusions¡¯ meant? Would I get a system notification about nearby illusions? Or would it be more subtle?


    The part about ¡°I was a fairy trapped in a lantern¡± was more than a bit concerning, and caused a deep pit of worry to form in my stomach. I really, really hoped it didn¡¯t come back to bite me. I was hoping it was just metaphorical, that it was describing me lighting up the dwarfs¡¯ area, and their city was the lantern I was ¡°trapped¡± inside.


    Given that the skill had upgraded, I was going to assume the anti-illusion properties were even stronger than before. Radiance was already a natural counter to Mirage and all illusions, and improved efficiency basically meant that I¡¯d be using a tiny fraction of the same mana to destroy an illusion. For example, if Magic spent 10,000 mana on an illusion, it might only take me 800 mana to destroy it.


    I had no idea what the actual numbers were - I was guessing, especially since the skill didn¡¯t tell me numbers - but I knew the ratio was brutal against illusions. Only the most powerful Mirage-makers could last more than a second against [Lantern].


    That¡¯s what they get for trying to trick the world. There were no good uses for illusions, in my opinion.


    I was conveniently ignoring entertainment. And a whole host of other, potentially legitimate uses.


    Somewhere, I swear I felt Librarian giggle.


    Naturally, [Lantern] would still be good for plain old lighting things up as well.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Sun-Kissed] has been upgraded to [Nectar]!]


    Nectar: Nectar is the sweet sugar of the natural world, essential for every butterfly. The mighty mango tree generates the sweetest nectar of them all. But [Butterfly Mystics] don¡¯t need nectar, they need mana! .2% increased mana regeneration per level.


    That was almost the same as [Sun-Kissed], with one crucial difference.


    It came from me, not from the sun! I was freed from the tyranny of the sky! No longer did I need to be outdoors to enjoy the skill.


    Putting it another way - I almost doubled my mana regeneration stat!


    However¡­ it no longer mentioned free mana regeneration. Did that mean I now needed to chow down extra to compensate? With it almost doubling my mana regeneration¡­


    I needed to look into a [Bottomless Pit] skill. Or maybe some sort of [Gourmet] third class.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Blaze] has been upgraded to [Sun¡¯s Heart]!]


    Sun¡¯s Heart: Your inner fire only grows larger, stronger. Hotter. More powerful. A sun has formed in your heart, pulsing energy burning through you with every beat. Your fire and passion can¡¯t be contained, and will explode out with every skill you cast. Increased heat, damage, and effective mana per level when casting offensive spells and generating heat. Costs 32,768 mana regen.


    Welp, there went¡­


    Roughly 9 mana per second.


    In other words -


    Almost a rounding error worth of mana.


    Holy shit.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Talaria] and [Pretty] have been merged into [Scintillating Ascent]!]


    Scintillating Ascent: Take wing with the prettiest pair of wings on Pallos! With every flap of your iridescent, scintillating wings, you will soar through the boundless sky, see what the whole world has to offer you. The flight speed is tied to your speed stat. .4% reduced mana usage per level. 1% increased maneuverability per level. Tiny prettiness metamorphosis per level.


    The skill didn¡¯t mention upgrading, but that¡¯s because it was tied to the class, not the skill.


    ALSO!


    THE MOTHERFUCKING SYSTEM TOOK MY [PRETTY] SKILL!


    I worked my ass off for that skill! It was mine, damnit! I didn¡¯t want it absorbed into [Scintillating Ascent]!


    I was going to grab the System by its throat, and shake it until my [Pretty] skill came back out again.


    I took a moment to blow out some annoyed air, making it all too obvious I was back. I got some looks, but I was too busy being annoyed.


    Then again, people taking some time to process everything new was normal. Especially the higher tier upgrades took longer, since there was just so much more information to process.


    Fine. The System had taken my [Pretty] skill, but it was merged into [Scintillating Ascent]. It wasn¡¯t gone, simply transformed¡­ like a butterfly.


    Like it seemed to be saying would happen to me.


    Wait. The little crawling sensation when I woke up - did my skill just make me prettier? Not just my own self-perception, and helping me be pretty, but did it just morph me a hair closer to my own ideal?


    Wait.


    WAIT.


    It was now a Class Skill, not a General Skill! That meant [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority] now applied! Free 25% boost to my new [Pretty] skill!


    And, with my free general skill slot, I could just take [Pretty] again! DOUBLE PRETTY TIME!


    ¡­ Fine, System, I forgive you.


    I had a feeling I was going to be making a lot of butterfly jokes in the future.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Nova] has been upgraded to [Supernova]!]


    Supernova: The silent roar of the biggest stars in the universe exploding in one final cataclysmic event. Even larger exploding stars. Increased size, damage, speed, and control per level.


    That was the shortest, lamest description of a skill ever. However, control? That seemed to imply that I could bend my [Supernova]¡¯s now - which was one of the only things I¡¯d lost when I¡¯d ditched [Radiance Manipulation]. Something to test, as soon as I could.


    Although, I¡¯d need a good testing ground. [Nova] had already been fairly large, and this was promising to be even larger.


    Right! Cool new skills! [Butterfly Mystic] away! Let¡¯s see what the levels had to say about things!


    [*ding!* [Radiance Affinity] has leveled up! 256->306]


    [*ding!* [Radiance Resistance] has leveled up! 256->306]


    [*ding!* [Radiance Conjuration] has leveled up! 256->306]


    [*ding!* [Nectar] has leveled up! 256->301]


    [*ding!* [Sun¡¯s Heart] has leveled up! 256->306]


    [*ding!* [Scintillating Ascent] has leveled up! 256->281]


    [*ding!* [Supernova] has leveled up! 256->306]


    LEVELS! It was pretty clear which skills I¡¯d extensively used in the fight against the Formorians, and which skills hadn¡¯t been used as much.


    Also, I had a free general slot now! On one hand, I wanted to rush off and grab some cool new skill to fill it. Like [Extra Pretty]. On the other, I was keeping an eye out for a companion, and the open slot was perfect for that.


    And like some deformed monstrosity, on the third hand, an open general skill could totally be used for escaping. Something like [Sneaking].


    Heck, [Escaping] might be a skill!


    I could always combine option two and option three. Grab [Sneaking] for now, replace it later.


    Or another skill.


    Speaking of other skills, I was being offered a boatload.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Float Like A Butterfly, Sting Like A Bee]! Would you like to replace a Class Skill with Float Like A Butterfly, Sting Like A Bee?]


    Float Like A Butterfly, Sting Like A Bee: Butterflies are fragile things, carefully flitting through the world from flower to flower. Cruel creatures love nothing more than to throw rocks at the vision of beauty, crushing the innocent butterflies. However, you aren¡¯t an ordinary butterfly, no, you¡¯re a [Butterfly Mystic]. Show the rock-throwers that you¡¯re not so easily taken down. Personal defense system. Automatically shoots down projectiles heading your way. Increased range, number of Radiance beams per level.


    Point defense system strikes again! Third time might be the charm, since it could help me escape. No flying requirement either!


    No flying skill integration though.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Pollination]! Would you like to replace a Class Skill with Pollination?]


    Pollination: As you fly about from flower to flower, drinking the sweet nectar of knowledge, you impart knowledge yourself. You cross-pollinate ideas and information, and you never know when you¡¯ll sow the seeds of inspiration with those who are teaching you. Teaching skill. 0.4% per level increased experience gain for yourself and others when teaching them new knowledge. 0.5% increased ease of skill acquisition for yourself and others when teaching.


    Yeowch. This was a solid skill. I¡¯d want to try and grab it again once I was back in Remus.


    Then again, was weakening my self-defense worth it? I¡¯d need to think hard about it¡­ another day.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Eyes of the Mystic Butterfly]! Would you like to replace a Class Skill with Eyes of the Mystic Butterfly?]


    Eyes of the Mystic Butterfly: Eyes in your head, eyes in your wings, now get eyes in the back of your head! So to speak. Butterfly wings have eyes, and with the Eyes of the Mystic Butterfly, you can see through them! Improved processing, clarity, and scope per level.


    This was interesting. I¡¯d almost literally get eyes in the back of my head. Full-scope vision? Sounded cool! Sadly, I¡¯d need my wings out to make the best of it.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Egg Laying]! Would you like to replace a -


    NOPE NOPE NOPE HARD PASS ON ANYTHING CALLED EGG-LAYING.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Signal Flare]! Would you like to replace a Class Skill with Signal Flare?]


    Signal Flare: You constantly find yourself in peril and needing to ask for help. This skill is an unmistakable cry for help and attention, that you urgently need assistance at your location. Increased size, speed, pierce, visibility, and loudness per level.


    I¡¯d take the skill if I was on a Ranger team still. I wasn¡¯t though - I was the reinforcements. Here, I was already surrounded by guards. Elsewhere, I was a solo operative. I just couldn¡¯t see good use out of the skill.


    At least it was better than egg laying.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Sun Scales]! Would you like to replace a Class Skill with Sun Scales?]


    Sun Scales: While in flight, you may choose to loose a dusting of sun scales during the day which will cause all those touched to become burned, and ignite wildfires.


    Um. If I didn¡¯t have [Oath] and wanted to utterly burn some place to the ground, maybe I¡¯d consider it. As-is? Nope.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Migration]! Would you like to replace a Class Skill with Migration?]


    Migration: Butterflies fly far, and you¡¯ll need to fly further than most! Dramatically reduced cost, increased energy, stamina, and flight speed after flying more than an hour continuously. Effects increase per level.


    The skill was strong, and was a serious contender for getting into my skill line-up. Problem was, what to replace with a brand new level 1 skill? My Vitality was pretty good, and I already knew I had infinite flight time from [Talaria] before it got upgraded. [Sunrise] had me set in the energy field, so really all it did was a slowly ramping flight speed once I¡¯d been flying for an hour. If I¡¯d already been flying for an hour though, I was home free, so to speak.


    [Lantern] was a candidate for getting cut for it though. I¡¯d need to do some more thinking.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Monarch Butterfly]! Would you like to replace a Class Skill with Monarch Butterfly?]


    Monarch Butterfly: The ruler of butterflies, the queen of insects, all flock to be sheltered beneath the monarch¡¯s wings. Increasing ability to attract insects. More exotic insects and numbers will follow per level.


    ¡­ Why? Just, why? I get that moths and other insects were attracted to flames, but why would the System offer me such a skill? Hard pass on more bugs biting me, which might bring me down some [Swarm Queen] route or other such nonsense.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [A Single Flap of a Butterfly¡¯s Wings]! Would you like to replace a Class Skill with A Single Flap of a Butterfly¡¯s Wings?]


    A Single Flap of a Butterfly¡¯s Wings: Chaos.


    Ok, with a skill description like that, no way in the seven hells was I taking the skill.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Cooking]! Would you like to replace a Class Skill with Cooking?]


    Cooking: Food is best eaten cooked, as you well know from frying dozens, hundreds of animals with your Radiance magic. Sometimes you burn ¡®em, sometimes you undercook them. Well, no more! Perfectly cook your dinner every time! Increased cooking speed per level.


    That was somewhat appealing, I wasn''t going to lie.


    Still. Any new skill I got would get reset, put back to level 1. Given the ease that I could unlock skills now, I decided to shelve the decision and thinking for later. Like [Eyes of the Mystic Butterfly], or [Migration]. They all seemed like upgrades to [Scintillating Ascent], and I¡¯d rather spend my time and effort upgrading the skill to manually merge them in, rather than get supplemental support skills.


    Like. It¡¯d be easier to merge the skills if I took them all, and focused on merging them, but I only had so many skill slots. I¡¯d need to ditch a bunch of skills to make it work, then re-train them from scratch.


    I¡¯d keep thinking about the choice. For now, I was going to keep my skills, and focus on them.


    I took a look at my status.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 19]


    [Mana: 291390/291390]


    [Mana Regen: 229092 (+219647.225)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 161]


    [Strength: 670]


    [Dexterity: 871]


    [Vitality: 7116]


    [Speed: 7116]


    [Mana: 29139]


    [Mana Regeneration: 29189 (+21964.7225)]


    [Magic Power: 13479 (+207576.6)]


    [Magic Control: 13479 (+207576.6)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 365]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 365]


    [Cosmic Presence: 285]


    [Solar Infusion: 110]


    [Center of the Universe: 365]


    [Dance of the Heavens: 365]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 311]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 365]


    [Sunrise: 132]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 306]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 306]


    [Radiance Resistance: 306]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 306]


    [Lantern: 188]


    [Nectar: 301]


    [Sun''s Heart: 306]


    [Scintillating Ascent: 281]


    [Supernova: 306]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 365]


    [Pristine Memories: 206]


    [: ]


    [Bullet Time: 283]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 308]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 365]


    [Persistent Casting: 259]


    [Passionate Learning: 354]

 Chapter 213.2 - Shiny New Skills! I

    Awwww yes. I looked over the stats, and saw that they were Good. My vitality and speed being almost half my magic power and control wasn¡¯t exactly what I¡¯d expected to have happened when I started out, but here I was.


    I mentally felt a hair of regret towards how I¡¯d acted towards Polyphemus back in Aquiliea. He had told me that physical stats were important for everyone, and I¡¯d blissfully ignored him with all the certainty of a young teenager. Well, look at me now, valuing physical stats.


    Well, my first check through my stats and new skills was done! Time to put them to the test!


    Also, the VIP who¡¯d almost fried me had Radiance magic. Time to try some sweet talking, to see if I could get her to show me some tricks!


    Speaking of -


    ¡°That was fast.¡± She said, ¡°Everything go ok in there?¡±


    I blinked owlishly at her.


    ¡°Um, yeah.¡± I said. ¡°How long was I down?¡±


    She shrugged.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t even get to play three hands.¡± She said, gesturing to a table full of playing cards they¡¯d set up.


    ¡°Hakka! You¡¯re not leaving this hand!¡± Thoren said. ¡°Just because healer Elaine is awake early, doesn¡¯t get you out of this! Come on, show!¡± He said.


    A heated round began behind me, as crushing disappointment washed over me. Only a few minutes? All that time spent checking classes, and only a few minutes!? Leaving Librarian early, skipping reading, a few minutes!??!?!?!?


    Between that and the loss of my [Pretty] skill, I was going to murder the System. Dissect it into many little pieces.


    I took a great big calming breath. Throwing a hissy fit over a loss of reading time, over cutting my farewell with Librarian short wouldn¡¯t do me any good. I¡¯d gotten a good class, good stats, it was time to experiment with them, then plot my breakout.


    ¡°Eight Pickaxe!¡± Hakka said, triumphantly throwing her hand down, and reaching for the pot.


    ¡°What a shame.¡± Thoren said, voice full of disappointment, Hakka making gloating noises. ¡°What a shame that I have THREE GOLD!¡± He said, cackling as he revealed his hand. ¡°Get your paws off that Krul! It¡¯s all mine!¡±


    Hakka made a disgusted noise.


    ¡°Why do I even let you fleece me on these games?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Cause you have too much fun and too much money.¡± Urik said.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah.¡± Hakka said. ¡°Thank you Elaine, for sparing my poor wallet. If there¡¯s nothing else, I¡¯ve got some training to do.¡± She said, standing up and putting her helmet back on.


    This was my chance!


    ¡°Hey Hakka!¡± I called out. ¡°You¡¯re a Radiance mage, right?¡±


    ¡°Yup. You¡¯re also one. I would¡¯ve killed you if you didn¡¯t have the resistance skill, healer or not.¡± She informed me, with the matter-of-fact voice like telling me the moons had eyes. ¡°Also, you probably know this, but being a two-classer right now, and with healing one of them? Oof. A level 100 Mirror-anything combat will destroy you.¡±


    I wanted to defend myself, and point out my physical stats, but in a stroke of genius decided that shutting up was probably the right move.


    No, wait.


    Agreeing with her was the right move.


    ¡°You¡¯re totally right.¡± I said. ¡°Could you show me some Radiance magic that you use?¡± I asked, figuring I might as well be direct about it.


    It was a very personal thing I was asking, but I hoped to get a favorable response. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.


    She shrugged.


    ¡°Why not. You finishing up so fast saved me a day here, and half my purse. I still feel bad over nearly killing ya when you were just trying to help. Just one question¡± She asked, giving me an evil eye for some reason.


    I gulped. Had she figured out that I was planning on escaping?


    ¡°Why¡¯d you ask now, and not earlier? Totally could¡¯ve helped your class up!¡± She said, cracking a grin.


    I refrained from groaning. I¡¯d been totally pranked. She wasn¡¯t wrong though.


    Well, she was going to give me a bunch of her secrets. I figured my class¡¯s ability to learn wouldn¡¯t be too bad to let loose.


    Plus, it could make the dwarves see me as having added incentive to stick around! If they thought I was happy here, and had tons to learn and do, they wouldn¡¯t look as closely at me. It¡¯d make it easier to make a break for it.


    ¡°Well, I was pretty happy with what I had.¡± I explained. ¡°However, I got a class that rewards learning, and will upgrade skills easily if I see them used. Figured I could try it out now.¡± I said.


    I was so lucky that Hakka was a Radiance mage.


    Then again, city full of high-level dwarves? A thriving military? Even if I didn¡¯t have a weak connection with Hakka already, I could ask Korun nicely and he¡¯d arrange something.


    I should totally ask Night - no, wait, Julius - during the next Ranger Convocation to meet with any Rangers who used Radiance magic. Radiance mages were as rare as any other mage. With 44 elements and two classes to fill, the odds of any one person having a particular element was low, but in a group the odds were good that at least one person had it.


    ¡°Right, follow me!¡± Hakka said, and I followed her to a training room, located in another building.


    Half of my overly excessive escort followed along. Thoren and his crew came along, while Urik went with his minions on some other detail.


    A number of Thoren¡¯s guards squared off to lightly spar, or get some practice in themselves. If the orcs tried to hit me here, well, they were all in the same room, already geared up and ready - if not actively using - skills.


    ¡°Right.¡± Hakka said as we made it to a large sparse stone room, with a number of dummies scattered around the room. They were all crude representations of orcs, carved out of stone. ¡°Are you a fighting mage, or a utility mage?¡± She asked.


    I blinked at the question, having never heard of those classifications.


    ¡°Um. I¡¯m not sure.¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ve got a few combat skills, and a few utility skills.¡±


    Hakka grunted.


    ¡°Sounds like a utility mage.¡± She grunted with distaste. ¡°I can¡¯t be much help with those. I¡¯m allllll fighting.¡± She said, turning towards the orcs.


    ¡°Right. I¡¯m not great at this teaching thing. Lemme show you a few of my tricks, one Radiance mage to another.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m based around the glow of the flames from the forge.¡±


    She lifted a hand up, glowing Radiance around her fingers.


    ¡°For super close up.¡± She said, slashing through a statue. I noticed that it slowly started to rebuild itself.


    Nifty. I didn¡¯t think claws were the direction I wanted to go though. Also, what was with claw skills recently? This was like the third time they¡¯d come up.


    She presented her claws for me to study. I took a close look at them, trying to figure out how the skill worked.


    [Butterfly Mystic] was about learning new things after all. Even though I didn¡¯t want the skill.


    Hang on - I should try to learn the skill though, and see what happened. Get some practice.


    It looked like her fingers - her entire hand actually - was coated in Radiance, and it seemed to form sharp, feral points. It was possible that the skill was helping reinforce her hand, so she could actually claw her way through things, letting the destructive aspects and nature of Radiance take full hold.


    The skill was probably TERRIBLE without the before-mentioned [Radiance Resistance]. I wasn¡¯t touching it, and I could feel the waves of heat coming off of them.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class skill [Ladybug Antenna]! Would you like to replace a skill with it?]


    Heck no.


    At the same time - that was easy. The class hadn¡¯t been kidding when it said new skills would be easy to pick up. I wish I could tell if I¡¯d gotten experience for my class from this. Everything I¡¯d read suggested yes. Still, no way of telling until that magical ding showed up.


    I nodded.


    ¡°Right, I think I¡¯ve got an idea of that one.¡±


    ¡°Slightly further range.¡± She said, taking a great big breath, then bellowing golden flames out of her mouth.


    Just like a - a - a street performer.


    The statue melted. I didn¡¯t want to think about how hot that was.


    She glanced at me, and I shook my head. I knew how that sort of skill worked - heck, I¡¯d been offered a variant on it once - I could probably recreate it myself, later.


    ¡°Actually, why don¡¯t you show me what you¡¯ve got?¡± She said, stepping back.


    I was a bit nervous. I was on the spot, with a new skill that sounded grand. I didn¡¯t want to screw up and-


    Wait.


    I was dumb.


    Thoren and co. were hanging back, out of the way. Not in the line of fire.


    Hakka had [Radiance Resistance]. Probably at a much, much higher level than mine. Heck, it could almost be [Radiance Immunity] if the skill evolved like that!


    I¡¯d never heard of anyone having the skill, but then again, all this traveling was opening my eyes. All sorts of things I¡¯d never imagined were popping up.


    I aimed for a cluster of orc statues, further down in the room. I didn¡¯t point, or gesture, I just let the skill happen.


    [Supernova].


    The skill exploded out of me, a lazily spinning large sphere of deceptively powerful destruction. Seriously, the ball was bigger than I was. It wasn¡¯t a single uniform gold, no, it was spotchy and spotted, all types of yellow, just like a real star would be.


    It sped down the range, far faster than [Nova] ever had. I found the mental handle that was the skill, just like my old [Manipulation] skill, and curved it into the group of statues I was aiming for. I was only able to keep track of the speeding ball thanks to my dramatically improved vitality. The ball landed, exploding with a ferocious boom as it hit the cluster of statues. Masonry rained down on us.


    I was feeling pleased as punch with the new and extra-large [Supernova].


    ¡°That was terrible.¡± Hakka said.


    I didn¡¯t protest. I wanted to know what the super-high level Radiance mage had to say.


    ¡°It¡¯s flashy, yes. It¡¯s powerful, sure. Heck, I¡¯ll even concede that maybe you¡¯re not constantly fighting in tunnels, so the inability to use it down there due to its size isn¡¯t as large of a consideration. Ask yourself this though. How much of the ball ends up applying to your target? How often are your enemies going to neatly group themselves up, and not have a shielding skill?¡±


    I frowned at that. The first point seemed to be the strongest.


    I used all my power on every attack I had. I reviewed my [Pristine Memories] of fights I¡¯d used [Nova] in.


    The Formorians had been A-Grade [Nova] bait. They were also dumb as bricks, and came in a gigantic horde. [Nova] was the skill to use.


    In fights against other stuff?


    The slime was the only one I could think of where [Nova] had lived up to its full potential. I¡¯d needed to literally carve out a hole in the slime, shove [Nova] into it, and let it explode.


    Yeah. I could see Hakka¡¯s point.


    ¡°Watch.¡± She said, pointing to another group. ¡°If you must attack like that at range, I recommend beams.¡±


    I tended to be a ¡°Stick the beam on the person and keep it on until it burned through something.¡± Hakka wasn¡¯t.


    She rapidly flickered tiny, pinpoint bursts all over the place, hitting eyes, throat, knees, elbows, shoulders, hips, stomachs - every spot on a body that could be fatal or crippling.


    It had the added effect of doing what I tended to do with [Shine] - now [Lantern] - in that the rapidly changing light was blinding.


    Which made me think about my own tactics. [Lantern] flashing was still strong - but the light was probably secondary to the lasers just lighting the whole place up and keeping them lit up. I should run some tests.


    Also - I looked carefully, again only seeing it thanks to my improved vitality - Hakka was using a lot of beams at once.


    Ahhh. She was combining her [Radiance Conjuration] with a straight up ¡°beam people to death skill.¡± That was pretty darn useful, and arguably better than [Nova].


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class skill [Beam people to death]! Would you like to replace a skill with it?]


    The funny thing about unlocking new skills was they lingered for a bit. Usually around half a day, to give me enough time to figure out if I wanted it or not. I held off on it for now. Unlike the other skills I¡¯d been offered, this was an honest, high-powered straight-combat skill.


    ¡°Beams are amazing.¡± I agreed with her, considering changing how I used them to mimic her ways, even if I didn¡¯t take the skill.


    She nodded.


    ¡°Now, if you must hit your target from all angles, do it like this.¡± Hakka said, then mimed a great overhand blow with her hand.


    Must be a restriction on the skill that made it more powerful.


    A glowing hammer appeared in her hands, and seemed to hit an invisible anvil. A great spray of sparks shot off, the thousands of shimmering shards zipping over to the target, winding around each other, almost impossible to follow or track. The tiny points hit the statue from every angle, a cascading devastation on the poor rock.


    ¡°Now, there¡¯s a solid multi-directional skill.¡± Hakka said with obvious pride. ¡°Nothing short of a full-body shield stops it, it hits from all directions at the same time, it¡¯s small enough to sneak through small gaps, it¡¯s maneuverable enough to go around corners.¡±


    I was eyeing all the slowly rebuilding statues.


    Hakka had gone easy on me when she thought I was an intruder. Acid, rocks, and lasers to the eyes had been a weak opening salvo, while she wasn¡¯t quite sure if I was actually an intruder or not. I had wondered why I¡¯d only seen like 8 skills, and not 25.


    Still. She made a ton of neat points about [Supernova], and her better skill.


    ¡°Right, last skill¡­¡± Hakka trailed off, awkwardly scratching her nose.


    ¡°Well. It¡¯s a full aura attack. It just hurts everyone around me.¡± She said. ¡°Not a ton of damage to any one person, great for swarms. It¡¯s new though, and my control over it?¡± She said, waggling her hand.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk about it another day.¡± She said, and I agreed.


    Time for hard mode.


    ¡°Willing to work with me a bit to improve my skill?¡± I asked, not waiting for an answer. I summoned a dozen tiny [Supernova]¡¯s at once, firing them off towards another target. I tried furiously to control all of them, rapidly flickering my attention and control from ball to ball, getting about half of them to hit the target from different angles at what only the most generous referee would call ¡°at the same time.¡±


    ¡°Mmm. Close. Watch again.¡± Hakka said, getting into it. She lifted her hand up again, a glowing hammer appearing as she smashed down again, thousands of tiny sparks erupting off.


    We traded back and forth a dozen times, as I slowly got better and better at conjuring up and controlling a dozen, then fifteen, then eighteen, tiny little [Supernova]¡¯s.


    It was hard. I don¡¯t think the skill - one GIANT FIREBALL - exactly wanted to become dozens of tiny little sparks. It was more than a bit of a stretch, and normally I¡¯d need, oh, a year and a half of effort at Ranger Academy while being taught by another teacher to pull something like this off.


    Then again, it wasn¡¯t quite as large of a leap as [Rapidash] to [Talaria], which I¡¯d managed.


    Another try. 13 hit.


    Another try. 15 hit.


    Another try. 9 hit.


    Another try. 14 hit


    Another try. 16 hit


    Another try. 12 hit


    Another try. 19 hit


    Another try. 21 hit.


    Finally - after long enough that we took a break for food twice, and Thoren and his guards got replaced by Urik - the notification popped up.


    Two notifications popped up.


    [*ding!* Would you like to change [Supernova] to [Kaleidoscope]? Warning: Some levels will be lost.]


    Kaleidoscope: A thousand fluttering butterflies made out of radiant light form a kaleidoscope. Now unleash them, and let them dance and weave their way over to your target! Increased number of butterflies, increased acceleration, damage, control, and range per level.


    I hit yes.


    [Error! Kaleidoscope had dropped from 306 to 265]


    Ouch. At the same time, it was quite a different skill. Also, acceleration, not speed, was interesting.


    And! Learning new magic was rewarded in more ways than one!


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Butterfly Mystic] has leveled up to level 306->307! +8 Strength, +8 Dexterity, +70 Speed, +70 Vitality, +70 Mana, +70 Mana Regen, +70 Magic power, +70 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Strength, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    [*ding!* [Radiance Affinity] has leveled up! 306->307]


    [*ding!* [Radiance Resistance] has leveled up! 306->307]


    [*ding!* [Radiance Conjuration] has leveled up! 306->307]


    [*ding!* [Sun¡¯s Heart] has leveled up! 306->307]


    [*ding!* [Passionate Learning] has leveled up! 354->355]


    Woo! New magic, new skills, and more levels!


    ¡°Thank you Hakka! I got it!¡± I said.


    I was starting to think that maybe I could spend a week or two, practicing and picking up more magic. Just a little more wouldn¡¯t hurt, and it was, by my reckoning, the middle of winter right now. Not the best time to be alone in the wilderness.


    I¡¯d need to do some thinking about it¡­


    ¡°Good iron!¡± She said, celebrating my success. ¡°Now show me!¡±

 Chapter 214 - Shiny New Skills! II

    I focused on [Kaleidoscope], casting the skill for a few seconds. First a few, then a dozen little motes of golden light sprang into existence around me, dancing around each other, growing ever-more the longer I cast. A close look at one of the motes revealed that it was a tiny little butterfly, playfully fluttering with others of its kind.


    The skill name was somewhat literal. Kaleidoscope. A group of butterflies.


    Unfortunately for me, I¡¯d been casting the skill, and when I tried to move the butterflies to hit one of the regenerating statues, I found that my control of the entire swarm was terrible. Only when I stopped them all, then controlled them in groups did I regain fine control over their movements.


    Naturally, it was roughly the same number that I could summon in a single second, that I could control well all at once.


    Instead of launching them all at once, I launched them in waves, roughly sending the same amount per second that I had managed to conjure.


    They flocked to the statue in droves, flying around until they found an unclaimed spot, then landing and exploding.


    The combined effect was something like almost a hundred little stars twinkling and exploding.


    I was kinda expecting them to do something else, but, well, it was a [Supernova] upgrade. Parts of the old skill were showing themselves, just like how [Talaria] was still foot-based after [Rapidash], which was originally from [Running].


    Hakka whistled.


    ¡°That¡¯s more like it!¡± She yelled, patting my back with such force that I was nearly bowled over. ¡°See how the entire attack lands, and not just part of it? See how you hit from multiple sides at once? Now, try sending the attacks in waves to land all at the same time, and practice controlling how they move.¡±


    She thought for a moment, then nodded to herself.


    ¡°And with that bit of advice, my debt to you is cleared.¡±


    She turned on her heel, and was gone so fast I swear she must¡¯ve used a movement skill.


    ¡°Thank you?¡± I said to the empty air beside me, my hair whipping in the wind she¡¯d kicked up.


    Nobody had ever mentioned anything about a debt to me. I might¡¯ve asked for something else, if I knew Hakka felt she owed me.


    Then again - maybe that¡¯s why she didn¡¯t talk a bunch about it. It had been a little weird that she was willing to help me class up¡­


    Oh well. [Kaleidoscope] was totally awesome! I¡¯d need to find some way of saying thank-you again.


    Maybe a nice book. Yeah, everyone liked a good book. Only question was, should I write her the Medical Manuscripts, or a book of Earth stories?


    Or maybe I should recreate one of the Nolgardian dwarves literary masterpieces?


    Hmmmm. I didnt know Hakka well enough to know if she¡¯d appreciate some of the more, ah, tasteful books I¡¯d read.


    I wouldn¡¯t get her one of those.


    Ugh. That reminded me. I wanted to write at least one copy of the Medical Manuscripts before I left. Maybe even an updated version with the implants and prosthetics. So much to do!


    My only time limit was ¡°not get noticed and murdered by orcs.¡±


    I shook my head. Working out a full to-do list, and finalizing my escape plans, should be done after I finished testing out my new skills.


    [Lantern] seemed to be exactly like [Shine]. Nothing special, nothing different, just a hair less mana needed for the same brightness. I honestly felt a little robbed. Maybe I needed to find some people to help expand it. A little glowing light that followed me around sounded nice.


    That, or my mana regeneration was screwing with my numbers and calculations. Either way, the brightest it could go was much brighter, but that might¡¯ve just been due to my dramatically increased Magic Power.


    Time to try some things!


    I first held up my hand, pretending I was holding a lantern. I couldn¡¯t really see a way to make the light start shining at a point below my hand - it just didn¡¯t work that way - so I shone it directly from my hand instead.


    Same skill. There was no difference in brightness, intensity, control, mana use - anything. Miming holding a lantern was doing nothing, although if I wasn¡¯t careful the skill would evolve to make me always do that. Sure, it¡¯d give great benefits for it, but I didn¡¯t want that.


    The skill mentioned a firefly as well as a lantern, and while I had no way of generating light away from me, fireflies did generate light internally.


    So I did what any sane, reasonable person in my dwarvish shoes would do. I lit my butt up. I made it shine.


    I put it through a whole set of paces. Nothing.


    Tried shaking it like a firefly.


    Only thing I got were looks from the dwarves thinking I¡¯d totally lost it.


    I stopped butt-[Lantern]ing before the System decided to ¡°upgrade¡± me.


    The three baseline Mage skills had no change, and needed no practicing. [Radiance Conjuration], [Radiance Resistance], and [Radiance Affinity] didn¡¯t need any practicing. I doubted I could upgrade to [Radiance Authority] in any plausible timetable. I was going to work on the lightshow business a bit - if flashing lights wasn¡¯t doing anything because of all the lasers and lights I was putting out, I might as well save my mana in a fight.


    [Nectar] and [Sun¡¯s Heart] were both passives, which left just one skill left to practice with.


    [Scintillating Ascent].


    With a flicker of thought, a pair of dazzling wings erupted from my back, the wingspan longer than my outstretched arms. Most Radiance skills stayed within a narrow band of burning golden light, with only small variations - like my short-lived [Supernova] had all sorts of different golden colors. My [Radiance Conjuration] made golden beams, and [Lantern] made a soft yellow glow.


    All that to say - [Scintillating Ascent] hadn¡¯t absorbed [Pretty] for nothing. I had dazzling, bright multi-colored wings, and both the sun theme and my other class being Celestial was vaguely represented, as the blues and reds and yellows and purples and all sorts of other vibrant colors seemed to be burning - burning like stars. Little twinkles of light hinted at galaxies hidden in my wings, ¡°eyes¡± like stars, and an experimental flap of the wings shed little motes of stardust, like a butterfly, shimmering for a flash of time in the light.


    I took a few more flaps of my wings, practicing and getting used to them, a butterfly emerging from her chrysalis, hardening her wings for the trials ahead.


    I bent my knees and jumped, leaping up into the air as my wings caught, lazily flapping as I ascended to the top of the training room. I practiced twisting and turning, and found that I could even hover, or go backwards if I needed to.


    No light needed! This [Butterfly Mystic] no longer needed the sweet rays of light for all her tricks!


    Between the class skill¡¯s discount, and my regeneration, it was trivially easy to permanently stay in the air. Heck, I¡¯d gotten ¡°forever flying¡± back when the skill was [Talaria].


    Experiment time!


    I flapped my way to the wall, and got close enough that the next flap of my wings would hit the wall. The wing hit, and crumpled, which threw me off balance, swinging me down to hit the wall. I didn¡¯t stop there, being in the air, and kept falling. I tried to reassert my wings, only for them to hit the wall again. Finally, I pushed off the wall, getting myself enough space to use my wings properly.


    Right. Flying in tunnels was probably off the table, and I needed to be careful when flying near objects. In conclusion - my flight was almost entirely unrestricted, and could evolve to be better in almost every respect. The only consideration I had were my wings. I needed enough room to flap them.


    I should also see what happens when they¡¯re attacked. Obviously, if they got hit, I wouldn¡¯t get hurt, but would it take mana to reform the damaged parts? How badly would my flight get ruined?


    I landed near Thoren, who was trying to keep an eye on myself, on the rest of the guards who¡¯d mostly paired off to do their own practicing, and the rest of the place in case the orcs decided here and now was the time to attack.


    I didn¡¯t blame the guards for getting some of their own practice in. Guard duty was boring, and the odds of me being hit here were slim. They¡¯d been on duty long enough that the novelty was wearing off, and with no threats, it was hard to stay constantly vigilant.


    Heck, I¡¯d totally be slacking off after like, 20 minutes of guard duty.


    ¡°Thoren!¡± I said, landing next to him.


    ¡°Elaine.¡± He said, eyeing up my wings. ¡°Can¡¯t say those are terribly practical, but they sure look nice.¡±


    I opened my mouth, then closed it.


    Right. They lived almost entirely underground. Wings, from his experience, were terribly impractical. Given that was his attitude about it, I had to imagine fliers and anti-flying tactics were probably rare among the Khazad dwarves, which redoubled my resolve to escape by just flying away. Once I got high enough, I was free and clear.


    ¡°Eh, I like them.¡± I said, hiding my true thoughts on the ¡°flying escape¡± matter. ¡°Can you hit them a few times, let me find out what happens when they¡¯re attacked?¡± I asked.


    He shrugged.


    ¡°Sure. What do you need me to do?¡± He asked.


    I turned around, flying just an inch off the ground.


    ¡°Hit the wings without hitting me.¡± I told him.


    I heard the whistling of an axe behind me, and tensed. There was no good reason for it, but I still somehow expected the blade to sink into my back. Not that I expected treachery out of Thoren, just too much time spent around people trying to kill me.


    Still, I resisted the temptation to shield and shoot back, instead watching my mana. I lost a few points - maybe - but that was it. I didn¡¯t get any feedback from the attack, nor was my flight interrupted in any way.


    ¡°What happened?¡± I asked Thoren. ¡°I don¡¯t have eyes in the back of my head.¡±


    Yet.


    ¡°Blade went right through ¡®em.¡± He said. ¡°They just reformed like nothing happened. Also, my axe is now hot.¡± He said. I could practically feel his eyes narrow at me. ¡°You better not burn my axe.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll make sure not to.¡± I told him, understanding that the session was over. ¡°Thank you for your help. How much time do we have left here?¡±


    ¡°About another half-candle mark.¡± Thoren said. ¡°A squad¡¯s got the place reserved after. I can try to tell them to rust off if you¡¯d like?¡±


    Good old Thoren. Trying to make sure I was happy at every turn. I did appreciate the treatment I was getting, although that changed little about my resolve to leave.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m getting the hang of my new skills.¡± I shook my head. ¡°Just want to try out a few more things.¡±


    Thoren shrugged.


    ¡°Suit yourself.¡±


    Which I did!


    I summoned a single [Kaleidoscope] butterfly - bit of an oxymoron - and had it hover next to me. I summoned a second one, and had it fly around my head in a lazy, meandering circle. I wanted to know how long they lasted, and if traveling reduced the time.


    I then summoned a third one, trying out some new stuff.


    ¡°Go over there.¡± I verbalized.


    Nada.


    Oook. They didn¡¯t listen, or couldn¡¯t hear. Good thing my embarrassment module had been turned off, and I didn¡¯t care if the dwarves thought I was nuttier than a squirrel.


    Still, I never used verbal commands in the first place.


    Follow me. I thought, taking a step forward¡­ and having the butterfly flying around my head promptly collide with my hair, fizzling out of existence.


    Welp. So much for that.


    The butterfly mote could follow me, and I experimented with a wide variety of other commands. Unfortunately, nothing more complicated than ¡°Go over there, and don¡¯t hit other stuff¡± was possible, and the only non ¡°traveling¡± command was ¡°explode¡±.


    Nice to know that I could preemptively detonate them.


    The ¡°hovering¡± mote lasted only a minute, which was a bit of a shame. At the same time - it meant that I could, with practice, get an entire minute¡¯s worth of casting to land all at the same time.


    Translation: I could get my entire mana pool to blow as a single attack, effectively giving myself a mini-[Channel] skill like Destruction¡¯s for one attack.


    Then, of course, I¡¯d be entirely out of mana, but it was worth keeping in mind.


    ¡°Time!¡± Thoren called out, before I could get to my last set of experiments.


    I shrugged to myself. I¡¯d work on figuring out the right timing for waves of butterflies to all land at the same time another day.


    We left, and a runner found us, looking relieved. She had a quick word with Thoren, who looked at me.


    ¡°Been something of a fight.¡± He said. ¡°Up for some healing work?¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± I eagerly responded, without a shred of guile in my words. ¡°Point the way! Let¡¯s gooo!¡±


    I had no problems ¡°earning my keep¡± so to speak.


    No matter how I was a caged bird - err, butterfly - in a golden cage, that didn¡¯t mean I wasn¡¯t going to sing my sweet song.


    Or flash my pretty wings. I dunno, this ¡°butterfly in a cage¡± metaphor was breaking down fast. I should stick with birds.


    Given my wings, and the lovely golden color that threaded through it, along with Papillion¡¯s initial thoughts - I was totally a Golden Crow in a golden cage.


    Either way, I wasn¡¯t going to hold it against the poor schmucks caught in the line of fire. A few lines of my [Oath] came to mind.


    I will never see a patient as anything other than another creature in pain.


    I will not discriminate who I heal based on class, sex, race, what gods they pray to, nor by any other means.


    The discrimination clause was an interesting one. As I¡¯d grown, as my worldview and knowledge expanded, I¡¯d been led to the conclusion that I did have to discriminate somewhat. Two people hurt, and enough mana to save one? Obviously, I¡¯d need to discriminate in some way, by sheer virtue of picking someone. Maybe I¡¯d pick the younger person. Maybe I¡¯d pick the woman. Heck, maybe I¡¯d pick the blonde over the brunette.


    Either way, when push came to shove, I was occasionally forced to make choices, which naturally was discrimination. I wasn¡¯t punished for ¡°true¡± impossibility though.


    That wasn¡¯t the type of discrimination [Oath] was meant to cover though. It was meant to cover situations like ¡°I don¡¯t like what city you¡¯re from, so I won¡¯t heal you.¡± or ¡°I dislike what god you pray to, so I¡¯m going to skip you.¡±


    Also included? ¡°I don¡¯t like what your bosses are doing.¡± - Outside of an obvious self-defense aspect.


    However, none of this applied here. Healing away!


    At the same time, I wasn¡¯t feeling forced by [Oath] in the slightest. No, [Oath] or not, I would heal them. [Oath] had settled into my bones, the very fabric of my being. It was simply the way I thought, simply who I was, by sheer virtue of choices made again and again. I wasn¡¯t controlled by it or any such nonsense, it was simply who I was. It was a pure expression of my thoughts and feelings, my ethics and beliefs.


    Which raised an interesting question about restriction skills. I¡¯d talked with Night about it some, but he was unsure as well.


    Was I only able to take my [Oath] because it was fundamentally who I was? Or was my personality shaped by it, molding me into the confines of my own choices?


    Night wasn¡¯t sure. He thought it was the first one, which explained why some people could take some restriction skills, but not others.


    In other words, I happily trotted off to the infirmary to work my literal magic.


    I¡¯d gotten there early, and patients were still being stabilized and triaged at the ¡°intake¡± building, which was elsewhere.


    ¡°Hey Thoren, I think we should move to the triage section.¡± I told him.


    He looked at the mostly-empty room, and me standing at the door tapping people as they came in.


    ¡°Sure. You¡¯re the healer.¡±


    Like a carp fighting up a waterfall, I walked against the tide of incoming patients, healing them as I came across them until I¡¯d ¡°fought¡± my way to the triage building.


    Ahh. Predictable chaos. A great place for [Cosmic Presence]. I couldn¡¯t swing an iron ingot without hitting a screaming dwarf who was trying as hard as they could to die, blood and gore made the floor a slip and slide, and harried-looking healers and assistants were being run ragged.


    In other words, my element.

 Chapter 215 - The Golden Cage I

    Ten days later, I was sitting with Drin, Fik, Glifir, and Urik, enjoying a nice meal all together. I¡¯d just come back from a long session with a scribe, where I¡¯d sped-read the entire Medical Manuscripts from memory to him. It had still taken ages, I was ravenous, but it was done and getting distributed. No idea if anyone would take me up on it, but I¡¯d tried to dodge prejudice by signing it just ¡°Elaine¡± again.


    Then again, that wasn¡¯t a very dwarfy name. Ah well, at least I was being consistent.


    Chicken and other meat was incredibly cheap right now, which told me there¡¯d been a wholesale slaughter of farm animals¡­ the better to stretch winter rations out, and an acknowledgement that all the farmland on the surface had gotten burned to the ground. The harvests had all been in and secured in the granaries when Lun¡¯Kat attacked, so in that respect they were predicted to survive the winter without too many problems. There were a number of underground farms as well, supplying the city, but some of their leadership had a cautious approach to the situation. The lack of any established surface farms, and orc commandos trying to burn what stores they had, had the dwarven leadership order a cull.


    Long story short: Chicken was delicious.


    I¡¯d gotten my checklist together of what I needed to get out, and what I wanted to get out.


    Needed:


    Warm clothes.


    An exit.


    A way to store water.


    My Sentinel Badge.


    Mom¡¯s pendant.


    The last two a neutral observer might declare as ¡°wants¡±, but no. I wasn¡¯t leaving without them.


    Wanted:


    For it to no longer be winter. Fik had told me all about just how crazy the snow got in the mountains. According to him, there was over 9 feet/3 meters worth of snow regularly. Drin had objected, saying that it was usually even more. Either way, two, three Elaine¡¯s worth of snow was too much. It¡¯d been hitting the start of winter as we were arriving, and there was much spirited discussion if the ¡°big storms¡± had hit yet or not.


    Fuckers. They could¡¯ve told me that I¡¯d be trapped in a boatload of snow after going to the capital before sending me off that way. Either way, I was expecting to need to handle heavy snowfall, and I honestly didn¡¯t know how to survive in the wilderness when snow was involved. Water was less of a concern, but that was the extent of my knowledge. Remus was nice and toasty, and snow was occasionally seen in the deep south - rare enough that it was part of the Advanced Wilderness Survival course, which I hadn¡¯t taken.


    Food.


    A map.


    Armor, weapons.


    A guide, or someone to watch my back.


    A survival kit. Tent, flint and steel, rope, canvas, etc. This would let me create rudimentary alarm systems, and let me get some sleep


    A backpack.


    My utility gems, recharged with skills.


    Time to practice all my skills. I¡¯d gotten more practice in, but [Kaleidoscope] was tricky. Specifically, getting all of the butterflies to land at once, from every angle. I¡¯d almost gotten the hang of it, then on level up they¡¯d improved slightly - which had been enough to throw off all my timings, because leveling up improved acceleration, not speed. Sure, I could¡¯ve used a lower acceleration to get everything timed and landing right, but I had standards. Top acceleration or bust.


    Sure, the want list was a lot, but I was realistic about it. Every edge would help.


    Slightly less realistically:


    The dwarves¡¯ blessing to leave.


    All their magical knowledge, to evolve my skills, sate my curiosity, and advance my class peacefully. This tied into the snow¡­ if I could safely wait for spring, and get a few more levels under my belt, I absolutely would.


    A dozen more levels of [The Dawn Sentinel]. After the novelty of dwarves and prosthetics wore off, my leveling rate had decreased somewhat.


    A unicorn. Now that I knew they existed? Oooh, I wanted a pretty pony all for myself. I¡¯d totally call her Sunshine. Maybe Sunny. Sylver? Sparkles?


    Ok, sure, a Thunderbird egg was more realistic, and was on my ¡°to-acquire¡± checklist. Still had no idea how big their eggs were. Running away with something bigger than I was would be a challenging preposition.


    I¡¯d been able to subtly get a number of the items, mostly in the name of comfort. I¡¯d been given a thick set of clothing, after casually mentioning that I was from a warm, warm climate, and that it was pretty cold underground - totally true.


    A water skin was easy. I hadn¡¯t even needed to ask!


    I still had no idea on the exits, besides where I¡¯d come in. Given that it had a dozen guards, anti-Mirage measures, traps, and general security against invaders? Yeah. It wasn¡¯t high on my list, but it was literally the only exit I knew.


    I didn¡¯t consider it an option, not without a change in situation. It existed, but trying to exit that way was arguably worse than just staying put.


    I wanted to ask about touring the farms, and seeing the grand entrance to the city from the surface. Both should have a way of getting out. My constant touring of the city had established that I liked to wander around and see things, and I¡¯d been asking to see different things, so when I asked to see the exits, it¡¯d seem totally natural. Just another thing [Tourist] Elaine wanted to see!


    I had a backpack, although I couldn¡¯t think of a good way to ask for new armor and weapons.


    I had no way of getting a survival kit, short of stealing one. Immediately trying to break in to steal supplies right after I¡¯d broken free seemed to be a poor life choice. I was going to keep my eye out for opportunities, but I didn¡¯t have my hopes up high.


    Food I¡¯d half-secured. That was to say, I¡¯d convinced Urik to stockpile snacks for me, given how much I ate when I was healing. To keep up the deception though, I had to keep eating them while I was on a healing spree, so the amount I had kept fluctuating.


    I¡¯d make sure I got a good meal before making my break.


    Assuming I got to plan the right moment, and didn¡¯t just seize the chance when I saw it. I should start carrying all my stuff with me, just in case I spot a good opportunity.


    Map and a guide? I was working on that right now.


    ¡°It¡¯s bad, but it¡¯s not awful.¡± Drin was saying. ¡°The Khazads opened all their doors to us, and tens of thousands managed to flee to safety.¡±


    Urik interjected some good-natured¡­ grumbling? Poking? Trying to establish what they¡¯d paid, to make them grateful?


    ¡°Kazaragoth half-burned down as a result.¡± He mentioned.


    Ouch. If looks could kill? Read the room, Urik. Even I wouldn¡¯t put my foot in my mouth that badly.


    Heck, I was shooting him a foul look.


    Fik saved the day. Or Urik, as the case may be.


    ¡°Free housing, free food, and cheap loans to get back on our feet.¡± He said. ¡°Along with an aggressive hiring program. Speaking of, I¡¯m probably going to sign up.¡± Fik said, with an apologetic look to Drin.


    ¡°Never thought you¡¯d be the one to volunteer for more work.¡± He jabbed back. ¡°Also¡­ I asked. They laughed me out of the room when I tried to sign up.¡± He groused. ¡°Just because my armor skills are wood-based.¡±


    Ooof. Yeah, I could see why they wouldn¡¯t want Drin. Still, he was a¡­ ok, not particularly strong warrior. Still, if he was guarding a door, that freed up someone else to go fight.


    My understanding was that the Khazad army had taken a huge hit when it tried to attack Lun¡¯Kat. It wasn¡¯t exactly public knowledge, but ¡°Great big army goes off to try to evict the dragon¡±, ¡°The orcs beat us to it - damn them for kicking Lun¡¯Kat and making her eradicate our cousins!¡±, ¡°Only a few survivors of the great big army, after an epic battle against the orcs.¡± combined with ¡°Ignore all the domestic problems, we must throw every resource at killing the orcs!¡± told a story. Not a particularly flattering one to boot.


    Propaganda. Lies. Drumming up martial fervor to cover for leadership¡¯s blunders. The same story, told again and again throughout time. The story didn¡¯t change, only the actors.


    Still.


    Not my problem.


    I got to the crux of the question, and the real reason I wanted to have lunch with everyone.


    ¡°Glifir, how are you doing?¡± I asked.


    He shrugged.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t seem like anyone I know is here, but I asked around. My family would be in Karacon. I¡¯m trying to save up enough money to go there.¡±


    CHANCE!


    ¡°Why do you need money? Why can¡¯t you just walk?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Entrance tolls and movement fees.¡± He explained, turning to Urik. ¡°You¡¯ve been more than generous, taking us all in, but do you know why there are those fees? I never got a clear explanation.¡±


    Urik leaned back, going into ¡°teacher mode¡±.


    ¡°Well, the tunnels are unsafe. After the attack, a large number of them have collapsed, and we¡¯re digging some back out, while trying to find alternate routes. If we just let everyone wander around, they would. Then most of you would get lost and die, feeding whatever¡¯s living down there, making them stronger. Then the survivors would whine at us that we let you all die, and that we should do something.¡±


    We all pulled a face at just how bloody accurate that comment was. Of course people would go and do dumb stuff, and of course once they died everyone would complain to the government about it, entirely forgetting that they¡¯d saved their lives, and seamlessly, with no problems, gave them a new lease on life, a new living.


    In Remus they would¡¯ve just let them starve until they fell into enough debt to sell into slavery.


    ¡°The entry fee is tied to that. You¡¯d all be running around trying to find your families. We totally respect that, but we need to slow everything down. We¡¯re already strained here, and everyone would head towards Thel Doruhl given the chance, since that was next to your capital. Thel Doruhl is a small town, and is barely managing as-is. If everyone ran there?¡±


    Urik shrugged.


    ¡°No way the town doesn¡¯t starve and collapse. Just makes everything worse.¡±


    ¡°The grump could¡¯ve told me all that, instead of telling me to take a hike.¡± Glifir grumbled into his beard, viciously skewering another bite of chicken on his knife.


    Damn. That didn¡¯t sound promising. I doubted I could lure Glifir out on adventure, on traveling to Remus, when he was trying to save up enough money to see his family.


    ¡°Hi, yes, come with me. It¡¯ll take ages, and I don¡¯t have Krul, and it¡¯ll delay you seeing your family a ton, and possibly ruin your chances of rebuilding your life, but pleaseeeeee?¡±


    I did not see that ending well. Glifir as a guide was out, and I didn¡¯t want to overplay my hand by asking to see his map.


    I looked at the road.


    ¡°Speaking of moving around, how do kids and dwarves with low physical stats get around?¡± I asked.


    The higher average level exacerbated the difference in stats, which meant some powerhouses careened down the street at high speed. It was risking life and limb to step out alone, without good enough stats - or armor.


    I had enough speed that I felt confident about risking myself on the roads, although I didn¡¯t see a white zone or any other ¡°safe¡± travel lanes for kids and low-leveled mages and the like.


    While most people had eyes, and didn¡¯t run into each other, my plan for escape involved going invisible. Being invisible was a great way for someone else to run into me by accident, and ruin my plans. Hence my investigations.


    ¡°Tunnels!¡± Urik happily told me. Then he turned sour. ¡°Well, when things are normal. Most kids stay in their clan¡¯s compounds, and will use tunnels to get around to other compounds to play. Orcs hit a traveling group of kids though, killed them all. Nobody will use them now.¡±


    I shuddered in sympathy, while pulling my lips back in an involuntary feral grimace. I was somewhat shielded, both metaphorically and literally. I hadn¡¯t been around long enough, nor was I in contact with the average dwarf enough to know what the ¡°real¡± state of things was. All I saw were the sick and injured, and after the initial wave of healing a few people that I suspected got hurt in the aftershocks of Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s epic battle with the guardians, I hadn¡¯t seen much.


    Healers didn¡¯t get called for dead bodies.


    Going after military targets I understood. Going after kids? That was a whole new low.


    I needed to take a deep breath. I felt my blood boiling, surging up, demanding that I leave the table and hunt down the kid killers right now. Fuck the orcs, and fuck anyone who deliberately targeted kids.


    The only thing keeping my butt firmly planted in the strangely comfortable stone seat was the knowledge that I was just too weak. I¡¯d get murdered.


    However, unused tunnels sounded like a good way to move around.


    We were making small talk, a bite of food coming to my mouth, when things got a little strange. A hush descended upon the world. Drin and Fik paused, forks halfway to their mouth, while Glifir was leaning forward, his animated telling of a joke stopped.


    No, not stopped.


    Slowed way down.


    Fuck.


    [Bullet Time].


    It had taken a moment for it to click. Still gave me enough time to wrap the table with [Mantle of the Stars], shimmering specks of light surrounding us.


    Nobody had time to do anything else. The shield was instantly broken as something went through it, and at seemingly the same moment my back was violated. Fortunately, for once, this was going at seemingly normal speed, in spite of [Bullet Time], which spoke to the velocities involved. Something exploded into my torso from my spine, and instead of just going through me like a normal projectile, split into dozens of corkscrewing missiles, turning my chest into a bloody mess. Geysers of highly pressurized blood sprayed out of me whenever a stone left, my rapid healing tracing behind the damage, forcing the blood and organ slurry out.


    I clenched my teeth in pain, as [Center of the Universe] anti-pain mitigation got mildly overwhelmed.


    The attack was more than enough to kill almost any healer, as the stones made sure to keep ricocheting about to keep destroying vital organs, overwhelming most healing.


    I wasn¡¯t any healer.


    I felt the last stone erupt from my neck, my skin flawlessly healing behind it, only to get dog-piled by all of my guards, who were yelling and shouting, one of them tackling me to the ground, the rest throwing up shields and generally making a fuss. A crack echoed across the buildings, the sound of the attack finally catching up.


    It didn¡¯t stop at one dwarf physically intervening, throwing themselves between me and my attackers. More of the dwarves physically leapt on top of me


    I tried to heal everyone touching me, but I was at serious risk of suffocation from the dwarves tackling me, throwing their bodies over me to stop another attack.


    ¡°Help.¡± I tried to gasp out, but couldn¡¯t. The crushing weight of the rest of the dwarves, and my lack of significant strength, was doing me in. I tried to struggle, but I was being pressed, compressed, suffocated.


    I was going to get killed by my own well-meaning escort, who couldn¡¯t even hear me or feel my feeble struggles. I started to flash [Lantern], in a bid to let them know I was here, and I was dying.


    Shooting Radiance through them wouldn¡¯t help. They¡¯d just turn into dead weight.


    Soon enough though, the dwarves were reshuffling themselves, orders being yelled so fast and so loudly I couldn¡¯t keep up. Then I was picked up, tossed about like a sack of potatoes, and we were off. I wrapped myself back up in [Mantle], just for the extra security. It took me a moment to orient myself, but when I did, I saw a silver lining to the whole situation


    I was totally going to use this as an excuse to ask for armor and a weapon. Dwarven-forged!


    I looked back at the scene of the assasination attempt, and noticed that my former escort looked fine. However, I saw something terrible.


    They weren¡¯t bringing the food!


    I wasn¡¯t done eating!

 Chapter 216 - The Golden Cage II

    I was unceremoniously dumped in a safe room, plopped onto the floor like a bag of grain. With about as much care as throwing one of those around to boot. The rest of my blood-smeared escort rushed in, throwing up barriers against every surface, layering them on top of each other.


    ¡°Thisar! Befak! I want stone, water, stone! Gaimo! Khit! Layer your barriers after.¡± Urik was barking orders out, the guards securing the room in a well-practiced manner. I started to crawl to my knees to get up, but the guards had other plans.


    ¡°Jump in 2, 1, JUMP!¡± One of the guards yelled. I was rudely yanked off the floor, and everyone made a little hop as layers of stone and water appeared on the ground. We landed, and I was dumped back on the floor.


    All this happened at a speed that¡¯d be blinding to most experienced soldiers from Remus, as everyone made full use of their speed stat, along with any other buffs and skills they had.


    Getting constantly dropped on the floor was getting obnoxious. I was betting that they practiced with bags of grain as the ¡°VIP¡±, and just kept the same ideas. Well-drilled, but hadn¡¯t done this much in practice.


    Then again, if the VIP was banged up but alive? They¡¯d done their jobs.


    I felt it was overkill, but hey. The orcs had just demonstrated that they could, and would, snipe me with lethal force.


    If [Mantle] hadn¡¯t been instantaneous, I never would¡¯ve gotten a shield in place. At the same time, the attack was obviously powerful enough that it punched right through my shield. Given the level of the orc commandos, it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if my shield did jack shit.


    It didn¡¯t look like I was going to get thrown around anytime soon, so I picked myself back up off the ground.


    Mmm. Thinking about the attack - it had spat out stone shards every which way, turning me into a one-woman gore-and-stone firework. I should check if anyone needed healing.


    I glanced at my own mana. I¡¯d lost roughly 38k mana on the attack. Lethal for many healers, but I wasn¡¯t the average healer.


    Actually. If Ned was a typical example, he might have survived it with a strong knowledge of anatomy. Keep the circulatory system healed and running, maintain blood pressure to the head, and the rest would¡¯ve taken too long to finish killing him. If his image was almost perfectly efficient, at 4k magic power, it would¡¯ve taken seven seconds for him to heal back from that.


    Yeah, a perfect image, cool head, and combat-honed reflexes could¡¯ve saved him. Then again, I could count the number of healers I knew who had combat reflexes on one hand. We were a rare breed, since our healing lowered our ability to fight, and not many people wanted to be in the front anyways. Even a fraction of hesitation would be enough for the attack to be lethal against a normal healer. Not having [Bullet Time] or [Persistent Casting] would¡¯ve killed me.


    Like. For Ned to survive the attack, he¡¯d need an instant, perfect image of the circulatory system, know that it was exactly what was needed to be fixed and maintained for him to buy more time, then properly rebuild his organs in the correct order to maintain homeostasis. From what I¡¯d seen, the dwarves just flat-out didn¡¯t have that knowledge.


    Yeah, I was mentally revising my estimate. That was a lethal attack, even for healers like Ned - and much more powerful healers to boot.


    I shook my head and brought myself back to the present, the here and now.


    ¡°Healing! Everyone ok? Any injuries?¡± I called out, yelling in the tiny room to try and get myself heard over the din. A few guards glanced at me, then Urik pushed himself forward.


    ¡°Elaine! You¡¯re alive.¡± He said, patting my sides with his hands, seemingly checking that, yes, I was there, alive, and in one piece. A bit over-familiar though.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I stated the obvious. ¡°Look, that attack went everywhere. Can I check that everyone¡¯s ok?¡± I said.


    Urik took a look around the room, seeing the frantic motions had come to an end before nodding.


    ¡°Injuries! Anyone injured see Elaine!¡± He bellowed into the tiny air-tight room.


    A bunch of shuffling around later, and three guards with moderate holes in their arms and legs got patched up.


    ¡°What happens now?¡± I asked Urik, as we seemingly were just hanging out in this sealed and shielded room. Staying put felt wrong. Movement was life. I was getting weird looks again.


    ¡°We stay here while other teams try to track down the orcs.¡± Urik said. ¡°They¡¯ll give us an all-clear, or if we¡¯ve been in long enough, we leave ourselves. Generally don¡¯t like doing the last one, but it¡¯s my call how flexible I want to be.¡±


    Seemed like a reasonable, if aggravating, policy. Urik was studiously keeping his eyes on my face, which prompted me to look down.


    Of all the - fuck.


    I¡¯d been wearing my much-abused laminar vest over the dwarf clothing I¡¯d been given, as an added layer of protection. It also held almost all of my Arcanite. The rest of my gear was a mismatched set of Sentinel gear that¡¯d survived - like my right vambrace, having my utility gems.


    Anyways. The orc commando¡¯s attack had completely and utterly ruined my chestpiece beyond reasonable repair. Rather, ¡°repairing¡± it would look like ¡°Welp, time to melt it all down and rebuild it¡±, it was in that many pieces.


    Worst of all, I didn¡¯t think either [Mantle] or the armor had particularly helped. They just made a mess.


    I gingerly pinched a bloody piece of my armor that was hanging on by a thread. I plucked it off, and held it in front of Urik.


    ¡°Think I can get a new set of armor? Please?¡± I asked him.


    He eyed the swaying piece of metal in my fingers.


    ¡°Aye, I think we can swing that. Can¡¯t think Korun or Glora will say no. Unless it¡¯s too expensive. You¡¯ve been coming in nicely under budget so far though.¡±


    Once some of the initial tension had left the guards, a few of them relaxed, and started to mill about. We could only stay in ¡°THEY¡¯RE TRYING TO KILL US!¡± mode for so long.


    ¡°That was amazing.¡± One of the wider guards said, clasping my shoulder in his hand. ¡°I¡¯ve seen the end result of that skill before. Still keeps me up at night.¡±


    He forcefully patted my shoulder a few more times, checking that, yes, I was still there, alive, and whole.


    ¡°This is going to be worse than sniffler crap to clean off.¡± A well-sprayed dwarf was complaining.


    ¡°You think you¡¯ve got it bad?¡± I bantered back, peeling off another barely-hanging on piece of former shirt, and waving it in her face.


    She looked at me.


    ¡°Heck yes! You¡¯re just going to throw that away. I¡¯ve got hours of washing ahead of me!¡±


    That got a few chuckles - myself included - and helped break the tension. Soon we were chatting, with Urik half looking like he wanted to tear his beard out at how lax we were all becoming, and half looking like he wanted to join in himself.


    I didn¡¯t mind that the guards, charged with protecting my life, were cracking jokes and slacking off on the job. The orcs had taken their shot and, well, technically hit, and I needed a breather for just how damn close I¡¯d come to dying just then.


    My shield and armor had been worthless. Only my strong self-casting on [Dance with the Heavens] had kept me alive.


    I was fast. Between my stats and [Bullet Time], I had near-instantaneous reflexes. That attack, the corkscrewing bouncing around inside of me, had almost done me in. A normal healer wouldn¡¯t have had the magic power to keep up with the damage being inflicted. A healer used to peace, or at least clean tents and not the life and death fights I kept finding myself in, wouldn¡¯t have had the skills to be constantly self-healing. There just wouldn¡¯t have been a point. The stones would¡¯ve destroyed enough of my circulatory system to drop my blood pressure to zero, which generally resulted in passing out.


    At which point, it wouldn¡¯t matter what my stats were, if I wasn¡¯t awake enough to use them. A nasty, clever trick.


    Ah well! I was alive, they¡¯d failed, and hopefully their logic would be ¡°too tough a target, hit something softer.¡±


    HA! Like I had that type of luck.


    No, with my luck I was now top of their hit list, and they were going to try again.


    Actually - I should check. There wasn¡¯t anything else to do.


    ¡°Urik. Hey Urik!¡± I called out, waving my hand to catch his attention.


    ¡°Yes?¡± He asked, shoving his way through the guards.


    ¡°That didn¡¯t seem to be a whole building that collapsed on my head.¡± I observed, stating the obvious.


    He gave me a curt nod.


    ¡°Looks like an attack of opportunity to me. One shot from a distance? They were trying to pick you off.¡± Urik analyzed.


    ¡°Think they¡¯ll be back?¡± I asked him.


    He shrugged.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got no idea.¡±


    Waiting in the stuffy room was a chore and a half, but eventually we were told it was all-clear. Urik and some other important-looking dwarves got together for a conversation in hushed, serious tones, before he strode back over to me.


    ¡°Right. Our [Intelligence Analyst]s think they¡¯ll try again. Do you mind bunkering down in your apartment while this blows over?¡±


    I shook my head.


    ¡°Not at all.¡±


    My cage was getting smaller, but I didn¡¯t care. A cage was a cage, and the size of the cage didn¡¯t matter to me. There was good reason to shrink on me. Heck, I might¡¯ve suggested hunkering down in my apartment myself!


    However, it also dramatically moved up my timeline in a way I found entirely unappealing. The orc commandos had been putting pressure on me to move. I¡¯d previously been hoping to skate by before I managed to catch their attention, but I¡¯d pushed it too far. I¡¯d been moving too slowly, too cautiously, and nearly paid the ultimate price.


    Escape time was now, nevermind missing part of my needs list. I was going to seize this moment to grab the dwarves by their thick beards, and shake them until loot came out.


    ¡°However, can I meet with Korun quickly?¡± I asked. ¡°I¡¯ve got a request or two, that I think will make me safer.¡±


    ¡°Aye. Let¡¯s go!¡± Urik ordered, and I was shuffled off through a series of tight tunnels that I hadn¡¯t seen before. They were making me claustrophobic - and giving me ideas.


    At the same time, I had a massive barrier to escape. The entire city was on the lookout for hidden, high-level classers. I wanted to be hidden, and I would be relying on gems to pull it off my escape.


    We made it to Korun¡¯s office, where the dwarf was busy turning himself into a snowman - errr, paper-dwarf.


    ¡°Elaine!¡± He said, nimbly leaping over his desk, paper flurrying predictably in his wake.


    ¡°I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re ok! Um. Mostly. Here, just¡­¡± He said, grabbing my arms, picking me up, and moving me over a hair before putting me down again.


    I glanced at the floor.


    Well, I guess the papers here were slightly less important, and I could drip some blood on them. I wasn¡¯t bleeding, but my clothes had gotten saturated.


    ¡°I apologize again for our lacking security. Your safety is our¡­¡±


    Korun went back to the desk, and shuffled some papers around, his mouth moving silently as he counted.


    ¡°45th priority!¡±


    Well then. At least he was honest about it.


    ¡°Fear not! We¡¯re going to up your security by¡­¡±


    More papers. This one needed a lot of papers and cross-checking, along with a whole new document.


    ¡°One team! I¡¯ll reassign Thoren and his squad to help you.¡±


    Urik coughed awkwardly.


    ¡°With all due respect, commander, Thoren¡¯s already assigned to Elaine¡¯s guard duty.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Korun looked nonplussed at the revelation, checking another piece of paper. He scribbled something out, and wrote in a new note.


    ¡°We need to up security in here. Darn orcs are changing my notes.¡± He said.


    We all managed to keep a straight face at that one.


    ¡°I have a few thoughts for improving my security.¡± I was tempted to move around a bit, to see if dripping blood all over Korun¡¯s office would motivate him to say yes just to get me out - but it might backfire. If I was any good at social stuff I¡¯d know the right answer. For now, I wasn¡¯t going to be rude.


    ¡°Speak. I¡¯ll try to make it happen.¡± Korun said, sitting back down at his deck and reorganizing his papers in a futile fight against his own search system of ¡°throw them all everywhere¡±.


    ¡°New armor.¡± I said. ¡°I have a preference for light-¡±


    Korun held up his hand.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get you in touch with the right smith. You can tell him the details.¡±


    ¡°I want it to be a rush job.¡± I emphasized. ¡°I almost died just now, and that was against the best armor humanity had to offer. I can imagine how bad it would be if I was entirely unarmed.¡±


    Ahhh. Telling only the truth, and still twisting it. Yes, this was the best armor humanity had. Yes, I could imagine how bad it¡¯d be.


    The exact same. The attack had gone through the armor like paper. Heck, a few shards had even tried to embed themselves into my back. It¡¯d been worse than useless, it¡¯d turned into pure shrapnel.


    ¡°I also have three gemstones that need skills.¡± I tapped my vambrace, where they lived. ¡°A strong Metal, Brilliance, and Gravity skill.¡±


    Korun glanced at Urik.


    ¡°Can your squad handle that?¡± He asked.


    Urik nodded.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got all three. I think. Can never remember if she¡¯s got Mantle or Metal though.¡±


    ¡°Excellent. Anything else?¡± Korun said. We shook our heads.


    ¡°Dismissed.¡±


    It took the worst three days of my life for my armor to get made - and that was it being a top-priority rush-order. Something about bureaucracy, and acquiring suitable materials.


    I wanted to complain, especially because my request to get books got lost somewhere in the shuffle. It wasn¡¯t denied, but it wasn¡¯t a priority, and I bet it was on a piece of paper stuck in a crack in Korun¡¯s office.


    End result - I was bored out of my skull for two of the three days. I¡¯d gotten into another healing session, which had pushed [The Dawn Sentinel] up.


    However, word finally came that my armor was ready, and for some reason Korun wanted to meet me again in his office.


    Given that I was living with 12 other dwarves in a one person luxury suite, I had no privacy, and no chance to even think about escaping. Hence, upon hearing that we were going for an outing, I made sure I had everything ready. Fortune favors the prepared after all.


    I bundled myself up in my warm clothes, which didn¡¯t get a second eye batted at. Nor was pinning my Sentinel badge to my clothing, sliding on my one remaining vambrace, or grabbing the water bottle.


    I always wore the pendant mom got me for System Day, all the way back then. She¡¯d said it was lucky, and while I was slightly skeptical of the notion, I was alive, high level, and relatively happy and healthy. I wasn¡¯t going to jinx it.


    I¡¯d been able to get the guards to donate skills for my gems, and someone had rustled up a quarter of their clan¡¯s Moonstones that I charged with [Dance with the Heavens]. Mutual back-scratching for the win!


    I had [Reversal] replacing [Feather Fall], allowing me to briefly change the direction gravity pulled on someone. It wasn¡¯t super strong, since the gemstone for [Feather Fall] hadn¡¯t been that large to begin with. [Repair Armor] replaced my [Summon Knife] skill, and one of the dwarves swore by [Brilliant Barricade], which shot bars of Brilliance across a narrow gap, not letting anyone through.


    I did get a half-raised eyebrow from one of the guards when I grabbed my backpack full of snacks.


    ¡°What?¡± I asked her. ¡°If we end up in the safehouse again, I want some snacks. It¡¯s boring in there!¡±


    She laughed, and patted my back with enough force to explode the air out of my lungs.


    ¡°Ain¡¯t that the truth!¡± She crowed.


    ¡°I brought extra just for you.¡± I winked.


    That was almost the sum total of all my possessions.


    We left to meet Korun, a vision of escape percolating in my mind.

 Chapter 217 - The first escape attempt! I

    We made our way to the great big administrative building, and filed inside. Thoren stopped to have a brief word with the administrator on the first floor, and came back to us, shaking his head.


    ¡°Gotta go to another building.¡± He grumped, twirling part of his beard around his finger.


    Welp. About face, march. We stomped on over to another building, which I recognized as one of the training grounds.


    Nice! Korun was making it easy for me! I could get my new gear, and immediately try it out. It¡¯d be much easier to convince Thoren that I was still safe in the place I was, than to get him to try to get to a new building.


    My heart plummeted into my shoes when I got into the training room. The orc statues had been moved to the side, and the walls were lined with dwarves, their weapons out and looking mean. Korun was on a makeshift stone stage, along with a number of other grumpy, important-looking dwarves.


    I knew that Korun was important, but seeing all the other important-looking dwarves defer to him hammered the point home. Glifir, Drin, and Fik were all in the center of the room, the spotlight of attention on them.


    ¡°Healer Elaine. Good. Please join the rest in the center.¡± Korun¡¯s words were nice, but his tone was restrained fury, making it entirely clear that he was giving orders, not asking.


    Without a shred of hesitation, I walked to the middle of the room, my ¡°Sentinel Dawn¡± game face on. I had my gems. Worse-case, I¡¯d blind everyone with [Lantern], throw out a wave of [Kaleidoscope], then blow a hole through the floor with [Wall Buster]. Assuming it worked on floors, I¡¯d never tried. I¡¯d escape to the lower level, leaving a second wave of [Kaleidoscope] to slow pursuers down, hide with [Invisibility with Eyeholes], and take it from there.


    Heck, I even had a free skill slot. My plan so far had been to grab whatever skill I thought would help, and that was still the plan.


    I made it to the center of the room, looking at Korun with fearless eyes.


    I didn¡¯t think I was untouchable - but politically and socially, I was a peeled mango. Difficult to get ahold of. Not impossible, but I wasn¡¯t going to get in trouble for anything short of the most major crimes.


    ¡°There have been a string of murders.¡± Korun announced, getting right into it. Grips tightened on weapons, and the sound of shuffling armor echoed around the room as the guards - execution squad? - leaned forward.


    ¡°They were traced to an Ooze-Mirror Changeling, who ate the victim, then used one of its skills to copy the look, skills, and [Examine] tag of the victim, to find a new one.¡± He announced.


    I didn¡¯t quite see what this had to do with us, so I started to relax. Just a bit. The number of armed and angry guards still had me on edge.


    ¡°We traced the Changeling¡¯s path back to you four. You brought it in under the guise of one ¡®Healer Ned¡¯, and we need to examine you.¡± Korun announced.


    It was dumb.


    I shouldn¡¯t say it.


    Not when surrounded by lots of angry dwarves with twitchy fingers.


    Unfortunately, the filter between my brain and my mouth didn¡¯t always work, and I¡¯d never been accused of making the right social calls. Especially when everything lined up so nicely.


    ¡°I told you so!¡± I shouted out.


    Naturally, all the hostility in the room was directed at me, with Korun¡¯s eyes threatening murder.


    Fortunately for me, he was a relatively reasonable dwarf, and murdering the golden healer for showing him up in public wasn¡¯t on his to-do list. Still. I fully expected my book request to get firmly rejected at this point.


    I¡¯d never been accused of being socially graceful.


    Korun cleared his throat, bringing the attention back to him.


    ¡°As I was saying. The Changeling we killed was an amateur, and we need to examine the rest of you to make sure you are what you claim to be. Please do not resist. We have healers on-hand.¡±


    With that, Korun snapped his fingers, the rest of the dwarves came a little closer, and the room went white.


    A deafening BANG went through the whole room as a bolt of lightning, thicker than my thighs, went through me, causing me to involuntarily jerk around as the Lightning played havoc with my nervous system. My healing chased the lightning, restoring my organs just as quickly as they got fried.


    In less than a heartbeat - granted, a longer heartbeat than usual, given that it¡¯d been half-stalled out by the electrical testing - it was over.


    I looked to the side. Glifir and Fik were literally smoking, but Drin was standing there, all sorts of annoyed, beard going haywire all over the place. He¡¯d taken the shock, but not nearly as badly as the other two. I knelt down to heal Glifir and Fik - the Khazadian dwarves had a healer rushing in, but I was closer - and gave Drin a quizzical look.


    ¡°What?¡± He shrugged. ¡°You think I play with Lightning without having a resistance skill for it?¡±


    ¡°Right. They¡¯re clear!¡± One of the important-looking dwarves announced. She was the only one on the stage without a frazzled beard.


    A bunch of the important dwarves started shouting out orders.


    ¡°Bronze Team! On me!¡±


    ¡°Aluminum Team! On me!¡±


    ¡°Platinum Team! Move out!¡±


    Squads formed up and dispersed, leaving just Thoren¡¯s squad, and two more that I assumed were assigned to Korun, or possibly just deciding to use the training room.


    ¡°Thank you for your understanding.¡± Korun said, as one of the squads did the obvious thing I hadn¡¯t thought about - they helped my former traveling companions up. ¡°I hope you understand that we needed to do that.¡±


    Drin gave a curt nod.


    ¡°Aye. Don¡¯t like it.¡± He said, voice filled with hostility. He did a smart military turn of his heels, and walked right out of the room, forcing everyone else to follow after him. Glifir and Fik were muttering curses under their breath, and the guards were looking a smidge guilty over the whole thing.


    ¡°Healer Elaine. One more thing, if you¡¯d please?¡± Korun said, tone having thrown itself in reverse from ¡°hostile and annoyed¡± to ¡°fuuuuuuuuuuuck I probably pissed off the VIP that I was told to keep happy under any circumstances something fierce.¡±


    I swallowed the fresh anger and annoyance that was hot in my throat, practically burning me. It helped that I was already displeased with the Khazad dwarves - putting it mildly - which meant I didn¡¯t need to go on some rollercoaster of betrayed emotions. Still, my wind whirled furiously as I tried to think of what concessions I could leverage out of this, what items on my escape list I could politely ask Korun to get me.


    Books were back on the menu, for example.


    ¡°Commander Korun.¡± I politely - with a minor coughing fit, getting the smoky ¡°crispy lung dust¡± crap out of my lungs. I couldn¡¯t quite remember his metal-name title, and I wasn¡¯t feeling generous enough to check on it with [Pristine Memories].


    ¡°Walk with me. I would like to once again apologize for that unpleasantness.¡± He said, clasping his hands behind his back and starting to walk. I followed along.


    ¡°Some additional background. The Changeling was following what we believed to be a standard pattern for their kind. Assume the identity of a child. Wait. Hit the parents. Move on.¡± He said, and the pieces clicked for me.


    Artemis. Waaaaaaaaay back when I first met her. She thought I was a Changeling, in the middle of the ¡°murder and assimilate¡± routine. I had some basic facts wrong, and in Artemis-land, where ¡°breaking a twig¡± was met with ¡°rocks and lightning¡±, the fact that I was still alive was practically a miracle.


    The problem of ¡°What do I do the next time I suspect a Changeling¡± was still up in the air, and Korun was still talking.


    ¡°Needless to say, we could not permit that to continue. I tried to argue with the Council of Elders that you¡¯d demonstrated your usefulness, and that you¡¯d bled red for us just a few days ago, and that even if you were a Changeling, you were too useful to get rid of. They were out for blood, and testing you instead of summarily executing all of you was the best I¡¯d been able to manage. One of the Elder¡¯s great-great-grandchildren got killed.¡±


    I nodded. There was a lot to unpack there. Korun had some minor pull with what sounded like all the hotshots running the place? They¡¯d considered executing me?


    Operation Escape was going into effect today.


    ¡°Anyways! If there¡¯s anything I can do, just say it.¡± Korun said, as we arrived at another door. ¡°Here we are.¡± He said, opening it.


    A work of art met my eyes.


    ¡°Those blasted rabbits claim to be the best at everything. The best [Carpenters]. The best [Poets]. The best [Songwriters]. The best [Mages], [Artisans], [Warriors], [Archers], [Rangers], and everything else. Maybe they¡¯re right.¡± Korun reluctantly admitted. ¡°But when it comes to shaping and working metal? Bah. We¡¯re better.¡± He said, a hint of communal pride of the Khazadian dwarves entering his voice.


    The suit of armor was like a blend of what I imagined a [Knight] would wear, crossed with my Sentinel gear. The only thing ¡°missing¡± was a spot where my right vambrace would go, with a perfect mirror on the left-hand side.


    Shame it wasn¡¯t filled with Sunstones, but I couldn¡¯t have it all.


    I took a hesitant step towards it, my hand moving as if to caress the arms, stopping just short. I didn¡¯t want to get oily grease stains on this absolute vision.


    ¡°Go on.¡± Korun encouraged me. ¡°Try it on.¡±


    It took some help to get it all on - the straps were all in different places, and there was this fancy little latch that I was entirely unfamiliar with - but before long, I¡¯d managed to get into the suit of armor, which I swore expanded in the right places and contracted in others to perfectly hug my body through the warm clothes I was wearing.


    The chest was thick but flexible, stout without making me wider. I had my full range of motion still, and smooth armor around my shoulder and armpits slid around perfectly, preventing any gaps from showing up. The Arcanite from my old set was re-done into this one, but sadly Korun hadn¡¯t seen fit to up my supplies.


    I hadn¡¯t asked. I should¡¯ve.


    The metal flowed like water along my arms, perfectly encasing them, ending in metal gauntlets. The metal was whisper-thin on my fingers, making it hard to tell that I was wearing them, and not interfering at all with my fine dexterity.


    It was nice that I no longer had my biceps exposed to the air. While not a vital target, Legion doctrine held that they didn¡¯t need specific armor, and that doctrine flowed to the Rangers, and the Sentinels as a result. Having them covered felt weird, but I was sure I¡¯d get used to it.


    I was used to a leather skort, with strips of metal hammered onto it to protect my legs. While the dwarves had kept the same design, they¡¯d replaced the leather with metal, the skort reaching past my knees. Tall knee-high boots protected my shins and feet, carefully articulated to allow my full, flexible range of motion.


    The helmet was open-faced, with a secondary ¡°soft¡± metal that carefully wrapped around and protected my neck. It was in the dwarven style, with my requests and crude drawings of how my helmet looked seemingly entirely ignored.


    ¡°Sorry about the helmet. Smith said your design was, and I quote ¡®Stupid and will get her killed.¡¯, and insisted on doing his own thing.¡±


    I looked at the open-faced part.


    ¡°Did he remember I don¡¯t have a beard?¡± I asked Korun.


    He coughed awkwardly.


    ¡°Yes¡­ but said that you were good stuff, and you¡¯d grow yours back in eventually.¡±


    I rolled my eyes at that. Some people thought they knew better, and in some respects, the smith was probably right. He probably knew helmets and protection better than I did.


    In others, it created blind spots. Like ¡°Human women don¡¯t grow beards¡± just went in one ear and out the other.


    The suit itself was a work of art. The [Smith] was something of an artisan though. In delicate silver, melded and meshed with the armor itself, smooth to the touch but easy on the eyes, were flowery whorls and artistic flourishes. The endlessly spiraling patterns that I saw the dwarves liked to use in their buildings were repeated in the armor, and I believed I could spend hours upon hours tracing their intricate patterns.


    Still. It didn¡¯t make up for Korun lightning-bolting me not thirty minutes ago. At the same time, I wasn¡¯t going to show my displeasure.


    ¡°Thank you Korun! It¡¯s wonderful.¡± I gushed, entirely honest about it. I started doing some stretches with it, and decided.


    Now was the time.


    ¡°Mind if I stay here and practice with it?¡± I asked Korun. ¡°I don¡¯t want to trip over myself when something bad happens.¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± Korun said, all smiles that I seemed to be happy. ¡°I¡¯ll let Thoren know. You¡¯re right that you¡¯ll need the practice. The armor¡¯s got a number of passive enchantments in it, all centered around durability. Smith didn¡¯t think you knew how to connect to active enchantments. Since all you need the armor for is staying alive long enough for someone else to cover you.¡±


    I closed my eyes at that, resisting the urge to massage the bridge of my nose. It was good armor. Made by a master. Completely free.


    ¡°Thank you again Korun. I can¡¯t tell you how grateful I am for this.¡±


    We made some more small talk, heading back to the main training room, where Korun made his excuses and left me with just Thoren and his group. We spread around the room, the guards breaking up into pairs or just squaring off against some training dummies. I idly made a few [Kaleidoscope] butterflies playing around my head, watching them as I did some serious last-second thinking.


    I wasn¡¯t going to ask anyone to show me cool skills, in an attempt to squeeze an extra level out of [Butterfly Mystic]. No time.


    Right. First things first. Free stats.


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 164]


    [Strength: 678]


    [Dexterity: 883]


    [Vitality: 7234]


    [Speed: 7234]

 Chapter 218 - The first escape attempt!! II

    I sprinted down the hallway, legs pumping as I took great big breaths of air. I made it seven steps before I heard a confused cry behind me.


    A dwarf rounded the corner, just walking along. Ignoring the cries from the training room - as everyone did. The problem was, he was standing more or less in the middle of the hallway. If he had seen me, even if I was just walking normally, we¡¯d just swerve around each other, no harm, no foul. Just two people passing in the halls, like normal.


    But I was invisible. He couldn¡¯t see me. Well, except my eyes, but I was gambling that he wouldn¡¯t notice them, or if he did, he¡¯d be confused, or assume it was some dwarf.


    There were benefits to being dwarf-height over orc-height.


    I kept running towards him, not pausing for a moment as my mind whirled.


    [*ding!* [Sne-


    I disabled notifications. I didn¡¯t need the distraction, and since this was nearly life or death for me, and I was doing some uber sneaking with the invisibility gems?


    I was anticipating a good number of levels.


    Still, I needed to get around him, and the noises from the training room were rapidly coming closer.


    I took a risk. This wouldn¡¯t be the last risk, nor the biggest one I needed to take. Plus, I had no other real option. As I approached the dwarf walking down the hallway, I threw myself flat against the wall, sucked my stomach in as I shuffled past him, then the moment I was clear, put my feet down again and kept running.


    Ok, sucking my stomach in was kinda pointless with the full suit of armor, but it was the idea that mattered to me. The thought and feeling that I was doing something to help. Imagine if I did nothing and got caught?


    No, I was doing everything I could, throwing every piece of my arsenal at the problem.


    [Sneaking] was terribly low-level, but even with its low level it was helping a hair, guiding my legs to step just a little softer on the floor. It helped me know how to navigate with my new armor, making sure it didn¡¯t bang and clang against itself. It wasn¡¯t much, but it helped reduce the noise I was making. I¡¯d like to think I was quiet as a mouse, but even if I wasn¡¯t, [Sneaking] stopped me from accidentally stomping around like an elephant, or tripping and falling like a bunch of pots and pans.


    The dwarf passed, unaware how close he¡¯d come to an invisible human.


    Past the dwarf, up a staircase, and I exploded out of the door, into the city proper.


    Well. While technically the city, I was still in the middle of the military compound.


    The military compound, full of measures designed to detect high-level orcs sneaking around invisibility, nevermind plucky healers bent on escaping.


    I needed to move, and move now. Right now, only Thoren and his team were looking for me. The moment they got to talk with Korun, or anyone else in charge?


    The entire base would be looking for me.


    I had a tiny, narrow window to escape in, before the jaws closed around me. I wasn¡¯t good enough to avoid an entire army.


    I wasn¡¯t going for the main exit to the outside. I didn¡¯t think I could cross an entire crowded city, to find an exit in an unknown location, with unknown guards and security. No, as much as I hated it, I needed to try the mines.


    I started running, sprinting, pushing my new speed to the max as I ran towards the great wall at the edge of the compound that marked where the city ended, and the tunnels and mines were located.


    I had to come to a screeching halt, cursing my bad luck, as a whole company of dwarves came marching past, blocking the road off.


    Thoren and the rest of the guards boiled out of the training building like angry wasps, shouting about orc Sabotaugeurs kidnapping me.


    ¡°Attack! Attack! We¡¯re under attack! Orcs!¡± Thoren yelled.


    The worst part of that cry was that Thoren and the rest probably believed it. I¡¯d given no indication that I wanted to escape before now, and ¡°orc attack¡± was probably what they jumped to as a conclusion.


    Either way, my lead was vanishing.


    ¡°Company! Halt! Break into squads, find those orcs!¡± The commander of the column of dwarves yelled.


    Which got the company of dwarves marching right in front of me to halt, then explode into action, neatly splitting up into teams of six and running about. I had to throw myself flat against a wall as multiple teams ran past me.


    One dwarf was running with one arm ram-rod out for whatever reason, coming right at me. With a curse, I dropped to the floor and wedged myself in the corner where the wall met floor, just to try and stay undetected.


    Yet, I felt somewhat trapped here, out in the open as the dwarves hurried about. I ¡°shuffled¡± down in my invisibility skill, to stop my eyeballs from ¡°peeping¡± out. It made me entirely invisibile, but the trade-off was that I couldn¡¯t see anything.


    I could still hear though, and it brought to mind a terrifying thought. Bats could locate things via echolocation, and there had to be skills to detect people by their breathing.


    Heck, I could even imagine that echolocation was extra-worthwhile in the tunnels and mines, effectively letting them see around corners. I could use my [Muffle] gem to stop people hearing my breathing, but that would make me even more obvious to echolocation.


    Fuck. Why didn¡¯t I think of this before? I might¡¯ve timed my escape differently.


    I shook the thought off. ¡°Ifs¡±, ¡°could¡¯ve¡¯s¡±, ¡°what-ifs¡± and the rest were pointless. I had to play with the hand I¡¯d been dealt.


    Staying still was pointless. They¡¯d find me, catch me, throw me in chains and only let me out to heal. My gems and toys would be removed, and I¡¯d be trapped for decades.


    No.


    I had to move. Movement was life.


    I have no shame in admitting that I crawled. I crawled for life. I crawled for freedom. Who cares that it was on my hands and knees? It was getting me there. Although, the fact that my armor was new did me no favors. My metal skirt was dragging on the ground, making soft scraping noises. I just had to hope they sounded enough like metal boots on the ground that their noise would be lost in the din.


    Also, after the initial burst of activity, there were ¡°only¡± two patrols a street, instead of an endless horde. My heart lifting, I found a timing between two patrols, and neatly slipped myself in between them, keeping them at an equal distance. Invisibility didn¡¯t mean they couldn¡¯t bump into me after all.


    They made a turn down a street I didn¡¯t want, but there was another patrol coming down the street I did want. I decided to stick with my current working system, and trade-off into another street when I got a moment.


    I slunk down the streets, invisible, forced to keep moving by the patrols almost literally breathing down my neck. How they hadn¡¯t found me, I didn¡¯t know.


    Then, glimpsed through an alley filled with detritus, I saw my destination. The entrance back to the mines. I kept going, then briefly slid into a doorway to let the latest patrol pass, before running back and squeezing into the alley.


    There was all manner of crap here. Discarded trash, loose barrels, coils of rope, and piles of crates. Why it was all shoved here, I¡¯ll never know. Just another alley filled with junk that would be dealt with ¡°later¡±.


    I climbed up onto a crate, and cursed as the blasted thing was rotted, and I fell through, making an unholy clatter.


    I pulled a face.


    Mushrooms. I¡¯d landed in a pile of half-forgotten mushrooms, which did what all food did when forgotten about in an alley.


    Now I stunk, and there was a cry from a patrol as they headed my way. Worse, while I was invisible, I was leaving a neat Elaine-shaped imprint in the mushrooms, making it blindingly obvious that someone invisible was there.


    I heaved myself out of the crate, and tried to hide behind a barrel. It wasn¡¯t a great hiding place, but at this point I was furiously praying to the gods and goddesses - I wasn¡¯t picky, I cycled through all the ones I knew - to help me out, to grant me a miracle and help me hide.


    Bastards took some of my mana, clearly hearing my prayer, but didn¡¯t do a thing. Why did I even bother?


    Dwarvish patrols showed up at either side of the alley, trapping me in. I tried to stifle the tears that were welling up, the sadness overtaking me.


    I wasn¡¯t done yet.


    As much as it looked like I was doomed, as helpless as it looked, I wasn¡¯t captured yet. I wasn¡¯t in chains, I wasn¡¯t out of mana.


    I could hear my heart pounding in my ears as the dwarves got closer, pointing at the broken crate I¡¯d just climbed out of.


    Freeze? Or fly? What was better? My fight or flight instinct was hammering at me, screaming at me that I needed to do something.


    I froze.


    The dwarves poked at the crate, speaking quickly to each other. Arguing.


    ¡°They were here!¡± One yelled.


    ¡°Obvious! Tell me something new!¡± The squad leader snapped back. Tensions were high. Weapons were drawn.


    ¡°Probably traveling the roofs. One missed a jump? Probably went back up.¡± Another said, in a loud but not shouting tone, pointing to the roofs then the crate.


    ¡°Makes sense. Hit the roofs, see if we can find the direction they went.¡± The squad leader ordered, obviously relieved to help in a way that didn¡¯t directly tangle with the non-existent orcs.


    Heck, I wouldn¡¯t want to take on a squad of commandos with twice my total level either.


    ¡°Take that building!¡± The squad leader behind me yelled to the squad across from me.


    ¡°Aye!¡± They saluted, and the two patrols vanished, one into each building.


    They¡¯d¡­ just left?


    I hadn¡¯t been caught?


    I sent a quick prayer of thanks to whatever god or goddesses had just overseen me, and I made a break for the entrance of the mines, sneaky-running across the open stone, the various shades of lichen throwing crazy colors all over the place.


    Here was my last obstacle. No matter how bad things were, the insane amount of security on the entrance to the mines hadn¡¯t faltered. They were literally packed shoulder to shoulder, had anti-Mirage lights sweeping the area, dozens of traps littered the place, and I couldn¡¯t even guess what else they had going on there.


    It seemed entirely impassable to me. I¡¯d made my break for it not knowing how to pass this hurdle, I¡¯d gone this way in spite of it, kicking the problem down the road, and well - now I was here. Now the problem was staring me in the face, and it demanded a solution now.


    I refrained from tapping my foot. No bets that one of the guards had crazy high vitality, and would hear it, and wonder ¡°why am I hearing tapping noise coming from an empty spot?¡±


    As I waited, the guards parted, and I inhaled, preparing to sprint through. I¡¯d let the illusion get stripped, and I¡¯d just try to tank the traps as they sprang out at me. I was able to heal just about anything, and the traps were designed to keep people out, not in. So, like, if there was a crazy rolling boulder trap or something, I¡¯d be running in the right direction as I ran away from it.


    Of course, the guards weren¡¯t parting for no reason, and I had to stuff my fist in my mouth to stop myself screaming in frustration and anger.


    Injured. Wounded. Not a whole company, just a squad limping back home. Two dwarves were being carried by the other four, a standard dwarf-squad of six. They turned and hugged the wall, making their way over to the triage building. It was close enough for a team to get to quickly, but far away enough to preserve some of the kill-zone around the mine entrance.


    Fuck my [Oath] sideways seven different ways - I couldn¡¯t just abandon them. I had to heal them.


    And there was no light down here to blast them with [Wheel of Sun and Moon]. No, I needed to physically touch the dwarves.


    I started running towards them, all sneakiness gone as I leaned forward into an all-out sprint. They were moving at a good pace, but they weren¡¯t sprinting, instead choosing to not jostle their squad mates.


    I mean, technically, I could ignore them, and take the [Oath] penalty. I suspected it¡¯d be more severe than the last time I turned my back on someone who needed help, and me screaming in crippling agony in the middle of the military compound wasn¡¯t exactly a winning move in my escape plan.


    I ran and ran, thanking my inadvertent choice to take a class that was heavy on speed. A desperate plan crystallized in my mind, one potential way that I might be able to escape. It was silly. I had no idea if it would work or not. But it was do or be captured right now. I had no other choice, but to gamble, and gamble hard.


    I hated gambling with so much on the line. Unlike my classing up though, I had no choice here. There was no safe option.


    I caught up with the dwarves, then overtook them a hair.


    I then turned on my heels, executing the plan.


    Like a whirling dervish, arms outstretched, I slapped one of the injured dwarves full of healing, then spun, dodging the carriers while I hit the second one. Both of them had those blasted implants, and my mana got horribly chunked.


    But they were alive. Hale and whole.


    I could see my feet, as I¡¯d gotten too close to the dwarves, and it was one insult too many to the skill. [Invisibility with Eyeholes] dropped, and I was in full view of everyone.


    The dwarves made surprised noises, but I was wearing obviously dwarven-forged gear, while being dwarf-height. It had benefits, like them assuming I was some criminal beardless dwarf - AKA a weirdo, and not an orc that they should be trying to kill.


    I took the moment of distraction to run back towards the entrance of the mine, reaching out with one hand to touch the smooth stone beside me, the other focusing on [Wall Buster], trying to trigger the gem.


    Magic was weird. I could remove flesh with [Dance with the Heavens], but only if it was to heal it. I couldn¡¯t just remove flesh. Similarly, I could only restore an arm if someone had been born with it. If someone was born without an arm? My healing wouldn¡¯t do anything, in spite of me knowing exactly what would need to happen to fix it.


    [Talaria] used to only work in sunlight. Nevermind that moonlight was simply a reflection of the sun¡¯s light off the moons - that didn¡¯t count. That was, according to magic, moonlight, and my old [Moonlight] skill had worked off of that.


    I was counting on ¡°magical logic¡± to bail me out here. [Wall Buster] was designed for blowing up walls. Not blasting holes in stones.


    As I ran towards the entrance to the mine, hand trailing on the wall, hearing a cry of alarm come up from behind me - cursed ungrateful dwarves, giving me away after saving two of them - I was focusing on casting [Wall Buster], the skill constantly failing to activate as there were no ¡°walls¡± present.


    Guards started to run at me from all directions. From the squad behind me, yelling about catching ¡°the strange invisible beardless thing¡±, to the tunnel security trying to capture the ¡°obviously running away from security, must be up to no good¡±, to various patrols that were summoned by the commotion, I was surrounded.


    The net was closing in.


    I threw up my [Mantle], creating a small teardrop against the rushing dwarves, stopping skills from coming in. A few long-range skills headed my way, but I was throwing off all manner of ¡°harmless¡± cues. The skills were weak, capture-only skills, and my [Mantle] was strong enough to deflect them.


    Then the [Wall Buster] skill ¡°took¡±, blowing a hole in the wall. An L-shaped intersection met my eyes, beckoning me into the mines.


    Good enough for me.


    I sprinted in, throwing up [Brilliant Barricade] behind me, lighting my way with [Lantern].


    Then, in an action that caused me no small amount of consternation, I left a trail of [Kaleidoscope] butterflies behind me, tiny motes of light hovering in my path. I pounded down the neatly carved stone tunnels, throwing [Mantle] on my back like a cape.


    The [Kaleidoscope] butterflies were a massive risk. On one hand, they were an offensive skill, designed to explode and slow down my pursuers.


    On the other?


    They gave a neat sign pointing out my trail. There was no hiding, dodging, or hoping they¡¯d get lost - I was pointing them exactly to me, leaving a nice trail of breadcrumbs.


    Worst of all - they easily could become an [Oath] violation.


    If - and only if - they harmed someone, it was me deliberately causing harm to another. Sure, if the people actively pursuing me got hit, it might - just might - be self-defense. It was stretching it quite a lot, given that while they were in pursuit, they weren¡¯t actively engaged with me. It was possible that it¡¯d hit them, and not count against me. However, I wasn¡¯t sure of that. I believed I had a few toes over the line.


    But the patrols that the dwarves had in here?


    People coming back from battle or recon?


    There was no justifying harming them. If someone ran into a butterfly and it exploded? There was no excuse. It was an [Oath] violation, and I knew it.


    I was counting on the short lifespan of the butterflies - about a minute - the fact that they just hovered with the commands I gave them, and the healthy paranoia anyone at the levels I was dealing with would have. Who would willingly run into an unknown skill dropped by someone being chased?


    In short, I was bluffing. I had to hope that nobody decided to just power through the skill, knowing my level and how much it wouldn¡¯t hurt a high-level classer like Hakka.


    Actually, Hakka would be the perfect dwarf to run into one of those butterflies. It wouldn¡¯t hurt her at all, not with her resistance skill. No harm, no foul.


    I rounded corners at full speed, sprinting, gasping, panting for air. I didn¡¯t care where I was going, nor did I try to track it - I just wanted out. Out of the tunnels, away from the dwarves.


    I knew I was near the surface, and I also knew the dwarves had tried to seal all the exits. No way did they miss one so close to their home, and it¡¯d be all too easy to find myself in a dead end.


    No, whenever possible, I went down, down, deeper.


    I wanted to go invisible again, to try and hide from the dwarves. I had two more [Invisibility with Eyeholes] gems left.


    Problem was lighting.


    I was a Radiance mage, and my ways of making light were [Lantern] and [Radiance Conjuration] primarily. Now, it was possible to shine the skills out of my eyes to light the area up so I could see - but ¡°Hey, what are those floating beams of light hovering in the middle of the hallway?¡± was a dead giveaway. That was before Radiance ate away and broke Mirages.


    In short, it¡¯d do nothing but waste a gem. One of my more powerful gems to boot.


    A gem, that was one of my last mementos of Magic.


    I kept running through the hallways, triggering traps the whole way.


    I was in another corridor, when I simply felt my [Mantle] break. I twisted as I flung myself forward, to see what had happened.


    I couldn¡¯t see anything weird or out of place. Just smoothly-cut stone walls all around me.


    Feeling more than a bit foolish, I got back up and kept running, reasserting my [Mantle]. I dunno what happened, but it had clearly done something.


    If nothing else, it slowed me down, and I saw lights flickering in from multiple tunnels, converging on me. I scrambled to my feet and kept running.


    I was running so hard that I couldn¡¯t quite make the turn, instead slamming into a wall and half-bouncing off of it to make my turn into a long corridor. I was praying that the dwarves would all follow from behind, and none would wrap around, and flank me from the other way. An entire corridor of the floor fell away, a deadly-looking purple-colored liquid underneath the pitfall trap.


    [Scintillating Ascent] made the trap a joke, as I simply flew over it. I stopped dropping [Kaleidoscope].


    Three more tunnels, two more down ramps, and I saw a shift in the stone. From smooth and polished, back to rough, it was like the construction crews had said ¡°here¡¯s the line, let¡¯s not do anything beyond this.¡±


    Then, with a breath of relief, with my heart soaring into the¡­ well, not the sky, I was underground, but high - I was past the tunnels, past the dwarf¡¯s claimed defensive area.


    I took a moment to slow down and pump my fist victoriously, before continuing on at a light jog.


    Only for the wall to open up, with a few huge tridents erupting from the wall.


    [Bullet Time] activated, and I threw up my shield, delaying the spikes for a fraction of a moment. It was enough for me to twist out of the way of almost all of them - all but one.


    It slammed through me, bouncing my helmeted head off the wall, pinning me to the cold, hard stone like a butterfly on a board.


    I was small, and the spikes were meant for larger game - orcs, primarily. Each of the spikes was large, and spaced far apart, which is why I was lucky that only one was through my chest. There were a few more prongs of the trident that scraped the armor on my arms, and pinned my arms next to me - but they weren¡¯t actively keeping me trapped. Just immobile.


    Fluttering helplessly against the wall.


    Footsteps approaching.


    Panicking now would be the end of me. I spent a brief moment calming myself, letting myself think.


    I turned off my [Lantern], not making it any easier for the dwarves to find me. I just needed to use ¡°The hip bone is connected to the ouch bone¡± to know where I had problems.


    I tried to take a breath, only to feel it aborted against my will, which helped me diagnose the problem.


    Barbed spike through my right lung.


    However, after the pirate attack, after being able to build my own class, I¡¯d been worried about something similar happening to me. I focused on my healing with [Dance with the Heavens] - which was already autocasting, but I figured focusing on the ¡°remove materials¡± part of it would help.


    While I was mostly immune to pain thanks to [Center of the Universe], I could still feel it, I knew it was there. A total lack of pain was almost worse than an overactive pain sense, since I couldn¡¯t know when something was wrong. Either way, the ¡°my chest is hurting¡± sense started to slowly decrease as I focused.


    ¡°Oh empty Arcanite.¡± I swore as I realized something. When I was done healing myself, the spike would still be ¡°pushing¡± me into the wall, so to speak. I had one chance, right now, to fix that.


    With a scream, I pushed myself forward on the prong, driving myself forward, feeling the pain flare up again, hearing my backpack tear.


    Not the snacks!


    I then waited, nervously feeling rivulets of sweat running down my back as I heard the dwarves running, coming closer and closer. They¡¯d find me any second now, and I needed to be free before then.


    My sense of pain fading as [Dance with the Heavens] slowly ¡°ate¡± the metal pinning me to the wall, I wriggled experimentally, seeing what motion I had available. I turned [Lantern] back on, figuring the dwarves knew where I was, and that I needed to work out my escape.


    The dwarves rounded the corner, seeing me in the trap right as I was freed, healed out. The end of the spike still sticking out of my back, I nimbly darted through the rest of the trident-trap, turning round to flip the dwarves the bird as they ran up to the trap and started to push their stout bodies through it.


    Ha! Being tiny had its advantages!


    My glee was cut off as one of the dwarves fired something sticky at me. With pure reflexes I managed to throw up [Mantle], stopping the attack, avoiding capture.


    Unlike that time with the mud mage.


    I turned and fled down, down, deeper into the endless mines.

 Chapter 219 - Alone in the Dark I

    I ran.


    I ran with everything I had, sprinting, running, uncaring about the dangers and threats, directions and diversions, nothing else - just running.


    Fleeing the golden chains and shackles behind me, running from the dwarves. I¡¯d take the terrors of the deep, the chilly unknown, bad food and terrible water, if it came with freedom.


    If it came with being able to see my family again.


    So I ran. Endlessly, unceasingly, fueling myself with [Sunrise] every time I felt my energy starting to flag, grabbing a drink of water when I was thirsty, chowing down on snacks from my bloody backpack. Every time I thought to stop, to slow down, I heard echoing footsteps, forcing me to pick up the pace again, redouble my efforts to avoid capture.


    Now and then I stepped up into the air, taking flight with [Scintillating Ascent]. I didn¡¯t know how I was being tracked, if at all, but I figured I¡¯d make pursuit a bit harder if I flew a bit.


    I was encouraged by the fact that whenever I landed, I didn¡¯t hear any echoing footsteps. However, inevitably, as soon as I started running, they¡¯d start back up a few seconds later in hot pursuit.


    Without Ranger Academy, there¡¯s no way I¡¯d be eating food that had my dried blood on it. With the training, I didn¡¯t even bat an eyelash at it. Nor did I mind the number of floating things in the water I was drinking, located in small pools here and there.


    What did disturb me was when I found another body in an extra-large pool - practically a small lake of water - with large chunks bitten out of it, only needing three toothmarks to entirely bisect the body. My mind mechanically analyzed that whatever did this either had a very large mouth - or was gigantic.


    Either way, my sleep-deprived brain decided to avoid large bodies of water underground.


    I don¡¯t know how long I kept running, doubling back when slimes approached, dodging down side tunnels the moment a weird noise met my ears.


    I just knew I needed to get away and get down.


    Exhaustion crept at me, started to eat at me. I fought it off with [Sunrise], and healed my aching muscles with [Dance with the Heavens]. I¡¯d theorized I could go a long time, run endlessly - it was being put to the test.


    I don¡¯t know how long I ran for. I do know that exhaustion kept creeping back, only to be beaten away by [Sunrise], just for it to rear its ugly head and snap back, harder each time.


    [Sunrise] wasn¡¯t a sleep substitute. It was simply energy. I¡¯d need to eventually sleep.


    Eventually.


    For now, I just kept running, running, deeper and deeper, just chanting and repeating a few thoughts endlessly in my head.


    Need to escape.


    Movement is life.


    Go deep.


    Need to escape.


    Movement is life.


    Go deep.


    Other thoughts slowly faded, becoming garbled insanity as fatigue and exhaustion warped my thoughts, causing the bad idea fairy to masquerade as the good idea fairy.


    Go for a nice swim. Cooling, fresh water, makes the trail hard to follow.


    I¡¯ve gone deep enough. I should level out, and consider going higher.


    Bounce on the slime! Could use a bit of fun and distraction. Look how it wobbles. Wibble-wobble.


    This is probably far enough. I should stop, and rest.


    Good ideas? Bad ideas?


    I was fairly certain most were bad ideas, but I was so tired. The dwarves were relentless in their pursuit, metal boots on stone always echoing from around the corner. I just knew I¡¯d come up with my core ideas, the ones I was holding onto with every bit of mental strength, when I was awake and alert. I¡¯d just follow them, until I made it to a safe place.


    I don¡¯t know how long I ran for. The only rough comparison I had was Ranger Academy.


    I had thousands of stats more now than I did then.


    I had never been so tired, my limbs dragging so hard, my mind as cloudy and as foggy as I was now.


    It was at least a week solid that I ran, the part of me whispering, screaming to stop, ignored by the rest of my brain, which just held onto and kept following the core ideas I¡¯d established.


    Maybe it was two weeks?


    Surely, I couldn¡¯t have run for three solid weeks¡­?


    At that thought, I slowed, ducking into a narrow dead-end passage. I tried to whip my foggy brain, begging for sleep, into shape, keeping a half-ear on the footsteps.


    There was no way I¡¯d run for three weeks straight. I wasn¡¯t that fit?


    Although, [Sunrise] and [Dance with the Heavens] could keep me going forever.


    There was no way to mark the passage of time.


    My Arcanite was totally full.


    I had no snacks.


    I¡¯d quickly paused to answer nature¡¯s call how many times again?


    Fuck.


    I really could¡¯ve gone three weeks straight. No wonder I was feeling all sorts of loopy.


    Also, now that I was thinking about it - no way had I been chased for three weeks solid. I looked down at my feet.


    At my new boots.


    My new, never-worn-before boots.


    My metal boots - something I¡¯d never worn before.


    I stamped experimentally, hearing a footstep echo back a few seconds later.


    I was a complete moron! I¡¯d been scared of my own footsteps! I was never going to stop beating myself up over that.


    I looked around the place I¡¯d found myself.


    Cozy. Secure. One entrance. No water.


    I hadn¡¯t forgotten all my tricks, and I decided that here and now was the time to blow my [Tripwire Alarm] utility skill. I¡¯d figure out how to protect myself while I slept another time.


    I used the skill on the entrance, killed my own [Lantern], had enough presence of mind to wrap myself in [Mantle], and was out like the light.


    I woke up in near-total darkness, not quite feeling rested. I assumed it was because of the massive back-to-back chain marathon I¡¯d just run. I wanted to stretch, but the faint glimmering of hundreds of tiny stars reminded me that I was wrapped in my [Mantle]. I put a brief eye on my status, and any lingering sleepiness or brain fog vanished as I saw that I only had half my mana left¡­ and it was steadily ticking down.


    I instantly jumped to the one conclusion I¡¯d been paranoid about for years, one of the downsides of my shield skill. With constant, weak pressure on my shield, it¡¯d protect me, at the cost of mana. Keep it up long enough without me noticing, and I could get entirely drained of mana, vulnerable to whatever monster of the week wanted to gobble me up whole.


    Slowly, carefully, I used [Lantern] to brighten my surroundings, letting a faint trickle of light see what the problem was. I felt my heart race, stifling a scream as the full horror of what my problem was came to light.


    Spiders. Spiders as big as my head were everywhere. Eight pale legs attached to a hairy body, blind white eyes seeing nothing, they didn¡¯t seem particularly interested in me, or wanting to devour me.


    No, they were just filling up this particular cave, and standing on my shield seemed to be a side-effect. I checked their level.


    [Deep-Dwelling Cave Spider].


    Oh fuck me sideways, they were all above level 350. More like 370.


    Still, I hadn¡¯t seen hide or hair of them before, but I froze as one of them made a strange clicking sound.


    The same clicking sound I¡¯d heard when we first fell into the mines, the same pervasive, omnipresent clicking that joined the dripping, the clanging, the echoing footsteps, squelching slimes and far-off roars.


    Either way, the spiders had to go. I was going to fight fire with fire, and bugs with bugs. Or something like that.


    Slowly, carefully, I opened a small hole in my [Mantle], and let a trickle of [Kaleidoscope] butterflies loose. I carefully controlled them to hover near the spiders, burning my mana at high speed as I prepared a devastating alpha strike.


    When I¡¯d filled the room with butterflies, when my mana was too low to justify continuing, I made my move.


    I hated doing it, but exploding my butterflies on top of my shield like this would simply break my shield, draining me of mana in the process.


    I dropped my shield at the same moment I detonated the butterflies, the combined explosion of hundreds of the tiny things in such cramped quarters magnifying the explosion.


    I was mostly immune to my own Radiance skills. I wasn¡¯t immune to the side effects, like the overpressurized blast trying to tear my body apart. Fortunately for me, my new dwarf-forged armor helped both with the blast, and with the spiders trying - and failing - to crawl on me, and my smooth armor.


    A good number of the spiders flat-out died in the explosion, while more fled in panic, screeching in pain. Only a few seemed to realize I was the cause, or were just lashing out at anything that moved. Either way, sonic waves assaulted my ears as some of the crawling spiders on me tried to bite through my armor.


    My armor mostly held, dents and chips joining the neat puncture in the middle of my chest. I played whack-a-spider with Radiance beams and [Kaleidoscope] butterflies as fast as I could to peel the last of them off.


    Thank goodness for my armor. It¡¯d stopped me getting hurt, and more importantly, stopped me from feeling the hairy spiders crawling on my skin. Nooooooo thank you.


    Then, not three breaths from when I¡¯d first started, it was over. I was alone in a cave, miles underground, with the carcasses of two dozen dead spiders, panting and heaving. The charred spider scents was tingly in my nose.


    Why did it have to be spiders?


    Not seeing anything better to do, I sat right back down, and overcoming a hair of initial revulsion, I grabbed a spider and started to cook it.


    Completely, totally, ridiculously overcook it. I wanted to taste charcoal, not spider.


    I checked over my notifications, hoping for sweet, sweet distraction from what I was putting in my mouth.


    Sustenance. Nutrition.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [The Dawn Sentinel] has leveled up to level 367->369! +3 Dexterity, +24 Speed, +24 Vitality, +170 Mana, +170 Mana Regen, +48 Magic power, +48 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    [*Ding!* [Celestial Affinity] leveled up! 367->369]


    [*Ding!* [Center of the Universe] leveled up! 367->369]


    [*Ding!* [Dance with the Heavens] leveled up! 367->369]


    [*Ding!* [Sentinel''s Superiority] leveled up! 367->369]


    [*Ding!* [Long-Range Identify] leveled up! 367->368]


    [*Ding!* [Mantle of the Stars] leveled up! 367->369]


    [*Ding!* [Persistent Casting] leveled up! 259->265]


    [*Ding!* [Cosmic Presence] leveled up! 285->286]


    [*Ding!* [Sunrise] leveled up! 132->166]


    That was probably the weeks of running and using the skill, and less so the fight. Constant use, combined with high-pressure? Recipe for sweet, sweet levels.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Butterfly Mystic] has leveled up to level 307->309! +8 Strength, +8 Dexterity, +70 Speed, +70 Vitality, +70 Mana, +70 Mana Regen, +70 Magic power, +70 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Strength, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    I ignored all my capped [Butterfly Mystic] skills re-capping. I should consider doing that with [The Dawn Sentinel] as well.


    [*Ding!* [Nectar] leveled up! 301->303]


    [*Ding!* [Scintillating Ascent] leveled up! 281->284]


    [*Ding!* [Kaleidoscope] leveled up! 265->269]


    [*Ding!* [Sneaking] leveled up! 11->140]


    Well. That was one way to power-level a new skill. Use it to run for my life for weeks straight. Artemis would be proud.


    [*Ding!* You have slain a [Deep Dwelling Cave Spider (Sound, 368)]//[Deep Dwelling Cave Spider (Dark, 350)]]


    That was interesting, and rare. Monsters, even if they were caster monsters, generally only had one turbo-charged class. These spiders seemed to have two elements at their disposal. Sound probably helped them navigate, and I was guessing the Dark both helped them hide, and tear through whatever landed in their grasp.


    Although¡­ where were the webs? Did the spiders, like, sing webs? Or did they just make them naturally, or were they one of the spiders that didn¡¯t use webs?


    I wasn¡¯t sure about that. I had never been interested in spiders.


    [*Ding!* [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] leveled up! 308->315]


    I guess potentially sacrificing my freedom, and making the call to value others over my own well-being had rewards. I don¡¯t think I¡¯d ever gotten so many [Oath] levels for a single person. The bandit camp when I was an idiot teenager jumping into the line of fire of Rangers potentially qualified, but it was hard to tell on an individual basis.


    Still, it all worked out in the end.


    I looked around, and mentally amended that.


    It will have worked out once I was no longer at risk of this place becoming my tomb.


    I continued to mechanically eat ...don¡¯t think about it¡­ as I reviewed my memories of my fleeing, trying to replay it in fast-forward mode, trying to work out where I was.


    [*Ding!* [Pristine Memories] leveled up! 206->207]


    I shook my head in frustration.


    It wasn¡¯t that my skill was failing me. It was that I wasn¡¯t able to follow and build a mental map of nearly three weeks of running, jumping, doubling back, going down ramps, dodging monsters, and finally ending up here. It was just too much ground covered.


    However, reviewing my memories, there were distinctly different types of tunnels. The most obvious was the dwarves neatly carved and polished stone corridors, obviously with an intelligent hand behind them. Then it became cruder, carved out of stone, but still mined and dug out by hands and skills of intelligent creatures - likely the dwarves. Then a layer that seemed to be mostly natural cracks, the rocks and cave settling in such a way to permit movement and motion. A natural cave system.


    Then the last layer, where it changed again. Becoming sleek, like something melted through it, or hot things constantly flowed. I hadn¡¯t gotten far into this level before I¡¯d stopped.


    Putting the pieces together, I paled.


    Odds were good that somehow, I was in a volcano, exploring the magmatic chambers. Toast, when the next eruption occurred.


    I shivered at the thought, which seemed to produce a contradiction.


    Shivering? It was cold down here, not hot! A point for it being a dormant volcano.


    Right. At this stage, going up seemed to be the right call.


    I left my little cave that I¡¯d inadvertently shared with the spiders, noting that it was carved out of normal stone, while the tunnel was the melted or heated stone from before.


    Wait.


    Spiders?


    In a volcano?


    Ok, I knew this was Pallos, and judging things by my old logic had bitten me in the ass more than once. I could believe volcano-spiders. I was doubting volcano-spiders without a Lava element.


    Which left¡­ monsters. Like whatever had tunneled right next to us when I was with Drin, Fik, and the rest, looking for Toke.


    On that note - while he annoyed me to no end, and drove me nuts, I was a little sad at Ned¡¯s - the real Ned¡¯s - passing. Upon reflection, I think the Changeling got him that night when I was on watch. To think - that could¡¯ve been me. I shuddered at how close a call that was.


    Reflecting on the fight, I noticed one more thing.


    The spiders had been entirely silent when they walked around, only clicking to each other to communicate. Given the absence of light, and how blind they were, it sent the hairs on my neck crawling.


    Something could be sneaking up behind me right now, and I wouldn¡¯t know it until their jaws were closing around my head.


    With that lovely thought, I flared [Lantern], and started moving.


    Upwards.


    Towards light, air, the sky, home, my friends and family.


    Towards freedom.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 19]


    [Mana: 300330/300330]


    [Mana Regen: 237088 (+227901.45)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 4]


    [Strength: 672]


    [Dexterity: 1067]


    [Vitality: 7422]


    [Speed: 7422]


    [Mana: 30033]


    [Mana Regeneration: 30086 (+22790.145)]


    [Magic Power: 13831 (+217838.25)]


    [Magic Control: 13831 (+217838.25)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 369]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 369]


    [Cosmic Presence: 286]


    [Solar Infusion: 110]


    [Center of the Universe: 369]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 369]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 311]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 369]


    [Sunrise: 166]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 309]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 309]


    [Radiance Resistance: 309]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 309]


    [Lantern: 188]


    [Nectar: 303]


    [Sun''s Heart: 309]


    [Scintillating Ascent: 284]


    [Kaleidoscope: 269]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 368]


    [Pristine Memories: 206]


    [Sneaking: 140]


    [Bullet Time: 283]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 315]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 369]


    [Persistent Casting: 265]


    [Passionate Learning: 355]

 Chapter 220 - Alone in the Dark II

    I wandered through the hallways, lighting them up as brightly as I reasonably could with [Lantern]. The rocks were glossy, and did a bit of reflecting, doing some trippy bending. Nothing I couldn¡¯t handle - it was more neat than anything. I remember the dwarves mentioning something about the ¡°Below levels¡±, and I was hoping I wasn¡¯t there.


    Light was tricky. On one hand, I needed light. On the other, it potentially gave away my position to monsters¡­ or drove them away, since they spent their entire lives down here without a single ray of sunshine.


    That¡¯s what I was telling myself.


    I tried to trace my steps back, to climb back out of what I was calling the ¡°melted levels¡±, but failed. The tunnels had shifted around me, and finding my way back was just as hard as finding my way forward.


    I¡¯d occasionally hear voices echoing down the corridors. People talking. Monsters with a clever lure.


    I avoided them. Early on, I¡¯d tried to approach them, but after three near-misses in a row, I now avoided them. They were either orcs, who I couldn¡¯t talk with and seemed fairly aggressive, monsters that mimicked speech, or dwarves, who had tried to capture me. It was possible, likely even, that they were dwarves from somewhere else - but seeing a strange creature down here, they might shoot first, and ask questions later, given the tension and state of war they were in.


    Plus, like, I was inclined to think everything I bumped into down here was hostile. I couldn¡¯t blame them for thinking the same.


    Most Rangers I knew would also be inclined to shoot unknowns in hostile territory.


    I did try to follow the sound of their voices at times, but the sound played tricks on me as often as it led me to a narrow crack where the noise came through.


    I wandered for hours.


    I¡¯d grab water from the ever-present pools of water, the soft drip-drip a constant background noise to the rest of the noises from the mines. I was getting used to the noises in the tunnels, the different clicks, plinks, plonks, and clangs music to my ears. I knew when they were right, when everything was orderly and normal, and I could tell when there was something new, something close.


    I discovered that the spiders did, somehow, know when I was around, and would scuttle over to me when I rested or slept. However, as long as I was in [Mantle], they¡¯d only crowd around, seemingly confused by the barrier. They also wouldn¡¯t come if I slept with the lights on, avoiding the light.


    In other words - easy, disgusting food when I needed it.


    I wandered for days.


    While there were monsters down here, they were rare. Light didn¡¯t make it down this far, which meant plants didn¡¯t easily grow. The foundation of any ecosystem just didn¡¯t exist, which made the entire area food-scarce. Clearly, the spiders and some other monsters were finding something to eat, but I could go hours without seeing another creature.


    Days.


    I did find some dead orcs at one point. Their arms were like skeletons, flesh pulled taut against bone, while their collarbones jutted out. I could count their ribs without even trying, and whatever monster had killed them had only bothered to eat their organs. It looked like they were in the middle of starving to death when they encountered some monster that took advantage of their weakened state.


    Or more likely, they¡¯d tried to bring down a monster for food, and failed because they were starving.


    What did that say for the rest of orcish society? Were these just two orcs who had gotten lost, or were the orcs as a civilization being starved to death? The Khazardian dwarves tactic of sealing up every exit to the outside took on an ominous tone, and it forced me to re-think and re-evaluate the war that was going on between the two.


    I suspected there was more to it than met the eye.


    Either way, I was out of it for now, and I had no intention of getting back into it.


    At the same time, I wanted to avoid their fate. Bone marrow was nutritious after all.


    I wandered for weeks. Months?


    Most monsters didn¡¯t want to tangle with whatever I was. I smelled of metal, with burning light at my fingertips. An unknown, an oddity, down this far. Most predators hunted for their lunch, with a strange unknown not being the top choice to hunt down.


    Not unless they were desperate, or starving.


    With that being said, the most memorable encounters were with the ones who weren¡¯t most. I¡¯d barely escaped alive from those encounters, and it was only a matter of time before I fucked up hard enough to die.


    Heck. I wouldn¡¯t even need to screw up. It was possible to make no wrong moves, and still get eaten. That was life.


    I locked eyes with some sort of beetle, large enough to mostly fill a tunnel itself. It was high level - over 700 - and clearly knew I was there.


    But it was a monster, having never encountered whatever-I-was before. For all it knew, I was over level 1000. A lack of [Identify] gave it pause. I was strange, weird, and not aggressive. I wasn¡¯t acting like food, and I wasn¡¯t acting like a predator.


    I didn¡¯t turn my back on it and run. No, watching it, heart in my throat, I slowly slid into a crack in the wall, praying that there were no tiny spiders that would crawl into my long, matted hair.


    I threw my [Mantle] across the crack. It wouldn¡¯t stop the beetle trying to eat me, but it made me just a hair harder to detect. Skills, for example, couldn¡¯t easily penetrate my [Mantle], which included detection skills.


    The beetle lumbered off, and I breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn¡¯t the first level 500+ monster I¡¯d bumped into down here, and wouldn¡¯t be the last. I was a believer in the Below Levels now, having seen the occasional monster come up.


    I wandered through another tunnel, idly checking my status.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 20]


    [Mana: 327390/327390]


    [Mana Regen: 260367 (+273193.2)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 34]


    [Strength: 862]


    [Dexterity: 1250]


    [Vitality: 9246]


    [Speed: 9246]


    [Mana: 32739]


    [Mana Regeneration: 32816 (+27319.32)]


    [Magic Power: 15553 (+244959.75)]


    [Magic Control: 15553 (+244959.75)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 375]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 375]


    [Cosmic Presence: 286]


    [Solar Infusion: 110]


    [Center of the Universe: 375]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 375]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 311]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 375]


    [Sunrise: 198]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 333]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 333]


    [Radiance Resistance: 333]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 333]


    [Lantern: 261]


    [Nectar: 333]


    [Sun''s Heart: 333]


    [Scintillating Ascent: 287]


    [Kaleidoscope: 333]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 368]


    [Pristine Memories: 210]


    [Sneaking: 211]


    [Bullet Time: 299]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 315]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 375]


    [Persistent Casting: 290]


    [Passionate Learning: 358]

 Chapter 221 - Beneath the Dragon’s Eyes I

    I froze in indecision, staring at the dragon, deep in her lair, hearing the creeping sound of the Shluggoth slow right down as [Bullet Time] activated.


    I blinked, realizing that I could see in spite of all my skills being turned off. I¡¯d gotten used to the complete and totally pitch black darkness when I¡¯d turned off the lights, the total blindness that came with the absolute absence of light. Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair had soft lighting coming from a dozen different directions.


    I tried to swallow around the mango-sized lump in my throat.


    Behind me was death. Slow, creeping, dissolved alive death.


    In front of me was death. Violent, burning, possibly crunching death. Or clawed, or whipped by her tail, or crushed, or magicked, or¡­ the possibilities were honestly endless.


    I¡¯ll just call it swift, screaming death and leave it at that.


    To the side was a continuation of the tunnel, an escape route. It¡¯d be a great escape route, continuing my cat-and-mouse game with the Inevitable Shluggoth.


    If it wasn¡¯t for my [Oath].


    I¡¯d sworn to heal everyone. I¡¯d sworn to not discriminate, to not see injured people as anything other than a creature in pain that needed help.


    There wasn¡¯t a shred of doubt in my mind that Lun¡¯Kat, for all the violent tendencies I¡¯d seen out of her, was incredibly intelligent.


    There wasn¡¯t a shred of doubt that she was badly injured, and in need of medical attention.


    What gave me a moment¡¯s hesitation, what had my feet frozen to the ground, amidst the ashes of the dwarves who¡¯d tried to evict her, was her retaliation.


    When the dwarves had tried to evict her, she hadn¡¯t just killed the countless dwarves who¡¯d bothered her in her own lair. No, she¡¯d made an example of an entire country, burning and razing it to the ground. A reminder that she was not to be trifled with, and the penalty for doing so.


    The distinction that she¡¯d killed the innocent wood-based Nolgardian dwarves, and not the guilty metal-loving Khazadians, was either lost on her, or she didn¡¯t care.


    If I tried to leave, the penalty from [Oath] would cripple me, leaving me screaming on the floor. Either Lun¡¯Kat would wake up and end my miserable screams interrupting her nap, or she¡¯d sleep through it until the Shluggoth caught up to me and ate my unresisting body.


    Behind me lay certain death.


    To the side lay certain death.


    In front of me lay extremely likely death, along with potentially getting a large number of humans killed in the process.


    Once I¡¯d spent some time I didn¡¯t have thinking, the choice was obvious. I was too young to die, too attached to life. I¡¯d designed an immortality skill for myself, for crying out loud. I was going to literally walk into the dragon¡¯s lair just to have a small chance at living.


    I immediately blew one of my two remaining [Invisibility with Eyeholes] gems, as well as [Tracks-be-gone] and [Muffle]. If there ever was a time to use every last tool in my arsenal, it was now.


    I took a step forward, my legs seemingly dragging in water as [Bullet Time] was helpfully speeding my perception of time up to ludicrous extents, at the price that I got to watch everything I did in slow-motion.


    Usually incredibly helpful. Right now? Yaaaaay.


    [*ding!* [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has leveled up! 315 -> 316]


    I jumped at the notification, thanking every god and goddess in the great heavens above that I¡¯d already activated [Muffle] before I¡¯d rattled and clanked my armor against the stone. I disabled all my notifications, figuring that seeing them wouldn¡¯t help, and them going off at the wrong moment could kill me.


    Heck, for all I knew Lun¡¯Kat would be able to hear them!


    Invisibility for sight. Muffle for sound. Tracks to remove the last little bits of evidence. No smell, no footprints in the lair, nothing. I briefly considered that Lun¡¯Kat could detect magic - she had noticed my [Identify] during the fight - but I was super dead either way. Might as well take my chances.


    Night was going to totally kill me when I got back. The idea of meeting up with my family, then going into hiding was briefly considered, then filed away in the I AM SNEAKING INTO A DRAGON¡¯S LAIR, DO NOT DISTURB section of my brain.


    However, as I was walking into her lair, specifically as I was squeezing through the crack to get in, a brilliant thought popped into my head.


    Lun¡¯Kat had to have her own exit to the surface!


    My poor heart was already going at high speed, and the added excitement was almost too much for it. The thought of an exit, of freedom, of being able to feel the sun on my face and wind in my hair almost caused me to make a mistake.


    [Bullet Time] was making the world seem like it was slow enough that I could catch myself.


    I finished entering Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair. I took a look around, repressing the urge to whistle.


    What did an immortal dragon, the apex of the world, do in her spare time?


    Well, according to the dwarves, according to what I saw in front of me, the answer was: Collect stuff.


    Like the world¡¯s richest, maddest [Collector of all Things], Lun¡¯Kat had collections and series of everything in well-organized sections all throughout her lair.


    First was the lair itself. It seemed dramatically larger on the inside than what was suggested as I was peeking in. Heck, given that four steps away there was a corridor leading back the way I¡¯d come from, which should have overlapped the tunnel I¡¯d come from but didn¡¯t, suggested that powerful Spatial magic was at play. I was unsure if Lun¡¯Kat was the origin of said magic, or if she¡¯d found a spatially compressed cave to take over and claim for herself. Crystals of all sort were scattered through the cave, a number of them glowing. I recognized some as Arcanite, and glowing inscriptions were centered on each one, sprawling outwards and connecting with the rest of them.


    One of the glowing crystals was near where I exited, and I was able to get a good look at it. A tiny winged figure was trapped, frozen inside the crystal, mouth twisted in a terrified scream. She had delicate features, with delicate clear wings, and she was the reason the crystal was glowing, Lun¡¯Kat using nothing but one of the most dangerous creatures in existence to light her home.


    She¡¯d trapped a fairy, to use as a wall lamp.


    Somehow, in spite of my invisibility, of using every trick I had to remove every trace of my passage, in spite of being in solid crystal, the fairy¡¯s tortured eyes followed my every movement, begging for release that I could not grant.


    That was only the beginning.


    An angel was bound to the ceiling, hung like a chandelier. Cloth wrappings acted like chains, binding him, making it impossible for him to move. His sword was wrapped tight in his hand, trapped and captured, impossible to let go.


    He still glowed with divine light, still had the occasional spark of divine fire ignite and sputter out. Nothing but the most expensive, deadly, premium lights for Lun¡¯Kat.


    I briefly eyed him, wondering if I was about to get trapped again. I practically breathed a sigh of relief when I saw he was entirely unhurt, and didn¡¯t need medical attention.


    [Oath]-trap number seven: Injured angel hanging from the ceiling. I didn¡¯t expect it to be a common occurrence.


    Murals stretched along the cave, primarily depicting Lun¡¯Kat in various poses and figures of what I assumed must be draconic prowess. Occasionally, a second white dragon would join her in these pictures, a long, sinuous creature, with no wings, and long flowing whiskers. A few of the murals depicted Lun¡¯Kat and the other dragon closely entwined with each other. Each mural was carefully lit by prisoners from another realm, with a few being lit by large glowing pillars. I squinted at one, only to realize it was Arcanite, as large as The Heart from the middle of Remus¡¯s capital, and she had dozens of them casually scattered about as mood lighting.


    Below that was the ground level, and just looking at it sent greedy pangs through my body. Autumn would¡¯ve had an aneurysm seeing the place, and I could understand why the dwarves¡¯ greed overcame their common sense. Just the main chamber alone would set me up for my eternal life - me, and my thousand closest friends would never want for a single thing for all eternity.


    A huge pit dominated the center, loaded with furs, wool, cotton, and soft things of every type. It took a moment of looking at it with a puzzled look on my face for it to click.


    It was her bed. Made comfortable with the furs of thousands of the most luxurious pelts Lun¡¯Kat could find.


    Which inevitably drew my eye to Lun¡¯Kat, sleeping on what looked like a pile of metal and gems and other valuables, casually heaped together. I instantly dubbed the pile ¡°Mt. Loot¡±, for the obvious reasons. Even as I watched, she shifted in her sleep, sending a cascade of ores and unrefined crystals cascading down.


    I opened my mouth in a silent scream, sure that my end was here.


    Ba-dum. My last heartbeat.


    Ba-dum. My last heartbeat.


    Ba-dum. My la-ok, she wasn¡¯t waking up and murdering me dead.


    I narrowed my eyes at her comfortable bed, and her significantly less comfortable sleeping spot, before noticing a streak of dark-red on some of the metal she was on.


    She didn¡¯t want to bleed all over her nice bed.


    Seriously?!


    Was I really dealing with a dragon, and not some pampered princess?


    Then again, if my claws were gigantic, and my furs tiny, I might not want to ruin a few dozen of them in one go.


    I continued to look around the room, seeing collections of all sorts, literal thousands of years of Lun¡¯Kat going forth and collecting, of her finding hobbies to entertain herself through life.


    The art and the murals had been the most obvious, the highest up. I suspected most of what she had wasn¡¯t in her main lair, a dozen side-passages on each side of the main room leading off to other collections. There was one passage directly across from me, and I could faintly see densely-packed dinosaur and monster heads, each one mounted on a plaque.


    Gigantic cauldrons filled with all sorts of colored liquids, some still sparking, were neatly stacked on shelves in one part of the room. The next spot held thousands of gems, neatly sorted and organized by gem type, cut, color, and size. A number of them glowed, indicating that they held skills.


    Next to that were metals of all types, each one forged into stacks of equal-sized ingots. They were stacked next to each other in color-gradient order, and some more common metals were significantly larger than some rarer metals.


    Even as I watched, one of the piles arced lightning, while another one shimmered through the colors of the rainbow. A third was almost impossible to see, hiding in darkness, while a fourth was nearly transparent.


    They weren¡¯t mere metals. They were a vast hoard of magic metals. With the amount Lun¡¯Kat had here, I could believe she was a significant factor in them being rare.


    A dragon-size bookshelf tempted me, weathered scrolls as thick as I was tall stacked on top of each other. They were behind glass, and I had a feeling that this was only the ¡°rare and valuable¡± collection, and that a full library waited in one of the passageways off the main lair. Terrible, terrible ideas were running through my head.


    Surely, one scroll wouldn¡¯t be missed? Right¡­?


    Right next to her bed, in a seeming place of honor, were a number of knick-knacks I couldn¡¯t quite see the point of. A rock. A broken eggshell. Half a bone. A melted helmet. A pair of dragon-sized boots. What dragon needed boots? A half-dozen scales, only one that looked like hers. A half-shredded giant stuffed toy, stitched like a dragon. It was well-loved, and missing an eye. A crudely carved statue, covered in clawmarks from an unskilled craftsman, depicting Lun¡¯Kat and two small dragons. A few other pieces that didn¡¯t look particularly valuable.


    The only thing I could think of was they were each imbued with powerful magic - or were mementos, tokens of emotional significance. Memories of loved ones. Her kids, making her a mother¡¯s century present.


    There was an egg collection. Looking at it, I realized it wasn¡¯t just eggs, and I would¡¯ve felt a surge of avarice if I didn¡¯t already have liquid greed running through my body. They were arranged in tiers on the floor, with the lowest tiers being large, but mundane-looking eggs against the wall. Then more fantastical eggs caught my eye. One medium-sized one had sparks coming off it, while another¡¯s shell seemed to be made out of shifting sand. A third one I literally couldn¡¯t keep my eyes on - it hurt just to look at it - while a fourth one had a slow, lazy trickle of smoke coming off of it. Some had bumps all over the place, while at least three were cubes.


    Some needed some special containment. One was in a clearly-defined magical containment field, with a second being in an aquarium. Dozens more were around, each more fantastical than the next.


    In front of the collection, clearly in a place of pride, were nine¡­ well, calling them eggs was a bit of a stretch, not all were.


    The first egg was waist-high on me, and so thin I could see the long jaw, sharp teeth, and closed eyes of the dinosaur inside. The juvenile status, the haze from the shell not being transparent, and the twisted contortion to stay inside the egg meant I couldn¡¯t tell which dinosaur, exactly, it was. Not that my dinosaur knowledge outside of Remus was that good in the first place.


    Next to it was a sapling. In a pot. A potted plant somehow had made the list of ¡°most valuable eggs¡±, and yeah. I didn¡¯t know what to make of that.


    A clutch of small chicken-sized red eggs with golden lines snaking through them like cracks was next to the sapling. It was one of the only sets of eggs that had multiples, instead of one big egg.


    Next to that was a sight that made my eyes sparkle, and the urge to go squeeeeee was overwhelming. I bit down on my tongue to stop myself.


    Next to the eggs, frozen in stasis, one hoof up, was the most adorable white pony! Eyeing it a little closer, noticing the silver mane and golden hooves, it had clicked, and was the reason for my completely over-the-top reaction.


    No, not a pony. It was the most adorable baby unicorn! Oh my god oh my god I wanted it! It was frozen here, being used as decoration. It should be free! Out in the world, running wild¡­ with me on its back.


    It better be alive. It better be alive! Ooooh, I¡¯d¡­


    The blasphemous thought of what I¡¯d do to whoever hurt the baby unicorn, and who, exactly, that was, was like a bucket of ice cold water over me.


    Right. Dragon¡¯s lair. Sleep-deprivation was getting to me, causing me to be distracted, make bad mistakes.


    I checked on the unicorn¡¯s level, and just got back a white [Foal]. Interesting - the System considered it intelligent. Otherwise it would¡¯ve come back as [Unicorn], instead of the child equivalent.


    In the center, in the place of glory, the only one on a pedestal, was what looked like a perfectly round portal to the night sky. It seemed to be panning through the stars and galaxies, a burning star here, a constellation there. The glittering night sky and a wheeling spiral galaxy. Dozens of Celestial images slowly showed on the shell. The only hint it was an egg, and not a portal to space, was its location among all the other eggs.


    Moving my head around, I noticed it was perfectly spherical. What manner of fantastical creature could hatch from this? Also. It was totally Celestial, and that seemed to be exactly me!


    A leathery, rainbow-colored egg was next, knee-high on me. Green lightning occasionally sparked up from it, only for it to crash against a cage made out of magic, briefly flaring into visibility as it stopped the lightning.


    An aquarium held a pair of eggs. One was a standard-looking monstrous egg, with swirling stripes in dark blue against the dark green egg. The second was a whole cluster of tiny eggs, each the size of my thumbnail. Tiny tentacles were all over the place, visible through the dark exterior.


    Lastly, there was a small, fist-sized white, leathery egg, with what looked like a second egg merged into it. It was like Lun¡¯Kat had taken two eggs, chopped one in half, and glued it onto the second one.


    I started to carefully walk towards Lun¡¯Kat, cursing as I was going in slow-motion thanks to [Bullet Time]. Gave me plenty of time to keep looking around.


    A grand suit of draconic armor had its own stand, the night-black fierce-looking armor covered in dizzying arrays of glowing red runes. A number of weapons were behind it, each scaled up for a dragon to use. A large glaive seemed to be a favored weapon


    I did not want to think what would¡¯ve happened if Lun¡¯Kat had decided to arm herself before going on her berserk rampage across the dwarven lands. Would the guardians have even been able to beat her back?


    Thinking about that led me to look at Lun¡¯Kat herself. Large, scabbed-over wounds crossed her body, some of them still slowly leaking pus. Her left wing was tattered and broken, awkwardly laid out instead of neatly folded back like her other wing. She was missing a claw from her right foreleg, and coal-black streaks of lightning scars were visible against her night time scales. A long scar was covering her eye, and a chunk of her snout was missing. A few bloody teeth were scattered around Mt. Loot.


    I couldn¡¯t see behind her to see what other injuries she had, but what I saw was significant.


    As I continued walking towards Lun¡¯Kat, I got to see inside the side-passages, the chambers full of secrets and loot that didn¡¯t quite make the cut to the main lair.


    Three whole chambers seemed to be zoos, animals frozen in stasis within carefully built and maintained habitats. Tigers and lions, triceratops and brontosaurus, heck, there was even a rat and an otter, frozen in playful poses!


    The number of stasis fields scattered around Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair had me deeply concerned. I could easily screw up, put my foot down in the wrong place, and BOOM! I¡¯d be frozen in one of the stasis fields, completely unaware of the world around me. Heck, assuming Lun¡¯Kat kept me, and didn¡¯t burn me or something, I could be in stasis for dozens of years.


    Hundreds of years.


    Tens of thousands of years.


    I¡¯d be trapped until she got bored of me, or somehow, by some miracle, someone unfroze me. Heck, for all I knew I¡¯d turn into some sort of trading figurine!


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ve got one human, which is worth at least four goblins.¡±


    I hoped I was worth more than four goblins.


    The chamber next to the rare scroll collection did indeed lead to a dragon-sized library, with endless shelves filled to the ceiling with scrolls, books, clay tablets, and all other manner of methods to record text.


    I almost took a detour to investigate.


    Surely, Lun¡¯Kat would have some duplicated books that she wouldn¡¯t mind lending out?


    A room with a garden, all manner of exotic plants and herbs being grown.


    A room that I could only think was a giant fridge, carcasses of animals hung all over, cool air blowing out. Refrigeration by magic. I¡¯d tried to give the idea to Origen, and it hadn¡¯t quite worked out. It was refreshing to see someone else had properly figured it out!


    I almost expected to see a kitchen, before remembering that dragons had their own built-in stove.


    One room was filled with altars, and sculpted statues of various dragon deities were on each one. A religious dragon? That was new.


    Another room was filled with trees, fruit heavy on the limbs. More than a few were broken on the ground, having ripened until breaking point. I did stop here for a moment in indecision, having spotted the most elusive of prey hidden behind a dozen other trees, the bright colors unmistakable for anything else - mango. I took a step towards the side-passage, hunger, months of eating the denizens of the tunnels, and plain old desire mixing with sleep deprivation distracting me enough for a moment that I took a wrong step.


    Good common sense reasserted itself quickly enough, and I was back on the move towards Lun¡¯Kat. As I got closer to her, a few more things revealed themselves. What I had to guess was a portal, a massive pitch-black void surrounded by the densest, most complicated Inscriptions I could ever imagine. They were written in at least 24 different colors, layered and overlapping with one another.


    Another major item, which had me rubbing my eyes and cursing Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s deceiving ways, and her love of illusions, was an honest-to-god Victorian-era ghost pirate ship. The entire cave and situation was surreal, and if it wasn¡¯t for my healing prowess I¡¯d assume I¡¯d been caught in some illusion or hallucination gas. The ghost pirate ship, that seemed to have a thriving jungle ecosystem on deck, poking through the cannon holes instead of cannons?


    Yeah, that had me pinching myself. Either Lun¡¯Kat had an overly active imagination, or the Flying Dutchman-cross-jungle was a real thing.


    How peculiar. How odd. Maybe that¡¯s why it was here?


    They were just a fraction of the wonders, a small slice of the marvels I saw. Dragon-sized baths, both water and lava, mystical fountains that sang music, wonders large and small were dotted around the cave, glimpsed through dragon-sized side passages. Literal millennia of collected wealth.


    Still, as I was on final approach to Lun¡¯Kat, two more things caught my eye, causing me to have a sharp intake of breath as I gazed upon her majestic, sleeping, injured form.


    An exit. Freedom to the skies above. In it lay an opportunity, as Lun¡¯Kat was sleeping roughly underneath it.


    And the greatest of prizes, the most priceless treasure I could believe existed on Pallos - a clutch of dragon eggs, protectively nestled in her grasp.

 Chapter 222 - Beneath the Dragon’s Eyes II

    I looked up, and up, and up at Lun¡¯Kat. Part of why I¡¯d been able to see her from the mines was due to whatever spatial shenanigans were going on here.


    The much larger part was she was bloody huge! Her claws could skewer me, and I¡¯m pretty sure if she tried to eat me I¡¯d go down the hatch mostly-whole. Maybe crushed by her tongue a bit.


    Now that I was so close to her as well, my old, entirely reasonable fears awoke once more. The lizard part of my brain was screaming ¡°ABANDON SHIP! ABANDON SHIP! ALL HANDS ABANDON SHIP!¡± and was generally making itself into a grade-A nuisance. Heck, even as I tried to inch a little closer, I was trembling furiously.


    I hadn¡¯t planned on trying to climb Mt. Loot to get next to Lun¡¯Kat, in large part due to Mt. Loot¡¯s inherent instability, but the fact that I could barely keep myself going, that I¡¯d regularly just stop and pause, trying to wrestle my emotions back under control, reinforced that decision.


    Flying was totally out of the question. It¡¯d break my invisibility, and then I¡¯d be touching her. I didn¡¯t believe I could touch Lun¡¯Kat and get away with it. Not in the slightest.


    This would be so much easier if I just accepted that I was a dead woman walking, and said acceptance would, ironically, make it easier for me to survive. White Dove seemed like a much gentler way to go, in the end.


    I just lacked the proper mindset. It was Black Crow or bust for me. I would fight to my last breath, I would rage against the dying of the light.


    Which wasn¡¯t helping right now! Calm and collected would see me through this, not raging against my inevitable fate!


    I took another breath.


    How was this any different than jumping into a fire? How was this different from charging the Nothasaurus with the Rangers? Both led to death. Both I wasn¡¯t terribly likely to walk away from.


    This was just another fire. Just another monster that could casually end me with a thought. When had I gotten so soft?


    The lies I was telling myself worked.


    I faced my fears. I acknowledged them. I recognized they were valid, and I let them flow through me. I embraced them.


    I was still terrified, but I was no longer trying to hold my fear back. It weighed heavily on my limbs, but unrestrained, it didn¡¯t make me tremble. It was no longer an albatross around my neck. It was a simple reminder that what I was doing was dangerous, and to take utmost care in how I dealt with Lun¡¯Kat. It helped sharpen my senses, focus my entire being on the problem in front of me. My attention wouldn¡¯t be broken by distractions, I was hyper-focused on Lun¡¯Kat.


    Onto the patient herself. I¡¯d viewed her injuries, and while extensive, I believed my [Dance with the Heavens] could handle the problem.


    At a massive penalty, but still. It wasn¡¯t outside the realm of possibility.


    I cursed that I¡¯d decided not to take the ¡°heals monsters¡± aspect to [Cosmic Presence]. If I thought [Cosmic Presence] could do the job for me, I¡¯d literally just hide somewhere in the cave, out of easy sight, and spend my time praying to any god or goddess that could hide me.


    NOPE. I wasn¡¯t nearly that lucky. I had to do this the hard way. The only thing I thought might keep me alive was the exit.


    Namely, Lun¡¯Kat, being a dragon, had a modest exit located at the top of her lair. It made it a little harder for someone to just wander in, although I had to wonder how she handled dumb sheep falling in or something.


    Wasn¡¯t important.


    What was important was that the exit looked up at the sky.


    It was currently night time, and I circled around Lun¡¯Kat, until I was roughly between her and the exit, the hole in the ceiling. Then, I waited, each second stretched into intolerable lengths by [Bullet Time] stretching my perception.


    Lun¡¯Kat currently wasn¡¯t in danger of dying. As long as my actions were aimed towards healing her, as long as I didn¡¯t abandon her and continued to put effort forth to heal her, I was within the bounds of my [Oath]. That meant, for example, that I could wait to heal with [Wheel of Sun and Moon], instead of flying up to touch Lun¡¯Kat directly. I firmly believed, no matter how successfully I was sneaking around in her lair, that if I touched Lun¡¯Kat, she¡¯d notice, and kill the intruder that was laying hands on her while she slept, injured.


    Eventually - minutes, hours, I don¡¯t know my sense of time was totally off - the event I was waiting for occurred. The moons rose, shining through the entrance to Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair. I slowly watched their light creep through her cave as they performed their own dance across the sky, and finally the light touched the edges of Lun¡¯Kat.


    This was the moment I¡¯d been waiting for. For a short, brief moment the light of the moons was both touching Lun¡¯Kat, and low enough on Mt. Loot that I was still in it.


    It was time for [Wheel of Sun and Moon] to come out and play, after being stuck underground for months.


    I worked quickly. While I was behind Lun¡¯Kat, the scars and burns that lightning bolts had inflicted upon her were a full-body experience. Lichtenberg figures usually faded quickly, but there was magic at work here, and I could believe they had burned channels through her body.


    Without a detailed look at them, without knowing Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s anatomy well, I could only make educated guesses how she worked, and what, exactly, was going on with her injuries. Still, every little bit of efficiency was needed, and having formed what I thought was the best image I could in the time I had, I unleashed my [Dance with the Heavens], focusing on clearing out those injuries.


    To my dismay, only a modest patch of the scars vanished with roughly 290,000 points of my mana. A heartbeat later, and the circle of healed lightning scars expanded a small amount, as my remaining 50,000 and change mana vanished down her metaphorical throat.


    As long as it didn¡¯t become her literal throat, I¡¯d be fine.


    I was eating a moderate distance penalty between myself and Lun¡¯Kat, but the real killer was my piss-poor knowledge of draconic anatomy combined with my healing not being at all attuned towards dragons. My inability to properly know and understand her injuries wasn¡¯t helping, and Lun¡¯Kat was enormous. All of these penalties multiplicatively stacked with each other. Heck, it was practically a miracle that my skills were taking hold and having any sort of impact in the first place!


    I¡¯d also been taking a quick peek at my new and improved level while looking at my status, and even as I watched it was going up.


    My non-existent tombstone would read: ¡°Here lies Elaine. Highest-leveled human healer, her record breaking stayed unknown.¡±


    I quickly looked around me, seeing the pillars of glowing Arcanite. I spent a bit of time thinking about it, hesitated, then figured should head over anyways, and do my thinking along the way. I started walking towards the nearest one, which happened to be near the egg collection.


    I had all the time in the world to think as I was speeding over to the Arcanite, and no matter what I decided to do, I wasn¡¯t staying near Lun¡¯Kat.


    Grabbing mana from Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s Arcanite was arguably suicidal. Squinting at it, looking at it sideways, it was stealing from a dragon. A crime worthy of the death penalty, from all my knowledge on the subject. Other capital crimes I¡¯d committed, according to dragon-lore: Breaking and entering, trespassing, seeing Lun¡¯Kat injured, seeing Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s treasures, and the biggest sin of them all, seeing Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s intimate paintings.


    I¡¯d realized, after all, that was what the picture of her and the other dragon closely entwined were.


    At the same time, it sped the process up significantly. Instead of waiting for all my mana to regenerate, I could get another bout of healing in, which multiplied the speed I was working at by a significant factor. If, say, Lun¡¯Kat woke up once a week to chow down regardless of how hurt she was, I did not want to be in the cave when that happened.


    By the time I reached the Arcanite pillar, my mind was made up. I was in for a coin, I might as well be in for a rod. I¡¯d nick a little bit of mana from the dragon, because it was just going right back into the dragon herself. I was already super dead if I was noticed, and Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s collections indicated a keen, intelligent mind. I could only bank on her deciding ¡°well, maybe I¡¯m short a bit of mana that¡¯ll recharge in a minute, but all that mana went back to healing me, so it¡¯s ok.¡±


    ¡­ Yeah. HA. Like I¡¯d be that lucky. Probably more like ¡°You disgusting selkie how dare you violate my lair and put your grubby paws on my stuff. Dragons just naturally shed their injuries away, don¡¯t you know?¡±


    Then fire, brief screaming, and back into the cycle of Samsara I¡¯d go.


    I touched the pillar, and tried to pull the mana into me. It came, but only with great reluctance, like I was pulling teeth. It did not want to leave, and my thinking was Lun¡¯Kat had somehow super-attuned the Arcanite to herself. It was a shame the pillar wasn¡¯t in the light touching Lun¡¯Kat, otherwise this would be a breeze.


    I hoped she wouldn¡¯t detect my transgressions. If she¡¯d demonstrated having an Arcanite element, I¡¯d be a lot more worried.


    I snuck back over to Lun¡¯Kat, noticing with concern that the moons hadn¡¯t stopped for me and my musings on the subject, and had continued their endless march across the sky. The window where the moonlight was both on Lun¡¯Kat, and low enough to the ground for me to be in it was small to begin with, and while I had high speed to zip around with, it didn¡¯t mean I was going to be full-out sprinting with Lun¡¯Kat here. Good way to knock something over. I was still [Sneaking] around.


    When I finally turned my notifications back on, I was going to get some insane [Sneaking] levels. Rather, I was getting [Sneaking] levels, and everything else, passively, in the background. It¡¯s why my mana pool was steadily increasing in size, along with the amount of magic I could use in a moment.


    I was still invisible, and I had some thinking to do about how and why the gem was still running. Either way, I reached my hand up, nicking the last bit of moonlight that I could, and focused again on healing her lightning-based scars. Another modest patch of them healed, and a full-body ripple went through Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s body.


    I froze in terror, eyes unblinkingly watching her every movement.


    She shifted around, stretching out like a languid cat. My heart was racing as she curled back up into a sleeping ball, moving at what I¡¯d consider normal speed.


    Forget the fact that I was under the effects of [Bullet Time], and every motion I made took an eternity to complete. Lun¡¯Kat just casually moved at such high speeds that it didn¡¯t seem to matter.


    Or rather, I could only half-follow her casual actions thanks to [Bullet Time].


    I stood there frozen for I-don¡¯t-know how many minutes, then finally my mind un-blanked enough for me to sprint-sneak away. Yet, even as I took my first step, Lun¡¯Kat moved again, causing me to freeze - and nearly topple over, as I was still trying to take a sneak-sprint step.


    It didn¡¯t seem like she¡¯d noticed me. No, she simply scratched her side like a cat, scales flaking off the area I¡¯d healed. Then she settled back down, and I resumed my sneaking away.


    I was flat-out of mana, and the moon was no longer in position. I couldn¡¯t do anything more for her. Ok, that wasn¡¯t quite true. I could absolutely fly up to Lun¡¯Kat, touch her nose, and try to heal her that way. It¡¯d be an extremely short healing session, as there was no way in my mind that Lun¡¯Kat wouldn¡¯t be woken up by me touching her. It¡¯d be like a spider crawling across my face while I slept. Absolutely wake me up.


    No, [Oath] demanded that I helped. It didn¡¯t require that I perform suicidal measures to try and restore her faster. A slow and steady healing method - as long as it was reasonable - was fine. Leaving her be for now, waiting for the sun to rise for another session, was good enough.


    Which didn¡¯t mean I could leave the lair, but I¡¯d be damned if I stayed right next to her. If I was in something that vaguely pretended to be a hiding spot, and Lun¡¯Kat, I dunno, had a bad dream and briefly opened her eyes, or went raiding for a midnight snack, I might be out of the way enough for her to not notice, and survive.


    I felt my stomach rumble in a way that would¡¯ve gotten me killed without [Muffle]. Which brought me back to [Muffle], [Invisibility with Eyeholes], and [Tracks-be-gone].


    From everything I could tell and knew, they operated off of ¡°how hard¡± they were working. If I activated [Muffle] then started banging pots and pans, the skill would work hard, then break. There was only so much mana in the gemstone in the first place.


    To contrast, if I activated [Muffle] then was as quiet as a mouse, the skill could last hours, days, if not longer. Hence my focus on physically sneaking around, and not just striding in, trusting the gems to keep me safe.


    In short: It helped smooth over little wrinkles and flaws, and the less noise I made, the less Lun¡¯Kat looked at my invisible form, the better.


    Also, I was starving, and exhausted. I¡¯d been getting chased by the Inevitable Shluggoth before coming here, and it seemed like even that monster had more sense than I did, and wasn¡¯t poking the dragon in her lair. Out of the frying pan, into the maw of the dragon. [Nectar] wasn¡¯t helping, as the boosted regeneration was making me hungry, faster.


    I had quite a few choices where to hide. I had a place in mind to sneak towards though. Tip-toeing through Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair, I rounded a corner into one of the side passages, not clearly visible from the main lair. More importantly, not visible from Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s perch on Mt. Loot.


    The ¡°Orchard room¡±. With dozens of fruiting trees of every type, in neatly arranged dragon-sized rows - the better for Lun¡¯Kat to peruse the current offerings. There were fruits I hadn¡¯t seen since Earth, and a few that I¡¯d seen since being reincarnated here on Pallos. Apples and oranges, bananas and pineapples joined the avocados and cherries, the apricots and coconuts.


    There were things in the chamber. A few tightly twisting spirals of cloud and wind went from tree to tree, bush to bush. On occasion one would release a careful trickle of water, properly watering the plants.


    I didn¡¯t want to use [Long-Range Identify], not when Lun¡¯Kat had already demonstrated that she could sense it. However, between the mini-twisters, and a few other things roaming the room, I had a weak guess what they were.


    I¡¯d never seen or even heard of them before, but I bet they were elementals. Creatures of pure elements, not having any sort of biology or anything, somehow a living, thinking being with no flesh or blood.


    I couldn¡¯t even think how I¡¯d fight one. How did one cut through water? Even if it had no skills of its own, even if it lacked a System, it could simply engulf and drown whoever it wanted to. And there was no way they lacked a System to boot, although I¡¯d bet every last coin I had that they were granted System-access.


    Above the Storm elementals was a Fire, Light, Radiance, Verdant, or some other elemental, acting as a miniature sun. Some mud or ground elementals slowly lumbered down the paths, occasionally patting trees. Lun¡¯Kat groundskeepers.


    A bodacious verdant-green woman, wearing nothing but some leaves and vines, with a crown of flowers in her hair, was ambling through the rows of the orchard with a resigned look. At each tree, she look a look at it, touched a branch or ate a fresh leaf, nodded to herself and moved on.


    My best bet was she was examining them for disease or something, and I tried to hide, to make sure I wasn¡¯t near her line of sight. Just a short time - an eternity later - she reached the largest tree, and vanished into it.


    Was that a dryad?! Did Lun¡¯Kat keep an Immortal protector of trees as a gardener!?


    Her actions drew my attention to the walls of the place, painted a bright blue with some white clouds to mimic the outdoors. That, or it was an illusion - I had a hard time telling, but with Lun¡¯Kat, I could never be sure.


    Bushes of berries lined the walls, invisible from the outside. Strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries were only the start of the vast cornucopia that Lun¡¯Kat was growing.


    Naturally, no bounty would be complete without the goddess of all fruits, the ambrosia, divine perfection in fleshy form. I spotted it past a dozen trees, the bright color of its fruity goodness instantly drawing my eye.


    Mango.


    I didn¡¯t let my gluttony get the better of me, as much as I wanted to. I reached for the forbidden fruit, reasoning to myself that, like the Arcanite, I needed to be able to keep going to heal Lun¡¯Kat.


    My hand on it, greed in my eyes, I was halfway through twisting it off when I froze, despair crashing through me.


    Mangos were the most perfect fruit. Included in their perfection was handy ammo with every fruit, great for braining annoying Rangers. Sure, I¡¯d never managed to hit Julius - he was too fast - but everyone else was fair game. Sadly, the pits meant less edible nectar, but hey! They were still fun.


    However, I had to do something with said pits. My mouth, my teeth, for all my vitality and strength, probably couldn¡¯t just bite through a mango pit. I couldn¡¯t discard it - leaving evidence behind? With my saliva on it? Nooooooo. If Lun¡¯Kat didn¡¯t find it, the dryad would. My only hope would be to bury it in one of the dirt elementals, but maybe they¡¯d take it as an attack.


    I could try to burn it, but it¡¯d smell, and I imagine a dragon - especially one with a lava bath - had anti-fire precautions, along with a good nose for flames and burning things. She clearly wasn¡¯t in a terribly deep slumber, and I was already taking huge risks here.


    I could try to bury the pit, but that was nearly as many problems. I could keep the pit with me, but then [Tracks-be-gone] would be working overtime to keep me alive. It¡¯d break much faster if it needed to preserve a rotting mango pit.


    Time to let go. I thought to myself.


    My treacherous hand wouldn¡¯t release the mango, half-twisted and ready to be popped off. With effort, I forced myself away from the mango, looking at the sub-par offerings before me.


    With a sigh, I forced myself to find other fare. Strawberries, so sweet they felt like the sun kissing my lips with every bite. Blueberries, exploding with flavor on my tongue. Apples, crunchy and filling. The elementals didn¡¯t seem all that bright, but I made sure to perform my filching when none were near, or seemed to be looking at me.


    They all paled before the glory of the almighty MANGO that I knew could be mine. My sweet, delicious mango. Oh, how I missed you so.


    I was totally going to grab one when I left. Lun¡¯Kat surely wouldn¡¯t begrudge me a single fruit, would she? They grew back after all. The mana in the Arcanite restored itself over time, and fruits grew back. Nothing that would be missed over time.


    Either way, I was totally exhausted. I¡¯d think about this more after a good night¡¯s sleep. There literally wasn¡¯t anything else to do, besides wait for the sun to come up, and for me to perform another round of healing on Lun¡¯Kat.


    Sleeping inside the garden with the elementals seemed like a mediocre idea. I snuck out to check out a few more chambers. Each one had elemental helpers though, and I gave up after three, figuring that the garden was one of the least-likely places for the meat-eating Lun¡¯Kat to visit, and the thick and wild growth of the bushes and trees could do more to conceal me than the straight, well-laid out and organized chambers from the other rooms.


    Still, to be safe, I found some thick blueberry bushes in the most isolated corner I could find, and scuttled under them. I instinctively wrapped myself in [Mantle], before realizing - it was past my invisibility skill!


    Terror coursing through my veins, I dropped the skill, not daring to breathe. Had Lun¡¯Kat noticed? Had one of the elementals seen? Would the dryad sound the alarm? Was there some glint of light that had gone off my skill?


    Hang on.


    I¡¯d used a few healing skills already. What was done was done.


    Still, I spent ages staring at the thin branches and ripe berries before I¡¯d calmed down enough. I eventually closed my eyes, and was out like a light.

 Chapter 223.1 - Beneath the Dragon’s Eyes III

    I woke up after a nice, long sleep, and had the urge to do a nice, big stretch and yawn.


    I remembered where, exactly, I was, and immediately clamped down on that instinct. I looked down to where I should be, only to see dirt, some leaves that had fallen on me while I slept, and a few crushed berries.


    I was still invisible - but in my carelessness, I¡¯d left some traces behind. Crushed berries didn¡¯t come out of nowhere, and now I was going to be leaking blue goo, which [Tracks-be-gone] was going to have to work overtime on, reducing the skill¡¯s useful life.


    Heck, thinking about it - traipsing through the garden with barely a care in the world was making [Tracks-be-gone] work extra-hard. A footstep on stone was erased in an instant, practically no mana used. Dirt footsteps?


    Dirt impressions on the ground where I¡¯d been sleeping?


    Oops didn¡¯t begin to cover it.


    I checked that the coast was clear, that no elementals were near and like, looking at me, then I scuttled out from the bushes, carefully not touching any of the branches. I wasn¡¯t fully successful, as not being able to see myself at all didn¡¯t help with the finer points of moving around without touching anything. Still, minimal harm was done. Even as I winced after breaking a ¡°branch¡± of the blueberry bush, I watched it knit and repair itself, the skill working hard.


    I¡¯d need to seriously consider a full stealth class for my 3rd class. Being properly stealthy was invaluable, although my current combination of sneakery was using three different elements at once. Mirage, Sound, and Wood.


    Thoughts for another day.


    However, thoughts for today - I had [Sneaking]. I was willing to bet I¡¯d been offered an upgraded version, even if I couldn¡¯t see the notification yet. I was going to try something crazy.


    I was going to see if I could accept a skill that I hadn¡¯t seen the notification of. After all, I¡¯d technically gotten the new skill - I just hadn¡¯t seen the notification.


    I willed myself to accept the upgraded [Sneaking] skill - making sure I tried to get whatever one was best for the current situation - and took a quick peek at my status.


    [Avoiding The Dragon''s Eyes] met my eye, and I pumped my fist. Eking out little bits of survival, here and there!


    I didn¡¯t think anything else could easily be upgraded, but I¡¯d take what I could get.


    My level was doing good things to boot! Amazing experience here. My [Oath] was also skyrocketing, everything multiplying with each other in the most satisfying way.


    I chewed my lips before coming to a decision. I¡¯d been wearing [Tracks-be-gone] for a while now, and the more time I spent in the orchard the worse it¡¯d be. I was going to be here quite a long time to boot, Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s injuries were extensive, and my healing wasn¡¯t doing much. I took my well-abused backpack, slung it in front of me, and started looting, only hitting up trees and bushes in a direct line between where I¡¯d gone to sleep, and the exit to the orchard.


    Apples made up the bottom layer, followed by oranges and bananas - all fruits that I could eat whole, that wouldn¡¯t leave evidence that [Tracks-be-gone] would need to erase. I wasn¡¯t looking forward to eating the peels, but push was meeting shove and survival was paramount. I sprinkled the top with some softer berries. The entire time I tried to walk softly, to step in areas with harder, more packed dirt. Needing to dodge the occasional elemental was just the cherry on top. Fortunately for me, the dryad wasn¡¯t around right now.


    With one last look of longing at the stand of mango trees, and the forbidden, uneaten fruit, I left the orchard, vowing that I¡¯d get some sort of repayment from Lun¡¯Kat for her effectively denying me gastrointestinal bliss.


    I made my way back to the main lair, where the sun was streaming in from the hole in the ceiling. The sun lit up the floor, slowly moving towards Lun¡¯Kat.


    Thinking about it - I hadn¡¯t tried it before, but could [Wheel of Sun and Moon] work on indirect sunlight?


    I snuck closer to Lun¡¯Kat, and tried to activate the skill, focusing on healing her snout. I had no such luck.


    I looked at the sun, slowly creeping across the floor. I refrained from sighing.


    Being able to work on Lun¡¯Kat twice per day was going to make this take forever, and dramatically increased the risk that she¡¯d wake up, I¡¯d get caught, roast Elaine, yada yada yada.


    Of course, if I went and directly touched her, the same thing would happen. Dragon wakes up, Elaine-on-a-claw, Elaine-in-the-maw, and then I¡¯d see what the afterlife normally looked like. Noooo thank you. If I was that suicidal, I would¡¯ve let the Shluggoth eat me. I was here because I wanted to live.


    No. I was going to do this the slow way. It was [Oath]-approved. She was being actively treated, she was getting better. I was here, and doing what I deemed reasonable to leave both patient and doctor alive and well in the end.


    While I couldn¡¯t directly heal Lun¡¯Kat right now, there were other things I could do. I slowly, carefully circled her, noting every injury I could see. Every cracked scale, every bent horn. The lightning scars and broken wing, the nasty cuts and missing claws.


    For each injury, I catalogued it, then started to make a medical plan. How would I treat it? What was wrong with Lun¡¯Kat? What would be needed to fix it? Each injury, each plan of action, I knew I¡¯d be able to easily retrieve with [Pristine Memories].


    I was maybe a quarter of the way through the process when the sun started to reach Lun¡¯Kat. I stopped my diagnosis, and got into position.


    Lun¡¯Kat had shifted around somewhat, and her tail was now lower on Mt. Loot. It was enough for the sun to reach her sooner, which allowed me to heal her sooner.


    I grabbed the first set of injuries I wanted to handle, and with my pre-made image, immediately blew through all my mana healing it. Without a moment¡¯s hesitation, I sprinted - as softly as I could - over to the Arcanite pillar I¡¯d used last night. I still believed that my [Scintillating Ascent] wings, being made out of Radiance, would destroy my invisibility and strip one of the tiny bits of protection I had. Sure, given Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s incredibly high level, it was probably more like a paper sign saying ¡°Nobody is here¡±, but I never knew. Every little bit helped.


    Then again, there was an argument for blowing my invisibility, and using my wings to fly. I¡¯d be quieter, and faster, which would get me out of here sooner. At the same time, if Lun¡¯Kat stirred, she might notice me as a result, especially with the great big glowing wings, saying ¡°INTRUDER HERE!¡± Lun¡¯Kat was probably the greatest illusionist in the world, and might be able to detect my weak invisibility that I had going for me.


    I didn¡¯t know which decision was correct, but I made it, and I was going to stick with it until new information changed my mind.


    Knowing the little ¡°trick¡± to it, how the Arcanite ¡°resisted¡± and needed a little ¡°twist¡±, I was able to pull mana faster this time, before running back over to Lun¡¯Kat.


    A combination of the sun moving slightly differently across the sky, my pre-planning and determination, and Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s tail being lower on Mt. Loot all in all meant that I got fifteen healing sessions in this time, instead of the two I got in last night.


    Lun¡¯Kat shifted three times while I was healing her. I didn¡¯t let it bother me - she¡¯d either see me, or she wouldn¡¯t. I was dead if she saw me, and alive if she didn¡¯t. I had achieved a state of serenity about it.


    I didn¡¯t draw mana from the pillar while she was moving though. Too risky. She might be able to feel me ¡°tugging¡± on it, and wake all the way up.


    Either way, fifteen rounds of healing later, and the sun¡¯s light was too high for me to reach without flying. It was nicely on Lun¡¯Kat though, and I started to hear dragon-sized purrs come from her as she bathed in the sun.


    First she acted like a princess, now like a cat. It was hard to reconcile her with the living incarnation of terror and destruction I¡¯d seen devastating the countryside.


    Now that I was done healing, I wanted to make myself scarce. Which meant the main lair was out of the question. I¡¯d love to see what she¡¯d done with her herb and flower gardens, but the dirt problem was rearing its ugly head again. That, and I couldn¡¯t possibly justify going there - it would solely be for my own curiosity. It didn¡¯t help Lun¡¯Kat at all.


    No, sadly, tragically, if I wanted to help Lun¡¯Kat I¡¯d need to visit her absolutely massive library. Woe is me. I wanted to see if I could find some books on dragon anatomy, to study them and see if I could improve my healing speed.


    I practically skipped to the library, staying all-too-aware that being too loud could break [Muffle], and that I was still deep in the lair of a dragon. I did throw the occasional [Sunrise] at myself, figuring that I should seize the moment to eke out every last level possible.


    Still! A chance to legitimately look through a dragon¡¯s hoard of knowledge! I was so happy I could sing!


    Naturally, I¡¯d memorized exactly which side-entrance had the books. I approached it, and slowed to a stop.


    Did Lun¡¯Kat guard her knowledge as fiercely as everything else? Were there wards and security on the books? Enchantments to stop bookworms from eating everything? Elementals dusting, and patrolling around?


    Little spells to slap butterflies trying to eat the books, who wanted nothing more than to snack on some delicious knowledge?


    I hesitated, looking around.


    Inscriptions covered large amounts of Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair. Whatever they were doing, they hadn¡¯t detected a pest like me yet. The doorway to the library looked just like every other side-passage in Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair. There wasn¡¯t a layer of special Inscriptions or anything.


    Was getting a chance to see Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s library worth the risk of getting caught and eaten? Couldn¡¯t be riskier than covertly trying to heal A DRAGON!


    I had to stifle a laugh, biting down on my lower lip.


    HA! Of course it was worth the risk!


    I gleefully entered the library, looking up in awe. It was like a normal library, except everything was scaled up to be dragon-sized. The shelves, hallways, scrolls and books were all of a size for Lun¡¯Kat to easily read - which meant they were nearly twice my size, and reinforced to boot. The world¡¯s slowest ball of dust rolled through the hallways, a small, compressed cleaner, the winds being more like a puff of air.


    Grabbing the most powerful elemental around wasn¡¯t always the right call it seemed.


    I had full confidence that I could pull a fairy, or a little mouse, and slowly turn the extra-extra large pages using my full body, one at a time, and read the words inside, drink the tasty nectar of knowledge, all while dodging the questionably alert sentinels.


    I was being careful. I didn¡¯t want to touch anything, not until I¡¯d found what I was looking for. I was an unattended kid in a candy shop, told to only grab one bag of licorice. It wasn¡¯t what I wanted to do, but it¡¯s what I should do.


    Yet, even as I scanned the titles of the books on the lowest level, two things jumped out at me.


    The first was the symbols were completely unrecognizable. I knew how to read, but this was written with an entirely different alphabet. It might be the same language - unlikely - but I was screwed either way if I didn¡¯t know the alphabet.


    The second was the Inscriptions I¡¯d be concerned about. They were written around the edges of every bookshelf, layers of some type of protection near the book. Lun¡¯Kat had placed the protections practically on top of the books, instead of securing the entire library.


    The third, naturally, were any elementals or other guardians Lun¡¯Kat might have around.


    Still. I was undaunted, and had nothing better to do. Then again, given the chance to browse a dragon¡¯s library, I don¡¯t think I¡¯d ever have something better to do.


    The titles on the books remained disappointing, and occasionally there¡¯d be a stack of scrolls on the lower shelf. I tried to see inside of them, to check if they were worth risking the security system or not - for all I knew the ¡®security¡¯ was really just anti-bug, anti-decay Inscriptions - but they were either dark, or written in the same unknown language.


    Up and down the aisles I went, searching for books that I could read. I¡¯d take anything at this point, even if it wasn¡¯t dragon anatomy!


    Although, I really should be focusing on dragon anatomy. It was a little harder to justify why I was here, if it wasn¡¯t to help Lun¡¯Kat.


    Then again - if I was going to die screaming if I was caught either way, why not read a few things to pass the time?


    Row after row, book after book, and I was starting to despair that I¡¯d find anything written in a language I knew. From what I¡¯d gathered, I spoke a language I was calling ¡°Creation¡± - the language all living things who¡¯d been created on Pallos had dumped into their head. As Night had said, he¡¯d been given a full language when created, and it was the reason the dwarves and I shared a tongue.


    I would¡¯ve expected the dragons to also have been born with the language, and assuming Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s moons weren¡¯t hereditary, she¡¯d been around almost as long as Night had. Yet, none of her books were in the language. The only thing I could think of, was that dragons had decided that they didn¡¯t want to speak the same language as everyone else, and invented their own. Or maybe Lun¡¯Kat wrote all her books in a cipher, that only she could understand.


    Either way, as I hit the wall in the library, marking the end of the shelves - I had nothing to read.


    Head low, bitterly cursing Lun¡¯Kat out, I headed back to the main lair. No mangoes. No books. No fun way to pass the time. All this risk, and for what? A few measly levels?

 Chapter 223.2 - Beneath the Dragon’s Eyes III

    I glanced at the open skylight on my way out. Moons were up, and I had some time before they made it to Lun¡¯Kat. I continued circling her, diagnosing the last few injuries I could see, and coming up with a plan of treatment for each of them.


    When the moonlight hit Lun¡¯Kat again, I was ready. I managed to get five full sessions in, before the angle became bad.


    I wandered over to the library, chowing down on my fruits and berries I¡¯d liberated from her garden, finding a little side-corridor that didn¡¯t seem to have elemental cleaners to sleep in. I cursed Lun¡¯Kat as I drifted off to sleep, surrounded by a massive bounty of books that I couldn¡¯t read.


    The next three days went mostly the same. Wake up, check on Lun¡¯Kat. Do a large set of injuries when the sun shone on her, do two smaller sets in the night when the moons peeked in. Explore the lair in-depth. I wasn¡¯t going to get anything out of this, maybe I could make an illicit map, and sell it to someone? A map of her lair had to be worth something.


    As I ran back and forth, from Lun¡¯Kat to the pillar filled with Arcanite, I couldn¡¯t help but notice the egg collection that she had there. From the large dinosaur egg, to the spherical Celestial egg, an egg near the middle I was sure was a Thunderbird egg, to the aquariums, rainbow eggs, red-gold, malformed, and oh, so many different eggs and creatures!


    I wanted one. I¡¯d been wanting a Thunderbird egg for ages, hunting and searching for one. Heck, part of why I¡¯d followed Hunting was to try and get one. Now, there was one in front of me.


    Ah, but was that the best choice? It was a ¡°unique¡± egg, so to speak, an individual egg marked in the collection. It vanishing would be as clear of a sign as any that I¡¯d been around, and taken fair payment.


    No, what was a little more attractive were the clutches of eggs. When there were dozens of eggs as a single ¡°collection¡±, each one identical to the ones next to it? A single missing egg might not be noticed for years or decades. I¡¯d be long gone by then.


    There was a clutch of stone eggs, impossibly still viable. Plain-looking eggs, spotted, striped, eggs made out of wood, eggs that reflected the world around them. Eggs as blue as the sky, as hot as a volcano. Tiny little caviar in aquariums.


    There were no large eggs in clusters. There wasn¡¯t a point.


    Sometimes, when I was bored between healing sessions, I reviewed the eggs in my mind, looking over them. Wondering.


    I was looking for a companion, and, well, it was like I¡¯d been offered a one-stop-shop for options. If I was told that literally every egg in creation was present, I¡¯d believe whoever told me that.


    Then, of course, there were Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s eggs. Clutched protectively in her grasp, Lun¡¯Kat was always on top of them. Protecting them with her lair, her security, and even her physical body. Arguably the most powerful eggs in creation.


    I did more than just lust over eggs. I did more than just daydream about riding the unicorn over hills and meadows. I spent significant time in the library, hedging my bets against Lun¡¯Kat cracking an eye open and looking around. I used [Sunrise] now and then, grinding the level in a high-danger situation.


    I did find a section with books written in Creation. They were my size, and high up on a shelf, behind solid glass. Quite a few more books, scrolls, steles, and tablets were in that section, and in my sheer boredom I looked at them, comparing the letters to each other.


    There were at least a half-dozen different languages present, of which I only spoke one. Still, I didn¡¯t have much else to do besides look at the books. Lun¡¯Kat was getting more and more energetic and restless with each healing session, and I was resigned to my fate at this point. I didn¡¯t like it, but it was inevitable.


    The sun rose on what I hoped was the last day. Almost all of Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s injuries had been healed. The only thing left was her broken wing. Setting the bone was going to take huge amounts of mana, and was probably going to hurt as the bones shifted around. It was the first time in years I¡¯d been wanting to use my old anti-pain skill, and I was mildly regretting ditching it.


    Then again, it had been the right choice at the time. Just - not having it right now might be the death of me, which sucked.


    Pain meant waking up, and I could only hope at this stage, with the number of injuries I¡¯d healed, with the number of scars removed, tissue sewn together, and claws restored that Lun¡¯Kat would recognize what I¡¯d done, and show mercy upon me.


    I got into position as the sun hit. With the way Lun¡¯Kat was curled up, her injured wing was away from me, as far away as possible. With a quirk of magic, that didn¡¯t matter - all that mattered was how close the nearest body part was to me.


    I¡¯d been saving the wing for last. Whether Lun¡¯Kat had partially set it herself, or if it had only been slightly broken in the first place was irrelevant. Either way, I didn¡¯t think the bone would require large amounts of effort, but the tattered wings needed fixing.


    I¡¯d never studied a book on bat anatomy, and what I vaguely remembered was forming the basis of my image. I wasn¡¯t expecting efficiency here. Just blood, muscle, scales, wings needed to be whole and hale. I did fix the broken bones first though, which only took a session and a half, the dragon blessedly not stirring through it. Lun¡¯Kat - or rather, the flow of time and natural healing - had already fixed some of it.


    The wings only took two more sessions, and like a proud painter, I took a moment to admire my work, my masterpiece of healing.


    I frowned.


    No, I wasn¡¯t quite done, now was I? I¡¯d fixed everything external, but for all I knew there were internal injuries, and Lun¡¯Kat could be sick for all I knew. How was I just thinking of this now? I was a better healer than that. I was a dumbass.


    I made a quick plan and review as I went to get another round of mana. I wanted to hit all the unlikely things first, before working on properly fixing her internals.


    I decided to hit diseases first. Bacteria purge, I lost a few thousand mana. Basically nothing, considering the scales I was working on. She¡¯d been almost entirely healthy. Virus? A hair short of ten thousand. Again, nice and easy. Prions didn¡¯t cause my mana to flicker at all, and fungus was in the low hundreds. All numbers that were close to insignificant.


    Poison though? Yikes.


    Blew through a full heal, and part of a second one. Lun¡¯Kat immediately settled down further, and a deep, rhythmic rumbling emanated from her.


    She was purring. The poison must¡¯ve been doing a number on her.


    I grabbed another set of mana, and started working on her internals. My images were terrible. I imagined healthy organs of all sorts, then tried to twist the image to be dragon-shaped organs, with a rough approximation of what they should look like. I then applied the ¡°heal¡± concept to them, instead of having more specific fixes in mind.


    I¡¯d never appreciated until now just how hard it was for regular healers. They needed to try and heal without a good image all the time. It helped explain why I was so many cuts above other healers. Forgetting stats for a moment, I could heal three, four, ten people with the same mana they needed to heal one person.


    Well, the shoe was on the other foot, and I was more determined than ever to spread my Medical Manuscripts around.


    I finished the sixth round of healing Lun¡¯Kat, noticing that finally, I hadn¡¯t used all my mana. I smiled to myself as I lazily jogged over to the pillar of Arcanite, planning on topping myself up before I took flight, and got out of here. The lair was entirely silent. Dreams of freedom, of flying through the sky were dancing through my head, as I felt a powerful rumble behind me.


    Hang on. Silent? Lun¡¯Kat wasn¡¯t purring anymore?


    I froze, hearing Lun¡¯Kat get up, Mt. Loot shifting and turning as she moved.


    Why?! Why now?! Why couldn¡¯t she snooze for a few more minutes!?


    A flash of heat erupted behind me, and I closed my eyes, making peace with my fiery demise. However, flames didn¡¯t wash over me. Instead, I heard soft padding, and rapidly rising heat heralded another blast of dragonfire, and ripping, tearing, and swallowing noises followed. Lun¡¯Kat was raiding the fridge after a long nap.


    I took the opportunity to slip behind the pillar of Arcanite, hoping that I¡¯d be hidden from casual view if Lun¡¯Kat could see through my [Invisibility with Eyeholes] gem. Heck, I blew the second one just in case. It was no time to be frugal.


    I stared at the eggs in front of me, tempting me. The ones in the front of the collection were within arm¡¯s reach. I¡¯d just need to reach out to grab one.


    I used all my willpower to keep my hands to myself, to refrain.


    Still, some soft padding later, a few big gulps of water, more soft padding, and the purring noises started back up.


    I peeked around the corner. Lun¡¯Kat had migrated to her bed, her real overly furred, extra-luxurious bed, and settled down for what looked to be a ¡°good¡± sleep. She hadn¡¯t noticed that she¡¯d been healed. She probably just thought she¡¯d slept off whatever injuries she had at long last, and was getting some more sleep in.


    Or maybe she did notice, and assumed someone she knew had done it. I dunno what was going through her mind. I didn¡¯t particularly care, I just wanted to get out.


    My eyes wandered around the lair, immediately noticing a change. Her eggs, three perfect dragon¡¯s eggs, were now in a brazier, flames merrily playing around them.


    I licked my lips. I wanted one of those eggs. I could see it now. [Dragonrider] Elaine. From the looks of it, dragons were immortal to boot. I wouldn¡¯t need to worry about my companion aging and dying on me, like Night¡¯s had.


    I clapped my head with both hands.


    Stealing a dragon¡¯s egg was moronic. Catastrophically, absolutely, obscenely idiotic. There weren¡¯t enough words to describe how much of a bad idea it was. Lun¡¯Kat would probably stop at nothing to get her babies back. I wouldn¡¯t mess with a bear protecting her cubs, I¡¯d imagine Lun¡¯Kat would be worse than a momma bear.


    Still, my greedy little heart wanted something. I¡¯d been denied books, written in another language or locked behind glass. I¡¯d been denied mangoes, with too much evidence left behind after I ate one. I¡¯d gotten nothing but heartache and grief, and blown tons of expensive gems. I¡¯d lost my last mementos of Magic. I¡¯d done what would be incredibly expensive healing for anyone else. I could¡¯ve charged a king¡¯s ransom for what I¡¯d done, and Lun¡¯Kat could easily pay it.


    I totally deserved a little something for my healing. I wasn¡¯t about to go rummaging about Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair, but, well. She hadn¡¯t noticed the mana I¡¯d used to heal her, or the food I¡¯d needed to eat to keep healing her, or the library I¡¯d checked through to see if I could improve my healing speed on her. An egg as repayment was just part of healing. Healers needed mana, food, knowledge - and pay.


    Her entire egg collection was right in front of me. I didn¡¯t spend a lot of time thinking and ruminating over what to grab. The little red eggs, with golden cracks running through them were in the front, in a place of honor. They had to be extremely valuable to make it ahead of everything else, to be in the top nine eggs. They were also a clutch, which meant one or two eggs vanishing might not be noticed for quite a long time, if ever. The original owners might not be looking for them, if they knew a dragon had them.


    I impulsively reached out and grabbed one of the eggs, almost dropping it in surprise.


    It was hot.


    I activated [Scintillating Ascent], and quietly, quickly, made myself scarce.


    Besides, there was one last dumb reason I¡¯d picked this egg in particular.


    Red was totally my color.

 Chapter 224 - Flying Free

    I exploded out of Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair, immediately tumbling and falling to the ¡°ground¡± as my wings shattered against her protective illusion. I tumbled and rolled on the hard rocks, not a shred of evidence that it was a massive illusion instead of natural rock present. I stabilized into a roll, then as my feet got under me I kicked up and re-launched myself with [Scintillating Ascent], into the blue sky.


    Soaring in the air, feeling the wind in my hair, and the sun on my face for the first time in months. No longer was I trapped in the mines! No longer was I a prisoner in the dwarven city! No more playing doctor to a genocidal dragon!


    Free!


    I was free!


    Free to fly in the sky! My eyes burned and forced themselves into a hard squint as I saw full sunlight for the first time in months. I continued to fly away from Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair, flapping at full speed, pale skin crisping in the summer sunlight for the first time in ages. I felt little shivers go through my body as [Scintillating Ascent] rapidly leveled up, the minor ¡®transformation¡¯ aspect to it working its literal magic on my body.


    Ok, mostly free. I looked down at the precious egg I¡¯d nabbed from the dragon¡¯s lair. It was a deep, fiery red, with bright golden lines crossing over it. It was warm, almost burning to the touch. One more flap, and [Bullet Time] broke, time resuming its normal march.


    Thinking back on it - shit. How was I supposed to hatch this egg? Did I need to keep it warm? Lun¡¯Kat stuck her eggs in a firepit while she napped, should I do the same?


    At the same time, the egg hadn¡¯t been in a fire in her lair - but she clearly had some sort of stasis field, freezing things in place. Like the unicorn foal. I had no idea what that meant for hatching said egg though. Had it ruined things? Or was the stasis a proper stasis?


    Argh! This was hard. I guess I was going to try and match the temperature the egg gave off with my Radiance. It would stop it from losing heat too fast, and was hopefully where the egg needed or wanted to be. I would be so pissed if I got the egg of some fantastical creature, then ruined it by being totally clueless how this worked. I wanted to get a companion out of this, not a hardboiled egg.


    I wonder what would be inside though? Given the place of honor in Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s collection, given that it was next to a unicorn of all creatures, it had to be something good. My greedy little heart wanted it to be a red dragon, a heist Lun¡¯Kat had pulled against one of her own.


    I carefully adjusted the temperature my hands were giving out to the egg, and once I¡¯d worked it out, I tied it off with [Persistent Casting].


    Which reminded me - I needed to check on my new levels! I should¡¯ve gotten a TON!


    I turned my notifications back on.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [The Dawn Sentinel] has leveled up to level 377->418! +3 Dexterity, +24 Speed, +24 Vitality, +170 Mana, +170 Mana Regen, +48 Magic power, +48 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    LEVELS! A ton of levels for a single healing event! Sure, I¡¯d imagine that healing a dragon would be worth more than that, but maybe ¡°healing a potentially Remus-ending threat¡± got me dinged on the ¡°Sentinel¡± aspect of the job.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Butterfly Mystic] has leveled up to level 338->345! +8 Strength, +8 Dexterity, +70 Speed, +70 Vitality, +70 Mana, +70 Mana Regen, +70 Magic power, +70 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Strength, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    Booo. Not a lot of levels. Then again, the only Radiance magic I¡¯d used was flying away, and trying to acquire some dragon knowledge.


    I continued to suppress my capped skills notifications. They just weren¡¯t that interesting. No, what was significantly more interesting were the rest of my levels.


    No [Cosmic Presence] levels made me sad. If only I¡¯d permitted creatures in the aura when I was building the skill, it probably would¡¯ve capped. Along with getting me out that much faster. Prolonged time multiplying Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s natural healing? Yes please!


    [*ding!* [Wheel of Sun and Moon] has leveled up! 311 -> 395!]


    No surprise there! I¡¯d been using it a TON.


    [*ding!* [Sunrise] has leveled up! 198 -> 344!]


    Grinding [Sunrise] when I¡¯d been bored between healing sessions paid off!


    [*ding!* [Scintillating Ascent] has leveled up! 287 -> 312!]


    All that from one escape flight? Nice!


    [*ding!* [Scintillating Ascent] has leveled up! 312 -> 313!]


    Oh shit. That was a good reminder that I wasn¡¯t clear yet, and I was still in Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s territory.


    I focused a bit more on my speed and flying, upping the pace a bit.


    [*ding!* [Long-Range Identify] has leveled up! 368 -> 370!]


    [*ding!* [Pristine Memories] has leveled up! 210 -> 215!]


    Comparing books and runes in my head worked out! I should try remembering Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair, and drawing it. That might be good for some more levels.


    [*ding!* [Sneaking] has leveled up! 211 -> 270!]


    [*ding!* [Avoiding The Dragon¡¯s Eyes] has leveled up! 270 ->341!]


    Avoiding the Dragon¡¯s Eyes: The mighty dragon is the most powerful creature on Pallos, and their hoards are famous for being places of amazing treasure. In order to survive sneaking through their home, you¡¯ll need to Avoid the Dragon¡¯s Eyes. Improved and increased sneaking abilities per level when trying to avoid a dragon¡¯s notice, and when a dragon is looking for you.


    Well. I can¡¯t say I was disappointed by it - I¡¯m certain the skill helped keep me alive - but now the skill was almost entirely dead. I didn¡¯t plan on avoiding too many more dragons. It was going to suck losing the skill, and replacing it with something else.


    Ok, sure, there was a slim chance that Lun¡¯Kat could actually see through the gigantic eyes she painted over the moon, in which case the skill was top-tier. And I did have something to hide from her.


    I glanced down at the egg I was holding.


    Totally worth it. I now, potentially, maybe had a companion, and an open skill slot. The two were practically made for each other.


    A bit strange that the skill didn¡¯t cap though.


    [*ding!* [Bullet Time] has leveled up! 299 ->418!]


    Living under the effects of [Bullet Time] for a week would do that I guess.


    [*ding!* [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has leveled up! 316 ->375!]


    Jackpot! Willingly walking to my death to heal a deadly monster paid off in spades! My numbers were going to be insane! I couldn¡¯t wait to check them.


    [*ding!* [Persistent Casting] has leveled up! 290 ->291!]


    Meh. I¡¯ll take it.


    Cripes, how jaded was I? Getting levels far higher than the vast majority of the Remus population, and my reaction was ¡°meh.¡± Going out to explore the wider world had done a number on my worldview.


    [*ding!* [Passionate Learning] has leveled up! 358 ->376!]


    Rummaging through Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s stuff, being curious and trying to learn everything I could got rewarded!


    I had no doubt that [Passionate Learning]¡¯s massive experience boost helped with everything. Heck, if I didn¡¯t have the skill, I¡¯d be at what, half my current level? Give or take?


    Probably not quite that bad, but I couldn¡¯t deny that it was useful, and one of the key cornerstones to my success. I had to let other people know. Specifically Artemis. Her school was the perfect place for that kind of stuff! If her students got famous for being high-level, that¡¯d help her out.


    [*ding!* [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority] has leveled up! 377 ->395!]


    [*ding!* For reaching level 400, you¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [The Stars Never Fade]. Would you like to take this skill? Y/N]


    The Stars Never Fade: You burn as brightly as the twinkling stars in the heavens above. Like the eternal sky, so too will you be eternal, turning back the wheel of time on yourself and those you choose. You have fought disease, injury, plague, war, and all other manner of death. Now fight the good fight against the implacable enemy who takes all - Time. Immortality skill. Reverts age back to a chosen time. Minimum age of 8. Decreased cooldown per level, increased age target control per level.


    OH FUCK ME! YES! Yes, I want this skill!


    Nothing happened, and I felt my heart plunge into my toes. I slowed my flight, just hovering there as creeping dread came over me.


    Oh shit. What if I was too late? Skills only lasted so long once they were offered. What if it was too late? What if I¡¯d lost my chance at being immortal, just because I had my notifications off? What if-


    No wait, I was an idiot. I needed to tell the system what skill to replace.


    Wait, shoot, what did I want to remove. Um. [Dance with the Heavens] was out, I probably needed [Celestial Affinity], um, um, um. Wait, yeah, there we go. That was the skill to remove.


    I focused on getting the skill, and losing [Solar Infusion] for it.


    My heart paused for a terrifying moment, the fear of missing my one shot at Immortality rising.


    Although - maybe I could ask Night nicely if he¡¯d make me a vampire? Sure, there were a ton of downsides, but I could totally pull off the hot vampire look.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve acquired the skill [The Stars Never Fade]]


    YES! Old age was defeated! All I needed to do was get home before anyone I knew or loved died of old age, and I¡¯d be set.


    Or died in a war. Like the civil war that had probably already started, but I was told to stay out of it. I needed to do some serious thinking soon about where I needed to go next, and what to do next.


    I was tempted to try the skill on myself, but a few things gave me momentary pause.


    First, I was pretty happy with my age. 20 was a fine number, heck, 30, 40 were also pretty good numbers. I might start considering at, like, 50 or 60, depending on what my vitality did to my aging, but either way I was already at the lower end of what I was happy with.


    Which brought me to the second point. ¡°increased age target control per level¡± implied that I couldn¡¯t quite exactly control how young I became. I¡¯d die of embarrassment if I ended up at, like 10 years old again. Being reincarnated already kinda sucked in some respects. When I was a kid, I got treated like a kid, and I had felt myself mentally slide back into a kid¡¯s mentality. A combination of how I was treated, and the hardware I was working with.


    Puberty sucked. I¡¯d already done it twice. I wasn¡¯t risking doing it a third time.


    Lastly, there was the conversation I¡¯d had with Night, way back when. He¡¯d mentioned that all Immortal races were cursed by White Dove. I wasn¡¯t sure if winding back time on myself would count as Immortality - after all, I could still die of old age, and plain old violence - but the skill did mention Immortality. Playing around with a skill, just for White Dove to visit me again and curse me, didn¡¯t seem great. Especially if I got some ridiculous, over-the-top curse like ¡°dirt now melts me like lava¡± or ¡°Can¡¯t cross running water¡±, or ¡°must forever dance¡± or ¡°get turned into a newt¡± or some other ridiculous curse.


    No, the skill was going to stay at level 1 for now. I took a look at my status.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 20]


    [Mana: 409320/409320]


    [Mana Regen: 338381 (+353806.125)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 89]


    [Strength: 942]


    [Dexterity: 1462]


    [Vitality: 11118]


    [Speed: 11118]


    [Mana: 40932]


    [Mana Regeneration: 41021 (+35380.6125)]


    [Magic Power: 18094 (+339262.5)]


    [Magic Control: 18094 (+339262.5)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 418]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 418]


    [Cosmic Presence: 286]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 1]


    [Center of the Universe: 418]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 418]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 418]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 418]


    [Sunrise: 344]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 345]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 345]


    [Radiance Resistance: 345]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 345]


    [Lantern: 345]


    [Nectar: 345]


    [Sun''s Heart: 345]


    [Scintillating Ascent: 313]


    [Kaleidoscope: 345]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 370]


    [Pristine Memories: 215]


    [Avoiding The Dragon''s Eyes: 341]


    [Bullet Time: 418]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 375]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 395]


    [Persistent Casting: 290]


    [Passionate Learning: 376]

 Chapter 225 - Free Butterfly

    I cursed up a storm at discovering my missing Sentinel badge. I descended back down to the ground, to where I¡¯d landed. I carefully examined the ground beneath me.


    I wasn¡¯t lucky enough for my badge to have fallen where I landed, oh no.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Lost and Found]! Would you like to replace a skill with it? Y/N]


    [Lost and Found], my old friend! More useful when I had more stuff to worry about. Still, I had something lost I needed to find, and while I didn¡¯t quite have a spare general skill slot, [Avoiding the Dragon¡¯s Eyes] was close enough to dead to consider it.


    I flew up into the air, to get a grasp of how large of a task was in front of me.


    It was about a kilometer from where I was to the base of the mountain I¡¯d been thrown off of. I needed to find something gold and reflective that was about the size of my hand, that could be in a wide path from where the stone sheep had landed - like half a kilometer behind me - to where on the mountain I¡¯d been thrown from.


    Shit.


    I¡¯d need every bit of help I could get.


    Plus, I was totally going to replace [Avoiding the Dragon¡¯s Eyes] with a companion skill, hopefully soon. Why not do it now? I could even swap between skills for some time, grab whatever I needed that would help.


    I took the skill, ditching [Avoiding the Dragon¡¯s Eyes]. Losing the skill sucked - I doubled over and hurled, carpet-vomit-bombing the dinosaurs below, who didn¡¯t seem to care.


    At level 1, [Lost and Found] wasn¡¯t doing much for me, but as I leveled it up, hopefully it¡¯d help.


    The remains and the outline of the sheep¡¯s attack wouldn¡¯t last terribly long, not with all the dinosaurs roaming the savanna. Which was another confounder - if a dinosaur stepped on the badge, it could drive it deep into the dirt, making it almost impossible to find.


    Still, it wasn¡¯t an impossible task.


    I flew around the area, keeping a weather eye out, while burning markers with Radiance, outlining the huge field where I believed my badge could be. I then flew along it slowly, keeping my eyes open while burning a grid pattern into the ground.


    It took me four passes to get everything set. The brachys gave me a hard time, being too large to give a fuck about the small flying burning thing hovering around. The other dinosaurs thankfully scattered when my rays showed up.


    I got the entire field scoured and marked, a classic grid search pattern.


    I then flew over to the square I¡¯d arbitrarily marked as ¡°A1¡±, and got to work.


    Seven weeks. It took seven bloody weeks to find my Sentinel badge again. More than once I¡¯d considered leaving it behind, and going ¡°whoops, my bad¡± when I finally made it back to Remus. Especially with Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair nearby. It had probably been foolish to stick around, but, well, there was a whole herd of animals here, an entire ecosystem.


    But no. It meant too much to me. It was too important for me to just leave behind, not when it was merely lost, and not utterly destroyed or something. I found it one night as I was bathing the unchecked squares in [Lantern]. I finally got lucky, and saw a shiny reflection from the ground. I swooped down, picking it up, and thanking all the deities that Lun¡¯Kat hadn¡¯t left her lair.


    More likely, she¡¯d left while invisible, not wanting to announce the presence of her home to the world. Or she¡¯d traveled through her portal, or she had some other way of getting out.


    I kept the egg nestled under one arm the entire time, pouring heat into it. It was practically second nature at this point, helped with [Persistent Casting]. Sure, I was basically down an arm, but it wasn¡¯t like I had the weapons to use the arm. Just made camping a little awkward.


    Speaking of, I¡¯d set up on top of one of the brachys. It had some element - Arcanite or Gemstones was my bet - which made crystals grow out of its hide. It made a nice place for me to nestle in and rest at night, with the crystals both stopping me from rolling off, and stopping anything extra-big from hitting me. I feasted on leftover dinosaur - the small ones were tasty! - then had a nice, long rest before the travels ahead of me.


    The next morning, with my badge found and re-attached, it was time to go. I¡¯d already decided that I was heading north. I¡¯d hopefully hit the ocean, unless the weather and terrain got too tropical. Then I¡¯d head east. It¡¯d be arrogant to assume the ocean spanned the entire world. For all I knew, the continent looked like an L or something.


    Unless I found some reason not to return to Remus. It was complicated, but right now I couldn¡¯t think of a single other thing to do besides return home.


    I had a large breakfast, eating most of my leftover dinosaur. It was easier to fly with it in my stomach after all. I packed the remains in my bag, then launched myself up. I used the sun to orient myself northish, and started flying.


    Flying! Flying never got old. It never got boring. It had everything I¡¯d loved about running, without being constrained by the ground. I was free to soar, to twirl and glide. I could flutter, flit, and flap my way across the sky! Nothing could hold me back, nothing could restrain me! The sun in my face, the wind in my hair, flying was glorious. I angled my wings to catch a breeze, launching me high up into the sky, where I then dove down, swooping towards the ground at a dizzying speed, only to catch myself on the air and fly right back up!


    Flying! The only things better than flying were mangoes and books, but I didn¡¯t have either of those. Plus, none of them had the long-term staying power that flying did.


    I could almost literally fly forever to boot! Between my insane regeneration, and [Sunrise], I could go a loooooooooong time. Not that I was planning to. Not again.


    My top speed wasn¡¯t anything impressive, but it did remind me that my skill was upgradeable, mostly by studying butterflies and birds.


    I almost facepalmed as I realized I¡¯d potentially missed a chance to study a dragon flying. What sort of stupidly powerful upgrades would that have granted me?


    Then again, in order to do that I would¡¯ve needed to risk myself even further, which wasn¡¯t quite what I wanted.


    Where did my all-too-reasonable fear of dragons go? I watched Lun¡¯Kat destroy a country with more-or-less a single skill, and here I was thinking about studying how she flew to improve my own abilities.


    I tried to shake my head, mentally reset myself. Familiarity bred contempt, and I¡¯d spent too long in Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair, sneaking around her sleeping form. I¡¯d seen her up close and personal, I¡¯d seen her pictures, her treasured mementos. She wasn¡¯t an unknown, terrifying monster in my mind.


    She should be! My lack of fear, my lack of respect towards her and her capabilities would get me killed SO FAST.


    I looked around for birds. A murder of crows was nesting in some of the scraggly trees, while a few hawks soared on thermals. I spotted a sneaky dimorphodon poking its head out, keeping an eye on the savanna I was flying over.


    I tried to chase some of the hawks, to shake them and make them give up their secrets, but they wanted nothing to do with the giant glowing lunatic butterfly.


    Wise birds.


    Still didn¡¯t stop me from pausing and observing them for some time. I wasn¡¯t quite sure, but it seemed like my wings got a little lighter, and the next time I hit a warm updraft of air, it felt like I was going up a bit faster. That I could hover in place a tad longer. I hadn¡¯t calculated all the numbers, I had no way of timing and recording stuff, so I couldn¡¯t say for sure that it was the case.


    No levels in [Scintillating Ascent]


    I figured one animal was good enough for the day, and I found a place to camp for the night. Not having any camping gear kinda sucked.


    The next day the cycle resumed, and I figured I could take enough time every day to study one bird or another. I was in no rush, and I might see animals I wouldn¡¯t see again for some time.


    I wanted to see the aerial acrobatics of crows next, and that was one heck of a mistake. They were fairly content to hang out in their trees, and when I rustled it, trying to get them to do something?


    Yeah, they figured I was attacking them, and mobbed the crap out of me. I could¡¯ve lasered them all to death, but that felt like an extra-dick move, so instead I just fled, crows pecking at my shield the entire way.


    I didn¡¯t even notice an improvement in my flying, but maybe it¡¯d done something subtle. Probably not though - the skill did mention ¡®studying¡¯, which I hadn¡¯t done at all.


    Ah well. Onwards.


    I spent a day stalking a dragonfly, trying to get my wings to mimic its crazy buzzing. At the end of it, I was fairly certain I¡¯d upgraded my skill a bit, but I wasn¡¯t quite sure how. I resolved to put myself through a full set of paces, to see exactly what I had, and then repeat the exercises whenever I studied an animal, to see if I¡¯d managed to improve things.


    Even then, I was only one person, without Sky to provide feedback. I was probably missing moves.


    I let myself get distracted, and studied a second animal as I found a butterfly for the first time! I must¡¯ve spent three hours stalking and watching the butterfly, blowing an Anchisaurus that got a little too curious into a dozen well-roasted pieces.


    The butterfly was sadly common, with no special traits, and I didn¡¯t get anything from it. I did get a lovely meal though, and chasing the butterfly around was just plain fun. It felt like being a kid again, no worries, no fears, no monsters lurking around the corner. No crushing presence of rock and stone threatening to bury me alive. Just good clean fun.


    Alone.


    In the wilderness.


    Hundreds to thousands of miles from home.


    The thought was like a bucket of cold water.


    A few days later, and as the sun was setting over a forest I now found myself over, I spotted familiar tendrils of wispy black smoke. Someone had a campfire going! I figured I¡¯d fly over and see if I could say hi. The odds that we spoke the same language were low, but I could always try body language, and the old standby - pointing and charades. All language shared a similar root, which would help, and I¡¯d hopefully pick up any new languages quickly with [Passionate Learning].


    The trick was to not get totally blasted into oblivion by whoever was there. I wouldn¡¯t blame people for being twitchy, not with the sheer volume of monsters that regularly roamed. I lit myself up with [Lantern] - not too bright, I didn¡¯t want to look like a sun was landing, AKA an attack, just making sure I was bright enough to be seen coming from a distance.


    I followed the smoke, and saw a group of three people in a comfortable campsite around a fire. They had three large huts, simple and made out of dark stone, beautifully carved chairs, even a small table with a spread of food. A couple of large barrels had fires burning under them, with all manner of copper tubes weaving between them. There wasn¡¯t a wagon or anything else like that I could see. A large wolf was playing tug-of-war with the woman, while a strange white rope was coiled on a rock.


    Of course, there were the people themselves. Two men, one woman. They were beautiful - there was no other word for it. They were otherworldly divine, the Platonic ideal of what bodies should be and faces should look like. The woman was in light leathers, one man was in totally impractical robes, and the second man was in casual clothing.


    The two men had looked up at the approaching light, while the woman was busy playing tug-of-war with the wolf.


    Two more features caught my eye as I got closer.


    First, they all had horns. Impractical-robe dude had short stubby little horns, like a goat. Tug-of-war woman had a majestic set, like an ibex, huge and curling back, while the casual clothing dude had horns that curled back around his ears, like a bighorn sheep.


    Speaking of ears, they also caught my attention. They were long and slender, and I could feel excitement welling up inside of me as I saw them, a few casual comments about ¡°pointy horns¡± dropped by the dwarves suddenly clicking into place.


    Elves!

 Chapter 226 - A campfire meeting

    I hovered above the elves, not really quite sure how to greet them, or what I should do next. They looked up at me, and I figured I¡¯d start with a standard greeting.


    ¡°Hi!¡± I called out, giving them a wave, diminishing my Radiance. They could see me after all.


    The elves glanced at each other, even the woman playing tug-of-war with her wolf paused. The white ¡°rope¡± on the rock got up, flapped over to the casually dressed elf, and wrapped itself around his arm.


    ¡°Greetings.¡± The fancily-dressed one called out, with a strange, clipped accent. ¡°Who - and what - are you?¡± He asked, voice filled with curiosity. There was no hostility, no concern, no worries.


    Progress! Greetings!


    ¡°Heya! My name¡¯s Elaine. I¡¯m a human, from Remus. Who are you?¡± I asked, hovering above the absolute visions of perfection. I didn¡¯t want to get too close until I knew them a bit better. I ID¡¯d them quickly.


    [Warrior] - The ginger-haired woman with the massive horns. She looked as strong as a bull to boot!


    [Mage] - The impractical robes and short horned blond. Why was I not surprised?


    [Ranger] - The casually dressed dude with the bighorn sheep horns emerging from pitch black hair.


    The mage was a little behind the other two, but all three were massively powerful. Not quite as strong as Hakka had been, but stronger than any human I¡¯d seen. It was hard to pin their level exactly, but they had all three of their classes.


    The Ranger seemed to make a decision.


    ¡°Yo! My name¡¯s Aegion, I¡¯m the Ranger here! We¡¯re all elves from the Tympestshard Council! Come on down and have a drink!¡±


    His accent was also strangely clipped, and the other two elves turned on him, fiercely whispering in rapid, quiet words among the three of them.


    Given their seeming reluctance, combined with their high levels, I wasn¡¯t going to poke too much. I did fly a bit lower though.


    Finally, they seemed to reach a decision.


    ¡°Heya! Come join us!¡± The woman called out. ¡°Always fun to meet fellow adventurers, no matter where they¡¯re from!¡±


    Oh no. Oh no oh no OH NO. They were adventurers! Scum of the earth! Source of all villainy!


    They were also incredibly hot elves, and something smelled amazing. Who was I to say no?


    I landed, continuing to clutch my egg protectively, and being a Sentinel was totally awesome.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [The Dawn Sentinel] has leveled up to level 418->419! +3 Dexterity, +24 Speed, +24 Vitality, +170 Mana, +170 Mana Regen, +48 Magic power, +48 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    Huzzah! I focused on what I was doing.


    A round of introductions started.


    ¡°I¡¯m Awarthril!¡± The tall woman said, extending her hand for me to shake. She was a head and a half taller than me, and was even better-looking up close. Like, WOW. My definition of ¡°beauty¡± was entirely redefined as I kept my eyes studiously locked on her ever-changing eyes. Blue, hazel, green, purple, red, grey - her eyes shifted through every color, some natural, some less so. The classic mark of a Mirage Classer. I took her hand, and felt her move it up and down. Her grip was gentle, her movements slow, but there wasn¡¯t a single shred of doubt that she had my hand in its entirety, and that none of the movements I was making were making a shred of difference in what she was doing. She was strong.


    ¡°This here is Kiyaya!¡± She said, affectionately rubbing on the massive wolf¡¯s head, who came up to me.


    I hadn¡¯t appreciated just how stupidly large Kiyaya was when I was in the air. He was literally eye-level with me, with a jaw big enough to stick my entire head in, with teeth sharp enough and muscles strong enough to then casually rip my head off.


    He gave me the great big goofy tongue-lolling look that dogs did so well, then gave my face a sloppy lick. It was incredibly ticklish, and caused me to laugh.


    ¡°Can I pet him?¡± I asked, getting a nod and a hidden smile back. I started to scratch Kiyaya, in the same way I used to pet Moonmoon back at Ranger Academy. She thumped her foot happily - which was a little scary, given her claws and the size.


    ¡°Awww, who¡¯s the best little wolf?¡± I cooed over her. ¡°Yes it¡¯s you!¡±


    Kiyaya gave me another lick at that, and I glimpsed Awarthril¡¯s approving smile.


    ¡°Anyways, I¡¯m a Mirage-Ooze-Mantle Warrior.¡± She explained. I¡¯d never heard of that combination before. Heck, I hadn¡¯t heard anyone theorize it either. Mirage? Ooze? Ok, Mantle I could see.


    ¡°How does that work?¡± I asked, curious.


    She glanced at Aegion, who grinned back.


    ¡°One mug!¡± He called out.


    ¡°A quarter of a mug.¡± Awarthril countered.


    ¡°Half a mug and two candies.¡± Aegion replied back, so fast it must¡¯ve been prepared.


    ¡°Half a mug and one candy.¡± Awarthril said with an eyeroll.


    ¡°Deal!¡±


    I was totally lost, but the elves weren¡¯t. They cleared a space for Aegion to stand in the middle of. As he passed me, he whispered.


    ¡°I would¡¯ve settled for Awarthril to drink half a mug, but she never negotiates the candies well.¡±


    I was so lost.


    His snake bailed from his arm, and went to quietly raid the snack table while everyone was occupied. Smart snake.


    Hang on - the snake had wings. What was it?


    I used [Long-Range Identify], only to get back [Couatl]. Interesting! I kept a half-eye on the table.


    The elves prep was done though.


    ¡°Here!¡± She called out. ¡°This is how it works. Watch carefully!¡± She said.


    The third elf and Kiyaya vanished, and Awarthril flickered off to the side. My head started to itch in that way it did in the presence of illusions, when I had a faint inkling they were at work. Chains sprang from the ground around Aegion, wrapping around his legs and arms, while puddles of goo appeared at his feet.


    To his credit, he - and his snake - tried to fight back. He leapt and tumbled, acrobatically avoiding the chains - but the ooze was building up on him, stretching from the ground to his body, slowing him down. Eventually, he slowed down enough that the chains caught him, wrapping him up entirely.


    The entire thing happened in dead silence.


    ¡°You got me!¡± He called out good-naturedly.


    The illusion dropped, and Kiyaya appeared behind Aegion as Awarthril¡¯s location changed back. The 3rd elf and the couatl appeared at the table, still chowing down.


    ¡°See? See! It¡¯s amazing.¡± Awarthril said, with the supreme confidence of someone who knew exactly how good it was.


    However, I hadn¡¯t been watching just Aegion. There was something else I¡¯d noticed.


    ¡°Totally cool!¡± I said, meaning it. That was one heck of a skill set - being able to fake her own location, hide her teammates, then bind and chain down attackers? It was a ton of crowd control, and her stats - and identification - revealed that she was a warrior, with a lot more tricks up her sleeve. Like casting the famous ¡°punch¡± spell.


    ¡°There was one thing I noticed.¡± I said with a grin.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Awarthril said, still preening, missing my tone of voice.


    ¡°While you hid your friend and the couatl well, and hid what was in their hands, you didn¡¯t hide the food vanishing off the table.¡±


    Awarthril looked like she¡¯d been poleaxed, while Aegion roared with laughter. The last elf just chuckled as he peeled an apple by twirling his finger around it, using some magic I couldn¡¯t quite see.


    ¡°You - but - bleargh!¡± Awarthril threw her hands up in the air. ¡°How did you notice that of all things?!¡±


    I let a faint Radiance glow come from me while I winked.


    ¡°Let me introduce myself! Elaine, human, Celestial Healer and Radiance Mage! I¡¯ve got some explicitly anti-mirage skills, and I¡¯ve been dealing with some high-level illusions recently.¡±


    Which was putting it mildly.


    ¡°Arglebarglebargle.¡± Awarthril made a noise. ¡°Of course you¡¯re a Radiance mage and a healer. Like the total opposite of me.¡±


    I cocked my head. ¡°Oh?¡± I asked.


    Before she could answer, the last elf smoothly slid up to me, offering his hand.


    ¡°Serondes. Charmed to meet you.¡± His voice was like music, a crystal wind chime in the wind. I took his hand, locking eyes with him. His eyes burned and boiled like a mighty volcano was trapped behind them, and I felt heat rising to my cheeks as I took his hand.


    Why did my treacherous heart have to go a-THUMP?


    ¡°I¡¯m, a, utterly charmed to meet you as well.¡± I said, getting a smile as dazzling as the break of day from him.


    Serondes. What a pretty name.


    ¡°What Awarthril means, is that your skill set is almost entirely antagonistic to hers. You are a healer, graceful and powerful. No injury can stand in your path, no disease can survive your beauty. Yet, Awarthril is all about preventing injury to her team - like me - in the first place. Illusions to hide herself and her friends, chains and muck to stop enemies from reaching me and harming me in the first place. She considers any injury to her team a personal failing. Naturally, your Radiance could destroy her illusions, if powerful enough.¡± He explained, as I hung onto every word.


    Awarthril punched him in the arm to a resounding crack of breaking bones.


    ¡°Shattered crystals WHY!?¡± Serondes screamed, holding his arm.


    ¡°Because you talk too much. You didn¡¯t need to flirt with Elaine by telling her everything about me, hmmm? Plus, she¡¯s a healer. She can fix you up. Remember last week? The spiders? The raptors? The acorns!? And what about -¡±


    ¡°Ok, ok! I get it!¡± Serondes yelled back, gripping his arm. ¡°Elaine¡¯s a great healer. Of course she wouldn¡¯t mind helping me.¡± He ¡°asked¡± with a brilliant smile, but it wasn¡¯t a question. Just a statement that the world would move to, that it was inconceivable that I¡¯d do anything other than heal him.


    I mean, he wasn¡¯t wrong.


    ¡°Of course!¡± I said. ¡°Let me take a look at your arm.¡±


    Sure, I could just smack him full of healing - I had the power, control, and mana for it - but I wanted to get the chance to study elvish anatomy. It¡¯d help with future healing, in case anything got tight.


    That¡¯s what I was telling myself. It had nothing to do with me wanting to see just how - oh my.


    Serondes, instead of rolling up his sleeve, just dropped the entire top half of his robe, revealing his rugged abs, his perfect pectorals leading up to lean arms, muscled just so.


    Why couldn¡¯t I have been born an elf? Immortal perfection from the start?


    Aegion gently coughed, and I jumped, flushing. What was I, a teenager with a crush?


    ¡­ damnit, given my age and social experiences, yes. I was rapidly developing a crush on all three of the elves. Or wait, was it a crush or just envy? Did I want them, or did I want to be them?


    I mentally shook my head.


    ¡°Right. Do you have any implants in your body? Anything that might be destroyed by healing back to your natural state?¡± I asked, quickly studying the break. Broken humerus, clean break, simple stuff.


    He shook his head. ¡°I keep talismans in the crate, but nothing inside.¡± He said.


    I poked him, focusing on the healing. My mana flickered a hair, and I let out a whistle.


    ¡°Wow! You¡¯re efficient!¡± I said.


    ¡°Of course! I¡¯m an elf.¡± He said, like it was the most natural thing ever for elves to be perfectly efficient when being healed.


    ¡°For services wonderfully rendered, a gift.¡± He said, Sand swirling in front of him. A blast of heat and light heralded Lava, and then he started to sing. Tonal singing, like a chorus of angels. The Lava faded, revealing a glass rose that was twisting and growing under his melodious voice.


    ¡°For me?¡± I gasped at the fine glass artwork that was presented to me. At his nod, I used my free hand to take it.


    ¡°Serondes. Lava, Sand, Sound mage, glass-maker extraordinaire.¡± He bowed, giving me a good view of his rippling muscles, before clothes suddenly popped into existence on him.


    ¡°Leave the poor girl alone, she¡¯s going to have a fit with all your prancing about.¡± Awarthril scolded him.


    ¡°Yeah! Plus, now she¡¯s got no spare hands!¡± Aegion said, barging over with four mugs in his hands, his couatl on his shoulders. While Awarthril was what an old master of marble would¡¯ve carved, and Serondes was smoldering, Aegion was cute. Sure, he was perfection made flesh, but under all that was a burning intensity, confidence in every inch of his tightly-wound muscles. I couldn¡¯t help but imagine what his hands would feel like.


    ¡°Name¡¯s Aegion! Might¡¯ve mentioned that already. The Ranger in this group. This here¡¯s Cordamo. Best little couatl you¡¯ll ever see! Careful of his poison. Right! I¡¯m Gale, Lightning, Spore, long range, so on and so forth. All that stuff¡¯s boring. What I do is I¡¯m a brewmaster! I -¡±


    ¡°Regularly poison me, because you have no classes or skills in it.¡± Serondes interrupted. ¡°Elaine, I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll like what he has to offer.¡±


    I looked at the egg tucked under one arm, and the rose in the other. I shuffled the glass rose into my egg-holding arm, to free up space.


    ¡°Ah, I¡¯ll give it a shot.¡± I said, accepting a mug. Awarthril reluctantly accepted a half-full mug, while Serondes rolled his eyes and took a full mug.


    ¡°Right! Bottoms up!¡± Aegion said. ¡°To our new friend, Elaine!¡±


    Awarthril and I both started drinking, while Serondes and Aegion looked on.


    Oh my gods. This stuff was foul. It was as bad as the elves looked good. Thick sludge with unusual lumps in it. I forced myself to swallow a mouthful, but couldn¡¯t do a second.


    ¡°Gluuuuuurbg! Yuck.¡± Awarthril made a disgusted retching noise. ¡°This is somehow your worst attempt ever. How do you make it worse every time?¡±


    Aegion took a small sip and pulled a face at his drink.


    Aegion and Serondes promptly turned their mugs upside down, pouring the contents out onto the grass. It sizzled slightly.


    I remembered that Awarthril had agreed to ¡°pay¡± for the demonstration by drinking a half-mug. I wasn¡¯t bound by the same rules, and if the person who made the drink was pouring it out?


    I dumped my mug.


    Awarthril finished her mug, and threw it into the woods. It went through a tree, and I lost it after that.


    ¡°Get better at your damn drinks!¡± She screamed at Aegion. ¡°There¡¯s no way I¡¯m trying one of your new ¡®candies¡¯ after that!¡±


    She started ranting about Aegion¡¯s concoctions, and all the different ways they¡¯d been utterly terrible, and how this was somehow a new low.


    I was in total agreement. Aegion¡¯s brewing. Highly suspect didn¡¯t start to cover it.


    I shot Serondes a grateful look, for trying to spare me from the misery of Aegion¡¯s hobby.


    ¡°I¡¯m curious, what are you three doing here?¡± I asked, changing the subject.


    After all- what were they doing here?

 Chapter 227 - Shimagu

    ¡°Why we¡¯re here?¡± Awarthril repeated, tapping her lips thoughtfully. ¡°Well, we¡¯ve all got our own reasons, but one word¡¯s enough to explain it. Shimagu.¡± She said, looking at me expectantly.


    I blinked, tilting my head. Was that supposed to mean something?


    ¡°Do you not have Shimagu where you¡¯re from?¡± Aegion asked.


    ¡°No, I¡¯ve never heard of them before.¡± I said, wondering if this was the name of some creature I was familiar with, but simply didn¡¯t know the word for.


    ¡°Ooof, you should know about them. If you don¡¯t, you¡¯re a ripe target.¡± Awarthril said.


    ¡°Let me tell you all about them!¡± Serondes jumped in with his musical voice.


    Wait, right, Sound element that he sang with. Of course he¡¯d have an amazing voice. He settled down into a ¡®teaching¡¯ pose, and began lecturing, covering everything from the basics up.


    ¡°Shimagu are body snatchers. They¡¯re made out of ooze, and all have the element. While they can¡¯t take over the brain, or use the host¡¯s skills, they¡¯re more than capable of seizing complete control over a body. Warriors, and large, powerful monsters are a favorite target of theirs, while mages are practically useless, and healers are actively avoided. Warriors, Laborers, and other physically-inclined classes tend to have powerful passives, focusing on the body. Shimagu are able to use those buffs when they take over a host, since they are innate, intrinsic. Rangers and some Artisans are considered mid-tier targets, while mages, like myself, are terrible targets, because the host¡¯s skills are unusable.¡±


    He paused for a moment, letting me absorb that. Short version - they got the body, not the skills. Which also meant¡­


    ¡°Can the person being hijacked get free? Or is it like, getting taken over kills the host? Can the host communicate at all, or do anything?¡±


    I was thinking about Ned, and the changeling that had taken over. I was wondering if they were the same thing? It didn¡¯t sound like it.


    ¡°Good questions! I¡¯m the perfect person to ask. Yes, they can get freed, although it¡¯s rare. The Shimagu needs to voluntarily give up control, or a healer needs to be involved. It¡¯s part of why they¡¯re so nasty to deal with. It¡¯s the same person, the same ¡°shell¡±, which makes analytical skills almost worthless. Any Shimagu that wants to take over someone intelligent has skills to drain mana and cripple regeneration, which will often double as buff skills to improve the body they¡¯re in. It makes them stronger than they look, since there are often two sets of skills and abilities improving a single body. Now, technically, the host can still use skills, but it¡¯ll only last as long as they still have mana. No mana, no skills, no communication or fighting back.¡± Serondes explained.


    ¡°It¡¯s why they don¡¯t like healers or mages.¡± Aegion jumped in with that appealing intensity, and Serondes glared at him for the interruption. ¡°Healers and Mages usually have skills that can hit at the Shimagu - if they¡¯re willing to throw, say, a spike of lava through their body - and have mana pools large enough that they don¡¯t drain quickly. Gives them plenty of time to fight back, or just self-destruct, instead of being taken over. Also, since the bodies aren¡¯t buffed, and they have low physical stats? They could take over a warrior a quarter of the level, and have a better host.¡±


    Ha! I wasn¡¯t a target for bodyjacking! For once, I was at the bottom of the priority list! Not that it mattered, I was still leaning towards ¡°go home¡±, because what else was I going to do? Join the elves on their crusade? Fat chance they¡¯d want me.


    ¡°Yeah, they tend to kill healers they find. They count as a parasite, and every healer worth their salt can handle parasites.¡± Awarthril happily added in, flicking her hair in a way that was oh-so-appealing. It didn¡¯t stop her comment from bursting my bubble. ¡°It¡¯s why we knew you were fine, and not a Shimagu trying to infiltrate us. Healers are able to, more or less, instantly kill a Shimagu they find, usually at a range. It¡¯s horribly unfair to them. Hence them getting rid of most healers. Except for a few sympathizers, who¡¯ve joined them willingly.¡±


    Awarthril¡¯s tone of voice made it entirely clear what she thought of people willingly ¡°joining¡± the Shimagu. It also implied other people willingly joined them, giving them access to mages - and healers! - if the Shimagu weren¡¯t mages themselves. I was curious - I wanted to know more, like could a Shimagu survive without a body? It also started a train of thought - if I got caught by Shimagu, would it be worth bluffing a surrender to save my life? Could I escape later? Could - but before my questions could come out, Serondes started talking again.


    ¡°By the way, what were you doing here? I¡¯d love to know your story.¡± Serondes asked, staring at me with his fantastic eyes.


    ¡°Well, it all started about a year ago, when I got some bad news¡­¡± I started off.


    I kept it simple. Formorians, big fight, victory. That was a hit - ¡°Almost as good as an elf!¡± Aegion had commented.


    Exploring the new lands, meeting the dwarves, getting caught up in the fight between the dragon and the guardians.


    ¡°Why are you acting like that?¡± Aegion asked as I tried to mime the dragon, causing a flush to crawl up my cheeks at the rebuke.


    ¡°Because I¡¯ve heard they hear their name when they¡¯re called.¡± I mumbled to the ground.


    Awarthril snorted.


    ¡°That¡¯s ridiculous. Pretend it¡¯s true for a moment. How many people are constantly saying their name? How many conversations are they hearing? To them it¡¯d just be a non-stop stream of ¡®dragon, dragon, dragon¡¯ in their ears.¡±


    I visibly winced at that.


    ¡°Drive anyone nuts. If they came out and tried to wreck stuff anytime their name was said, they¡¯d all be dead or the world would be a flaming wreck.¡±


    Uh - that was a really good point. I still wasn¡¯t sure what was right, or who was correct over the whole thing.


    ¡°Candy?¡± Aegion randomly asked, tossing me something that looked like a lollipop with no stick. I eyed it, remembering the drink.


    ¡°Sure, I guess.¡± I held it in my hands, figuring that the longer I talked, the longer I could stall on trying Aegion¡¯s newest thing.


    ¡°Anyways, from there we fell into the mines, although one of the dwarves didn¡¯t make it¡­¡±


    I continued to regale my tale, from being trapped down in the mine, fighting the orcs, meeting the Khazad dwarves, implants, gentle imprisonment, and escape.


    I glanced down at the egg I was holding. I skipped Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair, just telling them that I¡¯d found it while escaping the Inevitable Shluggoth from the Below Levels.


    ¡°You have no idea what¡¯s inside the egg?¡± Awarthril asked, and I shook my head.


    ¡°Mind if I take a look?¡± Serondes asked, offering up a hand.


    With a small degree of reluctance, I handed the egg over, the three elves huddling around it with me, poking and prodding at it.


    ¡°I have no idea.¡± Aegion said after a minute.


    ¡°I don¡¯t recognize it either.¡± Awarthril said a few minutes of poking, prodding, and picking it up later. ¡°I know all the medium and high-quality eggs though. I¡¯m sorry Elaine, I think you might have a bit of a dud here.¡±


    Serondes remained fascinated.


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s a chance that we could discover something entirely new.¡± He said. ¡°Elaine did mention that she¡¯d found it deep underground, in an area that seemed volcanic. A burning crimson egg, found deep in a dormant volcano? Even if it¡¯s low tier, no Lava creature is weak. Elaine, I would be delighted to help you hatch the egg, and see what emerges.¡±


    Serondes might be somewhat biased with his element, and his conclusion was based on faulty data - I hadn¡¯t found it in a volcanic tunnel, I¡¯d found it in a dragon¡¯s lair. I also bristled at Awarthril¡¯s assertion that she knew ALL the high-quality eggs. Something in the place of honor in a dragon¡¯s lair?


    It did support my theory a bit that I¡¯d maybe gotten a red dragon¡¯s egg. Or maybe a gold dragon¡¯s egg. I had no idea what dragons were like here! Maybe red scales, with gold trimming between the scales, kinda like the egg? That¡¯d look so cool.


    Either way, I¡¯d be shocked if elves knew what a dragon¡¯s egg looked like. Then again, they looked somewhat normal, so¡­


    I was getting horribly distracted and off-topic.


    ¡°That¡¯d be wonderful!¡± I said, taking the egg back. ¡°What do you suggest? I¡¯ve just been trying to keep it warm for now.¡±


    Aegion interrupted.


    ¡°That¡¯s all very good and all, but could we hear the end of your tale? How did you escape from the Below Levels? How¡¯d you end up here?¡±


    ¡°Learning how to properly look after an egg isn¡¯t fast or easy.¡± Awarthril mentioned. ¡°Might as well finish your story.¡±


    Making stuff up was hard. I just skipped over it.


    ¡°Well, I finally managed to find tunnels that led up, and I got out.¡± I said. ¡°Nothing too exciting. I figured I¡¯d head north, then east, trying to find my way back home. It¡¯s in the dead zone, do you know where that is?¡± I asked.


    I got a frown back.


    ¡°Not sure where the ¡®dead zone¡¯ is, but that doesn¡¯t sound pleasant. We might know it under a different name, what¡¯s it like?¡± Aegion asked.


    ¡°Well, it feels all sorts of bad when you¡¯re in it, but I didn¡¯t notice until I¡¯d left. It¡¯s also an area of reduced experience gain, or so the dwarves claimed.¡± I awkwardly explained. ¡°No idea what causes it.¡±


    The elves looked at each other.


    ¡°Sounds like the Low Experience Zone.¡± Serondes said. ¡°We know where that is, yeah. We¡¯re even vaguely, sort of heading that way. Come with us for a time.¡±


    ¡°Serondes. Can I talk with you?¡± Awarthril said, in that oh-too-sweet tone I knew too well.


    Even when angry her voice was simply magical.


    The three elves retreated slightly, and the most bizarre argument I¡¯d ever seen erupted. They were animated, hands being thrown all over the place and mouths twisted in yells, but the whole thing occurred in complete silence, as Kiyaya came over, begging for scratches.


    I happily obliged.


    ¡°Who¡¯s a good girl?¡± I asked as I scratched her stomach with my one free hand. With her size, giving her a good scratch was a full-body experience. ¡°Oh yes you are!¡± I said, to her happy wriggling on the ground.


    I needed to figure out a better way to carry this egg around. Being permanently down one hand hadn¡¯t been too hard when I was just flying, but I wasn¡¯t always flying.


    Cordamo glided over on his pale wings, and as he got closer I realized he wasn¡¯t just white - he was more like an albino. He landed next to me, and cautiously nuzzled my left arm.


    I wasn¡¯t much for snakes. I just flat-out didn¡¯t like them. Something deep and primal inside of me recoiled, yelled that I should keep a distance from the danger-noodle. Sure, I was a powerful healer, but that was a bit too abstract of a concept for my lizard brain to handle.


    However, deadly snake - couatl - or not, if it wanted to attack, it would. A bit of distance wouldn¡¯t help.


    I steeled myself, then when that didn¡¯t work great, I adamantiumed myself. That worked, and I tentatively stopped scratching Kiyaya to stroke Cordamo¡¯s head. Cat-like, he worked himself under my hand, getting it to rub just the right spots.


    Then he poked his nose forward, tapping the egg I was holding under one arm with his nose twice. A question.


    ¡°You want the egg?¡± I asked. Cordamo was smarter than he looked - not hard - and nodded his head twice, opening his jaw wide.


    ¡°You want to eat it?¡± I asked, more than a bit skeptical. He nodded furiously, wings flapping in excitement.


    ¡°Heck no!¡± I said, pulling the egg in closer. ¡°My egg.¡±


    My indignation overcame my fear somewhat, and I lightly booped him. Not enough to do anything, just let my displeasure known.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Egg Incubation]! Would you like to replace a general skill with it? Y/N]


    Egg Incubation: You defend your egg as aggressively as a velociraptor, and sit on it as cluelessly as a chicken. Serious intervention is required. Please take this skill, and help the young one out of her shell. Increased egg incubation knowledge per level.


    On one hand, I wanted to keep [Lost and Found] in case I misplaced the egg. On the other, [Egg Incubation] seemed like a great skill for hatching the egg. There was a benefit to having a skill specifically for what I wanted, and this whole egg hatching business was going to be hard enough as-is. I had no idea what I was doing.


    Also, did the System just leak that it was a girl!? I wanted to do a fun gender reveal party, preferably without burning down thousands of acres of woodland.


    Alright magic, work for me! I took the skill. I shifted how I was holding the egg slightly, adjusting my grip slightly as the skill took hold, nudging me a hair.


    [*ding!* [Egg Incubation] leveled up! 1->2]


    Having just had the experience with [Lost and Found], I turned off my notifications for that one skill, to not get spammed horribly. I¡¯d keep leveling up, keep improving, but I didn¡¯t need to know every single detail of the low level skill slowly increasing.


    ¡°Hey Elaine! Mind if we ask you a few questions?¡± Awarthril asked, making me jump a hair. I hadn¡¯t seen or heard her approach.


    ¡°No, not at all, shoot!¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, first of all, are you interested in traveling with us for a time?¡±


    ¡°I mean, if you¡¯re heading in the direction of home, yeah, sure I am!¡± I said, dreams of spending more time with the lovely woman dancing through my head.


    ¡°Ok, what are your class qualities? And how many stat points do you have, before and after buffs?¡± She asked. I could see Serondes and Aegion listening in, but not crowding me. Between Kiyaya, Cordamo, and Awarthril, I appreciated it.


    However, judging someone by class quality and stats was a novel way of looking at it. I¡¯d never been asked that before. I suppose it was a solid way of gauging someone¡¯s strength, especially with how little level was starting to matter as I continued on my journey.


    Like take Ned. I¡¯d been the same level as him, yet totally blew him out of the water stat-wise. It wasn¡¯t even close. I guess the elves were wise to that, and asked the right questions.


    ¡°Dark green and light green on my classes.¡± I said. ¡°I got to build my own class on the dark green one, and the light green one seemed awfully close to dark green with the stats it gave.¡±


    The elves¡¯s eyes flickered to Serondes, and Aegion slid in closer.


    ¡°Dark green? That¡¯s amazing! Doing a reset cycle before you get your third class is suboptimal, but it sounds like you pulled it off! You go!¡± He said, offering me a high-five which I took.


    ¡°Thanks! What do you mean by reset cycle though?¡± I asked.


    Serondes joined in, and I was the center of attention. I could only hope that all the elves made me the center of attention fo-


    Focus.


    I¡¯d been around incredibly good-looking people all the time in Remus, with appearance skills being popular, but I¡¯d never been so distracted in my life. Elves were just unfair. They were all super nice to boot.


    ¡°Reset cycles refers to getting all three classes up to level 768, or in some cases 1024, then resetting the classes one at a time back to level 8, and starting over again from there. The increased stats from the other classes greatly improves the offered classes when resetting, which often results in a jump in class quality. Then, once the reset class has been maxed out again at 768 or 1024, the process can be repeated with the next class, then the third. Once all three classes have gone through this process, we call it a single cycle.¡± Serondes helpfully explained.


    ¡°We¡¯re all on our initial cycle.¡± Awarthril explained. ¡°It¡¯s why we¡¯re out hunting Shimagu. The local minotaurs asked the Tympestshard Council for help, and they let us, and a few other ambitious elves know about the problem.¡±


    She shrugged.


    ¡°Not everyone goes out to improve the world. However, there aren¡¯t too many ways to get enough experience to leap up forward like this. Kiyaya needs all the levels she can get, isn¡¯t that right?¡± She said the last part to her wolf, who nuzzled up to her.


    Ok, a ton to unpack there. Reset cycles? I suppose if a species had unlimited time, they¡¯d figure out the best way to get all the levels - or, thinking about it, the more important thing, all the stats. Plus it let them play around with different elements, see what clicked, see what resonated with them. Heck, someone could completely switch over from a Warrior to a Mage! Sure, it¡¯d take them ages, but the elves were immortal. They had all the time in the world to pull it off.


    Also -


    ¡°Why level 768?¡± I asked. It didn¡¯t make sense from what I knew of the leveling structure.


    ¡°There¡¯s a class-up there.¡± Serondes explained.


    Oookay. I had no reason to disbelieve him, it just sounded weird.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m on what you¡¯d call the initial cycle.¡± I said.


    Awarthril blinked at that.


    ¡°That¡¯s incredibly good! Good job! You might only need to do 18 cycles total to get the highest quality class with that head start!¡± She enthused, then got slightly downcast.


    ¡°Not that you¡¯re likely to live long enough to do eighteen cycles.¡±


    I opened my mouth, hesitated, and Aegion cut in.


    ¡°It''s excellent for your initial cycle! I wish I¡¯d managed to hit dark green on my first 256.¡± Aegion added in.


    ¡°Not to be a downer, but she did mention she grew up in the Low Experience Zone.¡± Serondes chimed in. ¡°It¡¯s impressive, don¡¯t get me wrong, but that played a hard-to-replicate part. I¡¯d guess more like 24 or 25 cycles total. I¡¯ve got two yellows and a light green for my first cycle.¡±


    ¡°Still impressive. You¡¯ve got what, about 200,000 stat points total?¡± Aegion said, running a finger down Cordamo¡¯s spine, who¡¯d flown back up to join him.


    I checked my stats, wincing a bit.


    ¡°No, more like 140,000¡± I said, quickly tallying them up.


    ¡°Low dark green. Class levels are probably a bit out of balance to boot.¡± Serondes analyzed.


    These elves were smart, on top of being well-educated, knowledgeable, and everything else. Cripes it was unfair.


    ¡°Well,¡± I teased, ¡°That¡¯s all pre-buffs. I am a healer, after all, so I¡¯m a bit better there.¡±


    Time to bring out the big guns. If this didn¡¯t impress them, I was going to dig a hole, crawl into it, and die from a bad case of ¡°massive inferiority complex.¡±


    ¡°I have roughly 360,000 each of magic power and control when I¡¯m healing.¡±


    I dropped that bombshell with a triumphant smile, which only grew wider as I got exactly the reaction I was hoping for.


    Stunned amazement.

 Chapter 228 - Biohazard

    The fact that I¡¯d given the oh-too-perfect elves a moment¡¯s pause at my numbers was deeply satisfying. Serondes was the first to recover.


    ¡°Has to be a restriction skill, and narrow in scope.¡± He thoughtfully tapped his lips. ¡°Mind sharing?¡±


    ¡°Eh. The full details I¡¯d like to keep to myself, but yeah, it¡¯s when I heal.¡±


    ¡°You sure you can¡¯t tell us? I¡¯ll brew you up a drink!¡± Aegion tried to ¡®tempt¡¯ me.


    ¡°Are you trying to bribe her or threaten her?¡± Serondes snorted.


    That got a weak chuckle out of me and Awarthril, even Kiyaya gave a little barking laugh.


    ¡°We should sit down.¡± Awarthril said. ¡°It¡¯s cozier.¡±


    We sat down around the table - how did they get this while camping? - and I eyed the spread.


    Cheese, dates, grapes, fruits, breads and sandwiches, a jug of wine, fine glasses to drink out of - courtesy of Serondes, I was sure - and more were spread out on the table. I¡¯d been to parties with worse food, and these elves were casually camping out in the middle of nowhere.


    ¡°Cordamo!¡± Aegion yelled as we were sitting down, and the snake, faster than I could process, practically snapped into his hand, curving like a bow.


    Actually - the couatl was the bow, as a shimmering light extended from his head to the tip of his tail. Aegion summoned a large, nasty-looking arrow, and aimed the bow straight up. Barely spending a moment to aim, he loosed the arrow, Lightning crackling as sparks flew away from him.


    ¡°Show-off.¡± Awarthril commented, grabbing a nice cheese. ¡°Three medium Arcanite says it lands on your barrels again.¡±


    Aegion squinted up into the sky where his arrow had gone.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take it.¡± He said, hurrying over to his barrels, brewing his noxious drinks.


    ¡°So Elaine! What are your total stats after the buffs?¡± Serondes asked.


    ¡°Hmm? Oh. Uhm.¡± I did some quick math, adding my [Oath]-boosted stats to my total, and throwing in [Nectar] to boot.


    ¡°Around 850,000.¡± I said, tallying them all up. I hadn¡¯t quite realized just how high they were getting. I¡¯d break a million stats soonish.


    And to think, when I¡¯d unlocked the difference between 16 stats and 24 stats was gigantic.


    ¡°That¡¯s frankly amazing.¡± Serondes gave me his full attention, and I preened a bit under his gaze.


    ¡°No kidding.¡± Awarthril agreed. ¡°Sorry about all the yelling earlier. Serondes here,¡± She made a little jerking motion, which I recognized as her kicking him under the table - and his pained yelp attested to it connecting. ¡°Occasionally forgets that we¡¯re a team, and need to discuss things together. Still. Tell you what. We could use you, if nothing else than to make Shimagu nervous, and reveal themselves. Only Shimagu with wills forged out of the hardest crystal will see a healer who can kill them by accident, and keep their cover.¡±


    Awarthril gave me an encouraging gesture as she spoke, and I grabbed a tasty little cucumber sandwich. Real food! Tasty, tasty bread! I hadn¡¯t had anything more complicated than roast monster, supplemented by the occasional random fruit or berry in months! And here the elves were, casually having a whole feast laid out while they camped. Good stuff! I had to figure out how to make this my reality when I was back in Remus, doing Sentinel stuff.


    The taste and the flavor exploded in my mouth, reviving long-dead tastebuds and neural pathways. My tongue almost had a seizure, it tasted so good and fresh.


    Also, her little gesture sent me into an absolute tizzy. She likes me! She cares! NO! I¡¯m reading way too much into this!


    I refocused.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you worried about a Shimagu taking one of you over?¡± I asked what I thought was the obvious question.


    Serondes gave me an almost affronted look. Awarthril just looked confused. Aegion actually responded.


    ¡°Um, no? Why would we be? There¡¯s no way they¡¯d try to take one of us over.¡±


    That seemed like an entirely foolish oversight, but I wasn¡¯t about to start arguing or digging deeper into it. However, my image of the perfect elves had broken. They had a serious hubris problem.


    I looked around the campsite. They were completely out in the open, no measures taken to hide or conceal their campsite¡¯s presence. They honestly seemed to believe that nothing was going to attack them.


    With an almighty thud, a pterodactyl landed in the campsite, half-landing in the fire, one wing knocking over one of Aegion¡¯s barrels. The foul smell emanating from the spilled barrel almost put me off my lunch.


    Then again, I¡¯d been dealing with spiders and other creatures of the Below Levels for months, and real food? I had no issue powering through the smell.


    ¡°Ha! Pay up! It landed on your barrels!¡± Awarthril crowed out in triumph.


    ¡°No way! It totally landed in the firepit! One wing hitting one barrel doesn¡¯t count!¡±


    Both of them turned to Serondes, who sighed at being the tiebreaker.


    ¡°It didn¡¯t land in the barrels.¡± He said. ¡°It clearly landed somewhere else. Awarthril, it¡¯s quite a stretch to imagine its landing spot was the barrels, in spite of a wing landing on it. As such, I must rule in Aegion¡¯s favor.¡±


    With good grace in defeat, Awarthril handed over some Arcanite to Aegion. He didn¡¯t revel in his victory or rub it in, just pocketed the gems with a smile.


    Serondes gave a sharp, long whistle, rapidly changing the pitch by small amounts in a musical rendition. As he whistled, the carcass of the pterodactyl started to fall apart into pieces, breaking up into choice cuts. Without a single motion, simply a thought, each piece of meat was pushed up and wrapped by Lava emerging from below it, slowly cooking the remains.


    It took me a moment to fully process what had happened. Not because the actions were strange, but due to the sheer skill involved.


    Aegion had, somehow, spotted a high-flying pterodactyl. He¡¯d made a snap-shot at it, perfectly timing it with his skills and abilities to not only hit the bird, but also overcome any defenses or evasive maneuvers it would make. Not only that, but he¡¯d accurately managed to predict how and where it¡¯d land at the end of its trip, neatly delivering dinner into our campfire.


    Literally. The only way it would¡¯ve been more perfect is if it could just stay there, and end up fully cooked.


    The level of skill and prowess was mind-boggling. I decided to recenter myself with more mundane activities - and possibly work on [Butterfly Mystic].


    ¡°Hey Serondes!¡± I called out. ¡°Mind sharing how you cook things? I¡¯m often cooking with my Radiance magic, I¡¯m curious how you do things.¡±


    He looked pleased to be asked.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not terribly difficult. See, for each slice I estimate how thick it is, then I estimate the temperature and the time needed to cook the slice how I¡¯d like. Then, I¡­¡±


    I listened, enraptured as Serondes explained how he cooked things. It wasn¡¯t anything special, but I liked the sound of his voice, and I was curious if I¡¯d learn anything. Plus, [Passionate Learning] might get a level. Although, that was fairly ambitious, considering how high the level was. It wasn¡¯t that easy to raise a level 300+ skill, no matter how many multipliers I had going.


    Like a well-oiled machine, Aegion walked from cooking slab of meat to slab, shaking a mix of spices onto the pterodactyl steaks. Serondes, his musical voice never pausing, opened up the Lava cookery to each one, just in time for the spices to hit.


    Sadly, I didn¡¯t get a level out of [Butterfly Mystic]. That would¡¯ve been too easy.


    ¡°Right! Let me clear this all off. Thanks for dinner Aegion!¡± Awarthril said, busily bussing things off the table. They didn¡¯t have a wagon or anything, where were they putting it all?


    I watched Awathril put a full plate directly into a crate¡­ then some bread, and a jar of jam. She reached in, and grabbed plates and silverware, seemingly grabbing from the same spot she¡¯d dropped the other food in. An idea sparked.


    ¡°Is that a dimensional crate?¡± I interrupted Serondes to ask, with no small amount of awe. I ignored the frown he shot my way. Dimensional rings were one of the first things I¡¯d hoped to see in Pallos, and I¡¯d had no luck whatsoever.


    ¡°Hmmm? This?¡± Awarthril asked. I nodded furiously.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s just a Spatial Box. It¡¯s not a particularly good one, just a 60:1 compression ratio.¡± She said, giving the box a light kick. I had no doubt that she could utterly pulverize the box if she wanted to, Spatial magic or not. ¡°We couldn¡¯t afford a better box with a 200:1 or an epic one with a 4000:1 ratio, so we¡¯re stuck with this piece of junk. Why, do you have something better on you?¡±


    My jaw must¡¯ve been catching flies, because Aegion tossed something real tasty inside.


    ¡°He shoots! He scores! The Titanderby champion returns!¡± He crowed, throwing his hands up in the air, doing a little running dance around one of the Lava-slabs.


    I instinctively bit down on what he¡¯d tossed, the candy bursting in a sweet explosion of flavor. I started munching on it full-speed.


    ¡°This¡­ is really good?¡± I said, puzzlement in my voice. How were his drinks so bad, and his candies so nice?


    Aegion acted wounded, dramatically clutching his curly horns with one hand, and the other placed over his heart like a Shakespearean actor.


    ¡°Oh ye of little faith! Of you who don¡¯t believe in my beautiful delicacies! No words could wound me more!¡±


    ¡°Oh lay off her.¡± Awarthril said. ¡°You practically poisoned her the first time you gave her anything, it¡¯s a miracle she didn¡¯t run away.¡±


    Aegion went back to working his dubious magic on the barbeque we had going, as Awarthril turned back to me.


    ¡°How do we keep getting interrupted?¡± She asked rhetorically. ¡°Now, about that storage item¡­?¡± She asked, with all the hope of someone with too much stuff, and not enough space.


    I shook my head.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have one. Heck, until today I didn¡¯t know they existed!¡±


    Awarthril¡¯s face fell, and she shrugged philosophically.


    ¡°Ah well, it happens.¡±


    Of course, I should¡¯ve known. With how Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair warped space, and was much larger on the inside than the outside, it should¡¯ve been obvious that storage items, like the Spatial Box, were possible. Humanity just hadn¡¯t figured it out, or, more likely, didn¡¯t have nearly the levels needed to work such a magic.


    Awarthril¡¯s forehead creased in worry.


    ¡°But where¡¯s the rest of your stuff?¡± She asked, looking me up and down like I was hiding a whole wagon under my armored skirt, or the egg I was holding would unfold into a tent.


    I shrugged.


    ¡°Lost some here, lost some there, this is literally everything I have.¡±


    Awarthril gasped.


    ¡°No. No no no no NO! We simply can¡¯t have that.¡± She said, grabbing my hand and pulling me along with her irresistible strength. ¡°Since you don¡¯t have your stuff, and I apologize for this if I¡¯m wrong, can I take it to mean you haven¡¯t had a good bath in some time, and your, ah, current odor is not your natural one?¡±


    My wha-


    Oh.


    Please Papillion, Thanatos, White Dove, really, anyone, I¡¯m ready now. Please let me just die of embarrassment. The hot elves think I stink. Send me a lightning bolt from the sky. Have the ground open up and eat me. This is a great time for a precise meteor strike exactly where I¡¯m standing.


    To be fair, after a few months in the tunnels, running, bleeding, sweating, and more, I wasn¡¯t surprised that I was more than a bit ripe, especially since the armor had gone on and hadn¡¯t come off the entire time. The only time I wasn¡¯t shedding a stench was in Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair¡­ except who knew when the [Tracks-be-gone] skill had ended? I¡¯d assumed it was still running, but for obvious reasons I hadn¡¯t tested it. Had I left a distinct scent all over her stuff? Was she going to sniff me out to kill me and retrieve part of her egg collection?


    Was I going to get sniffed out and killed for leaving a stinky mess in her lair?


    Thinking about it, they were the same level of badness - dead.


    Or - had she known the entire time!?


    I focused back on where Awarthril was pulling me. Serondes was coming along, Awarthril having grabbed his arm with her other hand, leading us to a small pond.


    ¡°Right, Serondes, one hot tub please.¡± She glanced at me quickly. ¡°With walls.¡±


    ¡°My talents are more than just for making baths.¡± He muttered, as Lava started to rise around the pond and cool, hardening into rock. More Lava went under the pool, heating it up.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Said Awarthril sweetly. ¡°Your talents are also great for cooking.¡±


    Serondes opened his mouth to keep protesting, saw that I was hanging onto every word the two of them said, and closed his mouth.


    ¡°Should be all set now!¡± He said. ¡°Elaine, just remember who made the bath.¡± He said, throwing me a roguish wink, spinning around with a twirl of his robes, and stalking off back to his barbeque.


    Awarthril put a hand on her hip, wagging a finger at his retreating back.


    ¡°Ooooh, one of these days¡­¡± She said, leaving the thought unsaid. She turned back to me.


    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go.¡± She herded me into the lovely, pool-turned-hot tub, like a mother hen watching over her charges.


    ¡°Right! Let¡¯s get that armor off, and get you a nice soak. Months without a bath? You must be dying in there, you poor thing.¡±


    Awarthril managed to say all that without a shred of condescension, just pure mothering concern. She fussed over me as I put the egg down in a safe, warm spot, [Egg Incubation] helping slightly with placement and such, and started to strip the armor off.


    I was fortunate that I¡¯d delayed on using my [Mend Armor] for so long, even though that meant I¡¯d spent time with broken armor, with a nice big puncture wound through the middle. Otherwise, all the clasps would¡¯ve been dented, broken, or otherwise unusable to the point where I would¡¯ve needed to be cut out of my armor. Which would make this whole embarrassing experience even more humiliating.


    Still, I managed to peel my first gauntlet off, and then the stench hit me. I had to hand it to them, the dwarves knew their craft. At the same time, blood, sweat, random bits of spider and other crap had slowly, over time, infiltrated my armor, mixed with my tunic, and rotted. The smell made me retch, and even Awarthril wasn¡¯t immune.


    ¡°Aggalgalglaglag. By the unchanging council that is foul.¡±


    We looked at the slime slowly dropping off my wrist, a few sturdy threads of clothing trying in vain to keep it all together.


    I sighed, then immediately regretted it as more noxious air entered my lungs.


    ¡°Ugh. Oh. Ugh.¡± Awarthril said, throwing dignity to the wind and pinching her nose. ¡°I never thought I¡¯d dislike my enhanced sense of smell. Elaine darling, I¡¯m sorry for this, but¡­¡±


    I didn¡¯t even have time to blink before finding myself stripped naked and dunked under the water. Awarthril was fast. Benefits of being a physical classer, and a strong reminder just how out-classed I was.


    ¡°Stay there! I¡¯m going to get you some soap!¡± She called out, vanishing around the bend.


    Well.


    While I wasn¡¯t a huge fan of my bodily autonomy being violated like that, but I was in a bath.


    A hot bath.


    At long last.


    I let myself settle down, the warm water loosening my muscles, then started to scrub.


    I had a feeling I was going to be at this for a while.

 Chapter 229 - Barbeque

    I spent an excessively long time in the hot bath Serondes had made. I¡¯d like to say it was because I was relaxing, enjoying my first hot soak since the dwarves.


    No. I was mortified by the fact that I¡¯d stunk so badly that the elves almost literally threw me in. I was determined to clean out every single last bit of dirt, grime, and grease. Also, my nails had gotten super-long, and had started to curl against the end of the gauntlets. I just hadn¡¯t noticed at all, but they were curled, yellow, cracked, and nasty.


    My hair was in terrible shape to boot. The only reason the entire thing wasn¡¯t one huge mat was the uber helmet-hair I was now sporting. The ends had needed trimming, and I swear I would¡¯ve lost levels in [Pretty] if I¡¯d still had the skill. In theory, it wasn¡¯t possible. I was convinced that I would¡¯ve caused such an affront to the skill that the System would¡¯ve been like ¡°whoa, wait, no, can¡¯t have any of that.¡±


    As I was scrubbing unidentifiable sludge off my body, Awarthril was running about with a piece of string.


    ¡°Left arm up!¡± She called out, and I instinctively obeyed her, feeling my hair blow around as she moved faster than I could see. I felt numerous tingles along my arm follow behind her motion.


    ¡°Mmm, I see, I see¡­¡± She said, vanishing again in a flurry. I¡¯d get back to washing, and of course as I was cleaning somewhere awkward she¡¯d show back up again.


    ¡°Stand!¡± She called out, in a nice, but firm tone. I stood on the hard igneous rocks, not quite sure what she wanted. She was being so helpful though, that I wasn¡¯t going to say no.


    ¡°Right, arms out.¡± She said, with the professional tone of a nurse getting her patient all set.


    I snapped my arms out, feeling a light, ticklish breeze over my torso and belly as her string whipped around it, far faster than I could see. A shiver went up my back, following a few seconds after the string.


    ¡°Ok, I¡¯m done. You have a nice long soak now.¡± Awarthril said, vanishing again.


    The gust of wind behind her led credence to the idea that she¡¯d moved with her super-elf speed, and hadn¡¯t dropped an invisibility illusion.


    I went back to scrubbing, thinking about it. Awarthril was the most straightforward illusionist I¡¯d ever encountered. No tricks, no deceit, just plain and simple.


    Well. As ¡°plain and simple¡± as any elf got.


    The water was starting to turn an ugly color, the relative size of the pond versus the dirt I had on me in an unfavorable ratio.


    I was still musing on Awarthril when I spotted Kiyaya, roughly at the same time she spotted me.


    And the bath.


    ¡°No! No no no AHHHHHH!¡± I yelled, as Kiyaya took a running leap into the pond, acting like a one-wolf depth-charge.


    I came back up spluttering, only to see Kiyaya happily frolicking in the water, splashing about like a puppy. I blew some hair out of my face, chuckled, and kept digging dirt out from under my freshly-trimmed nails.


    About fifteen minutes of intense scrubbing later, Kiyaya got out of the water, with the dreaded little shakes all dogs do when wet.


    I was a bit smarter this time, and dove under the water right as she shook herself, throwing wet dog water all over the place.


    I rolled my eyes as I kept scrubbing, eventually moving onto my armor, which Awarthril had helpfully left by the pond.


    I honestly didn¡¯t know how to properly maintain plate armor like what the dwarves had gotten me. I did know some basics, like ¡°clean out the sludge¡± and ¡°get the dirt out of the joints¡± and the like. Fortunately for me, the [Mend Armor] gem had fixed most of the worst issues, like corrosion. Granted, given that a chunk of the armor was now made out on conjured material, it was living on borrowed time. It would only have a few years left of being useful, but at the rate I went through armor?


    Yeahhhhhhhhhhhh. I suspected I¡¯d be back in Sentinel gear in no time. If nothing else, I wanted to look the part. People knew what Rangers, and Sentinels looked like. Showing up in weird armor?


    They¡¯d mistake me for an adventurer. I couldn¡¯t have that happen!


    I idly touched mom¡¯s pendant. The leather cord it was on had somewhat held, but I¡¯d need to look into restringing it soon, along with washing it.


    ¡°Hey Elaine!¡± Aegion called from behind one of the hardened walls of Lava that Serondes had raised.


    ¡°Yeah?¡± I called back.


    ¡°Do humans have a nudity taboo or anything, or can I come in?¡±


    Did I want the incredibly hot elf to stare at my naked body?


    Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. I mean, yes, but nooooooo. I was feeling self-conscious around the elves already. I didn¡¯t think my ego could handle Aegion¡¯s critical look. From what little I¡¯d seen, he¡¯d good-naturedly point out a few flaws I had, then tell me exactly how I could fix them.


    The elves were absolutely wonderful, and I was going to develop an inferiority complex being around them.


    ¡°Um. We don¡¯t, but I¡¯d rather not. The water¡¯s mostly sludge at this point anyways!¡± I finally squeaked out, giving a poor excuse, the other part of my brain imagining Aegion in the bath with me.


    I¡¯m pretty sure all the steam was from the bath, and not from my ears.


    ¡°Alright! Well, you¡¯ve got some new clothes out here. They should all fit, I just tailored some of Awarthril¡¯s old clothes for you.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help myself. I quietly broke down crying, trying to half-submerge myself in the water so they wouldn¡¯t hear me.


    Alas, trying to keep sound hidden from incredibly high level Classers with extra-large ears right next to you was a losing game. Awarthril moseyed over with Kiyaya in tow, plate with pterodactyl steak in one hand, fork with a second steak on it in the other. She was gnawing around the edges, twirling it around as she chowed down. I put my hands over my face, not wanting her to see me crying, as futile of a gesture as that was.


    ¡°Are you ok?¡± She asked, taking a comfortable seat on the ground near where I was crying in the bath. I weakly nodded my head, unable to stem the fat tears welling up.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? You can tell me.¡± Awarthril¡¯s voice was soothing and comforting.


    ¡°You¡¯re all just so nice!¡± I blubbered out. ¡°Everyone and everything for the last YEAR has been trying to kill me, eat me, imprison me, or worse, then you all come along and you¡¯re just so nice and wonderful and caring and just too good for me.¡± I had snot running down my nose, and I was totally in ugly-crying territory. It¡¯d been too long since I¡¯d been treated with basic kindness. Too long a paranoid captive, too long trapped in the dark mines, too long fighting Formorians, just - too long since I¡¯d last had a hug.


    I needed a hug.


    ¡°D¡¯awwww. No, it¡¯s ok. Come here. It¡¯s all ok.¡± Awarthril said, awkwardly cradling my head while I cried into her lap. ¡°You just looked like you needed a break. Come on, it¡¯s all ok now. I¡¯ll get you fed and warm, you¡¯ll have a good night¡¯s sleep and everything will be ok.¡±


    I sniffed again, rubbing my snotty nose against my arm then just dunking it back in the pond.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be ok. I promise. Why don¡¯t you finish up, and join us for a hot steak? Serondes has really outdone himself this time! Come on, a hot meal¡¯s just what you need.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯re sure about the clothes?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Oh those? I hope you¡¯re not too offended, I¡¯ve been looking for an excuse to get rid of them for ages. I hated the cut, but Mistcloth¡¯s too nice to just throw out. This does me a favor! Really!¡± She explained. ¡°Guilt-free storage cleanout. Ok, I¡¯ll leave you be. Come join us in a minute!¡±


    Awarthril left, and with a great slobbery kiss Kiyaya licked me and padded after her companion. I finished washing up, then took a look at the clothing Awarthril provided.


    First off, wearing hand-me-downs was nothing new for me. Most of the clothes I¡¯d ended up in as a kid had been hand-me-downs that mom¡¯s friends gave to her as their last kid outgrew them, and many of my old clothes ended back in circulation that way, or got re-stitched into newer, larger clothes for me. That part wasn¡¯t weird.


    A practical stranger¡¯s former undergarments becoming mine? As an adult? A little weird.


    It was totally different from anything I¡¯d ever seen. There was a dark, navy blue sort of ¡°bodysuit¡±, that went from my ankles to my wrists, but for whatever reason stopped at my chest instead of going to my neck, showing off a bit of cleavage. I could see why Awarthril didn¡¯t like the cut. The edges were rimmed with gold, which made a nice effect.


    There was a second layer on top of that. A white, partially sheer half-cape wrapped around my neck, and went down to my elbows, all rimmed with gold again. I had something like a long shirt, made out of the same material, with long slits in it for easy walking, while the whole thing was cinched with a ¡°belt¡± made out of the same material, ending with a diamond-shaped ¡°buckle¡±.


    The stuff was soft and wonderful, and it practically hugged me. The contrast to what I¡¯d been wearing before helped with the magical, otherworldly feeling it gave. I walked experimentally around the pond, trying out how my clothes felt.


    They were weird. I had no doubt there was some magic at work. On one hand, I felt clothed. I could feel the cloth against my skin, the fabric shift and move as I walked. I was obviously clothed.


    On the other hand, I felt naked. The feedback was almost non-existent, and as I walked and moved, the split skirt, which should¡¯ve hampered my movements somewhat, didn¡¯t. The bodysuit part, which should¡¯ve restricted my movements just a hair, instead allowed me a full range of flexibility. I tried all sorts of exercises to see if I could get the feeling or sensation of the clothes restricting me, or feeling taut against me. I stretched, bent, puffed my chest out, did a cartwheel - nothing.


    I was brewing a headache trying to reconcile the two feelings together. Still, having gotten the hang of it, I put on some too-thin slippers - super cozy, and as easy to walk in as sandals. I grabbed the egg, re-warmed it, and walked back out.


    If Awarthril had told me one of the two men was daintily eating his pterodactyl steak with a knife and fork, carefully taking small bites and savoring the flavor, and the other one had a spinning carousel of meat in front of him, only taking the choicest bites out of each one as it passed by his mouth, I would¡¯ve pegged Serondes for dainty, and Aegion for savage.


    Turns out, Serondes was a hair picky, and only wanted a few of the best bites from the food he¡¯d cooked, waste and silverware be damned. Aegion, on the other hand, wanted to savor every last bite, no doubt in search of the perfect flavor to throw into his next poisoning attempt.


    ¡°Elaine! You look great!¡± Aegion cheerfully waved me over to the table, where I started to copy his manners.


    ¡°I knew you¡¯d look good in that!¡± Serondes snapped his head forward, tearing out a chunk of prime rib.


    A glowing smile lit my face up.


    ¡°Thanks!¡± I gracefully accepted the compliments, digging into the feast, asking a burning question.


    ¡°What does Mistcloth do? It seems somewhat magical.¡±


    Serondes casually answered between bites. ¡°It¡¯s a low-tier magical cloth. When it comes to normal activities, it¡¯s solid. When it comes to anything that can harm or rip it, it becomes insubstantial. Watch me!¡±


    So saying, he shot a precise bolt of Lava at me. I had enough reflexes to start to dodge, but not entirely.


    Good thing he wasn¡¯t aiming for me, just for the part of my half-cape he could snipe. The Lava bolt reached it, and cleanly went through, the half-cape barely even fluttering.


    I examined the path the shot took, seeing that my clothing was entirely untouched.


    ¡°This is good stuff!¡± I said, poking at the cape. It felt springy and real enough.


    Hang on - if it couldn¡¯t be damaged?


    ¡°How¡¯d you tailor it?¡± I asked Aegion, who just got a smug look on his face.


    ¡°I¡¯m just that good.¡±


    We exchanged some small talk, before Awarthril got down to business.


    ¡°I believe our talk about you coming along for a bit has been interrupted a few times now.¡± Awarthril opened up the conversation, then proved she was just as distractible as I was by darting over to Serondes.


    ¡°How many times have I told you? Honestly, wipe your face.¡± She said, grabbing a napkin and wiping the corner of his mouth, too fast for him to escape the physical classer¡¯s speed.


    Awarthril. Team mom.


    ¡°Right! You¡¯d be a great fit for giving us a hand. You don¡¯t even need to fight or anything, from the story you told us you¡¯ve done more than enough of that. No, we just need a high level healer hanging around, maybe going around and helping ¡®heal¡¯ everyone. Don¡¯t even need to heal anyone we come across if you don¡¯t want to! The simple declaration should be enough to panic any Shimagu, and that¡¯s what we need to flush them out. Otherwise, they¡¯d just lie low when we pass through, and we¡¯re frankly not strong enough to assault their cities. In exchange, we¡¯ll help you get back to your home after doing this for a few¡­¡±


    Awarthril trailed off, realizing something.


    ¡°How long do humans live anyways?¡± She asked me. ¡°You¡¯re not Immortal, we¡¯d know about humans otherwise. But like, you live at least 500 years, right?¡±


    ¡°Wellllllllllllllll¡­. About that¡­.¡± I prepared myself for an awkward conversation.


    ¡°Humans aren¡¯t that long lived. Close to 70, 80 before vitality kicks in.¡± I explained to Aegion¡¯s wincing. I left out the significantly lower lifespan from everyone poisoning themselves with mercury, lead, and other fun substances.


    I figured that an entire thriving race of Immortals were probably the safest people to reveal my closely-held secret to, and get a gauge of their reaction. That, and I wanted to impress them somewhat.


    ¡°With that being said, I might be slightly Immortal.¡±

 Chapter 230 - On Immortality

    There were a few moments where I got to feel smug at their surprise.


    ¡°You seized Immortality?¡± Serondes eventually asked.


    ¡°Seize immortality?¡± I asked, completely unfamiliar with the phrase.


    ¡°Attained it with a skill.¡± Aegion clarified.


    ¡°Seized is the better word.¡± Serondes muttered.


    ¡°Attained is accurate!¡±


    ¡°So is seized!¡±


    Awarthril thumped both of them on the head, ending the argument.


    ¡°You two are as bad as each other! Knock it off!¡± She turned to me.


    ¡°Elaine! That¡¯s wonderful!¡± She leaned in closer. ¡°What¡¯d you get as your curse?¡±


    ¡°Awarthril! I would never ask something like that!¡± Serondes waved his fork at her. ¡°Her curse is intensely private, not to be shared with anyone she doesn¡¯t utterly trust.¡±


    ¡°Oh, knock it off.¡± Aegion swatted at the air near Serondes. ¡°From the sound of it, she grew up in an area with no Immortals, she doesn¡¯t know any of the terminology, we need to help her out as much as we can.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not cursed yet.¡± I told them.


    ¡°Awww, shucks. Sounds like it isn¡¯t an Immortality skill then.¡± Awarthril cut a steak in half, shoved the entire thing in her mouth, and ate it in like three bites. That was a valid method of eating when she had a billion physical stats, but wow.


    ¡°Eh, I haven¡¯t activated it yet. I was concerned about White Dove and getting cursed, since we don¡¯t have a lot of immortals.¡±


    Serondes and Awarthril each picked up something different from that statement, and started talking over each other.


    Aegion took the chance to shove a mug of some sort of golden-colored liquid into my hands, raising his own in a universal ¡°cheers¡± gesture. I instinctively took a sip, flavor and taste having a whole parade at how good it tasted. Why couldn¡¯t everything he made be like this? I narrowed my eyes at him. Or was this some of the ¡°old, good stash¡±, broken out on special occasions, and not one of his brews?


    I was leaning towards ¡°not one of his¡± until further evidence changed my mind.


    Serondes won out, on the basis of having Sound skills.


    ¡°Hang on, you know almost nothing about Immortals, but you know about White Dove¡¯s curse ahead of time? Most people who seize Immortality are taken by surprise.¡± He said, while Awarthril glared murder at him. To her credit, she gracefully backed down, letting me answer Serondes¡¯s question - but from the look on her face, the way she was hunched forward on the table, not eating, said the moment I was done, she¡¯d pounce with her own question.


    ¡°Oh, we¡¯ve got some vampires hanging around where I live. I talked with a few of them, they told me how it worked for them.¡± I said, giving the short, short version.


    ¡°Vampires!¡± Aegion happily slapped the table with one free hand, slamming his mug down to the table. ¡°We¡¯ve got some records of them in the List of Immortals, but we thought they¡¯d gone extinct! Good to hear they¡¯re still alive and kicking. Be a shame to lose another Natural Immortal race.¡±


    ¡°Forget all that.¡± Awarthril said, still staring at me. ¡°You said you haven¡¯t activated it yet. Are you telling me that you¡¯ve got an active Immortality skill, not a passive one?¡±


    ¡°Uh, yeah. It rewinds the clock on the body, or in other words, makes someone young again.¡±


    That was my understanding of the skill, having built it myself, and from the description given.


    The penny dropped for the other two elves.


    ¡°Hang on, can you use it on others?¡± Aegion asked.


    I opened my mouth to answer, but Serondes interrupted.


    ¡°Elaine, listen to me. No, seriously, listen. I know I said keep your curse quiet, but more importantly, if you can use it on others, don¡¯t tell anyone. Being able to make others Immortal is one of the most sought-after skills, period. Take Awarthril here. She¡¯s bonded with Kiyaya,¡±


    The two in question affectionately nuzzled each other.


    ¡°But Kiyaya has a limited lifespan. The bond¡¯s extending it, but Awarthril isn¡¯t expecting her to live more than 200 years.¡±


    ¡°Pblrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrp! I¡¯m expecting her to live forever!¡± Awarthril interrupted with heat and fire in her voice.


    Serondes graciously nodded a compassionate concession, and kept going.


    ¡°You¡¯re going for a companion yourself, you should have some idea of the depth of the bond involved. Now, Awarthril¡¯s come along with us to try and get enough levels for Kiyaya to gain her own Immortality skill.¡±


    Awathril threw a fork at Serondes. It wasn¡¯t particularly fast, not with the supersonic throws I knew she was capable of, and he easily dodged it. He did get brained as she pulled on the thin strand of sticky goo attached to the fork, boomeranging it back, making him faceplant into the table.


    Either way, message sent and received. Serondes kept talking as he rubbed his head, glaring at Awarthril.


    ¡°Now, she finds someone who can grant Immortality, or heck, like you were saying, turn back the clock. What would she do to convince you to help her and Kiyaya?¡±


    ¡°Uh. Ask nicely?¡± I hazarded, channeling a bit of Brawling and playing the naive human.


    No, the implications Serondes was talking about were all too clear. Even if Awarthril was totally moral, and I helped her out willingly, desperation one day might drive her to some extreme or another. Someone with a higher level and fewer scruples might want an Immortality granting healer around, to keep all their favorite toys alive forever.


    And since this was Immortality that was being discussed here, forever was forever.


    ¡°Ok, no, I get it.¡± I raised my hands defensively as Aegion started to open his mouth. ¡°What makes Immortality skills different from, like, the best carpentry skills ever? Why doesn¡¯t that inspire greed?¡± I asked. ¡°Surely this can¡¯t be the only madly desired skill.¡±


    ¡°Time.¡± Awarthril grimly answered. ¡°Or replaceability, depending how you look at it. You want Folen to make you one of his legendary talismans? You can afford to wait until your name is next on the list. You need a sword of adamantium? Offer a new life to a hundred orphans, and train them all in the art of smithing, until one master rises to the top, and can craft the sword for you. However, you fall in love with a mortal? You find a lifelong connection with a companion who¡¯s only got 300 short years on the planet? Nothing can replace them. The only solution is to get them to a high enough level, and get lucky that the System offers an Immortality skill - or find someone who can grant it. Conventional wisdom says to not fall in love with mortals, or bind with creatures with low lifespans, but¡­ sometimes life just happens.¡± She affectionately petted Kiyaya, fighting back a tear.


    ¡°Oh.¡±


    I put on my thinking cap.


    I didn¡¯t have much more to say. I¡¯d wanted the Immortality skill, burned with desire for it. I¡¯d crafted and shaped my class to accommodate the skill, all without thinking about long-term implications and knock-off effects.


    With that being said, would I have problems in Remus?


    Unlikely. Night, and other vampires could grant Immortality, and yet they didn¡¯t seem to have big problems. Being somewhat secretive and hiding could help, along with being the biggest, baddest fish in the small pond called Remus, but there was something more to it than that. The elves knew about vampires, but I hadn¡¯t heard of secret midnight raids to kidnap them. Given that, to my understanding, they could grant Immortality, I was missing some piece of the puzzle.


    I mean¡­ Aegion had just mentioned that the elves suspected the vampires had gone extinct, which might be why there were no daring¡­ midday? raids.


    Come to think of it, Night had never offered to turn me into one, nor were there legions of ex-Sentinels-turned-vampires running around. At least, not that I knew of. There had to be something else going on, but I didn¡¯t think this was the time for it.


    Also, I¡¯d seen stasis fields from Lun¡¯Kat. Didn¡¯t they imply other ways of keeping people around forever? Oh, right - they¡¯d freeze the person, and it wasn¡¯t much better than creating a statue of the person, but it did extend the timeframe¡­ although given that it was one of the most powerful dragons in the world making the stasis fields, it might be out of the reach of all but the highest leveled elves.


    I challenged one of my assumptions. I hoped Lun¡¯Kat was one of the most powerful dragons. I dreaded to think what it¡¯d be like otherwise. The fact that one of her elements was Mirage implied she wasn¡¯t that combat-focused as¡­


    Focus.


    ¡°Elaine. If you can help Kiyaya, will you do it? Please?¡± She asked, as the wolf in question nuzzled my hand, licking me plaintively. ¡°I¡¯ll owe you a favor, even if you just try.¡±


    Well, nothing for it. I had no reason to say no, and this would be good practice.


    I focused on the skill, ¡°stretching¡± it like a new muscle. I tried to channel it into Kiyaya, but there was no purchase. No feeling of activation. It was like I was trying to heal a rock.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I don¡¯t think my skill works on wolves.¡± I said, feeling my heart stabbed as Awathril¡¯s face fell. The skill had no ¡®purchase¡¯, no feedback.


    She put on a brave face.


    ¡°Well, nothing for it. I¡¯d be more than happy to work with you to level you up, get the skill stronger, and evolve it so it can help with non-humans!¡±


    Always the eternal optimist.


    ¡°That might be a bit hard - I put the bare minimum in to get the skill, it was expensive.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Aegion asked.


    ¡°I had the chance to build my own class! It was a ton of fun, but incredibly stressful.¡±


    I¡¯d mentioned that earlier, but it¡¯d gotten lost in the discussion about my class qualities and stat totals.


    The elves and their companions all looked at Serondes, who gave a smug smile.


    ¡°I managed to get that for my Lava class! Had a whole range of volcanoes, and a jar of lava to pour. Got some nifty skills out of it. How about you?¡±


    Interesting. It didn¡¯t quite seem to be as rare as I thought.


    ¡°Stars and constellations I had to ignite with starlight.¡± I said.


    ¡°Elaine, it sounds like you¡¯ve had a most fascinating journey. I¡¯d love to know more about you. Tell me about yourself.¡± Serondes gave me a look, like I was the only person in the world.


    I know I¡¯d given the short version of my story, heck, earlier today, but now they wanted more.


    ¡°Well, things started in earnest when I was eight, and unlocked my System. See, I had my good friend, Lyra, who¡­¡±


    I gave them a somewhat abridged version of events, from the events that caused me to swear my [Oath], without going into details of exactly what was in it, to running away from home, bandits, Rangers, monsters, classing up, kidnapping, more monsters, plagues, the capital, Ranger Academy - the short version - becoming a Sentinel, keeping all the Sentinel secrets. An overview of my missions, from plagues to pirates, earthquakes to rebellions. Then the Formorians, and, well, they¡¯d heard it from there.


    It was pretty late by the time I¡¯d finished, and Serondes had scattered torches around the campsite, igneous rock topped by shifting Lava.


    I was helping as well, with my own little glow, but I was feeling more than a bit regretful right now that I¡¯d taken Radiance over Lava. It was just so versatile!


    I had to remind myself that it was significantly more expensive to pull off the same tricks, and Radiance had a different bag of tricks. Like, Radiance light was cheap. Lava-light? Had to keep dumping large amounts of mana into the Lava to keep it hot, and it kept radiating the heat out, while also not being all that bright, relatively speaking.


    Aegion was contently sipping another mug of mystery beer, a contently sloshed look on his face.


    ¡°Good story, good story.¡± He gestured towards my mug I¡¯d been nursing, carefully rationing every sip. It was good stuff, worth savoring and letting the feeling flow over me with each mouthful.


    ¡°I¡¯m totally convinced now. Elaine dear, you need to spend some time with us, to learn what it means to be Immortal, and how it¡¯s going to change things for you. Plus, we need to get your level way up. That Night fellow sounds like he¡¯s got his heart in the right place, but is muddling through it himself. I¡¯m sure he¡¯d do his best to help you, but, well¡­¡±


    She trailed off, not wanting to finish her sentence, and disparage someone close to me. I could roughly fill in the blank.


    ¡°But he¡¯s not an elf.¡±


    Still, I did appreciate them wanting to raise my level, even if it was for selfish reasons. I wasn¡¯t going to say no, any help in this hostile world was worth it.


    ¡°One early trick, for example, are companions! You¡¯re going to be living a long, fruitful life, probably with a bunch of cycles to get your classes and their quality high enough. Companions are great for that! They help protect you when you¡¯ve just reset, and you¡¯ve lost a lot of strength. Jumping from your first cycle to your second is rough. A lot of Immortals do something silly, thinking they have their old strength, that they¡¯re as fast as they used to be.¡±


    Awarthril shook her head sadly, but not with the knowing of having lost someone close to her to the described mistake.


    ¡°Plus, companions are great!¡± Aegion jumped in, affectionately feeding Cordamo carefully-sized chunks. The poor snake was bloated as hell, having been ¡®affectionately fed¡¯ for the past few hours while I was telling my story, but the little glutton was still forcing his mouth open for the next bite. ¡°People will come and go your entire life, no matter how much you might think otherwise. A companion though? They¡¯ll keep you grounded, centered, sane. One friend who¡¯ll never leave you, who you¡¯ll never drift apart from over the centuries.¡±


    ¡°Right now, we¡¯re all the best of friends.¡± Serondes chimed in, to everyone¡¯s - companions included - agreeing nods. ¡°A thousand years from now? I might be cashing in some favors Awarthril owes me once in a while, and every decade or so inviting Aegion to lunch. A companion? Friendship for your eternal life, the one constant in an ever-changing world.¡±


    Awarthril shot him a foul look at that.


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty late. We should turn in for the night.¡± Awarthril yawned and stretched.


    ¡°I¡¯m happy to take a watch if needed! I don¡¯t mind helping. I¡¯m used to it.¡± I volunteered.


    ¡°Watch?¡± Aegion asked, as confused as could be. ¡°Why would we set a watch?¡±


    Um. What?!


    ¡°Er, if something attacks us in the night, or tries to sneak in, or something? Whoever¡¯s awake can alert everyone else?¡± I looked around, seeing looks of confusion.


    ¡°But nothing¡¯s going to attack us.¡± Serondes pointed out, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it Elaine! We¡¯ll be fine. Just go get a good night¡¯s sleep.¡± Awarthril said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll fix you up a little space. Come with me.¡± Serondes got up from the table, beckoning me to follow. With a flicker of thought, he raised walls, expertly catching a bedroll tossed by Aegion over to us. Sand and Lava mixed together as he hummed, a beautiful and haunting melody. Soon, a cozy little sleeping space, complete with small windows, big enough to let in some light but not let anyone see inside, emerged, with us in it.


    It would be cozy even before Serondes was here, and as it was, I ended up pressed against him, my mind whirling in all sorts of different and interesting ways. I shifted to make sure my egg stayed safe.


    ¡°One last thing before I go.¡± He musically half-whispered in my ear, not needing to be any louder for me to hear. ¡°Match the egg¡¯s temperature, then exceed it by a small amount. If you¡¯d like, I can make a Lava box to keep it warm at night.¡±


    The soft breaths on my ear was causing a flushing to go up my neck, and I mentally reasserted myself.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I whispered back. ¡°I¡¯ve got a skill for it.¡±


    ¡°Tell me if you need any help during the night.¡± He walked out of the small sleeping hut he¡¯d made.


    I did need something - I retrieved my armor, and spent some time making sure it was all dry, doing some serious thinking. First things first though, I adjusted the heat output from my Radiance magic to the egg I was holding, then once I¡¯d gotten it just right, according to both Serondes¡¯s instructions and [Egg Incubation], I tied it off with [Persistent Casting] and forgot about it.


    First off - all the elves were stupidly good looking and interesting. However, my experience with Jaclyn, remembering how that turned out, was a good reminder not to rush into things. Heck, the elves either didn¡¯t notice the effect they had on me, or just assumed it was totally natural.


    I wanted to curse the gods out for making elves so damn perfect. If I¡¯d known, I would¡¯ve begged Papillion to be an elf, not a human. It was so unfair, I could cry.


    I let the feeling pass. Crying and being upset over it wouldn¡¯t change the past, it wouldn¡¯t change who I was.


    With that being said, I figured I could indulge in the inadvertent crush I¡¯d developed on all three of them for a single night, then ruthlessly crush it - pun intended - and properly mentally reset myself, so I wasn¡¯t totally bedazzled by all three of them, so I didn¡¯t hang onto their every word and watch every motion, hoping they¡¯d glance at me and smile.


    Hormones were so annoying!


    At the same time, they could be a ton of fun. The trick was going to be in control of my feelings, and not let them rule me, along with not making any dumb decisions.


    And hey, once I¡¯d sorted out my crush feelings and gotten my head screwed back on straight, maybe I¡¯d pursue one of them. None of the dates I¡¯d gone on in Remus had been any good, and I was starting to despair of finding someone, anyone, who could relate to me in a respectful way, who I found interesting and wasn¡¯t old enough to be my father.


    Ok, maybe technically the elves were that old, but they seemed to be around my maturity level. Either way, we were on a similar playing field, so to speak. They didn¡¯t have a bunch of kids running around, we were all Immortals, in short, they didn¡¯t trigger any of my squick ¡°ewww no¡± factors.


    Awarthril¡¯s mothering of everyone was getting close though. Wasn¡¯t there yet.


    Right. Plan was set - indulge in crush tonight, then kill it, and look at the elves with a fresh set of eyes. I wrapped myself up with [Mantle], then started fantasizing about the elves. Only question was - who?


    Serondes, with his musical voice?


    Cute Aegion?


    Awarthril, with her caring nature and ginger hair, which I¡¯d never seen in Remus?


    No, wait - All three.


    At the same time.


    I practically exploded in delight at the thought.

 Chapter 231 - Elvish Adventures! I

    I woke up, briefly panicked and confused at the stone surface above me, almost closing in on me. Was I back in the mines?! Was Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair, escape and freedom just a fever dream, my overactive imagination tantalizingly dangling freedom in front of me, pulling the wool over my eyes to the cruel reality that I was still trapped deep in the mines?


    No.


    The egg was still in my grasp, and the light was streaming in through the windows Serondes made last night. The fact that he could casually make windows, when Remus didn¡¯t even have glass, still blew my mind.


    [Egg Incubation] was telling me that I was holding the egg wrong, and I shifted and shuffled about some to get it all right, along with upping the temperature. Up. And up. And up. It got to the point where I double-checked my mana, making sure that I was at a sustainable number. It wasn¡¯t going down, so my regeneration was still outstripping my casting. Everything right in egg-land, I dismissed [Mantle], got up, and left to get breakfast.


    I quickly checked my [Egg Incubation] level. 35.


    I was having a stupidly hard time evaluating how good that leveling rate was. On one hand, I expected quick levels from new skills these days. I had [Passionate Learning], and all my recently acquired skills had shot up quickly. Also, no more dead zone.


    At the same time, all of them had been under high stress situations. Normally, it¡¯d take a year or so for a skill to level up to 30, but that was assuming I wasn¡¯t constantly using it, and I wasn¡¯t, like, singing for my life. The fact that I was already level 35 was quite the jump¡­ although my old logic of ¡°what was my leveling rate¡± was all based on living in the dead zone. Or, as the elves called it, the low experience area.


    I¡¯d been in no danger working on this egg. I had a strong multiplier, but that didn¡¯t explain it. There was a gap in the experience I was getting. I was getting more than I expected.


    The only thing that I could think of was the tier of the egg. Something interesting was inside. I¡¯d have to keep working on it, and pray my skill was good enough.


    Wait - maybe Serondes had [Teaching]? Or some uber elf-bullshit equivalent that was increasing my experience gain. For all I knew, elves all had [I¡¯m an Elf!] and it was all the general skills rolled into one.


    As I left the little hut, intending to go wash up - and oh, what a luxury that was! Being able to wash up in the morning! - a sudden wave of ¡°well, DUH¡± inspiration hit me.


    I was leveling [Egg Incubation]. By definition, that meant whatever was inside was still alive!


    Captain Obvious, reporting for duty!


    I finished getting out, seeing Aegion having breakfast, his forearms rippling in the-


    No. Bad Elaine. No more crushes! I scolded myself, acknowledging the feeling of attraction, then letting it go. I shook my head.


    Right. I was back on track. Even though I¡¯d been visiting those arms in my dreams last -


    BAD ELAINE!


    ¡°Morning!¡± Aegion waved to me. ¡°Breakfast?¡± He asked, gesturing to some nice flat bread on the table.


    ¡°In a minute, just want to wash up first!¡± I briskly walked over to where the pond was, still covered by the Lava walls.


    Only to half walk-in on Serondes and Awarthril, who¡¯d had the same idea to wash up.


    My poor eyes. My poor ¡°no more crush¡± conviction. I didn¡¯t know if I wanted to take the chance to feast on the sight, or walk away. Either way, my face was doing its best beet impression.


    It wasn¡¯t like I hadn¡¯t seen naked people all the time in Remus, usually around the public baths. The elves were a whole different kettle of fish.


    Or pond of fish, as it may be.


    My self-discipline took over, and I walked away, back to the table. I knew they¡¯d seen me, but they hadn¡¯t called out or anything. Bless them.


    ¡°I think I¡¯ll wash up after breakfast.¡± I couldn¡¯t keep the embarrassed heat out of my voice, to Aegion¡¯s knowing grin.


    ¡°Sounds good. Drink to wash it all down?¡± He asked, passing me a cup.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I took a sip, spinning my head so I didn¡¯t spray the entire breakfast spread with my spit.


    ¡°Oh dear gods.¡± I wailed. ¡°How can something be so terrible!?¡±


    His drinks seemed to be a coinflip of good or bad. I¡¯m not sure spinning the wheel was worth it.


    ¡°Ah, another bust. Drat.¡± He took a tiny sip, shuddered, then poured out his own suspiciously-full cup.


    ¡°Too much salt.¡±


    ¡°Do you ever drink your own stuff?¡± I dumped my own cup out as I asked. Hey, Aegion was doing it, it was clearly acceptable. Also, I wasn¡¯t counting ¡®taking a small sip¡¯ as drinking his own stuff, and Aegion clearly realized that.


    ¡°Only when I can¡¯t find anyone else to drink it for me!¡± He poured something else into his cup, taking a tentative sip. A smile, and he downed the rest.


    Revenge. Revenge was best served cold, but I¡¯d take luke-warm. A plan was brewing in my mind, sweet vengeance plotted out.


    However, the key to revenge was to not say anything. Screaming about how ¡°vengeance would be mine!¡± and ¡°you¡¯ll pay for this!¡± was a great way to get nothing done, look like a complete idiot, and worse - it would let my target know that I was maging for them.


    No, silence was the name of the game. Secrecy. Aegion wouldn¡¯t know I was mad until my revenge was complete! Although, I could lay some of the groundwork for my revenge, AND poke some fun at him, all at once.


    ¡°Well, better me than someone who can¡¯t neutralize poisons.¡± I hid the little smile on my face in a mouthful of bread.


    Aegion gave me a look, like he wasn¡¯t sure if I was poking fun at him, or entirely serious. Serondes and Awarthril came back, and I took the chance to pop off for a quick morning rinse, my ears burning at the memory of walking in on them.


    No crush. I reminded myself, banishing the thoughts from my head.


    We finished the morning up, then it was time to pack up. It was practically a game.


    ¡°Ready!¡± Awarthril yelled, standing next to the crate. Utter mayhem followed her sentence.


    Serondes was at the table, grabbing and flinging plates, cups, silverware, food - everything - at her, as fast as he could. Meanwhile, Aegion had unplugged and corked up his various barrels of experimentation, and was throwing them wholesale at Awarthril.


    Neither of them could move nearly as quickly as the physical [Warrior]. Moving so quickly she was just a blur, she expertly grabbed each item out of the air, and neatly placed it into the Spatial Box.


    Kiyaya ran around the campsite, grabbing the occasional large item that was lying around and tossing it to Awarthril. Cordamo patrolled the skies above, spotting forgotten items here and there, then swooping down to grab them - or anything too delicate for Kiyaya to grab with her huge jaws - and adding them to the maelstrom of flying camping supplies.


    He was giving the entire place a bird¡¯s - snake¡¯s? Couatl¡¯s. - eye view from above.


    In under a minute, the entire site was cleaned. I let out a low whistle, as Serondes went around to the Lava-huts he¡¯d made, crumbling them into a pile of sand. Environmentally responsible.


    ¡°A full team of professional Rangers, doing this every day, couldn¡¯t get a campsite cleaned and ready to go this fast.¡± I paid them the highest compliment I could imagine.


    ¡°Well, yeah.¡± Awarthril replied, hefting the box easily up onto one shoulder. ¡°They can only do so much without a Dimensional Box. Are we ready to go?¡±


    I looked around, noticing in the chaos my armor had gotten packed up.


    ¡°I¡¯m all set!¡± I shuffled a little closer to Awarthril, not sure what was next. I was suspecting it would be like when I was on a Sentinel mission, where I¡¯d pack up in the morning, throw everything in my bag, then start hiking to the next spot.


    ¡°Set!¡±


    ¡°Ready.¡±


    Sticky goop erupted from Awarthril, slapping onto all of our chests. It completely wrapped around my chest, effectively putting me into a harness of sorts, with the other end connected to Awarthril. I was a bit concerned - this wasn¡¯t terribly nice - but Aegion and Serondes had gotten the same treatment, and they seemed to consider it perfectly normal.


    I must¡¯ve had a confused look on my face.


    ¡°[Rubbery Rope].¡± Awarthril explained. ¡°Lets me yank you out of danger if needed, moving you faster than you could move yourself. What¡¯s your vitality, so I don¡¯t accidentally snap your neck?¡±


    I kinda shrugged at that, the hardening ooze - it was nothing like rubber, in spite of the skill name - restricting my movement somewhat.


    ¡°Perks of being a healer. I can bounce back from almost anything, including a broken neck.¡±


    I quickly flashed through the medicine, making a snap call.


    ¡°In fact, it¡¯d probably be better for me to cleanly avoid whatever¡¯s coming for me, and fix the damage from being jerked around, than take a partial hit.¡±


    Awarthril frowned at that.


    ¡°I¡¯d rather you got out of the way without being hurt either way. Come on, what¡¯s your vitality?¡±


    Blah.


    ¡°11,000ish.¡±


    No reaction at all. Extra blah! Then again, they already knew my overall stats, so them being surprised would be surprising.


    ¡°Ok! We¡¯re off!¡± Awarthril said, started to leisurely walk northwards. The rest of us followed along, like a trail of ducklings.


    ¡°Where are we headed to?¡± I asked, a little surprised at the pace. I knew we could all travel much faster than this. We were walking at a kid¡¯s pace, not the superhuman jog, or run, that I knew we could all do - and probably maintain until nightfall.


    ¡°North! Your Poor Experience Zone is to the north and east, and we¡¯ve gotten reports of Shimagu to the north and very slightly west of here. I figure we¡¯ll head north, smash a Shimagu or two, using you to flush them out easily, then turn around and get you home before anything happens to your friends and family. Then, hey, who knows, maybe you¡¯ll want to travel with us some more! Shimagu are a menace to everyone, and you¡¯d be helping out your own countrymen by stopping their spread before they come too close to you.¡±


    That sounded like a totally reasonable plan.


    ¡°Plus, we can teach you everything you need to know about being an Immortal, and give you a hand with your egg. I know you don¡¯t have a lot of experience with it, and could use all the help you can get.¡±


    Serondes jumped in here, walking by my side.


    ¡°I know that the early days of raising something that just hatched can be difficult! Most everything that hatches is weak and vulnerable in the early days, and quite a few creatures bond to the first thing they see.¡±


    Aegion butted in.


    ¡°Something worth knowing about Immortals, is as a rule, they treat Mortals and Immortals differently. If another Immortal has a problem with a Mortal, well, the usual answer is to just ignore them. They¡¯ll die out soon enough, as long as they don¡¯t do something stupid like attack you.¡±


    I felt there was a lot more being unsaid there.


    Serondes tapped in, and Aegion gracefully let him say his piece.


    ¡°Even with all the prep, something can go wrong. I had perfectly prepared for the baby pegasus that I raised. However, it turned out to be a rare variant, and we never properly bonded as a result.¡±


    There was a very unlady-like snort from Awarthril, but the whole thing sounded terrible, and I didn¡¯t want to dig deeper into a sore spot.


    ¡°The tree over there is a Bomboa tree. They¡¯re rare, but they hold a bunch of water. Their fruit is OK, but nothing at all like what we can grow back home.¡± Awarthril pointed to a stout tree.


    ¡°Now, another thing about Immortals is the importance of favors. Not every Immortal is rich, contrary to the stories, and we do have good use for normal coin. However, a favor can be priceless. You never know where someone will end up in life, and a favor gained today can be worth the world in a few thousand years, when the person who owes you has thousands of levels, and rare and fantastical skills.¡±


    He gave a slow nod at me, and it clicked - Awarthril said she¡¯d owe me a favor. Heck, if someone helped me out, then asked me to turn the clock back on their kid or something? Yeah, I¡¯d totally do it. I couldn¡¯t be the only one with rare skills, and given a few hundreds years for Awarthril to mature her skills? Good chance she could give me a solid helping hand down the line.


    Yeah, I could see why favors were such a good currency. And speaking of rare skills, it sounded like my Immortality skill could be worth a ton. Which made me wonder - why didn¡¯t elves aim for similar skills?


    I internally cringed as I realized I¡¯d missed almost all of Awarthril¡¯s little botany lesson, and tried to consult my [Pristine Memories] for what¡¯d been said - except Serondes was now talking about pet homes! I decided to listen to him, instead of eternally playing catch-up.


    The elves took turns telling me things, teaching me, expecting that I could follow three disparate conversations that had nothing to do with each other at the same time. Because of course I could follow three conversations, and soak up all the knowledge they were teaching me.


    Awarthril¡¯s attitude was just a touch grating. She believed that she knew better than me - better than the rest of us - and that it was her elfesse oblige to correct, educate, and protect the rest of us.


    It was tempered by the fact that she was utterly correct. I didn¡¯t know any of this stuff. I hadn¡¯t thought about cycles, how to improve my own stats and class quality when time wasn¡¯t an issue. I hadn¡¯t realized how valuable favors were, or how importantly they were treated. I¡¯d tried to do long-term thinking, but I hadn¡¯t known that mortals tended to build resentment towards Immortals in their midst - even family members. Helped explain why Night was so low-profile though, and some of this he could¡¯ve told me.


    I also didn¡¯t know the local flora and fauna, which Awarthril was cheerfully correcting.


    While juggling three conversations, watching where I was going - Awarthril cutting a path through the tall grass and ferns made it much easier than usual - I also tried to do some self-reflection, practically groaning as the answer came to me.


    I¡¯d properly smothered the crush in its cradle, but now instead of wanting to have fun times with Awarthril, I wanted to be her. At my core, in my little heart, I was intensely envious of the elves. I wanted what they had. I wanted to be them, to be able to walk through life with an easy gait, to have been raised in the most wonderful environment. Instead, I was a muddy human, and from the sound of the other species Aegion was telling me about, humans were closer to the bottom of the elvenoid food chain, than the top. By his reckoning, it went goblins -> gnomes -> humans, then a dizzying array of other species. Even then, there was a weird rock-paper-scissors going on in his estimation.


    ¡°See, goblins are arguably better than gnomes, due to their increased size and savagery. It gives them a proper leg up in a straight fight. Gnomes, however, are possibly better than humans, given their mastery of magic. Smart little buggers, I¡¯ll give them that. They can enchant anything, and since it¡¯s tiny? Well, they can usually work in more enchantments than most other crafters. At the same time, there¡¯s no doubt that humans are better than goblins. Your sheer size and physical advantage makes being a human much better than a goblin. The fact that you only get one stat point per level hurts, but at least it¡¯s a free point, which is the best. Still, there are arachne, cyclops, demons, dullahans, giants -¡±


    Serondes smacked him. What was interesting was Aegion could¡¯ve easily dodged. He didn¡¯t, for some reason - perhaps sheer politeness?


    ¡°Ah fuck your horns hurt!¡± Serondes waved his hands in the classic ¡®smarting¡¯ move.


    Nope. Not politeness.


    ¡°Elaine¡¯s a human! She can¡¯t help it! Don¡¯t be a jerk.¡± Serondes swapped back to telling Aegion off.


    I decided then and there that, if I did decide to pursue one of the elves, it would totally be Serondes.


    ¡°Ooof, right. I never thought of it that way.¡± Aegion gave me a little half-wave. ¡°Sorry about that. I¡¯m sure there are plenty of benefits to being a human. Like, uh¡­¡±


    ¡°Quit while you¡¯re ahead.¡± Awarthril amusedly shot back.


    I saw a moment to ask a few questions that I had rattling around.


    ¡°Out of curiosity, why don¡¯t elves get an Immortality-granting skill? Like Awarthril, wouldn¡¯t it be easier for you to get the skill yourself, versus leveling up hoping Kiyaya will get something? Or if nothing else, why hasn¡¯t anyone gotten the skill, and, like, sell access to it or something? And why are we strolling like this? It¡¯s nice, but¡­¡±


    ¡°In a rush?¡± Awarthril¡¯s amusement laced her voice.


    I opened my mouth, but she continued on.


    ¡°I¡¯m choosing to focus on leveling myself and Kiyaya, because I¡¯m not close to a reset. I don¡¯t have a free class slot, and elves, well¡­¡±


    Awarthril seemed to struggle to say the next part, her mouth opening and closing a few times as she started to say whatever it was, failing, and trying again.


    ¡°Elves, and other Natural Immortals, almost never get Immortality skills. It just doesn¡¯t happen. We believe the System recognizes us as Immortal, and just doesn¡¯t offer the skill. Why would it? We already have Immortality. It makes Immortality-granting skills virtually impossible outside of companion bonds. As for someone selling the skill? They do - for a ludicrous sum that all of us together could only pool a tiny fraction of what they want. They can afford to charge usurious prices, and they do.¡±


    She shrugged and quickly changed the subject, not wanting to dwell on a potential failing. Evidence that lowly humans, 3rd from the bottom according to Aegion¡¯s list, could do something better than the almighty elf.


    ¡°We¡¯re all Immortals here. We have unlimited time. There¡¯s no real need to rush about, here and there, zipping through the world. Nah. Slow down, smell the flowers. See the trees, listen to the wind. There¡¯s a great big beautiful world out there, and we¡¯ll get our heads lost in the clouds. We rag on mortals quite a bit, but it¡¯s easy to forget the world as Immortals. They never do.¡±


    Aegion stage-whispered, ruining Awarthril¡¯s beautiful speech.


    ¡°Her mom told her that unless it was an emergency, she had to walk slowly. Something about being a flighty mess as a kid.¡±


    Awarthril launched herself at Aegion with a scream of embarrassment, and a scene I was all-too-familiar with from traveling with the Rangers emerged.


    A brawl.


    I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle.

 Chapter 232 – Elvish Adventures! II

    I yelped as the [Rubbery Rope] that attached me to Awarthril got yanked on, snapping me forward into the brawl. There was no [Bullet Time] activation, but I did throw a shield around the egg, curling around it protectively. There was no way I was going to let this get hurt.


    ¡°Oi!¡± Awarthril¡¯s fury was clear in her voice, as she stood up. ¡°No bystanders! Elaine¡¯s fragile, and she¡¯s got an even more delicate egg with her!¡±


    Ouch. 11000 vitality. Fragile. Right to the heart.


    Aegion dusted himself off. He opened his mouth a few times, just to close it, frustration written on his face. Finally, he stalked off, and that seemed to be the end of it.


    ¡°Food for a baby companion can be tricky, especially if you don¡¯t know what it is ahead of time.¡± Serondes broke up the awkwardness by continuing another one of his lessons. ¡°I would have fruits, berries, ferns, leaves, meat, bones, and organs - liver and brains are a favorite - on-hand, and I¡¯d consider getting some more esoteric things, like good dirt, prepared just in case. You did mention you found the egg deep underground, and it¡¯s not impossible for it to be some sort of worm-like creature.¡±


    I thought about a large Lava-worm hatching out of the egg, and I shuddered. Noooooo thank you. I¡¯d probably raise it well, get it to adulthood, then let it be free. Companions and bonding was a voluntary choice, after all. I doubt I could even get the skill to trigger if I was baseline, fundamentally revolted by the form of the creature.


    ¡°Ok, what do I do once the baby hatches?¡± I was starting to get a little freaked out. This was a lot of prep work, and a lot of responsibility. I¡¯d been dreaming of having a companion, but heck, I hadn¡¯t even looked after a pet! This was going to be like a pet on steroids, dozens of times as complicated. In my mind, the egg would hatch, I¡¯d feed it some of my dinner, and we¡¯d live happily ever after. Reality was asserting itself, and it wasn¡¯t painting a pretty picture.


    Still, I¡¯d committed to this, and I wasn¡¯t going to back down now, no matter how much I was screaming internally.


    ¡°Feed it slowly. Remember, it¡¯s a baby. Being a baby is hard. It doesn¡¯t know how to eat. It doesn¡¯t know how to drink. It won¡¯t know how to walk, fly, or swim. It¡¯s a baby. Its only way of talking is to scream, and it''s your job to be patient and understanding.¡± Awarthril was scratching Kiyaya behind the ears as she lectured.


    ¡°It might try to bite too much, choke on a rock, jump off a cliff, climb into a fire, swim in a raging river, or pick a fight with something much bigger than it is, depending on what, exactly, it is.¡± Awarthril launched a stick with a weird ripple that immediately vanished, and Kiyaya got my hair swirling around me as she blasted off after the stick. Cordamo hissed his disapproval, then re-curled himself in Aegion¡¯s horns, enjoying the sun.


    ¡°It¡¯s your job to protect the baby, keep it safe. Normally, it¡¯d have its parents around to help, but¡­¡±


    I got a half-dirty look. I internally winced as I remembered they thought I¡¯d snatched the egg from a nest, not liberated it from a dragon. There was quite a difference between separating the egg from its mother, and removing it from a mad - errr - perfectly normal and sane collector.


    ¡°I understand.¡± I said seriously.


    ¡°About cycles - oh hang on.¡± Cordamo had perked up, launching himself from Aegion¡¯s head and gliding over to something in the ferns. Aegion started to briskly walk over there, talking away from me, his voice fading as he got further and further away.


    ¡°If possible, delay getting your third class as long as you can. The more stats you¡¯ve got in your other classes, the more achievements you rack up while you¡¯ve got the [Adult] class, the better your 3rd class is at the start, which has the potential to knock off a full cycle. We¡­¡±


    At this point, he was too far away for me to hear anymore. Serondes rolled his eyes.


    ¡°Awarthril and Aegion held off as long as they could, but getting a third class is just too exciting.¡±


    With that sort of bait tantalizing placed in front of me, I couldn¡¯t help but ask Serondes as Kiyaya finished playing fetch, returning the stick to Awarthril.


    ¡°What about you?¡±


    ¡°I perfectly timed, and optimized, getting my 3rd class.¡± He said smugly, clearly pleased with himself.


    Awarthril threw a stick right at Serondes¡¯s head, but slowly enough that he could duck, looking gleeful that he¡¯d dodged.


    Right until Kiyaya bowled him over in her attempt to follow the shortest path to the stick.


    You¡¯d think Serondes would learn by now. There was no dodging Awarthril¡¯s love taps.


    ¡°This is exactly what I needed to make the perfect, most sublime beer ever!¡± Aegion crowed, holding an uprooted plant that was ugly as sin.


    No way was I going to drink anything that came from that.


    Still, I couldn¡¯t help but chuckle at the antics of the elves as we kept walking along.


    ¡°Elaine! Elaine! You¡¯ve gotta try this mudweed with Longfern!¡± Aegion hustled over to me, pressing the questionable-looking plant along with one of the many ferns we were walking through into my hands.


    I gave him a doubtful look, as he nodded vigorously at me. Reluctantly, being a good sport, I put them both in my mouth, and started to chew.


    The fern tasted like miserable, stringy lettuce while the mudweed tasted as good as it sounded. However, where the two were mixing in my mouth, something magical was happening. The flavors were merging and evolving into something entirely new, something tasty and delicious.


    I chewed furiously, giving Aegion a double thumbs up, who looked pleased as punch with himself.


    ¡°What¡¯s the deal with Void mages?¡± I asked.


    We were breaking for lunch, and while the elves were nice, and everything they were telling me was useful, important information, I was so sick of hearing them talk, and following three conversations at once. [Pristine Memories] and [Passionate Learning] had both leveled in a single morning, and I could feel my brain cooking.


    I was learned out. I didn¡¯t have the endurance to keep going, not at non-stop high-speed triple lessons at once. If this is how elves were normally taught, well then.


    ¡°Well, it was tricky.¡± Aegion started to explain, yanking one barrel after another out of the Spatial Box. ¡°Every 50 to 100 years or so, a city somewhere in the world would randomly explode, a gigantic fireball consuming the entire city and everything around it for miles. This was of great concern to us, so dozens of teams of our best and brightest went out to investigate. I don¡¯t know how they did it, but they pinned down that the explosions were due to Void Mages. They then recruited 6,000 mortals, made them all get Void Mage classes, and¡­¡±


    He mimed a huge explosion with his hands.


    I shuddered at how callously Aegion talked about signing up thousands of mortals to their doom. Seeing my distress, Awarthril put a hand on my shoulder.


    ¡°They all knew what they were getting into.¡± She softly, kindly said. ¡°Everyone was worried and concerned about the problem, and now that we¡¯ve narrowed it down, it can be prevented. Every time a Void mage exploded, tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of people died.¡±


    I didn¡¯t want to think about it anymore. I had some doubts that many people voluntarily signed up for the experiment, and there were serious ethical questions around it. Did they have them all grouped up, which meant they all died when the time came? Did they hunt down the surviving Void mages if they were scattered around, to prevent more damage? Looking at this too closely would become problematic, for no good reason. Time to change the subject - radically.


    I generally kept the world traveling stuff quiet, because there was no reason to talk about it. Like, it was mostly a ¡°Look at me I¡¯m so special¡± thing, but it wasn¡¯t something I¡¯d earned. It¡¯d just happened to me. I¡¯d rather be treated for what I¡¯d done, and my skills and abilities, than judged on some grand random cosmic error. There were some parallels here between that, and how people in Remus treated women terribly just because of what they were, but I couldn¡¯t quite work it out.


    Not that it mattered.


    However, listening to the elves natter non-stop? I was ready to do almost anything not-rude to stop listening to them. I was vaguely aware that while there was no mind magic in Pallos, and they didn¡¯t seem to be using a skill like [Charm] or anything, I was rapidly becoming comfortable around them. A combination of their easy manner, their acceptance, me being absolutely starved for any sort of positive interaction, and, quite probably, the fact that they were elves and had crazy natural charisma put them in the ¡°fast friends¡± category. It felt like I¡¯d known them for years, not two days.


    I was perhaps too comfortable, too relaxed, but I wasn¡¯t quite able to let it go. The paranoid, screaming part of me that had been in control the entire time I was in the mines, that said to trust nobody and run back to Remus as fast as I could, I locked away in a box and threw away the key. I wasn¡¯t going to wander through life like that. I¡¯d get burned again in the future, but it was a better way to live.


    We¡¯d stopped for lunch, and had been making all sorts of small talk, while Aegion tended to his barrels. A brief lull in the conversation, and I saw my moment.


    ¡°Did you know there are other realms?¡± I casually asked, figuring I¡¯d at least test the water a bit.


    ¡°Oh yeah. Lirillen rips the veil, and grabs some random creature every hundred years or so.¡± Awarthril casually bit down into her sandwich, barely even registering the question.


    My mind did a mental record scratch. Who!? Did what!?


    I¡¯d long ago accepted my new home, my new family, my new parents. I was content, barely giving a thought to my old life. I suspect Papillion¡¯s swiss-cheesing had more than a little to do with it, but being raised in a kind, loving household was better than years of therapy for the issue.


    However, hearing that someone had what sounded a bit like a [World Traveler] class? Rather, a [Dimensional Gater]? I was interested. Could I pop by Earth? Could I let my old parents know I was ok? Could I talk to my old friends and family?


    Would I still have System access?


    Would I be able to get back?


    I doubted I could re-integrate back into Earth¡¯s society. Too much of me was here. Heck, even my internal reflection in my soul - how Librarian dressed - was from Pallos. I didn¡¯t even think in English anymore. I -


    ¡°Troodon got your tongue?¡± Serondes teased, interrupting my runaway train of thought. I noticed my mouth had been hanging open, and I snapped it shut.


    I shook all that out of my head. They mentioned someone who brought things over, not made gates. And once every hundred years? Too risky. No, I¡¯d leave it be for now. I did want to talk with her at some point¡­ but I was Immortal, and so was she. Probably. If she was an elf. Which it sounded like.


    ¡°Yes, sorry.¡± I said, finally making it back. With how casually they were treating Lirillen, I felt like I could come clean without too much grief. ¡°I kinda got smacked through worlds.¡±


    Their reaction was lackluster.


    ¡°Ahhhh, that explains the hole in your story!¡± Aegion said, bringing over a new set of mugs, filled with his newest questionable brew. An opportunity for revenge was starting to present itself.


    ¡°Hole?¡± I asked, accepting the mug.


    ¡°Yeah, I noticed that as well. Elaine, healers are offered better skills depending on their knowledge. It makes healing an interesting, but somewhat awkward path to follow, since the proper way to become a healer is to spend years at level 8 or level 32, studying as much knowledge as possible. It lets them get the proper powerful skills to be a healer. Most don¡¯t have the patience for it, at least not while they¡¯re young. Quite a few elves do eventually go down that route one cycle or another, but many find healing boring or tedious, and don¡¯t stick with it. However, you never talked about any education, or stalling, and even mentioned that you were denied education.¡± Serondes also accepted a mug. He was going to be collateral damage in my revenge plan, but my vengeance would be enacted regardless.


    I took a sip, and forced myself to swallow the vile brew, mechanically widening my eyes. That was surprise, right? This acting thing was hard.


    ¡°This is good!¡± I tried to infuse my voice with as much cheer as I could, not quite knowing how successful I was being.


    However, like the poor innocent lamb to the slaughter, Serondes - and Awarthril - raised their mugs up. Like a convicted criminal being led to the gallows, Aegion did the same.


    Three nearly identical sprays of Aegion¡¯s ¡°beer¡± followed a moment later, and I fell over cackling.


    ¡°Ooooh, I¡¯m going to get you for this!¡± Awarthril started to walk menacingly towards me.


    ¡°Why me! Aegion¡¯s the one with the shit beer!¡± I complained. ¡°I just made sure he got a taste of his own stuff!¡±


    She paused, then turned on Aegion.


    ¡°You know, she¡¯s got a point. Get over here!¡± She called out diving at him again. Cordamo bailed out of his horns, and the brawl was on again - this time with the tether removed.


    ¡°So. I¡¯d like to know, how¡¯d you end up here?¡± Serondes asked, finding a seat next to me. I shuffled just a tiny hair closer, my heart rate skyrocketing at my move.


    What if he didn¡¯t like that? What if he disliked me? What if-


    BAD CRUSH GO AWAY.


    ¡°I have no idea.¡± I told him. ¡°According to Papillion, I was found floating in the void. My soul had somehow gotten lost, and he offered me a choice. Reincarnation in Pallos, losing a chunk of my memories, or thrown back into Samsara. I didn¡¯t want to die, and being reincarnated with some of my memories seemed like a better deal than dying ¡®for real.¡¯ The rest was a natural extension of that.¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯d you come from?¡±


    ¡°A place called Earth.¡±


    ¡°What can you tell me about it?¡±


    Aegion and Awarthril had paused mid-brawl, Awarthril on top of Aegion, hand raised to punch, while he was pulling her hair. Both had stopped in the pose to better listen to me.


    ¡°Well, quite a lot. We prized knowledge and information there, and a lot of it was kept as I got moved over. Some was removed, but, well¡­¡±


    I started talking about Earth.


    And talking.


    And talking.


    And talking.


    And talking.


    And eating dinner.


    And talking.


    And¡­


    ¡°I think we should stop here for the night.¡± Awarthril got up and stretched, and with a start I realized that the sun was already low on the horizon, and piece by piece, a full campsite had been established where we¡¯d broken for lunch.


    ¡°Not the best traveling day.¡± Serondes observed.


    ¡°Seemed pretty good to me!¡± Aegion cheerfully was drinking something, which I suspected was the ¡°good beer¡±, and not his experiments. Somehow, he seemed to get all the joys of drinking just from sipping his beer, and none of the downsides. I couldn¡¯t tell if it was related to his class, if he had skills along those lines, or if it was just more elvish nonsense.


    I saw my chance.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we split the day in half? You all have so many wonderful things to tell me, and I have so many stories I¡¯d like to sing. Morning you teach me, afternoon I give you all some more stories. What do you say?¡±


    I kept quiet that the mornings were slow and lazy, and the afternoons considerably longer, and that I was getting the better end of the deal.


    Or rather¡­


    We were all winning. The elves got more Earth Tales time, and I got as much valuable education as I could stand.


    ¡°Yeah, that sounds good.¡± Awarthril had leaned back, and was starting to study the stars as they came out.


    ¡°I think we should swap days.¡± Aegion proposed. ¡°One day each. It makes a fair rotation.¡±


    ¡°Listening to you talk for an entire day?¡± Serondes made a horrified face. ¡°I¡¯d rather jump in the ocean and let a kraken eat me.¡±


    ¡°What! I¡¯m not that bad. Elaine, tell Serondes I¡¯m not that bad.¡± Aegion protested.


    ¡°Lovely stars.¡± I scooted over to Awarthril, sipping on a mug of something amazing. It was like hot chocolate with whipped cream on steroids.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t they?¡± Awarthril¡¯s amusement at me completely ignoring Aegion was made clear.


    Serondes sidled up next to me.


    ¡°You see those seven stars there? They make the Crystal Crown.¡± He pointed to the stars, roughly tracing his hand in the constellation.


    ¡°Oh? Humans call those three that are part of it, and the other eight there The Spear.¡± I traced one back.


    We spent some time showing each other constellations, while Aegion and Awarthril started to play some sort of game. I was tempted to call it cards, but it was so much more involved than that, requiring levels of superhuman - heck, even superelven - skill that I couldn¡¯t even follow, let alone hope to match enough to participate in.


    Finally, I worked up my courage somewhat, and my decision. I was horribly inexperienced with the whole dating thing, and that wouldn¡¯t change if I never put myself out there. Why not give it something of a try? Why not try pursuing Serondes, and just¡­ seeing where it went? If it was a bust, it was a bust. If it went well, great!


    ¡°Hey Serondes?¡± I asked, heart racing a million miles an hour as I shifted my egg around, and leaned my head on his shoulder.


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°Can you show me magic? My class grows and evolves by seeing skills and understanding them, and my skills rapidly improve. You¡¯re not a Radiance mage, but I figure I can try to learn something. Would you show me your magic?¡±


    He glanced at me, and I shamelessly batted my eyes at him. He just chuckled.


    ¡°Sure. First, tell me about your skills.¡± His voice was oh-so-musical.


    I listed my [Butterfly Mystic] skills off, watching his face frown.


    ¡°Mmmmm. I see why you need to improve your skills. Additionally, your [Lantern] skill is far below mediocre. Radiance naturally kills illusions in the first place. I can¡¯t imagine a situation where you¡¯d need it, versus simply blasting through the illusion with conjuration. Why, I believe you¡¯d be able to blast Awarthril¡¯s illusions apart with little effort!¡±


    I kept my silence about Lun¡¯Kat, and her incredible illusionary prowess, and thought about what he was saying.


    He had a point. Apart from Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s illusions, I was able to pierce most normally. The illusion ¡°sense¡± was nice, but it wasn¡¯t worth an entire skill slot. Plus, if I was fighting something that much more powerful than I was, I was dead anyways. Might as well get a more useful skill.


    ¡°What do you suggest I try to get to replace it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Oh, I know of hundreds, thousands of better skills.¡± He said. ¡°I know your class should have an easy time merging skills though, so you should ditch [Lantern], then slowly grab new skills, then focus on merging them into your current skills, improving them and freeing the skill slot up again. Then repeat, finding more skills and merging them, until you find the absolute perfect skill to fill the slot.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s brilliant.¡± I meant every word I said. I should¡¯ve thought of it myself, but I hadn¡¯t. Cycling through skills, then merging them in? Perfect. When that was mentioned, being willing to drop [Lantern] was an even better idea.


    ¡°What¡¯s an idea you have?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, you¡¯ve got [Sun¡¯s Heart], which is a solid heat and damage boost. However, you can probably get it to ¡®aspect¡¯ further, giving all of your skills additional minor abilities. Let¡¯s see¡­ Radiance is off of Fire, which has destruction as a concept. It should be possible to improve [Sun¡¯s Heart] to simply make all your skills more destructive on top of everything else.¡±


    I spent hours listening to his musical voice, learning, improving, and throwing looks at Serondes - some of which I imagined were reciprocated.


    It was a good night.

 Chapter 233 - Centaurs

    We spent the next two weeks slowly heading north, the days starting to become just a bit shorter. We were making alright time, although stopping halfway through the day felt all sorts of weird.


    It was perfectly normal to my elvish traveling companions, and, well, when in the company of elves, do as the elves.


    It was a day like any other as we walked north, the three elves chatting away, helping me learn all sorts of things.


    ¡°Over there, we can see some vultures circling¡­ hang on.¡± Awarthril pointed out some tiny flecks in the sky. I gave her my best ¡°Are you shitting me?¡± look. Just because she was a physical classer, with probably over 100k vitality, possibly some skills to boot, didn¡¯t mean we could all see that far!


    ¡°Let¡¯s check it out.¡± Aegion turned and started walking that way. Of course he could see that far, he was a blasted snipe-archer. He could probably shoot them down from that far away. With his eyes closed.


    With nothing better to do, we all turned slightly and started heading towards the vultures, most of the conversation dying out as we focused on the task. We did pick up the pace though, slowly going faster and faster until I felt forced to take flight with [Scintillating Ascent], my wings in all their glorious colors snapping open and letting me soar and glide, pulled along by Awarthril¡¯s [Rubbery Rope].


    Flying never got old. I¡¯d have to seriously consider if I wanted to keep my wings if I ever got offered the ¡°Turn into Radiance and zip around¡± skill. It also suggested that I wouldn¡¯t ¡°cycle¡± my [Butterfly Mystic] class - I didn¡¯t want to lose flight, and I suspected my efforts improving skills wasn¡¯t easily replicated. Plus, it had eaten my [Pretty] skill.


    Heck, for that matter, I was unlikely to cycle my first class either. I couldn¡¯t risk losing my Immortality skill and just dying of old age because I did something dumb. No, the only class that had a shot at me cycling it was my 3rd one. Even then, I might just stall out getting it as long as possible to give it the best start I could, and take it from there.


    Serondes took flight a few minutes later, Awarthril towing the two of us behind her. Aegion kept pace with her, a combination of having Gale and Lightning as his elements, archers being physically inclined, and Awarthril stopping herself at Aegion¡¯s max speed.


    Or¡­ was it Aegion stopping himself at Awarthril¡¯s top speed?


    In about a quarter of an hour - Awarthril¡¯s eyesight was ludicrous - we were near where the vultures were circling. A centaur - I couldn¡¯t think of anything else that was half-man, half-horse. He looked like something out of myth, scraggly brown hair turning into a combination mane/backfur, leading into spotted fur along the horsey parts. If I had been a horsey girl once upon a time, I might¡¯ve been able to guess what type of horse he seemed to be half-of. He was badly hurt, walking in a little three-legged gait, keeping all his weight off the fourth one. His left arm abruptly ended at his elbow, and as he panted and heaved, blood continued to trickle out of a dozen different injuries, some looking like nasty punctures, others like long strips had been taken out of him. A few creatures were stalking him through the plains, not going for the kill, but just waiting for the inevitable to occur. They spent more time snapping and snarling at each other, than trying to bring him down.


    It was a miracle of tenacity, the predators being willing to wait until he dropped, avoiding a life and death fight, and significant amounts of System help, that he was still alive and on his feet.


    The elves, taking only a minute to drink in the scene, sprang into action. Cordamo snapped into Aegion¡¯s hand, and with a crack of thunder, a number of arrows blurred away. Awarthril dropped the Spatial Box, disconnected Serondes and Aegion from her [Rubbery Rope], and ran towards the centaur¡­ pulling me along with her. I tumbled at the sudden acceleration, getting a quick look behind me before straightening myself. Serondes was busy erecting walls, while taking items out of the Spatial Box at the same time. Kiyaya ran next to Awathril, effortlessly keeping up.


    Guess we were camping here.


    I re-oriented myself, just in time to see Awarthril reaching the centaur. I pulsed [Dance with the Heavens] through [Wheel of Sun and Moon], flash-healing the centaur, fully restoring him to perfect health. Well, minus the dirt, the exhaustion, the dehydration, the starvation, the dried blood, then¡­ ok, fine, pretty good not-about-to-die health. The image was terrible, but I had the mana to spare.


    Also, up close, it was clear that the centaur was big. Like, his horse-half wasn¡¯t scaled down to a nice human-sized proportion, no, the human half got scaled up to horse-size. Horses, as it turned out, could get stupidly large. I remembered that horses were measured according to their shoulder, and I¡¯d need to stretch my hand above my head in order to touch the point on his body where the shoulder was measured. I couldn¡¯t quite walk under him without touching, but I¡¯d be able to limbo without too much effort.


    I wasn¡¯t a horsey girl - but I did remember that Shire horses were the biggest horse of them all. Just one of those little fun facts.


    The centaur took one look at us, one look behind him - seeing the monsters dead or fleeing under Aegion¡¯s assault - and collapsed.


    ¡°Well¡­ that¡¯s not the usual response.¡± I quipped.


    We got the centaur back to the camp - mostly Awarthril picking him up somewhat awkwardly, but with no effort, and carrying him over - and started to settle in. Aegion was busy with a knife and some wood, hands blurring as shavings flew all over the place, while Kiyaya retrieved monsters for Serondes to cook.


    ¡°Lion-steaks. Nice.¡± I saw one of the animals dragged in. Kiyaya gave me an affronted look, and moved the lion over to the side in a pile, making it abundantly clear that it was her lion.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never had them before.¡± Awarthril confessed, throwing Kiyaya a look that said ¡®be nice, and share with everyone¡¯. ¡°We don¡¯t casually hunt apex predators. Only when they become a problem or threaten someone do we step in.¡±


    I cocked an eyebrow at her and gestured towards the world, as Serondes started his whistling.


    ¡°Really? The lion is an apex predator?¡±


    ¡°Close enough.¡± Serondes paused for a moment to answer, before continuing his tune. Awarthril got a blanket out.


    ¡°Elaine, would you be a dear and find water?¡± She asked, handing me a large bucket.


    Well, might as well make myself useful. I took flight, noticing that Awarthril was making a heap of blankets, then putting the centaur on them, throwing one last blanket over the whole mess, doing her best to make him comfortable.


    Water wasn¡¯t exactly easy to find. We tried to camp near a watering hole most days, but we didn¡¯t quite have the same luck today, not with us haring off to follow the vultures. I flew in steadily-widening circles, feeling the occasional thermal shoot me up into the sky, letting me lazily glide down, or dive to pick up speed.


    Sure, I had more than enough mana to cover flying, almost no matter how I ran it. It was just pure fun, bliss in the air.


    I eventually found some water, filled up the bucket, mentally marked the spot, and headed back. Flying was less fun when carrying a bucket of water, watching it slosh out now and then. I made it back to the campsite, which was now fully arranged. Landing near the table, I put the bucket down, then walked over to where the centaur was sleeping.


    ¡°How is he?¡± I murmured, trying to be quiet enough to not wake him up.


    ¡°Exhausted, poor thing.¡± Awarthril was looking at him with a critical eye, while Kiyaya protectively stood over him, her head slowly turning from side to side, scanning for threats.


    Aegion was busy with a knife and wood, while Serondes wasn¡¯t around. Drat.


    I debated using [Sunrise] on him, giving him a quick shot of energy. It¡¯d chase away a lot of the exhaustion, but would probably wake him up, and he needed his sleep. I was with a team right now though.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got an energy skill, but I think he needs to sleep. We don¡¯t need to talk with him immediately, do we?¡± I asked.


    Awarthril tsked at me.


    ¡°No, no, let him sleep.¡±


    I eyed the bucket, I eyed the camp, I mentally thought about our water reserves.


    Well, I should make myself useful.


    ¡°Got any more buckets?¡±


    Centaur dude finally woke up late at night, while we were all softly talking around the fire. Serondes was slow-cooking the monsters Aegion had sniped earlier, occasionally picking up and flipping them over with a mage¡¯s hand made out of Sand.


    Versatile stuff. I¡¯d never given the element much credit, but Serondes was a master of flexibility with it.


    We were sitting in a circle, and I was mindlessly telling a story I¡¯d told uncountable number of times before - Arthur¡¯s favorite, The Iliad. I was more focused on Serondes¡¯s expression, his rapt attention on me. His little smile at the funny parts, his frown at the sad. Awarthril was idly stitching something large together - although I thought Aegion was the one with the tailor skills? - and Aegion himself was continuing to carve lots of arrow shafts. Serondes continued to show off by having a number of mage hands plucking feathers, and attaching them to the arrow shafts.


    I wanted a [Mage Hand] skill. I was strongly considering trying to get that as my ¡°final new skill¡± once I¡¯d finished a nice round of upgrades on my [Butterfly Mystic] skills.


    That was if Radiance could even do that sort of thing. Nothing about Radiance suggested physicality, which was both part of its strength, and its weakness. I might have to shelve it until my 3rd class.


    Still, I started and stopped the story at the centaur making some noise, while the elves smoothly turned to look at him.


    ¡°Hey, you¡¯re awake!¡± Aegion exclaimed, staying seated. ¡°How are you feeling?¡±


    ¡°Oh, probably awful.¡± Awarthril didn¡¯t bother staying seated, instead going over to make a fuss over the centaur. ¡°He almost died, and the vultures were quite literally circling him, ready to pounce at any moment. Frankly, it¡¯s a miracle you¡¯re alive.¡± She said, circling around the poor centaur who was twisting his body, trying to track her. I could see his eyes blinking in the sleepy ¡°what the fuck is going on, am I still sleeping?!¡± way.


    Thinking about it, he probably just used an entire lifetime¡¯s worth of luck.


    I walked over, and halted near him.


    ¡°Here, let me use a skill on you.¡± I extended my hand, pointing at him with one finger.


    He said something, and I didn¡¯t understand a word of what he said. Sounded like an entirely different language.


    Awarthril and Aegion looked at Serondes.


    ¡°Their language changes as fast as they run, and he¡¯s not from any of the main tribes I know.¡± Serondes shrugged.


    Aegion walked over with a variety of foods that he quickly whipped onto a large wooden plate - finger food, bread, some of the meat Serondes had cooked, vegetables, a knife, a fork - basically a bit of everything, a feast with a tiny option for any diet.


    It didn¡¯t stop Awarthril from slapping the mug out of his hand.


    ¡°We¡¯re trying to make him better, not poison him to death!¡± She scolded Aegion, while the poor centaur was looking on in confusion. I seized the moment to lean over, touching him and blasting him with [Sunrise].


    Aegion shoved the platter in his hands, while Serondes used another mage hand to bring over a freshly-dunked mug of water. Awarthril tsked, and grabbed her hairbrush out of the endless crate of goodstuff, then started brushing the centaur. The poor dude - he was very obviously a dude - half-jumped at the intrusion. Awarthril continued to brush, leaning in with expert strokes to get rid of all the dirt, dried blood, and other debris.


    Mostly on his sides though - dude was huge, even by gracefully tall elf standards.


    ¡°Awarthril.¡± She said, pointing to herself.


    ¡°Aegion.¡±


    ¡°Serondes.¡±


    ¡°Elaine.¡±


    We all pointed to ourselves in turn, and the centaur figured it out.


    ¡°Tyriss.¡± He said with a great, booming voice, with an accent like rolling, thundering hooves, then said something else after that.


    I didn¡¯t quite catch what it was, but annoyingly, the elves seemed to immediately figure it out. Extra-annoyingly, there seemed to be an immediate consensus among them that they¡¯d all learn his language, instead of trying to teach him their language. It made sense - with the three of them working at it, they could help and reinforce each other, and they were all, well, frustratingly geniuses at it.


    I had [Pristine Memories] and [Passionate Learning], and yet, the elves instantly outstripped me in learning this new tongue. Heck, they¡¯d even riff off of each other.


    I grumpily sat down at the table, chin in my hands, idly grabbing a bite of food here, a sip of water there, and pouted in their general direction as they mastered an entire language in the space of two hours, while I figured out how to say ¡°hello¡± and ¡°my name is Elaine.¡± I think.


    And when I said the elves mastered the language. I meant mastered.


    ¡°No, look, this is clearly something venomous he¡¯s talking about, not poisonous. See how the vy sound changes between the two? That¡¯s clearly indicating the difference between the two.¡± Serondes exasperatedly explained to Aegion.


    ¡°Potato, Tomato. You were completely wrong on ¡®lake¡¯ versus ¡®pond¡¯.¡± Aegion retorted back.


    Serondes looked affronted.


    ¡°It was poorly explained!¡±


    Awarthril yelled at them in the new language they¡¯d learned, and they immediately switched back to bickering in the new tongue. There was a language barrier, but the tone and the body language made it clear what was going on.


    Tyriss was clearly becoming more relaxed and comfortable as the elves picked up his language, and he got a good meal inside of him. Warmth, food, drink, and companionship worked wonders - I would know, having been on the receiving end of the elven generosity not too long ago.


    Awarthril had a sort of blanket for him, neatly embroidered and looking warm and cozy as anything. Aegion¡¯s endless whittling ended up with him giving the centaur a bow, and a quiver full of arrows. Tyriss looked grateful, babbling his thanks.


    I was feeling left out of the entire thing, and after some time I decided to chat a bit with Serondes on the side.


    ¡°How did Aegion know that he used a bow? Not all Rangers are archers.¡± I asked.


    ¡°Ah, I forget how little you know at times.¡± Serondes sat down next to me, as I shuffled in a bit closer. For warmth, of course.


    I scowled at him.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m not an all-knowing elf. Come on. The Low Experience Zone drives everyone away, we¡¯ve had Formorians at our gate for centuries, of course I don¡¯t know this stuff.¡±


    Serondes shifted a hair, helping press our arms together a bit better, which naturally had my heart going wild and all sorts of interesting thoughts going through my head. The last week or so of doing magic together every night had been slowly bringing us closer - or at least, that¡¯s how I saw it. For all I knew, Serondes just saw this as normal, or assumed it was some sort of human custom that he was entertaining.


    Ugh. Why did this stuff have to be so hard?


    He turned and looked at me, locking eyes with me.


    ¡°Centaurs are famous for their archery. They almost never stick around for a pitched battle, instead choosing to volley arrows and skills into attackers, then using their natural System-granted speed and god-granted bodies to outrun their pursuers, constantly whittling them down. Creature for creature, in their given terrain, they will beat any elvenoid race... except for elves.¡±


    I hadn¡¯t blinked once during his entire lecture, drinking in the sight of his eyes¡­ and I noticed he hadn¡¯t looked away either, not even as Awarthril smacked Aegion for doing something or another dumb. My poor heart was steadily increasing in pace.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t they rule the world?¡± I asked, fully expecting the answer to be ¡°Because elves.¡± Still, anything to keep the conversation going, to keep Serondes looking at me while he was that close. Plus, it was boring being boxed out of the talk due to the language barrier.


    ¡°The entire world isn¡¯t a flat, open grassland.¡± Serondes replied with an amused twist of his mouth, turning and looking at more of the background yelling that was going on. Something about Aegion and his barrels.


    Oh shoot. Did that just sink things? Did he think I was some sort of idiot?


    Why did these damn hormones have the driver¡¯s seat!?! I needed a skill to kill all my hormones and make me more normal.


    Serondes kept me company for a bit, sometimes seeming to flirt, sometimes not - hard to tell, especially with my skewed perspective - while Awarthril and Aegion kept chatting with the centaur. Finally, they all joined us at the table, Aegion breaking out more of his drinks, pouring some for each of us.


    ¡°Long story short.¡± Awarthril said, gracefully accepting hers. ¡°Tyriss¡¯s entire herd was wiped out by a hydra of all things. We¡¯re going to swing by and see if we can do something about it. A hydra that¡¯s gotten a taste for elvenoids isn¡¯t something we should let run free.¡±


    We all watched with rapt attention as Tyriss said something, the elves all nodding. He then gratefully held the mug up, and took a great big drink.


    He got like three swallows in before realizing just how foul it was, and I properly foresaw the spray of disgust coming. I shielded everything, stopping the foul liquid from contaminating our stuff and clothes - well, everything except Aegion. He totally deserved it.


    Practically as one, like we¡¯d rehearsed it, the elves and I turned our mugs over.

 Chapter 234 - Traveling through the plains

    We got up in the morning, and after stocking up on water, set off at a good pace. None of this lazily walking around until noon, no. We had a job, a mission, and I was frankly a little surprised that the elves were so willing to go out of their way to help out on this.


    To my embarrassment, I realized about halfway through the day that I was the anchor, the slowpoke. I was running, pushing a sprint, the Mistcloth clothing making the impossible - running in what was basically a dress - possible, yet everyone else seemed to be going at an easy loping jog, Awarthril and Tyriss looking like they were practically walking.


    Stats were weird. The benefits of being a physical classer were making themselves manifest once again.


    Either way, I felt bad about being the slow link, and I pushed myself until my lungs burned, using [Sunrise] in moderate amounts to keep myself going. It was a cruel reminder that between my time in Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair, the weeks spent searching for my Sentinel badge, and the relaxed time I¡¯d been spending with the elves, that I¡¯d done almost no cardio, or other exercise.


    In short, somehow, far away from home, I¡¯d managed to go soft. Possibly a bit flabby, with how much I¡¯d been eating and sitting around with the elves. I resolved that once we were back on the road after this little detour, that I¡¯d get back in the habit of some daily exercise, regardless of how nice it was to laze about.


    I had my pride, and we didn¡¯t need to get to the hydra quickly. It wasn¡¯t like it was in the middle of eating a town or anything. We were on, from what I gathered, a mission of revenge.


    At the same time, I knew pride came before the fall; and it was good to occasionally swallow mine for the benefit of the team. Letting myself get humbled now and then, here and there, kept me grounded and didn¡¯t let my head swell up to absurd sizes.


    ¡°I¡¯m slowing everyone down.¡± I panted out. Just because I could heal myself, and had near-unlimited energy, it didn¡¯t stop my lungs from burning. It¡¯d take a little more cardio to get me back into good enough shape where it didn¡¯t happen anymore.


    I would totally cheat with healing, and it¡¯d take me like three days, not three months. Still, I had to suffer during those three days.


    ¡°Should I fly up, and have Awarthril just pull me along?¡± I gasped out the second part.


    ¡°We can slow down if you¡¯d like.¡± Awarthril offered kindly. Tyriss looked at her, hanging onto her every word.


    I wasn¡¯t great at social stuff, but being in the same boat, I recognized the look. He was crushing on Awarthril hard. I was glad to know the elves had that effect on more than just me.


    ¡°No, the point is to speed everyone up, not slow us down.¡± I said, feeling winded. Running and talking wasn¡¯t my strong suite, as much as I loved running.


    Awarthril nodded, throwing a stick for Kiyaya to have fun with. Kiyaya was bounding about, seemingly out for play, while Cordamo was out foraging, grabbing the, errr, tasty plants for Aegion. For each plant Cordamo would fly back with it, he¡¯d leisurely examine it - while jogging - grunt approval, then effortlessly make the shot, dropping the plant into the Spatial Box.


    Hells, it was probably landing in exactly the right place in the box to boot. That one I couldn¡¯t attribute to elf bullshittery - that was just raw stats on display.


    Flying was better, although my understanding and brief experimenting with it showed that I was faster running than flying, at least on the open plains we were moving through. It helped that everyone was running in front of me, trampling down the grass and ferns, making it as easy as could be to run.


    Speaking of - a nice dress with metal boots was one heck of a weird running combo. I didn¡¯t have anything else, and I desperately wanted a backpack full of gear again, as opposed to my floppy, full of half-rotting dino-grease practically-empty bag. Honestly, at this stage, I might be better off burning it, it was that gross. The elves were nice enough to stick my armor in their Spatial Box, but even with their help my hands were full - gold-cracked red egg in one hand, and that lovely glass rose Serondes made me in the other.


    I missed having basics, like a knife. [Radiance Conjuration] helped mitigate most problems, and it hadn¡¯t been a concern down in the mines. Now though? Now I felt like a burden; and I looked like an idiot who just walked into the wilderness armed with nothing but gumption and a smile.


    I was seriously considering a strong physical mage element for my 3rd class. Earth was a solid contender, although being able to easily make and manipulate stuff was making Sand, of all things, highly attractive. I suppose other elements could do similar things - Wood, focusing on plants and vines, Ice, focusing on snow. Water - although it¡¯d get stuff wet, Metal, focusing on a liquid metal.


    Lava was cool - but not. It¡¯d probably burn anything I tried to mage hand, although the sheer building versatility was nice. I could probably build with anything solid though. The reason Rangers didn¡¯t was sheer power and mana. It was expensive, and without reserves - like the wagon¡¯s mana - mages couldn¡¯t easily summon or move enough stone to make it work.


    Thoughts for another day. I wanted my 3rd class to do everything!


    Heck, I wanted all my classes to do everything. Just, with my other classes, it was easier to accept what they were, and the direction I was taking them. The last class? Endless possibilities, made real by the System.


    Normally I¡¯d tell myself to focus, and get on track, but I was running. There was nothing else to do, besides pant and curse the fact that Mistcloth gave no support at all.


    Running hurt. Bless vitality for making it hurt less.


    Well, I suppose I could listen in on the conversations everyone else was having. I couldn¡¯t really participate, because every word would be punctuated by gasping and wheezing, while Tyriss and Awarthril seemed to be out for a light stroll, happily chatting with Aegion and Serondes.


    We ate on the run, although we did pause to drink now and then. I had a sneaking suspicion that Awarthril was stopping for water a little more frequently than was strictly needed, for my benefit, but I was keeping my mouth shut.


    Well, not really shut so much as open and panting, but same difference.


    We ran late into the night, only stopping when the moons were high, throwing a spotlight onto us. Serondes made a quick camp, electing to go for one large dome that covered all of us, instead of the smaller individual huts we¡¯d been doing before.


    I groaned as I saw Aegion taking out his barrels, but Serondes was the one who said something.


    ¡°Really? You can¡¯t leave them be for one day?¡± He asked.


    ¡°They need tender loving care! Otherwise they¡¯ll go bad!¡± Aegion protested, hooking up another barrel.


    I couldn¡¯t leave that lying down.


    ¡°Wait. They¡¯re not bad right now?¡± I quipped, getting some sign language back. The elves used their pinky, not their middle finger, and held their hand at an angle. Same general shape, same idea. They did have five fingers though. Awarthril just laughed, and after translating for Tyriss, he chuckled as well, shooting his own rapid-fire insult into the fray, clearly trying to impress Awarthril.


    Aegion half-stormed off in a huff, but couldn¡¯t quite get anywhere, given that he still needed to sort out his on-the-road brewery. Cordamo did hiss menacingly at us all. Tyriss looked nervous, while I took a step back. I wasn¡¯t messing with a high-level danger noodle, especially when nature had gotten hit over the head and gave it WINGS. Serondes just good-naturedly half-heartedly swiped at the couatl, while Awarthril just shook her head at our antics.


    We ate a quick dinner, then I seized the moment.


    ¡°Hey Serondes - more magic tutoring?¡± I approached him after the food, seeing if I could finagle some time with him.


    He paused a moment, thinking.


    ¡°Not tonight, sorry. I need to rest. You need to rest as well.¡± He patted the ground near him, and I took it as an invitation to set up next to him.


    Oooh, he liked me! He wanted me to sleep next to him! Or wait, was he just being friendly? Was I reading too much into this? This whole thing was -


    He gestured to Awarthril, and patted the other side of him. I gave him the stink eye, which he should¡¯ve noticed, but either didn¡¯t, or pretended not to.


    I was a bit miffed that he invited Awarthril over, who chained into Aegion and Tyriss. The moderately sized hardened Lava-hut had room for all of us, but we all ended up on the same side, settling in nicely. Kiyaya laid down at our feet, creating a nice footwarmer for us all, while I made sure the egg - I should start coming up with names, or have a nickname for it or something - was properly resting against me, [Persistent Casting] and [Egg Incubation] working in tandem.


    I wanted to go to sleep, but between my healing and [Sunrise], I was able to stave off the effects of having run all day long. Instead, I stared at the ceiling of the hut as everyone went to sleep, my heart pounding in my ears as I was aware of just how close Serondes was to me, his chest moving, his¡­


    Damnit, I¡¯d gone and gotten a crush again. But, like, I kinda signed up for this one, and thrown myself into it.


    What I should do was talk with him, like a normal, capable, functional adult. I should see what he wanted in a relationship, what his wants, needs, and expectations were, see if it was compatible with mine, then ask him if he wanted to date. It should be that simple and easy - well, it was - I just lacked the emotional something or another to, like, actually do it.


    ARGH! This romance stuff was complicated! I didn¡¯t even know what I wanted!


    Sentinel Dawn. Crippling weakness: Romance. And social stuff. Thinking about it, one was an offshoot of the other.


    With a huff, I turned myself over, and after minutes - hours? - of staring at the back of my eyelids, I finally fell asleep.


    It took four days of running mixed with angst to make it to the swamp. I eyed Tyriss with newfound respect. From what I¡¯d gathered, he¡¯d made it all the way to us, from this swamp where they¡¯d tried to fight the hydra. It was one heck of an impressive feat¡­ until I remembered we¡¯d been traveling at my pace the entire time, and not the centaur¡¯s significantly faster gallop.


    Tyriss said something, and I managed to catch the gist of it, having picked up a few words from all the chatting.


    ¡°What now?¡±


    Awarthril responded in fluent centaurese, and I entirely missed it. I didn¡¯t miss her going invisible, and while the grass looked entirely undisturbed, the blast of wind as she sped off was unmistakable.


    I shook my head. What would Magic have to say about her sloppy techniques? I swear, she was only going invisible because it seemed to be the right thing to do, not that she needed to be invisible. More elvish nonsense.


    Serondes gestured, and we all backed away from the swamp. Rapid-fire words were exchanged with Tyriss, which turned into a heated argument. Serondes was waving his hands around, while Tyriss stomped his hooves.


    Finally, they seemed to reach some sort of compromise, and Lava started to flow from Serondes, coating a modest patch of grassland, smoothing and flattening it. Forming a foundation. Then walls, twice as thick as I was tall, started to rise up. They only made it about half as tall as I was, when they stopped rising up.


    Serondes moved around to the back, and quickly made a smaller - but still significantly sized - lean-to. It was Tyriss-sized, and the centaur moved over, and said something, signifying his approval.


    Guess he wasn¡¯t staying with us in the large construction of Serondes¡¯s?


    A clear, but narrow, zig-zagging entrance was present and built in, and Aegion immediately walked into the entrance, only to jump back with a yelp.


    ¡°Why¡¯d you leave it so hot!?¡± He did the classic ¡®hotfoot¡¯ dance, glaring murder at Serondes.


    I rolled my eyes at that, and Tyriss who¡¯d wandered back over, in spite of not speaking the language, got the idea, whinnying a laugh.


    Serondes answered, his tone indicating what, exactly, he thought of Aegion¡¯s question.


    ¡°Lava, as you might have noticed, is hot. Things take time to cool, like your dinner coming out of a fire.¡±


    Aegion threw the same pinky one-fingered salute Serondes¡¯s way.


    ¡°Why the low walls?¡± I studied the structure, not quite seeing the point.


    ¡°Ran out of mana.¡± Serondes replied. At my concerned look he corrected.


    ¡°Ran out of spare mana. Plus, the entire thing is too hot right now. Any more, and it¡¯ll start melting and collapsing.¡±


    Made sense. Worst part was Serondes being out of spare mana, he couldn¡¯t keep showing me magic tricks, well, not without eating into his mana that was needed to keep building the¡­


    Well, usually I¡¯d call it the campground, or the resting place. No, from how large the foundation Serondes had laid, to how he was circling it, muttering with his hand over his eyes, looking at a steep angle up into the sky?


    He was building an entire fortress.


    Generally, in Remus, it was considered poor practice to build anything out of conjured material. The natural decay rate of conjured stone made it impractical for anything lasting more than a few months. Sure, it might still be standing, but unknown structural problems would start cropping up. It¡¯d take constant maintenance to keep upright, and it was considered far cheaper to simply pull real stone out of the ground, or quarry it, and use that. At Ranger Academy we¡¯d studied a couple of famous examples of buildings that had collapsed horribly, and been told ¡°don¡¯t do it.¡± We¡¯d never been given the exact details, but then again, we¡¯d been in training to become Rangers, not engineers.


    It was compounded by most people not having the mana pool or regeneration to just erect a fortress in a reasonable period of time.


    The current situation completely overturned that logic. Serondes had the mana, the time, and we didn¡¯t need it to last that long. I hoped. I should check on that.


    ¡°Hey Serondes, is this just for the hydra fight, or is there more to it?¡± I caught up with him as he made it back around one circle.


    ¡°Just for the hydra. We shouldn¡¯t have any trouble with it, but it gives us a place to hold and defend if needed.¡±


    He glanced at Tyriss.


    ¡°I personally doubt that the hydra would be so foolish to engage with a fortification like this, not when it was smart enough to avoid being baited by the centaurs, however, it¡¯ll keep our gear and you safe.¡±


    Hang on.


    ¡°I should come along!¡± I protested.


    Serondes gave a long-suffering sigh.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you and Awarthril discuss it?¡± He started to raise another level of the fort, while I grumpily stalked off.


    Leaving me behind, bah. We¡¯ll see what they had to say about that!

 Chapter 235 - The Hydra I

    After about an hour of working on the Fortress of Hydra Death, Serondes¡¯s Sizzle Shack, or Castle Why-Does-The-Swamp-Smell-So-Bad - the name was a work in progress - it had cooled enough that Aegion and I could get in. The entrance was a bit too narrow for Tyriss to comfortably enter, and he was looking more than a bit nervous at the entire thing.


    I mean, I would be nervous as well, if the people helping me out were building a fort that explicitly didn¡¯t let me inside.


    ¡°Hey Serondes! Why the narrow entrance that Tyriss can¡¯t enter?¡± I asked him, noting that Serondes had built Tyriss a special little lean-to for his own, clearly indicating that he wasn¡¯t joining us. It didn¡¯t seem nice to poor Tyriss.


    ¡°Simple. Anything large enough to permit Tyriss entry, would likely allow a head of the hydra to enter, which would entirely defeat the purpose.¡± I thought about Tyriss, and how he was so damn big that I could almost walk under him. I looked at the narrow passageway that was slightly wider on the bottom than the top, probably a minor concession to Kiyaya crawling in, and getting our Spatial Box in and out. I thought about how stupidly large the passage would need to be to accommodate Tyriss, and how it¡¯d lose the zig-zagging property.


    I reluctantly, to myself, admitted that Serondes was right.


    He gestured, numerous thick spikes erupting out of the ground. I eyed them, thinking about what myths and legends had to say about hydras, and while the spikes were thick, they didn¡¯t seem large enough to properly stop something the size and weight of what we were dealing with.


    Then again, maybe they were purely a deterrent? A hydra-be-gone?


    Either way, I wasn¡¯t an engineer, nor was I an overly talented elf that could somehow do everything. What did I know about this stuff? It was possible that Serondes had some sort of skill that was backing up the construction, making the spikes deceptively powerful. Or he was next-leveling the hydra, and preparing something that the hydra would think was strong enough to be a problem, without having the needed power.


    I dunno.


    Either way, I kept my mouth shut and entered the building, violating hundreds of safety regulations.


    Serondes had arranged a few rooms here and there. One was obviously a dining room, we each had our own little room - no doors, of course, Lava wasn¡¯t that busted as an element - a communal gathering area, and some storage rooms. I had no doubt that we¡¯d end up getting doors somehow though.


    Oh, and a considerate room for Aegion¡¯s moonshine. I suspected it was more to keep it out of our hair, than out of any desire to be nice to him.


    Aegion and I got working on unpacking all the gear, and making the place cozy. To his credit, he was making sure everyone else¡¯s stuff was unpacked and settled in before tending to his latest attempt at seeing if he could overcome our vitality, and poison us all to death.


    Aegion focused on unpacking, while I ended up arranging the fortress to specs. I¡¯d never been much of a homemaker, and now I was suddenly finding myself more or less in charge of getting a fortress arranged. Literally single-handedly.


    What had my life come to? Also, I needed to figure out a sling or something for the egg. Being permanently down a hand was no good.


    Every now and then, a roiling wave of heat would wash over us, Serondes expanding the fortress in some new and inventive way. There were no stairs to the top of the walls, but they¡¯d either come later, or everyone had the ability to make it up there on their own. Well, everyone except Tyriss, but he wasn¡¯t inside the fort. Like, I could fly up there, Awarthril could probably just flat-out jump that high, the entire castle was made out of Serondes¡¯s element, and Aegion?


    I wasn¡¯t sure, but if he told me that Cordamo could lift him up that high, I¡¯d believe him. Stats and skills, especially at the level the elves were at, made seemingly ridiculous ideas and feats commonplace. Heck, Aegion might have the strength to just leap up the wall, or the dexterity to use the tiny cracks in the rock to climb up the side!


    Either way, we finished up, and I was lounging in the living room, open to the sky above, without anything better to do.


    ¡°Water. I should get some water.¡± I sighed and hauled myself up, as Aegion emerged from his brewery, evil-looking green gases following behind him.


    ¡°Hey Aegion! Got a spare barrel? Figured I should stock up if we¡¯re going to be here for a while.¡±


    He looked thoughtful at the idea, eyes rapidly flickering as he inventoried his stuff.


    Wait.


    Don¡¯t tell me he¡¯d hijacked the team¡¯s water barrel for his own brewing?


    I could totally see him doing that.


    I could also see the elves blithely assuming they¡¯d always be set on water, and just not bothering to have significant reserves.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a few spare, yeah, good idea Elaine.¡± He walked over, plopping himself down on a large pillow.


    ¡°Alternatively, I know you¡¯ve been trying to aspect your Radiance magic with more destructive elements, right?¡±


    I nodded. I had no idea when he¡¯d picked that up, but for all I knew he¡¯d heard everything we¡¯d ever said. Or Serondes had told him. Or¡­ there were a lot of options really. It didn¡¯t matter.


    ¡°Well, Lightning is somewhat destructive, and Cordamo is an expert at other types of destroying. Figure we could try and give you a hand. Grabbing a specific skill is never easy.¡±


    Well, between chores, and learning magic, the chores went right out the window.


    ¡°I¡¯m all ears!¡± I flicked my fingers, letting the soft Radiance glow emanate.


    ¡°Right. All elements have concepts behind them.¡± Aegion started to lecture, retreading some familiar ground. ¡°Water is flexible and flowing, while Earth is hard and rigid. Easy to be flexible with Water, while Earth being flexible is difficult, for example.¡±


    I nodded. Maximus had lectured on similar principles in the past, although there was a lot more hemming and hawing and ¡°not entirely sures¡±.


    ¡°Destruction is a concept that¡¯s primarily in Dark, and secondary in Fire. Now, just because a concept is in the base element, doesn¡¯t always mean it ends up in the final combined element. A good example of this would be Light to Sound, where the illumination aspects of Light don¡¯t carry over.¡±


    I thought about that for a bit.


    ¡°Let me guess - Sand lacks rigidity?¡± I asked, going back to his prior example.


    ¡°Exactly! Now, new aspects and concepts show up all the time in advanced elements, and the list is frankly exhaustingly long, and probably incomplete. Poison, for example, might have destruction as a concept, given that the element revolves around, well, poison. It might not, it could just be an effect. We¡¯re not sure.¡±


    He shrugged, as Cordamo, the poison couatl himself, curled around his horns, flickering his tongue at me and sunning his wings.


    ¡°Either way, seeing things get destroyed should help.¡±


    I gave him a Look, with a twist of the corner of my mouth.


    ¡°Where¡¯s your latest concoction? Might as well put it to good use! Destroying it with Radiance is a much better look than letting it destroy my sense of taste!¡±


    Aegion swatted me for my insolence. Undeterred, I stuck my tongue out at him, and grabbed a barrel he deemed ¡°safe enough¡±, and went to get some water.


    The swamp looked like an easy place to get water, and an utterly terrible idea. Instead, I flew around a bit, finally finding a nearly hidden stream. The entire time, I was meditating on the idea of destruction, because, well, I wasn¡¯t about to start lighting the grasslands on fire.


    What did it mean to destroy something? Well, that was fairly subjective. It meant it had fallen apart, or wasn¡¯t working anymore, right?


    As I watched the water barrel fill up, I came to a conclusion:


    There was no way I was getting a ¡°destruction¡± skill on meditation alone, even with [Butterfly Mystic]¡¯s help in getting new skills. I needed to get out there, and blow stuff up.


    Hopefully it¡¯d be fairly easy to merge with [Sun¡¯s Heart], and then I could get a NEW skill, and work on merging that!


    As difficult as this new skill was to get, I did like how I was freeing up a skill slot, then abusing the heck out of it to improve all my other skills. I could try to directly improve the other skills as well, and maybe that was more efficient¡­ although, if I managed to earn an upgrade for a skill, wouldn¡¯t it be more likely that I was directly offered the upgrade, instead of getting a skill for it?


    Getting the skill felt like a solid half-step in the process of upgrading a skill.


    Still, I wasn¡¯t quite getting what the elves meant by ¡°aspecting with destruction¡±, which was doing me no favors. I strained and heaved the full barrel of water over one shoulder.


    Legs wobbling, I leaned down to pick the egg back up - I only dropped it for a second! - rewarmed it, then took flight with [Scintillating Ascent], heading back to the fortress, awkwardly balancing the half-full barrel with one hand, using my knees as extra support, flying in a weird squat.


    I needed a sling, badly.


    I doubt I could¡¯ve carried the barrel back on my own, but I just needed to keep it somewhat stable, and let my poor flight skill handle the rest. I should study hawks or eagles or other large fliers that carried things. It would help the skill.


    Well, I was in for a long, long stretch with minimal class ups or skill changes. Might as well make the most of it, especially if [Butterfly Mystic] didn¡¯t have the fancy skill evolutions in its next tier.


    I made it back, only to see a completed Castle Evil Overlord. Seriously, made out of dark, hardened Lava, nasty spikes in every direction, and an artistic Lava flow acting as a moat? Only thing the Castle was missing were some banners and Totally Evil guards patrolling. Oh, and the screams of the damned.


    Either way, I landed, and Awarthril and Kiyaya were back!


    ¡°Thanks Elaine! That¡¯s super helpful.¡± She gave me one of her radiant smiles, which had me feeling all warm and fuzzy inside.


    ¡°Right. Now that we¡¯re all here, I want to tell you about what I found, and what the plan¡¯s going to be.¡± She said, changing gears into a serious mode that I knew so well. Reminded me of Julius.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Tyriss?¡± I asked. He wasn¡¯t hard to miss, and this was the ¡°no centaurs allowed¡± fortress. I mean, he was probably outside, but I meant more in the ¡°why isn¡¯t he part of the planning?¡±


    Aegion shrugged.


    ¡°Probably off to find another herd. He¡¯s done his part, leading us here, and he knows we¡¯ll kill the hydra. He might hang around a bit just to get confirmation that we¡¯ve succeeded, but he¡¯s not going to be part of the fighting.¡±


    That was a lot of confidence in people he¡¯d barely met. I guess elves did have that sort of reputation, and they¡¯d helped him re-gear up before sending him off. Just like they¡¯d helped me.


    It did imply that the moment the elves stopped finding me useful or entertaining, they¡¯d just leave me behind. Then again, I believed I was both useful and entertaining, and they had said they¡¯d help me get home. I suppose Tyriss had asked for help with the hydra, and the elves were helping out.


    ¡°The hydra.¡± Awarthril said, getting back on track. ¡°It¡¯s in the swamp, level 700 or so. Seven heads, and it was able to detect me through my invisibility.¡± Awarthril frowned at that, seeming to take personal affront to the hydra detecting her.


    Personally, I thought it was because of her smell - clean, pristine, and vaguely of flowers, which was totally out of place in a swamp - and I considered keeping my mouth shut. At the same time, it was needed information.


    ¡°Awarthril, politely¡­¡± I said, hesitating a bit.


    ¡°Yes Elaine?¡± Awathril made sure I could say my bit.


    ¡°You smell.¡± I bluntly told her, and at her affronted look I backpeddeled.


    ¡°Not in a bad way! In a good way! You smell great!¡± Well shit I was putting my foot in my mouth. ¡°But it¡¯s not how the swamp smells, and the hydra might¡¯ve noticed the slight change, of a beautiful floral scent instead of rotting decay.¡±


    Awarthril¡¯s face had a mix of affronted, offended, and thoughtful. She gave me a curt nod.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± She said, and moved on.


    ¡°There are numerous deep ponds in the area, and the tree cover gets somewhat thick. I didn¡¯t engage, but hydras almost universally have Verdant as their primary element, with two more coming along. Given it¡¯s living in a swamp, and from what Tyriss has told us, I¡¯d guess Decay, Miasma, or some of the Water-related elements.¡± Awarthril finished her summary. ¡°Ideas?¡±


    I had six different plans of attack ready by the time she finished her summary, Ranger Academy and the endless lessons and training on fighting monsters coming in handy. However, I kept my mouth shut for now. I didn¡¯t know my team¡¯s full capabilities, and I wasn¡¯t the leader here. Heck, I was a hanger-on, and unlike the dwarves, the elves were competent. As well as having their leader.


    I¡¯d be happy to contribute and refine ideas.


    Aegion spoke up first.


    ¡°I¡¯m almost useless here.¡± He freely admitted. ¡°Whatever support you can think of me doing, I¡¯ll be happy to perform.¡±


    I tilted my head in confusion, but the elves were in serious-face mode, not inclined to explain things to me. I¡¯d ask later.


    ¡°Most of this fight is going to come down to my Lava.¡± Serondes said. ¡°Only thing we¡¯ve got that can stop a hydra¡¯s head from regenerating.¡±


    Ok, that I needed to correct.


    ¡°Uh - ¡° I slapped a hand over my mouth as I realized I was about to say something monumentally stupid, given that I¡¯d never seen or studied a Pallos hydra. They might not follow the same rules, and I should absolutely, 100% make sure my knowledge properly aligned with what they did. I¡¯d been burned too many times relying on Earth knowledge, assuming that it worked the same way in Pallos.


    ¡°Yes Elaine?¡± Awarthril gently, implacably, removed my hand from my mouth. ¡°If you¡¯ve got something to add, please, we¡¯re all ears.¡±


    I eyed their long, pointy ears, and with superhuman effort, kept a lid on the jokes.


    ¡°Hydras regrow their heads. Wouldn¡¯t Radiance be able to stop that?¡± I asked.


    Awarthril frowned.


    ¡°Ok, technically, yes. Radiance can sear a hydra stump and prevent regeneration, along with most of the Fire-aligned elements, and weirdly, Acid. However, even if we were bringing you on this fight, your range is too short. You¡¯d be right in the middle of their heads, I¡¯m not convinced you have enough power to properly sear the head shut, and you¡¯d break my Mirages.¡±


    I bought the part about me not having enough power to properly sear a hydra¡¯s neck shut. Awarthril knew roughly how much magic power I was working with, and had seen the hydra. The part about my relatively short range I could also accept. I had no idea how long the hydra¡¯s heads were.


    I was skeptical, but willing to accept Awarthril not wanting her Mirages broken. She had a style, and I wasn¡¯t going to gimp it.


    Staying out of the fight though? As much as I wanted to, I didn¡¯t agree.


    ¡°Look, I¡¯ve spent my entire adult life, and half my childhood being the healer in a fight. You saw my armor. Any injury you take, I can immediately heal. Any poison that¡¯s used, heck, any poisonous plants we pass, we can entirely ignore. Heck, if someone makes a mistake and is bitten in half, I can heal that. Nothing short of an instantly lethal blow will kill one of you.¡±


    ¡°But we¡¯re not going to die anyways?¡± Aegion asked, seeming confused at the idea.


    I facepalmed at the sheer arrogance in the words.


    ¡°You wanted to get me leveled up right? How am I suppose to level enough to improve my [The Stars Never Fade] if I never get into fights, if I never take risks?¡± I asked, trying a different track. Awarthril was looking hopping mad at that, and I mentally berated myself. Kiyaya¡¯s lifespan was her sore spot, and I¡¯d just poked at it hard.


    ¡°Look, if Elaine wants to tag along, we should let her. She¡¯s got a flying skill, she can be with me in the air.¡± Serondes suggested.


    Cordamo landed on my hair, wrapping his tail around my neck as I went very, very still. He let out a long hiss at Aegion, who seemed to understand. He rolled his eyes.


    ¡°Cordamo¡¯s fine with you coming along, provided that you¡¯re his new sun spot. The lazy git doesn¡¯t want to do his own flying.¡±


    I leaned back, only to have a medium-sized heart attack as Cordamo popped into full view, hissing something at me and nodding towards my egg.


    It was Aegion¡¯s turn to facepalm.


    ¡°No, you can¡¯t have the egg! Leave Elaine alone! That¡¯s hers!¡±


    More hissing.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not ¡®fair payment!¡¯¡±


    ¡°How about I drink a full mug of your swi - err - sweet drink as well?¡± I tried to shamelessly bribe Aegion, almost punting the entire thing as I nearly called his drinks ¡°swill¡±.


    He shrugged.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m fine with it.¡±


    Awarthril¡¯s face had thunderclouds going across it. Kiyaya nuzzled her, and she glanced down, pursing her lips.


    ¡°Is your general healing able to handle animals? Specifically, dire wolves?¡± She idly scratched behind Kiyaya¡¯s ears.


    ¡°Yes, at a steep but manageable penalty.¡± I replied, seeing where this was going.


    Awarthril continued to frown, then sighed, letting the tension out of her shoulders.


    ¡°Right. Fine. I don¡¯t like it, but I see when I¡¯m outnumbered. Right, what¡¯s the range on your healing?¡±


    I told her, along with the caveat that I needed sunlight or moonlight to make it work.


    ¡°Right. Here¡¯s how I see it.¡± Awarthril blurred, stone chips flew, and there was a miraculously detailed and well-measured map carved into the floor of the fortress. I¡¯d bet my teeth that it was accurately to-scale to boot.


    She told us the plan.


    I applied my critical eye towards it, but I had to reluctantly admit it was good, and I couldn¡¯t think of a way to improve on it.


    ¡°Right, let¡¯s check our gear, get a good night¡¯s sleep, then move out first thing in the morning.¡± Awarthril said, clapping her hands together, indicating that the meeting was over.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 20]


    [Mana: 411,030/411,030]


    [Mana Regen: 340,040 (+355,281)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 90]


    [Strength: 942]


    [Dexterity: 1,465]


    [Vitality: 11,142]


    [Speed: 11,142]


    [Mana: 41,103]


    [Mana Regeneration: 41,192 (+35,528.1)]


    [Magic Power: 18,136 (+340,050)]


    [Magic Control: 18,136 (+340,050)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 419]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 419]


    [Cosmic Presence: 286]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 1]


    [Center of the Universe: 419]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 419]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 419]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 419]


    [Sunrise: 344]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 345]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 345]


    [Radiance Resistance: 345]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 345]


    [Lantern: 345]


    [Nectar: 345]


    [Sun''s Heart: 345]


    [Scintillating Ascent: 313]


    [Kaleidoscope: 345]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 370]


    [Pristine Memories: 217]


    [Egg Incubation: 42]


    [Bullet Time: 419]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 375]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 395]


    [Persistent Casting: 291]


    [Passionate Learning: 377]

 Chapter 236 - The Hydra II

    I¡¯d gotten over ¡°fight the next day¡± nerves years ago, and I slept decently considering the nightmares and the circumstances.


    Aegion¡¯s brew wasn¡¯t quite as bad as usual, but drinking a full mug had taken its toll. I¡¯d carefully nursed it while telling a story - Hercules had seemed rather appropriate - but I¡¯d needed almost an hour for the aftertaste to fade enough for me to get some sleep.


    I did not like sleeping under stone. Not anymore. I was totally going to get myself a new villa when I got home, made entirely out of wood. Maybe I¡¯d see if Serondes would be willing to make me a glass ceiling or something? Or I could just sleep under the sky.


    The thought of Serondes and home quickly led in an awkward direction, and I axed the entire line of thinking, instead cursing that my nightmares had come back.


    I didn¡¯t spend long cursing my luck though. I got up, and immediately started to move, preparing myself for the battle ahead.


    Hilariously, mages and healers took more time to gear up and get ready than warriors and rangers at the levels I was dealing with, which was part of why I got up early, a nightmare acting as my alarm. Warriors had more gear to put on, but correspondingly more speed. I was no slouch in the speed department, but I was outstripped and outclassed, and Awarthril had already seemed reluctant to have me come along on this mission. I didn¡¯t want to give them any excuse to leave me behind.


    Mistweave off, dwarven armor on. Awkwardly, given that I¡¯d only put it on once - then promptly stayed in it for months - I wasn¡¯t 100% sure how it was all put together. Julius¡¯s lesson from long ago echoed back - better to be slow and get it done right, than fast and sloppy and get someone killed.


    Which had me working on latches and clasps, the armor both incredibly obvious, and overly complicated at the same time.


    [Pristine Memories] was useful, letting me recall the memory of Korun helping me into the armor with perfect clarity, along with months of seeing which strap and buckle went where.


    It took time, but the first light of dawn was brightening up the sky as I emerged from my room into the airy inner section, Serondes having made the choice to leave the fortress open-air for whatever reason. The rest of the elves were still in their rooms, and I allowed myself a little, tight smile of victory.


    There were still ways I could get small edges over the immaculate creations. I grabbed a light breakfast, my stomach starting to clench with nerves.


    I¡¯d be fifty types of stupid if I didn¡¯t get nervous before a big fight I knew was coming, against a creature, once again, twice my level. And without my major destructive gems to boot! I¡¯d been able to take down a Formorian Royal Guard with a full complement of my gems, and right now I was acutely feeling their absence.


    However, I had a new problem I needed to figure out. What was I going to do with my egg? I wasn¡¯t bringing it to the fight, but I didn¡¯t want it to stick around cooling off. Maybe I should build a fire, and stick it in? My biggest concern with that was the fire might be too cold.


    As I pondered my options over some delicious meat of dubious provenance - I swear, there wasn¡¯t a single skill one of the three elves wasn¡¯t an expert at - Serondes, then Aegion and Awarthril emerged from their rooms.


    ¡°Morning!¡± Serondes cheerfully greeted me, heading over to the Spatial Box. He started pulling out pieces of armor.


    A light bronze, bordering on silver, the armor was beautiful in its functionality and grace, each piece flowing and elegant. However, I eyed their armor, and I looked at mine.


    The dwarves had been bragging when they claimed they were better at shaping metal than elves were, and the jury was still out on that claim. However, from what I¡¯d gathered, Serondes and the other elves weren¡¯t exactly the best elves in the world, the cream of the crop. They were, from my understanding of elven society that they¡¯d imparted so far, relatively low-tier. That¡¯s why Serondes had agreed to come - he wanted the levels to boost his social ranking.


    ¡°Morning!¡± I cheerfully called back, chomping down on another bite. It was so delicious. I chewed, savoring the taste, then my jaw dropped open as Serondes started to strip.


    My eyes traced every line of his arm, his perfect abs, his chiseled thighs, his forearms.


    So delicious.


    A finger gently but firmly closed my mouth, as Awarthril blocked my view with an amused look on her face. She wiped some drool off my face, snapping me out of it. A hot rush crept up my neck and onto my cheeks.


    ¡°Good morning Elaine!¡± She cheerfully winked at me. ¡°Sleep well?¡±


    I was still somewhat star-struck, and could only mutely nod my head, stabbing another bite to eat.


    ¡°That¡¯s great! Here, I recommend having this for breakfast. Or a snack. Whichever!¡± She said, handing me something wrapped in leaves I didn¡¯t recognize. I slowly unraveled it.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ¡°Ilan bread!¡± She unwrapped and started chewing on her own. ¡°Fantastic stuff. Gives a slight boost to all your stats, makes you heal faster, makes you more resistant to poisons and toxins, improves your effective skill level by one, and some people claim you learn skills faster!¡±


    She paused on the last one and shrugged.


    ¡°I personally don¡¯t think so, but you can never tell. Sadly, the bread isn¡¯t as good as the fruit is, but the stuff¡¯s tricky to preserve fresh. Anyways, eat up! I hope we won¡¯t need you, but any little extra edge you can get to not get hurt is a boon.¡±


    She leaned in real close, her lips almost kissing my ear.


    With a near breathless whisper, so quiet I could barely hear it in spite of my stats and proximity, Awarthril whispered into my ear.


    ¡°Serondes is interested, but you have to make the first move.¡±


    Blushing, I grabbed my egg from my lap, and fled back to my room.


    I slammed the door shut - the elves had managed to rustle up doors of all things! - realizing I still had the Ilan bread.


    Well, might as well. It wasn¡¯t Aegion¡¯s invention, although I was somewhat wary of it. It sounded a lot like a potion, and those were uniformly terrible in Remus. Also, Awarthril hadn¡¯t said anything about the taste, and in my experience, that was because it¡¯d be terrible.


    I took a tentative nibble, and thought I¡¯d died and gone to heaven. It tasted like everything. Well, every fruit and vegetable ever. But not in the terrible way eating everything at once would! No, it had the bright notes of blueberries, the smoothness of bananas, the freshness of cucumbers, the tingly sensation of pineapples, and best of all, the sweetness of mangos. That, and a million other sensations went through me, electrifying me.


    I couldn¡¯t control myself. I wolfed down the rest of it, eager to get more. I felt strength flooding through my body, and I checked my stats, seeing that they¡¯d all improved roughly 2%


    Which was absurd.


    In Remus, humanity had figured out how to make Strength, Speed, and Dexterity potions. The easy physical stats. Vitality was being worked on.


    It was believed to be impossible to improve any of the magical stats. How would an increase in mana pool even work? No, the experts were trying to make mana potions - at least according to the Ranger Trainee I¡¯d nicknamed ¡®Alchemist¡¯ - as a substitute for Arcanite.


    And the elves just casually had something utterly absurd lying around like it was no big deal, able to just hand me a slice like it was nothing.


    I checked over my gear. Armor. Gems. Arcanite.


    No weapons, which sucked, but at this point they¡¯d just slow me down. A hydra wasn¡¯t going to get intimidated by me waving a spear at it.


    No, my big problem was my egg. What was I going to do with it during the fight? I wasn¡¯t going to carry it, that was for sure.


    Another nice side-effect of the bread - all my embarrassment was gone, and the lingering effects of sleep had been entirely chased away. Sure, I could¡¯ve used [Sunrise], but this was nice.


    I figured hanging out in my room would just make the awkwardness worse, and I left, getting a double eyeful of Awarthril and Aegion.


    PAPILLION! Why! Why didn¡¯t you tell me this was an option! If you changed your mind, making me a human instead of a golden crow, why didn¡¯t you tell me I could be an elf! I want to be an elf! Mulligan! MULLIGAN! I want a do-over! I¡¯ve changed my mind! Give me that easy perfection!


    Aegion caught me staring and winked, but kept on getting dressed as normal. I had no idea what I¡¯d do otherwise. I did appreciate him not making it weird, or doing anything strange.


    They were both sadly at the tail end of getting dressed, and I was soon freed. The images were forever burned into my mind.


    ¡°Elaine! I was thinking about you!¡± Serondes came up to me, finishing the last bite of his Ilan bread. He was fully dressed in his silvery-bronze armor, each part elegantly flowing into the next. It¡¯d look right at home in some fancy art gallery, never mind it being a lethal instrument. Numerous small, thin pieces of paper were attached to his armor, only stuck on one end. They were white, with dense red scribbles all over them. The previously mentioned talismans?


    ¡°Oh?¡± I asked, dying to know what, exactly, he was thinking about me.


    ¡°Yeah! Your egg! I have the solution for it.¡± He opened his hand expectantly.


    I was the trusting sort, and handed it over.


    A pillar of Lava slowly emerged between us, forming a blazingly hot pedestal that he put the egg on.


    ¡°Right! Let me know how hot it needs to be.¡± Serondes said, and I put my hand right next to the egg, letting [Egg Incubation] work its magic.


    ¡°Hotter. Hotter. Hotter. Keep going. Warmer. There we go!¡± I pulled my hand back, blowing on it furiously. I had to have healed some damage, and Serondes had one eyebrow going high into his hairline.


    ¡°Well then. Certainly a Lava creature!¡± He stepped back, more hot Lava forming around the egg, lowering it somewhat.


    I hadn¡¯t quite realized how hot I¡¯d been keeping the egg, nor just how good my Radiance magic was - both at generating heat, and keeping me safe from it.


    After changing the pedestal to a more nest-like structure, Serondes stepped back satisfied.


    ¡°My skill should keep it warm long enough for us to get back, and then some.¡± He nodded approval at his work.


    Awarthril¡¯s works in my mind, I decided to say fuck it.


    ¡°Can you keep people warm?¡± I gave him what I thought was a coy look. Or something. I wasn¡¯t great with this flirting stuff, all my prior romantic attempts ending in flames. Once, quite literally.


    ¡°Ahem. If we¡¯re done flirting, are there any last second preparations you need to make?¡± Aegion strode over.


    No longer in casual clothes, his armor fit elegantly. A slightly curved sword was at his waist, and a teardrop shaped kite shield was on his back, a large quiver of arrows on his waist, opposite the sword. He was holding onto a crystal longbow, which defied everything I knew about bows and agreed with everything I knew about magic. He had two more quivers of arrows slung over one shoulder. From what I knew about long-term archery fighting, he¡¯d be putting those down near him. A couple of talismans were stuck on him, but not nearly as many as Serondes had.


    I shook my head, as Serondes went and grabbed his own set of sword, shield, bow, and arrows. I cocked an eyebrow at that. I was curious what he was planning to do with it.


    ¡°All ready?¡± Awarthril asked, her gear trading a bow and arrow for an oversize crystalline fauchard which she wielded without a shred of effort. It had a long pole, almost twice as tall as I was, and a shaft as wide as my arm, which Awarthril gripped with ease. At the top was a thick curling blade, the entire thing giving off an imposing air, screaming ¡°Big game hunting.¡± Awarthril had her talismans in neat patterns, somehow making them look like a fashion statement, rather than the powerful magic I was sure they had to be.


    There was no doubt that the hydra fit into the category.


    ¡°Ready!¡± I pumped my fist, while Serondes confirmed in a more restrained manner.


    ¡°All set!¡± Aegion didn¡¯t look at us, instead grabbing a bag out of the Spatial Box. Awarthril rolled her eyes, and grabbed three more bags.


    ¡°Preparations complete.¡± Serondes started to conjure Lava around him, hardening the top half into a platform, while the bottom half remained molten, hovering just a hair above the ground. Some chairs and railings sprang to life, and he beckoned me on. I stepped on, only to get bowled over by Kiyaya leaping on.


    ¡°Bad girl.¡± Awarthril said, not able to keep the laughter out of her voice. I chuckled as I got up - it was funny. True to his word, Cordamo landed on my head, wrapping himself around my helmet. I got some annoyed hissing that I interpreted as ¡°You said I could stay in your hair! What¡¯s with the helmet!¡±, totally forgetting I¡¯d said no such thing.


    Of course, he could just be trying to bribe, beg, blackmail, plead, threaten, or generally extort me for more food. The couatl was a glutton and a half.


    I watched Aegion leap to the top of Castle Elaine - a much better name than anything else I¡¯d come up with - with a howl of wind at his back, then start stretching as Serondes¡¯s Howling Platform lifted off with the five of us on it. We slowly cleared the walls of Castle Elaine, then started to pick up speed, Aegion waving at us from the walls.


    We flew over the swamp, Awarthril leaning over the railing with her hand over her eyes, looking around, while Kiyaya tried to pace in the small area. She had a few talismans stuck to her, and the big difference was that these ones were already glowing.


    Well, I¡¯d been assuming. This seemed to be a good point to fix my knowledge, one way or another.


    ¡°Talismans, right?¡± I asked, gesturing at the inked paper. Awathril nodded.


    ¡°Handy things. We can grab, mix, and match what we need for a situation with them. Sure, they¡¯re one-time use, but they¡¯re easy enough to make.¡±


    ¡°Can you teach me?¡± I asked Awarthril, but I was shooting eyes at Serondes, the all-knowing mage, hoping he¡¯d answer.


    ¡°I have no idea how.¡± Awarthril answered, and Serondes seemed to completely miss the question.


    Drat. Outta luck.


    The walls of Castle Elaine rapidly vanished as we went deeper, Serondes starting to zig-zag the platform in a classic search pattern.


    ¡°Go that way a bit more, that¡¯s roughly the direction I was going last time.¡± Awarthril pointed, Serondes continuing to drive.


    A thought came to mind.


    ¡°I know Aegion¡¯s on ranged support, but, uh, how can he help?¡± I said, the castle having totally vanished from view.


    Serondes got a smug look on his face.


    ¡°Hold your hand up in a circle.¡± He said, and I put my hand up in an OK-sign. Cordamo and Kiyaya were both looking at me, and a few moments later I stumbled as a blast of air went through my hands, forcing my fingers apart. A deafening crack of thunder punctuated the entire thing, making my ears ring for a moment before my healing kicked back in.


    ¡°Show off.¡± Awarthril signed something quickly in Cordamo¡¯s direction, then turned back to scanning the swamp as she explained what happened to me.


    ¡°Every companion bond is different, as unique as the people involved.¡± Her head was still moving back and forth, scanning the swamp. ¡°In Aegion¡¯s case - hang on, Serondes, turn us left then shoot forward, I recognize that weird moss pattern on the rock - anyways, in Aegion¡¯s case, he and Cordamo can see through each other¡¯s eyes. His skills already allow for impossibly long shots, and Cordamo acts as a spotter, making him the longest-ranged archer at our level. You saw how accurate he is to boot.¡±


    Yeah, I had. We were, what, a few miles away by the time he¡¯d demonstrated his stunt? And he managed to thread a high-powered arrow through the tiny hole my hand made?


    I was so glad he was on my team, and not gunning for me. How was I supposed to survive a Classer like that trying to kill me?


    ¡°There it is! Pole!¡± Awarthril yelled, Serondes making a pillar of rapidly-cooling Lava in the middle of the platform. Awarthril barely waited, throwing out her [Rubber Rope], connecting herself to the pillar.


    Then she leapt off the skyship, bungee-jumping down to the swamp below.

 Chapter 237 - The Hydra III

    I rushed over to the edge of the platform, making sure I stayed away from Awarthril¡¯s [Rubbery Rope]. Serondes joined me as Kiyaya padded over, all of us half-leaning over to get a better view of what was going on. Cordamo stretched himself over my head, acting as eyes for Aegion, stationed way back over at our base.


    I saw the seven-headed hydra before I saw Awarthril. I used [Long-Range Identify] and was horrified as it came back [Healer]. The hydra was intelligent!? And a healer?! The red was darker than the elves to boot.


    Ok, the healer tag wasn¡¯t terribly surprising, not with the famous head-regrowing property. With seven heads, seven brains (or was it eight?), it wasn¡¯t too much of a surprise that it was smart, but I was having a sudden crisis of conscience. I¡¯d never hunted a healer before, and I didn¡¯t quite want to start now. Fortunately for me, I¡¯d been asked - told, really - to stay out of the fight, and I was just on-hand to heal.


    I spent the few moments left in Awarthril¡¯s fall to keep studying the hydra.


    Two heads were above the treeline of the miserable trees surviving in the swamp, while the rest were low down, weaving and investigating, seemingly trying to sniff out any tasty morsels that tried to hide instead of fleeing from its presence. One head snapped out to grab a terrified otter that tried to run away, while two more were quite literally splitting an alligator between them. From how shredded the alligator was, it was clear they¡¯d found it some time ago, and were busy savoring their meal.


    Well. I think it was an alligator. There were so many sub-types of crocodiles it was hard to tell, especially after they were dead and the System wasn¡¯t granting anymore help.


    It didn¡¯t seem to be hunting, just moving from place to place, the food it was grabbing a target of opportunity. Its body was large, the shoulder reaching up three-quarters of the way up the trees, and its tail was as long as its necks. The scales were a matted, splotchy dark-green with black and grey smears, which would let it camouflage almost perfectly with the environment it found itself in.


    The level of savagery it was exhibiting, and a reminder that Tyriss¡¯s entire herd, all his friends and family, had been wiped out by the hydra, helped dampen my reluctance to participate in the hunt. It was just another monster. Monster-sized, monster-shaped, and with a keen, intelligent mind. I¡¯d hunted monsters with human minds and human bodies before, with no issue painting the target on Hesoid.


    Then again, I was only getting one side of the story, and it was far too late now for me to be worrying or thinking about it. I refocused.


    Awarthril was a silver bullet, dropping quickly, sleekly, and silently. I felt heat rising up to my right, and saw that Serondes had conjured up four head-sized balls of incredibly hot, rapidly expanding Lava. Even as I watched, it doubled in volume, and started to spin.


    I was so glad I was on the friendly side of whatever that attack was.


    He had his bow in one hand, nocking an arrow with the other. I kinda wanted to facepalm.


    Duh. Right. Mages didn¡¯t need their hands, and Ranger training had us learning how to use a spear and shield, for our own defense and to take a place in a shield-wall if we needed to. For whatever reason, it¡¯d never occurred to me to learn archery, and use that instead.


    Then again, at a range my magic was more than enough, and up-close a bow and arrow was worse than useless. Still, I was curious if Serondes had any archery skills, or was relying on pure talent and stats.


    Probably the second one. Blasted unfair elves.


    I saw some leaves blow around violently in a straight line as Awarthril was about to land - Aegion taking a ranging shot? We were crazy far away from the base, and honestly I had trouble believing that anyone could make shots like this, System or no. It was hard to deny the evidence before me.


    Awarthril landed, and all hell broke loose, [Bullet Time] deciding that, nah, I wasn¡¯t in any danger up here, and could try to watch things in a blurry, high-speed way.


    At the same time, the lack of danger let me spend all my attention observing.


    Kiyaya began to howl, a low, deep song that thrummed in my bones. Another wolf joined, then another, until a full pack was howling.


    Oh my gods. Kiyaya was a sub-woofer.


    Well - until Kiyaya was imitating a full pack howling, magic and the System enabling her to play a full orchestra - errr, pack - at once.


    I felt strength and energy coursing through me, so much that I started to rub my arms in an attempt to deal with the itching, and bouncing my leg. My armor made my rubbing futile, but in spite of the incredible desire to scratch, I maintained discipline and didn¡¯t take off my gear.


    I was stronger. Faster. Probably tougher and more agile. Kiyaya was providing widespread buffs to all of us, Sound being a great element for that sort of thing.


    Speaking of sound, to Awarthril¡¯s credit, she hadn¡¯t yelled or screamed warcries at the hydra as she was falling. Her landing was graceful, but there was only so much muffling she could do as she dropped like a bullet into a swamp, the splash catching the attention of one of the hydra¡¯s heads. She charged forward as the hydra¡¯s head snapped towards her, trying to grab an easy meal.


    Awarthril¡¯s fauchard flashed, but the hydra didn¡¯t flinch. The blade landed, and went right through the hydra¡¯s head, at the same time the hydra ate Awarthril whole.


    A new Awarthril peeled off from the head, a belated look of ¡°no, I dodged, really.¡± The hydra brought its head back, ready to snap again.


    Awarthril and her illusions.


    A crackling boom heralded one of Aegion¡¯s arrows finding its mark in the hydra¡¯s legs, followed by rolling thunder behind it as the sound caught up with the arrow. The arrow shattered along with the leg, the hydra briefly staggering under the loss of one of its supports.


    Then the hydra¡¯s regeneration kicked in, the leg snapping right back into place, and the hydra turned to Awarthril, putting its full angry focus on her, right as Serondes¡¯s attack landed.


    Serondes had waited for the battle to be engaged, and for his Lava-balls to become sufficiently large. Then, abusing his height advantage, he spun off dozens, hundreds of tiny little Lava pellets at the Hydra in a narrow cone, the four orbs providing overlapping fields of fire. Not all of them would land - but most would, and there wasn¡¯t an easy place to dodge to. He supplemented his attacks with ¡°rapid fire¡± arrows, each one tipped with a speck of Lava before he fired it.


    He was getting hundreds of Lava pellets for every arrow he shot out though. Not exactly an impressive archery showing. Still, it was better than what I was doing, which was standing around doing nothing.


    The Lava pellets landed, a thousand tiny bullets impacting with a sizzle, pitting the hydra¡¯s back. The injuries stayed open though, the Lava burning and searing, stopping healing from where they landed.


    Or if it was healing, it was at such a slow pace that I couldn¡¯t see what was happening.


    The hydra went into a berserk fury, six of the heads slamming one after another into Awarthril at high speed, snapping so fast and with such coordination that I couldn¡¯t follow it at all. The last one reared up, keeping a wary eye on us. Awarthril¡¯s illusion, of course, neatly ¡°dodged¡± them all. When two of the heads slammed down at the same time, a pair of collars got conjured around the two necks, linked together by chains. It didn¡¯t slow the hydra down, but it would restrain its range of motion.


    Serondes took the chance to fire off a thick crescent of Lava, aiming to decapitate the hydra in a single blow. The hydra effortlessly dodged, but had to pause in its relentless assault against Awarthril to do so.


    One of Serondes¡¯s Lava bullets hit something critical, and the hydra roared with pain, all seven heads letting out a high-pitched painful, keening wail. It didn¡¯t drown out Kiyaya¡¯s incessant howling.


    Between Kiyaya¡¯s howling, Awarthril¡¯s chains and being impossible to hit, the hydra had enough. It whipped around, its tail cracking like a bullwhip as it cleared the area, and charged off through the swamp, trampling trees and going far faster than the terrain suggested it could go.


    A randomly demolished tree, along with the [Rubbery Rope] pointing that way, suggested that the hydra¡¯s ¡°sweep¡± had hit Awarthril, and sent her flying through the swamp.


    ¡°Bah.¡± Serondes looked like he¡¯d just eaten surprise lemons.


    ¡°Should we chase after it?¡± I asked the obvious question. Serondes hesitated.


    ¡°I want to see what Awarthril wants to do. No idea how bad that hit was.¡±


    Kiyaya stopped her howling, instead making concerned whining noises, nuzzling at the rope that was Awarthril¡¯s lifeline - and way back up.


    The [Rubbery Rope] went slack, and Awarthril dropped her invisibility a moment later, looking no worse for having been sent flying. Even her armor, somehow, in spite of having gone through an entire swamp, looked pristine, not a hint of dirt or muddy water to be seen.


    That was just good enchantments though. Unless it was an illusion. I flickered my healing a moment, my mana flickering a few points. A couple of seconds later, I was back to full mana.


    I¡¯d need to subtly throw some dirt on Aegion or Serondes and test it out.


    ¡°Dagleblagleflagle. I hate being thrown through trees. Also, Serondes, what are you doing!? Follow it, let¡¯s go go GO!¡± She cried out, pointing in the direction the hydra was fleeing.


    Not that it was exactly subtle about the whole thing.


    Serondes just rolled his eyes. We¡¯d been waiting for Awarthril to figure out our next move. After how she¡¯d berated him for taking unilateral action when we first met, I¡¯d think she¡¯d be a bit more understanding.


    The entire Lava platform smoothly accelerated after the hydra, and Aegion¡¯s arrows regularly punctuated the chase, blowing apart the hydra¡¯s knees, only for them to be immediately restored.


    Powerful healing was such bullshit. I needed to take notes.


    The hydra did figure out what was going on with the arrows, and changed its pacing somewhat, to a strange, loping gait. It was slower, but Aegion¡¯s arrows didn¡¯t bother it in the slightest anymore. It only slowed down the hydra¡¯s regeneration, and my critical eye judged the healing needed to be relatively light on the mana.


    Four of the heads turned to look at us, and hissed. One of the heads went as high as it could go, and started to spray a fine mist directly up. One shot green globs at us, while the last two started to make a large green ball of something in its mouth, working in tandem, channeling it to be larger and larger.


    It reminded me of Serondes¡¯s preparations for an attack, and I did not like it one bit. I threw up [Mantle] to shield us.


    ¡°Go! Keep flying!¡± Awarthril shouted, seeing my shield.


    I saw some shots of Lava erupt from underneath the flying platform we were on, intercepting the green mid-sized shots from the hydra. [Mantle] managed to cleanly plow through the fine spray being thrown up, although I wasn¡¯t sure what we were going to do about the larger attack the hydra was preparing.


    The hydra launched the ball - now nearly as large as it was - straight up, on a path to intercept us.


    ¡°I can¡¯t shield that!¡± I yelled, preemptively flaring my healing around me. It was going to get nasty when that hit.


    ¡°Hold on!¡± Serondes yelled, abruptly pulling the platform back.


    I was flung forward by the sudden deceleration, Cordamo hissing in displeasure as Awarthril snaked an arm out to grab me and stop me from falling off.


    Not that I would¡¯ve fallen off. Safety railing and all that.


    ¡°Hold your breath!¡± Awarthril yelled as Serondes said something, the ball bursting on top of us.


    Then it was all darkness, chaos and slime as the world tumbled around me.


    After an eternity - seconds - of being tumble-dried in Serondes¡¯s encased Lava platform, sticky Ooze filling every crack, the dome of the ¡°ball¡± we¡¯d been encased in cracked open, the Ooze vanishing a moment later.


    Cordamo relaxed, his futile stranglehold on my armored neck loosening and relaxing. It took me a moment to work out what had happened, while Awarthril and Serondes bickered in the background.


    Serondes had quickly, with expert precision, closed off the top of the skyship, shielding us from the gigantic glob of I-didn¡¯t-want-to-know that the hydra had spat at us. At the same time, Awarthril filled the entire container with Ooze, which absorbed all the impacts, and kept us all perfectly safe.


    Something in all that had destabilized the platform, and it¡¯d come tumbling down, in the gentlest, lightest way, courtesy of Awarthril¡¯s Ooze. There wasn¡¯t a single bruise, and her de-conjuring the Ooze had cleanly removed all of it. The softest chaotic landing ever.


    I briefly checked in on Serondes¡¯s and Awarthril¡¯s argument.


    ¡°If you hadn¡¯t thrown me off-balance, we would¡¯ve been fine!¡± Serondes was coldly, but furiously rebuking Awarthril, having a tight leash on his emotions but letting her know how he felt.


    ¡°Oh come off it! We would¡¯ve been rattled around like coins in a beggar¡¯s bowl! We had no light, and it would¡¯ve been too easy to accidentally slice Elaine and Cordamo! We¡¯re all fine, we can keep chasing!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but-¡±


    I tuned them back out. Nothing interesting going on there.


    Kiyaya came over and gave me a half-nuzzle, and gave Cordamo a lick before trotting over to Awarthril and sitting down next to her. She absent-mindedly reached over and started scratching her behind the ears with her free hand.


    Which left her not-free hand, still holding the fauchard, to start gesticulating as she argued with Serondes, the crystalline blade flashing everywhere.


    The argument quickly ended.


    ¡°Elaine, are you ok?¡± Awarthril said, patting my armor all over like she could divine broken bones by touch alone.


    Totally ignoring that I was a healer.


    I guess it was just an affectionate gesture? A way to show she was concerned? Pure habit?


    Didn¡¯t matter.


    ¡°Yup! Totally fine. Honestly, the Ooze was a greater danger than anything else.¡± I said, Awarthril looking unhappy at that, while Serondes looked triumphant.


    Sadly, it was true. Broken, battered, bitten in half? Easy. Ooze taking up all the air? Tricky.


    Awarthril put on a fake-bright smile, and I felt bad. My comment had cut deeply.


    ¡°Right! Let¡¯s get back to chasing that hydra!¡±

 Chapter 238 - The Hydra IV

    We took a short break while Serondes and Awarthril restored their mana. The hydra would get a chance to heal up, but the first round was already something of a bust. Either Serondes¡¯s Lava pellets would keep the wound open, or they wouldn¡¯t. That, and none of them were particularly deep.


    Awarthril was missing a few talismans, a couple of them looking like they got ripped, and a few looking like they¡¯d been in a fire.


    Serondes re-made the platform, this time with a large glass pane in the middle.


    ¡°To better protect ourselves.¡± He explained, which made sense. His range of control on his Lava was big enough that he could just use the bottom of the platform to fire his Lava bullets, while still being able to see, and giving us a hair more protection. The hydra had demonstrated that it could hit us when we were flying, after all.


    We got back on, and started tracking its trail through the swamp.


    ¡°I might have to fight this on the ground.¡± Serondes frowned as he paced on the ship, seemingly paying no attention to where we were going. Awarthril acted as a lookout and navigator, while I felt like a kid, hanging on as the parents ran errands.


    Of course, that meant I could play with Kiyaya, who was taking full advantage of my idleness to get some serious good-girl scratches in.


    Serondes let out a string of curses as the trail ended at the edge of a lake, the hydra having gone underwater.


    ¡°FlsklegrablegrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrAH!¡± Awarthril¡­ well, cursed would imply there were actual words I could understand. As far as I could tell, it was just a noise of frustration.


    Or some super-secret elf language she was swearing in. I was going to start taking notes, and seeing if I could decipher it. Could also be wolf-speak.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to land us.¡± Serondes didn¡¯t wait for a reply, navigating the Lava ship to the edge - away from the tracks - and landing. Awarthril, holding onto her fauchard, and Kiyaya hopped off before the platform had even stopped moving, taking a look at the tracks.


    I¡¯m not sure what they were looking for - it seemed real obvious to me that the tracks went directly into the lake - but they were seeing something there.


    Probably. That, or trying to look all-knowing and wise in front of the little human.


    We touched down, and Serondes went over to check on the tracks, while I hung back. I didn¡¯t have [Tracking], [Woodsmanship], or any other such skills, and I¡¯d only ever been barely passable at the natural skill. I was more likely to muddy the waters - quite literally - than contribute anything.


    The world slowed down as the water bulged, [Bullet Time] deciding that, yes, now was the time to try and save my life. The mud-coated hydra¡¯s heads erupted from the water, right as I jumped up, soaring into the sky with [Scintillating Ascent], Cordamo wrapped tightly around my helmet.


    Three of the heads went for Kiyaya, Awarthril, and Serondes, while two more opened their mouths, noxious-colored gases flooding out. One head went on ¡°lookout¡±, scanning around, while the last one locked onto me. Chains dangling from two of the heads showed that not only was it the same hydra, but it¡¯d bitten through the chains Awarthril had tried to shackle it with.


    ¡°Fucking moldy mangoooooooooooos!!¡± I swore as I tried to fly back as fast as I could. My initial distance saved me, as the hydra couldn¡¯t directly try to bite me. Instead, it fired more of those nasty green bolts my way.


    Cordamo launched himself off of my head, and a strong wind started to blow behind us, as the couatl used his Gale magic to speed us up, and slow the hydra¡¯s spit.


    Then the traitor zoomed off, leaving me behind, creating a white streak that reminded me of a thrown javelin.


    As the spit traveled towards me, as I twisted to minimize the impact, I got to watch the heads attacking the other elves. Awarthril, in a stunning display of physical prowess, swept her fauchard in such a way that the shaft knocked Kiyaya back. The front of the blade saved Serondes, as it sliced in a way to make the hydra¡¯s smile extra-wide, cutting through the muscles it would¡¯ve needed to bite him in half. The hydra reared back, a strange gurgling scream coming from the head.


    I had no idea if it would have succeeded, given the Lava rapidly forming around him, but the save was good anyways, a single motion of her weapon getting two of her teammates out of harm¡¯s way.


    I¡¯d managed to twist myself out of the way of some of the goop the hydra was spitting, and aligned myself to take hits feet-first, presenting a small profile. Still, I wasn¡¯t able to dodge everything, and I threw a [Mantle of the Stars] up at my feet. The attack chewed through my shield - of course, but at least I¡¯d stopped some of it - and latched onto my armored boots.


    There was no sound, just my boots, feet, and lower leg just vanishing in a moment of agonizing pain. Blasted acid attacks. It took half a moment, but my legs popped back in, my healing spending a tenth of a second fighting with the acid before it won out.


    One of Aegion¡¯s arrows came thundering in, blowing up in one of the gas-spewing hydra¡¯s eyes. It screeched in pain, waving around, but continued to slowly flood the field with it¡¯s colorful miasma.


    I would¡¯ve loved to keep watching the battle between the elves and the hydra, but the one head after me wasn¡¯t about to let me go, not when it sensed weakness. I was slow, for the level of the battle occurring. I was weak. It looked like I was an easy target, and while the main hydra body was busy with the elves, this one head had it out for me.


    That, and Awarthril had her illusions going full-force.


    It didn¡¯t do the ¡°great big acid ball¡± attack, nor the fine spray of mist. Neither would work, and this hydra was proving itself cunning and clever. It had retreated to its habitat, it had coated itself in mud to shield itself from the Lava bullets, and it had laid in ambush, after making obvious markings.


    I took a few more hits, but nothing too bad. The attacks might¡¯ve been able to kill me, if I took an unshielded hit on my head. As it was, each attack briefly chewed through some flesh, then my healing took over.


    I was as bullshit as the hydra was. Which honestly had me somewhat concerned for this fight. I wasn¡¯t looking forward to a detailed, up-close guide on ¡°how to kill powerful healers.¡±


    I was still flying away as Serondes grabbed me by the arm, jerking me and towing me like a stuffed toy.


    ¡°I apologize for the rough treatment.¡± He gruffly said, as he caught up to where Cordamo was hovering.


    ¡°No worries.¡± I rolled my shoulder, getting the ¡°almost ripped out of its socket¡± kinks worked out. Serondes started to make a full Lava platform to stand on, versus his prior little ¡°Lava boots¡± he¡¯d been using to fly.


    I just hovered next to him. He was the heavy-hitter for the fight, he¡¯d need all the mana he could get. Me standing on the platform was a noticeable drain on his mana, and this fight was looking like it¡¯d be a long one. He¡¯d need every bit, and it didn¡¯t cost me much to fly next to him. The difference between using a skill with a cost buy-off, versus needing to do the entire lifting.


    I looked down, seeing the progression of the fight. The hydra was now fully emerged from the lake, entirely coated in mud armor. From what I could tell, it wasn¡¯t a skill or anything, just sheer beastial cunning.


    The entire area was flooded with two colors of gas, while most of the hydra''s heads darted in and out, snapping and snarling at dozens of shapes flickering through the gaseous mist.


    One of the hydra¡¯s now nine heads was keeping a wary eye on us, but step by step it was going forward, driving Awarthril and Kiyaya back.


    Or were they luring it fully out of the lake?


    I¡¯d eat my hat if the hydra wasn¡¯t using Miasma.


    A clear line pierced through the Miasma, Aegion¡¯s arrow hitting with a sharp thunderclap. It gave us a brief glimpse of Awarthril - or at least, the illusion she was using. Chains snapped into existence, locking heads together, while sticky Ooze was stymied by clever mud, simply peeling away layers of the hydra¡¯s armor instead of slowing it down.


    One of the hydra¡¯s heads was on chain-snapping duty, but right before the mist closed back up I saw a chain connecting the base of its head to another one, positioned in an awkward angle for the snapper-head to deal with.


    Then the mists closed back up, and I was left with a frowning Serondes, who had Cordamo on his shoulder. He spent a few moments - an eternity of howling wolves and flashing blades, down where Awarthril was fighting for her life - before sighing.


    ¡°Cordamo.¡± He extended his arm, the couatl seemingly understanding what he wanted. He wrapped himself around Serondes¡¯s arm, head near his hand.


    Serondes summoned a tiny little sand twister, dancing about in his hand. Cordamo started a fine spray of clear liquid from his mouth, the poison mixing with the swirling sand.


    Slowly, carefully, Serondes and Cordamo built up a sand twister, filled with deadly poison. I eyed the creation warily. The sand was swirling at incredible speeds, promising to strip and abrade anything it came into contact with - at which point, Cordamo¡¯s poison would easily enter the scraped wounds.


    Then, of course, the poison would do what poison did best.


    At the same time this was happening, Lava walls were slowly rising around Awarthril and the hydra, Serondes attempting to trap and contain the hydra, so it couldn¡¯t run away again.


    I was torn, my eyes flickering between the steadily growing calamity in a palm, and the fight below. The gas was getting steadily thicker, making it harder for me to see. The steadily flashing blades, darting figures, and haunting howling made it clear that Kiyaya and Awarthril were still fighting, and fighting well.


    I wanted to dive down and see if they needed healing - all that gas couldn¡¯t be good for them. At the same time, they might not be injured, and diving in would just force Awarthril to protect me. Being on-hand, ready to heal at a moment¡¯s notice, was good enough.


    Leaving was out of the question.


    Chains flailed through the air, steadily increasing in number as Awarthril summoned them and the hydra broke them. Still, the number was increasing, and one particularly corroded chain let me see something clever Awarthril was doing - she was simply reconnecting the chains at this point, saving her mana for the slogfest she was in.


    Aegion¡¯s arrows stopped, the poor visibility making missing just as likely as hitting the hydra, Awarthril, or Kiyaya.


    After almost twenty minutes of channeling and building the twister, of raising the Lava walls to a height and thickness that might be enough to contain the multiple tons of hydra, Serondes threw the sand twister forward, following closely behind it.


    He kept manipulating it as it reached the fight pit, where it then exploded into a quarter-sized, full-force sandstorm, whipping and howling in the pit he¡¯d built. It easily grabbed the deadly Miasma gases the hydra was spewing out, creating a swirling sandy maelstrom of death.


    I was more than a bit concerned for Awarthril and Kiyaya, trapped inside the storm with all the other nonsense that was going on. Serondes¡¯s storm didn¡¯t discriminate - or at least, I assumed it didn¡¯t - and while Awarthril was well-armored, Kiyaya wasn¡¯t.


    Although, I could totally see Awarthril trying to Ooze up Kiyaya to shield her. Problem was, the storm was effectively abrading and sanding everything down. Skin, flesh, armor, mud, ooze, fur - nothing was safe.


    I imagined being inside would be like having a high-powered sandblaster over my entire body. Add in the stinging, Poison, and Miasma?


    Eeesh.


    The fight continued to rage, out of sight, for an unknown length of time. It might¡¯ve been short, it could¡¯ve been long - I just knew I was ¡°pacing¡±, flying back and forth, concerned for my friends inside. Feeling useless. I couldn¡¯t fly into the storm, and any Radiance attacks - if I could even see where I needed to shoot - would just get intercepted and ruined by the swirling sand.


    Serondes just watched the whole thing with a frown, his eyebrows creased in worry. The walls shook and shuddered when the hydra threw itself against it, or Kiyaya got thrown into them. It was impossible to tell what was going on. Finally, Awarthril¡¯s oversized crystal weapon flashed for the last time, a javelin throw at Serondes. At the same time, Kiyaya¡¯s howling changed, from the deep, teeth-rattling noise to a more mellow and pained sound.


    Serondes dropped the sandstorm, and we both moved in. Sheets of colored sand fell around us like a waterfall, as Serondes¡¯s magic was no longer holding it up. It was as beautiful as it was deadly, sand dyed all the colors of the rainbow by Poison, blood, Miasma, and more.


    The shape of the hydra started to emerge, coated in a thick layer of sand. It was up to a whooping thirteen heads, Awarthril having been forced repeatedly to cut a head off to keep herself - or Kiyaya - alive.


    The fighters themselves emerged from the sand, coughing and wheezing. I rushed over, pushing my flight to the max. I threw out my [Dance with the Heavens] at full-blast, using [Wheel of Sun and Moon] to get the healing to them a bit faster. The image was terrible - ¡°Heal, and cure Poison plus Miasma¡± - but it got the job done, as my mana lost a small percent twice in a row, the second drop being larger than the first. Still, all in all I lost less than 14k mana. My mana pool was absurd, and for patching up two people, who weren¡¯t even missing arms or anything? Easy.


    I never got a good look at their condition, and the sandblasting they¡¯d gone through had removed most traces of gore. Poor Kiyaya had been entirely stripped of fur though, and I¡¯d never seen such a sorry-looking wolf. She looked down at herself, then back up at Awarthril and plaintively whined, pawing at her nose.


    Awarthril was bent over panting with exhaustion, coughing and hacking Sand out of her lungs. Kiyaya also made some retching and coughing noises, like she was a cat trying to get rid of a hairball and not a wolf as large as I was getting rid of all the crap she¡¯d breathed in.


    Whoof.


    Cordamo took the chance to throw a hissing laugh her way.


    Everything shook, the last of the sand falling off the hydra, and I realized - it wasn¡¯t dead! With thousands of bleeding wounds all over, Awarthril had chained and Oozed and chained and generally stacked bindings on the hydra to the point where it could no longer move, dozens upon dozens of chains restricting its movement, sticky black tar trailing from the walls and the ground to all over the hydra, purple goop sealing each mouth shut.


    ¡°Finish.¡± Awarthril panted out, then just sort of waved her hand at the hydra, almost falling over as a result.


    Like an idiot, like the Oathbound healer I was, I opened my mouth to protest. I didn¡¯t quite think this fell under what I needed to do - after all, we had just been in a fight for our lives against it - but it was intelligent, and clearly beaten.


    The Sentinel, the Ranger, heck, the human in me said ¡°kill it!¡± It was a threat, actively hunting intelligent creatures, and incredibly powerful. It¡¯d just cause more harm, and 95% of me was in agreement in that direction.


    The last 5% was a filthy traitor, who hated seeing intelligent creatures die. Especially healer-tagged creatures. It was all too easy to see the same justifications that led to the hydra hunt, to see the same tactics applied to the hydra, applied to me.


    As I said. It was dumb. It didn¡¯t stop the thought.


    Cordamo seemed to have a similar thought, as he flew between us and the hydra, flaring his wings protectively and hissing at us.


    ¡°Don¡¯t kill the hydra?¡± I asked, already being somewhat vaguely inclined towards that direction.


    Cordamo hissed an affirmative, bobbing his head up and down.


    ¡°Why ever not?¡± Serondes¡¯s insult at the suggestion was clear. Heck, I was feeling slightly insulted about it.


    Cordamo had something complicated to say, as he started pantomiming¡­ something. His tail went across his neck, which then comically fell to the side, then popped back up, then his mouth opened and closed a bunch.


    As a fellow foodie, I got it. I groaned and put my face in my hands.


    ¡°He¡¯s saying to keep the hydra alive, and chop off its heads for an unlimited supply of hydra-steaks.¡±


    Cordamo hissed and shook his head at the last part. I rolled my eyes.


    ¡°Sorry. Hydra barbeque.¡±


    He looked much happier at the correct interpretation of his desires. I just groaned, and stuck my face back into my hands.


    Sparing the hydra was a dumb idea of mine, but by every metric, Cordamo¡¯s was dumber.


    Serondes looked horrified at the suggestion, while Awarthril just looked exhausted. A crackling arrow a few moments later made Aegion¡¯s thoughts on the matter all too clear.


    Thank goodness for Serondes. Instead of dithering, or arguing, he instantly summoned a wave of crescent Lava blades, each one neatly and mercifully cutting off one of the hydra¡¯s heads.


    [*ding!* Your Party has slain a [Sneaky-Swamp Hydra] (Verdant, Lv 734) // [Muriatic Sharpshooter] (Acid, Lv 694) // [Roiling Gas of the Swamp] (Miasma, Lv 211)]

 Chapter 239 - Afterparty

    ¡°Let¡¯s head back.¡± Serondes suggested, as Awarthril still looked exhausted. I realized I was a dumbass, and hit her with [Sunrise]. Still wasn¡¯t used to using the skill with a group of people, even though I¡¯d had it for a year.


    She perked right up at that, going from ¡°barely standing on her feet¡± to ¡°I could run three marathons¡± in an instant. I loved magic.


    ¡°Thanks Elaine! Yeah, we should head back.¡± Awarthril belayed her own words as she headed towards the hydra. Serondes started to make another platform, and Kiyaya padded over to where Serondes was, still looking like the funniest thing I¡¯d ever seen.


    Shaved wolf. Honestly, when I forgot about how it¡¯d happened, it was hilarious.


    Now that the fight was over, I was all too aware of the fact that everything from the waist down had been dissolved off, and I was prancing around half naked, and it was the wrong half to boot.


    Ah well. There was nothing I could do about it besides own it.


    With a few expert twirls of her weapon, Awarthril took the hydra apart. She whistled sharply, and Kiyaya came bounding over.


    ¡°Hey Serondes! Make it a big one!¡± She called out, dragging a large chunk with Kiyaya.


    Serondes muttered darkly about ¡°being more than a gloried [Ferryelf].¡± and ¡°absurd mana costs.¡± Knowing how expensive flying was, and seeing the mass of hydra and Lava that needed to be moved?


    Yeah, he had a slight point. I¡¯d be impressed if he could pull it off.


    A sky barge formed, as I stood around feeling somewhat extraneous. The elves had been mostly right - I hadn¡¯t been needed. My healing wasn¡¯t the difference between a win or a loss, between life and death, and while Kiyaya and Awarthril had been in terrible shape at the end of the fight, they hadn¡¯t been on the edge of death. Sure, they might¡¯ve been stuck in bed for a week or two, but I¡¯d done practically nothing. At least, nothing that required my presence right here in the fight.


    I watched Awarthril take a look at the hydra, then slice a deep gouge into its flesh, parting the walls and crawling into the body. I pulled a face at that, and went back to thinking of the elves.


    I¡¯d thought them arrogant, and somewhat naive for doing stuff like not setting a watch, and happily hunting a much stronger monster in its territory. However, the elves had proven they were almost as good as they thought they were, and I was privately, quietly, eating some crow.


    With a triumphant cry, a blood-stained gore-splattered Awarthril emerged from inside the hydra, clutching a large, fleshy mass, five times the size of a head. Awarthril was carrying it like the severed head of an enemy, and it clicked - it was the hydra¡¯s heart. She brought it up to her face, and with several large motions, took a bite out of it, barely chewing before swallowing. She then offered the heart to Kiyaya, who took a delicate nibble.


    Given that Kiyaya was as tall as I was?


    That ¡°delicate nibble¡± was more than half the remaining heart. It drove home the point that she could rip my head off in a single move if she was so inclined, and I didn¡¯t believe I could heal that.


    Awarthril tossed the remaining heart to Serondes, blood flying off of it in a twirl as it spun through the air. Serondes turned to catch it, but Cordamo intercepted the throw, unhinging his jaw and somehow swallowing the rest.


    Serondes glared murder at Cordamo, who unrepentedly smacked his long, snaky tongue against his nose, hissing a laugh at him.


    ¡°I am sure I will find a way to even the score.¡± Serondes promised, turning back to the barge. Cordamo looked a little worried about that, and flew over to rest in my hair.


    Well. Ok then. Eating the hearts of their enemies. Not what I was expecting out of the elegant elves. I hope there were no more surprises, like ¡°sacrifice a traveler during a double full moon¡± or anything like that. I was a little too handy and easy to grab¡­


    Still, fresh, hot meat right out of a monster? Had it during Ranger Academy, 6/10, a bit of searing dramatically improved it.


    I went over to the lake, mostly to stay out of the way, partially to clean my legs. I had armor from the waist-up, and a strong wake-up call that I shouldn¡¯t bother with it against foes that were much more powerful than I was.


    Then again, if I¡¯d gotten caught in the sandstorm, I would¡¯ve loved to have the armor.


    ¡°All set!¡± Awarthril called out, and I headed over, sand caking to my legs in the classic ¡°wet feet sandy beach¡± way.


    We all boarded the Lava-barge, loaded with tasty hydra cuts, and started to make our way back to Aegion and the Fort-De-La-Victoire.


    We took back off, and I had some burning questions.


    ¡°What¡¯s it like where you grew up?¡± I asked them, while looking at Serondes specifically. He¡¯d gotten my life story - what was his?


    Awarthril gave me a knowing smile and a wink while Serondes was looking at me.


    ¡°Well, I grew up on the outskirts of the Tympestshard Council. I had three brothers and sisters - all older - and we had a few hundred acres of forest for our family. Early on, my parents taught me how to¡­¡±


    I was enthralled with him, hanging onto every word he spoke.


    Serondes kept telling me his life story, not even pausing as we needed to land at one point. He threw some grumpy looks at Awarthril, but said nothing. Possibly as a concession to just how hard she had just worked in the last fight - she¡¯d done the vast majority of the work. If she wanted to celebrate a bit, and have a massive barbeque, nobody was going to rain on her parade.


    During a lull in the conversation, I figured I¡¯d check my level up notifications.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [The Dawn Sentinel] has leveled up to level 419->420! +3 Dexterity, +24 Speed, +24 Vitality, +170 Mana, +170 Mana Regen, +48 Magic power, +48 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    My capped skills stayed capped - [Mantle], [Dance], [Wheel], etc - but that was it. I suppose the only thing I¡¯d done was run away from the hydra, heal my legs getting dissolved a few times, and fixed up Kiyaya and Awarthril at the end of the fight. I hadn¡¯t exactly strained myself, and I suspected the only reason I¡¯d gotten a level was the sheer difference between the hydra and myself.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked [Solar Flare]! Would you like to replace a skill with [Solar Flare]?]


    Solar Flare: The sun erupts with destructive power, obliterating all those who stand in its way, and those too unlucky to be near. With this skill, all your [Butterfly Mystic] skills and abilities are more destructive. Increased destructiveness and effectiveness per level. -66,666 Mana Regen.


    Ok, wow. That was a stupid amount of mana regeneration, and the text of the skill was ominous, to say the least. Still, it was what I¡¯d been looking for. It would dramatically improve my Radiance abilities, and let me punch up significantly. I¡¯d felt I was falling behind for some time, that my mage abilities were becoming weaker and weaker compared to my healing abilities.


    Well, this was a good step in the right direction. Bonus - both [Solar Flare] and [Sun¡¯s Heart] seemed to be Sun-related, which was encouraging. It made me think that I could merge the two skills together down the line, which [Butterfly Mystic] was good at. Then I¡¯d get a new skill slot, a new skill, and the cycle would repeat.


    Stats were only a small part of the power and survival equation. Training and skills were significant.


    ¡°Excuse me.¡± I got up and walked to the railing. [Lantern] was level 345, and I was not looking forward to what would happen once I lost the skill.


    ¡°Everything ok?¡± Awarthril¡¯s concern was clear.


    I nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine.¡± I said, positioning myself for a technicolor yawn.


    I breathed in, and slowly let my breath out. I took a deep breath in, and with some will, swapped [Lantern] for [Solar Flare].


    The dizziness and nausea hit me like a tidal wave, my lunch rebelling and going back up the pipe. I tossed my cookies over the edge, collapsing as the world spun around me. I felt hands grab me, keep me stable. Another hand grabbed my hair, pulling it back as I kept sick uping off the edge of the Lava barge.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what¡¯s wrong with her.¡± I heard Serondes saying.


    ¡°She¡¯s not an elf. She probably swapped skills, and is suffering.¡±


    ¡°Oof. Glad that¡¯s not me.¡±


    Fucking.


    Elves.


    Finally, as I heaved and heaved and nothing but bile came up, the world stopped spinning. I became aware of Serondes and Awarthril holding onto me, keeping me safe and secure. My heart went out to both of them, to the kindness and care they¡¯d shown.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I got back up.


    Serondes waved his hand.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    I did brush my legs off, cooking the sand dry with my Radiance.


    We arrived back at Fort Why-Did-We-Make-This-So-Big, landing outside of it where Aegion had already dug out large firepits, crossing them with branches and small trees. Serondes landed the barge near the pits, then Aegion and Awarthril got to work. I slipped into the castle, retrieving my egg, and changing back into good clothes, AKA my only other set of clothing, the Mistweave. No more half-naked armor-bare legs combo. It was a crime against fashion. Serondes had been as good as his word, and [Egg Incubation] reported that it only needed to be warmed up a bit more. I promptly grabbed it and started dumping heat into it, clutching it protectively. Feeling beautiful and elegant, I swept my way back to the firepits.


    Serondes had made himself a chair to lounge in while he had a few mage hands contributing to the preparation of the hydra meat. Grabbing a chunk, carrying it over to him where he whistled it to pieces using his Sound magic, then placing it onto the firepit, where his Lava was busy cooking things.


    Of all the magic I¡¯d ever seen, I¡¯d never seen an instant-cook skill. I should totally try to find a Radiance chef with an instant-cook skill. It would probably be good for [Butterfly Mystic].


    Kiyaya practically fell asleep in the fire, exhaustion laying her low. Her nose twitched furiously as she smelled the delicious cooking wafting her way. I figured I¡¯d see if I could hit her with [Sunrise] when we were done.


    Cordamo had a little spice shaker in his tail, and he flew back and forth, lightly dusting our dinner.


    ¡°Anything I can do to help?¡± I asked Serondes.


    He looked at me, and my blasted stomach did a flip-flop that was entirely unrelated to the upcoming dinner.


    ¡°Can you pack up the table and chairs into the crate, then ask Awarthril to get them out here?¡± He asked, all while his magics kept working without pause. Impressive multi-tasking.


    I headed over to the oversized cooled Lava walls, and slipped back into the main fort area. Trying to juggle the table and chairs while holding the egg was tricky. Lots of one-handed dragging occurred. I managed to pack up the chairs and the table into the Spatial Box, having figured out the trick of how to put them in just the right spot. I figured I¡¯d try to bring it out myself, instead of bugging Awarthril. She¡¯d had a tough day.


    Keeping the egg in one hand, I grabbed the lip of the box and heaved, trying to drag it. I might as well have tried to haul the wall, for all the good that did me.


    I put my hand on my hip and glared at the Box, my mind churning.


    I snapped my fingers, and said to no one in particular ¡°I¡¯ve got it!¡± as I worked out the problem.


    Spatial Box. Nothing about weight loss or reduction. It had a what, 60:1 ratio? So it was as heavy as 60ish crates together. I looked at my strength stat.


    Yeeeeeeeeeeah I wasn¡¯t moving that anytime soon. There was a reason Serondes had suggested I ask Awarthril for help.


    ¡°Hey Awarthril?¡± I approached her, seeing that she was now lying down a wide variety of fruits and vegetables onto the oversized grills, letting them soak up the fat dripping off the meat.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Can you move the crate out? I¡¯ve packed it up.¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡± Awarthril blasted off, two gusts of wind heralding her leaving and coming back.


    ¡°Now, can you take out and lay the table please?¡± She placed the crate in front of me.


    I did a quick count.


    ¡°Six? I don¡¯t think Tyriss is joining us.¡± Hadn¡¯t seen hide nor hoof of him since he¡¯d left. Sure, there was always a chance he¡¯d double back, but that¡¯d be one heck of a coincidence.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do seven. What if someone finds us, like you did? It¡¯d only be polite to have a seat ready for them.¡±


    Seven it was!


    I reached into the crate, feeling around for the table and chairs. Taking stuff out was harder than putting it in, but after a few false starts, I got the hang of it and started pulling out the needed pieces.


    I finished up just in time, Aegion slicing off and plating a few rare steaks. Awarthril and Serondes had moved onto making some drying racks for the hydra, to better preserve it for the road. I was a little wary of how well it¡¯d work and how long we¡¯d be here - drying that much meat would take forever - then Serondes used his Sand magic, wringing all the moisture out of the meat.


    That¡­ would work.


    Aegion wandered into the fort, jumping onto the walls with one of his barrels.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare!¡± I yelled at him, certain he could hear me from here. ¡°Break out the good stuff! This isn¡¯t the meal to be poisoning all of us and ruining the taste!¡±


    Aegion jumped down from the wall, somehow keeping the open barrel perfectly stable as he landed.


    ¡°Relax! This is the good stuff! Come on, I¡¯m not that mean.¡± He walked the barrel over to the table, sounding hurt. He grabbed a few mugs off the table, dipping them in one at a time to fill them up. He took a great big drink, then handed me mine.


    I took a sip.


    It was terrible.


    I whirled my head so I wouldn¡¯t hit the table, then sprayed it all over the ground, spitting a few times to get the taste out of my mouth.


    ¡°Fine. You got me. You win.¡± I said, dumping my mug right as Aegion dumped his. ¡°Now, can we please have the good stuff?¡±


    Aegion good-naturedly chuckled at his prank as he wandered over to the Box, reaching in and hauling out a silver embossed barrel with a tap on the end. As he poured out drinks for everyone - using fresh mugs, bless him - Serondes, Awarthril, and the companions joined us at the table.


    ¡°We feast!¡± Aegion called out as we all sat down. ¡°To Awarthril, heroine of this trip! The unstoppable vanguard! The untouchable warrior! The one who chains and binds!¡±


    The three elves moved to click their mugs together, and I hastily joined in. Awarthril took the next part.


    ¡°To Serondes, doing everything! The killer! The flier! The storm!¡± Awarthril toasted Serondes, and we all clicked our mugs together.


    Serondes was up next, and I figured out how this went.


    ¡°To Kiyaya, voice of doom! She rips! She tears! Her howls echo throughout the world!¡±


    We clicked our mugs as Kiyaya trotted over to one of the roasts, grabbing an obscene amount and dragging it back. She had a few mouthfuls, then started to ¡°talk¡± in the doggish way, nuzzling Cordamo.


    Awarthril was the only one who understood what she was saying, but she wasn¡¯t translating. After a few warbling wolf-isms, Kiyaya stopped, and we all clicked our mugs together.


    Cordamo flew over to me, and started hissing loudly, thumping his tail on my shoulder and blowing my hair around with his wings. He had quite a few things to say, out of which Aegion roared with laughter at one.


    ¡°Says you¡¯re a comfortable resting spot.¡±


    I rolled my eyes as I clinked my mugs with everyone else. ¡°Comfortable resting spot¡± indeed. I hadn¡¯t contributed that much else to the fight.


    It was my turn, and it seemed like things had come full circle.


    ¡°To Aegion Longshot! Sniper extraordinaire! Brewer most awful! Something else should go here!¡± I finished, not having a good third thing to say. The elves laughed though, as we crashed our mugs together for the last time, the three elves throwing their drinks back.


    In for a penny, in for a pound, and I joined them, praying that the stuff wasn¡¯t as potent as the dwarven ale that had laid me low.


    I did not want to make an embarrassed drunken mess of myself in front of any of the elves. Especially Serondes. Noooo.


    The drink was smooth and rich, hitting all the right spots and sending a pleasant, non-inebriating buzz through my body.


    ¡°To the hydra! No more will you harm another soul! Well fought, and we are thankful for your presence gracing our table!¡± Awarthril used her empty mug to toast the parts of the hydra still cooking, and with that -


    We tucked in.


    Aegion was back to his small bites, while Serondes made a brief showing of eating properly. All that went out the window after the first round of hydra had been eaten, and he went back to the ¡°grabbing a bite out of the choice pieces¡± method. Honestly, I found it a bit wasteful, but there was like 600 pounds of hydra and six stomachs. I wasn¡¯t eating a hundred pounds of hydra.


    Awarthril practically inhaled her food. She spent more time walking back and forth to the barbeque, piling her plate up, than sitting down and eating. I¡¯m pretty sure the only reason she stuck around at the table, and didn¡¯t, like, just start ripping the food off the pit into her mouth directly was it was the polite thing to do.


    I was still stuck being one-handed, and I just leaned into it. Spear food with fork, take entire steak to mouth, munch around the fork as I worked my way down to the bone. Then the next one, grease getting all over my face and dribbling down my chin.


    We didn¡¯t talk much - we were too busy chowing down. The silence of good food, that was hard-fought for.


    The sun set as we were eating. I had a good seat, and it didn¡¯t get in my eyes. It did get into Aegion¡¯s eyes though, and I suppressed a laugh.


    ¡°That was good.¡± Awarthril said, her stomach bulging alarmingly. I didn¡¯t know it was physically possible to eat that much, but she¡¯d done it.


    I¡¯d eaten my fair share, including some fruits that I didn¡¯t recognize but were otherwise tasty. I wasn¡¯t ravenous like Awarthril had been, given that I¡¯d barely used any magic. I did feel like I needed to be rolled out of here with a barrel though.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I agreed, not feeling like saying much more. I cleaned my face with a napkin, degreasifying myself.


    Food good.


    ¡°I¡¯ma turn in.¡± Aegion got up, somehow steady in spite of drinking way too much of the good stuff. More blasted elf nonsense.


    He picked up Cordamo, who¡¯d gone entirely comatose from overeating, and smoothly walked over to Castle Too-Much-Effort.


    Awarthril flopped into the grass, vanishing in the untamed wilds, and Kiyaya nuzzled up next to her. Serondes got a blanket out from the Spatial Box, and draped it over the two of them. Loud snoring echoed shortly after.


    Flopping down sounded nice, and I did just that, looking up at the stars while the embers glowed red. Serondes joined me, lying down next to me and looking at the stars.


    ¡°The stars are almost as lovely in the sky as they are in your eyes.¡± Serondes outrageously flattered me. I mentally rolled my eyes at the over-the-top compliment, but it didn¡¯t stop me from being secretly pleased deep inside.


    I was still riding high off of the fight, the party, our success - everything. I thought back to what Awarthril had said - wow, was it really this morning?? - and decided, fuck it. Who¡¯d want to date someone who couldn¡¯t even talk to them properly? Serondes had just given me the best opening ever.


    ¡°Well, your eyes are like the hydras!¡± I cheerfully flirted back.


    ¡°I sure hope you don¡¯t mean my eyes are dead and lifeless.¡± Serondes drily replied.


    Wait.


    Shit.


    No.


    ¡°Buh, no!¡± I verbally backpedaled. ¡°Like, your eyes are all shiny and Lava-y, and there¡¯s lots of bubbly holes, and it kinda looks like a ton of eyes, like the hydra has - had - not that it matters - a ton of eyes. Pretty! Cute! I promise!¡±


    Serondes chuckled at my blathering - hopefully amused. Undeterred, I plowed on. My stomach was twisting, my palms were sweaty, and I¡¯d rather sneak through Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair again than open myself up like this.


    But I¡¯d never get anywhere in life on ¡°what-if¡¯s¡± and ¡°maybe he¡¯ll talk to me first.¡±


    I could try to be somewhat subtle though.


    ¡°What are elf - and really, Immortal - relationships like? I can¡¯t imagine they¡¯re the same as mortal relationships.¡±


    To the best of my knowledge, Night was a monk. If it wasn¡¯t for Jaclyn, I¡¯d wonder if vampires even¡­


    Wait.


    She wasn¡¯t a good example. For all I know she was just trying to get some tasty healer bites in.


    Serondes chuckled.


    ¡°You have no idea how true that is. Even among different mortal cultures, they all do different things. Some mate for life. Some just for offspring. The dragonlings have no real concept of a ¡°relationship¡±, just good sex partners. As for Immortals? We all differ, as varied as the Immortal races.¡±


    Yes, yes, that was very nice, but¡­


    ¡°What about elves?¡± I said, rolling over on the grass, onto my elbows, to see him better. ¡°Do you have, like, an arranged marriage? Some fiancee waiting for you back home?¡±


    I hadn¡¯t heard one in his story, but then again, he hadn¡¯t been able to give the whole story. Immortals had long, rich lives.


    He smiled at me.


    ¡°Most Immortals follow the same pattern, although there are exceptions. Mortals who seize Immortality form the majority of these exceptions. Elves have it figured out though. After a period of getting to know each other, they make a commitment, a period of time to be devoted to each other. 100 years is considered short, 2000 is considered long. At the end, there¡¯s an understanding that they will separate for some time, before deciding what to do next.¡±


    He shrugged.


    ¡°That¡¯s for the ones who want a short - or long - commitment. Others are free spirits, content to enjoy life.¡±


    That answered the question, but didn¡¯t answer the question!!!


    I swear, he knew what I wanted and was enjoying tormenting me.


    ¡°Are you devoted to anyone?¡± I asked, mentally thinking about him and Awarthril. They had been bathing together at one point¡­ but I hadn¡¯t seen other interactions between them that suggested they were a couple.


    But.


    Naked.


    Together.


    Alone.


    The formula was there.


    He shook his head.


    ¡°I knew I¡¯d be going out, and quite frankly, we¡¯re all young. We wanted to see the world first, before thinking of such a thing.¡±


    Ok. Seemed to be available. Seemed to be interested. We were already on the topic.


    Nothing for it. Time to be bold! Time to be Healer Elaine at her very best!


    We were already close.


    I reshuffled myself so I was supported by my knees, the omnipresent egg in one hand. I leaned over, grabbing his short pointy horn with one hand, and kissed him.


    His arms wrapped around me, as he pulled me in and kissed me back.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 20]


    [Mana: 412740/412740]


    [Mana Regen: 275034 (+356755.875)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 91]


    [Strength: 941]


    [Dexterity: 1468]


    [Vitality: 11166]


    [Speed: 11166]


    [Mana: 41274]


    [Mana Regeneration: 41363 (+35675.5875)]


    [Magic Power: 18178 (+340837.5)]


    [Magic Control: 18178 (+340837.5)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 420]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 420]


    [Cosmic Presence: 286]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 1]


    [Center of the Universe: 420]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 420]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 420]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 420]


    [Sunrise: 344]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 345]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 345]


    [Radiance Resistance: 345]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 345]


    [Solar Flare: 1]


    [Nectar: 345]


    [Sun''s Heart: 345]


    [Scintillating Ascent: 313]


    [Kaleidoscope: 345]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 370]


    [Pristine Memories: 217]


    [Egg Incubation: 44]


    [Bullet Time: 420]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 375]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 395]


    [Persistent Casting: 291]


    [Passionate Learning: 377]

 Chapter 240 - Minor Interlude - Rostellio

    Rostellio was bound, beaten, but not broken. He was hung up, the mighty angel, the agent of the God of Light captured and imprisoned.


    He was a toy. Displayed, as a warning, a threat, a statement of power. Used, in an ironic twist he was sure was deliberate, as a chandelier, in the lair of Lun¡¯Kat.


    Oh, she hadn¡¯t been the one who¡¯d captured and bound him. No, that had been Alendras, who seemed to have a hobby of capturing angels that descended, spitting in the face of the gods.


    Daring them to come after him.


    And they dared.


    ¡°Lun¡¯Kat! I¡¯ve come for you!¡± An old dullahan roared, dropping from the entrance to the lair to land on the floor. An advantage of angels was they understood every language, perceiving the intent behind the words moreso than the words themselves.


    Rostellio had Vision, an aspect leftover from his mortal life, before he became an angel in the service of Raito. It let him see.


    It let him see both Lun¡¯Kat lazily lounging in her bed, and an illusionary Lun¡¯Kat bursting forth with a roar of flames. She continued to laze about as her illusions fought the dullahan, forcing the fight into a special chamber she had just for the purpose of fighting pompous, weak, foolish challengers.


    They didn¡¯t have a chance. It didn¡¯t stop Lun¡¯Kat from toying with her food, from deriving pleasure and entertainment from the perverse game of cat and mouse that she played with suicidal intruders.


    The [Paladin] fought bravely. Fought valiantly. He was in service to Raito as well, and Rostellio knew the truth. He was at the end of his life. He¡¯d asked for one last mission, one last service he could perform for Raito before his death. For his death.


    Raito sent him here, to remind Rostellio that he¡¯d not forgotten about him. The god knew where his angel was, and wanted to help.


    Raito wasn¡¯t able to directly free Rostellio. Not without an expenditure of power too great, without needing to directly fight Lun¡¯Kat in her own lair. It was a fight not even a Tier 2 god, the god of Light himself, wanted to take.


    Alendras¡¯s bindings were thorough, and he¡¯d had millenia of experience capturing angels and luring gods into epic confrontations. The gods had eventually learned when, and how, they could interfere without the blowback.


    There were reasons the gods didn¡¯t want to expend too much of their power. Rostellio wasn¡¯t in the know, but they always looked upwards, looked out, when discussing it.


    Still, Rostellio¡¯s Vision let him watch the entire fight, let him examine the illusions. Lun¡¯Kat had over 40 different layers of illusions, so when one broke another one was there and ready, able to give false hope that the [Paladin] was getting somewhere. She even allowed ¡°herself¡± to take injuries, making the poor dullahan think he was getting somewhere.


    That he had a chance.


    A week they ¡°fought¡±, the occasional mirthful chuckle coming from Lun¡¯Kat as she cruelly crushed his hopes again and again, letting one badly-injured illusion ¡°break¡±, only to show a fresh, hale, and healthy ¡°Lun¡¯Kat¡± behind it.


    Then she got bored, and with a thought, a massive eruption of dragonfire ended the fight in an instant, vaporizing the dullahan and all traces and evidence that he¡¯d ever existed. Something she¡¯d been able to do from the start, but where was the fun in that?


    Where was the break in the monotony?


    No, the dullahan had provided her with a week of entertainment, soon to be forgotten.


    Rostellio could do nothing but weep quietly at his fellow devotee¡¯s loss. Maybe one day he¡¯d find the man as an angel, and be able to give him his thanks.


    Thanks for the hope he¡¯d given him.


    Thanks for the message he¡¯d received - he was not forgotten. He was not abandoned.


    Rostellio¡¯s Vision meant, even if he wanted to, he wasn¡¯t able to close his eyes to the horrors and tragedies he was forced to bear witness to. Some were cruel, like the nameless [Paladin]. Others?


    Well. Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s mate had come to visit, entering from the magic portal that linked their two domains together. There¡¯d be a new clutch of eggs, more terrible dragons to wreak havoc on the world.


    Lun¡¯Kat would vanish for a time, occasionally coming back with some trinket or another, to be carefully placed in her ever-growing collection, to be never looked at again. She¡¯d occasionally redecorate, rearranging where everything went, old treasures dusted off to be seen again, ancient triumphs revisited.


    Apart from the main entrance and exit to her lair, where Lun¡¯Kat regularly flew in and out of, she had a half-dozen other ways in. Rostellio¡¯s Vision let him see all of them. There was the shimmering mirror-portal, linked to her mate¡¯s lair. There was a crack, leading to the Below Levels. A small Spatial leak twisted and distorted space, nothing having ever gone or come through it. Rostellio would¡¯ve thought it unknown to Lun¡¯Kat, had it not been given its own chamber and protections. Another portal led to the ocean, creating a pool that Lun¡¯Kat could bathe in if she wanted to, some sea life occasionally managed to work its way through now and then. A fishman had once challenged her, to the same toying results as the rest. More, scattered about, some natural cracks in the gigantic recesses of her lair, other just straight portals to different places.


    She hadn¡¯t reshuffled things in some time, nesting protectively over her eggs. She was still protecting them when dozens - no, hundreds - of dwarves burst into her chambers, taking the entrance from the Below Levels.


    Lun¡¯Kat reared back, as the dwarves started firing off thousands of skills indiscriminately, items in her collection breaking and smashing.


    Lun¡¯Kat knew when to play with her food, and when to bring down the unholy wrath of a dragon. A single blast of Pyronox-aspected dragonflame, and nearly the entire army was wiped out.


    She made some unhappy, keening noises as she shifted through some part of her broken collection, fixing them and putting them right. Rostellio had been hanging out long enough that he could get some idea of her mood, could read her somewhat. She started off mad, and as she cleaned up, slowly became furious.


    Then wrathful.


    Placing her eggs in a dozen protective wards, hidden by innumerable illusions, she turned invisible - to mortal eyes, not angelic ones - and flew out of the lair in a rage.


    Rostellio couldn¡¯t see that far, but he could feel it. Even with the distances involved, the skill and power of those involved shook the earth. He watched a cauldron slowly teeter, praying to Raito that it wouldn¡¯t fall. That she wouldn¡¯t become madder, and take it out on him.


    He screamed more than the fairies did, and so, was more entertaining.


    She came back after a night and a day of furious battle, flying awkwardly as a wing was broken, deep cuts marred her entire body, and every exhalation tainted with wisps of poison. Every drop of her blood sizzled and burned the ground where it landed, and she protectively grabbed her eggs, curled up into a pile of old conquests, and fell into a deep, healing sleep.


    Rostellio wanted to rage and curse. He wanted to tell Raito that now was the time. He needed to tell Raito that this was his chance, his way to strike down Lun¡¯Kat, and free Rostellio once and for all.


    The connection had been severed ages ago, when Rostellio had been first captured.


    Lun¡¯Kat had been slowly healing, when a new intruder showed up. This one was laughable, coming in from the Below Levels again. She had layered all sorts of spells that she surely thought were good on her, to hide and protect her.


    Ha!


    The [Thief] was terrible. Not only did her invisibility skill have massive holes in it, but she wasn¡¯t even taking care with the air she displaced! Her every movement caused subtle currents to flow through the air, practically screaming ¡°SOMEONE IS HERE!¡± She didn¡¯t occlude sound, instead being a sink for it, which was almost worse than no anti-sound skills. Her footsteps sent tiny tremors through the floor. Her heat still radiated off of her.


    She spent minutes knocking on the flimsy ¡°look at me¡± illusion, practically ringing the doorbell repeatedly before managing to ¡°break in¡±.


    All in all, it was amateur hour as the [Thief] slowly crept into the lair, then started sneaking around like all thieves would.


    Rostellio didn¡¯t like thieves much. He did try to flare some angelfire at her, to give her a warning, but the restraints were too much.


    She deserves her fate. He settled back, not about to shed tears for this latest idiot.


    Lun¡¯Kat was sadly back in a good mood. She was going to torment this [Thief], slowly let her do¡­ whatever¡­ and pile on the pain. Oh, it was a slow, cruel process, playing with her food in a different way. Of course, the big reveal, the hope crushing, would only occur at the end.


    As she crossed the lair, her eyes kept wandering, greedily drinking up all the treasures she could see. Rostellio wondered what she¡¯d go for first. The scrolls that could teach teleportation to even a novice? The potion that granted Immortality? The mystical metals, each with strange and unusual properties? Something else?


    No, the [Thief] was petty and small-minded, going for the gold, silver, weapons and armor that Lun¡¯Kat was currently sleeping on. The worst items in the lot, that only a fool would go for.


    And she¡­ just stood there. Looking up at Lun¡¯Kat. Barely moving, studying her. Then something happened, something changed that Rostellio only caught because of Vision.


    She was healing Lun¡¯Kat!


    If Rostellio could¡¯ve moved, if he¡¯d been drinking, he would¡¯ve done a spit take.


    It wasn¡¯t a gigantic heal out of legends, no, merely a small, modest fix. Rostellio wanted to kick and scream, to rage against the unfairness of it all. Instead of a slayer, instead of Raito being able to seize the moment and free him, some idiot was fixing Lun¡¯Kat up! Didn¡¯t she know how dangerous dragons were?! Why would she do such a thing!?


    She practically stomped over to the pillars, trying to grab some mana. After a brief moment of Lun¡¯Kat keeping a tight lock on it, she relented, allowing the trespasser to take some mana.


    The [Healer-Thief] stomped back to Lun¡¯Kat, healing her again, and again. Then the moons were out of sight, and Rostellio let a cruel smile play over his face as he saw Lun¡¯Kat deliberately shift, terrifying the poor thief.


    She was still playing with her food. Still a cat, with a mouse in her eyes.


    Rostellio wanted to bash his head against a rock as he saw the [Healer-Thief] enter the fruit grove, merrily thinking herself clever as she ¡°avoided¡± everything in there. Nevermind that everything could sense her, that elementals rarely used sight to see. She was so naive, so out of her depth, so ignorant in the ways of the world that she somehow thought she was succeeding! She thought the elementals didn¡¯t note her passing, that a dryad somehow didn¡¯t know every leaf and fruit present in her grove.


    Rostellio didn¡¯t know what was worse. That she was healing Lun¡¯Kat, or that she was so terribly ignorant of the world.


    Lun¡¯Kat kept playing with her newest toy, this one vaguely different from others. One thing she did do was move her tail, putting it in a position where the healer would be able to use her skills for a longer timeframe, speeding up her healing process. If that¡¯s what the healer wanted to keep doing. Rostellio was convinced that was part of why she gave intruders a chance - maybe one would surprise and entertain her, longer than most.


    The¡­ Rostellio was forced to admit, [Healer] - continued to behave oddly. She circled around the lair between healing sessions, just looking at things. Never touching. Spending an hour staring longingly at some of the fruit trees. Wandering the library, like she was hunting for some scroll of forbidden knowledge.


    Also, what sort of hare-brained idiot could only heal under sunlight and moonlight? And how horribly unbalanced were her stats that she could blow through her entire mana pool in two seconds? Honestly, that was just a bad build. Rostellio wanted to be freed, so if nothing else he could descend to whatever mudhole this healer had crawled out of and properly educate them. Balanced stats! It was all about balanced stats! Not this ¡°ooh look at me I can heal for two seconds and that¡¯s it¡± nonsense that this healer was running around with. By level 600 or thereabouts, you¡¯d think this healer would¡¯ve figured it out.


    Rostellio couldn¡¯t see levels, but he had Vision of how much mana was being thrown around, and what their physical stats were by how they moved, and so could effectively estimate where someone landed level-wise as a result. Give or take a half-dozen levels and class quality.


    Yet, it was effective. Rostellio had to privately admit - not that he had anyone to share his thoughts with - that having so much power, when there was nigh-infinite mana surrounding her - was more effective than any other build for the specific task of healing Lun¡¯Kat. What demented god had she prayed to, to get this [Cleric] sent to her in her time of need? Who even had such a creature faithful to them, able to find her lair?


    The [Thief] grew bolder the longer she stayed, sleeping in the lair like it was her own, perusing through the aisles of the library like she owned it. The whole time she was careful not to touch anything besides the fruits, some water, and the Arcanite. Lun¡¯Kat tolerated it, playing with her in a different way. Letting her get comfortable, before the big reveal, before the hammer drop.


    Before she¡¯d cast the poor healer into the depths of despair. Rostellio felt his emotions changing, starting to pity her. She thought she was getting out of this alive. She didn¡¯t realize that she was being allowed to get her hopes up, so that Lun¡¯Kat could dash them all the harder.


    Finally, one of the last healing sessions occurred, Lun¡¯Kat wrinkling her nose in pain as the bones snapped into place. However, she kept the facade up, Rostellio only noting what happened due to long involuntary familiarity with his jailor.


    Another session, and Vision showed that everything was perfectly healthy with Lun¡¯Kat, that she¡¯d been entirely restored.


    Then, Lun¡¯Kat started to play. She moved twice - once was her illusionary body, wandering around, the other was her real one. The real one safely stashed her eggs inside her nest, as she curled up protectively on them. No risk would ever be taken with them.


    The fake placed illusionary eggs in a brazier, lighting it with fire. She then made a big show of eating and drinking, before going to sleep, enjoying the terrified look on the healer¡¯s face, as she thought her doom had come.


    Idiot. She was just being played with. Lun¡¯Kat was letting her feel some fear, only to take it away, which would make crushing it in a moment all the sweeter.


    Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s illusion overlapped with the real thing, going to a ¡°sound sleep¡±, the better to see what the healer did next, with no supervision.


    The healer seemed to recognize that it was time to leave. The lure of money, of wealth, was too much for her to resist, and she reached out, grabbing an item from Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s possession.


    That¡­ was an interesting pick, not that it¡¯d matter. The [Thief] had glorious wings of Radiant light erupt from her back, as she flew away at top speed, trying to escape Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s wrath.


    It would be impossible. Lun¡¯Kat was going to let her get some distance, then smack her down. The further she allowed her to get, the harder the smack, the worse the metaphorical and literal fall.


    She went further¡­ and further¡­ and further¡­


    Rostellio looked down, at Lun¡¯Kat, who had one eye open, narrowed slightly, tracking the escaping healer. She glanced at her collection, and saw that it was almost entirely still intact. The healer had gotten lucky, and stolen something that Lun¡¯Kat had nearly a dozen of.


    The dragon let out a snort of flames from her nose, then closed her eyes.


    Rostellio could¡¯ve been knocked over by one of his feathers, if he¡¯d had any range of motion. The only thing he could think of was Lun¡¯Kat considered it a ¡°fair trade¡±, which according to anyone but her, was anything terribly unbalanced in her favor.


    Still.


    She let her go?!

 Chapter 241 - Kickass Kissing

    Serondes embraced me as we kissed, causing tingly sparks of electricity to run all the way down my body to the tips of my toes, which curled in pleasure. My body practically singing with the sensations. I gave a little happy one-legged back kick.


    Kissing was totally awesome. I had no shame in admitting that I had no solid experience with it, but, just, wow.


    Also - he liked me! At least, that¡¯s how I was interpreting his enthusiastic kisses.


    He rolled me over so he was on top of me, my back pressed against the grass with his cute eyes framed by the night sky.


    Long kisses on my lips, short pecks on my - and having gotten the idea his - neck, and deep, exploratory smooches. They all made me feel great, had me arching my back, had me reaching up like a baby bird demanding MORE whenever a kiss broke.


    Serondes held me tightly, as my one free hand eagerly explored, slipping under his robe to feel his perfect chest and smooth abs. I wasn¡¯t much of a chest or abs woman, but his were nice. Nice to feel, nice to touch, nice to grasp as I brought him in for another kiss.


    The other hand was keeping the egg protected and warm, and I had a brief moment of insanity where I considered putting it to the side to better embrace Serondes.


    Serondes wasn¡¯t just a still kissing machine either. One hand had threaded its way into my hair, using it to bring me in for a kiss when he wanted, while the other was wrapped around my waist. I could feel his fingers, the heat of them burning into me while we continued melding our mouths together, separating for a moment only to find a new, better way of kissing.


    [*ding!* [Passionate Learning] has leveled up! 377->378]


    I half-jumped at the notification, clicking my teeth awkwardly against Serondes¡¯s, the first non-graceful moment in our passionate embrace.


    Also - I was going to murder the System for its terrible pun. I was learning all sorts of new things, and I was passionate about it, there was no doubt.


    I don¡¯t know how long we stayed together, a mess of thrashing limbs and sucking noises. I was all too aware of his leg between mine, and how excited he was to be kissing me. I occasionally took my hand out from his robe, wrapping it around his waist, pulling him in tighter.


    I gasped as he kissed my neck, softly nibbling and sucking on my tender flesh. When he was done with me, I struck back, performing my best vampire impression on the side of his neck.


    I was hickey-proof. He wasn¡¯t. Just a heck of a lot harder to show I¡¯d been here.


    It was pretty fun, until I realized I¡¯d just remove it with [Cosmic Presence] passively healing him.


    Ah well. The only thing I could try was sucking harder and longer to make it last.


    Then again, elves were such bullshit that bruises probably faded in a day or two anyways, before my skills or their vitality kicked in.


    Serondes rolled us over, so I was on top, and he was on bottom. We shared a kiss, as his hand moved from my waist to my chest.


    ¡°Whoa there!¡± I broke the kiss, sitting back on his stomach, using my one free hand to grab his wandering hand.


    He didn¡¯t say anything, just quirking an eyebrow at me in a question. I glanced up at the sky, and realized the time. We must¡¯ve spent hours making out and petting each other.


    ¡°Let¡¯s take it nice and slow, ok? We¡¯ve got the time.¡± I said, clambering up from my oh-so-hot fleshy perch that was all mine.


    Serondes got back to his feet, and with his oh-so-musical voice, leaned over so he was speaking in my ear.


    ¡°As you wish.¡± He whispered, and oh boy did that do good things to me. Sending a massive thrill through my body was just the start.


    Annnnnnnnnnnnd he killed it all by copping a feel anyways through the Mistweave. Was not a fan of being touched after I¡¯d made it clear I didn¡¯t want it right now, but I wasn¡¯t going to make a huge deal out of it. Not while I was still riding the high of kissing the totally cool Serondes. Serondes, the badass mage. Serondes, the kind and helpful. Serondes, the smart and suave. Serondes, the architect. Serondes, the cute. Serondes, the supernaturally perfect. Serondes, with the Lava eyes, and the short tousled hair that was just so. Serondes, with the adorable little goat horns.


    Serondes, the I-gotta-know-more-about-you.


    Serondes, the I¡¯m-not-trying-to-eat-you, and the I¡¯m-not-telling-you-to-quit-your-job-and-become-my-housewife. I wasn¡¯t sure which dates had been worse. I banished those memories from my mind.


    We traded one more kiss, then I grabbed his hand as we walked back to Castle Serondes, the massive walls having been raised by him. We made it back to our sleeping section, where he picked me up for one last kiss.


    I wrapped my legs around him, and made it more like thirty ¡°last kisses¡±, before tapping him to put me down. He stole one last kiss, which I didn¡¯t mind, and put me down.


    ¡°Good night Elaine. Sleep well.¡± Serondes mimed blowing me a kiss, which I mimed catching.


    ¡°Night Serondes! You too! I¡¯ll be thinking of you!¡± My heart was still going a million miles an hour.


    He liked me!


    I entered my tiny little room, as Serondes kept hanging out.


    ¡°Wanna invite me in?¡± He outrageously flirted, and I giggled at his forward approach. I knew if I said yes, he¡¯d be coming in a lot more than the room, and I just wasn¡¯t ready for that.


    ¡°Good night!¡± I leaned out to give him one more kiss, then skipped back into the room. I settled into my bedroll - another elvish loan, they were all far too nice - and stared at the ceiling.


    He likes me! We kissed! A TON! Oh what else are we going to do? What¡¯s next? How do we¡­


    My thoughts kept running through my head, until a nastier one came to mind.


    Serondes was, by all measures, a lot stronger than I was. He was a stronger mage, physically stronger, bigger than me, and heavier than me. When he was on top, if he didn¡¯t want me to leave or escape? There was no way I¡¯d be able to. I was entirely at his mercy, and I didn¡¯t like the idea or the feeling at all.


    I grimaced to myself.


    I didn¡¯t think I could do terribly much about it. On Pallos, there was always going to be a personal power imbalance between couples. Heck, on Earth there was as well, but on Pallos it was magnified. Either I was the one with overwhelming power versus my date - like with Jaclyn - or my elvish boyfriend could flip me around like a pillow. How did the elves put it before? Ah, Yes... Fragile...


    Was there much I could do besides take sensible precautions, then put myself out there and hope for the best? Even when it made me feel uncomfortable.


    The dawn arrived as I was musing over the question, working it over. I figured I should just get up at that point, and work on no sleep for the day. I had [Sunrise] and a boatload of vitality, I could get through one all-nighter. Especially with the powerful infusion of energy Serondes had given me!


    It didn¡¯t stop me from sleepily dragging myself out though, seeing Serondes and the rest of the elves already at breakfast, feasting on leftover hydra.


    He was looking annoyingly fresh - darn all the elves and their obnoxious perfection.


    ¡°Good morning Elaine~¡± Serondes shot me his dazzling eyes, which caused my heart to go all a-flutter again.


    I opened my mouth to say something back, but Awarthril interrupted.


    ¡°Elaine!¡± Awarthril hustled over to me, shoving a plate of food into my hand. She hooked her arm in mine, and like a force of nature, walked me out of the castle.


    Serondes had widened the narrow crack needed to get in, which was the only way Awarthril managed to get me outside, out of reach of the other elves.


    ¡°Um, hi, good morning Awarthril.¡± I was unsure why I¡¯d been rudely hustled out. Awarthril turned to me, picking some grass out of my hair. I went red.


    ¡°Ok, Elaine, you¡¯re totally safe here. Just checking, everything ok with you?¡± Awarthril fretted over me, smoothing out my Mistweave and brushing imaginary grass pieces off.


    ¡°Yes? Why?¡± I was still puzzled.


    ¡°Serondes didn¡¯t do anything untoward? Didn¡¯t take any liberties with you? I¡¯ll totally kill him if he did, you just tell me.¡±


    And I was ready to die of embarrassment.


    ¡°Buh, uh, how did you know?¡± I stammered out.


    Awarthril tapped her nose.


    ¡°The nose knows. Enhanced sense of smell, remember?¡±


    ¡°Well, he had his way with me in a way I really enjoyed.¡± I gave an impish grin back, as Awarthril threw her head back and laughed.


    ¡°HA! Alright, just remember. We girls need to stick together. If something happens - if Serondes does anything bad - you tell me immediately, ok?¡± Awarthril was holding onto me, staring directly at me. Her words were light, and her tone wasn¡¯t.


    ¡°Yeah, of course!¡± I readily agreed, but I was feeling a mite defensive. It was Serondes. He wouldn¡¯t do anything bad, right? I¡¯d already kinda wrestled with the question last night, and had decided to go for it. I couldn¡¯t spend my life hiding under a rock, scared of any attachments I might make.


    I knew that was the hormones talking, but cripes, they were loud.


    We walked back to where everyone else was still eating breakfast. I hadn¡¯t gotten a chance yet, not with one hand holding the egg, and the other still holding onto my rapidly cooling breakfast.


    ¡°Any chance I could get some sort of sling or something?¡± I bounced the egg in my hand a few times in front of everyone, making it clear what I was talking about.


    ¡°I think I can arrange a carrying method.¡± Serondes was clearly flirting, putting some double meanings in his words.


    He took the egg from my hand, and I saw Lava erupting as I chowed down, creating a nice warm bed for the egg while he worked.


    Serondes generated a single fine strand of sand, a loop made out of single grains of fine sand against each other. He spent a careful moment checking over the line, before flashing Lava through it, turning it into glass. He started to sing, and I wished the moment would never end, an eternity of listening to his musical voice.


    It was like windchimes.


    He made a second loop, interweaving its creation with the first one.


    Strand by delicate strand was made, Serondes neatly weaving what looked to be a fancy sash out of layered strands of flexible, magically reinforced glass. A sash-cross-basket, with a neat pocket, perfectly sized for an egg.


    ¡°Arms up!¡± Serondes said, and I happily complied. He lowered it onto me, and if his hands did some extra brushing, lingered a bit?


    Well, that just came with the dating territory.


    I made some little adjustments, finding to my delight that I could beam my Radiance through the glass, into the egg. Sure, I lit up like a Christmas tree doing so, the glass refracting and sending light everywhere, but hey. It worked, and kept my hands free.


    ¡°If it¡¯s stupid and it works, it isn¡¯t stupid.¡± I had a goofy grin on as I said that, to Aegion¡¯s mirthful chuckle.


    ¡°Ain¡¯t that the truth.¡±


    Honestly, the only problem with the harness was it made cuddling with Serondes a bit awkward. I couldn¡¯t comfortably use his lap as a seat, I still tried as I ate though.


    ¡°So what now?¡± I asked between bites of leftover hydra. They were still fresh cuts from last night, but I could tell they were starting to go off a bit. I wouldn¡¯t eat them for lunch, just jerky.


    ¡°We were just talking about that!¡± Awarthril eyed a hydra steak, pushing it away from her. ¡°We¡¯re going to spend a few days here, decompress from the fight, then keep going. The only question is, how long do we spend?¡±


    ¡°A week.¡± Serondes jumped in, shooting me eyes with promises of what, exactly, he hoped to spend the next week doing.


    ¡°Three days. Look, we might be Immortal, but Elaine¡¯s got somewhere to be.¡± Awarthril argued back.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just split the difference at five.¡± Aegion weighed in.


    Kiyaya and Cordamo were both agreeing with their respective bonded Elf.


    They turned to me, at a 2-2-1 tie.


    ¡°Why wait around at all?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, if our life is nothing but fight fight fight fight, it¡¯ll drive us nuts. Make us lose touch with our elfanity. We need to deliberately relax after every fight, otherwise the weight of centuries of fighting without rest will crush us.¡± Awarthril kindly explained.


    That made way too much sense. I was already flighty, jumping at shadows when I was the slightest bit intoxicated, and I was 20. I was already on track to be a bitter PTSD victim by 40, forget 400.


    ¡°I imagine you¡¯ve never seen an Immortal lose it and go on a rampage.¡± Serondes added in. ¡°Not pretty.¡±


    I could barely imagine. Someone with thousands of levels, snapping and deciding to take as many people down with him as possible?


    I resolved to work on my mental health, but deciding what was the right balance was hard. The longer we stayed here, the more time I had to snog Serondes, the later I¡¯d get home. Kiyaya¡¯s time limit was a ticking bomb in the back of my head, making me all too aware that I needed to level, and level fast.


    Hormones, once again, decided the issue for me.


    ¡°Three days.¡± I voted. I could tell my thinking was somewhat muddled, my brain going into stupid overdrive every time I saw Serondes¡¯s smiling face. I wanted to rebel somewhat against that feeling.


    ¡°Right, three days it is!¡± Aegion hopped up, going over to tend to his barrels. I wondered what the base of his beer was?


    ¡°Come on Kiyaya! Let¡¯s go play, and leave the two lovebirds alone.¡±


    Serondes and I locked eyes, as the elves gave us room to ourselves.


    ¡°Have you ever walked in a garden of glass?¡± Serondes got up, offering me his arm. I slipped my hand into it.


    ¡°No - why don¡¯t you show me?¡± I said as we started to walk out of the castle.


    Kiyaya and Awarthri were playing fetch, the elf throwing sticks at incredible speeds, with Kiyaya shooting after them almost as fast. Arm in arm, we pivoted, going in another direction. I didn¡¯t say much, just looking at the handsome Serondes, as he forged a path for us. With every left step we took into the open field, Sand formed into shapes of wild and fantastical flowers and plants, each one different. With every right step, Lava surged, merging and transforming the Sand into wondrous glass creations. Serondes started to whistle, shaping and forming the glass, turning the rough cut into polished perfection.


    It was a wonderful, grand date, and in the middle of the garden we¡¯d traced out, it seemed like a good time and place to practice kissing some more.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 20]


    [Mana: 412740/412740]


    [Mana Regen: 275034 (+356755.875)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 91]


    [Strength: 941]


    [Dexterity: 1468]


    [Vitality: 11166]


    [Speed: 11166]


    [Mana: 41274]


    [Mana Regeneration: 41363 (+35675.5875)]


    [Magic Power: 18178 (+340837.5)]


    [Magic Control: 18178 (+340837.5)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 420]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 420]


    [Cosmic Presence: 286]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 1]


    [Center of the Universe: 420]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 420]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 420]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 420]


    [Sunrise: 344]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 345]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 345]


    [Radiance Resistance: 345]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 345]


    [Solar Flare: 1]


    [Nectar: 345]


    [Sun''s Heart: 345]


    [Scintillating Ascent: 313]


    [Kaleidoscope: 345]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 370]


    [Pristine Memories: 217]


    [Egg Incubation: 44]


    [Bullet Time: 420]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 375]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 395]


    [Persistent Casting: 291]


    [Passionate Learning: 378]

 Chapter 242 - Stony Statues

    Serondes and I spent three days, ah, decompressing, getting a little more comfortable with each other.


    Doing things like working on my magic!


    ¡°At this point, you should be able to reheat rock until it turns back into lava.¡± Serondes said on the afternoon of the last day before we were going to leave. We were busy cuddling inside Castle How-Did-You-Make-So-Much-Lava, ignoring the potentially poisonous fumes coming from Aegion¡¯s workspace.


    I looked up at him, from my place curled up on his lap, arms around his neck.


    ¡°Oh?¡± I asked, somewhat surprised. He gave me a quick kiss before resuming.


    ¡°Rock is often just hardened lava that has cooled off. By heating it back up, you turn it back into lava. Could be useful to you in a pinch, and any Earth mage would lose control over the liquified rock. Unless they¡¯re specialized.¡± Serondes hedged.


    That made some sense. I was pretty sure there were rocks besides igneous rocks that might not melt under heat. Then again, I wasn¡¯t the Lava mage, so what did I know?


    ¡°Got anything for me to practice on?¡± I asked.


    Serondes gave me an ¡°are you serious¡± look, then smiled and gestured around. To the walls of the castle.


    I gave him my best Look.


    ¡°You¡¯re just trying to get me to demolish the castle for you.¡± I accused. He laughed, his magical, musical voice tinkling like glass windchimes.


    ¡°Naturally! At the same time, there¡¯s no way you can bring it down fast enough, so I¡¯ll need to help.¡± Serondes stood up, while I firmly clung to him like a barnacle.


    I glanced down, making sure the egg was well-secured. Were the golden lines starting to glow a bit?


    I wriggled my way out of Serondes¡¯s grasp, planting my feet on the ground and looking up at the walls, doing some thinking.


    If I wanted to punch right through the walls, I¡¯d focus everything on a narrow beam. That would drill through the quickest.


    However, if I did that, then tried to sweep it to ¡°cut¡± through the wall? It¡¯d just cool and resolidify back into rock behind me. A plane - or a cone - was the best way of handling this.


    I walked up to a more or less random part of the wall, and started burning a ring into the wall, focusing on heat and destruction.


    [*ding!* [Solar Flare] has leveled up! 1->2]


    [*ding!* [Solar Flare] has leveled up! 2->3]


    I turned the notifications off before they could get too annoying. Serondes wrapped his arms around me, resting his chin on the top of my head. Quite distracting.


    I focused and burned, and burned, and only when a slow leak of molten rock trickled out of the bottom of the circle, the edges of the ring glowing hot, did I realized my dumb mistake.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got no way of getting the lava out once I melt it.¡± I groaned to myself. I figured I¡¯d ask the expert. ¡°How do I get the rocks out once I melt them?¡±


    I could feel Serondes shrug, his solid arms half-lifting me up with his movement.


    ¡°Just wait for them to drain out. It¡¯ll be a slow process.¡± He said.


    Well, screw that. It¡¯d probably just re-harden back behind it. Looked like I wasn¡¯t going to be melting through stone anytime soon, as neat of an idea as it was.


    It was good to have the knowledge that I could do it, tucked away in the back of my mind.


    ¡°We just need to demolish the place, right?¡± I asked, getting an idea.


    ¡°Well, yeah.¡± Serondes was like an innocent lamb.


    ¡°Great!¡±


    I went a little nuts. [Kaleidoscope] and Radiance beams went everywhere, and for eight glorious seconds I unleashed the full destructive force I had at my fingertips onto the poor innocent walls.


    [*ding!* [Solar Flare] has leveled up! 3->26]


    That was more like it!


    Aegion came tearing out of his room, sword on his belt, bow and arrow ready.


    ¡°Where¡¯s the attack!? What is it?! Is everyone ok?!¡± He called out, as Cordamo flew up into the air like a shot.


    I bent over in half laughing.


    ¡°Yeah, we¡¯re... We¡¯re fine, just¡­ redecorating... A bit.¡± I gasped out through peals of laughter.


    Aegion eyed all the various pockmarks and Lava smearing down the wall, rapidly rehardening. He rolled his eyes, and put his weapons away.


    ¡°Right. Enjoy yourselves.¡± He walked back to his brewery. I realised that if his fumes were explosive, that could have gone badly.


    I looked at the walls.


    Maybe if the fumes had been explosive, I could¡¯ve done some real damage. The wide-ranging attacks I¡¯d launched, and the basically non-existent damage on the walls was a good reminder that Radiance liked to be compressed and focused into a small point or line, and not some big splashy thing.


    I glanced at Serondes, who was looking at me.


    ¡°Wanna do something fun with me?¡± He shamelessly flirted.


    I showed him that, yes, I did.


    We - and by we, I mean Serondes, while I mostly cheered him on - demolished the castle over the rest of the afternoon and evening, practicing the art of leaving no traces - and not having a ticking time bomb of any sort hanging around for some poor soul to find. It¡¯d be all too easy to imagine someone coming along, setting up home, then the walls falling on them one day as the material decayed away.


    We got up bright and early, and kept on traveling. The three elves seemed even more determined to tell me things than before, and a week later I was up to my ears in yet another lesson.


    ¡°Every Immortal has a curse.¡± Aegion was telling me, as I walked hand-in-hand with Serondes through the vast fields. There was a forest coming up, and a few randomly scattered mountains, but for now - ferns and grass. ¡°The curse is the same for all Natural Immortals of the same species. For example, all liches share the same curse.¡±


    My ears perked up at that. There were liches?! Masters of undeath, who could only be killed by destroying their phylactery? I had to know more¡­ although the lack of shambling zombie armies seemed to imply none were nearby.


    Actually - of all the things I¡¯d seen, I¡¯d never seen zombies, and I would¡¯ve expected to at least see some in Remus. Weird. Out of all the fantastical creatures in existence that the gods had happily plagiarized, were zombies the only ones that got skipped?


    Or was there something more to it? Was -


    Focus on the important Immortality lesson!! My musings had also killed my chance to ask about liches. Damnit!


    ¡°While those who have attained Immortality,¡± He gestured at me, giving a sign of respect. ¡°Generally get custom curses. I will say, I¡¯ve never met someone with an active Immortality skill who hasn¡¯t used it, but hey, I learn something new every day. Candy?¡± He offered, holding his hand out while seamlessly transitioning from one thought to the next.


    I accepted the hard ball of sweet deliciousness he called candy. As terrible as his brewing was, his little sweets were delectable.


    ¡°Right, curses.¡± He got back on track. ¡°Curses are an Immortal¡¯s biggest weakness. They range from benign to downright lethal. Liches probably have it the worst.¡± Aegion finished up, as Awarthril smoothly stepped in.


    ¡°Pine trees over there! They¡¯re super cool, they stay green all year long. Their sap is a pain to deal with though.¡±


    Awarthril kept lecturing about pine trees, which I was all too familiar with. I wasn¡¯t going to interrupt though - it¡¯d be rude, and maybe she knew something I didn¡¯t.


    ¡°... and the resin is interesting though. Wood, Forest, Ooze, and, of all things, Decay can handle the stuff or be affiliated with it.¡±


    See! Knowledge! No [Passionate Learning] levels though. Ah well, they were slowly trickling in anyways.


    ¡°Liches can¡¯t make more of themselves.¡± Aegion started back up from where he¡¯d been interrupted. ¡°Every lich that exists was made during creation. At the same time, they¡¯re nearly indestructible.¡±


    The topic was interesting enough that Awarthril decided to butt in.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to get cursed one way or another. You should consider just getting it done and over with.¡±


    ¡°Nah, that¡¯s silly.¡± Serondes dismissed. ¡°Enjoy life as much as you can. Enjoy the sun. Enjoy food. Enjoy being able to cross running water. Enjoy seeing things, feeling, hearing. Drinking. Warmth. Curses come in all shapes and sizes, and you never know if you¡¯ll catch White Dove on a bad day.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, rumors have it that being nice and polite to White Dove when she comes calling helps.¡± Aegion added in.


    ¡°No, they say that being rude hurts.¡± Awarthril retorted.


    ¡°Same difference.¡± Aegion muttered, clearly unwilling to argue it further.


    Be nice to the Grim Reaper. Got it. I didn¡¯t think that was ever a question, but maybe I could get some birdseed or something? Hopefully it wouldn¡¯t be pissed at all the times I¡¯d dodged it, or yanked people out of its grip, or¡­


    Shiiiiiiiiiiit I¡¯d probably pissed off Black Crow something fierce already.


    Which brought me to the next logical question.


    ¡°What¡¯s the elf curse?¡±


    The three elves stopped walking, going very still. They all traded looks with each other.


    ¡°I can¡¯t tell you.¡± Serondes finally answered.


    ¡°It¡¯s taboo.¡± Aegion added in.


    ¡°Any elf let slip what our curse is? The Wardens move in, kill everyone who spilled the secret, the people it was told to, and anyone who could¡¯ve remotely heard it.¡± Awarthril added in. ¡°They do so in a very public manner. Don¡¯t ask. Don¡¯t even think about asking. And don¡¯t say you ever did ask.¡±


    I shut up. Message received, mood killed. Serondes and I stopped holding hands.


    We walked in silence, the elves not even bothering with their lessons, as we entered the forest.


    It was an old pine forest, large trees rising into the sky, coating the world in dark green light. Old pine needles crunched under our feet as we walked along. Cordamo flew off to explore, and Kiyaya, fur regrowing, oblivious to the mood, had fun rolling in piles of pine needles, horrifying Awarthril.


    After some time, Aegion pointed off to the right.


    ¡°Cordamo¡¯s found something interesting. Let¡¯s go see?¡± He suggested, turning and heading off that way without waiting for our response.


    The rest of us glanced at each other, shrugged, and followed Aegion. What else were we doing? I mean, sure, I wanted to get back home, but we were going roughly in the right direction anyways.


    A bit of walking later, and we made it to a clearing. An old ring of stones, a campfire long cold was in the middle. Three ugly as sin statues, of large, humanoid creatures with hideous features and tusks were around the fire, in various poses of shielding themselves, looks of agony on their face. Someone had dressed the statues in frayed, rotting clothes. A tiny skeletal figure was in rusted chains between two of the trolls, time stripping away the flesh but somehow the skeleton itself remained.


    ¡°Well.¡± Awarthril said, putting her free hand on her hip. ¡°Speaking of curses. Trolls here have a nasty one. Turn to stone in the sunlight. An ironic curse, given their strong Light affinity.¡±


    I eyed the scene again, the statues taking on new meaning. Some clever creature had been captured by the trolls, and managed to keep them talking until sunrise. Said clever creature wasn¡¯t clever or strong enough to break the chains though, and had joined his or her captors in death.


    ¡°Think there¡¯s a settlement nearby?¡± Aegion asked, pacing around.


    ¡°Should be. Want to say hi?¡± Serondes squatted down near one of the trolls, intently looking at something on it.


    ¡°Um. Is that¡­ wise?¡± I ventured.


    ¡°Hmm? Oh yeah, trolls are fine. Bit grumpy during the day.¡± Aegion chuckled weakly at his own joke.


    ¡°Could even say they¡¯re lifeless.¡± Serondes added.


    Awarthril punched him in the arm for that. The crack let me know I needed to work my magic on Serondes. Again.


    The elves spent some more time poking around, and I did some of my own.


    Old statues. That¡¯s what I was getting out of this.


    We trudged on, and hit a large clearing before the lonely mountain that was just kinda hanging out.


    I was split on whether the solitary mountain was a whim of the gods creating the world, or a powerful Classer deciding that, yes, right here was just perfect for a mountain.


    In the clearing were dozens upon dozens of statues of the same ugly creatures.


    The one that immediately caught my eye was front and center, posed heroically. Defiantly. A deliberate act, facing the sun and turning himself into stone for eternity.


    Others tried to mimic the pose, or do similar things. One was holding a rusted sword high, another had two rotted clubs. All seemed to want to show off, to prove how cool they were forever more.


    Some just looked tired. Old, tired, weary. Done with life, finding a final end in the harsh rays of dawn. A burden, lifted from their shoulders.


    One of the statues just looked like a sleeping figure. A deliberate statement? An absent-minded accident? A cruel joke? A successful murder attempt?


    Quite a few of the statues were frozen in running poses, when they hadn¡¯t fallen over and broken. Trolls who had stayed out too late, and were caught by the sun, instantly turning to stone mid-stride. Most had been laid flat on the ground, cracked into many pieces as their leg never caught their final stride. A few lucky ones were still upright.


    One broke my heart. A troll, curled up protectively, making a shield with her body. A tiny stone face, peeking out from an arm. A mother¡¯s final act of sacrifice, of protection, rendered moot by a child¡¯s inability to understand the dangers of the sun, and why mom wasn¡¯t moving anymore.


    One area seemed to be set up as an altar, with a number of trolls in fresh-looking robes preserved forever, the height of some ceremony captured for all who passed by.


    Here and there were stone feet, the trolls for whatever reason deciding some petrified brother or sister of theirs no longer worthy to be part of the gallery.


    One troll had his pants around his ankles, clearly in the middle of relieving himself when he got turned to stone. The statue looked fresh, and I had to wonder - drunk, or one last defiance?


    Then we were at the yawning mouth of a large cave, and Awarthril called in a language I didn¡¯t understand. Grunts and snarls came out of her mouth rapid-fire, echoing down the cave.


    We waited a few moments, then a different set - I assumed - of grunts and snarls came back, and Awarthril¡¯s face lit up.


    ¡°Oh good! They¡¯d love to have us for dinner!¡±


    ¡°Uh, wait, what?!¡± I said, my words falling on deaf ears as the elves and their companions happily entered the cave.


    Well. Time to meet trolls, I guess.

 Chapter 243 - Fall Festival I

    We entered the cave, walking deeper and deeper without seeing a soul.


    ¡°Where are they?¡± I asked, seeing minor signs of civilization. Worn footpaths, some doors closing off side-passages.


    ¡°What, you think they hang out near their lethal enemy? Nah, they¡¯re all deeper in.¡± Serondes replied.


    We went a bit deeper, finally emerging into a large cavern, haphazardly lit with torches jammed into the wall. Trolls were scattered about, sleeping on and under piles of furs, while only a few signs of civilization were around. Some stretched tannery racks, a couple of crude firepits, a big horn, from an elephant or a triceratops or something equally large, some extra-wide bowls with weird chunks floating in it, and other signs that made me think that the trolls were basically a stone-age civilization, without too many aspirations for more. Most of the trolls were snoozing, with a few grumbling and rubbing their¡­


    Well. Not their eyes. They were making the motions though.


    Almost all of the trolls were wearing bone masks. Each one was the skull of some animal with a few bright, artful, jagged lines painted onto them. The only ones without a mask were the younger, smaller looking trolls.


    ¡°Should we really have come while they¡¯re sleeping?¡± I whispered over.


    Awarthril pursed her lips.


    ¡°I¡­ no.¡± She finally admitted, sounding pained to admit any sort of fault or failing. ¡°But we¡¯re here now!¡±


    The biggest, baddest troll, with the largest mask came over, and started to snarl and grunt at us. Awarthril turned back, and started snarling and grunting of her own, an entire animated discussion erupting between them. More of the trolls woke up, some of them joining the conversation, others rolling over and piling more furs over their heads. I did a quick [Long-Range Identify], and universally, they came back as [Warriors]. Their levels were all over the place, from kids at level 20 or so, to shades of orange that I wasn¡¯t familiar with.


    Higher level than the elves, that¡¯s for sure.


    The big, bad troll was a lime-green, which told me nothing other than ¡°stronger than the Inevitable Shluggoth¡±.


    I looked at Aegion and Serondes, who were eyeing the cavern and looking at the trolls respectively.


    ¡°Do either of you speak troll?¡± I asked.


    Aegion shook his head, good naturedly replying.


    ¡°Nah, I never bothered. Like, I should, and one day I will, but it¡¯s a niche language in the first place.¡± Aegion shrugged. ¡°Think they¡¯re up for some beer?¡±


    Serondes and I looked at him with equally horrified looks.


    ¡°They¡¯ll murder us in our sleep!¡± Serondes protested.


    ¡°Poisoning people isn¡¯t nice.¡± I rebuked.


    Aegion looked offended, muttering under his breath. Something about ¡°I¡¯ll show you all!¡± and other stereotypical villain one-liners.


    Finally, finally Awarthril finished her conversation with the trolls. Or at least paused.


    ¡°Hey! Autumn Equinox is coming up, and the trolls throw a huge party. I figured I¡¯d check with you all, but do we want to spend a few days here, and party with the trolls?¡±


    ¡°YES!¡± Aegion jumped in with such ferocity and vigor, that it completely killed the objection that had been forming on my lips.


    I did want to get back home, and the fact that it was mid-autumn was a nice kick in the pants that I really should get moving. However, Aegion clearly wanted this, and wanted it badly. He¡¯d always given off ¡°party animal¡± vibes, and with the prospect of a party coming up?


    Cordamo was furiously nodding his head, long sibilant hisses indicating his approval of the idea.


    Serondes and I looked at each other.


    ¡°Sure, why not!¡± I agreed, trying hard not to dampen Aegion¡¯s enthusiasm.


    ¡°I think we should stick around a bit.¡± Serondes agreed.


    ¡°Would you mind if we speed up a bit after this though, to make up for lost time?¡± I threw on my best puppy dog eyes at Aegion.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got no issue with that.¡± He said.


    ¡°We seem to be in agreement then. Hang around for the festival, then hurry up?¡± Awarthril asked.


    Nods went around the circle.


    ¡°Right! Let¡¯s set ourselves up outside of their cave. Wouldn¡¯t want to intrude.¡± Awarthril snarled at the trolls, communicating our new plan, and our desire to stick around for their festival. The troll was clearly happy, slapping Awarthril on the shoulder so hard that she nearly fell over.


    Such a love tap would literally flatten me, and I was extra-happy with Awarthril¡¯s plan on setting up our camp outside.


    We left, and Serondes started to make a modest hut, for all of us to share together. I eyed it, a sneaking suspicion percolating.


    ¡°We¡¯re worried about the trolls, aren¡¯t we?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± Serondes replied.


    ¡°You should be.¡± Awarthril glared back. ¡°Their chief is triple my level, and trolls aren¡¯t known for their strong sense of justice. They dislike something? They smash and kill it.¡±


    ¡°Why are we staying?¡± I asked the obvious question.


    ¡°Because it¡¯s a party!¡± Aegion happily jumped in, already taking out his barrels. Had they somehow managed to multiply while we weren''t looking? I looked at them skeptically.


    ¡°What are the odds that Aegion¡¯s shit beer gets us all killed?¡± My question wasn¡¯t rhetorical.


    ¡°High.¡± Serondes was eyeing the barrels. I could practically see sabotage in his eyes. Heck, I would help.


    ¡°Low. We¡¯re here because they¡¯ve asked nicely, and we don¡¯t go through life being rude. As long as we don¡¯t do anything to massively piss the trolls off, like drag their kids into sunlight or something, we¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    ¡°Or poison them all with bad beer.¡± I muttered under my breath. Everyone heard me of course, but Awarthril bulldozed on.


    ¡°Look at Elaine here! She flew over to us, and she¡¯s a fraction of our level. The world is full of imbalances. Just because we¡¯re on the wrong side of it for once, doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s something to be avoided.¡± Awarthril pointed out.


    ¡°It¡¯s the handshake problem.¡± I realized.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Aegion asked, busying himself around the barrels.


    ¡°Pretend a room of ten Immortals all have the same curse. They can only shake hands with someone shorter than they are. How many handshakes occur?¡±


    The elves spent a moment thinking about it.


    ¡°None.¡± Serondes said.


    ¡°Exactly!¡± I paused a moment for the rest of them to digest the idea.


    ¡°With that being said, hanging around people with a reputation for violence isn¡¯t the best idea.¡±


    I completely ignored the hypocrisy of my own sentence with my history. Rangers weren¡¯t exactly known for peaceful mediation, and Artemis had killed a kid in cold blood the first day I¡¯d met her. In hindsight, not exactly the most stable people to go running off to.


    Then again, what other options did 14 year old me know of? I at least knew and trusted Artemis, although I almost got wrecked by Julius not wanting me around. Got lucky in the end.


    This situation didn¡¯t call for luck, but I doubted I could convince the elves. I figured I¡¯d give it a shot.


    ¡°No chance we could just¡­¡± My sentence trailed off as I saw Aegion¡¯s crestfallen face, knowing the rest of my sentence before I said it.


    ¡°Look, look, it¡¯ll be fine.¡± He got up, and started walking around the hut, animated as all heck. ¡°I¡¯ll handle it. I¡¯ll make sure everything goes alright, and the trolls won¡¯t decide to tangle with us. Who likes attacking elves anyways? The troll¡¯s old enough to know what happens. Just trust me, and if it starts to go sideways, I¡¯ll take responsibility, ok? Hey, Awarthril, can you teach me some troll? Better for me to talk with them and negotiate all this.¡±


    I mean, it didn¡¯t matter much if I was dead, but I reluctantly nodded.


    Awarthril started talking more about the trolls and safety, and how it was going to be OK. I started to do some thinking.


    If this went sideways, I was going to totally murder him.


    Which brought up a question for myself - was it worth sticking with the elves? They had a hubris problem. They believed themselves to be nearly invincible.


    No - that wasn¡¯t quite it. It was close to the truth, but inaccurate.


    They believed, with proper effort, that they could overcome any obstacle. The world, so far, hadn¡¯t seen fit to smack them with a healthy sense otherwise. They were like teenagers in that sense, although they were a bit old to be acting that way.


    Wait.


    WAIT.


    Was that the elven curse!? Were they doomed to a belief that they were superior to anyone and everything? Were they doomed to believe they could overcome any problem? Was White Dove forcing them into fights wholesale, to better collect?


    It might be the case. Or, it could just be the case that life hadn¡¯t ever gone poorly for them. They tackled the hydra, being a few hundred levels lower than it was. A smart hydra, in its lair, when almost half the team couldn¡¯t do anything against it.


    And they won. With some injuries, sure, but not anything they couldn¡¯t have handled themselves with time and rest. Maybe, just maybe, they were as good as they thought they were.


    And from the looks of the discussion, they were going to stick around.


    Right. The only question was - should I stick around?


    I briefly thought about Serondes, and his wonderful arms, and how we¡¯d be in close contact together - going to a party together! - and acknowledged it¡¯d be very nice.


    I tried to put the thoughts aside, but I couldn¡¯t deny that they were there, lurking in the background, subtly pushing me.


    It came down to a risk-benefit analysis. By sticking with the elves, I had high level protection, a guide through these strange lands, multiple comforts that made traveling easy, and a map home.


    Stacked on the other end was the occasional insane risk they took, regardless of the reason.


    Powerful monsters roamed the world. Heck, even a relatively mundane goat had rammed the point home! No, protection was key.


    I couldn¡¯t ignore the fact that I liked the elves. They were nice traveling companions, and romantic feelings aside, Aegion and Awarthril were pretty cool. Sure, Awarthril was a bit too mothering at times, and Aegion¡¯s constant attempts to poison us all were getting old, but there were never frictionless interpersonal relationships. I wanted to hang out with my friends more.


    It wasn¡¯t that close of a fight. Sticking with the elves was the best move, although maybe I wouldn¡¯t get too deep into the party.


    Or wait - could I get away with flying the entire time? Just be like, a one-woman lightshow? It¡¯d keep me out of their grasp, while still participating.


    ¡°Elaine? Everything ok?¡± Awarthril asked me. Going into the ¡°thinking tank/Bubble of Contemplation¡± hadn¡¯t gone unnoticed.


    ¡°Hmmm? Oh, yeah!¡± I snapped out of it. ¡°Was just thinking. What now?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go hunting!¡± Aegion finished tweaking something on one of his endless barrels. I wrinkled my nose, and slipped my arm into Serondes¡¯s.


    ¡°Any chance you could make a hut for the two of us?¡± I batted my eyes shamelessly at him. Anything to not sleep with Aegion¡¯s noxious messes nearby.


    Plus, we would have our own little cuddle-corner! Win-win.


    ¡°Yeah sure.¡± Serondes replied.


    ¡°Hunting time!¡± Aegion whooped, getting out his bow. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    We all exited the hut, and I got to see what, exactly, Aegion¡¯s definition of ¡°hunting time¡± was.


    Cordamo took off, flaring his wings and making large circles, high up in the air. Aegion went still, closing his eyes - all the better to see through his bond¡¯s eyes, the two of them sharing a special connection.


    They snapped open as he smoothly drew his bow, making minute adjustments as he prepared his shot. Then he fired his bow with a thunderous roar, the arrow arching high into the sky with a crackle of Lightning, and a howl of wind.


    Aegion squinted as he looked up, then cursed.


    ¡°Hate trying to shoot things through trees, always goes wrong.¡± He muttered, nocking and firing three more arrows. Hand over his eyes, he went back to squinting, before nodding.


    ¡°Right. That way, about a mile and a half.¡± He pointed, and Kiyaya and Awarthril traded looks.


    ¡°Small boar. Kiyaya could grab it.¡± Aegion said, and the wolf in question was off like a shot.


    More looking, another trio of shots, and Awarthril took a leisurely walk to grab his latest hunt.


    Frankly, this was entirely unfair to the poor animals. They might have their own classes and skills, but surprise Lightning and Gale-empowered shots out of the blue? Without any warning that they were being hunted?


    ¡°Unsporting¡± came to mind, not that there was any such thing when it came to survival, instead of, well, sport.


    Serondes finished making our sleeping spot, and Aegion promptly had instructions for him.


    ¡°Blackberry bush about two miles that way.¡± He pointed up the mountain.


    I glared murder at him. He smiled sweetly.


    ¡°Apple trees another half-mile east once you get there.¡± He added on.


    Serondes grabbed my hand.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go before he gives us any more tasks.¡± He started to walk, and I happily fell in step beside him, totally game for a romantic walk in the woods.


    ¡°Some honey on the way!¡± Aegion shouted out, giving one last instruction. I liked honey.


    ¡°What are the trees like where you grew up?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Oh, they¡¯re things of wondrous magic! Few trees are truly mundane, with most having some special property or another. We grew Firewood, which gets its name from the fact that it burns far longer and far hotter than it has any right to. It gave me an early affinity for Fire, which is how I ended up taking Lava as my first class. I¡­¡±


    Woo! Go team Fire!


    I loved listening to Serondes talk, as we took a romantic walk through the woods. There was no need to hurry, no desire to rush.


    We made it to the blueberries, taking a few pauses to kiss. Serondes made us a basket out of Lava, then, while we waited for it to cool off enough to not cook everything we were about to pick¡­


    ¡°She shoots! She scores!¡± I crowed out, as I tossed another blueberry into Serondes¡¯s mouth. He snorted at me.


    ¡°Open your mouth skywards, and don¡¯t move.¡± He said, and I complied. He tossed a handful of blueberries up, and with some sharp whistles, they all neatly fell into my mouth.


    Show-off.


    Serondes - Sweet in my mouth, sweet on my mouth, sweet on the ears.


    We went and picked wild apples next, chowing down on the hardy fruit that had somehow managed to eke out survival in the middle of the wilderness. They weren¡¯t nearly as tasty as cultivated apples, but hey, couldn¡¯t have it all.


    I jumped as a triple booming roar of arrows flew by, Lightning crackling from them. Their sheer speed caused my hair to whip around me, although maybe that was the Gale empowerment on them.


    A few minutes later, Awarthril jogged by.


    ¡°Hey Serondes! Elaine!¡± She waved at us.


    ¡°Awarthril! Catch!¡± I tossed her one of the apples, my stats making every move supernaturally smooth.


    ¡°Thanks!¡± She caught the apple and smoothly bit into it without breaking a stride, juice running down her chin. ¡°Good stuff! Keep it up!¡±


    We did just that, until Serondes¡¯s basket was overflowing with nature¡¯s bounty.


    Then, hand in hand, we walked back to where Aegion was continuing his unfair hunting spree, to get our next task.

 Chapter 244 - Fall Festival II

    ¡°Hey Serondes?¡± I asked as we were walking through the woods, back to Aegion and his growing pile of food.


    ¡°Yeah?¡± He replied, as I slipped my hand out from his.


    ¡°Piggyback ride!¡± I cried out, jumping onto his back, then clambering into position.


    ¡°OOf - what? Oh fine.¡± He said, as I got one arm wrapped around his neck, one hand gripping his horn.


    What else were they for, if not for great head handholds? And this was nice. Intimate, without any undertones.


    Plus, going downhill was a lot easier than going up.


    We leisurely strolled back to our staging area, where Aegion was standing next to a variety of woodland animals. Mostly small, boring herbivores of the dinosaur and mammal variety. Still! They were all going to be tasty, yummy yummy in my tummy.


    ¡°We brought the fruits!¡± I cheered from behind Serondes¡¯s head.


    ¡°Great! Can you put them there, and Serondes, can you start cooking? Hoping to slow cook the entire lot, give the trolls something they haven¡¯t tasted before.¡± Aegion gestured to a spot. I slid off of Serondes¡¯s back as he put the baskets down.


    ¡°Work work work.¡± He muttered, as I kissed his cheek.


    ¡°Hey, let me do some of the cooking!¡± My motives were entirely selfish. I wanted to sear my piece juuuuust so.


    ¡°Eh, sure, grab the¡­¡± Aegion gestured to a small dinosaur that Kiyaya had clearly brought back. Kiyaya was a firm believer in either government taxation, in middlemen, or that the transporter deserved a cut. Either way, apart from the massive holes where Aegion¡¯s arrows had half-blown the poor dinosaur in half, there were large wolfy bite marks all over. The choicest parts gone.


    Happily, Kiyaya¡¯s idea of the best pieces and mine were different.


    Serondes glanced at what I was going to cook, and with a few sharp whistles, sliced the entire thing apart. No deboning for me! No digging out entrails! Just easy peasy cook mode!


    ¡°Thanks! You¡¯re¡­ the best!¡± I gave him another kiss, then skipped over to my portion of the cooking.


    I noticed a hair too late that Aegion had hijacked all the fruit - he had asked for them anyways, but half got dumped into the large pit Serondes was making, while the rest vanished into a barrel that was already belching purple smoke.


    I stayed upwind of whatever terrible brew Aegion was working up this time. For novelties sake, I grabbed some rocks, and cleared out a circle for a firepit.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you ask me to make that for you?¡± Serondes asked, sounding a bit hurt, practically appearing outta nowhere. I jumped.


    ¡°Ack! Thought you were busy.¡± I said. He swept me in his arms for another kiss, which I greedily reciprocated.


    ¡°Tell me if you need anything.¡± He said, his hands doing a bit of wandering down my back.


    ¡°Oh, I will.¡± I tried to purr it back, to sound all suave, and, well¡­


    Lemme just say it didn¡¯t work. Serondes went back over to deal with the large pit he was handling, as Awarthril came back with another poor sniped animal.


    Honestly, I was starting to feel bad for the animals.


    ¡°Aegion! This place is a mess!¡± She scolded him, sweeping a critical eye over the haphazard operation he was overseeing. ¡°I already told you to clean it up once, and, tsk.¡± She finished, bustling around and getting things swept up.


    ¡°Also, if nobody objects, I think we should switch to a night-day cycle. Be nice to chat with the trolls, instead of one of us always sleeping.¡± Awarthril was happily chatting away. ¡°We so rarely get to talk with one of our kin like this, and it¡¯d be a shame to just snooze the time away.¡±


    ¡°I agree!¡± I chimed in, for totally different reasons. I didn¡¯t want the trolls thinking that Elaine was on the menu, and taking a bite while I was sleeping. Awarthril was still going round, cleaning up, and with some minor Awarthril-induced guilt, I looked at my campfire area. I had some scraps here and there, which I¡¯d normally not think twice about...


    I used some short bursts of high-powered Radiance to remove the evidence of the mess where I was cooking.


    ¡°Honestly.¡± She tutted at Aegion. ¡°We¡¯re guests here! We can¡¯t be leaving a mess, and we need to leave a good impression on them.¡±


    She wandered over to my much tidier, much smaller little fire. Evidence removed! Well, mostly. I quickly scuffed over some burn marks in the dirt with more dirt, doing the camping equivalent of shoving it under my bed.


    ¡°Looks tasty! Good job keeping it clean over here. Much better than the boys.¡±


    I had no idea what to say to that, so I changed the subject.


    ¡°Hey! Anyone ready for another story?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yeah!¡± Aegion¡¯s voice echoed weirdly, and I looked over to see the elf head-first in one of his endless barrels.


    ¡°I¡¯d love a story.¡± Serondes¡¯s musical voice floated over. I spent a moment looking at him, dozens of small skills - like his mage¡¯s hand made of sand, hey that rhymed! - zipping around, all for the mundane task of cooking.


    In my moment of distraction, Cordamo struck, diving down into my campfire and stealing half of my dinner.


    ¡°Cordamo!¡± I shouted, taking flight and chasing after him. ¡°No! Bad couatl! That¡¯s mine!¡±


    Kiyaya didn¡¯t help matters by rolling over and laughing from the ground, as Cordamo furiously flapped away from me. With the way his head was jerking, he was chowing down as fast as he could, eating the evidence of his crimes.


    A pair of hands, large enough to belong to a giant but made out of Sand, erupted from the ground, seizing Cordamo, bringing him down to Serondes who was glaring at the poor beast.


    With one last huge swallow, the evidence of his crimes vanished down his greedy throat.


    It was with murder in my mind that I started telling stories as night started to fall. I was aware that the trolls would show up soonish, but eh. Until then, it was story time.


    ¡°Let me tell you all the tale of the serpent Python and the god Apollo¡­¡± I started, thinking of the first tale I knew where the snake died.


    That was the theme for the evening. Apollo slaying Python. St. Patrick and the snakes. Thor versus Jormungand - slightly edited. Perseus and Medusa.


    With pointed glares I told the story, and Cordamo seemed to have gotten the message. Steal my roast, get roasted in the stories.


    The trolls were out and about though, and a few passed by our campsite, giving us uneasy looks. Awarthril just snarled at them - somehow, in a friendly way - and they mostly passed.


    A couple of maskless trolls hung out near the edges of our campground, grunting and snarling to each other. Most of them were wearing loincloths, and I wish I could say it was all of them. I watched them warily, as they were eyeing us. The maskless trolls were, as a rule, all smaller and lower level, which made me think they were young.


    Young, and stupid. Not a great combination.


    Awarthril snarled and grunted at them, and beckoned them over. With a few sniffs, and some quick talk among each other, the trolls cautiously, then with increasing boldness, wandered over.


    They were sniffing around our cooking, and Awarthril generously gave them a rack of ribs to split, while Serondes and I were cuddling. Aegion was running around - once with his hair literally on fire, but generally normal busybodyness.


    The young trolls happily tore into our offering, and through the trees, I saw the occasional flash of white, another older, meaner troll keeping a wary eye on the young ones.


    One of the trolls, emboldened by our generosity, reached into the fire pits to grab another slice for himself. Awarthril yelled at him, and he yelled back, the two of them arguing in trollish. Some of the other young ones piled in, and I got the general gist of it from the body language displayed.


    In short, they felt entitled to more. Their reasoning was obtuse, but ¡°dumb entitled kid¡± was a truism the world around.


    Awarthril was holding firm though, and the caretaker trolls was just watching from the dark woods, the lines on his mask starting to glow.


    The trolls tried to just grab the juicy stuff from the pit anyways, and Awarthril summoned dozens of chains, blocking off access.


    ¡°Serondes?¡± She called out sweetly, in the ¡°you better do something now.¡± voice. Serondes gave me a quick squeeze, then Lava flowed out in a narrow trickle, expanding and completely covering up the food, to better slow cook it without greedy little troll hands dipping in.


    The trolls sulked off, kicked the ground and generally acting like rowdy, disappointed teenagers with no respect for other people¡¯s property. Growth spurts and teenage years made barbarians out of perfectly reasonable, civilized people. I had no illusions that in a tribal, barbaric society that it¡¯d pull a reverse, and make civilized people out of brutes. It¡¯d just make their risk-reward analysis even worse.


    One of them started rifling through the discarded parts pile, just carelessly throwing parts all over the campsite.


    ¡°Come on! We had that all clean!¡± I protested, not caring that there was no way the troll would understand me. He looked at me, blew a raspberry, then carried on, throwing a cracked hoof my way.


    [Mantle] flickered and stopped it, and I felt a hair smug as I beat Serondes¡¯s shield. Go go instant shields! I could feel his grip on me becoming tighter, as he got a little pissed on my behalf.


    Or maybe it was just on his behalf. We were cuddling, it was aimed just as much at him as it was at me.


    With a triumphant squeak that tried to be a roar, the troll grabbed a boar¡¯s head, raising it above his head. The other trolls crowded around, pushing and shoving, throwing crazy shadows in the poor light.


    However, something pissed off the caretaker troll, and it stomped in with a roar. We all got to our feet, Serondes pushing me behind him, but we weren¡¯t the target of his ire.


    No, it was the troll holding up the questionable trophy that was the focus of his wrath. He stormed over, the other trolls scattering before him, and with a snarl, he smacked the other troll so hard that he flew into a tree, a sickening crack as the troll broke dozens of bones.


    Then I was off, jumping over a fire, running over to the troll, hoping I¡¯d get there before¡­


    Well, shit.


    I felt all sorts of dumb.


    With a grumble and more cracks, the troll¡¯s bones all reformed, and with a series of grumbles, the troll just got back up. With an evil look towards us, he and his fellow teenager trolls stalked off into the night. With one last look at us, the caretaker troll followed.


    ¡°Well then.¡±


    We stayed up for the entire night, watching the trolls. I claimed a nice spot in Serondes¡¯s lap, and with all the energy of a new couple, we were able to keep ourselves well entertained. To Aegion¡¯s disgusted noises.


    After one bout of kissing, followed by fake retching noises from Aegion, I¡¯d had enough.


    ¡°Your actions make me want to retch as well.¡± I pointed to the barrels. Aegion mimed taking an arrow to the heart and falling over.


    ¡°Ack! Awarthril! Save me, our little Attained Immortal has barbs!¡± He called out, lying in the dirt. Awarthril probably just rolled her eyes - I had no idea, I was busy looking at Serondes¡¯s.


    ¡°You totally deserved that.¡± She said, staying out of it.


    Aegion, at the very least, was something of a good sport about things, and left us well enough alone. I considered asking Serondes for more magic lessons, but¡­


    Kissing and touching was just far too much fun at the moment. From what I¡¯d seen and heard, this phase would pass, the frantic energy and enjoyment of each other was just a passing phase. Magic could wait for another day, I had unlimited new days.


    This? This was for but a moment, a brief flash in the pan, as I felt my connection with Serondes growing deeper by the day.


    Before light even touched the horizon, a long, low hornblast blasted out from the direction of the troll¡¯s cave. We saw flashes of trolls bounding through the forest, some with game, some without, as they tried to make it back to the cave before the first light of day.


    The horn stopped before dawn broke, and we retired at the same time.


    ¡°Hey, scoot over.¡± I nudged Serondes as I crawled into the same hut as him. I had asked earlier, and, well, I was ready to take the next step.


    Sleeping together!


    A lack of proper sleeping clothes was a pain, but bless Mistweave for being easy to work with. As Serondes shifted over, I took off the basket made out of woven glass, carefully lifting the egg up and readjusting its temperature, then re-tying it off with [Persistent Casting].


    Serondes seemed to have some ideas in mind, transmitted by his eyes and the way he was looking at me, but I was tired. I just wanted some cuddles and sleep, preferably being cuddled to sleep.


    We shifted and turned, and I found myself staring into Serondes¡¯s magical eyes, our noses touching. His hand rubbing up and down my side.


    ¡°Good night - err- morning Serondes.¡± I said, trying to put the emotions and words that were so hard to properly hammer out into my tone, conveying affection in my tone.


    ¡°Good night Elaine.¡± His voice was magically musical as always, and he closed his eyes and went to sleep.


    Awww. Happy feelings welled up inside of me, as I tried to fall asleep, our noses practically touching, my arms around Serondes. It¡¯d be so romantic! Holding the egg in the hand that was over Serondes was a bit weird¡­ but I¡¯d make it work. I hoped. The whole romantic aspect was slightly dampened by the fact that Serondes wasn¡¯t holding me back, buuuutt¡­ eh. I¡¯d live. Maybe tomorrow night?


    Except for his hot breaths, breathing out stale air right into the space I wanted to breathe in. And my arm rapidly getting numb and tingly. I tried to gracefully extract it, but there was no easy way without disturbing Serondes. After what must¡¯ve been ten minutes or so of staring at him, and trying to get comfortable enough to sleep while also getting a good look, I resigned myself to turning over and sleeping.


    The idea of two people sleeping, practically kissing in their sleep was super romantic.


    The practical execution? Just didn¡¯t work.


    Shame.

 Chapter 245 - Water Worries

    I was rudely awakened in the mid-afternoon by Serondes practically rolling onto me. I had a brief moment of panic, thinking I was under attack, before realizing what was going on and calming down.


    Didn¡¯t make the bicep to the face any more pleasant though. The bicep in my face was pleasant though!


    Then I had another panic attack as I realized I might be squashing my poor egg! I shot my hand out, breathing a sigh of relief as everything seemed fine.


    Just how tough was this egg!?


    Serondes was, at this point, half-hugging me in his sleep, his arm wrapped around me. However cute it was, however nice it might be, I was awake, I had needs, and I wanted to be up and about.


    ¡°Geroff you big oaf.¡± I murmured as I wriggled free of his grasp.


    ¡°Mmmm, mornin honey berry.¡± He groaned, then turned over.


    My heart did a little flutter at that.


    ¡°Honey berry?¡± I poked at him.


    The mighty Serondes is sleeping. This beautiful elf has enough Lava magic to entomb me instantly!


    I¡¯ma poke him with my finger.


    The lazybones just kept snoozing away. I rolled my eyes, and grabbed the glass basket.


    I settled the egg into it, made sure it was warm enough, then left the hut.


    I wanted to squeal in excitement! We¡¯d slept together! I had a nickname! I liked nicknames. Loved my own name as well, but!


    ¡°Morning Elaine! Did you sleep well?¡± Awarthril asked, while Aegion waggled his eyebrows suggestively. I wanted to throw something at him, but didn¡¯t have anything handy. I just flipped him off, and sat down at the table that Awarthril had pulled out, along with numerous healthier non-barbeque foods.


    ¡°Slept alright! How about you?¡± I asked, taking a bite of breakfast.


    So good. New goal in life: Get an elvish cook. I could probably trade a favor somewhere down the line for a cook for a year or two.


    ¡°Oh, I slept fine, thanks for asking!¡± Awarthril was extra-cheery this morning. Aegion just nodded, then a small puff came from one of his barrels. He was off like a shot.


    ¡°No. NO no no NO NO!¡± He cried out at something going terribly wrong with his moonshine. He hurried over, and banging noises started coming from his direction.


    I didn¡¯t want to know how cooking liquids ended up with banging. Ignorance was bliss in this case. I had no desire to level up [Passionate Learning] here.


    ¡°Wanna move the table a bit?¡± I asked Awarthril, jerking my head towards Aegion and the now-shaking barrels.


    ¡°I think that¡¯d be wise.¡± Awarthril agreed, and with a bit of effort, we shifted things over such that a catastrophic explosion would only wreck half the table.


    I finished my morning ablutions - we¡¯d camped out near a small stream for ease of access - and got back to the campsite.


    The elves had everything. Including a towel, which I was using to dry my hair.


    ¡°Hey Awarthril?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes Elaine?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m all for helping Kiyaya, but, like, right now I¡¯m getting close to no experience. Do you have any ideas on how I can get a ton of experience to help out?¡±


    The question had been bugging me. Awarthril had wanted me to level up a bit, but didn¡¯t seem to provide a good way how. Like, the fight with the hydra had potential, but no. She¡¯d been against me even participating. It was frankly impossible that she didn¡¯t know how classes worked and got experience, and it was only natural that I would need to fix people up to get more experience.


    Which led back to the question - if I was wrapped in silk, living in a bubble, how would I ever struggle enough to level?


    ¡°Oh, there are programs for people to level back in the Tympestshard Council.¡± Awarthril blithely replied. ¡°It¡¯s faster for some classes, and slower for others. Healers are a mixed bunch, where depending on how many of you there are, you¡¯ll level faster or slower. I¡¯d front the entire fee of course, provided you give restoring Kiyaya an honest shot.¡± She flapped her hand like it was nothing.


    Huh. I suppose the elves were a bit more with it and cooperative than humans were, and had industrialized leveling in a way humanity hadn¡¯t figured out.


    I almost asked why she was here and not there, but remembered that she was looking for something for Kiyaya. Aegion didn¡¯t seem too interested in levels, more in searching out new and exotic items for his drinks.


    Why was Serondes out though? I thought he wanted levels. I¡¯d have to ask him.


    We hung out a bit and chatted, and while talking was fun, I was feeling a bit antsy.


    I needed a hobby that I could do on the road.


    Well. Last time I was bored on the road, I wrote the Medical Manuscripts. I should do that again, give a copy to the elves.


    ¡°Hey Awarthril, got some paper and ink?¡±


    ¡°A few sheets, why?¡±


    I kept the disappointment off my face.


    ¡°I was hoping to write you a copy of my Medical Manuscripts.¡±


    ¡°Hmmmmm. That could be nice! Sadly, no, we don¡¯t have enough paper for it.¡±


    ¡°And we¡¯ve got no spare books I could scrape and overwrite.¡± I added in.


    Asking about books had been one of the first things I did, especially when we¡¯d spent that time with Tyriss and I¡¯d been bored.


    Serondes appeared a while later, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. I bounded over, as excited as a puppy, and wrapped my arms around his neck, giving him a kiss that he greedily reciprocated.


    My mind whirled as we kissed, and I came up with a nickname on the spot.


    ¡°Morning lazy lips!¡± I greeted him. I had the best naming sense. He gave me a Look - he must like it! - and his mouth was in the middle of opening when an almighty bang came from Aegion¡¯s direction.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Naming]! Would you like to replace a skill with [Naming]? Y/N]


    Naming: You need serious help. Please seek professional help, or better yet, stop giving out names. Dramatically improved naming sense per level. Not that this is a high bar to clear.


    OH COME ON. It wasn¡¯t that bad.


    Right?


    It wasn¡¯t that¡­


    Ok, I guess I was calling my boyfriend lazy, and also somehow implying he was a terrible kisser at the same time. Maybe that wasn¡¯t my best name, but I¡¯d been busy when I came up with it!


    Serondes cursed at Aegion, spitting foul invectives at him.


    ¡°You Pachy-fucker! It¡¯s first thing in the afternoon! Don¡¯t you dare have that blow up on us!¡±


    Aegion whirled around, brandishing a ladle at us. Well, mostly Serondes.


    ¡°Yeah!? Well, you¡¯re a -¡±


    Aegion glanced at me, and swallowed his words, instead throwing a one-figured salute at Serondes. A hissing of steam from yet another barrel, and he was back at it.


    I slipped my arm into Serondes¡¯s.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we go for a nice walk?¡± I suggested. He half-shook me off, freeing himself. Missing my crestfallen face - unless he had eyes in the back of his head - he headed over to the breakfast table.


    ¡°Sure, give me a few minutes to eat and wake up and everything else.¡± He grumbled.


    That¡­ was fair enough. I could be grumpy rolling out of bed.


    Serondes grabbed food with rapid, practiced efficiency. I followed along, because I wasn¡¯t doing much else. He ate, then we went for a walk in the woods.


    We made some idle chit-chat, then I remembered what Awarthril had said about leveling methods.


    ¡°Hey, Awarthril mentioned something about leveling up in the Tympestshard Council? What can you tell me about that?¡± The fallen pine needles crunched in a most satisfying way under my feet.


    ¡°Oh, the Academy? They¡¯re slow. They¡¯re alright for crafters and healers and the like, but for anything involving fighting, they¡¯re close to useless.¡± Serondes¡¯s tone made it clear what he thought of them. ¡°I briefly attended, but found them worthless. Soon after, I heard about the Shimagu.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Here I am.¡±


    He had mentioned something about schooling before this adventure in his life story before, but it was good to get the details. Also nice to hear confirmation that it was decent for healers. Given the level the elves were working at, it sounded like a decent place to head. Go home, talk with everyone, make sure everyone was OK and alive, turn back the clock so everyone would stay alive, then head back out? Help the elves with the Shimagu, head to their Academy, get a ton of levels, upgrade [The Stars Never Fade] to work on Kiyaya, head back home?


    Sounded like a solid 10-year plan. Like any of my 3-year plans had ever worked out. I think the best I¡¯d ever done was two years at Ranger Academy.


    No wait. That was half-interrupted by the frontlines. It wasn¡¯t exactly standard.


    Hmmm. Roughly 21 months traveling with the Rangers I guess? Even that hadn¡¯t quite gone to plan¡­ more like 18 months of traveling had gone to plan. Which was roughly the same as the part of Ranger Academy that had gone to plan.


    ¡°Hey, wanna play a game?¡± I asked Serondes, having an idea in mind. He waggled his eyebrows at me.


    ¡°Only if there¡¯s kissing involved.¡±


    ¡°Oh, there is.¡± I tried to flirt back, somewhat successfully.


    ¡°Well then, I¡¯m all ears.¡± He took me in his arms. I shuffled the egg basket out of the way.


    Must. Not. Make. Ear. Joke.


    ¡°Elaine!¡±


    I was tackled by an oddly familiar grown up human woman, much taller and stronger than I was. It took me a moment to process what I was seeing.


    Who I was seeing. In the middle of a forest in the middle of nowhere, far from any human lands.


    ¡°Lyra!?¡± I exclaimed. ¡°But? What? How?!¡± I asked, confused to see her alive, and from her energetic greeting, well.


    She just laughed.


    ¡°Sorry about that! I was never going to get anywhere in Aquiliea, not with the way my parents were. You saw them, what they wanted me to be and do.¡±


    She clenched her fist.


    ¡°Never.¡± She spat out. ¡°That was never going to be me. No, I faked my death and escaped.¡±


    ¡°I saw the System message! We burned your body!¡±


    ¡°Oh, I just faked that.¡±


    Joy, impossible hope welled up inside me.


    ¡°And you¡¯re alive!¡± I cried out, hugging her. Letting tears stream out, letting go of the guilt that had plagued me for over a decade, for more than half my life.


    ¡°I¡¯m alive! And I¡¯m not going anywhere!¡± Lyra said, and I woke up with a gasp, headbutting Serondes in the nose. His arms were wrapped tightly against me, and I struggled free as he woke up with a swear, his hand going to his face.


    ¡°Owe! Elaine, what was that for?¡± He complained at me, as I sat up, heart racing.


    ¡°Just a dream. Just a bad dream.¡± I spat the last part out. ¡°A fucked-up dream.¡±


    Serondes pinched his nose, massaging it.


    ¡°Well, it was just a dream. Everything¡¯s fine honey berry. Next time, try not to headbutt me.¡± He said the last part teasingly, trying to lighten the mood.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll make sure to control my sleeping self better. Like you and your elbows.¡± I drily responded, putting the egg in the basket and getting up.


    ¡°I¡¯m too awake now, you should get some more sleep.¡± I told Serondes on my way to the door. I swear he was asleep before I left.


    Would it have killed him to be a little more comforting? Then again, he¡¯d demonstrated remarkable consistency with being grumpy after waking up. Everyone had their own little quirks, and I was no different. He was perfectly pleasant once he¡¯d had time to wake up.


    In time, everyone else got up.


    ¡°Big party tonight!¡± Awarthril brightly cheered as we were all sitting around the table. ¡°Everyone ready? Everyone excited?¡±


    I was less than thrilled by the idea of partying with the trolls. There had been a different violent episode each night, and those were just the ones we could hear and see. The troll¡¯s natural insane regeneration meant they were more than happy to brutally tear into each other, knowing that nothing they did would be lethal to each other.


    Aegion glanced up from a mug he was carving out of wood, large enough for troll hands to get an easy grip on.


    ¡°Yeah! Things are going great! I¡¯m super excited and ready for this!¡±


    Aegion threw his arms up in the air, his sentence punctuated by one of his barrels blowing its lid cataclysmically, spraying us all with¡­


    Beer would be too generous a term for the goop that was raining on us.


    The five of us exchanged looks, as Aegion rushed over to his barrel.


    ¡°No! No no NOOOOOOOOOOOO!¡± He cried out. Serondes wiped a smear of liquid off his robes with a displeased look.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we all wash up before the party?¡± Awarthril¡¯s words were nice, but her tone was anything but. If looks could kill, Aegion would be my newest source of healing experience. Kiyaya was whining as she licked her short fur, trying to get everything out.


    When Team Mom suggested we wash up, it wasn¡¯t exactly a suggestion. Still, I was all too happy to get cleaned up.


    Aegion took a moment to extract himself from his latest disaster, pointing eastish.


    ¡°Lake¡¯s that-a-way!¡± He reminded us, ducking back into his barrel.


    Well, he was atoning somewhat. Grabbing some towels, we headed off towards the lake, leaving a trail of poorly-fermented beer in our wake.


    ¡°Cordamo! No! Ack! Stop!¡± I yelled, as the couatl wrapped himself around my neck, starting to furiously lick at the beer stains on my shirt. I tried to rip him off without hurting him, but failed, flailing around as he had his way with me.


    ¡°A little help!¡± I asked, and a moment later a wedge of sand extracted Cordamo from me.


    Serondes clicked his tongue at Cordamo, who hovered in the air, hissing angrily. The flying danger-noodle then half-tackled Serondes, furiously licking him.


    Awarthril marched forward, determinedly ignoring the fiasco behind her. Kiyaya trotted along, but I felt obligated to help my boyfriend.


    ¡°Bad snake!¡± I wagged my finger at Cordamo, not wanting to get involved in the mess of thrashing limbs. Eventually, a much-molested Serondes broke free, and like an arrow, trailing a slipstream, Cordamo shot over to Awarthril.


    Only to get bounced off of an Ooze-pad.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare.¡± Awarthril didn¡¯t even look at Cordamo. He hissed his displeasure, but flew in lazy circles around us as we walked.


    Hang on.


    Hang on!


    I¡¯d been a dumbass! [Scintillating Ascent] improved by watching butterflies primarily, but I¡¯d gotten some decent mileage out of hawks, crows, and flying dinosaurs. Cordamo should totally be on the list!


    How had I not thought of this?


    Serondes¡¯s hand slipped into mine, and I was reminded why. General prejudice against scaly things, never making the connection between ¡°flying snake¡± and ¡°butterfly¡±, and hot elves all conspired to knock the idea out of my head.


    Speaking of.


    I hadn¡¯t been leveling that much recently, but maybe that was a good thing. I¡¯d been in go-go-go life-and-death mode for far too long. Not leveling three times a week was normal. I could use some more normal in my life. Less screaming and murdering. Fewer limbs chopped off. Not increasing my ¡°how many times have I stripped my old body¡± count.


    Focus.


    Squeezing Serondes¡¯s hand, I watched Cordamo¡¯s flight, whatever Serondes was trying to say to me going in one ear and out the other. I was a little busy here, studying his wings, the way they caught the air, how his body twisted and turned, snaking through the trees in a serpentine manner.


    We made it to the lake without too much fanfare, and I wanted to keep studying Cordamo. Sadly, the couatl had other ideas, happily diving into the water and splashing around. I needed more time with the scale serpent.


    ¡°Hmmmmmmmm.¡± Serondes eyed the large pond - small lake? - critically. ¡°I¡¯m going to make it better.¡±


    Saying that, the master got to work. Water hissed and boiled as Lava roiled underneath, creating warm spots and walled off sections. Arches of Sand criss-crossed the area, being flashed into glass by Serondes¡¯s Lava overlapping with it. He started to whistle, carving and shaping the glass from the roughly-shaped forms it started with, into elegant flows.


    It was like something out of a picture book when he was done. Glossy, hardened Lava formed multiple ¡°bathing pods¡±, while glass arched, crossed, and lined everything, creating an elegant and high-class look.


    Everyone stripped and went to their own respective bath. Serondes had made a bunch, each one heated by a pillar of still-hot Lava, kept molten and warming the water near it by sheer mana expenditure.


    ¡°Want to join me?¡± I invited Serondes, as I stripped out of the Mistweave.


    ¡°Sure!¡± He eagerly agreed, slipping into the water next to me.


    We spent some time touching each other. It was nice.

 Chapter 246 - Dancing in the starlight

    We made it back to the campsite as the sun was falling. I didn¡¯t need to be carried back, but I was more than a little wobbly after Serondes¡¯s tender ministrations. Aegion had been busy in our absence. Barrels were on their side, stacked neatly between two trees, each one with a tap. A number of the extra-large wooden mugs Aegion had been carving were neatly stacked in a pyramid beside them, for easy access.


    More tables were out, and Aegion was somewhat antsy.


    ¡°Serondes! You¡¯re back! Quick, crack open the Lava.¡± Aegion was already prodding at one of the firepits, sealed off with Lava to preserve moisture and better slow-cook the food inside.


    With a flicker of thought, the hardened Lava cracked open, and Aegion darted an extra-large fork in. He made a stabbing motion, then brought out one tiny whisp of meat.


    ¡°Right. This is¡­ really well done.¡± He eyed the meat, so tender it was all falling apart. ¡°Why don¡¯t we just raise it, and make the tables here?¡±


    Serondes muttered something about his talents, but made it happen anyways. It made for an odd effect, the formerly somewhat well-laid out campsite now having a maze of altars with offerings of overcooked flesh.


    ¡°Food! Drink! Entertainment! We are ready to PAAAAAARRRRRRTTTTTYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!¡± Aegion crowed, getting into the swing of things as the sun cast longer and longer shadows.


    ¡°Woo! Woo! Wooo!¡± He chanted a few times, grabbing a mug and pouring off some of his beer. His energy and enthusiasm was infectious, and I could feel myself grinning.


    Aegion filled up more mugs as the sun finished setting on the most balanced day of the year. He passed them out, and the trolls started to appear.


    It was obvious this was something of a Big Deal for them. The trolls that had bone masks had fresh layers of paint on them, and paint crossed their bodies in primitive, tribal streak. I saw the same patterns repeated often enough to know there was some meaning to the paint, but not what it was.


    They were also wearing their best furs. Even all the maskless trolls were wearing something.


    They went to work with vigor, grabbing and ripping up numerous trees, then snapping them into thirds before piling them up. A number of other trolls vanished into the woods, moving at high speed with a hunched over pose. I¡¯d eat my hat if they hadn¡¯t gone out hunting.


    Crude drums, leather pulled over hollowed out tree trunks, were pulled out and distributed.


    One of the larger trolls went up to the pyre, and started to ritualistically dance around it. The other trolls formed a circle, beating on the drums in a slow beat, getting quicker. The largest troll was watching in what passed for fancy clothing - it looked like it had religious significance - surrounded by a few other priestly-looking trolls. While his displayed class was [Warrior], I could totally believe he had a [Priest] class in one of his other class slots. Low thrumming chants started, causing my heart to race without any skills being involved.


    ¡°They¡¯re praising the god and goddess of Night and Darkness.¡± Awarthril translated for us, as we stared transfixed at the scene. ¡°They¡¯re praising them for beating back Light and Sun, and encouraging them in their, ah, ¡®eternal-forever never-ending fight-war-battle.¡¯ That one¡¯s a bit hard to translate.¡±


    Interesting. Given their minor issues with sunlight, it made sense that their religion would center around the sun, or lack thereof.


    As the beat reached a crescendo, the pyre-troll threw his hands up. With a roar of flames, with a roar from the spectators, the entire pyre went up in flames.


    ¡°For whatever reason, the fire¡¯s supposed to empower the gods.¡± Awarthril commented, with an amused twist to her voice.


    ¡°Yeah, but the sheer ritual, power, emotions, mana, and if they¡¯re up for it, offerings, will.¡± Aegion pointed out.


    Huh. Never realized. I just wasn¡¯t all that interested in religion. I¡¯d mentally made a note a few times to look into it more, but I was a little busy. Still, I re-added a note to not laugh at religion or the gods, because they were very real, and relatively active while being powerful enough to crush me like a bug.


    That was the start of the festivities, as the hunting trolls came back one by one, simply skewering their prey whole near the bonfire and letting it roast like that.


    One of the maskless trolls came back with some medium-sized dinosaur, the lizard abruptly ending halfway through, having been ripped in half. He hoisted it up above his head, and walked around the bonfire a few times. One by one, the other trolls noticed what he was doing, and started to give hooting approvals. The ones with drums started to do a drumroll, quickly picked up by the others.


    ¡°Oh interesting.¡± Awarthril commented as we watched the troll throw the body into the fire, the entire thing vanishing into the roaring flames.


    ¡°That sure looked like an offering to me.¡± I drly commented.


    The flames spat, and a bone-white mask, the skull of the offered animal, came spinning back out. It tried to brain the troll that had thrown the offering in, but he deftly caught it, putting it on his face. Shouts and hollers of approval came from the rest of the trolls, half of the seemingly descending upon him. They hit his back with literal bone-breaking slaps of approval.


    ¡°Well, that troll¡¯s now an adult.¡± Awarthril translated. ¡°First successful solo kill against a creature large enough to provide a mask, during¡­¡± She seemed to briefly struggle, then shrugged. ¡°During a ceremony, I guess. Troll is hard.¡±


    A few animals were ritualistically thrown into the fire by the troll-priest, a few words were spoken, then the party expanded. It wasn¡¯t just around the fire, now trolls were socializing, eating, dancing, grabbing a partner and vanishing into the woods.


    ¡°Sounds like the troll celebration is in parts.¡± Awarthril finally parsed some of the words the priest said. ¡°They celebrate each of the eight elements. This portion was celebrating Light, Dark, Wood, and Fire. It¡¯ll end with a celebration of Water, Earth, Wind, and Metal.¡±


    some of the trolls were heading our way, sniffing at the enticing bounty we¡¯d laid out.


    ¡°Let¡¯s goooooo!¡± Aegion walked up to some of the trolls, and with just a few mimes, and a mug of his brew shoved into hands, he had two new best friends.


    All without saying a word.


    ¡°I gotta check something real fast.¡± I said, bringing the beer up to my nose.


    It smelled¡­ acceptable, and I gave it a try.


    It was good! No wonder Cordamo had been trying to lick us all clean on the way to the lake.


    ¡°Whoa.¡±


    At my pronouncement, and more importantly, the fact that I went back for more, Serondes and Awarthril gave it a shot themselves.


    Awarthril threw her emptied mug at Aegion, expertly hitting his head between the table of trolls that were sitting and drinking with him. It naturally bounced off his horns, but the message was¡­


    Well, not really clear.


    ¡°Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiabargle! WHY CAN YOU SUDDENLY MAKE TASTY DRINKS!?¡± Awarthril yelled at Aegion. ¡°We could¡¯ve been drinking this the entire time, instead of your usual swill! Whyyyyyyyyyyy!¡±


    Awarthril was practically crying, but that didn¡¯t stop her from storming off to get another mug.


    Serondes and I followed, then we raided the slow-cooked food. I grabbed some tender, honey-glazed dinosaur, while Serondes was favoring the apple juice pork.


    Ew.


    Pork.


    Still, disliking pork was a personal preference of mine, and I wasn¡¯t about to go around demanding nobody else eat it.


    We tried to mingle a bit, and while Serondes fit right in. Not as naturally or effortlessly as the resident party animal, but Aegion was in his element.


    I was not.


    I was sticking with Serondes, and a fish out of water would¡¯ve had a better time than I was having.


    Ok, fine, maybe that was an exaggeration. Tasty food, and people I couldn¡¯t talk with made it somewhat palatable.


    Still, I felt my mind wandering away from the party, back to the last place I¡¯d had a good party.


    Home.


    I was missing my friends, my family. I was missing the Rangers and Sentinels. Autumn. My parents.


    Surely whatever nonsense was going on with that mess of a looming civil war had to be over by now? Hopefully between my letters, Night and the rest, and the fact that they were in frankly not terribly important positions meant that they¡¯d be safe.


    I couldn¡¯t do anything from where I was, and I had to admit, with the benefit of hindsight and space, that my presence would probably increase the risk they were under. Night was right, I¡¯d be pulled into the war one way or another - just on the basis of healing and fixing people - and that¡¯d put a target on me. Put me on stage at the theater, in front of everyone. Get people looking at me, and at my friends and family, seeing if there was a way to influence me through them.


    Then there was the issue of actually getting home. I could try to take flight, and get home. I had a rough idea of the direction.


    I also had a rough idea of the scale of the distance I was working with. The dwarves had believed that Lun¡¯Kat was nesting somewhere in their mountains, and I¡¯d exited from her lair. But the mountains I¡¯d seen from both sides had seemed endless, and even with [Pristine Memories] I didn¡¯t recognize any of the mountains. Heck, the trees were even completely different on this side of the mountain range! It gave me a new appreciation for just how big the area was.


    I had close to no supplies or tools. I¡¯d managed to make it work so far, but I didn¡¯t know what terrain I¡¯d face, what dangers were present. Was there a large sea in the way? Mountains? Forests with monsters over level 3000, a forbidden zone of the sky filled with flying castles and giants? Was there some lich king in a castle, ruling over a vast swath of land that I shouldn¡¯t touch? Was there some magical cloud of rain that¡¯d stick to me, trap and ground me?


    Heck, forgetting all that. How many high-level goats would take offense to my presence? The dwarves had talked about vermillion birds, and how powerful they were. The dwarves, with a much higher average level than humans.


    I knew nothing about the world outside of Remus. Inside of Remus I¡¯d be fine. I knew what was what, I knew the dangers and threats. I¡¯d be fine.


    The deadzone was going to be incredibly unpleasant though. I wasn¡¯t looking forward to the sick feeling from it, nor was I looking forward to my leveling rate getting cut. Ugh. Blech. I¡¯d rather drink Aegion¡¯s bad beer by the kegful first.


    Also, I did have vague plans of leaving the dead zone again, and working with the elves to get some serious levels.


    Focus.


    Outside of Remus?


    Well, I was willing to give it a strong shot myself. I¡¯d been relatively happy traveling solo, but mostly because I¡¯d had no other options. I wasn¡¯t about to build a home on Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s doorstep and go ¡°well, I guess I¡¯ll wait here a few hundred to thousand years until humans find me again.¡±


    I had a team again. People that could protect me, that built shelters at night, who had supplies. Who, if it wasn¡¯t for their sheer damn arrogance, could watch for threats at night. Who could fly up high and scout, who could smell problems on the changing breeze.


    They were slow. They weren¡¯t quite going to the same place. They took silly breaks, like this party with the trolls.


    They were, on the balance of things, dozens of times better than traveling alone. I¡¯d rather take the slower, steadier route home, than try to sprint home by myself and die. There was no seeing my friends and family in that case.


    It was like my class selection all over again. I had the fast and risky option, versus the slower and safer option. On the balance, weighing the pros and the cons, the slower and safer option was better.


    It wasn¡¯t like my home was literally on fire, and my family needed rescuing right now. I hadn¡¯t gotten an emergency letter saying I needed to be in a place this second.


    Heck, part of my plan for once I got back to Remus was to hijack a Ranger squad and have them help me get back home. It was a horrible abuse of my Sentinel status, but I was allowed to, and I don¡¯t think anyone would begrudge me getting some extra over-the-top help after I¡¯d been on a single mission for over a year.


    The worst that would happen is Night would yell at me for that. If he started, I¡¯d just distract him with my adventures with Lun¡¯Kat, and that¡¯d just overshadow anything else I¡¯d done.


    Sentinel Dawn! Confessing all her sins at once, so the greatest one overshadows the rest of them!


    I finished eating, and was eyeing up what new and interesting dinosaur I¡¯d eat next, when Serondes interrupted my plans.


    ¡°My lady, would you like to dance?¡±


    He had his best ¡°romantic¡± tone, and given the innately magical quality of his everyday voice, I was entranced.


    I also had no idea how elves danced, but eh. We¡¯d figure it out on the fly.


    ¡°Of course!¡± I said, letting Serondes gallantly sweep me into his arms, then sweep me into the sky.


    I snapped my wings open, not expecting my thought about ¡°figuring it out on the fly¡± to be quite so literal.


    As we held each other, moving through the air, pillars of glass formed around us, connecting to each other in elegant arches. A wave of Sand, then of Lava materialized below us, making a ballroom-like dance floor of glass. Serondes whistled softly, etching detailed patterns into all of our dance area. Small torches of Lava appeared in exacting ways around the edges. I contributed to the effect with a soft glow of Radiance, which bounced around crazily as it was refracted and deflected by all the glass.


    [*ding!* Scintillating Ascent has leveled up! 313 -> 314]


    I leaned in, and we danced under the stars, between the trees, inside the magical glass arena. I don¡¯t know how long we danced, but Cordamo flew through at one point, and glancing down I could see the party kept going in full force, the trolls occasionally looking up and pointing at our display.


    Being the entertainment was kinda fun! Extra-so that I could show off my super-cool wings, and give just a glimpse of day and sunlight to the poor trolls, doomed to live in the dark for eternity.


    All good things must come to an end, and a few long horn blasts from the big troll indicated the start of the ending phase. The trolls gathered, and guttural grunts came from the big priest-troll to all the assembled trolls. Awarthril, with agile steps, jumped from branch to branch and nimbly landed inside the arena, where Serondes and I had stopped dancing.


    ¡°They¡¯re doing the second part now, the last part.¡± Awarthril translated. ¡°Going to the holy-big-water, and venerating-praising-blessing the last four elements.¡± She explained, as the trolls started to file off in a familiar direction.


    My face paled.


    ¡°Hang on.¡± I said. ¡°The holy water?¡±


    ¡°Well, it could be translated as sacred, or revered.¡± Awarthril hedged. ¡°Nuances between different languages.¡±


    ¡°Nevermind that.¡± I waved her concerns away. ¡°They¡¯re going towards the lake.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, and?¡± Serondes said, not seeing it.


    ¡°The holy lake that we just threw a ton of Lava and glass all over?¡± I confirmed. I hadn¡¯t seen Serondes remove any of the improvements he¡¯d made.


    ¡°Probably, why?¡± He asked again.


    Awarthril twigged to what I was saying, as the last troll left in the procession.


    ¡°Praaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaghflpbflpbflpbflpbflpbflpbflpb. They are going to be so pissed.¡± She said, with barely a whisper. Then she sprang into action.


    ¡°Aegion! Get those barrels packed away! Kiyaya! Go¡­¡±


    Awarthril started barking out orders, jumping down from our dance area and grabbing the Spatial Box. The rest of us moved, following her every command.


    ¡°Go, go go!¡± She encouraged us as she blurred, grabbing all the various items we were throwing at her and unceremoniously dumping them into the Box. [Rubbery Rope]s sprang out, connecting to each of us.


    An enraged roar came from the directions the trolls had gone, followed by dozens of overlapping noises of rage.


    ¡°Annnnnnnnnnd we¡¯re OUT!¡± Awarthril shouted, picking up the box and running. The [Rubbery Rope] went taut, then started pulling me - and everyone else! - along in her wake.


    Serondes was muttering angrily.


    ¡°How could I have known they¡¯d take offense? I improved it!¡±


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 20]


    [Mana: 412740/412740]


    [Mana Regen: 275034 (+356756)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 91]


    [Strength: 941]


    [Dexterity: 1468]


    [Vitality: 11166]


    [Speed: 11166]


    [Mana: 41274]


    [Mana Regeneration: 41363 (+35676)]


    [Magic Power: 18178 (+340838)]


    [Magic Control: 18178 (+340838)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 420]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 420]


    [Cosmic Presence: 286]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 1]


    [Center of the Universe: 420]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 420]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 420]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 420]


    [Sunrise: 344]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 345]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 345]


    [Radiance Resistance: 345]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 345]


    [Solar Flare: 26]


    [Nectar: 345]


    [Sun''s Heart: 345]


    [Scintillating Ascent: 314]


    [Kaleidoscope: 345]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 370]


    [Pristine Memories: 218]


    [Egg Incubation: 47]


    [Bullet Time: 420]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 375]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 395]


    [Persistent Casting: 291]


    [Passionate Learning: 379]

 Catchup Artwork!

    Hey all!


    I''ve been slacking on giving you all the sweet, sweet artwork that Patreon and everyone else has. Sorry! Take the artwork!


    First, a Merry Christmas present from Tsuu!


    More Tsuu work, The Egg:


    Elaine:


    Night:


    Serondes:


    Iona:


    Hunting:


    More Elaine:


    Lun''Kat in her lair:


    and Toxic:

 Chapter 247 - Perilous Purses

    Awarthril ran through the woods, crate on one shoulder, Kiyaya bounding next to her, while the rest of us were attached to her, bouncing around like kites on a string. Cordamo flew next to us, the fast couatl keeping up, providing a strong gale to help carry us along.


    For all I knew, he was also directly buffing Awarthril¡¯s speed, but I had no way to tell. Kiyaya¡¯s growls did seem to be doing something, not that I could get much benefit out of any buffs right now.


    It was not particularly comfortable, extra-so since I was in the middle. I had [Scintillating Ascent] going, lighting up the woods around us, and trying to get some height.


    Awarthril¡¯s running kept pulling me down, the [Rubbery Rope] giving a strong downward pull, connected to me through Serondes. That would be manageable, if it wasn¡¯t for Aegion behind me, taking long ¡°speed leaps¡± to stay with Awarthril. That kept pulling me down in a second direction. I could handle the downward force from one of the elves, but not two. The end result was me bouncing me off the forest floor before I could regain my balance and fly back up, only for the ropes to pull me down again. It was like I was the biggest, slowest ball being dribbled along. Without the extra-tough skin.


    None of it was dangerous, but it sure was painful, and somewhat embarrassing. One particularly nasty knock almost dislodged my egg, and I gave up.


    I wrapped myself up with [Mantle of the Stars], saw that being bounced, then dragged along the ground wasn¡¯t enough to blow the shield - although my mana was draining at an alarming clip - and called it good enough.


    I basically half hamsterballed, half ball-skied my way out.


    I did occasionally need to drop the shield to regenerate mana though, and I swear Awarthril went through every single bramble bush and every tree reached out to smack me when it happened.


    Still, I shielded the egg, and after enough time had passed, I was able to expand my shield to fully protect myself again.


    I was going to be ravenous after this.


    The chase was short, as a new set of horn blasts heralded the rising sun, the trolls choosing not to get turned to stone for a futile chance of catching us.


    We cleared the forest, Awarthril turning sharply to head north, and kept running.


    Poor Aegion, stuck at the end of the line. He got snapped around like the crack of a whip. I just got tumbled around.


    Honestly, once I¡¯d determined I was safe, it was kinda fun. Except for the rocks. And the thorny bushes. Or the mud pit, that Awarthril gracefully jumped over and I went into face-first. Or the¡­


    Ok, slightly less fun.


    Awarthril kept running, with only the shortest breaks to take care of biological needs, and two days later, I just wasn¡¯t having fun anymore.


    ¡°Do we need to keep going?¡± My voice was significantly whinier than I¡¯d expected.


    I got what felt like a judgemental yip from Kiyaya, and I gave her the evil eye.


    ¡°Listen you. You¡¯ve got a fur coat, and you¡¯re running on your own. I¡¯m over here getting bounced around. So I don¡¯t want to hear any sass coming out of your jaw.¡±


    Oh yeah. I was definitely cranky, to be grumping at the dire wolf who was literally as tall as I was, and whose jaws could casually bite me in half.


    I didn¡¯t quite think we needed to keep running, not with the trolls unable to handle the light. And, you know, the two days of putting distance between us and them. Awarthril started to slow down, then finally, blessedly stopped.


    ¡°Egarblegarglebargen.¡± Awarthril had another one of her strange elvish curses. I was still taking notes on them, but I wasn¡¯t getting too far. ¡°That was a disaster. Serondes! What were you thinking!?¡± She yelled at him.


    I didn¡¯t think that was very fair, plus, he was my boyfriend. I jumped in.


    ¡°Hang on, you didn¡¯t say anything when he was building the baths!¡±


    ¡°Also, I didn¡¯t mean it. I had no way of knowing the lake was sacred to them! Without Aegion¡¯s insistence on staying, that would never have happened.¡± Serondes added.


    Some of his reasoning seemed a hair suspect, but I brushed over it for now.


    Much grumbling was had. Aegion was pissed that the party got cut short, nevermind that it had been winding down anyways. Awarthril was bothered that we¡¯d been incredibly rude, left a mess, and ruined their sacred site. Serondes was irritated that everyone was blaming him for it going wrong.


    I was unhappy that the elves were all yelling at each other, with the companions occasionally throwing in some noises of their own. Unhappy noises.


    ¡°Look, why don¡¯t we all just¡­ take a walk?¡± Awarthril¡¯s growling noises as she suggested that kinda ruined the cooling-down suggestion she was making.


    I turned on my heel and was out. The elves, so far, had been the epitome of arguing well. They didn¡¯t try to murder each other, they didn¡¯t try character assassination, they stayed on-topic. I blessedly didn¡¯t get dragged into it, nobody attacking me for anything I did, and I wasn¡¯t pissed at anyone. I did occasionally try to defend Serondes, but I didn¡¯t want to get too involved in it all.


    Maybe because I was more used to things going wrong, and rolling with the punches. The elves seemed to have things almost always go perfectly for them, and they were handling a minor defeat poorly.


    Maybe that was their curse? Or could it just be tangential to it?


    It was still too heated for me, and the fact that they hadn¡¯t started a friendly brawl to work it out told me it was more serious than usual.


    They¡¯d been perfectly fine so far. I was all too aware that any one of the elves could snap me in half like a twig, and keep snapping until I was dead. I didn¡¯t think it would escalate that much, but it was scary.


    Serondes joined me a moment later, shoulders hunched over, muttering under his breath.


    ¡°Imbeciles. Idiots. Morons. Primitive brutes.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t sure if he was talking about the rest of the team, the trolls, or both.


    Either way, we took a long, angry walk together in silence.


    Good thing Serondes wasn¡¯t a storm mage, otherwise there would¡¯ve been little clouds and lightning bolts around him.


    We made it back, and with barely a word, in spite of the sun blazing high up in the sky, we set up camp.


    I suppose we¡¯d been awake for¡­ time was hard to track with how long we¡¯d been awake for. At least it was for me.


    Blasted elves probably knew exactly how long we¡¯d been up, to the minute.


    For that matter, why did they even need to sleep!?


    Serondes was either being petty, or careful, as he made six different huts, all spread out from each other. One per person, per companion. He didn¡¯t say anything as he made them, but he was still fuming, as were the rest of the elves.


    ¡°Sleep well!¡± I said as I gave Serondes a quick peck on the cheek. He didn¡¯t really reciprocate, but he did give me a one-armed squeeze in return.


    As I laid down, staring at the glass ceiling - Serondes was really so thoughtful, he¡¯d noticed how I hated being under stone and made it glass for me - I was somewhat conflicted.


    On one hand, boo to being sent to my own place to sleep. I didn¡¯t feel like Serondes had been particularly cuddly or attentive.


    On the other?


    Dude was mad, and was maybe just keeping a lid on things. Maybe he wanted his space. The glass ceiling showed some care and attention. Everyone else had their own sleeping spot.


    This relationship stuff was hard. I should maybe talk with him about it. Unless he didn¡¯t want to talk about it?


    Argh!


    I woke up to the evil eyes of the moon glaring down at me, baleful red light rudely interrupting my sleep through the glass ceiling. I groaned and rolled over, realizing that I wasn¡¯t feeling all that sleepy.


    Guess I¡¯d gotten enough sleep. I did need to figure out wood or something non-transparent, non-stone alternatives for a bedroom.


    I yawned and rolled out of bed, seeing Awarthril gazing up at the moons, a mug of something warm and steaming in her hands. I silently joined her, and she quietly passed me an already-prepared second mug. Kiyaya sleepily padded over from Awarthril¡¯s side, then forced her head under my hand.


    Hint taken. I started to scratch her absent-mindedly.


    I wordlessly took the mug with a small smile, and we just watched the stars and the moon, sipping our drinks in companionable silence.


    ¡°Could¡¯ve gone better.¡± Awarthril eventually broke the silence. ¡°I think we should go back and fix things.¡±


    I thought about it for a moment. It seemed like a good idea.


    ¡°Is there any reason not to?¡±


    Awarthril gave a big, deep, pained sigh.


    ¡°The trolls will absolutely try to murder us either way. Heck, they might even be trying to hunt us down right now!¡±


    She calmly sipped her drink after that dire pronouncement. I couldn¡¯t figure if she was yanking my chain or not. We were days away from the trolls, who could only travel at night.


    I figured I¡¯d play along for now, and see what happened. I took a sip myself, the warm brew magically filling every inch of my body with heat, staving off the cold autumn air.


    ¡°What are we going to do about it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, they can only travel half a night¡¯s distance to try and get us, and we¡¯re probably far past that range already. Once everyone finishes waking up, we¡¯ll get going.¡±


    I noticed there was no mention of being tracked or not, or disguising our trail. More arrogance? Or against an entire tribe of creatures that went out and hunted their meal nightly, was trying to hide our tracks an exercise in futility?


    I took another sip from my drink, spraying it all out as something landed and impacted on my shoulder. I slowly turned my head, only to see an owl, feathers as starry as the night sky, as beautiful as my [Mantle], looking back at me.


    ¡°Why hello there.¡± I craned my neck back, just to get a better view of the bird. It was close!


    ¡°Whooo?¡± It hooted back, cocking its head at me.


    ¡°Whuuu.¡± I tried to coo back.


    ¡°Whooo!¡± The owl cocked its head the other way, studying me.


    ¡°Whuuu!¡± New owl buddy!


    A soft, soft voice whispered in my ear.


    ¡°This is almost exactly how Kiyaya and I met. Whoo knows?¡± Awarthril¡¯s voice was quiet, just barely on the edge of my hearing. Kiyaya had gone entirely still to boot.


    Bless the System, and all the stats it gave me. It gave me the strength to not groan and facepalm at the utterly horrendous pun Awarthril managed to slip in.


    I decided to check what I was dealing with.


    [Barn Owl] was the result, and that was an incredibly light shade. Low level, even by Remus standards. Possibly young, although that only spoke to a System and personal power aspect. It said nothing about character, personality, or drive.


    ¡°You are Sasha!¡± I declared, only for Sasha to dart her head forward, pecking me on the nose.


    It hurt, but between my anti-pain skills, and general ¡°don¡¯t jump around the wild Celestial owl that¡¯s trying to make friends with you¡±, I didn¡¯t flinch.


    I felt something a little wet and greasy get pressed into my hands, then Awarthril slipped away, Kiyaya having silently removed herself.


    Nothing that big and dangerous should be able to move that quietly. I was 99% sure at this point that Kiyaya had anti-sound skills, to make herself completely silent.


    I stuck my tongue out at Sasha. No owl was going to bite my nose without consequences! The Consequences being the Dreaded Tongue Sticking!


    Sasha immediately called my bluff, trying to peck my tongue. I rapidly sucked it back into my mouth, and glanced down at what Awarthril had stuffed into my hands.


    Meat. Leftovers from the party, if the texture was anything to go off of. Not exactly appealing, with how long we¡¯d been going for, but then again the Spatial Box seemed to have some preservation aspects to it. My stomach rumbled, reminding me that I was due a good long chow-fest.


    I offered some up to Sasha, who looked quizzically at it, then darted forward, taking a neat bite of food, carefully not hitting my hand. I continued to hand-feed the feisty owl, not quite believing my luck. I wanted to stroke Sasha, but I didn¡¯t want to risk startling her. Plus, my other hand was covering up the egg. I didn¡¯t think there¡¯d be a problem, but owl + easy food wasn¡¯t a formula I wanted to play around with. I think owls ate eggs, anyways.


    Sasha finished the treats, a content look appearing on her face. She then took flight, and I felt my heart plummet for a moment at the loss of my new owl friend.


    However, all she did was fly in large circles in front of me, happily hooting.


    ¡°Whoo! Whoooo! Whoooooooooooo!¡±


    I seized the moment to study the owl, her body practically vanishing against the night sky as her wings blended in perfectly, her flight entirely soundless apart from the noises she was deliberately making.


    I had no way of telling, but it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if [Scintillating Ascent] was going to evolve off of this. Given the skill¡¯s incredibly flashy nature, I doubted it was going to get anything remotely related to visual stealth, but I could believe that my flight would get quieter.


    I mean, it was already nearly completely silent, but maybe it¡¯d do something with the air currents or something?


    Either way - it was a nice chance.


    An owl companion. I¡¯d never thought of it, but it seemed nice. Owls and crows absolutely hated each other, and there was something appropriate there, about how I was constantly locked in mortal combat with Black Crow.


    After a few loops tiring herself out, she landed back on my shoulder. I braced myself this time, but it was barely more than a light tap as she landed.


    From my shoulder, she lifted a claw up, pointing it towards my face.


    ¡°What! Don¡¯t you give me a faceful of claw! I just fed you!¡± I complained at the bird. Sasha just twisted her head.


    ¡°WhuHooooo!¡± She insisted, twisting her head again.


    The penny dropped.


    ¡°Oh ok.¡± I said, taking a leap of faith and turning my head. I had full confidence that even if Sasha decided to try and kill me - why would she, I had just fed her and wasn¡¯t being threatening - that I¡¯d be able to defend myself, even though she was right against my head.


    I felt the claw grip my hair, yanking my head to the side in a flurry of wings. I felt more claws dig in as I straightened my head, Sasha working her way up to the top of my head.


    ¡°Well hello there.¡± I said, rolling my eyes upwards.


    ¡°Whoo!¡± Sasha leaned over, looking at me up-side-down, hooting her excitement to be up on her new perch. ¡°Whoo whoo!¡±


    I was pretty happy, but now somewhat worried. Dealing with the egg was hard enough, now it was looking like I might have to deal with an owl on top of that?


    Was I going to collect a whole menagerie? What was next, a toucan?


    I wanted to show Serondes though, so I carefully, slowly got up, stats making the transition between awkward poses smooth. Sasha wobbled briefly, her claws digging into my hair - and scalp, that hurt - but managed stayed balanced on top of my head.


    I threw in some healing for good measure. New owl buddy needed to be 100%! No disease! No parasites! No small hidden injuries! Life in the wild was tough, and it was the rare animal that had no scrapes or bruises at a minimum.


    Slowly, I started to walk over to Serondes¡¯s Lava hut. I saw Awarthril, who was giving me a great big grin and two big thumbs up, while Kiyaya was sitting next to her, giving us an approving look.


    Awarthril¡¯s face contorted, and chains launched from her as she screamed.


    ¡°NO!¡±


    I felt an impact over my head, my scalp being half-ripped off by the force, half-bowling me over in an explosion of starry feathers.


    I looked up to see Cordamo flying through the air, an owl-sized lump distending his body, his face covered in blood and feathers.


    ¡°CORDAMO!¡± I screamed out, my heart breaking at losing my friend that I¡¯d met just 10 minutes ago. ¡°I¡¯M GOING TO TURN YOU INTO A PURSE!¡± I yelled at him, launching myself into the air with [Scintillating Ascent], forming butterflies with [Kaleidoscope].


    Cordamo¡¯s hissing laugh of triumph and joy was cut short as he saw me winging towards him, murder in my eyes and radiant butterflies around me.


    The sneaky snake was off like a shot as I chased him, intent on getting my pound of flesh for my poor, lost friend.

 Chapter 248 - Pound of Flesh

    I chased after Cordamo, the shithead couatl much faster than I was.


    I was going to pluck his scales off, one at a time. I¡¯d get Serondes to trap him with Lava, then find a rusty knife somewhere.


    He wasn¡¯t faster than my Radiance beams, but he was quicker than [Kaleidoscope]. At least, for the majority of the butterfly¡¯s lifespan, while they were accelerating up to speed.


    I was going to eat the tastiest food right in front of him. And give him nothing.


    As I twisted and turned through the air, performing impossibly acrobatic feats thanks to the flexibility and agility of my beautiful wings, courtesy of [Scintillating Ascent], I carefully held onto my egg. Making sure it stayed warm, and didn¡¯t fall out of my basket.


    I was going to have to be extra-vigilant about Cordamo and the egg now. He was showing an alarming lack of concern for anything I cared about, versus his own greedy desires.


    I wasn¡¯t using my beams for a very good reason.


    A cursed reason.


    I couldn¡¯t hurt Cordamo!


    He was clearly intelligent, regardless of what the System message was sending back. He was clever, smart, and Aegion¡¯s bonded companion. My [Oath] stopped me from hurting him, because while I could defend a patient, there was nothing in my [Oath] about revenge, vengeance, balancing the scales, or anything similar.


    Dead people weren¡¯t patients. Given the massive disparity in stats and levels between Cordamo and Sasha, and given his poisonous nature, I would be deluding myself if I thought Sasha was being digested alive or something. No, Cordamo would never risk a creature with skills trying to slice him open from the inside.


    No, my ability to defend Sasha with lethal force died with her. All I could do was chase Cordamo with murder in my eyes, and make the snake sweat a bit.


    On one hand, right now, I wanted to modify my [Oath] - as impossible as that was - to let me counter-attack. On the other, I knew down that path lay madness - and a snake-leather purse.


    I wasn¡¯t an avenger. I wasn¡¯t a killer who went out of her way to exact pain. I was a healer, it was my art, my calling. It meant, at times like these, that I was bound, unable to take the actions I wanted. At the same time, my [Oath] was keeping me grounded, reminding me of who I was, and what I believed my purpose in life to be.


    Still.


    There was nothing in [Oath] about not making aggravating danger noodles sweat. More importantly, I¡¯d been keeping a lid on my [Oath] around the elves. Sure, I was baring myself to Serondes, but there just hadn¡¯t been a need to share the details of my [Oath]. What they¡¯d said about granting Immortality still rang in my ears, and while I liked and trusted the elves, ¡°hi I can¡¯t actually fight back¡± might just be too tempting.


    Heck, if Awarthril got super desperate, she could kidnap me back to the Tympestshard Council, sell my services, and get enough money to buy the services needed to make Kiyaya Immortal. As much as I hated the idea, if I was in her shoes, and I was told ¡°Hey, you need to enslave this one person for 6 months and your parents, brother, Artemis, and everyone else you know and love get to be Immortal forever¡±?


    Yeah, I¡¯d be breaking out the whips and chains. I hated the thought that I could ever get involved in something like that, but morals, wants, and needs were a hierarchy.


    Actually - I should discuss that with Awarthril. Instead of powerleveling me, why not head back and try to make a trade? I raise some funds helping other people, use said funds to help Kiyaya?


    Autumn would have an aneurysm if she knew how much money I was considering giving away just like that. Actually, she¡¯d have an aneurysm once she did the math on how much I could charge. She¡¯d insist that I acquire a swimming pool full of gems. As a spare thought.


    I shelved the thought for another day. We should have the discussion at least.


    Stealing was wrong, but what if someone was stealing to stay alive? An old loaf of bread from the garbage?


    Murder was wrong, but what about killing a Classer who might be the one killing an entire city on their own?


    Given enough incentive, given enough of a reward, and many people would find that some of their highest, most closely-held beliefs broke down. It was like that famous joke.


    ¡°Hey beautiful lady, would you sleep with me for 10 million rods?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­. sure.¡±


    ¡°How about 10 coins?¡±


    Shocked gasp! ¡°What do you take me for, a prostitute!?¡±


    ¡°Well, we already know that, we¡¯re just negotiating the price!¡±


    Cue laugh track.


    It was a crude joke, meant to demean women. Meant to imply that all women were prostitutes, and we¡¯d spread our legs for absurd amounts of money. I didn¡¯t like the joke very much.


    However, there was a different seed of truth to the joke, which was that people''s morals were flexible, for the right price. Or, if money couldn¡¯t move a person, there was always a lever, a button that could be pushed. Only when an absolute core value was threatened, would we balk and refuse, no matter what was offered or the pressure applied.


    For example, I¡¯d never hurt my family. In turn, that made my family a lever - ¡°Do this or your family gets hurt.¡±


    If I was threatened with ¡°Go steal something or we kill your parents.¡±, I would¡­ probably go talk with Night and the rest of the Sentinels, and figure something out from there.


    Bad example.


    The elves had been great, and who knows, maybe they were above such things. Maybe they had ironclad morals.


    At the same time, when two of the morals collided, one of them had to break. Looping back around, sick, starving family member? Well, either the ¡°protect the family¡± moral was going to break, or the ¡°don¡¯t steal¡± moral was going to bite the dust.


    At least, that¡¯s how I saw the world. [Oath] helped ground me, helped declare which morals I considered core, which ones were most important to me. I hadn¡¯t had it conflict with, say, protecting my family, but I had serious doubts it ever would.


    No jinx.


    Back on topic - I was chasing Cordamo, throwing butterflies at him and flying at full-speed towards him. Sure, I was never going to catch him, and I was never going to be able to hurt him. He didn¡¯t know that though - I could make him run!


    And if he was stupid enough to attack me back, then I¡¯d be able to go for him. Wasn¡¯t sure I could actually win a fight though, not with the huge level gap, amplified by the fact that he was past level 512.


    I cooled down a bit, and decided to seize the moment. Cordamo was in full flight mode, twisting and turning as he snaked through the sky. I¡¯d gotten a gift from Sasha, some aspect of my flight improved, and I was determined to extract a similar price from Cordamo, given how my last attempts at studying him had been interrupted - either by the lake, or by a branch smacking me in the face.


    Down below, lit by the moon, I saw Aegion and Awarthril arguing, the former holding his bow in his hands, Awarthril with her hand on her hip, wagging her finger in his face.


    Hmmm.


    Yeah.


    This probably looked really bad to Aegion, who naturally would want to keep his bonded companion alive.


    With one last blinding flash of light at Cordamo, I stopped chasing him, landing near Awarthril and Aegion, hands up to hopefully indicate I meant no harm.


    I didn¡¯t know if elven culture had the same connotations. For all I knew hands up was a deadly threat.


    Aegion blew an exasperated raspberry as I landed.


    ¡°Awarthril filled me in. Thanks for letting Cordamo off the hook. I¡¯ll have a chat with him.¡±


    I had done no such thing about letting him off the hook!


    The last part was more ritualistic than threatening, and I didn¡¯t think Cordamo would be getting much more than a slap on the tail. I hated it, and I disliked it, but cooling off for a moment, and stepping back, I saw his point.


    He was much closer to Cordamo than me, and when push came to shove, he¡¯d always side with Cordamo, regardless of how right or wrong the couatl was. In all fairness, I would probably be the same. My bonded companion ruined someone¡¯s day? I¡¯d defend them.


    Cordamo landed on Aegion¡¯s shoulders, wrapping around his neck like a scarf. Aegion absent-mindedly reached up to stroke the snake, who appeared to be¡­


    That snake-faced bastard! He seemed to be sobbing into Aegion¡¯s shoulder. I could only imagine the tales he was weaving, of ¡°The mean Elaine was chasing me, trying to kill me! I did nothing wrong, I swear!¡±


    I was probably reading too much into it, but hey.


    Kiyaya made some harsh, reproaching barks at Cordamo, making her feelings on the matter clear. Cordamo¡¯s crocodile tears intensified.


    Aegion glared at the snake.


    ¡°Now none of that. No flying around for two weeks.¡±


    The fake tears intensified.


    ¡°And you¡¯re doing the cooking, the cleaning, fetching water, and doing whatever Elaine asks of you for the same time.¡±


    Ooooh, I was getting some ideas what I could make the feathered snake do. Hop on his head?


    ¡­ I was not good at coming up with cruel and unusual punishments. I generally either killed a threat, threw them to the guards to be fined, or healed people. This ¡°in-between¡± business was hard.


    Hang on.


    How could I fine a snake? I probably could, I¡¯d just need to be inventive about it.


    Hisses of protest.


    ¡°You keep that up and it¡¯ll get worse.¡± Aegion threatened.


    Serondes emerged from his hut, saw us all standing around, yawned, stretched, and walked over.


    ¡°Hey.¡± He gave me a one-armed hug, which I leaned into. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡±


    Everyone looked at Awarthril, agreeing by silent consent to let the relatively neutral party explain what was going on. She gave a concise, accurate explanation. In the end, Serondes just gave me a squeeze.


    ¡°We¡¯ll find you a nice companion. I promise.¡± He gave me a quick kiss, then went off to find breakfast.


    A nice compan-!? WHAT ABOUT MY DAMN EGG!?


    I didn¡¯t say that, but I did glare murder into the back of his head. I quickly redirected my ire towards Cordamo, who deserved it.


    With the lack of light pollution on Pallos, a good, cloudless night, combined with enhanced vision from the System made seeing at night fairly easy.


    ¡°We should get a move on once Serondes is finished. We did say we¡¯d move fast, and, well, we¡¯re up and awake now.¡± Awarthril proposed, already starting to clean up.


    My stomach rumbled, reminding me that I¡¯d only had a drink with Awarthril, and not a proper breakfast, and that I¡¯d run a serious calorie deficit. Aegion, Serondes and I sat down to eat. The meal was a little tense, a little awkward, but nothing happened.


    Cordamo had enough grace to slink off somewhere out of sight while we were eating.


    ¡°Sooo¡­ North?¡± I asked, trying to mentally remember the map. I set down my fork, only for Awarthril to whisk it away.


    ¡°North!¡± She happily agreed - seemingly skipping right over the discussion about the trolls, and making amends - and in no time at all, we were off!


    We spent two weeks traveling at a relatively good pace. The pace was a brisk walk, up from the slow walk from earlier, and we were no longer stopping for lunch, instead going until the sun was threatening the horizon.


    A truly blistering pace. Mmmhmmm.


    The world was a wild, savage, and untamed place. Dinosaurs roamed by in herds, hoovering up as much of the plantlife as they could, trampling the rest. Carnivores large and small trailed the herds, looking for weaknesses. Picking off the old and the sick, keeping them healthy.


    I frequently sent Cordamo on ¡°errands¡±, generally fetching one of the bigger, meaner monsters for lunch or dinner. This backfired somewhat when Aegion happily reported that they¡¯d both leveled, which was cause for a minor celebration.


    Not what I¡¯d been hoping to accomplish. I did insist that Cordamo stay far away from me and my egg, and he was, to his credit, respectfully obeying.


    He did seem a little more contrite after I¡¯d heard Aegion having a loud conversation with him about why it was wrong. The couatl was just a wild beast in the end.


    On one memorable occasion, the biggest, meanest brachy in one of the herds stormed towards us, Wind gusting ominously around it. The level was slightly concerning, but we didn¡¯t need to kill it. We¡¯d already secured our lunch, and dinner was hours away. Well, Serondes started to make a move, but Awarthril and Aegion stopped him, instead electing to move faster, getting out of the way.


    Birds flew in the sky, from flocks of carrier pigeons, to the occasional large thing that flew at a dramatic height, only visible due to its sheer size.


    I didn¡¯t try [Long Range Identify]ing that. Not worth the risk. Not after her. I tried to study it, but with the distances involved, and the fact that it was just a shape, I¡¯m not sure I got anything out of it. I was glad to see that the elves were occasionally jumpy when the sky got dark, glancing up to see what had flown over this time.


    As we trampled over ferns and grass taller than I was, disturbing all the critters hiding in it, I was reminded just how wild and untamed this world was. Remus was looking positively civilized in comparison.


    I woke up one morning, half-sprawled across Serondes¡¯s very nice chest. I opened my eyes, and had a minor heart attack, entirely skipping the need for [Sunrise] as I saw Cordamo right next to me.


    I practically leapt out of my skin, getting ready to swear vengeance. We¡¯d basically made peace, and now he was scaring me first thing in the morning!?


    Oh shit.


    The egg!


    The thieving little shit came in to - wait, no, I still had the egg. And why would he leave evidence?


    I finished waking up, all my mental processes turning on.


    I then realized I was a bit of an idiot, and that wasn¡¯t Cordamo - it was his skin. I picked it up gingerly, feeling the soft, leathery feel in my hands.


    I felt Serondes waking up and sitting up beside me.


    ¡°Morning.¡± He yawned and stretched, and I was distracted by the nice stretching.


    ¡°Morning!¡± I came in for a quick kiss, which became a long one, hands doing some wandering.


    ¡°MmmmMM!¡± Serondes was making pleased noises as we broke from the kiss.


    ¡°Elaine. I love your starry blue eyes, your delightful brown locks.¡± He said the last part, entwining his hands in my hair in a way that was just so.


    ¡°Well, I-¡± I started to say, but was interrupted.


    ¡°Your slim waist, your firm ass, your -¡±


    It went rapidly downhill from there, but I didn¡¯t mind. I felt my face burning as I soaked in his shameless flattery, snuggling into his chest as his hands stroked me, pressing up to each body part he named as he described why he liked it.


    ¡°Flatter won¡¯t get you anywhere.¡± Was a saying that was, quite frankly, somewhat wrong. It would get someone many, many places, just not everywhere. Either way, it was nice.


    As much as I wanted to continue the sweet pillow talk, we had things to do, places to be. Like taking a nice walk together! And figuring out what Cordamo was doing.


    Serondes noticed Cordamo¡¯s skin.


    ¡°Well. Would you look at that. Cordamo¡¯s molted, and he¡¯s given it to me.¡± Serondes grabbed the shedded skin, looking it over. ¡°Quite the gift. Want me to make it into something nice for you?¡± He asked.


    Serondes was occasionally insufferably self-absorbed. It did not bode well for the long-term prospects of this relationship, but then again, my short-term plans didn¡¯t have that much room for Serondes in them anyways. Something for me to examine in-depth another day.


    It clicked.


    ¡°I had promised to turn Cordamo into a purse.¡± I nodded towards the shedded skin. ¡°Think he¡¯s delivering?¡±


    Serondes looked thoughtfully at the skin.


    ¡°Yes, it seems like Cordamo is giving you the proper apology you deserve. I don¡¯t believe there¡¯s enough here for a proper handbag, but a very small purse should be doable.¡±


    I gave him a quick peck on the cheek.


    ¡°Thanks! You¡¯re the best!¡±


    We got up and out, and began traveling in no time at all. I figured it was time to bury the hatchet with Cordamo once and for all.


    After all, end of the day, I¡¯d known Sasha for all of five, maybe ten minutes. I¡¯d spent a lot more time with Cordamo, both before and after, and holding a massive grudge over a single owl wasn¡¯t reasonable. I¡¯d nursed the heck out the grudge, but end of the day it didn¡¯t have the emotional weight, time, or investment to last.


    ¡°Hey Aegion!¡± I whispered conspiratorially to him. ¡°Got a treat I can give to Cordamo?¡±


    He eyed me, a mix of appraisingly and knowingly.


    ¡°Yeah, sure, here you go!¡± He fished around into the crate for a moment - Awarthril lowering it for his easy access, having overheard our conversation.


    I eyed one of Aegion¡¯s infamous candies dubiously.


    ¡°This is, like, actually good, and not something that¡¯ll make Cordamo hate me more, right?¡± I asked him, remembering the minor prank war we had going on.


    ¡°.... Let me double check that.¡± Aegion said, hurriedly taking the candy back from my hands. He put it up to the sun, squinting at it.


    ¡°Mmmm. Yeah, it¡¯s ok.¡± He finally said. Given how dexterous he was, and how often it had left my sight, I could believe he pulled off some sleight of hand at some point, swapping a prank candy out for a real one.


    Or maybe it was always a good one?


    Either way, I was overthinking it. Cordamo was smart - he knew where the candies came from.


    The devil himself landed with a whumph on my shoulders, wrapping his tail around my neck, his tongue flickering towards the hand that was holding the candy.


    Still not fully trusting him - which had nothing to do with burying the grudge we had - I covered the egg with my other hand, while feeding him the candy with the free hand.


    He hissed in delight, coiling around my neck in a way most disconcerting.


    Kiyaya, not wanting to be left out while I was handing out good stuff, came up to my free hand and nuzzled it, her nose almost as large as my hand. She then deftly flipped my hand up and over her head, making it clear that she wanted scratches, and wanted them now.


    ¡°Alright, alright.¡± I grinned, scratching her behind the ears. Cordamo hissed in a way I¡¯m sure he thought was soothing into my ear, but just ended up giving me the creeps. The nope-rope then took off, flying off into the air.


    ¡°Glad to see everyone getting along!¡± Awarthril cheerfully butted in. I had many things I wanted to say, but held my tongue.


    Instead, I changed the conversation.


    ¡°Awarthril! Question for you!¡±


    ¡°Answer!¡± She happily chirped back.


    ¡°If your goal is to make Kiyaya Immortal, why are we still heading towards the Shimagu? Wouldn¡¯t heading back to the, er, Tympestshard Council work? Like, we go around, charge an arm and a leg for me to restore people, then use those funds to buy restoration for Kiyaya?¡±


    Serondes gave an undignified snort at that, showing what he thought of the plan as Awarthril answered.


    ¡°Bluntly, we couldn¡¯t keep you safe. Sure, maybe we¡¯d be able to hire some people high level enough for protection, but there¡¯d quickly come a point, no matter how much we wanted it to otherwise, where they were calling the shots, not us. We¡¯d get muscled out, and then it¡¯d be hard to tell who, exactly, was in charge. Would you be in charge? Or would it be whoever¡¯s in charge of ¡®security¡¯ and your day to day schedule that was in charge?¡±


    Awarthril paused for a moment, thinking.


    ¡°There are all sorts of ways they could try to convince you to stick around, most of them kind. It¡¯s likely that they¡¯d approach it with a soft touch of sorts. Make things nice for you. After all, they¡¯d want you to perform for them. Well, they¡¯d say it¡¯d be for you, and they just get paid by you. Either way, you¡¯d find it hard to replace anyone. At that point, who¡¯s really in charge?¡± Awarthril¡¯s question was rhetorical, and Aegion and Serondes were both staying uncharacteristically quiet.


    ¡°Granted, you¡¯d live one of the nicest lives in existence¡­ within a designated safe area. Be able to meet and see whoever¡­ the guards decide is safe enough for you to meet. Do you want that life? We can detour over if you¡¯d like?¡±


    Awarthril¡¯s tone was almost pleading in the end. It was obvious, even to me, that she was twisting things slightly, and putting a negative spin on things. At the same time, she was denying a potential path to making Kiyaya Immortal. Given how badly she wanted that to happen, I was inclined to take her word for it when she thought it wouldn¡¯t work.


    I was reminded of the dwarves, and how they¡¯d done almost exactly the same thing. A golden cage, for someone with valuable skills. It sounded like the more things changed, the more they stayed the same, and I wasn¡¯t exactly clear just because I was away from the dwarves.


    And hey! Bonus! It meant that even if they knew about my [Oath], they were unlikely to drag me away kicking and screaming!


    ¡°Elaine probably wants to wait until we¡¯re stronger, and can properly protect her before trying something like that.¡± Serondes added in at the end.


    Hmmm, yeah, that was also a valid option. Didn¡¯t much like him putting words in my mouth like that, but he was kinda right.


    Cordamo returned, landing at high speed on Aegion¡¯s arm. The couatl was light, but his speed was so high that he ended up causing Aegion to stagger anyways as he landed. He then seriously hissed something long and syllabant at Aegion.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Aegion offered his arm, Cordamo wrapping around it. ¡°There¡¯s a road about three miles west of us.¡±

 Chapter 249 - Caravan Concerns I

    ¡°Ooooh, a road! Let¡¯s go!¡± Awarthril stopped dead, shifting her weight from foot to foot in her excitement. Kiyaya barked, birds flying up in terror as the sound of a large predator making noise touched a deep and primal part inside of them.


    I was busy removing yet another sticky seed from my leg. Mistweave was great, until it wasn¡¯t. Sticky seeds seemed to count as ¡°damage¡± to the material, so it entirely bypassed my clothing and went straight to the source.


    ¡°I vote roads!¡± I called out, now trying to get the damn sticky stuff off my fingers. Honestly, as luxurious as traveling with the elves was when it came to camping, the Rangers had it figured out when it came to the actual moving from A to B part of it.


    Lounging in the wagon beat bushwacking. Or [Rubbery Rope]-whacking. Although, I was only lounging in the wagon when I wasn¡¯t the one driving it. Or Julius wasn¡¯t making me run beside it. Or Artemis wasn¡¯t drilling me by the side. Or Arthur wasn¡¯t showing me some new plant. Or¡­


    I might have some rose-tinted lenses.


    ¡°Yeah, sure.¡± Serondes was in agreement, and we turned and headed towards the road.


    Aegion was muttering about how the sides of the roads were ¡°always picked over¡± and ¡°he¡¯d find nothing good¡±, but followed along anyways. Cordamo was still wrapped around him, waving his head back and forth like a happy little nope rope.


    We made it to the road, and it was like a breath of fresh air. I could walk unhindered, and as effortlessly Awarthril and Kiyaya could plow down the plants in front of us, they looked happy to be on clear road as well.


    ¡°Roads!¡± Serondes stretched his legs out, giving each of them a little kick. He hadn¡¯t given up his robe, and while things kept catching in them, they inevitably fell out and the robe repaired itself. Not before giving him a little tug, before being a hair annoying. I wasn¡¯t surprised that he liked the clear open space.


    ¡°Roads mean people!¡± Awarthril didn¡¯t mention anything about clearing grass out of the way, but I noticed her pace had picked up significantly, dragging us along in her wake.


    ¡°Hang on.¡± Aegion said, vanishing back into the tall grass that swayed to either side of the road, like golden waves.


    I wanted to bet, but I didn¡¯t have much to bet with.


    ¡°Hey Serondes!¡± I slipped my hand into his, trying to be somewhat coy. I was probably falling flat on my face, but he¡¯d said nothing negative so far, and I loved him for it.


    He lightly squeezed my hand, letting me know I could continue.


    ¡°I bet three kisses that Aegion comes back with something inedible.¡± I squeezed his hand back, giving it my full effort in an attempt to feel like it was just as light as his earlier squeeze.


    ¡°I mean, let¡¯s forget how broad ¡®inedible¡¯ is for a moment.¡± Serondes¡¯s tone was playful. ¡°What do you want if you win?¡±


    That only took a brief moment for me to think of it.


    ¡°A backrub!¡±


    ¡°Deal!¡± Serondes spun me around, sealing the deal with a kiss.


    Honestly, kinda a worthless bet, given how much we liked kissing.


    ¡°Awarthril, wanna determine who wins?¡± I gave Kiyaya some extra scratches with my free hand.


    Awarthril just half-waved to us with her back turned, reluctant acknowledgement of her role in all this, putting one foot in front of the other on the road we¡¯d found ourselves on.


    Speaking of the road - it was weird. There was no way it wasn¡¯t made by a skill.


    Or multiple skills.


    The road was a single sheet of brittle stone, an impossible formation in an impossible location. Nobody grabbed sheets of brittle rock for construction material, no sheet of rock was that large. The road was also wavy along the edges, and a close look revealed that it was like many overlapping circles. Like someone had casually gone for a stroll, every step radiating the crappy rocks used to build a road.


    A very straight stroll. There were basically no curves or deviations to the path at all.


    The road had natural cracks and breaks, long lines running through faults in the rock, yet plants weren¡¯t invading through the holes in the way I¡¯d expect them to. Some persistent skill? It would imply whoever made the road was still alive.


    Either way, it was cool!


    ¡°AHHA!¡± Aegion burst back from the side of the road, holding something that looked and smelled like green moss. Awarthril just glanced at it, and delivered her verdict.


    ¡°You both lose.¡±


    Oh no. How terrible.


    ¡°Oh, Elaine, we should keep up the lectures. This here is a thrice-chewed moss, named for the fact that most animals that try to eat it spit it back out. Try a bite!¡± Aegion half-thrust it towards me


    Oh no.


    It was terrible.


    We were on the road for just a day, when Kiyaya stopped and sniffed the air.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Awarthril asked Kiyaya. She paused a moment, then closed her eyes, deeply sniffing the air.


    ¡°Smells like wolf.¡± She said after a moment. ¡°Could be gnolls.¡±


    ¡°Could also be wolf companions! Or werewolves!¡± I helpfully added in. I¡¯d never seen one, but between how magical Pallos was, and the fact that I¡¯d been offered a related class once upon a time?


    I¡¯d met a fair number of species at this point, and I wanted to add werewolves to the list.


    A white blur launched from Aegion¡¯s arm, Cordamo launching himself to take a look. Aegion closed his eyes, and started speaking.


    ¡°Caravan of wagons. Cleverly hidden. Awarthril¡¯s got it right, they¡¯re gnolls. We¡¯ll meet them around lunchtime. They¡¯re using centrosauruses to pull their wagons. I¡¯d like to look at them, I¡¯ve never seen one in the flesh before.¡±


    Of course Awarthril would¡¯ve gotten it right. Blasted perfect elves. Fortunately, I had enough self-confidence to not get a complex or anything.


    ¡°Meeting them is slightly unavoidable.¡± Serondes drily remarked.


    ¡°There is only one road.¡± I added in.


    Awarthril couldn¡¯t resist piling on.


    ¡°Typically, when two groups are heading towards each other on a road, they¡¯ll meet up.¡±


    Aegion just made a disgusted noise, as the three of us traded high-fives. We carried on, with a spring in our steps.


    In no time at all, Awarthril was waving, presumably able to see them. I squinted, but yeah, no. Nothing. Her eyesight was just that much better than mine.


    Still, it showed that we were friendly, and with the distances and skills involved, it meant we could slowly approach each other. I know I¡¯d be jumpy if someone suddenly appeared next to me, and jumpy people who shot first and asked questions later tended to live.


    Like Artemis! Couldn¡¯t wait to see her again.


    With how wild and untamed the area was, it wouldn¡¯t surprise me at all if the gnolls were also jumpy. Especially since Aegion described their wagons as ¡®cleverly hidden¡¯.


    We approached, and I could see their wagons slowly appear in the distance. I studied them as we got closer.


    The first thing I noticed were the creatures pulling the wagons. They were dinosaurs that looked like small triceratops, with only one horn on the nose. Their frill was oval shaped, with a small gap in the middle, and they were a warm, light brown color. They only had one to a wagon, and with the size of the wagon and the apparent ease they were pulling with, I had to assume they were strong.


    [Long-Range Identify] returned [Centrosaurus], which was like, level 180 or so.


    That, or some [Dinosaur Tamer] had guided their skills in the right direction, or they were being buffed by a [Wagon Driver], or there was some expert [Caravan Master], or¡­


    The possibilities were endless, and it reminded me of just how much I LOVED magic.


    Maybe they¡¯d have a Radiance mage! More tricks to learn!


    Onto the wagons!


    ¡®Cleverly hidden¡¯ was right. The wagons had a flat top, extended forward to shield the dinosaurs, and it seemed like they were growing an entire field up there! Grasses and ferns were on top, exactly the same as all of the surrounding plant matter. and I wanted to give it a butterfly¡¯s-eye view. I bet they¡¯d blend right in with the nearby grasses, making them nearly invisible to the numerous predators that lurked in the sky.


    Which would partially explain why there were no trees on the prairie-go-rounds.


    That, or trees were just too damn heavy to cart around.


    All in all, it was a neat arrangement! A beautiful little travel garden. I should see if the Rangers wanted to adopt something similar. It would need a special revamped wagon, multiple redundant Wood-aligned Classers, and constantly changing the greenery out as the climate changed.


    Mmmm. Maybe there was a reason we didn¡¯t have any wagons like that. That sounded both expensive, and like it needed a specialized Classer. For a caravan though, it was pretty sweet.


    We got closer, and Awarthril kept waving to them. Soon, a flag was waving back.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± Awarthril didn¡¯t wait for us before launching herself down the road. Bless her releasing her [Rubbery Rope] and not dragging me along. Aegion followed at a good clip, while Serondes and I took the scenic route.


    Awarthril - and the gnolls - moved fast. In no time at all, the wagons were circling up, and bright, colorful flags and silks were coming out.


    I¡¯d never seen gnolls before. They were humanoid - or as Serondes would say, elvenoid - so two legs, arms, one head, bipedal, the works. They looked like a cross between a dog and a hyena, with short, flattened snouts, and a hunched-over look as they walked around, occasionally moving and dipping like they wanted to be on all fours, but remained on two legs.


    They had medium-length tails, and generally had short fur, in any number of different muted colors. Some had spots. Their noses were constantly twitching, and there was a near-constant snuffling noise in the background of all the other sounds they were making.


    The sides of the wagons opened up, and some of the gnolls were hanging out there, while others were tending to their dinosaurs. Some broke out some entertainment. I recognized dice, no matter how many sides they had, along with crude cards and balls. Anything to keep oneself sane on the road, a little touch that civilized creatures all shared with each other. The elves would probably call it some fundamental elvish trait or something. Some of the guardy-looking gnolls stayed on alert, using a combination of large boar spear in one hand, and sick, curved knives on their belts. One weapon for large creatures, one weapon for small critters. One of the gnolls came to meet us.


    In any other world, he¡¯d be a weirdo. Here, his look was probably related to his class and skills. He was coated in large eggshells, the bright overlapping shells creating a dizzying array of looks, colors, and patterns. His fur was a light brown with large splotches of grey, signs of age in a human. Possibly also a sign of age in a gnoll.


    More obvious was the way he moved, the slow, careful steps of bad arthritis, of age starting to snap at his ankles. It caused me to look more closely at him, and I saw some swollen joints, patches of thin fur, and drooping jowls.


    With the way the other gnolls were getting out of his way and generally deferring to him, I was guessing he was one of the caravan bigshots.


    ¡°Krrrrrr. Welcome. Name Thukrur. Lunch-eat?¡± The gnoll made an elaborate bow. I practically winced at how slowly he moved, careful not to hurt himself. I could practically feel the age radiating off of him, and I felt like I was getting older just watching him. He gestured towards where a chef was busy throwing food into a stew.


    I bit my lip in excitement. He spoke the same language as us! Someone to talk with! The elves were great, but after the last few encounters where I didn¡¯t speak the language, I¡¯d been feeling left out.


    Sure, his mastery wasn¡¯t great, but I¡¯d take it!


    ¡°Hi! My name¡¯s Elaine!¡± I was trying to deliberately pick easy words, or words I¡¯d heard him say before.


    ¡°Serondes.¡± The man in question pointed to himself.


    Old eggshells bowed towards me.


    ¡°Healer. Injured. Heal?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, of course!¡± I started to take a step forward, only for Awarthril to grab my shoulder, and babble something quickly in another language to the gnoll. The language was rolling, with a silly number of r¡¯s everywhere. I swear my tongue was cramping up just listening to the language.


    ¡°Right! Elaine, they¡¯re a trading caravan. We¡¯re going to do some trading with them, and I¡¯ve negotiated some credit with Thkrur here for you, in exchange for your services. Also, the gnolls take hospitality seriously. DO NOT break any rule of hospitality.¡±


    Awarthril glared at all of us, promising vengeance upon any one of us who broke any of the laws of hospitality.


    Remus, for how shitty it was, had its own strong code of hospitality. It was nearly impossible for non-Rangers to travel around without it. Tokens were broken and given to a family resting at a place, a promise that someone with the token could receive similar treatment on the other side.


    Of course, that only applied to the wealthy, but that was the way of the world. People who weren¡¯t wealthy could rarely contemplate traveling, short of bailing out of one village to try and make life work in a town. High risk move.


    She gave me a Look, and I could see a flash of Autumn in her eyes. I wanted to roll my eyes at her and tell her ¡®yes mom¡¯, but I refrained. She was just trying to look out for me after all.


    I started with Thukrur, hitting him with [Dance with the Heavens]. It helped some - he rolled his shoulders and popped his fingers, suddenly spry again.


    It did nothing for his jowls, patchy fur, wrinkled eyes, or dozens of other minor ailments. There was only so much [Dance with the Heavens] could do.


    We walked around some, Thukrur leading the way. The gnolls all sniffed at us, occasionally laughing in a high-pitched manner. There was some great joke surrounding us that I didn¡¯t get. They tended to wear fur-like clothing like one great big wrap, neatly tied off to one side or the other.


    Thukrur pointed out four gnolls, each with some obvious, but not life-threatening injury. The first one was sitting on the side of the wagon, blankets covering his lower half. With the way everyone was moving around him, I was guessing he¡¯d been crippled somehow. Probably a broken spine.


    Second one had a ferocious eyepatch and a mean look. No prizes for guessing what went wrong with him!


    Third gnoll was missing her left arm, but was energetically running around, helping out with her one good hand.


    Fourth was flat on her back, eyes closed. Only faint breathing indicated that she was still alive.


    Well, nothing for it. I started off with gnoll #4, putting my hand on her, pulsing [Dance with the Heavens] through her. I saw my mana barely flicker as the gnoll drifted off into a deeper sleep.


    That felt good! It¡¯d been ages since I had a proper patient to heal. Lun¡¯Kat barely counted, and the dwarves were practically ancient history at this point. It was like a breath of life for my soul, a warm breeze through my mind. It cleared cobwebs, and helped me refocus and reevaluate.


    Gnoll number two waved me off.


    ¡°Eye. Women.¡± He said, having a worse grasp of the language than Thukrur, but the way his tail wagged made it abundantly clear what he was talking about. Thought he was now a handsome devil with the missing eye, and didn¡¯t want it healed up.


    I mean, it was dumb. He could always just wear an eyepatch, and wouldn¡¯t run the risk of infection, and have two working eyes as he went through life. However, his stupidity wasn¡¯t hurting anyone else - unless, like, he made a critical mistake in a fight or something because of it - so I wasn¡¯t going to force the issue, and force healing on him.


    Aegion laughed at that, and offered a fistbump. After a bit of miming, gnoll number two figured it out, and the two of them bumped fists.


    ¡°Awarthril! I¡¯m going to break out the good stuff!¡± He shouted, heading towards where Awarthril had put down the Spatial Box.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t poison them all.¡± Awarthril knuckled her forehead, clearly imagining Aegion breaking out his ¡®good stuff¡¯ and the usual reaction to that.


    ¡®Gave everyone an involuntary firehose from both ends¡¯ was generally considered to be breaking quite a few rules of hospitality.


    Although¡­


    ¡°It could be great experience for me if he does!¡± I cheerfully poured gas onto Awarthril¡¯s worries, chuckling internally as the crease lines on her forehead deepened.


    ¡°Same stuff as the trolls!¡± Aegion happily informed Awarthril.


    She put a hand to her chest and gave a sigh of relief.


    ¡°I thought that was finished four nights ago!¡± I protested.


    Aegion snorted.


    ¡°Did you really think I¡¯d let all of a successful brew go, and not reserve a few for myself?¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡± I weakly protested.


    ¡°He¡¯s right you know.¡± Serondes¡¯s words just twisted the knife.


    I shut up before I could jam my foot deeper into my mouth, and tagged gnoll number three as she ran past.


    She didn¡¯t speak a word of elvish - Creation? - but the way she threw off her bandages, and was whooping and hollering as she ran around the camp, showing off the new arm to everyone, made it more than obvious what her feelings were on the matter.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to make sure Aegion¡¯s not about to poison everyone.¡± Serondes started to walk over to where Aegion had gotten a barrel of his brew out, and was busy making a dozen new friends. Free beer was free beer, no matter the culture.


    Suuuuuuuuuuuure he was.


    ¡°You¡¯re just trying to get a drink before it¡¯s all gone!¡± I accused him, his motives as transparent as Awarthril¡¯s invisibility.


    ¡°Nope.¡± Serondes wasn¡¯t convincing.


    ¡°Save me one!¡± I called out.


    No way was I getting any. Not with a caravan of thirsty gnolls, Serondes and Awarthril digging in, and the absolutely prodigious amount that Kiyaya could lap up.


    Such was my life of hardship and sacrifice for the noble greater good.


    I easily dodged a die thrown at me, which helped hammer home a point that until now had been abstract. My speed and vitality were doing good things for my reflexes, even before bullet time came into play. Heck, I had enough stats in them to keep up with weaker physical classers!


    Of course, my definition of ¡°weaker¡± was around level 200 or so.


    It was going to be interesting when I got back to Remus.


    Focus.


    I looked at the direction of the thrown die, only to see gnoll number one looking in sheer horror at one of his buddies. He tried to smack him, but fell over as his buddy danced away.


    Said buddy looked terrified at what he¡¯d done, and quickly caught him and steadied him, as gnoll number one frantically babbled something at me that sounded like an apology.


    I hurried over, and focused on the image of restoring a spine, of reconnecting nerves and restoring cartilage.


    I got some krrrrrrrr¡¯s, like a purring kitten, as gnoll number one kicked his feet happily, then gave me a bone-crushing hug.


    Quite literally, I lost a few points of mana.


    Then he and his friends were dancing, and old eggshells came over.


    ¡°Good. Take. Two small items, or one medium item, no charge. Discount on large.¡±


    I did a double take at the sudden improvement in Thukrur¡¯s language, then wanted to smack myself.


    At this point, it was blindingly obvious that this was a merchant caravan, and Thukrur was a trader. Knowing a bunch of languages to sell stuff in was basic good merchant stuff 201, and of course his command of the language would center around buying and selling.


    We started to walk around, Thukrur talking with the gnolls at each of the wagons. Most of the gnolls at this point were either at the stew, the beer, or on guard duty, with just one gnoll at each wagon.


    They had tons. Clothing, so finely woven as to practically be magic. Exotic spices, so expensive that even a half-pinch counted as a ¡°large¡± item. A different mobile savannah full of gems wrought into exotic jewelry, another filled with books, a third with pretty clothing, a fourth with fine weapons and fancy weapons. Potions, carefully labeled and kept under protective locks in reinforced cases, dried herbs that made me dizzy just sniffing at them. Proper merchants, moving goods with high value and low volume.


    Books - all written in different languages. I needed to become a polyglot. Or get someone to translate for me. A language skill or three would be nice, but I didn¡¯t have the spare slots.


    He left me to my browsing, each wagon guarded by a keen-eyed gnoll who¡¯d gotten instructions on what I was and wasn¡¯t allowed to have.


    I was leafing through the books when [Bullet Time] activated.

 Chapter 250 - Caravan Concerns II

    [Bullet Time]. The skill hadn¡¯t activated since the hydra fight, and even then it had barely mattered. I was still all too familiar with the sensation of the world slowing around me, of an early indication that my life was in mortal peril.


    I didn¡¯t bother questioning the who, the why, any of it. It¡¯d been ages since I was last attacked, but time hadn¡¯t dulled any of my reflexes, nor had it slowed my reactions.


    I was outside, on the outside of the ring that the wagons had made, looking in at some of the books for sale. There were only a few I could read, and I¡¯d been browsing one of them, seeing if I was interested in buying it.


    It was a complex political treaty, and it was as dry as it was long. Irrelevant now.


    I instinctively wrapped myself in [Mantle] as I started to throw myself forward, figuring whatever was coming was trying to hit me from behind. Even if it wasn¡¯t, movement would hopefully foul any shot. Standing still was just dumb. A moment of bullet time later - a fraction of a fraction of a second - I realized my old way of thinking was probably bad, and readjusted.


    I turned my [Mantle] off, and instead wrapped it around the egg, still in its woven glass basket-sash in front of me. If I was going to be doing any tumbling and falling, I needed the egg protected. Plus, I could heal myself. The only thing I could do with a broken egg was break out a frying pan and some salt.


    I started summoning [Kaleidoscope] butterflies, the tiny golden flutterings primed and ready to cause destruction and mayhem. I didn¡¯t have a direction for them yet, but once I did?


    I was stretched out, halfway through my tuck and roll when I felt cold metal violating my back. My spine was the first to go, snapped cleanly in half as the spearhead plunged into my body. I felt myself starting to collapse, my trajectory changing as I lost all sensation in the lower half of my body. My knowledge of anatomy hadn¡¯t been weakened by losing [Medicine], and I was all too aware that it was my stomach¡¯s turn to be perforated, every agonizing twist and muscle ripped transmitted to my mind in slow motion.


    [Bullet Time]. Great for detailed, up-close analysis of how, exactly, I was being ripped apart. My least favorite aspect of the skill.


    Now that a spear was piercing through me, I had a lot more information. Like the nature of the attack, and the likely proximity and direction of said attacker. I wasn¡¯t dealing with an Aegion-style snipe, there weren¡¯t poison gases being pumped in, there wasn¡¯t a bird dropping out of the sky. Just a good, old-fashioned skewering.


    Again. Honestly, I wanted to complain about how often I was being stabbed in the back, but it was just plain good sense. Why attack someone from the front when they can hit me in the back? Why give a warning of an attack? It didn¡¯t benefit them. It was too much to hope that the people trying to kill me were morons.


    One upside of them being smart though - they were aiming for the center of mass, and not some fancy move like a headshot - which was the only attack that actually scared me.


    It was a heartfelt attack, in that I could feel it in my heart.


    Another benefit of being attacked in the same way, with physical weapons? I knew how to handle it. I had training, experience, and reflexes for these types of fights. I knew what the best course of action was, and I¡¯d practiced it endlessly.


    Uncaring about any books that might end up in the line of fire, I launched my butterflies behind me, roughly along the axis of the spear that was busy going through me. I then fired a pinpoint Radiance beam behind me, aiming for what I thought might roughly be the center of mass.


    The irony of aiming for the center of mass right after rolling my eyes about the attacker aiming for mine wasn¡¯t lost on me.


    As I fell, as I burned and bled, I started to turn my head. I wanted a better view of what was going on, to change my Radiance attack from ¡°hit something¡± to ¡°brain and kill.¡± As I was falling, I felt a cold corrosion start to spread from the attack, eating at my body, some skill working against me. I had a realization, pieces of a puzzle clicking together.


    A trade caravan from up north. A surprise assassination attempt. Gnolls who didn¡¯t want to be healed.


    Shimagu.


    I finished turning, finished falling, the egg bouncing out of its pocket sash-basket, rolling safely away inside of [Mantle]. I finished feeling the cross of the boar spear slam into my back, the tip emerging from my stomach, only to promptly pin me to the ground. The one-eyed gnoll was leering at me.


    His face was locked in a vicious snarl, and the muscles and technique suggested a warrior. Not that it mattered. My butterflies were swarming nearer, about to explode. I¡¯d burned straight through his chest, hitting a lung if his anatomy was anything like a human¡¯s. Years of training and combat experience had me reflexively beaming a ray of needle-thin Radiance through his head, aiming for a quick kill.


    Then I realized - if he was being controlled by a body snatcher, couldn¡¯t the body be controlled, even if the brain was dead?


    I flipped my Radiance beam to be more like a plane, trying to burn the gnoll clean in half from his left shoulder to his right hip, figuring I¡¯d hit whatever was inside of him and kill that as well. I spared a second smaller ¡°slash¡± for his neck, figuring that decapitation was also a good move. I wasn¡¯t sure how large a shimagu was, or where they tended to be inside of a body.


    If I removed enough pieces of the body, if I sliced him into little parts? Sheer anatomy and biology would dictate that the corpse couldn¡¯t move anymore, and I¡¯d be safe one way or another.


    I didn¡¯t spare any mana for trying to blind him. The only skill I had for that was [Radiance Conjuration], and all of that was busy trying to cut him in half. I was feeling the loss of [Lantern] just a bit.


    I didn¡¯t have the practice of rapidly flickering my Radiance attacks like Hakka did, and I wasn¡¯t going to start trying now. Old patterns and habits had served me well so far.


    Which it was doing with remarkable effectiveness. [Solar Flare] was doing work.


    The gnoll was twisting the spear, trying to rip and shred my internals, turning a localized area of me into paste. The creeping coldness was spreading, and I spared a half-thought towards it - why wasn¡¯t my healing just destroying it?


    The first wave of butterflies hit, and it was all over from there. Wave after wave of glittering explosions erupted over his body, the loudest noise that¡¯d occurred so far.


    Hang on.


    Shimagu.


    Body-snatcher.


    Controller.


    I didn¡¯t need to kill the host!


    Yet, all of my training and experience had directed me elsewhere, had deeply ingrained lethal reflexes into my psyche, my habits. Someone came at me with a spear? Kill them dead, as quickly and efficiently as possible.


    I was concerningly good at it.


    The thought flitted through my head, right as the third wave of butterflies were exploding, each lepidopteran turning into a bright ball of Radiance.


    Something gave way.


    Everything happened super fast, practically on top of each other, even with [Bullet Time] speeding my perception up insane amounts.


    [*ding! You have slain a [Vekrr Caravan Guard Leader] (Metal, 301)//[Hunter of the Open Plains] (Forest, 278)]


    As I got the notification, he crumbled, and my Radiance ¡°slashes¡± went right through him, neatly bisecting him and taking off his head.


    Shit. I was totally going to get penaliz-


    [*ding! You have slain a [Cruel Tyrant] (Ooze, 311)//[Harbinger of Curses and Corruption] (Dark, 290)]


    [Reminder: Oaths are binding. -1 to all levels]


    The words burned in my mind, the System reminder searing my brain as the pain started.


    The pain inflicted by the System, the penalty for violating the oath, was full-body. It ignored pesky things like ¡°My spine is severed and I can¡¯t feel my legs¡± - the punishment didn¡¯t care about that. It started off as full-body pain, dialed up to impossible heights, entirely bypassing [Center of the Universe].


    I screamed as I jerked on the ground, acting like a fish out of water. I tried to hold my head, rub my arms, hug myself, bang on my thighs, anything, anything to get the pain to stop, to get the agony to lessen. The thought of killing myself to end the pain briefly flitted across my consciousness, but to that, I held strong. One enduring thought entered my mind, and I held onto it.


    It gets better.


    Dimly, as I spasmed on the ground, I was aware that I wasn¡¯t healing. Not healing properly, at least. I had [Dance with the Heavens] on persistent casting, and in a brief moment of lucidity I tried to pulse the skill again. My mana continued to steadily trickle down. The only thing that I could tell was happening was the pool of blood - my blood - that I was lying in grew larger, as my renal artery did its best firehose impression, trying to dump the entirety of my life¡¯s most vital fluid onto the dirt, mixing it into a disgusting mud.


    Mud that I was coating myself in as I jerked in pain, hot brands pressed to my flesh. I swear I could smell myself cooking. The creeping agony of a rotting leg trickling through me, the System sadistically showing me how Lyra had felt in her last days, her last moments.


    I gritted my teeth, grinding them so hard they¡¯d break if it wasn¡¯t for my absurd vitality and puny strength. I bore down on the problem again, focusing my healing on one small part of my injury. I could feel that section closing off, but other parts of my wound started to open up.


    Then my focus was broken, as a new wave of System-inflicted torture washed over me.


    The pain of my fingers being clipped off, of a cloth covering my face and water being poured over it, of losing a loved one, of my bones growing into my flesh, nails on chalkboard, terrible smells and awful visions. The System was a sadistic monster, finding dozens, hundreds of new ways to torment me with each second.


    I was yelling, screaming, trying to make it stop. My cries of pain petered out as I forced more and more air out of my lungs, unable to pause long enough to draw breath.


    Bleeding.


    Bleeding.


    Bleeding.


    So much blood, all of it mine.


    Was this the end? Coated in filth, tortured to death by the System as I slowly bled out, my mana pool 80% full and not doing anything?


    Had the System restricted my skills while I was in the penalty period?


    I saw the elves finish rushing over, the entire ordeal having only been a moment.


    So far.


    I saw Serondes, fist coated in Lava, punching down at me. I wanted to scream, but I had no voice, my (now-ex) boyfriend trying to straight-out murder me when I was down and out. More pain, more heartache, adding into the sheer torture the System was putting me through.


    A familiar crow perched on his shoulder. My mind clearing for a brief, lucid second as I gazed upon Black Crow¡¯s visage. He was here, at the end, waiting to claim me.


    Well shit.


    Serondes¡¯s punch landed, the Lava-coated fist punching straight through my shield, straight through me.


    The pain lessened, as there was less of me to feel pain, and the bleeding briefly slowed down, as the heat seared and burned my insides to a crisp. The familiar smell of pork reached my nose, and with how fast it happened, I couldn¡¯t tell if it was real, or the System taunting me, reminding me of the people I¡¯d burned alive. Then he pulled his hand back, re-destroying me on the back stroke, and with a snap, like the world coming into focus, my insides all healed up, perfect flesh replacing my destroyed organs.


    Which launched me into a whole new world of pain. I forced myself to breath, just to curl up and scream more.


    And scream.


    Scream.


    SCREAM.


    All bleeding stops, either because it¡¯s stemmed or because a patient bleeds out.


    Screaming, as it turned out, was the same. The only thing that stopped my cries of agony was my voice giving out, refusing to move.


    Trying to move, adding new pain, new sensations to the ceaseless torture the System was putting me through.


    When it finally ended, I found myself curled in a sobbing, miserable ball in Serondes¡¯s arms. Tears had rolled down my face, mixed with blood and scrapes of skin and flesh where I¡¯d clawed at myself, literally half-tearing myself to pieces to try and get the pain to stop.


    Serondes was holding me close, holding me tight, his fancy outfit utterly ruined.


    ¡°Has it stopped? Is she awake? Elaine? Elaine! My gods, Elaine!¡± Awarthril rushed over and knelt down next to Serondes, helping lift me up.


    I was wobbly on my feet, and I couldn¡¯t support myself. Serondes and Awarthril threw one of my arms over their shoulder each, and half-carried me.


    With the height difference, that had my feet dangling in the air, and after a moment they gave up, and Serondes just scooped me up.


    ¡°Elaine, come on, speak to us! Tell us something! Anything?¡± Awarthril was practically begging.


    ¡°She¡¯s hurt! She just stopped being in pain. I think we should give her a minute.¡± Serondes bit back.


    I mutely nodded, a tiny signal that I was aware, and that, like, I hadn¡¯t gone insane from the pain. It was entirely possible.


    I started to piece together my thoughts.


    First, where was I?


    I was¡­ being carried by Serondes. Yeah. That was a good start.


    Speaking of, Serondes was re-promoted back to boyfriend. The Lava punch had quite literally saved me. Or maybe not? I had been¡­ bleeding. Bleeding quite badly. My injury hadn¡¯t been healing, but the major concern was rapid blood loss leading to death. As much as I liked food, as important as I considered eating, it wasn¡¯t super-duper-instantly critical, the same way missing my stomach, and my liver and kidney being pulped were. And the blood loss. Yeah.


    Whatever had been interfering with my healing hadn¡¯t stopped me from regenerating blood - or from throwing up a shield to try and block Serondes. Hadn¡¯t been-


    Shield. Shield had been protecting the egg.


    The egg!!


    ¡°....eh¡­¡± I half gasped out, my voice failing me. I tried to wriggle free of Serondes¡¯s grip, only failing because I was as weak as a kitten.


    Awarthril was there in a flash, hovering over me like a mother hen.


    ¡°Yes Elaine? What is it?¡± She said, leaning over in an awkward way so her ears were near me, without goring Serondes on her magnificent horns.


    I tried to swallow, half-coughed, then managed to get enough saliva to swallow and try again.


    ¡°Egg.¡± I whispered out.


    ¡°Egg! Serondes?¡± Awarthril neatly stepped back.


    ¡°I have secured the egg Elaine.¡± Serondes turned around, showing me a pillar of Lava where the egg was neatly nestled.


    Best. Boyfriend. Ever.


    ¡°What happened?¡± Serondes looked down at me, care in his eyes.


    I paused for a moment. I didn¡¯t want to reveal my [Oath] contents - although they knew I had a restriction skill - but they should know what had happened.


    ¡°[Oath].¡± I was starting to get my voice back, but I still felt like shit.


    Awarthril made a pained noise, sucking in air through her teeth.


    ¡°Ooooh, those can be nasty. It¡¯s why I never took one. Bound to the same ideals forever, and generally the same line of classes? An eternity of it? Noooooo thank you. You¡¯re braver than I am for taking one of those.¡±


    I was too exhausted to point out the obvious, that I had no idea that I¡¯d be Immortal when I took the oath, that I¡¯d been a dumb kid playing with magic for the first time.


    I weakly pointed at the egg, and Serondes carried me over. I grabbed at the egg, my fingers slipping off of it.


    Hang on. I was dumb. Or rather, not thinking well because of what had just happened. I pulsed [Sunrise] through myself, energizing and revitalizing myself.


    Somewhat. Not everything I¡¯d been through could just be waved off with one skill.


    I reached out again, grabbing the egg firmly and cradling it near me. I slowly rolled it around, checking it over. Everything seemed fine, and I held it close, putting the heat back in, making sure it was all good with [Egg Incubation].


    I wanted to put it back into the sash, but there was too much dried blood caking every inch of the flexible glass.


    ¡°Elaine, I know you¡¯ve had a bad time of it, but can you please confirm that no other gnoll has a Shimagu? We¡¯ve got them arranged for you.¡± Serondes said.


    That was somewhat ominous, but I weakly nodded my assent. What else was there to do?


    Serondes carried me over to where the gnolls were, and I winced slightly at the sight. All of them were on their knees, with some having a collar of hardened Lava some of their necks, connected by hard stone to similar manacles around their wrists and ankles. I could see the faint remains of burn scars, and I mentally noted that I should get some good [Cosmic Presence] levels from all this.


    The rest had a mixture of manacles and Ooze binding and wrapping them up, Awarthril and Serondes having bound and chained everyone down.


    Cordamo was flying in lazy circles above them, making sure nobody tried anything, while Kiyaya silently prowled behind them, occasionally making some soft growls. Aegion was a distance away, his bow out but relaxed, an arrow ready to be drawn and fired.


    I wasn¡¯t entirely sure about it, but there didn¡¯t seem to be as many gnolls now as when we first met up with them.


    The sun was cooperating, and nobody was in the shade. With a thought, I turned on [Dance with the Heavens], increasing the range with [Wheel of Sun and Moon]. I focused primarily on burn injuries, focusing on how the raw heat of Lava caused proteins to denature, on how damage propagated through tissue. I then added in killing, destroying, and removing parasites, and added in an all-purpose ¡°heal¡± to the end of it, figuring I¡¯d catch any small, lingering problems, and putting the gnolls all to perfect health as my way of apologizing for what the elves had done.


    I lost around 30% of my mana. The cross-species penalty, the range they were at, the mediocre image, and most importantly, the number of gnolls needing to be healed all contributed. I didn¡¯t get any notifications about killing Shimagu, and I felt my blood run cold.


    I¡¯d just tried to actively kill an intelligent creature that had done nothing to me. Holy. I¡¯d just gotten so lucky. I didn¡¯t want to imagine what would¡¯ve happened if I¡¯d violated [Oath] twice in a row, back to back like that. And violated it that deliberately, that badly.


    I needed to do some thinking on that thought. Why had I assumed trying to heal someone else from a shimagu infestation would cause an [Oath] penalty? Was that right?


    Well, I didn¡¯t want to risk it right now.


    ¡°Done.¡± I croaked out. I might be strong enough to stand now, but Serondes holding me was nice. I wanted comfort.


    The bindings started to crumble, the gnolls being released. They mostly stayed still, and I stopped paying attention to them.


    My mind wandered back to the attack, and my inability to properly heal. Well, I had been healing, healing almost everything else besides the attack. I¡¯d been able to heal blood loss - hence not passing out - and I¡¯d still been able to use my skills.


    Which was suggestive that there had been counter-skills at play. I replayed the incident in my mind, how my wound had kept opening, even without additional help from my assailant.


    Yeah, I¡¯d bet a bunch of rods that I¡¯d been hit with a half-dozen curse or wound-enhancement skills, and one of them just so happened to be a healing rate-limiter, or something like that. I¡¯d only been able to give a trickle of healing towards the injury, which had fought back against the healing by trying to open shit up more. A neat one-two punch, designed to kill the target in one blow - even if a healer got to them.


    I almost had to applaud the combination. It was good. Didn¡¯t make me any happier to have been on the receiving end of it, especially with the [Oath] penalty.


    ¡°Ok, Serondes, bring Elaine over here.¡± Awarthril beckoned Serondes over, and we went into the tall ferns by the side of the road.


    A glorious vision awaited me. A hot bath, with a pillar of Lava keeping the entire thing hot.


    ¡°Right, we need to get you cleaned up.¡± Awarthril brought out soap and a brush and other implements of dirt destruction.


    Bless her.


    I had some serious thinking on [Oath] to do.

 Chapter 251.1 - Ethical Examinations

    I stripped, my clothes remaining annoyingly clean and pristine, and gratefully sank down into the hot pool. I tried to do it smoothly, but my legs betrayed me, and I plonked into the bath instead. I idly pulled on my fingers one at a time, double-checking that, yes, they were still there.


    Still intact.


    It hadn¡¯t been real. Well, not real real. Felt real enough.


    Fuck [Pristine Memories] so hard right now. I needed to evolve the skill, and get some ¡°selective deletion¡± going on.


    I was Filthy with a capital F, bloody mud mixing in with fleshy scraps all over my body. I was still trembling somewhat, which didn¡¯t go unnoticed by the elves.


    Awarthril joined me a moment later, armed with a brush and a bar of primitive soap.


    Seriously, was there anything the elves didn¡¯t travel with?


    ¡°Serondes, shoo, get. I¡¯m sure Elaine loves spending time with you, but not right this second.¡± A naked Awarthril menaced Serondes with a brush. He held his hands up in surrender.


    ¡°Alright, alright. I¡¯ll be in earshot if you want me.¡± He raised some privacy walls for us as he left.


    Awarthril started to attack me with the brush.


    ¡°Um. Awarthril.¡± I said, half-drowning under her ¡®tender ministrations¡¯.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Can I do this myself?¡±


    Awarthril looked at the brush like it¡¯d personally offended her.


    ¡°Of course.¡± She said after a moment¡¯s hesitation. She thrust the implements of dirt destruction into my hands, and gracefully, without even making a splash, barely a ripple, left the pool.


    I slowly started to scrub, not really focusing or paying attention to what I was doing. I was grime incarnate, it didn¡¯t matter where I was cleaning, I was getting gob after gob of crud off of me.


    My mind wandered back to my [Oath], and what I¡¯d done wrong.


    The obvious violation was ¡°First, do no harm.¡± The penalty had come right as I¡¯d killed the gnoll, although the timing of everything had resulted in me managing to kill the shimagu right as the punishment had started.


    Lucky me. If things had gone just a hair differently, I would¡¯ve died, crippled by pain and easy pickings for the shimagu.


    Speaking of - what the fuck had been the shimagu¡¯s plan?? It wasn¡¯t like I was about to force a heal, nor did it seem like he¡¯d been at any risk of discovery. The attack was out of the blue, and I couldn¡¯t figure out why. It didn¡¯t seem that important. Best thing I could think of was [Cosmic Presence] had been strong enough to cause some serious issues to the shimagu, and I didn¡¯t look like I was leaving quickly enough.


    Right.


    Shimagu were a new twist on [Oath], and something I needed to figure out. I¡¯d worked with Night a bunch, figuring out the ins and outs of my [Oath] and restriction skills, but this was a new twist.


    Well, I should start with the basics. What was Night¡¯s wording again? The basic fundamentals on Restriction skills?


    [Pristine Memories] to the rescue!


    Some significant editing of the memory was needed though, to remove all of Night¡¯s thoughtful pauses and steps we took in between, the ancient vampire giving me time to process and comprehend what he was saying.


    ¡°Restriction skills are a strange beast. They are among the most powerful, complex, and convoluted aspect to the System that I know of. You must believe, in a powerful way, the words you speak and, in your case, the Oath you have chosen to bind yourself with. The words form the basics, the Restriction skill creating an absolute baseline from which you can not violate. However, if that was all there was to the skill, it would not be nearly so complex. No, your beliefs form another large portion of the skill, what you are and are not capable of doing. One who attempts a Restriction skill, intending to only fit with the bare minimum of the requirements, does not posses the correct mindset to gain such a skill. Your beliefs and values will change and evolve over time, and even another, having spoken the same words and taken the same skill, may not be operating under the same principles that you are. An action you believe to be permissible could be anathema to them, and the opposite holds true. A good example of your beliefs changing, if I recall correctly, would be how your mind changed on sparring. Additionally¡­¡±


    Gods, I missed the long-winded bastard. Home. Soon.


    I should emulate his example, and take on apprentices now and then, or at least train people. Keep me grounded and young. Thoughts for another day¡­ but I could see the value in it.


    The baseline he was talking about was the same for everyone with the same Restriction skill. To put it another way - there was the spirit of my [Oath], and the letter of my [Oath]. I needed to follow both.


    I had some flexibility on what I believed the spirit of [Oath] was, but practically none on the letter. The closest I came to bending the letter of [Oath] was in defining what ¡°Harm¡± was.


    Accidentally bumping into someone in a crowd wasn¡¯t harm.


    Accidentally stepping on someone¡¯s foot wasn¡¯t harm.


    The only harm in punching Artemis¡¯s arm was when she punched me back twice as hard.


    Speaking of harm, there was my current fighting style. I had no illusions that my current style would remain my style forever. As my skills evolved, as I got a new class, as my stats grew, I¡¯d find new optimal methods of combat, and would need to constantly readjust my thinking with [Oath] to accommodate it.


    Radiance magic was great for a lot of things, and terrible for others. I loved it to death, but being blind to its flaws was a great way to end up dead, and I¡¯d worked too hard, struggled too much, to make a dumb mistake that¡¯d get me killed. One of the great advantages of Radiance was my ability to hit exactly what I wanted. My narrow, burning beams of destruction could snipe insects out of the sky if I wanted to.


    I should totally practice that, thinking about it.


    Focus.


    Right now, my combat focus was on narrow Radiance beams. Good for a lot of stuff, but I had to be careful with it. Specifically, I needed to worry about what happened once I burned through someone. If there was a second person behind them, lower level?


    Oops, I wasn¡¯t careful enough wasn¡¯t an excuse for [Oath]. I could maybe, if I squinted really hard and tilted my head, see someone else with the same Restriction skill not be penalized for that sort of mistake, have their spirit of the rules permit that type of careless collateral damage.


    I knew I was better than that, so it wasn¡¯t an excuse.


    ¡°Yes, I burned down an entire town, but I was defending my patient! Sure, 20,000 people died, but my patient¡¯s ok!¡±


    That would never fly with me. At all. I just didn¡¯t believe it.


    Apart from potential ¡°burn-throughs¡±, between my own ethics, and Radiance¡¯s ability to hit exactly what I wanted and nothing more, I was pretty darn good at only hitting - and killing - people who were attacking me.It wasn¡¯t Lightning, which could branch and arc to new targets. It wasn¡¯t like Earth, where people could move out of the way before an attack landed. It was narrow, focused, targeted, and instant.


    I¡¯d been attacked by the gnoll, or at least, it had looked like I was being attacked by the gnoll. However, the poor dude had been body-jacked. It wasn¡¯t him attacking me, it was the shimagu in the driver¡¯s seat. The body was just a puppet, the poor gnoll trapped inside his own mind, screaming as someone else piloted him to infiltrate his group, then commit murder. In all this, the gnoll himself never tried to attack me. Never tried to hurt me.


    Never lifted a paw against me.


    That was how I saw it. I recognized that I was being a hair militant here, and was stretching the spirit of [Oath] in the most generous direction. Most people probably would be fine with the actions I¡¯d taken. I believed I was better though. I had to be better.


    It¡¯s just who I was.


    What was interesting was the difference between self-perception, and reality. It mattered if the gnoll was a willing participant or not, regardless of my knowledge of it. If the gnoll had been a willing collaborator, I wouldn¡¯t have been punished, even if I thought he was unwilling. There was both my perception of the events, and the reality of the events. If the reality overrode my perception, I was off scott-free.


    For example, if I was walking down the street, and I randomly killed someone, just because. If the person was an illusion, a mirage?


    I hadn¡¯t violated [Oath]. Because nobody had been harmed.


    My beliefs and perceptions influenced the rules of [Oath], not the determination if I¡¯d violated it or not.


    There were some aspects of the [Oath]-rules that asked ¡°What did I see/know around me?¡± - but the rule asked about what I saw and knew. I couldn¡¯t, like, pretend I hadn¡¯t seen a sick patient.


    For the sin of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, I¡¯d killed him, and that was unforgivable to [Oath]. To be precise - I saw it as an unforgivable crime, one of the worst things I could do to someone. There was no unwinding murder.


    It was probably stricter than needed, but perhaps that unwavering belief was part of why my [Oath] was so powerful. That¡­ didn¡¯t quite make sense, thinking about it. How would the [Oath] back then know what I¡¯d be like today?


    Kiyaya chose the moment to lie down next to me, and gave me a few concerned licks.


    ¡°I¡¯m ok girl.¡± I twisted, scrubbing the top of her head lightly with my brush. She just gave me a concerned whine, and her tail betrayed that, yes, she was feeling somewhat worried.


    I had strongly suspected - no, known - during the fight that he was being controlled, and upon reflection, I had other options. I could¡¯ve poked holes in him until I killed off the shimagu while keeping the gnoll alive, I could¡¯ve tried to heal the shimagu dead. I wasn¡¯t in the habit of trying to heal people attacking me though, while I did have years of reflexes shooting Radiance at people.


    I¡¯d been trained on how to kill people attacking me, in a hundred different ways. I had some experience and training on non-lethal takedowns, and when I had the extraordinary luxury of time, space, and power, I could be merciful. Jaclyn was the best example of that.


    I didn¡¯t believe I had any of those luxuries, let alone all of them, so I¡¯d fallen back into the well-worn grooves in my training. Kill the threat.


    Interestingly, I hadn¡¯t been penalized for drilling holes in the gnoll. Clearly, there was some leeway in my [Oath], some sense of proportionality in my beliefs. In my interpretation of [Oath]. I wasn¡¯t penalized for every little jostle in life, I didn¡¯t scream in agony every time I stepped on someone¡¯s toe. There was nuance to my [Oath], recognition - from myself - that it wasn¡¯t possible to be perfect, simply that I had to strive for it.


    By the same token, being body-jacked and attacking me let me perform considerable harm on the gnoll without any penalty. However, murder was a step too far.


    Interesting that I thought that way. Why did I think that way?


    I¡¯d always tried to avoid collateral damage, and today¡¯s events reinforced that - I could only lethally attack people who were attacking me. I only wanted to attack, and hurt people who were attacking me. Bystanders were off-limits.


    Which had some interesting implications, that I had always subconsciously thought, but never vocalized.

 Chapter 251.2 - Ethical Examinations

    [Oath] was like my own personal safety. Nobody was allowed to be attacked, nobody could be harmed. Unless they were attacking me, or a patient of mine. Then, it wasn¡¯t that I was allowed to do anything needed to protect myself or my patient, no. I was simply allowed to fight the attacker back, with lethal force if needed. However, I couldn¡¯t, for example, blow up a barrel that would kill someone else and the attacker. I couldn¡¯t burn a building filled with people down just to get a half-dozen people who wanted my life.


    [Oath] had always only ever allowed me to attack people who it was reasonable to assume were currently, actively trying to cause great immediate physical harm to me.


    Back to the gnoll. If he had, say, been trapped in some magical contraption that was moving his limbs, and said movements were trying to hurt me, killing the gnoll wasn¡¯t the answer. He didn¡¯t want to be there anymore than I did. The answer was destroying the magical contraption that was forcing him to move, and it was good to know that I believed that could cause me issues.


    I couldn¡¯t just get up and change my beliefs, not without serious discussion and thought as to the why. There needed to be a good reason, a belief that I was serving people better as a result. The sparring was an excellent example of that - I went from ¡°no, hurting people a bit during a spar is harm, and therefore bad¡± to ¡°This helps them down the line, makes them grow and improve. A few minor bumps, bruises, and cuts now could save their life tomorrow.¡±


    An evolution in my beliefs, changing how I perceived the world, and the rules [Oath] operated under.


    I should stick with someone who could protect me from silly situations like that. I glanced at the egg.


    Maybe one day. I had the time, after all, I just needed to get to a place safe enough, for long enough. I was totally going to ask Night for a long break once I got back to Remus.


    Which came to another aspect of how I saw [Oath]. I couldn¡¯t be the one giving orders, but if someone else was doing the killing? I had few issues standing by. Like the Rangers executing Hesoid. Zero problems there. I didn¡¯t feel the need to step into fights, not unless someone asked me for help or the ¡°fight¡± was just a slow torture.


    The last part wasn¡¯t [Oath] enforced, just how I saw things.


    The pirates hadn¡¯t been the same as the gnoll. I had every reason to believe that all of the pirates actively meant me harm. The pirate captain had ordered his troops to murder me, I¡¯d told them how to surrender, or indicate they were out of the fight, and from there, it was reasonable to assume that I was being attacked, and I responded in force.


    Even the poor pirate I¡¯d used as a meat shield - he was an attacker at first, and when he became a thick, renewable fleshy shield, he was still an attacker. I was throwing him in front of blades, but that style of attack was legitimate. The only grey area that I wasn¡¯t entirely sure about, was if it was ethical to keep healing him, and keep him alive.


    There was something to be said about ¡°Not using my healing to effectively torture someone¡±, but in the end, he¡¯d been one of the survivors. The fact that I hadn¡¯t been penalized for my actions told me that I believed in life, above all.


    Now, helping a torturer? Fuck no. That¡¯d never be me.


    That being said, I couldn¡¯t grab random passersby to use as meat shields. There wasn¡¯t too much difference between stabbing someone with a spear, and throwing someone else in the way of a spear. Not when the person in question wasn¡¯t trying to hurt me.


    I¡¯d be shocked if anyone with the same baseline [Oath] that I had would think differently.


    Which brought up some thought-provoking situations. Some impossible situations as well, ones where I¡¯d get backed into a corner because of [Oath] and had no way to escape.


    Invisible bystander in the way of my beams? Even if I had no knowledge of them, accidentally murdering someone was still killing them, the ultimate harm. It sucked, but I doubted I¡¯d find anyone willing to stand in front of me, completely invisible, and let themselves get murdered just so someone else would have a chance at killing me.


    Much likelier was someone using an invisible hostage, but then again, an invisible hostage was generally worthless. The point of hostages was deterrence after all. If someone knew exactly what my [Oath] was, but somehow didn¡¯t know about my Radiance magic, maybe they¡¯d try it. Seemed unlikely. My Radiance magic was a lot more public than my [Oath].


    Good to know that my protections extended to bystanders I didn¡¯t know about. On one hand, it would be a pain to deal with. On the other, it gave me a certain peace of mind. I knew myself. I knew where I stood, what my values were. I had utter confidence in them, in the rock-solid knowledge that I was right.


    The whole scenario seemed ridiculously far-fetched though.


    Speaking of hostages. I couldn¡¯t laser through them, but if someone else killed the hostages, that wasn¡¯t on me. Like with the pirates. A solid wall of meat shields could cause me grief, but Radiance had strong pinpoint precision. Any spare leg, any trailing arm, any eyes poking over the side were fair game, and I could confidently blast those.


    I shot at a pirate, and they slit the throat of a hostage?


    Not my fault.


    This was probably an area where I was close to the baseline of [Oath], where other people wouldn¡¯t have the same flexibility and leeway. I only took responsibility for my direct actions. I took no responsibility at all for the actions other people took, or the knock-off effects of my actions.


    Healed a serial killer? They strike again the next night?


    Not my fault. People were responsible for their own actions.


    It was unlikely, but given my lifespan, inevitable that one day I¡¯d have a patient, that over the course of me treating them I¡¯d discover they were committing terrible crimes. That would be a tricky day, with my vow to keep patient information confidential clashing with the need and duty to stop them.


    I¡¯d figure that one when I came to it. I had some vague ideas, that if I started exploring now I¡¯d never leave this bath.


    One situation I¡¯d covered before - someone who wasn¡¯t currently attacking me, but was about to. [Oath] didn¡¯t demand I be stupid. Someone who was clearly about to attack me was fair game.


    How did all this jive with ¡°I will only take up my knife to defend my patient or myself¡±? My current interpretation seemed to be more of a ¡°Punish people attacking me¡± or ¡°Stop people attacking me¡± rather than ¡°Do anything needed to protect myself and my patients.¡±


    At the same time, I could already take extraordinary measures to protect myself and my patients. The way the current fight had shaken out had demonstrated the edges of those measures. The only thing my ethics and morales barred me from doing, related to life and death fights, was seriously harming other people.


    Broken bones and below? Yeah, sorry, girl¡¯s gotta live. I could patch them up after.


    Oh sure, there were the parts about not charging people to learn medicine, and keeping a patient¡¯s health information confidential. I seriously doubted that those would ever be important in a fight, and for practical purposes, I was thinking about the harm clause, and the edges of it.


    Time for some trickier problems.


    What could I do about someone who¡¯d been taken over by a shimagu, but was currently restrained and unable to harm me? Could I heal them to death?


    Assuming, of course, that I couldn¡¯t talk the shimagu out of the body, or bluff a threat or something.


    My instincts sharply veered towards ¡°no¡±, although I was deeply conflicted on the matter. Like, yes, it could easily be argued that the person who¡¯d been taken prisoner by the shimagu was my patient. The line ¡®I will apply all measures that are required to my patients¡¯ demanded that I heal them, that I fix and restore them to full health, necessitating the removal of the shimagu. There was also the line ¡°I will defend the patients under my care from harm and injustice¡±, and yikes, being held in perpetual slavery was one hell of an injustice.


    Flipping it on its head for a moment though.


    ¡®I will not discriminate who I heal based on class, sex, race, what gods they pray to, nor by any other means¡¯ strongly pointed towards treating the shimagu as a patient. They were an intelligent race of creatures, and it was a cruel twist of fate that forced them to be a parasite. I didn¡¯t have all the details, but if I was told that shimagu required a host to live, like most parasites? I¡¯d totally believe it. I should follow up on that thought.


    Two patients, strongly linked, and healing one would harm the other.


    Well, minor correction.


    Healing the shimagu would do almost nothing.


    Healing the host would kill the shimagu in cold blood.


    ¡®Healing is my art.¡®


    When I was making my class, I¡¯d firmly rejected the notion of reverse healing, of getting skills that perverted my healing into a force of destruction. Healing an intelligent creature to death screamed like a violation of that ideal. Mostly. I was still fully comfortable healing a shimagu to death when attacked.


    Where did I come down on healing shimagu who were just going about their business?


    I was no great arbiter of justice, in spite of my job. I was no great heroine, in spite of nearly taking [The Rising Dawn] as a class. I was, fundamentally, a healer. What was the healer¡¯s answer to this problem?


    When in doubt, medical ethics had strong guidelines.


    Beneficence. I should act in the best interest of the patient. This one was generally easy, extra-so since my skills leaned heavily towards helping, with limited ability to harm. The two patients had conflicting best interests though, and I was trying to properly thread the needle here.


    Autonomy. A patient had the right to choose their treatment. This was the principle that I, quite frankly, had the least attachment to, and was the weakest of the lot. My healing aura automatically helped heal people, and I¡¯d often blasted my heal with [Wheel of Sun and Moon] with no regard to who was inside of it, their injuries, or if they wanted healing or not. I¡¯d also heal people if I believed it was for the greater good, like in Perinthus, that old man who didn¡¯t want to be healed. I¡¯d healed him anyways, because the greater good of the community outweighed his wishes.


    I paid some lip service to the principle. When the one-eyed gnoll hadn¡¯t wanted healing initially, I hadn¡¯t forced the issue. I¡¯d let him go.


    Not exactly a great guideline to what the right decision was.


    Justice. Allocating scarce resources to where they would do the most good. Important in Perinthus, important in mass casualty events, but the only real impact it had on my life at this point was deciding where I should go on Sentinel missions. I had enough stats and skills to be able to blow through nearly any healing problem, barring being caught in a war or something. This principle didn¡¯t help decide what the right decision was.


    Nonmaleficence. I shouldn¡¯t be the cause of harm. Well, this one was pretty clear. Option one was murder. Option two was having someone continue to be imprisoned.

 Chapter 251.3 - Ethical Examinations

    As much as I¡¯d like to say death before slavery, as much as I fought being tied down and bound myself, I wasn¡¯t going to pretend that being a slave was worse than death. Not in my books. There was a reason I didn¡¯t try to murder every slave owner in Remus. There was a reason I healed slaves, then didn¡¯t try to break them out of slavery. From some angles, I should. From others?


    I was a healer. My fight against slavery was slower, gentler. Less likely to succeed. I pressured people not to have slaves, I refused to use them myself. But if I wanted to fight every slave owner in Remus?


    I¡¯d have to start with Kallisto, and probably Julius, Night, and the rest of the Sentinels to start off with. The institution was deeply ingrained in society, and uprooting it was the work of a lifetime.


    Many, many, many lifetimes. Good thing I had those, and the ability to slowly make changes that would persist. Unlike so many rebellions that were brutally put down, or even if they had succeeded, there would just be more of the same. No, I¡¯d need wealth and power to influence changes


    Focus.


    When push came to shove, [Oath] would probably let me heal a random passerby of a shimagu without penalty. It was a sufficiently grey area, but not a super dark one. However, my own ethics pointed strongly that such an action, even if permitted by my [Oath], wasn¡¯t correct. [Oath] and my ethics weren¡¯t totally intertwined. They weren¡¯t always going to align exactly.


    Shimagu were people, and I wasn¡¯t in the business of dishing out as much death as I could. I chose life.


    It was the harder path.


    It galled me to end up at that conclusion. Let me flip it on its head, see if I came to a different conclusion.


    What if a shimagu was trying to take me over? Was that enough harm to myself to become self-defense?


    Maybe¡­ not¡­


    No wait, yes it was, I was a dumbass. I¡¯d utterly steamrolled the pirates for trying something similar, although the first ones had held a knife at my throat, and then the captain had ordered them to kill me.


    Then again, it was a blessedly moot point. No shimagu would ever try to take over a healer that could delete them with a flicker of a thought, and the moment they tried to cause harm to anyone else, I could use that as justification to burn them out of my body.


    Right. All in all, I felt safe from my body being invaded, my own will being violated.


    With all that being said, as much as I was pontificating about shimagu being allowed to live, I hated their model. Total bodyjacking? Slavery of the worst sort?


    No, fuck them with all the rusty knives I could find.


    Now, when the host body of a shimagu was badly hurt, and I needed to choose which one would live? Or heck, maybe it was a case of ¡°both could die¡±?


    It wasn¡¯t quite the case of ¡°save the mother or save the baby¡± - thank goodness modern Earth medicine made that a practically moot question - but there were parallels.


    When given a choice who to heal, and I could only pick one, save one? I could use my own judgement, and ¡°terrible body-jacking slaver¡± ended up near the bottom of my priority list.


    With that being said, they were still on my list of ¡°people to heal¡±, because I swore not to discriminate. ¡°I dislike how you¡¯re forced to live¡± wasn¡¯t on my list of ¡°reasons not to heal someone.¡±


    Now, shimagu infesting a monster or beast of some sort? Yeah, go nuts. I wasn¡¯t exactly big on cow¡¯s rights, except perhaps the cow¡¯s right to end up in my stomach. A shimagu wanted to take over a cow, t-rex, bear, shark, or something else?


    Please, be my guest. I¡¯d even happily heal them up if they were living like that, with a smile on my face. Unless they tried to eat me.


    It was a dragon-eat-dinosaur-eat-human-eat-cow-eat-grass world out there.


    There was the added case of ¡°Ok, you¡¯re a shimagu. I¡¯ve got a perfectly good tiger body right here. Leave the person and go to the tiger, or else.¡±


    Hopefully the threat would be enough.


    I almost wanted to deliberately go around, trying to provoke as many shimagu as I could. ¡°Oooh, look at me! Big scary healer! I¡¯ma get you!¡±


    Now, if they ran away? Not much I could do.


    If they took a swing at me?


    A flicker of thought, and there¡¯d be one less shimagu in the world.


    I recognized that there was some level of cognitive dissonance going on. On one hand, I considered myself a healer, a lifesaver. On the other, I was planning out the best ways to provoke people I disliked into attacking me, so I¡¯d feel justified in killing them. The cognitive dissonance had always been there, but it was getting stronger. Bigger. More obvious.


    Ever since I¡¯d been asked to kill that goblin encampment. Ever since I took a job as a Ranger, as a Sentinel, with a healing mindset.


    There might be - scratch that, there will be - problems for me down the line because of all this. I¡­ probably wasn¡¯t the most stable and well-adjusted individual. Being away from home and stability for so long hadn¡¯t helped.


    With my body count, it¡¯d be frankly alarming if I was.


    I was clearly in shimagu territory at this point, and could assume that the bodyjackers lurked around every corner. This made it relatively easy here and now. Flicker a heal at attackers, then if that didn¡¯t work, murder them dead.


    What about when I returned home?


    I had more than a little Artemis inside of me. I would still probably blast first, and ask questions later. If anyone was stupid enough to attack a level 400+ Sentinel. If I, in full control of my mental facilities, got attacked by a random mugger in Arminium, and killed them. Then it turned out they were controlled by a shimagu the entire time? I would probably eat one of the milder [Oath] penalties - but it was still a violation. If I had to guess, I¡¯d just lose an[Oath] level and feel sick. No pain, no mass loss of levels, nothing. Still, accidental murder - even legally defensible in most situations - was still the death of a person, and I¡¯d beat myself up viciously over it.


    More situations!


    What about Hunting? I now knew about Void mages, and the potential danger they represented. Was Hunting an active threat? Was the unknowing, unintentional, random nature of his danger enough to rise to the level where I could do something about it? Or was he, in a nutshell, innocent, and not worthy of being taken down?


    That was a little easier - he¡¯d done nothing wrong. Existence wasn¡¯t a crime, but I¡¯d be having a long talk with Night and the rest of the Sentinels about him. Heck, Hunting could join in - knowing what sort of threat he posed, he might be able to find a solution himself! Or just, like, retire to somewhere far away or something.


    What about, oh, evil Destruction? Had a ton of power, was overlooking a city, was going to unleash a gigantic skill? By some fluke, I was there, and out of range of the skill entirely. I could kill evil Destruction, and stop the skill, but in no way was I at risk of being harmed by it. There was no self-defense.


    Someone else with the same [Oath] might be ok doing it. I¡¯d never considered theoretical or future patients to be patients though. I was extremely close to obeying only the letter of the [Oath] in this case, with no added spirit, so to speak. Otherwise, I¡¯d be stuck in a never-ending loop, running around from place to place in a single city, constantly trying to heal people. Constantly working my magic, just in case. Looking for those new, future patients.


    Let¡¯s see, just how badly that logic would¡¯ve screwed me up in the past. I wouldn¡¯t have been able to escape the dwarves, I would¡¯ve died in the guardian fight, I would¡¯ve been trapped on the frontlines the first time I showed up, I would¡¯ve been trapped in Arminium with its huge population, I would¡¯ve never been able to leave Aquiliea the first time, I would¡¯ve¡­


    Yeah. I would be so fucked if I didn¡¯t have the rule of ¡°People I can see, right here, right now.¡±


    Future patients weren¡¯t patients.


    Back to the evil Destruction question.


    Without him attacking me, without a patient to directly defend, I believed ¡°First, do no harm¡± would apply.


    Now, that might not stop me from trying to kill him. But I¡¯d do so with the full knowledge that the action would cause the worst [Oath] violation possible, one that would make the most recent break seem like child¡¯s play.


    After all, the gnoll¡¯s body was trying to murder me. It was still an [Oath] violation, but it was one hell of a mitigation.


    Which brought me to another idea - I had ¡°layers¡± of violations so to speak, from ¡°This is such a tiny, technical violation as to not be worth it¡± all the way to ¡°This is the worst possible.¡± There was granularity and nuance. Not all violations were the same. Killing a dozen orphans in cold blood wasn¡¯t on the same level as accidentally cutting someone with a knife, and the penalities I faced reflected that.


    Another interesting aspect to [Oath] - I had to make the attempt. I had to try to heal people.


    I didn¡¯t need to fight particularly hard against being restrained. Something as simple as a hand on my shoulder, stopping me from going? Being picked up and carried away?


    I was right on the letter of things, the baseline. ¡°Oh no, I¡¯m trying to heal this person, but I¡¯ve been grabbed and am getting carried away. Oh well.¡±


    It¡¯d helped me numerous times with the Rangers in Perinthus, and generally on the road.


    At the same time, I¡¯d observed that I¡¯d been half-trapped by the dwarves, and the patient that I knew was there. I¡¯d believed that I needed to try and save the giant during the battle of the guardians.


    What were the differences? Where was my line drawn?


    Well. The dwarf - and whoever I¡¯d turned my back on in Perinthus were easy. I went for immediate, real patients in front of me, and that extended to ¡°There is someone I know is hurt right past this unlocked door.¡±


    That was a fascinating thought. I decided to explore it more. Solid wall? Nope. Locked door? Same problem as a solid wall.


    Like, obviously if I could go over the wall, it wasn¡¯t a solid wall. But that¡¯s where my line was drawn. ¡°Accessible¡± patients, I suppose was the criteria I was using.


    What made a patient accessible? Well, I suppose I needed to be able to get to them. In the fight with the guardians, fallen trees and rocks hadn¡¯t stopped me. I¡¯d just gone around or over them. I¡¯d been stopped by Galeru, the Rainbow. At that point, I wasn¡¯t able to go further - and the giant had died shortly after.


    Quick side-note - trying, and failing wasn¡¯t penalized. I had to put forth my best foot. Success wasn¡¯t mandatory. I could believe a naive, new healer might believe otherwise, but they¡¯d quickly change their mind, or be penalized into oblivion by [Oath].


    I had a bit of ego regarding my healing prowess. I kept myself humble by reminding myself that I couldn¡¯t heal everyone or fix everything. Lule and the dragonfire was a good example of that.


    What did all of the cases of people restraining me, and I thought it was ok, have in common?

 Chapter 251.4 - Ethical Examinations

    Well. It was almost purely Rangers. I couldn¡¯t think of another person who¡¯d successfully stopped me.


    Or rather, I could - the dwarf guard. Crucially, I didn¡¯t consider that a ¡°valid¡± stop though, and I¡¯d hung around until I knew the patient was better.


    Which had a nice side-note. I could delay on healing, as long as I wasn¡¯t abandoning the patient. ¡°Oi, wait a minute¡± was valid.


    Otherwise, like, I would need to stop spars the moment the first cut occurred.


    Focus.


    Meditating on the people ¡°allowed¡± to hold me back, that I¡¯d accept? Yeah, it had to be someone I knew and trusted. Random strangers weren¡¯t enough.


    Would I accept the elves holding me back?


    Awarthril and Kiyaya, yes. Aegion and Cordamo? Not at all.


    Serondes? Probably yes.


    I allowed small, physical acts of restraint. Being told ¡°No don¡¯t do that.¡± wasn¡¯t enough. It had to be physical.


    At the same time, a hand on my shoulder was enough. I didn¡¯t need to struggle and fight against other people to get to my patients. Be a little counter-productive.


    At the same time, I couldn¡¯t really ask to be restrained. It had to be organic.


    Everything was crystalizing towards a single idea. I¡¯d been feeling around at the edges, and I softly verbalized it, an ideal I was living by.


    ¡°I will not harm those who are innocent.¡±


    I waited a moment, believing that I¡¯d get some notifications, an update and upgrade to [Oath].


    Nothing.


    Damn.


    I suppose ¡°I will not harm those who are innocent¡± was simply a subsection of ¡°First, do no harm¡±, which led me down another train of thought.


    Although, was that correct? Was that the proper interpretation of how I saw the world?


    Yes, but no. A hardened criminal, worst of the worst? I¡¯d leave them be. No, my ¡°innocence¡± examination had more to do with people who were trying to harm me.


    ¡°I will not harm those who are not trying to harm me.¡± Was a better interpretation of how I saw the interplay of those two lines of my Oath. I¡¯d been unconsciously following that principle my entire life. I just had words for it.


    In my heart of hearts I knew that someone being body-controlled wasn¡¯t the one trying to kill me. Or, most of the time wasn¡¯t.


    What if I was in a war, and one side was objectively the Bad Guys? Ignoring for a moment that war was never that simple, that one side was rarely objectively wrong, and that winners wrote the history, just a fantastical black and white ¡°bad guys VS good guys¡± fight. Could I heal the bad guys?


    That was an easy yes. I healed everyone. Heck, the dwarves had possibly been the bad guys in their war, and I had no compunction about healing them. A person in pain was a person in pain, and everyone deserved health, as a fundamental right.


    All of this redoubled my resolve to not let people know that I had the [Oath], although I did still think it was useful, and should be spread. A double-edged sword. The greater good would be served by it spreading, even though it would make my life harder.


    Such was the fate of being a healer.


    However, thinking about wars made me think of large battles. Upon some self-reflection, my rules did morph and change when it came to large-scale mass battles. If 80,000 people were clashing on a battlefield, with spears stabbing, arrows flying, and uncountable skills being used, I recognized that wading right into the middle of it to try and heal everyone was pointless. I¡¯d just get myself killed, and not be able to heal a fraction of the people I could otherwise.


    No, first off, I was most likely neutral in the fight. Off to the side, there, present, trying to get as many people saved with [Cosmic Presence] as I could. Anyone who made it to me? Healed. Anyone who tried to interfere with the healing station I¡¯d set up? Well, that was a clear and obvious violation of my patients. Same with trying to restrict access.


    There were probably more nuances and rules to large scale battles and wars. I hadn¡¯t been in enough of them to properly figure them all out.


    The cat was entirely out of the bag at this point, regarding [Oath]. I¡¯d written down my [Oath] several times, I¡¯d shared it with multiple healers across cultures, and my books were being copied and spread. Only thing I could do was adopt the Sentinel Dawn persona hard, and hope not too many people remembered that I was Elaine.


    Should only take, what, 200 years?


    I was almost entirely clean at this point, and I figured I should check on my levels.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [The Dawn Sentinel] has leveled up to level 419->420! +3 Dexterity, +24 Speed, +24 Vitality, +170 Mana, +170 Mana Regen, +48 Magic power, +48 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    Well, ok then. I guess the healing I did while cursed and being murdered was good for something, namely, getting my level back. Yay?


    Wait shit. What happened to [The Stars Never Fade]?


    [The Stars Never Fade: 1]

 Chapter 252 - Immortality Investigations

    I sniffed experimentally, half-heartedly hoping that Aegion had hunted something down. I was hungry enough to eat a whole centrosaurus!


    As long as they didn¡¯t taste like pork. Seriously System, of all the things to torment me with? That one had been a low blow.


    I shook my head to clear it, and navigated out of the little overlapping walls Serondes had erected for my privacy.


    Best boyfriend ever. At the same time, the image of him punching through me kept flashing through my mind. Intellectually, I understood why he¡¯d done it, but it still bothered me that he was capable of applying what should be lethal force to me at the drop of a pin.


    It wasn¡¯t logical, but it was there. We should have a conversation about it.


    My stomach rumbled, reminding me that I¡¯d burned through a good amount of mana, and I¡¯d just been in a fight for my life. It was making demands.


    Food! Feed me, Elaine! Feed me NOW!


    With my body in open rebellion, I hustled out.


    The grassy gnolls had bounced back with remarkable efficiency. Their wagons were all packed up, ready to roll out. Those who weren¡¯t flexible or adaptable died.


    And -


    As much as I hated to say it, those who rebelled and tried to fight back against injustice, those who wanted to fight people significantly stronger than they were, also usually died. Sure, it was possible for someone lower leveled to kill a higher-leveled creature or person, but the reverse was usually true.


    ¡°Elaine! You¡¯re back! Here.¡± Aegion thrust two mugs into my hands. I had half a moment of hesitation, before my stomach won out, and I started drinking.


    Ok, the stuff he¡¯d made for the troll party? That was good.


    This stuff? This was going to ruin me for life. Liquid ambrosia. The nectar of the gods. Divine perfection made liquid. My worries washed away, my minor trembles ceased, and I felt warmth, energy, and a strange feeling I could only describe as goodness radiated through my body, centered on my esophagus.


    It filled me right up, instantly squashing hunger. It¡­


    It¡­


    It was...


    It was better than¡­


    Better than man-


    No.


    No, I couldn¡¯t say it. I couldn¡¯t finish the blasphemous thought.


    At the same time, I had to face reality. I couldn¡¯t lie to myself.


    It was better than mango juice.


    ¡°Goddesses!¡± I swore, taking a moment to collect my thoughts. The other elves were heading over, with Kiyaya still protectively at my side. Blasted wolf was big enough to entirely shield my side and back, with the way she was half-curled around me. ¡°Aegion, where have you been keeping this!?¡±


    ¡°Ooooh, you broke out the Ilan juice! I want a mug.¡± Serondes butted in, then draped an arm over my shoulders. ¡°Hey Elaine, feeling better?¡±


    I snuggled into his arms, appreciative of how he¡¯d stayed with me while I was in agony, how he¡¯d helped. His robes were splattered with mud and blood, a remnant of his diving in to hold me while I was rolling around in the mud, completely incapacitated by pain. I didn¡¯t mind that I was getting dirty all over again.


    ¡°Yeah. Aegion¡¯s stuff hit the spot.¡± I murmured.


    ¡°No. Absolutely not.¡± Aegion denied Serondes. ¡°You didn¡¯t almost get murdered. You didn¡¯t go through unimaginable agony. Did you hear Elaine at all? You must¡¯ve, you were right there.¡±


    He gave a small shudder at that, and I felt a little guilty. Just how bad must it have been to hear my screams?


    No.


    Wait.


    Screw that.


    I was the one doing the screaming, no guilt.


    Awarthril came over, and Kiyaya bounded over to her, happily letting her know how happy she was to see her again.


    I wanted a companion like that, a partner like that. Someone who was always super happy to see me.


    Mmmm. He wasn¡¯t super expressive though. Couldn¡¯t have everything, and he¡¯d gotten serious brownie points for how he¡¯d handled stuff.


    ¡°Elaine! I¡¯m so glad to see you¡¯re ok! Aegion get you the Ilan juice? Yes? Good. Ok, Thukrur wanted to see you Elaine if you¡¯ve got a moment.¡±


    Awarthril¡¯s words were rapid-fire, none of us able to get a word in edgewise.


    ¡°Alright, sure, give me a moment.¡± I lifted up my mugs - when had I drained the second one?! - and proceeded to lick the rims of them, getting every last drop. I then took my finger, and started to glide them along the inside of the mug, wanting, needing every little bit I could get.


    Awarthril made a huffing noise at me, and Aegion took the mugs away.


    ¡°I¡¯m not done!¡± I whined at him.


    ¡°Told ya it was addictive to non-elves.¡± Aegion smugly informed Awarthril.


    ¡°It¡¯s not addictive! I can quit anytime! I-¡±


    I realized what I was saying and shut up.


    Hmmm.


    Right.


    No more Ilan juice for me.


    Although, one more mug wouldn¡¯t hurt...


    ¡°Ok, ok, we should get going.¡± Being wrong made Awarthril grumpy.


    ¡°Let¡¯s spend some time later on, just me and you, ok? I want to check you over.¡± Serondes half-whispered in my ear. The tone was neutral, and I couldn¡¯t tell if he was being serious, flirty, or was serious and hoping it¡¯d turn into flirty.


    I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. A return to normal was what I needed. Dwelling over what had happened would reinforce it, make it worse. I needed to keep moving forward, and get back on the horse.


    I also thought the elves had the right idea when it came to taking a break after a fight, or other violent activity. I should discuss taking a break for a few days, to help me process.


    ¡°Sure!¡± I tried to be cheerful, but it probably sounded forced. ¡°You do owe me a backrub.¡±


    We all followed Awarthril out to where Thukrur was waiting. He was walking along the caravan, followed by an assistant of some sort, checking that everything was in its proper place. The rest of the gnolls were all seated up, the caravan clearly ready to go at Thukrur¡¯s word.


    He saw us and bowed deeply, the assistant shooting off on some pre-arranged errand.


    ¡°Er-larne.¡± He said, struggling with what was clearly my name. ¡°Many sorries. Take generous gift! Many many sorries!¡±


    He knocked on his eggshells that coated his body in a rapid, practiced way. I couldn¡¯t even begin to guess what was going on with that.


    The assistant ran back with a number of wrapped packages in flimsy cloth, the largest one looking suspiciously like a book. I¡¯d know that shape anywhere. Books inside presents had that distinct look, where one side and the top and bottom was flush with the wrapping, and the other three sides were ¡°looser¡±. I¡¯d know a book from a mile off, regardless of how poorly ¡°disguised¡± it was.


    It was like Unlocking Day! Presents, presents everywhere! He handed them off to Thukrur, then ran off. He turned back to me, and with a bow, offered me the set.


    On one hand, I wanted to object. On the other, I¡¯d have to live with the System torture forever, permanently engraved in my mind, my skills not letting the memory dull or the sharp ache fade. I took them without reservation.


    ¡°Many thank yous.¡± I bowed, trying to keep my language usage simple enough that he¡¯d understand.


    ¡°No no¡­¡± Thukrur seemed frustrated at the limitations of the language, and started to rapidly growl in his own language. Awarthril seamlessly picked it up.


    ¡°The gnolls take great pride in hospitality. Breaking the rules? They feel the need to compensate you, and every gnoll heard what you went through. Every gnoll knows it¡¯s their fault, well, they think that at least.¡± Awarthril was rapidly translating, and adding in her own commentary. ¡°I think Thukrur might be at risk of a mutiny if you¡¯re not made happy, or if the gnolls think the gifts aren¡¯t generous enough. Or¡­¡±


    She frowned.


    ¡°Something. Some nuance is lost in translation, and I don¡¯t know every single gnollish sub-culture and their individual rules.¡±


    AKA, life was complicated, extra-so when traveling. However, I saw an opening.


    ¡°If I give him a gift back, or payment of some sort, would that mollify them? Show them that I got so much, that I needed to give something back?¡±


    ¡°Maybe. What are you thinking?¡±


    ¡°Well, I have this one skill I¡¯m trying to improve for certain reasons.¡± I patted Kiyaya as I said that, making it clear what I was talking about.


    ¡°What?¡± Aegion made it abundantly clear that, for once, my attempt at being subtle had been waaaaaaaaay too successful.


    ¡°Which skill?¡± Serondes asked, his words like a knife to the chest. Serondes! You were supposed to understand me! We¡¯re supposed to be able to read each other¡¯s minds! The gods know they¡¯ve been physically close enough to each other often enough.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Awarthril piled on.


    Come on. Really? They had to be yanking my chain at this point.


    ¡°I want to practice [The Stars Never Fade]. One of the current weak points is not being able to heal companions. It¡¯s a human-centric skill. By working it on other, er...¡±


    I almost tripped and said ¡°Humanoids¡±, but remembered who I was talking with, and their view on the world.


    ¡°Elvenoids, I can start growing and flexing the skill.¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not!¡± Aegion shouted. ¡°You can¡¯t let other people know you¡¯ve got the skill!¡±


    ¡°What, and who, exactly, should I use it on then?¡± I fired back. ¡°I¡¯ve got a great skill to help people that I want to help, and it needs practice. Or do you have a better idea how to evolve the skill, that somehow involves never using it? ¡±


    Aegion looked like I¡¯d slapped him, which I kinda had. Also, kinda weird for the party animal to be so passionate about this.


    ¡°What happens when they start telling people? When other people ask? When-¡±


    ¡°Enough.¡± Serondes interrupted. ¡°Elaine wants to do this, she should do this. I think she should always work to become stronger, and improve that skill of hers. Although, I need to know, why Thukrur?¡±


    I could kiss Serondes.


    Actually - I could kiss Serondes! And I did.


    ¡°Quite frankly I don¡¯t care what happens to Thukrur, and if there¡¯s something incredibly wrong with the skill, I¡¯d rather find out here and now, rather than on someone I love.¡±


    Awarthril looked deeply conflicted. In the end she sighed.


    ¡°It¡¯s your skill, and your life.¡± Her eyes were involuntarily dragged towards Kiyaya, who licked her.


    ¡°Can you tell Thukrur about this? Mention that he might get cursed, that I don¡¯t have a good grasp on just how young he¡¯ll become, and all the details? He should go into this knowing what¡¯s what.¡±


    ¡°Sure!¡± Awarthril was only too happy to facilitate.


    A long conversation erupted between the two, Awarthril growing at Thukrur, and Thukrur growling right back. As time went on, and the conversation got longer and longer, more of the gnolls hopped off from their assigned post in the caravan, to see what the heck was going on. The conversation was clearly engaging and engrossing enough that they stayed, low rumbles traded between them. Ears flickered as tails wagged, and soon enough we¡¯d reached critical mass where every member of the caravan was watching the discussion between Awarthril and Thukrur.


    Awarthril and Thukrur finally reached some sort of agreement.


    ¡°If it works, he insists on giving you another gift by the way. And owe you four favors.¡± Awarthril told me.


    I half rolled my eyes.


    ¡°Puh. Is that what was taking so long?¡± I asked. I would be somewhat annoyed if all that talking had been her negotiating on my behalf. She shook her head.


    ¡°No, mostly wanted to know what curses entailed, and wanted a brief crash course on Immortality. Couldn¡¯t quite believe what you were offering. Was sure there was a catch somewhere.¡±


    That kinda made sense. ¡°Hey random person! Want an extra 200 years of life?¡±


    I¡¯d slam the door shut on anyone who knocked on my door and made that offer to me. Sounded like a scam, or a way to rope me into a cult or something. Next thing I¡¯d know, BOOM! Tied to an altar with people chanting in a circle around me or some nonsense like that.


    They¡¯d need to have a fantastic mango-deal for me to join a cult.


    Sounded sketchy. Well, I was a generous goddess! You get a body 30 years younger! You get a body 50 years younger!


    With how stats - specifically vitality - worked, turning a 70 year old with a 50 year old¡¯s body back to 20 was giving them a lot more than 30 or 50 more years of life. It was giving them more like 100, possibly even 200 or 300 more years of life. Vitality slowed down aging a bit, and the more someone had, the stronger the slow. Sure, as far as I knew it was impossible to completely prevent dying from old age just because of vitality, but my knowledge was limited. A small fry in a large pond.


    I had to imagine it didn¡¯t though, otherwise my skill wouldn¡¯t be such a big deal.


    ¡°Ok, are we all good to start now?¡±


    Awarthril glanced back at Thukrur, and trilled something at him, r¡¯s rolling like rocks. He gave me a solemn nod back.


    ¡°All set.¡± She said, stepping back.


    ¡°Good luck!¡± Serondes wished me. Aegion was a good sport, and gave me a pair of thumbs up. Cordamo waved his body at me, flapping his wings.


    I started to walk to Thukrur, and Awarthril whispered to me.


    ¡°Want some theatrics?¡±


    Mirage classer. Right.


    ¡°No thanks, I¡¯m good.¡± I softly muttered back.


    I ended up in a ring with Thukrur, everyone having fallen suddenly silent. Staring unblinkingly at us. The moment was right.


    He knelt at my approach, and I let him, recognizing the solemnity of the moment. I ruined it slightly by shifting all of the packages he¡¯d given me under one arm, then carried on.


    Step.


    Step.


    Step.


    I ended up in front of him, and reached out, putting my hand on his forehead. I focused, trying to channel [The Stars Never Fade].


    Nothing was happening, and I realized - I didn¡¯t have an image. I imagined Thukrur as a young, strapping gnoll, like one of the ones in the ring. Not a kid, a bit into adulthood. Hopefully if I overshot, it wouldn¡¯t be too bad.


    I felt the skill take hold, but it didn¡¯t immediately go. No, it was like pressure was building up inside of me, like water was steadily building up against a dam, wanting to break free.


    Darkness radiated from me, but it wasn¡¯t an all-consuming dark. No, it was simply a tapestry, a painting for all those watching to behold. It quickly expanded, taking in everyone into its illusion. Quiet murmurs of concern were quickly squashed.


    What an illusion it was.


    Tiny points of light glimmered in the darkness. White, yellow, red, blue, and orange were the predominant colors. As more and more popped in, they started to cluster together, forming the shapes of galaxies. Spiral, elliptical, lenticular, barred spiral, irregular and everything else, all the different shapes a galaxy could form, dozens, hundreds of them appearing around us. They began to spin around us, a representation of the universe around us.


    More celestial objects joined in. Comets drifted through the image, their long tails shedding harmless motes of light on us all. An all-devouring black hole, a white dwarf star, and fantastical creatures made out of stars flew, ran, galloped, and swam through the cosmos.


    The whole image spun, faster and faster, stars and planets trading with gas clouds and asteroid belts through the imagery presented. Exploding supernovas one moment, two planets of equal size colliding, stunning rings around gas giants with hundreds of colors, the full spectrum of just, what, exactly was out there was shown to us in a dizzying kaleidoscope of images.


    Gigantic whale-like creatures ¡°swam¡± through space, nibbling at planets, migrating between solar systems. They carried whole ecosystems on their back, the universe supporting life on more than just planets.


    Dark images, impossible shapes that we couldn¡¯t look at, writhing knots of space, images that our eyes refused to focus on, that were impossible for our brain to process.


    Someone was loudly sick.


    Then the spinning stopped, and we were looking at a single star, a dim old red giant. Bloated and expanded, it was still burning, but starting to think about the end of its life. It had consumed half the planets in its system in its expansion, but hadn¡¯t reached the white dwarf stage yet - or gone supernova.


    The building magic inside of me exploded out, streaming towards the depicted star. Slowly, it compressed back, red warming back up into yellow as the star heated up, the light brightening until it was blinding us all.


    Then with one final flash, a new star - no, the same star, just younger - spun in front of us, sun spots mixing with solar flares showing its vigorous youth.


    Then the entire image faded.


    [*ding!* [The Stars Never Fade] has leveled up! 1->2]

 Chapter 253 - The Never-Fading Star

    The images faded, the star slowly becoming more and more transparent, bringing us all back to reality - not that we¡¯d ever left.


    Heh. [The Stars Never Fade] was the name of the skill, and what was the first thing that happened? The image faded away. There was some irony in that. Or something.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [The Dawn Sentinel] has leveled up to level 420->421! +3 Dexterity, +24 Speed, +24 Vitality, +170 Mana, +170 Mana Regen, +48 Magic power, +48 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    Thukrur knelt in front of us, blinking the stars out of his eyes. He was young again. His fur had filled in and turned a darker brown from the earlier patchy grey, his jowls were firm and attached to his jaw again, the wrinkles around his eyes were entirely gone. He seemed to have energy again, along with a thousand other subtle signs of youth that I subconsciously knew, but couldn¡¯t quite put words to.


    He had his youth back, with all the experience and wisdom of age, not to mention a silly number of levels. I¡¯d place serious money on Thukrur becoming a mover and shaker in the gnoll community, if not the greater world.


    Also - I could restore hair with this skill? That had some potential, with how often I needed to cut my hair short, and how I liked it long.


    A cooing noise came from my shoulder, the sound of a curious bird. I didn¡¯t feel anything from my shoulder. No weight, no pressure, no claws grasping for support and stability. No wings flapping for support. It was like nothing was there.


    A second coo came from my shoulder, and I froze, breaking out in cold sweat. I would¡¯ve instantly soaked my clothes, if Mistweave could absorb sweat. As-is, I felt rivulets of sweat pour down my back and front, pooling on my fingertips and dropping to the ground.


    Without moving another muscle, I slowly panned my eyes over.


    Yup.


    Sitting on my shoulder was the Grim Reaper herself, White Dove.


    I need to stop sweating holy gods I¡¯m going to stink and get her feet wet and she¡¯ll get pissed and I need to stop and make her happy and do I bow? No wait, that might dislodge her. Don¡¯t throw her off, that¡¯d just piss her off. Do I do nothing? No, wait, that¡­


    My thoughts were racing, going a thousand miles an hour as I froze in indecision, unsure of the best way to tackle the situation I found myself in.


    I decided that I was not the main character of this event, and the best move I could do was shutting up and staying absolutely still. White Dove had chosen my shoulder to perch on, and the less attention I could bring to myself, the better.


    I channeled my inner tree, the rock inside of me, and went absolutely still. Probably the first time in my life I wasn¡¯t fidgeting or tapping my foot impatiently or something.


    White Dove opened her beak, and the world stilled.


    Her voice was impossible to describe. Light? Airy? Angelic? Death incarnate? A pull on my soul with every syllable, promising peace. An endless void.


    Words that reverberated with power. Words that echoed through creation. Words that spoke directly to me, that I could comprehend and understand. That everyone and everything present could know. That suppressed every sound, that dampened every noise and demanded the full attention of all creatures, great and small, who could hear it.


    The System was magic. White Dove was Magic.


    ¡°Thukrur Kerishester, of the Iron Spears Tribe.¡± She Spoke, and the world trembled. ¡°[Eggshell Warrior]. [Trader Along Many Roads]. [Raid Leader of the Iron Spears].¡±


    The named gnoll bowed deep, ending up going to one knee. He had some careful words for the Reaper on my shoulder, a tone most respectful in his native, rolling language.


    ¡°You have denied me, and for this sin, I curse you. No more shall you smell.


    First, scents are denied to you. A wounded subordinate. Your child¡¯s smell. Your wife¡¯s musk.Second, you shall not emit any odors. Your partners will not know when you are near. You will walk invisible to the noses of the others in the market.Third, no more will you be able to smell out deals. Intuition fails you when it comes to potential opportunities.¡±


    White Dove paused, then with one last line, filled with venom and hate, she finished.


    ¡°I curse you.¡±


    The curses sounded gentle at first. As White Dove started to list all of the impacts though, it sounded worse and worse. It hadn¡¯t been obvious to me, but it sounded like smell was super-duper important to gnollish society. They seemed to base lots off of smell, given how many things White Dove was listing off.


    That, and there were counterpoints. Abstract points.


    Like, ¡°not being able to sniff out deals¡± - sounded like a nasty curse for a trader, and an abstraction of ¡°not being able to smell.¡±


    I was still keeping my eyes all the way to the side, watching White Dove on my shoulder while keeping my head straight ahead and unmoving. I flinched as she turned towards me.


    ¡°You. You have stolen time from me. I know you. We shall talk another day.¡±


    My frozen indecision remained, but somehow my body found a way to sweat even harder.


    At least Thukrur wouldn¡¯t be able to tell how bad I smelled. Small mercies.


    Then White Dove launched herself from my shoulder, flying forwards. In two quick flaps of her wings, like a coin flipping, she morphed from White Dove into Black Crow, before veering off and fading out. On to reap another soul, one unwilling to die.


    Awarthril was the first to break the silence, the first one to move.


    ¡°Well. That was quite something! Thukrur, are you alright?¡± She moved over to him, repeating the question in a growl, offering the significantly younger Thukrur a hand.


    His nose was twitching furiously, and he accepted the offered hand, pulling himself to his feet. He growled back, pawing at his nose.


    My sense of smell wasn¡¯t anything to write home about. All I could imagine was it was like going blind, losing an entire sense.


    Still, he had hearing, sight, touch, and the rest, and honestly, I¡¯d gotten by just fine with those senses. He¡¯d be alright.


    The rest of the gnolls descended on him, touching him, feeling him, sniffing at him with puzzled looks of bemusement. One tapped the eggshells, and made excited noises.


    Four of the gnolls came up to me though, bending over to practically shove themselves in my face.


    The gnolls weren¡¯t super tall, but I was short by every non-dwarven metric.


    ¡°Me! Me!¡± One of them yelled in broken Creation.


    Another gnoll shoved him.


    ¡°No! Me!¡±


    Third gnoll jumped in, invading my personal space.


    ¡°Me! Pay lots. Good deal!¡±


    Serondes smoothly moved in to shield me, as Thukrur started barking out orders in his harsh language. The gnolls were hesitant, but he said something else that got most of them to reluctantly part ways, and head back to the wagons. Only two gnolls were sticking by me, Serondes in the way, clearly hoping for similar treatment.


    They weren¡¯t exactly old, or even middle-aged. I quickly checked their levels, and yup, low-leveled - for this area.


    Thukrur approached, and he was like a new man. He was stretching, shaking out his legs and arms. He looked at his hands with wonder, twisting and flexing them, then taking a few little hops on the way over. He made it to me, grabbed my hands, and tried to shove something inside of them.


    ¡°He¡¯s thanking you for the gift of life you¡¯ve given him, and wants you to accept this token.¡± Awarthril translated for me. ¡°It¡¯s nowhere close to what you¡¯ve given him, but he hopes you can keep this token to remember him by.¡±


    He said some more words, enthusiastically pumping my hand.


    ¡°He¡¯s also hoping that you¡¯ll come visit him in 300 to 400 years, and renew him again, and that he¡¯ll be praying to his patron goddesses to protect you. The ring he¡¯s giving you should help with the protection. Also, feel free to ignore the idiots pestering you to do the same to them.¡±


    He growled at the two gnolls, Thukrur¡¯s ears going flat as his voice rumbled out. I wasn¡¯t the target, but I felt intimidated. I was already on edge because of White Dove, and my vision briefly narrowed as I imagined a fight. I could just see Thukrur lunging at me. I¡¯d drop back, Serondes would throw Lava in the way, and I¡¯d try to drill through Thukrur¡¯s eggshell armor from the ground, shooting between Serondes¡¯s legs.


    I shook my head, dispelling the vision. I really, really, needed a good long safe break. I was barely keeping it together. I was starting to crack - no, I was mid-cracking, and frantically applying Ooze to the problem to try and keep it together. The only miracle was that it was happening now, and not, like, when I was being chased by the Shluggoth. Curling up into a gibbering wreck would¡¯ve been the end of me.


    One of the gnolls scampered off, but the other stubbornly stayed.


    ¡°Me! Heal me! All money!¡± He barked out, practically vibrating with excitement.


    I glanced at Awarthril, who shrugged back at me. She growled something at Thukrur, who grumbled back.


    ¡°Eh, go for it.¡±


    I touched the gnoll¡¯s forehead with a single elegant finger, continuing to palm the ring I¡¯d been given. He went still. I felt dozens of eyes peeking over, wanting to see what happened.


    I focused on [The Stars Never Fade], remembering to create an image of a younger gnoll.


    Nothing happened.


    After a few minutes he cracked his eyes open, looking around in confusion. I felt a hot blush spread up my cheeks.


    ¡°Um. Awarthril. Could you, ah, possibly explain that I forgot the skill has a cooldown, and I can¡¯t use it for some time?¡±


    Three elegant elvish hands hit three immaculate elvish foreheads at the same time. Awarthril quickly growled something out, and the gnoll¡¯s face fell hard. He turned, tail between his legs, and slunk back. Thukrur patted him on the back, then faced me and pointed at my hand.


    ¡°Ring. Magic. Hide Level.¡±


    He patted my hands again, shaking them up and down. He had tears forming fat splotches on his face, and a stupid grin on his gnollish face. The only key that anything was less than perfect in his world was his nose, which kept twitching, looking for scents, for anything at all. With one last shake of my hands, he turned and joined the caravan. He started barking out orders, gnolls running around to re-fix caravan stuff.


    I took a moment to finally look at the ring that Thukrur had thrust into my hands, the one that said would protect me. It was a glossy black ring, looking like it was carved out of a single piece of obsidian.


    Serondes looked at Thukrur and whistled.


    ¡°That¡¯s one heck of a level.¡±


    I quickly checked, and wow. Yeah. Higher than the elves by a good chunk. Explained why White Dove had named three classes for him. Also explained how their caravan in the middle of nowhere was doing just fine.


    The elves crowded around.


    ¡°Oooooh, a Deception Ring! I thought they were just stories!¡± Awarthril cooed. ¡°I want to give it a try!¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t get caught with one of those in Tympestshard. The watch will be less than amused.¡± Aegion added in.


    ¡°Hang on.¡± Serondes threw an arm over Aegion and Awarthril¡¯s shoulders. ¡°You¡¯re saying they¡¯re just in stories. You¡¯re saying Tympestshard knows them well enough to have rules. Which is it?¡±


    Aegion half-sniffed.


    ¡°Well, all the best parties are in Tympestshard.The smarmy city elves know things there, and aren¡¯t just honest, hardworking country bumkins like the three of us.¡±


    ¡°Ok, oh knowledgeable one, how do I work this thing?¡± I poked fun at him.


    ¡°Fuck if I know. Just throw some mana into it or something.¡±


    With a yell, the gnollish caravan started to move out, centrosaurus pulled the large, savanna-topped wagons down the road. The brittle road snapped and cracked with each move of the mighty dinosaurs, leaving shattered stones in their path.


    ¡°Well, there goes the road.¡± Aegion commented as the gnolls moved out.


    I slipped the ring onto my right index finger, and focused on it. I felt it ¡°connect¡±, in the same way that Inscriptions did, but totally different at the same time.


    Inscriptions felt primitive and small compared to the monstrous complexity I was feeling here. A raging storm on the ocean, compared to a cup of water. The full Senate building, compared to a kid putting rocks on top of each other. It was far more complicated and intricate than anything I¡¯d ever seen or worked with.


    Hell, everything I¡¯d ever worked with had just been ¡°on or off¡±. This was a whole new beast, and I didn¡¯t even know where to begin trying to get it to work.


    I stopped focusing on it for a minute.


    ¡°Hey Awarthril, you said you wanted to look, right?¡± I took the ring off as I asked.


    ¡°Oooh, yeah! I wanted to give you first shot at it though.¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t figure it out.¡± I admitted, handing it over. ¡°It¡¯s far more complex than anything I¡¯ve ever dealt with, by leagues.¡±


    Awarthril brought the ring up to her face, studying it closely.


    ¡°Weird. If I hadn¡¯t gotten told it was a Deception Ring, I¡¯d believe it was totally normal. It even hides its nature.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t possibly imagine a thieves'' tool called a Deception Ring would exactly broadcast its purpose, or that it was magical.¡± Serondes drily pointed out. Aegion chuckled as Awarthril winced.


    She then slipped the ring on, and closed her eyes.


    Nothing much was happening as she focused, the six of us standing around awkwardly. Except Cordamo, who was hovering. Same difference.


    I did notice that, impossibly, the ring had resized itself to beautifully slip onto Awarthril¡¯s fingers, just as it had gone onto mine, and Thukrur¡¯s hands without issue. Some minor resizing magic at play.


    I started to tap my foot, then realized I had other outlets for my restless energy. I slipped my hand into Serondes¡¯s, and started squeezing.


    I felt kissing might be going too far at this point. No need at this time and place. He squeezed back.


    Finally, Awarthril opened her eyes.


    ¡°Got it! Check out my level!¡± She called out, and I started to use [Long-Range Identify] in rapid succession.


    The colors I got back went through the entire range of the rainbow. She started at white, went to various familiar shades of pink, then down to the dark reds, morphing into orange, yellow, green, lime-green, teal, blue, indigo, purple, and finally into a dark black, before reversing and heading right back to white.


    She was clearly having a lot of fun, changing her level around, moving it around like a yo-yo.


    ¡°Oh hey, what does this do?¡± She asked, and went still again.


    I watched her, continuing to spam [Long-Range Identify] on her. I couldn¡¯t see anything obviously occurring.


    ¡°The ring!¡± Aegion pointed, and we all looked. The ring was fading in and out, completely solid one moment, transparent to the point of invisibility the next.


    ¡°That¡¯s handy.¡± Serondes commented. ¡°Can I try next?¡±


    ¡°Oh, let me play with it as well!¡± Aegion jumped in, practically hovering on top of Awarthril.


    ¡°Shush you, you¡¯ll get your turn.¡± Awarthril half-swatted him away.


    I half-opened my mouth to object, then closed it, thinking it through.


    What was the harm in letting them play with it? I¡¯d be using it for a long time anyways. I could afford to be generous - and check out my cool loot!


    ¡°Yeah, go nuts. Although, Serondes, want to start setting up a campsite? I¡¯d like to take a few days to decompress after that fight.¡± I was remembering the elven habit of taking some days to rest and relax after a fight, to help fight against long-lasting trauma from setting in. I was feeling pulled and run ragged, and I needed a break.


    Serondes whistled, and like a scythe going through wheat, a bunch of the ferns and tall grasses by the side of the road fell. Lava erupted, a campsite forming.


    I gratefully sank down into a hard chair at a table, and finally unloaded all three of the packages I¡¯d been holding. I started to open them up.


    An elegant salmon-colored dress, with a needle and a spool of thread in the same color. The boring book I¡¯d been reading. A diamond, emerald, and sapphire gem, none of them able to store my skills. Still lovely gems though. All things I¡¯d taken more than a cursory look at.


    I eyed the book, an idea forming. I¡¯d need to ask Aegion about it. Also ask him to do some tailoring for me.


    I was getting some ideas with the dress and Serondes. Speaking of, I needed to have a long talk with him. Should do it soon. Maybe tomorrow.


    Aegion was busy playing with the ring, as Serondes was still setting up camp. Awarthril pitched in to help, moving the Spatial Box.


    Ok, I wanted to get the book signed. No way the elves had a skill for it, and I¡¯d asked them about a quill and ink before. They had some, but I wouldn¡¯t gamble on it somehow being a magical pen that could do verified signatures.


    ¡°Be right back!¡± I called out, grabbing the book and shooting after the caravan.


    In just a few minutes I caught up with them, laughing as I saw Thukrur engaged in a footrace with some other gnolls by the side.


    He utterly crushed them, triumphantly throwing his hands up as the rest looked defeated. Decades of ¡°If I were just twenty years younger I¡¯d show these young whippersnappers what¡¯s what¡± finally turned into ¡°well, now put your money where your mouth is old man!¡±


    There was just a sheer energy and joy there. I debated rewinding people more often. Not out of obligation, but for the sheer heart-warming moments like these.


    Oh man.


    I wish I could see what happened when he got home.


    ¡°Hey kiddo! Your old man is now younger than you are!¡±


    Heh.


    My face quickly fell as I realized an implication.


    Thukrur would probably have to bury his own kids. From what I¡¯d heard, there didn¡¯t exist a worse fate for a parent.


    On that somber note, I dove down to the caravan, still clutching the book.


    ¡°Er-larne.¡± Thukrur bowed again. ¡°Problem?¡±


    I licked my lips, thinking. I needed to use easy words.


    ¡°Quill. Writing. Sign. Skill?¡± I tried to mime what I wanted. Thukrur got it, and barked out some quick orders. A quill was quickly presented to me.


    I wasn¡¯t sure they¡¯d gotten the part where I was looking to make a good signature.


    ¡°Sign. Skill?¡± I repeated. I mimed writing with the quill again, repeating myself. ¡°Skill? Skill?¡± He had to know skill. It was probably one of the most basic words in any language, something that transcended race and language.


    It might even be more important than ¡°Money¡± to non-merchants.


    His eyes lit up, and more gnolls went running around. A grumpy gnoll stomped over, mad at getting interrupted. He had ink stains everywhere besides his paws.


    [My Hands are Clean] only applied to hands.


    A quick exchange, and Thukrur nodded to me. ¡°Good!¡±


    I interpreted that to mean ¡°ready¡±. I put the quill to the cover of the book, and wrote my name.


    Elaine.


    That¡¯s who I was. Just Elaine. No last name. No titles. I wanted to write the Medical Manuscripts again, and give a copy to the elves. My little way of showing ¡°HA! Look what I can do! Look what this little human can do!¡±


    It¡¯d probably get laughed at. ¡°Look at how little they know!¡±


    At the same time, I felt like I had to try.


    I quickly gave Thukrur my thanks, and left after he repeated his thanks again, and offered for me to stay for a meal.


    Given the chance, he¡¯d endlessly thank me, and I¡¯d never escape. Not that I¡¯d think they¡¯d break out the chains, just out of sheer social niceties.


    Anything to avoid social niceties.


    I flew back to where the elves had been working.


    Camp got set up. Serondes had his fun with the ring, then handed it over. Awarthril plopped down next to me.


    ¡°Ok! The ring¡¯s a bit tricky, but super neat. It¡¯s just like using a shoe fitter! The slider¡¯s a bit hidden - it¡¯s around the pillar like you¡¯d find in a self-lighting flame.¡±


    I gave Awarthril a blank look.


    ¡°I have no idea what any of those are.¡±


    She pursed her lips at me.


    ¡°Well. I know you¡¯d mentioned that Remus wasn¡¯t that nice to women, but not letting you use magic objects? At all? That¡¯s just unacceptable. I¡¯m inclined to go over there and give them a piece of my mind. Let¡¯s see them try to stop me!¡±


    I looked down in embarrassment.


    ¡°No, um. We don¡¯t have magic objects like that. At all. In Remus. Only things I¡¯ve used are ¡®fully activated¡¯ or not. I don¡¯t think we know how to make anything more complex¡­¡±


    My voice faded away at the end of that. Awarthril looked horrified.


    ¡°None!? Oh you poor dear. Alright, this is going to be like teaching you how to somersault before you can walk, but I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll manage it. First¡­¡±

 Chapter 254 - The Sex Talk I

    The elves had agreed to give me a few days to process being nearly murdered again. I was seeing the value in it, given how I was feeling like poorly pieced together pottery at the moment, just a stiff breeze away from shattering.


    I wasn¡¯t going to break though. I was stronger than that.


    Still, there wasn¡¯t a ton to do currently besides goofing off.


    I¡¯d quickly skimmed the book I¡¯d been given, which was about as boring as it¡¯d looked. Then Aegion had helped me carefully scrape the pages, getting the ink cleared off while preserving the vellum underneath.


    The Medical Manuscripts were being written again!


    I didn¡¯t want to write all day though, my hand got cramped and I could only focus on the task for so long. I wasn¡¯t thinking of what I needed to write anymore, which was how I¡¯d done it before. No, this time around I was just transcribing it from memory.


    I loved [Pristine Memories] for stuff like this.


    Still, the sun was starting to get low, and I shook yet another cramp out of my hand, putting the quill down. I eyed my spot, and with a sigh, picked it back up, licked the end - ink tasted terrible - and dipped it back into the inkpot. I finished a few more sentences, then leaned back to examine my work.


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?¡± Awarthril hovered over me. ¡°Everything ok? Any issues I can help you with?¡±


    I waved a hand lazily.


    ¡°Nah, I¡¯m fine. Thanks! Just finished up this section of the book, going to call it a day.¡±


    Awarthril leaned over my shoulder, squinting to read the tiny, cramped text I¡¯d written.


    ¡°Well. I don¡¯t quite understand all of that, but Elaine, this is amazing! I can¡¯t wait to see it done. And you¡¯re sure you want to give it to us?¡±


    Awarthril reading over my shoulder out of sheer curiosity was going to get my [Oath] revealed. It was going to end up in the book, but once I wrote it down? The cat would be out of the bag.


    I didn¡¯t want the elves to know about it, but there was strong potential for some serious good here. If the elves thought my Medical Manuscripts were good stuff? If they spread it around?


    It¡¯d help thousands, if not tens of thousands of people. I didn¡¯t dare dream larger. What was my life balanced against those sorts of scales?


    It wasn¡¯t even like my worse-case scenario would leave me dead. Just¡­ detained for a few dozen years.


    ¡°Well, yeah. I¡¯ve got a few dozen copies circulating at home, and there I can just pay a blasted scribe to do this for me!¡±


    I glared at the offending implements, like they were personally responsible for my decision to re-write the entire Medical Manuscripts again.


    Awarthril coughed, and I reddened.


    Right. She¡¯d offered to do the writing for me, but something in her tone when she¡¯d offered had made me bristle and reject her, insisting that I do it all myself.


    I blew on the ink one last time and slammed the book shut. Without saying anything else, I extracted myself from the conversation, and cheeks burning, put everything away in the Spatial Box, before heading over to the little hut Serondes had made for us.


    I got inside and breathed. In, and out. Just let it go.


    Speaking of embarrassment, I wasn¡¯t getting any younger - ok, I could, I had a super-rare skill just for it - and it was time for Serondes and I to have a serious talk.


    First, I changed into the nice new dress I¡¯d been given. Why not? I liked the Mistweave well enough, but wearing the same outfit day after day after day was getting real old. I¡¯d done it enough with armor sets.


    The material was silky, and the cut in a somewhat daring style. It was nice, but not, like, super special to me. There was none of the emotions or history needed for it to be special.


    I poked my head out of the little hut.


    ¡°Hey Serondes! Wanna come over?¡± I called out in my best ¡®alluring Elaine¡¯ voice. Irresistible to any person I had my eyes on!


    ¡°Give me a few minutes, I¡¯m busy!¡±


    I put my hands on my hips. Fortunately, as I was formulating the right devastating reply, Aegion saved my bacon.


    ¡°Serondes, given how nice Elaine is dressed up, maybe you shouldn¡¯t wait a few minutes.¡±


    Serondes glanced over at me, then did a double-take. He looked at what he was doing, put it down, and came on over.


    ¡°Come here you!¡± I flirted with him, pulling him into the hut and closing the door.


    He swept me into his arms, and we spent some time kissing. He picked me up, and started to lay me down on our bedrolls when I put a hand on his chest.


    ¡°Serondes. Let¡¯s have a talk.¡±


    He paled.


    ¡°Nothing good has ever come from that sentence.¡± He complained as he complied.


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s talk about sex.¡± I settled myself down in a comfortable sitting position.


    Mostly. There was one bit of the dress that was catching and just not quite there.


    Focus.


    ¡°Yes. Frequently, epically, twice daily?¡± Serondes asked the last part as a question.


    I half-punched him in the arm. I could see why Awarthril got annoyed with him at times.


    ¡°Har har. No, seriously. I want to make sure we¡¯re on the same page with a bunch of things before we go much further.¡±


    He sat up straighter.


    ¡°I¡¯m listening.¡±¡°Good! We¡¯ve got a lot to talk about. Sex, consent, boundaries, health, acts, and probably a few more.¡± I ticked the points off my finger one at a time.


    He waggled his eyebrows.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do acts first!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s kinda not the order I was hoping to do things in¡­ but sure¡­ wait no. No, gotta hit the other things first.¡± I was kinda babbling, able to feel every heartbeat.


    He shrugged.


    ¡°Alright, go!¡±


    Start at the start I guess.


    ¡°What does consent mean to you?¡±


    ¡°Well, I ask if you want to have sex, you say yes, then we have sex.¡±


    I rubbed my eyes. Close, yet so, so far.


    ¡°Ok, you¡¯ve got some basic ideas. First off, I can obviously say ¡®no¡¯ if I don¡¯t want to have sex.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    I should¡¯ve written notes on what to talk about, in what order. I was kinda winging it. Like a butterfly.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk about getting consent. As you said, you - or me - asks, and the other person confirms or denies it. Then we can get started! It¡¯s that easy.¡±


    ¡°Asking for consent isn¡¯t sexy. I don¡¯t want to kill the mood. What¡¯s wrong with just slowly going, and seeing what happens or when the other person asks to stop?¡±


    ¡°Well, for the second part, I dunno how often you¡¯ve seen things from a woman¡¯s point of view.¡± My tone was a little dry, but a tiny bit curious. For all I knew there was magic that would let Serondes do something like that. ¡°It¡¯s entirely possible for someone to start taking liberties, and ignoring some non-verbal cues to stop, thinking it¡¯s ¡®sexy¡¯ or ¡®a game¡¯. Then the woman stops, because she¡¯s scared of getting hurt, or killed, and just lets things happen.¡±


    I paused for a moment, letting Serondes soak that in. I breathed in a few times rapidly, and let a fear of mine explode out of me.


    ¡°Serondes, push come to shove, you could kill me with a thought. I¡¯d barely be able to resist. I don¡¯t think you realize how scary that is for me, or how incredibly vulnerable I need to make myself to do anything around you. So please. Make me comfortable. Make it clear that you¡¯re not a threat to me, or threatening me.¡±


    I swallowed the lump in my throat, watching the gears turn in Serondes¡¯s head as he processed all of that. I felt the back of my dress getting soaked. Finally, he nodded.


    ¡°Makes sense. I wouldn¡¯t want to be with a woman who was that much stronger than me, because you¡¯re right. That is scary.¡±


    Ok, so¡­ fine, I guess he got the idea. I felt my heart lifting up at that, and gave him my best smirk.


    ¡°Also, wanna bet on the asking for consent thing?¡± I boldly stated. He eyed me.


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    I leaned closer to him, letting him get a good view as my mouth practically touched his ears.


    ¡°I want to go down on you at the end of this. Is that ok?¡± I tried my best ¡®seductive¡¯ voice, and leaned back. From how Serondes¡¯s cheeks flushed and pupils got huge, I¡¯d say I succeeded. I gave him a little wiggle, smirking at him.


    ¡°Sexy or not?¡± I challenged. He held his hands up.


    ¡°Sexy, sexy, fine! Asking for consent can be sexy, if done right.¡±


    I laughed at that.


    ¡°Ok, sure.¡± I put on my best mechanical voice.


    ¡°Serondes. Elf. May. I. Place. Food. Receptacle. On. Your. Chatter. Exit?¡±


    He looked somewhat horrified at me. I¡¯d killed the mood somewhat, but eh. I wasn¡¯t here for making a good mood.


    ¡°See? All in the way you ask.¡±


    He thought about it a moment.


    ¡°Can I bend you over later?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but that touches on something else. Be specific! Bending me over is fine. But I don¡¯t think you were talking about just bending me over now were you? You wanted to do more than that.¡±


    ¡°Sure, but do I need to be explicit about it?¡±


    ¡°The first time? Yes. Especially if we¡¯re not sure where we are on all the different types of sex and sex acts we want to perform, and that we¡¯re good with.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it self explanatory?¡±


    I shook my head, letting my hair wave around.


    ¡°Let¡¯s pretend, for a second, that I had a habit of¡­¡± I glanced down significantly, and squeezed my hands together. ¡°Crushing grapes. Making them just go pop. I¡¯m a healer after all, I can fix it. For all you know, I find that lots of fun.¡±


    Serdones crossed and recrossed his legs.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you want some heads up before I started going pop?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but that¡¯s not the same!¡±


    ¡°How do you know it¡¯s not the same? Maybe something perfectly normal for you is entirely unacceptable to me. That¡¯s why we¡¯re here, now. Talking. So we establish boundaries with each other. So we know what¡¯s ok without asking - like how we kiss all the time - how we know what¡¯s OK with asking, and how we know what¡¯s off-limits, and what shouldn¡¯t even be asked.¡±


    I could see Serondes processing all this. He nodded.


    ¡°Ok, can I touch your chest?¡±


    ¡°In private, sure! Not in front of everyone though. Don¡¯t need to ask even.¡± I winked at him, and he moved forward, taking the liberty he just asked for.


    ¡°How about your butt?¡±


    ¡°Same thing. Can I touch your butt?¡±


    Serondes slipped a hand under my dress, caressing my leg up to my ass, then starting to feel me up with his other hand before he answered.


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    I gave the object in question a hefty squeeze over Serondes¡¯s robe.


    ¡°Can I stick a finger where the sun don¡¯t shine?¡± My eyes were twinkling at him.


    ¡°Um, no. Heck no.¡± He said as his hands withdrew.


    ¡°See? Talking about this tells us where our boundaries are, and what we are and aren¡¯t ok with. Without the talk¡­¡±


    I glanced down significantly, and squeezed my hands into fists.


    ¡°Grapes.¡±


    A thought struck me, and I added it in to make sure I wouldn¡¯t forget later.¡°And just because I¡¯ve said yes at some point, doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t change my mind later.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­.¡± Serondes kinda trailed off there. ¡°Even if we¡¯re in the middle of doing it?¡±


    ¡°I mean, are you willing to be somewhat adventurous with me?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Sure!¡± Serondes¡¯s enthusiasm was transparent.


    ¡°Well, what if I wanted to try something on you, and you decided in the middle that you really, really, didn¡¯t like it?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d stop.¡±


    ¡°Exactly! See, revocable.¡±


    I got a nod from him.


    ¡°What about quickly finishing up?¡±


    I gave him a glare, and mentally calmed myself. We were discussing this for a reason, and Serondes was, so far, adjusting and adapting. On one hand, it shouldn¡¯t be my job to teach him this stuff. On the other, he was listening and receptive, and it was stuff he needed to know at some point.


    ¡°Then we¡¯d have a Very Serious problem. No. Consent is revokable, and when it¡¯s revoked, it¡¯s immediately revoked. No continuing, no quickly finishing, nothing. Lemme phrase it this way. You¡¯re having sex with a woman who isn¡¯t consenting. What¡¯s that called again?¡±


    ¡°But she consented earlier?¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter in the slightest. My earlier definition still applies. Plus, how enthusiastic would I have been in the first place if I¡¯m revoking things in the middle, or how badly have things gone? People don¡¯t revoke consent in the middle just to screw with you.¡±


    That seemed to get through to him.


    ¡°Alright, alright. I want to talk more about different things we¡¯re willing to do with each other.¡±


    ¡°Can we detour for one quick moment? Just want to talk about obtaining consent for a quick second.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that what we¡¯re doing?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, and we¡¯re doing great so far. I just wanted to bring up pressure for a moment.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m feeling pressured by this whole conversation!¡± Serondes joked.


    ¡°Yeah yeah. Look, is consent really consent if you¡¯re threatening someone into it?¡± I asked what I hoped was a rhetorical question.


    ¡°Well, no.¡± Serondes came through for me. I might¡¯ve needed to dump him if he said yes.


    ¡°Ok, what about pressure? Like, there¡¯s degrees of pressure. Is blackmail still a threat? Is threatening others? Those should be easy. But then we get into other problems, like power dynamics.¡±


    ¡°Tell me more.¡±


    I could kiss him. And I did.


    And touched his butt, since he¡¯d said earlier it was ok to do.


    ¡°It ranges from obvious to less obvious, to subtle and insidious.¡± I said. ¡°By the way, can I take your clothes off?¡±


    ¡°Any time, any place.¡± Serondes suggested. I facepalmed a bit.


    Almost.


    ¡°At a formal event? In front of kids? In-¡±


    ¡°Point taken, but Elaine, you also have your own good judgement. Forgive me for thinking you¡¯d apply it.¡± Serondes cut back.


    Ouch. He was right.


    Focus.


    Moving on.


    ¡°The biggest issues is when sex becomes transactional, and the transactions aren¡¯t tiny.¡± I went back to consent. ¡°Like if a guard¡¯s arrested someone, and offers them freedom for favors. Or someone owns slaves, and makes demands. A master putting sex on the list of duties for an apprentice. Those are the obvious ones. The more subtle ones are withholding affection, making demands, or doing things like constantly waking someone up in the night until they give in. Those are all bad.¡±


    I hesitated over the next example, then decided not to talk about prostitution and consent. The subject and ethics were somewhat murky as-is, and my only solid experience with the topic was in Remus, where the lines less blurred and more utterly obliterated when slavery came into play. The topic was complicated and nuanced, and I knew I didn¡¯t have the experience or knowledge to properly go into it.


    Bless the Aquiliea guards who¡¯d let my dad keep his job. I¡¯d need to swing by at some point, figure out who¡¯d made the decision, and like, rain money on them or something.


    ¡°Would another example be, say, demanding sexual favors to escort someone back to her home?¡±


    I looked him in the eyes.


    ¡°Exactly. Even the implication is bad.¡±


    ¡°What are tiny transactions?¡± Serondes asked, reaching back round to fondle me a bit. I snuggled into his grasp.


    ¡°Minor things, like ¡®hey, can you do the dishes?¡¯ or ¡®can you get a bath warming¡¯ and other minor tasks like that. They¡¯re so small, it¡¯s not really pressure, just a tiny favor that we¡¯d be willing to do for each other anyways. The sex isn¡¯t really part of it, it¡¯s just like...¡±


    I struggled a moment for the words.


    ¡°Just like combining some minor things anyways.¡± I finished lamely.


    ¡°What¡¯s the biggest thing you think is ok to trade for sex?¡± Serondes asked.


    I gave him a kiss, wrapping my hands around him to give him a hug. He was getting it! We were establishing safe, healthy boundaries, talking about stuff, and figuring out how we stood - err, laid - in relationship to each other.


    ¡°Probably more sex.¡± I answered seriously.


    ¡°Deal!¡± He shouted out. I rolled my eyes.


    ¡°Like reciprocating. Like, an example would be ¡®I¡¯ll go down on you if you go down on me.¡¯ Pretend for a moment that we¡¯re only OK with going down on each other, but we love the reverse. We could happily arrange something where I scratch your back, and you scratch mine.¡±


    ¡°Well, I sure hope there isn¡¯t a lot of scratching involved. Or backs.¡±


    He looked down at my waist significantly. I tried to half-punch him from my poor angle.


    ¡°You know exactly what I mean. Leads well into the next idea. GGG.¡±


    ¡°GGG?¡±

 Chapter 255 - The Sex Talk II

    ¡°Yeah, GGG. Good, Giving, Game.¡± I explained the acronym. ¡°It¡¯s a way of approaching relationships and sex, and unless you¡¯ve got a better idea, it¡¯s how I think we should approach this.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got my own ideas, but go on, I¡¯m listening.¡± Serondes¡¯s eyes and hands suggested that he wasn¡¯t listening all that closely, but mmmm. What he was doing was nice.


    Plus, he was an elf, and they¡¯d been completely unfair so far. I could easily imagine Serondes being able to do three things at once with his full attention.


    ¡°Ok, so. Good. We should each try to be good to each other, and good in bed with each other.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve got no danger of me being bad on that last one.¡± Serondes quipped. I rolled my eyes.


    I don¡¯t think I¡¯d ever met a man who didn¡¯t believe that. Honestly.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯re an expert.¡± My voice was practically dripping with sarcasm. ¡°But maybe humans have different buttons than the one you¡¯re used to, or maybe my buttons are a little different.¡±


    ¡°Like this one? Or this one? Or¡­¡± Serondes deftly and expertly poked, prodded, and massaged me, causing me to twitch and arch in his arms.


    ¡°Alright, alright! I get it!¡± I squirmed, trying to stay focused and on-task with the conversation we were having.


    ¡°Giving equal time and equal pleasure to each other.¡± I explained the next part, getting an arched eyebrow back from Serondes.


    ¡°Well, by my reckoning, there¡¯s been quite a lot in one direction, and less in another.¡± He pointed out.


    I bit my lip. He wasn¡¯t wrong. At all. He¡¯d been doing lots for me, and I¡¯d mostly been enjoying and basking in the attention and affection.


    ¡°Ok, fine. On your stomach, strip off your shirt.¡± I shifted around to give Serondes space to comply with my orders. Which he did, and I put my hands on his back, leaning in to give them some weight. I started on his shoulders, focusing and working on giving him a relaxing massage.


    ¡°It seems foolish to constantly measure and check everything we do for each other.¡± Serondes half-murmured into his arm. ¡°Better to simply try to do our best.¡±


    I paused my massage to give a few quick kisses on his back. ¡°Yup!¡±


    ¡°With that being said, I¡¯ve done roughly 17.2 times as much for you. Now 17.1.¡±


    I grabbed his ear and twisted it. Even with all my strength, Serondes¡¯s natural elvish toughness and vitality was enough to practically ignore me.


    ¡°Now listen here you¡­¡± I trailed off as Serondes started laughing. He rolled over in place so fast that I basically stayed on top of him, now straddling his chest.


    ¡°Hook, line, and sinker.¡± He grinned at me. I flicked his nose.


    ¡°Yeah. Fine. You got me. Last one¡¯s game.¡± I switched the topic. ¡°It¡¯s a little more complicated than the rest. Game¡¯s basically the idea that, if I¡¯m neutral or ambivalent about an act, and you¡¯re really into it and the idea? I should probably give it a shot. Same goes for you! If I¡¯m really into trying something, and you don¡¯t dislike the idea? Humor me.¡±


    ¡°Well, how does that tie back into consent?¡± Serondes asked. ¡°Seems like there¡¯s some problem room. Also, what are some examples?¡±


    ¡°I mean, it¡¯s still up to the person in question what they want. An example, hmmm¡­¡± I thought about it a moment.


    ¡°I¡¯m not much up for, say, sex outside. But if you really, really wanted to do it? I could maybe be talked into it.¡± I finally decided. ¡°It¡¯s not my favorite idea, but it¡¯s not like I hate it to the point where I would refuse to do it.¡±


    ¡°Hmmm. I see.¡± Serondes added. ¡°Anything else before we start having some fun?¡±


    I wanted to roll my eyes at him.


    ¡°Yes. Quite a few things. An easy one is sexually transmitted infections. Normally we¡¯d have to worry about them and make sure we didn¡¯t have any, buuuuuuuuuut. I¡¯m a healer! Destroyer of diseases! Vanquisher of infections! Good talk.¡±


    Serondes snorted, and went back to lying on his stomach, tapping on his shoulders. I got back to massaging.


    ¡°Monogamy. I¡¯m entirely monogamous, and from my understanding, you are as well?¡± I checked real fast.


    ¡°Mmmmmm. Yup.¡± Serondes agreed. I wasn¡¯t a huge fan of his tone, but I shrugged.


    ¡°Ok, I think the last thing that we need to tackle before going back to the list of acts we¡¯re willing to do and when is pregnancy and birth control.¡±


    ¡°Easy. Elves can¡¯t have kids with non-elves. Boom. Done.¡± Serondes snaked an arm down his side, rubbing my exposed leg.


    ¡°And how, exactly, do you know that elves can¡¯t have kids with humans?¡± I demanded.


    ¡°Well, from what I¡¯ve heard, elves and demons can¡¯t have kids, nor can elves and dryads.¡±


    ¡°And from what I¡¯ve heard, humans and elves can.¡± I retorted. ¡°Look, there¡¯s a bunch of different types of sex. Let¡¯s just call reproductive sex PIV.¡±


    ¡°I mean, it¡¯s not, but sure.¡±


    If looks could kill, I¡¯d be violating [Oath] a dozen times over. I took a few deep breaths to center myself, then unloaded on him.


    ¡°Look, with PIV, what¡¯s it to you? Just a good, fun time, right?¡± I plowed on. ¡°It¡¯s a fun, good time for me as well. The issue is the risk. I bear all the risk if something goes wrong. The last thing I need in my life is a kid. I don¡¯t want kids. They¡¯re not part of my plan. My life would get ruined, my body changed forever, and I¡¯d need to spend at least twentyish years raising said kid and helping them out, or even longer if half-elves take longer to mature. Like, no. Also, you¡¯re a dear Serondes, but would I be wrong to call our relationship a fling?¡±


    ¡°Um.¡± I got an awkward pause from Serondes.


    ¡°Look, I¡¯m loving what we¡¯re doing and what we have here, but I feel like this relationship has a bit of an expiry date, no? Are you going to follow me back to Remus? Do you plan on sticking around the Academy that you¡¯ve said is ¡®boring¡¯ and ¡®worthless¡¯? What do you see as our long-term future together?¡±


    Serondes¡¯s face was hilarious. Shock, puckered lips, followed by a furiously twitching nose which he half got up to pinch. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before sneezing.


    ¡°Ok, yes, you¡¯re probably right. This is a fling.¡± He sounded a tiny bit hurt at that admission, and I felt just a tiny bit bad. However, it was better to get it out in the air and discussed. Both of us should be on the same page.


    ¡°Right. I get pregnant somehow, our fling ends, you leave, and now I¡¯m stuck doing all this by myself. Remus is shit towards women, and an unmarried woman having a kid? I¡¯d be lucky if the Sentinels kept me around, and even then my ability to operate would be hindered. Forget joining the Academy, helping Awarthril, or any number of other things. I¡¯d be stuck, and my life in shambles, all for a few moments of fun. It¡¯s just not worth it for me.¡±


    ¡°But elves and humans can¡¯t have kids in the first place. So it¡¯s moot.¡±


    I stopped massaging Serondes and knuckled my forehead.


    ¡°If we¡¯re not actively using some sort of birth control, we¡¯re trying.¡± I explained to Serondes after a moment. ¡°Now, I don¡¯t know about you, but I didn¡¯t bring any with me.¡± I added in drily.


    ¡°Sure, but we¡¯ve got some in the Spatial Box.¡±


    ¡°Do they work on humans? Or just elves?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, Awarthril might be able to share what she uses, and I¡¯ve got a potion I can take.¡± Serondes added.


    Wow. Male birth control. Ok, that was pretty neat. Still had a minor problem though¡­


    ¡°What¡¯s the mechanism of action, and do you know if it still works when you have PIV sex with human women?¡± I asked.


    I wasn¡¯t being fair here. I knew Serondes hadn¡¯t studied biology, and would have no idea what the answer was.


    The risk to myself was just too damn big.


    I got some grumpy noises from Serondes.


    ¡°Can we discuss the rest of this another time? It¡¯s off the table for now¡­ why don¡¯t we discuss all the things we do want to do?¡± I leaned back into his back, trying to get back in his good graces with the power of backrubs!


    ¡°Mmmm. Fine. What is on the table - or bed, as it may be?¡± Serondes asked, seemingly accepting my limitation.


    The more I thought about it, the more annoyed I was getting. I shouldn¡¯t have to explain in great detail why I did or didn¡¯t want to do something! A simple ¡°I don¡¯t want to do X.¡± should¡¯ve been enough for him. Pressuring me and asking me in great detail about it, forcing me to defend my choice again and again wasn¡¯t cool.


    At the same time, if it was important to him, or something he was looking forward to a bunch? Talking it out was good. It was a tricky mix. There were few absolutes in the realm of dating and sex.


    Why couldn¡¯t it be medicine? That was so much simpler.


    Well, time to extend some olive branches.


    ¡°How do you feel about hands?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Ehhh. Like, I¡¯m ok with the idea, but I don¡¯t think it¡¯s that satisfying in practice. How about you?¡±


    ¡°Wash your hands and trim your nails first. Also, gotta ask me beforehand.¡±


    ¡°That pun was awful. Oral?¡±


    ¡°Well, there are quite a few different ways of doing it¡­¡±


    We kept talking until my throat was sore, discussing the 101 different ways of having sex that we could think of right here and now. When it was ok. When it wasn¡¯t ok. What our expectations and requirements were.


    A strong, healthy sex talk, establishing important boundaries before we did anything. I could feel myself getting turned on the more we described different acts that we¡¯d like to do to each other, and how we envisioned them going down.


    We were winding down, when we hit one last snag.


    ¡°Drunk sex?¡±


    ¡°No, I can¡¯t consent. Well, not when drunk. Lightly buzzed? Maybe, we¡¯d need to talk about it in advance. It¡¯s like waking someone up with sex. It¡¯s tricky, difficult, and almost always a no.¡±


    Serondes flopped back, blowing raspberries.


    ¡°Anything else?¡± He asked with a slightly disgruntled tone.


    ¡°Yeah, can you make a pillar of Lava for my egg?¡±


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡±


    I caressed him, and answered with mischief in my voice.


    ¡°I do seem to recall wanting to do some things with you at this point. Things that require that I¡¯m not managing the egg for some time. Unless you don¡¯t want to anymore?¡±


    I¡¯d never seen clothes disappear so fast.


    [*ding!* [Passionate Learning] has leveled up! 378 -> 379]


    Not again.


    I woke up the next morning, completely naked except for my pendant, and cuddling with Serondes. I threw off the sheets, quickly decided between my two outfits - Mist weave or fancy dress, Mist weave won - and headed out.


    ¡°Elaine! Good morning!¡± Awarthril practically jumped on me, throwing an arm around one shoulder.


    ¡°Elaine! Congratulations!¡± Aegion shoved a mug into my hands.


    I sniffed it cautiously.


    ¡°What¡¯s all this?¡± I felt clever asking both about the attention and the mug in a single question.


    Awarthril tapped her nose, and I paled.


    ¡°No. Nooooooooooooooooooo.¡± I buried my face in my elbow as I remembered her enhanced sense of smell. And all the things White Dove had said when cursing Thukrur, and his sense of smell.


    ¡°Hmmm. Aegion?¡± Awarthril¡¯s tone made it clear what she wanted him to do.


    ¡°Hey Cordamo, let¡¯s go exploring!¡± The brewmaster called out, and I heard him stomping - deliberately loudly - off into the tall grass.


    Awarthril gently guided me to the table, and sat me down.


    ¡°So! Tell me everything!¡±


    Without thinking, I sipped the brew Aegion gave me, then sprayed it all over Awarthril.


    ¡°AEGION!¡± I shouted, throwing the full mug vaguely in the direction he¡¯d gone. Foul liquid spilled everywhere, and I sat down with a grumpy vengeance.


    ¡°Why would he give me the bad beer?¡± I complained.


    ¡°Probably because you got laid and he didn¡¯t?¡± Awarthril had an amused twist to her mouth.


    ¡°Yeah, fine.¡±


    ¡°You seem pretty happy, everything went ok?¡±


    ¡°Except for everyone else finding out, yes.¡± I glared murder at her. She laughed and backed up.


    ¡°Alright, alright. Leaving tomorrow, does that work for you?¡±


    I could always use more rest time, but I did want to eventually get home.


    ¡°Yeah, works for me.¡±


    The road - even as broken as it was - sped us up. We were now covering two, three times the distance per day that we¡¯d been able to get before.


    A few weeks passed.


    ¡°We¡¯re getting close to the Low Experience Zone!¡± Aegion told me one day, handing over some fried eggs he¡¯d foraged. Extra-large, one was more than enough for me. ¡°Well, relatively speaking. Still need to travel for a few more weeks in that direction-ish. Still! Closer than we were yesterday, and tomorrow we¡¯ll be even nearer!¡±


    I gave him a smile.


    ¡°Thanks Aegion!¡±


    I took a cautious bite of the eggs. Tasty!


    We camped that night, Serondes and I getting back to magic lessons. I wanted [Butterfly Mystic] to level, damnit! Well, level more. I¡¯d gotten a pair of levels at this point in our travels.


    ¡°Sand¡¯s a lot of fun.¡± Serondes explained. I half-rolled my eyes. Yes, I knew that. ¡®Serondes and the dozen massaging hands¡¯ was now a regular feature in my life.


    ¡°One of the ways I can use Sand is by having thousands of tiny repetitive motions and hits in a short timeframe onto a single target. Like this.¡±


    Serdones waved his arm - entirely unnecessary dramatic moves, but cool looking - and a pillar of rapidly hardening Lava erupted from the ground. What looked like a solid bar of Sand was then summoned, and after a few flourishes, practically went straight through the pillar.


    Fascinating. I got so much out of that.


    I mentally sighed. Serondes was trying, and he always had something new and interesting. The rapidly-pulsing Sand was an interesting idea, and it could apply to Radiance somewhat.


    I focused on the pillar, and with a thought and a focus, rapidly flickered a beam of Radiance at it, turning it on and off in quick succession.


    It would¡¯ve been blinding if it wasn¡¯t for my [Radiance Resistance], and Serondes was squinting.


    [*ding!* [Solar Flare] has leveled up! 51->52!]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Strobe Laser]! Would you like to replace a skill with Strobe Laser? Y/N]


    Strobe Laser: Light up the party and your enemies with this rapidly flickering Radiance beam! Increased speed, focus, heat, and destruction per level.


    Well.


    Shit.


    That looked like a solid combat skill. I already used [Radiance Conjuration] to make fine, pin-point beams, but I was gated by my magic power how much ¡°oomph¡± I had. With a dedicated skill, I¡¯d be able to use both [Radiance Conjuration] and this new skill at the same time, doubling my output, and effectively doubling my power.


    Ok, it was more like a 50% increase in damage, since I had [Kaleidoscope]. Still, there was a trade-off between meta-skills, like [Solar Flare] and [Sun¡¯s Heart], and more ¡°point and blast¡± skills. I felt I was a little too far on the meta and utility end right now, and needed more damage.


    I couldn¡¯t take it, I didn¡¯t have the spare slot. I was still working on [Solar Flare].


    Maybe later?


    I declined it, and that must¡¯ve pushed me over the edge.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Butterfly Mystic] has leveled up to level 346->347! +8 Strength, +8 Dexterity, +70 Speed, +70 Vitality, +70 Mana, +70 Mana Regen, +70 Magic power, +70 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Strength, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    ¡°A level! Wooooo!¡± I jumped up and down.


    ¡°Nice!¡± Serondes opened his arms, and I happily jumped into them. ¡°Does that mean I¡¯m doing something with you tonight?¡±


    I gave him a quick peck.


    ¡°Yes, but no, but yes again. Let¡¯s call it a night.¡±


    I had inspiration strike me, and I mentally reached out to the ring of deception, fiddling with the settings.


    ¡°Up for some role play?¡± I asked Serondes, who arched a curious eyebrow at me.


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    I mentally adjusted the Deception Ring to show me at a low level. Usually I liked putting it at a high level - I liked feeling powerful, after having spent so much of my life powerless, and the ring helped with that. Not tonight though.


    ¡°Ack! Alas, I am a poor, low-level human faced with a vicious and,¡± I glanced significantly at his head. ¡°Horny elf. Whatever shall I do?¡±


    Serondes had some ideas.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 20]


    [Mana: 415,850/415,850]


    [Mana Regen: 277,804 (+361,539)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 94]


    [Strength: 957]


    [Dexterity: 1,484]


    [Vitality: 11,330]


    [Speed: 11,330]


    [Mana: 41,585]


    [Mana Regeneration: 41,676 (+36,154)]


    [Magic Power: 18,342 (+342,995)]


    [Magic Control: 18,342 (+342995)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 421]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 421]


    [Cosmic Presence: 287]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 2]


    [Center of the Universe: 421]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 421]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 421]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 421]


    [Sunrise: 345]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 347]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 347]


    [Radiance Resistance: 347]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 347]


    [Solar Flare: 52]


    [Nectar: 347]


    [Sun''s Heart: 347]


    [Scintillating Ascent: 314]


    [Kaleidoscope: 347]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 370]


    [Pristine Memories: 220]


    [Egg Incubation: 55]


    [Bullet Time: 420]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 374]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 394]


    [Persistent Casting: 296]


    [Passionate Learning: 379]

 Chapter 256 - Spinosaurus Surprise

    I was woken up in the middle of the night to the sounds of shattering rocks and screaming. Serondes and I bolted awake, and I summoned a strong Radiance glow as he got some Lava ready for lighting.


    A sword crashed through one of the walls, the crystal blade sinking into the other side of the room, shaving a few hairs off my nose as I went cross-eyed.


    Serondes grabbed the crystal blade, yanking it out of the wall. I recognized it as one of the elven blades, and with the sheer expertise demonstrated by getting it through one wall and not the other, I assumed it was a high-speed delivery.


    Then Serondes sprinted out the door, while I followed a moment later, only pausing a moment to check that the egg was still good in its Serondes-created Lava pillar. I didn¡¯t bother to throw anything on. I didn¡¯t have any gear nearby, and what I had that was halfway pretending to be protective took ages to equip. I¡¯d just have to hope mom¡¯s lucky pendant was enough.


    I had a half-second to think before I got outside.


    FOR ONCE it wasn¡¯t me getting attacked in the middle of the night. THANK GOODNESS.


    I got out of the hut and immediately exploded upwards, snapping my [Scintillating Ascent] wings open to gain height, and get myself away from the problem and into a good vantage point.


    Goosebumps ran down my arms as [Bullet Time] activated before I could even properly see the threat, but it only took a half-moment to turn my head towards the screaming, and see what was going on.


    A dinosaur with a familiar shape was rampaging out, with Aegion caught screaming in its jaws. A long, crocodile-like jaw with jagged teeth, a large sail on its back, hunched over on two feet with grasping claws and a long tail. I¡¯d seen statues of the dinosaur, and the super-sized version in the flesh.


    A spinosaurus. Or a relative so close as to practically be one.


    The dinosaur was big, but not Etalix-sized. I would be knee-tall on it, compared to the ankle-tall that I would be against the Guardian himself.


    Aegion was in the jaws in question, working hard at not turning into an appetizer, the spinosaurus¡¯s serrated teeth trying to saw him in half. Most of the screaming was coming from him, although Kiyaya was barking, Awarthril was yelling, and the spinosaurus was making its own noises.


    With a thought I flew up, higher, bathing the field in light so we could all see. My eyes flickered up, noting the clearish sky, and the pair of crescent moons. [Wheel of Sun and Moon] was live. I did try to aim a second high-intensity beam at the spino¡¯s eye, trying to blind it on one side.


    It¡¯d attacked at night, I was assuming it didn¡¯t like the bright lights.


    Serondes was hovering lower down, spinning balls of Lava forming around him, preparing to attack. Awarthril had her overlarge polearm out, and Kiyaya was next to her, howling. They were keeping a far, cautious distance from the spinosaurus, and as my eyes adjusted, I saw a bit more what was going on.


    There was a faint greyish-brown sphere around the spinosaurus, a solid ball of see-through color crackling around him. Grass inside the sphere was slowly crumbling and fading.


    Something clicked, and Awarthril¡¯s voice was magnified a dozen times, the force of her words like a hammer against my head as Kiyaya amplified her.


    ¡°Erosion aura!¡± She yelled as she charged forward.


    Chains erupted in her path, launching themselves up to the spinosaurus, wrapping around its neck, arms, legs, body, and tail. Awarthril took a hop forward, a pad of Ooze appearing in her path. She sprang off of it like a trampoline, slicing down at the spinosaurus.


    Fuck it. I wasn¡¯t doing any good up here, and Aegion needed help. It sucked to think, but he¡¯d be better off sliced in half. Then I could heal him up, and he¡¯d be back in the fight, not trapped.


    The angle wasn¡¯t great, and the blade was turned by the sail. Still, Awarthril was flexible, and sticky black Ooze appeared around the spinosaurus, trying to bind it further.


    Serondes wasn¡¯t idle, his classic Lava bullets interspersed with the occasional larger crescent blade of burning Lava fired at the spinosaurus.


    I continued my dive, feeling my skin prickling as I dove through the Erosion aura, the skill eating away at my flesh and bone, my vitality slowing the process down and my healing reversing any damage that occurred.


    Getting so close to the spinosaurus was risky, but when was healing mid-combat anything but?


    Serondes¡¯s attacks were a powerful broadside onto the dinosaur. The smaller Lava bullets didn¡¯t do much, but the larger slashes of Lava that caused the air to shimmer and mirage around them were cutting deep.


    In a strange twist, the molten rock half-trickled out of the gashes they made, before solidifying into solid rock. Both armor against future attacks, a reduction in flexibility, and a heavy weight to carry. Not that a few dozen or hundred pounds would slow a massive dinosaur of that level much.


    Even as I dove, air screaming past me as I let gravity pull me down while ¡°pushing¡± my flight down, the chains around the spinosaurus slowly degraded, then snapped. First one, then two, then the rest of them went, the spino¡¯s Erosion aura - or skills - breaking through the bindings.


    I flashed past Cordamo, who was circling just above Aegion, wind swirling ominously around him. As I shot past him, the wind picked me up and spun me around, causing the ground to spin wildly. I had enough experience flying, even through hostile conditions, that I was able to keep my head and orientation.


    I started to summon my [Kaleidoscope] butterflies, launching them in careful waves at the spinosaurus. I didn¡¯t want to risk hurting Aegion more while he was trapped in the literal jaws of the beast. I aimed for the hip, hoping to chain enough explosive Radiance butterflies in a row to take the leg out of action.


    Ideally, with that leg gone, it would fall over and be entirely crippled. No way would we be that lucky.


    I was careful with how much mana I was using. I wasn¡¯t the offensive powerhouse of this team, I was the healer. Aegion was going to require serious assistance, and there was no telling who else I¡¯d need to fix.


    The spino finished breaking free and whirled hard. First he swung Aegion through the hail of Lava bullets that Serondes had launched, peppering the poor elf with friendly fire. He kept spinning, and his tail elongated, extending further and further. Stretching in a way only a skill can cause, cracking like a whip.


    Serondes saw it coming, but he was a little too close. A little too sure of the distance that he had on the dinosaur, of his own skills. He flew back, but the tail kept extending, some skill at work. A ball of Sand flashed inside a shell of Lava, but the tail just went straight through it, breaking dozens of Serondes¡¯s bones and sending him flying.


    I quickly, clinically analyzed the injuries I¡¯d seen in that brief window of vision I¡¯d gotten. Broken arm, shattered ribs, broken spine, likely dozens of internal injuries, probable broken neck, crushed pelvis, and those were only the injuries I had a vague idea of from this distance. Either way, Serondes was in a world of hurt, and required urgent medical care to stay alive. Blunt trauma was a nasty way to go, and it could go either way. He could survive for hours with those injuries, or if something subtle went wrong, minutes or less. A rib puncturing his heart would kill him quicker than landing on the nest of some creature that took offense. Medicine was an art, and tiny, miniscule differences and changes in what happened to a patient was often the difference between life and death.


    As much as I wanted to tend to him, Aegion had triage priority. I was closer, and more importantly, Aegion¡¯s current appointment with Black Crow was ahead of Serondes¡¯s. He was being sawed in half, inside of the Erosion aura, and had just eaten a literal faceful of Lava bullets. Only reason he was still alive was there hadn¡¯t been a slash of Lava in that attack. That, and his innate tenacity.


    I finished my dive, starting to pull up to get some distance again. At the bottom of my dive, I was not only in range to use [Wheel of Sun and Moon] on Aegion, but a bit closer than my max range to decrease the penalty. I was probably going to end up needing to heal and re-heal Aegion a bunch, and mana was going to be a concern.


    I cut the [Kaleidoscope] cast, watching the swarm of Radiance butterflies fulfill their mission. One after another, in rapid succession, they hit the hip joint, having gone the long way around. A chain of explosions erupted in the area, finally clearing to reveal¡­


    Fuck.


    They¡¯d barely managed to blow through the tough scales, burning and scarring some of the muscles underneath. Not nearly enough to slow the spinosaurus down.


    I split my attention back to Aegion, focusing on healing him. I didn¡¯t bother with his waist - anything I healed would just get immediately re-opened. Instead I focused on everything above that. Heart. Lungs. Bones and muscle, spending extra attention on blood and blood loss. Naturally, his face got extra attention, healing a half-dozen holes drilled from Serondes¡¯s Lava bullets.


    I should totally make a joke about them improving his appearance. Or something.


    He looked horrible, but his struggles and my healing working on him made it obvious that he was still alive. I kept working on pulling up, aiming to get up and away from the fight. I needed to fix Serondes up.


    I thought I¡¯d given myself enough room, and I was peeling away to save Serondes when the sail of the spinosaurus grew, the edge of it clipping my side.


    Due to the angles involved, and my rapid upwards motion, it didn¡¯t do too much to me, just caused me to wobble a bit in-flight and a negligible amount of mana.


    Ok, sure, so it also ripped a chunk out of my side, ribs going flying, etc. etc. that instantly got restored. Basically a papercut.


    I started to shoot off towards Serondes when Awarthril¡¯s Kiyaya-amplified voice hit me.


    ¡°Elaine! Catch!¡±


    I twisted in the air to see what I was supposed to catch, and swore to myself.


    Awarthril was mid-leap to the spinosaurus¡¯s jaw, where Aegion was hanging limply, the jaws of the dinosaur having almost entirely closed on him at last. So much for my healing. As she got closer, Ooze sprang out, connecting her to the spinosaurus and drawing her in faster. She reached Aegion, and ripped him out of the teeth of the dinosaur.


    Well, for a generous definition of Aegion. She got the important parts. Head, heart, lungs, like a third of his organs. Everything from the belly down was left inside of the dino¡¯s mouth though.


    One downside to elvish perfection - I bet monsters thought they tasted delicious.


    I immediately reversed direction and started diving back down.


    With her bad angle and superelven strength, she heaved, sending Aegion¡¯s upper body spinning towards me.


    ¡°You flea-infested idiot!¡± I cursed Awarthril as I flew on an intercept course for his body.


    Skin and bones were important. Among other things, they kept the important bits, like guts, liver, kidneys, gallbladder, spleen, stomach, and everything else inside a person.


    All of which were busily exiting Aegion, centripetal force flinging them out of his body with a generous dosing of the rest of his blood. Not the proper way to treat a patient.


    I hadn¡¯t gone terribly far, and between Awarthril¡¯s high-speed toss and my own redirection, skin still burning under the terrible Erosion aura of the spinosaurus, Aegion was in range quickly. I blasted him the moment he got to the edge of my healing, my heart seizing for a brief moment before the rest of his body popped back into existence.


    He¡¯d live. From the current set of injuries anyways.


    I glanced at Awarthril, currently dodging swipes of the spino¡¯s extra-large claws, the fierce talons flickering as they grew longer then shorter, trying to skewer or slash the nimble mage. Kiyaya¡¯s howls had taken on that deep, bone-shaking quality I¡¯d associated with her most powerful skills.


    She looked fine, if somewhat battered. Then the claws slashed at empty air, and a spray of blood out of nowhere reminded me of Awarthril¡¯s favorite invisibility trick, having been smelled through by the clever dinosaur.


    The injury reflected itself on the illusion, and I made a snap call.


    Serondes¡¯s wounds were worse than Awarthril¡¯s, and we¡¯d need his firepower to finish this fight.


    I flew off in the direction I saw Serondes last flying, gaining height to better search, fleeing from the lethal threat at my back. I used my Radiance like a gigantic spotlight, throwing illumination all around to better try and find Serondes.


    Like a bolt of white lightning, faster than any striking snake, the treacherous couatl struck. He dove down at me, wrapping himself around me, yanking me off-course. He was much lighter than I was, but between the speed he was going at, the entirely unexpected nature of the attack, and the powerful gale winds behind him all worked against me, causing me to be entirely knocked off my flight path, following Cordamo¡¯s new idea of where I should be.


    Which, evidently, was directly into the jaws of the dinosaur.


    ¡°CORDAMOOOOOOOOOO!¡± I yelled, frantically processing with the extra time [Bullet Time] gave me. A lifetime of experience and dealing with things trying to kill me gave me clarity, and let me think instead of blindly lashing out.


    Apart from the one episode with the owl, Cordamo hadn¡¯t exactly shown me animosity. He¡¯d been relatively friendly, in spite of the fact that my dislike of snakes wasn¡¯t exactly well-hidden. More importantly, I¡¯d just saved his life-long bonded companion twice in the last minute. That wasn¡¯t usually setting the stage for a vicious betrayal, that was usually praise and gratitude. Cordamo was smart enough to know what was going on, and what I¡¯d done.


    If he really wanted me dead, trying to strangle and poison me in the middle of the night would be the best method. I doubted any of the elves were dumb enough to buy ¡°well Elaine accidentally died fighting the dinosaur¡± not when Awarthril and Kiyaya had a great view of the action.


    Plus, he was in just as much, if not more, danger from the vicious dinosaur than I would be in.


    Contrary to appearances, Cordamo hadn¡¯t wrapped himself around me and was dragging me into the maw of the monster for fun or some misguided suicide mission. I didn¡¯t know what he was up to, but I decided to have some faith. I stopped struggling against him, and started working with him, speeding us up.


    Why me? Was it because I was there, because I was a healer, or because I was a mage?


    Slim chance that it was because I was there. I can¡¯t imagine more weight and ballast being what Cordamo needed, unless he was planning to use me as a club.


    Actually, I could see him using me as a club, the jackass.


    Instead of looking at the dinosaur, I looked at the feathered serpent instead.


    Feathers were flitting off of his wings, with red streaks appearing on his body. Even as I was quickly looking, another patch of flesh opened up, a hole showing his ribs.


    It clicked for me. Cordamo was small, and focused on speed, agility, and his poisons. He wasn¡¯t stacking vitality, and the Erosion aura was doing terrible things to him, to the point where he wasn¡¯t able to survive for long in it. He needed me just to stay alive against the oppressive, all-degrading skill.


    I flickered a thought at healing him, and kept it up as we slammed into the dinosaur, landing on its back. Not exactly where I wanted to be, but it¡¯s where Cordamo believed we needed to be.


    Or him at least. I was just a handy healing package.


    As we were flying in, I got to watch part of the fight. Aegion was moving towards the Spatial Box, probably to arm up. Awarthril was still fighting the spinosaurus, quick shifting claws slashing wildly to try and find the tricky illusionist hiding somewhere in the area.


    There were no more Ooze pits or metal chains. The passive Erosion from the spino had chewed through them, and Awarthril was focusing her efforts.


    The dinosaur roared, and its tongue shot out of its mouth, aiming for a seemingly empty spot. It split into a half-dozen tongue-like tentacles with nasty spikes on the end, finding the invisible Awarthril and wrapping around her, hooked barbs cruelly digging into her flesh.


    The spinosaurus started to whip her around, Kiyaya leaping in to bite onto the tongue. She anchored herself, trying to stop the tongue from retracting


    Even as Cordamo and I were landing near the base of the monster¡¯s massive sail, I saw its head going up and down, Awarthril caught in its grip and being slammed into the ground, only to be brought up again and slammed back down.


    Like hammering a nail into a piece of wood, driving its spikes deeper into her.


    Kiyaya was involved, but frankly, with how everyone else was getting beaten up, she was the least of my worries.


    I didn¡¯t bother struggling against Cordamo¡¯s bindings. I was stuck here, and the snake needed help just as much as Awarthril did, if in a less obvious and bouncy fashion.


    Cordamo struck, fangs breaking against the incredibly tough, skill-reinforced scales of the dinosaur. He hissed in pain, one fang flying off as it broke.


    Just my luck, it spun back and sank into my shoulder. My healing instantly restored his fangs at the same time it purged the traces of poison sent at me, and I ripped out the offending object.


    ¡°Careful!¡± I griped at him, as he drew back, preparing to strike again.


    His fangs glistened with poison as his teeth turned green, clearly having some skill relating to how Gale had the concept of sharp behind it. Then, even through the enhanced perception of [Bullet Time], he blurred as he struck, his deadly fangs sinking deep into the spino¡¯s back.


    I couldn¡¯t see it, but I could imagine the gallons of poison pumping into the dinosaur, Cordamo¡¯s Poison skills letting him generate near-endless amounts of the lethal liquid.


    I hung on the best I could, with the dinosaur throwing Awarthril and Kiyaya around by its tongue causing it to buck and shake harder than any bull.


    A thunderous roar and burst of Lightning exploded next to us, Aegion having gotten his hands on his weapons and letting loose. I blinked the stars out of my eyes, my ears popping back as my entire body rattled and shook on the aftereffects of one of his skill-enhanced arrows blowing up practically on top of me.


    I never, ever wanted to be on the wrong end of one of those.


    Then like a light going out, the mighty beast crashed to the ground, the System sending a notification a moment later.


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Spinosaurus (Forest, 755)]//[Spinosaurus (Erosion, 750)]]


    ¡°Cordamo! Serondes! Now!¡± I yelled at the couatl, trying to take flight. The snake unwrapped himself from around me and took off, giving me a stiff tailwind to help me out.


    We shot off together, couatl and human working in tandem. I shined brightly, pushing my [Radiance Conjuration] to the limit. I started to feel myself crashing from the adrenaline wearing off, refreshing myself with [Sunrise].


    We searched the area, looking for any signs of Serondes. He¡¯d been launched into a forest, and we weaved between the trees, my high-speed maneuvering along with the light centered on me throwing wild shadows around the woods, disturbing any number of creatures with my high-intensity spotlight.


    Cordamo let out a stream of hisses and shot off, the wind changing direction. I veered sharply in his direction, my long study of the winged snake¡¯s movements having a noticeable effect on my agility and maneuverability.


    Half-impaled on a tree, bleeding and broken, was Serondes. I pushed [Wheel of Sun and Moon], focusing on healing his shattered bones, fixing his heart and head, and generally healing and restoring him. I had mana to spare, and the fight was over, so I was less concerned with efficiency.


    Even as I got in range, nothing was happening, and I screamed, flying full-force into him. Begging the world that he wasn¡¯t dead. That I wouldn¡¯t need to bury another body, engrave another name.


    I crashed into him, my healing kicking in. The moons had been hidden by the leafy canopy, but like an angel of mercy, my touch restored him, bringing him back to life.


    Of course, my healing also broke the branch that had been impaling him and keeping him up, causing him to plummet to the forest floor, hitting a few branches on the way down before he oriented himself to what the fuck was going on, but eh.


    He¡¯d live.


    I might need to take a second trip out, but that was unlikely, not with Serondes conscious and in full control of his magic. Worse-case he could make a floating Lava chair or something and get carried out.


    I wanted to stick around and make sure everything would be fine, but Awarthril¡¯s visible injuries, and whatever had happened to Kiyaya, was a higher priority than checking on Serondes. I shot back to our campsite, Cordamo giving me a strong assist again.


    Kiyaya was ripping at the prehensile tongue of the spinosaurus, all while getting some strong howling in. Benefits of a Sound element. Awarthril was still wrapped in the spinosaurus¡¯s dead appendage, cruel barbs having remained in her flesh even after its death. She was breathing hard and bleeding heavily, blood pooling under her. [Wheel of Sun and Moon] worked perfectly, and it became obvious that some muscles of hers had been entirely severed, as post-healing she was able to shake the tongue off and stand back up with another elven curse.


    ¡°PrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrfangardglarbarghMeeeeeeerp!!¡±


    I was starting to think these weren¡¯t elven curses. I dunno, there was just no consistency. I¡¯m pretty sure they were just weird fucking noises that Awarthril made. She looked to be in terrible shape, with her clothes in absolute shambles. Rips, tears, bloodstains, and everything that was still vaguely intact looked faded and thin, like it was made out of poor, low-quality materials hastily put together then moth-eaten.


    Kiyaya was a good girl, and got a dose of healing a moment later.


    Awarthril immediately went to Kiyaya, patting her over and crying somewhat. She gave Kiyaya a great big hug, scratched her behind her ears, then headed over towards me.


    ¡°Elaine! Are you alright? How¡¯s Serondes? And everyone else?¡±


    ¡°Everyone¡¯s ok.¡± I couldn¡¯t keep the exhaustion out of my voice.


    ¡°Oh thank goodness! I was so worried.¡±


    She gave me a look up and down and patted my shoulders.


    ¡°You should rest up. Or at least, put some clothes on! You¡¯ll catch a cold standing out here naked.¡±


    I looked down.


    Derp. Right.


    Hang on.


    Completely naked?


    Mom¡¯s pendant!


    I darted up, acting like a firefly, lighting the area up and cursing that I¡¯d dumped [Lost and Found].


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Elaine, you ok?¡± Aegion asked, making a reappearance.


    ¡°My pendant! The one I got from my mom! I¡¯ve lost it!¡± I started to burn search grid marks into the ground, preparing for another long search.


    Aegion and Awarthril glanced at each other. Kiyaya padded over, and helpfully put her nose to the ground, sniffing furiously as she tried to track down and find my pendant.


    Good girl!


    ¡°Were you reinforcing it?¡± Aegion asked.


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    ¡°Did you have a skill protecting it?¡±


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t have anything like that.¡±


    Technically I had [Mantle], but I used that to protect myself and throw shields around.


    Aegion and Awarthril glanced at each other again.


    ¡°What? What is it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Elaine, I¡¯m so sorry. The Erosion aura probably ate it.¡±


    ¡°No. NO! It¡¯s special. It¡¯s got to be ok!¡± I screamed back.


    I looked at Awarthril¡¯s tattered clothes. I remembered what the aura had been doing to me, to Cordamo. How a high-level monster couldn¡¯t even be inside.


    ¡°The cord probably just snapped or something, it¡¯s been fraying for ages now.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t sure who I was trying to convince.


    I thought back through the fight, pinpointing the moment where I¡¯d felt the subtle weight of the necklace breaking, falling off. I thought about what I¡¯d been doing, how I¡¯d been flying and moving.


    I rushed over to the area, blasting it with Radiance, making it brighter than the day.


    It popped out at me immediately, a different-colored spot among the dead grasses. I flew down to it.


    I sobbed as I picked up the rusted, eroded remnants of my lucky pendant. Even that small part crumbled to dust in my fingers, a still breeze scattering the remains.


    No!


    Not my lucky pendant!


    It¡¯d been with me forever, practically speaking. Mom had given it to me on my Unlocking day, and I¡¯d basically never taken it off since. It¡¯d survived the slavers and bandits, Rangers and monsters, plague and Ranger Academy. It¡¯d survived me getting stabbed, sliced, poisoned, decapitated, burned, thrown down a mountain, snuck with me into a dragon¡¯s lair and so many more adventures.


    It was the closest thing our family had to a family heirloom, and now? It was just¡­ gone. Destroyed by an aura.


    I hadn¡¯t even noticed.


    ¡°I¡¯m back.¡± Serondes tried to announce himself, but his voice was shaky. Worried, like his core beliefs of invincibility had been shaken.


    I just stood up and walked away, ignoring Serondes.


    Ignoring the rest of the elves calling after me, asking if I was ok. Like a zombie, I sleep-walked back to the hut, curled up in a ball, and cried myself to sleep.


    I just wanted to go home. Needed to go home. I was insisting we head towards the deadzone tomorrow.


    I was woken up in the middle of the night to a voice - no, voices - no, it was one voice, with many voices inside of it, as impossible as it was.


    It sang, with mischief and cruelty, with child-like wonder and awe, words in a language that made me want to rip my eyes out and that I could understand every word of, every syllable passing its - their - its lips. A manic giggle, an imposter that was trying to mimic a child, yet clearly having never heard one before and getting it wrong. It sounded like the blowing of a horn, the baying of otherworldly dogs that had no place being in this world. The words had color, all the different shades of autumn. From the leaves of the trees changing color, to the wheat and grains that ripened and were harvested in the season, all the way to the last warm rays of the fading sun. The refreshing breath of cold, misty air, a flickering candle inside a carved pumpkin. My senses were crossed in an impossible way, bright colors bouncing on words.


    ¡°Found you.¡±

 Chapter 257 - Peer Pressure

    My heart was racing at the voice, the words fading out of my ears, yet echoing in my mind, impossibly colored. How words in my mind had color, I¡¯d never know.


    ¡°Serondes. Did you hear that?¡± I asked, shaking him.


    He just grunted and rolled over.


    Bah.


    I debated waking him up, but apart from the weird words, nothing was happening. My hut wasn¡¯t exploding, swords weren¡¯t flying through the walls, and there was no [Bullet Time].


    I was awake for the second time in a night, and at this point I was giving up on getting more sleep.


    However, creeping paranoia was setting in. I used [Mantle of the Stars] to cloak and shield myself with all the brightly colored stars in the sky, just as a quick added layer of protection.


    I got up, and got dressed. Mistweave, ring, and finished it off with the glass-woven sash with the egg. I picked the egg up, needing to do a quick ¡®hot hot HOT!¡¯ juggle before getting it into the sash, then turning on the heat with my Radiance.


    I¡¯d gotten lucky that no stray shots had gone this way. I¡¯d gotten lucky that Awarthril throwing a weapon to Serondes hadn¡¯t hit the egg. Lucky, lucky, lucky.


    An egg didn¡¯t have System access, and no defenses besides natural hardness and shape.


    I got outside, seeing Aegion and Cordamo on watch.


    Finally.


    Finally!


    The night attack seemed to have hammered the idea that a watch should be established hard enough that it stuck.


    ¡°Aegion! Did you hear a weird voice just now?¡± I sat down next to him, tentatively accepting some raw piece of meat that he handed me.


    Just. Slap. Raw meat right into my bare hands.


    ¡°No.¡± His voice was toneless.


    ¡°What is this?¡± I pulled a face.


    ¡°It¡¯s heart. For you.¡± He sounded shaken.


    ¡°You ok?¡± I sat down next to him, swatting at Cordamo who was sniffing around. I glared at the couatl.


    ¡°Just because you killed the spinosaurus doesn¡¯t mean you get this. Seriously. Just leave it be. Didn¡¯t you already get your share?¡±


    I was remembering that the elves had some bizarre tradition of eating the raw heart of their enemies, and, well, looks like this time nobody had intercepted my share.


    I¡¯d eaten so much worse, but with my magic it¡¯d been years since I¡¯d eaten it raw.


    Ah well, nothing for it. I popped it into my mouth, and started chewing.


    The danger noodle slid off, something in my tone warning him off. He took flight, trying to peer through the darkness for any danger.


    The raw heart was, well, raw heart. Exactly as tasty as the label claimed. Aegion wasn¡¯t bothering with pranks or anything. He just didn¡¯t seem to have it in him, like a spark had gone out.


    Aegion and I sat in silence for a moment.


    ¡°Is this what it¡¯s like for everyone else?¡± Aegion broke the silence.


    ¡°Is what?¡±


    ¡°This¡­ this fear. This worry.¡±


    I shrugged.


    ¡°I dunno what you¡¯re feeling exactly, but in a sense, yes? We all know the world is dangerous. We live like we could die any time. We take precautions. Like having a watch.¡±


    I glanced significantly at Aegion at the last part. I was probably going to be somewhat insufferable.


    ¡°I almost died!¡± He wailed.


    My sympathy levels were zero.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been stabbed through the heart, had all my limbs broken, been impaled by traps, practically tortured, decapitated once, burned, fought off innumerable illnesses and diseases, gotten blown up, and that¡¯s just the start! The full list would take way too long. I¡¯m lucky to be alive, and I know it. Ripped in half? I¡¯m lucky it¡¯s been so long since the last time that happened. This is what life is like for mortals. I¡¯m just durable enough to be able to tell you, first hand, what all of those things are like. Everyone else gets their name on the wall.¡±


    That last part would probably go right over Aegion¡¯s head, but eh. Hopefully he¡¯d get the idea.


    I paused for a moment, thinking.


    Eh. We were close enough to home.


    ¡°Toughen up, go home, or die. Those are basically your options at this point. Now, if you¡¯d like, I can take over watch. The gods and goddesses know I¡¯ve spent enough nights on watch to do it alone.¡±


    Aegion stilled, working through all the things I¡¯d said. Finally, like it pained him to say, he spoke.


    ¡°Can you teach me how to properly keep guard at night?¡±


    I turned my head to hide a grin. Still slipped into my voice.


    ¡°Happily. First¡­ Just leaving a carcass of a huge dinosaur out there will attract predators and scavengers. We don¡¯t want those.¡±


    Watch was boring. Talking about watch was almost as boring. I checked on my level-ups from the fight with half an eye while I kept chatting with Aegion. I¡¯d get fidgety and antsy otherwise.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [The Dawn Sentinel] has leveled up to level 421->424! +3 Dexterity, +24 Speed, +24 Vitality, +170 Mana, +170 Mana Regen, +48 Magic power, +48 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    Three levels! I didn¡¯t think my healing had been worth that much, but I guess the combination of the ridiculous levels involved and my ever-growing [Passionate Learning] was paying off.


    My capped skills re-capped themselves. Nothing interesting there.


    If nothing else, I was going to advocate that Ranger Trainees, and maybe Sentinels, should take trips outside of the Dead Zone to level up. How much stronger could we all get, just spending a few months out here?


    Assuming the casualty rate was acceptable.


    [*ding!* [Sunrise] has leveled up! 345 -> 347]


    Wasn¡¯t going to complain about free levels.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Butterfly Mystic] has leveled up to level 347->348! +8 Strength, +8 Dexterity, +70 Speed, +70 Vitality, +70 Mana, +70 Mana Regen, +70 Magic power, +70 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Strength, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    I resisted the urge to complain about only getting one level. My Radiance contribution hadn¡¯t been stellar.


    [*ding!* [Solar Flare] has leveled up! 52 -> 88]


    That was more like it!


    [*ding!* [Scintillating Ascent] has leveled up! 314 -> 319]


    More levels! I needed to cap the skill at some point. Then find a mirror.


    [*ding!* [Bullet Time] has leveled up! 420 -> 424]


    [*ding!* [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has leveled up! 374 -> 375]


    [*ding!* [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority] has leveled up! 394 -> 396]


    [*ding!* [Persistent Casting] has leveled up! 296 -> 299]


    No surprises. Levels!


    Serondes was the last one awake. Awarthril silently joined us in the middle of the night, listening to what knowledge I had to share about keeping a proper watch in the middle of the night, and how to best have an early warning for attacks. To better avoid issues like being woken up in the jaws of a dinosaur.


    Rude awakening, that.


    ¡°Did anyone not level?¡± Awarthril asked. We all shook our heads, and she grinned.


    ¡°Levels for everyone! This calls for a celebration!¡±


    I gestured with my gnawed-on spinosaurus sail.


    ¡°What more could we possibly need? This seems like party enough.¡±


    ¡°Pooh. Don¡¯t be a spoilsport.¡± Awarthril retorted, but when nobody else chimed in support of her, she gracefully let it go.


    Aegion was being uncharacteristically silent.


    ¡°Where to?¡± Serondes asked as we were finishing up breakfast. I was regretting some of my life choices, specifically selecting the spino-sail to try and eat.


    It was bad.


    ¡°Please toss me a leg.¡± I had ambitions, requesting an entire leg that was larger than I was.


    I gave my best eyes to Serondes, who conjured up a few mage hands to deliver only part of my request. Only enough food to stuff me, not make me go pop! Fortunately he didn¡¯t try feeding me or anything like that.


    We¡¯d discussed it! Hurray for good communication!


    I took a few bites, and feeling fortified, made my case.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to get back home. As soon as possible.¡± I was taking small nibbles, to better keep talking.


    ¡°What¡¯s the rush?¡± Serondes asked. Couldn¡¯t quite blame him, given that our fling would probably end once I got home.


    ¡°I just lost my last memento of home. It¡¯s been way too long for me. Remember, my family¡¯s mortal, and I¡¯ve been gone a year and like, two months at this point. Not sure how that is for elves, but that¡¯s ¡®let¡¯s hold a funeral¡¯ in how humans view time.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t entirely sure on the timeline. My only strong markers were the solstices and equinoxes, and the elves had a different calendar entirely. Either way, too long. We were near, and I was going to head towards the Low Experience Zone, elves in tow or not.


    To my surprise, Aegion was the first to jump in.


    ¡°I know we take breaks after big fights. I think I need more than a short break though. Let¡¯s head towards Elaine¡¯s home. I could use a few weeks or months being the scariest thing around.¡±


    He nodded at me.


    ¡°No offense Elaine, but according to your own stories you¡¯re one of the best, and one of the highest-leveled, scariest things around. I¡¯m much stronger than you are, and if you¡¯re an apex predator, what does that make me? A relaxing vacation, that¡¯s what.¡±


    That¡­ was one hell of a non-sequitur, but I wasn¡¯t going to call it out when he was agreeing with me.


    We looked at Awarthril, whose decision - along with Kiyaya¡¯s weight - would break the tie.Mostly. If she agreed with Serondes, we¡¯d be split in half.


    ¡°Oh Elaine! I hadn¡¯t quite realized that your family would think you were dead! No no, we can¡¯t have that. We¡¯re going to get Elaine home now. As quickly as possible!¡±


    I felt my heart expand three sizes at her pronouncement.


    ¡°By the way, Elaine?¡± She said.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Wipe your face. You¡¯ve got something right there.¡±


    We packed up, oriented ourselves east, and started to move.


    Sadly, the road wasn¡¯t leading in that direction, so we slowed down due to the rugged nature of the terrain. At first.


    The latitude suggested we were kind of near Remus. It should¡¯ve been winter at this point, but the weather was still warm. On the occasional strong winds from the north, I could even smell the ocean. Or perhaps a sea, but either way, it generated strong nostalgic pangs, and feelings of homesickness.


    We started to cross the occasional road, then they became more frequent, and better maintained. We saw the occasional caravan, but after the last meet-up with one, we decided after a short discussion to not bother stopping for the day - or longer! - to chat.


    There wasn¡¯t anything we needed.


    I got good with my ring, able to rapidly make it invisible, then visible again, along with changing the level I was displaying. With the elves helping, I was able to properly mark 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, and a few more levels that I thought might be useful, so I could almost instantly change my level to the exact ¡°right¡± level that I wanted to show.


    A nice bonus - the elves had helpfully mapped out every class-up for me! 512, 768, 1024, 1536, 2048, 2560, 3072, and 3584! 4096 was the highest level, but apparently there was something weird about it? The elves themselves didn¡¯t know, the information was restricted, and they were too young, and too low-level.


    I kept getting lectures on what it was like to be an Immortal, Immortality, and all sorts of other random factoids that the elves thought were important for me to know.


    I finished the Medical Manuscripts, Awarthril giving me a thoughtful look when she saw the [Oath] written in the back. She didn¡¯t say anything, and I wasn¡¯t sure if that made me happy, or scared. Either way, she didn¡¯t tell the others about it, which I appreciated.


    I was getting more and more excited by the day, every step increasing my pulse.


    Home.


    We were getting there. Irrationally, with no basis for it, I could feel it in my bones. Remus was getting nearer.


    My best guess for the feeling? A hefty dose of hopefulness, combined with subtle changes in the ocean breeze smell, that I subconsciously associated with home. The smell had gone from occasional, to frequent, to near omni-present.


    ¡°There¡¯s a city up ahead.¡± Aegion reported one late afternoon, as we were walking on some nice roads. We¡¯d already dodged three caravans today, and a close city was a good suggestion why we were dodging so many people and why the roads were nice.


    He kept his eyes closed as he reported in.


    ¡°Tall, thick walls. Guard towers. Well-planned city, large. I¡¯m seeing parks, buildings belching normal smoke, a port, either alchemical buildings or weird multi-colored fires, a fortress in the middle of the city, patrols on the walls.¡±


    He paused a moment, thinking.


    ¡°Patrols are primarily ogres, although I thought Yugark was to the west of here.¡±


    ¡°Mortals move around quite a bit, and the map is 800 years old for this area.¡± Serondes pointed out.


    Um.


    What?


    They were expecting 800 years old and accurate map to go together? I take back all the nice things I¡¯d been thinking about them.


    ¡°There¡¯s a second species that¡¯s rarely on patrol, but they¡¯re there.¡± Aegion continued reporting. ¡°Most are in armor, hang on, trying to spot some that aren¡¯t.¡±


    We waited a few moments.


    ¡°Alright. Elvenoid form, two arms, two legs. No horns, hair just on top. Tend towards tall and muscular, no super distinguishing features. No offense, but they¡¯re as dull as you are Elaine.¡±


    Hang on.


    Waaaaaaaait a minute.


    ¡°How are they different from me?¡± I asked, not daring to hope.


    ¡°Taller, stronger. Mostly seen males so far.¡±


    I wanted to half jump for joy, half punch Aegion.


    I did both. My fists were as strong as a butterfly¡¯s fart, I was in no danger of causing harm.


    ¡°Pretend for just a moment I¡¯m a scrawny, short, under-muscled version of what a human woman looks like, and that the men tend to be taller and burlier. What then!?¡± My voice was hungry, demanding one answer and one answer only.


    ¡°Mmmm. Yeah, probably humans then.¡±


    I screamed with joy.


    ¡°Humans! Let¡¯s go! GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!¡± I charged down the road, only for Awarthril¡¯s ever-present [Rubbery Rope] to yoink me back like some bad comedy.


    ¡°Whoa there! We¡¯re not even in the Low Experience Zone yet. If we¡¯re unlucky, this is shimagu territory. They shouldn¡¯t be out this far east though.¡±


    Bah-what!? Humans!


    Although the mere mention of shimagu was enough to put a dampener on the wild unbridled joy running through me.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get a campsite ready to discuss what we¡¯re going to do.¡± Serondes suggested. ¡°Regardless of what¡¯s going on, I don¡¯t think we want to find out at night, or potentially sleep in a hostile city.¡±


    ¡°Plrbrbrbrbrbrb.¡± Awarthril was rubbing off on me. I blew a raspberry at Serondes, mentally cursing his good sense.


    He was right though, we should talk this over.


    Briefly.


    ¡°Let¡¯s!¡± Awarthril agreed.


    ¡°Yeah sure.¡±


    We moved off the road, deep into a small patch of forest. More and more of the land we were going over was farmland of one sort or another, but we tended to ignore the few farmers we saw, and they ignored us entirely. Just another set of travelers. Serondes built a single, low hut out of Lava, half-burying it to reduce visibility. Finally making concessions to visibility, and that they weren¡¯t invincible.


    We huddled up, eating a nice dinner of jerky and berries that Aegion had foraged during the afternoon.


    ¡°I see two options. We either go through the city, or we go around the city. Any other choices?¡± Serondes started off the ¡°what do we do now¡± meeting, after some light dinner chit-chat.


    I didn¡¯t see anything else, so I kept my mouth shut. I did mentally chant in the city in the city in the city in the city.


    Humans! I wasn¡¯t speciesist or anything, but there was something about familiar faces after far too long.


    ¡°We could bulldoze the city then keep going!¡±


    To nobody¡¯s surprise, Aegion had the absolutely absurd idea. Even Cordamo was giving him an ¡°Are you serious?¡± look.


    He chuckled weakly at us, waving a hand.


    ¡°Bad joke, bad joke, sorry.¡±


    We all spent another half-moment giving him the ¡°what the fuck¡± look, then moved on.


    ¡°Benefits of going around the city?¡± Serondes asked.


    ¡°Avoid any conflict. I don¡¯t see anything else.¡± I quickly threw in. I didn¡¯t want to go around the city. I wanted to see what was going on, find out why there were humans here.


    Also, to be fair - I¡¯d only come up with one so far.


    ¡°Downsides?¡± Serondes asked.


    ¡°Takes longer, and if we wanted to be undetected, we¡¯d need to take a semi-significant detour. Given how few cities and towns we¡¯ve seen, I doubt there¡¯s another one, but if there is we¡¯d keep circling even further out.¡± I jumped in. Taking longer to get home? Booo. Even if the humans here were great, they weren¡¯t mine.


    ¡°Pros of going through the city?¡± Awarthril asked. ¡°I know we can confirm if it¡¯s a shimagu encampment or not, which is valuable. I know it¡¯s unlikely, but it could be worth checking. We could circle back to it once Elaine¡¯s reached home.¡±


    ¡°Can buy someone else¡¯s food. Buy good beer. Get some souvenirs. Get some cheap gems. Buy some Arcanite. Sleep in a real bed. Have someone else make the bath for once. If there¡¯s someone good enough, get our armor fixed. Our weapons repaired. The thousand and one tiny luxuries civilization has to offer, or knowledge that it¡¯s a threat.¡± Serondes looked somewhat haggard at his torrent of words, and thinking over his life story, I was reminded that this was his first real adventure away from home, his first extended trip in the wilderness.


    I was also tempted to make a flirty comment about how he liked making baths with me well enough, but went with shutting up to get what I wanted, namely, visiting the city.


    Unsaid - I wanted a real bathroom. I had no trouble running around the wilderness, but I didn¡¯t want to replace the bear in the classic joke ¡°Does a bear shit in the woods?¡±


    Leaves were awfully close to becoming my new nemesis.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure about this. I¡¯m still hoping for some peace and quiet, and I think we should detour around the city, even if it takes a month.¡± Aegion flopped back, looking listlessly up at the roof of the Lava hideout.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t be like that! Think about what¡¯s in the city! More arrows. Parties. All the parties! You could make a dozen new friends in a night! Show them how to throw a proper party. They might have some cool herbs to throw in your next beer!¡± I was blathering. Someone better with people might have a better way of doing it, but eh.


    I was a ¡°Throw everything at the wall and see what sticks¡± sort of girl.


    ¡°And rare ingredients! Oooh, and new brews! By the dozen!¡±


    Splat went the Elaine offensive. Time to see what slid off and what stuck.


    Aegion was getting a distant look on his face. I wasn¡¯t sure if he¡¯d heard anything I¡¯d said. Kiyaya booped his nose with her paw to bring him back to Pallos.


    So much for operation ¡°Pasta fling¡±. If the wall didn¡¯t even have ears¡­


    Ok, apart from ¡°The walls have ears¡± saying, my analogy was rapidly breaking down. I was too excited, and not exactly a social master at the best of times. I was going to practice the ancient art of shutting up for some time. It seemed like Awarthril and Serondes wanted to go to town anyways.


    I¡¯d let them do more of the talking.


    ¡°The downside, of course, is if we go through, and they are shimagu, we might be in a bit of a pickle.¡± Awarthril delicately added in.


    She spent a few moments carefully thinking, before asking me a slow, thoughtfully worded question.


    ¡°Elaine, if a body controlled by a shimagu attacked you, could you heal the person of the shimagu infestation?¡±


    The second reminder of shimagu sobered me up a bit, and my newly found resolve to shut up was thrown out the window in the face of a direct question.


    I appreciated her careful phrasing, hinting that she had internalized that I had [Oath], and not giving it away to the other elves. They hadn¡¯t bothered to read the Medical Manuscripts, and while that was fine for Aegion, I was a little hurt that Serondes hadn¡¯t even tried, declaring it dry. Like, yeah, it wasn¡¯t for everyone, but it would¡¯ve been nice if he¡¯d given it half a shot.


    ¡°Yes, I can.¡± I¡¯d gone over the ethics of it recently, working out that was possible.


    ¡°Ok, the worst-case scenario is that it¡¯s a shimagu-controlled city, and they take offense to Elaine¡¯s presence. Right?¡± Serondes asked.


    ¡°The worst case is worse than that.¡± I muttered unhelpfully. I hated sabotaging my position, but it was best to go in with eyes open.


    ¡°What do you think it is?¡± Awarthril coaxed.


    ¡°I have no idea, I just know the worst thing you plan for is never the worst that can happen.¡±


    Aegion barked a laugh at that, breaking his melancholy somewhat.


    ¡°Here¡¯s the breakdown.¡± I said. ¡°There are two options, and three possibilities. The first is we go around the city, ignoring the minor chance of there being more cities.¡±


    ¡°Or a patrol catching us!¡±


    ¡°What do we care if a patrol catches us?¡± I asked. ¡°We¡¯re just traveling through.¡±


    ¡°Ok, fine.¡±


    ¡°The second is we go through the city, and everything¡¯s fine. We spend a nice day in the city, then keep going.¡± I said. ¡°I imagine some of us will want to spend more than a day. OH! Aegion, you mentioned ports, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, there was a fairly large port.¡±


    ¡°They could have a ship to travel to the dead zone! Home!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯d be nice.¡± Awarthril sighed wistfully.


    ¡°The last is we try to go through the city, and it¡¯s filled with shimagu. Then we¡¯re in trouble.¡± I finished off.


    A penny dropped for me. Well, more like an entire damn anvil, with a full parade behind it.


    I was an idiot. An unthinking idiot.


    I needed to know if the city was infested by shimagu. I wasn¡¯t just Elaine, happy-go-lucky wanderer. I was Sentinel Dawn, guardian of Remus. Humanity¡¯s last line of defense against threats.


    A city full of bodyjackers, taking over humans? Parasites that could easily be burned out by a healer?


    Yeah, if that was mentioned in a Sentinel meeting, every head in the room would be turning towards me, and I¡¯d be out the gates before lunch. It was my duty to check it out, especially if we were as close to Remus as the elves seemed to think.


    I needed to explore the city, with or without the elves.


    ¡°True. But we¡¯d be stopped at the gates.¡± Awarthril pointed out. ¡°It¡¯d be easy enough to just walk away at that point. Heck, if you wanted, I could just Ooze the guards, and we bail.¡±


    I didn¡¯t like the idea of casually taking lives.


    At the same time, I¡¯d walked into a goblin encampment and provoked the heck out of them. Right now, provoking shimagu seemed to be equally valid. After all, they could run away, and breaking chains on top of everything else I did?


    Seemed attractive.


    I was glad Serondes had suggested we break for the night and plan. Walking in all excited would¡¯ve gone poorly. Now I was able to sit back. Plan.


    Execute.


    ¡°Skills?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Shimagu are basically restricted to purely physical skills - and passives at that - unless they¡¯re in a rare cooperating host.¡± Serondes reminded me. ¡°While possible, I doubt a high-quality host that¡¯s cooperating is acting as a gate guard. Since, after all, people who are cooperating with a shimagu have significantly more power than the average shimagu-controlled body, or even a regular individual at that level. Since the shimagu would be augmenting them.¡±


    A good reminder. If I only needed to worry about physical attacks, and my healing was at a strong range?


    Arrows were still a concern. Otherwise?


    ¡°What are the chances that it¡¯s a shimagu city, versus a normal city?¡± Awarthril asked.


    ¡°Oooh, hard to say. Somewhere between 1 in 12 to 2 in 12?¡± Aegion ¡®estimated¡¯, which seemed to just be pulling numbers out of his ass.


    ¡°Right. I think we have our options?¡± Awarthril confirmed. Nods went around the circle.


    ¡°Hang on, I¡¯ve got one more thing to add.¡± I said.


    ¡°Go on!¡± Awarthril encouraged me.


    ¡°If there are humans in the city, I need to look at it, one way or another. My job as Sentinel demands it. If the rest of you don¡¯t want to go, that¡¯s fine, but I need to investigate it either way.¡±


    I held my chin up, daring any of them to contradict me. None of them did.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s quite something! Who wants to go to the city?¡± Awarthril asked, and I raised my hand. Kiyaya nuzzled up to me, and sat in my lap, practically engulfing me and hiding me from everyone else. She was a big girl, and when I was sitting on the cooled Lava floor?


    Gigantic. She seemed to be voting with me.


    Good girl. She¡¯d get all the scratches.


    I waved two hands around her, making my vote clear.


    Awarthril gave a polite laugh.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to agree with Elaine here.¡±


    There was some hissing as Cordamo, of all people agreed with me.


    ¡°Can¡¯t let my honey berry go alone! Plus a real bed? Oooh, the things I can do with a real bed.¡±


    I made a gagging noise at Serondes, who waggled his eyebrows suggestively. I threw him an angry finger. I¡¯d told him I didn¡¯t want super suggestive stuff in public!


    ¡°Go around the city?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m clearly outnumbered here, with everyone else wanting to visit, but yeah. I¡¯m not feeling up for even the chance of a conflict.¡±


    ¡°Oooh. Hmmm. Is there any way to make this easier on Aegion?¡± Awarthril fretted, digging through the Spatial Box for¡­


    Honestly, I had no idea what she¡¯d been looking for.


    I thought about it for a few minutes, while Serondes and Awarthril tried to extract information from Aegion, trying to work out a compromise to keep everyone happy.


    ¡°Wait! I¡¯ve got it!¡± I exclaimed, fiddling with my ring. ¡°I¡¯ll just show up as the highest level healer I can. That¡¯ll deter just about everyone and everything, right? We¡¯ll still figure out what¡¯s what, but who¡¯d want to attack us? No conflict, and we get what we want, right?¡±


    If I saw something that [Identify]¡¯d as purple walking down the street?


    Yeah, I¡¯d be getting out as fast as I could. Have a nice picnic, 3,000 miles away. I didn¡¯t go for black like Lun¡¯Kat, because maybe people would think their ID was on the fritz. There was no question with a deep violet.


    ¡°Oh brilliant Elaine! Nobody can know you¡¯re a healer without them [Identify]ing you anyways! Aegion, does that work for you?¡±


    ¡°Eh, sure, I guess.¡±


    Awarthril clapped her hands together, happy that we¡¯d all come to a harmonious conclusion. ¡°Now, let¡¯s get some sleep. Kiyaya, first watch?¡± She asked, and the wolf nodded.


    I locked eyes with Serondes. He jerked his head over to his bedroll, in its own little alcove.


    I crossed my arms at him. I was still annoyed about the bed comment.


    Either way, I wanted a good, full night¡¯s sleep before tomorrow. It was either going to go great, or terribly. There was no in-between.


    The next day I geared up, with everything I had. Because if shit hit the fan, the plan was always the first to go.


    I put on my Mistweave dress, my ring. My Sentinel badge, as unlikely as it was to be recognized. My sash with the egg, and I retrieved the pieces of my dwarven armor that held my Arcanite, and my few remaining utility gems.


    I still had [Reversal], [Water Conjuration], [Shocking Paralysis], [Watery Manacle], [Mana Void], [Cast Scream], [Amplify Voice], and [Curse Breaker].


    And almost a dozen empty gems, mementos, reminders. Skills I¡¯d blown on this long adventure, keeping myself alive. The remaining ones were quite frankly weak.


    I felt geared and ready to go.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± I said, and stepped outside, into the clear sunny day, without a cloud in the sky.


    We turned east, hit the road, and took the first steps towards the city.

 Chapter 258 - Municipal Massacre I

    We walked down the road together, just about fully geared up. We weren¡¯t looking for trouble, but we were ready for it.


    The elves were in their armor, crystal swords at their hips, shields on their back. Helmets that somehow fit over their horns. Cordamo was flying high, while Kiyaya was close by my side.


    Which made me nearly blind to everything going on there, but also gave me a huge fluffy shield.


    The only thing they didn¡¯t have were the talismans.


    Awarthril had [Rubbery Rope] connecting to all of us. I picked at it.


    ¡°Is this useful with how close we are to each other?¡±


    Awarthril pursed her lips.


    ¡°Well, right now, no.¡± She admitted. ¡°No telling what happens if there¡¯s a fight.¡±


    She hefted the Spatial Box, looking like a day laborer if it wasn¡¯t for the gleaming armor.


    ¡°I¡¯m not excited by the idea of a fight. What happened to waiting, and cooling off after a battle?¡± Aegion complained again.


    ¡°Oh hush you. You¡¯ve had, what, almost a month to get over the last fight?¡± Awarthril retorted back.


    ¡°We don¡¯t anticipate a fight. We¡¯re just ready for one.¡± Serondes chimed in.


    We were going so slowly. Humans! People! I wanted to sprint down the road, screaming with excitement.


    Ok, maybe not quite. It wasn¡¯t exactly home, just home-adjacent.


    Oooh! Unless Remus had expanded!


    That didn¡¯t quite make sense with the population ratios, and the humans working with the ogres. STILL! The elves didn¡¯t seem to know of humans before meeting me, which strongly implied that we were all in Remus. Humans being here implied they came from Remus, so if nothing else, we were damn close to home.


    We crested the last hill, and I was slightly disappointed. The architecture was nothing like Remus. I didn¡¯t have the words to describe it well, but there was a look to the walls that Remus cities had, and these walls had a totally different look. It was like, oh, how mangoes and apples were similar to each other, but radically different in the details and the nitty gritty.


    What Aegion had been saying about ¡°Lots of [Beastmasters]¡± was made obvious. Pterodactyls were landing and taking off, some without any visible riders. A group circled high up, and the walls had the occasional dinosaur along with the guard patrols.


    On the gate before the city were all manner of people trying to get in, an orderly line of farmers, merchants, travelers, and whoever else wanted to get into the city. More beasts were present here, from large, slow herbivores carrying large loads or pulling wagons, to smaller fliers flitting about the line.


    A small patrol from the city was moving up and down the line. It was headed by one huge ogre in bright teals and yellows, in armor that was the right mix of practical and fancy to indicate a guard. After all, guards needed to be visible and an easy source to look to in an emergency, while also having practical gear for brawls.


    Along with him were three velociraptors, with the same bright teal and yellow combination. They followed closely behind the ogre, the guard some sort of expert [Dinosaur Tamer]. Nobody in line blinked at the existence of raptors supplementing the guard, and one kid even threw a treat to the fierce dinosaur.


    The ogre was tall, fat, and muscular, wielding a spiked baton so thick it almost looked like a club. He was fairly liberal with how he pushed, shoved, and menaced anyone who stepped out of line a hair, and I¡¯d never seen such a well-behaved line waiting to enter a city.


    ¡°Well! We¡¯re here, nothing for it! Let¡¯s get in line!¡± Awarthril clapped her hands together, and we moved forward, reaching the end of the line.


    I triple-checked my ring, making sure that it was displaying me as a purple [Healer]. It¡¯d be nice if I could change my tag, and go super incognito, but if the ring had the option, I hadn¡¯t found it yet.


    ¡°Hmmm. Are you sure about that level Elaine?¡± Awarthril asked me.


    ¡°Ah, yeah, why?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­ do you have any idea how powerful a purple level is?¡±


    I opened my mouth to say ¡°no¡±, then remembered.


    I did know how powerful purple was. Galeru, the Rainbow had been purple.


    Had gotten trumpeting System notifications to everyone nearby.


    Had turned herself into Lightning, and arced across the sky.


    Had casually deflected attacks from Lun¡¯Kat, who¡¯d been able to bring the sky down on a country.


    I was claiming a similar amount of power.


    Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.


    Purple might not be the best idea.


    If I saw someone purple approaching, and I was in charge of a city? Even if their tag was as harmless as possible, I¡¯d probably hit the ¡°Evacuate now¡± order, forget about it when their tag was ¡°Massively lethal.¡±


    Ok, purple was way too strong.


    ¡°What do you suggest?¡±


    ¡°Go down, I¡¯ll tell you when.¡± Awarthril cranked her neck, looking at me. Her eyes started to rapidly flicker, reading a notification I couldn¡¯t see.


    I mentally reached out, finding the ¡°level¡± aspect to the ring and starting to move it down.


    ¡°Keep going, keep going, keep going, and stop!¡±


    Roughly¡­ level 1300ish? Give or take?


    ¡°Much better!¡±


    I grabbed Serondes¡¯s hand, squeezing it briefly. Then I slipped my hand out, being ready.


    Prepared.


    I was expecting something to happen. Shimagu bursting out of hidden trapdoors or something. A magical volley from the wall. I was primed, in full fight or flight mode, eyes flickering from place to place, ready to move, to react.


    Plans and tactics were reviewed, constantly shifting and changing as people moved around.


    We were behind a farmer, with a wagon full of grains pulled by a mule, and shortly after a second farmer came behind us, pulling a handcart full of squash.


    The farmer behind us, lazily glanced over us, saw me, and clearly checked my level. His mouth opened, the grass he was lazily chewing on tumbling out without a care in the world.


    He looked over his shoulder, slowly looked back at me, then took a sharp turn, and started to cut through the fields around the city.


    ¡°Where do you think he¡¯s going?¡± I asked, watching him bulldoze through an area he clearly didn¡¯t belong. Going for some hidden weapons? A subtle alert cue? Awarthril squinted at him.


    ¡°I have no idea.¡±


    ¡°Going for a different gate.¡± Aegion said. ¡°Decided this one was too dangerous.¡±


    He gave me a pointed look. I gave him my best innocent ¡®who me?¡¯ face, while continuing to scan around me.


    ¡°I mean, wasn¡¯t that the point of her ring? No conflicts?¡± Serondes was all too happy to score some points on Aegion.


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡± Aegion agreed.


    There was only so much vigilance, so much preparedness for a fight I could have.


    As we shuffled through the line, even the ogre guard pretended we didn¡¯t exist. Just stared straight past us as he patrolled along. The boredom, lack of action, and the sheer mundanity of waiting to enter a city, quickly overcame my ¡°fight or flight at any moment¡±. It wasn¡¯t a state that was possible to maintain forever, and nothing was happening now.


    Almost literally. Snails moved faster than this line. I went back to holding Serondes¡¯s hand.


    Eventually, the line got short enough where some ambitious merchants were willing to get in line behind us, although they kept at a distance.


    Awarthril tilted her head, eavesdropping on the conversations everyone else was having in line.


    ¡°Not familiar with this language. Aegion?¡±


    He spent a moment listening, shaking his head.


    ¡°Nothing.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not familiar with it either.¡± Serondes added in.


    They looked at me.


    ¡°What are you looking at me for!? I speak one language!¡±


    Awarthril pursed her lips.


    ¡°A deficit which we should¡¯ve worked on correcting. I¡¯m sorry Elaine. I should¡¯ve realized, and focused more on teaching you the five most common languages on the continent, over botany.¡±


    She eyed me appraisingly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t start now!¡± I begged her.


    I liked learning, but there was a time and a place for everything.


    ¡°I¡¯ll figure it out at the gate.¡± Serondes reassured us.


    ¡°One way or another.¡± Aegion muttered.


    We got to said gate without incident, where we tensed up. Hands went to the hilt of weapons, and the elves subtly moved around to protect me.


    This was it. This was the moment where we figured out if they were shimagu, and we were in for trouble, or if everything was going to be fine.


    Well, in all likelihood. I suppose there was a slim chance that, for whatever reason, they¡¯d allow a lethally powerful healer into the heart of their city, instead of cutting them off at the gate. I can¡¯t think of why anyone would let a massive threat into the city instead of slamming the gates shut on them, but I guess it was technically possible.


    I removed my hand from Serondes¡¯s again. Holding hands was absolutely terrible in a fight. I needed freedom, movement. The ability to dodge and weave, room to maneuver.


    The actual guard check was in the arch of the gate itself, a deliberately tight space. I looked up and around, seeing inscriptions along the inside of the gate, up and over the ceiling, each one connected to Arcanite for power.


    I could start to see inside the city! The guard checkpoint was a little more distracting though.


    More ogre guards, more baton-club mixes, but there were a number of short swords and shields present. And one human guard! I studied him intently, although his eyes seemed to slide right off of me. There wasn¡¯t even a reaction to my Sentinel badge, which generally caused no end of commotion for anyone from Remus.


    Although - if he did recognize the Sentinel badge, it¡¯d give away the game that I was faking my level. ¡°Hang on, Sentinels aren¡¯t level 1300!¡±


    Ok, to be fair - the Sentinel badge wasn¡¯t nearly as well-known as the Ranger badge, and while the average human in Remus - bloody citizenship rules meant I couldn¡¯t even talk about the Remus citizens without excluding most of the population - knew what the Ranger badge looked like, the Sentinel one was more confined in its reach and knowledge. Sure, anyone I needed to work with - captain of the guard, mayor, and the like - all knew what it was. People in Arminium knew what it was.


    People like, say, 8 year old me?


    Nah. Sentinels were just stories.


    Focus. This was the dangerous part! Shame I wasn¡¯t recognized though.


    Two bipedal dinosaurs loomed in the shadows of the gate, with strange, almost fur-like short feathers. They were roughly nine meters tall, and looked as heavy as a dinosaur of that size would be. Their front paws had¡­ well, it was hard to tell where the fingers stopped, and the nails started. Either way, insanely long, sharp finger-claws that must¡¯ve been almost a meter, meter in a half long in total. I had no doubts that whoever was in control of the dinosaurs had guided their skills to reinforce the deadly claws.


    [Therizinosaurus].


    The city took their dinosaurs seriously!


    The guards held up their hands and we stopped. They looked at us, one of the guards visibly flinching as he looked at me. They had a quick, rapid discussion with each other, and one went off running.


    If this got into a fight, what would I do?


    Well, it¡¯d only get into a fight if they were shimagu, or if Serondes said something utterly stupid and offended all the guards.


    Or if Aegion tried to ¡°make friends¡± by giving them beer, then they interpreted it as a bribe or a poisoning attempt. Not that I¡¯d blame them.


    Or Cordamo went for a snack, or¡­


    Ok, this was getting to be a disturbingly long list.


    I didn¡¯t understand a word of what was going on, but I knew guards. I¡¯d eat my hat if that wasn¡¯t ¡°Oh shit, go get the boss because this person¡¯s WAY outside of our paygrade to handle.¡±


    They spoke something to us, entirely unintelligible.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know that language, got another one?¡± Awarthril asked, careful with her tone. It wasn¡¯t the words, so much as the ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m being respectful here, but clearly asking stuff in different languages.¡±


    Back to the fight plan. I¡¯d assume shimagu. I was in the shadows here, under the gate. The dinosaurs and guards were powerful. I¡¯d probably try to dive backwards, out of the city. The crowd near the gate would vanish the moment violence started to occur, it¡¯d be clear.


    If one of the guards or dinosaurs went directly for me before I got out, either blow out their knees with [Butterfly Mystic], or if they got too close, slap them full of anti-parasitic healing.


    Then work it out from there, trusting my training and instincts. No plan would survive any fight longer than those first few moves I¡¯d planned.


    I couldn¡¯t follow what happened next, but Awarthril kept repeating a similar phrase in different languages, followed by the guards seemingly switching languages around, both parties looking for a common language.


    I started to relax. Attempts to communicate, even after seeing my level and designation, suggested no shimagu.


    Serondes suddenly jumped in, yelling triumphantly in a language I didn¡¯t know. The guards looked slightly taken aback, hands going to weapons. The huge therizinosauruses moved forward just a hair, but two of the guards shouted them all down, then turned to Serondes and started speaking rapid-fire.


    A language in common! Yaaaaay.


    Ok, I needed to work on this language thing. Being left out all the time sucked.


    Double suck - Awarthril had started out with Creation, and none of the guards - especially the human - had spoken it. Which implied that there wasn¡¯t robust communication or trade with Remus. Maybe it was just a small enclave of humans that had survived out here.


    In the end, some white cloth strips were brought out, and a few Arcanite changed hands, Serondes paying the gate toll. He then gave each of the elves one of the white strips, and explained.


    ¡°We¡¯re good to enter. They require us to wrap our swords shut in their scabbards. City¡¯s called Ochi.¡±


    Aegion snorted as he wrapped his sword up, his bow untouched on his back, under his shield.


    ¡°Like that¡¯ll stop us.¡±


    ¡°Oh hush.¡± Awarthril scolded him, making sure hers was tied in a simple, pretty bow. ¡°You know most cities have barely-working security measures. Like Elaine was telling us how they have mages discharge their mana before entering, yet a good mage would have their mana back in minutes! No, you know it¡¯s a simple test, to see if we¡¯re cooperative and willing to follow their rules, or if we¡¯re terrible troublemakers, and they need to throw us out now.¡±


    With the toll paid, the guards placated, and no attack by bodysnatchers, we entered the city.


    Ochi. Where I was hoping to get some answers about all the humans here.


    We entered the city, to a cacophony of noises, and a kaleidoscope of colors.


    The streets were wide and unplanned, crookedly going off in all directions and winding around, but wide enough that it didn¡¯t cause too many problems. Craftsmen, merchants, and all manner of other people had rickety booths, crammed into every inch of space clearly marked on the road in red. One stall leg, clearly temporary, was a few inches into the road.


    A passing guard corrected it with a casual swing of his baton, taking out half the stall with it.


    Nobody gave it a second glance.


    Ogres were bellowing, and I saw a few humans shouting their wares, the business of making profit the same the world around. Carts rumbled through the street, pulled by any manner of creature, as pterodactyls soared above, screeching and crying.


    Each booth had a different little flag or bright ribbon hanging on it. Some high up, flapping in the breeze, others tied to a pole, made to be as visible as possible. I looked at them, trying to figure them out.


    Oh, interesting! They were made out of paper!


    If they were using paper, of all things, as a marker? They had to have good books. Time to find a bookstore, or even a library!


    I might not know the language now, but we were close to Remus. Add in Immortality, and I could see myself popping over now and then. Not terribly frequently, just two, maybe three times a week.


    There was something a bit weird about the place, but I couldn¡¯t put my finger on it. It was probably just a bit of cultural shock, something I was unconsciously used to seeing that I wasn¡¯t.


    Ok, creepy city check one. Were there kids around?


    Yeah, I saw a pair of human kids huddled in a corner, whispering together and eyeing a stall. Thieves, with utterly shit heist-planning skills. Either way, kids were a good sign.


    What else did I see?


    There was a beggar, practically hidden in an alley, with his bowl out.


    Maybe that was it? Remus took an incredibly harsh approach to beggars and other people trying to live on the streets, and they usually found themselves in slavery sooner rather than later. Usually without following the proper legalities.


    There were some unlit paper lanterns strung over the street. Maybe those?


    ¡°Ochi! We¡¯re here!¡± Awarthril happily clapped her hands together. ¡°Do we want to stick together? Do we want to go exploring? Anyone have anything they want to see?¡±


    On one hand, exploring! On the other, I didn¡¯t speak the language.


    I could probably get away with it by mimeing.


    On the third, more important hand? Rangers had rules about sticking together in cities. Granted, that was usually because we were a target, but I believed the same should apply here.


    Although - we¡¯d never truly break into individual groups. Plus, everyone but Cordamo and Awarthril had a signalling skill. Serondes could make eruptions of Lava, Kiyaya had a Sound element and could be just as loud as that implied, Aegion had Lightning arrows, I had my Radiance. I couldn¡¯t imagine Kiyaya leaving Awarthril alone, and vice-versa.


    Yeah, we¡¯d be fine if we broke up in pairs. No need to say anything right this second about it.


    ¡°Let¡¯s stick together for now, and break apart once we know where we¡¯ll spend the night?¡± Aegion suggested. There were nods from all of us, and I slipped my hand into Serondes¡¯s, giving him a squeeze.


    ¡°Ok! Let¡¯s go!¡± Awarthril cheerfully plowed into the crowd, the rest of us following. Cordamo joined us a moment later, streaking in from the sky.


    One nice thing about the town being full of beasts - nobody batted an eye at Kiyaya.


    ¡°Oooh! Food!¡± I yanked Serondes towards one of my favorites - ¡°I don¡¯t want to know what¡± on a stick, with several exotic smells.


    Well, ok, it was more of a large roast, thick as my thigh, twirling under some warm coals. As people made their orders, the stall owner carefully sliced some off, skewering them on a stick before handing it over. He then threw a half-dozen spices onto the freshly exposed meat, and kept turning.


    Serondes huffed, but relented, buying me one. Cordamo nosed in, and before long, he¡¯d bought each of us one.


    I took a bite, and pulled a face.


    ¡°Ugh!¡± I thrust it away from me.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Tastes a bit like pork.¡± I was pulling the ugliest ¡°this is disgusting¡± face I could. The spices were good, but the underlying flavor was anathema.


    Cordamo snapped his head forward, seizing the moment - and seconds - before anyone else could.


    Serondes squeezed my hand.


    ¡°We¡¯ll just find you something else.¡±


    I leaned into his shoulder.


    ¡°You better!¡± I teased him.


    A raptor was behind us, seemingly well-trained enough to wait in line. After we were done, it dropped some hefty plates from his mouth onto the counter, and snatched up the offered sticks.


    Amazingly well-trained animals. And with a whole society backing it! There¡¯d never be monsters running around on the streets unsupervised in Remus like this.


    Ladies of the night were openly showing their wares on the street, and I wasn¡¯t trying to be offensive. But ogre sensibilities had to be radically different from most other elvenoids.


    ¡°BEER!¡± Aegion yelled, and our whole group lurched to another stand, Aegion practically breathing down Serondes¡¯s neck as he haggled for eight mugs. One for each of us, and two more for Aegion.


    ¡°Oooh, I want some hats!¡± Awarthril had us staggering towards a new vendor, brightly colored flimsy hats.


    I got a nice paper flower, tucked behind one ear.


    Aegion got a floppy therizinosaurus hat, the paper dinosaur comically bouncing around as he walked around.


    Awarthril got a little pinwheel, the paper bending in the light breeze instead of spinning.


    Kiyaya got an early precursor to what I could only call a ¡°witch hat¡±, her ears poking through the wide brim.


    Cordamo got a little piece of paper wrapped around his head, the ogre running the stall not wanting to get too close to the snake, and not having anything snake-sized.


    Smart dude.


    And lastly, Serondes, who got a small triangle of paper between his horns, acting like a banner.


    The sight of the noble Serondes, elf, mage extraordinaire, first romantic fling, haggling over a few Arcanite chips with some random vendor in a new city?


    Priceless. It was going into the treasured, hilarious memory archive.


    Like Artemis dancing with Lightning.


    Or Autumn teaching me how to make signs to advertise in the market.


    I looked around, and it clicked.


    That¡¯s what was missing! Merchants were yelling out their wares, screaming about how they had the best deal possible.


    But there were no signs.


    No flares of magic.


    No bright Mirage signs, saying ¡°Discount Shoes! Buy one, get one free!¡±


    I kept looking, and there were no skills being used. Nothing obvious, nor were there many of the telltale signs of skills being used. Just raw stats.


    Now, it was possible that there was some sort of ban on skill use in the city. The guards were brutal and rough enough that I could believe enforcement on such a rule would get almost everyone.


    Almost.


    There¡¯d always be that person trying to use them. The thieves, if nobody else.


    Here?


    Nothing. Nobody.


    Not a skill to be seen.


    I came to this realization, paling at the conclusion, as we exited a street into a larger marketplace, crowded with dozens of people and dinosaurs, jostling around, roaring, and in the case of the monsters, being smelly.


    Quite a few people had lights dancing around them, lit up like a beacon. We all stopped and stared, my thought briefly knocking out of my head, only to come roaring back with confirmation.


    Those lights were special. Sure, they could be mimicked by illusions and Mirages, but everyone knew those lights. They were the ¡°Classing up¡± lights, indicating that someone was in the world of their soul, picking a new class.


    Except these people were up and about, walking and talking, laughing and trading. Haggling and bartering, eating and drinking.


    Living.


    All the pieces came roaring together, the elves breaking the sashes on their weapons. Awarthril dropped the Spatial Box, and in near-unison, we yelled our conclusion.


    ¡°Shimagu.¡±


    A guard immediately took a swing at me.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 20]


    [Mana: 421,680/421,680]


    [Mana Regen: 283,337 (+367,662)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 98]


    [Strength: 964]


    [Dexterity: 1,500]


    [Vitality: 11,472]


    [Speed: 11,472]


    [Mana: 42,168]


    [Mana Regeneration: 42,260 (+36,766)]


    [Magic Power: 18,530 (+347,438)]


    [Magic Control: 18,530 (+347,438)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 424]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 424]


    [Cosmic Presence: 287]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 2]


    [Center of the Universe: 424]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 424]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 424]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 424]


    [Sunrise: 347]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 348]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 348]


    [Radiance Resistance: 348]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 348]


    [Solar Flare: 88]


    [Nectar: 348]


    [Sun''s Heart: 348]


    [Scintillating Ascent: 314]


    [Kaleidoscope: 348]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 370]


    [Pristine Memories: 220]


    [Egg Incubation: 55]


    [Bullet Time: 424]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 375]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 396]


    [Persistent Casting: 299]


    [Passionate Learning: 379]

 Chapter 259 - Minor Interlude - Yigruk the Ogre

    Life was pain.


    Life was misery.


    Life sucked.


    That was Yigruk¡¯s take.


    It started when he was young.


    Everyone pitched in on the family farm, from his older siblings all the way to his parents and grandparents. They lived in a cramped hut, the ogres all jostling for sleeping space nightly, even as the kids grew larger and the space stayed the same size.


    At three, he was taught what a ¡°good¡± pineapple looked like, and what a ¡°bad¡± pineapple looked like, then tasked to sort pineapples on the family farm. They were prickly and burny, and his parents had no sympathy for his poor hands, instead viciously cuffing him if he didn¡¯t sort enough of the fruit in a day.


    Yigruk grew up fast, and eyed his younger sibling, two years younger than he was. Even at three he could realize two things:


    The sibling was competition, eating food that he could be eating instead.When the sibling grew older, they¡¯d take over the pineapple-sorting job. He was stuck on pineapples until that day.


    The second thought won out, but there were a few close days. There were gaps in the ages of the siblings, which Yigruk steadfastly believed was due to disease or injury.


    The only bright spot in his days were when the sun went down, and everyone huddled inside. Grandpa had stories to tell, and oh, what stories they were.


    ¡°Shimagu! Shimagu! I want a shimagu story!¡± Yigruk demanded.


    ¡°Yeah! Shimagu!¡± A chorus of other voices chimed in.


    ¡°No! I don¡¯t want shimagu! I want Nolirig!¡± One of the siblings protested.


    Three of the siblings near him viciously beat him. The price for speaking out, the price for stepping out of line.


    It was part of why Yigruk wanted shimagu stories.


    That, and they sounded awesome!


    Grandpa chuckled.


    ¡°A shimagu story eh? Well¡­ how about Trurub the Strong and Sen the Builder?¡±


    ¡°Yeaaaaaah!¡± A chorus of voices called out, half of them having never heard the story.


    ¡°Well! It all started a long time ago, where there was a big, strong ogre named Trurub. He was soooo strong, that everyone called him Trurub the strong! He had so many points in strength, nobody could count that high! But Trurub wasn¡¯t very smart.¡±


    ¡°Sen the builder was a shimagu, and he was a GENIUS! He knew how to build the biggest buildings, he could make the strongest bridges! But alas, Sen had no strength!¡±


    ¡°Could Sen build a better farm?¡± Yigruk asked. Grandpa chuckled.


    ¡°Of course he could! He could build a farm that went further than you can see!¡±


    ¡°Anyways, Trurub had a problem. His village got washed away! He wanted to build a new house for himself, but he didn¡¯t know how! He rolled the biggest stones over, but had no roof! He put another rock on top, but it just rolled over! Trurub was very sad.¡±


    ¡°Along came Sen! Sen saw that Trurub was sad, and wanted to build a home. So he said ¡®Hey Trurub! Let¡¯s work together! Your strength, and my skill, and we can make you a home. We can make everyone a home!¡±


    ¡°Trurub agreed, and the two worked together! They built him a home, a grand home! It had six rooms!¡±


    ¡°Whoa.¡± The ogre kids all gasped at once. Six rooms for a house!? Impossibly luxurious.


    ¡°Then he went and built his neighbor a house! And that neighbor¡¯s neighbor! And before long, the whole village was rebuilt!¡±


    ¡°Then Trurub the strong and Sen the builder went out into the world, and built vast cities! People cheered their name! All because Trurub and Sen worked together!¡±


    The kids cheered. It wasn¡¯t quite as exciting as the stories of shimagu and ogres working together to slay some big monster or another, but it was fun.


    ¡°How do I get a shimagu to work with me!¡± Yigruk yelled, trying to be the loudest. It was the only way for his questions to be answered, and in the story, he saw an out.


    A way out of spending his entire life handling pineapples, and the utter shit and misery that was his life. Even at his tender age, he knew he didn¡¯t want to spend his life with his hands poked and burned, fighting other ogres for the meagre space, half-starving in a dirty hut.


    More of his siblings wanted to know as well. Grandpa just chuckled.


    ¡°Well! You need to become strong! Shimagu like working with strong ogres! When you get a class, get a physical one, like [Laborer], or even [Warrior]! Recruiters come around now and then, and if they like you, you can also get a shimagu friend!¡±


    ¡°Do you have a shimagu friend?¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡±


    Yigruk never doubted the veracity of the statement, although he had never met the supposed shimagu.


    As Yigruk grew up, life remained shit. Famine ravaged their crops, and Yigruk was in the lucky phase where he was big enough to fight for some of the remaining food, and small enough to survive on scraps.


    The recruiters came by every few years, banging on great silver drums. Yigruk went star-struck the first time he saw them.


    It wasn¡¯t the armor, their weapons, or their stories of adventure and the greater world. No, to Yigruk, it was the fact that they looked well-fed, and not utterly coated in shit like everyone on the farm.


    Some of his brothers and sisters left with them.


    They didn¡¯t come back, but Yigruk couldn¡¯t blame them. Who¡¯d want to come back here?


    Time blurred. There was no such thing as education, not on the farm near a small village. There was just work, sleep, the occasional celebration, and best of all, stories of shimagu.


    An accident - a falling tree - killed one of Yigruk¡¯s younger siblings, and left Yigruk with a bad arm. He wasn¡¯t going to let that stop him, although it didn¡¯t quite heal right.


    The day came where Yigruk thought he was old enough, and the recruiters came along.


    ¡°I want to join.¡± Yigruk said, presenting himself in front of them. They glanced at him, reading his System-granted level and designation.


    He¡¯d gone for [Warrior], figuring he had a better chance that way. Most of his ¡°warrior¡± experience came from fighting his siblings, and the class he got reflected that. The leveling was slower, but Yigruk thought the tag would mean more.


    He hoped. None of his brothers or sisters had been turned down.


    ¡°Right. Welcome to the army.¡± One of the ogres said, patting his back in the bone-shaking way ogres tended to do.


    ¡°Will I be able to get a shimagu friend?¡± Yigruk asked.


    The small, not-ogre chuckled, like Yigruk had asked some great joke. ¡°Country bumpkins.¡± He said under his breath, so quietly that Yigruk couldn¡¯t hear it.


    The others could.


    ¡°Yeah, of course you will! Everyone does!¡± The back-slapping ogre reassured Yigruk.


    He joined a train of other recruits, following the recruiters in a long line as they meandered around the countryside, before arriving at a facility.


    Yigruk¡¯s jaw dropped as he looked at it. It had to be a palace. It was bigger than the farm he¡¯d grown up on! And that was just one building!


    This had to be where the shimagu lived, in the lap of opulence and wealth. They probably had three meals a day!


    Yigruk just hoped he would be found worthy.


    No.


    Yigruk steeled himself.


    He would be found worthy.


    ¡°Listen up, recruits! These are the trainee barracks! Here you will eat, sleep, and train until we determine that you are ready! Now get to it!¡±


    Yigruk had no idea what he was supposed to do, but standing out in the crowd was not it.


    Not with some of the guard ogres having their clubs ready.


    Not with the knowledge that people who stood out were beaten back into line.


    Yigruk moved with the surging crowd, noticing that three of the guard ogres had the strange lights that appeared when someone was classing up dancing around him.


    Weird.


    He ate, slept, and trained with the other recruits. He discovered that the small not-ogres were called ¡°humans.¡±


    Life was slightly less shitty. Three bland meals a day. Only beaten when he lost in a fight, and always had a chance to fight back. Significant reduction in the amount of shit he was covered in.


    The best years of Yigruk¡¯s life.


    He did his best. He got both of his classes to level 128. He listened to his instructors, who strongly pushed him - all of them - to load up on passive skills. They were the best skills. Shimagu liked people with passive skills.


    ¡°Why do some people have the lights?¡± Yigruk asked one day.


    ¡°It¡¯s a mark of favor from the shimagu. Only the best are able to get them.¡±


    The ones with the lights did have the highest levels.


    Yigruk worked hard, but there was no hiding his bad arm. It held him back, threw him down the grand rankings that the instructors posted.


    He was down about it, until another ogre was badly injured in a training accident, and went from being near the top of the scoreboard, to near the bottom.


    It got vicious from there, as everyone realized they could eliminate the competition.


    The instructors seemed to encourage it, and levels never flowed so freely.


    The end of Yigruk¡¯s training came soon enough.


    ¡°We will announce your name and shape! Line up under the shape in question!¡± The instructor yelled at all the recruits milling around in the courtyard.


    ¡°.... Yigruk, Square!¡±


    Yigruk dutifully moved to the ¡°Square¡± line, which had some additional symbols under it.


    He¡¯d never been taught to read, or his letters, so he was entirely unaware that it said ¡°C - Average body.¡±


    The lines slowly shuffled through, one ogre at a time passing through a door, into a room.


    It was Yigruk¡¯s turn, and heart pounding, he entered a room with eight other trainees, six of them ogres and two of them humans. Yigruk recognized all of them, having spent the last few years together.


    This was it. The moment he¡¯d dreamed of since he was a kid. Gaining a shimagu friend.


    He¡¯d never seen one before.


    ¡°Okuda. Your turn.¡± One of the instructors said in a bored voice to a positively ancient, fat ogre.


    Something flickered through his eyes, before pointing at one of the other ogres - Bikur.


    ¡°Him.¡±


    The ogre in question went and knelt down in front of the fat ogre, who put a hand on his head. The eyes flickered again, and a few minutes later the kneeling ogre stood up.


    ¡°Everything¡¯s fine. Process complete.¡± He said, and Yigruk almost did a double-take. Bikur did not speak like that. It was his voice though.


    Maybe merging with the shimagu had made him smarter, like all the stories said?


    ¡°Right, out to the track with you. Get used to the body.¡±


    One after another, a different name was called. The ancient ogre¡¯s eyes would flicker a bunch, and one of the recruits was selected. A new recruit would then enter the room, always keeping the number at nine.


    Yigruk was getting nervous. What would happen if his name wasn¡¯t called? If he wasn¡¯t found worthy?


    At last, the old ogre grunted, and Yigruk¡¯s heart leapt in his throat as he saw the gnarled claw pointing at him. He rushed over, kneeling down in supplication.


    A hand on his head, then a cold, slimy sensation at his neck. He held still as it entered into him, eager and excited.


    Then, at last, a voice, echoing in his mind.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe I got this terrible body. A fresh recruit? Me?! This sucks.¡±


    Not the most promising of starts, but Yigruk was determined to make it work.


    He tried to say hello back, that his name with Yigruk, and that he was excited to meet him.


    His throat wouldn¡¯t obey.


    He tried swallowing, saying it again.


    Instead, his body stood up.


    ¡°I¡¯m in. Everything¡¯s fine.¡± Yigruk heard himself say.


    But he hadn¡¯t said the words!? What was going on?!


    ¡°Right, out to the track with you. Get used to the body.¡±


    Yigruk felt his head nod, then his body turned, one step at a time, arms shaking out experimentally.


    In that wrong way that angered his bad arm, causing a jolt of pain to run through him.


    ¡°Oh great. This body¡¯s broken to boot. Just great. Just what I needed.¡± The voice inside of him complained again.


    Yigruk¡¯s body went for a run, every little problem triggering a flood of whining.


    Yigruk wasn¡¯t enjoying his first day with his first shimagu friend.


    He did eventually figure out how to say hello. He just needed to ¡°think¡± hard enough at the shimagu.


    ¡°Hello! I¡¯m Yigruk! Who are you?¡±


    ¡°Oh not a chatterbox. Please. That¡¯s the last thing I need. I¡¯m Kudo, and the more you shut up, the better off we¡¯ll both be.¡±


    Yigruk wasn¡¯t sure what was next in life, but Kudo seemed to have ideas.


    Once he was done acclimating to his body, Kudo grabbed a sack, hefted it over one shoulder, and headed out the door.


    Yigruk was starting to realize that he was no longer in control of his body. At all.


    ¡°Where are we going?¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t talk.¡±


    ¡°What else am I supposed to do? Are we going on an adventure? Are we going to build something? I got a [Warrior] class! Let¡¯s get a sword, and go find a monster terrorizing a village! It¡¯ll be fun! Your brain, my brawn!¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Where are we going?¡±


    ¡°Will you shut up if I tell you?¡±


    Yigruk quickly thought about it.


    ¡°Ok.¡±


    ¡°Got a new job at the dinosaur farm. Raising raptors.¡±


    ¡°Oh cool! Are you some sort of [Beastmaster]? Are you going to order raptors around?¡±


    ¡°I thought you said you¡¯d shut up. By the slime, you talk a lot. More than my last host.¡±


    ¡°Last host?¡±


    ¡°Got killed in the war.¡±


    Yigruk shut up.


    They spent a few days traveling, Kudo seemingly knowing where they were going.


    The dinosaur farm was like a huge farm. A gigantic barn, with Arcanite fueling heating inscriptions to keep eggs warm. Pens for small raptors. Pens for medium raptors. Open fields for the adult raptors who survived.


    Kudo was in charge of feeding the medium raptors. Not the glorious life Yigruk had imagined. Kudo didn¡¯t seem to be able to go a day without complaining about something.


    ¡°The food sucks.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll never level here.¡±


    ¡°The bed is full of bugs.¡±


    ¡°The blasted raptor almost took my hand off again.¡±


    ¡°This is a dead end job.¡±


    ¡°I should¡¯ve taken the raptor body. Why did I go for ogre?¡±


    ¡°I need, like, 50 more levels. Then I¡¯ll have a good job. Yeah. That¡¯s what¡¯s holding me back.¡±


    Yigruk wanted to point out that it was his hand, but Kudo didn¡¯t care. Yigruk¡¯s body was Kudo¡¯s body, as far as Kudo was concerned.


    Yigruk was starting to learn what Kudo wanted, and liked. Every time he complained about the raptors being lined up, and shimagu choosing which one they wanted, Kudo complained. Yigruk would remind him that Kudo wanted a body with thumbs, that could speak.


    Some kids visited one day.


    ¡°Are you really friends with a shimagu?¡± They asked Yigruk.


    Yigruk - Kudo really - cracked a huge smile, uncharacteristic of how much he complained on the inside.


    ¡°Yeah!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s it like?¡±


    Yigruk wanted to say it wasn¡¯t all it was cracked up to be. That life was shit again. He couldn¡¯t scratch what he wanted. He couldn¡¯t pee when he wanted to. He was forced into a job he didn¡¯t want, and the shimagu never let him take over and stretch his legs.


    Instead, his smile stayed plastered on, a perfectly done mask.


    ¡°It¡¯s great! It¡¯s so wonderful having a shimagu helping me out! If you¡¯re good, one day you¡¯ll have a friend as well!¡±


    That was Yigruk¡¯s first taste of hatred.


    His resistance was slow. Kudo took all the actions, and they weren¡¯t in a war. They weren¡¯t fighting. Yigruk wasn¡¯t getting many levels, and few actions being taken by his body got a skill offered to him by the System.


    After all, getting a System-skill required willingness, and a token effort to get the skill. Without the body performing the token effort, the skill wasn¡¯t offered, not for a physical classer like Yigruk.


    ¡°We should become a guard.¡± He whispered in Kudo¡¯s ear. Well, more ¡®thought-at¡¯. ¡°More fights, more levels.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s so much work.¡± Kudo complained.


    ¡°Better pay, more levels.¡±


    But a few years later, they¡¯d managed to get a job at one of the nearby cities, famous for being on the outskirts, the edges of shimagu territory.


    It was easier to sabotage as a guard.


    Chasing a thief? [Sprinting] replaced a passive, the active skill dormant unless Yigruk willed it.


    Beating someone stepping out of line? Yigruk never thought he¡¯d take [Beat down] as a skill, but there it was.


    He even ripped out the [Affinity] skill, and once his last passive skill had been replaced by an active, he almost shut down, not bothering with the day-to-day actions Kudo was taking.


    What was the point? He was a prisoner. He¡¯d done what he could, putting all his skill levels to 1. On rare occasions, he heard of a body resetting their class down to 8, and getting killed for it.


    Being a guard meant he occasionally saw the darker side of things. The pools of nutrient goo, filled with swimming shimagu who were waiting for a body. The schools, filled with old men and women, hosting young shimagu to better teach them.


    The rare mages, so high in status and power that Kudo could only bow his head as they walked past, a perfect harmony of body and shimagu raising them up to untold heights and power.


    Yigruk burned with envy. He¡¯d been raised on stories of those. That was almost him.


    Or so he had believed.


    He knew better now. Without the education, without the dedicated, demonstrated willingness, without being lucky with the shimagu who¡¯d selected him, he could¡¯ve never gotten there. It was a pretty lie, fed to placate and encourage.


    Yigruk was looking forward to hitting level 256. He would class up then, and simply never come back. He¡¯d enjoy the world of his soul, until one day his body stopped functioning, either from old age, or Kudo getting them both killed.


    It was the one place that wasn¡¯t filled with shit.


    It was the one place that wasn¡¯t misery incarnate.


    It was the only place he could escape Kudo¡¯s incessant, never-ending whining and complaining.


    It was the only place he could be happy.


    Life was shit. Yigruk couldn¡¯t wait for it to be over.


    Each day was just like the next. Smack around a few people who got out of line. Demand bribes to look the other way. Strut around like he owned the place, only to cower in fear when encountering the people that did. Occasionally visit a prostitute, because Kudo was so noxious that nobody wanted to settle down with him.


    Nobody asked Yigruk his thoughts on the matter. With dim horror, he realized nobody asked the opinions of the escort¡¯s body that Kudo solicited either.


    A girl in the market square. A human girl.


    ¡°What are the gate guards doing, letting a healer that strong in here!?¡± Kudo complained. ¡°Damn lazy asses.¡±


    Yigruk carefully didn¡¯t mention that Kudo was incredibly lazy himself.


    ¡°They probably didn¡¯t want to say no to someone that strong. She could just instantly kill them all. Probably called for one of the Twins instead. Plus, she could be working with a shimagu.¡± Yigruk pointed out.


    If he didn¡¯t give Kudo a good reason, Kudo would just keep complaining endlessly.


    Yigruk had no idea what level she was. One minor rebellion with an active skill had seen Kudo place a ¡°buff¡± on Yigruk, making him faster, at the cost of all his mana regeneration. He didn¡¯t have enough to even try to [Identify] the person in question.


    ¡°You should kill her.¡± Yigruk whispered into Kudo¡¯s ear, seeing the elven guards surrounding her. ¡°Think of all the levels.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too hard.¡± Kudo whined, but he¡¯d actually responded. He was listening.


    ¡°You¡¯d be famous. Rich. Getting rid of a threat that large? Heck, they might even give you a new body! One of the therizinosaurus even! The gate guards were too cowardly to do anything. You¡¯ll be a hero. They¡¯ll give you everything.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re just trying to get rid of me. You know they¡¯d just replace me with someone else.¡±


    ¡°Yes. Please, I can¡¯t take any more complaining.¡± Yigruk begged.


    ¡°You¡¯re not wrong though.¡± Kudo mused.


    Yigruk knew Kudo inside and out. How could he not, having spent every second of years together? He knew when to speak, and when to shut up.


    There was no way Kudo would get through the elven guards, or that large wolf. Yigruk hoped the end would be swift and relatively painless.


    ¡°Will you help?¡± Kudo asked.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Yigruk confirmed. His skills were almost all level 1, and deliberately bad, but anything to escape to the sweet oblivion of death.


    With a roar, two minds working as one for radically different purposes, Kudo-Yigruk swung at the healer, trying to startle her and kill her before anyone could react.


    Yet, almost before they moved, the elves drew their weapons impossibly fast, shouting the same thing.


    The girl looked at Yigruk, and he saw only death in her eyes.


    A skill flickered over him, and his bad arm felt whole again. A broken tusk was restored.


    The cold, slimy feeling of Kudo, ever-present to the point where Yigruk lost awareness of it, evaporated.


    Yigruk half-stumbled, suddenly in control for once. He breathed in, and out.


    Tasting the sweet air.


    The elves were yelling, the girl was yelling, people were moving around, startled at the guard having taken a swing at the visitors.


    Yigruk looked around.


    He would¡¯ve yelled ¡°Freedom¡± if he¡¯d ever learned the word, or knew the concept.


    He didn¡¯t though. He just knew he was never going back.


    With a deep, primal yell, he buried his club into the head of the nearest shimagu host.


    All hell broke loose.

 Chapter 260 - Municipal Massacre II

    [Bullet Time] didn¡¯t even activate.


    Ironically, weak blows that didn¡¯t trigger the skill were almost as dangerous as skills that did, simply due to the dramatically reduced time to react. If I was gunning for me, I¡¯d fire a bunch of weak skills that could slow, blind, or bind me, before going for the finishing blow.


    The guard was slow. Unreasonably slow for his level and designation as a [Warrior]. It indicated low quality classes and poor skills.


    My first instinct was to just blast his head off. It¡¯d be easy. I was trained to do it that way, I knew the weakest paths of a body to burn through to kill people the fastest.


    I caught myself.


    Instead, I flickered a weak heal at him, the bright and sunny sky letting [Wheel of Sun and Moon] shine.


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Petty Tyrant (Ooze, 288)]/[Dinosaur Handler (Wood, 190)]]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [The Dawn-


    I turned off non-kill System notifications. Didn¡¯t need the distraction right now.


    It was moot.


    The ogre halted his swing, as the elves started to swing at him.


    ¡°Stop!¡± I barked out, the tone of unshakeable command halting their blades.


    Glad that worked. It¡¯d been ages since I had to order anyone, and I¡¯d never tried on the elves.


    The ogre wavered a moment, then turned, slamming his mace down on the head of a human just going about their shopping.


    I could¡¯ve stopped it.


    I wasn¡¯t obligated to, and I¡¯d just gotten the notification that I¡¯d killed a shimagu. With the hatred shown, I was inclined towards provoking the shimagu. Forcing them to take a swing at me.


    I wasn¡¯t barred from provocation, then self-defense. My only obligation was to heal them if they came to me hurt.


    I checked my mana usage, mentally whistling.


    [Mana: 421,331/421,680]

 Chapter 261 - Municipal Massacre III

    Magic was funny. Directly impacting another person was difficult. Bodies resisted the attempts of magic to directly influence them, when it wasn¡¯t something strictly beneficial like healing. It was part of why my healing couldn¡¯t harm people, not without an extraordinary amount of creativity.


    Blowing out the dwarven implants was the closest thing to ¡°harm¡± I could perform.


    If Toxic wanted to poison me, he had two options. The first was the easy one. Summon the poison, stick it on an arrow, and use quiver express to deliver.


    The second was to try and summon the poison directly inside of me. Technically possible. However, he¡¯d face an incredibly steep penalty, that only increased as my vitality increased. The penalty ramped up to the point where if Arthur could poison and kill me that way? He¡¯d be so much stronger than me that it just wouldn¡¯t matter. He¡¯d be able to kill me a hundred different ways anyways, and killing me via directly importing matter inside of me would just be a creatively insulting way to do it.


    That protection was only skin deep. Well, for me at least - warriors could ¡°extend¡± that protection with skills to their armor and weapons, and it tended to be wrapped up in other skills they had. Meant Acquisition couldn¡¯t just teleport their armor off of them, or teleport their weapons away. He could teleport my weapons away from me though, which was largely irrelevant since I didn¡¯t rely on swords and spears.


    People were creative, and didn¡¯t let the System¡¯s limitations hamper them too much. Awarthril¡¯s build was a great example of that. She couldn¡¯t summon metal inside of someone, so she just summoned shackles and chains right outside of them, instantly handcuffing them. At the level Awarthril was operating at, physical Classers had a solid shot at snapping the chains, although the cuffs could be obnoxious to remove. She¡¯d need to start focusing more on her magic stats to improve the strength of the metal if she wanted to stop physical Classers.


    That, or keep doing exactly what she was doing - stacking more restraints on them, then just flat-out killing them with her superior equipment and physical stats.


    A weak mage like myself though? Yeah, I¡¯d be trapped.


    It wasn¡¯t done more, because that particular trick could only be done at close, close range. It wasn¡¯t a long-range move.


    It wasn¡¯t something that could¡¯ve been done if [Mantle] was up.


    All the thoughts flashed through my head as I slammed forward, boulders wrapping around my legs. I half-expected the next thing I¡¯d hear to be ¡°let her sleep with the fishes¡± in some terrible accent.


    Rocks wrapped around my hands and arms like the world¡¯s worst boxing gloves, forcing me to bend over from the sheer weight of it all.


    An invisible mage.


    I flashed Radiance around me, turning myself into a blinding beacon, determined to blow away the illusion.


    I expected blinding light to flash around me. Instead¡­ nothing happened. I started to struggle against the blocks, seeing if I could slip out. I checked my mana, seeing that it was draining away. I stopped trying to flash Radiance around me, and the mana drain stopped.


    Something was stopping my Radiance magic.


    I tried to throw up [Mantle], but it didn¡¯t pop up either. I kept working on it, since it cost no mana to use.


    I was making a bold assumption that a shimagu collaborator was the current cause of my problems. Host bodies didn¡¯t use skills, not unless they were working with a shimagu.


    I wasn¡¯t sure why shimagu mages inside of normal bodies didn¡¯t seem to be a thing, but the utter lack of skills I¡¯d seen inside the city, along with snippets of conversation with the elves implied it just didn¡¯t happen.


    My nerves were rapidly getting frayed. Imprisoned by an invisible enemy, then nothing? The suspense was killing me. An unusual tactic to be sure, but effective.


    A bolt of pure energy appeared just a few inches from my face right as [Mantle] snapped into being. Combat reflexes took over as [Bullet Time] kicked in.


    I quickly adjusted a tiny hole in [Mantle], towards where the bolt was coming from. I flickered a wide-range [Wheel of Sun and Moon], trying to snipe the hidden shimagu. At the same time, I drilled a thin beam of Radiance through the tiny hole, racing, and beating, the magic bolt.


    Things were happening rapidly, even for [Bullet Time]. The illusion dropped, and my Radiance beam punched a hole in the ogre¡¯s arm. I started to mentally readjust, while also working on just how I was going to survive that big, fat Arcanite blast coming for my head.


    I couldn¡¯t move. Well, not enough to get my head out of the way, even if I had enough time and speed to get out of the way. The weights forcing me to bend over were restricting my mobility too much.


    I was fully confident in surviving anything but a headshot. Even then, I suspected I could survive minor headshots, like if someone shot a needle through my brain.


    The Arcanite blast was threatening to entirely obliterate my head, the mage¡¯s level threateningly high. Over level 600.


    Fuck.


    My [Mantle] broke under the blast. Surprise, surprise.


    I frantically went through my options as I redirected my Radiance beam for the ogre¡¯s head, hoping that if I killed him before the bolt landed, that the skill would dissipate.


    Fat chance. It¡¯d been fired already.


    I struggled against the heavy boulders, my muscles barely getting anything done. Wasn¡¯t going to get out like this.


    I skimmed through my options, hitting on one of my utility gems I¡¯d never gotten a chance to try.


    I blew the [Reversal] gem I¡¯d been holding since the dwarves, and tried again. The boulders got lighter, but I was moving too slowly. I was going to get killed.


    None of my other gems could help.


    None of my skills.


    I gritted my teeth, staring at the bolt. My only shot was to get into a flat-out stats test, where I¡¯d tried to heal the damage as it happened, and not let the bolt blow my skull apart. I just had to hope that my [Oath]-boosted stats, and remaining mana, combined with my vitality would heal me faster than the skill-boosted shot from the mage.


    Chains wrapped around me as sticky Ooze connected with the boulders, Awarthril dropping her invisibility. The elves had seen the mage wrap me in boulders, and he¡¯d paused, giving them time to move in. Kiyaya¡¯s enormous jaws were closing on his head, the massive dire wolf demonstrating what happened to mages when sneaky physical classers got close to them.


    Then Awarthril yanked, applying her triple physical Classer stats to me. The chains bit deeply into my flesh, the Ooze stretched and pulled at the boulders as I was forcibly removed from the path of the shot. My joints screamed in protest as they were all caught between immovable rocks and unstoppable forces, but by some miracle I stayed in one piece.


    Mostly.


    [Bullet Time] dropped, and things returned to their normal pace. The Arcanite shot blurred as it slammed mostly past me, taking out a large chunk of my shoulder, separating my right arm from the rest of me. [Persistent Casting] on [Dance With the Heavens] knitted and restored the flesh, and gave me a new arm.


    That would¡¯ve absolutely taken my head off.


    There wasn¡¯t even a scream as Kiyaya¡¯s jaws finished closing on the mage¡¯s head, just a shower of blood as the wolf shook her head in the classic canine kill move.


    I quickly checked my most recent kill notifications, just to get confirmation.


    [*ding!* Your party has slain an [Inner Best Friend Forever (Ooze, 672)]/[The Twice-Hidden Illusionist (Mirage, 621)]/Echoes of a Thousand False Footsteps(Sound, 555)]]


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [The Chainer of All (Earth, 606)]/[Annul Augur (Void, 599)]/Arcane Spellweaver (Arcanite, 514)]]


    Serondes touched the boulders keeping me imprisoned, dissolving them into Sand.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I gasped out, putting a hand to my chest, trying to stop my racing heart.


    ¡°Abolishers.¡± He spat out. ¡°Hate them.¡±


    ¡°Oh hush you. They do one thing, and one thing well. You¡¯re just mad because he outstripped you.¡± Awarthril fretted over me.


    ¡°Look, just because physical Classers get to ignore Abolishers...¡± Serondes started to retort, but Awarthril cut in.


    ¡°Elaine, are you ok? Everything alright?¡±


    I shuddered. I was alright.


    I nodded.


    I had to be alright. I didn¡¯t have time to process and review just how close I¡¯d been to death there.


    I glanced down. Eggy was still whole and hale. Awarthril must¡¯ve been careful with her chains.


    ¡°Oooh, Arcanite!¡± Aegion had wasted no time looting the body, and triumphantly held up a bag that clinked in a familiar way. ¡°Score!¡±


    I mechanically moved over to where the injured, half-massacred ogres, humans, and shimagu were, and got back to healing. It was practically autopilot at this point. Horribly broken and burned arm. Cure the burns, fix the bones, add in a little extra for the traumatized vascular system. Repeat with a new patient, new injuries.


    I was getting all too familiar with exactly what types of wounds the elves generated.


    Cancelers. Well, the elves were calling him an Abolisher, but same thing. Someone with a skillset around stopping other skills and abilities from being used. I knew we had, like, three Rangers that could do similar things. I¡¯d never met one, although I suppose technically I did bump into the Rangers with the skillset at the Ranger Convocation.


    They were an odd sort. It was magic based, although an even flip if they¡¯d get the [Mage] designation. The skills by themselves didn¡¯t do anything, they just stopped other mages from doing things. A lack of physical stats, and a lack of offensive magics made the class unattractive in and of itself, although teams loved a member with it.


    Kind of like healers in a sense. We weren¡¯t the best in fights, but we were some of the best support and utility a team could ask for.


    Good Cancelers could selectively cancel out skills, and in retrospect, the mage hadn¡¯t been canceling out Mirage skills - hence staying invisible himself, without stripping Awarthril of her invisibility. It was also why my shield had snapped in place with the bolt being fired, and why Awarthril had been able to use her chains - the Canceler had dropped the skill, hoping to get a quick snipe in before we could react.


    Lucky for me, Awarthril was better than he had been.


    I kept my head on a swivel as I continued to heal people, some of them running as soon as I was done with them, others moving into a group of other recently-freed people, muttering angrily together, fear on their faces.


    It looked exactly like the start of a mob. They were getting together. Getting angry. It was going to get ugly.


    ¡°Why are we hanging out here?¡± Aegion complained. ¡°We need to be moving. We need to get out of here before more of them come. We¡¯ve been lucky so far, but once the entire city comes down on us?¡±


    ¡°Because people are hurt, and need help.¡± I retorted back, turning to give him my best death glare. ¡°Maybe if some random adventurers hadn¡¯t unleashed a massacre into a fleeing population we wouldn¡¯t be here now, would we?¡±


    Aegion got that stubborn look to his jaw that I knew too well.


    ¡°What else are we supposed to do?¡± Serondes¡¯s tone made his position clear. ¡°We came to fight shimagu. How were you expecting us to fight them?¡±


    ¡°Well-¡± I was cut off by Awarthril.


    ¡°Peace. This isn¡¯t the time or the place.¡±


    I shot her a thankful look, only to see the man I¡¯d been talking with earlier standing next to her, staring at me and looking nervous.


    I beckoned him over, then refocused on my patients, half of whom were running away from me.


    My patients fell into two groups at this stage. The ¡°Brink of death¡± - the name of the group described the group - and the ¡°fleeing for questionable life¡± group, AKA shimagu who saw the writing on the wall with me walking around, and were bailing, regardless of the host body¡¯s injuries.


    I made the snap call to focus on the ¡°Brink of death¡± patients, trying to wrestle as many lives out of Black Crow¡¯s implacable talons as possible. I wrapped myself in [Mantle], just as an extra precaution against more invisible mages trying the same thing.


    ¡°Ranger. You came.¡± The man¡¯s voice was full of reverence as he jogged next to me. He was keeping up with my flowing dance, tapping one patient after another, moving on before they could get up and thank me. Before they could slow me down.


    ¡°Sentinel, but close enough.¡± I absent-mindedly corrected him, remembering that not everyone knew what Sentinels were, even in Remus.


    ¡°Thank you. Thank you thank you THANK YOU!¡± He tried to give me a hug, which I nimbly dodged. Nope. None of that. I had patients I needed to work on.


    ¡°Are you here to free us? How did you find out? When -¡±


    I cut off his barrage of questions. I had practically nothing for him. We¡¯d come here practically on accident.


    ¡°What¡¯s your story?¡± I needed details.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m Calavius. Grew up with my friends Oppius and Aburius. When we were young, we liked to travel around¡­¡±


    Calavius could not give a concise story to save his life. Quite literally. He¡¯d put Night to shame in sheer words to information ratio, but annoyingly, he went on massive tangents. I had to keep him focused.


    Long, LONG story shortened significantly - he lived in Port Salona, which I remembered was at the very edge of Remus. He and his friends had figured the same thing, and wanted to know what else there was in the world.


    Even as he was telling his story, alarm bells started to ring throughout the city. The chaos and destruction we¡¯d unleashed had finally finished working its way through whatever channels this city had, and the alarms were going off.


    The elves occasionally interjected themselves into the story, and I wanted to strangle them all. We were in a hostile city, and the longer it took for reinforcements to show up, the worse and more powerful they¡¯d be.


    To be fair, the elves did manage to redirect him back to the meat of the story. I couldn¡¯t be too mad.


    Adventurers. Adventurers everywhere. They¡¯d be the death of me. Oh sure, he didn¡¯t use that title, but the idea was the same.


    He and his friends grabbed a ship, some rations, and went sailing, keeping close to the coast, to avoid deep-sea monsters. They didn¡¯t stay too close to the coast though, due to monsters that could jump into shallow water.Through some skill, and hefty doses of luck, they made it quite a distance before they encountered another ship, filled with humans.Remus was a hard place, and they weren¡¯t too trusting of these new people. First smart thing he¡¯d said all story. It hadn¡¯t mattered, as the other ship overtook their smaller ship, broke out the harpoons, and they were captured and infested.


    The group of healed people that were sticking around half broke up, scouting around the devastated marketplace. They picked up poles, armed themselves with canes, and generally kitted themselves out with makeshift weapons.


    That was going to end with trouble.


    He¡¯d been an unwilling slave ever since. His story was horrific on a dozen levels.


    ¡°... and then the shimagu who¡¯d taken Oppius over made him stand perfectly still. See, they were mighty mad about his broken leg, and said they couldn¡¯t do a thing about it. Seemed silly to me, just pop on over to a healer quick-like. Didn¡¯t know then that they had no healers. How silly is that?¡±


    ¡°Oppius?¡± Aegion butted in, redirecting and keeping Calavius on track.


    ¡°Right! Oppius! They had Oppius stand perfectly still, and slowly peeled the flesh off him. Never seen him so brave! Well, I guess it wasn¡¯t him now. They peeled the flesh off him, laughing and betting how long until he¡¯d die. Turned him into chum, right there. Then they went fishing.¡±


    Calavius was bawling at the end.


    I finished healing the last person, and I was seeing red.


    The difference between the theory of the shimagu, and the belief that all life was sacred, and having their cruel realities rubbed in my face.


    I was wavering. On the brink.


    What would I become if I abandoned my morals and beliefs?


    This was a poor time to be considering a revisit of my ethical framework. I had some ideas though.


    ¡°Serondes.¡± My voice was tight as I fought back rage and tears. ¡°Translate for me.¡±


    ¡°Kiyaya. Amplify Serondes.¡±


    I was shit at speeches. I wasn¡¯t going to try anything fancy.


    ¡°Hey you lot! You¡¯re looking to even the score, right? Hit the shimagu? Follow me. I have a plan.¡±


    I mentally gave myself a C- on ¡°Inspirational speech designed to get the angry mob to follow me¡±, but after looking at each other, in their day clothes and holding clubs that used to be table legs, and seeing the elves standing next to me in their gleaming armor, holding onto powerful weapons, they came over, angrily muttering and talking amongst each other.


    My Mistweave clothing dramatically flared as I spun on my heels and started to stride out of the market square, the elves flanking me, and the angry, armed mob behind me.


    ¡°Awarthril.¡± I bit out, trying to keep my voice in ¡°steady Sentinel in charge of the situation¡± and not ¡°screaming in rage¡± mode.


    ¡°Elaine.¡± She didn¡¯t have the same tightness to her voice, just a wary grace, tightly wound and ready for problems.


    I took my Sentinel badge off and flashed it at her.


    ¡°Can you project this in the sky? Large and facing down on the town?¡±


    Bless her. Without another word, without any of the other elves butting in, she did it.


    The Eagle of Remus appeared in the sky, the standard held on every banner the Remus legions carried. The golden circle appeared around it, the Ranger¡¯s mark, and finally, the sunburst of the Sentinels exploded around it.


    A burning declaration in the sky. A warning, to the shimagu. A message, a signal of hope for any of my countrymen stuck in the city, trapped in their own bodies.


    A declaration.


    Sentinel Dawn was here.

 Chapter 262 - Municipal Massacre IV

    The symbol of the Sentinels blazed in the air above us, just barely clearing the buildings. It wasn¡¯t particularly large, but it was bright. Easy to see for a moderate distance.


    Awarthril was fancy with it. Twisting it, turning it, making it so that no matter what angle the symbol was seen from, a watcher would get a good view.


    At which point, I¡¯d hope the shimagu were vaguely normal - the city and marketplace implied, yes, they were - and people would gossip. Spread the word. After all, the shimagu might not know what it was.


    The hosts would. Some of them, at least. Those from Remus. They were the ones I was trying to reach.


    ¡°Did you see that eagle?!¡±


    Anyone from Remus would be able to guess what that was.


    I¡¯d never been amazing at leadership class.


    I took the class. I learned. I tried to apply the lessons. I¡¯d been given practical experience managing a squad in fights and survival situations.


    I was solid with those parts. Give me a team of Rangers and a problem, and I knew how to use one to make the other disappear. Generally, the problem disappeared, but it was entirely possible for the Ranger team to be the ones vanishing.


    Inspiring people? Big speeches? Large-scale organization?


    The only part I¡¯d managed to successfully learn was ¡°delegate the hell out of it.¡± My greatest leadership accomplishment, bar none, was getting Kallisto to join me on my Sentinel missions, to handle large portions of diplomacy and wrangling.


    I had nobody to delegate to here. If I considered things to be just me and the elves, I was fine. They were moderately competent, and we were a small, solid team.


    Add in the angry mob that I couldn¡¯t even speak the same language as?


    With an emphasis on the angry mob part of it? Vicious, uncontrollable beasts in the first place?


    ¡°Follow me¡± was the start, middle, end, and epilogue of ideas I had. It wasn¡¯t even my best idea, which was ¡°get far away from the angry mob that might decide to turn on you for some unknown reason.¡±


    There were a number of other factors that I should be considering if I wanted to call myself the ¡°leader¡± of this group. Logistics sprang to mind first, because it was easy for me. Morale? Goals? Building consensus?


    I¡¯d rather the shimagu just kill me now.


    I put all those out of my mind, figuring that it¡¯d be a future Elaine problem. She¡¯d hate me and curse my name out.


    Oh well.


    I felt a grin crack my face. She wouldn¡¯t be able to reach me.


    I ditched every problem except ¡°How do I stay alive for the next hour¡± out of my mind.


    First, resources.


    Still had my gems, although the skills left were mediocre. They revolved around capturing a single target, or making a large announcement. I was in ¡°kill, don¡¯t capture¡± mode, and Kiyaya was a bigger sub-woofer than I could manage.


    I had about half my mana left.


    I had my skills and training.


    I had a few little trinkets. I mentally adjusted the Deception Ring to show me as a level 128. I wanted people to think I was weak, and take a swing at me. It¡¯d make my job that much easier. It wouldn¡¯t flag me as the city-ending apocalyptic threat, and powerful first strikes were more likely to be aimed at one of the elves. I had no issue with that.


    It¡¯d have to be enough.


    I left the market, not looking back as the warning bells continued to toll. I could feel the mob behind me, like a pulsing beacon of anger. I could see the elves out of the corner of my eye.


    We turned onto a mainstreet, only to find a solid mass of guards and soldiers on the other end. They¡¯d broken out wooden circular shields and long, wicked spears that looked like they wanted to pull and tear instead of stab and¡­ well, more stab.


    The street had been cleared of people, but I spent no time looking or focusing on that. On thinking what everyone else would do. While the elves hesitated, my training took over, I knew what to do. I simply ran.


    [Running] had been one of my earliest skills, and I still loved the movement. The wind through my hair, the breeze kissing my face. It¡¯d evolved over time, to [Rapidash], then [Talaria], and now [Scintillating Ascent].


    The soldiers yelled something, and a whole mass of bows came up. Half seemed to be ¡°going high¡±, aiming for the unruly mob behind me, while the rest were ¡°going straight¡±.


    An unreasonable number were aimed at me, and I moved.


    I couldn¡¯t dodge arrows. Even when unskilled, there was significant strength in the ogre¡¯s arms, and I¡¯d eat my boots if the bows and arrows were made out of mundane or poor materials. I just wasn¡¯t fast enough, in spite of what [Bullet Time] implied I could do.


    Almost nobody was.


    No, the key to ¡°dodging arrows¡± was to dodge the archer. I planted a foot, pushing myself one way, watching the bows track me. I landed, and with my other foot, pushed the other way.


    Training the ogres how I dodged.


    Aegion¡¯s arrow roared past me, a stiff tailwind boosting my speed, the arrow, and everyone else.


    They couldn¡¯t hold the arrows long, and wouldn¡¯t. Not when me getting too close would spell certain death for the shimagu. I leapt into the air, letting the wind caress and take me as my wings unfurled, shooting me into the sky.


    I timed it well. I¡¯d gone up right as the archers loosed.


    My focus lasered in, the entire world becoming just me, and the arrows trying to pincushion me.


    [Bullet Time], and a wealth of experience, let me pick out exactly which arrows would hit me, and which ones would miss. It let me see which arrows were flying significantly faster than they had any right to, which ones were bending in the air, a sure-fire mark of powerful skills supporting their travel. The most dangerous arrows in the lot. With pinpoint precision, I burned the feathers of a half-dozen arrows heading towards my head and chest, Radiance rapidly flickering in and out of existence. A second set of Radiance beams sniped a few of the more dangerous arrows that I could spot. I threw up a small [Mantle] around my critical areas as I curled up a bit, reducing the area that could get hit.


    Wrapping my arms around the egg, giving it a second, fleshy layer of protection.


    It was like going through a hailstorm of sharp metal and long wood, arrows whizzing past me like a swarm of angry bees. I was nicked dozens of times by near-misses, arrows that I¡¯d properly judged wouldn¡¯t land on me.


    My legs ate five arrows, but that was nothing.


    Then the storm was over, the volley passed. I flew in at top speed as the archers reloaded and started firing as quickly as they could, any massed fire discipline going out the window. Panic setting in as death approached on bright and colorful wings.


    An enormous crest of Lava washed under me, slamming into the soldiers. The lucky ones just got searing specks of Lava on them, lighting their clothes on fire. The unlucky ones died.


    The extra-unlucky ones lived, screaming as they were coated in burning Lava, their bodies cooking under them.


    I mentally cursed Serondes out. My job was going to be that much harder.


    It was one hell of a distraction though. Some of the soldiers broke and ran - I was judging them harshly, that was nothing compared to what regular Remus legionnaires went through, let alone Rangers - while more were busy not dying. The amount of incoming fire dramatically decreased.


    There were only three more arrows, which I burned, deflected, and ignored my hip getting punctured, then I judged I was close enough.


    The day was bright and sunny, and nearly all of them were in range, and nearly all of them were out of the shadows. They were unquestionably hostile.


    My quickstep through the sky ended with a [Dance With the Heavens]. Celestial power blasted out of me, washing over the combined ogre-human soldiers. I quickly flickered my eyes through my notifications, noting dozens and dozens of shimagu kill notifications.


    At the same time, Serondes¡¯s Lava crest utterly ruined my short-term plans. Between the marathon session I¡¯d just ran, and the sheer number of badly hurt people, with the non-human penalty, distance, and severity, I¡¯d almost zeroed myself out on mana.


    By ¡°Almost zero¡± I was talking about 20,000 points or so, out of my 421,000 points total. Enough for most serious injuries, barring decapitation.


    Hell, I could probably manage decapitation as well, as long as I focused on just the important parts.


    I shelved the thought, and the implications off to the side.


    Most of the soldiers froze, regaining control of the bodies for the first time in years. Or decades.They were a raw pile of dried tinder, and it only took one spark. None of the hosts knew that the rest of them had been freed. One human drew his knife, stabbing the ogre in front of him in the back.


    Absolute pandemonium broke out, the ogre turning his club on a different soldier, who fought back. Guards whirled with their clubs on soldiers, who wildly swung their polearms around. Archers staggered, and those with nocked arrows loosed them point-blank into the people standing next to them. Some ran away, and one enterprising individual found a torch, and started to work on getting [Arsonist] as his next class evolution.


    I wanted to facepalm. I¡¯d just purged nearly all of the soldiers of shimagu, but they didn¡¯t know that. To them, they were now free, trapped in a sea of slavers. Slavers who ¡°seemed to know¡± what had happened, and were busying trying to kill them, so they were lashing back out and-


    It was a damn mess.


    [Cosmic Presence] started to work overtime. Vicious cuts clotted up and closed, cut muscles were quickly replaced by scar tissue. Serondes¡¯s Lava was still searing the poor people it¡¯d engulfed. I¡¯d healed them entirely when I flashed my skill, but that didn¡¯t magically cool off the Lava. They were just re-burning, their bodies going through the ¡°heal burns¡± cycle at an incredible pace. Blisters formed and popped, boiling under the heat, only to immediately reform.


    It was gross. Even by my hardened-by-wading-through-gore standards.


    The elves ran up.


    ¡°Awarthril. Start pulling critically injured people out.¡± I ordered, absent-mindedly yanking barbed arrows out of my body. Annoying things. I wasn¡¯t going to jump into the fray - [Oath] didn¡¯t demand it, and I wasn¡¯t going to be a complete dumbass, but I did need to stick around and heal the people I could. I needed this fight to be over now so I could get a move on. Before the shimagu managed a larger response than a few guard squads.


    Awarthril snapped out a sticky tar-like whip into the crowd, grabbing an ogre that had fallen and was being trampled and stabbed in the confusion, then yoinked him out.


    Causing a half-dozen injuries in the process. I refrained from sighing.


    ¡°Serondes. Please tell them that they¡¯re all free, and to stop fighting. Then can you remove your Lava? It¡¯s fucking with my healing.¡±


    He started speaking, Kiyaya amplifying him without me saying a thing.


    As he was speaking, the first mob, the original mob, caught up with us. They were angry. The nuances of who¡¯d been freed, who wasn¡¯t a shimagu and who was controlled were entirely lost on them. It was an angry mob. Reason and logic no longer applied.They just saw the guards and soldiers, still in their uniforms and weapons, the clear symbols of oppression and the shimagu reign clear. The very same people that had just volleyed arrows into them. Them fighting each other wasn¡¯t a hint to not fight, no. To the mob, it was like the matador¡¯s bright red flag, shortcutting straight to the fight or flight response.


    Any member of the mob inclined to pick ¡°flight¡± had already left.


    With a primal roar, disregarding weapons and injuries, levels, bodies, and numbers, they crashed into the former guards, wielding their makeshift weapons. They picked up half-snapped arrows and shoved them in eyes, wrestled shields off of people only to bash a third person¡¯s head in.


    Complete pandemonium.


    ¡°Aegion! Once I heal someone, shove them somewhere else!¡±


    ¡°Trying to keep an eye on everything else around us!¡± He barked back.


    Shit, he was right. That would explain where Cordamo was. At least I didn¡¯t need to detoxify everyone on top of the rest of this mess.


    ¡°Serondes then. Forget trying to disperse this normally.¡±


    I got grumbling from him, but as Awarthril pulled the next person out, he did what I asked.


    My mana was getting dangerously low. I made a judgement call.


    I could perfectly heal ten people, or barely stabilize and fix everyone. I went with the second one. It was imperfect, but when had the world ever been good or fair? By stabilizing people, [Cosmic Presence] would get a chance to act, reducing the totally amount of mana I¡¯d need to fix everyone back up. More lives saved, in a shorter time frame.


    ¡°Hiding us.¡± Awarthril tersely bit out, and vanished. Copies of us shimmered into existence between us and the mob, and she kept fishing people out.


    I felt her [Rubbery Rope] reattach itself to me. Her illusions were clever. As she pulled people towards us, she made it look like they were heading towards our fake copies, then flickered invisibility over them as they reached ¡°us¡±, and kept pulling.


    My mana was continuing to drop, even though I was only touching up the worse injuries. I had to operate off of memory, since the patients were being delivered to me invisibly. Had to try and remember what glimpses I¡¯d seen with [Pristine Memories]. Awarthril was grabbing people faster than Serondes could convince them to leave.


    They seemed to have some prejudice against invisible disembodied voices. I wonder why. We were also getting a bit of a crowd, invisible people bumping into each other, tripping over each other.


    This was a mess.


    ¡°MOVE!¡± Aegion roared as loudly as he could.


    Even before he was done speaking I was on the move, jumping back to avoid whatever it was that spooked Aegion. My head snapped forward and my whole body started to spin as Awarthril demonstrated her superior physical prowess, pulling us all.


    At least, I assumed that¡¯s what was going on. The invisibility wasn¡¯t helping.


    I didn¡¯t even hear it coming. One moment I was looking at the brawl, the writhing mess of flesh and blood, anger and hatred, intent on tearing each other apart. The next, a massive pillar crashed through where Awarthril¡¯s illusions of us were, stone and dirt exploding in a powerful wave over us.


    Only once the pillar landed, and the rocks got thrown out in all directions at high speeds, did [Bullet Time] kick in again.


    The rocks were significantly scarier than the arrows had been, in spite of the directed versus undirected nature of them. The rocks had significantly more force behind them, and there were more of them. I couldn¡¯t carefully snipe rocks out of the air, and my mana was on the low end.


    The metal pillar was wider than I was, and was red-hot. Little sparks played along it, although I was more focused on the shrapnel spray heading our way.


    I snapped [Mantle] into place, knowing it wasn¡¯t going to be nearly enough. Knowing that I didn¡¯t have enough mana to heal through the rocks that were about to turn me into swiss cheese. I spared a quick thought to everyone who¡¯d been on the other side of the pillar, who¡¯d been much closer to the ground zero of the attack. I kind of wanted to go back and help them out, but I wouldn¡¯t deny that I thought Awarthril physically pulling me out was good for my health. I breathed a sigh of relief as Serondes summoned a half-dome of Lava to shield us.


    I could hear the rocks impact on the shield, sounding like a giant with a pair of stone drumsticks performing a solo.


    ¡°Bwooooooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuarplh!¡± Awarthril¡­ well, not said. Those definitely weren¡¯t words coming out of her mouth. ¡°What was that!?¡±


    ¡°That was it doesn¡¯t matter we need to keep running!¡± I was already moving, Ranger training kicking in. Movement was life. Stillness was death.


    I¡¯d been trained how to instantly assess, react, and move. The elves had better skills, more levels, and higher stats.


    I had better training.


    ¡°The Lava shield told them exactly where we are!¡±

 Chapter 263 - Municipal Massacre V

    The moment my feet touched the ground, I was pivoting, exploding forward in a sprint.


    ¡°Into the house! Move move move!¡± I yelled, not checking what the elves were doing behind me. Kinda hard, with the rolling clouds of dust that got kicked up, stone getting pulverized into concealment.


    Only a weak concealment. Currents and eddies marked where we were running to and moving, but it marked everyone, no person being more obvious than the next.


    We needed to be out of sight of whatever Classer was dropping large metal pillars on us. I could just imagine the build now. Something to fly, something to see, the ability to conjure up lots of Metal, and a dozen abilities to accelerate the rod. Easy airstrikes, practically bordering on orbital strikes. I had no way of stopping one of those attacks, and I doubted I could survive my head being pulverized.


    Heck, even if my head wasn¡¯t a weak spot, the metal pillars would pulverize me. The mangled remains of my body would be in an infinitesimal fraction of space between a rock and a hard place, and there¡¯d be no place to regenerate to.


    I¡¯d die. No question about it.


    There were two bright points.


    The first was the attack had to be expensive. Either conjuring up that much metal, or carrying around that sort of weight wasn¡¯t easy. From how uniform the pillar looked, I¡¯d bet conjured.


    Conjured material cost scaled roughly with weight. It took me roughly 45,000 mana to regenerate my entire body. I¡¯d believe the summoned pillars were at least ten times as heavy as I was, which implied 450,000 plus mana just to conjure the metal, let alone aim and unleash it.


    And metal was heavy. I was probably dramatically off in my estimate.


    Either way - we weren¡¯t at risk of a hail of these coming down on us. However, I wasn¡¯t going to bet that it was a one and done attack.


    The second was whoever was attacking needed to see us. It was a precision strike. Dodging was the answer, and since the attack was too fast to dodge?


    Pre-emptive dodging, AKA zig-zagging and hiding was the order of the day.


    There were too many unknowns to come up with a strong plan. All I had left were my fundamentals. Movement was life. Don¡¯t be seen, hide and strike first. Elevation gave a tactical advantage.


    The houses were more like apartments. Closely packed against each other, multi-storied buildings that had the vaguely run-down look of a well-loved structure without a lot of money to love it with. The radically different decorations on each of the windows pointed towards an apartment complex, and they were squeezed together like sausages on the side of the road.


    I didn¡¯t aim for a door or anything.


    Nor did I slow down as the wall rushed at me.


    Radiance exploded out of me, aiming for the wooden window slats, or more specifically, their hinges. I leapt forward as I got near, [Scintillating Ascent] giving me a small assist as I exploded head-first through the window, somersaulting into the apartment.


    I quickly took stock of the room, without [Bullet Time] giving me an assist. Three ogres sitting around a table, looking vaguely in shock at me.


    Portals of entry. Door in front, window behind.


    Weapons. Knives on the table, their physical bodies, potential skill use.


    No. Potential skills were always in play in Remus, where I¡¯d trained. Skills were significantly restricted here. Made clearing buildings here much easier than at Ranger Academy, although this was for real.


    I made a flash plan.


    As I tumbled through the air, I blasted them all with bright Radiance beams, aiming to blind, not kill. Disorient them. All flash, no bang.


    I rolled to the floor, and changed my momentum from a roll to a slide. My knees screamed at me as I glided under the table. The ogres, either in shocked reflex, or in a deliberate attempt, kicked at me.


    It wasn¡¯t trivial to dodge their kicks, not in the high-speed cramped confines under the table, but it was manageable. Also, kicks were clearly indicating that they were hostile, so I slapped the shocked ogre¡¯s legs.


    Healing them.


    Killing shimagu.


    As I exited from the table, I flexed my legs, moving back up to my feet. I didn¡¯t look back, blazing through the door, bouncing off the wall, then continuing on down the hallway.


    It didn¡¯t matter where I was going, so much that I was moving fast, and moving somewhat unpredictably.


    Sure, whoever was dropping anvils on us might have absolutely perfect knowledge of the layout of every building in this city, seen what window I went through, and guess that I¡¯d follow the hallway. If all those events occurred, yeah, I¡¯d be screwed.


    Or she could just make a lucky guess.


    There was a door at the end of the hallway, and as I pounded towards it, I heard the snapping and breaking of wood. Like an elf with extra-large horns had just plowed through a wall.


    Honestly. The elves were high level and powerful, but their lack of experience and training in urban settings, and fighting against other intelligent creatures was showing. They were physically faster and better coordinated than I was, but I was ahead of them because I assessed the situation and made decisions quicker than they were.


    I was proactive. The elves were reactive. A difference in training, experience, and mentality.


    I flash-burned some helpful arrows into the wooden panels of the apartment¡¯s hallway, letting them know which direction I¡¯d gone.


    I didn¡¯t stop to open the door. I just burned through the doorknob and hinges, then leaned my shoulder forward, praying that it¡¯d be enough. That there wouldn¡¯t be some weird quirk, or someone standing on the other side of the door.


    Actually - I knew there was nobody standing on the other side of the door. My Radiance would¡¯ve gone right through them, and [Oath] would¡¯ve been peeved.


    Yay for impromptu scouting!


    The door blew out under my tender ministrations as I rammed it. It only half-fell out into the main hall, the narrow passageway foiling my plans.


    I spotted a rickety staircase, and started to run for it. I glanced down, checking on the egg. Yup, still there, still intact.


    Four steps towards the stairs, and I heard the distinct sound of a wooden board, formerly a door, getting snapped in half by irate elves.


    ¡°There!¡± Awarthril shouted, and by the cursing and double-thuds that followed, I guessed that Aegion and Serondes were being unceremoniously yanked along by her [Rubbery Rope].


    ¡°Up the stairs!¡± I pointed, kinda pointlessly. There was something to be said for clear communication though.


    A nice thing about all this running around without fighting - my mana was regenerating at a crazy rate. Roughly 180 points of mana a second.


    Part of me whispered that whatever Classer was dropping anvils on us had a higher regeneration rate.


    ¡°Duck!¡±


    Without a moment¡¯s hesitation I threw myself to the ground, wrapping myself up in [Mantle].


    One moment.


    A second moment.


    No [Bullet Time].


    Awarthril jumped over me like a gazelle, all grace, elegance, speed, and large pointy horns. A [Rubbery Rope] snapped out to connect to me, and it didn¡¯t even take me a second to realize what was about to happen.


    ¡°No-!¡±


    My cry of despair was cut off as I was yoinked, limbs flailing, into the mess of Serondes and Aegion also getting tumble-dried in Awarthril¡¯s wake.


    ¡°Up over up and up!¡± I shouted, bracing myself.


    It was like holding onto a rope. A rope being pulled along by an enthusiastic, if somewhat unwitting bear. Awarthril bounded up the stairs, without a single care or concern about the three of us getting yanked along.


    She also had a standard-length [Rubbery Rope] that we were all attached to.


    The end result?


    As Awarthril turned the corner on the staircase, I went splat on the wall. In my panic, I threw a [Mantle] over the egg. Aegion rammed into me, the pointy edges of his shield, hard armor and all. The air exploded out of my lungs, which gave me nothing to do as Serondes acted as a hammer to Aegion¡¯s nail.


    Then all of our ropes went taut as Awarthril kept running, and we were unceremoniously tugged along.


    I did get to see the Elaine-shaped impression in the wall behind me.


    Kiyaya was behind us, and I swear she gave us a pitying look.


    ¡°Through! Through!¡± I yelled, but Awarthril kept going up.


    This wasn¡¯t working.


    ¡°Stoooooooooooop!¡± I ordered in my best ¡®command voice¡¯.


    Awarthril stopped. Serondes was loudly sick.


    ¡°Are you ok Elaine? Is everything alright? It¡¯s a bit dangerous out there right now¡­¡±


    I gave her a flat look. My best ¡°no shit.¡± look.


    ¡°Awarthril. I¡¯ve got more experience than all of you combined in this. Follow my directions.¡± I didn¡¯t give her, or the other elves, time to argue. We didn¡¯t have time. We¡¯d stayed too still for too long already. We hadn¡¯t moved far enough. I pointed at a wall, one that I¡¯d been half-tracking and knew led to another apartment building.


    ¡°Through that wall. Now.¡±


    Awarthril half-frowned, but Serondes was on point. He gave a few sharp whistles, and with a stiff breeze blowing my hair around, a number of deep cuts appeared on the wall.


    I wasn¡¯t going to wait for Awarthril to work through everything. I moved.


    This wall was more cooperative than the door was, and the elves followed behind me.


    We ended up in another apartment hall. Dingy brown wood, placed years ago and barely maintained. Wouldn¡¯t want to live here.


    There was a great roar and a cacophony of sounds that was hard to properly parse.


    All I knew was the Classer dropping pillars from the heavens guessed, and guessed wrong.


    The elves paused, glancing back. I didn¡¯t.


    ¡°Keep going!¡±


    A number of doors opened. The ogres and humans - really, the shimagu - poked their heads outside. Saw a number of heavily armed warriors stampeding through.


    Closed their doors.


    There was a deep, primal instinct that screamed to take cover when disasters were occurring, and no matter how irrational it was, home was the safest place. True for humans. Apparently true for shimagu.


    We kept running, fleeing through the interconnected buildings.


    One ogre was trying to escape as we stumbled upon him. I tripped him with [Mantle], then sprang over his falling form. He was obviously running away, and I just let him be.


    ¡°Awarthril! Invisibility!¡± I shouted when I spotted a window. There was no glass here, just slates letting air in or not.


    I faded out of existence, feeling a strong breeze as someone - Awarthril I assumed - blasted past me. With no visible hand, the windows opened, and without hesitation, I threw myself out the window.


    Couldn¡¯t fly, it¡¯d break the illusion.


    I mentally cursed every god and goddess on Pallos as I saw what awaited me on the street.


    The roiling dust hadn¡¯t settled. My perception of time was skewed, the superhuman abilities the System gave me messed with my perception of how long, exactly, it took me to do things. Dust, when it wasn¡¯t being controlled by a Classer, followed normal rules of the world.


    I couldn¡¯t see how high up I was.


    Wish I could see Kiyaya jumping out the window though. Sight would¡¯ve been priceless.


    The dust cloud rushed up at me. Shame I couldn¡¯t see the ground. The act of throwing myself off of a tall building was giving me a random sense of nostalgia. I had a half-flashback to when Artemis was training me, one of my earliest practical Ranger lessons. My solution at the time had been to jump off the wall, and I¡¯d thought when I¡¯d gotten the ability to fly this would no longer happen.


    Welp. So much for that.


    The big difference this time though? [Mantle] flashed at exactly the right moment, stopping me -


    Nope!


    I miscalculated how fast I was going, and crashed right through it.


    One day.


    The move arrested my speed such that I barely noticed my mana flicker as I landed, bending at the knees and rolling to absorb the impact. I did notice the mana loss from breaking straight through my shield though.


    Then I was off, trusting elven hearing to make out my footsteps, elvish eyes to see the swirling dust, and work out where I was going next.


    Thinking about it, going invisible might¡¯ve not been the most effective idea. Ah well, hopefully we looked just like anyone else moving through the dust from above.


    Goddesses know I had to dodge enough ogres running through the dust in a blind panic.


    In no time at all, the steep walls of another building showed up, and I made my own entrance, the elves following shortly after.


    I briefly toyed with the idea of Awarthril sending illusionary attackers at the Classer to keep them busy, but ditched it. She¡¯d need to be relatively close to the illusion, unless she had some trick up her sleeve that she¡¯d never shown yet, and that¡¯d give our position away.


    Three times we changed buildings.


    Eight times enormous steel obelisks came crashing down. Some crashed off into the distance. Most were alarmingly close.


    I was both the slowest, and the fastest person. Pure stats? I was the slowpoke, and stopping the elves from reaching their full potential.


    But I didn¡¯t dither. I didn''t wonder what to do next. Oh sure, if we spent five minutes on each decision we¡¯d make better ones. Making a mediocre decision right now was better than a perfect one minutes from now, especially when five seconds was too long.


    After the first time Awarthril ran me over while invisible, she dropped the cloak while we were inside.


    All this running around was great for my mana though, and I¡¯d restored more than half my mana pool.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Aegion shouted. I skidded to a halt, looking back at Aegion. Aegion¡¯s eyes were steely, and he¡¯d unslung his bow.


    He¡¯d given advanced warning earlier, and I didn¡¯t see Cordamo. He nocked and drew an arrow, aiming at the ceiling.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to have to run after this.¡± His eyes were faraway, the words absent-minded.


    ¡°Awarthril, [Rubbery Rope]. How far can you stretch it?¡± I asked, already getting clear of Aegion.


    She glanced at me, divining my intention immediately.


    ¡°Is he close enough for me?¡± Serondes asked.


    Still staring at the ceiling, Aegion gave a tiny, curt shake of his head.


    Awarthril connected the rope, and we ran down the hallway, down to another window as Aegion fully drew his bow. Winds gusted around him and Lightning crackled as he made minute changes to his stance.


    With the barest relaxing of muscles, he released the arrow, causing an explosion of Lightning and a solid Gale wall of air to barrel down the hall, causing all manner of minor destruction. The arrow itself went through the ceiling, blowing out a large hole.


    In one fluid motion, Aegion grabbed another arrow and sent it chasing the first one. Four more arrows were rapidly launched before he paused.


    ¡°Go!¡± I didn¡¯t wait to see what happened next, instead electing to take my chances with the window and the ground.


    I threw myself into daylight, briefly enjoying the kiss of the warm sun on my cheeks.


    Then [Bullet Time] kicked in for the first time this whole fight. I snapped my wings open and shot forward, while placing a shield behind me.


    The building was there one moment and entirely gone the next, turned into a whirling maelstrom of wooden splinters, with some bone shards and viscera mixed in for flavoring.


    [Mantle] managed to stop the first wave of splinters, but a particularly sturdy beam broke it, braining me, before spinning off like the world¡¯s largest throwing stick.


    I felt my head crack, and hot fear flashed through me. I¡¯d fractured my skull in a dozen places. I¡¯d never taken such a bad blow to the head, my brain getting rattled around like dice in an unlucky gambler¡¯s cup.


    My healing instantly restored the broken bones of course.


    I was still unsure on exactly how my healing worked on traumatic brain injuries. Needed to look out for a concussion. Needed to look out for¡­


    The rest of my worries were rendered moot as the rest of the exploding building caught up with me, turning me into the first human-oak hybrid porcupine.


    Then the wave was over, although there was a new dust cloud, choking me and causing every breath to come up short. I was spending more time hacking and coughing than picking splinters out of my arms and legs.


    A brief flash of Radiance, combined with the innate properties of [Dance with the Heavens] got most of the problems in my back.


    I grabbed one yellowish object stuck in my arm, and wrenched it out.


    Ewww. Someone¡¯s tooth.


    I landed.


    ¡°Serondes! Awarthril! Aegion! Where are you!¡± I cried out, fighting my way through the thick haze of obliterated hopes and dreams.


    A human staggered out of the cloud, bleeding heavily. I deftly darted in, tagged him for a full heal with a mediocre image, then continued on, fading into the darkness before he could slow me down with his thanks or his story.


    I plowed through a half-dozen other people, healing as I went, continuing to call out for the elves before running face-first into Kiyaya.


    ¡°Kiyaya! Where¡¯s everyone else?¡± I asked.


    ¡°We¡¯re here!¡± Serondes called out, as Kiyaya moved her massive bulk over.


    They were annoyingly fine.


    ¡°How?!¡± I demanded.


    Serondes gave me his best shit-eating grin.


    ¡°Well, some of us stuck together, and Awarthril and I overlapped our protections.¡±


    He glanced significantly at my blood-stained body. My healing was great, but it didn¡¯t have an auto-clean feature.


    I gave him a finger back.


    ¡°I got him.¡± Aegion interrupted. ¡°Now what?¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s the Spatial Box?¡± I asked, to awkward silence.


    ¡°I left it back at the square.¡± Awarthril eventually admitted.


    I facepalmed.


    ¡°Whyyyyyyy.¡± Serondes complained.


    ¡°Oh come on.¡± Aegion grumbled.


    ¡°Right. Find our way back to the square, grab the box, and get out of the city. Any objections?¡±


    I didn¡¯t wait for them. I shot up into the air, trying to find where the now-former market was located.


    Pillars of smoke came off of numerous fires that had started throughout the city. One was violently out of control, ferociously burning and consuming. People moved like currents, towards the fires, away from them, visible as eddies in the dust. Gleaming metal pillars stood tall and defiant, the recently deceased Classer having not given a care for where he was blasting.


    Pterodactyls were circling, screeching. Dinosaurs, controlled by shimagu.


    More ethical than taking over another sapient being.


    I turned towards a flash of white in the corner of my eye, seeing Cordamo strike past one of the pterodactyls. The wings fell off the bird, and I didn¡¯t watch the shrieking spiral of the rest of the body plummet down to Pallos.


    A glimpse of red, and I turned again.


    A figure was flying through the air. Elvenoid. Bright red, bat-like wings.


    Crimson skin, with finely-printed words twisting and snarling carved into every inch, a nauseating shade of yellow against the crimson flesh.


    Powerfully muscular body. Ash left in its wake, slowly trailing down towards the city, some embers still burning.


    I¡¯d previously wondered about demons, but there¡¯d been a second possibility I¡¯d never considered, one that was rubbing itself in my face. Rubbing so hard that there was no denying what I was seeing, that it wasn¡¯t a demon.


    A Devil.


    One was powering towards me.

 Chapter 264 - Municipal Massacre VI

    I glanced up at the sky, quickly throwing together a simple plan as the devil flew towards me.


    I flew away from the devil, but slowly. Roughly a quarter of the speed I could manage.


    I¡¯d like to have shot up into the sky, but that might¡¯ve given away the game.


    I checked over my shoulder. Good, he was chasing, and getting closer. I flapped my wings faster, while barely increasing my speed, trying to show myself ¡°panicking¡± at the approaching devil.


    Being chased by a high-level [Mage] in a warzone was enough for me to assume he - they - were hostile.


    As he got close enough, I reversed, g-forces pulling at my face and making my innards flip around. Studying Cordamo helped with this maneuver, [Scintillating Ascent] now able to turn on a coin while keeping my speed.


    I accelerated towards the devil, blasting out [Dance with the Heavens] as far as I could. I wasn¡¯t going to try killing the devil, but the shimagu could be an easy target to pick off. Ideally, the devil was being controlled, and once freed, would turn on the shimagu.


    Given the [Mage] tag, I seriously doubted that, but sniping the shimagu would be a serious blow regardless.


    Plan part 1: Kill the shimagu. Everything was up in the air from there.


    The devil - shimagu? - himself had different plans, and wasn¡¯t going to just let me kill him. Three different colors of clouds erupted from him. A shockingly bright orange, a wispy grey, and deep, dark ashes, with glowing embers deep inside. The three clouds mixed as they expanded.


    I wrapped myself in a skin-tight [Mantle], Ash, Miasma, and¡­ Miasma again? Steam? Straight Wind? Acid? I wasn¡¯t sure about the third element. Either way, the three elements weren¡¯t well-known for their burst or puncturing power, and I just might be able to keep myself well-protected with my flexible [Mantle of the Stars].


    The last thing I saw before I charged into the cloud was the devil wrapping himself in the same mixture.


    One small angry part of me was screaming that he knew how [Wheel of Sun and Moon] worked, and he was deliberately shielding himself from the skill by wrapping himself in dark clouds.


    The larger, more reasonable and experienced part of me was calmly explaining that, no, he probably just had skills relating to his other skills - surely, a devastating surprise - and wrapping himself up was one of the criteria.


    Or he believed in being hidden, just like I did.


    My vision went nearly entirely black. The only things I could see were the sun, a pale, tiny, distant dot, and the burning embers swirling through the mix.


    The devil was somewhere inside with me, and I cast [Dance with the Heavens], focusing on maintaining it while keeping an eye on my mana. The plan at this point was to try and get the devil to physically punch me, and try to kill me that way. The moment he made contact, I¡¯d burn the shimagu out.


    Given how many elements I¡¯d seen, I wasn¡¯t holding out hope. I stopped flying, and let gravity take over. Either I¡¯d escape from his elements, his domain, or I¡¯d lure him closer as I bailed - this time for real.


    I didn¡¯t bother trying my Radiance at all. Too much crap in the way. I¡¯d call it a weakness of Radiance if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that nearly every element would struggle in this mess.


    I dropped, picking up speed. The devil obviously knew what was going on in his domain, and acted.


    Like a vice clamping down on me, the swirling maelstrom of elements tightened on me, starting to overwhelm my shield.


    My shield was about to pop. Instead of wasting more mana on it, I shrunk it. It was no longer covering me like a second skin, instead wrapping around the precious egg, keeping it safe. I wrapped my arms around it, giving it extra protection.


    The noxious roiling mess hit me like a punch to the gut. It burned, in a dozen different ways. Sticking my body into a roaring bonfire would¡¯ve been colder. The air was thick and cloying, and while I held my breath it didn¡¯t stop the embers from invading my nose, the gas from burning my sinus.


    Hot embers burned against my skin, briefly branding me before flying off, letting my skin reknit. Tiny sharp blades sliced across my arms, chest, and face, spurts of blood flashing before me, then whisked away into the mixture.


    I briefly missed and regretted not being in full armor, the stuff designed to stop exactly this sort of attack and problem. Then my vambrace melted, fusing into my flesh and arm, and those regrets vanished.


    Metal. A fourth element. There had to be a shimagu involved, and the devil and shimagu were cooperating.


    My mana was dropping faster than I¡¯d expect. The heat was trying to cook me alive, my healing acting as a radiator and cooling myself just as quickly as the burning tried to denature my flesh.


    My lungs burned as I held my breath, my throat staying closed even as hot ash poured into my mouth from my nose. My cheeks inflated like a squirrel, the ash having nowhere else to go.


    I gave up the fight and opened my mouth.


    A sharp Metal shard embedded itself in my eyeball.


    I gritted my teeth, stopping myself from swearing.


    I was still falling.


    How long had I fallen for? How far had I gotten? I couldn¡¯t see the ground, but I could feel how fast I was going. I reoriented myself to land feet-first, giving myself enough ¡°crumple time¡± to minimize injuries.


    At this pace, I was going to hit the ground before finding air.


    The demands of my lungs increased, and finally I couldn¡¯t resist. I slowly breathed out, only for the gases to viciously invade.


    I started clawing at my throat. Ripping at it, tearing at it, trying anything to get air.


    I briefly considered [Mantle] as a mask, but discarded the idea. It¡¯d keep as much crud in as it kept out.


    I burst out of the cloud, flaring my wings open as I performed an emergency aerial twist to avoid getting splattered by Serondes, surfing on a crest of Lava, with Awarthril grimly hanging onto him.


    We flashed past each other, the wind snatching any words that might¡¯ve been said.


    A few bright arrows appeared in front of me, pointing to a spot on the ground. Coughing, hacking, wheezing, and generally trying to get my lungs full of air and not nonsense, I traced out the arrow¡¯s path.


    Right to Aegion and Kiyaya. Awarthril¡¯s illusions coming in handy!


    My landing was rough, which was to say I smashed my feet and knees in a way that would¡¯ve crippled anyone else.


    For me?


    I regained more mana that second than I spent fixing myself up.


    Aegion said something, but I missed it entirely. I was a little busy, on my hands and knees, trying to get air, to get life back inside of me.


    The bigger problem was my lungs. I could barely breathe, each gasping wheeze sending agony through my body.


    Bloody fucking healing skills not accounting for shit in my lungs. For WHATEVER System-forsaken reason that wasn¡¯t part of me, and was ¡°external¡±. That, or it¡¯d get fixed whenever [Dance with the Heavens] got evolved to handle suffocation.


    Every exhalation brought with it another cloud of cooled ashes, with the occasional retch, bringing up a dribble of water.


    ¡°Elaine!¡± Aegion yelled.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°You ok?¡±


    ¡°Do I look ok?¡±


    ¡°Well, you look better than when you weren¡¯t answering me.¡±


    I crawled up to my feet, then bent over, hands on my knees, still coughing. Most of the dust had settled by now, but my landing and movements had kicked some of it up, making life miserable for me. I reached up, and with my fingers, found the metal shard that was embedded in my eye. Once I had a good grip on it, I extracted it from my eyeball.


    Euachk.


    My head felt a bit weird, and I rubbed my hand over my forehead, going back and back and back, until I was forced to admit - the devil had burned off all my hair.


    Bloody hell.


    I steeled myself and looked up.


    Serondes and Awarthril were clearly inside the cloud themselves, the Ash glowing with a bright spot in the middle - obviously Serondes¡¯s Lava.


    The ball of embers was rapidly moving north, towards the ships and the ports of the city.


    ¡°Any idea what¡¯s going on?¡± I asked Aegion. He had Cordamo, and being a sniper, had vastly superior eyesight.


    Also, somehow, somewhere, the elves had gotten their Spatial Box back. Why¡¯d I even bothered to scout for it?


    ¡°Yeah, Awarthril¡¯s finally gotten the devil.¡± Aegion said, and I finally had the word for the creature. ¡°Going to throw him into the ocean.¡±


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± I asked, checking around us. The street was starting to fill with people, humans and ogres trying to pick up the pieces of their life that had just come crashing around them. We were given a wide berth, but with our current non-hostilities? Life was going on.


    Until the next idiot took a swing at me, and the whole fighting-riot-mob snowball started again. It was only a matter of time, but I was grateful for the breather.


    No idea if it was Aegion in his gleaming armor, me with my healer tag, or Kiyaya. The dire wolf was big.


    ¡°Devils can¡¯t swim. Their curse is something like complete paralysis when submerged in water. Put one in water, and it¡¯ll sink and drown.¡±


    Aegion¡¯s words were like a prophecy, as the Ash ball took a sharp dive down, vanishing behind some houses. The smoke was near-omnipresent, but it wasn¡¯t thick enough to hide the column of water.


    ¡°Incoming.¡± I called out, seeing a torrent of velociraptors turn the corner of the street, focusing on us. Spreading out in classic pack tactics. The shimagu saw a squad of enforcer dinosaurs and made themselves scarce.


    There were a lot of the dinosaurs. They just kept coming, and coming, filling the entire street up with them. At least they weren¡¯t super high level. Just in the 200-350 range each.


    My point of view was getting skewed, when raptors stronger than most Rangers weren¡¯t ¡°super high level.¡±


    Aegion rolled his shoulders in the classic ¡°warming up¡± move, trading out his bow for his sword and shield.


    ¡°Can you pull the same trick that you¡¯ve done so far?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Which one?¡±


    ¡°The one where you get near them and they all start fighting each other.¡±


    I guess that¡¯s how it looked from his point of view.


    ¡°Not sure if the velociraptors will start fighting each other, but yeah. I can purge them of shimagu and take it from there.¡±


    I spat out some more blood. I had some Metal shards stuck in my lungs, and they were cutting me back open as quickly as I was healing.


    The right move would be to turn off my [Persistent Casting], then manually heal the area, focusing on generating scar tissue around the affected area, then re-cast with a strong image, deliberately allowing the lung scar tissue to remain.


    The entire plan fell apart at ¡°Turn off [Persistent Casting] in a war zone¡± though.


    As it was, as each fleck of metal bit into me, my upgrades on [Dance with the Heavens] kicked in, eroding the metal a little bit further. One agonizing cut at a time, my lungs were getting cleaned.


    I darted forward, hopping up and taking flight down the street.


    I wasn¡¯t thrilled with my current mana. Oh sure, I could probably survive three decapitations, but I wasn¡¯t happy with it.


    No sense in taking risks though. I flew over the raptors, blasting a heal through all of them.


    They kept charging down the street in perfect formation.


    ¡°Aegion! It didn¡¯t work!¡± I yelled back, dive-bombing the dinosaurs.


    It got messy.


    Kiyaya was a monster in her own right, bowling over the smaller raptors. Her mighty jaws effortlessly bit raptors in half, while powerful kicks from her hind legs broke any raptor that tried to flank her. She roared and snarled, her voice doing almost as much damage as her fangs and claws.


    The raptors got a few blows in, but Kiyaya had a few hundred levels on the dinosaurs. The only way she¡¯d die was ¡°death by a thousand cuts.¡±Or if one of the raptors had a powerful poison.


    Or if there was some particularly nasty skill.


    Or¡­


    Aegion was fighting conservatively, guarding Kiyaya¡¯s flank. His shield caught dinosaurs trying to dash past him - or into him - followed by a quick dispatch with his sword.


    He was no [Swordfighter], but a physical Classer was a physical Classer. Strength and Dexterity applied to swords just as well as spears, bows, rowing, lifting heavy crates, and so much more. Aegion also had hundreds of levels on the monsters.


    I was busy strafing the dinosaurs. I flew low and fast over their heads, throwing pinpoint Radiance beams through eyes and heads.


    One of the monsters jumped up as I passed over, his jaws closing on my leg. It wasn¡¯t a problem - how jaded was I that a dinosaur trying to rip my leg off wasn¡¯t a problem!? - but the issue was the surprise weight.


    He slowed me down just a bit.


    Pulled me down just a bit.


    Worst of all, gave the other raptors ideas.


    Leaping and snarling, more raptors latched onto me as I exploded with Radiance, summoning [Kaleidoscope] butterflies in all directions. Explosions chained around me as I was pulled into the pack, the beasts intent on ripping me to pieces. Quite literally eating me alive.


    I wasn¡¯t going to go down without a fight.


    I refocused, hitting the velociraptor on my right arm with a Radiance beam through the head, while my explosive butterflies handled the one on my left. They fell dead, but wholly intact, forming a fleshy shield for a quarter of my body.


    I basically gave my legs up, letting the dinosaurs chow down on them. Sure, the road was getting slick with blood, but I could restore it. While they were ripping my legs, they weren¡¯t letting anything else get close.


    Raptors eating my sides were next, and one by one, I worked my way in a circle, intent on burying myself in dead dinos to shield and protect myself. I kept an eye on my mana, but I was going to make it.


    I was going to survive literally being pulled into a pack of carnivores.


    As my heart surged in triumph, Kiyaya bowled over the monsters, standing protectively over me.


    ¡°Good girl.¡± I patted her belly, not caring that it was more blood than fur.


    I carefully rolled over and extracted myself. I checked on the egg.


    Still good.


    I got out just in time to see Kiyaya¡¯s jaws closing like a steel trap on the last raptor. With a flicker of thought, I healed Aegion and Kiyaya.


    ¡°Well.¡± Aegion gave his wrist an expert flick, clearing the crystal blade of blood. ¡°Why didn¡¯t your trick work?¡±


    I quickly glanced through my System notifications, frowning.


    ¡°No shimagu kills. Either they had a skill to protect themselves, or there were no shimagu.¡±


    We spent a heartbeat in thoughtful silence.


    ¡°With the number of dinosaurs here, it¡¯d make sense if there were some [Beastmaster]¡¯s around.¡± Aegion commented.


    ¡°Yeah. I didn¡¯t see the kill notification on the devil either.¡±


    Aegion¡¯s eyes started to rapidly flicker, reading notifications only he could see.


    ¡°Shattered gems.¡± He swore. ¡°What should we do?¡±


    It only took a moment to come up with a plan.


    ¡°We¡¯re leaving.¡± I announced. ¡°You and Cordamo can signal Awarthril and Serondes where we are. We can¡¯t fight an entire city.¡±


    I quickly debated flying out on my own, but no. Leaving Aegion and Kiyaya mostly alone was a bad idea.


    I started to stride through the street, walking around dead raptors and stepping over fallen beams, kicking up a cloud of fine dust in my wake. With the violence over, people were starting to emerge again.


    Anyone who saw me quickly turned and ran away, or hid back in their building.


    There would be another wave of attacks, I just knew it. The shimagu were getting smarter, sending creatures that I couldn¡¯t just snap my fingers to kill.


    We hurried along, moving quickly. Kiyaya erased any sounds we made, and we surprised quite a few people as we ran around.


    I ignored the ones who ran. I purged the ogres and dinosaurs who took a swing, the shimagu culture having a bizarrely high level of innate violence.


    About a quarter of the time, after killing the shimagu, the former host went on a rampage. After the third time it happened, after the third time Aegion and I got embroiled in an ugly mess, we started restraining the freed hosts.


    We just didn¡¯t have the time to constantly get stuck in quagmires.


    We mimed being quiet and sneaking out, and fortunately the hosts got it. There was no way to tell that they¡¯d been healed, that there was no longer a shimagu at the helm.


    Once we weren¡¯t getting into fights every five minutes, my mana started to refill nicely. The alarm bells continued to ring, a never-ending backstop to the chaos, and occasionally crews hustled by, carrying lumber, water buckets, sand, and more.


    We turned another corner, another street, and came face to face with a horrifying scene.


    An old human was lying down on a table, cheerfully extending his three remaining limbs out. A raptor was collared next to the table. An ogre slammed a cleaver down, taking the last arm off and slapping it down onto a grill. They both ignored the blood pouring out of the arm, repeating the process on his legs. The rest of the people wandering through the street were completely ignoring what was going on.


    Well, except for two people standing in line next to the grill.


    Then the ogre grunted, and the man started to scream. It wasn¡¯t in any language I knew, but the pain. The sheer anguish.


    I started to sprint down the street, but I was too slow. Too far. Frankly, too shocked at the casual, consensual dismemberment occurring in the middle of the street without a single person batting an eye at it. The ogre¡¯s cleaver came down on his head, a quick mercy.


    The raptor shook himself, then turned to the ogre, who handed over some thick slabs used as coins, then half of one of the legs to the raptor.


    The raptor half-bowed, then trotted off.


    Wait.


    The grill.


    The grill with meat on it.


    The pork-flavored grill with meat on it.


    I bent over and vomited.


    ¡°You ok?¡± Aegion asked. I didn¡¯t have time to shake my head before I spewed again.


    Which was an answer of sorts.


    I heaved and retched until I was dry, until nothing but bile was coming up.


    I¡¯d turned off System notifications, but I quickly checked for skills, getting cursed confirmation.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Cannibalism]! Would you like to replace a skill with it? Y/N]


    Something inside of me snapped.

 Chapter 265 - From Dawn till Dusk

    First, do no harm.


    It was the first line of my [Oath]. The central, guiding principle with which I¡¯d led my life.


    The [Oath] in question had a baseline, the letter of the law. It also had the spirit of the law, and with how restriction skills worked, I needed to follow both letter and spirit.


    On top of that, I had my own personal ethics, areas where I went above and beyond a single skill. Like, ¡°Don¡¯t steal stuff¡± wasn¡¯t part of my [Oath], but barring exceptional circumstances, I wasn¡¯t about to start plundering and looting. As tempting as it was at times.


    One belief I had was in non-malfeasance. My healing shouldn¡¯t be the cause of harm - at least, when I wasn¡¯t actively defending myself. A practical application was with the shimagu. They were intelligent creatures. Everyone deserved life. Preserving that was my life¡¯s mission. Simply killing them out of hand, when I wasn¡¯t defending myself, wasn¡¯t ok. Granted, I¡¯d been using the most generous definition of self-defense while in the city.


    This wasn¡¯t part of [Oath], not when a shimagu was controlling another intelligent creature. It did apply when a shimagu was controlling a dinosaur, or non-intelligent creature.


    As I realized what I¡¯d eaten, as yet another casual atrocity was revealed to me, that belief crumbled to dust.


    I was a healer. I had ethics, principles, beliefs. I¡¯d like to think they were noble.


    I¡¯d wanted to believe that I¡¯d stick to them, no matter what was presented to me. That principles only mattered when tested, when sticking to them was hard. That¡¯s why they were principles. Otherwise, what was the point?


    But this?


    This was the natural conclusion of my ethics in action? This is what I had to allow, to keep my principles?


    I¡¯d been gone too long. I¡¯d been in too many shit situations. Formorians, barren lands, dwarves, gods, dragons, guardians, mines, orcs, traps, decapitation, capture, escape, horrors, months trapped underground, dragons and dryads, elves and centaurs, trolls and hydras, White Dove, gnolls, raptors, dinosaurs, and now shimagu.


    Shimagu casually butchering humans in the street, and selling them as a delicacy, with salt and pepper.


    I felt myself break inside.


    I felt my beliefs take a haircut.


    [Oath] did not bar me from healing a person controlled by a shimagu, unconditionally.


    I was seeing red. Hot fury coursed through me. Rage and wrath clouded my judgement, narrowed my focus. Nothing else mattered but this one problem, this one massive injustice in this part of the world.


    I clenched and ground my teeth, while balling my hands into fists. A primal snarl was etching itself on my face.


    For once, I had the power to make changes. I had the power to right the injustice.


    That¡¯s just what I did.


    My scream of outrage went with a full-area blast of my healing. A dozen people around me froze, but I didn¡¯t bother waiting to see what happened. What they¡¯d do.


    I launched myself up, taking flight just above the average head height, and blasted down the street, keeping my healing up. I didn¡¯t look to see if Aegion or Kiyaya were following.


    I didn¡¯t care.


    I swept street after street, always choosing the larger road. Aiming for the largest crowds.


    The city was big. There was only so much I could cover.


    Each part I did cover though? Freedom. Escape.


    Chaos.


    While I was flitting around the fortress in the middle of the city, I saw a rapidly-expanding cloud of Ash coming from the port, followed by an eruption of Lava.


    Serondes and the devil were still going at it. Presumably Awarthril was around, just less flashy.


    They could use some help and backup. If nothing else, after the fight they¡¯d probably have a number of burns, sharp metal pieces, and other problems.


    I started heading that way, zig-zagging through the roads, dropping shimagu by the dozen.


    By the hundreds.


    Thousands.


    The shimagu didn¡¯t take my assault lying down. Given my speed, given the size of the streets, they only had seconds to react and try something. Anything.


    The smart ones fled, hiding in buildings. I didn¡¯t bother chasing them down, not with larger crowds to handle, not with the shade forcing me to touch them. It¡¯d take like eight seconds to track one down and manually heal them, versus getting a few dozen other shimagu in the same timeframe.


    The stupid ones braced themselves, arming themselves with a makeshift weapon. Table legs and clubs, metal poles and, in one memorable case, an entire cart. They lined themselves up in my path, ready to take a powerful swing as I passed.


    Idiots.


    My healing was ranged, and any shimagu was purged before I got close enough for them to attack.


    The desperate ones threw whatever was at hand at me. Sticks, bags, pottery, coins, charcoal, fruits - whatever was in their hands. Whatever they could just grab in the moment.


    I flickered [Mantle] to stop particularly noxious items hitting my face or the egg, not wanting to impede my vision. Otherwise, I blazed on, wobbling a bit as a particularly heavy jar clipped my shoulder.


    I was wrath incarnate, the great harbinger of Black Crow. I was furious, seeing red and Black.


    I kept enough self-control to not hit dinosaurs, or other creatures that shimagu might¡¯ve taken over. I wasn¡¯t so far gone to start openly violating [Oath] in that way. However, I maintained situational awareness. A dinosaur that didn¡¯t run? A therizinosaurus that looked like it was going to take a swipe?


    Self-defense.


    I blasted them.


    With all that said, when I ran into a squad of guards that had bows at the ready? I didn¡¯t assume I was suddenly invincible. I fell back on my training, blinding them before dodging, swerving, or diving into the recently freed and confused crowd, rolling, sliding, dodging, and generally making myself hard to hit.


    I¡¯d occasionally fly over a block of buildings, making myself unpredictable. Making it hard to track where I was, where I was going, where I¡¯d be next. Taking my time, letting my mana regenerate to kill even more.


    I briefly turned my notifications on, checking half a second of notifications.


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Lord of One (Ooze, 321)]//[Heavy Lumberjack (Metal, 222)]]


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Regent of Bone (Ooze, 345)]//[Wool Tailor (Wind, 189)]]


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Mate for Life (Ooze, 168)]//[Bricklayer (Lava, 138)]]


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Tyrannical Overlord (Ooze, 194)]//[Light Armor Smith (Metal, 217)]]


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Lazy Boss (Ooze, 184)]//[Street Sweeper (Pyronox, 224)]]


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Best Buddy (Ooze, 157)]//[Smith¡¯s Apprentice (Metal, 31)]]


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Merciless Tyrant (Ooze, 326)]//[Pearl Diver (Ocean, 201)]]


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Master of the Body (Ooze, 151)]//[Fisherooze (Water, 169)]]


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Comfortable Comrade (Ooze, 320)]//[Cunning Trader (Sound, 188)]]


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Sovereign (Ooze, 270)]//[Fruit Farmer (Verdant, 60)]]


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Diabolical Puppetmaster (Ooze, 338)]//[Best Gossip in Town (Wind, 325)]]


    [*ding!* Your party has slain an [Inner Confidant (Ooze, 235)]//[Town Crier (Wind, 66)]]


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Personal Monarch (Ooze, 256)]//[Fine Textile Weaver (Forest, 260)]]


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Despicable Dictator (Ooze, 282)]//[Socialite (Mirror, 102)]]


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Despot (Ooze, 205)]//[Accountant (Water, 92)]]


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Cozy Companion (Ooze, 318)]//[Tax Collector (Metal, 269)]]


    I stopped checking after the [Tax Collector]. A lifelong fantasy come true.


    I closed my ears. I only looked forward, navigating through the city, not looking down. Not looking behind me.


    My mana was going down, and a little voice in my head was telling me to slow down, that I needed to conserve mana. My little breaks here and there weren¡¯t enough.


    I didn¡¯t want to conserve mana.


    I wanted to punish shimagu.


    I wanted them to hurt.


    I pulled myself short at that thought. It was like a bucket of ice-cold water washing over me.


    I wanted the shimagu to suffer? That wasn¡¯t me.


    Or rather, since it was my thought, it was me. It just wasn¡¯t who I wanted to be. My anger was cooling.


    I was already walking a razor-thin line. I was going down a nasty way.


    I needed to stop. To take a break.


    I looked at my mana, dangerously low. Less than 10,000 points of mana left, and it was only because my regeneration had spiked so high with all the levels I¡¯d gotten that I had anything at all.


    Unceremoniously crashing to the ground would be a poor move.


    I flew up. Up, away from the shimagu. Up, away from the freed hosts. Up, into the smoky sky.


    The pterodactyls had gotten a good view of what I¡¯d been up to. They stayed well clear.


    Up and up I went, higher and higher. I¡¯d never gone so high, Sky¡¯s warning about not flying too high having kept me at lower altitudes. I ascended until I was panting in the thin air, too high to see anyone, then I looked down.


    Smoke covered the city, spewing from dozens of fires. Rows of neat buildings were rudely interrupted with gaping holes of destruction, from where the shimagu mage had sent giant metal pillars after us. Dust coated a third of the city, while Ash covered half the city, from the port to the fortress dominating the center of the city.


    The fight and the mess had taken the entire day. We¡¯d started at sunrise, and now the sun was setting, throwing shadows that the fires were vigorously fighting against.


    The Ash and large area of effect skills had ceased, and I carefully filtered my notifications for high-level kills.


    [*ding!* Your party has slain an [Driven Taskmaster (Ooze, 588)]//[The Hammer (Mithril, 560)//[The Anvil(Mithril, 345]]


    [*ding!* Your party has slain an [Contracted in Triplicate (Ooze, 672)]/[Wave Rider (Water, 621)]/(Herald of Thousand Spinning Shards (Metal, 555)]]


    [*ding!* Your party has slain an [Obscurer of the Sun and Skies (Ash, 666)]/[The Scalding Squall (Steam, 635)]/ The Last Gasp (Miasma, 450)]]


    [*ding!* Your party has slain an [Captain of Wood and Flesh (Ooze, 621)]//[Endless Shipwright (Forest, 485)]//[Master of the Storm (Storm, 284)]]


    The Ash non-shimagu combined with the Metal shimagu at practically the same time implied that Awarthril and Serondes had managed to kill the devil.


    I oriented myself - easy, when north was where the ocean was - and spotted a hill to the east. Flashing bright Radiance down towards the city, trying, hoping to maybe signal the elves where I was going, I headed out.


    I was done with the city.


    I sent another flash of light at Cordamo as I passed near him, before sitting down on the hill, back resting against a tree.


    I forced myself to look at the city. To look at what I¡¯d done.


    The city had been peaceful yesterday. It¡¯d been at ease this morning.


    Then I came along, and now what? Thousands, if not tens of thousands dead. A city in flames. More would die in the aftermath.


    Because of me.


    Who¡¯d sworn to do no harm.


    The guilt crashed into me like a wave.


    I wasn¡¯t being penalized by [Oath]. What I¡¯d done was too abstract. I¡¯d freed someone from his chains, and he went around lighting fires. I wasn¡¯t responsible for that, from [Oath]¡¯s perspective. I¡¯d been a hostile in a city, and indiscriminate force had been unleashed to put a stop to me. Again, I was responsible, but not responsible, so [Oath] was silent.


    Damn it.


    I almost wish it wasn¡¯t.


    How many had I personally killed? I was about to look at my notifications, when I checked myself.


    I was going to have a ton. I mentally fiddled with the notifications, compressing them. I couldn¡¯t figure out how to get the species instead of anything else, but otherwise, it mostly worked for kill notifications from the last day.


    [*ding!* Your party has slain 8,096 Ooze-Element creatures!]


    How many people total was I responsible for today? How many humans and ogres had died?


    I added in the dinosaurs, just because filtering them out was hard.


    [*ding!* Your party has slain 10,559 creatures!]


    Even as I watched, the number ticked up. It was possible that I was getting credit for ¡°knock-off¡± kills. How would I know? ¡°Practically burned a city to the ground, incited massive riots, and killed thousands¡± wasn¡¯t a well-studied System phenomena. Generally, when similar events happened in Remus, we didn¡¯t send scholars to interview the perpetrators. We didn¡¯t gather and collate data. No, Rangers and Sentinels were sent in to deal with the problem.


    I checked the rest of my levels.


    [*Ding!* Congratulations! [The Dawn Sentinel] has leveled up to level 424->511! +3 Dexterity, +24 Speed, +24 Vitality, +170 Mana, +170 Mana Regen, +48 Magic power, +48 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    DOVE CURSE THEM ALL! Level 511?! 511!?!!?! Ooooh, I should go right back there, and give them a piece of my mind until I hit 512.


    Oh gods, what was I thinking? Over ten thousand lives, reduced to almost a hundred levels, and I wanted to go back for more?


    I felt disgust welling up inside of me, and I let it out, retching.


    No.


    That was also an utterly stupid number of levels. It was on par with Destruction unleashing the earthquake on the Formorian queens, and annihilating huge portions of the swarms. On the plus side, freeing enslaved Remus citizens (Or¡­ well, not citizens because Remus was a huge pain about citizenship, but WHATEVER) was a super-Sentinelish thing to do. I had [Passionate Learning]. I was out of the dead zone. I¡¯d used the class in a direct, offensive manner, which was new. I¡¯d investigated a major threat on Remus¡¯s borders.


    On the downside, the healing I¡¯d done would¡¯ve been worth a ton less if the shimagu didn¡¯t have their own classes. Their own intelligence.


    A strong sonder came over me, the crushing weight of how many hopes, dreams, and ambitions I¡¯d just casually snuffed out washing over me once again. My heart plummeted into my feet, my stomach dropping out as once again I¡¯d realize just what I¡¯d done.


    I was not cut out for mass-murder. No matter how justified.


    [*ding!* [Celestial Affinity] has leveled up! 424 -> 471]


    For the first time in forever, my affinity skill wasn¡¯t capped. Weird. Guess it was because of how fast I¡¯d leveled or something?


    [*ding!* [Cosmic Presence] has leveled up! 287 -> 300]


    Seemed like a lot.


    [*ding!* [Center of the Universe] has leveled up! 424 -> 450]


    All of these skills uncapping were going to be a huge pain to re-cap.


    Also, I wasn¡¯t looking forward to what torment I¡¯d have to go through to cap my anti-pain skill.


    [*ding!* [Dance with the Heavens] has leveled up! 424 -> 511]


    I wasn¡¯t surprised in the slightest.


    [*ding!* [Wheel of Sun and Moon] has leveled up! 424 -> 511]


    I was probably capped here for ages.


    [*ding!* [Mantle of the Stars] has leveled up! 424 -> 469]


    Permanent shielding for the win! It was a nice number.


    I slightly regretted not using [Sunrise] at all. Ah well!


    512 was around the corner. I should start doing some serious planning on my third class¡­ and how long I was going to wait before taking it.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Butterfly Mystic] has leveled up to level 348->357! +8 Strength, +8 Dexterity, +70 Speed, +70 Vitality, +70 Mana, +70 Mana Regen, +70 Magic power, +70 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Strength, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    Practically nothing compared to my [The Dawn Sentinel] levels. Wasn¡¯t going to complain, especially since the levels were ¡°justified¡± - I had no issues lasering velociraptors that were trying to tear me apart.


    I had issues with the shimagu because¡­


    The shimagu were different because¡­


    ¡­ I had no good words why.


    The capped [Butterfly Mystic] skills stayed capped.


    [*ding!* [Solar Flare] has leveled up! 88 -> 130]


    Merge already!


    [*ding!* [Scintillating Ascent] has leveled up! 314 -> 333]


    Solid levels!


    [*ding!* [Long-Range Identify] has leveled up! 370 -> 375]


    [*ding!* [Pristine Memories] has leveled up! 220 -> 221]


    [*ding!* [Egg Incubation] has leveled up! 55 -> 94]


    Egg protection duty! Woo!


    I looked down at the egg, still safe. Still attached. Still warm, in the [Mantle] and sash Serondes made.


    Good.


    Wonder when it¡¯ll hatch?


    I squinted at it. Did it just rock a hair? Or was it my imagination?


    [*ding!* [Bullet Time] has leveled up! 424 -> 511]


    [*ding!* [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has leveled up! 375 -> 376]


    Oooof. If nothing else, [Oath] only moving a single level, in spite of all the ¡°healing¡± I¡¯d done, was a damning indictment of my actions.


    [*ding!* [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority] has leveled up! 396 -> 511]


    I¡¯d just been the most Sentinely Sentinel who ever Sentineled.


    [*ding!* [Persistent Casting] has leveled up! 299 -> 315]


    Awww, no upgrade at 300. I was disappointed.


    [*ding!* [Passionate Learning] has leveled up! 379 -> 380]


    With no small amount of dread, I checked when, exactly, in my log that I¡¯d gotten that level of [Passionate Learning].


    My stomach rebelled at the answer.


    It also reminded me why I¡¯d done it. Why I¡¯d zipped around at high speeds, healing as many people as possible. Yes, the city had been safe. The city had been peaceful. It was a lie. An illusion, built on the backs of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of enslaved people. People, who the moment they were freed, immediately and violently turned on their oppressors. People who¡¯d chosen to go down fighting, to go down swinging, rather than go back to the worst kind of slavery.


    They were free.


    Many had died, would die, but nearly all of them had made the choice to fight back. They didn¡¯t need to.


    There was a deep train of thought there, ideas and concepts to explore, especially as it related to Remus.


    Importantly, it reaffirmed my decision to be a Sentinel. Of the importance of the Rangers. I¡¯d effectively been a single powerful, violent, high-level Classer inside a city, hellbent on killing as many people as possible. And look at how well I¡¯d succeeded.


    I wasn¡¯t the first to have such ambitions.


    I wasn¡¯t going to be the last.


    Heck, I¡¯d basically done a Hesoid, playing ¡°how many people can I kill?¡±


    The thought disgusted me. Made me want to punch myself.


    But - I hadn¡¯t been wrong. Had I?


    I shook my head to refocus.


    The shimagu had sent their own Classers against me. They¡¯d failed.


    We needed Rangers, Sentinels, and the rest to help keep the peace. To be able to deal with people who woke up one day, and chose violence.


    There was something to be said for tackling the problem at its root. For solving the underlying problems that caused the behavior.


    I lacked the proper social skills and know-how to even identify the problem, let alone how to fix it. I was Immortal though. I had time to work on it. Worse-case, I¡¯d just get fabulously rich then hire a bunch of people to figure it out for me.


    Until then? I was needed as a Sentinel.


    My stomach rumbled again, violently, reminding me of a few important facts.


    I¡¯d vomited everything I¡¯d eaten so far today.I¡¯d burned a huge amount of mana, and regenerated just as much. It was ravenous work, and I needed food.For the first time in ages, I didn¡¯t know where my next meal was coming from. No elves, no spiders, no dwarves, and the local wildlife was at a minimum due to all the farms. Guess if I got hungry enough I could raid a farm for food, but stealing from a farmer, after what I¡¯d just done? It just felt wrong.


    I¡¯d probably need to kill more shimagu.


    I was conflicted about the actions I¡¯d taken.


    I wasn¡¯t conflicted about the fact that I was tired of killing. Tired of taking lives. I needed a break.


    Soon. Remus was close enough that humans were occasionally wandering over here.


    A grey smear in the sky caught my eye. It looked like Cordamo, and without getting up, without moving, I flashed Radiance at him, signaling where I was.


    I¡¯d been ruminating, running from one thought to the next, but now I finally had time to wonder about the elves, and where they¡¯d been. How they¡¯d fared.


    Cordamo clearly saw me, and dove down towards me.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 20]


    [Mana: 576,750/576,750]


    [Mana Regen: 432,699 (+515,651)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 194]


    [Strength: 1,003]


    [Dexterity: 1,823]


    [Vitality: 14,190]


    [Speed: 14,190]


    [Mana: 57,675]


    [Mana Regeneration: 57,776 (+51,565)]


    [Magic Power: 22,735 (+427,418)]


    [Magic Control: 22,735 (+427,418)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 511]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 471]


    [Cosmic Presence: 300]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 2]


    [Center of the Universe: 450]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 511]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 511]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 469]


    [Sunrise: 347]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 357]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 357]


    [Radiance Resistance: 357]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 357]


    [Solar Flare: 130]


    [Nectar: 357]


    [Sun''s Heart: 357]


    [Scintillating Ascent: 333]


    [Kaleidoscope: 357]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 375]


    [Pristine Memories: 221]


    [Egg Incubation: 94]


    [Bullet Time: 511]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 376]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 511]


    [Persistent Casting: 315]


    [Passionate Learning: 380]

 Chapter 266 - Return to Remus

    Cordamo snaked through the air, the usually pristine white skin marred into a dark grey by the ash, Ash, and smoke permeating the air.


    He landed heavily next to me, without his usual grace. With a thought, I healed the couatl up. I wasn¡¯t sure if my mana flickered or not, my regeneration was that high.


    Over 250 points of mana a second. I was mentally exhausted. I didn¡¯t have the bandwidth to calculate exactly how much I had.


    Wait. I could just get the System to do it for me.


    263 points of mana a second.


    I looked over at Cordamo. Poor snake looked exhausted. I extended an arm out to him, touching a feathery wing with a finger.


    [Sunrise] failed to activate. I¡¯d never expected to need to energize creatures that were so far from human, and the human template.


    Heck, I¡¯d expected [Sunrise] to be a temporary skill, until [The Stars Never Fade] kicked in. I hadn¡¯t expected [Solar Infusion] to be such a dud.


    ¡°You ok?¡± I asked Cordamo, figuring conversation was better than wallowing in the funk I¡¯d found myself in.


    I got an exhausted hiss and a nod back.


    ¡°Aegion¡¯s alright?¡±


    ¡°Shaaaaaaaaaa!¡± The snake reassured me.


    ¡°Heading this way?¡±


    His head bobbed up and down.


    Alrighty then.


    Cordamo wasn¡¯t the best conversationalist. Something about a lack of vocal cords. I just sat and waited for the rest of the elves.


    Sometimes, doing nothing was the right thing to do.


    I wasn¡¯t sure it was the right thing here, but I was emotionally drained. Boundless energy and mana, sure. The will to apply it?


    After what I¡¯d done?


    I got some thinking in.


    I had two separate mindsets, which went with the ¡®personas¡¯ I used. Healer Elaine, and Sentinel Dawn.


    They were remarkably similar in many ways. Both healers. Both members of Remus. Both had a family, both were me. It was a handy fiction that I flipped between, depending on what I needed or wanted to do.


    I was on a Sentinel mission? I was doing something for the Rangers? Sentinel Dawn the whole way.


    I wanted a quiet, relaxing afternoon? I wanted to travel from place to place without a huge fuss? Healer Elaine.


    I was in no danger of dissociating or anything like that. My cognitive dissonance had finally caught up with me, and I was paying the price.


    My Sentinel Dawn mindset saw what was going on in Ochi, and had no tolerance for it.


    Healer Elaine saw the lives snuffed out, the damage and the loss, and was horrified. Intelligent creatures were intelligent creatures, and everyone deserved life. Sure, the shimagu were weird, but they hadn¡¯t been asked to be born that way. They didn¡¯t ask to need a host body to do anything. They were simply living as biology dictated they lived.


    I reassured myself that at least I recognized the cognitive dissonance, and let the ideas clash, instead of trying to bury, hide, or justify what I¡¯d done.


    I kept wrestling with my actions.


    I¡¯d done the right thing.


    I¡¯d done the wrong thing.


    Had there been a better option? Once in the position, was there anything else I could¡¯ve done?


    Just leaving would¡¯ve been anathema to my Sentinel Dawn mindset.


    Same with doing nothing.


    Going about it half-heartedly would¡¯ve been wrong to both mindsets, and could¡¯ve easily gotten me killed.


    I was entirely in agreement with myself that getting myself killed was wrong.


    I kept wrestling with the problem.


    What would Night do? Artemis?


    Any other Sentinel?


    Well, they¡¯d just kill them all, host and all. Not exactly the most inspiring of examples. I was at least reassured that I¡¯d saved the host bodies.


    But¡­ there¡¯d be nobody dead without me.


    Nobody free without me. There¡¯d be significantly fewer people dragged to the butcher¡¯s table and chopped up after my actions.


    I was not reaching a decision or a conclusion, simply spiraling deeper and deeper into a funk. I decided to do some math instead. I realized I¡¯d hit a milestone.


    I had more than a million stat points when [Oath]¡¯s boost was factored in. 850,000ish stat points were from [Oath]-boosted stats alone.


    I was a monster.


    I watched the pillars of smoke getting larger, flames starting to appear above the walls.


    I was a monster.


    No, I was a savior.


    Well.


    The two didn¡¯t need to contradict each other. I could be both.


    I brooded unhappily until the elves made it back. The three of them staggered back, arms over shoulders, supporting each other like a trio of drunks, where their unsteady gaits canceled each other out, allowing them to walk somewhat straight.


    Kiyaya walked by them, dragging the Spatial Box along by a cord.


    I healed them all the moment they entered the range of [Wheel of Sun and Moon].


    ¡°That was bad.¡± Awarthril broke the silence. I forced myself to get up, and touch her, energizing her with [Sunrise].


    ¡°Whoa! That¡¯s the stuff! Thank you!¡±


    Aegion threw me puppy-dog eyes, and I rolled mine. I tapped him for energy, and did the same with Serondes.


    ¡°That was exactly what I wanted to avoid.¡± Aegion complained, throwing himself to the ground.


    ¡°Can you shift please? I need some space.¡± Serondes said.


    Aegion rolled over.


    ¡°I need more space.¡±


    Cordamo angrily hissed at Serondes, who shot him a nasty look back. A wide perimeter of Lava crept around the top of the hill.


    ¡°I need this area.¡±


    ¡°Well-¡± Aegion argued back, only for Awarthril to interrupt him.


    ¡°Peace. Serondes, can¡¯t you do half the floor now, then half later when we move over?¡±


    Without a word, more Lava appeared, and Serondes went back to building another fort.


    ¡°What happened with the devil?¡± I asked.


    Awarthril frowned.


    ¡°Threw him into the ocean, but we didn¡¯t expect he¡¯d be able to fish himself out. Devils just can¡¯t. It was weird.¡±


    ¡°I mean, there was the shimagu.¡±


    Awarthril had the good grace to look embarrassed. I glanced at Serondes, but his back was to us.


    ¡°I realize that now. What happened with you? Aegion mentioned you¡¯d met up with him, then suddenly flew off. Everything alright?¡±


    I thought about it.


    Everything was not alright.


    But I didn¡¯t want to talk about it right now. Not with Awarthril and the rest.


    Hated directly lying though.


    ¡°I went around, healing people. Which killed shimagu as a side effect. Ended up killing a few thousand. Why are we building a fortress here? Shouldn¡¯t we be getting further away?¡±


    Awarthril and Kiyaya both turned to Aegion. He shaded his eyes, looking at the city.


    ¡°No, as much as I wanted to avoid a fight, this is a good distance.¡±


    I was slowly getting what the elves were saying. I didn¡¯t believe it.


    ¡°Good distance for what?¡±


    ¡°Well, sniping at them. Spore¡¯s great for this sort of thing, and Cordamo can see over the walls. The pterodactyls are a twist, but Serondes and Awarthril can cover me. Fortress should blunt a frontal assault.¡±


    ¡°We got their high-level combat mages.¡± Serondes chimed in. ¡°Going directly in the city was a boon in that respect.¡±


    With horror, I realized they meant to continue. From Aegion¡¯s description, he was going to set up a tower here, then bombard the city with deadly, Spore-bearing arrows.


    ¡°Why?¡± I whispered.


    Like a hypocrite. I was in no position to criticize.


    Awarthril shot me a sympathetic look.


    ¡°Elaine, we came looking for shimagu. What did you think that meant? What did you think we¡¯d do once we found them?¡±


    I just stared at her, mouth opening and closing with words that would never come.


    I had nothing.


    They¡¯d been entirely upfront that they were after shimagu. They¡¯d explained what shimagu were.


    Back then, they¡¯d been a nebulous, unknown concept. ¡°Bodyjackers¡±. Sounded terrible. I¡¯d been all for it. I¡¯d had no problem supporting their mission.


    Now it was here. It was in front of me. What did ¡°fighting shimagu¡± mean?


    Well, to the elves, it meant killing every last one of them. Host included.


    They didn¡¯t have a way to separate the shimagu from the host, so they were going to kill both. What else could they do? How else could they fight the shimagu?


    ¡°Speaking of, good work!¡± Serondes shot me a thumbs-up. ¡°I was able to observe the aftermath. The amount of chaos and destruction you unleashed is going to make our job that much easier!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re staying here then?¡± I asked the elves.


    ¡°Yes. I know we said we¡¯d help you home, but this is too important.¡± Awarthril started to loot the Spatial Box, taking out bedrolls, tables, and the rest.


    ¡°I can¡¯t stay.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Serondes stopped, turning to look at me.


    ¡°I need to get home.¡±


    I didn¡¯t say I was sorry I couldn¡¯t stay and help. I wasn¡¯t. I was still conflicted, but it was easy to turn down ¡°kill everyone¡±.


    ¡°I understand.¡± Awarthril¡¯s words were made worse by her tone. Entirely sympathetic. Entirely understanding. Caring.


    ¡°You have so much empathy, Awarthril. You¡¯re caring. How can you¡­¡±


    I didn¡¯t say it, just gestured broadly.


    Awarthril gave me a sad smile.


    ¡°Do you think they want this? Do you think, given the choice, they¡¯d be here?¡±


    I knew we weren¡¯t talking about the shimagu, but the hosts.


    ¡°Well, no¡­ but what about all the people I just freed? Won¡¯t they get caught in the crossfire?¡±


    Awathril hesitated, an awkward look crossing her face.


    Her face went though a number of looks, before settling on ¡®surprised realization.¡¯


    ¡°I¡¯ve got it! Most of the freed hosts are going to want to escape the city. We¡¯re making a fortress here. A beacon. Aegion¡¯s arrows will show that we¡¯re hostile, and anyone hostile to the shimagu is a friend of theirs. They¡¯ll come here, and we can protect them. No chance you¡¯ll stick around, and make sure no shimagu infiltrate¡­?¡± Awarthril asked, then snapped her fingers.


    ¡°No! Your Medical Manuscript! I bet they¡¯ll be eager to learn healing skills and take healing classes if possible, and the Medical Manuscript gives them the knowledge needed to get the right classes and skills!¡±


    ¡°That should work.¡± Aegion thoughtfully added. ¡°Friend of mine, Lumornor, might be interested in those Medical Manuscripts if they¡¯re as good as Awarthril thinks they are. He dabbles with that sort of stuff.¡±


    ¡°Just how much larger do you want me to make this thing?¡± Serondes grumbled, already conjuring up lines on the ground that would mark the foundations of the expanded zone.


    I still didn¡¯t like it. I wasn¡¯t going to stay.


    I was left with an awkward situation though.


    How did I leave?


    I wasn¡¯t concerned about the elves, but my old nemesis had reared its head.


    Social Skills.


    I¡¯d run away from home. I¡¯d escape bandits and kidnappers. I¡¯d left the Rangers on good terms to go to Ranger Academy, with a big celebration and a party. I¡¯d left home on a mission, left Hunting under dwarven duress, then escaped from dragons and dwarves.


    I¡¯d never just been like¡­ ¡°bye¡±.


    Well.


    Might as well?


    ¡°Ok, well, bye I guess?¡±


    Even as the words left my mouth I felt awkward.


    Awarthril¡¯s face fell.


    ¡°Any way to convince you to stay?¡±


    I thought about it. Really thought about it. Serondes wandered back over.


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Not even for me?¡± Serondes waggled his eyebrows suggestively, which was a lot less appealing when covered in soot. He would¡¯ve needed a bath even before suggesting anything under normal conditions.


    ¡°No, sorry.¡±


    ¡°Well, what does that mean for us?¡± He asked.


    I frowned.


    ¡°We always knew this was a fling with an expiry date, and it looks like now¡¯s the time.¡±


    ¡°Not even one last romp?¡±


    We all gave him a death glare that let him know where he could stick that suggestion. Even Cordamo hissed disapprovingly.


    ¡°How will we meet up again? I still have hopes with you and Kiyaya.¡± Awathril asked.


    I thought about it. I still wanted to help Awarthril. In spite of recent events, I still counted her - all the elves - as friends.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you come to Remus once you¡¯re done? I live in Arminium. It¡¯s the capital. If that doesn¡¯t work, is there some place I can head towards in the elven lands?¡±


    Awarthril looked thoughtful.


    ¡°That should work. Give me, say, 200 years to show up before you stop looking for me? Also, you¡¯d be welcome at the Academy. Come on over!¡±


    I blinked at that.


    Right.


    Immortals.


    Completely different concept of time.


    ¡°Sure. How will I find the Academy?¡±


    ¡°Just follow the stars. When Fire is between the moons on the spring equinox, you¡¯re in the right place.¡±


    I had no idea how to even begin to interpret those directions.


    ¡°Ok, yeah, you¡¯ll find me. This is goodbye I guess?¡±


    ¡°Won¡¯t you stay for lunch?¡± Aegion asked.


    My stomach rumbled, reminding me that breakfast had been ages ago, and I¡¯d just done incredibly heavy lifting, and required a boatload of food.


    ¡°I want to, but I¡¯m afraid of getting bogged down. I¡¯ll take something for the road though?¡±


    Aegion grabbed one of his barrels, and filled a set of mugs. He passed them out to each of us, then busted out some poetry.


    ¡°At least have a toast with us! To friendship! We¡¯ve been great friends, it¡¯s a shame to see you go, yet the days are endless and Pallos is small, we shall meet again!¡±


    Aegion somehow managed to lift all our spirits, and turn the awkward, somewhat sad mood into a festive one. A powerful reminder that we were Immortal, and there was no way we wouldn¡¯t see each other again. With great cheer, we crashed our mugs together, and threw back the mugs.


    One swallow in, and I realized I¡¯d made a terrible mistake. Aegion had given us one of his ¡°specials¡±.


    I sprayed - I hesitated to call it beer, not with how awful it was - liquid out of my mouth, aiming for Aegion. Awarthril and Serondes joined me.


    ¡°WHY!?¡± Awarthril screamed at him, throwing the mug at point-blank range at his curly horns. ¡°This was supposed to be a moment. Why ruin it!?¡±


    ¡°I - but - I -¡±


    I tuned Aegion out as Serondes and Awarthril lay into him, instead going over to the Spatial Box.


    I grabbed the few things of mine that were still in the box, mostly the presents the gnollish chief had given me. Spare dress, neatly folded with some fun memories. A few gemstones. I was leaving the book behind.


    I wasn¡¯t going to drag the ruined remains of the dwarven armor around. I didn¡¯t see a reason for it.


    I still had the rest of the gear I¡¯d entered the city with. I checked on my three - no, two now - most valuable items.


    Still had my Sentinel badge. Still had the egg.


    My hand wandered up to my neck. I was missing mom¡¯s pendant. It felt weird without it around my neck.


    I¡¯d be seeing her soon, with any luck.


    I was missing my hair, although that¡¯d be easy to fix. First town I found, I was going to turn it upside down until I found a hairdresser.


    Cordamo and Kiyaya came over. I gave Kiyaya a hug, burying my face in her short fur.


    ¡°You¡¯re a good girl, you know that?¡± My voice was muffled, but she understood me. ¡°I¡¯m going to work hard on figuring out how to keep you around FOREVER. Ok?¡±


    She nuzzled me with her gigantic snout. She was gentle, but I could feel the power.


    Cordamo hissed at me next.


    ¡°Eh, you¡¯re alright in the end.¡±


    He looked vaguely offended, and poked at my egg, looking at me pleadingly.


    ¡°No.¡±


    I looked over at the elves. Awarthril and Serondes had successfully dunked Aegion into his own barrel. All I saw was a pair of thrashing legs, and way too much poison-beer being splashed around.


    Yeah I was going to stay far away from that.


    I looted the Spatial Box for additional rations, and since I didn¡¯t have a good way of carrying them, I started chowing down furiously. Washed away the bad taste in my mouth.


    The elves eventually stopped goofing off, and I said a final round of goodbyes.


    ¡°Awarthril. Aegion. Serondes. It¡¯s been wonderful. I can¡¯t wait to see you again.¡±


    The more I thought about it, the more I liked Aegion¡¯s words.


    ¡°We¡¯ve been great friends, it¡¯s a shame to see you go, yet the days are endless and Pallos is small, we shall meet again!¡±


    Awarthril had tears in her eyes as she gave me a hug.


    ¡°Goodbye for now, Elaine.¡±


    ¡°Awarthril, you¡¯ve been wonderful. I¡¯m going to miss you.¡± I successfully didn¡¯t cry.


    Serondes and I did a little awkward ¡®we just broke up but want to hug each other oh gods how do we do this without it being awful¡¯ dance. We had a brief, chaste, SO AWKWARD hug, then broke apart.


    ¡°Thanks Serondes. It¡¯s been¡­ fun?¡±


    Serondes winced at that, and I mentally cursed myself.


    If I could see Serondes like¡­ 2000 years after everyone else¡­ yeah maybe it¡¯d stop being awkward then.


    ¡°I enjoyed myself.¡± He eventually settled on.


    Aegion came up to me, arms open for a hug. I backpedaled.


    ¡°Oh no no no. Not with you coated in that. I¡¯ve got a long ways to go, and I am not getting coated in sticky terrible beer before I go. Noooooooooo way.¡±


    He looked crestfallen.


    ¡°You did yourself in.¡± I remained firm, then softened. ¡°Hey, save me a cup of good stuff for next time.¡±


    He brightened up at that.


    ¡°Yeah!¡±


    I had nothing else to say. I gathered everything up in my arms, made sure the egg was safe and warm, and took off.


    ¡°Goodbye!¡± I called back.


    ¡°Goodbye!¡±


    I took off, flying into the sky, following the coast eastwards. Behind me, I heard the crackling boom of Aegion¡¯s arrows launching.


    The elves wasted no time starting their siege.


    A shadow passed over the sun, and I reflexively looked up. I saw the sight that nearly every being on Pallos dreaded.


    A swarm of ravenous dinosaurs in the sky. Pterodactyls this time.


    They were flying in tight formation, in a way no dinosaur flew.


    Shimagu.


    I craned my neck, continuing to fly forwards but wanting to see what happened.


    A spiked dome of Lava was covering part of the fortress, Serondes having reacted well. Arrows flew out of the dome, flying impossible distances before striking down the birds.


    The elves were doing just fine.


    I kept flying, keeping low to the ground, hoping that I¡¯d escape the notice of the shimagu. One radiant butterfly, running away, or multiple hostile elves setting up camp?


    They left me alone. I kept flying.


    Flying over farms of grain.


    I flew, keeping the ocean ever to my left. I was afraid of getting lost if I tried to cut inland. I was afraid of missing Remus civilization entirely.


    Port Salona was on the ocean coast, and the person from Ochi had mentioned that he¡¯d lived there.


    I flew as farms abruptly turned to jungle, practically a solid line across the landscape.


    I flew as I crossed the line, feeling sick and miserable as I did so. I¡¯d officially entered the deadzone.


    I kept flying as day turned to night, slowly adjusting to eat my travel rations.


    I flew as the moons rose, bright and large, a pair of crimson eyes watching my journey.


    I flew and I flew, through a howling storm that soaked me through, that tried to blow me off-course during the night. I fought back, pushing through the warm rain and buffeting winds, opening my mouth to grab a quick drink.


    I flew as the moons set, as the storm broke, the sun ending the long night.


    It felt terrible.


    It felt like home.


    I flew through the hot rays of the tropical sun beating down on me.


    [Sunrise] kept me energized, while [Scintillating Ascent] kept me going.


    I didn¡¯t fly too high, or too low. I didn¡¯t fly over the deeper waters, nor did I tempt whatever monsters lived in the jungle, who¡¯d pushed back civilization from encroaching upon them so far.


    I flew.


    I flew as I spotted rugged farms carving out a patch of the jungle for themselves.


    I flew as I spotted little villages.


    I flew as I saw our fabulous roads.


    I flew as I saw people. Humans.


    Then, rising over the horizon, framed by the setting sun, I saw walls. Blessed, glorious Remus-style walls.


    I¡¯d never been to Port Salona before, but everything matched.


    I was tired. On dozens of levels.


    I didn¡¯t bother waiting in line at the gates. I didn¡¯t bother introducing myself.


    I just flew over the walls, ignoring the cries of the guard for me to stop, halt, and identify myself.


    Nah. I didn¡¯t need to, and I didn¡¯t want to.


    I circled the city, smiling as kids tugged on each other¡¯s arm and pointed at me. The glorious, radiant, colorful butterfly making a show. I did spin a bit for them, delighting in their pure joy, endlessly happy that I was making their day.


    Making the day of human kids in my home.


    I looked around, and saw the best thing ever.


    The Ranger¡¯s sign. There was a team in town. One bored Ranger at a desk, the classic wagon behind him.


    I dove, pushing my speed to the max, grabbing my badge.


    I flashed past the poor Ranger, trying to get a dozen words out in the quarter of a second we were near each other.


    ¡°SentinelDawn!I¡¯mFinallyBackOhGodsINeedARest!¡±


    I expertly flicked my badge at him as I blazed into the wagon. They had the same set up we¡¯d had way back when. The same arrangement all Ranger teams did.


    Home.


    HOME!


    I grabbed three different piles of bedrolls and sleeping supplies, threw them all into a pile, then collapsed into it, instantly falling into the deep sleep of peace. Of safety.


    A deep sleep I hadn¡¯t experienced in almost a year and a half.


    The sleep of home.

 Chapter 267 - Homecoming

    My eyes cracked open as I heard a soft clink next to me. I saw a hand retreating, leaving my badge with me.


    From how terrible I felt, and how dark it was, it was obviously still night.


    I closed my eyes and went back to sleep.


    ¡°Good morning Rangers! Up and at ¡®em! Let¡¯s go go GO! Last one out does one extra lap!¡±


    Rude shouting, exactly like the drill instructors at Ranger Academy, woke me up like a bolt of electricity. I was scrambling out from my gigantic pile of blankets before my mind caught up with what was going on.


    It was almost entirely pitch-black in the wagon. Only my increased vitality, along with my eyes being adjusted to the dark, let me see the shapes and outlines of people moving about.


    Around me the rest of the Ranger team was already moving, bolting out of every exit the wagon had. Clever, since if two of them went for the same exit, they¡¯d block each other and end up doing an extra lap.


    ¡°Ah, pardon Sentinel Dawn.¡± The original voice called into the wagon. ¡°Didn¡¯t mean to wake you. Team 11 does morning exercises, and I believed maintaining that was important. We have no issues at this time.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± My voice had that croaking ¡®dear gods why am I awake¡¯ quality, and I fixed myself up with [Sunrise].


    Whoa! Yeah! That hit the spot!


    The last Ranger finished exiting. I bent over, grabbed my badge, and straightened back up. My head felt weird. Not having hair was strange. Something to fix today.


    I walked out the door, taking a look around.


    It was sunrise.


    Scratch that.


    It wasn¡¯t even dawn yet. The barest hints of light were lightening up the sky, but it¡¯d be a stretch and a half to call it sunrise.


    In front of me five Rangers in various different ideas of nightclothes were in front of a sixth, stern-looking Ranger. I suppose I couldn¡¯t complain too much, given that my idea of night clothing was the same Mistweave dress I¡¯d been living in.


    And the most welcome sight for sore eyes - a pair of familiar wolves! Moonmoon! Which meant Wolfy was here!


    I had to catch up. In a few minutes.


    Or longer, depending on the leader¡¯s plans.


    ¡°Ranger Decimus! By my reckoning you were the last one out! As such, you will be running an additional lap!¡±


    One of the Rangers - I¡¯d bet all my money it was Decimus, and while he was slightly familiar, I wasn¡¯t quite able to place him this early in the morning - groaned, while everyone else ribbed him.


    ¡°We begin with a 64-count of jumping jacks! Ready? Begin!¡±


    The Rangers all started to count in unison, performing the exercise in question. The leader was no exception, jumping in unison with the rest.


    ¡°One, two, three, ONE! One, two, three, TWO! One, two, three, THREE!¡±


    I rolled my shoulders, stretched, and figured that while I was in so-so shape, I wasn¡¯t in the best, post-Ranger Academy shape of my life. Julius had never done morning exercises, but whoever was the boss here wasn¡¯t Julius.


    Also, I¡¯d just gained a stupid number of levels. Usually, the benefit from one or two levels was barely noticeable, but I¡¯d just gotten something like a 30%-40% increase to my speed by the numbers.


    I secured the egg, making sure it was at a nice, optimal temperature, then adjusted the harness some so it wouldn¡¯t flop all over.


    I got in line next to one of the Rangers, and joined in on the jumping jacks. I got a funny look from the Ranger leader, but he said nothing, continuing to call the jumping jacks.


    We wrapped up in no time at all, and he paused.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn. Do you require our services for anything?¡±


    He was tense. An amused smile flitted across my face, as the memory of traveling with Julius and the rest when we bumped into Hunting crossed my mind. How worried we¡¯d all been, and how nervous we were.


    The Ranger Leader had a great poker face. I schooled my expression, reminding myself that here and now I was the absolute boss, and it wasn¡¯t in good taste or leadership to poke fun at his expense. Even my happy grins were probably making him sweat buckets.


    I weighed my words carefully as the rest of the Rangers were carefully not looking at me.


    ¡°Yes and no. I¡¯ve been away from Remus for a year and a half. Found my way back yesterday. I¡¯m in dire need of resupply and human contact. Apart from that, I suspect I¡¯ve slipped on my physical exercise, and my physical stats have recently improved to the point where I need to re-drill everything from the ground up again.¡±


    I thought about it a moment more.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to join in on the exercises if it¡¯s not too much trouble.¡±


    He - I was going to call him Bossman, nobody could stop me - saluted back, familiar hand over heart.


    ¡°Anything you need, Sentinel. Although, I do believe you should lead¡­?¡±


    I flapped a hand at him.


    ¡°You know what you¡¯re doing and what your team¡¯s doing. I don¡¯t want to interfere, simply participate.¡±


    Bossman took everything in stride. If he was a poor enough Ranger to get thrown by a Sentinel showing up wanting to get told to do push-ups, he would¡¯ve never made it as a Ranger.


    ¡°Right! Next exercise is 64 squats! Ready, begin!¡±


    We kept up the workout until the running portion.


    ¡°Eight laps around the city walls! Ranger Decimus! You will be running a ninth lap!¡± Bossman roared out.


    I swear he must¡¯ve spent a long stint as one of the Ranger Academy drill instructors, then got promoted back to field work.


    ¡°With all due respect Ranger, I believe I was the last one to morning practice.¡± I chimed in.


    Bossman¡¯s face puckered up.


    I was kinda botching it a hair here. I was the Sentinel, I should be in charge. By having Bossman give orders, it was undermining¡­ a crapton.


    Before he could say anything, I saved him.


    ¡°Right! Ranger Decimus! You will be running the normal number of laps. Same as everyone else. Bossman, are you joining us?¡±


    Bossman looked confused for a moment, and I heard an awkward cough beside me, and a familiar voice.


    ¡°That¡¯d be you, Tiberius.¡± Wolfy¡¯s voice was almost the same. A little more tired. A little rougher. Same Wolfy. ¡°Ela- err - Sentinel Dawn has a habit of giving people nicknames.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re lucky you got Bossman. I got Artillery C.¡± A second familiar voice added in.


    ¡°That¡¯s Artillery Mage C.¡± I corrected him, and I heard some snickering. I cracked my own grin.


    Bossman looked like he was eating a lemon. I was fairly certain I hadn¡¯t taken the skill, but [A Single Flap of a Butterfly¡¯s Wings] was in full force here.


    Time to take control.


    ¡°Bossman. In your estimation, is a Ranger needed to stand by and be prepared to receive complaints?¡±


    He thought about it a moment, then shook his head.


    ¡°No, Sentinel.¡±


    Alrighty then. Just had one more question before I got started. Proper information was key for planning, and Port Salona had an interesting twist to it.


    Namely, that it was a port.


    ¡°When running around the city walls here, do we typically go all the way around, or bounce back?¡±


    ¡°Sentinel. We go all the way around, climbing over the walls where the city meets the sea. It adds an extra obstacle, and attempting to avoid the guard¡¯s notice is an additional exercise.¡±


    I nodded at him.


    ¡°Ranger Team 11! On Bossman, who will navigate us out of the city, so we may begin our morning run.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t about to try and lead us out of the city when I¡¯d just flown over. I didn¡¯t exactly know the streets of the area, and getting everyone lost was not a good look.


    Image management. I didn¡¯t miss it, but it was strangely nostalgic.


    Bossman took the lead and we jogged out of the city, Moonmoon following us. The port was starting to come to life. The smell of fresh baking bread as we passed a bakery, the warm glow of forges coming to life near the silversmith. The guards weren¡¯t happy to open the gates to us, especially since nobody was in their Ranger gear. We looked like a bunch of misfits, but Bossman had a few quick words with them.


    Moonmoon probably helped.


    We got out and paused.


    ¡°Race, or pace?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Whatever you want, Sentinel Dawn.¡± Bossman replied. Wolfy mouthed ¡°race¡± at me, and I got a chance to look at everyone.


    Wolfy and Artillery Mage C were both known to me. Bossman was clearly the leader, and a second experienced Ranger was with him. He was notable for his high level - a [Warrior] over 320 - and his age. He looked over 60, had completely white hair and with his level, his vitality had to be slowing his aging down significantly. If he said he was over 100, I¡¯d believe him.


    ¡°You¡¯re Greybeard.¡± I pointed to him.


    He saluted, in spite of neither having a beard, nor his hair being grey.


    The remaining two Rangers were familiar as well, although I¡¯d never gotten a name. They¡¯d been recruits at Ranger Academy, two candidates I¡¯d taught in my classes. They hadn¡¯t stood out in a good or a bad way, and had clearly done well enough to not only graduate, but survive until now.


    I was all too aware that the squad of eight was a squad of six. Unless doctrine had changed, Moonmoon wasn¡¯t counted. Had to make it cramped when they all needed to cram into the wagon.


    Less cramped now.


    ¡°And Newbie Ranger and Newbie Mage.¡± I pointed to the last two, calling out their respective displayed classes.


    They weren¡¯t too pleased, but eh. They weren¡¯t standing out, and their level was only 210ish.


    ¡°The race is nine laps for me, eight laps for the rest of you.¡± I burned a line in the dirt with a quick flash of Radiance. I couldn¡¯t think of a reward or a penalty, so I did what I loved doing in situations like these - I delegated.


    ¡°Bossman will think of a reward for the winner, and a punishment for the loser.¡±


    Newbie Mage groaned, then gave me a challenging look.


    Oh no he doesn¡¯t. I could practically read his mind.


    ¡°She¡¯s a Healer. She¡¯s young. She¡¯s a girl. She¡¯s got an extra lap. I can beat her.¡±


    ¡°Go!¡± I called out, and took off.


    I didn¡¯t start off in a flat-out sprint, oh no. I wanted to work my way up to it. I wanted to see everyone do a full lap.


    I wanted everyone to watch me keep up with the fastest members of the team, then beat them.


    Honestly, my only concerns were Bossman and Greybeard. If either one was a speedster, I¡¯d be screwed. They¡¯d be able to beat me.


    Eh. If it happened I¡¯d pull out the ¡°I¡¯m a healer-mage relying on raw stats on my third-lowest stat while running an extra lap.¡± card.


    It seemed like Greybeard and Bossman had similar ideas.


    To my minor surprise, Moonmoon was keeping up with us, the two wolves loping along at a casual pace. Thinking about it though, wolves were baseline much faster than humans were, so it made sense.


    With competitive glances, we sped up, leaving Wolfy, Artillery Mage C, and the two Newbies in the dust.


    Faster and faster we ran around the city, and rounding yet another corner, I saw the view of the ocean, sunrise skipping over the waves to turn the whole thing golden.


    I slowed down a hair, letting the others overtake me.


    I had no idea where on the wall the ¡°we climb over here¡± section was, and I wasn¡¯t about to start making new rules and new spots to go over.


    Turned out, it was right where the ocean met the walls. The walls didn¡¯t stop at the ocean though, they kept going some distance out, until a stout guard tower anchored the end in the harbor. Moonmoon sprinted ahead, the pair of wolves leaping into the warm waters, starting to paddle around.


    ¡°Honestly, it¡¯s a good thing high level wolves can¡¯t jump the city walls.¡± I wryly observed. Bossman gave an amused snort, then leapt onto the walls.


    Somehow finding narrow cracks in the wall, places where stones weren¡¯t perfectly aligned. Like a spider, he scuttled up the wall.


    Greybeard found his own spot, and mirrored the trick, the old man betraying a surprisingly nimble streak. Decades of experience on top of sizable dexterity.


    I just flew over. I wasn¡¯t going to fly the whole way, but an obstacle was an obstacle, to be defeated by any means.


    Well.


    Almost any.


    At Ranger Academy flat-out demolishing an obstacle was frowned on, because then the instructors would need to rebuild it, and everyone else would lose the training and opportunity provided. Here?


    Yeah, if Rangers started putting holes in city walls for a morning run, we¡¯d quickly find ourselves unwelcome. The governor couldn¡¯t kick us out, but the guard - and half the citizens - would instantly become unhelpful.


    I was probably losing points for ¡°get over discreetly¡±, but eh. It was a race. At this point in my career, I didn¡¯t consider dodging or moving around discreetly to be a high priority.


    I gracefully landed on the other side, and waited with an impish smile for the two warriors to make it over. Bossman gave me an unhappy look, displeased with my sandbagging.


    They didn¡¯t say a word. They didn¡¯t need to. The challenge was loud and clear. They landed, nearly at the same time, and took off, running through the dirty streets by the ports.


    I followed them, deftly stepping over coiled rope, dodging drunken sailors, clearing out of the way of fishermen out to catch their breakfast, and getting increasingly irritated at the wolf whistles that followed behind me.


    My Mistweave was great.


    In Remus, it was also exotic, and I¡­ probably looked like one of the ladies whose services were for sale.


    A new tunic jumped up my to-do list. Like, third thing to-do.


    Also hair.


    Bossman was now outstripping Greybeard by a solid chunk, and I tapped Greybeard as I passed him, subtly hitting him with [Dance with the Heavens].


    Just a quick top-up. No idea what issues he was having as he advanced in the years, or what injuries he¡¯d gotten so far this round that didn¡¯t have a proper healer to look at, but a quick panacea would fix them all.


    The fact that he wasn¡¯t able to keep up with Bossman told me that he was likely a spellspear, while Bossman was a double physical Classer.


    I kept up with him.


    He pushed himself harder, and the only reason I fell behind was dodging the occasional drunken sailor¡¯s grubby grasp.


    Ah Remus. I did not miss the harassment.


    Bless Mistweave for its intangibility properties.


    We made it to the next wall, where Bossman was pounding up the stairs. I could just fly over them. However, I¡¯d then need to admit that stairs were an obstacle, and that wasn¡¯t going to happen.


    We both ignored the shouting guards, and dropped down to the ground on the other side of the wall.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve got nine laps to do while you¡¯ve got eight. Gotta go!¡± I leaned into it, moving from a jog, to a run, to a flat-out sprint, pushing myself as hard as I could go.


    I ran and ran, reveling in the feeling. How long had it been since I just ran for the fun of it? The glorious golden run from my ¡°escape¡± from Aquiliea was a treasured memory, the sheer joy and energy and excitement of movement, of freedom.


    I wasn¡¯t a young teenager anymore. Emotions didn¡¯t have that raw, jagged edge that made them so painful and so glorious anymore. It was a different type of enjoyment, a more muted and mature pleasure in simply moving as fast as I could, running around the walls.


    I managed to lap everyone except Bossman, coming in second. It might¡¯ve been overly ambitious to think I could lap a double physical Classer.


    We had some time to chat, while the rest of the Rangers ran past us, or slowed to a stop as they finished their own run.


    ¡°I thought you were a healer-mage?¡± The friendly competition seemed to have loosened Bossman up a bit. That, or the morning drill instructor aspect was now done, letting him be more personable.


    I grinned.


    ¡°I am! Speed¡¯s my third lowest stat.¡±


    Bossman was likely a former drill instructor, and knew how to school his face. Still, I managed to catch raw, unfiltered surprise flash over his face before he regained control.


    ¡°Any movement skills?¡±


    ¡°Eeeh. Yes and no. Flight, as you saw, and an energy skill. Apart from that, raw stats.¡±


    He gave me a disbelieving look, before his eyes widened in realization.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got a level disguise skill!¡±


    Oh shit. I was still wearing the Deception Ring, and I¡¯d never changed it from 128.


    Hm.


    Hmmmm.


    Nah, I wasn¡¯t going to tell him.


    ¡°I promise you, I don¡¯t have a skill to hide my level.¡±


    He looked flabbergasted as Greybeard caught up to us.


    I had some mercy on the poor Bossman, who clearly wasn¡¯t believing me. Having him walk away thinking that Sentinels casually lied about dumb stuff wasn¡¯t a good look.


    Ah well. I had to give him the short version.


    ¡°I have a powerful Inscription that¡¯s doing it for me.¡± Bossman nodded knowingly.


    Trying to explain the Deception Ring, how I got it, and everything it did was a bit complicated. I was going to leave it at that. Sentinels were expected to have ridiculous gear. Just look at the Pegasus. Or Magic¡¯s gem-encrusted sash. Or Ocean¡¯s boat made of magic wood. Or Nature¡¯s¡­


    Needless to say. Sentinels were practically expected to have silly gear. Thinking about Magic made me sad. I did wonder what happened to the large fortune of gems that Magic was wearing though.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn. You are a credit to the Sentinel title.¡±


    I was not immune to flattery.


    He pursed his lips briefly, then seemed to come to a decision.


    ¡°With my apologies, Sentinel Dawn.¡± He said, turning to Bossman.


    ¡°Ranger Tiberius. Ranger Team 11 is yours to command as you see fit. However, I hope you go easy on¡­¡± His eyes flickered to me. ¡°Newbie Mage. The entire contest is practically designed to cause him problems, and while I applaud your habit of morning exercise, the penalty invariably lands on his shoulders. His understanding is turning into resentment.¡±


    Bossman got a pained look.


    ¡°I know. I see it too. But he¡¯s the slowest one. The least fit. We are forced to go at his pace on operations, and it could - has - gotten a number of us killed. I don¡¯t blame him for the losses, but what else am I supposed to do?¡±


    Greybeard gave a curt nod.


    ¡°I understand your dilemma. The responsibilities of leadership. Perhaps¡­ more creative non-punishments?¡±


    ¡°Any ideas?¡±


    He jerked his head towards me.


    ¡°Well, if the idea is acceptable to Sentinel Dawn, perhaps he can spend the day assisting her, instead of any other duties?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need any help.¡± I grumped.


    Greybeard got a canny, knowing grin.


    ¡°I know that. You know that. Everyone else doesn¡¯t.¡±


    Ah. AH!


    ¡°Yeah, that should work. Just checking, does he have the keys to the coin chest?¡±


    Bossman was real good at the sour lemon look. I rolled my eyes.


    ¡°Please, I¡¯ve been a Ranger. I know you need the coins for the entire round. Just need a new tunic, some good Remus food, and about a week in the baths.¡±


    Wolfy joined us, followed by Moonmoon.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn. Naturally, our resources are at your disposal.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Wolfy asked. I gave him a roguish grin.


    ¡°I¡¯m looting you for all you¡¯ve got!¡±

 Chapter 268 - Mango Mania

    We kept hanging out until Newbie Mage finished his laps. I wanted to chat with Wolfy and Artillery Mage C, and catch up with them. See what they¡¯d been up to.


    They¡¯d survived their first round as Rangers, and were now experienced Rangers. Oh the stories they had! The adventures!


    This wasn¡¯t the time or the place, and I had more pressing needs. Like a bath.


    And mangos.


    I was going to turn the city upside down for some of those sweet, sweet fruits. Honestly, they should be part of the food pyramid, in their own section.


    ¡°Critical to life: Mangos.¡±


    How¡¯d I manage to go a whole year and change without eating one? I had to be severely nutritionally deprived. I was in dire need of some vitamin M.


    ¡°Ranger Decimus! As the last one, you will be facilitating Sentinel Dawn¡¯s stay with us! You are relieved of all other duties until Sentinel Dawn is no longer with us!¡±


    Newbie Mage saluted.


    ¡°Dismissed!¡± Bossman called out, and we all started to work our way back to town.


    The guards were slightly happier to see us this time, given that it was a sane hour and the gates were open.


    The sun was up, and as we walked through the streets, I subtly let loose.


    In the largest radius the skill could manage, I blasted [Dance with the Heavens] and [Wheel of Sun and Moon], actively healing every person I passed.


    [Cosmic Presence] passively did the same thing with every step I took, but as I was walking, people didn¡¯t get to spend a ton of time under its influence. It did help in larger fights and brawls, like in Ochi. It just wasn¡¯t flashy.


    This wasn¡¯t the first time I¡¯d pulled this trick. I¡¯d done it regularly back in Arminium, before the Formorian invasion.


    The ¡°before times¡±.


    At the same time, I wasn¡¯t being entirely benevolent. I was keeping a close eye out for shimagu kill notifications. I wasn¡¯t sure where I was in relationship to shimagu anymore, but I did know any infiltrators in the city were fair game. It did nicely clear the entire Ranger team, and I didn¡¯t get any notifications.


    I did see the occasional knot of excited people, taking deep excited breaths, a persistent cough cleared. A dull ache gone. That warmed my heart.


    I also knew I was clearing out dozens, if not hundreds, of smaller problems before people knew they were problems. Early stages of cancer. Brewing infections. Fixing up an aneurysm before it could rupture.


    I decided to play the ¡°silent secret benefactor¡± this time. It was more fun in a way.


    I did feel guilty when one veteran felt at his face, looking for a scar that wasn¡¯t there anymore.


    Most of the Rangers peeled off before we made it back to the wagon. Just Bossman, Greybeard, and Newbie Mage followed me back to our base of operations.


    Bossman promptly sat down at the ¡°Rangers get complaints¡± table, and sighed. I had to respect any leader who jumped on the shit jobs themselves, and first shift on the complaint table was no fun. I¡¯d done it often enough.


    ¡°Hey Greybeard!¡± I called out to the old man.


    ¡°Sentinel. May I assist?¡± He politely asked.


    ¡°Maybe. I need to rework my physical sparring from the ground up, and politely, you look like you¡¯ve got the experience needed to help me work out a new fighting style.¡±


    He inclined his head a hair.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t presume to teach a Sentinel how to fight.¡±


    I tapped my foot impatiently, crossing my arms.


    ¡°I got roughly a hundred levels two days ago. My stats have gone entirely haywire, and I¡¯d bet every coin I¡¯ve got that you know an appropriate fighting style.¡±


    ¡°Wait, what level are you?¡± Newbie Mage butted in, having missed the earlier conversation.


    ¡°Ranger Decimus!¡± Bossman barked at him. I held my hand up.


    ¡°Peace, I don¡¯t mind sharing.¡± I did look around, and lowered my voice to a whisper though.


    ¡°511. One short of unlocking my third class.¡± Newbie Mage looked shocked. I winked at him. ¡°What, did you think I¡¯d propose a race where I thought I¡¯d lose?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s got you there.¡± Bossman threw in.


    ¡°How¡¯d you get a hundred levels in a day?¡± Greybeard asked.


    Awww. No surprise at the third class. I guess the other Sentinels must¡¯ve spread the word at the last Ranger Convocation.


    Drat.


    I looked Greybeard in the eye.


    ¡°The only way anybody gains a hundred levels in a day. I don¡¯t want to talk about it.¡±


    He saluted.


    ¡°I would be honored to assist you. Would you like to begin now?¡±


    I grimaced.


    ¡°Ok, well, I should start now. But I need a bath. Desperately. Year and a half in the field. Tonight?¡±


    He saluted, and started doing¡­ whatever Greybeard did when he was on break in a town.


    ¡°Ranger Decimus.¡± I called out to Newbie Mage, showing a shred of professionalism when giving orders.


    ¡°Sentinel.¡±


    ¡°I need a sack, seven rods, enough food from our stores to feed six people, and a map to the best bathhouse in town.¡±


    He paused, waiting for any other instructions from me.


    ¡°No, seriously, that¡¯s it. Dismissed.¡± I shooed him away. I could get away with some minor unprofessionalism.


    I settled in next to Bossman.


    ¡°I¡¯ll probably have change, don¡¯t worry. I know you need the funds for the round. I¡¯ve been gone a long time. Has there been any, ah, interesting political changes recently?¡±


    He gave me a flat look, then his eyes widened in realization. He smacked his forehead with his palm.


    ¡°Gods. A year and a half. With no news. Of course. Of course¡­¡± He muttered to himself, then shook his head.


    ¡°Long version, or short version?¡±


    ¡°Short version please. I have no stomach for politics, and the less I¡¯m involved, the better.¡±


    I got a Look from Bossman, suggesting that he thought I knew a lot more than I was letting on if I was asking for political updates first thing upon returning home, while claiming a complete disinterest in politics.


    ¡°Short version. General Augustus, after his glorious victory against the Formorians-¡±


    I gave a loud, derisive snort at that.


    ¡°Bullshit.¡±


    Bossman held up his hands.


    ¡°Peace, Sentinel. Simply trying to give the popular version of events, as most people know them. To my understanding, Sentinel Night and the Ranger Command didn¡¯t see fit to fight him on the credit or the glory. There may have been some backroom dealing on the matter.¡±


    ¡°What about Destruction¡¯s earthquake? Demos¡¯s sacrifice? Katastrofi!?¡±


    ¡°All known. Quite a few songs to boot. General Augustus was ultimately responsible for the defenses, and the credit for the victory landed at his feet.¡±


    I snorted in disbelief. I did not like General Augustus.


    ¡°He formed a triumvirate with General Numerius and General Titus, and they marched back to Arminium, at the head of their - pardon, the Senate¡¯s - army. The Senate welcomed them with open arms, and happily declared General Augustus dictator for life.¡±


    The last sentence was dripping with heavy sarcasm.


    ¡°Long live Emperor Augustus.¡± Bossman ended with a flat note.


    ¡°Huzzah. Long live.¡± I mimicked his tone.


    However, the whole thing sounded remarkably peaceful. Gave me high hopes that everyone I knew made it through alright.


    ¡°Any mention of casualties? People dying?¡±


    ¡°The stories report it was entirely bloodless. However, twelve legions descending upon a city, with their blood up and pockets full of pay? The guard needed to call in Ranger Team 0, who needed to call in the Sentinels to assist. Nothing too major from what they told me, it was more of a manpower issue than anything else.¡±


    ¡°Do you know Ranger Kallisto? He¡¯s on Team 0. Former teammate of mine.¡± I hoped he was alright. Sounded like he¡¯d gotten the worst of it.


    Bossman gave me a look like ¡®yeah, I¡¯m suuuuuuuuuuuuuure he¡¯s a former teammate.¡¯


    Given Kallisto¡¯s reputation, I didn¡¯t blame him.


    ¡°Ranger Kallisto was the one who told me most of this! Fantastic Ranger.¡±


    I doubted I¡¯d get news of anyone else. Newbie Mage showed up, with the items I asked for.


    ¡°Sentinel.¡± He respectfully placed the items on the table. I swept the coins into the sack, and started to look at the map while chowing down..


    ¡°Thank you, Ranger. That¡¯ll be all. Have fun!¡± That¡¯s what I tried to say at least. I was mid-squirrel impression, and it came out garbled. I shooed him with one hand to make the message clear.


    ¡°Well, if you need-¡±


    ¡°What I need is a long bath and some good food, and you¡¯ve fixed one and the map to the other. Now shoo. I know what vacation time means to you. Go. Git. Have fun.¡±


    I heard Newbie Mage salute, then scamper off before I could get new ideas for him.


    Food. FOOD!


    I was starving. I¡¯d been ignoring the signal until now, but I needed a serious chow session. Even if I found mangos now, I¡¯d be too hungry to properly appreciate them.


    Speed, strength, and dexterity were good for more than running quickly and lifting heavy objects. High-speed eating was also on the menu.


    Pun intended.


    ¡°I¡¯m off. Bossman, signal if you need anything. Actually, what are your team signals?¡±


    ¡°Newbie Mage uses a Gale and Mantle combination. If the wind picks up, look up. If you see an exploding ball of metal, that¡¯s him. Greybeard uses Pyronox. Everyone else works in pairs, although technically the Ranger you call Wolfy and his wolves have their own signal - howling.¡±


    I appreciated him using my nicknames. Made life easier for me.


    ¡°Sounds good. Doubt I¡¯ll run into any trouble I can¡¯t handle, but you can¡¯t miss my signal. Look for the blinding light¡­ or don¡¯t.¡±


    I chuckled weakly at my own joke. Bossman wasn¡¯t amused.


    The privilege of rank - Bossman wasn¡¯t going to call me out on my terrible jokes. He wasn¡¯t going to laugh at them - he had more self respect than that - but he wasn¡¯t going to call me out.


    ¡°Right, I¡¯m off!¡±


    I double-checked that the egg was secure and warm, hefted my loot-sack over one shoulder, and triple-checking the map, set off.


    I¡¯d thought about it some.


    The first order of business was a nice, long, hot bath. There was no sense in buying a tunic when I¡¯d just make it dirty, and no self-respecting [Hairdresser] or [Beautician] would let me in their store smelling the way I did. I¡¯d gotten caked in blood, guts, gore, and other viscera two days ago, and in spite of my best efforts to scrape some of it off, the rest had hardened and baked in.


    The Rangers probably hadn¡¯t said anything, because who was going to tell their boss that they stunk? Thinking about it, I should get something to make the wagon smell nice. And get Newbie Mage to hire someone to wash the blankets I¡¯d befouled.


    Mmmm. Yes. I might be a bit of a menace to the poor Team 11.


    I practically skated down the streets, gracefully weaving my way through the crowds at high speed on the white roads. No more grey zone for me! Too many stats. If I hit a kid at the speed I was going?


    ¡­ Well, shoot. I couldn¡¯t even say they¡¯d go splat, because my healing was just that good these days. Nor would I lose that much mana.


    Still, it was good to be back in Remus. Jostling through crowds, seeing familiar stalls and stands, vendors, merchants, and apprentices shouting their wares.


    I was on a mission, making a beeline for the baths, when an all-too-familiar fruit caught my eye.


    The merchant had mangos.


    Well, it was a bit early, but I wasn¡¯t going to say no. I darted up to the stall, ignoring the woman he was haggling with.


    ¡°Mango me!¡± I shouted, dumping three rods worth of coins on the table. I didn¡¯t bother haggling, negotiating, or waiting for his response - I just grabbed two dozen mangos, stuffed them in my sack, and was off before the outraged merchant even got two words out of his mouth.


    Eight coins for a mango was more than fair. Best deal he¡¯d make all day. I dunno what he was complaining about.


    I escaped back into the crowd as I contemplated the mango in front of me, working out how to best gain access to its succulent interior.


    I needed a knife. It¡¯d make life easier as I traveled back home. Didn¡¯t think I had enough coins for a good knife right now, not with everything else I wanted to buy.


    Eh. I¡¯d done well enough so far.


    I could just burn the skin off, using Radiance to carefully slice through the skin of the mango. Issue was what was behind my Radiance beams. I was in a crowd, and I knew my magic had enough oomph to leave scorch marks in the road. Firing beams into the air would look like the ¡°help¡± signal, and there was no way I was sending the help signal out for ¡°I¡¯m too powerful to peel a mango.¡±


    I did what any reasonable person would do in my sandals. I bit in, skin and all.


    The sweet release of mango in my mouth. The succulent textures. The sugary notes, the leathery flesh. Every bite sent waves of orgasmic bliss through me, and I found myself comparing the sensation to Serondes, and finding him wanting.


    Each careful bite was filled with new, familiar sensations. My teeth sank into the tender flesh, then I twisted, ripping it away. It slid over my tongue, giving a wonderful tingling sensation. Then my molars got to it, teasing out the delicious sweetness, before it went down the hatch, only for the process to repeat again.


    Mangos. Sheer divine bliss.


    I tried chewing on the seed with my newfound strength, and, well, mango pits continued to be perfection in their ability to act as a projectile. Only people I knew well enough to try and brain were Wolfy and Artillery Mage C, and, well.


    I was the boss.


    I couldn¡¯t just go around flinging mango pits at people.


    Bah.


    Sometimes this Sentinel thing was no fun.


    I paced myself. I didn¡¯t just inhale the mangos all at once. No. I savored them, drawing out every bite, making sure every ounce of tasty goodness was mine.


    The buildings got nicer as I continued down the street, ending up in the wealthy part of town. My ears pricked as I heard a magical, skill-enhanced bard, and I nearly did a spit-take as I heard what he was singing.


    Beloved of Julius, Artemis! Would¡¯st thou knowWhy angry Phoebus bends his fatal bow?


    First give thy faith, and plight a senator¡¯s word


    Of sure protection, by thy power and sword;


    What.


    WHAAAAAAAAAAAT!?


    I stood some time in the crowd the bard had gathered, just listening with open-mouthed shock.


    That had to be Arthur¡¯s doing. He¡¯d always been obsessed with bards and The Illiad, and the changed names? The senator instead of a prince? Yeah, it had his greasy fingerprints all over the modified song.


    I spent a minute listening to the song, noting where Arthur had made some minor changes. It was well done, but my mood and fun were utterly destroyed by some jerk who decided my ass was fair game for his hand.


    For a moment there I wasn¡¯t in Remus anymore. I was back in Ochi, people grabbing at me. Velociraptors tearing into me. My adrenaline spiked, and I went into full fight or flight mode.


    I didn¡¯t have eyes in the back of my head. I couldn¡¯t see behind me, although I had situational awareness that people were behind me in a crowd. [Bullet Time] wouldn¡¯t activate for something that wasn¡¯t even close to a threat on my life, no matter how I squinted.


    A threat on the molestor¡¯s life, sure.


    I whirled around, instantly breaking the contact, ready to fight. Ready to kill. My Radiance was primed and ready, and I was already calculating what angles, and from what parts of my body, would be optimal for blasting this latest threat, without incurring added casualties in the crowd.


    I was high, high level, so any strike of mine would be enough to be lethal. The only consideration I had was for collateral damage.


    I was going to either swing my hand low, or kick my foot out, and beam Radiance from there, up through the torso and head, and let the punch-through hit the sky. Not ideal, but from my short stature, I couldn¡¯t blast down. I wouldn¡¯t hit anything vital enough.


    I finished turning around, coming face to face with a leering face. Some young, rich by his purple-trimmed clothes, jackass.


    An [Artisan]. Low level at that, only 135 or so.


    I slammed the brakes on my combat reflexes. I removed all thoughts of murder and Radiance trajectories. This was not a threat to my life, just my dignity.


    Now, if he tried to push and go further? Yeah, break out the lasers. I wasn¡¯t going to summarily execute him for what he¡¯d done though, as much as I¡¯d like to.


    I half-shuddered as I realized that I¡¯d get away with it legally to boot. The absolute worst-case was I¡¯d need to pay a nominal fine. How screwy was that?


    I wasn¡¯t going to let him off scot-free though.


    I was fast. Far faster than some random young civilian. I slapped him, making absolutely certain to keep my strength to a bare minimum.


    I didn¡¯t want to flat-out murder him, and with my strength and his presumed lack of vitality, it was a risk.


    My hand connected with a satisfying smack, and his neck snapped to the side with the force of my blow, leaving a nice, crisp handprint on his cheek.


    ¡°What the fuck.¡± I yelled at him, making no effort to be quiet. ¡°Don¡¯t grope me. Don¡¯t grope women. Did your parents teach you nothing?¡±


    His face uncrinked back, and people shuffled away from us.


    ¡°Relax girl! It was just a joke, why take it so seriously? You should be flattered that I-¡±


    I stabbed him in the chest with a finger, poking him a few times. He tried to catch my hand, but I was too fast for him.


    ¡°Do. Not. Fondle. Women. In. The. Street.¡± I emphasized each word with another poke to his chest.


    ¡°Hush girl. You¡¯re being hysterical, and ruining the show.¡± Another man butted in. ¡°If you can¡¯t tolerate a compliment, you shouldn¡¯t be out and about. What would your husband say?¡±


    He looked me up and down, frowning.


    ¡°Dressed like that, she probably doesn¡¯t have one.¡± A third man butted in, his tone making it clear what, exactly, he thought my career without one was.


    ¡°Mmmm. Either way, stop disrupting the show.¡±


    The jackass smirked at me, and emboldened, reached out to grab me again.


    It was entirely possible to defend myself with non-lethal means, and frankly, I¡¯d seen far too many people die recently. I didn¡¯t want to kill if I could help it, and the paperwork would be epic if I did.


    Plus, I had that pesky [Oath] stopping me from just flat-out murdering him in the street.


    I swept my foot out, tripping him. He landed hard on the street, and I pinned him there with [Mantle of the Stars]. He wouldn¡¯t move unless I willed it.


    I didn¡¯t.


    I left him trapped there, and ducking low, abusing my short stature, slipped through the crowd and back to the streets, where I stomped my way to the bathhouse.


    Sure, [Mantle] probably dissipated a dozen seconds or so later, as I got too far away to maintain it, but the message was hopefully clear.


    My good day had been utterly ruined by him though. I was giving him way too much mental space, but argh! Why! I didn¡¯t even want to eat a mango anymore, I was in such a shit mood!


    I did keep up my healing though. Might as well do something productive. I¡¯d eventually get my mind off things.


    Grumble grumble grumble.


    I made it to the bathhouse, and after paying an obscene amount - seriously, half a rod for an entrance fee? - entered. I undressed, folded my clothes neatly, then resecured the egg. I did bring my sack full of mangos though, planning on munching a few of them while in the bath.


    I paused for a moment as the egg rocked. Did I hear tapping noises? Cracking noises?


    How close was it to hatching?


    After a few minutes of standing around in the changing room like an idiot, not moving at all as people came in and out, I came to the conclusion that nothing else was going to happen. I gratefully slipped into the bath, and started to scrub.


    As I scrubbed, I let all the negative emotions filling me slowly get washed away. The action wasn¡¯t entirely cathartic, but it did let me slowly get my mind off of things.


    I wasn¡¯t going to let him ruin my entire day. I focused on my enjoyment of where I was.


    Ooooh, blessed baths. Serondes had turned numerous bodies of water into baths while we traveled, although I was still filthy. Just not ¡°evacuate the entire building Elaine stinks¡± dirty.


    Awarthril needing to throw me into the pond was easily in my top three most embarrassing memories.


    There was something different about the Remus baths. There was a sense of nostalgia, of homeliness to them that was entirely absent in the wilderness. I¡¯d grown up visiting the baths, and they were one of the places I found myself constantly gravitating towards. That, and libraries.


    Thinking about it, I should avoid going to the local library. I¡¯d start reading, and it¡¯d take divine intervention to get me back out, and heading home.


    I let myself luxuriate in the warm waters. I let the heat soak into me, loosening and relaxing my muscles. I let the bath cradle me, wrapping me in its warm embrace. I let the minor current, a skill from the bath¡¯s owner - or employee - wash away my worries and fears, my anger and guilt, my accumulated dirt and baggage. I let the steam hide me from the world.


    For a time, I found peace. Just floating there, head on the edge, legs trailing out.


    Calmness.


    Serenity.


    After turning myself into a prune, I finished scrubbing, the last of the gore coating me flecking away effortlessly. There was possibly a skill at work there, and I¡¯d need to tip whoever was running the place.


    I noticed that the water around me was nice and toasty warm, and at a strong boil. Vitality for the win. However, it was hotter than what the baths were normally at. I stood up, somewhat concerned, only for the boil to subside.


    I cocked my head, and sat back down.


    Boiling.


    Stand.


    Calm.


    It only took me a moment to figure out what was going on, and I rapped the egg with my knuckles.


    ¡°You knock that off! People are trying to bathe here! If you boil everything, they can¡¯t enjoy themselves!¡± I scolded the egg in a harsh whisper.


    Ah well.


    I had some fun, half-swimming around with just my eyes above the water, blowing little bubbles, watching them rise all around me.


    Bubble. Bubble. Spinosaurus Elaine is hunting through the tropical Remus baths, searching for her prey. She spots it on the edge of the bath, erupting out of the water, jaws snatching a mango! Oh the humanity! Another mango has met its ultimate destiny, to be eaten by me!


    Why did they sell mangos to other people anyways?


    Putting aside merchants¡¯ strange proclivities for wanting to make a profit and selling mangos to not-me, things were looking up. Nice bath. A dozen mangos left.


    Spending a few hours here, relaxing and enjoying myself, was just what my mental health needed.

 Chapter 269 - Grouchy Guards, Corrupt Constables

    After spending so long in the baths that the slowly-eaten mangos were but a distant memory, and I was in serious risk of transforming into a raisin - the next stage in bath-wrinklyness after prune - I decided to get out. I had shopping to do! Hair, tunic, sandals, a knife, and whatever other odds and ends I could think of while out and about.


    I got up, made it back to the changing room, got dressed, and left the building.


    There was a full squad of guards right outside the bathhouse, talking with an employee.


    ¡°Yeah, her!¡± The employee pointed to me, and I stopped. The guards hustled over, surrounding me.


    ¡°Can I help you?¡±


    The guards were looking grouchy.


    ¡°Who¡¯s your husband?¡± The squad leader asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t have one.¡±


    ¡°Father?¡±


    ¡°Elainus.¡±


    The guards quickly traded looks. One of them muttered ¡°I don¡¯t know an Elainus.¡±


    ¡°Does he live here?¡±


    ¡°No, Arminium.¡±


    ¡°Right. You¡¯re under arrest.¡±


    ¡°For what?¡±


    ¡°Seven counts of breaking into the city, seven counts of evading the city toll, three counts of solicitation on the docks without a permit, two counts of theft, one count of menacing and intimidation, three counts of assault against a citizen, and forty-four counts of disturbing the peace.¡±


    Well. When the guards put it that way. I suppose I hadn¡¯t exactly been the model of a law-abiding citizen. I liked guards. I generally got along with them¡­ except for right now.


    Oh no.


    OH NO.


    I¡¯d been acting like an adventurer! Blazing through the town in weird clothes, ignoring all the rules, and provoking the guard¡¯s ire!


    Still, I knew how to talk with them. I was confident that I could just explain myself, and it¡¯d be alright. I wasn¡¯t going to keep acting like a two-bit adventurer.


    ¡°Alrighty! Lead the way!¡± I cheerfully told the squad, who looked somewhat taken aback at my happy cooperation. Not exactly the usual response to being arrested for a dozen crimes.


    From the sound of it, I was known to the guards. Just talking with the leader of a squad wouldn¡¯t be good enough to get my name cleared. I¡¯d need to talk with the captain at least, and that wasn¡¯t going to happen here.


    No, better to be cooperative. It¡¯d make clearing everything up that much easier. Get to the main guardhouse, show the captain my Sentinel badge in my pocket, apologize, and make amends.


    Except for the ¡°assault on a citizen¡± business. Ooooh, that one boiled my blood. Defending myself from harassment was ¡°assault on a citizen¡±??


    Well. The dude had clearly complained to the guard. Maybe I could get the guards to go harass him instead. It was abusing my power just a hair¡­ but it wasn¡¯t invalid.


    The guards surrounded me, and one of them - younger looking, with lower levels - put his hand on my shoulder. I rolled my eyes as he put one hand on my shoulder, and tried to stop my mana regeneration using [Guardsman Buff] or something similar.


    Yeah. Good luck guard. You¡¯ll probably get some decent experience for the skill trying to use it on me, although with how cooperative I was? It wasn¡¯t going to be a lot.


    ¡°I think my skill¡¯s on the fritz.¡± The guard reported.


    ¡°Guardsman. Explain.¡±


    ¡°It keeps finding purchase. I thought after three applications it didn¡¯t work anymore?¡±


    The squad leader frowned, and put a hand on my shoulder.


    I kept a poker face. I was sitting on close to a million points of mana regeneration an hour. I wasn¡¯t sure if the entire town¡¯s guard working in concert could turn it off.


    Well. I was being cooperative. It didn¡¯t mean I couldn¡¯t mess with them a little. I gave them my best wide-eyed stare, and channeling Brawling a bit, asked them a ¡®naive¡¯ question.


    ¡°Is something the matter? I¡¯m doing my best to cooperate.¡±


    I got a withering look that suggested my tone hadn¡¯t exactly been ¡®totally innocent¡¯. I was reminded why I didn¡¯t play extended sessions of cards or dice.


    I was briskly marched over to the guardhouse, then marched to one of their small rooms. They took my sack, coins, mango pits, spare dress, gems and all. I was still holding onto my badge though - that I wouldn¡¯t give up. One of the guards reached for my egg.


    Just like my badge, I wasn¡¯t going to let anyone take eggy, but at the same time, it¡¯d be easier if I let them find out for themselves. I had faith in my reflexes and my shield being able to protect eggy from any harm one guard could perform.


    Plus, the usual reaction to touching something hot was to let go, not break it.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t do that!¡± I warned the guard. If looks could kill, I¡¯d be flying with Black Crow right now.


    ¡°Prisoner. You don¡¯t tell me what to do.¡± He sneered at me, touching the egg with his hand.


    The guardroom smelled like a barbeque, and I was getting flashbacks to Ochi and the shimagu, the memories raw and fresh. He screamed and jerked his hand away.


    ¡°What is that!?¡±


    ¡°Hot.¡± I deadpanned back, darting my hand out to tap him and heal him of his burn.


    The squad leader didn¡¯t look too happy with me.


    ¡°Right. Going to add one count of importing dangerous objects, and one count of assaulting a guard to your charges.¡±


    I sat down at the small table in the room and knuckled my forehead. Yikes.


    I took my Sentinel Badge out of my pocket, and put it on the desk.


    ¡°Could I please see the guard captain?¡± I asked.


    ¡°And one count of impersonating a Ranger. Poorly. That¡¯s not what the Ranger badge looks like, and the squad¡¯s currently in town. I know all of them, and you¡¯re not one of them.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the Sentinel badge!¡±


    ¡°Annnnnnnd one count of lying to a guard. I¡¯m not sure what you¡¯re doing. Are you trying to get the longest, harshest sentence possible? Do you have some sort of bet with a friend, trying to see how many charges you can get in a day? I promise you, it¡¯s not funny. This isn¡¯t a game, miss.¡±


    Welp. This was going from bad to worse. Still wasn¡¯t in any danger, and I did want to clear this up peacefully. I¡¯d been reaching towards violence as the answer far too often, but it wasn¡¯t called for in this situation. These were guards! My people!


    I just crossed my arms.


    ¡°Let me guess. You wouldn¡¯t want to bother the Ranger team with an imposter either.¡± My voice was heavy with sarcasm.


    ¡°Exactly. I¡¯m glad you¡¯re starting to understand how serious this all is. I¡¯m doing you a favor.¡±


    Favor my ass.


    ¡°Fine. I guess I¡¯ll just wait here until the Praetor, magistrate, or captain shows up then?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    The guards filed out of the room, and he slammed the door shut. I settled into the chair, and waited.


    And waited.


    The egg moved again, and I looked at it in anticipation. Was it time?


    A tapping noise seemed to affirm that, yes, it was time.


    Then nothing happened. Boo. That¡¯ll teach me to arbitrarily give meaning to stuff.


    And waited.


    Port Salona was far enough north to be tropical, and the temperature was sweltering, even at this time of year. The guardhouse was built out of stone, and this room had no windows or anything.


    The heat wasn¡¯t the problem. The sweat was.


    I was basically cooking in my own sweat. After I¡¯d had a bath and everything.


    It was less about the heat, and more about the sticky sweat getting everywhere, and ruining all of my efforts. I¡¯d need another bath, and screw anyone calling me soft for taking two baths in a day.


    They were taking their sweet time, although with nothing to mark the passage of time, I had no idea how long it was.


    I realized part of the issue was my Deception Ring. They would¡¯ve taken me a lot more seriously if I was showing up as deep red, and not like a little 128 healer. I¡¯d kept it that low from Ochi, and I¡¯d had a quick thought earlier that I wanted things to be somewhat ¡°normal¡±.


    Well, that was all out the window now. I set my level back to my real level.


    Finally, the squad leader and a few other guards came back, along with the jackass from earlier.


    ¡°Elaine,¡±


    How did they know my name? Right. They¡¯d asked for my dad¡¯s name, and it was simply impossible that I would¡¯ve been named for anything besides my dad. Made me want to roll my eyes.


    ¡°You¡¯ve been found guilty of a frankly staggering array of crimes. Citizen Spurius here has purchased the debt you¡¯ve accumulated, and has ownership of you for the next thirty years. Please do not resist.¡±


    Ok. Wow. This went from ¡°clear up a misunderstanding¡± to ¡°something is terribly wrong¡± in no time at all.


    Bloody freakin¡¯ entitled citizens. Today was supposed to be a day off! I didn¡¯t want to work!


    ¡°What happened to having a trial?¡± I asked. The squad leader looked smug, pulling out a scroll.


    ¡°If you look here, you¡¯ll see that you did have a trial with magistrate Gnaeus, where you admitted your guilt. Well. You would see if you could read.¡±


    My eyebrows would¡¯ve climbed into my hairline, if I had one.


    ¡°Being able to buy off my own debt?¡±


    Another guard laughed at me.


    ¡°With the amount assessed? Impossible!¡±


    ¡°And my belongings?¡±


    ¡°What belongings? You just came here like that, right?¡± A third guard asked, to noises of agreement from everyone else. Spurius started to stomp over, and I flickered [Mantle], dividing the room in half.


    ¡°These are fairly major violations of the Sixteen Tablets.¡± I pointed out.


    Spurius snorted at me.


    ¡°Yeah, whatever. Get over here, I¡¯m going to make you scream before the sun sets. Humiliating me in front of everyone like that. I¡¯ll show you. You¡¯ll regret the day-¡±


    I interrupted him.


    ¡°Right, thank you everyone. That¡¯ll be all.¡±


    Rangers. We did a lot. Fought monsters. Investigated plagues.


    On our endless list of duties?


    Internal affairs. Usually for the army, but we were also empowered to act upon the town¡¯s guard when the situation called for it. Assuming they weren¡¯t operating with the governor¡¯s blessing.


    The governor in a town basically owned the guards. They reported to him, he hired them and paid them. If they were running loose, and the governor approved? Then, and only then, was it no longer a Ranger matter, but an issue for the Senate. The approved process was to go to Ranger Command, report the issue, and have the Senators on Ranger Command report back to the Senate, who would potentially strip the governor of his governorship.


    It happened every 300 years or so. Often enough that governors were leery of abusing their powers too hard.


    Mundane corruption? That was more common.


    Wish I could ask them if the governor was in on this. It¡¯d make life that much easier, but alas, things were moving too fast now.


    Spurius bounced off my shield, and the guards were looking angry. I didn¡¯t think my shield could withstand constant hitting from all of them, so I followed it up with [Kaleidoscope], a field of butterflies hovering in the air between us.


    ¡°Don¡¯t touch them. They¡¯re explosive.¡± I cautioned them, before dropping [Mantle].


    The guardhouse was single story, and I looked up, finding a promising spot.


    ¡°What are you-¡± The squad leader started to yell at me, but I ignored him. I unleashed a beam of Radiance, as thick around as my wrist, at the ceiling.


    Light exploded throughout the room, the side effect of my powerful magic enough to get the guards to clutch at their eyes. Spurius was screaming that I¡¯d blinded him.


    Serondes had made me aware that I could melt stone now, and between my new and improved levels, [Solar Flare] leveling up, and gravity dripping the melted stone out of the way, I was strong enough to punch through the ceiling. My Radiance burned and melted the rock, filling the air with toxic fumes, before exploding out into the city.


    I then focused on making the light bright, and rapidly flickered it on and off into the sky.


    I hadn¡¯t planned on getting the Rangers involved initially, but I¡¯d managed to stumble upon a Ranger-centric problem. I wasn¡¯t about to do their job for them, for so many, many different reasons.


    For one, I wanted a damn break.


    For two, a corrupt guard investigation was a full-team affair. Interestingly, it was one area I don¡¯t think Sentinels were ever called in on. The work of separating and interviewing people, and investigating logs was a team effort. Also, a massive waste of a highly specialized Sentinel¡¯s time. There was no Sentinel Investigations.


    Well, not currently.


    Spurius just didn¡¯t know when to quit. In spite of being blinded, regardless of the deadly butterflies glowing in front of him - ok, to be fair, he couldn¡¯t see them - he still tried to charge at me.


    I tripped him with [Mantle]. Even if it was only by proximity, he was involved, and I doubted his involvement was simple proximity.


    At the rate he was going, a number of charges were going to be laid against him. I considered myself to be kind and compassionate - ignoring the little voice whispering in the back of my head, telling me exactly how many people I¡¯d killed two days ago - but I had limits. Involved with corrupting my beloved guards? Molesting me? Nah, I wasn¡¯t going to turn the other cheek. I believed he should face the justice system - the real, untainted justice system. The penalty for every crime in Remus was a fine, the size differing on the crime and the judge. If he was unable to pay the fine? He¡¯d be sold into slavery to pay off his debt.


    I was deeply conflicted about it all.


    On one hand, I hated the dude. Not a deep, burning hatred - I hadn¡¯t gotten the time for a proper grudge to develop - but hatred none the less. I wanted to see him suffer, and the current justice system would do just that. He¡¯d tried to make me a slave, and he¡¯d promised all sorts of torment and humiliation before I turned the tables on him, so there was poetic justice there. Port Salona didn¡¯t have lead mines, but some large fishing boats used slaves¡­ I seemed to remember them having one of the worst qualities of life, and keeping him in Port Salona where everyone he knew would see him and know he was a slave?


    He did seem to be particularly mad about getting humiliated. Hit him where it hurts extra-hard.


    On the other, I hated slavery. I hated the institution. I hated how close I¡¯d often come to it myself. It was a miserable thing, regardless of the relatively gentle implementation compared to harsher examples I knew of from history. I wanted it to end. I didn¡¯t have the tools or the means to fight against it though, nor did I have a practical solution for what else could be done with Spurius. The only jails were short-term holding cells while the details of the crime and punishment were hashed out. Kinda weird that they hadn¡¯t stuck me in one, but I wasn¡¯t going to look too closely at it.


    Focus.


    Slavery let the government essentially outsource prisons. Instead of the government needing to build and fund prisons, they got paid on a per-criminal basis. A chunk of the money was, in theory, supposed to go to the harmed party, but the governor took a cut. It wouldn¡¯t surprise me if that was the motive here - railroad people who couldn¡¯t properly protest their treatment, pocket the significant funds. There was, quite frankly, no other alternative punishment for Spurius. The death penalty was exceedingly rare, and I did rate life in slavery as better than death.


    The other benefit to Spurius ending up as a slave was I knew where he¡¯d be. I wasn¡¯t going to have a Kerberos repeat, with stray loose ends running around to pop up again one day.


    ¡­ Artemis was rubbing off on me more than I thought. I was now making sure I didn¡¯t leave threats behind.


    Guards tried to get into the room, but the light made it so they couldn¡¯t see. It turned into a clusterfuck, as a guard tried to rush in, tripped over another guard, then turned into a stumbling block for the third guard, who lashed out and hit the fourth¡­


    They stopped trying after six, figuring that I couldn¡¯t keep the light up forever, and they¡¯d deal with whatever Classer was giving them trouble after she was out of mana.


    Ha.


    If nothing else, I was going to be able to get a nice talk with the guard captain. Should¡¯ve just started with this, honestly.


    Then again, if I had, I wouldn¡¯t have stumbled into corruption. Annoying day for me, but gods. How many poor people had they railroaded? How many ¡®trials¡¯ never took place? Did they pick me because I didn¡¯t have protection? No family in town to speak up for me?


    [*ding!* [Solar Flare] Leveled up! 130 -> 131]


    In almost no time at all - Rangers tended to set up near the guardhouse after all - I heard Bossman roaring and shouting orders. Some of the guards started to clear off, and I dimmed the lights.


    ¡°Bossman!¡± I happily waved to him as he entered the room, weapon bared and ready for a fight.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn. Emergency?¡± He asked, as the rest of the Rangers filed in.


    ¡°Mmmm. Kinda. It was going to get ugly. Got a case of corruption here, not sure how bad it is. Going to need a full investigation.¡±


    Bossman nodded seriously, and Greybeard was frowning. Wolfy just looked excited, while Newbie Ranger punched Newbie Mage in the arm.


    ¡°Weren¡¯t you supposed to stick with her and prevent this sort of mess?!¡±

 Chapter 270 - Thundamoo Troubles

    The fallout from me calling in the Rangers was messy, like a tornado hitting a warehouse stuffed with fish. After I debriefed Bossman, filling him in on all the details, and confirming that I wasn¡¯t needed for anything else, I skipped out on the rest.


    I was alright at this sort of work, but it needed to be Bossman running the show. He knew his team better than I did, and he had the needed experience to make it all work. In theory, I could jump in to help, but it¡¯d cause all sorts of problems if I acted as a minion to Bossman, and taking over the leadership role of the investigation wouldn¡¯t be efficient. It¡¯d just be Bossman reporting what they¡¯d found to me, making his own recommendation for what to do next, and me agreeing with it. Not exactly a great use of everyone¡¯s time.


    Like, yes, I was trained on how to run investigations. Most of my knowledge was theoretical. Running a large-scale investigation like this? Better left to the field officers who had experience with it.


    Plus, I was still conscious that I was Sentinel. Breathing down over everyone¡¯s shoulder was going to make them nervous, and nervous people make mistakes.


    I only stayed long enough for the Rangers to find my bag of stuff, tucked away in one of the guard¡¯s own bags. Damning evidence.


    Wolfy entered the room where I was staying with my bag, bursting into laughter as the door closed.


    ¡°Elaine! Elaine! Gods, you should¡¯ve seen the look on his face!¡±


    ¡°With what?¡± Wolfy¡¯s good mood was infectious, and I felt myself grinning.


    ¡°The guard who took your stuff!¡± He plonked my bag onto the table I was sitting at.


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, so, of course he tried to claim it was his.¡±


    ¡°Naturally, I wouldn¡¯t expect anything else.¡±


    ¡°And he knew what was in it.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense. Gotta check what he¡¯s looting after all.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but then we asked him what the seeds were, and what he was planning with them.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°The look on his face!¡± Wolfy tried to mime a surprised face, but burst into laughter again halfway through.


    I cracked a grin at him.


    ¡°I kinda wish I¡¯d been there.¡±


    Wolfy waved a hand at me.


    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s fine. Can¡¯t imagine what would¡¯ve happened if it wasn¡¯t you.¡±


    I paused a moment, debating, then decided to go for it.


    ¡°I mean. You can.¡± I softly half-whispered to him. Wolfy looked uncomfortable.


    ¡°Well, gotta get back to it.¡± He exited the room.


    With a half-sigh I grabbed my bag, and headed out.


    ¡°Sentinel! Can I bend your ear for a moment regarding the investigation?¡± An official-looking guard, with a pair of guards himself, called out to me. I suppressed a groan. The captain of the guard. I didn¡¯t want to talk with him - or any guards - right now. Especially not about the investigation. I could just see the captain wanting something, and even a talk could go badly.How? I wasn¡¯t sure. Someone with better political know-how could say exactly.


    ¡°Pardon, busy. Please talk with Bossman about the investigation.¡± I said, nimbly dodging out of the way and finding my way out.


    Normally, I¡¯d be lost as heck in town. I still had no idea where most things were. Fortunately, the Rangers were in the habit of setting up their wagon near the guardhouse. I hadn¡¯t seen it - or the Ranger on duty - on the way in, since we¡¯d entered from a different entrance, but getting back to the wagon was easy.


    I upped my coin supply, threw away the mango pits - I was in no mood to be chucking them around - and got back to rehumanizing myself after my wilderness adventures.


    First order of business was a bath. Again. The heat hadn¡¯t been an issue, all the sweating I¡¯d done was. I didn¡¯t go for a long, luxuriating bath this time - especially after having been made aware that eggy was causing problems for other people in the bath.


    Then it was off to find a hairdresser. A few quick questions, and I was pointed the right way.


    ¡°Hi! Heard you do hair?¡± I asked the man in the small store with a comb and a belladonna leaf. The man was busy fussing over a well-to-do lady.


    ¡°Yes, but it¡¯ll be some time.¡± He said without even glancing towards me.


    Fair enough. I wasn¡¯t going to kick someone out of their session. I was in no rush, and there was something nice about the sheer mundanity of waiting in line.


    I¡¯m not sure when I¡¯d last waited in line for something. The experience was refreshing, a sure sign that I was back in civilization, and unlikely to get stabbed in the back, or have a dinosaur burst out of the bushes, looking for lunch. Practically a novelty.


    I¡¯d spent half the day waiting for the guards, but this was different. Eventually, before my patience ran out, the dude was done with the lady, who swept out.


    ¡°Can I help you?¡± He asked. I gave him a look and pointed to my hair.


    ¡°Hair?¡± I asked.


    He eyed the small patch of fuzz I had. He hesitated.


    ¡°Yes, but-¡±


    I drew myself up to my full stature - admittedly not much, I was still shorter than the dude sitting down - crossed my arms, and gave him my best death glare.


    ¡°But what?¡± I asked.


    His mouth opened and closed a few times, before his eyes widened.


    Yeah. That¡¯s right. Read my level and weep. Full 511. Unless he¡¯d bumped into one of the other Sentinels recently - and honestly, Ocean was the one most likely to get called out here, and given the guard¡¯s ignorance on the Sentinel badge, I doubted it - I was the highest level human he¡¯d ever seen. Almost by a factor of two.


    ¡°But nothing. That¡¯ll be¡­¡±


    His mouth moved a few times, trying to calculate what he should do with his normal price - up or down, up or down.


    ¡°How¡¯s 15 coins sound?¡± It was more than fair for a few minutes of work. It was a full day¡¯s wages and then some for most.


    ¡°Deal.¡± He instantly agreed. ¡°Hair! How long?¡±


    I thought about it for a brief moment.


    ¡°Lower back please! Do you sell combs, brushes, or other stuff?¡±


    He cracked a grin, smelling money.


    ¡°Oh of course! Now, let me see here.¡±


    With a few dramatic flourishes - entirely unnecessary to work magic, but I was in a slightly higher-end shop, and the show was part of the experience - I had hair again.


    And not the short hair I used when I was out on a mission or adventuring! It was impractically long, easy to grab in a fight, and difficult to maintain.


    I loved it. Civilization! Peace! Prosperity! People to supply me with mangos!


    The dude¡¯s eyes flickered in the characteristic way of ¡°I just got some levels, hurray!¡± For whatever reason, he didn¡¯t share the good news with me, although I suspected there¡¯d be some celebrating at home later.


    I cried a little as I hugged the dude.


    ¡°Thank you. Thank you.¡± I didn¡¯t have more to say, and he patted me on the back.


    My gratitude wanted me to shower him with money, but I had to remind myself that it was the Ranger¡¯s money, not mine, and they¡¯d need it down the line. I spent a modest amount of money on supplies.


    Into the bag it went!


    ¡°Can I know what dress that is?¡± He asked, looking at my outfit.


    ¡°Mistweave! Can¡¯t be damaged, watch.¡± I tried to rip one of the sleeves, the material turning insubstantial and moving right through.


    ¡°Wow.¡± His look of envy was making things awkward, and I made some polite noises and left.


    Tunic and sandals were easy enough, and I splurged just a tiny bit. Green trims on my tunic, like I¡¯d gotten as a kid. A welcome to the System, a welcome to home once again. I changed into the clothing, no longer sticking out like a sore thumb.


    Except for my level. I got some strange looks. After the eighth weird look, I readjusted my level to 128.


    Totally anonymous! Healer Elaine was back in action!


    Then it was time to get my game face on again. I changed into my new tunic - men¡¯s tunic, the women¡¯s cut was too difficult to move around in - put on my Sentinel badge, my serious face, and made my way over to the courier¡¯s guild.


    This time, I skipped the line, heading right to the front.


    ¡°Excuse me, urgent Ranger business.¡± I barged past a merchant, talking with one of the receptionists. His noise of outrage quickly became strangled as he saw my badge.


    At least someone here had some common sense.


    I pointed to my badge.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn. Urgent dispatch to Arminium, and the Rangers. Need the runner who¡¯ll get there the fastest.¡±


    The young man at the counter took one look at my badge, how brazenly I¡¯d muscled in, and swallowed nervously.


    ¡°One moment Ranger - err - Sentinel.¡± He excused himself, heading to the back. He returned a moment later with a middle-aged man, sharp and lean.


    ¡°Guildmaster Eudoxia. Come on back?¡± He asked, and we made our way to a private room.


    ¡°Sentinel. What can we do for you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got an urgent letter for the capital. I need a blank scroll, writing utensils, and your best courier.¡±


    He gave a deep sigh.


    ¡°Courier Zephyr is the fastest one here, but he¡¯s half-retired. However, for a Sentinel? I think I can get him to make the run.¡±


    I inclined my head in thanks.


    ¡°To be clear. I¡¯m not looking for the fastest. I¡¯m looking for the one who¡¯ll get there the soonest.¡±


    Eudoxia chuckled.


    ¡°Right, right. That¡¯s still Zephyr. I shouldn¡¯t be surprised that a Sentinel knows the proper way how things work. Too many merchants and citizens with leaves stuffed in their head just think ¡®fastest is what¡¯s needed¡¯.¡±


    He tapped the side of his nose knowingly.


    ¡°And, since you¡¯re in the field, I¡¯ll even charge the Rangers on the other end for the letter.¡±


    I gave a weak chuckle at that.


    ¡°You just know they¡¯ll pay more.¡±


    A few sharp whistles and a quick conversation later, and I had a high quality, blank scroll and some charcoal.


    I did not miss Remus¡¯s poor writing implements.


    I spent some time flagging the outside of the letter as ¡°high priority¡±, not quite finding myself able to justify ¡°highest priority¡±.


    To Sentinel Night, or any other Sentinel, or Ranger Command;


    Please open in the presence of three or more Sentinels, Commanders, and/or members of Ranger Team 0.


    Sentinel Dawn here. I¡¯m alive, well, and in Port Salona.


    Long story.


    Critical information:


    There is a species of bodyjackers called ¡°shimagu¡±. They operate by invading a host body, and taking over. The host is physically unable to move, but can still use skills. Shimagu seem focused on suppressing said skills.


    I discovered a city of them a distance away from Port Salona. It was along the coast, roughly a full day of non-stop flying for me. I am unsure what distance that translates to. There were a number of humans in the city, with a fraction of them having been captured from Remus by the shimagu.


    I took care of the city with some friends of mine.


    However, the shimagu are a threat. It¡¯s difficult to prove if a person¡¯s been taken over. One method is to apply a healer to the problem. Shimagu are vulnerable to being ¡®healed to death¡¯, as most skills recognize them as a parasite and handle them accordingly. Shimagu are unable to use the host¡¯s own skills, and asking someone to display their obvious skills that are known can also confirm an individual is free of shimagu influence.


    I¡¯ve been poking around Port Salona, and have found no shimagu here as of right now. We live in something called the Dead Zone - more on that when I report home - and the shimagu might simply find it too unpleasant to live here.


    Please let my family know I¡¯m alive.


    The local Ranger team has run into a minor spot of trouble. I¡¯m going to give them a hand for a few days, then I will be returning.


    Sentinel Dawn.


    I ended the letter by putting my Sentinel badge over the bottom, then flash-burning an imprint of it with my Radiance. A tricky move to not set the parchment on fire, but I managed it.


    I had to be economical with my words - I wanted it all in one scroll, to let Zephyr move faster. I did think the shimagu threat was significant enough to alert Night and the rest about it now.


    I wanted to send more letters, but no. I¡¯d hopefully get there as quickly as possible, and I was, frankly, a bit of a loner. Night and the rest would tell my family, who¡¯d know to tell everyone else I knew that I was alright. The list was depressingly short.


    I¡¯d be home soon enough.


    If things went really well, I might actually beat the courier home, which was a weird thought. The letter hedged my bets.


    Some helpers had gotten supplies in the room, and a moderately high level - 280 or so - courier showed up, a breeze constantly at his back.


    Which was irritating to try to write with, when the wind decided to blow around indoors.


    ¡°Courier Zephyr. This is urgent. Straight to Ranger Headquarters, they¡¯ve got a mail room there.¡± I sealed up the letter, and handed it to the man.


    With a Gale blast, he blew out of the room, leaving a bunch of moisture in his wake.


    ¡°Oh for crying out loud.¡± The guildmaster complained. ¡°He can¡¯t wait to get out of the building before showing off and making a mess.¡±


    The water condensed and slowly fell, making a mess of the floor. I raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°Mist runner? I¡¯ve never heard of that.¡±


    ¡°No, Steam. Slowly builds up over time, and lets him go faster and faster, while also providing endurance.¡±


    ¡°And his Gale gives him a flat speed, and a tailwind?¡± I guessed.


    ¡°Among other things.¡±


    I stood up and shook the guildmaster¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Thank you for your time.¡± I said.


    ¡°Sure. Am I going to need to evacuate the city?¡±


    I gave a nervous laugh. Eudoxia paled.


    ¡°That was supposed to be a joke.¡±


    ¡°He. Yeah. Ummmmmmmmmmm. Bye!¡±


    I didn¡¯t exactly have reassuring words. Dude sounded like he¡¯d been around a few times. He should know that a Sentinel sending a high priority message was generally bad news.


    I made my way back to the Ranger wagon as the sun set, timing it well. Dinner was served just as I arrived.


    Yessss. I still had the skill [Show Up When Dinner is Ready and Not a Second Before].


    ¡°Sentinel.¡±


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn.¡±


    ¡°Sentinel. Nice outfit! That hair¡¯s going to be totally impractical.¡±


    ¡°You know what else is impractical? Your face.¡±


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn.¡±


    The Rangers greeted me as I sat down for dinner with them, but I waved them off. They started talking about the corruption case over the meal, and I shut up, and stayed out of it. I was all too aware that a word from me would have an oversized impact on the case, and how they handled it.


    Heck, I already had an oversized impact. I¡¯d bet coins - and nobody would take me up on it - that they¡¯d spend extra-effort on this case, because I¡¯d been the ¡®victim¡¯. Too much time would be spent investigating it, because technically I was their boss, and they wanted to look good to their boss.


    At the same time, if I told them to chill, they¡¯d chill too hard.


    There was some magic alchemy of words that would get them to tackle the case properly, that would get them to yo-yo to exactly the right place I wanted them to be.


    I didn¡¯t know what those words were. I did know that silence was wrong, but speaking up was probably more wrong.


    Silence it was.


    At the end, we broke and cleaned up.


    ¡°Ranger Team 11!¡± Bossman called out at the end. The team stiffened to attention.


    Evening exercise? On a full stomach?


    ¡°At ease.¡± They all relaxed.


    Just a stand-up drill?


    ¡°Got one complaint today worth investigating.¡± Bossman cleared the center of the wagon, and gave a short nod to Artillery Mage C.


    ¡°Local farmer had the brilliant idea of training and raising caster monsters. Specifically, cows.¡±


    ¡°Why?! That¡¯s just asking for trouble!¡± Newbie Ranger looked particularly aghast at the idea.


    ¡°To, and I quote, ¡®deel wif da varmits¡¯.¡±


    That was one heck of an accent, in a place that rarely had them. Just how long had that family been farming, with minimal contact?


    ¡°Anyways. As anyone could guess, it went wrong, and one of his herd¡¯s gone rogue. He¡¯s tried to put the cow down a few times now, but the cow¡¯s blasted him for his troubles. He might¡¯ve said something about the cow becoming canny to his tricks? At least, I think that¡¯s what he said. That, or the cow¡¯s fanny to his dicks, and while we all know the jokes, I hope that¡¯s not what¡¯s going on.¡±


    An amused chuckle went around the circle.


    ¡°If it was the second one, he wouldn¡¯t be asking us for help.¡± I deadpanned, completely derailing the conversation for a minute.


    Bossman let the merriment continue for a moment, then snapped the Rangers to order.


    ¡°Cow¡¯s got Lightning as its element, and is fortunately a single-element caster. Ideas?¡±


    ¡°Long-range rock hit.¡± Artillery Mage C instantly answered.


    ¡°It¡¯s always a long-range rock hit with you!¡± Newbie Ranger complained.


    ¡°The tactic is effective.¡± Greybeard gently rebuked. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t discount having an excellent trick up your sleeve. The legions train Earth mages by the dozen for that very reason. However. It is worth considering other plans of action, to practice problem solving. Especially given the relatively benign nature of the threat.¡±


    Everyone waited in silence for Greybeard to finish, and even after he was done we kept watching him, waiting for the font of knowledge to dispense information to us.


    Heck. He¡¯d probably forgotten more than I knew about being a Ranger, and I¡¯d bet he was ¡®in¡¯ on all the secrets. Probably even more than I was.


    ¡°Let us try to come up with a half-dozen methods of dealing with this Lightning cow, mmm?¡± Greybeard proposed. ¡°One for each of us.¡±


    Artillery Mage C had already gone. Bossman suggested bows. Newbie Ranger wanted to make a deadfall. Newbie Mage wanted to use his magic to make something that sounded like a minefield. Wolfy thought that Moonmoon could scare the cow, and drive it into the jungle, then let the jungle take care of it.


    That sounded weak, even to me.


    For each plan, the team discussed the pros and the cons of each, teasing out what conditions would make one plan better or worse than another. It was a different way of doing things than Julius had done, but I had to admit - it looked effective, not only for hammering out the current issue, but getting practice dealing with other issues in the future.


    My serious game-time planning of monster hunting experience was shockingly low. This meeting might¡¯ve seriously doubled it, if every plan was considered a new experience.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn. Would you like to participate?¡± Greybeard carefully invited me in. I¡¯d been staying silent so far, not wanting to disrupt their planning. I didn¡¯t know their team, or their capabilities, and the exercise seemed to be a good one. I didn¡¯t want to mess with it.


    ¡°Sure. This problem¡¯s easy. Send in a Sentinel.¡± I cracked a grin at my own joke, and got weak laughs.


    Greybeard cocked his head at me.


    ¡°Being the Sentinel present, how would you handle it?¡±


    ¡°Walk right up to it, Radiance beam through the head. Boom. Dead. That simple.¡±


    ¡°The Lightning? Its spells?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m Sentinel Dawn. I¡¯m durable. Unless the cow¡¯s somehow level 600, I should be able to heal through literally everything it sends at me. My mana pool should be larger, and that¡¯s before the applied power problem.¡±


    I paused a moment.


    ¡°It¡¯s not level 600, right?¡±


    Bossman shook his head.


    ¡°Negative. Mid 200¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Walk up to it. Kill it. Walk back.¡±


    I thought about it a moment, then shook my head.


    ¡°No no, first drive it to an area where I have to do less work once it¡¯s dead, then kill it.¡±


    ¡°The plan seems viable. My only quibble is the lack of learning opportunities in both the plan, and the execution.¡± Greybeard said.


    ¡°How would you do it?¡± I asked Greybeard, wanting to know how the font of knowledge would handle things.


    ¡°Poison the feed. Get the local alchemist to brew up something potent, unscented, and tasteless, after convincing them that, yes, I know they know how to do it, and no, I¡¯m not going to arrest them for knowing how.¡± Greybeard rolled his eyes at that, and went on a bit of a tangent.


    ¡°Honestly, never known an alchemist without their own super-poison they¡¯ve got hidden in their tunic, yet is convinced they¡¯ll be arrested for knowing how.¡±


    ¡°Poison the feed, scatter it around, and back off. It isn¡¯t heroic, but it should work on a cow.¡±


    I was getting serious Arthur vibes from him. The plan was sound though.


    Bossman looked conflicted while all the plans were revised. After settling on, surprise surprise, Artillery Mage C¡¯s plan of ¡°Throw rocks from far away¡± was selected as the Ranger¡¯s plan of attack, and they started to prepare for a full-on assault, with contingencies and back-up plans being laid. Wolfy started to check over everyone¡¯s gear, and after a moment, after far too long, I twigged to Bossman¡¯s issue.


    A cow was easy mode. The biggest ethical problem was ¡°how many ribs am I allowed to take for dinner?¡± The Rangers already had one problem, and a full day spent traveling out to a remote-ish farm, dealing with a problematic animal, then traveling back, all while the corrupt guards had time to get their stories straight?


    Lightning could be nasty. There was a reason Artemis used it. Instant speed, and it could randomly ¡°punch up¡± by frying a nervous system, or stopping a heart, or frying a brain, or¡­ there were multiple ways Lightning could just end someone.


    However. I didn¡¯t care about that. In the slightest. Not with [Persistent Casting].


    Bossman didn¡¯t - couldn¡¯t - ask me to take this job on. Not with the level, and the relatively low threat nature of the beast. However, I could ask.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t I take this one?¡± I volunteered. ¡°It¡¯s easy enough for me, and you¡¯ve got the guard investigation to handle. That seems like a higher priority to me, and I¡¯m no use on that problem. Right now, I¡¯m not doing anything else.¡±


    A wave of relief went over Bossman¡¯s face.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn. Many thanks.¡± He saluted me. ¡°Anyone else have anything?¡±


    I caught Greybeards eye, remembering about sparring lessons. He gave me a tiny shake of his head.


    Yeah, made sense. We both had missions tomorrow, and it was late. All the talking and planning had gotten us far into the night.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got nothing.¡± I set the tone with that, nobody else having anything either.


    We went to sleep, although the Rangers set a watch and battened down the hatches like we were in the wilderness.


    It¡¯d be unlikely for the guards to try and kill us in our sleep, but it wasn¡¯t impossible. A watch it was, and I didn¡¯t volunteer myself to take one.


    I wanted some damn sleep, and I got it.


    In the morning I changed into my Mistweave, deputized Greybeard with keeping the egg warm while I was on the trip - Pyronox could get just as hot as Radiance, and [Egg Incubation] helped us determine how hot he needed to make it - and generally geared up. And by that I meant, I put on less gear than normal, since Lightning could fry just about anything but my Mistweave. Then Bossman and I went and met the farmer, Bossman made introductions, and we quickly hit it off as we traveled to his farm.


    His accent was atrocious. Along with mauling the language beyond recognition.


    ¡°Aye, da thundamoo¡¯s a beautbeet. Runna da grawblow, dan BOOM! Iz¡­¡±


    I got maybe one word in fifty.


    We made it to his farm, where the occasional boom from one of the fields indicated the problem.


    ¡°Ya, da grawblow dar¡¯s thundamoo.¡± He pointed, like it wasn¡¯t obvious.


    I flew on over, leaving the farmer behind, eyeing up the rest of his herds.


    They all spelled trouble. Six in ten were showing obvious signs of being caster animals, and Rangers would need to be here again. The Lightning cow - or thundamoo as the farmer called it - was just the first.


    What would be next? The sizzlemoo? The gurgdamoo?


    I flew over to the cow, flinching a little as a bolt of Lightning struck me. It was loud, and I don¡¯t think I¡¯d ever get used to being struck by Lightning, mundane or not.


    I really, really didn¡¯t want to get used to being struck by Lightning.


    At the same time, my healing just shrugged it off like nothing happened. The damage Lightning did was on the smaller side - relatively speaking - even though the damage inside that small area was horrific.


    My mana barely flickered.


    I took two more bolts, got in range, and dropped the poor cow with a merciful beam of Radiance through its eye.


    Too easy.

 Chapter 271 - Hatching Hazards

    I only spent a few minutes accepting the farmer¡¯s thanks for dealing with his Lightning cow.


    ¡°You should cull the rest.¡± I told him. ¡°This was the first one, but not the last.¡±


    ¡°Ah, da moos ah foin. Dar¡­¡±


    Holy incomprehensible language. Oi - I - gods he was rubbing off on me already - swear he was halfway towards pioneering his own tongue.


    I flew back to town, feeling my hair doing strange things. I felt it as I flew.


    Oh for fucks sake.


    Lightning strikes did not mix with long hair. I was rocking burns throughout, clumps of hair having gotten charred and ruined, others sticking out at bizarre angles.


    I hated the smell of burning hair.


    Ok, fine. Hate was too strong of a word, especially so close after the shimagu. I strongly disliked the smell of burning hair.


    I flew over the walls, quietly chuckling to myself as the guards studiously ignored me. Word had gotten round. Do not mess with the crazy Sentinel. Ignore the brightly colored butterfly wings.


    It sucked that we couldn¡¯t lock down all the guards while conducting our investigation, but practically speaking, how would that work? Did we just throw open the gates and let everyone in and out? Did we stop manning the towers that watched for threats? Did we stop enforcing the rules? Did we remove the guard presence from the streets entirely?


    It was a mess.


    I made it back to the Ranger wagon, where I changed back to my tunic, thankful that I¡¯d chosen to wear the Mistweave. I didn¡¯t want to call it invincible - that was just asking for trouble - but it sure could take a beating.


    I slipped my Deception Ring back on, set it to level 200, and went to find Greybeard and my egg.


    Took some wandering around the guardhouse to spot him, but I eventually did.


    He was conducting an interview, and I just quietly slipped into the room, grabbed the egg, shot him a quick message in Ranger hand code - ¡°Success¡± - and left.


    I stopped by Bossman¡¯s room once I found him, and flashed him the same code, then left the room.


    There wasn¡¯t much left for me to do in Port Salona. The entirety of my checklist was ¡°get traveling supplies¡± and ¡°get going¡±.


    Given that it was almost lunch, and that proper prior planning prevented piss poor performance, I figured I¡¯d spend the afternoon gathering supplies, then leave second thing in the morning, after the Ranger¡¯s morning exercise.


    Shame about Greybeard, training, and drills, but eh. I¡¯d just ask Night if he could spare some time for me. I know I had the spare time, but Night kept himself crazy busy.


    I looted the Ranger¡¯s cash stores again - only two rods - and headed back into town.


    First things first - hair. AGAIN. I made my way to the same hairdresser as yesterday, who gave me more than a bit of a funny look.


    I suppose people didn¡¯t often utterly ruin their nice do as quickly as I had.


    ¡°Heya! Up for another round?¡± I pointed to my frizzy hair.


    He did not look happy.


    ¡°Sorry that I ruined it already. You know how it is.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll be 20 coins.¡± He was gruff, and I paid without complaint, getting luxurious hair once more.


    Like, yeah, I probably could¡¯ve waited three or four days for Albina to get it done for me, but it was the principle and the feeling of it. I was home. I was safe. My hair symbolized that for me like nothing else did. I¡¯d gone a year with short, matted, blood-encrusted, I-don¡¯t-want-to-know-what mess in my hair.


    ¡°Two levels in two days.¡± The hairdresser commented. ¡°Guess I¡¯ve got you to thank.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome! Any chance of a discount?¡±


    His snort of disbelief let me know the odds of that happening.


    I spent the afternoon half playing tourist, half getting supplies. A knife, some rope, a solid backpack, a waterbottle, and - most importantly - a map.


    I was planning on following the roads back home. It kinda sucked, but I didn¡¯t trust myself to try and cross the Nostrum sea directly. It was three parts paranoia about getting lost, and eight parts concern about whatever plant Night and Ocean had talked about that lived in the sea, that prevented ships from doing anything other than cruising along the shoreline.


    Plus, while I knew Arminium was to the south-east, I didn¡¯t have precise directions. Sure, I could cut through the wilderness until I hit another road, but then I¡¯d just be following the road until I hit another city, where I¡¯d need to reorient myself anyways. Probably talk with the guards again, need to explain myself again, and yeah. I was convinced getting a map, charting my course, then just flying as fast as I could over the roads would get me home fastest.


    I spent way too much on a map. High-quality maps of the entire Republic - or wait, with an emperor now, were we an empire? How did that work? - were rare, and expensive. Most people were locals and knew the area, and only needed information about the local area.


    The rest of the day went well, the only interesting thing was the egg making some more noise. Once my shopping and proper prior planning was done, I spent the rest of the day at the beach!


    Carefully curated, lovely sand. Tropical breezes, nice waves - a little slice of paradise. Some families had their kids in tow, but nearly every day was a work day, and who could afford to just¡­ not work and go to the beach?


    Not a ton of people. Mothers with their kids in tow was primary, but there were more options than just the beach at Port Salona, and the beach being outside of the walls made it a less-attractive place to take small children.


    Not that I minded. I just enjoyed myself, letting the warm sand wrap around me, the sun beat down on me, and hearing the soothing waves.


    I stayed quiet during dinner again, although afterwards I took the chance to catch up with Wolfy, Moonmoon, and Artillery Mage C, hearing about their adventures. I gave them the short, short version of events that I¡¯d been through, and they were fascinated by the fact that I¡¯d been outside of Remus. It was like they¡¯d never considered that there was a world outside of our borders. To them, it was just endless wilderness, and I blew their minds with stories about elves, dwarves, trolls, and all manner of other creatures and civilizations out there.


    Moonmoon was fascinated by Kiyaya, and wanted to know everything about her. I obliged.


    I went to sleep in the wagon, Moonmoon on either side of me.


    ¡°Good morning Rangers! Up and at ¡®em! Let¡¯s go go GO! Last one out owes sixteen pushups!¡± Bossman¡¯s voice roared through the wagon.


    I was the last one out. I was significantly faster than Newbie Mage - than all of them - but they¡¯d had months of practice with Bossman waking them up, and them scrambling out of the wagon. Also, I didn¡¯t particularly care about being the last one out, and this way I could give Newbie Mage a break from always being the slowest one.


    It was a nice drill as well, and I cheerfully did my pushups at high speed while everyone else watched.


    Sentinels were above Rangers, but even Sentinels bowed to the rules. At least, that was the message I hoped I was sending.


    After a light set of exercises, we went on our run, this time jogging together as a team. Making sure the pace was one even Newbie Mage could run at.


    We were running around the walls when the world slowed in its characteristic way when I was in danger.


    I wasn¡¯t the only one with similar skills.


    ¡°Down!¡± Roared Greybeard, while I yelled ¡°Shields!¡±.


    I was a fan of practicing what I preached, wrapping myself and the egg in [Mantle of the Stars], leaving a tiny hole at the top to blast all the Rangers with [Wheel of Sun and Moon].


    My abdomen was getting warm, hot, hotter. I glanced down, only to see the egg glowing, smoke coming off my tunic.


    Oh sh-


    The world turned to flames. I was in the middle of a blazing inferno, a raging bonfire of a dozen different colors of flame. There was no air, no light, no earth or ground.


    Just pure flames, trying to consume me, to devour me alive into their rapacious, all-consuming maw.


    I was familiar with fire. I¡¯d dove into multiple burning buildings, I¡¯d spent years as a Fire mage, I¡¯d nearly gotten killed by a dragon¡¯s Pyronox skill, heck, I¡¯d even gotten roasted over a fire once!


    This was different, yet the same.


    I burned, going up in flames like a candlewick, my flesh turning into fuel for the flames, only to be restored just as quickly. There was no part of my body spared the searing agony.


    I swear I was floating, the flames levitating me.


    It was just me and the fire. Nothing else existed in the world.


    It felt like the flames wanted to replace me, to subsume me and transform me into a living, breathing avatar of fire, turning me into an inferno elemental.


    Then like a switch was flipped, the flames stopped entirely.


    Well, not quite - there were still numerous secondary fires that had been started around me, the smell of burning hair in the air.


    Damnit. I¡¯d just gotten my hair fixed!


    The Rangers were scattered around, in various combat stances. Even now they were quickly forming up, putting their backs together, scanning for threats and ignoring their lack of clothing.


    Their defensive skills, my shield - broken of course - and healing combined had held. They¡¯d all lived.


    Bossman was barking orders.


    ¡°Send the wolves out! Get a firing platform set. I want Earth walls, tall and thick. Open-aired! Whatever hit us is going to try again! Heli! Split from us, get another vantage. Mintus! -¡±


    ¡°Belay that.¡± I ordered, looking down and smiling.


    I got Looks from all the Rangers, and oh I was going to murder Wolfy as he was giving me an entirely different look. We were all Rangers damnit!


    ¡°That, um, might¡¯ve been me.¡± I sheepishly confessed, continuing to look down at the tiny hatchling cradled in my arms, a few pieces of cooling eggshell giving it some protection.


    It was tiny, far smaller than the egg would suggest. It was a mottled grey all over, and cheeping with its mouth to the sky in the pitiful way baby birds did.


    ¡°Brpt! Brpt! Brpt!¡±


    It wanted something, probably food.


    The Rangers crowded around me, looking down, I assumed at the bird. They better be looking at the bird.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Artillery Mage C eventually asked, poking a finger at her. I swatted it away.


    ¡°Don¡¯t touch! I¡¯m not sure.¡± I [Identify]¡¯d it.


    [Fledgling] it came back, pure white. The only thing that told me was that it was intelligent.


    ¡°Still no idea.¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯d you get it?¡± Newbie Mage asked.


    ¡°Uhhhhh¡­ that¡¯s classified.¡± I answered. Bossman gave me a quirked eyebrow.


    ¡°Can I touch it?¡± Wolfy asked, as the hatchling¡¯s insistent brpts! became louder and louder.


    ¡°It looks kinda fragile? But you¡¯d know better than I would.¡± He did have Moonmoon after all. I was more inclined to let Moonmoon touch carefully, versus Artillery Mage C¡¯s clumsy prodding.


    The mage in question made a strangled noise of complaint, my blatant favoritism showing.


    ¡°Ah - going for a companion?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Yup.¡±


    Wolfy turned to Bossman.


    ¡°Sir! Requesting permission to end the exercise, and obtain food for Sentinel Dawn. Early hours - minutes - are critical for this.¡±


    Bossman looked around and snorted.


    ¡°What, you think I was going to have you all keep running naked, after we almost died? Please. You¡¯re dismissed. Artillery Mage C, Greybeard, fire control. Sentinel, can I have a quick word?¡±


    The newbie Rangers bailed while the rest got on with their respective tasks. Bossman studiously kept his eyes on mine.


    ¡°Sentinel. It¡¯s your call, but with all due respect - simply hatching nearly took out an entire Ranger squad. I shudder to think what would¡¯ve happened if that had happened in town. You claim you don¡¯t know what it is. With all due respect. Please don¡¯t bring him into town.¡±


    ¡°Her.¡± I absent-mindedly corrected. [Egg Incubation] had given up the game when I first got the skill. ¡°And yes, I can camp out here for some time. Can I borrow Wolfy for the foreseeable future?¡±


    Bossman saluted.


    ¡°Sentinel. Naturally. I anticipate we will be spending significant amounts of time in town, working on the investigation.¡±


    He turned and left, and I looked down at the tiny, helpless, loud little bird. She was insisting, with surprising volume, that she get taken care of right now.


    ¡°BRRPT! BRRPT! BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRPRRRTTTTTT!!!!¡±


    ¡°What do I call you?¡± I gently extended a finger out, stroking the tiny bird¡¯s head.


    She was so small. So vulnerable. So helpless and fragile. She had nobody in the world but me. I didn¡¯t even know what she was, let alone where her parents were.


    [*ding!* Your skill [Egg Incubation] has evolved into [Hatchling Rearing]!]


    Hatchling Rearing: By some divine miracle, you¡¯ve kept the egg alive until she hatched! Be careful, she¡¯s a feisty one! Now, feed her, raise her, and protect her until she unlocks her own System to defend herself with! Increased knowledge and connection per level.


    ¡°BRRRPTT! BBRRRRPPPPT!!¡±


    I¡¯d keep her safe. Protect her from the vicious Cordamo¡¯s of the world, until she¡¯d grown up.


    A potential bond, a possible life-long companionship was starting today.


    She needed a name.


    The Remus tradition was to name girls after their father. I was happily single and unmarried, and I had thoughts where that tradition could go stick itself. I didn¡¯t know who her father was, where he was, or what his name was, nor if they had their own set of traditions.


    ¡°BRRRPTT! BBRRRRPPPPT!!¡±


    Another tradition that could go stick itself somewhere unpleasant was ¡°girls get one name¡±. No. She was getting a full, proper name. Family Called Fancy. Or, in Earth terms, Last First Middle.


    Kinda weird thinking of it like that.


    I wasn¡¯t going to name her after me. That was just weird.


    Was there anyone in my life I¡¯d name her after?


    Artemis. Artemis was on the shortlist for a middle name. However, I¡¯d want to check with her first, see if she was OK with it, and go from there.


    Hmmm.


    Hmmmmmmm.


    ¡°Artemis Fowl¡± was kinda funny, but after coming up with the name, I ditched it.


    ¡°BRRRPTT! BBRRRRPPPPT!!¡± She was loudly demanding something - probably food.


    I did some thinking, pulling names and inspiration from my memories, from all sorts of places. I wanted her to have her own family name, unique from mine. Her own middle. Everything.


    In Remus, middle names were usually granted after an achievement of sorts. The hatchling hadn¡¯t exactly had a long life, but she did have one aspect of note already.


    Her continued high-volume demands, along with recently hearing The Iliad the other day settled her middle name - Stentor. The loud herald of the Greeks.


    I¡¯d had a beloved pet, once upon a time on another planet entirely. Aoife.


    The last name I liked, a diminutive of Aurora. I thought it¡¯d fit. A name that reflected when she was born - at the rising of the sun. I was Dawn, and the symmetry wasn¡¯t lost on me. I wasn¡¯t going to name her after my title though.


    The name also reflected fire, the flames of the sun, and her birth, her baptism in fire, was all too appropriate for it.


    ¡°Auri.¡± I settled on. ¡°Your name is Aoife Auri Stentor.¡±


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 20]


    [Mana: 576,750/576,750]


    [Mana Regen: 432,699 (+515,651)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 194]


    [Strength: 1,003]


    [Dexterity: 1,823]


    [Vitality: 14,190]


    [Speed: 14,190]


    [Mana: 57,675]


    [Mana Regeneration: 57,776 (+51,565)]


    [Magic Power: 22,735 (+427,418)]


    [Magic Control: 22,735 (+427,418)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 511]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 471]


    [Cosmic Presence: 300]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 2]


    [Center of the Universe: 450]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 511]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 511]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 469]


    [Sunrise: 347]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 357]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 357]


    [Radiance Resistance: 357]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 357]


    [Solar Flare: 131]


    [Nectar: 357]


    [Sun''s Heart: 357]


    [Scintillating Ascent: 333]


    [Kaleidoscope: 357]


    [Class 3: Locked]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 375]


    [Pristine Memories: 221]


    [Hatchling Rearing: 88]


    [Bullet Time: 511]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 376]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 511]


    [Persistent Casting: 315]


    [Passionate Learning: 380]

 Chapter 272.1 - Major Interlude - Iona - Sigrun I

    Iona looked up at the Immortal healer, and felt sick.


    She¡¯d tracked rumors of the healer to The Great Tang, aiming to put a stop to her before the war got too out of control.


    The ability to grant Immortality was absurd. The exact flavors differed. The most common, by leaps and bounds, vampires. They jealously guarded their innate racial ability, demanded huge prices, concessions, and most of all - loyalty to the Exterri Empire. On rare occasion, a vampire would be coerced into granting Immortality. The rest of the vampires came down hard on such instances, knowing that if one of them was allowed to be blackmailed and threatened into giving up their power, they all were vulnerable. A single monolithic block, working in tandem.


    After that, came the numerous mortals who¡¯d somehow seized Immortality for themselves, and not only for themselves, but for anyone their skill allowed. A painting that wilted and faded instead of the subject. Golden apples, halting the march of time. Water, granting eternal youth. The cultivation methods of the Auspicious Mountain Sect. Dozens, hundreds of variants, each one as different and as unique as the wielder in question, as many differences as there were different skills in the System.


    As many stars as there were in the sky.


    That was before the "natural" methods of gaining Immortality came into play. Consuming the flesh of a mermaid was one. Requesting a boon from a deity, or finding one of their divine treasures was another. Finding the genie, and making a wish was a third, and countless more were scattered and hidden all over the world.


    White Dove cursed them all. They didn¡¯t care how Immortality was obtained, simply that it was. Cruel, capricious, bizarre. Sometimes her curses would be on-point, directly targeting and striking at the heart of the poor fool who dared defy her. Other times, they were stranger, weirder, seemingly having no connection with the new Immortal. Rarely, the curse was hardly a curse at all, more of a minor inconvenience. There was no rhythm nor reason to her curses, no pattern that [Scholars] could discern.


    Each element could seize - and grant - Immortality.


    Healers, ever fighting against Black Crow, had the option of seizing Immortality, and granting it to others, on average over a thousand levels before other classes and methods could. They were watched more closely than other Classers were, as healers could reasonably get to the levels needed to seize Immortality before their mortal lifespan wore out, unlike other Classers. Part of why nearly every mortal nation restricted healers from surpassing 256 - in public.


    Any mortal that seized Immortality, and who could grant it to others, was on their own. Vulnerable to coercion, threats, blackmail, bribery, and more. There were no monolithic groups protecting them. The only friends and allies they had were those obtained in their short, fleeting, mortal lifespan before the moment they obtained it. They were exposed, and the world knew it.


    For some reason, the ability to grant Immortality was never granted to Immortals. Perhaps it was simply the System recognizing the inherent Immortality of said Immortals, and denying "useless" skills to them.


    The end result was the same. Powerhouses. People who ended up at levels far, far above everyone else, who could single-handedly turn the course of a war.


    Who could - would - single-handedly start a war.


    Old age eventually took mortals. There was only so much wealth and power a single mortal could get, before Black Crow came for them in their old age. Immortals had no such restrictions. Their wealth and power would - barring accident, sabotage, or plain incompetence - simply grow and grow, until their interests collided irreverably against someone else¡¯s.


    Diplomacy would be tried at first, and sometimes it¡¯d succeed. But inevitably, there¡¯d be another clash, and eventually one wouldn¡¯t be resolvable with peaceful means.


    Then there¡¯d be a war.


    It was the rare Immortal who managed to restrain themselves, who contented themselves to live a simple life. Many said they would keep things simple for themselves. They wouldn¡¯t be like the other Immortals.


    The lure of safety and preservation was usually their downfall. A few extra coins, in case of an unexpected expense. A spare barn, to hold food through lean times. Rebuilding the wooden home with stone, so it¡¯d better survive the seasons and passage of time. Owning the land they were on outright - who wanted to pay rent for eternity?


    Small things. Forward thinking things.


    Then the Immortal woke up one day, practically a small lord in their own right. The fear of losing what they had tended to set in next, and, well¡­


    The rest was history.


    Naturally, the mortals who managed to seize Immortality always claimed they weren¡¯t Immortal. Immortals living in mortal lands violated any number of treaties and agreements, the biggest one being the Treaty of Kyowa.


    Ironically, due to survivorship bias, the rare Immortal that managed to restrain themselves were in the majority in mortal lands. They tended not to flaunt their existence, staying low-key. Out of the way.


    But they were there. Old monsters, a king¡¯s uncle thirty generations ago living in a little cabin, a favored knight who¡¯d never want for anything, with levels no mortal could easily stand up against.


    Even Sigrun, as ridiculously powerful as the Valkyrie leader was, would be crushed by such an existence, if she provoked them into coming out and taking the field.


    They rarely did. An Immortal openly using their power ended with far, far too many eyes on them. As such, only when a country was on the brink of extinction, when total war was declared, did such figures emerge from their hidey-holes.


    It was why the nations that existed had existed for hundreds of years, and would likely exist for hundreds, if not thousands, more.


    It was part of why Nime was so aggressive with Forbidden Four Classers, in defiance of the Treaty of Kyowa. They were a new country, as these things went. The belief was they didn¡¯t have any Immortals, and were resorting to more desperate means.


    A kingdom would empty their coffers just to make one new Immortal guardian.


    The ability to make dozens?


    Nations were going to war over the chance, both to have their own, and deny the chance to their enemies.


    Some were aiming to capture the healer, and force her to turn as many loyal retainers Immortal as possible. Rarely did the king, elder, prime minister - or whoever the leader of a nation was - get turned themselves. No, it was too obvious when such a thing happened. The power behind the thrones, the quiet movers and shakers, were usually the recipients of such a blessing. Them, and anyone proven loyal enough to the country.


    Others were more pragmatic. Capturing the healer gave others a chance to capture her in turn. Simply killing her ended the entire ordeal.


    Yet more saw it as an excuse to move their armies. Nothing quite granted riches like quick plunder in a justified war, like ransoming a noble back to their family. Nothing granted levels quite like battles and bloodshed. One perfect engagement could turn a mediocre army into a hardened core of elites.


    Like the Valkyries. They were already elite units to begin with, but they¡¯d been distilled, honed, tempered. Each surviving Valkyrie was a force of nature in and of herself.


    Sadly, they didn¡¯t have a fresh batch of recruits to fill in the holes left by the fallen, unlike a lord who seemingly always had a fresh batch of serfs to pull from, and plug the gaps.


    Naturally, there was a fourth party. The Immortal healer herself, and the people who rallied to her. Those who didn¡¯t quite fit in the current world order. Disgruntled lords, too low in the peerage to ever be granted Immortality, given the chance to throw their lot in with the healer and have the clock turned back for them. Adventurers, fresh off delving some deep and ancient ruin, flush with riches and wanting to be preserved in the moment for all eternity. Mercenaries, who could be granted the boon and sell it again, commanding a price that would allow them to retire in luxury for the rest of their life.


    The end result was the same. An Immortal healer showed up, and let her skills be known. She was a foci, a pivot, pulling the world around her.


    Nobody should have that much power.


    Nobody should be able to cause that much death.


    And yet.


    Iona was late to the party. It was over.


    Iona stared at the body, hoisted high by a spike impaling her. Her head had been cut off, replaced by a tiger¡¯s - presumably her companion.


    The healer¡¯s head was on a second spike next to her body.


    They¡¯d horrifically tortured the poor woman, and Iona sent a long prayer to her patrons, asking that they help guide her soul to the afterlife. Even with Iona¡¯s long experience, with all the carnage she¡¯d seen and dealt, the sight of what had been done to the poor healer turned her stomach.


    Even in death, she was afforded no dignity.


    Various fluids covered her, and a passerby threw a rotten tomato at her, the fruit adding its noxious juices to the mix, then falling down onto the rest of the vegetables.


    Abstractly, Iona had wanted the healer dead. One life, one person, who knew exactly what they were doing and what chaos they¡¯d cause, weighed against the millions of lives unended and ruined as a result of her actions.


    Seeing the end result though? Iona wasn¡¯t a cold, heartless killing machine. She could empathize. She could imagine the torture and agony the poor woman had gone through.


    They¡¯d clearly drawn it out, and made it last.


    With one last shake of her head, Iona turned and left.


    Next on her list - Return to the pirate hideout. Loot every last scrap. Report back to the Valkyries, and see what the next hotspot was.


    Iona shouldered her way through the crowds, people and races of all sorts having congregated in Xi¡¯an. Most wore the robes of various sects, long flowing things that should be impractical in a fight, yet they somehow managed to pull it off.


    To nobody¡¯s surprise, the sect with the largest representation by far was the Tang sect, who ruled the country named after them.


    Iona warily eyed a group of people loitering around, wearing yellow jacks with black stripes on them. The Hornet¡¯s gang. Well-known across mortal lands for being [Hired Thugs]. If a merchant wanted to put a rival out of business? Hiring the Hornets to torch their warehouse and storefront, mug them in an alley, or just plain old extort "protection money."


    Once hired though, they stayed vaguely loyal, in a criminal sort of way. This group was loitering in front of a major branch of the World Bank. The local [Beancounters] had done their own strange brand of math, and determined that hiring additional muscle on top of their guards with the level of unrest and risks was worth it.


    Since they were somewhat legitimately employed, Iona let them be. There was a time and a place to fight with one of Pallos¡¯s three major gangs, and this was not it.


    Iona was near the exit of the city when the crowds started to part. Iona let herself go with the flow. This wasn¡¯t her place or her territory, why make a fuss?


    Her stomach clenched in a cold knot as she saw who the crowd was parting for.


    A pair of Wardens were entering the city, their pointy elven ears and curled horns sticking out from behind their faceless silver masks. The Immortal enforcers had left their domain, presumably for the deceased healer.


    Wardens were the reason Immortals didn¡¯t rampage freely across mortals lands - well, not for long. Iona was forced to admit that the Immortals races did have their own set of rules - however esoteric - abided by them. Didn¡¯t mean she liked them much.


    Iona took a quick peek at their stats and levels, her divine blessing bypassing any resistances or protections they might have to mask themselves.


    Level 2885.


    Level 3381.


    Either one of them could level the city with a thought. Iona would be helpless before them, [Vow]-boosted stats or not.


    Interestingly, they were bonded to each other. A pair of companions, likely lovers, working as Wardens. It explained why there wasn¡¯t a pair of creatures working with them


    There was something about the weapon the higher-leveled one carried. Somehow, power, with a whiff of divinity, was emanating from it. Objects just didn¡¯t do that. Not unless¡­


    "The Woundspear." The moon goddess Selene whispered into Iona¡¯s mind.


    "If you could get it for us¡­" Lunaris, the other moon goddess breathed in anticipation and desire.


    Iona would¡¯ve given them an incredulous look if she could¡¯ve. Sadly, they were in the divine realm, and Iona was forced to stick to witty remarks.


    "Yes, let me commit elaborate suicide by Warden. I didn¡¯t realize you were so eager to meet me again in person." Iona quipped, then got a hair more serious.


    "I¡¯m not going to wrest away a divinely granted weapon from elves with thousands of levels on me. Alone." Iona frankly replied.


    "Ahh, but just imagine¡­" Selene said.


    "Yes, I¡¯m imagining. Me. Dead, in a shallow grave. Assuming more than a matchbox¡¯s worth of me is left."


    "We¡¯ll make you an angel!" Lunaris seemed positively cheerful at the idea, which included Iona¡¯s untimely demise.


    "You¡¯re going to make me an angel anyways! Right!?"


    The two goddesses of the moon laughed at Iona¡¯s outraged remarks and expression, and she felt their light touch leave her.


    Crowds parted before them, and they passed, entirely inscrutable beneath their masks.


    Iona forced herself to move once they¡¯d left, noting a maple leaf over a house. They were going to be extra-busy.


    She traveled back across The Great Tang, her heart breaking at every trampled field, at every burned farmhouse. She shared her food when she could with people who¡¯d been displaced by the war, who were already starving even before winter hit.


    The Great Tang wasn¡¯t particularly far north, and the [Weather Witch]es were predicting a harsh winter. The unknown healer was dead, but her legacy was going to kill millions in a famine.


    Iona mentally corrected herself. It wasn¡¯t just the healer. She was the spark, the excuse, but every count, every sect leader, every great general and clan leader was also to blame. They¡¯d mobilized armies and moved out, when they could¡¯ve sat home, focusing on peace and securing their own borders.


    Iona missed the hypocrisy entirely. She was a Valkyrie, and could¡¯ve been spending the time fighting monsters and raiders, instead of making the trip down to The Great Tang.

 Chapter 272.2 - Major Interlude - Iona - Sigrun I

    It took some hiking, and some prodding around the Wakacola sea, but Iona found the pirate¡¯s hideout again. She dove down to the wreck, and spent a relatively relaxing day looting the pirate ship of all the Arcanite it used to hold, along with picking up as much silver, gold, and other precious metals, gems, and general valuables as she could find.


    There was something magical about getting richer every minute, getting heavily rewarded with each motion.


    With her sack filled to the brim with Arcanite, and two entire treasure chests stuffed with more of the stuff, along with a cache of gemstones she¡¯d found, Iona felt positively piratical. Shame that she¡¯d lost her tricorn hat.


    She did enjoy a few nights with fellow travelers she met on the road, occasionally with a local resident in a place she stayed. It was the rare night that Iona wanted companionship and didn¡¯t get it.


    A [Highrise Burglar] tried to rob Iona one night.


    She put him through the wall, then handed the dazed and confused would-be thief over to the local guards, along with detailing to them exactly what his classes and skills were, and what they did.


    The guards were beyond delighted to get the information. He¡¯d been a real nuisance, and now they knew exactly how he worked, and how to properly deal with him.


    Without further ado, Iona arrived at Castle Valkyrie, her mood steadily getting more and more dour with each step she took towards her "home".


    It was too¡­ quiet. Too¡­ empty.


    Too cold. It was a lifeless husk, not the thriving training ground of squires.


    "Ho Iona!" One of the staff members hailed her as she arrived at the drawbridge. One staff member, and not four squires.


    "Jens!" Iona called back with false cheer. "Glad to see you again!"


    The practice yard, built for a thousand, had a single Valkyrie and her squire sparring, the older woman trying to teach the girl without a proper practice partner. Gone were the days where Iona trained with nearly 200 of her fellow squires in the grounds.


    Each echoing step through the castle, each hallway without another Valkyrie to greet hammered home their lack, their fall.


    "Goblin¡¯s Death" the bards called it.


    "Valkyrie¡¯s End" would be just as appropriate. Except, instead of a clean death, the Valkyries had a lethal gut wound, and were slowly limping along as they bled out, stomach acid eating through their flesh, agonizingly prolonging their end.


    Iona made it to the [Quartermaster], and dropped the chests and the sack down.


    "Special delivery!" Iona put some real cheer in her voice. [Knightly Accountant] Sophie had been there when Iona was growing up, and she was still alive, well, and grumpy. A thread to the past, a reminder that they were not dead.


    Yet.


    Iona gave one of the chests a calculated kick, and it burst open, the crystal Arcanite tumbling to the floor.


    "Oooh, you shouldn¡¯t have!" Sophie cooed over the overflowing piles of Arcanite, the diamonds, rubies and other gems glinting underneath. Iona grinned. The only time Sophie was happy was when she was getting lots and lots of money. The moment she needed to part with any of it?


    Grumpiness.


    Iona just grinned at Sophie as she started to sort the gems by size.


    "Oh this is like yuletide come early! This isn¡¯t a town¡¯s payment, and you¡¯re just messing with me, right? No, of course it isn¡¯t. They pay in proper coins, not pure crystal."


    Sophie froze.


    "You didn¡¯t rob a [Tax Collector] did you?"


    "Ummm." Iona scratched her head, thinking about it.


    "No. I don¡¯t like the sound of that. No." Sophie started to pile the Arcanite back in the chests.


    "Indirectly at worst?" Iona finally hedged. "Took it off a pirate."


    "Hmmm." Sophie gave the chests a measuring look, before shrugging and opening them back up. "Well, more for me!"


    "Us."


    "Yes, yes, that¡¯s what I said, now shoo. Close the door on your way out."


    Iona left. Sophie hadn¡¯t said it, but from her questions it was all too clear. Towns had stopped paying the Valkyries for their protection. Their sphere of influence, area of protection, and just sheer clout and numbers were on the downswing.


    Unburdened, she made her way to the chapel, where she knelt in prayer.


    Selene. Lunaris.


    I need help. I don¡¯t know what to do. There are fewer and fewer Valkyries. I¡¯m doing everything I can, but it¡¯s not enough. How do I fix this? How do I solve this? I need your guidance.


    There was only silence at Iona¡¯s prayer, but the silence was answer enough.


    Instead of Iona trying to take all the problems on her shoulders and do it herself, she was going to visit Sigrun, the Valkyrie¡¯s Grandmaster, who was in charge of fixing the Valkyrie¡¯s problems.


    Iona knocked sharply on Sigrun¡¯s door.


    "Enter." Sigrun¡¯s clipped voice came from the door.


    Iona entered and saluted, standing ram-rod straight. She held her salute for a few minutes, while Sigrun finished penning a letter.


    There were four smaller desks in the room, for four [Secretaries] or [Assistants] or whatever was needed.


    Only one desk was in use, and the man wasn¡¯t exactly drowning in paper.


    Finishing up, she quickly read over it, nodded to herself, rolled it up, and sealed it. The seal had some fancy enchantments on it, proving that this seal in particular had come from that die.


    They weren¡¯t impossible to forge. Just difficult.


    "Iona. The Dusk Valkyrie." Sigrun slumped in her chair, some weight leaving her. She waved to her assistant, who got up and left for another room.


    "Relax. How are you?" Sigrun asked, and Iona let go of the carefully-held salute.


    "Fine. Took out the pirates on the Wakacola sea. Managed to loot the wreck, Sophie¡¯s got it now. The Immortal healer¡¯s dead. Cleared out a few bandit nests around Burnsley and Wolfden. Skinwalker near Monchester. Killed a giganotosaurus roaming near Northon."


    "A giganotosaurus? Near Northon? That had to have an intelligence behind it, did you find who was responsible?" Sigrun asked, as the assistant came back with a thick folder. He quietly placed it on Sigrun¡¯s desk, then headed back to his own work.


    Iona shook her head.


    "Vorlers were nearby."


    Sigrun gave a curt nod of understanding. Vorlers were one of the biggest threats, worth dropping nearly everything for. Between the goblin invasion, and a mature nest of Vorlers, the Valkyries would¡¯ve gone for the Vorlers.


    A small nest? Three Valkyries were enough. One to exterminate the nest, and two to prevent accidents, and make sure the job was done thoroughly.


    "Any Pekari?" Sigrun asked after the strange subterranean metal golems.


    "One village got abducted, but the Order of the Red Lion got to them before I did."


    Sigrun thumped a fist onto her desk, half-snarling as she spoke.


    "Those rat-faced thieving bastards encroaching on our territory. Let me guess. They insist that we¡¯re unable to properly look after the area, and it¡¯s now under their protection."


    Iona gave a curt nod.


    "The villagers are understandably scared after getting abducted, and there¡¯s nothing quite like a band of knights freeing them all to make them grateful."


    Sigrun pounded on her desk twice, making her displeasure known.


    "If the Pekari weren¡¯t endemic to the rest of the world, I would¡¯ve sworn that was a setup by the Red Lions. What else?"


    Sigrun continued to debrief Iona, getting the full breadth of adventures and questing she¡¯d been up to since the Dusk Valkyrie had last been at home base.


    Sigrun flipped it open, and started scanning.


    "That¡¯s right, divinely blessed. Your track record is impressive. It¡¯s like you¡¯ve been a full Valkyrie for twenty years, not four." Having gotten what she needed, Sigrun snapped the folder shut.


    "To serve and protect is my calling." Iona modestly accepted the compliment, not sure where Sigrun was going with this.


    "When was the last time you took a break?" Sigrun leaned back in her chair, giving Iona a pointed look.


    "Last night? I slept?" Iona wasn¡¯t used to this line of questioning.


    "No, I mean relaxed. Had time off. Did something for yourself. Talked with a mind-healer."


    "Last night? It was, uh, relaxing?"


    Iona wanted to cringe at Sigrun¡¯s look, but she was more professional than that.


    "Who¡¯s your closest friend?"


    "Julie." Iona snapped back without thinking.


    "The same Julie for whom I¡¯m holding a letter of complaint from the convent dedicated to Ness? The same Julie who¡¯s now a nun, and not easy to talk with?" Sigrun gave Iona a piercing glare.


    "Yes?"


    Sigrun gave a disappointed sigh.


    "Iona. You¡¯re not the first to push yourself so hard, nor will you be the last. However, I¡¯m not losing one of my Valkyries to overwork. You are taking a break. You are getting some friends, and if I have any say in it, a companion."


    Iona saluted.


    "Grandmaster. What would you have me do?"


    Sigrun pulled out a fancy letter from Iona¡¯s file. It was written on pristine, white paper, with a number of fancy flourishes and seals.


    "We¡¯re not doing well." Sigrun seemingly changed the conversation. "Under my leadership, the Valkyries have declined."


    "It¡¯s not your fault!" Iona protested. "The goblins-"


    Sigrun held up her hand, and Iona closed her mouth.


    "It¡¯s not my fault. It is my responsibility. Such is the price of leadership. Speaking of leadership." Sigrun gave Iona one last measuring look.


    "You¡¯re going to be one of the officers." Sigrun told Iona. "You¡¯ve worked hard enough, shown admirable dedication to the order, but most importantly, you¡¯ve solved numerous issues with tact and diplomacy, rather than simply resorting to cracking the responsible party¡¯s skull. You work well with people, and with a bit of training up, I believe you¡¯ll make a fine officer."


    Iona remained silent, one part feeling chastised, seven parts not knowing what to say. Sigrun was showing a shocking amount of trust and faith in Iona, and it took her by surprise.


    "My plan for you is simple. You¡¯re going to find a companion. You¡¯ll then head off to the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft, to learn everything you can about leadership and administration, along with the whole host of other skills you¡¯ll need to properly be an officer. Your companion will have a chance to grow up safely, and you can learn more about him or her. You¡¯ll get a chance to make new friends, and establish proper networking. Meet the up and coming movers and shakers. Have people you know around the world."


    Iona bowed her head.


    "How can we afford it? Doesn¡¯t the school practically charge a barony for admission?"


    Sigrun got a smug look on her face.


    "Yes. I¡¯ve been talking with them though, and they¡¯re interested in you. Very interested. You¡¯ve been offered admission with no examination, and all expenses paid to attend."


    Sigrun continued to look like a cat with cream, as Iona tried to parse how, or why, the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft would be interested in her.


    Sigrun let her struggle for a bit, then showed some mercy. Mostly out of a desire to get the meeting over with, and get on with the rest of her work.


    "It¡¯s your blessing. Your ability to speak and know every language. The linguistics department wants you to work for them, helping them translate old texts, and correct any misunderstandings in words they have. They think having you for five years will be the same as less-blessed researchers working five hundred years."


    Iona frowned.


    "The linguistics department? With all due respect, I¡¯m not sure how much I¡¯d learn at the linguistics department, even at the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft. Wouldn¡¯t Calador be better? You went there, right?"


    "Just because the linguistics department wants you, doesn¡¯t mean you can¡¯t attend the rest of the School." Sigrun pointed out like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Plus, I doubt they¡¯d let you take the Linguistic Track, or any other language Track. As for Calador, it knows war, administering armies, and not much else." Sigrun gestured broadly at the room, the three empty desks hammering home their situation once more. "Look where we are now. Look where that¡¯s brought us. Also, I hate to say it, but the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft gives a better education than Calador. We never managed to beat them while I was there. Lastly, nearly every officer ends up at Calador. We¡¯re trying something new with you."


    Sigrun drummed her fingers for a moment.


    "There¡¯s also the matter of your third class, which I don¡¯t doubt you¡¯ll unlock. I personally think you should look into a Mallium [Warrior] class. You¡¯ve got a full set of the metal, and the amount you¡¯ve been using it should offer you a strong class in that direction. At the same time, the professors at the School can guide you better than I ever could. They have tricks to help unlock powerful classes, and attending will be a boon."


    Sigrun¡¯s eyes flickered to a timepiece, and the pace of her speech picked up.


    "The School will be passing by Lyon in the fall. Be there. For the next nine months, you are on companion acquiring duty, and taking a break."


    Iona bit her lip to keep her protest unvoiced. Sigrun gave her a knowing glare.


    "Companions take time. You can¡¯t just snap your fingers and acquire one. We have no stock, the goblins saw to that. You can ask the local branch of Florence¡¯s Friends if they have anything, but the latest report I have from them isn¡¯t promising." Sigrun paused to collect her thoughts.


    "While I won¡¯t gainsay you if fate intervenes, and you bond with a golden eagle or something, I¡¯ll remind you that companions will end up being a significant part of your personal power. A friend to lean on. A mount. Transportation. An ear for your troubles. Someone who can stand by you, through thick and thin. I¡¯m not knocking the majestic eagle, but when push comes to shove, would you rather a spinosaurus or an eagle at your back? I suggest you ponder the question while you winter here. You¡¯ll most likely be heading to the Dairalt Republic in the spring. Dismissed."


    Iona saluted, turned on her feet, and left.


    Iona pondered her new¡­ mission? Find a companion. Take a break.


    She had mixed feelings about wintering at Castle Valkyrie. On one hand, she wouldn¡¯t need to be riding through snow and freezing mud, always a plus. On the other, being cooped up in the nearly empty castle for a season?


    Well, more Valkyries would find their way home as the winter storms rolled in. Iona reassured herself that there¡¯d be more people around.


    Iona made it back to her spartan room, her home in a sense. There she added her sketchbooks onto the piles of other sketchbooks she¡¯d filled while traveling around.


    She paused a moment, then reached out to grab the one she¡¯d just added in. She idly opened it, and flipped through some of her drawings.


    She smiled, memories washing over her as she looked through the pictures. Bird¡¯s Eye in the crow¡¯s nest. The ruin of The Black Shark.


    She frowned as she flipped to the sketch she made of the healer, her head on a pike. It was worth drawing and remembering the bad with the good.


    She flipped to Julie, and smiled a sad, bitter smile as tears welled up in her eyes.


    There was a good chance that picture was the last she¡¯d ever see of her.


    Iona closed the book with a snap, and tossed it back onto the pile with the rest. She got up, stretched, and left her room, looking to see who else was around.


    The silver lining in the whole mess that was Goblin¡¯s Death - there¡¯d been one Valkyrie casualty in the last four years. Each survivor was a powerhouse in and of themselves, and there were still the large numbers of Valkyries who hadn¡¯t been nearby when the call came out. Not all was lost.


    The vast majority of the squires, the future of the order, were gone.


    Iona didn¡¯t want to spend all her time stuck inside though. She spent one ridiculously memorable night with Randall, the idiot werewolf forgetting what phase the moons were in and turning what should¡¯ve been a fun night into a near life-or-death scrap, Iona¡¯s [Vow] not kicking in when it was pure self-defense, and the starting angle being terrible.


    She didn¡¯t see Randall again. Not after that magnitude of mistake.


    Iona did respect the rule on no fraternization among Valkyries, and her winter was miserable as a result. She spent some of her time playing games and telling stories with the other Valkyries who¡¯d made it back for the winter, along with training the three poor squires who had the undivided attention of half the order.


    Many days would find Iona in the chapel, kneeling in prayer. Communing with her patron goddesses. They¡¯d talk back, the three of them having the most wonderful conversations.


    Iona prayed for peace and guidance. She prayed just to talk. She made reasonable requests and outrageous jokes.


    She prayed for her dead friends to come back. The squires and Valkyries who¡¯d died in Goblin¡¯s Death. She prayed for Lux to come back. Impossible prayers, but she made them nonetheless, Lunaris and Selene never tiring of her.


    Iona also brushed up on her combat fundamentals, and started a refresher course on mounted combat. Lances were the undisputed king of mounted combat, the only differences being varying schools of thought of which types were better. Many one-and-done lances, mundane lances, enchanted lances, skill-reinforced lances, there was a dizzying array of options.


    Iona also took the time to practice and learn a number of esoteric weapons, weapons that hadn¡¯t been covered when she was a squire learning from Alruna because, quite frankly, they were rare, hard to obtain, and not in common usage for a reason.


    Mallium made obtaining the weapons trivial, and to Iona¡¯s surprise, she discovered that she had a real affinity for glaives, the elegant weapons fitting well with her.


    At the same time, rattling around in the empty hallways - especially without Alruna, who was off doing something - was driving Iona nuts, and the moment spring started to hint at showing up, she was off.

 Chapter 273.1 - Major Interlude - Iona - Sigrun II

    Countries only vaguely had notions of "borders", and which countries started where, and where they ended. Much more important was who protected a town, and what the culture of a city was.


    The Valkyries tended to protect towns, cities, and settlements that tended towards castles, keeps, knights, and serfs, all of whom vaguely identified themselves as being part of Rolland. More important was their identity towards the Valkyries, who in turn paid taxes to Rolland, and vaguely listened to their king and nobility.


    It didn¡¯t stop them from roaming all over, acting as [Knight Errants] for portions of the continent. However, their density increased the closer they got to Castle Valkyrie, and their obligations lay around the same area.


    Crossing into The Great Tang was easy. There was no such thing as a border patrol. Rolland serfs simply made way for Tang nong, rice paddies replaced wheat fields, and cultivators roamed the land, turning their nose up at the nong and cultivating in their sects, instead of knights galloping across the countryside, turning their nose up at the serf and training in their castles.


    It didn¡¯t work exactly like that, but it looked that way to Iona.


    The Great Tang wasn¡¯t just a fancy name for the country, a proud boast. The Tang sect had many reasons as to why they were "Great", but the simple truth of the matter was the country was huge. It stretched nearly two thousand miles, but Iona was lucky that Rolland - and the Valkyrie¡¯s headquarters - were sort of center-north of the Great Tang. The country touched eight other countries - all mortal - including Rolland, Nime, and Iona¡¯s destination, Dairalt.


    The Great Tang was also great in the diversity of species that lived there. Iona was no stranger to dinosaur-crested saurians or metal-wrapped dullahans, but humans were the predominant race in Rolland. The average village was filled with humans, and humans were the majority in most towns and cities.


    The Great Tang welcomed all mortals, and was a veritable melting pot of species. Individual sects and clans tended towards a single race, but no one race was in abundance over the rest.


    As Iona traveled across the width of the country, moving impossibly fast with her absurd stats, she got into a few spots of trouble. Her [Vow] wasn¡¯t just for when it was convenient - she was mandated to protect the weak. To face injustice. To right wrongs.


    Iona at full speed could probably make the trip in a week. It took her three months, and her exploits in the time would be the stuff that¡¯d keep bards busy for a year.


    Sigrun would pitch a small fit if she knew what Iona was getting up to. Her intention was for Iona to take a break, and not burnout, yet Iona was running around, busy as ever.


    For Iona, it was simply another spring. Another season. Another sketchbook filled with people and places, to add to the others when she got back to Castle Valkyrie. A diary, of sorts.


    The summer solstice that year fell on the night of two full moons. A sacred day, made doubly sacred by the event. Iona found the local church of the Tabernacle, and spent the day in prayer.


    Selene. Lunaris.


    Hey! Hope you¡¯re having a good day. An excellent night. Can¡¯t wait to look at the moons tonight! They¡¯re going to look gorgeous, I know it.


    An amused divine voice answered back.


    Why Iona! Are you saying that the moons don¡¯t look gorgeous at times?


    A second voice chimed in.


    Oh dear. How little faith she has!


    The two voices laughed, poking fun at Iona. She blew a raspberry at them, getting some looks from some of the [Priests] and other worshippers in the building. Iona carried on, undisturbed.


    Please protect my sister Valkyries.


    I hope Su Na manages to get a good harvest this year.


    I know you said it wasn¡¯t possible, but could you bring Lux back?


    Iona got warm feelings back from the goddesses. They¡¯d heard her. It was no guarantee of intervention, but they¡¯d heard her.


    Enough about me! How are you doing? Anything interesting going on? For me, I ended up in a small spot of bother with the Iron Sword Sect. I forced one of their disciples to stop beating a traveler, and he turned on me in a rage, trying to kill me. I killed him instead. Then his master showed up, and wouldn¡¯t stop, so I had to kill him. For whatever reason, the sect leader then came after me, and I tried to talk it out.


    Yeah, I ended up killing him as well.


    Then a bunch of elders popped up out of nowhere, and honestly, do all cultivators have a few screws loose?


    In our experience, yes. They do. Selene said.


    Well, most of them. The screwy ones die. The sane ones stick around. Lunaris chimed in.


    Well, then¡­


    Iona continued to spend the day in prayer, talking with the goddesses, and them talking back. Then as night fell - she had a particular affinity for that time of day, after her moniker - she made her way to the rooftop.


    On this day, the moons rose at exactly the same time the sun set, perfectly balanced and symmetrical. At the moment the sun touched the horizon, at the exact instant that the moons peeked over the edge of the planet, a pair of thunderous, divine voices hammered Iona with such force that she was forced to her knees, hands clutching her ears to try and quiet the voices.


    Selene and Lunaris were Speaking.


    "Well, since the two of you asked so nicely."


    Iona spent hours curled up in pain, her pleas to her patrons to explain what happened getting no response or answer.


    She remained that way until one of the priests found her, and tended to her.


    Iona took a short detour to visit the Five Flames. Nobody was quite sure of their origins. Scholars argued if the site was magical, divine, the result of an inscrutable enchantment from an ancient civilization, some Immortal pulling a prank, or just a huge scam by the sect running the place.


    Iona didn¡¯t think it was all that impressive. And that the name was something of a misnomer. There were only two eternally burning flames, a solid pillar of black Pyronox flames, and one of Fire. The Inferno, Ash, and Radiance ¡®flames¡¯ had been extinguished long ago.


    Or so the guide who Iona had to pay too much money to claimed. So much for being "eternal". Some empty spots suggested some truth to the matter, but Iona left the place feeling vaguely disappointed. Not before sketching the scene in her book.


    The terrain started to change, fewer and fewer farms turning into a more interesting mix as the temperature cooled. At first glance, it was all wild and untamed grasslands, but an experienced [Ecologist] - or anyone with passing knowledge of how the Republic of Dairalt worked - would know the truth. The grasslands were carefully cultivated by each gnoll tribe that lived in the area, giving an optimal grazing experience to the creatures they raised.


    Iona met briefly with the Kokaar tribe, fascinated by their herds of ankylosauruses. Nearly every member of the tribe had one as a companion, and they had a new stock they were preparing to sell.


    Or cull. Nearly everything they used came from the ankylosauruses. Their pots were hollowed-out tails, their needles carved from their bones. Their shields were overlapping scales, while their yurts were made from the soft belly leather. Eggs and meat were a staple, taken from the dinosaurs as the dinosaurs took from the carefully managed grasslands the tribe controlled.


    The tribe instantly liked Iona, her mastery of the tribe¡¯s own tongue - nevermind speaking Trader Talk or Sythria, the communal language of Dairalt - instantly cemented her as an honored guest.


    When they found out she had come to Dairalt in search of a companion, they tried to convince Iona that an ankylosaurus would be ideal.


    For a hefty price.


    "Fantastic armor, like you Valkyrie!" Yotrr said. "Powerful spikes, looks harmless until WHAM! Tail to the face! A land creature, like yourself. And ah, what wonderful bodies they have!"


    He gave Iona an appraising look.


    "Like you!"


    They were decent salesgnolls, but Iona wasn¡¯t convinced. The dinosaurs were slow, and they weren¡¯t exactly rare. It wasn¡¯t about rarity for Iona - she¡¯d take a common bear if it suited her well - but the lack of scarcity implied that Florence¡¯s Friends would have a number.


    "Ah, but look at them! Majestic animals, I¡¯d hate to tear one from the herd. It just wouldn¡¯t be right! I couldn¡¯t hope to bear upon your hospitality while working from an egg up, it would be far too much." Iona figured out how to gracefully decline, while making the gnolls feel good about themselves.


    A few sketches of the gnolls with their particular companions helped mollify them. They¡¯d seen themselves with the Mirror element before, but a sketch was a rare thing. Easy enough for Iona to [Draw], and worth more goodwill.


    She kept a few sketches for herself. Memories, a log of the places she¡¯d been and the people she¡¯d met.


    She got directions to Maral from them, the only true city in Dairalt. Headquarters of Florence¡¯s Friends.

 Chapter 273.2 - Major Interlude - Iona - Sigrun II

    Dairalt was not a wealthy country. The gnolls tended to be happy in their tribes, bonded with their companions, living their best life. The climate was cold, and the land not terribly wealthy. Would-be invaders were faced with harsh winters as well as powerful dinosaurs and beasts, backed by skills.


    It wasn¡¯t worth it.


    Dairalt didn¡¯t have much to offer the rest of the world, not until Florence¡¯s Friends. A group of gnolls from different tribes came together, based on their great love for animals. At the same time, they were a practical sort who knew that not every animal was most at home in the plains. That some animals would be happier in the wider world.


    They knew money and outside funding was needed.


    Such was the birth of Florence¡¯s Friends.


    They were stationary, and they expanded as external money flowed to them. They required infrastructure, and the city of Maral was born. Being a place most of the tribes had contact with, a place for resolving inter-tribe disputes emerged, and later, something resembling a government was formed.


    Iona smelled the place a full day before she got to the outskirts. Lumbering titanosauruses had thick blankets, larger than most houses, to protect them against the cold. A few [Massive Tenders] kept a wary eye on the eight of them, protecting them against the elements and poachers, and keeping people on the road safe.


    Iona craned her neck as she passed, watching the majestic beasts. They were like the brontosaurus the Valkyries used to have, before it died at Goblin¡¯s Death, but even larger. There were also a number of rock-like protrusions from its back, looking like natural armor. If there was a category after "massive", the sauropods would belong in it.


    Creatures needed space and land commensurate with their size. The titanosauruses required massive fields dedicated just to them, and it was nearly half a day before Iona saw diplodocus, the smaller sauropods having their own land.


    As Iona traveled along the road, the dinosaurs got smaller, more numerous, and closer together. Feed shacks popped up here and there, and the density of gnolls increased.


    Dinosaurs turned to other, more fantastical beasts as Iona continued along the road. Lion-headed, scorpion-tailed manticores were next to the pegasus, and the kelpies had a large pond to keep them happy.


    Before long, Iona was staring up at the headquarters of Florence¡¯s Friends. All manner of happy shrieks and cries came from the animals inside. The building itself was made out of polished bone, the remains of many titans artfully and expertly worked together to create a glorious-multilayered structure.


    The world¡¯s largest pet store. Building 01.


    The doors were wide open, and people were moving in and out. A city dweller buying cat food, a burly, way-too-hairy-to-be-fully human walking out with a hulking wolf nearly as large as he was. A full squad of dullahan warriors wrestled a stone egg onto a wagon, where it was swiftly chained down and thick canvas was thrown over it.


    Iona eyed their armor-skin, noting areas of grey paint over where standards and seals were normally kept. Someone was going through a large amount of effort to remain anonymous for whatever was in that egg.


    It wasn¡¯t hurting anyone, and it wasn¡¯t her business. Iona ignored them, and entered the store.


    Signs were plastered all over, in all of the common languages and nearly every uncommon one.


    "Bonding with a companion not guaranteed."


    It was a sobering reminder that finding a creature to use as a companion was the easy part. The connection was the hard part.


    Iona entered the store and looked around.


    Cats played on towers designed for them, while dogs raced and played with small dinosaurs. Some rabbits were in a heavily-warded enclosure, and Iona saw why as one of them hopped, then blinked forward.


    Scorpions were next to spiders. A gorgon, with her head covered, was examining a variety of snakes. All of them, from the common garden snake, to the deadly cobras and asps, all the way to the crested vipers and white snakes were interested in her, raised up and following her every motion.


    Was that a devil negotiating in good earnest with some poor [Florence¡¯s Friend¡¯s Floor Manager]? The manager had the advantage of a home turf and a narrow, specialized class for handling situations like this, while the devil, well.


    Had an eternity of negotiating and writing contracts. An eternity of reveling in the act of negotiation and contract-writing.


    Iona stared, having never seen an Immortal casually roaming around in mortal lands before. The Wardens didn¡¯t count - there¡¯d been nothing casual about their actions and motives. The demon she fought hadn¡¯t counted either. It was a pirate, and there was nothing casual about a life and death fight.


    The devil was shopping.


    Iona eventually tore her eyes away, and kept going. She needed to remind herself that Dairalt was on the edge of mortal lands, and bordered both Modu and Jurcor. Florence¡¯s Friends catered to more than just mortals, and by the Treaty of Kyowa, they were allowed. She carried on.


    Parrots were cawing next to sleeping owls, Oozlums flitted next to microraptors. Peacocks showed off their plumage, which offended a swan. The bird in question flashed back intricate colors, showing off her Mirage element.


    Iona continued to wander around, each creature and display more overwhelming than the next. A dozen [Handlers] ran around, feeding the animals, keeping them happy, and breaking up arguments.


    The second floor had endless rows of feed, from mundane hay, to live crickets and mice, all the way to rare slabs of meat, sold by the half-ton.


    The third floor had eggs, neatly labeled and organized in rows. Half were under heater lamps, while more were in stasis fields, keeping them well-preserved.


    Creatures that were harder to contain were here. Basilisks and Xuan¡¯wu, tyrannosaurus rex and thunderbirds, the rarest and most difficult creatures to keep only had a few eggs.


    There were a few gaps where powerful creatures had been purchased, and Florence¡¯s Friends hadn¡¯t been able to stock more quite yet.


    The floor had significant security, with most shoppers unable to wander among the eggs. Iona spent some time looking at the unhatched monsters, while reading a sign that indicated what they had. Before long, a member of the store approached her.


    "Hi! Can I help you!" A cheerful rabbitkin greeted Iona. It was clear to Iona that she was using one of the more subtle social skills - [Personable], a quick peek of her skills revealed.


    It also revealed her name, but people got weirded out when Iona called out their name before they introduced themselves.


    Iona didn¡¯t mind that Celery was using a social skill. They greased the world, and made things go smoothly. She had her own [Magnetic Charm] skill.


    With a flex of thought, Iona rearranged the Mallium that was omnipresent on her body, quickly creating the detailed wings by her ears that was the hallmark of the Valkyries.


    "Iona. Pleased to meet you." She extended her hand, shaking the rabbitkin¡¯s.


    "Oooh! A Valkyrie! I¡¯ve never seen one before! Can I touch?" She asked, reaching up to Iona¡¯s ears. Iona bent over some, letting the rabbitkin touch.


    "Wooooooooow. Oh! Where are my manners?! I¡¯m Celery!" The rabbitkin was energetic, constantly moving even though the two were just talking. "Are you looking for a steed?"


    "Yeah. Hopefully a companion?" Iona trailed off, not sure what terminology Florence¡¯s Friends used, and if "steeds" were the same as "companions" for them.


    "Oooh, right! Ok! You came to the right place! Florence¡¯s Friends is here for you!" Celery said. "Now! Steeds aren¡¯t quite the same as companions. You ride on steeds, and anything big enough can work as a steed. A companion¡¯s different! You need to be BEST FRIENDS with your companion, and you need to have the same temperament!"


    "Temperament?"


    "Yeah! Like, you¡¯re a great, big, fierce fighter, right? Strong Valkyrie, slaying goblins left and right? Pow! Pow!" Celery mimed swinging a greatsword around at the end.


    Iona clenched her jaw briefly, then relaxed it. Celery hadn¡¯t been there. Hadn¡¯t known. Didn¡¯t smell burning goblins in her sleep. To her, it was just a famous story.


    "Sure." Iona agreed, keeping her words curt to keep her emotions under a lid.


    "Well, something like a bunny isn¡¯t going to work." Celery said. "They¡¯re flighty prey animals. They¡¯re not big fighters. Snakes might not work either. You probably want a carnivore! Or a large herbivore. Moose can be mean."


    Celery was clearly making assumptions about Iona, but they weren¡¯t exactly wrong.


    "Something sneaky and clever like a fox might not work, but something big and strong like an anteosaurus could work! They just get right up in your face, and RAWR! Not even Lumornor can save you!"


    Iona had successfully come to Florence¡¯s Friends with a mostly open mind. She¡¯d gotten exposed to dozens of different animals over the years, but was willing to listen to the experts. She mentally shuffled her list around.


    "Is there anything you don¡¯t have here?" Iona asked. Celery sighed, a saleswoman having heard the same question a dozen times, and pointed to the board.


    "Out on those." She said, then frowned.


    "Hang on, we just sold our last cockatrice. Lemme fix that real fast."


    She made some lightning quick adjustments.


    "Ok! Sorry about that! We have everything else!"


    Iona scanned the board, noting a particularly powerful monster was missing from the "not in stock" list. One that, on first glance, would fit with her temperamentally, would work as a steed, and, important to Iona, was unlikely to die in a fight, or anytime soon.


    Iona also had experience with them.


    The only issue might be the price. The Valkyries had sent Iona with a ransom¡¯s worth of coin, anticipating sky-high prices for a proper companion. Iona had carefully guarded the coin, but even then, some of the prices she¡¯d seen already were out of reach.


    That was before upkeep and maintenance came into play. Feeding a creature was expensive, and the larger they got, the higher the price. Iona had spent too many years mucking out stables and throwing dinosaurs their dinner. She knew how much money it cost.


    "What¡¯s the temperament of a hydra like?" She asked. The Valkyries had one, and she had some idea of what hydras were like, but at the same time, that might¡¯ve just been that one hydra. Outliers were everywhere.


    "It depends on the hydra! They¡¯re cunning, vicious creatures, powerful lords of their domain! I hope I can meet one someday! They¡¯re soooo cool. It probably wouldn¡¯t want to be my friend."


    Celery¡¯s ears drooped, then perked back up.


    "Oh! But we don¡¯t carry hydras! They¡¯re too smart. It¡¯d be wrong. Could you imagine if we sold humans here? We¡¯re not Urwa." Celery gave Iona the evil eye, which on the rabbitkin just looked adorable. Iona wanted to pinch her cheeks - or do more - but kept on track.


    "I¡¯m a great, big, fierce warrior, like you said. I¡¯m straightforward, and I¡¯m a physical fighter and archer. What would you suggest for me?"


    Celery grabbed a carrot from a belt pouch, and started chewing.


    "Hmmmm." She thoughtfully munched around the vegetable. "Your primary element is Celestial, and that¡¯s just sooo rare. Usually only variants get Celestial. What¡¯s your other element?"


    Iona hesitated a moment, then figured it couldn¡¯t hurt that much. Not when dealing with something this important, and Celery seemed to genuinely want to help her.


    A paranoid part of Iona mentioned that nobody gave out information to untrustworthy people, but at the same time, Iona had used Ice arrows often enough that anyone paying attention would know her secondary element.


    "Ice." Iona said.


    "Oh! That¡¯s great! We¡¯re next to the pole, and we¡¯ve got a ton of Ice creatures! For you, the great big brawny fighter? A polar bear would be perfect!"


    Celery¡¯s ears drooped again.


    "But they have their cubs in the winter, and the only cub we have left is a runt. That, and it¡¯s been a few months. It¡¯s easiest to start working with a creature from the time they¡¯re born if you want a companion."


    Her ears perked up again.


    "But don¡¯t take the baby away from mom! They need their mom! It¡¯s cruel otherwise."


    Iona was finally forced to sidetrack a bit.


    "You care a lot about the animals. Yet you¡¯re ok selling them?"


    "Yup!" Celery cheerfully agreed. "Not every animal wants to be here." She leaned closer, and whispered conspiratorially to Iona. "Some of the cages are a bit too small."


    Iona quirked an eyebrow at that. She¡¯d seen some of the cages, and they¡¯d looked plenty roomy to her. Heck, the dogs had more square feet than the squire¡¯s rooms!


    "Either way, lots of these animals want to go out! See the world! They want to have a best friend as well! I help them do that, then everyone is happy! Plus, I get to spend my days surrounded by the most awesome creatures! It¡¯s a great job!"


    "Well, let¡¯s see the polar bear then!" Iona let Celery¡¯s infectious happiness get to her.


    The store was like an endless labyrinth. Celery guided Iona around, revealing endless rooms and hallways that Iona had somehow entirely missed the first time around - then exited the building, only to enter a different building.


    The second building was hot. The air was practically thick enough to drink, and murky, fenced-off ponds and soaring tropical trees was the order of the day. Nevermind that Dairalt was about as far south as possible, and chilly even in the summer. Florence¡¯s Friends spared no expense on nice habitats for their animals.


    They left that building, and kept going, navigating through numerous buildings and environments, creatures that didn¡¯t easily graze in the grasslands.


    Finally, they got to the polar bears. Iona took one look at the runt, and had serious doubts.


    "He¡¯s¡­ kinda runty." Iona observed. She¡¯d never seen a polar bear before, but even to her untrained eye, the bear was less than impressive.


    Her blessing to look at System-granted stats and skills was equally disappointing.


    "I know, poor thing." Celery looked from Iona to the runt, and back.


    "Actually¡­ I¡¯m not sure if your temperaments would work well. Or if he¡¯d be a good steed." She frankly admitted.


    "Well, what else do you have? Any Ice or Celestial casters?"


    Celery laughed.


    "A Celestial caster! Oh, I wish! No, but we¡¯ve got some Ice casters. Want to see?"


    "Sure! Lead the way!"


    The first candidate was a scorpion, encased entirely in Ice armor, cold enough that Iona felt a chill. Iona and Celery both agreed it was unlikely to be a good fit, although Iona was more than impressed when she peeked at what skills it had, and just how many stats it was running. The second was a crafty fox, happily munching on rabbits, snowflakes dancing around its pure white fur. It was close, and Iona and Celery agreed that it was a strong candidate, even if the temperament might not be exactly there. A quick, nimble carnivore that had no issues attacking? Quite a few marks in the "yes" column.


    Almost all of the fox¡¯s skills were strong, or had the potential to become powerful.


    [Heart Hearts] was a weird skill though. Something about finding the tastiest hearts to eat, and making them all the more delicious?


    However, it didn¡¯t punch up, and it liked using tricks and cleverness to get what it wanted - namely, more rabbits. Iona mentally quibbled a bit - she thought the fox knew exactly what it wanted from life and worked hard to get it, just like she did.


    It went into the "maybe" column.


    Iona spent some time imagining working with the fox. It could easily wrap around her neck, or balance on her broad shoulders. It could hunt with her, play with her, and Iona could easily imagine lazy hours spent drawing, while the fox gnawed on a favorite¡­ heart?


    Foxy got upgraded to the "probably" column.


    A fat caterpillar that lazed around and ate was instantly rejected by both Iona and Celery, and the poor rabbitkin berated herself for even suggesting it.


    "Oh! We¡¯ve got a mammoth!" Celery eagerly bounded through the store, Iona following until they left the building. A dozen fields navigated later, and Iona was looking at a small herd of mammoths.


    "That one! There!" Celery pointed to one of the baby mammoths. To Iona¡¯s untrained eye, he looked just like the rest of them. However, looking through their statuses showed the truth - the mammoth in question was a full-blown [Mage].


    "They¡¯re not super aggressive, but once they get in a fight, watch out! Boom! Pam! Wham! Those tusks are nasty, and they¡¯ve got a powerful charge! Their snouts are clever and nimble! And look at how heavy they are! They can smush anything, and their fur is like armor!"


    Celery was a canny [Salesrabbit]. She knew how to make a deal, without coming off greasy or pressuring, which improved her chances of success.


    Iona looked at the mammoth, and tried to imagine riding one.


    It was easy. She could sit behind the head, and use a lance or bow easily, from a dominant position high above everyone else. On the ground, she could cover the mammoth¡¯s weaknesses, and the mammoth could cover hers. Her biggest concern would be overheating the poor animal. Armor was hot and heavy, and that was before the animal¡¯s massive fur coat was taken into account.


    Yet, a caster - an Ice caster - should be able to keep themselves cool.


    "How much?" Iona asked, and Celery named a price. Iona felt her heart plunge into her boots.


    She didn¡¯t have that much.


    She didn¡¯t have nearly that much.


    "Too much?" Celery asked.


    "A bit. Are all mammoths that much?"


    Celery shook her head.


    "No, casters tend to cost ten to fifty times as much. This one¡¯s twenty times, given how strong its class appears to be."


    Iona winced at the price.


    She hadn¡¯t known.


    "If I wanted a caster companion, what would you suggest?" Iona had an idea in her mind, and she wanted to chase it down to its logical conclusion. She wasn¡¯t going to let a little bit of adversity get in her way.


    If it failed though? She had no problems changing track, and getting a more physically-inclined creature to work with. Her blessing was a little unfair in that respect. She could see exactly how powerful a creature was, and what skills they had, and pick the best of the lot.


    Celery chewed thoughtfully on another carrot.


    "Well¡­ What¡¯s your budget?"


    Iona gave the top end of what she had.


    "Mmmm. The fox isn¡¯t in that range. She¡¯s more expensive than the mammoth."


    "Why¡¯s that?"


    "Adorable Ice fox? Some noble is going to pay waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much money to get her for his daughter. We¡¯ll probably need to send someone to make sure it all goes well."


    Celery frowned and kicked a rock.


    "Nobles keep us in business, but have the woooooooooooorst track records. At least with you, I know you¡¯ll keep the animal doing what it loves, even if it¡¯s risking its life."


    Celery thought for a moment more.


    "Well, there¡¯s always the wilderness."


    "Oh?"


    "Yeah, if you want an Ice caster, Modu¡¯s right next to us, frozen pole and all! The conditions are terribly harsh! Unfit for beastkin or human! The animals love it though. It¡¯s where we send our hunting teams for Ice and snow creatures."


    Celery nodded absent-mindedly.


    "Yup, yup. They¡¯re so happy down there where it¡¯s cold. Oh! You could also poke around the tribes, and see if any of their creatures are casters. They usually bring them here though. Too hard to sell out there."


    Iona thought about it.


    It sounded like her options were a non-caster creature of some sort, or visit the frozen wastes and give hunting a caster down a shot.


    Florence¡¯s Friends weren¡¯t going anywhere. If seeking out an animal in the wilderness didn¡¯t work out, she could just head back and pick up an animal. It¡¯d take some time, but Iona had time - and orders to take it easy.


    A few weeks in the wilderness sounded like a "break" - one that Sigrun would approve of - while keeping Iona busy and on the move. Staying still wasn¡¯t in her nature.


    Plus, they were currently out of polar bears, and the idea of one appealed to Iona. They seemed to be an exact match for her, and were large enough to be a steed, while powerful warriors in their own right.


    "If I wanted to try my luck in the wilderness, how would I go about it?" Iona asked. "Also, are there special rules for entering Modu?"


    The ice giants ruled Modu, but Iona knew the rules for entering the country were lax, in spite of it being on the mortal-Immortal border. The Tabernacle¡¯s primary place of worship was located inside Modu, and Iona knew pilgrims had no issues visiting the place.


    Visiting the Tabernacle¡¯s primary temple was on Iona¡¯s lifetime bucket list. She¡¯d love to be able to pray to Selene and Lunaris from there.


    "If you¡¯re going to the arctic? Don¡¯t wreck their stuff." Celery shrugged. "That¡¯s what the hunters have said. For making a friend? It¡¯s like making a friend anywhere! Play with them! Hang out with them! Talk with them! If they like you, they¡¯ll hang out, and if they don¡¯t, they¡¯ll maul you to death! Careful though, their roughhousing and ¡®shred to pieces¡¯ look really similar!"


    Iona chatted with Celery for a while. Celery didn¡¯t seem to care at all that Iona wasn¡¯t buying anything today from Florence¡¯s Friends, simply happy to guide Iona towards TRUE FRIENDSHIP!!!!


    With four exclamation points.


    "Oh! One last thing!" Celery said as they were wrapping up. "Once you get your new BEST FRIEND FOREVER come back and see us! We can help you get the basics down!"


    Unsaid - for a modest fee. Iona didn¡¯t mind though, it¡¯d be worth it dozens of times over.


    "Of course I will!"


    Their business mostly concluded, Iona moved on, and gave Celery her best [Charming] smile.


    "Would you be interested in spending the night together?"


    Celery¡¯s ears perked up briefly, then went flat.


    "Oh. OH! Um. No thank you."


    Iona shrugged.


    "Alright, no worries! Thank you again!"


    Iona found an inn, and spent the night drawing all manner of fantastical creatures she¡¯d seen that day. It took up dozens of pages in her notebook, nearly filling it entirely.


    At the end, she drew Celery, then went to sleep, preparing to visit Immortal lands for the first time in her life.


    The arctic wastes of Modu.

 Chapter 274.1 - Major Interlude - Iona - Sigrun III

    It took Iona ten days, moving at high speed, to get from Maral down to the frozen arctic wastes of Modu.


    Iona passed numerous tribes as she traveled, sharing a quick meal with some, spending the night with others, and being mistrustfully thrown out of more. The gnolls in those tribes were convinced that Iona was there to steal from them, either their food or their companions.


    Iona had basic wilderness survival knowledge, but took every chance to learn from the local gnolls how to best survive the harsh, cold conditions.


    In spite of it being the height of summer, snow covered the ground as Iona moved into the tundra, then finally into the permafrost. She got in the habit of wearing her full armor at all times, which had the interesting effect of slowing her down.


    Armor was hot and heavy, and between all the layers Iona had and the Mallium covering her, exerting herself too hard risked overheating if she kept going at high intensity for too long.


    Iona paused when her feet hit ice for the first time, with the ground disappearing into endless white in front of her.


    The frost giants claimed all that which was covered by ice. Iona still wasn¡¯t a fan of Immortals, although she supposed the Treaty of Kyowa disallowed most Immortals in mortal lands - not the reverse. Mortals were tolerated in Immortal lands, as long as they didn¡¯t screw up some Immortal''s thousand-year plan.


    Or accidentally chop down some tree that was being groomed for its descendent to have the exact right shade of wood for a sculptor, or some other crazy Immortal scheme.


    A number of Immortals even liked having a mortal workforce around, although none would ever reach a position of power. Immortals were also known to visit the Maple Orphanages now and then, and recruit a hundred kids for some task or another.


    Training up a smith to have a very specific skill was a bit hit or miss. Training a hundred smiths wasn¡¯t that much more expensive, and made the odds of success significantly higher. Orphans needed a place to go, and all in all it was a mutually beneficial arrangement. Mostly.


    Iona had severe doubts that it was all that benevolent, although Maples was well-funded from former kids who¡¯d made their way in the world.


    She chewed on her lip, refusing to acknowledge that maybe, just maybe, Immortals could do some good. Sometimes. Even if by accident.


    Figuring there was nothing to be gained by just standing in an open field, Iona took the first step into Modu.


    It was anticlimactic. Just a soft crunch as Iona¡¯s weight crashed through the thin ice. She put one step in front of the next, slowly ascending the polar cap of ice. Applying her will to the Mallium, Iona changed her boots, adding spikes to keep her stable on the ice.


    Life rapidly withered away, choked under the smothering layers of frozen water. Iona was unsure how anything could survive out here.


    Yet, as time passed and Iona¡¯s rations dwindled, signs of life she saw indeed. Snowgrass thrived in the environment, the plant having figured out how to survive the harsh conditions when nothing else could. The pet project of an Immortal [Botanist] thousands of years ago, still thriving to this day.


    It formed the foundation of the grand food web that gave life to the inhospitable environment. Elk, mice, rabbits, and more grazed on the grasses, foxes and ice wyrms preyed on them, and the circle of life continued.


    Iona stayed well clear of any signs of civilization. The ice giants liked their castles made of ice, built large enough to accommodate them while throwing blinding light all over. Iona even saw a few in the distance, deep blue flesh glancing out from white furs as the giants went about their daily lives.


    Iona carefully avoided killing anything, instead acting more like a scavenger, or a vulture. When a pack of wolves brought down an elk, Iona brazenly waltzed over. The wolves growled at her, and she growled back.


    One of them lunged for her, and she casually backhanded it. She put enough force in the blow to show that she was serious, but not so much as to harm the wolf. It would¡¯ve defeated the purpose of avoiding killing.


    After all, if the elk was some prized specimen of a frost giant, it wasn¡¯t Iona who had killed it. It was the wolves, nature itself.


    Most of the pack circled her, investigating this strange, bipedal, metal-clad monster that had intruded upon them. Iona stood up tall, showing off her size and attempting to assert dominance, then slowly walked towards the carcass.


    Two stragglers were busy chowing down on the elk, determined to get their fill before the rest of the pack made a decision.


    The wolves snapped and barked at her, but were unwilling to engage in a life-or-death fight. The two gluttons scattered away from the elk¡¯s body as Iona arrived. She grabbed her trusty axe, and with three sharp swings, liberated half the ribs.


    Iona took her prize and left, the wolves descending upon the remains like¡­ well, wolves.


    Iona spent time traveling. Following the elk, seeing the southern lights. Encountering rare and fantastical plants.


    Seeing the Reverse Glacier. A gigantic block of slowly moving ice, that reflected the reverse.


    A beautiful field of summer flowers, with the moons up in the night sky reflected in the glacier. Iona was reflected as an elf, wearing cotton robes with dark hair. Her axe turned into a quill, and her fingers were stained with ink. A gaggle of children surrounded her.


    A strange, magical place. The value of seeing what one magical object thought was the opposite?


    Questionable. Not exactly worth a full journey on its own, but if it was on the way, well¡­


    A few days later, she encountered the great lake. Somehow, the vast expanse of water wasn¡¯t frozen, in spite of being on a bed of ice a mile thick, and was the second source of life in the arctic.


    Iona had only learned of most of the animals recently because of Florence¡¯s Friends. Seals and walruses lounged on the shores of the lake, while penguins waddled in herds.


    If Iona was going to find a polar bear, this would be the place.


    First was shelter. While the summer wasn¡¯t supposed to have the vicious storms that plagued the area the rest of the year, it never hurt to have a bolt-hole. Reshaping her Mallium, Iona created a crude ice pick and shovel, and got to work.


    After securing her shelter - and stocking it with the well-preserved body of a walrus, who¡¯d died to injuries sustained in a fight for dominance - Iona went wandering.


    She tracked penguins up until the point they dove into the water. She watched the seals play, their energy infectious. Wolverines slunk around, hunting hares, and lean big cats hunted, keeping herds healthy by preying on the slow, the weak, and the sick.


    Iona was warm in her armor, but she knew if she got wet, if she fell into the water, she¡¯d be in serious trouble. Not only would the water steal her heat, not only were there creatures in the water that occasionally caused mass exoduses, but there was a risk of everything just freezing.


    Iona was strong.


    She wasn¡¯t stronger than Gaia, than Mother Nature herself, and refused to pit herself against the elements that way.


    There was no night, not during the summer. Iona was sensitive to the needs of her body - all the better to ignore them in a fight - and slept in her little hidey hole when she thought it was appropriate. She could go for days on end without rest, thanks to her training, stats, and most importantly [Strength from the Stars], but why marathon needlessly?


    Iona spent far too long getting breakfast together. The walrus was frozen solid, which perfectly preserved it and made it safe to eat, even if Iona had no vitality. However, it was frozen solid, and Iona didn¡¯t have an easy way to thaw it.


    She did it the hard way. Cutting off a piece, and chewing on it until that bite thawed, then moving on.


    Iona had her fill, then carefully exited.


    There was a new crowd in the area, a herd of wooly rhinos. Iona climbed to the top of a small hill, to better see and not be in the way of the creatures.


    Iona was all too aware that they were wild beasts. They could turn on her in a second.


    Not an exact temperament fit, but Alruna had bonded with a triceratops. It wasn¡¯t like temperament was the end all be all. The idea of a wooly rhino was tugging on Iona¡¯s heartstrings. She¡¯d spent years around Alruna¡¯s triceratops, and her death at Valkyrie¡¯s End was a harsh blow to her mentor, and Iona. A wooly rhino was close in some respects, and far away enough in others. Both had strong natural armor that the Valkyries could augment. Both were herbivorous quadrupeds, with a business front.


    Iona had gotten the vast majority of her training on Trikey, and most of it would transfer over.


    Yeah, a wooly rhino would work well. Iona thought she might even go for one of the rhinos here and now, her divine blessing giving her a perfect look at the creature¡¯s stats and skills, and letting her easily determine which creatures were the cream of the crop.


    The beasts didn¡¯t look like they were going anywhere in a hurry.


    She darted back to her hidey-hole, grabbed her notebook, and headed back to her outpost. She went back to scanning the wooly rhinos, taking extensive notes.


    Iona already had two candidates among the younger rhinos. One caster, and the second had unusually high stats for its level, indicating high-quality classes.


    Iona was writing down the details of what she¡¯d seen. A shadow crossed the sun, and Iona looked up after finishing the word she was writing.


    Too late.

 Chapter 274.2 - Major Interlude - Iona - Sigrun III

    With a deafening cry that scattered the animals present, a wyvern landed with enough force to crack the mile-thick ice, partially landing on Iona.


    Iona jumped out of the way at the last moment, but didn¡¯t quite make it. The wyvern¡¯s hindlegs slammed down on Iona¡¯s lower left leg, utterly crushing and pulverizing it.


    Her head slammed into the powdery snow, almost instantly cracking itself on the ice underneath and dazing her.


    The wyvern blasted the wooly rhinos with a frost beam, hitting an arbitrary member of the herd and freezing it solid as the rest of the beasts scattered. The wyvern¡¯s claws closed around Iona, cracking bones and cutting Iona open as it sheared through her armor like it wasn¡¯t there. The wyvern hopped forward, grabbing the frozen beast with its other foot, then taking off once again.


    Iona was only still alive thanks to her ever-present armor, reinforced by [Celestial Armaments], and her [Stellar Body]-boosted vitality. Otherwise, instead of being dazed and concussed, Iona¡¯s head would¡¯ve split open like a watermelon.


    Iona rapidly got her bearings back, but they were already in the air, the wyvern flying back to her nest.


    Iona liked her chances dropping from the absurd heights the wyvern flew at. The alternative was getting to the monster¡¯s nest. Her arms were pinned against her side, but with a clever flick, she dislodged her axe from where it rested on her hip, the enchantments on the weapon snapping it to her hand.


    She didn¡¯t immediately attack the wyvern, no. She peeked at its levels, stats, and skills, looking for weaknesses to exploit, or conditional skills to avoid.


    A weaker woman would¡¯ve given up then.


    Level 1045.


    Ice. Mirror. Dark. All three elements were leaning towards magic and mage skills, the wyvern trusting in its own innate body and power to handle physical problems, and skills and magic to cover everything else.


    The Ice let the ice wyvern live in the harsh climate, gave her a powerful breath attack, and let it half-merge into snowstorms. The Mirror protected her, reinforcing her scales against harm and reflecting attacks back, along with granting small empowerments. [You are what you eat] looked to be an absurd skill. Her Dark element both gave her some small measure of disguise, along with empowering her teeth and claws, and cutting through wind and air to fly faster.


    The only odd skill was [Titanic Appetite], at only level 40.


    Titanic Appetite: You greedy wanna-be dragon you! Devouring all that you see, from the moment you hatched until now, nothing can stop or sate you. You¡¯ve got a bad habit of eating your prey as quickly as possible, and sometimes, they fight back! Take this skill, and turn your stomach into an inescapable cage, making any damage dealt to you appear on your still-struggling food instead. Increased activation time after eating per level.


    Iona was doomed.


    There was no point in struggling. The wyvern was too strong.


    There was no point in not struggling. It wasn¡¯t like the wyvern wouldn¡¯t kill and eat Iona.


    Wrapped in the monster¡¯s claws, Iona tried to hack at the talons holding her. The angle was bad, and it was the wyvern¡¯s claws. Innately powerful and tough, before skills and stats reinforced them.


    Iona tried to use [Moon¡¯s Descent], flickering the skill on and off to change her weight, hoping to destabilize the monster and fall out.


    She liked her chances in surviving from a fall, versus single combat against the wyvern.


    The wyvern didn¡¯t even notice her attempts. It was casually carrying an entire wooly rhino next to her. Iona¡¯s weight, even amplified, didn¡¯t come close.


    Iona was still in her armor. After looking at how she was being held, she tried to get her armor to "push" her out, leaving the armor behind as she tried to "slide" out of the wyvern¡¯s grasp.


    The wyvern noticed that, and flexed its claws a little tighter.


    From her point of view.


    From Iona¡¯s? The air exploded out of her lungs as she was ruthlessly crushed, a talon casually piercing her skill-reinforced armor and digging deep into her hip.


    A trail of blood trickled out of Iona, falling and freezing on its way to the ground. Bloody hail, marking her path.


    Iona struggled to breathe, but got nowhere against the wyvern. Darkness encroached on her vision, the world turning to a single point.


    Then Iona was falling, gasping for air, but with still enough presence of mind to activate [Snowflake Drift] and [Celestial Armaments].


    She hit the ground, instinctively trying to roll to bleed the speed. Her leg, crushed by the wyvern landing then mauled by its claws, failed Iona entirely and she collapsed on the ice.


    Reforming her Mallium armor to work as a brace, Iona scrambled back to her feet. As she formed a shield to go with her axe, she saw that she was in the wyvern¡¯s nest, high upon a mountain. Frozen bones were scattered about, and a number of eggs were covered in a light layer of snow.


    The wyvern landed heavily in front of Iona.


    She screamed defiance at the beast, raising her axe for one last mortal battle. Determined to go down fighting. Determined to get in at least one solid blow on the wyvern.


    The wyvern eyed Iona, and in one sharp snap of her toothy mouth, ate Iona whole.


    For Iona, the world went from the too-bright sun reflecting unhindered off of snow, to the dark, warm mass of the wyvern¡¯s mouth. The wyvern bit down, and all the parts of Iona that were outside of her jaws - everything from the knees down, and her left hand - got chomped off as the wyvern swallowed, compressing Iona as she went down the hatch.


    She held onto her trusty axe, trying to dig it into the wyvern, trying to use it as an ice pick to stop her descent down the esophagus.


    The blade bounced off the powerful muscles that were squeezing Iona, forcing her down, instead a long, bloody, vertical gash appeared on Iona¡¯s neck.


    With a splash, Iona was launched head-first in pitch darkness into a burning pool, the Valkyrie getting an intimate look at how wyvern digestion worked.


    The acid burned, getting through the small cracks and chinks in Iona¡¯s armor. Fortunately, it was "merely" concentrated, natural digestive acids, and not something deadlier.


    Iona managed to hold what little breath she had left though.


    Iona flipped herself around in the pool, then pushed off the bottom. Her stumps screamed in protest, and Iona found that the stomach acid formed a deeper pool than what she could "stand" in.


    It was a moot point. There wasn¡¯t any air to breathe in the stomach anyways, and suffocation would get Iona before the stomach acid dissolved her.


    The wyvern¡¯s belly was home to total darkness. There wasn¡¯t the smallest mote of light that a skill or vitality could amplify, letting Iona see what was going on. She had to rely purely on touch, and that particular sense was currently going "AHHHH I''M BEING MELTED ALIVE!!!"


    Iona was reminded of the [Titanic Appetite] skill that she¡¯d seen. If she tried lashing out, she¡¯d simply harm herself, instead of doing anything to the wyvern. Her throat was a reminder of that.


    No, Iona needed to find another way out. She used her axe to feel along the edges of the stomach, both below the acid dissolving her flesh and above.


    She was surrounded by powerful walls of flesh. A tight ring of muscles was at the bottom of the stomach, the esophagus was closed above her, and there was a deep, barely-scabbed over wound along one wall. The same injury, Iona speculated, that got the wyvern the [Titanic Appetite] skill.


    Up was impossible, and Iona would die of suffocation before getting digested and pooped out, even if she could somehow get to the next part.


    Iona stayed calm, even as a primal part of her was starting to panic. She came to a realization.


    [Titanic Appetite] was a low-level skill. It acted on a time basis.


    She must¡¯ve been down long enough by now, right? Iona didn¡¯t have the time to make small, careful, experimental cuts.


    She took a mighty swing at the already-existing injury, blanching as a deep cut opened along her own belly, acid finding a new injury to pour into and burn her from the inside.


    Iona tried to have patience, but the urgency of the situation had her swinging again.


    Not quite as powerful. Iona¡¯s efforts were rewarded with a shallow slice across her stomach.


    She spent a moment sending a quick prayer off to her goddesses, finding the activity soothing and relaxing, along with taking up time.


    Just what she needed.


    Selene. Lunaris.


    I¡¯m dead. See you soon.


    The goddesses finally spoke back, after the long silence since the solstice. Their voices were weak and far-off, like they¡¯d run a marathon and were exhausted.


    You got this.


    Fight!


    Iona felt strength fill her. Not from the goddesses, nothing so divine. Just in the sheer belief and support from someone close to her.


    Iona was missing her left hand, but she used Mallium to make a crude substitute, letting her wield her axe in a two-handed grip.


    Her lungs were burning, screaming for air. Iona exhaled a hair, to relieve the pain, but didn¡¯t dare inhale. It¡¯d just make it worse.


    She sank down to the bottom of the stomach, acid closing over her head, then once she hit the bottom she flexed her hip. Iona erupted up out of the acid, like some ambush predator.


    A third time her axe came down on the barely-healed injury, this time breaking through and opening it up.


    Iona went into a mad frenzy, chopping and hacking against the tough, powerful muscles, breaking open arteries and hacking through connective tissue. She pushed herself forward, letting the flesh close around her as acid trickled in behind her. It ate the wyvern¡¯s flesh just as readily as Iona¡¯s.


    She could tell the wyvern was in discomfort and pain, and that she was making headway. The entire world flipped and spun around Iona as she continued hacking away.


    In five hacks she was at the heart - not that Iona could see it. She just knew whatever she was slicing at next was moving furiously.


    She hit it with her axe until it stopped moving. She kept going, pushing through flesh and hacking anything she could reach as her empty lungs screamed for something, anything.


    The feedback she got from her axe changed, Iona clearly cutting through something else as black spots impossibly swam in her sightless eyes.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve slain a [Frost Wyvern (Ice,1045)]//[Frost Wyvern (Dark, 893)]//[Frost Wyvern (Mirror, 832 )]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [The Dusk Valkyrie] has leveled up to level 435->520! +20 Free Stats, +100 Strength, +100 Dexterity, +100 Speed, +180 Vitality, +20 Mana, +110 Mana Regen, +10 Magic power, +10 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! For reaching level 512, you¡¯ve unlocked your third class!]


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked [Adult of Pallos - Earth]!]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Adult of Pallos] has leveled up to level 1->8!]


    Iona ignored the rest of her notifications, including her Ice class level ups. Normally she¡¯d be thrilled that she¡¯d reached level 512, and gotten her third class. It was the great dividing line that marked her as an elite.


    Iona was a bit busy staying alive.


    The wyvern was dead. The fleshy cavern Iona was in was just that - pure flesh. As the wyvern died, all of its vitality passively boosting it, all of its strength vanished. Iona tore through the body like tissue paper, gasping in relief as she burst through its lungs, and got a breath of air.


    Stale air, but air.


    From there, Iona tried to hack her way out. It was simple enough until she reached the ribcage. The monster¡¯s sturdy bones resisted all of Iona¡¯s efforts to break them, and she was reminded that wyvern bones were some of the strongest materials in existence. She¡¯d only managed to get through the scales because Iona was taking them apart from the inside. She managed to slice a hole to outside, breathing her fill of the crisp cold air.


    It took some time to hack herself out. Finally, coated in blood and gore, great billows of steam from the heat meeting the cold, Iona emerged from the carcass.


    Iona collapsed. Exhaustion threatened to overcome her and make her pass out and sleep. She resisted the pull, knowing that if she slept coated in liquid in the freezing environment, that she¡¯d never wake up again.


    She dragged herself to her - well, not her feet - the stubs where her legs ended, and drank the blood pouring out of the wyvern. It was pooling in a small depression. She sliced a piece off for herself, and ate it, feeling the unnatural warmth spread through her.


    The frost wyvern, for all it lived in a freezing environment with Ice classes, had run hot. Its blood was near boiling, and enough of it poured out to form a proper liquid pool, briefly mimicking a hot pool.


    Iona was freezing "standing up", the harsh winds on the mountain peak stealing away all her heat. She sank into the literal bloodbath, figuring the problem of "how to get out of here" and "how to dry myself" would be better handled while warm.


    She was already soaked. Getting soaked again wouldn¡¯t change a thing.


    Dragons were the god¡¯s greatest creation, bar none. The gods had experimented many, many times, trying all manner of different creatures, iterating on their designs before hitting the perfect formula for the grandest of all monsters.


    Wyverns were a half-step below dragons. They were almost there. Not quite. They shared quite a few properties though.


    Like, for example, their blood. Bathing in wyvern¡¯s blood wasn¡¯t the same as bathing in dragon¡¯s blood, and it was a horrendous waste of precious material. [Merchants], [Traders], and [Hunters] would have conniptions if they saw how the blood was being used, let alone the rest of the body being left there.


    Bathing in wyvern¡¯s blood made the body innately tougher. It didn¡¯t touch the System, it didn¡¯t grant vitality or anything. It just made the body more.


    It was a waste, considering what else wyvern¡¯s blood could be used for. Crystalized, it made for weak mana storage, like Arcanite. It couldn¡¯t hold mana in the same space to mana ratio, but it was possible to get more wyvern¡¯s blood, as opposed to Arcanite. Used as ink, inscriptions and enchantments would take millennium to wear away, even without self-repair portions included. That was before the hundreds of potions and elixirs that called for it as an ingredient, or the weapons improved by quenching them in the precious substance during their forging.


    Sadly, [Princess]-detection was reserved solely for dragon¡¯s blood.


    The other thing wyvern¡¯s blood did when bathed in was help slightly with the recipient¡¯s connection to the wyvern¡¯s own elements. Luckily, the creature Iona had slain was Ice-aligned, promising her future class-ups with the element would be just a tad stronger.


    A single scale flaked off of the frost wyvern¡¯s body, landing right over Iona¡¯s heart. Covering that spot so no more blood reached it.


    Iona considered leaving it there. She didn¡¯t know about wyvern¡¯s blood, and she was exhausted. To her, it was simply a warm place to briefly recuperate and think.


    The scale offended her sensibilities though, and she absent-mindedly picked it off.


    Iona was dying. She had no legs. She had one hand. She had dozens of broken bones, countless strains and tears, her body was one gigantic bruise, and that was before the deep lacerations that criss-crossed her body, or the repeated dunking in acid she¡¯d just undergone.


    Slowly, but Black Crow was watching her, taking one hop at a time closer to her. Ready for when she inevitably succumbed to the combination of the environment and her injuries.


    Iona needed every last edge she could manage. Any little bit that could help her survive. She allocated every single free stat she had.


    She wasn¡¯t at a temple, but the place would have to do. She leaned her head back on the edge of the blood pool, changing her armor around to act as additional supports for herself.


    She closed her eyes, and entered into the world of her soul.

 Chapter 274.3 - Major Interlude - Iona - Sigrun III

    "Fast. Best class for me?" Iona asked her guide the moment she arrived. She expected a weak, weak healer class - she¡¯d get in all sorts of trouble long term for it, but she¡¯d be alive enough to GET in trouble - or some sort of wilderness survival class. Something like [Wounded Warrior of the Modu Wastes].


    Her guide was her, and knew everything that was going on. Iona had complete faith in her guide¡¯s ability to pick the right class for her. With a snap of her fingers, they arrived at an altar.


    "Here." She gestured.


    Iona didn¡¯t waste a moment, getting down on her knees to pray. Still, she noted a dozen details, even as she started her class selection.


    The braziers were burning blue. The moons were etched into the relief above the altar, and a pair of familiar statues flanked the place of worship.


    Iona opened her eyes to a string of notifications.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve upgraded your third class - [Paladin of the Moons] - Gravity]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Paladin of the Moons] has leveled up to level 8->30! +50 Strength, +50 Dexterity, +50 Speed, +80 Vitality, +40 Mana, +40 Mana Regen, +100 Magic power, +100 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Mana, +1 Vitality from your Element per level!]


    She couldn¡¯t believe it. The goddesses had chosen her to be their [Paladin].


    At the same time, she could. Rare was the individual who¡¯d been blessed by their gods, who didn¡¯t get offered a class related to it.


    Iona closed her eyes, sending off a quick prayer of thanks.


    Lunaris. Selene.


    Thank you. I will repay your trust.


    She didn¡¯t have much more to say, simply sending warm feelings their way.


    She spent half a second looking at her new class. Gravity element, and it looked to be a spellsword. She¡¯d need to use her magic just as much as her physical prowess.


    There was another notification waiting for her, obtained while she was in the world of her soul.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Ice Affinity] has upgraded to [Ice Authority]!]


    Iona lifted her head up, intending to get out of the pool. She was rudely jerked back down, as her blood-soaked hair had frozen solid to the cold ice below.


    In the moment she¡¯d rested her head against the ice, her blood-drenched hair had frozen solid to the ice. With a roar, Iona ripped herself from the ice. She then twisted around, and crawling, using her arms to move the rest of her body, dragging her stumps behind her, she hauled herself out of the pool.


    Or tried to at least. Blood on ice was one of the slipperiest combinations possible, and Iona was hurt. She didn¡¯t have a good grip, or good leverage. With a splash, she slid back into the bloodbath.


    The most valuable skill Iona had immediately unlocked was [Telekinesis]. The ability to use her meager magic power and mana to move objects around.


    Well, meager for her level. Significant for the tasks she needed to perform.


    Iona reformed her Mallium to act as a claw-ice pick combo, and with a scream, slammed it into the bloody ice. Using [Telekinesis] on the rest of her armor, she gave herself a minor lift, negating gravity¡¯s pull on her just a bit. Roughly a quarter of her weight.


    It was enough. She was able to drag herself out of the blood as her mana pool rapidly drained. She accepted the notification that was presented to her.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Snowflake Drift] has moved from [Traveling Archer] to [Paladin of the Moons] and turned into [Flight of the Valkyries]!]


    Iona got to work.


    The wyvern¡¯s body represented a large fortune. Iona couldn¡¯t carry out even a fraction, and was more concerned with survival. Her legs still ended at her knees, and she was still one-handed.


    With some effort, she got her Mallium to rearrange itself, making crude prosthetics. They didn¡¯t work well, and they cooled rapidly, transmitting the cold directly to Iona¡¯s bones. Every step, every move with them sent pain lancing through her, [Chilled Mind] taking the edge off.


    They also thinned her armor to the point where it was nearly worthless, and forget about forming a shield. The only value Iona¡¯s armor had at this point was to be a basis for [Celestial Armaments], which could reinforce it.


    Iona was forced to move slowly. Her collection of injuries was impressive, and she found herself using her newfound Gravity skills more and more to make simple, mundane things happen.


    Shelter was the first task. She used the wyvern¡¯s body, where it lay, along with the natural formation of the nest as the start of a shelter. Hacking off one of the wyvern¡¯s wings let Iona encase the area entirely, keeping the elements off her.


    It also kept the heat in, roiling waves of heat coming off of the wyvern¡¯s spilled blood. The arctic conditions were trying to freeze it, but for now it was a source of warmth.


    However, it wouldn¡¯t be able to warm Iona forever. Nor would the flesh that she cut off and ate raw stay warm the entire way back home, even if she could, by some divine miracle, carry it all.


    No, she¡¯d need her armor to keep her warm, and she didn¡¯t have enough of it. Not enough to walk on prosthetics and keep the heat in.


    Iona improvised.


    Using her hands and [Telekinesis], she ripped scales off the wyvern¡¯s body, then carefully placed it on her armor. She reformed her Mallium around each piece, the wyvern scales giving bulk to the armor, along with being fantastic protection and insulation themselves.


    Piece by piece Iona reformed her protection. With the basics secured - food, shelter, water from melting ice and a plan to not immediately freeze to death, Iona took a much-needed rest.


    She was woken up by the sound of breaking eggs. She got up with a start, and moved as quickly as she could over.


    Her hundreds of injuries were slowing her down. She moved too quickly, and the gashes on her stomach opened up, Iona¡¯s bright red blood mixing with the wyvern¡¯s blue. Every inch of her skin screamed, protesting any movements after having been bathed in acid, after having been digested and corroded away. Her hip didn¡¯t work properly, and that was before her crude prosthetics were causing problems.


    The eggs were hatching.


    The first snout broke through the egg, but Iona had no mercy. She wasn¡¯t going to pit herself against more wyverns. She wasn¡¯t going to let the monsters grow up to become larger threats one day.


    She wasn¡¯t going to let them all hatch, then outnumber her thirteen to one. She was too weak.


    Wyverns were, fundamentally, beasts. Animals. Her [Vow] didn¡¯t apply when it came to extermination missions.


    At least, that¡¯s how Iona saw things.


    The first and last thing the baby wyvern saw was Iona¡¯s axe descending upon its head.


    One by one Iona smashed the eggs, smothering the wyverns before they even had a chance.


    Iona got to the last egg right as the baby finished fully hatching. She raised her axe up high, then hesitated. Seeing something in the baby¡¯s eyes.


    Her heart wavered, then softened, a plan rapidly forming.


    One baby wyvern was manageable. She didn¡¯t think it¡¯d successfully kill her, not with Iona¡¯s stats and levels.


    Iona was also a dead woman walking. She was deep in the frozen wastes of Modu, on top of a mountain. A mountain that a wyvern lived on, one among many. She had an entire mountain range to traverse, then she needed to cross the entire frozen wasteland of Modu while crippled, hoping that one injury or another of hers didn¡¯t finish her off, or attract predators that sensed weakness.


    With no food. She could only carry so much of the wyvern¡¯s meat, and that was on top of needing to climb and scale cliffs one handed, no-footed, while carrying the food.


    In other words. A dead woman who hadn¡¯t stopped moving yet.


    The wyvern was looking around, already demonstrating signs of unusual intelligence.


    Iona saw hope and promise in the wyvern¡¯s eyes.


    She could bond with it.


    Protect it.


    There was a difference in perspective with her [Vow]. A beast, that was potentially a threat to her? Fair game.


    A helpless baby that Iona had chosen to protect and defend?


    Well. That was a different story. A trick of perspective.


    It would let Iona¡¯s [Vow] kick in, giving her a gigantic edge against the threats that roamed, while having a partner that radiated threat, who could sense other creatures in the wilderness. Whose very nature could drive off problems.


    Iona quickly hacked off a piece of the infant wyvern she¡¯d just killed, then extended it to the newly hatched one. The last remaining wyvern.


    It sniffed at Iona¡¯s hand, then snapped, devouring its sibling without a shred of remorse. Iona hacked a piece of leg off of the dead wyvern who¡¯d almost killed her. The mother of all the eggs here.


    The baby wyvern ate the meat without a shred of complaint, looking at Iona with measuring, hungry eyes. Recognizing Iona as a source, a giver, of food. Wanting more.


    "Fenrir." Iona whispered, petting the wyvern. "Your name shall be Fenrir."


    [Name: Iona][Race: Human][Age: 22][Mana: 96,753/129,880][Mana Regen: 99,066] Stats[Free Stats: 0][Strength: 33,220 +(403,623)][Dexterity: 33,220 +(403,623)][Vitality: 61,732 +(160,503)][Speed: 36,655 +(445,358)][Mana: 12,988][Mana Regeneration: 39,464][Magic Power: 10,451][Magic Control: 10,451] [Class 1: [The Dusk Valkyrie - Celestial: Lv 520]][Celestial Affinity: 508][New Moon''s Dance: 488][Weapon Mastery: 475][Strength from the Stars: 520][Celestial Armaments: 520][: ][Stellar Body: 520][Gaze of the Galaxy: 420] [Class 2: [Traveling Archer - Ice: Lv 370]][Ice Authority: 370][Shortbow Skills: 365][Blizzard Shot: 360][Chilled Mind: 370][Trick Shot: 357][Ice Arrow Conjuration: 358][Glacial Slow: 370][: ] [Class 3: Paladin of the Moons - Gravity: Lv 30]][Gravity Affinity: 15][Telekinesis: 18][Lunaris''s Gaze: 2][Lunar Mass: 30][Flight of the Valkyries: 30][Eclipse Strike: 1][Selene''s Grace: 1][Harmony of the Spheres: 1] General Skills[Drawing: 190][Valkyries Valor: 520][Adaptable: 366][Tracking: 244][Vow of Iona to Lux: 405][Magnetic Charm: 190][Comprehensive Education: 282][Dinosaur Husbandry: 290] OtherBlessing of Selene and Lunaris

 Chapter 275 - Auri Anxiety I

    I looked down at the little demanding hatchling, her voice much louder than her size would suggest.


    ¡°BRRPT! BRRPT!¡± She continued to demand, screaming for her needs to get met.


    I smiled as I gently stroked her wet head, already feeling warm, loving emotions flow through me.


    In this moment, it was all worth it. From Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair, through the wilderness with the elves, the shimagu, and now back at home, keeping the egg warm and safe had been worth every second, every hit I took while I chose to shield the egg - Auri - instead of me.


    I had some minor alarm bells going off in the back of my head. Quite frankly, while the elves had been great at giving me an education on how to raise all sorts of creatures, I wasn¡¯t prepared in the slightest. I didn¡¯t have a home base arranged, I didn¡¯t have a bed prepared - not for myself, let alone Auri! - I didn¡¯t have a wide selection of foods.


    Heck, the most important piece of the puzzle - knowing what I was hatching - was also missing! She [Long-Range Identify]¡¯d as a [Hatchling], pure white of course, which meant she was highly intelligent. I wouldn¡¯t be able to harm her without triggering [Oath]¡¯s penalty. She¡¯d [Identify] as an [Artisan] or something when she grew up, and not as a monster.


    Which, long term, was great! She wasn¡¯t going to be a bird brain. I¡¯d gotten strong evidence that companions could communicate on a deeper level with each other, and a smart bird would be a much better conversationalist.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡­ if she could ever figure out a word beside ¡°brpt¡±.


    Short term? I wasn¡¯t thrilled. Not knowing what she was made figuring out what to feed her tricky.


    The only thing that stopped panic from entirely overwhelming me was Wolfy. He was an expert on companions, and was on loan from Bossman. He¡¯d mentioned going to get food, and the dude could move when he wanted to.


    Moon - just the white wolf of the Moonmoon pair - came loping over a moment later, grinning the happy wolf grin with a basket in her mouth. I was suddenly reminded of Cordamo and Sasha.


    Moonmoon were still wolves. They still had the instinct to hunt and kill, and it was woven into their very nature just as it was a part of Cordamo¡¯s nature. I couldn¡¯t blame them for that, anymore than I could blame myself for walking on two legs and devouring mangos whenever I saw them.


    At the same time, I had to protect Auri. ¡°Oops, I wasn¡¯t careful enough and a wolf ate her¡± wouldn¡¯t bring her back. I had insane healing, but that was predicated on my patient being alive enough to get healed. Chomp snap gulp was a dead bird, and my healing wouldn¡¯t work there.


    Not unless, like, she was eaten whole and surviving inside. Then I could slice Moonmoon up, grab Auri from the inside, then heal both of them up. Hurray for formative childhood trauma!


    Focus.


    I wrapped Auri in [Mantle of the Stars], leaving holes for her to breathe. With the amount of noise the ugly grey hatchling was making, she needed the air.


    ¡°Good boy, Moony.¡± I petted the wolf in question as he arrived, dropping the basket at my feet. Moon looked happy at the scritches, his tongue lolling out.


    ¡°Can you scout around and guard?¡± I asked her, and she barked an affirmative. Or, at least, I assumed it was one.


    I felt good. Managed to get Moon away from Auri - just in case - without viciously insulting her or anything. A small social win!


    There was no time to waste. Wolfy had mentioned that minutes were critical in the early stage.


    I expanded the shield to a full half-dome with some air holes, then I flipped open the basket that Moon had brought.


    I blinked at the two coins on top of a few handfuls of unshucked wheat. How had Wolfy managed to find unshucked wheat in town, and bought it so fast? And what was with the money?


    Focus.


    That wasn¡¯t important.


    I sat down cross-legged, holding Auri in one hand, and picking out a single grain of wheat with the other. I started to bring it to her head, then froze.


    The grain was bigger than her eye, and babies weren¡¯t known for their good judgement, or their ability to chew things and not choke.


    Auri was oblivious to my musings, and she saw the seed near her head. She grabbed onto the wheat with her beak, trying to wrestle the food away from me.


    It¡¯d be adorable if it wasn¡¯t so dangerous. Sure, with my System-enhanced body, Auri had no chance of success, but the seed could easily choke the life out of her, snuff her out before her life had even begun.


    No, I needed some way of mashing the seeds into a -


    The coins!


    Bless Wolfy. I might¡¯ve been able to do it with my fingers, thinking about it, but the coins made it easier.


    I held Auri with one hand away from me. The poor hungry baby bird was trying to get the little grain I was holding, entirely oblivious to the dangers of choking.


    ¡°BRRPT! BRRRPT!¡± She objected to being pulled away from the grain, straining against my hand to try and escape. I could feel her tiny little wings beating frantically inside my hand. She was so small, it was hard to contain her properly. There wasn¡¯t a way to make a choke - her entire body was tiny - and if I squeezed too hard?


    POP went the Auri.


    Working quickly, I put a few grains between the two coins, and ground them together, turning the wheat into a really shitty flour.


    I loved the hideous little ball of mess I was holding, but I was not going to regurgitate food for her. Nope. Nuh-uhn. Only if all else failed.


    The other Moon, dark as night, showed up with a basket. I gave him a glance, then refocused on what I was currently doing.


    I needed to pay attention to this. Any mistake here could spell disaster, either for Auri, or for our chance to bond.


    I carefully tipped some of the ¡°flour¡± into Auri¡¯s open beak. It got all over, but importantly, some went down the hatch.


    ¡°Brrpt! BRRRPPT!!¡± She kept demanding more though. No surprise.


    I flickered my shield, changing it from a half-dome - ¡°full shield mode¡± - to an Auri-only holed sphere - ¡°Auri protection bubble¡±. Moon trotted over with his basket, and put it down.


    ¡°Good boy.¡± I quickly gave him a scratch. Needed to pay attention to Auri, who was quite loudly demanding my tender care. ¡°Can you find Wolfy and see if he needs you for anything else?¡±


    I swear Moon tried to salute, then bounded off in that lupine way. The other Moon half-tackled him as he found his best friend, and the two tussled for half a second before remembering that, oops, they had jobs to do.


    Heh. Goofballs.


    I changed the shield back to full shield mode.


    I flipped the basket open with my foot while I ground up a new set of wheat grains for Auri to eat.


    ¡°BRRRPT!¡±


    I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. This would be so much easier if she wasn¡¯t screaming in my ear non-stop like a broken klaxon.


    I opened my eyes and checked on my loot.


    My eyes widened as I saw holy mangos mixed in with a few other fruits, and a waterskin. I paused a moment, then refocused.


    Baby bird. Needs food.


    I dumped another mess of flour over Auri, wishing for a bowl. Then I could catch the spilled flour - it was in the majority - and retry it with Auri.


    The baskets I had were no good for that. Too many nooks and crannies.


    All the flour was incredibly dry though, and every living thing needed water.


    ¡°BRRPT!¡±


    I hesitated a moment.


    Right? I couldn¡¯t think of anything that didn¡¯t drink water. Even Lun¡¯Kat seemed to have a great big pool of bathing/drinking water, and while the System seemed to allow creatures to bypass some biological needs at times, everything started with the System locked. The only thing giving me a moment¡¯s pause was the explosion of fire that¡¯d erupted when Auri hatched, along with the huge amount of heat needed to hatch her.


    Well, that¡¯s what [Hatchling Rearing] was for I guess. I grabbed the waterskin and gently brought it near Auri¡¯s demanding beak.


    The skill didn¡¯t twig one way or another, and I half-shrugged to myself, tipping the waterskin over to give Auri a small drink.


    My idea of a ¡°small drink¡± was still a bit too much for the bird, who went silent as she tried to handle all the water. A disturbing gurgling noise came from her, as water splashed all around.


    I frantically - carefully, if I made a mistake I could accidentally kill Auri, even before my System buffs came into play - held Auri upside down, helping the poor bird with her water woes.


    Quickly enough she recovered.


    ¡°BRPT! BRPT! BRRRRRRRRRPT!¡± ¡­and resumed demanding that I FEED HER! And flip her back up the right way.


    I carefully rotated her back, and figured I¡¯d try feeding her something else.


    I grabbed a handful of blueberries - not the mango - and carefully juggled it and Auri.


    I was a bit of a mess. I needed one hand to hold the berries, one to catch the juice, and one to hold Auri. That was one hand too many.


    Inspiration struck. I flickered my shield, and made a complicated construct.


    The full shield dome was still up, but part of it snaked over to where Auri and I were sitting down. I formed the end into a little funnel, right over my hand where Auri was.


    I moved Auri out of the way.


    ¡°Brrpt! Brrrpt!¡±


    I could try to feed the blueberries directly to Auri, but that seemed like a bad idea in a million ways. She was a baby. She didn¡¯t have anything resembling common sense, and was entirely reliant on me to keep her safe and fed.


    Which included making sure everything she ate was safe, and had no way of accidentally killing her or something. Blueberries were a perfect choking-sized fruit, and I didn¡¯t trust myself to heimlich a baby bird successfully. Nor did I want to risk trying to heal Auri through whatever trauma would be needed to save her.


    Like. ¡°Hi Auri! I ripped out your throat minutes into meeting you!¡± wouldn¡¯t be conducive towards a long and fruitful relationship.


    I didn¡¯t have a good way of turning the berries into juice, besides just popping them with my fingers. I didn¡¯t even need stats to mash blueberries into a paste! I did have a modest amount of strength, but¡­ they were blueberries.


    ¡°Brrpt! Brrrpt!¡± Auri was hurrying me along. Her crying was grating. I had to remind myself that she was a new, starving baby, and didn¡¯t know any better.


    I mashed a bunch on the edge of the funnel I¡¯d made with [Mantle], letting the juices collect and start trickling down. I examined them closely, occasionally picking out a particularly large piece of mush that represented potential choking hazards, and as the trickles came together, I put Auri underneath.


    She took a little sip of the juices, then practically glued herself to the funnel.


    I made a mental note. Fruit juice - specifically blueberry - was a success!


    It was possible that it was only the sweetness she was after, and it was actually terrible for her. I had to make some assumptions, and take some risks here. Birds often liked fruits. Auri liked the fruit. It was likely that whatever Auri was ate fruits.


    My logic seemed sound.


    I was quickly running out of blueberries though. Wolfy hadn¡¯t sent a ton, opting for speed and a variety of things to send my way, versus quantity of any one thing. Like the wheat had been a bit of a bust.


    Speaking of, didn¡¯t birds need to eat rocks or something? For their gizzard?


    I put that problem aside. I¡¯d tackle it once I thought I could feed Auri successfully.


    I looked at the fruit, and took a deep breath.


    Time to make the Ultimate Sacrifice. Time to see if Auri and I were compatible on the deepest levels or not.


    Time to see if Auri liked mangos.


    A small part of me whispered that if Auri disliked mangos, there were more for me. I ruthlessly squashed that idea. If she didn¡¯t like mangos, how close were we really? How well would we understand each other?


    I grabbed the one mango, carefully positioned it over the funnel, and squeezed, putting all my strength into it, carefully controlling it with my dexterity.


    The mango bulged and deformed as my fingers sank into it, precious, delicious ambrosia dripping down my fingers to the blueberry-stained funnel. It mixed with the first fruit, the blueberries tainting blessed perfection, before finishing its trip to Auri.


    She went nuts.


    ¡°BRRPT! BRRPT! BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRPT!¡± She called out, half-gargling the mango juice.


    YES! She liked mangos! More than that, it looked like she LOVED mangos!


    ¡°Auri, I see us having a long, long friendship together.¡± I smiled at her.


    ¡°Brrrrrrpt!¡± She seemed to agree - although translating bird was hard - gargling more mango juice as she tried to talk and drink at the same time.


    Hmmm. She needed some lessons. I thought back to mom, and did my best to channel her.


    ¡°Now, no talking with your mouth full.¡± I used my best ¡®motherly¡¯ voice, cracking a smile.


    [*ding!* [Hatchling Rearing] has leveled up! 88 -> 89!]


    I¡¯d be able to introduce mom to Auri soon! I couldn¡¯t wait!


    Oooh, maybe I¡¯d wind her up a bit. ¡°Hey Mom! I¡¯m back! I had a fling with a hot dude, and now I¡¯ve got a daughter!¡±


    She¡¯d flip. It¡¯d be hilarious.


    ¡°Elaine! How¡¯s it going?¡± Wolfy jogged over, Moonmoon at his heels. He drew short at the edge of my shield.


    ¡°Wolfy! Great! Thank you so much! She¡¯s loving the fruits!¡±


    He knocked on my shield, hefting a bag and a closed hand.


    ¡°Excellent! More supplies for you?¡± He somehow turned the statement into a question.


    Also, he was looking at - oh damnit, I was still completely naked from when Auri hatched and burned everything.


    ¡°Tell me there¡¯s a spare tunic in there.¡±


    ¡°Brrrrpt!¡±


    Wolfy nodded furiously.


    ¡°Also a spare tent and other camping supplies. Caught a bunch of insects on my way over.¡±


    Wolfy sat down next to me as I snapped my shield back up. With a few jerks of his head, Moonmoon went off to do something. Probably keep our campsite secure.


    Bah. The reality of needing to camp again was just hitting me. It was extra-insulting that I was camping right next to the city walls - I was in the cleared area around them. Warm beds and real roofs were just a few meters away.


    But nooo, Auri had to hatch in a baptism of fire, and it was too dangerous to let her in town. If she pulled that stunt off again, a large part of town would burn down.


    My comfort wasn¡¯t worth risking everyone¡¯s lives. Downside of this whole Sentinel business.


    The mango juice ran out, and I quickly changed, putting Auri down for the first time ever. In a [Mantle of the Stars] shield, but still.


    ¡°Brrpt?!¡± I ignored Auri¡¯s complaint.


    Insects were a good idea from Wolfy, although I wasn¡¯t looking forward to mashing them up for Auri.


    Oh right, the coins!


    I juggled the insects, Auri, coins, and funnel while Wolfy got busy setting up a campsite. Bless having minions. How did I ever survive on my own without them?


    I crushed up the bugs Wolfy had gotten. Spiders, flies, and other such nuisances, then pulling a face, poured them down the funnel. Auri happily ate them all.


    I really, really hoped that she¡¯d grow up quickly. I didn¡¯t mind bugs too much - heck, I¡¯d eaten extra-large spiders for months to survive - but there was something different about grinding them up, then pouring the guts around.


    Auri gobbled up the last bits of food.


    ¡°Brrrrrrpt.¡± She said, seemingly content. She then had a poop explosion, and pitched forward in her soiled egg, basically passing out to sleep.


    Wolfy and I looked down, and I cracked a grin while he chuckled.


    ¡°Poor bird.¡±


    ¡°Auri.¡± I said. ¡°Her name¡¯s Auri.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a pretty name.¡±

 Chapter 276 - Auri Anxiety II

    ¡°Thanks! I think Auri¡¯s a pretty name as well! Can you acquire nest supplies?¡±


    Wolfy whistled, and Moonmoon went scampering off.


    ¡°Can I touch?¡± Wolfy asked, and I looked at Auri¡¯s sleeping form.


    ¡°She¡¯s had a rough hatching¡­ when she wakes up, sure!¡±


    Wolfy and I traded a few stories of our respective adventures. He¡¯d gotten in a rough fight against a heavyweight Ash mage-warrior, who used ashen limbs like an octopus to punch people. She¡¯d left the fight after declaring it boring, chowing down on soup of all things.


    ¡°Had to call in a Sentinel.¡±


    ¡°She left you all alive?¡± I asked, somewhat incredulously.


    Wolfy nodded.


    ¡°Seemed to be after good fights, and nothing else.¡±


    Well, it took all sorts, and the normal people didn¡¯t make it into our stories.


    Meanwhile, I was able to expand on my elven adventures while Moonmoon brought us small sticks, the wolves practically tip-toeing to keep the delicate sticks and twigs from breaking. We soon assembled¡­


    Well.


    I wanted to call it a nest, but it was more of a gigantic mess.


    ¡°Can you do a supply run in town?¡± I asked Wolfly. ¡°More fruits, and some cheap fabrics?¡±


    Wolfy grinned.


    ¡°Sure! Anything to stay busy.¡±


    ¡°So you don¡¯t have to work the investigation?¡± I drily asked.


    ¡°Exactly! You know me so well!¡±


    I rolled my eyes, but Wolfy got the stuff, letting me tend to - and protect - Auri.


    ¡°Let me grab a pinch of sand.¡± Wolfy said after his latest supply run.


    ¡°Yeah, birds need some, and sand seems harmless if we¡¯re wrong.¡± I agreed.


    Frankly, we only had a modest idea of what we were doing. For all I knew, birds didn¡¯t need rocks for their gizzard until they were older, especially since we were doing the pre-digestion by mashing up Auri¡¯s food for her.


    It went alright, and Auri woke up again, brrrrrpting for more food.


    I was pleased to see that mango seemed to be her favorite, but to be fair, we hadn¡¯t exactly been able to provide her with a wide variety.


    She woke up a few more times, but we were ready this time. Fruits were pre-squeezed into little pots, and bugs were already mashed. I kept offering water, and Auri managed to figure out how to drink.


    She was inhaling food at a prodigious rate. Every hour or so she¡¯d wake up, eat what seemed to be a quarter of her weight in food, then go back to sleep.


    Night falling, and my own desire for sleep didn¡¯t stop her in the slightest. Every time I started to drift off - ¡°BRRRRRRPT!¡± came her demanding cries for food and attention.


    Time started to blur weirdly. The sheer unchanging monotony of what I was doing, combined with the constantly interrupted sleep, and the never-ending vigilance quickly put me into a weird frame of mind.


    ¡°BRRRRRRPT!¡± Came Auri¡¯s demanding cry in the middle of the night. I groaned as I rolled over, head pounding, and hit myself with a dose of [Sunrise]. I immediately woke up, and half-cursed myself.


    [Sunrise] was great, but it also meant I wasn¡¯t going to get back to sleep anytime soon. I¡¯d drift off right as Auri was inclined to wake up and want more.


    Wolfy, curse him eight different ways, just rolled over in his bedroll and pulled the blankets over his head. Practically sleeping like a baby.


    Except no. The baby in the tent was the one sleeping terribly, and waking everyone else up.


    I blearily grabbed Auri, grabbed a pot of mango juice, and sleepily put the two of them together. She drank her fill, and I put the mango juice back in Auri¡¯s nest, and put Auri back where the mango juice belonged.


    ¡°Brrpt?!¡±


    Hang on.


    The mango juice shouldn¡¯t be chirping.


    I blinked, realizing my mistake, and swapped the two.


    ¡°Brrrpt! Brrrpt!¡± She happily cheeped at me, flapping her proto-wings in delight. I couldn¡¯t help but smile.


    ¡°Brrrrpt!¡± She tumbled right out of the nest, proto-wings flapping in a vain attempt to grab some air.


    I wasn¡¯t sure on the timeline of when birds left the nest, but Auri was way too young, and, I suspected, something of an idiot. My hand flashed out, and carefully, gently, caught her on the way down.


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡± Auri seemed to think me catching her was great fun.


    ¡°Now now. We¡¯re trying to sleep. It¡¯s sleep time.¡± I put Auri back in the nest, and she promptly flung herself right back out.


    ¡°Bbbbbbbrrrpt!¡± She called out as she fell, wings flapping manically.


    Of course I caught her, and gave her a half-evil eye.


    She¡¯s just a baby. She doesn¡¯t know better. She¡¯s not trying to be a pain. Don¡¯t shake the baby. I repeated the mantra in my head.


    I took the nest down from where we¡¯d jerry-rigged a few sticks to make a small ¡°tree¡±, and put it on the ground. If Auri was going to be jumping out of her nest, I was going to make it a little safer.


    Intellectually, I knew that one day she¡¯d need to be jumping out of the nest and practicing flying herself. However, I worried. I didn¡¯t think now was the time.


    Auri promptly hopped out, and tried to eat a small pebble.


    ¡°No! That¡¯s not food!¡± I quickly swept the choking-sized rock out of her way.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± I swear Auri was making an annoyed noise at me, as she continued to chase down the choking hazard.


    On one hand, I wanted to let Auri listen to her instincts. She might need real rocks for her gizzard after all, damn the sand we poured down her throat.


    On the other? That rock was too big to go down her throat. She was a bird-brained baby. I didn¡¯t expect intelligent choices, and the elven lessons on ¡°don¡¯t let the baby companion kill themselves¡± was fresh on my mind. Auri was proving them correct once again.


    I was feeling better about our chances as we successfully completed the first few days. However, Auri didn¡¯t stop trying to kill herself. She started being able to walk around, and we¡¯d let her, since keeping her permanently confined seemed like a poor choice for her development.


    Naturally, she tried to throw herself under our feet when we walked around. At one point, she got to the edge of the water barrel, and threw herself in.


    Fortunately I was constantly watching, and immediately rescued her as she flat-out sank.


    ¡°You have no talent for swimming do you?¡± I asked her rhetorically.


    ¡°BrRrRrRrRrRrrrrrrpt.¡± Auri shivered, her r¡¯s rolling. I carefully, carefully applied some Radiance to dry her off and heat her up, all too aware that a tiny twitch, a minor loss of self control, and BLAP no more Auri.


    She also tried to throw herself in the fire, brrrrrrrrpting pitifully when I snagged her and stopped her attempts at self-immolation.


    She did snuggle nicely into my hand after I caught her.


    ¡°Brrrrrpppppptttttttt.¡± She contently chirped as I warmed her with Radiance after her latest attempt. I smiled at her.


    I did get a pinch of campfire ashes for her, and she seemed to like playing with them, getting herself utterly filthy in the process. I could only laugh, roll my eyes, and clean her up after.


    A week passed, and Auri grew. Molted downy feathers dried off, then slowly turned into colorful feathers. Her beak stayed thin, but it grew longer and longer, as her wings and tail filled in.


    She looked exactly like a hummingbird. If it wasn¡¯t for her tag being [Fledgeling], I¡¯d assume she was one.


    Well. That, and being in a place of honor in Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair, and hatching in an inferno of flames. She hadn¡¯t shown too many indications of fire since then, but something was up. She was more than just a hummingbird, but what was the big question.


    The other suggestion that something was up was Auri wasn¡¯t doing too well. Auri was slowing down. She wasn¡¯t moving as much, or as energetically.


    It came to a head one day when Auri decided that blueberry juice wasn¡¯t tasty anymore.


    ¡°Auri¡¯s dying.¡± I voiced my fears out loud. Wolfy frowned.


    ¡°Maybe? She¡¯s not doing great.¡± He hedged.


    ¡°Look, I¡¯m the healer here. This is almost classic failure to thrive. Happens in human babies.¡±


    ¡°Well, what¡¯s the cure for human babies?¡±


    I frowned.


    ¡°It¡¯s either organic or non-organic.¡±


    ¡°That means nothing to me.¡±


    I glared at Wolfy, who gave me his best wide-eyed innocent ¡°oh me?¡± look. Moonmoon in the background giving the same look twisted my mouth into a wry smile.


    ¡°Ok. The simple version is: either it¡¯s the wrong food or we¡¯re feeding her wrong.¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re the boss, but could it be something else instead?¡± Wolfy asked.


    I held my hand out flat in front of me and wiggled it.


    ¡°Maybe? I¡¯m not going to discount anything, but let¡¯s try a few different things first. Can you get some honey? And while you¡¯re at it¡­¡±


    I listed off a few more things for Wolfy to grab. He made himself scarce, and for good measure, I blasted Auri with as much healing power as I could.


    Honey could be bad for human babies, but the concerns were over infections. Right now, infection was waaaaaaaaaaaaay down on my list of potential problems, and I could always heal it.


    No, with starvation being an issue I was going to throw everything I had at that problem, and handle secondary problems as they arose.


    My efficiencies were terrible across the board, but Auri was tiny, and I had power and mana to spare. I healed a dragon for crying out loud, a slightly ill tiny bird was nothing.


    Nothing happened though, so whatever was ailing the little grey bird wasn¡¯t something my healing magic could tackle. I was more convinced that Auri¡¯s problems were food and starvation related.


    Wolfy was back in no time.


    ¡°Right, first thing. Auri looks like a hummingbird, so I¡¯m going to try honey in water in various concentrations. Also going to try boiling off some of the water from the juices, then cooling them off to concentrate the sugar.¡± I explained to Wolfy as I started carefully measuring out honey and sugar.


    ¡°Makes sense. Oh! By the way. Another Ranger team¡¯s in town. They caught up to us while we were on break.¡± Wolfy paused, looking uncharacteristically nervous.


    I was a little focused on Auri and her issues.


    ¡°What is it? Spit it out.¡± I demanded.


    ¡°Bossman¡¯s hoping you¡¯ll raid their coin stash instead of ours!¡± Wolfy quickly belted out. I rolled my eyes.


    ¡°Yeah, sure, no problem. Let me know when and where.¡±


    Wolfy looked relieved. Like I¡¯d leave them hanging.


    Bah.


    I fed the various concentrations of honey to Auri, along with the concentrated fruit juice. To each of them, Auri only took a few sips, before giving me a sad ¡°brpt.¡±


    I persisted for two more days, Auri slowly fading.


    ¡°I wish I knew what was wrong!¡± I cried out in frustration, wanting to throw something but not wanting to disturb Auri. She was sleeping in my hands. I wanted to keep her close, in case being near me helped somehow. I was also constantly pushing healing through her.


    ¡°I mean, let me help.¡± Wolfy said. ¡°Tell me what she is, and we¡¯ll figure it out.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± I cried out in frustration.


    ¡°Well, where did you get her?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t - can¡¯t - tell you.¡± I gritted my teeth.


    ¡°Well¡­ think about where you got her. What was it like?¡± Wolfly prompted me.


    I was kinda mad, but at the same time, if it had been almost anyone else in the Ranger team, they wouldn¡¯t feel free to prod me, and sometimes I needed prodding.


    Where did I get her?


    Easy. In a dragon¡¯s lair. Part of her collection of eggs, from everywhere. Every creature under the sun.


    She obviously wasn¡¯t a dragon, and could be literally anything that Lun¡¯Kat could get her hands on. Given that Lun¡¯Kat was keeping fairies and angels as mood lighting, I didn¡¯t think there were many creatures that could escape her.


    Auri hatched from an egg, and was clearly related to birds, if not a bird herself. I¡¯d been treating her like a bird. That train of thought seemed like a dead end.


    Lun¡¯Kat had massive collections of everything. Almost everything was well laid-out. Could I figure out her organizational system for the eggs, and figure out what Auri was from there?


    Well, the bulk of the organization was moot. Auri had been snatched from the place of honor, from the nine eggs front and center of the egg collection.


    Except they hadn¡¯t been nine eggs had they? There¡¯d been a unicorn foal there.


    And a tree pot.


    I was getting stuck on the sapling and the foal. There hadn¡¯t been any other baby animals stuck in suspension in the egg collection. What made those special?


    Well. Unicorns were special, and I could see why Lun¡¯Kat would want one. But were unicorns so super extra rainbow special that they were the only creatures to get non-eggs?


    And the sapling. How the hell had a sapling made the cut?


    How could unicorns be extra special? What made them different from everything else, that a foal made the cut into the extra-special segment when nothing else did?


    Actually - was that a question worth focusing on when I needed to fix Auri? Shouldn¡¯t I be focusing on something else?


    Eh¡­ I had time to puzzle stuff out. If I got too far off track I¡¯d circle back to Auri and the eggs I found her with.


    Unicorns. What did I know about unicorns?


    Well, a whole lot of Earth mythology, and not a ton else. I¡¯d seen Asura during the Guardian battle against Lun¡¯Kat, and all the magic she¡¯d cast. I¡¯d also seen Etalix, the dinosaur we venerated in Remus, along with Galeru, Yarok -


    Wait.


    Yurok, the Plague.


    A treant.


    A baby treant would look just like a sapling, wouldn¡¯t it?


    The sapling for Yurok.


    The unicorn foal for Asura.


    Did it work for the rest of the Guardians?


    Let¡¯s see¡­


    There was the nearly see-through egg, with a dinosaur inside. It had a long, crocodile-like jaw, and seemed to be a shoo-in for Etalix if I wanted to stretch things that way. It was a bit weird that the spinosaurus eggs Aegion had gotten and we¡¯d eaten hadn¡¯t looked like that, but then again, they¡¯d been unfertilized eggs, and we¡¯d eaten yolk and white, and not a nearly-born baby dinosaur. That could explain the difference.


    I had no idea about the Celestial egg. It was in a place of glory even among the frontrunners, but none of the Guardians I¡¯d seen had Celestial vibes. It also wasn¡¯t Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s egg.


    One strike against the Guardian theory. I suppose some of the Guardians might not have shown up though? Or hadn¡¯t shown up by the time I left? It was a bit of a stretch, but not a huge one. I was willing to keep entertaining the theory.


    Next was the leathery egg with green lightning, and I remembered that snakes tended to have leathery eggs. Galeru was a master of green lightning, and I was starting to feel kind of dumb here. How had I missed this!?


    I skipped the aquarium. Whatever came out of that was aquatic, and I hadn¡¯t seen any deep-sea creatures. We¡¯d kinda been in a mountain range.


    I wasn¡¯t going to discount high level sea creatures being able to get up and walk on land, but I was willing to give it a pass.


    Although! I had seen something open up a portal, and a ton of water and sealife had exploded through! Score one point for ¡°Not all the guardians were there¡± - there¡¯d been that aborted message - and one point for ¡°There¡¯d clearly been an aquatic guardian that tried to show up!¡±


    Then, if I made the quick assumption that the egg that looked like a two-in-one was Hebai, the Xuan Wu with the turtle¡¯s body, and the snake instead of a tail¡­


    There was one guardian left. One red, flame-related bird.


    ¡°You¡¯re a phoenix.¡± I whispered in awe at Auri.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Wolfy asked. I ignored him. I was busy, my mind racing.


    I knew what she needed now. I stared at the campfire, and chewed my lip as I hesitated, deep in thought.


    If I was wrong, I was going to commit the biggest [Oath] violation possible. ¡°Yeah I tossed a baby into a bonfire and let it burn alive¡± was a recipe for a major, major violation. ¡°I thought I was helping!¡± was a tiny defense, and even in my mind I didn¡¯t believe I¡¯d get let off the hook.


    I didn¡¯t think I should be let off the hook.


    At the same time - Auri needed something more. Perhaps her attempts at jumping into the campfire was more than baby bird silliness, like her attempts at drowning herself in the water barrel was, or nearly getting stepped on, or jumping out of the nest. Perhaps there¡¯d been some instincts at work, a primal part of her that demanded fire.


    She¡¯d needed considerable heat to hatch in the first place. She hatched in a blazing inferno. I still didn¡¯t have my hair fixed again after that.


    Focus.


    Everything about her had revolved around fire until now. I eyed her.


    Her coloring hadn¡¯t changed a bit as she¡¯d grown up. Even now she looked like ashes and soot.


    If I was wrong, Auri would die. Either way.


    If I kept her ¡®safe¡¯, she might die because she needed flames.


    If I exposed her to fire, she could die because of it. She was so tiny. So fragile. I could believe her life getting snuffed out before I had a chance to save her.


    I made my choice.

 Chapter 277 - Burning Brightly

    Cupping the sleepy, dazed Auri in my hand, I moved her right next to the fire.


    I was going to take this slowly. Carefully.


    If I was right - if Auri was a phoenix - my biggest concern was that the fire wasn¡¯t big or hot enough. A simple wood fire, in a campsite out of the walls felt wrong. It lacked pomp. It lacked ceremony.


    For a phoenix, she should be given a grand entrance to the town, a full triumph thrown for her. Put her on the highest altar in the biggest temple, then use divine flames to ignite her or something.


    Well, I had to work with what I had.


    The flames crackled around my hand, my healing restoring me faster than blisters and burns could manifest. Nothing was quite happening yet.


    I needed to be able to pull her out in an instant if things went poorly, or if she showed signs of distress.


    Except, not much was happening. The flames were just licking at her wingtip.


    But¡­ they weren¡¯t catching on fire either. Not in the way dry feathers should be. And Auri wasn¡¯t showing signs of distress.


    So¡­ maybe this was the right thing to do?


    I moved Auri to the heart of the fire, opening my hand to better let the flames wash over her.


    I frowned.


    ¡°Elaine, are you su-¡±


    ¡°Quiet.¡± I ordered Wolfy. I needed to focus.


    The tips of Auri¡¯s wings flickered, and caught. With a stiff breeze at all of our backs, the little bird¡¯s body seemed to suck in and ¡°inhale¡± the entire fireplace, all of the flames vanishing into her body.


    ¡°What the -¡± Wolfy swore.


    I looked at Auri, still lying limply on my hand. Unmoving.


    But.


    Deep within her sooty, ashen coat, I could see little embers. Tiny sparks, like a fire long burned out.


    ¡°More wood. More fire. Hurry!¡± I barked at Wolfy.


    ¡°This is the craziest shit.¡± He muttered as he sprang into action.


    Good old Rangers. Throw weird stuff at us, and we¡¯re still capable of acting.


    Wolfy quickly built a second fire, Moonmoon helping by dragging sticks over. He was slowed down by needing the start from scratch, our old fire not having any burning embers to kickstart a second fire.


    Puzzled, I felt the firepit.


    Even the ashes were cold.


    I looked down at Auri, thoughts racing.


    On one hand, it seemed like she needed a lot of fire.


    On the other, she seemed to be on the brink of death.


    Speed or size.


    Speed or size.


    Speed.


    ¡°Wolfy! After this fire, grab a few sticks, and start a bonfire. Large as you can manage.¡±


    ¡°Yes Ma¡¯am!¡± He yelled back, carefully feeding his small fire, working it larger.


    Black Moon started to kick smaller sticks and twigs into a pile - the bonfire¡¯s start.


    Before long, Wolfy had gotten a roaring fire going, and was busy building up the bonfire to epic proportions.


    I didn¡¯t hesitate this time. I thrust Auri into the heart of the fire. My breath caught as nothing happened.


    Was I too late? Too slow? Did I screw something up? Did-


    As panic was starting to set in, the flames wrapped around Auri, her tiny body absorbing them.


    Almost immediately her wings caught on fire, but she wasn¡¯t moving. The rest of her was still predominantly dull and grey, although there were more sparks and embers ¡°deep¡± inside of her.


    ¡°bbrrpt.¡± A weak noise came from Auri, and my heart leapt into my throat.


    It was working! She was doing better!


    Wolfly was building up the bonfire, and I refrained from pacing. Refrained from yelling at him to hurry up - he was going as fast as he could.


    I did help with some careful applications of Radiance, heating up wood, and starting small fires that grew quickly in the dry environment.


    I practically stood in the fire, my healing fixing me up as quickly as I burned. I ignored the sparks that showered me, and the embers that landed on me.


    Finally, I judged the fire to be large enough. I tossed Auri into the heart of the flames, believing from what I¡¯d seen that it was the right thing to do.


    The inferno raged around her for a moment, before condensing down into her tiny body.


    My stomach clenched in fear as she went up like a candle, her entire body engulfed in flames.


    Then the flames changed. From the bright yellow with occasional flickering orange of the campfire, the fire wrapped around Auri turned into a dozen different colors. The top of her wings turned white, followed by a blue layer, then a green layer, then finally, her ¡®feathers¡¯ morphed into a brilliant, glorious golden yellow.


    Igniting her. lighting her primordial fire.


    Auri woke up, and exploded up and out of the flames with a shriek of pure joy, a jubilant cry that pierced through us all.


    ¡°BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRPTTTTT!¡± She triumphantly exclaimed, and she was flying.


    Three weeks old and already in the air. She¡¯d been looking hummingbird-like before, but the flames had completed her transformation and look, her wings rapidly buzzing back and forth, embers and sparks getting thrown off with every movement.


    She was fire incarnate, her entire body alight.


    No - she was fire and flames, a blazing beacon.


    Her beak was a soft yellow, the flames impossibly solid, while the bulk of her body was coated in a ruby-red blaze. Her belly was the exception, glowing a vivid green. Her tail was a whole multitude, a luminous spectrum, defying the natural order of things as the flames started off red, then turned orange, then white, then blue at the end.


    ¡°Gods.¡± Wolfy whispered, Moonmoon on either side of him, looking at Auri with interest, and more than a bit of fear.


    ¡°Is that Auri?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± I whispered back, holding out a tentative hand towards her.


    My heart was racing. I¡¯d looked after Auri. I¡¯d hatched her, fed her, and protected her. I¡¯d almost screwed it up, but here she was, looking better than ever.


    I didn¡¯t think she needed me anymore.


    Would she choose to stick around? Would the legendary phoenix deign to stay with a little human, in the heart of the dead zone?


    Or would she fly away? Would she leave me without even a feather to remember her by?


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri zipped past my outstretched hand, right to my shoulder. She landed on it, perfect, like it was designed for her.


    She was hot. She burned my shoulder.


    I didn¡¯t care in the slightest.


    ¡°Brrrpt! Brrrpt! Brrrrrrrrrrpt!¡± She nuzzled my ear and cheek from her perch, letting me know how happy she was to be there.


    My heart swelled three sizes that moment, which would normally be a medical emergency.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    I smiled.


    ¡°Love you too, you little troublemaker.¡±


    The last part came out as I noticed my tunic was catching fire, and the distinct, noxious odor of burning hair was filling the air again. Wolfy was continuing to eye me, and coughed nervously.


    ¡°Sentinel. You¡¯re on fire.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m trying to figure out what to do about it.¡± I calmly replied. ¡°Tunic¡¯s probably a bust already, annnnnnnnnnd I don¡¯t see my hair making it all that long.¡±


    ¡°Brrrrpt?¡± Auri sounded a little concerned, a little sad.


    ¡°Shh, no, it¡¯s ok. You couldn¡¯t help it.¡± I stroked her head gently, her body strangely solid in spite of the flames.


    She still felt like feathers.


    ¡°Brrrrpt¡­¡±


    ¡°No no, I like it! I¡¯ve destroyed my own hair a bunch!¡± I tried to reassure the poor bird.


    She was just a baby. Incredibly, ridiculously intelligent for a bird, apparently empathetic as hell, but still a baby. She could tell that I didn¡¯t like my tunic and hair burning, but had no idea of the scale of the issue. She couldn¡¯t tell if to her it was like being fed flour, a relatively minor annoyance, or like running out of mango juice, the Worst Thing Ever?


    She didn¡¯t exactly have a lot of life experience to understand the scale of, well, life.


    I shucked off the burning tunic and tossed it to Wolfy, who stomped out the flames. The material was reusable, and there was little sense in letting it all burn.


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri scolded Wolfy for his actions. Clearly, fire was sacred, and shouldn¡¯t be extinguished.


    ¡°Now listen here you little troublemaker.¡± I put on my best ¡®mom voice.¡¯ ¡°Some people don¡¯t like their stuff burning.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ¡°Yes, really. Some people have nice things that they¡¯d rather keep as they are.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt! Brrpt!¡±


    ¡°No, burning them doesn¡¯t improve them.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t sure how I was understanding Auri - maybe I was making it all up? - but I felt like we were clicking. On the same wavelength.


    It was good. It gave me a nice, warm, fuzzy feeling that had nothing to do with my crown of fire.


    I wanted nice hair.


    I gave up entirely on that dream for the foreseeable future. Auri would just burn it, and I wasn¡¯t going to start yelling at her for wanting to cuddle with me. Not now, not when our relationship was so new and fresh.


    I didn¡¯t see a good way to put the fire out at this point, not without dunking my hair in water or something similar that could dislodge or harm Auri.


    I knew nothing. I didn¡¯t know if water was bad for her, I didn¡¯t know if extinguishing the flames would kill her, heck, I didn¡¯t even know if phoenixes died and were reborn, or if death was final.


    ¡­ If they died and were reborn, White Dove//Black Crow was going to be so mad.


    I shook my head and focused, back on the here and now.


    ¡°Wolfy, can you get my Mistweave outfit from that bag? And a jar of mango juice?¡±


    Wolfy, bless him, jumped right into action. I reminded myself that he was a full Ranger, having passed through the same training that I had, and not only that, but he¡¯d done a round and a half, and managed to keep himself and Moonmoon alive.


    I brought the jar of mango juice up, intended to make a little funnel like before. Auri had other ideas. With a high-pitch flurry of wings, that sounded like a crackling fire, she launched herself from my shoulder, and hovered in front of the pot, greedily sucking down the ambrosia.


    She drank far more than I¡¯d believe possible - like, half her body by volume, was she burning it all up or something - then stopped. Still hovering, she nuzzled at the jar, ¡°pushing¡± it towards me with her feeble strength and tiny mass.


    ¡°For me?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Brrrrpt!¡± Auri agreed.


    Watching her, I carefully brought the jar of mango juice up to my lips, and took a big, obvious sip.


    ¡°Mmm! Delicious!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Can I know what¡¯s going on now?¡± Wolfy asked.


    Auri zipped back to my shoulder, and nuzzled against my cheek. I gently nuzzled her back.


    ¡°Well, I figured out what Auri was, and what she was missing.¡±


    ¡°No. Really?¡± Wolfy¡¯s sarcasm was thick enough to spread on toast. Even Moonmoon looked unimpressed with him.


    ¡°I mean, what more do you want?¡±


    ¡°To know what she is, for starters. Then how you knew about her, and what she needed. Anything you can give me, really.¡±


    Oh. Right.


    Although I had said it earlier. Guess he hasn¡¯t heard me properly.


    ¡°She¡¯s a phoenix. A creature made of fire, powerful, and supposedly unkillable.¡±


    Wolfy looked between me and Auri. He sighed.


    ¡°Anyone else, I¡¯d laugh, tell them the joke was funny, but no, really, what is she. You? Her?¡±


    He shook his head.


    ¡°Damn. That is going to give me a crazy class at 256 that I¡¯ll have to pass on. Never thought I¡¯d see a phoenix. It¡¯s like a story.¡±


    He shook his fist at the sky.


    I snorted at his antics.


    ¡°Still¡­ a phoenix. And I touched one. Wow.¡± Wolfy was looking a little nervous at Auri. I gave him a grin, letting him know everything was fine.


    ¡°I gotta admit, seeing you as Sentinel feels a bit weird or unfair at times.¡±


    I nodded, not knowing where he was going with this.


    ¡°Like, we were in the same class together and everything. Then I see you standing there, on fire, and just not caring and it not affecting you at all, and I¡¯m reminded why.¡±


    Oh right. Yeah.


    I was still somewhat on fire.


    I shrugged, my hair still billowing smoke.


    ¡°Meh. This is nothing. Getting decapitated? That was a mess!¡±


    ¡°You WHAT!?¡± Wolfy shouted.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    I just gave him a manic grin.

 Chapter 278 - On the road to Arminium I

    A few days after Auri ignited, I left Port Salona.


    There wasn¡¯t much of interest that happened, apart from Bossman and the rest of the Ranger team nearing the end of their investigation. Two squads of guards, with varying degrees of guilt, a single corrupt scribe, and a judge going senile seemed to be the score.


    The scribe seemed to be the lynchpin of the operation. He was able to forge - well, forge was a bad word, since he was the one writing them out ¡®for real¡¯ anyways - documents that said a trial took place, and the verdict was whatever he decided it was. Generally harsh penalties for the loser.


    The scheme was vaguely clever, in an evil way. The slaves were then often sold to a wealthy farmer, who needed extra farmhands or help around the house, keeping them away from the city and potential sources of justice. When the person being railroaded - always poor, and without connections or help to lean on - protested, the guards would cover each other.


    If they made an appeal to the Rangers, and if the Rangers had enough time to investigate, they¡¯d go to the courthouse. The paperwork - regardless of which scribe was looking things up - would always be in order. If, by some miracle, the Rangers went a step further and asked the judge about the case, the judge, not wanting to admit to the holes in his memory or declining faculties, would ¡°remember¡± it happening.


    At which point, why investigate further? Why hunt down the prosecutor in the case, who was harder to find than the judge at the jailhouse? Why look for any other collaborating evidence? Rangers were busy people, and multiple sources verifying that, yes, it was real?


    It wasn¡¯t like every single criminal ever claimed they were innocent, and appealed to the Rangers, hoping we¡¯d screw up and let them go free. Our tolerance for looking into things depended on the team, how many complaints we got, and how busy we were.


    Bossman and co¡¯s problem at this point was unraveling just how long the scheme had been going on, trying to tease the fake trials from the real ones, and figure out how to ¡°unwind¡± the dozens - hundreds? - of cases. How to resettle all the people back into lives and careers, and what compensation, if any, they could be given.


    Selling the guilty into slavery could only generate so much coin, not nearly enough to cover all the costs.


    The scribe was scheduled for public execution last I heard, which would reduce the pot of coins to cover the costs.


    Their motive was, naturally, profit. The slaves were being sold ¡°off the books¡± so to speak - in spite of them being on the books - and the guards and scribe were splitting the rather significant funds. Kind of like how the pirates were looking for slaves to sell.


    The flesh industry was lucrative.


    The governor was happy with us, and Bossman had reluctantly concluded that he was in the clear. The guards were effectively stealing from his coffer, and the governor¡¯s [Penny Pincher] was delighted. We¡¯d found the hole in his accounts! Balance to the balance sheets! Or some other nonsense that had him throwing us a ¡°feast¡±.


    Leftovers from an extravaganza the governor had thrown the night before. Dude lived up to his class alright.


    Honestly. Leftover fish.


    I was glad to be out of the way of all that, and just as happy to be able to leave on my own timeline. Wolfy wasn¡¯t happy that I was leaving before the investigation was completely finished - he was going to have to get back to it!


    I had quickly stopped by the temple on my way out, thanking all the gods and goddesses for my safe return to Remus. I figured while I was there, I¡¯d drop a whole wishlist of things I wanted, most of which were impossible. Eh. Might as well try, right?


    Auri was a troublemaker and a half. I double-checked my gear one last time.


    Oversized backpack filled with supplies - check.


    Metal plating for said backpack - check. Fireproofing my stuff from Auri was a challenge!


    Deception Ring - check. Set back to 200. It had given me trouble in the past, but so was displaying my true level. Heck, most levels came with a degree of trouble, and when push came to shove, I¡¯d rather be under-estimated.


    Three amphorae of clay corked fruit juice - check.


    Mistweave - check. Auri would burn anything else, and think it was great fun.


    Heavy-duty gloves intended for forge work - check. I could just grab Auri with my bare hands, but I didn¡¯t like the smell of my own flesh cooking. Gave me horrible flashbacks.


    ¡°Ok Auri, we¡¯re going to get going now. We¡¯re going to my home! You¡¯re going to meet my parents! And the other Sentinels! And Kallisto! And everyone else! It¡¯s super exciting, right?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri agreed with me!


    ¡°If you let me carry you, we can be there SUPER FAST! Isn¡¯t that cool?¡±


    ¡°Brrrrrpt.¡± Auri fluttered in front of me, wings beating so quickly they tried to blur, throwing multi-colored sparks everywhere. It was only due to my crazy vitality that I could see them at all, although she¡¯d be a menace if she invested in speed.


    ¡°Ok, yes, flying is the best thing ever.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri zipped down to where I had a jug of mango juice at my waist, and tapped on it a few times.


    ¡°I just fed you!¡±


    ¡°BRPT! BRPT!¡±


    I held back a sigh, and refrained from rolling my eyes.


    ¡°Auri, if you do nothing but fly, of course you¡¯ll be starving! That¡¯s what I¡¯m trying to say!¡±


    ¡°BRrrrrrrpt¡± Auri trailed off sadly.


    I narrowed my eyes at her.


    ¡°Fine.¡± I uncorked the jug that not five minutes ago Auri had gotten a drink from, and tipped the bottle over just enough for the juice to be at the lip.


    Auri hovered right next to it, embers landing on my hand as she drank her fill. After a few seconds, she stopped and zipped around me.


    ¡°Brrrpt! Brrrpt! BRUPT!¡±


    That last one sounded like more of a burp than a cheep of joy.


    ¡°Ok, you¡¯ve had your drink, now come here! And we can get going!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri just kept zipping around me, excited to simply fly.


    It did give me a chuckle. We were like two birds of a feather in that respect. I knew how much fun flying was, and I didn¡¯t want to put a damper on her enthusiasm.


    Instead, I took the moment to study her flight, hoping to improve [Scintillating Ascent]. I was torn if it was helping or not. On one hand, Auri was a low-level baby bird.


    On the other, she was a phoenix. I couldn¡¯t think of too many creatures that were better to study. I didn¡¯t have a great grasp on how [Scintillating Ascent] evolved yet, but I couldn¡¯t imagine constantly studying Auri was a bad idea.


    We walked along for quite some time. I was going super slowly - compared to how quickly I could walk, let alone run, but I was letting Auri set the pace.


    After an hour I was starting to get impatient though. At this rate, it would literally take me a year to finish getting back home. I decided to try and get a proper move on.


    ¡°You don¡¯t want to fly on my shoulder? I can go super fast and super high!¡± I tried to cajole Auri.


    ¡°BrPT!¡± Auri fiercely denied me.


    I frowned at her.


    ¡°Ok, now listen here young miss. We need to get a move on, and your antics are slowing us down!¡±


    I got out The Gloves.


    ¡°Sorry Auri, but we do need to get moving.¡± I first caught her in my [Mantle], then closed the heavy-duty gloves around her. She struggled against the heavy gloves, not liking being trapped. Just like me¡­


    I then took off, my wings interacting awkwardly and badly with the backpack I had on. I couldn¡¯t properly flap them, which limited my speed.


    Derp, right. I could just take it off, flip it around to make a front-pack, and go from there.


    It was still a heck of a lot faster than nearly every other method of transportation I had available.


    ¡°Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrpttttt¡­ brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrpppppppppttttttttt¡­.¡± Auri was crying pitifully from where I was holding onto her, and my heart wavered.


    Three minutes of her crying her little heart out later, and I yielded. I wanted to get home fast, yes, but not at the cost of our potential bond and relationship. If we had to get home the slow way, the slow way it was.


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s go then.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!¡±


    Minor Interlude - Auri


    6th day since Igniting.


    Free! I was free! Freed from the crushing non-burning things. The things sick-mom put on her not-wings!


    Nasty not-burning things. Mom had many many not-burning things.


    Poor mom! Poor Elaine! She was SUPER SICK! All of her feathers were GONE! She had pretty wings of light-fire! I liked. They weren¡¯t as pretty as me, but mom tried.


    Free!


    Free to fly around! Free to flit and weave, duck and dive! Free to explore the grand world around me! All the way from the ground that Elaine spent too much time walking on, all the way up to where trees started to have leaves!


    Would you believe it, it looked like there was more above there? That trees grew endless leaves just for me to burn??


    I zoomed around mom! Zoom! Zip! Pew! I let her know how happy I was!


    ¡°Thank you! Thank you! More juice?¡±


    Mom bared her teeth. It meant she was happy! Yay happy mom! Yay happy! See, letting me fly was good! Everyone happy!


    I flew to the edge of the world! The great shiny stone desert! Mom was walking across it. Go mom!


    I helped! Lots of not-fire on the side of this ¡°road¡± thing. Lots of leaves and sticks and - OOH!


    Flower!


    Yummy flower!


    I buzzed over to the beautiful yellow flower, and took a sip of the nectar inside.


    Mmmmm. Tasty!


    Poor flower though. So sad. So droopy.


    I help!


    BURN!


    It burned! Bright yellow, like the color of the flower! It was all ok now.


    ¡°Look at me! Look at me! Mom, I did it! I burned it! FIRE!¡±


    ¡°Auri, if you burn the flowers, how do you expect to get more nectar from them?¡± Mom made that big breathing noise. She did that a lot. More proof that she was sick.


    Bug! Food! Tasty food! Whooof! Flames! Burn the bug! Cook it!


    Zoof! Zap! Catch!


    Yummy yummy in my tummy.


    More things to burn! Whoosh! The flat green things burn! The long brown things are on fire.


    Fire.


    FIRE.


    Glorious fire!


    ¡°Auri, stop burning everything. Come on, let¡¯s go!¡± Mom said.


    Stop¡­ burning everything?


    What?


    No way mom was ok.


    My stomach felt unhappy. I flew to mom¡¯s bath in a bottle and pecked at it. Peck! Peck! Mom said to be polite. I was polite! Tap! Peck!


    ¡°Please?¡±


    ¡°Ok, but you should find your own. We don¡¯t have unlimited amounts, not at the rate you drink at.¡± Elaine grabbed the bath, and opened it up.


    My eyes went as wide as a berry. Mom¡¯s portable cave was endless. An endless sea of delicious liquid! It tizzied! It tittered! It was the SECOND BEST THING EVER!


    Mom was the best thing ever! She needed to get better! No sick!


    First though. Delicious liquid was tasty-yummy! Made my mouth happy! Stomach happy!


    Drink with the mouth! Made the mouth happy!


    Wait!!!


    If I used my wings, would that make my wings happy? My feet? ALL OF ME!?


    YES! It must!


    I zipped into the cavern!


    ¡°No!¡± Mom cried out. I ignored her. Full-body happy time!


    Strange that mom kept it dark, and didn¡¯t keep some fire in here. Everywhere should have fire!


    JUICE!


    I dove right in! Splish splash! Straight into the-


    WET! WET! COLD! WET!


    MY FIRE!


    Mom grabbed me, and immediately heated me back up. My flames flickered. My flames caught.


    I lived.


    ¡°Th-th-thank you.¡± I shivered out.


    Mom was safe. I was going to stay with mom for a bit.


    Elaine put me on the Podium of Adoration. All could see my beautiful flames from here! The reds! The oranges and blues, the greens and the whites, and best of all the purples and ulfires and jale!


    The Podium wasn¡¯t burnable today.


    ¡°Boo! BOO!¡± I let my displeasure be known.


    ¡°I know, you like that spot don¡¯t you?¡± Mom answered back.


    Bah. Mom didn¡¯t always get me.


    Mom also didn¡¯t have her head-feathers. I did her a great favor! I turned them into fire! Good Auri! Good work!


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± I cheeped happily at the memory.


    Then mom¡¯s burning-hair-feathers went away. EXTINGUISHED! Mom was super-duper sick. Her head should always be burning. Everything should be burning!


    Then there was A Voice. A mysterious voice, a powerful voice, the Voice of Everything.


    ¡°Congratulations! You¡¯ve survived your early weeks, and the System is now fully unlocked for you!¡±


    ¡°Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked a number of General Skills! [Phoenix¡¯s Perfection], [Alarm Call], [Begging], [Brrretty], [Large Appetite], [Preening], [Cute], [Flame Body], [Flying], [Presentation], [Adoration], [Vanity], [Understanding Mom], [Tough Feathers], [Baby Bird], [Precocious], [Incandescence], [Far Seeing], [Hovering], [Cutie Power], [Pointy Beak], [Mimic Mom], [Ponder], [Promethean Insight], [Adorable], [Flower Fascination].¡±


    ¡°Congratulations! You¡¯ve earned your first class - [Feather of Flame] - Inferno!¡±


    ¡°Feather of Flame - A starter class for a phoenix, hatched by humans and elves working together.¡±


    ¡°Your class - [Feather of Flame] - has advanced from level 1 to level 8!¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I asked the voice.


    ¡°You now have access to the System.¡± It repeated. ¡°For reaching level 8, you now have the ability to class up!¡±


    ¡°Can you tell me another way?¡± I asked, confused. Strange mystery words coming out of the air? It was confusing.


    Flames erupted in front of me! Fire burn!


    Ooooh. Eternally burning! Burning nothing, burning forever, good flames!


    The flames made sense. The flames spoke of power - my power. They told me how to get stronger. How to make my flames burn bigger, hotter. How to make more fire. How to build an inferno.


    And - AND - I could make it different! I could add more flames! Little sparks! Colorful embers!


    I wanted EVERYTHING!


    I only had 1, 2, 3¡­ 4¡­counting was hard¡­ 5¡­ 6!


    AND MORE!


    MORE THAN 6 SPACES! Wow! It was like I could get EVERYTHING!


    ¡°Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Counting Hard or Hardly Counting?]¡±


    Wow! Even more!


    Ok!


    I wanted THAT skill! And that skill! And those skills! YES!


    Mom was the best! Flowers were the best!


    I quickly filled in all the fires, making it the BIGGEST BESTEST FIRE EVER!


    A glorious multi-colored flame was in the middle. I just knew what it did.


    With some will, I went to the happy-fire-dreamland.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


    Flowers! Flowers everywhere! Glorious flowers stretching in front of me, almost all a blazing red color! The best color, the color of FIRE!


    A few rare ones weren¡¯t red. I buzzed over to them.


    Zip! Zoop!


    The after-burning color. Mom called it ¡°grey¡±. It had a small red spot of nectar in the middle.


    Fwish! Fwoop!


    Mom-wing color. ¡°Yellow¡±? Orange nectar!


    Swish! Swoop!


    Dark burning color, with little spots of brown. Not-red nectar.


    Buzzz!


    Two flowers near each other. One evil water color. ¡°Blue¡±? Almost-red nectar in the middle. Boo! Bad blue! Zoom to the other flower!


    The other was the same color as the HUGE birds in the sky! The birds were weird! Always the same color, didn¡¯t flap their wings.


    Vroop! Vrisht!


    Last weird flower! Charcoal color! Good color, color of burning things. Orange fire nectar spot.


    Then a huge bird of flames came! Big wings! Huge beak! Great talons! Every color of fire!


    I wanted to be just like her.


    ¡°Auri!¡± She said. ¡°Hi! I¡¯m your guide!¡±


    I instantly knew what a guide was, and what she was for. The flower petals were the type of flames I¡¯d get. The nectar inside was how strong the flames would be.


    But why was red the weakest? Red should be the strongest!


    Although¡­


    Although¡­.


    Thinking hurt.


    I was every color of fire. Yup yup. That was good. All was right with the world.


    The nectar was¡­ also every color.


    So¡­ red wasn¡¯t the best fire color. It was just a fire color, like the rest of them.


    All fire colors were equally good! They all burned things!


    Hurray!


    ¡°Yay! Guide! What do I do?¡±


    Knowledge flooded into me, information communicated by some arcane means.


    ¡°Whoaaaaaaaaaaaa.¡± I looked at my guide in awe. ¡°Cool! Do it again!¡±


    She gave me an evil black-burning eye.


    ¡°Pick what you want.¡± She said. ¡°I can help you.¡±


    ¡°BURN EVERYTHING! Oh, and have the BEST COLORS. Lots of fire. Make everyone look at me on the Podium of Adoration! Flames! Make mom better. She¡¯s sick.¡± I got sad thinking about that.


    I then perked up.


    ¡°Wait! Mom¡¯s awesome! She¡¯ll totally figure out how to get better! Give me an INFERNO!¡±


    I learned all the burning words quickly. I was very happy with myself.


    Guide swished her great beautiful wings, and the field of flowers flew under us. A beautiful red fire poppy awaited me, with a single drop of yellow nectar.


    I hovered in front of the flower, my wings giving off wonderful sparks of flame. Spread the joy! Spread the fire! Look at how pretty I am!


    The petals were telling me things.


    Zippiness: FWISH! SWOOP!


    Fancy Flying: All the twirls!


    Kindling: Lots and LOTS!


    New Juice: Two mango¡¯s worth.


    Flame Size: HUGE!


    Fire Control: Smol.


    Eh, that wasn¡¯t needed.


    ¡°This one!¡±


    ¡°Excellent choice. Light the flower on fire, and make your choice.¡±


    ¡°NO!¡± I protested. ¡°I want to burn ALL of them!¡±


    ¡°Just one.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t going to let the guide tell ME what to do! I burned the first one, then quick as thinking, went to burn ALL THE FLOWERS!


    They wanted to be burned! They needed to turn into beautiful flames, like me! They would go away when I was done!


    No!


    Bring me back!


    BRING ME BACK!


    ~~~~~~~


    ~Elaine~


    I was flying fast. Auri was finally somewhat cooperative - and by that she wasn¡¯t actively resisting me - and I was taking the chance to haul. I figured at this point I could fly at high speeds while Auri was sleeping, and walk slowly while she was awake. Suboptimal, but it shouldn¡¯t add too much time to my trip.


    The colorful phoenix had, after much excitement, suddenly gotten the distinct glowing halo of colors that indicated that she was classing up.


    I was a bit jealous. Roughly a month after hatching, and not only had the System unlocked for her, but she¡¯d gotten to level 8? Lyra, after a whole 8 years, had only managed to get level 7! Level 8 in a month, when all Auri did was eat, sleep, and burn things, was absurd!


    I felt Auri stirring, and I dropped back down to the road, landing heavily among some travelers. I glanced down at her, [Identify]ing her to see what happened.


    ¡°Brrrpt! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrpt!!¡± Auri flew out of my hands, circling around me, all excited.


    My jaw dropped, and with my vitality, I was able to pick out small details in her eyes.


    ¡°You¡¯re an Inferno [Mage] now!?¡±


    This must be my comeuppance for when I took a Fire mage class with the Rangers. Karma was biting me in the ass for the prank I pulled on Julius and the rest way back when.


    I looked at Auri, happily blowing off jets of Inferno around her, reveling in her new abilities.


    I looked at the travelers on the road, giving Auri and I wary looks. at least no sword was being unsheathed, not that I could blame them. I¡¯d be doing the same if a tiny monster landed in front of me and started throwing around Lightning or something.


    I thought about Auri¡¯s inclination to burn everything.


    Oh boy. I was in for it now.


    [Name: Aoife Auri Stentor]


    [Race: Phoenix]


    [Age:0]


    [Mana: 720/720]


    [Mana Regen: 667]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Pushing Power: 48]


    [Fancy Flying: 32]


    [Reactions and Reflexes: 41]


    [Zippiness: 46]


    [Kindling: 72]


    [New Juice: 71]


    [Flame Size: 76]


    [Fire Control: 71]


    [Class 1: [The Eternal Flame - Inferno : Lv 9]]


    [Inferno Authority: 1]


    [Phoenix Rebirth: 1]


    [Inferno Manipulation: 1]


    [Inferno Conjuration: 1]


    [True Flames: 1]


    [Burn Magic: 1]


    [Domain of Fire: 1]


    [Burning Quills: 1]


    [Class 2: [Locked]]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [Class 3: [Locked]]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    General Skills


    [Phoenix''s Perfection: 1]


    [Incandescence: 1]


    [Adorable: 1]


    [Precocious: 1]


    [Flower Fascination: 1]


    [Flying: 1]


    [Preening: 1]


    [Brrretty: 1]

 Chapter 279 - On the road to Arminium II

    ¡°Auri! NO!¡± I yelled, throwing up a [Mantle] to protect the poor farmer¡¯s harvest from Auri¡¯s attempts to ¡®improve¡¯ it.


    I was fast enough. This time.


    ¡°Brrrpt! Brrrrrrrrrrrpt!!!¡± Auri complained at me, flitting around the protected cart.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry.¡± I told the poor farmer, who just narrowed his eyes at Auri.


    ¡°[Pest begone]¡± He pointed a finger at Auri, and a high-speed jet of water sprayed out of his finger.


    My reflexes were great. I flickered the shield, changing it from protecting the cart from Auri¡¯s attempts at pyromancy, to protecting Auri and the cart.


    I wasn¡¯t going to be paying out for another farmer¡¯s harvest.


    I got the evil eye from the farmer, which, I suppose was fair. From his point of view, some creature had zipped in, and was trying to burn a chunk of his harvest that he was bringing to market. He was simply trying to get rid of the pest - he literally had a skill for it - and I was randomly barging in and saving said nuisance.


    And Auri was a nuisance and a half. Still loved her though.


    The farmer opened his mouth, probably to yell at me. I curtailed all that by speaking super-duper fast.


    ¡°Sorry! Super sorry! Won¡¯t happen again! No harm, no foul, right? Auri, let¡¯s goooooo!¡±


    I wrapped a protesting Auri in [Mantle], and hauled ass before the farmer could get a good yelling in. I just didn¡¯t feel like listening to the same ¡°you need to be more careful¡± or ¡°you need to keep that bird under control¡± lecture for the 8th or 14th time, respectively.


    Worse was the ¡°That menace should be put down!¡±


    It¡¯d only happened once, but Auri had been super upset over it. We¡¯d needed to find a nice tree for her to entirely burn down before she was happy again.


    ¡°Brrrpt! Brrrrrrrrrpt! BRPT!¡± Auri was protesting her treatment. She didn¡¯t like being in the hamsterball.


    ¡°Aoife Auri Stentor.¡± I gave her full name. She seemed to realize that meant she was in trouble, and she shrunk down a bit. ¡°You are in a lot of trouble, young miss. You can¡¯t just go around burning everything!¡± I tried to explain for¡­ at least the 30th time, I¡¯d lost count a while ago.


    ¡°Brrrrrrrrrpt!¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Brpt!¡±


    ¡°No!¡±


    ¡°Brrrrpppt!¡±


    I¡¯d gotten over arguing with a bird a long time ago.


    Hang on. My current methods weren¡¯t working. I released Auri, and she flitted around me.


    ¡°Brpt! Brrrrpt!! Brpt!¡± She sang her song of joy, alighting on my shoulder and nuzzling my cheek.


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re pretty awesome.¡± I brought one finger up to stroke her along the beak, then over her head and down her back.


    ¡°BrRRRRRRRrrrPT!¡± Auri peeped in delight at the move, and I kept it up.


    ¡°Ok, you like burning things.¡± I stated.


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡± Auri was unimpressed with my amazing deductions.


    ¡°You like burning everything.¡±


    ¡°Brpt!¡±


    ¡°How would you feel if I burned your flowers before you could?¡±


    ¡°BRRRRRRrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRppppppPPPPTTT!!¡± Auri¡¯s outraged shriek, right next to my ear, made me wince.


    ¡°Auri, that was very loud. I don¡¯t like it when you¡¯re very loud in my ear. It hurts me when you do that.¡± I slowly, patiently explained to her.


    ¡°Brrrrpt.¡± Auri gave me an apology.


    ¡°Right. You dislike it when other people burn your stuff. That farmer is using what he¡¯s bringing to make money, and with money, he can buy things like firewood, so he can burn it. You burning his stuff, means that he can¡¯t burn it himself. That makes him sad.¡±


    ¡°BRPT!¡± Auri sounded like Artemis had gotten ahold of her. I looked over at the bird sitting on my shoulder.


    She was sitting there with a thousand-mile stare, eyes wide open as realizations crashed over her. Her mind was completely blown. I could practically see empathy developing as the idea of ¡°other people want to and are allowed to burn things too¡± rocked her little world.


    I walked in silence with her, getting further and further away from Deva. Nice to see the city again. Didn¡¯t want to try taking a boat back to Arminium, not after the pirate disaster last time.


    Also. Auri, over a lot of water, with the only thing to burn being the BOAT?


    Yeah. I could only see that ending in flames, screaming, a torrid romance, and a captain stoically going down with his boat.


    Or ship. Whatever.


    Plus, I suspected I was faster, even with Auri slowing me down.


    I was super pleased with Auri finally seeming to figure out ¡°don¡¯t burn other people¡¯s stuff¡±, and I decided to play one of her favorite games.


    I snagged a broken branch on the side of the road.


    ¡°Here! Burn this!¡± I suggested to Auri.


    ¡°Brpt!¡± She exclaimed as the wood went up in flames. I looked at the burning stick I was holding.


    She¡¯d gone for the ¡°slow burn¡± this time, as opposed to the ¡°incinerating pillar of fire¡±.


    Well, whatever made her happy.


    A few days later, I turned a corner on a road, deep inside a forest, and cursed.


    ¡°Oh not this again.¡± I complained at the numerous ¡®fallen boulders¡¯ on the road. ¡°Honestly, every time I come back home from Deva, it¡¯s [Pirates], [Thieves], or [Brigands]. Seriously!?¡± I threw my hands up in frustration. A voice chuckled from the woods, and the aforementioned [Brigands] emerged.


    There were a lot of them. 26, all with the characteristic ex-military look to them. Right level range as well. Bunch of [Warriors] levels 160-230. Made me wonder if the Senate - or Emperor, I had no idea what the details of the current governorship was - had disbanded a number of armies, and some of the soldiers had decided to keep using violence to fill their stomachs.


    ¡°Well miss healer, if you¡¯ve been robbed before, you know the drill.¡± One of them said. ¡°Your money or your life!¡±


    I rolled my eyes at the bandit.


    ¡°Fine, fine. Three coins, and you all move the boulders out of my way.¡± I proposed.


    ¡°Brpt!¡± Auri defiantly cheeped, flying off my shoulder and hovering protectively in front of me.


    We all stared at the little bird. I facepalmed.


    ¡°Auri, yes, thank you for trying to protect me.¡±


    ¡°Brrrrrpt!¡± Auri was making the most adorable threatening noises. She was trying to be fierce, but she was so SMALL AND CUTE!!


    Oh no.


    Oh NO!


    That¡¯s how most people saw ME.


    That¡¯s why I¡¯d been offered the [Kitty has Claws] skill back with the dwarves!


    ¡°I mean, yes, you can burn the bad guys, but it¡¯s a bad idea. They¡¯re much stronger than you! You need to-¡±


    Auri completely disregarded me, and threw as much fire as she could manage at one of the [Brigands].


    Which was, quite frankly, a pathetic amount. I¡¯d be surprised if she had 1000 mana points total, and it wasn¡¯t like she was swimming in magic power to make her flames particularly impressive.


    They splashed over one of the bandits, and they seemed to stick.


    The former soldiers responded the way they were trained. Overwhelming violence to ¡°solve¡± the problem, in this case, a hostile monster.


    They¡­ weren¡¯t exactly wrong in their assessments or actions. I wasn¡¯t going to let anyone hurt Auri, and it was trivial to reasonably assume that they¡¯d be attacking me next.


    There was no contest between my power level, and theirs. I was faster and tougher, and that was my pseudo-dump stats against their primary stats.


    That was before my magic, of course.


    I was sick and tired of killing. I didn¡¯t need to kill right now, the disparity in levels, stats, and training was so large. [Bullet Time] wasn¡¯t even activating, which was more than a bit obnoxious.


    At the same time, I wasn¡¯t going to take any risks with Auri.


    I threw my shield around her, and launched dozens of Radiance beams, flickering them in and out of existence as quickly as I could imagine them. I aimed for their knees, elbows, hips, shoulders, and hands.


    They were all [Warriors], and as much as I was calling them [Bandits] and [Brigands], truthfully they probably all had [Soldier of Remus] or [Legionnaire] variants. Classes and skills from the Formorian war.


    Two by two they dropped, screaming and spasming as I blew through their joints, as I crippled each one in rapid-fire succession. My sixth-biggest concern was blow-through. Shooting bandit #8¡¯s shoulder out had my Radiance beam go through bandit #19¡¯s lung, and I¡¯d be pissed if any of them died after I tried so hard to keep them alive.


    Bandit #20 flashed silvery as I tried to destroy his knees, and my Radiance beams angled off wildly. Each one burned through bandits that were already on the ground, drilling new holes through their torsos.


    I quickly evaluated them. No heart shots. Nothing that couldn¡¯t wait a minute or two.


    I moved on, dropping the rest of the [Brigands] while bandit #20 charged me with a roar, sword out. I finished dealing with the rest of them before #20 got to me, then moved.


    He only had a short sword. The standard [Legionnaire] equipment of shields, spears, and their heavy armor was entirely missing. He was wielding it like a soldier did.


    Like Rangers did.


    Like every single one of my sparring partners over the long years did.


    I knew the moves. I was familiar with the motions. I¡¯d seen them, done them, tens of thousands of times.


    I drew my knife, and twisted out of the way of his thrust, slicing lightly along his bicep as I passed by him.


    Damn my low strength. I¡¯d wanted to slice clean through his muscle and disable his arm, but no luck. I noticed that my arm twitched sympathetically in the same spot.


    A reflection skill? Maybe?


    It didn¡¯t matter, my healing was too good.


    I got a second slash across his back, abusing my high speed before he whirled on me, and thrust his sword at my belly.


    I dodged this time, his arm going right past me. I brought my own hand and knife close.


    I was in position for a textbook disarming, but part of the textbook disarming required a certain amount of strength relative to my opponent. I didn¡¯t think I had that. I wasn¡¯t quite so powerful that the stat I ignored entirely would be higher than a stat my opponent focused on.


    Instead, I slashed at his wrist and delicate tendons, opening up his arm and forcing him to drop his sword. With one fluid motion, I continued the knife¡¯s path upwards, to the brigand¡¯s eye.


    He stopped short as I held my blow, the tip of my knife touching his eyeball. The threat was clear, the result of the fight obvious.


    I was so much better than him that I could afford mercy.


    ¡°Down.¡± I snarled.


    Everything had happened fast.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri made a noise of protest at being trapped in my shield again, the poor bird¡¯s stats so low that she didn¡¯t even start to process what was happening until now. The fight was over, and her reflexes were just kicking in now for the start of it!


    The highwayman dropped to his knees, and at my light tapping - a scratch or two on his eyeball wouldn¡¯t kill him - he laid down belly-first on the ground.


    ¡°Now, do you really want to make this a full fight?¡± I asked the Mirror bandit, in an oh-too-sweet voice.


    Internally, I was sweating bullets. A physical Mirror classer was one of my worst nightmares. My magic was almost entirely useless against them, and if I couldn¡¯t run, I¡¯d have to fight them hand to hand. I was not a hand to hand fighter. I had some training, I was alright at it, I had [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority] - ok, fine, maybe I was OK at it. As demonstrated by the fight we¡¯d just had.


    I felt like I¡¯d gotten lucky though, but I couldn¡¯t pinpoint why. Maybe it was the sheer tyranny of stats, and that I hadn¡¯t encountered a Mirror classer that was too powerful?


    Plus, I could always just go for ¡°Let¡¯s both stab each other¡± then just heal whatever they did to me.


    Only if I dramatically overpowered them though. Too easy to imagine a Mirror classer utterly outclassing me to the point where I couldn¡¯t manage that.


    ¡°No.¡± He squeaked out.


    ¡°Good!¡± I remained kneeling on him, looking around at the men who¡¯d just tried to rob me. About a third were screaming and crying, and the rest were more sort of twitching, antipain skills stopping things from hurting. Didn¡¯t mean they could use their arms with their shoulders and elbows burned through.


    ¡°Now, for the conversation I was hoping to have before this got ugly.¡± I said from my new throne. ¡°You all look like you used to be soldiers, right?¡±


    One of the brigands tried to spit at me, having no chance at actually hitting me. It was more about the message.


    I expertly sniped it out of the air with a precision blast of Radiance, leaving him cross-eyes at a brand-new scorch mark in front of him.


    ¡°Yes.¡± One of them eventually admitted.


    ¡°It¡¯s a sad day when soldiers have turned to banditry.¡± I shook my head somewhat dramatically. ¡°Anyways. Let me introduce myself. Hi. Sentinel Dawn here.¡±


    Loud groans and cries of dismay across all the robbers met my proclamation. They were soldiers. They were intimately familiar with Rangers, and by extension, Sentinels.


    We were the best. Creatures more myth than reality, they¡¯d probably only heard stories of us. Stories, where we grew bigger and stronger with each retelling, like the prize fish that got bigger every time the [Fisherman] described it.


    My complete domination - seriously, one vs almost thirty? It was the sort of stuff from stories - made my announcement all the more believable. So did taking out my badge, and letting them all get a nice, long, good look at it.


    ¡°You can double check my level if you¡¯d like.¡± I let some mischief enter my voice, as I edited my level to 600.


    ¡°This is your fault!¡± One of the bandits flopped over towards a second one, trying to headbutt him. It looked like - and was as effective as - a fish out of water. Kinda funny though.


    ¡°Now. I¡¯m in a decent mood. I¡¯m back in Remus. I¡¯m almost home. I really, really do not want to either murder you all, nor leave you out here to become dinosaur food.¡±


    I got some appreciative noises, and a few sycophantic ones.


    ¡°Oh great Sentinel! I¡¯ll serve you to the end of my days!¡± One cried out. I gave him a flat stare.


    ¡°And have you hanging around me all the time? Ew. No.¡±


    Some of the other bandits - honestly there were too many to properly keep track - went with jeering and insulting the one bandit I¡¯d insulted.


    ¡°Ha! Cadmus! You¡¯re so ugly, even as a free slave you got rejected!¡±


    Blah. Too many people trying to figure out how to get on my good side. I clapped my hands to get their attention.


    ¡°Ok! Thank you! Here¡¯s what¡¯s going to happen. I¡¯m going to heal you all up. Then you¡¯re all going to march back to Deva as quickly as you can, report to the local guard, and let them know that Sentinel Dawn has sentenced you all to three months of slavery. I¡¯ll be checking back on you, to make sure you did it. You don¡¯t want me to find out you haven¡¯t. Any questions?¡±


    Three months was the largest penalty I was willing to issue. Any longer, and the bandits would start to seriously consider their chances at just¡­ running away, and taking their chances.


    It wasn¡¯t a great solution. It wasn¡¯t even a good solution.


    But nobody died today. The bandits would get off the road, leaving it safe for travelers. The local guard would become aware of them, and know their names and faces.


    If I was extra-lucky, the few months in slavery would also get them to know people, and a new profession, and they could move onto more honest work. I was dreaming a bit with that last one, but hey, a girl could hope.


    One of the soldiers - the one who got his lung hit - coughed.


    ¡°How are we supposed to get there?¡± He cried. ¡°I can¡¯t even breathe.¡±


    I rolled my eyes. He was being melodramatic.


    ¡°I¡¯ll fix you up. I literally just said that. Did none of you see the [Healer] tag?¡±


    Dumbass.


    ¡°What if we don¡¯t all get there?¡±


    Hmmm. The more questions I let them have, the less mysterious and scary I was, the higher the chance that this would all go sideways.


    Time to do one of the [Drill Instructor]¡¯s favorite tricks! They were all ex-army, they¡¯d totally understand me.


    ¡°I¡¯m so glad there are no more questions! I expect you all to get to Deva by nightfall!¡± I put on a fake-cheery voice, which hopefully had them all going ¡®oh shit she¡¯s being WAY TOO NICE.¡¯


    It wasn¡¯t one of the official Ranger Academy lessons, but we¡¯d all learned how the army worked. I was pulling from my memories of when the instructors had been scariest.


    I got up, and lightly kicked Mirror bandit.


    ¡°Up you go! Run soldier, RUN! Run like the Formorians are out to get you! Run like there¡¯s a mad Sentinel behind you who¡¯ll change her mind and catch you! Run!¡±


    ¡°Brpt!¡± Auri ¡®helped¡¯ the soldier along by scolding him herself. It was a good effort.


    I had my best ¡°tone of command¡± voice, and it worked. I hated calling him a soldier - he¡¯d clearly left, and was a bit of a disgrace to the name - but doing so touched something deep inside, triggered his memories and training, and he moved.


    I gave him a bit of a headstart, then did the rest in one big group. I didn¡¯t want them to get inured to my shouting.


    I shook my head as I watched the last dust cloud settle.


    ¡°Good job Auri.¡± I told my little troublemaker as I released her.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± She flew around me, complaining about her rough treatment. ¡°BrrrrRRRRRRrrrrrRRRRRRRpt!¡±


    ¡°I needed to keep you safe.¡± I explained as I grabbed one of the mango juice jars. I needed a stiff drink. Barring that, a sweet drink would do just fine.


    ¡°Brrrrrpt!¡±


    ¡°No. You can¡¯t keep yourself safe yet, let alone me.¡± I offered Auri the open jug. She took a sip, then hovered in front of me, all the colors of fire blazing in the afternoon light.


    ¡°Brpt! Brpt!¡± She protested.


    I was still riled up from the fight, and I snapped a bit.


    ¡°Auri. You are a kid. You are a baby. You have no idea how big the world is. You don¡¯t even have the slightest idea how dangerous it is. You attacked with everything you had, and the bad guy shrugged it off like it was nothing, because, right now, you¡¯re not very strong. People and things can hurt you. They can hurt me. Be careful! Please! That¡¯s all I want, is you to be safe and happy.¡±


    ¡°Brpt¡­¡± Auri cheeped sadly. I felt my heart melt, and some of the stress left me. I patted my shoulder.


    ¡°Come on. Why don¡¯t you take a break here? Show off a bit. Show me how colorful you can be! Show me how pretty you are!¡±


    ¡°Brpt!¡± Auri dashed over to my shoulder, and fanned her flaming wings out.


    ¡°Brpt!¡± She showed off one angle, then the next.


    ¡°Oooh, how pretty!¡± I cooed.


    ¡°Brpt!¡± Some of her flames flickered, changing color slightly.


    ¡°Wow! Amazing!¡±


    ¡°Brpt!¡±


    We kept walking along, Auri showing off as I gushed over her.


    In what felt like no time at all - less than a week, most of the distance covered by high-speed flying while Auri napped - I saw the gleaming walls of Arminium break over the horizon.

 Chapter 280 - Triumphant Return

    I broke out into a huge, silly smile as I saw the walls of Arminium. Still gleaming white. Still with a little shanty town in front of it. Same old, same old.


    The only big difference was the shanty town had grown, which was absolutely no surprise to me. People kept trying to expand, and the city had limited space. Even pillars and markings showed where new walls were being planned.


    ¡°Move it!¡± Someone rudely shoved me aside, passing me on the avenue.


    ¡°Jackass!¡± I yelled back. Could¡¯ve just asked nicely. Sure, I¡¯d been somewhat blocking one of the major roads - arguably the single busiest road in the Empire - but that didn¡¯t excuse terrible manners.


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri started to fly towards him, puffing her tiny chest out.


    ¡°Auri! No!¡± The little arsonist was going to try and burn the dude to pieces. I¡¯d bet mangos on it.


    ¡°Brpt!¡± She protested as I snagged her with [Mantle]. Honestly, I don¡¯t know how I¡¯d manage Auri if I didn¡¯t have [Mantle]. I¡¯d probably need to go live in the wilderness for a dozen years or something, before she got her pyromaniacal tendencies under control.


    For that matter, I was a little concerned about living with her in a city. I should get a nice room of hard to burn but still flammable stuff - like really wet wood - and let her go nuts.


    ¡°Yes, he wasn¡¯t a nice person.¡± I agreed with her.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°No, you can¡¯t burn down every bad person.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt??¡±


    I stepped off the side of the busy road, massaging my eyes. How did I explain this to Auri?


    ¡°There are¡­ ok, for now, let¡¯s say there are two types of bad guys.¡±


    ¡°Brpt.¡±


    ¡°There are the SUPER DUPER BAD GUYS, and you burn them.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!!!¡±


    ¡°Then there are the MEH bad guys, and you just ignore them or fly away.¡±


    ¡°Brpt???¡±


    ¡°Because not everything is worth burning people over.¡±


    ¡°Brpt! Brrrrrrrpt!!¡±


    I facepalmed. Auri still seemed to think burning people or ¡®turning people into fire¡¯ was a good thing. How, exactly, she reconciled that with ¡°burn the bad people¡± I wasn¡¯t sure.


    She honestly seemed to have one answer to every problem, and it was ¡°fire¡±.


    ¡°You can¡­ make them more miserable by leaving them alone? They¡¯re not worth your precious fire?¡±


    I was reaching here. I didn¡¯t quite know how to properly explain civilization and society, crime and punishment, along with the entire ethical and moral backbone that Auri needed to have. This parenting thing was hard, and I was additionally struggling with the sheer pace that Auri was growing and developing at, along with the massive firepower on the tips of her wings.


    More and more I understood why the System was locked for kids, as miserable as those eight years had been for me. A toddler with [Fireball]?


    That was basically Auri. On my todo list: Get a tutor for her. Someone with experience raising kids and teaching them. I was doing my best, but I knew I was stabbing blindly in the dark. I wasn¡¯t so arrogant to think that I could just automatically do it all myself perfectly. People trained for this. People had classes in this.


    Well, ok, not classes in ¡°How to raise a baby phoenix¡±, but close enough. [Nanny for troubled kids] had to be a class with some cross-applicability or something.


    ¡°Brpt¡­¡± Auri didn¡¯t sound convinced.


    ¡°Let¡¯s make a deal.¡± I pleaded with her. ¡°Don¡¯t burn anyone or anything without asking me, and if you make it a whooooooole week, I¡¯ll take you to a flower shop, buy all the flowers, and let you burn them. Deal?¡±


    ¡°Brpt? Brpt?? Brpt!¡±


    I¡¯d successfully explained ¡°Buying¡± and ¡°Selling¡± to Auri before.


    ¡°Ok, yes, and you can also sit on my shoulder that whole time. Just think! If you¡¯re not lighting everyone on fire, then I can take you to busy, crowded markets! Then TONS and TONS of people can see how pretty you are!¡±


    ¡°Brrrrptttt!!!!!¡± Auri loved the idea. ¡°Brpt?¡±


    ¡°A flower store sells allllll kinds of pretty, beautiful flowers! They¡¯re lovely! They have hundreds and HUNDREDS of the best flowers from ALL OVER THE WORLD! Isn¡¯t that super cool?¡±


    Auri¡¯s eyes went as wide as a blueberry, which on her tiny frame, was massive.


    ¡°Brrpt?!¡±


    ¡°Yes, a whole week. Seven days.¡± I patiently explained to her.


    ¡°BrrrRRRRrrrrrrPT!¡±


    ¡°I know that seems like forever.¡± I had to remind myself that she was only a few weeks old. ¡°But it¡¯ll be over in a flash! Plus, you¡¯re going to meet my mom and dad soon!¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!!¡±


    ¡°Yeah! Let¡¯s go!¡±


    Auri successfully distracted and refocused, we got back on the road, joining the throngs of people making their way to the capital for one reason or another.


    I smiled at the road, feelings of nostalgia welling up. I remembered the first time I went down this road, Julius teaching me how to be fast with [Rapidash]. How we¡¯d blazed along the road, then turned around and headed back, with Julius running backwards the entire time.


    How we¡¯d lumbered up in the Ranger¡¯s wagon, making it to their home. I hadn¡¯t known it at the time, but it¡¯d become my home as well.


    How often I¡¯d gone up this road, coming back home after visiting Artemis¡¯s school. Shame it was a bit out of the way, but I wanted to get home-home first, THEN visit Artemis.


    I couldn¡¯t wait. I wanted to show her Auri, and tell her all the stories! Plus, Julius and Artemis were a thing, and I wanted to get all the sweet details from her!


    Now, I was walking up the road one more time. My heart was pounding, and I entirely ignored everything that wasn¡¯t the road. That wasn¡¯t the next step.


    I was less than an hour or two away from home. Away from hugging mom and dad. A year and a half, come down to this.


    I wanted to just fly right in, blaze through everything and everyone, and make it right home.


    It¡¯d cause more than a bit of a mess, and there wasn¡¯t a need to do it right now. I was still feeling a little awkward about Port Salona, and for all I knew, Sentinels were less exempt from various laws than we had been before. I wanted to get a pulse on things.


    Before long, Auri and I were queued up in the long line before the main gates. Arminium was surrounded on three sides by the Nostrum Sea, leaving one main entrance to the walled city. The road leading up to the gates were wide and kept clear, the shanty town not allowed to encroach on it. There were multiple sets of guards checking people and things over.


    Still. There was a line.


    A long line.


    I played with Auri a bit as I listened to idle gossip.


    ¡°Want some juice?¡± I asked her, my hand already knowing the answer as I moved to uncork the amphora.


    ¡°Brpt!¡±


    ¡°Food prices are going down at last.¡±


    ¡°Shame, I¡¯d been hoping to get my harvest in while they were still up.¡±


    ¡°Well, can¡¯t rush nature.¡±


    I gave Auri a deep drink.


    ¡°Look! Mom, look! Look at the pretty bird! Can we go over and touch it?¡±


    ¡°She probably doesn¡¯t want to be bothered.¡±


    ¡°New play from The Bard is going to be in the theater tonight!¡±


    ¡°Bah, plays. I want to see the colosseum! Give me those [Gladiator] fights! I want to see blood! I want to see death! They keep trying to execute Spartacus and Artemis, and they keep beating all the gladiators sent after them! I¡¯m probably going to miss them, the line is going so slowly.¡±


    My heart practically froze as I heard that.


    Artemis wasn¡¯t a super common name, but at the same time it wasn¡¯t the rarest name. However, at the capital? Combat-capable enough to survive multiple rounds in the colosseum?


    That sounded like Artemis.


    I¡¯d wanted to get into the city normally, but nooooo. One of my friends being at risk was a good enough reason to bend a few rules.


    ¡°Hey! You!¡± I pointed at one of the farmers hauling his goods.


    ¡°Me?¡± He pointed to himself, looking around.


    ¡°Five rods if you deliver this to Ranger HQ.¡± I shucked my heavy backpack off, and heaved it into his cart. I quickly flashed my Sentinel badge, but I might¡¯ve been too fast for him to see it properly.


    ¡°Hold on!¡± I called out to Auri as I wrapped her up in my shield. I bent my knees slightly, then jumped up, my colorful [Scintillating Ascent] wings snapping open.


    ¡°Brpt! Brpt!?¡± Auri thought my wings were OK, and wanted to know what we were doing.


    ¡°Friend might be in trouble.¡± I answered her as I flew over the city walls, holding up my Sentinel badge. I let a subtle Radiance glow ennamate from me, shining as I blitzed through the sky.


    I knew where the colosseum was. I¡¯d been the entertainment of the day often enough in Ranger Academy, and the arena was huge.


    A flicker of Lightning coming from the arena, and the roar of the crowd had me straining to fly faster, pushing my skill for all it was worth.


    Then I cleared the walls of the Colosseum, and got a look at what was going on.


    I absorbed the entire scene in an instant.


    Without a doubt, it was Artemis in the center of the arena, fighting for her life. Nearly a dozen gladiator bodies were scattered around her. A few had the characteristic charmarks of Artemis¡¯s Lightning strikes, while the rest had bright streaks of fresh blood radiating away from their corpses, Artemis having put a rock through them.


    She was coated in her stone armor, and four gladiators were huddled inside a metal contraption, a decent distance away from her. Two more were warily circling her.


    The gladiators inside the metal cage were two [Mages] and two [Rangers]. The gladiators circling Artemis were both [Warriors]. All were between level 150 and 200, and it made me wonder where the higher level gladiators were. A small, vindictive part of me hoped that Artemis had fought them all already, and was working her way through the entire supply of [Gladiators]. After all, while two [Gladiators] fighting each other usually didn¡¯t go to the death, Artemis had no such restraints. Even when she completely overpowered her victim - errr - opponent.


    Small burning rocks were scattered all over, billowing black smoke coming off the rocks. A strange Fire skill, working with Earth? Didn¡¯t matter too much.


    I grinned. It looked like they¡¯d sent sixteen professional fighters after Artemis, and she was kicking their ass. That was the Artemis I knew!


    I hovered for a quick moment, while deciding on my angle of attack, and how I was going to approach this. Option A was to just dive in, Radiance blazing, and kidnap Artemis from the center of the arena, then fly away.


    The plan seemed inadvisable from a long-term solve-the-Artemis-in-the-colosseum problem, but it kept her safe for now.


    I didn¡¯t think she needed that much keeping safe, not from the bodies she was stacking up like firewood.


    ¡°The Lightning Reaper scores two more kills! The sixth time they¡¯ve tried to execute her, and she demonstrates why she just will not go down! Give it up fooooooooooooooor ARTEMIS!¡±


    The crowd roared, half in approval, half in anger. Either way, the stadium was packed. Artemis was making one hell of a name for herself, and given her victory in the face of overwhelming odds?


    The fight stalled out for a moment, and four of the gates to the arena opened up. Three gladiators stepped through.


    ¡°Would you believe it?! They¡¯re sending more fighters after the Lightning Reaper! Killed ten people so far, but it looks like they¡¯re determined to take her out! But with how good she is, are the [Lanistae] just throwing away [Gladiators]?¡±


    The commentator paused for a moment, seeing something I hadn¡¯t.


    ¡°Spartacus refuses to enter the colosseum! He doesn¡¯t like his chances here! I wouldn¡¯t like them if I was in his sandals!! He¡¯s chosen to live another day, versus fighting the LIGHTNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING REAPER!¡±


    As the reinforcements dramatically entered the arena with various flourishes, one of the mages hiding in the metal cage took advantage of the moment of distraction to launch a barrage of devastating rocks at Artemis. Nearly all of them split around her, redirected towards the two gladiators trying to flank my favorite Lightning mage.


    One of them had the reflexes - and a big enough shield - to defend himself, while the second one ate dozens of high-speed pointy rocks to the face, and dropped like a sack of potatoes. From his screaming and convulsing, Artemis hadn¡¯t been lethal enough.


    Annnnnnnd there went my plan on figuring out a better plan. Blasted [Oath]. I might be able to heal from where I was, but that¡¯d just make more messes, and risk Artemis unnecessarily.


    I regretted losing my sound-amplification gems in Ochi, but I could still make one hell of an entrance. Plus, the [Announcer] usually had amplification skills, and with just a tiny bit of luck and showmanship, I¡¯d get boosted. Made sure I was showing off the right level as well.


    I blasted light-only Radiance, detailing the Sentinel badge rotating around me as I dived down. Auri, from her hamsterball perch on my shoulder, shrieked as the ground rushed up at us.


    ¡°BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRPT!¡±


    The crowd roared as I descended, their voices pressing against me like a living thing. I flickered a heal at the downed gladiator, saving his life.


    I blasted out dozens of [Kaleidoscope] butterflies, having a few hover near each gladiator, and a swarm interspersed on the field just in case.


    I didn¡¯t need to announce what they did. The butterflies were a clear threat. ¡®Move, and something bad will happen.¡¯


    I landed hard next to Artemis in the center of the arena, bending my knees to take some of the impact.


    I had no idea what to say. Not after so long. What did one say when they vanished for a year and a half, then suddenly reappeared in the midst of a life and death fight?


    I said the first thing that popped into my mind.


    ¡°Yo. Long time, no see.¡±


    Did¡­ did I just say yo!? Oh gods.


    Artemis looked stunned. She just stared at me, her mouth opening and closing wordlessly. The announcer and the crowd were going nuts. I ignored them. As long as the gladiators did nothing stupid, we were fine.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here.¡± I jerked my thumb over my shoulder. Artemis hardened up, and nodded.


    With a modest amount of Radiance, I melted right through the chain on Artemis. I noted that it was rooted in a stone pillar, and she would¡¯ve been able to escape it herself, if she needed to.


    I looked at her stone armor.


    ¡°You are way too heavy for me to fly out.¡± I noted.


    Artemis half-grinned, and gave a half-chuckle of despair.


    ¡°And I¡¯m way too low on mana to fly out myself.¡± She added.


    ¡°Let¡¯s walk out? Damn anyone who tries to stop us?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s.¡±

 Chapter 281 - Artemis!!

    Artemis kept her stone armor on as we too-casually walked across the arena. We were both keeping a wary eye on the various [Gladiators], wordlessly splitting up who was keeping an eye on which one.


    The crowd was chanting, and the announcer was shouting with wild exuberance.


    Artemis had trained me. I knew she was tuning out the noise just as much as I was. They weren¡¯t part of the fight right here, right now. It was mostly useless background information, and paying attention to it could get us killed.


    The only important part? The crowd seemed excited and pleased by what we were doing. Gave us a good shot of pulling it off.


    I had full faith in my abilities. At the same time, arrogance and complacency killed. Sky was a great example.


    My [Kaleidoscope] butterflies were still there. Still silently hovering, a glittering, golden minefield that no fighter wanted to walk through.


    Not with my level.


    Not with my proclamation of being a Sentinel.


    This was one of those moments where I was grateful for the never-ending Sentinel propaganda.


    Brawling had done a number on people watching the gladiator fights, and on the gladiators themselves. He was undefeated, and while he always dragged it out and made a great big show out of it - the fighters knew, in the back of their mind, that he was putting on a show, and wasn¡¯t seriously fighting them.


    Now a second Sentinel was around, and it was obvious that I wasn¡¯t playing games. I wasn¡¯t here to put on a show.


    I wasn¡¯t going to be extra-careful to keep my opponents alive.


    I noticed Artemis was limping a bit, and I felt a flush rise up my cheeks. How had I forgotten to do something so simple, so basic?


    Without a word, I pulsed a quick heal through Artemis, and we finished walking out of the arena, through the gates.


    I dismissed my butterflies, all of them vanishing with a thought. It wouldn¡¯t do me any good for them to fade one by one - it¡¯d give away too much of what I could do, and how they worked. All of them disappearing at once when I walked through the gates?


    Obviously controlled. Obviously powerful.


    There was one [Retiarius] in the antechamber that led to the arena, his trident and net on the ground, his hands above his head. He was pressing himself against the wall, either trying to get out of our way, or melt into the stone.


    The antechamber had two gates. One led to the sandy arena, filled with death and blood. The other was closed and barred, and led deeper into the colosseum.


    Couldn¡¯t give the sacrifices a chance to run away. Recalcitrant slaves would be poked with spears, ¡°encouraged¡± to leave into the arena proper.


    Between certain death by spear, and almost certain death in the arena, nearly everyone took the second. After all, people like Artemis demonstrated that it was possible to survive.


    ¡°Artemis?¡± I asked her, glancing at her. She was chewing her lip.


    ¡°Healy-bug. Don¡¯t think I¡¯ve got enough left in me to remove the gate.¡±


    Drat. I could melt through the gate, but it was a significant amount of mana. Radiance vs rock was heavily tilted in rock¡¯s favor. Artemis was an Earth mage though, and could, with relative ease, get rid of the gate.


    She looked at me, and cracked a smile.


    ¡°Then again, I¡¯m with Sentinel Dawn, aren¡¯t I? Don¡¯t need to leave much in reserve.¡±


    Artemis pushed against the gate. Wall and all, it fell back into the corridor, cracking in half as it hit the wall.


    ¡°Brrrrpt!¡± Auri was impressed.


    We carefully stepped through the gap, and just like that, we were winding through the interior of the colosseum.


    I¡¯d been here often enough during Ranger Academy ¡®practice sessions¡¯. I knew my way around.


    I was burning with my desire to talk with Artemis, to catch up. I knew she felt the same way.


    Damn the time and place. We both knew it was inappropriate. We were treating this like any other threat a Ranger needed to face.


    I was keeping Auri in her little ball on my shoulder, ignoring her cries of protest. This wasn¡¯t the time or the place to be letting her explore.


    By and large, people scurried out of our way as we went through the hallways.


    Well.


    To be fair, they were getting out of Artemis¡¯s way. In the poorly lit corridors, at a quick glance that didn¡¯t properly evaluate my color, I just looked like a healer, escorting another fighter.


    Artemis¡¯s level, marred armor, reputation, and sheer fame had people making way for her, like some celebrity. We made good time, until we were almost at the exit.


    A skinny, reedy man in a toga - clearly rich, because only someone with too much wealth could waddle around in something so impractical during a working day - was blocking our way with a few guards.


    ¡°Senator Enyo.¡± Artemis muttered to me. ¡°Technically owns my debt.¡±


    I flickered my eyes to her in recognition of what she said, and what it meant.


    Short version. Artemis had - for some reason I couldn¡¯t possibly imagine, she was a paragon of virtue - gotten in serious trouble with the law. The penalty for nearly everything was a fine of varying degrees, and slavery was Remus¡¯s answer to someone who couldn¡¯t pay off the fine.


    Of course, someone had to actually pay that on the other end, and from the sound of it, Senator Enyo had snapped up Artemis.


    The whole thing made my skin crawl.


    Bonus though - if it was ¡°only¡± someone who owned her debt, it meant high-level politics weren¡¯t in play. I hadn¡¯t stumbled into some grand conspiracy to bump off Artemis.


    Probably. I¡¯d take things one day at a time. One thing at a time.


    ¡°You!¡± He snapped at Artemis. ¡°What are you doing?! Get back over here.¡±


    Artemis opened her mouth, and I cut her off with a subtle gesture.


    Gods, I was fast. How had I become faster than Artemis?! When had that happened?!


    I put my impending crisis off to the side.


    ¡°How much?¡± I asked. Enyo sneered at me.


    ¡°Not for sale.¡± He smugly informed me.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri shrieked at him.


    ¡°Now now, no burning the SUPER DUPER bad man.¡± I absent-mindedly told Auri.


    ¡°Brpt!?!?¡±


    ¡°This time.¡±


    ¡°BRRPT!!¡±


    Auri fluttered helplessly against [Mantle], trying to get out there and FIGHT! Kill the bad man! Burn him to pieces!


    As fun and convenient as that would be, it¡¯d simply compound the mess.


    I tapped my foot unhappily.


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t an option.¡± I said.


    ¡°Well, tough shit girly.¡± Enyo replied.


    Goddesses above, could you please send me someone to punch his face? He really needed a punch in the face.


    ¡°I am leaving with Artemis.¡± I informed Enyo. ¡°Either you¡¯re getting a pile of coins from me, or you¡¯re not. How many coins would you like?¡±


    ¡°You think you can just steal my slave?¡± Enyo was getting heated, his face an unhealthy red.


    ¡°If you phrase it like that, yes.¡±


    ¡°And who are you to-¡±


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn. Now, you, and what army, will be stopping me?¡±


    I shifted my focus to the guards, and before Enyo could stop me, addressed them.


    ¡°Healer-tagged, but I can melt through stone. Anyone¡¯s eyeballs tougher than stone? Raise your hand!¡±


    I lifted my hand in the air, giving them all a Look as I gave a quick demonstration with my Radiance. I melted a patch of stone in the ceiling between us, liquifying the stone in three seconds. There was dead silence, only punctuated by the steady drip, sizzle, drip, sizzle, drip, sizzle of molten stone hitting the floor.


    ¡°2000 rods.¡± Enyo named a sky-high price, and I steeled my face. I wasn¡¯t going to be dropping my jaw at something like this.


    ¡°Done.¡± I snapped, before he could change his mind or something happened. ¡°And don¡¯t you dare give me shit over being a woman. I¡¯m Sentinel Dawn. I can pay it.¡±


    A Sentinel, haggling with a Senator at the entrance to the colosseum? It was a bad look for everyone, but more so for me. He clearly had no shame.


    I let a predator grin stretch over my face at Enyo¡¯s shocked look, and a little thrill went through me. Instantly agreeing, as it turned out, was hitting him harder than anything else. He was realizing he could¡¯ve asked for more, and it was killing him inside.


    Yesssss.


    ¡°I demand delivery of the coins before I hand her over!¡± Enyo cried out.


    Artemis and I glanced at each other, and gave him a flat stare.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have it delivered in two days. Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Artemis took the lead, and the guards parted for her. Enyo briefly looked like he¡¯d try to be a pain in the ass one last time, but decided not to mess with the stone-coated Lightning Reaper.


    He¡¯d probably seen how many people she¡¯d killed in the arena, and I had some sneaking suspicions how Artemis ended up in this position in the first place.


    As we walked out into the busy boulevard connecting to the arena, Artemis let her stone armor fall off. She stretched in the sun, like a languid cat waking up from a nap.


    I released Auri from [Mantle], hurriedly grabbing her as she determinedly flew back to the arena.


    ¡°Auri, NO! Not right now. We need to look after our friend first. Remember, flower shop. Floooowerrrr shooooooooop.¡±


    ¡°Brrppt¡­..¡± Auri flew back to my shoulder.


    ¡°This is Arte-¡±


    I was interrupted by the woman in question.


    ¡°Whoa! Healy-bug! Thank you!¡± She finished her stretch, grabbed me in a hug, and twirled me around. ¡°That was a bad spot of trouble you pulled me out of.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri was flying around Artemis, clearly distressed that I was being manhandled.


    ¡°No, Auri, Artemis is nice! We like Artemis!¡±


    ¡°And who is this?¡± Artemis asked, cocking her head at Auri.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Artemis, Auri, Auri, Artemis. Listen, why don¡¯t we head back to my place, and talk there?¡±


    I was all too aware that we were standing in the middle of the street, and traffic was diverting around us. It wasn¡¯t exactly the best place to hold a conversation.


    ¡°Sure. Where to?¡± Artemis asked. She was probably dying to ask me a million questions. Her self-restraint was admirable. And a little suspicious.


    Had Artemis been replaced by a doppelganger?


    ¡°My place! I just said that.¡± I started walking down the road that I knew would lead to home, then paused. Realized one reason why Artemis would double-check the place.


    ¡°Hang on. My parents are still living there, right?¡±


    My throat clenched up. This was the moment. I¡¯d had a rock-solid belief this entire time that they were ok. They had to be ok! Nothing could hurt them, or cause them issues!


    That belief had kept me going this entire time. It¡¯d let me compartmentalize, put the worry about something I could do nothing about to the side, and let me focus on the various issues and problems I had in the moment. Getting distracted when sneaking around dragons, fighting spinosauruses, or dodging semi-orbital bombardments was a great way to end up dead.


    However, all my fears and worries about my parents came rushing back. Had they been ok without me? Had dad being in the Praetorian Guard caused issues when Emperor Augustus had come to town? Had the guard resisted? Did mom need to go heal someone, and ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time?


    Themis was probably fine, although if something happened to mom and dad he¡¯d be in trouble.


    ¡°Hmm? Oh yeah, of course they are, why would they move?¡± Artemis flippantly answered. I gave her a stare, feeling some tears welling up.


    It was too much. I whirled around and wrapped Artemis in a hug, buried my face in her filthy tunic, and let loose. Just, right there, middle of the street still.


    ¡°Shhh, shhh, it¡¯s ok.¡± Artemis hugged me back, one hand patting my back and the other stroking me like I still had hair, and not a charcoaly mess. ¡°Everything¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt! BrrrrrpT!!¡± Auri was making some concerned noises, flying around us. She then landed on my shoulder a few times, and started half-pecking me, half-trying to light me on fire.


    Because, to Auri, lightning me on fire was a good thing that¡¯d make everything better.


    Phoenixes. Heh.


    My crying turned into cry-laughter, and I broke free.


    ¡°We really should do this at home.¡± I hiccuped in the middle.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    The streets blurred together as Artemis and I hustled, only slowed down by Auri at first. We¡¯d been in a town before, but nothing so big. Everything was NEW! Everything was SHINY!


    Poor girl tuckered herself out, and with the earlier excitement with the colosseum? She fluttered into my hands, and practically passed out, nevermind the loud, crowded street.


    In practically no time at all, we were at my home. The fancy, expensive house in the nice part of town that Night had semi-casually gifted me as a thank-you for not murdering Jaclyn.


    I sprinted as we got close, leaving Artemis in the dust. I practically bulldozed the doors on my way in.


    ¡°MOM! DAD! I¡¯M HOME!¡± I yelled as loudly as I could.


    Silence. Drat.


    I ran to the next room.


    ¡°I¡¯m home! Where is everyone?!¡±


    We didn¡¯t do slaves. Not in my family. I¡¯d put my foot down ages ago, and since I¡¯d been bringing in the lion¡¯s share of the money, and paying for people to do the cooking, cleaning, and other household tasks that slaves normally did? My parents were totally fine with it.


    It mostly ignored the fact that there was almost no practical difference between the two. It was the spirit of the thing.


    I bumped into a servant sweeping as I burst into another room - the first one I¡¯d seen since getting back here. The place was weirdly empty, and it didn¡¯t look like they were doing a great job with the cleaning. I kept spotting little bits here and there that were suboptimal, or hadn¡¯t been done in awhile.


    ¡°Hey, where is everyone?¡± I asked him. Didn¡¯t recognize him, must be new.


    He gave me a strange look, which wasn¡¯t entirely unfair. Strange person bursting into the house you¡¯re looking after? Usually it was time to call the guards.


    Strange person seems to be holding a fireball? Which is what a sleeping Auri in my hands kinda looked like.


    DEFINITELY time to call the guards.


    His eyes widened slightly, in that look I knew all too well. The ¡°oh shit she¡¯s WHAT level?!¡±.


    He bowed slightly to me.


    ¡°Pardon miss. The patriarch of the house is performing his duties at the Senate, and the matriarch is visiting a patient of hers.¡±


    Oh right. Middle of the working day. Derp. Of course mom and dad would be at their jobs. Themis was probably at guard training.


    I did appreciate the servant¡¯s canny way of implying that dad was a Senator. That was quick thinking on his part! It wasn¡¯t true, but it was a clever dodge.


    ¡°Can you please go get them for me? Tell them I¡¯m back! Elaine¡¯s home!¡±


    My name seemed to finally make something click. One of the minor benefits to daughters being named after their dads I guess?


    He bowed again, this time more deeply, put away his broom, and left at a light jog.


    I couldn¡¯t wait!


    I skipped back through the house, knowing exactly where I¡¯d find Artemis.


    Raiding the kitchen. Maging was hungry work, and she¡¯d been in one hell of a fight.


    I leaned on the door to the kitchen, watching Artemis eat an entire duck leg, just standing up there in the middle of the kitchen like a savage.


    ¡°You know, we have a dining room. And a table.¡± I commented.


    ¡°Mrmph! Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.¡± Artemis replied through a mouthful of duck. I rolled my eyes.


    ¡°Come! Sit! Mom will kill both of us if she catches you like that.¡±


    Artemis¡¯s eyes bulged, and she started coughing as a bone went down the wrong pipe. I patted her back as we moved towards less lethal spoon territory.


    The dining room was nice. Big room, big table, a dozen chairs, a water barrel in one corner for easy drinking, a few smaller ¡°staging¡± tables along some walls, a lovely mosaic on one wall.


    Artemis finally cleared her mouth, and longingly looked at the rest of the food she¡¯d brought with her.


    ¡°When did you get back? Where were you? What happened? Is everything ok? When the fuck did you get so high level? Tell me everything about Auri! Wh-¡±


    I held my hands up. Artemis seized the moment to stuff her mouth with more food, and started chewing.


    ¡°Whoa whoa whoa! Hold up. First, I¡¯ve got a million people to tell the story to. Like MOM AND DAD. If I tell you now, I¡¯ll need to repeat myself in like three minutes. I¡¯ve been gone for ages, and I literally just got back. Like, literally now. I was in line at the gate when I heard about you, and I instantly rushed over. No, no, it¡¯s your turn. Tell me everything that¡¯s been going on. What happened to you?! What about the school?! How were you in the arena, and a slave?!¡±


    ¡°But I wanna eat.¡± Artemis whined at me.


    ¡°Do both at the same time.¡± I flippantly replied.


    ¡°Brrrrpt.¡± Auri sleepily agreed with me.


    ¡°Alright, alright, so you left with the rest of the Sentinels, and we were all worried sick. Every Sentinel being called at once? Everyone coming back instantly getting redirected? Only an idiot would think it wasn¡¯t anything super serious. We prayed every night for your safe return, then boom! News of the Formorians being defeated! Your letters came! They were more than a bit ominous, to say the least.¡±


    I chuckled at that. It had seemed like such a big deal then.


    ¡°Anyways, we more or less followed your advice,¡±


    From Artemis¡¯s tone? I was betting less.


    ¡°And - have you heard about Emperor Augustus?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, blah blah boring blah blah all hail blah.¡± I answered, circling my hand to keep Artemis¡¯s story going.


    ¡°Right. Well, since someone blabbed about Julius and I,¡± Artemis¡¯s tone suddenly got real heavy. Real sad.


    Oh no.


    OH NO.


    Julius?!


    ¡°I¡¯m going to skip to the relevant things. You got declared Missing in Action - Presumed Alive. Not to the general public of course, but your family knows, and naturally Julius told me. Maximus retired last Ranger Convocation, and joined the school. He¡¯s fascinated by how people get trained up, and get skills. Just in time as well, otherwise things would be a lot worse.¡±


    I was furiously chewing the inside of my cheek. Worse?!


    Also, nice to know that Maximus had survived so long. He was the last Ranger of the old Ranger Team 4 that I¡¯d been a part of to keep¡­ Ranger-ing, and I¡¯d been somewhat worried about his survival.


    I was delighted that he¡¯d retired and joined Artemis¡¯s school. Had to go visit and say hi.


    Artemis took a deep sigh.


    ¡°Ok, so, I¡¯m not the best person.¡±


    I gave an unladylike snort - not that I ever pretended to be a lady.


    ¡°But I¡¯d like to think I¡¯m a good person, and I do the right thing, regardless of what the letter of the law says.¡±


    Oh yeah. I could see where this was going.


    ¡°And, well, now and then, I fixed problems.¡±


    Godsdamnit Artemis, just how many people did you murder?!


    ¡°And you¡¯re not a Ranger anymore.¡±


    Artemis nodded.


    ¡°And I¡¯m not a Ranger anymore. Didn¡¯t quite appreciate how much effort you all went through to keep me out of trouble. Or how much effort Julius spent getting me out of hotspots.¡±


    Artemis got a far-off look in her eyes.


    This was sounding more and more ominous.


    ¡°And.¡± My patience level was practically zero.


    Or, technically, I didn¡¯t have the skill [Patience]. Never been offered it. Weird.


    ¡°Well, I killed someone terrible.¡± Artemis frankly admitted. ¡°He was the patriarch of his family, and was careful with his abuses. By law, nothing could be done. So I fixed the problem, and the city¡¯s a better place. I wasn¡¯t sloppy, but got caught due to bad luck. I sat tight, assumed Julius would bail me out, and¡­¡±


    Artemis teared up. She took a few deep breaths, and didn¡¯t quite manage to get her composure back. Her voice cracked as she finished her story.


    ¡°... and he never did. He¡¯s gone missing.¡±

 Chapter ??? - The Wish 1

    Elaine was walking back home from another mission. Auri was with Plato, safe at home, and the roads were strangely empty for the early evening. Just one of those flukes of traffic.


    As Elaine walked at a brisk clip, a lamb emerged from the trees around the road, bleating pitifully. Only slightly unusually, its wool was entirely golden, although with how many [Shepards] had weird skills, it wasn¡¯t that weird.


    At least it wasn¡¯t on fire, spitting venom, or followed by thousands of insects. Some [Shepards] got real weird.


    Elaine looked around, and not seeing anyone near, sighed.


    ¡°Why hello there.¡± She approached the lamb, gently stroking its head. ¡°Are you ok? Are you lost?¡± She slowly soothed the animal, while banishing thoughts of tasty, tasty lamb ribs from her mind.


    The lamb¡¯s mouth opened, and instead of bleating, wispy smoke came out of it.


    What weird skill is this? Elaine tried to [Identify] the lamb, but nothing came back. The skill didn¡¯t even seem to activate, like she¡¯d tried to [Identify] a rock or something.


    Then the smoke solidified into a man with no waist, just more smoke leading into the lamb¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°Yo yo yo! Genie¡¯s in the HOUSE! Whuzzup, you¡¯ve just won yourself THREE SPARKLING WISHES! Tell me what you want, what you really, REALLY want in that little heart of yours!¡±


    Elaine took one look at the genie, turned around, and walked away.


    ¡°Yoooooooooooo that¡¯s not cool!¡± The genie easily kept pace with Elaine¡¯s superhumanly fast, System-enhanced speed. ¡°Anything you want! Only three rules! No bringing anyone back from the dead, no making someone fall in love, and no wishing for more wishes! But anything else you want, you can GET! Just say it!¡±


    Elaine paused. Pallos was a world filled with magic and monsters, dinosaurs and gods. She¡¯d snuck into the lair of a dragon, and healed an angel. Krakens and leviathans ruled the ocean, why was a genie suddenly causing her to pause?


    What was the worst that could happen?


    ¡°If I wished for ten thousand gemstones, you¡¯d make it happen?¡±


    ¡°Baby, I can give you a MILLION gemstones! But I wasn¡¯t born yesterday! No tricks! You can¡¯t pull wool over my eyes! Gotta start your wish with ¡®I wish¡¯, or it won¡¯t work at alllllllllllll!¡±


    Elaine clicked her tongue. It had been worth a try.


    ¡°I wish my friends were all here.¡± She said, and the genie snapped his fingers.


    ¡°Your wish is myyyyyyyyyy COMMAND! Let it be DONE! There is NOTHING this genie can¡¯t do!¡±


    With that, four portals opened up.


    From the first - Ariane. A pale vampire with long blonde hair and too much junk in her trunk.


    From the second - Cat. Not the loveable fluffy murder type. Well. She was a fluffy loveable murder type, but not THAT kind of fluffy murder type. Three quarters of a person, the rest cybernetic. Her arm and eye were artificial, and sadly her brain remained entirely organic. That one could use the upgrade.


    From the third - Edmund. A wooden door with no frame swung open to reveal a black abyss from which emerged a dark-haired man who looked way cooler than any of these other characters, I promise. He wore mismatched armor in varying states of disrepair, and wielded a dagger, a segmented spear, and a sour look on his face. That latter he brought to bear upon the assembled strangers without hesitation.


    From the fourth - Maud. A woman appeared, her eyes an uncanny blue. She was wearing a frown, enormous pauldrons and a velvet skirt embroidered with little pink skulls. What flesh was visible was gaunt. A bloody axe balanced lightly between her finger and thumb.


    ¡°Yooooour wish is granted!¡± The genie roared as everyone looked around confused. ¡°And I! Am! A! Generoooooous GENIE! You four get one wish each!¡±


    The five of them traded glances with each other.


    ¡°Liam! This violates the fairness clause!¡± Edmund shouted into thin air, then started muttering to himself.


    ¡°Five people, that¡¯s the party limit size. There¡¯s gotta be a secret here, somewhere. Gotta be¡­¡± He took his spear, and started poking at every inch of the road, completely sure that one spot would spring up a fantastic treasure chest, or a deadly trap.


    ¡°Myalis. What¡¯s going on?¡± Cat asked, cocking her head as she gazed off into the distance.


    Great. Elaine thought. Two weirdos that talk into thin air.


    ¡°New world? Unknown to the Protectorate?¡± Cat muttered. She blinked a few times, as if hearing a response that she alone understood. ¡°Is there anything I can¡¯t buy?¡±


    Elaine continued to look around, and saw a familiar face.


    ¡°Ariane! It¡¯s great to see you again!¡± She bounded over to the vampire, who was cradling her head.


    ¡°Is it too much to ask that my tender feet remain on Earth?¡± She groaned. ¡°Every other decade, some force or another sees fit to wretch me from my domain. Is this Sinead¡¯s doing?¡±


    Elaine cocked her head.


    ¡°Decades¡­? It¡¯s only been a few years here. Anyways! Probably mine, sorry! I asked for my friends, and the genie, well¡­ has a weird definition of friends, what can I say. Need a bite?¡± Elaine offered her wrist.


    ¡°Supplicant?¡± Ariane wondered. ¡°What do you wish?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m being polite. It¡¯s my fault you¡¯re here.¡± Elaine responded. She got an impish grin. ¡°Plus, you don¡¯t have to worry about draining me dry. You¡¯d explode from drinking too much blood first.¡±


    Ariane gave Elaine a flat look, then chomped down on her wrist. Elaine went a bit pale, but color quickly returned to her cheeks as the vampire felt waves of delicious power course through her.


    ¡°Can¡¯t get a single break.¡± Maud grumped. ¡°The moment I get home, the very second I sit down with some knitting, and I¡¯m pulled here! The sheer nerve of you, young lady. Do you have any idea what you¡¯ve done?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I made a wish.¡± Elaine flippantly countered back.


    ¡°Harumph.¡± Maud crossed her arms. ¡°Well, figure out how to fix all this. I¡¯m Maud. Lich.¡±


    ¡°Elaine. Healer-mage.¡± She touched Maud, flashing healing through her. Not much happened, since Elaine¡¯s healing wasn¡¯t well-geared towards liches, no matter how much Maud looked like a grumpy old lady.


    Old as Elaine saw things. Maud was, like, 30 tops. Practically ancient.


    ¡°Cat. Samurai.¡± The young woman with the mechanical arm and eye introduced herself. ¡°Where is this?¡±


    ¡°Pallos.¡± Elaine answered.


    Ariane tore herself away from Elaine¡¯s wrist, her belly unusually distended.


    ¡°That was delectable most.¡± She said, slurring her words slightly as the vampire, unbalanced by both her large stomach and even larger derriere, swayed.


    ¡°Arianeeeeee. Vampire. BY THE WATCHER!¡± She screamed, pointing at the sky.


    The five of them looked up. A pair of fierce crimson eyes hung in the night sky, staring down at them.


    ¡°The dragoneye moons.¡± Elaine almost reverently said.


    ¡°I already have one Watcher. Now there¡¯s two more!¡± Ariane threw her hands up in despair.


    ¡°Technically, one. Uses both eyes.¡± Elaine idly corrected her.


    ¡°I¡¯m Edmund.¡± The slightly mad, paranoid man said. ¡°I don¡¯t know how you¡¯re all so casual in The Eternal Depths, but monsters could be coming at any time. Where¡¯s the exit? Have any of you done this level before?¡±


    ¡°Not a level.¡± Elaine corrected. ¡°It¡¯s Pallos, a different world.¡±


    Edmund stared daggers at Elaine.


    ¡°Must be another trick of Liam¡¯s.¡± He muttered, continuing to poke at the road. ¡°If I don¡¯t get back, I lose Obsession. But wait, if I¡¯m trying to get back, that works for Obsession, right? No Solitude though¡­¡± Edmund continued to talk to himself in a low voice. He was quite Mad, and the rest of them shuffled away from him.


    ¡°And there aren¡¯t even any ghosts here. Bah!¡± Maud stomped over to the genie, but before she got there, a large box thumped into existence next to her, roughly the size of a bus.


    Cat rubbed her hands as the flaps fell away, revealing an elaborate series of screens, keyboards, knobs, bells, and whistles. The entire thing was decorated with small pictures of playful cats on every surface. The center was dominated by a circular teleportation pad.


    ¡°AHHA! I KNEW IT!¡± Edmund shouted, as part of the road went click, and a golden treasure chest emerged from the ground.


    Elaine rubbed her eyes. Roads in Remus didn¡¯t have secret compartments, plus hundreds of people walked over the roads daily!


    ¡°The Carrier - Allstar Tempest Mk. MMMMMMDCLXVI is operational.¡± A soft woman¡¯s voice from Cat¡¯s station spoke. Cat walked over to the station.


    ¡°Myalis, give me the user guide.¡± She said, then sharply looked up.


    Hovering between the two dragoneye moons, as large as they were, was a lucky cat-shaped supercarrier.


    ¡°Hey hey hey. I need yo second wish. I ain¡¯t staying here forever, you feel me?¡±


    ¡°I wish I had enough mangos.¡± Elaine absent-mindedly answered. There was no telling if she was overwhelmed from the various antics of the strange companions she found herself with, the prodigious amount of blood she¡¯d lost, or if the genie was screwing with her mind. Either way, the wish came out, idle and not well-formed.


    ¡°Your wish is my command!¡± The genie snapped his fingers, and a single mango appeared in Elaine¡¯s hands.


    She promptly devoured it with great gusto, as a second mango appeared beside her.


    A third.


    A fourth.


    A fifth came from high up, then like the skies opening up, like a monsoon, mangos rained from the clear skies. Dozens, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, as many mangos as drops of rain from a hurricane came pouring down on Elaine and the rest - and across the entirety of Pallos.


    The perfectly ripe fruits were being created by the genie high up in the sky, then getting all the time in the world to fall down to Pallos, picking up speed the entire way. They exploded as they landed, skin, flesh, and pit going flying in every direction.


    The Mangpocalypse had begun.


    Each mango was a deadly missile, a direct hit on the head lethal to even most Classers on Pallos. Everyone had been in numerous fights for their life, and while mangos raining from the heavens might be the strangest fight they¡¯d had, it wasn¡¯t enough to give them pause.


    Elaine raised a shield over everyone¡¯s head, a small application of [Mantle of the Stars] acting as a last line of defense. She then carefully watched the falling mangos, and with a heavy heart, annihilated ones about to hit people with a powerful burst of Radiance magic, always prioritizing others over herself.


    Edmund was easily the least equipped to handle the falling storm.


    ¡°This is nothing.¡± He muttered to himself. ¡°I can dodge this.¡±


    And, impossibly, he was. His limbs contorted unnaturally as he ducked and weaved, somehow defying all known laws of physics and magic to entirely avoid direct hits from the mangos.


    Shards of exploded pip were harder to dodge, but they were irrelevant. Elaine¡¯s wide-range healing fixed nicks, cuts, and deep splinters before Edmund even had time to register they¡¯d happened.


    Ariane was wielding a strange sword, the weapon as fast and flexible as a whip, extending and moving in mysterious patterns as she sliced and deflected mangos raining down on them all.


    Cat covered her head - well protected by Elaine and Ariane¡¯s defenses - and ran to her Carrier - Allstar Tempest station. The CAT station, for short.


    A glowing shield sprang up around the CAT station


    ¡°MYALIS!¡± She screamed, and after a moment, small brown fighters started to disgorge themselves from the supercarrier¡¯s¡­ rear end. The fighters, after a few minutes of travel, came screaming down, guns blazing from the automated drones.


    Maud just crossed her arms as the occasional mango smashed through Elaine¡¯s shield, braining her. Her visage flickered between human and skeleton, and spent most of her time grumbling about how long all the mango debris would take to wash out of her clothes.


    The five¡¯s efforts were good, but there was a critical component. Even as they survived each falling mango, they appeared to be endless, pouring down from the sky. They didn¡¯t vanish when they hit the ground, instead coating it in a thick layer of mushy fruit. The ground became slippery, the footing treacherous.


    Maud was the first to be buried, entirely uncaring. She¡¯d easily survive it, and why waste energy trying to stay on top of things? She¡¯d need to dig herself out sooner or later, and the sooner she was buried, the sooner she¡¯d stop getting hit by THOSE BLASTED FRUITS!


    Honestly. All the luck to find a genie, not enough sense to properly form a wish. Maud grumped to herself as she was buried.


    Cat was the second to go, her shield holding as the mangos piled up against it. Fueled by a micro matter-antimatter annihilation generator, there wasn¡¯t much it couldn¡¯t handle.


    Edmund and Ariane continued to stay ahead of the downfall, impossibly balancing on the pyramids of unstable fruit, as Elaine snapped open glorious multi-colored butterfly wings, and took flight.


    As mangos buried the world meters deep, Maud got Properly Annoyed. With a flex, five gigantic golems made out of mango, possessed by her ghostly minions, rose and huddled up, forming a protective dome around the five of them.


    After three hours of listening to the mangos continue to rain down, and utterly disbelieving looks as Elaine chowned down on the mushy remains of shattered mangos, the hailstorm stopped.


    ¡°Just how many mangos are ¡®enough¡¯ for you?¡± Cat asked in disbelief.


    Elaine shrugged with a guilty look on her face.


    The world ending in mangos isn¡¯t my fault, the world ending in mangos isn¡¯t my fault, She repeated the mantra to herself.


    ¡°WHOA! Would you believe it! That was quite the show!¡± The genie said. ¡°Whooooooooooooooos up next?!¡±

 Chapter 282 – Family Reunion

    ¡°Oh thank goodness.¡± I collapsed back in my chair. Julius was only missing, not dead.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri agreed, hopping onto the table. I quickly repositioned a plate to catch her.


    Ooof. There went the rest of my food, but at least Auri was happy and distracted for the moment.


    ¡°Thank goodness?!¡± Artemis stood up so fast her chair hit the wall. ¡°What do you mean, thank goodness?!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± So much for keeping Auri distracted. She flew up, hovering protectively in front of me. ¡°Brrpt! Brrpt!¡±


    ¡°I mean, the way you were talking about him, I was thinking he was dead!¡± I protested. ¡°I got declared missing in action, and look at me now!¡±


    Artemis looked vaguely embarrassed as she got her chair back. A mollified Auri went back to igniting my lunch.


    ¡°Oh right. Yeah. Gotta tell me more about that¡­ fireball¡­ of yours. Still, Ranger Commanders don¡¯t exactly fall off the map, and he went missing near here. There aren¡¯t exactly a lot of holes that he could¡¯ve fallen into, and still be alive.¡±


    My mind whirled, thinking of possibilities. Not so much actual ideas, as much as reassuring Artemis. And myself.


    ¡°Could¡¯ve¡­. Been secretly arrested?¡± I ventured tentatively.


    Artemis snorted.


    ¡°You think I don¡¯t have a long list of possibilities already?¡±


    There was the sound of a door being violently opened from across the house.


    ¡°Elaine!?¡± Dad shouted with everything he had.


    ¡°DAD!¡±


    I left Auri on the table, and sprinted through the house. Rooms blurred, and why did I agree to take a place so big?!


    ¡°DAD!¡± I yelled, seeing him.


    ¡°Elaine!¡±


    He threw his arms out as I practically tackled him, grabbing me in a hug and twirling me around.


    ¡°We were so worried about you!¡± I could hear him crying.


    My face was buried in his chest. I just nodded, tears running down my face.


    ¡°I¡¯m home now.¡± I said, doing my utter best to crush dad.


    I had a BUNCH of strength now! Rawr! Feel my grip!


    ¡°Yeah¡­ you are.¡± Dad agreed, just continuing to hold me. As he rocked me, like I was a small kid again.


    I curled up in his arms, and just let him, hoping my hug could convey all the emotions, all the feelings, I didn¡¯t have the proper words for. Who cared that he was wearing his hard, formal Praetorian armor? He was still here. Still dad. Still fine.


    ¡°Elainus! Get your lazy ass over here!¡± Artemis shouted from across the house, breaking the moment.


    ¡°Artemis!?¡± Dad almost dropped me in shock.


    ¡°Oh yeah, she¡¯s around.¡± I said.


    Dad squeezed me again.


    ¡°Cool your blasted impatient heels!¡± He roared. ¡°My daughter¡¯s back home at last!¡±


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s your call, but your table¡¯s on fire!¡± Artemis seemed positively gleeful at that.


    ¡°Fuck! Auri!¡± I wriggled free of dad¡¯s hug, and sprinted back through the house.


    ¡°What!?¡± Dad¡­ was quite a bit slower than I¡¯d expect. Kinda made me sad.


    I was all grown up, and faster than he was.


    I made my way back to the dining room, annnnnnnnd yup. Auri had, for whatever reason, set half the table on fire.


    Artemis, with her usual aplomb, had made a small earthen wall splitting the table in half, and was still eating on her non-burning side, practically ignoring the fire near her elbows.


    ¡°Aoife Auri Stentor! You put those flames out right now.¡± I waved my finger at her.


    ¡°Brrpt! Brrrrrrrrpt!¡±


    Auri flew up from the table, all of the flames seemingly following her, then getting sucked in and absorbed by her tiny body. She flew around me at what was high-speed for her, cheeping her happiness at seeing me again.


    ¡°Brrrpt! Brrrpt! Brrrrrrrrrrrpt!!¡±


    I grinned at her.


    ¡°Yeah, I just needed to step over for a second! This is our home! Dad just came back!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!?!¡±


    ¡°Yes, I have a dad.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!?!¡±


    ¡°Almost everyone has a mom and a dad, yes.¡±


    ¡°Brrppt¡­.?¡±


    Oooof.


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know about your dad.¡± I admitted.


    I didn¡¯t want to admit that I wasn¡¯t really her ¡°mom¡±, because for all practical purposes, I kinda was.


    ¡°Where¡¯s the fire?!¡± Dad burst into the room, taking it in at a glance. Seeing the half-burned, half-perfect table, and Artemis continuing to eat, he came to the natural conclusion.


    ¡°Artemis! You didn¡¯t need to set our table on fire! I was coming!¡±


    She froze, a duck wing halfway to her mouth.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t!¡± She protested, and I giggled. The long tradition of Artemis getting blamed for everything that went wrong when she was around continued.


    ¡°Yeah, ok.¡± The corner of dad¡¯s lips quirked, and I could tell he was having fun at her expense.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri flew up in front of dad, and hovered in his face.


    ¡°Auri! Careful of your embers!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri protested. Dad leaned back, getting out of the danger zone.


    ¡°Whoa! Who¡¯s this?¡±


    ¡°Dad, Auri. Auri, this is my dad.¡± I said, making the introductions.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s very nice to meet you, Auri.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri decided she liked dad, and landed on his shoulder.


    ¡°Awww, so cute, she-¡±


    Dad managed a few words before learning that Auri either didn¡¯t have good control of her fire, or wanted to light him on fire.


    I was pretty sure she was just being friendly¡­


    Either way, the bit of tunic sticking out was now Auri¡¯s favorite material.


    ¡°FIRE!¡± Dad yelled.


    His reflexes were entirely understandable. He tried to shrug Auri off, while slapping the fire out - which had Auri directly in the line of fire.


    A quick [Mantle] slowing - no, wait, stopping - his arm, and my own hand darted out to grab Auri.


    Dad was doing a lot of yelling, Auri was crying a bunch, Artemis was shouting, it was pandemonium.


    I took a few quick steps back as Auri protested in my hands, burning them as dad wildly slapped at his burning shoulder¡­ and hair.


    ¡°Barrel!¡± Artemis pointed to the water barrel in the corner of the room. Dad ran over, and dunked himself in it.


    I grimaced. Oooh, that was going to be a pain to replace.


    ¡°Brrrpt!! Brrrpt. Brrrpt.¡± Auri was crying and complaining. The bad man didn¡¯t like her fire, and liked the water more. This sucked! This¡­


    ¡°Ok, well, when I woke up this morning the last things I expected were to see Artemis free, my lovely daughter returned, and for me to get set on fire by her pet.¡±


    ¡°BRRRRRRRRRPT!¡± Auri did NOT like being called a pet. She shot a burning quill at dad, and I intercepted it with a flicker of [Mantle].


    Auri needed to grow up and mature before she leveled up too much. I couldn¡¯t imagine the chaos and problems that would arise if I couldn¡¯t quickly and easily overpower her in every way.


    Dad gave Auri the side-eye, but didn¡¯t say anything more about her. He wasn¡¯t an idiot, he saw how protective I was being of her. He was also all too happy to see me home, and indulge me in every way.


    ¡°What¡¯s next? Thousands of rods rain down from the sky?¡± Dad raised his arms and looked up, as if begging the heavens to open up and deposit money into his arms.


    ¡°That would destroy the entire house.¡± Artemis pointed out between mouthfuls. Crisis averted, she was back at the trough. ¡°Probably kill most everyone in the city as well.¡±


    Dad glared at Artemis. ¡°Let me dream!¡±


    ¡°Of killing everyone? Welllll¡­¡­.¡± Artemis drew it out, letting dad know exactly what she thought of that.


    ¡°How¡¯d you get free?¡± Dad was freely shucking off his armor and clothes, getting out of the wet, burned mess.


    Artemis jerked her head over to me.


    ¡°Elaine here just freed me.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri wasn¡¯t quite sure about this whole ¡°freeing¡± and ¡°slavery¡± thing - I hadn¡¯t gotten to that part of her education yet - but she clearly approved of whatever I¡¯d done, and Artemis being happy about it.


    Dad¡¯s shoulders slumped, tension bleeding out of them.


    ¡°Oh thank goodness. Wait, what? How? How much was it?¡±


    ¡°2000 rods.¡± I answered.


    Dad went white.


    I paled as my heart thudded in my chest.


    ¡°Please tell me I didn¡¯t screw things horribly money-wise.¡±


    Dad took a deep, bracing breath and shook his head.


    ¡°Probably not. Once we got your letter, we did what you suggested, and invested in the new town. Drained most of your savings. However, once you were declared missing in action? They stopped paying you.¡±


    My face must¡¯ve been a sight. Why, I was going to storm right over to Ranger HQ and -


    ¡°Chill healy-bug!¡± Artemis spoke around a mouthful of food. ¡°They¡¯ll pay you everything once you show up.¡±


    Oh thank goodness.


    ¡°Elaine! Where¡¯s my baby!? ELAINE!¡± Mom¡¯s voice echoed through the house.


    I wanted to sprint off and greet mom, just like I had dad.


    I knew that Auri would cause even more trouble if I did.


    Gritting my teeth and clenching my hands, I yelled back.


    ¡°Dining room!¡±


    It killed me to wait. To hear mom¡¯s slow - to my ear - footfalls going through the house.


    ¡°Come on Auri!¡± I said after a brief moment. ¡°Let¡¯s say hi to mom!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    I walked, mentally squashing the urge to curse Auri¡¯s slow speed. She was just a baby. She was doing her best.


    An eternity later - in a flash, a heartbeat - mom was there. Hugging me, holding me.


    ¡°My baby.¡± She murmured into my ear. ¡°My poor, sweet baby, home at last.¡±


    I was bawling.


    ¡°I¡¯m here mom. All safe. Home. I love you. Thank you.¡±


    I didn¡¯t know what I was thanking her for, just¡­ yeah.


    I was home again. There was nothing quite like a mother¡¯s arms, a mother¡¯s love. There wasn¡¯t anything the same as the bond we had - except maybe my bond with Artemis.


    She was holding me tightly, and I swear I felt all her worries melt away. The endless nights, laying awake, wondering if I was alive or dead. The times she was sure I¡¯d died in the wilderness - what else could possibly stop me from coming home? Cursing herself for letting me have a dangerous job.


    ¡°You¡¯re home now. You¡¯re home. It¡¯s all ok.¡± She continued to murmur in my ear.


    I just nodded, tears staining her tunic. Neither of us cared.


    All that was gone now. Her only daughter was home, safe and sound.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri interrupted our reunion. ¡°Brrrpt! Brrrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Mom kept hugging me, but popped her head up and looked around. ¡°And who¡¯s this cutie?¡±


    ¡°This is Auri!¡± I proudly told mom. ¡°Found the egg, and hatched her myself! I hope we¡¯ll become companions one day.¡±


    ¡°Oh my! How wonderful to meet you Auri!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡± Auri moved like she wanted to land on mom.


    Mom was a healer, but was much more fragile than I was. I shifted myself, preparing to intercept.


    ¡°Now, you look a little hot to land right on me! One moment, little Auri.¡± Mom disengaged, and I reluctantly let her go. A quick movement later, and mom had grabbed one of her famous wooden spoons from somewhere.


    ¡°Here! A perch for you!¡± Mom held the large spoon out - practically a ladle - and Auri buzzed over to it.


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡± Auri landed, and, predictably, the top of the spoon where she was sitting burst into flames.


    ¡°Brrrpt!!!!¡± Auri crowed her delight.


    Mom looked at her flaming spoon like she¡¯d never seen it before, a maniacal grin crossing her face.


    ¡°Oooh, I like you Auri. I like you a lot. I think we¡¯re going to do great things together.¡±


    That WAS MORE THAN A LITTLE OMINOUS. Mom!? What the heck?!


    ¡­. Maybe pyromania ran in the family. Was my love of fire inherited?!


    Either way, I didn¡¯t want to get walloped by a flaming spoon.


    Mom waved the spoon around experimentally, embers popping off as Auri clutched the end.


    ¡°Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrpt!¡± Auri¡¯s voice went in and out as she spun around wildly, laughing at the sensation. ¡°Brrrrrrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you like that don¡¯t you?¡± Mom cooed at her.


    I was starting to feel a little jealous.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go sit with everyone else! Artemis is here!¡±


    ¡°Artemis!¡± Mom cried out. ¡°You should¡¯ve said something earlier!¡±


    We bustled over to the dining room. Mom took one look at the table.


    ¡°Now listen here young miss.¡± She addressed Auri, still sitting on her spoon. ¡°We¡¯ll have none of that nonsense here in this house.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt?!¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Mom¡¯s tone was Final.


    ¡°Brrrpt¡­¡±


    Holy shit.


    How had she done that?!


    There was no way it was because of her experience with me. I had been a paragon of virtue growing up! I hadn¡¯t gotten into that much mischief. Just the barrel incident. And the case of the crossed tunics. And that time when¡­


    Nope. Wasn¡¯t me. Not at all.


    ¡°Right. Food! Elainus, where are your clothes?! Go get dressed! Elaine¡¯s back! Artemis is here and free! Then grab the nice bread from the kitchen on your way back. Artemis, plates, utensils, mugs for everyone. It¡¯s not just you that needs to eat, you know. Get enough for everyone. I¡¯ll be in the kitchen, seeing what you savages have left for me to cook. Chop chop!¡±


    Artemis jumped at being called out.


    ¡°But I just got freed!¡± She whined. ¡°This is the best place to eat!¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s no excuse for poor manners. Now go!¡± Mom waved her newest weapon at Artemis, who went cross-eyed trying to keep track of mom¡¯s new flaming spoon.


    ¡°Yes Julia! Why doesn¡¯t Elaine have to do anything?¡±


    Mom and I sent identical glares Artemis¡¯s way, for entirely different reasons. I was trying to figure out why Artemis was throwing me under the wagon.


    ¡°Elaine has practically come back from the dead. She can have a day off.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m really hard to kill. I can survive decapitation!¡±


    Mom whirled on me. ¡°Just how would you know that?¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡±


    A few minutes of me trying to evade mom¡¯s questions, and her relentless interrogation - combined with dad, who also wanted to know - and I confessed. All the training in the world was useless before loving parents.


    ¡°YOU WHAT!?¡± Mom shrieked at me, her volume drowning out anything anything else said. She pointed her new flaming spoon at me.


    ¡°Elaine. There will be no more decapitations, do you hear me? It¡¯s strictly forbidden.¡±


    Well, geez. When you put it THAT way, thanks mom.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t need sass from you as well.¡± I gave Auri a Look, who smugly let it slide off of her.


    She had my mom - and her flaming spoon - on her side.


    Auri and I sat like queens as activity swirled around us, everyone getting a lovely repast ready. Auri even had some nice fruit juice!


    But best of all, mom had mangos in stock.


    I slowly ate them, one at a time, splitting off a piece for Auri whenever she wanted some. Hey, I needed an appetizer! And it¡¯d be bad for Auri to go hungry.


    Dad was the first to sit down, and nodded at me.


    ¡°Julia always made sure we had some fresh ones in stock.¡± He said. ¡°No matter how we despaired at the odds of you making it home, she never gave up. No matter how tight money got, no matter the seasons, she always managed to find a fresh batch in the market.¡±


    My throat closed up as I tried to keep the tears from turning on again. I slowed way down, savoring each piece in my mouth until it practically dissolved, before going onto the next one.


    Mangos were the best.


    These? These were the best mangos I¡¯d ever had.


    That I ever would have.

 Chapter 283 - Reporting back I

    Lunch crept into dinner with the family as I regaled them with stories of my adventures, my mission Beyond The Wall to lands strange and fantastical.


    They got a heavily, heavily redacted version. I would¡¯ve skipped the decapitation, if it hadn¡¯t already slipped. No almost-starving in the Below Levels.


    No dragon.


    No shimagu massacre.


    I wasn¡¯t quite ready to open up about them all.


    At one point, Themis came back, and quietly inserted himself at the table. He hadn¡¯t been able to escape guard training, the downside of being a trainee. He listened, as enraptured as everyone else.


    ¡°After Auri hatched, I got slowed waaaaaaaay down.¡± I leaned back in my chair, hands over my stomach. I swear I was going to pop with how much I¡¯d eaten. ¡°Couldn¡¯t just fly right over.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri cheerfully agreed. I gave her a side-eye, unsure if she was happy about slowing me down, or what.


    ¡°The trip would¡¯ve been boring if it wasn¡¯t for Auri attempting to light everything in sight on fire. The first time she lit a farmer¡¯s harvest¡­¡±


    I pinched the bridge of my nose at the memory.


    ¡°Brrrpt! Brrrpt! Brrrrrrrrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t sound so pleased with yourself.¡± I managed to keep my tone playful.


    ¡°Sis. You¡¯re talking to a bird.¡± Themis pointed out.


    I narrowed my eyes at the brat.


    ¡°And?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s kinda weird, you know?¡±


    I shot Themis the unofficial one-fingered salute that every guard knew, and knew well.


    ¡°Had a run-in with two dozen bandits -¡±


    Dad looked alarmed.


    ¡°Alone? By yourself? Are you ok? They didn¡¯t do anything too bad? Rob you too-¡±


    I rolled my eyes as I interrupted him.


    ¡°DAD! I¡¯m fine. Radiance mage, remember? Sentinel, remember?¡±


    Dad didn¡¯t look convinced.


    ¡°But there were so many more of them than you. How¡­?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re vastly underestimating Elaine¡¯s class quality, and how the advantage just gets larger past 256.¡± Artemis was acting the part of the wise sage, which was totally out of-


    Wait.


    No.


    She¡¯d been running a school for years now. In my mind, she was still Artemis, the totally cool Ranger, moving with thunder and fury.


    She had another side - Artemis, the wise old teacher.


    I shrugged.


    ¡°Yeah, it wasn¡¯t any trouble. Mostly. One of them had a strong Mirror class, had to use my knife.¡±


    Everyone at the table winced. Even Themis, which brought a smile to my face.


    He might just be a kid, but he wasn¡¯t glorifying fighting. He didn¡¯t think it was TOTALLY COOL that I¡¯d ¡°handled¡± someone with a knife. His training with the guards was going well - he had some idea of just how dangerous and deadly a knife fight was.


    ¡°Then I was here! Home! Annnnnnnnd yeah. That¡¯s it. Questions?¡±


    Everyone erupted with a dozen questions. I held up my hand.


    Which did nothing.


    ¡°ENOUGH!¡± Dad roared, smacking the table hard enough that everything jumped. ¡°One question at a time. One person at a time.¡±


    He hesitated a moment, then pointed to mom.


    ¡°Dearest, you can go first.¡±


    ¡°What, I¡¯m not the dearest?¡± Artemis teased dad.


    ¡°One of us stuck around and was comforting.¡± Mom shot right back.


    I blanched. Themis was just as grossed out.


    ¡°Oh gods please no.¡±


    ¡°Immortality!¡± Mom jumped on what I thought was one of the biggest parts of the story. Granted, a few other things were tied with it, but¡­ well, with the redacted version, it was the clear winner. ¡°You can turn back the age for anyone? Can you put it in a gem? Can you-¡±


    Dad lightly thumped the table with his fist, arbitrating the question-asking.


    ¡°Well. Any human, yes. I don¡¯t think I can use it on pets. As for gems? That¡¯s an interesting idea¡­¡±


    My mind started to wander down a labyrinth of possibilities with storing [The Stars Never Fade] in Moonstones. I was interrupted by dad pointing at Artemis.


    ¡°Mmm. Elaine, lean over. I want to whisper my question.¡± Artemis said. She got a round of glares.


    ¡°Hey! Wait-¡± Themis protested, but Artemis just caused a localized thunderclap, and leaned near me.


    ¡°Your level is way too high for what you said you did.¡± She rapidly spoke, as everyone was shouting protests - myself included. ¡°I¡¯ve got some ideas of what had to have happened. Wanna talk about it later?¡±


    The thunderclap finished echoing around the tiny room.


    ¡°Brrrpt! Brrrrrpt! BRRRPT!¡± Auri was crying, nuzzling up to my cheek.


    ¡°Artemis! No! Bad!¡± I scolded her, stroking Auri¡¯s burning belly to try and calm her back down.


    I kicked - nudged really, my kicks could actually hurt now - everyone under the table, hitting them with healing and fixing the damage Artemis had inflicted on everyone.


    ¡°Well?¡± She asked.


    I hesitated. I¡­ probably should talk about it with someone, yeah. I had to tell the Sentinels, but Artemis would be a comforting ear. I didn¡¯t want to, but it was probably a good idea.


    The elves had the right idea on long-term mental health. If I wasn¡¯t careful, I¡¯d end up a gibbering wreck. A powerful, Immortal gibbering wreck.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I answered her.


    ¡°What was the question? I have to know!¡± Mom asked.


    ¡°Do you remember it¡¯s supposed to be one at a time?¡± Dad interrupted. ¡°What I want to know is the creature the Guardians were fighting. What can you tell me about it? And are you sure it¡¯s the reason for the moons?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Ahem, yes. I remember, it¡¯s supposed to be one at a time.¡± I gave my best straight, serious face to dad.


    I thought I was hilarious.


    There was silence around the table, a pregnant pause as everyone waited on me to say something. Artemis finally broke it by cackling with laughter.


    ¡°Ooooh, Elainus, she¡¯s got you there!¡±


    The rest of us broke out into laughter while dad just sat there, going red in the face then sighing with defeat.


    ¡°Ok, ok, you got me. Elaine?¡± He prodded.


    I was a generous daughter. I licked my lips as I tried to think of what to say.


    ¡°I¡­ can¡¯t say too much about the creature.¡± I finally hedged. ¡°And yes. The Mirage on the moons turned off when she took a powerful blow.¡±


    ¡°Night of the Flickering Moons.¡± Artemis muttered to herself. I started, then realized - of course, everyone must¡¯ve seen it happen.


    It must¡¯ve caused a nearly world-wide phenomena. I was reminded of the sheer scale of Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s powers. An illusion of the scale of two moons, demonstrated the world around, as a casual flex.


    Assuming it wasn¡¯t more than that. Could she see through them? Could she launch attacks from them?


    Gods. The idea was terrifying.


    If I ever got a swollen head. If I ever thought I was powerful, or if I ever started to grow an ego?


    I¡¯d just look up at night, and remember. Get a reminder, smacked in my face, that I was nothing.


    Dad nodded, and pointed to Themis.


    ¡°Son?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Cordamo sounds SO COOL! A super FLYING SNAKE?! That sounds totally badass. How can I find one?¡±


    I shrugged.


    ¡°No idea. Go fish. Next question?¡±


    Somehow, dad was up next.


    ¡°What were the guard procedures for defending against the orc commandos?¡±


    He would be interested in that - it was his entire job to keep VIPs alive.


    ¡°Well¡­¡±


    The questions continued, everyone wanted to know something, get clarity on one detail or another.


    Finally, mom leaned forward.


    ¡°My turn! That Serondes didn¡¯t sound all that great, but how was he? Decent at least?¡±


    I had a moment of confusion, before realizing what mom was asking.


    I¡¯d faced dragons. Bandits. Slavers. Pirates. Formorians, earthquakes, angels, dwarves and more.


    I¡¯d rather re-do all of those than face mom asking about my sex life.


    I sent a quick prayer to all the gods, asking them to open up the earth, and have it swallow me whole. Lun¡¯kat, Remus is ready to be razed. Fairies, if you even exist, please whisk me away.


    None of them answered.


    None of them ever had, which is why I didn¡¯t put much stock in praying to gods. They were fickle, and the only person who¡¯d ever get me out of trouble was me.


    ¡°Auri!¡± I grabbed the bird, turned, and fled back to my room as my face turned into a temperature gauge, steadily getting redder.


    How did those things work anyways?


    The sound of my family laughing - kindly - chased me through the house.


    It was late, and I was kinda tired. My family would be there again in the morning. No rush.


    Did see bits here and there that were dirty though. Dad¡¯s comment about a lack of money hit hard. The house was so big, mom and dad combined couldn¡¯t quite keep on top of it.


    I should see how my investments were doing, and maybe rearrange stuff. I didn¡¯t want my parents to get screwed again. They deserved a life as long as they wanted. It was the least I could do for them.


    For some reason I was feeling a bit skittish, a little jumpy. I made it back to my part of the house.


    My section - mostly my room and my bath - had been kept lovingly perfect. Every inch swept, my bed perfectly made and the bath filled with clean water. With a sigh of relief, I stripped and sank gratefully into the cold water.


    Mmmmm.


    With a thought, and a hair too much Radiance, I warmed the pool up. Steam billowed off the pool, and I relaxed, closing my eyes, letting the heat soak into me.


    Having some faith that Auri wouldn¡¯t fly away and light the house on fire in the¡­ two hours¡­ I¡¯d need to become clean again.


    ¡°Brrrpt!!?¡± Auri flew around, worried about me. She then landed on my forehead, keeping me ¡°safe¡± from the Evil Water.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt¡­.?¡±


    ¡°No, really, I like the water.¡±


    ¡°Brpt!!!¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not sick.¡±


    ¡°Brpt. Brpt. Brpt.¡±


    I cracked open an eye, and decided a lecture on sass wasn¡¯t needed. Auri was allowed to speak her mind.


    I was hoping that¡¯d foster a healthy relationship, which was needed for a companion bond.


    ¡°Brrpt brrpt brrrpt?¡±


    Oh hm. What was mom talking about before?


    A realization crashed over me.


    Oh no.


    OH NO.


    I knew my responsibilities. I knew what I had to do.


    I didn¡¯t want to do it.


    Ugh.


    But Auri had unlocked her System after like, a month, and it¡¯d taken another month to get here. If I extrapolated human lifespans to Auri - I honestly didn¡¯t have a better measuring stick - we had to have an awkward conversation.¡±


    ¡°Ok Auri, I think you should know about the birds and the bees¡­¡±


    ¡°Brpt?¡±


    I started explaining. I thought it went well, but¡­


    ¡°Do you understand?¡±


    ¡°BBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRPPPPPPPTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡± Auri shrieked in outrage, and promptly exploded a chair into flames.


    I facepalmed. Nope, she hadn¡¯t gotten it at all.


    ¡°Auri, I didn¡¯t mean you had to do all that with a bee!¡±


    I was in my room, getting ready to sleep, when I heard a knock on my door.


    ¡°Come in!¡±


    Dad entered.


    ¡°Hey kiddo! Got Auri a little something.¡± He dragged in a metal stand.


    ¡°Brrpt?¡± Auri flitted over, and started hovering around it.


    ¡°For you!¡± Dad cheerfully told Auri, all while leaning away from her.


    ¡°Brrpt!¡±


    ¡°Where do you want it?¡±


    I took a look. It was basically a birdstand. Solid base, thin metal pole, perch with a loop at the end.


    ¡°Right there.¡± I pointed to an empty spot near my bed.


    Dad dragged it over.


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri landed on it, cheeping approval. ¡°Brrpt?¡±


    ¡°Metal¡­ is hard to burn.¡± I hedged. I didn¡¯t want to say impossible, because she¡¯d take that as a challenge.


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡±


    She took what I said as a challenge anyways.


    Flames erupted from Auri, as she tried to ignite the metal. However, her mana pool was still small, and she couldn¡¯t make and sustain super hot flames.


    ¡°Ha!¡± Dad just had a good chuckle at that. ¡°Tell you what. Auri, right?¡±


    ¡°Brpt.¡±


    ¡°Burn that down, and I¡¯ll let you pick and burn anything in the house!¡±


    ¡°Brpt!!¡±


    ¡°Cool, yeah?¡±


    ¡°Brpt!¡±


    I looked at dad with horror, and he just winked at me.


    Ugh.


    Auri better not burn any of my stuff.


    And I had my stuff back!


    ¡°Thanks dad!¡± I gave him a quick hug.


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri was also happy, and wanted to show her affection in her own way.


    ¡°Bye!¡± Dad beat a hasty retreat, fortunately faster than the fiery menace.


    Mom showed up a bit later with a small ceramic bowl of fruit juice, which perfectly fit into the loop on the perch.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri was liking the service here. I rolled my eyes at her.


    ¡°Oh! I need to be up early. Can you make that happen?¡± I asked her.


    Mom put her hands on her hips, and sighed. I knew the look well. ¡°You¡¯re an adult, and should be doing this yourself, not relying on me.¡±


    That¡¯s not what she said though.


    ¡°For tomorrow? Of course! Anything for my baby.¡±


    I smiled at her.


    ¡°Thanks mom.¡±


    It did remind me - I had a bunch of habits that I needed to get back into. Waking up early was just the first of dozens of more ¡°civilized¡± behaviors I needed to do again.


    I finished getting ready for bed.


    Auri¡¯s soft red glow, combined with the flecks and specks of her other colors, lit the room like a comforting night light.


    She even seemed to know that my bed wasn¡¯t for her. Auri didn¡¯t mind - she liked being tall and high up.


    I slept like a baby, in my own bed.


    Home, sweet home.


    I woke up with a start as loud bangs echoed around me.


    Attack!


    I rolled off my bed, throwing my shield around Auri. I looked at the door, ready to shoot whoever came through, and -


    Wait.


    My door?


    Shit.


    Reality snapped back. I wasn¡¯t under attack. There wasn¡¯t a monster breaking into my room. Just someone knocking on my door, letting me know it was time to get up.


    I shook my head, dropping my shield as I stood up.


    ¡°Brrpt! Brrrpt!!!¡± Auri was flying around, panicked and worried.


    ¡°We¡¯re fine Auri. It¡¯s ok. Just¡­ a bad dream.¡±


    Close enough to the truth.


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡±


    It took me practically no time to get ready and leave. The only thing I needed was my badge. And my Mistweave, I wasn¡¯t going to run through town naked.


    I could¡¯ve blitzed out the door if it wasn¡¯t for Auri. She needed a morning drink, and dad had been kind enough to leave a jug out on the table for her. Auri instantly knew what was what, and vanished inside.


    She¡¯d gotten better at not dunking herself in juice. That had been bad.


    There was a strange metal device on the table. After turning it over a few times in my hands, it clicked - it went on my shoulder, and could act as a perch for Auri!


    I put it on - it was kinda awkward and unwieldy - and asked Auri ¡°Wanna hop on?¡±


    ¡°Brrpt.¡± Auri fluttered to my head, and I couldn¡¯t suppress a sigh as the fuzzy bits of hair I had growing back went up in flames.


    I was this close to getting a fireproof hair skill. They had to exist somewhere.


    Why hadn¡¯t I stuck with Fire and [Fire Resistance]?


    I debated yelling goodbye as I left, but nah. People were still asleep.


    I made it out onto the streets, the sun still not up. The roads were starting to get busy, and a few [Knockers] were up and about, knocking on doors and waking people up for the day.


    Took all kinds to keep the world running. Mom had probably asked one to knock for us. Woke her up, then she woke me up.


    I assumed. Hadn¡¯t seen anyone this morning.


    I made it to Ranger HQ without incident - although I¡¯d gotten quite a few looks for a burning bird sitting on my head. So much for that perch. I noted that unless things had radically changed, I was really early for the daily Sentinel meeting.


    With the Immortal vampire Night at the helm, running the show? The same Night that insisted on daily Sentinel meetings immediately after the Formorian threat was over?


    There was no way the meetings weren¡¯t at the same time.


    I might as well visit the Quartermaster, and see about getting FUCKING PAID.


    Nobody worked for free, and there were no words more enraging than ¡°I¡¯m sorry, due to a clerical error we haven¡¯t paid you for the last YEAR AND A HALF.¡±


    A grin crept across my face. Prank time!


    I made it to the Quartermaster¡¯s window, and frowned. It was shut.


    I banged on it a few times.


    ¡°Coming! Hold on.¡± A grouchy voice echoed from behind. I folded my arms and tapped my foot.


    The shutters opened, and one of the Quartermaster¡¯s minions blinked owlishly at me.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn?!¡± He cried out.


    ¡°In the flesh!¡± I couldn¡¯t help it. I spun around, letting the Mistweave dress flare as Auri shrieked. ¡°Back and alive!¡±


    ¡°Wow. Just. Um. WOW.¡± He said.


    My happy tone turned dark and threatening.


    ¡°Now. I believe I¡¯m owed quite a bit of pay. Hmmmmm?¡±


    ¡°Brrpt! Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Um. Yes, of course you are. Just need the [Quartermaster] to get in to authorize it.¡±


    I gave him a glare, letting him sweat a bit.


    Eh. Fair enough. Tired minions shouldn¡¯t be allowed to dispense that much money in the middle of the night. Too easy to trick and rob.


    ¡°Fine. Are invisibility gems still easy to recharge?¡±


    ¡°Sentinel. All due respect, no, but we¡¯ve got a [Flawless Camouflage] gem that¡¯s become the new standard. Would you like one?¡±


    I nodded.


    ¡°Please.¡±


    ¡°Great! Also, when will you be turning in your gear for repair?¡±


    Ooooooooh.


    Mmmmmmm.


    How did I break this to him?


    Thank all the gods and goddesses it wasn¡¯t THE [Quartermaster] that I needed to confess my sins to. Dude was scary.


    ¡°I have no gear.¡±


    ¡°To repair?¡± The minion asked me.


    I pulled a face.


    ¡°No - no gear. At all. Every last bit ended up destroyed - usually with me inside - lost, broken, burned, or otherwise not with me. Only managed to keep my Sentinel badge.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    I glanced up.


    ¡°And Auri here.¡±


    He shrugged, which surprised me.


    ¡°Right, that makes it easy. We¡¯d already struck all your gear from the inventory, now we can toss the backups.¡±


    That was a lot less ass-chewing than I expected. Then again - minion, not the actual [Quartermaster].


    He handed me an Opal, and I signed a scroll acknowledging I¡¯d gotten it.


    I turned and headed towards the Sentinel¡¯s meeting room, practically in the basement through the somewhat hidden wall. When nobody was around, I activated the gem, watching my arm change color, seamlessly matching against the wood and stone all around me.


    As I tilted my head around, the colors I was seeing on my arm changed, to better reflect what was behind it.


    Cool!


    Magic was so much fun!


    ¡°BRRPT!?!?!?!¡± Auri shrieked in confusion. Where was I!? Where was she?! AHHHHH!


    ¡°Shhh, shh, Auri, I¡¯m right here, it¡¯s all ok.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt¡­.?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re being sneaky! We¡¯re going to surprise some friends!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡±


    I felt Auri settle down ¡°lower¡± on my head, trying to maintain a low profile. Why did I bother with a shoulder perch¡­


    Then again, a burning bird wasn¡¯t exactly subtle. Auri was included with the skill, but¡­


    I snuck around, making it to the Sentinel meeting before anyone else. I was going to wait for everyone to make it, then BOOM! Drop the camo, and SURPRISE! Sentinel Dawn is back!


    Not the most professional of moves, but with my practical return from the dead, as far as they were concerned? Eh, I could get away with it.


    ¡°Ok Auri, we¡¯ve gotta be quiet.¡± I whispered to her. ¡°I¡¯ll let you know when it¡¯s time.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt.¡± Auri was trying her best at being quiet.


    I leaned against the wall, and waited.


    Night was predictably the first to show up. He paused as he crossed the room, then whirled, charging at me.


    Gods he was so fast.


    I dropped the camo and started to put my hands up.


    ¡°Night! It¡¯s me!¡± I yelled as he slammed into me, forearm across my neck.


    ¡°Who-¡± He hissed at me, then his eyes widened in realization.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn!¡± He drew back, letting me breathe again.


    ¡°Brrpt! Brrrpt!¡± Auri was flashing her wings from on top of my head, fire brewing around her.


    Night gave her a devastating glare.


    ¡°Silence, bird.¡±


    ¡°brpt.¡±


    Night¡¯s intimidation was successful. Auri withdrew into a tiny little scared ball.


    ¡°Night!¡± I scolded him. ¡°She¡¯s just a baby.¡±


    ¡°Then she has little business here.¡± Night observed. ¡°On a different note. Dawn. Allow me the pleasure of being the first to welcome you back home. The survival rate of Sentinels who¡¯ve been missing in action for greater than a year is abysmal, and I can not begin to express my pleasure that you have managed to beat the odds. Receiving your letter was a joy, although I do believe we need to have an extensive debrief.¡±


    I felt a warm glow go through me, and I gave Night a big, genuine smile.


    ¡°Thank you! I can¡¯t tell you how happy I am to be alive myself. Long debrief, yup. By the way - how did you know I was there?¡±


    Night gave me an amused look.


    ¡°You have the levels, but you lack in lived experience. The skill isn¡¯t perfect. The sound in the room was wrong. Your bird emits too much heat. And a dozen other issues with your hiding. Please.¡±


    It took half a moment for the full implications of what Night was saying to hit me.


    The blood drained from my face, and I felt my heart plunge. My knees grew weak, and I had to grab onto Night just to stay up.


    ¡°Dawn? What is the matter?¡±


    I looked Night in the eyes. I tried to speak, and my words failed me. I licked my lips, and tried again, barely able to whisper out my confession.


    ¡°She knew.¡±

 Chapter 284 - Reporting back II

    My knees grew weak, and I grabbed Night¡¯s shoulder to stay upright.


    ¡°She knew.¡± I repeated, panic overwhelming me. My entire body was trembling, and everything was falling away.


    ¡°Brrpt?¡±


    Everything except the lethal truth that was percolating through my mind, devouring every other thought I had.


    I staggered over to a comfortable, fluffy armchair, and sank into it, staring off into nothing.


    ¡°Dawn? Sentinel Dawn? Are you alright?¡± Night asked me. I gave a tiny shake of my head, and ignored him.


    And whatever else he was saying.


    Lun¡¯Kat had known. The entire time I¡¯d been in her lair, she¡¯d known I was there.


    No wonder [Bullet Time] had been permanently active. Lun¡¯Kat had been watching every step. Every movement, every errant twitch. One wrong move, and I would¡¯ve gone KABLOOEY!


    For some reason, she¡¯d let me be. I couldn¡¯t think of why she left me alone at first, alone in her lair, but I guess once I started healing her, I was worth keeping around.


    I¡¯d stolen from a dragon.


    And she¡¯d let me.


    Wait.


    She¡¯d let me?


    Which meant-


    ¡°DAWN!¡±


    ¡°Whoa! What!¡± I jumped, coming back to reality.


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri was flapping her wings, trying to keep stable on my head.


    ¡°Your pet has successfully ignited the chair in which you are sitting. Please permit me to extinguish the fire before it spreads.¡±


    Night¡¯s tone was less than amused.


    I would be too, if someone barged into my space, spouted nonsense, then started lighting stuff on fire.


    ¡°Shit!¡± I jumped up.


    With a wave of his hand, a fountain of blood erupted from Night, covering the chair, then vanishing like it¡¯d never existed. The chair was left perfectly dry, although with a moderately sized char spot.


    ¡°Now. What is all this about ¡®she knew?¡¯¡± Night asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you during the debrief.¡± I said. ¡°Works better if the story¡¯s in chronological order.¡±


    Night nodded.


    ¡°I will trust your judgment then. Given the extended period of time that you have been away, I believe Ranger Command will also wish for you to give them a full report. Given the contents of the letter you have sent to us, I shall arrange for you to report later this morning.¡±


    I hesitated, chewing on my lip.


    ¡°Make it this afternoon, after lunch?¡± I asked. ¡°My debrief is going to take some time, and if I have to get grilled by Command? I want to do it on a full stomach.¡±


    Night gave a slow smile.


    ¡°Most wise. As you wish. I shall return momentarily.¡±


    He left the room.


    ¡°Auri, please don¡¯t light things on fire. Please.¡± I begged her.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± She scolded me.


    ¡°Ok, you¡¯re right. That one¡¯s on me. I did put you onto the armchair.¡±


    I thought about it a moment.


    ¡°Hey, lemme teach you some interesting things about fires, and being inside. See, when you burn things, you make a lot of smoke, and you eat air! This can be bad if you want to keep people safe, but good if you¡¯re dealing with SUPER DUPER bad guys.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri liked where this lecture was going.


    ¡°Now, it¡¯s important to remember¡­¡±


    I gave Auri a lecture on the dangers of indoor fires. The purpose was to avoid accidentally suffocating everyone in Ranger HQ, but from the gleam in Auri¡¯s eye I knew she was getting a second set of lessons.


    How to best suffocate people out. [Oath] was ok with this, because my purpose, and guiding mission, was trying to teach her safety. Sometimes, when teaching ¡®don¡¯t hit this part of the body, because it¡¯ll kill them¡¯, the student absorbed ¡®hit this part of the body, because it¡¯ll kill them¡¯.


    The two were practically one and the same.


    In another sense, I was teaching Auri how to use her Inside Voice - errr - Inside Warmth.


    ¡°There¡¯s no way.¡± Brawling exploded into the room with his normal vigor, unusually early. ¡°I swear I heard Dawn.¡±


    ¡°Brawling!¡± I got up from my chair and waved. ¡°Hey!¡±


    ¡°DAWN!¡± He roared, and charged at me, bowling over sofas, chairs, and the little table in the middle of the room in his haste to get to me. ¡°You¡¯re alive!¡±


    ¡°Wait no-¡± I tried to slow him down.


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri sounded her alarm, seeing the behemoth of the man charging at us.


    Alas, Brawling was Brawling for a reason, and practically nothing could slow him down when he wanted to get from A to B. He grabbed me in a bear hug, twirling me around.


    ¡°I thought for sure you were dead! Then we got your letter! I was so happy, then yesterday I heard about the colosseum!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri thought I was under attack - not an unreasonable interpretation of the situation - and lit Brawling¡¯s hair on fire.


    ¡°Oi!¡± He yelled at Auri, the force of his voice enough to make her flames ripple. ¡°Don¡¯t do that!¡±


    He patted his hair out, which necessitated him dropping me. I staggered a step or two away, and Auri flew in between us to ¡®protect¡¯ me.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri let Brawling know in no uncertain terms what she thought of him.


    ¡°Who¡¯s this? Brave little bird. Not very smart though.¡±


    ¡°BRRPT!¡±


    I grabbed Auri before she could escalate the situation. Which she was remarkably good at.


    ¡°This is Auri!¡± I cheerfully told Brawling. ¡°Auri, this is Brawling. We like Brawling. He''s a good person, just a little eager at times.¡±


    ¡°Aww, thank you Dawn!¡± Brawling looked a hair bashful.


    ¡°Dawn! You made it!¡± Ocean was the next one in.


    ¡°I did!¡±


    ¡°I am going to make so much money.¡± He cackled as he rubbed his hands together. My jaw dropped in shock.


    ¡°No.¡± I gasped.


    ¡°Ooooh yes.¡±


    I shot him an evil eye, still with a silly, happy grin on my face, and he held his hands up.


    ¡°Hold your horses! I bet you were alive! After seeing how you healed? I knew nothing could kill you.¡±


    I shuddered at the many, many close calls I¡¯d had on the way back. Nothing could kill me? Oh, he had no idea.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ but that means quite a few people were betting that I was dead.¡±


    He shrugged.


    ¡°This is a macabre business. Gotta find humor somewhere.¡±


    The smile vanished off my face.


    I¡¯d been a Sentinel for what, three years? And I¡¯d already buried Magic, Sealing, Sky, and Katastrofi. That was before the countless Ranger casualties.


    Fuck.


    I needed to visit the Indomitable Wall after this. Forget my meeting with Ranger Command. They could wait.


    Ocean clapped me on the shoulder.


    ¡°I can¡¯t say how happy I am that one of my friends is back from the dead.¡±


    I was tearing up a bit, but I didn¡¯t let it show.


    ¡°Before, or after you won a ton of money betting on me?¡±


    Brawling just laughed.


    In rapid succession, Hunting, Bulwark, Acquisition, Nature, and two new people I didn¡¯t recognize showed up, along with Night back from scheduling the debrief.


    Toxic, Destruction, and¡­ it took me a moment to pull the memory, I¡¯d only heard he gotten promoted, never met him - Maestrai weren¡¯t here. My bet was some sort of mission called for Destruction and Toxic, and Maestrai was rapidly deploying them.


    One by one I greeted them. Hugged them. Let them know how happy I was to be back.


    All of them were delighted I¡¯d returned. I was proof that we could beat impossible odds. I was hope, that if it ever happened to them, that they could fight their way out, and make it home.


    ¡°First of all. I anticipate that this meeting will take quite some time. I have already informed Ranger Academy that we shall not be appearing as usual, and that there is no need for concern. Second. Permit me the honor of introducing our new Sentinels.¡± Night began, once we¡¯d settled down. ¡°After that, we shall see if there is any pressing business, then obtain a proper debrief from Sentinel Dawn. Objections?¡±


    I hadn¡¯t seen so many heads shake so fast.


    ¡°Right. First: Dawn, meet Sentinel Mirage.¡±


    ¡°Heya!¡± Mirage was just a tiny bit taller than I was, and almost as skinny. I was small for a woman, which made him absolutely tiny. ¡°Sentinel Mirage. Long-range sniper. I can put a metal slug through the center of a coin from roughly a mile and a half away, at high speed. Gale¡¯s my second class, letting me ¡®see¡¯ the world around me, and reposition myself quickly.¡±


    Hang on.


    ¡°So why Mirage?¡± I asked. He chuckled.


    ¡°One of the smoke and mirrors you¡¯re all such a fan of. See, nobody ever sees me when I¡¯m working, right? I¡¯m a Mirage. Makes everything think I¡¯m an illusionist, so they use anti-illusion nonsense. Meanwhile, I¡¯m two miles away, lining up my shot.¡±


    I barked a laugh at that. I don¡¯t know why I expected anything less from the Sentinels. Smoke and mirrors, keeping us all alive. His eyes drifted to Auri, a questioning look on his face.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn. Celestial healing and Radiance magic.¡± I shook his hand. ¡°I¡¯m slow, I¡¯m not particularly strong, my magical range is short, but I¡¯m as hard to kill as a cockroach. Decapitation barely slows me down, but it doesn¡¯t stop me.¡±


    I grinned, at the look on his face.


    There was dead silence in the room.


    ¡°Oh right. That¡¯s new.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    The room practically exploded as everyone tried to get a word in, shouting questions and shoving each other.


    It took Night and Ocean nearly fifteen minutes to restore order.


    ¡°Chill! I¡¯ll get to that part of the story soon enough!¡± I said, the Sentinels unhappily settling back down in their chairs.


    ¡°Ahem. Dawn¡¯s debrief will be shortly.¡± Night coughed.


    ¡°Next, I would like to introduce Sent-¡±


    All of the Sentinels interrupted Night at the same time, saying the exact same words.


    ¡°Senti-Null!¡± They roared in unison.


    Night gritted his teeth.


    ¡°As I was saying, I would like to introduce Sent-¡±


    ¡°Senti-Null!¡±


    Night threw up his hands in exasperation.


    ¡°We have a method of selecting titles, and a unified method of identification!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but Night. Come on. Senti-Null¡¯s a lot more fun.¡± Ocean pointed out. ¡°Plus, we all voted on it. Ten votes for Senti-Null, one for Sentinel Void.¡±


    Night looked like he wanted to put his head through a wall. I decided to help him.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn. A pleasure to meet you, Senti-Null.¡±


    ¡­ help Night in his quest to put his head through the wall, that is.


    Senti-Null was built like a runner, like someone who jogged marathons as his morning wake up.


    ¡°Senti-Null! The pleasure¡¯s all mine. Void nullifier, Storm speedster. Specialize in killing mages.¡±


    That combo did seem particularly well-tailored to mage-killing, yeah. His build was extremely specialized, but in situations that called for his build? I imagined it was fantastic. Exactly what Sentinels were built for, in a way.


    ¡°I would love to test my healing against your nullification some day! I had a nasty run-in with one, and I¡¯d like the practice.¡±


    He nodded.


    ¡°Would love to see how I stack up against a combat healer as well. You¡¯re a rare breed.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt! Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Yes, thank you Auri.¡± I glanced up at the bird.


    ¡°I take it we should cancel the Thunderbird egg order?¡± Hunting asked.


    I looked him in the eye.


    I wasn¡¯t going to sugarcoat things for him because of Katastrofi, nor was I going to draw attention to it. It was what it was, and since he was here, seemingly alive and well, I wasn¡¯t going to comment on it.


    ¡°Yes. I hope to bond with Auri here, and things seem to be going well.¡±


    Onto the to-do list. Cancel order.


    I did hope Hunting would offer to help me with her though. I wasn¡¯t going to ask.


    We all settled back down.


    ¡°Now. I believe Dawn¡¯s debrief will take a significant amount of time. Does anyone have pressing business that requires our attention before she begins?¡±


    Senti-Null opened his mouth, then closed it, giving a tiny shake of his head.


    ¡°Right. Dawn, you have the floor.¡±


    ¡°Ok! Settle in, this is one heck of a story. I¡¯ll regularly pause for questions, but let me get to the pause.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri agreed.


    Having told the story the night before, I knew just where to start. The Sentinels were getting the unedited, unredacted version.


    Well.


    Except for the intimate moments with Serondes. I was going to keep that private. Nobody needed a blow by blow of my sex life.


    ¡°It all started when Hunting and I met the dwarves.¡± I began. ¡°They knew about Formorians, but it¡¯d been so long since they¡¯d last seen one, the idiots on the wall thought we were Formorians.¡±


    ¡°What was all that about the Void stuff?¡± Hunting asked.


    ¡°Shhhhh!¡± Ocean, Night, and Acquisition shushed him. Hunting settled down, grumbling.


    ¡°Turns out, they did not have their best and their brightest manning the wall. It was more like an out-of-the-way punishment for them, rather than anything important.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s such bullshit!¡± Bulwark, usually calm and reserved, exploded. ¡°We spend centuries battling Formorians, and it¡¯s casual punishment duty for them!?¡±


    ¡°Shhh!¡± We all shushed him. Even Hunting joined in, getting a look of gleeful schadenfreude on his face.


    ¡°One rod fine for interrupting. Sentinel Dawn gets all proceeds.¡± Ocean declared, and there were nods around the room.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Same with you Auri. Not sure how you¡¯ll make any money to pay me back though¡­¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!?!?¡±


    Brawling gave a great big belly laugh, and I continued on.


    ¡°The dwarves had their own great civilization. They loved wood, in all its forms. Redwoods, pines, oaks - everything. They made their homes out of the stuff, their armor and weapons were wooden, their plates, bowls, cups, beds - everything was made out of wood. One of the nice perks was they could regrow their armor, buildings - anything really easily.¡±


    ¡°One moment.¡± Night interrupted. He ran off, air blasting through the room as he moved.


    Holy.


    Shit.


    I was almost the same level as Night.


    And he was still stupidly fast compared to me.


    ¡°Been saying that all along.¡± Nature half-grumbled. We gave him a look.


    ¡°Night already interrupted. I¡¯m just gliding off him. No penalty.¡±


    We all threw what was on hand at him, but he had a point.


    ¡°No penalty.¡± Ocean agreed, as mugs and sofa cushions flew through the air.


    I gave a brief shudder, as Night reappeared with a rod worth of coins. He put it down on the table in front of me, and tossed Ocean a scroll and quill.


    ¡°Had?¡± He asked.


    I scratched my chin nervously.


    ¡°Yes, had. I¡¯m getting there.¡±


    Cha-ching.


    ¡°The dwarves at the wall decided, in their infinite wisdom, to send the problem of ¡®oh gods we¡¯re meeting a new civilization and there are weird new people¡¯ up the food chain to their bosses. Which, to me, makes a lot of sense.¡±


    Rueful grins and nods went around the room. Nobody here wanted to be on the hook for that sort of mess. We were all people of action, practical problem solvers. Politics were for others.


    Except poor Ocean.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ not the best with politics and diplomacy.¡± I admitted.


    ¡°Pastos.¡± Ocean buried his head in his hands. ¡°Fucking Pastos.¡±


    Given how much of the aftermath Ocean had to deal with? Yeah, he was allowed to interrupt, penalty-free. He wrote his own name on the scroll anyways.


    ¡°I decided to go along with their plan of ¡®send me to the dwarven capital so their leaders can meet me.¡¯ It seemed like a good idea, and while I was agreeing with them, they couldn¡¯t really complain about me.¡±


    Night opened his mouth, then closed it.


    ¡°Right. While I was at the wall, I learned a few important facts. First off. Remus seems to be, in its entirety, in something they called the ¡®Dead Zone¡¯, and the elves called ¡®The Low Experience Zone.¡¯ Either way, the effect¡¯s the same. We all gain significantly reduced experience while living here. I got around 200 levels in a year and a half outside of the dead zone, while a lifetime living here got me roughly 300 levels. Granted, the activities I was up to outside the dead zone contributed significantly, but the point remains - we¡¯ve all been getting half experience or less our entire lives.¡±


    Shock and horror was on every Sentinel¡¯s face. Nobody interrupted after the bombshell.


    ¡°Brrpt!?!?¡±


    ¡°Yes Auri, even you.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡±


    Yeah, yeah, I¡¯ll try to fix it for her as soon as possible.


    ¡°It¡¯s not all terrible. As a result, we¡¯re getting significantly improved classes, since we spend so much time in each tier.¡±


    ¡°Second. Void mages have a tendency to randomly explode, taking out entire cities as they do so.¡±


    Every eye turned towards Hunting, who was getting red in the face. I would be too, if I was accused of potentially annihilating cities.


    ¡°Questions?¡±


    It was like the starting gun on a verbal race.


    Everyone had dozens.

 Chapter 285 - Reporting Back III

    Nearly all of the Sentinels were arguing and yelling, trying to get their questions heard. Ocean and Night were the only ones not shouting, Night as still as always, and Ocean rolling his eyes.


    After four minutes of this, Ocean held up his hand, and a wave rippled through the air in the room, like a deep-sea pulse.


    I didn¡¯t know Ocean - the element - could do that!


    Oddly, it seemed to ¡°warp¡± around Auri. Interesting. Something to look into another day.


    That did get people to shut up.


    Night took a deep, pained breath.


    ¡°Senti-Null.¡± I could see it physically hurting him to use that name. ¡°Please make your way to the archives. Fetch the reports of the destruction of Eboracum, Tencteri, and Port Namnetus. They should be from roughly 2500, 3100, and 3800.¡±


    Holy what?! We had records going back that far?! Just what kind of shape were they in?


    Night paused a moment.


    ¡°You may need to visit my personal residence, and request records from there. I apologize, but when looking up documentation of this age, I do not trust the average runner or guard to treat them with the proper care. Additionally, I do not require originals, merely the most recent copy that exists. Thank you.¡±


    Senti-Null didn¡¯t look thrilled, but he was one of the most junior Sentinels, and a speedster to boot. Night or Brawling were both faster than he was, but had enough seniority on him.


    At least, I assumed that was the logic.


    Senti-Null took off, wind fluttering through the enclosed room. I was pretty sure he did that deliberately to screw with us.


    ¡°Right. The ¡®dead zone¡¯. What more can you tell us?¡±


    ¡°First off. The dwarf giving me the information did not come off as particularly intelligent, nor particularly competent. The information I have is somewhat flawed as a result, but I believe the basic premise is correct, given my experiences.¡±


    I paused for a moment, thinking and reorganizing my thoughts.


    ¡°The dwarves recounted part of their version of the Formorian War.¡± I eventually settled on. ¡°The Formorians were just as much of a menace to them, as they were to us. From what I understood, the dwarves pushed them back to the Dead Zone. However, once they got there? They didn¡¯t care about the ground, the land, or any of it. The Dead Zone was too unappealing to them. It feels ¡°icky¡± for lack of a better word. They built a wall, manned it, and went about their lives.¡±


    ¡°But you said the dwarves thought you were Formorians.¡± Nature interrupted.


    ¡°Eh, yeah. Given how impressive the walls themselves were, maybe the Formorians just gave up attacking them? I have no idea.¡±


    Bulwark looked a little sour at the idea.


    ¡°They were impressive.¡± Hunting added in. ¡°Much taller and thicker than anything we had, and the built-in defenses were something.¡±


    ¡°They had Hunting scurrying away with his tail between his legs!¡± I cheerfully threw him under the wagon.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to test myself against them.¡± He agreed.


    ¡°Either way, the dwarves decided that the area we lived in was no good. For specifics - again, entirely unreliable - the dwarf said he thought we were getting half the experience that we should be getting, and that I¡¯d ¡®only¡¯ lost 60 levels as a result.¡±


    There was no uproar this time. The bombshell had already been dropped on the Sentinels. Instead every eye turned towards Night.


    The Immortal Night, living since creation. Who¡¯d gotten roughly 5,000 years of experience stolen from him.


    He elegantly put his head in his hand, and uttered a single word.


    ¡°Fuck.¡±


    There was dead silence at Night¡¯s pronouncement of the situation, and I whole-heartedly agreed. Auri finally broke the silence.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    Night stayed perfectly still, in command of the room by sheer presence alone. There was controlled anger there. Night hadn¡¯t survived all this time by having poor control over his emotions and reactions. The fact that he wasn¡¯t moving at all was the greatest sign of his emotions.


    ¡°Dawn. Do you have any further information on the Dead Zone?¡±


    I gave a crisp nod.


    ¡°Potentially. The dwarves I met weren¡¯t the cream of their crop, but they had staggeringly poor stats and combat capabilities for their level. After some further adventures of mine, I believe that the Dead Zone comes with a significant advantage. Namely, our class quality is several cuts above where it would normally be.¡±


    It was still Night¡¯s show, and we all waited for him to speak.


    ¡°I can believe this to be the case. At first, I believed my class quality to be something of an aberration. A reward, at first, for surviving the creation of the world. Yet, as time passed, and humans lived their quick lives, it was exceedingly rare for humans to match or surpass the quality of classes that I have enjoyed so far.¡±


    He paused a moment, drumming his fingers.


    ¡°There is an interesting phenomenon that I have observed a few times. People get powerful classes in one of two ways. The first are the quick.¡± He gave a slight nod of his head towards me. ¡°Those who struggle and achieve much in a short timespan, pushing themselves to absurd lengths in situations most would not believe. The shooting stars, destined to burn brightly and quickly.¡±


    Ooof. That had started off so well.


    ¡°The second are the perfectionists, the masters. Those who hone their craft well, before moving onto the next stage. They are rewarded for the time and care they have devoted to their craft.¡±


    Night paused for a moment, even though none of this was exactly new to any of us Sentinels. However, his analysis on the situation was literally peerless, and we¡¯d sit in silence for an hour if that meant we could hear what he had to say about it.


    ¡°I believe, unwittingly, that we have all been forced into the ¡®master¡¯ role. Half experience demands that we do twice as much, and the System recognizes our efforts as we select our class, even if it has chosen not to reward us with as much experience as we have earned.¡±


    Made sense. If I had to heal twice as many people, my achievements would be ¡°Healed 10,000 people¡± instead of ¡°Healed 5,000 people¡±, and I¡¯d seen how the System ¡°slid¡± the quality of classes and the stats given already with [Ranger-Mage]. The higher [Ranger¡¯s Lore] was, the better quality [Ranger-Mage] was.


    Just seemed like it was a global effect on everything.


    ¡°Given my leveling pace outside of the Dead Zone, I can also guess that it might take more than half the experience. I¡¯m not sure of a good way to verify it though, and some of my adventures, well¡­¡± I trailed off, not wanting to get ahead of myself.


    ¡°Any other questions?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got one.¡± Bulwark jumped in. ¡°Night, how much traveling have you done? Do you have any idea if the Dead Zone predates creation, or if it happened while you were around?¡±


    ¡°I thought myself well-traveled.¡± Night began. ¡°I am unsure of the extent of the world I have visited. At the very least, I have been to every corner of Remus. I have not been across the ocean to the north. Given the utter lack of mapmaking, and the ever-changing landmarks? I can not properly estimate. As for detecting the Dead Zone forming? It may be that it predates me. It may be that it came up, slowly and insidiously, without me becoming aware of it or its strength. It is not like we had formalized methods of detecting large-scale changes in strength or experience. We were more concerned with day to day survival at that time.¡± Night drily pointed out.


    ¡°This sucks.¡± Acquisition mentioned.


    Ocean held up his hand.


    ¡°I move that we table the discussion of the Dead Zone for another time. Dawn has given us the information, and analysis at this stage detracts from her debrief.¡±


    ¡°One last note.¡± Acquisition butted in. ¡°If I may?¡±


    Ocean frowned, but nodded.


    ¡°Dawn. Did it occur to you at all that the dwarves might¡¯ve been gently kidnapping you, to use as a bargaining chip in future negotiations with Remus?¡±


    I pointed to him as my mouth dropped open.


    ¡°Brrpt?!¡±


    I closed my mouth.


    ¡°Ummm. No. Whoops?¡±


    I got half the Sentinels laughing at me, while the other half facepalmed, or showed their disgust at my na?vety in other ways.


    ¡°It¡¯s ok Dawn!¡± Brawling called out. ¡°I would¡¯ve done the same!¡±


    For some reason, Brawling putting me on his level wasn¡¯t exactly comforting. I shot him a finger.


    ¡°Now, don¡¯t copy me Auri, it¡¯s bad form.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡±


    Auri wasn¡¯t impressed with my hypocrisy.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to skip most of the trip, because it frankly doesn¡¯t matter.¡± I said. ¡°Unless you want the breakdown of a riveting massacre of hellhounds attacking us, and a chupacabra stalking us. Nothing too interesting. The only thing of note before the trip ended was a stop we made.¡±


    I took a few deep, bracing breaths, then had a brainwave.


    I didn¡¯t need to say it.


    I didn¡¯t need to call them. Damn what the elves said, I wasn¡¯t risking it.


    Especially not with Night here. I didn¡¯t think he¡¯d react horribly - and I thought in a room surrounded by Sentinels I¡¯d be safe - but why risk it?


    ¡°I need charcoal. And part of a scroll.¡± I announced.


    I got some confused looks, but in a moment I had the supplies.


    I quickly wrote on the scroll.


    ¡°The Dragon Lun¡¯Kat, the Stygian Deceiver.¡±


    ¡°There are - were? - anyways - two types of dwarves. Well, probably more, but I¡¯m going to divide them in two for this. The ¡®Wood¡¯ dwarves, and the ¡®Metal¡¯ dwarves. Clearly, I¡¯d met with the Wood dwarves first. We stopped by a town, and the mayor threw a small feast to welcome us. There was a metal dwarf there. He was recruiting for a mission to rob¡­¡±


    I held up my sign with a dramatic flourish.


    A few of the Sentinels leaned forward, to better read what I¡¯d written. Night sharply inhaled, and a few of them gasped as they processed the words I¡¯d written. A few of them went pale.


    You could hear a pin dr-


    ¡°Brrrrpt!!¡±


    Auri snapped everyone out of it early.


    ¡°Holy gods above. They were going after a dra-¡± Mirage started to speak, but Hunting whirled and backhanded him before he could finish saying The Word.


    Nobody else spoke.


    ¡°The fools.¡± Night whispered.


    I nodded.


    ¡°Yeah, which brings me to the end of the journey. Our trip was cut short when the idiots disturbed¡­¡±


    I held the sign up, chuckling at the look on everyone¡¯s face.


    Yuuup. I didn¡¯t have nearly enough reverence for dragons anymore, specifically Lun¡¯Kat. I couldn¡¯t tell if familiarity had bred contempt, or if I realized just how far below them I was, if I knew, deep down, just how boned I was if a dragon decided to kill me, that there was no point in being concerned.


    Lun¡¯Kat wanted me dead? I was dead. No amount of running, screaming, fighting, hiding, or healing would keep me alive. It was refreshing, really.


    ¡°I believe she was nesting, and the dwarves disturbed her. Or heck, it¡¯s possible that something else entirely provoked her wrath. Either way,¡± I held up the sign. ¡°decided that the dwarves had to go.¡±


    I shuddered at the memory.


    ¡°Never say their name.¡± I said with conviction, the memories of that night flashing through my mind like a horror show. ¡°I don¡¯t know if they can or can¡¯t hear you, but She pulled down the sky on their entire nation.¡±


    I waited for a moment, letting the sheer scale and power sink in.


    ¡°As. Her. Opening. Move.¡± I emphasized each word by smacking the back of my hand into my palm. ¡°She repeatedly cast the skill, burning and razing the entire time, while casting a dozen skills just as powerful. No idea if it¡¯ll matter, but I saw Celestial, Pyronox, and Mirage.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t write that down.¡± Night said. ¡°A report on her is one thing, detailing her capabilities? If word got back, she might decide to eliminate knowledge of what she is capable of doing.¡±


    Made sense.


    I closed my eyes, lost again in the memory of that night.


    ¡°The Guardians came. Etalix, who has a statue in front of every temple.¡±


    ¡°Praise the Storm.¡± Bulwark muttered.


    ¡°Still alive¡­?¡± Night half-whispered under his breath.


    ¡°Brrpt!¡±


    ¡°Yurok, a great treant. Asura, the Destroyer, a unicorn. Ho-O, a phoenix. Galeru, the Rainbow. Hebei, a xuanwu. As well as long-range attacks from what I believe to be other Guardians, and a giant the size of a mountain.¡±


    I paused a moment, then held up the sign. ¡°... fought them all, and won.¡±


    I didn¡¯t give everyone a lot of time over that.


    ¡°That was the Night of the Flickering Moons.¡± I held up the sign. This was getting obnoxious, but eh. I wasn¡¯t going to say her name. ¡°Took a powerful blow from the giant, causing what I believe to be the illusion on the moons to break. Of course, they were restored in short order, but¡­¡± I shrugged.


    ¡°You¡¯re shitting me.¡± Brawling said. ¡°The moons are a skill?!¡±


    ¡°Silence.¡± Night barked. ¡°Nobody speaks until Dawn has significantly moved past this portion of her debrief. There will be no errors.¡±


    ¡°We were dust in the wind.¡± I was being a hair poetic, but the fight deserved it. Even the word ¡°fight¡± seemed to be too weak for what happened. ¡°Blown around by the capricious whims of those battling. The shattered deflection of the side-effect of a physical swing was enough to nearly kill us all, and not all of my escort made it. A single spore from Yurok took tens of thousands points of mana for me to heal. The treant was generating massive clouds of them, and that was the start. There was no concern for bystanders. There was no thought on collateral damage. There was no safe place to go. The world was on fire, Galeru had wrapped herself around the mountain, trapping us, and the battle was raging.¡±


    I let the imagery sink in for a moment. I¡¯d told lots of stories, ever since I¡¯d joined the Rangers. I didn¡¯t have a skill for it anymore, but I had a bit of the flair still. A minor sense of timing and drama.


    ¡°The dwarves dove down an abandoned mine shaft, and I followed.¡± I shrugged. ¡°What else was there to do? At least by putting a few miles of rock between us and the fight, we had a shield against some of the attacks.¡±


    I saw two mouths open - "some of the attacks" having provoked a reaction - but discipline held. They didn¡¯t say a word.


    Not even Auri commented.


    I think the scale of just how powerful the Guardians were was getting to them. Miles of rock wasn¡¯t safety, it just changed things around.


    ¡°More of my escort died, and the Guardian¡¯s battle shook the tunnels we were in. Passages broke, gravity reversed, and at one point we found a gigantic ice pillar in some of the tunnels, a stray attack penetrating deep.¡±


    Brawling wordlessly got up, and started banging his head against the wall.


    ¡°I won¡¯t bore you too much with the tunnels. Slimes, orcs, a changeling of all things, starvation, and traps. Oh! I survived getting decapitated! Stripping my former body was weird.¡±


    Almost every head - mine included - snapped towards Night. He didn¡¯t look amused, but after an expectant moment, waved his hand.


    ¡°Fine. You may ask. I know I have questions myself on the subject.¡±


    I should invest in earplugs. The room exploded in noise again.


    ¡°How?!¡± Mirage shouted first.


    ¡°Skills.¡± I answered, and Acquisition good-naturedly punched him in the arm.


    The interrogation continued for five minutes, but when it became clear that it was just an application of my skills, the Sentinels gave up.


    They were all able to do crazy things in their own domain of expertise. My domain was healing, and most of the surprise was due to a lack of familiarity with high level healers.


    ¡°You mentioned a Changeling?¡± Ocean asked.


    ¡°Yeah. Killed and replaced a member of my escort. We thought he¡¯d snapped, and totally lost it at first. I became suspicious, but, like, what was I to do?¡±


    ¡°Kill him and check the notification.¡± Hunting pointed out like it was the most obvious thing in the world.


    I rolled my eyes at Hunting.


    The Sentinels were interested in hearing everything about the Changeling. What he was like. What he did. What clued me into the fact that not everything was right. The murderous streak he went on, the hunt, capture, and confirmation.


    ¡°Hasn¡¯t been a confirmed Changeling in decades.¡± Hunting muttered. ¡°Good to know what we¡¯re up against. They pop up now and then, and this will be good for finding them next time.¡±


    ¡°I thought Artemis got one?¡±


    ¡°Confirmed kills.¡± Hunting emphasized.


    Well, fine then. I moved on with my story.


    ¡°We got lucky, and found one of the underground dwarven cities after wandering around for a few weeks.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re locked in some sort of total war with orcs, of all things. There were a number of high-level orc saboteurs and assassins hiding out in the dwarven city, causing as much damage and destruction as possible. Almost got me killed!¡± I said. Senti-Null quietly slipped back into the room.


    ¡°Anyways. I¡¯m Sentinel Dawn. I was able to single-handedly change their casualty situation, which is where it got, well, ugly¡¯s not quite the right word, but ugly.¡± I said.


    ¡°Bit of a side note, but an important one. The dwarves have an interesting tactic for empowering themselves. With great skill and Skills, they replace some of their bones with metal implants, coated with Inscriptions. Said Inscriptions then provide them with a number of benefits, starting at their bones being hard to break, and moving on into a wide variety from there.¡±


    I had a few eyebrows raised at that. Senti-Null coughed lightly.


    ¡°Brought back the records you wanted. Night?¡± He politely handed some scrolls over to Night, who unrolled them and scanned over them.


    Eboracum, Tencteri,


    ¡°Records indicate that Port Namnetus ¡®sunk into the ocean¡¯, the entire stretch of land that the city was on steeply dropping into the water. There were a number of survivors from the incident, who were able to report on what happened.¡± Night finally said.


    ¡°However, the destruction of Eboracum and Tencteri differ from Port Namnetus¡¯s fate. There was not a single soul nearby that we could find. People from far away reported what appeared to be a gigantic mushroom, made of fire, erupting from the city. Ranger teams that investigated simply found a charred, burned, flattened city.¡± Night concluded. ¡°Do you believe this to be an accurate representation of what Void mages do when they explode?¡±


    ¡°BrrRRRrrrRRRrrRpt!¡± Auri¡¯s eyes were shining at the idea of making gigantic fireballs of that size. We ignored her.


    I shrugged.


    ¡°I have no idea. It¡¯s possible? That type and scale of devastation would align with the level of fear that I saw.¡±


    At the same time, it felt like there was something. Some distant connection. Something¡­ about cities getting erased? There was some strange feeling from my old memories, and I had to wonder if something similar had happened on Earth, and all my knowledge of it had been wiped away.


    With the lack of magic on Earth, if there were weapons capable of casually destroying cities? Maybe it was a good thing I ended up here¡­ although I didn¡¯t remember living in a state of fear of them¡­


    Maybe that had also been erased?


    My head was killing me. I stopped thinking about it.


    ¡°Most interesting. Sadly, our census data from the time period is lacking, and it was the rare census that collected classes. Carry on.¡±


    I moved on.


    ¡°I could try to copy some of the things I saw, but I have no idea how deep they went. I do know my healing simply erased most of them, at a cost. Questions?¡±


    There were none, and I moved on.


    ¡°The dwarves didn¡¯t want to let me go. Wanted me to hang around for a decade or two until their war was over. I had some objections to that.¡±


    Ocean and Night glanced at each other.


    ¡°We haven¡¯t been officially told yet - I doubt we will ever get officially told, truth be told - but I think we¡¯re in contact with those dwarves.¡± Ocean said. ¡°The Emperor has been sending out scouting parties, and I know at least one diplomatic party¡¯s been sent towards the former front lines. Since Hunting had reported dwarves, I suspected them, but then the reports came in that they¡¯d gotten wiped out, since last we¡¯d heard, the entire area had been devastated by¡­¡±


    Ocean nodded towards my scroll, his meaning clear.


    ¡°Unless you know of any other parties in the area?¡±


    ¡°Eh. There could be? I didn¡¯t exactly get a great overview of the situation, and who lived where.¡± I said.


    ¡°Questions?¡±


    Nobody had any.


    ¡°Right. The dwarves wanted me to stick around, and they were nice about it. Fancy suit of armor and everything. Fancy apartment. Multiple rotations of guards, a near unlimited budget to shop around. However¡­¡±


    I shrugged.


    ¡°I¡¯m Sentinel Dawn. I belong here, with all of you, not down there.¡±


    There were cheers and whoops at that, and the Sentinels sitting next to me punched me in the arm. Night was smiling.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [The Dawn Sentinel] has leveled up to level 511->512 +3 Dexterity, +24 Speed, +24 Vitality, +170 Mana, +170 Mana Regen, +48 Magic power, +48 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]

 Chapter 286 - Reporting Back IV

    [*ding!* Congratulations! [The Dawn Sentinel] has leveled up to level 511->512 +3 Dexterity, +24 Speed, +24 Vitality, +170 Mana, +170 Mana Regen, +48 Magic power, +48 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    I grinned as I saw the notification hovering in front of me. I slowly let the anticipation build as I scrolled through the rest of my notifications.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! For achieving level 512, you¡¯ve unlocked your 3rd class!]


    [*ding! You¡¯ve earned your third class - [Beloved of the Wind] - Wind]


    Beloved of the Wind - A starter class for one who loves the wind and air, the breeze and gale, and whom is beloved and embraced in return.


    HECK YES! My third class! At last! Also, [Beloved of the Wind]? That was great!


    I didn¡¯t need the stats at this point - if I squinted and looked really hard, I¡¯d see a minor change - but maybe it was a springboard to better initial classes. I¡¯d done a minor amount of thinking on my 3rd class, but eh. I was in no rush to figure it out.


    I had eternity to select one, and as far as I was concerned, it was worth waiting.


    The class had potential for cycling, but whatever I had during my first level 8 class-up would be permanent, in a sense. Whenever I reset, the level 8 classes would be the exact same as the first time I classed up. Only when I hit 32 would there start to be differences.


    For once, I wasn¡¯t in dire straits. I wasn¡¯t at risk of dying anytime soon. I didn¡¯t need a boost in power, and hell, a level 32 class wasn¡¯t going to do anything for me. I¡¯d need some time for the class and skills to build up to something usable.


    No, it was worth doing some research. Talking with everyone. Getting ideas of other classes, and their requirements. Getting as many starter options as possible. I never knew when life would throw me a curveball, and I¡¯d want to change my 3rd class to something else. I had doubts it¡¯d happen, but why rush?


    Heck, at a bare minimum, I should wait to bond with Auri. ¡°Companion with a phoenix¡± should be worth a powerful class in and of itself!


    ¡°Dawn?¡± Night gently prodded, and I snapped back to reality.


    ¡°Whoops! Sorry!¡± I apologized. ¡°I just got my 3rd class unlocked!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡± Auri seemed to know how much this meant to me, even if she didn¡¯t know how hard it was.


    Brawling facepalmed. Hunting grinned. The other Sentinels gave various words of congratulations.


    ¡°Great news!¡±


    ¡°Another one!¡±


    ¡°Congratulations!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve gotta throw her the same thing we did for everyone else.¡±


    A few heads turned towards Ocean.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡± He commented neutrally. ¡°I¡¯m not making any promises, but I¡¯ll see if the Emperor wants to cement a Triumph for hitting 512 as a tradition, or if he¡¯ll decide it was a one-time thing for the first humans, or for winning the Formorian war, or what.¡±


    More bickering and arguing from the Sentinels, each one trying to explain why they thought it was a good idea.


    I wanted to grumble about not wanting to be the focus of a bloody Triumph, buuuuuuuut I was back home. Playing the ¡°look at how totally cool Sentinels are!¡± game was part of my job, and more importantly, it helped keep all of us alive.


    Just like how Brawling¡¯s reputation in the colosseum had helped me out when I nabbed Artemis, grinning and bearing a Triumph for a day could, I dunno, help bail Acquisition out of a tight spot one day. If nothing else, it¡¯d raise the profile of Sentinels in the public¡¯s mind, reminding them that we were here. We existed.


    And we were the best.


    Plus, I could probably inspire a ton of girls. Seeing a woman be the focus of a Triumph?


    Yeah.


    Auri would love it as well.


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± Not sure why Auri was chirping. No way she could be a mind reader.


    Alright!


    Operation ¡°Triumph¡± was a go!


    Not that I had any say in it.


    ¡°Ahem. Congratulations Dawn.¡± Night politely but firmly cut through the discussion. ¡°Now. Unless we wish to be here until nightfall, I believe Dawn should continue her debrief.¡±


    Right.


    ¡°Once it was clear the dwarves didn¡¯t want me to leave, I started making small moves in preparation to escape, not knowing when my time would come. First¡­¡±


    I went into a detailed analysis of my escape plan and execution, which interested most of the Sentinels. This was exactly the sort of problem, and analysis, that had all of us listening to mission reports.


    Jobs for each Sentinel were few and far between - just a handful every year. We all had a massive wealth of experience getting to where we were, but not as much operating at the level we were at. Trading experiences, tips, and tricks like this was one of the main purposes of these debriefs.


    [*ding!* [Beloved of the Wind] has leveled up! 1 -> 2! +3 Speed from your class per level! +1 Free Stat for being human! +1 Speed from your element!]


    The joy of low-level classes - they leveled crazy fast. I bet I could sneeze and get a level! [Passionate Learning] was helping as well.


    We got to the last part of my escape - the trident-trap.


    My method of handling the trap was¡­ unconventional.


    ¡°Dodge it. Or slap it out of the way.¡± Brawling said.


    ¡°Blast it before it hits.¡± Hunting added.


    ¡°Not step in the trap.¡± Acquisition drily added.


    ¡°I would¡¯ve died.¡± Mirage seemed almost cheerful at the prospect. He was totally meeting White Dove one day.


    ¡°Moving on. From there, I¡¯d escaped, but I was trapped in the tunnels. In order to properly escape pursuit, I went deep and long. Problem was, I had no idea how to navigate down there.¡±


    I shrugged.


    ¡°I got lost for a few months underground.¡± I shuddered at the memory. ¡°And no, I¡¯m not going to teach underground wilderness survival. That¡¯d be a complete waste of the Trainee¡¯s time, and Rangers stay above ground. However, if anyone ends up down there, here¡¯s what I found, and here¡¯s what I did to survive¡­¡±


    Another technical discussion. Surprisingly, Nature had quite a few insights into the situation and problem.


    We were getting to the next part of my story, the one I was a bit concerned about. Specifically Night¡¯s reaction to the whole thing.


    However, in a room full of Sentinels? As I was telling the story? With my survivability?


    I don¡¯t think the rest of the Sentinels would let Night murder me in cold blood, not without stepping in. And I wasn¡¯t easy to kill. I was like a cockroach. Night could kill me, given enough time - like, three minutes - but that was an eternity as fights went.


    ¡°Ended up getting chased by something called the [Inevitable Shluggoth]. Yellow on [Identify]. Looked like a persistence hunter, and it nearly ran me down. I tried a few different things to get away from it, but they didn¡¯t seem to work. I was tiring, when I encountered...¡±


    I paused for dramatic flourish, then pointed down at the scroll with her name while I said it.


    ¡°The lair of!¡±


    Brawling gave a single big laugh. A few of the other Sentinels looked amused.


    Ocean chuckled.


    ¡°Alright, alright, how did you get out?¡±


    The grin I¡¯d had on my face faded, then it came back in full force.


    ¡°Alright, alright, you got me. I found¡­ THE LAIR OF-¡± I pointed down again, the grin on my face vanishing, going entirely serious.


    ¡°Brrrpt?!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not fucking with you.¡±


    ¡°Naturally, you entered.¡± Night sounded¡­ frustrated? Weary? I couldn¡¯t quite tell, but hey, he hadn¡¯t tried to murder me. Score one!


    ¡°She was hurt. Not dying, but in need of significant medical attention. I was oathbound to help her.¡±


    ¡°She knew.¡± Night echoed my words from earlier. I nodded my head.


    Everyone was staring at me, most unnaturally still. There was no fidgeting, no coughs, no idle comments whispered to each other. I had the complete and total undivided attention of every member present.


    ¡°I thought I was stealthy. Used the invisibility gem. The sound-suppression gem. [Tracks-be-gone]. Realized as I got here that I¡¯d been horribly na?ve. She knew the entire time that I was there.¡±


    ¡°What was it like?¡± Acquisition asked, greed in his eyes.


    ¡°Silence.¡± Night hissed at us. ¡°Dawn. I appreciate your candor. Please skip to the part where you left. To the rest. This is classified, and word should never leave this room, nor should it be written down. The fact that Dawn was permitted to leave the lair speaks to likely favorable disposition, but I do not believe there is much sense in potentially provoking powers that are capable of the feats Dawn described earlier.¡±


    ¡°Skipping to leaving. I grabbed Auri - or rather, her egg - on my way out.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!?¡±


    [*ding!* [Beloved of the Wind] has leveled up! 2 -> 3! +3 Speed from your class per level! +1 Free Stat for being human! +1 Speed from your element!]


    Night stood up, and left the room. We all silently stared after him as he slowly, carefully walked out of the room, leaving towards the wing that held our rooms at HQ.


    None of us said a word as the rapid-fire sounds of things breaking echoed back through us, the size and speeds of the impacts sounding like gunshots in spite of the thick walls between us, and whatever destruction Night was performing.


    The atmosphere was awkward. We just¡­ sat there, as the sounds slowly faded.


    ¡°Man.¡± Brawling eventually said. ¡°I am not looking forward to cleaning that up.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    Night came back, and sat down heavily.


    ¡°I apologize for my lack of control.¡± He said. ¡°Dawn. Let me reassure you, that, first and foremost, you are one of my Sentinels, and I shall do whatever is needed to protect you. To protect any and every Sentinel. With that being said. What kind of stupid, foolish, moronic, dull, ill-advised, ludicrous, na?ve, senseless, short-sighted, rash, brainless, deficient, dense, half-baked idiotic simple-minded¡­.¡±


    Night went on for quite some time in that vein, slowly building up in volume. He had a few thousand years of collecting insults, and he was going through the entire list.


    ¡°... UNTHINKING THOUGHTS WERE GOING THROUGH YOUR HEAD!?¡±


    He collapsed back down and sighed.


    ¡°But, as you so correctly pointed out - she knew. She knew, and she permitted you to leave. There is little value in analyzing such a situation. If the lords of existence want you to die, you die. If it amuses them to have you live, you live. I do not believe one would play such a long game, to let you go at that time and only now hunt you down. It would cost more effort than such a diversion provides in entertainment.¡±


    He waved a hand.


    ¡°Please, carry on.¡±


    ¡°Right! I got close to a hundred levels for that little stunt,¡±


    Night snorted, and Brawling looked crestfallen.


    ¡°A hundred levels for that?!¡± He half-wailed. ¡°It took the entire Formorian war for me to get a hundred levels!¡±


    Most of us shot evil looks at Brawling for the interruption. We¡¯d all gone through insane trials to reach our levels.


    ¡°Anyways, that¡¯s when I got my Immortality skill. I can - on a significant cooldown - turn back the clock on someone¡¯s age, and make them young again.¡±


    My revelation wasn¡¯t met with the reaction I expected.


    ¡°Like Night?¡± Ocean asked.


    Mmmm.


    Right.


    Night could grant Immortality. I wasn¡¯t sure why more Sentinels weren¡¯t vampires¡­ might be worth having a discussion with Night over it.


    Maybe there were whole legions of former Sentinels-turned-vampires? That didn¡¯t quite make sense¡­


    Also, might be worth minimizing my ability in front of Night. Though after his earlier declaration, I wasn¡¯t super worried about him bringing me harm, but still. I anticipated a long, long working relationship with him, and I thought it¡¯d be nice for me to indicate he was the boss.


    Or something.


    Fuck politics and this interpersonal stuff with a rusty fork, but ARGH! I had to play, especially since I was going to be sticking around for awhile.


    ¡°Yeah, but l only make someone young again. Whoever I use this on keeps aging, just at a significantly reduced rate. Also, unlike Night, White Dove¡¯s curse is random. I used it on a gnoll we met. Entirely lost his sense of smell. Both to smell, for others to smell him, and to ¡®sniff out deals¡¯. Nasty stuff.¡±


    ¡°Dawn. I wish for us to meet this evening, to discuss the full implications of your ability. I believe I have some advice I can impart.¡± Night said.


    I gave him a curt nod.


    The elves were a solid introduction to Immortality. However, I believed there literally wasn¡¯t another person in the entire world who had a better grasp on ¡®having the ability to grant Immortality while living amongst mortals¡¯ than Night himself.


    ¡°I give up.¡± Brawling stood up as he announced it.


    ¡°Brawling?¡± Ocean asked.


    ¡°I give up. I¡¯m going out of this ¡®Dead Zone¡¯, and I¡¯m going to punch things until I hit 512 and I become Immortal. See ya!¡±


    ¡°No, wa-¡± Ocean was too late. Brawling was gone.


    ¡°Peace.¡± Night said. ¡°Sentinel Brawling is all too aware of his responsibilities. He understands what will happen if he shirks them too long. Like Toxic, he shall be back momentarily.¡±


    Night inclined his head towards me.


    ¡°Why, look at Sentinel Dawn here. A year and a half, and her level has doubled.¡±


    He paused, looking around.


    ¡°A reminder, for those seated here. If any of you are so inclined, if the itch of adventure and the call of exploration come upon you, simply let us know. We shall work together to make it possible.¡±


    Yeah, no thanks. I¡¯d had enough adventuring for many, many years.


    I didn¡¯t dare say a lifetime. I didn¡¯t have an upper limit on that, which still blew my mind.


    ¡°Right. After exiting her lair, I had no idea where I was. In the slightest. I was more than a little lost. I figured I¡¯d head north, pray that the ocean extended a bunch, and work from there. Does anyone have a better idea of what I could¡¯ve done?¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!¡±


    That wasn¡¯t a good idea, but I wasn¡¯t going to tell Auri that.


    That launched a lively debate and discussion - ¡°How to find your way back home when dropped in a random place on Pallos.¡± Once that was done, I continued.


    ¡°Met up with some elves, of all people. They knew where the ¡®Low Experience Zone¡¯ was, and we agreed to travel together. Had a few interesting fights and adventures.¡±


    I briefly went over the hydra, centaurs, spinosaurus and trolls, none of which were particularly interesting. The mysterious voice also got a mention, but nobody had any ideas. I also skimmed over the gnolls, in favor of the last part.


    I did spend some time on the level-changing ring I''d gotten.


    ¡°Got a gift, something called a Deception Ring. It lets me change my displayed level.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a high level [Thief] skill.¡± Acquisition said.


    ¡°But can they change their level to anything?¡±


    ¡°Usually around 100 levels, which is enough.¡±


    I nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got the full spectrum of colors, from white at level 1, all the way to black at 4096. Here, let me give you a sample, along with where all the class ups and colors are¡­¡±


    At the end of it, Ocean had a comment.


    ¡°I believe we should spread this information, courtesy of the Rangers and Sentinels. Thoughts?¡±


    There were general noises of agreement. Why bother keeping the knowledge secret?


    ¡°This brings me to the most important, or maybe just the most directly relevant, part of the debrief.¡± My playful happiness was gone. The Sentinels, hearing the change in my tone, sat up straighter.


    ¡°There is a race of creatures called shimagu. They¡¯re small body-jacking parasites. Hard to detect. Hard to kill.¡±


    Hunting snorted at that. Which was fair enough, his speciality was killing stuff.


    ¡°Ok, not that hard to kill. Obnoxious though. The primary variant overwhelms the host, and forces the body to move however they want. The hosts are generally not a fan. When freed, they tend to react violently against the shimagu. Shimagu also take over dinosaurs. Generally, this first type seems to focus purely on the physical, and I saw no obvious active skill use from this group. I don¡¯t understand why, but that¡¯s my current observation.¡±


    I paused a moment, letting everyone soak the information in.


    ¡°The second type is cooperative. The host and the shimagu work in tandem, and let me tell you - six classes and six elements in a single body is nasty, especially when they all synergize. Questions?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ve prepared an extensive list.¡± Ocean said. ¡°I hope you¡¯ll be willing to entertain us?¡±


    ¡°Naturally.¡±


    Ocean nodded to Hunting.


    ¡°Self defense against shimagu?¡± Hunting asked.


    ¡°They dislike mages and healers. Both can use skills on themselves to purge shimagu attempting to infect them.¡±


    ¡°Right. I¡¯m next.¡± Nature said. ¡°Can shimagu infect plants, trees, and the like? Or is it only flesh?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m unsure, but I only observed flesh. It would be highly unusual biologically if they were capable of both flesh body-jacking, and infesting trees.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri seemed relieved.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure they can¡¯t take over flames.¡± I reached up and stroked her reassuringly.


    Nature nodded in agreement.


    The question and answer session about shimagu lasted forever. Probably over an hour, as everyone wanted as many details as possible.


    My earlier letter had primed them. They¡¯d had a few weeks to think on the topic, and came armed with a long list of questions.


    ¡°Getting to the last part of my journey, before I made it home.¡±


    I noticed a warble in my voice, and I looked down. My hands were trembling, and I interlocked my hands to stop them.


    Sadness, despair, disgust, pride, and a hundred other emotions warred inside of me.


    ¡°I-¡± My voice cracked as my throat closed up. None of the Sentinels said anything.


    They all had their own demons. There wasn¡¯t one of us without horrors in our past, ugly things we¡¯d done that kept us up at night.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Ok, fine, there was one of us that was still pure and innocent. I¡¯d do whatever I could to keep Auri that way.


    ¡°I entered Ochi.¡± I managed to get out, failing to fight back the tears. ¡°Shimagu-controlled. Entirely. Humans from Remus, controlled.¡±


    Metal pillars falling inches away from me. Explosions of stone. Screams of rage, brutal violence done with whatever implements were on hand. The twack of an ogre bashing in a skull with his bare hands. A kid crying, wanting his mom helped.


    I hadn¡¯t been able to help her. There¡¯d been more people needed.


    ¡°Healing is instantly lethal to shimagu. At a small cost.¡± I was crying now, just letting the tears go.


    Trapped by the classer. Stone around my wrists and ankles, the invisible executioner lining up their shot. Saved by Awarthil, but not in my dreams.


    Some nights I wondered if things would be ¡®better¡¯ if Awarthril hadn¡¯t succeeded in saving me.


    ¡°High speed movement, plus area of effect on my heal. Excuse me.¡±


    I got up and left. None of the other Sentinels tried to stop me.


    We all knew I¡¯d be back to finish my report. I just¡­


    Well. I needed a lot more than a few minutes to compose myself.


    ¡°Brrpt! Brrrrrrrrrrpt. Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrpt!¡±


    Auri was calming. Soothing. Knowing that I was upset and sad, without knowing why. She didn¡¯t care. She nuzzled me, a dozen different bright colors of flame lighting up the room I¡¯d escaped to, lighting up my soul.


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re the best too, little troublemaker.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡±


    Auri blasted my face with fire, and I laughed, mock-scolding her.


    ¡°Hey! There are better ways to dry my tears than scorching me!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri didn¡¯t agree.


    ¡°Come here you.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!¡±


    I cuddled Auri, bringing her close to my chest and ¡°hugging¡± her tiny form.


    ¡°I¡¯m ok Auri.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt.¡±


    ¡°No really. I¡¯m just¡­ sad about something I had to do.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡±


    ¡°There was no right thing. Everything was wrong.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡±


    I rolled my eyes at her.


    ¡°Burning it all down doesn¡¯t fix all problems.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡± Auri was skeptical.


    ¡°Right! Let¡¯s go back and finish this. Then lunch, ok?¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!¡±


    I headed back to the room, bolstered by Auri¡¯s support.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± I apologized as I got back. ¡°Please no interruptions for this next part.¡±


    I took a deep breath, and got it all out in a single long rant without pause.


    ¡°Realized the city was shimagu-infested they were capturing humans from Remus on occasion I snapped and starting healing to death as many shimagu as I could including civilians nearly every free host chose violence afterwards multiple high level hostile shimagu elves fought we won escaped city 10,000 killed that¡¯s all.¡±


    I shook my head, moving onto happier things.


    ¡°Was close enough to fly back to Remus, and hit Port Salona. Met up with Ranger Team 11. Encountered a fun spot of guard corruption.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s going to be a mess.¡± Bulwark nodded. A few murmurs of agreement went around the room.


    ¡°Auri here hatched then.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri preened and flew around, happy to be at the center of attention. She flashed her colorful wings around, hovering in the air and slowly rotating.


    She loooooved the attention.


    ¡°Can you tell us more about Auri?¡± Hunting asked.


    I was glad to see him taking an interest. Meant the Katastrofi injury was healing. I hoped.


    ¡°Oh yeah, she¡¯s a phoenix. Possibly related to the Guardian Ho-O.¡±


    ¡°At this point, I¡¯m not even surprised.¡± Ocean sighed. ¡°Thank you for letting us know after Brawling left, otherwise he¡¯d go looking for one of his own.¡±


    I chuckled at the mental image.


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri objected somewhat to the idea. There was only ONE Auri, and she was it.


    ¡°From Port Salona, once Auri was old enough to travel, I made my way back home. And here I am. Questions?¡±


    That¡¯s when the real barrage of questions started, and my stomach grumbled as I handled them all.


    Finally, Ocean called it.


    ¡°Right. It¡¯s getting way too late, and we all have stuff to do. More questions tomorrow. Night, got anything else?¡±


    He slowly shook his head.


    ¡°Sentinels. Dismissed.¡±


    [*ding!* [Beloved of the Wind] has leveled up! 3 -> 4! +3 Speed from your class per level! +1 Free Stat for being human! +1 Speed from your element!]


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 20]


    [Mana: 578,460/578,460]


    [Mana Regen: 434,358 (+517,177)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 195]


    [Strength: 1,003]


    [Dexterity: 1,826]


    [Vitality: 14,214]


    [Speed: 14,214]


    [Mana: 57,846]


    [Mana Regeneration: 57,947 (+51,718)]


    [Magic Power: 22,777 (+428,208)]


    [Magic Control: 22,777 (+428,208)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 512]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 472]


    [Cosmic Presence: 300]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 2]


    [Center of the Universe: 450]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 512]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 512]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 469]


    [Sunrise: 347]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 357]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 357]


    [Radiance Resistance: 357]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 357]


    [Solar Flare: 131]


    [Nectar: 357]


    [Sun''s Heart: 357]


    [Scintillating Ascent: 334]


    [Kaleidoscope: 357]


    [Class 3: [Beloved of the Wind - Wind: Lv 4]]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 375]


    [Pristine Memories: 221]


    [Hatchling Rearing: 92]


    [Bullet Time: 512]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 376]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 512]


    [Persistent Casting: 315]


    [Passionate Learning: 380]

 Chapter 287 - Reporting back V

    After Ocean dismissed us, Night was the only one to move.


    I still wanted a minute to center myself after that debrief. No idea what everyone else was waiting for, usually it was a mad rush out of here once we were dismissed.


    Night got up, and walked towards the door.


    Once there, sensing we hadn¡¯t moved, he glanced back.


    ¡°I believe Dawn has prior appointments. Attempting to ambush her with additional questions at this moment is a poor use of her time. She is not about to vanish off the face of the planet. Your inquiries can wait until tomorrow, at a minimum.¡±


    Moans and complaints came from the Sentinels, who got up and left. Most of them headed through the door leading to the ¡®secret¡¯ tunnel to Ranger Academy.


    I shook my head.


    Right. I had a meeting with Ranger Command in a few. I¡¯d just told the entire story, and the other Sentinels were basically my friends. Telling them was easy-ish.


    Telling Command?


    Well, they were my bosses in every sense.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, alright, food.¡± I agreed with Auri.


    We got up, and navigated our way out of Ranger HQ. A few enterprising food vendors had their usual stalls set up outside, feeding the masses of employees who worked there.


    On one hand, a cafeteria would be nice, on the other, why bother? Tasty food was practically delivered to us. Open air food court with both variety and quality.


    I grabbed a veggie wrap, paid the usurious price the vendor wanted - right, that was my complaint with them - and sourced some juice for Auri.


    The dude was transfixed by her.


    ¡°One cup for Auri please!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri hovered over one of the ceramic cups the vendor had out on his stall.


    ¡°Remember Auri, we need to pay for the juice first, then you can drink it.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡± Auri let me know that she knew already, and to stop with the lectures and hurry up with the paying.


    Felt like a hostage exchange.


    ¡°She¡¯s gorgeous.¡± The man said.


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡± Auri got briefly distracted from her drink to zip around him.


    I chuckled.


    ¡°Flattery is the way to her heart.¡±


    ¡°Is she for sale?¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!?¡± Auri was confused as to this ¡°selling Auri¡± concept.


    Auri was near me, it was almost spring, and Ariminum was semi-tropical. Still, it felt chilly.


    I briefly debated with myself going off on the fact that Auri [Identify]¡¯d as a [Mage], and thus was obviously a person. Exceeeeeeept this was Remus, and being a person was no barrier to getting sold in most minds. I also risked getting dragged into one heck of a conversation.


    ¡°No.¡± I curtly answered.


    ¡°Brrrpt! Brrrpt!¡± Auri made a few unhappy noises, and flew off down the street.


    Fortunately, she wasn¡¯t terribly fast, not compared to most people.


    Unfortunately, she was still made of fire, and constantly shed sparks and embers.


    A quick flex of will, and I nabbed Auri with [Mantle of the Stars].


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s ok. It¡¯s ok. I¡¯d never do anything like that.¡± I comforted poor Auri.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re totally the best.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt¡­?¡±


    Ooof. That question hit like a truck, and I wasn¡¯t in the best mental spot after recounting Ochi.


    Still. There was only one right answer.


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t think I own you or anything.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt?¡±


    I chewed my lips, fighting back tears.


    ¡°Auri¡­ you¡¯re really, really young. And low leveled. I¡¯m happy letting you fly away, and do your own thing. But not right now. You¡¯re too little. You don¡¯t know enough.¡±


    ¡°BrrrpT!!¡±


    The middle of the street was not the place to have this argument, and I was getting weird looks, talking with a level 16 [Mage] that was also a flaming hummingbird.


    Auri leveled fast.


    ¡°Ok, I¡¯ll make a deal with you.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡±


    ¡°If you can hurt me, or any of my friends from earlier, you can go exploring RIGHT NOW. Otherwise, wait a few months! I¡¯ll teach you everything you need to know, then you can go off!¡±


    Auri buzzed in front of me, her head tilting back and forth.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± She agreed.


    I knew what she was thinking. The little troublemaker thought she could take on a Sentinel and win.


    Well, that¡¯s exactly why I wasn¡¯t letting her go out and about. I was a great big momma bear, not letting anyone or anything touch Auri - but by the same token, Auri seemed to think the world was her playspace. She was utterly fearless, and didn¡¯t seem to have the concept of ¡°negative consequences can happen to me¡± down yet.


    Either she needed to grow up a bit and figure it out, or I needed to gently teach the idea to her in a non-traumatizing way, while not letting her get into trouble that was too deep.


    Parenting was haaaaaaaaaard.


    Also, I¡¯d gotten my lunch, and with a quick stop, Auri had gotten hers.


    Time for a meeting with Ranger Command.


    After that?


    A meeting not on the schedule. A meeting I was dreading, but one that had to be done.


    I¡¯d rather rip my heart out of my chest and trample it, than go there, but I had to. I was compelled.


    I shook my head, clearing my thoughts.


    ¡°Ok Auri! Want to meet my bosses?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt¡­¡±


    ¡°I mean, I can take you back home first.¡±


    I thought about Auri, unattended for a few hours at my house. I hastily added conditions, wanting to come home to a bed and not a smoldering crater.


    For all I knew, while money was tight my parents had stopped paying off the local brigands - errr - fire company.


    ¡°We¡¯d need to wait for mom to get back home first. She¡¯s lots of fun, right?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°But meeting my bosses? That¡¯s a rare treat.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt¡­¡±


    I had a sudden brainwave. One of the dozens of ¡®tricks¡¯ that all girls were taught growing up. I¡¯d done my best to studiously ignore them, not being that interested in having kids. Still, repetition made it stick.


    Give a kid two ¡°choices¡± that were both what you wanted. Auri was smart, but I think I could still outsmart her with experience, and take advantage of how naive she was.


    ¡°Do you want to meet Ranger Command with me now, or after another drink of juice?¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!¡±


    ¡°Ok! Let¡¯s go meet them!¡±


    The fact that I could easily trick her like this reinforced my decision that she still needed help and guidance at this stage in her life.


    On one hand, it felt a little icky. But on the other, wasn¡¯t that how parents raised their kids? She was an autonomous being, but also completely dependent on me.


    This was hard.


    Fortunately, I had a great distraction to put the entire thing out of my mind.


    I navigated my way through the halls of Ranger HQ, making it to the great double doors of Ranger Command¡¯s meeting room. I gave a brisk nod to the two guards at the door.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn, here to report to Command.¡±


    One of them cracked the door open and peeked in.


    ¡°They¡¯re ready for you.¡±


    I strode into the room, under the disapproving gaze of seven Ranger Commanders. Ocean was in the Sentinel seat, with that look on his face.


    I knew him. It was his ¡°oh gods I¡¯m so bored but I need to look serious/like I¡¯m paying attention¡± look.


    Also, given how the Commanders were glaring at me - Whoops. Might¡¯ve taken a bit longer of a lunch break and a chat with Auri than I thought.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn, reporting.¡± I saluted.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± One of the Commanders eyed Auri, who was busy flitting around the room, looking around at the various people.


    Reading the notes the Commanders had. Wasn¡¯t sure if she could read or not, but it looked like it. Something to add to my list of things to teach Auri - reading and writing.


    ¡°Auri. She recently hatched, and I¡¯ve been looking after her.¡±


    ¡°She shouldn¡¯t be here.¡±


    I narrowed my eyes at the Commander. Welp, looked like I was going to get off on the wrong foot with them.


    At this point though, what was the worst they could do to me? I¡¯d need to seriously piss off a number of Commanders over an extended period of time to land in ¡®real¡¯ hot water, or utterly violate everything that being a Sentinel meant. I wasn¡¯t doing the second, and I wasn¡¯t willing to let people poke at Auri.


    ¡°Auri is a phoenix, and this is probably the only chance you have in your life to see one.¡± I curtly informed the Commander.


    That woke them up. This went from ¡®another debrief¡¯ to ¡®there¡¯s a phoenix here how!?¡¯


    ¡°How-¡± One of the Commanders interrupted, only for a second one to interrupt and talk over him.


    ¡°Please begin from leaving for the Formorian War.¡± He curtly ordered me.


    Well, that was better than an argument starting. I immediately started before Command could get bogged down in another fight.


    ¡°One moment.¡± Ocean interrupted. ¡°There is one aspect of Dawn¡¯s report which has been personally sealed by Night.¡±


    Four of the Commanders glared at Ocean. He stoically looked at each of them.


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard the part in question. It is entirely irrelevant here, but could cause all manner of disaster if Dawn reported it.¡±


    I saw a wave of realization slowly spread.


    ¡°Ah.¡±


    ¡°One of-¡±


    ¡°Hush. Most likely.¡±


    I gave a slow nod, which seemed to make the Commanders happy.


    ¡°It all began that fateful night¡­¡± I started my report, as two of the Commanders started to take notes.


    This was going to take hours.


    =======


    My estimate had been completely off. It took longer than that.


    The only vaguely interesting part was that Ranger Command took an entirely different set of interests than the Sentinels. Where the Sentinels were interested in fights, tactics, and the story, Command was more interested in what lessons could be learned, extrapolated, and taught to the incoming Rangers.


    It also meant I spent long periods of time just standing there, while the Commanders were arguing around me.


    So. Much. Arguing. How did anything get done?


    The only consolation was Ocean. We started playing rock-paper-scissors, using tiny, tiny hand motions to communicate what we were doing and what we were throwing. Helped alleviate some of the boredom. It also didn¡¯t take so much focus that I couldn¡¯t be aware of the Commanders asking me questions.


    Fortunately, Auri had gotten bored and tired. The day had been exhausting for the little hummingbird-phoenix, and she was taking a nap on my shoulder.


    The Commanders started to wrap up their discussion. Which was good, and bad.


    Good, because they were reaching the end, and I was going to be free soon.


    Which, to my great consternation, meant more work for me.


    ¡°Those for assigning Dawn to SERE training?¡± One of the Commanders asked.


    I kept a poker face as I mentally cursed. Seven hands went up in the air. Ocean gave me a tiny shrug.


    Not all was lost though.


    [*ding!* [Beloved of the Wind] has leveled up! 7 -> 8! +3 Speed from your class per level! +1 Free Stat for being human! +1 Speed from your element!]


    Well, that¡¯d been easy enough. Now I just had to do some thinking on when I¡¯d class up, and as what, but this really wasn¡¯t the time or the place.


    ¡°Those for assigning Dawn to Wilderness Survival?¡± A second Commander proposed.


    ¡°Nature is far better suited than Dawn is.¡± Another one pointed out.


    Annnd there goes a whole argument. Back to the rock-paper-scissors with Ocean.


    ¡°All those in favor?¡±


    Damnit. I missed what they were voting on!


    Only one hand went up.


    ¡°Sentinel Nature remains the Wilderness Survival instructor.¡± The Commander noted.


    ¡°With her healing, is Dawn a better flight teacher than Maestrai?¡± One of the Commanders wondered.


    ¡°Constantly evolving flight is unusual, but it¡¯s also an interesting opportunity. She should be able to match any style, and help trainees evolve towards a style they desire.¡±


    Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.


    ¡°All those in favor of Dawn taking over flight lessons?¡±


    Six hands went up.


    Fuck.


    The only reward for hard work was more hard work.


    ¡°On the shimagu.¡± One of the Commanders said. ¡°Dawn, what is your recommendation for keeping Ranger squads from potential invaders?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a few.¡± I quickly said, my mind racing with all the possibilities. ¡°In rough order. A healer attached to teams would be able to handle any shimagu problems in the team, detect and destroy anyone the team comes into contact with that has a shimagu, and dramatically improve team survival rates. Barring that, a complicated set of rules regarding showing off active skills on a regular basis could work. With a few hundred gems, the right skill could be stored ahead of time and regularly used, although that¡¯d be incredibly expensive. Also, I guess in theory I could be sent on rounds to check up on every team regularly and-¡±


    Wait.


    Fuck.


    That was a terrible idea, and would completely screw me. So hard. My life would be non-stop on the road.


    I was heavily biased. I knew what I wanted Command to pick, and this was my moment to shove for the solution I wanted. I wasn¡¯t prepared at all, but I was going to give it my best.


    Also, I needed them to NOT pick the ¡®Dawn is permanently on the road¡± option.


    ¡°A set of rules and procedures is likely to cause resentment, grumbling, and most importantly, Rangers in the field just won¡¯t do it.¡±


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn. Are you suggesting that Rangers don¡¯t follow every field procedure perfectly?¡±


    It was one of the Senators. The rest of us gave him a look like he was a dumbass.


    Sadly, he had the ego of a small sun, and didn¡¯t wilt under everyone¡¯s Look. However, his attempt at scoring some points or whatever fell flat.


    ¡°Yeah. We don¡¯t.¡± I answered slowly, like he was a small child.


    ¡°A healer with the squad, however, can not only secure the Rangers from shimagu threats, but can also handle a number of other issues. Poison. Miasma. Disease. Cuts. Infections. Injuries. A sufficiently powerful healer could also restore limbs, set broken bones, and more.¡±


    ¡°Healers that can fight are incredibly rare.¡± One of the Commanders commented.


    ¡°So forget that rule. Have them attached to the team, not part of the team. Eight Rangers, and a healer.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡±


    DAMNIT.


    I ended up in another hours-long discussion. These talks were exhausting. Did they have a skill for this sort of thing!? [Gift of Gab] or something?!


    Actually - the Commanders from the Senate were looking fresh and great. The Ranger Commanders were starting to look worn down.


    Huh. I guess their base classes mattered. All of the Ranger Commanders were former Rangers, and still ID¡¯d as [Warriors], [Mages], and [Leaders]. The Senators had a chance at 256 to grab classes aimed at, well, stupidly long meetings like this.


    In the end, it came down to a vote, as always. The only question was what the vote was for.


    It went in a bad direction. A horrible direction. The absolute worst.


    ¡°All those in favor of sending Sentinel Dawn and Commander Ajax to request additional funding from Emperor Augustus for adding healers to Ranger Teams, and for Dawn to be able to give detailed breakdown on the shimagu?¡±


    Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.


    Five hands went up.


    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


    Ocean must¡¯ve seen my face.


    He gave me a shit-eating grin.


    Bastard. He knew it meant he wasn¡¯t doing it.


    ¡°Any other business?¡±


    Heads shook.


    ¡°Vote to end the meeting, and get dinner?¡±


    I¡¯d never seen a unanimous vote occur so fast.


    I didn¡¯t wait to get dismissed. I saluted, turned on my heel, and was out of there before anyone could come up with any more ¡°good ideas¡±.


    Onto the next thing I had to do.


    The Indomitable Wall.

 Chapter 100– Major Interlude – Iona – The Tunnel to Terrabethia

    Iona got out of bed with all the fury and joy of an 8-year-old.


    An 8-year-old on her birthday.


    An 8-year-old on her Unlocking Day!!!


    The rest of her family groaned in the small hut they called home as Iona blazed through, and right out the door.


    "I unlocked! I unlocked!" She cried out, excitement and joy radiating from every fiber of her being.


    ¡°Lunaris! Selene! Thank you!¡± Iona threw out a quick prayer, even though the moon goddesses had nothing to do with her System unlocking.


    She ran past the longhouse that dominated the center of the village, the traveling skald sleeping off a hangover on the steps, then skidded to a halt in front of another hut, made out of wood, straw thatch on the roof, dried mud covering the cracks and not letting the chill breeze in. A hut that looked like any other in the village, but was special, not for how it was made, but for who lived in it.


    "Lux! Lux! Come out here!" Iona called out. A few of the neighbors, already up and working, chuckled good-naturedly at the whirlwind made flesh excitedly bouncing around, remembering fondly the day when they¡¯d unlocked the System, when magic became real and accessible for each of them.


    A very sleepy-looking girl exited the house. Delicate features, mousey brown hair, and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes ¨C it was clear she hadn¡¯t slept a wink last night.


    "Iona? Wu?" Lux said.


    "I. Unlocked!!!" Iona said, emphasizing each word as carefully as she could. Lux¡¯s eyes widened.


    "You unlocked! Hurray! I need to unlock now! Any moment now¡­"


    Lux screwed her eyes up and concentrated, seeing if she could get the last few hours out of the way by sheer force of will.


    Nothing. The System wasn¡¯t to be defeated by the will of a mere girl.


    Iona rolled her eyes at Lux¡¯s antics. She adored Lux ¨C they were two peas in a pod, cut from the same cloth. Sure, she was distractible, needing Iona¡¯s constant, steady hand to focus and stay on track, and was frankly bananas for bananas, but she provided a spark of curiosity, a burning inquisitive mind, and a creativity that Iona couldn¡¯t match.


    In short, they were perfect for each other, they complemented each other, covered each other.


    "Anyways, anyways, what did you get? What did you get?" Lux said, having given up on bending the System to her will.


    Iona quickly checked over her notifications for the hundredth time this morning.


    "[Child of Lithos]!" She happily called out. "Level 7." She said, puffing her chest out. Bow before me, peasant! [High Jarl] Iona was here to rule with an iron fist!


    "Wow! Did you put points into your stats yet?" Lux asked, wide-eyed.


    Iona hesitated, then relented. They had no secrets. Bending over, whispering to her, she said,


    "Well, yes. Everyone keeps saying Mana Regeneration is the best stat, and to put everything there. But I put my points into Dexterity and Strength. That way I can fight the people that bully you."


    Lux gave her a hug, burying her face in Iona¡¯s shirt.


    "You didn¡¯t have to." She said through the cloth.


    Iona patted Lux¡¯s back.


    "Of course, I did! Come on, let¡¯s go play in Terrabethia!"


    That managed to distract Lux, not that it was an accomplishment worth bragging about. A butterfly could distract Lux from¡­ anything really.


    "Yeah, let¡¯s go!"


    Holding each other¡¯s hand, they sprinted off to Terrabethia, their magical place. Soon to be even more magical with Iona having skills! And levels!


    "Are you girls heading off to the old mine again?" The guard at the village exit asked them.


    "Yup." Iona said, chin held high, defiantly.


    The guard sighed, having lost this very same argument dozens of times already, not wanting to go through the wringer with the pair of scoundrels so early in the morning.


    "Please be careful in there. It¡¯s not safe."


    Lux stuck her tongue out at the guard.


    "Not safe for big fat adults maybe. Safe for quick girls! Come on Iona, let¡¯s goooo!"


    As they ran through the woods, up the hill, to the entrance of the old mine, Iona looked over the skills she was offered. Mom and Dad had given her some suggestions yesterday as to what skills she should take, and Iona suspected that once they were awake, they¡¯d dictate what skills she¡¯d take.


    However, for a few, brief, glorious hours, Iona was free from parental tyranny, able to grab skills and allocate stats as she saw fit.


    [Name: Iona]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 8]


    [Mana: 40/40]


    [Mana Regen: 825]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 20]


    [Dexterity: 20]


    [Vitality: 7]


    [Speed: 11]


    [Mana: 4]


    [Mana Regeneration: 4]


    [Magic Power: 4]


    [Magic Control: 4]

 Chapter 288 - The Endless To-do List I

    ¡°Dawn!¡± Ocean hurried out of the room behind me.


    ¡°Ocean. What¡¯s up?¡± I asked him as I paused.


    ¡°Let¡¯s walk. Probably best if the Commanders don¡¯t hear me.¡± He gave me a roguish wink.


    Ahh. One of those conversations.


    ¡°I¡¯m heading off to the Indomitable Wall.¡± I restarted my walk in that direction.


    I clearly woke Auri up.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    Her sleepy cheeps were so cute.


    ¡°Evening sleepyhead!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    Auri was determined to show me that she was not a sleepy head, and immediately took off from my shoulder, flying somewhat shakily.


    ¡°A phoenix.¡± Ocean shook his head in disbelief. ¡°How does she handle water?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!?!?!?!¡±


    He snorted.


    ¡°Even I got that.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I asked him, figuring we¡¯d gotten some distance from the supernatural hearing of the Commanders.


    ¡°SERE Training and the like. You didn¡¯t seem too enthusiastic.¡±


    I nodded.


    ¡°A year and change isn¡¯t enough. I¡¯m crazy busy as is, and SERE¡¯s too important for a half-hearted amateur teacher to be training all the Rangers.¡±


    Ocean nodded.


    ¡°Agreed. That¡¯s why we have Instructors. For the smaller things, or the specialized things? Us Sentinels are expected to be the ones teaching the class personally. Your medicine class. Your new flight class. It changes for the larger classes. You¡¯re not expected to manage the entire thing on your own. Gods, it¡¯s impossible to, especially something that important. Can¡¯t give the proper feedback.¡±


    I digested what he said. It made way too much sense, especially with how many Instructors Ranger Academy had.


    ¡°In practice, you¡¯re responsible for how the training works. If it goes poorly? You¡¯ll be blamed. If it goes well? More of your friends come home.¡±


    Ouch. That was a gut punch and a half.


    ¡°What do you suggest?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Work with the Instructors. Listen to them. Your job, especially on SERE, which has been a class since Ranger Academy started, is to fix problems. It¡¯s not like your medicine class, which you made from scratch.¡±


    ¡°What happened to that by the way?¡± I¡¯d shown up, started the class, gotten a bunch of students, then vanished with nine months left on the course.


    ¡°It fell apart.¡± Ocean bluntly told me. ¡°We tried to get one of the Ranger¡¯s healers to take over, but their view, knowledge, and approach was so different that it just didn¡¯t work.¡±


    That was a bit concerning, but also made sense. My approach and knowledge was radically different from how other healers did things. It stood to reason that we wouldn¡¯t be able to teach the same classes well.


    Ah well, I was around now, and my Medical Manuscripts were still slowly spreading.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell me - you didn¡¯t restart it this year.¡±


    Ocean gave me a Look.


    ¡°Dawn. Five weeks ago, everyone thought you were dead. You were still marked as ¡®Missing in Action¡¯ due to a formality. We wait ten years to declare a missing Ranger or Sentinel dead, and put their name on the wall. In practice, anything more than a few weeks is dead.¡±


    Ooof. Right.


    ¡°Of course we didn¡¯t restart the medicine class. We¡¯ll look into it for the next set of classes, assuming you don¡¯t find yourself too busy with SERE and flying.¡±


    That was perfectly reasonable.


    We were at the doors to the main arena at the center of HQ, which had the Indomitable Wall.


    ¡°Want privacy?¡± Ocean asked.


    I mutely nodded, dread welling up inside of me.


    Ocean clasped my shoulder with his hand.


    ¡°Good work Dawn.¡±


    What was that supposed to mean? Something about me staying alive?


    Ocean turned and left.


    I braced myself, and opened the doors.


    The moons were half full, flooding the arena with light, even in the night. The stars twinkled high above, and the wall stood alone.


    Proud.


    Tall.


    Indomitable.


    Auri seemed to grasp the gravitas of the situation, and silently took off, making laps of the stands. The seats where crowds of people had watched Julius declare me Sentinel Dawn.


    She was like a little mobile torch, illuminating things as she flew around.


    With heavy footsteps, I walked down the stairs. Everything else blurred and fell away, leaving only the Wall in my sights.


    The bottom lines were what interested me. The newest additions to the Wall.


    I braced myself, and looked at the Sentinel section.


    I thought I was ready.


    I wasn¡¯t.


    Sentinel Magic.


    Sentinel Sky.


    Sentinel Sealing.


    And no Katastrofi.


    I cried freely as I traced my finger over the carving in the stone, feeling their names. Every straight line, every curve, engraved on the wall and now onto my finger.


    I didn¡¯t try to stop the hot tears from splashing against the floor beneath my feet.


    My vision blurry, I moved onto the Rangers, mentally translating each of their names as I read them.


    Lava. Dude who gave me lip when I¡¯d led the practice fight against the Wood abelisaurus.


    Levitator. He¡¯d basically become a fully-fledged Metal mage at the end. His efficiency had dramatically improved.


    Not enough. His name was now on the Wall. It didn¡¯t even say how he¡¯d died. Just that he¡¯d been a Ranger in service to Remus, and had fallen.


    Alchemist. Proper prior planning and all that, dozens of potent potions prepared hadn¡¯t been enough. Probably ended up in one fight too many, too quickly.


    Or had gotten picked off.


    Or one of the many reagents he needed to handle had been too deadly.


    Or - I¡¯d drive myself nuts speculating.


    Hidden Blade. Mirages to hide his weapons hadn¡¯t kept him alive.


    Mirror. ¡°Anything you do to me I do to you¡± didn¡¯t work so well against dumb monsters. Hopefully took out whatever had killed him, but that wasn¡¯t much consolation to whoever he¡¯d left behind.


    Artillery Mage B. Dead.


    Oozy. Dead.


    Sniper. Dead.


    Everywhere I looked, the name of another dead friend flashed out at me. Let me know that I¡¯d never see them again. Never hear their stories, their laughter, their rough camaraderie.


    Ranger life was harsh. Roughly half of all Rangers died each round, and the losses were disproportionately on the newer Rangers.


    In other words, my classmates.


    I counted.


    1


    2


    3


    4


    5


    6


    7


    8


    9


    10


    20


    30


    40


    50


    60


    70


    78


    78 Rangers from my graduating Academy class.


    In their first round.


    They were dead. Gone. Ashes in the wind.


    Like Lule.


    Like Origen.


    Like Lyra.


    I was finally home. I was finally safe. I could relax my mental safeguards. I could unbox the emotions and feelings I¡¯d been bottling up so long. I could de-compartmentalize, let myself properly feel.


    I completely broke down.


    What was the goddamn point of Immortality? Of living forever, and just watching the list of names increase endlessly?


    Was this my life?


    I cried and I cried, dissolving into a puddle of tears.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    Auri had landed on me, and was busy ¡°investigating¡± what was wrong.


    ¡°Brrrpt!!!¡±


    Her cry of alarm was my only warning before a blazing inferno coated my head.


    I¡¯d given up on having hair for now, but apparently eyebrows were now denied to me as well.


    ¡°Brrpt! Brrpt! Brrrpt!¡± Auri flew around me, triumphantly crowing her success over the evil water that had almost dissolved me.


    ¡°Love you too, little troublemaker.¡± I sniffled at her.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Dawn. Would this be a poor time for me to interrupt?¡±


    ¡°BRRRPT!!!¡± Auri cried in alarm.


    I jumped about a foot in the air, giving an undignified squawk, as Night stepped forward, out of the darkness like four feet away from me.


    ¡°Night! Gods! You scared me!¡±


    I swear I saw a brief smile flit over Night¡¯s face.


    Did¡­ did Night just prank me?!


    That, more than anything, chased away some of the morose feelings that had been flooding through me.


    I politely saluted Night.


    ¡°Sorry. Do you need something?¡±


    Night didn¡¯t immediately answer, stepping beside me to look at the Indomitable Wall. His eyes rapidly flickered over the names.


    ¡°Brrpt!¡±


    Night didn¡¯t say anything for a few moments, simply looking at the wall.


    ¡°It gets easier.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± I said, kinda stupidly.


    ¡°Handling loss.¡± He said. ¡°The cruel knife of agonizing loss will never stop striking you as time goes by. You shall continue to make friends, and lose them over time.¡±


    He paused a moment, and shook his head.


    ¡°I apologize. It has been some time since I last needed to have this discussion. As your report mentioned, you have had some experience with Immortal matters with trolls and elves.¡±


    The way Night stressed elves made me think he didn¡¯t like them that much.


    Or maybe he was jealous? The elves weren¡¯t that old, and all of them significantly stronger than Night was. They¡¯d managed companions, where Night had failed.


    Didn¡¯t matter.


    ¡°My experiences are somewhat different.¡± Night said, then paused.


    One of those long pauses that seemed to stretch into eternity. All night even.


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡±


    Auri was driving me up the wall. Pun intended.


    Before we got into what was sure to be a lengthy conversation, I wanted to sidetrack briefly. I had a relatively quick question that I knew Night could answer.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on with Commander Julius?¡±


    ¡°Ah. You¡¯ve been informed. Commander Julius left on a routine inspection roughly four months ago with the usual minor escort of guards. He seemed to simply disappear en route, and there has not been a single trace of him, or his escort, ever since. Sentinel Hunting was tasked with tracking him down. He reported that, for some reason unknown to us, Julius and his escort left the road, and the trail abruptly ends. No evidence of a fight. No abduction, or trap. Indeed, Hunting maintains that they didn¡¯t even fly away. They simply vanished.¡± Night said with distaste.


    I stayed silent, waiting to see if Night had anything to add.


    ¡°I would believe they had been disintegrated, if there weren¡¯t even traces of that occurring. It is most vexing.¡± Night sounded frustrated, and I didn¡¯t blame him.


    ¡°What¡¯s being done now?¡± I asked. ¡°Any ideas?¡±


    ¡°The site is regularly surveilled by our own guards, or occasionally Trainees on an excursion who need the practice. Two birds with a single stone, as it may be. Apart from that, Ocean and Acquisition both are pursuing investigations in their respective domains, as well as the other Commanders playing politics to investigate. After all, the threat came after one of them, and any threat that would target a Commander, could easily target them. As for my own thoughts? The balance of power in the Ranger Command has shifted. Commander Julius being declared Missing, Presumed Alive, means that we shall not fill his seat for some time, as technically we can function with seven Commanders. Yet, the balance of power has tilted towards the Senate, and the Sentinels have been entirely diminished. I do not believe that the Senate has the ability to stop biting themselves long enough to conspire against us, not without leakage, but the Emperor¡­¡±


    Night shook his head.


    ¡°I apologize. The Indomitable Wall tends to make me natter on. I have no evidence that the Emperor was involved, nor does it seem like any skill was used. Simply analyzing who benefits points to him, as it does a dozen other figures. Why, in some respects, it might have simply been a way to strike at Artemis, who is eminently lethal on her own. There are hundreds of possibilities, and in the end, I simply do not know.¡±


    The last part was said with immense frustration. Night kept his hands off of things, unless it came down to the few things he DID care about - and the Sentinels were one of them. Whatever hit Julius might easily be an indirect attack on the Sentinels.


    Still, if Hunting couldn¡¯t figure it out, or trace the track?


    Yikes. I¡¯m not sure what I could do.


    A long pause stretched between us.


    Night seemed to come to some decision, and changed the subject entirely.


    ¡°The concept of mortality and Immortality didn¡¯t exist at Creation.¡± He finally said. ¡°Indeed, it took me nearly 300 years to realize that people could die of old age. Nobody succeeded in living that long before.¡±


    Night didn¡¯t say it, but I could imagine. A feral world, with no traces or vestiges of civilization. People living and fighting in small tribes. No tradition to lean on. No tried and true methods. Night, low level and leveling slowly the entire time. Worse than teenage me, lower level than most kids, and somehow surviving a brutal world for 300 years. As a start.


    Night was more and more impressive the longer I thought about him.


    No knowledge base that said ¡°the red berries are poisonous, don¡¯t eat them.¡±


    No concept of ¡°working in a team produces better results.¡±


    Nothing.


    Not even ¡°Getting older slows you down.¡±


    ¡°I believed I had survived as long as I had due to being careful.¡± Night admitted. ¡°Practicing my craft. Honing myself to perfection. Never slacking. Never permitting myself a moment of weakness or relaxation. And, truth be told, the first woman to die of old age had never been particularly healthy.¡±


    Night half-shrugged, and let another silence permeate the arena.


    Well.


    Almost silence.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Only once a measure of safety and stability had been achieved did we learn that humans had a time limit - and vampires did not. The curse of White Dove became clear in that moment.¡±


    He paused a moment, but it wasn''t one of his long ones. Thank goodness.


    ¡°I hated seeing my friends die. Time began to flit past me. Night after night I stood guard at the fire, the hours blurring together. ¡®Why should time steal them away?¡¯ I thought. I had been careful, until that moment, not to turn too many humans to vampires. After all, it was clear that I was weaker than the average human. It was clear that I had numerous weaknesses, and my strengths had not been given time to properly manifest. It was an unusual lot who had chosen to accept my gift and my curse. I believed at the time - why shouldn¡¯t I extend my gift to those who were nearing the end of their life? Permit them to live longer.¡±


    Another pause. Another gathering of ancient memories.


    Heck, my head was full of memories, and I had less than 40 years worth of memories rattling around.


    Night was pushing 5,000 years of memories, and from the sound of it, few days of his life had been boring.


    ¡°It was one of my larger, earlier mistakes. To compress nearly 200 years into a few sentences, it was the cause of the first vampire civil war, and the tribe effectively self-destructed. Only a few of us were left in the end, absorbed into another clan. One that was willing to look past the fact that I had, unwittingly, destroyed my own people once.¡±


    Night regretfully shook his head.


    ¡°I survived. I learned. One of the other progenitors attempted a similar project, selecting the mightiest warriors and mages to turn into vampires. His experience was... similar. Hence, I have not turned large numbers of Sentinels or Rangers, in spite of all my affection for you all.¡±


    He put his hand on the wall, and bowed forward. I could see small muscles in his hand spasming.


    ¡°One thing you do not need to concern yourself with is propagation. A friend, a lover, you elect to keep by your side for eternity can not, in turn, make more Immortals, unlike us vampires. We must be exceptionally careful. We have had too many issues with vampires who get it in their head that they could turn who they will. Each time has been ruthlessly crushed, but not without¡­ casualties.¡±


    I was reminded that Night wasn¡¯t just a guiding hand. He was the premier assassin in Remus. He wanted someone dead? They died. His relatively low level for his age wasn¡¯t due to a lack of trying, or challenges, or anything other than the System disfavoring vampires heavily, for some reason.


    If Night told me that his class qualities were all black? I¡¯d believe him. Thousands of years to rack up achievements wasn¡¯t anything to sneeze at, and he¡¯d never stopped fighting.


    My first Immortal rule: Don¡¯t get on Night¡¯s wrong side.


    ¡°All of this to say. You have gotten the rarest of skills. The first source that can grant Immortality outside of the Progenitors. I implore you to use caution and forethought when using your abilities. I will be happy to discuss implications and ramifications of anyone you wish to¡­ renew. I will be happy to provide detailed backgrounds if requested. Guidance, if needed. After all.¡±


    He paused a moment, mostly for dramatic effect.


    Auri ruined it entirely.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    Good girl.


    ¡°You are one of the Sentinels, one of the protectors of Remus. I will support you, however needed, and I trust you shall do the same in return.¡±


    I slowly nodded at Night.


    ¡°Gotcha.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t exactly a great [Speechwriter] or anything. What else was there to say? He¡¯d given me a ton to think about.


    We stood in silence, as I digested his words.


    The elves had hammered home just how rare and valuable a skill I had, but were looking at this from the wrong angle in many ways. They were Immortals, discussing what it was like to be in Immortal society, and raising others into their hallowed ranks.


    Night¡¯s take was from an Immortal living in mortal society. Many of the problems and implications were the same, but the slant was different. The melody of the song was the same, but the words only rhymed.


    ¡°Another aspect to keep in mind are goals. I do not know which goal you have pursued until now, nor which goals you currently have. However, I have known more than one vampire to lose themselves in hedonism, and entirely forget the passage of time because they have no goals. They have no objective to strive towards. Without a constraint, without the omnipresent pressure of time pushing them forwards, they believe they will ¡®do it tomorrow¡¯, and a century passes before they are aware.¡±


    Night shook his head, at the sheer waste of his gift. The waste of the most precious thing any of us had to spend - time.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    Time was a limited currency. Usually.


    I¡¯d just gotten an unlimited amount, and yeah. I could see the temptation to squander it. To think ¡°Oh, I can do that later.¡±


    Because I could.


    But if I did?


    I never would.


    What Night was saying about goals was hitting extra-hard. I¡¯d been stumbling around life, trying to make goals and constantly having them derailed on me. My most successful completed goal to date was Ranger Academy.


    And arguably getting back home.


    Still, I got his point.


    What was I going to do with myself now? What did I want?


    Well, I wanted-


    ¡°Now, you can pursue multiple goals at once.¡± Night said.


    Whoops. I¡¯d spent so much time ruminating that I¡¯d eaten up the entirety of Night¡¯s pause between words.


    ¡°Short term goals, paired with long term goals. I, personally, have a few that I¡¯m willing to share. The eradication of the Formorians was my most recent large goal that I completed. The continuation of Remus. The preservation of the Sentinels, or a similar group. Keeping the number of vampires under control. These are simply a few of my objectives. For yourself? If I may offer my humble advice, look at yourself. Look at the world around you. Ask yourself what is important to you. What is worth preserving. What is wrong, and requires changing.¡±


    That was all good advice. I¡¯d need to do serious thinking on it, not just come up with stuff off the cuff.


    Argh. I was getting a very, very long to-do list of ¡°things to think about.¡± I should try to get dedicated thinking time in my schedule.


    Maybe in a nice meadow, where Auri could go nuts burning stuff. Goals. Immortality. My 3rd class. Auri.


    And I thought I¡¯d get some peace and relaxation once I made it back home. HA!


    Even if all my Sentinel work was off my plate, I¡¯d still have a ton of work.


    The worst part of it?


    All of the work was exclusive to me. It wasn¡¯t like I needed to do laundry, and I could just pay someone to do it for me. No, everything on my list was something that I had to handle personally.


    ¡°I wish I could stay and discuss this further with you. Unfortunately, I have other duties at this time.¡± Night said. ¡°I would like to extend an offer to you. One I nearly extended before, but chose not to. You have managed to acquire an Immortality skill, and not only that, one you can grant to others. You have yet to be cursed by White Dove. It seems foolish to me to roll the dice on a curse, and to use a most valuable skill slot on a skill that does not need to be there.¡±


    Hang on. HANG ON. Was Night offering-


    ¡°Normally, I demand total obedience from those I turn. However, for you, I shall make an exception. You will be granted the rights and privileges of a progenitor, allowed to carve out your own slice of Remus and the greater world, and none of us shall interfere.¡±


    He paused a moment.


    Yup. He was definitely offering-


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn. Elaine. Would you like to become a vampire?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!?!?¡±


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 20]


    [Mana: 578,460/578,460]


    [Mana Regen: 434,358 (+517,177)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 195]


    [Strength: 1,003]


    [Dexterity: 1,826]


    [Vitality: 14,214]


    [Speed: 14,214]


    [Mana: 57,846]


    [Mana Regeneration: 57,947 (+51,718)]


    [Magic Power: 22,777 (+428,208)]


    [Magic Control: 22,777 (+428,208)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 512]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 472]


    [Cosmic Presence: 300]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 2]


    [Center of the Universe: 450]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 512]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 512]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 469]


    [Sunrise: 347]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 357]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 357]


    [Radiance Resistance: 357]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 357]


    [Solar Flare: 131]


    [Nectar: 357]


    [Sun''s Heart: 357]


    [Scintillating Ascent: 334]


    [Kaleidoscope: 357]


    [Class 3: [Beloved of the Wind - Wind: Lv 8]]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 375]


    [Pristine Memories: 221]


    [Hatchling Rearing: 92]


    [Bullet Time: 512]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 376]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 512]


    [Persistent Casting: 315]


    [Passionate Learning: 380]

 Chapter 289 - The Endless To-do List II

    Night¡¯s offer crashed over me, and I blinked, trying to process it.


    ¡°Do not make a decision now, or lightly. It is one you shall have to live with for eternity. Think on it. Meditate. Discuss it with your friends and family. Take a decade to decide. After all, that is simply a drop in the vast ocean of time that you now have before you. And now, I apologize, but I simply must leave.¡±


    With a gust of wind, Night dashed out of the arena, onto his next task.


    He¡¯d given me a lot to think about.


    ¡°Brrpt!?¡±


    ¡°Night¡¯s a vampire.¡±


    ¡°Brrrrpt???¡±


    ¡°They dislike sunlight, drink blood, and live a long time.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!?!?¡±


    ¡°No, that doesn¡¯t sound very fun does it? Plus, how would I play with you during the day?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    It sounded cruel, but I wasn¡¯t going to pass on Night¡¯s offer simply due to a 15-second conversation with a bird I¡¯d met two months ago. However, I was leaning no.


    Like, how could I be Dawn, and allergic to sunlight?


    Actually, that sounded kinda funny.


    With that being said, Night had brought up some excellent points. The biggest one?


    I didn¡¯t need to figure it out now.


    It went right to the bottom of my ¡°to think about¡± list.


    I then looked over my ¡°to think about¡± list, and adjusted it to be next to ¡°Figure out my 3rd class¡±.


    Goals. End slavery?


    Sentinel duties - fieldwork.


    Sentinel duties - training. New classes, medicine next round.


    3rd Class. When to upgrade, what to take.


    Vampire offer.


    Meet with the Emperor. This one was half to-think, half to-do.


    Figure out Auri¡¯s education and future.


    My to-do list was almost as bad.


    Check I¡¯ve been paid.


    Pay off Artemis¡¯s debt.


    Visit Autumn.


    Visit Albina.


    Visit Kallisto.


    Visit Artemis¡¯s School.


    Prepare with Ajax for our meeting with the Emperor.


    Meet with the Rangers currently overseeing SERE training.


    Make a nice home for Auri.


    Figure out what happened with Julius. Hang on, I COULD outsource this one!


    Find a tutor for Auri. Both knowledge and Fire.


    Playtime with Auri.


    Check on the Medical Manuscripts


    Spend time with family.


    However, first thing first - sleep. The day was over, and I didn¡¯t need to solve the world¡¯s woes - or even my own - tonight.


    ¡°Ok Auri! You¡¯ve been the bestest little bird all day today!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri flew around me, happily declaring that, yes, she was.


    ¡°I want to get you a special treat for how good you¡¯ve been!¡±


    ¡°Brrrrptttt!!!¡±


    ¡°Tomorrow, let¡¯s go to the marketplace! It¡¯s a GREAT BIG SQUARE full of people! I¡¯m going to put you way high up, and THOUSANDS of people will be able to admire you!!¡±


    ¡°BRRRRRRRRRRPPPPTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!! BRRRRRRRRRRPPPPTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!! BRRRRRRRRR-¡±


    My hand flashed out as Auri suddenly tumbled from the sky, catching her before she crashed.


    ¡°Auri? AURI!?¡±


    ¡°brrrrpt¡­.¡± she gently cooed at me.


    My worries vanished in a flash, and I rolled my eyes.


    She¡¯d passed out from sheer excitement.


    I gave her a smile.


    ¡°Alright, little troublemaker, let¡¯s get you home. Nice big bottle of juice and a big nap. Doesn¡¯t that sound nice after an exhausting day?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt¡­¡± I swear she was falling asleep already.


    I smiled, turned, and headed home.


    A nice dinner - too late for a full family dinner - and a jug of mango juice for Auri, and I was off to dreamland.


    The morning came quickly enough, and I popped down to the Sentinel¡¯s room for our daily meeting.


    There was no business that anyone needed to do, and Night dismissed the meeting in short order. He immediately withdrew, leaving me alone with the rest of the Sentinels.


    The unmoving Sentinels.


    ¡°Dawn! Quick question!¡±


    ¡°You busy?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m wondering about this one part of your trip¡­¡±


    Three of the Sentinels immediately tried to get my attention, glaring at each other. The rest of them were sitting, eyeing me like a fresh deal at the market.


    Not a comfortable spot.


    I was sworn to do no harm. However, Sentinels were tough. They also tended to pull their punches in a brawl, because harming teammates was a no-go.


    Hence, I wasn¡¯t going to violate my [Oath] with what I was going to do next.


    ¡°Winner of the brawl gets to ask me questions.¡±


    I skipped out of the resulting mess. The winner could find me, and ask me questions while we walked.


    I had no doubts that a Sentinel could find me. My money was on Hunting winning anyways.


    First stop of the day - the Quartermaster.


    ¡°Heya!¡± I happily bounded up to the grump.


    ¡°Dawn. Glad you¡¯re alive. How much are you going to cost me this time?¡±


    Wow. He was delighted to see me! Given how much angry muttering I usually got from him.


    ¡°You probably already heard, but I need an entire new set of everything.¡± I apologized to him. ¡°Only managed to keep my Sentinel badge with me.¡±


    He eyed my Mistweave and grunted.


    ¡°That¡¯s fine. Below usual operational costs for Sentinels in that timeframe, although not nearly as effective.¡±


    Ouch.


    ¡°Anyways. Same sizes?¡±


    I poked my belly.


    ¡°Same sizes!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Anything for your bird?¡±


    ¡°Officially? No. Unofficially? If you¡¯ve got spare stuff that needs burning, she¡¯d be delighted.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡±


    ¡°Lemme see what I can do.¡±


    ¡°Thanks! Also, this is important - have I gotten paid yet? Kinda need the money today.¡±


    I got an extremely unfair judgemental look from the Quartermaster.


    ¡°Yeah. 60 rods a week. Your contribution to the Pastos fund is 1 rod a week. You were missing in action 73 weeks. 4,307 rods got delivered yesterday. Next payday¡¯s in 4 days. Anything else?¡±


    ¡°No, thank you.¡±


    ¡°Fine. Shoo. Don¡¯t go almost dying again.¡±


    He stomped off into the back, muttering just loudly enough for me to hear.


    ¡°Damn kids these days spending all their money within hours of getting home. No self control. No discipline. No head for money or finance. Why, if I¡­¡±


    I looked at Auri and shrugged.


    ¡°Brrpt.¡±


    She agreed with me.


    Money secured - blessedly, more than the 2,000 rods needed for Artemis¡¯s freedom, holy shit they paid me well - I was off to my next stop.


    The Senate.


    I looked up at the imposing marble pillars, the hallowed building that dictated the fate of Remus.


    Well. Less so than before. Still was unsure on this whole Emperor business.


    ¡°Auri, listen carefully to me.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± She was a little antsy. It¡¯d been all ¡°no burning this¡± and ¡°no burning that¡± for a few days now, and while she still wanted her flower shop, there was just so much to burn. She¡¯d shown SO MUCH self control, and honestly, I was getting a little worried that she was going to blow her tiny top off, and just see how much she could light on fire before I caught her.


    The answer was ¡°not much¡±, but Auri would do it.


    And Auri throwing around huge pillars - fine, cute and small, but same issue - of flame in THE FREAKING SENATE?


    Bad news all around.


    I didn¡¯t want to hamsterball Auri, not when it wasn¡¯t absolutely needed.


    Well. Time to abuse my station and status a bit.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn.¡± I approached one of the [Praetorian Guards] outside the Senate doors. One of them saluted.


    ¡°Sentinel. What can we do for you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for Praetorian Elainus. If you wouldn¡¯t mind¡­?¡±


    I managed to pull off the trick of having my question sound exactly like an order. A polite order, but still an order.


    Some saluting, shuffling, and waiting around later, and¡­


    ¡°Dad!¡±


    ¡°Hey kiddo!¡±


    We gave each other a hug - entirely uncaring about his hard armor with some sharp bits to it - and separated.


    The guards had enough discipline not to make disgusted noises, but I could imagine what they were thinking.


    ¡®We have to stand around all day, and he gets to hang out with his kid.¡¯


    Life just wasn¡¯t fair sometimes.


    ¡°Off to the temple?¡± He asked me.


    ¡°Yup!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    My finances were in a strange place. Technically, dad owned everything. Stupid shitty way Remus was set up. Practically, the temple knew me, and knew that I was allowed to access the family¡¯s account.


    Also practically? It¡¯d been over a year since I last showed up, I hadn¡¯t been since I returned to Remus, and I was going to ask for a LOT of money to get moved around.


    Someone possibly unknown, asking to access an account and move around multiple years salaries for even wealthy families?


    There was a tiny chance it¡¯d go off without a hitch, a large chance they¡¯d kick me out, and a small chance it¡¯d escalate. What was more likely, a pint-sized Sentinel with a level and a badge, or a high-level [Rogue] with an intricate disguise and level-spoofing skill?


    Either way, today was the deadline I¡¯d agreed on to pay off Artemis¡¯s debt. Sure, I could probably extend it, but why make life hard on myself?


    Hence. Grabbing dad.


    ¡°How¡¯s work?¡±


    ¡°Same old, same old.¡± He sighed. ¡°Everyone thinks they¡¯re just as important as always, and are just as convinced that the latest meeting over bamboo shoots or dye ratios is the Most Important Thing Ever, and that spies and saboteurs are around every corner.¡±


    He rolled his eyes.


    ¡°Brrrpt!?!¡± Auri was alarmed by this prospect.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s fine, it¡¯s all in their head.¡± I reassured her.


    ¡°Brrrpt?!!?!?!?!?¡±


    I facepalmed.


    ¡°There are no tiny spies in the Senator¡¯s heads.¡± I patiently explained to Auri.


    ¡°Brrrpt? Brrrpt?¡±


    I pinched the bridge of my nose. Auri had been around for the conversation about the shimagu afterall, and was doubting my sudden reversal on ¡®tiny spies in heads¡¯.


    ¡°Hey dad, Auri wants to know more about being a guard, and spies.¡± I told him.


    He looked somewhat doubtfully at Auri, who was tilting her head back and forth at him.


    ¡°Eh, why not. Ok, so guards protect people, and enforce the law. We¡­¡±


    I smiled, preserving the memory of dad carefully explaining stuff to a tiny, multi-colored flaming phoenix in the middle of the road, as we carefully navigated our way to the temple.


    ¡°Can you manage things from here?¡± I asked my dad as we reached the front of the temple.


    ¡°Sure. You in a rush or something?¡± He asked me.


    I gave a tiny tilt of my head towards Auri.


    ¡°I think she needs to burn off some energy, and if she decides to inside the temple¡­¡±


    I left the rest unsaid.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    Auri seemed to think that was a GREAT idea.


    Which was the problem.


    ¡°Ah, yeah, I can manage this. Swing by for lunch?¡±


    I briefly flitted through what I had to do for the day.


    ¡°I think I¡¯ll be busy. Sorry. I¡¯ll be home for dinner for sure!¡± I reassured him.


    ¡°Alright kiddo. Come here, give me a hug.¡± He said, opening his arms. I happily complied.


    ¡°We were so worried, you know?¡± He murmured into my¡­ well, I didn¡¯t have hair at this point, THANKS AURI. That was on the to-do list, but not as important.


    I hugged dad back.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m home now. Safe and sound.¡±


    We let the moment linger a bit, people stepping around us.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri let me know she was getting bored, breaking the moment.


    ¡°Have a good day!¡±


    ¡°Yeah! You too! 2000 rods? Senator Enyo, right?¡±


    ¡°Yup.¡±


    ¡°Ok, I¡¯ve got this. Don¡¯t get in too much trouble, and your mom will be sad if you miss dinner again.¡±


    With a wave, I saw him off.


    ¡°Ok! Auri time! Burn something, or go to the market and have people admire you?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!!!¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    [*ding!* [Hatchling Rearing] has leveled up! 92 -> 93]


    I had a few options.


    The cheapest would be to find a [Smith] or [Charcoal Burner], or people who needed a fire and let Auri do her thing.


    I was entirely unschooled in how they worked, but I suspected they needed things burned a very particular way, and Auri, well¡­


    Auri could burn it the way they wanted, but probably just wanted to burn things the way she wanted to. An artist, working in flames instead of paints, refusing to be tied down by constraints.


    Oh! I should totally get the [Sculptor] I¡¯d asked to make busts of various Sentinels to do Auri! She¡¯d LOVE that.


    There was trash, but given that most trash was handled by throwing it into the sewers, it wasn¡¯t super viable. Plus, nobody wanted large trash fires near where they lived, and Auri, as adorable as she was, didn¡¯t have the stats or power to do large-scale burns.


    Yet.


    She would one day, and I could only pray that she had enough self-control by then.


    I didn¡¯t want to think of my options with ¡°highly destructive pyromaniac with no self-control.¡±


    Which left ¡°buying something for Auri to burn¡±, and that was easy.


    Wood.


    ¡°Wanna fly out of town?¡± I asked Auri.


    ¡°Brrrpt! Brrrpt.¡±


    I chuckled at her.


    ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll do it your way.¡±


    I snapped my wings open. Every luminous hue of the rainbow shimmered across the span of my wings, glimmering gold edging them. A faint sense of the vastness of space, of the stars and constellations were visible in them.


    I took a few experimental flaps, mostly showing off.


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡± Auri approved of my lightshow, as she gamely flew up and out.


    With a lazy flap of my wings, I caught up with her.


    Auri was a bird. Flying was second nature to her, part of the very fiber of her being.


    She was also patterned after a hummingbird, which weren¡¯t known for their great high-speed long-distance flight. Fantastic at zipping around. Wings that beat at 10-80 times a second - before speed kicked in! Amazing at hovering, unparalleled agility.


    Not great at straight-line flight.


    Sometimes, there was no beating the tyranny of stats.


    I carefully, slowly flew next to Auri. I didn¡¯t want to insult her by hovering while she was flying her fastest, nor did I want to blaze ahead and make her feel weak and powerless.


    More importantly, I didn¡¯t want to be away from her when she ran out of energy, and needed a juice refill. Auri was a tough little bird. She¡¯d throw herself at the problem until her body literally gave out on her. She hadn¡¯t learned to properly pace herself.


    When her little wings gave out after a half-dozen districts and a hundred streets, I was there to catch her.


    ¡°Brpt. Brpt. Brpt. Brpt.¡± Auri panted in my hand, as I one-handedly opened the jug of mango juice I always carried with me.


    Bless my high dexterity. I once again cursed the naive girl I¡¯d been before 14, who thought physical stats were kinda dumb.


    Noooo.


    They were infinitely useful in everyday life.


    ¡°Drink up!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt¡­!¡± Auri gave me a tired, thankful cheep, then proceeded to try and drown herself in mango juice.


    A little more intelligently this time - she didn¡¯t actually dunk her entire body.


    Still, her drinks were deep enough I swear I heard her going glug glug glug glug, in spite of her tiny size.


    She recovered quickly enough.


    ¡°Brrrpt! Brrrrrrrrrrpt!¡±


    ¡°I honestly have no idea what you¡¯d do without me, no.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you sass me.¡±


    ¡°BRRRPT!¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re getting wood for you to burn!¡±


    ¡°brpt.¡± Auri¡¯s ¡®whoops¡¯ cheep was tiny, and Very Remorseful.


    ¡°Fast or SUPER FAST?¡± I asked Auri.


    I¡¯d never imply her flying was anything other than fast.


    ¡°BRrrrrrrrrpttt!¡±


    ¡°Ok! Let¡¯s go!¡±


    Auri flew up to my shoulder - her favorite place - and ¡°fluffed down¡±, bracing herself.


    It wouldn¡¯t be nearly enough, but she wanted to try and stay on, and feel the wind in her¡­ flames?


    Either way, I made a neat little [Mantle] construct to keep her in place, and zipped off.


    I didn¡¯t know where a handy sawmill was, or even where the local lumberjacks were located. Didn¡¯t need to. Half an hour of flying around, and I spotted large piles of logs near a heavily wooded area. Didn¡¯t take a genius to work it out.


    We flew down, and after some quick negotiations I had what I wanted. Half-a-tree now, and to be delivered daily to my home.


    Sadly, I thought I¡¯d get a minor discount for wanting ¡°the worst¡± wood, but alas. Firewood was still in demand. Not all baths were heated with magic, nor was all food cooked with skills.


    In no time at all, we had a nice fresh log in an out-of-the-way area.


    ¡°Ok Auri! All yours!¡± I gestured at the log.


    Auri didn¡¯t need to be told twice.


    ¡°Brrrrrrrrppppppptttt!!!!!!!!¡± Auri flew over, flames erupting from every part of her body.


    The half-tree caught, but Auri quickly ran out of juice - errr - mana. The wood was still somewhat green, and slowly the flames petered out.


    ¡°Brrrpt, BrrrrRRppt!¡± Auri puffed out her little chest proudly.


    Hah! The little pyro probably thought she deserved a reward. She certainly did look inordinately pleased with herself¡­ Even though she¡¯d barely torched a fraction of it.


    I was reminded that Fire wasn¡¯t exactly a top-tier mage element, and while Auri had a ton of advantages, and was naturally made out of fire, she was also still only level 19, with one class. There wasn¡¯t exactly a lot of firepower behind her flames.


    Although¡­ I did some quick mental math. She had a LOT more fire and power than I¡¯d expect out of someone level 19. More like level 70, with a second class.


    Huh. I needed to keep an eye on that.


    ¡°Don¡¯t leave that there!¡± One of the [Lumberjacks] yelled at us.


    Yeah, buying wood, burning half of it, then leaving it wasn¡¯t great.


    ¡°Auri, do you want to burn it any more?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Alrighty then.¡±


    After about half an hour of Auri recharging her mana, and exploding it all over the log, she¡¯d had enough. About half the log was left, the entire top half charred, and the bottom half drier than when we¡¯d started.


    Auri hadn¡¯t been defeated by a lack of willpower, or a lack of mana. No, she¡¯d been defeated by the powerful urge to take a nap.


    Too much excitement. Too much fun. It was like letting a kid run and run and run and run until they tripped, and fell asleep right where they landed.


    She wasn¡¯t crashing that hard.


    I eyed the log, and figured I¡¯d just clean it up.


    ¡°Hey Auri, watch this!¡±


    ¡°brrrpt¡­.¡± Was her sleepy reply.


    With a flash of Radiance, I annihilated the remaining log.


    I turned to Auri, sitting on my shoulder, and grinned.


    My little light show woke Auri RIGHT up. She turned towards me, her beak comically dropping open.


    ¡°BRRRRPPPTTTT!??!??!??!?!??!?!¡±

 Chapter 290 - The Endless To-do List III

    Teaching was a two-way street. Most of the knowledge went from the teacher to the student, but most teachers learned from their students as well. If nothing else, teaching material to a student allowed the teacher to understand it better.


    With all that said, I wasn¡¯t perfect. I was half making stuff up as I went along with raising Auri, [Hatchling Rearing] doing the majority of the lifting. It wasn¡¯t a powerful skill, nor was it high level, and there was the added twist of Auri being terrifyingly intelligent. The skill also seemed focused on the ¡®rearing a hatchling bird¡¯ part of it, and less so on the ¡®and she¡¯s smart enough to need ethics talks.¡¯ I had an unfortunate wealth of ¡°how to raise kids¡± hammered into my head, thanks to my upbringing, but there was a difference between the theory, and the practice.


    I¡¯d been trying to tell Auri about stats, skills, levels, and that in the grand scheme of things, she wasn¡¯t very strong. I didn¡¯t know how well she knew her numbers yet. She had some of them down, but easily got confused.


    Still. Months old. Numbers.


    However, my effortless removal of any problems had kinda defeated the message that she wasn¡¯t very strong, and the world was dangerous. ¡°I can burn mom, mom can burn anyone, therefore, I can burn anyone.¡± Was her current thinking.


    Showing Auri that I could effortlessly annihilate a log that she¡¯d spent half an hour working on seemed to finally get the message across. ¡®I operate on a different level than you do.¡¯


    Shame [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority] was capped. I¡¯m sure I¡¯d get a level of it for flexing on a phoenix.


    ¡°That was nothing.¡± I couldn¡¯t keep the smugness out of my voice.


    Auri¡¯s beak opened and closed soundlessly.


    ¡°Hey, a few hundred more levels, and you¡¯ll be able to do that!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡±


    Auri started to fly around me, remembered she was tired, and basically dive-bombed my hands for her nap.


    I smiled as I looked down at her sleeping form. With one finger, I carefully stroked her.


    ¡°One day, you¡¯ll be big and strong, burning everything you want.¡± I whispered to her.


    She snuggled into my hand a bit deeper, making herself more comfortable.


    She was the best.


    I opened up my wings and took flight.


    Figured while I was out of the city, I¡¯d go see how Artemis¡¯s school was doing.


    It only took a few minutes of flying to find the school. It helped that it was in the same spot, and had grown quite a bit. Ugly buildings were still scattered around, there were new training fields, and it was looking a lot more lively than before.


    I circled a few times, but didn¡¯t spot Artemis or Maximus. Eventually I decided to just land next to the biggest building, and work from there.


    ¡°Know where Maximus is?¡± I asked a random student running around.


    ¡°That building!¡± They pointed at one of the middle-ugly buildings - seriously, Artemis needed an [Architect] to give her a hand or something - and kept running.


    With a little more wandering around, then finally, after almost three years-


    ¡°MAXIMUS!¡± I waved my one free hand at him. I caught him right after he finished teaching a class, students pouring into the hallway.


    He was looking good. Still as non-descript as ever, he had a few more lines on his face, and a couple of grey hairs.


    He stared at me, thunderstruck.


    ¡°ELAINE!?¡± He finally got out. ¡°I thought you were dead!¡±


    Ooooh shit. He wasn¡¯t as well connected as everyone else, and hadn¡¯t gotten word of my most recent letter.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m alive!¡±


    He shook his head, chuckling lightly before he froze, eyes widening.


    ¡°Artemis! Did you hear what happened with her?¡± He made a move as if to grab my arm, but restrained himself.


    ¡°Something, something, got freed this morning?¡± I poked him, blasting him with a heal. Never knew if some third-rate healer hadn¡¯t fixed an injury properly. My regeneration rates were crazy enough that if I¡¯d done anything, I wouldn¡¯t notice.


    Maximus blinked, the news clearly having not gotten to him yet.


    ¡°Well¡­ ok, technically my dad should have finished delivering the coins by now, but yeah. Surprised she¡¯s not back yet.¡±


    ¡°So am I.¡± Maximus half-muttered to himself under his breath. ¡°Well! Now that¡¯s out of the way, what can I do for you?¡±


    ¡°I just wanted to catch up! Mostly.¡± I confessed.


    ¡°Normally, I¡¯d say I have to give a lecture, but I suspect your stories will be excellent teaching material, if you don¡¯t mind?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sure! You¡¯re getting the redacted version though.¡±


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t think any of us will mind.¡±


    Some quick shuffling around, a quick down-low of what type of events could be covered and interesting things to hint at, a broad announcement by Maximus, and I was sitting in front of a large lecture hall with him, crowds of students filing in and finding seats.


    A few of the other instructors were up front with me, forming a sort of panel.


    ¡°Thank you everyone!¡± Maximus announced to the crowds. ¡°We¡¯ve got a treat today! Sentinel Dawn has returned from a year and a half beyond the borders of Remus, and is willing to share the tale of her adventure! Listen carefully! Clever ways of using magic, and the heights of power possible will be revealed to you all! Plus, Sentinel Dawn is the single most powerful [Healer] in Remus. Without further ado- DAWN!¡±


    I waved to the crowd, and got quite the reaction back. Some cheering, one unwelcome wolf-whistle, applause, and interested susurrations were just the start.


    A brief pang of sadness flashed through me, an ancient regret. I¡¯d never gotten the chance to be a student like that. Never got to attend large lectures, never got to experience anything like college life. My chance had been ripped away from me, and it just wasn¡¯t a thing in Remus.


    Maybe the elf Academy would be similar? I guess there was a shot¡­


    ¡°Hey all! Glad to be here! I¡¯m sure most of you have heard of the end of the Formorian War. Well, let me tell you what it was like in the middle of it. Technically, we were past the front lines, a strike force deep within the territory of the horde¡­¡±


    I started narrating my story, Maximus being an attentive listener. He quickly made it clear that the panel were the only ones allowed to interrupt, and focused heavily on the skills and magic I¡¯d seen.


    ¡°See here!¡± He announced at one point. ¡°Sentinel Dawn encountered a clever application of Miasma and Fire magic. The orcs lived their entire lives in tunnels, which kept the Miasma close, and prevented dispersion. It allowed the [Mage] to flood the tunnels in a way that couldn¡¯t be dodged, and also let them reach far, far further than they normally could cast! Then, with a tiny spark - and a clever helper defending them - they could inflict terrible damage at range. Now! Who can answer this question: could the [Mage] have a skill to defend himself against his own explosions within one of the two classes he displayed? Yes, Horatio?¡± He asked one member of the ¡®panel¡¯.


    Good thing really, I couldn¡¯t imagine letting the students try to poorly answer the questions. We¡¯d be here all day, and while Maximus was delving into the details of my journey and investigating the magic and skills, he was being conscientious of my time. I appreciated it.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Yes and no. See¡­¡±


    This little stop was taking a heck of a lot longer than I had planned. Ah well, I hadn¡¯t seen Maximus in years, and while I wanted to get on with my day and see everyone else?


    I wasn¡¯t going to ditch him. He¡¯d taught me so much about the System, and even now, I suspected he knew more than me. I could afford to give back.


    Auri was also having the time of her life. She was sitting on my still-bald and eyebrowless head, primping and preening in front of the crowd, flashing her brightly colored burning wings around. I estimated a fifth of the students had lost the train of conversation between Horatio and Maximus, and were just watching Auri¡¯s fire show.


    She was in heaven.


    Granted, it had been almost a third of the students before I¡¯d casually mentioned surviving getting decapitated. It had been with great reluctance that I¡¯d answered the question ¡°HOW!?¡± with ¡°I¡¯m a Sentinel, it¡¯s what we DO¡± as opposed to giving a detailed breakdown of how my skills and build working together had pulled it off.


    I didn¡¯t want to give away a detailed analysis of my skills and how they worked together to the greater world, not right now. Growing up, I¡¯d been all about sharing my skills and abilities with whoever would listen, but now?


    Now I wasn¡¯t giving out a roadmap of ¡°how to kill Sentinel Dawn.¡±


    ¡°What happened next?¡± Maximus asked, snapping me back to the present.


    ¡°Well, after the orc attack we¡­¡±


    Had to say. It was pretty nice telling my story like this.


    I finished narrating my tale, and the students were milling around, trying to figure out what was next. I¡¯d completely destroyed any semblance of a normal schedule.


    Ah well. Not my problem.


    ¡°Thank you again Elaine.¡± Maximus offered his hand, and I shook it. ¡°I bet, oh, four rods that you¡¯ll be in at least one student¡¯s class offerings.¡±


    He gave me a winning smile.


    I snorted at him.


    ¡°You want me to bet against you, in your area of expertise? With literally thousands of chances for you to win? Yeah, no.¡±


    His mouth gave a wry twist.


    ¡°Was worth a shot. Anything else I can do?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Auri here,¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri was pleased to announce that, yes, she was here and listening.


    ¡°Needs a better education than I can provide on my own.¡±


    ¡°BRRPT!?¡±


    Maximus eyed Auri somewhat doubtfully. I waited a few minutes, while he thought about what I was implicitly asking.


    ¡°Frankly, I don¡¯t think the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft is right for her.¡± He concluded. ¡°There¡¯s a level of, ah, focus that¡¯s required, and the individual attention Auri needs, combined with her level and unique nature, makes me think that a tutor would be best.¡±


    ¡°Got any recommendations?¡± Maximus had spent almost a year in the education space, and knew the players better than I did.


    ¡°Try Plato. He¡¯s mostly retired, but I think a letter of recommendation from me, plus the, ah, unique nature of the pupil will interest him enough.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!? Brrrpt!!¡±


    ¡°Yes Auri, you¡¯re going to get an education. Yes, you¡¯re absolutely the bestest, most unique pupil ever.¡± I soothed the tiny bird.


    Maximus started writing on a scroll.


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡±


    ¡°I wish I knew everything, but I don¡¯t. Plus, what will you do when I go on a dangerous mission?¡±


    ¡°BRRRPTT!!¡±


    I facepalmed. Of course Auri wanted to come with me to protect me.


    ¡°Even when I¡¯m over the sea? The great, big, huge water?¡±


    ¡°BBBBBBRRRRPPTTT!!!¡± Auri shook her head furiously.


    ¡°You might like him.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt¡­¡±


    ¡°As entertaining as it is to watch you lose an argument with a bird.¡± Maximus¡¯s roast wasn¡¯t something [Dance with the Heavens] could cure. ¡°I do need to get somewhat of a move on. Here. His address as well.¡±


    ¡°Thanks! Hey, I should be able to drop by regularly.¡±


    ¡°Will you be resuming teaching classes in the evening? We haven¡¯t been able to find a healer nearly good enough to replace you.¡±


    I thought about it a moment.


    ¡°Yeah, I can do that. In a few days. I still need to settle back in.¡±


    ¡°Naturally. Could you do me a favor? Could you tell Artemis to get off her lazy ass and get back down here!¡±


    I laughed.


    ¡°Will do!¡±


    With that, I was off. Onto the next errand on my endless to-do list.


    I had a lot to do, and only so many hours to do it in. Given that the Sentinels were still a thing, still existed, and seemingly still had all our exemptions, plus the utter lack of guards harassing me for dodging them the other day?


    I just flew right over the walls. Rank hath its privilege and all that.


    Next up? Autumn!


    Ariminum was big. I mostly remembered the layout, but things had changed since I was last here. Buildings were different, and some smaller streets had vanished, or been added where there used to be a store.


    Still, the market squares were in the same locations, and I spotted the one I used. In no time at all I spotted Autumn and her dad, Neptune, at their stall, hawking their wares.


    A grin cracked my face. They¡¯d been doing well for themselves, their stall at least twice the size that it used to be, and they had a few helpers.


    I paused for a moment, debating how I wanted to make my entrance. What I really wanted to do was sneak up on Autumn, put my hands over her eyes, and ask ¡°guess who!?¡±


    Sadly, I was kinda obvious with my butterfly wings of burning light, and I didn¡¯t want to land somewhere else, only to need to push my way through the bustling crowds. I just didn¡¯t have the time for it, and I know I¡¯d want to light half the people shoving me around on fire, let alone Auri.


    And - is that what Autumn would want?


    Nah. She¡¯d want to see me ASAP, and possibly get some money out of it. My previous issue with being too flashy came in handy here.


    Free advertising.


    Giving myself a soft Radiance glow, I dive-bombed Autumn¡¯s stall, Auri trilling the entire way down.


    I swooped into their stall, my wings flaring as I bled speed, gracefully landing between a shocked Neptune and Autumn.


    Having just been at Maximus¡¯s school, I was slightly influenced by the scholarly environment, and had teaching and education on my mind. I was feeling slightly guilty that Autumn was my apprentice, and I hadn¡¯t done anything for her in ages.


    Something about being trapped underground.


    ¡°Pop quiz! How many bones are in the hand, and what are their names?¡±


    There was a stunned moment as everyone adjusted to my sudden appearance. They weren¡¯t [Fighters] or [Warriors], I didn¡¯t expect them to have the same twitch reflexes.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri threw her fiery wings up, letting a small spout of fire erupt. That broke the moment.


    ¡°ELAINE!!!¡± Autumn grabbed me in a hug. I let her, noting that her eyes were starry. She¡¯d picked up a Celestial element while I was gone.


    ¡°Whoa! Easy beanpole!¡± She¡¯d been taller than I was before I left, and somehow had gotten even taller.


    Neptune barked some quick orders to his helpers, and they turned to keep helping various customers - along with harassing the passersbys, who had stopped to gape, into BUYING SOMETHING ALREADY.


    ¡°I thought you were dead!¡± Autumn practically wailed. ¡°I almost gave some money to the temple as an offering for your safe return!¡±


    I half-chuckled at that.


    ¡°Well, good thing you didn¡¯t.¡± I put on a mock-serious face. With a tone that was barely suppressing my laughter, I asked my earlier question again.


    ¡°So! Bones in the hand! And show me.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt¡­¡± Auri gave a bored cheep.


    ¡°Scaphoid, lunate, triquetrum, trapezoid¡­¡± Autumn quickly and neatly pointed to each bone as she rattled them off, the phrasing and the half-song attached to it indicating a mnemonic trick.


    ¡°Great! You¡¯ve been studying!¡± I wanted to ruffle her hair, showing how happy I was. Wasn¡¯t sure if she¡¯d like that. Teenagers.


    ¡°Yeah! Oh¡­¡± She trailed off, and looked nervously at her dad - Neptune.


    I looked at him as well.


    ¡°Sentinel. For you.¡± He politely half-bowed, holding a tray with a dozen mangos prepared on it. What would I do without Neptune, my beloved mango hookup in Ariminum?


    ¡°Bribe shamelessly accepted.¡± I grabbed the first mango, and held it out, making it clear it was for Auri. She gratefully flitted over, and started pecking at it.


    ¡°Brrpt! Brrrpt!¡± She happily told me how much she liked this new bringer-of-mangos.


    I grabbed a second one and chowed down, letting bliss flow through me. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    My relationship with Neptune and Autumn was a bit strange. We were friends, but we had numerous business relationships going on as well. They mixed and matched, and we never let one get in the way of the other. I was sure that they¡¯d be happy to give me an entire cartful of mangos just to let me know how happy they were that I was back home.


    But with Autumn¡¯s awkwardness, I was suspecting something was up. Little beanpole was great at fleecing people - myself included - from their hard-earned cash, but wasn¡¯t exactly a master at hiding her emotions when it wasn¡¯t transactional.


    ¡°Pardon. With the length of time you were gone, and with how quickly she went through your Medical Manuscripts, I felt it was appropriate for Autumn to receive additional tutelage in medicine from other healers. I hope you don¡¯t mind.¡±


    I paused a moment, waiting for Neptune to say more. The silence grew uncomfortable, as Neptune looked more and more uncomfortable.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Yes. Deepes-¡±


    I waved him off, taking a bite of my mango in the middle.


    ¡°No, no, that¡¯s fine. I assumed there was something, like, actually terrible. For all you knew, I was dead, and you were doing what was best for Autumn. I know how much she likes learning things. I¡¯d never judge you for that.¡±


    Neptune sagged with physical relief, and Autumn visibly brightened up.


    ¡°They were horrible. Not nearly as good as you.¡±


    I chuckled at the absolutely shameless flattery. I had no idea how true it was, but hey. I wasn¡¯t immune to compliments, not when they seemed mostly genuine.


    ¡°Tell her.¡± Neptune suggested to Autumn. Her eyes went wide.


    ¡°Elaine! Elaine! I got [Dawn¡¯s Disciple] for my level 32 healer class! It was red! And good!¡±


    That went straight to my heart, and I could feel tears of pride welling up.


    ¡°Good job. I¡¯m so proud.¡± I croaked out.


    ¡°And while you¡¯re feeling good, they stopped paying for your stall. Sorry!¡± Autumn quickly slipped in.


    I put my hands on my hips, and looked up at her. So unfair how she was taller than me. Like everyone else.


    ¡°And what merchant¡¯s rule is that?¡± I asked her, mock-angry.


    ¡°Rule 18 - Never be the bearer of bad news, unless you profit from it.¡± She promptly replied.


    ¡°Mmmm. And would getting in my good graces count as profit?¡±


    ¡°Yup!¡±


    I rolled my eyes at her, and stole someone¡¯s stool.


    ¡°This is Auri by the way.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s a show-off.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡± Auri flew on top of my head, and started preening. Made her a little more eye level with Autumn.


    ¡°She¡¯s a bird.¡± Autumn pointed out.


    ¡°BRPT!¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s a phoenix, and incredibly intelligent.¡±


    Autumn did a double take.


    ¡°WHAAAAAAAT!? A PHOENIX!? It¡¯s very nice to meet you, Auri.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt.¡± Autumn hadn¡¯t made a great first impression with Auri.


    She got a scheming, mercantile look on her face.


    ¡°Hey Auri, you like showing off, right?¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!¡±


    ¡°Dad! Dad! We gotta make a cool stand for Auri to show off from.¡±


    Neptune had been following the entire conversation.


    ¡°Naturally. Does Auri understand me?¡± He asked me.


    ¡°Mostly.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°You know a lot of words, yes, but you don¡¯t always have the meaning of context behind them.¡± I shot back. Mouthy bird.


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡±


    ¡°Fascinating. Prima Auri, what would you like in a stand?¡±


    ¡°Brrpt! Brrpt! Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrpppt!¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t rule one always, always, ALWAYS get paid?¡± I idly ¡®asked¡¯ Neptune.


    ¡°Brrpt?!¡±


    I got a look from Autumn.


    ¡°I gotta look out for Auri. She likes fruit juice. How about unlimited fruit juice?¡±


    ¡°All the fruit juice you can drink, while you get to show off.¡± Neptune offered Auri.


    ¡°BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrpt!¡±


    Auri¡¯s shriek of joy was deafening. The only thing that saved our poor hearing was that her lungs were tiny.


    ¡°Now, no stealing Auri away.¡± I joked at Neptune.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t dream of it.¡±


    ¡°Lemme guess - another rule?¡±


    He nodded, as he started to work on some sort of stand for Auri.


    She was going to LOVE being here. People to adore her, and all the juice to drink?


    I was going to need attractive offerings back home, just so she¡¯d come back! She was somewhat her own bird, and if Neptune and Autumn offered a nicer life, she was welcome to take it. I wouldn¡¯t stop her.


    Once she got some more sense in her head.


    I clapped my hands, getting Autumn¡¯s attention.


    ¡°Ok! Tell me what you¡¯ve been up to, then I¡¯ll regale you with my tales.¡±


    ¡°We got your letter, and your advice was baaaaaaad.¡± Autumn didn¡¯t hesitate to roast me. ¡°We would¡¯ve gotten destroyed if we followed it, like your hair.¡±


    I winced. Oooops.


    ¡°Not your fault, you¡¯d be terrible as a merchant. Too soft.¡±


    Now listen here you little-


    ¡°We love you anyways. Right! Your letter was vague enough, but we were able to buy the right stuff before the army came back. It was a rough few months, but we multiplied our investment eleven times over. ELEVEN! That never happens!¡±


    Autumn gave me another hug.


    ¡°Oh my gods THANK YOU we made SO MUCH MONEY.¡±


    ¡°So you repay me by roasting me?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, totally, otherwise you¡¯d get a swollen head.¡±


    Well. At least her heart was in the right place.


    ¡°Expanded to a better stall, hired some help, and managed to renegotiate a number of deals to better favor us. Dad let me do one of them! All by myself! See, they had-¡±


    Neptune gave a very loud, very fake cough. Autumn colored.


    ¡°Whoops, right, you don¡¯t care about that. Anyways!¡±


    ¡°I do care! I¡¯ve been gone for so long. I want to hear what you''ve been up to. But lemme guess, it took like three people before someone took you seriously?¡±


    Autumn¡¯s eyes lit up.


    ¡°OK! So! First, you have to realize that keeping track of individual ships that do the shipping runs is HARD. They could sink, or¡­¡±


    I changed my mind.


    I did NOT want to know about the minutiae of shipping routes and negotiating deals. I just wanted my mangos delivered regularly.


    Still, Autumn was so happy, I couldn¡¯t bear to interrupt her.


    She told me all about how she mostly single-handedly got a better price for food, all while food prices were soaring. It sounded like quite the feat.


    ¡°Ok! Enough about what we were doing, it was boring. Tell me about your adventures!¡±


    Her desire to know more was palatable.


    ¡°Hmmm. Can¡¯t tell you everything here.¡± We were in the middle of a busy market, and even some of the less-confidential stuff I couldn¡¯t say.


    ¡°Oh! That¡¯s easy!¡± Autumn exclaimed. ¡°I have a skill for that! [Confidential Negotiations].¡±


    And like that, we had some measure of magical privacy.


    ¡°Well, ok then.¡±


    After that, I told her all about my adventures. She stopped me at the part where I got [The Stars Never Fade], her eyes sparkling.


    ¡°So wait wait wait. You can make people younger. With a skill.¡± She clarified.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    She grinned at me.


    ¡°Which means it can be stored in a gem. Which means we can anonymously sell it. We are going to make so much money.¡±

 Chapter 291 - The Endless To-do List IV

    Neptune leaned over and tapped both of our shoulders. Autumn jumped, although I¡¯d seen him coming.


    ¡°What¡¯s Rule 3, and Rule 32?¡± He asked.


    ¡°DAD!¡± Autumn protested. ¡°My negotiations were confidential!¡±


    ¡°And you did them right next to a merchant more than twice your level, that you know can eavesdrop on such negotiations. Hopefully this will be a reminder that your skills aren¡¯t absolute.¡± He gently reprimanded Autumn. ¡°The rules?¡±


    ¡°Not everything can be bought with money, and, uh, don¡¯t sell stuff that mobs dislike?¡± Autumn asked.


    Neptune shook his head.


    ¡°That¡¯s Rule 31. Rule 32 is don¡¯t sell anything that¡¯ll get you ripped apart by the rich and powerful.¡±


    Autumn spoke up on the last three words, the rule having clearly clicked.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be almost impossible to successfully auction off a gem that makes you young again.¡± He told Autumn - indirectly telling me as well. ¡°Much better to trade it for favors, and for other impossible-to-obtain things.¡±


    He gave Autumn another look.


    ¡°Plus, every [Thief] would be after the gem. With your low level, you¡¯d never keep it safe, although you¡¯d get a dozen levels in the attempt. Could you afford to reimburse Sentinel Dawn when it got stolen from your care?¡±


    Autumn looked embarrassed at the thought.


    With Neptune putting an end to Autumn¡¯s fantasy it was time for me to get going.


    Sadly, my to-do list was endless, and I needed to get back to it.


    Hell, in some senses I was skipping work. I should be at Ranger Academy, yelling at Trainees. Sentinels were given a lot of slack in how we went about our work though, and nobody was going to give me grief over taking a few days off to get my affairs back in order.


    Something that I had no idea how to check on, and no clue how to manage - all the stuff I¡¯d invested in way out in that one new city. Heck, I didn¡¯t even know the name of said city! That was for another day entirely.


    Albina was next on my list, and she took some effort to find. They¡¯d moved since I¡¯d last been around, and it wasn¡¯t like there was an easy directory of ¡°where people live.¡±


    I finally managed it by poking around her old workplace and asking her old coworkers.


    Her villa was alright. Solid stone, in a medium part of town. Not poor, but nowhere close to rich either, the single-story home butted up against its neighbors.


    Everyone else, I was delighted to see. I just marched right in, no problems.


    Albina? She¡¯d been expecting a baby when I left. I¡¯d said I¡¯d be back to help her with it. If something had happened, I¡¯d never forgive myself.


    I spent a moment at the door, listening in. My stats giving me superhuman hearing, letting me spy a bit. Nothing obvious came to my ears. No crying babies. Bracing myself, I quietly knocked on the door.


    I heard nearly silent footsteps on the other side of the door, and then it opened.


    Albina was on the other side, and she looked terrible. Her normally flawless look was haggard, her cheeks sunken into her face, and large raccoon eyes topped it all off.


    ¡°Elaine!¡± She whispered at me, staring at me in shock. ¡°Is that really you?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± I whispered back. ¡°I¡¯m back! I¡¯m alive!¡±


    Albina gave me a Look.


    ¡°Can you really say you¡¯re alive when your hair looks like that?¡±


    I rubbed my hand over my somewhat charred stubble on top of my head. I couldn¡¯t, in good conscience, call it ¡®hair¡¯.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri¡¯s sharp cry was like a firecracker going off in the middle of our whispering.


    ¡°I swear to all the gods, if you wake Primus up.¡± Albina waved a finger at Auri. ¡°I just got him down for a nap.¡±


    Auri nodded, cowed by Albina¡¯s ferocity.


    ¡°Primus is a good name.¡± I whispered. Not terribly imaginative, but then again, most kids got named in order. I¡¯d dodged a bullet in that sense.


    ¡°I¡¯m happy with it.¡± Albina whispered. Gods, she sounded so tired. Needed to poke her with [Sunrise] when I had a moment.


    If she wanted it. For all I knew she wanted to take a nap, and [Sunrise] was bad for that.


    ¡°Is this a bad time? I can come back later?¡±


    She shook her head.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s alright. Sorry, I¡¯m exhausted. Come in, come in. Let¡¯s sit down. Primus has decided that waking up multiple times in the night is just the thing to do, and he¡¯s rejected goat¡¯s milk. I¡¯m still breastfeeding him, which takes so long in the night, then I have to run around keeping the house in order while juggling him, and I¡¯ve got a second on the way, making me feel all sorts of sick.¡± Albina let everything loose in a torrent.


    ¡°Octavius helps, but he¡¯s also keeping the money coming in, but it¡¯s still tight with Primus and the food prices having spiked and-¡±


    Albina clearly needed to vent. From the sound of it, she was¡­ surviving¡­ but not exactly thriving. There was just so much to do with Primus, and keeping the house intact, and she hadn¡¯t been able to keep up her hairdressing business. That had also done poor things for her social life, replacing one set of friends with an entirely new set of friends - other moms with kids of similar ages. Except there was some sort of internal drama, and¡­


    Albina was a good friend of mine, so I tried to pay attention. I really did. The only thing I got out of it was a reaffirmation that having a baby killed any sort of free time she had.


    I wasn¡¯t willing - or able - to sign up for babysitting duty, however, I could do one better. Maybe.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got an energy skill. Need a pick-me-up?¡± I asked Albina.


    She hesitated, looking torn.


    ¡°No cost, I promise.¡±


    ¡°If you would?¡± Albina¡¯s tone almost broke my heart. I leaned over and poked her, jolting her with [Sunrise] as I also gave a strong wave of healing.


    ¡°I need my hairdresser.¡± I told Albina, reclining on one of her sofas in the Remus style.


    She got an awkward look, and I held up my hand.


    ¡°Can I pay you by hiring a [Nanny], [Babysitter], [Child Minder], [Tutor], and a [Maid] or someone like that for an entire day, once a week? Take a load off your mind?¡±


    The look on her face. Total relief.


    ¡°Would you? That¡­ I don¡¯t have the words to tell you how much that would help.¡±


    I smiled and patted her arm.


    ¡°The power of money! I see why Autumn likes it so much.¡±


    Albina barked out a laugh, and we froze as it echoed through the house.


    ¡°I swear I¡¯ve become twice as religious from before.¡± Albina mutter-whispered to me. ¡°¡®Don¡¯t wake the baby¡¯ is my new prayer.¡±


    ¡°Ha! I totally get it.¡± I whispered back.


    A baby¡¯s cry reverberated through the house, and Albina winced.


    ¡°Does three days from now work?¡±


    ¡°It should. Let me fix your hair real fast.¡± She said in a normal tone, gesturing. With a quick pop, I had hair again! Short, but HAIR!


    I could get it properly fixed when-


    Auri chose that moment to ¡°help¡± and ¡°improve things.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± She cried out, as my hair went up in flames. I ducked, to avoid setting Albina¡¯s house on fire.


    ¡°Auri! No!¡± I cried out in dismay.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± She was very pleased with herself.


    Hair flaming, stinking up the house, I quickly apologized to Albina.


    ¡°I am so sorry, but if you know anyone who can fireproof hair¡­¡±


    She looked at me and gave a tired nod.


    ¡°I think I know someone. Primus.¡± She hurried through the door, chasing the screams that were going through the house.


    I left half a rod¡¯s worth of coins - most of my spare cash - in Albina¡¯s living room, and saw myself out.


    I made a mental note to come back another time, when Albina wasn¡¯t so tired, and give Primus a quick check up.


    Next thing on my endless to-do list¡­


    ¡°Auri, we¡¯re going to make you a nest and a bed of your own.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°What would you like?¡±


    ¡°Brrpt, brrpt, brrrpt!!¡±


    I didn¡¯t quite catch that.


    ¡°Ok, how big? Tell me when.¡± I started with my hands being small, then slowly made them larger, indicating a ¡°ball¡± the size of the nest that she wanted.


    My hands were on either side of my chest when Auri brrrpt¡¯d, letting me know that she wanted something large enough that I could possibly curl up inside.


    Well, that was fine.


    ¡°Alrighty! What do you want it made out of?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡±


    Ah, right. My Auri-speech wasn¡¯t that good, and she might not even know.


    ¡°Let me know when you see it, alright?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    The day was practically over, and after lightly browsing the market, I made it back home. Everything with Artemis had gone off without a hitch, and we had a lovely dinner together, before Artemis announced that she had to make it back to her School of Sorcery and Spellcraft, and put out a dozen fires that Maximus had surely started there.


    It had nothing to do with me mentioning that Maximus was entirely out of the loop on all of that, and everyone giving Artemis death glares until she¡¯d gone back to the school.


    The day started off well enough, although I wasn¡¯t fully able to dodge the follow-up questions from Hunting, who¡¯d ¡®won¡¯ yesterday¡¯s brawl. I answered them as well as I could, while we walked through the underground and underwater tunnel to Ranger Academy.


    He also got a chance to play with the Deception Ring, and figured out how it worked. Given that we started off with the same framework ¨C we all used the same Inscriptions ¨C I had a much easier time explaining to him how it worked, versus when the elves had tried to teach me.


    I did ask him for advice on a third class though.


    ¡°Passion.¡± He said. ¡°Figure out what you love, and do that. If you take a class you¡¯re just not interested in? Leveling it will be a chore. Using it will be a chore. You got this far on a love of healing and magic, yeah? Well, what else do you love? Who cares about the combat applications of it, you only live-¡±


    He glanced at me and smirked.


    ¡°-for eternity. Don¡¯t get stuck being miserable.¡±


    Good advice. We continued onto Ranger Academy.


    Once there, I asked around for the Instructors who normally handled SERE Training. It took some time for them to all be free - most Instructors handled more than one class.


    Instead of just cooling my heels, I went to investigate the situation with flying classes. I was taking over from Maestrai. I wasn¡¯t sure what Command¡¯s logic was, but I knew my own reasoning. Namely, I could fix any ¡°whoopsies¡±, and my adaptive flight let me mimic different styles.


    I wasn¡¯t arrogant enough to think I was an expert on skill evolutions, and obtaining particular skills, but I had enough foundational knowledge to push trainees in the right direction. It wasn¡¯t exactly a well-kept secret, and all of the trainees already knew how, were on their own path, or already had limited flight.


    Auri was a hit, and a game of ¡°catch/play with Auri in the sky¡± quickly evolved. I suspected it was going to be a regular thing, and everyone leveled from it in the short time I was around.


    Phoenixes were stupid. Just being around them was good for levels.


    Auri also leveled, but I think that was more ¡°dodge people 170 levels higher than you¡± more than anything else. I foresaw good experience.


    I also had a quick conversation with the Rangers who ran sparring. My healing power and size meant that, when I was around, Rangers could go full-contact, only refraining from headshots. The ability to fight, relatively no holds barred, was great for experience - both of the learning type, and the leveling up type.


    After a long discussion, we agreed that the rules wouldn¡¯t change. The benefits didn¡¯t outweigh the risks, namely, that Trainees would be too much in the habit of no-holds barred, even when I wasn¡¯t around, and someone would die.


    ¡°Might die¡± hadn¡¯t seemed to stop the Instructors in the past, although¡­ I couldn¡¯t think of a single fatality at Ranger Academy.


    The SERE Instructors got together later on, and after briefing them on my new role - they all knew me already - we quickly got down to business.


    ¡°Frankly, you were all teaching me this stuff, what, three, four years ago?¡± I opened up. ¡°I don¡¯t think that I¡¯m better than you at this, not by a long shot.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡±


    ¡°Keep doing what you do best, and at some point - tonight, after last bell? - I can share with you a few interesting stories of what I¡¯ve been up to, what worked, what didn¡¯t, and discuss how it should be incorporated into the training.¡±


    There were some slow nods. They knew me - had been my Instructors like I said - but they had known me as a trainee, determined to prove myself. There was no telling what would happen when a bit of power went to someone¡¯s head. Some people got utterly drunk off of it. My rise had been meteoric, by any standard.


    I¡¯d like to think I kept myself mostly moderated. The lack of sweeping changes, and telling them ¡°you know where to find me if there are issues¡± hopefully reinforced that.


    Although - ugh. I shouldn¡¯t just leave them to their own devices, should I? I should take somewhat of an interest, to head off problems before they become larger. Just like a Ranger team, just how I was trained, but¡­


    Well, I suppose it would be like leading a full Ranger team, wouldn¡¯t it? Except everyone in the team was a veteran.


    Cross one thing off the to-do list, two more popped up. It was endless.


    Grumble, grumble¡­


    The Adventurer¡¯s Guild was up next, mostly a side stop. However, it did get stuff off my to-do list, and there were two things I could get done here, for the low, low price of fifteen minutes.


    Also, happily, my tasks were getting less important.


    In no time at all, I was seated across from the Adventurer¡¯s Guild [Guildmaster] once again.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn. Your return and levels are impressive.¡± He offered me a cup of wine, which I gratefully took.


    Auri promptly lit it on fire.


    ¡°Brrrpt! BRRPT!¡±


    ¡°Yes Auri, you burned the bad water, good job.¡± I sighed at my now-flaming cup.


    Meh. My vitality and healing were good enough. I took a drink, enjoying the [Guildmaster¡¯s] eye quirk up in surprise.


    Wouldn¡¯t be the first time he saw someone drink a flaming beverage, but it wasn¡¯t exactly an everyday occurrence.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri was looking around his office appreciatively. With the eye of a seasoned arsonist.


    That reflects me, that shows how pretty I am, that¡¯ll burn well, that looks like it''s expensive, great fuel for fire, that should have pretty colors when it goes up in flames¡­


    She was a little transparent.


    ¡°Thank you. There¡¯s some great adventures to be had out there.¡± And if adventurers were out in the wilderness, they wouldn''t be menacing the poor people living in cities, or kidnapping girls.


    I still thought the lot of them should be rounded up and jailed, but the powers that be had other ideas. While they were around though, I was slightly getting over my prejudice, and seeing if I could put them to good use.


    ¡°What can we do for you?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve heard about Commander Julius?¡±


    ¡°Yes, terrible, but oh so interesting business.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to make a quest for his safe return, or new information about what happened.¡±


    ¡°Would you like to issue a new quest, or add to the already existing one?¡±


    I refrained from saying something stupid, namely, ¡®there¡¯s already one?¡¯


    ¡°I¡¯ll add to it. What¡¯s it currently at?¡±


    ¡°1000 coins.¡±


    That was a fairly low amount. Someone who didn¡¯t have a whole lot of coins cared. And, well, I was rich.


    ¡°I¡¯ll add 400 rods to it.¡±


    The [Guildmaster] had a good poker face.


    ¡°Very well. That should get a number of people interested, who had previously passed it up. Is there anything else?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Cancel the quest for the Thunderbird egg please.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt?!¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    With that, my business with the Adventurer¡¯s Guild was done.


    Blessedly, without adding anything to my to-do list. For once.


    We were walking along the streets to our next spot when Auri spotted something she liked.


    ¡°Brrpt! Brrrrrpt!!!!¡± She called me, urgently catching my attention as she hovered over an object a merchant was hawking.


    ¡°Found something you liked?¡± I asked Auri.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± She nodded her little beak furiously.


    ¡°We sell only the best!¡± The merchant gleefully told me, rolling with the oddity of me talking with a bird - so long as the bird was saying ¡®buy this! BUY THIS!¡¯ ¡°We have the finest Arcanite crystals in Ariminum!¡±


    I refocused on the merchant¡¯s wares. Arcanite it was, faceted to catch the light and reflect it a hundred ways. Auri flitted close to one, looking at her reflection in awe.


    ¡°You want this?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt! BRPT!¡±


    I paled.


    ¡°You want this¡­ for your nest?¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!¡±


    ¡°... Still the same size?¡± I asked tentatively, remembering that she wanted a nest the size of my torso.


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri confirmed, twisting in front of the piece of Arcanite, seeing how her colors and flames were refracted and redisplayed for the vain bird. She then flitted over to the next piece, repeating the process, reassuring herself that, yes, she was very [Brretty].


    Fuck my wallet.


    I spent an hour or two with Commander Ajax, reviewing the information and pitch we were going to give the Emperor. Apparently, the meeting was in a couple of days. Even ¡°urgent, from Ranger Command¡± didn¡¯t get us an instant meeting.


    All the better to prepare our pitch. I was responsible for the technical details, while Ajax was preparing it the ¡®right¡¯ way for Emperor Augustus to be receptive. Social stuff, that I was happy to get handed off to someone else.


    I finally managed to get dinner with Kallisto, who was still part of Ranger Team 0. His wife Cordelia and kid were still around, and Flora was ADORABLE.


    ¡°Elaine. Elaine.¡± She tugged on my sleeve.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Flower!¡± She said, handing me a slightly crumpled flower.


    I gave a dramatic gasp.


    ¡°Oh! Is this for me?¡±


    She shyly nodded.


    ¡°Why thank you!¡± I carefully took it from her, as Kallisto and Cordelia smiled.


    Auri somehow knew that the flower was a tiny bit special, and not to burn it right now in front of Flora.


    ¡°How have things been? Everything ok?¡±


    ¡°Yeah - oh, have I got a funny story for you¡­¡±


    I got to sneak in a quick meeting with Night, which was really more like five minutes at Ranger Academy while he was waiting for his latest protege to finish up with his lessons, so he could mentor him.


    I still had a crazy amount of respect for Night doing that, year after year, student after student, knowing that all of them would die, and he would move on. It boggled the mind.


    ¡°Dawn.¡±


    ¡°Night. Any advice on my third class?¡±


    ¡°Yes, but I can only give you a short overview at this time.¡± Night said. ¡°High level advice, without getting into the details.¡±


    He started to walk, and I instinctively followed him, falling into the same contemplative pace that we used to circle Ranger Academy with. It had only been a few years, and yet, it was a lifetime.


    ¡°You have joined the hallowed ranks of the Immortals.¡± He started off. ¡°You are not pressed for time. I personally had thousands of years to contemplate before selecting my class. You are in no risk, no danger, at this time. Now, I recognize that you are young, and patience has never been your strongest point. As such, I will not offer advice that you will simply disregard such as ¡®wait and meditate on the issue for a hundred years¡¯, for at your age such a feat seems impossible, and you shall simply disregard it. However. If you could do me a favor? Please wait at least a single year, before selecting a class.¡±


    That was good advice, and I took it to heart. Why screw up an eternity, for a moment¡¯s impatience now?


    I resolved to force myself to think for an extended period of time, and do everything in my power to get good starting classes.


    Future Elaine would be happy with me.


    ¡°Thank you Night.¡±


    ¡°You are most welcome Dawn. Ah, I see my next appointment. We shall talk about this more in the future.¡±


    I gave a salute.


    ¡°It would be my honor.¡±


    ¡°Hey Autumn!¡±


    ¡°Elaine! I did what you said, here.¡± Autumn handed me the ¡®homework¡¯ I¡¯d assigned to her.


    I settled in, grabbing a mango to eat. Auri flitted up to her latest podium of adoration, and started to show off.


    Sadly for Auri, there was stiff competition in the ¡°attract the eye¡± department. Everyone had a sign, everyone was showing off in some fantastical manner or another. From Mirage making flashy signs, pillars of burning flames, trees grown into living signs, hovering mosaics and more, everyone was trying to get some attention.


    I was biased, but I thought Auri¡¯s colorful display was the best sign. It had started off unusual enough that she¡¯d gotten a lot of attention the first time, but the novelty was wearing off. Didn¡¯t stop Auri from chasing that high.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got the superficial femoral and the femoropopliteal arteries mixed up here.¡± I pointed out her mistake. Autumn grabbed the paper with all the indignation of an A+ student told that she¡¯d gotten something wrong, opening her mouth to protest.


    She closed it, having spotted her mistake.


    ¡°Oh. Right.¡±


    ¡°Got a new assignment for you.¡±


    Autumn mock-groaned, and I didn¡¯t blame her for it. She¡¯d done incredibly well from a practical standpoint when I was gone, healing hundreds of people with her knowledge. She¡¯d also spent hours studying the Medical Manuscripts, so at this point I was working on the nitty gritty. The really obnoxious, tiny details, that I believed would make the difference between a ¡°good¡± healer, and a ¡°great¡± healer. Especially since Autumn was lacking [Oath] to empower her, she needed every edge.


    ¡°I need a ton of Arcanite. Roughly this much, hollow.¡± I mimed the sphere I wanted.


    Autumn whistled.


    ¡°That would cost a lot.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Roughly how much?¡±


    Autumn named a figure.


    I gave Auri a dirty look that she completely missed.


    Ah well. Such was the price for keeping Auri happy, and really, that¡¯s what I wanted.


    ¡°Right. Let me get you that amount. Anything you manage to save, any good bargains you strike? You get to keep the extra.¡±


    Autumn¡¯s eyes lit up as she pumped her fist.


    ¡°Yessssssss.¡±


    I was accosted one evening by a pale vampire, with medium black hair and a sweeping cape.


    ¡°Sentinel.¡± He politely greeted me as I was on my way home. Not exactly making a good first impression on me. Mostly on the ¡°looming around small women in the dark¡± more than his address.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I asked, not stopping for him. I didn¡¯t speed away either, but I did push my speed a bit. Just enough to make him awkwardly jog to keep up.


    ¡°My name is Misha. I was hoping for your assistance in an endeavor.¡±


    ¡°Night can¡¯t help you?¡±


    ¡°Night, as talented as he is, lacks the knowledge you do.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri was always pleased to toot my horn.


    ¡°What¡¯s up. Also, lose Night¡¯s habit of taking fifty words to say one.¡±


    ¡°I want to learn how to heal, to find some method of defeating the reliance on blood that we have.¡±


    Note to self: Not a great listener. Fails to follow directions.


    ¡°And you need me because¡­?¡±


    ¡°You are the best. A genius without peer. A¡­¡±


    Was Night the only non-annoying vampire? Did he like, specifically select the most obnoxious people to turn or something? At least Jaclyn had been mercifully quick.


    ¡°Hey, listen, would love to help. However, I¡¯m super busy. Tell you what. Join Artemis¡¯s School of Sorcery and Spellcraft. I teach medicine in the evenings there. Also, get a copy of my Medical Manuscripts and read over them. You¡¯ll get almost everything you need.¡±


    ¡°Well, I was hoping for some more personalized attention¡­¡±


    ¡°NOPE! Too busy. Gotta go. Bye!¡±


    With that, I bailed.


    Upon reflection, it could¡¯ve been worse. Almost every time it was a suitor of some sort, thinking they were the next great Cassanova and they could get in my tunic.


    Bah.


    Onto the next thing.

 Chapter 292 - The Endless To-do List V

    Ranger Academy was once again on my to-do list the next day.


    ¡°Senti-Null! Got time for that practice bout?¡± I asked him after the morning meeting was over.


    ¡°Dawn! Of course! By the way, I have my own questions about your adventure¡­¡± He said, asking away as we walked to the Ranger Academy island.


    We both wanted the practice.


    Before we got to the arena though, Senti-Null ran out of questions, and I seized the moment.


    ¡°I¡¯m in a bit of a pickle.¡± I confessed to the newest Sentinel.


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°My stats recently wildly swung around wildly. With the whole¡­¡± I gestured vaguely in the direction of Port Salona, which was vaguely in the direction of Ochi, given the distances involved. He knew what I meant.


    ¡°Anyways. I need a new fighting style. I could ask Night, but he¡¯s got a thousand things on his plate, and he seems to be able to do everything.¡± I good-naturedly griped about the first among equals.


    ¡°You¡¯d like my help with fighting?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Kinda. Help developing a style. My physical stats are so skewed towards speed and vitality, I figure I should be fighting like a speedster. You¡¯re the best speedster I know and have access to.¡±


    Looking at it objectively, Senti-Null was the best speedster. However, I had a soft spot for Julius.


    ¡°Ok Auri, Senti-Null and I are going to do something called ¡®sparring¡¯.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s where we practice fighting each other, so we get better. When we need to fight for real, we¡¯re stronger and can win! It¡¯ll look like we¡¯re fighting each other, but we¡¯re not. We like each other.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    Auri seemed to understand, and flew off to one of the stone bleachers to watch.


    We geared up, squared off, and began our spar, a few Instructors who had spare time watching us. Wasn¡¯t every day they got to watch Sentinels sparring.


    Senti-Null was fast. His level was low compared to mine - I had almost 200 levels on him - but he was built for speed, having skills to back up his speed-focused stats.


    He charged right at me.


    Experimentally, I tried to blast Radiance at his feet, only for my skill to entirely fail. I could probably overpower his nullification skills, then blast him normally, but that¡¯d defeat the point of the exercise, in quite a few ways. It wouldn¡¯t get either of us any practice, just confirmation that, yup, I had a lot of stats.


    It¡¯d be a different story if I could blast straight through his nullification directly.


    Then he was upon me, and the fight was on.


    He stabbed at me with his spear, standard-issue, and I tried to block with my shield, thrusting my own spear at him. His spear went straight through my shield and practically ignored my armor as it buried itself into my shoulder, while my spear got jostled out of my hands, as the sheer force and power of our impacts totally overwhelmed my strength.


    ¡°Point to you.¡± I conceded, holding my shield still. It was still salvageable with ¡°only¡± a puncture in it, although it could be destroyed further.


    ¡°Brrpt! BRRRRPT!¡± Auri protested my treatment, and was mad that Senti-Null had scored a ¡®point¡¯ on me. She flew over, rage in her tiny eyes.


    So adorable.


    ¡°No Auri, he¡¯s allowed to hit me.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt! Brrrrpt!!!¡±


    Hmmm. She was right.


    ¡°Hey, I promised Auri if she could burn a Sentinel, that she could come along on missions. Want to let her try? It¡¯s probably decent experience to dodge.¡±


    Senti-Null ran a hand through his brown hair.


    ¡°Sure, I guess. One moment.¡±


    He quickly retracted his spear. My shoulder reformed, my [Persistent Casting] permanently on. His eyes widened slightly.


    ¡°That just drained a large chunk of my mana, and didn¡¯t even slow you down.¡± He complained. I quickly took a peek at my own mana, noticing that I¡¯d just spent tens of thousands of points myself.


    In other words, not much.


    ¡°Just how much magic power do you have?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Almost 500,000.¡±


    ¡°50,000!?¡±


    ¡°No. 500,000.¡±


    Senti-Null took a deep, centering breath, and explosively let it out. He gave me a roguish grin, tinged with chagrin.


    ¡°Just when I thought I was doing well, getting promoted to Sentinel, do I get reminded just how much further I have to go.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I felt the same when I got promoted. I also felt the same when I was out there.¡± I said, gesturing.


    Senti-Null just shook his head.


    ¡°Right. Auri, is it? Hit me if you can!¡±


    ¡°BRRPT!¡± She shrieked a fearsome warcry, and¡­ nothing happened.


    ¡°Brrpt?! Brrrpt!?!?!¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s a canceler, Auri. He stops magic from happening.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡± Auri was protesting the unfair conditions.


    ¡°Let her try?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s not hiding her level like you, right?¡±


    ¡°If she somehow managed to hide her level and class up and get strong enough to cause you concern, I¡¯ll eat my sandals.¡± I promised Senti-Null.


    Auri suddenly erupted in flame, a flamethrower erupting from her beak while burning quills shot from her feathers.


    Senti-Null just dodged, outspeeding her by a ridiculous factor.


    In practically no time at all, Auri was out of juice.


    ¡°Brrrpt brrrpt.¡± She came crying to me, landing on my shoulder and nuzzling my cheek.


    ¡°There there.¡± I reassured her. ¡°One day you¡¯ll get so strong you can burn the whole world.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°You know what will help?¡±


    ¡°Brrpt?¡±


    ¡°An education. With Plato.¡± I reminded her.


    ¡°Brrpt¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes I¡¯m sure.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!¡±


    Well, fine. I didn¡¯t expect ¡®convince Auri to let herself get educated¡¯ to end up crossed off my to-do list, but I¡¯d somehow managed it.


    ¡°Another round?¡± Senti-Null asked me.


    ¡°Naturally.¡± I rolled my shoulders, preparing.


    ¡°With or without your Radiance?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do without, but you should restock with Arcanite. The Instructors have some nearby. I know how to blast pesky speedsters already. With my [Mantle] though, since it helps my physical fighting.¡±


    Senti-Null nodded, and we were off.


    Nearly an hour of sparring later, and I was starting to settle into a style. I asked Senti-Null what he was thinking though.


    ¡°Right. In your sandals? I¡¯d consider a mutual destruction combat style, or a more berserker style. Forget defense, your healing is insane. Focus on just hitting your opponent as hard as you can. Both of you get a spear rammed through you? You¡¯ll live, they won¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m leaning that way.¡± I agreed. ¡°My concern is I still need to keep my head safe, and defending just my head makes my weak points clear.¡±


    ¡°Then don¡¯t, or be so aggressive with your attacks that you force your opponents to be defensive. Let them parry, because they¡¯ll hit whatever¡¯s close.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t totally sold on the idea, but there were merits to what he was saying. I was also circling the same idea, just phrased differently.


    ¡°Thank you Senti-Null for your time.¡±


    ¡°Of course. The same to you.¡±


    Onto the next task. My to-do list was somehow defying common sense, and getting longer every time I looked at it.


    At least I was being productive.


    I followed Maximus¡¯s directions to a fancy villa, in the ¡®almost very rich¡¯ part of town. Two whole stories, and a sprawling complex of hedges and gardens led to ornate marble walls, and a sturdy bronze door.


    I suspected that Plato charged enough to be able to afford to live here.


    I wanted to mention to Auri that she was very expensive, but I didn¡¯t want her to feel bad. Like, it was my choice to try and hatch Auri, she was my responsibility, I shouldn¡¯t burden her with the knowledge. It could do serious damage to her mental well-being!


    No, she would grow up happy. She didn¡¯t need to know what it cost. She did need to know the world was scary and dangerous, but I never, ever wanted her to get the wrong message from me.


    I knocked at the door.


    A servant opened the door, taking in my outfit with a glance.


    ¡°May I assist the Prima?¡± He asked, very politely.


    ¡°Hi! I was wondering if Plato was taking on students?¡± I asked, skipping right to the heart of my question. We were both busy people.


    He gave me a long-suffering sigh, and a thousand-yard stare.


    ¡°Citizen Plato is not currently taking on any students.¡± The poor servant began reciting. ¡°He does not care that the patriarch is a Senator. He does not care that his father is a general. He is uninterested in teaching the next [Consul], [Emperor], [Grand Magus], or whatever else your ¡®brilliant¡¯ protege is going to become. No. Plato is enjoying a break.¡±


    The poor servant delivered his speech in the most bored tone I¡¯d ever heard. Dude needed a Sound skill to give the speech for him.


    ¡°What about-¡±


    ¡°No.¡± He interrupted me, entirely sure that he was right.


    I put a hand on my hip.


    ¡°I assume you don¡¯t care I¡¯m a Sentinel, and that¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°Edor¡¯s rusty trident.¡± The servant swore. I arched an eyebrow at him.


    ¡°You do care?¡±


    ¡°Yes, you just lost me a bet.¡± He complained. ¡°Seven more months, and I would¡¯ve won 300 coins.¡±


    I shrugged, and figured I¡¯d apologize, just because I wanted him happy enough to listen to me. As for the gambling? He made his bed, he could lie in it. I quickly checked my coin purse.


    Almost empty from my daily cash I grabbed before heading out. Almost made me wish for the wilderness again.


    ¡°Bet you 10 coins that Plato will be interested in what I have to say.¡±


    I got a withering look.


    ¡°It¡¯s 64 rods to insist on a meeting with Plato. Payable up-front. In coin. No guarantee that he takes on your student, that¡¯s simply the price to insist on a meeting where Plato can personally reject you.¡±


    That was a boatload of metal.


    ¡°Be right back!¡± I tried to be cheerful, but failed.


    Practically daylight robbery. If Maximus hadn¡¯t been so sure that Plato was the best?


    Nearly two hours later - blasted temple [Bankers] - and a small handcart later, and I was back.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn for Plato!¡± I told the servant, who eyed the cart and shrugged.


    ¡°Right, it¡¯s your loss.¡±


    A hop, skip, and a jump later, and I was meeting with the elderly [Tutor]. Classic ¡®wise civilized old teacher¡¯ look. White hair, beard full of curls, expensive but not flaunting it tunic, Plato was the works. Solidly over 300 to boot.


    ¡°Appius informed you that I was not taking on students?¡± Plato got right down to business.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°And you are aware that this meeting is purely for me to reject you to your face?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I also understand that I am able to present my case?¡±


    ¡°Correct. Begin.¡±


    I was willing to throw everything at Plato. I wanted only the best for Auri.


    ¡°Auri is a phoenix, the like of which has never been seen in Remus. You¡¯ve taught Senators, Commanders, famous merchants, and more. However, this chance is unique, to say the least.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± The little troublemaker herself flared her wings, letting colorful flames dance around her.


    ¡°Also, while I can pay in coin, I can also make you young again. I don¡¯t sell this skill, I only offer it in exchange for something I¡¯d like. It may give you a few hundred years of life.¡±


    A long silence stretched between us, as Plato contemplatively looked at Auri, then myself, then back at Auri.


    ¡°What¡¯s the catch?¡± He asked.


    ¡°You get cursed. Unknown ahead of time on the severity.¡±


    He stroked his beard, before coming to a conclusion.


    ¡°I did not expect to be convinced. However, your case is persuasive. Fine. I¡¯ll do it.¡± He said, and I let a maniacal grin split my face.


    All that was left was hammering out the details. Almost bored poor Auri to tears.


    Plato demonstrated a mastery of rhetoric that utterly demolished my crude attempts at bartering, but eh. It was all worth it in the end.


    Short version - I¡¯d pay him a bit, reimburse his expenses, and after two years of education - he estimated ¡®properly¡¯ teaching Auri would take ten - I¡¯d make him young again.


    Naturally, I offered to heal him normally, but he had his own healer he liked already.


    I had to go to the temple to reload my poor coin purse - how quickly a year and a half of wages vanished into smoke - then it was off to the next stop.


    My to-do list was finally shrinking.


    After cautioning Auri, and consulting with mom, I found a lovely [Tailor], who was able to get me a dozen different tunics in various patterns, cuts, and colors.


    Auri was behaving herself, and I needed to reward her.


    I also got a tunic that I¡¯d secretly lusted after in my heart ever since I was a kid. One hope buried so deep, because I hadn¡¯t thought I¡¯d be able to get it, or justify the expense even if I could. An object of admiration, that I was only getting because I was meeting the Emperor.


    A solid purple tunic.


    ¡°Auri. Do NOT burn this one.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!¡±


    She seemed to know I was serious.


    I managed to get in a brief word with Destruction when he made it back. We spent a few hours trading stories - he¡¯d been busy ever since the Emperor seized power, handling a huge number of fires - then I asked him about his third class.


    ¡°It was easy for me.¡± He said. ¡°All of my skills and classes are geared towards large scale skills. I just took the natural extension of that. Your class and skills are a tool. What tools do you want and need? How can it synergize with the rest of your classes?¡±


    Interesting advice.


    ¡°Elaine, you made it!¡± Albina was over the moon, and the bags under her eyes weren¡¯t quite as bad. I gave her a quick shot of [Sunrise] anyways, watching her light up at it.


    ¡°Brrpt!¡±


    ¡°And aren¡¯t you just the prettiest thing?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡±


    Albina made a motion, and a tiny mirror appeared in front of Auri, courtesy of her skills.


    ¡°Brrpt! BrrrRRRRrrrrpt!¡± Auri spent some time admiring herself in the mirror. I rolled my eyes.


    ¡°Vain bird.¡±


    ¡°Shall we get started? I brought my friend, Marcella, who can fireproof hair.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯d be great!¡± I told the woman.


    ¡°Not my highest level skill.¡± She smiled back, half rolling her eyes. ¡°I thought there¡¯d be demand to keep hair and clothes and the like fire-proof, but noooo. Silly me. I keep almost ditching the skill, then someone reaches out to me, I keep it for a bit longer, and¡­¡±


    She went on for some time in that vein. Long story short? Rare skill.


    ¡°How long?¡± Albina asked me. I only spent a moment thinking about it.


    ¡°Lower back please! I just know I¡¯m going to have to ruin it soon, but I want to enjoy it while it lasts.¡±


    My scalp itched, but a moment later I had HAIR! Glorious, wonderful, time-consuming HAIR!


    ¡°A class level and two skill levels!¡± Albina was beaming at me. ¡°Elaine, you are simply the best.¡±


    I flapped a hand at her.


    ¡°Oh it¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°And done!¡± Marcella proudly proclaimed. ¡°Your bird won¡¯t be able to light your hair on fire anymore!¡±


    ¡°BrrrpT!¡± Auri seemed to take that as a challenge, and in a short moment, my hair was predictably on fire.


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡± Auri smugly chirped back at Marcella.


    ¡°I just got six levels from that!¡± She gasped.


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri apparently had also leveled.


    The three of them traded a look over my head, and I could practically feel the competitive spirit in the room. The lure of easy levels.


    ¡°Gods damn them all.¡± I whispered under my breath, as Albina regrew my hair, Marcella tried to fireproof it, and Auri showed them who was boss. Levels for everyone!


    I crossed my arms and pouted.


    I better have hair at the end of this.


    It had been a full week, and Auri had been good.


    For one, I had hair.


    For two, there had been no major disasters. I hadn¡¯t been arrested, and the fines had been¡­ acceptable. I loaded up on cash, and prepared.


    ¡°Ok Auri. It¡¯s time.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt?¡±


    ¡°Flower shop time!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!!!¡±


    We walked through the city, hunting for a flower shop as Auri happily chirped the entire time. She was starting to get a nice little bird song voice!


    Finally, we made it to the store, where I pulled Auri aside.


    ¡°Ok, so three things.¡± I told her.


    ¡°Brrpt! BRRPT!¡± She protested. I had promised her FLOWERS to BURN! Why was I adding more conditions at the last moment!?


    I pinched the bridge of my nose.


    ¡°Just¡­ listen for a moment.¡±


    ¡°BRPT!¡±


    ¡°Please?¡±


    ¡°Brrpt¡­¡±


    Auri only relented because she saw I wasn¡¯t going in and buying her THE FLOWERS. She poofed up into an adorably angry ball of flames.


    I had to remind myself that I was dealing with a petulant child phoenix.


    ¡°First - I need to actually buy the flowers before you can burn them.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt¡­¡±


    ¡°Second - We should be nice to the [Shopkeeper], and only burn them inside with his permission. That way, he¡¯ll let us come again in two weeks to DO IT AGAIN!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!! Brpt.¡±


    ¡°Yes, two weeks. You don¡¯t get to burn down a flower shop every week.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not negotiating this.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!!¡±


    I crossed my arms and stared at her. She glared back.


    Somehow, I had more patience.


    ¡°Brpt¡­¡± She conceded.


    ¡°Third - this is just for you to think about.¡± It was also something of a character measure, but I wasn¡¯t going to tell her that. ¡°You can burn them all right now if you want.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°But ask yourself this. Is burning sixty flowers right now so much better than burning fifty, then burning ten tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrpt.¡± Auri had little flames coming out of where her ears should be as she strained to think about it.


    ¡°BRRPT!¡± It was like a fire was lit in her mind, as she compared the two possibilities.


    ¡°Brrpt! BRRRPT!!!¡± She excitedly told me that, wait, she could burn forty now, ten tomorrow, and ten THE DAY AFTER as well!


    Heh, smart bir-


    Wait.


    Holy.


    Not only did Auri figure out that she could delay gratification even more, but she also just did some relatively complex math. In her head!


    She continually defied the image of a several-month old with that type of thinking.


    I entered the store, the floral scents hitting me as a dizzying array of colors were presented. Agapanthus were next to daisies, the lilies were next to the violets, the roses paired with the honeysuckles and so many more!


    ¡°Brrrrrrrrrrrrrpt.¡± Auri chirped in awe. This was going to be ALL HERS.


    A quick negotiation later, and an emphatic denial of burning the flowers inside the shop, and a secondary negotiation for the shop employees to deliver most of the flowers to my home, and we were off.


    I naturally kept a bunch for myself, or rather, Auri. I stepped outside, holding six bundles of flowers.


    ¡°One at a time, or-¡±


    I didn¡¯t even get my question out before Auri turned my world into an Inferno.


    RIP my latest haircut. It had lasted a record 18 hours.


    In no time at all, Commander Ajax and I found ourselves at the doors to the Senate¡¯s main meeting chamber. I¡¯d snuck by Albina¡¯s right before the meeting, after handing Auri off to Plato, and I looked properly presentable.


    ¡°Announcing Commander Ajax and Sentinel Dawn to meet Imperator Augustus!¡± One of the Praetorian guards yelled, as the doors opened.


    I took a breath, and stepped forward into the room.

 Chapter 293 - Emperor Augustus

    Commander Ajax and I stepped into the great Senate debate room. A wide open central floor had low marble seating arranged around it, and the tall ceiling being held up by stone pillars gave enough air and light for the room to be bright and sunny.


    The Senate wasn¡¯t currently in session, but a few men in poofy, impractical togas were quietly discussing in groups in various parts of the room. A few of them looked towards us with a variety of expressions, our entrance being the newest, most interesting thing that was going on. Well-dressed servants in the cleanest, neatest tunics were gracefully moving throughout, carrying mugs of delicate wine and tasty finger foods on trays. Guards were on every entrance, and a few more circled the room, looking bored in their fancy ceremonial armor.


    The emperor himself was sitting on a low, backless chair in the center of the Senate floor. In some ways, he was the lowest person in the room, but his sheer presence made it impossible to miss him. Without a word, the entire room revolved around him.


    He wore a purple tunic, with golden threads for the stitching. A crown of gilded oak leaves formed a laurel that he casually wore on his salt-and-pepper hair. A powerful build spoke to the soldier and general he¡¯d been.


    ¡°Ah! Commander Ajax! Sentinel Dawn! Welcome, welcome.¡± He gestured us over, and we approached.


    When I¡¯d met then-general Augustus on the front lines initially, he¡¯d given off a tightly-wound impression. Focused. Determined.


    There was still much of that there, but he seemed more relaxed. Easy-going. While I had no desire to be [Empress], my job as Sentinel showed that life got kinda easy at the top. Especially when I had lots of money to throw at problems.


    Then again, there were stresses¡­


    ¡°Ajax! My old friend, did I hear right? You¡¯ve gotten another grandson?¡± Emperor Augustus got up from his chair, opening his arms as if to hug Ajax. The two of them thumped each other on the back.


    ¡°I did! Two weeks ago, my son welcomed another member of the family. Named him Aulus!¡±


    ¡°Aulus! That¡¯s fantastic. May Aion bless him with long life!¡±


    ¡°Here¡¯s hoping!¡±


    Ajax could¡¯ve told me he was friends with the blasted emperor before we got here!


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn! It¡¯s so nice to see you again! Why, it feels like just yesterday you were standing in my tent, getting loaded up with Arcanite. Then in the blink of an eye, Sentinel! One of the youngest in history, and the first woman! And look at your level. 512. We¡¯re going to have to throw a Triumph for you, it¡¯s scheduled for two weeks from now. I¡¯ve gotten reports of your adventures, but that¡¯s old hat. Tell me, how¡¯s your brother Themis? Doing well with the guards?¡±


    ¡°Themis¡¯s training is going well, yes!¡± I immediately found myself swept up by Augustus¡¯s pace. Not wanting to be entirely outdone, I thought about it a moment, and recalled an old name.


    ¡°How¡¯s your daughter, Cornelia? Still have that pink hair?¡±


    The emperor didn¡¯t seem fazed at all.


    ¡°Ha! Not anymore, thank goodness. She never mentioned knowing you, but she¡¯s a social one alright. Got married a few months back! Wonderful lad.¡±


    One of the advisors made a little cough in the background, and the jovial look on the emperor¡¯s face faded.


    ¡°Ah, down to business I suppose.¡± He sat down on his chair. We weren¡¯t offered one.


    ¡°This shimagu business. I¡¯ve got the general report, but there¡¯s nothing quite like getting the specifics directly from a scout, someone who was there in person.¡±


    He held out a hand, and one of the advisors standing around him immediately slapped a scroll into it. He unrolled it, and quickly scanned over it.


    ¡°You reported that it only took a few hundred points of mana to kill a shimagu. Is this unique to your personal skillset and class, or is this standard for healers?¡±


    ¡°Other healers are capable of getting to the same level with proper education, skills, and images, but the education required could take a few years.¡±


    I¡¯d been prepared for questions about myself. Ajax and I had worked on it, and I was ready to answer his questions without revealing too much about my abilities.


    ¡°Excellent. The report seems to conflict with itself in a few places. In one section, you mention that the shimagu, or their hosts, don¡¯t use skills. In another, they clearly are. With the ¡®pillar attack¡¯, ¡®clouds of ash¡¯, and a ¡®canceler¡¯. Can you clarify?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Predominantly, the shimagu and the hosts don¡¯t seem to cooperate that much, or at the very least, trust between them is low. There were a number of shimagu with classes that suggested they were at least friendly with their host, however, class name alone isn¡¯t a great determiner for interpersonal relationships. The three Classers named in the report were different. Incredibly high level, and working together. Given the average level of the typical shimagu citizen, compared to the levels of the Classers, and extrapolating slightly from Remus, I believe they were the shimagu elites. However, I don¡¯t believe they were elites in the same way Sentinels are elites, simply¡­ the best town guards there.¡±


    That got the people listening muttering, while Augustus simply looked thoughtful.


    ¡°Over level 600¡­ as a city guard?¡±


    ¡°What does that mean for their true elites?¡±


    ¡°Could she have gotten the level wrong?¡±


    ¡°On a kill notification? Unlikely.¡±


    One hanging-on senator just couldn¡¯t help himself, and sneered at me.


    ¡°What do you know about fighting, girl?¡±


    I didn¡¯t look, but Augustus slowly turned to look at the senator, making him the spotlight of everyone in the room.


    ¡°When you have a quarter of Sentinel Dawn¡¯s combat experience, you may return to the Senate. Until then, you are dismissed.¡±


    ¡°But-¡± The senator tried to protest, and Emperor Augustus jerked his head. Four of the Praetorian guards - dad wasn¡¯t included, thank goodness - came over, and politely, but firmly, escorted him out.


    Augustus leaned over to one of his advisors.


    ¡°Make sure he knows I¡¯m serious about the combat experience. I don¡¯t want to see him back in the senate, let alone voting, until he has it.¡±


    The advisor nodded, and briskly walked off.


    Oookayyy. I was no politician, and my social knowledge could fill a thimble, but that looked like a master stroke to my eyes. Get on my good side - because yeah, I was pretty happy he ejected the dude - flex his authority as the emperor, probably get rid of a political rival - did an emperor even have those? - and there were probably a dozen more subtle nuances that I was totally missing.


    ¡°Right. Commander Ajax, I believe you have a request?¡±


    ¡°Yes. With the looming threat of the shimagu, would like to requisition a number of army healers to be assigned to the Rangers. While initially it¡¯ll be more expensive, we believe the costs will be recouped within a decade, as fatalities decrease. This will allow us to be more selective at Ranger Academy, permitting smaller class sizes, better Rangers, and critically, preserving experienced Rangers.¡±


    Augustus held up his hand.


    ¡°Enough.¡± He ordered, and Ajax shut up. ¡°Proposal.¡±


    Ajax promptly handed over the scroll he¡¯d prepared ahead of time to one of the advisors who shuffled forwards. I had no idea if him only letting Ajax briefly speak before requesting the proposal was good, or bad.


    ¡°Excellent. I should have an answer to you by the end of the week. Now, about the shimagu¡­¡±


    Emperor Augustus had a lot of questions about them. Their cities. Defenses. Dinosaurs. Every bit of information he could possibly squeeze out of me, teasing out knowledge and details I didn¡¯t even know I had. Questions on the Ranger¡¯s capabilities, and how Ajax¡¯s plan would interact with shimagu, were occasionally directed towards Ajax himself. All in all, a military-minded leader, which sent the occasional cold shivers down my spine.


    I had thousands of years of history of how military dictatorships ended.


    At last, his curiosity seemed to be sated.


    ¡°Thank you, Commander Ajax.¡±


    Commander Ajax knew when he¡¯d been dismissed. He saluted, then crisply turned and¡­ went to mingle with the rest of the senators.


    Right. I knew him as Commander Ajax, and he¡¯d been here in that capacity. Fundamentally, he was a senator though, one of the two assigned to Ranger Command, and this, not Ranger HQ, was his home turf.


    Augustus studied me for a moment, then got up.


    ¡°Walk with me.¡± Augustus¡¯s tone brooked no doubt that I would follow his commands. I followed him, and a squad of guards fell in behind us. A subtle hand gesture from Augustus kept his advisors from following.


    So much for a ¡®private conversation.¡¯ Yes, just me, the emperor, and a half-dozen of his closest guards.


    ¡°A little bird told me that you are capable of making a person young again.¡± He stated as a fact.


    I¡¯d wonder how it leaked, but nah. It was probably Ranger Command. One of the senators. Sad to know that I couldn¡¯t totally trust my bosses.


    I was already in the deep. Might as well see what he wanted.


    ¡°Correct. It¡¯s a bit hit or miss at the moment on how well it works. Could reverse someone by only a few years, could reverse them all the way back to childhood. You know how inaccurate low level skills can be. There¡¯s also the issue that you¡¯ll end up cursed, and there¡¯s no telling what it¡¯ll be.¡±


    ¡°Interesting. I would like to see the skill for myself. Naturally, I would compensate you generously. A million rods, citizenship, and elevating your father to senator is my opening offer. I¡¯d normally also offer a member of my family¡¯s hand in marriage, but I understand that you lean more towards women.¡±


    Well. To say I was thrown off balance would be putting it lightly.


    I wasn¡¯t just going to roll over and say yes, especially as he mentioned that was his opening offer. At the same time, an outright refusal would be a terrible idea.


    Neptune¡¯s words about trading the skill for the otherwise unobtainable came back to me. Which gave me an idea. Hopefully a good idea.


    I suspected I had some bargaining chips here. I had something Emperor Augustus wanted, and I wasn¡¯t sure what I wanted from Emperor Augustus. So¡­ he wanted to make a deal, and I could probably push him a bit on it.


    ¡°Your offer is most interesting. I¡¯ve got a bit of a funny story from my childhood.¡± I sort of sidetracked things, my thoughts racing as I tried to organize and collect them. ¡°When I unlocked, my dad took me on a round through town. He had me meet with a dozen different people, all trying to show me how to get various skills.¡±


    ¡°A most wise man.¡± Augustus commented. ¡°Every parent should strive to be as diligent, and to help their children reach their full potential.¡±


    ¡°One of the skills he tried to get me was [Bartering], given the amount of negotiations and purchases he anticipated I¡¯d need to make in life.¡±


    ¡°A vital skill for the matriarch of any household.¡±


    ¡°For all his efforts, I was entirely unable to unlock the skill. We must¡¯ve spent six months on it, before he eventually gave up.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s somewhat unusual.¡± I thought I might be testing the dude¡¯s patience, and I had a healthy amount of fear for the power he wielded. He could possibly try to end me and my family with a word. So unfair. I cut straight to the chase.


    ¡°All this to say. You have the advantage of me, knowing what skill I have. I¡¯d like the chance to consult with my merchant friends, Sentinel Night, and a few others, and have them advise me on the best deal I can make. I hope you understand.¡±


    He gave me a rueful grin.


    ¡°Ah, you can¡¯t blame me for trying. Of course, by all means, work out what you want, and come back to me. Thank you for your time, Dawn. I have a meeting with Senator Saturio now.¡±


    With that, he made a sharp turn down a hallway, and left me standing there in the halls of the senate.


    Well shit.


    Was it just me, or had the emperor handed me a blank fucking check?

 Chapter 294 - Sentinel Smackdown

    Two days later, and I was still reeling from Emperor Augustus¡¯s offer as I made my way to the daily meeting. The entire thing had kept me up at night, tossing and turning as I wrestled with the question, and the implications.


    Fortunately, Auri was with Plato. She was so excited to learn! It was adorable. Hopefully personal tutoring wouldn¡¯t wring the flashy phoenix¡¯s desire to drink deep from the wellspring of knowledge.


    Or¡­ light the flames of learning? The analogies got weird when water was anathema.


    Like. I¡¯d fought monsters, humans, abominations. I¡¯d only paused a moment when I saw a dragon, before boldly striding into her lair.


    However, those had all been easy decisions in a sense. Eat, or be eaten. Kill, or be killed.


    Slaughter the shimagu, or don¡¯t.


    Binary choices. Do, or do not.


    Run away from home, or be trapped with Kerberos. I suppose that one had some nuance, but a benefit of having been a dumb teenager - I didn¡¯t see all the other options.


    Decision paralysis was my root problem. I had a blank check from the emperor, and I could write anything in it.


    Just about.


    A million rods would be practically impossible to spend in a single normal lifetime. Yet, I had the sense that it wasn¡¯t even close to the start of what I could ask for. There were things that money couldn¡¯t buy.


    This was less true in Remus, where with enough money I could buy - my dad - a seat in the Senate, the governorship of a town, a get out of jail free card from the justice system, and more.


    I could own a town.


    I could own three towns.


    I could make my own healing school, staffed with dozens of the brightest minds in the country. I could make Artemis¡¯s school the place to be. I could own a dozen mango orchards.


    I could own the mango industry. Flat-out buy a monopoly on mangos.


    Sweetest of all - I could build the library. Convert an entire city block to the grandest library the world had ever seen. I wouldn¡¯t have to work a day in my life, simply kick back in a chair, and just read. The world of my soul would become my reality. My every need would be tended to, a rounding error on my account employing dozens of people to make my life easy. I wouldn¡¯t need to risk my life.


    I -


    I had too many options. I was completely overwhelmed, and that was just the cash offer. I didn¡¯t have the slightest idea of what non-cash items I could negotiate for.


    Like. Could I ask Remus to outlaw slavery?


    I thought of myself as a principled person. I¡¯d like to think that I was selfless, and self-sacrificing. I¡¯d pushed myself constantly, going into plagues, warzones, the lair of a dragon, and more. All to help others, at great personal risk to myself.


    But the sheer amount of money was making me pause. I could buy - assuming I didn¡¯t utterly fuck the market doing so - 32 million loaves of bread. Had Remus even cooked that many in its entire history?!


    That had serious pull. I didn¡¯t think I could be bribed.


    I still knew I was unbribable on my core principles. Heal others. Stick with my family - including the Sentinels. Follow my [Oath].


    I disliked slavery. A large number of people in Remus - mostly slaves, if I was being honest - weren¡¯t too thrilled with the institution either. Hence the frequent slave rebellions.


    But obviously, I wasn¡¯t entirely dead-set against it. I was no fanatic. I tolerated Kallisto and his family employing a few. Just about all of the Sentinels had several slaves on staff, and I was still friends with them. I didn¡¯t break chains wherever I saw them. Hell, just three weeks ago or so I¡¯d told a number of bandits to go turn themselves in, and sign themselves up for a few months of slavery!


    All this to say - I had an idealist side, that hated slavery and wanted it to end, and a practical side, that recognized it was how Remus currently worked, and that by loudly declaiming it and freeing slaves everywhere, I¡¯d shortly end up with my own head on a pike. I had to be smart about how I abolished slavery.


    And I was being tempted. I¡¯d get slavery ended, one way or another. It might be too big of an ask, and maybe I should go for something else. Wealth and power, which would jump-start my abolitionary dreams.


    Needed to talk with someone about all this. Neptune, Ocean, and Night were my top picks. I¡¯d wanted to see if I could do some thinking about this on my own first, before consulting them. Get a loose framework arranged.


    There was also the matter of women¡¯s rights, more practically, my rights. Augustus had offered to make me a citizen. Yaay. That still didn¡¯t fix a dozen other issues that I had, which could be all solved with the stroke of a charcoal stick.


    I could ask for the world, and -


    Damnit.


    I¡¯d moved without thinking, and I was already at the Sentinel¡¯s meeting room.


    I shook my head, and refocused myself. I could ask Night for advice after the meeting.


    I was in the middle of the pack. Senti-Null, Ocean, Night, and Hunting were already around. Slowly, Destruction, Bulwark, Nature, Mirage, and Maestrai shuffled in.


    We waited quite some time, but Acquisition didn¡¯t show.


    ¡°This is most unusual.¡± Night narrowed his eyes. ¡°Acquisition¡¯s attendance record is flawless, and he has not even sent a runner to inform us that he would be unable to attend. Does anyone have pressing business?¡±


    We shook our heads.


    ¡°Hunting. Destruction. Dawn. MMmmmm. Brawling would be ideal. Barring that. Ocean. Bulwark.¡±


    We paid rapt attention to Night.


    ¡°Investigate. Discreetly. Acquire the appropriate gems from the Quartermaster. Maestrai, inform Ranger Team 0 to stand by, and their assistance may be requested. Nature. Senti-Null. Mirage. The three of you are dismissed to your regular duties.¡±


    He paused a moment.


    ¡°Sentinels. Move out.¡±


    Welp, so much for the relaxing morning.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take point.¡± Hunting announced, and the four of us followed him out the door, through the halls of Ranger HQ.


    ¡°Do we have time to armor up?¡± I asked Hunting. He was in his full gear - practically lived in it - but Destruction, Ocean, Bulwark, and myself were all in more casual clothes.


    ¡°We don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on. If you¡¯re able to quickly.¡±


    I grinned. It was always nice knowing something everyone else didn¡¯t.


    We rolled up to the Quartermaster''s window.


    ¡°I need five sets of [Camouflage], [Muffle], and [Communication].¡± Hunting briskly ordered.


    ¡°And my set of armor.¡± I added from around his arm.


    Quartermaster took one look at five serious-looking Sentinels, and moved. No snarky comments. No remarks. In a heartbeat, we each had three gems, and the rest of the Sentinels were helping me strap on my armor in speed-mode.


    Not my favorite way of getting dressed. Real awkward on so many levels.


    The Quartermaster was busy listing off all the gems I had.


    ¡°[Gust], [Shocking Paralysis], [Brilliant Barrier], [Camouflage], [Muffle], [Cast Scream], [Hear Me Roar], [Tracks-Be-Gone], [Wall Buster], [Curse? What Curse?],...¡± He listed off all the gems I had, some old, some new. I didn¡¯t quite have time for a full breakdown.


    ¡°Dawn. Destruction. Bulwark. Can you fly while [Camouflaged]?¡± Hunting asked. I shook my head.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t tested it, but unlikely. My wings tend to passively kill illusions, and they¡¯re not exactly subtle.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m able to.¡± Destruction replied. ¡°Worse-case, I use a tiny slate in my sandals.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d rather be on the ground.¡± Bulwark answered. ¡°Half of my skills relate to buildings.¡±


    Hunting grunted.


    ¡°Shame. Destruction, you¡¯re on overwatch. Right, activate the gems.¡±


    We all activated the gems we¡¯d been given, fading away into the walls. A minor, very expensive barrage occurred as we tossed the used gems back through the Quartermaster¡¯s window, who roundly cursed us out.


    ¡°Likely nothing, but we¡¯re Sentinels. No telling if something¡¯s gone wrong, and if someone¡¯s decided to take a swing at Acquisition.¡± Hunting¡¯s words came directly to my ears, although I hadn¡¯t heard a thing. ¡°Everyone to the roof.¡±


    I started moving that way, jostling into¡­ someone. I didn¡¯t know who, but I got practically bowled out of the way, slamming into the wall.


    ¡°Shit, Dawn, was that you?¡± Ocean asked.


    ¡°Yes. Thank you.¡± My voice was dripping with sarcasm as I picked myself back up, and headed towards the roof with everyone else.


    ¡°Sorry.¡±


    ¡°I love [Communication].¡± Destruction said.


    ¡°One of my crew has a similar skill when we¡¯re building. Good stuff.¡± Bulwark added in.


    ¡°What¡¯s the range?¡±


    ¡°Couple of city blocks. In a gem? Might be smaller.¡± Destruction said.


    ¡°What¡¯s the plan?¡± Ocean asked.


    ¡°Rooftop our way to Acquisition¡¯s place. I¡¯ll poke around, then yell at you all when I¡¯ve found him. Then we wake him up, yell at him for an hour for drinking too much, then let Night give him a pompous lecture about responsibility.¡± Hunting¡¯s tone was amused, but there was a tight undertone to it.


    Nobody completely blew the meeting off. Ocean had even let a huge fish go to make it on time! Worse-case, we sent a runner.


    And like. We were all crazy well paid. We almost all had extensive families, and barring that, we had servants - or slaves, as much as I hated to admit it - helping out.


    ¡°Bulwark? Directions?¡± Hunting asked.


    ¡°Depends on Dawn, and how far she can jump.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t I have more speed and strength than you?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yeah, but I can glide on rocks between buildings.¡±


    I made it to the roof as Bulwark finished talking. I eyed the streets around us.


    ¡°I can probably make the jump across the three narrow roads around us, but not the main throughway.¡± I said. ¡°Strength¡¯s a little low for that, although I¡¯ve got plenty of speed.¡±


    ¡°Right. I¡¯m going to call out buildings. Let us know when you¡¯ve landed.¡± Bulwark said. ¡°First, the Pompeii Building.¡±


    ¡°I have no idea which one that is.¡± Destruction said. ¡°They all look the same from up here.¡±


    I was thankful Destruction had spoken up, because I had no idea either. Made me feel less bad.


    Bulwark gave a long-suffering sigh.


    ¡°Brutes, the lot of you. No appreciation for the architecture that surrounds us. The one to the south, with the dome in the middle.¡±


    I ran and jumped, a terrified thrill running through me as I spun through the air, letting the wind blow over my face.


    [Beloved of the Wind] was all too correct. I loved it, and it loved me back.


    As I soared through the air, the rest of the Sentinels reported in.


    ¡°In.¡± Hunting said.


    ¡°Landed.¡± Ocean said.


    ¡°In.¡± Bulwark said.


    I landed, bending my knees.


    ¡°Here.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m overhead.¡± Destruction added in a half-heartbeat later.


    ¡°Right. Next roof is¡­ the one with the statues.¡± I could practically hear Bulwark¡¯s frustration at our lack of appreciation for the finer things in life.


    I could say the same about him and food.


    We hopped around, having a fun moment with one of the inner layers of the city walls. We had to land on it, then run from where we landed to a completely different spot, dodging guards the entire way.


    A few sensed the breeze we made as we passed, and one started to raise an alarm.


    The Sentinel symbol popped into being in the stone in front of him, black stone on white walls making it all-too obvious. The guard went white, and while I would¡¯ve liked to laugh as I passed him, [Muffle] was hiding our sound.


    I did poke him as I passed by though, finding an exposed hole in his armor. Poor dude yelped and practically hit the roof, getting funny looks from everyone else.


    ¡°Ok, whoever did that, that was funny. I know this is just a quick check, but let¡¯s leave it at that. No need to rile up the poor guards just doing their job.¡± Destruction¡¯s voice came to my ear.


    ¡°Guard with the white crest can see us.¡± Hunting reported. ¡°I doubt he¡¯ll do anything, just keep it in mind.¡±


    Didn¡¯t surprise me that some guards could see through the camouflage skill. It was exactly the sort of skill a burglar would have, and in almost every case, someone using the skill was up to no good.


    Still. Getting an anti-camo skill was rare, and not something I expected to see outside of the guard.


    A number of heavily-armed, high-level people working together?


    The thought running through his head was probably along the lines of ¡°don¡¯t acknowledge the black ops, don¡¯t acknowledge the black ops.¡±


    If nothing else, this milk run to Acquisition was good practice. We didn¡¯t get nearly enough chances to stretch out legs like this, probably why Night had gone completely overkill and assigned five of us to check on Acquisition, when just Maestrai would be enough.


    We hopped off the wall, and kept going.


    After what seemed like a short time, we made it to the roof before Acquisition¡¯s house. It was surprisingly bland, with a few palm trees swaying in the breeze around a modest home.


    ¡°Hold here.¡± Hunting said.


    There was something like a quick flicker of heat or something in the space between the home we were on, and Acquisition¡¯s home.


    ¡°Anyone want to go fishing later on? Bulwark?¡± Ocean asked.


    ¡°Busy today. Finishing up some idiot¡¯s apartment for his lover. He wanted plain pillars. Plain.¡± Bulwark¡¯s pain was clear. ¡°Tomorrow afternoon? After sparring?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sounds-¡±


    ¡°Silence.¡± Hunting half-barked, half-hissed, not wanting to strain [Muffle] too hard while he was sneaking around Acquisition¡¯s place.


    We hung around for a few more minutes. I was getting increasingly nervous - an all-clear would take a few seconds. The lack of anything from Hunting was disturbing.


    I started to limber up, doing some stretches, and imagining [Kaleidoscope] flight paths and patterns.


    ¡°Right, issue. Someone - Acquisition mentioned who but I have no idea who these chucklefucks are - grabbed Acquisition¡¯s kids, and are ransoming them. Yada yada, don¡¯t go to the Sentinels or Rangers, yada yada, meet at¡­ some place that¡¯s all thieves'' talk. Not that I¡¯d trust that, I¡¯d just track Acquisition directly. Stay on the roof, I¡¯ll be right over.¡± Hunting said.


    Aww fuck. And the day had started off so well.


    ¡°Dawn. North corner. Ocean. West corner. Hunting. East corner.¡± Destruction¡¯s voice came into my ear. ¡°Dropping a rock on each spot. Keep your hand on it, I¡¯ll use it to give you all a boost if we need to cross a wide road.¡±


    ¡°Good call, but forget my rock.¡± Hunting grunted. ¡°Dawn, do you mind giving up your Deception Ring for this? Acquisition took to the streets, and either people would run into me all day, or they¡¯re going to get spooked when they see a level 514 Classer coming for them. They have to know they¡¯re aiming for a Sentinel, they have to be prepared. Acquisition further knew we¡¯d be coming after him, he left enough clues.¡±


    ¡°Sure. North corner, taking it off now.¡± I picked up the rock, about the size of my fist, and put my Deception Ring down after making it visible. I stepped back, and a moment later the ring vanished.


    A minute later Hunting reappeared, looking like a level 160 [Warrior]. An off-duty guard, perhaps.


    ¡°Get rid of your beard.¡± Ocean was entirely serious. ¡°Your blue beard is literally your name Bluebeard, and they¡¯re watching for Sentinels.¡±


    I didn¡¯t know Hunting had such a verbose selection of curses, but his chin suddenly saw the light of day at long last.


    ¡°Follow me.¡± Hunting was pissed.


    We followed Hunting, traveling through the city until we got to the slums.


    Acquisition was one of the more interesting Sentinels. He was the only one who hadn¡¯t been a Ranger. Either the ¡°Deception¡±, ¡°Thief¡±, ¡°Rogue¡±, or some other Sentinel seat - I wasn¡¯t sure which - was considered critical, and when no Rangers met the criteria, the Sentinels had recruited Acquisition from the more interesting parts of the population. Even when I had been a new Sentinel, I was a better combatant than Acquisition, but there was nothing he couldn¡¯t get his hands on - and by extension, there was nothing the Sentinels couldn¡¯t get if we really needed to. He was also our connection to the seedier side of Remus, a sort of [King of the Thieves] or something.


    Exactly what he did I couldn¡¯t say, but he probably couldn¡¯t tell me how many bones were in an arm. Fair was fair.


    Still meant he had significantly more contact with the criminals and gangs in Remus, and could apply pressure in the right places when someone stepped too far out of line. Like when they¡¯d gotten into the game of ¡°steal Sentinel badges¡±.


    Well, part of that life had caught up with him.


    ¡°Fuck.¡± I cursed as I saw an issue.


    ¡°Problem?¡± Ocean said. I just knew we¡¯d all stopped. Advantage to all being trained the same.


    ¡°Yeah. Dude with no legs down there.¡±


    ¡°Leave him.¡± Hunting said.


    ¡°I can¡¯t. Oathbound. Heal him now, invisibly, and carry on, or hang back?¡±


    ¡°Your call.¡± Ocean said. ¡°You¡¯re Dawn.¡±


    ¡°Hunting, how close?¡±


    ¡°We can¡¯t be that far, but I can¡¯t break cover.¡± Hunting was admiring some beggar¡¯s wares, artificially interested in some rusty armor. The ex-soldier shouldn¡¯t have that, but we frankly didn¡¯t care about some old army gear going wandering.


    ¡°Right. The rest of you go ahead. I¡¯ll wait a moment, hit the heal, then sprint to catch up. Hopefully we¡¯ll get there.¡±


    ¡°Do it.¡± Hunting ordered, and was off again.


    I waited about ten seconds - long enough for the rest of the team to get some distance, but not so long that I¡¯d get lost trying to catch up - then blasted a long-range heal, and I was off.


    I was two rooftops away when a disbelieving shout of joy reached my ears, and I smiled.


    ¡°This is the building. Dawn?¡± Hunting said.


    ¡°Almost there.¡±


    ¡°Right. Destruction, far side. Ocean. Right side. Bulwark. Left side. Destruction. From the top. Dawn, second floor, front side. Everyone drop [Camouflage] the moment you get in, I don¡¯t want friendly fire. On my mark.¡±


    Hunting was approaching another multi-storied building, the landlords in this part of town built tall to cram more people in the same plot of land. This building, however, was likely the safehouse of some criminal gang or another. They usually didn¡¯t land on our radar, being a problem for the guard, or rarely, Ranger Team 0.


    There was a pair of mean-looking [Thugs] openly guarding the door with clubs in their hand, giving Hunting a glare as he walked along the street. They weren¡¯t worried about him though - just showing off how tough they were.


    Everyone else on the street also got mean looks, but most gave the building a wide berth.


    ¡°Go.¡± Hunting ordered, and the world exploded in motion.


    I snapped my wings open as I launched myself across the street, aiming for an open window on the second floor. Hunting¡¯s fists blurred as he punched both of the [Thugs], large voids appearing in their body as his fists connected, and his skills annihilated part of their bodies. They dropped dead, as a stone spear and sword came screaming from the sky. Hunting grabbed them out of the air, Destruction helpfully arming his fellow Sentinel.


    Then I was through, blasting bright Radiance all around me as I exploded through the window, aiming to disorient and confuse.


    Four [Gangsters] were in the room, roaring with pain. Three of them were reaching for weapons.


    I killed the three with a burst of Radiance lancing through their heads as Destruction¡¯s voice came into my ears.


    ¡°Roof clear, six down.¡±


    ¡°Down.¡± I ordered the last one, cursing my [Oath]. He was sitting there stunned, and wasn¡¯t a threat. I couldn¡¯t harm him.


    I didn¡¯t wait to see what he¡¯d do, instead going through the door into the hall.


    ¡°Second floor, one room, not cleared. Three dead, one terrified.¡± I reported, as the rest of the Sentinels reported various successes.


    A few criminals were storming through the hallway, weapons in hand. The leader paled as he saw me.


    Full Sentinel gear?


    Level 512?


    He met his maker a heartbeat after he realized just how badly he¡¯d fucked up, along with the rest of them.


    We exploded through the building. Eight seconds after Hunting gave the go-ahead, Ocean spoke.


    ¡°Acquisition and his kids secured. Dawn, third floor, first door after the stairs.¡±


    I came to a screeching halt, pivoting on my heels and sprinted back towards a staircase I¡¯d just passed. I could think of exactly two things that¡¯d get Ocean calling for me over anyone else.


    ¡°Everyone else, keep clearing.¡± Hunting ordered.


    As I flashed up the stairs, I briefly got to see Destruction at work further down on the floor. He had a storm of stones whirling around him at high speeds, creating a blender that anyone would need to go through to reach him. He was firing shotgun blasts of sharp stone at anyone he saw, the barrage of rocks shredding through all opposition.


    I shuddered.


    He was Destruction. His signature move was an earthquake, but his stats were heavily regeneration focused. While he didn¡¯t have as much power as a pure mage his level did - I might have more, thinking about it - he could endlessly fire off those shots. A strong build, worthy of the ridiculous title he had.


    I blew through the open door, immediately seeing the problem. They¡¯d stabbed Acquisition¡¯s kid - well, one of the two - at the last moment, when they realized it¡¯d all gone to shit.


    But not very effectively. They slit her throat, and it took time to bleed out. Time enough for me to fly up, over Acquisition who was shielding his kid, hands futility around her throat. Blood was welling up between his fingers, crimson life fluid gushing out from her neck, denying Acquisition¡¯s attempt at stopping the bleeding. A wicked serrated knife was next to him, but I was fast. I had time. Time to reach past him and touch her, time to seal her throat.


    Black Crow would not be carrying off this small life today.


    Acquisition looked up, grateful tears pouring down his face.


    ¡°Building clear.¡± Hunting announced.


    Eleven seconds after the go order.

 Chapter 295 - Injustice II

    There was more than a bit of fallout from Acquisition getting blackmailed. We all escorted Acquisition back home, then Bulwark hung around Acquisition¡¯s place while the rest of us headed back to Ranger HQ. Hunting gave me my ring back.


    After hearing a quick after-action report, Night sent a few Sentinels and Ranger Team 0 to perform some ¡°cleanup¡± duty, primarily directed by Acquisition.


    He knew the gang that went after him. His plan had been: cooperate for the moment, get his kids safe, then either rob them blind - including the entirety of the ransom they¡¯d been asking for - or ask the Sentinels to help him. Either way, his priority had been getting his kids out of harm¡¯s way first.


    Fortunately, I wasn¡¯t asked to join. Given what was going on, I think Night knew that I¡¯d be mostly useless, and me standing around grumping at the other Sentinels for what they were doing wouldn¡¯t be great for morale. Or a dozen other things.


    [Oath] getting me out of work! Huzzah!


    The rest of the day passed in a blur. I was quiet and reserved when hanging out with Autumn, and she noticed.


    ¡°Hey, hey, what¡¯s wrong?¡± She poked at me.


    ¡°Killed a half dozen people earlier today.¡± I grumped back. It was still on my mind, how easily, how casually I¡¯d been able to kill them. A single thought, with almost no effort, and they¡¯d dropped dead. Would I one day kill someone with an idle thought? A moment of uncontained rage? An intrusive thought?


    All in all, it didn¡¯t have me in a great frame of mind, which brought me back to the emperor¡¯s offer.


    I could retire. I¡¯d never need to work again - well, except maybe for selling the occasional rejuvenation every 400 years or so - and be done with this.


    Frankly though, I knew that I wouldn¡¯t stop, I¡¯d just take on different flavors. Plus, I could heal people and-


    I was in a bad state of mind, my thoughts endlessly swirling around. Autumn picked it up, and fortunately left me alone.


    One other place my thinking wouldn¡¯t let me be was the man I¡¯d healed.


    I wasn¡¯t doing any good here. Autumn knew her stuff decently well, and didn¡¯t have any urgent, burning questions. Sure, she still needed to learn a ton more stuff, but she wasn¡¯t having any questions that needed addressing. Auri was well in hand with Plato, and I was just running myself ragged, thinking in circles and casting a dark cloud over everyone nearby.


    I swear Neptune was getting less business, as nobody wanted to get near the very high level, very pissed off Sentinel.


    I might as well stretch my legs, and do some good.


    ¡°Sorry. Having a bad day. I¡¯m going to take a walk, clear my head.¡± I told Autumn and Neptune.


    ¡°Get better, you¡¯re a huge grump right now.¡± Autumn frankly told me.


    I weakly chuckled, and left.


    It was somewhat known that I had a stall in the marketplace, and generally provided free healing to people. Heck, there had even been a service to help people get to me at one point!


    Well, word hadn¡¯t quite fully spread yet that I was back, and I¡¯d be deluding myself if I thought everyone would know about me. I generally didn¡¯t head over to the slums, but it seemed like I could do some good, even if it was just walking around with [Dance with the Heavens] on full area of effect-blast.


    I double-checked that my Deception Ring had me showing at 512. It was a balancing act - did I show up in my full gear, showing my level and status? If I did, people would run, assuming that I had business there, and frankly, most of the time that the powers that be - which I was a part of - came down to the slums, it meant problems for the people living there. It was like a natural disaster, and they wisely kept their head down and out of the way.


    On the other hand, if I didn¡¯t, if I set myself to be level 170 and put on a normal tunic, I¡¯d be inviting harassment from practically everyone. A short, pretty woman with a ¡°defenseless¡± class and a modest level?


    Problems by the dozens.


    I was in a bad mood. I elected to give myself fewer problems for the day. Most of the people who¡¯d see me and turn around would already be in my healing range, so it was mostly not a problem.


    I made my way to the slums, and started walking through them, healing on blast. As I predicted, most people took one look at the stormy-faced Sentinel stalking through the area, and found that they had forgotten an urgent appointment somewhere else.


    Bah.


    ¡°Ah! Miss! Excuse me, your eyes are most radiant! They sparkle, so much brighter and clearer than the stars in the sky! Just like these gems. My father tragically passed away, leaving me with them, and I was hoping you could take them off my hands, for just a few coins to help me feed myself and my seven children. Their mother has tragically passed away, and-¡±


    Of course, there were a few scam artists who saw a wealthy mark. I glanced down at what the man was offering.


    ¡°If you keep bothering me, I¡¯ll start to care enough to tell the guard that you¡¯re trying to pass colored glass as gemstones.¡± I told him in a cold tone.


    He vanished, and I slapped an invisible hand tugging on my pouch. My heightened vitality helped me feel the delicate vibrations.


    I blasted Radiance around me, lighting up like the sun, but keeping it entirely non-lethal. The Mirage got stripped away, and a skinny teenage girl looked at me, frozen and utterly terrified.


    I sighed, forcing myself to remember what my options as a teenager had been. The risks I¡¯d been willing to take.


    Marriage, or trying to survive on the streets as a [Pickpocket]? Thievery, or slavery to a brothel? Easy choices. Wasn¡¯t going to condemn her for making the same choices I had, that I would¡¯ve, just because she was earlier on her journey than I was. I didn¡¯t want to pull the ladder up behind me.


    ¡°Normally I¡¯d say shoo.¡± I idly told the girl, who went even paler and started to sway on her feet. ¡°But instead, I¡¯m going to say shoo, and ask you to tell your friends to not bother me. Unless they¡¯re sick. Free healing. Any problem you¡¯ve got? Just get close to me in the light, and it¡¯ll be fixed.¡±


    She muttered something unhappy under her breath. Something, something, evil Ranger-guards, something. I rolled my eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯m blasting a healing skill. Anyone gets near me, they get healed. That¡¯s it. Now leave my coin purse alone.¡±


    She scrambled, and I continued walking through the slums, taking no particular path. Letting my feet wander where they would.


    I did end up in a loop a few times, having to deliberately go down super sketchy paths to find my way into new spots. I did buy random nonsense from a few vendors either brave enough to keep their shop open, or more likely, who had enough things that they couldn¡¯t easily pack their shop up as I approached.


    It was a bit sad to think about, that I was so feared down here that people tried to get out when they saw me.


    I did see a number of kids - I used the term loosely, given that some were older than I was - pop in and out around corners, slowly getting bold enough to approach, only to run back the moment [Wheel of Sun and Moon] touched them.


    I was doing some good at least. Atoning, in a sense, for the lives I took earlier in the day by bringing new life to others.


    I didn¡¯t have any metrics. No numbers on ¡°kill one person, heal three and I¡¯m fine.¡± Just a lessening of the frustration with the sheer stupidity and waste of life.


    One constant background buzz in the slums was the same as it was in the marketplace, as in the fancy part of town where I lived. Men, who believed they were Almorae¡¯s gift to women, shamelessly catcalling anyone they saw. Remus unfortunately reinforced that somewhat, like that jackass back in Port Salona.


    Nobody tried to get too handsy or pushy with me, but I knew I was lucky. I let them fade into the background, their calls darkening my already black mood.


    The slums were the bad part of town. Guard patrols were rare - I only saw three in the hours I spent. I broke up a mugging. I watched with a heavy heart, bile rising in my throat, as a leering man grabbed the hand of a young prostitute, her eyes already looking like a dead fish¡¯s.


    Legal. Disgustingly legal, and if I stepped in, then what? What changed? What would be different? How could I make it better?


    I was feeling sick to my stomach as I noticed a wanna-be thug trying to smash a vendor¡¯s stall.


    That, at least, I could fix.


    Going to the slums had been a mistake, if I thought I was going to feel any better. My only consolation was the sheer number of people I healed up. That I fixed. Push and pull.


    I might not be able to fix all of society¡¯s woes, but I could fix the physical problems people had. One at a time.


    [*ding!* [Celestial Affinity] has leveled up! 472 -> 473]


    The sun was starting to get lower, and I did have a number of obligations weighing on me. The walk had been good for clearing my head, if nothing else, and I¡¯d been able to meditate on the actions from earlier in the day.


    I started to head home, electing to walk. One last sweep through.


    Physical stats multiplied everything. Strength was the most obvious one, and speed was right behind it in terms of ¡°well, DUH, it makes people faster.¡±


    Vitality was subtle. Tougher. Healthier. Harder for magic to impact. Better reflexes. Sturdier, younger, helped with illness and disease. Subtly one of the best stats.


    Included in it?


    Better perception.


    I was sitting on over 14,000 points of vitality, which was monstrous by Remus terms. The elves calling me ¡°fragile and delicate¡± still stung a bit. Either way, among other things, my hearing was greatly improved. Which let me eavesdrop on too many private conversations, and overhear private going-ons in houses.


    I generally tuned it all out. I would hate it if someone was spying on me, I didn¡¯t want to spy on others. I did vaguely keep a half-ear out instead of entirely ignoring the rest of the world, because I never knew when danger was around the corner.


    Which let me hear the sickening thuds of fists meeting flesh, and the associated screaming.


    Pausing just a moment to pinpoint exactly where the commotion was coming from, I snapped my wings open and flew over to the apartment.


    The slumlord had elected for no windows at all, and I didn¡¯t want to think of just how hot it had to be in the summer, especially with a cooking fire. I briefly debated burning through the stone, but no. My odds of hitting someone on the other side were too high.


    Instead, I flew in through the main door, and blasted my way through the halls, using [Mantle] to politely but firmly make sure that people who¡¯d pressed themselves against the halls to get out of my way stayed out of my way.


    They didn¡¯t even have time to see I was a Sentinel - just a heavily armored warrior soaring through the building. Bad news all around.


    In no time at all I burst through the main door to the apartment, and took in the entire scene at a glance.


    The apartments in this part of town sucked. A single room, a large¡­ I hesitated to call it a bed in one corner, a charred pile in another, a few meager possessions strewn about.


    In a third corner a woman cowered, shielding her two young kids. Her left arm dangled in a way that told me it was broken, her lip was split and bleeding, and she had a black eye, before the numerous bruises in all stages of healing were scattered over her malnourished body.


    The kids were in only slightly better shape. She¡¯d been shielding them with her body.


    And of course, there was the patriarch of the family, who I¡¯d interrupted mid-swing. A level 150 [Laborer].


    ¡°Stop!¡± I ordered as I threw up a [Mantle of the Stars].


    ¡°Bitch, what did you say?¡± The man spat, slowly turning to look at me.


    ¡°I said, stop.¡± I strode over, kneeling down to touch the woman and her kids, to heal them back up. To my disgust I saw that the man¡¯s knuckles were split, and I¡¯d never hated my [Oath] more than I did in that moment.


    I¡¯d have to heal him as well, unless he explicitly rejected my healing.


    ¡°No, please don¡¯t.¡± The woman begged at¡­ me? ¡°It¡¯s ok, it¡¯s my fault, I deserve it.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you hear that? Bugger off. Get out of my home.¡± The man sneered at me, smashing a fist against [Mantle]. It held. He didn¡¯t have nearly enough strength to break it, or even tax my mana. The two kids looked up at me, terrified. Looking for any measure of reassurance.


    ¡°It¡¯s ok.¡± I whispered to them. It wasn¡¯t ok. Not by a long shot. I gently reached out, and healed the three of them. The youngest started to sniffle, then looked at her dad and bit her lips.


    My heart broke. No two year old should be that afraid of their dad.


    ¡°Please just leave, he¡¯ll get angry and just beat me more. He loves me, he doesn¡¯t mean it, he just had a bad day then dinner was cold. It was all my fault, it¡¯s ok.¡± The woman wailed.


    ¡°I can take you away from here.¡± I spoke softly to her, like a wounded animal. She furiously shook her head.


    ¡°No, what would I do? What options would I have? How would we live? I don¡¯t want to be a slave. I don¡¯t want Claudia and Secondus to be slaves. He loves me, please just leave us alone.¡± She begged as she tightly hugged her two kids.


    ¡°Are you sure? I¡¯ve got a place for you. You¡¯ll be safe. Ok.¡± I kept the pain out of my voice, keeping it soft.


    She nodded furiously.


    ¡°He loves me.¡± She repeated, like a mantra.


    I noticed Dickless punching the [Mantle] again. Be so easy to arrest him for trying to attack a Sentinel.


    My mind raced as I processed my options, all of them utter shit.


    The first option was the brutal one. I dropped [Mantle]. Jackass took a swing.


    I killed him. Easy, simple, defense of a patient.


    Then¡­ what? She was in no better of a spot. She was just barely avoiding slavery, her and her entire family. Her kids lose their dad. She¡¯d get sold off into slavery before the week was out. Most likely she¡¯d get separated from her kids.


    Her kids would get forced onto the streets, or into slavery themselves. They looked to be two and four.


    No two year old was going to survive the streets. A four year old would be lucky to be sold into slavery, but it was possible.


    The add-on to that was I ¡®adopted¡¯ them, in a sense. Had them live with me, work for me, save them like I saved Themis. It was just a drop in the bucket.


    Would she want to live with the woman who¡¯d murdered her husband? Would her kids tolerate being with the person who killed their dad in front of them?


    The middle option didn¡¯t exist. The patriarch of the family had complete control, up to life and death, over their family. There was no calling the guard to arrest this¡­ subhuman filth. What he was doing?


    Entirely legal. It was Octavia all over again.


    And his neighbors could undoubtedly hear what was going on, and just¡­ didn¡¯t care. Or if they did, they weren¡¯t stepping in to stop it.


    The last option was to walk away. Before his fragile ego got trampled on any more. Before his rage could build further. I knew what his outlet would be. There was no question what happened after I left.


    No, I could¡­ modify the last option. Just a bit. In two small ways.


    The first was to make the mockery of a human come with me. Take him on a long, LONG walk, then get a pair of guards to get him to walk even further. Tire him out, such that by the time he got back home, he was hopefully too exhausted to take things out on his wife, and he¡¯d just go to sleep.


    Fuck. It was such a stretch, I barely believed it myself. It only kicked the can down the road, and what if he was about to go to work? What if they needed every coin? They already looked like they were on the brink of starvation, what if that just tipped things over?


    Fuck it. I¡¯d leave a few dozen coins, that should make up for it. Or maybe I could just pay him to go for a walk.


    The second part?


    Screw everything. Screw the nice library, screw the mango orchards, screw a life of ease and luxury. Fuck the long-term plans. Forget about doing things the slow, safe, steady way. Not after the day I¡¯d had.


    One last option came to me. I continued to kneel next to her.


    ¡°Hey.¡± I called, and her eyes slowly dragged away from her husband, back to me.


    ¡°I can take your kids. Keep them safe. Adopt them into my family.¡± I softly cajoled her, damning myself as I did.


    Gods, the options I was giving her.


    ¡®Give up your kids.¡¯


    ¡®Let them get beaten when you¡¯re too broken to protect them.¡¯


    Disgust welled up inside of me, starting to override my good sense.


    She looked at me, really saw me. Looked back at her kids. They were fixed, healed, but I couldn¡¯t do anything about their protruding ribs. Their torn, blood-stained shirts.


    ¡°Ok.¡± She practically whispered at me, starting to sob as she did. ¡°Ok.¡±


    I tossed my pouch of coins in the man¡¯s direction, feeling sick with myself. I felt like a slaver, although I considered myself anything but.


    Plus, the coins weren¡¯t for them.


    ¡°42 coins to just take a long walk.¡± I said, knowing it could easily be a week¡¯s wages. His eyes moved between me, his wife, his kids, and the coins, scattered carelessly around the room.


    He knelt and scrabbled for them, like I¡¯d make them disappear.


    I grabbed one kid in each arm, looking at their mom. Searing her face into my memory.


    Letting the goodbye linger for a moment.


    There was a chance it¡¯d be the kids - Secondus and Claudia¡¯s - last meeting, last memory, of their mother who loved them so very much. Who was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for them.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn.¡± I choked out, my emotions washing over me, starting to cloud my normally good judgment. ¡°Find me when you change your mind.¡±


    She got some energy and rushed over, kissing her children.


    ¡°Goodbye Secondus. Goodbye my sweet Claudia.¡±


    ¡°Bye-bye.¡± The youngest one - Claudia - said, waving her little hand.


    Secondus teared up, and after two aborted tries, choked out. ¡°Goodbye mom.¡±


    Then I left, crying around a lump in my throat as the man continued to collect fallen coins.


    It was time for me to have a long talk with Emperor Augustus.

 Chapter 296 - Negotiation Night I

    I flew off towards the senate building, anger clouding my thoughts. Pushing me towards making a suboptimal decision.


    What I should do is sit down with Ocean, Night, Neptune, Artemis, and a dozen other people whose advice and counsel I trusted. Hammer out a plan, figure out the best levers to push and pull with. Get the optimal plan of attack, figure out other things I could offer to sweeten the deal. Try to work out the emperor¡¯s bottom line, and wring every last concession out of him.


    That was the calm, rational part of me, who was not currently in control. That wasn¡¯t carrying two kids, practically babies.


    I¡¯d lived in Remus for practically two decades. I¡¯d been putting up with this second-class citizen nonsense the entire time. Practically since the day I first left my house, I¡¯d gotten smacked in the face by it.


    Again.


    And again.


    And again.


    And again.


    And again.


    And again.


    I was so tired of it all, and so angry. I finally had a chance to do something about it, and the tight lid I kept on all that anger was loose, and my rage was bubbling over.


    No more. No weeks of discussion. No endless meetings to work out details. No intelligence reports dug up by Ocean. No stacks of scrolls about each senator, and what they liked and disliked, and how receptive they¡¯d be to the proposal. No coalition building.


    What difference would it make? The only thing I could think of was figuring out the emperor¡¯s bottom line, and exactly how much we could wring out of him. If I just went directly, now, I might end up paying a little more than I intended to. I might not get every last possible concession, I might not be able to get every coin possible. I might leave some things on the table.


    Things that I could always come back later to sort out. Not only was Emperor Augustus not the only game in town, but he¡¯d need me again in, oh, 250 years or so.


    It¡¯d be a little scary if he remained emperor the entire time though¡­ maybe it¡¯d be better to work with his heir? Although¡­


    I shook my head. I was getting into politics, and I desperately wanted to avoid the type of treacherous, complicated politics that I was currently thinking over.


    At the same time, I¡¯d been trained as a Ranger. Whenever possible, we tried to have a plan of attack for a problem. I did have something of a plan. Go to Augustus, meet with him, make my pitch, see what he said. If he said yes, great. If he said no, I¡¯d try again another day, from another angle.


    I¡¯d listened to enough boring stories from dad about how the Senate worked to think my plan was vaguely normal. Meet, chat, pitch, then walk away and talk again later.


    Seemed like a solid plan. A bit flimsy, but how much more could it need?


    It only took about ten minutes at my flying speed to get from the slums to the senate. Not nearly enough time to cool off, but flying?


    Ah, flying in the warm setting sun was the best. A warm breeze, beautiful clouds, it was enough for me to regain a bit of control over myself. The kids were quiet, seemingly enjoying the novelty. The shock of the last few minutes, their lives being turned upside down, hadn¡¯t hit them yet.


    I made myself a promise. If it looked like things were going terribly. If it looked like Augustus wouldn¡¯t agree to what I was asking for. I¡¯d apologize, walk away, and talk with everyone under the sun and moons to get a better plan of action, then try again. It¡¯d be my way or the highway.


    I quickly dropped the two kids off at home. Mom was around. I only stopped briefly.


    ¡°Claudia and Secondus.¡± I quickly named them, and bless mom, she seemed to grasp what was going on in an instant. Me showing up in tears with two kids, also in tears?


    Mom had a huge heart.


    ¡°Of course.¡± She said. ¡°Let¡¯s have dinner? Autumn swung by! It would be nice to eat all together.¡±


    I shook my head, then paused a moment.


    ¡°I can¡¯t stay for dinner, but I do want to talk with Autumn.¡±


    A few moments later, Autumn and I were in a room.


    ¡°Hey, you looked pretty mad this morning. I brought you some mangos to cheer you up!¡± Autumn gestured to her offering, and a small smile cracked through my foul mood.


    ¡°Ah, thanks. Hey, I¡¯ve got a negotiation I need to head to. Wanna come?¡±


    ¡°Sure!¡± Autumn was practically jumping up and down with excitement. ¡°Where? And what? Give me the details.¡±


    I hesitated a moment, then mentally berated myself. She needed to know.


    I¡¯d had the question for ages. How did I make large-scale changes to society?


    The answer was - I couldn¡¯t. Not alone. I needed the support of thousands, tens of thousands of people, all on the same page. All working towards the same goal, in the same place. A strong network of communication and support, along with hundreds of other things that I frankly had no idea about because my social skills were terrible. I actively worked on them, but something of the scale I was thinking about?


    Entirely out of my hands.


    Now, I could try to hire people to help out, but there was a difference between a true believer, and someone trying to make a living. There was also the issue of time, and resistance to the question.


    I had a shortcut though. Emperor Augustus had everything needed to make large, sweeping changes.


    ¡°Trading my Immortality skills to the emperor, in exchange for an abolition of slavery and equal rights for women.¡±


    Autumn¡¯s eyes were practically bulging out of her head by the end of it, and she was shaking her head.


    ¡°No. No no no nope. I¡¯m not going to that. Just telling you ¡®no¡¯ got me four levels. Like, yeah, I¡¯d negotiate better than you. A wet noodle would negotiate better than you. But if I come along, there¡¯s no WAY it¡¯s not taken as a huge insult, and that hurts you waaaaaaaaay more than it can help you.¡±


    I opened my mouth, then closed it.


    I hated to say it, but Autumn knew so much more than me about this stuff. If she said it was a bad idea? It was probably a bad idea.


    It¡¯d be like Kallisto arguing with me about medicine. I knew my stuff by the time I was 16, I had to trust that Autumn knew the same.


    ¡°Plus, this is more politics than merchanting. I¡¯d be out of my depths, and I know it.¡± Autumn firmly added in.


    ¡°Right. Give me all the advice you can anyways.¡± I asked her.


    Autumn gave me a look.


    Blasted teenagers.


    ¡°Give me the most useful advice you can.¡±


    ¡°Rule 8. Everything is give and take.¡± Autumn promptly rattled off. ¡°Rule 5. Never accept the first offer. Rule 7. Haggling increases profits, but if you haggle too long, you can cause the entire deal to fall through.¡±


    She thought a bit more.


    ¡°There are some political rules, but mostly the rules are about money. You¡¯re basically bartering, with high stakes. I¡¯d say remember Rule 3 - not everything can be bought with money - but you¡¯re already there. At the same time, Rule 3 also says that not everything is for sale. If something¡¯s impossible? Don¡¯t push it, back off, and consider if you need a concession for backing off.¡± Autumn said. ¡°But sometimes, it¡¯s better not to ask for a concession if you asked for something really impossible, it makes you look unreasonable.¡±


    That made a tortured sort of sense. I made mental notes.


    ¡°Any last words of wisdom?¡±


    Autumn looked thoughtful.


    ¡°Rule 21. The longer the negotiations, the worse it¡¯ll be.¡± She finally settled on. ¡°That rule¡¯s from the merchant¡¯s point of view though. I¡¯m not sure if you¡¯re a customer, a merchant, or what. Like, politics, not sales, so hard to say if it applies. If it¡¯s going terribly, just walk away for another day. But only if it¡¯s a disaster.¡±


    ¡°Alright, thanks beanpole!¡± I grinned, feeling fortified.


    ¡°No worries! This means you¡¯ll be letting me sell your Immortality, right?¡±


    ¡°Sure. Find me someone with a million rods, and we¡¯ll talk.¡±


    Autumn went pale, and staggered back. She tried to sit down, and missed the low sofa entirely, landing hard on her butt.


    ¡°A million rods.¡± She whispered, getting a far-off look in her eyes.


    Well, shoot. I broke my apprentice.


    Ah well, she¡¯d recover¡­ eventually. I didn¡¯t know what the proper treatment for ¡®severe overwhelming greed¡¯ was, but I figured time would fix it.


    I¡¯d check in later.


    I left, going through the house.


    ¡°Dinner?¡± Mom asked, and I shook my head.


    ¡°Meeting.¡± I said, intending to take off.


    ¡°BRRRRRRPT!¡± A familiar shriek interrupted my leaving. I considered just going anyways, but no.


    That¡¯d be too mean to poor Auri, who didn¡¯t deserve it. Plus, I was in desperate need of some Auri-therapy.


    ¡°Auri! How¡¯s it going!¡±


    ¡°Brrrrpt! BRRRRPT! Brrrrrrpt¡­¡± Auri wailed at me, letting me know how HARSH Plato was. She needed to THINK! He made her fix her mistakes! It was silly! She didn¡¯t need to know multiplication! What was with this philosophy thing!? It was soooo boring! She could be burning things!


    Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.


    ¡°Young lady. Our lessons are not yet over.¡± Plato¡¯s voice came from a few rooms down.


    ¡°It¡¯s good for you.¡±


    ¡°BRRRPT!¡±


    ¡°Listen, I¡¯ll let you a secret.¡±


    ¡°Brrppt¡­¡­.¡±


    ¡°The more you know, the better skills you get.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ¡°Which means you get to burn bigger, better, and more.¡±


    ¡°BRRPT!?¡±


    ¡°YEAH! I promise! It¡¯s how my skills are so good! Here, have a drink.¡± I grabbed one of the now omni-present amphoras of fruit juice, and offered it to Auri, who greedily drank.


    ¡°BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRPT!¡±


    With a fierce warcry, a motivated Auri blitzed back to where Plato was.


    I grinned. That was just what my poor head needed to clear somewhat. I left the house, blasting back off into the sky.


    Augustus wanted [The Stars Never Fade]. He would probably be ok with a bit of back-and-forth. I was also meeting him with a counter-offer soon after, so it wasn¡¯t like I¡¯d let him cool his heels for ages.


    I was nowhere near as calm and composed as I could be, in spite of the Auri-therapy, but I had reined in my anger enough that I didn¡¯t barge in through the Senate windows, screaming demands. Instead, my rational side harnessed my anger, and like a particularly showy [Gladiator] throwing around red flags to distract and redirect an enraged dinosaur, it was simply redirecting me towards courses of action more likely to succeed.


    The guards saluted as I landed and approached the doors. Being a recognized Sentinel, being a member of the established government, had its perks and privileges.


    But I only had those perks and privileges. I didn¡¯t have-


    I mentally slapped myself to focus.


    Unfortunately, inside the halls of the Senate, everyone thought they were demigods, and that all hallways should be cleared for them. Somehow made the traffic even worse than a normal street, in spite of having half the people.


    I felt a minor flush of embarrassment, as I realized slowing down might¡¯ve saved me from an incredibly embarrassing situation.


    It was late. The sun was setting.


    What if Augustus wasn¡¯t there? Barging in would¡¯ve gone terribly.


    I didn¡¯t let that slow my stride as I twisted and weaved through the hallways, ignoring one [Scribe] who mistook me for a guard and tried to get me to run an errand for him.


    I suppose if I didn¡¯t like the direction the negotiations were going, that I could use the late hour as an excuse to bail. I added it to my plan.


    I did pause for a moment at the doors of the Senate proper though, a full squad of Praetorian guards protecting the entrance.


    Regardless of our level differences, regardless of my Sentinel status, if I tried to barge straight in they¡¯d do what they could to stop me. It¡¯d be a hopeless fight, but there was no need. Not when there were easier ways.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn for Emperor Augustus.¡± I stiffly reported, and the guards made way for me.

 Chapter 297 - Negotiation Night II

    I strode in, seeing that Emperor Augustus was still in his low chair in the middle of the Senate, a dozen advisors surrounding him, with a few runners hanging on a respectful distance away.


    They¡¯d clearly figured out that this was the place to be for high priority - read, expensive - messages.


    Augustus himself was in the middle of a conversation with a few people, a wolfhound curled at his feet. Never seen a dog here before, but the emperor could do what he wanted. I was oh so tempted to just barge in, and start listing off my demands.


    Except¡­ wouldn¡¯t that make me look desperate? And rude? And he¡¯d totally know I was super desperate. Although with his social skills, he could probably figure it out anyways.


    Ah well. He wasn¡¯t exactly wrong, but three minutes wasn¡¯t going to dramatically change the course of things.


    Heck.


    Even if Augustus changed things right now, it¡¯d be at least a day or so before anything got implemented, at top speed.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn! Come, come, I¡¯ve been eager to talk with you. Meet Tyson, my loyal dog. Not quite the same as your Auri, but ah, he¡¯s been with me loyally for decades.¡± Emperor Augustus was all smiles, beckoning me closer.


    Time to try and be personable and charming. And polite.


    ¡°Emperor! Thank you for meeting with me. How¡¯s-¡±


    Wait shit I already asked about his daughter and I don¡¯t know any of his other family members and asking about his dog he just introduced is dumb gods damnit all!


    ¡°-things going?¡± I stuttered and lamely recovered.


    ¡°Most excellent! I take it you¡¯ve come with your counter offer?¡±


    ¡°Yes, although, are you sure you want to negotiate here?¡± I asked, gesturing around. There were so many hangers-on.


    ¡°I can understand wanting to keep your skill private.¡± Emperor Augustus snapped his fingers, and with only some muttering, and a bit of prodding from the guards, the room was mostly cleared.


    Just me, Augustus, a dozen of his advisors, and a handful of guards.


    Private. Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure.


    If my skill was known by less than 5,000 people at this point, I¡¯d eat my tunic. Without washing it.


    ¡°You can leave now.¡± He called out to the guards. ¡°If Dawn wanted to harm me, I doubt any of you could stop her.¡±


    The guards left, and he winked at me.


    ¡°Plus you¡¯re Oathbound.¡±


    Yeah, I was never telling anyone my skills ever again. I should go into hiding for a few hundred years, get Night to change my title, and try again.


    He clapped his hands.


    ¡°You¡¯ve come with a counter-offer! That¡¯s fantastic, although I wouldn¡¯t begrudge you having your friends help out. Anyways, what would you like?¡±


    ¡°Fairly simple. You can make some legal changes, yeah?¡±


    ¡°For you? Naturally, within reason. I¡¯m not going to make you Empress, although I could be talked into adding your father to the Triumvirate.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like slavery to be abolished, and I¡¯d like women to be granted the exact same rights as men under the law.¡± In for a coin, in for a rod, might as well make my big ask.


    The advisors muttered to each other in the background, as Augustus¡¯s forehead wrinkled in thought.


    After reaching some sort of consensus, one of the advisors leaned forward to Augustus, and whispered in his ear. Augustus slowly nodded, as the dude went on for some time.


    ¡°Let¡¯s tackle this one point at a time. For the abolition of slavery - entirely impossible.¡± He said. I opened my mouth in outrage, but he held up his hand.


    ¡°Agamemnon? Would you care to explain?¡±


    The advisor in question half-bowed to Augustus, and took a deep breath.


    ¡°I¡¯m a [Republic Economist]. Slavery, or to be more technical, the people working as slaves, currently forms the backbone of Remus. I would love to go through a hundred examples, but let me start off with food. Yes, [Farmers] have powerful skills to help work the fields, but at the end of the day, the harvest must be brought in; it must be processed, and shipped to towns. Simply ending slavery would cause most of those field hands to walk away. Why would they stay? Mass starvation would be the result, and that simply scratches the very surface of the issue. We could honestly spend months with dozens of [Scholars] studying the issue to get a full scope of what would happen. The justice system springs to mind as a thorny issue that would require a complete overhaul. That¡¯s all before we get into the massive wealth transfer issue.¡±


    He glanced at another advisor, who tilted his head towards him. Agamemnon shrugged.


    ¡°It¡¯s not my area of expertise, but the slave owners would never accept it. Emperor Augustus would be facing rebellion and assassination before the words left his mouth. Almost every member in the Senate, from the senators to the guards and the scribes, own their own slaves. Emperor Augustus¡¯s decree would turn everyone against him, and he¡¯d be lucky to survive the hour. Why, even I might turn against him!¡±


    Augustus turned to give Agamemnon a long stare, who unflinchingly stared back at him.


    ¡°Well, I do ask for the best honest advice they can give.¡± He half-shrugged at me. ¡°Be poor form to do anything besides listen.¡±


    I was trying to process everything the advisor said, while Augustus¡¯s advisors whispered among each other, then to Augustus himself. They had to have some skills for that, such that I couldn¡¯t hear, and I was reminded once again just how freaking COOL magic was.


    I hated, with every fiber of my being, that he had a bunch of good points. I¡¯d struggled with it myself, mostly when it came to the justice system. There wasn¡¯t anything else I could do with the bandits. If they were turned over to the guard? Slavery. Otherwise? Kill them when they were trying to kill me, or let them go. I was somewhat aware that it¡¯d need a whole overhaul, but I¡¯d been naive. I¡¯d hoped it was as easy as a few pen strokes here and there to fix the issue.


    Like, I¡¯d known slavery was omnipresent in Remus, and basically everything relied on it. I¡¯d still hoped that there was an easy, clean solution, that an all-powerful dictator could make it right, by wielding some political mastery.


    Causing hundreds of thousands to potentially starve? Quite a lot of farmers would figure stuff out. They¡¯d need to hire people to work the fields, but they¡¯d work something out. However, not everyone would. Food supply would totter, and the moment a population started to starve was the moment everything got real ugly, real fast.


    Hundreds of thousands would die in a poorly done transition¡­ and that¡¯s if there was even any negotiating room.


    Then again, with serious legwork, and a few years of planning and studying, it might be possible to fix the issue cleanly.


    Might. I¡¯d need to have a few dozen scholars study the issue, and in an ironic twist, the people that would be needed to study the issue would also be the ones to lose something as a result. Misaligned incentives were no good.


    They had a second good point.


    My old life was coming in handy.


    Emperor Augustus was the emperor because people believed he was the emperor. Crucially, it was the people with money, power, and who controlled the army who believed it, and made it so. Ideally, it would be the common man and woman who made it so, but I was under no illusions on that front - it was the army.


    Take away everyone¡¯s toys? Tell everyone who surrounded him ¡°time to become much poorer?¡±


    RIP Emperor Augustus¡¯s reign.


    Fuck, a quarter of this I could¡¯ve figured out on my own! People liked having slaves. That was kind of obvious. People made money off of slaves. People liked having money, and didn¡¯t like the government coming in and costing them tens of thousands of coins in assets, and more in lost future revenues. And it was country-wide! If I had only talked with more people, instead of letting my anger take the wheel, I could¡¯ve come up with a better request. Instead, now I just looked dumb.


    But no, I¡¯d been stupid and let my anger control my actions. At the same time, this needs some sort of resolution now. The sooner, the better. I¡¯d take quick and imperfect, over long and perfect. I wasn¡¯t going to let ¡®perfect¡¯ be the enemy of ¡®good enough¡¯.


    Plus, who cared about looking dumb?


    This clearly fell under Autumn¡¯s Rule 3. Not everything could be bought with money, and this was clearly part of the corollary - it wasn¡¯t for sale. There was no price, no amount of bartering, begging, or pleading, that could get a complete and total abolition of slavery done tonight, or anytime soon.


    I needed to let it go.


    I said I¡¯d walk if things were looking bad, but I could still get a win here. The slavery thing sucked, but even if I walked away, I¡¯d need more than a few months of preparation and planning to tackle it. Walking away would accomplish nothing, and my other request was still on the table.


    However, if that got watered down? Then it was time to walk.


    The big question I had though - did I ask for a concession for Augustus removing it from consideration? Or would that offend him? ¡®Yeah, you said no to this thing you consider completely unreasonable, and now I¡¯m going to make demands because you said no to a totally unreasonable thing!¡¯


    I decided to keep my eye on the prize.


    Augustus must¡¯ve seen the look on my face. I wasn¡¯t exactly a master at hiding my emotions, and he had charisma in spades.


    Augustus leaned forward from his advisors.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to offer a compromise on the slavery issue.¡± He said, and I perked right back up, cursing myself as I felt my face lift.


    This was why I didn¡¯t play poker.


    ¡°Most slave owners are somewhat lax about properly recording their slaves¡¯s efforts against their debt.¡± He said. ¡°How about we improve enforcement on properly recording a slave¡¯s efforts towards their debt?¡±


    I felt like this was¡­ well, if not a trap, then being sold something I already owned. However, after mulling it over a bit, I couldn¡¯t see an obvious problem.


    Like. Isn¡¯t that something that should be done anyways? I hedged, not wanting to commit. Remembering Rule 5 - don¡¯t accept the first offer, and Rule 7 - haggle. I just didn¡¯t have something that I could immediately offer instead. I¡¯d have to think about it. No sense in opening my mouth immediately.


    ¡°Possibly acceptable. How about the women¡¯s rights thing?¡±


    They all looked at each other, and a different advisor cleared his throat.


    ¡°Leandros, [Lawyer], a pleasure to meet you.¡± He said. ¡°The premise is acceptable. However. We¡¯d like to make absolutely certain that we¡¯re all reading the same scroll. It¡¯d be the worst type of bad faith to agree, then discover that we had entirely different ideas in mind as to what the law would entail. I have numerous questions on subtle and difficult aspects of the implementation, implications, and the practicalities of how you see it working. Now, naturally, women would be able to obtain citizenship, is that correct?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Which means they could vote?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± How was this even a question?


    ¡°Which implies they could run for Senate, or to become governor, correct?¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    He was frowning.


    ¡°Currently, only the head of the household is allowed to run for Senate, or related positions.¡± I didn¡¯t know that. I¡¯d taken a legal class, but that had been more along the lines of ¡®murder is bad¡¯, less so on ¡®only the head of household is allowed to run for Senate¡¯. We had been trained to be law enforcement, not lawyers. ¡°How do you see the law working? You¡¯d like a woman to be a senator, but if she is not the head of the household, the secondary law prevents it.¡±


    ¡°Well, why couldn¡¯t she be the head of the household?¡± I asked. A few of the advisors¡¯ eyes widened, and one of them hit his forehead with the palm of his hand.


    ¡°You need some women with good common sense on your council.¡± I told Augustus, who was eyeing his advisors up with a displeased look.


    ¡°I can see that.¡± He drily agreed. ¡°My wife Sextia provides excellent counsel at home, but I should start bringing her here.¡±


    ¡°What happens if a family can¡¯t agree on who''s the head of the household?¡± One of the advisors asked.


    I countered with my own question.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you just let anyone in the house run for Senate?¡±


    ¡°Dynasties.¡± Leandros promptly answered. ¡°Permits large families to hold too much power.¡±


    I shrugged.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to try and sort out the internal workings of the Senate.¡± I answered. ¡°I don¡¯t have all the answers. You¡¯re the experts here.¡±


    Augustus locked eyes with me and slowly nodded.


    ¡°Also, the whole life and death over the family business should be done away with.¡± I added in. Miserable bloody law.


    ¡°Past a certain point.¡± One of the advisors practically snarled, the veins in his neck bulging.


    There was one hell of a story there, and yeah. It twisted my stomach to agree, but I wasn¡¯t in the idyllic ¡°I can save everyone¡± stage. I¡¯d seen too much, and I was playing in deep political waters that I wasn¡¯t properly equipped for.


    There was¡­ a frankly horrible to think about reason why the patriarch of the family had the power, but the root cause of the issue wasn¡¯t one I was able to fix here and now.


    ¡°Fine. Past two years of age.¡± I could only try my best, making things better one small step at a time.


    I hadn¡¯t come here to handle that particular issue, and getting it served up to me on a plate like that was nice. A minor extra win, that I hadn¡¯t been looking for but I¡¯d take.


    ¡°Drafted by the army?¡± Another advisor smugly asked, like he¡¯d found some massive gotcha.


    Like Artemis wasn¡¯t a shining example of a woman being able to utterly wreck anyone and everyone in a fight.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s fine. But at the same time, if a husband is beating or raping his wife, that should be a crime. Marriage doesn¡¯t absolve the husband of it, just like the wife should be charged for plunging a knife into his chest.¡±


    I spat the last bit out a bit more forcefully than I¡¯d intended, revealing that I too had a shit story to tell. Augustus didn¡¯t look thrilled at the implications, and I remembered that he had a daughter who recently married off.


    Maybe there was some empathy at work? He didn¡¯t come off as a soulless bastard, just¡­ a product of his time and place. The idea that a wife might not want to have relations with her husband could easily be a new one to him, but once it got in his head, the implications were clear.


    The benefits to his own family were clear.


    Nobody asked, and one dude did get an elbow in his side as another furious whisper session started.


    The discussion continued, the moons rising, briefly flooding the room with crimson light as we continued to discuss the full range and implications of the issues. Tyson remained faithfully at Augustus¡¯s feet, the emperor occasionally reaching down to scratch or pet the loyal hound.


    Frankly, I was glad, because they had points and problems I¡¯d never considered. Like, who was the tiebreaker? If a husband was a citizen, did the wife automatically get citizenship as well? What about the reverse? What about losing it?


    What about bank accounts? They were already run in the family name.


    Children and citizenship? Divorce?


    The longer we talked, the more animated Augustus¡¯s advisors became, with Augustus occasionally turning in his chair to huddle up and talk in a circle with them.


    Honestly, I was pleased. Augustus¡¯s side was initiating most of this. It would¡¯ve been incredibly easy for them to say ¡°ok, done¡±, and write a ten word law just to make me happy.


    The fact that they were digging into it so deeply, touching on the implications and issues, the other laws that would need to be changed, and all the rest? It told me that they were operating in genuinely good faith, and were somewhat committed to see this through. Made me wonder if there were other pressures and forces at play.


    It felt a bit like a trap of some sort, but for the life of me, I couldn¡¯t see it. I was getting what I wanted, how I wanted it, in what looked to be a short timeframe. It¡¯d be easy for Augustus to dismiss us all, and to resume the next day. Instead, we were burning the midnight oil on the Senate floor, solving the issues one at a time. Maybe it was just my own inexperience talking.


    I¡¯d like to believe that my arguments were so good, that my logic and the benefits of creating an equal society would be enough for them to pass the changes anyways.


    Nah. That¡¯d just be deluding myself.


    As time went on, and as Augustus held council, I started to mentally kick myself. There were a dozen other things I could¡¯ve asked for! State-sponsored healing! Everyone getting access to healers, paid for by the government. Bread rations, to help feed the poor and hungry, and give a strong layer of protection against falling into debt and slavery. Education, not just for those who could afford tutors. Orphanages.


    ¡­Even as I listed them all out I started to recognize getting them all was something of a pipe dream. Might as well add in gigantic free public libraries to the list. Get some of my own desires met.


    Although, the slavery thing had been entirely shot down, and replaced with ¡®we¡¯ll do our jobs better¡¯. The more I thought about it, the more that looked like a cheap promise, and not a suitable substitution.


    Sure, Autumn¡¯s Rule 3 came into play, but if they¡¯d already offered a replacement? I could haggle over the replacement, and offer A over B.


    Welp. Night suggested that I figure out long-term goals, and I was getting a few ideas. Anything I didn¡¯t ask for, or get now, I could possibly tackle. I didn¡¯t think splitting myself up among so many different goals right now was a good idea, especially not if I went with step 1: Get filthy rich first, then step 2: Make changes. However, I was getting a list of possible ideas. Ending slavery. Gigantic libraries. Corning the mango market. Shelters. All stuff for another day though.


    Or was it? I could probably slip a few in right now with the Rule 3 haggling.


    I would like to do something with my healing¡­ maybe better advertising?


    Focus.


    Augustus and co were spending a lot of time internally debating, giving me too much time to think on my own as time passed. Occasionally a guard would peek in, and at one point a few hefty trays of food were carefully slid into the room, but otherwise we were left alone.


    Just me, Augustus, his advisors, and Lun Kat¡¯s eyes, watching us as the moons set again.


    Finally, we seemed to have handled the last issue. Answered the last question. Built something resembling a framework. Augustus turned towards me.


    ¡°A few notes.¡± He said, and while I¡¯d stayed ram-rod straight and at attention - although with my toes tapping half the time - I stood up just a hair straighter.


    ¡°I believe in operating under full, good faith. Except when I need not to, but this isn¡¯t one of those situations.¡± He said, and a cold shiver went down my back. ¡°First. The bulk of your proposed changes are doable, however, we¡¯re going to need a week with our best researchers to find all the laws that need updating. As much as I¡¯d like to simply write ¡®women are equal to men¡¯, it is not that simple.¡±


    Lawyers. Scum of every planet¡­ but I nodded in acceptance. ¡®We need to do this right, and slowly¡¯ seemed to be a heck of a lot better than ¡®we did this too fast, and we missed something that ruins it all.¡¯


    Which I hated, because it told me that I had resoundedly fucked up in coming right here, and insisting to myself that things get done ASAP. I made a few mental notes.


    First - I was clearly developing an anger issue. Between Ochi and here, anger and rage was in the driver¡¯s seat a little too often. I hadn¡¯t exactly been living a happy and carefree life, and I had to wonder if I¡¯d gone through one trauma too many. A job for a [Therapist], if I could ever get someone to invent the blasted profession.


    Second - I should stop acting on my anger.


    Third ¡­ I know I had a bunch more to add, I just couldn¡¯t remember them. Fleeting thoughts weren¡¯t something [Pristine Memories] could handle, apparently. Which kinda sucked.


    ¡°The second issue is a cultural one. You would like the laws changed. Very well, we can do that. However. The family that still believes the husband is in charge? The wife who believes herself subservient? The husband who continues to take charge? They will continue to act as they have. I do not promise any cultural changes, or efforts to make the widespread changes needed to cause the changes.¡±


    ¡°But you will enforce the law?¡± I asked, realizing another way I might¡¯ve fucked up.


    A law with no teeth wasn¡¯t a law at all. ¡°No hats on Friday¡± didn¡¯t mean shit if nobody enforced the ¡°No hats on Friday¡± law. One of the fundamentals of being a Ranger. Law enforcement. Another fundamental was ¡°who enforces the law is almost as important as the law itself.¡± In this case, the guard and primary justice system seemed to be taking it on.


    Fortunately, the Rangers were a good check on the local guards for corruption, and Sentinels were a check on Rangers misbehaving. In other words - indirectly, I was part of the enforcement mechanism of the new laws, which had me all sorts of happy.


    ¡°Naturally. As I said, I operate in good faith, however, a petition must be brought forth before the judiciary for there to be any enforcement. If the involved parties are unaware, or simply choose not to pursue their own rights? There is little I can do.¡± He spread his arms wide.


    Made sense. I didn¡¯t like it, but it made sense. If nobody complained that their rights were being trampled, it was exceedingly difficult to find out that there was an issue behind closed doors. It sucked, but the woman I¡¯d seen¡­ gods, just hours ago, it felt like a lifetime - was an example of that. She thought what she was going through was normal, and my stomach turned over again at the memory.


    At leaving her.


    I reassured myself that I¡¯d gotten her kids out of there at least.


    ¡°Thank you. In the interest of good faith, my skill has a cooldown. It takes time between each cast. Anything else?¡± I asked.


    ¡°How long is the cooldown?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Augustus frowned, then smiled.


    ¡°Well, we have a long time to find out. Putting that aside. Two last notes. Your Triumph is upcoming. I believe there would be maximum effect to announce the changes as you approach the Senate, before the largest crowd possible.¡±


    He paused, looking at me. I nodded my acceptance.


    I had a small dramatic flair in storytelling, not running events. However, that sounded suitably nice. ¡®Look at Sentinel Dawn! Look at how awesome she is, getting level 512! To celebrate her, she gets citizenship! All women can get citizenship!¡¯


    Sure. Seemed fine.


    ¡°Excellent. Onto my last point. It is quite complicated to change laws like this. I will need to work with the Senate, and obtain a medium of buy-in.¡±


    I started to glare at him, and he naturally picked it up. He gave me an apologetic smile.


    ¡°Naturally, I will succeed. However, burning favors and political will is harder than simply parting with money. As opposed to simply turning back the clock for me, can you make myself and a dozen people of my choosing young as well?¡±


    I almost agreed, then closed my mouth.


    This was a negotiation after all. Autumn¡¯s Rule 5 came to mind - never accept the first offer. There were also the other parts I wanted to negotiate for.


    If I accepted this offer?


    She¡¯d loudly bemoan my utter lack of bartering expertise, and make fun of me. She¡¯d offer remedial lessons, then act shocked and say something like ¡°Wait, no, you¡¯re too hopeless. Just make more money instead.¡±


    Teenagers had vicious insults. I could probably barter him down, my skill was valuable.


    Heck, he¡¯d started with one person, and now wanted thirteen? That was an insane jump in his request. Plus, I hadn¡¯t finished the enforcement bartering.


    ¡°Before we get to the details, I¡¯d like to loop back around to the slavery issue briefly.¡±


    Augustus nodded for me to continue.


    ¡°Simply enforcing the law is something that the government should be doing in the first place.¡± I pointed out, getting a minor note of satisfaction as one of the advisor¡¯s mouth quickly puckered. Ha! I was right! They tried to sell me a dud!


    ¡°One thing I¡¯d like to add. Can the sheer abuses and outright legalized murder of slaves be fixed? If nothing else, by having a legal avenue for slaves to air their complaints, they¡¯re less likely to take up arms in an attempt to correct things.¡±


    I only gave them a brief moment to process things before I carried on.


    ¡°A second thing. One of the driving forces of slavery are people falling into debt, and being unable to repay it.¡± I stated the obvious, while mulling over a dozen aspects of my proposal - including a medical aspect! ¡°Now, something that would mitigate that is free bread from the Senate, distributed to every household.¡±


    Augustus held up his hand, and looked at Agamemnon. He thought about it a moment, then nodded.


    ¡°Carry on.¡± Augustus said, my proposal having been cleared as ¡®vaguely reasonable¡¯ or whatever other system they had going.


    ¡°Free bread would make you wildly popular, prevent citizens and people of Remus from starving, help mitigate some of the largest expenses that cause people to fall into debt, then slavery, AND there¡¯s a nutrition aspect that you might be unaware of.¡± I said, quickly reorganizing my angle of attack. Making it palatable to the military general, who seemed to be in it for the long haul.


    ¡°Proper nutrition, or rather, getting enough food growing up is crucial to development.¡± I instinctively leaned into a medical lecture, having given far too many of them. It was no longer Emperor Augustus and his advisors, it was just another class. ¡°Without enough food, people grow up short, skinny, and stunted. If they¡¯re given enough food? Tall and strong. While the [Centurions] of the army tend to come from wealthy families, where do the rank and file come from? Poor men, trying to gain citizenship and gainful employment.¡± I was getting animated, pacing the floor, my arms gesturing. ¡°Feed them well, for long enough, and the next generation of soldiers will be even stronger. Also, the effect stacks as time goes by. Well-fed parents give birth to well-fed babies.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯d take dozens of years to see any results.¡± Augustus said, after listening to his advisors.


    I could see he had more to say, but the goal was too open. The shot was too easy.


    ¡°I¡¯m here because you¡¯re in it for the long run. A few hundred years from my skill, remember?¡±


    Direct hit. Even I could see it.


    Augustus and his advisors huddled up, and spent almost an hour talking. The sun was starting to lighten the horizon.


    ¡°Fine. Fourteen uses of your skill, and you get everything we discussed.¡± Augustus said. I frowned.


    This was totally a spot for Rule 7 - Haggle. Rule 21 - Shorter negotiations - didn¡¯t apply. Or at least, I didn¡¯t think it did. A bread program was nowhere close to being worth two million rods and two senators, which was his opening offer.


    He was trying to haggle more out of me!


    ¡°Four.¡± I figured I¡¯d slice the number way down, and end up meeting somewhere in the middle.


    Augustus shook his head, and stood up.


    ¡°I apologize for wasting your time, Sentinel Dawn, but I believe our respective evaluations of our positions are too far apart to come to an agreement. I wish you and your father the best.¡± He started to walk away with his advisors shuffling along. His dog woke up, and started padding after him.


    ¡°Wait! Ok! Eight?¡± I shouted after him, and he whirled on me with a predatory grin.


    Shit. I¡¯d been had.


    ¡°Deal!¡± He cried out before I could change my mind.


    I had Immortality as my bargaining chip. I could¡¯ve made it work just by standing firm, calling his bluff, and insisting on only changing back Augustus.


    I slowly shook my head to myself. I¡¯d gotten played like a fiddle.


    ¡°Deal.¡± I agreed.


    End of the day? It was just using a skill.


    And I¡¯d done it. It¡¯d take decades, but one day, a girl going to the temple for System Day wouldn¡¯t get thrown out in the middle. She¡¯d be allowed to play with all the things, given a chance to unlock all the classes she could. It¡¯d take decades, if not centuries, to fix thousands of years of thinking, but the first crucial step had been taken.


    I¡¯d gotten what I wanted.


    At long last.

 Chapter 298 - The Dawn of Change

    Emperor Augustus and I shook hands, cementing the deal.


    ¡°Do you have time for hammering out some details?¡± He asked as an advisor stifled a yawn. They had to work extremely hard with the whole ¡®single-handedly running an empire¡¯ thing, and I¡¯d just demolished their entire night¡¯s sleep.


    And I¡¯d bet so much money that Augustus would grab breakfast, freshen up for a few minutes, then get right back to the empire-running business.


    ¡°Only a few minutes, then I need to report to Ranger HQ. Daily stand-up to make sure there¡¯s nothing we need to be dispatched on.¡± I gave my best ¡®winningly apologetic¡¯ tone.


    ¡°Of course, of course.¡± Augustus said. ¡°The Sentinels and Rangers do such fine work, I¡¯d never want to interfere or get in their way.¡±


    Yet he was at the top of Night¡¯s guesses as to why Julius had vanished, given that the balance of power of Ranger Command had tilted towards the Senate, which Augustus somewhat controlled.


    I mentally shook my head.


    Focus. Entirely irrelevant to the topic at hand. I was tired, and [Sunrise] was good, but didn¡¯t substitute sleep, especially not after the emotionally taxing day and mentally taxing night.


    ¡°When is a good time for you to begin the process? Does it take particularly long?¡± Augustus asked.


    ¡°I could probably do the first person later today.¡± I mused. ¡°The skill does have a cooldown, and I¡¯m not quite sure how long it is.¡±


    I thought about it for a moment.


    ¡°I hope you understand when I ask to turn you back after the policy changes are made.¡± I hedged a bit. He waved my concern off.


    ¡°Naturally. I hope you understand that I¡¯d like to see a demonstration before making the large changes?¡±


    That was fair. I¡¯d made a lot of claims, but I hadn¡¯t backed any of them up. Nobody had seen the gnoll, and a lot of faith had been placed in my personal honesty and integrity.


    ¡°Sure.¡± It was a small thing after all. My worst-case scenario was turning back some dude, then nothing happened. I¡¯d get mightily annoyed at Emperor Augustus - to say the least - but it wasn¡¯t the end of the world.


    I¡¯d have time to plot my revenge.


    ¡°One last note, and I¡¯ll leave this problem for your advisors.¡± I said, placing a bit more trust in them than I probably should. ¡°I believe it¡¯d be beneficial to trace the citizenship lines of a number of women, and grant them citizenship. Sort of a retroactive thing.¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s heritable from father to son, it¡¯ll also be heritable from father to daughter, then from mother to son and daughter. Why not just¡­ poke at it and make everyone who would¡¯ve been a citizen, an actual citizen?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll discuss it.¡± Leandros, the lawyer, said after a moment.


    That was likely to be a no. I could argue this another day, before a bunch of Sentinels got dispatched to my villa.


    ¡°Right. I¡¯ll swing by this evening then?¡± I asked Augustus.


    ¡°Agreed. Does your skill require anything to activate or operate? A sacrifice, material, anything of that nature?¡±


    There were some skills that needed material to work, [Carpenters] being the famous example. Needed wood to [Carve], just like [Farmers] needed seeds to [Plant].


    I was going to say no, then paused, getting an idea.


    ¡°No, but I recommend bringing some food a bird might like. Or just like. Some nice offerings for White Dove.¡±


    Looks were exchanged, and there were some nervous mutterings.


    ¡°She is very real and will personally show up to curse you. I honestly wouldn¡¯t mess with her.¡±


    ¡°Listen to the Classer when she¡¯s describing her skills.¡± Augustus stated, without turning back.


    ¡°Anyways, it¡¯s been great, but I really gotta run now.¡± I apologized, but waited a brief moment for Augustus to nod and dismiss me.


    I could have just left and stepped on his toes a bit, but why bother? Manners and politeness never killed anyone.


    I stepped out of the Senate, taking a moment to stretch and bask in the light of the sun, rising just above the horizon. I took a deep breath as the sun kissed my skin.


    It felt like freedom.


    A different type to be sure. It wasn¡¯t physical shackles that had been lifted from me, more emotional ones that I¡¯d lived with for so long, I¡¯d forgotten they existed.


    Speaking of chains, it was time to tend to the one I¡¯d voluntarily placed on myself.


    My stomach grumbled as I made my way to Ranger HQ, which was blessedly close by. Most of the fancy government buildings were somewhat clustered together.


    In no time at all, I was in the meeting room. I¡¯d slightly misjudged how late the meeting started, the current time, and how far away the Senate was from Ranger HQ, and I was early.


    Much better than being so late that Hunting and co were dispatched to see what was up.


    The Sentinels trickled in one at a time.


    ¡°Most excellent.¡± Night said once we¡¯d all arrived. ¡°Does anyone have any items of concern before we discuss yesterday¡¯s activities?¡±


    ¡°Possible problem.¡± Ocean said. ¡°Heard a few reports of a Ranger team of one person going around. However, it¡¯s unclear which team it is, and they¡¯re not following a known route, nor do they seem to be on a return trip to Ariminum after a team wipe.¡±


    ¡°Could the reports be out of order? Dates mixed up?¡± Nature asked. Ocean nodded.


    ¡°Could be Team 5 if three dates are swapped and they detoured.¡±


    ¡°Is this concern actionable at this time?¡± Night politely asked. Ocean gave a slow nod.


    ¡°Anyone sitting in on Ranger Command meetings, keep an ear out.¡±


    I sent off a quick prayer to all the gods and goddesses that my name wouldn¡¯t come out of the hat for sitting in on a few Ranger Command meetings. They were bad enough when I was the star of the show. Sitting around?


    Bleack.


    ¡°Are there any other matters?¡± Night formally asked.


    ¡°Got a somewhat important one.¡± Acquisition said. ¡°Of all people, Dawn¡¯s got a price on her head. One dead, and a large one alive.¡±


    That would scare me more if I wasn¡¯t on team Night, although it did send a little trace of fear through me. Who wouldn¡¯t have a moment of ¡®oh shit¡¯ when told that random people wanted them dead?


    Still. Between my healing and magic, I had complete confidence that I could handle any problems. My biggest concerns would be someone going after Auri or Autumn or any other family members.


    ¡°Tell me everything. This will not be permitted to stand.¡± Night leaned forward, a predatory gleam in his eye. ¡°I want names, locations, the fake sponsors, the real sponsors, everything.¡± He practically hissed, and I foresaw a violent night. ¡°As soon as the meeting ends, Acquisition, meet with me.¡±


    Welp. Alrighty then. Mission for someone not called Elaine!


    ¡°On that note. Dawn. Ocean. I must have a discussion with the two of you as well after this.¡± Night said. ¡°Onto other events of interest.¡±


    There wasn¡¯t anything else, and we did a quick recap of our rescue of Acquisition the prior day. Each of us involved told us the story from our own point of view.


    Which was remarkably the same, except for Hunting. Travel, burst into the building, kill everyone hostile to us - or everyone they found, depending on the Sentinel in question - save Acquisition¡¯s kids.


    ¡°Acquisition. It is time for your portion of the tale.¡± Night said.


    ¡°Ok, sure.¡± He leaned forward, capturing all of our attention. What Acquisition did wasn¡¯t exactly well-known, and after I¡¯d leveled up a bunch, he was easily the oddest Sentinel.


    ¡°As you know, I keep a pulse on the undercity. The best thief in Remus and all that.¡± He waved his hand. ¡°It¡¯s something of an open secret that I¡¯m a Sentinel to the various gangs, but it¡¯s also a secret. Not everyone¡¯s in the know. I play it off that I¡¯ve stolen a job, and manage to steal a bunch of money, authority, etc, by being a Sentinel. Whenever I¡¯m challenged, I get to respond by asking who else can brazenly walk into the Senate, steal a senator¡¯s coin purse, and openly walk back out, with the guards saluting me the entire time?¡±


    He shrugged, like it was perfectly normal.


    ¡°All in all, I¡¯m a well-known wealthy commodity to the underground. The issue is, it makes me a target. I don¡¯t bother you all when my vaults are broken into, my coins taken, or mysterious notes are left under my pillow. Standard [Thief] shenanigans really. I just find out who did it, take my stuff back, and generally embarrass them in some way. I keep it non-lethal, to stop any ideas about true revenge. Keeps most of the riff-raff away, but those with drive, those that burn, they go after me.¡±


    He paused a quick moment for questions. Seeing that we had none, he continued.


    ¡°The Blackstorms took that for weakness, and weren¡¯t around the last time Night had a gentle discussion with the local gangs about their activities relating to Sentinels. They had already been on my radar for causing issues, and I was this close to going to Ranger Team 1 about them.¡± Acquisition pinched his fingers real close.


    ¡°Came home two nights ago to find my kids gone, and a ransom note. It didn¡¯t mention anything about being a Sentinel, but it did warn me not to go to the guards or the Rangers. It had a carefully prescribed route that I needed to take, along with the amount they wanted. I figured I¡¯d play along, get my kids back safe, then rain hell on them. Money can be easily reacquired, my kids less so. I left a hundred different clues around my place, in such a way that whoever might¡¯ve been watching me wouldn¡¯t be able to tell.¡±


    He gave a nod to Hunting, who nodded back.


    Acquisition gave a detailed accounting of everything the Blackstorms wanted him to do, along with the counter-measures he¡¯d taken. Subtle, but there.


    ¡°In the end, I was in the middle of the handoff when you all came knocking. Tried to teleport the knife out of the goon¡¯s hands, but only got one. Other one had a skill that interfered. Hostile teleports and all that. Shit timing on your part, a tiny amount of time later and we would¡¯ve been clear. Fortunately, Dawn was around. Spent the rest of the day at home.¡± Acquisition finished.


    Yeah I¡¯d totally spend the rest of the day with Auri if she¡¯d been kidnapped and almost murdered. Probably take off a few more days while I was at it.


    We had a long discussion about Acquisition¡¯s choices, and how to better handle hostage situations in the future. What each of us would¡¯ve done. How we would¡¯ve handled it.


    In the end, we ended up agreeing that Acquisition had handled it nearly perfectly. Get the kids to safety. Deal with the perpetrators after.


    We had Hunting after all.


    The meeting broke up, and the rest of the Sentinels went about their business. For Acquisition and Night, that meant talking about the potential assassins after me. They had a long technical talk about who was involved, and what type of message they¡¯d each be turned into.


    Some worked best being simply ¡®disappeared¡¯. Others were going to have a ¡®heart attack¡¯ in the middle of the night, and never wake up. A few were going to have their body parts scattered artfully in various plazas.


    I had a strong stomach, medicine and all that. I¡¯d been elbow-deep in gore plenty.


    Their clinical descriptions of ¡®should the arms be in one piece, or two? How many bones in their hand do we break, and how obvious do we make it¡¯ turned my stomach, and those were simply the gentlest descriptions.


    Ocean occasionally added in comments, about how so and so was in an alliance with this other person, and how they¡¯d take it.


    Acquisition and Night finished up, and I was left oddly conflicted. I reminded myself that they had chosen violence themselves, and it was better to handle it now, rather than regretfully stand over mom¡¯s body.


    I moved on as Acquisition left.


    ¡°Dawn. I would like to discuss your activities from last night.¡± Night said, and I focused.


    Just how bloody good was his intel network that he already knew!?


    ¡°What about them?¡±


    ¡°You are walking a dangerous path.¡± Night¡¯s tone was neutral, but I knew him. Displeased wasn¡¯t the start of it and I went cold. ¡°Today, you fix one injustice. You pay a hefty price, carelessly, without thinking. You enable a powerful man to stay in power longer, causing stagnation. Abuses. The normal wheel of time that permits transfers of power has been broken, and there is no telling what disaster he will cause down the line.¡±


    I was getting heated.


    ¡°So what am I supposed to do?¡± I cut Night off. ¡°Just live my whole life as a second class citizen? Be at the mercy of whoever my closest male relative is, for eternity? Permit Remus to continue to be as poor and shitty as it is? What¡¯s the fucking point of it all, if I don¡¯t make life better for others!?¡±


    Night¡¯s narrowed eyes and clipped tone were the only indications I had that he was equally mad. He just controlled it better.


    ¡°Yes. You fix one injustice today. You fix a second tomorrow. You look at the world around you, and believe that you can remake it in your image. Perfect. All will be right in the world, if only Sentinel Dawn was fully in charge.¡± He practically spat at me. ¡°Every dictator believes the same thing. They look at the world, see that it is wrong, and move to reimage it to their liking. You are doing the same, while being a true Immortal. How do you know that your image is right? That it is just, and good? How do you know you are not simply borrowing trouble later down the road?¡±


    I had the perfect retort.


    ¡°Because I¡¯ve lived in that world.¡± I snarled back. ¡°I¡¯ve lived in a world where there were hundreds of governments, and history of a thousand more. I¡¯ve directly seen the results of these policies. I¡¯ve read the history of them being created and implemented. I¡¯ve seen, with my own two eyes, how life is improved by them. I know. God-touched by Papilion, remember?¡±


    The silence stretched between us. Ocean nervously coughed.


    ¡°Excuse me. I¡¯d like to add in a few words.¡± We both turned to look at him.


    ¡°Emperor Augustus was already pressuring Dawn into using her skill on him. Either way, she was pulled into politics against her will. With our power and levels, we know this happens from time to time.¡± He gently rebuked Night. ¡°Yes, her skill has an uncomfortable parallel with you being asked to turn someone into a vampire.¡±


    There was a brief awkward pause, and I was reminded about Night¡¯s stories about the vampire civil wars.


    Or rather - the first vampire civil war. He¡¯d said nothing about the other ones, and I had to wonder if there was some additional uncomfortable history I didn¡¯t know about partially driving Night.


    ¡°With the amount on offer, there was going to be moving and shaking, even if Dawn ¡®merely¡¯ accepted her patriarch becoming a senator. It would be even worse if Dawn outright refused. We¡¯d bear the brunt of Augustus¡¯s displeasure. Right?¡±


    I gave a small nod, while Night continued to laser in on Ocean.


    ¡°Anyways, with all that said. Dawn, your proposed changes were a bit much. We try, as Sentinels, to remain neutral. We don¡¯t always succeed. With that being said, we stick together. We support each other. Getting personally involved in politics always inadvertently drags the rest of us into things, and we¡¯re suddenly obligated in ways we don¡¯t want to be. Let me make up a ridiculous example. Pretend the late Sealing - who never would¡¯ve suggested such a thing, ridiculous example remember? - suggested that there should be a law that all women have to give birth to five children before they¡¯re 30.¡±


    I narrowed my eyes at Ocean, who held up his hands.


    ¡°Ridiculous example! Anyways, pretend one morning you show up to the daily meeting, and BOOM! Sealing¡¯s played politics, and gotten a new law passed! People are now unhappy with him, some are happy, and presto, we now need to band together to protect Sealing, and suddenly other people are sniffing at us for more favors. Now we¡¯re spending as much time fending them off, defending policies we don¡¯t like, and not doing our jobs. Politics.¡± Ocean practically spat.


    I felt a tiny bit of embarrassment. Ocean was the Sentinel who needed to keep a pulse on all things political, and he hated it. I¡¯d probably just kicked over the hornets nest for him.


    Would still do it again in a heartbeat.


    ¡°Either way, I believe you are amassing power and abusing your Immortality in a way that shall cause me significant problems down the line.¡± Night said. ¡°I understand where you are coming from. You went out, and solved a problem close and dear to your heart. It speaks well for your character, that you do not simply take this lying down. You are one of my Sentinels. However. The way you went about it speaks poorly of your judgment. Your faith in other Sentinels. Your ability to work with us, to find a method to present the solution in a less ham-fisted hammer. At a point of political meddling, you become a power, a player on the field. If that is how you act, if that is what you wish to be, I will treat you as such. You will no longer have Acquisition looking out for assassins for you. You will no longer have me fixing problems of your own making. You will be, for better or for worse, a player, with everything that entails, for better or for worse. If you do not wish to be a player, then cease acting like one, and we shall no longer have an issue.¡±


    I¡¯d been forming counter-arguments against what he said. Ready to bring up that he was willing to treat me like a progenitor.


    My mouth snapped shut at the end, as the full implications of what he was saying sank in. As the earlier discussion that Night and Acquisition had fully sank in.


    Night was, as always, right. If I started to enact large-scale changes, if I had Emperor Augustus¡¯s ear and kept twisting it, I¡¯d find myself chest-high in the shithole of politics. I¡¯d already made some compromises, how many more would I make?


    And I was dragging the rest of the Sentinels into the mess, kicking and screaming. How would I like it if, say, Nature decided that roads were an affront to nature, and had to go, and lobbied to stop building and paying for roads? I¡¯d be annoyed that I was suddenly, involuntarily in the mess. I liked roads!


    Bit silly - I thought all the changes I wanted to do were right and correct, and nobody would object to them. However, I didn¡¯t know the secret inner workings of the rest of the Sentinels. Maybe some were fervently against government intervention, hated taxes, and would simply be upset that their taxes were going up just for the government to meddle more in people¡¯s lives.


    Friction.


    I¡¯d been debating dozens of policy changes, along with working out how to get the leverage to make it happen. For every force though, there was a counterforce, even if it was only human greed. My plans?


    Yeah. Night was right - I¡¯d be acting like, and looking a lot like, a small [Empress], the [Power Behind the Throne]. That wasn¡¯t a world I wanted to get involved in, but I did want to tackle the indignities and shit of the world.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to meet you in the middle.¡± I leaned forward and proposed to Night. ¡°We¡¯re all Sentinels. All Rangers. You wouldn¡¯t ask any of us to turn away from corruption, from doing what is right. No matter the risk to us.¡±


    Night nodded. ¡°That is the precise reason Ranger training is designed that way. I expect nothing less than the best.¡±


    ¡°And this is me giving my best.¡± I countered back. ¡°Let¡¯s compromise. If I see some particularly egregious issue, I bring it to you. We discuss. We see if there¡¯s a way to handle it in a way you¡¯d approve of. Alright?¡±


    ¡°Dawn¡¯s got a point. I don¡¯t see the same issues she does, she¡¯s got a unique perspective. Remember the dockworkers issue 20 years ago? That was heading towards open rebellion, but we stepped in and pressured the people in power to make changes before issues happened. Dawn¡¯s actions, while ridiculously, foolishly, heavy-handed aren¡¯t that much different.¡± Ocean pointed out. ¡°Honestly, if she¡¯s stopped even one rebellion with what she¡¯s done, we¡¯d call that a win.¡±


    Night thought about it for some time.


    ¡°There are a few points I would like to discuss¡­¡±


    Night, Ocean and I continued to talk about the issue for hours, before coming to the conclusion.


    ¡°Alright. When you see an issue offensive to you in the extreme, bring it to me, and we shall discuss.¡± Night agreed.


    I closed my eyes and slumped back in my nice chair.


    At last.


    I needed to get home, and get some damn sleep.


    Sadly, duty called.

 Chapter 299 - The White Dove once again

    My day was as typical as my days ever were. Swung by my home right after the Ranger meeting. Said hi to Auri, who was Very Upset that I¡¯d been gone ALL NIGHT! She¡¯d been lonely, and worried, and¡­


    I promised I wouldn¡¯t vanish like that again. That wasn¡¯t enough, so I also gave her a day off from her lessons, after she demonstrated that she¡¯d been learning new things. Like reading! And writing! Plato and Auri had worked out a clever system of carefully burning wood for Auri to write out questions and answers for Plato. Ran through wood like nothing else, but the all-consuming power of MONEY fixed that.


    I was starting to see why Autumn loved it so much. Scarfed down a quick breakfast, and with gigantic raccoon eyes, tackled the rest of the day.


    Visiting the [Quartermaster] was first on my list. Most of the Moonstones I¡¯d charged up had been used in one mission or another, and their stock was running low.


    I wish it was as simple as imbuing the gemstones with a simple ¡°heal¡±. I could do that, but the issue was size. Gemstones could only hold so much mana. By having a terribly inefficient image, the size of the resulting heal would be small. Instead, for each gem, I needed to sit down and focus, constructing an image that struck a balance between ¡°will heal the injuries it needs to heal with the mana provided¡± and ¡°I can¡¯t spend three days on every gem.¡±


    [Persistent Casting] didn¡¯t work when charging gemstones. That sort of cheat was reserved for Gemstone Classers.


    Oversaw SERE training personally. Helped a few of the Ranger Trainees learn to fly - and fixed a sprained ankle when someone landed poorly.


    Swung by the market, and gave Autumn the full rundown of everything that happened. She¡¯d been my advisor after all, giving me the tips and the tricks.


    She laughed herself sick when she heard how it ended.


    ¡°Ahhahahahahahahahhahaaaaaaaaa oh my gods Elaine, you¡¯re joking, right? You didn¡¯t fall for the oldest trick in the book?¡±


    ¡°What!¡± I protested, indigent.


    ¡°Oh goddesses YOU DID. You fell for the classic ¡®nah, I don¡¯t like this so I¡¯m going to pretend to walk away¡¯ trick! AHHAHAHAHHHAHAHAHhahahahahahahahaha¡±


    Autumn wasn¡¯t exactly the picture of dignity, rolling on the market floor as she clutched her sides. I heard some polite snickering from behind me, and turned to see Neptune holding a hand over his face, shoulder shaking in silent laughter.


    I threw up my hands.


    ¡°So I¡¯m bad at this! So what! I got what I wanted!¡±


    Neptune let out a few more chuckles, before he got himself under control.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn. You are welcome to shop here any time you¡¯d like.¡±


    I threw him the finger.


    Autumn got up, still wheezing.


    ¡°Ok, ok¡­ I got this hang¡­ NOPE I DON¡¯T!¡± She burst out into laughter again. Fortunately a bit more restrained.


    Autumn finally collected herself.


    ¡°Ok, for real. Elaine. That was super cool. Thank you.¡± She gave me a great big ¡®crushing¡¯ hug.


    ¡°I can get my own bank account. I can run my own merchant company. I can make my own deals. Spend my money.¡±


    Neptune coughed.


    Autumn broke the hug and rolled her eyes.


    ¡°Dad! You know what I mean!¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± He asked, amused.


    She sighed, and recited.


    ¡°I can open my own trading company, assuming I start off with a generous loan. Trying to start from nothing is a fool¡¯s game.¡±


    Neptune nodded.


    ¡°Good. You¡¯ll still have issues with people refusing to deal with you or respect you though.¡±


    Autumn rolled her eyes.


    ¡°Sure, and that¡¯ll tell me they¡¯re bad merchants. My money will be just as good as anyone else¡¯s!¡±


    I smiled at the whole exchange, feeling just a small sense of worry.


    I¡¯d unleashed a fearsome predator on the world. No purse would ever be safe with Autumn around!


    I spent time teaching Autumn medicine, giving her personalized tips and tricks as the slow trickle of people coming to see us increased to a steady stream.


    Word was getting around that I was back, and giving free healing - no matter the ailment. This gave me some heartache as I couldn¡¯t fix everything, notably genetic diseases.


    It was good experience for Autumn though, letting her tackle the problem before I made sure it was properly fixed.


    She was [Dawn¡¯s Disciple] after all.


    A few people early on complimented Auri, who always put on a small show. A rumor quickly spread that complimenting the bird was the payment we wanted, which had Autumn grouchy and Auri delighted.


    In a blink of an eye, the day had zipped by, and Auri and I went down to Artemis¡¯s school to teach a lesson.


    I noted that Misha was in the audience, along with a pair of other unnaturally pale people sitting next to him. Probably vampires, given the sheer amount of sun that everyone in Remus had. I idly wondered if this was one of the first places where mortals and Immortals learned together, but dismissed the idea. Surely the elves had something similar¡­


    Either way, more rich patrons of the school were good for Artemis and Maximus. I tried to stop by and visit Artemis after the lecture, but she was buried under dozens of scrolls, catching up on things that only she could do.


    ¡°Elaine, I¡¯m eternally grateful, but help or shoo.¡± Artemis flatly told me.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri protested. Artemis put down her charcoal stick and stared at Auri.


    ¡°You threaten me one more time, and we¡¯ll discover how well Lightning works on scruffy birds.¡± She threatened Auri.


    ¡°Brrpt¡­brrrpt¡± Auri hunkered down on my shoulder, protesting that the MEAN LADY WAS BEING MEAN! Elaine, get justice for me!


    ¡°If you¡¯re mean to other people, they might be mean back.¡± I wasn¡¯t exactly on Auri¡¯s side here. Better to get slightly burned here, and learn, than to raise a total brat.


    ¡°Brrrpt¡­¡± Auri half-cried. I turned to leave, and Auri singed the door on the way out.


    I ducked a pebble that Artemis shot at me - not nearly fast enough to be lethal, just enough to sting.


    ¡°OUT!¡±


    I did have business elsewhere. Auri and I left, and I had to admit to myself I¡¯d been stalling somewhat.


    ¡°Auri, want to come with me for this next part, or go home?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± She scolded me. She wasn¡¯t letting me ditch her again.


    ¡°Alright, but no burning anything here.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt. Brrrpt?¡±


    ¡°Ok, fine, if they¡¯re Bad Guys you¡¯re allowed to burn them.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡±


    I prayed to Ildia, Goddess of Fire, that Auri wouldn¡¯t interpret politicians as Bad Guys automatically, no matter how accurate the statement.


    Or maybe I should be praying to the god - or goddess - of Deception. That divine entity was a real pain in the ass. Seemed to revel in constantly tricking people as to what their name, gender, symbols of worship, desired offerings, and more were.


    I thought it wasn¡¯t funny - just frustratingly annoying.


    I flew over to the Senate, going slowly enough that Auri could keep up.


    I landed and tried to enter.


    I got ambushed by my dad!


    ¡°Elaine!¡± He called out to me, staying ram-rod straight at the entrance to the Senate.


    ¡°Dad!¡± I¡¯d recognize him anywhere, even under all that gear.


    ¡°Super proud of what you did kiddo.¡±


    I gave him my best bear hug.


    ¡°Thanks dad.¡±


    ¡°No really. One of the youngest Sentinels. The best healer in Remus. Yet, you¡¯re still a great daughter, you make your mom happy, and you¡¯re not content to just sit back and enjoy it. You¡¯re making the whole country better for everyone.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t crying.


    Nope.


    I hugged him a bit more, a bit tighter.


    ¡°Love you too.¡± I whispered to him - hopefully quiet enough that his fellow guard wouldn¡¯t give him grief or tease him about it later.


    I entered the Senate and was quickly before Emperor Augustus and his advisors, along with the usual mishmash of Senators, runners, hanger-ons, and the like. Even at this late hour, it was busy. I saluted upon entering.


    Didn¡¯t hurt to be polite.


    ¡°Brrrpt! BrrrrRRrrrrRRrrrpt!¡± Auri thought the digs were nice, and wondered when I could get a home this nice.


    I resisted the urge to facepalm.


    ¡°Auri, this is the Senate. Not a home.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡± Auri remained unimpressed, and thought I should spring for something like this.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn! Welcome, welcome. This is the famous phoenix, Auri?¡± Augustus asked, smiling and beckoning me over.


    I approached, as Auri flitted over.


    ¡°Yes! Isn¡¯t she just the cutest?¡± I cooed over Auri a bit.


    ¡°Brrpt! Brrrrrpt!¡±


    ¡°A magnificent creature, burning with the light of a thousand stars.¡± Augustus praised.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri was naturally in love.


    ¡°Onto business!¡± Augustus clapped his hands. ¡°I¡¯m sure you have a thousand things to do Dawn, and I apologize for stealing some of your time.¡± He weakly chuckled at his own joke. ¡°If we can clear the room?¡± He ¡®suggested¡¯, and his order was promptly followed by nearly everyone.


    ¡°Oh, and grab the offerings!¡± He shouted after one of the servants leaving. Said servant turned around and bowed, before carrying on.


    Only his advisors and a few people I didn¡¯t recognize stuck around.


    ¡°Leandros here will be the first.¡± Augustus announced, and the [Lawyer] from the other day approached.


    I¡¯d be lying if I said I wasn¡¯t nervous. Like, yeah, I had complete confidence in my healing abilities. I knew I was good. I knew I could do what I said.


    But ¡®what if¡¯ kept cycling through my head. What if my skill was still on cooldown? What if White Dove¡¯s curse was so vicious that the Emperor backed off from the deal? What if my skill decided to only rewind a few years - after all, at level 2 with ¡°improved accuracy¡± being one of the things improved by leveling up, it wasn¡¯t exactly a tight and narrow target.


    I decided to take it slowly, partly to cover my nerves, and partly so I could check that Leandros knew what he was getting into.


    ¡°Right. You¡¯re aware that my skill is going to make you younger, yeah?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°That¡¯s the hope!¡± He grinned.


    ¡°You¡¯re aware that you¡¯re going to get cursed by White Dove as a result, and I can do absolutely nothing about it.¡±


    Like they¡¯d been waiting for me to ask, a few servants opened the doors, carefully wheeling in a few tables loaded with a stunning array of foods. Fried meats were next to steaming, fresh-out-of-the-oven bread, seeds were next to fruits, amphorae of wine were arranged next to bowls of clear water.


    I did a double-take at the fruits.


    ¡°Are those apples?!¡± I asked, distracted.


    ¡°Apples.¡± Augustus said, like he was tasting the word. ¡°We¡¯d been calling them something else, but the word works.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, apples.¡± I said, all sorts of distracted. I¡¯d only seen them in the dwarven lands, which had all sorts of implications as to what the army and Emperor were, doing, and-


    ¡°Auri! No.¡± I sternly rebuked her, catching her in [Mantle].


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± She protested. She wanted to taste the delicious foods!


    ¡°Listen to me.¡± I said, all too aware of the sheer number of eyes watching me, judging my parenting skills. I wanted to scream to myself that this was not the place!!


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡± Auri was giving me some sass.


    ¡°No, listen.¡± Something in my tone got Auri to perk up. ¡°That¡¯s for White Dove.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ¡°The personification of death herself.¡±


    ¡°BRRRPT!!¡±


    ¡°We absolutely, totally, for certain, under no conditions, want to mess with her.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡±


    ¡°Which includes eating the food meant for her.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!¡±


    ¡°Oh little one.¡± Augustus interrupted. ¡°Once White Dove has had her fill, the rest is intended to be a celebratory feast for us.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri liked the idea.


    Leandros coughed into his hand.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m aware that I¡¯ll be cursed.¡±


    ¡°Ok, are you aware that curses get as bad as ¡®turn to stone when sunlight hits you¡¯?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know that, no.¡±


    ¡°Sure you still want to go through with this?¡±


    ¡°Naturally. The gift of life, the gift of time, is quite literally priceless. There is nothing in the world that can compare. Three hundred more years to live? I¡¯ll adapt.¡±


    Right then.


    ¡°How young would you like to be, keeping in mind that my skill is still low level, and you might end up a fair bit older or younger than your target age.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the youngest you can go?¡± Leandros countered with.


    I grimaced.


    ¡°Eight.¡±


    He glanced back at one set of hanger-ons that I didn¡¯t recognize, and traded nods with them. Given the ages and people involved, I was guessing they were his family. Made sense that they¡¯d want to see this in action, but ugh.


    The cat wasn¡¯t just out of the bag, the cat was out of the bag and yodeling from the highest tower.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to do that.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t thrilled with that idea.


    ¡°Right, let me try to talk you out of eight for a moment here.¡± I crossed my arms.


    ¡°First, you¡¯re going to have the mind of an eight year old, and all that entails. Immaturity¡¯s going to be a big issue. You¡¯re going to have to go through puberty again. Nobody¡¯s going to take you seriously. Your parts aren¡¯t going to function. There¡¯s a high chance you¡¯ll be mistaken for a changeling, and killed out of hand, ¡®just in case¡¯, and that¡¯s what I can think of off the top of my head! It sucks!¡±


    The last bit had been from the heart. I remembered being a¡­ kinda adult in a kid¡¯s body.


    I¡¯d be dreaming if I thought Augustus didn¡¯t know about me being god-touched, with priest Demos having had a whole conversation with me about that, Ranger Command knowing, most of the Rangers knowing, the Sentinels¡­


    I was terrible with secrets. Then again, being open and honest had mostly worked out for me, with only a few hiccups here and there. This current situation being one of them.


    ¡°With all that said, yes. I do.¡± Leandros answered. ¡°There are twelve years between eight and twenty. Those twelve years are worth almost thirty years of time. Thirty years. Look at what you¡¯ve accomplished in twenty, look at what I¡¯ve done in ninety, an additional thirty years is nothing to sneeze at. Even if they¡¯re subpar, they¡¯re all when my body is in its prime, and they¡¯ll build an even stronger foundation for me to enjoy the rest of my life. The maturity thing is new, but I have a Mirage class. Good for exhibits and demonstrations as needed. It¡¯s easy enough for me to create, and maintain, an illusion of myself. The gods know I¡¯ve done it often enough to look presentable.¡±


    Leandros¡¯s passion was evident, and I mentally shrugged.


    It was his call. I gave him the best advice I could, and it wouldn¡¯t harm him.


    ¡°Approach then.¡±


    Leandros got close, and I mentally cursed my short stature. There just wasn¡¯t the same gravitas with him towering over me.


    ¡°If you could kneel, that¡¯d be great.¡± I said, and Leandros promptly complied.


    Helped hammer home just how desperate, just how badly, he wanted to become young again.


    I put my hand on his forehead and focused on [The Stars Never Fade]. Pressure started to build up in me, as I constructed my mental image of what I wanted to happen. I pictured Leandros, then imagined him younger. From his current early-70¡¯s healthy appearance, to a hale 50. A vital 30. An energetic 20. The pressure continued to grow.


    I was stretching the imagination as I tried to picture him as a kid, and I had a feeling that my image probably wasn¡¯t all that great.


    Then the pressure inside of me exploded out, and the room went entirely dark. The vast, endless void of space was all around us, swallowing us whole. Not a single shape could be seen in the darkness.


    Then, like a hundred thousand fireflies, small specks of light, every color of the rainbow, erupted all around us. They danced and swirled, a grand cosmic waltz across the heavens. They formed into clusters and clumps, then started to spin, creating galaxies and nebulae.


    Then the entire universe started to move around us, as we zipped through the grand fabric of space. We passed by planets, and plunged through stars. We surfed along the rings of a gas giant, and watched in awe as a small blue marble, teeming with life, passed us by. We watched comets with their sparkling tails, and detoured around black holes and their glorious glowing coronets.


    We witnessed the end of a star, as it went supernova. A bright flash of light blinded us all, and got an outraged ¡°Brrrpt!¡± from my shoulder.


    Sights weird and fantastical passed us. The one that struck me the most was a shimmering blue crystal spinning through space, with a skeletal person ¡®swimming¡¯ away from it, heading to a nearby planet.


    Space here was weird.


    Time was impossible to track. After an eternity, a second, we stopped at a white dwarf, an aged star still barely hanging on.


    As we watched, the star expanded, material being quickly drawn in from around the solar system. The star expanded, and in a burst of darkness, an enormous red star was spinning in front of us.


    That wasn¡¯t the end, not by a long shot. The star compressed, becoming a bright blue giant. We stayed at that stage for a moment, before the star seemed to ¡®breathe out¡¯, turning into a swirling mass of gas, on the cusp of allowing gravity to finish collapsing it. A deep glow came from deep within, lighting the gasses.


    The scene froze, and we got to watch it for a moment before everything slowly faded out, returning us to normalcy.


    [*ding!* [The Stars Never Fade] has leveled up! 2->3]


    The first thing I noticed were a half-dozen guards surrounding Augustus, having sprung out from I-don¡¯t-know-where.


    Whoops. Should¡¯ve told them that they¡¯d completely lose sight of him.


    The second was the boy standing in front of me. I¡¯d kind of missed the mark, he was more eleven, maybe twelve, rather than eight.


    Still a stupid number of years.


    He was looking with fascination at his hands, and the whole hall was silent for a moment.


    I felt the weight of a second bird alight on my shoulder, making me feel balanced.


    Even though I knew it¡¯d happen, I still felt my mouth go dry. Something about the Grim Reaper being on my shoulder, able to end me with a thought, did that.


    ¡°Cousin.¡± White Dove broke the silence as she addressed Auri.


    ¡°Brrrpt?!¡± Auri didn¡¯t understand at all, but White Dove was already moving on.


    ¡°Manius Leandros Secundus. [Meticulous Solicitor of the Twelve Tablets]. [Curiosa Philosopher].¡± White Dove listed off what I assumed were his classes.


    Leandros bowed, the solemn look on his face contrasting with his youthful features.


    ¡°White Dove.¡± His eyebrows quirked in surprise as his voice broke, and I had a small wave of schadenfreude. This was what he wanted, after all. ¡°I have prepared a number of offerings for you.¡± He straightened up and gestured towards the table.


    ¡°You attempt to show me respect in one move, as you perform the greatest disrespect possible by stealing time from me.¡± White Dove practically spat at him, and I felt a shiver go down my spine.


    Perhaps it was worth testing a few different things, to see if anything could mollify White Dove. Use the rewinds I was doing for some test cases.


    At the same time - I knew exactly what I was doing. Why hide it? Why pretend to be doing something else? I was stealing time from White Dove, and I was proud of it.


    ¡°You came to this, fully knowing what you were doing, and chose to do it anyways. Trying to steal as much as you could from me.¡± White Dove¡¯s words reverberated in me, striking deep at the very core of my being.


    ¡°I curse you.¡± She said, and the world trembled at her power.


    ¡°You believe yourself to be so smooth. So perfect. Always having the right words. Well now. I curse you to be able to only speak the truth. To speak the entire truth, actively making sure that there is no misunderstanding, and to correct twisted words wherever you see them.¡±


    The words settled around Leandros like chains.


    ¡°I only partially understand you, White Dove.¡± A grimace twisted Leandros¡¯s face as he said that.


    Oh, if only I was a spectator, and not the creator of White Dove¡¯s wrath. This would be endlessly entertaining.


    Still, I had a half-plan of my own, that I needed to enact before White Dove left. I twisted my head just a bit, enough to be able to look at White Dove while keeping her perch entirely still.


    ¡°White Dove. Would you like to sit and chat? Perhaps have a fruit?¡±


    I was unashamedly stealing time from her, but there was no reason we couldn¡¯t be cordial at least.


    She¡¯d be one constant in the centuries and millennia to come. Unlike normal Immortals, I¡¯d be meeting up with her regularly.


    Her eye locked onto mine.


    ¡°With the one who steals time from me, again and again? Your attempts at appeasement are futile.¡±


    My gaze was steady.


    ¡°Yep. I¡¯ve stolen time from you before, and I¡¯ll do it again. We¡¯re going to meet many times over the eons; must we meet as mortal foes? You come for us all in the end, after all.¡±


    White Dove said nothing. She took off from my shoulder, flew to the table, grabbed the apple, then transformed into Black Crow before flying and fading away.


    I¡¯d had the presence of mind this time to try and study her flight. I had no idea if it¡¯d upgrade [Scintillating Ascent], but if I ever pulled it off?


    Whoof. I had to imagine that it¡¯d be an amazing upgrade for the skill. It might even evolve the skill to a new one! [Flight of the Grim Reaper] or something.


    I couldn¡¯t even begin to imagine what such a flying skill would do, but White Dove//Black Crow seemed to be an omnipresent force.


    I snapped out of my daydream. I hadn¡¯t succeeded yet.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn. I am extremely grateful for what you¡¯ve done, enough so to do you a few favors. As long as they appear to be legal, I¡¯m not quite grateful enough to do you some illegal favors. To be clear, there are illegal favors I trade - oh fuck.¡± Leandros slapped a hand over his mouth, but couldn¡¯t stop talking.


    ¡°Usually around bribing small official - fuck - and often with the records - changing the subject I find you very attractive. Not in a marrying way, but I¡¯d love to -¡±


    Blessedly, his family came over, and one of the burly men slapped his hand over Leandros¡¯s mouth, properly muffling him.


    ¡°Sorry about that. Dunno what came over gramps.¡± He said.


    I was going beet red from everything Leandros had said, and Augustus was giving us a thoughtful, measuring look.


    ¡°Leandros, why don¡¯t you go home? Stretch out a bit, figure out the ins and outs of your curse. We can discuss more in the morning.¡±


    Leandros nodded, and shuffled out with his family. I heard muffled words the entire way.


    ¡°Well!¡± Augustus got up, clapping his hands. ¡°That was quite the performance! Leandros is young again, White Dove made an appearance, and that is one of the most fascinating curses I can think of! It¡¯ll be hard for him to adjust, but once he does? Once it¡¯s known that Leandros must tell the truth? Why, his reputation will skyrocket!¡± Augustus started to pick at the food, popping a grape into his mouth.


    ¡°Mmmm. Simply divine. Come, come, let us celebrate the second life Leandros has gotten, and the marvelous abilities of Sentinel Dawn!¡±


    ¡°Brrrrpt!!!¡±


    Auri wasted no time, moving at top speed to the table and claiming a jug of juice. She started to noisily drink as I grinned at her.


    Might as well enjoy the party.

 Chapter 300 - The Triumph of Sentinel Dawn I

    I spent the bare minimum amount of time needed to be polite before bailing. And by that, I meant I stayed until Auri had finished gorging herself, and I¡¯d looted all the mangos.


    ¡°Dawn! When can we expect the next rewind?¡± Augustus asked as he clapped me on the shoulder.


    ¡°Still unsure on the cooldown. However, with this, I hope I¡¯ve demonstrated that I can uphold my end of the bargain. After the changes we discussed are made.¡± I said.


    I wasn¡¯t good at bargaining, negotiations, or politics. I wasn¡¯t a complete idiot - if I did my part, there was no incentive or reason for Augustus to uphold his end, especially if he was willing to take the reputational hit.


    Augustus patted me once more on the shoulder.


    ¡°A wise move! Do you know why White Dove called Auri ¡®cousin¡¯?¡±


    I looked at the phoenix in question. She had little bits of food burning on her, as she indolently lay on the table with a round belly. Not exactly the picture of grace, elegance, and power, nor a close relative of White Dove.


    The colors were all wrong, to start.


    ¡°I have no idea.¡± I told him. ¡°I didn¡¯t think the personification of death itself had relatives.¡±


    ¡°Curious.¡± He agreed. ¡°Well, I hope you enjoy! The Triumph¡¯s been scheduled, and someone will be sent to Ranger HQ to work on your end with the details.¡±


    I made a few more polite noises, and seeing that Auri had stuffed herself, unceremoniously left.


    The week passed by quickly enough. I was practically tripping over runners as they scurried back and forth between Ranger HQ, and all the other places they were dealing with.


    I wished the Triumph was entirely out of my hair, but it wasn¡¯t. I got pulled into a dozen different meetings, usually headed by the [Master of Ceremonies], just to make sure I was ok with this route, or that route, or did we want to go by my house, or what color should the horses be, or¡­


    I honestly didn¡¯t care, except when a question came up that I suddenly did care about. Like, did I want to wear a tunic, or armor? Was Auri going to be joining me, or would she be a bystander?


    Armor, and Auri was going to be with me. Still, the ratio of wasted time to stuff getting done was atrocious. Made me wish for emails and the like, but even then I just knew we¡¯d be getting meetings that should¡¯ve been an email instead.


    My desire to just get away from it all was increasing. Life was easier, in some ways, when I was lower level and lower profile.


    In spite of my high stress levels from the endless meetings, life was going well. No urgents calls for Sentinel Dawn came in. SERE training had been going on for years, and I smoothed over a few minor bumps. A couple of Rangers got hurt in training, but nothing serious. They were back in action a few minutes after limping over to where I was.


    Sadly, my time helping Autumn in the marketplace bore the brunt of there being so many meetings. I was barely able to show up, and give her tips.


    Frankly, at the stage she was at, the most important part of me mentoring her was the publicity of it. If someone wanted free healing from the famous Sentinel Dawn, they had to go through her apprentice first. It gave her a number of patients that she wouldn¡¯t otherwise get, which translated to experience and levels.


    One day, hopefully soon, she¡¯d hit the magic formula of enough levels and prestige that people would be coming to see her, and then she¡¯d be set.


    I wouldn¡¯t dare to think she¡¯d be set for life. Autumn¡¯s financial ambitions made that impossible.


    Finally, the day arrived.


    My preparations began the previous evening, meeting with Night.


    ¡°Dawn. Once again, I would like to congratulate you on reaching the milestone level. It is a shame that I will not be present at tomorrow¡¯s festivities.¡± Night said, and we started to slowly walk together through the tunnel leading to Ranger Academy.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I accepted his words with good grace, our prior argument in the past. It was done, there was no sense angsting over it now. I briefly wondered what Night would be doing instead of attending the Triumph, but¡­


    Vampire. Sunlight. The question answered itself. The question that hadn¡¯t answered itself was ¡®Did Night get his own Triumph, and was it held at night?¡¯


    The answer to that was no. Night liked staying out of sight, out of mind, for a staggeringly long list of reasons that basically boiled down to ¡®hard to kill someone you didn¡¯t know existed¡¯ and ¡®keep the Immortal vampire somewhat secret.¡¯


    ¡°Tomorrow will be somewhat special. Pomp, ceremony, and circumstances demand it. I do not believe you will have any extravagant late-night romps, nor discover a deadly plague while you are busy visiting the world of dreams. At this moment, are you aware of any circumstances that demand that we deploy a Sentinel?¡± Night asked.


    I shook my head.


    ¡°Nothing.¡±


    Night gave me a brisk nod.


    ¡°Very well. Given the preparations you will undoubtably want to make, you are excused from tomorrow¡¯s morning meeting. If some circumstance demands that you are deployed, Sentinel Maestrai will be sent to give you the details.¡±


    I nodded. A Sentinel mission, especially the types I was sent on, meant thousands of people would die if I didn¡¯t get there as quickly as possible. It beat a parade any day of the week.


    I was curious though.


    ¡°What would happen to the Triumph if I was deployed tomorrow?¡± I asked.


    Night raised an eyebrow at me.


    ¡°Why Dawn, don¡¯t you know us well enough by now?¡± He asked.


    I rolled my eyes. Right. I knew the answer to this.


    ¡°You¡¯ll place a body double on the chariot, probably Ranger Irus, and have him cast an illusion of me over him. It¡¯ll look like I¡¯m there.¡±


    ¡°Mmm, close. Ranger Irus will be providing the illusions, but a shorter Ranger would be selected to stand in your place.¡±


    Smoke and mirrors.


    ¡°Anything else?¡± I asked Night.


    ¡°Not unless you wish to participate in mentoring Trainee Ouranos. Quite promising. The way he is able to impart additional stats to his entire squad while being a fine combatant himself is extraordinary, and I¡¯m expecting good things out of him in the years to come.¡±


    I knew the Trainee in question, of course, overseeing various classes and fixing people up while they sparred.


    ¡°Unfortunately, not tonight.¡± I apologized to Night.


    I made my way back home, where I sat down with my fully disassembled gear, and refrained from sighing.


    I wouldn¡¯t trust this job to anyone else, no matter how tedious it was. This was my gear, my armor, my protection against the world. A mistake or a screw up could kill me.


    I wasn¡¯t Sky. I wasn¡¯t so arrogant as to think I was unkillable, no matter how cockroach-like my skills made me.


    I grabbed the brush and my sandals, and got to work.


    Brushes and oils, picks and rags, and a dozen other tools were all used to buff and polish my armor to a high sheen. I had to look utterly perfect tomorrow, and I didn¡¯t have a skill that quickly and easily did the job for me. No, it was all manual, Skill-less work.


    I did get to use my red cape, which was nice.


    Auri was already snoozing in her Arcanite nest, the crystals turning her lovely red-and-rainbow colors into a dizzying nightlight for me to work by. It was quite pretty.


    I made it through almost all of my gear, checking and double-checking all of the gems and Arcanite woven throughout. The true life-saving aspects of my armor. I was reaching for my helmet when I paused.


    I didn¡¯t need that tomorrow, and it was already late.


    I wished I could go to sleep. Not quite yet.


    I hadn¡¯t promised I¡¯d do it, but I was going to anyway, because I was Sentinel Dawn. I was going to blast the largest area of effect heal I could while going through the city. Given the timing, and how the [Master of Ceremonies] had arranged it all, nearly everyone watching would be in sunlight.


    I constructed a moderately good image of my [Dance with the Heavens], expanding the range with [Wheel of Sun and Moon], and tying the entire thing off with [Persistent Casting]. Normally, I just blasted ¡°heal¡± when I needed large effects like this. I had the mana to spare.


    I was potentially going to heal a hundred thousand people or more tomorrow, within the span of an hour or two. Efficiency suddenly mattered.


    However, I couldn¡¯t spend days building the image, although I was probably going to hole up in the Sentinel room for a few days after this to reconstruct the absolutely perfect self-image.


    A thought for another day.


    Having gotten the prep work done and out of the way, I let myself pass out in my bed.


    I woke up early, cursing the nightmare that had ruined my sleep. Bleary-eyed, I shot [Sunrise] through myself, a little disappointed when it didn¡¯t level up.


    ¡°Brrrpt! BRRRPT!!!¡± Auri was flying around me in manic circles.


    ¡°Good morning to you as well.¡±


    ¡°BRRRPT!!!!¡±


    ¡°Yes, today¡¯s the day we show you off to everyone!¡±


    Auri had it in her mind that the entire Triumph was about her, and eh. I didn¡¯t see the need to correct her.


    Next up was a bath. I spent a brief moment luxuriating in the warmth, just closing my eyes and letting it all soak in. Then I got scrubbing, exfoliating myself within an inch of my life.


    I put on a light tunic, and tackled breakfast with the family.


    Mom had fixed up a marvelous spread of everything. Practically enough food to feed the entire family for a day was shoved in front of me.


    ¡°Eat! You¡¯ve got a big day ahead of you.¡± Mom was grinning, and Auri took her rightful spot on mom¡¯s spoon.


    ¡°A slow burn please, dear.¡± She told Auri.


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± She followed mom¡¯s command, her wooden perch erupting in flames.


    I briefly eyed it. Just how many spoons was mom running through per week?!


    ¡°Today¡¯s the day!¡± Dad was all grins as he sat back in his chair, hands over his stomach. ¡°I never thought I¡¯d see my baby girl the focus of a Triumph!¡±


    ¡°You still haven¡¯t seen her be the focus of the Triumph.¡± Mom menaced dad with an Auri-enhanced wooden spoon. ¡°And if you don¡¯t get moving, you never will!¡±


    That got dad shooting out of his chair, running around to help.


    ¡°AND YOU!¡± She swung her spoon around, pointing it at Themis.


    ¡°BRRRRRRPT!¡± Auri shrieked with delight at mom¡¯s move, spinning her in a fun way.


    ¡°What are you doing! You¡¯re going to be late! Chop chop chop get a move on!¡±


    Each ¡®chop¡¯ was punctuated by mom swinging the spoon at Themis, Auri chirping with each move as Themis dipped and wove to evade the fiery menace. The wildly spinning burning spoon ride was a BLAST!


    ¡°Ok! Ok! I¡¯m going!¡± He defended himself.


    ¡°Not fast enough!¡±


    Albina came by right as I was finishing breakfast, and it was off to the next stage of my preparations.


    ¡°Ok, you need the full works.¡± She fussed around me, while I sat on a chair. Auri was busy having fun with mom.


    ¡°Hair length?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Long. Going to have to cut it short after this, but long for now.¡±


    Albina gestured, and poof! I had hair!


    ¡°Are you keeping it the same color?¡±


    I hadn¡¯t thought of that.


    ¡°Yeah, no reason to change it.¡±


    ¡°Right, anything in your hair?¡±


    I gave a tiny shake of my head.


    ¡°Going to have the golden laurels.¡±


    ¡°Right, right, how silly of me to forget, I¡¯ve never done a Triumph before!¡± Albina was sounding a bit nervous, which was causing me to get cramps in my stomach.


    A few more twists and pulls on my hair - all without Albina touching me - and she was done with that part.


    ¡°Ok, there¡¯s the hair. No tangling for the next few hours, but the skill will fade. There¡¯s a light breeze, which will look great, but this could become a mess if you¡¯re not careful later on. Now, this is a performance, not day to day life.¡± Albina said. ¡°I suggest much heavier makeup than normal, like what a [Thespian] would use. It doesn¡¯t look as good close-up, but it looks better from a distance.¡±


    I hesitated a moment.


    ¡°Whatever you think looks best.¡± I said, trusting Albina to do her job well. She didn¡¯t come over and tell me that I was setting bones wrong, I wasn¡¯t going to tell her she didn¡¯t know that performance vs normal makeup were different.


    I leaned back and closed my eyes as she got to work. A number of quick dabs figured out the right colors to use, followed by a foundation layer. My healing made my skin flawless and without scars, and Albina moved right on to blush, bronzer, and highlights.


    ¡°With your healing, do you still want me to avoid lead?¡± Albina asked.


    I thought about it a moment, then nodded.


    ¡°Pretty sure I can heal myself of lead, but can you? Plus, I don¡¯t think it sets the best example.¡±


    Albina fussed over me a moment more, carefully applying layer after layer.


    ¡°How¡¯s Primus?¡± I asked, and I felt her light up next to me.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s so wonderful now! The bit of help you¡¯re sending me is simply divine. It¡¯s let me get on top of things, and now I don¡¯t feel constantly overwhelmed. By the goddesses Elaine, you¡¯ve been a lifesaver. Why, just the other day¡­¡±


    I tried to relax as Albina nattered on about Primus, moving onto the eyes, then my nails, hands and feet, and finishing it off with some tasteful lipstick. A subtle amount, almost impossible to tell it was there if someone didn¡¯t know what they were looking for.


    ¡°And set!¡± Albina used one of her skills to keep everything perfect.


    ¡°Auri, if you light my hair on fire before the event¡¯s over, so help me.¡± I told the fiery menace as I got up.


    ¡°Brrrpt?!¡±


    ¡°Yeah you.¡± I pointed a finger at Auri, as Albina used one of her skills to summon a mirror.


    I looked weird. Like a doll.


    ¡°You¡¯re sure?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Yes, watch.¡± The mirror distorted, and suddenly it was like I was looking at myself from far away, with bright sunlight on me.


    ¡°Oh.¡± I looked much better.


    ¡°See?¡± Albina was more than a bit smug.


    ¡°It¡¯s perfect.¡± It really was. ¡°You should probably try to get a good spot. There¡¯s a reserved section, but¡­


    Albina flapped her hand at me.


    ¡°I know, I know. I was that girl once upon a time, sneaking into the places I shouldn¡¯t be for a good view. I¡¯ll stick around until you leave, in case you have any last second needs.¡±


    I nodded my thanks, and moved on.


    Getting my armor on was ironically harder than usual. I had to be extra-careful to not mess up anything Albina had done, although my dexterity came in handy. The lorica musculata went on first, followed by the tough, metal-reinforced leather skirt. Numerous buckles were tightened, long practice making the motions second nature. I put on my sandals, tightening my greaves over them, before slipping on my bracers.


    The set was new, but the [Armorers] that the Rangers had were good enough to make it feel exactly like my old set, hugging me like a second skin.


    Lastly was my cape, a regal red that looked totally cool. Incredibly impractical in a fight, but hey! This was a parade, not combat.


    ¡°Brrpt. BRRRPT!¡± Auri was looking at my outfit, and complaining. If my head was off-limits because my hair would burn, and my shoulders were off-limits because my cape would burn, where was a bird to sit?!


    Honestly, it was like I didn¡¯t like all my worldly possessions going up in flames.


    I patted my armguard, as I held the arm in question at chest level. Like a [Falconer].


    ¡°Right here! I can twist and turn and show you off!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri flitted over, and landed on the offered perch.


    ¡°Brrrpt. Brrrpt. Brrrpt.¡± Auri complained as she couldn¡¯t get a good grip on the smooth, flat metal.


    ¡°Once we get there, you can fly around me, won¡¯t that look cool?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri agreed.


    My worldly possessions and hair once again safely negotiated for from the flaming pyro-terrorist, I moved onto the next stage.


    ¡°Kallisto!¡± I greeted my favorite member of Ranger Team 1 at the door. He was in his full gear as well, helmet and cape included.


    ¡°Elaine! You¡¯re looking great as always! All set?¡±


    ¡°Yup! Unless you see something out of place?¡±


    ¡°Give me a moment.¡± He said, circling around me a few times.


    ¡°Brrpt!¡±


    ¡°And a very good morning to you as well, Auri.¡± Kallisto finished his third lap. ¡°Everything¡¯s in shape, let¡¯s go.¡±


    ¡°Gotta wait for Themis. THEMIS!¡± I yelled into the house.


    ¡°I¡¯m coming!¡± He yelled back.


    ¡°HURRY UP!¡±


    The issue with being made to look picture-perfect - half my movements would ruin the image. Too much high-speed flying would break the skill Albina put on my hair and turn my long locks into a tangled mess, walking through the crowds would get me jostled and ruin part of the picture, there was mud and dust and a dozen other ways I could end up not looking my absolute best, which was against the whole idea.


    I needed - wanted - to make the Sentinels look good. A great big mud pie on my back would do the exact opposite.


    Hence Kallisto and a few guards to work as escorts.


    Themis stormed out of the house, wearing a simple white tunic. He paled a bit as all of us looked at him, giving him a critical once-over.


    I snorted after a moment.


    ¡°You and mom did a good job.¡± I praised him, and his chest swelled.


    ¡°Right, let¡¯s move.¡± I ordered. I was not only the star of the show, but technically the boss of half the people here.


    We carefully weaved our way through and out of the city, to where everyone else was staging for the event. My [Persistent Casting] was still locked and on, healing everyone who got near us as we walked.


    ¡°Dawn, you¡¯re here, excellent, excellent.¡± The [Master of Ceremonies] hurried up to me as we arrived. Dude seemed to be thriving on the event, and I¡¯d eat my laurels if he didn¡¯t get a few levels out of this.


    ¡°Metellus! Please show Dawn her spot.¡± He barked out an order. ¡°Scipiones! Find out what the gate guards are doing. Titus! I need you to¡­¡±


    He kept a half dozen members of his staff hopping, arranging people, making sure everything was just so.


    Themis followed me as I was led to a fantastic chariot, with scenes of powerful warriors triumphing over various monsters wrought in bronze. Two white horses were restlessly pulling at the reins, held by a man at the front.


    ¡°[Charioteer] Junius! I¡¯ll be driving, just invisible.¡± He told me as I stepped up into the chariot. I felt my lips twitch, trying to form a smile, as I saw the wooden block in the middle.


    I was short. The chariot was big. Normally, I¡¯d only have my shoulders and head clear of the top, which didn¡¯t look good.


    ¡°A pleasure to meet you. What happens with the reins?¡±


    I¡¯d probably been told at some point, but hadn¡¯t bothered to listen. Just another one of the way too boring meetings, versus finding out now.


    ¡°You¡¯ll hold them, but don¡¯t worry! I¡¯ll have my hands on them, and with my skills, it¡¯ll work out.¡±


    I shrugged.


    ¡°Alrighty then!¡±


    I got into position. Left hand holding the reins, right arm up holding Auri. I was lucky, as my entire job was to stand here, looking good. I got to watch everyone else running around. Themis got onto the back of the chariot, and ugh. Even with the blocks, he was still a hair taller than I was.


    ¡°Memento mori.¡± Themis whispered. I rolled my eyes.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Save it for when we¡¯ve started!¡±


    ¡°Just practicing.¡± He cheerfully replied.


    ¡°Just enjoying being able to annoy the snot out of me.¡± I retorted.


    ¡°Yeah, that as well.¡± He amicably agreed.


    Little brothers. Couldn¡¯t live with them. Couldn¡¯t live without them.


    I had a dozen snarky retorts to memento mori. In short, it was supposed to be a reminder that I was only mortal. Only human.


    I considered retorting that I planned to live a long, long, life, and I was nearly unkillable. Given that I was currently and actively annoying White Dove/Black Crow, that felt like I¡¯d be jinxing things a bit. Plus, I didn¡¯t want to rub it in.


    I still didn¡¯t know how I was going to handle being able to hand out immortality and my family. Where did I draw the line? Themis¡¯s kids? Grandkids? Was there a generation where I said ¡°sorry too bad?¡± Was there a point where I said ¡°nah, I don¡¯t like you enough, you die of old age?¡±


    Would there be a point where I couldn¡¯t cast [The Stars Never Fade] fast enough?


    Tricky, difficult questions. I left them for future Elaine. I had a few decades at least before I needed to work those problems out. There was no sense agonizing over it now when the solution could reveal itself later.


    Thirty minutes of rearrangement later, and a whole orchestra of cornua was blown with great fanfare. A number of drums started their slow roll, and the Triumph of Sentinel Dawn began.

 Chapter 301 - The Triumph of Sentinel Dawn II

    I had a good view. First through the gates were a few squads of local guards, the best of the best selected for the honor. A day¡¯s pay to have people cheering for them instead of running down [Scoundrels]? A day where people were too busy celebrating to get in trouble? That was their kind of day!


    Next up were the instruments, heralding the Triumph. A few soldiers, all with appropriate Sound classes, amplified their playing. Normally, they¡¯d all have buff skills of various types, but they weren¡¯t using them today. Too easy to throw someone off a hair, and then we¡¯d commit the worst sin of all.


    We¡¯d look bad.


    An honor guard was next, proudly flying the standard of Remus, the Senate, and the army. Three Centuries of soldiers followed them, marching in thunderous lockstep, sunlight gleaming off their polished and shined armor.


    The Ranger Trainees were next, and I had no particularly strong feelings one way or another on their inclusion. There¡¯d been a lot of arguing about it, that I unavoidably heard.


    On one hand, they weren¡¯t Rangers, they were Trainees. They didn¡¯t have the same gravitas.


    On the other, the number of Rangers and Sentinels at the capital was laughable. We needed warm bodies to fill in our numbers, and the Trainees did have their own sets of gear, and could march together while looking good.


    The hundred-odd Ranger Trainees did fill out our numbers nicely, and the Rangers of Team 0 and Team 1 came after them, marching two by two.


    Anything to extend the parade.


    Most of the Sentinels were next. A few weren¡¯t in town - Destruction, Brawling, and Toxic weren¡¯t around, while Night and Acquisition were skipping the festivities. That only left seven Sentinels, before myself. They moved more casually, and some of the Sentinels were showing off what they could do. Ocean was being carried by waves on a chair of water, little ¡®sea monsters¡¯ popping out here and there as he moved along. Bulwark looked like he was on top of a short walking tower, while Nature had trees growing out of him.


    Then came my chariot, and Auri did a hummingbird-giggle as the horses started pulling us along.


    ¡°Do not light the horses on fire.¡± I harshly whispered to Auri.


    ¡°Brrrpt¡­?¡±


    ¡°See, if you do, we¡¯ll have to stop. If we stop, nobody will throw flowers at us. If nobody¡¯s throwing flowers at us, how are you supposed to burn them?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s right.¡±


    I was getting some nervous looks from the Ranger Commanders, who were in a loose circle around me. As the bosses, they got to bask somewhat in my glory.


    Behind me was yet another Century of troops, and the support staff of Ranger HQ got the dubious honor of being the rearguard.


    Then we were passing through the gates of the city, and the cheering hit me like a physical wall.


    ¡°Remember, you are only human.¡± Themis whispered in my ear, then I executed a skill every older sister needed.


    [Ignore Annoying Younger Brother]. I hadn¡¯t spent a ton of time at home with him, but I didn¡¯t need the System to offer me the skill.


    I already had it capped.


    ¡°BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRPT!¡± Auri shrieked at the crowds, spreading her wings and letting little puffs of multi-colored flame come off of her. She slowly flapped her wings, letting colorful embers spark shower around her.


    ¡°BRRRRRRRRRRRPT!¡± She cried once again, reveling in the attention.


    And what attention it was.


    We were traveling up the main avenue through the city, but the roads weren¡¯t exactly cart and wagon only, nor had they been entirely cleared for us. There was significant room for crowds, and it was packed. Throngs of people were cheering at us, cheering at me, as flowers, seeds, and other small miscellaneous items were tossed at us. Auri ignited everything that came near us, flowers vanishing in a brilliant flash of fire - which the crowds loved. Word spread faster than a wildfire that anything thrown at us would turn into part of the show, and Auri got showered in flowers.


    She was going to have SUCH a swollen head from all this.


    I plastered a smile on, and carefully waved at the crowds. Even though I knew the [Charioteer] was invisible and in front of me, holding and guiding the reins, it felt weird. I was convinced I¡¯d screw it up if I jerked too fast, so I was careful because of that arm.


    And, of course, Auri was on my other arm, and I didn¡¯t want to shake her off either. Hence, slow turnings, smiling, and waving.


    I kept an eye on my mana, and to my great relief, I was doing just fine. Yeah, it was slowly ticking down, but it was going at a slow enough rate that I thought it¡¯d last the entire time.


    We hadn¡¯t advertised that I¡¯d be blasting a heal - heck, I¡¯d told nobody I was going to do it - but when everyone got home? Thousands of people would notice. Would easily put one and one together - ¡®That high level healer we just saw fixed us!¡¯


    Tens of thousands of people more would get small problems fixed before they noticed. The start of a cold. A brewing cancer. The scars a rash left. Diseases hiding in nerves, parasites burrowed into muscles. An aneurysm on the verge of bursting. They¡¯d never know what I¡¯d done, but I would.


    Of course, there was a strong chance I¡¯d have a mob of angry healers outside my door tomorrow. I was kinda kicking their livelihoods and income squarely in the family jewels, and I¡¯d be mightily annoyed if the situation was reversed.


    That wasn¡¯t going to stop me.


    We continued through the city, Auri occasionally taking flight. She¡¯d circle around me, brrpting! happily, then flying over the crowds.


    She was the darling of the show, the cute entertainment nobody expected.


    Her only issue was her size - when she wasn¡¯t near me, not enough eyes were drawn to her!


    ¡°Brrpt! BRRRPT!¡± Auri cried out as she landed on my armguard.


    ¡°Yeah! This is totally awesome!¡± I agreed with her.


    ¡°Brrrrpt!!!?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know when we can do this again.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be sad! Enjoy it while it lasts! BURN THE ROSE!¡±


    ¡°BRRPT!¡±


    Reinvigorated, Auri went to it with gusto.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [The Dawn Sentinel] has leveled up to level 512->513 +3 Dexterity, +24 Speed, +24 Vitality, +170 Mana, +170 Mana Regen, +48 Magic power, +48 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    YES! Healing thousands and thousands of people in a great big event was good enough for a level!


    [*ding!* [Dance with the Heavens] has leveled up! 512-> 513]


    [*ding!* [Wheel of Sun and Moon] has leveled up! 512-> 513]


    [*ding!* [Bullet Time] has leveled up! 512-> 513]


    [*ding!* [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority] has leveled up! 512-> 513]


    [*ding!* [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has leveled up! 376 -> 377!]


    [*ding!* [Celestial Affinity] has leveled up! 473 -> 474!]


    [*ding!* [Cosmic Presence] has leveled up! 300 -> 301!]


    I didn¡¯t care a ton about the adults, but the kids?


    Ah, watching the kids was a joy in and of itself. Made the entire hassle worth it.


    I was going to get a ton of little copycats, little kids wanting to be the totally awesome Sentinel Dawn. Most wouldn¡¯t make it, but some would follow their dream.


    Before long, we were pulling up in front of the Senate, where Augustus and the two other members of the Triumvirate were waiting, green laurels contrasting with my golden ones.


    They¡¯d done up the Senate, and it was looking grand. All shining marble, fluttering banners, and golden trimmings.


    Technically, Augustus ruled with two other people. Practically, he was emperor.


    The chariot stopped, and I carefully got off, Auri fluttering around me. To the cheers of the crowd, I slowly walked up the Senate steps, pausing one step below the Emperor.


    The height difference plus the stair practically had me at kneeling height, which was one of those weird compromises that had been hammered out.


    Augustus held up his hand, and after a few minutes, the crowds calmed down, and the cheering died out.


    One of the members of the Triumvirate stepped forward, and started his speech.


    ¡°Friends, Remans, countrymen! Today, we celebrate the accomplishments of Sentinel Dawn! The third person to reach level 512, and unlock her third class, Dawn is the foremost protector of Remus! First a Ranger, then a Sentinel, Dawn has worked tirelessly her entire life to better our lives! From plagues to tsunamis, from rebellions to volcanic eruptions, Dawn is always at the tip of the spear, pulling people from the brink of death! The creator of the Medical Manuscripts, she has revolutionized the medical art in Remus! Teacher! Dutiful daughter! Sentinel Dawn is the model that every man and woman should aspire towards! She was a member of the Sentinel strike force that helped deal a devastating blow to the Formorians, allowing Imperator Augustus to finish them off!¡±


    I kept my eyes still, although I wanted to roll them SO hard. Every other sentence the dude was saying was punctuated by wild cheering.


    ¡°Even more recently, Dawn discovered an enclave of creatures called shimagu, who have been secretly kidnapping and enslaving our citizens! In a bold, daring strike, Dawn single-handedly eradicated an entire city of these shimagu, freeing tens of thousands of our countrymen!¡±


    That wasn¡¯t how I remembered things going down at all. More blasted propaganda.


    ¡°The savior of Remus! SENTINEL DAWN!¡± He finished his speech, and I smiled and waved at the crowd, while Auri went nuts.


    Interestingly, I could see her beak moving, but no sound coming out. Must have something to do with whoever was handling the Sound back here, amplifying the Triumvirate, and muting the rest of us so we wouldn¡¯t screw it up. Otherwise, an errant cough would get magnified.


    The second member of the Triumvirate stepped forward as the other dude stepped back. The crowd eventually quieted down.


    ¡°Remus was founded by brave [Warriors], fighting against monsters and the dark. The entire world around us was hostile, dangerous, terrifying. A woman couldn¡¯t go down to the river without fear that a crocodile would leap out and eat her, and vicious dinosaurs would raid nurseries in the night. [Warriors] kept us safe. [Warriors] slew monsters. And the [Warriors] were all men. To laud their achievements, they were given a special status in Remus, which morphed into citizenship. There was no forethought on the matter, simply acknowledgement of dutiful, dangerous service to the people. Yet, over time, under the stewardship of the old Senate, this system has done us numerous disservices. Why, Sentinel Dawn, for all her accomplishments, couldn¡¯t even become a citizen! She couldn¡¯t even vote!¡±


    Loud boos accompanied his announcement, people throwing out thumbs-down motions in their displeasure.


    I didn¡¯t believe a word he said for a second. The story sounded great, but there was too much ¡®look at our brave military, fighting evil¡¯, and ¡®the prior government we replaced was bad¡¯ for me to think this was anything other than an extremely carefully crafted speech, designed to sway public opinion in the direction he wanted.


    In other words, a load of horseshit. I¡¯d made peace ages ago that, in order to get what I wanted, I¡¯d need to wade through some of this nonsense.


    I didn¡¯t like it, but it was life. Sometimes, I had to put up with the bad parts, to get the good parts. I wasn¡¯t going to throw the baby out with the bathwater.


    ¡°Today, we rectify that! There will no longer be a difference between women and men in the eyes of the law! Women can now be the head of a household! Women can now own property! And lastly, women can now become citizens of our fine nation!¡±


    There was a brief pause as the crowd processed what he was saying, then they exploded.


    The noise had a distinctly higher pitch than usual to it, and the Triumvirate plowed on, over their - mostly - screams of approval.


    ¡°I would like to recognize Sentinel Dawn as the first female citizen of Remus!¡±


    I held my arms up - Auri included - and basked in the cheers.


    Fucking. Finally.


    I was going to vote in whatever was next, no matter how inconsequential or tiny it was. Best baker contest? I was in.


    Emperor Augustus stepped forward, and the cheers eventually died down. People only had so much voice.


    ¡°The shimagu are a menace. They are small parasites, able to take over a body and perfectly mimic their actions. A shimagu-controlled host talks like you. Walks like you. Looks like you. But is plotting against you, trying to best figure out when and where to kill you and your children. Only thanks to the operations of Sentinel Dawn were we able to discover their secret activities against us.¡±


    Oh no.


    I did not like where this was going. This was standard ¡°how to whip up a population against a foreign enemy 101¡±.


    Even I knew that!


    ¡°For decades, if not centuries, they have been infiltrating our lands. Invading bodies. Kidnapping and enslaving people, then starting their own human breeding program. They exist just outside our borders, preying on us!¡±


    He paused a moment, whipping up the crowd. Listening to their jeers and boos.


    ¡°NO MORE! Sentinel Dawn has given us a detailed map of where they are. How they operate.¡± He paused again. ¡°How to kill them.¡±


    Cheers again, but they were bloodthirsty. I¡¯d seen tamer crowds in the Colosseum when a dinosaur was killed.


    ¡°They are cowards! Treacherous, backstabbing scum of the worst type! I say, NO MORE! Never again! Not a single Reman more will be taken by them! Today, I am ordering the 4th through 15th legion to Port Salona, where they will be staging to fight back against the shimagu! We will burn their cities!¡±


    Wild cheering.


    ¡°Salt their lands!¡±


    More cheering, with thunderous applause.


    ¡°And we will not rest until they are all dead!¡±

 Chapter 302 - Musings on the 3rd class I

    ¡°Thanks for helping me out.¡± I plopped down at a table with Artemis and Maximus, relaxing at the school after a lecture.


    ¡°Brrrpt. Brrrpt!¡± Auri took a drink out of the dish Maximus laid out for her, appreciating the Good Stuff.


    ¡°Of course! You¡¯re sure we can¡¯t pay you?¡± Maximus asked. ¡°It¡¯d be the easiest thing. What you¡¯re doing for us is just so valuable¡­¡±


    I shuddered.


    ¡°No, please. I¡¯m Oathbound not to, remember?¡±


    Maximus looked thoughtful for a moment, then shrugged.


    ¡°I don¡¯t remember, but if you say so.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯d help you out anyway, healy-bug.¡± Artemis leaned back in her chair, putting her feet on the table. Maximus gave her a dirty look.


    ¡°It¡¯s my school, my chair, and my table. I can put my feet on it if I want.¡± Artemis defended herself. Maximus just sighed.


    ¡°Moving on. 3rd class, right?¡± He asked me.


    I nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯ve gotten some good advice from Night, Hunting, and Destruction. Specifically, wait some time to figure it out, find something I love, and find something that works with my kit. Given that you¡¯ve made a study out of this, I was wondering about your input.¡±


    ¡°Know what you want before you go in.¡± Artemis cheerfully told me. ¡°Like. The System¡¯s pretty cool. If you work towards a specific class, it¡¯ll be on offer in your first class-up. It might not be the best choice there. Gods, it¡¯s unlikely to be. But it will be there.¡±


    ¡°You should pay attention to all this Auri, it¡¯ll help you get better Fire classes.¡±


    ¡°BRRPT!¡±


    Auri was instantly lasered in on my two mentors.


    It was all about the right motivation.


    ¡°It¡¯s worth playing around with your general skills.¡± Maximus leaned forward, getting animated. ¡°You can probably get an Earth [Mage] class easily enough. But if you know you¡¯re getting Earth [Mage], you can temporarily ditch a few of your general skills, get [Meditation] and a few more related skills, level them up, then class up. It¡¯ll give you a significantly stronger start on the class, potentially move and merge the general skills into class skills, which will accumulate and build up as you advance your class. You can also remove the skills after getting the class, and put your old skills back in.¡±


    ¡°At level 1.¡± Artemis added in.


    ¡°At level 1.¡± Maximus agreed. ¡°Normally, I¡¯d caution you on how long it takes to level the general skills back up, but¡­ that¡¯s not a concern for you, is it?¡±


    I shook my head.


    I had time. Finally. Time, and more importantly, safety. I¡¯d rushed quite a few class ups when I was younger, desperate for enough power to not be left behind. Needing strength to protect myself.


    Well, I don''t have those concerns now. Death was no longer nipping at my heels. I could take the time to do this right.


    ¡°You should bond with Auri first.¡± Artemis added in.


    ¡°Brrrrrrpt?¡±


    ¡°Bonding is¡­¡± I trailed off, not sure how to explain it super well.


    Artemis and Maximus glanced at each other.


    ¡°Does Auri not know about companion bonds?¡± Maximus asked.


    I frowned.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so¡­¡±


    ¡°Auri, would you like to learn about them?¡± Maximus asked.


    ¡°They¡¯re a totally cool skill that relates to me.¡± I added in.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Right, Auri and I will duck out for a minute.¡± Maximus and Auri left to another room.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk about you.¡± Artemis took her feet off the table, and sat up somewhat normally. ¡°There¡¯s quite a few ways we can go about this, but let¡¯s tackle abstractions. [Warrior]. [Mage]. [Healer]. [Ranger]. [Laborer]. [Artisan]. [Leader]. [Priest]. And a few more esoteric ones. Are there any that jump out at you?¡±


    ¡°[Healer].¡± I answered, and at Artemis¡¯s puzzled look, I explained.


    ¡°My healing class and abilities are top-notch. I have a few small holes in what I can and can¡¯t do currently, but nothing major. I just don¡¯t see myself taking another [Healer] class. What would I do with it?¡±


    Artemis patted her sides and cursed.


    ¡°Always forget the damn things. One moment.¡± She ran out of the room, leaving me with a flickering torch for entertainment. I amused myself by eavesdropping on Maximus¡¯s lecture with Auri.


    ¡°... bonds are believed to be lifetime, but your lives are not linked. The benefits are numerous, like¡­¡±


    A moment later I heard Artemis¡¯s footsteps running back through the halls. She came back in, holding a few scrolls and charcoal sticks.


    ¡°Let¡¯s write this all down.¡± She handed me the writing implements, and I rolled my eyes at her.


    ¡°Running a school, and you¡¯re still trying to get out of work?¡± I teased her.


    ¡°I¡¯ve had you doing my scut work for years, just because you outlevel me, freed me from slavery, and are now a Sentinel doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m going to start doing it myself again.¡± Artemis had absolutely no shame. Here I was, giving free lectures on medicine, making her school an attractive center of learning, and I was being made to do my own writing.


    I wrote down the abstractions - putting in [Other] for the extremely rare ones - and crossed off [Healer].


    ¡°Any other ones you feel strongly about?¡± Artemis asked, and I scanned the list.


    ¡°[Priest].¡± I decisively crossed the option out. ¡°I¡¯m just not that religious.¡±


    ¡°A somewhat foolish take.¡± Maximus had absolutely perfect timing with that line, as he and Auri returned to the room. ¡°Not the [Priest] abstraction, but the lack of faith. The gods do regularly answer prayers from the faithful, and it would behoove you to pick one god or goddess, and regularly pray to them. Then, in a moment when it¡¯s needed, you can ask for a boon. It only takes a brief thought in passing, now and then, to potentially save your life one day.¡±


    I had to reluctantly admit he had a point there.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ¡°Yes, there¡¯s a Goddess of Fire. Ildia.¡± I answered Auri.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri got a strained, constipated look on her face.


    ¡°Don¡¯t hurt yourself.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a bit surprised you¡¯re not jumping straight to [Mage].¡± Artemis leaned back. ¡°Last I remember, you were entirely obsessed with magic.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s my problem.¡± I admitted with some embarrassment. ¡°Everything is super cool, how can I decide? Sure, [Mage] lets me manipulate the elements, but an [Artisan] can create gigantic murals with a thought. A [Farmer] can grow an entire field in a day. An [Illusionist] can make themselves invisible. A [Cook] can instantly prepare fantastic meals, or even give small buffs! The ability to instantly clean a house. I have to wonder if teleportation is a thing. It should be. Can you imagine, going anywhere in the world in an instant? A -¡±


    Maximus cut me off.


    ¡°I get it, I get it. It¡¯s great, isn¡¯t it?¡± He was grinning at me, a fellow kindred soul in the world of exploring everything the System could do.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we tackle this from a slightly different direction?¡± Artemis asked. ¡°We¡¯ve got two fields removed, and would I be right in saying that while you¡¯re keeping your options open, [Mage] is still a top-tier choice for you?¡±


    I nodded in agreement.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see you becoming an apprentice to somebody else.¡± Artemis added in.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°Like, [Apprentice Baker]. You¡¯d go for [Baker] or bust.¡±


    ¡°Sure?¡± I agreed, somewhat taken aback by the change in direction.


    ¡°Just narrowing things down.¡± Artemis said.


    ¡°Similarly, do you see yourself doing hard physical labor for extended periods of time?¡± Maximus asked, and I shuddered.


    ¡°No thank you! I have enough work on my plate before getting a class like that.¡±


    With that question, a lot of ideas and classes faded away. I wasn¡¯t going to be a [Bricklayer]. I wasn¡¯t going to be shucking fish. My career as a field hand died before it began.


    I slowly nodded as I saw where Maximus and Artemis were going with this. Smart questions, designed to tease out what I wanted. Good questions, eliminating vast swathes of choices, making decision paralysis less of a problem.


    They were the best.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    Second best.


    ¡°You mentioned time.¡± Artemis said. ¡°That makes me think towards a hobby class of some type or another.¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± I hedged, not wanting to narrow my choices so dramatically.


    ¡°Combat classes are still on the table. However, do you want to take a class that requires years of education to become good at, that requires thousands of hours to have a beginner¡¯s proficiency?¡± Maximus asked.


    ¡°Like what?¡±


    ¡°[Architect]. [Engineer]. [Lawyer]. [Inscriptionist].¡± Maximus listed off. ¡°We explicitly don¡¯t train those here. We don¡¯t have the staff needed to do them justice.¡±


    ¡°Yet.¡± Artemis Looked at Maximus, and there was a lot in there. ¡°It¡¯s why we¡¯re so grateful you¡¯re teaching the medicine classes again.¡±


    I held my hand up as I leaned back in my chair, thinking about it.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m inherently against needing years of education to get a good class.¡± I slowly articulated, getting my thoughts together. ¡°However, many of those classes are also high stress, busy professions. I think many of them are off-limits based on the ¡®how long it would take me to get anywhere with them¡¯, but not on the ¡®it takes me time to learn¡¯. After all, I¡¯ve got time, right?¡±


    ¡°That you do!¡± Maximus agreed.


    ¡°And,¡± I sat up in my chair, getting excited at an idea. ¡°Inscriptions are generally a skill, right? Not an entire class?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s generally a predominant skill to make Inscriptions, with the rest of the class skills being support, yes.¡± Maximus said.


    ¡°But not always?¡±


    ¡°Not always. It can be part of a larger class. Naturally, the Inscriptions wouldn¡¯t have the same benefits and bonuses that someone with a dedicated class can do.¡±


    ¡°Like how I can pick up a spear easily, but I¡¯ll never be as good of a fighter as someone who actually has a class and skills for it.¡±


    ¡°Not quite, but close enough that the differences don¡¯t matter.¡± Maximus agreed.


    ¡°I can totally get Inscriptions in [Butterfly Mystic]!¡± I practically shouted, standing up as I did.


    ¡°That¡¯s your learning class?¡± Artemis asked.


    ¡°Yeah! It picks up skills easily. I just need to study an Inscriptionist, probably a Radiance one, and I can get the skill! After I merge [Solar Flare] and [Sun¡¯s Heart].¡±


    I started pacing; I was so excited. Inscriptions! I could make enchantments! Nothing I¡¯d seen so far had particularly wowed me, but I¡¯d suspected that Asura¡¯s casting method was similar.


    Real similar.


    Then again, I could be going ¡°Hey, ships and houses are both made of wood! This is easy!¡± Like, yes. Learning to build one helped with the other, but they were also wildly different.


    Also, I had the flex slot for now to level up and merge skills. Once I got an Inscription skill though, my slots would be locked, so to speak, and I¡¯d be on pure upgrading of skills. I wouldn¡¯t be able to pick up skills with an eye to merge anymore.


    Ah well.


    It wouldn¡¯t be the end of the world. Now that I was back in Remus, the list of people I could learn from was kind of short.


    At the same time, Awarthril had mentioned the Elven Academy¡­


    ¡°I should totally visit the Academy, and see what they have to teach and offer for powerful classes.¡± I muttered.


    Maximus blinked.


    ¡°Excuse me?¡± Artemis asked.


    Whoops. From their point of view that had been one hell of a non-sequitur. Kind of rude to dismiss them when they were trying to help me.


    Focus on Artemis and Maximus now. Think about elves later.


    ¡°Sorry, was thinking out loud. I got sidetracked. What¡¯s next?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡± Even Auri was unimpressed with me, as the three traitors shared a look.


    ¡°From a fun, awesome magic angle. What are some neat stuff you¡¯ve seen people do? What would you like to mimic?¡± Artemis asked.


    ¡°Your Lightning.¡± I promptly replied. The memory of Artemis dancing with a Lightning-construct on the streets when I was a kid was seared into my memory. It was still the coolest thing I¡¯d ever seen, bar none.


    Looking back on it, Artemis had been a HUGE influence on me, and, well, everything.


    She ruined the moment by punching me in the arm.


    ¡°No, really?¡±


    I looked at her, trying to convey just how much she¡¯d done for me.


    ¡°Yes, really.¡±


    Artemis looked started for a moment, then quickly turned. I still caught the tear forming in her eye.


    ¡°What else?¡± Maximus asked, saving Artemis from cracking her voice.


    ¡°Arthur¡¯s stealth is pretty amazing. His poison is quite something. I wish I had a better grasp of what Origen could¡¯ve done with his runes. Julius¡¯s speed was impressive. Destruction-¡±


    Maximus put a hand over his heart.


    ¡°Ouch! What about me? What am I, chopped liver?¡±


    ¡°No, boring.¡± I retorted perfectly, and Artemis snickered.


    ¡°Brpt brpt brpt.¡± Auri laughed at Maximus¡¯s face, and, well. He totally deserved it.


    ¡°Destruction¡¯s earthquake. Tornados. Hunting¡¯s Void magic, although for the reasons we discussed I¡¯ll probably be a-void-ing that.¡±


    I wriggled my eyebrows at my glorious pun, as Maximus groaned.


    Artemis threw a quill at me, and I expertly leaned out of the way.


    ¡°Nyah!¡± I stuck my tongue out at her.


    Stats ruled. Speed was rapidly becoming a favorite of mine.


    ¡°Moving on. Magic¡¯s ability to completely disappear. Bulwark making walls, Sealing¡¯s barriers. Actually, cancel Bulwark¡¯s walls, Sealing was much cooler. Night¡¯s, well, everything. Acquisition teleporting money around.¡±


    I got a pair of strange looks from Maximus and Artemis at that.


    ¡°What!? It¡¯s super cool!¡± I defended myself.


    ¡°You¡¯re supposed to keep Sentinel skills under wraps.¡± Maximus said.


    ¡°Like senior Rangers like the two of you don¡¯t know their entire public kit already.¡± I retorted.


    ¡°True.¡± Artemis admitted.


    ¡°Nature growing anything under the sun. Like, having a whole kit of anything and everything in his belt? Plus, free mangos, what¡¯s not to love? Cancelers are interesting, although I think I¡¯d be actively hurting myself doing that, hitting people from far away, FLYING!! Oh! And while I¡¯ve barely used them or touched on it, potions are pretty neat. I¡¯d like to learn how to make them. And¡­¡±


    Artemis facepalmed while Maximus slowly shook his head.


    I got the hint they were sending.


    I just chose to ignore it.


    I was on a ROLL.


    ¡°Lava magic, Sand magic, glass, singing glass into shape, whistling blades, Ooze has tons of potential, summoning chains and shackles and rocks on people seems completely bonkers, and let¡¯s not forget about mile-long sniper shots. That¡¯s before high-flying precision strikes, explosive gas, ripping weapons out from the wall, traps, and so much more. Like singing! Bards can do some neat stuff, and I do have a minor talent for storytelling. Oh! And the dwarves did neat things with implants. I could do a bunch of implants, then modify my healing to ignore them.¡±


    ¡°Copying other bards.¡± Artemis coughed into her hand, and I shot her a betrayed look.


    ¡°She¡¯s not entirely wrong.¡± Maximus agreed. ¡°Although, your stories were endlessly entertaining. It¡¯s worth looking into that, especially if you enjoyed yourself.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s tackle [Warrior]. I have no idea why you¡¯re keeping it on the list.¡± Artemis pulled no punches.


    ¡°My thinking is that I¡¯ve got a bunch of magical stats. Healing. Destructive, medium range combat magics. My weakness right now is when someone gets close up, and when I¡¯m out of mana. A [Warrior] class would fix that.¡±


    ¡°Mitigate it.¡± Maximus corrected me. ¡°You¡¯d still be one physical class against two, or, if things continue the way they are for you, three physical classes. You¡¯re not winning that.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but I wouldn¡¯t be a fish on the chopping block against a halfway competent Mirror [Warrior].¡± I argued back. It was my class after all!


    ¡°Let¡¯s leave [Warrior] on the list, and work out what type of fighter you¡¯d want to take.¡± Artemis said.


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡±


    Auri thought poorly of my idea of being an up front, close and personal fighter. I¡¯d be lying if I said that didn¡¯t weigh on the scales, but she also had no experience. Her opinion shouldn¡¯t count for that much.


    ¡°Brrrrpt!!¡±


    I rolled my eyes at her. She was massively interrupting in the rudest way, but eh. I had a soft spot.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not going to just take a Fire [Mage] class and be done with it.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ¡°Because I already took a Fire [Mage] class once! I¡¯m exploring the rest of my options.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Fine, if nothing else is good, I¡¯ll take Fire [Mage].¡±


    Artemis winked at me from behind Auri¡¯s back. She¡¯d been the one to train me as a Fire [Mage] in the first place. She knew how likely it was that I¡¯d take it again.


    Which was a great angle of attack for another day.


    ¡°There are as many different types of warriors as there are stars in the sky.¡± Maximus grabbed one of the scrolls that Artemis had, unrolling it and starting to write himself.


    I briefly debated correcting him on the insane scale of how many stars there were in the sky, but decided against it.


    ¡°Is it safe to say that army-style fighters are out of the question?¡± Maximus asked.


    I tilted my head.


    ¡°Not sure what you mean.¡±


    ¡°What he means are people that fight with others next to them.¡± Artemis said.


    I shook my head.


    ¡°Interestingly, this makes me think we should look at gladiators, and their styles. Although, given that it¡¯s a backup meant to cover your holes, how do you plan on getting enough experience in the class to level it enough to be significant?¡± Maximus asked.


    ¡°Forget the detailed view. Balanced. Defensive. Offensive. Fast.¡± Artemis disagreed.


    I thought about it a bit, remembering the conversation I had with Senti-Null.


    ¡°It¡¯d have to be offensive or fast. My healing¡¯s too good to waste it on balanced or defensive.¡±


    I wrote the two down on my scroll.


    ¡°And do you love fighting?¡± Maximus¡¯s question was pointed.


    I hesitated, and added a question mark next to [Warrior].


    He had a point. If I took [Warrior], I wasn¡¯t exactly sticking to ¡®things I loved¡¯. It was more a chore, another trick in my arsenal dedicated just to staying alive.


    That was a good reminder.


    ¡°I think [Ranger] might also be out.¡± I reluctantly admitted, not quite willing to cross out [Warrior] yet. I did cross out offensive and left in fast.


    I¡¯d totally be down for a high-speed running class that happened to abstract into [Warrior]. Something that both let me run and fight at high speeds?


    I could see myself happily doing it. Run, be free, be the [Beloved of the Wind], and in a pinch it had physical fighting skills to keep me alive, or escape trouble?


    I circled it, but paused my charcoal stick on my way over to [Ranger].


    ¡°I have a thought on [Ranger] for you.¡± Maximus said.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°Well, first off, a class focused on Auri here would be a [Ranger] class.¡±


    I instantly circled the class, and circled [Mage] while I was at it.


    ¡°And since you mentioned a willingness to learn, I¡¯d like to share with you a class idea I¡¯ve got rattling around. I haven¡¯t seen anyone take it, but it should be viable, powerful, and scratch your itch for interesting magics.¡±


    ¡°Ok, you¡¯ve caught my interest. What is it?¡±


    ¡°A Inscription archer. Not sure on the element, a few work. The idea is you put Inscriptions on various arrows, or perhaps the arrow shafts or feathers instead of the head, then you¡¯ll always have the right arrow for the job. Archers frequently get some sort of stealth ability, which will help you hide, and get a longer range than most mages. Usually, it¡¯s at a cost that their arrows aren¡¯t as powerful as a similar spell, but you¡¯d mitigate that with your Inscriptions! Endlessly flexible, and it doesn¡¯t matter if they burn out, because you¡¯ve already made your shot!¡±


    I thought about some of the archers I¡¯d known. Arthur, with his ability to go almost invisible, and hit monsters with surprise poison arrows. Aegion with his sniping. Oozy, with -


    Fuck.


    He was dead.


    Another one of my Ranger Trainee friends who hadn¡¯t made it through his first round.


    I let the sadness well up, then pass me, and thought about another dead teammate of mine.


    Origen with his runes, and the enchantments found in our armor. It¡¯d be honoring him in a way, to take an Inscription archery class.


    Plus, I was moderately sneaky, and found myself often sneaking around. Inscriptionist wasn¡¯t the direction I¡¯d seen myself going in, but it did scratch a few itches of mine.


    I had the time¡­ why not learn about it?


    Heck, I wondered if they tied into Asura¡¯s method of casting spells? That¡¯d give me a strong class option in that direction in [Mage], while also supporting Maximus¡¯s proposed class.


    ¡°What are the downsides?¡± I asked, sure there was a catch.


    ¡°Nobody¡¯s been willing to try it out and tell me.¡± Maximus complained. ¡°It should be doable, from everything I know about the System, but I don¡¯t know for sure, because nobody¡¯s tried for it.¡±


    That was potentially a huge black mark against it, but I was willing to trust Maximus.


    Like. Worst-case I asked Librarian, she said no, and I picked my second or third string choice. I wasn¡¯t going to settle for ¡®only¡¯ aiming for one class.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got [Beloved of the Wind]. Makes me think I should aim for something in that vein.¡±


    Maximus got an awkward look on his face.


    ¡°I¡¯m not terribly familiar with beloved classes, but picking your entire class based on your mostly random starting class element is generally a bad idea.¡± He said.


    ¡°Aww, knock it off. It¡¯s a love class. She loves the wind, it loves her. There¡¯s a strong affinity there, and it¡¯s worth exploring.¡± Artemis disagreed.


    I was probably due a moderately good class off of beloved¡­ but I wasn¡¯t sure how much that counted compared to everything else I¡¯d done in my life.


    ¡°If I work with the general skills I have now, wouldn¡¯t their high level give me a much stronger starting class?¡± I asked.


    Maximus nodded.


    ¡°Could be worth seeing if a number of your general skills work well together. It¡¯d indicate a bend or direction that you¡¯re already inclined to take, upgrade your skills into class skills, give a strong starter class, AND free up a few slots for new general skills.¡±


    I looked over my general skills with an eye to see how many I could squeeze together.


    [Oath] wasn¡¯t going anywhere. I wasn¡¯t taking a healing class.


    [Long-Range Identify] was likely to stay on its own. Unless I got the archery class Maximus was suggesting?


    [Hatchling Rearing] would hopefully upgrade to Auri¡¯s companion skill, class., and that was a strong option for a class. However, but I didn¡¯t see it merging with other stuff. Except maybe [Long-Range Identify].


    [Pristine Memories] had potential.


    [Bullet Time] also had potential, and both it and [Pristine Memories] affected my brain. So did [Oath], thinking about it.


    [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority] seemed to be firmly stuck as a general skill, and its global boost to all my class skills was insane. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was possible for it to move, especially as it hadn¡¯t been an option for [The Dawn Sentinel].


    [Persistent Casting] suggested meta magics, which had me looping back around to Inscriptions. Maybe? It was a bit of a stretch, but sometimes the System worked with that.


    ¡­ it was a really BIG stretch.


    Lastly was [Passionate Learning], and that instantly jumped at me as having strong synergy with [Pristine Memories]. I could do something with that. I loved learning, and having a perfect memory was awesome.


    Maybe they could work with [Persistent Casting] for some sort of powerful Inscriptionist?


    ¡°The other abstractions I¡¯m going to leave alone.¡± Artemis said. ¡°They¡¯re more of a personalized hobby pick. Let¡¯s look at the real choices. [Mage], and the elements.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt! BRRRPT!¡±


    ¡°Yes Auri, Fire¡¯s the best element.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡±


    Maximus pinched the bridge of his nose.

 Chapter 303 - Musings on the third class II

    I rubbed my hands eagerly.


    Yeah, I was probably taking a [Mage] class of some sort. The sheer excitement I felt at the idea? The way I was practically drooling just talking about it?


    If I wasn¡¯t a [Mage], I was going to end up as something damn close to it. The fact that I was busy planning on how [Butterfly Mystic] could end up with Inscriptions to do EVEN MORE magic suggested that it was the path I was going to take.


    ¡°Let¡¯s tackle this methodically.¡± Maximus said.


    Artemis flicked a pebble at him, braining him between the eyes.


    ¡°Where¡¯s the fun in that?¡± She asked. ¡°Let¡¯s hit the cool stuff first, and work our way from there. Elaine¡¯s probably taking what she thinks is coolest anyways.¡±


    ¡°BRRRPT!¡±


    Auri, predictably, wanted to start with fire.


    I had a minor way to keep them all happy.


    ¡°Is there any doubt that I¡¯ll end up with an advanced element?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, not if you think you¡¯re taking an advanced element, no.¡± Artemis agreed.


    ¡°Yes. If you like Dark magic the most, by your own admission Void¡¯s too dangerous to go. You¡¯d stick with Darkness over going Void.¡± Maximus said.


    I nodded.


    ¡°Agreed. All the advanced elements, except Void, and none of the basic elements, except Dark.¡±


    ¡°BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRPT!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d take Inferno over Fire any day.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡±


    A mollified Auri puffed her feathers up.


    ¡°Let¡¯s start with the Fire-aligned elements.¡±


    ¡°Brrrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s because of you!¡± I told Auri.


    It was only half-true. I wanted to tackle the Fire elements because I¡¯d done the most thinking about them. I¡¯d spent hours working on the elements when I had Fire, in preparation for my level 128 class-up, and more time inside the world of my soul, working out which element I was taking in the end.


    ¡°First up is doubling down on Radiance. I picked it for a reason. It was the element that most resonated with me.¡±


    ¡°Not the class?¡± Maximus asked.


    I gave him what I thought was a withering glare.


    ¡°I had several dozen different versions of [Ranger-Mage]. Yeah, the element was the big decider, although the strength of each one played into it.¡±


    Maximus had the good grace to look embarrassed, although Artemis laughed at him.


    ¡°Anyways. Conjuration, Affinity, [Sun¡¯s Heart], [Solar Flare], and Resistance would all get doubled, so to speak.¡± I said. ¡°No need for those skills in my new class. I¡¯d potentially get more boosting skills, and a whole new set of skills to work with. Lots of strong benefits, and if I got four more offensive skills, that¡¯d triple my offensive burst.¡±


    ¡°At the cost of your sustainability in a fight. I¡¯d know.¡± Artemis grimaced.


    ¡°Sure, but the sooner a fight¡¯s over, the better.¡±


    ¡°Just pointing out all the potential issues.¡±


    ¡°The bigger one is magnifying your risk against Mirror Classers.¡± Maximus added in. ¡°I think that¡¯s the biggest concern.¡±


    ¡°My other issue is I like exploring cool new magic.¡± I frowned. ¡°[Butterfly Mystic] scratches that itch by giving me the option of almost any new skill, as long as I can study it enough. Radiance is a smart choice, but it¡¯s kind of boring in a way. I can already do everything the new class would offer me. Although, it¡¯d be easier to get cool, high level skills on a second class. But I¡¯ve got the time to wait and get properly cool skills, I¡¯m in no rush. Oh! What does experience distribution look like when there are two strongly overlapping classes?¡± I asked Maximus.


    ¡°Usually the class that¡¯s used more gets more experience. Which is generally the stronger class, however, the weaker class needs significantly less experience to level up.¡± He answered.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we use Radiance as a baseline?¡± Artemis asked. ¡°Figure out if you like an element more or less than Radiance, narrow things down a bit.¡±


    ¡°Sure, why not.¡± I wrote Radiance down on my scroll, along with the pro and the con list.


    There were significantly more pros than cons, and I was honestly feeling a bit bad pseudo-dismissing it like that.


    At the same time. This was my life. My very, very, long life. I had the whole WORLD open to me. Why be narrow? Why pigeonhole myself?


    If there were super amazing high level Radiance skills, I already had a class for them. If I had two Radiance classes, I couldn¡¯t, say, make a volcano erupt when my third class got to a high level.


    ¡°Lava¡¯s up next.¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t think I mentioned it, but when it came time to pick my [Ranger-Mage] element, it came down to Radiance or Lava in the end. Radiance seemed to fit my needs better at the time, but Lava was attractive. I saw what a high level Lava mage can accomplish with Serondes,¡±


    I swallowed a bit. Stupid emotions. I¡¯d broken up with him! My mind insisted on showing me some warm fuzzy memories though. Cuddling. Serondes making me a butterfly out of glass, the wings so delicate the wind made them flutter. Serondes stepping up to shield me.


    I actively reminded myself of his less-than-attractive traits - like the time he copped an extra feel when I was done - cleared my mind, and moved on, all in an instant.


    Stupid emotions.


    ¡°-and I can only imagine what else Lava can do when I get to high levels. Like make my own islands. Oh! Is there caustic gas in Lava?¡± I asked Maximus expectantly.


    ¡°I have no idea. I¡¯d imagine not. The element¡¯s called Lava, not Volcano.¡± He answered.


    I gave him a strange look.


    ¡°Does it work that way?¡±


    He sighed.


    ¡°Would you like the long version, or the short version?¡±


    ¡°Short.¡±


    ¡°Maybe. You could mimic the effect for sure, but the amount of control you¡¯d get is questionable. Like Fire trying to control smoke or ash. It¡¯s a stretch.¡±


    Sooo helpful.


    ¡°Cons?¡± Artemis asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s slow when shooting?¡±


    She gave me a withering look.


    ¡°Most of us manage to handle ¡®slow¡¯ just fine. Gods forbid you occasionally need to aim.¡±


    ¡°Brrrrpt.¡±


    Wow, even Auri was against me. She didn¡¯t miss an opportunity to burn me tonight.


    Lava went on the list. I already liked it more than Radiance.


    I spent a few minutes thinking about the rest of the Fire elements.


    Ash.


    Storm.


    Steam.


    Magic Metals.


    Inferno.


    Pyronox.


    ¡°Honestly, after my classing up to Radiance, I don¡¯t think I¡¯d take any of the other Fire-aligned elements. Maybe Magic Metals if I can get my hands on a bunch, and it¡¯s interesting. Still, unlikely. I suppose technically I¡¯ve been exposed to a bunch of them in her lair, but even then, without a conjuration skill or detection skill, it¡¯s probably a dead end. Maybe I¡¯ll take Storm. Storm¡¯s pretty neat, and if I don¡¯t have the power to use it now, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ll grow into it.¡±


    Artemis and Maximus had privately, with much pantomime, had gotten the full story about Lun¡¯Kat.


    ¡°Brrrpt! BRRRPT! BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRPT!¡± Auri shrieked in outrage, and practically attacked me. She flew around in circles around me, pecking at me with her sharp little beak.


    It didn¡¯t hurt at all, but I remembered mom. Her spoon didn¡¯t hurt at all, but it cost us nothing to play along, and meant the world to her.


    ¡°Owe! Ouch! Ooof! Auri! OWE!¡± I pretended to swat at her, deliberately going slow enough that she could dodge, pretending that she was causing me great agony.


    ¡°BRRRRRRRRRRPT!¡± Auri shrieked one more time, and my hair burst into flames.


    Whatever.


    ¡°I have three Fire aligned elements on my list, and it¡¯s staying that way.¡± I grumped at her, shooting her an evil eye.


    I thought about Etalix, summoning multiple tornadoes with a flick of his tail.


    Hurricanes. Thunderstorms. Blizzards. Plus, whatever interesting magical storms the element could possibly conjure. Hopefully I could ask the elves for interesting details about the Storm element.


    I wrote Storm on the list, my hair crackling merrily, filling the room with smoke.


    Artemis pinched her nose and waved a hand at me.


    ¡°Phew! You never stop with the burning hair.¡±


    Maximus was still looking a little incredulous. I was just sitting at his table, completely unconcerned with the flames merrily dancing on top of my head.


    ¡°I got used to it.¡± I answered his unspoken question.


    ¡°Brrrpt. Brrrpt.¡± Auri proudly nodded at her work, satisfied that she¡¯d ¡®punished¡¯ me enough for daring to consider non-Fire elements.


    I narrowed my eyes at her as a realization hit.


    ¡°You troublemaker! You do know burning things is bad! You¡¯ve been faking it to get away with it!!¡±


    ¡°Brrrrpt.¡± Auri was feeling incredibly smug with herself. I pointed my finger at her.


    ¡°Ohhhh you are so in for it later.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt¡­¡±


    Maximus fake coughed into his hand.


    ¡°Back on topic! What¡¯s next?¡±


    Artemis rolled her eyes at me. ¡°Lightning.¡±


    ¡°Goes on the list.¡± I wrote it down without hesitation. ¡°I should be offered some really nice Lightning classes to boot. After seeing Galeru and Etalix using Lightning up close? That has to qualify me for something nice, and it¡¯s cool.¡±


    ¡°Plus you don¡¯t have to aim.¡± Artemis¡¯s tone was teasing.


    ¡°Not at all!¡± I agreed.


    Auri opened her mouth as if to speak, remembered that she was still in the doghouse - bird¡¯s nest? - and closed it.


    ¡°I think I can remove Poison from the running. I just don¡¯t see myself using it well. My fighting is generally defensive in nature, and Poison¡¯s almost purely offensive, while the connotations are unpleasant, and I can¡¯t imagine super interesting things to do with it.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t your Radiance entirely offensive?¡± Artemis asked. ¡°What¡¯s the difference?¡±


    I thought about it a moment.


    ¡°Poison is preemptively offensive. Radiance is reactively offensive.¡± I slowly analyzed. ¡°Someone needs to be aggressive at me first. I can¡¯t just poison a town¡¯s well and be done with it.¡±


    I followed that train of thought for a moment, rapidly flipping through the elements.


    ¡°Same story with Miasma. Decay I just don¡¯t see myself using it well, or particularly liking it.¡± I concluded.


    ¡°Rest of the Dark elements. What are your feelings on them? Gravity.¡±


    ¡°AWESOME! That¡¯s one of the neatest elements! I literally would never need to lift a finger again! It¡¯s great in a fight! I can pretend to manipulate everything! I also saw some neat tricks manipulating how hard things hit, I can screw with mass, letting me fly with more weight, I can-¡±


    ¡°You can add it to the list, and stop waxing philosophically about it.¡± Artemis interrupted. ¡°If you like it that much, why don¡¯t you just grab it now?¡±


    ¡°Because there¡¯s stuff like Spatial!¡± I exclaimed as I quickly, with a healer¡¯s classic scrawl, added Gravity to my list.


    Perfectly illegible.


    ¡°Did you know that you can expand a space? Awarthril had a box that held sixty times its size! You can teleport small things around, and that¡¯s at the relatively low levels in Remus! Imagine at higher levels! You could teleport people! You can travel to other worlds! I got offered a purple [World Traveler] once, that might be interesting to take. I¡¯ll definitely ask my guide about it. You can-¡±


    ¡°Add it to your list and keep going.¡±


    ¡°Ice is on the list.¡± I wrote it with a fancy twirl and a little icicle.


    I¡¯d never be cold again with the class - most likely it had immunity to the chill somewhere in the class - and my imagination was stuffed with thousands of things I could do with it. Ice skate at high speeds, snowbominations, dresses of frost and towers of ice.


    Mage hands made of snow.


    The possibilities were dizzying and endless.


    ¡°There¡¯s not much point to making a list if you¡¯re going to put everything on it.¡± Artemis¡¯s tone was dry, and her eyes were twinkling.


    ¡°It¡¯s not my fault magic¡¯s super cool. But fine, I won¡¯t take Erosion.¡±


    It didn¡¯t appeal to me, and the spinosaurus destroying mom¡¯s pendant firmly put it in the ¡°never ever¡± group. Petty, but the element wasn¡¯t that exciting.


    Speaking of pendants, I wrote Gemstones on my list.


    ¡°How¡¯s Mountain sound to you?¡± Artemis conjured up a pebble, shaped exactly like a little mountain. It had cliffs and ridges and a summit and everything. A fine display of her control, and relentless practice.


    I shook my head.


    ¡°I need to make some decisions, and Lava appeals to me more than Mountain does.¡±


    Artemis¡¯s tiny mountain crumbled with the expression on her face.


    ¡°Your Lightning is way more interesting.¡± I reassured her, and she brightened up.


    Honestly, was she a kid or something? Stone cold killer by day, desperately seeking approval by night.


    Then again, I wasn¡¯t exactly that much better off. A lifetime of fighting gave us all weird quirks.


    I was amazed she hadn¡¯t killed a student who¡¯d said ¡°BOO!¡± a little too loudly yet.


    ¡°Arcanite¡­¡± I hesitated over it. It seemed like it could do some interesting things, but I hadn¡¯t seen too many Arcanite mages. The highest level people I¡¯d seen with the class sold Arcanite recharging, the only element that could effectively move mana from one person to another.


    I stuck it on the list, to investigate more.


    Maximus didn¡¯t look impressed.


    ¡°Brilliance is neat. Regeneration focused, with barriers? Like, that¡¯d fix dozens of my combat issues, give me a multitude of non-lethal takedowns, and let me conjure weapons up. It also synergizes well with everything else I¡¯ve got. Radiance interacts neatly with Brilliance, I already have two Light-aligned elements, it¡¯s beautiful in a dozen ways. That¡¯s just the start, I¡¯m pretty sure there are more things it can do, just haven¡¯t had a chance to interrogate people over it.¡±


    ¡°Brilliance warriors can move extremely quickly.¡± Maximus added in. ¡°One student of mine was able to ¡®punch¡¯ people with Brilliance beams he conjured. He swears it¡¯s an aimed skill, but it looks like it¡¯s as fast as Radiance and Lightning. Packs enough of a punch against the training rocks that we banned it from spars.¡±


    On the list it went!


    ¡°Celestial. Cheat on the affinity, potentially move my shield skill around, yup!¡± It went straight on the list, with some little doodled stars.


    I loved my starry eyes.


    ¡°Mirage. Holy goddesses above, I am going to be offered the BEST mirage class.¡± I realized, writing it down. ¡°Just as long as it doesn¡¯t directly reference her.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t going to take [Lun¡¯Kat Illusionist]. She¡¯d seen me [Identify]ing her. For all I knew, a class that referenced her that directly would be noted, and verboten.


    Mirage was also something of a nonbo with Radiance. However, I¡¯d also spent a lot of time wanting to be, or going, invisible, and the ability to make illusions and stop a situation without getting into a fight seemed promising.


    Mirage was limited by the imagination of the user, and I¡¯d like to think I had a vast and vivid imagination.


    Plus, if I ever got bored, I could combine Mirage with [Pristine Memories] and¡­


    Well, it wasn¡¯t stealing if nobody from Earth was around to complain about it, right?


    I spent a moment thinking about Mirror.


    ¡°OOoh! At high levels, I bet I can make clones of myself! Also, borrowing, copying, and reflecting other people¡¯s magic is a thing. ALL THE SKILLS in one element!¡±


    It went on the list. I put a little happy star next to it.


    I ignored the fact that my clones might be as lazy as I was, and wouldn¡¯t want to do the work either.


    ¡°Sound¡­ yes?¡±


    I wrote it on the list, and drew an unsure squiggle next to it.


    I knew it had amazing depth and breadth, but nothing was springing to mind as an amazing example.


    It was like vitality. Did a thousand small, useful things without gigantic, flashy magics. However, life was about balance, and I had some incredibly flashy magic already. Plus, I was unsure just how far Sound went - my imagination was failing me.


    Glacia, as much as I disliked her, had some excellent points on the element. She could combine multiple skills to do almost anything, and wasn¡¯t that one of the things I craved?


    Heck, she managed to heal. As a bard.


    There was untapped depths here, and I wasn¡¯t willing to let it go.


    I reviewed my Wood-aligned magic theory for a moment. Wood-aligned elements all massively overlapped with each other, borrowing liberally from each other¡¯s domains.


    I had Coral, Verdant, Spore, and Forest. I quickly cut Coral, and reluctantly cut Forest as well.


    Verdant got on the list. Growing things sounded fun, and if my class was broad enough, I could have a class that let me grow certain specific fruit trees at home, while also letting me pull off the types of stunts Nature did in the field. Grow flowers for Auri to burn, and wouldn¡¯t that just be the nicest combination?


    Like growing certain specific fruit trees whenever I needed them.


    Daily.


    For every meal.


    Medium combat capabilities, logistics, and easy to level in peace, all rolled into one? Yes please!


    Spore had left a strong impression on me as a kid, and I imagined I could mostly mimic what Verdant did, except I¡¯d be dealing with fungi instead of plants. Completely different, in spite of looking the same.


    However, part of this was predicated on me liking gardening and growing things. I didn¡¯t have a ton of experience, and I should experiment with it. It¡¯d suck if I hated it, and spent my first class up focusing on it.


    If I liked it? All the better, more achievements racked up for a stronger first class.


    I was aware that I could always reset my third class if I disliked it, as early as level 32. At my level, with my stats, that¡¯d be measured in weeks, if not days..


    However, Maximus¡¯s advice was to focus on what I wanted for the first class, and get general skills to improve it. After I classed up for the first time, all of my offerings were locked. Immutable. I¡¯d never get another chance at improving my starter class, although I could take mental notes on what I was offered, and talk with people about the classes. Get their advice and input.


    Like, I could easily grab any class once I got in there, hit 32 in a day, then reset my class and go again. But the initial offers were the same. I wanted to get it perfect the first time.


    Actually, that was an interesting question. If a requirement for a class was ¡®has never killed another person¡¯ or something, and I killed someone then reset my class, would it still be offered?


    A theoretical question for another day. My hands were drenched in blood.


    Mantle got cut for the same reason Mountain did, while Acid just sounded vicious.


    I knew that acid was something I¡¯d studied back in my prior life, but the more I tried to tease and pry the memories open, the more holes I found.


    I gave up, and I was discouraged. The element clearly had potential in spades - so much so that one of the biggest deities around decided to entirely prune the knowledge from my mind - but I remembered none of it.


    Knowing that I¡¯d never live up to the true potential of an element was enough for me to strike it from my list.


    Mist didn¡¯t excite me, and the deep water terrified me. Ocean got removed from my list.


    ¡°She¡¯s going fast.¡± Maximus said.


    ¡°Shhh! Don¡¯t break her concentration!¡± Artemis harshly whispered back.


    I dismissed them again from my thoughts. I was in the zone. Focused on the task like one of my tight Radiance beams.


    Ooze was written down as soon as I thought of it, and I doodled a little picture of a wolf puppy. I was reminded that I wanted to level [The Stars Never Fade] for Kiyaya, and that Awarthril would swing by¡­


    Soonish?


    How did I register 200 years now? What length of time was that for me?


    I cut Gale for the absolutely terrible reason that my list was already gorged, and the slightly better reason that I didn¡¯t see what it could do for me. It just felt like such a narrow, underpowered element.


    Sand was the last element on my list, and I semi-reluctantly added it on.


    Serondes had done a ton of interesting things with it, and I could just sink into its soft, warm embrace while mage-hands fed me grapes.


    With that, I was done. I¡¯d tackled every element, and had a ¡®short list¡¯ of potential candidates.


    Radiance


    Lava


    Storm


    Lightning


    Gravity


    Spatial


    Ice


    Gemstones


    Arcanite


    Brilliance


    Celestial


    Mirage


    Mirrors


    Sound


    Verdant


    Spore


    Ooze


    Sand


    Given how long the list was, I wasn¡¯t sure if I¡¯d helped or hurt my cause.


    Either way, I was done for the night.


    We spent some time chatting about my list and choices, then Auri and I headed back. My mind swirled with the endless possibilities of MAGIC.

 Chapter 304 - Three Curses

    I woke up and stretched, the early morning light losing horribly to Auri¡¯s softly glowing flames. She was nestled in her Arcanite sphere, the multifaceted crystals distributing her gorgeous colors all over the room in bright reflections and amplified tones.


    I rolled out of bed, dexterity letting me pull it off almost completely silently. I did a few morning exercises - pushups, burpees, jumping jacks, situps, and a few more. All done slowly, staying almost perfectly quiet. The involuntary white noise we had going helped disguise any small noises I might make.


    ¡°Brrrpt¡­?¡± Auri was still sleepy.


    ¡°Morning.¡± I whispered. Quietly enough that she could doze more if she wanted to.


    ¡°Brrrpt? BRRRPT!¡± Auri shook herself awake, shrieking in delight at her favorite time of day.


    ¡°Brrrpt! Brrrrpt!¡± She cried as she took off, shooting through the house.


    I threw on a tunic, rolled my eyes, and headed towards breakfast.


    Our villa was fairly large, and on top of my absolute favorite - my own personal bath - we had a few ¡°indoor¡± gardens that were open to the sky. Like a miniature courtyard. Either way, I passed one that was Auri¡¯s designated ¡°burn room¡±, the fiery menace cheerfully burning her current day¡¯s log. She looked right at home, literally in her element.


    ¡°Brrrrrrpt.¡± A satisfied Auri called out to me as I passed.


    ¡°Love you too!¡±


    Breakfast was noisy. Stupid background noise.


    ¡°Elaine! I was hoping to catch you!¡± Mom sat down with her breakfast - simple bread and cheese - and started eating.


    ¡°Please tell me the Sound [Inscriptionist] is coming today.¡± I groaned.


    ¡°Thank the gods, yes. Not what I wanted to talk about. My friend, Marcella, I¡¯ve told you about her before, is looking to adopt some kids. She¡¯d like to adopt the two strays you picked up.¡±


    My mouth froze mid-bite as I furiously thought about things.


    I, quite frankly, would make a terrible parent. I wasn¡¯t ready, I didn¡¯t want to, I already had Auri, and I was crazy busy.


    I¡¯d kind of assumed that mom wanted to do it, but I hadn¡¯t asked. I¡¯d been in a bit of a mess.


    And¡­ someone wanted them. Wanted to adopt them. Have them be part of their family.


    Yup, I had exactly one answer to all that.


    ¡°That sounds wonderful!¡±


    I felt a little guilty over it, but it was for the best.


    ¡°Great! Anything exciting today?¡± Mom asked me.


    ¡°Going to check if my skill¡¯s off cooldown, Sentinel meeting, then the usual running around. Autumn, Auri, Artemis, all the A¡¯s!¡±


    I finished and got up. Mom put down her breakfast and gave me a hug.


    ¡°Well, I know you¡¯re all high level and strong, but I still worry. You¡¯re still my little girl. You stay safe out there, ok?¡±


    I knew how fragile life was. I knew there was always a slim chance that I got home, and somebody would be missing. Plus, I kinda deserved it, after going missing for a year and a half.


    ¡°Will do mom. Same to you.¡± I gave her one last tight squeeze, then escaped.


    Or tried to, at least.


    ¡°Brrrpt! BRRRPT! BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRPT!¡±


    ¡°You leveled up!?¡±


    ¡°BRRRPT!¡±


    ¡°32 already?!¡±


    Cripes she leveled fast.


    ¡°You should hold off on classing up. Get some advice. Work on some accomplishments.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ¡°If you wait a little bit now, your flames will forever be stronger.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Yeah! We¡¯re going to throw you a PARTY tonight to celebrate!¡±


    ¡°Brrrrrpt!¡±


    ¡°I gotta run, lots to do.¡±


    I asked one of the servants on the way out if they could buy a bunch of flowers, and generally arrange a little party for Auri. With a slight bow, he agreed.


    I bumped into Plato on my way out.


    Old he may be, but he was certainly dedicated to his craft. The sun was barely over the horizon!


    ¡°Plato!¡±


    ¡°A good morning to you, Prima Elaine.¡± He politely greeted me back.


    The blasted noise made it difficult to hear him. It took me a moment to tease out what he was saying from all the background interference. Once I figured it out, I replied.


    ¡°Auri¡¯s hit level 32. I¡¯m sure you know what you¡¯re doing, and I don¡¯t want to interfere, but I just want to make sure you¡¯ll be touching on classing up and what she can do to make it better?¡±


    ¡°Naturally. I was expecting little Auri to arrive at level 32 around lunch today, and had planned for the morning to be discussion and philosophy, with the afternoon dedicated to her future options. Is there a particular direction that you would like me to steer her towards?¡±


    I blinked as I processed what Plato was saying.


    I didn¡¯t want to call him evil, because he was a great teacher, but devious and manipulating? Oh yes. I¡¯d never even considered that conspiracies like this could exist, but of course they did. It would be difficult, but entirely doable, for me to ask Plato to steer Auri in a certain direction. She was young and impressionable, and Plato was terrifyingly smart, with decades upon decades of experience debating and teaching. It¡¯d be easy enough for him to craft a narrative, and subtly steer Auri towards deciding that a particular class or line was the best, and have her take it in her next class up.


    She¡¯d even think it was her idea!


    I had to be careful with how I answered to boot - if I said something wrong, Plato might read too much into it, and take it as a ¡®hint¡¯ to nudge Auri in a certain direction.


    ¡°Auri¡¯s a phoenix. I believe her natural instincts are steering her in the best direction possible for her. I think she knows what she wants to have and be better than we do. You should ask her what her goals and desires are, temper some of the more impossible expectations - such as burning the city down, or related, ah, problems - then guide her towards being the best she possibly can be.¡±


    Plato stroked his beard a moment.


    ¡°Unconventional to be sure, but I can see the wisdom in such a thing. I would like to give you a thought to mull over. Are you sure you are not simply taking the path you yourself traveled, assume it is the best, and are trying to apply it to your ward? It is an error I see many take.¡±


    Plato¡¯s speech was a little pompous, and a little high-minded. That, and the blasted yelling, made me take a moment to figure out what he was saying.


    In short - I forged my own path. I was asking Auri to forge her own path. Was I simply assuming that ¡®forge your own path¡¯ was optimal? Just like a famous gladiator might assume that becoming a gladiator was the proper path to rich and fame, or a soldier might believe joining the army was the best career path.


    ¡°There could be some of that.¡± I acknowledged. ¡°But I will stick to my assertion that none of us know what a phoenix can do, and her instincts are likely to instruct her better than our misguided attempts. Plus, it¡¯s not like she needs to dive down a career path.¡±


    The image of Auri in a poofy wig, overseeing court, brrrpting out judgements sprang to mind. I had to stifle a laugh.


    Every sentence would involve fire. Hard labor to feed the fire. Death penalty by immolation.


    ¡°As you wish. However, you¡¯ll forgive me if I¡¯m disinclined to teach Auri how to become an [Arsonist].¡±


    ¡°Naturally. Please don¡¯t.¡± I agree with him.


    Plato excused himself, and continued on.


    I wasn¡¯t sure if he agreed with me or not. However, I had full faith that he¡¯d execute my wishes to the best of his abilities. He was the best.


    I left my villa to a now-familiar scene.


    A bunch of angry protestors in the street, yelling curses and obscenities at us.


    It was a motley crowd, filled with people of all shapes and ages from all walks of life. Young and old, male and female, roughly 80 people filled the streets.


    They were mad at me. I¡¯d changed the status quo! Things were scary and different! What was this ¡®women having rights¡¯ nonsense?! Curses, swears, and threats were hurled in my direction.


    The members of the Triumvirate had been gifted with similar protestors outside of their homes, but Augustus and the rest of them weren¡¯t nearly so benevolent. They¡¯d ordered soldiers to fire a dozen skills into the crowd, then had them arrest and beat the survivors.


    Nobody tried to protest outside their house again.


    I was a little more soft-hearted, but attempting to reason with them had gotten me spat on, yelling at them to leave had gotten them to just dig in further.


    It had me questioning the merits of allowing peaceful protest. I liked the idea. I believed it was important to let people express their displeasure, and I¡¯d all too recently been on the wrong end of society trying to crush me. I wasn¡¯t about to become the crusher.


    But boy, seeing how darn effective beating them all up and arresting them could be, was tempting me something fierce.


    My neighbors were not happy with me. I didn¡¯t blame them.


    There was a stout contingent of guards stopping the protesters from getting any ideas of getting violent, and I was endlessly thankful for them. Peaceful protests weren¡¯t exactly a known and common thing in Remus, and only the threat of overwhelming violence had kept the crowd from turning into a mob.


    They weren¡¯t quite terminally stupid.


    However, they were loud and obnoxious, hence the Sound Inscriptions so we could properly tune them out.


    They¡¯d get bored soon enough. I hoped.


    I snapped my wings open and leapt up, jumping into the cloudy sky. It was going to rain later.


    I was a bit early for the Sentinel meeting, and I had a scheduled stop at the Senate. I wasn¡¯t sure what my cooldown on [The Stars Never Fade] was. It wasn¡¯t longer than six months, but skills generally lacked instruction manuals or details on how, exactly, they worked. It was up to an individual to test their skills and explore them, to find the limits of what they could and couldn¡¯t do.


    I made it to the Senate, waving to dad as I blazed my way past the front doors. Early morning gate guard duty sucked, but he threw a quick salute my way.


    I nodded back to him, and quickly navigated my way to one of the numerous meeting chambers the Senate had. Saluting was hard when flying and horizontal.


    It was more than a single large meeting room, where Augustus ruled. Dozens of rooms, from places that were barely more than glorified closets that smelled of sex and intrigue, to grand meetings rooms just an inch smaller than the Senate¡¯s main room.


    It was in one of these middle rooms that I regularly met my next request for Immortality, a person who managed to get Emperor Augustus raised quite a few notches in my personal estimation of the man.


    His wife.


    The emperor himself wasn¡¯t around - far too busy to come watch every time I tried to see if the skill was off cooldown - but he was frankly unneeded.


    ¡°Hey Sextia, sorry, in a rush this morning.¡± I explained as I barged into the room.


    ¡°Oh, no worries, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re quite busy.¡± She politely deflected with a knowing smile.


    She looked a decade older than her husband in spite of being a few years younger than he was. The mismatch of stats, the ability for Augustus to gain hundreds of levels fighting the Formorians while she was only able to use more normal methods of leveling, had lengthened Augustus¡¯s life while the march of time took his wife as normal.


    ¡°Ready?¡± I asked her without preamble.


    ¡°Naturally. Sixteen please!¡±


    I refrained from rolling my eyes. She was - at least according to my mom - the absolute center of Reman social life. Simply getting an invitation to one of her parties was¡­


    I had no idea what getting an invitation to one of her parties meant, because I either tuned out or fled when mom started on those tracks. I was still trying to avoid politics somewhat, especially after Night¡¯s reprimand.


    I¡¯d still push for any changes I wanted to see. I¡¯d still try to correct any injustice I knew of.


    I just didn¡¯t want to get yelled at over minor nonsense, or have it brought up as an example later on.


    Focus.


    I¡¯d been coming here every other day to see if my skill was off cooldown yet, and she had a different age request every time. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was a vanity thing, if her logic as to which age she wanted to be changed, or if she was just having fun.


    She¡¯d gotten the speech on what different ages meant ages ago, along with an awareness of how inaccurate I could be.


    I put my hand on her arm and focused.


    I felt a familiar welling up of mana and force inside of me.


    ¡°Oh.¡± I managed to get out, right before the world dropped away, and we were faced with the vast cosmos.


    The skill performed its usual lightshow, drifting us through the impossible vastness of space.


    Maybe that could be a long term goal? Explore space? It was large enough that a billion years wouldn¡¯t be enough for me to see even a small fraction of what the universe had to offer.


    Step 1: Launch an entire space program, from scratch. No big deal.


    My musings were cut short as the lightshow stopped moving.


    Instead of looking at a star, we were observing an entire solar system. A bright sun burned at the center, casting harsh red light over the three dozen planets in the system. Gas giants and frozen rocks were further out, while brighter, hotter, smaller planets were closer in.


    None had that distinct blue look that spoke of water.


    As I watched, the planets stopped rotating around the star, then started to spin backwards, faster and faster. They orbited so quickly that they started to shake and fall apart, leaving trails of debris in their wake.


    When most of the planets were down to half their mass, gas and rocks scattered all over the system, the skill¡¯s animation paused for a moment, then faded.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [The Stars Never Fade] has leveled up! 3 -> 4]


    A teenager sat in front of me, hale, hearty, and brimming with life and vigor. It looked like I¡¯d missed the mark again, and she was closer to nineteen than sixteen.


    Eh, three years off each time wasn¡¯t that bad. Maybe I¡¯d try to undershoot the next one? That might be asking for trouble though.


    ¡°Oh my.¡± She said, her elderly manner of speaking betraying her true age. ¡°This is quite something. Dear, I must invite you to one of my parties. You¡¯ll be the absolute darling of the show. We¡¯ve been dying to meet you. A dozen of us - Like Venus, Senator Saturio¡¯s wife, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve heard of her - have been slowly working on the same thing you were. Laying the groundwork, changing a few right minds. Then you come charging in, making all sorts of demands! I wouldn¡¯t dare take credit for what you¡¯ve done, oh not, but I hope you don¡¯t mind that I like to think I helped a tiny bit. Had a few quiet conversations with Augustus before you showed up, wings blazing. Oh, how I wish I could¡¯ve just done that! It would have made life so much easier. Speaking of my husband. Poo-poo what he thinks of you and settling down, I¡¯m sure I know a few ladies of your persuasion I can get you in touch with.¡±


    What was with this family and marriage?! Interesting that they¡¯d been working on something. I¡¯d heard of Venus before from my mom, who raved that was the sort of height of power a woman could aspire to.


    Ha! I showed her, in the best of ways. Made sense that not everyone was happy with where they were, and had been trying to change things in their own way.


    It also explained why Augustus had so easily agreed to my demands. He probably saw which way the tide was going, and figured he¡¯d grab everything he could in the process. If I¡¯d waited, maybe I could¡¯ve gotten both the rights and the million rods.


    Ah well. What was done was done, and I¡¯d learned a lesson about consulting with experts before haring off and doing my own thing.


    ¡°The offer¡¯s most kind, but I¡¯m entirely barred from those sorts of events after Pastos.¡± I politely declined, thanking Ranger Command for their ¡®get out of any event free¡¯ card they¡¯d given me.


    ¡°Pastos was you!?¡± She exclaimed, getting up and moving around in an animated fashion. Stretching her arms and her legs like she just couldn¡¯t believe what was going on. ¡°Why, I can¡¯t -¡±


    A familiar weight landed on my shoulder.


    About time. I was starting to think White Dove was going to forget about her.


    White Dove opened her mouth and spoke, creation trembling with every word. The deep, primal fear of her welled up deep inside of me, every instinct I had screaming that I needed to run, hide, fight. Death was on my shoulder.


    ¡°You again.¡± She gazed at me with a single, critical eye.


    At least she wasn¡¯t spitting venom. Progress¡­?


    ¡°Morning. Hope you weren¡¯t too busy.¡±


    White Dove ignored me, and proceeded to look at Sextia.


    ¡°Sextia. [Social Butterfly]. [Sinister Schemer]. You believe yourself so clever, the center of every plot, the pivot of every party. There is no fruit you do not nibble, no engagement your web does not bring to you. You have seen what I¡¯ve done. You know the price, and have dared to cross me anyways. I curse you.¡±


    Dove¡¯s words practically warped the fabric of the room, causing me to bleed from my ears.


    And keep bleeding. Whatever White Dove had done, my healing wasn¡¯t quickly or easily fixing it.


    ¡°You can only bathe in the light of two full moons at once.¡± White Dove said. ¡°In no other way will you be able to remove your odor, in no other manner will you be able to find yourself clean. I wish you the best of luck, trying to hold onto your life and engagements as you drive everyone around you away.¡±


    With a malicious cackle, White Dove flew away.


    I did manage to get a few seconds of studying her flight. Probably not enough, but it was a cumulative effort. One day I¡¯d get something interesting.


    ¡°I gotta run.¡± I apologized to Sextia. ¡°Sentinel meeting.¡±


    ¡°No worries, no worries.¡± She waved me off, stretching languidly like a cat waking up from a nap.


    ¡°This is great! I need to make myself scarce as well.¡± She leaned forward with a twinkle in her eye.


    ¡°Rather, I need to make my husband and myself scarce again. There is nothing like being young again and having a libido again! Especially before I start to smell too badly! I¡¯ll have to figure a way around it.¡±


    I did not need to know all that, nor did I need all the images associated with it.


    ¡°Good luck.¡± We both left the room at the same time, and awkwardly started to go in the same direction.


    That was the worst.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn. Most excellent. Now that we are all here, let us begin.¡± Night said. ¡°Does anyone have any pressing business at this time?¡±


    We were a little short on Sentinels. Destruction was perpetually gone, running between large rebellions and major bandit camps, and he was nearly deployed to remind a town that Augustus was emperor.


    Night had squashed that particular mission, calling it large enough to venture into the realm of politics, and that Augustus could clean up his own messes. Either way, not around.


    Hunting was tracking down some slippery Classer, Senti-Null and Nature were tag-teaming a flaming tree that was stomping around - apparently not a treant, although the distinction was lost on me - and Maestrai was transporting Mirage to a rough spot.


    The two of them thought that Mirage could make his shot from up high, and immediately turn around. Which was all sorts of utterly disgusting.


    I totally approved. It¡¯d give Maestrai good experience to boot.


    Brawling and Toxic were still off gallivanting around, and the room felt empty.


    Cold.


    There was the standard, ritual silence around the room that followed Night¡¯s question.


    After a moment, Ocean spoke up.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got something.¡±


    All our eyes went to him, dreading the next words out of his mouth.


    ¡°That ¡®Ranger¡¯ we¡¯ve had a few reports on. At this point, I¡¯m convinced enough that it¡¯s either a Ranger who¡¯s horribly lost and needs to be brought back in, a Ranger that¡¯s gone rogue, or someone¡¯s besmirching our good name. Either way, a Sentinel needs to be deployed.¡±


    I suppressed a shudder. An issue with a Ranger was literally one of our worst nightmares. Needing to ¡°handle¡± someone we¡¯d trained with, worked with, fought and slept with, who was one of a tiny community? Who had gone ¡°bad¡±?


    Just the worst.


    From what I understood, Artemis had gotten eyes on her quite a few times for her extra-Ranger activities. It had never been quite bad enough to send someone after her, but there¡¯d been eyes on her.


    Not in a good way.


    Handling Rangers who had gone bad had to be done though. As the saying went, one bad apple spoiled the bunch, and allowing a bad or corrupt Ranger to run amok could undo the centuries of hard work the program had.


    ¡°What do you believe is the case?¡± Night asked Ocean.


    ¡°It¡¯s either the first or the third.¡± Ocean analyzed. ¡°Whoever it is continues to loudly proclaim they¡¯re a Ranger, but isn¡¯t following a path or anything. I have a few reports where the Ranger claimed they¡¯ve solved some problems, but that¡¯s it.¡±


    ¡°We do usually allow Rangers to self-report solved problems.¡± Bulwark added in.


    ¡°True, and that¡¯s generally good enough for us. Night?¡± Ocean asked.


    Night looked thoughtful for a moment.


    ¡°Generally Hunting or I would tackle this problem. However, in this particular instance, I believe Dawn is best suited.¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± I¡¯d been content to just watch things, sure that I wasn¡¯t going to be called on.


    ¡°Yes. You have a number of useful skills that happen to fit the situation well enough.¡± Night said. ¡°Your flight skill makes you one of the most mobile Sentinels, after Maestrai. You are unable to transport a second person, but that is irrelevant in the face of this issue. You have your ring, which allows you to disguise your level. You are tagged as a Healer, but have a high enough level to fight your way out of any issue. Lastly, you are a young, pretty face, far outside what anyone thinks of when they hear ¡®Sentinel¡¯. If we are dealing with an imposter, you will be a flame to his moth. If we are dealing with a Ranger who¡¯s gotten sick in the head, you are a calming, healing influence, and can safely bring them back. Lastly, if a Ranger has truly gone rogue, I have the highest confidence in you being able to survive a sneak attack from them. ¡®Handling¡¯ a Ranger who has broken from the fold is one of the single most dangerous missions a Sentinel can undertake. Not only are we unable to properly plan for and evaluate the threat to send the best Sentinel after them, but they have the initiative. We are all well-recognized by the Rangers. It is trivial for them to see us coming, and launch the first attack, while we need to identify the target, and determine whether they are hostile or not first. However. There is nearly no attack that a standard Ranger could perform that could slow you down. As such, you are the best Sentinel for this mission.¡±


    Curses.

 Chapter 305 - The Most Dangerous Game I

    It was with no small amount of nostalgia that I looked at the walls of Aquiliea as I approached on foot.


    The blasted thing about hunting a potential fake Ranger was I couldn¡¯t go in wings blazing, announcing that Sentinel Dawn was here.


    Well, I could.


    I¡¯d done a lot of thinking and muttering over the topic on my way over. On one hand, I could go in with pomp and ceremony, announce I was here, lock the city down, and go hunting.


    However, that¡¯d let my target know that a Sentinel was around. No matter what excuse I gave, he¡¯d likely go to ground and hide. I¡¯d get a bunch of extra resources, but then I¡¯d be hunting a rat.


    There was a slim chance that he didn¡¯t know how Rangers and Sentinels interacted, and that he¡¯d be brazen enough to approach me and offer to help with whatever the problem was. That would make the entire problem easy.


    That also relied on my target being dumber than a sack of bricks. I didn¡¯t like assuming my target was dumber than a sack of bricks, it¡¯d get me killed. Granted, over-estimating someone¡¯s intelligence too far could also cause me problems, but most idiots got themselves eaten by dinosaurs.


    Now, if it was an injured Ranger, or someone who needed significant help, going in with trumpets and drums was again the right move.


    Being discreet had advantages as well. I could poke around. Not spook the Ranger. Be something of a shadow, not have to deal with politics and formalities, or reassuring the governor that there wasn¡¯t a deadly plague brewing. It gave me speed.


    What tilted the balance was I could always go flashy. I couldn¡¯t unring the ¡°Sentinel Dawn is here¡± bell once I hit it. Like the reincarnation thing, way back when. I¡¯d kept it quiet, until it suited my needs to talk about it.


    Quiet had worked in the last three cities I¡¯d visited, chasing down rumors.


    Blasted primitive communication systems.


    By the time the local guard, governor, or whoever got around to writing out their paperwork and reports, by the time a courier got it and delivered it to Ariminum, by the time the right pieces of paper made its way to Ranger HQ, then Ranger Command, and finally to Ocean and his analysis, the information was potentially months out of date.


    ¡°A Ranger stopped by.¡± didn¡¯t get a priority stamp on it. Why would it?


    All I had was he seemed to work in the southern cities, and spent a few weeks in one place before going onto the next. My quiet questions and eventually talking with the local guard had gotten me rumors first months out of date, then weeks, and now only days old.


    Thank goodness I could fly quickly between most of the cities. As much as ¡®track down a rogue Ranger¡¯ wasn¡¯t part of my nominal skill set, seat, or title - but it was part of the Sentinel job title - I had to admit my tools were absolutely perfect for this job.


    I hadn¡¯t brought my armor for once, although I had gotten the quartermaster to rearrange my gems into a low-key belt.


    Plus, I was fairly happy that I was seeing Aquiliea again! I¡¯d only briefly stopped by once since I left, and even that was mostly me trying to drown myself in a bath after that particularly ugly mess with Destruction.


    ¡°Here we¡¯ve got Aquiliea!¡± I wasn¡¯t alone on the roads, and walking and talking with other people was a solid way to pass the time. It would also make my entry into the city practically unremarked, although I had no real concerns in that direction.


    Mostly just didn¡¯t want to be a broody loner type, grumpily not talking with anyone. Still had that anger issue to iron out.


    ¡°Oh?¡± I prompted the [Trader] I was carefully walking next to.


    I¡¯d never gotten properly used to how I had to walk in a woman¡¯s tunic. The whole thing felt like an impractical mess, doubly so after having experienced the wonders of Mistweave. The things I did for a proper disguise.


    ¡°Great dyes, terrible smell.¡± He summarized, and I refrained from wincing at how accurate the comment was. ¡°The ports are nothing special, but the only city more colorful than Aquiliea is Ariminum! I¡¯ve been there twice you know. Grandest city in the Republic - excuse me, Empire. Hope to make my way up the coast after this, and¡­¡±


    I made the occasional polite noises as he rambled on, letting a slow smile cross my face as we got in line for the gates.


    Aquiliea wasn¡¯t home, not anymore. However, I¡¯d spent far too many years of my life in the town not to have a torrent of memory and nostalgia assault me as I got closer.


    I was totally going sightseeing.


    I should bring Auri down here one day. Maybe buy a vacation home? Might be fun to slowly watch the city change and morph over the centuries.


    Then again, I¡¯d need to know a lot more people changing, morphing, and dying over the years¡­


    Maybe just an annual shopping trip for cheap dyes. Spruce up my wardrobe. Nice flying time with a slightly older Auri to save a few rods?


    ¡°Name and purpose of visit?¡± The guard asked, and I snapped out of my daydream.


    ¡°Elaine, just visiting.¡± I reflexively answered.


    ¡°Visiting who?¡± The youngish guard asked, and I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to place him. I¡¯d shadowed almost all of the guards at one time or another as a kid, getting whatever small scraps of healing experience I could. Light healers had a terrible time at early levels, and frankly, nobody wanted a little kid treating them.


    [Pristine Memories] wasn¡¯t the most helpful. People changed all the time, and I would¡¯ve known him as a kid.


    Focus. I¡¯d place him later.


    I couldn¡¯t say my family, because they¡¯d moved out. However, I did know a few people¡­


    ¡°Some friends!¡± I answered.


    ¡°Who are you traveling with?¡± He asked, and it clicked. He was Euterpe! I¡¯d had such a crush on him as a teenager, and he¡¯d stomped all over it when I got burned.


    I had the last laugh though - I¡¯d gotten [Detailed Restoration] out of it, fixed myself up, and promptly fled to join the Rangers. Might explain why he didn¡¯t recognize me though.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m by myself.¡± I answered, and he nudged the guard next to him.


    Ah rats.


    I forgot that the Aquiliea guards were exceedingly competent. My vague non-answers had been good so far - I¡¯d never lie to the guard - but my story seemingly had enough holes in it that I¡¯d get booted up the chain.


    Again.


    I gave a great big sigh.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, whoever¡¯s on duty, just lead the way to the room.¡± I muttered before Euterpe could say anything.


    I could get out of this easily, but not quietly. Lots of people at the gate and everything.


    He gave me a slightly puzzled look, and I shrugged.


    ¡°I¡¯ve spent a lot of time around guards.¡±


    The other guard on duty barked a laugh, and I was swiftly led to an interrogation room. A table, two chairs, a pair of torches and stone walls. The works.


    I¡¯d ended up in these rooms a suspicious number of times for a relatively law-abiding citizen.


    A few minutes later, another familiar face entered the room.


    ¡°Catonus!¡± I leapt up to greet him.


    ¡°Uh, do I know you?¡± I¡¯d taken him completely off guard - pun intended.


    I grinned.


    ¡°It¡¯s me! Elaine!¡±


    ¡°Elaine!? I thought you were dead!¡± His face lit up, then fell.


    ¡°Oh, but your parents aren¡¯t here anymore. They moved¡­ I¡¯m so sorry.¡±


    I rolled my eyes and lightly punched his arm.


    ¡°Yeah, they¡¯re in Ariminum with me. They didn¡¯t say?¡±


    He shook his head.


    Weird. I would¡¯ve expected mom and dad to crow from the rooftops that I¡¯d been found alive, made Sentinel, and that they were moving to Ariminum with me. Maybe they kept a lid on it to protect my privacy or something?


    ¡°Anyways.¡± Catonus¡¯s face turned serious. ¡°I do need your reasoning why you¡¯re trying to enter the city, friendship with your father or not.¡±


    I loved the Aquiliea guard. Annoying as they were right now, this is how guards should be. No excuse for friendship. No bending the rules because they knew me.


    With a thought, I nudged the level on my Deception Ring to my true level, and slipped my hand inside my tunic, grabbing my badge.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn on an investigation.¡± I slapped my badge down on the table.


    ¡°You¡¯re shitting me.¡± Catonus poked at my badge incredulously, then looked back up at me.


    ¡°Double check my level.¡± I couldn¡¯t keep the grin out of my voice.


    He looked, blinked, then poked my badge again.


    ¡°But you¡¯re just a kid!¡± He complained.


    ¡°I grew up!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but Sentinel?!¡±


    I huffed at him.


    ¡°I¡¯m a healer-mage. But watch.¡± I said, starting to poke him at high speeds. Not enough to hurt, just enough to demonstrate that I was fast.


    A bit childish, sure, but it got the point across.


    ¡°Ow, stop that, ow.¡± Catonus tried - ineffectively - to catch and stop my annoying pokes.


    This was rapidly turning into a three-ring circus act. Not the usual grace and aplomb that Sentinels usually carried out their missions with. Then again, my first Sentinel mission? I¡¯d ended up rolling under tables with kids, playing ¡°monsters vs soldiers¡±, so I suppose I¡¯d set the bar fairly low.


    ¡°Never really invested in physical stats, remember?¡± I asked him, continuing to move faster than he could properly handle.


    ¡°Alright! Alright!¡± He cried out, and I stopped.


    His face went from disbelieving, to somewhat serious.


    ¡°Alright, pretending for a moment that it¡¯s really you, a Sentinel, on an investigation, and Icthyus¡¯s fish wasn¡¯t bad last night and I¡¯m not in the grips of a fever dream, tell me what I can do, Elaine.¡±


    Usually my title came at the end of that, not my name, but eh. He¡¯d known me as a bratty, scared kid, and wasn¡¯t giving me any grief.


    I thought about how much I wanted to tell him. I could tell him I was looking for someone claiming to be a Ranger, but that had the risk of hurting our reputation. Much better to present it as ¡°we found a fake that you didn¡¯t catch¡±, instead of ¡°we don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on.¡±


    Keeping it in the house, so to speak. Maintaining our illusion of invincibility. The smoke and mirrors.


    ¡°Mostly just let me in the city, and keep quiet. The situation isn¡¯t urgent or big, but it¡¯s important to us. There¡¯s a few different things it could be, and given the wild disparity from best case to worst case, I¡¯m keeping a lid on it.¡±


    Catonus looked like he was struggling with that.


    ¡°Right, alright.¡± He finally concluded. ¡°Enjoy your stay.¡±


    I swept my badge back up, and tucked it into my impractical tunic.


    ¡°Little Elaine.¡± He shook his head in disbelief. ¡°Sentinel.¡±


    ¡°Catonus.¡± I called out as he was at the door.


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m completely serious about the secrecy thing. Nobody. Not even your wife.¡±


    There must¡¯ve been something in my face or tone that got through to him.


    ¡°Sentinel.¡± He saluted, and I felt a few knots in my back loosen.


    I grinned at him. ¡°It¡¯s great to see you again. Really. That day you and my dad took me to see things and learn skills? I¡¯ve never forgotten it. Thank you.¡±


    I lowered my Ring¡¯s displayed level back down to around 130, and left.


    I¡¯d managed it all without my temper flaring up.


    In no time at all, I was wandering the streets of Aquiliea, gracefully navigating through the pale white roads, smiling at the kids scampering over barrels and crates in the grey zone.


    To think, I¡¯d been worried that I¡¯d be stuck in that section my entire life.


    I had a half dozen different ways I could gather information. The public baths were one of my favorites. Lounging in the hot water, letting it soak in and relax my muscles as I eavesdropped on all the conversations going on? That was the life, and I probably spent more time ¡®investigating¡¯ than strictly necessary.


    The guard was always a font of knowledge, and if a Ranger team was in town, they were high priority.


    Gossip in the marketplace was another good spot, but I was in Aquiliea. I was feeling nostalgic.


    I slowly moved through the city, my heart warming as I saw old, familiar haunts, and was taken by surprise more than once at the changes I saw.


    Six years sounded like nothing, but it felt like multiple lifetimes. The city thought so as well, numerous changes here and there reminding me that this was no longer home. I debated spending a few hours visiting all my old haunts, home, park, and more, but no. I had a job to do.


    After it was done, I could relax a bit more.


    I quickly bought a few cheap tunics, not caring about the size or haggling over the price, rubbed some dirt in them, then headed down to the river.


    The place where a third of the households congregated to do their laundry was, in some senses, the beating social heart of the middle class of Aquiliea. There was only so much riverbank winding its way through the city, and only so many spots that were easily accessible. A [Governor], many centuries ago, had studied the river when Aquiliea was founded, and sensibly decreed what spots along the river could be used for which purpose.


    Helped prevent all of us from drinking tannery run-off, or spilled dyes from inadvertently dying our clothes.


    Given how long doing the family laundry took, and how free everyone¡¯s mouths were? Naturally, it was a chattering hub. One I hadn¡¯t appreciated as a kid, and had grumpily tried to avoid.


    There were still pivots in the crowd. Women who, by grace of a useful aura skill or sheer popularity, everyone wanted to be near. I picked a likely group, made my way down to the river, and shamelessly listened in as I laundered the clothes I¡¯d just bought.


    I was going to blast the entire area in a heal when I was done, but not before then. For all I knew some wizened old crone only had one arm, and had kept it that way for decades. A new arm suddenly sprouting would be a little obvious¡­ but I wasn¡¯t going to stop healing just because of a mission.


    I had my priorities in order.


    My vitality had sharpened my ears many times over, and with a bit of focusing, I could pick out different conversations from the babble.


    The quiet whispers promised all manner of delicious gossip, but alas, it was unlikely that people would be talking about the Ranger in those tones.


    ¡°Ship arrived from Genua. All the alchemists are frothing at the mouth, waiting for the ship to unload.¡±


    ¡°Mail courier came the other day.¡±


    ¡°And there won¡¯t be a letter from my son in it, the ungrateful lout. I¡¯ve got half a mind marching over there myself and twisting his ear about it!¡±


    ¡°Did you see the new [Potter] from Virinum? He¡¯s cute.¡±


    ¡°I heard he bottoms though!¡±


    ¡°No!¡±


    I tore myself away from the delightfully scandalous conversations I occasionally found myself listening to, keeping in mind that I had a job, and my fill of scandal when I was bored at the market.


    ¡°Hey, you look new here!¡± A friendly voice attached to a friendlier person kneeled next to me. I¡¯d noticed her coming, but I pretended to jump anyway. Someone with the level I was displaying wouldn¡¯t have the awareness that I¡¯d need to hear her coming, not with how soft her footsteps had been.


    I think.


    I was occasionally under the illusion that I was good at sneaky deception, then remembered that every time I thought I¡¯d gotten away with it, it was because people let me get away with it.


    Bah.


    ¡°Kind of! I used to live around here, and now I¡¯m back!¡± I turned towards the voice, squinting slightly. ¡°Do I know you?¡±


    ¡°Flavia. I¡¯d shake your hand but¡­¡± She trailed off, and yeah. Kid in one arm, laundry in another, and a belly showing a second well on its way.


    The face and name clicked.


    In retrospect, I¡¯d been a grumpy, depressed, antisocial, annoying teenager way back when, with a superiority streak a mile wide.


    I still had more of that than I was willing to admit, but upon genuine reflection?


    Flavia had constantly reached a hand out to me. Had constantly tried to be my friend, and like an idiot, I¡¯d kept slapping it away.


    I had no excuse, besides being an idiot.


    ¡°Flavia! Hey, it¡¯s me, Elaine!¡± I brightly said, trying to return just a fraction of the cheer she¡¯d sent my way once upon a time.


    ¡°Elaine, Elaine¡­¡± She trailed off, thinking.


    ¡°Left here like six years ago? Was a healer?¡±


    She snapped her fingers.


    ¡°Yes! I remember you now! Your level is weird though.¡±


    Shit, had I screwed up the Deception Ring? If a random person on the street was calling it weird, then-


    ¡°You were, like, level 100 six years ago. Only 30 levels in that time? Did you do a reset or something?¡±


    I breathed a small sigh of relief.


    ¡°Something like that, yeah. What¡¯s your kid¡¯s name? Who¡¯s the lucky guy?¡±


    ¡°Kolius! Hated the whole idea at first. So did he, to be frank. We sat down, discussed it, and figured we were in it together for the long haul. After that, we¡­¡±


    I spent longer than was wise making small talk with Flavia. Reveling in the normalcy of it all.


    She was, weirdly, a touchstone.


    I wasn¡¯t rich. I wasn¡¯t famous. I wasn¡¯t terrifying. I wasn¡¯t changing politics, fearing lurking assassins, or wondering when the next shoe would drop.


    I was just¡­ me.


    ¡°What happened to you?¡± Flavia asked. ¡°One day you were here, the next you weren¡¯t. When you didn¡¯t come back, we feared the worst¡­¡±


    ¡°Eh¡­ I found my own way. It¡¯s worked out well enough.¡±


    Sadly, I had to deflect what I was actually doing¡­ which, painfully enough, brought me to the main topic.


    ¡°By the way, is there a Ranger in town?¡± I asked her.


    Flavia shot me a quick, pitying look. What was that about? Then she answered.


    ¡°Yes. Set up near the Drunk Stallion. Right around the corner from where we live.¡±


    My lead secured, I made a bit more polite smalltalk before making my excuses and leaving.


    Right near the edge, with everyone still in range, I blasted a full-range heal.


    The total accumulated experience must¡¯ve been enough to finally push the skill over the edge, and level me up.


    [*ding!* [Celestial Affinity] has leveled up! 473 -> 474]

 Chapter 306 - The Most Dangerous Game II

    I quickly found my way to the Drunken Stallion.


    One look at it had me utterly convinced that said Ranger wasn¡¯t one. It wasn¡¯t the seediest bar in the town, but it had to be in the top 10. A type of place that I¡¯d expect to find the most reprehensible scum of the earth - [Adventurers], of course, [Thieves] were at least somewhat honest about their villainy - not a guard or a Ranger.


    I forcefully reminded myself that I had a deep well of prejudice against adventurers, and going in thinking I knew all the answers was a surefire way to be completely wrong, and end up with egg all over my face.


    If I was lucky, it¡¯d even be a metaphorical egg!


    I gave my ¡°disguise¡± a once-over check, and yup. I mostly looked like a normal 20-year-old woman. The lack of scars would be attributed to being a decent [Healer] - almost everyone had small pox or other scars from diseases or injuries - and it was the rare person in Remus who didn¡¯t look fit.


    I did have to consciously slow myself down though, and ugh. I couldn¡¯t have my super reflexes. Just hoped I wouldn¡¯t have to dodge any mud sprays from a passing wagon, or a horse splashing through dirty water.


    I walked into the bar, and wanted to roll my eyes at the sheer stereotypical nonsense going on. Dark figure with a hood brooding in the corner? Check times five, with two of them awkwardly shuffling around, trying to occupy the same corner.


    A [Bard] was performing on a table that she¡¯d forcefully converted to a tiny stage. She had flaming red hair, and if that wasn¡¯t because of a skill I¡¯d eat my sandals. Without cooking them first.


    She was as tall as I was, which was to say tiny, and danced a merry jig while strumming away on her lyre, filling the bar with lively music. She was singing a lovely rendition of a popular song, and had a number of admirers. Two men were wrestling, surrounded by some cheering men and a couple of women, almost all with a drink in their hands.


    Some people were sitting at the bar, turned around to get a good look at the entertainment.


    I was sure that the bar had a vaguely reputable clientele when it wasn¡¯t in the middle of the workday.


    The supposed Ranger was blindingly obvious. He had that look that suggested he¡¯d spent years as a soldier, with a Ranger¡¯s badge prominently pinned on his beer-stained tunic. Didn¡¯t get much more obvious than that. A quick [Identify] had him as a level 225 [Warrior] - in the right level range, at least. He grabbed a fresh mug from the bartender roughly at the same time I came in.


    A few eyes turned towards me. I hadn¡¯t exactly made a huge entrance, but the few whistles I got instantly had my blood boiling.


    Calm. I reminded myself. Control the anger, don¡¯t be controlled.


    However, most of my plans on being subtle went out the window. The small spark I had of pretending to be a meek mild-mannered healer was smothered in the crib. I just wanted to be done with things.


    The ¡°Ranger¡± in question was looking at me, and, well, might as well directly get to it.


    ¡°Oh wow, a Ranger!¡± I tried to channel how I felt as a kid meeting Artemis and the rest of the Rangers. I really did.


    Being a bad actor, and wrestling down my anger made it somewhat unconvincing. I briskly walked over to him. He¡¯d started to take a drink, but my beeline had him putting down his mug.


    He gave me a lecherous grin that had shivers going down my spine. He was totally in for it. If he was real, I was going to make him do pushups until he dropped. If he was fake¡­?


    ¡°Why, aren¡¯t you a pretty thing?¡± His voice gave me shivers.


    Don¡¯t murder him in cold blood. [Oath] would be upset.


    ¡°Do you have a whole team?¡± I asked, trying to make my eyes go wide, and my voice breathless.


    An inch. Give me an inch.


    I heard a familiar choked laugh coming from behind me. I despaired slightly.


    I didn¡¯t like everyone I¡¯d grown up with, but I didn¡¯t think any of them would¡¯ve stooped so low. Couldn¡¯t quite place the voice though.


    The supposed Ranger slapped his chest.


    ¡°Nope! I¡¯m one of the best. A lone wolf. Other Rangers couldn¡¯t keep up with me, so I travel alone!¡± He roared, getting some approving looks from the rest.


    Fine then.


    That made this easy.


    Didn¡¯t mean I liked putting my hand on his knee, but it let me use a bunch of the utility gems I had.


    ¡°Right.¡± My voice went from my bad attempts at playful and flirty - honestly, I¡¯d need a strong drink just to wash the taste out of my mouth - to serious. I mentally flipped my Deception Ring to level 700, because nobody could really tell past 300 what was going on. The deeper, darker red I displayed, the better.


    ¡°I¡¯m Sentinel Dawn. You¡¯re under arrest for impersonating a Ranger.¡± I declared, as I unloaded all available disabling skills from my charged gems.


    [Watery Manacles] bound his hands and feet with cuffs made out of Water, [Shocking Paralysis] sent painless Lightning coursing through his system, locking his body up and stopping him from moving entirely, and [Mana Void] deleted¡­ probably his entire mana pool, although I didn¡¯t have good numbers on either side of things.


    I¡¯d still bet on Hunting¡¯s Void magic power over the random warrior¡¯s mana pool though.


    There was a discordant screech as a string on the bard¡¯s instrument broke. Tables scraped the floor and chairs got knocked over as everyone cleared a ring around us.


    The fake Ranger slowly toppled over, his eyes frozen forward.


    A huge hand landed on my shoulder, coming out of nowhere.


    ¡°You have the worst timing, Dawn.¡± A gentle giant grumbled at me.


    ¡°Toxic!?¡± I looked up at my friend, who grinned down at me. I wasn¡¯t going to ask how I hadn¡¯t noticed him - hiding in an open field was just one of his skills.


    He looked¡­ better. Less haunted. He had a well traveled tunic on, a lute strung over his shoulder, and a twinkle in his eye.


    ¡°I¡¯d finally managed to get a sleeping poison in his drink. Would¡¯ve made the entire thing easy, painless, and subtle. Just another man who couldn¡¯t properly hold his liquor.¡± Toxic gave a slow, mock-sad shake of his head.


    There was a spray of beer as the lowlife who¡¯d nabbed the fake Ranger¡¯s mug spat it out, then overturned the mug, to the displeasure of the bartender.


    ¡°Well, excuse me for ruining your master plan. Let¡¯s catch up somewhere else?¡± I eyed the rest of the bar, who weren¡¯t giving us the friendliest of looks.


    ¡®Terrified¡¯ and ¡®not looking to pick a fight¡¯, but not friendly.


    ¡°Sure.¡± Toxic easily hauled the frozen man over one shoulder. The bard scrambled off her table, and fell in behind him, following us.


    Arthur seemed to know what that was about, and I didn¡¯t comment. He¡¯d let me know soon enough.


    We dropped the fake off with the local guard, then found a much nicer place to catch up.


    ¡°I never expected to see you here!¡± I repeated, nursing a nice cup of wine.


    The difference between me drinking here, and the people from earlier drinking, was I had already done a full day¡¯s work. I¡¯d earned it.


    I ignored the little voice suggesting that maybe they¡¯d also earned it. The bard and the bartender had also been working¡­


    Speaking of the bard, she was carefully tuning her instrument or something. I wasn¡¯t fluent in instrument maintenance. Mostly staying out of our way, but clearly listening in. I¡¯d have to get the full story from Arthur at some point, but they¡¯d definitely been working together for some time.


    ¡°Same.¡± He agreed. ¡°No offense, but you¡¯re near the bottom of my list of picks for Sentinels to be sent on this sort of thing.¡±


    ¡°Well, you¡¯d think that. See¡­¡±


    I gave Arthur the quick rundown of what I¡¯d been up to since the Formorian war.


    ¡°Of course,¡± I leaned back in my chair, sipping on my fourth drink as the moons started to rise. ¡°To get the real, full story, you¡¯d need to head back to Arminium.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s more?!¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah, you got the short version of Auri¡¯s egg, for example. Anyways, what have you been up to?¡±


    Arthur¡¯s face instantly fell, and I immediately felt guilty.


    ¡°Still getting notifications?¡± I gently asked.


    He gave me a stiff nod.


    ¡°About two a week now.¡±


    Arthur¡¯s mass poisoning attempt had worked. The price was his conscience. It wasn¡¯t a clean success, people succumbing to the poison he was using against the Formorian Queens.


    The brutally pragmatic call had been made without me though - continue with the plan.


    And Arthur - Sentinel Toxic - had done so. He¡¯d pushed the domino that had won us the Formorian war, forever securing our borders against the threat, no longer throwing people into the endless meatgrinder.


    ¡°It¡¯s ok. You can tell me.¡± I gently told him.


    I didn¡¯t know if he was looking for forgiveness, absolution, or what. I just knew being a friendly, supportive ear, someone who¡¯d been there and knew what he¡¯d gone through, was the right move.


    Arthur started rambling about it. How every death notification told a life story. How he was dreading checking his notifications, but felt obligated to.


    Throughout it all, I just made sympathetic noises. The bard was also clearly a source of some comfort, having heard it before. Seemed to be good for him.


    ¡°.... now I¡¯ve been singing.¡± Arthur finished up. ¡°Telling my tales. Seeing how many lives I can brighten. It¡¯s not much. Nothing compared to your healing. But I¡¯ve got no talent for it, and I don¡¯t want to poison anyone else.¡±


    I snorted at him, and punched his arm.


    ¡°Telling my tales more like it!¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re not yours in the first place!¡± He argued back.


    ¡°Yeah. STILL!¡±


    We gave each other stink-eyes, then cracked near-identical grins.


    ¡°I haven¡¯t forgotten I¡¯m a Sentinel.¡± He said. ¡°Still solve problems that I come across, although I¡¯ll be the first to admit I¡¯m closer to a one-man Ranger team than a proper Sentinel. Still, I¡¯ve got the flexibility to track down rumors, like that fake from earlier. Oh! Do I have a story for you! See, it all started with a rash of trees turning pink, and¡­¡±


    I smiled as Arthur - with significantly better storytelling skills than the last time I¡¯d met him - regaled me of his epic tale of The Pink Trees and the Seven Sisters.


    ¡°Gods, look at the time.¡± Arthur said, and I jolted awake from the doze I was falling into.


    I let a yawn rip.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get some sleep.¡±


    Arthur hesitated.


    ¡°I¡¯m probably going to head out. Bad dreams¡­¡±


    I stood up, giving him an understanding nod.


    ¡°I got it. Come here.¡± I gestured, giving the way too big, practically a giant, a hug.


    ¡°It was good to see you again.¡± I murmured. ¡°Come by and visit.¡±


    ¡°I just might.¡± He agreed, and we parted.


    I had one more task to complete before I could sleep. Gripping a Moonstone, I infused it with a charge of [The Stars Never Fade]. Augustus had wanted the skill for him in a gemstone.


    All the better for others to not know what his curse was, and I wanted the debt gone and cleared. Augustus had done everything right, showing good faith, and I was going to return it.


    The guard barracks were loud, and in spite of my best efforts to bury my head under my pillow, I was unceremoniously woken up a few hours before I wanted to be.


    Ah well.


    My mission was finally over. It¡¯d been a pain to chase down rumors, but bumping into Arthur made it all worth it. I wanted to blitz back home to Auri and everyone else, but I hadn¡¯t been to Aquiliea in ages, and I didn¡¯t know when I¡¯d be back next.


    Tour time, speed style.


    I started off by visiting the home I¡¯d grown up in. The place I¡¯d lived as a baby, a kid, and a young teenager. I knew the spot like the back of my hand, and, well.


    It was weird.


    It still looked exactly like my old home, down to the striations in the stone. My instincts were muttering that I should sneak in before mom burst outside and scolded me for lazing around, or that dad should be grabbing me in his arms and spinning me around.


    Weirdest of all?


    It wasn¡¯t home anymore. I couldn¡¯t just waltz in, slap the groceries down in the kitchen, and throw myself onto a cushion. It was a stranger¡¯s home.


    ¡°Can I help you?¡± A woman asked me suspiciously from inside the door.


    I shook my head.


    ¡°No, sorry. I grew up in that house. Just wanted to see.¡±


    ¡°Ah! You must be Julia¡¯s kid. You look just like her.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I awkwardly left, and quickly ran around town.


    I bought an absurd copper contraption from Bakus, picking it out because it had clever flames twisting on it. Auri would like it¡­ she¡¯d probably like it more after she set it on fire, the troublemaker.


    I walked the streets I had so many times as a kid, turning my head in wonder at just how different my perspective was. Both physically, and emotionally.


    It all just looked different, while being the same.


    I went to the park where Lyra and I had played, feeling the heavy weight of her loss.


    The first one was the hardest.


    I cried, as I failed to find any trace of her. There had been no grave. No stone. No marker of her life, no proof of her existence.


    There was only one place to go after that.


    The temple at the center of town. News hadn¡¯t quite made it here, but before the year was out, no girl would be denied a chance to learn new skills at System Day. That old, lingering ghost had been put to rest, and if I had more time, if it wouldn¡¯t have meant days away from Auri, I would¡¯ve stuck around just to oversee one of the first times everyone was allowed to play with the temple¡¯s toys.


    ¡°May I assist you?¡± A priest - I recognized Sacerdus - asked me.


    ¡°Just looking to pray.¡±


    ¡°Any specific god or goddess?¡±


    I hesitated a moment, quickly running through the list.


    End of the day, there was only one option for praying about Lyra.


    ¡°Selene and Lunaris, if they have their own altar?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± He led the way, and I was slightly amused.


    He didn¡¯t recognize me at all. I wasn¡¯t about to point it out, because what would be the point?


    I knelt at the altar, and prayed.


    Selene.


    Lunaris.


    Hi, I¡¯m Elaine. Sorry I don¡¯t pray much.


    I figured any excuse I gave as to why I didn¡¯t pray much wouldn¡¯t endear me much to the goddesses.


    My friend Lyra loved the two of you, and she died. I¡¯m praying to you on her behalf. It¡¯s what she would¡¯ve wanted.


    Can you bring her back?


    I still had an inner child, and she was the one making the plea.


    It cost me nothing. Who was I to deny it?


    Cheers,


    Elaine.


    I had no idea what else to do, and I just stayed there in quiet prayer.


    I got up and left.


    I was walking out when I bumped into Flavia again, who quickly waved me down. Naturally, I went to see what she wanted.


    ¡°Elaine! Oh thank goodness.¡± She gave a dramatic exhalation.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t heard! You¡¯ll never believe this - the Ranger was a fake. A whole squad of Sentinels came in and arrested him and everything! A Sentinel! In this town! Can you believe it? I¡¯m just glad you didn¡¯t get hurt.¡±


    I gave her a bit of an awkward look, having no idea what to make of what she was saying or why. I mean, yeah, I¡¯d mentioned I was looking for the Ranger, but just what did she think was going on!?


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t a squad, it was two Sentinels. One was there by accident.¡± I eventually settled on, figuring correcting the rumors might be worth it. Also, Sentinels needed their illusion of invincibility. If the rumor mill started on ¡°one fake Ranger was worth a whole team of Sentinels.¡± that did us no favors in the long run. Like, yeah, ¡°Sentinels crack down hard on fakes¡± was the counter to that, but I didn¡¯t like the overall picture it painted.


    ¡°Oh? How do you know that?¡± Flavia asked.


    Eh. I was leaving, and the mission was over. Might as well enjoy myself.


    I pulled out my Sentinel badge.


    ¡°Because I was one of them. Sentinel Dawn, at your service.¡± I gave her a grin, letting it stretch uncomfortably large as she gasped. Never got old.


    ¡°Anyways, I¡¯ve gotta run. It was great catching up Flavia! I¡¯ll try to swing by now and then.¡± I¡¯d seen most of the city, and had somewhere to be. A place with my family and friends, with Auri, Artemis, Autumn, Night, and the rest.


    I¡¯d made my peace with Aquiliea, and with a flap of my glorious Radiant wings, I took flight, heading north.


    Flying was magical. I spent a brief moment with the wind in my hair and the sun on my face, closing my eyes to better enjoy the feelings as Pallos dropped away from me.


    I opened my eyes, oriented myself, and started to fly north, back home.


    I made good time, but as I flew faster, I spotted a problem.


    One of the vicious flocks of ornithocheirus was circling, swarming like a deadly cloud.


    Circling - not traveling.


    I cursed as I saw the cloud of monsters ¡®raining¡¯, indicating that the deadly dinosaurs were diving en masse. I changed direction and headed their way.


    Once upon a time, I¡¯d only ever been able to run and hide from the beasts, their sheer numbers and weight able to literally bury any opposition. That was years and hundreds of levels ago though.


    It took me some time to power towards the distant flock. There was nothing clouding my vision, my eyes were dramatically improved thanks to my vitality, and the flock was big enough to see from a distance.


    Waste not, want not, in the forty minutes or so it took me to fly over, I did my best to study their flight. Only as I got closer did I have a chance at seeing what was going on.


    It was a tragedy. All I could properly make out was a dozen ironclad covered carts, most of them wrecked or turned over. I couldn¡¯t see any bodies, but the number of blood-stained ornithocheirus walking on the ground, or the clusters of the dinosaurs with their heads down in the right spot told a story.


    I couldn¡¯t see any survivors, but it didn¡¯t mean there weren¡¯t any terrified civilians, huddled inside one of the tipped-over wagons, praying for salvation.


    The swarm was massive, one of the threats to Remus that not even a Ranger team could handle. A full army legion could, with a bit of work, fight one of the swarms, and possibly Night or the late Sky.


    I wasn¡¯t one of those, but I wasn¡¯t helpless either. I had to try.


    As I silently dove towards the broken caravan - I wasn¡¯t an amateur who¡¯d scream and announce myself ahead of time - I quickly formulated a plan of attack, rescue, and figured out my win and lose conditions.


    One of the issues with the ornithocheirus was killing one or two of them didn¡¯t make them run away. They were cannibals through and through, and several of them dying simply meant there was more food for them. It brought more of the flock down.


    It¡¯s what I imagined happened here. That, or there had been enough beasts of burden, without enough protections.


    I wasn¡¯t terribly scary. Most monsters - and people, for that matter - looked at me and thought ¡°yum¡±.


    I needed to kill enough of the dinosaurs that they¡¯d flee, which would steadily escalate in difficulty. The more I killed, the more would come down, the greater danger the survivors would be in until I entirely broke their morale, until their primitive instincts recognized that too many of them were dying, and the feast was not worth the risks.


    I lost - in other words, died - if I ran out of mana. Mismanaging my mana stores and burning too many flying menances, too fast, was the biggest risk. Taking stupid lethal attacks was the second largest risk, and getting trapped and turning into an all-you-can-eat buffet until my healing ran out was the third way I could run out of mana.


    The corollary to that was a trapped survivor that I needed to heal, only for the dinosaurs to come back for a bite.


    I wasn¡¯t built for a straight out slugfest. Getting my limbs chomped off wouldn¡¯t help me at all, and staying still was just asking to get swarmed and dive-bombed. I couldn¡¯t handle that.


    It left a fairly straightforward plan.


    I got in range, and the battle was joined.


    The only greedy guts that had seen me were the members of the flock still high above, and I didn¡¯t look tasty. Small, scrawny, with great big colorful ¡®don¡¯t touch me¡¯ wings. My dive intersected me with the first ornithocheirus, and I twisted in the air. Studying Auri and Cordamo had given me unparalleled agility, and I practically slapped the dinosaur¡¯s head.


    I unleashed a small, careful Radiance blast, spending as little mana as possible while still being lethal.


    [*ding!* You have slain an [Ornithocheirus] (Wind, 183)]


    I didn¡¯t even burn through its head.


    I paused a brief moment to assess the impact of my actions.


    Its body plummeted through the air, and I sucked in a cold breath through my teeth as it landed squarely on one of the carts. Its relatively fragile body couldn¡¯t handle the impact, breaking every bone in its body.


    My clinical eye pointed out a few small sections of bone that, technically, hadn¡¯t properly broken, and were likely intact.


    I kept diving, assessing the situation both near and far. There was a second ornithocheirus that I angled towards, making sure I¡¯d get in nice and close from its blind spot.


    The wagon that I¡¯d dropped the first dinosaur in held, but it had a dent. Four more ornithocheirus hopped forward, greedily devouring their flockmates body.


    Killing the dinosaurs this high up above the caravan wouldn¡¯t work. I didn¡¯t want to start raining bodies down on possible survivors. Heavy flesh anvils dropped from a few hundred feet up high were lethal to all but the strongest, most resilient Classers.


    At least, of the Classers that Remus had.


    I glanced behind me, seeing a few more start to dive.


    Great.


    I carefully aimed at the ornithocheirus¡¯s joint, and a thin lance of Radiance sprang forth from my finger, instantly leaping through the air and severing the bird¡¯s connection to its wing.


    With a scream of pain, the dinosaur spiraled out of control, and I used it as a distraction, diving right behind it.


    As I got closer, I flared my wings, changing the angle of attack from a dive to flying horizontally. I strafed the group of birds, carefully rationed Radiance shots killing them when I could easily get to their head, or crippling a wing when I couldn¡¯t get a good angle.


    A few careful [Kaleidoscope] butterflies were released into larger groups, the explosion maiming multiple birds. Their aggressive and greedy nature had them eyeing each other and posturing, instead of chasing after me.


    Divide and conquer.


    More of the ornithocheirus would be diving after the fresh meat I was providing. I was hoping their natural viciousness would make them turn on the weakened survivors.


    The weakened survivors wouldn¡¯t go down without a fight, and maybe bring another one of the birds down with them. It was too much to hope it¡¯d snowball into a cannibalistic orgy of self-destruction. They would¡¯ve wiped themselves out already if that was possible.


    I scanned for survivors as I zoomed over the caravan with my deadly light show. I didn¡¯t see any signs, but I wasn¡¯t deterred. Anyone I could easily see from the sky, the dinosaurs could see as well. Anyone the dinosaurs could see, they could get to and eat.


    I pulled a number of the vicious birds after me, squawking and shrieking in outrage that I¡¯d dared to kill a number of them.


    Or they saw me as fresh food, hard to tell.


    I carefully paced myself, letting them string themselves out, all while managing a pair of the dinosaurs who took the chance to divebomb me from up high.


    A single [Kaleidoscope] butterfly in exactly the right spot managed to injure and disorient the two of them enough that they crashed into each other, and impacts at that speed, with those existing injuries?


    If trees could level, the ones they impaled themselves on would¡¯ve gotten a few.


    I killed my pursuers one at a time, then turned back, golden beams of Radiance flickering in and out of existence as I strafed the caravan¡¯s remains a second time.


    I was the world¡¯s deadliest disco ball. With little butterfly wings.


    I repeated the process, but a third run was impossible. There were too many of them, shrieking and clawing, ripping and tearing. It was like a sea made out of limbs as they climbed over every inch, pecking and biting.


    I circled them instead, picking off as many of the dinosaurs that I could, throwing in a few more well-placed [Kaleidoscopes] for maximum impact.


    More of the dinosaurs chased me, and I almost felt bad for them.


    Between my levels, abilities, training, and skills, as long as I didn¡¯t do anything stupid I¡¯d be able to easily outsmart them and pick them off. As long as I managed my mana. As long as I kept my head on a swivel. As long as I didn¡¯t rush.


    They didn¡¯t have a chance.


    The only thing that kept me going were the blood-coated wagons, a reminder of why I¡¯d come here in the first place. At this point, I wasn¡¯t looking for survivors.


    There was no point, there were too many ornithocheirus, living and dead, to see or hear anything. I¡¯d need to search later. It¡¯d taken me so long to get here, that any survivor was well-hidden and secured, and would stay that way. The best thing I could do for them was clear off the dinosaurs, find them, heal them, and bring them back to civilization.


    I didn¡¯t know how long the fight took, but when the birds fled, they left waist-deep corpses.


    ¡°Hello?¡± I shouted, loud as I could. ¡°Is anyone around? I¡¯m Sentinel Dawn, it¡¯s safe now.¡±


    With a grunt, I dragged a body off one of the wagons, making it a little more accessible. I remembered I had a utility gem for exactly this situation, and was heading home. I used [Amplify Voice], letting my shouts roar across the battlefield.


    ¡°It¡¯s safe now! Come on out!¡± I kept moving.


    ¡°Hello?¡± I called out, knocking on the roof of the wagon. ¡°Is anyone in there?¡±


    Silence. I wasn¡¯t going to let that stop me, no. I was going to check every nook and cranny.


    I moved a few more bodies, each one taking time. The doors of this wagon had been ripped off, but I ducked in anyways. No telling if someone was knocked out, had passed out from an adrenaline crash, or had screamed themselves hoarse. Or some other issue.


    Crates and barrels were tumbled and jumbled, having gone every which way when the wagon was tipped over.


    I found a small crushed torso under a particularly heavy crate of what I assumed was raw iron, the exposed legs ending in stumps.


    The dinosaurs had chewed it off and eaten it already.


    I only hoped that the falling crate had killed her first.


    I cleared wagon after wagon, getting more frantic, more desperate with each one. Looking for survivors. Looking for the one person that meant it¡¯d all been worth it, that my actions had made a difference.


    It had taken me roughly forty minutes to travel over here after I¡¯d seen the dinosaurs.


    They¡¯d been here for some time before that.


    The last wagon forced the conclusion in my face, rubbed it in.


    I¡¯d been too late.


    Half-chewed corpses were the most I¡¯d found from anyone.


    I knew I couldn¡¯t save everyone. It was still an unpleasant realization. My best hope at this point was that some people had fled into the forest when the attack started, and they¡¯d managed to get away.


    Fighting back tears, I took off once again. I circled around for another hour or two in ever-widening circles, seeing if I could find anyone.


    Of course, anyone hiding would have hid against people searching from the sky, but the odds of success for manually searching the entire forest on foot were too low for it to be worth the effort.


    I was a bit lost, I needed to reorient myself. I followed the road the caravan had been on.


    I only paused when the sun set, finding myself in a forest once again. I landed in a clearing, noting a ring of mushrooms.


    Last time I left Aquiliea, I¡¯d slept in a forest, in a ring of mushrooms. Funny how life repeated itself in those little patterns sometimes. I¡¯d been an upset mess with the rain falling last time, and this time I was an upset mess with rain coming from my eyes.


    At least the clearing was perfect for the night. A cozy ring of soft grass and everything.

 Chapter 307 - Minor Interlude - Auri - Left Behind

    Good morning, good morning, GOOD MORNING! It was morning! The great fire up high - the sun, Plato was insistent that she learn and use the right words - was just coming up.


    Praise the sun! Oh glorious never ending fire! My fire would be that big one day. Elaine promised me that listening to Plato would make my fire bigger, so I did.


    She must¡¯ve slept well! No bad invisible monsters attacked her in the night! I still wasn¡¯t sure why horses at night were so dangerous, but one of these days I¡¯d catch them sneaking in and burn them all to ashes!


    I looked over and-


    She was gone. Her bed was empty, like it¡¯d been for¡­ many many many days. Counting the number of days hurt, a watery reminder of each day she hadn¡¯t been here.


    I kicked some bad little clearish beads out of my nest. Shoo! Go away! I don¡¯t want you here!


    I let out a sad plaintive brrrrpt. Why had she gone? Why did she leave me behind?


    Why were the mean Sentinels so hard to burn? Elaine had tricked me! She said burn one and I could come, but they were all fast and tricky!! The last one I tried to burn summoned a bunch of evil water and laughed at me from inside!


    Ugly colorless water-using Sentinel. Why did Elaine hang out with him???


    Elaine was gone. Even if it took forever, I¡¯d wait for her.


    But I wasn¡¯t gone! I was here! Me!


    I looked around me, at the lovely ar-arcan-arcanite nest Elaine had gotten for me. It was shiny and pretty, and everywhere I looked I saw the most beautiful, wonderful, lovely, brrretiest sight I¡¯d ever see.


    Me.


    My body of fire. The fluttering feather flames. The dozen different types of red. I burned like wood and wool, I had the colors of fresh leaves and fancy metals going up in flames. The teals and greens and oranges with the yellows and purples and whites and oh!


    I was the prettiest bird - the most beautiful creature!! - that had ever been hatched.


    Plato¡¯s poetry was nice! Yay!


    Plato talked a lot about ¡°duty¡±. He wasn¡¯t very good at explaining it. Kept saying it was about ¡°serving other people¡± and ¡°helping one another¡± and ¡°ob-li-ga-tions¡± and ¡°be nice to Elaine¡±


    Well ok, he was right about that.


    No, it was stuuuuupidly clear what my ¡°duty¡± was.


    Everyone, large and small, young and old, rich and poor, should be able to gaze upon the wonderful body that was me.


    That was a line from one of Plato''s scrolls! I felt very clever taking the good parts of it and changing it a bit to be better!


    I¡¯d already gotten one big parade thrown for me, and that was Good. They¡¯d started to figure it out.


    However, was one really enough?


    Enough thinking! Plato would make me do soooo much of it later. Boo thinking! Yay bigger flames!


    Why did the two have to go together?


    I fluttered up, getting a biiiiiiiiiiig drink of delicious juice.


    Julia was so nice! She loved my fire! She helped me find things to burn, and gave me permission to burn EVEN MORE things! She told me I was pretty! She made sure I had a great big bowl of juice ready in the morning!


    Yay Julia! It only made sense that Elaine had gotten herself such a nice mom.


    The clawing hunger inside sated, I flew through the clear doorway. No more bad door!


    I¡¯d gotten stuck the first day after Elaine had left, and nobody had come as I yelled at the door.


    So I burned it down. No more being trapped!


    And everyone kept saying fire wasn¡¯t the answer to all problems. Ha!


    ¡­Plato had made a lot of funny faces that one day I answered all of his questions with ¡°fire¡±. That was a blast.


    Fwish! Fwoop! Zippiness was fun!


    Plato had explained all the stats!


    At first I thought it¡¯d been simple. Big numbers were better. Easy!


    Nooo. Plato made me learn all the numbers! Then adding them! Subtracting them! Multiplying!


    I¡¯d burned a few things it was so annoying.


    But then!


    BUT THEN!


    He revealed the TRUTH!


    I could figure out how much I could burn with the numbers! I could burn even more by carefully thinking about them!


    It took me less than a day to learn them all. Clever me!


    My level was stuck at XXXII. No more levels until I went to the Field of Flowers again. My burning wouldn¡¯t get better until I did.


    Except¡­ the longer I waited, the better my flames would be!


    AHHHHHHHHHH


    I got to the log Elaine made sure I had every day. Even when she was gone, she was looking after me! She was the best!


    I brrrpted sadly.


    I didn¡¯t want a log to burn.


    I wanted Elaine.


    She could INSTANTLY INCINERATE AN ENTIRE LOG.


    And she got me things to burn, juice to drink, fruits to eat, and places to show off. She cared about me. Loved me.


    She was the BEST.


    Nothing else to do but light the log in flames! Glory to Elaine! Glory to me!


    Fire made everything better.


    I bathed in it, letting the flames wash over and through me. Becoming a part of me for a brief moment. Expelled, touched by me.


    Oh, they were glorious. The quick spark, the flash, the beauty in transience!


    The small inferno.


    Mmmmmm.


    Warm.


    Like being hugged by Elaine.


    The inferno was soothing, calming. It made me feel relaxed, like everything was right with the world. Scratched an itch that was impossible to reach.


    It was hard not ¡®classing up¡¯. I wanted to go to the field of flowers.


    Nooooo. Everyone said noooo. Self control.


    It would make the flames better.


    One day! One day soon!


    Burn all the flowers!


    ¡°Auri?¡± Julia¡¯s voice sweetly echoed through the house. ¡°Would you like some breakfast?¡±


    I flicked my head around. Flames were growing low, and I was out of Kindling.


    Mmmm. Fire or breakfast¡­


    I thought about it.


    I thought about it a lot! Smart me! Thinking was hard. Thinking about fire and food was easier! Plato¡¯s poetry and philosophy hurt, but¡­


    But¡­


    It did seem to be working. I think?


    Elaine was happy every time I told her about it.


    Plato was less smart than Elaine. He couldn¡¯t understand my words - silly man with the curly white hair.


    I was going to burn it one day. It would be very funny!


    Zoooooooooooom! I was a streak of fire! A burning comet!


    So many fun words to describe me! Lots of words to describe Elaine!


    Maybe¡­ maybe Plato¡¯s other lessons were OK.


    Which meant¡­ Plato was OK.


    Elaine was a GENIUS! Finding me someone who taught me stuff!


    ¡°Good morning Auri!¡± Julia called to me.


    ¡°Good morning, good morning, GOOD MORNING!¡± I chirped back at her.


    ¡°Breakfast¡¯s on the table.¡± She pointed with her glorious instrument of soon-to-be-fire. Great for waving at people when it was burning!


    Breakfast! Yummy seeds, tasty nectar, and chopped meat!


    I gobbled it all.


    ¡°Today¡¯s Plato¡¯s day off. Busy?¡± Julia asked me.


    ¡°I¡¯ll find something to do!¡± I responded.


    ¡°You can always come with me if you¡¯d like.¡±


    Poor Julia. Couldn¡¯t understand me.


    ¡°I¡¯m ok.¡± I zooooooooooomed out of the house.


    I passed by the Special Bowl. Julia and Elainus always always ALWAYS had one of Elaine¡¯s special fruits in there!


    Sometimes it went bad! That was a big OH NO!


    Julia always got a new one when that happened. Yay Julia! Yay making sure Elaine had food when she came home!


    Out I went!


    I had to be careful! Too far away was bad. If I got hungry, food was hard to get!


    Except for one place!


    I flew and flew and flew and flew! The city was eeeeeeeeeendless, except it wasn¡¯t!


    Oh! Oh! I knew what that was! Plato told me yesterday!


    It was a par-a-dox!


    Yes!


    That was the word!


    Smart me! Yay!


    I got to the market! Elaine¡¯s friend was here!


    She was weird. She was taller than Elaine¡­ but younger than Elaine?


    How did that work?


    Wasn¡¯t the taller person always older? Got bigger as they grew up?


    Maybe Elaine was just super-duper smart for her age. She was shorter than almost everyone.


    Yes! Elaine was super smart! I knew that already, and that must be how things worked!


    ¡°Hi Autumn!¡± I fluttered over to the perch she made for me.


    Smart girl! The best! Knew to make a place for me.


    Yup yup, everything was good! She had tasty fruits for me!


    And the extra-sweet one! Mangos!


    Yummy!


    Elaine really, really, REALLY liked them. I liked them as well!


    Good taste, Elaine!


    I usually let her have more. She really, really, REALLY liked them!


    ¡°Heya Auri. No Plato today?¡± Autumn asked.


    ¡°No! Rest my head!¡± I told her.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a yes.¡± She turned back to her gathering of useless bits of metal.


    Well, not super-duper useless. They did burn pretty, but it was HARD! Not like bamboo.


    Nobody understood me. Except Elaine!


    When would she be back¡­?


    Oh! A super small human was pointing at me!


    They were called kids!


    Yes! That was the word!


    And they proved that humans got bigger as they aged! A small kid was basically a hatchling. As they got older, they got bigger!


    How big would Elaine get?


    I flashed my wings! So pretty!


    My beak! So noble!


    My tail! Just glorious!


    My chest! Beautiful!


    My eyes! Sparkling!


    Gaze upon me~!


    ¡°You¡¯re very pretty Auri.¡±


    Good Autumn!


    It was a good day! Yes! The big ball of fire - no, the sun! That was the word! - made its way alllllllll across the sky!


    Plato made me look at the world and ask questions. Lots of questions!


    I had a question!


    What pulled the sun?


    Oh!


    Where did the sun go when it wasn¡¯t in our sky?


    I write! Otherwise, I forget.


    ¡°Bye!¡± I told Autumn. Manners! Yes! They were good!


    ¡°Want another fruit?¡± She offered me one.


    I thought about it. Shook my head.


    I was full!


    ¡°Ok, bye bye! Tell me when Elaine gets back!¡± Autumn waved to me.


    Back home I go!


    Whoosh! Air through my fiery feathers. Fun!


    It made them bigger! It made little embers break off!


    Yay a trail! Sparks behind me! It was hot!


    I got home, and zip! Zap! Zoop! To the learning room!


    Lots of learning things in the learning room! Lots of wood for careful burning only!


    I hovered next to the unused stack. One for me! Grab it in my claws!


    Mine!


    I took off with it, screaming fury and defiance as it dragged me down.


    No! NO! You! Will! Go! On! The! Table!


    A clatter! A crash! We all smacked into the table!


    But HA!


    The wood landed on the table!


    I win!


    I stepped over to it. Step! Step!


    Plato couldn¡¯t understand me.


    But he knew a powerful magic!


    A magic ANYONE could do!


    Writing!


    I burned the letters into the block! One at a time! With the magic of writing, the letters made WORDS!!


    ¡®What pull teh sun?¡¯


    Hmmm. Something looked wrong there.


    Oh well! Plato would tell me!


    ¡®Were sun go when dar night?¡¯


    Oopsies! Wrong word! It was ok.


    Done! Yay! Learning new things!


    That was super-duper hungry work!


    Julia had a biiiiiiiig juice jar in the food area!


    Peeeeeeew! I flew! The fanciest!


    Tasty, tasty juice. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.


    Wait.


    WAIT.


    There was one of the food-eaters!


    THEY WERE TRYING TO EAT ELAINE¡¯S FOOD!!!


    No!


    Bad small fur-teeth-claws thing! Ugly! Dumb!


    With careful aim, I flicked one of my magic skills at them!


    A burning feather!


    No!


    Nine burning feathers! As fast as I could!


    Pew! Pew pew! Pew pew pew pew pew pew!!!!


    [*ding!* Aoife Auri Stentor, the most beautifulest and prettiest phoenix there¡¯s ever been, you have slain a wicked [Rat] (Decay, XLIV)!]


    Yes, yes, magic words, tell me how great I am.


    [*ding!* Aoife Auri Stentor, oh great giver of flame and future burner of the world, congratulations! [Burning Quills] leveled up from XVIII to XIX!]


    The magic words said it, so it must be true! I would burn the world!


    Not Elaine though. Or the parts she liked.


    The rest of it though!


    The fire wasn¡¯t stopping at the evil slain rat, and the kitchen burning would be bad! Elaine liked food!


    Making the fire go away was sad, but it would make Elaine happy! Or¡­ it would make her not-sad. Her food all burning would make her sad.


    But not happy¡­?


    Hmm.


    Weird.


    HMMMMMMM.


    I flew over to the burning room! It had a little tree in it, open to the sky!


    The sky was pretty. Which was weird. It was the color of water¡­ but pretty?


    Blue flames were also a thing¡­ and all flames were good¡­ so blue must not be bad.


    It wasn¡¯t blue¡¯s fault water was so mean.


    Oooh! A bird! A little bird landed near me!


    And it was singing!


    I sing as well!


    We sing! Yay!


    But¡­


    The other bird was looking at me. Laughing at me!


    They thought their singing was better!


    They thought my singing was bad!


    No!


    Bad bird!


    My singing is the bestest ever!


    [*ding!* Aoife Auri Stentor, the most beautifulest and prettiest phoenix there¡¯s ever been, you have slain a wicked [Sparrow] (Sound, XX)!]


    Hmph! Magic words didn¡¯t lie! It was a wicked sparrow!


    It had been a long day! Relaxing day! No Plato! I had been free to do what I wanted! Hurray!


    No Elaine either¡­


    I was in my nest. My big, pretty nest that Elaine got for me.


    I didn¡¯t want the nest. Could I trade the nest for Elaine?


    Please?


    It was cold and lonely without her. The room was so big, so empty. It wasn¡¯t made for just me.


    Can she come back now?


    Why did she have to leave without me?


    It wasn¡¯t fair.


    Not-water tears rolled out of my eyes, down my face. They¡¯d be strange little beads in the morning. Things to kick out of the nest.


    I cried until sleep claimed me.


    ¡°Pppssssssst. Auri!¡± A voice called to me.


    I opened my eyes. Still dark. Nighttime.


    Wait.


    That voice!?


    ¡°ELAINE! ELAINEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!¡± I shrieked as I flew at her.


    She laughed and opened up her arms.


    ¡°I¡¯m back!¡±


    ¡°ELAINE! YAY! You¡¯re back! You¡¯re the best! I love you! Hurray!!¡±


    ¡°I missed you too. Love you Auri.¡± She said.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Companion Bond between Auri and Elaine]! Would you like to take this skill?]


    I looked Elaine in the eye and saw she¡¯d gotten the same skill.


    Be with Elaine forever?


    Easy question.


    Of course I took it.


    Companion Bond between Auri and Elaine: The two of you are two birds of a feather, flocking together, now and forever. A friendship forged in flame and bound with mangos, you are companions. Best of friends, willing to burn the world together. Increased resilience per level. No-penalty healing from Elaine. Effective healing range increased per level. Share more of Elaine¡¯s knowledge per level. Increased gluttony per level.


    [Name: Aoife Auri Stentor]


    [Race: Phoenix]


    [Age:]


    [Mana: MMCCCXXX/MMCCCXXX]


    [Mana Regen: MDCCLXVI]


    Stats


    [Free Stats:]


    [Pushing Power: LXXXII]


    [Fancy Flying: CXVIII]


    [Reactions and Reflexes: LXIV]


    [Zippiness: CLXXXIV]


    [Kindling: CCXXXIII]


    [New Juice: CCIX]


    [Flame Size: CCXLVIII]


    [Fire Control: CXL]


    [Class I: [The Eternal Flame - Inferno : Lv XXXII]]


    [Inferno Authority: XXXII]


    [Phoenix Rebirth: II]


    [Inferno Manipulation: XXXII]


    [Inferno Conjuration: XXXII]


    [True Flames: XXXII]


    [Burn Magic: XXXII]


    [Domain of Fire: XXXII]


    [Burning Quills: XIX]


    [Class II: [Locked]]


    [Class III: [Locked]]


    General Skills


    [Phoenix''s Perfection: XXXII]


    [Incandescence: XXXII]


    [Adorable: XXXII]


    [Precocious: XXXII]


    [Companion Bond between Auri and Elaine: I]


    [Flying: XXXII]


    [Preening: XXXII]


    [Brrretty: XXXII]

 Chapter 308 - Moments before disaster

    I was back! Home at last!


    Obviously I hadn¡¯t slept in the fairy ring. That would¡¯ve been the height of stupidity, especially after Night¡¯s warning about them. I had [Pristine Memories], and when Night pulled me aside and gave me a stark warning about a threat, I listened.


    Poor Auri had missed me so, given how she was practically both crying incoherently and screeching with joy, all as she circled my head.


    Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that, and the notification I got sneaking back into my room proved it.


    [*ding!* Your [Hatchling Rearing] skill wants to upgrade to the General Skill [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri]! Would you like to upgrade this skill?]


    I kept my eyes on Auri, my sockets getting a workout as she kept spinning around me.


    Of course I¡¯d take it.


    Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: The two of you are birds of a feather, flocking together. A friendship forged in flame and bound with mangos, you are companions. Best of friends, willing to pillage the world of its mangos together. Immunity to fire. Can heal Auri at range with perfect efficiency, regardless of healing skill ability. Increased healing range per level. Faster thinking speed per level. Increased vanity per level.


    My eyes practically bugged out at the notification, but I put that all to the side for now.


    I had an Auri to look after. If I crossed my eyes, tilted my head, and got a massive concussion she¡¯d almost look like a puppy, delighted that I was finally back home.


    ¡°Brrrpt! BRRRRPT!¡±


    ¡°It was only three weeks!¡± I protested.


    ¡°Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrpt!¡±


    I facepalmed. Sometimes there was no winning.


    ¡°Come here.¡± I patted my shoulder, Auri landing a moment later and nuzzling my cheek.


    ¡°Brrrrrpt. Brrrrrrrrrrrpt.¡±


    Crossed eyes, tilted head, concussion - a purring cat.


    ¡°Let me tell you all about it!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    I took a seat on the edge of my bed, tilted my head to better see Auri, and gave her the full breakdown of everything that had happened.


    ¡°...then I rushed back as fast as I could, to see you! The bestest little bird ever!¡±


    There was no happy ¡®brrrpt!¡¯ at that, and I crossed my eyes to see her better. My shoulder wasn¡¯t a great angle to see something small on.


    She¡¯d fallen asleep, the poor thing.


    Smoothly sliding some small glass-like beads out of the way - where had they all come from, the floor was littered with them - I carefully put the sleeping Auri into her precious little nest.


    I then quietly stripped out of my well-traveled clothes, and slipped into a ready bath in the next room.


    I leaned back, letting the luxurious heat soak into me - interesting that I still felt heat - and noticed just how filthy my hands were.


    Travel really did a number on them, and I started to idly pick the dirt out from under my nails as I did some serious thinking on the companion bond skill I¡¯d just gotten.


    I knew Auri was a phoenix. A creature out of myth and legend, an existence that even White Dove acknowledged as ¡®cousin¡¯. A being of fire.


    She was also my loveable, dorky little friend who always bit off more than she could chew and regularly tried to drown herself in juice. Who was the vainest creature I¡¯d ever met. Who I¡¯d needed to stop from killing herself dozens of times after she hatched, and the way I¡¯d been able to teach her empathy was ¡°other people like to burn things as well.¡±


    The System didn¡¯t seem to care much about that, and more that she was a phoenix. The list of benefits I got from the companion bond started absurd, and only got crazier from there.


    Immunity to fire.


    Immunity.


    Not resistance, or something like [Fire Resistance] ¨C which had been a much-needed staple to stop constant self-immolation when I¡¯d been a Fire mage ¨C but straight up immunity.


    The System was sometimes incredibly vague about the skills it gave out, and generally didn¡¯t come with a user manual. Everyone had to figure out the limits of their own skills.


    It didn¡¯t lie though. It didn¡¯t say a skill did one thing, and SURPRISE! It did something else. When the System said ¡®Immunity to fire¡¯, I could believe it.


    I¡¯d want to check the limits. Namely ¨C could I actually get fireproof hair at last?! Auri giving me the hot look was getting old.


    Oh! And Inferno mage was back on the menu. Complete immunity to the element would remove the need for [Inferno Resistance]. Granted, most elements didn¡¯t need protection from themselves, but I just knew there had to be silly things I could do with it.


    It did make me wonder about corollaries.


    Magic was weird. When I had [Fire Resistance], I couldn¡¯t be burned by flames. Stick the fire under a pan, though, and the pan could burn my hand if I touched it. The [Fire Resistance] didn¡¯t translate over.


    Similarly, I had to wonder about my air situation. If I was bathed in a gigantic ball of fire ¨C most likely that¡¯d be Auri¡¯s doing ¨C did I still need to breathe air? Did immunity to fire extend so far as to say ¡°Hey! The fire¡¯s eating all the air, but it¡¯s ok, you can still breathe?¡±


    Or would I find myself choking on smoke?


    If I was immune to smoke, was it only smoke from a fire, or did smoldering embers count?


    Lots of things to try out.


    Auri would be thrilled.


    ¡®Hey Auri! We need to spend a day doing nothing but lighting things on fire!¡¯


    It was clear that fire immunity didn¡¯t apply to heat. Thank goodness, I liked a nice long soak in hot water.


    When looking at it that way, it was a somewhat limited skill. The best thing it was for?


    Not getting hit by Auri. Which was the whole point, I supposed.


    The next part was both great, and didn¡¯t explain itself nearly well enough.


    ¡®Can heal Auri at range with perfect efficiency, regardless of healing skill ability.¡¯


    I had multiple penalties if I wanted to heal Auri at range. First, we both needed to be under the sun or the moons. Second, I needed a strong anatomical image of Auri, along with knowing what the damage was and how to fix it. Third, [Dance with the Heavens] was designed for humans. I had a few points in the skill to handle non-humans at a penalty, but the further away from ¡°human¡± someone got, the worse my healing would be.


    It¡¯s why Lun¡¯Kat took so much mana, and she¡¯d been made out of flesh and blood! The penalty for Auri¡¯s healing would normally be gigantic, if it even took hold!


    Fortunately, Auri was tiny and well-protected, while I had literally hundreds of thousands of mana to throw at any healing problem.


    ¡®Perfect efficiency¡¯. That could mean there was no ranged healing penalty. That there was no image penalty. Or there was no cross-species ¡®my skills aren¡¯t made for this¡¯ penalty.


    Of course, it could be any combination of the three.


    My healing knowledge and experience came in handy, along with my relentless pursuit of knowledge. I had no way of testing it ¨C I¡¯d never mutilate Auri for an experiment! ¨C but I¡¯d bet that I had no penalty on my ranged healing, nor would there be any cross-species penalty. However, I¡¯d still need to form good images, and the better the image, the better the heal.


    My reasoning was simple. Occasionally, a healer didn¡¯t want to heal something. A tattoo. A scar. A metal prosthetic that some lunatic dwarf shoved into their chest. Ear piercings.


    I should probably get those again. The arcanite earrings I¡¯d earned early on in my Ranger tour were sitting on a shelf, gathering dust. They hadn¡¯t been the first thing I¡¯d ever gotten with my money and healing, but they¡¯d been one of the first things I¡¯d earned after striking out for independence.


    Focus.


    The other part of my reasoning for Auri¡¯s healing working that way was the next part: ¡®Increased range per level.¡¯


    It implied I could only heal Auri when she was near me, but that ¡®tether¡¯ would get longer as the skill leveled up.


    Also, I couldn¡¯t think of a single reason not to smack a [Persistent Casting] on Auri. The skill had leveled enough that I could maintain multiple casts of multiple skills at the same time, and making sure my little troublemaker had permanent healing seemed to be a good use of the skill.


    ¡®Faster thinking speed per level¡¯ was both incredibly clear, and vaguely insulting. It was like I was under a permanent weak version of [Bullet Time]. If it got strong enough, it might be worth losing [Bullet Time] and picking up a new general skill to help support whatever direction I took with my third class.


    I was currently thinking of taking [Meditate], and seeing if leveling that up a bunch would kick-start whatever mage class I likely ended up taking.


    I grabbed a brush and tackled my hair.


    So. Much. Dirt. Fingers alone wouldn¡¯t get it done properly.


    I¡¯d make the switch now, but [Meditate] had always been a tricky general skill for me to get the System to offer me. Sure, I¡¯d gotten it as a kid, but getting it re-offered wasn¡¯t nearly as easy as some of the other skills were. I had no idea why, I could totally sit peacefully for ages if I wanted to. More importantly, I was concerned that I might be committing myself too early to the path of a mage. I was worried that when it came time to figure out ¡®for real¡¯ what class I was going to take, that the sunken cost on [Meditate] would push me in a direction I might not otherwise take.


    In happier news, I was feeling moderately comfortable ditching [Bullet Time] because I didn¡¯t think there was much in Remus that could hurt me.


    At the same time, that sort of thinking led to hubris and death.


    But a frank analysis of my combat and survival capabilities was needed. There was a reason I didn¡¯t have eight general skills dedicated to survivability.


    There was also the larger world to consider. In the small pond of Remus, I was one of the bigger fish. In the greater world?


    I wouldn¡¯t call myself a minnow ¨C the dwarves had demonstrated that it was entirely possible to have a thriving civilization filled with people that only had two classes ¨C but I was all too aware that there were some forces that could swat me like an insect. Like, I¡¯d met young elves, and every single one of them massively outclassed me. The hydra, a somewhat random monster, could eat me no problem. The Below Levels. In just a few months, I¡¯d encountered dozens of threats that could kill me, and I didn¡¯t even want to think of everything else I hadn¡¯t encountered.


    Plus, Augustus had declared war on the shimagu, and there was no telling if or when I¡¯d be called to the frontlines. [Bullet Time] would be a lifesaver then¡­ but so would a powerful third class.


    I was basically forging my own path here.


    Although, if I waited a bit and made it over to the elves, I¡¯m sure they had good advice. Not necessarily Awarthril and the rest, but they had mentioned an Academy.


    Given that the three elves seemed near the bottom of adult elf society, and they were all over 512? I had to assume the teachers and instructors could give me excellent advice.


    If nothing else, it might be worth stalling just to hear what they had to say.


    Focus.


    Auri was clearly smart. My brilliant little bird. She¡¯d picked up language in a month, give or take. She was taking lessons from Plato, who had nothing but good things to say about her work.


    Her dedication and desire to burn the world got a different set of commentary.


    It was easy to forget that she was only a few months old.


    Months. Most human babies were still in the ¡°eat-sleep-poop¡± cycle at the age where Auri was learning philosophy and mathematics.


    It didn¡¯t stop me from feeling vaguely insulted that the System had determined that her bird brain was so many leagues ahead of mine that it¡¯d given me faster thinking for it.


    Made me wonder why it didn¡¯t increase my intelligence instead.


    The last part of the bond looked like all downside.


    Increased vanity per level.


    I froze mid-brushstroke.


    Was I viciously hating the dirt from the road because I liked being clean? Or was it a symptom of the new skill?


    I was having trouble telling, and that scared me.


    At the same time, there was no reason to let myself be dirty out of concern for a skill. That was senseless.


    I was almost completely sure at this point that there was no such thing as hostile mind magic, thank all the gods and goddesses. Nobody could break into my mind and read my thoughts. Nobody could modify how I thought and felt. No magical brainwashing, no suggestions or compulsions.


    There was personalized mind magic though. Heck, I had a few skills for it! [Pristine Memories], [Center of the Universe], and [Bullet Time] were some easy examples that I currently had.


    There were a whole host of general skills that could also be looked at. I¡¯d been offered [Adaptable] and [Calm].


    I had to imagine that negative aspects were also offered as skills. Now, why someone would take such a skill was beyond me ¨C I ignored the voice saying I¡¯d taken [Pretty], that was different ¨C but they existed. Easy enough to remove, if they weren¡¯t desired.


    This was different. A footnote on a few other powerful skills, and a representation of my attachment with Auri to boot.


    I couldn¡¯t ¨C wouldn¡¯t ¨C simply remove it.


    Bluebeard ¨C Hunting ¨C had warned me. Bonds changed both parties, and not always for the better. He¡¯d told me that he got angrier and that he was more prone towards violence. I¡¯d thought most of the changes I¡¯d seen in him was the loss of his bond, but maybe a small part of that was no longer needing to keep such tight control on his emotions, or his anger drove him less.


    He also mentioned that Katastrofi had been changed, and I wondered what the bond had done for Auri.


    Something to ask her in the morning.


    Back to the vanity thing.


    I didn¡¯t feel the need to gaze lovingly into a mirror, and the thought of running naked through the street was utterly unappealing. Clearly, the effect was minor.


    However, it was also subtle. I didn¡¯t feel any obvious pulls or tugs from the skill, unlike when I had [Pretty]. [Pretty] could guide me when I wanted it to, and it helped keep my hand steady when I was engaged in activities that I thought made me look pretty. There was a sense of guidance and stability.


    Nothing like this with vanity. It was possible that the skill was too low level and too weak to have an impact. It was also possible that it was subtle and insidious.


    Oh!


    I should go on some Ranger Trainee field exercises! That¡¯d be a safe way to tell if the skill was causing me to do something dumb.


    Like, if I needed to coat myself in mud as part of an exercise and I suddenly felt the urge to wipe all the mud off and look spiffy, I¡¯d know it was the skill.


    In a similar vein, if I actually did remove the mud in the middle of the exercise, I¡¯d know I had a problem.


    I¡¯d need to re-evaluate my tactics and strategy if it turned out my bond with Auri insisted that I always looked great.


    I realized another annoying part. It was vanity, which had no implications that the skill would help me like [Pretty] used to. Simply an obligation, a twist in my thinking.


    End of the day, I¡¯d almost immediately gone for [Pretty] as a kid and had fiercely held onto the skill until it got merged with [Scintillating Ascent]. I had my own personal [Beautician] on retainer, who I paid way more than market rate just to be able to sit and chat with as she fixed my hair AGAIN. I¡¯d be lying if I said I didn¡¯t have a vain streak in the first place. I just knew the proper time and place to let myself be vain, to primp and preen and generally make myself feel pretty. It had no place in a warzone or a battlefield, but at home? Yeah, I could indulge in long hair, good makeup, and nice clothing, along with the thousand other little things.


    All in all, for slightly amplifying one of my baser natures, the ability to be immune to fire, think faster, heal Auri, and most importantly, show my commitment and bond with my little firebird dramatically trumped any minor issues the skill might cause me.


    I was done getting clean. I leaned back and closed my eyes, relaxing as I heated the bath back up with another flash of Radiance.


    I felt like I had it all.


    Good friends. Loving family. Skills and power, a fulfilling career and goofball coworkers. A best friend forever and an eternity to spend with her. Investments and income.


    I was safe.


    Secure.


    Loved.


    Life was pretty good.

 Chapter 309 - The Midas Touch

    The dazzling light show ended, another star returned to youth and vitality, and we were brought back to reality. Back to one of the private Senate rooms and another one of Augustus¡¯s minions.


    Not that we ever left, but the stunning visuals of [The Stars Never Fade] was like a world of its own.


    A now-familiar weight landed on my shoulder.


    ¡°Lucius Chryseius Fotios.¡± White Dove intoned, the very fabric of the world seeming to resonate with her every word. Guess we were skipping the usual White Dove throwing shade at me part. Not that I minded. ¡°[Merchant of the Nostrum Sea].¡± She got halfway through her declamation, when another familiar noise occurred.


    ¡°Brrrrpt! BRRRRPT!¡±


    Auri, my lovable bond-mate who was going to GET ME KILLED, decided now was the time to fly off my shoulder and hover in front of White Dove.


    ¡°Brrpt! Brrpt brrrpt brrrrrrpt!¡±


    The only thing that kept me from facepalming or just flat-out running away, was that White Dove was on my shoulder, and Auri was scolding her.


    We were soooooo dead.


    Auri thought that White Dove was being a big meanie and should just leave people alone.


    I was frankly impressed with her. The companion bond had clearly done good things for her knowledge, and her lessons with Plato had her articulating as well as a bird with a single note could.


    STILL.


    One did not simply interrupt Death to give her a lecture!


    Chryseius remained kneeling, and I could feel the sweat beading up under my hand. He had no idea what Auri was saying, but clearly had the same idea as me.


    White Dove being yelled at was no way to get a gentle curse.


    ¡°Enough.¡± White Dove¡¯s single word made the whole room shake. Priceless vases shattered, marble busts fell over, the table practically disintegrated along with the chairs, and my clothes got shredded.


    It had been such a nice tunic to boot.


    ¡°I curse you.¡± She spoke, and the tattered remains of Chryseius¡¯s clothing instantly turned to gold. The ruined pieces of the room touching him also turned to gold, and I saw the floor slowly turning to gold under him, the individual tiles touching him steadily converting over.


    ¡°Everything you touch shall turn to gold.¡± She vanished off my shoulder without another word, and I jerked my hand back.


    There was a lot to unpack. White Dove clearly didn¡¯t need to do her full ritual ¨C she just liked to. She could impact the physical world hard.


    And my hand ¨C


    ¡°Thank you!¡± Chryseius awkwardly got up ¨C his thin gold clothes breaking under his strength ¨C and tried to hug me.


    ¡°Whoa! No!¡± I leapt back, throwing up [Mantle of the Stars] between us. ¡°Do not touch!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ve given me something priceless. The-¡±


    ¡°I really don¡¯t care.¡± I interrupted him, looking at my hand. ¡°You turned my hand to gold. Your touch is lethal.¡±


    What was making me sweat ¨C my healing was on, active, and persistent, but my hand was still made of gold. Speaking of sweat, looking at him, he was coated in a thousand tiny pinpricks of gold, shedding hundreds of them with every movement he made.


    My hand wasn¡¯t turning back. I¡¯d pulled back before he¡¯d gotten my wrist, but my right hand was frozen, palm out, in the shape it¡¯d been when I was touching him during the skill. It took serious effort to keep it upright, and I let it drop to my side. Gold was heavy.


    ¡°I would-¡±


    ¡°You need to adjust. Now, and fast. You¡¯ve gotten one of the worst curses I¡¯ve ever heard of. The only curse I know of that¡¯s worse is the troll¡¯s curse, which makes sunlight turn them to stone. Even then that¡¯s a toss up. Don¡¯t hug your wife. Don¡¯t touch your kids. Don¡¯t touch anybody.¡±


    My words were harsh, but he needed the wakeup call. He¡¯d gotten screwed hard.


    I had to hand it to White Dove. This was a nasty curse. Chryseius wasn¡¯t understanding why I was keeping him at arm¡¯s length.


    I also had a deep wellspring of fear erupting inside of me, and the fear was translating to anger. I was working on my anger issues, and instead of trying to keep an impossible lid on it then erupting, I was trying to channel and harness it. Direct where and how I blew up to minimize harm ¨C or even make it into something useful!


    ¡°Let¡¯s go, Auri.¡± I turned on my heel and shoved the door open, snarling as I automatically tried to use my right hand and got a brutal reminder that it was now gold.


    ¡°Guards!¡± I shouted down the hallway, getting more than a few stares, and rapidly getting space cleared.


    Anyone shouting for the guards in the Senate got an immediate response. A recognized Sentinel, one of the problem-solvers, calling for the guard? A team swiftly appeared, weapons bared.


    ¡°Elaine? Sentinel? What¡¯s the issue?¡± The captain asked me, cocking his head inquisitively.


    Damnit, he was one of dad¡¯s friends, but I¡¯d never caught his name! It was too late to ask at this point.


    ¡°Chryseius in the room behind me has developed a new, incredibly lethal skill.¡± I gave a mostly true rundown of the situation. Technically, it was a curse, not a skill, but practically, it was a skill. Keeping the messaging simple would cut straight to the heart of the problem, instead of creating a massive gordian knot of questions.


    I held up my hand, showing off the stiff gold.


    ¡°For various reasons, he can¡¯t turn it off. It¡¯s permanently on. He needs to be kept away from other people until he¡¯s gotten it in hand. Anything he touches will turn to gold. His clothes, the floor, armor. Flesh.¡±


    The guards traded looks with each other. Chryseius tried to exit the room.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri protested, throwing up a small wall of flames between us and him. Good girl.


    ¡°As you command, Sentinel.¡± The captain saluted me, and I started to leave.


    ¡°This is outrageous! It¡¯s unfair! I demand to speak with Imperator Augustus at ONCE!¡± Chryseius screamed.


    My job here was done. I¡¯d fulfilled another part of my agreement with Augustus. I¡¯d properly reversed Chryseius. I¡¯d informed the guards of the issue.


    I was washing my hands of the rest. Chryseius was on his own.


    Metaphorically, because I couldn¡¯t wash my hands anymore!


    ¡°Brrrpt? Brrrpt?¡± Auri chirped in my ear, feeling my concern.


    ¡°It¡¯s my hand.¡± I showed her.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    I thought about it for a moment.


    ¡°Let¡¯s try some other stuff first. If that doesn¡¯t work, you can try to burn it off.¡±


    My primary method would¡¯ve been to just cut my hand off and see what happened, but I saw no reason Auri couldn¡¯t give me a hand and have a crack at it first.


    ¡°Brrrrrrpt¡­¡± Auri gave me an unamused noise.


    She had NOT been happy to discover that I was immune to fire, as hilarious as that encounter had been.


    I would¡¯ve loved to go straight to Ranger HQ, but there was no way I was running around the city in rags. Already I was getting Looks from people dressed in their Senate best, while I was running around in tatters. Streaking naked would¡¯ve gotten me fewer strange looks.


    [Mantle of the Stars] to the rescue! It was flexible now, if a bit more see-through than I¡¯d like, but a tunic made out of a skill looked good.


    ¡°Elaine! I was hoping to catch you!¡± The emperor¡¯s wife, Sextia, half-ambushed me.


    ¡°Sextia! Perfect, I was looking for you or Augustus. Here.¡± I passed her the Moonstone I¡¯d charged on my latest mission. A cast of [The Stars Never Fade] for Emperor Augustus. He didn¡¯t want anyone to know what his curse was going to be.


    Also, Sextia didn¡¯t smell terrible, yet the full moons weren¡¯t due for another few days.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    Auri had a good question.


    ¡°Did you figure a way around your curse?¡± I asked her with the tact of a stampeding rhino. Just a few notches down from a herd of brontosauruses.


    Sextia gave me a self-satisfied smirk.


    ¡°I did! Turns out if two slaves shine their bare arses at me with an [Illuminate] skill on them, it counts!¡±


    What had White Dove said again? Right, ¡°You can only bathe in the light of two full moons at once.¡±


    I wanted to facepalm. White Dove had never specified which moons, and apparently had a sense of humor. A terrible, awful sense of humor, but all in all it sounded like Sextia got off incredibly lightly.


    I could only hope my curse was so gentle when the time came.


    ¡°That¡¯s great, but I need to run. A bit busy.¡± I held up my hand.


    ¡°Understood. Are you sure you can¡¯t sneak out to one of my parties?¡± Sextia asked.


    I was halfway out the door, having no time for her, but not wanting to be rude to arguably the second most powerful person in the Empire.


    ¡°Rules are rules!¡± I called out over my shoulder.


    Right. With that out of the way, I thought furiously as I strode out of the Senate building.


    My hand was now made out of gold, courtesy of the side-effect of White Dove¡¯s curse.


    Ideally, I¡¯d get a chance to work with Night, the foremost expert on curses. He¡¯d also been around a long, long time, and I hoped he had some information that could give me a hand with the situation.


    Barring that, I could wait, or figure out a solution on my own.


    I¡¯d always been something of a self-starter, inclined to rely on myself instead of waiting for other people to bail me out of trouble. I got to thinking.


    My healing wasn¡¯t working. Ok, fine. However, there were dozens of possible reasons why.


    What was the worst-case scenario?


    Worst-case, my magic thought my hand was supposed to be made out of gold, and it was ¡°healing¡± it back to that state. Also in the worst-case thinking, the gold would slowly be spreading, and I¡¯d eventually turn into a nice statue.


    Ok. Worst-case was lethal, and I had no idea how to fix it. I¡¯d need to consult with experts.


    The gold was obviously not moving fast enough to be a problem right now. It gave me time to think and properly process everything. If it was moving, it was moving at a rate that gave me weeks or months to solve the problem.


    I was remembering barging in on Augustus only half-prepared, and my hand being gold was literally a direct consequence of that action. A reminder that when I was out of my depths to slow down, think, and consult with others.


    The next possibility was my hand was now made out of gold, my magic thought that, but it wasn¡¯t spreading. Significantly more likely, but that wasn¡¯t an emergency. It might be a few years figuring out how to get a real biological hand again, but it wasn¡¯t going to kill me.


    I hadn¡¯t heard of anyone getting classes and skills that allowed a person to turn metal parts of their body to flesh and blood, but the System seemed to have all sorts of magic. I could believe there was a class like that. I suppose the upgrade to my skills allowing me to cure petrification might count? I hadn¡¯t taken it, which could be why my healing wasn¡¯t working.


    Heck, the spinosaurus that had tried to eat Aegion had kept morphing its body parts around! Clearly biological manipulation was a thing, although healing generally reverted back to the base.


    It was how I was able to destroy the dwarven implants.


    Although, they¡¯d already removed the implant. This was a transformation. Was it really that simple? My hand had been transformed, so my healing didn¡¯t work. If I chopped it off, my healing would instantly make a new hand. That was almost the best-case scenario.


    Cases that were even better than that I didn¡¯t want to get into, because they were varying degrees of fantastic benefit to me, and I was never that lucky.


    Still, all roads led to ¡®cut off my hand and try growing a new one.¡¯ I was still going to ask Night about it. No sense in taking a dumb risk and making assumptions on a school of magic I had zero practical experience with.


    Just in case, I trailed my hand along a wall, seeing if I¡¯d gotten the golden touch transferred to me.


    Might be kind of fun, being able to ¨C


    I paled at the thought.


    If White Dove¡¯s curse was so potent as to make other objects it touched also gain the ¡®golden touch¡¯ property, we could be at the start of a goldpocalypse. It would spread like a plague through the city, because it¡¯d be a plague of an entirely magical nature.


    White Dove, after all, had been surprisingly taciturn with this particular curse.


    Most healers wouldn¡¯t be able to handle it, and I could only pray that [Cursebreakers] could solve the issue.


    My eyes narrowed at the wall I was trailing my hand on.


    Was that a small yellow speck? Did something fall off my hand, or was it slowly spreading?


    Either way, what started as a minor annoyance had just jumped from ¡®politely ask Night when he was next awake¡¯ to ¡®potential emergency.¡¯


    And while I didn¡¯t normally go straight to Night for issues, he was the expert in this field.


    All roads led to ¡®chop off my hand and try growing a new one.¡¯ The only minor roadblock was a potential for [Oath] to consider it self-mutilation, no matter how much I believed otherwise.


    The odds of that seemed slim. I did firmly believe it was a problem, and had to be removed.


    I was out of the Senate, but had some minor appreciation that self-immolation on the Senate steps might not get the reaction I was hoping for.


    ¡°Up we go!¡± I told Auri, snapping my wings open and flying to the roof.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    It was nearby, and somewhat private.


    ¡°Ok Auri, see if you can melt this off.¡± I held out my golden hand.


    ¡°Brrrrpt!! Brrrpt?¡±


    I wanted to facepalm. Her question was legitimate though.


    ¡°I promise I¡¯m not trying to prank you this time.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    My hand erupted in flames, feeling like a vaguely warm tickle. Immunity to fire was weird. I barely even felt the heat, which had me a little worried if I ended up in the cold and snow again. If the warmth of a fire couldn¡¯t help me, I might be in trouble.


    The System giveth, and the System taketh.


    After a few seconds of focused flames ¨C Auri had the same issue all mages did, a lack of sustainability at full power ¨C Auri petered out, having run out of mana.


    ¡°Brrrpt! BRRRPT!¡± Auri was crying over her failure to¡­ burn? My hand off.


    ¡°Did you mean melt it off?¡± I asked her.


    She shook her head as fast as she could, her eyes rolling around after she stopped like she was dizzy.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    Interesting. Auri believed she could flat-out burn metal, not just melt it.


    Things to look into another day.


    ¡°Right, be right back.¡± I flew back down to the Senate, finding the usual set of guards at the door.


    I used [Long-Range Identify] to quickly scan all their levels, grabbing the lowest-leveled [Warrior] I could find.


    ¡°You.¡± I pointed to him. ¡°I need your assistance.¡±


    The guards traded a look with each other, and I mentally cursed. I was still wearing [Mantle], and I didn¡¯t have my Sentinel badge.


    ¡°That¡¯s Sentinel Dawn.¡± One of the guards recognized me ¨C or more likely, recognized my level.


    I could do this myself. My strength, the poor angle, my vitality, and my [Persistent Casting] were all conspiring against me though. It¡¯d get ugly, and I¡¯m sure Bulwark would yell at me for bleeding all over the Senate roof.


    Or.


    I could get one of the guards to quickly and cleanly chop off my hand and hopefully get them a few levels to boot. We were all on the same team, and self-mutilation didn¡¯t get me any experience.


    Physically wounding a Sentinel while helping them for a [Warrior]? Let the experience flow.


    We shuffled off to the side, and I offered up my golden hand.


    ¡°I¡¯ve gotten into a spot of trouble. Could you please chop off my hand?¡±


    ¡°BRRRRPT!?!?!?!¡±


    ¡°Uh.¡± The guard looked at me, then my hand, somewhat dumbstruck. I tapped my foot impatiently.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn. Healer, remember? Trying to get you some exp and keep this not-messy?¡±


    ¡°But-¡±


    After a few minutes of convincing the guard that, yes, please, I wanted my hand removed, this wasn¡¯t a prank, or a set up, and getting another guard to watch and confirm what I¡¯d said, he swung his sword.


    It was a good thing I knew it was coming, because I had a thousand reflexes jump in and try to hijack my body. From shielding the blow, dodging, blasting a dozen different critical points on his body, summoning a swarm of [Kaleidoscope] butterflies moving into it and tackling him, stealing his knife and slashing his eyes, and more!


    Nope. Stood still and took it. My hand ¨C flesh and blood, thank the System and the gods ¨C popped back into existence before the gold hand clattered to the ground.


    It was blessedly clean, and he grinned at me.


    ¡°Three levels! Many thanks Sentinel.¡±


    Any response I had was interrupted by Auri¡¯s ferocious warcry.


    ¡°BRRRRPT!¡± She shrieked, the gold going up in flames. They petered out after a second ¨C Auri¡¯s mana regeneration was clearly nothing impressive at this stage ¨C but the hand was distinctly black, smoking, and cratered.


    Yup. Burn it was.


    I would¡¯ve offered it as a souvenir to the guard if Auri didn¡¯t stake her claim, flying down to the golden lump and pecking at it while yelling obscenities.


    ¡°Brrrpt! Brrrrpt!!! BRRRPT!¡±


    ¡°Aoife Auri Stentor! Who taught you those words?!¡±


    ¡°Brrrrpt.¡± Her reply was all-too-smug.


    Me.


    Blasted companion bond. Auri had some of my knowledge ¨C including a robust vocabulary of Naughty Words.


    Instead of arguing with Auri in front of the guards, I decided to get a move on.


    I picked up the remains of the golden lump. I wasn¡¯t sure what I was going to do with it, but I had a funny thought. I could make it into an engagement ring, so I could metaphorically and literally give someone my hand in marriage. Like, I had no plans in that direction, or even anyone I wanted to spend my life with right now, but the entire joke was funny enough to tuck it away in a back pocket ¨C mentally and literally.


    A hop, a skip, and a jump later, and I was at Night¡¯s villa.


    At first glance, it looked like a typical luxurious villa, located in the premium heart of the city. Just another incredibly wealthy member of society, with a well-connected family carefully shepherding the generational wealth. The place looked a bit old-fashioned, but at a certain level the location was flaunting money and status enough.


    A closer look showed that it was subtly, tastefully fortified. The walls were thicker than the norm, giving the place the ¡®old fashioned¡¯ look. Inscriptions were written at the base of the pillars, in the smallest script I¡¯d ever seen. The masterpiece of the best [Inscriptionist] Night could find in a dozen generations. Windows were carefully placed. They both looked nice, and a keen military mind would notice the overlapping fields of fire and the complete lack of blind spots.


    I¡¯d flown over, and had noticed from the sky that there wasn¡¯t a single internal garden. No openings to the sky, no way for sunlight to get in.


    A fortress, hidden smack in the middle of the city.


    Night didn¡¯t take chances.


    I politely - mostly out of a minor concern that Night had measures in his garden - and briskly walked through the front gates, knocking on the door.


    ¡°Brrrpt brrrrrrrrrrrrrrpt brpt!¡± Auri cheeped, adding her own musical version of a doorbell.


    I waited impatiently, flexing my new hand. It had been a weird feeling, my hand not properly working or responding to me. A different form of being trapped. Finally I heard footsteps. A servant - human, by his pallor - opened the door.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn for Sentinel Night.¡± I curtly told the man.


    Normally I¡¯d be more polite, but I was in a rush. He bowed and closed the door.


    Fine, fine, don¡¯t invite me in.


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡± Auri didn¡¯t approve of their hospitality either.


    I continued flexing my hand, waiting for what felt like an impossibly long time. After way too long, the door opened again to a familiar vampire. Just not the one I was looking for.


    ¡°Jaclyn.¡± My tone could¡¯ve frozen a river, even during the hot Ariminium spring. Still hadn¡¯t forgotten her ruthlessly stomping on my heart during my first real date ever.


    Had to wonder if she was partially responsible for my abysmal love life, but eh¡­ that was probably all me.


    ¡°Elaine.¡± Her tone was about as warm as dead flesh which¡­ might just be par for the course.


    ¡°I need to urgently talk with Sentinel Night.¡±


    Her eyes flickered all over me.


    ¡°Come in.¡±


    We wandered through the villa, and what struck me the most was the art. Mosaics on every wall, busts staring at us from neatly lined shelves in every hallway.


    The sheer weight of time and history was suffocating.


    Some quick math led to an interesting conclusion.


    If Night took a single friend of his every year, and had a bust or piece of art made of them ¨C he¡¯d still need to be picking out his favorites every decade to line the corridors, and have more in storage or in dedicated viewing rooms.


    That was before the rest of the vampires.


    I was struck with a sudden, irrational fear.


    I didn¡¯t want to see Night¡¯s personal Indomitable Wall.


    But I needed to make my own. I couldn¡¯t forget, but it¡¯d be easier to start now. A topic for another day.


    ¡°Wait here.¡± Jaclyn pointed to a cozy room, and I wasn¡¯t about to start traipsing through Night¡¯s murder-house. It was uncomfortable to think of my friend and mentor this way, but being a vampire, I had no doubts that there were occasionally ¡°mistakes¡± made and bodies to dispose of.


    Or¡­ I was letting my lurid imagination get away from me. Night had always seemed tightly controlled, and kept the rest of the vampires on a short, short leash. I could see him having equally little tolerance for mistakes. It was bad for the long-term, and Night was all about the long-term.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn.¡± Night entered the room and greeted me without preamble. ¡°You have come here requesting my attention urgently. What is the issue?¡±


    ¡°White Dove¡¯s latest curse.¡± I explained. ¡°Turned my hand gold ¨C I fixed it already, don¡¯t worry ¨C but I¡¯m concerned about spread. It¡¯s unclear how potent the curse is.¡±


    Night sat down and leaned forward.


    ¡°Not an instant emergency, simply an immediate one. Fascinating. What details were given?¡±


    ¡°Everything you touch turns to gold. White Dove was minimal on details. My skill requires touch, and I wasn¡¯t quick enough to remove my hand. Ended up cutting it off to heal it.¡±


    ¡°Why has this brought you here urgently?¡±


    I grimaced. It sounded stupid, now that I had to explain it to Night.


    ¡°My curse knowledge is weak. I had the idea that the gold might be self-spreading, and we could be on the verge of a gold plague. The possibility had me come to the foremost expert on White Dove¡¯s curses, to see if it was a concern.¡±


    ¡°Is that the only action you took?¡± Night asked, unusually short with his questions.


    ¡°No. I tasked the local guard with escorting Chryseius so he wouldn¡¯t touch anyone.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Mmmm. Acceptable response, although the political ramifications will be¡­ displeasing to handle.¡± Night leaned back in his chair, relaxing, and I narrowed my eyes at him. I better not get another politics lecture!


    I continued to have a poor poker face, and Night read me like an open scroll.


    ¡°All of your actions were properly reasoned out, and you have been acting as a Sentinel the entire time. You will not hear a single complaint from me on your actions, although I imagine tomorrow¡¯s after action report will be lively and invigorating.¡± He paused a moment.


    ¡°You would do well to give Ocean a word of forewarning once we have resolved this situation. Much of the fallout will land on his shoulders, as it properly should.¡±


    Good. Although, fallout for having guards protect a VIP? This politics stuff was stupid. I suppose, technically, it could look like they were detaining him, but eh. It was for his own good! He could kill a lot of people by sheer accident!


    ¡°Any thoughts on other ways I could¡¯ve fixed my hand besides chopping it off? The fact that healing didn¡¯t work has me a hair concerned.¡±


    ¡°Ah. From all my knowledge and understanding, you should simply have had a form of petrification, although gold-based instead of stone-based. It would be highly unusual for the curse to be active and spreading when White Dove is the progenitor. It is intended to be a punishment for the recipient, not a plague designed to end our city. It was not within the words White Dove spoke, and it would be strange for there to be an unstated prominent secondary effect.¡±


    ¡°Do you have any recommendations for other ways I could¡¯ve handled my hand?¡±


    ¡°I do. What thoughts do you have on the matter?¡±


    ¡°I mean. I cut it off and regrew it. It worked, I¡¯d do it again.¡±


    Night nodded.


    ¡°It was the best approach with the tools at your disposal. Alternatives include an [Alchemist] brewing the correct potion and a [Cursebreaker] dispelling the magic. Both are suboptimal in the current situation. I eradicated the last petrification monsters from Remus roughly, oh, 1700 years ago or so. [Alchemists] these days have no need, and therefore, no knowledge of the proper potion for the issue, and even then they knew how to dispel stone, not gold. An entirely new potion would need to be found. Similarly, White Dove¡¯s curses are in a league of their own, and the majority of [Cursebreakers] are helpless before her methods. It tends to be incredible experience to attempt such a thing. If you had any friends in the profession, they would be most unhappy with you for solving it without them, although our new friend is likely to give them a steady stream of experience in the near future.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Thank you Night.¡±


    ¡°The pleasure is all mine. Now. If you have some spare time, would you like to stay while I arrange for the fortunate soul to come over? I do not require your presence, but I believe it will be educational.¡±


    Just like old times. Me, Night, and a lesson.


    ¡°I¡¯d be delighted.¡±


    Time swiftly passed, and two weeks later I was dealing with Senus, the next person Augustus wanted me to turn back.


    I¡¯d learned my lesson, and I¡¯d skipped back from him after the skill faded away. I was NOT having a repeat of Chryseius turning my hand to gold.


    ¡°You work hard to suppress your emotions.¡± White Dove said. ¡°Well, you have it. Nevermore will you feel sadness or anger. Happiness or pride. Joy. Frustration. Satisfaction. Love. Caring. Nothing.¡±


    The ashen look on Senus¡¯s face had me quickly examining my own thoughts and feelings, hopes and dreams, and wondering if there was anything in there for White Dove to ironically twist.


    Each curse so far had been carefully tailored, hitting the person where it hurt.


    I never saw Senus again.


    ¡°I¡¯m busy.¡± White Dove snapped at Ianus another two weeks later. ¡°DOORS.¡±


    She then vanished from existence.


    ¡°Do you think she meant I can¡¯t pass through them, or that they¡¯d kill me¡­¡± Ianus¡¯s question trailed off as he looked at me.


    ¡°I have no idea.¡± I honestly told him. ¡°But I wouldn¡¯t try it.¡±


    Muttering curses under his breath, Ianus left the room by climbing out of a window.


    I¡¯d¡­ be ok with a curse like that. I think. Maybe. White Dove had still been a bit of a knob though.


    I barely blinked when I got the news that Chryseius had committed suicide. I didn¡¯t know him, and life in Remus was rough. People died all the time. I¡¯d mourn for those I knew, for those I couldn¡¯t save. For someone I¡¯d only met in passing, who decided he wanted to meet White Dove?


    I wouldn¡¯t deny it was a tragedy for his family though, although rumors had it that a member of his family had gone missing.


    It was cold, it was heartless, but I only had so much empathy for total strangers.


    Night needing a missing finger healed a few hours later did take on an ominous note.


    ¡°I curse you. No more shall you understand the written word.¡± White Dove intoned. I shuddered at the devastating curse, glad I¡¯d dodged that one.


    If those were the types of curses being handed out? It was time to see how old I could get before I allowed White Dove to curse me. I didn¡¯t want some critical aspect of my life ripped away from me. I could hopefully make a century before my quality of life degraded enough that I wanted to become young again.


    I couldn¡¯t imagine life being unable to read. I needed my scrolls to read!


    The man in question bowed to White Dove. The moment White Dove vanished, he spoke to me.


    ¡°Well, guess I¡¯m having a slave read everything to me now. Got off lightly.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t find myself able to agree with him.


    ¡°Elaine! 21st birthday coming up soon, right? Let me plan and throw you a huge party!¡± Kallisto gave me his best charming smile.


    I rolled my eyes and lightly punched him in the arm.


    ¡°An excuse for you and Cordelia I¡¯m guessing?¡±


    He put his hand over his heart.


    ¡°You totally got me. My motives are entirely impure, and I¡¯m doing this for my own selfish gain.¡±


    ¡°Let me guess ¨C getting out of the house for an evening?¡±


    ¡°That, and having a good excuse to throw a gigantic bash, yeah.¡±


    I shrugged. Sure, why not?


    ¡°Lemme donate, oh, fifty rods to the party planning pot.¡± That was a ton of money, and Kallisto should be able to throw one hell of a party with that sort of funding from me ¨C on top of whatever else was going on.


    Kallisto gave me a crushing, suffocating hug.


    ¡°Thanks Elaine! I¡¯ll make sure everyone¡¯s there. We missed your last birthday after all.¡±


    I shuddered. I¡¯d been trapped in the Below Levels last year, my birthday having passed without me noticing.


    ¡°I can¡¯t wait.¡±


    ¡°Walking backwards.¡± White Dove said, and I practically sighed in relief.


    With this, I was done.


    All eight of Augustus¡¯s requests had been filled, each one two weeks after the last. My birthday was right around the corner, Kallisto had been planning like a fiend, and it even sounded like the other Sentinels were getting in on the planning.


    I was looking forward to it.

 Chapter 310 - The Last Supper

    My birthday so far had been weird. Mostly because I knew something was up ¨C Kallisto had told me that he was arranging a huge party, and it seemed like everyone but me was in the know on the details.


    21st birthday! Woohoooooo!


    I still wasn¡¯t entirely sure when I¡¯d died on Earth, but I knew I hadn¡¯t gotten to my 21st birthday. I¡¯d officially spent more years on Pallos than I had on Earth, and that was before considering that each Pallos-year should be worth more than one Earth-year, due to the swiss cheesing of my brain when I got transferred over.


    It was supposed to be a ¡°surprise¡±, and by how everyone was acting I interpreted that to mean ¡°the location and type of party is a surprise¡±, not the fact that I was having one.


    Most of the day I spent getting told ¡°don¡¯t worry about it.¡± or ¡°we¡¯ve got it.¡± or ¡°we can¡¯t tell you.¡±


    Even Autumn and Neptune were busy!


    I ended up spending most of the day with Auri. We went to the temple and prayed for the upcoming year, to thank the gods and goddesses and ask them for any favors. Auri went to the gods and goddesses around Fire, Inferno, the sun, birds, and whoever was in charge of good looks. I kept it more eclectic, asking Aion and Thanatos if they could bring all my dead friends back to life, including petitioning the moon goddesses about Lyra. Impossible, but asking couldn¡¯t hurt. Naturally, I got silence, as usual.


    I had a few dozen mundane prayers as well. Good health for the upcoming year, success for my friends and family, fairly boring stuff. Blowing out candles was much quicker and easier than all this running around praying, but prayer did have a higher chance of success. In theory.


    I¡¯m not sure what Auri prayed for. Probably lots of things to burn and juice to drink.


    Auri and I wanted to see if we could make a fiery dance routine-thing. I was immune to fire, and there was some cool stuff we could do. Probably.


    There was a lot more goofing off than actually practicing anything, but most importantly, we had a TON of fun. It wasn¡¯t particularly structured, and we would¡¯ve horrified any [Dancer] ¨C apart from the bit where I was dancing through fire. They might think that part was cool. Hot. Whatever.


    Then again, we¡¯d gotten the idea seeing a show where [Dancers] did exactly that. Magic never failed to amaze me. It had everything, and I had eternity to discover it all.


    I briefly flirted with the idea of cycling my 3rd class through every single class that I possibly could. The idea was tempting, but I had the feeling that I¡¯d find something that I just fell in love with so hard I¡¯d never want to switch.


    But what would it BE!?


    Night¡¯s advice was to take my time to work it out, and Hunting thought I should find something I loved and enjoyed. Destruction¡¯s advice to make it work with the rest of my other classes and skills was also solid, but I was rating it lower than everyone else¡¯s.


    Albina was the first to show up to my villa as the sun was getting low. A notice that things were getting started and that the party wasn¡¯t happening here. Like, there had been no prep work at all here. Surprise parties that I knew about were a weird sort of tension. I didn¡¯t know the where, and I only knew the when because it was so late in the day. Had to be an evening/night party, which was the traditional time for an adult party. Who wanted to get wasted first thing in the morning?


    ¡°Elaine! Happy birthday! I¡¯m SO sorry I can¡¯t make it to your party! Here, let me fix you up so you¡¯re just perfect. Sit. Sit! I brought you a cosmetics set - no lead, just the way you like it - and this lip gloss is supposed to reflect the night sky. When I saw it, I thought of you, and just how perfect it would be for you. Why, just the other day¡­¡±


    I let Albina work her figurative and literal magic as she nattered on.


    ¡°There!¡± She triumphantly finished. ¡°What do you think?¡±


    She used her mirror skill, and I thought she¡¯d done a good job. My elemental dress still fit, and I was channeling my Celestial element through it. Worked better for the night-time party that was planned. All in all, Albina had worked her usual miracle.


    ¡°Perfect.¡± I said.


    ¡°Brrrpt! BRRRRPT!¡±


    I rolled my eyes.


    ¡°Auri wants to know if you can also make her look pretty.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Oh, but Auri darling, you just look fabulous already! I can¡¯t possibly improve on such perfection.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt! BRRRPT BRRRPT!¡±


    I rolled my eyes. Flattery was the way to Auri¡¯s heart. No doubt about it.


    ¡°Whoops! Look at the sun! Anyways, you have fun now! Go have a blast! Kiss a few boys!¡±


    I chuckled at her.


    ¡°I will! Thank you again!¡±


    We were close to the Summer Solstice, and the sun was still shining bright in the sky as dinnertime rolled around, which was the same time Hunting swung by.


    ¡°Dawn.¡± He greeted me.


    I socked him in the arm.


    ¡°Bluebeard. This is about as off-duty as we get. What¡¯s with the titles? ¡­unless there¡¯s a problem?¡±


    Was he¡­ embarrassed? He quickly brightened back up.


    ¡°Tell you what. I¡¯ll use your name if you can name every Sentinel.¡±


    I opened my mouth, then froze.


    ¡°Thank you, Hunting, for coming to pick me up.¡± I gracefully transitioned.


    He snorted at me.


    ¡°Yea, you¡¯re welcome. Didn¡¯t come just to pick you up. I¡¯d like to make a mosaic for you, but I need to know where in your house you¡¯d want it.¡±


    I clapped my hands together.


    ¡°Oooh! Isn¡¯t this the first one you¡¯re putting out in public?¡±


    ¡°Your house isn¡¯t exactly the market square now is it?¡± He smirked at me.


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, you know what I mean. Follow me! I¡¯ve got a great idea!¡± I led Hunting through the house to my room.


    ¡°That wall!¡± I pointed to a boring white wall in my room. Hunting stroked his famous beard.


    ¡°Yes, yes¡­ I can work with the square dimensions¡­ any ideas what you want?¡±


    ¡°Surprise me!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt! BRRRRRRRRPPPPPPPTTTTTT!!!!!¡±


    He lifted an eyebrow at me.


    ¡°Auri wants it to be entirely showing her off. Burning¡­ lots of people.¡±


    Hunting gave Auri a Look. She puffed out her chest.


    ¡°Right then. Surprising you it is. Got everything to head on over?¡±


    I gave myself a quick once-over.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯m all set and ready, unless Albina did me dirty and got me ready for a fancy party when it¡¯s actually on the beach or something.¡±


    Hunting barked a laugh at that.


    ¡°No, you¡¯re fine as-is.¡±


    He gallantly offered his arm, and I took it. We made small talk as we walked towards the party venue.


    ¡°Speaking of. Everyone¡¯s kept it quiet. Where is this party happening?¡±


    ¡°Oh, Kallisto found a brothel he thought you¡¯d just love.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt?!?¡±


    I facepalmed. Of course Kallisto picked a brothel. Did I honestly expect anything else?


    Vaguely in his defense, brothels in Remus did more than the name implied. They were often gathering or meeting places, with the men and women working there able to provide dozens of different types of entertainment and service. It would be high up on the list of anyone organizing a party, no matter how big or small.


    Well, the truly massive parties wouldn¡¯t fit in one, but thank goodness Kallisto wasn¡¯t organizing one of those. That would¡¯ve been too large of a social event, and I would have either been banned from attending my own party, or I¡¯d end up feeling overwhelmed then miserable.


    Also, no matter how normal it was, being in a brothel with my parents and brother was going to be THE WORST.


    We quickly arrived, and Kallisto and Cordelia were there to greet me.


    ¡°Elaine! The woman of the hour! At the rate you¡¯re going, woman of the year! Happy birthday!¡±


    ¡°Thank you! Although, I suspect this is going to be awkward with my parents.¡±


    ¡°Ha! What party isn¡¯t awkward with your parents around!¡± Kallisto beamed at me. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, they know they¡¯d ruin your fun. They only be around a short while, then they¡¯re going to head off.¡±


    Cordelia must¡¯ve seen me sag, and giggled at my obvious relief. She companionably threw an arm over my shoulders, and leaned in to half-whisper at me.


    ¡°I know this place, and there¡¯s a fine gentleman and lady who can take care of you well.¡± She winked, and yeah. I should¡¯ve seen that coming.


    She was married to Kallisto of all people, and somehow managed to tie him down.


    ¡°What my lovely wife means to say,¡± Kallisto added as he stole said wife back. ¡°Is that I thought you¡¯d approve of this brothel. It¡¯s new, and almost entirely owned and operated by women, no slaves.¡±


    ¡°Almost entirely?¡± Kallisto had clearly baited me with that part, and it¡¯d practically be rude not to bite.


    He nodded at me.


    ¡°Everyone that works here owns a part of it, and would it really be that great of a brothel if there weren¡¯t a few men?¡±


    I rolled my eyes at him. I was feeling terribly pigeonholed into what I liked and didn¡¯t like, and I was thinking he¡¯d sort of gotten the wrong impression from me.


    It was extremely thoughtful, though. Kallisto knew how much I hated slavery, and went out of his way to find a place that didn¡¯t use slaves at all. He got that part spot-on.


    Hunting rumbled at Kallisto, an animalistic grunt. Either reminding Kallisto of the pecking order, or that we were all hovering outside still.


    ¡°Enough standing around! Come in, come in.¡± Kallisto ushered us all in.


    I took in the scene.


    Kallisto knew how to throw a party!


    The first thing I noticed were the people. Somehow, Kallisto had managed to invite ¨C and get to show up! ¨C nearly everyone I knew in Ariminum.


    Most of the Sentinels were here, along with some of their family! Mostly spouses and a few older kids. Bless the Sentinels, in all my time with them I¡¯d only ever had to field one discreet inquiry if I was looking to get set up with somebody. Night was notably absent, but I had hopes that he¡¯d show up later, when the sun set. My family, Artemis, Maximus, Autumn, Neptune, and more were all here and partying! Caecilius and Marcus were here, although it looked like their apprentices hadn¡¯t managed to warrant an invite. All were mingling around, and I had a vague stab of sadness and loneliness wash over me.


    I needed more friends. Having gone on the road at 14, then losing a set of friends when I went from being a Ranger to Sentinel didn¡¯t help my social skills or social life.


    ¡°Brrrrpt!¡±


    It was like Auri read my mind.


    ¡°You¡¯re the best.¡± I reassured her.


    However, tonight I¡¯d focus on the friends I did have, and enjoy myself!


    Tables of food lined the walls, filled with small finger delicacies. One whole table was dedicated to nothing but fruits, with a large bowl filled with mangos acting as a centerpiece.


    I took back everything bad I¡¯d thought about Kallisto. He knew me.


    There were a number of amphoras along one wall, and I watched with some amusement as Toxic and Brawling had both commandeered an entire one, and were busy trying to out-drink each other.


    ¡°Leave some for the rest of us!¡± I yelled across the room, getting the attention of the rest of the party-goers.


    Elegant recliners were scattered around the room, in neat circles around low tables for easy, intimate conversation. Flowers adorned¡­ well, everything. Tulips on the recliners, roses on the tables, lilies climbing the wall, and petals scattered throughout.


    ¡°Wow.¡± I said, taking it all in.


    I¡¯d drawn attention to myself, and as the woman of the hour, most of the crowd was gravitating towards me. There was probably some social thing or another going on, and I wasn¡¯t getting immediately swamped by everyone.


    Hmm.


    Hmmmmmm.


    I should remember that next time I¡¯m at a party.


    ¡°Dawn!¡± Destruction, by sheer virtue of being near the door when I came in, was the first to say hi.


    ¡°Destruction! I¡¯m so glad you could make it!¡±


    He chuckled.


    ¡°We¡¯re a small group. You¡¯ve shown up for our birthdays, of course we¡¯ll show up for yours.¡±


    A thought flashed through my head, a question I had about his latest mission. With great effort, I pushed it aside. This wasn¡¯t the time or place to bring work into it, even though our bonds and companionship was primarily made through work.


    I gave Destruction a great big beaming smile.


    ¡°Well, thank you still!¡±


    ¡°The flowers are from me. I know how much Auri likes to burn them, and I¡¯m fueling a regrowth inscription. They¡¯ll keep coming back.¡±


    The best present ever ¨C a nice gift for my companion. I loved it.


    ¡°Brrrpt!? BRRRPT!??!?!?!¡±


    I looked at Auri, an amused twist to my mouth.


    ¡°Only if you can tell me the rules about burning things indoors.¡±


    ¡°Brrrppt. Bbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrpt. Brpt brpt brpt BRTP!¡±


    I facepalmed.


    ¡°Yes, those are all the ways you kill someone inside with smoke and fire.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡±


    ¡°No, ¡®I just won¡¯t do that¡¯ isn¡¯t¨C¡±


    I facepalmed again at Auri¡¯s smug look. Hunting clasped his hand on my shoulder.


    ¡°I know.¡± His voice had the thousand-yard-stare. ¡°Believe me, I know.¡±


    I could just imagine a juvenile Katastrofi wondering why she couldn¡¯t eat all the tasty, easy-to-access humans. They even color coded themselves with how acceptable they were to eat!


    ¡°Ok, have fun Auri. If you ruin things though¡­¡±


    ¡°BRRRPT!¡±


    I smiled at her. My mouth was going to get a cramp from smiling so much, but eh. I could always heal it away. Happy Sentinel problems. Too many good things happening on my birthday. Too many people loved and cared for me.


    What a terrible fate.


    ¡°Great! Enjoy!¡±


    Auri promptly flitted around the room at high speed, lighting a few tastefully located flowers on fire. I noticed that she made each one a different color.


    Interesting. Her natural control was growing, even without a class-up. There was also no smoke coming off of them, burning impossibly, magically clean.


    My parents came up next, and flanked me on either side.


    ¡°Hello everyone! If we could get your attention please!¡± My dad announced, and the crowd quieted down.


    I mentally cursed my dad¡¯s timing. I was hungry! There were mangos to be had! And I¡¯d gotten ambushed before I could get to them.


    Grumble grumble. I could see Auri landing on the table and starting to snack on one, all while shooting me a self-satisfied look, the traitor.


    ¡°We all know Elaine ¨C Sentinel Dawn to some of you ¨C and I can¡¯t say how proud of her I am. From the time she¡­¡±


    I loved my dad. I really did.


    Did I need an entire speech about my life in front of everyone I knew!? This was a marriage-tier speech, not a normal birthday speech!


    Embarrassment levels rising¡­


    Dad thankfully finished. Applause, cheering, cries of happy birthday, the works.


    Finally done! Mango time!


    Then, of course, MOM started her own speech, sabotaging my mango-hunt.


    ¡°I still remember the day I found out I was going to have Elaine. It was raining, and¡­¡±


    THEY WERE RIGHT THERE. RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. I swear this was some cruel torture for something I didn¡¯t even know I did.


    Just kill me now. Please. This speech didn¡¯t even have the good grace to start when I was born!


    Finally mom finished.


    ¡°... and I can¡¯t say I could possibly have a better, more loving, caring, wonderful daughter. Thank you Elaine. And happy 21st birthday!¡±


    I gave her a hug. I did love her. I did appreciate the gesture.


    How many people had their parents still showing up to their birthdays? What more could I ask for, honestly?


    ¡°This is for you.¡± Mom murmured in my ear. ¡°From both of us.¡±


    I broke the hug, and got a small folded piece of cloth from mom, like a napkin.


    ¡°Open it!¡± She said, and I unfolded it.


    Blue stitching met my eyes against white cloth. Words, sewn into a prayer.


    I read over them, tearing up. Mom and dad¡¯s wishes for me to be safe and protected, an affirmation that they loved me, and that there¡¯d always be a home for me with them. That they were proud of me. A reminder for me to stay true to myself, to believe in myself. That I was loved, not just by them, but by the people around me.


    ¡°Hopefully you can keep it on you when you go on one of your missions.¡± Dad said. ¡°A little something from home.¡±


    ¡°The [Weaver] who made it claims it¡¯ll repel dirt, but who knows how long that skill will last.¡± Dad added in. ¡°Also claimed it was fireproof, but I have doubts that there¡¯s anything Auri can¡¯t burn.¡±


    I hugged both of them, burying my face in their tunics so they wouldn¡¯t see my tears.


    ¡°I¡¯ll always keep it with me.¡± I promised. ¡°I love you.¡±


    They gave me a quick hug, and we broke again.


    ¡°Now, we¡¯re off for some fun of our own.¡± Dad threw eyes at mom, and I wanted to barf.


    ¡°I know we¡¯d just spoil your fun.¡± Mom hooked her arm in dad¡¯s. ¡°Enjoy!¡± She called back as dad escorted her out.


    The crowd practically shuffled along with me as I went to raid the food. I went straight for the mangos, and laughed at a small sign on the large bowl.


    ¡°Elaine ONLY!!¡±


    I¡¯d taught Autumn enough to recognize her handwriting.


    I loaded myself up ¨C not only with mangos. Occasionally eating a nice dino-steak helped cleanse the palate and reminded me of just how tasty mangos were.


    Also, everything went well with mango, and it¡¯d be a crying shame to miss a combination.


    ¡°Finding everything ok?¡± Neptune asked.


    ¡°I am! This you?¡± I gestured to the food. I recognized most of what was out as Neptune¡¯s various specialities. He nodded.


    ¡°That Kallisto fellow found me, wanted me to do the catering. When I found it was for you, well, you¡¯ve done so much for Autumn.¡±


    I snorted at him.


    ¡°Which rule is ¡®give a ton of free food to your VIP customer?¡¯¡±


    Neptune gasped at me.


    ¡°Why Elaine! What do you take me for? I¡¯m not some cold, heartless¨C¡±


    ¡°Rule 28.¡± Autumn cheerfully threw her dad under the bus. ¡°The occasional present gives vast rewards. Also, dad, remember Rule 4?¡±


    ¡°Elaine doesn¡¯t count as the guard!¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s a Sentinel! She absolutely does!¡±


    I¡¯d tell Autumn later I was delighted that she was around. I left her to bicker with her dad, and found an extra well-padded seat in the center of the room, seemingly reserved for me.


    Even at my own party, this was a bit much on the social side. Still, I¡¯d enjoy it as much as I could, and when I stopped having fun?


    I¡¯d plaster on a happy face and not ruin everyone else¡¯s enjoyment of the party.


    Artemis elbowed her way through the crowd.


    ¡°Healy-bug! Happy 21st!¡± She tossed an absurdly heavy block of metal at me, which Brawling fortunately caught.


    That would¡¯ve gone straight through my precious dinner! It might¡¯ve utterly ruined my dress which would be entirely unacceptable. Or worse, destroyed a mango.


    Glad to see my love of mangos was still beating Auri¡¯s vanity from the companion bond.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I poked the block of metal that Brawling put down on a table with one hand, using the other to chow down.


    ¡°Dunno.¡± Artemis shrugged. ¡°Crazy hard to burn or melt though. Figured Auri might like it.¡±


    I shot her a grateful look. I was totally getting her something nice for her birthday.


    ¡°May I?¡± Ocean asked, pointing at the block. I nodded, he picked it up, and it got passed around a bit.


    The party continued, people getting together and mingling, breaking apart and moving around. I stayed in my chair, Brawling helpfully refilling my mangos whenever I ran out.


    I swear I was going to explode, but I always had room for one more in my mango-stomach.


    Night showed up almost exactly as the sun set, and spent quite a lot of time chatting with Artemis.


    He did have a history with her, and they didn¡¯t exactly get to catch up often.


    Almost everyone had brought a gift. I had no judgment for anyone who didn¡¯t.


    Maximus had written several scrolls worth of interesting Classes and skills. I was touched by his thoughtfulness ¨C he¡¯d only included elements that I¡¯d mentioned I was interested in taking.


    Arthur had tried. Bless his heart, he¡¯d put his full efforts towards composing me a song. Which he sang. Loudly. And badly. In front of everyone.


    The only thing I can say for his efforts was his song was soooooooooo LONG. It was like he was trying to recreate the Iliad, except with none of the writing prowess of Homer, nor did he have any classes helping him.


    Brawling, Hunting, and Artemis eventually unceremoniously threw him out of the brothel, to general applause.


    The brothel owners made sure they stayed well-hydrated the rest of the evening.


    Markus had gotten me a set of the Medical Manuscripts that I had written, but beautifully written on black hide with red borders. His taste in everything dark and edgy hadn¡¯t changed in the slightest.


    Ocean got me a lovely silver-framed mirror.


    ¡°If you listen closely, it¡¯ll sound like home to you.¡± He told me with a wink.


    I was skeptical, but I held it up to my ear. I could faintly hear the sound of crashing waves and the ocean surf.


    ¡°It sounds like the sea.¡± I was somewhat doubtful.


    Ocean spread his arms all innocent-like.


    ¡°Well, you grew up in Aquiliea, and now you live in Ariminum. Is that so surprising?¡±


    ¡°Anyone else? Maybe. Coming from you? I think it¡¯s inscribed to sound like water.¡±


    Ocean¡¯s grin shrunk a few notches.


    ¡°Ah, you got me. Yeah, it¡¯s supposed to sound like the water, but I thought I¡¯d put a romantic spin on it. Make it feel nicer.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s lovely.¡± I meant it.


    Nature mentioned he wanted to plant and grow a few ¡°fruit trees¡± at home. While I suspected he wanted to give me some mango trees, I knew we were just a bit too far south for them to properly thrive. They¡¯d require extensive skilled attention, and my money would be better spent on raw mango acquisition, in terms of yum per coin.


    Still, there was something to be said for having a few of my own trees, even if the price was exorbitant.


    ¡°For you.¡± Acquisition laid one of the most beautiful things I¡¯d even seen in front of me.


    ¡°No.¡± I gasped. ¡°Are these really¡­?¡±


    ¡°Angel feathers.¡± He confirmed, tapping on a clasp at the end. ¡°I¡¯d been thinking a pair of earrings, but they were a bit on the large side. My kids insisted on the hair piece though. My youngest said you¡¯d look great with it. She¡¯s quite obsessed with you now.¡±


    Well, I wasn¡¯t going to disappoint Acquisition¡¯s kids. I took the feathers, and braided them into my hair.


    Ocean¡¯s new mirror confirmed that I looked great.


    I didn¡¯t bother asking Acquisition how he¡¯d managed to find angel feathers of all things. It was his title. It¡¯d be like asking Hunting how he¡¯d tracked down a mouse in a field, or Ocean how he¡¯d sailed across the sea.


    It was just what he was.


    Bulwark had a larger-than-life statue of Auri made out of marble.


    ¡°He made that about three minutes before coming here.¡± Brawling stage-whispered to me.


    I knew exactly what was going to happen next.


    ¡°Everyone who wants to fight ¨C do it outside.¡± I ordered before the first punch could get thrown. I was not getting food thrown on my lovely dress.


    ¡°If anyone wishes to besmirch the Sentinel name by brawling in public, you will first have to explain to me why you believe it to be a good idea.¡± Night softly added.


    We had no overt, open fights. I did see a quiet shadow war of messing with people¡¯s food, tunics, seats, flirtation attempts¡­


    It was hilarious when I wasn¡¯t involved.


    My only involvement was making Maximus think Kallisto had swiped his dagger. The resulting mini-feud and escalating pranks was better than any play at the theater.


    Emperor Augustus and Sextia didn¡¯t appear in person, but they did send a courier with a present. An expensive bottle of perfume.


    There were all sorts of levels present in that bottle. Like, something about socializing, Sextia¡¯s curse, and¡­


    I was a bit too drunk to try and interpret the meanings of a gift from someone with a [Sinister Schemer] class.


    Fortunately, tomorrow, I¡¯d be too sober to try and figure it out as well! Yay me! Easy win, nice perfume, ignore whatever undertones or messages there were.


    ¡°Dawn.¡± Night politely greeted me.


    I wasn¡¯t sure if he was using my title because everyone else was, or if there was business to discuss. The lack of Sentinel made¡­


    Forget it. I was tipsy, and it was my party. I¡¯d just see what he wanted.


    ¡°Night! My favorite vargleeeeeeee.¡± I tripped over myself, almost forgetting that we were in too public of a location to mention that he was a vampire.


    I got a sharp, toothy smile for my almost-mistake.


    ¡°The elves you traveled with had an interesting idea, and I would like to extend a courtesy to you. Call it a type of experiment between us, a show that I believe you will quickly grow into a peer for many centuries.¡±


    I straightened up.


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°Yes. For your birthday, this one time, I wish to offer you a favor, that you may call upon when you so desire. I will attempt to fulfill your favor when such a time comes to pass.¡±


    That was one hell of a gift. I could do so much with that.


    I¡¯d let sober-Elaine figure it all out.


    ¡°Thank you!¡±


    I meant it, from the bottom of my heart.


    The party continued late into the night, early into the morning. People came and went, and the brothel workers were kept busy entertaining us all in a myriad of ways. From the food, to dancing, singing, playing, to all manner of other activities, my party was an unqualified success.


    Night had quietly asked each of us if there were any issues, and let us know tomorrow¡¯s meeting was skipped. Par for the course when one of us had a major celebration with everyone like this.


    It was starting to wind down when a new, surprise face showed up. Not exactly a friend, not something I particularly liked, but not a person I held any animosity towards.


    ¡°Guildmaster!¡± I was honestly shocked.


    ¡°Sentinel. A most merry¡­ birthday, I believe?¡±


    ¡°Thaaaaaaaaaaaats right! What can I do for my favorite member of the most dishonest, irreputable organization of thieves and cutthroats I know?¡±


    I¡­ might be more than a bit tipsy. I was enjoying myself.


    His congenial half-smile froze in place. Whoops, that might¡¯ve been a bit too honest.


    ¡°I just got word about the quest you posted.¡±


    The quest I posted? What quest?


    OH!


    RIGHT! Julius¡¯s quest! The quest for Julius. The quest chosen specifically to find Julius. That quest.


    I smacked myself with [Dance with the Heavens], instantly sobering myself up. Night whistled, a sharp noise that cut straight through the festivities, and a heartbeat later all the Sentinels ¨C well, the ones that could still stand, at least ¨C were practically surrounding the Guildmaster, hanging onto his every word.


    He gave a nervous swallow.


    ¡°I brought you the news as soon as I heard, and I got the news almost as soon as it happened. The adventurers were racing to see who could claim the bounty first, you see.¡±


    I could just imagine three different adventurers charging toward the guildhall, cheerfully sabotaging each other and brawling in the streets to be the one to get the news back first.


    Even an innocent quest could make adventurers be terrible people. Honestly.


    I was letting my imagination run away from me a bit¡­


    ¡°Please, speak. What news do you have?¡± Night asked, and honestly. It was a bit rich coming from Mr. Verbose over there to tell someone to cut to the chase.


    The Guildmaster spoke slowly, carefully. Enunciating every word, carefully measuring our reactions as he delivered the news.


    ¡°A ring of brightly colored mushrooms has appeared in the spot where your Commander Julius went missing. A fairy ring.¡±

 Chapter 311 - End of an Era

    We all spent a moment in silence after the Guildmaster¡¯s news.


    ¡°Meeting?¡± Ocean asked.


    ¡°Meeting.¡± I agreed.


    ¡°I¡¯m coming along.¡± Artemis stubbornly insisted.


    We looked to Night, who frowned a hair.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to be involved one way or another.¡± Artemis correctly read Night¡¯s look. ¡°Might as well involve me in the planning.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Night settled. ¡°Hunting, Brawling. Please acquire the rest of our comrades. Dawn. A number of us are currently indisposed, if you could please fix that? The rest of us will be at the meeting room. I will be moving to my archives, and retrieving a number of stories about the fae for us to consult.¡±


    With that, we moved onto our respective tasks. The party had been winding down, but more than half the members leaving completely killed it.


    Auri was one of the indisposed members, having indulged herself in burning and eating things until she collapsed from sheer joy and excitement. A quick flicker of thought pulsed [Sunrise] through our connection, waking the poor sleepyhead up.


    ¡°Brrrrpt?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Party¡¯s over. Got a mission.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt¡­¡± She sleepily processed, then what I said registered.


    ¡°Brrrrpt!! Brpt?¡±


    ¡°Maybe. Come on.¡±


    Neptune found me as I was getting everyone else sobered up and awake. Didn¡¯t make me popular, but a tense ¡°Meeting. Now.¡± forgave all sins.


    Fifteenish minutes later saw us all in the Sentinel¡¯s meeting room, including the few Sentinels that hadn¡¯t come to my party. No judgment, we were all busy people.


    Night handed a stack of scrolls to Nature, who took one and passed the stack on. We each grabbed one, and I skimmed a story about a fae who granted a woman the power to spin her hair into gold ¨C for the price of her firstborn. Auri carefully read over my shoulder, and I made sure to go slowly enough that she could keep up. She was working hard! She really wanted to come.


    ¡°Thank you all. I am aware that the hour is one in which most of you would prefer to be sleeping. However, we have just received word regarding Commander Julius¡¯s disappearance. It is possible that time is of the essence, but more practically, nearly all of us were awake and in the same location. Now, here is what we know¡­¡±


    Night gave a ¨C I hesitated to use the word quick ¨C recap of the events, from Julius and his escort going missing, to Hunting tracking down the location, to the various stakeout teams that had been present.


    ¡°Former Ranger Artemis is here with us due to a close personal connection to Commander Julius.¡± Night concluded.


    She cheerfully waved, seemingly lounging on one of our nice chairs. I knew her well though. It was a lie. She was tightly wound, ready to explode at any moment.


    ¡°Nice digs.¡± She approvingly looked around the room. ¡°Beats a wagon by a mile.¡±


    I was convinced that Artemis was good enough to be an entry-level Sentinel, and I wasn¡¯t quite sure how or why she never got promoted. My personal bet was a combination of how damn twitchy she got in the field and the sheer lack of an open role for her. Almost anything she could do, Destruction could do better.


    Regardless, this wouldn¡¯t be a good time for one of her students to go ¡°boo¡±.


    ¡°I know this isn¡¯t super important.¡± Ocean said. ¡°But I do want to note that adventurers got the news to us before our own Ranger Trainees did. It¡¯s worth investigating how and why they were able to outperform us.¡±


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Night said. ¡°My initial assessment has me believe it is a matter of motivation and following the normal chain of command. News was not flagged as urgent, report at all costs. I believe we will find it waiting for us in our normal morning briefings. A topic for another day. For now, let us discuss Commander Julius. First, I believe there is no question that we shall attempt a rescue operation. Correct?¡±


    We looked around the room at each other, and Bulwark gave a great big dramatic sigh.


    ¡°I¡¯ll say it. We should build a small outpost there, use it as a base for forest exercises, and simply wait. If Commander Julius was taken by the fae, he will return, and there¡¯s no sense in throwing more people into the mix. Given what little we know of them, where does it stop? Does Night attempt to go in, and when he doesn¡¯t return, we send in Ocean? Should Maestrai and Nature go in after them? If we do this wrong, we can lose more Sentinels here than we lost in the Formorian war.¡±


    Bulwark had excellent points, and I found myself nodding along. Most of the room was also nodding along, with a few frowns.


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Night settled on. ¡°Only a single Sentinel¨C¡±


    Artemis loudly coughed.


    ¡°¨Cor team will be sent.¡± Night smoothly finished. ¡°If that team fails to produce results, we shall fall back to Bulwark¡¯s plan. Objections?¡±


    There were none.


    ¡°Right. Before the next step, who is unfamiliar with the rules of the fae?¡±


    Most of the Sentinels acknowledged they were unfamiliar.


    ¡°Let me?¡± I offered, and Night nodded.


    I recited verbatim from the long-ago memory of Night teaching me the rules.


    ¡°Strike no deal with them, make no bargain.


    Take nor offer a gift.


    Be nothing if not polite and courteous. Give no insult.


    Do not lie. They can not lie, but never think they speak the truth.


    Keep your word.


    Do not give them thanks.


    Do not partake of their food or wine.


    Do not spy or violate their privacy.


    Do not give them your full name¡­ a task you might struggle with. Give them a moniker if you must.


    Do not violate their rings.


    These things seven may grant protection against the Fae, each in its own manner.


    Cold Iron, pressed to flesh.


    A four-leaf clover, to grant vision.


    Wearing clothes inside out, to confuse, amuse, and befuddle.


    Salt, sprinkled around in a circle.


    Arcanite, pulsing with mana to blind.


    The Symbol of the Five Gods, worn sincerely.


    A wreath of holly, a crown upon your head.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt¡­¡± Auri didn¡¯t like all these rules.


    ¡°Excellently done.¡± Night praised. ¡°Now, let us tackle some generalities before we decide who must go. Your title is perfectly acceptable to use with the fair folk. You both recognize it as something you are called by without it being your true name. Now, information on the fae is spotty. As far as I can tell, the name the System grants you is the name that should not be given. Gifts are both easy and hard. Something you might not recognize as a gift may seem like a great boon to these most wily and clever of tricksters.¡±


    ¡°How are we supposed to eat?¡± Artemis asked, cutting in through Night¡¯s lecture. I shot her a horrified look, but she looked at ease.


    Right.


    She¡¯d been Night¡¯s mentee and was probably familiar enough with him to be casual and flippant¡­ even though I wasn¡¯t.


    ¡°Like. No deals, no gifts, and don¡¯t eat their food. How do people not starve to death in fairy land? Even with those stories we hear.¡±


    Night cocked his head at her.


    ¡°The worst stories we hear, the ones where terrible things happen to people, are the ones in which they violate the rules. Follow them, and your time will be short. Break them at your own peril.¡±


    ¡°Bring a backpack of food, got it.¡± Artemis loudly muttered under her breath. She got a few smirks for that. Nobody contradicted her though.


    ¡°The logistics of this mission will be reviewed, as it does not conform to the norm.¡± Night agreed. ¡°Their idea of manners can be entirely different. What is normal here may be a grave insult there, and what looks like a grave insult may very well be a compliment. Naturally, the fae do not tell you which is which until you have either caused offense or passed whatever inane test they choose to put you through.¡±


    Night paused, letting us all digest.


    It was so late as to be inhumanely early, and honestly this wasn¡¯t a great time for it. Then again, disasters and the like didn¡¯t operate under normal business hours.


    ¡°As for keeping your word, Acquisition is the only one here who might struggle with such an issue.¡±


    Oooof. Shots fired. Acquisition looked vaguely embarrassed, but didn¡¯t say anything. It was a hazard of his line of work, and none of us faulted him for it.


    ¡°As for violating their rings, it is a task we will need to do simply to access their realm, which is the most likely spot where Commander Julius is to be found. Questions?¡±


    There were a few clarifying questions, and we moved on.


    ¡°For protection. Cold Iron is entirely out of the question. One wearing or simply possessing a small fraction of the material makes one entirely unable to be touched by the fae, no matter the provocation. A similar issue occurs with a Symbol of the Five Gods, and I have reason to believe that other divine symbols confer similar levels of protection. I do not have solid information on that front, but it is best to be safe.¡±


    Brawling raised his hand, and Night acknowledged him.


    ¡°Dumb question. If it¡¯s so good, why don¡¯t we want to bring it?¡±


    Good question. I was wondering a similar thing.


    Night gave him a curt nod.


    ¡°If you do, you will not be able to enter the land of the fae, to attempt to rescue Commander Julius.¡±


    Ah yeah, that made sense.


    The pieces of a puzzle clicked.


    The voice that had said they found me? The voice that had sounded like autumn incarnate, a season full of colors in words?


    I¡¯d heard it right after the spinosaurus had destroyed mom¡¯s pendant. A pendant made out of iron, hammered into a religious symbol. It had been for ¡°bringing good luck¡± and ¡°protection¡± when mom had given it to me, a small little family heirloom.


    Little had I guessed, it was protecting me. I should¡¯ve put the pieces together years ago.


    Had that been the fae looking for me?


    Why had they been looking for me?


    Questions for¡­ well, not quite another day, now was more appropriate, but I had no way of getting answers.


    ¡°Any reason we can¡¯t issue four leaf clovers to the team?¡± Hunting asked. ¡°I know I¡¯d want a dozen.¡±


    ¡°None. We shall acquire enough for everyone to have some. On that note, for the next year or so I will be issuing Cold Iron for all other Sentinels.¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we normally have it?¡± Brawling asked.


    ¡°Because wearing Cold Iron for the explicit purpose of warding off the fae as a long-term organized solution tends to¡­ irk them.¡± Night said.


    I remembered getting the expanded version of the story from him. Nasty stuff.


    ¡°In addition, salt will be issued. There is an argument to be made for wearing normal clothing over our standard-issued armor. It is possible to turn a tunic inside out, but it is not possible to do the same with our gear. However, there are conflicting reports. Occasionally, a survivor of the fae realm will claim that no System was present, but the vast majority agree that there is significant magic in their world. Armor would be a boon. At the same time, one hopes that no fae would attack without provocation, and that none of you would give them reason to take offense.¡±


    Hunting loudly snorted, and I agreed with him. Destruction spoke up.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like we get sent to deal with the reasonable people who¡¯ll just talk it out.¡±


    Night tilted his head in acknowledgement.


    I was totally bringing my armor.


    ¡°Arcanite is acceptable if it is kept hidden, although it can be worth revealing it at the right moment if needed. Lastly, a crown of holly. I believe it is worth bringing, however, keeping it hidden and well-preserved until a critical moment that it can be deployed is something of a challenge. One that I am sure you are all up to take.¡±


    Yeah, touching on the pride bone was a great way to get all of us to straighten up.


    ¡°The question is. Which Sentinel do we send?¡±


    Almost all of us raised our hands. Only Toxic and Bulwark kept their hands down.


    None of us would be in the room if we didn¡¯t all jump at things like this. Just part of our nature.


    Heck, none of us would¡¯ve become Rangers if we didn¡¯t jump at things like this! Toxic and Bulwark both had their own reasons why they weren¡¯t volunteering, but that didn¡¯t change the fact that they volunteered for things they believed they were even slightly suited for.


    ¡°Hunting.¡± Night stated.


    ¡°Tracking and finding people, monsters, and things is my entire kit. It¡¯s my job. It¡¯s who I am, and it¡¯s my title. I should be sent.¡±


    Damn good logic.


    Destruction put his hand down.


    ¡°Ocean.¡±


    ¡°Flexibility is my entire kit, and I¡¯ve been playing the political game for the Sentinels. Water is everywhere, in everyone, and I¡¯ve had my chops sharpened on the word games from the Senate and Command for decades. The fae are all about trickery and careful application of words, and I¡¯d navigate that better than anyone else here.¡±


    More good points. My hand wavered, but locking eyes with Artemis helped me keep it up.


    ¡°Acquisition.¡±


    ¡°With respect to Hunting. You¡¯re about finding and killing things. We¡¯d like Commander Julius back in one piece, and retrieval is my entire domain. I¡¯ve also spent an untold number of years with the worst of humanity, and I know all about careful words and bloody oaths. Hunting¡¯s better at finding people than I am, Ocean¡¯s better at diplomacy than I am, but I combine both of those into a single person. We don¡¯t want to send too many people, it¡¯d harm our operational readiness.¡±


    ¡°Nature.¡±


    ¡°We don¡¯t hear about the Fae building grand cities now, do we? We hear about them in nature. In the woods. Gods, we¡¯re talking about a fairy ring made out of mushrooms. I¡¯ve found my fair share of monsters in the woods, and every story of the fae has them in forests, glens, groves, or generally places bursting with life. That¡¯s me. While the rest of you are playing fancy word games with the fae, I know the real secret. Shut up and don¡¯t chat with them. They can¡¯t trick you and you can¡¯t break your word if there are no words traded.¡±


    Brawling and Senti-null put their hands down.


    ¡°Dawn.¡±


    I¡¯d been thinking about my own arguments.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a close personal connection to both Artemis, who¡¯s going, and Julius, who we¡¯re looking for. I¡¯ve got a deep wellspring of stories, both of the fae and that can be told to the fae. I¡¯m one of the hardest Sentinels to kill, and I¡¯ve got something nobody else has: time. My Immortality skill makes it such that even if the fairies decide to keep us trapped for a hundred years, I can have all of us emerge at the same physical age, even if the mental age is different. If someone else goes, they might get trapped and die of old age before they¡¯re able to escape. That¡¯s not a concern for me, and with how long Commander Julius has been gone? I believe we need to start being concerned about how long he¡¯s been in there and what he¡¯ll emerge as. I¡¯m also the only one of us with significant non-human interaction and diplomacy.¡±


    Brawling gave a great big snicker at that, and Hunting coughed ¡°Pastos.¡± into his fist. Ocean raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°If we wanted someone to either end up destroying their civilization, or we wanted to declare war on the fae, you¡¯d be first in line.¡± He teased me.


    ¡°Dawn is not only the only one who¡¯s lived for over a year with other species, but she also has an entire realm of knowledge and interactions stuck in her head. The elves favored her, and the dwarves liked her so much they didn¡¯t want to give her back.¡± Toxic loomed behind me, the giant defending me.


    Not that I needed it, but I appreciated it.


    ¡°Enough. We will discuss the merits of each Sentinel after all cases have been presented.¡± Night said.


    Mirage¡¯s hand wavered, but he gamely kept it up.


    ¡°Mirage.¡±


    ¡°I¡­ honestly, I¡¯ve got nothing better than what anyone else has already said.¡± He said with a nervous chuckle.


    ¡°I vote healy-bug.¡± Artemis quickly jumped in. ¡°We know how to work together, and I know she¡¯s got my back.¡±


    She tossed her hair defiantly under the gaze of the highest-leveled fighters and mages humanity had to offer.


    ¡°Hunting. Ocean. I believe that Acquisition has made excellent points that make him a better candidate than either of you. Do you object?¡±


    Hunting did, and it was pointed out that he was one of the premier Sentinels, and had a mission history a mile long. It was also pointed out that he was one of the most-deployed Sentinels and having him go on a potential multi-year mission would be devastating to every other problem Sentinels had to deal with.


    It came down to me, Acquisition, and Nature.


    There was no animosity in the selection process. We were professionals, trying to decide which skill set best suited an unusual situation, even by Sentinel standards.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to withdraw my candidacy.¡± Acquisition announced to our surprise.


    We looked at him, nobody needed to ask him to clarify.


    ¡°I¡¯m poorly suited for long-term wilderness survival.¡± He admitted. ¡°I¡¯m used to dealing with civilization being nearby, but civilization I¡¯m familiar with and welcome in. At the same time, we can¡¯t guarantee that I¡¯ll be able to barter with them, and I realized that my usual methods of acquisition might be easily seen through by the fae. Should be Nature or Dawn.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to stay withdrawn.¡± Ocean added in. ¡°Too many irons in the fire for me to be gone for potentially that long.¡±


    I frowned at him. We all had lives. None of us wanted to vanish for possible years!


    Then again, he was probably talking about political issues, not family ones. And I¡¯d use that to make my case stronger.


    ¡°I hate to say it, but I¡¯ve got a bit of a track record for being on long deployments without everything falling apart.¡± I drily added, to a round of chuckles. ¡°Plus, my seat¡¯s new, and my mission log is one of the worst. I¡¯m rarely deployed, in spite of having one of the highest levels. Not sure if it¡¯s because Rangers rarely remember to send word of plagues and the like, or what, but it¡¯s not like we lose a critical seat if I¡¯m gone for an extended period of time. Might as well earn my pay.¡±


    Nature leaned back and looked at me with an unhappy bend to his face.


    ¡°Fine. I¡¯m convinced. Dawn should go. She¡¯s right, she¡¯s not deployed enough, and it¡¯s senseless to have me go when we know something will come up in the next moon for me.¡±


    With that it was set.


    Artemis and I would be stepping through the fairy ring.

 Chapter 312 - Dawn of the Longest Day

    We worked out a few more logistics items.


    ¡°Thought.¡± I asked at the end.


    ¡°Continue please.¡± Night gestured for me to get on with it.


    ¡°We¡¯re retrieving Commander Julius. We don¡¯t believe he¡¯s in imminent danger, hence Bulwark¡¯s suggestion to build an outpost.¡±


    Bulwark grunted. ¡°More like a Sentinel is harder to replace than a Commander. No offense Artemis.¡±


    Didn¡¯t stop Artemis from trying to throw a number of rocks at Bulwark. Instead of dodging them, he just gave Artemis a withering glare as most of them simply stopped in front of him, and clattered to the floor.


    One rock stayed hovering between the two of them, then Artemis threw her hands up in the hair.


    ¡°Fine!¡± She complained as the last rock dropped.


    Bulwark smirked.


    He wasn¡¯t the second strongest Earth mage in Remus for nothing. Must¡¯ve been some good experience for Artemis.


    Ocean coughed.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got time to properly outfit me. No need to throw everything we can into the Pegasus and sprint off into the night.¡±


    ¡°What is your proposal?¡± Night asked.


    I shrugged.


    ¡°Do it right. Make sure I¡¯ve got the proper gems, a backup supply of four leaf clovers, see if we can make a robust crown of holly, the works. If Julius shows up before we¡¯re done preparing, great. If not? The fae play by entirely different rules.¡±


    Artemis was practically burning a look through my head, and I tossed my hair defiantly. Then fixed a stray lock that wanted to do its own thing. No no, couldn¡¯t have that.


    ¡°Everyone here knows proper planning prevents piss poor performance!¡± Brawling enthusiastically added in.


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯d know all about that wouldn¡¯t you?¡± Toxic shot back. Brawling had returned from beyond the Dead Zone early, namely due to a lack of properly planning things out. Like making himself a map. He¡¯d spent more time lost than exploring!


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Night said. ¡°I will inform the [Quartermaster] of our needs, and ensure that you are equipped with one of the better sets of gems. Nature, he might need to speak with you if he has difficulty with some of these plants, it is not a common request. Dawn, please spend your time filling as many gems with your panacea skill as you can manage.¡±


    Hunting spoke.


    ¡°Please. Those things have made my life significantly easier, and probably saved my life once. Dunno how I ever operated without them.¡±


    I nodded.


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    ¡°Are there any other issues at this time?¡±


    We shook our heads. It was practically morning.


    ¡°Dismissed. Apologies once again for the hour.¡± Night¡¯s final words were lost, as we all bailed with full speed out the door.


    ¡°Elaine.¡± Artemis caught up to me, fury in her eyes. I knew what she wanted.


    ¡°Artemis. You know properly planning and executing is how we get Julius back and don¡¯t end up dead in a ditch somewhere.¡±


    ¡°Yes, but-¡±


    ¡°But nothing.¡± I chopped my hand down, amazed that I was back-talking Artemis. Of all the things to happen, this was the most surreal. I had to be in a dream. Me. Backtalking the woman I¡¯d once thought was a goddess. The woman who¡¯d spent two years making me do pushups every time I¡¯d back-talked her during training - after laughing if it had been funny. My idol, my role model, although maybe with less murder. ¡°You heard the conversation. There will be nobody coming after us. Tell me one story - ONE - where someone who went to the fae was viciously harmed.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri didn¡¯t know a lot of stories, but she was firmly in my corner. To her feathery little credit though, she was reading them over my shoulder, trying to get a crash course.


    ¡°Stories are rare enough, and that¡¯s true under the weakest definition of harm I know. Popping back out 80 years older, having lost an entire life, is harm plenty. And who knows, maybe the ones the fae decide to eat never make it back. Because they got eaten alive.¡± Artemis shot back.


    ¡°It¡¯s been months. A few extra days to properly execute this is correct. You know this. Come on. Where¡¯s the badass Ranger I know?¡±


    Artemis put both of her hands on my shoulders, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.


    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± She said with an explosive exhalation. ¡°I¡¯m too close to this.¡±


    I grabbed her wrists with my hands.


    ¡°Yeah, and I wouldn¡¯t have anyone else at my back.¡±


    ¡°Even with my low level?¡± She asked with a smirk.


    ¡°Low level? Who? Where? I swear, with your experience, you¡¯re just as deadly as I am with a fraction of the power.¡± I grinned at her, eyes dancing. ¡°I¡¯d take you over any Sentinel, any day of the week. Well, except maybe Night.¡±


    Artemis swatted me for that, but it was good-natured.


    ¡°Gear.¡± She said.


    ¡°Gear.¡± I echoed.


    ¡°You¡¯re going heavy, yeah?¡±


    I nodded. I had access to the vast armory of the Sentinels, and I was going to make full use of it.


    ¡°I¡¯m going light. Not only do I not have my old gear - I handed it back when I retired - but the details earlier resonated with me. Armor isn¡¯t going to do me any good, and I might as well have the option of turning my tunic inside out.¡±


    ¡°Makes sense.¡±


    She ruffled my hair.


    ¡°See you soon, healy-bug. Gotta tell Maximus that I might be gone for some time.¡±


    ¡°See ya!¡±


    I slowly walked home, dreading the conversation I needed to have.


    There was a stark contrast between the serious ¡°who are we sending on a mission¡± atmosphere of the Sentinel¡¯s meeting room, and the slow, lazy, ¡°we¡¯re recovering from one hell of a party¡± feeling of home.


    Except Themis. My poor brother still had guard training, no matter how hungover and sleep deprived he was. My sympathy was limited. He did it to himself and needed to figure out his limits.


    I was nervous and tense. Didn¡¯t stop me from grabbing a quick cat nap once I got home. I had enough experience to know how valuable sleep was, and I grabbed sleep at any available moment. Who knew when I¡¯d next get a chance?


    I was sitting at the kitchen table when mom and dad woke up. I¡¯d never noticed the grains before. The table had two different types of wood. Some were going the long way, some were going the short way. I don¡¯t know why such a tiny and inconsequential detail was striking me now. Auri was still sleeping off the party, not quite having the stamina to go long.


    ¡°Afternoon kiddo!¡± Dad cheerfully greeted me as he entered, looking around for¡­


    Breakfast was both the right and the wrong word.


    He must¡¯ve sensed something was wrong.


    ¡°Everything ok? Something happen? Your birthday party not up to snuff? That always sucks.¡± He snagged two cups of water and sat down at the table as mom came in.


    ¡°Mom?¡±


    She sat down at the table, and I took a deep, bracing breath.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got another mission.¡± I started with. Dad took a sip of his drink, silently pushing the other one to mom.


    ¡°Ok? I take it this one¡¯s different from normal?¡±


    I bit my lower lip as I nodded.


    ¡°Yeah. Fae realm with Artemis. Possibly.¡±


    Mom and dad traded looks.


    ¡°Well, if you¡¯re with Artemis, I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll all go fine.¡± Mom grabbed my hand with hers, giving me a reassuring pat.


    ¡°But I could be gone for years!¡±


    More traded looks.


    ¡°Elaine¡­ we love you, but we have no illusions about your job. It¡¯s dangerous. You could be gone one morning without ever letting us know or saying goodbye. You¡¯re able to talk with us here, and the place you¡¯re going, while weird, isn¡¯t exactly that dangerous now is it?¡± Mom said.


    ¡°We¡¯re proud of you. I wish you¡¯d taken a safer career, but there¡¯s no putting back broken eggs. I¡¯m not going to try and convince you to do something else. Plus, someone has to keep Artemis safe.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt. Brrrpt.¡±


    I shot Auri a Look, the only suitable response to her trying to be a ¡°wise old bird¡± at less than six months old. I wasn¡¯t able to keep it up though, and cracked a smile at her antics. She always knew how to make me feel better.


    ¡°Ok.¡± We all got up, and came together in a group hug.


    ¡°Love you.¡± I said.


    ¡°Love you too.¡±


    We had a wonderful moment together, before Themis interrupted it.


    ¡°Bleargh.¡± He made gagging noises as he entered the kitchen, seeing all of us together.


    I did the only thing appropriate, as a Sentinel, as his older sister.


    I flipped him off.


    ¡°TAKE ME WITH YOU.¡± Autumn was grabbing onto my tunic in the marketplace. Artemis had finished her work, and was sticking close with me. Did she think I¡¯d leave without her or something?


    ¡°No.¡± I crossed my arms. ¡°It¡¯s too dangerous.¡±


    Artemis started to have a howling laughing fit in the background, and we both looked over, just in time to see her topple off her stool, onto the ground.


    ¡°Bwahahahahahahaha! Elaine, you, you, you¡¯re telling Autumn it¡¯s, ha! Too DANGEROUS. Bwahahahahahahaha! Funniest, funniest damn thing I¡¯ve heard, heard today!¡± Artemis could barely breathe with how hard she was laughing. We couldn¡¯t talk over her peals of laughter, and Neptune was throwing Artemis all sorts of dirty looks as she drove customers away from his booth.


    It took her three tries before she finally was able to control herself.


    ¡°Care to explain?¡± I asked her, getting another spray of barely-contained laughter.


    ¡°Ok, ok. Autumn. Are you ready for the funniest story of the year?¡± Artemis asked my protege, completely cutting me out from the conversation. She was wiping tears from her eyes. I wasn¡¯t sure how much of it was real and how much of it was her putting on a show.


    ¡°Yeah!¡± Autumn had no chill. I sensed I was about to be the butt of Artemis¡¯s joke.


    ¡°Ok, so way back when, when Elaine was younger than you are now, she wanted to be a Ranger. I said no, it was too dangerous. She completely and totally ignored me, ran away from home, and look at her now. Now you¡¯re asking her to come on a mission, and she¡¯s doing the exact same thing I did, all without a shred of self-awareness! The circle repeats! Vindication!¡± Artemis threw her arms up in the air, then started laughing again.


    I pouted at her. That wasn¡¯t how I remembered things going down. I had no choice! Plus, this was totally different. I¡¯d say how as soon as I could figure it out.


    ¡°Ended up finding Elaine being held prisoner by a bunch of runaway slaves-turned-bandits. Wanna hear?¡±


    ¡°Sure!!¡± Autumn leaned in.


    I groaned and held my head in my hands.


    Traitors. I was surrounded by traitors everywhere.


    ¡°Neptune?¡± I asked, hoping for some support from Autumn¡¯s father.


    ¡°She¡¯s growing up. Making her own choices.¡± He said. ¡°Can¡¯t say I approve, but I took some big risks starting out. Risks that I¡¯d tell my teenage self not to take. She¡¯s got this well-reasoned. Bring a variety of small goods. Trade for some fantastical piece of fairy magic. Potentially trade it for hundreds times profit, and if it¡¯s a bust? She¡¯ll get a fantastic class out of it. She¡¯s with you, one of the safest places in the Empire to be. Can¡¯t say I like it, but it is a reasoned decision.¡±


    It really felt like people weren¡¯t taking the fae seriously enough, stories about changelings in cradles and curdled cow¡¯s milk not giving them the proper teeth. I guess not everyone got personalized, one on one warnings from Night on the issue, nor would they quite understand the seriousness of such a warning. I gave Neptune a look, realizing a problem with his argument. A dumb problem, but it sidetracked me somewhat.


    ¡°I just told you about it now!¡±


    ¡°And we were there at your birthday party when the guildmaster showed up. Autumn started planning before you even left. She¡¯d hoped you would go, but she¡¯d be going on her own anyways. Leaving the nest and all that.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry healy-bug! I¡¯m totally fine with her coming along. You coming along saved my bacon last time. The more the merrier I say!¡± Artemis obliterated a number of walls that I could throw up.


    I¡¯m pretty sure I was the only time she¡¯d ever said ¡°it¡¯s too dangerous¡± in her life. She did have a long cheerful murder streak in her past.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri approved of leaving the nest.


    Traitors all around me!


    I had to admit - only to myself, Autumn would never let me hear the end of it if I said it out loud - that using the fair folk to get a better class wasn¡¯t a terrible idea, and it was worth getting the experience, achievement, and accomplishment for my third class. I had no idea if I¡¯d DO anything with it, but it would be a feather in my cap.


    This mission was weird. The strangest part was I was waiting for all my gear to be ready. That never happened. It was always ¡®make sure we have as much gear as reasonably possible, and use whatever¡¯s on hand.¡¯ Waiting for the proper equipment was the strangest thing.


    It took a week and change to get everything together, mainly because it seemed like all four leaf clovers had fled the country. Happily, that had given me enough time for [The Stars Never Fade] to get off of cooldown again, and I was able to charge a Moonstone for Plato. Early payment on services rendered, just in case. I wanted him around and alive when we came back to keep teaching Auri after all! The [Quartermaster] tried his usual contacts, and when that came up short, we asked the local herbalists and alchemists for a hand. Professional herb harvesters and the like. Figured we might as well get the experts to do the job. The four leaf clovers seemingly vanishing had us all the more determined to get our hands on a few, suspecting fae shenanigans.


    We¡¯d set a deadline on the Summer Solstice to go regardless if we¡¯d gotten any or not. Adventurers, of all people, managed to find three the night before the solstice. They¡¯d had to go obscenely far - much further than the [Herbalists] went, and fields of grass and ferns weren¡¯t famous for their valuable plants - and when I mentally worked out the cost-to-time ratio, I realized we¡¯d basically scammed them. Ah well, no great loss, and they¡¯d signed up for it anyways.


    I woke up bright and early on the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. I was prepared, and ready to go.


    Auri had already done her prepwork - she¡¯d insisted on classing up. Instead of fighting a losing battle and resisting her attempts to class up, I recognized that we were bonded companions - equals - and I gave her my blessing and spent about five minutes guarding her while she classed up.


    She¡¯d just gone straight for the biggest, baddest, boomiest Inferno class. No debate, no fuss. Her only complaint was she hadn¡¯t been allowed to burn ALL the flowers, which I interpreted to mean the world of her soul included burning things.


    I was not even a little surprised.


    I¡¯d spent enough time double and triple-checking my stuff last night that I didn¡¯t feel the need to do it again. I did fully gear up under the gaze of two full moons, just over the horizon, and even when that was all done the sun was barely showing its face. I took some extra time to make sure I looked extra-nice, because who knew? Maybe the fairies judged on appearance. I should put my best foot forward anyways, and at this point, I knew [Companion Bond Between Elaine and Auri] was subtly messing with my thinking.


    But like. It wasn¡¯t wrong, which was the worst part.


    My hair was short again, but I did weave two of the angel feathers Acquisition gave me into it. My helmet would protect me from most things, but eh. I never knew if they¡¯d help, and they felt nice. My Deception Ring was invisible on my finger again, although for now I wasn¡¯t adjusting my level. Felt too much like a lie.


    However, I needed to awkwardly say goodbye to my parents again. After the first tearful goodbye, it had entirely lost its sting.


    ¡°Goodbye.¡±


    ¡°Bye!¡±


    ¡°Cheers! Love you! Have a fun trip!¡±


    ¡°Love you too!¡± I called back.


    It was a short walk to the spot where Julius had vanished. Far too short, for the potential size and implications. We were there in a heartbeat, the bright summer mid-morning sun shining down on us. A lovely day, entirely incongruous with the size of what we were doing.


    ¡°That¡¯s it.¡± I pointed to a ring of brightly-colored mushrooms.


    ¡°That?¡± Autumn asked skeptically. ¡°Doesn¡¯t look like much.¡±


    ¡°Neither does Elaine, and she could kill almost anyone in Remus. Plus, mushrooms are poisonous. Shouldn¡¯t you have a rule for that or something? Don¡¯t poison your customers?¡± Artemis teased Autumn.


    ¡°There¡¯s like a dozen rules that apply to mushrooms. Bad business, those. Don¡¯t deal with them at all.¡± Autumn grumbled back, in the grouchy way she could only manage when not making a ton of money.


    I had to agree with her somewhat. It was just another small clearing in the forest, with sunlight filtering in through the trees. A colorful patch of forest, entirely unworthy of the myths and legends that surrounded the fae.


    We were also short one four-leaf clover for our party, and Auri was the designated unlucky sod.


    ¡°Brrrrpt¡­¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d just burn it.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°No, that doesn¡¯t give it extra powers.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ¡°How do I know? It¡¯s obvious!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt¡­¡±


    I pinched the bridge of my nose as Autumn laughed. Artemis put a hand on my shoulder.


    ¡°If only Auri gave you half the trouble you gave me.¡± She sighed wistfully.


    Why was I going on a mission with these people?


    ¡°Last check. Does anyone have any iron on them?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Brrpt.¡± Auri shook her head furiously, sparks going off every which way.


    ¡°No. Did one last check of my gear last night. I got worried about a few things, and I replaced them with conjured stone. Terrible in the long run, but it should last for now.¡± Artemis said.


    ¡°Autumn?¡±


    ¡°All set! I think.¡±


    I remembered how terribly unprepared I was when I first ran away from home, and reminded myself that Autumn was roughly as green as I had been. Possibly more. I had an entire second life of knowledge to give me a hand, while Autumn just knew buying and selling.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got no coins with you, right?¡±


    ¡°Right!¡±


    Artemis and I traded looks.


    ¡°Not even an emergency coin pouch?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Nothing sewn into the lining of your clothes in case of bandits?¡± Artemis asked.


    I looked at her.


    ¡°What? I¡¯ve done it.¡± Artemis defended herself.


    A half-dozen coins later, and we¡¯d shaken out every last bit of iron from Autumn.


    I went over myself one last time, from head to toe. All my armor was made out of Noric steel, none of which qualified as Cold Iron.


    Helmet. On and secure.


    Padded vest? Check.


    Laminar chestpiece? On, secure, all straps tightened. It held most of my Arcanite, cleverly melded into the armor on the inside. Nobody could easily see that I had it, but it was there, an easy secondary supply of mana in case I needed it.


    My mana pool was large enough now where the Arcanite felt like more of an afterthought, but there wasn¡¯t a reason to NOT bring it. Especially since it was hidden for now, but I could bring it out later to ¡°blind¡± if needed. I had three emergency Moonstones strategically located in it, all with [Dance with the Heavens]. If I somehow found myself entirely out of mana with my arms chopped off, they were emergency heals.


    Leather skort? Snugly on, metal disks tight.


    Greaves? Over a pair of thick boots.


    Bracers? Filled with gems.


    My right bracer was almost all Moonstones, mostly filled with [Mantle of the Stars], with a few more [Dance with the Heavens]. I¡¯d gone almost pure defensive for this trip, reasoning that the stories had the fae almost impossible to fight. I¡¯d aim for defense and healing, trusting that I wouldn¡¯t get into a shooting match.


    Plus, like. I had Artemis with me. I was strong, but Artemis was pure lethality shaped as a tough, wiry woman.


    My left bracer held my utility gems, courtesy of the [Quartermaster]. [Create Water]. [Gust]. The last [Invisibility with Eyeholes]. [Mana Void]. [Leaf on the Wind]. [Null Presence]. [Rebound]. [Safe Shelter]. [Camouflage]. [Tracks-Be-Gone]. [Tripwire Alarm]. [Muffle] [Wall Buster]. [Curse Breaker]. Around a dozen skills that might save my life.


    A shortsword was at my hip. It was nothing special, just a standard-issue legion sword. Dad¡¯s knife was on my other hip, and the prayer mom and dad had made for me was tucked into my chestpiece, right over my heart.


    It felt a little jinxy to put it there, given how often I¡¯d been cored like an apple, but it was theoretically the safest place on my body.


    I had a heavy backpack on, stuffed full of standard wilderness survival gear, along with a few extra goodies. I¡¯d elected for a tower shield to cover the entire thing, its weight barely noticeable with my strength. A few waterskins - and a couple of juiceskins for Auri! - hung on the sides of my bag, completing the look.


    ¡°How did the smallest person here end up being the pack mule?¡± I complained.


    ¡°Brrrrpt!!!¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t count, you don¡¯t carry anything anyways.¡±


    ¡°BrrrrrrPPTTT!¡± Auri flitted over to my bag, and tried to carry my waterskin.


    ¡°BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRPT!¡± She shrieked, rapidly losing height as the waterskin pulled her down. To her credit, she was trying hard to be helpful, finally being allowed on a mission.


    If only effort, grit, and determination was enough.


    We didn¡¯t want to risk anything happening to the two of us if things went wrong.


    I snatched Auri out of the air before she could cross over into the ring.


    ¡°Enough goofing off.¡± I ordered. ¡°Everyone, hold hands.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ¡°Auri, grab onto me, as hard as you can.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    Auri flew around me a few times as the rest of us grabbed each other¡¯s hands.


    ¡°Brrpt?¡±


    ¡°There are no holes in my armor.¡± I stated matter-of-factly, feeling proud of the fact that I knew it for sure. Hours spent with it.


    Auri grabbed onto my shoulder.


    ¡°Brrpt brrrrrrrrrrrpt brpt BRPT!¡± She signaled the charge forward.


    Together, we all stepped into the ring.


    Nothing happened. Autumn¡¯s shoulders slumped.


    ¡°Hmmmm.¡± Artemis mused out loud. ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ve annoyed them enough to pull us in. Or maybe we don¡¯t have their attention.¡±


    I paled, knowing where Artemis was going with this.


    My eyes widened and I opened my mouth to protest, to stop Artemis for insulting the fae in their own territory.


    ¡°HEY! You tiny, worthless, magicless GITS! I¡¯ve got more magic in my pinky than you¡¯ve got in your entire body! You¡¯re ugly! Nobody likes you! I¡¯m going to take an iron horseshoe and shove it where the sun don¡¯t shine! I¡¯ve seen beggars in more stylish clothes! Your pranks are uninspired and boring. Yeah, you cowards, come and get me!¡±


    Instead,


    I


    Got


    Speared


    And


    Jerked


    Away


    With


    Everyone.

 Chapter 313 - The Longest Day

    I instantly knew I was somewhere else. It was like stepping off a plane into a different country. The air was different, the smells were different, the sun was a different colour. The only thing that was the same was the white-knuckled grip I had on Artemis and Autumn¡¯s hands.


    My knees buckled and gave out, and I crashed down to one knee, my hand slipping from Autumn¡¯s and landing on the soft, mossy forest floor/sinking into the brackish swamp water, a small puff of powder dusting my face/filthy water splattering my cheek.


    I quickly looked up and twisted my head around, trying to orient myself to where I was, and assess any threats. It was nearly impossible.


    I slowed down, and tried to figure out what I was seeing, my mind screaming as it tried to process the deluge of information, my dulled senses entirely overwhelmed by the double - triple? - load they were under.


    I tuned out everyone else¡¯s words, trying to focus, trying to figure out why everything was so heavy, why I was so slow.


    Ok. Mental reset. Time to figure things out one at a time.


    We were in a forest/swamp. It wasn¡¯t a marshy forest, no. There was the forest, bright and green. There was the swamp, drab and dark. Two layers of existence overlapping into one, giving me a migraine.


    Verdant trees brimming with life surrounded us/Dead trees had gnarly, twisted branches, reaching for us/Thieving hands in the corner of my eye flashed out.


    The trees were a riot of colours, impossible fruits surrounded by clusters of brightly coloured flowers/The trees were drab, weeping moss hanging off in clumps, fat lumps of flesh ready to explode their spores.


    Songbirds sang sweetly, their songs yellow and red in my vision, smelling of crisp ocean breeze/Vultures shrieked as they circled, their songs tasting of rot and the open grave.


    A warm summer breeze gently caressed my face/A hot, damp, muggy atmosphere smothered my body.


    Round and round it went, my head screaming as it tried to process it all. Artemis was sick, throwing up a small bush. Autumn closed her eyes and held herself, shivering.


    Round and round and round and round and round and round and round it went, until I managed to get a grip.


    ¡°Urggggggh.¡± I moaned, trying to stand up and not managing it. Artemis and Autumn weren¡¯t in much better shape, but Auri?


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± She cried at me, flying around me. ¡°Brrpt brrrpt BRRRPT!¡±


    It took a moment to process what she was saying. It was so weird that her sound was only sound and didn¡¯t cause flashes of light to play over my vision.


    Everything just looked like a nice, happy forest to Auri. I had to guess it was the four leaf clovers. Was our intel wrong, or did Auri not see the hidden dangers around every leaf? Not realise that the tasty fruit was also a rotting eyeball?


    ¡°Auri. Dangerous. Do. Not. Touch. Anything.¡± I said, trying to be serious while my breakfast tried to escape out the wrong pipe.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri understood the seriousness of the situation. I¡¯d also made it clear that she needed to listen to me on this mission.


    Benefits to the clover. Downsides to the clover. I briefly debated ripping it off, but chose not to. As difficult as it was to see and understand everything, there wasn¡¯t safety in ignorance.


    ¡°Elaine.¡± Artemis croaked after a moment. ¡°No System.¡±


    I immediately grasped what Artemis was saying, and tried to pull my System up.


    Nothing.


    I quickly flickered through all my skills, just feeling a blank nothing where there was usually magic.


    We were entirely mundane. Human, without a single augmentation to our names.


    ¡°Shit. Also hello Lightning Reaper.¡±


    Artemis shook her head, grasping what I said. I also realised I¡¯d messed up calling Auri¡¯s name before. Hopefully that didn¡¯t count as giving the fae her name. After all, it wasn¡¯t her full name. I¡¯d given her a doozy of a full name, and I doubted a partial counted.


    ¡°Right, Dawn, thank you.¡±


    She sounded scared, and I didn¡¯t blame her. I was feeling a mite terrified myself. Half my life I¡¯d been hunted and stalked by predators, the System being the only thing I had to defend myself with. Now it was gone.


    ¡°Bag.¡± I panted out, and Artemis figured out what I wanted. She took the tower shield off my back, and a few other things, lightening my load enough that I could stand with her help.


    Autumn was still shivering.


    ¡°Take the four leaf clover off of¡­ Spring?¡± I asked Artemis. She was infinitely more mobile than I was, but right now I was glad for the layers of armour and the weapon I had. Being entirely mundane now, they were our only defenses.


    Artemis did, and Autumn slowly stopped shivering, opening her eyes after a few minutes.


    ¡°That was awful.¡± She complained.


    ¡°Spring, you don¡¯t have the four leaf clover anymore. System doesn¡¯t seem to work here. Be careful, and listen to us.¡± I emphasised her new nickname, hoping she¡¯d get the hint.


    She nodded her understanding.


    ¡°Which way?¡± I asked, not preferring any direction over any other.


    ¡°Let¡¯s follow the sun?¡± Artemis suggested.


    I glanced up at the sun/watching eye, and shivered.


    ¡°Why not.¡± I agreed, lacking any better plan.


    We walked and we walked, in total silence. For how long, I couldn¡¯t say. The forest/swamp seemed endless, only the occasional small rabbit/frog hopping along. The occasional laugh/giggle echoed to us, but the only traces of people or fae I saw were the occasional flash out of the corner of my eye, which had me twisting and turning in confusion. Trying to catch whoever did it. Whatever did it.


    That just caused more of the scratching-nail laugh/giggle that tasted of cranberries. The sun/watching eye slowly rose as we followed it, and we paused when it was high above us in the sky.


    ¡°I¡¯m not hungry at all.¡± I slowly observed. We¡¯d been going for hours at least.


    ¡°Same here!¡± Autumn agreed.


    ¡°I¡¯m not even tired.¡± Artemis stretched her arms out.


    ¡°Let¡¯s take a short break?¡± Autumn suggested.


    I frowned. On one hand, I didn¡¯t want to pause. On the other, we had no direction to go before the sun/eye moved.


    ¡°Ok.¡± I agreed. ¡°But don¡¯t sit there.¡± I pointed to what was a rock in the forest, but some sort of ugly crab in the swamp.


    The moment we sat down, a half-dozen creatures that I could only assume were the fae surrounded us. Each one was tripled and gave me one hell of a headache to look at. They were small pixies with a single flower acting as a crown/murderous redcaps with bright red mushrooms as a hat/noble and elegant elvenoids, except all their limbs were too long and their eyes were too large, like a bug¡¯s. Upon their heads there were crowns. A crown of gold, shining in the bright noon light. A crown of thorns, bleeding the fae. A crown of vines, a crown of a hangman¡¯s noose, a crown of gems. A crown of berries.


    And the weapons they had! . Regal, awe-inspiring, beautiful... Cruel and terrible things that hurt my eyes to see, that sent vicious spikes into my brain simply for thinking of them.


    They were eating berries/eyeballs/pastries. They laughed and they joked without words. I simply knew they were funny. It sent cold shivers down my spine.


    I had been right.


    Fighting was entirely out of the question.


    ¡°A jolly good day to you all.¡± I carefully greeted them, following the rules the best I could. No bargain, no gifts, I was being polite. We had violated their rings, but the goal had been to get here. We had to break one of the rules. Well, Artemis had decided we needed to break two.


    ¡°A mortal!¡± Goldy exclaimed. His/her voice was that of summer. Growing fields under a warm sun, a time to play and jump. Swimming and sandcastles, festivals and midsummer night¡¯s dreams, war and marriage. The season of growth and creation, of becoming more, their words echoed yellow and gold in my mind.


    I was convinced. Last year I¡¯d heard the fae, but the court of fall, not summer.


    ¡°A trio of pretty mortals for us to play with!¡± Noose chimed in, sniffing Artemis. I locked eyes with her, trying to transmit one of the rules through sheer mindpower.


    Give no insult. Sniffing might be a common form of address here, the polite thing to do. Or they were screwing with us.


    My bet was on the second one. The fae had an infamous sense of humour.


    ¡°Mortals, mortals, three mortals for us~¡± Berries sang on. Berries, Gems, and Thorns all held hands together and danced around the entire glade, encircling us with horrifically long limbs that just stretched and stretched and stretched.


    ¡°Mortals at highest noon!¡± Thorn called out.


    ¡°Mortals on the longest day!¡± Gems agreed.


    What I saw in Artemis¡¯s eyes surprised me.


    Fear.


    She had no defences. Nothing against the fae, except a crown of holly tucked in her bag. And they were merrily singing and dancing, and I knew she could see the way Vines was eagerly sucking on an eyeball. There was no way it was a coincidence that it looked exactly like hers.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Shoo stinky bird!¡± Berries hissed at Auri. ¡°You are no mortal!¡±


    I wondered: if I had used [The Stars Never Fade] on myself, would I no longer classify as mortal? Would it have given me an edge?


    Not wanting to let the fae simply do what they wanted, I took initiative.


    ¡°Is there a preferred form of address for you, fairest of the folk?¡±


    ¡°Names! She wants names!¡± Gems cried out.


    ¡°I want your name! Give me your name! Then it¡¯s a deal! A name for a name!¡± Goldy got in my face, stabbing her trident/spear/finger into my chest. Vines loomed up next to her.


    Auri landed on my helmet, puffing her chest up. I noted that she was still merrily burning away, her lack of a System not hampering her too much.


    I stilled, trying to think of a way out. I didn¡¯t want to be rude. I didn¡¯t want to accept the bargain. I didn¡¯t want to tell her my name. ¡°You may call me Dawn, and have the knowledge free.¡± I carefully said. No bargain, as tricky as Goldy had phrased his words.


    ¡°Booo! BOOOOOOO!¡± Vines cried out, flying around me. ¡°This one¡¯s tricky! Tricky! Tell me a secret! I must know! I must!¡±


    To my horror I saw Autumn shaking hands with Thorns and Gems.


    She¡¯d totally made a few deals with them already. Somehow.


    We were so fucked.


    No offence. No gifts.


    How could I give no offence, no gifts, and no deals? Everything felt like a trap.


    I leaned forward and cupped my hands as though I was imparting the biggest, baddest secret in the world. ¡°I¡¯m not from this world.¡± I whispered into her ear.


    ¡°That¡¯s not a secret!¡± She protested. ¡°No mortal is from here!¡±


    I straightened up and put my hands on my hips. ¡°I¡¯m not from that world either!¡±


    Goldy gave a dramatic gasp.


    ¡°Gasp. GASP!¡± She said.


    Don¡¯t give the weird fairy weird looks. Even though she¡¯s earned it.


    Autumn took a few steps over.


    ¡°I made a deal with them.¡± She stated, half-cringing at me.


    ¡°I know.¡± I sighed at her.


    ¡°A bargain! A deal! And what a deal it was!¡± Vines agreed. The rest of the fae huddled up, whispering loudly at each other.


    ¡°Whisper whisper WHISPER whisper.¡±


    I honestly didn¡¯t know why they did that.


    Autumn straightened up.


    ¡°They¡¯ll take us to Julius.¡±


    Ok. That, I hadn¡¯t expected, but Autumn had pulled through.


    ¡°What did it cost?¡±


    ¡°This and that and morning dew, a shard of my soul, and a string of hair.¡±


    I gave her a look, then realised she was serious.


    ¡°Your SOUL!?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not like I¡¯m using all of it.¡± She defended herself, and I facepalmed.


    Artemis doubled over in hysterical laughter, the combination of shock and horror too much for her. Probably. Artemis was cruelly cold and callous at times, but wouldn¡¯t be laughing at Autumn¡¯s misfortune. I hoped.


    ¡°We dance! We go! Nightwards we march, to the great twilight!¡±


    We started to follow our fey guides through the winding, twisting woods/swamp. I swear they were trying to kill us, or get us in trouble. They brushed up against bushes with berries/gnarled creepers with bleeding flesh, and with the casual way they moved hoped we¡¯d do the same.


    We journeyed. Time passed, adventures, mischief, and mayhem reigned. The sun slowly set as we travelled. I asked about it.


    ¡°Yes. YES! This world makes sense!¡± One of the fae happily told me, flying around my head/malevolently sneering at me/nobly deigning to impart wisdom. For whatever reason I was getting the manic-pixie version in my ears, but it was all too easy to shift my perspective and hear one of the others. ¡°The sun isn¡¯t all in a tizzy! She knows right where she should be, and stays there! Yes! The moon wanders though. Comes to and fro, depending on her mood. But! We know where she lives! There is Sunwards, and there is Moonwards! Two directions! Two more directions are Stormfront and Calm! Yes! We are near Calm!¡±


    I doubtfully pulled Autumn away from a carpet of leaves/spikefall trap, and decided to shut up and not argue with the fae.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Autumn said, lost in thought. She got a sudden grin.


    ¡°Watch!¡± She hopped on one foot, wrestling with her sandals. ¡°Can I borrow your knife?¡±


    I handed it over, trusting Autumn with it. She wasn¡¯t a kid.


    ¡°Here!¡± She sliced at her shoe, handing it over to the fae she made a deal with. ¡°A part of my sole.¡±


    The fae clustered around what she was holding, giggling and talking with themselves.


    ¡°A soul! A sole! She¡¯s paid with her sole!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not fair! It¡¯s trickery! Vile trickery!¡± The shorted fae complained. The other five maliciously laughed.


    ¡°A trick! A trick! A good trick!¡± They chanted. ¡°We like this one! Let¡¯s trick her next!¡±


    Shrieking and laughing, they dive-bombed around Autumn, pelting her with mushrooms/mushrooms - funny how that worked - pulling at her hair.


    Autumn yelled and covered her hair as Artemis and I moved in to shield and protect her. Auri flew over to Autumn¡¯s hair, puffed out her chest and flared her wings.


    ¡°Shoo! Shoo! Silly bird shoos!¡±


    ¡°Not mortal! No fun!¡±


    They circled us for a moment more, before one of them crashed into a tree/tripped over a root. The fairies got distracted, tittering and laughing at their clumsy companion.


    We carried on.


    Memory¡­ slipped away from me. I couldn¡¯t tell you how things happened. We encountered a bear. The bear died.


    Were fantastic magics cast? Did the earth shake and the heavens tremble? Did we draw our weapons and charge it, engaging in deadly combat? Were clever traps made, was a poison snare used?


    Or did the fey simply gesture in a come-hither motion with a single, too-long finger, and the bear, docile, walked over, letting the fair folk swiftly break its neck in a single motion?


    Part of me hoped once I¡¯d returned to Pallos that [Pristine Memories] would kick back in, and I¡¯d remember.


    Another part of me was terrified that I might.


    A horn blew, calling me. Calling me to hunt, to run wild with baying not-dogs and riding on majestic almost-horses. To hunt some poor fool who¡¯d crossed the fae one time too many, who¡¯d broken the rules.


    Five of the fae bounded off in delight, while the sixth stomped around in frustration.


    ¡°It¡¯s not fair! Not fair at all! They go and I guide! Humph!¡± He grabbed his flower/cap/crown and threw it against a bush/rock.


    My head hurt.


    We travelled, meeting others, hearing the Wild Hunt in full swing. The fact that only one moon was mentioned twinged a memory, a thought, a fleeting idea just out of grasp.


    What if we didn¡¯t end up back in Pallos? What if we ended up somewhere else?


    The thought sent cold water down my neck. Quite literally, soaked my tunic and everything, and had everything rubbing raw down my back.


    I could get hurt again.


    I might end up somewhere entirely different.


    Autumn seemed to be having fun, but the sheer scale of how badly things could go wrong for us didn¡¯t seem to be taking hold of her. She was armed with teenage invincibility, and I couldn¡¯t deny it - we were better off for it. Artemis and I were hesitant. Careful. Following the rules, to the best of our abilities.


    We would¡¯ve never gotten here, guided straight to the festival Julius was supposedly at without Autumn taking the initiative and making bargains and deals.


    Did we travel a minute? An hour? A day, a week, a month, a year, a century, a thousand years or more? Impossible to tell. The sun didn¡¯t move, but our guide spoke as summer incarnate the entire time. Less than a season? Were the fae forever trapped as their season? Did they turn?


    The weather slowly changed, turning to the lightest of drizzles, or a playful wind. Naturally, rain falling down from the sky would be asking too much of the fae. No, it came from the ground, or the side, or emitted from the trees like sprinklers.


    It was usually water.


    Usually.


    I pretended the sticky, syrupy substance was honey, and didn¡¯t think too hard about it.


    We hadn¡¯t seen any of the other seasons, although we did occasionally meet with other fae, Autumn enthusiastically bargaining with them. She wanted to be here. She wanted to be doing this, in spite of our warnings.


    I let her. I steered her clear of branches/snakes, but she was her own person. Someone who was successfully getting us through this, somehow.


    She did end up with a limp though.


    How?


    I had no idea. Every time Autumn tried to tell me, the memory slipped, like a fox leaving a henhouse. We¡¯d heal it together once we got out of here.


    We made it to where the fae claimed Julius was. A grand festival, a gigantic party. Fairies danced and twirled around the maypole/bounced and flopped around the pyre.


    We were at the edge of twilight, the sun just as low in the sky as the moon. The border between light and dark, the changing of days.


    Lights floated across the sky, and we were mildly Stormwards. A few flakes of snow got obliterated, turning into a laughing wind fae who twirled, grabbing a bed of fresh green leaves for a dress.


    ¡°Your friend! Your friend is here! Go find him!¡±


    I eyed the party, the festival, the sheer rambunctious medley of the fae.


    ¡°How do we want to tackle this?¡± I asked the group.


    ¡°Well, we can¡¯t just stay here.¡± Artemis said. I nodded agreement.


    ¡°One of us should though.¡± Autumn said, and I sensed ulterior motives.


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°Because if we all split up and go looking, when we find Julius we¡¯ll also then need to find each other. We should have a touchpoint. It should be me, I have no idea what Julius looks like. I stay here, you three go looking for him.¡±


    I nodded.


    ¡°We can regularly come back, use you as a way to get messages to each other. I like it.¡± Artemis agreed.


    ¡°Auri. Can you fly above, and see if you can spot Julius? He¡¯d probably look like a splash of brown haired human. Not sure how many of those there are.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt¡­¡± Auri hunkered down into a little puff of flaming feathers.


    ¡°Not up for flying?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    I missed the connection I had with Auri, the loss of the System having removed that among other things. I still understood her though. We resonated with each other on a deeper, more fundamental level than just the System.


    Something had Auri not wanting to fly, or go particularly far from me. It wasn¡¯t clear what though.


    ¡°Ok, be my fancy hat for the party?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡±


    ¡°Just remember, you can burn me now, and I¡¯m very, very fragile.¡±


    ¡°BrrrRRrrrrrrRPT!¡± Auri trilled her acknowledgement.


    ¡°Just like old times?¡± Artemis asked me. ¡°You take the left, I take the right?¡±


    I nodded at her. Just like old times indeed, when Artemis had been training me on the fundamentals of how to be a Ranger. Those lessons were still strong, still heavily influenced how I tackled situations, and there was nobody more perfect for this than Artemis.


    ¡°Here. You need this. Get used to it.¡± I handed Autumn back her four-leaf clover. She took it with a grimace.


    ¡°I agree, but it¡¯s harder for me to scam the fairies if I have it.¡±


    I did a double-take at that.


    ¡°What?¡±


    ¡°Well, they love bespelling a pile of acorns to look like gold. To ¡®sucker¡¯ me into trading for them.¡± Autumn explained. ¡°Except, by accepting that, yes, it¡¯s clearly valuable gold, and wanting it, the fae think I¡¯m not very bright. It makes them overeager, giving me holes to exploit. How do you think I¡¯ve been getting the good stuff? Can¡¯t do that if they know I can see through their illusions.¡±


    Note to self. Autumn was scary.


    What made her all the more terrifying was she was doing all this without any System-enhancements. Just raw human ingenuity and guile.


    I shook my head in wonder as we approached the whirling, dancing fae together, the party in full, wild, exuberant swing.


    ¡°Dance! Dance! You must dance with us!¡± Three of the fae peeled off from the party, surrounding me. Bright-eyed pixies/too pale elvenoids with black eyes and smiling faces/elegant ladies-in-waiting. None of the layers I could see looked particularly menacing or deadly, and I was having minor faith in my ability to see. Things that looked harmless in all perspectives usually were. They were remarkably transparent in that way.


    ¡°It¡¯d be rude not to dance, and just shove our way through.¡± I said to Artemis as a half-question.


    ¡°It would be.¡± She agreed, and sighed dramatically. ¡°It¡¯s a real shame I don¡¯t have my Lightning or flesh-and-blood dance partner. What I wouldn¡¯t give for one of those.¡±


    She pitched her voice so it would carry, and I swear I saw a dozen fairy ears twitch at that. Clever. Either she got Julius, or she got her power back.


    No, not back. She¡¯d get an entirely new set of power, and if she played it carefully, she might even be able to bring it back with her. I didn¡¯t know what sort of price she¡¯d need to pay for that, and it wasn¡¯t one I was too interested in looking into.


    I was happy and secure in life. I left the wild risks for insane gains to the others.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri cheeped at Artemis. Yeah, I should tell Artemis as well.


    ¡°Good luck!¡± I told a grinning Artemis as a dozen fae descended on her. I let the three fae pull me into the dance.


    Oh, what a dance. It was a raw, primal dance, letting our wild side out, our instincts taking the reins. I threw my head back and forth, my long hair spilling and flaring from under my helmet like a ballerina¡¯s tutu. We got in touch with nature, with the wilds, communing with Gaia herself. The entire thing was wild and untamed.


    ¡°Brrpt! Brrrrrpt! Brrrpt!¡± Auri was enjoying herself, the whirls and twirls to her liking.


    The weather did whatever it felt like. A boat made out of Lightning stately sailed across the sky, and a tornado took the form of a tiger, prowling through the dance.


    According to my dance partners, that all counted as weather.


    Once in a rare, rare while, it even rained. Normal water from cotton candy clouds. It was asking too much for the clouds to also be normal.


    The dance was like nothing I¡¯d ever experienced. We tangoed. Foxtrotted. Waltzed, boogied, swinged, foursquared, went through dances with a thousand choreographed moves and three repeated moves. The entire thing was carefully structured, in wonderful dresses. The women were beautiful and mysterious, and the men were handsome and ethereal.


    No two dances were with the same fae. Boisterous summer, generous fall, cosy winter, and vibrant spring, my partners whirled in a dizzying kaleidoscope even as I started to leave red painted footsteps in my wake.


    I¡¯d dance with the occasional elvenoid, never having the same partner twice. A man with metal armour for skin like a crab, a Minotaur with elegantly flowing robes, a gnome in the most intricate lace dress on a pair of stilts nearly as tall as I was. A human, now and then. My partners flashed through like anyone else, the only notable part was that they were all mortal. Not a single elf or devil to be seen.


    I carefully studied each of them, checking if Julius was right in front of me. It¡¯d be just like the fae to put the object of my search directly in front of my eyes, only to glamour him such that I couldn¡¯t identify him. In that respect, the four leaf clover I wore proved invaluable, letting me confirm that I could still see through their illusions.


    Find Julius. I kept repeating to myself between each dance, sweat pouring down my body as I heaved for breath. Only for another fae to offer me their hand, for me to take it, and whirl through once more.


    Now and then I¡¯d glance out, seeing how my apprentice was doing, checking if Julius had been found yet. There was no clear signal, but my main mango hookup was constantly haggling with fae. Hands were shaken and goods bartered. More fairies were constantly circling her, waiting for their turn to strike.


    I sure hoped she knew what she was doing. She was playing with fire, and while she seemed to know the risks, I still worried.


    Was that how Artemis and Julius had felt about me going into Perinthus? In a few ways, I suppose the parallels were there. Teenage me had no business being with the Rangers like the teenager had no business being with Artemis and I, and yet, I ended up saving thousands of lives. I had to admit, mini-merchant was following a similar story, and I was only comfortable thinking that because we were in the land of stories and tales come to life. Otherwise it¡¯d be sheer hubris that¡¯d get us killed.


    I was all too aware that I was practically powerless here. No magic. No system. No skills, social or otherwise. All I had were the rules that Night had imparted and the tools I¡¯d brought. I had faith though - they would be enough.


    I looked over at the super healer-in-training once more, only to see Artemis and Julius standing near her, waving at me. They¡¯d succeeded. They were holding hands, and I¡¯d bet money Artemis¡¯s four leaf clover was between them.


    Honestly I was feeling a bit like chopped liver. I¡¯d done practically nothing. The only thing I could claim credit for was getting Artemis and beanpole together and getting them equipped with some anti-fae protections.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Yeah I see them.¡± I told Auri. Well, at least I¡¯d been as useful as Auri had been. This should end up being great experience for her. [Butterfly Mystic] was all about flitting around, travelling and experiencing new things and new magics, and oh boy did the fae count for that in spades.


    Auri had been roughly level 62 or so before we entered. Just a hair away from unlocking her second class. Every drop of experience I got in [The Dawn Sentinel] and [Butterfly Mystic] would be funnelled to her until she caught up with [Butterfly Mystic]. Then all the experience [The Dawn Sentinel] got would be funnelled to her, while we¡¯d split the [Butterfly Mystic] experience in half. I¡¯d also get half the experience from whatever she was doing. Once she hit level 513, we¡¯d split all of our class experience equally.


    Skills still did their own thing and didn¡¯t share experience.


    It was crazy to think about. One day, Auri burning stuff to the ground would make me a better healer.


    Magic was wild.


    I started to dance out of the circle. The fae seemed to know what I wanted, what I was going for, and it felt like every dance conspired to bring me in, pull me down. I remained polite, playing their game, and I wasn¡¯t sure if it was my religious following of the rules, or simply the nature of the fae, but no overt attempts to waylay me or stop me came to fruition.


    The fae were not some grand monolithic entity. Some played the game, wanting to drag me in. Others didn¡¯t care, for they were after prey of their own, playing their own games. One sent Auri and I spinning up high and out, fouling a competitor from a rival court. A second traded me as a dance partner for a poor werewolf who looked lost and confused.


    I assumed he was a werewolf. Lupine features on a furry elvenoid?


    ¡°Don¡¯t make any deals with them.¡± I quickly told him before he was spun off into his own wild adventure.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri tried to help.


    I mentally wished him luck.


    Eventually, an eternity of crimson-painted footsteps later, I was freed from the dance. Out and about.


    ¡°Elaine!¡± The teen of the hour gestured me over, and I glared daggers at her. What happened to the nicknames!?


    My annoyance softened as I took in her appearance. She looked worn down, haggard. Thinking about it, none of us had slept since we came here, and oh, we¡¯d been here some time. Her left eye was¡­ well, I hesitated to call it an eye anymore. There was a swirling mass of purple mist contained where her eye used to be, but it seemed to track and follow me just the same.


    I took a step and stumbled, almost falling. Julius and Artemis caught me, and I got to look up at their worried faces.


    Julius had something like an 11 o¡¯clock shadow. Not quite a beard, but a few days of scraggly growth. Artemis looked much the same, and wow my feet were killing me.


    I looked down at my feet, only to see a mass of blood where they belonged. The pain hit me in crippling waves, and I screamed at the raw freshness of it.


    I hadn¡¯t felt true, unfiltered pain in almost a decade. Even when my anti-pain skill broke, it still helped. But no, I was mortal now, and I¡¯d almost literally danced my feet off.


    ¡°Brrrpt!?¡± Auri flew around my legs, all concerned and worried. ¡°Brrpt BRRPT!?¡±


    She couldn¡¯t figure out how she hadn¡¯t noticed what was going on.


    ¡°Probably the same reason I didn¡¯t notice dancing my sandals off.¡± I got out through gritted teeth. ¡°Can you cauterise it?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!?!?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt¡­¡±


    ¡°Now, Auri.¡±


    ¡°BRPT!¡±


    With a blast of flame and heat - fascinating that she still controlled fire without the System giving her a hand - a crying Auri bathed my ankles and feet in phoenix-fire.


    I screamed. I cried and I wailed and I sobbed as the fire sealed off my blood vessels, stopping me from bleeding out. I wished for the sweet release of unconsciousness, only to be denied, forced to endure through the pain.


    I curled up and collapsed from the pain, my friends circling around me to protect me. Soothe me. Artemis held me, and I found myself clutching at her tunic.


    Fuck, that hurt.


    Auri immediately flew to my shoulder, awkwardly perched herself on my prone form, and nuzzled my cheek.


    ¡°Brrpt? BRRRPT?¡± She was worried.


    ¡°You did the right thing.¡± I croaked out through the blinding red haze of agony. Despite the pain eating at my mind, I knew this was a critical moment for Auri. The first time she had to hurt anyone to help them. ¡°I¡¯ll be fine as soon as we get back home.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt¡­¡±


    ¡°I promise. You did good.¡±


    ¡°Ready?¡± Artemis asked.


    ¡°Ready.¡± Julius confirmed.


    Hang on, what-


    ¡°Lift!¡± They said at the same time, lifting me up. They manhandled me, such that each of my arms was around one of their necks, my feet dangling in the air.


    ¡°BRRRRPT!¡± Auri whined as she came along for the ride, my smooth armour not giving her a good foothold.


    I hurt too much to complain about how embarrassing the look was, and kiddo had the good grace not to laugh.


    ¡°Well Dawn, it looks like Spring here wasn¡¯t the only one who lost her sole.¡± Artemis cracked one of her usual terrible jokes. I groaned, as much from the physical pain as the psychic.


    ¡°Please no?¡± I begged her, only for Artemis to grin wider.


    ¡°You! A defiler!¡± A fae stormed over. She had a venus fly trap on her head/her cap dripped with fresh blood/her crown was made of writhing black flames, and she looked pissed.


    ¡°Who¡­?¡± I dumbly asked as she stormed over, pain still spiking through my mind.


    ¡°YOU!¡± She poked me in the chest. ¡°You brought Cold Iron into my ring! You spent the night blinding my poor eyes with Arcanite! Then you scurried, like a mouse, into the dark! I found you then, and I¡¯ve found you now, and how may I serve, your majesty?¡±


    I blinked at the sudden change in demeanour, then felt a peck on my forehead.


    I looked up at Auri - and the crown of holly on my head.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Get us out of here.¡± I ordered. I would¡¯ve paled further if I could as I realised my potential mistake.


    ¡°By us, I mean me, Lightning Reaper, Commander, Spring, and my friend on my head.¡± I clarified.


    ¡°As you wish.¡± The fae said with gritted teeth.


    I looked at my apprentice, and realised I couldn¡¯t remember her name. It had slipped away from me. Some fae trickery? Had the angry fairy snatched a memory from me before I¡¯d gotten the crown on?


    Was I missing more memories, and didn¡¯t know it?


    Either way, beanpole was looking at me with pleading eyes, and I gave a subtle shake of my head. The crown of holly was only good while the fae deigned to entertain it. If it could do more?


    Someone would already rule all the fae.


    The merchant quickly crammed as much stuff as she could into her pockets, securing her well-earned, ill-gotten gains.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± I told her. ¡°I seem to have entirely forgotten your name. Some fae trickery, I¡¯m sure.¡±


    She stiffened, then leaned in.


    ¡°Hang on, names are dangerous here.¡± I told her.


    ¡°I know. Let me whisper it.¡± She said, and leaned in, cupping her hands around my ear.


    ¡°Amber.¡± She whispered.


    We were pulled along in the mad fae¡¯s wake, pulled Stormwards along the edge of twilight. Deeper and deeper into an eternal howling gale we were pulled, our ability to communicate was stolen by the wind.


    I hadn¡¯t asked for a safe exit, and the fae¡¯s clever trickery had ensured I couldn¡¯t modify my orders.


    Auri ended up tucking herself into my armour as the rest of us made sure my crown of holly was well-secured upon my head. Our path home, our path out.


    ¡°Here!¡± The fae crossed her arms as branches/branches whipped us in the blistering gale. A ring of mushrooms, untouched by the wind, glistened poisonously in front of us.


    I opened my mouth to reflexively thank her, and closed it.


    Give no thanks.


    Both manners and rudeness seemed to be a trap.


    ¡°Everyone hold tight!¡± I screamed into everyone¡¯s ear.


    We stepped through together, feeling a deep wrench grab us and pull us.


    A second force grabbed at us, stretching us like a noodle. A pair of thunderous voices hammered my ears, echoed in my mind. One was like twinkling chimes in the wind, the other was like the warmth of a meadow in spring.


    ¡°Well, since the two of you asked so nicely.¡±


    It felt like dozens of hands were grabbing us, pulling us in different directions. Trying to rip us apart. We held onto each other, keeping a grip on one another. Making sure we stayed together, that we¡¯d be together. I just knew getting separated here would mean I¡¯d never see them again. We were pulled and stretched along, pieces in some great cosmic tug of war, until we arrived back in an ancient forest. The sun was setting, just as the Dragoneye Moons were rising on the horizon, golden light fighting with crimson on the edge of twilight.


    After a half-heartbeat pause, thousands of notifications started to ping in my ears.


    [*ding!* Welcome to Pallos!]

 Chapter 314 - Minor Interlude - Night - The Relentless Passage of Time

    Control. Competency. Care. The three C¡¯s at the heart of Night.


    One year since Sentinel Dawn went on her mission to retrieve Commander Julius.


    It was the Summer Solstice once again, and one of the oldest beings in creation observed the Sentinels and Commanders marching in perfect formation down the aisle, preparing to kick off this year¡¯s Ranger Convocation.


    He was in a hidden alcove, shaded from the sun. Anyone attempting to kill him at this time, in this place, thinking he was vulnerable due to the proximity of the deadly light would find themselves running into multiple nasty surprises. Like the fact that Night¡¯s alcove was reinforced, and the entirety of the Rangers and a majority of the Sentinels were present.


    The shimagu had been a reminder that the world was not static. That it was ever-shifting, ever evolving. He had gotten his third class, and so had others. Gone were the days when reaching level 200 was an accomplishment, a once in a lifetime achievement. His security was also being updated, the ancient vampire knowing the truth of the world.


    Adapt or die.


    He idly played with a gem in his pocket, the new acquisition not yet having a proper spot on his close-woven garment of protective gems filled with skills.


    He did not put it past Emperor Augustus to make an attempt on his life. The man was far too loving of his power, and like all despots, feared those who could threaten him. Night had ensured that his base of power did not move against the general-turned-emperor when he made his bid for the throne, but that alone was not enough to appease the man.


    There would be a day of reckoning.


    Night did not want there to be a day of reckoning. Humans fighting each other, humans hunting vampires, vampires slaying humans - it would be a disaster. It undid everything Night stood for, believed in, worked towards. Night was a staunch guardian of Remus, yes, but he considered his role to be one further than that. A guardian of humanity. A civil war between all the humans he knew to exist, with new threats on the border?


    Unacceptable. Gracefully withdrawing to the shadows for a decade or two - a century or two, after Sentinel Dawn¡¯s unfortunate meddling - might be the proper decision, as much as it galled him. However, he hadn¡¯t lasted so long by allowing his pride to dictate his actions. He would see.


    Night did not intend to lose to some upstart who had lived for less than a blink of his eye. He tried his best not to be taken unaware, and nearly every single person with enough potential power to be a threat had been gathered under the banner of his Sentinels.


    They would not turn on him. They believed far too strongly in the institution, and Night had ensured that he and the banner of the Sentinels were one and the same in their mind. A slow, careful guidance of the centuries, bearing fruit on this day. It wouldn¡¯t be the first or the last time the countless hours spent working as a Sentinel would pay off.


    That was the more cynical view. On a deeper level, Night was a true believer in the Sentinels. Guardians of humanity, simply one way that his endless debt of gratitude could be repaid. It was impossible to fully pay it off, but Night would try, even if it took him an Immortal¡¯s lifetime.


    ¡°They will announce an initiative they believe to be new today.¡± Night conversationally told Jaclyn. As foolish as the girl could be at times, she was demonstrably more competent than the majority of his other spawn, and as such, was being groomed to take on more responsibilities.


    Misha was also present, although Night was not entirely thrilled with the man. He had shown some early promise, and while his initiatives were solid, if slightly uninspired, the man lacked grace, decorum, manners, and foresight. The best he could reach for was to be a useful pawn, although Night had use for any number of those.


    Naturally, as time passed, the total number of things that Night needed to manage would increase, and a new set of vampires would have to be raised, trained, carefully groomed and managed for the new role he envisioned for them. Some could rise, like Jaclyn. Others would not succeed as greatly as he had hoped, and would become yet another pawn. One day, even the creation and training of such pawns would be out of Night¡¯s hands, although he would be careful to ensure that the vampires never grew too large. Never became a threat large enough for others to band against them. Such was the price of eternity.


    ¡°Which is what?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Healers, attached to Ranger teams. This will be the fourth time it has been tried.¡±


    Such was the reason Misha had been invited to watch. The man had taken a clumsy interest in the healing arts, to see if there was potential to replace their reliance on blood. An interesting enough task to set him on, and one unlikely to cause problems with catastrophic failure.


    Night was unable to manage every aspect of life. Unable to dig into every arena. Vampires like Misha were excellent for that sort of thing, to see if there was something to be discovered, to see how they could adapt to new changes.


    The benefits far outweighed the risks.


    Jacyln tilted her head a fraction. Small enough that most mortals would miss it, a screaming question to Night¡¯s senses. She knew her role in today¡¯s proceedings. Watch. Ask questions. Learn. She was a student, and she would play her part competently.


    ¡°Why do you not simply stop them? It would prevent waste. Lost resources. The war to the north isn¡¯t going well, correct? The healers could be put to better use?¡±


    Night gave Jaclyn an indulgent smile. Misha glowered in the background, but didn¡¯t say anything. He knew Night wouldn¡¯t be nearly so indulgent with him, his too many failures like a permanent albatross around his neck.


    Succeeding with the healing question would catapult him to fame - at least internally - and his star would be on the rise once more. It would take decades of study to learn everything, but he had time. Oh, he had all the time in the world.


    ¡°Once upon a time, I, too, thought the same way. That I knew all the answers. That I could, and should, prevent problems and issues. Direct us away from poor ways of thinking. Then, shields happened.¡±


    Jaclyn was young, as vampires went. She¡¯d been born mortal a century ago. She was aware that Night was ancient, almost literally as old as time itself, and had seen the dawn of civilization.


    Night predating the creation of shields hammered home exactly how old Night was, to refer to them as some great, new invention. Shields had been figured out before agriculture, before the first seeds and ideas of civilization beyond tribes had been planted.


    She remained silent, allowing Night to speak as the Ranger Commanders began their speeches.


    ¡°The first attempt at shields went poorly. Large amounts of premium wood and quality leather were invested in the earliest attempts. It did not help. It simply slowed the warriors down, and the dinosaurs we were battling simply went through the implement. It was a colossal waste of both time, high level people, and precious material. We had none to spare.¡±


    Night gave one of his customary pauses, giving enough time for his protege to learn, understand, absorb, and properly place the information in her mind. Such pauses were critical for good learning.


    There was little purpose to spewing thousands of words at once, if they simply splashed over a listener like water against a rock. Better for a few words to hit the mark, and to miss some measure of nuance, than for no information to be communicated at all.


    Jaclyn gave a tiny nod of understanding.


    ¡°At first I tried to help it along. Point out the failures of previous models. Help iterate and improve, a living, walking archive. It did not help, shields seemed doomed to failure. The second, third, and fourth time went much like the previous attempts. At this point, was it not foolish of me to permit the practice and attempts to continue? After all, each try weakened us. Made us more vulnerable. I saw it as my duty to intervene. Every two decades or so, when all those who had remembered the last attempt had died, and a new generation was finding their feet, the shield idea returned. I changed track. I made it my mission to stamp out such foolishness. In spite of that, people did not always listen. A fifth time. A sixth time. A seventh time. Shields were tried, and failed.¡±


    Jaclyn gave a quick noise of understanding. Night allowed the smallest smile to appear. It was good that she communicated when she understood, not allowing the silence to stretch for the sake of appearance, nor cutting it off too short to simply keep the conversation flowing. Competence, that¡¯s what it was.


    ¡°The eighth time, it worked, and warfare was never the same.¡± Night concluded, letting Jaclyn read as much or as little into that simple sentence as she would.


    Oh, he could lecture for a year and a day on the impact of shields in fights, duels, wars and more. He could describe the earliest skills, the evolution, improvement, and refinement of the tool. An oral history, a first person account.


    What would the purpose be? What point would it serve?


    ¡°What changed?¡± Jaclyn asked.


    ¡°Skills. Techniques. Teamwork. Knowledge. Sheer, blind luck. A critical mass of factors were reached, and the practice came into favor. I could believe a similar confluence of events could make them obsolete once again. It is difficult to say.¡±


    Jaclyn¡¯s eyebrows rose, the sheer concept of warfare fought without shields entirely alien to her.


    ¡°The healers?¡± Jaclyn asked, not quite seeing how it connected. The corner of Night¡¯s lip twitched in displeasure. Jaclyn was acceptably competent, but not as brilliant as others. Elaine, Sentinel Dawn, to cite a recent example, had consistently picked things up quickly, as long as they did not pertain to social engagements.


    Jaclyn, to her credit, did learn the lessons he wanted to teach and rarely made the same mistake twice. That was the important part. Brilliance wasn¡¯t as important. Given the timescale Night worked on, a slow but thoroughly competent individual was preferable to a brilliant but inconsistent body. He needed to be able to rely on those he trusted.


    That, and competent people could be predicted. Predictable people could be controlled.


    ¡°Much like shields, we do not know if sending healers along will work this time, or not. Perhaps it will. Perhaps it will be a waste. Ranger Command has asked for my feedback this time, and I granted it. Pointed out the mistakes and issues of prior iterations. We are blessed to no longer live on the knife¡¯s edge of extinction. A few frivolous wastes here and there are acceptable, for the ones that succeed change the world beyond our reckoning. Healers have a chance at succeeding this time around. Sentinel Dawn has brought a number of changes with her manuscripts. I believe this push is also doomed to fail, though. It is too early for her knowledge to have properly trickled down through society and make significant enough changes that healers will work this time around. However, that is secondary.¡±


    ¡°Secondary?¡±


    ¡°Secondary to the constant reminder that we are not infallible. No matter how much I have seen, I can and have continued to be wrong on matters. It is something you would do well to remember as well. No matter how much you believe you are right, no matter how deep in your bones you know the actions being taken will result in disaster, remember shields. Remember that a madman¡¯s ideas can change the world, and it is better to be on the neutral side, than the incorrect side. Watch ideas come and go. Take note of their failure. Observe what went right, and what went wrong. If you believe an idea is worthy? Remember. We are Immortal. We will outlast every single mortal being in this plaza. We have a duty to use our Immortality to benefit humanity, for they benefit us in return.¡±


    Night had a few more quiet thoughts on why they should help humanity along, but they were not along an axis of thought that Jaclyn or Misha would understand. Those were lessons and ways of thinking for another day, and attempting too many lessons, too much information at once would be like trying to pour into a full cup.


    ¡°I will study this attempt.¡± Misha correctly interpreted this moment as the reason he was brought along. ¡°I will understand how it fails. Why it fails. And I will make sure that next time, it works.¡±


    Night gave him a small nod, while Jaclyn continued thinking.


    ¡°Is that why you let Augustus become Emperor?¡± Jaclyn asked.


    Night snorted.


    ¡°I always knew the man was ambitious. No man without the drive to conquer all he sees could possibly rise to the highest echelons of [General]. At a given point, endless contingencies become futile, a waste of time, money, and effort. The Formorian assault took me by surprise.¡± Night admitted. ¡°Toxic was far more effective than my wildest dreams, and if I spent all my time plotting to remove anyone who could potentially seize upon a specific catastrophic event to gain massive power, we either would get nothing done, or we might as well openly seize the throne ourselves, and declare one of you dictator for life.¡±


    Jaclyn gave a cruel smile at the joke inside Night¡¯s words.


    ¡°Society used to run off of warlords.¡± Night switched track briefly. ¡°I have learned over the years that one who gains power via force of arms is rarely suited toward leadership. The traits and qualities that lend oneself to strength in battle do not translate to leadership in the slightest. However, it would be a lie to say that those with strength of arms do not dictate who the leader is. Augustus took control via the army, but that has always been the cold truth underlying civilization. A close look would reveal that he gained control of the army with tactics and strategies that resemble excellent leadership that does directly translate into good governance. The man alone has more advisors assisting him than the entire old Senate combined.¡±


    Night paused a moment, gathering his own thoughts.


    ¡°I did not believe at the end of the Formorian war that I would be able to properly remove Augustus and his influence in such a way that the army would not dissolve into massive infighting. Yes, I could have killed him, and his fellow conspirators. What then? The army was in clear factions, and the leaders that bound them all together were removed. They¡¯d draw back in fear, regain their own groups. They would see that the potential for a supreme leader was there, and the army has always been rife with petty ambition. The result would have been the bloodiest civil war I could imagine, all while the last traces of the Formorians were still rampaging through our lands. This could have entirely collapsed Remus, then Hunting returned with word of civilizations on the other side of the Formorians. No, permitting Augustus to do what he will was the safest course for all of us. Indeed, time passes; civilizations evolve. Augustus may simply be the first in a long line of new political succession, where instead of selecting those members of society best able to accrue the acclaim and votes of their fellow citizens, it is the one able to rise up through the ranks of the army, and bend their will to his means. Arguably, it is a better test of qualities. Who knows? One day in the future, we may find a better method of selecting our leaders.¡±


    ¡°It feels more like the leaders select themselves.¡± Jaclyn softly commended.


    Night gave a small nod.


    ¡°An issue. But thrusting one who does not wish to lead into a position of power does not automatically make them good or qualified. I tried that once. It was a disaster.¡±


    Jaclyn digested the thoughts as a new Ranger Commander was announced. Night gave a slow, but unhappy, smile.


    The loss of Commander Julius still stung, and he was pleased that Sentinel Bulwark had made the excellent case not to send more Sentinels after Dawn. He would¡¯ve been inclined to, another excellent example of listening to what other competent individuals had to say. That loss stung a second time, a Sentinel right after a more replaceable Commander, and what an interesting Sentinel Dawn was.


    He¡¯d managed to push through a replacement Commander, and the balance of Ranger Command was now back in his hands. Night was a mass of contradictions, both wanting to allow those under him to make their own decisions and mistakes, for when they paid off they paid off well, and needing control over his underlings and organizations.


    He needed control, so he could let them be free. It was part of why Augustus was such an itch in his mind, a thorn in his side.


    If Night needed to, he had enough Senators, power, money, and sway, to force through any changes through the Senate that he believed were absolutely critical to humanity¡¯s survival. He¡¯d only exercised the power three times since managing to secure it some 2,000 years ago, when the first primitive assembly of tribes had each selected a representative to discuss a grand alliance.


    He chuckled acerbically. His complaint was rooted in the fact that someone had the same sort of power he worked hard to get and maintain. The great pendulum swung, and it had swung away from him. He¡¯d seen too many chase after it, only to be destroyed by doing so. No, he would wait. The pendulum would return to him one day.


    It would swing away from him again in the future. Such was life. It wasn¡¯t the first time, it wouldn¡¯t be the last.


    ¡°The tides come, and the tides go. Come. Let us discuss those new proposed plans for cross-sea travel.¡±


    ¡°Are they much different from the last time they got proposed?¡± Jaclyn asked.


    Night barked a bitter laugh.


    ¡°No, and I do not believe they will succeed this time. The design is nearly identical to the last one, and the plant in the deep has only gotten larger. One day it may be of significant concern to us. For now, it is a learning opportunity.¡±


    Night turned and walked away as the festivities started, Jaclyn in his wake.


    Misha remained, taking notes. Making a list of the announced healers that would be joining the Ranger¡¯s patrols.


    10 years to the day of Sentinel Dawn¡¯s disappearance, Night stood in front of the Indomitable Wall, personally carving her name onto the list of the fallen. A single finger of his molded the stone like putty.


    Her family was there, quietly crying.


    Night approved. There weren¡¯t many families who¡¯d still grieve, love, and hold on hope for a member gone for an entire decade. A brief thought flitted through his head, an ancient reminder.


    There was a time when Night used the strength of a family¡¯s bonds with each other to determine who was worthy to turn, and who was not. An idea that a strong sense of family would translate to strong bonds between vampires. That love would conquer all.


    It had been one of his better criteria, but it had inevitably fallen apart. The mortal bonds formed stayed, but were not so easily recreated or formed into the new family of vampires. Additionally, those who felt strongly tended to go their own ways, and when conflict inevitably erupted between the vampires, that round had been extra potent.


    Night was still rebuilding from that implosion. No, Sentinel Dawn¡¯s family had missed their opportunity twice. Once when they were born in the wrong era, and a second time when Dawn had left before accepting his proposed gift, before turning her family personally.


    They were mortal, and they would stay mortal unless one of them managed to grasp time away from the Black Crow//White Dove.


    He finished writing her name down, mentally marking her as the first female Sentinel, the first healing Sentinel. A trailblazer, burning as quickly and as brightly.


    He made a small, subtle mark on the wall near her name. A mark six others had, although all of the rest were Rangers. Dawn was the only Sentinel with the mark.


    It was a reminder to himself that they had vanished under such unusual circumstances that in spite of his policy of treating people missing for 10 years as dead, she might show up again one day.


    One of the others with the mark, after all, had returned after nearly a century. Quite mad, yes, but returned in body, if not in mind. It was worthy of a note. [Archive of the Eons] had a memo placed in it, the skill nearly perfect for the type of organization and recollection Night needed for his millennia of memories. The only downside to the skill was it took time to retrieve memories, a deliberate feature that occasionally hindered him. If the memories were too easy to recall? He would get washed away in recollection, with few willing to disturb him. He¡¯d once spent six years traveling down memory lane on a prior version of the skill, only disturbed when one of his progeny was brave enough to disturb him for a nearby fire.


    He had modified the skill after that incident. Worked tirelessly to evolve it into a more suitable form.


    After an appropriate amount of time with the family ¨C not too short, else one might take offense, nor too long, for Night had better things to do than mingle aimlessly ¨C Night was off to his next appointment.


    A remarkably competent woman, only given a chance through Dawn¡¯s foolishly executed but brilliant idea. A shame her name was now on the wall; he would have liked to pick her brain for more ideas. A reminder that no matter how careful he was, others did not guard their lives in the same way. To carefully seize opportunities when they arose, else their lives flee like the moons turning in the sky. A small mistake, one he would no doubt repeat in the future. The scale he operated on practically demanded it.


    ¡°Guardswoman Athena.¡± He greeted the woman, mentally reminding himself that she was not in the know.


    ¡°Sentinel Night. It¡¯s an honor to meet you.¡± She saluted, staying ramrod straight.


    ¡°The Rangers have constructed a training outpost. However, we are not getting enough use out of it, and it has been decided that we will turn it over to the local guard.¡± Night gave the quick background. Athena slowly nodded, having heard all this.


    ¡°I¡¯m in command, last I heard. Or has that changed?¡±


    Night shook his head.


    ¡°Command is yours, but the outpost contains a secret that you must be informed of.¡±


    Athena groaned.


    ¡°I knew it was too good to be true. Alright. Hit me. Secret weapons facility? Magic testing range? Some bottled plague? A secret Formorian queen¡¯s egg? What manner of horrors am I going to be dealing with?¡±


    Night gave her his discomfiting smile three, designed to look like he was reassuring her while having an undercurrent of discomfort. A careful ploy, to better have Athena listen to him in the future. To increase his control.


    ¡°Nothing quite so serious. The outpost is built on top of a fairy ring. You will notice a portion of the outpost has forest floor still. Do not touch or block it, do not use it for storage or formations. Simply wait to see if people come through; a Sentinel was lost.¡±


    Athena looked like she wanted to spit, but didn¡¯t dare in front of the Sentinel.


    ¡°The fae. That¡¯s going to be a fun one. Going to have those devious buggers running all over the place, driving everyone nuts.¡±


    ¡°I recommend cold iron.¡± Night suggested, knowing full well the guards already had it, and that his suggestion would be taken as law.


    Athena¡¯s eyes widened.


    ¡°Oh! Is that where Dawn vanished? She was my favorite. Whole reason I became a guard. Thought I could become a Ranger, then a Sentinel.¡± She shook her head, remembering her old dream.


    Night smiled, a real one.


    He did so love working with competent individuals. Guardswoman Athena would do just fine.


    A hundred years after Elaine vanished, Night was releasing a raccoon. The animal looked at the shadow that Night was hiding under, and Night bared his fangs at the animal, designed to frighten and terrify. The raccoon recognized when an apex predator had him in his sights.


    The critter fled, and Night followed right behind it, driving it forward, hiding in its shadow.


    The dragoneye moons weren¡¯t out and clouds hid the stars, making it the night to strike. The crackling of lightning over his head, whistling of high speed rocks and metal, jagged spears of brilliance, balls of inferno, and thousands of other skills raining through the sky, a perpetual siege that made true darkness an impossible dream.


    The shimagu had a few types of wards. Those that detected movement, light, sound, or motion? They were trivial for Night to bypass.


    Those that spoke to themselves, and yelled if they could not hear themselves? Those were problematic. A fine Light or Radiance beam, that if interrupted would raise the alarm. Cursedly, branches and leaves did not trigger the wards.


    Small animals did. Night had been softening this portion of the camp up for days. The conditions tonight were not perfect, but they never were. They fell within an acceptable boundary.


    If Night always waited for perfect conditions, nothing would ever get done.


    The raccoon breached three wards that Night could easily avoid, causing a ruckus. It then crossed the problem ward in question, Night quickly stepping through in the brief window it took the raccoon to pass the ward. He then hid in the shadow of a barrel against a tent, all too aware of the nearby sentries, descending on the area to handle the intruder.


    He watched as they found and killed the raccoon. They spent a few moments discussing in their tongue - Night wanted to learn the language of the shimagu, but more pressing matters kept seizing his attention.


    Still, they were people, and like all people, quickly determined that the intruder had been a wild beast, and their job for the moment was done. After all. Night had spent the last few nights carefully training the sentries that wild animals liked this section.


    Night slipped deeper and deeper into the camp. Poison was particularly effective against the shimagu, their lack of healers giving them no easy answer. Fascinatingly, crippling the shimagu hosts was dramatically more effective than outright murdering them. Weakened hosts needed resources. Shimagu in sick hosts weren¡¯t reassigned, and they were sent to the army, where they¡¯d create weak spots. The coalition army didn¡¯t know where they¡¯d be, but the [Generals], [Tacticians], and [Strategists] were all good enough to exploit weaknesses when squads were rapidly overrun during the fighting.


    Happily for Night, groups of soldiers holding their stomach and moaning around a tainted cook pot made for islands of relative safety deep in the shimagu camp, areas that the patrols quickly stepped past and where the inhabitants were in no position to notice the shadows moving around them.


    Night had taken Dark for his third class¡¯s element.


    The patrols got thicker, the torches brighter, and actual standing guards were present around the tent Night was targeting.


    It was almost child¡¯s play to bypass them all. At best, they had a few decades of experience.


    Night had been doing this since literally the dawn of time.


    He slid not into a general¡¯s or leader¡¯s tent, but into a target of opportunity¡¯s. One of the high level cooperative shimagu, one they called ¡°twins¡±. Body and mind working together, six classes in a single body. The shimagu powerhouses, who could take on hundreds of soldiers single-handedly, and expect to win.


    Like Night could.


    The coalition army had their own classers who could keep the twins in check, and it had devolved into a stalemate at the highest levels. The shimagu had a half-dozen twins, and the coalition had fifteen powerful Classers at their tier.


    Night wanted to lambast them all for being cowards. Over level 1000, but the elves wouldn¡¯t take the risks needed to eliminate the shimagu twins. By the same token, the twins weren¡¯t able to go on the offensive. It would leave them ¡®too vulnerable¡¯.


    Night aimed to break that stalemate and rub the elves¡¯ snobbish noses in his success. Going from six to five should be enough to allow some of the Classers to safely go on the offensive against the bulk of the armies present, and that would cause attrition on the lower levels large enough to end the battle favorably.


    He slipped into a tent on the fringe, practically blurring into motion as he was spotted.


    The twin hadn¡¯t gone to bed alone. The companions were silenced, the notification of the low level camp followers silently echoing in Night¡¯s mind.


    He¡¯d killed them all, shimagu and host, in complete silence and stillness.


    It took him no time at all deciding how to kill the twin. He¡¯d had plenty of experience with it. Nearly every creature, great and small, needed to sleep, and of those, virtually every single one was vulnerable to a knife in the dark. It was a great equalizer, one that Night made frequent use of.


    He was glad that he had continued the habit in Remus for centuries, even when his level allowed him to simply overpower anyone he needed to. It had kept his skills sharp and honed, expecting that one day he would be out-leveled and out-classed once again.


    The day had come, and found Night waiting in the shadows, fangs bared.


    Setting it up took but a moment. Blades of blood surrounded his head from every direction, as Night prepared his Roc-claw knives above the twin¡¯s neck.


    Necks were both an excellent and a terrible place to strike when aiming to end one¡¯s life. If Night overpowered his victim, if the target was not a [Mage], they were good for a silent, clean kill.


    Otherwise, they were a poor choice. A powerful Classer with their throat slit had enough time and a bounty of motivation to perform one final strike, using all their mana and skills, to attempt to kill Night. It was simply not worth it.


    However, with the shimagu, it looped back around. Men and women who were competent in their domain claimed that most shimagu resided in the area of the neck where the spine was located. Night¡¯s experience assassinating them agreed.


    Night¡¯s primary attack was aimed at ending the host¡¯s life, but this shimagu was a powerful mage in its own right, one that wouldn¡¯t hesitate to blindly lash out in all directions to slay its friend¡¯s killer.


    Given the level of the twins, Night was aiming to minimize risks, while accomplishing something, unlike the blasted elves.


    Night coated the edge of his blades in Dark, then moved. With a flurry of blending slices, he obliterated the twin¡¯s neck as his hovering spikes of blood simultaneously rammed themselves into the twin¡¯s head from every angle, all while Night also activated a number of his other skills. Blood flew under the savage assault, and Night was quickly rewarded with a pair of notifications.


    [Slain: Ogre - 968]


    [Slain: Shimagu - 968]


    [Level: The Shadow in the Darkness - 88 -> 90]


    [Level: The Bloodline Progenitor - 548 -> 549]


    [Level: The First - 550 -> 551]


    Levels were difficult for vampires to obtain. A release from the tyranny of the Low Experience Zone had helped Night level once again, and worthy, difficult foes of a higher level than he was also contributed.


    Some decades, he didn¡¯t level at all.


    Short, sweet, to the point, Night fled before he could be discovered.


    He was much less circumspect on the way out, taking out targets of opportunity when he saw them. It would cause chaos and panic, and prevent the shimagu from getting a restful sleep.


    After the target he¡¯d eliminated, the battle should be joined in earnest. The elves should be able to move in, and the great shimagu army smashed once and for all.


    Which meant Night had more work to do.


    Crossing over the battlefield was a challenge in and of itself, numerous crippled soldiers from both sides having simply been left where they fell. Some were crawling out. Others had given up, letting the carrion birds feast upon them. Scavengers, foul opportunists were grabbing what they could off the bodies, not particularly caring if a wounded soldier protested that their boots were being looted off of them.


    Night reminded himself to look for the small good, and not simply focus on the larger, greater good he was working towards. He applied a few careful knives where he believed some minor good would be accomplished.


    Then he was back on the grand coalition¡¯s side of things, but he did not return to his section. No, a second killing was needed. A particularly charismatic dwarf had been gathering cities to his banner, and there was talk of making him the King Under the Mountains.


    A powerful, unified nation at Remus¡¯s borders, with an entire army that needed something to do after the defeat of a common enemy? Night had seen that story played out before.


    No, best that they remained numerous city-states, squabbling and arguing.


    He found Sentinel Silence in the prearranged location. Night clasped his shoulder, the Sentinel tilting his head inquisitively.


    ¡°I believe it¡¯s best that I handle this one personally.¡±


    The man flashed a series of hand-signs, asking a question.


    ¡°The offer is appreciated, but no. There is no need for you to take the fall for me if all should go wrong. I believe I will be able to escape, and it is best if you disclaim all knowledge of me. Two of us? Ah, they will know. Perhaps if I fail, you can make a second strike behind me. I trust your judgment. ¡±


    Sentinel Silence nodded, and Night was off.


    It took the better part of the evening to kill the almost-King Under the Mountains, made extra difficult because Night had to do it in a particular way. First, he had to kill them in a manner that was difficult to detect. A pair of long, thin knives driven through the ear canal was Night¡¯s current preferred method. Then, he drained his victim of all their blood, making it look like a Water, Decay, Erosion, or some other similar Classer had gotten their hands on him.


    Nothing like Night¡¯s current style, nor was it one he had used in quite some time. Nearly impossible to trace back to him.


    Popular theory had it as a lethal, hidden shimagu twin. One that struck oddly, without rhyme or reason. Perhaps a peerless illusionist, maybe an infected member of the coalition, who could defeat the anti-infiltration measures put in place.


    Night didn¡¯t bother correcting their misconception. Indeed, he was smart enough to know he wasn¡¯t the smartest person around and took no interest in the subject. Discussed it only with great reluctance. Avoided meetings on the subject.


    After all, what was there to say?


    He was the assassin.


    One thousand years after Sentinel Dawn¡¯s disappearance. The Remus Empire was stagnating. Decaying. Rapid expansion and external enemies had kept the Empire together, but without land to expand into, and no safe enemies to make - there was no fighting the elves, or the demon empire, nor anyone else - the plotting, armies, and machinations of the Empire was starting to turn on itself.


    The lines were drawn. Public sentiment was at an all-time low.


    Night was one of three progenitors, three vampires that had survived from creation until now. As the Remus Empire expanded, slowly annexing and taking over vast portions of the continent, a mixing pot of sorts emerged.


    After all. The dwarves had been loyal citizens for 800 years - 40 of their generations. The centaurs had been the mounted forces of Remus for nearly as long. The dullahans, dragonlings, naga, and a dozen other races had properly integrated into the empire, along with the newest children of the world: the beastkin, coming in as many different flavors as there were creatures of the world. All were welcome under Remus¡¯s proud eagle banner, as her legions marched across the continent on the best roads in the world.


    Humans had not given up their majority gently, but Night had¡­ hastened the process. There was no room for the belief that one race was superior to another, not if Remus was to flourish. Not if humans were to prosper. That sort of thinking was poison, and the swifter it was excised, the better.


    Sadly, humans had not been the only ones with that flavor of thinking. Similar measures had needed to be taken against a myriad of races that had been conquered by Remus, then made into honored citizens through the relentless march of time.


    Night couldn¡¯t claim perfect success, but broadly speaking, he thought he had succeeded.


    One of Night¡¯s fellow progenitors, Crimson, believed that it was time for vampires to reveal themselves. After all, Remus was well represented with a number of races! The announcement would be lost in the furor that the Divine Decrees had caused. They had worked diligently to ensure everyone had been integrated and accepted. What was one more set of creatures under Remus¡¯s banner, one who had been there since the start?


    Night had objected, but the three of them were¡­ equals wasn¡¯t quite the right word. There had been thousands of years since they were created, since they had met each other and walked the planet. They had taken paths so different, pursued so many different avenues that equal wasn¡¯t nearly good enough a word.


    There was mutual respect between them. They belonged to a small, intimate club of those without a mother or father, those who had seen the gods in all their petty mindedness create the world.


    They had ancient agreements with each other. Namely, to stay out of each other¡¯s way, and when that inevitably failed, as it always did, strict rules of engagement. Methods of fighting and warfare to resolve disputes, without annihilating each other in fruitless wars over minor matters.


    Of the three great clans, the third clan, the one not privy to the dispute, would referee the issue. The closest thing to an impartial observer, one who knew that if they were unfair today, it would come back to haunt them when the tables were turned.


    One day the rules would fail, and the results would be catastrophic.


    For now? They worked, and Night lost the dispute. He took it with good grace.


    Night simply fumed quietly, insisting that his vampires remain quiet and hidden. Unobtrusive model citizens of society. Crimson would be a good test case of how things went when they revealed themselves.


    Night didn¡¯t offer to help though. To do so would be an insult.


    Crimson bungled it.


    The details didn¡¯t matter, but the public was out for blood. The irony wasn¡¯t lost on Night, who¡¯d been rapidly identified as a vampire. After all, he was a public enough figure, and it didn¡¯t take long for people to realize he¡¯d been around for thousands of years.


    Which brought Night to the meeting. Him sitting at the head of a long table. Him, and 150 of his closest vampires. A dozen promising individuals - not all of them formerly human - were selected every twenty years, and out of those one rose to the top. Repeat the process long enough, and even after accident, war, and assassination thinned the ranks, their numbers swelled.


    Discussion flew fast and furious, each vampire supernaturally fast to begin with, before the System blessed them all. Night sat listening carefully, sipping a fine vintage of giant. One of the last of the titans, the size of a mountain, it was a rare treat. Most excellent for clarity of the mind, more potent than any potion.


    There were benefits to being an empire.


    The drink helped him focus on the going ons, hearing every argument made. Every discussion, every point. Every pro and con the best and most brilliant minds Night could find and bring under his banner over the millenia could think of.


    He carefully examined their arguments. Their reason, logic, and rhetoric. Letting himself be swayed one way, then another, pulling on his own personal well of knowledge and experience to see how he thought various scenarios would play out.


    Once the conversations started to loop on themselves, Night stood up.


    ¡°Enough discussion. I have a number of questions that I would like debated, discussed, and answered. First. There is the issue of¡­¡±


    Night continued to guide the conversation. Often, in a given scenario, he believed a certain course of events would transpire, while other, intelligent vampires that he trusted, believed a second thing would occur.


    Their knowledge and experience was compared, dissected, and analyzed, allowing them to arrive at a proper conclusion.


    At last, the council arrived at a decision, their patterns and lines of thinking all arriving at the same place. Night, as the head of the clan, the leader, the one who found and brought them all into the fold, was naturally tasked with the decree.


    ¡°We move.¡± He said. ¡°To the border of the Empire. We shall continue to enjoy the benefits of the Empire. We will take responsibility for the branch of the Sentinels that are deployed from that region. The elves are nearby, and if anti-Immortal sentiment rises too much further, we should be able to seek shelter with them. It will be easier to learn from them, and develop ties. The narrow land bridge gives us a defensible choke point if the worst should happen. Prepare yourselves. I wish to leave in two years¡¯ time.¡±


    There was no more arguing. No more debate. There were a few unhappy holdouts, but the majority were onboard.


    Night had issued his decree.


    After the meeting ended, Night stepped out, under the moons.


    The dragoneye moons, and he briefly remembered the sparkling young woman who¡¯d brought him that interesting piece of information.


    He then dismissed her from his mind.


    She was gone.


    Ten thousand years after the Healer¡¯s disappearance.


    The Remus Empire had crumbled thousands of years ago, collapsing under its own weight. A dozen squabbling kingdoms had emerged, each claiming the mantle of succession. Those kingdoms had fought, rose, collapsed, merged, and generally speaking, there were no clear lines of succession. No obvious nation that one could point to and say ¡°They are the shade of Remus.¡± Too many [Kings] had risen, too many [Empresses] had made their mark.


    The Immortal Wars raged, sometimes once in a thousand years, sometimes thrice in a hundred. Each one would unleash huge swaths of devastation across the globe, setting civilization back. Cities would burn and seas would boil, plagues were unleashed and the very earth itself was poisoned for decades. Fungal infestations spread unchecked, once even hijacking the bodies of the dead to further spread itself.


    The scars of the Immortal Wars occasionally remained permanent, like the Vorlers, vicious bioweapons designed to consume, adapt, grow, and spread, all while having amazing vitality and ability to procreate. The Divine Decrees hadn¡¯t stopped them being created, and every being attempted to stamp them out and crush their eggs wherever they were found.


    Night never followed the same plan, tactics, or strategy twice, adapting and evolving to survive. Some wars he sat out the best he could, hunkering down in a fortress so well protected that it wasn¡¯t worth the effort to crack. Other times he went on the offensive. Occasionally, he led his clan on an exodus to the Below Levels, a place less touched by the calamities on the surface.


    At times, calamities came from the Below Levels.


    Now and then, after an Immortal War had passed, an ambitious group of survivors, leveled high by merely participating in the fringe of the war, would raise their banners. They¡¯d storm across the continent, bringing all under their grasp, and raising the next great empire.


    That, too, would either collapse under its own weight, or become collateral damage the next time the Immortals went to war.


    The elves had built an empire themselves at one point, and that particular country shattering had nearly been the end of Night himself.


    It had killed the other two progenitors, leaving Night as the undisputed eldest.


    Leading to the current situation.


    ¡°Midnight! My favorite bloodsucker! Come here, come here!¡± King Straton beckoned Night over.


    With a repressed grimace of distaste, Night approached the fat king. He¡¯d never held a blade in his hand, never governed a city, simply acquired the title through virtue of his great-great-great-grandmother being canny, strong, clever enough to hold a fort in this place when the last great collapse had occurred, then ridden out and conquered a dozen neighbors.


    Warlords.


    ¡°King Straton. What do you need?¡±


    ¡°Need? Everything! The whole world! I¡¯ll rule like the [Emperors] of old, just you wait and see!¡± He waved a drumstick around like it was a wand. Night leaned back in disgust, not wanting any of the fat to land on him.


    ¡°Do you have a more pressing issue?¡±


    ¡°Oh yes, that. First step, we¡¯re going to invade the Tympestshard Council. The elves are a bunch of pansies, they¡¯ll just roll over, and we¡¯ll grab their magic. Press-gang their Classers into making wonders for us. From there, we¡¯re going after those hot foxes next. Have you ever seen one? Like¡­¡± King Straton shaped an hourglass figure in front of him, his eyes glazing over as his wildest imagination took over.


    ¡°This is a decision most unwise.¡± Night calmly stated, although he was seething inside.


    ¡°Bah! You¡¯re almost as bad as the rest of them. Half-fossilized, you¡¯ve lived too long.¡± King Straton dismissively waved at Night.


    Enough was enough. There was no competency here. Night had no control. There was no slow, careful planning.


    Night had seen tens of thousands of rulers in his years. Had seen methods of governance of a dozen types. Knew what worked, and what didn¡¯t work.


    He knew that only death, doom, and disaster would follow in King Straton¡¯s wake, and he¡¯d drag Night¡¯s vampires down with him. His heir wasn¡¯t much better.


    Being a warlord wasn¡¯t a good qualification to lead a nation.


    However, as qualifications went, it was slightly better than inheritance.


    Night thought about it. Gave the actions he was about to commit the consideration they were due, ignoring Straton¡¯s ramblings in the background.


    Night prized competency. Had slowly found, turned, trained, and raised competent men and women throughout the ages to fill critical roles in the bureaucracy. Vampires ran the tax department, the agriculture department, trained the men at arms and reviewed fortifications. All answering to Night himself, usually via one of his proxies.


    He had done it to ensure that things were run competently, that corruption would not seep in and sap efficiency or cause the thousands of issues that occurred when a firm hand was not taken.


    In some senses, he already did run the nation.


    ¡°In the end, I see I must do it myself.¡± Night muttered, and with a quick flick of his wrist, a quick blade of blood relieved King Straton of his head.


    It was going to be an ugly mess. Night¡¯s first thought was on how to properly identify, select, and train a proper ruler to run things. It was an evolution, a new thought. One he would struggle with.


    He needed a ruler to properly and competently run the country, while also being someone who answered to Night, without Night ending up running things in the end.


    Tricky, tricky. It would mean giving up a large measure of control, and the last time he had done it, the Immortal Company had been formed, a thousand vampires running around performing mercenary work, besmirching their good name.


    Yet, just because it had failed in the past, didn¡¯t mean it would fail this time. Sometimes, the only thing for a problem was to keep trying, until one day it succeeded.


    Until then, Night would have to rule. He had done it exactly once before, during the Great Flood - renamed to the First Great Flood after the second one - when the vampires had all needed to hole up in their emergency bunkers for a decade when the land was flooded.


    Ugly business, that.


    Night gave a sharp whistle, and dozens of vampires throughout the palace responded to his call. He waited a moment, manipulating the body off the throne with magic.


    It was tacky, and it would have to go, but for now, it would do.


    When enough vampires were present, Night addressed them. He kept it short and sweet. No more words were needed.


    ¡°Here begins the reign of Emperor Night, First and only of his Name, sovereign of the Exterreri Empire.¡± He declared, sitting on the throne and fashioning himself a laurel wreath of blood.

 The problems with Beneath the Dragoneye Moons

    AKA "Why the huge timeskip?"


    When I sat down to write Beneath the Dragoneye Moons, I had some story beats that I really liked, and others that annoyed me.


    One story beat that drove me up the wall was that stories were never set close to creation, no. There were always endless ¡°Lost empires¡± and ¡°hidden dungeons¡± and ¡°they used to be so much better at magic than we are now.¡±


    Examples of this would be The Stormlight Archives and The Wandering Inn, but nearly every single fantasy series falls victim to this.


    I thought that was dumb as a brand-new reader. I wanted to see what it was like ¡°shortly¡± after creation. Not so shortly that everyone was still in tribes and trying to figure out this ¡°fire¡± thing, but during the first civilization.


    What was it like? Everyone talks about the great old empires, nobody writes what it was like living in the great old empire.


    Hence, Remus, the Rome analog.


    It was all fun and games at first, but even before I started posting, I realized I¡¯d screwed up a bit.


    The reason people didn¡¯t write about the first civilization was a lack of depth.


    The main conflict is people vs nature. I didn¡¯t write about Remus¡¯s neighbors, because they didn¡¯t HAVE any. The only conflicts and issues are internal. There are no hidden dungeons that I can pull up to make a new adventure. There are no ancient archives to raid.


    Everything is new and shiny!


    This lends itself to having a much, MUCH earlier natural ¡°stopping point¡± to the series than I wanted.


    So I plotted. I planned. And I laid down the seeds of my great big ¡°reset¡± button.


    I thought it¡¯d only be, like, 100 chapters tops.


    HA.


    300+ chapters deep, and here we are!


    As I continued working through things as I wrote, I realized I had screwed up a number of other small worldbuilding things. Magics that I didn¡¯t realize my System allowed, but that could and should exist.


    Like shapeshifting. [Form of the Dinosaur] should totally be a known skill, but we¡¯ve seen nobody use it. Potions. Alchemies, tens of thousands of different things.


    Well, I have an excuse. Instead of ¡°Oh hey we rediscovered the lost magic¡± AKA the usual ¡°whoops! Fixed that!¡± that many authors use (there¡¯s no shame in it!), I¡¯m going more with ¡°It wasn¡¯t well fleshed out and developed yet¡±.


    This has also given me the time to properly sort out countries. Cities. Cultures, races, and so many, many more things that give a world its rich feel. Well established organizations, relics and treasures, religion and more!


    I¡¯m also fairly restricted right now. I can¡¯t do glass, or things with glass in Remus. I need to stick to pure Classical Rome things. There aren¡¯t a ton of other cultures out there.


    I¡¯m not super interested in writing endless ¡°Elaine, the only human, deep in elf/dwarf/orc/ogre/centaur territory, occasionally at war with shimagu/others.¡± I¡¯m not sure you¡¯d all be that interested in reading it.


    Another thing is the ¡°global level¡± so to speak. There¡¯s only so many people living, and there¡¯s only so high levels can get. I have an end in mind, but with the current worldbuilding it¡¯d take some massively absurd timeskips to get there.


    ¡°Then Elaine lived happily for the next 900 years to get another 300 levels¡± isn¡¯t exactly gripping storytelling.


    I needed a shakeup. So I prepared.


    As I said, as early as chapter 5ish I started to lay down the groundwork for one day fixing, revamping, and overhauling everything.


    I believe it worked¡­ mostly. I¡¯ll occasionally think of something interesting and go ¡°well shit that changes things¡±, but I¡¯ve had almost two years of thinking at this point. Things are a lot stronger than they used to be.


    Hence, the Great Shakeup.


    Iona was the early introduction to the shakeup and the new world. I have essays to write about her, but those are for another day.


    I worked with a number of early beta readers to try and figure out the best ¡°shape¡± this will take, and broadly speaking, we found an excellent way to make it happen. Many of you have guessed at some of it, but I don¡¯t think anyone guessed the full thing.


    I¡¯ll let you find out soon what it is ;)


    Thank you all for understanding!


    On a different, medium-low spoiler note, I¡¯ve had some people approach me concerned that Iona¡¯s time is ¡°bog standard medieval fantasy with the serial numbers filed off.¡±


    This is a somewhat valid concern, because Rolland IS bog standard medieval fantasy with the serial numbers filed off! However, not all of my countries are. Here¡¯s a breakdown for those concerned:


    Nime: Straddles the line. I¡¯m trying to make it super-authoritarian, but I might get stuck in some ruts. The endless waterfall from nowhere does give it some flavor, along with the forbidden four classers. Bleak. Like 50% serial numbers filed off (SNFO)


    Lithos: Nordic-inspired, with troll Jarls. Like 40% SNFO, but I hope my twists are enough


    Jurcor: 0% SNFO. Lots of lawful devils with¡­ ok, it¡¯s hard to explain in a short sentence or three, and I¡¯ve got a lot of these to run through.


    Draakveld: 0% SNFO. Windmills, demons, WORKING communism, and tulips.


    Xerius: 0% SNFO. Persian Saurians¡­ but they¡¯re all dinosaur-themed saurians.


    Exterreri Empire: 10% SNFO. Roman-inspired vampires that - wait, hang on!


    Ankhelt - 50% SNFO. Ancient Egypt fairly standard fantasy fare with beastkin. Maybe more like 70% SNFO.


    Tympestshard Council: 90% SNFO. High elves, cities of crystal, etc etc.


    Sicalatian Confederacy: 10% SNFO. Italian City-states, which are really more city-TREES filled with clever gnomes.


    Han Empire: 20-80% SNFO, depending on how you see things. Warring States period, with Dullahans and their lava forges doing the warring.


    Geum Kingdom: 20% SNFO. Ancient Korea scholar-warrior minotaurs.


    Tuvan Tribes: 75% SNFO. Tribal yetis.


    The Great Tang: 100% SNFO. Cultivators galore, except the Tang Sect is filled with reasonable people so they survive.


    ¡­. Mostly because I want to poke fun at cultivation novel tropes when I want to.


    Nippon-Koku: 75% SNFO. Japan, with Kitsune Daimyo. Then again, I¡¯m not sure how often I actually see it¡­


    Vollomond: 25% SNFO. Gothic Germany run by werewolves. Still unsure on some details.


    Cartref Clyd: 25% SNFO. Think the Shire, then replace hobbits with fauns that are more than happy to hire mercenaries to do their dirty work.


    Tonaltintli: 0% SNFO. Aztec/Mayan blended Kobolds.


    The Silver Horde: 0% SNFO. Mongolian-inspired centaurs, lots of orchards. (The golden horde, except silver for reasons to be revealed)


    The Golden Courts: 100% SNFO. Classic wood elves. Do I need to say more?


    Khazad: 25% SNFO. We saw these dwarves before!


    Rolland: 100% SNFO. English-French late dark/early medieval castles and knights, court wizards, etc. You know how this all works.


    Urwa: 50% SNFO. 1001 Arabian Nights, elf-style.


    Modu: 10% SNFO. Frost giants in their castles of ice and snow¡­with a minor mix of mad scientists.


    Kalea: 0% SNFO. A polynesian-inspired coalition of various intelligent aquatics. They fight the [REDACTED]


    Ekada Ruh: 0% SNFO. A sort of ¡°second country¡± of changelings trying to live their life, integrated into whatever society they¡¯ve found themselves in. They¡¯re all kin, and recognize it as such.


    Aerie Heights: 0% SNFO. Jagged floating mountains are perfect for harpies.


    Suen: 50% SNFO. Think any trader-city in books, and that¡¯s Suen! Country of coin.


    Dairalt Republic: 25% SNFO. The gnolls we saw before! Nothing tribal can truly get to 0%, but i think ¡°the worlds largest pet store anchors it¡± gives it some flavor.


    Phantasym Mageocracy: 75% SNFO. A country of wizard towers with supporting villages. Yeah, you can see it in your mind¡¯s eye now!


    Bhutai Provinces: 0% SNFO. Think giants that decided to live like a tibetan monk does.


    Omospondia Confederacy: ??? SNFO. Awkwardly. I still need a good culture for them. It¡¯s a monster mash. The ogres, orcs, gorgons, etc. who are generally reviled elsewhere have all grouped together here.


    Penujuman Necrocracy: 0% SNFO Siam-inspired liches raise thousands of undead to labor for them, all while the official state religion is ¡°Pray for more liches to be born.¡±


    Gwyllt: 0% SNFO. BEES OH GOD SO MANY BEEEEEEES AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH


    Ralakar: 0% SNFO. India-inspired culture filled with exceptionally horny Dragonlings. Well, they claim to be related to dragons, but¡­

 Chapter 315 - Minor interlude - Julia - Life goes on

    ¡°Themis!¡± Julia roared through their house. ¡°You¡¯re going to be late! Hurry up!¡±


    Elainus slid up behind Julia, and put his hands on her shoulders. Slowly massaging, he knew exactly the right spot to help bleed some of her tension away.


    Thirty years of marriage tended to do that to a couple.


    ¡°I swear you¡¯ve said that more than anything else in this house.¡± He murmured in his wife¡¯s ear. ¡°Gotten a skill for it yet?¡±


    Julia flicked his leg with her hand.


    ¡°Only been offered it a few times.¡± She half-purred under his grasp. ¡°You¡¯d think he¡¯d be on time for his own wedding at least.¡±


    Elainus snorted.


    ¡°And miss one last chance to rile you up?¡±


    ¡°Last chance? Ha! I¡¯d be so lucky. Only way they¡¯d leave the house is if they moved to another city.¡±


    Elainus kissed her neck in agreement.


    ¡°I put a fresh mango in the bowl. Should last us until the parties have died down.¡±


    Julia turned round, beaming at her husband.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± She said, letting the moment linger.


    ¡°Now! You¡¯ve gotten crumbs on your toga! Brush them off! Come on, we haven¡¯t got all day!¡±


    The ceremony went off without a hitch. Julia cried as they welcomed Helen to the family, and before they knew it, they were all sitting down around the table for the first meal together.


    ¡°Who¡¯s the last spot for?¡± Helen asked, noting five places had been laid out at the table.


    ¡°My sister!¡± Themis proudly told his blushing bride.


    ¡°Oh? You¡¯ve mentioned her a few times, but haven¡¯t told me lots. What¡¯s the big secret? Will I finally get to meet her?¡± Helen leaned forward, curiosity bright in her eyes.


    Everyone looked to Themis, the man of the hour.


    ¡°You know she¡¯s Elaine. She¡¯s also Sentinel Dawn. She¡¯s been on a mission for a few years now.¡± Themis explained, only for Julia to rap his knuckles with her infamous wooden spoon.


    ¡°Ow!¡± Themis knew the routine when Julia smacked him with the spoon. He was to complain. Elainus, his adoptive father, had made that quite clear over the years, and he happily played his part in the charade. Julia menaced him with her spoon.


    ¡°That does not even begin to explain things!¡± She scolded him, when Helen laughed.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good joke, but really. Tell me about your sister.¡±


    The family traded looks. Elainus coughed awkwardly to himself.


    ¡°No, seriously. Our little girl really is better known as Sentinel Dawn.¡±


    ¡°EEeeeeeeeeee! My heroine!¡± Helen squealed, then turned on Themis. ¡°You never told me! Why didn¡¯t you tell me? What¡¯s she like? What¡¯s her favorite color? How did she¡­¡±


    Themis groaned.¡°This is why I hadn¡¯t mentioned her before!¡± He complained with a smile. ¡°I wanted you to be interested in me, not my famous sister.¡±


    Helen laughed. ¡°Well, fair enough. Tonight though, I want to hear all about it.¡±


    Themis sensed the opportunity, and gave her a roguish grin.¡°I had other plans for tonight.¡±


    Elainus held Julia as she cried in front of the Indomitable Wall. Their baby¡¯s name was being written among the names of the fallen, another casualty.


    ¡°She was too young.¡± Julia cried. ¡°It isn¡¯t fair.¡±


    Elainus didn¡¯t trust himself to say anything, just letting the tears flow as he held his wife.


    ¡°I am most sorry for your tragedy.¡± A pale, thin man told Elainus. Elaine¡¯s father wasn¡¯t quite sure who the man was, but he had a deeper shade of red on his [Identify] than anyone else he¡¯d ever known - his daughter included.


    ¡°There is no greater pain than for a parent to bury their child. Take my condolences, for what little they are worth. Elaine was the brightest of us. She exemplified what it meant to be a Ranger, to be a Sentinel, and inspired us all. No Sentinel has ever shone brighter, cared more, nor saved as many lives, and her mark will echo through history. Her name on the wall is a solemn promise. She will not be forgotten.¡±


    This simply made Julia cry harder, burying her face in Elainus¡¯s tunic. The man seemed to know when he wasn¡¯t wanted, and moved over to comfort Themis.


    It was a dark day, overshadowing the joy of their third grandchild being born.


    There was still a fresh mango in the bowl.


    Julia and Elainus grew old and grey together, watching their family multiply and prosper. Maximus had given their descendants free admission to his ever-growing school, for as long as he remained [Schoolmaster], and the unrivaled educational opportunities let all of Themis and Helen¡¯s kids go far in life.


    ¡°Are you sure about this?¡± Themis asked Julia. She patted the elderly [Senator] on the arm.


    ¡°Of course we are.¡± She croaked. ¡°Now, give your mother a hand, one last time.¡±


    Helen hovered nervously as Themis offered his arm, Julia slipping her hand and leaning on him to slowly limp across the house. She made it to her destination, and slowly, trembling with arthritis and age, replaced the mango in the bowl with a fresh one.


    ¡°She¡¯ll make it back.¡± Julia whispered. ¡°I just¡­ don¡¯t think I¡¯ll be here to see it.¡±


    She turned around, and leaning on Themis, was slowly escorted back to her room, filled with her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. There was even a single great-great grandchild, but she was just a young baby. She wouldn¡¯t remember the day, not unless she got a skill later in life.


    Elainus was in their bed, and he turned his head as he heard his wife approach.


    ¡°Is it done?¡± He choked out.


    Julia gave a tired nod, and with Helen¡¯s help, laid down in bed with her husband of decades.


    ¡°Themis. I¡¯m proud of you. I love you.¡± Elainus said. ¡°You have always been my son, and there has been no greater joy in my life than being your father.¡±


    Themis nodded, failing to hold back his tears.


    ¡°I love you, Themis, and your beautiful wife. You two have brought me such happiness.¡± Julia slipped her hands into Elainus¡¯s, as the rest of the farewells were exchanged.


    Finally, the couple looked at each other.


    ¡°I love you.¡±


    ¡°I love you too.¡±


    The two looked to the only member in the room that wasn¡¯t family.


    They didn¡¯t need to say a word. White Dove knew they were ready, and took them. Their incorporeal souls left their bodies, holding hands, back to the young couple they once were.


    ¡°What happened to Elaine?¡± Julia asked. They were free now, outside of mortal bonds. The great reaper might know.


    The bird gave an impossible snort, and tilted her head.


    ¡°Oh. OH!¡± Julia exclaimed.


    ¡°Oh.¡± Elainus agreed.


    They smiled together as White Dove guided them onwards.


    The mango got replaced, a fun little tradition. A reminder of a long-lost sister. A gesture to keep Themis¡¯s parents happy in the afterlife.


    When White Dove took Themis and Helen at the end of a long life, the tradition ended. Nobody living in the household remembered the woman who it was for.


    One day, a mango was placed in the bowl. It was left there, waiting for a mouth that would never come, a brrrpt that would never be sung. It grew old, wrinkly, and moldy.


    It was cleaned up without a second thought, and never replaced.

 Chapter 316 - The Beginning, Once Again

    It was once again entirely clear that I was in a new world. The same world, the old world.


    Pallos.


    I didn¡¯t have time to take everything in. I was in trouble, and as I felt power flood through me once again, I acted. [Bullet Time] wasn¡¯t activating, but my bond with Auri was letting me think faster.


    We had landed at twilight, the full moons creeping over the horizon as the sun set. We were deep in an ancient-looking forest, the shadows stretched long.


    Monstrous spiders surrounded us, resting on their thick webs. Cocooned animals larger than I was were wrapped in their nests for later. They ranged from a poisonous orange smaller than my pinky nail, to gigantic black-grey specimens that looked like they¡¯d eat Julius for a snack. The spiders looked hungry, and I wasn¡¯t going to wait and see what they did.


    We¡¯d appeared in a tiny gap in their webs, somehow not touching a single one.


    Also - why was it always spiders!?


    The first step was to dismiss the notifications as I landed. I needed to strip everything away except for the essentials, and work from there. The notifications weren¡¯t important right now, and were horribly distracting from the situation at hand.


    Speaking of distractions, cool relief washed through me as [Center of the Universe] kicked back in, muting my sense of pain. A quick flick of my eyes glanced at my status, and I saw I had everything back. I hadn¡¯t gotten reset to level 1 or anything stupid like that.


    Second step was to assess the threats. I quickly pulled up a dozen of them with [Long-Range Identify], the skill letting me check entire groups.


    [Sentry Spider - Lv 278]


    [Black Widow - Lv 53]


    [Jumping Spider - Lv 148]


    [Tyrant Tarantula - Lv 764]


    [Brown Recluse- Lv 236]


    [Black Widow - Lv 301]


    [Baby Spider - Lv 5]


    [Spitting Spider - Lv 99]


    [Webspinning Warrior - Lv 262]


    [Unfriendly Neighborhood Spider - Lv 85]


    [Wolf Spider - Lv 210]


    [Spider Seductress - Lv 149]


    I absorbed the information without getting lost in the details, idly wondering why I was getting numbers and not colors from my skill, but now wasn¡¯t time to wonder about that.


    Third step was to assess what tools and people I had.


    Artemis, Julius, and I had all worked and trained together extensively. They were some of the most lethal, combat-capable people I knew. I knew how they worked and fought, and how we¡¯d execute things. I also knew they¡¯d see that I was punching harder than I ever had in a fight and adapt to it.


    Amber was a small liability. I adored my beanpolish apprentice, but there was no sense in wearing blinders. She was worse than dead weight in a fight, she was someone I actively needed to protect. She had a good head on her shoulders though, and I could somewhat trust her to listen to us.


    Auri was a major liability. She thought she was invincible, and would fearlessly attack. No matter how strong we were, I didn¡¯t like her chances if the level 700+ [Tarantula] ate her whole. I¡¯d need to spend effort not only keeping her safe and alive, but also stopping her from diving in.


    Plans flashed through my head, getting analyzed and discarded until I settled on one, right as the first spider started to skitter over to us.


    It was one of the low-leveled spiders, and with my vitality and [Bullet Time], it looked like it was running through thick jelly.


    Unfortunately, my communication was also slow. To tell Auri and Amber anything, I¡¯d need to speak slowly enough that they could understand me, which could give the spiders an eternity to act.


    Relatively speaking. Everyone moving at such different speeds was tricky to manage.


    I threw up [Mantle] all around us in a great dome, trusting that Artemis would know to turn my snap-shield into a full stone dome. I grabbed Auri with one hand, mentally smiling at my Fire immunity, while the other one grabbed Amber and started to unceremoniously shove her face-first into the dirt.


    If the spiders broke through, I needed her out of the way.


    I noted a few tiny spiders inside the dome and blasted them with prejudice, utterly annihilating their tiny bodies with an overeager application of Radiance.


    Normally I¡¯d do a precision shot, but I was shoving Amber onto their remains. Didn¡¯t want there to be a super venom sac or something.


    I finally had enough time to work on myself. I flashed [Dance with the Heavens] through my body, fixing my ruined feet, then immediately set up a connection with Auri and reset my [Persistent Casting] with my healing on her.


    It was obvious that visiting the land of the fae had reset all of my careful [Persisting Castings]. It was going to be a pain to reset them all, if lacking them didn¡¯t prove lethal to somebody in the short term.


    Thick stone walls slammed into existence all around us, Artemis¡¯s Earth walls curving up and over us to form a dome. I flickered [Mantle], changing it from the dome that Artemis used to build her more solid walls, to something like a knee-high wall around us. It¡¯d help against waves of small spiders, while still giving Artemis easy access to the stone walls, so she could expand them.


    Amber ate a faceful of soft moss. The inside of the stone dome was lit by Auri¡¯s soft glow, who was just now starting to protest.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± She cried out. It hurt, but I ignored her, in favor of keeping us all alive.


    ¡°Backs, over Amber.¡± I called as I whirled up, standing over my apprentice. I quickly felt the comforting presence of Artemis¡¯s back against mine, quickly followed by Julius¡¯s reassuring strength as we formed a triangle.


    ¡°Auri, my head, light. No fire. We have limited air.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± She shouted her understanding, and having an Important Mission, would be suitably out of the way.


    I drew my short sword and handed it to Julius.


    ¡°Julius, close. Artemis -¡±


    ¡°Walls.¡± She grunted. It was clear that she meant she was spending all her mana and focus on building, repairing, and expanding the stone dome we were in.


    ¡°I¡¯m firepower.¡± I agreed with her, letting Artemis and Julius know that I was to be the heavy hitter for this engagement.


    I did a quick look around the dome, lighting it up with a soft Radiance glow to compliment Auri¡¯s flames. A few quick beams of Radiance handled the few spiders that were still inside the dome with us, regardless of how harmless they looked.


    I shifted my weight from foot to foot as I stared at the dark walls in front of me, waiting for one of the massive spiders to burst through. With a quick thought, I turned on [Dance with the Heavens] with a terrible image - ¡°heal¡± - and set it with [Persistent Casting] on both myself, and any human that touched me.


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon] was worthless without sunlight or moonlight, and given that we¡¯d entombed ourselves in a dark forest, I didn¡¯t think there¡¯d be that much of a chance of using the skill.


    ¡°Artemis. Arcanite in my armor. Use it.¡± I told her. I was attuned to the Arcanite - it had been issued to me, after all - but that didn¡¯t mean Artemis couldn¡¯t use it. It was harder for her to use and she needed to be in direct contact, but it was usable.


    Speaking of, those walls had gone up fast. Much faster than I thought Artemis could bring them up.


    ¡°Completely out.¡± Artemis declared after a dozen seconds, and I felt her back shift slightly as her arm came down. We continued our watch, and I was able to slowly process everything that was going on, see and figure out the world around me.


    Slowly, because I was on edge. Every part of me screamed to be ready. Be ready to move. Run. Roll. Blast. Heal. Analyze. Adjust. Adapt.


    Overcome.


    I was a tightly wound spring with enough power at my fingertips to kill most people, most monsters, with a thought.


    Sight was practically useless. All I could do was stare at a blank wall. At the same time, it was like my vision expanded as I slowly panned my head back and forth, looking for any little crumbling of stone that indicated one of the spiders slowly tunneling through. Ready for the explosion of noise as the massive [Tyrant Tarantula] crushed the walls, letting a flood of its smaller kin in to kill us and feast on our flesh. Shadows flickered against the wall, Auri¡¯s flames casting gigantic, inconsistent shadows, shifting as I turned my head to keep checking on my parts of the wall.


    Useless, and the most important at the same time. A paradox, in a sense.


    Sound was next, the most horrifying. Our intrusion - specifically, the stone dome Artemis conjured up, if not our actual presence - hadn¡¯t gone unnoticed, and Artemis¡¯s stone was magically uniform and solid. Perfect for hearing the skittering feet of dozens of spiders with hundreds of legs exploring all over this new object in their midsts. Heavier thuds echoed through as some of the larger, more gigantic spiders walked over our new home. Worse were the noises I couldn¡¯t identify. Screeching, scratching, chewing, clawing, the sound of rocks breaking and falling, crashing.


    Screaming. From elvenoid throats or monster, I couldn¡¯t tell.


    The deep, earthy smell of the woods came to me next, the smell of rich loam and decay. All perfectly natural and somewhat reassuring.


    I hadn¡¯t felt the sickening sensation of the Dead Zone coming back.


    The air felt humid and warm, making me think it was still summer. Hopefully it was summer, and we¡¯d just been thrown to a nasty forest. I wasn¡¯t looking forward to ¡®Operation: Where the hell is Remus?¡¯ again - especially with Amber slowing us down - but I had high hopes for the rest. Especially after the Sentinel debrief where everyone plotted out all the best ways to find Remus when dropped in a random place on the map!


    Six months, tops, to make it back home.


    We waited, tension steadily increasing. Even then, no matter how tense and dangerous the situation, there was only so much staring at a blank wall I could do.


    However, I needed to do it, so I did. After an interminably long time, we broke in unison, and turned to face each other.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take first shift.¡± Julius offered, and I nodded in approval. Artemis reached her hand out, and without looking, Julius took it.


    After all, they¡¯d just been spiders. There might be a malevolent intelligence behind them, but we¡¯d shown up and vanished so quickly that the big, important, dangerous spiders might not have noticed us or cared, and were simply expanding their webs and territory to the nice new rock in the middle of the forest. Who casually broke boulders just because they could, especially when there was no pressing reason to?


    For the moment, I thought we were safe. Sure, we were on a dozen timers - the lack of breathable air being the biggest one, water being a close second - but the immediate threat was done.


    ¡°Guys. You have to look at the notifications.¡± Amber¡¯s voice was a whisper of horror.


    ¡°Brrrrrpt!!¡± Auri was shocked.


    Well, they had waited until we¡¯d determined we were somewhat safe. Might as well see what all the fuss was about. I opened my notifications, and was initially confused. What was going on¡­?


    I realized what the notifications meant. Not just the words, but the implications. The blood drain from my face. My knees got weak, and I fell down onto my butt.


    ¡°No¡­¡± I whispered, trying to deny the truth in front of me.


    ¡°NO!¡±

 Chapter 317 - The Dingpocalypse

    I stared at the notifications, reading them, not processing the individual words but the implications. The meanings.


    A few of them jumped out at me, the absurd cheerfulness of Genie - who I had to imagine was a genuine, real, three-wishes type - contrasting with the utter horror of the combined meanings.


    [*whoop whoop!* Allow me to introduce myself! My name is Genie! Couple of you folks have found me over the years, but here¡¯s a wish that¡¯s going to get all of you interested! This historian-ecologist, Hwinthel, wants to know whenever a species is wiped out!]


    ¡­


    [*ding!* The shimagu have gone extinct.]


    ¡­


    [*whoop whoop!* You¡¯re in the mix with DJ Genie tonight! Wang Zhao has got something to mix it all up and bring the house DOWN! You¡¯ve heard of basic elements. Yoooooooou¡¯ve heard of advanced elements. WELL! Let me be the first to introduce you toooooooooooooooooo - THE TIER THREE ELEMENTS! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, crabs and crustaceans of all ages, we are here! Combine any two advanced elements together to create one of the six hundred and sixty six tier three elements! Hope you still have a class up or two left!]


    ¡­


    [*ding!* It has been 10,000 years since Creation]


    ¡­


    [*whoop whoop!* Keepin¡¯ it locked and loaded, we¡¯re back with everyone¡¯s favorite wish-granter, GEEEEEEEEEEENIE! Those pesky tier three elements were too much for this anonymous wish asker, and they¡¯re GONE! Done! I¡¯d say they¡¯ve gone the way of the dino, but you lot still have those around! Great job! Keep them alive. You¡¯ll know why when the moment comes.]


    ¡­


    [*ding!* Dodos have gone extinct.]


    ¡­


    [*whoop whoop!* Eeeeeeeeeeeey y¡¯all, it¡¯s ya boy Genie! This little Felix here wants all [Shepherds] to be able to find their sheep! Well, never fear little bo peep, now you¡¯ll always know where to find em! Mutton¡¯s back on the menu!]


    [*whoop whoop!* You all won¡¯t believe who it is! GEEEEEEEEENIE IS BACK IN THE HOUSE. Honestly, I never left, this kid Felix is a riot. He¡¯s got a second wish y¡¯all should know about! Identify and Analyze and shit to stop being in COLOR! Dunno why, but I¡¯m the genie, and his wish is myyyyyyyyyyy COMMAND! Status-checking skills now return numbers, not colors! Colorblind rejoice! Let¡¯s see if Felix gets a grand three for three global messages, or if he¡¯s going to ask one for himself!]


    [*ding!* Due to the great efforts of [Mage] Felix, you get a +1 bonus to all stats! You also get a passive 2% increase to all experience gain!]


    [*ding!* Due to the great efforts of [Knight] Chloe, you get a +1 bonus to all stats! You also get a passive 2% increase to all experience gain!]


    ¡­


    [*ding!* Allerian Highlander Wasps have gone extinct.]


    ¡­


    [*ding!* Steller''s Sea Cow have gone extinct.]


    ¡­


    [*whoop whoop!* GOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING PALLOS! Genie here with some more announcements! Have I got a doozy for you all today! Ready? You think you are but I bet ya ain¡¯t. This little elf Helediron here¡¯s a bit of a prick. He wants all monsters to gain experience faster, and level up quicker! Pssst. I got a secret for you. He didn¡¯t specify what a monster is.]


    ¡­


    [*whoop whoop!* Whoa, you won¡¯t believe this one! Thraximundar the Terrible has wished for true, genuine, Immortality. Nothing can kill him! Nothing can stop him! I can¡¯t wait to see what he does! Good luck everyone!]


    ¡­


    [*ding!* Labrador Ducks have gone extinct.]


    ¡­


    [*whoop whoop!* You should all know who this is by now! Or not, some of you can barely survive 3,000 years without bumping yourselves off. Geeenieeeeee is BACK baby! With a wish from Gertrude The Grumpy for an ever-flowing waterfall! We¡¯ll just stick it right here. Dunno what you¡¯re going to do with all that water, but hey! I don¡¯t make the wishes, I only fulfill them!]


    ¡­


    [*whoop whoop!* Humans lose System access. Someone sure doesn''t like them very much! Good luck figuring out who, they asked me not to say!]


    [*whoop whoop!* Humans regain System access ¨C That was fast! Goats, take note! This is how it¡¯s done. None of that lazing around for¡­ ah, I forgot how many years it took.]


    ¡­


    [*whoop whoop!* The Erosion element is now Fossil! Dunno why Sentos wanted the switch, but hey! Who am I to object? His wish, my command! You¡¯re all going to want to do some serious updating. A few of your skills got shuffled around.]


    ¡­


    [*whoop whoop!* Damn did y¡¯all get every lawyer around to make this wish!? Longest, most complicated wish I¡¯ve ever seen, ya feel me? Just thinking about it makes my head hurt! There¡¯s now a hole at the bottom of the ocean. Where does it go? Jump in and find out!]


    ¡­


    [*ding!* Great Auks have gone extinct.]


    ¡­


    [*whoop whoop!* Genie is back! Hug yo kids! Kiss yo wife! Hope you¡¯ve lived a long and fulfilling life because Bob has wished for the world to end! Man, if I was that depressed I¡¯d ask to be happy, not take everyone down with me! End of the world in 3¡­2¡­1¡­ and poof! Welcome to the world of tomorrow! New world, looks a lot like the old world! Because times marched on, the old world is dead, the new world is now! Welcome to Pallos, everyone! Hope none of you did anything too rash¡­]


    ¡­


    [*whoop whoop!* Genie is here to drop some sick beats that sound like this! Coral, smoral, shit¡¯s boring! And not like making a tunnel! Some of you peeps may remember good ol¡¯ Slag, and now we¡¯re back for round two! Thanks to my buddy Goshman here, Coral is now Magic Wood, and you have no idea how badly it hurts me inside that it¡¯s called Magic Wood. There is a serious imagination deficit going on here, and be careful with the element first thing in the morning!]


    ¡­


    [*ding!* Dong, the [Witch] is dead!]


    ¡­


    [*whoop whoop!* Genie here, and y¡¯all should listen up! We¡¯ve got an interesting wish today! Tang San here wants a challenge. You all see that arrow? Yeah, that¡¯s pointing to a grand arena! There¡¯ll be a tournament in a year, and the winner? Well, you can¡¯t wish for more wishes, but you can wish for someone else to get your remaining wishes. May the most clever win!]


    ¡­


    [*whoop whoop!* Somebody decided to fix the terrible names! Magic Metal is now Crucible, and Magic Wood is now Sylvan! Rejoice! I let Lancelot get a two for one on this one, because WOW looking at those elements was hurting me deep inside! Not as much as seeing y¡¯all chow down on mutton, but it was a close second.]


    ¡­


    [*ding!* Congratulations! Thanwa Temirak is the first person to leave the grasp of the sun!]


    ¡­


    [*whoop whoop!* Valesteria has politely requested that void mages stop blowing themselves up! Annnnd done! Not sure why she asked for that; they don¡¯t self detonate in the first place, it¡¯s actually because of - whoa I¡¯m learning some new swears, Genie out!]


    ¡­


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Cosmic Presence] has leveled up! 300 -> 315]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Celestial Affinity] has leveled up! 474 -> 480]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Center of the Universe] has leveled up! 450 -> 451]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Mantle of the Stars] has leveled up! 469 -> 470]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Sunrise] has leveled up! 347 -> 411]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] has leveled up! 376 -> 513]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Pristine Memories] has leveled up! 221 -> 278]


    [*ding!* Would you like to upgrade [Pristine Memories] to [Immortal Recollections]?]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri] has leveled up! 44 -> 128]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Long-Range Identify] has leveled up! 375 -> 376]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Passionate Learning] has leveled up! 380 -> 381]


    I stared stunned at the notifications, wanting to deny it. Wanting to blast it with Radiance and destroy whatever cruel trick some illusionist was playing on me.


    Amber was babbling, and Auri was brrpting in the background. Artemis had gone cold and steely-eyed, but I continued to focus on myself, internally.


    I wanted to cry, to scream, to kick my feet and flail my fists in denial of what I was seeing. Tears threatened to pour out of my eyes, then I heard the sound of a large spider¡¯s leg landing on our dome.


    I shut down my emotions. Bottled them up, tossed them in a chest, locked it, and threw away the key. I¡¯d suffer in the future for this. It wasn¡¯t healthy, but it¡¯s what I needed to do here and now to stay alive and operational.


    If I had a meltdown, everyone could die. I had duties. Responsibilities.


    Cold analysis, go.


    We¡¯d messed with the fae, and they¡¯d messed back. It had been somewhat expected, but the sheer quantity of notifications, no, the mere existence of global notifications, indicated a lot more time had passed than we¡¯d thought could pass in our wildest dreams.


    10,000 years since creation. I¡¯d left in 4801, and while the year wasn¡¯t quite aligned with creation - Night had said it had taken a few decades for things to settle enough to start getting the idea of timekeeping, and that was just humans, let alone how everyone else kept time - it implied that we¡¯d been gone at least 5,000 years.


    And that notification was near the start. There had only been one grand feat for humans in the first 10,000 years, and there were two more notifications about that after. Given that the name ¡°Felix¡± appeared in the Genie¡¯s notification twice, and immediately after the Genie¡¯s announcement he¡¯d appeared getting a grand feat along with a second human, I could guess that his last wish was related to that. Sure, it was possible that Chloe had independently achieved a grand feat¡­ but I wasn¡¯t going to put my money on it.


    I checked my status, and saw that it said I was 22. I¡¯d left a few weeks after turning 21, so at best I¡¯d spent a little under a year in the land of the fae, and at worst I¡¯d spent almost three. Interesting that it didn¡¯t give me the years since birth - It¡¯d be nice to know exactly how many years had passed.


    Given the large, wide-scale changes I saw Genie making, one plan - Plan G at best - was going to be: find the Genie, wish to be brought back to my home. In the correct timeframe. I¡¯d need to work hard on phrasing that wish¡­


    Assuming we weren¡¯t trapped in some horrific fae illusion meant to make us question our sanity. I still had the four leaf clover on me, and it was better to accept the reality in front of me now, and be pleasantly surprised if it was all a lie, than to bury my head in the sand and insist nothing was happening.


    For now, I would assume reality was as it appeared to be. I¡¯d do a check with Radiance later, to see if there were illusions around me. Needed all my mana for now just in case we got into a fight.


    By the same token, I was going to assume that Genie was as powerful as he claimed to be. I¡¯d need to be clever and specific about making a wish, but I latched onto the small shimmer of hope of getting back home like a drowning woman would grab a floating door.


    Ok. Not all hope was lost. I had no idea how viable the plan was, but simply having a plan was enough to alleviate much of my panic.


    Things had changed. Some elements had gotten shuffled around, a few renamed. None of them touched my elements, so I didn¡¯t care right now.


    [Oath] was next on my list. The skill was famously hard to level, and I¡¯d capped it? It took me a moment to figure out why. Marcus¡¯s apprentice, once upon a time, had taken the same [Oath] I had made, and I''d gotten a notification.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! A skill you created has been passed along to others! A tiny amount of experience that other people gain with the skill will go to you as well.]


    Well, either being resolved to keep healing after all this time was great experience, or my [Oath] had gotten big, and I was reaping the rewards. Given that nothing else of mine had leveled up anywhere near that much? My guess was on the second one.


    Ok, great. People were still around. People still lived. We weren¡¯t in a perpetual never-ending wilderness. Most likely.


    I looked around my notifications and stats and spotted another promising item.


    [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority] hadn¡¯t changed. Hadn¡¯t evolved. It wasn¡¯t [The Last Sentinel], [Retired Sentinel], [Former Sentinel], or anything of the like. It hadn¡¯t vanished, the same way [Ranger¡¯s Lore] had poofed when I was being promoted. It was an organizational skill, which implied¡­


    ¡°The Sentinels still exist.¡± I announced, cutting through the chatter. Amber and Artemis looked at me, while Julius maintained discipline, staying on watch. I swear his ear twitched to better hear me.


    ¡°Explain.¡± Artemis demanded.


    ¡°I still have [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority], unchanged.¡± I told her. She chewed her lip for a moment. I handed her one of my jugs of mango juice, and she shot me a grateful look before uncorking it and downing the entire thing.


    Maging was hungry work, especially with the amount she¡¯d just blown.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri didn¡¯t begrudge Artemis getting a drink, but she did protest the fact that Artemis was draining the ENTIRE THING.


    She put it down, and I briefly debated leaving it behind, before reattaching it to my backpack.


    ¡°[Ranger¡¯s Lore] had turned into [Retired Ranger] when I stepped down.¡± She admitted. ¡°Also, my [Wandering Mage] class just got a ton of levels. I¡¯m practically a senior Sentinel!¡±


    I took a look with [Long-Range Identify].


    [Mage - 455].


    Yikes, she hadn¡¯t been kidding!


    ¡°My command skills morphed.¡± Julius helpfully added in, never dropping his guard.


    ¡°I only have class ups ready.¡± Amber grumbled. Artemis punched her in the arm.


    ¡°Well, what are you waiting for? Let¡¯s get a speedy class up going!¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s make a plan first.¡± I objected. ¡°Amber, sorry, but there¡¯s a slim chance our ability to get out of here alive will rely on you taking a specific class.¡±


    She muttered darkly under her breath at that, then brightened up.


    ¡°Ok! You just tell me what to do! I got some goodies that practically replace my merchant class anyways.¡±


    Good kid. Hang on, I needed to ask about those goodies.


    ¡°Brrpt! BRRRPT!¡± Auri didn¡¯t want to be outdone. She let me know that SHE had her class up available, and was ready and willing to do whatever needed to be done!


    ¡°Brrrrpt!¡±


    Two classes. Her first upgrading, and her second unlocking. I gave her a Look.


    ¡°You¡¯re crazy lucky my ¡®wandering around looking at cool magic¡¯ class gave you all that experience.¡±


    ¡°Brrrrpt.¡±


    Vain bird. She thought her leveling rate was totally natural.


    ¡°The situation is as follows.¡± Artemis took charge. ¡°We¡¯re in an unknown location, hiding in a rock dome from monsters. We need to stay alive, get out, find people, then find home. Agreed?¡±


    ¡°Find people, then figure out what we¡¯re doing.¡± Julius objected. ¡°I don¡¯t think any of us have a home anymore.¡±


    Artemis grabbed Julius¡¯s leg, and he stopped. They looked at each other.


    ¡°Hey. Speedy. Home is where you are, ok?¡± Artemis¡¯s voice was dead serious. Julius cracked a smile at her.


    ¡°Bad time, bad place, marry me, ok?¡±


    Artemis snorted.


    ¡°Of course I¡¯m marrying you, and I¡¯m never. EVER. Going to let you live this proposal down.¡±


    I coughed loudly. Really? Now? Here? This was not the time or place. I also prayed to the gods that ¡°Speedy¡± referred to him being a speedster, and not something else.


    ¡°BRRPT BRRRPT BRRRRRRRRRRRPT!¡± Auri was super excited over the engagement, and I just wanted to hold my face in my hands.


    Instead, I clapped, bringing the attention back to me.


    ¡°Congratulations. Julius, I¡¯m going to eternally tease you. Amber. You said you had interesting things?¡±


    She nodded, eager to be the center of attention.


    ¡°Yes! I traded like the gods themselves had empowered me with the fae. Formed a typical merchant¡¯s pyramid. Complicated stuff. See, first I-¡±


    I gave her a Look, motioning with my hand to get on with it, and that the exact details could wait for another day.


    ¡°Ok, long, LONG story short. My eye,¡± Amber pointed to her swirling, purple eye. ¡°Can see value. I have to always tell the truth, but at the same time, I can tell if someone¡¯s blatantly lying to me. And I got a lucky coin, although I have no idea how lucky it is.¡±


    I thought about Amber¡¯s face having neatly landed on the mossy section of the forest floor, and had to concede that she might have something there.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to be blunt here.¡± Julius said. ¡°None of that sounds particularly useful here and now. Value means nothing. We¡¯re working together, truth is an assumed default. And we can¡¯t rely on luck.¡±


    Amber frowned, but I agreed with Julius.


    ¡°Relying on luck gets Rangers killed.¡± I told her. ¡°What did you have to pay for that?¡±


    Amber looked uncomfortable.


    ¡°Spit it out. There¡¯s no room to be shy in here.¡± Artemis¡¯s words were harsh, but true.


    ¡°My eye.¡± Amber admitted. ¡°Part of my ability to walk with my right leg. And my name.¡±


    I sucked in air through my teeth on the last one. No wonder I hadn¡¯t been able to remember Amber¡¯s name.


    Wait.


    Had it always been Amber?


    I thought about it, straining hard. Recalling memories, but feeling them be ¡°fuzzed¡±.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Pristine Memories] has leveled up! 278-> 279]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Pristine Memories] has leveled up! 279-> 280]


    ¡­


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Pristine Memories] has leveled up! 299-> 300]


    AHHA! I got it! Her name had been Autumn!


    [*ding!* Would you like to upgrade [Pristine Memories] to [Fae Remembrance]?]


    ¡°Your name was Amber.¡± I said, my mouth twisting the words as I tried to say them.


    More fairy nonsense.


    I got some weird looks at that, letting them slide off of me like water off a duck¡¯s back. My emotions were still locked away.


    I¡¯d fought them and won on the memory issue, but clearly even speaking the name was off-limits, and clearly I was somewhat affected by my short stay. If the worst of it was I couldn¡¯t say Amber¡¯s old name? That I¡¯d gotten 22 levels in a hard to level skill as a result? Sure, I¡¯d take it.


    Speaking of, I accepted the upgrade to [Immortal Recollections]. I didn¡¯t want to remember everything that had happened in the land of the fae, and the upgrade seemed solid.


    Immortal Recollections: You have made it far past the date of your birth, seeing years that only an Immortal could. Have the perfect memory for such a lifespan, able to recall whatever you need, whenever you need it. Able to organize memories, shade poor ones and highlight important moments. Able to archive memories. -8 mana regeneration.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got shelter.¡± Artemis brought us back on topic. ¡°We¡¯ve got a few days'' supply of food. Air¡¯s our biggest problem right now. I don¡¯t see any solution besides making small holes in the dome.¡±


    I chewed over the idea.


    ¡°Agreed. I can¡¯t think of any alternative, and Auri, I love you, but I have no idea if your body of flames is making us burn air at a high rate.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt! BRPT BRPT!¡± Auri assured me that, yes, she remembered the indoor burning rules, and that things would be perfect if she wanted to hurt us.


    Lovely. Inarguably true.


    ¡°One big hole. Bigger spiders can come through. Lots of small holes. More openings to check, and I think we¡¯d need more of them to make it work.¡± I said.


    ¡°The openings to check are less relevant if we cluster them together.¡± Artemis pointed out.


    ¡°While making a larger area of the dome vulnerable to a hit.¡± I countered.


    ¡°If something¡¯s coming through, it¡¯s coming through anyways.¡± Julius reasonably observed. ¡°A small, high level poisonous spider sneaking in is our largest reasonable concern that we can afford to mitigate.¡±


    I nodded my agreement. ¡°I¡¯m going to make myself a healing beacon. Anyone touching me will get a full-blast of healing, so even if a spider sneaks in, we¡¯ve got some protection. Should sleep touching me, just to be safe.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s do that then. Artemis?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll get on it as soon as - oh yeah, my mana regen¡¯s insane now.¡±


    I smiled, remembering the ¡°holy WHAT¡± of my stats all jumping. At the same time, I remembered Artemis¡¯s build. Her idea of insane mana regeneration wasn¡¯t my idea of insane mana regeneration¡­ although she likely had more power than I did.


    ¡°For the spiders. I saw one [Tyrant Tarantula] over level 700. Did anyone else pick up anything strong?¡±


    ¡°You WHAT?!¡± Amber shrieked. I gave her a look.


    ¡°Why did you think I went with holing up instead of burning them all?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri approved of burning them all.


    Amber muttered to herself.


    ¡°Pair of small nasty 400ish [Black Widows]¡± Artemis admitted.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t see anything worth concerning ourselves over, except the sheer quantity.¡± Julius added in.


    ¡°BRRPT!¡± Auri had seen a ton of flying hazards, although she was sure they were flammable.


    ¡°Dirt.¡± Amber added in, entirely unhelpful. Artemis did me a favor and gave her a stink-eye.


    ¡°Right. Placate, Kill, Drive off, or Tolerate?¡± I asked, feeling a small thrill run through me. It¡¯d been a lifetime ago I was sitting with Artemis, Julius, and the rest in Virinum, having the exact same discussion about the nothosaurus. Now we were back, with a slightly different group, sitting in our secure area figuring out how to best handle the monster.


    ¡°Can we even kill that thing?¡± Amber asked. I hesitated a moment, thinking about it.


    ¡°If I was alone, and I had to, and it didn¡¯t have some particularly tricky or nasty skills, I might be able to.¡± I said. Flying while dropping [Kaleidoscope], shielding against skills and healing anything that hit me was a stupid good combination. Which is why I had it. ¡°All the webs around here make me concerned, and we¡¯re not only in their home territory, but it''s got friends. Also, you¡¯d all be in range of their rampage. It might follow me. It might run away. It might have an Earth element and fling the nearest stone at me. We don¡¯t have enough intel.¡± I concluded.


    ¡°Driving off won¡¯t work. We¡¯re in their home.¡± Artemis said. ¡°They¡¯ll defend this place to the death before running away.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to placate. They¡¯re not mad at us, or attacking us.¡± Julius said.


    ¡°Calling in a Sentinel isn¡¯t an option.¡± Amber¡¯s cheeky contribution to the discussion was technically valid, and I let it slide.


    ¡°We¡¯re in agreement then. Tolerate them?¡± I asked, seeing slow nods.


    ¡°Brrrrrrpt¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, that means no burning down their webs.¡± I told Auri.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ¡°Not even a little.¡±


    ¡°Holes for air, and we¡¯re tolerating the spiders.¡± Julius said. ¡°I¡¯ve got some ideas for what we can do next. Elaine, Artemis?¡±


    I thought about our situation and what resources we had.


    I hated to say it, but Amber and Auri weren¡¯t going to be super useful. I could still probably find something for them to do ¨C they¡¯d need something to do, or else they¡¯d become bored and cause trouble ¨C but I didn¡¯t see any of their skills making or breaking our situation. I kept them in mind for grabbing a critical class if we needed them to. For example, an air-generating and purifying class if we determined that we needed to stay entirely encased in stone, for whatever reason.


    Julius was in the middle. Excessively competent, well trained, seasoned, and with massive amounts of experience, his skills were around being a speedster, leadership, and command. Spiders were almost one of the worst land creatures he could be paired against, their nets causing him issue, and we were too small of a group for his leadership and command skills to truly shine.


    Still. His advice was good, and he could be trusted and relied on.


    That left Artemis and I. Anything short of a killing blow I could heal anyone from, and I had powerful mobility, and a dozen utility gems. Artemis was lethality incarnate, Lightning and Earth.


    We wanted to tolerate the monsters though, and pointing and blasting wasn¡¯t the answer.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to suggest what¡¯s usually a cardinal sin.¡± I said, putting together what resources we had. ¡°Except I¡¯ve been explicitly trained for it. Artemis should let me out, I fly around, and see what things look like. A river if there¡¯s one, civilization, a village, a town or city would be ideal. If they¡¯re close enough, I might be able to ferry everyone out, one at a time. Artemis last, to keep things secure.¡±


    ¡°BRRPT!¡± Auri wanted to come.


    Julius was shaking his head.


    ¡°Sentinel. With all due respect, we¡¯re in a team. Don¡¯t split the team. If you get shot down, trapped, lost, anything, the rest of us are likely dead.¡±


    Artemis punched his arm for that, and they traded a look.


    ¡°The biggest concern is honestly you finding us again.¡± Julius reiterated. ¡°A rod says the spiders have entirely covered us, using the rock as an anchor for their webs. How are you going to find one specific spider-covered rock in a forest?¡±


    He had a good point. My wilderness survival was good. My wilderness tracking?


    Literally finding one rock in a forest of unknown size?


    ¡°Artemis can always make a tall stone pillar, and that should be plenty visible. However. What do you think?¡± I asked him.


    Julius and Artemis wordlessly swapped, Artemis patrolling around the small dome we had while Julius sat down to explain stuff.


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Julius said, and we all leaned in to better hear him outline the plan.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 22]


    [Mana: 580,170/580,170]


    [Mana Regen: 435,986 (+518,703)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 204]


    [Strength: 1,004]


    [Dexterity: 1,831]


    [Vitality: 14,240]


    [Speed: 14,272]


    [Mana: 58,019]


    [Mana Regeneration: 58,120 (+51,872)]


    [Magic Power: 22,821 (+585,359)]


    [Magic Control: 22,821 (+585,359)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 513]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 480]


    [Cosmic Presence: 315]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 11]


    [Center of the Universe: 451]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 513]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 513]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 470]


    [Sunrise: 411]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 357]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 357]


    [Radiance Resistance: 357]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 357]


    [Solar Flare: 148]


    [Nectar: 357]


    [Sun''s Heart: 357]


    [Scintillating Ascent: 337]


    [Kaleidoscope: 357]


    [Class 3: [Beloved of the Wind - Wind: Lv 8]]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 376]


    [Immortal Recollections: 300]


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 128]


    [Bullet Time: 513]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 513]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 513]


    [Persistent Casting: 315]


    [Passionate Learning: 381]

 Chapter 318 - Slow and Steady

    I woke up in a panic, stone inches away from my face. I instinctively tried to lash out, my arms hitting more stone that surrounded me like a coffin.


    This is where I¡¯m supposed to be. This is right. I reminded myself, which did absolutely nothing to calm the panic and claustrophobia threatening to overwhelm me. This is the plan. Mole people! We¡¯re mole people!


    The thought had a small jolt of hysterical laughter try to go through me, which was an improvement.


    Control. I reminded myself. I have enough mana and power to kill everyone here if I lash out. Control. Lashing out does nothing.


    I squeezed my eyes shut, focusing on my breathing. Hearing the crackle of Auri¡¯s flames as she slept near me. Hearing Artemis shift slightly on watch, Amber¡¯s deep breaths as she slept peacefully.


    I wasn¡¯t alone. This wasn¡¯t the Below Levels. We were following Julius¡¯s plan.


    I hated being trapped. I hated being wrapped in stone, unable to escape, to get out. Oh, I knew I could probably get out if I needed to, but I¡¯d spent too many months alone in the Below Levels. Woken up to the crushing weight of mountains above me, woken up to too many creepy crawlies congregating on my shield.


    I reminded myself I was Sentinel Dawn. I¡¯d been trained for this. I had discipline. Focus. This wasn¡¯t nearly the worst thing I¡¯d ever encountered, nor would it be the last.


    Slowly, I regained control, shifting myself around to my belly. I couldn¡¯t stand up, the tunnel Artemis was making was too low for that. Standing room was expensive, and being fast was better than being comfortable. For an extremely loose definition of fast.


    Crawling along as Artemis got enough mana to expand the tunnel was the name of the game.


    I was the rearguard. I awkwardly scrunched up as much as I could with my inflexible armor, and reached behind myself to grab¡­ food.


    It¡¯s food. I reminded myself as I used Radiance to lightly warm up the already-cooked food, ignoring the sharp bristles on my hand. Food. I chowed down, not thinking about it.


    Although food wasn¡¯t the worst topic to think about.


    Time didn¡¯t hold much meaning here, and my shifting around and crunching slowly woke everyone else up. I passed more food up to Amber, then gave a few small bits to Auri, who happily flew them down the tunnel to Julius and Artemis. While she was doing that, I passed heftier pieces to Amber, who passed them up in turn to my two former teammates. My apprentice - I hoped she still thought of herself as my apprentice, I still had so much to teach her - had classed up as well during one of the endless stretches of waiting for Artemis to regenerate her mana. She was somewhat cagey about what she¡¯d gotten, but had started insisting that we play various games of chance, with a mental list of IOU¡¯s traded around instead of money. Her eyes were still Celestial, so she¡¯d either gotten a Celestial [Merchant] class, or stuck with a basic element.


    With limited entertainment options during our long breaks, I was all too eager to agree to play the games. It was much better than being left alone to stew with my thoughts. I¡¯d already fixed my [Persistent Casting] again, making a wonderful image to permanently heal myself, and any elvenoid that touched me. I¡¯d also made a crude image for Auri, linked through our companion bond.


    ¡°Brrpt! BRRPT!¡± Auri broke the morning silence.


    ¡°You¡¯ve done a most wonderful job as always.¡± I praised the little phoenix. With us not desperately needing a particular class for a specific job, Auri had decided to grab her second class. To absolutely nobody¡¯s surprise, she¡¯d taken a second Inferno mage class. It gave her a number of free slots - she didn¡¯t need conjuration, authority, or manipulation again - but it was low-level, and she was still filling in all the skill slots.


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri preened herself, which had my mind sharply veering into just how disgusting I looked. It started with dirt under my fingernails, and ended with dirt in places where the sun didn¡¯t shine. My haircut was awful, a poor hack job with my knife. I didn¡¯t want to think of the tangles and snarls in it, and I reeked of gore.


    I loved my companion bond with Auri, but it did steer my mind in poor directions at times. I knew I had no options but to shut up and put up with it, so with some effort, I put it out of my mind.


    ¡°How¡¯d everyone sleep?¡± Julius asked, and I grunted back.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri had slept well, but the nest was only so-so. I didn¡¯t translate that for everyone else, but they got the general tone.


    ¡°Glad you slept well.¡± Julius told Auri.


    ¡°MmmMMMMMMMMMM.¡± Artemis groaned. With how we were positioned, she¡¯d had to pull an all-nighter to properly do a watch. The air holes were next to her, and we couldn¡¯t quite shuffle around.


    ¡°Come here.¡± I told her, to Amber¡¯s audible groan of protest. Auri had enough room to fly around, the tiny little hummingbird shape perfect for this sort of thing, and her energetic, excited zipping around kept the area well-lit.


    She was invaluable for keeping our spirits up, if nothing else. To her this was ADVENTURE! EXCITEMENT! Like all of my stories! The rest of us knew better. Didn¡¯t stop Auri from keeping us happy and sane.


    Artemis and I gave her a glare in unison, and she knew when to shut up. Reaching over and past everyone else, squishing Amber and Julius in the process, we touched our fingertips together, and I jolted her with [Sunrise]. It wasn¡¯t perfect, but it¡¯d keep Artemis going until we next decided to sleep.


    ¡°This next sleep, I need sleep.¡± Artemis emphasized. ¡°None of this waking me up frequently to expand the tunnel.¡±


    Julius caressed her leg.


    ¡°I totally get it. Doing it once or twice is one thing, but endlessly? Sleep, Artemis. You¡¯ve earned it.¡±


    I got a grateful look from her.


    ¡°Hunting time?¡± I asked hopefully.


    Artemis rolled her eyes, and started ticking points off her fingers.


    ¡°High level Sentinel. Bonded with a powerful companion.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri totally agreed with that assessment.


    ¡°Cares about appearance. Likes to go hunting. Are you sure you¡¯re Dawn, and not Hunting in disguise? Did you two, like, swap minds or something in the fae realm?¡±


    I flipped a finger to Artemis, then stared in horror at Auri forming a similar image out of flames.


    ¡°Auri! No! Bad!¡± I yelled impotently at her, as she flew away from me. I swear she was laughing.


    ¡°Well, when you show kids Bad Things, they¡¯ll copy you. You shouldn¡¯t do that.¡± Amber lectured me in an all-too-smug tone.


    I groaned.


    ¡°Just¡­ lemme out, ok?¡± I asked, shuffling back a bit. I then passed forward the bag of remaining food we had, and waited. Action stopped me from thinking about all the people I¡¯d lost. My mom. Dad. Brother. Albina. Ocean. Hunting. Maximus¡­ the list was endless.


    Almost everyone I knew and loved was dead. Again. I was almost enough to make me want to curl up in a corner and die. What was the point. Wh-


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri realized what was about to happen, and started flying towards me at top speed. I shot her my best evil grin, as Artemis slammed a layer of stone down between me, and everyone else.


    For a brief moment I started to panic again, since now I was well and truly trapped in a coffin of stone. No holes. No air. Nothing but thick stone all around me, suffocating me, pressing down on me.


    Then AIR! LIGHT! Glorious freedom as Artemis shifted the stone on top of me away, granting me glorious unfettered access to the sky above!


    A few clouds were trying to hide the sun away, and the trees of the forest reached out and tried to shade what remained. But the sun, the glorious sun, the bringer of all life, wasn¡¯t to be denied. The rays broke through, and I let them play across my face, feeling freedom and life once again.


    I only allowed myself to be distracted for a brief moment. Even then, I knew deep in my bones that it had been wrong to drop my vigilance like that. However, it had been good, needed, for my soul and sanity.


    I looked around, and didn¡¯t spot any major threats. Just typical animals, with a slightly higher concentration than normal of spiders. I snapped my wings open, and lifted myself straight up, all while looking around me.


    The base butterfly way of flying, combined with studying Auri¡¯s flight, let me pull off neat tricks like that. I half nestled into the crown of the trees, a relatively safe spot to be. Low enough to still see the forest easily, high enough to be a good vantage point, and low enough that I wasn¡¯t broadcasting a beacon to everything in the forest. We were almost out of the spider¡¯s home, and we¡¯d probably need to have a discussion later today about the merits of stopping the tunneling method, and just legging it.


    Speaking of tunneling.


    It was interesting to see Artemis¡¯s tunnel, just a low ridge of stone in the forest, the only thing giving away that it was unnatural was how smooth and uniform the entire thing was. That, and its length. Shuffling stone from the ground was a bit cheaper than conjuring up new stone, which made a long, zig-zagging tunnel through the forest, our path ¡°bouncing¡± off of trees as Artemis hit each one.


    We were like extra-large moles. But we were people.


    Fear us, the mole-people.


    Ideally, I¡¯d range far out, and not bring angry spiders down on our safe spot. Not fill the air with the stench of burning hair and dying creatures. We¡¯d discussed the relative risks and benefits of it, and had decided that a fight over our heads was a lower risk than me getting lost.


    Auri occasionally joined me on these outings, but not this time!


    I waited, my head on a swivel, looking down at potential prey, up at the sky for potential hope. I marked a few spiders that looked¡­ well, promising was a bad word for it, but could provide sufficient calories worked, and prayed hard that something tasty would wander in the short timeframe I was here.


    Unlikely.


    Meanwhile, more of my attention was brought towards the sky. I¡¯d seen a number of people fly by, high up, and I kept hoping to catch their attention. That maybe they could drop down and give us a hand, or directions.


    By myself, I couldn¡¯t go far.


    Two people? Now we were talking! Artemis and I had discussed making a tall stone tower to use as a base, but for various reasons we¡¯d decided just getting out was a better idea. Now that the spider population was decreasing though, it might be worth thinking about again.


    Of course, there could be fewer spiders here because something else was acting as an apex predator, and had their own territory.


    I scanned the sky, and spotted a few tiny dots, moving fast. They were far outside the range of [Long-Range Identify], but I tried to flash harmless Radiance beams at them, maximizing the brightness I could summon.


    It was brighter than a second sun, but I had no idea if the angle was right, if I was even hitting them at the distance, if there wasn¡¯t too much haze, if they even wanted to bother checking in on whoever was flashing them, if they even recognized it as a signal for help, if¡­


    Either way, nobody came this time either.


    I dropped back down, now on a timer. I had lit up our location for anyone to see after all, and while I was hoping for intelligent, helpful life, there was no question that hostile monsters might¡¯ve seen it as well, no matter how tight and well-controlled a Radiance beam I¡¯d summoned.


    I blasted a few spiders and a pair of rabbits, carefully drilling through their heads to optimize the amount of edible meat left. There were no obvious berry bushes or fruits in this spot, and I quickly loaded everything back into the open part of the tunnel, the airlock that Artemis had made for me.


    Surrounded by still cooling meat, I laid back down in the tunnel, and gave a quick series of knocks on the stone. I heard Amber shouting from the other side of it, and a few moments later, the stone slid back over my head, once again entombing me.


    I gave one more impatient knock, and the wall of stone between me and everyone else opened up.


    ¡°Success?¡± Julius asked, and I pushed my loot in front of me.


    ¡°Success.¡± I confirmed. ¡°Three fliers, no help. Artemis is about to hit a tree, and we¡¯re going to want to take a left.¡±


    We ran a serious risk of going around in circles otherwise.


    Julius nodded.


    ¡°Also, things are starting to clear up a bit. Fewer spiders, some other animals.¡± I gestured to the rabbits. ¡°I want to discuss just¡­ getting up and walking out of here.¡±


    Julius frowned.


    ¡°Alright. We¡¯ll discuss it when we next stop.¡±


    ¡°Speaking of, I think it¡¯s clear enough for a bio break for everyone.¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh gods please yes.¡± Amber¡¯s relief was palatable. ¡°Please.¡±


    ¡°BRRPT!¡± Auri was annoyed that I¡¯d gone OUT without her! It was soo unfair.


    Another day, another few dozen meters tunneling.


    I was so sick of it.


    ¡°Hey Elaine!¡± Artemis didn¡¯t have to say anything else. Her gleeful, happy tone was enough.


    Well. We were all stuck here with nothing else to do. It beat stewing in my own thoughts or crying to myself, and I was the sucker at the table with the games Amber played. I owed everyone¡­ way more than I liked to think about. Good thing they were just pretend IOUs!


    ¡°Once upon a time, in a land far, far away¡­¡±


    I¡¯d started hanging out with Julius and Artemis by telling stories from Earth.


    The more things changed, the more they stayed the same.


    ======================================


    I¡¯d been soundly outvoted on the whole ¡°walk out¡± thing. Being surrounded by stone didn¡¯t bother Artemis, Julius made excellent arguments about safety and how we weren¡¯t in a rush, Amber wanted to stay alive and her top speed was ¡°limping¡±, so what was the difference - although I still maintained that Julius could just carry her- and Auri, the traitor, wanted to vote on the ¡°winning¡± team. I wasn¡¯t nearly so cold and heartless as to abandon them all, so I put up with it.


    I was out hunting once again, feeling my beloved wind around my arms and legs. Would love to feel it in my hair, but taking my helmet off would be stupid.


    Today, I flew up high, straight up from where our tunnel was currently at, seeing if I could spot anything interesting.


    And spot interesting things I did.


    Two notable things jumped out at me.


    The first was a clear break in the trees to the west of where I was. A slash through the forest, which just screamed ¡°road¡± to me. A place for us to head towards.


    The second was some sort of fight. There were trees falling, dirt spraying into the air, and a single large spider getting an impromptu flying lesson, sans half its legs.


    Anything killing a bunch of spiders was OK in my books - although I wasn¡¯t thrilled with the idea of encountering whatever apex predator marked this area as their territory - and I judged the distance to be in the goldilocks zone. Or reverse goldilocks zone. Whatever. It was close enough that I was concerned it might end up over our tunnel, which would be bad, but far away enough that I felt like I could participate in the fight safely. Well, as safely as any fight could be.


    I flew over, and spent a few moments observing the fight. I had no vested interest in the outcome either way, and if things looked like they wouldn¡¯t boil over to where we were holed up, I was going to leave it alone.


    My first thought was Thank goodness we didn¡¯t try fighting the spiders. They were swarming the poor creature stuck in the middle, all of them biting, skittering, webbing, and generally throwing down with this one creature. I even spotted my old friend the [Tyrant Tarantula], down a leg, leaking ichor, locked in mortal combat with whatever that thing was.


    I gave it a once-over.


    [Vorler - 480]. [Long-Range Identify] brought back.


    The more I looked at the thing, the scarier and nastier it looked.


    The base body was like a gigantic scorpion, as thick around as I was and maybe two meters long, with a nasty curved tail over its head longer than it was. It had thick segmented plated scales, colored in splotches of dark greens, light browns, and a dozen other forest shades, perfect for natural camouflage in the woods. Barbed spines jutted out from its back, making it hard for a creature to get any sort of footing on it. The other end of the scorpion-like vorler ended in two snapping claws that sheared right through a spider. Its mouth was circular, with dozens of razor-sharp triangle teeth compulsively opening and closing. It skittered around on five barbed legs, although it looked like it was missing one. It had what looked like four eyes on one side of its head, although to the spiders¡¯s credit, it looked like they¡¯d blinded two of them.


    There were dozens of spider carcasses surrounding the vorler, and I spent a few moments watching the fight, realizing with trepidation that the level 480 vorler was fighting toe to toe with the level 764 [Tyrant Tarantula] and all its friends, and not folding like wet cardboard.


    Stats and levels improved what was there. A level 10 elephant could easily crush a level 200 mouse under its feet if the mouse wasn¡¯t careful. It was why we still had to train and practice, in spite of having skills and stats. A fit, physical body could do so much more than a lazy, wasting body, even with the same stats.


    The giant spider looked to be no slouch with its body, but the vorler had to be in a league of its own. As I watched, one of the spiders pried off one of the vorler¡¯s armor plates, dying to a lash of its tail, only for a second layer of the large, almost scale-like chitin to appear. Another giant spider got onto the vorler¡¯s back and bit down, only to scream and writhe as ichor exploded in its face, eventually curling up in the classic way spiders did when they died.


    I never wanted to hear a spider scream again in my life.


    The spiders tried to web it down, shooting sticky strands at it, but they just seemed to dissolve when they touched the vorler¡¯s body.


    The vorler spun, its tail lashing so quickly I could barely follow, its claws snapping and its mouth biting. Occasionally dark clouds would billow off of it, only for a wind to pick up and blow it away. An Ash skill against a Wind skill? Hard to tell.


    Oookayyy. I never thought I¡¯d wake up and say this, but I think I was on Team Spider here. That thing looked fifty different shades of nasty, and the final tiebreaker?


    Better the evil I knew. I knew the spiders mostly left us alone. I had no idea what the vorler would do, and everything screamed danger.


    Well, it was going to be a little hard to deal with the vorler without a bit of friendly fire, but given how indiscriminately the spiders were throwing themselves at the thing, given how they were getting in each other¡¯s way, I hoped they¡¯d forgive me a bit. Or not notice, but that was a stretch and a half.


    Also, it¡¯d be a lie to say I wasn¡¯t going to enjoy getting some experience off the spiders dying.


    Still flying high - I had no desire to get in close enough to the mess to use [Radiance Conjuration] - I dropped a number of [Kaleidoscope] butterflies, effectively carpet-bombing the area. I made sure most of the butterflies hit the vorler, briefly wondering if I was helping the creature by killing a number of spiders that were on it.


    I spent a few seconds carpet-bombing the vorler, letting up after using about 40% of my mana, dismissing a dozen spider-kill notifications.


    Its entire head was charred black, turned to charcoal, and it wasn¡¯t moving nearly as much. The spiders continued to swarm it, then [Bullet Time] activated.


    I reflexively threw up a shield under me as the world slowed down. I looked around me, seeing if a giant eagle or something was interested in an extra-large butterfly dinner or something, but there was nothing. I refocused below me, now spotting an entire barrage of vorler spines, made almost invisible by the fact that they were all pointing right at me.


    I started to straighten myself, presenting a smaller target. Unfortunately for me, my bare feet were the first thing in the way, and not one of the solid metal pieces of my armor.


    They crashed against my shield, the vast majority of them getting stopped cold and falling back down, before the last few broke my shield. I then unleashed a powerful wave of burning Radiance below me, burning away the remaining projectiles, turning them to ash before they could hit me.


    Didn¡¯t even hurt with [Center of the Universe] killing my pain.


    I did send a few more butterflies the vorler¡¯s way, getting the notification a moment later.


    [*ding!* You have assisted in slaying a [Vorler (Decay - 480, Ash - 470)]]


    The spiders were still shredding the body, and I decided to leave them to it.


    I left and headed back to everyone, ready to give them the good news about the road.

 Chapter 319 - They Meet in a Tavern

    I exploded out of the bushes onto the road.


    ¡°Oh praise the road!¡± I dramatically yelled as I fell to my knees, then raised my arms in the air as if in prayer. ¡°Praise civilization! Oh blessed road, I am never, ever leaving you again.¡± I bent over to kiss the road.


    Or rather, the ¡®road¡¯. We must be in some backwater, the road was terrible. A wide stretch of pounded dirt, with a thin ridge of rocks indicating the supposed borders, it was nothing like one of Remus¡¯s glorious multi-layered roads that had transported the legions all over the country.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri fluttered down to the road, and tried copying me, pecking the dirt road.


    ¡°BRRPT!¡± She thought it tasted awful, and flew up at me, pecking me.


    ¡°Ow! Knock it off! I¡¯m fine!¡± I gently swatted at her.


    ¡°Are you sure about that? Seems like you got knocked on the head a bunch.¡± Amber limped out of the bushes, Artemis and Julius immediately bringing up the rearguard.


    I gave her a dirty look, but decided not to get into an argument with her. She¡¯d drag me down to her level then beat me with experience.


    ¡°Which way?¡± Julius asked.


    ¡°Is there a difference?¡± Amber asked. Artemis and I traded looks, we knew what Julius was thinking.


    ¡°They still teach it?¡± Artemis asked.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I confirmed.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a decade since I last had to check tracks.¡± Artemis shamelessly admitted, which I knew was just her getting out of work.


    ¡°Then you can stand guard.¡± Julius said, as he knelt down with me on the dirt road.


    ¡°The packed nature of the road is going to make this hard. Usually we tracked stuff through the forest.¡± I admitted to him as I glued my eyes to the road, looking for tracks.


    ¡°Never did a live one?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Just goblin tracks, and wagons pulled by trainees.¡± I admitted. ¡°Then it was straight to being a Sentinel, and I wasn¡¯t exactly the top pick to chase monsters.¡±


    ¡°Good thing I spent a bunch of time as the scout on the teams I was on.¡± Julius said, shuffling forward a bit. ¡°See that there, there, and there? Tracks heading north. Only one set heading south.¡±


    ¡°Head north then?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°If everyone agrees.¡± He modestly deferred.


    Artemis snorted.


    ¡°The tracker and one person with experience doing this thinks we should go north, we¡¯re going north.¡±


    Without further ado, we turned and started heading up the road north at full speed. Which was the speed of a limping Amber.


    ¡°If nobody objects, I¡¯m going to drop my level.¡± I said, mentally dropping it to a respectable 240. Or, well, at least it had been respectable in Remus for a woman my age to be level 240. No telling if that was too high, too low, or what here.


    ¡°Brrrrpt?¡± Auri asked me.


    ¡°I¡¯m ridiculously high level right now, and armed to the teeth.¡± I explained to my little companion. ¡°I look like a potential threat, even if my [Healer] tag suggests I¡¯m not. By dropping my level, I¡¯m less likely to cause trouble just from somebody seeing me.¡±


    Artemis snorted, and I grinned.


    ¡°You cause trouble just by existing.¡± I shot at her, having thought of the perfect retort ahead of time. ¡°Even if you pretended to be level 30 you¡¯d still cause disaster in your wake.¡±


    Artemis mimed being hit by an arrow.


    ¡°Julius, she¡¯s all grown up and mocking me.¡± Artemis faux-whined to Julius as I set myself to level 240.


    Julius quickly walked ahead, bailing out of the argument before it could begin.


    ¡°Hey, we¡¯re kind of like adventurers!¡± Amber happily exclaimed, and I paled.


    ¡°Noooo. No no NO!¡± I protested. ¡°No way!¡± Who¡¯d want to pretend to be a scumbag?


    ¡°It¡¯s a sound idea. Propose an alternative.¡± Julius said. ¡°Roaming around as soldiers from a different country is a terrible look, and you know it.¡±


    Ok, I was impressed by Julius. He¡¯d spent almost his entire life ¡°knowing¡± there was only Remus, and not having any sort of basis for thinking about international politics and the look of soldiers from foreign countries taking a vacation in all their armor and weapons. Running around announcing that we were from Remus could have terrible repercussions. Maybe the place we were in hated Remus. Maybe they were at war with them. Worth seeing what the lay of the land was like before announcing ourselves.


    Like, I still had [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority]. Remus had lasted for thousands of years before I had come along, surely it could¡¯ve lasted a few thousand more. It¡­ could be a home¡­ even if¡­ everyone was dead¡­


    I bit my lip as tears threatened to escape, choking back a sob. I grabbed all the messy emotions, shoved them back into the box they¡¯d escaped from, locked it again, then took a couple of belts to wrap around the emotional chest, cinched them tight, and carried on.


    ¡°How about this.¡± I suggested. ¡°I¡¯m the powerful [Healer] that can fix any problem. You two are my escorts, Amber¡¯s my apprentice, and Auri¡¯s my cute pet.¡±


    ¡°Brrrrpt!¡± I¡¯d been slightly worried that Auri might be offended, but she seemed to like the subterfuge idea.


    ¡°Problem.¡± Artemis pointed at Amber. ¡°You said you couldn¡¯t lie. Also, Amber¡¯s limping, and who¡¯s going to accept ¡®oh the fairies did it¡¯ when it looks like Elaine¡¯s just a second rate healer who can¡¯t even fix a limp. How¡¯s this going to work?¡±


    Amber shrugged.


    ¡°First off, I¡¯m the apprentice, so I can just not talk. Second, if we reframe things a bit, it¡¯s entirely true! Elaine¡¯s the healer. I¡¯m her apprentice. You two are her guards. Like. The best lie is the truth!¡±


    ¡°Artemis does have a point with the limp though.¡± She didn¡¯t exactly have a point with the limp, but I wasn¡¯t going to tell Amber that. Pop quiz time! ¡°How does you having a limp work, with me also being a powerful healer?¡±


    Artemis and Julius both shot me a puzzled look. They recognized the tone of voice I was using, and how I¡¯d phrased it.


    Amber frowned at that, thinking hard. She finally brightened up, and answered my question.


    ¡°Healers fix and restore back to the body¡¯s baseline. If someone is born with a deformity, healing magic doesn¡¯t fix it. If I was born with a limp, then healing can¡¯t fix the limp.¡±


    I nodded.


    ¡°Very good. How would you fix an innate limp?¡± I asked her.


    After a few more minutes of thinking, Amber stomped her foot in frustration.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. Can you tell me?¡±


    I gave her a roguish grin.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got no idea either!¡±


    Amber said something unkind about my parents.


    ¡°You can truthfully say it¡¯s a problem healing can¡¯t fix then.¡± Julius confirmed.


    I was convinced. The arrangement Amber proposed was workable.


    ¡°Artemis, take my armor.¡± I suggested. ¡°It¡¯ll sell the illusion, and you probably need it more than I do.¡±


    ¡°Sure. Should I attune it?¡±


    Bleh. I hated the idea, but¡­


    ¡°Yes, it might keep you alive in a fight.¡±


    With Julius and Artemis helping, we quickly stripped my armor off, and stuck it on Artemis.


    ¡°Nobody has a [Perfect Fit] gem or anything, do they?¡± Artemis complained at the poorly-fitting armor. Downside of a custom fit that was perfect for me? Horribly uncomfortable on Artemis, who had quite a few inches on me. Not enough to make it not work, but enough that she was getting uncomfortably squished and poked.


    Also, it was now Artemis¡¯s turn to have the tight, stinky armor on. Phewf. It was rank, and the thought of being in it was making me mentally itch.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t anticipate gaining twenty pounds or growing six inches on this trip, no.¡± I replied, stripping off my under tunic, annoyed by the fact that I was still bare-footed, having danced my sandals into smithereens, ending up stark naked in the road. My Deception Ring also came off, briefly revealing my true level.


    ¡°Auri. Bath time?¡± I asked my little pyromaniac.


    ¡°BRRRRRRRRRRPTT!!!!¡± She happily squealed, and my world erupted in cleansing flames. The great thing about fire immunity? Easy ¡®baths¡¯, thanks to Auri. She could literally burn everything off me, down to the dried sweat, and I wouldn¡¯t feel a thing.


    Best of all, I felt clean at the end of it. The only downside was it didn¡¯t help with my clothes, and putting on dirty clothes after getting clean was miserable.


    ¡°Thanks!¡± I grabbed my tunic and put it back on me, along with my ring.


    So armed, we started back down the road at Amber¡¯s maximum limp speed. Julius was on scout duty, and since we had an actual road and landmarks to work with, he could afford to range out somewhat. We ate some of what he foraged as we walked, but I was feeling the lack of fresh food. We¡¯d gone through the supplies Artemis and I had brought a while back, and we¡¯d been foraging for some time.


    I couldn¡¯t imagine how terrible this would all be if I¡¯d gone through alone. I probably would¡¯ve curled up, cried, and let some monster eat me.


    I had Auri.


    I had Artemis.


    I had Julius.


    And I had Amber.


    That was enough, and maybe if I was super lucky, one of the Immortals I knew would still be kicking around.


    ¡°Incoming, non-hostile.¡± Julius announced as he stepped back on the road. ¡°Let¡¯s move to the side.¡±


    We moved to the side of the road, and in no time I heard the sound of thundering hoofbeats. In no time at all, three men and a woman riding on horseback turned the bend, heading towards us.


    They were human. Blessedly, amazingly human. I hadn¡¯t even noticed my concern that there might be no more humans in the world - ok, to be fair, I hadn¡¯t seen a global notification saying humans were no more, but we existed so that wasn¡¯t necessarily a given - but seeing them alleviated that worry before it could even fully form.


    The first thing to do was check their levels.


    [Warrior - 301]


    [Mage - 345]


    [Warrior - 128]


    [Mage - 128]


    Potentially dangerous, but I had confidence if push came to shove. Interesting that two of them were at their 128 classup. I had to imagine they were stalling for various reasons, most obviously to get more accomplishments for a stronger class.


    I drank in their appearance. They were clearly two pairs, but how they were paired was hard to tell. The front two, the woman and one of the men, looked like dressed down knights from out of a story. They had stout steel breastplates on, marked with a vivid symbol of a roaring red lion¡¯s face, but their arms were only protected by chain mail, and their helmets were attached to their saddle, among the rest of their bags, and not on their head. Swords were sheathed, kite shields by their legs guarded their left side, and the horses themselves had no armor on. A saddle wasn¡¯t armor.


    The two men in the rear looked distinctly younger, and were wearing simple gambeson with a cap and everything. They were sweating hard, miserable in the full heat of summer.


    If I had to bet, a pair of knights - probably something like ¡°The Order of the Roaring Red Lion¡± or some nonsense like that, given the heraldry on the knight¡¯s breastplate and shields - and their squires. Or whatever equivalent this place had.


    They slowed as they approached us and Julius hailed them.


    ¡°Hello! We¡¯re travelers that got completely lost. Could you give us a hand?¡± He said, and I decided to leave the politicking and discussions entirely to him. I still remembered Pastos, and from the look Artemis shot me, she also remembered it.


    The two knights argued furiously with each other in a language I didn¡¯t recognize, nor did I even have half a hope of understanding what they were saying. It had a strange lilting cadence to it. It wasn¡¯t like it was Creation with a slant or anything, no. It was something completely new.


    Completely new until I heard my name! ¡°Something, something something Elaine something Elaine.¡± Once in a while one of them jabbed a finger at me.


    How did they know my name!? Did they have a skill that let them see it? I strained my ears, listening for any mention of Julius, Artemis, or Amber, but nothing. I stared a hole into the back of Julius¡¯s head, and he turned and gave me a tiny nod of acknowledgement before twisting back to face the knights.


    The man barked a few words we didn¡¯t understand at Julius, who shrugged slowly, showing his open hands.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t understand you.¡± He said back.


    The two knights argued some more while the squires stared at us. Eventually the knights came to some agreement, snapped their reins, and were off in a cloud of dust and thundering hoofbeats.


    ¡°Well.¡± Artemis discreetly dropped a few rocks she¡¯d been holding. ¡°That was different.¡±


    Different indeed.


    We started walking again, following the direction the knights had gone. The topic of conversation? The incredibly weird armor and set up the knights had.


    At least, to Artemis, Julius, and the rest. When I mentioned they looked like they were out of one of my stories, things got interesting.


    The road cut through the forest, and we didn¡¯t see anyone else for two days. The next people we saw were some lightly armed guards, frontrunners for a caravan being pulled by parasaurolophus, two of the duck-billed dinosaurs per wagon.


    We waved at them, and the guards tensed at Julius and Artemis, before relaxing slightly at seeing me and Amber. I guess anyone traveling with a healer and a teenager wasn¡¯t exactly the spitting image of a fierce bandit. Regardless of the rest of them being filthy. Fire immunity for the win!


    It did mean that I had to smell them though, and whooooooof. We were rank.


    ¡°Hello!¡± Julius called, friendly and welcoming from a distance. What words couldn¡¯t say, body language could do.


    Interestingly, a bunch of the guards were all exactly at 256, and none of them were higher than that. One or two might be a coincidence, but six of the ten? Something was up with that. Combined with the [Squires] from earlier, and I was sensing a larger cultural shift. Or maybe people had just plain figured out that waiting for accomplishments was better. We hadn¡¯t been jumped by nearly as many monsters as Remus seemed to have, and we were certainly outside of the Dead Zone. Maybe waiting for a class up was now the thing to do?


    The caravan started to slow down at us, and one of the [Drivers] yelled something at us, rapid-fire in that same lilting language as the knights from before. Artemis plunged her hands into my backpack, grabbing a few rabbits that Julius had recently caught, and I¡¯d flash-cooked to keep them nice for longer.


    The ones Auri had ¡°cooked¡± had been promptly partially eaten, and the charred remains discarded. She was trying, and we did have a bit of spare to let her practice.


    Artemis thrust the cooked rabbits in the direction of the caravan, making a somewhat well-recognized symbol. ¡®Hey, we¡¯ve got food, wanna share?¡¯


    I looked around, and Amber looked all too eager.


    ¡°I seem to remember you had quite a few lessons for me on symbols to communicate my wares.¡± I quietly said to her. She grinned back at me, made slightly disturbing by the swirling purple mist that had replaced her eye.


    ¡°Julius, have you seen their levels?¡± I whispered to him. He nodded without taking his eyes off the guards.


    ¡°I have. It¡¯s weird.¡±


    I looked at Artemis, who shrugged.


    ¡°Easier to handle if they decide to cause a problem.¡±


    I rolled my eyes at her brilliant analysis. The wagons circled up, food was broken out, and we all sat down together.


    I hated it, but I knew my role in this. Sit still, be quiet, and let everyone else do the talking. Oh, I¡¯d heal anyone who was hurt, and I¡¯d listen to the more experienced social people, but I was playing the part of the slightly shy healer who needed bodyguards to walk around.


    Ok, given the spiders in the forest, the bodyguards seemed entirely reasonable, but I didn¡¯t speak the language. I was a walking social disaster. Letting Julius - and possibly Amber - run the mime show, while stopping Auri from immolating anything important, or Artemis from being too twitchy was more important.


    The conversation swirled around me, and the [Merchants], [Guards], [Drivers], and the rest of the people in the caravan were, from my point of view, weird. Amber was in a gap between two of the wagons, discussing in low, heated words with one of the [Merchants], which was blowing my mind. Somehow, the two of them were talking. That was the more normal part.


    The weirder part was when someone came up to me, babbled something, said my name three times in all that, then looked at me expectantly. I felt Artemis looming up behind me - the image of the protective bodyguard entirely ruined as she used my head as a plate for her lunch - but the guy seemed harmless enough.


    ¡°Brrpt? Brrrrpt?¡± Auri wanted to act as a translator, but it wasn¡¯t quite working. Poor bird. I hoped more people could understand her in the future.


    After some miming and gesturing, I figured it out when he accidentally brushed me, and he got excited. He grabbed my hand - I let him, I was pretending to be a low level healer, not a Sentinel with five digits of speed - and furiously shook it, the words incomprehensible except for ¡°Elaine¡±, but the tone conveying thanks.


    I figured it out as he left.


    ¡°He must¡¯ve been after healing, and my [Persistent Casting] will heal anyone that touches me right now.¡± I softly muttered to Artemis.


    ¡°MmmMM.¡± She agreed around a mouthful of food.


    Instead of giving her the stink eye, I tilted my head forward, letting Artemis¡¯s lunch slide into my hands.


    ¡°Yoink!¡±


    ¡°Hey!¡± She protested as I took a huge bite of what was formerly her lunch.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri thought this was all great fun.


    I just shot Artemis a smug look.


    A few more people came up to me, calling my name in the middle of their language, and I quickly worked out that they all wanted healing. Weird that they all knew my name. Maybe the first dude had a skill that could see my name, and shared it with everyone? That would make sense, my name usually came up near the start of whatever they were saying, usually followed by a bunch of pointing at some part of their body or another.


    A broken wrist was obvious, stomach pains were not. Sadly, I got no feedback as to what I¡¯d actually fixed. Normally, I¡¯d be hauling Amber over here to practice her burgeoning medical talents, but she was busy. I trusted that what she was doing was more important, and there was always tomorrow to teach her more.


    The people were an interestingly even mix of men and women, which was a bit unusual, but I wasn¡¯t going to complain.


    Before long, one of the guards started calmly shouting - the type of yelling that had the tone of ¡°get moving you lazy shits¡± and less ¡°AHHH MONSTERS TRYING TO EAT US ALIVE¡± - and the caravan packed back up with remarkable efficiency. Soon they were on their way, the dinosaur-pulled heavily-loaded wagons still faster than Amber¡¯s top limping speed.


    I was fine seeing them go, wanting to hear what everyone else had to say about the encounter.


    ¡°You were able to talk with the [Merchant]?¡± I asked Amber, the question burning to get out. She was holding a roll of red fabric.


    ¡°Kind of?¡± She hedged.


    ¡°Explain.¡± Artemis demanded.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a weird skill.¡± She said. ¡°It¡¯s a merchant skill. For me, it¡¯s [Let¡¯s Make a Deal]. It helps when negotiating with other merchants that have a similar skill. It smoothes understanding between us. Usually it helps us all get on the same page for a big deal, so there isn¡¯t some big fundamental misunderstanding between us, but here it let us talk in a limited way.¡± She explained. ¡°A lack of anything to actually trade hurt me badly though, since it¡¯s only good when negotiating and trading. No trade? No chit chat.¡±


    I pointedly looked at the fabric she was holding, something we hadn¡¯t had before.


    ¡°Any useful information?¡± Julius asked.


    ¡°Yeah. We¡¯re in a country called Lyon, and this road goes to a town called Rolland. I think. Also know way too much about the price of wheat, onions, lettuce, and melons.¡± She rolled her eyes. ¡°It wasn¡¯t even the bulk of what they were carrying, but the other gal must¡¯ve sensed I was poor or something. Didn¡¯t bother with the fancy stuff, just talked about the food she could sell us. Oh! I did negotiate this fancy cloak for Elaine, thanks to her healing everyone. The details weren¡¯t clear, but¡­¡± She shrugged, and handed it over to me.


    I opened it up, seeing a nice, simple red cape. With pockets!


    ¡°Good. Elaine, did you pick anything out?¡±


    ¡°They really like my name. Might be a cultural thing? Makes me wonder if checking on someone¡¯s name is now a common skill.¡±


    Artemis hummed.


    ¡°It¡¯d be unusual, but then again, what do I know? Clearly there are skills to read other people¡¯s levels, and names are displayed in the status by default. However, I haven¡¯t heard anyone say my name.¡± She reasoned out loud.


    ¡°BRRrrrpt! BRRPT!¡± Auri flew in dizzying circles in front of me, drawing attention to herself.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt brrrrrrrrrrrpt brrrpt.¡± She explained.


    ¡°Auri¡¯s going to try and get the skill.¡± I translated as my little friend landed on my shoulder and scrunched her face up in concentration.


    We waited a moment, and she relaxed.


    ¡°Brrrpt¡­¡± She sadly admitted.


    I didn¡¯t need to translate the drooping shoulders and dipped beak.


    ¡°My haul was less good.¡± Julius admitted. ¡°Potentially fruitful for the future. Got a few words sorted out. Ok, now listen¡­¡± He started to explain the words as we continued down the road.


    We were back in something resembling civilization. Forest gave way to fields of wheat, little villages popped up here and there, and smaller paths merged in with the road we were on. We stopped and chatted with people when we could, slowly getting our bearings.


    Artemis and Julius kept getting strange looks, and I was thinking my decision to hide my level had been the right one.


    We were walking down the road late in the afternoon when a girl of maybe fifteen half-ambushed me.


    ¡°Elaine!¡± She said, tugging on my arm. She rapid-fire shot out a bunch more words at me, continuing to tug at my arm. ¡°Elaine!¡±


    I looked at the rest and shrugged.


    ¡°Someone might need a healer.¡± I said, letting the girl pull me along, Amber trailing in my wake. We didn¡¯t go far, the girl dragging me to a tall, warm, inviting tavern, babbling all the way. We went inside, and I got a brief appreciation of the common room - clean, with few frills - before getting dragged up the stairs to a room.


    ¡°I figure I¡¯ll give you first crack at the problem, then I¡¯ll go behind you to make sure it¡¯s all done properly.¡± I told Amber.


    ¡°Standard apprentice pattern.¡± She agreed with me, hobbling along.


    There was a second worker diligently mopping on the second floor, and as the [Barmaid] hustled us past him, I noticed he was mopping up bloody footsteps.


    I let the [Barmaid] pull me along faster, leaving the limping Amber behind.


    She led me to a room, and pointed at the door, babbling something, along with including my name. The trail of bloody footsteps led to the door as well, and it didn¡¯t take a genius to figure out the issue.


    I opened the door, getting hit with a wave of coppery, bloody stench. The patient was immediately obvious - another [Knight] of some sort laying on top of a bed, still in their blood-coated armor. The sheets were still made, but they¡¯d been soaked fresh blood red by their bleeding.


    I didn¡¯t have the time to figure out the extent of their injuries under all their armor, but it had to be horrific. No wonder I¡¯d gotten pulled here!


    I didn¡¯t wait for Amber, I was too concerned that the knight would drop dead even with my [Cosmic Presence] theoretically providing stabilization. I stepped over, hearing a warning growl from one corner of the room. I glanced over as I kept walking over at full speed, hesitated at the distinctly draconic-looking creature, and threw out a [Long-Range Identify] on the two of them as Auri flew over to the creature.


    [Frost Wyvern - 32].


    [Warrior - 520].


    WHAT. A random knight I¡¯d encountered in a tavern, by themselves, was level 520!? Bloody unfair, that¡¯s what it was.


    ¡°BRrrrrrrrrrpt!¡± Auri scolded the wyvern, making sure I was safe.


    Wyvern, not a dragon, and I was helping. I was sworn to, although I kept a leery eye on him. I touched the [Knight], noticing a respectable amount of mana had been used to heal them. Their legs sort of popped up, and a pair of fresh, pale legs appeared under what I now recognized as crude prosthetics. Nice that they moved, and my healing didn¡¯t obliterate them. The same thing happened with her hand, and I shuddered to imagine the sheer depth of injuries she must¡¯ve had. The knight went from having ragged, wheezing breaths to slow, calm breathing, and I saw them settle into a deeper, more peaceful sleep.


    I felt the warm glow of accomplishment go through me. This. This right here. This is what I was about. I¡¯d found someone dying, hovering on the chasm with Black Crow circling, and I grabbed them and pulled them back. This was my calling, and I felt the knowledge settle back down into me, reaffirming that I had a purpose to life. That I couldn¡¯t just stop.


    There were more people out there that needed help, and I would be there to provide it.


    They were still on the blood-soaked bed, but I wasn¡¯t about to try changing it. I knew I would lash out hard when being woken up by strangers, and an injured, isolated, armed and dangerous powerful [Warrior]?


    Yeah, I was sworn to heal. I didn¡¯t have [Oath of Comfy Bedtime].


    I left the room, finding Amber in deep discussion at the end of the hallway. She waved me over.


    ¡°Hey! Didn¡¯t quite get everything, but I think they¡¯re grateful you saved her life, and want to give us a free night sleeping here, along with breakfast, dinner, and a bath. Please?¡± Amber begged me, and I remembered that she wasn¡¯t exactly cut out for the life on the road. Quite literally.


    ¡°We¡¯ll have to talk with everyone else, but I don¡¯t see a reason not to.¡± I answered.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri also wanted to try out the tavern, and with the three of us, we already had a majority vote.


    Julius and Artemis had needed no convincing, and we spent the night there.


    The home cooked food was a priceless treasure after¡­ what we¡¯d been eating.


    I probably spent way too much time preening myself after dinner. Auri was utterly scandalized that I chose to bath of all things, but heated the bath up for me anyways. With the return of civilization, I could afford the time to make myself feel nice. Bless this place.


    Sleeping though?


    That wasn¡¯t so easy. I got a room to myself - which was to say, with Auri - and when the doors were closed, and I was in bed, everything came back to me.


    I let the chest of emotions in the corner loosen a bit, dealing with and processing some of the emotions. A fraction of the loss I¡¯d experienced.


    My family was dead and gone. I¡¯d never hear dad¡¯s laugh again. Never see mom with her spoon. Never see Themis grow up.


    Every last friend I had. I¡¯d never get my pouch back from Acquisition again. Never hear Bulwark mutter about structural supports. Never see Brawling light up as another one of us came back from a mission, safe and alive. Never fish with Ocean again. Never¡­


    Every last acquaintance.


    Every street I knew, house I¡¯d lived in, road I¡¯d traveled was now dust.


    I¡¯d lost practically everything.


    I shoved my head into my pillow, and let fat, hot tears flow, convulsing as I let full-body sobs loose.


    ¡°Brrrrpt¡­¡± Auri landed on my head, never mind the rocky support, and was crying as well, little crystal beads rolling down out of her eyes. She¡¯d lost a lot of people as well.


    We still had each other, but in this moment, it was small comfort.


    I cried myself to sleep.


    The five of us were having breakfast the next morning, slowly eating and savoring the food together. Artemis¡¯s head suddenly whipped towards the stairs, and I snapped my head over to see what had startled her so.


    There was a giant of a woman standing on the last step of the stairs, the little ice wyvern next to her. How long she¡¯d been there, I couldn¡¯t tell, but at our look, she walked over.


    I took a moment to take in how she looked. She had a strange familiarity, like she was the cousin of somebody I knew. Her blonde hair was like straw, a dozen different ragged lengths. A rough-hewn face full of sharp angles with a strong chin framed piercing green eyes like emeralds over a shimmering backdrop of stars, marking her primary element as Celestial. She wouldn¡¯t be remarked as some great beauty, but gods, her arms. It was like a goddess had envisioned the ideal form of a powerful warrior, then carved the woman in front of me out of flesh to look like one. Like a female Adonis. I swear they were thicker than my thighs, and she moved with the liquid grace of a trained, honed warrior. I could go mad trying to articulate all the parts about her; it would take a poet a lifetime to properly describe her. Somehow, in spite of the various mis-matched parts, the unconventional takes, she was one of the most attractive women I¡¯d ever seen.


    I compartmentalized the feeling, putting it out of my mind so it wouldn¡¯t distract me or influence me. I¡¯d gotten better at that ever since Serondes.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri cheerfully greeted and welcomed her.


    She sat down at the table with us.


    ¡°Hello. My name¡¯s Iona. Thank you for saving my life.¡± She told me, and I went pale and unsteady at the words, my brain short-circuiting, needing to grip the chair to keep myself stable and upright.


    That.


    Those words.


    Those words were in English.

 Chapter 95– Minor Interlude – Julius Reports to Command

    Julius strode through the hallways of Ranger Headquarters, badge pinned prominently to his uniform, cape billowing behind him. The same cape that meant he wasn¡¯t thinking of fighting. A subtle detail. For every Ranger out in the field, there were two support personnel at HQ, managing money. Politics. Paperwork. Bureaucracy. Quartermasters. Armorers. Inscriptionists. Healers. Alchemists. Dozens of other professions that acted as support. Add in that most Rangers were in the field, and it was a rarity to see actual field Rangers at Headquarters. The badge was useful, clearing a path through the hallways, everyone giving him a clear hallway to walk through.


    A slow smile flitted across his face. It was nice to be properly recognized, to be given preferential treatment. Sure, Rangers got preferential treatment in many places, but it was often over the top, as often as it was hostile. Here? Here it was just right. The smile vanished as he remembered that half the reason he was given so much clearance was a number of Rangers were twitchy after spending so much time in the field, and some didn¡¯t have the restraint of Artemis.


    There was no use being right if you were dead.


    Julius made it to the imposing doors of the Ranger Command, straightened out some non-existent creases in his uniform, and handed off his sword to one of the guards stationed outside the door. He locked eyes with the guard.


    ¡°They¡¯re a bit busy right now.¡± The guard said.


    Julius nodded, saying nothing, settling into parade rest. Arms at exactly the right position. Legs at exactly the right position. Just clear enough of the door that it¡¯d miss him when it opened.


    It was possible command was in a meeting. It was possible they were slacking off. It was possible that whatever Sentinel was acting as the tiebreaker today was delayed.


    The Ranger Command had an interesting composition. Two were members sent by the Senate, to oversee the Senate¡¯s interest. In theory, they could be appointed by the Senate. In practice, it was two Senators that were interested in the going-ons of the Rangers. It was relatively dry work, not great for political advantage or maneuverings. Rangers, and Sentinels, stayed neutral, and fought hard to stay that way.


    Two members were from the Army. Sure, Rangers were part of the Army, but the Army command proper wanted a voice in what Rangers did. By the same token, there was a ¡®former¡¯ Ranger on the Army Command council.


    The remaining four slots were all ¡®former¡¯ Rangers, which was to say Rangers with enough leadership, foresight, desire, and political savvy to be selected to serve as one of the commanders.


    Lastly, a Sentinel, whichever one was really bored, or got caught, listened in on meetings, and acted as a tiebreaker. In theory, they knew things well enough to see the big picture, to properly align everyone¡¯s goals, to see the greater good when the four Rangers clashed with the Army and the Senate. In practice, most of the time they didn¡¯t want to be there, and could break ties in a capricious manner. Personal power didn¡¯t translate well to good leadership, administration, or governance. Strangely enough, that encouraged command to work together, to not be at the mercy of whichever Sentinel was present that day.


    Julius wondered who¡¯d be acting as the tiebreaker today. Not Night or Sky. Night was responsible and interested enough, but wasn¡¯t seen during the day, and Sky was too disinterested and too fast to end up as the tiebreaker. It was unlikely to be Acquisition either, since the Senate representatives strongly disliked him being around.


    Something about their purses being lighter every time he was around.


    Julius had no illusions that he¡¯d ever end up as a Sentinel. Ending up as a member of Command was a distinct possibility, one that could be advanced from today¡¯s meeting ¨C or forever barred to him.


    It all depended on one teenage girl. Every round was strange and unusual, interesting events occurring. Every round, Julius thought he¡¯d stop being surprised at what the next one would throw at him.


    After an indeterminable, irrelevant length of time, the door opened up, the eight members of command on a high table in a semi-circle, Ocean lounging in the high chair in the middle. There was some shuffling of scrolls, as the Command brought themselves up to speed on Julius and his team. Each person had a slightly different banded set of colors on a scroll, marking who it belonged to. A set of thirty scrolls had the same coloring.


    That could only be Artemis¡¯s record.


    The council was feeling harmonious today, Julius noted as he looked around. The four Ranger commanders were scattered throughout the seats, instead of being all together on one side. Good, no political undercurrents that could foul him up.


    ¡°Julius, welcome, congratulations.¡± One of the Ranger commanders said. ¡°You¡¯re the third team back. Thank you for your time reporting. Let¡¯s hear it.¡±


    Julius saluted, perfect to the last inch. A Ranger¡¯s Ranger.


    ¡°Sir! Casualty report: Three dead, and one, well, acquisition.¡±


    Julius mentally winced at that. First sentence, and it was already going off the rails.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go into detail on the acquisition later.¡±


    ¡°We started off with our team freshly made two years ago, as is normal. For Artemis, Origen, Arthur, and Maximus, I went and talked with all the former team leads and teammates I could, to get an idea of their capabilities, and any quirks I needed to look out for.¡±


    At Artemis¡¯s name, three members of the council made a sympathetic noise. Julius let some of the tension in his chest relax. Sounded like he wouldn¡¯t need to explain Artemis¡¯s antics to Command. Then again, he did have a line in his budget for ¡°Artemis-related incidents¡±, so it shouldn¡¯t have come as a surprise.


    ¡°We performed a series of light operations and sparring against Team 6 to get some idea of teamwork together, then we boarded the ship to the start of our route.¡±


    Julius closed his eyes, dreading the next part.


    ¡°Alexander let being a Ranger get to his head. Not sure if it was the pressure of training that stopped it from happening earlier, being in a team finally letting a lever go, or something else. Wouldn¡¯t listen to us telling him to relax, to rein it in. From all accounts we can make out, he got drunk on the ship, and decided to test himself against a storm. In full armor. In the middle of the night.¡±


    Ocean gave a sardonic laugh at that.


    ¡°Hell, I¡¯d only try that sober.¡± He said, waving his hand. ¡°Carry on.¡±


    Julius felt tension bleed out of his shoulders, a huge weight lifted from him. If Ocean, the strongest Water-based human in existence, blessed a sea-based loss, Julius was in the clear.


    ¡°We traveled down, tackling some lighter problems we normally wouldn¡¯t, to help shore up our teamwork. This is how Icarus fell.¡±


    ¡°No matter the fight, no matter what we were against, he insisted on going in first, in diving deep into the fight. He expected us to cover him, made us change our plans around him, forced us to fight badly to try and keep him alive. Kept laughing it off when we told him to knock it off, to fight as a team, with the team.¡±


    ¡°Injuries started to pile up on him. I stopped taking low-level fights, to try and preserve him. Origen did his best, some of the healers we saw helped deal with his injuries. Didn¡¯t matter, he refused to stop, even picking fights we had no reason or business to pick. It wasn¡¯t until his accumulated injuries were so bad, where he was constantly waking up in a pool of blood, that he realized he¡¯d gone too far. By that time, no matter how many fields Origen set up, no matter how many of our reserve potions we poured into him, no matter how many villages I checked for a healer, we couldn¡¯t stabilize him. He died of his wounds, after thirty battles.¡± The fact that most of the battles were minor, were unneeded, was left unsaid.


    There was a solemn moment as everyone bowed their heads. Icarus had been something of an idiot, but not as bad as Alexander. He¡¯d gone down swinging.


    ¡°There were some, shall we say,¡± Julius coughed awkwardly. ¡°low-level Artemis incidents. Nothing worth a major report on, but I was quickly seeing why her file was so thick.¡±


    ¡°We arrived at Aquiliea shortly after, and we get to the unusual portion of our round.¡±


    One of the Army commanders snorted. ¡°The fact that you only have one ¡®unusual¡¯ portion is in itself unusual.¡±


    Julius tilted his head in acknowledgement.


    ¡°Artemis has some friends close enough she considers family there, and it¡¯s where I met a girl called Elaine, one of Artemis¡¯s friends. Thought nothing of her at first, as she marched up to us and demanded to know where Artemis was, then was off like a shot.¡±


    ¡°She showed up again, and we all formally met her, after we heard she¡¯d single-handedly, with all of her physical stats being sub-20, dove into a burning building to rescue a slave. One she had no relationship with.¡±


    ¡°Where¡¯s this going?¡± One of the Senators grumbled. One of the Ranger Commanders shushed him, a gleam of pleasure in his eye.


    ¡°Unusual portions of a round often start out mundane.¡± The Commander said.


    ¡°After a few days of recovery, it turned out she got, at 14 years of age, [Detailed Restoration]. Managed to completely heal herself from her burns and injuries. Impressive, worth noting that a powerful Light and Dark healer was being developed in Aquiliea, but I still just mentally filed it away as ¡®just another thing.¡¯¡± Julius continued his report, his body perfectly still, head turning to lock eyes with each member of Command one by one.


    ¡°We left a few days later to hunt something on the road between Aquiliea and Virinum. Turned out to be a nasty set of bandits, one that the textbook solution was extermination. That was a textbook operation, shock and awe, with Artemis demonstrating why she was so well tolerated. I don¡¯t even think the rest of us were honestly needed, but it made it a bit easier on her.¡±


    ¡°This is where I was surprised again. Elaine was present, healing everyone she could. The very people that had held her captive a candle ago, she dove into fire, flames, and lightning to save, even though any errant twitch from either side would end her. Even more impressively, when Kallisto was facing her, trying to execute the bandit leader, she stood up to him, fully knowing what her fate likely was for such a stunt, and said ¡®no.¡¯ Long story short, bandit leader died, Elaine lived, and we get to the stranger part of the story.¡±


    Julius took a deep breath. This had happened before, he reminded himself. This wasn¡¯t totally unbelievable.


    ¡°Icarus¡¯s death fresh in my mind, I offered her some pay to patch everyone up. She¡¯d demonstrated the skills needed, and I wanted to keep everyone in top condition, not being worn down. Kallisto was particularly happy, given that he was not only new, but our only frontliner at this point, with Maximus acting as a secondary. That¡¯s when she dropped her revelation.¡±


    ¡°She was god-touched.¡±


    A clatter broke out at that, Ocean restoring order with a lazy wave of his hand, power rippling through the room.


    ¡°Method of god-touched? And which god?¡± One of the Ranger Commanders asked.


    ¡°Reincarnated from another world. Papilion.¡± Julius said. ¡°A number of technical memories were gone, but all of her knowledge of medicine and biology were intact. Which pushed her down the route to being a healer.¡±


    The reincarnated from another world part was practically glossed over. The fact that Papilion, one of the big five, had been the one to touch Elaine? That caused an uproar, that not even Ocean was inclined to stop.


    It got so bad that the guards opened the door a crack, peeking in, just to make sure another brawl hadn¡¯t started. Seeing that the excitement was purely verbal, and that fists and skills weren¡¯t being thrown around, they closed the door. Someone standing outside would hear them sigh with relief. Trying to break up a fight that your bosses had started did not encourage a long career, regardless of how right you were.


    After a length of time that could only be described as a ¡°short¡± fight, relative to the occasional week-long brawl that the Command could have, the room settled down again.


    ¡°Has she been seen by Priest Demos yet?¡± One of the Senators asked.


    Julius shook his head.


    ¡°I wanted to report back first.¡±


    There was some quick discussion, followed by a pronouncement.


    ¡°She should see Priest Demos as soon as possible for a full debrief.¡±


    Julius nodded, not expecting anything different.


    ¡°Continuing on. We encountered the standard set of monsters and fights, nothing special, and Elaine started to show some glimmers of being a useful hanger-on, like many teams temporarily pick up and put down. Nothing terribly special, nothing to make any real mention of.¡±


    ¡°We arrived at Virinum next, where Elaine immediately proved her worth. We had a nasty, over level 400, dinosaur that was occupying the river, eating the locals, and generally making a standard nuisance of themselves. We hatched a plan, and executed it, nothing special there.¡±


    ¡°What was special was after Kallisto took a bad hit, one that would be lethal, Elaine, still with virtually no physical stats to her name, and no real skills to help her stay alive, charged into the fight, within range of the monster, to heal and stabilize Kallisto. It wasn¡¯t that she was suicidal, nor did she have dumb fearlessness. No, she knew what she was doing, she was well aware of the risks, the threat to her life, and ran in anyways.¡±


    ¡°Monster was driven off, not quite killed, and Arthur and I harried it to death. Nothing special.¡±


    This was it. This was the moment that could make or break him.


    ¡°We arrived back, to see everyone patched up, Elaine having worked hard. She ran over to us, and was able to bring Arthur and I back to fully healed. That¡¯s when I saw it, that¡¯s when I decided.¡±


    ¡°Elaine would be, without a doubt, the most powerful healer in a generation. And I don¡¯t mean just in her age group. I mean across the entire republic. Heck, as of today, if you told me she had the title already for close-in healing, I¡¯d believe you. Her ranged healing needs work, but she¡¯s getting there.¡±


    ¡°Rangers die. Rangers die a lot.¡± Julius said, setting the background, catching himself chewing absent-mindedly on his lower lip. Stopping that. ¡°We¡¯re extremely unattractive for healers to join us, due to the danger, the low pay, the unstable lifestyle, and a dozen other factors.¡±


    ¡°You get paid more than enough!¡± One of the Senators exclaimed. He was quickly shushed by the rest of Command, with Ocean throwing him a dirty look.


    ¡°I had a vision. Not a divine one, just a personal one. Healers with Rangers. Keeping us alive. Expanding our ranks. Getting more of us around. Shorter rounds, fewer problems, more of us alive. I took a gamble.¡±


    Julius paused taking a deep breath.


    ¡°I invited Elaine to be a full Ranger with us. She accepted.¡±


    Another argument. More yelling. Much more subdued than the last one, but that was a low bar to clear.


    Julius held his hand up futilely, wanting to expand further. Ocean eventually recognized him.


    ¡°I¡¯m aware she needs to go through Academy to be polished and fully accepted. She¡¯s also aware of that.¡±


    One of the Army commanders snorted.


    ¡°We have standards for who can join training. We could maybe, barely stretch to level 170 under ideal conditions.¡±


    Julius grinned, a predator who¡¯s seen prey step into his trap.


    ¡°In a year, she went from level 100 to level 180. Currently, she¡¯s sitting around level 185 or so. Additionally, she has one of the most absurd boosting skills I¡¯ve ever heard of.¡±


    ¡°Like Night?¡± Ocean asked.


    ¡°Yeah, but stronger and narrower. You know how it goes.¡± Julius replied. ¡°She currently enjoys a roughly 9x multiplier to both power and control when healing.¡±


    You could hear a pin drop at that. Julius seized the moment.


    ¡°Granted, her second class is lagging a hair, so I¡¯d rate her effective healing at ¡®only¡¯ around level 350 or so, and she came from a control-healer route, so she¡¯s hands-on right now. Working on a distance skill, and her second class has a lot of room to grow, easily giving her more stats, multiplying her further.¡±


    ¡°Now, if I may, I¡¯d like to finish my report.¡± Julius said, none of the internal smugness he was feeling making it to his voice.


    He had their full attention now. Oh, sure, it wasn¡¯t like anyone had been slacking off, but he had maybe 90% of their attention, their minds wandering elsewhere at times.


    ¡°Further traveling and handling problems occurred as normal, with the only notable incident being an Ornithocheirus attack, which Arthur was able to survive out in the open, more or less solo. Thieves, monsters, dinosaurs, an idiot army recruiter,¡±


    Julius plowed right through the Army Commander¡¯s noise of protest. ¡°and other such problems. Sadly, in the stretch to Perinthus, there was another friendly-fire incident involving Artemis.¡±


    There was a bunch of groaning at that, and more than a few coins changing hands, one pouch soaring across the room. Julius raised an eyebrow, and Ocean didn¡¯t look too pleased either.


    ¡°Fortunately, due to Elaine¡¯s presence, the friendly fire incident was a speedbump, as she was able to almost immediately restore Arthur back to fit fighting shape.¡±


    ¡°Then we arrived in Perinthus.¡±


    Julius closed his eyes, remembering the rows of bodies, the flies and crows in the air.


    ¡°Hang on, you didn¡¯t skip Perinthus?¡± One of the Ranger Commanders asked.


    Julius shook his head.


    ¡°No, Elaine was convinced we could make a difference.¡±


    ¡°Never heard of her in any of the songs.¡± One of the Senators remarked.


    A smile cracked Julius¡¯s face.


    ¡°We pissed off the bard something fierce. Not being written into the song seems to be her revenge.¡±


    ¡°Elaine was convinced her knowledge of disease and plagues was unmatched in Pallos. From what happened in Perinthus, I¡¯m inclined to believe her. Within a week, while healing from dawn to past dusk every day, the sickest, worst cases, she¡¯d solved the first plague. Three days later, we¡¯d solved the source of the second plague, and nine days later the town was completely purged of disease.¡±


    Julius thought a moment and added. ¡°There was an incident with the 3rd, which resulted in an execution. Details in my written report.¡±


    ¡°To expand on my prior point. Elaine had knowledge of diseases, and disease reservoirs and sources, and we used that knowledge to work out that bad plumbing was causing the first plague, what we called the Vomiting Plague for its effects. The second plague was much harder, and Elaine kept complaining that it was making no sense how it worked.¡±


    He closed his eyes, and leaned forward.


    ¡°I doubted her. If I hadn¡¯t, we might¡¯ve figured out it was a Classer causing the plague; that it wasn¡¯t natural. It took him assassinating Origen for us to realize what was going on. We spooked him, both with some side-business we took care of, and Elaine¡¯s speed at solving the first plague.¡±


    ¡°The fault is mine.¡±


    A respectful moment passed, for a fallen Ranger.


    ¡°We came down like the fist of a god on the Classer causing the problem, then organized a full-scale effort to purge the town. I¡¯m pleased to report that the songs are correct, and Perinthus is fully cleansed, and back to functioning properly.¡±


    A brief moment of pause, of congratulation.


    ¡°The route through the Kadan Jungle was made almost perfunctory, with Elaine being able to handle every problem thrown at us. Snakes didn¡¯t matter. Toads didn¡¯t matter. Vegetation didn¡¯t matter. Serpopards were the only real threat, and without needing to worry about the other problems, we were able to aggressively hunt them down around us.¡±


    ¡°That brings us to Massilix, and Arthur¡¯s achievement.¡±


    ¡°Sea Serpent, roughly around level 950, was terrorizing the town. We took a look at it, tried to plan, then called for a Sentinel.¡±


    Ocean frowned at that, mostly because he would¡¯ve been the Sentinel called in for such a task, but wasn¡¯t.


    ¡°I gave Arthur my blessing to try and poison the monster, as he tries to poison most of the problems we encounter, usually to little success.¡±


    A heartbeat passed, as the Command started to realize what happened.


    ¡°He managed a solo kill on the monster. Over 700 levels above him. Against a monster that, with all due respect, Ocean, I think you might¡¯ve struggled with.¡±


    Ocean grimaced, then nodded, recognizing that Julius had been on the scene, and had an evaluation, and that Ocean hadn¡¯t been present.


    ¡°As a result, with Arthur¡¯s stealth, his ability to survive in the wilderness alone, his prowess with the bow, and combat capabilities, with slaying the monster being his feat, I¡¯d like to nominate Arthur for Sentinel. Potential title: Poison.¡±


    The Command erupted into argument ¨C again. The constant arguments were the norm here, and his news wasn¡¯t actually all that special. Julius wished he¡¯d been sentenced to the colosseum to wrestle a bear, rather than report to Command. The burdens of leadership.


    Ocean rolled his eyes, and sent out a pulse of power through the room, cutting the current argument short.


    ¡°Discussions of Sentinels and promotions is for a scheduled meeting. Not for a report.¡± One of the Ranger Commanders stated. There was a bunch of nodding around the room, some slower, some faster.


    ¡°Continue.¡± A different Ranger Commander stated.


    ¡°The rest of the round had nothing particularly noteworthy. Artemis kept her hand in well enough ¨C see scrolls 6 through 11 for full details - Elaine made us look good by opening practically free clinics, Maximus was a blessing who caused no problems, Arthur got a green class out of slaying the monster, and Kallisto managed to keep himself, and the rest of us, alive.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go back to Elaine for a moment.¡± One of the Ranger Commanders said. ¡°You said she should go through Academy, to be ratified as a full Ranger. I don¡¯t think this needs to be said, but everyone who goes out in the field needs to be combat capable ¨C even our support personnel. Otherwise, bluntly, we already have all the healers we need at HQ.¡±


    Julius nodded. Now wasn¡¯t the time or the place to argue that the rules were wrong, that they needed an overhaul. First, proof of concept that a healer with enough combat capabilities was a massive asset. Then, maybe, an exception could be argued for healers not needing to be fully combat capable before going out into the field.


    First things first though ¨C Elaine.


    ¡°Elaine is combat-capable, but about as strong as you¡¯d expect out of a typical support or utility class. Her secondary class is now a Fire mage, after her Light and Dark class merged into Celestial. She has an interesting restriction on combat ¨C anything she believes is sentient, she can only defend herself. She can¡¯t attack first. This extends to monsters like goblins, unfortunately.¡±


    There was a round of muttering at that.


    ¡°If she¡¯s so weak she can¡¯t handle goblins, there¡¯s no way she¡¯s strong enough to be a Ranger, regardless of her healing prowess.¡± One of the Army Commanders frowned.


    ¡°True. However, she¡¯s creative, and can work with her restriction. Shortly before the round ended, we discovered a small camp of goblins. We sent her in to exterminate them solo.¡±


    Julius shrugged.


    ¡°She got 10 out of 11 solo, doing such things as ¡®tapping on them¡¯ to get their attention, then running them through when they inevitably attacked her. Only goblin she missed was a goblin assassin we didn¡¯t tell her about. Not full marks, but strong enough to qualify as holding her own. She has no problems defending herself when needed, she¡¯s just reluctant to use lethal force when it¡¯s not needed.¡±


    Julius paused a heartbeat, letting it sink in.


    ¡°Kinda the opposite of Artemis, who keeps getting complaints about using lethal force when it¡¯s not needed.¡± He said pointedly. ¡°Imagine how much skinnier the file would be¡­¡±


    More rounds of discussion.


    ¡°Let¡¯s table this for another day. Julius, from everything we¡¯ve heard, you¡¯ve done an excellent job. Is there anything else you¡¯d like to report, or are you all set?¡±


    Julius paused a few moments, thinking. Thinking very hard.


    ¡°Artemis has told me that she¡¯s planning to retire. Will probably need a conversation with you to formalize.¡±


    One of the Commanders waved his hand, indicating he was dismissed. Julius got to the doors, opened them. Turned around.


    In for a coin, in for a rod. It was the right thing to do.


    ¡°One last thing real fast¡­¡± Julius said, grabbing everyone¡¯s attention.


    Julius dropped the explosive idea, then fled. He heard the room behind him erupt into chaos as he dashed through the halls, glad to be out of there. One of the guards looked after him, open-mouthed, as the other one closed the door of the room.


    That¡¯s going to make me or break me. Julius thought, as he slowed his pace down, walking back to his room in HQ normally.


    In for a coin, in for a rod.

 Chapter 320 - Major Interlude - Iona - They Meet in a Tavern I

    Iona was sick. She didn¡¯t have the fancy words the healers all had to describe the various types of sickness. She had a more practical take on it. Burning-vomiting-oozing pus sick. Useless for any sort of medical diagnosis, great for describing what was happening.


    Iona had been utterly shredded by the adult frost wyvern, barely managing to cling onto life with her absurd vitality. It kept her alive, but infection had set in. Acid had eaten away at her innards, melting the edges of some of her organs, and she only had one of her limbs left, using Mallium as crude prosthetics to keep moving.


    Staying in the frozen wastes of Modu with Fenrir was a slow death sentence. The only question was if she would feel cold or hot as the end came, and if Fenrir would wait until she was dead to start taking a nibble. Their bond, their relationship, was still new and Fenrir was willing to follow Iona while she remained a source of food.


    ¡°Lunaris. Selene. I need help.¡± Iona begged her patrons.


    A distant laugh, and an arrow appeared in Iona¡¯s vision, pointing in a direction. The goddesses had their own sense of humor, providing aid in unexpected ways.


    Iona had hoped that becoming their [Paladin] would mean slightly better miracles, but no.


    Iona¡¯s injuries were devastating. Her high vitality helped her heal faster, but there was no healing an amputated arm. Bodies didn¡¯t naturally grow back areas scoured with acid, and Iona¡¯s constant movement kept breaking open injuries that were trying to scab over. Her crude Mallium prosthetics kept digging into the stumps of her legs, forcing them open, having blood trickle down her metal leg - when it didn¡¯t freeze over before hitting the ground. That didn¡¯t even touch on how many broken bones, sprained joints, internal tears, and battered, half-ruptured organs she had. The fact that Iona could even stand, let alone walk, was both a miracle, and a testament to her determination and grit.


    She followed the direction the goddesses had provided, fever clouding her mind, narrowing her focus to a few small points. Fenrir came along, occasionally lapping Iona¡¯s blood from her crimson footprints, trying to fight by her side as they encountered various creatures that called Modu their home. The ones they didn¡¯t run from got turned into food that Iona gladly shared with Fenrir, making sure the baby always had his fill before she took a bite.


    Iona never stopped moving, not even when a blizzard howled through. She did have to pick up poor Fenrir and bring him along with her, or else the baby would get lost. She also shielded him from the storm with her body, which was unnecessary - but Fenrir remembered. He saw what she was doing. The clouded vision didn¡¯t matter, the goddess¡¯s divine arrow pointed the path through the blinding, driving snow.


    At last, nearly delirious with fever, Iona left Modu behind, entering the Tuvan tribes. Land of the yetis and snow women.


    The first tribe of yetis Iona encountered wanted nothing to do with her, keeping a wide berth around the crazed, blood-coated warrior with a wyvern trailing along behind her. The risk of her being some fresh new horror from Modu was too high, and besides. The little apex predator seemed to have dibs on her otherwise.


    Iona didn¡¯t press it, simply picking up Fenrir and stagger-running north with all her might on her crude prosthesis. Under ideal conditions - no armor, perfectly healthy, a ton of food, and her [Vow] kicking in the entire time - Iona could cover over 2,000 miles in a day. Of course, such a situation to allow her [Vow] to be permanently active was unlikely to persist as she covered the distance, and Iona wasn¡¯t close to ideal conditions. The best she could do, hobbling along on her prosthetics, carrying Fenrir, was only a few hundred miles.


    The second tribe was more willing to hear her out. Iona¡¯s gift of languages and tongue was partially sabotaged by her inability to clearly think and articulate what she needed, but the combination of speaking their own language, and clearly heavily injured had the yetis giving her a hand. However, their [Shaman] couldn¡¯t do much for her. His class only had minor healing, and it was entirely focused on healing members of his own tribe. The paste they gave Iona helped stem the bleeding, and Iona was back on her way north.


    The bleeding was stopped until she ripped half of it out the next time a monster ambushed the two of them. The divine arrow that had been guiding Iona so far faded the next day, and she found herself looking at one of the sects of The Great Tang.


    Getting closer to home.


    Iona couldn¡¯t remember her sects all that well. Some were friendly to the Valkyries, others were hostile, a natural result of Castle Valkyrie being near the border of The Great Tang. It frustrated Iona, how they should all be working together, and instead constantly found cause for bitter, petty conflicts, but those were thoughts for another day.


    End of the day, there was an even chance that any sect she found would happily ¡°disappear¡± her and loot her body, as they would help her. Iona was in no condition to fight people, her fever growing stronger, clouding her mind and thoughts.


    She bonded with Fenrir after a particularly difficult fight. Iona would¡¯ve struggled to figure out the right skill to remove if she hadn¡¯t spent more than half her life targeting a skill slot in the first place.


    [Dinosaur Husbandry] made way for [Companion Bond Between Iona and Fenrir]. The skill gave her a sense of the wind and the weather. Linked her awareness to Fenrir when she rode him - an event that was going to be far, far in the future, given his small size and slow growth speed. It gave her a supernaturally powerful bite, able to rip and tear with her teeth like she had a Dark skill dedicated to it. Lastly, it made her more savage, and even in the head-in-clouds fever state Iona was in, she recognized the danger of such a line, even though it wasn¡¯t fully explained.


    Her blessing let her peek at Fenrir, seeing that he¡¯d eventually be able to speak somewhat normally. That he was smarter - a low bar for the wyvern to clear, to be sure, but a welcome one - and that he¡¯d be unnaturally smooth for Iona to ride. Lastly, in a line that had Iona pucker her lips, he was going to be more of a workaholic.


    ¡°I am not a workaholic!¡± Iona screamed at the clouds, getting some strange looks from the other travelers who were already not getting close to her on the road. Something about being coated in metal and blood tended to turn off other people.


    The goddesses just laughed in her ears.


    However, she did keep her wits somewhat about her. The Great Tang represented the return of roads and travelers, and she kept glancing at various people she crossed - in spite of them keeping far away from the blood-coated fevered [Warrior] - seeing if any of them was a healer. Even the smallest and most meager of healers could give her a hand. She just needed to find one that had ventured out and was on the road, as opposed to trying to search through a town for one, who might not even heal Iona with her utter lack of money.


    The Valkyrie name wasn¡¯t as potent as it used to be, and The Great Tang. Rivalries. Sects disappearing her.


    Finally she saw one on the road, and felt her blood run hot, coursing through her.


    Want. The thought went, and Iona practically pounced on the poor man.


    ¡°HEAL.¡± She snarled at him, grabbing his shirt.


    She didn¡¯t even see the punch that laid her out, the man¡¯s bodyguard stepping in, but she did hear the poor healer running screaming, and felt ashamed of herself.


    She was better than that.


    She¡¯d let the bond get in the way.


    Concussed and feverish, Iona could only keep three thoughts in her head.


    Survive.


    Protect Fenrir.


    And last, her last mission, a place where she knew [Oathbound Healers] congregated, a place where she could be fixed up.


    Get to Lyon.


    Iona blitzed down the roads, stopped when she or Fenrir needed to. One of the stops was much like any other, an inn near a small village that recognized Iona as a Valkyrie, and had a strong impression of them. One of them had saved the inn owner¡¯s life decades ago, and his doors were always open to one of their Order, marked by their winged helmets.


    Iona collapsed into one of their beds after nearly clearing out the pantry with Fenrir¡¯s help.


    She woke up the next morning feeling amazing. Her arm was back! Her legs were healed! Sure, her bed was an unholy mess of blood, but that was a usual morning sight for Iona.


    ¡°Food?¡± Fenrir growled at her, Iona only understanding him because of her blessing. His language hadn¡¯t progressed that far yet.


    ¡°Soon.¡± She found herself growling back. It was still weird thinking a word in one language, and her throat making an entirely different sound than the one she expected.


    She stretched, marveling at her hand, at her ability to jump and move without pain. Her head was like clear ice, and there was a distinct lack of strange pulls and funny smells coming from her body.


    Iona took a moment to pray.


    Selene. Lunaris. I got healed! Don¡¯t know if you had a hand in it, but I¡¯m all better. Hope they¡¯re still around so I can say hi and thanks!


    Iona¡¯s stomach rumbled, the sort of ravenous, all-encompassing hunger that came from a fever or illness breaking.


    She made herself a bit more presentable, manipulating her Mallium to slide the blood off, then had it flow behind her back, effectively packing it away.


    The Valkyrie frowned as dozens of frost wyvern scales fell out of the armor, remembering that she¡¯d woven them into her armor to better bulk up and protect herself. With some [Telekinesis], she picked up all the pieces, delighting in how easy it was. No need to manually pick them all up from the floor one at a time!


    Mages had it so nice sometimes, and now Iona could dabble in their cool stuff!


    Iona walked down the hall, and had to resist snatching away a loaf of bread off of one of the [Barmaid¡¯s] trays. It wasn¡¯t hers, but she felt the impulse to just snatch what she wanted.


    It was wrong. It would be dishonorable.


    She made her way down the stairs, and took a quick look around the tavern, seeing if she could spot who it was who¡¯d helped her out.


    There was a cultivator from the Wandering Wind sect. A trader and his guards, along with his daughter. A few laborers from the village, grabbing a quick drink in the morning before heading off to a day¡¯s work. A party of adventurers, likely employed by the local lord to carefully dismantle an old ruin or wizard¡¯s lair and see what there was to find. A pair from the Hunter¡¯s Guild.


    Lastly, five people sitting at a table together. A couple, in their late thirties and early forties, subtly showing each other affection in their own private language of love. Iona glanced through their status, half-raising an eyebrow at the mage¡¯s level.


    Both had multiple classes and skills related to being Rangers, an organization Iona wasn¡¯t familiar with. However, it was clear that they weren¡¯t some sort of rogue bandits, even if they were far away from home. Iona made a mental note to check with them to see if they knew what the local [Lords] and [Knights] wanted for documentation, otherwise they¡¯d suffer no end of hassle.


    The girl was where it started to get weird. Who had a blank for a name slot?! That just didn¡¯t happen. Well, possibly she had entirely disavowed her name, like some members of the Eventide Establishment or one of the gangs were rumored to do. Even then, the one time Iona had encountered one, their name had been ¡°No one¡±, not a blank. People found it difficult to dissociate themselves from any identity.


    However, a mercantile class combined with a healer class, and a number of truly benign skills, had Iona thinking that she was simply some oddity, and not a ninja.


    And that was before her third class was flat-out missing. Iona played with her interface a bit, checking a few more people before confirming that, yes, she didn¡¯t have a third class registered. There were some other oddities going on with her status, words with accents, some skills meandering around instead of being in straight, readable lines.


    Iona had a brief moment of doubt. She didn¡¯t quite trust what she was seeing, not even the Race: Human line.


    She mentally slapped herself. Her ability to see statuses was a divine blessing from Lunaris and Selene themselves. There was no way it could be displaying something wrong.


    Iona disabled [Chilled Mind] and pinched herself on the next status she read, checking that she was actually awake and aware, and hadn¡¯t gone deeper into her fever. A real concern with what was displayed in front of her.


    It would be like the goddesses to pull a massive prank on Iona as she died¡­


    Sitting on a random table in a small tavern in a mortal country, staggering around with a belly overfilled with juice, was a bright, colorful phoenix.


    A phoenix.


    A phoenix. A creature that was supposedly just a legend, over-indulging on juice.


    Plus, the legends always had phoenixes as gigantic birds of flame, not a tiny hummingbird. Then again, her age was 1. Brand new, just hatched, and already capped at 128 and 32. Clearly waiting on additional class ups, and already had over 2000 stat points in each of the magic stats.


    Her skills were as stupid as her stats, and Iona felt a distinct sense of jealousy as she read over them. She¡¯d had to work her ass off for a decade to get skills that were a fraction as potent as what the little phoenix had gotten, and she seriously doubted the bird had gone through trials of - well, not fire - to get those skills.


    Life¡­


    Well, life was sometimes just unfair. Iona reminded herself of all the advantages she¡¯d gotten, all the ways life had been bent unfairly for her, and was about to move on when one last line caught her eye.


    [Companion Bond Between Auri and Healer].


    She was companion bonded to¡­ healer? What? The abstract idea of what [Analyze] showed other people? Someone with the healer class?


    Or had some pair of lunatic parents literally named their kid ¡°Healer¡±?


    She moved onto the last person in the party, and goddesses she was pretty. Delicate features led to a bright smile and sparkling eyes, her skin was clear and unblemished, she was lovely, striking, beautiful, stunning.


    Pretty.


    Iona had seen plenty of attractive men and women in her time. Shared a bed with a bunch of them. This lady wasn¡¯t the most attractive woman Iona had ever seen, but she was pressing her buttons just right.


    Iona felt the urge to throw her over one shoulder, climb back up the stairs, and throw her back into her bed.


    She bit the urge back, remembering how the companion bond was screwing with her mind and desires, and how she¡¯d scared off the healer she¡¯d met on the road.


    The urge was further quelled as she noticed the feathers braided into her hair.


    Angel feathers. Iona felt herself go cold at the blasphemer. Someone who¡¯d use the feathers of the god¡¯s sacred servants as mere ornamentation, likely from a fallen angel.


    She paused a moment, waiting for one of her patrons to whisper in her ear. To give her guidance on what to do. Iona was their [Paladin] after all. Solving these sorts of issues was part of what she was now.


    Ancient. Selene whispered to her. Angels fallen so long ago as to be gone from history.


    Angels¡­ sent to help her? Her friends? It¡¯s unclear. Lunaris breathed into Iona¡¯s other ear.


    Not something to handle right now, but Iona still had an initial dislike of the woman because of the feathers.


    She peeked at her status, feeling her mood lift at the great joke that was her name. She quietly chuckled to herself as she read the first line.


    Name: Healer


    The poor girl. Her parents had indeed named her healer, and nothing else. That was a rough way to start life. Usually when professions were in a name, they were appended after the name. So it was easy to tell in a village that you were talking about John the Smith, and not John the Tailor. Nobody would just name their kid Smith though - they needed a name outside the identity.


    As Iona started looking over the rest of her classes and skills, she felt like the phoenix wasn¡¯t the craziest thing at the table.


    At 22 - the same age as Iona - she also had her third class unlocked, but not yet taken. Still, it was the mark of an utterly absurd life that had gotten her so far already. The first class mentioned Sentinel, and it had Iona wondering about the Exterreri Empire vampire Sentinels. Maybe she had been selected - probably by politics or her parents, given her age - to be one of the next generation of Sentinels, and power leveled hard. It made sense with how vampires worked. Once they were turned, their leveling rate slowed to a crawl. It was much easier to get a high level as a human, or something else, then be turned into a vampire.


    That would explain her [The Dawn Sentinel] class name.


    Except¡­


    Except glancing quickly at her capped skills, [The Dawn Sentinel] was a healer class.


    The healer had gone for a healer class. It was as absurd as someone getting called ¡°mage¡± and deciding to become a mage, or someone named ¡°potter¡± at birth and picking up a pottery class. She never had a chance.


    But more distractingly, the healer class was way over 256.


    Just wandering around mortal lands.


    What was she doing?! What were the people with her playing at!?


    Why wasn¡¯t anyone else in the tavern freaking out!? Had she bribed them all or something!? Iona carefully read the room.


    No, there were no covetous or fearful looks shot the way of the strange healer called Healer. She wasn¡¯t the focus of the room, just a few lecherous looks shot her way. Iona felt an irrational surge of protectiveness and envy, but stamped it down.


    Dislike. She reminded herself. An over-leveled healer wearing angel feathers?


    There had to be some high level deception measures going on. Likely an artifact some [Enchanter] had made. It was the only thing that made sense, and it dropped her respect for the group by a few notches.


    Truth was important. Paramount. It was woven into her very [Vow]. Skulking about, hiding who and what they were meant they were likely up to no good.


    Iona deliberately ignored the uncomfortable truth that maybe they just didn¡¯t want to get murdered in their sleep.


    She continued looking through the first class¡¯s skills.


    [Affinity] wasn¡¯t capped, suggesting a massive number of levels recently without extensive skill use behind it, lending evidence to Iona¡¯s power level theory. That, or she somehow did major Dawn Sentinel things without tons of skill use.


    [Cosmic Presence] suggested lots of time with a large number of wounded people around her. Iona was practically certain that she¡¯d been power leveled at this point, people being deliberately injured to help increase her level. Healers could get dramatic amounts of experience that way, although Iona admitted that it was possible that Healer followed Exterreri Empire armies around, and got a number of levels that way.


    [The Stars Never Fade].


    Iona read the skill, on one hand not believing what it said, on the other knowing that it was exactly what it said. Her hand reflexively twitched towards her weapon, a lifetime of training ingrained in her to remove the threat. Kill one person, so tens if not hundreds of thousands would live.


    She didn¡¯t entirely lose her head, remembering that she was in a safe, civilized location, and murdering people outright was terrible form, especially after they just saved her life.


    After all. Iona didn¡¯t see any other healers here. As much as she didn¡¯t like to admit it, healer Healer had saved her and Fenrir.


    The twitch didn¡¯t go unnoticed though, and the older woman sitting at the table snapped her head towards Iona; her partner and the healer following suit just a moment later as the air crackled with the smell that air had right before a lightning strike.


    That was a twitchy mage.


    Iona threw out her ¡°healer got power leveled¡± idea entirely. The reflexes she¡¯d just displayed were born of great experience in fights and battles, not honed on a drill ground. In retrospect, she hadn¡¯t properly thought about the stats displayed for the levels she was seeing. That math had always made her head hurt.


    It was only polite to go over and say hi, and Iona was nothing if not [Adaptable] with a hefty dose of [Magnetic Charm]. Immortal healer hanging out with a phoenix? Sure, let¡¯s roll with it, and be polite. Be honorable. There were more ways of handling an immortality-granting healer than killing her. She started walking over, drinking in the sight of the healer with her eyes. By Selene, she was just so damn unfairly pretty. And, for some reason, vaguely familiar.


    ¡°Hi hi HI! Come sit!¡± The little phoenix brrrpted at her, making her feel welcome.


    ¡°Hello. My name¡¯s Iona. Thank you for saving my life.¡± She said, her tongue twisting in strange ways to speak Healer¡¯s - Elaine¡¯s - native language. It was her name, she should think of it in the word it was, not the meaning it had.

 Chapter 321 - Major Interlude - Iona - They Meet in a Tavern II

    Usually, speaking in a person¡¯s native tongue was great for settling people down. A fantastic conversation piece, as Iona always knew what language a person was most comfortable in, never needing to awkwardly speak in one of the keystone languages.


    It wasn¡¯t the case here. Far from being settled, Elaine went pale, needing to clutch at her chair. Iona reflexively shot a hand out to help stabilize her, but caught herself halfway through. Not only had Elaine not fallen over, but the Ranger couple had twitched in a dangerous way.


    Iona thought it was entirely reasonable when a high level warrior suddenly went for the person they were protecting, but no. They weren¡¯t the protectors at all, were they? They had to know her level. They were probably smoothers of some sort.


    ¡°You ok?¡± Iona asked, and Elaine gave a tiny nod. ¡°Is there a language you¡¯re more comfortable in?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s she saying?¡± The girl with no name asked Elaine.


    ¡°She was thanking me for saving her life.¡± She absently replied in a different language. How Iona knew that, she wasn¡¯t quite sure - just one of the minor benefits of her blessing that made it all work. ¡°In English.¡±


    ¡°Is that a problem?¡± Iona asked Elaine, sticking to the second language the pretty healer had shown proficiency in.


    ¡°It¡¯s - agh, how do I say this? How do you know it? Are you from¡­¡± Elaine shook her head to clear it, her hair bouncing around in a way that pressed all of Iona¡¯s buttons just right. It was unfair. Iona wanted to dislike her.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a divine blessing to understand languages.¡± Iona thought for a moment how much to reveal. [Magnetic Charm] helped give her a small nudge that being open and truthful would help here. She needed to have a talk with Elaine about her skills and classes, and ask her what the hell she was doing.


    There were many, many things she wanted to do with Elaine. Getting into a fight - a real fight - was not on that list, but if push came to shove, if handling Elaine stopped another war, saved tens if not hundreds of thousands of people dying?


    Iona wasn¡¯t great at math, but she could run those numbers.


    ¡°I¡¯ve also got a blessing that lets me read the status sheets of other people.¡± She admitted, and oddly it was the girl with no name¡¯s turn to go pale. Iona gave her a look.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t told them?¡± She asked, both distracting from her prior attempt at reaching for Elaine, demonstrating in a mostly harmless way that she was indeed telling the whole truth, and showing that she was mostly nice and helpful.


    The girl with no name would probably be annoyed with her, but the truth was the best.


    ¡°Hang on.¡± The man - Julius - said. ¡°We¡¯ve had a terrible time with the language here. I think instead of looking through whatever Amber has traded to the fae, we have so many questions we need answered, and frankly, we need help. Could you give us a hand?¡±


    The part about trading System parts to the fae was incredibly distracting for Iona, but she knew how to focus and prioritize, mentally noting to ask about it later. The Valkyrie gave Julius a beaming smile.


    Of course she¡¯d be happy to help. Anything to quietly get them merrily on their way, and out of Rolland. Preferably all the way to where the elves lived, anywhere they wouldn¡¯t start a war by merely existing.


    ¡°Naturally! I think it¡¯d be best if you told me how you got here.¡±


    The five of them regaled Iona with the most absurd story she¡¯d ever heard. One of the [Barmaids] quietly served Iona an extra-large breakfast, which she started picking at while listening. The Empire of Remus. A fairy ring. Amber selling things to the fae, and Elaine having unwittingly offended them.


    Amber¡¯s messed-up status was what convinced Iona more than anything else that they were telling the truth. Nothing could screw with the System¡¯s status - except the fae had never been told what the rules were, and did whatever they pleased.


    ¡°... so together we stepped through the ring the fairy brought us to¡­ here.¡± Julius finished saying with a wave. ¡°Exited out here, saw dozens of notifications -¡±


    ¡°And spiders. Soooooo many spiders.¡± Amber shuddered.


    ¡°And a lot of spiders.¡± Julius conceded.


    Elaine opened her mouth as if to say something, then closed it.


    ¡°Something to add?¡± Iona prompted, as Auri stole some food off her plate. Iona let the little bandit get away with it.


    Elaine shook her head.


    ¡°Nothing important.¡± She said.


    ¡°Well.¡± Iona said as Auri tossed Iona¡¯s pilfered breakfast off the table to a tail-wagging Fenrir. ¡°I have so much to say I don¡¯t even know where to begin.¡±


    ¡°Absolutely anything you can tell us would be invaluable.¡± Julius leaned forward, intently staring at Iona, showing his sincerity. ¡°We are so lost. We know nothing.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I can tell that. It¡¯s like you¡¯re children, needing to go to school.¡± Iona said, her appointment with the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft in her mind. ¡°Hang on, what¡¯s the date?¡±


    The five of them traded looks.


    ¡°I mean, we have no idea, don¡¯t ask us.¡± Elaine flashed a grin at Iona. ¡°Late summer¡¯s the best I can guess given the warmth and the crops, but for all I know magic¡¯s changed everything, and there are super-skills and the world¡¯s gotten warmer. For all I know, this could be mid-winter!¡±


    Iona laughed at that.


    ¡°You¡¯ll know when it¡¯s winter here. No, I agree, it¡¯s summer, I¡¯ll ask someone later.¡±


    She kicked back in her chair, putting her hands behind her head.


    ¡°Ok, I have no idea where to start with all this.¡± She said. ¡°Normally half of the important stuff I need to tell you I¡¯d have to tell you secretly, but if what you¡¯re saying is right, nobody can understand us anyways.¡±


    ¡°An old Immortal could.¡± Elaine pointed out, almost desperately. ¡°Someone who¡¯s been around that long.¡±


    Iona snorted.


    ¡°Nobody lives that long. If an accident or just misjudging a single situation didn¡¯t do them in, then an Immortal War would¡¯ve gotten them by now.¡± Iona spoke with complete confidence, ignoring the multiple glares she was getting.


    ¡°Night¡¯s totally still alive.¡± Elaine grumbled. ¡°And I¡¯ll find Awarthril, Aegion, and Serondes if it¡¯s the last thing I do.¡±


    Artemis squeezed Elaine¡¯s arm.


    ¡°You mentioned things to tell us secretly?¡± She said.


    ¡°Yeah. Ok, so. All of you are problematic.¡± Iona got everyone¡¯s attention with that. Even Auri stopped feeding Fenrir more parts of her breakfast, fluttering over to sit on Elaine¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°First.¡± Iona pointed to Amber, then hesitated. ¡°Actually, you¡¯re probably fine generally. I¡¯m just hung up on your status.¡±


    Slightly embarrassed, Iona quickly moved on.


    ¡°You are a phoenix. I don¡¯t need to say anything else.¡± She pointed at Auri. ¡°But maybe I do. I hate to say it, but people will want to steal you.¡±


    ¡°No! NOBODY WILL STEAL ME! I AM NOT A THING!¡± Auri yelled, and Iona heard exactly what she was saying.


    ¡°Nobody said you were an object, just that others might see you like one.¡± Elaine soothed the bird¡¯s ruffled feathers. Auri puffed up and pouted anyways.


    ¡°It Ok. Iona protect.¡± Fenrir growled at Auri, the two of them having become fast friends through the power of stolen food. Iona stroked Fenrir¡¯s head, scratching him in exactly that spot under his chin that he liked.


    ¡°The odds of it going bad are slim here, especially if you stay quiet about what she is.¡± Iona reassured them.


    ¡°Unless we run into a [Pet Trader] or something.¡± Amber said, and got looks from everyone.


    ¡°Ok, ok, so. Merchants.¡± She said, fumbling a bit. ¡°Merchants often get skills helping them appraise what they see. But! You need a tooooooooooooon of experience working with something before you get the skill, it¡¯s usually narrow, and it¡¯s not something you couldn¡¯t figure out on your own already. The skill just speeds the process up. It¡¯s why so many merchants focus on one thing. Uh. Used to focus on one thing? Yeah. Anyways! If there¡¯s a [Pet Trader] who knows birds super well, they could glance at Auri and see that she¡¯s super valuable. Or see that their skill doesn¡¯t work on Auri. That might make them take a close look, and BOOM! Problem.¡±


    There wasn¡¯t a ton to say off that, and Iona continued.


    ¡°Julius and Artemis are where you¡¯re going to start running into serious issues.¡±


    The way everyone was staring at Iona had her hurry her explanation along.


    ¡°Generally - not everywhere, but most places - combat Classers are required to be sworn to a lord. Well, only once they¡¯re over 256. Usually happens before then though. To be explicitly clear, this means anyone with the [Ranger], [Mage], or [Warrior] tag. This can manifest in a bunch of ways. The most obvious way is swearing to the service of the local [Lord]. Branches of the Hunter¡¯s Guild can get a number of licenses that they can distribute - but again from the lord. Adventurer parties can be sponsored by a noble, there¡¯s being the [Baron] in question, large Orders like the Valkyries have a number of permits, the town guard is usually flush with them, joining the army if you¡¯re in the Han Empire, etc. There¡¯s dozens of ways of getting permission, but you need permission. Normally, this isn¡¯t an issue. Good luck getting trained as a [Spearwoman] without being a member of the trainer¡¯s organization, and similarly good luck getting taught how to be a [Mage] without another mage teaching you. Usually, the teacher will pull the apprentice into their organization, and it¡¯s rarely an issue. Similarly, it¡¯s hard to find enough fights to level up without being part of a group. The rule, in practice, ends up being more that high level combat Classers need to prominently display who they¡¯re with, or tell anyone who asks.¡±


    Julius relaxed a bit.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not sure what¡¯s going on, or why you¡¯re saying I¡¯m problematic, but I¡¯m [Leader]-tagged, not [Warrior]-tagged.¡±


    Iona squinted at his highest class.


    ¡°You sure about that?¡±


    ¡°What happens if Artemis isn¡¯t sworn to somebody?¡± Julius asked, ignoring Iona¡¯s question. It had an obvious answer after all.


    ¡°At town entrances she¡¯ll be asked to show documents, insignia, or some other mark of your service.¡± Iona explained, mentally manipulating her Mallium to form the Valkyrie¡¯s distinct helmet. ¡°Have it? Guards let you in. Don¡¯t have it? They¡¯ll try to arrest you.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s probably what the [Knights] we met on the road were arguing about.¡± Elaine speculated. ¡°Debating if they wanted to hassle us for our documents or not. Maybe they saw Julius as a [Leader] and figured we were fine?¡±


    ¡°Why does that exist?¡± Julius asked.


    ¡°Sounds dumb.¡± Artemis agreed.


    ¡°It¡¯s a check on bandits and the like.¡± Iona said with more confidence than she felt. She never had gotten a strong reason why, it was just the way things were. ¡°When a bunch of [Sailors] turn to a life of piracy, either their classes are already over 256 and not a combat class, at which point putting them down is easier, or they¡¯re starting from the 256 marker, giving us plenty of time to handle them before they grow into a threat that¡¯s too large.¡±


    Elaine got a thoughtful look on her face, her eyes focusing on nothing far away.


    ¡°Who are you sworn to?¡± Artemis eyed Iona¡¯s half-helmet, clearly recognizing that it was her insignia.


    ¡°The Order of the Valkyries.¡± Iona proudly answered. ¡°There¡¯s not a lot of us left, but we¡¯re a mostly independent Order, focused on [Knight-Errants] who travel around, and fix problems that are being ignored by others.¡±


    ¡°Cool!¡± Amber reached up for Iona¡¯s head, then paused. ¡°Can I touch?¡±


    Iona graciously tilted her head, letting Amber feel the metal wings.


    Elaine refocused back to the present, and gave Iona a frankly disbelieving look.


    ¡°You sure about your reasoning? It sounds to me like a way for the rich and powerful to stay the rich and powerful.¡±


    Iona paused at that, her mind starting to work. She discarded the thought for the moment, mentally noting to have a deeper conversation with Elaine on the subject, and that she was as bright on the inside as the outside.


    ¡°No matter the reason, you¡¯re not going to be let into any towns without an affiliation.¡± Iona said. ¡°Not unless you borrow whatever Elaine¡¯s using to hide her level.¡±


    Elaine twitched at that.


    ¡°How¡¯d you know?¡± She asked, not bothering to deny it.


    ¡°You¡¯re in the most trouble.¡± Iona frankly told her. ¡°The fact that half the tavern isn¡¯t trying to lynch you is how I know.¡±


    She paused for a moment.


    ¡°Could we go somewhere more private to discuss this? I feel uncomfortable mentioning it in a setting this public, different language or not.¡±


    Elaine nodded and got up.


    ¡°Sure! Let¡¯s go! Where to?¡±


    ¡°Well, normally I¡¯d invite you to my room, but you saw the mess I made of my bed.¡± Iona said.


    ¡°Can probably use the room I was in last night. I doubt anyone¡¯s claimed it yet.¡± Elaine said.


    ¡°Want me there? As long as money is somewhat involved, I¡¯ve got a skill that helps with privacy!¡± Amber said.


    ¡°Sure. Fenrir, want to stay or come?¡± Iona agreed.


    ¡°Food. Many-color bird. Yummy.¡± Fenrir hissed. Iona took that to mean he was getting along swimmingly with Auri, who was making a fast friend with fast food.


    The three got up and headed back to the stairs. As they walked, Iona took a moment to look over the rest of Elaine¡¯s skills, a few more jumping out at her.


    A high level anti-pain skill must be a legacy of unimaginable amounts of pain. Her healing skill looked to be a true panacea. An energy skill, although Iona thought hers was better. Her energy skill was a passive that was always on, as opposed to an active that required mana and thought, though it was applicable to allies.


    There were no particularly interesting or special skills in her [Butterfly Mystic] class that Iona hadn¡¯t seen before, although the combination of healer-mage was rare. The amount of schooling that healers needed generally attracted the bookish sort, and they tended not to fight themselves. No, a healer was far more valuable slightly behind the lines, protected by dedicated warriors and [Bodyguards], and the wounded brought to them. It was a poor use of resources for the healer to also fight, especially as they¡¯d use their mana fighting - not healing people.


    Plus, people that fought didn¡¯t tend towards having long lifespans. The squires and Valkyries Iona had grown up with that were now no more than a tombstone attested to that.


    A beloved class was interesting, and Iona would love to know what Elaine was thinking of taking for her third class. She felt vaguely cheated that she never had time to properly plan it out, taking whatever class was there and powerful in desperation. It had been the perfect class for her in the end, but there was something just fun about discussing and planning it.


    [Bullet Time] was the first interesting skill in her general skills. Iona¡¯s blessing gave her the language, not the context.


    What was a bullet? The skill description made it clear it was something to dodge.


    A capped [Oath] skill almost had Iona trip over herself as she climbed the stairs, enjoying the view. A capped custom [Oath], and a powerful one to boot. Wow. She didn¡¯t know what the standard [Healer¡¯s Oath] was to compare - Iona had always been more interested in weapons, fighting, and escaping chores than studying every other profession under the sun - but she imagined it stacked up nicely.


    Also, Elaine literally couldn¡¯t hurt her if she never gave her cause to. That made Iona relax. It wasn¡¯t that she felt threatened by Elaine per se, but it was nice to know the living weapon an arm¡¯s length away was incapable of harming her.


    [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority] got Iona¡¯s hackles right up. The skill was blatantly lying!


    ¡°Peak of Humanity¡± her ass. Sigrun was leagues stronger than Elaine was, and entirely human. There were more humans out there significantly stronger than the Valkyrie¡¯s leader to boot! The only thing peak about Elaine was her healing capabilities, but [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority] was clearly combat-focused.


    And it was stronger than [Valkyrie¡¯s Valor]. That irked Iona somewhat.


    It also mentioned being a guardian of humanity, and a last bastion. It annoyed Iona for a moment more before she remembered the story of the fairy ring.


    Had humanity been on the brink of extinction when Elaine had lived? Iona mentally filed that question away, and then they were there, in Elaine¡¯s room, the woman in question sitting on her bed.


    ¡°Come here! Sit down!¡± Elaine patted a spot next to her, and Iona let herself show a smile at the hilarious internal joke.


    It hadn¡¯t gone as she¡¯d fantasized about, but she had wanted to get in the same bed as Elaine after all.


    Far away, in the divine realm, the home of the gods, two goddesses were lounging, practically on top of each other. Watching the finest entertainment.


    ¡°Ooooh! She¡¯s pulled Iona into her room already!¡± Lunaris commented, watching the going-ons.


    ¡°And she did it, not Iona! HA!¡± Selene laughed, conjuring up a grape and tossing it into her mouth.


    ¡°That coin bent things well.¡± Lunaris said.


    ¡°Yeah, didn¡¯t think they¡¯d meet for some time.¡± Selene said.


    ¡°Oh for my sake.¡± Lunaris swore. ¡°That damn overgrown lizard is at it again.¡±


    ¡°Trouble?¡± Selene could¡¯ve just flexed her senses to check on the issue herself, but it wasn¡¯t as fun or as nice as chatting with Lunaris. They had eternity together.


    ¡°Probably.¡±


    Grim-faced, the two goddesses took a closer look at what Lun¡¯Kat was doing.

 Chapter 322 - Hunted Existence

    My disappointment was immeasurable and my day ruined. I¡¯d met someone that spoke English for the first time ever since arriving at Pallos, and by my System status, that had been 22 years ago. 22 years of wondering. Doubting. Wondering if my prior life was simply an artifact of a vivid imagination.


    It had been so long.


    Then came Iona, casually speaking words in a tongue I¡¯d nearly forgotten I had. Hope had exploded at that. Was she from Earth as well? Could she¡­ well, I had a thousand things I¡¯d wanted to know and ask. Confirm. Catch up on mundane, boring stuff, make references that nobody here would understand.


    But no.


    It was ¡°only¡± a divine blessing, like priest Demos¡¯s.


    Still, we were in my room together with Amber.


    ¡°Ok! [Confidential Negotiations], go!¡± She said. ¡°Oh! Almost forgot. You need to be vaguely somewhat working towards some sort of deal for it to work.¡±


    Iona and I traded amused looks in surprising unison.


    ¡°Information in exchange for your prior healing of me?¡± She offered a hand with the agreement.


    ¡°Deal!¡± I happily shook her hand, feeling her rough calluses.


    ¡°What? Argh! That¡¯s NOT HOW IT WORKS!¡± Amber stormed off in a huff.


    We both laughed at that. My laugh was closer to a giggle, while Iona had one of those deep laughs.


    ¡°English?¡± I proposed. ¡°Nobody else speaks it.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Iona agreed.


    ¡°Testing. Testing. You can hear this, right?¡± Iona whispered, so quietly I could barely hear it.


    I nodded, enjoying the subterfuge. For once, I was happy that [Mantle of the Stars] lacked its privacy aspect - this was a little fun!


    ¡°It¡¯s my skill, right?¡± I whispered back, not quite able to modulate my voice as well as Iona had. She knew exactly how much vitality I had. I had no idea on hers.


    ¡°That¡¯s only part of it.¡± She said. ¡°It¡¯s - argh, it¡¯s hard to explain. Let me try from the start, even though you¡¯re at the end.¡±


    She flexed her hand, making a fist and releasing it.


    ¡°Immortals are¡­ not well liked.¡± She delicately put, and even I could tell that she disliked them. I felt my heart fall just the tiniest bit, but stayed focused. This was important.


    ¡°When people wage wars, soldiers die. Cities are sacked, ransom is traded.¡± Iona continued on, and I really hoped that she never ended up as a teacher of mine. ¡°When Immortals go to war? They¡­¡±


    She shook her head at it, missing the words.


    ¡°Create tornados, earthquakes, icy meteors, summon creatures of flame and stars, whip up sandstorms, and generally have too much power?¡± I suggested, thinking about the Guardians¡¯s fight with Lun¡¯Kat.


    ¡°Yes! Exactly! The scale is different.¡± Iona said, and I remembered a dragon pulling down the sky.


    ¡°Does it really matter to someone living in a city if an army sacks the city, or if they¡¯re swallowed by a tsunami?¡± I asked the warrior.


    ¡°Uh.¡± She paused, the look on her face making it clear she¡¯d never thought of it before. How could I read her so well? It was weird. I was never this good at reading people.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter.¡± Iona concluded. ¡°The end result is people hate Immortals. There¡¯s a big thing - the Treaty of Kyowa - which makes a ton of rules around Immortals living in mortal lands. It tries to regulate things somewhat.¡±


    ¡°How do mortals stop elves and the like from taking everything over, if they¡¯re that much stronger? Why bother?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know!¡± Iona threw her hands up in frustration. ¡°That wasn¡¯t part of my lessons! I was taught how to draw a bow, not geopolitics of a place far away!¡±


    Fair point.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m not Immortal, so I should be ok, right?¡±


    Iona shook her head.


    ¡°Ok. I suck at explaining things.¡± Well, at least she had some self reflection, which was a point in her favor. ¡°Healers tend to get Immortality skills earlier than anyone else, and get the ability to grant it to others. Not all healers get the ability, it¡¯s rare. But nobody else does.¡± She shot me a significant look.


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ aware?¡± I ventured.


    ¡°Right. Nearly every country, just like they require combat classers to be sworn to somebody past 256, stops healers at 256. Healers with the [Healer¡¯s Oath] are generally strong enough at that point where it doesn¡¯t matter. When the rules are broken though? Most people will hunt the healer down, because they don¡¯t want to invite a war to their doorstep. The local [Lord] would rather order a swift execution for keeping the peace, or else they face a riot.¡±


    ¡°A riot!?¡±


    Iona nodded.


    ¡°As much as people claim to hate Immortals, who isn¡¯t going to jump at the chance to live forever? Not many people can resist the lure.¡± Her voice was filled with utter disdain and contempt. ¡°Healers need patients to level, and the thinking goes like this. If a healer¡¯s openly permitted to level up past that point? They¡¯re obviously going for Immortality. Once they get it? Everyone wants them. It¡¯s a sparkpoint for a war. There was one last year over it. A nice excuse for the nobility to flex their muscles, conquer somebody else¡¯s shit, ransom prisoners, the whole lot.¡±


    It was nice to see that Iona hated nobles more than she disliked Immortals.


    ¡°If things go well enough, they get to capture the healer, coerce Immortality from them, then either play hot potato and trade them around for favors and wealth, or execute them to mark the end of the war, and stop everyone attacking them.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m a walking casus belli.¡±


    ¡°Exactly.¡± Iona said. ¡°I joined in last year¡¯s one, trying to help end it quickly, stop some of the worst from happening. Saw her body and a head on two separate pikes, along with her friends. They¡¯d taken her alive.¡± She said the last part extra-quietly, and I felt my skin crawl at the implications of ¡°coerce skill use¡± and ¡°taken alive¡± together.


    ¡°Everyone who wanted to joined in on the fighting, burned fields, sacked a city, and went back home once the excuse was dead. Of course, some of the retreating armies plundered their way back home.¡± Iona was practically spitting.


    ¡°Short version. Don¡¯t tell anybody about my skill - believe me, I learned my lesson on telling people and getting gently coerced already - and keep my ring displaying me at 256 at the max. That it?¡± I said.


    ¡°That would be it if hiding a level wasn¡¯t an uncommon skill. It¡¯s not as rare as granting Immortality, but it¡¯s not unheard of. It¡¯ll fool most people, but some people can see through it. You¡¯re in trouble then.¡±


    ¡°What do you suggest?¡± I asked, figuring that Iona knew the world better than I did.


    ¡°Go to one of the Immortal countries. Modu¡¯s pretty empty and cold, and I¡¯m not sure you¡¯d get along with the frost giants. Draakveld is¡­ weird. They only have villages, disdain any sort of power of leadership, and dislike non-demons, thinking they can¡¯t work with the system they¡¯ve got going. Jurcor is an option, although you need to read the fine print. Carefully. Six times. Even then you¡¯ll get screwed, although gently, in a more legal sense than anything else. It¡¯s probably safe. Urwa¡­ no. They¡¯d enslave you in a heartbeat, and you might end up being the main attraction of one of their auctions. Exterreri¡¯s an option. There¡¯s a significant human population there already, although your take on vampires will be important.¡±


    Vampires! I had a lead on Night! There was no way he was dead.


    ¡°Oh! How far away is that?¡± I jumped in.


    ¡°Errrr. Half the planet¡­?¡± Iona hedged, and my face fell. ¡°Don¡¯t worry! They¡¯re all that far away. Roughly. Kind of. Maybe less¡­? They can¡¯t all be halfway around the world¡­¡± Iona muttered to herself.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter?¡± I suggested.


    ¡°You¡¯re right, looking at a map would work better.¡±


    I looked at her hopefully, and she smiled ruefully at me.


    ¡°You wish. I don¡¯t carry a world map around in my back pocket, and I just don¡¯t know it well enough to draw it out.¡±


    Drat.


    ¡°Bhutai could work well if you like a quiet existence. Bunch of meditating giants, although there¡¯s no big drive for wealth or luxury. Then there¡¯s the Tympestshard Council, and The Golden Courts. Bunch of elves.¡±


    The Tympestshard Council rang a distant bell, but I didn¡¯t quite have the time to jump down memory lane and try to figure out why. Perfect memory didn¡¯t mean instant recall. It just meant that I could find it, if I worked at it a bit, and that my memories would never degrade.


    Awarthril had probably mentioned it at some point? It might¡¯ve been their home¡­?


    ¡°All of that sounds far away. Is there an easy way to get there?¡±


    ¡°No, everything nearby¡¯s hostile to Immortals and healers.¡± Iona promptly replied, then frowned.


    ¡°Wait, the School is coming by soon.¡± She said.


    ¡°School?¡±


    ¡°School of Sorcery and Spellcraft.¡± Iona said, and my jaw practically dropped open.


    ¡°Like Artemis¡¯s school!¡± I exclaimed, only to get a doubtful look from Iona.


    ¡°Errr. Artemis founded a school with that name. Although, I guess it was a long time ago¡­¡± I said.


    ¡°Rumors have it that it¡¯s a neutral ground. Immortals and mortals both welcomed. One of the best places in the world for teaching and learning. I¡¯m heading there myself!¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Sigrun wants me to be an officer! I got a scholarship.¡± Iona straightened her back and rolled her shoulders, clearly proud of her accomplishment.


    ¡°Do they have a library?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yeah, although maybe we should talk with everyone else? I told you the parts I needed to.¡±


    That sounded good.


    We made our way back downstairs, where everyone else was just hanging out. Except Auri and Fenrir. Auri was riding Fenrir¡¯s head, brrrpting charges as Fenrir acted as a most noble steed for her.


    ¡°Healy-bug! What¡¯s up? How¡¯d it go?¡± Artemis asked me.


    ¡°Well, from the sound of it, my life would be easier if I was Hesoid.¡± I gave Artemis a significant look, and Julius looked alarmed.


    ¡°That bad?¡± He asked.


    I glanced back at Iona.


    ¡°Maybe not? Iona hasn¡¯t tried to murder me.¡± I sat back down at the table, the Valkyrie in question sitting down next to me.


    ¡°Frankly. If you hadn¡¯t saved my life, if I wasn¡¯t indebted, there¡¯s a good chance I would¡¯ve tried to.¡± Iona got a round of glares for that, and she shrugged.


    ¡°I dunno who Hesoid is, but from the sound of it he was bad. Would you kill a Hesoid if you saw him again?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s got a point.¡± Artemis said.


    I kicked her under the table as Julius gave her a dirty look.


    ¡°You¡¯re all lying to yourselves if you say you¡¯d let Hesoid run around free if you saw him again.¡± Artemis darkly muttered to herself, then zapped me.


    I half jumped at that.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri shrieked her protest as she flew up to Artemis¡¯s head.


    ¡°Wait, no, not-¡± Was all Artemis got out, before her hair went up in smoke and flames.


    We got kicked out of the inn a minute later.


    ¡°Walk and talk?¡± Julius proposed. ¡°Not much sense in hanging around.¡±


    ¡°We might end up going back the way we just came.¡± Artemis pointed out.


    ¡°Yeah, but we can¡¯t hold up Iona too much longer. She¡¯s already done so much for us. We don¡¯t have a direction, might as well go with her.¡±


    We started heading north along the road with Iona, Amber¡¯s limp setting our pace. We didn¡¯t mind - Julius could grab her and run in an emergency.


    ¡°I¡¯m dead curious. Why is everyone saying my name?¡± I asked Iona.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    ¡°People keep calling me Elaine. Which isn¡¯t wrong.¡± I said. ¡°Except we can¡¯t figure out a skill to get names, and nobody else¡¯s name is mentioned.¡±


    Iona started laughing.


    ¡°Because the sound ¡®Elaine¡¯ means ¡®healer¡¯ in most languages!¡± She chuckled.


    My face fell.


    ¡°No. You¡¯re pranking me.¡±


    Iona just roared with laughter.


    ¡°You don¡¯t even have a last name to go off of!¡±


    Artemis elbowed me, and with that grin I knew I was in trouble.


    ¡°May I introduce you to the amazing healer Healer!¡± She flourished, getting amused noises from Auri and Julius.


    Amber had a wicked look on her face, and I pointed a finger at her.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare.¡±


    She pouted.


    To get everyone off of teasing me, I filled them in on the talk I had with Iona, the woman looking uncomfortable as I spilled deadly secrets in the middle of the road.


    ¡°What do we want to do?¡± Julius asked.


    ¡°I like the idea of joining the School.¡± I said. ¡°It¡¯s a safe place. I¡¯ve been wrestling with my third class for a while. It has archives, maybe I can find something about what happened. Get a feel for the world around us. Learn cool magic.¡±


    Artemis smirked at me.


    ¡°I think it¡¯s more of the last one than anything else. For me though? That sounds great, but I can¡¯t imagine myself as a student. Teacher, yes. But not at a place with the same name. I just¡­ don¡¯t know what to do with myself right now.¡±


    My heart fell. I didn¡¯t want to get separated from Artemis. She clearly read my face.


    ¡°Hey! You¡¯ll be at a school. That means we can find you whenever we want. I¡¯m curious what happened, I¡¯ll swing by once you figure it out.¡±


    Julius threw an arm around Artemis¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°I¡¯m sticking with you. Whatever we decide.¡±


    ¡°Love you too.¡± She quickly kissed him.


    ¡°Amber?¡± I asked my apprentice.


    ¡°I left on this adventure to bargain with the fae. Strike out on my own a bit. I didn¡¯t¡­ I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d lose everyone. Money¡¯s not worth it without people.¡± She was tearing up, something we¡¯d all spent a lot of time in Artemis¡¯s tunnel doing.


    She spent a moment struggling with herself, before sniffing and wiping away the tears.


    ¡°Anyways. I did it. Got a powerful class. Priceless gifts from the fae. Now I¡¯m going to use them, and make the biggest, baddest, richest trading house the world¡¯s ever seen.¡±


    ¡°Careful with that.¡± Iona advised.


    ¡°Why?¡± Amber¡¯s voice was surprisingly bitter. ¡°Why shouldn¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°Because individuals with too much personal wealth tend to attract the attention of crowned heads, and not in a positive way.¡± Iona frankly told her. ¡°When a war¡¯s going badly, and the coffers are empty, rich merchants with poor connections are an easy one-stop shop to fix all their monetary needs. Declare them to have committed some crime, seize their wealth, and boom! Done.¡±


    Amber opened her mouth at the sheer outrageous unfairness of it, but nothing came out.


    ¡°Why does it feel like there are rules designed to screw all of us over.¡± Amber complained.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like they¡¯re targeted at you.¡± Iona said.


    ¡°Still.¡± Amber whined. ¡°Rules for healers. Fighters. Merchants. It¡¯s not fair.¡±


    ¡°I imagined you weren¡¯t interested in knowing that if a [Baker] shorts their bread it¡¯s a hanging offense.¡± Iona drily observed. ¡°That [Tailors] need to be careful when taking orders from nobles, because half the time fashion changes and they¡¯re not interested in the expensive outfit they ordered. That [Farmers] need to coordinate their crops in peculiar ways that I studied and have no idea about. That [Butchers]-¡±


    ¡°Ok, ok, I get it, I get it. Rules for everyone.¡± Amber muttered, thinking hard.


    ¡°Well. I¡¯ll just have to get well connected then.¡± She brightened up. ¡°Still, if it means I never have to crawl through another stone tunnel, never see or smell someone shit five steps away from me, never get in a creepy forest full of spiders, or gods forbid, never have to be near one of those vorler-things Elaine killed, it¡¯ll be worth it.¡±


    Iona froze.


    ¡°Did you say vorler?¡±

 Chapter 323 - Vorlers, Spiders, and more!

    ¡°Yeah, I encountered a vorler and killed it. Was that wrong?¡± I asked Iona. I thought I knew the creatures that roamed around Pallos - mostly dinosaurs and other normal creatures, enhanced by the System, but I¡¯d never seen or heard of anything like a vorler before.


    Learned something new every day.


    I didn¡¯t want to think about what I learned in Artemis¡¯s tunnels though.


    ¡°No, that¡¯s good. Assuming it was a vorler. Let me double check, sorry.¡± She said. ¡°Nasty large scorpion-like creature?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, that sounds right.¡±


    ¡°What did you do with the body?¡± She asked, staring at me intently.


    ¡°I just left it there. Bunch of high level spiders were tearing into it, didn¡¯t want to aggravate them.¡±


    Iona swore, and started pacing back and forth.


    ¡°Ok. Remember what I said about Immortal wars? Vorlers were a weapon from one of them. They got out of control, and bards like to claim that was deliberate. They¡¯ve got¡­ well, everything. The part that matters right here? Their bodies are filled with tiny eggs. If they die in a fight against monsters, and the monsters eat them, the next generation hatches inside of them, eats them from the inside out, and leaves. Doesn¡¯t work against high level monsters, but it works well enough.¡±


    [*ding!* Passionate Learning has leveled up! 381 -> 382]


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡±


    ¡°Actually, yes.¡± Iona said. ¡°Burning them all is the answer.¡±


    ¡°BRRRRRRRRRPT! Brpt brpt BRPT!¡± Auri was delighted at the news.


    ¡°What happens if we don¡¯t go?¡± Amber grumbled, clearly not enjoying the prospect of limping all the way back.


    ¡°Possibly nothing.¡± Iona admitted. ¡°There¡¯s a good chance that any vorlers that do hatch and survive eating the spiders from the inside out get killed by the rest of the spiders as they emerge. Their sticky webs will help with that, and it¡¯s not like they¡¯re getting a ton of time and chances to class up safely, nor to grow. There¡¯s a reason they¡¯re a danger, but not overrunning the entire world. Worst case? A half-dozen survive, kill most of the spiders, escape or poison the largest ones, then spread out to continue the cycle. It¡¯s much better to take a detour and handle it now, while it¡¯s still easy to. Plus, you¡¯re not coming.¡±


    Amber protested.


    ¡°Why!?¡±


    We all looked at her. We didn¡¯t say anything, just let the weight of our disapproving gaze weigh down on her.


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡± Auri finally scolded her, slowly shaking her beak. I chuckled at that. She wasn¡¯t mad¡­ just disappointed.


    Iona also laughed, and that broke the tension.


    ¡°I need to move quickly. Elaine, Artemis, Julius, I would greatly appreciate one or more of you coming along to help show me where you found the vorlers. While I think I can handle the spiders myself, burning their bodies is going to take ages, and I¡¯m running out of time. Backup is standard for vorlers, and I was going to ask the local [Lord] for some assistance. I think we¡¯re in Lakewood County, but I¡¯m not sure.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk about it.¡± Julius said, and we huddled up. Iona wasn¡¯t in the huddle, but she could clearly hear every word we said. It wasn¡¯t like we were trying to exclude the Valkyrie who towered over even Julius, just¡­ she wasn¡¯t part of the conversation.


    ¡°We¡¯re in a completely new world.¡± Julius said, and we all made noises of agreement. ¡°We¡¯re all brought together because of Elaine, but there was always going to be a day where we went our own ways.¡±


    I didn¡¯t like where the conversation was going, but I understood it.


    ¡°The question is. Do we want to split up now, or later?¡± Julius asked.


    ¡°Later.¡± I said. I¡¯d lost all of my friends and family twice now. It was a knee-jerk emotional response, I knew in my mind that it might be wrong, but¡­ I didn¡¯t want to leave anyone else behind. No matter how much I knew Julius was right, and we¡¯d be splitting up one day.


    ¡°Ugh, I want to say later.¡± Amber said. ¡°But. Like. I can¡¯t go on this vorler trip, not unless someone carries me. And like. Shouldn¡¯t we have a way to meet up again? It¡¯s one thing to split up in a city where everyone¡¯s got their own villa and we know where we can say hi again. It¡¯s another thing entirely to split up without having a way to meet.¡±


    Artemis popped her head out of the huddle.


    ¡°Hey! Bird-face! Something you said about the School implies it moves. What¡¯s up with that?¡±


    Iona smacked her forehead with her hand. I kept a laugh from erupting with Artemis¡¯s nickname. Her helmet had little wings on it, and now that I was looking for it, she looked like an entire bird from the neck up. A weird bird, but I couldn¡¯t unsee it.


    Bird-face indeed.


    Wait.


    Shit.


    Did that mean I looked like a bug!?


    I narrowed my eyes at Artemis as Iona explained.


    ¡°Right. New here. Common knowledge isn¡¯t. The School of Sorcery and Spellcraft is located on a flying island. The places where it slows down long enough for people to go on and off are usually hot topics for [Bards], and the School¡¯s got a whole town attached to it.¡±


    ¡°That sounds like I¡¯m findable again.¡± I pointed out, then mentally cursed. I was on team ¡°stick together!¡±


    ¡°Also, like. Me being able to find people again is so I can find you all again.¡± Amber slowly reasoned out. ¡°I¡¯m likely to be on the road a LOT, with headquarters¡­ somewhere I can find. Does the town attached to the school let merchants have headquarters there?¡± She asked.


    Iona shrugged.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got no idea.¡±


    Amber cursed, then brightened up.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we meet up where the School is going to be. Or wait. Which way are you heading?¡± She asked Iona.


    ¡°North. To Lyon.¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t Lyon?¡± Amber asked.


    Iona shook her head.


    ¡°We¡¯re in the country of Rolland. Lyon is the capital. It¡¯s to the north, which is the direction I was heading.¡±


    My estimation of Amber¡¯s translation skill fell a notch or two. Then again¡­ she had gotten information where I¡¯d been close to useless when it came to figuring out speech and words. Amber¡¯s skill just wasn¡¯t as powerful as I thought it was.


    ¡°The vorlers were to the south.¡± Julius said, and I nodded agreement.


    ¡°You mentioned the local [Lord].¡± Artemis said. ¡°Won¡¯t he take offense to me and Julius?¡±


    Iona flexed her hand, clenching it and relaxing it.


    ¡°Yes. Yes she would. Even if I vouch that you¡¯re part of an organization called the Rangers, or retired from them in that case, she¡¯s going to be mad. From her point of view, you¡¯re high-level unannounced foreign soldiers trampling around her land. That¡¯s the worst way she can take it. The most generous interpretation is that you¡¯re escorting an Oathbound Healer around, and she¡¯ll let it slide.¡±


    ¡°All downsides, no upsides.¡± Julius summarized. ¡°You sure you need her for backup, and Artemis and I can¡¯t work in that role?¡±


    ¡°The more of us there are, the easier it¡¯ll be to find the spot where we fought the vorler.¡± I added in, and that seemed to sway Iona.


    ¡°Alright. It¡¯s just cleanup. Not a major nest.¡± She agreed.


    ¡°What will I do?¡± Amber asked, and it was a good question.


    ¡°I¡¯m unfortunately flat broke.¡± Iona confessed. ¡°Got eaten by a wyvern, had to fight my way out. Lost almost all of my gear and supplies, I¡¯ve been living off the land.¡±


    With that start to a story, we had to get all the details from her, which entirely derailed the conversation.


    ¡°Amber, can you trade your ability to heal for a few nights of board and lodging?¡± Julius asked her.


    ¡°Probably? My healing¡¯s getting pretty good, and if I make it clear it¡¯s temporary¡­¡± She went off thoughtfully.


    ¡°Iona. Can you broker the deal for Amber?¡± Julius asked.


    ¡°Naturally. But we need to move quickly.¡±


    ¡°Brrrrpt?¡± Auri asked.


    ¡°Yes, Fenrir¡¯s coming.¡± Iona confirmed.


    ¡°Brrpt?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be carrying him.¡±


    With the basics of a plan, and how we were going to meet up again solved, we acted. The local village¡¯s [Mayor] was happy to have a dedicated healer capable of minor restorations helping everyone out for the low, low price of a bed and some food for a few nights, and the six of us headed south at a much faster pace than we¡¯d gone north.


    ¡°Healy-bug. Are you sure you have a perfect memory skill?¡± Artemis raised an eyebrow at me as she twirled a rock on the tip of her finger.


    ¡°Yes! And I don¡¯t see you doing much better!¡± I shot back.


    ¡°Will the two of you let me think?¡± Julius groused back. ¡°Some of us are actually decent at this.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s a reason I was concerned that finding my way back after flying off might not work.¡± I muttered darkly under my breath, determined to get the last word in.


    Artemis won anyways, a tiny pebble more practically the size of a grain of sand hitting me with enough force to sting.


    ¡°BRRRPT!¡± Auri threatened Artemis.


    ¡°I already don¡¯t have hair.¡± She smugly replied to the little pyromaniac.


    ¡°Brrpt BRPT brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrpt.¡± Auri glared significantly at Artemis¡¯s clothes.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t, we¡¯re poor enough.¡± I told my little pyromaniac.


    ¡°Brpt.¡±


    Artemis glared at Auri¡­ and kept her distance.


    Iona kept her head on a swivel, studiously ignoring our bickering. She quietly pointed things out to Fenrir, growling at him in a language he could clearly understand, showing him the world.


    ¡°Here.¡± Julius declared, pointing to a spot on the side of the road. ¡°This is where we left.¡±


    It said a lot about stats, and how much Amber slowed us down that a trip that had taken us weeks on the way out had taken us days on the way back in, when the high speed stat Classers wanted to move. Even then, I suspected that we were all slowing Iona down.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take the air, you take the ground.¡± I suggested, and Julius nodded agreement.


    Iona took a wicked-looking axe off her belt. Metal flowed like water around Iona, entirely encasing her in thick plate armor. From her winged helmet now entirely enclosing her face, leaving just small slits for her eyes, down to her fingers and toes, she looked like a walking fortress. Being over 6 feet tall and made out of pure muscle didn¡¯t hurt.


    ¡°Ok. That¡¯s pretty cool. How does that work?¡± I asked, circling her. There wasn¡¯t a single strap, buckle, or clearly visible joint, yet she moved just as freely as if it wasn¡¯t on her.


    ¡°Mallium. Flowing metal that doesn¡¯t need a skill to control.¡± She responded from behind her helmet.


    ¡°Healy-bug. Do you want your armor back?¡± Artemis asked.


    I shook my head, letting the angel feathers hit my face as I did so. The perfect moment to get back at her from earlier, on top of being true.


    ¡°You¡¯re more fragile than I am. You need it, and the extra firepower.¡±


    Iona growled something to Fenrir, then turned to Artemis.


    ¡°He¡¯ll stay near you if that¡¯s ok. I asked him to watch for small sneaky spiders or vorlers coming for you.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri perched on top of Artemis¡¯s helmet. ¡°Brrrpt BRRPT!¡±


    ¡°Auri¡¯s going to do the same.¡± I thought about it a moment more.


    ¡°Auri. Save your flames for now. We¡¯re going to have a lot of bodies to burn when this is over.¡±


    ¡°BRrrrrpt!¡± She used one wing to kind-of salute me, mimicking all the times she¡¯d seen other people do it. I gave her a happy grin, then changed tracks.


    ¡°I first noticed the road when flying near the vorler fight. It isn¡¯t that far away.¡± I took off as I said that, hovering over the rest of the group as they started to make their way into the forest.


    I slowly flew around them, circling around while Julius backtracked our path out. The spot where the spiders had fought the vorlers was found easily enough, my [Kaleidoscope] butterflies having charred the area.


    All of the corpses were gone, having been eaten by scavengers. The only thing left was an empty husk of the vorler, chitinous plates scattered around.


    I flashed harmless Radiance at the rest of the party, letting them know where I was. I hovered in the air, acting as a beacon, as they quickly arrived.


    ¡°Do we need to burn that?¡± Artemis asked.


    ¡°Brrrrpt?¡± Auri was begging that the answer was ¡°yes¡±.


    Iona frowned.


    ¡°Technically no. Practically? Do it.¡±


    ¡°BRRPT!¡± Auri shot over, and helpfully ignited the corpse. Her first truly helpful and useful contribution on a mission.


    ¡°Careful! We have lots more to burn later.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt brrpt BRRPT!¡±


    ¡°Thinking about it, we should burn an area around the body as well.¡± Iona said.


    ¡°How much power¡¯s needed to destroy an egg?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Not tons.¡± She said, and I flew up, marking out a circle with Radiance.


    ¡°Is this a large enough radius?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°What?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Is the circle big enough?¡±


    ¡°Oh. Yeah.¡± She said.


    ¡°Clear out, Auri.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m leaving the body for you to keep burning.¡±


    ¡°BRRRPT!¡±


    A mollified Auri flew out of the circle I was marking with harmless light, then I filled in the entire area with burning, blazing Radiance.


    I spent exactly two seconds at full power before turning my skill off. All the fallen leaves in the area crisped and turned to ashes, the sticks caught on fire, and generally the entire area became blackened and burnt. If there were any eggs left in the area, they¡¯d just been utterly roasted and destroyed.


    Auri possessively flew over to the vorler corpse, continuing to watch over and manage the flames.


    We spent a few minutes watching Auri happily char the vorler¡¯s remains to ash.


    ¡°Right. The spiders now.¡± Iona said.


    ¡°We can just follow the tunnel Artemis made. Should be nearby.¡± I said.


    It didn¡¯t take long to find the tunnel we¡¯d burrowed through, and Iona winced sympathetically.


    ¡°How long were you in that?¡± She asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to think about it.¡± Julius replied.


    ¡°Plan of attack, since we haven¡¯t worked together before.¡± I came down, letting my wings dissipate. ¡°Iona. You look like a frontline fighter. Yeah?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Yeah. I¡¯ve got an archery class, but with no bow it¡¯s going to be useless. I do have a new class that I¡¯d like to get some use out of, but everything¡¯s close-in fighting.¡±


    ¡°Ok. How good are your reflexes, and hitting friendlies in a fight?¡±


    She was silent a moment, then answered in short, clipped words.


    ¡°Excellent. I¡¯ve never hit a friend in a fight.¡±


    I might¡¯ve offended her with that question. Ah well, it was important, I needed to know that to make a plan of attack.


    ¡°Ok, cool. If you get hurt, I might dive in and heal you back up. Try not to get hurt too much though.¡±


    ¡°Wait, really!?¡± She asked, and boy I could tell there was one hell of a story there.


    ¡°Yes really. Auri, you¡¯re with Artemis and Fenrir. Julius?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to stick with Artemis. All due respect lady knight, I can¡¯t hold a candle to how good you must be, and I¡¯m better off covering our heavy hitter.¡±


    ¡°Right. I¡¯ll be up high, dropping spells when I can, covering where I can, and healing anyone that takes a hit. Basically overwatch duties. If things go perfectly I¡¯ll be doing practically nothing, but we all know things never go perfectly. There¡¯s a strong chance of poison here, so even if you think you might have gotten bit, yell.¡±


    Iona turned her metal head towards Fenrir and growled a bit, who growled back.


    ¡°How¡¯s your armor with Lightning?¡± Artemis asked.


    ¡°Ok?¡± Iona said.


    ¡°Lemme check.¡± Artemis didn¡¯t wait for a response, lashing a jolt of Lightning right over Iona¡¯s shoulder. It curved down a bit, striking her armor directly.


    ¡°Drat. Rocks it is.¡± Artemis frowned as Iona jumped. I couldn¡¯t see her face behind the helmet but I imagined she was shooting Artemis murderous looks. Thankfully, she wasn¡¯t trying to actively murder Artemis, which would get ugly fast.


    ¡°Something to keep in mind. If you¡¯re in the sunlight I can heal you at range.¡±


    Iona nodded her understanding, and we carefully moved through the forest.


    It didn¡¯t take long to find the outskirts of the spiders, tiny fragile webs glistening with just a hint of dew. Small, harmless spiders, half of which were so small they didn¡¯t even have System access.


    It wasn¡¯t just spiders either. A number of small critters called the forest home, and it wasn¡¯t like we could assume they were all uninfected.


    Auri burned them all. Tiny little flickers of flame, and they were incinerated so quickly the only thing I got was a kill notification.


    ¡°This feels like overkill.¡± I frowned as another tiny spider met a fiery end.


    ¡°It is.¡± Iona agreed. ¡°If you can properly figure out the size at which spiders no longer had the ability to make it to the fight you saw and back, and can accurately categorize them, we¡¯ll leave some alone. Until then?¡± The Valkyrie didn¡¯t elaborate, simply pointed at another spiderweb for Auri to burn.


    The first giant spider came soon after, scuttling along the forest floor. Iona¡¯s axe wasn¡¯t super long, clearly made for in-close fighting. She killed the spider in a single smooth kneel-and-chop motion, moving so quickly she blurred. Her axe went through the main body of the spider in an explosion of ichor, practically cutting the arachnid in half.


    [*ding!* Your Party has slain a [Wolf Spider (Wood - 111)]]


    ¡°Brrpt. Brrpt brrpt brrrrrrrrrpt?¡± Auri asked.


    ¡°Auri¡¯s asking if we should wait to get a big pile of bodies before we start burning.¡± I translated for everyone else.


    ¡°Auri. Wants to hold off on burning.¡± Artemis stuck a finger in her ear and vigorously twisted it around. ¡°I swear I misheard you.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡± Auri had learned well from mom, and gave Artemis a Look.


    Mom. A wave of sadness crashed over me, and I grabbed it, stuffed it in a barrel, poured cement into it, and threw it into a corner of my mind. That corner was starting to get awfully full, and I had a Serious Problem coming.


    But not right now.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like it, but we work with the tools we¡¯re given.¡± Iona growled at Fenrir, then turned and walked deeper into the woods.


    We passed the corpse, and Fenrir breathed Ice on it, encasing it in a solid layer that¡¯d be hard for scavengers to break through - or smell that there was something there.


    ¡°Brrpt brrrpt?¡± Auri hovered over the ice, looking at herself in the reflection. ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s ice. It¡¯s cold. Solid water.¡±


    ¡°BRPT? BRRRRRRPT BRPT BRPT????¡±


    ¡°Yes, the evil water can make something pretty when solid.¡± I tried to explain to Auri.


    ¡°Brrrrpt¡­¡± Auri fluttered over to my shoulder, deeply conflicted.


    Water bad.


    Ice reflective.


    Ice shows her.


    Ice good.


    But ice was water.


    So¡­


    ¡°You broke Auri.¡± I complained at Fenrir.


    He growled back at me.


    We moved deeper into the woods, letting Iona handle the one or two spiders here and there ¨C since physical Classers were usually better at protracted engagements ¨C letting Artemis and I preserve our mana. I mean, I could restore my entire mana pool in half an hour, but I wanted to be full in case a fight broke out. We moved quickly but thoroughly, and I quickly saw why Iona had wanted to bring in the local [Lady] to assist.


    There was just so much ground to cover. So many spiders to handle.


    ¡°Incoming!¡± Iona yelled, and the rest of us tensed up. I flew up high, seeing a small swarm of spiders heading our way, led by the [Tyrant Tarantula]. It was hurt, having some ugly-looking cuts on its body, and missing a leg entirely.


    Didn¡¯t seem to slow it down much.


    I¡¯d already done the math on how much mana I thought I could spend, and how much I needed in reserve, and sent a trail of butterflies on an intercept course to the heart of the swarm. A series of explosions erupted in the middle, and I was rewarded with some notifications.


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Sentry Spider (Wood - 280)]]


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Black Widow (Poison - 69)]]


    One spider leapt all the way up at me, and I intercepted it with a narrow beam of Radiance.


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Jumping Spider (Gale - 152)]]


    Didn¡¯t see that every day.


    Then the fight below me was joined, so I dropped my altitude a hair to better support the team. My job was overwatch, protecting the team, and filling in any areas that needed help.


    Iona¡¯s axe blurred around her as she slashed, pounced, and stomped, an implacable bulwark against the tide. A large spider jumped at her, but Iona simply reached out her free hand, catching it in mid-air. She then squeezed, the spider practically exploding in her grip. She was rapidly covered in gore and spiders climbing up her armor, but she didn¡¯t allow any of it to slow her down in the slightest. Cool, competent, and in control, she was the one I¡¯d most likely need to help, but she had it all under control right now.


    Artemis was hard at work, shooting stones so quickly that I didn¡¯t see them, simply heard tremendous booms as she fired off her rocks, spiders practically exploding as her attacks made contact. I noticed that there was something of a ¡°cone of safety¡± for the spiders, as Artemis didn¡¯t risk shooting anything too close to Iona, the warrior moving so quickly that my friend and mentor didn¡¯t think she had clear lines to fire. A spider sneaking up on Artemis was another concern of mine, but that was mitigated by Julius.


    Julius had my shortsword still, and was in a defensive stance slightly behind Artemis. Once in a while one of the spiders broke past Iona and went for them, and Julius smoothly stepped forward to stab the spider, him and Artemis working in perfect tandem. She was willing to fire rocks so close to Julius that his hair blew all over the place, but the two had utter trust in each other. Artemis trusted Julius to handle the spiders coming after her, not bothering to waste any mana on them, and Julius trusted Artemis not to hit him. Clockwork teamwork.


    Auri was sitting on top of Fenrir, the two low level companions knowing they were outclassed¡­ and getting fantastic experience from this. Honestly, it was a little unfair - all the experience Iona and I were getting was getting funneled straight to those two.


    Everyone was stunningly competent and doing their parts well, and I hovered over them like a protective mother hen, ready to shift and move at a moment''s notice.


    The [Tyrant Tarantula] entered the fray, starting a dance to the death with Iona. The monster towered over her, mandibles clicking and clacking so quickly I could only hear the staccato beating of its mouth. The monster shook the ground as it stomped around, legs trying to impale Iona, who was artfully dodging.


    I think. They were both moving so quickly it was hard to tell what, exactly, was going on. I was impressed that Iona was able to keep up in speed with a monster some 200 levels higher than her.


    I did get quick flashes of what was going on as the two briefly slowed down now and then, the occasional rain of gore indicating where Iona had landed a blow on the tyrant. I was fully prepared to dive in at a moment¡¯s notice if - when - Iona took a blow.


    The spiders started throwing out webs, and one spider hung back a bit, spitting nasty liquid at Iona. I had no idea what that did, but it couldn¡¯t be good, especially as Iona was now tangling with the [Tyrant Tarantula]. I doubted it¡¯d actually land, but Iona didn¡¯t need to be forced to dodge an attack by the peanut gallery.


    I swooped down, stopped the spit with [Mantle of the Stars], and surgically removed the spider from the equation.


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Spitting Spider - (Acid - 102)]]


    As I finished my dive, I twisted to fly towards Iona. The spiders were doing what some spiders did best, and applying sticky webs to the problem. One strand of spider silk wasn¡¯t an issue, Iona could easily break it, but it stuck to her. Got caught again and again as the spiders continued trying to weigh her down. Not only that, but bloody thorns were erupting from the ground, growing from every step of the gargantuan spider, then whipping around and trying to wrap around Iona and tie her down. The thorns mostly skidded off her tough armor, but a vine around her ankle was a vine around her ankle, fouling her mobility and footwork. I didn¡¯t know her entire build, but ¡°slowly getting trapped by spiderwebs¡± seemed to be a weakness of hers.


    I flashed Radiance over her to burn all the webs, spiders, and thorns wrapping around her. She significantly sped up, freed from the bindings.


    I flew back up, only to see the [Tyrant Tarantula] landed a solid blow on her, throwing her back through a tree.


    Wow.


    Iona reoriented herself in mid-air, and landed feet-first on the trunk of a second tree. Somehow, in spite of her great speed and cleanly going through the first tree, the second tree barely seemed to register her landing. She kicked off the tree trunk, moving through the air with her axe in a way I knew was impossible with pure stats. There had to be some skills involved.


    As she got near the [Tyrant Tarantula] again, her trajectory suddenly changed, and she plummeted down. Her axe flashed on the way down, neatly cutting through two more of the tyrant¡¯s legs. She landed hard on her knees, the decaying leaves on the forest floor blowing away from the force of the impact.


    Definitely skills involved, probably around manipulating weight. I¡¯d seen enough Ranger Trainees try to fly.


    Then she was up again, under the gigantic tarantula trying to crush her, as a full barrage of Artemis stones broadsided the creature. I dove down myself, aiming a light Radiance burn at Iona.


    My light washed over her, burning away the accumulated spider webs and roasting dozens of tiny critters besides, trusting that her armor would keep her safe from whatever damage my Radiance might do.


    This was not the time for an [Oath] violation.


    I pulled up again out of my flight, shooting a quick heal at Iona - there had been that Acid-spitting spider, or the small one that had gone inside her helmet might¡¯ve had Poison or something. Then I made sure to fire a blistering beam of Radiance at one - my magic power was too low to get two or more at the same time - of the [Tyrant Tarantula]¡¯s eyes, burning and popping it with the extreme heat. The spider screamed at that, stomping and rampaging, knocking Iona¡¯s axe out of her hands. I switched to a second eye, but wasn¡¯t able to fully blind it before I was out of range.


    She screamed back at the spider, leaping onto it and grabbing its mandibles with her armored hands. With a yell and a powerful backwards flex, she slowly forced its mouth open until they came to a momentary stalemate.


    Until Artemis shot off a [Lightning Bolt] directly at the giant spider. The bolt itself was absorbed by the spider¡¯s body, seemingly harmless, but I knew better. I¡¯d literally written the book on how electricity can interfere with nerves, muscles, and more. With a triumphant roar Iona ripped the mandibles off of the spider¡¯s face, throwing one aside and holding her hand out. Her axe slapped itself back into her hand, and she screamed a warcry as she went to town on the spider¡¯s back.


    Moving so quickly that I just saw gore and ichor flying, she savagely tore into the spider¡¯s back. I had a brief vision of a berserker as the spider died.


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Tyrant Tarantula - (Forest - 769)]]

 Chapter 324 - The Distance Traveled

    With the death of the [Tyrant Tarantula], the spiders became significantly less coordinated, and there was no longer a powerful monster pinning down Iona. We were able to focus our efforts more broadly, and the remaining spiders were quickly wiped out.


    Iona¡¯s helmet slid away, and she spat half a spider out of her mouth.


    ¡°Pleh! Agh, that was gross.¡± She complained, spitting a few more times. ¡°I got a bite skill recently, but it never mentioned that I¡¯d have to taste the spider.¡±


    ¡°First time?¡± I asked Iona with a grin, remembering how many blasted times I¡¯d needed to chow down on spiders.


    I¡¯d like to say never again, but my luck wasn¡¯t that good.


    That explained what happened to the spider I¡¯d seen crawl into her helmet. I tapped her one more time, healing any bruises or cracked bones she might¡¯ve gotten at the end of the fight.


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± Artemis asked, and a lot of things happened practically at once. Iona threw her axe at Artemis¡¯s feet, so quickly I only saw a fraction of a blur. I wasn¡¯t an expert on this - she moved so quickly - but I swear I¡¯d just seen her move faster than she had during the entire fight against the spiders.


    Artemis was on her usual hair trigger, and a blast of Lightning erupted from her feet, crackling and sizzling the ground around her right as the axe landed, cutting through Artemis¡¯s foot as it did so.


    Julius was starting to move towards Iona, but he was comically slow compared to the Valkyrie. I was unsure of what, exactly, was going on, but Iona seemed incredibly competent. If she was trying to suddenly betray us, attacking Artemis¡¯s foot wasn¡¯t how she¡¯d try to kill us. No, something else was going on, and I blasted healing around me to make sure we were protected, all while looking around for threats or problems.


    Whatever was going on near Artemis¡¯s feet had enough attention. Someone needed to keep an eye out.


    [*ding* Your party has slain a [Vorler - (Decay - 9)]


    ¡°Vorler!¡± Iona shouted at the same time we got the notification. She pointed to Artemis¡¯s foot, while casually catching Julius¡¯s sword in her gauntleted hand. He stopped, and Iona just gave him a disappointed look.


    Artemis cursed and hopped away, holding onto her foot which I snap-healed back up. Iona knelt down, grabbed her axe, and scooped up part of the ground.


    ¡°See?¡± She pointed to a spot on the dirt. I focused on it, but didn¡¯t quite see it.


    ¡°I¡¯m missing it.¡± I said.


    ¡°I slightly obliterated it.¡± Iona casually said, poking at the dirt. ¡°Here we go!¡± She extracted a mottled brown piece. I looked at it closely, finally seeing three legs and a pincer on the side.


    ¡°They¡¯ve got a deadly venom in their stinger. Can kill creatures much larger than they are, especially ones with lower vitality.¡±


    ¡®Artemis¡¯ and ¡®low vitality¡¯ didn¡¯t exactly compute for me, but Iona was clearly operating on a different scale. Also, I was all too aware that some venoms needed absurdly tiny doses to kill a person. Even being eight, nine times as tough as the human baseline would change the lethal dose from micrograms to slightly more micrograms. Still barely anything.


    Artemis whistled.


    ¡°That was quite some feat! I was almost de-feeted.¡±


    We groaned at Artemis¡¯s terrible puns.


    ¡°That was some throw! Good eyes!¡± She threw one of her arms over Iona¡¯s shoulders. ¡°Healy-bug, Iona¡¯s my new favorite. Can we keep her?¡±


    ¡°Thank you for saving Artemis¡¯s life. Sorry about¡­¡± Julius¡¯s apology had a note of embarrassment and contrition to it.


    ¡°You are welcome.¡± Iona gracefully accepted Julius¡¯s apology. ¡°I completely understand your concern and reaction. Now. We still have work to do.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the expert here.¡± Julius deferred to the blonde warrior. ¡°What¡¯s your proposal?¡±


    Iona¡¯s eyes quickly flickered over Artemis and I.


    ¡°Artemis, you¡¯re low on mana. Why don¡¯t you stay with Fenrir and Auri, and start the pyre? Elaine, come hunting with me, and Julius, can you bring what we kill to the bonfire? That should get us done quickly.¡±


    I thought over the plan. It seemed reasonable.


    ¡°Brrpt?¡± Auri wanted a little bit of help with the spiders.


    ¡°Yeah sure.¡± I agreed with her. ¡°Can you handle it once I¡¯m gone?¡±


    ¡°BRRPT!¡±


    Iona grabbed her axe and started to go to town on the nearest dead tree, swiftly cutting it to pieces.


    We started stacking the bodies, leaving the [Tyrant Tarantula] where it fell to be the centerpiece. As each spider and log got added, I quickly flashed some light Radiance over it, drying it out a bit to make Auri¡¯s job easier. Once a proper bonfire got started, the heat and the flames would create a self-perpetuating cycle of heating, drying, and flames. Auri just needed a little boost on the early, water-filled bodies.


    Iona knelt, bowed her head, and quietly murmured to herself while we were working on the fire. It looked like she was praying. Julius and Fenrir went to fetch the previously frozen spiders.


    Before long, a roaring bonfire was going. Iona got up from her pose, and joined us by the flames.


    ¡°Ready?¡± Iona asked us.


    ¡°Ready!¡± I said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Julius said.


    The three of us started to make ever-widening circles. I believed most of the danger and threats had passed - plus there was Iona and Julius as backup - so I had a lot of fun. Iona was a melee warrior. She killed things with her axe.


    Every time she was about to kill a spider, I darted a little closer to get in range and lanced a fine beam of Radiance through it, killing the web weavers before Iona could. Julius was kept busy running the bodies back and forth to the bonfire, throwing one in before coming back for more.


    ¡°You¡¯re doing that on purpose!¡± Iona complained after the fourth one.


    ¡°Yup!¡± I cheerfully hovered over her. ¡°Try and stop me.¡± I stuck my tongue out at her, needing the bit of humor in my life. Everything had been so¡­


    I locked the thought away, and went back to teasing Iona.


    ¡°Just you watch.¡± She smirked at me. I was hovering close enough to her that she could grab my ankle - a deliberate weakness that she could exploit if she wanted to - but instead she knelt down, grabbed a rock, and threw it like a baseball at one of the larger spiders lairing in its web.


    Remembering that it was one of Brawling¡¯s favorite tricks sent another wave of sadness through me, one I failed to crush. I turned to discreetly wipe a tear away.


    ¡°Oh come on!¡± Julius complained, getting back just in time to see the spider guts go flying. ¡°That¡¯s going to take ages to clean up and get back to the fire!¡±


    Iona and I glanced at each other, laughed, and the race was on. She ran ahead, fleet of foot and perfectly stable on the rough forest floor, magically levitating rocks to her hand as she ran, then throwing them out with a flick of her wrist. I knew she had Gravity magic, and this confirmed it. Occasionally, the rock would simply maim a spider instead of outright killing it, and Iona would need to detour, finish the spider off, then keep going.


    I almost sniped those out from under her, then realized it was better for me that she was distracted and sidetracked.


    I flew in a zig-zagging path, searing and burning spiders where I found them.


    The two of us raced, and it hurt me a bit to admit that she was doing better than I was.


    Still, I had one class to use, and Iona clearly had her third unlocked and was getting good use out of it. It wasn¡¯t terribly fair.


    It was loads of fun, the two of us zipping through the forest, pushing ourselves to the extremes of our skills and abilities.


    Julius had quite a few words to say about our pace, and I started to take the lead as Iona silently added an extra restriction to herself - she needed to cart her dead spiders back to the bonfire.


    Occasionally we got a notification on a low-level vorler kill.


    ¡°Stop!¡± Iona called out, serious. I halted, and twisted myself in mid-air.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°I think there¡¯s a vorler caught in this spider¡¯s web.¡± She said. I swung back, and incinerated the offending web in question.


    We looked at each other at the same time.


    ¡°No notification.¡± Iona shrugged.


    ¡°Might¡¯ve been dead already.¡± I generously allowed. Her eye for vorlers was much better than mine, and I was willing to accept minor detours.


    Soon enough, we¡¯d cleared a large area, and Iona was satisfied. We headed back to the roaring bonfire, Artemis waving at us.


    ¡°Brrrpt! BRRRPT brrpt BRPT!¡± Auri was the boss, fiercely chirping at Julius and Iona when and where to throw the various bodies in the fire for maximum burning. She hovered over the body, then flew over to the fire and hovered in a particular spot, showing where she wanted it thrown in.


    ¡°Grrrr?¡± Fenrir growled at Iona.


    She growled back, and Fenrir curled up. The characteristic lights of someone classing up appeared around him.


    Iona cut up part of a tree trunk and dragged it over near the fire, and sat down on it, protectively sitting over Fenrir.


    ¡°Come! Sit! Let¡¯s chat!¡± She called at us, patting the log on either side of her. ¡°We¡¯ve barely had a moment since we met, and I¡¯d love to hear more about your adventures!¡±


    Julius gracefully sat down next to her, and I took the other side, while Artemis moved next to Julius.


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡± Auri told me, and continued to officiously fly around the fire, tending to it in a way only she could see.


    ¡°Tell me everything! I¡¯d love to hear all about the place where you three came from!¡± Iona¡¯s eyes were practically shining, eager to hear and learn more.


    ¡°I¡¯d love to! But can we do it in the local language? We need to learn it, and literally nobody except you can act as a translator.¡± Julius, you wily old fox. That was brilliant, and I never would''ve thought of that.


    Iona flashed him a charming smile, clearly aware of what he wanted, and that the only way she could get what she wanted was by humoring him. It was a win-win situation all around.


    ¡°How about a weighted split in your favor?¡± She proposed.


    I wasn¡¯t going to weigh in on that. Julius was much better at this than I was. I missed Amber being here, I was sure she could fleece Iona for three full languages and her suit of armor besides.


    Julius nodded acceptance.


    ¡°Ok! What language do you want to learn?¡± Iona asked.


    ¡°There¡¯s more than one?¡± Artemis asked.


    Right. She¡¯d never been exposed to different languages in the same place.


    ¡°Yes. Sanglo¡¯s the main language spoken in Rolland, but most people speak a bit of Hakka. Hakka is popular in other countries as well. If you want to stay in Rolland? Sanglo¡¯s your best bet. If you want to travel? You¡¯ll get further with Hakka.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the best language for traveling the world?¡± Julius asked.


    ¡°Beats me. There isn¡¯t a global language or anything like that.¡± Iona said.


    ¡°Enough waffling. Hakka!¡± Artemis decreed.


    Iona turned to look at me.


    ¡°You onboard with Hakka? You might want to learn High Elvish, it¡¯s spoken in most of the Immortal lands.¡±


    I thought about it briefly. I had to be heading over there anyways, otherwise I risked getting hunted down for my class.


    ¡°Will it help Artemis and Julius?¡± I asked Iona.


    She shook her head, long blonde hair waving, dancing with the embers thrown off the fire.


    ¡°Hakka it is!¡± I proclaimed.


    ¡°Ok. Hakka is a very tonal language. Same words, different sounds create dramatically different effects. Let¡¯s start with ¡®My name is¡¯. It¡¯s ¡®B¨¯ ki¨¤o¡¯...¡±


    We sat around the fire, one of us occasionally getting up to throw another log into the fire under Auri¡¯s commands, slowly learning the bare bones of the language. The fire was burning low like the sun that was on the horizon when a deep crashing noise came from the forest.


    We quickly got up and on our guard. Iona¡¯s metal flowed over her, forming her armor. She continued to stand protectively over Fenrir, and this time part of her armor flowed to make her a kite shield. Auri perched on my shoulder as I flew up, and Artemis and Julius took a position behind Iona, with their backs to the fire.


    ¡°I see pennants.¡± I called down to the group.


    ¡°What do they look like?¡± Iona asked back, but I had no time to respond, as they burst into the clearing, rearing their mounts to a stop.


    There was a dozen of them, led by someone in fancier armor, and what drew my attention initially were their mounts. Badgers. Oversized badgers, coated in armor with a bridle, that the knights were all riding like it was perfectly normal.


    Six of them identified as various levels of [Warrior], three of them were [Rangers], two of them were [Mages] - still coated in armor, I approved - and the fancy armor one along with the last knight was a [Leader].


    They were armed, dangerous, but not attacking. The knights parted way to let the fancier one through, and she and Iona started rapidly talking, occasionally pointing to the fire. I only recognized a few words, and while my education in Hakka had just begun, it didn¡¯t sound like it at all.


    I heard ¡°vorler¡±, which seemed to cross language barriers, ¡°Elaine¡± which also had that annoying tendency - I was going to end up with whiplash or ignoring people at this rate - and ¡°Valkyrie¡±, said respectfully from the leader type to Iona.


    There were some happy noises, and some really upset noises, along with lots of pointing at everyone.


    It seemed safe enough, so I landed behind Iona. Eventually negotiations or discussions or whatever finished up, and the knights dismounted.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I asked Iona, entirely confident that the knights couldn¡¯t understand me.


    If they could, that would be a huge win in my books.


    ¡°They saw the fire and came to investigate. As a Valkyrie, I¡¯m usually happily accepted into anyone¡¯s territory, especially in Rolland. There¡¯s some politics going on which makes my presence here less desirable to [Countess] Lakewood there, but explaining that we were on a vorler clean up hunt has both made her happy, and supremely irritated.¡±


    ¡°Ah. Irritated?¡± I asked as one of the knights came up to me and offered me a nice travel meal.


    ¡°Something Elaine.¡± He half-bowed to me. I did a half-double take, before remembering what Iona had said about my name meaning ¡°healer¡±. This was going to get old, fast.


    Free food wasn¡¯t going to get old though.


    ¡°Is it safe to take?¡± I asked Iona, who instantly divined my meaning.


    ¡°Yeah, they¡¯re not going to expect anything of you.¡± She answered.


    ¡°Chiechie.¡± I told him.


    ¡°Chi¨¨chi¨¨¡± Iona lightly corrected me.


    ¡°Chi¨¨chi¨¨.¡± I said again - repetition was the mother of learning - and the knight happily withdrew.


    ¡°What about us?¡± Julius asked, having relaxed. Artemis hadn¡¯t, still holding a handful of pebbles with her back to the fire.


    ¡°Countess Lakewood¡¯s more than a bit unhappy that you two are here.¡± Iona frankly told them. ¡°Honestly, if it wasn¡¯t for the fact that you were with me, and that vorlers are everyone¡¯s enemy and now she needs to do a thorough search of the area, she might¡¯ve taken significant exception to your presence.¡±


    Artemis got one of those calculating looks on her face.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare.¡± I strode up to her and poked her in the chest. ¡°Don¡¯t even think about it.¡± Artemis was naturally planning on how to murder everyone who could possibly want her dead, and naturally she was figuring out a massive pre-emptive strike to make sure that happened.


    ¡°You know I need to.¡± Artemis protested.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t. Why don¡¯t we just all leave?¡± Julius said.


    Iona looked torn, looking down at Fenrir. She hadn¡¯t moved from her protective position, simply twisting and turning.


    ¡°The vorlers are handled, the local [Lady] is here, and I need to get to Lyon.¡± She muttered to herself. ¡°Right. Let¡¯s head back to pick up your friend.¡±


    We got up, Iona made a number of polite noises with the countess, and after some words one of her attendants gave Iona a small satchel. As the dragoneye moons rose on the horizon, I used my [Radiance Conjuration] to light us a path back to the road. We didn¡¯t need to stop for the night, nor did we want to. I had [Sunrise] to keep us all going.


    Heading north, to Amber.


    Heading north, to Lyon.


    Heading north, to the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft.

 Chapter 325 - To the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft!

    We jogged through the night at a modest pace, occasionally alarming some merchant group¡¯s sentry or another as we passed by. I lit the way with my Radiance, and all of us were used to long, hard days.


    Well.


    Almost all of us. Poor Auri was curled up in my hands, sleeping. Iona was still carrying Fenrir.


    We didn¡¯t move back north nearly as quickly as we¡¯d gone south to fight the spiders. Plain and simple, we were tired, but given the lackluster state of our supplies, we elected to just carry through.


    We were going slow enough that Iona kept helping us with the language, and we gradually unraveled our stories and adventures to her. [Passionate Learning] along with our ability to speak quickly helped me with the language, but I was tired, which slowed me down. I knew I needed to rest now and then to let my subconscious process things, and generally let my brain reorganize itself with the new information.


    We made it back to the little village where we¡¯d dropped off Amber a bit before sunrise, and decided to take a much needed break.


    ¡°Good run!¡± Iona was like an Energizer Bunny. Filled with boundless energy, running for miles, getting into a fight, exterminating the remaining spiders, then running all the way back seemed like a light warmup for her. That must be some skill.


    Or maybe it was just raw physicality?


    Artemis and Julius didn¡¯t say anything. They just silently slipped their hand into the others like it was rehearsed.


    ¡°Brrrrrpt¡­¡­..¡± Auri sleepily agreed, turning over in my hands and resettling herself into a more comfortable spot.


    ¡°That would be¡­ ¡®nice run¡¯?¡± I ventured in Hakka.


    Iona tilted her hand back and forth.


    ¡°Yes, but no¡­ but it¡¯s close enough.¡± She sat down, flipping open the pouch the [Countess] had given her. She ruffled through it, took out some sheets of - wait holy shit there was paper here!?


    It was rough, coarse, and not at all uniform in color, but it was unmistakably, undeniably, paper. And where there was paper, there were books.


    And where there were books there was a happy Elaine.


    I immediately plonked myself down next to Iona, shuffling up close to her, just to peer around her arm at the paper. To see if there were words, if I could divine some story or another.


    Iona subtly shifted, making it easier for me to look around her, and making it more comfortable.


    ¡°Anything you¡¯re looking for?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Books.¡± I promptly replied. ¡°I am a sucker for a good book.¡±


    ¡°None here, sorry. The School¡¯s got a bunch.¡± She started scribbling on the paper, writing a letter.


    A realization crashed over me:


    All the books the School had?


    They¡¯d be written in a bunch of different languages, and unless one of them was Creation, I couldn¡¯t read them.


    ¡°Can you tell me what you¡¯re writing?¡± I asked Iona, somewhat leaning into her arm. I¡¯d shamelessly get closer to her to get a better view, if there was any room left between us.


    ¡°It¡¯s in Sanglo.¡± She warned me.


    ¡°Eh. I¡¯ll have to learn it one day.¡± I said.


    ¡°Ok, this word here is ¡®Valkyrie¡¯.¡± Iona pointed to the word in question. On one hand, Iona was doing me numerous favors, helping me find my feet in the world. Teaching me the language. Smoothing things over with the local nobility, and not throwing me under a bus. I wanted to be polite and respectful.


    On the other hand. WORDS! BOOKS! GIVE ME THE SECRETS TO READING SO THAT I MAY DEVOUR ALL!


    Scrolls just didn¡¯t do it the same way paper did, and Remus had shit libraries.


    ¡°Any chance you can give me the alphabet used here?¡± I asked Iona.


    ¡°Hakka or Sanglo?¡± She asked, and I mentally cursed. There were two alphabets to learn?! Why hadn¡¯t someone invented a [Universal Translation] skill or something?


    I wanted everything. I needed all the languages in the world, to crack open the tasty nuts that were books hidden in every library. Never again did I want to find myself in the worst position possible, like I had in Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair - surrounded by hundreds of books, unable to touch or read any of them. Simply terrible.


    I mean, being next to a dragon that could kill me with a thought was also bad, but the inability to read had been worse.


    At the same time, I knew that I should narrow my focus, and learn one thing at a time. But¡­ I was greedy.


    ¡°How many languages are there?¡±


    Iona shrugged.


    ¡°A few dozen? My blessing lets me understand them, not list and categorize them. That¡¯s before we get into dialects, accents so thick they might as well be different languages, dead languages, and whatever else there is.¡±


    I wanted to groan. I needed a skill or five to help me out.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked a new General Skill [Tongue Twisting]!]


    ¡°Hang on, I¡¯m getting offered some new skills.¡± I told Iona.


    ¡°No worries.¡± Her quill moved with supernatural speed, as she quickly penned the rest of her letter - then flipped it over, and drew what I presumed was a quick alphabet. I was busy reading through the skills.


    Tongue Twisting: You¡¯re fluent in two languages, and have minor achievements in three more! All those words are tricky to pronounce though! Tongue Twisting will help you perfectly pronounce all these words, and do other tricks with your nimble mouth!


    An entire skill for pronunciation? No thank you. Also, what was with that extra stuff!?


    Ok. Fine. I¡¯ll admit it. I was a little curious to see how nimble a tongue could be with insane warrior dexterity stats. Not curious enough to be competitive and preemptively take a manipulation skill though.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked a new General Skill [Polyglot]!]


    Polyglot: You¡¯ve got several languages under your belt, and you¡¯re raring to get more! Polyglot will help you remember acquired languages, identify which language is being spoken, fill in minor words and details, help with dialects and accents, and stop you from slipping up in conversations!


    The strongest line there looked like the remembering languages line. And that was looking at the skill in a vacuum, entirely ignoring the fact that I had a perfect memory skill. After that was factored in, help with accents and dialects was the best part.


    Weirdly, the skill wasn¡¯t a total joke. Was the System broken, or actually being helpful for once!? Was I finally not getting joke skills from the System?


    [*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked a new General Skill [Cunning Linguist]!]


    Nevermind. Back to the joke skills. The skill did¡­ yup. Exactly what I thought it¡¯d do.


    Oh gods. Iona could see my skills. I¡¯d die of embarrassment if she saw I¡¯d taken that.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked a new General Skill [Learning Languages]!]


    Learning Languages: Is hard! You¡¯ve mastered two, and you need to master a couple more! Take this skill, and learn them quickly! Reading, writing, letters and numbers will all be a breeze to pick up, and you¡¯ll be speaking like a native in no time!


    Yaaay. Another joke -


    Wait.


    WAIT.


    That wasn¡¯t a joke skill. Sure, the System offered it with a number of other things, but I needed to learn a number of languages, and fast. Iona was nice - really nice, I should ask her why she was being so nice to somebody she thought would start a war - but I couldn¡¯t rely on her to translate for me forever. She¡¯d go her own way eventually, and we¡¯d be back where we started - nobody able to speak with anybody. It had happened with the elves, it was happening again, and it was frankly a terrible position to be in.


    I wasn¡¯t big on relying on others.


    Plus, the sooner I learned the languages, the faster I¡¯d be able to read books!


    My look was unfocused, and I vaguely noticed Iona had finished her letter, and had taken a new piece of paper and was sketching on it, drawing Julius and Artemis.


    There was a slim chance that some people still spoke Creation. However, I couldn¡¯t rely on that. I needed to be able to communicate with people.


    The skill looked like it¡¯d dramatically help, and best of all? The skill wasn¡¯t like [Polyglot] which would stop having an impact if I ever dropped it. The skill was to help me learn the language faster, which meant once I was satisfied with my languages, I could drop it and have a free general skill slot again.


    I¡¯d been debating dropping [Bullet Time] for [Meditate] for some time now, figuring that it¡¯d help with my initial third class offerings. However, right now I had a pressing need for more languages. I checked over my general skills one more time.


    [Long-Range Identify] helped me figure out what was dangerous and what wasn¡¯t in the world. It was a keep.


    [Immortal Recollections] I was hoping would continue to help with my language acquisition, and doubling up was nice. I also planned to live forever, and the skill, while looking a little tasty to axe right now, would pay massive dividends in the future.


    [Companion Bond] was naturally staying, and [Oath] had to stay. It was binding.


    [Bullet Time] had certainly helped me plenty throughout the years. It had saved my life against the pirates. The shimagu. And more! Except it was activating less and less frequently these days, my skills and abilities slowly overpowering most mundane threats. As time went on, the band of enemies the skill was useful against shrunk. They needed to be strong enough to threaten my life, but weak enough that I could actually fight back against them.


    Now I had a critically useful skill that I wanted to find a spot for. Speaking and communication was my bread and butter in daily life, as opposed to the occasional terrifying fight for my life.


    I wasn¡¯t ditching [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority]. The skill was insane, and let me know one critical fact of life - I was not alone. When it came to ¡°Skills saving my life in a fight¡±, [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority] was significantly better than [Bullet Time].


    [Persistent Casting] was better at saving me than [Bullet Time] was by a long shot.


    I¡¯d never dump [Passionate Learning]. It was just too much of who I was. Plus, I was planning on using it with [Learning Languages] to speed up how quickly I picked up new tongues. Be pointless to trade the skills like that.


    ¡°Sorry, one moment.¡± I told Iona.


    ¡°No worries. We¡¯re just waiting for your friend.¡± She continued sketching, Julius and Artemis coming to life under her quill. Iona was good.


    I put a sleeping Auri down next to Iona, getting up into the middle of the road.


    ¡°Hey Artemis!¡± I called out to my twitchy friend after checking that there was nothing behind me. ¡°Do me a favor!¡±


    ¡°Sure!¡±


    ¡°Throw some rocks at my shoulders, not super fast though.¡± I asked her.


    Artemis didn¡¯t hesitate a moment. A barrage of sharp road rocks rocketed up towards me, but I was both prepared, and had [Bullet Time]. Giving the skill one last hurrah, I threw myself backwards, windmilling my arms to dodge all of Artemis¡¯s deliberately-slow attacks.


    I got to watch the rocks whiz by me in one glorious moment, then I¡¯d thrown myself back enough, [Bullet Time] ended, and I was safe and clear, having finally fulfilled the promise of the skill way back when I first got it.


    I had dodged ¡®bullets¡¯.


    With a small flicker of regret and nostalgia, I traded [Bullet Time] for [Learning Languages], feeling a massive wave of nausea pass through me as I was disoriented from losing the skill. I puked a little.


    ¡°Elaine, everything ok?¡± Julius was by my side.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I spat the last chunks out of my mouth, then grabbed Julius¡¯s tunic and wiped my face on it.


    ¡°Hey!¡± He protested. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with your own shirt!?¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t want to get it dirty.¡± I explained to him, getting the most doubtful look back.


    ¡°The one you¡¯ve been wearing for weeks without changing or washing.¡± He gave my shirt a significant look.


    ¡°No sense in making it worse.¡± I primly replied.


    ¡°Hey Healy-bug, you going to explain?¡± Artemis asked.


    ¡°Yeah. I dropped one of my skills to get [Learning Languages]. New world. New languages. Need the edge.¡±


    Artemis smacked her forehead with the palm of her hand.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t I think of that!¡± She spent a moment in thought, then shuddered as a wave of nausea went through her.


    ¡°I spent so much time on these skills.¡± Julius grumbled. ¡°If you, Artemis, and Amber all are grabbing language skills, I might take it the slow way.¡±


    ¡°Especially since you and Artemis are sticking together.¡± I said.


    ¡°Yeah¡­¡±


    ¡°What makes you so sure Amber¡¯s going to take a language skill?¡± Iona curiously and deftly inserted herself into the conversation.


    ¡°What, and miss a chance to make money?¡± I joked.


    Iona laughed.


    ¡°From what you¡¯ve told me of your trip through the fae realm, and what she got out of it, I can believe it!¡±


    Iona presented Artemis and Julius with a picture of the two of them cuddling.


    ¡°For you!¡± She said.


    Artemis gasped.


    ¡°It¡¯s beautiful. Thank you!¡±


    ¡°Brrpt? BRRRPT??¡± Auri had woken up, and had flown over to examine Iona¡¯s artwork.


    ¡°Sure.¡± She stuck out her thumb at Auri, getting a gauge. Then she started dancing her quill over a second sheet, unconsciously sticking out her tongue a bit and biting it as she focused.


    Amazingly, she was free-form drawing, standing, with nothing backing the paper. She either had a skill for it, or such fine control over her drawing tool that she didn¡¯t need a backstop to draw. She moved superhumanly fast as she sketched, leaning on her massive stats to move quicker.


    ¡°Why are you being so nice to us?¡± I asked Iona. ¡°It really feels like you¡¯ve gone above and beyond.¡±


    Iona tilted her head a fraction, squinting at Auri again. The phoenix was already coming to life on her paper. I wanted one of me.


    ¡°Well, to start, you did save my life. By extension, Fenrir¡¯s life.¡± Iona told me. The sleepy wyvern raised its head up, but not seeing anything he wanted - food, I assumed - he put his head back down.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have a concept of a life-debt or anything, do you?¡± I asked, somewhat dreading that the answer would be ¡®yes¡¯.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m not a minotaur.¡± Iona said. ¡°It helps though. It¡¯s not your fault you¡¯re here, so I don¡¯t hold a grudge against you for taking skills that were¡­ somehow not problematic where you¡¯re from?¡±


    I snorted.


    ¡°Believe me, it was plenty problematic. I was the first though.¡±


    ¡°Sure. You didn¡¯t know. The entire reason why you¡¯d be trouble is if people found out, and started a war over you. The best way to stop that happening? You going somewhere where your class and skills aren¡¯t an issue. The School¡¯s a relatively safe spot. They accept mortals and Immortals alike. For the rest of you? The whole idea behind swearing to a power is to control and restrain Classers who can kill a whole lot of people. The three of you were sworn to a power. You clearly have restraint, respect for the rule of law, and were more than willing to help me with the vorler. In that respect, you¡¯re not a problem.¡±


    ¡°The help?¡±


    Iona shrugged.


    ¡°It¡¯s just the right, honorable thing to do. Of course I¡¯d do it.¡±


    That¡­ huh. I never thought that¡¯d be why.


    ¡°Regardless of your reasons, you¡¯ve got our eternal gratitude.¡± Julius thanked Iona, while shooting me the biggest ¡®SHUT UP¡¯ stinkeye I¡¯d ever seen from my once-commander.


    Wasn¡¯t sure why, buuuuuuuuuuut I was going to listen to him. Somewhat. I still wanted to learn more things. Like the alphabet. Artemis beat me to the punch.


    ¡°What year is it anyways?¡± Artemis asked.


    ¡°28,257.¡± Iona answered. ¡°What year was it when you left?¡±


    I knew it was going to be bad. I didn¡¯t think it was going to be that bad. I would¡¯ve preferred that she just punch me in the gut.


    ¡°4801.¡± Artemis answered.


    Still. New world. Looked pretty similar to the old world, and I mentally marked why onto my list of things to find out.


    I wasn¡¯t going to make it here by lying down and dying. I would survive.


    No, more than survive.


    I would thrive. The world would be my oyster, mangos and books being the delicious pearls that I needed to crack out for my enjoyment. I would forge a path for my own happiness in the world.


    It¡¯s what my parents always wanted for me. They just¡­ weren¡¯t going to see it.


    ¡°Can you show me the alphabet?¡± I asked Iona, dragging my thoughts out of the abyss as I looked at the piece of paper in question.


    ¡°Sure! Ok, the first letters are the most important ones.¡± Iona shuffled the paper around, pointing to the alphabet she¡¯d written. ¡°This is U. I. E. A. And O.¡±


    [ding! Learning Languages leveled up! 1->2]


    ¡°Next, we have¡­¡±


    Iona continued to show me the alphabet for Sanglo, as my newest skill rang in the back of my mind like a boxer beating the stuffing out of a punching bag.


    Soon enough, Amber had gotten up and met us outside, and we were ready to set off again north, Iona carrying Amber so the Valkyrie would make it to the place she was going in time without leaving anyone behind.


    ¡°Brrrrrpt brrrrrrrpt!!!¡± Auri made appreciative noises at the drawing Iona had made of her.


    ¡°Yes you do simply look the best.¡± I praised the little fire starter.


    ¡°Bbrrrpt!¡±


    ¡°She absolutely brings out your good side!¡± I told Auri, knowing that Iona could hear the compliment. Ha! Who said I couldn¡¯t learn to be social! One small step at a time, I''d figure this out!


    Auri flew over to some flowers by the side of the road, quickly foraging for sustenance. She then fluttered over to Iona, hovering over her.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± She asked.


    ¡°What do you mean make a nest with - AURI NO!¡±


    I managed to up the pace we were going at as I fled in embarrassment.


    Traveling with no money sucked. Food, water, lodging, supplies and more all cost money, and while I could live off the land, that usually necessitated finding a river and following it, not following a road. I was keenly feeling the monetary pinch, but not as badly as some members of the party.


    Which had me asking about money, which Iona was only too happy to tell us about.


    Money was completely different now. Each country did their own fancy thing, but the fundamentals were the same. Each coin had a small gemstone in the middle of it. Depending on the type of the gemstone, it was worth more or less, with arcanite being the most common coin that everyone had jostling around in their pocket, and diamond and rubies being the most valuable, almost to the point where they were used to show wealth, and only got traded for the largest deals. Each tier of gems was worth roughly ten times as much as the previous tier, and an Arcanite coin was worth roughly half of a Remus coin. So a loaf of bread was more like two Arcanite coins, instead of one Remus coin. Simple enough.


    Amber was surprisingly happy at the news.


    ¡°Well if I¡¯d brought my iron coins, they¡¯d be useless.¡± She explained. ¡°I would¡¯ve felt robbed. But because I left them behind it¡¯s not a problem.¡±


    I didn¡¯t track that at all.


    ¡°Glad you¡¯re happy.¡±


    We also found out about Iona! She was a Valkyrie, and from the sounds of it, a Valkyrie was something like a cross between a Sentinel, and a Ranger team. Not quite a solo operative, and they weren¡¯t as hyper specialized as Sentinels were, but they did wander around fixing problems that came up, similar to how a Ranger team operated. They tended towards being physical fighters, although they had no issues with any other type of combatants, and generally had a steed or a bondmate acting as a force multiplier.


    She told us all about her classes, how she had [The Dusk Valkyrie], [Traveling Archer], and [Paladin of the Moons]. I found it interesting that she was Dusk, while I was Dawn.


    I learned that divine classes were basically always blue, which felt massively unfair. I got offered all sorts of joke classes because of Papilion, but Iona got an amazing [Paladin] class from her patrons!?


    So unfair.


    Maybe I should try praying to the moon goddesses more, it might get me a cool divine class later on!


    We traveled at high speed, avoiding towns because trying to get Artemis and Julius inside would be too difficult - and running around the town was significantly faster than trying to wade through the streets.


    Iona also had an idea for the Julius and Artemis problem.


    ¡°Join the World Bank or something as guards.¡± She suggested. ¡°Easy, well paying work, plus nobody will blink twice at you.¡±


    My two friends traded looks at that.


    ¡°It¡¯s not the worst idea.¡± Julius muttered.


    ¡°I kinda hate it.¡± Artemis admitted. ¡°But if that¡¯s what we need to do to survive, I¡¯ll do it. Anyone else hiring?¡±


    ¡°Oh there¡¯s a ton.¡± Iona said. ¡°Let¡¯s see¡­ most of the guilds could use guards. Like the Alchemist¡¯s. Merchant¡¯s. Tailor¡¯s. For every profession, there¡¯s a guild, and generally they need some guards, although not all of them are hiring, and there¡¯s obviously different rates of pay. That¡¯s why I suggested the World Bank. You could always join the retinue of a noble, but that¡¯s difficult, and you¡¯d be second class members, compared to the people they¡¯ve grown up and spent all their lives with. Then there are some guilds that you could work as an active member. Adventurer¡¯s. Delver¡¯s. Hunter¡¯s. Each does something different, but your skill would be put to more active use. ¡±


    Oh no.


    Oh no.


    Iona was happily suggesting my friends become adventurers. My opinion of her plummeted. What good person would suggest my honest and upright friends become adventurers!?


    Well, ok. Artemis¡­ might have a checkered enough history to qualify. She did join the Rangers though!


    We continued to travel on terrible roads, dodging around towns, until at last our destination was in sight.


    In what felt like no time at all, the walls of Lyon were visible in the distance.

 Chapter 326 - Entrance Exams I

    The walls of Lyon were tall, durable constructs, much higher than the town walls in Remus had been. They were hewn out of sturdy grey stone, and some [Architect] or [Builder] had smoothed and merged the rock into a uniform face. Colorful banners hung over the wall, a golden lion prominently featured again and again. Guards with gleaming steel helmets patrolled the walls, and the towers interspersed on the walls supported large ballistae on swivels.


    The only thing we could see over the walls was the castle. It was in the middle of the city, filled with towers and spires, with an enormous flag featuring a golden lion once again. It literally felt like it was something out of a book, and I had a strong desire to go visit the castle! It would probably be fun to explore, seeing the towers, the throne room, the library.


    Ooooh, the library. They probably had a great library.


    Sadly, as things were now, I was more likely to see the dungeon of the castle than anything else. If I still had the full backing of the Sentinels, and knew where they were, I¡¯d be tempted to try and commando my way into the castle to peek around, but alas. That wasn¡¯t in the cards.


    Maybe in a few hundred years and levels from now, I could be strong and sneaky enough to just waltz in, and let them try to stop me¡­


    ¡­maybe I could see why Iona had some beefs with Immortals¡­


    Magic shimmered over the entire thing, like a haze that made it a little harder to see. I¡¯d seen similar effects atop the other towns we¡¯d skirted on our way here, but the sheer size of it boggled the imagination. A skill that large!? An inscription permanently running!?


    We talked and walked at the same time, being just another group on the road heading towards the gates.


    ¡°That¡¯s a shield?¡± I rhetorically asked in disbelief.


    ¡°Among other things.¡± Iona confirmed. ¡°Did you not have them in Remus?¡±


    We shook our heads practically in unison.


    ¡°Just walls.¡± Julius said.


    ¡°Shorter than these.¡± Artemis said.


    Iona looked horrified.


    ¡°But¡­ how¡­ why¡­¡± She short-circuited. Like Amber hearing about a million rods, but in a more horrified way.


    ¡°Brrrpt brrrrrrpt.¡±


    ¡°Moving on!¡± Amber couldn¡¯t tear her eyes away from the city. ¡°What now?¡±


    ¡°Well. I¡¯m going to find where the School is.¡± Iona frowned. ¡°Actually. I was never told how that works, I¡¯ll have to ask one of the [Knights] here. The Order of the Golden Lion¡¯s headquartered here.¡±


    ¡°You could also ask one of the guards, they should know.¡± I sensibly pointed out.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe I never thought of this earlier.¡± Julius griped. ¡°How will Artemis and I get inside to register with a guild, if we¡¯re not allowed inside?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri thought it was a good question.


    Iona opened her mouth, paused, and closed it.


    ¡°I never thought of that.¡± She candidly admitted.


    ¡°Ok, this will be easy.¡± Amber asserted. ¡°I¡¯ll smooth talk my way in,¡±


    Julius, Artemis, and I all coughed at the same moment. ¡°Bribe!¡±


    Amber glared at us.


    ¡°I would, IF I HAD ANY MONEY!!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°ANYWAYS! Once inside, I¡¯ll figure it out, and ask them if they want you. Then they can come outside, do whatever it is they do to make you a guild member, and poof! DONE! Easy peasy.¡± Amber nodded to herself.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to stay with Artemis for now.¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t want to risk a guard that can see through my Deception Ring. Once Iona knows what¡¯s going on with the School, I¡¯ll see what I can do after.¡±


    ¡°What if the School¡¯s inside the city?¡± Iona asked.


    Artemis and I traded knowing looks.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t be the first time I snuck into a city.¡± I grinned roguishly at the imposing Valkyrie.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t. I might have to arrest you.¡± Iona looked pained at the thought.


    Fenrir growled at me, and I could almost hear a word in what he said.


    ¡°Scout first. Act later.¡± Julius put his foot down, reminding us all why he¡¯d been the team leader of a Ranger group, able to corral a number of highly individual, opinionated people.


    Iona, Fenrir, and Amber headed to the gates, while the rest of us just sort of hung out by the side of the road, waiting.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ¡°Did you decide what guild to go for?¡± I asked my friends, translating for Auri.


    The two of them traded looks.


    ¡°Whatever will take us, honestly.¡± Julius said. ¡°Whatever gets us food, shelter, and not getting arrested and thrown in jail by the locals.¡±


    ¡°My attempt at retiring sucked.¡± Artemis said. ¡°Right back to it. Hunter¡¯s Guild sounded the most like what we did as Rangers. Seems to beat standing around for hours on end protecting money. How about you?¡±


    ¡°Ugh. If it wasn¡¯t for the risk of guards being able to see through my ring, I¡¯d just¡­ lay low. Set up a clinic, heal people, make money, and go from there. Could probably even work you two into it somehow.¡± I griped.


    Artemis roared with laughter while Julius was chuckling.


    ¡°You? Calm, peaceful, staying at home?¡± Artemis was clutching her stomach. ¡°Being a mild-mannered meek healer? Oh, thank you for that Elaine, that was a great joke.¡±


    ¡°What!¡± I protested.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri was trying to defend me.


    ¡°Elaine, how many girls run away from an arranged marriage to become a Ranger?¡± Julius asked.


    ¡°Lots?¡± I hazarded a guess. ¡°Most just don¡¯t make it?¡± I hadn¡¯t seen too many other options. Although¡­ thinking about it more, who did I know who¡¯d actually ran away from home? There was¡­


    Hmmm¡­


    I¡¯m sure there was at least one other person I knew, besides myself and Artemis¡­


    No, there wasn¡¯t, was there? Shoot.


    Julius was shaking his head.


    ¡°It¡¯s rare. Even rarer that they stick around. Even rarer that they elect to go through Ranger Academy, and then pass? I know of three, in all the years I was a Ranger.¡± He squeezed Artemis¡¯s hand, who squeezed back.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t have much choice.¡± I muttered.


    ¡°You took to it like a fish to water.¡± Artemis gleefully poked at me. ¡°You¡¯ve had multiple chances to retire. Heck, with your skill, you could¡¯ve retired incredibly wealthy at any moment. What did you do? Happily showed up to every single Sentinel meeting, ready to go at a moment¡¯s notice.¡±


    My jaw dropped.


    ¡°Auri?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡± She was staying firmly out of this.


    She was also a reminder that I¡¯d grabbed her out of a dragon¡¯s lair.


    ¡°Sooo¡­ you don¡¯t think I can do quiet and peaceful?¡± I asked tentatively.


    ¡°Oh, for a few years, sure.¡± Julius waved his hand. ¡°Maybe even longer as you get older. But I think you¡¯ve got the itch. The need to go out and find people to help. You wouldn¡¯t stay still for long, even if you have a nice home. You¡¯d want to find new people to help. New emergencies to solve. New¡­ everything.¡±


    I fell silent as I contemplated his words.


    I did like seeing new things. Exploring the world. Finding new magic. Heck, [Butterfly Mystic] was all about that.


    If I heard about a plague in a town I could reasonably get to? I¡¯d absolutely go there to help. I was a healer, that was my job. It was what I¡¯d sworn to do, but more importantly, I¡¯d be there.


    Interesting magic? Same thing, but more fun.


    But I didn¡¯t think it was impossible for me to settle down and live happily ever after¡­


    Was I just deluding myself? This called for some introspection. Another day. I had dozens of pressing, more important needs that needed to be seen to first. Like getting reliable shelter and food, being able to speak with people, and generally being able to live in a town, instead of a cave in the woods.


    ¡°I¡¯m still hopeful that the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft can help orient me to the world, get my third class sorted out once and for all, figure out what the heck happened to everyone, and¡­ yeah.¡±


    I kept the part about having ALL THE BOOKS to myself. I could also learn more languages, I could dramatically improve my [Butterfly Mystic] skills, and¡­


    ¡­ and I never managed to get to college. It wouldn¡¯t be the same here, but it¡¯d be a chance. Remus had categorically denied me anything I¡¯d recognize as an education - I had to sneak into the library as a kid, reading by the light of a skill to try and get something. Ranger Academy had been more about preparing me to be a soldier, and less an education on the world. I had to admit - I felt slightly robbed, and some of my motives for going to the School were entirely impure.


    Heck.


    I didn¡¯t even know how they operated, and I was building up a big fantasy in my head. I was on track to being totally disappointed. Either way, I wanted to go.


    I played with Auri a bit while the power couple got some downtime together to just be sickeningly cute.


    Iona came back first, no Amber in sight. She was probably fine.


    ¡°How¡¯d it go?¡± I asked her, while Auri zipped a flower over to Fenrir.


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± She tried to feed him the flower.


    I was no good at reading frost wyvern body language, but he looked doubtful.


    ¡°Great! The World Bank recognized me, so I was able to get some money, and go shopping.¡± Iona grabbed some jerky from a new bag of hers, and tossed it at Fenrir, who happily ate that instead of the flower Auri was trying to feed him. Honestly, I wasn¡¯t sure if Auri was being nice, or trying to screw with him.


    ¡°The School has set up a little to the east of Lyon. Amber knows we¡¯ll be there. Let¡¯s go?¡± Iona pointed her thumb over her shoulder.


    I stretched and hopped up.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt BRRPT brrpt BRPT!¡± Auri called a charge, sitting comfortably on Fenrir¡¯s head.


    Fenrir galloped off on all fours, using his legs and wingtips, charging as quickly as he could. Given how young he was, and the fact that wyverns weren¡¯t meant to be running on the ground, combined with his low speed stat?


    The rest of us were able to keep up at a leisurely walk, chuckling at their antics.


    ¡°What¡¯s the School like? How hard is it to get in? Is it expensive? What kind of classes do they have? What¡¯s the dominant language? Do they speak Hakka? Sanglo? Do you think they know Creation? What about English, is there any chance that somebody knows English? There¡¯ve got to be medicine classes, right? Are-¡±


    I was excited, rapidly shooting questions to Iona as quickly as I could think of them, not bothering to wait to hear an answer back.


    After an absolute eternity - five minutes, tops, we were still close to the walls of Lyon - we were approaching the area where the School had set up. It was like a fairground. A small, entirely magical fairground that seemed eager to let the whole world know they were there, as loudly and as colorfully as possible. A quick wooden palisade marked the borders, and a dozen overlapping transparent shields, each with a subtly different color, protected the entire enclosure. Sparks and magic were flying everywhere, colorful fumes were rising from various places, and some birds constructed out of various elements were flying in flocks overhead, putting on a show.


    It was like several dozen students were all competing to have people look at them, and the total effect was riotous.


    There were long lines to get into one of the many entrances to the place. Iona and the rest of us got in line at the back.


    ¡°Why are there so many people here?¡± I asked, looking around.


    ¡°Is that¡­ a frog?¡± Julius asked, pointing and gawking.


    I looked at where Julius was looking. There was a¡­ gigantic frog-like person wearing clothes, standing in line with everyone else. They were extremely colorful, like a poison-dart frog.


    ¡°Beastkin.¡± Iona said. ¡°Calling them a frog is quite the insult, you shouldn¡¯t do that.¡±


    ¡°I shouldn¡¯t call the midget abelisaurus a dinosaur, right?¡± Artemis subtly jerked her head over to where a dinosaur-person was standing.


    ¡°He¡¯s a saurian. Tyrannosaurus Rex-based, not abelisaurus.¡± Iona corrected.


    Julius and Artemis stared and looked at the huge variety of different species that were present. I also took a look around - there wasn¡¯t anything else to do while waiting in line - but I liked to think I was a bit more discreet and polite than my traveling companions were.


    The longer I looked, the more elvenoids I saw. People coated in colorful lamellar and plate armor, with a number of sharp plates were mostly dullahans. Some were giving each other the stink-eye, to the point where I expected a fight to break out in the line. A muscular cow-man wasn¡¯t a beastkin, but a minotaur, dressed like a scholar in long, flowing robes, with a sword at his waist.


    A group of dwarves got in line behind me, and I resisted the urge to tell them I was part of the 94th generation. That would get them all sorts of riled up - and have a lot of people get the wrong impression of me.


    The line was predominantly human though, and most people seemed to be coming here in groups. So did we, to be fair.


    ¡°Why are there so many people here?¡± Julius asked Iona.


    She shrugged.


    ¡°It¡¯s the School.¡± She stated like that explained everything.


    It didn¡¯t.


    We queued for what felt like hours, Amber eventually finding and rejoining us to the glares of the other people in line.


    ¡°Any luck?¡± Julius asked her.


    ¡°Some, but it¡¯s not looking great.¡± She grimaced. ¡°Everyone wants money or guarantees. The Adventurer¡¯s Guild doesn¡¯t want you without a sponsor. The Hunter¡¯s Guild wants evidence of your prowess. The Merchant¡¯s Guild will only take you if you already have an agreement with an existing member. The stories are similar everywhere I went.¡± Amber complained.


    We all looked at Iona.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t a vorler hunt qualify as prowess?¡± Artemis loudly mused. ¡°In front of a recognized member of a well-respected group?¡±


    Iona rolled her eyes.


    ¡°No need to go about it sideways, sure, I¡¯ll happily talk to them for you.¡±


    Iona continued to act as a tour guide, gently explaining the various races we bumped into, where they were probably from, and more.


    In Remus, all humans basically had the same skin tone. However, waiting in line, we saw dozens of different skin tones on humans, from incredibly pale to pitch black.


    We finally made it to the front of the line, where a gnome and a gorgon were dressed in fancy black robes. Long sleeves, swooping skirts and huge, pointed hats were on their heads - well, relative to their size. The gnome¡¯s hat was tiny, and I kept my eyes down and away from the gorgon¡¯s snake-hair, hissing like a nest of vipers.


    Iona had a quick conversation with them, flawlessly switching between two different languages to the gatekeepers¡¯s obvious delight. She came back to us after a short conversation.


    ¡°Applicants to the School can come in for free, but need to go to the examination area. Tourists need to pay to get in.¡±


    Our faces fell at that.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri asked if she was allowed in.


    ¡°I actually don¡¯t know. Let me check.¡± Iona turned back to the gatekeepers.


    ¡°Well. I wish we could come, but I think this is it for us. Good luck Elaine! Let us know how you do!¡± Julius said, patting my shoulder.


    ¡°Wish we¡¯d known this before we spent all this time in line.¡± Artemis griped. ¡°Ah well, she¡¯ll crush it.¡± She had a lazy faith in me. ¡°Although, here, you might need your gear for the exam.¡±


    ¡°If the exam involves a life or death fight, I¡¯ll be properly annoyed.¡± I didn¡¯t stop Artemis from taking off my poorly-fitting armor, and handing it back to me.


    One of the moonstones fell out of my arm bracers, and I nimbly caught it.


    ¡°Seriously? It¡¯s already falling apart?¡± I griped to nobody in particular.


    ¡°You only wore it for a year and change. You know. The usual workout it¡¯s expected to get.¡± Artemis teased me.


    Amber had her eyes glued to the Moonstone, and the unfairly tall beanpole leaned over to whisper in my ear.


    ¡°Hey. So. Nobody can understand us here, right?¡±


    I turned to her.


    ¡°If you want to ask me something secret, remember that Iona can totally hear us if she wants to.¡± I reminded her.


    Amber looked crestfallen.


    ¡°Well, ok. Short version that can be overheard. We¡¯ve got nothing right now. I can¡¯t get into the Merchant¡¯s Guild without being able to pay their fee. I can¡¯t do things properly without being part of their Guild. Too many stories about Guildless merchants running into¡­ bees? It was hard to understand them, my language isn¡¯t great right now.¡± Amber said. ¡°However, gemstones are the currency. I hate to ask this, I know they¡¯re yours, but¡­ a single gem can kickstart everything for me.¡±


    If that was the part she could ask, what wasn¡¯t she asking?


    Ah.


    She probably wanted a skill-charged gem, and I had one skill in particular that would command an insane price. Something that Amber always wanted to sell.


    There was no way in hell I was handing Amber a live grenade of an Immortality-granting skill gem. Maybe a few dozen charges of my main healing skill, a way to backstop Amber¡¯s healing skills, or something she could directly sell.


    A topic for another day.


    ¡°Let¡¯s talk later.¡± I told her as Iona turned around.


    ¡°Auri¡¯s allowed in, but she¡¯s gotta stick with you.¡± She said.


    That seemed to take quite a bit longer than I¡¯d expect for a simple question and answer, although she had spent a bit of time waiting while Amber and I had our quick talk.


    We said a quick farewell to each other once again - after all, we were holding up the line - and Iona, Fenrir, myself, and Auri swiftly entered the School¡¯s grounds.


    The grounds were both obviously temporary, and at the same time, dozens of [Mages] had clearly worked hard to make their own special thing. It was clear who was part of the School, and who wasn¡¯t. Members of the School were all wearing robes and pointy hats, and nearly all of them were in black. I spotted the occasional purple robe in the crowd, and a single dark blue robe. They had to mean something, but I had no idea what.


    ¡°Entrance exams are this way.¡± Iona started to gracefully squeeze through the crowd, and I followed her broad shoulders.


    It was interesting to watch Iona move through the crowd. She moved with grace and poise, never shoving or bumping into anyone, but hard as a rock when someone else tried to shoulder her away.


    The people who weren¡¯t part of the School stuck out by their outfits, a hundred different outfits that were all different. They were predominantly human, although occasionally we saw someone from a different species. I already was noticing something of a divide in the people here. There were those who were hurrying along with a nervous, frantic energy in the same direction Iona and I were going, and those casually browsing the fantastic wares on display.


    The School people had dozens of small stands set up, each selling something different. A whole table of brightly painted music boxes. Another table had miniature golems playing house, next to a set of golems that were busy beating each other up. The next table was selling jewel-encrusted staves and wands, which was fascinating to me. I started looking for them, and saw the occasional School member with a wand in their belt, or using a walking staff with a bright gem at the top.


    What could that be for? Magic didn¡¯t need a staff¡­ or at least, that¡¯s what I knew.


    Clearly, my understanding was lacking, and I got incredibly distracted by someone selling a stack of magically sparking books. They might be able to tell me what was going on?


    ¡°Price?¡± I asked in my crude Hakka.


    The man running the stall tilted his head, not understanding me, and tapped the board next to him. There were two black octagons on the board, which I assumed was the price. Iona had mentioned something about Obsidian coins, and¡­


    ¡°They do eventually close, you know.¡± Iona¡¯s words in my ear made me jump.


    ¡°Whoops! Sorry!¡± I reluctantly tore myself away from the stand.


    I tried to keep a million thoughts in my head at once. Obsidian coins were tied with Feldspar as the second-least valuable gem, which wasn¡¯t saying much. An Obsidian coin was worth roughly, if I¡¯d done all my conversions right and a loaf of bread was still worth the same, about 5 Remus coins.


    I got distracted by an alchemist¡¯s cauldron exploding in a massive cloud of black smoke, the student in question emerging a moment later with singed eyebrows, looking like she wanted to cry, but otherwise fine. A quick sweep of my healing fixed a scratch on her forehead, but I couldn¡¯t do anything for the emotional, financial, and social harm she¡¯d just self-inflicted.


    Amulets. Rings. Talismans. Dozens, hundreds of items that neither Remus nor the dwarves nor elves seemed to have or even thought of, on display and for sale by students. It made me wonder what the real powerhouses of the world could make.


    And there, on a half-forgotten table, just sitting out with a bunch of other fruit, practically ignored by the shoppers, was the holy grail. The creme da la creme. My raison d¡¯etre.


    A few mangos were present, and I¡¯d never felt the sting of an empty wallet so acutely before. I don¡¯t think I¡¯d ever been this broke in my life, without a single mangy coin to trade for the divine fruit of the gods.


    Sure, I could probably rip out the Arcanite in my armor, but that would be just plain dumb. As much as I loved mangos, the idea of cannibalizing my only asset just to experience a few minutes of bliss revolted me.


    No.


    It was not to be.


    Not here, not today.


    I tore my eyes away from the sweetest nectar on the planet, hurrying ahead of Iona to the back of the examination line that I could see.


    I got in line, steadfastly keeping my eyes on the back of the head of the person in front of me, studiously not thinking about mangos. I forced my mind to go to my appearance, since the person in front of me looked like they¡¯d come from the street.


    I probably looked just as bad. It¡¯d been ages since I last got a proper bath, miles gone, living on the road, and most recently got caught in an explosion of icky, stinky smoke. The examiners would take one look at me and throw me right out, as they should.


    I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around to see Iona holding out one of the mangos for me.


    ¡°Here. Looked like you wanted one.¡± She gently offered it to me.


    I might¡¯ve fallen in love just a tiny bit.

 Chapter 327 - Entrance Exams II

    I slowly, carefully peeled the mango.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri hovered near my hand, staring longingly at the fruit.


    ¡°Of course.¡± I carved off a piece, giving it to her.


    One small bite at a time, carefully licking my knife to prevent even a single drop from being wasted, I ate the mango, constantly shooting grateful looks at Iona. My mouth was too full to tell her, but she seemed pleased with herself, an amused smile playing over her face whenever she saw the looks I was making as I ate the divine fruit.


    Each small square I carefully savored, letting the sugary flavors explode over my tongue, dance through my mouth. It was like I was transported to heaven, like a thousand tiny people were massaging every inch of me, inside and out. I didn¡¯t have the words.


    After all the time that had passed. After all the changes in the world. Mangos were still as blessedly good as before - if not, somehow impossibly, better.


    The world was cruel and unfair, my mango practically evaporating. There was no way I¡¯d eaten that much! Help! A [Mango Dissolver] was out and about, cackling in the background as they destroyed my favorite fruit! I got to the last square, and hesitated.


    ¡°Want some?¡± I offered it to Iona, her eyes sparkling with amusement.


    She hesitated a moment, and shook her head.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure I¡¯d enjoy it, but not nearly as much as you are.¡±


    ¡°You sure?¡±


    ¡°Yup.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri wanted the last bite, and I gave it to her without a second thought.


    We continued shuffling through the line, and I got to spot a few more things. The first was a second market, reversed from the first one. Instead of people from the School selling things, members of the School were wandering around, bartering and haggling with keen eyed merchants selling their high-end wares. Clear shields and thick glass protected various expensive-looking goods, although some people just had a simple table and a banner or logo behind them. They were also attracting attention from some members of the School, although I couldn¡¯t figure out why.


    A second area was more familiar, a dueling grounds of some sort where people were sparring, magic shooting all over the place. I watched one of the duels with professional interest.


    Two students were wearing a more practical outfit for sparring, but they were both still in black colors. A human versus an orc.


    The duel started, and the orc immediately went with the Artemis Special, stomping his foot and letting a spray of high-speed rocks pepper the human. The human didn¡¯t take that lying down, flinging out a small piece of white paper that had bright red lines painted on it, reminding me of the elven talismans. It snapped to a position in front of him, then disintegrated into a dozen jets of water, each one intercepting a pebble.


    The orc smirked, and the barrage of pseudo-bullets continued. The human frantically threw out one talisman after another, each one countering the rocks in a different way. After the water he summoned a wall of ice, then started to place multiple talismans together for some big skill or spell. However, with only two talismans in place, he needed to jump out of the way and blow three different talismans as the orc¡¯s relentless assault broke through the ice wall, threatening to have it tip over onto him. One talisman had all the rocks drop to the ground, and another one gave him a leafy shield.


    His shield wasn¡¯t good enough, the rocks ripping straight through it and hitting him. I flinched, starting to run towards the inevitable bloodbath, screams, and broken bones, but instead, a powerful gong noise echoed out as he flared with bright light.


    Obviously there were protections in place here. Much better protections than anything I was able to use when practicing once upon a time in Remus. I could only imagine how effective our sparring could¡¯ve been if we could truly go no holds barred, with complete faith that no harm could come to us.


    ¡°Not a great showing.¡± Iona said.


    I nodded.


    ¡°The versatility was impressive, but his decision making was poor.¡± I analyzed. ¡°He stood still. He ceded the initiative by simply reacting and trying to counter the attacks against him, instead of forcing the orc to react to what he was doing.¡±


    ¡°He tried with the ice wall, but he didn¡¯t think it through.¡± Iona agreed. ¡°It was so poorly done that it ended up getting turned against him.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt BRPT!¡±


    ¡°Not using Fire or Inferno attacks was a grave error. If he¡¯d only realized the glory of Fire sooner, victory would¡¯ve been his.¡± I locked eyes with Iona as I agreed with Auri with an entirely straight face. After a moment, the two of us cracked nearly identical grins at the little phoenix''s antics and snobbish analysis.


    The fights were fun to watch, if a little on the low-powered side. Then again, I¡¯d been somewhat spoiled, training with Sentinels and senior Rangers for the last few years. The levels and skills I was seeing were probably normalish, if not maybe good, for the age group I was in and looking at.


    Iona and I had fun chatting about them, having some form of entertainment as the line slowly but steadily inched forwards.


    Finally, we reached the front of the line, the sun low on the horizon.


    ¡°Please tell me they¡¯re still open, and we haven¡¯t gotten here right as they close.¡± I asked in a panic.


    Iona quickly asked the bouncer managing the line that question.


    ¡°Nope! They operate on island time - whatever that means - and to them, they¡¯re actually getting close to their ¡®morning¡¯. Hopefully things will move faster now?¡±


    ¡°Right as we¡¯re at the front.¡± I complained.


    ¡°Could be worse.¡±


    We were let inside, and I immediately realized my problem.


    Communication and languages.


    The initial room had a number of scribes waiting at various booth-like tables, and Iona peeled off to an open one. I tentatively approached the other open one, the remaining six already occupied with people doing some form of registration, signing up, or something.


    The scribe politely - I assumed that was the tone - asked me something.


    ¡°Hakka?¡± I asked tentatively.


    ¡°Yes. Now, can you¡­¡± She asked me, and I completely lost the rest of it.


    ¡°Sorry. Ask again. Slowly?¡±


    She gave me a look of disgust.


    ¡°Language?¡± She asked me in Hakka.


    ¡°Creation. English. Doubt you speak either of those.¡± I shot back in a mix of the two languages.


    She frowned at me, and we did a poor back and forth for some time before Iona, of all people, slid next to me. She quickly chatted with the scribe, then her face fell.


    ¡°They¡¯re not ok with me acting as a translator. Too easy for abuse.¡± She complained at me.


    ¡°Well, did you explain?¡±


    ¡°I did! Wait. Shoot. Not all of it. Hang on¡­¡± Iona started talking rapid-fire with the [Scribe] again. After a few minutes of intense back and forth, the scribe got up and walked away.


    ¡°Ok! I think I got the message through. She thinks there¡¯s somebody here that might speak Creation.¡±


    ¡°No. Really!?¡± I barely refrained from grabbing Iona¡¯s tunic.


    ¡°Yes really.¡±


    A penny dropped.


    ¡°How come you¡¯re not being examined? Aren¡¯t there entrance exams?¡±


    Iona puffed out her generous chest.


    ¡°I got invited to attend the School, and on a full scholarship to boot.¡±


    ¡°Oh wow! That¡¯s super cool! How¡¯d you manage that?¡±


    Iona deflated a bit.


    ¡°My blessing.¡± She sheepishly admitted. ¡°The linguistics department wants me to help them translate things.¡±


    ¡°Like what?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Well, ancient ruins and the like. A civilization grows, flourishes, an Immortal war comes around and wipes them out, ruins get buried, rediscovered, and poof! Tons of texts that nobody speaks anymore suddenly need translating.¡±


    That had me wondering how on Pallos anyone still spoke Creation, but my question was practically answered thirty minutes of chatting with Iona later. We were slightly responsible for the line going slowly¡­ but at least there were multiple registration spots.


    The scribe returned with a characteristically pale fellow in tow, wearing green robes. That was a new color.


    ¡°A vampire!¡± I happily exclaimed.


    ¡°A human! I¡¯ve never seen one before.¡± He sarcastically mocked back. In Creation. Sure, his accent was heavy and weird, like his mouth was full of cotton, and the cadence was totally off, but the words were similar enough that we understood each other.


    ¡°You have no idea how happy I am to meet someone that can speak Creation!¡± I happily told him, only to feel Iona step on my foot.


    Gently, but with enough weight that I¡¯d feel it.


    ¡°You speak every language, you don¡¯t count.¡± I sassed at her.


    ¡°Creation? This is the Vampire¡¯s Tongue. Dragon¡¯s blood, how do you speak the language?¡±


    A shiver went down my spine at the forbidden word being so casually thrown around, and by a vampire none the less. Maybe it was less banned now, but I was going to be careful.


    ¡°Vampire¡¯s Tongue? It was called Creation where I came from, because, you know, it was the language the gods stuffed into everyone¡¯s head when the world was made. Do you know Night? Is he still alive? Can I get a message to him? Can-?¡±


    ¡°I have no idea who that is.¡± Sarcastic-face interrupted, completely bulldozing over me. ¡°Anyway, my role here is not to answer your petty questions, it is to translate. As much as I find it hard to believe that the Vampire¡¯s Tongue is your primary language, and you are not simply pulling an elaborate prank, I will assist and play along. Although, such a prank requires me to dig into how you acquired the language, which is a conversation we will have another day. Now. Name, age, classes, levels, stats, and what are you applying to the School for?¡±


    I looked around. Saw a number of mortals applying for the School. Saw the number of people from the School. Remembered that nobody else could understand me, and revealing my levels wouldn¡¯t be a problem, especially to another Immortal.


    ¡°Elaine, 22, healer-mage, 513-357-8, 1,000 Strength, 1,800 Dexterity, 14,000 Vitality, 14,000 Speed, 58,000 Mana, 58,000 Mana Regen with a bonus 52,000 from a skill, 23,000 Magic Power with another 585,000 from a skill, and the same Magic Control, medicine. Or healing. Whatever the School teaches.¡± I rattled off.


    ¡°I asked for your name, not your class twice.¡± Snarky sniffed at me. ¡°And you¡¯ve gotten your numbers incorrect.¡±


    Ugh. ¡°Elaine¡± wasn¡¯t even ¡°Healer¡± in Creation! He was mixing his languages up! And I hadn¡¯t gotten my numbers wrong!


    ¡°Yeah. By some screwy reason, my name¡¯s Elaine. It was Elaine before the word meant ¡®healer¡¯, and believe me, it¡¯s no fun. Also, I know my numbers. I didn¡¯t misspeak.¡± I kept the ¡®dumbass¡¯ to myself.


    ¡°You¡¯re 22. And claiming to pre-date the word ¡®elaine¡¯ meaning ¡®healer¡¯.¡± Sassy lifted an eyebrow, exactly the same way Night did!!!


    My eyes lit up, but the scribe next to the vampire poked him with her quill. I was sure she did it in a way to utterly ruin his clothes with an inkstain, and by the look of distaste on jerk¡¯s face, he knew he was in for some serious laundry. She barked a few sharp words at him, which turned into an entire lecture.


    He turned to me with a long-suffering sigh, then the corners of his lips curled.


    ¡°You¡¯re supposed to translate what we say and nothing else!¡± He mimed the scribe¡¯s voice.


    Ha! Maliciously complying with what he was being told. Mostly to be annoying, but hey, I didn¡¯t care.


    ¡°Ok, what¡¯s the next question?¡±


    He translated, and with our faithful, complying to the letter vampire, I had a steady means of communication.


    Iona sadly got shooed away in short order, and Auri was made to go with her. Their logic was I was the one being examined, not me and my five closest friends. It¡¯d be too easy for cheating to occur, and since Auri [Identified] as a [Mage], she was considered to be a full person in her own right. There were fascinating implications with that, and I¡¯d love to know more. Sadly, thousands of new and interesting things were being thrown at me every second, and I could only do so many things at once.


    For now.


    Getting a Mirror class and cloning myself a few times was sounding appealing.


    ¡°Place of birth, backing, fealty?¡±


    ¡°Aquiliea. None? I¡¯m unsure what this is asking. And¡­ the Sentinels? I¡¯m not sworn to a [Lord] or anything. Don¡¯t even know if the Sentinels still exist.¡±


    I got an incredibly skeptical look on that one, but he faithfully translated. I was prepared to pull out my Sentinel badge if challenged, but the [Scribe] didn¡¯t bother. Apparently, my word was good enough - or she just didn¡¯t care.


    Interesting. It implied that my backing and fealty didn¡¯t matter, they just wanted to collect the information.


    A dozen more administrative questions later, and the scribe was finished with me. She handed me a one-page sheet.


    ¡°Please follow Vitus to the examination area for healers.¡± The vampire then turned around, walking through another door. It took a moment for me to realize that he was Vitus, and was continuing to be a gigantic pain about literally translating everything.


    There was another line I had to queue in, although mercifully shorter. However, snails would outrace the pace this line went at, with what felt like hours between each person shuffling forward.


    Probably not actual hours, not with how distractible and hyper I could be, but¡­ pretty close. Then again, that spoke well to the examiners being thorough.


    I started to do a mental review of systems, although I was unsure of the format of the exam, or what knowledge would be needed. Also, I realized I¡¯d made some assumptions. Like it¡¯d be an actual exam, and not, like, just looking at my level or something. The slow pace that things went at suggested the first.


    I wanted to study the sheet the [Scribe] had given me, to try and divine some more language. However, my time was better spent going over my medicine.


    Going into a test completely blind was a terrible idea. Not exactly the best start to my time at the School.


    After an eternity - how many damn lines did this School have anyways!? Although I suppose the fact that it was so popular meant it was good¡­ - it was my - our - turn.


    I passed through the imposing - yet still temporary - doors into the exam room. Five elvenoids sat on a raised half-circle table, an obvious spot for me in the center. I stepped up, noting that they looked tired and worn down. Not good news for me.


    Inscriptions of some sort seemed to cover the room. The table had them on every surface, every leg. The floor had them. The walls and ceiling had them. The only places there were no visible Inscriptions was a circular spot in the center - where I assumed I had to be - and in neat little squares around each examiner¡¯s area, where they all had paper. They glowed with power and use, and I was a little nervous about them. It¡¯d help if I knew what they were for, but I suppose nobody had gotten themselves annihilated yet.


    There was an elf, with elk-like horns, wearing yellow robes. A devil in blue. A dwarf in black. A human - although I couldn¡¯t be sure - in black. And another possibly-human in black robes.


    I did a quick [Long-Range Identify] sweep as they quickly conversed with Vitus.


    They came back in order.


    [Healer - 2224]


    [Healer - 1439]


    [Healer - 256]


    [Healer - 256]


    [Healer - 256]


    All people who should know their stuff. Although I had to remind myself - knowledge and levels didn¡¯t always go hand in hand. I¡¯d known tons of medicine at a low level, and my medical knowledge had somewhat stagnated as I¡¯d leveled up.


    Levels were power. They were not knowledge. A level 8 could know more than me.


    ¡°Elaine something Aquiliea.¡± Vitus announced me, with the something probably being ¡®of¡¯. His words echoed four times, some magic translating his words from one language to four others. Handy stuff that.


    [*ding!* [Learning Languages] Leveled up! 45 -> 46]


    One downside - I knew it was ¡®of¡¯ in a language, I didn¡¯t know which one. Or ones.


    The elf asked a few questions of Vitus, who promptly turned towards me.


    ¡°Vitus! Why are you here? Isn¡¯t the girl supposed to speak for herself? You know the rules.¡±


    I gave him a flat stare, which he returned.


    He was better at staring me down than I was, and I wanted something from the School. They didn¡¯t need me. I suppose I had to play nice.


    ¡°Vitus is translating for me, as apparently my native language isn¡¯t well-known at the School.¡± I said, Vitus translated, the devil made a snarky remark, and the examiners laughed. Hopefully they were laughing at Vitus, and not me.


    ¡°Please pass us your information.¡± The dwarf asked, and after a moment I realized he meant what the scribe had prepared for me. I had to stretch to get it onto their table - did it really need to be so tall and imposing? I felt positively tiny here.


    It got more than a few mutters from the various examiners, until the questions started to come.


    ¡°Is your name really Elaine?¡±


    ¡°Yes. My name is Elaine. Elaine also doesn¡¯t mean ¡®healer¡¯ in Creation.¡±


    ¡°Where do you come from that you¡¯re speaking the Vampire¡¯s Tongue naturally?¡± One of the maybe-humans asked. I glared at Vitus, who gave me a smug, condescending smile. There was some translating fuckery going on somewhere along the line, but probably not on his part.


    Fine.


    ¡°Remus.¡±


    ¡°I am unfamiliar with that location as it pertains to potential new applicants of your age.¡± The elf said.


    The devil coughed.


    ¡°This is all fascinating, but we are here to assess her medical knowledge and capabilities to see if she¡¯s eligible to be admitted.¡±


    ¡°Honesty is a critical requirement for a healer.¡± The other maybe-human said through Vitus, although I detected maybe a hint of a hiss in her voice. ¡°The numbers given are absurd, and her stated level doesn¡¯t match her [Analyze] level.¡±


    That got some agreements.


    ¡°I apologize. I¡¯ve been wearing a Deception Ring for my own safety. I¡¯ve heard that mortal lands are hostile to high level healers.¡± I took the ring in question off, showing off how its invisibility dropped once it was off my hand. A round of muttering occurred, so quickly that in spite of Vitus spitefully trying to keep up, he couldn¡¯t. It was funny to watch him screw up though.


    ¡°I also have an [Oath] that¡¯s boosting my abilities.¡±


    ¡°Which [Oath], and what does it pertain to?¡± The dwarf asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ my own? It¡¯s a healing one, and the bonus is only when I¡¯m healing.¡±


    ¡°If she was capped in her [Oath], that would require it to be 5% per level.¡± The devil said.


    ¡°Which gets back to my issue of integrity being critical.¡± The same maybe-human with a hiss said.


    I shrugged.


    ¡°I was asked, I answered. I¡¯m unsure how to prove I have that much power and control. Even getting decapitated and healing it back only takes a fraction of my magic power these days. I suppose if we carefully weighed enough humans at close range, and you accepted my ranged healing penalty as truth you could measure that way, although it¡¯d be terribly unethical, my [Oath] would scream bloody murder at me, and I don¡¯t even have enough mana to properly use it all.¡±


    ¡°I will remind you all that she is a healer, like we all are, and has claimed to have acquired her third class by the age of 22. The type of life required to achieve that is also one that would reward her with numerous powerful classes, which could grant her the abilities she claims. At the end of the day, if there are no other issues with her integrity, and her knowledge is sufficient, there should be no issues with admittance.¡± The elf said.


    ¡°Agreed. Let¡¯s get this exam done.¡± The devil said.


    ¡°How were you taught?¡± The first maybe-human asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m unsure of what you¡¯re asking.¡± I responded, which got Vitus yelled at a bit, and a half-eaten apple thrown at him. He didn¡¯t translate it.


    Ha. Didn¡¯t want to repeat whatever griping they¡¯d given him. I should do that more often.


    ¡°How did you obtain your medical knowledge?¡± The first person asked again.


    I hedged a moment. They were already questioning my integrity, and the answer I wanted to give was¡­ not the whole truth, but more believable at least.


    ¡°A combination of self-study, and a divine blessing.¡± Was my answer, which was technically true.


    ¡°Did you have a teacher?¡± The dwarf was next in line, and I could see that the questions would follow around the table.


    ¡°I¡¯ve frequently compared notes with other healers, but I wasn¡¯t taught large amounts of the medical arts by one. I¡¯ve had numerous teachers that have taught me fighting, magic, flying, and dozens of other fields and skills.¡± I thought of Night as I answered, and I wanted to get Vitus alone and throttle some answers out of his smug mouth.


    I couldn¡¯t do any harm, but maybe if I sweet-talked Iona, she¡¯d be willing to help.


    ¡°Are there any towns, cities, mercenary companies, or armies that can attest to your presence and prowess?¡± The elf in the middle asked.


    ¡°Perinthus. Ariminum. The entire Remus army.¡± I hesitated over the last one, but, well, they could attest¡­ if they were around. ¡°Ochi.¡±


    I closed my eyes at the last one, memory hammering against me. The slaughter. The screams. The acrid smoke, the literal tens of thousands slaughtered in almost cold blood.


    I felt some tears well up, and I wiped them away.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± I croaked out. ¡°Need a moment.¡±


    That got some mutters, but they sounded positive.


    ¡°Right.¡± I straightened myself back up.


    ¡°Anatomy. Please tell me the names of the bones in your hand.¡± The fourth examiner asked through Vitus, then his eyes went wide. A rapid back-and-forth occurred between Vitus and the rest, then the elf made a pronouncement, which Vitus translated.


    ¡°Unfortunately, Vitus does not know all of the proper medical terminology required to perform a detailed examination. As such, we will be relying on slightly different questions that he can translate.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    ¡°Please understand that if you are admitted, you will need to learn one of the primary languages used by the School.¡±


    I nodded in furious understanding.


    ¡°I have three skill help me learn. My problem time. My Hakka bad.¡± I replied in moderate Hakka, delighting as the words were automatically translated. The elf looked positively disgusted at my attempt though. I was probably mauling the accent, and there was a good chance that my tone on ¡®problem¡¯ was wrong, which could¡¯ve made an entirely different word.


    ¡°We will continue using Vitus to translate.¡± He said through the unfortunate vampire.


    ¡°How many bones are in your hand?¡±


    ¡°27.¡±


    ¡°What is the function of blood?¡±


    ¡°Multiple. It carries nutrition throughout the body. Oxygen throughout the body. Moves waste. Moves¡­¡±


    I was quick and confident on the initial questions, rattling them off with precision, all while showing off the part of the body in question. I needed more than to just get admitted. I needed to wow them. To blow them out of the water.


    I needed what Iona had. A scholarship to the School.


    I knew I was broke. The level of wealth I¡¯d seen in the various ques, the prices on the signs I¡¯d seen, all indicated that the School was a place for the wealthy - and likely had a corresponding price tag. The fact that Iona was so proud of her scholarship, and the price tag she¡¯d mentioned on it otherwise, told me one thing.


    Without a scholarship, I couldn¡¯t attend.


    On and on the questions went, slowly getting harder and harder as the limits of my knowledge were tested.


    I thought I knew a lot.


    HA!


    Their questions revealed a frankly disturbing lack of knowledge on my part.


    ¡°Besides the metal used for their armor, what is the difference between a dullahan with iron-based armor, and copper-based armor?¡±


    ¡°What are the seven major parts of a werewolf that change when their curse is active?¡±


    ¡°When a medusa¡¯s hair bites, is petrification, poison, or something else the greatest concern? How would you treat such a bite?¡±


    ¡°What are five different common potion residual build ups, what do they manifest as, and what goes into your image of treating it?¡±


    ¡°What are the anatomical differences between a gnome and a human?¡±


    ¡°A centaur is in breech birth. What steps do you perform to save the foal and mother?¡±


    ¡°Apply a knife to the stomach, cut the foal out, cut the cord, apply healing to both the mother and foal.¡± I felt decent about that question.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t form an image?¡± A follow-up question had me wincing.


    ¡°Yes, and no, and yes.¡± I said, mentally cursing at how poorly it was coming out. ¡°I always run a persistent beacon on myself. Anyone touching me is automatically healed to the best of my ability and power, along with the best image I can form. This includes¡­¡± I listed off every single aspect of my image that I had, trying to show off the depth of my knowledge.


    I got cut off halfway through connective tissue.


    ¡°Yes, yes, we get it. Your full medical knowledge. Back to the prior question.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve gotten spoiled recently. Between my excessive power, control, mana, and regeneration, along with my [Persistent Casting], I haven¡¯t needed to fully and properly form an image. There¡¯s simply no need to make them on an individual basis, when I¡¯ve got the general case solved. In a true emergency where, for whatever reason, my [Persistent Casting] is no longer working, a quick ¡®save their life¡¯ move is preferred to languidly looking over the patient and thinking about things. I frankly haven¡¯t had the luxury.¡±


    ¡°More of a battlefield medic than a clinical healer.¡± The elf mused. ¡°There is value in both, and I am sure the people whose lives you have saved appreciate you.¡±


    More questions came, and I answered them to the best of my abilities. My heart slowly sunk as there were more and more questions I just had no answer to.


    Instead of trying to bullshit them, I cleanly and honestly told them I didn¡¯t know. They¡¯d smell bullshit a mile away, and there were already some questions on my integrity. Reasonable questions, but oh did it make my blood boil to get questioned like that.


    Well.


    I suppose I was in a medical exam setting. I should be precise.


    My blood was not actually boiling.


    ¡°Thank you. I think we have enough.¡± The elf finally said, and darkness fell around me, containing me and Vitus while the rest of them presumably talked with each other.


    ¡°I have so many questions.¡± Vitus finally admitted.


    ¡°Me too.¡± I agreed.


    We didn¡¯t ask each other the questions, knowing this wasn¡¯t the time or the place.


    The darkness rose, revealing the examiners again.


    ¡°Elaine of Aquiliea.¡± The elf said. ¡°Your knowledge of human anatomy is excellent. Your levels show a dedication to the craft unsurpassed by nearly all your age. You answer slowly and thoughtfully when the question merits thought, and decisively answer in scenarios where rapid action is required.¡±


    Ok, ok, sounding good so far.


    ¡°Your background is curious, and riddled with more holes than an ant¡¯s home. However, we are not in the business of questioning backgrounds, as long as you mean no harm to the School.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± I quickly replied - well, as quickly as I could with a translator involved.


    ¡°However, your comparative anatomy is terrible, practically non-existent. There are more than humans in the world, there are all the elvenoids, let alone the various creatures under the sun and moons. Your knowledge of magical maladies is poor, you know practically nothing of alchemy and potions, and the less is said of your skill-empowered plagues the better.¡±


    Right through the heart. Although, I still maintained that ¡°just heal them and shoot the Classer¡± was a valid method of dealing with created plagues. It¡¯d worked perfectly fine in Perinthus.


    ¡°Fortunately, you have come to us to learn. The School of Sorcery and Spellcraft is not the place for beginning your education, nor is it a place for people who have completed their education. You are perfect. You know enough to make full use of the School, while having enough holes that you will benefit. By a four to one vote, we grant you admittance to the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft. May your time with us be fruitful.¡±


    The elf ended his speech on a rote note, probably having said it thousands of times before, then gestured like he wanted me to leave.


    ¡°Quick question! I¡¯ve got no money, is there any chance of a scholarship? Like Iona?¡±


    The examiners looked at each other, quickly asking some questions.


    ¡°No.¡± The elf said with finality, and I felt the world crumbling away.

 Chapter 328 - Entrance Exams III

    I was crushed, but made out of stern stuff. The examiner explained in a bored monotone that my details and information had been sent to the [Bursar], and that I was to report to that department to pay. If I didn¡¯t pay before the School left, I would need to retake exams the next time the school came by. I nodded my acknowledgement, then Vitus and I left the exam room. The examiners called in the next candidate in line, and I mentally wished them luck.


    ¡°What now?¡± I asked Vitus.


    ¡°Now? You either figure out how to pay for the School, or leave.¡± Vitus sniffed at me.


    ¡°How much is admission anyways?¡±


    ¡°Typically, a ruby or diamond per year.¡± He answered, and I mentally translated it to a ruby or diamond coin. ¡°I have questions for you. Claiming to be a Sentinel?¡±


    I ignored his question for the moment, quickly doing the conversion. A ruby was the same as a diamond - obscenely expensive. All the gems in my armor might be able to pay for a single year, if I roped Amber into helping me sell them, but that was a short-term solution. It was roughly 25,000 coins, which was 390 rods and change, which was roughly six and a half weeks pay as a Sentinel.


    And I¡¯d been very, very well paid as a Sentinel.


    I opened my mouth to answer Vitus, but thinking about Amber and negotiating sales had me thinking about negotiations.


    ¡°I¡¯ll answer all your questions if you tell me about the various scholarships the School has.¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡± He snapped at me. ¡°Sentinel!? They¡¯ll eat you alive when they find you.¡±


    I fished out my Sentinel badge.


    ¡°Hi. Sentinel Dawn, pleased to meet you.¡± I showed it to him.


    ¡°That is not the Sentinel badge.¡± He complained.


    ¡°Well, shit, it used to be. Not my fault things have changed.¡±


    ¡°Explain.¡± He demanded.


    ¡°That wasn¡¯t a question.¡± I sassed back at him. He wanted to be a royal pain in the arse? I could also play that game.


    ¡°You try my patience.¡±


    ¡°And I know your progenitor. Probably. One out of three chances.¡± I shot back.


    He sighed in exasperation. Good. I could be just as annoying when I wanted to be!


    ¡°Please give me a brief overview of the events that you claim to happen that have led you here.¡± He¡­ ok, he technically didn¡¯t ask a question, but it was close enough, and I¡¯d wound him up enough. I was all too aware that he massively out-leveled me, and could probably squash me like a bug if he really wanted to.


    I gave him the short version, which still took some time.


    ¡°Entirely unbelievable.¡± He pronounced at the end.


    I shrugged.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t claim you¡¯d believe me. Just that I¡¯d answer your questions. Now. Scholarships?¡±


    He sighed.


    ¡°The School tends to give scholarships out to those individuals which can raise or elevate the school in some way, or have particular talents that will make the School shine. Artists are popular, and you might apply for a storytelling Scholarship. I believe your tales are a little too far-fetched, and they¡¯d deny you on that basis.¡±


    Jackass.


    ¡°Other such scholarships include areas in which the School competes publicly. Alchemy. Smithing. Golem building and fights. Combat. Dinosaur riding. Fishing. Cooking. Wizardry contests. Sports.¡± Vitus listed.


    One of those perked my ear.


    ¡°Combat?¡± I asked him.


    He muttered something to himself.


    ¡°Yes, fighting. Single, pairs, teams, free-for-all, there are a dozen different methods of fighting. The School fields a team, and is on the lookout for the best to join. Not that they have any shortage of candidates.¡±


    I beamed at him.


    ¡°Well, how do I apply?¡±


    ¡°By getting the woman you were with to translate for you from here on out. Good day.¡±


    Vitus, the prick, left me in the middle of the exam building, sweeping out with his long wizardly robes.


    I was left to my own devices, but managed to find my way back out, where Iona and Auri were waiting for me.


    ¡°So? How¡¯d it go! Dish!¡± Iona grinned at me under the moonlight.


    ¡°I got in. No scholarship. Can¡¯t pay for the School.¡± I moped. ¡°However! I¡¯m going to see if I can get a combat scholarship. Only way I can see myself getting it.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt BRPT brrrrrrpt!¡± Auri was full of confidence in me. Of course I¡¯d be able to get a combat scholarship! If I couldn¡¯t, nobody could!


    ¡°Brrpt?¡± She was also wondering if she could show off, and we could charge people to watch Auri show off.


    Her vanity knew no limits.


    Iona gave me an appraising look, possibly reading my status.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got a shot at it.¡± She agreed with Auri.


    ¡°Now I need to figure out where the heck I sign up for this sort of thing.¡±


    ¡°They didn¡¯t tell you?¡±


    I gave Iona the quick rundown on Vitus.


    ¡°Oooh, that dick. I¡¯d love to get my hands on him and¡­¡± Iona made a wringing motion with her hands. I totally agreed with her.


    ¡°Brrpt. Brrrpt?¡±


    Auri suggested Fire.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good idea.¡±


    ¡°BRRRPT!¡± Auri picked a direction and started flying off, convinced she¡¯d find Vitus in the direction she was going.


    I retrieved her.


    ¡°What now?¡± Iona asked.


    ¡°Wander around until we find the combat place?¡±


    ¡°Like the one behind you?¡±


    Oh right. There¡¯d been a dueling ground we¡¯d watched on our way over.


    Some quick navigation later - how everyone was so energetic in the middle of the night I¡¯d never know - and Iona was translating for me with a dullahan, who had purple paint on her armor.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to get a combat scholarship. How can I make that happen?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Age?¡± She barked at me. Iona¡¯s translation barely softened the tone.


    ¡°The System says I¡¯m 22.¡± I was shooting for the lowest possible number that I could intellectually defend.


    ¡°Under 30. Good. You need to be the best. Not only the best, but you need to be utterly dominant. Even then, we¡¯ll only take you if we think you¡¯ll fit. Do you want to compete in singles, duos, team, or free-for-all?¡±


    ¡°Singles and free-for-all?¡± I ventured.


    ¡°Pick one.¡±


    I frowned.


    ¡°Free-for-all.¡± Singles had the unfortunate mage problem of eventually running out of mana, and usually had all sorts of rules attached to it. A free-for-all sounded like my type of jam, a place where I could put all my training to use.


    The dullahan gave me another look.


    ¡°Purple-robe healer wants to compete in the free-for-all. Now I¡¯ve seen it all.¡± She shook her head.


    ¡°Can I compete in the duels to see what it¡¯s like?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Sure. Only the big tournament counts, although we¡¯ll be watching everything.¡±


    That sounded like even the duels counted. Iona and I did some wandering around, before finding the right place.


    An elf was overseeing the entire dueling grounds in a weapons room. Three dozen different types of armor covered one wall, while weapons of all shapes and sizes covered the other three. A few people were working in various corners, fixing up gear, fitting people in armor, and generally helping keep the place running.


    ¡°I am Mormerilhawn, the Black Rose. You wish to compete for fame and glory in my grounds. Very well. I will ensure that minimal harm comes to you. Here are the rules. Every person I permit to participate is shielded by one of my skills. I tailor the skill to what would be a powerful blow against you. When the skill activates, it will do so with blinding light. That is the signal to stop. If you persist in fighting after the signal, you will be evicted. If I am feeling generous, you will still have all your limbs. Please keep in mind that my defenses will not work against suffocating attacks. If you use one, you will be evicted. If I am feeling generous, you will still have all your limbs. If you somehow cause grievous harm to another duelist, you will be evicted. You will not have all your limbs. Am I clear?¡±


    I swallowed nervously.


    ¡°Partially. I¡¯m bound to do no harm. How does that work?¡±


    His eyebrows raised.


    ¡°Well. An Oathbound healer, fighting in my arena. Now, that is a first. Most interesting. How do you fight?¡±


    I was about to show off most of my tricks, and while I didn¡¯t need to get into the School, I thought it¡¯d dramatically improve my life.


    ¡°Radiance magic is my primary means of attack. Failing that, I¡¯m trained in spear and short sword, although I have mediocre stats and few skills backing them up.¡±


    ¡°Sorcery or wizardry?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know the difference.¡±


    ¡°Sorcery uses the skills you are granted, while wizardry uses runes and the like to bend the world to your will.¡±


    ¡°Sorcery then.¡± The person with all the talismans must¡¯ve been a wizard.


    ¡°Radiance sorcery, at the level you are at, will not cause harm to your fellow duelist, and I would be surprised if your physical prowess could cause any issues. Good. You will be fine. How durable are you?¡±


    I grinned.


    ¡°Basically impossible to kill. Except for headshots. I don¡¯t know about those.¡±


    Mormerilhawn shouted something over his shoulder, and Iona didn¡¯t translate. A few minutes later, a black-robed healer showed up. Looked like a scaly person, with a long tail, and a snout, and -


    Ok.


    More like a lizard person.


    ¡°What¡¯s he?¡± I asked Iona, confident that nobody could overhear us.


    ¡°A dragonling.¡± Iona¡¯s words sent a cold splash of water over me.


    ¡°Everything ok?¡± She asked, like she hasn¡¯t casually dropped the D-word. Lots of people were saying it.


    Maybe¡­ it was ok?


    I shook my head.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    ¡°This is Ixcoh. He will be on hand for when you are inevitably less durable than you believe.¡± Mormerilhawn¡¯s tone was a bit hard to tell through the translation, but boy did he sound condescending. Not nearly as nice as Awarthril and the rest had been, although¡­ thinking about it, they¡¯d been a little condescending in their own way.


    ¡°How does this work?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Remove any clothing you¡¯d like to keep intact, spread your arms, activate your defensive skills, and we will begin.¡± He said. ¡°Please do not use external shields, armor reinforcement, redirections, and the like. This assessment is simply to determine what will be considered a hit hard enough for your opponent to obtain victory. Your shields and armor will prevent those types of blows from happening in the first place.¡±


    Got it. [Mantle of the Stars] wasn¡¯t getting tested here.


    I had exactly zero spare clothes, so I completely stripped, feeling Iona¡¯s appreciative look. I then moved into a T-pose as Mormerilhawn suggested.


    ¡°I unfortunately require you to assent to being assaulted by me to properly test the limits of your durability.¡± Iona mimicked a tone of frustration and boredom, like Mormerilhawn was bucking against the rules that required him to do something as mundane as ask my permission.


    I thought about it for a bit. I was pretty firmly against allowing myself to get mutilated. Both on a personal level, and on an [Oath] level.


    However¡­ with how I¡¯d grown, getting sliced or losing an arm was just losing a chunk of mana. With only the greatest stretch of imaginations was I coming to ¡®harm¡¯, and I couldn¡¯t bring myself to believe it. No injury. No pain. Just a brief expenditure of mana.


    I just wasn¡¯t getting harmed.


    Which has a subtle, but important, distinction from getting hurt.


    ¡°Do your worst. But not the head!¡±


    He took out a knife, and started to lightly tap my forearm, so gently that I didn¡¯t feel a thing. Slowly, he tapped harder and harder, until he broke skin.


    ¡°Not particularly durable.¡± His tone was undisguised contempt.


    ¡°Really?¡± I pointedly looked at my arm. ¡°I¡¯m not sure I agree.¡±


    Iona hesitated before translating my smack talk. Mormerilhawn looked at my arm.


    ¡°Mana-based regeneration. Not without precedent. How much can you handle at once?¡±


    ¡°My entire body from the neck down.¡± I proudly boasted.


    Mormerilhawn¡¯s knife flashed, and I felt my bicep shimmer for lack of a better word.


    ¡°Of course, you need to use a larger blade than that to cut something off.¡± I shamelessly boasted. Iona shared an identical grin with me.


    Mormerilhawn grabbed a thick sword, and applied it to my arm. As the elf finished his cut, fully separating my arm, my healing kicked in and immediately made a new one, regrowing from the stump of my arm with such speed and force that it sent my old arm, which had just started to fall, spinning across the room. It baptized the room and the rest of the inhabitants with a spray of my blood, no longer pressurized by my heart but forced out by the spinning force anyways.


    We all stared after it.


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not cleaning that up.¡± I said, and Iona faithfully translated¡­ probably also doubling up that she wasn¡¯t cleaning that up either.


    Mormerilhawn looked delighted, which was an unusual reaction to having bloody limbs flying around the room.


    ¡°Excellent! Your shield is set. Do note that the portion protecting your head will trigger a loss at a significantly weaker hit than the rest of you. Enchanted weapons, armor, talismans, prepared spells and the like are all permitted. However, gemstones are only permitted in a limited capacity for Gemstone duelists.¡±


    I briefly debated asking why, but my severed arm was still pooling blood on the floor. It didn¡¯t make much of a difference for me.


    ¡°Understood.¡± I started to get dressed again.


    Iona, Auri, and I left in short order, and a new victim - errr - potential duelist came through the door, Mormerilhawn starting his speech again.


    Iona laughed as we left.


    ¡°What¡¯s so funny?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Your arm!¡± She gave another deep belly laugh. ¡°Mormerilhawn implied that it was from someone who¡¯d broken the rules!¡±


    I remembered what he kept saying about ¡°maybe you¡¯ll have all your limbs¡±, and laughed with Iona.


    It took some time to properly sign up for the free-for-all, then I was in the arena, getting some practice fights in. Getting a feel for my competition. Sure, I could go in totally blind - and have everyone else blind as to what I could do - but knowledge was power.


    Deception was key in warfare, and I had my Deception Ring on, setting me to a respectable level 200. Not so weak as to make people suspect I was up to something - I wouldn¡¯t trust a level 40 in the arena, I¡¯d assume there was mischief afoot - but not so strong that people stood up and took notice of me, and tracked what I did for the free-for-all.


    I also had a second issue. I¡¯d let some of the people running the arena know that I was aiming for a combat scholarship, and I couldn¡¯t attend the school without it. I needed to show dominance.


    More than that.


    I needed to prove that I¡¯d be an undisputable asset to the School. I wasn¡¯t thinking that I couldn¡¯t lose - nobody reasonable would expect that - but I believed I needed to show off.


    In other words.


    I needed style points.


    The arena was obviously temporary, a large dirt circle divided up into a dozen or so hexagons for multiple duels to occur at once, transparent shields dividing each segment up. Iona had wandered away, Auri was cheering me from the stands, and I was ready.


    I looked doubtfully at my first opponent. A nerdy-looking scrawny kid from the School, he might be 18, and I doubted that he could run a mile, even if his vitality was good. There was a bookish, distant air to him, and while I knew the System didn¡¯t care about physical baseline for mages and casting skills, there was no reason for a good battlemage to not look after their body.


    [Identify] gave me [Mage - 256]. Impressive for his apparent age, or at least it was extremely impressive for his age in Remus; I had no idea how it stacked up here.


    I¡¯d armed myself with just my tunic and my knife, leaving the ¡°this person is dangerous!¡± armor with gemstones behind - along with the prayer from my parents. The last memento I had of them. I wasn¡¯t going to risk that, not on something this minor. If I got into the School but lost my prayer, I¡¯d never forgive myself. It wouldn¡¯t be worth it.


    The light between us turned green, and I waited to see what my opponent would do.


    He closed his eyes and started chanting.


    He CLOSED HIS EYES. IN A FIGHT.


    Gods help me, it was amateur hour here. What was I doing here?


    Establishing dominance. If this was the quality I was dealing with, this would be easy mode.


    I mentally admonished myself not to get cocky, my eyebrows continuing to go up as my opponent kept chanting with his eyes closed. At one point he stumbled, and I couldn¡¯t do it anymore. I couldn¡¯t wait to see what he would do, counter that, then beat him.


    I slowly walked up to him, keeping my speed down to what a poor physical stat [Healer] should have, and ¡°stabbed¡± him in the chest with my knife.


    His shield flared with color, the light in our arena turned red, and I didn¡¯t need Iona to translate to tell that I¡¯d been declared the winner.


    I rolled my neck.


    Right.


    Next one.


    The dueling light turned green again, and the level 200ish [Ranger] across from me started flinging knives at me. One after another, she quickly and efficiently threw them at me, each one aiming for a vital spot.


    A solid tactic, letting me know that not everyone here was a rank amateur, and my first opponent had simply been¡­ somewhat special.


    However, I was more than twice her level. In spite of obvious skills enhancing her moves, the knives didn¡¯t look like they were moving all that quickly to me. I dodged and weaved through them, avoiding the vast majority of her attacks. Her patterns were good, and I wasn¡¯t able to fully dodge all of them. I grabbed some of the knives out of the air, returning them to sender, and every now and then one of the knives required an action besides ¡®dodge¡¯ or ¡®catch¡¯.


    So I simply flared my [Mantle of the Stars] in a tiny circle right above my skin. To people who were low-leveled or inexperienced, it would look like they hit me, but didn¡¯t do anything. To people with high levels and more experience, it would look like I had an automatic shield skill.


    The experts would be able to tell exactly what I was doing, and would know just how difficult it was to pull off, and they were the people I needed to impress.


    We traded knives until I got a lucky shot in, and was declared the winner of the duel.


    Hey.


    I wasn¡¯t exactly an expert at throwing knives! Never donate your weapon to your opponent and all that.


    I did a few more duels, getting a feel for how people fought these days. A small measure of the quality of my opponents, and what I could get away with.


    It was still good exercise, and I felt suitably warmed up for the free-for-all that was going to start soon.

 Chapter 329 - Entrance Exams IV

    I¡¯d gotten in a small catnap after a few more duels, getting a feel for how strong people were. What tricks I needed to be on the lookout for, what had changed.


    Frankly, it was hard to tell. On one hand, the world clearly had more. More skills. More fields. More ways of fighting. There were angles to consider that I¡¯d never dreamed were possible before, which was frankly silly of me. The System allowed anything to be possible.


    On the other? I was fighting students. Sure, they were around the same age as me. Sure, they were the ones interested in duels. But no matter how much I reminded myself that the fights were real, and to give it my all, I just couldn¡¯t stop seeing kids across from me in the arena.


    Nevermind some of them were older than I was. They just¡­ hadn¡¯t spent their life on the edge, fighting for survival. They hadn¡¯t spent years training to kill. A few of them dabbled in polite dueling now and then - or at least that¡¯s what it seemed like - but there was a difference between occasionally dueling, and spending all day every day working on how to become more lethal.


    In a way, I was slightly jealous.


    Only a few registered on my ¡°pay attention¡± scale. Other men and women who¡¯d gone through a lifetime of training to be a warrior, of training to fight and kill for their life. They were the threats.


    Iona and I were listening to the rules of the free-for-all getting announced by one of the arena people. Not the elf. Iona was continuing to translate, and I swore if I got admitted to the School the first class I was taking was a language class or five. I was sick and tired of not understanding people.


    Actually¡­


    Iona had a blessing¡­


    Didn¡¯t hurt to try, right?


    ¡°Selene. Lunaris. Can I please get a blessing to understand people? Languages alone would be nice, but if you could also help me, like, understand people that¡¯d be great as well.¡±


    I heard a distant laugh, and my heart leapt up into my throat.


    ¡°No.¡± A strangely familiar voice whispered in my ear.


    Damn. I got the goddesses to personally deny my request. That didn¡¯t happen every day! Maybe being near their [Paladin] helped?


    We¡¯d rounded up Artemis, Julius, and Amber, and they were watching from the stands along with Auri. They also had my armor. Hilariously, this was the first time in ages that I believed I could get some actual minor use out of it - except laying low and looking like I wasn¡¯t a threat was the better plan!


    I¡¯d made it explicitly clear, almost to the point of being annoying, that I was here to fight for a combat scholarship. I¡¯d bugged and irritated a half-dozen people to that effect, which did me no favors on one hand, but also got me on their radar. I considered that a win, although Iona¡¯s eyebrows kept going up the longer I was at it.


    ¡°Welcome, one and all, to the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft¡¯s free-for-all event! Some of you are old hands at this, some of you are brand new! A few of you are using this event as your application to the School. Welcome, welcome! First, I would like to thank Mormerilhawn, the Black Rose, whose skills make this all possible. When we don¡¯t have a [Master of the Arena] giving us a hand, these events are just not possible. Now! Let me explain how this works. There is a large area, about 14 square miles. The boundaries will be clearly marked, and we ask you to not go past them. You will be given a minor beacon, directing you to your starting position. You don¡¯t have to go there, but we encourage you to. No stalking other people! You can team up with your friends though. Once everyone¡¯s roughly in the right spot, we will begin. Prizes are awarded to the final eight contestants, with each of the towers having generously provided one of the rewards! The last wizard standing gets first pick of the prizes, the second one gets the second pick, et cetera. None of this nonsense trying to deliberately get fourth place because that has the best prize. That was a disaster.¡±


    A ripple of chuckles came from the crowd.


    ¡°Rules! The shields you all have in place should prevent harm. There are ways to bypass the shields. If you do so, you will be removed from the event, likely expelled, and handed off to the locals. Here. There will be no transportation back to your home. Mormerilhawn has given each and every one of you the speech. You know what causes harm and what won¡¯t. You eliminate another contestant by causing them enough damage that their shield triggers a ¡®loss¡¯. Now, for the free-for-all, we¡¯ve got a special little rule. Mormerilhawn, in all his power and glory, will teleport anyone who¡¯s defeated outside of the event.¡±


    Iona broke from her translation.


    ¡°Wait, he can do that!?¡± She exclaimed. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ that¡¯s¡­¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not telling me the rest of the rules!!¡± I poked her in the side, my finger ending up with more damage than Iona.


    Iona cursed.


    ¡°Right, sorry. I¡¯ve missed some of it, but¡­¡±


    ¡°... you can work as a team, or by yourself. It makes no difference to us. Just make sure your team has the prizes figured out! We do value people being able to work together, just as much as we all love watching a good backstab.¡±


    That brought another round of chuckles.


    ¡°Speaking of WATCHING! We have a few mages here who¡¯ll be displaying the events via dedicated Mirage skills back to the audience! They¡¯ll be doing all sorts of nonsense like getting drunk, gambling, and having a grand old time while you¡¯re in the mud. It is also how the coaches in charge of combat-related admittances will determine if you are good enough to join the School or not! Questions?¡±


    A question was asked.


    ¡°No! You can¡¯t rob other students! You can grab their weapons and the like, but at the end of the event, you need to give them their equipment back! Nothing will be done about destroyed weapons, so think carefully about those arrows and one-shot talismans! Next question!¡±


    On it went, a back and forth Q&A. All reasonable things.


    ¡°Right! Last thing! Anyone with a teleportation index over 1,000,000 can¡¯t compete! You¡¯re too heavy and vital to get teleported out in the event that you¡¯re eliminated.¡±


    Iona cut off at the end there, even though the announcer kept going. Her eyebrows furrowed in thought as her fingers twitched. The announcer said something else that had everyone start moving towards the front.


    Curse my short stature. I couldn¡¯t see what was going on up there.


    ¡°I think I¡¯m over.¡± She admitted.


    ¡°How can you tell?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m heavy with a lot of vitality. Here, let¡¯s go ask one of the organizers for you.¡± Without waiting for me to answer, she grabbed my hand and started weaving through the crowd of people.


    I had a sneaking suspicion that Iona didn¡¯t actually know if she was too heavy or not to compete, and was using my lack of knowledge as a cover for her own.


    I didn¡¯t mind, I needed to know anyway. Plus her hand was warm.


    We got to the front, where little glowing circles like wafers with an arrow pointed on them were being handed out.


    Iona had a quick word with one of the people, then had a fast question for me.


    ¡°Yeah. What¡¯s your weight and vitality?¡±


    I told her, she translated, and took one token.


    ¡°Ok, yeah, I was right.¡± She handed it back to me. ¡°I¡¯ve got too many stats for this. You¡¯re in, I¡¯m not, I guess I¡¯ll try the individual tournament.¡± Her face fell for a moment, then brightened up.


    ¡°Oh! I might be able to win for once!¡±


    ¡°You haven¡¯t won a tournament before?¡± I asked her. She shook her head.


    ¡°Nope! My build¡¯s not great for duels. It¡¯s good for long slogs. Anyways, I wish you luck!¡±


    Iona clapped me on the shoulder, then waded back against the crowd.


    I looked down at my token with an arrow on it.


    Well, this seemed obvious enough.


    I walked over fields and hills, skirting around a pond, thankful that I wasn¡¯t getting directed into the forest like some of the other contestants.


    I was continuing operation Max Deception. I had my [Mantle of the Stars] active and ready¡­ over my heart, front and back, obviously protecting a ¡°weak spot¡±. It wasn¡¯t actually a weak spot. I only had my still-filthy tunic, a knife, and my Deception Ring, displaying a low level.


    My trickery wouldn¡¯t last, nor was I relying on it. However, it¡¯d give me an edge, and I could use every single edge possible. I wanted to show off every trick possible. After all, showing off was how I got to a safer spot, there was no reason to hold back.


    Two different audiences. Two different shows.


    Some people got into small groups as we scattered over the contest fields. A few came up to me, but I just shrugged and kept repeating that I didn¡¯t understand them. In Creation. A few of the more obvious ones got predatory looks, and I could only hope they tried me.


    A few groups gathered up together and hustled off, and I mentally marked them as my first targets. A single person taking out an entire group by herself?


    That was exactly the sort of thing that¡¯d get me noticed.


    Most of the groups seemed to be a few knights, with a half dozen to a dozen lightly armed men and women-at-arms. Having practically no knowledge of the country, culture, or really anything, I had to go back to some fundamentals, and assume there was a hotshot noble - or just someone really rich and powerful - who had a bunch of hanger-ons, and they were competing here for¡­ admission? The prizes?


    Knowing their motives would help me fight them, but it wasn¡¯t critical. I did mentally mark what direction they were going in, planning on heading towards them first. A large group would move slower.


    One group was filled with all manner of elvenoids in various brightly colored robes, with long sleeves. They were completely different from the witch-wizard outfit that most members of the School were wearing. It all looked terribly impractical, but they were among the higher leveled groups I¡¯d seen. Who knows, maybe they all had [Impractical Bathrobe Fighter] as a class or something, giving them bonuses when they fought like that, or their class gave them a ton of extra experience for it.


    Or something. I wouldn¡¯t underestimate them, the same way I was hoping others would underestimate me.


    I made it to my spot, halfway up a small hill, and waited for the signal to begin. As I did, I quickly thought of a few different strategies that other people might go for.


    There was beating everyone else up. Somebody had to do it, otherwise the free-for-all would drag out for eternity.


    There was turtling up, which I suspected some of the groups might do. Just make themselves a great big fuck-off target that nobody wanted to tackle. If nobody fought them, they¡¯d make it to the end of the event in short order, at which point things got complicated.


    There was the ¡®hide and hope nobody sees me¡¯ strategy, which would be great for the type of person I was pretending to be. Just hope that everyone else fought like crazy, sneak around the edges of the event, and either backstab or sneak into the top 8 to get prizes.


    I doubted that type of strategy would be favorably looked upon by the people making determinations about combat entry, or scholarships. Unless free-for-alls were bigger events, and being a sneaky mouse was valued.


    Eh. Not what I was aiming for.


    I was going to be the rampaging bull type. Just running around, looking for people and fights, and giving it my all until I was eliminated.


    Or hell.


    I was a Sentinel.


    I was going to win this thing, for my own pride. To prove that the line in my skills, ¡®The peak of humanity¡¯, wasn¡¯t just there for show.


    Mist started to rise up, thick and heavy, severely limiting visibility. It didn¡¯t care that the sun was up, some Classer was using a skill to make visibility worse. Interestingly, it only stayed thick and heavy near the ground, the open sky still visible.


    Weird, but ok.


    My token turned green, a great gong reverberated through the area, and the event was clearly on.


    While I was on Operation: Complete Dominance, I wasn¡¯t going to be terminally stupid about it. I wasn¡¯t going to go flying through the air, letting everyone on the ground see me, while the mists made it hard for me to see them. That was asking to get turned into a pincushion.


    However, not everyone had the same line of thought. A number of people exploded out of the mists at various points. One of the bathrobe people surfing on a sword, another with no hilt and fancy tassels in his hand. A woman grabbed onto Lightning bolts, and used them like monkey bars to swing through the sky. A knight had a pair of shimmering wings - angel-like, not butterfly-like - and had his lance and shield at the ready. A dozen more people jumped into the air in various ways. Wings, platforms, stepping on the air itself, no two people had the same method of flying.


    Well. I just had to do something about that. People making themselves into targets all over the place? Please.


    I had to say, preparing the attack was weird. It took me a few moments to identify why.


    I was taking offensive action against people who weren''t a threat to my life. I¡¯d been bound by ¡®First, do no harm¡¯ for so long that actions to the contrary just felt wrong. Like my underwear was full of sand or something.


    At the same time, it was strangely liberating. For once in my life, the gloves were properly off. I didn¡¯t need to worry about causing others harm. I could let all my training rip.


    I conjured a half-dozen [Kaleidoscope] butterflies, then started to run away from them, mentally tracking the closest dozen contenders. When three of them were roughly in range - I would¡¯ve liked to get more, but I¡¯d take what I could get - I gleefully launched my butterflies out on various intercept courses.


    They emerged from the mists at high speeds right under their feet. One of them noticed, two of them didn¡¯t. The butterflies swarmed up and around them, detonating a moment later. Bright flashes of Radiance coated the three of them, and I saw one of them fall.


    I started running in the direction the guy had fallen - another one of the fancy robe-wearing people, although he¡¯d been directly stepping on air, not flying on a sword - mentally noting that the other two hadn¡¯t emerged from the explosions.


    The lack of anything resembling a kill notification was weird. I had to assume they¡¯d been teleported away, but a little voice in the back of my head kept saying they¡¯d thrown up a powerful illusion, and were sneaking around still. That I needed to blast Radiance around me, kill their illusion, and handle them.


    Which would make a nice bright spot exactly where I was, and grab the attention of half the fliers. I wanted to be aggressive, not suicidal.


    Something to keep in mind.


    A whirling storm of blades landed in the spot where I¡¯d launched my butterflies from, and I was glad I¡¯d already been out of the way before I even sent them after the fliers. I probably would¡¯ve gotten caught by that otherwise. Obviously, the people in the air weren¡¯t going to take attacks from the ground lightly.


    I made it to where I¡¯d seen the flying warrior fall to, finding him picking himself up off the ground.


    [Warrior - 280]


    Not a significant threat to me. He drew his sword as I charged him, and my bond-enhanced speed let me quickly figure out the most delightful way to beat him with style.


    Normally, I¡¯d call it a stupid plan, and throw out any Ranger Trainee proposing it. However, I needed the style points.


    I flowed around his thrust, opening up one arm to slap his face. As my hand came up, I saw dozens, hundreds of potential spots to hit him, ways to win. Sword between the ribs. Radiance beam through the heart, eyes, or mouth. If I wanted to disable him, dozens of joints I could hit. All easier, more practical targets than what I was going for.


    Right before my slap connected with his ugly face, I blasted Radiance magic from my palm as powerfully as I could, triggering the shield and the teleport.


    To someone watching?


    It would look like I slapped him out of the event.

 Chapter 330 - Minor Interlude - Mormerilhawn - Dominance

    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Searing Slap]. Would you like to replace a skill with [Searing Slap]?]


    I dismissed the notification, mentally cursing my second class. It was supposed to be easy to pick up new skills - which it was, I could barely get out of bed without being offered something new - but apparently merging two skills wasn¡¯t quite that easy, even though they had significant overlap.


    Then again, it¡¯d be a fairly large boost to my overall power once I got them merged and opened myself up for yet another skill.


    The School could probably help me with that problem.


    First things first.


    Getting a scholarship, so I could actually attend.


    I jogged over to the nearby woods, and started to work on some camouflage.


    Mormerilhawn¡¯s mind was split over a dozen different ways, [Parallel Thoughts] allowing for the processing of multiple threads at the same time. It let him track numerous fights that were going on, permitting him to keep tabs on not only the chaotic free-for-all that he was running, but also the individual tournament. It helped him find the most interesting fights and promising combatants to display for the rest of the judges, coaches, and trainers that the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft had.


    Running arenas was difficult, but rewarding work, and the Black Rose found great satisfaction in his job. There was something about displaying curated fights for others to enjoy, about creating a safe environment that let others train and level that was just right.


    The School had convinced him to take a small, 500-year tenure with them, promising easier levels and improved skills. Thus far, they had delivered, Mormerilhawn quickly leveling from the new challenges and environment.


    There was an additional layer of satisfaction helping the poor mortals along. Their lives were so quick, so fleeting, and they hadn¡¯t been born elves. It wasn¡¯t their fault they¡¯d been born lesser, and it was Mormerilhawn¡¯s - and all elves, really - obligation to try and raise them up, help them to strive to become better in what little time they had on the planet.


    ¡°Mormerilhawn. Somebody wants to see you. They¡¯ve got an accusation of cheating. Honor demands that we investigate.¡± Sir Fulgrim told Mormerilhawn.


    The poor mortal knight considered himself the equal of the peerless elf, which irked him to no end. They were not equal. The School didn¡¯t even have them at equal rankings!


    Still. An accusation of cheating was serious. Nothing could besmirch the [Arena Master¡¯s] good name.


    ¡°Bring him in.¡± The Black Rose ordered, and a cultivator from one of the minor sects entered the judge¡¯s room.


    The mortal stared in awe at the dozens and dozens of mirages around the room, each one displaying a different fight, another battle that was going on somewhere within Mormerilhawn¡¯s domain. He refrained from smiling.


    He did so love impressing people, no matter how easily impressed the poor mortals were. Even a low level illusionist could emulate what Mormerilhawn was doing!


    ¡°Speak.¡± He ordered the cultivator after giving him enough time to be properly awed.


    The cultivator straightened up, showing the arrogance ingrained in every so-called young master of the mortal sects.


    Even in arrogance he couldn¡¯t compare to an elf.


    ¡°Honored senior. Some lowly commoner trash blatantly cheated, improperly removing me from the event. I could not let such a stain on your honor come to pass. Could you please give the Grand Dao Temple some face, hand the impudent cheater over to us, and rightfully restore me to the event?¡±


    Even Mormerilhawn thought the cultivators had a few screws loose. He didn¡¯t care about the sect¡¯s face, nor could they do anything to him or the School if they disliked it, and he had a mental chuckle at the sheer preposterousness of the name of the temple. Grand Dao indeed.


    An accusation of cheating, no matter how poorly delivered, did need to be investigated.


    ¡°Fulgrim. A second pair of eyes?¡± Mormerilhawn generously offered the knight. He didn¡¯t need the second pair of eyes, but the more people that confirmed there was no cheating going on, the better.


    ¡°There is no other honorable course.¡± The man agreed.


    Some more details were given, and Mormerilhawn mentally juggled through his various thought processes, letting the one dedicated to remembering how everyone was eliminated take the forefront, recreating an illusion of the events that transpired.


    ¡°Name, Healer. Class, healer. Admitted for¡­ this will be a surprise, healing. Couldn¡¯t afford tuition, decided to try her luck in the free for all. One of the Desperates.¡± Sir Fulgrim summarized for Mormerilhawn, who couldn¡¯t be bothered to look up the details of every single contestant. He used a slightly derogatory word for those who came to the School penniless, were admitted, then tried to use any means necessary to gain a scholarship. The free-for-all fight was a popular one, the poor fools not realizing that winning the event wasn¡¯t nearly enough to get a Ruby ticket.


    ¡°The remarkably durable one.¡± She¡¯d gotten the highest trigger threshold shield he could provide on her body, and one of the lowest ones he could justify on her head. An appropriate trade-off.


    ¡°Level¡­ 513!?¡± Sir Fulgrim cried out.


    Mormerilhawn glared at the man, noting the cultivator had gotten an ugly look.


    ¡°We will discuss your lapse later.¡± He coldly stated. The Black Rose was about fair arena fights. A healer of that level, in these lands, would be unfairly attacked, and Sir Fulgrim had just handed one of her enemies a perfect excuse to attack her outside the boundaries of the event he ran.


    Unacceptable. The elf didn¡¯t think Fulgrim had deliberately let it leak, the man simply being careless. It was inappropriate regardless.


    Mormerilhawn used his Mirage skills to replay the event. Healer Healer - Healer Elaine, as bizarre as the combination was - started the event at her assigned spot, a solid omen. The event began, dozens of the contestants took to the skies, and she almost immediately launched a multi-projectile skill at three of them, immediately moving out of the way to avoid a counter-attack that she had no way of knowing was coming. Her attack directly eliminated two competitors, and the three of them got to watch her blur around the aggrieved cultivator, directly slapping him out of the event.


    No, not quite - there was a burst of light from her hand right before she removed him.


    Mormerilhawn ended the replay of the event, locking eyes with Sir Fulgrim. The knight knew what Mormerilhawn wanted.


    ¡°No cheating. You were deceived and outclassed by another contestant, and there is no rule against deception. You should go and reflect upon the fight and your actions.¡± He decreed.


    Mormerilhawn turned away as the cultivator left, spinning off another fragment of mind to watch this competitor, and have her exploits be among the ones displayed in the judge¡¯s station.


    Another part of his mind clamored, and let him know that she had been next in line to be displayed anyways.


    Interesting.


    Elaine¡¯s exploits were on full display in the judge¡¯s room, and as time passed and competitors were eliminated, fewer and fewer displays were running.


    Part of Mormerilhawn¡¯s mind was fully dedicated to watching Elaine.


    She disguised herself in mediocre camouflage, although it was quite good for a mortal. He had a brief moment of concern that she¡¯d simply spend the rest of the event hiding, like most of the Desperates, but ended up pleasantly surprised.


    Her next move was to find one of the fortified encampments, and slowly, methodically take it apart. She started off by sniping the scouts with powerful lances of Radiance, then slowly whittled away at the forces until they broke and ran. Elaine didn¡¯t bother chasing them all down, instead piling the camp¡¯s supplies together, and lighting them all on fire.


    Mormerilhawn¡¯s right eyebrow went up.


    That wasn¡¯t a move of a show fighter.


    That wasn¡¯t a move of a knight, or most people trained in the country they were currently in.


    That was a soldier¡¯s move.


    Combined with confidently tackling an entire encampment, and winning?


    ¡°Somebody has misplaced one of their commandos.¡± Mormerilhawn said to himself, knowing perfectly well that he¡¯d said it loudly enough to draw the attention of the other judges to the fighter in question. Shirayuki split her attention, her eyes flitting between Elaine and two other contestants.


    The Black Rose mentally congratulated himself on achieving a sort of fairness once again. Sir Fulgrim had brought Elaine to the attention of an enemy, giving him the perfect excuse to retaliate against her. Now Mormerilhawn had evened the scales by bringing Elaine to Shirayuki¡¯s attention, the kitsune one of the key deciders if she would be granted a scholarship or not. He hadn¡¯t placed any words in her ear, made no recommendations, but now she knew, and that was enough for him.


    They watched Elaine duel with an archer, the woman slowly walking through a storm of arrows to casually dispatch her opponent with another one of her now-signature slaps.


    They watched Elaine try to pull the same stunt against one of the School¡¯s wizards - not a member of the School¡¯s combat team, simply a hopeful who hoped the event would let him join the team - but changed plans halfway through when the School¡¯s student kept throwing skill after skill at Elaine, the maybe-commando eventually showing that the entire thing had been a farce when she simply blasted the opposing wizard with one of her Radiance lances from a distance.


    She found another camp, much better fortified, and her old set of siege tricks didn¡¯t work. When taking out individuals failed, she simply resorted to sending wave after wave of her colorful, explosive Radiance butterflies at the shields, eventually overwhelming them.


    She was like a wolf among sheep once the wards went down.


    A sniper - one of the top contestants - almost got her, a perfect heart-shot streaking over three kilometers, shattering the shield the healer had cast on herself.


    It wasn¡¯t enough to trigger Mormerilhawn¡¯s shield though, and with the knowledge that an assassin was after her, the two played a thrilling game of cat-and-mouse, hunting each other down.


    Elaine won.


    The few judges that had been nearly exclusively watching the sniper¡¯s actions moved over to watching Elaine, and Shirayuki had nobody else that was catching her interest.


    ¡°I want her.¡± Shirayuki stated.


    ¡°She needs a full scholarship.¡± Another judge reminded her.


    ¡°Look at that talent.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s training. Don¡¯t belittle people¡¯s hard work by calling it talent.¡±


    ¡°Somebody is using child soldiers again.¡±


    ¡°Who doesn¡¯t start training their soldiers young?¡±


    Elaine squared off against a Mirror [Knight], her Radiance simply bouncing off of his skill-infused armor. After trading a few blows, she showed good judgment and fled, not getting sucked into a long, drawn-out fight against somebody who could ignore most of what she did.


    She took to the skies after that, dueling with a few of the other aerial combatants while avoiding incoming fire from the ground. After establishing her zone of control, she spent some time using her aerial superiority to take out opponents - and eliminate a number of sneaky combatants who thought they were clever by hiding.


    After proving her prowess at both fighting in the air, and fighting people on the ground from the air, Elaine went after one of the few remaining encampments. After eliminating a few of their warriors and wizards, they set out a truce banner, which the healer cautiously approached. Their leader, the daughter of some petty Rolland noble that Mormerilhawn couldn¡¯t be bothered to remember, was seated primly, making offers to the woman.


    Elaine waited for the right moment, and in a blinding blaze of Radiance mixed in with the darker Celestial shroud of stars she used as her shield, eliminated the bulk of her competition in a single fell swoop.


    ¡°Unsporting! Unfair! Dishonorable!¡± Sir Fulgrim cried out.


    Mormerilhawn gave a slow grin of joy.


    ¡°A perfectly fine backstab. She¡¯s waging war here. A true, proper war, where the only thing that matters is victory.¡±


    The camp¡¯s supplies going up in flames once more proved the truth in Mormerilhawn¡¯s words.


    She was trained to wage war. Pretty duels and sporting events were not her bread and butter.


    Elaine wasn¡¯t the only interesting contestant, a half-dozen others getting high marks from the judges. Ragini Salah, a Pyronox-Celestial Rabbitkin from Ankhelt, was fighting everyone she could find, entirely eschewing weapons and armor in the process. She¡¯d already gained admittance on combat, war, and logistics, and had earned a full scholarship already. She was simply participating in the event because she wanted to.


    Rin Jou from the low-key Fa Ram sect was lying on a hill, stalk of grass in his mouth. He hadn¡¯t moved since the event started, but his chicken was perched on his head, nobly dueling all who approached. The man had professed no interest in joining the School, he just wanted to participate in the festivities.


    Given his degree of participation, it looked more like his bonded companion wanted to participate. Establish a pecking order.


    Obli claimed to be from Rolland, but the School didn¡¯t discriminate. In private, he admitted that he was a member of the Ekada Ruh, the secretive society of changelings. He wasn¡¯t a particularly powerful fighter, but Mormerilhawn had calibrated his shield to prevent everything except Lightning from triggering a loss. His method of fighting was crude and clumsy, but it was endlessly entertaining to watch his opponents flail on him until he managed to land a counterblow.


    The staff had instructions about the man already. Anyone complaining about him would simply be told that it was correct.


    The judges had already decided that he was unsuitable for admission to the School on combat prowess, but it didn¡¯t stop them from having a good laugh when his fights were displayed.


    Tristan. Nissa. Xatir. Elaine. Their names rang out, fleeing the judge¡¯s lips as they performed feat after feat.


    An Earth sorcerer managed to drive Elaine back, only for the healer to tactically retreat, circle around, take to the skies, and once she was high enough, simply dismissed her wings and dropped onto the [Mage], letting the blinding sun behind her hide her descent. A burst of magic, a flaring of her wings, and she ended up an inch away from the ground, her competitor defeated and teleported away.


    A powerful knight, who¡¯d been forced to flee from the first camp Elaine had attacked, got the drop on her. He grabbed her by the hair and shoved her head into the river she was drinking from. Her arms and legs flailed as magic exploded around the pair, and Mormerilhawn was about to step in - drowning an opponent was one of the few ways somebody could actually die in these events - when the warrior in question was teleported out by his other skill.


    The judges roared, half in approval at Elaine¡¯s victory, half in outrage at the terrible behavior of the knight. He hadn¡¯t tried to fight her, he¡¯d tried to murder her.


    Mormerilhawn was keeping a close eye on his mana, and so noted that the man was moderately over the teleportation limit he had set for the event. It was a good thing he had significant padding in his estimations, and the entire grounds were part of his domain.


    He teleported the man a second time to the holding cells, intent on making sure that he properly faced justice, and not the utter farce that was ¡®justice¡¯ among the nobility in Rolland.


    The event was winding down, only a few participants left. Elaine squared off against the last [Knight] on the field. The knight would attend the School one way or another, being the 7th princess of Rolland¡¯s closest companion and bodyguard. She was hoping that the School would reduce her tuition, keeping the Crown¡¯s expenses low.


    She charged Elaine, who immediately took flight, her signature Radiance beams landing on the knight''s helmet. The [Knight] raised her shield, protecting her head, but Elaine simply repositioned her beam, hitting another part of the [Knight¡¯s] armor. The two darted around, Elaine keeping her distance while trying to melt through the warrior¡¯s armor enough to trigger a loss, while the warrior tried to get in physical range to defeat Elaine.


    The fight was brought to a sudden close as bolts of red Lightning rained down on the two of them, the Classer who swung through the air on electricity finding an opportunity to take out two of her competitors.


    Both of them vanished as Mormerilhawn¡¯s teleport took them back to the waiting room.


    There was a mix of cheering and cries of dismay from the judges, depending on who they¡¯d been rooting for. Three fights later, and the event was finished, the finalists determined.


    ¡°... Next up is Healer. Class: Healer. Admitted for healing. Would it have killed her to give us her real name?¡± Sir Fulgrim joked to a round of laughter.


    ¡°Wait, she was already admitted for healing!?¡± One of the judges squeaked. No fault of hers, gnomes didn¡¯t exactly get the low end of the vocal spectrum. ¡°Did the standards fall that low?¡±


    Fulgrim passed the examiner¡¯s results over.


    ¡°She¡¯s 22.¡± The judge said. ¡°She¡¯s 22, competent enough in healing to get admitted on that basis - granted, with medium marks - but after what we just saw? Has anyone checked that her age is correct, and she¡¯s not secretly an Immortal having fun?¡±


    ¡°That can be arranged.¡± Mormerilhawn said. ¡°I last saw movements like that with highly trained commandos, and if I had stumbled upon the scene, not knowing that an event was going on, I would¡¯ve believed there to be a true war going on, not one of the minor honorbound spats most mortals call ¡®war¡¯.¡±


    Sir Fulgrim sputtered at that, but Mormerilhawn ignored him.


    ¡°What strikes me as well is that she had no interest in being admitted for combat, nor did she express a desire to learn more about fighting.¡± One of the judges chimed in.


    ¡°When was the last time we had someone that good not want to learn how to fight better?¡±


    ¡°Forget that. When was the last time we saw somebody that good?¡±


    ¡°She didn¡¯t win.¡±


    ¡°Oh pshaw, winning the free-for-all is all about luck in the end. Remember three years ago somebody won the entire thing after going for a nap?¡±


    ¡°Was that the mutual knockout?¡±


    ¡°No, with the misplaced trap rune.¡±


    ¡°Elaine has repeatedly stated that she is only able to attend if she has a scholarship. I don¡¯t know which army she wandered out of, but it''s not every day that we are able to snatch up a highly trained and competent individual for our teams. Any objections?¡±


    ¡°She defeated an opponent under a truce banner.¡± Sir Fulgrim said. ¡°The lack of honor is intolerable.¡±


    ¡°That is what war is.¡± Mormerilhawn objected. Alas, the damn School rules prevented him from simply declaring that Elaine was to obtain a full scholarship. The rules governing the School were in place for a reason, and it did stop other Immortals at the School from ordering him around.


    ¡°I want her.¡± Shirayuki stated again, swaying a number of the judges¡¯s minds. She was in charge of the School¡¯s combat team.


    ¡°A vote.¡± Another judge said.


    It had been a long day, and there were more candidates to evaluate. Votes were quickly tallied with a majority in favor of the healer, and the next candidate was soon discussed.

 Chapter 331 - Scholarships and Scoldings

    One moment I was fighting a small mountain of metal, the next I was in a small room. The teleportation was disorienting, and I was still in the middle of some high-speed maneuvers and blasting my Radiance around.


    Being teleported hadn¡¯t stopped either of them, and I crashed into the wall of the tiny room before reorienting myself.


    Right. Most people would be in a fight when they got ejected, and it¡¯d be a bad idea to have people in the middle of casting huge skills to be teleported on top of other people.


    I landed, and habitually turned my notifications back on. A half-dozen skills were offered to me, one for each unusual way I¡¯d taken somebody out, and I almost dismissed them after glancing at them before one caught my eye.


    [*ding!* Would you like to merge [Solar Flare] and [Sun¡¯s Heart] into [Solar Corona]?]


    Solar Corona: You have bathed in the unceasing light for over 20,000 years. The ever-burning glory of the sun becomes you. You have been anointed and crowned by the blazing sun, borrowing its power for your own. You energetically cleanse darkness, fear, the cold, and the wet wherever you go. The power of the sun is on your brow - and at your fingertips. Massively increased heat, power, destructive energy, range and incineration for all Radiance skills. -262,144 Mana Regeneration.


    Whoa.


    I immediately accepted the skill, watching my two old skills merge into one while I quickly tried to process what I¡¯d read, and all the implications of the new skill.


    First off, that mana regeneration cost implied a massive increase to my power. It was literally eating a quarter of my regeneration, and the way I understood it to work was it basically ¡®stored¡¯ all that mana to improve my abilities. My Radiance beams were going to be nasty, and I wish I had a few rocks to melt through to test.


    The issue would be the same as it usually was. I was only good in a fight while I still had mana in my mana pool, but with the extra oomph on my skills I should be very good during that time.


    I bet I could totally melt through skill-reinforced armor now!


    The description was also somewhat terrifying. Five different factors got massively increased? They also stacked with each other, and the total effect was probably greater than the sum of its parts.


    Also, it made taking another Radiance class attractive from a strict reading. It deliberately called out that it worked on all my Radiance stuff, not just the class skills. It was the safe, boring option, but sometimes the little extra to stay alive was nice.


    I¡¯d nearly been drowned to death a few hours ago. During a supposedly safe event.


    I shuddered and tried to put it out of my mind.


    The skill description was also a mix of terrifying and interesting. Crowned by the sun? Energetic cleansing? Bathing in light for 20,000 years straight?


    Was the System counting the entire time I¡¯d been in the fae realms for my classes and skills!? It didn¡¯t quite make sense, not with my age still being 22, but frankly I didn¡¯t know. It wasn¡¯t like ¡°people who¡¯ve been in the fae realms for stupid amounts of time¡± was a well-studied phenomena.


    Or maybe it was in this day and age, I just hadn¡¯t found the information yet. Not like I¡¯d gotten time to.


    By all the gods above¡­ I must have some insane classes waiting for me. Forget waiting to get [Meditation] to a high level, that wasn¡¯t going to do a damn thing for me if that was true.


    Classing up jumped on my to-do list. I doubted my general skills could make much of a difference at this point. Not quite to the top - I still had dozens of other things to do.


    Like leaving the room, and seeing what was going on.


    And figure out where I was.


    I settled down and left the room, still completely disoriented. Sure, I vaguely knew where I was - in an arena room - but I had no idea where that was. Being able to teleport other people was a terrifying ability.


    It didn¡¯t take too much imagination to figure out how teleporting somebody could go wrong. Into space. Into a closed cave with no breathable air. Into the bottom of the ocean. Heck, I had to displace air when I was teleported, so there was no reason I couldn¡¯t be teleported into the heart of a volcano!


    I followed the sounds of cheering, finding a large group of people - most of them in the pointy hats of the School - watching various fights that were being displayed via Mirage skills all around the area. Interestingly, whoever was casting the skills deliberately degraded the quality of the illusion, making it entirely clear that the fights being shown were fake, and there weren¡¯t life or death struggles all over the spectator¡¯s area.


    A bunch of the spectators swooped down on me when I came in, babbling in a variety of languages, everyone trying to shove drinks or food or other things into my hands. Including a pair of underwear.


    Ewwww.


    I let that drop.


    Most of the crowd swiftly abandoned me as the next contestant came out of the teleportation room, and I shook myself free of the few people who were trying to pester me for something or another. Even without speaking the language they were annoying!


    I paused at one of the images playing - well, replaying - images from the battlefield. It was the last fight I¡¯d been in, and I honestly didn¡¯t know how I¡¯d been taken out.


    I was flitting around the knight, burning brightly, when a massive bolt of Lightning came down and took both of us out.


    Bah.


    I totally could¡¯ve survived that. I suppose that was the difference between a game, and real life. I was fairly certain I¡¯d eliminated a few opponents with non-lethal shots myself, so I couldn¡¯t really complain when the same happened to me.


    Now I just needed to know if my performance had been good enough.


    After some aimless wandering around, I got scooped up by Artemis and the rest. Lots of cheering, hugging, and one overly-energetic and excited Auri later - along with stopping her from trying to find the mage who¡¯d beaten me to get ¡®revenge¡¯ - and we kept walking around. After some more wandering around, we managed to find Iona, who¡¯d won her tournament, then the organizers found me. The Black Rose was among them.


    We did the usual song and dance of Iona translating, the organizers insisting that their language enchantments were good enough, their language enchantments totally failing - I wasn¡¯t speaking a well-known language - Iona agreeing to translate, then the ¡®Wait, your name is actually Elaine?¡¯ spiel.


    Finally, we got down to business.


    ¡°Yugure no Shirayuki.¡± A beautiful kitsune told me, her eyes filled with lazy snowflakes reflecting her Ice element. Her fur was snow-white, and her nine tails were hypnotic, slipping out from her purple witch robes. ¡°I¡¯m the coach for the School¡¯s team. I want you. I can get your tuition waived, if you¡¯ll compete for us in events.¡± She waved a stack of papers, which I assumed was my golden ticket.


    I wanted to shout and jump for joy. There was one minor sticking point that I needed to clear up before I could happily accept.


    ¡°I¡¯m sworn to do no harm. I can compete as long as I don¡¯t need to hurt my competitors, like in today¡¯s event.¡±


    That particular revelation set off a flurry of discussion before they got back to me.


    ¡°Acceptable. To the [Bursar].¡±


    With a flurry of tails, she turned on one heel and stalked off. We glanced at each other, and hurried along after her. She set a blistering pace, and Iona had to pick up Fenrir to keep up. The ice-blue wyvern wrapped himself around Iona¡¯s neck, perching on top of her head like the world¡¯s deadliest scarf.


    ¡°That was so cool!¡± Amber exclaimed. ¡°The way you snuck around with that barrel! They never figured out where those shots were coming from! Oh! Oh! And the thing with the river!?¡±


    Amber stuck one hand up over her head, with a single finger pointing out, turning it around and pretending to blast people.


    ¡°The river was pretty fun. Insanely dangerous though, I would¡¯ve completely been at the mercy of a Water [Mage] if they¡¯d found me.¡± I tried to caution Amber. Any of my Ranger instructors would¡¯ve thrown a fit, although any Ranger team I was on would¡¯ve been delighted if I managed to pull it off on a mission.


    ¡°But they didn¡¯t!¡± Amber was skipping along, high off the excitement.


    ¡°I would¡¯ve thrown you out of the Rangers so fast if you tried any of that on a mission.¡± Julius teased.


    Ok. Almost any Ranger team I was on.


    ¡°Was that how you killed the pirates?¡± He continued.


    I shot him a finger.


    ¡°This was a display, and remind me, who was it that we kept throwing into the colosseum to fight badly but show off? His name started with a B¡­¡±


    Artemis gave me a pointed look, and with a slight start of guilt I remembered that she¡¯d also been thrown into the arena, just slightly less voluntarily than Brawling.


    ¡°Sure, but you didn¡¯t flash the Ranger eagle at the end.¡± Julius said. ¡°Makes the whole thing a wash.¡±


    I rolled my eyes at him, and was readying a retort when Amber jumped in.


    ¡°OhByTheWayPleaseDon¡¯tBeMadIMightHaveBetWithYourGemsAndWonATon!¡±


    She thought she was being clever, completely forgetting that I had at least 100 times the vitality that she did, and her ¡®fast speech¡¯ was easily parsed.


    ¡°You WHAT!¡± I blew up at her. Those gems were some of the last mementos I had of home, each one a precious reminder of a person forever lost and gone.


    ¡°I got them back!¡± Amber quickly backpedaled under my furious gaze, Shirayuki continuing to pace through the crowd, with or without us.


    ¡°Whoa, chill Elaine. I was fine with it.¡± Artemis - ARTEMIS - was the voice of reason here.


    ¡°Brrpt BRPT!¡± Auri was scolding me for my yelling over the ¡®brilliant¡¯ scheme.


    I took a deep breath, letting myself center again. I should hear what the plan was, especially if everyone else was in on it and alright with it.


    At the same time, it wasn¡¯t their stuff that had been risked.


    ¡°Ok. Explain.¡± I curtly ordered as I started to follow Shirayuki through the crowds.


    ¡°We¡¯re completely broke. In basically every sense of the word.¡± Julius started to explain, and if he was on board with this I guess it couldn¡¯t have been that terrible of an idea. ¡°Everything here works off of gems, and you were a total dark horse. Amazing odds, like a lame horse and a bad [Charioteer]. We saw the chance to take a calculated risk, knowing how good you were, and made back our initial bet thirty times over. Almost two diamond¡¯s worth.¡± He said, and I mentally translated.


    Almost 50,000 coins.


    Ok.


    That was a lot. Two years tuition at the School, for one. Enough money to buy a modest home.


    ¡°Yikes. Alright.¡± I mentally readjusted, considering how incredibly broke we had been. ¡°What are we doing with the money?¡±


    Everyone except Iona traded looks.


    ¡°Grease a few palms to get myself and Artemis situated, get you whatever funds you need for the School, and whatever¡¯s left over Amber uses to start her mercantile empire.¡± Julius said.


    ¡°BRRRPT!¡±


    ¡°And buy Auri a pretty nest.¡± I said.


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡±


    ¡°Or some juice.¡±


    ¡°BRrrrpt!!¡±


    ¡°Auri, pick one thing, a mirror, a nest, juice¡­ we only have so much, we¡¯re a little poor now.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt¡­¡±


    I thought about the division. I thought about Amber¡¯s rules of acquisition, or at least the ones I¡¯d been told.


    ¡°I want 90%.¡± I told Amber.


    ¡°What!?¡± She squeaked, and it was hilarious.


    ¡°I want 90% of the profits.¡±


    ¡°NO!¡± She protested. ¡°Absolutely not!¡±


    ¡°My gems provided the seed money. Doesn¡¯t that make me, like, the investor or something?¡± I had basically no idea what I was talking about. I just knew I was putting the screws to Amber. It was only fair.


    She grumbled a bit.


    ¡°50%. I¡¯m putting in all the work. And that¡¯s after cost of goods sold, expenses, cost to buy property and equipment, bribes, taxes, fees, and the whole other host of things you probably don¡¯t care about.¡±


    ¡°Deal!¡± I agreed before Amber could back out. I never expected to get anything out of this, honestly, and I had complete faith in Amber making me rich.


    I got distracted by the sight of a massive sky barge landing some distance ahead of us. The bottom half was like a flat-bottomed boat, but the top was all fancy and decorated. Pillars of yellow and red twisted with fascinating, ornamental designs, showing off dozens of magical creatures. The whole thing had various streamers, and was packed full of black-robed students.


    We were there a few moments later. We had to wait for the students to disembark, then a number of waiting robed people boarded the boat. Shirayuki swept onto the boat, and we followed in her wake. Someone in a fancy purple robe tried to protest, but Shirayuki just said a few words to him, and he was quiet.


    I needed to learn the language as soon as possible. My first few classes were all going to be language classes, and if I could manage it, I was going to do them all at once.


    After a few minutes of shuffling around and all of us getting jam-packed onto the sky ship, we took off. The process was smooth, and the few gasps I heard seemed to be from similarly non-robed non-School people on the boat. I kind of wished I was near the edge. I would¡¯ve liked to look out and see all the sights from up high. I loved being in the air, and flying under someone else¡¯s power was only a hair worse than flying under my own.


    ¡°I wondered how we¡¯d get to the island.¡± Iona said as the wind whipped through the crowd, grabbing the occasional poorly-guarded hat and sending it flying off the rails.


    I really, really hoped there were some safety features to stop people from flying out of the boat.


    ¡°Brrrpt brrrrrrrrrrpt.¡± Auri didn¡¯t like someone else doing the ¡®flying¡¯ for her.


    ¡°You know, you could just fly up. You don¡¯t need to be on me.¡± I told the little hummingbird.


    ¡°BRPT!¡± Auri leaped into action, flying just above the sea of hats to ¡®prove¡¯ she was doing it herself, and not letting the boat ¡®fly¡¯ her somewhere.


    ¡°BBRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrpt!!!!¡± Auri screeched in fear as the wind grabbed her, and launched her down the length of the ship, just like the rest of the hats.


    With a roll of my eyes I flickered my [Mantle of the Stars], catching Auri, not willing to test what anti-falling measures the ship had. It might¡¯ve been a good lesson in too much pride and thinking before leaping - she was a phoenix, falling out of a sky ship would hurt her ego more than anything else - but it was already a strange place, a strange land, and I didn¡¯t need to take the detour.


    ¡°Brrpt BRPT.¡± Auri huddled up next to me, complaining that the magic winds were too strong, and the powerful Wind elemental had it out for her.


    I¡¯d seen elementals in Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair. I saw how fast the boat was moving, and the corresponding breeze as a result. I¡¯d eat one of the extra-poofy hats if there was an elemental involved.


    I let Auri soothe her wounded pride though. Our various small talk as the barge continued its ascent led to Amber broaching the topic of working together again.


    ¡°Since we¡¯re in business together, I¡¯d like to get as much starting capital as possible from you.¡±


    I raised my eyebrows at the beanpole.


    ¡°You¡¯re not getting my gems.¡± I flatly told her. ¡°Not when each one is a friend.¡± The entire ship entered a large cloud, obscuring almost everything around us.


    ¡°Your Moonstones!¡± She burst out. ¡°You¡¯ve got a bunch of them, they¡¯re not connected to your friends. My class is [Fae Trader of the Intangible]. Normal trading and bartering is experience, but it¡¯s not good experience. I¡¯ve been trying. No, what I need is to trade intangible things, and skills stored in gemstones are exactly what I need.¡±


    That explained all the games with trading the IOU¡¯s around. They represented intangible things, and while the stakes were low, it was technically doing exactly what her class wanted. Like me healing up some scraped knees.


    She gave me great big puppy eyes, and I glanced at Artemis.


    She gave Amber a light smack over the head, and as she lectured the greedy guts, I mouthed the words I knew Artemis would be saying.


    ¡°You idiot! This is a public place! Don¡¯t go yelling about your classes and skills to everyone!¡±


    Ahhh, good times. I remember all the speeches Artemis had given me on exactly the same topic. I¡¯d learned my lesson a little too late - I¡¯d needed my arm twisted by the emperor before it had properly sunk in - but it was a nice trip down nostalgia lane.


    ¡°My panacea skill only.¡± I told Amber.


    ¡°Are you sure? I was hoping for¡­ you know.¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not.¡± I folded my arms. ¡°And that¡¯s final. This isn¡¯t a discussion or a negotiation. Rule 3.¡±


    Thank the System for [Immortal Recollections] prompting me with the right Amber rule of acquisition.


    ¡°I can charge a bunch of Moonstones with [Dance with the Heavens] for you. I doubt I¡¯ll have the time to properly make good images, but they¡¯ll still be lifesaving. That should give you a strong start.¡±


    ¡°Yes! You¡¯re the best! Also I just leveled.¡±


    We burst through the clouds, and I got my first good look at the School. I pushed my way through the crowd to get an even better look at the premier institute of higher learning.


    ¡°Brrrrpt!!¡±


    ¡°I know! It¡¯s so cool!!¡±


    A flying island indeed. The bottom was a rough, oddly-textured rock-like material, in a natural rough half-bowl shape. From what I¡¯d gathered, the island wasn¡¯t lifted up by skills or anything, it just was naturally there.


    As natural as a flying island was.


    A dozen smaller islands orbited the main one, each having their own miniature and distinct look. One was a meadow field of flowers, the second had a small hill of rocks, the third was a small basin of water. Each had its own strange and fascinating landscape.


    The main island was the real draw.


    There was a clearly demarcated line in the middle. On one side was a busy, bustling crowded town, rickety buildings clearly held up by copious amounts of visible magic, nearly every inch horizontal and vertical overbuilt as much as it could be. Only a few narrow strips of ground could be seen, and even as I watched the patch rippled, an entire crop grown, then it fell to the ground as it got harvested. High-speed high-skill farming in action - which would be needed, given the ratio of people to arable land.


    On the other side of the divide were a number of huge buildings, each one stately, given plenty of breathing room. They were in three layers: a center set of eight tall towers, each one obviously themed after the basic eight elements - the Water tower had waterfalls, while the Fire tower was merrily burning. The Dark tower was unimaginatively painted entirely black, while the Light tower was a blinding beacon. The Earth tower was made out of stone and glittering crystals, while the Wind tower had lots of streamers and little windmills blowing furiously in the invisible wind. The Wood tower was naturally made out of wood, looking like a twisted ancient tree, while the Metal tower was all sharp edges and reflective glass.


    They were in an octagonal shape, and more buildings radiated out from them, the entire thing looking a bit like a not very smooth wheel. After what I mentally classified as the ¡°main¡± buildings, there was a whole mess of tight apartments on one side, and large houses with little gardens on the other.


    Tiny little black hats moved around the streets like ants, the occasional brightly colored hat interspersed here and there. Purples were the most common of the colors - still incredibly rare - and I saw a few blues, greens, and one yellow, moving up and down the roads, busy with their tasks. The streets were lined with trees, and glowing pillars of Arcanite were regularly interspersed throughout.


    There was an animated illusion of a great big tiger in the sky, pouncing and prowling in the most visible way. A large ¡°6¡± was hovering in the sky, morphing between various different numerical alphabets. Pillars of glowing light were everywhere, and there was no way that was all Arcanite. No way. The cost would be absurd, not even Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair had that much.


    Displays of magic were everywhere, and I got massively distracted by a building walking around.


    I tried to absorb sight after sight, absent-mindedly noticing that Iona had joined me, looking just as wide-eyed and awed as I was. A dozen other non-School people had joined us at the railing, and it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if the School people were laughing at us rubes.


    Someone made an announcement, and while I didn¡¯t know the words, I could easily figure out the meaning, getting me a level in [Learning Languages].


    ¡°Welcome to the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft!¡±


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 22]


    [Mana: 580,190/580,190]


    [Mana Regen: 273,296 (+518,721)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 204]


    [Strength: 1,004]


    [Dexterity: 1,831]


    [Vitality: 14,240]


    [Speed: 14,272]


    [Mana: 58,019]


    [Mana Regeneration: 58,120 (+51,872)]


    [Magic Power: 22,821 (+585,359)]


    [Magic Control: 22,821 (+585,359)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 513]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 480]


    [Cosmic Presence: 315]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 11]


    [Center of the Universe: 451]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 513]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 513]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 471]


    [Sunrise: 411]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 357]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 357]


    [Radiance Resistance: 357]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 357]


    [: ]


    [Nectar: 357]


    [Solar Corona: 357]


    [Scintillating Ascent: 337]


    [Kaleidoscope: 357]


    [Class 3: [Beloved of the Wind - Wind: Lv 8]]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 376]


    [Immortal Recollections: 300]


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 128]


    [Learning Languages: 49]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 513]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 513]


    [Persistent Casting: 315]


    [Passionate Learning: 382]

 Chapter 332 - Papers Please!

    My bird¡¯s eye view of the island vanished as we rapidly landed just outside the School area. A few dozen other barges were parked in the area, members of the School boarding another boat even as we landed. The doors opened, the ramps came down, and the surge of passengers exited. Shirayuki didn¡¯t even gesture, simply striding off the boat with aplomb, fully expecting us to follow.


    Like lost little ducklings, we did.


    There was a grand wall dividing the School portion of the island from the town portion of the island. Glowing Inscriptions - were they even still called Inscriptions? - coated the walls, some sort of magic obviously active. We approached the main gates, flung open to greet us.


    ¡°All those who seek knowledge are welcome here.¡± Iona pointed to some words over the main gates, repeated in dozens and dozens of languages. I quickly scanned over them, the words forming a miniature Rosetta Stone of sorts.


    I blinked in surprise, seeing the words in Creation near the top of the list. Just how old was the School!?


    ¡°Whoa.¡± Artemis was looking around wide-eyed. Professional interest?


    As we funneled through the gates, the crowd became much thinner as people went their separate ways. We continued to follow Shirayuki to one of the nearest buildings.


    Displays of casual magic were everywhere. One student hurried by, drinking haphazardly from a fountain of water coming from the tip of his wand. Another one tripped, an older student - or teacher - with a staff casually waving, catching the student by the robes. All their books and stuff were returned to their hands in the same movement. A half-dozen students - no way were they professors - zipped by on a ¡®stone wave¡¯ that they were surfing, much to the consternation and loss of balance of the people they flew past. Another was deep into a dozen books hovering in front of them, flicking her wand in short, tight sequences from book to book, turning pages, not looking at all where she was going.


    I knew that because she was deep in the grass by the paths, heading straight for a tree.


    I was super jealous though. I wanted to have a dozen books open in front of me, with the ability to read them all. Oooh! With the right skill, I could even read them all at once! Good ideas. Until I had those skills though, I was a bit jealous.


    Absent-minded students were everywhere, and I¡¯d take how often that had been me to my grave.


    Look, high school hadn¡¯t been that challenging, and a good book under the table was totally fine!


    It was surreal to be thinking of my old life again, but something about the environment was bringing it out. Except with magic.


    Pillars of pure Arcanite lined the paths, in between the abundant trees, and students casually reached out to touch them as they passed, obviously topping up their mana.


    Wow.


    The things I could do with that much mana. The speed at which I could level¡­


    Hang on.


    Most of the skills I was seeing were based on a wand or a staff. That didn¡¯t jive with what I knew of skills and classes.


    There was so much to learn!! I couldn¡¯t wait!


    I bounced along after Shirayuki, energetically vibrating as I followed her.


    Hurry up! Go faster! Skip the boring parts, get to the learning!


    We approached one of the buildings. Even by the standards of the few buildings I¡¯d seen, this one was grand, giving off an intimidating aura of age, taste, and money. There was minimal magic on this building, instead designed to impress all those who approached.


    The fact that it was one of the first buildings I¡¯d seen since entering through the front gate couldn¡¯t be a coincidence.


    Shirayuki marched right up to the building, through the vaulted and high doors, and we followed her into a great big hall. Some benches were scuttling along the walls, to the consternation of a few people sitting on them. Two benches in particular seemed intent on getting their occupants together, the pair awkwardly pushing each other away as the benches tried to dump one on the other¡¯s lap.


    Note to self: Don¡¯t sit on the matchmaking benches.


    Shirayuki knew exactly where she was going, and we skipped a line of non-students to go straight to one of the rooms. Iona thankfully trailed along with us. Amber, Julius, and Artemis kept getting distracted by various cool magic things, and I couldn¡¯t blame them.


    I gave Iona a questioning look, and she winked back.


    ¡°I get to skip the line by helping you out!¡± She flicked some of her hair back.


    Fenrir gave a pleased rumble from his throat, that sounded suspiciously like a deep purr.


    We ended up near a wizened old faun. Shirayuki gave a few curt words and slapped down a pile of paper in front of the [Accountant]. He just arched a skeptical eyebrow at her, and started slowly going through the paperwork.


    At various points he asked Shirayuki questions, who sighed and huffed at him. Then he had a bunch of magical lights go off, surrounding Shirayuki, who folded her arms and glared.


    ¡°What do you think they¡¯re doing?¡± I whispered to Artemis. She used to run a school, she might have some insight.


    ¡°Probably checking that everything¡¯s on the up and up. I had one illusionist disguise themselves as the son of a famous hotshot Senator, and tried to sweet talk his way into my school. Never know when someone desperate is trying to pull a scam, especially with how much money tuition costs.¡±


    Made sense. If sweet-talking the right person could make tens of thousands of rods, they¡¯d get constantly tested.


    Eventually the faun was satisfied that everything was on the up and up, and he gave me a withering glare.


    ¡°Yikes, what did I ever do to him?¡± I muttered to myself.


    ¡°People that take money like getting money, even if it¡¯s not theirs.¡± Amber reasonably said.


    Meeeh fine.


    Shirayuki came up to me and said something, handed me the pile of papers, and left.


    ¡°Practice is first thing in the morning at the Mistor Stadium.¡± Iona translated as the last of Shirayuki¡¯s tails flicked through the door. ¡°You¡¯ve got a week to orient yourself.¡±


    Iona shrugged, and went to talk with the bursar herself. An even longer conversation ensued, while the rest of us hung out.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri asked.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure we¡¯ll find a spot for you.¡± I reassured her.


    ¡°Brrpt?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t asked anyone yet.¡±


    ¡°BRPT BRPTT!!!¡±


    I glanced around and lowered my voice.


    ¡°Worst case I¡¯ll smuggle you inside my tunic.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!!¡± The idea of subterfuge and sneaking around appealed to Auri, and she wasted no time flying down to my legs, then up my tunic.


    ¡°Auri no!¡± I cried out as patches of my tunic started to smoke, the little pyromaniac sowing chaos wherever she flew.


    I started playing a furious game of ¡°pat out the flames¡± and ¡°don¡¯t get expelled minutes after getting into the School¡±, with Auri madly cackling as she flew around my tunic, a little ball moving around in my clothes.


    The flames naturally couldn¡¯t hurt me, but the side effects from them could.


    Julius, Artemis, and Amber were no help either, laughing uproariously at Auri¡¯s antics. The [Bursar] was giving us death glares as he kept talking with Iona, and I decided that our antics in a single office was better than our antics in a crowded hallway.


    I eventually wrapped Auri up in my [Mantle], and carefully extracted her from my tunic.


    ¡°What are we going to do?¡± Artemis asked. ¡°Right now we¡¯re just following you around.¡±


    I thought about it for a moment.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see how long they¡¯ll let you stick around. It¡¯d be nice if you could stay a few days while I get settled in, and nobody¡¯s said anything yet.¡± That we understood.


    Still, guards yelling at us was a fairly clear message, regardless of the language.


    ¡°We should see if there¡¯s a place in town we can grab.¡± Julius tapped a finger to his lips. ¡°See if there¡¯s any sort of work. The rules here seem to be significantly more lax.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s enough people to make money, but with how overbuilt everything is, I think the market¡¯s pretty mature. I would like to see if there¡¯s anything I can buy here to kick start things though. There¡¯s gotta be a speciality.¡± Amber said.


    ¡°One step at a time.¡± I said.


    ¡°Brrpt! Brrpt?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯ll try to find you a tiny hat.¡± I told Auri.


    ¡°BRPT!¡±


    We devolved into more small talk while Iona finished up, although we tried to have it in crude Hakka to work on our proficiencies. We¡¯d never improve if we didn¡¯t constantly speak the language. Total immersion was the name of the game.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Learning Languages] has leveled up! 49 -> 50]


    The skill had an interesting snowball effect. The more it leveled up, the easier it was to learn a language. The easier it was to learn a language, the more it leveled up. I could see the skill rapidly cascading until I mastered all the languages I wanted to, then it¡¯d abruptly stop and become practically worthless.


    ¡°Ok! I¡¯m all set! We need to go to registration now.¡± Iona told us.


    I wanted to groan. Another layer of bureaucracy. This was getting absurd.


    ¡°I really hope this is the last line or scribe we need to see.¡± I complained to Iona. She nodded, and we all started walking and talking. Iona seemed to know where we needed to go next, and we were both new students. Stood to reason that I should follow her.


    ¡°Hope so! Just gotta remember that everyone wants something, and people in these roles generally want to be helpful. Play the game, make nice, and they¡¯ll make your stay that much easier.¡±


    I threw a look over my shoulder at the office we¡¯d just left.


    The one grumpy [Accountant] completely controlled who got into the School, and who didn¡¯t. If he took a disliking to me, he could throw up obstacle after obstacle, and I¡¯d have to leave.


    I made a mental note to bring him some cookies or something. I was making a lot of mental notes recently.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Mental Notes]. Would you like to replace a skill with it? Y/N]


    I declined, thinking that had come a lot easier than most skills I was offered.


    Before long we ended up in ANOTHER DAMN LINE. The seven of us continued to chat in Hakka, Iona regaling us with tales of her exploits in the language. Some of them were quite¡­ explicit, but it got us through the line and helped us with our language.


    I wasn¡¯t much on social stuff, but I knew most people liked to talk about themselves.


    We made it to one of the scribes, and five sentences in Iona¡¯s face fell.


    ¡°Wrong line.¡±


    ¡°What!¡± Amber shrieked in outrage. ¡°Wrong line!?¡±


    ¡°Well, technically it was the right line, but she¡¯s the wrong [Scribe] for us. Wants us to see someone else. The head administrator or someone.¡±


    That sounded great to me.


    We were sent to another office in the dizzying, magical, maze-like building. It was almost like the [Architect] who had designed the place had taken the phrase ¡°Magical bureaucratic labyrinth¡± literally, and made the building a reflection of its inhabitants.


    There was blessedly no line here.


    We ended up in a nice office with hundreds of books magically suspended from the ceiling. A woman with red skin and wings was sitting behind the desk in red robes, and she looked a lot like the devil I¡¯d fought back in Ochi. I quickly checked her level.


    [Laborer - 3136]


    That jived with the levels of most Immortals I¡¯d seen.


    Interestingly, the woman¡¯s desk was relatively near the front of the room. Behind her there was a long hallway, with hundreds, if not thousands, of open books, scrolls, and papers on desks. Above each one was a quill, industriously writing. I didn¡¯t see any inkpots, but I didn¡¯t exactly have a great angle. The sound of thousands of quietly scratching quills formed a strangely soothing backdrop to the whole place, and if I was told that the [Scribe] was single-handedly running all of those, I¡¯d believe it.


    Iona and the woman there got down to business. She then translated for me.


    ¡°I see your name¡¯s¡­ Elaine? And you¡¯re here for healing, on a full combat scholarship. Country of origin is¡­ Remus?¡± She frowned as her finger traced down the papers I¡¯d handed to her.


    ¡°Correct.¡± I was fully ready to explain or defend myself.


    ¡°Immortal or Fae? Sorry, silly question, it has to be Fae. Combat scholarships wouldn¡¯t take somebody that old.¡± The woman said to herself, Iona translating anyways.


    I needed to do something really nice for Iona, after all she¡¯d done for me.


    I was impressed with how astute the woman was, and straightened up a bit.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t speak the language-¡± Iona cut herself off, and had a rapid-fire exchange with the woman.


    ¡°Speaks the Vampire Tongue.¡± She corrected, and Iona translated that part. ¡°That¡¯s a useful start. Is that young lady with you also coming?¡±


    Amber pointed to herself.


    ¡°Me?¡± She asked.


    The [Head Scribe] shooed at Amber.


    ¡°Not you, her.¡± She pointed at Auri.


    ¡°I hope she can come along.¡± I hedged.


    ¡°How old is she?¡± She asked, and Iona rapidly answered back before I could. Benefit of being able to see Auri¡¯s stats.


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t be the first to bring a dependent with you, and she¡¯s young enough to count.¡± The woman told me, and Auri fluttered around in joy at hearing that.


    ¡°Brrpt! BRRPT!!!!¡± She was so excited she could come!


    Not that there was any doubt that I¡¯d leave her.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got a smaller place for kids to learn while their parents are getting an education.¡± The scribe continued, adjusting her glasses. ¡°Also, either a skill of mine is on the fritz, or she¡¯s a phoenix?¡±


    I froze at that, my mouth opening and closing wordlessly.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take that as a yes. No worries, we¡¯ve had stranger things come through. Heck, you¡¯re barely the strangest thing this admittance cycle! So far at least. The truly weird ones are always breaking into my office three days after admissions are closed, demanding I just ¡®make it work¡¯ and ¡®perform miracles¡¯ and ¡®backdate the paperwork.¡¯ Ha! Like I¡¯d ever backdate anything. Far be it for me to assume, but I suspect the two of you will want to be in the same room. Correct?¡±


    I mutely nodded, keeping my mouth closed as the true power that ran this place blathered on. The less said the better.


    ¡°Excuse me¡­¡± Amber sweetly cut in, and Iona obligingly translated. I wanted to facepalm. ¡°Any chance we can also come in?¡±


    I noticed Amber¡¯s hand was in her pocket, probably clutching onto her lucky coin.


    ¡°Did you get admitted? Did you pay?¡± The [Scribe] asked.


    ¡°Well, no.¡±


    ¡°That answers that. Right, next question¡­¡±


    The woman behind the desk continued to officiously ask me dozens of probing questions, discerning way more information out from my answers than I thought I¡¯d given her. Not a single thing seemed to faze her, and even Julius looked impressed.


    I bet I could tell her I had an Immortality-granting skill, and she¡¯d just grunt, make a mark on a piece of paper, and let me know that was nice, but had I ever seen a massive Immortality-granting event? Why, there¡¯d been one eight decades ago, and¡­


    After all her questions, she stopped talking entirely, closing her eyes a moment as her fingers twitched. A few sheets of paper then zoomed onto her desk and, with a flick of her fingers, were filled out.


    ¡°Right. Here you two go.¡± She handed us the papers before Iona could finish translating. She said a bunch more things, too quickly for Iona to translate, then waved us out of her office. As I left, I saw the book she¡¯d been working on snap back up to the ceiling, and another one drifted down onto her desk.


    We left her room, my friends peering over my shoulder at the paperwork I¡¯d been handed.


    I couldn¡¯t read any of it, and I wanted to scream in frustration. This language thing SUCKED!


    We wandered through the maze of the building, trying to find an exit, with Iona poring over her paperwork. Finally, we found an exit, and ended up back on the campus.


    Iona tore herself away from her own stuff, and finally explained and translated a few things for me.


    ¡°Ok, orientation is in three days, where they¡¯ll help explain how everything works here. Going to suck slightly for you, since you don¡¯t quite get the language yet.¡±


    No shit.


    ¡°Anyways, let me see that¡­¡± Iona scanned my piece of paper, starting to point to various parts of it.


    ¡°Name. What you¡¯re studying. Your advisor is professor Marcelle. Auri¡¯s got permission to attend, you¡¯re all set. Classes and lodging are all paid for, but not food and miscellaneous expenses. We¡¯re each entitled to a cheap set of robes, which is mandatory wear outside the School, at classes, and broadly encouraged otherwise. We¡¯re both purple, because of our level. You¡¯re in the cheap dormitories, same as I am. Actually¡­¡±


    Iona squinted at the paper, grabbing hers and comparing the two. Her eyebrows lifted in surprise.


    ¡°We¡¯re roommates!?¡±


    We managed to acquire a map of the campus, and the first stop was dropping off Artemis, Julius, and Amber, who wanted to hang out for a few days and see everything. It turned out, not only was that incredibly common, but it was practically expected for various sponsors - usually the parents of the student, but not always - to want to take a few days to look around the School¡¯s campus, and see where all their money was going.


    I was still learning the layout of the campus, but in short there were major roads weaving throughout, and most buildings had a solid plot of land on their own little stretch between the roads.


    There was a whole inn dedicated to housing those people, and I needed to rub my eyes a few times when I saw it. I double checked the name on the map - having picked up the words after Iona helpfully translated it - and yup.


    The Wandering Inn.


    The inn was wandering alright. It had dozens of tiny little crab-like legs under it, and it was scuttling around at low speeds on its little plot of land. The place was reasonably priced, not everyone able to afford sky-high rates.


    ¡°So, uh, am I supposed to just jump in the door or something?¡± Amber asked.


    We stared at the inn for a few seconds, watching an otherwise well-dressed and put together noble take an awkward leap out of the door. He didn¡¯t quite make it, awkwardly tripping on his way out.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to go with yes.¡± I said. ¡°Good luck!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri was being encouraging, and Iona was chuckling.


    ¡°I think I could watch nobles faceplant into the mud all day.¡± Iona said with a grin.


    We said our farewells, but Iona and I hung out to watch my friends enter the Wandering Inn. Julius made it in with contemptuous ease, while Artemis gracefully made her entrance.


    Amber was less successful.


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡±


    ¡°Really? I thought that was more like seven out of ten.¡±


    Iona and I followed the map and the details she was given, ending up in a different, smaller administrative building, finding a large one-stop shopping building. The big flashing lights - literally - helped guide us to the building, and the lines of new students without robes was another dead giveaway.


    What was it with this island and lines?! I needed to take over the place and abolish lineups entirely.


    This one at least moved swifty, and at the end of it we had the option of getting the cheap, free robes, or splurging a bit to get nicer robes.


    I wanted, needed, to get the fancy, nicer robes, but I was mostly broke and all too aware that I needed to buy essentials, like food. No more running around the forest, blasting animals and raiding berry bushes. No, I had to be civilized, and my funds were slim. Amber and Artemis needed them more than I did.


    There had to be a provision to get money to buy more food, and I immediately jumped to healing people. It was usually pretty good money, although the fact that there was a full medical course dedicated to teaching healing suggested that I¡¯d have stiff competition in that field.


    We got our robes, simple purple for Iona and I, and we managed to sweet-talk the man handing them out to give Auri a tiny little black hat, completely appropriate for her level and somewhat fire-resistant.


    ¡°Brrpt! BRRRPT!¡± Auri thought she looked great in it, and was chirping for the whole world to see just how COOL and MAGICAL she looked in her tiny little witch¡¯s hat.


    After getting our robes, we consulted the map, and found our new home for the next few years. We got lost twice, after which I insisted on reading the map and being in charge of directions.


    We headed outside of the main ¡°circle¡± of the fancy buildings, over to rows upon rows of large, square, blocky buildings. They looked and felt like bulk apartments, designed for efficiency and sardine packing, and less for comfort and style.


    We were on an island. The real estate was incredibly valuable.


    Our living accommodations, from the outside, weren¡¯t that impressive. Big square building, a number of colorful paintings by a dozen different artists - or one artist with a dozen different styles - some space around it, and a little fountain.


    The doors were surprisingly large, and the hallways way more spacious than I would¡¯ve imagined.


    ¡°Brrpt?¡± Auri asked.


    ¡°No, I think it¡¯s this door.¡± Iona absent-mindedly answered.


    I checked the piece of paper I had, and found the door that Auri was at had a matching symbol above it. The door Iona was pointing at didn¡¯t.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to go with Auri on this one. Wait. How do we get in?¡± I asked. Nobody had given us instructions, or keys, or anything.


    Iona shrugged and knocked.


    The door opened, and I was suddenly face to face with a large unicorn.

 Chapter 333 - They Were Roommates!

    I looked up at the absolute unit of a unicorn, suddenly thinking that the extra-wide and tall passageways were a little on the small side.


    Some questioning noises came from the inside, and a delicate elvenoid ¡°pushed¡± aside the unicorn. She looked frail and pale, like a single snowflake drifting in the breeze. Her purple eyes were clouded with the characteristic look of a Mist classer. Interestingly, she wasn¡¯t wearing the robes that the students of the School normally wore, and it seemed like the dress code was more relaxed in the private living areas.


    Thank goodness.


    She shot off a series of questions to us, and gods I needed to learn the language as soon as humanly possible.


    Iona answered, pointing to her piece of paper that said where our lodging was. The woman furiously grabbed the paper, then sagged and groaned.


    That was at least somewhat obvious, language barrier or not. She was unhappy to have new roommates, and I honestly sympathized. Who wanted to have more people in their living space?


    She gestured us in, shouted something deeper into the apartment, and I got a look at my living space for the next few years.


    There was a moderately sized space right in front of the entrance, with two more doors immediately facing the entrance. The unicorn turned around in the space, used his horn to open one of the doors, and walked in, kicking the door shut with a hoof. There was a deep scratch on the door where he¡¯d clearly done this hundreds of times before, and it was obviously his room.


    To my right was a cozy little living room, a couple of plush sofas and chairs around a small coffee table. To my left was a hallway, with a few more doors along on either side, and two more doors at the very end.


    I was starting to have hope that I¡¯d get my own room, and I wouldn¡¯t need to share it with anybody. I¡¯d done enough of that growing up.


    Delicate-girl yelled down the hallway, and only one other door opened up. An elf emerged, deer antlers on her head and her eyes as deep as the stars.


    Another Celestial classer! Yay! I wasn¡¯t looking forward to dealing with the sheer arrogance inherent to all the elves I¡¯d met so far though.


    Some conversation I couldn¡¯t follow and gesturing later, and we were all sitting down in the living room, Auri on my head and Fenrir prowling over the back of the sofas, sniffing and investigating every little nook and cranny.


    I felt totally left out of the conversation, Iona spending most of her time quickly talking with the other two. I didn¡¯t blame her one bit, she¡¯d spent far too many hours already translating for me. I could let her have some time catching up on her new arrangements, and explaining everything to our hopefully-two new roommates.


    The elf was fairly quiet, and Iona spent most of her time talking with the frail-looking one. When she directly addressed the elf though, her words were strange. They were like deep whinnies of a horse, rumbling with magical power and echoing in utterly bizarre ways. The elf jumped about a foot in the air, and yelled something at Iona. In a more normal language. I was starting to get the hang of some of the intonations, and I thought it might be High Elvish.


    She started stomping around in a circle while Iona frantically explained.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri asked me, getting our own little side conversation going.


    ¡°I have no idea, but I wish I had popcorn.¡±


    The whole thing was quite dramatic, like watching a foreign movie. Obviously, something big was going down, but I had no idea what. Still entertaining as heck.


    ¡°Brrpt BRrrrpppt?¡±


    ¡°Heat up corn basically.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt?¡±


    ¡°No idea, although if you can find some, that¡¯d be great. Ooooh, that latest exchange must¡¯ve hurt!¡± I exclaimed as the elf went pale and stormed off down the hall, only to come storming back a moment later.


    Fragile-girl sat down next to me, watching the exchange like a volleyball match.


    ¡°Skye.¡± She offered me a hand, still watching what was going on.


    ¡°Elaine.¡± I shook her hand.


    She tilted her head, and rapidly asked me something. I knuckled my forehead.


    ¡°Elaine. Elaine.¡± I pointed at myself twice, then threw up my hands in exasperation. That did seem to get the message through though, and Skye laughed.


    Finally Iona sat down with a huff, and the elf also did. Nobody looked particularly happy, but I seemed to be mostly out of it. I had a sneaking suspicion that someone else¡¯s secrets had gotten outed by Iona¡¯s divine blessing of languages.


    ¡°Sorry about that Elaine. I know you don¡¯t know the languages here, and I know that can be super isolating. It wasn¡¯t particularly nice to exclude you, but we needed to have a quick chat, and I figured I could catch you up after.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s totally fine. You¡¯re already doing so much for me, I can¡¯t impose and have you follow me around, translating everything everyone else says.¡±


    ¡°Thanks for understanding.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri wanted to know what was going on, and I was honestly looking for answers as well.


    ¡°Real quick. How much do you want to tell our roommates?¡±


    I hesitated.


    ¡°Give them the basics? I¡¯d like to tell them my full story when I can.¡±


    Iona nodded.


    ¡°Yeah sure, I can do that.¡±


    Iona thought about it for a moment.


    ¡°Right, ok. First thing to know is this set of rooms are, according to Reinhard, one of the special sets of rooms. They¡¯re not publicly well known or advertised, but the more, ah, special members of the School get placed here.¡±


    I tilted my head in confusion, and Iona immediately picked up on it.


    ¡°Take Auri. She¡¯s the best little bird ever, super colorful and always around, right?¡±


    ¡°BRRRPT!¡± Auri flew in manic circles around Iona, pleased with the compliment.


    ¡°Grrr?¡± Fenrir growled.


    ¡°You¡¯re not a bird, you¡¯re a wyvern, and nothing can compare.¡±


    Fenrir looked mollified by that.


    ¡°Do you think you could keep her a secret from people you¡¯re living with for years?¡±


    I didn¡¯t even need to think about that. I shook my head.


    ¡°No way.¡±


    Left unsaid was my personal ability to grant Immortality.


    ¡°Right. Everyone here¡¯s got similar interesting stories. The thinking is, when everyone¡¯s on the interesting side, we know what it¡¯s like. We know not to bother each other or freak out over Auri being a phoenix, your unique conditions, Fenrir being a frost wyvern, my divine blessings, Skye being an ex-princess, her unicorn companion Varuna, or Reinhard being a kirin.¡±


    I was looking at Reinhard when it clicked.


    A kirin. A legendary creature, just a half-step away from being a dragon, if not superior to them. How was she an elf though? Was there some sort of transformation skill at play? Was there-


    Don¡¯t freak out.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri pecked me on the head, snapping me out of my daze.


    Right. Speaking of legendary creatures practically on par with dragons, I¡¯d gotten a little too used to my own little pyro. Figuring I¡¯d make whatever greetings I could, I stood up and offered a hand to Reinhard.


    ¡°Hi! I¡¯m Elaine! It¡¯s nice to meet you.¡± I figured I¡¯d start off on a good foot.


    Reinhard looked at me, and rattled off a question to Iona, who rattled something else back. She shook my hand.


    A promising start.


    ¡°She was wondering if you were introducing your class, and what part of that was your name.¡± Iona explained.


    I chuckled.


    ¡°Of all the bad luck.¡± I griped at my name being the word for ¡®healer¡¯ again. On the bottom of my to-do list was to find out how that had happened.


    ¡°Elaine, this is Skye. She¡¯s a Yuki-Onna, sometimes known as a snow girl.¡± Iona rapidly asked Skye a few questions. ¡°She¡¯ll tell you her full story once she can hear yours.¡±


    I didn¡¯t need the additional motivation to learn how to speak some of the languages here. My frustration levels were insane.


    ¡°Brrpt BRPT!¡± Auri was flying around Skye and Reinhard, saying hi in her own way. Reinhard lifted her hand up, letting the little bird land on her hand. I started forward, getting ready to heal her burns, but they never happened.


    Kirins were about as bullshit as elves were. Even more so if they could transform themselves into one.


    Iona had a few more quick words with everyone, then clapped her hands.


    ¡°Ok! Why don¡¯t we all get dinner together, to celebrate meeting, becoming roommates, and figuring out where to go from here? My treat.¡±


    Free food? Free food.


    She repeated her question for the other members of the group, and with affirmations all around, we all got changed into robes and went to get food.


    Food was tasty, and with Iona translating into High Elvish for the other two, we managed to have a conversation. I¡¯d also gotten three levels in [Learning Languages], and had even managed a few short phrases here and there during the discussion, combining words I¡¯d heard and learned earlier into short sentences. It wasn¡¯t much, but the other three seemed to be warming to me at least, and appreciated the effort.


    We also went over a few rules for living together, a code of conduct so that we could tolerate each other.


    Rooms were sacred. We could knock on each other¡¯s doors of course, but we had to get permission to enter.


    The School had its own island time that it worked off of. From the 9th to the 12th block were the ¡°night¡± blocks, and the 1st to the 8th block were the ¡°day¡± blocks. I interpreted that to mean each block was roughly two hours. Easy enough. Classes only occurred during the ¡°day¡± blocks, and I was able to reframe Yugure¡¯s instructions to mean that practice was during the first block of the day. The sun could be high up in the sky during the 11th block, and the moons could be out during the 6th block. Didn¡¯t matter, the island operated on its own schedule.


    Our suite agreed that the 10th to the 1st block were quiet hours. It gave us a bit of time after classes to decompress, and it encouraged us to be quiet in the morning for anyone who wanted to sleep in, or had a slow start to the day.


    We were all responsible for our own stuff, and the dirty looks Reinhard shot Skye implied that wasn¡¯t as obviously a given as I thought it should be.


    The language of the suite was High Elvish, and Reinhard and Sky were hoping that we¡¯d be alright with that. Iona spoke every language fluently, and High Elvish was on my to-learn list anyways, so I had no issues with that either.


    We also agreed on incredibly generic things like ¡°look out for each other¡±, ¡°be respectful of each other¡±, ¡°don¡¯t occupy the bathroom forever¡±, and ¡°don¡¯t go blabbing about each other and the suite to everyone¡±, but that was so vague as to be unenforceable.


    Some of my old Ranger Academy lessons in rules, laws, and enforcement were coming in handy. I¡¯d tried to protest the poorly-framed and practically unenforceable rules, but got such skeptical looks from everyone - Auri included - that I surrendered the issue and shut up.


    Probably made me look bad, bah. I was totally right though, and I¡¯d try not to be too smug when the rules blew up in our faces.


    Iona buying food was so nice though.


    Tasty, tasty food.


    We made it back to the suite, and needed to pick rooms.


    Fenrir made a beeline for the second door across from the main doorway, headbutting his way in.


    ¡°Is that your room?¡± I asked Iona. She shook her head.


    ¡°Fenrir¡¯s own room.¡± She explained. ¡°Frost wyverns get big. Like, he¡¯s going to make Varuna look tiny when he¡¯s fully grown, and I¡¯m honestly not sure if this place will be big enough for him by the time I graduate.¡±


    ¡°BRrrpt! BRPT!¡± Auri hovered in front of me, demanding that we share the same room.


    ¡°Ok, ok! I never thought otherwise.¡± I told my little darling.


    ¡°Brrpt.¡± Auri perched herself on my head, glad I knew the pecking order.


    ¡°Reinhard¡¯s got the far room, Skye¡¯s in the room closest to Varuna, do you have a preference?¡± Iona asked me.


    Three middle rooms.


    ¡°Not at all. Well, cancel that. I¡¯d like one of the rooms next to me to be empty. Don¡¯t sandwich me in!¡±


    Iona shrugged, and grabbed one of the doors.


    ¡°Suits me.¡± She said as she vanished into one of the rooms.


    I grabbed a room, opening the door to see my living arrangements for the next few years.


    To call them spartan would be understating things a bit. The room was tiny. A desk and chair against one wall, and a mattress on a small frame on the other wall. The door didn¡¯t quite open all the way, the end of the bed stopping it from swinging all the way open, and it was a good thing I was skinny, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t be able to sit in the chair with the bed being where it was.


    I had a window, which was nice, and it was frosted in a way that didn¡¯t let people peek inside. A good thing, considering we were on the ground floor.


    I peeked around, finding a flat chest under the bed. At least I had some reasonable storage! I put my old clothes in it and my admission paperwork.


    It was sadly empty, even with how small the chest was. However, it was nice that I had it. I¡¯d see about getting my gear back from Artemis, and storing it.


    Although¡­ I didn¡¯t need it right now, and it might save Artemis¡¯s life. I¡¯d probably leave it for her.


    ¡°Brrpt brpt?¡± Auri asked as she flew around the room a bit.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure. Maybe on the desk?¡±


    Auri landed on the desk, and I eyed it, half wondering if it was going to go up in flames, and how badly that¡¯d go. Fortunately, it seemed to be fireproof - or Auri was restraining herself.


    ¡°Brrpt¡­¡± She sadly cheeped, and I saw a single crystal tear roll out of her eye.


    I felt a lump in my throat that wouldn¡¯t go away. I picked Auri up, and delicately hugged her.


    ¡°I know, I know¡­¡± I comforted her even as I tried to stop my own tears.


    This room was a far, far step down from what I¡¯d come from. I used to have practically half a wing all to myself. A room just for baths, a luxurious bed I could sink into. A whole sphere of Arcanite for Auri to look at herself in.


    A home filled with loving family. Friends.


    Now I had a tiny rectangle. Auri had a wooden surface to sleep on, forget a nest.


    I didn¡¯t even have sheets.


    I heard a knock on the door.


    ¡°Elaine? Are you ok in there?¡±


    I opened my mouth, wanting to answer no. Wanting Iona to come in and wrap her arms around me, to tell me that everything would be ok.


    But no.


    I¡¯d get attached. We¡¯d become friends. The adventures we could have, the stories we could tell. Oh, the imagination boggled.


    She¡¯d die, like everyone else, and I¡¯d have another person ripped away from me. Another name to carve on my own personal Indomitable Wall.


    After a few moments, I heard her move away, respecting my boundaries and privacy.


    I wasn¡¯t sure how I felt about that.

 Chapter 334 - Orientation

    Three days of intense language study, hanging out, and exploring with Artemis later, orientation was among us.


    The new students were broken up into dozens of smaller groups, and most people had friends, parents, or sponsors with them, seeing what the School was like for themselves. I was no exception, with Artemis, Julius, and Amber all tagging along our orientation group. We were all outside the gates of the School for the start of this, our group in a little huddle like the rest of the groups. Some of them were moving around already, others were talking. Some groups were larger, some were smaller. We were in one of the bigger groups. I guess the experience changed depending on who was leading the orientation.


    My language studies were going well, and I was focusing on trying to listen and understand the words being said in their own language. I still needed Iona to translate a few words every sentence, but I was rapidly achieving basic proficiency.


    In a single language.


    ¡°Hello everybody! Welcome to orientation! I¡¯m Stefan, a fourth year and a werewolf! No, we don¡¯t bite.¡± The man in black robes leading orientation joked in his native language, the enchantments in the School automatically translating into four different languages - High Elvish included - and we obligingly laughed.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you all have thousands and thousands of questions, and on one hand I¡¯d love to tell you all to ask them now! Except I did that once, and I spent the next four hours standing here answering questions, instead of giving a tour and orientation of the place. So! How about this. Ask questions when-¡±


    Stefan was interrupted by the sound of thousands of chimes going off, along with a distant roar of a gigantic, primal monster, heralding triumph and success.


    I snapped a shield around us all and took off, hovering a bit above the ground. My eyes were on a swivel, looking up, down, around, trying to see where the monster was coming from. Artemis had a dozen sharp stones hovering around her, and Lightning was crackling between two of her fingers, charging up a skill.


    I noticed Stefan was laughing, and there wasn¡¯t a general sense of panic and concern. I slowly drifted back to the ground, flushing with embarrassment. I dropped my shield.


    ¡°You weren¡¯t the only one ready to fight.¡± Iona softly murmured in my ear. ¡°Only difference was, I didn¡¯t have my axe handy.¡±


    I nodded my appreciation. It¡¯d be all too easy to claim she knew what it was all along, instead of standing by me.


    ¡°Ok! I was going to start with something else, but that went out the window like a butterfly.¡±


    I glared murder at him for making fun of me. I was feeling fairly down, and more than a little petty, and I¡¯d figure out some form of petty revenge.


    I didn¡¯t know what it¡¯d be yet, but I was resourceful. I¡¯d find something. Maybe a nice mudhole to trip him into.


    ¡°Second things first! Let me introduce to you all the grand gate of our School, the Dragon¡¯s Gate! The enchantments written on it were done in dragon¡¯s blood, which lets it detect when a [Princess] enters through the gates! When it does, it¡¯ll let everyone on campus know with those chimes and a roar, and I do believe that confirms the rumor that we¡¯ve got royalty in this incoming group of students! Exciting times we live in! There¡¯s a few more [Princesses] on campus, and the gates are a semi-regular thing. Questions?¡±


    My brain just about broke in half at the start of the orientation. They used dragon¡¯s blood for the gate enchantments!? They advertised that!? It could detect if someone was a princess, or more likely, if they had the class!?


    That flew in the face of so many different things I knew, but I didn¡¯t have time to process and understand it. Stefan was moving along.


    ¡°First thing second! As I said earlier, I¡¯m Stefan, a fourth-year. Yes, a student is running orientation. I¡¯ll get to that in a minute. This is the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft, unrivaled in the world! While we¡¯re here, we¡¯re all students. If you see a political rival? If you have a chance to kill the young master of a rival sect? If you have a chance to get blackmail on the Han faction? Don¡¯t. We¡¯re students here, this place is neutral. It makes it a worthwhile environment for all of us, instead of an all-out warzone. Save your grudges for when you¡¯ve graduated, and remember.¡±


    Stefan turned serious.


    ¡°This is the School¡¯s territory, where the School¡¯s rules apply. The School is perfectly fine angering the royal family of Rolland, or even messing with the elves. Fuck around, and find out.¡±


    He cracked a grin, turning back to a goof.


    ¡°Jobs! Work! The School has hundreds to thousands of little low-level jobs it has reserved for students, all designed to make life cheaper for everybody, along with providing minor incomes to students who need to supplement their tuition. If your pockets are feeling pinched by what your sponsors give you for spending money, or if you are the second favorite child and your parents aren¡¯t funding you enough, find a job! Make some money! All the jobs offered by the School are legit. I¡¯m not supposed to tell you about the other jobs that exist, but they¡¯re out there.¡±


    Stefan winked at the few glares he was getting from said penny-pinching sponsors, along with the implication that there were more jobs than just the School. The town attached to the School was a solid bet for employment, and there had to be all sorts of black market jobs.


    ¡°Questions? Yes?¡± Stefan answered a few different questions about the gates and types of jobs, then clapped his hands.


    ¡°Ok! Let¡¯s move on! A few groups are ahead of us, a few are behind us, this is the perfect time to go. Follow me!¡± He started to walk backwards, facing us while he moved down the central path to the Dragon¡¯s Gate.


    If I squinted a bit, and was drunk as a skunk, it did look a bit like a dragon¡¯s mouth.


    ¡°This stretch of road¡¯s a bit long, so let me go over the basics of how the School works! Some of you know this, some of you don¡¯t. The fundamental idea, and the thing most people are going for at the School, are called Tracks. There¡¯s a Track for everything! There¡¯s the Wizardry Track, the Sorcery Track, the Legal Track, the Engineering Track, the Golem Track, the Alchemy Track, the Business Track, there¡¯s one for everything the School teaches! Because that¡¯s how the School works. You, what are you here for?¡± Stefan pointed to one of the random students.


    ¡°Music and entertainment.¡± He answered.


    ¡°Music and entertainment! Great! Your sponsor wants you to walk out of here with the School saying you¡¯re competent at music and entertainment. You¡¯ll probably be taking the Music Track, the General Entertainment Track, then probably a Track dedicated to a few different instruments, and a Track dedicated to a few specialized types of entertainment. Each Track has graduation requirements. Fulfill them all, and the School is happy to certify that you¡¯re competent in the field. The School¡¯s idea of competent is everyone else¡¯s idea of genius, and it¡¯ll open doors throughout the world! Questions?¡± Stefan asked as he continued to walk backwards, occasionally throwing a look over his shoulder to see where he was going.


    I spent a few moments putting together all the needed words to ask the question I wanted to say. As I opened my mouth, someone beat me to the punch, asking exactly the question I wanted to ask.


    ¡°What do the Track requirements look like?¡±


    ¡°Great question, so glad you asked! It depends on the Track! Some are easy, just a written exam. Students occasionally come here with expert knowledge in a field, promptly take the Track exam, and get certified all without stepping foot into a classroom. Usually happens when an Immortal wants to pick up a new profession, but is still a 700 year old master in their old profession. It¡¯s a pride thing, being able to claim more Tracks completed at the School. Others, like the musical instrument, would require a performance test. Entertainment might ask for a performance, although I¡¯m not sure on that one. The big admin building is the place that has all that information, and would you look at that, we¡¯re here!¡±


    Stefan gestures to the big building on my left, the same one Yugure had taken me to when I first came.


    ¡°Now, all these buildings have super-fancy names, but nobody actually calls them that. This is either the big administration building, or the fancy administration building, depending on who¡¯s calling it that. It¡¯s the first thing most people see, and it¡¯s designed to impress. Hence it being the fancy administration building. Most of your paperwork needs will be seen to there, and they have all the information you could possibly want. If you can find it. I swear, the place was originally a maze, and I know for a fact that the hallways rearrange themselves. Moving on!¡±


    Stefan took a turn down the road to my left, and started to walk down it.


    ¡°This is the main campus. There are three layers of roads, all in an octagonal shape inside of each other. I like giving the tour of the place by starting at the outer layer, and slowly working our way in until we get to the central layer, which has the eight magical towers. Most of your classes will be in those towers.¡± Stefan explained as he continued to walk backwards.


    ¡°Let me discuss robes! Everyone needs to wear robes, and the color does have significance. It¡¯s easy! They¡¯re tied to your level, and if you ask some of the [Deans], they¡¯ll claim it¡¯s a reflection of how much you think you know. We start with black! The lowest level, and System-wise, you all know they have the most powerful classes. A bit of a joke, that the people with the lowest levels think they know the most. Everyone with their highest levels being level 1 to level 511 get black robes. Purple robes are for levels 512 to 1023, and I think you can see the pattern here, ending on white robes for the final 512 levels. There¡¯s rumors of one or two of them around campus. Ah! We¡¯re at our next spot!¡±


    ¡°The auditorium! The fine fellow who mentioned he was here to study music is going to spend quite a lot of time in this building. Those of you who want to test their luck can come and listen, and hopefully it¡¯ll be an expert working on their latest masterpiece, and not a rank beginner who doesn¡¯t know how to tune their instrument.¡±


    Stefan shuddered dramatically.


    Someone asked a question about classes.


    ¡°Classes and graduation! I¡¯m so glad you asked, I entirely forgot! Ok, each Track has a set of classes that it asks you to take. Now, you don¡¯t have to take any of the classes, you can just skip right to the Track test. However, there¡¯s a guarantee that if you take all the classes, you will have all the knowledge needed to pass the Track exam! That¡¯s the claim, we all know it¡¯s not true. Or have sufficient proficiency to play the instruments at the level needed to pass, or to construct a golem up to the examiner¡¯s standards, etc. The examiners are also the professors, and I¡¯ve heard enough stories about favored students not getting as harshly examined - after all, they know the student knows the material - versus Immortals just waltzing in and assuming they know everything. Also, everyone has an advisor. They can help guide you on a personalized, one-on-one basis. They¡¯ll give you lots of good advice, but in the end, they¡¯re only elvenoid. They might make mistakes. Do your own thinking!¡±


    Go to classes. Listen to my advisor¡­ within reason. Easy enough.


    ¡°Next, we have the College of Natural Philosophy. Right after the road is the College of Business, and¡­¡±


    Stefan continued to give his tour of the outer ring of buildings. The sports arena was next, where I spoke up and asked if it was the Mistor arena. It wasn¡¯t, although Stefan said he¡¯d point it out when it showed up. The College of Arts was after the sports arena, and the gym was just past that. Iona looked thrilled at that information.


    I should go to the gym myself. Didn¡¯t have Ranger drills keeping me in shape anymore.


    The bazaar was next, a multi-story behemoth that Stefan promised sold everything we needed. Crafters could even try to sell their goods in the bazaar, and the place we¡¯d seen on the ground in Rolland were some of the more enterprising members of the School trying to break into a new market.


    ¡°Can I go?¡± Amber pleaded with me.


    ¡°I¡¯m not your parent.¡± The words were supposed to be flippant, but my throat betrayed me in the end. Amber looked like she¡¯d been stabbed at the reminder.


    ¡°You can go, but this is your only chance to see the School. The bazaar will still be there after the tour¡¯s over.¡± Julius gently reminded Amber.


    She quietly nodded, and we continued on with the tour.


    The College of Engineering was next, and that didn¡¯t interest any of us.


    A familiar building was next.


    ¡°The dining hall! About as risky as the auditorium. Dozens of different [Chefs] and [Cooks] will be working there every day with thousands of different ingredients, but heads up! They¡¯re also student workers, most of who are practicing their class while also making money and studying at the same time. Usually they¡¯re experts, but sometimes¡­ well¡­ let¡¯s just say nagas have their own weird idea of how spices should work. Buyer beware!¡±


    The food seemed perfectly fine when I went there, but it was nice to know. This place, like every other place, encouraged a quick check with [Identify] to see if the person I was getting food from was high level or not.


    Although¡­ most [Chefs] were [Artisans], but anyone with an [Artisan] tag would look like a chef behind the grill.


    I¡¯d avoid anyone cooking that had any of the other tags.


    Hmm.


    Technically, I could ask Iona to spot check people¡¯s classes, but that seemed rude, and I¡¯d asked Iona for so much help already.


    ¡°While I¡¯m on the topic of cooking, that reminds me about auras! There are plenty of high level individuals here, and enough Classers grab aura skills that they start to become relevant. I know at least one [Cook] has an anti-burning aura. While he¡¯s in the kitchen, nobody¡¯s food will burn. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people with auras in the School. You¡¯ll find crafts are easier to make, instruments are easier to tune, quills never run out of ink, and dozens of other little - or big! - effects here and there. Enjoy them while they last!¡±


    ¡°Next is the student center! It¡¯s for all of us to relax and unwind. Parties, games, the latest invention, all of that can be found here! The social hub of the School, and honestly, what¡¯s more important?¡±


    Stefan let the murderous looks from the sponsors roll off his back, while Julius gave a sigh in the background.


    ¡°Speaking of social groups, let me talk about Rings!¡± Stefan held up his hands, showing off three rings he was wearing on his abnormally furry hands. ¡°Rings are social groups. They could be for anything! Whatever interests you have, there¡¯s a Ring. Dueling! Drinking! Debate! Dancing! Debauchery! There¡¯s something for everyone!¡±


    Iona looked way too interested in the debauchery Ring idea.


    ¡°Each Ring gives out a, well, ring to show off your membership in the club. There¡¯s a little unofficial rule that you can only be in as many Rings as you have fingers. Nobody wants someone joining just to claim they¡¯re a member. Of course, it¡¯s not a rule, but when everyone does it?¡±


    Stefan shrugged.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri asked, and since there was nobody around that could understand her, I spent a few moments thinking of a translation.


    ¡°What about people with no finger?¡± I asked, cursing as I knew I punted the plural form.


    Auri flew up a bit above the group, making a small fire show and twirling herself around, making sure everyone could see who the question was about.


    Also because the vain bird wanted to show off.


    ¡°Ha! Good question! Ask the Rings! Some might say two, some might not care. Ok, any other questions?¡±


    There were a few more, and we moved on.


    ¡°Off to your left are the cheap living quarters. Most of you live in them and are familiar with them, they¡¯re free to all students. We¡¯ll get to the fancier ones later.¡±


    I obviously recognized the area.


    ¡°Next! The building you need to know the location of, and pray you never visit! The hospital! It¡¯s combined with the school of medicine, and I spot at least one [Healer] in the crowd here who¡¯ll have her studies here!¡±


    Ok. Fine. That did it.


    I¡¯d totally help the sponsors hide the body.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got the boring administration building next to the hospital, and they handle the other half of the paperwork that the fancy administration building doesn¡¯t! Now, before someone asks, I don¡¯t know who does what, and they¡¯re obnoxiously vague about it.¡±


    The observatory was next, followed by the ¡®lower education¡¯ building.


    Auri and I traded looks at that one.


    ¡°Brrpt.¡±


    ¡°Oh, he¡¯s just being mean, I¡¯m sure it¡¯s a great place to learn! It¡¯s special for you.¡±


    ¡°Brpt.¡±


    Auri was entirely unconvinced, but she would be getting an education. That was non-negotiable, and I¡¯d already gotten practically scammed on my first attempt to get her a good education.


    I wasn¡¯t failing this time.


    After that was the stables for large companions and animals - we all glanced at Fenrir, even as a giraffe looked at us from over the walls - and the guard station. The theater came after that, and someone asked a good question.


    ¡°Yes! Professors have complete discretion over who¡¯s allowed in their classes, and there''s a number of advanced classes the professors won¡¯t allow you into unless they know you. The medical classes on Miasmas, Spores, and Poisons is a famous example. The biomancy classes on How to Make Vorlers is another one, and why they still teach that I¡¯ll never know. Golems Building Golems is another class that has extremely high requirements to get into. They won¡¯t teach just anyone that stuff, we don¡¯t want another set of Pekari running around! One¡¯s bad enough.¡±


    Make nice to access forbidden knowledge. Easy enough.


    We came to the Vaults.


    ¡°Getting dark for a minute here!¡± Stefan¡¯s cheerfulness was entirely at odds with the information he was imparting, like he was regaling us with a fun story instead of facts. ¡°The Vaults! It securely contains most of the knowledge we¡¯ve accumulated through the eons, and is the single most fortified position in the School. When an Immortal War comes to the island, it¡¯ll be the last thing standing. Local legends have it that the School¡¯s been entirely eradicated eight times, the Vaults being the source of knowledge that¡¯s brought us back from some dark and ugly times after the island¡¯s been rediscovered!¡±


    ¡°Is that true?¡± Artemis asked. I wondered if she was thinking that, yes, maybe this was her School, resurrected time and time again.


    Stefan shrugged.


    ¡°It¡¯s been ages since the last Immortal war. What, 900 years or so? How am I supposed to know! It makes for a cool story though.¡±


    Iona muttered darkly next to me in a language I didn¡¯t recognize.


    After the Vaults were the flying fields, and Stefan hit his hand to his head.


    ¡°Flying! Right! Things are calm right now, the island¡¯s barely moving. When the island is moving, there are some low level protections against the wind. However, you don¡¯t want to get too high up. The wind will rip you right out of the sky, and if you¡¯re lucky, you¡¯ll be able to land before you go off the edge of the island.¡±


    There were a few laughs at his joke, but Stefan shook his head.


    ¡°I¡¯m completely serious. Saw it happen my first year. We were over the ocean to boot. Never saw the student again. Do. Not. Fly. Well, not outside the safe to fly areas. Like this place!¡± Stefan gestured to the¡­ well, words mostly failed me. It was like a hovering obstacle course.


    ¡°It¡¯s the flight course! Safe to fly, lets little birds burn some energy safely. Now, on the other side, we can see the fancy living area. Professors get houses here, and wealthy students can rent out a house for themselves, with significantly more room. Unfair? Yes, but they¡¯re subsidizing the rest of us. It¡¯s a nice area, but if someone asks you to leave, leave. It is their home, like we all have rooms in the bulk dorms.¡±


    Stefan answered some questions as we kept walking. The Dangerous Workshop was next to the fire and magical emergency response building, for obvious reasons. The normal or safe workshop was next to that.


    The events center was next on the path, a huge building dedicated to¡­ being a building that people could set up in. The Legal College was after that, followed by the College of War.


    Why the break in the naming convention, I had no idea.


    The next building was a familiar one - The Wandering Inn, or as Stefan called it, the Hotel.


    I liked The Wandering Inn more.


    ¡°Another entertainment building! Entertainers usually make neat mirages, or tell stories with illusions and sounds. When their stuff is good, it¡¯s good. It¡¯s like watching a real story in front of you!¡±


    Sounded like a cinema! That could be fun, if I ever had spare time.


    That triggered a thought, although I¡¯d ask one of the professors at the School. Generally, leveling up healing classes required patients. With dozens, if not hundreds or thousands of medical students at the School, how did we get enough patients and injuries to get enough experience to level up?


    It was less of a concern for me, but the same question could easily apply to a dozen different types of training. [Actors] got more levels doing difficult parts in front of large audiences, and I imagined most other classes needed similar conditions.


    ¡°Next up is the Tabernacle! Whatever your faith is, the Tabernacle is there to provide.¡±


    The building was impressive, a staggering holy spiral into the sky. I should pray more often, and Iona had her head bowed.


    ¡°Last building on this layer! The place most of you will spend considerable hours, the library!¡±


    I¡¯d seen the building before, but I¡¯d naively assumed it was just an extension of the fancy admin building.


    No.


    I had sinned. I hadn¡¯t recognized what it was before it was pointed out to me. A travesty that wouldn¡¯t be repeated. It was the holiest of holy grails. A reflection of my inner soul, a place that Remus technically had and practically didn¡¯t.


    A library.


    A place of books, of stored knowledge. Cozy corners and musky smells, all the stories of the world in one place for me to loot and plunder to my heart¡¯s content.


    And oh! This one was ginormous. If even half of it was full of absurdly spaced books, I¡¯d have multiple lifetimes of reading material available.


    As long as they weren¡¯t all census reports or something. Even then! There were probably enough of those reports to tell a fascinating story, I¡¯d just have to be the one to put it together.


    I knew where I¡¯d be spending an unreasonable number of hours. I knew where I¡¯d be trying to find a job.


    Books and scrolls, parchment and ink, oh my! I couldn¡¯t wait, but I restrained myself.


    It was orientation. I was getting some special inside knowledge now. The books would be there in an hour or so.


    Assuming there wasn¡¯t a gigantic fire or something else while the tour continued. I discreetly knocked on a tree along the path to ward off bad luck.


    ¡°And we¡¯re back where we started! The first layer¡¯s done! Questions on what we¡¯ve seen so far?¡±


    Stefan answered a few questions, then moved on.


    ¡°Over here we¡¯ve got the statue of Radras the All-Knowing.¡± Stephan pointed to a bronze statue of a sphinx, slightly taller than Iona. It was worn in multiple places, clearly having weathered quite some time.


    ¡°Radras supposedly reignited the School after centuries of decline, and is venerated here to this day.¡± Stefan explained. ¡°Now, I mentioned before that some professors require taking their prior classes before they¡¯ll let you into their more advanced classes. Radras here plays a role in that. Legend has it that patting the head before a major exam will get you a passing score.¡±


    His head was indeed rubbed shiny, worn down in a way the rest of the statue wasn¡¯t.


    ¡°However, School students usually strive to be better than merely passing. Rubbing Radras¡¯s belly will get you an excellent mark on your exams.¡±


    Yup.


    ¡°The School¡¯s full of perfectionists. If you want perfect marks, there¡¯s one more spot on Radras.¡±


    Gods damn it all. Stefan was right. Why was the statue entirely anatomically correct!?


    ¡°Moving on! The School put all the fancy things near the front of the School, to stop tourists from getting lost. The Grand Stadium¡¯s next up, and it¡¯s where major events are held.¡±


    Looked like the Colosseum from Remus, and I was slapped with another pang of homesickness.


    ¡°There¡¯s fewer things on this layer. Let¡¯s go!¡± Stefan said.


    He was right.


    There was a multi-storied greenhouse that Stefan claimed housed every plant on the planet, although a number were restricted. The firing range was for training and practicing skills, and it was filled with people firing off skills. Arcanite pillars dotted the place, and mages kept walking back and forth from them, topping themselves up so they could keep going.


    The Illusionary building was next¡­ although that might¡¯ve been a prank. The lot was completely empty, and even Stefan wasn¡¯t entirely sure if it existed or not.


    The dueling arena - AKA the Mistor Arena, where practice was - came after that, and we were already halfway through the layer of buildings.


    The Aquarium was next, although Stefan claimed there was only a small fraction of the sea creatures inside. It looked to my untrained eye to be dangerously close to the Dangerous Workshops, but eh. It had survived until now, right?


    ¡°The Museum of All Things!¡± Stefan proudly named the next building. ¡°Ok, for those of you visiting, you should absolutely take a look around. I¡¯m no [Professor], I¡¯m not amazing at explaining things, but here¡¯s the quick and dirty basic rundown of the place.¡±


    He took a deep breath, and started reciting.


    ¡°Iona, can you translate this for me? It sounds important.¡± I realized two sentences into Stefan¡¯s explanation that I needed a good translation of this, and not my feeble attempts.


    ¡°Classes work off of knowledge.¡± Iona translated Stefan¡¯s words, hanging onto them herself. ¡°The more you know, the more options you¡¯ll get. The more options you get, the better classes you can take. Metal is the best example of what the Museum of All Things can do for you. What metal does a Metal [Mage] conjure up? Well, it depends on the mage! They¡¯ll get some metal that works and resonates with them, that they know and are familiar with. Someone who grows up in a copper mine will conjure copper, and someone who spends their childhood in a blacksmithy will conjure up iron.¡±


    ¡°The Museum has a sample of everything. Every metal. Every stone. All types of glass, sand, lava, waters, oozes, flames, woods, lights. It¡¯s all in the Museum, with their properties labeled.¡±


    Iona broke off from translating Stefan¡¯s speech, and was looking at me.


    ¡°I take it you¡¯re going to want to visit.¡±


    I grinned back.


    ¡°You know me so well.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s all visit after orientation.¡± Julius agreed.


    ¡°Wonder if there¡¯s different types of Lightning.¡± Artemis wondered.


    ¡°There are! Remember how I told you about Galeru?¡± I nudged the twitchy mage.


    I¡¯d noticed there were a few different types of Radiance throughout my travels. My skills were often sun or bug-themed, but Haka had a forge theme.


    We weren¡¯t the only ones excited by the information. All of the other students and their parents or sponsors were excited by the news as well, and I foresaw an influx of visitors.


    ¡°Ok! Last up is the Arboretum!¡± Stefan pointed to the last building. ¡°Slightly different from the Greenhouse, this has trees. The people running the place insist it¡¯s different from the Greenhouse, and there¡¯s some bizarre rivalry going on there. Don¡¯t ask about it unless you want them to talk your ear off, or if you¡¯re unlucky, throw you out.¡±


    There were practically no questions. Everyone was still mulling over the Museum.


    ¡°Ok! That¡¯s it for the second layer! The third layer is just ahead, and it¡¯s the easy one! The mage towers!¡± Stefan gestured, and started going on about the eight towers in the center of campus as we walked around them.


    Long story short. There were eight towers, one dedicated to each primary element, and they were where most of the magical education occurred, usually linked with the element most commonly associated with it. Illusions were in the College of Light, for example, while fire was in the College of Fire. Easy stuff.


    Healing was in the College of Water, because apparently there¡¯d been some feud between Light and Dark as to which one was ¡®more important.¡¯ An interesting tidbit was that Celestial healers were the most common type of advanced element in this day and age, and that just gave me warm fuzzy feelings all over.


    ¡°Last thing, then I¡¯ll answer whatever questions you have. You¡¯ll notice there¡¯s space between the eight magic towers. That¡¯s Central Park! A lovely place for a picnic, to go for a walk, or to hide in the bushes to study. I don¡¯t judge.¡±


    ¡°When do classes start?¡± One person asked.


    ¡°What¡¯s the class schedule like?¡± Iona asked at nearly the same time.


    ¡°There are eleven weeks of classes, followed by two weeks of break, for a full cycle. The next cycle starts in four weeks, although the two weeks of break are basically a non-stop party.¡±


    ¡°Where will the island go next?¡± Julius asked after quickly consulting with Iona.


    ¡°Good question! Uh. You¡¯ll have to look it up. Some of the students from the College of Natural Philosophy claim there¡¯s a pattern to how to island moves, and when it speeds up and slows down, but it is a mystery to those of us whose heads aren¡¯t in the clouds. Figuratively. The boring administration building can tell you more.¡±


    ¡°How much longer can we stay?¡± Someone else asked.


    ¡°I think the island¡¯s picking up speed already. Admissions end tomorrow, and the day after is the last day to get off the island. Oh! That reminds me! Beware of Barnacles! They¡¯re former students who never quite left. They¡¯re tenacious, living in the cracks. Mostly harmless, but they exist. Next question?¡±


    With all the questions answered, and orientation over, my friends and I decided to grab dinner.


    Errr.


    We were on island time now, so it was more like lunch, though the sun was down and the moons were out. Changing over was weird.


    I¡¯d get used to it.

 Chapter 335 - Advisor Meeting

    Lunch with everyone was great. We were aware that our time together was nearing its end though. Amber divided up the gambling winnings, getting me enough money to get through an entire semester¡¯s food costs, along with a little extra. I figured I¡¯d be working, hopefully in the library, and wouldn''t need a gigantic pile of coins.


    Not when everyone else needed it more than me. I was set for the near future.


    ¡°Two days.¡± Artemis mused, flicking Auri away from her food. The greedy little phoenix went rolling over the table, and I slapped out the flames she left in her wake. ¡°Then we¡¯re off. What do we want to do?¡±


    I lifted a finger up, forestalling any ideas, and pointed to Amber.


    ¡°We are not spending the entire time shopping. No.¡±


    She pouted and crossed her arms.


    ¡°There¡¯s a number of interesting buildings here. It seems like it¡¯d be a once in a lifetime chance to get to explore the greenhouse, the Museum, and all the rest.¡± Julius said.


    ¡°Do we want to explore the town?¡± Artemis asked.


    ¡°Why not?¡± Julius answered.


    ¡°Let me drop my coins off at my room and quickly freshen up. Meet at the greenhouse?¡± I asked them.


    ¡°Yeah, sure, sounds good. We could all freshen up a bit.¡± Julius agreed.


    We stood up and walked out, Artemis and Julius bantering as we left.


    ¡°What, I thought you said The Wandering Inn reminded you of being back in the Ranger wagons.¡± Artemis teased.


    ¡°It does! Gently rocking wood? It¡¯s great.¡± Julius sighed nostalgically. ¡°But you smell like you¡¯re living in a Ranger wagon, and that¡¯s a different story.¡±


    ¡°What! I do not!¡± Artemis protested.


    I discreetly sniffed her. Oooh yeah. Julius had a point.


    Artemis whirled at me and glared.


    I whistled innocently, glad I was about to get out of Lightning range.


    ¡°Brrpt, brtp.¡±


    I swung by my rooms, intending to drop my stuff off and go meet everyone. However, my plans were interrupted by a scroll pinned to my door.


    It had to be one of my roommates, but none of them had come off as the passive-aggressive type.


    I carefully took the scroll off my door, unrolled it, and -


    Cursed my attention to the spoken word, but not the written. I had no idea what the letter said.


    ¡°Brrpt brpt?¡± Auri asked.


    ¡°No idea, sorry.¡±


    My roommates were out, and I mentally cursed my bad luck. I decided to sound out the words, pray they were in a language I knew, and figured I¡¯d get a few levels of [Learning Languages].


    [*ding!* [Learning Languages] has leveled up! 67 -> 68]


    I¡¯d gotten most of the letter deciphered.


    Elaine.


    Please meet with me at your earliest [something]. I am [something] that we haven¡¯t had a [something] yet. My [something] is in the Wood Tower.


    Professor Marcelle.


    Marcelle¡­ [Immortal Recollections] nudged me, reminding me that was the name of my advisor. Who was possibly a little ticked I hadn¡¯t come and said hi yet.


    I bit my lip, and figured I¡¯d check with Artemis and the rest, mostly to let them know I wouldn¡¯t be able to make it. It¡¯d be plain rude to leave them hanging for me. I made my way over to the greenhouse.


    ¡°Elaine! Ready?¡± Julius asked.


    I shook my head, and quickly explained.


    ¡°Drat. You should get on that.¡± Artemis slipped her arm into Julius¡¯s. ¡°I¡¯d be ungodly pissed if one of my students ignored a summons.¡±


    Amber pulled a face.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sticking around to be a third wheel. I¡¯m going to explore the market and some of the other buildings.¡± She said.


    ¡°Brrrrrrpt!¡± Auri wanted to explore all the green things. Maybe there were fire-plants! I wished her luck on her quest to find a burning bush.


    ¡°Alright, sounds good. I¡¯ll try to meet up with you at the Museum? Worst case, let¡¯s grab dinner together.¡±


    Weird to say when the stars and the moons were already out, but that was life on a flying island for you.


    With a plan to meet later, we all went our separate ways.


    Finding the tower was easy. It dominated the skyline, and all roads led to it. I¡¯d have to be blind to miss it, and even then I¡¯m sure the rest of my senses were good enough to locate it.


    Now, finding a particular room inside the tower?


    That was a whole adventure in and of itself. Orientation had told me where the buildings were, not that the inside was also going with the Wood vibe, and things like ¡°straight corridors¡± and ¡°logical layout¡± were for the Metal tower. Hallways twisted and turned over each other, rooms were layered like honeycomb, and I even joined a line of students who needed to climb up a rough ladder grown out of a wall.


    The naga in front of me caused considerable delays, needing to rely entirely on her upper body strength. I took notes on the sheer variety of curses.


    [*ding!* [Learning Languages] has leveled up! 68 -> 69]


    The floor was luxuriously soft, some sort of moss making the place heavenly, and in spite of all the wood and growing things, I didn¡¯t see a single insect. The whole place smelled of fresh flowers, and there was a line of apples growing out of one hallway¡¯s ceiling. A passing student reached up, grabbed on, and had an impromptu snack while he walked along.


    After three false guesses, I finally found the room I needed. I knocked, and a voice, translated into four different languages, echoed from within.


    ¡°Come in.¡±


    I entered Marcelle¡¯s office, noting the sheer number of small glass enclosures along one side of her office, each one holding some small critter that had undergone changes. Chipmunks with tentacles, squirrels with horns, the works.


    ¡°Elaine?¡± Marcelle looked at a piece of paper, and shook her head.


    ¡°One moment while I wrap this up.¡± She didn¡¯t even wait for me to answer her question.


    It had been polite when I was a Ranger and a Sentinel to stay standing when my boss asked for me, and while Marcelle wasn¡¯t my boss, I wasn¡¯t going to start off by being rude.


    Marcelle was clearly yet another vampire, wearing purple robes herself. That, or she violently avoided the sunlight, had red eyes, and decided to give herself small fangs like the rabbit in one of her enclosures.


    Marcelle shuffled a few more papers around, clearly wrapping up whatever she was doing, and glanced back up at me.


    ¡°Sit, sit.¡± She told me, a chair growing from the floor in front of her desk. ¡°We¡¯ve got a lot to talk about.¡±


    I spent a moment thinking about the right words in High Elvish, my skills helping me bring them to my mind.


    ¡°Thank you. I¡¯m sorry I wasn¡¯t able to meet you before.¡± I mentally cursed the lack of a backup translator.


    Wait, vampire. Vampire¡¯s Tongue.


    ¡°Do you speak Creation? Er, Vampire¡¯s Tongue?¡± I asked her. My words didn¡¯t echo, the automatic translator not hitting the language.


    She lifted a single eyebrow at me, relaxing back in her seat.


    ¡°Is that your primary language?¡± She asked me.


    I nodded. I was better at it than English these days.


    Marcelle went rifling through her desk, bringing out two cups and a bottle of wine.


    ¡°This sounds like quite the story. Drink?¡± She offered me, and I graciously accepted. Marcelle raised her cup to me, and we both had a sip. The wine was sweet, and blessedly less potent than the dwarven stuff. Still, I wasn¡¯t going to go head over heels guzzling it down. Moderation.


    ¡°Introductions! I¡¯m Professor Marcelle of the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft, part of the Biomancy department. I¡¯m a vampire from the Exterreri Empire, enjoy a spot of gambling here and there in careful moderation, and I¡¯m your advisor for your time here at the School.¡±


    With that, she took another sip, clearly passing the ball over to me. She¡¯d given me a pattern, and I was all too happy to follow. Some fast thinking was needed to make the modifications, but not needing to mentally translate helped.


    ¡°I¡¯m Elaine, student of the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft, admitted for healing. I¡¯m a human from Remus, enjoy mangos and books to great excess, and I¡¯m your advisee while I¡¯m here at the School.¡±


    Marcelle clearly almost did a spit-take at Remus, but managed to turn it into an awkward cough.


    ¡°Remus!? The Empire of Remus!? Really?! Ok, hold on, I need to break out some stronger stuff, and I simply must hear the entire story. One moment.¡±


    Marcelle drained her cup, got out a different bottle, and poured herself a tall drink. She offered it to me, but I politely declined.


    ¡°Story time! Remus. I have to know everything!¡± She coughed. ¡°Well, by that, I mean knowing your background, classes, and goals helps me better advise what courses you should take, and what path you should follow.¡±


    She was as transparent as the glass in her office, but I was willing to let that slide. Somebody recognized Remus! Somebody was excited to hear about it!


    ¡°Well. When I was growing up, it wasn¡¯t the Empire, but the Republic. And my name was just another normal name. See¡­¡±


    I settled into the mossy chair as I gave Marcelle the brief version of events that had led me here. It still took over an hour, but Marcelle was an attentive audience, gasping at the right parts and laughing at the funny ones.


    I kept some of my secrets, and passed over thousands of little details. She didn¡¯t need everything, but she was easy to talk with. An excellent listener.


    ¡°... after finding out that healers of my level weren¡¯t too welcome in Rolland, and that all Immortal lands were far away, the School was a natural choice. It would help me and my friends reorient ourselves to life, and get me to a safe spot.¡± I was wrapping up, glossing over the vorlers and the like. ¡°I gained admittance on my healing abilities, although it seems like healing knowledge and information has dramatically evolved since my times. I got a full scholarship on my combat abilities. I got in, got my rooms and orientation, then saw your message, and here I am.¡±


    I graciously accepted a refill of my cup.


    ¡°Wow. That¡¯s quite some adventure! My life hasn¡¯t been nearly as interesting. I do see why they assigned you to me. I¡¯m vaguely related to healing, know most of the Tracks in that area, and can actually talk with you.¡± Marcelle told me. ¡°To confirm, you¡¯ve got no sponsor, or anyone on the outside telling you what Classes you need, and what to study?¡±


    ¡°Correct. I¡¯m here to make the best out of myself.¡±


    ¡°A lack of a sponsor is going to make you a hot commodity. We only get a dozen or so every year, and nobles will be lining up to try and employ you. Well, your level makes it so that only Immortals might be interested, but that¡¯s still a strong future employment prospect. Healing¡¯s your primary class. What are your other two?¡±


    I started a moment, before remembering that she could see my exact level, and could make the obvious connections.


    Also. I was wearing purple robes, which screamed ¡°has three classes.¡±


    ¡°The Radiance [Mage] class I was mentioning, and I haven¡¯t picked my third one yet. I was thinking of waiting until I knew exactly what I wanted, then working on general skills to make the start perfect.¡±


    Unsaid was making the start better would help me if I ever decided to reset the class. There were eternal benefits to a bit of a delay.


    ¡°That¡¯s foolish.¡± Marcelle lightly chided me.


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    ¡°Sure, you can get a better start to your third class. It¡¯ll last for all of twenty four levels, of which you already have banked, and give you a marginally better upgrade. However, what matters so much more is what you¡¯re actually doing with the Class. That, and you¡¯re at the School. The premier place in the world for learning and improving Classes. I doubt you¡¯ve told me a fraction of the achievements you¡¯ve actually accomplished. At this stage in your life, a few extra levels in a General Skill will barely accomplish anything. Your best bet is to class up now, and if you can¡¯t think of anything else, take a [Student] variant. They upgrade into nearly anything that you study here at the School, and you¡¯ll get a good look at the rest of your options. I¡¯d be more than happy to advise you on what to take, although there are full courses dedicated towards learning that. There¡¯s also a book, called The Big Book of Starter Classes and How to Get Them, by Edwin Asano. You¡¯ll want the one tailored towards third classes. The only reason I can think of to delay is if you were waiting to get a particular profession, unlocking that class. However, I don¡¯t see you getting named [Governor] of a town anytime soon, you just joined the School. Questions?¡±


    ¡°I need to process all that.¡± I pinched the bridge of my nose, thinking.


    In a mortal lifespan, she was more than correct. Waiting wouldn¡¯t help me, grabbing the class now and working on it now was optimal. She was right that getting a new job would unlock better classes, the way I¡¯d unlocked [Ranger-Mage] after becoming a Ranger and [The Dawn Sentinel] after becoming a Sentinel. She was also right that I was unlikely to get a new job anytime soon. I was a student.


    I also had no idea on a job I wanted after the School. I liked healing, and I had a healing class. I was aiming for a mage class of some sort. Delaying for a job wasn¡¯t accurate in the slightest.


    However, I wasn¡¯t mortal, and Marcelle¡¯s advice was geared towards the assumption that I was mortal. Immortality changed the formula.


    Did it change it enough?


    ¡°Would you give the same advice to, say, a vampire?¡± I thought my question was smooth.


    Marcelle laughed at me.


    ¡°Eyeing Immortality are you? Don¡¯t worry, almost everyone does at one point, I¡¯m not judging you. I started off mortal myself! No, I¡¯m not going to turn you into a vampire, no matter how much you ask. I don¡¯t have the rights. But yes. You¡¯ll never get a better chance to develop your third class.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t decided, but I filed away her advice into the ¡°seriously consider¡± category.


    ¡°What class would you suggest I take, instead of one of last resort?¡± I asked, figuring I¡¯d get my last questions on my third class out of the way.


    ¡°I¡¯m biased. Biomancy.¡± Marcelle gestured to her office. ¡°The entire world is built off of biologicals. You are your body. You eat plants and animals. Everyone you interact with has a body, and biomancy is the art of examining and modifying biological matter to the way you want it to be. Want fangs? You can have fangs. Want wings? You can make yourself wings. Want claws? You can have that.¡±


    Marcelle¡¯s entire body shifted at each example she gave. Six pairs of fangs showed up for the fangs, enormous black bat-like wings for the wings, and her fingers elongated into wicked claws.


    ¡°Best part of biomancy? As you should know, the System multiplies what¡¯s already there. Any self-modifications you make get multiplied by your stats, and if you have them, your skills. The other nice part is that it can tie into healing classes. It¡¯d be a bit of a leap for you, but it¡¯s possible to direct healing classes to get minor biomancy skills.¡±


    Marcelle had bombarded me with a ton of information, but my mind immediately leapt to a constellation I¡¯d seen and dismissed when I was building [The Dawn Sentinel] class.


    ¡°Would fixing birth defects fall under biomancy?¡± I asked her.


    She nodded.


    ¡°Yes! Exactly! You¡¯re getting the hang of it. I do love smart students. A nice bonus, by the way. A clever biomancer can make herself Immortal without White Dove noticing.¡±


    That got my attention like nothing else.


    ¡°Wait, how!?¡± I demanded, practically leaping out of my seat.


    Marcelle gave me one of the toothy, predatory grins that vampires were so good at.


    ¡°I¡¯ll teach you if you progress far enough down your biomancy studies to have earned the knowledge. Now. Your other two classes. Tell me about them, and your goals, and we¡¯ll see if we can figure out what Tracks to put you on.¡± A blank slate of wood grew out of Marcelle¡¯s desk, the woman snapping it off. A few lines of colored text appeared on it.


    I hesitated a moment. On one hand, giving away too much information had gotten me in trouble. It¡¯d give Marcelle a paint-by-numbers of how to kill me. On the other, it was literally her job to give me good advice so I could make the most of my time here, and she was a professor. It wasn¡¯t like she was in a fighting arena, polishing her spear skills.


    I found a solid middle ground.


    ¡°My first class is a healing class. Human-focused, because Remus was all human at the time. Well, practically speaking. My knowledge is mostly focused on humans as well as a result. I¡¯ve got a minor shield, although it¡¯s not a focus. I guess my goal is to learn more about other species to improve my healing efficiency on non-humans? My second class is a Radiance [Mage] class. It picks up skills quickly and easily, and I guess I¡¯m looking to get better skills for it?¡±


    ¡°Are you a sorcerer or a wizard?¡± Marcelle asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know the difference between the two. I¡¯ve gotten some poor explanations, but I¡¯m still unsure about the details.¡± I freely admitted. That was an easy one to confess to!


    ¡°Sorcerer then. Wizards know.¡± Marcelle poured herself another drink, and I accepted a refill. We¡¯d been at this for a while. ¡°Someone else can give a better explanation of all this, and I recommend you take an introductory course to get all the details sorted. The long and the short of it is something like this. Sorcerer is a catch-all term for people who use just the System¡¯s skills to directly make magic happen.¡±


    I was 100% a sorcerer, yup.


    ¡°Wizards also use the System to make magic happen, but in a different way. They¡¯re given the ability to make runes, inscriptions, insignia, enchantments, there¡¯s a dozen different names depending on the subtype. Those runes then create an effect. A wizard is significantly more flexible than a sorcerer, but a sorcerer has more impact and significantly greater efficiency than a wizard. Sorcerers cast faster, and don¡¯t need to think about it, but wizards have more depth.¡±


    I was reminded of Origen, the Inscriptionist from Ranger Team 4. He¡¯d been doing something similar, inscribing our armor with his magic that let us get a minor stat boost. It also sounded exactly like how Asura cast, and if I¡¯d been at the School, I could¡¯ve taken [Acolyte of Asura] when it was offered last class up.


    Also, that sounded totally cool. Being able to do ALL THE MAGIC EVER? Or at least, that¡¯s what it sounded like.


    ¡°I¡¯m interested in wizardry. What more can you tell me?¡±


    ¡°I can tell you to find a professor in the subject, and interrogate them for information.¡± Marcelle smiled to let me know it was partially a joke, and there were no hard feelings¡­ but that I should also go ask someone else, she wasn¡¯t the expert. She flicked a finger, and another line appeared on her slate of wood. I assumed they were notes of some sort.


    ¡°Ok, excellent. I¡¯ve got some ideas on Tracks for you, along with a few general classes you need to take.¡± Marcelle¡¯s eyes briefly unfocused, and a dozen more lines appeared one by one on the slate she was working with. She refocused back to me when she was done.


    ¡°Last thing to go over. Your healing class and Tracks. You¡¯ll clearly be taking at least one of the healing Tracks, but I recommend taking a few of them. They overlap with each other, and they further overlap with biomancy, letting you get a half-dozen Tracks for the work of two. It looks incredibly impressive to anyone looking to hire you after your time at the School. What¡¯s your knowledge of the Medical Manuscripts? They¡¯re ancient, but I¡¯m not sure if they¡¯re as ancient as you are.¡±


    I must¡¯ve misheard her.


    ¡°The what?¡± I asked her.


    Instead of answering, a branch grew from the other side of her office, bringing with it a set of books. They were placed down in front of me, and I was left staring at a series of books.


    A series of books with two words on the front, which I assumed had to be Medical Manuscripts.


    And an all-too-familiar signature at the bottom.


    Elaine.

 Chapter 336 - The Medical Manuscripts

    I stared at a familiar signature, copied throughout the eons.


    My signature.


    Elaine.


    A few things suddenly made sense, and thousands more questions popped up. Like, I¡¯d been complaining that my name was the word for ¡®healer¡¯, and how aggravating it was that I was now elaine Elaine.


    Well. Turns out I was the architect of my own demise. I¡¯d apparently written the defining text on healing, and while I¡¯d tried to spread it around while I was in the past, I hadn¡¯t thought I¡¯d reach this level of success.


    That was about when the realization properly hit.


    Holy shitballs. Something of mine had survived all this time! I was famous! Known the world around! If it was this easy to find something of mine that had made it all this time, how easy would it be to find other things? Were there records of me? It let me know that I was in the same world, that I had mattered. I had a legacy. My name was spoken throughout the world.


    Back when Papilion was asking me if I wanted to be reincarnated, I thought that people died twice. Once when they died, and a second time when their name was spoke for the last time.


    I¡¯d obtained a second type of immortality. I¡¯d beaten out Arthur.


    My name wasn¡¯t spoken for a thousand years, no.


    My name was spoken for twenty thousand years and counting.


    Also, the stack of books was much thicker than I¡¯d imagine the Medical Manuscripts could be. If nothing else, there were more than six books, and I¡¯d only written six volumes. Without saying anything, I cracked the first book open, idly paging through it.


    The first few pages weren¡¯t my creation at all, and answered a lot of questions. The first word, the one I understood, was ¡°Contributors¡±, and topping the list was a name that rang a vague bell.


    Lumornor.


    After a moment I placed it. Aegion had mentioned his friend might be interested in the Medical Manuscripts, and I guess he¡¯d been more than a little interested.


    My High Elvish wasn¡¯t good enough to read the dense technical jargon inside, but the book was beautifully illustrated. I hadn¡¯t made images like this, and clearly people had been expanding on my initial work. I closed the book after spotting what had to be my [Oath] in beautiful calligraphy - the words First, do no harm were easy enough for me to understand - and made a quick count of the stack.


    Sixteen. There were now sixteen volumes, all neatly numbered, compared to the original six I¡¯d written. I had serious doubts that my original work had gotten split up that much, and the Contributors page made it clear that others had expanded on my work.


    In a sense, I was the author.


    In another, I couldn¡¯t claim ownership of what they had become.


    ¡°You¡¯d never believe me if I said I wrote these, right?¡± I asked Marcelle.


    She laughed.


    ¡°Of course you wrote those! Everyone¡¯s written them. Well, everyone studying medicine at least. One of my first tasks from my teacher was to copy his entire set into my own set of reference books. It was so tedious! It did get me intimately familiar with the material though, and I have to admit, it was a great study aid. I¡¯m a little curious, and I¡¯m sure there¡¯s an [Archivist] who¡¯d love to pick your brain, how many volumes were there when you read them?¡±


    I paused for a moment.


    Ranger training emphasized taking action now. Immediately reacting to the problem, because a bad reaction was better than no reaction, and would keep us alive more often than not.


    I was impulsive, and my training hadn¡¯t helped quench that aspect on the fly. However, I had time to stop and think.


    Did I want to try and convince Marcelle that I was the author? Did I want to try and prove who I was?


    The answer was yes, but despite what the screaming-with-joy Elaine stuck in my skull wanted me to do, not right now. While being famous was occasionally fun, it had its fair share of headaches, and that was when I was a Sentinel, and one of the most important people in the Empire. By my reckoning. If I did manage to persuade Marcelle that I was the apparently very famous author of a famous text, I could see my happy days of anonymity coming to a rapid end, and this time I wasn¡¯t in a position to tell everyone to fuck off, I didn¡¯t have the backing of a powerful organization to help me make people fuck off. I still wanted to go to classes. I still wanted to just¡­ enjoy a somewhat normal life. I could always let the cat out of the bag, stuffing the cat back into the bag just ended up with a torn bag and a pile of scratches.


    In the end, I didn¡¯t bother to explain that, no, I hadn¡¯t rewritten them, I¡¯d written them. At least, the initial drafts, the core of the manual. I suspected that Marcelle had limited time, and devolving my entire advisor meeting into ¡°no no, I¡¯m the original author¡± argument would be entirely counterproductive towards actually getting advice.


    It also confirmed my theory why [Oath] had capped out. I had thought that I¡¯d gotten some residual experience from being the initial author, and that had indeed been the case! The Medical Manuscripts had spread my [Oath] around.


    I was determined to prove that I was the author before I left the School though. My age was going to make it awkward, but I had five years, and the fact that my signature looked like it was still somewhat there was a good step towards proving it.


    Things to do another day. Marcelle was trying to have a discussion with me, and ignoring her was plain rude.


    ¡°Six.¡± I answered. ¡°There were only six volumes when I had my hands on it, and somebody must have reorganized them since I worked on them. I¡¯m fairly confident that I was in a time period extremely close to the originals.¡±


    ¡°Oh my! I know some historians will want to talk with you about that! And more! However, don¡¯t let them bug you too much, you¡¯ve got your studies to think about, and they¡¯ll just incessantly hound you without paying you, muttering that ¡®it¡¯s for the good of everyone¡¯ and other such nonsense. As for the number of volumes, that makes sense. Did you take the [Healer¡¯s Oath]?¡±


    I grinned.


    ¡°I made it, yes, and it¡¯s capped at 513. I¡¯m fairly certain I¡¯ve got a few hundred levels of stored experience left in it.¡± I was bending the truth a bit. I was certain I had a few thousand levels of stored experience left, but that was unbelievable.


    ¡°Ok, wow.¡± Marcelle poured herself another drink. ¡°That¡¯s something. I¡¯d love to hear the story behind how you leveled it so well, but I¡¯m afraid we don¡¯t have time for that today. I¡¯m going to encourage you again to take up biomancy. Well, depending on your mindset. Many healers who take the [Oath] consider biomantic modifications to be healing, which will let your bonuses kick in. That¡¯ll let you modify people with higher vitality, and there¡¯s insane demand for biomancers with enough power to modify high level individuals. You could make an absolute killing, and be set for life. It¡¯s a good field.¡±


    Marcelle glanced at a rune on her desk and cursed.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, this meeting¡¯s run quite a bit longer than I intended. Let¡¯s focus on you and your Tracks and classes. Tell me more about your medical knowledge, and I¡¯ll make suggestions where on the Healing Track you should start, along with which classes you should take.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll start with anatomy. I¡¯m intimately familiar with humans, but I got destroyed in the interview when it came to other elvenoids. When it comes to diseases¡­¡±


    I gave Marcelle a rundown of what I knew, freely admitting what I didn¡¯t know when she asked some probing questions. All the while, her little slate kept getting new items added to it.


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯ve got a solid grasp. Give me some time to think and cross-reference a few things.¡± Marcelle tapped her slate, filled with colorful words. She pulled out a pair of reference books, cross-checked a few items, and more words were slowly added to her slate.


    Finally, she finished up.


    ¡°Right. Here are my recommendations to you, in order from strongest to weakest. First, you must learn some of the common languages. Vitus and I have helped you with the Vampire¡¯s Tongue, but strictly speaking we¡¯re not supposed to let any of it leak to anyone. This is the most I¡¯ve used the language since coming to the School, and I genuinely hope not to use it again. Vampires need to stick together as a group, and our own private language is one way we keep that. I know a few purists that would be furious to learn that you know the language, but I don¡¯t care. Second, your Tracks. I recommend the general Elvenoid Healer Track, the War Medic Track, and the Public Health Track. That¡¯ll get you certified for nearly every situation you could want to find employment in the future. There¡¯s also the Monster, Dinosaur, and Animal Healer Tracks if you¡¯re into that idea. It¡¯s mostly a lot of additional anatomy classes, although if your skills don¡¯t currently cover healing those areas, you¡¯re unlikely to hit 768 in a mortal lifetime to change your class. You¡¯ve got some solid basics, and I recommend you start with the Comparative Anatomy or Advanced Medicine courses. There¡¯s an argument to be made that you should take the Introduction to Medicine class, just to see if there are any fundamentals you¡¯re missing. That one¡¯s up to you. It could be nice to take an easy class to ease yourself into how the School works.¡±


    Marcelle handed me the slate, with what she¡¯d said at the top.


    ¡°Radiance Sorcery Track is another easy one for you to take.¡±


    I mentally agreed in principle, and since my class was all about evolving skills, I was planning on using the chance to see how many powerful skills I could pick up. I had a free slot and everything, although I did want to investigate wizardry. There had to be an Introduction to Wizardry class or something out there.


    ¡°Lastly, I recommend the Elvenoid Biomancer Track, unless you want to get into modifying plants or animals. However, the School¡­ disapproves¡­ of true chimeras, and you might find more obstacles than normal when trying to study them.¡± Marcelle had obvious distaste for the restrictions on chimeras.


    My eyes were practically dragged to Marcelle¡¯s collection of creatures, each with their own set of modifications.


    I decided not to ask if they were chimeras or not.


    ¡°Outside of Tracks, there¡¯s a number of courses that, combined, make a sort of unofficial Track. The impolite term for it is the de-bumpkining Track. Long story short, there¡¯s a number of talented individuals who come to us knowing very little outside of the corner of their world and area of expertise, and this pseudo-Track is designed to get them to learn a bit more about the world around them. I believe you could benefit from such an education. Your situation is similar, even if the background is different than usual. I¡¯ve added in a dozen courses to the bottom of the list that effectively form that not-Track.¡±


    A gentle chime went off in the office. Marcelle got up, and started to pack a few things together.


    ¡°I apologize, I need to run. Sign up for classes at the smaller administration building. It was lovely meeting you. Bye!¡±


    Marcelle left me with the slate, and I quickly debated trying to catch Artemis and Julius at the greenhouse, or dropping this back off at my dorm first.


    I elected to keep the slate safe, heading back to drop it off.


    Along the way, I bumped into Iona, who waved me down.


    Purple robes were a good look on her.


    ¡°Elaine! I was looking for you!¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± I asked as she fell in stride with me, heading back to our rooms.


    We walked for a few moments in silence, Iona clearly getting her thoughts together.


    ¡°You¡¯re a powerful healer.¡± She stated, and I just wanted to explode about what I¡¯d discovered about the Medical Manuscripts. But no. That was a topic for another day, and right now she had a question for me. ¡°Do you know much about mind healers? Are they actually a thing, or do they just string you along for your money?¡±


    I cocked my head, unsure of the term.


    ¡°Mind healers? Maybe? Tell me more?¡±


    ¡°Someone who helps fix your head. They claim they can¡¯t just snap their fingers and use a skill, you need to talk with them a bunch over months. Naturally, you¡¯ve got to pay them the entire time, and they don¡¯t promise it¡¯ll work. It sounds fishy to me, but¡­ I probably need a mind healer.¡± Iona confessed.


    Heavy stuff. I looked at her with a critical eye, remembering some of her stories.


    Getting eaten whole by a wyvern.


    Watching her sister squires and Valkyries get cut down one by one.


    The endless fights she found herself in.


    And those were just the stories she was comfortable sharing with relative strangers. There had to be more, deeper, more personal losses she¡¯d had.


    Yeah, I could see why she might need a mind healer.


    We got to our rooms, used our mana to open the door, and since the conversation was lively, we sat down on the sofas, continuing to chat. It just felt right and natural.


    ¡°That sounds a bit like a therapist. I¡¯m not trained as one, but yes, they¡¯re a real thing, and if you think you need to talk with one, you absolutely should. There¡¯s no promises on anything, but give them a shot.¡±


    I studiously ignored my own deteriorating mental state. I was fine. I¡¯d tough things out and get through it.


    Iona relaxed, shooting me a huge grin, and I only just noticed how tense she was.


    ¡°Thanks Elaine! You¡¯re a huge help. Let me know if I can ever do anything for you, yeah?¡±


    ¡°Of course! Do you know much about biomancy?¡±


    Iona grinned.


    ¡°I¡¯m caught in the act! Yes, I know a little about biomancy. A biomancer helped modify me when I was a kid.¡±


    I tilted my head at her, not seeing the extra eyes or whiskers.


    ¡°What¡¯d he do?¡±


    Iona flexed and slapped her bicep.


    ¡°Made me tall and strong! It¡¯s given me a significant advantage in life. I wouldn¡¯t be nearly this tall or have nearly as much muscle if he hadn¡¯t given me a boost. Great stuff, and it¡¯ll last for my entire life. Helped a ton with the path I¡¯ve taken.¡±


    That little tidbit was like an earworm, and made perfect sense. Modifications lasted a lifetime.


    Iona¡¯s entire life.


    If I modified myself, they¡¯d permanently make me stronger, or faster, or¡­ something. I¡¯d need to do some research to find out the exact limits of biomancy.


    Something to think about, and talk with Artemis and the like¡­ and speaking of, I needed to go meet them!


    ¡°Gotta go! Thanks! That¡¯s super helpful.¡±


    With that I dashed out the door, hoping I could find Artemis in a reasonable timeframe.


    I caught up with Artemis, Julius, and Auri.


    ¡°Brrpt BRPT! BRRRRRRPT!! Brpt brpt BRPT!¡±


    ¡°Cinderwood? Inferno roses? Volcano palms? Wow! Yeah, I¡¯m totally going to have to see those with you! Let¡¯s see the Museum of All Things first though, yeah?¡±


    ¡°Brrpt?¡±


    ¡°I bet they have a fire exhibit¡­¡± I tempted the little bird.


    ¡°BRPT!¡±


    We headed down along the path to the Museum.


    ¡°Productive meeting?¡± Julius asked.


    ¡°Yup. Got a ton of suggestions on classes and Tracks to take. She also thinks I should class up, and thinks biomancy is a viable option for me.¡±


    ¡°Wait wait, don¡¯t tell me.¡± Artemis covered her eyes with one hand like a fortune teller, holding the other one out. ¡°She¡¯s a biomancer herself.¡±


    ¡°Got it in one.¡± I agreed.


    ¡°Everyone¡¯s going to suggest they take what classes they have. You¡¯d suggest people get healing classes, I¡¯m going to suggest Lightning and Earth mage, Julius thinks there¡¯s nothing better than being a speedster¡­¡± Artemis quickly listed off the point on her fingers.


    ¡°True. She had an interesting point that simply learning biomancy might help improve my healing class down the line, and Iona mentioned that body modifications are permanent. Which has me thinking I should grab the class, learn enough to do some modifications, ask everyone for advice on the rest of my options, then reset my class and pick the ¡®for real¡¯ class. Thoughts?¡±


    I gave a quick explanation what biomancy was, and what I¡¯d learned of it so far.


    ¡°The idea has merit.¡± Artemis tapped her lips. ¡°Get some permanent upgrades for life, then ask a variety of people that you¡¯ll meet here for advice on what the best third class is for you, take that, then get a ton of powerful skills for it. I like it!¡±


    ¡°BRPT brrpt brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrpppt??¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you all about the phoenix related classes I get, I promise.¡± I told my little friend.


    ¡°Brrpt! BRPT.¡±


    ¡°Wait, don¡¯t take a phoenix class?¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!!¡±


    I facepalmed.


    Auri didn¡¯t want me to burn bigger and brighter than she did. The risk of me overshadowing her was too great in her mind¡­ which was something of a compliment.


    ¡°The only question I have for you to think about is: Do you think you can significantly improve your first class?¡± Julius asked me.


    ¡°I have no way of knowing. The recent skill upgrade I got suggests no, but like, I have no way of knowing otherwise. Maybe there is, maybe there isn¡¯t.¡±


    Julius shrugged.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s hard to know. Hey, the Museum is supposed to be helpful with classing up, and we¡¯re leaving soon. Why don¡¯t we enjoy ourselves here, you take a look at everything you can, class up quickly, then give us a list of everything you¡¯re considering. Artemis and I can look it over before we next meet up, and give you our personal suggestions. Of course, you¡¯re more likely to get good advice here, but I¡¯d like to think we can help.¡±


    ¡°Appreciate it Julius! Marcelle also mentioned a book I should read. I¡¯ll take a look at that.¡±


    With that, we were at the museum, and without further ado, we entered it. It was something. None of us could properly read, but the designers of the Museum had anticipated that. The entrance had clear signs that we weren¡¯t to touch things in the Museum, except for the things that had a ¡®touch¡¯ icon. It also made it clear that some places were off-limits, usually with a locked door with a red skull on it.


    ¡°What do you think is off-limits?¡± Artemis wondered.


    ¡°Plague samples.¡± I immediately rattled off. ¡°This is the Museum of All Things, designed to help show off the world. A cold storage containing every single plague they know of would be on-brand for them, while also something you don¡¯t want casual visitors to get access to.¡±


    ¡°Why on Pallos would anyone store that sort of thing?¡± Julius griped.


    ¡°I imagine it could be useful to expose healers to it?¡± I ventured a guess. ¡°The more we know, the more efficient our treatments can be.¡±


    ¡°Maybe they have fancy skills in gems, and they don¡¯t want people to be able to see them.¡± Julius guessed. ¡°You¡¯ve told me about some catastrophic skills you¡¯ve seen.¡±


    We entered the main room of the Museum, and I was immediately blown away.


    On the floor was an enormous diagram of the 44 elements arranged in a wheel, a gemstone as large as my head representing each element in the wheel. I found a Diamond for Light, an Obsidian for Dark, then followed the line connecting the two to find a Moonstone for Celestial.


    Exhibits tastefully lined the walls between hallway openings, and the Museum spiraled up and up, showing at least six floors, before a beautiful skylight let in the sun.


    Before I could get a good look at the smaller exhibits, Auri made my decision for me.


    ¡°Brrpt BRPT!¡± Auri zoomed off to a hallway, and I followed along.


    ¡°Have fun!¡± I called back to Julius and Artemis, who were already arm in arm.


    I wanted something like that.


    Auri, predictably, went into the hall of flames. I had no idea if there was any heat leaking from the flames or not, my immunity to fire completely killed the sensation of heat from anything actually burning.


    A small campfire was in the first case, merrily burning in spite of being enclosed in glass - or some other transparent material. I found a little card near the case, which explained it was a simple wood fire, which happened to be one of the basic flames that most untrained sorcerers got, and was one of the lowest tier flames that existed.


    I felt slightly attacked. I¡¯d gotten those types of flames when I¡¯d picked up [Firebug]. They were the only type of fire I was intimately familiar with, and it seemed only natural that¡¯s what the flames I conjured were.


    Might also explain why the class had been, frankly, weak. Bless [Ranger-Mage] for getting me Radiance.


    The second fire took me a moment to realize it was grease that was burning, not wood. Behind the burning flame an illusion was playing, showing a small elvenoid trying to pour water on a grease fire, and the entire thing blowing up instead of extinguishing.


    Interesting. It showed some applications of the particular type of flame, along with what it was made out of. Also potentially a cautionary tale.


    Auri was fascinated by the fires, hovering like she was hypnotized in front of each one before going onto the next one. I noticed that she was spending longer and longer flying before needing to take a rest. My little bird was growing up!


    Some flames used oozes, while others were clearly gas. I was more than slightly horrified at what looked to be flesh on fire, and had to remind myself that the Museum wanted to show everything, and getting familiar with burning bodies in a safe environment was good for healers.


    Then I started to get to the weird flames. Silver fire off of a silver metal. Bright green flames off of what looked like copper. Dark green flames. Spitting yellow-green flames, deep blue, bright orange, blinding yellow, all the colors of the rainbow!


    Black fire. White fire. Invisible fire, which had Auri way more interested than I liked. A flame so bright that the enclosure was dimmed, and it had a second layer of runes around it. Even after that, the heat was causing the air inside the case to ripple. I could imagine if that had been my base flame as a Fire mage, Maximus would¡¯ve never rated me as having a ¡°low stopping power¡±.


    The weirdness was just starting.


    Dancing flames. Flames with little eyes and a mouth, with a little sign that suggested it was an elemental. Fire that burned downwards. Pyronox. Flames that screamed. Lightless fire that just looked like flame-shaped smoke. Fire that burned cold, frost and condensate on the glass panes. Interestingly, my immunity stretched enough that I didn¡¯t feel any chill coming from the display. Fascinating. It wasn¡¯t just heat and the like I was immune to.


    Flames that had a plant growing in the middle, only to bloom a single flower, then wither back down to repeat the cycle again. A hovering ball that was brighter than the sun, frozen in a stasis field. Fire that had lightning inside of it, flames that looked like the sea.


    A flame that had Auri entranced near the end of the hall. It wasn¡¯t the last flame in line, and the image behind it showed a phoenix, shaped like an owl, soaring through the air.


    The hallway ended with a metal grate, marking the furthest we could go. Red skulls were plastered on it, and a few dozen feet behind the grate, surrounded by dozens of layers of runes, was one last, tiny flame.


    ¡°Brrpt.¡± Auri perched on my shoulder, then bowed reverentially towards the fire.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked, only for the illusion behind the flame to activate, showing what the flame was. I instinctively cowered at the illusion, fear striking deep into my heart.


    Dragonfire.


    They had dragonfire here. As a learning aid.


    Well, I was here to learn, and I spent a few minutes studying the flames. There wasn¡¯t much to get out of them.


    I mentally slapped myself.


    I¡¯d gotten directly scorched by dragonfire, needing to cut off my arm to save my life. Studying a tiny tame flame inside a museum wasn¡¯t going to help my classes any more than my direct, real-life experience. It was a good reminder just how much I¡¯d accomplished.


    Classing up was the right move. I could delay, but I¡¯d be frittering away a once in a lifetime opportunity by doing so.


    ¡°Want to move on, or stay here a bit?¡±


    ¡°Brrpt brpt.¡±


    Auri wanted to stay, but she was fine with me moving on. I wouldn¡¯t properly enjoy the fire like she would.


    She had a point.


    I went to the hall of Lightning next, naively thinking there¡¯d be one or two types.


    Nooope.


    Apparently, there were differences between the ¡°rumbling¡± type of lightning, the striking type, the little jolts that happened when I rubbed my clothes the wrong way, sustained types, balls of lightning, green types, blue types, black types. I bumped into Artemis and Julius in the hall, them leaving as I was still exploring.


    There was a final enclosure to the Lightning hall, not nearly as well warded and guarded as the Fire hall. A crackling bolt of crimson Lightning was frozen, with the little panel describing it as ¡°A captured bolt from Raiju, God of Lightning. Thrown while attempting to smite a heretic.¡±


    That was just another elemental hall. They just got crazier from there.


    Ice, formed in a dozen different ways before getting to the snow section, let alone the non-water section, which was itself before the magical section! A block of everfrozen ice on a frying pan over an impotent flame, a levitating cube behind another red skull with the picture behind it implying whatever it froze would spread. I didn¡¯t know there were so many different types of ice, let alone that the element could come in non-frozen water form. Learned something new every day.


    I bumped into Artemis and Julius coming out of what looked like the Sound hall, and Julius looked shaken.


    ¡°Don¡¯t go deep in there.¡± He warned, his voice wavering.


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It starts off normal, but they¡¯ve got a cautioned area. You can go in, but¡­¡± He shuddered. ¡°Don¡¯t do it.¡±


    My curiosity was piqued, and it clearly showed on my face.


    ¡°A massacre got recorded by a skill, and it¡¯ll play for you if you want.¡± Artemis explained. ¡°If you want to hear a few hundred people being made sport of before getting killed in slow, cruel ways¡­ just don¡¯t.¡±


    Julius shuddered again.


    ¡°I think we¡¯re done here. Sorry.¡±


    The two of them made their way out.


    I decided to pay more attention to the place¡¯s warning signs.


    Metal was next, and I got another flashback to Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair. There were samples of every base metal the School knew of and a truly stunning array of alloys of those metals as well, along with a detailed card describing hardness, along with a whole host of technical terms that I was lacking. I suspected even if I knew the words, the numbers were meaningless to me without further education. At some point, it linked up with Crucible, and the mallium display cycling between liquid and a whole host of solid shapes was endlessly fascinating. Sparkling mithril, corrosive stygium, unbreaking and unbending adamantium, and countless other metals whose names I couldn¡¯t translate lined the walls, each fantastic in their own way.


    There were roughly 40 different magical metals. I was no expert - it was why I was here, to learn - but whenever something magic-related ended up being around 40, I got suspicious of elemental alignments. 44 elements? 40ish magical metals?


    Something to research one day.


    The whole section filled with magical metals reminded me of Lun¡¯Kat, although a fraction of the size that the dragon had in her lair.


    Gods, that¡¯s what this place vaguely reminded me of. A dragon¡¯s collection.


    Earth was next to Metal, and I spent more time perusing all manner of stones. Granite, sandstone, pumice, slate, marble, the hall was practically endless with mundane rocks, each one with a cubic sample neatly labeled.


    Water. Light. Dark was interesting. The total darkness of the void. The soft darkness of a starry night. The dark that rushes in right as the candle is blown out. The cloying blackness of claustrophobia. The eternal ¡®night¡¯ which existed in the tunnels beneath the surface. Clouds of darkness made by magical octopi, the darkness which covered the moon, a material which absorbed all light, a really confusing display which, after some time spent trying to puzzle it out, contained ignorance, a room that rendered the occupants completely blind. Not even a soft, harmless Radiance glow could light things up, the darkness ate it all.


    Wind, which included not only different types of air and gasses but also gentle breezes, biting winter gusts, miniature tornados, wind from the flap of powerful wings, and that was all just in the first quarter. Pyronox, which came not only in black but also blood-red, bright green, pure white, black as dark as anything in that element¡¯s hall, fire which absorbed light rather than emitting it¡­ Acid, packed with a mishmash of strange substances that decidedly weren¡¯t actually acid, their only apparent commonality being that they didn¡¯t fit elsewhere. Gemstone, which of course included all of the elemental gems but others as well, and some truly magnificent creations incorporating them. Arcanite had dozens of different ways of carving it. Steam. Sand. Every place had its own hall, every level of the Museum had more interesting and fascinating things to show me.


    Ooze had a whole three halls dedicated to it, and even then they were packed like sardines, the element having unbelievable variety to it. Some oozes were good at being sticky, others were great for burning. Some flowed uphill, others were solid when struck. A dozen different types of mud were shown off, and it just kept going.


    Radiance was of particular interest to me, and I was pleased that ¡®sunlight¡¯ appeared to be top-tier, above the light of campfires, the cozy warmth of a hearth, and the flickering light of a torch, and on par with a strange beam of light only visible as a dot of light on the substance it hit and only really topped by the burning presence of the more warlike gods of light and fire. Auri joined me again for this hall, the little pyromaniac interested in all the fire-related elements.


    Lava had molten glass samples, and doing a bit of reading confirmed that, yes, pure molten glass and several other molten substances all fell under Lava¡¯s umbrella. The more I learned!


    Celestial didn¡¯t have a hall, simply a note saying that people interested in the cosmos should visit the observatory. I wanted to visit the observatory, but one thing at a time. The island just had so much to see and do! I should find out if there were going to be any eclipses.


    A few halls were locked and sealed up tight. Poison and Miasma had smaller halls, with the most benign and mostly harmless poisons possible. Rat poison. Weedkiller. Insecticide. Useful things to be sure, but the hallways had clearly sealed off the good stuff. I didn¡¯t even see snake venom, let alone exotic jellyfish and the like!


    There was a side-room to the poison hall, a room filled from floor to ceiling with tiny shelves, each one with a small shot glass of alcohol. A tiny card was attached to each one, with what I assumed was the name of the drink. Great for any [Bartender]!


    Similarly, there were no Sylvan, Spore, or Forest halls, with similar notes to the Celestial element that people should visit the greenhouse or arboretum.


    Gravity was more interesting than I gave it credit for initially. A couple of ¡®empty¡¯ containers showed different effects behind them, but then each container ended up with a red skull. While I couldn¡¯t detect anything with my senses - I had to assume the magic was well-contained - the graphic images behind each section told a story. A person pulled in two directions, a person getting ¡°sheared¡±, someone accelerating to crazy speeds and vanishing off the planet.


    Half the exhibits were on the ceiling, and I climbed one of the ¡®stairs¡¯ to take a look, feeling gravity shift around me as I made it ¡®up¡¯ there. It was clear that gravity was relative, and it was only with long experience flying that I didn¡¯t feel queasy as my entire mental model flipped upside down.


    More interesting were the objects. It took me a few minutes to work out that the sword on the pedestal was light as a feather, but still hit like it had its full weight, no skills needed. A disk that seemed to do nothing other than eat angular momentum. The note seemed to imply that it was one-of-a-kind, and no other objects that could do something similar were known.


    Void and Space were similar. Darkness, distortions, emptiness on each platform, with vivid images of what that particular container did. A room that ate sound, another room that was pitch black, I was seeing a lot of overlap between Dark and Void.


    It was hard to show the absence of things, which is what Void did exceptionally well.


    Spatial had the classic set of a hundred different spatial containers. Spatial crates were a classic that I¡¯d seen with the elves, and they had pouches, cups, wardrobes, an ocean in a bottle, and so many more different types of expanded spaces. Some twists in space had impossible shapes that twisted back on themselves in ways they couldn¡¯t in normal space.


    Both halls cut off a bit early with more large red skulls. Not as quickly as the Poison or Miasma halls had, but short enough to imply some truly dangerous things weren¡¯t being displayed.


    Eventually I moved on from the elements, and ended up with the artifacts, critters, insects, bugs, a taxidermy zoo, and other notable historical trinkets. There was a hallway dedicated to elvenoid biology, which had a scribbled green puking face. It didn¡¯t look officially Museum-sanctioned, and I thought the students were soft. It was just every organ from every elvenoid neatly displayed in cases, and displayed one more time as a carved-up cadaver, it wasn¡¯t like it was gross or anything.


    The fantastical creature section was just as impressive. Unicorn horns next to wyvern scales, manticore stingers and hydra heads, the hall had everything!


    With a notable absence of anything draconic. Curiouser and curiouser.


    I skipped the dinosaur floor, saving it for another day, instead touring with Auri, seeing what she wanted to see. Even then, there were so many things we didn¡¯t see, the building seemingly endless. More activities to do another day! We eventually called it quits, and headed home.


    ¡°Brrpt brpt?¡±


    ¡°The ice that was also a mirror was pretty cool.¡± I punned at Auri.


    ¡°Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrpppptttt¡­..¡± Auri couldn¡¯t groan, but she could do the next best thing. ¡°Brrpt BRPT!¡±


    ¡°Really? The Lava?¡±


    ¡°Brrrrrpt!¡± Endless flaming rocks were interesting to Auri. The fire was inside the rock, which was all sorts of interesting!!


    ¡°Brrpt?¡±


    I chewed my lip, not expecting Auri to put me on the spot like that.


    ¡°I guess there¡¯s nothing stopping me from classing up at this point.¡± I reluctantly admitted. ¡°Although, I should read that book Marcelle suggested. It¡¯ll help me figure out what class I want to take, and what the requirements are.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s head to the library!¡±


    At long last, I was heading towards the best place on campus. The building that was the reason for my existence. The store of all things wonderful.


    The library.


    To find a real book that I¡¯d read before reading all of the soul books in my classing up space.

 Chapter 337 - The Big Book of Classes and How to Get Them

    ¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri commented.


    ¡°It is a huge building.¡± I agreed.


    I was practically drooling over the size of the library. I¡¯d been torn. On one hand, I wanted nothing more than to sprint over there, dive into a pile of books, and never be seen again.


    On the other, I¡¯d never be seen again, and who knew when I would need to actually eat food and the like. I could totally see myself getting so immersed in the books that I skipped a ton of meals, and then suddenly woke up one day, having not eaten for days, with no money and no job to make more. My usual go-to of healing for cash wasn¡¯t nearly as easy to come by with a bustling hospital filled to the brim with other students and teachers trying to get as much practical experience as possible.


    That would be an awkward way to go out. My tombstone engraving would be ¡°Here lies Elaine, she wrote herself off.¡±


    I slowly entered the library like an alcoholic entering a liquor store, who promised they were only going to buy one beer.


    Novelty-sized.


    ¡°Brrpt brpt?¡± Auri asked, her beak sticking out adorably from under her tiny little black witch¡¯s hat.


    ¡°First thing we¡¯re going to do is ask someone about you.¡± I promised.


    Books plus fiery bird was not a good combination, and I was going to check on the rules about that first. I was not getting banned from the library. That¡¯d be a disaster.


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡±


    ¡°I know you can be good.¡±


    With no small amount of excitement and trepidation, I opened the doors into the library.


    The antechamber was large and spacious, and a nice front desk dominated the left side of the room. A few students were talking with the library assistants behind the desk, most of whom also appeared to be students, but plenty more were available.


    This place was clearly magical, even by School standards. No damn lines.


    Without further ado, I approached one of the open front desk workers.


    ¡°Hi!¡± I was getting better at High Elvish, and bless the omnipresent translations. Still, I was no master at it, and it was only a matter of time before some snafu caused problems. ¡°Is Auri allowed in?¡±


    ¡°Auri?¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri cheerfully introduced herself. The dude raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°You must be new here. Welcome! The library has a number of high level [Librarians] with numerous skills to preserve the books. They¡¯re protected against numerous things, like fire, water, stains, spills, rips, and the like. They are not immune to food bookmarks, so please don¡¯t.¡± He shuddered, and I didn¡¯t think it was for dramatic effect.


    He quickly eyed Auri, possibly checking her level. He then thunked a book onto the counter.


    ¡°Try and light it on fire and see!¡±


    ¡°BRRRPT!¡± Auri took to the challenge with enthusiasm, and within seconds, there was a book merrily burning on the library counter.


    ¡°Oh shit.¡± The front desk worker swore.


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡± Auri was unbearably smug.


    ¡°What is going on here!?¡± A high-level blue-robed [Librarian] stormed out from the main section of the library.


    I felt the blood drain out of my face.


    We all ended up getting hauled into a private room, where the poor student worker got himself verbally destroyed. I could even say he got the book thrown at him. I couldn¡¯t quite catch all the words - they were speaking too quickly - but I got the general gist of what was going on. Slouched shoulders, head down, and lots of yelling by lots of high level people.


    Finally it was my turn.


    ¡°Martin. Wish we¡¯d meet under better circumstances. What happened?¡± The first [Librarian] asked me.


    There was no question that the dude was a demon, and a demon librarian named Martin was further short-circuiting my thinking.


    The words exploded out of me in a gush.


    ¡°I was asking if it was ok for Auri to come inside and he said the books were immune to fire and said we could check and Auri lit it on fire anyways please don¡¯t ban me.¡± I was practically crying.


    His face twisted into a puzzled look, and he looked at the little hummingbird on my shoulder.


    ¡°She did that? At level 128?¡±


    I nodded, afraid I¡¯d burst into tears if I opened my mouth. My library access!


    ¡°Fascinating. I don¡¯t recognize the species. What is she?¡±


    I froze with my mouth open, looking at everyone else who was in the room. We weren¡¯t the center of attention, but¡­


    The librarian saw my consternation, and snapped his fingers.


    ¡°[Study Quietly]. A skill of mine, handy to silence students working in groups being a little too loud. I am exceedingly curious how a small bird at such a low level was able to break through all of our protective auras, and general enchantments. I am also curious on a personal level as to what she is, given that I don¡¯t recognize her. Him? No pressure though, it¡¯s simply personal curiosity.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d.. rather not say. Please don¡¯t ban me from the library, I was trying to follow the rules.¡±


    He gave a small frown, but nodded understandingly.


    ¡°You are naturally not banned, although young Lyphus is going to get a most stern talking to. However, Auri is not allowed in the library. We simply can not have a creature capable of turning the entire place into a bonfire on the loose. I hope you understand.¡±


    I nodded furiously.


    ¡°Sorry Auri.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt brrrrpt.¡± She wanted to know if she could leave, and go play with Fenrir.


    ¡°Sure, let¡¯s finish up here.¡±


    ¡°I apologize for the inconvenience, miss. I hope you have a fine day.¡±


    With that, the [Librarian] left the room. Lyphus was still getting roasted, and since nobody seemed interested in yelling or talking with me more, I slipped out as well.


    After quickly popping out to let Auri go have fun and play, I reentered the library and talked with a different student worker.


    ¡°Hi! I¡¯m new! How does this place work?¡±


    ¡°Welcome! Don¡¯t try lighting anything on fire around me, please. I like my job. This is the library! We¡¯ve got a few levels. First floor is general reading. Second and up are more specialized. Eighth floor¡¯s the restricted section, you need special permission to go there. Archive¡¯s in the basement, along with the metal doors. Questions?¡±


    ¡°How do I find a book? What¡¯s the organizational system?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡±


    In short, the organization was a bit of a mess. There were ledgers that detailed where books were supposed to be, and concerted efforts of the various workers here tried to keep everything in the right place, but things did go missing for one reason or another. Poorly filed paperwork, someone grabbing a book and not putting it back in the right place, students smuggling books out instead of checking them out - or just absent-mindedly walking out with them - students deliberately hiding books in the library so they could read more later without someone else checking it out from under them, the possibilities were endless.


    There were also a few ¡°activity¡± areas.


    ¡°Like what?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°There¡¯s a whole pile of wizardry rune arrangements in a single stack! People put in their diagrams, other people ask questions, some try to answer them, it¡¯s great! They call it the overflowing stack.¡±


    I was getting distracted.


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for The Big Book of Classes and How to Get Them. Do you know where it is? Also, a Vampire Tongue to High Elvish dictionary?¡± Marcelle had mentioned they tried to keep a lid on it, but it was worth checking.


    ¡°The first is one of the more popular texts, yeah. I¡¯m not sure on the Vampire Tongue dictionary; I¡¯ll have to go looking.¡± He gave me directions, and I was let loose on the most holy of grounds.


    The library!


    The soft gentle mage lights that provided illumination. The cozy corners with deep chairs. The cubbies to study in. The musky smell of old books. The soft crinkle of a page turning, and the inevitable librarian going [Shush!] to students who were too loud. The rows of shelves, stacked high with books crammed into every inch of them!


    I grabbed a book somewhat at random, just to feel the weight of it in my hands. I held it close, breathing in deeply, getting a flood of sensations that weren¡¯t quite properly reproduced in the library of my soul.


    Books.


    Oh beloved books. I¡¯d been deprived of a proper library and reading experience for decades. Being here was like finally feeding my soul much-needed nourishment after being starved for so long. Me without a library was like a priest without a temple. A fisherman without a lake. A farmer without a field.


    I felt tension bleeding away as the soothing atmosphere of the place washed over me.


    However, just standing here wasn¡¯t getting books read, and as nice as the place was, reading the books is what called to me, not just standing here.


    The organizational system was the inspired genius of some madman. I¡¯m sure it made perfect sense to whoever invented it, but it was completely opaque to me. Having only a passing familiarity with one language didn¡¯t help, and it looked like the books were arranged by what they were, not what language they were written in. I idly opened one up, but whatever translation magic the School had going on didn¡¯t extend to the written word.


    The deeper into the stacks I went, the fewer people I saw. It was like I was in my own little private world back here, which suited me just fine.


    Way too much hunting later, and I had the book in question - in the right language. The Big Book of Classes and How to Get Them, by Edwin Asano. I found a lovely plush chair in a hidden corner, sank down thankfully into it, completely ignored how dirty it might be, and cracked the book open.


    I was met with a foreword, and since I had the time, and it was important, I decided to read it.


    Hello dear reader!


    This book is a compilation of everything I¡¯ve been able to find out about starter classes. At the same time, I know I only have a small fraction of the vastness that the System is able to offer inside, along with the hundreds of thousands of small modifications that the System twists on each Class. Nevertheless, I hope that my meager efforts here will be helpful for you.


    I would love to claim credit for writing this entire book myself. Alas, that would be a lie most foul, as numerous others have written to me, giving me details of their classes, and generously permitting me to use their book in this book. It has made the entire thing more complete, and the list of contributors would take up an entire book of their own!


    Each and everyone one of them has my heartfelt thanks. This would not be what it is without them.


    Sadly, the world is rarely peaceful. This book is divided into two halves. The first are the peaceful classes, and may you find yourself in a time where you can leisurely peruse the front half. The second half are classes dedicated to fighting. A number of classes overlap, such as the ever-famous [Mage] class, and those generally have been split in half. One in the peaceful side, detailing the types of activities a peacetime [Mage] might enjoy, while the wartime side will dive into combat capabilities, fighting styles, and more.


    Organization: The book is¡­


    I continued reading, getting the overview of how the book worked.


    There was an interesting note early on, that wasn¡¯t quite a foreword, and wasn¡¯t a class or organization. More of a warning, than anything else. I eagerly dove into it, mostly to see what the caution was about, and out of a little bit of vanity, hoping that my own Immortality-granting skills would make the cut.


    Forbidden Elements and Classes.


    In the course of civilization, a number of elemental-class combinations have been found to be far too dangerous, and polite society has deemed that no man, woman, or child should gain access to them.


    I had a point in my life where I was skeptical of such an arrangement. ¡®Surely¡¯, I reasoned to myself, ¡®it does not matter if an earthquake destroys a city, or if a plague wipes the city out. The difference is academic, especially to the poor fellows inside the city.¡¯


    Further study and inquiry down the path led me to what I believe the true answer is. It isn¡¯t the scale of the devastation possible. It is a combination of the scale and level of the villain most foul who would seek to destroy an entire city.


    A mage who wishes to split the earth and have it swallow a city whole would require over a thousand levels, multiple classes, and dedicated skills towards the endeavor.


    A mage who wishes to unleash a plague to kill everyone inside only needs about a hundred levels, give or take.


    It is not quite as simple as that, and the proper differences between the two are subject to a treatise I was politely but insistently told not to write, for reasons that were obvious in retrospect, but the idea remains.


    There are some classes and elements that, while some good can come out of them, massive destruction and murder on an unbelievable scale are entirely possible at low levels.


    Beware those mages who have the following elements, and if offered them yourself, decline and find a different class.


    Spore


    Poison


    Miasma


    Void


    Now, these elements can have quite a lot of good when properly applied, Spore farmers being a most famous example, while many guards employ Void Cancelers, half the apothecaries end up with the Poison element, and the occasional miner grabs Miasma to properly handle bad air.


    Most places I have traveled to will declare those with the element and a mage designation to be outside of the protection of the law.


    Please dear reader, I implore you. Do not take the class. There are so many more options in the world.


    A few more specific combinations are also frowned upon, but tend to be very explicit arrangements of classes and elements doing particular tasks, and even then societally it will vary. There are also some classes and elements that can only cause true issues at the highest levels, and most who find themselves with that level of power have already demonstrated a certain level of restraint.


    Well then.


    That was food for thought and a half.


    I¡¯d seen what Toxic did with the Formorians. He almost killed off an entire species, while being a quarter of their level.


    Hesoid in Perinthus, one man working quite hard to kill off an entire town. Almost succeeded to boot, although it wouldn¡¯t have been his hand that killed people off, it was almost the army.


    I¡¯d been warned about Void mages before, and it looked like Spore was just as bad.


    Good things to learn.


    I flipped to the first page of actual classes, and got started.


    Farmer: The bedrock of civilization. Every country, every district, every city, every species, every single living person needs food to live. Rare are the individuals who can entirely subsist off of hunting and gathering for their entire life, doubly rare for those who are able to do so while also living a fulfilling life. The job isn¡¯t glamorous, but in lean times of hunger and starvation, you¡¯ll always be able to feed yourself. The class has a dizzying number of variations and sub-types, depending on specialization, crops grown, livestock being raised, and more.


    Common Elements: Most Wood-aligned elements. Water. Most Earth-aligned elements.


    How to obtain: Plant a few seeds, and try to make them grow!


    Related Classes: Rancher, Grower, Cultivator (Growing, not martial), Raiser, Peasant, Producer, Agriculturalist, Gardener.


    I mentally cursed as I realized I forgot to bring paper and quill with me, and I had no easy way of taking notes. I wasn¡¯t in the world of my soul where I could easily summon the materials I needed.


    Trying to do it all mentally could work, but¡­


    An hour of adventuring and running around later, I had fresh paper in a notebook - bless it for not being a scroll, so much more convenient - and a very expensive quill that I hoped would last my entire time here. According to the salesman, I could change the color, and it¡¯d never run out of ink, as long as I fed the enchantments mana.


    Given my normal track record of losing pens, and generally losing my stuff, I was taking a bit of a risk here, but I hoped it¡¯d pay off.


    I noted the [Farmer] class as being good for me to grow mangos. Like the foreword of the book, I had hopes and dreams that I was living a more peaceful life, and that I could afford to have a class not dedicated to killing.


    I ruthlessly crushed the whispers in the back of my head that said I was part of the School¡¯s combat team.


    I read the book, some classes jumping out at me more than others.


    Merchant: Money makes the world go round! Not everyone uses money, but those who don¡¯t tend to live in huts in the woods, not interacting with society as a whole. There is nearly nothing money can¡¯t buy. Health? Purchase the services of a healer. Food? Go to the store. The calling of a merchant isn¡¯t just the acquisition of wealth either, no. Merchants are vital members of society, ensuring that goods reach people who need them. They¡¯re the middle men that save countless hours from every single person they interact with. There are as many different types of merchants as there are goods and services in the world to buy and sell.


    Common Elements: Gemstones, Metal.


    How to obtain: Buy anything, and sell it again.


    Related Classes: Broker, Dealer, Exporter, Retailer, Seller, Shipper, Shopkeeper, Trader, Vendor, Wholesaler.


    The Amber class.


    I sucked at the social aspects of bartering, although I likely had a fantastic merchant class waiting for me after bargaining with Augustus. There was also something to be said for having a class dedicated to selling my Immortality gems. I wasn¡¯t leaning that way - the entire enterprise felt far too dangerous - but a whole class that could leverage what I already had towards making me rich?


    I saw the opportunities and positives in every class.


    Priest: The gods and goddesses above are with us every step of our journey here on Pallos. They are our constant companions, able to divinely intervene when requested. They are the conduit to the afterlife. Is there any calling higher than connecting people with their gods? Each god and goddess can have their own priest, and it''s rare for a priest to be a generalist, instead of dedicated to the worship of a single god.


    Common Elements: Any.


    How to obtain: Lead others in prayer.


    Related Classes: Cleric, Elder, Monk, Preacher, Paladin, Disciple, Prophet, Oracle, Acolyte, Holy man/woman.


    I knew I had [Prophet of Papilion] waiting for me - not that I was going to take it - and it was fun to see Iona¡¯s class in the book!


    Noble: Here for the sake of completeness, one generally needs to be a noble before one can acquire the [Noble] class! Generally powerful, you can orient the class in hundreds of different ways, from martial to administrative.


    Common Elements: Any.


    How to obtain: Be nobility.


    Related Classes: King, Queen, Princess, Prince, Duke, Duchess, Count, Countess, Baron, Baroness, Heir, Heiress.


    A fun read, but not an option for me. I had a distinct lack of peerage and blue blood needed for the class.


    The next class was similarly not one I was going to take, but it was interesting to see what Asano had to say about my class.


    Healer: One of the highest callings anyone can aspire towards, healers are the last bulwark against death. Everyone has a body. Everyone needs the services of a healer at some point or another. A class that is in demand across the world, when someone needs a healer, they¡¯re able and willing to pay any price. Additionally, I know of no society that doesn¡¯t praise and respect healers, nor one where they are unable to make a good living.


    Common Elements: Celestial, Light-aligned, Dark-aligned, Water-aligned.


    How to obtain: Help someone heal.


    Related Classes: Medic, Doctor, Nurse, Midwife.


    A fair take, and with my life experience, I could see how the book¡¯s words translated in practice. A mostly fair, if somewhat rosy-eyed look at the class, which seemed to be how all the classes were painted.


    Revolutionary: All things new start with an idea and the person who¡¯ll see it through. From trying out those strange round things called ¡°wheels¡±, to removing the corrupt government, revolutionaries make change happen. Revolutionaries are those who have ideas and ideals, the first to venture further, experiment, think, develop. Careful though, most revolutionaries aren¡¯t well looked upon or well-paid, and occasionally venture into the more violent aspects.


    Common Elements: Fire, Storm.


    How to obtain: Have a burning desire for change


    Related Classes: Radical, Subversive, Insurgent, Rebel, Anarchist


    Interesting to see this here, and¡­ gods, I was going to get a lot of high quality classes wasn¡¯t I?


    Researcher: Knowledge is power! There''s a lot to know about the world, and someone has to figure it all out. How do birds fly? What makes fire hot? Who was the first [King] of Iktres? Researchers are the ones at the vanguard of civilization, pushing back the darkness of the unknown with every step they take. You might not be remembered, but the millions of researchers before you are the foundation of the modern day. Join them, for a brighter tomorrow. Employment prospects tend to require a high-minded sponsor.


    Common elements: Metal, Fire, Light, Fossil, Celestial, Radiance, Brilliance.


    How to obtain: Answer your own question with no external guidance.


    Related Classes: Natural Philosopher, Librarian, Archivist, Inventor, Historian


    I didn¡¯t see myself going down that route, although I was going to dabble in the field a hair to figure out what the heck happened to Remus, and everyone. Maybe I¡¯d make a pit stop in the class during a quick cycle?


    Fun to see Librarian! Given that she was who I was in my soul. I had been offered a [Librarian] class once upon a time, I wonder how strong it was now¡­


    Princess: To lead is to accept the burden of responsibility for those amongst you. To accept that they are in your care and it is by the strength of your heart that they will live or die. To become a Princess is to stand tall when the walls of the city fall, when the fires burn the forests and the monsters taint the lakes. It is to stand amongst the ruins as the light of your people, the beating heart of the future promising salvation and prosperity. A true Princess is not merely royalty, but a protector and mentor to her people. And then there are those who win the lottery and are born the twelfth child of some couple who wants to ensure their lineage continues.


    Elements: Most elements, with the exception of Fossil.


    How to obtain: Be born into a family that is royalty or become considered royalty by local life in the location which you call home.


    Related Classes: Noble, Leader, Warlord, Villainess, Heroine.


    I was a little confused that this class was in when there was already [Noble], but at the same time, it was a pleasant day dream to imagine I was a princess.


    I wasn¡¯t going to let the reality of the role destroy my daydream. I doodled myself as a princess riding a flaming phoenix. Because screw unicorns, I had Auri.


    Smith: Also called Metalworkers, a smith is anyone who works primarily in shaping, tempering, and purifying metal. Many smiths specialize in specific metals or specific functions, and many of these specializations also require some work with wood, leather, or similar materials. Smiths are a vital piece of any society, and can be found even in the smallest villages, often being the most prosperous members. Farmers need iron beaten into plows, carpenters need nails, and it spirals from there to guards needing armor and warriors needing weapons. Wherever you go, there¡¯s demand for your craft, although the initial investment in materials will make moving difficult once you¡¯ve set up somewhere. More practically, in a war, smiths aren¡¯t levied into armies, and are nearly always spared when a town is looted - provided they¡¯re willing to work for the invaders. Most smithing involves working at a forge, as the high temperatures of a forge are needed to make the metals more malleable and in the processes used to remove impurities.


    Common Elements: Metal, Fire, Crucible, Mantle, Lava.


    How to Obtain: Shape metal into a tool, preferably using a hot flame to make the metal more malleable first.


    Related classes: Armorsmith, Weaponsmith, Coppersmith, Whitesmith, Farrier, Blacksmith.


    The sheer time investment didn¡¯t interest me, but the class was moderately famous for a reason.


    If nothing else, I thought I might be too scrawny for it, before my strength kicked in. Blacksmiths were built like Iona.


    Alchemist: This particular set of classes are tricky, as there are several different types of alchemists, which aren¡¯t able to properly describe an overlap in spite of having the same name. The first type is the transmuter or transformer (external), one who turns one substance into another. The famous example is the alchemist who transmuted a full sheet of lead into gold. A pretty, if ultimately useless, display. Interestingly, transmuted materials are considered to be real, and do not obey the normal conjuration rules. With this class, everything you need will always be at your fingertips! Simply transmute the closest block of wood or dirt under your feet into clothes, shelter, and food!


    The second type of alchemist is the Potioneer. Potions are interesting, as a number of them ignore the vitality-defense rule. This is to say, a potioneer is able to make an effective potion for a warrior, regardless of said warrior¡¯s vitality. Similarly, tonics of transformation, flight, and the massive array of other potions are also usable at all levels!


    The profession and learning of it is expensive, but commands a correspondingly high price from those who can afford your services.


    Common Elements (Transmutation): Varies, depending on the subtype.


    Common Elements (Potions): Water-aligned, Wood-aligned.


    How to Obtain (Transmutation): This class is often difficult to obtain, generally requiring a learning-type Apprentice, Student, Pupil, Disciple, or related class to evolve into the class. Obtaining the class on your own is difficult.


    How to Obtain (Potioneer): Mix herbs and ¡°ingredients¡± together in fluids a few times to unlock the basic class.


    Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble! This sounded like a TON of fun! Both of them! Being able to turn matchboxes into mice, or brew up a potion of SUPER DUPER AWESOME FUN TIME sounded great! A whole variety of magic at my fingertips!


    Getting the class seemed hard, and the next one up was about that.


    Student: Not the end, but certainly the means! Education is critical for many of the classes listed in this book, with the more you know, the better skills you¡¯ll be offered, and the more intelligently you can apply them. The [Student] class is excellent for learning, and tends to easily sidegrade to any number of other classes. Additionally, the class often gets skills that help the student dabble in the various activities they¡¯re learning. For example, a student might be able to make the most basic of potions that might otherwise require a skill, but never more than the basics, and always under limited circumstances. However, the raw flexibility tends to come with a minor penalty in class quality when sidegrading. The related [Jack] has similar flexibility with fewer restrictions.


    Common Elements: Any.


    Related Classes: Apprentice, Disciple, Trainee, Pupil, Jack.


    AHHH I WANTED EVERYTHING! And [Jack] sounded like [Jack of all Trades] which also sounded super cool! The name implied that I could do a little bit of everything, and that was almost exactly what I wanted.


    Guard: Essential to a functioning society, [Guards] keep the rules and the peace. I know of no society that doesn¡¯t employ numerous guards, and even when situations and governments deteriorate, [Guards] are found employed in number, although perhaps with a different name. This class is one of the ones that crosses the peaceful-violent spectrum, as [Guards] are often called to break up fist fights at a minimum.


    Common Elements: Earth, Fire, Water.


    Related Classes: Enforcer, Bodyguard, Sentry, Warden, Bouncer


    WOO GUARDS! I loved guards!


    My major gripe with working as a guard was the hours. I liked needing to work only a few hours in a day, getting paid boatloads for it, then being free for the rest of the day to do what I wanted. Still didn¡¯t stop me respecting the profession!


    Artificer (Peaceful): Civilization is built upon tools. From the humblest wheel to the mightiest wall, to the farmer''s hoe and the soldier''s sword, their absence would be harshly felt, and their improvements can drastically increase the lifestyle for countless individuals.


    Civilization is also built upon magic. From the simplest [Farmer] using their Skills to ensure a bountiful crop, to the highest [King] overseeing their domain, to the mages wielding stone and wood to build a mighty castle overnight, magic is strictly entwined with all of life, and its presence is a great boon to those it touches.


    The Artificer seeks to combine these two great disciplines. Their tools are magical and powerful even before Skills are used with them, and rarely simple. Create mills capable of grinding tons of grain, golems to harvest crops, and carriages which need no beast of burden to pull. If there exists a problem, an Artificer can build a solution. Pay and ease of work tends to dramatically differ depending on local situations.


    Common elements: Metal, Crucible, Mantle, Wood, Lighting, Steam.


    How to obtain: Make a magical tool (usually with inscriptions).


    Related classes: Smith, Inscriptionist, Inventor, Engineer, Mason


    Hmmmm. I hadn¡¯t been big on making things, but it sounded interesting! There was a world of difference between making things for other people, and spending hours tinkering on my own projects.


    I didn¡¯t dismiss it out of hand, making a little note about it.


    Artist: From the mud on your hands, you write mosaics into a grand epic. From the ink in your quill, you pen the notes of a thousand tunes. From the essence of flowers, you make your brush the genesis of the world your mind sees. To be an artist is to take what is within your heart and pour it into your creations, so that the hearts of others may be stirred. Maybe song is your calling, or dance, writing, sculpture, or painting... There are as many forms of art as there are minds who dream. The pay tends to be abysmal, requiring a sponsor or patron, along with years of education simply to be competitive. Not for the faint of heart.


    Common elements: Mirror, Sound, Mirage, Brilliance, Ice, Light, Wood, Metal.


    How to obtain: Create something!


    Related classes: Dancer, Bard, Sculptor, Painter, Designer, Architect, Gardener, Singer, Storyteller, Author, Parodist, Critic.


    I did like the arts, although historically I¡¯d leaned more towards the ¡°patron¡± side of things. I could see myself dabbling in it, but not taking an entire class for it.


    Prostitute: The oldest profession! All that¡¯s needed is a willingness to have sex with strangers, and the class usually has some skills to help in that direction. There¡¯s almost never a shortage of work, although income dramatically varies, there¡¯s not a lot of growth in the field, and with rare exceptions, is societally frowned upon.


    Common Elements: Water, Mirage.


    How to Obtain: Have sex with someone in exchange for money.


    Related Classes: Escort, Hooker, Whore, Streetwalker, Courtesan, Tart, Madame, Siren, Flirt, Tramp, Harlot, Scarlet Woman, Concubine, Wench, Gigolo, Stud.


    I thought the writer had a little too much fun finding the related classes. Not the class for me, but the author was thorough.


    Explorer: Finder of new things, creator of maps, spearhead of civilization. Before settlement spread into the unknown there are those who come before them. They explore for precious goods that might be worth trading, arable land that might be worth farming, or just the thrill of finding something new. Often overlooked as eccentric hermits or ostracized for their ideas to dream of what lies beyond the horizon. The northern continent can always use good [Explorers], although getting a position can be difficult.


    Common Element: Air, Water, Earth, Wood-aligned.


    How to Obtain: Go exploring! Most everyone already has this class unlocked from childhood adventures.


    Related Classes: Prospector, Cartographer, Navigator, Pathfinder, Researcher.


    Teacher: The giver of knowledge, the ones who make obtaining powerful classes and skills possible. The very foundation of all powerful classes, nobody has strong skills without a teacher in the background educating them on how to get the skill, and imparting the knowledge needed. Always in demand, only the most backward and primitive societies don¡¯t value their teachers with ample pay and social status.


    Common Elements: Water, Fire, Wood, Metal.


    How to Obtain: Teach another!


    Related Classes: Tutor, Educator, Instructor, Lecturer, Professor, Scholar, Mentor, Master, Student.


    The job of teaching kept coming up in my life, time and time again. I¡¯d worked as a teacher before, both lecturing at Artemis¡¯s school, and lecturing Ranger Trainees on medicine and first aid. It wasn¡¯t the worst job, although I wasn¡¯t sure if I needed an entire class for it.


    Biomancer: Our bodies are the very foundation upon which everything is built, and biomancers look at that and say ¡°but what if we made it better?¡± They are limited by what is ¡®biologically¡¯ possible, but that has a wide range of possibilities. A single biomancer in the right place can make a normal army into a superior fighting force, a normal guard into the perfect detector, and allow a village to literally eat trees and obtain enough food from them. They are only limited by their imagination and education.


    Common Elements: Forest


    How to Obtain: The student route is easiest, although there are unconfirmed reports that attempting to glue various insects together will have the class be offered.


    Related Classes: Healer, Alchemist (Transmutation), Transfigurer.


    Interesting. The book said many of the same things that Marcelle said regarding biomancer, and the changes were implied to be permanent.


    An idea was starting to itch at me. Grab [Biomancer], make myself superhuman, then ditch the class and go take a ¡®real¡¯ third. It sounded appealing, and if I angled things properly, I could even work on the educational aspect of my third class while also working on the biomancer part, which would let me gain full advantage of my time here at the School.


    It got a little star.


    Golem Maker: In spite of the fear the Pekari spread, golems are some of the more useful innovations one can make. Who needs a farmer, when you can build golems to plow the fields? Who needs builders, when golems can tirelessly haul rocks? Golems come in a wide variety, from wood to stone, elvenoid in shape to golems in the shape of a cube that simply play music. Build your own personal army! Societal status and pay dramatically depends on the society in question. Some revere golem makers, while others shun them. Cost of the profession varies dramatically, depending on materials used, if an Arcanite heart is used, etc.


    Common Elements: Metal, Wood, Earth, Mantle, Mountain, Fossil.


    How to Obtain: A Mage class directly manipulating the material in question to act like a golem. Student route.


    Related Classes: Necromancer


    Ok, WAIT WHAT!? [Necromancer] was a related class!?


    Something to explore another day. Controlling hordes of shambling zombies and skeletons did sound somewhat fun though¡­


    The class sounded interesting, but also fiddly and time consuming. I didn¡¯t feel myself pulled that strongly towards it, although I should probably take an introductory course just so I could get an idea of what it was like.


    Writer: I extol the virtues of many classes, but the [Writer] class is the best, bar none. Indeed, it is the very class I myself have! There is nothing more magical than putting quill to parchment, detailing out knowledge for others to read and learn. This book, teaching you all there is to know about classes, is only possible thanks to the class! It is the primary way to pass knowledge along, a way for a single individual to touch the lives of millions. Different societies tend to value writers differently, and the type of writer will also matter quite a bit. The pay tends to be poor, except for the very successful ones, but don¡¯t worry! Every [Writer] believes they will be the hugely successful ones. Self-delusion is critical for the class.


    Common Elements: Water, Wood.


    How to Obtain: Write anything!


    Related Classes: Publisher, Author, Reader, Erotica Writer, Procrastinator, Editor, Biographer, Columnist, Journalist, Composer, Poet, Reporter, Essayist, Propagandist, Novelist, Serial Novelist.


    The next entry was [Mage]. At last! This was more like it!


    Mage: No class is as wide or diverse as the [Mage] class, and indeed, arguably most, if not all, of the classes in this book could be considered a subset of the [Mage] profession. Indeed, even within the proper [Mage] classes are near-infinite varieties, of which detailing them all would be worth an entire encyclopedia of its own! The most flexible class, bending the very fabric of reality to your whims, there is practically nothing a [Mage] can¡¯t do. However, reader beware! Mages can¡¯t do everything, no matter what wizards will claim, and they are only useful for the very short period of time until they find themselves without mana. A [Mage] without mana is little more than a massively underleveled body, generally without the education to make themselves useful in other ways. Employment and status in society variable on type.


    Common Elements: All.


    How to Obtain: [Meditation] skill, among other methods.


    Related Classes: See Appendix F.


    The [Mage] class. What I was likely taking in the long run.


    I must¡¯ve gone through thousands of different classes. [Hunter]. [Gatherer]. [Builder]. [Architect]. [Wagoneer]. [Sailor]. [Captain]. [Knight]. [Bard]. [Actor]. [Craftsman]. [Butcher]. [Miller]. [Barrister]. [Innkeeper]. [Runner]. [Scribe]. [Logger]. [Miner]. [Spy]. [Storyteller]. [Smuggler]. [Rogue]. [Manager]. [Servant]. [Courier]. [Clerk]. [Weaver]. [Potter]. [Trapper]. The entire breadth of the world, every job that society needed to function, from the highest to the lowest.


    It wasn¡¯t the first time I¡¯d done this exercise, no. However, different from before, I felt like I¡¯d gotten high quality on my starter classes, and I was ready to class up and lock them in. I could always reset my class later back to level 8, and pick a new start, a new path to go down. My only hesitation had been locking things in the first place, and while I still wasn¡¯t sure exactly what class I¡¯d end up with, I felt comfortable enough to take a class in the first place, and start the adventure that was my third class.


    When it came down to it, there was an easy, obvious selection for my first-pick third class. My current job. A class I¡¯d taken before, and was familiar with. A class that kept coming up again and again, described as a springboard towards all sorts of other classes.


    A class that would help me pick my ¡®real¡¯ class.


    It was time to become a [Student] once again.

 Chapter 338 - The Third Class I

    ¡°It¡¯s always good to grab a class for what you¡¯re doing.¡± Julius agreed with my choice of [Student], the five of us sitting down for one last dinner before they had to leave.


    ¡°Don¡¯t keep it too long, and I wouldn¡¯t take another [Student] class at 128. Your leveling speed has been insane, but if you find yourself at level 140, having graduated the School already? You¡¯re going to be in trouble leveling it up.¡± Artemis said.


    ¡°You¡¯d be an eternal student!¡± Amber quipped.


    ¡°But you think it¡¯s a good idea?¡± I asked Artemis again, valuing her opinion. She was someone I trusted who had a solid look at how the class worked.


    ¡°Oh yeah. Something to keep in mind though. Your [Student] class is going to want to pull some of your general skills, and if you¡¯re not careful, you¡¯ll lose them forever with your reset.¡±


    I pulled a face at that. She was right. [Student] was ripe to absorb [Passionate Learning], [Immortal Recollections], and [Learning Languages]. The last one I didn¡¯t mind getting pulled, but the other two I liked. If a class pulled the two, then I reset it, POOF! The skills went away. I could probably recreate a perfect memory skill, then retrieve the ¡°lost¡± memories, so that wasn¡¯t a huge issue, but I¡¯d worked my ass off on [Passionate Learning], and at this point, it was giving me a significant buff to my experience. A buff that I suspected applied to experience that got funneled off to Auri, but I wasn¡¯t quite sure of that.


    ¡°Did I tell you my Medical Manuscripts survived till today?¡± I asked Julius.


    He raised an eyebrow at me.


    ¡°The collection of scrolls you kept scurrying off to work on, muttering and cursing about edits instead of drilling with us?¡±


    I stuck my tongue out at him.


    ¡°Artemis was the boss! She said it was fine! Plus we were stuck on that damn boat!¡±


    ¡°Oh! When you were getting charcoal dust everywhere?¡± Artemis asked. ¡°How¡¯d they let a grubby kid like you into Ranger training, let alone a Sentinel, I¡¯ll never know.¡±


    I flipped her the bird.


    Amber was bouncing in her chair, purple eye glowing.


    ¡°Wait, wait! The same scrolls that you gave me to study? Can you quickly whip up a set of them? If they¡¯re really famous, a first edition set of the Medical Manuscripts would be worth a FORTUNE. Please?¡±


    I grinned at her.


    ¡°A much more reasonable request! Not right this second, it takes me longer than a minute to make a set, but next time we meet up, sure! I¡¯ll have a set ready for you! Plus, if I¡¯ve proved I¡¯m the original author, it¡¯ll authenticate them, which should make them more valuable. Or something. I¡¯m planning on talking with some [Archivists] or [Appraisers] to find out how that works.¡±


    Amber walked over to give me the biggest, crushing hug, which I was touched at. It reminded me that everyone was about to go.


    ¡°No wonder your name and ¡®healer¡¯ is now the same word! Oh, I gotta class up my healer class, I should have some high value options! Just a few more levels.¡±


    ¡°I wish you didn¡¯t have to go.¡± I complained, somewhat changing the subject.


    ¡°Well, write to us!¡± Julius encouraged.


    ¡°Oh, did you finally decide what you¡¯re going to do?¡± I asked him.


    Julius and Artemis traded looks.


    ¡°Hunter¡¯s guild.¡± Artemis said. ¡°Amber managed to negotiate our entrance, and we¡¯re already familiar with hunting down monsters.¡±


    ¡°Nice! Good job, Amber.¡± I shot Artemis a thumbs up, and a smile at Amber. She preened under the praise. ¡°Artemis. Will you need my armor? I¡¯m not going to need it for now, and you could use the protection.¡±


    On one hand, it wasn¡¯t exactly mine to give away. On the other? Everyone who could care was dead, and I cared deeply about Artemis staying alive.


    Artemis and Julius traded looks, and she nodded.


    ¡°That¡¯s generous of you Elaine. Thank you.¡± Julius gave me a grateful look. It was his fiancee I was helping keep alive.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get me started on the relative price of wands between this place and the town below. Why-¡± Amber interjected, unable to contain herself.


    ¡°BRRRPT!¡± Auri fiercely interrupted, reminding Amber she¡¯d said not to let her get started.


    ¡°Good bird.¡± I handed Auri a slice of fruit.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been looking at the schedule. I think we¡¯ll next be able to meet up in around a year and a half.¡± Julius said. ¡°Unless we start traveling to exotic locations.¡±


    Artemis snorted, and made a broad, sweeping gesture.


    ¡°Like this place isn¡¯t exotic?¡±


    Julius conceded the point with a tilt of his head.


    We lingered over dinner, knowing the end was coming, but not wanting to hurry it along.


    At last we said our goodbyes, and parted.


    For now.


    I had food and drinks for after my class up. I¡¯d elected to do it in my room, because it felt safer than the hospital, and Auri was safe outside my room, with plenty of juice. I¡¯d let my roommates know what I was doing. I had spare time, and a plan.


    With all my T¡¯s crossed and I¡¯s dotted, I laid down on my uncomfortable bed, and fell into the world of my soul.


    I opened my eyes to a scene of¡­ well, I wouldn¡¯t call it organized chaos. Books were scattered haphazardly on tables, the lights were dim, shelves had books stacked sideways on top of the properly-done books, a few flowers were haphazardly placed artfully to spruce the place up, and poor Librarian was hustling along with a cart full of books to re-shelve. She was still in her Sentinel armor, but with a great big poofy mage¡¯s hat on her head.


    ¡°Elaine! Great to see you! One minute.¡± Librarian blazed past me with a number of multicolored books, each one promising fantastical powers.


    ¡°Uh.¡± I said kind of stupidly. ¡°Is everything ok?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, is it?¡± Librarian bit back. ¡°This is the world of your soul, not mine.¡±


    I looked around at the piles of disorganization, and had to admit that it was a solid mirror of how life felt for me at the moment. I was trying to settle into the new world, but everything was just so different in so many ways. I constantly felt off-kilter and off-balance.


    There hadn¡¯t even been any wars that let me work as a battlefield medic! That was at least easy from a ¡°what do I do¡± perspective.


    ¡°So because I feel like my life is in shambles¡­¡± I slowly said, letting Librarian finish the sentence.


    ¡°Your inner world is in shambles, yes.¡±


    ¡°Can we fix it?¡±


    ¡°Well, not really. Every time you fix one thing, it just pops back. Watch.¡± Librarian straightened a few books, left, and they became a mess again after she walked away.


    ¡°Joy. Are you still able to pull the books I need?¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah! Easy as anything! It¡¯s a reflection of what¡¯s going on, but the System isn¡¯t about to not let you get a class or anything, or even make it particularly hard for you. It¡¯s more of a visual thing. Are we checking out the [Student] classes first, or do you want to see what you¡¯ve got open?¡±


    Tricky, tricky.


    ¡°Other stuff first. Let¡¯s hit things from the highest quality on down?¡± I told Librarian as I sat down at a table, brushing off two white classes and a grey one off the table. They vanished before they hit the floor.


    I wondered what [World Traveler] looked like these days! The fae realm had to count as another world, improving the quality of the class.


    A book with a starry cover landed in front of me, with big black bold text staring at me in the face. I felt my heart go still, and my hand trembled as I reached for the book.


    No way.


    I¡¯d qualified for a black quality class!? That was the highest class quality possible! The absolute peak! I didn¡¯t believe it. Had I accidentally flipped my elemental coloration and quality coloration? Getting offered a Dark or Void class was entirely reasonable, but no. The cover was obviously Celestial.


    [The Mother of Modern Medicine] the title boldly proclaimed, and fascinated, I cracked it open.


    [The Mother of Modern Medicine - Celestial]: The process of learning and discovery is a long one, with thousands of contributions by millions of individuals. However, if any one person can be credited with shaping the field of medicine as it is seen today, it is you. Your work in creating the Medical Manuscripts, your distribution, the quality of the contents, the importance of medicine and healing, and the ethics and morals espoused inside ensured that the text would be picked up. Read. Studied. Then expanded upon, copied, and spread more. Throughout the eons the text has been copied countless times, several volumes always surviving the Immortal Wars, and your name has come up time and time again as the founder of medicine, to the point where your very name literally means ¡®healer¡¯ in multiple languages.


    Congratulations.


    This class is the culmination of your work, your reward for your selflessness and survivability. +1000 Mana, +1000 Mana Regen, +1000 Magic Power, +1000 Magic Control per level.


    Buh.


    What.


    WHAT.


    I just stared at the book, short-circuiting a bit. I¡¯d gotten a black class. BLACK. And it was absurd.


    ¡°ELAINE!¡± Librarian snapped her fingers in front of me, bringing me back to - well, this wasn¡¯t reality, was it?


    ¡°Black.¡± I just pointed at the book.


    ¡°Yes, and it¡¯s not the only one you¡¯ve qualified for. Come on! You¡¯ve done absurd stuff in your life, we¡¯re getting rewarded for it.¡±


    I slapped both my cheeks with my palms.


    Right! Sentinel Dawn was here to kick ass and read books, and I was all out of ass!


    I read through the book.


    It was a bit of a weird class, and that was saying something. It was naturally a strong healing class - although I didn¡¯t see anything about Immortality - while also something of a combo writer-fame class. I¡¯d level basically just by existing, as long as the Medical Manuscripts kept circulating.


    Kind of like how Auri seemed to level just by existing as a phoenix.


    The less that was said about the utterly absurd stats, the better.


    ¡°Ok. I know I said I was taking a [Student] class when I came in here, but what¡¯s stopping me from grabbing this class, then cycling [The Dawn Sentinel] once it hits 768?¡± I asked Librarian. ¡°I know I¡¯m missing something, I¡¯m just a little stunned.¡±


    ¡°Oh totally. You should¡¯ve seen the look on my face when the class showed up!¡± Librarian sat down across the table from me. ¡°It¡¯ll be easier for me to show you why you should take something else, than to tell you. Here.¡±


    She handed me a book, and it was one I was well familiar with


    [World Traveler - Spatial]: You¡¯ve traveled across realms, visited gods and fae in their home, and lived in two more worlds. You speak multiple languages, have lived and integrated with the inhabitants almost everywhere you go. Now take this class, and continue to explore the multiple worlds that exist in this vast cosmos! +16 Free Stats, +160 Mana, +1600 Magic Power per level.


    I had a little more experience now, and I somewhat recognized what the class was saying with the Magic Power thing.


    ¡°How do I still not have enough power to make the class work!?¡± I complained to Librarian.


    ¡°Mostly because ripping the veil between worlds costs millions upon millions of mana - and the corresponding magic power. Honestly, the class could use a version that was focused on mana regeneration and channeling, letting you sit down and channel enough mana to make it happen.¡± Librarian poked at the book, like the class inside personally offended her.


    ¡°Still technically manageable now though, right? It¡¯s not like I¡¯d be constantly hopping through different worlds, I can afford to take some time to travel.¡± I thought of Destruction, and how long he channeled his [Earthquake] for.


    ¡°Yes, you could. Not the point though. Look at the stats.¡±


    I looked a second time, remembering the pitiful stat offerings I¡¯d gotten the first time. It had been +6 Free Stats, + 2 Strength, +3 Dexterity, +7 Vitality, +4 Speed, +10 Mana, +14 Mana Regeneration, + 9 Magic Control, +20 Magic Power per level.


    At the time it had seemed absurd. Like nothing could compare.


    Now? Now it just looked laughable.


    ¡°I am so glad you stopped me taking that class in the first place.¡± I told Librarian. ¡°Why¡¯s it so much stronger now?¡±


    ¡°The first class up is weaker for some reason. Not sure why. However, even if that wasn¡¯t the case, the first class is always going to be on the weaker side, while the third class is always going to be a bit stronger. They just start from different baselines. Imagine if you reset your first class, and wanted to be a mage with it. How many stats per level would you get?¡±


    I thought about the class I¡¯d been offered years ago.


    ¡°8. 8 stats per level, as a pink class.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. Now, tons of stats in other places will help it along - that¡¯s the entire idea behind cycling - but the starting baseline is always going to be different. Plus, there¡¯s the entirety of your achievements and the like that have built the class up.¡±


    I thought about what Librarian was saying for a moment.


    ¡°Either way, my first class is always going to be a little weak?¡± I asked her.


    She shook her head.


    ¡°It has a harder baseline to work off of.¡± She corrected. ¡°And [The Dawn Sentinel] is an excellent class.¡±


    ¡°Just not as good as [The Mother of Modern Medicine].¡±


    ¡°Right. But if you went [The Mother of Modern Medicine], then reset your first class, there¡¯s no guarantee that you¡¯ll do things as crazy as what you did to get [The Dawn Sentinel] in the first place, or have the sheer number of insane achievements waiting for you once you class that up. The other thing to consider is that the class is a combination class. It¡¯s about a third being famous, a third being an author and a writer, and only a relatively small amount healing. There¡¯s a version of the class waiting for you after [The Dawn Sentinel] upgrades that¡¯s much more strongly healing-focused. I think we should tread that path. Taking [The Mother of Modern Medicine] now also means we have two healer-focused classes at the same time, and then we need to decide each time we heal someone what class skills we¡¯re going to use, which also informs which one gets experience, and¡­ it¡¯s a mess.¡±


    I agreed with the logic. No doing fancy class slot musical chairs with [The Dawn Sentinel] and [The Mother of Modern Medicine]. Only upgrading it later. I¡¯d get the power, just not right this second.


    ¡°Since [The Mother of Modern Medicine] levels just by existing, I could take the class and use it to pump my stats to absurd amounts, couldn¡¯t I?¡±


    ¡°Yup! And you¡¯ll happily march along down the levels with it. You¡¯ll have unusually low level skills in it if you don¡¯t use the class at all, but it¡¯d be fantastic for your stats, empowering your other two classes to an absurd extent.¡±


    Gods.


    I briefly considered the writing elements of the class, and spreading my medical knowledge. But¡­ I¡¯d already done that. Medical knowledge had outpaced me. I needed to catch up with the modern world, and boy did thinking that feel all sorts of wrong.


    Also, I was here at the School to learn, and I didn¡¯t need a gigantic stat stick. I needed to learn.


    ¡°And this is just the first class you¡¯re showing me. How insane are the rest of them?¡±


    A flaming red book landed in front of me, with another black title.


    [Lady of the Dance - Fire]:


    You danced in the morning, at the start of the world.


    You danced under the moons, the sun, and the stars.


    You came from another world, and you danced on the earth.


    You picked up your feet and you flung them high.


    You danced on the day that would never ever die.


    You danced yourself raw in Summer¡¯s Hall,


    The entire time you never did fall.


    You danced your feet off at dawn.


    Throughout the time there was never a yawn.


    You are the [Lady of the Dance],


    And the dance goes on.


    +77 Free Stats, +777 Strength, +777 Dexterity, +777 Speed, +777 Vitality, +77 Mana Regen, +77 Mana, +77 Magic Power, +77 Magic Control per level.


    Welp, looks like spending a year in personal time, tens of thousands in System time, literally dancing my feet off counted for something! I suspected if I let this class get widely known that people would be flinging themselves into fairy rings in the hopes of obtaining strong classes.


    I didn¡¯t see myself as a [Dancer], but boy was I getting tempted by power.


    I was starting to get into the swing of things, and Librarian kept me supplied with books. Books that I quickly scanned, then either tossed, or put aside to read more later.


    At the end of the day, I was checking them out to get a general feel for what my choices were. I wasn¡¯t making one today.


    [Lady of the Dance] got marked in the ¡°keep¡± section, in case I ever wanted to grab a physical, fun class. By the same token, I knew I could easily and happily ditch any other books that were attractive purely on their physical stats, and any other dancing-related books.


    Next up was a third black-quality class. And it was one of the new elements- I wasn¡¯t sure if that was a good or bad thing, but it certainly was interesting. What element would this have been if Erosion was still around?


    [Paragon of Patience - Fossil]: You¡¯ve displayed unparalleled patience by waiting tens of thousands of years from when you unlocked your third class, to selecting it. Nobody in the history of the world has ever been so patient with the selection of their class. Take this class, and patiently wait for good things to come. +2400 Vitality per level.


    The class description was a little vague, and I delved a little deeper into the book, just to get a quick overview of how it worked. I got seven pages of boring text deep in before pulling a face.


    ¡°Is this class really all about waiting around?¡±


    ¡°Waiting around patiently, yes.¡± Librarian grinned at me. I pulled a disgusted face.


    ¡°How the System ever thought I was patient is beyond me. Plus, these skills suck. Who would ever take [Waiting Around]!?¡± There wasn¡¯t even [And Find Out]! [Good Things Come to Those Who Wait] seemed vaguely interesting, but like. The entire thing was boring. [Patience is a Virtue].


    I chucked the book over my shoulder in disgust, the book entirely not worth reading in the first place. I probably had millions of books in here, I wasn¡¯t wasting my time on that one.


    ¡°Let¡¯s remove all healing-related classes, and physical-related classes from the options.¡± I told Librarian. If I was going to take one of those, it¡¯d be [The Mother of Modern Medicine] or [Lady of the Dance]. Easy.


    She dramatically snapped her fingers.


    ¡°Done! No [Dragon Healer], [Undying Cockroach], or [The Quasi Immortal]. You might see them when [The Dawn Sentinel] upgrades though.¡±


    ¡°Also, let¡¯s remove completely boring classes like [Paragon of Patience].¡±


    ¡°You did ask for the highest quality classes with no caveats.¡± Librarian reminded me.


    ¡°No Papilion classes, no classes that¡¯ll cause me mental pain seeing them.¡± I told her.


    ¡°Dragon related classes?¡± Librarian asked me, and I hesitated.


    Half my life had told me to avoid dragons at all costs. The other half seemed to have a casual relationship with them, Vitus casually swearing by dragon¡¯s blood, and there apparently being an entire species called dragonlings.


    I remembered my old mantra, one I hadn¡¯t needed to lean on in years.


    Fear is the mind-killer.


    I let my fear pass over me and through me, examining the question with a slightly more rational mind.


    ¡°Include them.¡± I¡¯d need a lot more convincing to take the class, but there was no reason not to take a look.


    [Phoenix Nurturer - Inferno]: You rescued a phoenix from being a trophy egg, and protected and nurtured the egg to the best of your abilities. You successfully hatched the phoenix, and didn¡¯t stop there. You hand-reared the phoenix towards her first ignition, bonded with her, and have carefully worked towards making sure she¡¯s happy and well educated. Rare are those who are able to raise a phoenix so well. Take this class, and be a friend to all the beautiful fire birds of the sky! +100 Free Stats, +200 Strength, +200 Dexterity, +200 Speed, +200 Vitality, +200 Mana, +200 Mana Regen, +200 Magic Power, +200 Magic Control per level.


    Librarian starting off strong! I could totally take this class briefly, help Auri become even stronger and smarter then, once she¡¯d caught up with me, cycle it back and grab something else.


    I had a problem. I wanted everything. Why did the System limit my classes and skills?? It was so unfair.


    [Phoenix Immolator - Inferno]: You set a phoenix on fire. You set a PHOENIX on FIRE. Somehow, you have accomplished the impossible, and ignited the master of flame incarnate. You¡¯re bonded with a phoenix, regularly bathing in her flames. You¡¯ve always been attracted to fire, jumping into burning buildings and¡­ getting spit-roasted over a fire? You¡¯ve been exposed to all sorts of fires and flames, from the explosion of a hatching phoenix, to the fiery breath of a dragon, you¡¯ve come through intact on the other side. Now take this class, and become the flames yourself. +10 Free Stats, +100 Mana Regen, +100 Mana, +400 Magic Control, +400 Magic Power per level.


    A quick skim through the book - in spite of Librarian¡¯s tutting in the background - showed that I wouldn¡¯t get [Inferno Affinity], oh no. I¡¯d get straight up [Inferno Spirit], the best and final evolution of the skill - getting access to it let Librarian know that was the case, and by extension, she let me know - and I would be able to literally turn myself into flames, like Auri. Or like what I¡¯d seen Galeru do.


    I wasn¡¯t keen on an Inferno mage class, but wow. This one blew all the other starter mage classes out of the water, and was seriously tempting if I decided to go that route.


    Bit of a shame it was Inferno, and not Fire. I would totally be tempted to aim for Radiance again, and maybe switch around [Butterfly Mystic] to something else. I liked Radiance.


    [World Traveler - Spatial] I was familiar with it from earlier, and while the stats distribution was suboptimal at the time, I knew I could get the right skills to make it work. Heck, with how the System worked, I¡¯d immediately jump to level 32. I bet that I could grab [Channel], travel to one or two worlds, then class up, making it a class skill. The only tricky question, that I had no answer to, was could I come back? If I made it to, say, Earth, and lost System access, I¡¯d be stuck.


    Earth was nice. Pallos was my home now, and I¡¯d fought too hard for everything I had to lose it all.


    Interesting that I had the option of exploring everything if I wanted to. This current world felt so gigantically large in the first place though. If somehow, with an entire world at my disposal, I found myself bored?


    It was a nice option to have.


    [Bookwyrm - Spatial]: You are a reader most voracious, consuming every book you find. Your greed for books rivals a dragon¡¯s lust for gold! You spend endless hours when you class up doing nothing but reading, and even when encountering new and different places and cultures, one of your first thoughts is ¡®how do I get my hands on new books?¡¯. Indeed, even under the gaze of a dragon, attempting to hide in her lair, you found the time and courage to go perusing through her personal collection, trying to find books to read. Take this class, and read more! +40 Speed, +40 Vitality, +100 Mana, +100 Mana Regen, +300 Magic Power, +300 Magic Control per level.


    The class was a terrible pun on bookworm, and I couldn¡¯t deny that I was one heck of a bookworm. I took pride in it! A quick look at the start implied that it wasn¡¯t exactly the most combat-oriented of classes, but it did neatly represent a thing I loved.


    Reading.


    I marked it as a keep class. Who knew, maybe I¡¯d be able to take it!


    [Hoard Thief - Mirage]: You managed to steal from a dragon. Inside her lair. You managed to steal from a dragon! There¡¯s only a few thefts more daunting, a few acquisitions more famous, than managing to boldly and openly waltz into a dragon¡¯s lair, secure part of her hoard, then abscond with your loot. Congratulations! Take this class, and take liberties with anything not nailed down. +250 Dexterity, +250 Speed, +300 Magic Control per level.


    Illusions and theft. Well, if everything went to shit, stealing to survive wasn¡¯t the worst. Better than a lot of other options, but hopefully I wouldn¡¯t ever need to go there.


    ¡°Just checking. Is there an illusionist or Mirage-based class that competes with this one in terms of illusions?¡± I asked Librarian. My interactions with Lun¡¯Kat practically guaranteed a number of Mirage-based classes.


    Librarian hesitated a moment, thinking.


    ¡°If you focused on the illusion aspects of this class¡­ and disregarded the fact that your leveling rate would be lower because of how it likes to level¡­ then no, this is the best illusionist class you¡¯ll get.¡±


    ¡°Perfect. We¡¯ll keep it, and don¡¯t bother showing me the rest of the Mirage classes.¡±


    Librarian nodded.


    ¡°Good call.¡±


    Next book! Hilariously, it was basically the exact opposite take of what had happened inside Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair.


    [Polite Guest - Water]: Finding yourself in the dragon¡¯s lair, you were a most polite and respectable guest. Carefully acting like the place was a museum, you looked, and only touched the bare basics of what you needed to survive. You ensured the host ended up in the best of health, asking nothing for yourself, and left as soon as you believed your welcome was at an end. If only all hosts could have guests as polite and well-mannered as you were! +1200 Free Stats per level.


    Did¡­ did I just get a social class!? No way.


    The class didn¡¯t sound that interesting to me, but I peeked in a little deeper, just to see if I¡¯d finally broken my stranglehold on social skills and classes. Getting those would make my life that much easier.


    And¡­ kind of, but mostly no. There were skills that helped me learn various culture¡¯s norms and rules, and would prompt me to follow them, which was sort of a social skill, but mostly memory, learning, and application of what I¡¯d learned. It somewhat was a social skill if I squinted and tilted my head, but¡­ well, either way the class wasn¡¯t that interesting to me.


    I was getting fairly disappointed. All my efforts in life. All the things I¡¯d worked for, everything I¡¯d dedicated years of efforts towards, and the System gave it low marks.


    A week in Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair?


    A half-dozen purple quality classes.


    It was enough to make a girl scream.


    [Snapdragon - Verdant]: You practically lived in a dragon¡¯s garden-


    I stopped reading, throwing the book across the room.


    ¡°What the fuck is with the dragon and these absurd classes!?¡± I screamed at nobody in particular as the book popped back into existence in front of me.


    ¡°They¡¯re totally unfair!¡± Librarian agreed with me. ¡°We should¡¯ve asked to be a dragon when we got reincarnated.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah.¡± I grumbled in agreement. ¡°I never regretted asking to be a human over a bird, but this is just stupid. Being near a dragon gets me this!? Just¡­¡±


    I made a disgusted noise as Librarian gently tapped on the book.


    ¡°How about this. I¡¯ll keep it reserved in the ¡®for the future¡¯ pile. If you decide to take up gardening or,¡± Her eyes started to twinkle. ¡°Growing mangos for fun, this is the class that¡¯s best for it.¡±


    That got my attention. I nodded my agreement, putting the book into the ¡®keep¡¯ pile.


    [The Wanderer - Gale]: Travel is in your blood. You are always moving, always seeking new horizons. You were born traveling. You left home at an early age to see more of the world. You joined a group dedicated to traveling around, and when the call came, you traveled even beyond the borders of humanity, exploring strange new lands that were unknown to the culture you belonged in. Then you wandered to another world, dancing with the fae, before coming back to Pallos. You wander without a home, without an anchor, as free as the wind. Take this class, and wander some more! +400 Free Stats, +400 Speed per level.


    Interestingly, they didn¡¯t mention anything about me being the first human to do stuff like that¡­ which meant others had beaten me to the punch.


    I was delighted with this class on a personal level though. I¡¯d earned it. Myself. No draconic nonsense boosting me into the purple tier. No reincarnation snafus randomly unlocking a purple class. As much as I loved Auri, no handling a powerful creature granting me access.


    This class was mine. It was all because of me, and I felt a deep sense of pride and joy as a result.


    It had a minor power issue though.


    ¡°Advantages of this class over [World Traveler]?¡± I asked Librarian.


    She waggled her hand.


    ¡°A few. It¡¯s better for traveling around in one world, as opposed to going to many, and the elemental inclination lets you more frequently use the skills for minor things. Apart from that though¡­ [World Traveler] overlaps strongly.¡±


    I looked at my piles of black and purple classes, and chuckled to myself.


    I was just getting started on the mountain of books that waited for me.

 Chapter 339 - The Third Class II

    I stretched and cracked my neck. It made an extra-satisfying pop, all possible because this was the world of my soul, and not reality. I could do things like that.


    ¡°Ok! Hit me with classes that haven¡¯t overlapped, from strongest on down. Let¡¯s get cracking!¡± I was in good cheer, having already gotten offered three black quality classes and seven varying shades of purple quality classes.


    Librarian smirked, and an entire bookshelf slammed down behind her, stuffed to the point of overflowing with books.


    ¡°Challenge accepted.¡± She declared, and it was on.


    [She Who Fights With Monsters - Void] Monsters take on all sorts of shapes and sizes. From gargantuan Formorian Queens, to the smiling man on the corner, to the tiniest parasite, there is no telling what shape a monster can take. From Formorians at the walls, to wild beasts in the forest, dinosaurs in the sky to shimagu in the brain, you fight monsters wherever you see them. You stand against the tide that would overwhelm civilization, regardless if there are people standing beside you or not, fighting for a better tomorrow for both yourself and others. Your efforts have contributed towards two monster species becoming extinct. What will be the next feather in your cap? You will not stop, you will not hesitate to fight more monsters, wherever you see them. Careful not to become a monster yourself. Take this class, and continue to be She Who Fights With Monsters. +40 Free Stats, +15 Strength, +15 Dexterity, +30 Speed, +30 Vitality, +60 Mana, +60 Mana Regen, +60 Magic Power, +60 Magic Control per level.


    ¡°Does this come in anything besides Void?¡± I asked Librarian after a cursory check. Sometimes classes were like that, especially at the initial class up.


    ¡°Yup, although Void¡¯s the strongest version. Dark¡¯s the next best choice.¡±


    ¡°I am not taking a Void Mage class. Not with the potential to explode.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d probably survive it with your healing. If it ever happened.¡±


    ¡°First, my [Oath] would cripple, if not kill, me for the sheer collateral damage from everyone nearby who dies. That assumes I have enough mana to handle whatever the problem is! And living my life on the edge, waiting to explode, isn¡¯t for me. It might be rare, but eternity, remember? However, I¡¯m going to keep this one¡­ although let¡¯s ditch other monster-fighting classes and other Void mage classes. Also, let¡¯s skip any other hunting-related classes.¡±


    This classing up stuff was hard. There was just so much to check and look over!


    Books practically flew under my gaze as I skimmed the introductions, making snap judgements if I should keep the book or not, and rearranging the remaining books that I was getting offered.


    [Escape Artist - Mist]. [Everchild - Fossil]. [The Great Stink - Miasma]. [Slayer of Tyrants - Gravity]. [Dawn of the End - Celestial]. [Disaster Diplomat - Decay]. [Elven Courtesan - Water]. [Voice of the Downtrodden - Sound]. [Merchant of Immortality - Gemstone]. [Ambassador of Growth - Wood]. [Tree of Knowledge - Forest]. [Draconic Maid - Pyronox]. [Legacy of Sealing - Brilliance]. [Breaker of Chains - Storm]. [Herald of Draconic Fury - Sound]. [Protective Packrat - Spatial]. [Reverse Cuckoo - Ash]. [Caged Songbird - Sound]. [Glutton - Fire]. [Preener - Mirror]. [Haven of the Weary - Spatial]. [Beautician - Light]. [Shroud of Miracles - Mist]. [Elaine Sutra - Mirage]. [Legionnaire of the Ancients - Fossil]. [Town Guard - Metal]. [Provocateur - Fire]. [Discerning Cannibal - Decay]. [Living Armorer - Wood]. [Fae Adventurer - Spore]. [Tunnel Dweller - Dark]. [Illusion Buster - Radiance]. [Evaporator - Steam]. [Denied by the Gods - Void]. [Heretic - Decay]. [Lady of Shadows - Dark]. [Vampiric Vestibule - Water]. [Survivor of the Black Flames - Pyronox]. [Squishy Warrior - Ooze]. [Arrogant Destroyer - Lava]. [Couatl Snackbringer - Wood]. [Fianc¨¦ Annihilator - Inferno]. [Earthquake Evoker - Mountain]. [Protector of the Meek - Mountain]. [Tiding of Misfortune - Celestial]. [Senator¡¯s Bane - Dark]. [Undying Muse - Sound]. [Escaped the Inevitable - Celestial]. [Voice of Authority - Sound]. [Finger Launcher - Poison]. [Guest of the Summer Court - Radiance]. [Mango Trapper - Wood].


    Hundreds of books, each taking a few minutes of skimming before I decided if I wanted to keep them to check out later, or if I was going to ditch the idea entirely. For particularly nice classes, I elected to keep that particular type of class over all others, and asked not to see any other classes relating to that field.


    I swear Librarian was having some fun. Each time I made a request, dozens of books would shimmer off the massive bookshelf behind her, and all the remaining books would slide over. Then dozens of new books snapped into existence, keeping the shelf just as full as it had been.


    I cursed my own perverse sense of humor. She was me, after all, and I was getting pranked the same way I¡¯d prank someone else.


    I had a number of standouts, even among the books that I kept. Classes that were particularly exciting, or in the case of the mage classes, classes that exemplified an element particularly well, and I¡¯d use it over other sorcery-style mage classes of the same element.


    I had my list of elements I was interested in grabbing, and I quickly matched the best sorcery classes to the elements I was interested in.


    Radiance - [Sunchild]


    Lava - [Earthblood Manipulator]


    Storm - [Etalix¡¯s Devoted]


    Lightning - [Lightning of Galeru]


    Gravity - [Force Arcanist]


    Spatial - [Seven League Ranger]


    Ice - [Cryomancer]


    Gemstones - [Jewel of the Ancient Hoard]


    Arcanite - [Font of Mana]


    Brilliance - [Kekkaishi]


    Celestial - [Herald of the Ever Changing Moons]


    Mirage - [Hoard Thief]


    Mirror - [Copycat]


    Sound - [Sonic Spellweaver]


    Verdant - [Witch of the Woods]


    Ooze - [Oozenomicron]


    Sand - [Eternal Hourglass]


    Inferno - [Phoenix Immolator]


    There were a number of classes that popped out as being particularly interesting as well. They weren¡¯t sorcery classes, but out of the list of classes I was going through, they were strong and interesting enough to catch my attention.


    Honestly, I was marking a number of classes as ¡°acceptable¡±, but when push came to shove, it was the sorcery classes and the ones I found truly ¡°interesting¡± along with the powerful classes that would make the final cut.


    [Wandering Bard - Sound]. Providence has brought you to Pallos, filled with songs and stories of a faraway land. You¡¯ve tirelessly played for food and lodging, securing your future with song and stories. You¡¯ve wandered far and wide, telling tales in each place you go. You are the epitome of the [Wandering Bard]. Now take this class, and perform on new stages! +100 Free Stats, +20 Strength, +100 Dexterity, +100 Speed, +20 Vitality, +50 Mana, +50 Mana Regen, +50 Magic Power, +50 Magic Control per level.


    [Stormrider - Storm]. You¡¯ve soared through the sky, oh [Beloved of the Wind], and little in life brings you more joy than feeling the breeze through your hair as you enjoy the unlimited freedom that flying gives you. Now surf on thunderclouds! Swim through blizzards! Follow the currents of the wind, wherever they may blow you, and ride the storms of the world! +40 Free Stats, +80 Speed, +40 Mana Regen, +60 Magic Power, +60 Magic Control per level.


    [Arcane Trickster - Mirror]. Trickery and stealth is part of your kit, along with a great desire to use all the magic of the world! Use this class to yoink the skills of other people you see, being able to copy them for a limited time - and even lock them out of using the skills themselves, if you have enough mana, power, and control for it! +80 Mana, +10 Mana Regen, +80 Magic Power, +80 Magic Control per level.


    [Asura¡¯s Legacy - Brilliance]. Asura¡¯s legacy lives on within you. You have witnessed the unbridled might and fury of the former Guardian Asura, the Destroyer. You have marveled at her grace, power, beauty, and majesty. Her casting was excellent, and even to this day she would be considered a top tier wizard, if using an unusual and somewhat antiquated method. Revive her ways, and cast like none other! +20 Mana, +20 Mana Regen, +120 Magic Power, +120 Magic Control per level.


    Well, I found my wizardry class if I was going to take one! It cleanly edged out almost all the other wizardry options I had, although the ¡®antiquated methods¡¯ was somewhat concerning.


    That was why I was waiting a bit, and studying up before grabbing a class. I could ask someone knowledgeable about the details of wizardry I was finding inside the book, and see if it worked for me or not. Progress!


    Ok, to be clear, I had probably found my wizardry class. There was a second wizardry class that was appealing.


    [Nebula Starweaver - Celestial] Not only have you gazed endlessly upon the stars, wondering what it would be like to walk among them, but you are made out of stardust. You wish to use the mystic runes to cast, taking on a legacy that you predate. Now take starlight, and weave it into runes to cast every skill under the vast skies! +50 Free Stats, +50 Mana, +50 Mana Regen, +50 Magic Power, +50 Magic Control per level.


    On paper, it was weaker than [Asura¡¯s Legacy]. But, I was going to be upgrading [The Dawn Sentinel] to a [The Mother of Modern Medicine] variant in all likelihood when I reached that class-up. My [Celestial Affinity] skill would go through the roof, and while Librarian and I couldn¡¯t confirm it right now, I suspected I¡¯d be getting [Celestial Spirit] as an upgrade. [Nebula Starweaver] didn¡¯t need a second affinity skill, so I¡¯d get to double-dip in that respect, powering up the class through a cross-class skill.


    There was nothing about ¡®using ancient methods¡¯ either, implying that modern methods were perfectly valid. There wasn¡¯t enough right now to say that one was better than the other, but if it came down to ¡®pick a wizardry class¡¯? It¡¯d be one of those two.


    [Jack of All Trades - Gemstone] You want it all! Have it all! Every skill under the sun is yours to borrow¡­ poorly. You¡¯ve extensively used gemstones to supplement and expand your arsenal, now expand it even further! Capture, borrow, and copy every skill you can, store it in your gems, and gain access to as many skills as you can find! +15 Strength, +15 Dexterity, +15 Speed, +15 Vitality, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen, +15 Magic Power, +15 Magic Control per level.


    Ooooooooh. The class for doing everything! There was a subtle shade of difference between this and the wizardry class. They both claimed they could do basically everything, but the methods seemed to be different. This was another great area of research for me to look into! Figuring out what made this type of jack class different from a wizardry class, and what the pros and cons of each were. Once I knew, I could make an informed decision, instead of blindly guessing and hoping.


    I was feeling quite pleased with myself.


    ¡°Ok, I think that¡¯s enough.¡± I told Librarian after ditching [Civic-minded Revolutionary], a class about bringing about change¡­ peacefully, through technically legal means. A reward for my work with Emperor Augustus, and insisting on equality.


    I was fried, and the class quality was getting lower. I didn¡¯t see myself hitting up anything else that might be shown. I¡¯d gotten most of the major aspects of my life in a class or two, and had endless options.


    ¡°Show me the two best [Student] classes that won¡¯t steal [Passionate Learning] or [Immortal Recollections]. Also classes that¡¯ll let me get the [Dabble] skill, and let me practice various things that I get taught, so I can get some practice in before picking my final choice.¡±


    ¡°What about [Learning Languages]?¡± Librarian clarified.


    ¡°Meh. It can steal that if it wants. The skill¡¯s temporary, and I¡¯m quickly mastering one language. Like, it¡¯ll drop from its current level to 32, but then [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority] is going to kick in and boost it back up to effectively level 40. Which was good enough for picking up new words and phrases quickly. And skip the classes focused on learning languages!¡± I quickly cried out as the books changed, then changed again after my last sentence.


    I looked down at my two options, totally ready to just pick something. I had to remind myself that proper prior planning was the answer, and running out of gas at the last moment wasn¡¯t the way to get the best class I could.


    I raised my eyebrow at Librarian.


    ¡°Really?¡± I complained.


    ¡°Yes, really. The restriction on not absorbing [Passionate Learning] killed multiple high quality [Student] classes. There¡¯s a light green, bordering on dark green [Love of Learning] student class, but it¡¯ll kill our general skills. We¡¯ve worked too hard on [Passionate Learning], and the skill¡¯s too big of a boost, to give it up.¡±


    I nodded my agreement.


    I took a deep breath, and reminded myself that the plan was to eventually - within a year or two - ditch the class, and take my ¡°real¡± final option. This was temporary.


    [Disciple of Magic - Light] - Wherever you go, you study magic. Trying to learn it, absorb it. Figuring out how it works, wanting to make it your own. When you meet new people, you want to know what their skills are and how they work. You¡¯ve found yourself in the premier place in the world to learn more magic! Take this class, and crack open the mysteries of magic, one book, one potion, one transformation, one ward and shield at a time. +5 Free Stats, +5 Strength, +5 Dexterity, +5 Speed, +5 Vitality, +10 Magic Power, +10 Magic Control, +15 Mana, +15 Mana Regen per level.


    [Student of the Ages - Wood] - No matter where in the world, no matter when in the world, you seek out places of learning. No school? Raid the library. The only place is a military academy? Join the army. Traveling with new species? Get them to teach you everything they know about the world. Found yourself in a strange world? The first place you go to is a school. The School. You are a [Student of the Ages], through and through. Take this class, and learn. +5 Free Stats, +10 Dexterity, +10 Speed, +10 Vitality, +10 Magic Power, +10 Magic Control, +10 Mana, +10 Mana Regen per level.


    The first class was more focused on the magical aspects of learning, and being a student. It had a strong focus on magic, learning magic, and experimenting with various types of magic. [Let¡¯s do it Again!], and various other meta-skills around [Dabble] would let me experiment with different classes more often. Included were skills that helped me with transcriptions and copying diagrams, which my brief research on wizardry suggested would be useful. I could also imagine it was useful for things like potion recipes, and I frankly lacked the world knowledge to properly guess at all the other uses such a skill could have. Endless, I imagined.


    I loved magic. I hated how the System only gave me three class slots.


    The second was more focused on being a student generally. A stronger focus on learning, and a whole host of secondary skills that would make being a student easier. Like [Study], and [Taking Good Notes], [Find the Reference], along with a mental calculator. The class¡¯s [Dabble] variant was weaker.


    The class stats were roughly the same, and gods, it was such a let down from the sheer power that was present in the black quality classes I had.


    Six of one, a half-dozen of the other, my choices were practically the same.


    I was big on magic. Big on grabbing skills and trying things out. That¡¯s part of why the [Jack of All Trades] class was so appealing. [Disciple of Magic] was absolutely the ¡°try lots of magic out!¡± class.


    However, I was also going to be a student. It wasn¡¯t like the skills in [Student of the Ages] were that much weaker, and I had infinite stats to throw at the problem. The class was also better at generally being a student.


    I¡¯d be dabbling in numerous different fields of study anyways, getting a feel for them. Likely evolving my class to something else to give it a proper shot anyways. I didn¡¯t need to have strong magic abilities right now, I¡¯d get them in a few weeks once I was sure what to try! I was still leaning towards the ¡°Go biomancy, improve myself, then reset to something else¡± route, and both classes let me do that. Plus, going that route also let me talk with people about what I was going to take, and get a ton of advice on what route I should go. It was nice having people to directly discuss class options with, as opposed to just blindly going ahead on my own!


    Although, I doubted anyone would be able to give me proper advice on the black classes.


    [Student of the Ages] let me be a better student though, and I was confident in my ability to use skills to try various things out. The book was explicitly clear that I¡¯d be able to. I hadn¡¯t been a student, a real student, in decades, and I might as well be good at what my class wanted me to be. Frankly, it¡¯d also help shore up my distractibility weakness better than [Disciple of Magic] would.


    ¡°[Student of the Ages] please!¡± I grabbed the book and took it to the checkout.


    ¡°Always a pleasure. See you soon!¡± Librarian waved to me.


    ¡°Yeah! Can¡¯t wait to be back!¡± I said as the world faded around me, and the real world came back.

 Chapter 340 - Student of the Ages

    I woke up in my dingy room, dozens and dozens of notifications waiting for me, along with a minor surge of nausea that quickly vanished.


    [Learning Languages] had gotten shuffled around.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Beloved of the Wind - Wind] has upgraded into [Student of the Ages - Wood]! ]


    [*ding!* [Student of the Ages] has leveled up! 8 -> 32 +5 Free Stats, +10 Dexterity, +10 Speed, +10 Vitality, +10 Magic Power, +10 Magic Control, +10 Mana, +10 Mana Regen from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Magic Control per level from your Element!]


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Wood Affinity]!]


    The basics. Figuring out how affinity skills worked was on my list, and by all the tasty mangos in the world, my list was getting too damn long. I needed to start crossing things off.


    Still, everyone believed the affinity skill was worth it, and it was an easy decision to make to take it.


    Something that was important for me to consider was this class was temporary. It was a fleeting moment of a class, something I¡¯d only have for a year or two, unlike my other classes that I expected to get decades of use out of. As a result, I also had to consider the long-term benefits of each skill I could possibly get.


    What did I want from my class?


    I wanted to learn things. To improve my knowledge. To find my feet in the world, and position myself well. It¡¯d be nice if I could also position Artemis and Julius as well - Amber seemed to have already found her niche.


    As a result, I should aim for skills that either directly or indirectly helped with learning, and cut the fluff.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Dabble]!]


    Dabble: A little bit of this, and a little bit of that, [Dabble] lets you try out the things you¡¯re learning, to see if it clicks and to better learn how it works. Restricted to trying things out in a class or lab setting.


    This was one of THE skills I was eyeing up, and what made [Student] so attractive in the first place. There was no way I wasn¡¯t taking the skill.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Efficient Notes]!]


    Efficient Notes: Good note-taking is critical to learning. This skill will help you efficiently select what needs to be written down as a note to study later, and what can be ignored and left out.


    I liked the look of the skill. It immediately made my shortlist, but neither high nor low. It wasn¡¯t the remembering part of the skill that stood out to me, it was the part that helped me select what was important that attracted me.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Something Doesn¡¯t Look Right]!]


    Something Doesn¡¯t Look Right: From homework questions, to long essays, bubbling potions to drawn runes, anatomy labeling to ingredient weighing, this skill will help nudge you when your knowledge should let you know that something isn¡¯t quite right with what you¡¯re doing, and help you find your mistake to correct it.


    After [Vigilant], and later [Bullet Time], I had a healthy respect for any skill that quietly nudged me when there was a problem. Shortlist!


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Mental Calculator]!]


    Mental Calculator: Math is hard! Make it easy with a handy mental calculator that¡¯ll do the math for you! No need to calculate the right ratio of bat¡¯s wings to newt¡¯s eyes, no need to figure out if an enzyme level is too high, no need to carefully triple check how many mg/kg are needed for a medication, [Mental Calculator¡¯s] got you covered!


    It sounded like this skill had a bunch going for it, and I¡¯d be more interested if I was a doctor back on Earth who needed to carefully calculate medications and read labs. As it was, I didn¡¯t quite have a need for tons of calculations in my life right now, but that could all change as life went on.


    It made the shortlist, but I was ready and willing to cut it for better skills.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Timekeeping]!]


    Timekeeping: Tick, tock, you need a clock! [Timekeeping] will help you stay on schedule! Want to take a five minute break? Set a five minute timer to remind you when to get back to it! Need to study five different subjects, and only have one evening? Break your remaining time into five equal chunks, letting you know when you should stop with one subject, and go onto the next! Need an alarm in the morning? This skill¡¯s got you covered! Set all manner of alarms, timers, and mental reminders to yourself, to keep yourself on schedule and attending class in a timely manner!


    This was something that looked incredibly useful. I just hadn¡¯t been on my own schedule in a long, long time. As a Ranger, I¡¯d been on Julius¡¯s schedule. As a trainee, Ranger Academy had run things. As a Sentinel, I basically had all the time in the world.


    I wasn¡¯t exactly the best organized individual, and the skill looked plain useful.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Handy Quill]!]


    Handy Quill: There¡¯s nothing worse than losing your quill, and showing up to class without a way to write. Never fear! [Handy Quill] will always ensure you have a writing utensil on hand.


    It wasn¡¯t likely that I¡¯d take the skill. I already had one quill, I didn¡¯t need more, especially if I could remember to keep it¡­


    ¡­ maybe I should take [Lost and Found] again just in case¡­


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Amber Safety Goggles]!]


    Amber Safety Goggles: A pair of stylish goggles using crystalized sap as the protective lens, ready for you whenever you need them! For protecting those fragile eyes against all manner of assault.


    I¡¯d had to regrow my eyeballs in the past. I could do it again. Fun to see little wood-themes slip their way into the skills!


    I wasn¡¯t taking the skill though.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Erase Mistake]!]


    Erase Mistake: Oops! Ink spilled all over your essay! A wrong line got drawn in your rune! Too much powdered snake skin went into the vial! [Erase Mistake] is here to save the day! It¡¯ll clear up the ink off the page, perfectly erase the line, and correct the amount of powdered snake skin in the vial! Note that if things start to mix and react, that¡¯s not reversible, nor are powered runes exploding in your face, or medicine being swallowed.


    The skill sounded decent, but the sheer number of warnings on it strongly implied that it was much weaker than it sounded. From everything I knew of the System, it meant that it would, in a way, only fix things that I could¡¯ve mundanely fixed on my own. I could carefully erase a drawn line, but I couldn¡¯t un-mix a potion, for example.


    It probably got stronger in combination with skills like [Something Doesn¡¯t Look Right]. An interesting synergy to note.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Study]!]


    Study: Not going to learn things simply by having a perfect memory, or hearing it once! [Studying] is a skill, now also make it a Skill and learn faster!


    Solid skill. It wasn¡¯t flashy, it wasn¡¯t amazing, it wasn¡¯t a huge display of magic, but it was important. It also stacked with [Passionate Learning], in the same way that [Training] had stacked back in Ranger Academy.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [A Tree Never Sleeps]!]


    A Tree Never Sleeps: Trees don¡¯t sleep, and students get minimal rest! Take the skill, and pull off all-nighters while still feeling good in the morning!


    [Sunrise] was like a shot of coffee and raw energy, letting me operate with minimal sleep, but this negated a large portion of sleep entirely! Exciting stuff!


    I was getting old. The small, subtle skills were enough to excite me. [Fireball] just didn¡¯t do it for me the same way anymore.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Willowy Handwriting]!]


    Willowy Handwriting: An ageless style, on par with [Calligraphers], your handwriting will be a thing of beauty - and more importantly, healer, LEGIBLE.


    Ouch. I felt mildly attacked by the skill description.


    My handwriting was¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­ the less said the better.


    Shortlist.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Blueprint Memorization]!]


    Blueprint Memorization: The tree¡¯s roots grow and spread through the earth, making traces of themselves like memories will instantly imprint and help you memorize complex diagrams, anatomy figures, tricky recipes, and runes in an instant!


    I crossed the skill off my list. I had [Immortal Recollections], a top-tier perfect memory skill. I didn¡¯t need another one.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Drafting]!]


    Drafting: A deft hand and a quick quill will quickly get blueprints, diagrams, and the like. Mistakes will correct themselves!


    Similar to [Willowy Handwriting], but different. Focused on an area of drawing, versus writing. I flipped back through my notifications to double-check [Willowy Handwriting], and yeah. It also worked on drawings.


    I wanted to be flexible, and adaptable. The skill was narrow, but powerful.


    I axed it. [Willowy Handwriting] was better if I wanted a skill like this.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Many-Leafed Notebook]!]


    Many-Leafed Notebook: It¡¯s always nice to have a writing tool, but what¡¯s even better is having a notebook to write in! The [Many-Leafed Notebook] will always have another page to write in.


    Not bad, but not exactly making me jump for joy.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Every Surface is a Desk]!]


    Every Surface is a Desk: You did it. You found the perfect reference, deep in the library. There isn¡¯t a writing surface to be seen. How do you copy the notes out of the book? Well, when [Every Surface is a Desk], it¡¯s easy!


    Nope.


    I could take the damn time to find a surface, and most of the time I¡¯d be in a classroom. With a desk. It was also one of the only pieces of furniture they¡¯d provided me here. That was before my perfect memory skill kicking in and helping with things like this. I could simply read a formula once, and always be able to recall it. It didn¡¯t mean it would be quick or easy - the whole point of learning and studying was to make it second nature - but I didn¡¯t exactly need to be scribbling notes in the middle of a library so I wouldn¡¯t forget a recipe.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Find the Reference]!]


    Find the Reference: Where was that little tidbit of knowledge stored again? Ah right! Fantastic Potions and How to Brew them, 9th edition, 6th page, halfway down. Remember where references are stored, and easily know where to find new knowledge!


    Nope. More memory related skills.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Know Your Limits]!]


    Know Your Limits: Sometimes, you¡¯re in over your head, and you need help. The experiment has gone wrong. The zombie plague has been released from the lab. The medicine isn¡¯t quite the right color. [Know Your Limits] will help prompt you when it¡¯s time to get more professional help in a field.


    Another little nudge skill. I wasn¡¯t disregarding any of them, although this seemed to be more of a ¡°I¡¯m in over my head¡± skill than anything, and, being arrogant for a moment, I was Sentinel Dawn. My limits were far, far past the average student¡¯s, and most of my training was around being the absolute best. About being the one that solved the problems, that helped others when they reached their limits, not the one who hit limits herself.


    I reluctantly kept the skill on the shortlist - any nudge skill would make it - but I doubted it¡¯d make the final cut.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Research]!]


    Research: Pushing the boundaries of knowledge, discovering new things, [Research] will help you build the foundation of all elvenoid knowledge on Pallos.


    If I was inclined to take the [Researcher] class mentioned in the big book, the skill would be the way to direct my class in that direction. As it was, I just¡­ had no interest in expanding elvenoid knowledge.


    I¡¯d already done that. Gotten [Mother of Modern Medicine] out of it. Already had a job.


    It was weird. Reading this one skill crystalized something I¡¯d always subconsciously known and danced around, but hadn¡¯t properly realized. I didn¡¯t want a work class. I didn¡¯t want a profession class. I wanted a hobby class.


    Mage classes were on the top of the list because I loved magic, and it integrated nicely into my Sentinel job. Well, I¡¯d figure out a new career, but [Butterfly Mystic] hadn¡¯t gotten tons of use when I wasn¡¯t fighting for my life, and I¡¯d need to consider what a peaceful life looked like. Boatloads of offensive magic were unlikely, I had a job class already that should, in theory, make me a comfortable living wherever I wanted, so yeah.


    A hobby class jumped to the top of the list. Preferably one that would help me survive in a pinch, but that I could indulge in when my life was peaceful.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Shuffle Text]!]


    Shuffle Text: Your essay is written, but paragraphs 2 and 3 are in the wrong order. Do you erase all your hard work, only to put quill to paper and redo it all? No! Just [Shuffle Text] to flip the order of the words! Easy as snapping your fingers!


    Unlikely I¡¯d take the skill. It was fairly niche.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Take Cover]!]


    Take Cover: The experiment has gone wrong, the potion¡¯s bubbling over, the rune¡¯s exploding. [Take Cover] will help you find cover, and protect yourself from the worst effects!


    Nope. I could just heal through virtually any issue that came up. I¡¯d have serious questions about what the hell was going on at the School if I ended up in any situation that could genuinely threaten my life.


    The key to that was to just not be there in the first place!


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Memorization]!]


    Memorization: Learning is all well and good, but sometimes, you just need to memorize the contents for an upcoming test. You¡¯ll -


    I stopped reading there, ditched the skill, and moved on.


    First, I was here to learn, not get passing grades.


    Second, I already had a memory skill!


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Editing]!]


    Editing: The bane of writers everywhere, and students alike, editing becomes a breeze with this skill! Quickly know what fixes a sentence needs to polish things up, get an idea for the overall feel of the work, spot typos and mistakes quickly, and quickly fix them all!


    On one hand, editing the Medical Manuscripts had been the bane of my existence once upon a time.


    On the other, it had been so bad that I never, ever wanted to edit anything ever again. First drafts straight to delivery, forget reviews and revisions.


    I reluctantly kept the skill, privately swearing to find an excuse to ditch it and never use it.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Plagiarize]!]


    Plagiarize: Look, sometimes you just need to quickly get that assignment done. The class doesn¡¯t matter, the paper isn¡¯t important. Just get it done in a snap by [Plagiarizing] someone else¡¯s work! Quickly translate papers from one language to another, have a mental thesaurus handy to make word replacements to make it even harder to catch you, and zip off to have some fun, or to study for the actually important classes!


    Fuck no.


    I had integrity.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Plagiarize]!]


    I gave the second instance of the [Plagiarize] skill the side-eye, and moved on.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Peek]!]


    Peek: A quick look at someone else¡¯s notes, the professor¡¯s lecture, the test answer key, the recipe in the closed book, or¡­ something else¡­ [Peek] lets you get a glimpse of whatever it is you need to see! Within a limited range.


    I was suspicious that the only use I could get out of this skill were sketchy ones, but it wasn¡¯t enough to automatically axe the skill.


    I doubted it¡¯d make the cut, but it didn¡¯t warrant immediate exclusion.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [No Peeking]!]


    No Peeking: You don¡¯t want to get accused of cheating if someone else looks over your shoulder and copies your answer! Protect your reputation for integrity, along with the hot new research you¡¯ve been working on, and dismay [Peeping Toms] and intrusive governments all over the world with an automatic privacy skill!


    The fact that there were ways to cheat magically made me unhappy, and the skill description did have a number of small uses that would just make day to day life less worrisome.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Organization]!]


    Organization: Being well-organized is a skill and a half, and people pay good money just to have other people organize their lives for them! Grab the skill, arrange your schedule, and always know where your quill and parchment are located!


    I was somewhat chronically chaotically messy. The skill not only made the cut, but immediately jumped to be near the top of my list.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Cheating]!]


    Cheating: You¡¯ve cheated Black Crow//White Dove, you¡¯ve tricked the fae and gotten away. Now cheat your fellow students!


    I gave up reading the skill description in disgust, immediately axing it.


    No.


    Just.


    Fuck no.


    The only good that came out of seeing the skill was knowing that it was possible that other people with a [Student] class could have those types of skills, and I might need to defend myself against them.


    [No Peeking] went up a few notches on my list.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Ignore Chatter]!]


    Ignore Chatter: The gossip girls in the corner. The sports bros in the back row. The nerds in the front seat. All of them are chatting with each other, making it damn hard to hear the important person in the room - the professor! Tune them out with this skill, and get to the important parts.


    Eh. Not amazing, but I was awfully distractible¡­ anything that reduced distractions couldn¡¯t be immediately dismissed out of hand.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Can You Say That Again?]!]


    Can You Say That Again?: The most important pieces of knowledge are always said at high speed, in the middle of a bunch of unimportant details. [Can You Say That Again?] will let you mentally replay snippets of conversation, letting you tease out the details and have enough time to write everything down.


    Nope. More memory-related skills. Next!


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Olive Branch]!]


    Olive Branch: Extend an olive branch, pass a note subtly with this skill!


    I wasn¡¯t in high school. I could just wait a few minutes and talk with someone else after class, plus I was here to learn, not be some [Gossip] ignoring the professor.


    If I didn¡¯t want to be in the class, I wouldn¡¯t be in the class!


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Repetition is the Mother of Learning]!]


    Repetition is the Mother of Learning: Pete and repeat were in a boat. Pete fell off. Who was left?


    Repeat.


    Pete and repeat were in a boat. Pete fell off. Who was left?


    Repeat.


    Pete and repeat were in a boat. Pete fell off. Who was left?


    Repeat.


    ¡­


    ¡­


    Easier learning when repeating processes to learn.


    This was the longest skill description I¡¯d ever come across, and it was possibly longer than the rest of my System notification log, combined.


    Still, it had a great point that repeating actions was how I learned them. Practice made permanent, and all that, and something that helped me practice?


    That was how I¡¯d learn, and the skill shot up to the top of my list as something to take.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Living Thesaurus]!]


    Living Thesaurus: Branch between words easily, immediately know what words substitute with other words! Great for sprucing up essays.


    I wish Librarian was here to let me know if it would help with cross-language acquisition or not. That could be helpful!


    Otherwise?


    Nope.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Know-it-All]!]


    Know-it-All: You know it all. You better make sure everyone else knows you know it all!


    Nope. This sounded like a ¡°how to annoy everyone around me¡± skill, and if I was a burly 6 foot 1 blonde warrior I might be tempted to aggravate people in fights to tank, but I wasn¡¯t.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [It¡¯s pronounced LeviOsa, not LevioSA]!]


    It¡¯s pronounced LeviOsa, not LevioSA: Proper pronunciation is important, especially when chanting spells! It¡¯s also useful in medicine, clearly saying ¡®adduct¡¯ versus ¡®abduct¡¯, ¡®assure¡¯ versus ¡®ensure¡¯, ¡®creatine¡¯ versus ¡®creatinine¡¯, and more!


    I had a little bit of a short circuit moment with the skill. It could help me learn languages faster, but it was also potentially entirely useless.


    Shortlist¡­ but near the bottom.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Mischief]!]


    There was no way this skill was going to be useful. Next!


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Teacher¡¯s Pet]!]


    I really hoped that I wasn¡¯t out of nice skills, and that everything left were joke skills¡­


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Restore Draft]!]


    Restore Draft: ¡°My phoenix burned my homework¡± isn¡¯t an excuse most teachers will accept, even if they believe it. ¡°My wyvern ate my essay¡± also isn¡¯t accepted. Never fear! [Restore Draft] will reassemble and recreate your paper for you!


    I thought about Auri¡¯s love of burning things, and how frustrated I¡¯d be if my homework went up in flames.


    Good chance I was taking the skill.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [I Have to do the Entire Group Project Myself]!]


    I Have to do the Entire Group Project Myself: You know how it goes. By divine decree, you¡¯ve ended up with the three slackers in the class for the group project, and you now need to do it all yourself. Well, that just won¡¯t do. Improved thinking speed, speed, and dexterity per level when all the work gets handed off to you!


    Ehhh¡­ The skill was so niche as to be worthless.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Public Speaking]!]


    Public Speaking: Makes your voice louder and squashes those fears and insecurities when speaking in front of large groups!


    Nope. I¡¯d lectured in front of Ranger Trainees, barked out orders to groups, and lectured at Artemis¡¯s School before. I had no fear of public speaking, nor did I need my voice to be louder.


    [*ding!* Your General Skill [Learning Languages] has evolved into the Class Skill [Learning Languages]!]


    [*ding!* Would you like to upgrade [Learning Languages] to [Technical Tongue]?]


    Technical Tongue: Learn technical terms and precise language more quickly with this skill! Precise language is extra important, especially when a single letter in a word can make all the difference, and the complex language is where the complex ideas reside.


    Hmm.


    HMMMMM.


    I liked being able to pick up languages quickly with [Learning Languages], but I also did need to pick up a large number of technical terms quickly.


    I kept [Learning Languages], figuring that I¡¯d pick up the technical terms relatively easily from my Medical Manuscripts, then be able to use that as a dictionary for a number of other languages. I was also planning on taking the introductory courses for most things I was interested in, which would naturally include lessons on the technical terms. Lessons aimed at people without the language skills I had.


    Finally.


    I was at the end of my list of offered skills. Time for a quick rundown of what skills I liked, along with where I¡¯d mentally rated them.


    [Wood Affinity]++


    [Dabble]++


    [Efficient Notes]+


    [Something Doesn¡¯t Look Right]++


    [Mental Calculator]


    [Timekeeping]++


    [Handy Quill]


    [Erase Mistake]


    [Study]+


    [A Tree Never Sleeps]+


    [Willowy Handwriting]


    [Leafed Notebook]


    [Know Your Limits]


    [Editing]


    [Peek]


    [No Peeking]+


    [Organization]++


    [Ignore Chatter]


    [Repetition is the Mother of Learning]++


    [It¡¯s pronounced LeviOsa, not LevioSA]


    [Restore Draft]+


    Taking all the skills I¡¯d mentally rated highly had me at seven out of eight skill slots. I grabbed them all.


    [Class 3: [Student of the Ages - Wood: Lv 32]]


    32


    [Wood Affinity: 1]


    1


    [Learning Languages: 32]


    32


    [Dabble: 1]


    1


    [Something Doesn''t Look Right: 1]


    1


    [Timekeeping: 1]


    1


    [Organization: 1]


    1


    [Repetition is the Mother of Learning: 1]


    1

 Chapter 341 - Getting to the first day of class

    Having picked my skills, I got out of bed and stretched, working out the various kinks in my back and neck. I focused on the world around me, my eyes narrowing at the suspicious amount of dust in the room. I grabbed the snacks I¡¯d prepared for myself, quickly chowed down and had a drink, and left my room.


    ¡°Elaine? Is that you?¡± A voice croaked from the living room, and I walked over there to see an aged Skye, with Auri on the counter. Skye looked ancient and decrepit, her pale hair now white, with wrinkles on her face.


    ¡°Brrrrpt¡­¡­¡± Auri was hunched over, telling me she was happy to see me after seven thousand centuries.


    I put my hands on my hips.


    ¡°The prank¡¯s funny, but you¡¯re forgetting I¡¯m a healer. I haven¡¯t aged a bit, I would¡¯ve died with that length of time, and why would you all still be here in the same building? I¡¯m more curious how you got Auri to play along.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri shed her hunched over look, flitting over to me and hovering in front of me. ¡°Brrpt BRPT!¡±


    I laughed at the bird.


    ¡°Bored and thought it¡¯d be funny, huh. Well, let¡¯s just see what I can think of next time you¡¯re classing up. I know there¡¯s a small lake nearby¡­¡±


    ¡°BRPTTTT!!!!!¡± Auri was frantically flying circles around me, begging me not to leave her in the middle of a lake when she was next classing up.


    The illusion around Skye vanished, and she returned back to normal.


    ¡°Nobody here ever falls for it.¡± She complained, picking herself up. ¡°Well, glad you came out before I needed to get to class. See ya!¡±


    ¡°Take care.¡± I told my roommate, flopping down and stretching on the couch with Auri.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ¡°Sure, let me tell you all about it¡­¡±


    I started to regale the options I had and the class I picked to Auri, along with the skills, when Iona¡¯s door slammed open. A man strategically holding a bundle of robes fled the room, and then the suite, with Iona yelling behind him.


    ¡°Exit¡¯s that way jackass! And ¡®oops wrong entrance¡¯ doesn¡¯t work on anyone!¡± She stormed out of her room as jackass made the fastest exit I¡¯d ever seen.


    ¡°Ugh.¡± A very naked Iona crossed her arms and tapped her foot at the now-closed door. ¡°Why do I bother?¡±


    She had a stellar ass though.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± Iona agreed with Auri, noticing me on the sofa. ¡°Hey! New class, awesome! Hang on, let me get some clothes first.¡±


    I could only softly laugh to myself at all the chaos.


    At least Reinhart was relatively low-key. I¡¯d never guess my kirin roommate to be the easygoing one, but life was full of surprises.


    The time until classes started passed in a mad blur. I got to practice a bit with my skills, grabbing a number of easy, early levels for them, and getting a feel how they worked. I needed a job, both to complete the School experience, and because cold hard gem-studded coins were needed to buy food, and more importantly, nice robes.


    The boring admin building took care of that. A single centralized hub for all the small jobs the School had, with an expert [Headhunter] ready to help people find the right job for them.


    There were dozens, if not hundreds of jobs, from sweeping, cleaning, cooking at the cafeteria, assisting various professors, and more. The pay was the same regardless of where we worked, seemingly carefully calculated to provide for all of our living expenses, with a modest chunk of change left over for personal spending. The two jobs that caught my attention were working in the hospital, and working as one of the library attendants.


    Sadly, the hospital one was scut work, not ¡®heal everyone who comes in¡¯, and I¡¯d be hard pressed not to heal everyone I saw. The library looked more interesting, and I¡¯d confess that getting peeks at various books, learning the layout front and back, squirreling away various books for when I was done with work, and finding the perfect hidey-holes to read in strongly motivated my decision to work in the library.


    With food for the foreseeable future secured, it was time to check out practice with the School¡¯s combat team.


    ¡°Elaine. Welcome.¡± Shirayuki greeted me¡­ well, it wasn¡¯t bright and early as the sun went, but the School¡¯s own timekeeping system thought it was.


    ¡°Shirayuki. Thank you. I tried to get here a bit early.¡±


    [*brrrrrrrrring!* I should be at practice by now.]


    [*ding!* [Timekeeping] leveled up! 8->9]


    I was going to be so sad when I lost this skill.


    She gave me a nod.


    ¡°It is good to see that you are serious about this. Now. You know combat. What do you know of the School¡¯s combat team, and our goals?¡±


    I shrugged.


    ¡°That you want me badly enough to pay for my schooling here?¡±


    She snorted.


    ¡°Both correct, and so utterly wrong. Walk with me.¡±


    I walked with Shirayuki, taking a lap around a field that was slowly filling up with students. Something I immediately noticed was that most of them were in form-fitting clothes, mostly in black but with a few purples in the mix. Clothes that were easy to move in, and wouldn¡¯t tangle.


    Thank goodness.


    The few not in what I was mentally calling sportswear had on armor, and seeing the variety brought a smile to my face.


    ¡°There are numerous organizations for teaching in the world. We like to believe we¡¯re the best, but Calador, Chanlaar, the Wizard¡¯s University, the Elven Academy, and more are all our competition. We all want the best students. Politely, we all want the richest students as well, along with the most successful alumni. The combat team is just one way we can compete with the other centers of learning. We beat Calador in combat, sponsors on the fence send their charges to us, not them. Calador wins, and they get more students. The events are also well attended. We win? Alumni open their pockets and shower the School with money. We lose? Well, some donate regardless, but the [Scribes] all tell me the numbers are significantly higher when we win. None of this is life or death. None of this is of critical importance to the School, but on balance, it is better that we win, than lose. Understood?¡±


    I nodded. Seemed straightforward enough.


    ¡°Do I need to win, or do I need to win with style?¡±


    ¡°Win without making us look bad.¡± Shirayuki gave me a significant look and I mentally sighed.


    ¡°No shooting people under a truce banner.¡±


    ¡°Correct. To be clear, I approve of the maneuver in a single game where you needed to stand out. In that time and place, you made the optimal move. I can¡¯t think of it being the best move in future events.¡±


    ¡°Understood. What do you need from me on a daily basis until the events?¡±


    ¡°Practice.¡± Shirayuki told me. ¡°Relentless practice. I am of a mind to put you in most freestyle events, unless you have strong personal objections to some of them.¡±


    ¡°As long as I¡¯m not violating my [Oath], I¡¯m happy to participate in anything you need me to.¡± Why make life hard for the person greasing the wheels? From the various pay rates I¡¯d seen, participating in the School¡¯s team was some of the best return on investment I could possibly have, all while keeping myself sharp.


    I wanted a safe, peaceful life. I had no illusions that I¡¯d manage to get and keep one. The world was always dangerous, it would always knock on my door and demand my money or my life.


    They couldn¡¯t have either.


    ¡°Good. Here.¡± Shirayuki handed me a wand.


    I looked it over. Short, something like 8, 9 inches long, and slightly flexible as I swished it through the air.


    ¡°Thank you, what¡¯s this?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Your winnings from the free-for-all event.¡± Her mouth twisted in a grin. ¡°It seemed to have entirely slipped your mind, although everyone ranked under you was happy to have gotten a higher pick of the prizes. This wand was left, and it¡¯s useful for wizardry. Not that you seem to employ the art. Sell it, keep it as a reminder, gain a wizardry class, it is all the same to me. You should see Mormerilhawn. He will calibrate a better, more personalized shield for you. It will give you the needed experience for how it works in large events.¡±


    Shirayuki abruptly turned and swished her tails as she cut across the field, yelling in a different language at two students who¡¯d somehow screwed up.


    My conversation with Shirayuki done, I went to find Mormerilhawn to get my shield calibrated with a bit more finesse and detail.


    ¡°Mormerilhawn! Hey, I was told to talk with you about calibrating a shield?¡±


    ¡°Elaine. Welcome. Yes, the protection I provide to the members of the School team is more comprehensive than the protection I provide in arbitrary events, simply because I have more time to dedicate to each member. In the interest of fairness, each member of the School team, when participating in such an event, gets a similarly downgraded shield. By the same token, when competing in true events, I coordinate with my counterparts to ensure that everyone has similarly well-attuned shields.¡±


    The Black Rose sniffed, and I suspected his counterparts didn¡¯t meet his standards.


    ¡°Ok, great. What do we need to do differently this time?¡±


    ¡°I will need to test a wide variety of materials, elements, and types of attacks, to determine sensitivity. An excellent example are poisoned weapons. In the event you were just in, a poisoned weapon was treated just the same as any other weapon. Now, it is considered a stronger hit.¡±


    ¡°Unless I¡¯m impervious to poisons.¡± I cheekily replied.


    Mormerilhawn paused a moment, looking at me.


    ¡°Unless you are resistant to poisons, yes. Your shield will have some additional calibrations around your mana, that is to say, when taking a blow, I will ensure your mana pool takes a hit. It will be entirely safe, and once you no longer have mana, your shield will be downgraded appropriately.¡±


    Complicated, but made sense.


    ¡°Oh! You¡¯re calibrating each element differently, right? A full-spectrum check?¡±


    He nodded.


    ¡°Indeed. You¡¯ve caught on quickly, unlike most of the muscleheads on this team.¡±


    I grinned.


    ¡°Sooo¡­ how does immunity to fire work?¡±


    He gave me a strange look.


    ¡°I will calibrate your resistance to fire like anything else.¡±


    I shook my head.


    ¡°No no. I¡¯m immune. Fully, properly, totally immune. System even says so. I¡¯d take my own protection against fire over your shield any day.¡±


    The Black Rose blinked owlishly at me, as his jaw slowly opened.


    Ha! The look on his face!


    Priceless.


    Getting my class schedule together was tricky, an exercise in copious note taking, cross-referencing, looking up class schedules, looking up tracks, finding overlapping classes, finding when and where they were, seeing what other courses I was interested in, then trying to fit them together.


    Then, of course, was deciding what medical classes I wanted to take. Did I want to start at the beginning? I was confident in my knowledge, but there was a line between confidence and arrogance. Had the fundamentals changed in the last few tens of thousands of years? Did elvenoid understanding of healing shift? Were there bare-bone basics I had missed that would be covered in the early classes, that would be foundational later on?


    Or was I massively overthinking everything? Did I have a strong enough foundation to skip the introductory classes - intended for people with no knowledge in the subject - and go right to the advanced material?


    I only had so much time in the day. A useless class ate up hours, and medicine was especially demanding in how much time was needed.


    It was also another set of classes to try and work into my schedule.


    ¡°This is impossible.¡± I leaned back in my chair, bumping into my bed, as I complained to Auri.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ¡°Right. Where to start. Last place that was vaguely educational was Ranger Academy, and that had a packed schedule. I did fine. I figure I should repeat that - why waste a moment? I want to take all the classes, and figure out what Tracks I want to take, and where I want to focus and learn. What direction to evolve my [Student] class in, then where to reset it to. As a result, I want to take as many different classes as possible.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt.¡±


    ¡°If I was only taking classes in the Medicine Tracks, I¡¯d be fine. They¡¯re in a neat progression, cleanly laid out, and I¡¯d be able to take two to three classes each quarter, have enough free time, and have no overlaps or conflict, not unless I wanted to take the basic class with the super advanced class.¡±


    Which was cleverly done.


    ¡°But I want more than just a single Track and a few general classes to fill in the time. I want everything. Which brings me to the schedule. Practice is first thing in the morning, so that block is gone.¡± I pointed to a schedule I¡¯d pinned to the wall, seven days of the week each divided up into the 12 blocks that the School used to run its schedule. The four blocks that were ¡®night¡¯ were crossed out, along with the first set of blocks. ¡°Any classes offered there are out of the question.¡±


    Which raised a question - if I had a course mandatory for my Track that was morning block only, how would I manage to take it? It couldn¡¯t be a new question.


    ¡°Introduction to Voodoo and Potions overlap here,¡± I pointed to the three blocks in a week in question. ¡°Which, while annoying, isn¡¯t the end of the world. At least that¡¯s a simple choice between one or the other. If I take one, I¡¯m not taking the other.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt? Brrpt?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t take both - I CAN TAKE BOTH!¡± I shot up in my chair. ¡°Auri, you¡¯re a genius!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡± She knew.


    ¡°I can totally sign up for both classes, attend one, attend the second one, then decide which one I like! I can drop the other one, miss a single class - it¡¯ll suck, but I¡¯ll see if someone has the notes I can borrow - but it works!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri was the bestest, prettiest, smartest bird, and she knew it.


    With the brainwave of Auri¡¯s simple question opening the way, I got to furious work.


    The easy class was the Advanced Medicine class I threw onto the schedule. I was taking it, no ifs, ands, or buts.


    Of course, ¡°easy¡± was relative, given that it had three separate sets of hours it could fit in, and I had to juggle the question of ¡®which options was I fine cutting off?¡¯, given that most introductory courses had a half-dozen blocks in which they were offered.


    The real trick was the few ¡°tri overlapping¡± courses, where course 1 would be blocks A and B, course 2 would be blocks B and C, and course 3 was naturally blocks A and C. Taking just one of the classes would naturally exclude the other two, and things weren¡¯t easily laid out, oh no. That was an example of an easy conflict to resolve.


    Whoever designed the course schedule was an evil genius, and I had a mental flashback to the [Scribe] who¡¯d helped get Auri and I settled in.


    What worked well in my favor was that classes went right until the ¡°night¡± hours, granting a whole 16 hours every day to take classes in.


    14 hours after practice.


    And the library was open all night, so I could work then¡­ it also tended to be quieter during the ¡®night¡¯ hours. Easier to slip in some studying.


    It took three sets of knocking at my door and wondering if I wanted to grab a bite to eat - why ask me three times for one meal, honestly - before I wrapped up. The door was cracked open, and I had an omnipresent jug of juice out for Auri, which was surprisingly low.


    ¡°Brrrpt. Brrrpt?¡± Auri looked doubtfully at my masterpiece.


    ¡°No no, it¡¯s perfect. See, all the classes fit, and I¡¯ll only have to axe¡­ almost half of them! Slightly less! Hang on, how good are you at fractions? Did Plato ever get around to them?¡±


    ¡°BRRPT!¡± Auri hovered in front of my masterpiece. I facepalmed.


    ¡°Shit! Yeah, hang on.¡± I switched my quill colors, blocking out another part of the ¡®night¡¯ hours, casually eliminating another 30 minutes of sleep every night.


    ¡°There! That¡¯s our time together! Every day! Plus, this schedule is going to get wrecked once I drop a bunch of classes. That¡¯ll open up a bunch of time every day for us, or for me to study, or relax! It¡¯ll go great.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll eat between classes!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, I¡¯ll figure it out!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt¡­¡±


    ¡°Wait, it¡¯s been how long since I ate!? You should¡¯ve said something earlier!¡±


    I got up, and felt my stomach growl. I resolved not to let this happen again, and set three recurring alarms for food. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner.


    Marcelle flipped through my proposed schedule. I didn¡¯t need her to approve it, but I figured the more eyes on it the better.


    ¡°This is a terrible idea, and you know it.¡± She handed the schedule back to me. ¡°You¡¯re also not the first student to have tried it, and I know trying to dissuade you is fruitless. Just remember to recognize burnout when it hits you, cut back, and take at least one easy quarter once you¡¯ve gotten the bad ideas out of your head to recover.¡±


    I frowned at her, and she grinned back.


    ¡°Can¡¯t wait to see you in biomancy though! I can promise it''s better than divination!¡±

 Chapter 342 - First Day of Class I

    [*brrrrring!* Wake up! Time for class!]


    [*brrrrring!* No for real.]


    [*brrrrring!* Future me, I swear if you¡¯re not up by now¡­ we made these alarms for a reason!]


    I swatted the last notification, mentally cursing past-me. I was up! I was out of bed before the first alarm had finished!


    Granted, I¡¯d almost shot someone who was walking past my window, but that was neither here nor there. I should ask for heavy curtains or something, as a safety precaution.


    ¡°Auri! It¡¯s time for class!¡± I told my little friend.


    ¡°Brrpt¡­? BRPT!¡± She woke up in a start as my words made their way through her sleepy little head.


    ¡°You excited?¡±


    ¡°BRRRRRRPT!!!¡± Auri flew in circles around me. She couldn¡¯t WAIT to go to school!


    I grabbed my robes off the back of my chair and gave them a sniff. They very faintly smelled, and I needed to do laundry again. I was still limited to one set of robes, and putting on anything other than pristinely clean clothes felt greasy on my soul.


    Like, sure, I was able to operate for months at a time wearing the same outfit, but that was different. I was in civilization, and when I was working in the field as a Sentinel, I was rarely taking anything off to put it back on - it just stayed on the entire time.


    It was like how a shirt that was worn all day was fine, but putting on the same shirt after taking it off was less fine, because it was ¡®dirty¡¯.


    Still, my options were as limited as my funds, most of which had gone towards making sure I had the proper school supplies. Those took priority.


    ¡°Fire bath?¡± I asked Auri.


    ¡°Brrpt!!¡± Nothing was better for the start of Auri¡¯s day than trying and failing to light me on fire. It had the benefit of a full-body deep-clean to boot.


    After checking that the coast was clear, I quickly dashed across the narrow hallway in the suite, and we were in the bathroom. I wasn¡¯t about to let Auri go nuts right next to all my worldly possessions, and there was water here if things went horribly wrong.


    I spread my arms out, opening my mouth slightly.


    ¡°Go!¡± I told Auri, and my world became flames.


    Interestingly, I could see through the flames when I was completely coated by them. Normal fire I couldn¡¯t, but there was some point where the flames obscuring my vision triggered some sort of ¡°no no you can see through them¡± aspect to my immunity.


    Magic was weird and cool.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I croaked out after a few seconds, coughing up a bit of ash and licking my lips, trying to get some moisture going.


    Benefit to keeping my mouth open - my teeth got cleaned as well.


    Downside - my sinus cavities also got cleaned, my snot reduced to ashes, and my mouth was completely dry after.


    Still, seconds to get a more thorough cleansing than hours in the shower? I had a packed schedule, and every minute counted.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°That was fun! Want to do it again?¡± I asked my little pyromaniac.


    Instead of answering, Auri wrapped me in flames once again.


    [*brrring!* We should be out the door by now!]


    I glared at my overly-ambitious past self¡¯s idea of how fast I could get ready in the morning, and elected to spend just a few moments more with Auri. After all, this was a moment we¡¯d never get back.


    [*brrring!* We should be dropping Auri off!]


    [*ding!* [Wood Affinity] Leveled up! 3 -> 4]


    [*ding!* [Timekeeping] Leveled up! 11 -> 12]


    I hated past-me¡¯s sense of time.


    I spent a moment hitting snooze on a half-dozen alarms that were set to go off, only keeping the important ones, then checked that the hall was clear.


    It wasn¡¯t, Iona¡¯s latest paramour leaving in the early hours. Bless the thick, enchanted walls, and bless Iona for being at her ¡®friend¡¯s¡¯ place more often than coming back here.


    The coast was clear a moment later, and I sprinted back across the hall to my room, throwing on my robes. I grabbed my bag, packed last night, and looked through it one last time.


    My head itched, and I narrowed my eyes, looking around.


    Ahha! My wand! I swiped it and stashed it in the sleeve of my robe.


    [*ding!* [Something Doesn¡¯t Look Right] Leveled up! 19 -> 20].


    I felt a little attacked how quickly and easily I was leveling that one up.


    ¡°Are you ready for your first day of school?¡± I asked Auri.


    ¡°BRRRPT! Brrpt?¡±


    She grabbed her little black hat off my desk and flew it over to me, clutching it in her beak.


    ¡°Of course! Hold still.¡± I took the little black witch¡¯s hat from her, and put it on her head, carefully strapping it closed. How it didn¡¯t burn, I had no idea.


    Probably because Auri didn¡¯t want it to burn.


    ¡°Yay! Let¡¯s go! You¡¯re going to have a blast!¡±


    ¡°BRRRPT!!!¡±


    We left, heading over to Auri¡¯s school.


    Or tried to.


    ¡°Brrrpt¡­.¡± Auri was hovering in the corner of the antechamber of the dorm.


    ¡°Oh come on! It¡¯s not that bad!¡±


    ¡°BRPT!¡± Auri violently shook her head, indicating resolute refusal.


    ¡°Aoife Auri Stentor.¡± I put my hands on my hips. ¡°You are not made out of sugar. You will survive a tiny drizzle.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt¡­¡­¡­¡­..¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re hot enough that you¡¯ll just burn the water away!¡±


    ¡°Brpt.¡± She shook her head again.


    I rolled my eyes. I did not have time for this.


    ¡°I¡¯ll put you under the [Mantle] and you¡¯ll stay perfectly dry the entire time. Plus, school!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    Auri finally let me shield her from the incredibly light drizzle we were experiencing, but insisted on four layers to the shield. Just in case. That was stacked on top of her [Domain of Fire] skill rejecting a portion of the rain.


    We navigated our way through the well organized streets of the School, finding the lower education building. It was bright and colorful, with four different playgrounds around it. Two of them were clearly magical, a kid hovering and twisting in midair over a platform. A few kids, too young for their System to be unlocked yet, were playing on the equipment, while a slow stream of parents in robes brought their kids to the mini-school/daycare. Mostly, a few of them didn¡¯t have obvious kids in tow. Maybe they were doing a pickup or something¡­?


    I¡¯d gotten the impression that the place was more than just a daycare for babies and toddlers, but the average age I was seeing worried me. I finally caught sight of what had to be an 11 year old going to the building, in full black robes like nearly everyone else, and it clicked.


    Half the people streaming to the building were students, trusted to make their way over on their own, not the parents. That made more sense.


    ¡°Hello?¡± I asked as we entered the building. Most people seemed to know where they were going, but we were new.


    ¡°Brrrrpt?¡± Auri called out her own little greeting.


    ¡°Oh! Hello!¡± A green woman popped out of one of the doors, quickly looking at us then walking over. Flowers sprouted from the stone floor in her wake. ¡°You must be Elaine! And this must be Auri!¡± Her words weren¡¯t in High Elvish, but I caught the automatic translation well enough.


    Her robes were also green, and I suspected she was a dryad, although I wasn¡¯t quite sure how rude it was to ask what someone¡¯s species was. It didn¡¯t matter that much in the end.


    ¡°Yup! That¡¯s us!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Welcome! I¡¯m Bridget, I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re here. Do you know what you¡¯d like Auri to study?¡± A branch extended from her shoulder, an apple forming at the end of it and dropping into Bridget¡¯s hand. She offered it to Auri, who fluttered around the familiar fruit.


    ¡°Brrpt! Brpt brpt BRPT brpt.¡±


    ¡°Oh my! That¡¯s quite a lot. And how old are you?¡±


    ¡°Brpt!¡±


    ¡°Wow! Impressive for such a young girl. Well! If your mom,¡± Bridget looked at me and tilted her head in a small question, a vine sprouting from her shoulder into a question mark. ¡°Is ok with it, we can put you in the later years to study more.¡±


    ¡°Companion.¡± I gently corrected, although the assumption was¡­ decent, I guess? For all I knew, magic made human to hummingbird totally possible. Or I was like Reinhard, and could transform. ¡°And yes. The best learning she can get.¡±


    ¡°Well! We¡¯ve come to the right spot, haven¡¯t we? We¡¯re going to have so much fun together!¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!¡±


    Auri immediately flew off with Bridget, who started to give her the tour.


    [*brrring!* Practice starts now!]


    Shit!


    I sprinted off towards practice, my speed and the small school being next to the practice arena saving my butt.


    I had a moment to reflect on the interaction.


    I was impressed that Bridget had understood Auri! I was guessing there was probably a skill for understanding toddlers that worked on her.


    She seemed to be in good hands.


    Practice was fine. A few teamwork exercises first to get us used to working with each other. They also doubled as physical exercise, although working together to walk over tight wires was trivial for the people with strong physical stats, and difficult for the pure mages.


    It did neatly demonstrate that we needed to look after the mages, and showed the mages they needed to work on their physical skills. I didn¡¯t count myself in their number - my level and stat distribution was closer to some of the physical classers, than the mages.


    Individuals duels and feedback were next, before we wrapped up. Honestly, it was a cakewalk compared to Ranger Academy, which would¡¯ve crammed five times the activities into the same amount of time.


    We finished up early, letting everyone get to their first class on time.


    I found myself sitting in a pre-scouted classroom. Front row, notebook at the ready, quill prepared, I sat and waited for ¡°Introduction to Cultivation¡± to start.


    [*ding!* [Organization] Leveled up! 9 -> 10]


    Double-checking my mental notes, it was going to be cultivation or talismans. I was leaning towards talismans, having seen them a half-dozen times already, which was why I was checking out cultivation first. Introduction classes usually had a lot of fluff in the first class, just getting to know each other and going over fundamentals, and I wanted the cultivation fundamentals. I had rough ideas on talisman fundamentals.


    [*brrring!* First class is starting, hope we¡¯re in our seat!]


    Awww yes. Beat my notification!


    At the same time my notification went off, the door opened one last time, and a large albino triangle-headed snake slithered in, a gnome in black robes sitting cross-legged on his head. The snake slithered to the front of the room, and I leaned way back in my chair, instantly regretting my life choices.


    The snake looked big enough to eat me, nevermind the gnome sitting on his head. It swayed up, the gnome opening her eyes.


    I really, really, really hoped that this class was taught by the gnome, and not by the snake.


    ¡°Good morning.¡± The gnome said in Hakka, and I decided to look at the silver lining. Her words were being translated into High Elvish, and I could rapidly learn the languages by using the translator as a keystone. Back to the lecture.


    ¡°My name is Bai Luli, of the Bai clan. This here,¡± She patted her snake seat affectionately. ¡°Is Albedo. I am to be your instructor on cultivation, and guide you through the profound mysteries of the great Dao.¡±


    I had no idea what ¡®Dao¡¯ was, but I guess this was where technical terms and learning came into play. I started furiously taking notes, all while leaning away from the snake¡¯s flicking tongue.


    I started to pray that there¡¯d be a break in the middle, and I could find a new seat.


    ¡°Now. This is the introductory class, and I suppose I must explain what cultivation is in slightly¡­ different terms for you to understand.¡± Luli scowled and twisted her face, as the words came out with obvious distaste.


    ¡°Terminology is the start, and most important. What you call the System is the Blessing of the Heavens. What you call acquiring experience is obtaining qi. The different stages of classes are realms, and different levels are subrealms. Questions?¡±


    I had a ton, but I was still in the ¡®wait and listen, because most of my questions will be answered that way¡¯ phase.


    Not everyone had the same discipline I did, and a hand shot up. Albedo stopped staring at me, instead turning to look at the new victim - err - student.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°How do cultivators, uh, obtain qi?¡± The student stumbled slightly, at least getting the right terms.


    Luli smiled.


    ¡°Many different arts will claim that they are the best. However, cultivators have the best methods. One can choose to study the sublime art of potioneering as a cultivator, or as a wizard, but cultivators are superior. Normally I¡¯d ask if anyone knew why, but this is an introductory class. You would not be here if you knew why.¡±


    That was fair, and my quill danced over my paper, taking notes on almost everything being said. Just another way of learning.


    ¡°Meditation upon the profound Dao, and feeling the Qi in heaven and earth is what all cultivators want to do. This expands their internal Qi, empowering them to perform feats mere mortals can not hope to accomplish. That is why we are superior.¡±


    My quill stopped as Luli stopped, and I thought about her words, translating them back into normal terms.


    My jaw dropped.


    Cultivators leveled up just by thinking about it.


    Well, technically, they needed to meditate, not think about it, but the difference was academic. Mostly? Either way, it seemed like a stupid, broken hack that was entirely within how I knew the System to work.


    Classes leveled up by doing what they wanted to be and do. A [Carpenter] leveled up by carving wood up, by say, making a table. A [Ship¡¯s Carpenter] might get some experience by making a normal table, but they¡¯d get a lot more for making a table in a ship.


    It sounded like somebody had figured out a job that wanted to ¡®think¡¯ as its method of leveling up, then tied a bunch of other skills and abilities to that. Whoever had invented cultivation was a genius.


    Hang on. I was assuming with the ¡®bunch of other skills and abilities tied to it¡¯ part. Question time!


    I raised my hand after formulating a well-designed question.


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°What limits do cultivators have, in other words, what can cultivators not do that¡¯s permissible in other System classes?¡±


    I got a frown for that, and another flickering tongue in my face.


    Gods, that snake had huge fangs.


    ¡°All is accomplishable with the Grand Blessing of the Heavens.¡± Luli practically sniffed at me for that question, but she did answer it.


    ¡°Now, next¡­¡±


    Cultivation was interesting in that it opened up additional avenues for gaining experience, while still having all the benefits of a ¡®normal¡¯ class.


    At least, that was how the introduction to the class framed it. There was an implication that a cultivator¡¯s leveling speed dropped off as they leveled up, but that was true for everyone. Were they slower than a normal classer? There was usually a challenge or stress component to gaining experience. That was why fighting for my life, and healing people getting eaten by monsters, was such good experience, compared to tamer city or hospital-based healing.


    They did make it clear that doing other things within the boundaries of the class also granted experience - errr - Qi. It was like how my [The Dawn Sentinel] class both wanted me to heal, and work as a Sentinel. The meditation part was simply a ¡®broadening¡¯ of what granted experience. Cultivators could spend as much or as little time meditating as they wanted. They often grabbed skills that helped them meditate, but they were often useless outside of meditation. Still, a skill to make the time zip by, not needing to eat or drink, was interesting. Basically a ¡®lemme level up now, be right back¡¯ type skill, although there was no telling quite how long a cultivator would be meditating when they did that.


    I was having trouble believing it though. If it was true that cultivation was purely beneficial, why wasn¡¯t everyone a cultivator?


    There had to be more to it, and I only had about a week to decide if I was going to keep studying cultivation, or pick up talismans instead.


    At the end of the class I tried [Dabble] to see if I could meditate in the way Luli described. It was like my consciousness expanded, and I could vaguely ¡®feel¡¯ around me - although that could¡¯ve just been a side effect from closing my eyes, sitting still, and thinking about the world around me in combination with my stats.


    [*ding!* [Dabble] Leveled up! 1 -> 2]


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Studious Meditation]. Would you like to replace a skill with it? Y/N]


    I ignored the notification. I was happy with my class skills.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Meditation]. Would you like to take it?]


    More skills¡­ I got offered them so easily here. I¡¯d eventually find what I wanted, but right now wasn¡¯t the moment. Nor would it be [Meditation].


    I suppose my class was already capped, and even if I did level up, it¡¯d be almost impossible to tell if it was because I was practicing meditation, or if it was because I was being a diligent student, practicing the various things I was told.


    Busy, busy.


    ==============


    ¡°Transformation! We¡¯re a bloody awesome field!¡± The professor, with the most ¡®toeing the line¡¯ set of black robes I¡¯d ever seen, energetically paced in front of the classroom. There was a big rack covered with cloth near the front, and I was hoping it was something fun, and not more snakes.


    I was safely in the middle seats this time, keeping a safe distance from any more shenanigans that might crop up. One snake eyeing me for a snack for two hours was plenty, thank you very much.


    ¡°The most famous example of transformers are the werewolves! A bloody fantastic lot! During the full moon they turn, and they can turn into wolves whenever they want! Any werewolves here today? Apart from myself.¡±


    He grinned at us with too much teeth, his sheer passion for the subject bleeding through.


    ¡°Right! Transformation¡¯s wonderful! You want claws? Transform into a wolf! You need teeth? Wolf! You need to run fast? Wolf!¡±


    He grinned at his own joke, probably told a thousand times already, and I laughed along with most of the class.


    ¡°Being a little more serious for a moment. You want wings? Transform into a bird! You need to be strong? Find the right dinosaur! Nearly any problem has a creature that can deal with it! Or, maybe you just need a helping hand.¡±


    His hand transformed into a black and furry paw at that. He looked at it a moment, grabbed it with his other wrist, and started screaming as the paw tried to attack his face.


    ¡°AHHH! It¡¯s out of control! It¡¯s going to get me! AHHHH!¡±


    He wrestled with himself for a few moments in front of the class. Some students laughed, while others looked worried.


    I was a little unimpressed, and the professor knocked it off soon enough.


    ¡°Everyone starts with partial transformations, and they can be good enough for the job! Time for an in-depth showing!¡±


    He dramatically pulled the cloth off the block, revealing a rack of outfits. Each one looked like it was made out of animal skin, and I felt my eyebrows going up just a bit.


    He grabbed one of the outfits - filled with feathers - and threw it on himself with a flourish. As the cloak went on him, he shifted and changed, until an eagle was hovering in front of us, flapping its wings impossibly slow.


    Then somehow, he ¡®grabbed¡¯ the ¡®clasp¡¯ with his wing, and the cloak fell off, revealing the professor in front of us again.


    I clapped wildly at his display as a few other students joined in. The professor bowed a few times.


    ¡°Thank you! Thank you! Onto the next one!¡±


    As a learning opportunity? Watching the professor put on various cloaks and transform into a bunch of different creatures wasn¡¯t exactly the best use of my time.


    It was totally awesome though. Just¡­ POOF! I¡¯m an eagle! I¡¯m an ankylosaurus! I¡¯m a manticore!


    POOF! I¡¯M ANOTHER BLOODY GIANT SNAKE.


    Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I was sitting in the middle of the room, far away from the constrictor, and he took his cloak off after a moment anyway.


    I tried to transform my finger with [Dabble] at the end of the class into a talon, but while the skill leveled up, nothing happened. I put a question mark next to that.


    [Something Doesn¡¯t Look Right] didn¡¯t ping either, although the skill was low level.


    If I was doing something entirely wrong, I wouldn¡¯t have gotten any [Dabble] levels. Interesting.


    Transformation ended with a ¡®maybe¡¯ on my initial analysis. I¡¯d need an entire class dedicated to it, and practical uses felt limited at first blush. The class was closely tied with biomancy though, and the lessons learned here were potentially applicable to that field of study.


    Plus, he had a point. If I could simply transform into anything, that was a lot of the flexibility of biomancy, without a lot of the pain points. I needed to learn more.


    But the professor was cool, and the magic was AMAZING, and that counted for quite a bit.


    ====================================


    Comparative Elvenoid Anatomy was up next, and I was back in the front seat. The class was small, only about a dozen of us here, and I was the only purple robe. Everyone else had a [Healer] tag, and I got looks from everyone.


    The mortal-healer-over-256 combination wasn¡¯t one people saw every day, and I was a ¡®new¡¯ addition to this cohort of other healers, most of which had probably been taking classes with each other for a few months to a few years now.


    I swear by my love of mangos, if Comparative Elvenoid Anatomy had giant snakes in it, I was done.


    ¡°Welcome. This class is Comparative Elvenoid Anatomy I. If you think you should be in a different class, this is the time to leave.¡±


    The professor paused a moment, and nobody left.


    ¡°Excellent. You all know how this works. Now, as you all know, the Medical Manuscripts tend to use either human or elven anatomy to teach the basics. This course will begin to cover the subtle variations between the different species. There is much to cover, and little time. We will begin with the skeletal system.¡±


    The professor waved his arm, and a few dozen different mirages of skulls popped into existence behind him.


    ¡°The horns of the elf can be seen on the dragonling, but the anchor point is higher up. Relatively, they¡¯re in the same position, but dragonlings have a coronal suture that is further back, and¡­¡±


    I had no time to ask questions, let alone practice hearing different words in different languages through the translator. My quill scribbled furiously as I took notes in the blistering paced lecture.


    This class was going to be a challenge. At least there wasn¡¯t a giant snake!


    ================================================


    Class ran to the very last second, and while technically the cafeteria was near the hospital, I wasn¡¯t the only one with the idea to grab lunch as soon as class ended. The place was swarmed with students all trying to grab food, and it would¡¯ve taken too long to get through the lines, buy some food, and make it to my next class.


    Ah well, skipping a meal wouldn¡¯t kill me. I¡¯d just make sure to grab a bigger breakfast and dinner from now on, and pack snacks.


    =============================================


    ¡°Transmutation is the subtle art of turning one object into another.¡± The blue-robed professor was speaking softly, practically whispering. I could hear her just fine, but most of the other students were leaning forward, making sure to catch her every word. ¡°The object is not conjured, oh no. It exists and is just as real as the object it was before. There is a correspondingly higher cost, but a proper Transfigurer is practically elementally unbound, capable of turning any substance into any other. It is a long and difficult path, but I hope those of you here will be willing to join me on this journey of discovery. Let me begin with some simple, yet subtle, word usage, just as the subject matter itself. Transmutation refers to changing the material. Transfiguration refers to changing the shape. The two are often used interchangeably, but are not.¡±


    At the end of the class, I tore off a small strip of paper, giving [Dabble] a shot. I focused on the paper, remembering the lessons about how the more similar things were, the easier it was to transform them, and that my current element was Wood, which made things relating to nature just a bit easier.


    I constructed a complex mental image, of paper becoming bark, and stretched [Dabble] to try and make something happen.


    [*ding!* [Dabble] Leveled up! 6 -> 7]


    I critically examined the piece of paper, flapping it around.


    It did seem a bit stiffer¡­


    Well, all these weak [Dabbles] told me that I loved having ALL THE MAGIC, I liked having effective magic more. Obviously [Dabble] would get stronger as I leveled, but even then¡­ I wasn¡¯t impressed.


    It was worth considering narrowing my focus, and getting a powerful and effective class, than having lots and lots of weak magic.


    Onto the next class! It was one I was extra excited about.


    ==========================================


    ¡°I am Lothar Glasswhistle.¡± A¡­ I was pretty sure he was a beastkin, but all the reflective glass and dangling beads in his antlers made it hard to see if he had the characteristics of an elf. The purple robes both suggested an unusually high level for a mortal, but too low of a level for an Immortal teacher. He was carrying a gem-encrusted gnarled staff with one hand, and a course book with the other. ¡°This course is the start of your journey into wizardry, the most profound, flexible, and powerful of the magics available to you. Indeed, little can be done with other magics that are not accomplishable, in some way, shape, or form, with wizardry. The only difference is time, and learning. It takes but a moment to gain a strong System skill, and to use it endlessly. It will take you considerably longer to properly educate yourself as a wizard, and to use the skills and abilities to create the same thing. However. Once you have reached that mark, there is nearly no skill that will not be open to you.¡±


    He paused a moment, and my quill finished taking notes.


    I glanced around at the other students, all black robed, still industriously writing away. Most of them at least, a few were chatting quietly with each other, not really paying attention.


    It made me sick. This fantastic opportunity was being squandered. To talk. Honestly, why bother?


    ¡°Here is how wizardry works, in a nutshell. Please keep in mind that if you continue to pursue your education in this widest of fields, that you will continuously have your understanding of how wizardry works redefined, again and again. You may even develop a personal philosophy. To the topic.¡± Lothar tapped his staff, grabbing some wandering attention.


    I turned my page, making sure I had a fresh, clean, new sheet of paper for this.


    ¡°The System allows for skills to create runes, inscriptions, sigils, incantations, or the like. I will refer to them all as runes, even though there are dozens of different names for varying subtypes. Linking the runes together, then pouring mana through it in an appropriate way, allows for various magical effects to occur, mimicking nearly any other skill the System can let you make.¡±


    He paused a moment, letting people scribble away, then pointed at me.


    ¡°Excuse me. Miss. As the highest leveled here, is there a non-healing skill that you can safely demonstrate?¡±


    I wasn¡¯t thrilled with being singled out, but then again, I was the only purple robed student in a sea of black. The School had already singled me out, and I was more than happy to help.


    I summoned a single butterfly above one finger, and my [Mantle] in the shape of a shield over a different finger.


    Remus Legion tower shield, of course.


    ¡°Shield or explosive butterfly?¡± I offered him.


    ¡°I will demonstrate the butterfly. Radiance, correct?¡± He said, and I mentally dismissed my two creations.


    ¡°Correct.¡±


    ¡°Excellent. Now, many wizards can prepare their spells ahead of time, and store them in various ways. Often, wizards will obscure what they are doing, so that they are not interrupted, often for nefarious purposes. You will rarely see a full display like what I am about to do outside of a classroom setting, or a true fight where there simply is no time to obscure, and a new creation is needed. Now.¡±


    He put his staff aside - and boy, did that ever generate a dozen more questions that I wanted to ask - and started tracing in the air. A full circle was the first thing he drew, almost as large as he was.


    ¡°This section here permits me to use this structure I¡¯m creating.¡± He said after he ¡®traced¡¯ the first glowing line of mystic runes in the air, just under the top arch of the circle.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Runic Scribing]! Would you like to take the skill?]


    Another student skill offered¡­ I dismissed the notification, returning back to paying attention to the lecture.


    ¡°This next section allows for mana to flow¡­ this is a linker¡­ this shapes the object into a ball¡­ this makes light¡­ of a particular color¡­ this gives it crude wings¡­ apologies, this part is complicated and another skill of mine will fill it in, this lets me control it¡­¡± A huge chunk of runes appeared wholesale in the middle, more than tripling the length of everything else he¡¯d done so far. ¡°This gives wings motion¡­ and I think I¡¯m close enough for a sample, here are a dozen different closers I need to make the entire thing work.¡± He finished with a few more lines popping in just like the middle section.


    ¡°Voila!¡± The runes started to glow, then they coalesced into a tiny butterfly. Lothar gestured - I knew it had to be for dramatic effect, but good showmanship was critical for teaching - and the butterfly started to fly around his head.


    ¡°Now. I¡¯ve cut the explosive aspect of Miss Elaine¡¯s butterfly, don¡¯t want that here.¡± There were some light chuckles as I did a double-take, then remembered that my name literally meant healer.


    How crazy was that!? I knew why, but it still blew my mind every time.


    ¡°And it doesn¡¯t fly as naturally, or look as pretty, but believe me, I could do all that given enough time and motivation. Additionally, all wizardry is more expensive from a mana standpoint than the corresponding sorcery. The advantage of the [Affinity] skills, and narrow skills can also have discounts. Wizardry, of course, has more breadth of skills and options. I simply wanted to demonstrate how wizardry cloned skills, a detailed demonstration before we start studying each individual piece. Seeing how it all comes together will motivate you and incentivize you all. I¡¯m sure you all have questions. Ask.¡±


    A barrage of questions occurred, some interesting, some inane. I leaned back and processed.


    [Something Doesn¡¯t Look Right] was a new skill. A low level skill. One I was unfamiliar with. It was no surprise that it took me ages to notice the tiny little voice saying I should double check things.


    I checked my notes. All there.


    ¡°How do we know what runes do what? Excellent question. Fundamentally, we¡¯re taught what they mean. There¡¯s an entire field of study down the wizardry path called Runesmithing. [Runesmiths] create new sets of runes. There¡¯ve been many! Each one had their own unique understanding, and created their own set of runes, cleverly devised to meet their needs. Now, most of these runic sets are poorly done, utterly outdated, too difficult to work with, or frankly useless. Here at the School we teach a handful of different sets, and as your path down wizardry continues, I strongly encourage you to focus on a few. They are as follows:¡±


    I checked my timers. They looked fine, and why would it have changed recently? They weren¡¯t why my skill was going off.


    ¡°Laconic Style is the oldest known style of wizardry, and is taught mostly from a historical perspective. It is old, clunky, and nearly every other established language is better, but at the same time, nearly every language is derived from it. The ur-language, if you will.¡±


    Historical interest. Funny overlap with Origen¡¯s hometown¡­ although from what I¡¯d heard of the Remus Empire, maybe not.


    My ink hadn¡¯t been replaced by invisible ink. Another thing checked. I was reaching here, but it was my first day, and some of the people in the lecture didn¡¯t seem that interested. Pranks were a possibility.


    ¡°Nixia is obnoxious. Someone figured out that all wizardry could be boiled down to only eight different runes - one for each base element - and created a language with only that. It requires the longest casting by far, and every other rune you¡¯ll handle can be expressed as a combination of those eight runes. For all my complaints about the language, it is literally the most fundamental language, and if it can¡¯t be done in Nixia, it can¡¯t be done.¡±


    Eight runes sounded easy enough to learn¡­ although making them into something useful seemed challenging. Like writing a book with only eight letters, each word would need to be significantly longer to make it work.


    ¡°Delas is a somewhat archaic and old style, but has been slowly and steadily used across the world for centuries. Rulers are often looking for people who are capable of using Delas simply to maintain their old wards, which gets a number of people proficient in using the language. This means when they go off to write warding schemes of their own, they tend to use Delas, and the cycle continues.¡±


    That wasn¡¯t exactly a ringing endorsement. I wanted to do cool stuff, not dabble in crusty old languages to work for someone else.


    I wanted wizardry for me.


    I checked my outfit. I hadn¡¯t had a wardrobe malfunction. What was my skill pinging me about?


    ¡°Anaconda is the current popular rune set. Fast. Flexible. Neatly strikes a balance between different numbers of runes, and ease of learning. The popularity means a number of simple aspects already have pre-defined rune segments, making it easier to build complex mandalas. If you are looking for a language, Anaconda is a safe bet.¡±


    Well, far from it for me to decry the expert, but WHY WAS IT FUCKING GIANT SNAKES AGAIN??? I suppose this one wasn¡¯t literally in my face about it, but this was getting absurd!


    There wasn¡¯t a sign on my back, my hat was unmolested. Pranksters were rapidly falling off my list of why my skill was pinging at me.


    ¡°Octagony will twist your mind around.¡± Lothar held his hand up, an octahedron hovering in front of him. ¡°It has a number of runes, but each rune is used multiple times in each mandala. In other words, if I put a single Rull rune into the Octagony matrix, it gets read eight times as the skill casts. This has the advantage of casting both quickly and flexibly, along with having a wide number of options, but crafting new Octagony spells is difficult. You will not be able to think of new ones on the fly.¡±


    I marked that one high on my list. Sounded like a puzzle!


    What was it that I was missing? What was I forgetting, or not noticing?


    ¡°Lastly is Jiwa, the language of the giants. Jiwa uses single runes to create massive effects, almost like a sorcerer would, with the flexibility of a wizard. However, what it gains in speed and power it loses in control. The rune for ¡®magic missile¡¯ will grant exactly one magic missile, traveling in a straight line towards your target. The power naturally scales with the amount of mana put into the rune, but there¡¯s no zig-zag corkscrew magic missile rune. It simply can¡¯t be done in Jiwa.¡±


    That sounded great for a fight though. I added my thoughts to my copious notes on the subject, liking what I heard about wizardry more and more.


    I¡¯d need to check if my [Asura''s Legacy] class could use any of these languages.


    Double checking everything I was looking at, while also paying attention to class was hard. The multi-tasking to find out what didn¡¯t look right, while also taking notes, and thinking about the material and how it applied to me was hard.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Multi-Tasking]! Would you like to take this skill?]


    Not now, my notifications-


    Hang on.


    My notifications.


    I checked through the most recent ones, my eyes immediately going wide as I landed on one of them.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Runic Scribing]! Would you like to take the skill?]


    That wasn¡¯t asking me if I wanted to replace a skill.


    That was asking me if I wanted to take a class skill. In my rush, I¡¯d assumed it was another [Student of the Ages] skill.


    No.


    Taking it meant that it was a [Butterfly Mystic] skill.


    Lothar was a Radiance mage. He¡¯d traced the runes in light in front of him.


    Which meant my class easily, almost like breathing, cribbed skills off of him.


    Forget [Dabble]. I was going to find out how to be a real wizard.

 Chapter 343 - First Day of Class II

    ¡°You¡¯re all here because, somehow, you¡¯ve had your head buried deep in the sand, and missed a few fundamental basics of how the world works. If it were up to me, I¡¯d have a general knowledge requirement to get into the School, but it isn¡¯t, and you¡¯re all here.¡± The old man grumped while lying back on his deep cushions, his tail wrapped around a ramrod straight metal gem-studded rod. He glared at us like it was personally our fault that he had to get up and teach.


    Well, getting up was a bit of a stretch for the old, lazy Naga. My opinion of the dude started off high, and was doing a rapid nosedive with no end in sight.


    ¡°Staves! Wands! Same thing, there¡¯s no difference between the two. An intelligent mage - yes, don¡¯t look surprised, both sorcerers and wizards use wands - will store a single powerful skill inside a large gem in a wand. This gives them permanent access to the skill, and, hoping that you all have eyes and they¡¯re not just for show, you can see that most staves have more than one gem.¡±


    He waved his staff in front of us, twisting it around with his tail to show off the numerous gems studded in the thing.


    ¡°Some of these are support skills, designed to empower the main skill trapped in the gem. Recharging, potentiating, double casting, and more, there¡¯s a wide variety of things that can be done. Wands can also be used to interface with certain types of wizardry. In this course, we will learn the common types of materials used to make wands, simple enchantments, and of course, gems and what they do.¡±


    He rolled his eyes and sighed.


    ¡°Gems¡­ something else you all probably don¡¯t know about. Let me start at the very, very basics, and try to dig your collective heads out of the sand¡­¡±


    This was not shaping up to be my favorite class, and I immediately marked it low on my priority list.


    I¡¯d gotten the basics. Learning how wands worked was immensely useful, although I wondered why ¡°encased in armor¡± or even ¡°in a shield¡± wasn¡¯t nearly as common as ¡°in a wand¡±.


    I did get a chance to ask that question as the class was winding down, and the professor scoffed at me.


    ¡°In a shield? Have you been listening to a word I¡¯ve said all class? Why yes, it would technically work if you wanted to create your own set of enchantments from complete scratch, the common ones I will be teaching you are designed for staves. A shield is heavy, you don¡¯t want to be throwing your extremely expensive gems and delicate enchantments in front of arrows, give purchase for hostile mages to steal it from you, and walk around declaring you¡¯re expecting a war! Shields, honestly.¡±


    The professor dramatically shook his head, and what I got from his answer?


    Shields were completely valid.


    I might try taking the class again with a different professor.


    I got stiffed on dinner as well, and I was starting to feel a little light-headed. Vigorous exercise in the morning, followed by an entire day of difficult lectures had me a little fried, a little on edge.


    I could totally operate just fine, but there was a difference between ¡°operate on a mission¡± and ¡°think hard about new things.¡±


    One I had years of ingrained training to fall back onto, the other was, well, new.


    Live and learn. Missing lunch and dinner wasn¡¯t going to kill me, and I¡¯d make sure to properly stock up in the future.


    Divination was next!


    I was expecting a smoky room with crystal balls. Instead, I got another plain lecture hall, and a man in the front of the room who looked like he¡¯d fit right in with the Instructors at Ranger Academy, not teaching Divination.


    ¡°The first thing you need to know about divination!¡± He sounded like a drill instructor as well, all yelling and barking. ¡°Is it does not exist! The entire field is a hoax! A fraud! Conmen and imposters, claiming to see what happens next! It is all a pack of LIES! If you think you have wasted your time, excellent! The exit is there, make better use of your time!¡±


    I packed up my materials and sprinted out the door, robes flapping as I beat out a dozen slower students who were making the same smart call I was.


    If I was fast, I wouldn¡¯t miss much of Biomancy. The main education buildings all being next to each other was nice for that, and there was an easy window to jump out of instead of navigating the crystalline, reflective hallways of the Earth Tower.


    Apparently, that counted as being passionate.


    [*ding!* [Passionate Learning] Leveled up! 382 -> 383!]


    Marcelle gave me a wink as I snuck into the room and discreetly took a chair near the door. There was another woman with her, and most interestingly, she was not dressed in robes like literally everyone else at the School was, but in pure white armor with red trimmings. She was short - maybe as tall as I was - and had fiery red hair.


    ¡°... and that¡¯s the basics of biomancy. Now, Inquisitor Ren here would like to say a few things to all of you. I trust that you will listen to her, because this is important. She is deadly, deadly serious, and I will help her if you break the rules.¡±


    She gestured, giving the floor to Inquisitor Ren, and stepped back.


    ¡°You all know the Divine Decrees.¡± Ren stated, words like fire, and without a hint of shame, I raised my hand. Her eyebrow quirked up as she looked at me.


    ¡°You don¡¯t know the Divine Decrees?¡± She asked as if she was stunned, like such a thought had never occurred to her.


    I heard some titters behind me, but I didn¡¯t care. Marcelle whispered something into Ren¡¯s ear.


    ¡°Ok, the Divine Decrees. The closest thing we have to the great gods above, may they watch over us and bless us, giving us rules. They are simple. They are difficult to break. They are as follows.¡±


    ¡°Do not claim to be a god.¡±


    ¡°Do not exterminate another species.¡±


    I studiously kept the BEST poker face I could possibly manage, visions of the Formorians flashing through my mind. The hand from a god, descending down to crush one of the Queens. The legions of angels pouring through the breach.


    Nope.


    Not me.


    Hadn¡¯t seen anything about Formorians going extinct¡­ except in my classing up space¡­ although the shimagu were. Then again, we might¡¯ve killed them all before the extinction-notification wish was made¡­


    ¡°Do not prevent the worship of a divinity, nor should you desecrate places of worship.¡±


    ¡°Do not damage the fabric of reality.¡±


    Ok, that Divine Decree sounded like it had a STORY behind it.


    ¡°Lastly, the one I¡¯m here to discuss with all of you. Do not create new species. Biomancy is the primary field for creating new species. Do not. It is for the gods to do, not mere mortals. There are always a few young biomancers who want to tinker. Who combine a rabbit with a mouse, then put in the effort such that they breed true. The levels are great. If you do that, the gods will tell us, and we will put both the specimens, and the creator, to the sword. Questions?¡±


    ¡°What about Vorlers? Beastkin?¡± Someone shouted, drawing attention to the far side of the room. The student looked a bit older, and I kept a chuckle to myself as I saw a number of other black-robed students subtly making their way to the door.


    Ren sighed.


    ¡°Beastkin prompted the Divine Decrees, and Vorlers are an excellent example of why we enforce them so harshly. Stamp them out before they become a true problem. Who wants a second set of Vorlers? Anyone?¡±


    She looked around the room challengingly, and sharply nodded her head.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought. With any luck, this will be the last time I see any of you.¡±


    She sharply turned on her heels, and strode out of the room.


    Marcelle clapped her hands to get our attention back, every eye having followed Ren¡¯s journey.


    ¡°I completely support Ren in this. Do not make new species. Best case, you create magical termites that eat every building on the Island. We have records of that happening. Worst case, you make a new set of Vorlers, and generations will curse your name. Now! Let us discuss the tiers of biomancy.¡±


    Marcelle gestured, and a display of her notes appeared behind her. I started furiously writing.


    ¡°The absolute lowest level of biomancy overlaps with transfiguration and transformation, that is, small, temporary changes to the body, that¡¯ll revert themselves.¡±


    Turning my finger into a talon was also a biomancy trick. Got it.


    ¡°I don¡¯t generally consider that to be biomancy. Biomancy, to me, truly starts when the changes are permanent. For a given definition of permanent.¡±


    Marcelle sighed.


    ¡°Biomancy is complicated, and there are rarely easy answers or straightforward methods for anything. Simply explaining the different types of biomancy is convoluted! Let us touch on healing for a moment, another art closely related to biomancy. Fundamentally, healing works on an image to image basis. We don¡¯t care about the healer¡¯s image for this, we are going to discuss the System¡¯s image of us. One popular theory of healing at this time, is the System has a ¡®blueprint¡¯, for lack of a better word, of what our bodies are supposed to look like, and healing restores a person to that blueprint. I¡¯m not going to get terribly in-depth on the details of this theory - take a basic healing course if you¡¯d like to learn more, or go to the library - but that¡¯s the fundamentals you need to understand.¡±


    ¡°Now, when I say basic biomancy makes changes permanent, I mean from a purely biological standpoint. I can transform into a bat, and the transformation will not wear off with time.¡±


    Marcelle twirled in her robes, the purple fabric falling away to reveal a bat, her poofy hat having shrunk to fit on her new size.


    Marcelle¡¯s voice was higher pitched, but still perfectly understandable. She swooped back and forth in front of the class as she continued to lecture.


    ¡°The biomancy I¡¯ve just performed means I¡¯ll stay like this for the rest of my natural life. Or until a healer restores me to my natural form. To the healers taking this class, be careful! You can kill someone trying to heal them back to their true form if you lack the proper power and control. I want you all to imagine that you only healed my chest down back to vampire, and that vampire body is attached to a bat half.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t hard to imagine, and I shuddered. There¡¯d be so many things going wrong, I didn¡¯t know where to start. I must¡¯ve missed the initial ¡°Biomancy is dangerous, dangerous stuff¡± at the start of the lecture. Not that I needed that lecture. I knew enough biology to know what a tiny, incorrect change could do to the body.


    ¡°The third stage of biomancy tells the System that this new form of mine is ¡®real¡¯, and for any healing applied to me will return me to this form.¡±


    Fascinating.


    Oh! That¡¯s what went wrong earlier! When I tried to transform my finger into a talon, my [Persistent Casting] of [Dance with the Heavens] instantly returned my finger to its ¡°correct¡± configuration! A single-digit [Dabble] skill had nothing on my [Oath]-empowered custom-built panacea skill. No wonder nothing happened!


    Ugh.


    That also meant if I wanted to do any sort of self-modification practice, I¡¯d need to turn off my permanent cast, and that skill was a gigantic pain to reset. Although, I suppose that could make practicing the skill easier in some ways? Just keep casting it again and again to grind experience points, not needing to ¡®reset¡¯ since that was automatically done for me?


    Things to plot later. Although, dropping my persistent casting would get me back in the habit of properly forming images, which was important with all the comparative anatomy and new species I was handling, and¡­


    Later.


    ¡°The fourth stage of biomancy is where things start to get a little dicey, but is generally accepted. Granting heritable traits to another.¡±


    My quill almost stopped at that.


    Biomancy could do what?!


    ¡°The fifth stage are chimeras, amalgams of creatures that shouldn¡¯t exist. The line between ¡®an improved creature¡¯ and a chimera is fuzzy, but it¡¯s generally where so many different creatures are put together that it¡¯s no longer clear what the base is. A griffin is one example of what a chimera could look like, being half-eagle, half-lion, but of course, they are not chimeras. One of the defining features of a chimera is they don¡¯t breed true. If they do? We arrive at our last stage, and the one that¡¯ll get the Inquisition quite mad at you.¡±


    ¡°The last stage, and I¡¯m covering it simply for the sake of completeness, was what Ren was talking about. Not just granting traits that can be passed down, but creating an entirely new species. The beastkin are famously supposed to have been one Immortal¡¯s project, and we all know about vorlers.¡±


    ¡°As I said earlier, biomancy is extremely demanding, more so than healing, and requires more classes than nearly any other Track. The other part that makes biomancy difficult is you need all the classes to be successful. Fail to do well in a course, and you¡¯ll just kill people instead of helping them.¡±


    ¡°Let us begin¡­¡±


    The good thing about all the biomancy classes though?


    Near perfect overlap with all the medical classes I needed.


    I was doing a lot of sprinting, but classes were finally over. Seven classes in a row, 14 straight hours of learning, and I was fried. It was only day one to boot!


    Eh.


    I¡¯d adapt.


    I made my way over to Auri¡¯s school, picking her up after a long day. Her hat was crooked and slightly stained, all the marks of having had an absolute BLAST of a day.


    ¡°How was it?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt¡­¡± Auri suspiciously looked up at the sky.


    I rolled my eyes.


    ¡°It stopped raining ages ago!¡±


    ¡°Brrrrrrpt¡­¡­¡±


    ¡°Oh please don¡¯t tell me you gave Bridget a hard time about the rain.¡± I stepped out of the building, starting to navigate towards food - then home. All those buildings being on roughly the same side of campus was a big help.


    ¡°BRPT! Brrpt brrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRrrrrrrrPT!¡±


    ¡°You really like her?¡±


    ¡°BRPT!¡±


    ¡°Lots of fun?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!!!¡±


    ¡°Learned lots?¡±


    ¡°Brrrrpt.¡±


    ¡°Like what?¡±


    Auri regaled me with all sorts of interesting things she¡¯d learned, and slowly cut off mid-sentence.


    ¡°Brrr¡­. rrrrrrr¡­.. rpt¡±


    Heh. She¡¯d fallen asleep.


    I got in line for food, mentally noting that I was going to be late for work as a result. However, it wasn¡¯t just my nutrition at risk here, but Auri¡¯s as well, and Auri missing a meal because of my suboptimal planning was unacceptable.


    Enough food to make up for missing meals, snacks for tomorrow, and a ¡®liberated¡¯ jug filled with fruit juice later, I was tucking Auri into a little nest she¡¯d made in my room. I only had time to grab a few quick bites myself, all too aware that I was already pushing it.


    I left the door open a crack - Auri hated being locked in a room, and I dreaded to find out what would happen if she ever was locked in - and sprinted over to the library, which was not on the same side of campus as my dorm.


    Hopefully I wouldn¡¯t be too late.


    The library. A peaceful, calm place - and us helpers were empowered to keep it that way. [Shush] was a favorite, a high-level [Librarian¡¯s] powerful skill that any one of us in the library could activate to create a targeted, weak bubble of silence around the offender.


    I brought my notes from the day with me, and after the initial rush of people wanting to get some early studying - not too many people, just the ones who were on top of things - and I was left mostly to my own devices.


    Which meant I could look ready and attentive at the front desk, while reading my class notes.


    It was a little surreal.


    Here I was, Sentinel Dawn of the Remus Empire, formerly the most powerful human healer in existence¡­ working at a library desk, reading over my notes. The levels came quickly and easily.


    [*ding!* [Study] Leveled up! 1->11]


    In a cruel twist, successfully studying caused notifications that distracted me from studying.


    After going over everything thrice - and mentally wondering if I should take a [Drawing] skill to improve my diagrams, they sucked - I closed my notes.


    I still had my new skill, [Runic Scribing]. I hadn¡¯t gotten a chance to test it yet, and we hadn¡¯t gotten any runes in class. Just an overview.


    ¡°Hey Martin, I¡¯m going to prowl around if you don¡¯t mind.¡± I told my demon boss.


    He shrugged.


    ¡°It¡¯s quiet, suit yourself. Don¡¯t be afraid to break up couples getting it on, it happens far too often.¡±


    I could instantly understand how and why that would happen, but I kept my mouth shut.


    I briskly walked over to the wizardry reference section that had gotten pointed out to me before, the overflowing stack. While I wasn¡¯t looking for something in the pile of papers, the area did have a number of reference books.


    Figuring the shorter, the better, I found a reference book on Jiwa, figuring ¡®one rune that does it all¡¯ would be easier to sort out and figure than ¡®needs a lot of runes, and to think about them.¡¯


    Keeping it simple.


    I hauled the book back to the desk, Martin giving an amused snort at how quickly I¡¯d come back with a book, but otherwise didn¡¯t say anything. Clearly an accepted practice.


    I flipped the book open to the first page. On the left side was a detailed description of the result of the rune, while on the right was the rune itself, in all its glory.


    Yesh: Rune of protection. Snaps a spherical Brilliance barrier around the focal point of the rune. Lasts approximately ten minutes, or until mana runs out, whichever occurs first. Air-permeable. Works best against light projectiles, liquids, and the like.


    That sounded a bit too large and flashy for an initial practice rune. I didn¡¯t want to stop anyone from getting to the desk, and Martin might be annoyed that I was making glowing bubbles in the middle of the library.


    Actually, I should be doing this at the Firing Range. Well, trying to use it. Finding the right rune, and practicing drawing it should be fine here.


    Sirmon. Cuskun. Zulilbind. Riwrord. Lakae. I flipped through the pages, rune after rune, looking for a suitably harmless rune, that also looked easy enough to make.


    Eventually I settled on Mes, a basic rune of light. The diagram was simple enough, and I opened my notebook to a fresh page. Line by line, stroke by stroke, I copied the figure over, remembering how Lothar had mentioned meta-skills to help with drawing runes.


    I didn¡¯t have any of those, and I doubted I¡¯d take one even if I had the slot.


    I finished the rune with only a few interruptions, and critically looked at my efforts, versus the original.


    Wasn¡¯t good enough. Wasn¡¯t close.


    I sighed, flipping the page over, and starting again.


    [*ding!* [Repetition is the Mother of Learning] Leveled up! 1 -> 2]


    The second time was easier. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was because of the skill, or because I was getting better at it, but there was nothing like practice and repetition to improve.


    I staggered back to my room, exhausted and fried after a long, long day.


    [*brrring!* Study time! Let¡¯s review everything!]


    I mentally cursed past-me, and her penchant for making alarms for everything.


    [*brrring!* I know you¡¯re probably cursing me right now, but look. You know we need to do this, and doing it now is better than doing it later. You know I¡¯m right.]


    I knew myself too well.


    I plopped down into my chair, hit myself with a hefty dose of [Sunrise], and was pleasantly surprised.


    [*ding!* [Celestial Affinity] Leveled up! 484 -> 485]


    [*ding!* [Sunrise] Leveled up! 411 -> 412]


    Must¡¯ve finally passed a stacked experience threshold.


    I quickly debated what to spend my time working on, and figured one last quick skim of everything I¡¯d done so far today was the proper way of doing things. Whatever habits I set today, I¡¯d mimic the rest of my time at the School, and I might as well get things done right.


    I went over my notes, levels dinging in my ear. The sound was like music, the blessed trumpets letting me know I was doing the right thing, that I was on the right track, and I was successfully improving myself in several areas. After stagnating for so long, it was great to be making progress once again.


    The only thing I skipped was practicing transforming my fingers around. I wasn¡¯t quite ready to drop my [Persistent Casting].


    I was ready to do wizardry though.


    I was skipping ahead a bit. We¡¯d gotten a lecture on how wizardry worked in the larger sense, but not getting into the fine details.


    I tore out a piece of paper from my notebook, and packed everything away neatly for tomorrow. I wanted to rush and just do it, but [Organization] was prodding me along to properly plan and prepare for the future. To keep things neat, tidy, and organized.


    [*ding!* [Organization] Leveled up! 11 -> 12]


    I wasn¡¯t entirely sure how my skill worked, but that¡¯s what experimenting and practice was for. I focused on [Runic Scribing], putting my quill to the parchment, and starting to trace out the rune one more time.


    Instead of black ink, glowing yellow lines came from my quill, etching themselves into the paper. Loop after swirl, line after squiggle, curls and slashes, stroke by stroke the rune came together on my paper. My earlier practice paid off, dozens of rejects and failed attempts bringing me to the point where I could neatly trace out a single, well-practiced rune.


    My dexterity was pulling its weight as well.


    I kept an eye on my mana, and rarely I¡¯d see it flicker and lose a point before regenerating it again. It cost mana to scribe, but at such a low rate that it wasn¡¯t worth mentioning.


    The last stroke was completed, and I looked over my masterpiece, glowing on the page.


    [*ding!* [Runic Scribing] Leveled up! 1->2]


    My only surprise was I got one level, not more. But wait, there was more!


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Butterfly Mystic] has leveled up to level 357->358! +8 Strength, +8 Dexterity, +70 Speed, +70 Vitality, +70 Mana, +70 Mana Regen, +70 Magic power, +70 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Strength, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    YES! At long last! [Butterfly Mystic] leveled up! Flitting around to the School, taking as many classes as I could, learning and practicing new magics was the KEY! The secret to success, the experience for the levels! I wondered how many levels in [Butterfly Mystic] I could get if I was getting one on my first day. I couldn¡¯t hope to get too many, but learning and experimenting with dozens of different types of magics was exactly what the class wanted to do! All my capped skills also leveled up, which was nice.


    I had to wonder if [Student] was siphoning off a chunk of the experience, and my knowledge told me, yes, it was. Still, I had high hopes for [Butterfly Mystic] going forward.


    Also, wait.


    [Butterfly Mystic] leveled?


    That had to mean Auri had enough experience to be over level 358. Interesting that the System ¡°counted¡± stored experience like that. What if she took a class that was wildly inappropriate, and failed to level that much? Would I just stop leveling? I couldn¡¯t imagine my experience getting reverted.


    I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, trying to struggle through the feelings of just how unfair Auri¡¯s leveling speed was. How hard I¡¯d worked to get just a fraction of the way there. She was Auri. She was my little friend. One day I¡¯d be the anchor on her absurd leveling. She¡¯d gotten full experience from being in the fae realm, and [Butterfly Mystic] had probably loved traveling through the fae, all of the experience funneled to Auri once again.


    I proudly looked at my rune.


    Trying to ignore [Something Doesn¡¯t Look Right] nagging me.


    I sighed, crumpled up the paper, and incinerated it with a flash of Radiance. Improperly drawn runes could go bad, and I didn¡¯t want to find out how this rune could go bad. In theory, it couldn¡¯t go wrong without mana being applied, but I wasn¡¯t about to trust that.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± A sleepy Auri woke up, asking what I was doing.


    ¡°Just doing some practice. Wanna burn my mistakes?¡±


    ¡°BRPT!¡±


    [*brrrring!* Study time¡¯s over! Time to play with Auri!]


    Well, having Auri burn my mistakes as she watched was playing with her, in a way. She seemed happy and curious, so¡­


    Five more tries, and I finally got a working rune.


    Just in time for past-me to ruin my day.


    [*brrrring!* Time to sleep! We¡¯ll regret it in the morning if we don¡¯t close our eyes now.]


    Regret, smergret, I wanted to see if my wizardry worked.


    I wasn¡¯t quite sure how to activate the rune, but I¡¯d gotten a few lessons earlier today. First things first though, I put my finger on it, trying to ¡®connect¡¯ to it like I¡¯d connected with my old armor¡¯s inscriptions, and feed it mana.


    No luck.


    I took out my wand, looking over it carefully. I didn¡¯t see gem sockets on it, which made me think it was the type of wand that worked with wizardry.


    I spent a moment thinking about it, before holding it in my left hand. My right was usually where I held a sword or spear, and I was sure I¡¯d need to fight again. Might as well get used to casting with my left hand.


    I focused, this time feeling things ¡®click¡¯, and I sent a small trickle of mana through my wand, into my rune. It started glowing brightly, then morphing and changing shape as the magic took hold. The sheet of paper I¡¯d written it on burned up.


    I had a quick moment to realize this was my chance to impress Auri. I went with a classic.


    ¡°Let there be light.¡± I declared, as the rune finished turning into a bright sphere of blindingly white light.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 22]


    [Mana: 583,290/583,290]


    [Mana Regen: 275,561 (+522,957)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 349]


    [Strength: 982]


    [Dexterity: 2,078]


    [Vitality: 14,550]


    [Speed: 14,582]


    [Mana: 58,329]


    [Mana Regeneration: 58,431 (+52,296)]


    [Magic Power: 23,089 (+592,233)]


    [Magic Control: 23,116 (+592,925)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 513]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 485]


    [Cosmic Presence: 315]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 11]


    [Center of the Universe: 451]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 513]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 513]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 471]


    [Sunrise: 412]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 358]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 358]


    [Radiance Resistance: 358]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 358]


    [Runic Scribing: 4]


    [Nectar: 358]


    [Solar Corona: 358]


    [Scintillating Ascent: 337]


    [Kaleidoscope: 358]


    [Class 3: [Student of the Ages - Wood: Lv 32]]


    [Wood Affinity: 15]


    [Learning Languages: 32]


    [Dabble: 12]


    [Something Doesn''t Look Right: 21]


    [Timekeeping: 16]


    [Organization: 12]


    [Repetition is the Mother of Learning: 14]


    [Study: 11]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 376]


    [Immortal Recollections: 300]


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 128]


    [: ]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 513]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 513]


    [Persistent Casting: 315]


    [Passionate Learning: 383]

 Chapter 344 - The Second Day of Class, and the rest

    [*brrrrring!* Wake up! Time for class!]


    [*brrrrring!* No for real.]


    [*brrrrring!* Future me, I swear if you¡¯re not up by now¡­ we made these alarms for a reason!]


    I groaned and rolled out on the last alarm, smacking myself with [Sunrise]. Another day, another set of classes. To practice!


    ¡°Abjuration is the fine art of protection. Any fool can grab a shield. Any idiot can throw up a barrier. Abjuration is so much more than that. Timings. Attack types. Reflections. Barrier load. There are thousands of aspects to protection, and while attacks might not be used that often, there is always demand for shields. Hence, our field of study.¡±


    ¡°Herbalism! The soft breeze carrying the scents of spring, the pure magic that can be unlocked with the right twig and crushed leaf. Let us discuss¡­"


    ¡°Magical Botany is a tricky subject, requiring great attention to detail. Take the famous golden apple. Turns out, there are six! Each one only has a fraction of the powers credited to all of them, and¡­¡±


    ¡°Talismans have the benefit of being single-use items. That is to say, they can skip the entire set of runes required to make an array reusable. There are no considerations on material stress. They take a fraction of the time to write. We will begin with¡­¡±


    ¡°Golems are the peak of the magical world. Need workers? Need security? Anything you can get another person to do, you can just build your own golem instead!¡±


    ¡°Rituals get a bad rap. We will not be dragging virgins to an altar and slicing them open. No, rituals are a term for skills that require doing a bit more than simply activating them, that require additional reagents, and naturally take longer to cast. Can¡¯t just think of using the skill! The benefits are skills that are stronger than they should be, and can have more power than simply your magic power stat. A common example would be¡­¡±


    ¡°Companions! This is the class for people who are already life-bonded with someone else. If you¡¯re not bonded with someone, there¡¯s a different class for that.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡± Auri laughed as a half-dozen people sheepishly got up and left.


    ¡°Right, now that¡¯s done with, my name¡¯s Ashala¡­¡±


    ¡°An array is a subtype of enchantment that multiple people can work on at once. Now, the exact difference between an enchantment and an array is hard to pinpoint. There isn¡¯t a magical line where one is suddenly the other, it¡¯s simply a way of denoting the largest, most complex enchantments.¡±


    ¡°I can teach you how to bottle fortune, harness luck, brew death and even stopper glory - if you have the patience and wit to follow. Potions. We begin.¡±


    ¡°Enchantments! This is a massive field, with hundreds of subspecialities. In this course, we¡¯re going to get an overview of everything enchantments can do. Now, a basic wizard can make most enchantments, but proper [Enchanters] have additional skills to make their lives easier. One example would be¡­.¡±


    ¡°There are tens of thousands of creatures all over the world, and Zoology is the study of them all! The major empires that we divide species into are Elvenoid, Magical, Intelligent Beast, Monster, Minimus, and Plant. Most of these names are self-explanatory. Minimus refers to all creatures too small for the System to grant classes. Within the Elvenoid grouping we have mortal and Immortal subcategories, and from there¡­¡±


    ¡°This is the medicine practical course. For those of you who are new, welcome! Here¡¯s how things work: Every patient in this building is stable, that is to say, they are not at risk of dying before we get to them. As a group, we will round on each patient, and every one of you will examine them, determine what ails them, and what image you would form to properly heal them. We will then share that knowledge and information amongst ourselves, to better learn and improve. Now. Here is our first patient. Let us silently examine her together.¡±


    I looked at the woman lying down on the bed. The fact that she looked slightly pudgy with full armor on suggested that she was a dullahan, and the blackened blast marks radiating from the stump of her left hand told a story of an experiment gone wrong.


    It had been some time since I last needed to properly form an image, and I reveled in the chance and the novelty to think about medicine properly again. Gods, why had I ever stopped? This was a blast!


    I ignored the little voice telling me I¡¯d stopped because pre-working out my problems with [Persistent Casting] was what kept me alive more than once, and I rarely had the luxury of casually and slowly examining a single patient. Even when I did, I¡¯d been so busy that slapping them with a heal and moving on had been the best use of my time.


    Dedicated time to just heal?


    Sign me up every quarter!


    I had too many things I liked, and not enough hours in the day. Grrrrrrrr. Why couldn¡¯t I get some fancy time-warping powers from the fae?


    The first problem was that she was a dullahan, and not a human. My one comparative anatomy course had gone over the skull differences between all the different elvenoids, so I could at least manage to properly adapt that part of my knowledge.


    The rest? I¡¯d have to use human anatomy, and eat the efficiency penalty twice over. Once on the poor image, and a second time on my healing being primarily human-focused, with elvenoids being secondary to my skillset.


    Reconstructing the hand was almost the easy part. The trick was the dozens of tiny little bones in the wrist that I wasn¡¯t sure of the status of. How many were intact? How many had gotten blown off? Which ones were cracked and broken, and needed an image of piecing them back together, instead of a restoring image?


    Were there any shattered bones? Bone fragments lodged in random places that needed to be removed? The blast seemed to have been centered on her hand, which likely drove fragments into her arm.


    Ouch.


    Each question, each detail that I could answer, would improve my image and my efficiency.


    Then there was the alien part of the problem, her armor. What was it made out of? The context clues I¡¯d gathered implied that dullahans had different types of metal armors, and the metal mattered. I was fairly certain that my healing would extend towards fixing her¡­ skin? up, but I just didn¡¯t know.


    Then there was how to fix it. Humans, as a rule, didn¡¯t have skin after it was exposed to a large explosion. Our patient did, with blackened, charred parts to show for it.


    I had to wonder what happened to her organs and bones. Was the armor protective, or did it pass the concussive shock through her system? Was there internal bleeding?


    Well, I could answer that one. There wasn¡¯t any internal bleeding now. She was stable, protected in the hospital environment and whatever skills the people running the place had, on top of being within my own personal rapid-heal aura. Additionally, I couldn¡¯t believe that anyone would risk someone bleeding out just for some students to get a lesson. While a concussive blast like the one she went through might cause internal bleeding, I knew she didn¡¯t have any now. One more piece of the puzzle completed!


    Damaged, bruised, or lacerated organs were a risk though, and any image I had would need to take that into account.


    ¡°Elaine in the purple robe, would you like to start us off?¡±


    I started and did a double-take, before remembering my blasted manuscripts were my own undoing on the name thing. I gave a resigned sigh, but happily started narrating my thoughts on the matter.


    ¡°The obvious injury is to the patient¡¯s hand, likely due to an explosive going off that the patient was holding onto. From there, the most serious injuries are to her hand, with numerous secondary to¡­¡±


    The nice thing about sharing like this?


    I got to find out how dullahan armor worked, and the proper image needed to fix it.


    Teamwork away!


    ¡°Basic geography. We know the world is a sphere, a spinning marble on the vast tapestry of space. There are two continents, one northern, one southern. We live on the southern continent - well, when we¡¯re not on the island, at least - as you can see here on this map. The world is split into a number of nations¡­¡±


    ¡°Today we will be discussing sympathy! Occasionally it¡¯s called voodoo, but sympathy is the proper name for the field.¡±


    I pushed the pair of sticks on my desk off to the side, hoping for a practical lesson later, but needing the writing room now.


    ¡°To start, I want to discuss the three major types of magic, to better understand where sympathy lands. There is sorcery, sympathy, and wizardry.¡±


    I took dutiful notes.


    ¡°Speed. Flexibility. Power. Pick any two, and you get one of the major magical disciplines.¡± The professor twirled his hand, words appearing behind him, three overlapping circles wrapping up two of the three words.


    ¡°Speed. Power. That is sorcery, the System-granted skills that you¡¯re able to immediately fire off with a thought.¡± He explained.


    ¡°Flexibility. Power. That is wizardry. Drawing mandalas and preparing spells is slow work, and I¡¯m not even going to touch the education requirements. Needless to say, nothing in wizardry happens particularly quickly, or at least without significant preparation time.¡±


    I nodded. How many hours had I spent just to cast a single rune? Jiwa was easy mode to boot.


    ¡°Lastly is sympathy. Flexibility. Speed. This branch of magic is one of the weakest, but it makes up for it by being whatever you need, whenever you need it. Imagination is critical, as well as having a ready source of fuel.¡±


    He hesitated a moment, and plowed on.


    ¡°Some of the professors hem and haw at what¡¯s suitable to teach students. Bah! You wouldn¡¯t be here if you didn¡¯t have gumption and grit! In an emergency, your own body heat and fat are an easy, abundant source of fuel. You can easily kill yourself, but it beats getting killed.¡±


    My mind raced at all the possibilities.


    Fire was an easy, obvious answer. A Fire mage would have near endless energy to use as fuel.


    ¡°With sympathy, as you impact one object, a second object is also impacted. Like so.¡±


    The professor picked up one of the two sticks in front of him, and threw one up in the air, where it hovered in place. He took the second stick, and showed the entire class the stick in his hand.


    He then broke the stick with his hands, and high up in the air, the second stick broke in the exact same spot.


    I narrowed my eyes to get a better view.


    It had broken in the exact same way.


    ¡°Now, let us talk about the basic sympathy construct, and the needed ingredients. Link. Image. Action.¡± The professor drew the three words in front of him, and I made sure I had plenty of space on my paper to take notes on each one.


    ¡°Like begets like! The worse the link, the greater the distance involved, and the worse the energy transfer will be.¡± He explained. ¡°A stick broken in half is nearly perfect with each other, while a dustball and a sword share nearly nothing in common. Attempting sympathy with the second will result in a headache at best.¡±


    My quill continued to take notes.


    ¡°Then you have to imagine what you¡¯re doing to both objects. Also, the better you imagine how the two objects are alike, the better your efficiency.¡±


    He waited a moment for quills to stop scratching on paper.


    ¡°Lastly, you have to act on the pieces in question.¡±


    A student¡¯s hand shot up.


    ¡°From what you¡¯re saying, it¡¯ll always be easier to just impact the object you want to affect directly, instead of going the sympathetic route?¡±


    I almost did a double-take at the question, noting the student. He was sharp. I hadn¡¯t picked up on that!


    The professor nodded.


    ¡°Exactly! Which naturally begs the question, why study sympathy at all?¡±


    He grinned and tapped the side of his head.


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to use your imagination to solve that one! If you can¡¯t figure out a reason to use it, then you lack the proper imagination to be good at it.¡±


    At the end of the lecture, I was staring at the stick in my hand, trying to form the proper image.


    The two sticks were one. The same thing. What I did to one wouldn¡¯t happen to the other, no. I was simply impacting both at the same time.


    I was strong enough to snap the stick easily. I took it slowly though, steadily ramping up the amount of strength I was using to get a good feel for how hard sympathy was.


    And ramping up.


    I gritted my teeth and really leaned into it, applying the full force of my strength to the task. The sticks finally snapped, and I sagged with relief.


    I only gave myself a brief moment to pause, before narrowing my eyes at the deceptively hard-to-snap stick. Experimentally, without using [Dabble], I tried to snap the half of the stick again.


    It barely took a thought.


    I was no expert, but that must¡¯ve been what, 30, 40 times as easy to break the stick without sympathy?


    I suspected my abysmally weak [Dabble] skill stretching itself into yet another school was responsible, but I was unimpressed.


    The school of magic had potential, but I was getting stretched thin.


    ¡°Astronomy! We¡¯re mostly a fun class, watching the other planets. Great for working on your [Celestial Affinity] skill, or getting a [Stargazer] class! Ok, a bit unusually, what we can do is entirely dependent on the island¡¯s schedule. I believe we¡¯re due for a nice set of nighttime classes halfway through the quarter, but until then, this class is more on the academic side.¡±


    I wanted to collapse after another exhausting day of non-stop material. Instead, I dragged myself over to my desk.


    ¡°I need to study¡­¡± I had a pounding headache that no amount of healing was fixing. Just sheer brain overload.


    ¡°Brrrpt? BRPT!¡±


    ¡°Wait, yeah. I gotta cut down on classes!¡± I perked up a bit at that. ¡°And if I cut a class, it means I don¡¯t need to study for it.¡±


    ¡°Brrrrpt.¡± Auri was smug with her contribution.


    I looked at my schedule, and at the two dozen classes on it.


    ¡°Ok my little genius, how do I do this?¡± Thinking hurt, and Auri was smart and capable. I trusted that her advice would get me thinking in a good direction, if nothing else.


    ¡°Brrrrrrrpt! BRPT.¡±


    ¡°A ranked list! Perfect! And yes, the companion class is TOTALLY staying.¡± It was one class that both Auri and I had ¡®together¡¯, some time to play and learn from professor Ashala.


    Wizardry quickly made the cut, along with my Medicine class. Enchanting went on the list, while I ditched Talismans and Rituals. Arrays ended up in the middle of the list, but it shared the same time slot with golems, also in the middle. That would be tricky.


    Sympathy ended up near the bottom of the middle section. I was enjoying it, but it wasn¡¯t lighting up my life. Between wizardry and sorcery, I had everything covered, I didn¡¯t need a third school of magic.


    Biomancy easily made the cut, divination being terrible. I decided to group herbalism, potions, and magical botany together, the three courses being synergistic, but then I¡¯d be eating into Enchanting.


    Astronomy died a quiet death. I was always able to see the night sky on my own, and the Observatory was open often enough. I could self-study it another quarter.


    In the end, my major conflict was between the ¡®potioneering¡¯ branch of study, and the ¡®enchanting¡¯ branch of study. I could pick one or the other, and by memory, both were long tracks, filled with optional courses, side-studies, and little tricks and quirks.


    Did I want to focus on making potions, or learn how to properly enchant a sword?


    A review of my notes, and my prior desires, made the answer blindingly clear.


    My [Runic Scribing] skill was basic, as simple as they got. Wizardry, and the offshoot fields, enchanting, talismans, arrays, and the like, were all about that simple skill. Dedicated wizardry classes or enchanting classes had the skill as their premier skill, and the remaining skill slots were support skills.


    Like when I¡¯d seen the professor generate a huge chunk of wizardry in the middle of his demonstration - it was a support skill to the main skill.


    It was similar to how [Radiance Conjuration] was my main sorcery skill, with [Nectar] and [Solar Corona] being support skills, or how Artemis had [Earth Manipulation] as her primary skill. I didn¡¯t need support skills, but they made life a heck of a lot easier.


    I could get away with just [Runic Scribing], and not have a single shortcut. I could enchant swords, needing to manually engrave every rune. I could cast spells, having no skills to help me remember runes, or to smooth or speed up my writing. It would be hard.


    But I could do it.


    Potions, on the other hand, would require a full, dedicated class to them. I¡¯d need to evolve [Student of the Ages] into an [Alchemist] variant, and I had to admit, there was some minor synergy between my classes and [Alchemist]. Notably, I was entirely immune to fumes, accidental poisonings and the like, while my Radiance magic and control would let me perfectly heat cauldrons up.


    It would be a ton of work and expenses, and I was still hoping to get a hobby class for my third class once I¡¯d figured it out.


    Cultivation fit, although I still needed to go do some research on what the catch was, and why everyone wasn¡¯t a cultivator. Problem was time. I had my hands full already just keeping up with everything, and researching higher priority items.


    The class itself could tell me what the catch was, and if there wasn¡¯t?


    Well, I didn¡¯t have a good cultivation starting class, however, I knew I could direct a class I¡¯d taken in that direction, and side-step into it. Like, if I somehow hit my head and took [Paragon of Patience], at level 32, assuming I did the right things while leveling up the class, I could get a class like [Cultivating Patience], and work from there.


    Magical Botany made the cut purely because of [Snapdragon]. It was on my shortlist of classes to take, and I wanted to know more about plants before making a decision.


    With that worked out, the rest of my classes fell into place, Sympathy squeezing into an open slot, and I had a schedule.


    Companion class


    Comparative Anatomy


    Practical Medicine


    Introduction to Wizardry


    Introduction to Biomancy


    Introduction to Enchanting


    Introduction to Arrays


    Magical Botany


    Introduction to Abjuration


    Cultivation


    Zoology


    Basic geography


    Sympathy


    12 classes. Not the worst, and I even got a couple of two-hour windows opened up throughout the week! That should dramatically help depressurize things, and give me a few chances to eat food at normal times, and get some studying in so it wasn¡¯t all last second cramming at the end of the day, or sneaking in some time when the library was quiet.


    ¡°Does this look good to you Auri?¡± I asked my little pyro.


    She tilted her head at the list.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ¡°I want to improve my shield down the line, and it links back to wizardry.¡±


    ¡°Brpt.¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°BRPT!¡±


    ¡°Alright, alright, I¡¯ll remove sympathy.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡±


    Happy that she¡¯d ¡®helped¡¯ me along, Auri fluffed up in her little ¡®nest¡¯ she¡¯d made on my desk. One of my top priorities, even before a second set of clothes, was to get her a better nest.


    Gods, Auri was the best thing that ever happened to me. My little light in the darkness.


    My only friend here.


    I stripped, having no pajamas to change into, flopping onto the hard mattress with the thin sheets.


    Gods.


    I was exactly where I wanted to be, having the time of my life.


    Keeping busy.


    Keeping myself distracted.


    I wasn¡¯t quite tired enough to simply pass out, instead my treacherous brain reminding me of my old, soft bed.


    The bed I¡¯d grown up with, shared with my parents in our small home.


    The sheets I¡¯d wrapped myself up with in the Argo, the Ranger¡¯s wagon. I¡¯d never asked the story of the Ranger who¡¯d briefly been on their team and died, whose equipment I¡¯d used. It was too morbid, I didn¡¯t want to know.


    Now everyone was dead. Everyone except a few people, of which only Auri was here.


    I turned over, facing the wall as I wept, my brain once again betraying me in numerous ways.


    Focus on Auri.


    Focus on my light.

 Chapter 345 - Interlude - Auri - Burn the tears, burn the world

    Elaine woke up thrashing, fighting with her sheets like they wanted to strangle her. She bolted upright with a wild look in her eyes, panting and sweating.


    I cracked an eye open, pretending to ¡®wake up¡¯. Sneaky Auri! Stealthy Auri!


    Quiet Auri. Elaine needs her sleep! All the sleep! She¡¯s always super tired, and see, SEE! Big yawn. Huge ashy spots under her eyes.


    Not enough sleep, oh no. My big friend needs more sleep! Maybe that¡¯ll make her happy.


    ¡°Morning¡­¡± I made sure my chirp was tired, all sleepy like.


    I stretched out my wings as Elaine stumbled out of bed, then froze as she started to put on her robes.


    ¡°No! Wrong!¡± I flew up at her. ¡°Burning time first!¡± If I didn¡¯t remind her, she¡¯d forget!


    Burning time was fun. Trying to burn Elaine was funny! She didn¡¯t burn, no matter what I did, and it helped my skills!


    She blinked at me, like one of those poor owls.


    They didn¡¯t do well with fire, but they were SUPER quiet.


    ¡°You sure? There¡¯s just so much to do¡­¡±


    I made a few little flames hover around me. Reds! Yellows! Whites! Pinks! Purples! Even three blues!


    I¡¯d totally destinkify Elaine here, and she knew it. I¡¯d done it before!


    She muttered and shook her head. I narrowed my eyes at her hair.


    I needed to figure out how to use a ¡°comb¡±. I could carry it in my claws, but I couldn¡¯t get it moving through Elaine¡¯s hair. It kept getting tangled!


    No fair!


    And I couldn¡¯t even burn the hair for getting in my way!


    ¡°Alright, alright, let¡¯s go.¡±


    Elaine¡¯s shoulders slumped - weary? Subtle emotions were haaaaaaaard - but she walked across the hall anyways, over to the burning room.


    [Immolate]! WHOOOOSH! Flames everywhere, just the way the world should be.


    Flames drying Elaine¡¯s tears, the ones she thought I couldn¡¯t see. She was nice, trying to make me feel happy like that.


    Ha! Water was evil! I could spot its traces from¡­ very far away! Then burn it away!


    Fire 1!


    Water 0!


    Bridget was very nice. Not as nice as Elaine, but nice! She helped me find some classes! Yes!


    One important class told me that I should have offensive skills! Then I can burn TWICE AS MUCH.


    Good class.


    My juice ran out, and Elaine¡¯s morning burning was over. Elaine went back to her room to get dressed, and I flew through the hallways! Zoom! Zip! Back and forth! Under Varuna¡¯s legs! Over Iona¡¯s friend¡¯s head! Staying far away from Reinhard!


    Reinhard was scary. How did the others not see it??


    Oh wait.


    Only I had [See Magic], because I was the only one smart enough to take the skill!


    I had to [See Magic] to [Burn Magic]. It only made sense! Yes!


    Hmmm.


    I was the smartest, yes.


    I needed to make Elaine happy, yes. She worked so hard for me!


    It was time for me to solve Elaine being happy, once and for all! It hadn¡¯t worked yesterday, but yesterday-Auri wasn¡¯t a very smart bird. Today-Auri was much smarter! A genius!


    Elaine reading and learning lots helped. Bits of knowledge slowly drifted into my mind.


    Elaine worked SO HARD! It was impressive, worthy of ME!


    Ok, make Elaine happy.


    Hmmm.


    HMMMMMMMMMM.


    Somehow, nothing I¡¯d done so far worked. Who here was happy?


    Reinhard - too scary.


    Fenrir - YES! But I had already checked ALL THE THINGS he did, and none of them worked on Elaine!


    Skye - always looked a tiny bit sad.


    Iona - Yes, she was happy.


    Iona¡¯s friend, now leaving - Yes, also happy.


    Varuna - SUPER HAPPY.


    ¡°Auri! Let¡¯s go!¡±


    ¡°Ok!¡± I flew over to Elaine, in her poofy purple hat! Nice hat!


    ¡°My hat?¡± I asked her expectantly. Hats were fun! Made for people with fingers, which was all sorts of silly. People with wings deserved hats as well!


    ¡°Here! Let¡¯s not lose this one.¡± No! Elaine! Why did you remind me! That day was terrible, I lost my hat!!!


    I tilted my beak up. Elaine had clever fingers! Snip! Snap! I wanted fingers!


    [*Rejoice!* Oh most wondrous of birds, brightest flame in all the lands, you have leveled up a skill! [Brrretty] has gone from 103 to 104!]


    ¡°Yay! Levels!¡±


    ¡°Oh yay! High five!¡± Elaine put her hand up. I flew over, and BAM! Smacked it with my wing!


    ¡°High five!¡±


    I landed on Elaine¡¯s shoulder, and we left for the day!


    ¡®Day.¡¯ This place was so silly! It didn¡¯t know when the greatest flame went into the sky, and when it left! Like, duh, just look outside!


    Well¡­ that would be hard today, yes. We were flying through a storm! A big, GINORMOUS storm! This place had shields, and I could watch the storm without getting wet! Brilliant! Clever! They should do it for all storms, and not let the nasty rain come in.


    Whyyyyyy they ever let that happen, I¡¯ll never know. One day I¡¯ll find out who¡¯s in charge of this place! Yes! And I¡¯ll tell them it¡¯s bad! It should be only dry!


    Oh.


    Hmmm.


    But wait.


    Some people liked rain¡­ and there were water creatures¡­


    Maybe¡­ maybe I should be nice and let them have some fun¡­?


    Hmmmm.


    HMMMMM.


    NOPE!


    Only fire and flames! Unless Elaine wanted something else!


    The storm was SO COOL though. Black roiling clouds! Lightning! Thunder! Gigantic four-winged shapes in the middle!


    ¡°Thunderbirds.¡± Elaine whispered in awe. ¡°I always wanted to see one.¡±


    Big birds! LIGHTNING birds!


    They were OK.


    Would having lightning sparks fly off me make me look prettier?


    Hmmmm.


    HMMMMM.


    YES!


    Lightning would make me look prettier! Yes, good, GOOD!


    Ok! Back to thinking on ¡®how to make Elaine happy again.¡¯


    Varuna was happy. What did Varuna do?


    She¡­ ate a lot.


    Could that make Elaine happy? Was she eating enough?


    No, wait, silly bird! This was yesterday-Auri level thinking! I had already done food when checking with Fenrir! He ate food and flew lots! Elaine ate food and flew lots! I needed today-Auri level thinking!


    Varuna¡­ also ran a lot? But Elaine also ran lots and lots every day. She ran to class, she ran between classes, she also spent almost an hour running EVERY DAY! There was a whole class for it! First thing in the fake-morning, every day!


    This required ADVANCED thinking! I needed a thinking cap!


    Oh wait!


    We were here!


    Bridget! YAY!


    ¡°Good morning Auri! How are we feeling today?¡±


    ¡°Good! Elaine¡¯s still sad though.¡±


    ¡°Oh no! Here, have an apple.¡± The tree-woman grew a WHOLE APPLE just for ME!


    Not quite a mango, but still sweet and tasty! Yum!


    ¡°We¡¯ve got a ton of fun activities for everyone today! Excited?¡±


    ¡°Yes! Can we go to the fire range today?¡±


    ¡°The firing range?¡±


    BAH. Fire range! Not firing range!


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    ¡°Sure! But we have some other activities to do as well, ok?¡± Bridget was tons of fun! Yay activities!


    ¡°Classes and skills are important. It is critical that you carefully select yours such that you end up being a productive member of society. Now, your parents will be able to guide you more, but I also know some little ears and minds get their own ideas, that you think you know better. Maybe you do. Just don¡¯t take a class like [Wastrel], [Arrogant Young Master], or [Layabout].¡±


    I opened and closed my beak a few times.


    A¡­ productive member of society?


    Elaine had never mentioned something like that!


    But¡­ I knew what that was, because of our shared skill! Yes! The companion skill! She was a SUPER DUPER productive member of society!


    But¡­ what did I do? How did I contribute?


    I didn¡¯t want to be a [Layabout]! That sounded like a wet class!


    I was still thinking about it when I went to the fire range.


    The fire range was the best! A place that gave me endless things to burn AND GAVE ME UNLIMITED JUICE TO DO SO!


    I needed to work on my skills! Yes! They had to be the BIGGEST NUMBER before I classed up! That would give me the best class possible, which would let me burn even brighter!


    I flew over to my special spot, the lightning bolts flashing through the clouds. Boom! Crash! Pretty lights! Only one color though¡­


    My special spot was a pillar of Arcanite! The rock was filled with kindling! So much kindling!


    I looked out at the field. Lots of people here! Whizzing blades! Lava whips! Magic missiles! Crackling lightning, beams of Radiance, clouds of dust and more! So much magic!


    And things to shoot at! Rocks! Flying birds made out of Brilliance! Not-Creatures that looked real, and burned! Sometimes there was Sand blowing through the area, making it hard to shoot! Or it was Dark! Sometimes things stood still, sometimes they were zippy and zoopy!


    Sometimes there were ¡°don¡¯t shoot these¡± targets, little flat kids with crying faces. Bah! If they didn¡¯t want to get shot, why were they in the shooting area??


    Sometimes there were shields protecting things! Had to burn through the shields. It was easy for me, because I was THAT GOOD.


    This place was fun! Clever people making a good playground for me!


    Today had lots and LOTS of wind going through the arena! Everything was tumbling through the air, going off-track! I was smart though. I watched everyone else fail, because they were not as good as me, and I learned! Yes! I would hit my target! There was one not-sparrow that was TOTALLY EVIL! Yes! We shoot the not-sparrow!


    [Burning Orbs]! Three beautiful orbs of resplendent fire popped up around me! Hurray!


    [Domain of Fire] made all fire stronger, and everything else weaker around me. Because that was the natural order of things. WHY this wasn¡¯t already a worldwide thing, I¡¯d find out one day. When Elaine read about it, I learned it.


    But they were my normal flames! My normal flames were the BEST, but I also liked having ALL THE FIRE! Elaine was smart, bringing me to the museum! I got to see lots and lots and lots of different types of fires, and now I could use [Flame Selection]!


    One white, sticky, [Burning Orb]. Naturally sticky!


    One green [Burning Orb] with [Burn Magic] attached! Yay clever me!


    One black orb with spreading flames!


    Three! Three was my limit! For now. One day it would be more.


    Sometimes the people here had a whole THING of what to do first. An order to shooting!


    I only remembered the IMPORTANT part, the end!


    FIRE!!!!


    Pew pew PEW pew PEW! Each orb spat out little bullets of their flames! The little crying kid cutout went WHOOSH! The trees exploded in black flames! The people running the place were running over as the green flames started to eat the fancy magic underlying the fire range!


    If it wasn¡¯t supposed to be on fire, why did they call it the fire range?


    Humph.


    My flames were huge! The best! And all the tasty kindling I was on meant I could keep going and going and GOING! Burn, burn, BURN! Burn until my little heart was satisfied!


    Or until Bridget came back, and we got lunch. Bah. Time limits!


    One day I¡¯d learn how to [Ignite Time]. Then we¡¯d see who the boss was!


    [*Rejoice!* Oh most wondrous of birds, brightest flame in all the lands, you have leveled up a skill! [Burning Orbs] has gone from 79 to 80!]


    [*Rejoice!* Oh most wondrous of birds, brightest flame in all the lands, you have leveled up a skill! [Burn Magic] has gone from 120 to 121!]


    [*Rejoice!* Oh most wondrous of birds, brightest flame in all the lands, you have leveled up a skill! [See Magic] has gone from 21 to 22!]


    [*Rejoice!* Oh most wondrous of birds, brightest flame in all the lands, you have leveled up a skill! [Domain of Fire] has gone from 125 to 126!]


    [*Rejoice!* Oh most wondrous of birds, brightest flame in all the lands, you have leveled up a skill! [Flame Selection] has gone from 41 to 42!]


    Yay!


    My little area of the fire range was now in the right and proper way things should be.


    Ok! New skill practice time! Elaine had this skill, and she was taking a WHOLE CLASS for it! I wanted to be like her! Because she was the best! Her learning helped me get the skill!


    It was time for my grand new skill to make an entrance!


    ¡°[Abjuration!]¡± I grandly announced to anyone who could understand me.


    A flaming shield popped around me! Hurray!


    I puffed up, pleased as an ember in dry twigs, and waited for the notifications. Some of the range people were trying to talk with me, but I ignored them. Brrpt! BRRRPT! They¡¯ll never know I¡¯m saying brrrpt and nodding and completely ignoring them! Silly people who can¡¯t understand me! All the important people can. Elaine! Iona! Fenrir! Bridget!


    Well, Plato didn¡¯t¡­ but he hurt too much to think about¡­


    SHIELD! MAGIC! Focus on that! Wait for the levels to come rolling in, like the sun rolling across the sky!


    And waited¡­


    And waited¡­


    THIS SKILL WAS SO STUPID! AHHHHHH! Why did Elaine like it so much!? It just made a sphere of fire around me, that was it! What was the point??


    I turned off the skill, and made a tiny little ¡®hand¡¯ of solid Inferno flames. Carefully manipulating it, I twisted the clasp of my hat off, then threw it to the ground! I jumped on it a few times for good measure.


    Silly! Stupid! Skill! Who needed a shield of flames!?


    [*Rejoice!* Auri the great, the grand, the glamorous, I come to you with tidings of a new Class Skill for your perusal! Oh mighty phoenix, most heavenly of birds, would you like to take the skill [Mage Hand]?]


    Hmmm.


    HMMMMM.


    The notification needed some work! It wasn¡¯t praising me enough! Most heavenly of birds? No! Most heavenly of all creatures! Yes! There we go! Improvements!


    Also [Abjuration] was stupid, and I¡¯d just stomped on my hat. I needed to put it back on, because hats made me look [Brrretty]!


    I took the skill! Down with [Abjuration]! New skill, make me a hand!


    YAAAAAY! I HAD HANDS! It looked like Elaine¡¯s! No more would I get yelled at for burning through doors! No more would I need to melt lids to get into the juice! Nest material could be done in one trip now, not fifteen!


    And!


    AND!


    I could put my own hat back on!


    [*Rejoice!* Oh most wondrous of birds, brightest flame in all the lands, you have leveled up a skill! [Mage Hand] has gone from 1 to 2!]


    Yes! Getting better skills was the best!


    Oh!


    I should make ALL my skills better!


    Hmmm.


    HMMMMM.


    I should think about it while shooting targets!


    [Burning Quills!] Let¡¯s not burn the magic this time, it made people grumpy and disturb me. Smart Auri! Today-level thinking!


    Hmm. [Burning Quills] was only so-so. It needed to be bigger! Better! What was the biggest, bestest burning thing?


    Elaine knew! Yes! Sometimes there were big flaming rocks that went through the sky! I should have big flame balls like that! I was the best, yes, but my quills weren¡¯t as big or as great as a sky-fire-rock! I should make them like that!


    Wait, not one rock. That was yesterday-Auri thinking. I needed today-Auri thinking. What was better than one rock? ALL THE ROCKS! AND THE ROCKS SHOULD BE FLAMES!!


    [*Rejoice!* Auri the great, the grand, the glamorous, I come to you with tidings of a new Class Skill for your perusal! Oh mighty phoenix, most heavenly of creatures, would you like to take the skill [Auri¡¯s Meteor Storm]?]


    Good, good! The System was praising me like it should! And YES! One meteor storm coming right up!


    Those were screams of joy and excitement at seeing my new skill, right?


    ¡°Auri! Time for lunch!¡± Bridget called me over, a few of the other kids in tow with her.


    Food! Yes! Tasty, tasty food! Elaine liked eating SOOOO much that I also liked eating! It was brilliant!


    But BOO! Lines! I got swatted at when I tried to fly over them, because DUH, how else do you skip the lines, but even BRIDGET said it was wrong! Elaine complained about lines all the time as well, yes!


    Bad lines! Burn the lines!


    But that would be burning lots of people¡­ and I could only burn bad people.


    But the people were making the line¡­ therefore they were bad?


    My logic seemed sound, but everyone kept disagreeing with it. Booooo.


    Food time!


    Yummy!


    Food was great! I liked food! Elaine liked food! Fenrir, Iona, and Varuna liked food!


    Oh! Wait!


    BRILLIANT TODAY-AURI IDEA!


    Maybe Elaine was sad because she was eating the wrong kind of food! Varuna ate hay! Fenrir ate meat! Elaine usually ate mangos, but there weren¡¯t a lot here! Maybe I needed to get Elaine some mangos to make her happy!


    She could even have mine!


    The chef today had a huge poofy hat!


    ¡°Can I get one of those?¡± I asked Bridget.


    ¡°One of what?¡± She asked me.


    ¡°The hats!¡± I pointed my beak right at the big poofy thing on the [Chef¡¯s] head.


    ¡°Well, are you a [Chef]?¡± Bridget asked all too reasonably. She liked asking fun questions to make me think!


    ¡°No¡­¡±


    ¡°Do you want to be one?¡±


    !!!!!!!!!!


    I perked up.


    A [Chef]! That was a brilliant idea!


    Wait, no, even better! A today-Auri idea! An idea that let me be a productive member of society! That would make Elaine happy! That would get me a poofy hat! That would let me use fire all the time!


    Yes! I was a [Once in a Million Years Genius]!


    ¡°Can a [Baker] wear one of the poofy hats?¡±


    Bridget smiled.


    ¡°Of course! Would you like to learn how to bake?¡±


    ¡°YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!¡± I screamed my approval as loudly as I could.


    After all, Stentor was in my name.


    ¡°Auri! Ready to go home? Oh my, you¡¯ve got a cool new hat!¡±


    ¡°Yay! Elaine! You¡¯re back!¡± I flew over to my favorite perch, grabbing my fancy new hat with my fancy new hand. Life was good!


    ¡°Are you a [Cook] now?¡± She asked as we started walking back.


    ¡°No! I¡¯m going to be a [Baker]! I¡¯m going to make you lots of tasty cookies! Because I¡¯m the best!¡±


    I carefully didn¡¯t think about the piles of ash I¡¯d left behind. Nope! That was some bad¡­ [Turn the Cookies to Ash]... water-fish that had done that. Not me.


    ¡°Oh my! A baker! I love chocolate chip cookies. I haven¡¯t had one since¡­ well, forever.¡±


    AHHA! An idea! A food to make Elaine happy! Yes! New mission! Find the cho-co-late chip cookies!


    I needed to figure out ¡®chocolate¡¯ first, but I had a goal! A path to success!


    We made it back home, and Elaine immediately turned around and went to work. This was my chance!


    First!


    Fenrir!


    ¡°Hey! Hey! Fenrir! Let¡¯s play leapfrog!¡±


    ¡°Humrmn?¡±


    ¡°I stand here! You jump over me! Then I jump over you!¡±


    ¡°Ok.¡± Fenrir growled awkwardly. Little Fenrir! Baby Fenrir! He¡¯ll get bigger and better soon!


    Fenrir awkwardly galloped at me, crouching down and leaping over me in a single bound.


    ¡°Yay! You did it! My turn!¡±


    I had wings, it wasn¡¯t cheating. It was fun!


    Over and over we went, down the hall and back. Play time!


    ¡°Hey Auri, Fenrir. Having fun?¡± Iona asked us as she came back.


    ¡°Fun.¡± Fenrir agreed.


    ¡°Lots of fun!¡± I flew up to Iona!


    Wait!


    MORE IDEAS! Today-Auri was full of them! Today was a good day!


    ¡°You make your friends all happy all the time, right, right?¡± I asked Iona.


    She blinked at me. Silly Iona! Be smarter!


    ¡°Yes?¡± She answered.


    ¡°Ok! Good! Make Elaine happy, please?¡±


    Iona sat down on the sofa, and put her head in her hands. She muttered something in a language I didn¡¯t know. Unfair!


    I pecked her! Ha! That¡¯ll teach her to use different languages around me!


    ¡°Alright. I¡¯d love to, uh, make Elaine happy.¡± Iona slowly explained to me.


    ¡°Good! You should do it!¡±


    ¡°But Elaine is very busy.¡±


    I gave Iona the stink-eye.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think she¡¯d appreciate me asking her if I, uh, wanted to make her happy, and it would just add more stress to her. That wouldn¡¯t be very nice of me now, would it? I think she should see a mind-healer. That could help more.¡±


    Hmmmm.


    HMMMMM.


    I continued to give Iona the stink-eye. She¡­ might be right.


    Iona sighed at me, and relaxed back.


    ¡°Look. Speaking frankly. She¡¯s a complete badass. A badass babe.¡±


    Yes, yes, good. I knew I liked Iona for a reason. Keep saying good things about Elaine! And drawing pretty pictures of me!


    ¡°I would love to share a bed with her, but if Elaine doesn¡¯t want to and is too busy, shouldn¡¯t we do what Elaine wants?¡±


    Hmmmm.


    ¡°Yes¡­ but I gotta tell Elaine all this! Let her decide! Maybe she wants to!¡±


    Iona¡¯s eyes opened wide.


    ¡°No, wait, get back here!¡±


    I flew up to the ceiling, where Iona couldn¡¯t catch me.


    ¡°Nya nya NYA nya NYA!¡± I taunted her.


    Iona bent her knees and leapt at me.


    ¡°Noooo!¡± I shrieked as I dodged her grab, only for her to pivot off the ceiling and attack again!


    Dodge again! Zippy bird!


    ¡°I¡¯ll draw you a picture! Three pictures!¡± Iona shouted, and I hovered in the air.


    Hmmm.


    HMMMMMM.


    Iona¡¯s pictures were super good, showing off the most important person in the world to everyone who saw them, AND let me see myself whenever I wanted. They were good! Very nice! I wanted!


    I also wanted to tell Elaine! Make her happy!


    Tricky Auri time! I had a [Mage Hand] now! I could cross fingers!


    [*Rejoice!* Oh most wondrous of birds, brightest flame in all the lands, you have leveled up a skill! [Mage Hand] has gone from 6 to 7!]


    ¡°Ok!¡±


    [Name: Aoife Auri Stentor]


    [Race: Phoenix]


    [Age: 1]


    [Mana: 101370/101370]


    [Mana Regen: 94,032]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Pushing Power: 474]


    [Fancy Flying: 636]


    [Reactions and Reflexes/Twitchiness: 3,080]


    [Zippiness: 3,200]


    [Kindling: 10,137]


    [New Juice: 10,113]


    [Flame Size: 8,928]


    [Fire Control: 8,820]


    [Class 1: [The Eternal Flame - Inferno : Lv 128]]


    [Inferno Authority: 128]


    [Phoenix Rebirth: 3]


    [Inferno Manipulation: 128]


    [Inferno Conjuration: 128]


    [True Flames: 128]


    [Burn Magic: 121]


    [Domain of Fire: 128]


    [Auri¡¯s Meteor Storm: 34]


    [Class 2: [The Phoenix Everliving - Inferno: Lv 128]]


    [See Magic: 22]


    [Immolate: 79]


    [Everything Burns: 40]


    [Clinging Flames: 45]


    [Burning Orbs: 80]


    [Mage Hand: 7]


    [Ash to Ash: 10]


    [Flame Selection: 42]


    General Skills


    [Phoenix''s Perfection: 128]


    [Incandescence: 117]


    [Adorable: 121]


    [Precocious: 122]


    [Companion Bond between Auri and Elaine: 128]


    [Flying: 105]


    [Preening: 113]


    [Brrretty: 104]

 Chapter 346 - The Bird’s a Liar

    There was something profoundly wrong about dragging myself back to my dorm after a long day of work, with the sun rising on the horizon.


    Work had been busy, students hurrying about the library as the quarter was approaching the end. I was also busy, but had no time!


    Nothing to do but practice while I walked. Bless the System and the stats it gave me, I could easily walk and draw in my notebook thanks to my dexterity. I was working on my Anaconda. I had worked out which runes I¡¯d needed for the latest assignment, and more importantly, where to place them.


    The diagram needed three new runes and two new concepts related to placing them - surprise, surprise, the same three new runes and two concepts we¡¯d just been taught in class - and I was practicing sketching them out. One perfect iteration wasn¡¯t good enough, no. I wanted to be able to whip out the rune practically without thinking, while sleep deprived. I strived for excellence in all things, and I had no plans on becoming a mediocre wizard, who needed six tries to draw a simple runic mandala.


    Shame that [Repetition is the Mother of Learning] was capped out. I was getting tempted to class up [Student of the Ages] again just to improve my student skills, but no.


    Operation: The Improved Elaine was a go. Marcelle¡¯s biomancy classes were quite something, and they focused on what she called the ¡®introduction to biomancy¡¯ - modifying elvenoids. The part that didn¡¯t need to be said was ¡®modifying elvenoids to be better.¡¯


    I was still working on the full list of modifications I wanted to make for myself. ¡®Improving my senses¡¯ was an easy one. ¡®Honeycombed bones¡¯ was also on the list, but what type of bone I¡¯d use was still up in the air. There were three options here. The first was sticking to what I currently had. The second was looking around in nature, finding an appropriate already-made, tried and tested, measured and known bone, and borrowing that. The third type was to use my knowledge to effectively custom-construct my own, new type of bone. Each method had its benefits and drawbacks. Using human bone had a whole host of advantages, primarily that it would integrate well into everything I already had, but pound for pound, elven bones were just better in every respect, barring total-body integration.


    Then there was the possibility of doing something exotic, like making my bones out of titanium.


    Ok, technically, I probably couldn¡¯t make my bones entirely out of titanium. I finished my diagram, and swapped notebooks, flipping over to my ¡®bones made out of metal¡¯ project.


    The entire human body was interconnected to each other, each piece part of a greater whole. It wasn¡¯t possible to just change one thing, dozens to hundreds of other parts of the human body needed to be changed to accommodate even a single modification.


    Changing my bones to titanium was the easy part. The problems came with everything else attached to it. Just like the dwarves and their prosthetics, not having any bone material in my body at all was bad. Depending on how I did it, I¡¯d either end up with no bone marrow, or no blood supply to the bone marrow. If that happened, I¡¯d slowly bleed red blood cells until I was anemic, then have a host of other problems occur.


    Healing could fix some of the issues, but the base ¡®healing template¡¯ constantly updated as people lived their lives. It was why fat people were fat again after being healed, it was why muscles were returned, heck, it was why old people stayed old and why people didn¡¯t get reverted back to being a baby every time they were healed!


    That failed to account for the fact that bones were a store of calcium, and calcium was needed for the brain and nerves. It wasn¡¯t critical that I have bones, but not having them meant I¡¯d need to make sure I was always drinking milk, probably daily.


    A honeycomb pattern of titanium laced throughout my bones would make them all significantly stronger, at a fraction of the ¡®no bones¡¯ side-effect. However, that wasn¡¯t harmless and without issues either.


    One thing I flat-out didn¡¯t know, and I¡¯d need to take some classes on, was if titanium reacted badly with biologicals inside my body. Iron, for example, would interact with the air my blood was circulating around, and rust inside my body, weakening the metal and practically ruining the effect. Titanium I was less sure about. Something to look into in the future.


    I smiled at a side note I¡¯d written on that segment - ¡®Inscriptions¡¯. Like the dwarves, like what I was learning in my Enchantments class, I could engrave runes onto my very bones, and with my healing, keep them there. That would grant me numerous effects that were part of my very being, enchantments to protect me.


    Part of Operation: The Improved Elaine, but for another day. The entire body was connected, and this one simple operation had dangling pieces connecting to other projects all over the place.


    Back to the bones! Titanium would need to become part of my diet, to replace the parts that were slowly degrading off as time went by. I¡¯d either need to actively remind myself to eat the metal, or rewrite part of my brain to feel and understand that I was ¡®running low¡¯, and needed to eat more. That particular bit of fuckery would then result in my conscious mind properly interpreting the signal, which wasn¡¯t a given.


    Eating the metal! I¡¯d need to check that my stomach acid didn¡¯t interact with it in a way to transform it badly, same check with my liver enzymes, then my digestive tract would need to properly pull the metal out, and hand it off to the circulatory system. My bones would need to know to uptake the titanium from the blood - a part that had a GIGANTIC question mark on it - and the rest of my body would have to know not to absorb it, otherwise I¡¯d just give myself heavy metal poisoning instead of strong bones.


    To be fair. That particular problem could be resolved by simply healing the toxic metal buildup in my cells, but I was trying to keep toxic side effects to a minimum in the first place. I wasn¡¯t above using it as a solution though.


    Happily, my immune system had no idea how to handle titanium, so I didn¡¯t need to worry about retraining it or messing with it, although my poor kidneys would need a serious upgrade to handle the excess heavy metal. A check on titanium and the blood-brain barrier was also needed, because screwing my brain up and going insane would make it difficult to correct the problem.


    Assuming I solved all those problems, and took the proper courses to double check that there were no other further problems, then yes. I¡¯d finally have titanium-laced bones be part of my very being, integrated into ¡®me¡¯ to the extent that the System recognized it, and boosted it with my generous vitality.


    That was just sticking with the mundane human frame though! I could potentially go exotic. Grow a pair of wings from my back, and fly under my own power! Weight to wingspan ratio became a concern there, although roc bones were apparently nearly ideal for that particular modification. Wing shape, feather types, ¡°How to manage wings while on the ground¡±, muscle positions, modifications, additions, and nerves were just the start of playing around with something like that.


    Naturally, I wasn¡¯t going to stop at one modification, oh no.


    I wanted the best, but there was considerable overlap in problems. A stomach that could eat titanium, for example, might not properly digest taurine, which was needed for eyes to see in the dark. Getting both would require extensive fiddling, although fortunately [Biomancers] and [Researchers] of the past had extensively studied and cataloged creatures from around the world, and did their best to describe how each organ worked.


    They hadn¡¯t been perfect though. Looping back to the titanium bones example, nobody had ever checked if a treant could eat metal, or if it passed right through them. How they absorbed nutrients from their roots had been studied, but niche corner cases?


    Some were unknown, because nobody had gotten around to studying it, taking notes, and sharing them with the School.


    Then there was actually acquiring the materials I needed!


    Either I could physically acquire one from an existing member - for example, killing a triceratops to get triceratop lungs - or I could study the creature enough to try and replicate it with a skill.


    Of course, poor understanding of what I was replicating would result in a suboptimal conjured version, which would cause me all sorts of issues if it didn¡¯t outright kill me. There were skills to offset that, and allow two normally incompatible body modifications to work together, but that was leaning more into the domain of transformation. Most biomancer clients wanted modification once in their life, then to move on normally, not take a skill or three dedicated to stopping themselves from falling apart. I was half in a similar boat. I didn¡¯t want to take skills just to keep my modifications working, but I could lean on my persistent self-healing to help smooth over any rough edges to my modifications. I was mostly thinking about my kidneys, and how my healing handled most toxins effortlessly.


    I¡¯d been peeing clear for years now.


    Then there was modifying what I grabbed. Taking a leviathan¡¯s heart and shrinking it down to fit inside my chest was on the easy side of the modifications, while allowing a unicorn¡¯s stomach to process meat was more of a challenge. Getting the best of three different organs was something Marcelle had only mentioned in passing, and even with my limited knowledge, I knew mixing mammal, reptile, and fish organs together would have a new layer of challenges.


    And everything then needed to be modified to fit together. Biomancy was hard. The total lifetime improvements that I¡¯d end up with, along with the deeper base of knowledge that I needed to acquire just to walk down this path, made it all worth it though. While I had [Mother of Modern Medicine] waiting for me as a [The Dawn Sentinel] upgrade, the more knowledge I had, the better the skills would be. The overlap in required knowledge from medicine to biomancy was almost perfect.


    The last tricky part was when did I class up again? I could class up now as a [Student] and get the class a second time, but that felt risky. I would need to grab [Biomancer] at 128, then biomancy my way from 128 to 256. I felt confident in getting there, but I didn¡¯t want to spend a decade working as a biomancer just to reset my classes. I was hoping to complete Operation: The Improved Elaine while at School, then reset my third and take my final class. Hopefully I¡¯d have a year or two at the School to dedicate towards improving my third class, then be prepared for the world!


    I didn¡¯t want to class up right now though. My [Student of the Ages] skills were nice for all my other classes, and the more biomancy I practiced, the more achievements I¡¯d have when I classed it up. The relentless practice and learning would make the difference between me getting [Baby Biomancer] and [Seasoned Biomancer], with a corresponding increase in skill power.


    Specifically, I needed the skill to make my changes ¡°permanent¡±. Missing that skill would ruin all my efforts.


    That was just one class! I had ambitions in wizardry, enchanting, half an eye on cultivation, learning more about the world, research projects in history, and more!


    I closed my notebook in front of my dorm door, and opened it.


    Long term plans could wait for an hour and a half, while I worked on my current material. I was starting to fall behind, and there was the eternal temptation to start cutting into my sleep just to catch up.


    ¡°Evening!¡± Auri was posing on the coffee table, while Iona was sketching her. Fenrir and Skye were looking over Iona¡¯s shoulder, watching her draw.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri flew over to me, affectionately nuzzling my cheek. I cracked a rare smile for my little flame.


    ¡°Heya Auri, I hope you¡¯re being good to Iona. Didn¡¯t threaten to burn her math homework or something to get a picture, did you?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri shook her head, emphatically telling me no, Iona had offered to make her a picture. Three pictures! Her tiny little chef¡¯s hat almost flew off, but a conjured hand - her latest skill, I hadn¡¯t seen it before today - showed up and kept it on her head.


    I arched an eyebrow at Iona.


    ¡°What did she do?¡± I asked the tall blonde.


    Iona worked her mouth a few times, and I got a little chuckle of schadenfreude. Auri had clearly done something, and I knew Iona couldn¡¯t lie, enforced by her [Vow]. It went further than just technically telling the truth, she had to be honest. I was no great shakes at the social thing, but even I could tell that Iona didn¡¯t want to tell me, but wanted to say something.


    ¡°I¡¯m bribing her to keep a secret.¡± She finally confessed.


    ¡°Brrrrpt.¡± Auri ¡®whispered¡¯ in my ear, at roughly the volume of a purring cat. Iona had clearly heard, and understood, and looked crestfallen.


    I facepalmed, and shook my head.


    ¡°Auri. No.¡± I waggled my finger at her. ¡°It¡¯s terribly rude to promise someone that you¡¯ll keep their secret, then go and gossip about it to me.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t care. Don¡¯t tell me, it¡¯s not nice. You need to think about other people¡¯s emotions, and how they¡¯ll feel.¡± Having this talk in front of everyone was awkward on one hand, but I didn¡¯t want Iona and Skye to hear Auri say ¡°I¡¯ll tell you later! It¡¯s a fun one!¡±, then walk away with her to my room. That just looked bad, and it¡¯d create all sorts of ugly feelings, while Auri was the one causing trouble and making mischief.


    Fenrir chose that moment to curl up on Iona¡¯s lap, deep rumbles of contentment coming from him as Iona started scratching under his chin.


    ¡°Brrrpt¡­¡±


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s important what other people think of you, because they¡¯ll also think similar things about me.¡±


    I crossed my arms at Auri as Skye excused herself, slipping away.


    Iona sighed, obviously loudly enough for me to hear.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you sit down quickly, and I¡¯ll explain?¡± She offered.


    Well, that was one way to make everything clear!


    ¡°Just as long as this doesn¡¯t take too long, I¡¯m behind on work.¡± I explained as I sat down.


    Iona and Auri traded looks at that.


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡±


    ¡°Long story short, Auri¡¯s worried about you. She doesn¡¯t think you¡¯re coping well, and has been trying to find various ways to make you happy again, like it¡¯s that easy.¡± Iona gave me a rueful smile.


    ¡°I¡¯m-¡±


    ¡°BRPT BRPT BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRPT!¡± Auri shrieked at me, cutting me off before I could say ¡®fine¡¯.


    ¡°Brpt. Brpt brrrpt brpt brrpppt. Brrrptttt. Bbrrrrrrrrrpppt, brpt brpt BRPT!¡± Auri lectured me, rattling off dozens of different examples of me overworking myself, or ignoring her.


    ¡°But-¡±


    ¡°BPRT.¡±


    [*brrrrring!* Hope we¡¯re sitting down to study at home! Auri¡¯s lots of fun, but we gotta get that work done. It¡¯ll just pile up if we don¡¯t do it now!]


    I felt a surge of guilt wash over me as I dismissed the notification. I was supposed to be working, not chit-chatting right now¡­


    ¡°I hate to interrupt,¡± Iona chimed in. ¡°But Auri¡¯s got something of a point. I¡¯m basically uninvolved, and I worry about you. You¡¯re my roommate. When was the last time you took a break? Did something for yourself?¡±


    I opened my mouth, thought about it, and closed it again.


    ¡°I did something similar before. Ranger Academy. Two years of physical exercise and classes, designed to turn soldiers into Rangers.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt brrrrrrrrrrrrrpt¡­¡± Auri was trying to squeeze out some of her crystal tears, a blatant and transparent attempt at manipulating me. I rolled my eyes at her shenanigans, but I was moved.


    ¡°Look, it¡¯s like sharpening an axe. I can hack through goblins all day, but taking a few minutes to sit down and sharpen my axe means I can hack through them even more efficiently, and clear twice as many in half the time. You¡¯ve got five years here, if not more, and four sets of classes each year. Don¡¯t blow yourself up, don¡¯t blow your chance.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri wanted me to spend more time playing with her. ¡°Brrrrrpt!!!¡± She also had cool new skills that she wanted to show me at the firing range.


    I hesitated. I was falling behind on a few classes, and I didn¡¯t feel like I was properly applying my best efforts in the rest of them¡­


    I stopped and thought about it for the first time in ages. I¡¯d just been mindlessly going from class to class, my life dictated by the schedule the School set and the timers I¡¯d arranged with [Timekeeping]. The more awake and alert Elaine of the past had set them, and I¡¯d been gamely grinding through the classes and work, constantly on the path of self-improvement.


    What would happen if I kept going the way I was?


    I was on a slow downward spiral. Things continued to slowly pile up in my backlog, unimportant things to be sure, but it was only a matter of time before something important ended up in there.


    How important was the world geography or cultivation class, once I¡¯d learned the basics? Did I really need to learn all those details right now?


    On the other hand, what would happen if I dropped some classes?


    I¡¯d do better in the ones I was still in, but I¡¯d always have this feeling, this sense in the back of my mind that I was squandering my opportunity. That I wasn¡¯t getting as much out of the School as I possibly could, that I was leaving knowledge and opportunities on the table. Having spent most of my new life being denied opportunity after opportunity, I wasn¡¯t inclined to leave a single one behind.


    But¡­ people were worried about me. I thought I was holding things together well enough, but the nightmares weren¡¯t getting better. Auri was upset with me. Iona was intervening as well.


    What would Artemis say?


    Well¡­ she wasn¡¯t exactly a great example, but she was laid back and relaxed, except when she wanted something. Then she didn¡¯t care what laws she broke, people she murdered, or fae she insulted to get there.


    Ok, Artemis was not a good example. She would totally go full-throttle, and that suggested I should possibly tone it down.


    What about Night?


    Well, he had eternity. He¡¯d been around for eternity. He probably didn¡¯t need to learn things, he was there when they¡¯d been invented.


    And I also had eternity.


    Eternity to read books, to learn and educate myself. Eternity to gather knowledge.


    Blowing myself up now would be a terrible idea. I knew I was in a poor place, mentally.


    Ok.


    Priority reshuffling.


    Get my head straight, then work on broadening my knowledge.


    ¡°Ok. You two are right.¡± I conceded. ¡°I need to cut down.¡±


    ¡°BRRrrrrrrpt!!¡± Auri cheered as she flew around me, heralding how she was the BEST and helped me! Her excitement was infectious, although I could barely muster a smile at it.


    I felt my shoulders relax, tension bleeding out of them as I gleefully murdered all the [Timekeeping] notifications for cultivation, geography, and botany. Huge swaths of time suddenly opened up in my schedule. No need to write that essay on the Han civil war!


    I stood up and stretched, noticing Iona looking appreciatively. I thought about her, and realized something.


    ¡°Oh yeah! You said you wanted to clear the air, and me needing to take a break doesn¡¯t seem to be a huge secret worth bribing Auri over?¡±


    I paused a moment, realizing what I said might be somewhat insensitive.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to say, you don¡¯t have to.¡±


    Iona grinned roguishly at me. Gods, that grin.


    ¡°Well, sure! Auri, in her brilliant little mind,¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Noticed that my friends all seemed happy, and in her bird brain,¡±


    ¡°BRPT!¡± Auri puffed out her chest, the insult sailing right over¡­ her tiny little feathery head.


    ¡°Figured that I should also make you happy.¡±


    Iona arched an eyebrow at me, as Auri happily brrrpted about how brilliant and genius she was. Also something about today-Auri thinking.


    I just chuckled ruefully at the little bird. Of course she¡¯d tried to hook me up with Iona. I knew Iona would jump the bones of anyone who met her standards - and she¡¯d draw a picture of everyone else! I appreciated Auri¡¯s attempt at making me happy though. She cared.


    ¡°Of course, I know you¡¯re far too busy, and you probably weren¡¯t interested in spending a bunch of time not studying.¡±


    I tilted my head. I knew exactly what Iona was saying and dancing around, but she was handling it in a classy fashion. Wasn¡¯t making it awkward or anything. I knew she was interested, and I was somewhat interested in return, but she was right. It wasn¡¯t the time or the place, nor did I have the energy or bandwidth, and I appreciated that she wasn¡¯t forcing the issue.


    ¡°Appreciate it!¡± I said.


    ¡°Anyways, let me know when you get some time and catch up on things, I¡¯d love to show you around the student center! There¡¯s some fantastic wargames in there, and I¡¯m dying to get a reliable practice partner.¡± Iona said.


    I had absolutely no idea what the wargames were, and that spoke to another part of the ¡®missing opportunities¡¯. If I was always buried in my books, I¡¯d miss the entire thriving culture of the School.


    Also, it¡¯d free up some time for side projects, like consulting with [Historians] and [Archivists] over the Medical Manuscripts issue. I bet I could trade first hand accounts of Remus for help, or something. Or maybe they were like me and medicine, and would be delighted to give me a hand either way.


    It took me no time at all to think about hanging out with Iona. She was easy to be around, in more ways than one.


    ¡°Yeah! I¡¯ll let you know!¡±

 Chapter 347 - A Good Hug

    I was mediating a war between my head and my heart. A comfortable waiting chair. An antechamber. A door of wood.


    A door whose outline I¡¯d traced a dozen times with my eyes, wandering over the meandering pattern traced in wood. The way the grains flowed implied the door had been grown into shape.


    I loved magic.


    I hated my situation.


    Every fiber of my treacherous being was telling me to leave. That I shouldn¡¯t be here. That this was a bad idea. That I was only opening myself up to more pain.


    My heart was a traitor.


    My mind knew that this was the right thing to do. That seeing a mind healer - a therapist - was just what I needed to do.


    No matter how I tried to face my fears, to let them pass over and through me, they stubbornly remained.


    It was less fear, and more a raging ball of anxiety, worry, angst, and more than a little bit of anger and rage.


    My self introspection was interrupted by the door opening, a polar bear in black robes ducking under and walking out on two legs. He stretched after the door, still confined by the room that now seemed tiny. He was missing the wizard hat entirely, but given his size, and how his head constantly scraped the ceiling, I could see why he¡¯d skipped it.


    You know what? Screw it, smart bear twice my height and twenty times my weight, sure. None of my business.


    ¡°Elaine, is it? Come on in.¡± A soft, elderly voice wafted from the door.


    I bolted upright, ramrod straight, like one of the Ranger Academy¡¯s Drill Instructors had yelled an order. Inspired, I imagined Quintis¡¯s familiar voice yelling at me.


    ¡°RANGER ELAINE. YOU WILL MARCH INTO THAT ROOM. NOW!¡±


    It helped me get through the door, but I teared up at the memory of the man, one of my mentors forever dead and gone.


    Was there a single living soul who still even knew of him? Was I the only record of his memory? The only one who could still speak his name?


    Possibly a little hyperbolic, as Artemis and Julius knew him. The Ranger community wasn¡¯t that large.


    He¡¯d died the first time, but as long as I lived, a tenuous grasp, he hadn¡¯t died for the second time.


    ¡°Quintis.¡± I breathed his name softly as I entered, keeping him alive in a small way.


    The mind-healer was immediately apparent, a tiny, wizened woman in a chair, hair up in a bun as she busily click-clacked away with a pair of knitting needles and endless balls of yarn. A cozy fire smoldered next to her, a small table had a pile of cookies, and there was a somewhat squashed chair opposite to her.


    The chair hadn¡¯t been designed to hold a bear.


    She looked up as I entered and marched over to the chair across from her.


    ¡°Oh. Oh my. It really looks like you could use a hug.¡± She put down her needles, gesturing me over. ¡°Come here.¡±


    She was like the avatar of grandmothers, warm and inviting.


    I hesitated, not wanting to open myself up. Not wanting to bare myself in front of a stranger, not wanting to feel again.


    She opened up her arms, making a small ¡°come here¡± motion with her hands.


    What was the point of being here if I was going to hesitate? If I wasn¡¯t going to take the plunge? I¡¯d forced myself to make the appointment. To come here. To march into the room.


    One last step. One last risk.


    I went over.


    I unabashedly cried as she hugged me, letting her soothe me.


    ¡°Now now. Tell grandmother Linnet what¡¯s wrong.¡±


    ¡°Everyone I know is dead. Twice. I want to help people, but it only feels like I kill them. I¡­¡±


    I let my grief pour out of me, into her ears.


    I checked over my array one last time. Not having any meta-skills was cramping my style, but I reminded myself that it was long-term optimal for having EVERYTHING.


    [Something Doesn¡¯t Look Right] was silent, but that was no excuse for skipping a thorough check of the array. One day I wouldn¡¯t have the skill, and I needed to be in the habit of checking my work. If I leaned on the skill, I¡¯d fall once I no longer had it.


    This particular array was using three new runes I hadn¡¯t used before. Akhulad, Fund, and Kewak. I cross-checked each of them against the reference book I¡¯d checked out of the library, ensuring that each one was a perfect match.


    [Repetition is the Mother of Learning] was another fantastic skill. After tracing each rune out a few dozen times, I was fully confident in being able to replicate it ¡®live¡¯. Not only was I confident in being able to replicate it now, but I had full confidence that I¡¯d always be able to make the runes.


    Now, knowing when and where to use the runes was a different issue. Properly picturing mandalas, and placing each rune in the right place, with the right neighbors, was tricky. Like solving a puzzle, although sets of runes that worked in one array wouldn''t work exactly the same in another. Runes often impacted the runes next to them, creating a sort of language that I needed to speak.


    It was difficult and awkward, but I could see that as I improved, it would come easier and easier.


    [Learning Languages] didn¡¯t extend to this ¡®runic formulation¡¯, but it had offered to evolve into a skill that would help.


    I wanted to keep working on my natural language acquisition. I wasn¡¯t happy with my current language abilities.


    Satisfied that everything was in place, I started to draw the three-ringed array, aiming for one of the simple target dummies in the firing range. I wasn¡¯t trying to bust through shields or penetrate armor, or do anything particularly fancy. I just wanted to make a water jet.


    Technically, I could do it without a three-mandala array, but the point was to test my array knowledge, not to do something fancy.


    I took out my wand, and started to trace the sigils and runes in the air in front of me.


    First came the three circles, neat as could be. Dexterity was a surprisingly useful stat for wizards.


    Three interlocking runes let the rings ¡°know¡± that they were in an array. A few more runes were needed to connect between each ring, letting mana flow, modulating rates, letting the runes communicate with each other, and more.


    Then I placed each rune into the correct place, infusing the ones that needed mana with the proper amount, building a few little ¡®mana batteries¡¯ into the array. The mana nodes would spread out, feeding the runes their power in precisely measured amounts. Some runes required careful handling, while I could flood the main circuits with as much power as I could feed it. The more power, the bigger and badder the water jet I¡¯d summon would be. I continued to trace the runes, glancing back at my sketches and practice pieces to make sure I was staying on track, and not doing anything -


    I made a mistake. A dumb one. I slashed my wand through the growing array, a cancel command forcefully dispersing the growing runes. I could simply let the skill ¡®go¡¯, but that was more dangerous than using a cancel command. No telling if the poorly written mana-charged runes would actually say something in the runic way, and cause an effect.


    Highly unlikely. It¡¯d be like shredding a dictionary, picking out a half-dozen words at random, and expecting it to be a complete sentence. It was possible, but not likely.


    More likely it¡¯d just explode. Poorly. If the explosion was any measure of powerful or deadly, ¡®failed arrays¡¯ would be a top-tier, heavily used weapon. The fact that people still went through the effort to build out full circles for particular effects spoke to the relative weakness of the mana used to explosion size.


    When it came to the really big arrays that were eating hundreds of thousands points of mana, exploding as an ¡®only¡¯ 60,000 mana detonation was still significant, and could kill the poor wizard casting it.


    I hadn¡¯t made any such mistake though. No, I¡¯d made an amateur mistake, one born from simply not growing up surrounded by wizardry.


    When I built the mandala, I hadn¡¯t cared too much about the direction, one being just like the other for puzzling out how everything needed to fit together. As a result, when I was drawing it just now, I had it pointing towards me, not towards the target dummy. I would¡¯ve given myself a full-body blasting if I¡¯d completed and activated it.


    I totally could¡¯ve skipped laundry day if it went off though¡­


    With the old array safely dispersed into motes of glimmering light, like dozens of fireflies fading into the midday sunset, I sat down and sketched out the entire thing again, this time mirrored. I was fairly confident that I could simply mirror it and go now, but that type of thinking bred hubris and bad habits. It was more time and effort, but I was going to do things right.


    I did only trace it out twice though, flipping everything over. There was a difference between being cautious, and flat-out wasting my time.


    The second drawing of the real array went swimmingly, the lines and runes coming together in front of me, somehow hovering and staying still.


    I put my wand on the central focal point, the area that took in and accepted my mana, and started to pour magic into the array.


    I expected an immediate effect, and it only took me a quarter of a second to realize something was wrong. A quarter of a second of pouring mana into the array.


    ¡°Mango worms.¡± I swore as I grabbed my hat and threw up a shield in front of me, right before the entire array detonated in my face.


    I trudged over to Lothar¡¯s office, delighting that I actually had the time to experiment with arrays, make mistakes, and head over to the professor¡¯s office to ask questions about it.


    No matter how much I looked over my array, it looked right. Even the mirrored version seemed to have everything in place! [Something Doesn¡¯t Look Right] wasn¡¯t pinging in the slightest, which helped confirm that, to my knowledge, I¡¯d done everything properly.


    The array exploding in my face suggested that reality didn¡¯t agree with my assessment.


    I knocked on Lothar¡¯s open door and peeked in, squinting as the light caught the endless ornaments hanging from his antlers and reflected them all over the room.


    ¡°Hey Lothar, got a minute?¡±


    ¡°Hrmmmmmm. Elaine. Yes.¡± He pointed at a chair in front of him, which I gratefully sank down into. ¡°What can I do for you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got this array that went poorly for me¡­¡± I quickly explained what happened, while showing him my notes and preparation.


    ¡°If only every student were as diligent as you were in preparing new spells. My job would be significantly easier. I¡¯m more than happy to help, you¡¯ve clearly done your legwork. Please give me some time to review.¡±


    He picked up my notes, and I was happy to let him look over them. It was much easier to build my own spell, than to read someone else''s.


    Now, using someone else¡¯s spell without knowing what it did? That was easy.


    ¡°Here. Your Akhauld rune is improperly drawn. You¡¯ve got an extra line in the rune.¡± Lothar pointed to the rune, indicating the additional line that didn¡¯t belong.


    I scrunched up my eyebrows. I was sure I¡¯d practiced it properly. I pulled out the reference book, immediately using the bookmark to flip over to the rune.


    ¡°You¡¯re the professor, but¡­ are you sure?¡± I showed him the rune in the book, exactly the same as the one I¡¯d draw.


    ¡°Hrmmmm. Yes. This book is incorrect. A student-scribe copied something over improperly, a [Prankster] added in that extra line, or something else. It doesn¡¯t matter. If you don¡¯t mind, I will take the book and destroy it, so that nobody else comes to harm.¡±


    I opened my mouth in a silent scream at that, my face twisting and contorting at the sheer level of blasphemy suggested. My mind raced in overdrive as I considered other possibilities and alternatives.


    ¡°I work at the library, and I checked the book out of the library. Why don¡¯t I take it back? It¡¯ll let them know there¡¯s an issue, and work on correcting it.¡±


    Lothar shrugged and handed the book back to me.


    With a few further pleasantries, I left, mentally cursing.


    Practice didn¡¯t make perfect. Practice made permanent, and I¡¯d just extensively practiced a rune incorrectly. Fixing it would take three times as long, as I tried to unlearn a bad behavior, and I had a perfect memory, making it all the harder to unlearn it.


    It was also why [Something Doesn¡¯t Look Right] hadn¡¯t twigged to the issue. As far as I knew, everything had been correct. The skill was limited.


    The entire incident simply reinforced what I already knew - knowledge was power.


    I didn¡¯t know nearly enough biomancy. Fortunately, I knew enough to know I didn¡¯t know nearly enough, and that was a blessing and a half. If I knew less, I might be tempted into thinking I knew enough, and make some dumb, dumb decisions.


    Like class up too soon, and try to make the changes to myself too quickly. That¡¯d be a particularly interesting and elaborate way to commit suicide.


    The most obnoxious part about designing for biomancy was how integrated and interconnected everything was. I couldn¡¯t just give myself eyes that saw in the dark, oh no, I needed to make sure I had the entire supporting structure for that, and that none of the supporting structures screwed with each other.


    It was no wonder Night¡¯s description of creation had been so chaotic, why the species seemed to mostly be copies.


    That, combined with what the elves had said about portals, made me wonder if there was a plane of existence filled with orcs and the like.


    Still! Full-body biomancy mods were difficult, not impossible.


    Right now, the only thing I got was I still wanted to look elvenoid. Becoming a monster was out of the question, and straying too far from the elvenoid template, or even the human template, would lead to a lifetime of strange looks, nasty whispers, and general ostracization. Being social was hard enough with all the advantages I currently had, shooting them all in the foot was a bad idea.


    It didn¡¯t mean that I couldn¡¯t, say, get scales, but if I did I¡¯d probably want to go full dragonling, then I¡¯d need a tail, and all that entailed with that.


    Now, subtle modifications like a layer of entirely clear scales over human skin? Possible, extra so since it could look like a skill was doing it.


    The other thing I knew for sure was I wanted a full-system upgrade. I wanted everything improved, starting with my senses. Being able to see in low light settings. Sharper hearing. A nose like a bloodhound.


    I was aiming for similar things with my bones, muscles, skin, organs - everything. As a compromise, I likely wouldn¡¯t have one aspect be the absolute pinnacle of what it could be, in exchange for a holistic full-body improvement.


    Cranking everything up 10%, instead of making my skin impervious to arrows, at the cost of only being able to eat a single type of grass, or something like that.


    The other item I was eyeing up were redundant internal organs. I¡¯d still look human with three hearts instead of one, and the added redundancy could save my life.


    Remapping the entire circulatory system to accommodate three hearts wasn¡¯t easy, on top of wiring in the proper nerves, and that was before adding in more organs.


    Hearts might be a poor example. A second heart was good - if someone speared me through my first heart and kept their skill-reinforced weapon there, I¡¯d survive. A third heart was pointless. The situation where someone magically managed to hit two of my hearts but not the third one, and I managed to somehow survive anyways just because of the extra heart, wasn¡¯t worth all the costs. Like storage space! I only had so much room in my body to cram organs.


    Backup brains, or a distributed brain system, was super high on my list though. That was the only organ I didn¡¯t know if I could survive being destroyed.


    Gills were circled three times in red. Drowning was a fear of mine, and gills were easy to incorporate. The humble lungfish was an example of using both, giving an easy blueprint of how to merge the two systems.


    A secondary stomach that could eat wood and dirt also occasionally made it into my notes, with lots of question marks around how I¡¯d know which stomach to funnel food into, and how it¡¯d reconnect with the rest of my digestive tract. Would I need another liver? Small intestine? Did blood screw with it at all? Did¡­


    Lots of question marks.


    Busy, busy¡­


    ¡°Hey Elaine, you busy tonight?¡± Iona asked me.


    I pointedly glanced out the window, with the sun still blazing bright.


    Iona rolled her eyes at me.


    ¡°You know exactly what I¡¯m asking.¡±


    I didn¡¯t have to think too hard about it. I had time now.


    ¡°Yeah, sure, got ideas?¡±


    ¡°The student center! There¡¯s tons of things to do there!¡±


    I shrugged. Iona was the social one, and had a better idea than I did what was fun. My work schedule had also been shuffled around to a more reasonable hour, and my evenings were free again.


    We arranged a time and a place to meet, and I tackled my homework with renewed vigor.


    An outing! A fun time! With a totally cool gal to boot!


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ¡°If you want, but no burning anything.¡± I told Auri.


    She looked at me in disgust.


    ¡°Brrpt!!¡± She darted off, and returned a moment later, fumbling her hat with one [Mage Hand] while a second one carried a charred lump.


    ¡°Oh my! What¡¯s this?¡± I asked Auri, gratefully accepting it.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± I reminded myself to be encouraging, that it was all too easy to smother the embers of interest in the cradle.


    ¡°A muffin! Oh my! How¡­ tasty looking¡­¡± I took a bite.


    Mmmmm. Burned on the outside, batter on the inside. She was improving!


    ¡°A most excellent snack, dearest Auri. Perhaps more time in less intense flames?¡±


    ¡°Brrpt¡­¡± Auri was thinking about it.


    ¡°Brpt!¡± And with that, she flew off.


    I chuckled, licking the batter off my fingers. Honestly, cooking most baked goods was such a waste when the dough was so tasty in the first place.


    ¡°Tell me how this works.¡± I eyed the large table in front of me doubtfully. There were miniature mountains, streams, forests, deserts, towns, the whole works, splayed out on the table. We were in a room with a few other tables like this, a couple of them in use by other students, with a few spectators watching each game. We had a few spectators starting to eye our game up as well.


    ¡°Right! This is a wargame. It¡¯s well done enough that [Strategists] can level playing it.¡±


    That was pretty cool. A game that could level people up? I wondered if there were any medical games that could help with leveling.


    ¡°The makers had all sorts of complicated words describing how it worked that went in one ear and out the other.¡±


    Iona grinned at that, and I rolled my eyes at her.


    ¡°The long and short of it is, you have your towns and civilians, and I have my towns and civilians. They all make different resources, gems being the big one, and we spend those gems acquiring units. Some units take a long time to get, some are fast, and they have different levels of strength. We then send them at each other, and try to take over all the towns. As units do things and survive, they¡¯ll level up, and civilians who survive fights also level up. There¡¯s tons of other options.¡±


    ¡°Are there, like, turns and such?¡±


    Iona shook her head, her blonde hair swaying with the motion.


    ¡°Everything keeps going at the same time, but it¡¯s slow, in a way. Oh! Monsters and the like might also attack civilians, so you¡¯ll need to protect them. Can¡¯t make a gigantic army and send them over.¡±


    Sounded easy enough. Iona - and a few helpful students - showed me the controls, and we were off!


    The game required a good amount of focus and attention, mostly because everything was new. Securing our own territory was first, before we could launch any attacks, and I elected to make a few roaming squads of moderate to high level people to fight off monster attacks.


    Hey, it had been a valid, working system for centuries.


    Iona elected to get fewer, higher-leveled warriors, and send them wandering around.


    And, well, this was a game. A fun game. That called for smack-talking.


    ¡°I¡¯m totally going to kick your ass.¡± I teased Iona playfully, making a few more moves. Trying to sneak some marauders into her territory.


    ¡°Oh yeah? Can your foot even reach that high?¡± She bantered back, grinning all the way, focused on the board. She spotted a number of my marauders.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t you like to find out?¡±


    She locked eyes with me.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Her words struck something deep inside me.


    That didn¡¯t stop me from letting one of my high-level marauders unleash an ¡®earthquake¡¯ on one of Iona¡¯s cities though.


    ¡°Hey!¡± She yelped, getting back into the game. ¡°No fair!¡±


    ¡°All¡¯s fair in love and war!¡± I declared, sending a second wave of attackers to harass Iona¡¯s territory.


    She shot me a quick glance.


    ¡°I¡¯ll remember that.¡± The playgirl mischievously growled under her breath.

 Chapter 348 - School Life I

    ¡°Hey Skye, wanna grab dinner?¡±


    The Yuki-Onna looked at me with her large eyes, slowly blinking.


    ¡°Sure. What brought this on?¡±


    I shrugged.


    ¡°I can finally speak the language well enough, and I figured we should get to know each other a bit!¡±


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri flew over, offering us a¡­ well, I¡¯ll be damned. It actually looked like a cookie for once. Skye leaned back, clearly not wanting to be a taste-tester again, but I gave it a shot.


    My mouth puckered up at the taste.


    ¡°Good cooking.¡± I forced out. ¡°Too much salt.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt¡­ BRPT!¡± Auri exclaimed as she realized she¡¯d mixed up ¡°teaspoons¡± and ¡°cups¡±.


    We ate lunch in the central park. Varuna caused a commotion every time he went to the cafeteria, and even here we got double-takes as people were like ¡®wait, is that a unicorn!?¡¯


    Made me thankful that Auri was easily mistaken for a regular hummingbird. Magic was wild.


    After some small talk, I asked Skye.


    ¡°What¡¯s your story?¡±


    ¡°I was born to the royal family of the Tuvan Tribes. A [Princess].¡± She only had a small trace of bitterness to her voice. ¡°Then I met Varuna. We bonded, and I got Immortality from the bond.¡± Skye smiled affectionately at the unicorn. ¡°Immortals in mortal lands¡­ you know how that goes.¡±


    I froze. Did Skye know? Had Iona leaked something? Was Auri a worse blabbermouth than I thought!?


    Skye gave me a look.


    ¡°I¡¯m Immortal, I don¡¯t bite.¡±


    Oh.


    OH!


    She thought I was anti-Immortal or something. Or wait, was it the purple-robed healer? This reading people thing was haaaaaaaard.


    ¡°Eh, yeah, that¡¯s cool. How¡¯d you end up here?¡±


    Real smooth Elaine. Reeeeeeeeeeeeeal smooth.


    Skye studied me a moment longer before answering.


    ¡°Working on finding a new path in life. I initially wanted to be an ambassador, figuring a former mortal royal turned Immortal would be able to bridge the mortal-Immortal gap, but there are just too many elves studying to be ambassadors right now. It just doesn¡¯t make any sense, but that¡¯s life. I¡¯m now working on becoming an [Advisor] or [Steward]. While I have a sponsor, I¡¯m unaffiliated, and a School-trained [Majordomo] looking for employment?¡±


    Skye shrugged.


    ¡°I should do alright. Just need to class up before I leave.¡±


    I tilted my head at her, swallowing a bite.


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°Those damn gates still detect I have the [Princess] class.¡± Skye shook a fist in the general direction of the entrance, and Varuna pawed at the ground.


    ¡°How about you?¡±


    ¡°Well¡­¡± Skye got the moderately abridged version of my life. ¡®Military commando-healer, went through a fairy ring on a mission, and pop! Ended up here. Fuck my life.¡¯


    I tried to commiserate how we¡¯d both had our lives roughly adjusted and thrown off course, but Skye didn¡¯t seem to really agree.


    All in all, the whole thing felt stilted, and I was reminded why I usually liked interacting with people in a ¡®defined¡¯ setting. Like when I was a trainee, or a Ranger, or a Sentinel, or visiting a shop, or¡­


    Except with Iona. She was always fun to interact with.


    [*brrrrring!* Time to put down the books - yes, books, DOWN, I know, I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m the one saying this either - and find something fun or relaxing to do.]


    [*brrrrring!* THAT ISN¡¯T READING! That¡¯s how we got into this mess in the first place!]


    I cursed past-me knowing current-me too well, and put the book down. Reading was totally fun and relaxing! It totally counted! Sure, I was reading a wizardry reference book for class but still!


    Except then I¡¯d end up buried in books again, and that just wasn¡¯t healthy.


    Fineeeeeee. I¡¯d carefully worked out when and why I needed these breaks. Auri was off, either setting the firing range on fire again, ¡°baking¡±, or getting a proper education. Fenrir was dozing in a patch of light though, which implied Iona was around.


    I uncurled from the sofa - much more comfortable than trying to read in my room - and wandered over to Iona¡¯s door. I knocked.


    ¡°Hey Iona, you in there?¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Come in. What¡¯s up?¡± I went in, and Iona leaned back in her chair, running her hands through her hair in frustration.


    I thought my room was small for me. Iona dwarfed her room, looking out of place. She had drawings of people pinned up on her walls, and I recognized artwork of me, Auri, Reinhard, Fenrir, Skye, and Varuna among dozens of others papering the room. Her room also reeked of sex.


    Bless whatever enchantments in this place kept smell and sound from moving around.


    ¡°Hey, I was going to go to the flight center, wanna join me?¡±


    Iona pinched the bridge of her nose.


    ¡°Elaine. How do you have any time?? It¡¯s finals next week! Shouldn¡¯t you be buried in a book like usual, like the rest of us?¡±


    I gave Iona my best smug smile.


    ¡°I have been carefully studying this entire time. I have a few skills dedicated to learning and studying. I don¡¯t need to do any extra studying, I¡¯ve kept on top of things. So no. I don¡¯t need to be buried in books right now, I need to relax. I seem to remember a certain Valkyrie telling me to take it easy? Something about sharpening axes?¡±


    Iona groaned and planted her face in her open book.


    ¡°I hate you. So much.¡± She mumbled into her book, with no hard feelings and just a trace of affection.


    I stuck my tongue out at her.


    ¡°Nyeah! That¡¯s what you get for¡­ having tons of sex instead of studying all quarter¡­¡±


    I realized my burn wasn¡¯t quite as devastating as I¡¯d hoped it would be, and I bailed before Iona could follow up.


    Flying! Woo!


    The School¡¯s flying area was amazing, like everything else they had. It was easily the tallest building on the campus, runes etched into the clear glass that enclosed the space. Slowly spinning platforms, thermal uprisings, undulating hoops to fly through, there was even a ¡®hostile¡¯ section that would shoot paint!


    The most annoying obstacle was all over the course though. Large biologicals that randomly lurched around, occupying the best flying spaces, and generally chattering a bunch.


    Other people.


    It was finals week, which meant there were legions of students softly sobbing in the hidden corners of the library. It provided a pervasive background noise to the entire place, and all the new library workers had gotten a quick, quiet word to just leave them alone, and not try to [Silence] them or anything.


    They were having a hard enough time.


    The library presented a clean, well-lit view to the outside world. Most people had no idea how much work went into keeping the library functional and operational. Like my current task.


    I was circling through the various levels of the library, fixing or recharging the light runes. For the most part. A few books that caught my interest were under one arm, for later reading. What was annoying was that about half the titles or spines that caught my eye were smut, most of them put back. Why was there so much smut scattered around the library!?


    Other people didn¡¯t seem to have the same issue, and I was starting to wonder if I had an erotica-attractor or something. Between Briga the wood dwarf, Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s¡­ interesting¡­ artwork, and now this? I was suspecting a curse.


    Unfortunately, I couldn¡¯t read and walk around the library. The librarians would yell at me. Something about it ¡®not being a good look¡¯.


    Bah. Library workers weren¡¯t Sentinels. We could afford to have a bad look. Still, I liked the job too much to protest loudly.


    I spotted a dimmer area of the library, one of the light runes dying. Welp, that¡¯s what I was here for. Recharging runes in the older, less-frequented sections of the library. Great for hiding out when studying, but all the blasted students kept making a mess by hiding books under chairs so they¡¯d have them later, and the like.


    ¡°Excuse me.¡± I politely asked a girl who was curled up crying in a chair. The chair was at the end of a row, and the light above her wasn¡¯t working. An experienced look at it suggested that it had simply run out of mana, not that the rune was broken.


    She didn¡¯t seem to hear me, just kept slowly writing as tears rolled down her face. I rolled my eyes.


    Honestly. Some people didn¡¯t study all quarter, and when finals came around, were surprised that they couldn¡¯t manage ten weeks of studying in one.


    The bookshelves were just a bit too close together to be able to properly fly. My wings would hit the edges, and everything would go wrong. I was usually a fast learner, but that particular bit of knowledge took me seven attempts before giving up.


    I bent my knees, and deftly leapt over her head, onto the top of the chair. Delicately poised there, I fiddled with the runes.


    Fortunately, this was a ¡°newer model¡± of lighting, which meant it was only a few centuries old. Recharging it was as ¡®simple¡¯ as tapping my wand on the right mini-mana nodule, and channeling in the appropriate amount of mana.


    The light did have an Arcanite stone in the center of the array, but the draw of the sigil was just a hair stronger than the regeneration rate of the stone, hence needing me to come around now and then.


    I had my conspiracy theories about it. An Arcanite stone just too small? And it seemed like half the lights in the library had stones just a hair too small? And they were never the critical ones?


    It lent fuel to my ¡°they¡¯re just making jobs for us¡± fire. Half the jobs and tasks I was assigned to could easily be done by a high-level [Librarian¡¯s] passive skill, and I knew we had a few of those running around. I had my [Cosmic Presence] passive, able to multiply regeneration rates of everyone nearby hundreds of times. I could barely imagine what a librarian with thousands of levels could do.


    Or even an arcanite Classer. Take one of the many chunks of arcanite scattered around the campus, get a fist-sized piece of the stuff, and distribute it to all the lights here, so they ran at a slight surplus, not at a slight loss.


    I sensed shenanigans, but said shenanigans kept me paid. I wasn¡¯t going to protest too loudly.


    I hopped over the still-sobbing student, rolled my eyes again at her utter lack of mental fortitude, reminded myself that I didn¡¯t know what was going on in her life and I¡¯d broken down plenty, found a bit of sympathy for her, and moved on.


    I made sure to carefully patrol every set of bookshelves, just in case I couldn¡¯t tell the light was dim from 10 meters away. Mmmhmmm. Yup. That was why. It had nothing to do with me skimming the titles of as many books as I could, trying to find hidden gems in the depths of the stacks.


    I was at three neat finds so far, and I¡¯d set my personal limit to six.


    Skimming titles was an ok, but not great, way of practicing my other languages. More reinforcing words I already knew, rather than learning anything, but speed-reading dozens of different languages and identifying them was just generally good exercise.


    As I skimmed, a title jumped out at me. Rather, part of a single word. The start of Biomancer, which was fairly similar in a number of different languages.


    I wasn¡¯t sure which language this book was in, or heck, if I was being terribly misled by a similar word sharing a start. I grabbed the book off the shelf, and started flipping through it.


    Anatomical diagram after anatomical diagram flew in front of me. A few two-page diagrams had careful arrows from one elvenoid figure to another one, clearly marking out changes. There were scribbles along each line in a language I didn¡¯t know.


    Jackpot!


    I closed the book, sticking it with the rest of my loot. I¡¯d need to check with Martin or one of the [Archivists] what language it was in, then try to hunt down a book to translate.


    Or bug Iona to do it for me. I didn¡¯t want to ask her to do that often, since it felt like I was using her. The practice and learning parts of another language were useful to boot.


    Oh wait, Martin was taking a few days off, not wanting to see the mess all the students were inflicting on his library during finals. To the [Archivists]!


    This was totally work, I was getting a book properly classified and into the right place. Mmmhmmm.


    ¡°Hey! Question for you!¡± I stuck the book I found on the [Archivist''s] desk, over a little plate with¡­ was his name really Ratcatcher?


    Then again, I was in no position to judge.


    The wizened old goblin - I wasn¡¯t going to get used to that anytime soon - peered up over his half-moon glasses at me, and grunted.


    ¡°What.¡± He put his hands protectively over an ancient scroll he was looking at.


    ¡°What language is this in?¡± I flipped the book open to a particularly word-dense section.


    ¡°Not supposed to be a blasted language detector.¡± The goblin muttered darkly under his breath as he pushed his glasses up. ¡°This is Alethi. Old, but not ancient.¡± He pushed the book back to me. ¡°Now shoo.¡±


    I debated asking him if he knew where an Alethi-High Elvish dictionary was, but decided that was a better question for Martin. Ratcatcher didn¡¯t seem friendly.


    This was the best in I had for asking my authentication questions.


    ¡°Hey, how can you tell if a piece of work is an original or not?¡± I asked him.


    He studied me over his glasses for a moment before answering.


    ¡°Academic curiosity, or did you stumble on something in the stacks?¡±


    I hesitated. On one hand, I¡¯d need to tell someone eventually. Ratcatcher was a solid start. On the other, I wanted to have some idea of what would constitute evidence, otherwise I¡¯d just get laughed out of the room.


    ¡°Nine-tenths academic curiosity, one-tenth I got screwed by a fairy ring and might have an exceptionally old first-hand document from the Remus Empire on me¡­?¡±


    Ratcatcher blinked, then swore up a storm.


    ¡°First hand from the Remus Empire!? Do you have any idea how valuable that is!?¡± He shouted at me.


    I backed up and held up my hands. I was honestly unsure if [Oath] would penalize me if I worked the old man up into a heart attack or not.


    ¡°No¡­? And it¡¯s theoretical¡­?¡± I tried to placate him.


    He sat back down, muttering darkly under his breath. Again.


    ¡°If it¡¯s theoretical I¡¯ll eat my socks.¡±


    He sighed at me.


    ¡°Verification of old documents. Right. Most of us have skills around preserving documents, restoring them, or telling how old they are. For a fairy ring? Most of those skills are worthless. I¡¯ve got a few accounts that say the fae realm completely¡­ blanks, for lack of a better word, our skills. Never got a chance to find out for myself. Half the accounts contradict that, and if the stories are believed, the fae find it entertaining just to screw with us. Either it registers as a new document, or it registers as an extremely new document. It¡¯ll be hard to prove.¡±


    Damn. That sounded like I was completely out of luck.


    ¡°Any other ways of proving old documents? Or, like, authorship?¡±


    I got another long glare, and the silent treatment.


    Ratcatcher had nothing on the Rangers, and their silent treatments.


    ¡°Author signatures. Bless the bloody elves and their obsession with credit. To the novice, untrained eye, a copied signature looks exactly the same as the old signature. That¡¯s entirely wrong. There¡¯s subtle degradation that occurs each time, and it¡¯s passed on every time it¡¯s copied. This lets us build a tree, if you will, of which edition got copied when and where, and lets us trace a map of the book¡¯s history.¡±


    Ratcatcher was starting to get more animated as he spoke. He was one of the [Archivists] here; he didn¡¯t make it without passion.


    ¡°One moment.¡± He vanished into the labyrinth that was the archives, coming back with a tightly bound scroll. He unraveled it on the table. A tree-like diagram unraveled in front of me, some nodes having names, others with question marks on them. Five nodes were at the top, every other one branching out from it.


    ¡°Jiwa. The giant [Runesmith] who invented the wizardry language named after him.¡± Ratcatcher explained, pointing to the five nodes at the top. ¡°He wrote five books detailing the language, and spread them far and wide. Scribes then copied it, distributed them, and copied again.¡± He traced a line going from the node, tapping on it and tracing down.


    ¡°These days, when a new copy is uncovered, we can analyze the signature, and depending on how degraded it is, we can determine where it belongs in the history of the book. Lost ruins are fantastic for that.¡±


    ¡°Wait, how can you tell how old it is from the signature?¡± I was getting interested in what Ratcatcher had to say, and keeping a lid on the bubbling excitement I had developing.


    ¡°Well, it degrades. If the vibrancy of the lower J is weak, and the top of the A is clipped, that places the providence of the volume about here.¡± Ratcatcher pointed to a spot in his diagram. ¡°If the A is clipped, but the vibrancy is solid? It¡¯d be placed here.¡± He pointed to a new spot. ¡°If the A¡¯s only half-clipped, then that¡¯d be a new node, here.¡± He pointed to a third spot. ¡°However, that¡¯s unlikely, since [Scribes] or [Copiers] rarely only make one copy, they make a bunch, and as a rule, tend to make the same mistake repeatedly with their skill.¡±


    I thought I had it.


    ¡°The purer the signature, the older the document, the more authentic it is?¡±


    I got another withering glare from Ratcatcher.


    ¡°That has nothing to do with authenticity.¡± He growled. ¡°Leave such things to the [Auctioneers]. No, authenticity only matters for originals. We believe there are no originals of Jiwa¡¯s notes. Preservation skills can only do so much in the face of time. Someone dies. Someone takes a vacation. Some damn Immortal blasts a mountain to pieces.¡±


    He perked up, and gave me a sly grin.


    ¡°Unless you have some originals from the Remus Empire on you. Eh? Eh?¡±


    [*brrrrring!* Work¡¯s DONE! We¡¯re not getting paid to be here anymore, so let¡¯s wrap up, check out the books, and make like a tree and leaf!]


    I made some polite noises and fled.

 Chapter 349 - School Life II

    I was both amused and terrified by my zoology¡¯s extra credit question on the final.


    The mythical phoenix is said to be a bird made entirely out of fire. Given what you have learned, which Empire would you classify the creature into? Which Kingdom?


    The question posed the risk of revealing that I knew too much about phoenixes. In the grand scheme of things, the risk was tiny, and I couldn¡¯t resist the challenge of the question, or the allure of getting a perfect score. One of the next classes in the Zoology course was Mythical Creatures, and I¡¯d bet that the question was more there to incite interest in the course. I could always claim I¡¯d read the book ahead of time.


    Some people had it right when they said getting expelled was worse than death. Given that the question seemed theoretical, I could always play my knowledge off as ¡®I like reading a ton¡¯.


    A phoenix is a Magical creature. However, it fails to meet the definition of an Elemental, due to missing a few key criteria. For example, the¡­


    Finals! I don¡¯t know why everyone was stressing so much about them.


    Marcelle gave me a disbelieving look.


    ¡°Seriously?¡± She asked me.


    I firmly nodded.


    ¡°Seriously.¡±


    ¡°The School¡¯s not that dangerous!¡± She threw her hands up in the air, still holding her grading clipboard.


    ¡°It takes days to properly set this up! DAYS! [Persistent Casting] with my best image isn¡¯t quick!¡±


    Marcelle grumbled some more.


    ¡°Fine. I can¡¯t give you top marks in the bonus practical self-modification section, but you¡¯re passing the class with a perfect score already.¡±


    I tried not to look too pleased or smug.


    ¡°While we¡¯re on the subject, I have a question about biomancy and classing up.¡±


    Marcelles eyebrows climbed up into her bangs.


    ¡°That¡¯s a lot of trust you¡¯re offering. What is it?¡±


    I shrugged.


    ¡°You¡¯re my teacher, and advisor. You¡¯re the biomancy expert. Who else should I ask?¡±


    She gave me a curt nod, and looked around the exam room. Heavily warded for privacy, to prevent cheaters, snoops, and the like.


    ¡°Ask away.¡±


    ¡°When should I upgrade my [Student] class into a biomancy one? What¡¯s the optimal route, and what tasks and activities give the highest quality classes?¡±


    She gave me a strange look at that.


    ¡°Like any other class, you¡¯ll get out of it what you put into it. If you practice changing yourself - I would normally never suggest this to a student, but your self-healing makes it possible to do safely - you¡¯ll get a self-transformation class. If you practice changing animals, a stronger class with that angle will present itself. The safe workshops have mice and shuvuuias to practice with. If you practice changing other elvenoids - please don¡¯t, not without careful supervision - you¡¯ll get a class relating to modifying others.¡±


    Marcelle eyed me thoughtfully.


    ¡°With your build, here¡¯s the track I¡¯d take. Modify yourself extensively. Spend a few million points of mana on it, the gods know the School¡¯s got enough arcanite lying around. Grab a self-modification class at 32, level up to 128. Expand to a class that can modify others there, graduate, then best of luck.¡±


    I wanted to snort at ¡®a few million points of mana¡¯. For the average student, that might be a reach, but not for me. For me, that was only a few hours of work, but she was right that I could speed things up with all the arcanite the School had. Probably touch the tens of millions of mana inside an hour, if not more. I processed what she said, along with my own knowledge of the System.


    ¡°If I primarily focus on changing my legs and arms, I¡¯ll get a stronger class around modifying those than a full-body modification class, right?¡±


    Marcelle nodded.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. It¡¯s safer to modify your extremities. Now, I hate to cut this conversation short, but there are still more students I need to examine. Make an appointment if you¡¯d like to discuss this more.¡±


    Knowing a dismissal when I heard it, I left, leaving Marcelle to torment - errr - examine - the next poor student.


    I¡¯d had a general skill slot open for way too long, and it was time to just pick a skill and be done with it. [Pretty] had merged into [Scintillating Ascent], and I was going to be going a step further with biomancy. At some point, I¡¯d need to sit down and figure out what proportions I wanted to aim for, and what curves and height I wanted.


    It was low down on my list, but it was weird to think that I could mold my body like clay, that I didn¡¯t have to just accept what mother nature had given me.


    I doubted I¡¯d make serious changes. I liked my height.


    Seeing an echo of mom¡¯s face in the mirror was one of the last things I had from her.


    No, between biomancy and [Scintillating Ascent] changing my body around slightly every time it leveled up, I was good in the ¡®fundamental looks¡¯ department.


    I still had that little nudge to take an appearance skill. I spent a whole hour meditating on the issue instead of doing something more fun, like reading or playing with Auri, before deciding that, yes, I was being influenced by our companion bond, but that I¡¯d also taken [Pretty] as a kid and had stubbornly kept the skill for 12 years. I liked being [Pretty], and dirt and dust were my nemeses when trying to keep up my appearance for an entire day. Spilled drinks, someone else¡¯s experiment blowing up in my face, the pervasive ash at the firing range and more all conspired daily to ruin my good looks.


    Not anymore!


    [Spotless] was here to save the day!


    It was a complete luxury skill, but I had hopes that my life would be luxury skills from here on out.


    Gods, if only I could sell a single Immortality use.


    I banished the thought from my head.


    Being a healer in a mid-sized town would be money enough.


    I looked over my schedule one last time, triple-checking that I liked it. I was more restrained this time, not massively overloading myself. I¡¯d even noticed that my performance in my remaining classes had improved!


    All in all, a win for reason.


    Comparative Anatomy - Dinosaur


    Wizardry II


    Biomancy II


    Medicine Lab


    Companion Class


    Advanced Fire Sorcery


    The last class was for Auri, and was her idea. She wanted to see what the ¡®real school¡¯ was like. I was planning on getting work done during that period, while Auri would pay attention to the lectures. I¡¯d offered Mythical Zoology as a course, but she wanted fire.


    Surprise, surprise.


    I was deliberately skipping a medicine class, only keeping in a practical course. Trying to take it easy after my overload, making sure I was grounded and centered.


    I gave a sharp nod at my work.


    ¡°Looks good, right?¡± I showed it to Auri.


    ¡°Brrrrpt! Brrrpt?¡±


    ¡°Next quarter we might add in a baking course. Isn¡¯t Bridget good at teaching you and the other kids though?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt¡­¡± Bridget was good, but Auri wanted professional classes.


    ¡°Walk before you run, errr¡­¡± My analogy fell apart as Auri gave me a haughty look. She hopped down onto my desk, and started running all over it, legs moving comically fast.


    A frantic knock at my door interrupted our shenanigans. I got up and opened the door, to find a distraught Iona on the other side.


    ¡°I failed math!¡±


    My first instinct was to laugh at the sheer absurdity of it, but Iona¡¯s crestfallen face stopped me.


    ¡°Here, let¡¯s sit, tell me all about it. It¡¯s not the end of the world. Which math class was it? Math¡¯s a huge field, there¡¯s more than just one class. Plus, we¡¯re on break now! We should do fun things! Once class starts up again, I¡¯ll give you a hand with some studying¡­¡±


    The grateful look on Iona¡¯s face said it all, sending butterflies careening through my stomach.


    I mentally added ¡°study with Iona¡± to my schedule. Under ¡°relaxation.¡±


    I opened the door to the dorms, only to get blasted with Lightning, flames dancing merrily along the ceiling.


    I spasmed as the Lightning played havoc with my nerves, jerking like a marionette for a brief moment before snapping up a shield between me and the source.


    Half of me was screaming ATTACK! ATTACK! Duck, roll, [Kaleidoscope], Radiance beams! Go for the eyes!


    The other half was more politely and reasonably reminding me that this was my home, in a safe place.


    They both won out. I rolled around the edge of the door as I started to summon butterflies, noting that the Lightning wasn¡¯t strong enough to punch through my shield. I peeked my head around the corner, squinting at the flashes of Lightning ruining my vision.


    Fenrir was in the middle of the room, Lightning arcing from him all over the room, while Auri was cheerfully flying on the ceiling, letting little controlled spirits of flame dance with her.


    I wanted to say there was no threat, but there was a threat and I did need to handle it. Just in a more yelly way, not a burny way.


    ¡°Aoife Auri Stentor!¡± I yelled with my best Sentinel Dawn voice, putting my hands on my hips. ¡°What are you doing!?¡±


    ¡°BRRrrrpt!?¡± Auri did a double-take at me glaring murder at her.


    ¡°ENOUGH!¡± Reinhard stormed out of her room, making a ¡®grabbing¡¯ motion with her hands. Fenrir¡¯s Lightning got pulled into a ball in her left hand, while Auri¡¯s flames only swayed briefly towards her. ¡°What are you two doing!? You¡¯ll ruin the entire dorm! Fenrir, there is a firing range for testing new skills!¡±


    She seemed to have the yelling well in hand, and it¡¯d do everyone some good to get some yelling from people not named Elaine. It took a village to raise a kid, and all that.


    ¡°Auri! You know better than this! You¡¯re a phoenix, for crying out loud! What would the other phoenixes think if they saw you?¡±


    ¡°BRRRPT!?! BRPT BRPT BRRRRRRRRRPT!!!¡±


    Reinhard paused, her eyes widening. She whirled on me.


    ¡°What does Auri mean, she doesn¡¯t know any other phoenixes!?¡±


    I facepalmed. This was going to be a long, long story.


    But wait¡­ maybe that meant Reinhard knew where there were more phoenixes!?


    ¡°Let me buy you dinner, I think we have a lot to discuss.¡± I told my roommate.


    She continued to give me a dirty look, crushing Fenrir¡¯s Lightning with her hand.


    Holy shit.


    Her shoulders relaxed, and she gave me a curt nod.


    ¡°Alright. I suppose I should give you the chance to explain.¡±


    ¡°... then we met Iona, who let us know just how much time had passed. Came to the School to try and learn what the world is like now. Given that it¡¯s practically a whole new world and all that.¡±


    I leaned back as I finished narrating the ¡®short¡¯ version of how I¡¯d met Auri and made it here, leaving a suspicious hole in the ¡°no I totally found her egg in the underground tunnels, just lying there.¡±


    Reinhard slowly shook her head in disbelief.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ wow. Incredible. I¡¯m so sorry. Nobody should have to go through that. Are you ok?¡±


    I shrugged.


    ¡°No? But I¡¯m doing what I can. I¡¯m seeing Linnet to help me with all this.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt BRPT!¡±


    ¡°And Auri! Who¡¯s the bestest little bird ever, right?¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!¡±


    Reinhard looked unamused at Auri¡¯s antics, but nodded.


    ¡°Excellent.¡±


    She might¡¯ve wanted to say something more, but I wanted to know more about phoenixes.


    ¡°Do you know where more phoenixes live? Could you get us in contact with them?¡± I¡¯d been sorely lacking on goals recently, just drifting around as I tried to survive. I needed to sit down and work out what I wanted from life, and how to get it. Operation: Find Auri¡¯s Relatives was a pretty good start to things. A goal I could work towards.


    Reinhard hesitated, and looked around before leaning in.


    ¡°Not here.¡± She hissed at me.


    Welp, onto a private area.


    Reinhard¡¯s idea of a private area was¡­ the unused suite room in our dorm.


    She spent a solid twenty minutes casting, using runes I couldn¡¯t identify. I committed them all to memory anyways. In the future I could try to reverse engineer them¡­ in a safe place.


    Better would be to find a reference book for the type of runic language she was using, but I had more important concerns.


    Like finding some of Auri¡¯s¡­ distant nieces and nephews?


    ¡°Right. Phoenixes. My family knows a few of them. When I graduate I can ask them for information, then pass it onto you.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri asked, but Reinhard ignored her.


    ¡°How will you know where I am? Can I visit?¡± I asked her.


    She shook her head.


    ¡°We don¡¯t let anybody into the Kirin Sanctuary, nor do we let anyone know where it is. With luck, you¡¯ll still be here, and I¡¯ll find a way back. Everyone should get to know more of their kind. Please don¡¯t talk to others about the Kirin Sanctuary. It¡¯s not a big secret, but we don¡¯t like it getting spread around.¡±


    With that, Reinhard turned on her heel, and left.


    All that prep work for less than a minute of talking.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we read a book to find out more?¡± I suggested to Auri.


    I hadn¡¯t planned on taking Mythical Zoology, but it looked like I was going to be skimming the textbook.


    A quick library raid later, and I¡¯d located the book in question. Being a course textbook for a common class, we had multiple copies of the book. Being the break between quarters? We were well-stocked, with only the most prepared students having gotten a crack at them.


    I curled up in my favorite chair - extra springy, in a hidden corner where nobody would bother me - and cracked the book open to the table of contents, looking for ¡°phoenix.¡±


    This was something I should¡¯ve done ages ago, but I just hadn¡¯t had the time for it.


    I mentally cursed as I skimmed through the entries. I was letting myself get distracted by the other creatures, and the biomancy potential they had.


    I was being dumb in a second way. I should take the class as a primer, then dig through the class offerings to see if there was a Mythical Creature Anatomy or something.


    From my weak understanding of biomancy so far, I couldn¡¯t become a half-phoenix, half-human woman. There was just something about the magical nature of the beasts that made it challenging to do. Like, I could make my arms into wings, and light them on fire, but that didn¡¯t make them phoenix wings. Just very, very, very painful, and a trip to the local burn ward.


    Not all mythical creatures were made out of fire though, and a number of them could have useful aspects or ideas I could incorporate into my own modifications.


    While people were more casual with saying ¡®dragon¡¯, I noticed a distinct lack of anything draconic in the Museum of All Things¡¯s biomancy and biology hall, nevermind the runes made out of dragon¡¯s blood. I¡¯d gotten to study Lun¡¯Kat while healing her, but my knowledge of her body was poor at best. Dragon scales or dragon¡¯s blood would be cool.


    Well, the idea of it was cool. I needed to get the technical details to see if it was any good or not.


    My finger skimmed over the table of contents, getting more ideas. I had some basic knowledge of some creatures, while others were unknown to me.


    Almiraj - Crazy jumping powers. Could I leap over tall buildings if I incorporated their thigh and knee structure?


    Basilisk - Their petrification was skill-based, but their venom was famous. Would a poisonous bite as a backup work? Then was the question of what type of fangs, and which poison. Was mixing and matching possible? Did I want fangs that deployed, or would something more like a coral snake work?


    Drop Bears - deadly in the extreme. Was their killing power a skill, or innately part of their body? Was eating leaves useful? I¡¯d need to run the numbers on the calorie efficiency, and if the trade-off was worth it.


    I continued tracing down the list, my heart practically stopping on a familiar name, yet one I didn¡¯t know.


    Golden Crow.


    Papilion had told me to be prepared to be reincarnated as a golden crow, and at the time, I¡¯d begged to become human. I thought it was just some bird. I hadn¡¯t known I was going to a world of magic and myths.


    Its entry in this book suggested otherwise. I flipped to the page, a picture popping out at me.


    A crow, with golden feathers instead of black ones, with a third leg. Almost exactly the same as what Papilion morphed into. The sun was prominently displayed in the background.


    The Golden Crow is one of the most powerful creatures of fire on the planet, behind only dragons. It is debated if their mastery of flames is stronger than phoenixes or not, but most scholars place phoenixes above them, simply due to their quasi-elemental nature. Golden Crows are the light, using a combination of sun-related flames with Radiance flames. Stronger during the day, they are naturally Immortal, and are possessed of a keen intellect¡­¡±


    I closed the book, trying not to cry.


    I could¡¯ve been that?! A mythical, immortal creature!? One innately attuned to fire and flames!?


    What was I doing in this shitty human body!?


    ¡°Papilion! I WANT A DO-OVER!¡± I yelled into the air, shaking my fist.


    ¡°[Shush!]¡±


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 22]


    [Mana: 583,290/583,290]


    [Mana Regen: 275,561 (+522,957)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 349]


    [Strength: 982]


    [Dexterity: 2,078]


    [Vitality: 14,550]


    [Speed: 14,582]


    [Mana: 58,329]


    [Mana Regeneration: 58,431 (+52,296)]


    [Magic Power: 23,089 (+592,233)]


    [Magic Control: 23,116 (+592,925)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 513]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 488]


    [Cosmic Presence: 317]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 11]


    [Center of the Universe: 452]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 513]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 513]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 471]


    [Sunrise: 420]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 358]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 358]


    [Radiance Resistance: 358]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 358]


    [Runic Scribing: 55]


    [Nectar: 358]


    [Solar Corona: 358]


    [Scintillating Ascent: 338]


    [Kaleidoscope: 358]


    [Class 3: [Student of the Ages - Wood: Lv 32]]


    [Wood Affinity: 32]


    [Learning Languages: 32]


    [Dabble: 32]


    [Something Doesn''t Look Right: 32]


    [Timekeeping: 32]


    [Organization: 32]


    [Repetition is the Mother of Learning: 32]


    [Study: 32]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 376]


    [Immortal Recollections: 300]


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 128]


    [Spotless: 5]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 513]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 513]


    [Persistent Casting: 315]


    [Passionate Learning: 400]

 Chapter 350 - Major Interlude - Iona - School Life III

    Amy¡¯s leg twitched, and Iona bolted upright. She tore straight through her bedsheet, but her paramour of the prior night just grumbled and rolled over, nestling deeper in the wyvern¡¯s nest that was Iona¡¯s bed.


    Curse it all. Iona mentally swore to herself as she carefully extricated herself from her bed without waking up her friend. I was hoping to go at least a week without ruining something.


    She eyed the blanket. The rip wasn¡¯t too bad this time, but there were only so many times Iona could stitch it back together before it was more repairs than original. At a point, she¡¯d just need to throw it out and buy a new one.


    The curse of being as heavy and as strong as she was, without any skills for keeping linens intact. [Celestial Armaments] extended to her clothing, which was a relief, but not bedsheets.


    Towels worked better, because Iona was awake enough to control her strength. The valkyrie looked out the window, mentally working out roughly what time it was.


    Early. Reinhard might still be awake, or might¡¯ve gotten up early - Iona still didn¡¯t know which it was - but everyone else would be asleep.


    Selene! Lunaris!


    Good morning! First day of classes in this quarter! Wish me luck - I need it with math!


    Iona heard a tinkling laugh at her request.


    Wrong goddesses to get help with math! Lunaris replied.


    Yeah, you¡¯re doomed. Selene chimed in.


    Good luck! They wished her in unison.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Paladin of the Moons] has leveled up! 54 -> 55! +70 Strength, +70 Dexterity, +112 Vitality, +70 Speed, +60 Mana, +60 Mana Regeneration, +140 Magic Power, +140 Magic Control from your Class! +1 Free Stat for being human! +1 Vitality, +1 Mana from your Element!]


    She got a fresh notebook - new quarter, new notebook - and sat down at her desk, spinning in the chair to face her bed.


    Iona held out her hand and focused on [Telekinesis]. A pencil snapped into her palm, and Iona bent over and got to work.


    Drawing with [Telekinesis] was an exercise in frustration and ruined pictures. Some things were just better to do manually.


    The paladin stuck out her tongue and her hand with one thumb out, measuring and getting rough ratios of Amy¡¯s face. Satisfied, she started drawing, art coming to life as her pencil danced over the paper.


    Time flew by, and Fenrir poked his head into Iona¡¯s room.


    ¡°Breakfast?¡± He growled at her.


    A toothy monster sticking his head into Iona¡¯s room and growling was enough to wake Amy, and she screamed.


    ¡°Monster!¡± She yelled, and chaos ensued.


    The dust settled, Iona having gotten the drawing she¡¯d made of Amy to the woman as she fled in a panic, but not her clothes.


    Ah well. More fabric for repairs. Iona mused to herself.


    She stretched and got up, heading over to the bathroom.


    ¡°Morning.¡± Iona yawned at Elaine as she passed her. The short healer¡¯s eyes ran quickly up and down Iona¡¯s body, and the valkyrie suppressed a grin. Being able to make nearly any elvenoid stop and stare was nearly a point of pride, but more importantly, it was fun.


    Elaine was diligent as always, already fully dressed in her purple witch¡¯s robes, books tucked under one arm and a bag slung over a shoulder. Auri was perched on her shoulder, and trilled a greeting at Iona.


    ¡°Morning! Ready for classes again?¡± Elaine cheerfully asked, keeping her eyes locked on Iona¡¯s.


    Iona gave an overly dramatic sigh, internally chuckling as Elaine¡¯s eyes wavered at her heaving chest, but stayed politely on Iona¡¯s face.


    ¡°Alas! The fun part of School¡¯s over, and I need to get back to classes.¡± She said.


    ¡°What!¡± Elaine squeaked. ¡°This is the fun part!¡±


    Iona raised a doubtful eyebrow at Elaine.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you just spend two weeks with your nose in a book?¡± Iona was glad that Elaine had spent two weeks doing something she liked. Most of the books had been fun reading, although she¡¯d seen a few advanced wizardry titles in the mix. It wasn¡¯t the endless parade of work that had caused her to become a burnt-out husk though, which was nice.


    ¡°I did eat.¡± Elaine defended herself.


    ¡°With a book in your hands.¡± Iona retorted.


    Elaine¡¯s eyes flickered, like she¡¯d gotten a notification.


    ¡°Crap, I gotta run. Bye!¡± The short witch dashed past Iona, out of the suite and off to whatever class she had first.


    Iona replayed the conversation in her head as she showered, and laughed in sudden realization. Elaine had only said she¡¯d ate. Nothing about sleeping. Iona would bet, emeralds to rubies, that Elaine had fallen asleep while reading, the book falling on her face as she passed out.


    Iona cursed herself for forgetting to arrange math lessons with Elaine. She needed to figure out the magic behind numbers. Reinhard had also expressed a willingness to help Iona, and Skye muttered something about ¡®good practice just in case¡¯ in her native tongue when Iona had arranged lessons with her.


    The paladin didn¡¯t want to impose too much on any one person. She couldn¡¯t commandeer their time like that, not for free, and not without giving anything in return. She¡¯d showered them in drawings, but there was only so much she could reasonably ask.


    ¡°Breakfast!¡± Fenrir butted into the shower, the cool water turning into a spray of unending ice onto Iona as he flexed his powers. Iona yelped at the unexpected assault.


    ¡°Ok! Ok! I¡¯m coming!¡± She cried out.


    ¡°Good.¡± He growled to himself.


    This is saving me hours. Iona reminded herself as she walked up the stairs. Three minutes here is like¡­ an hour of normal training. Three and three make six, and then I need to add the 0. Thirty times as effective!


    The floors doubled in potency every time Iona went up a level. She paused at the level that was 128 times normal gravity, and hesitated.


    Onwards and upwards. She thought as she went up another flight.


    The gym was a chore, but a necessary one. There was no other way to stay as strong as Iona needed to be, not without investing hours after hours daily outside of the gym.


    Should¡¯ve asked the biomancer for muscles that never degraded. Iona grumbled to herself, not for the first time. Not for the last. Too much damn vitality now for anyone to make changes.


    That was if she could even afford them.


    Pick heavy things up. Put them down again.


    Beat fighting monsters though.


    ¡°Painting! Oh, I am EVER so glad that you all could make it here!¡± The frilly faun at the front of the room proclaimed. ¡°Now, I¡¯d like to make it clear. This is the mundane painting class. No magic here! This is simply for those who wish to pursue the artistic subject.¡±


    The professor paused, and half of the already tiny class packed up and left. Iona was one of four remaining students in the class, which didn¡¯t deter the professor in the slightest.


    She eyed them up. Two of the three remaining students were cute, and might be a fun fling.


    ¡°Great! The first thing we¡¯ll learn how to do is grind ink!¡±


    Iona schooled her face.


    ¡°Paint?¡± Fenrir asked from his spot by her feet.


    ¡°I want to say soon, but I¡¯m not sure we¡¯ll get to it today¡­¡± Iona raised an eyebrow as jars of live beetles were brought out.


    ¡°Vegetables.¡± Iona barked out a laugh at Fenrir¡¯s idea of a curse.


    Iona stared at the math problem in front of her, the numbers swimming.


    She remembered what she needed to do. Find 0. Put it on the chart. Then chart the rest of the numbers. There was a process, a routine. She knew how to follow the instructions. She¡¯d been told why following those instructions solved the problem.


    She just couldn¡¯t understand why following those instructions solved the problem.


    One point at a time, she calculated each position, and put them on the graph. 0. 1. 2. 3.


    A ninja appeared next to her with a tiny dramatic poof.


    ¡°Your 3 is wrong! It¡¯s 25!¡± He jabbed a quill at Iona¡¯s chart, neatly making a mark in the appropriate place.


    ¡°Wait-¡± Iona started to ask for clarification, but a smoke bomb went off, the ninja vanishing.


    Just another typical day at the School.


    Iona put her head in her hands. She believed him.


    But what had she done wrong? It was a shame Skye or Elaine weren¡¯t around. They¡¯d be able to easily explain this in a way that made her feel smart.


    ¡°We¡¯ve realized a potential problem.¡± One of the [Researchers] told Iona.


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Iona was fairly relaxed about the whole thing. Sigrun had made sure that Iona¡¯s scholarship was secured for six years, no matter what happened. The biggest problem Iona could imagine was they liked her too much, and increased the amount they scheduled her for.


    ¡°Well, there¡¯s a bit of a schism in old Rewheb. Some of us think silence means silence, and some of us think silence means contempt.¡± He said.


    That seemed easy enough for Iona.


    ¡°I mean, it means silence, right? That¡¯s what you have me for?¡± She scrunched up her forehead, unsure of what the problem was. This seemed blindingly obvious to her. Her blessing let her translate, the [Researchers] gave her words, she translated, easy peasy. No problems.


    The researchers traded significant looks, and a second one stepped up and cleared his throat.


    ¡°Some of us think contempt means silence, and some of us think contempt means contempt.¡±


    ¡°That one means contempt - ah.¡± Iona paused, the implications sinking in. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me. You think the word means contempt, and you think the word means silence.¡± She pointed to the two researchers respectively.


    The silence was all the answer she needed. Iona thought the answer was obvious, although she wasn¡¯t a [Linguist] like the researchers were.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it possible that there¡¯s shades of meaning to the words that don¡¯t translate well into Altaic? A contemptuous silence, as opposed to a contemplative silence or something?¡± She asked. ¡°I¡¯m getting shades of both with the word.¡±


    The researchers frowned and poured over their notes.


    ¡°Well, yes. But which one is it more of?¡±


    Iona wanted to hit her head against the desk. There was being passionate about a subject, and there was whatever this obsession with the tiny details was.


    It made her think of Elaine, and while passionate about learning, wasn¡¯t a pedantic twit like the researchers were.


    The time to money ratio was unbeatable though.


    The training salle was next on Iona¡¯s list, a chance to learn from the best [Fencers] and [Duelists] the School could offer. Dueling wasn¡¯t high on Iona¡¯s list of activities, but learning to be a better fighter?


    The worst case she could imagine was bringing the lessons back to the Valkyries, and teaching a new generation of squires the various tips and tricks she¡¯d learned. Even if it didn¡¯t help her, maybe she could teach a squire who¡¯d found a particular affinity with the foil some tricks.


    She entered the training salle, a number of other students wearing durable practice clothing with significantly fewer bits of spare cloth than the witch¡¯s robes they all had to wear kneeling on the ground. Iona quickly changed and joined them, ending up in the second row. She grabbed one of the wooden practice swords, disappointed by the lack of axes or glaives. Seven rows of students ended up kneeling and ready, before the instructor burst in.


    The kitsune was lithe and intense, radiating a sharp air about him. He strode into the room, three swords strapped to his hip, barking the whole way.


    ¡°Attention! I am Yagyu Mitsukata! In this training hall there are no kings! No emperors! No gods. There is only me, and my word is absolute! Do-¡±


    Iona had already stood up, the instructor¡¯s words intolerable to the [Paladin].


    You go girl! Selene cheered in her ears.


    He¡¯s just barely not worth smiting. Lunaris complained.


    ¡°No.¡± Iona declared, ready to face the consequences of her action.


    They were swift.


    ¡°[Out!]¡± The instructor declared, and Iona was blasted out of the training salle.


    She twisted in the air, landing gracefully to the shocked looks of the students who¡¯d been passing by.


    Well, that class is a bust. She thought to herself. More time to practice with Fenrir.


    Iona tightened the last strap of Fenrir¡¯s harness around him, stepping back and frowning. The wyvern shot Iona his best set of pitiful eyes¡­ which only made him look more malevolent than usual. ¡®Wyvern¡¯s eyes¡¯ did not mix with ¡®cute puppy dog eyes¡¯.


    ¡°Why?¡± He asked, pawing at the harness with his wing, stretching his neck one way then the other to try and get it into a more comfortable position.


    ¡°Because one day it¡¯ll be armor. It¡¯ll let us fight together, as one.¡±


    ¡°Hunt. Pounce. Bite. Blast. Was good.¡± Fenrir said. Iona understood what he was saying - when they¡¯d been leaving Modu together, when he was a baby. They¡¯d worked together as a pair, hunting and fighting together.


    Iona carefully thought about how to respond. Fenrir wasn¡¯t wrong on several levels, but he was also missing the point. On how large and dangerous the world was. On what a suit of armor could do, and Iona and him working together in tandem.


    She¡¯d never force him to carry her, no. That was all manner of wrong.


    ¡°Well, for one, this training harness sucks.¡± Iona agreed. ¡°But it¡¯ll help you get a skill. Do you like me carrying you around?¡±


    Fenrir nodded, his head bobbling sinuously on the end of his neck.


    ¡°Do you want to carry me one day? Blasting Ice while I fight from your back, as one team?¡±


    Fenrir looked thoughtful, and Iona was struck by inspiration. She dropped her bag, and rooted through it for her notebook and pencil. She flipped open to a new, clean page, and started sketching.


    An adult Fenrir came to life under her pencil, Iona riding on his back. The two wore armor, and some clever tricks made it look like light was gleaming off of it. A storm raged in the background, a few dramatic bolts of lightning against dark clouds, and Iona drew Fenrir raining devastation below him with his beams of Ice, while Iona slew some bird with a glaive from his back.


    She wasn¡¯t quite sure how to draw Fenrir controlling the Lightning. Something to work on, given his new element.


    Prominently drawn, with great attention to detail, was a saddle keeping Iona firmly attached to the frost wyvern.


    ¡°Like this!¡±


    Fenrir studied the image, and growled his approval.


    ¡°Alright.¡±


    Iona had an open slot in her [Traveling Archer] class, and she hadn¡¯t gotten a good chance to practice her class or improve it. She didn¡¯t have her old springwood bow anymore, and the basic training bows the School had couldn¡¯t handle a fraction of her full strength. Firing the bows at the max strength they could handle before breaking was terrible experience, and threatened to ingrain poor habits.


    The archer had seen the value in being able to conjure up arrows during the fall of the Valkyries. She¡¯d privately sworn to herself - in a non magically binding way - to take a skill to get arrows, so she¡¯d never be without ammunition again.


    Being without a bow was equally a problem, although Iona was in the best place in the world to get a skill to mitigate that issue.


    Finding the right person who could teach Iona how to get a bow-summoning skill was a challenge, but the island the School was founded on was an Oddity. Each Oddity interacted with the System in some strange and unusual way, and the School was founded on the island for many reasons, including its influence.


    It was significantly easier to learn skills while on the island.


    [*ding!* You have unlocked the Class Skill [Frost Wyvern¡¯s Bow]. Would you like to take this skill?]


    Iona marveled at the conjured bow in her hands. Made out of horn and sinew, the skill description had made it clear that this weapon would grow and evolve with her.


    Never again would she be unarmed.


    Iona took a deep meditative sip of tea, letting the warmth briefly flow through her. The steady click-clack of needles in the background just added to the atmosphere, but the fire was a bit much.


    ¡°Well. If you ask me - and you have - I think you keep people too far from you.¡±


    Iona sputtered a protest. Linnet just gave her a look over her glasses.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m well aware of what you do. But tell me this true. Did you really need to let your friend scare Amy off?¡±


    Iona thought about it for a moment.


    ¡°No.¡± She freely admitted. ¡°No, two words would¡¯ve calmed her right down, and cleared everything up. Pardon, three, given the language involved.¡± Iona automatically self-corrected as she made the right connections.


    [*ding!* [Magnetic Charm] has leveled up! 261 -> 262]


    ¡°Now, I know this is sensitive, but do you have any idea why that might be? Why you didn¡¯t work to keep her close?¡±


    Iona opened and closed her mouth a dozen times, each time with a different excuse on the tip of her tongue.


    The beautiful thing about her [Vow] though - she couldn¡¯t lie. Not even to herself. A fantastic tool for self-introspection. For digging up painful truths, and forcing herself to confront them.


    Iona dredged the ugly truth to the forefront of her mind, and she was able to speak without fear of her [Vow] getting displeased.


    ¡°My friends die.¡± Iona¡¯s tone was blunt and brutal. ¡°Lux died. I joined the Valkyries to be a protector. The shield of the weak. I spent years with them, every hour of every day. We were the best of friends, with an unshakable bond forged in training. Nobody who isn¡¯t a Valkyrie can understand that sort of comradery. Then in the span of three days, I got to watch nearly every single one of them die. My friends were hacked apart in front of my eyes. Ripped limb from limb. Infected with a slow poison. Bodies were thrown at us until we were so exhausted we just fell on their spears. And we were left there to die.¡±


    Iona spat the last part out with venom, her face twisting in anger and hate.


    ¡°For the love of money and power.¡± She got a grip on herself, and slouched back into the chair, letting the emotions run rampant through her.


    ¡°Then I made some new friends. They all left, got squirreled away, one tripped in front of a wagon, another betrayed my trust in a small way, it just doesn¡¯t end. Why bother?¡±


    Iona slumped again.


    Linnet sipped her tea.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have the answer to all of life¡¯s mysteries. I can answer the last question though.¡± She put her tea down with a soft clink.


    ¡°Everything that truly means something in life is alive. Plants. Pets. Children. Siblings. Friends. Parents. Family. Either your natural family, or your found family. Life, alone, is miserable. Don¡¯t do it. You¡¯re social, friendly, and young. Try, try, and try again. Let people in. Yes, you¡¯ll get hurt. Yes, it¡¯ll be painful. And I promise you, I promise you, yes, it¡¯ll be worth it. Do not cheapen your worth, or the potential wealth in relationships you can gather, by cutting out everything that gives it meaning.¡±


    The two sat for the remainder of the time in contemplative silence.


    Iona stared at the maw of the great beast, dread filling her body.


    This wasn¡¯t a beast she could fight.


    This wasn¡¯t a monster she could slay.


    This wasn¡¯t a problem she could punch. She couldn¡¯t rip its throat out.


    No, Iona was all out of options. There was only one thing she could do.


    She stepped forth, through the door to math class.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Comprehensive Education] leveled up! 300 -> 301]


    [Name: Iona]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 22]


    [Mana: 156950/156950]


    [Mana Regen: 114,482]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 145]


    [Strength: 35,767 +(450,664)]


    [Dexterity: 35,766 +(450,652)]


    [Vitality: 65,693 +(170,802)]


    [Speed: 39,565 +(498,519)]


    [Mana: 15,695]


    [Mana Regeneration: 42,102]


    [Magic Power: 14,494]


    [Magic Control: 14,494]


    [Class 1: [The Dusk Valkyrie - Celestial: Lv 520]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 520]


    [New Moon''s Dance: 488]


    [Weapon Mastery: 475]


    [Strength from the Stars: 520]


    [Celestial Armaments: 520]


    [Strike of the Twin Moons: 30]


    [Stellar Body: 520]


    [Gaze of the Galaxy: 420]


    [Class 2: [Traveling Archer - Ice: Lv 400]]


    [Ice Authority: 400]


    [Shortbow Skills: 365]


    [Blizzard Shot: 360]


    [Chilled Mind: 370]


    [Trick Shot: 357]


    [Ice Arrow Conjuration: 358]


    [Glacial Slow: 370]


    [Frost Wyvern''s Bow: 2]


    [Class 3: Paladin of the Moons - Gravity: Lv 55]]


    [Gravity Affinity: 55]


    [Telekinesis: 55]


    [Lunaris''s Gaze: 55]


    [Lunar Mass: 55]


    [Flight of the Valkyries: 55]


    [Eclipse Strike: 31]


    [Selene''s Grace: 6]


    [Harmony of the Spheres: 55]


    General Skills


    [Drawing: 199]


    [Valkyries Valor: 520]


    [Adaptable: 385]


    [Tracking: 265]


    [Vow of Iona to Lux: 420]


    [Magnetic Charm: 262]


    [Comprehensive Education: 301]


    [Companion Bond Between Iona and Fenrir: 128]


    Other


    Blessing of Selene and Lunaris

 Chapter 351: School Life IV

    A piercing whistle broke through the din of practice, Shirayuki standing in the middle of the field.


    ¡°Everyone! Huddle up!¡± She called out, the words echoing as they got translated.


    Spars ended, arrays were canceled, and we all walked, ran, or jogged over to the middle of the field. There were roughly sixty of us on the team, but there were a number of categories.


    ¡°Those of you who have been paying attention are aware that the Island is currently on a northern flight path. Unfortunately, this means we¡¯re going to miss the next tournament. This also means we won¡¯t be getting any new members of the School for some time. I¡¯ve talked with the administration, and we¡¯ll be getting back to the southern continent in time for the Gladiator Gauntlet that year.¡±


    The ocean was dangerous, and flying over it wasn¡¯t trivial. The island was a bit of an exception, because it was an entire damn island, but individuals were a different matter.


    Some groans of dismay met the first announcement, while enthusiastic cheers met the second one. I wanted to roll my eyes. It was just a game, there was no need to get super worked up about it.


    ¡°While subject to change, I have the preliminary teams set. In the unrestricted free for all, we have the following: Hendrik, Floris, Huib, Renior, Bras¡­¡± Shirayuki continued to list off divisions and names.


    I wasn¡¯t surprised that the entirely unrestricted section was populated by high-level Immortals. Even if I was supremely arrogant and believed that I was a better technical fighter than they were, or had more life experience, they could just crush me with pure stats. There wasn¡¯t a single black or purple-robed individual among them.


    Those fights would be quite the show.


    ¡°For the under 30 division.¡±


    I perked up. That was my division!


    Ok, technically, I could participate in the under-100, under-1000, and unrestricted divisions, but I was a bit underleveled. Like, I could maybe take one fight in ten against the weakest School team member of the under-100 division.


    ¡°Free for all, Astarius, Suldrive, Notelle, Pascal, Elaine, Vikraina, Viscar, Jorgun, Bayonet, Krugnaier. The backups will be¡­¡± I pumped my fist as Shirayuki named me. It wasn¡¯t like I was super pumped to fight in more free for alls, but being on the official A-team meant my scholarship was secure.


    I looked around at my fellow free-for-all ¡®teammates¡¯, when Shirayuki said my name again. My head whipped back as I frantically tried to remember what she¡¯d just said.


    ¡°Lastly, for the singles part of the tournament. Elaine, Noziri, Serah, Dha, Yong-Seo, Xenthe, Samuel, Vivian. Backups are Veroah and Tyrevis. I suggest teams meet up and start discussing. Break.¡±


    Without another word, Shirayuki turned with a flick of her tails, and walked off the field. With context clues, the fact that she¡¯d done every division in the same order, and the six people converging on me, I was on the team fights as well.


    Welp. Being selected to participate in three events was better than one. While participating wasn¡¯t the height of excitement or something I looked forward to, it was something I was going to dominate.


    I was going to be good at this. I was going to show them what being a Sentinel of Remus meant, and why we were the best.


    From left to right, there were six people, five of whom were black-robed - black workout clothes here - and the sixth was another purple robe.


    Impressive!


    ¡°I believe introductions are in order.¡± The minotaur¡¯s speech was more refined than I expected, and he was the only other purple-robed individual. ¡°I am Pak Yong-Seo of the Geum Kingdom. If it is permissible, I will take the team leader position as the highest leveled member here.¡±


    [Warrior - 531]. He was likely quite a bit stronger than I was, simply due to having time to mature his third class.


    He inclined his head slightly towards me, for some reason.


    ¡°Pak, Pak¡­ any relation to General Pak?¡± The other human asked.


    The minotaur frowned a hair, then straightened up.


    ¡°He is my father, but I am not here to trade on his name. I have grown up around war and fighting. Conflict is in my blood and bones. I have been on the team previously, seen how it was run, and it is why with your acclaim, I will take the position of team leader.¡±


    I sighed. Gods damn it all. I should at least make sure he was more competent than I was before ceding the position.


    ¡°Large-scale armies, or small-scale team operations?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°What?¡± He frowned at me.


    ¡°Your training and experience. You mentioned a general, growing up around conflict, yada yada, you¡¯ve got the high level. Is your experience with armies and large conflicts, or leading small teams?¡±


    ¡°I have been a member of the army since I was old enough to hold a sword. My earliest lessons were around the strategy table, learning logistics and troop movements.¡±


    I pinched the bridge of my nose. DAMNIT!


    ¡°Ok, you¡¯re the expert on armies, got it. You¡¯re also an incredible fighter, with decades of experience, and the levels to prove it. That doesn¡¯t translate into small-squad tactics.¡±


    ¡°And you¡¯d do much better?¡± He challenged.


    The rest of the team were going back and forth, watching our verbal sparring with interest.


    ¡°Maybe, maybe not. My experience and training revolves heavily around either acting as a solo operative, or taking command of a small squad. I don¡¯t have the same decades of experience you do, nor have I ever seen one of these events before. If you believe your experience outweighs mine, I¡¯m happy to let you be the team leader. If someone else believes they have the right knowledge and experience for the job, I¡¯ll support you as the boss.¡± I looked around at that last bit, seeing at least two other members of the team fired up.


    ¡°Level is a poor criteria for selecting a leader though. It¡¯s the knowledge, not the power, that matters.¡± I concluded, thinking of Night and his personal philosophy. I could practically hear him now, whispering in about warlords.


    ¡°How¡¯d a healer make it onto the combat team anyways?¡± The human asked me. Hearing my name used as a noun was still weird. She looked the most normal of the lot.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we finish introductions?¡± The beastkin suggested, bouncing from oversized foot to foot. ¡°I¡¯m Souphis of Ankhelt. Kangaroo beastkin. Fossil-Sand warrior. [Pocket Sand¡¯s] a favorite trick of mine. Blind my enemies, then give them the old one-two-three-four.¡± He kicked with each foot, and punched with each hand on that.


    [Warrior - 433]. I had almost 100 levels on him, but I still didn¡¯t want to end up close and personal in a fight.


    ¡°Iris of nowhere. Selkie. Ice-Electric sorcery. I specialize in fighting underwater in either form, although I¡¯m not sure how much of that we¡¯ll get.¡±


    [Mage - 180]. I gave a side-eye to that level. Either she was running some type of level obfuscation, or she ended up with an insane class quality, letting her punch like she had twice as many levels. Someone who couldn¡¯t hold their own wouldn¡¯t be allowed on the team, and with her low level, rapid growth was a possibility.


    It had been ages since I last saw a selkie, although they looked exactly like humans on land. She was a bit taller than me, with frizzy, wild ginger hair that refused to be tamed. There was one hell of a story behind her level and being on the team, and I couldn¡¯t wait to find out more.


    ¡°Elaine of Remus. Yes, the name¡¯s Elaine. If the name¡¯s confusing, Sentinel Dawn or Dawn work. Human. Celestial healing, Radiance sorcery. Third class isn¡¯t going to help.¡±


    I got a number of looks, but the next person started speaking, taking the attention off of me.


    The next person was using an oversized leaf to float gently above the ground, and had distinct velociraptor-like aspects. Mainly in her long fingers that looked like claws, her slitted eyes, and her too-sharp teeth.


    ¡°Ling Li of the Blue Luan Paradise Sect. Saurian. I study the dao of leaves.¡±


    [Mage - 450]. Strong. Kind of absurd how high level people could get in this day and age, seemingly easily, but¡­ then again, we had self-selected to be the best of the best, concentrated from the entire world around into a single place, then concentrated again into a small team.


    With that a flurry of leaves swirled around her.


    ¡°Acidic leaves, right?¡± Souphis leaned away from her.


    ¡°A crude, barbaric description of the elegance I am capable of.¡± She sniffed at Souphis.


    The next person, well¡­ I was pretty sure there was a person under all that armor. Most of us didn¡¯t use armor in our daily practice, but this guy was wearing his clothes outside of his armor, and I swear I¡¯d seen him walking around with his wizard¡¯s robes over his armor again.


    Even his head was fully encased, and he only spoke a single word.


    ¡°Pascal.¡± He introduced himself, morphing his helmet a few times. It morphed from a human, to a snarling wolf¡¯s head, biting and snapping as he put on a show.


    We waited a few moments for him to say something else, but it never came. [Long-Range Identify] came in handy, showing him as a [Warrior - 420].


    ¡°Bartolo. Yellow Jacket. I like hitting things.¡± The devil said, slapping his oversized mace into his palm. ¡°When can we stop talking, and hit things?¡±


    [Warrior - 462].


    It was rare to see an Immortal at such a high level at such a young age. As a rule, they seemed to take the ¡®slow and steady wins the race¡¯ approach.


    This team was fairly heavy on the ¡°people hit things hard¡± aspect.


    We looked at Yong-Seo, who¡¯d spoken up earlier, but didn¡¯t give his elements or anything.


    ¡°Yong-Seo. Steam, Brilliance, Gemstones spellsword. Gems aren¡¯t permitted due to their cost, but being down half a class doesn¡¯t matter when it¡¯s the third.¡± He gave me a short nod, and I agreed with him. Simply crossing the 512 milestone and unlocking our third class was a bonus at the tier we were fighting at.


    ¡°How¡¯s a healer work in a fight anyways?¡± Souphis bounced around me as he asked.


    ¡°Like a hydra. Annoying, annoying.¡± Bartolo answered.


    ¡°How does that work in a tournament setting?¡± Iris asked.


    ¡°A most excellent question.¡± Mormerilhawn, the Black Rose, master of the arena said, having walked over. ¡°And the answer is - it¡¯ll depend on what the judges rule.¡±


    ¡°Could you explain more?¡± Yong-Seo asked.


    Mormerilhawn gave him a superior look, like he¡¯d expected the minotaur to ask that, and he was playing a part orchestrated by the tournament shielder.


    ¡°Naturally. Elaine Elaine is a healer powerful enough that she is capable of simply negating all damage that occurs to people near her. This is before we consider her considerable personal combat prowess, which all of you could learn from. I will be taking the position that, while Elaine is on the field with you, the team is entitled to a strong shield, at the cost of mana to Elaine on a per-hit basis. I can¡¯t promise success, or that the other judges will agree with me. I am, naturally, biased. Other judges will be advocating their own interesting positions. At the end of the day, we will attempt to mimic the conditions of a true fight as closely as possible. Questions?¡±


    There were none, but I was getting a different set of appraising looks from my teammates.


    ¡°That shield won¡¯t apply for the individual portion of the teamfights, will it?¡± Iris asked.


    The Black Rose shook his head.


    ¡°It will not.¡±


    ¡°Hang on, the individual portion of the teamfights?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I vote for Yong-Seo to be the team leader.¡± Souphis immediately said. Nearly everyone immediately agreed with his declaration.


    I mentally shrugged. Ok, cool, the team had reached a consensus.


    ¡°Alright, fine with me, now explain?¡±


    Yong-Seo gave me a measuring look, then relented and explained.


    ¡°There are two different team tournaments, and the same team is expected to fight in both. The first is the standard seven versus seven teamfight. Last person standing on the stage wins the round for their team. The second is a single fight portion. Each team sends up their representative, and winner stays on, while the losing team sends up their next combatant. Last person standing wins.¡±


    Everyone was nodding along to his explanation.


    He closed his eyes and sighed, relaxing his shoulders.


    ¡°We should discuss your experience. It is¡­ possible¡­ that your command over small squad tactics is superior to mine, and an important lesson for a [General] is to put the right person into the right position.¡±


    I grinned at him.


    ¡°That¡¯s all I was asking!¡±


    I thought I might get along with the team.


    I was walking back to the dorms, thinking about the team and the teamfights.


    I wasn¡¯t going to rush my biomancy to be in time for the event. That was a good way to get myself horribly killed. Plus, it was only the first event! Presumably I¡¯d be in more than one tournament. I was not going to let some freak accident kick me out of the School early. No way.


    I knocked on a pillar of Arcanite to ward off the bad luck I¡¯d invoked by thinking about it.


    The fun part about the event was I wouldn¡¯t need to change my [Persistent Casting] to only cover my teammates, but I¡¯d still get the full benefit of the skill. I might not get the [Wheel of Sun and Moon] distance penalty applied either, nor a knowledge penalty.


    Hmmm.


    It seemed unlikely that Mormerilhawn would make that many oversights on his skill.


    I was thinking about my [Persistent Casting] as I saw something drop in the flying obstacle course, a brightly-colored light blazing.


    It was like something clicked, and I realized I¡¯d been an idiot. Or if not an idiot, unthinking.


    [Scintillating Ascent] was my only [Butterfly Mystic] skill that wasn¡¯t capped. While I tried to get in a number of hours flying, I only had so many hours in a day, and I wasn¡¯t in high-stakes, high-challenge situations.


    But there was another half to leveling skills up. There was the fast route, which I had taken for nearly everything I¡¯d done, and there was the slow route, which I¡¯d rarely explored.


    I had originally eyed [Persistent Casting] to shield myself in my sleep, to protect myself from the elements, bugs, spiders, and attacks. A critical skill when I was operating alone.


    Something I hadn¡¯t considered was using it to fly. I hadn¡¯t been in a situation where I could properly check the synergy between all of my skills when I upgraded [Scintillating Ascent], and when I¡¯d finally been able to regenerate more mana than I spent while flying.


    Specifically, I could use [Persistent Casting] to hover while I slept. The experience would be terrible, but six hours every night? That would add up.


    I chuckled as I realized I¡¯d reached max nerd. I was now literally training in my sleep.


    Still, it was for a good cause. Flying!


    With a side-dish of making myself prettier every time I leveled the skill up.


    What else could I use with [Persistent Casting] that I wasn¡¯t thinking of?


    ¡°Hey Book-A-Saurus! I¡¯m going to the gym, you should come!¡±


    I looked up from my book to see a grinning Iona.


    ¡°Book-A-Saurus?¡± I asked with a raised eyebrow.


    ¡°Yeah! You always have your nose in a book. You¡¯re a total Book-A-Saurus!¡±


    I opened my mouth to protest, saw the piles of books in front of me - school, to-read, finished, did not finish - and closed my mouth.


    ¡°Ok, but then you¡¯re a Sex-O-Saurus.¡± I tried to shoot back.


    Iona posed, flexing her muscles.


    ¡°Awww yes, I¡¯m a total Tyrannosaurus Sex!¡±


    ¡°Just don¡¯t let it get to your head!¡±


    ¡°Too late!¡± She flexed some more. ¡°Gym?¡±


    I looked at my books, and back at Iona. Doing things with friends was good, and being in true peak physical shape would help with biomancy. That didn¡¯t happen overnight, although with my skills and abilities I could try to make it happen overnight. Plus, if I just spent all my time reading books, what was the point of being at the School? I remembered my thinking on opportunities.


    Plus, Iona had been trying to get me to the gym for ages now.


    ¡°Yeah, sure!¡±


    A hop, skip, and a jump, and we were at the gym.


    ¡°What floor do we want to try?¡± Iona asked me after we got changed into exercise clothes. Nobody expected us to run in witch robes.


    ¡°You¡¯ll have to explain more.¡± I drily answered.


    ¡°Each floor¡¯s got a different gravity multiplier. Gives me a real challenge. Normal on the ground floor, and it doubles every floor until it¡¯s 124x normal.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you mean 128?¡±


    ¡°MOVING ON!¡± Iona blushed. ¡°What floor?¡±


    ¡°Eh, let¡¯s do 4x.¡± If I had known the gym was loaded with magic I would¡¯ve come here earlier! Benefits of trying new things! Cool new magic! I wondered if the ceiling was tall enough for me to practice flying under an increased gravity load.


    We climbed the stairs and made it to the third floor. Yellow and black caution signs were plastered along the hallway, and as we walked down towards the door, I could feel my limbs getting heavier. My breath started getting short, and it felt like someone was sitting on my chest. Nevermind that I¡¯d been getting an hour of intense exercise in daily, this was a whole new set of challenges for my body.


    I shot a jealous look at Iona. She wasn¡¯t struggling at all. I suppose that¡¯s why she wanted to go to the gym regularly.


    We made it to the room. A track circled the room, with a few people diligently making laps. The ceiling was too low to easily fly, which was a shame. A couple of punching bags were gamely keeping their stuffing as people beat on them, while balls of metal with grips were mostly neatly racked. A few had been carelessly left scattered near the storage, and there was an open area where three people were working on stretching, pushups, and lunges respectively. A pair of benches completed the look.


    Iona tsked at the sight.


    ¡°Lazy bums don¡¯t clean up after themselves.¡± She muttered, heading over to the weights and putting them away.


    I looked around, and figured I¡¯d get started with a few laps to warm up. I kept an eye on Iona, curious what someone with her strength would do to keep fit.


    It wasn¡¯t like we had a bunch of boulders around, and she couldn¡¯t pull a Brawling and lift them.


    I caught her glancing at me now and then, and it made me feel nice. I looked good and I knew it.


    I moved over to the weights, finding some that I could pick up with some effort, but not at my max.


    Time for the most boring activity. Picking up heavy things, and putting them down again.


    Zzzzzz. I spent some time thinking about biomancy and magic. Getting a stable configuration was one thing, but could I get a slightly unstable configuration, letting vitality plug any holes? Alternatively, I¡¯d need to check that any modifications I made wouldn¡¯t fall apart under increased or decreased gravity.


    Which got me thinking about air pressure and water pressure. Making myself more resilient to the crushing depths of the ocean or the vacuum of space was surprisingly easy. Chitin, or an exoskeleton, would solve that issue practically without trying.


    Now, solving the issue and looking good, or hell, human?


    That was more challenging.


    The only entertainment here was watching Iona, and as she grabbed some ludicrously-sized weights and headed over to the bench, I saw an escape from picking up heavy weights and putting them down again.


    ¡°Hey, need someone to spot you?¡±


    ¡°Yeah sure!¡±


    I got in position as Iona started lifting, and bit my lower lip.


    Gods.


    What a view. Sweat trickling over rippling muscles as Iona¡¯s whole body focused on the task and activity. A thing of beauty, honed and polished. A perfect anatomy model.


    Yum.


    My thinking on biomancy, [Persistent Casting], and Marcelle¡¯s advice about modifications led me to the firing range.


    I nicked my finger briefly, the blade passing through skin without visibly disturbing it. Good, my [Persistent Casting] on my healing was still working.


    It was time to set a second [Persistent Casting].


    The lymphatic system was one of the only full-body systems that I could mess with, and if things went horribly wrong, I wouldn¡¯t die. Immediately. I¡¯d have enough time to seek medical attention. Everything I knew said that wouldn¡¯t happen, but what I was doing was risky. It was best to check every risk and mitigate them.


    It was why I was messing with my lymphatic system, and not my circulatory or nervous system. Those going wrong would swiftly kill me, while I could probably limp along for a few days or even weeks with goop replacing my lymphatic system. Long enough to make it to the nearby hospital and ask for help.


    What Marcelle had said about changing extremities granting stronger classes that worked on extremities resonated with me. If I changed all the different parts of the body, I¡¯d get higher quality biomancy classes when I eventually pulled the trigger.


    Add in [Persistent Casting], and the near-limitless mana at the firing range, and I had a formula for experience. I was going to set two of my skills against each other. [Dance with the Heavens] to heal myself, and [Dabble] to try and modify myself. [Dabble] would make a change, and [Dance] would revert it.


    My magic power stat was how much mana I could use in a single second, in a single skill. [Dabble] being weaker than [Dance] meant my changes were instantly reverted, which meant the skill could turn around and immediately burn more mana, up until I hit my magic power cap. With 23,000 magic power, that meant I was spending 23,000 points of mana per second on [Dabble], and significantly less, maybe a quarter of that or so, on [Dance].


    [Dabble] was horribly inefficient, and [Oath] was only applying to [Dance], because I knew I was just grinding and training my skills with [Dabble]. When I applied biomancy ¡®for real¡¯, [Oath] would kick in.


    I¡¯d never use the skill to make actual significant biomantic changes. It only made small, incomplete changes, no matter how well I crafted my image, a downside of how incredibly broad it was as a skill. It did, however, count as an achievement and as System experience.


    Breathing fast, I focused on [Dabble], working my way through the human lymphatic system, and thinking of the changes needed to make it an elf lymphatic system. With my image in mind, I tied it off with [Persistent Casting], put my hand on one of the arcanite pillars in the firing range, and started to draw mana to replace my rapidly-dropping mana.


    [*ding!* [Celestial Affinity] leveled up! 488 ->489]


    IT WORKED!!

 Chapter 352: School Life V

    ¡°Well deary,¡± Linnet sipped her steaming cup of tea, closing her eyes as she did so. I mimicked her.


    The tea was relaxing. I¡¯d be suspicious of some sort of skill or drug in play, if I wasn¡¯t constantly running healing through myself, purging any and all poisons. The definition of a poison versus a medicine was entirely academic to my skill, it cleansed everything. Unless this was a potion, which my healing wasn¡¯t geared towards handling. If Linnet was a master [Alchemist] on top of everything else, I¡¯d be impressed!


    No, it was just a most excellent cup of tea, combined with an environment conducive towards relaxing.


    And Linnet herself!


    ¡°I don¡¯t have all of life¡¯s answers. I wish I did! I wish I could just snap my fingers, and make all your troubles go away.¡± The grandmotherly woman snapped her fingers in demonstration.


    ¡°But, sadly, I can¡¯t.¡± She gave a melancholy sigh, sipping her tea again.


    I was content to just sit and listen. She was usually the listener, a willing receptacle as I poured all of my fears and worries into. Now she wanted to speak, and it was only polite to listen to her sage advice.


    ¡°What I can do is make a few observations. You¡¯re a remarkable woman. Driven. Passionate.¡±


    I felt like I was getting slightly buttered up, but I didn¡¯t mind. Almost everyone liked hearing good things about themselves.


    ¡°From everything you¡¯ve told me, you¡¯ve been striving towards a goal. Had purpose in life, either as a Ranger, or a Sentinel. Had injustices you couldn¡¯t stomach, foes you couldn¡¯t defeat. Now you¡¯re here, and I haven¡¯t heard of a single big goal or ambition from you.¡±


    I opened my mouth to protest, to mention my biomancy project, and learning wizardry, then closed it. Linnet just looked at me over the lip of her cup as she took another sip.


    Compared to ¡®Fight the Formorians¡¯ or ¡®Pass Ranger Academy OR ELSE¡¯, ¡®Operation: The Improved Elaine¡¯ was small peanuts. I did have ¡®Try and find Auri¡¯s relatives¡¯ on my list now, but I saw Linnet¡¯s point.


    Finding Night was also on my list, but I barely knew where to begin. The Exterreri Empire was where most vampires lived, and it was my only lead, but that was roughly on par with ¡®lots of humans live in Rolland. Let me find one particular one with no idea where they lived, did, or anything.¡¯


    I¡¯d managed to secure the basics again. Food, water, shelter, safety. I¡¯d pulled myself out of the pit, but I was on the lost side.


    My hopes and dreams had been shattered. There wasn¡¯t much sense in simply surviving. I needed to either pick up the pieces and try to glue together new hopes and dreams, or brush away the old ones, and think of new ones. An aimlessness, a lack of direction, wasn¡¯t helping me.


    ¡°It seems I¡¯ve given you quite a lot to think about!¡± Linnet gently broke through my musings. ¡°Cookie?¡±


    ¡°Oh, yes please.¡± I happily accepted her offering, feeling more ragged than usual.


    The one downside I hadn¡¯t properly considered when running Operation: Better Biomancy Classes was how hungry I could get when using that much magic.


    ¡°If you¡¯d like to think about it here, you¡¯re welcome to sit and think. If you want to wander somewhere else that¡¯s better, I won¡¯t take offense.¡± Linnet put down her cup of tea, and starting knitting again, her needles going click-clack soothingly in the background.


    It took me practically no time at all to make my decision. Warm, quiet, tea and cookies, vs leaving and having one of a dozen other demands start taking up my time?


    I was staying here.


    Ok!


    Life goals!


    Bluntly, right now I didn¡¯t have any besides ¡°be happy¡±, but the question was how did I get that sense of fulfillment needed to be happy?


    Healing people was the easy answer. It was why I¡¯d picked up the class in the first place. I got a deep sense of fulfillment and satisfaction from doing so.


    ¡®Heal People¡¯ was a solid goal, but a little too ephemeral in a sense. It was part of who I was. Wherever I ended up, whatever else I was doing, I was also healing people. Usually. The School had a poor ratio of medics to patients, and I wasn¡¯t quite able to get all the healing I wanted.


    Things like the Formorian war though¡­?


    Hmmm. I wonder what life as a battlefield medic would be like. My brief reading of what the current world was like suggested that conflict was omnipresent, from skirmishes between Tang Sects, to Rolland nobles squabbling with each other or their neighbors, to Vollomond and Lithos raids, Omospondia succession, all the way to the Han civil war, and that was disregarding Immortal wars, which tended to leave great big blanks in history.


    I was an Immortal, although a low-key one. I needed to find out more about what one of those wars looked like, because I was going to stay alive long enough to end up in one.


    There was more to life than just serving others though. Bouncing around from one battlefield to the next, hoping that I kept my Deception Ring the entire time and otherwise managed to find the basics in life, might not be the best way to live. What else did I want?


    ¡­Friends. Family.


    I let the loss wash over me, the sharp, ragged edges of pain dulling with time and acceptance. It would never go away, but it was no longer bleeding me raw every time I thought of the word.


    I had Auri, who filled a massive hole in my heart, but the idea of fucking off to a mountain cabin and spending life as a hermit with just the two of us didn¡¯t appeal. A romantic partner might be nice, and being able to regularly visit Artemis, Julius, Amber, Iona, and a few more friends sounded ideal.


    Hang on, Iona?


    It only took a second of thinking before I nodded to myself.


    Definitely Iona. She was a friend, no question about it, and I¡¯d be upset if she wasn¡¯t around. I didn¡¯t have enough friends, or an easy enough time making them, to casually lose one.


    Friends, family, a job. How about some pleasures in life? A nice little mango grove, and a huge library, filled with books. Books for pleasure, books for magic and wizardry. Books about the world.


    Ok. A strong start, but none of those were long, long term things.


    My thoughts and feelings would probably evolve as time went on, but was there a cause I could dedicate my life towards? A measurable goal to strive towards. Something to make things better.


    I didn¡¯t believe my powers meant I had an obligation towards others. With great power came great power, nothing more, nothing less. It was up to the individual what they wanted to do with that power. Some did nothing with it. Some used it poorly. Some believed they had a great responsibility towards others.


    I had a more nuanced view.


    I did what I wanted with my power. I was strongly inclined to help people with it, but I wasn¡¯t obligated to. Outside of my own [Oath], of course. I had the ability to change people¡¯s lives with a flicker of thought, and there was no reason for me not to. If I walked through a city? Yeah, sure, why not blast a healing aura around me? It made life better for everyone.


    Ok! Back to goals!


    Healing-related goals were easy, but also endless. No matter how many people I saved, they¡¯d die one day. No matter how much I pushed back Black Crow, he¡¯d claim his victim eventually, and they just never stopped coming. ¡®Heal people¡¯ was a poor goal in that respect, especially as it was already one of my ¡®how to be happy¡¯ aspects.


    Counting how many people I healed though?


    Hmmm. Why not? I could celebrate at big milestones. I¡¯d need to sit down and meditate over my life at some point to get an initial number, or maybe Librarian could tell me during a class-up - ¡®people healed¡¯ sounded like an achievement that the System knew - and I could just update the number from there.


    It wasn¡¯t like I was preventing wars, so that was out. Measuring who won a war, or if I swayed a war, sounded like a bad path to take.


    Ok, injuries were somewhat out. What about disease?


    Yeah. YEAH! Diseases were a good thing to tackle! I could try to eradicate a disease! Each one that got wiped out was one less way for people to die, and would have a lasting impact!


    Linnet lightly coughed.


    ¡°Unfortunately, we¡¯re reaching an end to our time here. I do hope you¡¯ll swing by next week.¡±


    I smiled at the elderly woman, getting up from my chair.


    ¡°See you then!¡±


    I walked out with a spring in my step, a new goal to work towards.


    How did I eradicate a disease?


    ¡°Mathosaurus! I brought gifts!¡± Iona tossed me a pair of mangos as she sat down next to me, dropping a pile of books.


    ¡°More like bribes.¡± I wasn¡¯t complaining! Tasty, tasty mangos.


    ¡°Brrpt? Brrrpt??¡± Auri flew over with a sugar cookie, asking for me to ¡®trade¡¯ with her. I happily exchanged one of my mangos for her cookie.


    Not exactly a fair trade, but eh. Auri was involved. The cookie wasn¡¯t bad!


    ¡°Right, now that the mangosaurus is properly satiated, maybe you can help me with this?¡± Iona pointed to the set of problems she had. I raised an eyebrow at them.


    ¡°Why are there letters in my numbers??¡± The Valkyrie complained.


    I looked at the mango. I looked at Iona. Welp. Time to pay the piper!


    ¡°Ok, pretend there¡¯s a bunch of Valkyries.¡±


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m following.¡±


    ¡°But you don¡¯t know how many.¡±


    ¡°Wait, how would I not know how many there are?¡±


    I sighed.


    Iona was trying. I believed she was giving it her best shot.


    Iona and math just did not mix.


    ¡°To this point, we have been discussing wizardry as it applies to immediate casting. You want a spell? Cast it now. Today, we will begin discussing methods of storing a spell for later use.¡±


    I took notes, idly thinking that Introduction to Talismans hadn¡¯t been a requirement for this class, and that talismans were a textbook example of ¡®storing a spell for later¡¯. Enchantments also seemed to fall in that group, although there were a number of subdivisions.


    ¡°There are as many ways to store skills as there are stars in the sky.¡± Lothar explained, the glass chimes in his antlers gently swaying. Made me wonder if he stored spells in them. ¡°The most famous methods are gems and wands, although there are reasonable arguments that a gem-stored skill is not a proper wizardry spell. Bah. The effect is the same. Some methods allow for the spell to be precharged, a most useful trick. Most do not. Any method that allows for arcanite to be embedded in or near the spellform can be precharged.¡±


    He paused as my quill flew over my paper, taking notes.


    ¡°There is a great variety in spell storage methods, and this overview is by no means exhaustive. Classical enchantments in swords, spears, shields, helmets, rings, necklaces, and the like are the most common method most people will encounter. Please note that enchantments inscribed inside a piece of jewelry are distinct from the jewelry itself being twisted into the proper shape, which is further distinct from jewelry containing skills.¡±


    I paused at that, practically feeling my mind expand at the implications. It wasn¡¯t just making the runes into metal, I could make the metal shape into runes. A subtle distinction, but an interesting one.


    ¡°Talismans and spell scrolls are another example, and there is the ever classic spellbook. A spellbook tends to have an advantage over a scroll in that arcanite can be part of the spine and the cover, although it is harder to transport, and losing the book loses all of the spells inside, compared to a scroll which bears loss or destruction more easily.¡±


    A student raised their hand, and Lothar acknowledged them.


    ¡°Can¡¯t a spell scroll have arcanite in the center?¡±


    Lothar nodded.


    ¡°Correct. But each spell scroll requires their own source, versus a spellbook where one source can power the spell you want. Any other questions?¡±


    There were none, and he moved on.


    ¡°Embroidery is another classic. Who here is studying to be a [Tailor-Enchanter]?¡± Lothar asked, and a dozen hands in the lecture hall of nearly 100 went up.


    ¡°A most useful craft, always in demand.¡± He rumbled.


    ¡°Juxe is a wizardry language around knots. It tends to lack both depth and flexibility, but is strong in its narrow confined and predefined spells.¡±


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Runic Knotting]. Would you like to replace a Class Skill with [Runic Knotting]?]


    Heck no. I was perfectly content with [Runic Scribing], although I did want to upgrade the skill. Just needed to put in the repetitions with it, then talk with Lothar to find out how I could make the skill better.


    ¡°It is excellent for sailors and ropes, or for people with long hair. Braiding hair into the appropriate spell, then pulling to release is a classic, and difficult to interfere with. Yarns, weaves, and other similar methods can be used to cast Juxe. I even knew a [Spaghetti Wizard] once, who made it a habit of eating his spells once he was done with them.¡±


    I laughed along with the class at Lothar¡¯s anecdote.


    I almost did an about-face with [Runic Knotting], but no. It didn¡¯t fit me, and the language clearly had catches. And loops!


    ¡°Tattoos, and other methods to carve spells into the body. I strongly recommend against this. Statues. Nippon-Koku is famous for their origami constructs, although that is another language. Crystals. Spiderwebs. Marbles made of arcanite. Paintings. Dreamcatchers. Nail paintings. Leaves. Trees, grown into the proper pattern. Indeed, the entire city of Ithil is rumored to be one gigantic mandala, the streets themselves painting the pathways of power.¡±


    The tip of my quill skipped wildly over my notes, ink drops spraying over my carefully written notes at that. An entire city was a mandala!?


    The larger the runes, the more power could be channeled through them. In theory.


    In practice, there were rapidly diminishing returns. Asura herself used mandalas that weren¡¯t too much larger than she was, instead having opted to cast more mandalas and spells over casting bigger ones.


    Just how much power could a city-wide runic array channel!? And what would it do!?


    I added ¡°See the world¡± to my list of goals.


    ¡°These are just a few of the methods I know. Any creative endeavor that lasts for more than a moment can be used to create and store spells, although you may need to become a [Runesmith] yourself to get the spells you want into the medium you¡¯d like. That is a topic for another day. Now¡­¡±


    I stared at my Biomancy homework, the words not changing no matter how long I looked at them.


    The ornithosuchus has the strongest innate immune system, while gnomes have the most robust adaptive immune system. How can the two be merged in an elvenoid (Pick one)? Ignore physical barriers such as skin, eyelids, mucus membranes, and the like.


    The question had layers and layers of complexity, and I was surrounded by crumbled-up failed attempts, having put my quill to parchment a dozen times, only to realize an issue with my logic halfway through, and throwing the entire thing out.


    There were numerous issues.


    First was producing both types of immune systems. My current solution was to evenly swap off different bones between gnome bones and ornithosuchus bones. Fortunately for this assignment, I could simply ¡°handwave¡± the different modifications that each bone would need to properly fit inside a human, otherwise I¡¯d be writing an extra three papers on how each bone needed to get changed. I also didn¡¯t need to tackle structural issues from half the body being one type of bone, and the other half another, or tendons, ligaments, and a whole host of other issues.


    No, I ¡°only¡± had to deal with the immune system, and even there my ¡®production¡¯ method wasn¡¯t ideal.


    Fortunately, the innate immune system didn¡¯t rely heavily on the spleen, while the adaptive did. A gnome spleen was the easiest part of the problem, but even then I suspected I¡¯d have issues.


    I started to run into problems with the lymphatic system. Each creature had a different way of ¡°recognizing¡± what was needed, and I was getting a headache with that. Making it accept both gnome and ornithosuchus outputs was a challenge.


    Then there was getting the adaptive system a proper challenge. The innate immune system of the ornithosuchus was just too good! Bloody nothing survived it! The adaptive immune system never got a chance to identify problems, then start producing antibodies to combat it! It would just sit there, twiddling its thumbs as the innate immune system did all the work, and if the innate system ever got overwhelmed, the adaptive system would have literally never seen it before in its life! It would never have worked, and the whole point of the adaptive system was it got stronger the more diseases it was exposed to!


    I hadn¡¯t even gotten to the thymus or complement system, nor the difficulties of integrating reptile biology into mammalian. There was also the issue of autoimmune disorders, and teaching the immune system that while it was in a strange new body, that this body was correct, and not to attack it. Or any of the other strange things floating in my body. It just had to attack the right strange things in my body.


    Screwing up the immune system, like anything else, was a short path to an exceptionally painful death. At least if I screwed up my nerves, I¡¯d die quickly, perhaps without even noticing.


    I groaned again at the seeming impossibility of the question.


    I was tempted to write a cheeky answer.


    Just use the elven immune system.


    They didn¡¯t have the best adaptive, or the best innate immune system. They had exactly the right mix to properly train and use both.


    I knew one question for homework had been a trap.


    It was never too early to start thinking about my third class, and my previous wonderings on my life goals had me reflecting on the classes again.


    [The Mother of Modern Medicine] I wasn¡¯t going to take, instead waiting for [The Dawn Sentinel] to class up. I¡¯d take a more healing-focused class then. [Paragon of Patience] was right out.


    [Lady of the Dance] was an option, the pure stats appealing. I did enjoy dancing. I had fond memories of Night teaching me how to ¡®properly¡¯ dance, teaching fundamental rules of dance that transcended time and fashion.


    Plus, the skills had to be something.


    Wizardry classes were also on the menu. Wizardry was a blast, and I didn¡¯t see myself putting it down anytime soon. I did have the option of evolving [Butterfly Mystic] into a wizardry class, or at least keeping the skills.


    If I kept wizardry in my second class, my third class became awkward. With enough time and prep work, I could mimic most effects, giving me a full range of cool skills to try. It made taking a class like [Jack of All Trades] less attractive since I could already do all that with wizardry.


    Somewhat.


    Poorly.


    But doable!


    With that in mind, I put an eye towards my third class, wondering what classes would offer me something that wizardry couldn¡¯t.


    [World Traveler] sprang to mind, and I did recently make it a goal of mine to see the world. To travel and explore, to learn. [The Wanderer] was a similar class, but I was an Immortal. I had enough time to see not only the entirety of this world, but all the worlds.


    Speaking of goals, [Bookwyrm] and [Snapdragon] completed the ¡®trifecta¡¯ so to speak of ¡®things I liked and didn¡¯t have a class for.¡¯ [Bookwyrm] was the ultimate in reading classes, while [Snapdragon] was unbeatable when it came to growing mangos.


    And other food!


    It was a cold fact of war that civilization tended to break down, and famine was endemic. All the power in the world couldn¡¯t save me if there was no food, and I starved to death. The Big Book of Classes had mentioned how a [Farmer] was the cornerstone of civilization, the breadbasket that made everything possible.


    I liked eating food more than growing food, but the class was interesting. Nature had also shown just how powerful a similar class could be in a fight.


    [Phoenix Immolator] was also nuts, and the idea of being able to take a purple combat class to start was appealing. I¡¯d have to talk with Auri about it.


    The last class that attracted me was [Hoard Thief]. I wasn¡¯t terribly enticed by the ¡®steal to level up¡¯ aspect of it, but I¡¯d been around illusions long enough to properly respect their power. Going invisible. Making it look like I was somewhere I wasn¡¯t. Displaying and communicating ideas. And that was just the start! The ability to manipulate someone else¡¯s reality couldn¡¯t be underestimated. I¡¯d only be limited by my imagination. [Arcane Trickster] was another possibility, trading power for faster leveling. It could be a tradeoff I liked. A level 400 [Arcane Trickster] was better than being a level 50 [Hoard Thief].


    I needed to check what mirages could be mimicked with wizardry, and how easy they were. From what little I knew, living, breathing illusions that seemed like they were another human were terrifyingly complicated, but maybe I was missing something.


    I wish I could genuinely put [The Wanderer] on my list, but it was the sad reality that [World Traveler] outclassed it. Sure, [The Wanderer] had a number of useful skills. It had distinct advantages against [World Traveler]. Putting them all on the scale, and weighing the two against each other, [World Traveler] won out. It cut me to the core to admit it, the one purple class I had properly earned under my own power, but I wasn¡¯t one to bury my head in the sand and deny reality.


    My mind jumped to wizardry and [Butterfly Mystic], and I realized I was being dumb.


    If I took [Stormrider], I could happily ditch [Scintillating Ascent], and get an extra skill slot to help my wizardry. I loved flying, and being able to just spread my wings and soar was so second nature at this point it hadn¡¯t made my list of wants and desires.


    It was like saying I liked to breathe air. Innate to the point of being unsaid.


    I quickly sketched out a tier list of classes, and how attractive I found them.


    [Bookwyrm], [Snapdragon], and [World Traveler] all furthered the goals I¡¯d set for myself.


    [Lady of the Dance] was tied with [Asura¡¯s Legacy] and [Nebula Starweaver]. Wizardry or power, each of them dramatically expanding my repertoire without going particularly deep into one thing.


    [Stormrider] was in the last tier, along with [Hoard Thief], and [Arcane Trickster]. Classes that were interesting and powerful, that resonated with me but didn¡¯t quite click. I wasn¡¯t discarding them, but life would need to change before they climbed the list.


    Progress!


    Now, I should stop procrastinating, and finish the damn homework!

 Chapter 353 - School Life VI

    New quarter, new classes! More anatomy classes, cantrips in wizardry, cellular biology, and a class dedicated to useful general skills, and how to get them.


    Iona had blessedly passed her remedial math class, but was gamely tackling a second one, reasoning that she needed enough math to work out logistics. I was proud of her!


    Comparative Monster Anatomy was a small class, compared to the huge lectures of the introductory biomancy courses. A number of people had gotten weeded out, or took different courses, and we¡¯d gone from a large lecture hall, to a cozier classroom. Instead of rows of desks, we had medium-sized tables, with enough chairs to sit three at a table.


    Naturally, most of the students grabbed one chair on either end, leaving the middle open so everyone would have more elbow room.


    Just as naturally, the early students grabbed seats as far back in the room as possible, slowly filling in towards the front.


    [*brrrring!* Hope we¡¯re sitting down in our chair for Monster Anatomy!]


    There were seats further back, but I took the desk front and center of the room, boldly sitting down in the middle seat.


    It was a bit of a gamble, but one that I felt comfortable making. If there were several other eager beavers, I could end up stuck at one of the one three-person tables. However, if there weren¡¯t, I¡¯d be at one of the only single-person tables, able to spread my notes around as much as I¡¯d like.


    I spread my notes and books out on the desk, hoping to dissuade anyone from sitting next to me. I mentally cursed as two ogres entered the door, and made a beeline for my desk. They each grabbed one of the chairs next to me and sat down as I hurriedly gathered my papers.


    The two of them practically squashed me between them, ogres being one of the larger humanoids.


    Why me!?


    ¡°Hey! You¡¯re Elaine, right?¡± The one on the left asked me. I eyed him suspiciously, but saw no reason not to answer. Maybe they were just as eager about the class as I was?


    ¡°Yes.¡± I answered, then remembered I should probably ask their name. ¡°Who are you?¡±


    The ogre gave me a toothy grin.


    ¡°Raith, no w.¡± He offered his hand.


    I still smelled a rat. I didn¡¯t know what was wrong here, but I smelled a rat.


    There wasn¡¯t anything I could point to though, so I took his hand and shook it.


    ¡°Pleased to meet you.¡± The other front tables each had two people on either end, and at this point, if I wanted to move, I¡¯d just be crammed between two other people instead. It¡¯d be insanely rude to Raith as well, and I couldn¡¯t articulate a reason why I should move.


    The professor walked through the door, and I dropped my hand, eager to focus on the lessons, and not my unwelcome tablemates.


    Hopefully it¡¯d just be one class.


    ¡°Can we go stargazing tonight? Together?¡± Iona¡¯s voice was shaky, like the foundation of her world had been rocked. She was staring at me intently, and I was a bit of a social idiot, but I wasn¡¯t that much of an idiot. She clearly needed me, and the stargazing was just an excuse.


    Of course I¡¯d be there for my friend.


    ¡°Yeah! Working on upgrading [Celestial Affinity]?¡± I asked her.


    She gave me a stiff nod.


    ¡°Exactly. That. Yeah. And a few other things.¡± She added onto the end.


    It wasn¡¯t the time or the place to chuckle, but boy did I like Iona¡¯s inability to lie. She was always transparent. There were never secrets, or even little white lies.


    ¡°The observatory?¡± I asked.


    She looked thoughtful a moment, and shook her head.


    ¡°The lake? Fewer people there.¡±


    ¡°Ok! Meet you there at sunset?¡±


    She gave me a weak grin.


    ¡°Thanks Elaine. I couldn¡¯t ask for a better friend.¡±


    I flushed at that.


    ¡°Auri, wanna come to the lake with us later?¡± I asked my pyromaniacal friend.


    ¡°Brrrpt? BRRPT brrpt brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrpt BRPT!¡± Auri landed on my desk, starting to roll over in ¡®hysterical¡¯ laughter at my suggestion.


    I rolled my eyes.


    ¡°Would you rather I not invite you places?¡±


    ¡°BRRPT!¡± Auri shot up, wings thrumming as she zipped up to eye-level with me. ¡°Brrrrrrrrrrpt!¡±


    I folded my arms.


    ¡°That¡¯s what I thought.¡±


    I met Iona down by the lake as the sun was setting.


    Fun that I could figure out roughly where in the world we were, just by the combination of how far away sunset was from the class time ending, and from how warm it was compared to what season it should be.


    It was warm, and the sunset was at the same time as classes ending.


    Right now, we were on the opposite side of the world from Rolland, and somewhere in the northern hemisphere.


    ¡°Your time of day.¡± I remarked to Iona, tilting my head at the setting sun.


    She gave a jerky nod, then grinned.


    ¡°Have I ever told you how I got that title?¡± She asked me. The Dusk Valkyrie started to walk along the edges of the lake, navigating along the dirt trail that weaved between reeds, bushes, and trees.


    ¡°Nope! How¡¯d you get that name?¡±


    ¡°Well, it was right after Goblin¡¯s Death.¡± She said, naming the famous incident that had seen hundreds of thousands of goblins die, as well as most of the Valkyrie Order. Last I knew it was a sensitive subject for Iona, but she was bringing it up on her own.


    Iona¡¯s therapist was doing good work.


    ¡°Sigrun titles us all personally, and she was as exhausted as the rest of us. I watched one of my friends get named Goblin Slayer, and the second one Goblin Smasher.¡±


    I tried to stop the laugh, I really did. It came out as a barkling chuckle instead.


    ¡°Oh no!¡± I said.


    Iona chuckled as well.


    ¡°Oh yes. I didn¡¯t want to get named ¡®Goblin Musher¡¯, and I just knew that was my fate.¡±


    ¡°How¡¯d you end up with a badass name instead?¡±


    ¡°Redirected Sigrun. Pointed out that my class was Celestial, which got her thinking about the stars and moons. It would¡¯ve worked better if it wasn¡¯t broad daylight!¡±


    I laughed at the punchline, Iona dipping off the trail and into some bushes.


    ¡°Here¡¯s a good spot!¡± Iona declared, stripping off her witch¡¯s outfit. She neatly folded her clothes up, putting them under a bush. She then backed up a few steps, took a running start, and leapt into the lake, soaring dozens of feet before cannonballing into the lake.


    I idly shielded myself and Iona¡¯s clothes from the epic spray, then stripped down to my own underwear and waded in.


    The lake sharply but consistently dropped in depth, making it abundantly clear that it had been artificially carved out of the landscaping to provide a water reservoir, and general place for training water skills. All the time in the sun had left it warm, and I started to swim around as Iona did her best shark impression.


    It was like she¡¯d been born to swim. In the water, under the water, leaping like a fish, Iona was in her element.


    ¡°The mighty akhult strikes!¡± Iona declared a moment before she dove down next to me.


    ¡°Wait!¡± I cried out as her hand gripped my ankle.


    Knowing how futile it¡¯d be, I took a deep breath as Iona dunked me.


    A moment later we bobbed back up, Iona grinning at me as she flipped her hair out of her face.


    ¡°Rawr!¡± She growled at me.


    I squeezed my cheeks, getting her dead-on with a spray of water from my mouth.


    The horseplay continued as the sun set, the full moons rising over the edge of the island like the world¡¯s largest voyeur.


    We¡¯d both burned a ton of energy, and we relaxed by the side of the lake. Iona had her arms on the bank, propping herself up, and I was leaning on her shoulder.


    Much easier on the neck than the rocks behind me.


    ¡°Iona?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Mmmm?¡±


    ¡°What was wrong earlier?¡±


    The Valkyrie was silent for a long moment, deep in thought.


    ¡°The gods.¡± She replied, her tone heavy.


    I started up.


    ¡°You? The gods? You¡¯re a [Paladin]!¡± I wasn¡¯t being terribly clear, but Iona seemed to get what I was saying.


    ¡°I know.¡± Her words hung heavily. ¡°I found out the great secret today. So great it¡¯s taught in one of the basic religion classes.¡± I was sensing sarcasm.


    I gave her a moment to expand, but she didn¡¯t say anything.


    Elaine-prompt away!


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°The gods, all of them. They¡¯re all people.¡±


    That¡­ that didn¡¯t seem like a massive, Pallos-shattering revelation.


    ¡°Ok, yeah? Am I missing something?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I always thought they were something special. I believed they were special. Different. Divine. Perfect beings that I could devote my life to. I knew it. But¡­ they¡¯re not. They¡¯re just people.¡±


    I was missing something, but at the end of the day, I wasn¡¯t particularly religious. Oh, I knew the gods existed, that they were up there and causing me grief, but that didn¡¯t translate into worshiping them or chatting with them.


    ¡°Tell me more about that?¡± I asked her.


    Iona leaned her head all the way back.


    ¡°Are you familiar with the level cap?¡± She asked.


    ¡°4096, the way I¡¯ve heard it. That¡¯s still the cap, right?¡± I asked.


    Iona lifted one hand out of the water, shaking it back and forth.


    ¡°Kind of. You can argue 4095 is the true cap, or 4096. Hit level 4096, and boom! Become a goddess.¡±


    The knowledge crashed over me, shaking my worldview.


    The cap wasn¡¯t the end, or maybe, in a sense, it was. Explained why there weren¡¯t dozens of capped Immortals lording over the entire world. Once someone hit that level, poof! They were gone.


    I continued thinking about it in silence, letting Iona wrap her arm around me. I huddled up, she was warm.


    I frowned as a few things didn¡¯t quite make sense to me. I twisted to lock eyes with the moons, challenging them.


    I respected Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s strength. Her ability to annihilate me if she wished. But I¡¯d spent too much time afraid of dragons. Flinching when their name was said.


    ¡°Two questions, two things that don¡¯t make sense. One, I¡¯ve heard Creation described to me. The gods predated Pallos. They made Pallos. How could they have come from Pallos, if they created Pallos?¡± I tilted my head up towards Iona.


    Iona looked at me, our nose an inch apart. Awareness of just how close, and just how naked we were, flooded my mind, lending a blush to my face.


    With some effort, I banished the thoughts.


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ well, sure, but gods being people who hit the level cap are a thing. I was paying attention in class, and I doubt they were making things up.¡± Iona reproached me.


    I gave my head a tiny shake.


    ¡°Sorry. I wasn¡¯t trying to say they¡¯re wrong, just that there¡¯s more to it. I think.¡±


    Iona looked thoughtful for a moment.


    ¡°Yeah. It was only the first class.¡± She said.


    ¡°Second are the moons.¡± I said.


    ¡°The moons?!¡± Iona jolted up, and with the way we were entangled, I naturally got dunked again.


    I came up sputtering, shaking my hair to get the water out of it. I artfully aimed my splashes to get the most on Iona.


    ¡°Yes, the moons.¡± I grumped at her, pointing to the objects in question. ¡°You¡¯re aware they¡¯re a mirage, right? There¡¯s an illusion over them?¡±


    Iona looked up at the moons, then closed her eyes. I reclaimed my warm spot next to her. Her lips moved soundlessly as she prayed.


    She claimed that she regularly chatted with her goddesses, and that they talked back, but I wasn¡¯t quite sure how literal that was. Plenty of people claimed divinities talked to them, when there was just a great echoing silence.


    Her face morphed through a whole spectrum of emotions, some too subtle for me to properly read, others glaringly obvious. Dismay. Shock. Disbelief. Acceptance. Anger.


    ¡°Damn lizard.¡± She muttered after opening her eyes. My own eyes flew open at that.


    Okay then. Iona did have a direct line to two goddesses.


    ¡°Anyways, I was able to see her level once. It was high. Stupidly high. The highest I¡¯ve ever seen. If 4096 had people ascending, how is she still around?¡±


    And because I couldn¡¯t control my curiosity.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask your goddesses about the divine stuff?¡±


    ¡°I did. They told me it was for me to come to terms with on my own.¡± Iona muttered as she looked away.


    Elaine to the rescue!


    ¡°Well! I can tell you they¡¯ve been around longer than I have. And does their humble backgrounds change anything about them? Have they ever implied they¡¯d always been around? Are there any stories about how the gods were created? Is anything fundamentally different now, than it was yesterday?¡±


    Iona frowned, deep in thought. I did the hardest thing possible, something that all my instincts screamed at me not to do.


    I let her be. I didn¡¯t say anything, letting her stew in her own thoughts.


    I did make sure to stay in the warm spot though. I was providing moral support, yup.


    I did some thinking of my own on the topic. 4096 was the cap? The end?


    Well, no. It wasn¡¯t death, and it sounded like I¡¯d survive. Just¡­ changed. Different. It¡¯d take me so many thousands of years to get there, I had plenty of time to enjoy life before that stage. On one hand, it was kind of presumptuous to assume I¡¯d make it, but the other assumption was dying horribly in some ditch, and honestly, I rather liked planning on not dying in a ditch.


    Iona¡¯s revelation was like a ray of light.


    I wasn¡¯t going to die in a ditch.


    I WASN¡¯T GOING TO DIE IN A DITCH!


    Ever since I¡¯d witnessed Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s devastation on the wood dwarves, ever since I sprinted into the fight to try and rescue the giant, I¡¯d known a fundamental truth about the world.


    One day, I would die trying to save someone else¡¯s life. As an Immortal, there was no other option. Disease couldn¡¯t kill me, and it¡¯d take one hell of an accident to bump me off. The world was a brutal and violent place, and with old age removed from the equation, a violent death was the only thing I had to look forward to. An elegant dance with Black Crow, and one day the music would stop playing.


    Now, I had an alternative.


    ¡°Thank you Elaine.¡± Iona said. ¡°You¡¯re right.¡±


    ¡°Awww yes. What was I right about this time?¡±


    Iona gave a half-hearted swat at my head.


    ¡°That it doesn¡¯t matter. They¡¯re the same people yesterday, as they are today. Nothing has changed. My understanding of them is simply more complete.¡±


    She bowed her head and closed her eyes again.


    All the hair on the back of my neck went up, and goosebumps went down my arm as I felt a mantle of pure power press down on us. Two different hands appeared on Iona¡¯s shoulders, and I didn¡¯t dare look past them to see who they were connected to.


    I knew.


    ¡°Iona.¡± They whispered in unison, vanishing once again.


    My hair started behaving itself again, and I shuddered. My thoughts were entirely swept aside as Iona flexed, drawing me into a hug.


    ¡°Elaine! You¡¯re the best! Thank you again! Hey, wanna come back to my place and have sex?¡± Iona¡¯s excitement and gratitude was infectious, and I was feeling pleased as punch until the last line.


    ¡°Buh.¡± I responded, not sure how to politely decline, while also keeping our friendship intact and non-awkward.


    Telling someone to take a hike was roughly a twice-weekly activity.


    ¡°Ah, whoops, sorry, got too excited there. I apologize, that¡¯s on me.¡± Iona dropped her arm, scooting away from me a hair to get a bit of distance.


    I thought about what I was going to say for a moment, then said fuck it, and took a plunge. I was curious, and Iona had brought the subject up first. No better time to communicate about it, and while I was no great shakes socially, communication was key. I refused to lose a friend because I didn¡¯t open my mouth and talk about things.


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked, shuffling a little closer to Iona. Some sort of ¡®no no I still like you I promise¡¯ gesture or something like that.


    ¡°Why what?¡±


    ¡°Why the casual sex? Why not a relationship with anyone?¡±


    Iona silently pondered over the lake. I wiggled my foot under the water, watching the ripples form on the surface.


    ¡°I like sex. The idea of a relationship is alright, but why not have sex? It¡¯s a ton of fun. How about you?¡±


    Ooof. I hadn¡¯t been ready for my own questions to get turned back on me. I spent a moment thinking about it.


    ¡°Sex is fine, but I don¡¯t see the point in casual sex. It¡¯s no fun if it¡¯s not in a relationship.¡±


    We whittled away the hours discussing relationships as the moons crossed overhead, glaring disapprovingly at us. I almost wanted to shoot them the finger, but Iona might¡¯ve misinterpreted it. We discussed the nature of relationships, and the different types. We discussed sex, and Iona had a ton of insights on the subject, although my takes on consent weren¡¯t things she¡¯d conciously thought about before.


    Iona was warm, and I huddled up near her again as we talked, resting my head on her shoulder. Sure, I could warm the water around me with Radiance, but this was more fun.


    ¡°We should get some sleep.¡± I rubbed my eyes, letting the tiredness stay instead of banishing it with [Sunrise]. Great skill, terrible for wanting to sleep in a few minutes.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Iona got up, water cascading off her body like waterfalls off a mountain. She offered me a hand, and I took it, letting her pull me up.


    ¡°Hey, heal-o-saurus.¡± She continued to hold my hand. I didn¡¯t try to free it.


    ¡°Yeah?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I¡¯ll be any good at it. Maybe I¡¯ll wake up tomorrow, panic, and decide this has all been a big mistake. But do you want to try a shortish relationship with me? Us graduating from the School puts us on a bit of a time limit, but during that time, want to try?¡±


    My heart was thudding in my chest as Iona spoke, and I didn¡¯t know what to say.


    Well, no. I had some ideas what to say.


    ¡°I know we just talked about it, but you¡¯re cool with monogamy, right?¡± I checked.


    Iona nodded, her throat working. Was¡­ she nervous!? Cool, calm, collected Iona?


    ¡°And you know it might be some time before I want to have sex. You¡¯re cool waiting?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Her eyes were huge.


    I thought about it a moment longer, and couldn¡¯t think of any other pressing issues. I couldn¡¯t think of anything to say either.


    Instead, I lifted myself up on my toes, and kissed Iona.


    She kissed me back, and we held hands all the way back to our dorm.

 Chapter 354 - School Life VII

    I woke up far before any of my alarms went up, my eyes flying open as I bolted upright. Giddiness bubbled up inside of me.


    I had a girlfriend!


    I HAD A GIRLFRIEND!


    ¡°Auri! Auri! Pssst, Auri!¡±


    Auri poked her head out of her nest, and loudly scolded me.


    ¡°Brrpt! BRPT!!!!!¡± She complained, then stuck her head back under her wing.


    ¡°Brrrrrrrrrrrrrpt¡­ BRPT! Brrrrrrrrrrrrpt¡­ BRPT!¡± She pretended to ¡®snore¡¯, not fooling anyone.


    The message was crystal clear though. She thought it was too early to be up.


    ¡°Sorry.¡± I whispered to the little phoenix, her flaming feathers acting as a soft nightlight.


    I had nothing to do here, and I was just too excited! Energy flowed through me like lightning!


    I had a girlfriend! And she was right next to me! Blasted walls!


    I wasn¡¯t going to wake her up though, that was just rude. Maybe she wouldn¡¯t like me if I interrupted her sleep. Maybe¡­


    Maybe I was overthinking things, and I should just have a nice shower. Hadn¡¯t had one of those in ages, Auri flame-baths being my regular replacement.


    I spent way too much time in the shower, imagining how nice it¡¯d be to have company. Almost afraid to ask. I didn¡¯t want to rush things too much.


    I facepalmed as I realized I didn¡¯t have a towel. There had never been any need, not with Auri around. I had Iona on the brain.


    [*brrrrring!* Wake up! Time for class!]


    [*brrrrring!* No for real.]


    [*brrrrring!* Future me, I swear if you¡¯re not up by now¡­ we made these alarms for a reason!]


    My alarms went off, marking my usual start to the day. Perfect!


    I skipped across the hall, back to my room, and grinned at Auri.


    ¡°Hey sleepyhead! It¡¯s drying time!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt? BRRRPT!¡± Auri cried out in alarm as she saw me soaked with water, most foul of substances.


    An eruption of flames later, a hurried packing of my bags and books - I had gotten home so late last night I hadn¡¯t prepacked like usual - and I was out the door again.


    ¡°Cuteosaurus!¡± Iona jumped up from the sofa she¡¯d been sitting on, rushing over to me. ¡°You¡¯re finally up!¡±


    She wrapped one arm around my waist, and I dropped my bag to wrap my hands around her neck. We pulled each other in for a deep kiss, which only ended when I needed to swat Iona¡¯s hand trailing down to my butt.


    ¡°Sadly not the time.¡± My eyes were dancing with mischief, and I couldn¡¯t keep a stupid grin off my face.


    ¡°Or the place. Shift please?¡± Reinhard asked.


    I flushed with embarrassment, realizing we were blocking the hallway. Iona lifted me up, and took a few steps back into the living room, sinking down on a sofa with me. Reinhard made a disapproving noise as she left, but I only had eyes for Iona.


    I cuddled up with her for a few moments, enjoying the snuggles.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± A question came from behind me. A growl answered, and I craned my neck to see what was going on.


    Auri was on top of Fenrir¡¯s head, the two of them looking expectantly at us.


    ¡°We need to get moving.¡± I reluctantly told Iona. I wanted to spend the entire day cuddling with Iona, sitting in her lap with her strong arms around me, getting fed kisses and mangos.


    Unfortunately, life called. I was responsible for more than just myself, although Auri was perfectly capable of getting food and going to school on her own. At the same time, skipping classes was a bad path to start down.


    ¡°Sure I can¡¯t persuade you to stay here all day?¡± Iona was looking at me with undisguised longing and desire.


    I sighed, and reached up for one last kiss.


    ¡°Sorry. School calls.¡±


    Iona helped me up, then rested her head on my shoulder.


    ¡°Lunch?¡± She half-whispered into my ear, and I felt tingles running through my body.


    ¡°Oh yes.¡± I confirmed. We quickly agreed on a time and a place, and Iona said she wanted to surprise me with something fun.


    ¡°Bye studentosaurus! Have fun!¡± She waved as I left with a spring in my step.


    Classes dragged on foreeeeeeeeever. Even my usual favorites seemed to just drag-on, and I found myself doodling little hearts in my notes while waiting for everyone else to catch up on writing their notes on what the professor just said.


    Never before had I cursed my improved perception, accelerated thoughts, and speed. I had never been aware of just how much time I had before.


    Finally, finally, the last class ended, and I was packed and out the door before the professor had finished dismissing us.


    Iona met me at the base of the tower, and gods.


    That grin. The sparkle of amusement. The¡­


    I went over to kiss her, only to get foiled by my nemesis.


    Our overly large hats.


    ¡°Why hello there.¡± I said, not really knowing what else to say. I broke apart, cursing the hats, belatedly remembering that I could just take them off, and Iona snagged my hand with hers. I entwined my fingers, loving the calloused feel of her hands.


    Iona winked at me, and hefted a basket on her other arm.


    ¡°Do studyosauruses eat, or can they survive off of stuffy lectures?¡± She asked me.


    ¡°Oh yeah. Forget studyosaurus, right now I¡¯m a real dinosaur. A biteosaurus.¡± I chomped in the air near Iona, showing off how hungry I was.


    I was hungry for more than just food though.


    ¡°Come on! Let¡¯s go!¡± Iona pulled me along, deeper into the central park that the eight main magic towers surrounded.


    The park didn¡¯t have everything. That was for the greenhouse, arboretum, and Museum of All things. It did have a relaxing atmosphere, and Iona clearly had a Plan.


    We emerged in a field of blooming flowers, tucked away in a glade.


    ¡°What do you think?¡± Iona asked as she unfolded a blanket. I grabbed it as she tossed it onto the field.


    ¡°I think if we crush the flowers, nobody else will get to enjoy them!¡± I protested.


    Iona tilted her head at me, then her eyes lit up.


    ¡°Ah! Not a worry here! Watch!¡± She bent over and picked a flower. A new one immediately started to grow in its place. Slowly, not instantly, but it was making progress visible to the naked eye.


    Magic at work. Magic letting me roll around in a field of flowers, entirely guilt-free.


    I was no [Botanist] - I¡¯d dropped the class! - but I suspected that the flowers didn¡¯t normally all live in the same climate, and have the same flowering time. It was just all too convenient.


    Yay for magic! Making romantic moments!


    I flipped my hat off, and took a dive into the flowers, happily rolling around and smelling them. Nature¡¯s perfume.


    I rolled over one way, then rolled back the other. In the flashes of sight I got, I saw Iona had finished setting up a blanket and the basket. I kept rolling, making small adjustments until my head ended up in Iona¡¯s lap. I wrapped one arm around her, letting the other sprawl out.


    I had a goofy grin on my face as I stared up at Iona.


    ¡°Grape?¡± She offered.


    I had the tiniest disappointment that she wasn¡¯t offering me mango, but that was hard to feed someone else with. I could just imagine it. Iona trying to cram a whole mango into my mouth, as I tried to unhinge my jaw to accommodate her.


    ¡­ possibly something to add to the biomancy list. Did unhingeable jaws have a drawback¡­?


    Didn¡¯t stop me from willingly opening my mouth, letting Iona feed me grapes.


    We continued to eat, and I started thinking. I needed to do something myself!


    ¡°Ok, trade!¡± I declared, sitting up. We quickly kissed again - and a second one for luck, and a third one just because. Then Iona plonked her head in my lap. I dug my fingers into her hair, starting to massage her scalp.


    ¡°Mmmm, oh yeah, right there, that¡¯s the spot.¡± Iona squirmed slightly under my ministrations, and I let a mad grin stick to my face.


    Gods, wasn¡¯t life just perfect? Iona and I in a field of flowers, the sun at a perfect temperature, some nice shade, a light breeze, and the giddy insanity of a new relationship.


    [*Brrrrrrrrrring!* Lunch is over! Time for class!]


    My shoulders slumped as I sighed.


    ¡°Class?¡± Iona asked without opening an eye.


    ¡°Class.¡± I confirmed. ¡°I have an idea for after dinner!¡±


    Iona grinned at me.


    ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see what surpriseosaurus has in store!¡±


    The afternoon started off being a tormented repeat of the morning, then I realized if I crammed in my studying during the small breaks during the lesson, I¡¯d need to study less in the evening.


    Our dinner schedules didn¡¯t align in the evening, which was fine. We didn¡¯t need to spend every waking moment together. I spent some time with Auri, who completely approved of me finally ¡®making a nest¡¯ with Iona.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ¡°Of course I¡¯m not going to spend every waking moment with her! You¡¯re still important to me!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Yes, the most important, bestest bird EVER.¡±


    ¡°BRRPT!¡± Auri protested.


    ¡°Creature under the sun.¡± I corrected myself.


    ¡°Brrpt.¡± Auri nodded, everything right with the world.


    ¡°Pssst, want to know a secret?¡± I whispered to the bird.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri was big on secrets.


    ¡°There¡¯s a little grove in the park filled with regrowing flowers.¡±


    Auri¡¯s eyes started shining.


    ¡°Brrrrrrpt¡­..¡± She was imagining terrible things. ¡°Brrpt?¡±


    I pulled a face.


    ¡°Bridget¡­ might not approve.¡± I allowed.


    ¡°Brrrpt¡­¡±


    I nodded in agreement. Maturity sucked sometimes.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri blazed out the door, with an equivalent of ¡®see you later¡¯ thrown over her shoulder.


    I brought my notes with me to wait for Iona outside the building of her last class. I wanted to get as much study time as possible, while also getting to the fun as quickly as I could.


    The work was engrossing though, and I found myself absorbed in my studies, drawing out several new rune sets again and again, getting a feel and practice for them.


    ¡°What does that one do?¡± Iona asked as she wrapped her arms around me, putting her head on my shoulder.


    My undignified jump was weighed down by the blonde.


    ¡°Iona! You made it!¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t going to run off the island.¡± She teased me. ¡°Not with the prettyosaurus waiting for me.¡±


    ¡°One moment.¡± I brushed Iona¡¯s arms off, freeing my quill. ¡°I need to finish this rune.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s it do?¡± She sat next to me, peering over my shoulder.


    ¡°By itself, nothing. But, when linked with these other runes, it¡­¡± I gave Iona the rundown of the rune I was finishing up, finding it good practice in a dozen ways. Not only did bouncing my understanding of the runes off of another person help solidify how it worked for me, but drawing runes while heavily distracted was solid experience. It was unlikely I¡¯d always be under ideal conditions when making runes.


    ¡°Alright! All done! Let¡¯s go!¡± I packed up and grabbed Iona¡¯s hand, dragging her to the destination I had in mind.


    ¡°Where are we heading to?¡± She asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s a surprise! But we need to hurry.¡± I glanced at the setting sun, mentally noting that we¡¯d probably make it.


    We wound through the campus, and across the practice fields.


    All the way to the edge of the island.


    We bypassed a dozen warning signs, until we got to the sharp edge of the island. It simply ended, one moment soft clover, the next nothingness. I peeked over the edge, unable to tell how far away from the water we were from so high up.


    We weren¡¯t above the clouds though, which was nice.


    I sat down on the edge, my feet dangling off. Iona joined me.


    One of the twelve smaller islands that orbited the main island passed - the one that looked like it was nothing but a large lake - and then we had a clear view.


    I leaned my head on her shoulder, and we watched the sunset over the ocean, glistening like a blue marble.

 Chapter 355 - Minor Interlude - Fenrir - School Life VIII

    It was a dark and stormy night.


    The tempest raged outside, thunder rattling the blinds as Fenrir gripped another shot glass of cheap whisky with his mouth, tipping it back. The liquor trickled down his throat as he crunched the glass, adding a sharp sting to the burn. The stench of smoke hung heavy in his room, clouding the air.


    Business was bad. There was no stack of unpaid rent notices on a desk, no final warning that the arcanite would be cut off, but Fenrir Stormrider, Private Wyvern hadn¡¯t gotten a client in months.


    Maybe it was time to close up shop. Maybe the world had moved past the need for a private wyvern. Time passed, eras changed, and Fenrir hadn¡¯t changed with them.


    It certainly had nothing to do with his office being in a dorm, nor with only a half-dozen people who had access.


    The door to his office slammed open at the same time as a crack of lightning, and Fenrir was momentarily blinded by the light.


    A dame stood in his door. Pretty, with burning wings and an attitude to match. Usually all her feathers were in order, but right now, she was a flaming mess, practically sobbing into her mango juice. A little birdie, here to dish.


    ¡°Brrrrpt?¡±


    She had a case. It stank, but a case was a case, and it wasn¡¯t like Fenrir had clients beating down the door. Her cookies were as tasty as anyone¡¯s.


    Someone had thrown up in the dorm hallway, and Auri wanted Fenrir to get to the bottom of who¡¯d done it, and if anyone was going to get ill from it. Not the most glamorous of cases, but the glamorous ones never came to him. Those went to the watch, all pretty and shiny. No, the dark, dirty underside of the School was where Fenrir lurked.


    Fenrir put on his hat, and left his office. He took an experimental sniff of the air.


    Ah yes. Students. Iona and Elaine had crammed two beds into one room, moving the desk and chair to another. They were enjoying themselves, finding small comfort in each other¡¯s arms as the world fell apart. Skye and Reinhard were out, attempting to better themselves in spite of the bleak prospects that awaited them all off the island.


    Fenrir roamed the dingy hallways of the School dorms, walking on his wings and legs, tail lashing behind him. He could fly now, but the hallways were closing in on him, becoming too narrow to easily fly in. The rain could be heard even from here, the gale winds wild and fierce. His nose went to the ground, sniffing and tracing back to the scene of the crime.


    It didn¡¯t take him long to find it. Someone had spewed chunks all over the entrance to the dorm, students stepping over it with barely a look of disgust. Typical. Too small for the fuzz to handle, and nobody would pay them off to investigate.


    Fenrir gingerly sniffed the¡­ contents¡­ trying to work out who it could¡¯ve been by.


    The stench of half-digested booze made him reel, but it should be expected at the School. Nobody could face the cruel realities of life sober.


    There were meats and grains, and some brown lumpy things mixed in with the rest.


    ¡°Fenrir! No! Bad wyvern!¡± Iona yelled from behind him.


    It had been a setup! The dame had framed Fenrir for the crime! She¡¯d brought the heat onto him. Fenrir didn¡¯t know why, but that was unimportant at this moment. The important part was to escape, before the hired goon could practice for her chiropractic degree.


    Fenrir fled through the door, spreading his wings into the storm and letting the gale lift him up. The goon vanished into the mist below.


    Fenrir chewed over the pieces of the puzzle, as lightning struck him time and time again.


    Who wanted to throw up in the entrance of the dorms? Who benefited from such a senseless act? There was always someone who benefited, gems making a wonderful clink as they changed hands.


    Why frame Fenrir? Well, that was an easy one. Only Fenrir¡¯s landlady would miss him when he was gone, and even then the only thing she¡¯d miss was an eviction lawsuit.


    There were no answers to be found up here in the clouds. Fenrir dove down, looking for one of the seedy bars that School students were known to set up. Illicit, but a few greased palms had the cops looking the other way.


    The place didn¡¯t even have a name.


    Fenrir prowled his way to the bar, only for the bouncer to block his way.


    ¡°Dude, we¡¯ve told you, you¡¯re not allowed in.¡±


    Fenrir growled at the bouncer, making an elegant argument why he should be permitted. It was different this time.


    ¡°No.¡± The bouncer crossed his arms.


    Fenrir narrowed his eyes, but left.


    They were in on it as well.


    How deep did this conspiracy run? Who else was in on it?


    What was it all for?


    Well, the perpetrator always returned to the scene of the crime, and that was where Fenrir was heading to next. The heat should be off by now.


    Fenrir fought against the winds, landing by his dorm.


    Gone!


    The cleaners had come! All evidence of the crime had been removed! Whatever dastardly deed they had wanted to accomplish had been done! Fenrir was too late to stop them!


    It was time to admit defeat. It was time to face the music, and call in the big guns.


    Head hung low, Fenrir dragged himself back to his office.


    ¡°Hey Fenrir, you ok? Auri explained it wasn¡¯t you, I¡¯m not mad.¡± Iona asked him.


    Fenrir hesitated, then curled up on Iona¡¯s lap. It was a good spot, with good scratches.


    More hands joined in as Elaine sat down next to Iona, the brunette¡¯s hands joining with the blonde¡¯s to get in all the right spots.


    Fenrir settled in, growling contentedly. He sniffed the air, Auri¡¯s baking, and his pay, smelling heavenly, mixed in with just the slightest hint of old booze and meat.


    His eyes flew open, and he shook off his adoring fans. Stretching his wings, he hop-glided to the hallway, put his nose to the floor, and started to trace the scent.


    It took him three steps to end at a door. A door he knew all too well.


    Varuna!


    The unicorn had done it!


    It didn¡¯t answer the why, but the redheaded dame hadn¡¯t asked for a why. She¡¯d just wanted a who. Speaking of, the dame was here now, with the sweet, sweet sound of cookies rattling around.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ¡°Varuna.¡± Fenrir growled back, barely managing to force the word out.


    ¡°BRrrrrpt!¡±


    Fenrir couldn¡¯t believe it either, but who knew what motivated the unicorn.


    The case was closed. It wasn¡¯t as closed as he¡¯d like it, but it was the rare case that stitched itself up all neat and tidy. A few loose ends wouldn¡¯t hurt anyone, and more importantly, he¡¯d gotten paid. Paid in the only currency that mattered. Tasty, tasty cookies.


    Another successful day for Fenrir Stormrider, Private Wyvern.

 Chapter 356 - School Life IX

    A fine film of sweat coated me as I readjusted my robes.


    ¡°We should not have done that.¡± I told Iona.


    She gave me one of her roguish grins, slipping her hand into mine, entwining her fingers with mine. She squeezed me, and I squeezed her back.


    ¡°But we did!¡±


    I rolled my eyes and pulled her away from the changing room.


    ¡°Hang on!¡± Iona leaned back, snagging an outfit. ¡°I liked this one!¡±


    I rolled my eyes again, but waited a moment.


    ¡°Okay! Where to next, nibble-o-saurus?¡±


    ¡°Nibble-o-saurus! That was you!¡± I protested in outrage.


    ¡°Really? Cause I got this bruise right on my-¡±


    ¡°FINE!¡± I was burning up, then my brain cells realigned and clicked.


    ¡°Wait. I healed you of those!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt? Brrpt BRPT!¡± Auri asked what we were doing, but then completely disregarded it to flap a flier in front of us.


    Madam Maven¡¯s Marvelous Millinery


    For your custom-made women¡¯s hats!


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri plaintively asked.


    Iona and I traded looks, practically reading each other¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Yeah! Let¡¯s get you a hat!¡± Iona said, taking off. We left the store, spilling out into the larger mall complex that was the School¡¯s one-stop place for everything that could be bought or sold.


    Although, hmmm. This might be the perfect chance to get away, and do some shopping of my own. Iona¡¯s birthday was coming up, and I wanted to make it a stunning event that she¡¯d remember forever. Iona and Auri getting her a hat could be my chance to slip away, and do just that.


    The arching hallways between stores allowed for throngs of students to move like schools of fishes, lurching from one store wanting their precious arcanite coins to the next. The entire area was indoors, and while people weren¡¯t supposed to fly here, it was too easy for moving between levels, and, well. It was a bunch of students. Following dumb rules wasn¡¯t high on the list. We were on the second level, able to look down, when Iona stopped, tightening her hand around mine. She squeezed so hard it was almost painful.


    ¡°Skinwalker.¡± She breathed, staring down below.


    ¡°You¡¯re sure!?¡± I asked, mostly out of disbelief and not out of any doubt of Iona¡¯s abilities. She could directly see the System, and couldn¡¯t lie. Short of a clever illusionist casting a mirage at exactly the right time and place, Iona¡¯s analysis was correct.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    I felt Iona¡¯s weight shift, as her ever-present Mallium started to flow from her back, where she normally kept it, down her arms and legs, encasing her in armor while still looking like a witch from the outside.


    ¡°Who? And I know goblins are allowed to be here, is it possible that she¡¯s just a student, trying to lay low?¡±


    Iona hesitated, and pointed to another black hat that was wandering through the crowds.


    ¡°Him.¡± She said. ¡°And maybe. The level doesn¡¯t match the robes. 652.¡±


    I checked the level.


    [Laborer - 130]


    I frowned at that. Even I had to wear purple robes, although I could disguise my level. My life would be easier with a hidden level. Fewer dirty looks from mortals.


    ¡°He¡¯s using a disguise. Only showing up as 130. What do you want to do?¡± I had limited experience with skinwalkers, having only briefly encountered them in my zoology class. They were difficult to classify. All shapeshifters were. Iona had fought them before.


    ¡°Auri. Get some guards to meet us here. Elaine, let''s politely ask him to wait for a moment.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri practically saluted, then zipped off so quickly she left her hat behind. A conjured [Mage Hand] appeared, grabbed the hat, and zoomed off after Auri.


    Iona let go of my hand, and jumped off the balcony. Nobody blinked an eye, and I followed a moment later.


    As I fell, I quickly put together Iona¡¯s plan. Have Auri get some guards, and confirm for Iona that the skinwalker was allowed. Stick with the skinwalker, to stop them from slipping away and vanishing. Ask them politely to hang around, and if the guards confirmed everything was fine, nobody would be any wiser. Their secret would be kept.


    Iona nearly landed on some poor student who wasn¡¯t paying attention, swerving in mid-air to gracefully land in an open spot, barely bending her knees to absorb the impact. I had to be a little flashier to avoid the same student, and while it was tempting to land on Iona¡¯s shoulders like a trapeze artist, I didn¡¯t think she¡¯d appreciate the goofing off.


    It wasn¡¯t the time or the place.


    Iona pushed her way through the crowd, following the black hat she¡¯d marked. Her own purple robes helped split the crowd, although one jackass tried to shoulder her as she passed.


    He landed on his ass as Iona kept moving, seemingly not noticing him at all. Her boots started to leave light marks on the floor - she was increasing her weight.


    ¡°Should I try to clear the crowd?¡± I asked Iona, uneasily looking at the sheer number of people here. We were in a mall, filled with civilians. The amount of potential collateral damage was making me nervous.


    ¡°Would you believe a student shouting to evacuate, and that there might be a monster here?¡± Iona asked me doubtfully, never turning to look back.


    ¡°... Good point. I¡¯d just assume they¡¯d been drinking a little too much, and call the guards. Either way, problem solved.¡±


    ¡°And Auri¡¯s already on that.¡± Iona finished.


    She reached out and clasped her hand on the wizard¡¯s shoulder.


    People moved around us, as Iona was like a rock in the river.


    Iona trilled something in a language I¡¯d never heard before. The woman - man? - eagerly looked up at Iona, trilling back, then looking around and gesturing.


    Iona shook her head and trilled back, and the skinwalker looked scared, shrinking down into himself and shaking her - his? - head.


    Iona¡¯s helmet flowed onto her head, leaving just her jaw exposed, as her gloves and boots snapped on. The characteristic wings of Order Valkyrie popped up, completing the look. I put up my shield, gently expanding it to give us space as students protested us taking up the entire hall.


    ¡°HELP! HEEEELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!¡± The skinwalker started screaming. A few students and at least one professor started moving towards us, but Iona¡¯s frown deepened, and I saw her grip on the skinwalker¡¯s shoulder tighten.


    She took a deep breath and bellowed, her words overpowering the frail woman¡¯s screaming.


    ¡°Yee Naldlooshii here is a skinwalker! Clear out!¡±


    Quite a lot of things happened quickly, my improved thinking speed from my companion bond with Auri coming in handy.


    The witch shedded, her skin peeling in half right down the middle. The skin slumped to the ground as a polar bear erupted from the inside, ripping apart the flimsy witch¡¯s robes he¡¯d been wearing.


    Iona had maintained her grip as the skinwalker shot up in size, already punching his head with her spike-knuckled gauntlets.


    People started to scream and run away, but they were all so slow. I could move faster in a vat of jello.


    The skinwalker wasted no time, paws larger than my head wrapping around Iona, trapping her arms and trying to crush her in a bear hug. I snapped my wings open, repositioning myself around Iona to blast Radiance through the skinwalker¡¯s eyes.


    I wasn¡¯t going to try and dig through all the layers of a polar bear¡¯s fur and fat just to hit the intestines. Not when there were eyes to boil and pop, brains to vaporize.


    Iona opened her jaw wide, sinking her teeth into the skinwalker¡¯s neck. She ripped her head away, spitting out a bloody chunk as arterial spray baptized the mall.


    The screaming went up a few notches.


    The skinwalker released his grip on Iona, the warrior kicking off his chest and doing a backflip to gain distance. As she tumbled through the air, the skinwalker neatly punched out with his paw, skewering Iona through the chest with his seven-inch claws. With a roar, he flung her to the side. The valkyrie was thrown so fast she blurred.


    I had the presence of mind to drop my shield in the general direction she was thrown. There was no way my shield could take that sort of hit, I¡¯d just blow a ton of mana for it to break anyways. I flew on an intercept course, arriving a moment after Iona left an imprint in the wall.


    Massive internal trauma, dozens of broken bones, punctured lungs, perforated stomach, collapsed airways, skull fractured in a dozen places, and if I wasn¡¯t mistaken, an entire chamber of her heart had gotten obliterated. I ignored her body being one massive bruise, that was a given, and it didn¡¯t really matter that more of her blood was outside of her than inside.


    That could¡¯ve been bad without armor.


    I tapped Iona, bringing her back to full health right as the bear roared at us, a wave of nasty red liquid crashing over us.


    Iona shoved me out of the way, her armor twisting under her will as she moved to a full-head helmet, a weapon forming in her hand. A nice thing about Mallium was Iona could have no joints, her armor eggshell smooth all around. No holes for liquids to penetrate. I didn¡¯t get to see what weapon she was forming before the supernaturally fast wave crashed over her.


    The skinwalker had no thoughts about mitigating collateral damage, and the deadly acid splashed everywhere. I had a clear shot though, and I could multitask. I spared a quick thought to summon a beam of Radiance, again going for my classic ¡®burn the brain through the eye socket¡¯ move, while summoning my [Mantle of the Stars] along the weaker side of the chemical wave. I didn¡¯t think I could stop the stronger side of the acid as it splashed and sprayed through the mall¡¯s throughway. Instead, I launched myself over it, flying through the fine mist.


    My clothes were eaten, burning away. Any acid that hit my skin sizzled and smoked, but I¡¯d never dropped my [Persistent Casting]. I healed as quickly as my flesh melted.


    I was going to be insufferable the next time Marcelle and I had one of our meetings.


    My Radiance beam cleared straight through the skinwalker¡¯s head, burning a black hole in the stone behind him.


    No notification though.


    Behind me, like a vengeful goddess, Iona exploded through the acid, wielding a glaive. The polar bear¡¯s skin split in half and sloughed off, a triceratops emerging from the melting skin.


    He lowered his horns and charged Iona. I snapped my head forward, away from the fight, and focused on the casualties.


    The smart ones, the quick ones, had gotten out of the way enough. Most of them were still in the hall, running away - they weren¡¯t that quick - but had dodged the bulk of the splash damage. I was left with the weak, low-leveled ones who¡¯d gotten the worst of it. My aura, [Cosmic Presence], was always on and working. It was hard to point to any one thing my aura did, any one person it saved for sure, but it was putting in subtle, powerful work, a hundred tiny parts of the body already healing before I even touched anyone, reducing the cost of my healing.


    It would be optimal if I could simply collapse the ceiling, letting sunlight stream in, and hit everyone with [Wheel of Sun and Moon] at once. I didn¡¯t know how easily I could blast through the ceiling, how much mana it would take, what angle the sun was currently at, which parts of the mall would be lit up, the current cloud cover situation, or if falling debris would kill anyone, adding to the mess.


    Hell, blasting the ceiling to pieces and killing someone with falling masonry was likely a major [Oath] violation.


    No, I was fast enough to hit the victims before anyone died from their current injuries.


    The first victim had gotten drenched. Her face was melting, and the stubs of her arms waved ineffectively as her hips were eaten by the acid. I imagined her legs were the patch of slightly discolored acid near her.


    I ignored the screaming. Everyone was screaming.


    Triage time.


    I healed her up, which only did so much good as she was still sitting in a pool of acid. Her screams took on a different pitch as nerves were regrown, only to start life in agony.


    Eh. She¡¯d live, and right now that was my primary concern. I couldn¡¯t guarantee that everyone would live, not without me putting forth my best effort. She¡¯d gone from triage red, to triage green.


    I darted from patient to victim, healing the worst of them while ignoring the ¡®moderately¡¯ injured ones. By my definition.


    A crash came from behind, and I spared a moment¡¯s attention to see what was happening. The triceratops had charged Iona, but my girlfriend dodged the attack, opening up triple bloody lines against his flank with a single strike of her glaive.


    Totally a skill going on there.


    One human roared and tried to grab me, I assumed to force me to heal him. He wasn¡¯t that badly hurt, just a mild spray across his body. Getting tangled up could do worse things for me and everyone than simply ignoring him.


    I jabbed out a punch at the grabby person, landing square on his face and breaking his nose. Critically, it also pushed him away from me, letting me continue to dart to the people I thought needed the attention now.


    Sadly, it also healed him, rewarding the bad behavior.


    A half-dozen people later, and I was diving back into the fray. The triceratops split, having turned into some tiny, high-speed flier. Iona¡¯s glaive was terribly unsuited to hitting a zippy creature like that, and it flat-out went through her shoulder. Iona staggered as her arm went limp, but the skinwalker was now in range.


    And Radiance was perfect for hitting high-speed targets. As long as I could see them, and they were close enough, I could hit them.


    Instead of going for the eyes, my Radiance attack was large enough to entirely annihilate the skinwalker, and I tried to simply vaporize it whole. There was no coming back from getting turned to dust, right?


    Sadly, that wasn¡¯t the case, the monster almost instantly splitting off and shedding its latest skin. A little horned baby fell to the acid-coated ground, and started to wail. I reached Iona, flipping around so I¡¯d land on her feet-first. My knees bent as I connected, pulsing my healing magic through her, and I springboarded off, giving her room to keep fighting.


    I was hesitating to laser a baby to death. With my luck, the guards would come right as that happened and would jump to the natural conclusion.


    Iona didn¡¯t hesitate, splitting the infant in half with a single cleave of her weapon. The baby split again, shedding its skin as a monstrous allosaurus erupted from the remains, roaring and chomping down, attempting to bite Iona in half.


    A green vine snaked through the mall so quickly, it was like it teleported into existence. A sharp crack followed it, and what glass there was in the mall blew inwards, turning into a deadly hail of razor-sharp pieces.


    Greenery exploded all over the mall. A tree grew to support the second floor, which was threatening to fall over. Leaves covered the acidic pools, wilting as they absorbed and neutralized it. Bushes exploded out of windows, growing fast enough to catch all of the glass shards before they rained down on people cowering in stores. Fine vines, smaller than the lines on my skin, wrapped around me. They were entirely unyielding, and held me in place. I could only move my eyes. I saw that Iona, the skinwalker, and a few students who were trying to flee had been similarly restrained. A flower, larger than a person, bloomed at the end.


    Out of the flower stepped a sprightly, elderly woman in white robes. My blood ran cold as I threw an [Identify] her way.


    [Artisan - 3584].


    ¡°Begone.¡± My heart skipped a beat as she spoke in Creation with an achingly familiar accent, and the skinwalker simply dissolved into a flurry of flower petals, a breeze coming from nowhere and scattering the monster to the winds.


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [With it, He Goes On All Fours (Forest - 652), Like a Tide He Comes, Scouring the Land (Acid - 611), Where it Skitters, Hunger Follows (Void - 577)]!]


    The lady looked around with crossed arms, one finger tapping unhappily on her robes as she slowly turned. A dozen flowers sprouted from her feet, blooming with an explosion of pollen, and a breeze scattered the spores throughout the building.


    She took one more look around, and stepped back into her flower. The vine vanished so quickly I heard the air crack behind it.


    Iona and I looked at each other, right as Auri trumpeted her arrival with the guards.


    ¡°What the fuck.¡± I said.


    A second Classer popped in through the ceiling, parts of the roof melting to let him in. He was wearing yellow robes, and Iona glanced up at him, her helmet melting away.


    With a wave, all the remaining Acid laying around the mall zipped up to him, forming a neat ball floating in front of the elf. With a second gesture, the Acid vanished.


    The guards were still moving through as Iona waved the elf down. She started babbling in High Elvish.


    ¡°You were at the Wobby pass! With the goblins! You saved us, I never got a chance to say thank you, I¡¯ve never forgotten that day, I-¡±


    I didn¡¯t get a chance to hear the rest as the guards ushered me away.


    The guards took control of the situation, and Iona and I both needed to spend a lot of time explaining ourselves to the guards. A letter, written on fresh bark and delivered by a blooming flower, took care of most of the issues, and everything from there was variations of ¡°what were you thinking¡± and ¡°leave it to the professionals¡± and other such nonsense.


    I tended to like guards, but these ones were getting on my nerves. I missed being able to flash my badge and make the pesky problems go away.


    I did get some levels though!


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Butterfly Mystic] has leveled up to level 369->370! +8 Strength, +8 Dexterity, +70 Speed, +70 Vitality, +70 Mana, +70 Mana Regen, +70 Magic power, +70 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +1 Strength, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    [*ding!* [Celestial Affinity] leveled up! 512 -> 513]


    FINALLY capped the skill again.


    [*ding!* [Cosmic Presence] leveled up! 318 -> 319]


    I still believed in the skill, it just hadn¡¯t gotten the right time and place to shine. Of course the moment I took the skill and left a warzone I wouldn¡¯t find myself in one again.


    [*ding!* [Center of the Universe] leveled up! 454 -> 457]


    Thank the System for my anti-pain skill, I would¡¯ve been a screaming mess with all the little acid droplets.


    [*ding!* [Mantle of the Stars] leveled up! 473 -> 474]


    Save a mall full of people, get one level. Yaaaaaay.


    [*ding!* [Spotless] leveled up! 32 -> 70]


    That was more like it, but [Spotless] was a shit [Pretty] substitute. I wasn¡¯t happy with it. I was strongly leaning towards dumping the skill entirely, and trying again with something new. The only thing holding me back was I wanted to work out my third class first, to see what holes or synergies I might want to cover.


    [*ding!* [Persistent Casting] leveled up! 350 -> 352]


    Figuring out how to upgrade my skill was on my todo list. I knew there were classes around metaskills like [Persistent Casting], but other classes had taken priority. I didn¡¯t want to burn out again.


    After chatting with the guards for what felt like an eternity, I was finally free to go.


    ¡°Between you and me.¡± The guardswoman who¡¯d been interrogating me leaned forward across the table. ¡°Thank you. You saved more lives than I thought was possible for an incident like this. Please, swing by any time!¡±


    With that, she got up and left, and I was left with a warm glow. Another person in black robes came in, and sat down at the table across from me. I stifled a groan.


    Now what?


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m from the student council, and -¡±


    ¡°Nope. Not interested. I¡¯m off to kiss my girlfriend. Bye.¡± I ignored the outraged sputtering from the student, striding out of the room on a quest to find Iona.


    I was going to get some kisses, then I was going to find Marcelle.


    I couldn¡¯t wait to rub it in.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 22]


    [Mana: 591,690/591,690]


    [Mana Regen: 282,222 (+548,368)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 361]


    [Strength: 1,078]


    [Dexterity: 2,161]


    [Vitality: 15,390]


    [Speed: 15,422]


    [Mana: 59,169]


    [Mana Regeneration: 59,283 (+54,837)]


    [Magic Power: 23,824 (+611,086)]


    [Magic Control: 23,851 (+611,778)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 513]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 513]


    [Cosmic Presence: 319]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 11]


    [Center of the Universe: 457]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 513]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 513]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 474]


    [Sunrise: 430]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 370]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 370]


    [Radiance Resistance: 370]


    [Radiance Conjuration: 370]


    [Runic Scribing: 77]


    [Nectar: 370]


    [Solar Corona: 370]


    [Scintillating Ascent: 370]


    [Kaleidoscope: 370]


    [Class 3: [Student of the Ages - Wood: Lv 32]]


    [Wood Affinity: 32]


    [Learning Languages: 32]


    [Dabble: 32]


    [Something Doesn''t Look Right: 32]


    [Timekeeping: 32]


    [Organization: 32]


    [Repetition is the Mother of Learning: 32]


    [Study: 32]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 376]


    [Immortal Recollections: 305]


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 128]


    [Spotless: 70]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 513]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 513]


    [Persistent Casting: 352]


    [Passionate Learning: 420]

 Chapter 357 - School Life X

    [*brrrrrrrring!* Exam time! We did leave when the earlier alarm went off, right? RIGHT?]


    I spared a thought to curse all the past-me¡¯s who set the snarky alarms as I sprinted across the campus.


    Of course I had set alarms to remind myself when I needed to leave for class.


    Of course I had carefully timed everything to get the maximum amount of cuddle time before I needed to leave for class.


    And of course I went in for one last, long, lingering kiss before heading off to class.


    So of course I was late for the anatomy test.


    I skidded to a halt outside of the room, smoothed my skirt, and quietly cracked the door open. Raith and his friend were sitting in their seats, their elbows practically touching. The professor gave me an unimpressed look, and held out a blank test for me to take.


    I grabbed it, and not quite trusting Raith, wanting some space, and seeing an open table near the back, I went back there, sat down, and started writing.


    All my studying was paying off. This was easy.


    ¡°You got the cake?¡± I asked Auri.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± She confirmed, flying over her confection. It was huge, and Auri had worked hard on it. I needed to feed a lot of people. She¡¯d even drawn a half-dozen crude flowers in frosting! Something light blue and blooming¡­ I didn¡¯t know my flowers the same way Auri did. I suspected the flowers were more Auri wanting flowers to burn, than anything about Iona.


    I didn¡¯t associate the warrior with ¡®soft and flowery¡¯.


    I eyed the cake, chewing on my lip as I worked through my latest problem.


    Was¡­ the cake any good? Auri was getting better with her baking, but accidents still occurred. I couldn¡¯t exactly slice into the cake and check though, it¡¯d ruin the look.


    Although, maybe I could slice it all up, and quietly have a slice before presenting it¡­ it would ruin the artwork though¡­


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡± Auri cheeped reprochfully at me, and a pair of hands, stylized with little wings at the end, zipped off to another part of the kitchen. She grabbed a tray, and flew it back over.


    A second, less decorated cake was on the tray. Auri had anticipated my lack of faith in her baking. With a small amount of chagrin, I took a fork, and had a bite.


    ¡°Mmm, ok, yes, this is perfect.¡± I had to talk around a mouthful of delicious cake, but it didn¡¯t make it any less true.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri puffed out her chest, proud as a peacock. ¡°Brrpt BRPT!¡±


    ¡°You know for a fact that your baking isn¡¯t always perfect. Remember teaspoons and cups?¡± I reminded Auri of that particular misadventure.


    She just gave me a dirty look, conjured up a pair of hands, picked up the cake, and off we went.


    Iona was hosting her birthday party in the cafeteria, just her and her 200 closest friends. I was exaggerating a bit, but there had been significant turnout for her birthday. Iona knew how to throw a party, and it wasn¡¯t like it was just a who¡¯s who list of people she¡¯d hooked up with. No, Iona knew details about every single person there, and it just boggled the mind.


    ¡°Ready?¡± I asked Auri.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± She confirmed.


    We exited the kitchen together, Auri putting on her best fire show. She hovered over the cake, a burning pillar of multicolored flames erupting from her, nearly reaching the ceiling.


    Gasps and noises of appreciation came from not only Iona¡¯s birthday party friends, but most of the other people in the cafeteria. I slowly walked the cake over to the birthday girl, everyone else getting out of the way.


    There were benefits to carrying a pillar of fire around.


    As I approached the party, we started to sing. The song was new to me, but when in¡­ a magical flying school, do as the magical flying school.


    ¡°Oooooooh, it¡¯s someone¡¯s birthday here!


    Whose birthday could it be?


    ¡­¡­¡±


    Auri turned off the flames as we finished singing, her little chef¡¯s hat somehow perfectly untouched by her inferno.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± She puffed herself out, receiving the compliments and adoration of a job well-done. Between the cake and the fireworks, she was briefly the darling of the show.


    I slipped into my spot next to Iona. Being the girlfriend had certain advantages.


    ¡°Happy birthday.¡± I murmured to her.


    She slipped her hand into mine and squeezed, then stood up.


    ¡°Hello everyone! Thank you for coming to my birthday party!¡±


    ¡°Cake!¡± Someone heckled Iona.


    ¡°Sion, you don¡¯t need cake. They¡¯ll have to cart you out in a wheelbarrow if you do!¡±


    There was a collective ¡°oooooooh¡± at the burn, and Iona proceeded with her speech uninterrupted. The cake got sliced and passed around - I snagged one of the coveted corner pieces, extra frosting - and I gamely stuck through the entire party, keeping a smile on my face.


    Iona¡¯s mere presence helped bolster me, but big parties weren¡¯t my jam.


    Auri was having the time of her life, bobbing her head with her oversized hat at everyone who came to grab a slice, getting the adoration she so desired and deserved. Some people had brought little trinkets or gifts, depending on what culture they¡¯d come from, but it wasn¡¯t a universal thing.


    Names flowed in one ear, and right back out the other. Out of boredom, I checked my own status, blinking at a number.


    [Age: 23].


    Well then. According to the System, my birthday was around Iona¡¯s, give or take a few days. I didn¡¯t check my status every day, I wasn¡¯t sure when it had last been updated. The timing suggested that I¡¯d been in the fae lands for almost exactly a year, and if I had to bet?


    I¡¯d been in exactly a year, give or take a day. That was just the sort of thing the fae would do.


    ¡°Hey, wanna hear a cool math fact?¡± I asked Iona, still half-cuddled up to her.


    She groaned at me.


    ¡°It¡¯s my birthday, do I have to?¡± She whined. I got a mischievous grin.


    ¡°When you have 23 people in a room, there¡¯s roughly a 50-50 chance that two of them will share a birthday.¡±


    Iona gave me a disbelieving look.


    ¡°You¡¯re shitting me.¡±


    I shook my head.


    ¡°Nope! Wanna do the ma-¡±


    I got interrupted by Iona kissing me.


    ¡°Nope!¡±


    At long, long last, things started to wind down. I claimed my spot on Iona¡¯s lap, straddling her legs and stretching my spine so I could be eye to eye with her.


    ¡°Presents!¡± I told her.


    She grinned at me.


    ¡°Presents!¡±


    I switched to English, the language great for having private conversations in public.


    ¡°Ok! First! This one I can¡¯t quite give to you right this second, but it¡¯s something we¡¯d need to plan and work on for a bit.¡±


    ¡°Oooh, is it a vacation? Somewhere warm and sandy?¡± Iona asked. ¡°For when we¡¯re done with School?¡±


    Oooof. She just had to mention the end of School. We had no idea what was going to happen once one or both of us graduated, and we mostly steered clear of that conversation.


    ¡°Biomancy!¡± I told her. ¡°I¡¯ve been consulting the most dark of arts, math, and as long as we properly plan and stage the changes, I think I can do a full body set of modifications for you.¡±


    Iona¡¯s grin slowly faded, her serious wyvern rider face making an appearance.


    ¡°You¡¯re serious.¡± She said.


    I nodded, afraid I¡¯d said something wrong. Iona had never asked about me doing biomancy on her, and while I didn¡¯t know of any social taboos against it, I was concerned I¡¯d stepped on some sort of landmine.


    ¡°By the goddesses Elaine, that¡¯s huge. Just¡­ wow. How can I ever repay you?¡±


    ¡°With kisses!¡± I flippantly replied. I didn¡¯t think it was that big of a deal, but Iona clearly had different expectations around biomancy.


    She wrapped me in a crushing hug, dipping me into a deep kiss. Whoops and cheers came from her friends who were still around, and I wrapped my hands in her voluminous hair as the kiss went on and on and on.


    I tapped Iona when I¡¯d had enough. She undipped us, and I found myself on her lap again.


    ¡°That was just the first present! Fenrir?¡± I looked at the not so little wyvern, who tilted his head at me. His eyes widened as he realized it was time, and he scampered off to retrieve the present I¡¯d prepared.


    ¡°Conspiring with my companion are you?¡± Iona teased me.


    ¡°Like you haven¡¯t conspired with Auri ever?¡±


    ¡°It was just the once!¡±


    ¡°At least four times!¡±


    ¡°Those didn¡¯t count!¡±


    Fenrir bounded back with a book. Not a library book, this one I¡¯d had to buy from a student [Scribe] looking to make a few extra coins. It had only cost one obsidian coin!


    ¡°Here!¡± I presented Iona with the book. ¡°I hope you haven¡¯t read it before. It might¡¯ve been required reading for all of you. History of the Valkyrie Order, by Dulinniel.¡±


    Her mouth made a perfectly little O of surprise as Fenrir dutifully dropped the book on her lap.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t know this existed! You¡¯re the best!¡± Iona looked torn between wanting to crack the book open, and hugging me. I made it easy by sliding off to the side so she could enjoy her present.


    ¡°And I have a third one.¡± I did my best to purr into her ear, but who knows how well that was working.


    ¡°I¡¯m all ears.¡± She said.


    ¡°There¡¯s this [Tailor] who works absolute miracles with lace. I¡¯m currently wearing something red of hers. Wanna see?¡± I subtly grinded on Iona¡¯s legs.


    Iona bolted upright.


    ¡°Thanks everyone! Need to run!¡± She shouted out, then grabbed me and threw me over one shoulder to hoots and hollers.


    I had a stupid grin on my face all the way back to the dorm.


    [*brrrrring!* Wake up! Time for class!]


    [*brrrrring!* No for real.]


    [*brrrrring!* Future me, I swear if you¡¯re not up by now¡­ we made these alarms for a reason!]


    [*brrrrring!* We can¡¯t skip another day.]


    My back arched one last time, and I reluctantly put my hand on Iona¡¯s head.


    ¡°I need to get going.¡± I told her.


    She looked up at me and pouted.


    ¡°You sure?¡± She asked.


    I gave a sad nod.


    ¡°I already skipped an entire day. I can¡¯t do it a second time.¡±


    Iona gave me a quick squeeze, and we untangled ourselves.


    ¡°Hey Elaine?¡± Iona asked, flopping back on her bed and closing her eyes.


    ¡°Yeah?¡± I paused at the door.


    ¡°You¡¯ve made this the best birthday of my life. Thank you.¡±


    I cracked a cheeky grin.


    ¡°The best birthday of your life¡­ so far.¡±


    I found I had time for one last quick kiss, although Auri gave me an absolutely disgusted look when I needed my morning flame bath.


    Off to class!


    Our exams were being handed back in Anatomy. Naturally, I was wedged in between Raith and his friend again, which was no fun.


    I got my exam back. Perfect score! Wooo!


    I wouldn¡¯t consider myself nosy, but my two unwelcome table mates were right there and annoying me.


    Low, low marks on both. Ha!


    The professor started droning on, pointedly ignoring the one poor student who still gamely rose his hand to ask questions in this class. The professor was exceptionally thorough, but never stopped to answer questions or clarify.


    My opinion was he was some mix of shy, and just wanting to get through the material as quickly and as efficiently as possible. Eccentric, but he was good.


    ¡°Today we will begin the next segment of our studies. We¡¯ve covered terrestrial monsters, large and small, and winged creatures. Now we will begin our studies of the creatures of the deep. Broadly speaking, there are three categories. Those that breathe air, those that use gills, and lastly, creatures that neither breathe air nor have gills, and subsist through other means. We begin with air breathing animals, as their anatomy has clear parallels to creatures already covered¡­¡±


    I was interested in gills, and this was the perfect class to figure out what set I¡¯d like to add to Operation: The Improved Elaine. The location was also up in the air, but drowning was one of my big weaknesses right now. I had no plans on becoming a deep sea diver or anything, but I''d almost drowned too many times.


    The end of class had a plot twist. I was spending a moment skimming over my notes, arranging them for easy studying later, when Raith turned to me.


    ¡°If you ever stop me from cheating off of you again, I¡¯ll stab you.¡± He threatened, then walked out.


    That was so out of the blue, such a surprise, that I just sat there a moment trying to process how stupid and blatant of a threat that was. Admitting to cheating, openly threatening violence, and doing it in front of the professor!? Had he been repeatedly dropped on his head as a child or something!?


    Did he not see the purple robes indicating I had twice as many levels and an extra class on him!?


    Either way, I wasn¡¯t going to let that stand. Oooooh no. Nobody threatened me with a stabbing and got away with it. Like, it wouldn¡¯t even do anything! How stupid of a threat could he make!?


    I approached the professor after I finished arranging and packing up my notes. I did have my priorities in order, after all.


    ¡°Did you hear that?¡± I asked him.


    He studiously ignored me, like he ignored all his students asking questions. I crossed my arms and impatiently tapped my foot while I waited.


    Eventually I wore him down. He glanced up from his notes to give me a withering look, and removed an earplug from his ear.


    My jaw dropped open.


    ¡°What?¡± He grumped at me.


    I soundlessly worked my jaw for a moment, dismissing him from my mind as a potential witness.


    ¡°Raith - ogre sitting next to me - both admitted to trying to cheat, and threatening to stab me if I stopped him again.¡± I reported like I was back from a mission, or scouting for Julius.


    The professor grunted at me.


    ¡°Attempting to cheat isn¡¯t the same as succeeding at cheating. Plus, all these exams and assignments are for you, not for me. Frankly, I don¡¯t give a damn how well you do or don¡¯t do in this class. The reports are your business. The only thing that matters is the final examination for your track, and that¡¯s impossible to cheat. Anyone cheating in this class is simply artificially inflating a number that¡¯s meant to let them know how well they¡¯re doing. If he wants a good grade, tell him to grab a crayon and write it on his own test paper for heaven¡¯s sake. As for the stabbing? Talk to the guards, don¡¯t talk to me about it. Good day.¡±


    I narrowed my eyes at him.


    Fine. I see how it was. My opinion of him was cratering.


    Off to the guards!


    ¡°Good evening miss. What can we help you with?¡± The [Guard] asked me after the usual round of preliminary ¡®who are you¡¯ questions.


    ¡°Well, someone threatened to stab me, so I¡¯m here to report it.¡±


    ¡°Right then. Name, location, other witnesses and the like, and we¡¯ll get on it. Do you currently feel safe?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Do you feel safe going back to your home?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Excellent. Now, about those details.¡±


    I started to explain everything that had happened.


    ¡°Ooooh, let me just punch him!¡± Iona cracked her knuckles.


    ¡°No punching idiots. It¡¯s not worth thinking about them.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to let him get away with it!¡± She protested.


    ¡°Of course not! I¡¯m letting the guards give him a hard time. Hopefully they¡¯ll arrest him, then expel him off the island once we get back to the southern continent. I¡¯m not too vindictive, they can give him a parachute. I¡¯m not going to let him cheat off of me, and if he even flinches towards me with a knife¡­¡± I mimed blasting him with my wand.


    ¡°If you¡¯re sure¡­¡±


    ¡°BRRRPTTT!¡±


    ¡°The same goes to you! No burning people to death!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°He hasn¡¯t deserved it yet!¡±


    ¡°Brrrrrrpt¡­ brrrpt¡­¡± Auri muttered darkly to herself. Something about accidents and how flammable the dorms and robes were. One day she¡¯d act on those impulses, and I¡¯d have my hands full.


    Iona clapped her hands.


    ¡°Okay! Enough of that! Presentosaurus, when¡¯s your birthday? I want to knock your socks off, like you did for me!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t actually know. It¡¯s around yours, give or take a few days.¡±


    ¡°Hmmmm. Why don¡¯t we throw a party on the Summer Solstice then? Or is it the Winter Solstice while we¡¯re in the north? Finals will be over, be a great time to celebrate.¡±


    I frowned at that.


    ¡°Not the solstice. I¡­ have other plans. What about the day after?¡±


    ¡°Sure! Auri, have you ever wanted to make a three layer cake?¡± Iona whispered conspiratorially with the little bird.


    ¡°Brrrpt!? Brrrpt¡­¡± Auri was intrigued, and wanted to know more. I gave Iona a quick peck, and gracefully exited, letting them plan away.


    I was in class when the entire building shook. The entire class paused, the professor dispelling the mandala he¡¯d been in the middle of demonstrating.


    My first thought was ¡®earthquake¡¯, but no. That didn¡¯t work here.


    When the building shook a second time, we abandoned our materials, left the room, and most students found a window to press themselves up against, to see what was going on.


    My training kicked in, and I took a different tack.


    I had no interest in being in a building with questionable structural integrity. If it went down, I¡¯d die. No freedom, no information, and while not relevant here, a ton of civilians packed nearby were all things I wanted to avoid.


    I took flight, soaring over the crowds. Frowned upon, technically against the rules, but I¡¯d face the piper later. Apparently, threatening to stab someone over a test that went nowhere was worth a slap on the wrist and a stern talking-to.


    Apparently, there was a second witness to the whole altercation who claimed Raith was entirely innocent, and I¡¯d been the one shooting threats at him. The other witness was naturally Raith¡¯s friend, and suddenly it had been two people claiming I was the one making threats versus one.


    If Auri ever figured out how to [Burn Lies] or [Burn Liars], I¡¯d let her go nuts. Until then, all I could do was fume impotently at the whole situation.


    I missed being a Sentinel. Properly, I missed the privileges and backing of being a Sentinel.


    I flew out the door, and as soon as I realized what I was seeing, my blood went cold. I stopped flying entirely, and just hovered there, uncaring that I was blocking the flying exit. My throat went dry, my heart skipped a beat, and I started sweating.


    Up in the sky, barely visible past dozens and dozens of layered shields, was not one, but two dragons.


    The first dragon was long. Cyan-colored scales, it was wrapped around the entire island multiple times, like an insanely long snake. He had five claws, and flowing whiskers from his nose. I wasn¡¯t sure if I was larger than the individual scales or not.


    The second dragon was a bit harder to see. I could only catch glimpses of him between the coils of the first dragon.


    That one looked a bit like Lun¡¯Kat, with scales of red. He was flying around the island in long, slow, lazy spirals, roaring at us. He was distinctly smaller than Lun¡¯Kat as well. A young dragon maybe?


    I snapped out of my dragon-trance, and moved. Sitting still wouldn¡¯t do anything, but being free-flowing and moving might. I dashed over to the firing range, the best place to find Auri.


    The School was in chaos, people moving and yelling everywhere, some professors trying to restore order. I ignored them entirely. I¡¯d never been one to put my fate in someone else¡¯s hands when I could avoid it, and I had too many stories echoing in my head of ¡®people who followed bad instructions and died as a result.¡¯


    I¡¯d eat any penalty thrown my way, assuming they even bothered to try.


    I threw out a pair of [Long-Range Identify¡¯s] to see what I was dealing with.


    [Long Zhi, the Cerulean Scholar - 3072]


    [Malheur, the Crimson Ravager - 894]


    Well, the dragon possessively guarding us like a treasure was a higher level, and-


    Wait.


    Hang on.


    Was that a tiny red hat on his head?


    The School had a freaking dragon on staff!?


    Or¡­ hang on, no. More likely we were part of the hoard, the world¡¯s greatest collection of knowledge. This standoff was above my level, but I knew we had at least one white-hatted protector of the School.


    It wasn¡¯t going to stop me from finding Auri, and the little fireball zipped up from the firing range as I approached.


    ¡°Brrrpt BRPT!¡± Auri fluttered protectively near me, zipping all around me like she wasn¡¯t quite sure which direction would best protect me. ¡°Brrrrpt brpt brrrrpt BRPT brpt!¡±


    Her words brought a tear to my eyes. She was completely willing and ready to throw herself in front of any attack to protect me, since ¡®she¡¯d be fine.¡¯


    ¡°You won¡¯t need to.¡± I promised my little pyromaniac.


    I took stock of the situation.


    People first. I¡¯d located Auri. I didn¡¯t know where Iona was - I knew her schedule, but not where she¡¯d try to find Fenrir. She was also competent and able to take care of herself, and the best thing I could do for meeting up with her was continue to fly high, with my distinct wings.


    Where was safe? Nowhere was safe.


    Fine, what were the dangers?


    The dragons, obviously. I couldn¡¯t do much about them.


    Other people.


    Defensive measures.


    I briefly thought about the prayer my parents had stitched for me, and felt a pang of regret that I was keeping it ¡®safe¡¯ in my dorm. If I had to bail, I¡¯d lose it.


    My lightning-quick thoughts weren¡¯t nearly as fast as the dragon¡¯s, and they thought and moved faster than I could. With some sudden motions that I could barely follow, the larger dragon blurred in a whipcord of motions, and by the time I could process what I was seeing again, the smaller one was a fleeing blur on the horizon.


    I spent a desperate moment trying to study its flight. The chance to upgrade my flight by including a dragon into it? Yes please!


    As quickly as it¡¯d started, the crisis was over.


    ¡°Elaine!¡± Iona waved to me as she dashed over, and I dove down to meet her. She couldn¡¯t fly like I could, and while the shields were up now, I didn¡¯t want to get caught when they went down and the wind started howling again.


    ¡°Iona!¡± I found comfort in her arms, hugging her waist. Fenrir curled around my - goddesses, almost my waist, he was getting big - while Auri zipped around, brrrpting that she had driven away the dragon¡­ with a little bit of help.


    She wasn¡¯t entirely delusional.


    A triumphant roar ruined our reunion, and we looked up at Long Zhi. The dragon circled the island, scales twisting all around us, then he shrunk down to a fraction of the size we¡¯d seen, and flew to one of the smaller islands orbiting the main one. I tried to study his flight as well. He vanished into the island that had a small mountain on it.


    His home? The size-shifting made sense why we hadn¡¯t seen him before, and yeah. If a dragon wanted to live nearby, I¡¯d be doing everything I could to give him the premium real estate.


    ¡°I feel a bit silly now, but I grabbed this.¡± Iona pulled the stitched cloth with my parent¡¯s prayer out of her bag.


    I teared up as I grabbed it and clutched it.


    ¡°I think I love you. Just a little.¡±


    The Summer Solstice. A day that would forever be burnt into my memory. The day where I lost nearly everyone. The reason I didn¡¯t want to have my birthday today.


    It was a day of loss, of sadness, of grieving. A day to remember.


    A day to wear cold iron, and carefully measure each step before I took it.


    A day to visit the Tabernacle. To find a quiet corner to pray in.


    Or something. I didn¡¯t know what god would help.


    I knelt in a private room, my knees against the cold stone floor. I carefully laid out the prayer my parents had given me.


    Tears slowly rolling down my face, I forced myself to recite each name out loud.


    The list felt endless.


    ¡°Julia. Elainus. Themis. Lyra. Origen. Maximus. Arthur¡­¡±

 Chapter 358 – School Life XI

    ¡°Close your eyes!¡± Iona announced.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri was making sure my eyes were closed.


    I dutifully closed them, but what was the fun if I didn¡¯t try to use my other senses to figure out what was going on?


    We were inside, the Island having wandered into a blizzard. It was winter in the northern hemisphere, and I wasn¡¯t terribly social. A small party, just me, Iona, and our companions, in the suite¡¯s living room, was all I wanted.


    The room was warm, and I heard Auri flitting around. Didn¡¯t hear a sound out of Iona, but the massive Valkyrie could be incredibly stealthy when she wanted to.


    A wave of cold washed over me, then I felt it subtly radiating right next to my knees.


    Fenrir had built some sort of Ice thing?


    Auri was trying to be quiet, but I could hear her flittering around the room, occasionally letting out a soft ¡°brrrrpt¡± as she gave instructions to Iona¡­ and Fenrir?


    Okay, okay. Multiple trips were being made, and whoa that smelled amazing. Fresh bread, crusts, cheese, meats, vegetables, and-


    Oh goddesses yes, there were mangos involved in this. I¡¯d recognize that smell anywhere.


    I felt myself starting to involuntarily drool. I heard a whispered countdown.


    My hearing was orders of magnitude better than Auri¡¯s or Fenrir¡¯s. Anything whispered loudly enough for them to hear, I could also hear.


    ¡°Three¡­ two¡­ one¡­¡±


    ¡°Happy Birthday!¡± The three of them cried out in various ways.


    My eyes flew open, and I smiled at the spread.


    Iona, Auri, and Fenrir were all sitting around an Ice table Fenrir had made, the furniture creaking under Auri¡¯s baking. Pies and scones, bread and croissants, Auri had outdone herself this time. The pi¨¨ce de r¨¦sistance was a four-layered cake in the middle, mangos circling the entire base.


    I teared up at the cake topper. A little Ranger eagle, delicately carved out of frosting.


    Iona draped an arm over my shoulder.


    ¡°I know it¡¯s not much, but I hope you like it.¡±


    I gave her a quick peck.


    ¡°Are you kidding? It¡¯s perfect.¡±


    What else was there to say?


    We were enjoying the party, and I was enjoying being the woman of the hour. Did anything top a birthday surrounded by loving and caring people?


    The celebrations were interrupted by a knock on the door. We gave each other a quick four-way glance, then Fenrir went off to investigate. He opened the door, the clever magic allowing a thumbless creature to work it, and three people were waiting outside.


    The one in the middle was clearly the important one. She was wearing black robes, but she somehow managed to make them a fashion statement. Gold thread was used as the stitching, it clung to her in a way that left nothing to the imagination, in spite of her being fully clothed, and if I wasn¡¯t mistaken the entire thing was made out of silk. Her hat was precisely tilted, and tasteful makeup was framed by sparkling earrings, filled with dozens of tiny gemstones.


    ¡°Greetings. I am Iya, of the Sahel family. May I come in?¡± The naga asked.


    We traded looks, and Iona gave a small nod.


    ¡°Uh, sure.¡± I was slightly trapped behind the Ice table and pile of dishes. Iona shuffled over, letting me shuffle over as well. Iya gracefully slithered in, her two friends remaining in the hallway.


    ¡°Is there something we can help you with?¡± Iona asked.


    ¡°No. Indeed, I¡¯ve come here to offer Elaine an apology.¡± The naga said.


    Iona shot me a puzzled look, and I shrugged. This was news to me, I don¡¯t think I¡¯d ever seen Iya before, let alone interacted with her.


    She gestured, and one of her friends - an orc by the look of it - walked into the room, handing her a small ornate box.


    ¡°Raith is one of the retainers of house Sahel. I had encouraged him to perform well in his studies, and he took to the assignment with a little too much enthusiasm. You ended in the crossfire, and for that, I apologize. I can see that you appear to be busy, and so let me leave you with a small token, and my best wishes. I do hope we can be friends.¡±


    She deliberately extended the box out to me, and Iona and I traded looks again. I shrugged. I didn¡¯t see the harm in it.


    I took the box.


    ¡°Once again, I wish you all the best.¡± Iya said, then politely backed out and closed the door.


    ¡°Weird.¡± Iona said.


    Fenrir nosed at the box, wanting to know what was in it.


    ¡°This might end up in my top five weird stuff, yeah.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    I opened the box, and my eyes practically bugged out.


    It was filled with tiny loose gems of nearly every sort, piled together like they were a kid¡¯s beach rock collection.


    My eyes bugged out, and I looked up at Iona with my jaw dropping.


    ¡°Think I can get Raith to say more dumb things?¡± I asked her.


    Iona kissed me instead of answering, pulling me into her - our - bedroom.


    Life?


    Life was pretty darn good right now. I don¡¯t know how long it would last, but I was determined to wring out every last drop of fun and enjoyment.


    Classes came and went in a blur of studying, notes, and exams.


    Practical studies at the hospital was a constant, keeping myself sharp and in practice. Seeing dozens of patients from around the world, getting practice with the various quirks of different races.


    Mythical and Magical Anatomy. Bioprocessing. Maintaining Homeostasis. Wards for Homes, Forts, and Palaces. Formal Logic. Advanced Radiance Sorcery. Microbiology. Pharmacology. Fantastical Organs. Elemental Interactions. Structural Biology. Magical Ailments and Diseases. World History. Offensive Radiance Skills. Biomancy Ethics. Formations. Transforming Yourself Into Another Species. Potions, Their Uses, and Side-effects. Cross-Cultural Medicine. Countermagic. Dangerous Places and Beings. Breaking Illusions. Flushing Out Waste. Spell Integrity. Putting the Body Pieces Together. Bioalchemical Processes. The Oddities of the World. Epigenetics. Psychiatry. Gods and Religion. Bioengineering. Enchanting. Advanced Metabolic Processes. Abnormal Psychology. Global Abnormalities. Jiwa Runes. Advanced Augmentations. Rituals. Biosculpting. Therapy. The Great Groups and Guilds. Octagon. Substance Editing. Prosthetics. Synergistic Modifications.


    Brain Modifications. I learned enough in that class to know I only wanted to make one change - a backup brain in case my head got obliterated. Even that was going to be an exercise in weirdness. I did not want to touch or modify my ¡®original¡¯ brain though.


    Wizardry Metamagics got me evolving [Runic Scribing]. The School was a fantastic place for picking up skills, and [Butterfly Mystic] was all about evolving skills. I wasn¡¯t able to get everything, or even a small fraction of all the different meta skills that existed - most witches and wizards required a full class with multiple supporting skills for what I was trying to cram into a single skill - but I hadn¡¯t picked an evolutionary class for nothing.


    I managed to get the skills commonly known as [Spellchecking], [Mage¡¯s Eye], [Enchanting], and [Serene] merged into [Runic Scribing], which turned into [Lepidoptera].


    None of the meta magics were particularly amazing or world-shaking - [Enchanting] was easily the best one - but they were improvements.


    My Radiance classes made me see the light on an issue I¡¯d somewhat known for ages, but hadn¡¯t properly confronted and thought about.


    I wasn¡¯t getting a lot of mileage out of [Radiance Conjuration]. I used it primarily for two things. Making light, and making deadly beams of Radiance to fight people with. Rarely would I be doing something else with it.


    Wizardry gave me access to light, and if I was using [Radiance Conjuration] just to do a single thing, instead of enjoying the full breadth of possibilities?


    I might as well get a dedicated skill, with bonuses and trade-offs.


    I picked up [Light Beam], and spent hours at the firing range. [Persistent Casting] plus near-unlimited Arcanite plus being able to get my studying done there made for effective, if terribly inefficient leveling. Combined with Offensive Radiance Skills, I upgraded the skill time and time again.


    [Nova Lance] joined the team!


    Nova Lance: Focus the power of the shining sun into a fine beam at the tip of your fingers of searing consumption, destruction and devastation. Increased control, distance, and destruction per level.


    The skill alone was a significant upgrade over ¡®simply¡¯ conjuring the beams up, and that was before [Solar Corona] kicked in. The only ¡®downside¡¯ was I¡¯d managed to work in a ¡®tip of my fingers¡¯ restriction. While technically a downside - no more laser eye blasts for me - it acted as a restriction, improving the overall power of the skill. There were downsides, but I believed it was a net positive.


    [Kaleidoscope] got an upgrade, without a name change. The butterflies were even faster now, and the skill leveling up was tied to acceleration, the whole effect was compounded.


    [Persistent Casting] finally evolved, letting me pre-store up to six different configurations of skills to remember, with the promise of more in the future. I could now reasonably toggle my healing on and off!


    Auri classed up, got some new skills, and immediately capped again. Notably, she got [I am the Brrrettiest], which summoned a number of flaming clones of her, all able to cast weak skills. She also grabbed [Baking].


    A tournament came and went. We did alright, although Bartolo managed to throw the match against the Yellow Jackets team. One of the risks of taking students from places all over the world - old loyalties were sometimes stronger than the temporary one.


    The crowd utterly loved it though, and nobody talked about anything else the entire time. In a way, that was almost better than winning. ¡®The School wins again¡¯ was just another ¡®ya, ya, whatever¡¯ moment, while ¡®The School got betrayed by the Yellow Jackets¡¯ was good for gossip for months, if not years.


    I thought it was a little weird how in-stride everyone took it, but it was just a sport in the end. Well, everyone except Shirayuki, who was understandably pissed.


    None of my friends were at the next stop the School made near Rolland, deep in the Empire of Xerius, although a consultation of a map showed dense, ancient forests between Rolland and where we¡¯d stopped. I was banking on that being why Julius, Artemis, and Amber hadn¡¯t been able to make it. It sounded close in theory, that¡¯s why they thought they could meet up, but in practice it was too difficult to traverse.


    I felt better. Whole. In control. I believed that while I¡¯d never truly come to terms to losing my entire family a second time, that I¡¯d properly grieved.


    With all that said, I was still seeing Linnet every week. It was good for me.


    Iya continued to be a confusing presence in our lives. Iona was naturally suspicious. She was from the Omospondia Confederacy, and never had the world seen such a den of backstabbing, political snakes. According to the rumors, it was the only country where professional assassins were able to make a living.


    Which had me arguing that maybe she¡¯d never gotten the chance to properly socialize, and was somehow worse than I was at making friends, and was following some guide or another.


    23 came and went, and my 24th birthday rolled around. Checking carefully, it was indeed the same day as Iona¡¯s birthday, and I fulfilled my promise to her that her 23rd birthday had been the best birthday of her life¡­ so far. I had bittersweet dreams of Lyra upon realizing our shared birthday.


    24 rolled into 25 far too quickly, the year passing in a flash of notes and strewn clothing, of burning wings and the sharp smell of the hospital.


    One day I found myself in Marcelle¡¯s office, sharing a glass of wine with the vampire and having one of our discussions.


    ¡°[Persistent Casting] is totally worth it.¡± I gave our traditional greeting as I sat down.


    She groaned and poured herself another finger.


    ¡°You¡¯re never going to let me live that down, are you?¡± She asked.


    I grinned at her.


    ¡°Nope!¡±


    She scuffed and rolled her eyes.


    ¡°Well, you did save a lot of people, so I¡¯ll let it go. How¡¯s biomancy going? Medicine? The rest of your studies?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re going well. I wouldn¡¯t be so arrogant as to say I know everything, but I¡¯m running out of elvenoid related courses in the two.¡±


    ¡°Mmm. Any interest in plant related biomancy?¡±


    I hesitated and took the plunge.


    ¡°I think I¡¯m going to primarily stick with elvenoid. My research into other creatures has mainly been for aspects that can be used to modify elvenoids further.¡±


    ¡°Well, no chimeras from you at least! Cheers to that!¡± Marcelle offered her glass, and I delicately clinked my glass against hers.


    We spent a few more minutes discussing the rest of my classes, and how I saw myself going forward.


    ¡°Now, as you may know, the School¡¯s about to slow down again. We¡¯re going to be over Ankhelt, and your biomancy studies have progressed well. Perfect marks across the board. It¡¯s my understanding that you still have a [Student] class. Yes?¡±


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯ve been keeping it at 32 because, politely, I don¡¯t believe I¡¯ll be sticking with biomancy for my entire life. It¡¯s been wonderful learning about it, and I¡¯d like to make modifications to myself, but I hope to get the skill to make changes permanent, then reset at 128.¡±


    Marcelle¡¯s lips puckered unhappily, but she gave me a nod.


    ¡°A crying shame. You¡¯d be the best in a generation. However, if it¡¯s not for you, it¡¯s not for you. Do you know what you¡¯ll take instead?¡±


    ¡°Still working on it.¡±


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m always here to help. Anyways, I was asking because, if you¡¯re looking for a time and a place to class up, now works. I¡¯m happy to give you permission to perform biomancy in a limited way in the fairgrounds we set up when the School slows down, and that sort of practical, on-hands experience should be good for you. The firing range is nice, but I¡¯m convinced the System knows when biomancy is done for practice, and when it¡¯s done for real.¡±


    We continued with some small chit-chat, and ended the meeting.


    The Medical Manuscripts were still on my todo list, but after being at the School for a few years, I had the perfect time and place for them.


    They were going to be my Healer Track thesis. My biggest issue was going to be in providing enough evidence to the panel that, yes, I was Elaine, but nothing I needed to start working on right now.


    ¡°VampFoodOSaurus!¡± Iona jumped up to greet me. Even after more than two years, her face still lit up every time she saw me.


    ¡°Iona!¡± I let her sweep me into her arms.


    ¡°Everything good? Vampy didn¡¯t want a pint of blood or something?¡±


    I rolled my eyes at her.


    ¡°Yes, Marcelle demanded tribute of a gallon of blood for advice, otherwise she was going to throw me off the island.¡± I sarcastically replied.


    Iona gave a dramatic gasp and dropped me.


    ¡°Alas! Fenrir was right! The School¡¯s a blood collection front for the vampires!¡±


    I picked myself up off the ground, the wyvern in question poking his rapidly growing head out of his room.


    ¡°Vampires?¡± He growled, one of his skills letting him form words. Dude was getting big enough I was starting to question if he could get out of the suite. That was going to be a bad day in the future.


    ¡°Yes, vampires. Marcelle thinks I should grab [Biomancer] at this stage.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt?!¡± Auri asked.


    ¡°What do you think?¡± Iona also asked.


    ¡°Eh, she¡¯s right. I¡¯ve gotten a ton of advantage out of my [Student] class, but the longer I stay a student, the less time I have to work on my final third class. It¡¯s a tricky balance, but I¡¯ve gotten a ton of use out of [Student]. She¡¯s probably right.¡±


    Iona licked her lips.


    ¡°And¡­?¡±


    I gave her a quick kiss.


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m still planning on doing upgrades on you. I¡¯ll see if I can get a class to include Fenrir, but no promises. I¡¯m unsure if I even know enough about wyverns to make safe changes, forget about significant enough.¡±


    ¡°Brrrrpt¡­?¡± Auri plaintively asked.


    ¡°There isn¡¯t even a book on phoenix anatomy. Plus, aren¡¯t you already perfect?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri nodded to herself at that. "Brrpt BRPT!¡± She scolded herself that she¡¯d ever forgotten her perfection.


    ¡°When are you classing up?¡± Iona asked.


    ¡°Eh¡­ now? I know exactly what I want and I should qualify.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri flew out the door, trying to get some frantic last-second cooking in for the surprise celebration.


    ¡°Alrighty! This calls for a party!¡± Iona exclaimed.


    Reinhard popped her head out of her door.


    ¡°My deepest congratulations on advancing your class.¡± She withdrew her head after that.


    Most words she¡¯d spoken to us all week, but then again, she was practically the perfect roommate. She didn¡¯t get in our business and we didn¡¯t get in hers, and we all kept things clean.


    I went to my room, and without any great ceremony, closed my eyes and entered into the world of my soul.


    I opened my eyes to see Librarian there, wearing a poofy set of School robes.


    ¡°School robes now?¡± I asked her. I didn¡¯t think that they were integral to my identity.


    She pulled down the top of the robe, showing me what was under it.


    ¡°Over armor.¡± She grinned at me. ¡°Remember?¡±


    It took me a moment for it to click, then I laughed.


    ¡°Yeah, I remember now! Shall we?¡±


    She gestured for me to lead the way, and I walked over to the staircase, walking up to the next level.


    ¡°Looking for a biomancer class that¡¯ll let me modify myself and others, and make the changes permanent. It¡¯s fine if it¡¯s extremely narrow. Practically speaking, I have two projects that need to be completed, then I¡¯m done. I hope I can get a class that¡¯ll let me draw runes in bones. It¡¯d be nice if I could also modify Fenrir, but that¡¯s not mandatory.¡±


    Librarian shook her head.


    ¡°This is a level 32 class. There¡¯s barely one class that fits your requirements, including the rune bones, but forget Fenrir. We¡¯d barely qualify for a non-elvenoid modification-only class if we wanted that. Didn¡¯t practice enough.¡±


    I clicked my tongue in disappointment. The lack of options was disappointing¡­ but also freeing.


    Also, I¡¯d gotten a class that entirely met my needs. I didn¡¯t need to make compromises. I¡¯d been concerned that I¡¯d need to choose between modifying Iona, and making changes permanent.


    Granted, with the ¡®permanent changes¡¯, I could pay another biomancer for that. It was an easy decision that I didn¡¯t need to make.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see it!¡±


    I made it to the top of the stairs, and a single book was waiting for me on a reader.


    [Better. Faster. Stronger. - Forest]


    Better. Faster. Stronger.: You can rebuild yourself, and anyone else you¡¯d like. You have the magic. You can make yourself more than you are now. Stronger. Faster. Better. +50 Magic Power, +50 Magic Control per level.


    Not exactly a class to get my heart beating, but it did exactly what I wanted it to do. I anticipated I¡¯d have it for a quarter, tops, while I worked on finalizing my plans and modifying myself and Iona.


    ¡°Well¡­ guess I need to take it.¡± I reached out and grabbed the book.


    ¡°That you do. Just remember, most of the power in this class is in its skills, not the stats.¡± That was a good point. Just like when I¡¯d built [The Dawn Sentinel], I had gotten the option to trade stat power for skill power. Seemed like this class was an example of going to the skill extreme, where I was getting a number of absurd, top-tier skills that wouldn¡¯t go amiss in a level 256 class, at a level 32 class.


    I didn¡¯t need stats, not for what I was planning. I needed skills, and this class was perfect.


    I checked the book out, opening my eyes to a dozen notifications.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Student of the Ages - Wood] has upgraded into [Better. Faster. Stronger. - Forest]!]


    [*ding!* [Better. Faster. Stronger.] has leveled up! 32->128! +50 Magic Power, +50 Magic Control from your class per level! +1 Free Stat for being Human per level! +2 Magic Control per level from your Element!]


    [*ding!* [Wood Affinity] has evolved into [Forest Affinity]!]


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Biological Manipulation]!]


    Shame [Dabble] hadn¡¯t evolved into it.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Runes of Flesh]!]


    [*ding!* [Something Doesn¡¯t Look Right] has evolved into [Warning Bells]!]


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Smooth as a Baby¡¯s Bottom]!]


    Ok, wait, what? The rest of the skills explained themselves, but not this one.


    Smooth as a Baby¡¯s Bottom: Sometimes we make little oopsies that we didn¡¯t know would happen. Smooth as a Baby¡¯s Bottom will fix the tiny, minor holes that we make, ensuring everything works properly. After all, are we sure that we properly know all of the Kun-Peng¡¯s liver organelles? -300 Mana Regeneration.


    Oh, thank the System. A minor fixer-upper skill. It didn¡¯t mean I could slack off, but I could be a little more ambitious with my modifications.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Analyze Organ]!]


    Iona was going to make jokes about that one. For sure.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Elvenoid Visualization]!]


    [*ding!* Congratulations on reaching level 100! You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Permanence]!]


    None of the skills were particularly epic or grandiose. A simple class, with simple skills, for someone who¡¯d frankly only been dabbling in the subject. It wasn¡¯t like I¡¯d grown up around biomancers, helping out as a lab assistant for years before taking my first class up, then having adventures of my own.


    No, it was close to the starting line. It was arguably a normal class, the type most people living in the world had.


    ¡­ Although, given the skills, maybe my perception of what was ¡®normal¡¯ was completely skewed. I should see if there was a book or some classes I could take to see what a ¡®normal¡¯ person was like now.


    Oh gods. I wasn¡¯t becoming like an out of touch noble, was I?? Did I know how much a loaf of bread cost? How about a banana?


    ¡­ Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. I¡¯d never gotten a chance to recalibrate myself after my fairy adventure, and there was no way the School had normal anything.


    Speaking of bread - the smell of freshly baked bread reached my nose, and I rolled out of bed, leaving the room.


    I closed my eyes and took a deep breath of Auri¡¯s heavenly baking.


    ¡°Sleeposaurus! I¡¯ll let you analyze my organs anytime!¡± Iona wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at me.


    I laughed and sat down.


    I¡¯d try out my new skills.


    Tomorrow.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Human]


    [Age: 25]


    [Mana: 613,390/613,390]


    [Mana Regen: 299,431 (+616,377)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 488]


    [Strength: 1,326]


    [Dexterity: 2,374]


    [Vitality: 17,560]


    [Speed: 17,592]


    [Mana: 61,339]


    [Mana Regeneration: 61,484 (+61,638)]


    [Magic Power: 29,899 (+766,909)]


    [Magic Control: 30,142 (+773,142)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 513]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 513]


    [Cosmic Presence: 322]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 11]


    [Center of the Universe: 470]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 513]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 513]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 492]


    [Sunrise: 470]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 401]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 401]


    [Radiance Resistance: 401]


    [Nova Lance: 401]


    [Lepidoptera: 160]


    [Nectar: 401]


    [Solar Corona: 401]


    [Scintillating Ascent: 401]


    [Kaleidoscope: 401]


    [Class 3: [Better. Faster. Stronger. - Forest: Lv 128]]


    [Forest Affinity: 128]


    [Warning Bells: 128]


    [Biological Manipulation: 1]


    [Runes of Flesh: 1]


    [Smooth as a Baby''s Bottom: 1]


    [Analyze Organ: 1]


    [Elvenoid Visualization: 1]


    [Permanence: 1]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 380]


    [Immortal Recollections: 333]


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 256]


    [Spotless: 111]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 513]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 513]


    [Persistent Casting: 431]


    [Passionate Learning: 450]

 Chapter 359 - Biomancy I

    For the fourth time, I cursed the organizers of the School¡¯s Fair.


    I understood needing to sign up for a slot. I was fine with being told where to go, and what dimensions I needed to work in. Charging a nominal rent for the supplies I wanted to use was only natural. It couldn¡¯t work otherwise, not with the hectic two weeks of controlled chaos that was the School¡¯s fair as the island slowed down.


    But I needed to make my own enchantments? Really? Not a single person had ever returned a set of privacy runes back to the Ring that ran the Fair? They hadn¡¯t thought to make some themselves, for alllll the people who wanted some privacy?


    No. The easy answer was they were jerks. The more practical reason I¡¯d dug up was they wanted to make sure students were displaying their skills, and not leaning on someone else¡¯s.


    None of my complaining mattered as I finished burning enchantments into the last piece of wood, setting up a proper privacy ward for my tent.


    Three checks of my runes later - [Warning Bells] only applied to biomancy now, not everything - and I was satisfied that I¡¯d done them correctly. I inserted an Arcanite crystal into the right place, and with a flex of will, powered on the wards.


    Instantly the clatter and clamor of everyone else setting up their stations, along with a few early eager beavers dropped away. Blessed peace and silence so I could think.


    I looked around.


    Large backup arcanite crystal - check. My biggest expense was renting the spherical crystal to use, because running out of mana mid-operation could literally kill someone. I was planning on asking people to bring some of their own to help, but there were no guarantees.


    Tent walls - check. It looked and felt like a fortune-teller¡¯s tent, but I was working with the supplies I¡¯d been given.


    Two chairs and a desk - check. I was only missing a crystal ball to complete the fortune-teller¡¯s look¡­


    Hang on.


    I eyed the arcanite crystal, softly glowing with mana.


    Screw it.


    [Fortune Teller] Elaine was here! Not the most professional of looks, but I wasn¡¯t trying to make a huge fortune as a biomancer, nor did I particularly care about getting a reputation as one. This was probably one of my only times that I¡¯d be biomancying other people.


    I didn¡¯t want to call it practice patients¡­ but yeah, they were practice, and I was hoping I could get enough people to visit in two weeks that, when combined with my magic stats, I could cap my skills before starting to biomancy myself and Iona.


    I put the crystal on the table. The ground was at a slight angle - downside of setting up in a field - and the ball wanted to roll off the table.


    I frowned, grabbed the Very Expensive ball before anything bad could happen to it, and popped my head out of my tent.


    ¡°Hey Auri, could you¡­¡± My voice trailed off as I saw what the little bird was up to.


    She had a half-dozen different hands working a dozen stations. Mixing, mashing, kneading, opening makeshift oven doors and stirring bubbling pots. A whole rainbow of different colored


    flames lit the various places up, and Auri was sitting high up in the middle, her chest proudly puffed out with a tiny little chef¡¯s hat on her head.


    Sparks were practically flying as she glared at a student across the way, baking cookies. A rivalry for the ages¡­ or the next two weeks.


    Aleesia¡¯s Famous Cookies a crooked sign proclaimed.


    The witch in question was glaring at Auri just as hard.


    I wasn¡¯t getting involved in this mess at all.


    Either way. Auri was way too busy to give me a hand.


    I popped back into my tent, forcing myself to think about the problem.


    How would [Archmage] Elaine solve this?


    Well, that was easy. A sticky rune on the table would keep the crystal ball - errr - arcanite ball from rolling off.


    A rune later, and that problem was solved. A dozen runes after that, and I¡¯d lit the interior of the tent with a soft purple-blue glow, completing the look.


    Iona had helped me with the local language, and I set up the two-ringed array needed for my advertising, projecting slowly spinning letters in the sky that advertised what I did.


    Cheap biomancy!


    Pay in mango or coin!


    My marketing-fu had gone down in the absence of practice and Amber, but I did at least know how to advertise.


    I settled into my chair, cracked open a book, put my feet on the table, and started reading, waiting for the first patient to come in.


    The tent flap opened, and I started, stashing my book and taking my feet off the table. I quickly put one hand on the crystal ball, and one on my forehead.


    ¡°Welcome!¡± I did my best ¡®booming voice¡¯ impression. ¡°I can see the future! You¡¯re here¡­ for BIOMANCY!¡±


    ¡°Um.¡± The woman at the door suddenly looked uncertain. ¡°Yes? Are you sure you¡¯re a biomancer?¡±


    I dropped the act.


    ¡°Yes, please, come on in. What can I help you with?¡±


    I glanced at the dogkin¡¯s level.


    [Laborer - 194].


    That was pushing it. It wasn¡¯t an issue of her vitality defending itself against my magic power, I could overwhelm that. It was an issue of mana. In my little stall out here, I didn¡¯t have the gigantic reserves of mana that would be required to perform a large-scale operation on someone with that much vitality and weight.


    My plans for Iona included access to the firing range¡¯s prodigious reserves. Or whatever system the School had for large-scale projects like the one I was eyeing up. My rough calculations suggested I was looking at six billion mana for Iona¡¯s modifications.


    Before making them permanent.


    Fundamentally, biomancy wasn¡¯t part of the few ¡®safe¡¯ skills the System recognized, like buffs, potions, and healing. Even then, buffs got horribly abused now and then to practically cause debuffs on people. No, the System considered biomancy to be offensive, giving me roughly the same difficulty that I¡¯d have modifying someone¡¯s heart, as a Dark mage would have deleting a heart.


    Given that I could biomancy a major blood vessel closed and kill someone that way, I completely understood. It made biomancying adults a challenge.


    Focus. Patients were here and now.


    She pulled in a skinny young kid - practically still a toddler - and I mentally breathed a sigh of relief.


    Kids were easy to work on. Their vitality was practically nothing, which meant I could manipulate their flesh with minimal resistance. They also didn¡¯t weigh much, meaning there was less I needed to manipulate.


    The details were harder, and kids had their own separate set of issues that adults didn¡¯t have, but most biomancy focused on kids anyways, being the primary patient base.


    ¡°His face is¡­ weird.¡± His mom struggled to explain, gesturing at the obvious problem.


    His lip was split in half, going all the way up to his nose. A classic cleft lip issue.


    Thank whatever divinities were watching over me that my first case ever was a softball.


    I smiled at the kid, who was shyly clutching his mother¡¯s skirt. I stood up and walked around the table, pulling the patient chair out.


    ¡°Come here! I don¡¯t bite!¡± I patted the chair. ¡°What¡¯s your name? You must be very brave to come here!¡±


    ¡°Amam.¡± He said quietly.


    ¡°Amam! Well, that¡¯s a great name! Tell you what Amam, after this, go to the stall next to me and ask Auri for a cookie. Tell her Elaine said it was alright!¡±


    His eyes went wide and he looked at his mom. She chewed her lip.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be free, we¡¯re friends.¡± I reassured her.


    ¡°Alright! Cookies after!¡± Her mom declared.


    With some encouragement from his mom, and the promise of a cookie after, he climbed up into the chair.


    ¡°Okay, now let me take a look.¡± I put a finger on his lip, and he shuddered and brightened up. Bet my healing just cleared something up!


    With some effort, I used [Elvenoid Visualization].


    [*ding!* [Elvenoid Visualization] leveled up! 14->15]


    I obviously hadn¡¯t come here with no practice using my new skills.


    A mental image popped into my mind, a full 3D visualization of what was going on with the kid¡¯s lip.


    It had never finished forming. It hadn¡¯t properly stretched all the way across his face, and he also had a tiny cleft palate. I bet when I¡¯d healed him a moment ago, it had been an ear infection. Extremely common with the problem he¡¯d come with.


    Ok! Cleft palate and cleft lip, in a young male dogkin! Go!


    The entire issue was as simple as it looked. The lip and palate had never met, and they needed to. I simply needed to create the necessary flesh in the gap, hook up the necessary nerves and blood vessels, then tell the body that it had always existed that way.


    One step at a time.


    For safety¡¯s sake, I blasted another wave of healing through Amam. I wanted to make absolutely sure that he didn¡¯t have anything dumb like a skinned knee, that I could accidentally include in his ¡®perfect body¡¯ image. Otherwise, if I did, anytime he got healed in the future, he¡¯d regain the skinned knee.


    I then turned off my [Persistent Casting]. I had the image stored, I could turn it back on at any time.


    Heart pounding, mouth dry, I focused every bit of attention on what I was doing. A mistake here would haunt this kid for his entire life.


    There was a little cough in the background, but I redoubled my focus, tuning everything out.


    I carefully built an image of what I wanted. The [Elvenoid Visualization] skill was putting in serious work, giving me a direct reference of what I needed to make. It combined with my knowledge, and I was able to ¡®flicker¡¯ through the image, checking different layers. There was the skin layer, the flesh layer, the nerve layer, the capillaries¡­ it was all there.


    I had the image.


    I checked it four times.


    I was stalling.


    Gritting my teeth, I opened my eyes and pulled the trigger on my skill.


    The gap in his lips was there one moment, and gone the next.


    [*ding!* [Smooth as a Baby¡¯s Bottom] leveled up! 1 -> 11]


    I broke out in a cold sweat over that. I¡¯d done something wrong, something that the skill had needed to fix. My hours of messing with my fingers at the firing range to cap [Biological Manipulation] hadn¡¯t caused the skill to level.


    What had I done wrong?


    I heard a dramatic gasp beside me.


    ¡°Please let me focus, I¡¯m not done.¡± I snapped at the woman. She had to know how important this was.


    I recast [Elvenoid Visualization], flicking through a dozen different views, looking for any difference. Any imperfection.


    I didn¡¯t see any.


    I wanted to smack myself. [Warning Bells] hadn¡¯t gone off. Whatever issue [Smooth as a Baby¡¯s Bottom] had fixed, I just didn¡¯t know it.


    I made a mental note to talk with Marcelle about it, to see what I had done wrong. However, my fix was better than nothing, and to the best of my knowledge, everything was better.


    I cast [Permanence], engraving the changes on the kid. My mana dropped at that, but it was done.


    [*ding!* [Permanence] leveled up! 1 -> 2]


    I opened my eyes, the kid beaming.


    ¡°Are you done? Is everything ok?¡±


    ¡°Yes. No.¡± I answered in reverse order, then hurriedly corrected myself.


    ¡°Sorry! Everything¡¯s ok! I¡¯m not done yet, that was just the first step!¡± I explained. ¡°I¡¯ve fixed his lip, but he¡¯s got a secondary split in his palate. One moment.¡±


    The second time was much faster than the first. I¡¯d already looked at the kid. I¡¯d already studied him. The split was significantly smaller than the lip, and I followed the same procedure. Checked over what I was doing, made the image, filled in the flesh, checked again for any issues, then made the entire set of changes permanent.


    [*ding!* [Permanence] leveled up! 2 -> 3]


    I turned my [Persistent Casting] back on and touched the kid, blowing some of the most powerful healing he¡¯d ever experience in his life through him. I then used [Elvenoid Visualization] again, going over his lips and palate to make sure nothing had changed, that the changes were indeed permanent, they¡¯d grow alongside him, and my healing hadn¡¯t goofed something up.


    If I found out now, I could fix it.


    If he found out in three years, he¡¯d be in trouble again.


    Everything was set.


    Everything was there.


    Everything was in place.


    ¡°Done!¡± My knees creaked as I got up. Just how long had I been kneeling there!? No more kneeling, more comfortable chairs.


    The mom took a look at her kid, and burst into tears.

 Chapter 360 - Biomancy II

    Amam left with his mom after she paid me what she thought was fair. It was far too little, and far too much at the same time. I didn¡¯t think she could afford the number of coins she was trying to shove into my hands, and it simply wasn¡¯t what the biomancy operation was worth. I accepted about a quarter of what she wanted to give me, reminding her that it was cheap biomancy, and called it a day. I poked my head out after them to make sure Auri gave him a cookie for being so brave. She gave me a little look as his mom explained, I nodded, and a cookie got handed over to him.


    His bright smile made my day.


    The crowds were starting to pick up, although I was just one of a hundred wonders. I settled back in to get some good reading done, waiting for my next client.


    It didn¡¯t take long for a grizzled¡­ sharkkin? To hobble through my door.


    He had a tight leather vest, looking like beaten armor, and a club at his hip.


    [Warrior - 240]. Potential trouble.


    I stashed the book and assumed my [Fortune Teller] look.


    ¡°I predict you are here¡­ for biomancy!¡± I dramatically proclaimed.


    The sharkkin gave me a grunt, pointing to the stump his leg ended on.


    ¡°Can you fix this?¡± He growled at me.


    I dropped the act, and leaned over my desk to peer at his bloody stump.


    ¡°It depends.¡± I carefully qualified. ¡°Can you tell me about it?¡±


    A moderate leveled warrior missing a foot from birth? That was bloody?


    ¡°Got caught in a line. Biomancers can fix this, right?¡±


    I rolled my eyes. I didn¡¯t even bother hiding it.


    ¡°Yes, but why not, you know, a healer?¡± I asked in disbelief.


    He shrugged.


    ¡°Hard to find one that can fix limbs and is affordable.¡±


    I rolled my eyes at him, leaning over the table to poke his shoulder. I blasted my normal healing through him.


    I wanted to practice biomancy. I also wanted to use the right tool for the right job, and it felt flat-out unethical to use him as biomancy practice when I could just heal him normally.


    ¡°You¡¯re fixed. Now pay up and get out of here.¡±


    He looked down.


    ¡°Huh. So I am. Thanks.¡±


    He tossed a few coins onto my desk and lumbered out.


    I had an education problem. The average person wasn¡¯t quite sure what the difference between a biomancer and a healer was. They should, but they didn¡¯t.


    It was sort-of my problem, but it was far easier to poke them and get them out of my tent, than to painstakingly explain the difference between [Biomancer] and [Healer], then explain I was also a healer, then heal them and get them out.


    ¡°Biomancy?¡± An elephantkin bowed as he ducked into my tent, the room suddenly feeling tiny. Dude was huge in every dimension. The edges of the tent caught on his tusks, then slid unnaturally off of them.


    I know I¡¯d want a [Stop Getting Stuck On Things!] skill if I had tusks like this dude.


    We were in Ankhelt, kingdom of beastkin. It wasn¡¯t too surprising that every other patient of mine was one, although it did have me mentally flipping through my various comparative anatomy courses.


    I didn¡¯t even bother checking his level.


    ¡°Only if it¡¯s tiny.¡± I warned him.


    He trumpeted amusement. Somehow.


    ¡°Healer told me that. Healer told me only way I could beat the sugars is with a biomancer. Otherwise, have to keep going back. Every day, sometimes twice a day.¡±


    Ah. Diabetes. Type 2, if a healer couldn¡¯t fix him. Given what he¡¯d said, and his surprisingly robust knowledge of his own condition, I believed he was correct.


    I eyed him.


    ¡°Alright, here¡¯s the deal. How much do you know about your disease?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Too big. Too fat. Organ couldn¡¯t keep up.¡± He said.


    I nodded.


    ¡°That¡¯s exactly correct. Similarly, if I fix the organ now, you¡¯ll continue to degrade it. However¡­¡± I paused and looked him up and down, running some numbers in my head.


    ¡°How much do you weigh?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Two tons.¡±


    FUCK. I was considering shaving off a few pounds to give his pancreas a fighting chance when I restored it, but two tons? Forget it. Even if his vitality was low, I could barely make a dent.


    Ok. First principles. Let¡¯s tackle this top to bottom.


    The pancreas. Among other things, it produced insulin, which regulated how much sugar was running around the body.


    Diabetes came in two types. Type I, and type II. Both were failures of the pancreas, but the root cause was different. Type I came from a virus or some other external factors causing the pancreas to shut down. Annoying, terrible for people who had it, but easy enough for a healer to fix up.


    Type II was worse, from a magical perspective. The pancreas in type II had simply¡­ given up. It couldn¡¯t keep up with how much person there was, which usually was a result of being too damn fat and large. His mention of regular, daily visits with the healer suggested the second type. Healing wasn¡¯t going to fix the back-image the System had of his pancreas, which was ¡®I¡¯ve given up trying¡¯. A full modification somewhere was needed.


    Now, if I simply gave him a new pancreas, restored it to life and gave it motivation again, things would be great for a few weeks, months, or even a couple of years. But the sheer size of the dude in front of me suggested that, in time, it would fail again.


    Restoring his pancreas and taking off the few pounds I could wouldn¡¯t work either. It¡¯d be like throwing a cup of water into a house fire.


    He wasn¡¯t quite at a healthy weight either.


    ¡°Can I use a skill to look at you?¡± I asked, trying to be polite.


    ¡°If you can fix me, please.¡± He agreed.


    [Elvenoid Visualization] popped up, and I zoomed in on his pancreas. A tiny, shriveled little thing, confirming my suspicions.


    Right.


    I had a plan.


    ¡°Ok, I¡¯d like to tackle this in two, arguably three ways. I would like to get your permission before starting.¡±


    ¡°You have it!¡± He enthusiastically agreed.


    I gave him my best Look.


    ¡°You need to know exactly what I¡¯m doing and changing about you. Otherwise you don¡¯t have informed consent.¡±


    He frowned, and leaned forward.


    ¡°You¡¯re the expert. Alright, tell me.¡±


    ¡°Step one is fixing your pancreas. I¡¯m going to give you a new one.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯ll fix my problem?¡±


    ¡°Not completely, no. Just temporarily. Let me finish.¡± I gave him a second Look. He got the message.


    ¡°Step two is like step one. I¡¯m giving you a few redundant pancreases. The hope is by sharing the load, they¡¯ll¡­¡± I trailed off and cursed.


    ¡°Nope, sorry, nevermind, that won¡¯t work.¡± I grimaced. ¡°Each one will attempt to work like it¡¯s the only pancreas, not knowing about the rest, and the first time you eat something sugary, they¡¯ll flood your body with insulin, causing hypoglycemia and probably killing you. No, I¡¯ll have to supersize your first pancreas.¡±


    The elephantkin was looking nervous.


    ¡°Are¡­ you sure you¡¯ve done this before?¡±


    I snorted at him.


    ¡°Cheap biomancy, at a student clinic. What do you think?¡±


    He made a motion to get up, then slumped down.


    ¡°I¡¯m screwed either way.¡± He muttered.


    ¡°Good! Glad we¡¯re on the same page! Now, after one extra-large pancreas, I¡¯m going to fiddle with your stomach nerves. The goal is to mess with your satiety cues, so you¡¯ll eat less and lose weight, letting your new organ work. Losing weight will also be good for you. It¡¯s imperfect, there are better solutions, but you¡¯re just too damn big for the other solutions, especially after I¡¯ve fixed up your pancreas.¡±


    I paused, my mind catching up with my mouth.


    Pancreas. Average weight on a human - 91 grams.


    Elephantkin. Average scaling up factor per organ of 20x.


    About 1,800 grams. For a regular sized pancreas.


    I wanted to double it in size. Then add in a nice safety margin.


    Weirdly, my mana was my main bottleneck, not my power or control.


    ¡°If your vitality is over¡­ 130¡­ you¡¯re going to need to get me some arcanite to work with.¡± I told the elephantkin with a wince. I had the arcanite ball full of mana, but that was partly an emergency reserve, and more importantly, didn¡¯t contain a fraction of the amount of mana I¡¯d likely need.


    Some kids had a vitality over 130, promptly after unlocking their System. It was rare, but it wasn¡¯t impossible. The previous kid had been tiny, and had a vitality of four, so I hadn¡¯t needed to even run the calculation.


    There was a damn good reason that biomancers primarily worked on young kids, or people who¡¯d just unlocked, and even then, made the smallest changes possible. I was fairly sure the [Biomancer] that had visited Iona when she was a kid simply tweaked her testosterone production.


    ¡°How much arcanite?¡± The man rumbled.


    ¡°What¡¯s your vitality?¡± I asked him.


    He hesitated, not wanting to give away that sensitive information.


    Just a moment though.


    ¡°7,523.¡±


    I closed my eyes, and he must¡¯ve seen my face.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± I whispered to him, slouching in my chair.


    He rumbled disappointment.


    ¡°Can you do the thing with the stomach?¡± He asked.


    I wiped away some tears. Not being able to help someone who¡¯d come to me for healing was more devastating than I¡¯d expected.


    I knew I couldn¡¯t fix everything with healing. But with biomancy, somehow, I¡¯d allowed myself to think it was different now. That I could do it all.


    ¡°Yeah. Let me see.¡±


    I traced the nerves around his stomach, working out between a mix of theory and practical ¡®see what¡¯s in front of my eyes¡¯ which nerves where, and what signal, were responsible for satiety. Ok, technically not satiety, but fullness.


    Feeling full was only one part in the staggeringly complex equation that dictated satiety, which in turn helped dictate eating habits and amount. There was more to it than that. How often did people eat for pleasure? For fun? Because they had a problem?


    This was only going to give Mr. Elephantkin a small leg up on his weight problem.


    It was better than nothing.


    I explained what I was doing, and he seemed to understand, although he sounded as disappointed as I felt.


    There was a chance on a small adult I could¡¯ve fixed their pancreas, especially if I just needed to spruce it up, instead of also enlarge it. My patient was simply too large and too high leveled, and had lost out as a result.


    I debated doing a partial fix on his pancreas, and doing everything I could to restore it to its old healthy operation, but no.


    Down that path lay flat-out murdering my patient, when the operation inevitably stalled out mid-change. There was no telling what a partly healthy, partly ¡®naturally diseased¡¯, and partly ¡®dear gods what is going on here¡¯ pancreas would do. It wasn¡¯t worth the risk.


    Nerves were small and relatively easy to play with, although he might be getting conflicting signals. I wasn¡¯t screwing with all the nerves, just 80% of them, such that 80% of his nerves endings in his stomach would always report being full, and the remaining 20% would report some degree of ¡®hungry¡¯ to ¡®full¡¯.


    The brain was one big mystery, one that we hadn¡¯t cracked, and it was possible that it would rewire itself to only pay attention to the remaining ¡®operational¡¯ nerves, and entirely ignore the modified ones.


    [*ding!* [Smooth as a Baby¡¯s Bottom] leveled up! 11 -> 14]


    [*ding!* [Permanence] leveled up! 2 -> 3]


    Biomancy was hard.


    Some biomancy was easy.


    Colorblindness when the issue was a lack of cones in the eyes. Gave my patient a splitting headache afterwards, and I was forced to run him back to the School proper as an emergency. The [Healers] descended on us, fiercely interrogating me as to what I¡¯d done, but after extensive, exhaustive analysis, I¡¯d done everything perfectly.


    His head was just struggling with the information overload. He¡¯d gone an entire lifetime missing the colors, and his brain wasn¡¯t coping well with the new inputs.


    A good lesson.


    I was regranted permission to continue working on my biomancy.


    Changing someone¡¯s hair to a ¡®natural¡¯ ginger was simple, and saved them a lifetime of hair-changing appointments.


    Extra eyelids.


    Stopping hair growth.


    Starting hair growth.


    [*ding!* [Smooth as a Baby¡¯s Bottom] leveled up! 14 -> 19]


    [*ding!* [Permanence] leveled up! 3 -> 7]


    Tattoos.


    I hadn¡¯t previously put together that I could use biomancy to make permanent tattoos, but I had more than a few guards politely make the request, each one bringing a small heap of Arcanite with them. It was something of a thing here, and the guards knew both the mana requirements, and that ordinary healers could easily destroy normal tattoos on accident.


    There were a number of workarounds - permanent paint being a semi-popular one, a very expensive [Tattoo Artist] with something of a monopoly on the truly permanent tattoos in the city - but getting young biomancers to do the work was just well-known in this particular circle.


    Cheaper to boot.


    Some biomancy was hard, when not flat-out impossible.


    Changing a dullahan¡¯s metal composite. What a dullahan was made out of had major cultural implications, and a pair had traveled from the Han empire just to get a chance at finding a biomancer to help them out.


    They¡¯d brought fully formed suits of pure adamantium armor that they¡¯d wanted to ¡®replace¡¯ their old armored skin with, and when I¡¯d explained the problem - metal armor and skin weighed a ton - they¡¯d drawn swords and almost immediately shaved their old armor off, practically down to nothing.


    It was like a human peeling their own skin off with a potato peeler, one strip of flesh at a time, and I watched, utterly horrified and fascinated.


    It did make the operation possible, since their innate vitality didn¡¯t apply to the new armor, not until I¡¯d attached it. They stoically put on the ¡®new¡¯ armor, and I ¡®latched¡¯ it to them, then made the changes permanent.


    [*ding!* [Smooth as a Baby¡¯s Bottom] leveled up! 19 -> 30]


    The large jump was concerning, and I¡¯d never taken the Magical Metallurgy class. It wouldn¡¯t surprise me if not everything was entirely correct, and I told them so.


    I was [Oath]-bound to.


    They stretched and jumped and generally made a huge ruckus, and declared that they were happy with the results. It made me uneasy, and I suggested they get a follow up with a specialized biomancer.


    They gave me sixteen diamond coins for my work, and I was getting a really, really bad feeling about the whole thing. A single diamond coin was worth the same as a ruby coin, and each one was worth 10,000 arcanite coins, the smallest coin. Way more than enough to pay for a normal biomancer¡­ so why did they come to me? An out of the way nobody?


    Strange. I wonder if they were trying to also buy my silence or something? Not that I needed it, I was already sworn not to reveal confidential patient information, which this qualified for.


    The downside of that was I could only complain to Iona at the end of the day in vague terms about what had gone on.

 Chapter 361 - Biomancy III

    I had to decline a few requests. They just weren¡¯t possible or practical for me to do, or they¡¯d cause serious harm to the patient. Giving someone the ability to eat grass. Give someone wings - that was a full-body set of modifications, on top of large, heavy structures. Extra arms required so much work and arcanite I couldn¡¯t even begin the attempt. Replacing lungs with gills would just flat-out kill the person asking for them. Someone asked me to remove their refractory period, and while that modification was in theory small enough for me to change, it involved serious messing with their brain, and I was not going there.


    Some of the declines burned me deep inside.


    I couldn¡¯t fix someone who was seeing hallucinations and hearing voices. I could only refer them to an apothecary, who might, might be able to brew up a potion to stop the voices. Temporarily.


    I couldn¡¯t split apart conjoined twins, not at the age they were at and level of fusing. Fascinatingly, they had two Systems, one each, but their physical stat adjustments to their body was the sum of the two stats. There was no line in the middle, nor did the stats multiply each other. The stats also summed with each other before getting refactored into the multiplier.


    I did escort them to the main School hospital though. The people working there would love a project of that size, and I foresaw dozens and dozens of levels for numerous people in the future.


    I swung by Marcelle¡¯s office on the way back.


    ¡°Hey Marcelle!¡± I knocked on her door. ¡°Got a minute?¡±


    She put down a paper she was grading.


    ¡°A quick one, yes. Found something you can¡¯t handle?¡±


    I nodded.


    ¡°Yeah, conjoined twins. I sent them to the hospital, that¡¯s why I¡¯m up here. Anyways, noticed their System was additive on their body, which was a bit of a surprise.¡±


    Marcelle gave me a tired look, and broke out a bottle of wine. I scurried forward and grabbed a seat, slightly disappointed as she only poured one glass.


    ¡°I am not sending an even slightly tipsy biomancer to work. Not in a thousand years.¡± She glared at me.


    ¡°Ah, fair enough.¡± I wasn¡¯t about to say ¡°Hey, I can purge it out of my system, I¡¯m totally not a lush, can I have some free booze please?¡± I was bad at social stuff, I wasn¡¯t a complete idiot.


    ¡°Anyways, quick version. Congratulations, you¡¯ve stumbled upon one of the slightly darker biomancy secrets. You might¡¯ve noticed that conjoined twins weren¡¯t covered in any of your classes, and that¡¯s on purpose.¡±


    I thought about it, the puzzle immediately clicking. I pulled a face.


    ¡°Ooooohhh¡­ because anyone inclined towards power, regardless of the price, is going to start grafting heads to themselves.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. Usually takes the form of a cabal or a cult, where the people whose heads get removed and attached to the greater whole are voluntarily joining.¡±


    I shuddered at the image.


    ¡°Since they¡¯re willing, they¡¯ve got all the skills available.¡±


    ¡°Quick study. You¡¯re correct. The Exterreri Empire has a standing bounty on them, along with most other nations. They technically don¡¯t violate a divine decree.¡±


    Marcelle shuddered, and tipped the entire glass back, immediately refilling it.


    ¡°Right. I need to work, and you¡¯ve brought back a number of terrible memories. Please don¡¯t spread it to other biomancers. The fewer people that figure it out, the fewer monstrosities are made.¡±


    I left, fully onboard with Marcelle¡¯s suggestion. I could imagine it now. A vast flesh-blob, a huge mouth in the middle, and dozens upon dozens of heads grafted onto it, each one with their own skillset.


    Interesting that it didn¡¯t apply to hydras. Maybe that was a case of ¡°one being, many heads¡±, as opposed to ¡°many heads, many beings.¡±


    I made it back down to my tent on the fairgrounds, waving to Auri as she continued working her half-dozen baking stations, luring in customers with the delicious scent of baking food.


    Which, ironically, seemed to be frustrating Auri somewhat as her rival-in-baking was also making brisk sales off of her delicious smells wafting through the air.


    I grabbed her attention as I dodged the line filled with students and tourists.


    ¡°Hey Auri!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± A pair of mage hands flew over with a delicious smelling pie. My stomach rumbled, reminding me that I¡¯d gotten a little too deep in the zone, and I¡¯d been neglecting food.


    Again.


    ¡°Thanks!¡±


    With that I went back to work.


    As with every single invention, people used it for weird sex things. SO MANY weird sex things. Every third client of mine wanted modifications for sexual gratification. Bigger penis. Smaller penis. Hooked penis. Extra penis. Larger breasts. Smaller breasts. Perky breasts. More breasts. Extra nerves. Extra sensitivity.


    Tentacles.


    Dear gods and goddess, why. Why would anyone want to graft tentacles onto their body just for sex?


    Enlarged prostate. More accessible prostate. Extra lubrication.


    No levels in [Smooth as a Baby¡¯s Bottom]. I was hitting areas that the System seemed to think I knew perfectly.


    Requests to render people sterile, both male and female. Those were both easy, and incredibly hard. Easy in the sense that I just needed to snip exactly the right place, hard because I needed to do a deep dive and investigation to make sure they knew what they were getting into, and more importantly, that they weren¡¯t getting coerced.


    Vibrating¡­ everything.


    Split, longer, ridged, bumpy tongues.


    Fluid¡­ manipulations¡­


    The less said on that topic the better.


    Rewiring nerve clusters in unusual positions to trigger massive responses. I was judging some of these people, a few of them quite a lot, but I did quietly file that one away for Iona. I bet she¡¯d love something like that, and the ethics of it were fine.


    There were a few more ideas that I quietly filed away in my mental filing cabinet.


    The entire thing wanted me to pour bleach into my ears so I¡¯d never have to hear the weird requests again. If I had to explain to one more overly cocky teenager that nobody wanted a 20 inch by 4 inch penis anywhere near their parts, I was going to scream.


    I raised my eyebrows when a scrawny teenage girl came in. Not my usual demographic, but hey, practice was practice. Plus I could do my little part to help people.


    I was not going to fast-forward puberty though. I checked her level.


    [Laborer - 32]. Probably waiting for the right circumstances for their next class. If they were an [Apprentice] right now, and they got promoted at their job to [Journeywoman], then their next class up would offer a stronger [Journeywoman] class.


    The more things changed, the more they stayed the same. Kids, almost the world around, still started working at 8 when they unlocked the System.


    ¡°I can see the future!¡± I proclaimed once again. ¡°You need¡­ BIOMANCY!¡±


    She flinched at my pronouncement, and I immediately felt bad. She looked around, like she was going to bolt.


    ¡°Come on in, sit, sit.¡± I gestured to the chair in front of me. ¡°Tell me what¡¯s going on?¡±


    Like a skittish colt, she sat down in the chair across from me.


    ¡°I, well, you¡¯re a biomancer, right?¡±


    I was no good with small talk, but I could see gigantic flashing mirage signs and everything.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Ok, well, um, I¡­¡± She trailed off, clenching her fists and looking down.


    I let her be, my mana rapidly ticking up from my last patient. Finally, she found her courage.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯m in the right body.¡± She whispered, eyes darting back to the tent flap.


    ¡°Can you tell me more about that?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°I¡¯m a boy.¡± He whispered. ¡°I feel like I¡¯m a boy. I should¡¯ve been a boy. But I¡¯m stuck in a girl¡¯s body.¡±


    Oh fuck this wasn¡¯t going to be an easy one. Not by a long shot.


    ¡°Alright, what else can you tell me?¡±


    Encouraged, he started to get some steam.


    ¡°Everyone around me says I¡¯m a girl. They say I should act like one. Dress like one. But I don¡¯t want to! I¡¯m a boy. Can you fix me?¡±


    ¡°How long have you felt like this?¡± The only thing saving my inexperienced butt were all the classes I¡¯d taken, and more than a few checklists I¡¯d read. I was mixing and matching hard here.


    ¡°All my life!¡± He brightened up. ¡°I¡¯ve always known. Now my body¡¯s changing, and it¡¯s becoming even more icky, and I just can¡¯t stand it!¡± He practically burst into tears at the end.


    We continued to have a long discussion, where I teased out every aspect of his story. His thoughts and feelings. Making sure it wasn''t a quick lark, or spur of the moment thing.


    I tapped the table with all my fingers, thinking.


    He was definitely transgender, no question about it. The question was, what did I do about that?


    A proper transition was mana-intensive, among other things. It wasn¡¯t quite a full-bodied transformation, but it was close. I¡¯d need to impact nearly every part of his body, although¡­


    Hmmmm¡­


    I could cheat on a large number of changes. Benefit of working with kids.


    Okay, time to work through a few more questions.


    ¡°Do your parents know you¡¯re here?¡±


    He looked terribly guilty for a moment, then nodded.


    I gave him my best incredulous look.


    ¡°Really?¡±


    He shook his head.


    ¡°Please?¡± He begged.


    It wasn¡¯t changing my decision, but I still gave him a hard look.


    ¡°Alright. Things you need to know. First off, I don¡¯t want to get your hopes up too high. You¡¯re a lightweight, but any changes I need to do are going to be massive. It¡¯s entirely possible that your weight and your vitality combined are going to be too much for me.¡± I said.


    ¡°If I had less vitality, it¡¯d be easier for you?¡± He said.


    I nodded.


    ¡°Yes, but-¡±


    A cold flash of horror went over me as the classic classing-up lights started dancing around his head, and he smashed his head onto the table.


    ¡°No no no oh no don¡¯t do this to me.¡± I scrambled out of my chair, healing him and readjusting his body to be more comfortable.


    ¡°FUCK!¡± I swore, confident that my privacy runes would stop the noise from escaping the tent.


    There was no way in hell I wasn¡¯t going to give it my best efforts now. Not after watching him torpedo his entire class just for a chance.


    I popped my head out of my tent, catching Auri¡¯s eye.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± She asked.


    ¡°I need, like, two of everything. Stat.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± She gave me a little salute, and I got dirty, dirty looks from the people in line.


    I shot them the finger as I retreated back into my tent, feeling much better.


    Significant calories were going to be applied to this problem. Half stress eating from me, half the sheer amount of work I was about to do was going to be hungry, half making sure the kid had a solid meal in him before I did major work, half the kid looked poor in the first place and needed a meal.


    If I ended up with as many people halves as I did food halves, I¡¯d be in trouble.


    Hands flew into the tent, loading the table up with pies, breads, scones, biscuits and more.


    It didn¡¯t take long before he jerked and gasped in his chair, looking suspiciously at the food once he reoriented himself.


    ¡°Okay. A few things. First, don¡¯t do stupid shit like that without talking with me first.¡±


    He meekly nodded his head.


    ¡°Second, let me finish everything I wanted to say!¡±


    I debated throwing the rest of the biscuit I was nibbling on at him, but that would be overly mean. Kid was jumpy enough.


    ¡°Now, what¡¯s your name?¡±


    His mouth twisted in a grimace.


    ¡°Desi. I hate it.¡± He was looking at the food longingly.


    ¡°Right, ok. I¡¯ma call you kiddo.¡± Oh gods kiddo was a terrible nickname. What was I doing? Where was Iona when I needed her to bail me out of awkward social situations? I did know if I tried to defuse the awkward I¡¯d probably just make it worse, so instead I aimed for professionally solving his problems as quickly as possible.


    ¡°Kiddo, you should eat up. Grab a bunch. It¡¯s free, don¡¯t worry. Let me give you the rest of the speech.¡±


    I took a deep breath.


    ¡°If - IF - I mess with your body, it¡¯s practically irreversible,¡± I mentally cursed as his eyes started shining, and I just knew almost everything I was about to say was going to go in one ear, and out the other. ¡°Technically, another, stronger biomancer could come along and reverse the changes I¡¯m going to perform, but we¡¯re a rare breed, and usually cost an arm and a leg. Permanent. Forever. Unless something happens that I¡¯m not expecting, you¡¯re likely going to never have kids. System might come along and offer you a skill that solves that problem, but expect no kids.¡±


    The kid nodded, and I started to doubt myself. I¡¯d met him all of fifteen minutes ago, and I was about to perform life-changing magic on him.


    ¡°I have no idea what your parents will say,¡± I did know I wasn¡¯t afraid of them trying to absolutely murder me, but that was only because of my levels. ¡°But there will be people out there who¡¯ll be unhappy. Because life is filled with idiots, and there¡¯s no pleasing everyone. Someone will always find an excuse to dislike someone else. Heck, I got grief once because my hair is brown! What a dumb thing to complain to someone about.¡± I was rambling, and I shut up.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± He quietly agreed.


    ¡°Right, also¡­¡± I went over every aspect I could think of. He seemed to follow, and without ceremony, I found myself touching his hand, using [Elvenoid Visualization] to start flickering through a dozen different views of his current body.


    Early puberty meant hormones had started to ramp up, but not necessarily make huge, sweeping changes yet. The hormone production and their effects was one of the biggest ways I was cheating. Instead of going through and reversing every single change that had been made so far, then making the changes that should¡¯ve happened, I was going to adjust the hormonal balance and let that do most of the talking. Right now, the body wanted to produce more estrogen and progesterone than testosterone, and I needed to make tiny, subtle adjustments so it¡¯d produce more testosterone, and less estrogen and progesterone.


    Kids were easy in many ways, but one tricky part was I needed the body to still give off the ¡®we¡¯re done with puberty¡¯ signal. Otherwise, kiddo would never stop going through puberty, and down that path lay a quick heart attack after a short life as a giant.


    It was one of the most well-studied biomancy phenomena. After all, most biomancy was done on young teens, exactly like kiddo. It was tricky, but the answer was a well-worn groove in my memory.


    There might be some tiny traces of the earlier hormonal balance, but I was able to impact things early enough that it wasn¡¯t a huge deal. Add in a bit of vitality, almost any general appearance skill, and everything would come right out in the wash.


    No, the tricky, mana-intense part were the parts. He had female reproductive organs, and I needed to turn them into male reproductive organs, even if they were semi-decorative. As a fetus developed, they made proto-organs, which quickly developed into the male or female equivalent. For example, the proto-organs which turned into ovaries on a girl, would turn into testes on a boy. It was ¡®easier¡¯ to change the organ into what it ¡®could have been¡¯, than to simply force everything into a correct position. ¡®Easier¡¯ meant ¡®a better image that saves mana¡¯, and I wanted all the mana I could manage.


    The clitoris needed to expand, and combine with the urethral opening, which I needed to elongate. The labia minora and majora would turn into the scrotum, and the entire pelvis needed serious rearrangement.


    The sacrum was going to be widened along with the coccyx, effectively closing off the former birth canal. The Iliac crest needed to lose its flare, while the ischium went from a boxy shape to a smooth shape. The pubic bone was going to get filed away from a fat bone to a skinny bone, which all in all made the pubic arch go from wide to narrow.


    The fallopian tubes were turning into the vas deferens, and the list went on and on.


    I wasn¡¯t touching head size or height. I was going to let puberty handle those. The worst case of leaving it alone was he¡¯d end up shorter. Oh no. I was going to play around with the thorax, torso ratios, femur thickness, and spinal angles, along with the hundreds of thousands of tiny other extra changes I needed to make.


    I started flicking through the different views I had of his body, making adjustments to my rapidly expanding mental model each time I noted a different place that needed an adjustment. I felt him occasionally moving under my hand. I ignored the distraction. My other hand was on my arcanite ball, ready to pull in extra mana.


    View after view, system after system went through my mind as I continued to check and double check my work. I mentally laid over my new system over the old system, and realized I¡¯d neglected a few minor veins, mentally unhooking them from old places and reattaching them to new ones.


    Only after I¡¯d exhaustively checked every system, from sweat glands to nervous three times without making a single change did I pull the trigger.


    The kid screamed. His face contorted as he writhed under my hands, and I immediately recast [Elvenoid Visualization], furiously checking what was wrong.


    I also wrapped him in [Mantle of the Stars], not letting him move while I looked into things. Last thing I needed was for him to run away screaming in agony. That¡¯d cause problems, problems that would stop me from fixing what happened.


    I immediately sprinted to the nerves, using the pathways of what had lit up to trace where the problem was.


    Everything I touched was on fire.


    I made a snap decision.


    I was fully confident in my abilities as a biomancer, and as a healer. I was fully confident nothing I¡¯d done was lethal, or would kill him.


    [Permanence] flashed through him, making what I¡¯d done stick, then I blasted him with healing. The screaming immediately stopped.


    I opened my eyes, kiddo squirming uncomfortably in the chair.


    ¡°It itches.¡± He complained, scratching furiously.


    I shrugged.


    ¡°Eh, it¡¯s the new nerves. They¡¯re complaining that everything¡¯s new. You ok? Everything good?¡±


    He checked in his pants - crude kid - and looked up at me, eyes shining.


    ¡°I¡¯m a boy now.¡± He gasped.


    I snorted at him.


    ¡°You always were.¡±


    The little shit tried to strangle me with hugs.

 Chapter 362 - Biomancy IV

    I barely got a breather after the kid left. I needed to restore my mana after the latest session, but I hadn¡¯t gotten the chance.


    ;


    ¡°Hello!¡± A jackalkin entered almost as soon as I reentered my tent. ¡°I was wondering if you could give me eyes in the back of my head?¡±


    ;


    I gave him a skeptical look, but on the surface, his request wasn¡¯t too unreasonable or unmanageable.


    ;


    ¡°Let¡¯s have a long discussion about that.¡± I settled back into my chair. ¡°I need to recharge my mana, and you need to know what you¡¯re getting into.¡±


    ;


    He frowned a bit, but took a seat on the other side of my table.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m certain I know what I want.¡± He griped as he took a seat.


    ;


    I shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°Sure, you might. I need to recharge my mana though, and going over the details will help both of us get on the same page. What if I thought you wanted black and white vision that could see underwater, while you were thinking of eyes that could withstand the sun¡¯s high glare?¡±


    ;


    ¡°You can¡¯t do both?¡± He asked.


    ;


    I snorted.


    ;


    ¡°Everything¡¯s a tradeoff. There¡¯s no perfect eye. Look at an eagle¡¯s eyes, and a deer¡¯s eyes. One¡¯s good for seeing far, the other¡¯s great for a wide range. Eyes that can handle the pressure of the deep ocean are radically different from the ones that can fly high. Plus, we¡¯ll need to reshape your skull to accommodate the additional orbital sockets.¡±


    ;


    I was starting to get into it.


    ;


    ¡°Alright, unless you want your eyes dangling uselessly, they need sockets. Bone to protect them. Now, I can¡¯t drill into your skull, your brain¡¯s in the way, so we¡¯ll need to extend the bone out, and drill a hole in your skull for the optical nerves to hook up with your brain. Weirdly, the occipital lobe is at the back of your brain, not the front, so we don¡¯t need to wire the nerves around your skull, we can just hook them up. Now, the rest is fairly straightforward. What kind of eyes do you want? What¡¯s needed? I can mix and match lenses, although I recommend an off-white sclera. Don¡¯t go for red or anything, you¡¯re going to look freaky enough. I can make your iris any color, and no, eye color doesn¡¯t matter at all. I do recommend keeping it the same. Next, we have¡­¡±


    ;


    I continued to go on in great detail about the eye while my mana recharged, my patient looking greener and greener the whole time as I talked about considerations like ¡®do we include a fake nose to make things look better¡¯ and ¡®helmets are going to be difficult in the future.¡¯


    ;


    He eventually walked out without getting extra eyes. A shame, it was an interesting problem. As I went over all the parts that I needed to change though, I was suspecting I didn¡¯t have nearly enough mana.


    ;


    The patients kept coming. A crocodile beastkin wanted different colored scales. A smart kid, burning with passion, wanted improved muscle density and retention. He offered the entirety of his meager savings, and I was happy to help him.


    ;


    If he didn¡¯t die young, he¡¯d go far in life.


    ;


    A woman wanted to know if I could improve her color vision. After checking over what I knew on the subject, along with a deep scan of her eyes, I added in a fourth set of color cones, granting her a richer experience.


    ;


    I noted that particular modification for myself. It was an easy addition, and the entire world would be more vibrant.


    ;


    I hesitated at, then declined, making someone¡¯s claws venomous. There¡¯d be a lot of blood on his hands. Too many accidental deaths, and I didn¡¯t want to feel responsible for it.


    ;


    Turning down a modification I could do felt weird. I reflexively healed people all the time, and there was never a reason to turn down a medical request.


    ;


    Armored scales. Extra nictitating eyelids, to keep out the blowing sand. I marked that one down for personal use as well, although I¡¯d need to do some mixing and matching.


    ;


    Someone wanted to be fat. I pointed out that I¡¯d charge more per pound than she would spend just buying food and eating it. I happened to know a marvelous baker, just next door, if she wanted to spend her coins there¡­


    ;


    Someone wanted to be skinny. I was a little more open to that request, since losing weight was hard. I wasn¡¯t able to get too many pounds off of her, but she was delighted.


    ;


    Allergies and fertility problems were hard. Each one required careful tracing to see what had gone wrong, then fix that. It was tiny, finicky detailed work, and I had some moments of quiet introspection where I wondered if I was out of my depth, and if the line about admitting when I didn¡¯t know the answer to a problem was relevant.


    ;


    In the end, after checking over my work, I convinced myself that it was a confidence issue, and not a knowledge or skills issue. [Smooth as a Baby¡¯s Bottom] didn¡¯t level up, bolstering my confidence.


    ;


    I hadn¡¯t had a confidence issue on my work in decades.


    ;


    Someone wanted the ability to eat grass, and I happily pulled out my calculations on the subject, showing them that it just didn¡¯t work.


    ;


    ¡°... as you can see, you¡¯d end up spending six hours a day shoving grass down your throat. I get that if you¡¯re starving, it¡¯s better than nothing, but you could be spending that time doing something else to get food. Plus, I¡¯d need to rearrange way too much of your digestive tract. It¡¯d either need to work in parallel, meaning I¡¯d need to shrink and modify almost every other internal organ to make it work - not pretty - or change your current system to accept it, at which point you lose the ability to properly extract nutrients from a number of other foods. Then we¡¯re back at ¡®spending hours every day eating¡¯, which is no fun. Especially since it¡¯d be grass. Or hay. And to cinch it, I flat out lack the mana to make the modifications.¡±


    ;


    I got a pouty look at that, and I crossed my arms.


    ;


    They left.


    ;


    Making nails more claw-like was on the menu, with the patient in question already having related skills.


    ;


    Silky hair. Perfect beard line. Fixing overbites and underbites.


    ;


    Heterochromia. Giving, not fixing. She thought it¡¯d look cool, and had the money to pay.


    ;


    A dwarf entered my tent as I took a deep drink of water. He was classically stout, with a black beard in rings that practically looked polished. A deep green reflective layer to his clear eyes over a thick brow suggested a Forest element, and his shirt was tough and well-traveled. Practical and loved.


    ;


    Hadn¡¯t seen a dwarf the entire time we¡¯d been here. Ankhelt wasn¡¯t terribly close to Khazad.


    ;


    The two weeks of the School being set up here were coming to a close. New students were admitted. Graduates who wanted to be dropped off here had left, and were going to their various homes.


    ;


    I was pleased with my efforts and practice. I¡¯d capped nearly all my skills, and felt ready to take on the larger, full-body project that was modifying myself and Iona.


    ;


    I could afford to be picky about my patients at this point. I mentally made a bet with myself if the dwarf wanted to become taller, shorter, or have his beard modified.


    ;


    I put my hands over my eyes, and dramatically called out.


    ;


    ¡°I can see the future!¡± I declared. ¡°You want¡­ BIOMANCY!¡±


    ;


    ¡°Nope.¡± The dwarf grunted, hopping up onto the patient chair. ¡°Not in the slightest.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Oh.¡± I was a little disappointed at that. ¡°Well, I think you¡¯re in the wrong spot then.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Heh. You¡¯d think that. Nah lass, I¡¯m interested in you.¡±


    ;


    I immediately grew wary.


    ;


    ¡°Why?¡± I asked suspiciously. There¡¯d been more than one incident of someone getting the wrong idea of a high level healer in the School¡¯s fairgrounds, entirely forgetting that the School was allowed to have Immortals and the like running around.


    ;


    Not that people knew I was an Immortal, but the same idea applied.


    ;


    ¡°Ah, let me not get off on the wrong foot. I¡¯m Goki Kotir the 523rd. Pleased to meet you.¡± He offered a coarse hand, and I shook it across the table.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine. What can I do for you?¡± I kept my generation out of it. I was tempted otherwise, but no.


    ;


    His bushy eyebrows went up at my name, but didn¡¯t comment. That, or he just thought I was giving my profession.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine¡¯s my name, just to be clear.¡± I corrected anyways.


    ;


    I should start going by Dawn. It¡¯d save me a world of headaches.


    ;


    He grunted acknowledgement.


    ;


    ¡°Well, we dwarves are the best craftsmen in the world.¡± He proclaimed, and I let a lopsided grin split my face. The more things changed, the more things stayed the same, and dwarves were still bragging about their craft. ¡°I¡¯m a biomancer myself, and I must say, your work is fantastic.¡±


    ;


    I wasn¡¯t great with people, but some quick mental math indicated he couldn¡¯t have seen more than one or two patients. That, or he¡¯d been stalking me for days before coming to say hi.


    ;


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I was wary.


    ;


    ¡°Now, I¡¯m going to swing straight to the gem in the rock of the matter. No bantering about. This here¡¯s a long shot, with you probably having some fancy patron or another you get back to, but are you at all interested in an apprenticeship after finishing up with the School?¡±


    ;


    I opened my mouth to reply, but Goki immediately plowed on.


    ;


    ¡°Now before you go collapsing the shaft on me, I know a few biomancer graduates from the School. No better place in the world to learn the craft, that¡¯s for sure. It fails miserably at teaching you how to be practical about it. How to make the connections. How to sell your skills to those who can pay for it. How to establish safe circuits to ride on. How to handle nobility, and manage money. How to travel. An apprenticeship is solid for learning the ropes of the profession. Leave whenever you feel you¡¯re ready! But it¡¯d do ye a mountain of good. It¡¯s a dangerous world out there.¡±


    ;


    Poor Goki didn¡¯t know what he was getting into. I was far from a shrinking violet, forget about the fact that I didn¡¯t intend to be a biomancer long term.


    ;


    But the situation was too perfect. Too well set up. My resistance was crumbling.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯d like to apologize. Let me properly introduce myself.¡± I had on my best cheshire cat grin. ¡°My name¡¯s Elaine. Elaine the 94th.¡±


    ;


    He glared at me.


    ;


    ¡°Yer lying.¡±


    ;


    My grin widened.


    ;


    His glare slowly softened into horror.


    ;


    ¡°By every ounce of gold¡­¡± He gasped. ¡°Yer not lying.¡±


    ;


    He bolted out of his chair, the poor furniture crashing into the side of my tent as he sprinted out of the room.


    ;


    I held it in a moment, then just laughed and laughed and laughed.


    ;


    I needed to find more dwarves to pull that on.


    ;


    ;


    A few more simple cases, a couple of people who just needed healing, not proper biomancy, and the most horrifying case stiffly walked into my tent.


    ;


    A high, high level mess of a teenager, who had to be under 20. By a few good years.


    ;


    [Laborer - 478].


    ;


    I sucked in air between my teeth as I used [Elvenoid Visualization], an absolute mess appearing in my sight.


    ;


    ¡°How the bloody fuck are you still alive?¡± I wondered out loud, not caring about the lack of professionalism. What I was seeing was just¡­ no.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m too pretty to die.¡± He flippantly explained, not revealing a shred of the pain he must be feeling. He had to have pain-management skills. Possibly more than one.


    ;


    My question hadn¡¯t been entirely rhetorical.


    ;


    ¡°Right. Normally I¡¯d give a great big speech about what was going on, and what I needed to do, but uh. I think you know better than me what¡¯s going on, and what I need to do. Given the extent of¡­ everything¡­ I¡¯m going to start operating on the most critical parts, then we¡¯re hustling you over to the main hospital.¡±


    ;


    He frowned at that.


    ;


    ¡°I can¡¯t pay.¡±


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯ll be a great case study. We have more healers than patients. You¡¯ll pay us in a dozen levels apiece.¡±


    ;


    He shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°Sure, I can be a test subject for healing. That¡¯s fine.¡±


    ;


    Great.


    ;


    Without further ado, I got to work.


    ;


    He had Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva, which was a whole mouthful of words to describe an incredibly rare condition. Long story short? His body didn¡¯t form scars in connective tissue. Instead, it grew new bones.


    ;


    But not always. No, sometimes the tissue just changed into bone anyways. His body was a mess of random bones where bones didn¡¯t belong. His spine was fused into a solid column. His shoulder blades were one with his shoulders. His elbows and knees still moved, but they had a jagged edge where he was clearly breaking them himself just to move around. A tendon in his neck had turned to bone, locking his head. He had bone spikes growing into his lungs, he was stuck looking forward as his bones grew into his extraocular muscles. One of those bones was creeping towards his eyeball.


    ;


    My question of how he was alive hadn¡¯t been a rhetorical one. I literally did not know how he was still alive.


    ;


    I stopped counting at two dozen growths that could possibly kill him. There had to be some serious skills at work.


    ;


    Ah. I bet he had a class dedicated to staying alive and fighting this. It¡¯d explain his level - permanently stuck in a life or death fight against his own body? With a class solely dedicated to the fight? That would explain most of what I was seeing.


    ;


    I went for the important parts I felt like I could do on my own, mostly hitting around his lungs and heart. I only managed to kill a few slivers, his own vitality fighting against my skills. With my mana pool mostly emptied - only leaving a bit in case of a medical emergency, like his aorta getting pinched between two bones - I scooped him up, and brought him to the hospital.


    ;


    ;


    I descended back on one of the many ferries the School had going between the flying island and the fairgrounds they¡¯d set up, wondering if I should start packing up. Our time here was coming to an end, and it felt like a high note to end on. I didn¡¯t want some weird sex thing being my last memory of this trip, and working on somebody with a rare and fascinating disease, being able to improve their life?


    ;


    That was a pretty good end to the trip.


    ;


    Classes had continued their endless march while I was down here to boot. The professors understood wanting to get practical work in, along with all the benefits of visiting a city, and didn¡¯t hold it against us. They didn¡¯t stop assigning work and giving lectures though. I could use the time to start catching up on the missed work, instead of increasing my backlog.


    ;


    First things first though. Raiding Auri¡¯s stand for some food.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrrpt!¡± Auri called out from her high up perch as she saw me, a mage hand pointing down at the crowd. ¡°Brrrrrrrrpt!¡±


    ;


    ¡°Wait, really?¡± I cried out as another hand appeared over me. I pushed through the crowd, Auri¡¯s pointer finger moving as I did.


    ;


    I got more than a few dirty looks and curses as I shoved through the crowd, but I didn¡¯t care.


    ;


    The ground rumbled, and a wave of dirt crested ahead of me.


    ;


    With Artemis surfing on it.


    ;


    She used the wave to finish pushing through, landing right in front of me.


    ;


    She grinned.


    ;


    ¡°Heya healy-bug, how¡¯s it going?¡±


    ;


    I tackle-hugged her, throwing my arms around her waist.

 Chapter 363 - Old Friends

    ¡°Artemis! I missed you!¡± I broke my hug, looking up at her ever-present grin.


    ;


    ¡°You missed me? Elaine, how many times have I told you to work on your aim?¡±


    ;


    I rolled my eyes and punched her arm.


    ;


    ¡°Where¡¯s Julius?¡± I asked, frowning.


    ;


    I got tapped on my shoulder.


    ;


    ¡°Right here. Some of us don¡¯t make a huge spectacle - oooof.¡± Julius was interrupted as I tackle-hugged him around his waist, not caring about decorum or anything.


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯re alive!¡±


    ;


    Julius patted my back.


    ;


    ¡°A dozen rounds as a Ranger, and you¡¯re still surprised I¡¯m good at keeping my head attached to my shoulders.¡± He laughed as I broke the hug.


    ;


    ¡°Oh, it wasn¡¯t the monsters I was concerned about.¡± I told him with a straight face. ¡°It was extended proximity to Artemis that had me concerned for your life.¡±


    ;


    I ducked the predictable swat from Artemis, dancing back as I stuck my tongue out at her.


    ;


    ¡°Can¡¯t touch this~¡± I teased her.


    ;


    ¡°Oh really?¡± Artemis¡¯s eyes gleamed dangerously.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrrpt!¡± Auri saved¡­ someone¡­ by taking that moment to land on my shoulder. ¡°BRRPT!¡±


    ;


    ¡°Auri! It¡¯s been ages! How are you?¡± Julius expertly diffused and redirected the situation.


    ;


    ¡°Really? You sure?¡± I asked the bird.


    ;


    ¡°Brpt bbbrrrrpt. Brpt brrrpppt brppppt.¡± Auri confirmed.


    ;


    ¡°Auri wants to close up shop.¡± I translated for Julius and Artemis. ¡°She figures that hanging out at the School will be more comfortable, and I agree.¡±


    ;


    The couple glanced at each other.


    ;


    ¡°Sure, why not.¡± Julius agreed. ¡°Let¡¯s find Amber and head over.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Amber¡¯s here!?¡± I shouted. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me!¡±


    ;


    Artemis viciously ambushed me from behind, managing to swat my hat off as she cuffed my head.


    ;


    ¡°Because you haven¡¯t given us more than three seconds to say hello! Honestly, Sentinels these days.¡± She teased me.


    ;


    Knowing when I¡¯d lost the verbal sparring, I picked Auri up with one hand.


    ;


    ¡°Ready?¡± I asked my little bird.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± She nodded, ready for the stunt.


    ;


    I flipped the bird at Artemis.


    ;


    ;


    We met up with Amber - her one good eye was now faceted instead of starry, and I recognized the Gemstone element - and made our way at maximum hobble speed back to my dorm.


    ;


    ¡°Auri, how did you manage to take payments from so many people at once?¡± Our - well, Amber wasn¡¯t a little girl anymore, she was a fully grown woman at this point - resident merchant interrogated Auri, eye blazing purple with swirling mists.


    ;


    ¡°Bbrpt?¡±


    ;


    I stopped and stared at Auri.


    ;


    ¡°No. No way!¡± I protested.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ;


    ¡°Compliments don¡¯t buy ingredients!¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Not even really good ones.¡± I cried out in despair.


    ;


    Amber patted my back.


    ;


    ¡°There there¡­ now you know how I felt most of the time watching you work.¡±


    ;


    I gave her a foul look, then cracked out into an evil grin.


    ;


    ¡°Oh no. I don¡¯t like that look.¡± Amber backed up from me.


    ;


    ¡°I love it.¡± Artemis said. ¡°Just need Julius to feed me a few grapes, and it¡¯s the perfect entertainment for the evening.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Of course you would. If it¡¯s not chaos and mayhem, you¡¯re not happy.¡± Julius said.


    ;


    I looked back and forth between the two, momentarily distracted.


    ;


    ¡°How did you two end up shacking up anyways?¡±


    ;


    I caught movement in the corner of my eye, and I glanced over to see Amber trying to make good time away from me.


    ;


    ¡°Oooh, no you don¡¯t.¡± I easily caught back up to her. Something about having a few hundred levels, a speed advantage, and a lack of a limp did wonders.


    ;


    ¡°What did I do?¡± Amber protested.


    ;


    ¡°Absolutely nothing! However, if I remember correctly, you¡¯re still my apprentice, right?¡±


    Amber froze for a moment, then nodded. I recognized the look she was shooting me. Desperate, frantic. For some reason.


    ;


    ¡°Right! I¡¯d be neglecting my duties as your master if I didn¡¯t ensure you had the best education and knowledge possible.¡±


    ;


    Amber eyed me, her fears melting away.


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to insist I join the School, are you?¡±


    ;


    I shook my head.


    ;


    ¡°No. Just some light reading.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Why do I sense this light reading is a dozen books?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Just sixteen! For the first set. Then there¡¯s a couple¡­ dozen¡­ no, wait, a couple of dozen¡­ more books for you.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Each one dense enough for a smith to use as an anvil?¡±


    ;


    I gave Amber an exaggerated wink. ¡°You got it! On a more serious note, I¡¯m looking to acquire some bamboo scrolls, and charcoal. They¡¯re not easy to find, since who would use them when there¡¯s better stuff around? But I¡¯m sure you can find it¡­ and I¡¯ll even let you get a modest profit!¡± Money was how to motivate Amber.


    ;


    She huffed at me, but grinned as a thought came over her.


    ;


    ¡°Of course! Naturally, as my master, you¡¯ll be funding all the purchases, right? I only take the highest quality vellum, and embossing is mandatory.¡±


    ;


    I snorted at her.


    ;


    ¡°They¡¯ll be ink on paper, and you¡¯ll like it.¡± I retorted.


    ;


    ¡°Well, I guess you don¡¯t want the presents I got you then.¡± She crossed her arms.


    ;


    I threw my arm over my eyes, and dramatically reached out like one of the [Thespians] Iona and I occasionally saw at the theater.


    ;


    ¡°Alas! I have a treacherous apprentice! Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!¡± I cried out. ¡°Is this the part where you throw me out of the highest window in the tower, or is that later?¡±


    ;


    I peeked at Amber, who was rolling her eyes at me.


    ;


    ¡°Puh-lease, it¡¯s not like I¡¯m done stealing all your secrets. Poisoning you in your sleep happens after I¡¯ve raided the secret library, not before.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Ahha! I¡¯m safe! For as long as I don¡¯t build a secret library, you can¡¯t raid it!¡±


    ;


    ¡°Booooo!¡± Artemis called out. ¡°Booooooooo! No secret library? What sort of half-baked evil sorcerer are you anyways?¡±


    ;


    She hooked her arm in Julius¡¯s, who grinned at her.


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯re thinking what I¡¯m thinking, right?¡± The Lightning mage asked the speedster.


    ;


    He nodded.


    ;


    ¡°We need to construct the secret library for Elaine. Then Amber can raid it, then we can overthrow Elaine.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ;


    I groaned at Auri¡¯s question, and decided to play along.


    ;


    ¡°Yes¡­ you can help Amber overthrow me¡­¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ;


    I was ganged up on. Surrounded on all sides.


    ;


    I knew when a battle was unwinnable.


    ;


    ;


    I paused at the door of the dorm, suddenly realizing a critical detail.


    ;


    I hadn¡¯t told any of my friends from Remus that I was dating Iona!


    ;


    I had a brief flurry of thoughts and anxieties run through my mind. What would they think? Would they approve? Had they liked her? What-


    ;


    I shook my head and banished all that from my mind. Worrying about it was pointless. It wouldn¡¯t change anything about what was going to happen, it¡¯d simply wind me up for no good reason. I was dating Iona, and that was that. What would happen would happen.


    ;


    Plus, Iona was in class right now.


    ;


    I knocked - only polite to warn anyone who was around that I was coming with guests - and entered.


    ;


    ¡°Hey Reinhard!¡± I greeted the Kirin, still in elvenoid form. ¡°I¡¯ve got some friends over for a bit, hope you don¡¯t mind.¡±


    ;


    She got up from the sofa, and gave us a look.


    ;


    ¡°I don¡¯t. I¡¯ll be in my room.¡±


    ;


    We all sat down, and I eagerly leaned forward.


    ;


    ¡°So! Almost three years! Tell me everything that¡¯s happened!¡±


    ;


    ;


    ¡°... now keep in mind, Julius was still naked and juggling the eggs while hanging from the ceiling. You know, standard Hunter¡¯s Guild position.¡±


    ;


    They were still working there, and while they hadn¡¯t said it, their stories implied they were among the top hunters of the organization. Granted, each Hunter¡¯s Guild was more or less self contained within its own city - there was no grand, overarching, intercontinental organization or anything like that - but it was still impressive. Lyon was the capital of a nation, and it wasn¡¯t a small city.


    ;


    The man in question groaned.


    ;


    ¡°Why does that have to feature every time you tell the story?¡± He mock-complained.


    ;


    ¡°Shush, because it¡¯s funny.¡± Artemis retorted. ¡°Anyways, we hear this sound.¡±


    ¡°Pffffffffffffffppppt.¡± Julius blew a raspberry, doing his best impression of the noise.


    ;


    ¡°And I realize the monster is farting in its sleep.¡±


    ;


    I saw where this was going.


    ;


    ¡°Oh no.¡± I managed to get out around a laugh.


    ;


    Artemis slapped her knee.


    ;


    ¡°Oh yes! One little spark, and-¡±


    ;


    ¡°Ka-boooooooooooom!¡± Julius mimed the size of the explosion.


    ;


    No matter how old I got, flaming fart jokes didn¡¯t stop being funny. We spent a moment chuckling, then Artemis carried on.


    ;


    ¡°Anyway, from there it was easy.¡± Julius said. ¡°Killed the monster, harvested the parts, and got out of there.¡±


    ;


    Iona chose that moment to enter.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine! You¡¯re back! And with friends!¡± She gave me that huge grin that I oh, just so loved.


    ;


    I patted the spot next to me.


    ;


    ¡°I am! You remember Amber, Julius, and Artemis, don¡¯t you?¡±


    ;


    Julius and Artemis looked at each other.


    ;


    ¡°Pay up.¡± Julius insisted, holding out his hand.


    ;


    ¡°Nuh-uh! We don¡¯t know they¡¯re dating yet!¡±


    ;


    Julius didn¡¯t say anything, just motioned his fingers in a ¡®pay up¡¯ gesture. Iona grinned as she plopped down on my lap, looking down at me.


    ;


    ¡°Do you have to pay more the longer we kiss?¡± She asked over her shoulder.


    ;


    She kissed me without waiting for the answer.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to see the Moon Cult here.¡± Julius remarked.


    ;


    ¡°They¡¯re like mosquitoes, they¡¯re everywhere.¡± Artemis complained.


    ;


    ¡°Moon Cult?¡± I asked them. Iona looked very interested in all this.


    ;


    Amber nodded. ¡°They¡¯re obsessed with the moons, and they seem to have more money than any three gods combined. I know we¡¯re new here, but it was like they popped out of nowhere, and were suddenly everywhere, recruiting and paying silly amounts of money to anyone who joined up.¡±


    ;


    I gave her an alarmed look.


    ;


    ¡°You didn¡¯t join, right?¡±


    ;


    Amber snorted.


    ;


    ¡°Please, my mind isn¡¯t made out of money. The deal¡¯s too good to be true, and nothing good comes out of cults.¡±


    ;


    I gave Iona a¡­ well, I thought it was a subtle look. She met my eyes and gave me a slow shake of her head.


    ;


    Nothing from the divine then.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°We keep talking about ourselves, but Amber, what have you been up to these last few years?¡± Iona asked my apprentice.


    ;


    ¡°I upgraded my class! Kind of. Similar to the old one, but it¡¯s a Gemstone element now!¡± Amber enthusiastically explained. ¡°Turns out I had the right idea, and trading skill-infused gems is exactly what my class wants to do. Plus, all coins are now gemstones.¡±


    ;


    Julius coughed while Artemis shot Amber a murderous look. She colored.


    ;


    ¡°Ok, ok, not the small coins, but-¡±


    ;


    ¡°Amber, you might want to stop digging yourself into a hole.¡± Iona advised, and she closed her mouth, then opened it again.


    ;


    ¡°You know what I mean!¡± She threw her hands up in frustration. Artemis smirked at her.


    ;


    ¡°Yeah, but it¡¯s fun to yank your chain. Anything else?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Being a gemstone, or rather skill, merchant is great! Traveling around, meeting new people and seeing interesting skills. People are generally pretty willing to charge gems - for most of them, it¡¯s free money! When things go wrong, I have dozens of powerful skills I can use to save my life, and I can even recharge some of the skills I use to still sell them! I don¡¯t make as much, but my life¡¯s worth more than the gems.¡±


    ;


    I was nodding along. That did sound handy!


    ;


    ¡°Anyone interesting?¡± Iona asked.


    ;


    Amber scrunched up her eyebrows.


    ;


    ¡°There¡¯s Seigmund. I swear he follows me around, trying to snipe deals from under me. Another flea-bitten werewolf scavenger lowlife with no nose for business and-¡±


    ;


    Amber went on in that vein for quite some time, as the rest of us traded looks.


    ;


    ¡°Who¡¯s betting they kiss?¡± Iona asked.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m in. No kissing.¡± I said.


    ;


    ¡°They¡¯re totally going to.¡± Artemis said.


    ;


    Julius shook his head.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯d love taking more of your money, but¡­¡± He trailed off.


    ;


    ¡°It¡¯s mine anyways!¡± Artemis gleefully said.


    ;


    ¡°Anyways, I¡¯ll happily take some of Iona¡¯s money when she loses.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Stop betting about my love life!¡± Amber squeaked.


    ;


    ¡°Alright, alright. Say, since we¡¯re all trading stories, Iona, have you heard of the time Elaine got spitroasted over a fire?¡± Julius asked with a grin. Artemis was rubbing off on him.


    ;


    I paled in sudden horror as Iona looked way too interested, turning to me with a devious smile.


    ;


    ¡°Noooo¡­ no I haven¡¯t. Why don¡¯t you tell me more?¡± She asked.


    ;


    Like it was rehearsed, my former Ranger teammates stood up and offered Iona their elbows.


    ;


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we take a walk together? We can tell you allll about her.¡±


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m doomed. Doomed!¡± I cried out as Iona happily slipped her arms into theirs, and the three of them left the suite.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡± Auri agreed.


    ;


    ¡°Tell me more about your adventures, Amber.¡±


    ;


    The woman¡¯s eyes lit up.


    ;


    ¡°Sure! It all started right as I left the island. While my class is about trading intangibles, selling goods is still money. With that initial seed capital, I¡­¡±


    ;


    I smiled and relaxed as Amber told me all about what she¡¯d done.


    ;


    I wasn¡¯t great with the social stuff, but I wasn¡¯t totally dumb. I knew why Artemis and Julius had dragged Iona off, and it wasn¡¯t to regale her with embarrassing stories about me. I wouldn¡¯t be nearly embarrassed enough if they weren¡¯t telling them in front of me. I hoped Artemis and Julius weren¡¯t going to interrogate Iona too badly, or try to scare her off. I liked everyone involved too much for things to go wrong.


    ;


    Nothing for it but to wait and see.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°One moment, keep talking I¡¯ll be right back.¡± I told everyone. I grabbed a fresh notebook, my favorite quill, and drew a two-ringed array for privacy, keeping our conversation extra-confidential.


    ;


    ¡°Hey, since everyone¡¯s here, I¡¯ve got a question for you all.¡± I asked my five closest friends after a few more hours of catching up. Julius and Artemis had returned Iona entirely unharmed, the three of them laughing, and Julius had flashed ¡®approval¡¯ in Ranger hand-talk to me.


    ;


    Interesting question. Did Iona¡¯s blessing apply to hand-talk? I should teach her if it didn¡¯t!


    ;


    ¡°Sure, what¡¯s going on?¡± Julius leaned forward, intently staring at me.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m trying to work out what I should take for my third class.¡±


    ;


    ¡°The reading class.¡± Iona flippantly answered.


    ;


    ¡°How - what - I never told you I had a reading class!¡± I protested, outraged.


    ;


    She just gestured at the communal living room, with a half-dozen of my books splayed on the coffee table.


    ;


    ¡°Bookosaurus. You¡¯re telling me you didn¡¯t get offered a reading class?¡± She raised her eyebrows doubtfully.


    ;


    I grumbled and agreed. And wrote it down in my notebook¡­ leaving plenty of extra space near Iona¡¯s name for more notes and suggestions from her.


    ;


    ¡°Anyways, here are my classes¡­¡± I listed out all of the options I thought even had a remote chance of making it, along with a few thoughts I¡¯d had. Everyone grew thoughtful at the list, thinking it over.


    ;


    ¡°Biomancy.¡± Amber was the first to break the silence. ¡°You already have it. It synergizes well with your healing class. Your [Oath] is a powerful multiplier on it, letting you perform feats way above your level. Most importantly?¡±


    ;


    She rubbed her fingers together, and we collectively groaned.


    ;


    ¡°Money! It¡¯ll make you rich!¡±


    ;


    As much as I wanted to complain, she wasn¡¯t wrong. I wrote it down.


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯re part of a team now, and you need to look after the people around you. [Phoenix Nurturer] would help Auri, kicking the can down the road. Who knows, maybe the ideal solution will present itself to you later.¡± Julius said.


    ;


    ¡°Nah, forget that. [Phoenix Immolator]. Immune to fire? Immune? [Inferno Spirit]? You could literally turn yourself into a being of fire, and just¡­¡± Artemis mimed a dozen different things I could do as a quasi-elemental, of which I got like three.


    ;


    She did have a point.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrrpt!¡± Auri¡¯s suggestion was [Hoard Thief], although her reasoning and motives were suspect. Mostly related to me having stolen her as an egg.


    ;


    Looooots of notes.


    ;


    ¡°Well, does anyone have pros on [Mother of Modern Medicine], or can I safely axe the class once again?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Yeah. The power is insane.¡± Julius said. ¡°If you¡¯re happy with your existing classes, which it sounds like you are, the class would be a perfect stat-stick. Just kick back, enjoy watching the levels go up with minimal effort on your part, and use it to fuel your remaining classes.¡±


    ;


    Iona shook her head.


    ;


    ¡°Even though the System loves that you wrote the Medical Manuscripts and basically everyone forever has used it, you want a class that you¡¯ll love. That¡¯s you. A fame class that you just sit back on? With how enthusiastic you are every time you¡¯ve got a new rune or spell to show me? Please, you need the extra skill slots to do things you enjoy.¡±


    ;


    Iona¡¯s serious analysis was utterly ruined by her eyebrow waggle at the end.


    ;


    I had a feeling this notebook would end up fully used.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine, can your biomancy make a permanent tattoo?¡± Julius asked.


    ;


    ¡°As long as they¡¯re small enough, and your vitality isn¡¯t too high, yeah. Why? Got something in mind?¡±


    ;


    He nodded.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m married to a woman who keeps losing her engagement ring, and I was wondering about more permanent methods.¡±


    ;


    Artemis threw her hands up.


    ;


    ¡°That was one time we had to dig through monster guts, and I¡¯d lost my hand! We got it back!¡±


    ;


    Julius raised an eyebrow at her.


    ;


    ¡°One? One? I distinctly remember four.¡±


    ;


    Artemis poked her tongue out at Julius.


    ;


    ¡°Those don¡¯t count.¡±


    ;


    He just gestured at Artemis, looking at me pleadingly.


    ;


    ¡°You see what I¡¯m dealing with here?¡±


    ;


    Iona laughed at the whole thing.


    ;


    ¡°Tell me what you want, I¡¯ll draw it out, and Elaine can make the tattoo. How does that sound?¡±


    ;


    ¡°An eagle holding a thunderbolt!¡± Artemis bounded over to Iona, sitting next to her. ¡°And a mountain behind it! Ooooh, let¡¯s get some details in, like¡­¡±


    ;


    I looked at Julius and shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°Do you want it on your front or your back, because I¡¯m not sure anywhere else is going to fit the design Artemis is imagining.¡±


    ;


    He smiled at his lover.


    ;


    ¡°They both work for me. I¡¯ve got some ideas for Artemis¡¯s tattoo¡­¡±


    ;


    Sadly, they had too much vitality for me to do any real changes. As it was, it took a few hours of slowly etching the designs into their skins just to get the tattoos done.


    ;


    I didn¡¯t feel confident in giving them full body makeovers, not without a few weeks of prep time, along with potential permission to use the School¡¯s mana reserves. Just a few obstacles too many - and they weren¡¯t interested.


    ;


    I did get Amber interested in meeting Marcelle.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°Hey Marcelle! I¡¯ve got a fun one for you!¡± I dragged Amber into Marcelle¡¯s office.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine. Who¡¯s this?¡± She asked.


    ;


    ¡°Amber! A friend of mine. Her leg and eye are¡­ interesting. I¡¯m willing to bet, oh, 50 arcanite coins that you¡¯ve never seen anything like it before.¡± I held out my hand to Marcelle, who cheerfully smiled at me and shook my hand.


    ;


    ¡°Easy money. And if I haven¡¯t seen it before, 50 coins is a cheap price to pay. Now¡­ what do we have here¡­¡±


    ;


    Marcelle smiled at Amber and squinted, eyes flickering over details I couldn¡¯t see.


    ;


    She didn¡¯t say anything, but while staring at Amber, rummaged around in her desk, slapping five obsidian coins onto her desk. I gleefully swept them up.


    ;


    ¡°Ahem.¡± Amber fake-coughed, holding out her hand.


    ;


    I gave her one of the coins.


    ;


    She pocketed it, and wordlessly held her hand out again.


    ;


    I gave her a second coin, and glared at the proffered hand. Amber sheepishly withdrew it.


    ;


    ¡°Right, you two have fun.¡± I said.


    ;


    ¡°5,000 coins and the chance to study me further if you can fix my leg.¡± I heard Amber start to negotiate as I closed the door behind me.


    ;


    ¡°Nonsense, my work is worth¡­¡±


    ;


    I whistled on my way back to the dorms. Amber could find her way back, and I wanted to keep hanging out with Artemis.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°What are your plans for the future? After the School?¡± Julius asked over an extravagant dinner. Not prepared by Auri, because we wanted her around to chat.


    ;


    Iona and I traded devastated looks.


    ;


    ¡°I¡­ don¡¯t know.¡± I freely admitted. ¡°I want to help people. I want to heal them. Always have. But I also need to think of myself. Be in a safe place. Preferably not annoy the local guards too much. That means Immortal lands, but from what I¡¯ve seen of the world so far, there¡¯s just so many more people that need help in mortal countries. Plus¡­¡±


    ;


    I reached over and grabbed Iona¡¯s hand.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯ve got Iona.¡±


    ;


    She squeezed back.


    ;


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what we¡¯ll do after we graduate the School either.¡± She admitted. ¡°I need to return to the Valkyries in Rolland, but Elaine¡¯s presence is¡­ awkward¡­ to say the least. I doubt the Valkyries would welcome her, but they wouldn¡¯t try to hurt you.¡±


    ;


    Artemis beamed.


    ;


    ¡°Perfect! Rolland it is! We¡¯re still stationed out of Lyon!¡±

 Chapter 364 - Operation: The Improved Elaine I

    I knocked on Marcelle¡¯s closed door and waited.


    ;


    ¡°Please wait.¡± Her voice came from the office.


    ;


    Blah. Waiting¡­ at least there wasn¡¯t one of the dreaded lines.


    ;


    It was a shame Artemis and the rest had to leave. At the same time, they had their own lives. While they were currently living in Rolland, it didn¡¯t sound like they had particular attachments to the place, and had even complained about quite a few cultural issues. Like needing to treat royalty like they were something special, and not just people with a fancy title.


    ;


    There were stories there, and the awkward looks Julius had given Artemis suggested there might be a few shallow graves involved, a noble or two who¡¯d gotten into a ¡®hunting accident¡¯.


    ;


    After what felt like an eternity - three, maybe four minutes - the door opened, and an upset student left Marcelle¡¯s office.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine. Come on in.¡± The professor sounded tired, and I entered, sitting on the chair. Her collection of modified animals was smaller than usual, and the paperwork on her desk was piled higher. She didn¡¯t offer me the customary glass of wine, but I wasn¡¯t going to complain.


    ;


    ¡°What can I do for you?¡±


    ;


    I swallowed a tiny nervous lump. I didn¡¯t need Marcelle¡¯s approval, but I realized in the moment that I wanted it just a bit.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m hoping to take no classes next quarter, and I¡¯m hoping you¡¯ll sign off on it.¡± I succinctly explained.


    ;


    Her right eyebrow went up.


    ;


    ¡°Indeed? What do you plan to do with all that time? The max length you¡¯re allowed to stay at the School doesn¡¯t change, even if you do nothing with some of your quarters.¡±


    ;


    I gave her a nod.


    ;


    ¡°I understand. I¡¯ve been wanting to do a full biomancy workup on myself, and I believe I¡¯m ready. I want to use the quarter to carefully go over my plans, draw out the diagrams and references, do my research, then give myself a few days at the end of the quarter to adapt to my new changes.¡±


    ;


    Marcelle snorted.


    ;


    ¡°Pencil in at least two weeks, if not more, to adapt to whatever large scale changes you want. You absolutely have my permission. A full-bodied system change is one of the final exams for the biomancy track, and it¡¯s common for students to take an entire quarter to work on their graduation project. I trust you¡¯re not leaving us anytime soon¡­?¡± She asked.


    ;


    I shook my head.


    ;


    ¡°No. I don¡¯t believe that biomancy is right for me in the long term. I do want to make modifications to myself though, while having enough time to practice my third class.¡±


    ;


    Marcelle sighed.


    ;


    ¡°Ah, what a shame. You¡¯ve gotten brilliant remarks on all your classes, and I believe you¡¯d be one of our finest.¡±


    ;


    I licked my lips, not wanting to draw attention to the problem, but feeling a sense of obligation.


    ;


    ¡°Are you still alright with me taking the quarter off if I¡¯m dropping biomancy after?¡±


    ;


    Marcelle waved her hand.


    ;


    ¡°Yeah. It¡¯s no problem. You can attempt to get certified for a bronze grade in the biomancy track in the end anyways, and trust me, the more certifications you have, even unused, the better off your future prospects will be. Who¡¯d you want to hire? The gold healer, or the gold healer with an additional bronze biomancy?¡±


    ;


    The question was clearly rhetorical.


    ;


    ¡°Now, if there¡¯s nothing else, I have a pile of work.¡± Marcelle picked up a quill and one of the papers, and I recognized a dismissal when I saw one.


    ;


    =================================


    ;


    The first step was to find a study zone, and prepare my supplies. Just because I hadn¡¯t signed up for any classes this quarter didn¡¯t mean I had nothing to do. The School¡¯s combat team still had its regular meetup every day at the same time, and it wasn¡¯t something I could skip. Similarly, I wanted to keep my job at the library, although I did change which hours I was working. I made them end of the day, enforcing a mental break. They did provide nice bookends to my day, activities to help regulate me. Otherwise, I¡¯d probably start pulling all nighters, then collapsing for a few hours, then starting all over again. My internal cycles would get screwy, and I knew where that ended up.


    ;


    Massively inefficient.


    ;


    No, better to keep to a schedule. It would also keep me seeing Iona and Auri, and not turn into some sort of hermit.


    ;


    I bought four new notebooks, and a dozen new quills just for this. It was a bit wasteful, but this felt significant, and acquiring supplies just for this felt right somehow. Plus, I could afford to indulge a bit. I also had a significant collection of old notes from various biomancy and medicine classes, along with all of my scribblings over time. All my musings on Operation: The Improved Elaine.


    ;


    Heck, I¡¯d even kept most of my old homework assignments!


    ;


    The library was next!


    ;


    ¡°Hey Martin!¡±


    ;


    The demonic librarian grunted at me.


    ;


    ¡°What?¡±


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for a copy of the complete set of the Medical Manuscripts that I can borrow for the quarter. I¡¯m also looking for Metallurgy and Meat by Jin Pinyin, Carving Your Enemy¡¯s Bones into Runes and Power by Amina Tagreb, Advanced Octagony by Lotus Alder, A Short Guide of Jiwa Runes by Tithos Realmshaper, and A Collection of Useless Organs and Muscles, and Proposed Forms and Functions by Theodwin Heathertoes. I¡¯m also looking for a dozen creature anatomy books, starting with Dinosaurs of Dairalt by Inkarr Herder¡­¡±


    ;


    Martin eyed me.


    ;


    ¡°A Collection is by Gilbert Labingi. Theodwin tried to steal credit for the book, and if you¡¯ve found any by his name in my library, I would ask that you draw my attention to it so I can correct the issue.¡±


    ;


    Faun politics. I didn¡¯t want to get anywhere near them, I just wanted to get the blasted reference book.


    ;


    ¡°Understood. I¡¯ll let you know if I see any. Until then¡­?¡±


    ;


    ¡°It¡¯s a large number of books you want to check out, over the limit. You know this.¡± Martin reminded me.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m hoping to keep them all in the library for the entire quarter. In the room on the sixth floor, seventh corridor, the one almost tucked behind a bookcase that you need to squeeze past to get into. They¡¯ll never leave the library.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Books lost in the library in an unknown location are as surely lost as they¡¯d be if you lit fire to them.¡± Martin reminded me.


    ;


    ¡°Yup. That¡¯s why I¡¯m telling you where they¡¯ll be!¡± I replied with a cheeky grin.


    ;


    I got another side eye from Martin.


    ;


    ¡°What happens when you are gone, and another student decides to rearrange your study space?¡±


    ;


    ¡°I plan on being there most of the quarter, with occasional breaks to work and eat.¡±


    ;


    Martin nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Alright. You have been an exemplary worker. Simply know that you must return the books at the end of the quarter, and you will need to track down where the books have gone if you fail to return any. On your own time.¡±


    ;


    ¡°I understand Martin.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Medical Manuscripts. Grab a copy from the second floor medical section, not the first floor. Those are the reference copies. Metallurgy and Meat is in the first basement level¡­¡±


    ;


    Armed with a list, I went book hunting. I knew most of the content, had it memorized with [Immortal Recollections]. When a mistake could literally kill me? When I¡¯d skimmed some of the texts? When I¡¯d never read Metallurgy and Meat?


    ;


    Getting a pile of reference books was the ticket. Plus, as I wrote out my notes and plans, I could find the page reference in a book I knew the location of, and add that note in. That way if I asked anyone to look over my notes, I¡¯d be able to tell them that, say, human nerves were in volume 4, page 76 of the Medical Manuscripts, and have a copy to show them, as opposed to my personal recollection of the Medical Manuscripts, which I never read the page numbers on, and could have nerves on page 68, due to a font size difference or the like.


    ;


    I hauled it all to my study room, one I¡¯d found in my endless rounds of the library and that never seemed to have someone in it. A room, forgotten by the student body at large but not the librarians or staff. We didn¡¯t advertise its presence.


    ;


    The perfect mini office for me, one that I didn¡¯t need to spend a single arcanite coin to rent for the quarter.


    ;


    Empty notebooks to my bottom left. Reference books on the top right and center. Old notes on the top left. A clean area to my right.


    ;


    I put the first notebook in front of me, and opened it up to the first, clean page.


    ;


    [Drawing] was a skill, one I didn¡¯t have. I¡¯d needed to sketch plenty of diagrams for class, but I wasn¡¯t a master like Iona was.


    ;


    This was important enough, and I wasn¡¯t a huge fan of [Spotless]. On my first page I started drawing some crude figures with my black quill, hoping to get a skill.


    ;


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Drawing]! Would you like to replace a skill with it? Y/N]


    ;


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Drafting]! Would you like to replace a skill with it? Y/N]


    ;


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Anatomical Design]! Would you like to replace a skill with it? Y/N]


    ;


    There we go! That skill looked narrow enough, and hence strong enough at low levels, for my purposes.


    ;


    I replaced [Spotless] with the skill. I then tore out the first page of the notebook - the one with the bad ¡®just draw something to get the skill¡¯ - crumpled it up, and threw it over my shoulder.


    ;


    The first issue? Skeleton design. It was the fundamental underpinning to how I¡¯d look. It was the structure that everything would need to hang off of. It was the optimal starting point for this project, although I¡¯d need to go back to it a dozen times, a hundred times, and make small changes and adjustments as various changes cascaded through my designs.


    ;


    I wanted to look mostly human at the end, so I started with my own human skeleton, carefully drawing bone after bone. [Elvenoid Visualization] helped, giving me a perfect mental image of how I currently looked to start.


    ;


    Every once in a while I felt my fingers shift slightly, correcting a minor mistake I didn¡¯t even know I was about to make - but I¡¯d sure know about it once my quill was done with the stroke!


    ;


    [*ding!* [Anatomical Design] leveled up! 1->2]


    ;


    I was making changes almost immediately. First off, my teeth. I¡¯d been lucky with my wisdom teeth, but my teeth weren¡¯t exactly perfectly straight. Practically nobody had perfectly straight teeth.


    ;


    Well, that was going to change. A tilt here, a tilt there, a minor twist on my second molar, and a quick ¡®make my teeth lock perfectly¡¯ later, and my teeth were fixed. On the initial pass.


    ;


    I didn¡¯t need to make layers of teeth to regrow when the first ones broke, like a shark. It was a fun design, but I¡¯d just heal anything I broke. With that said, humans didn¡¯t exactly have the hardest, toughest teeth around. I took mixed inspiration from snow leopards and tyrannosaurus rex to make my teeth harder and tougher - although the shape stayed the same!


    ;


    The coccyx was mostly vestigial, but too many muscles anchored to it. I¡¯d been debating removing it, but I¡¯d wait and see if I could anchor the needed muscles somewhere else instead.


    ;


    I¡¯d also looked at getting a tail, but that was more for fun and experimentation than any real desire to have a tail. It¡¯d utterly ruin the ¡®trying to look human¡¯ look.


    ;


    The human spine was a bit of a disaster, but almost every fix I¡¯d found involved becoming a quadruped. A scrawling mess of a design involved completely redoing the entire concept of the spine from the ground up, doing something like having flexible internal scale armor with a cushioning layer of something absorbent, along with multiple strands that¡­


    ;


    I stopped after losing almost half a day trying to redesign the spine from the ground up, and returned to well-tread basics and fundamentals.


    ;


    The elven spine design was optimal, and I once again mentally cursed how advantaged they seemed to be.


    ;


    I could just select ¡®elf¡¯ for everything I wanted to do. Elven skeleton. Muscles. Heart. Nerves. The whole nine miles, and the System would recognize that I was now an ¡®elf¡¯. Possibly after a class up, although the ¡®hop¡¯ was small enough that it might not be needed.


    ;


    I¡¯d get the grand feat stats, and moving forward, I¡¯d also get the racial stats, along with their curse. I¡¯d get their leveling speed. In nearly every way, I¡¯d be an elf, although I¡¯d also select what kind of horns I wanted.


    ;


    I would lack the cultural and familial ties though, along with the mindset of being raised an elf. Practically, biologically speaking though, I¡¯d be an elf.


    ;


    I had no small amount of hubris. I believed I could do better than an elf. I had a few advantages I could lean on, primarily my constant self-healing which would let me make some sacrifices for improved performance.


    ;


    A similar story existed for becoming a dragon. I could try to replace every part of my body with the draconic equivalent, and turn into a human-shaped dragon. The comparative anatomy mostly supported it.


    ;


    I¡¯d also turn into some sort of freak, and it was entirely possible that I¡¯d become a dragonling instead of a dragon, or a true dragon would take offense to what I¡¯d become. Given that one seemed to live at the School, and I frankly felt no desire to become a scaled abomination, I was sticking with ¡®mostly human¡¯.


    ;


    Breathing fire did sound cool.


    ;


    I could skip the ¡®human-shaped¡¯ dragon, and just go full dragon. I suspected the body dysmorphia would be rough, and I liked the benefits of being able to live in an elvenoid society.


    ;


    And, stupid as it sounded, kisses. I liked kissing Iona. Dragons didn¡¯t kiss.


    ;


    Knees were a second point of poor design. Hitting a knee from the side was a great way of breaking it, and there was an argument to making it a ball-and-socket joint, not a hinge joint.


    ;


    I¡¯d lose dramatically on performance for a reduced chance of breaking the joint, and it was the first place where my magic was tying into my design choices. I could, with a thought, simply fix a broken knee. I didn¡¯t need to make a sacrifice to prevent injuries when my ability to cure injuries was amazing.


    ;


    The human pelvis sucked for childbirth. It was just too narrow, and our skulls were too large. Having no desire to ever have kids of my own though, it was easy enough to ignore that design ¡®flaw¡¯. Instead, I looked at it critically, seeing if there was any way to improve strength and performance, while sacrificing the birth canal.


    ;


    Granted, that was committing to never ever having kids in an Immortal lifespan, which was something of a tough call to make. I knew I didn¡¯t want to have kids¡­ today. Was I sure I would never change my mind?


    ;


    I was leaning yes-ish. I didn¡¯t see a reason to make sacrifices on a ¡®maybe one day i¡¯ll change my mind.¡¯ If I did change my mind, I¡¯d need a powerful biomancer with access to a ton of mana to make the changes, but¡­ I¡¯d be Immortal, I¡¯d have the time to acquire that much arcanite and find a willing biomancer. I wonder if other biomancers saw the same flaws with the human body that I did?


    ;


    It was like I was making patch notes for the human body. ¡®We¡¯ve found that wisdom teeth aren¡¯t needed anymore, and we¡¯ve removed them. Fixed the issue of teeth not always being straight. Fixed the issue of the knee being too breakable. Fixed¡­¡¯


    ;


    My feet had big circles around them. I¡¯d drawn them as they were now, but I was going to fix them. I was unsure which design I was going to use. All I knew was the human foot had way too many bones and moving parts, half of which weren¡¯t used at all. A design for climbing trees, but we didn¡¯t climb anymore.


    ;


    Horses, cheetahs, and ostriches were high up on my list for initial design choices. A few dinosaurs made the list, and I added in deinonychus for its terrible claw.


    ;


    With a few modifications, it would easily be hidden in a shoe, while permanently granting me access to a knife.


    ;


    I was less sure on which creature to model my feet and legs after. There was an argument for webbed feet helping me swim. Maybe if I could manage it without compromising my ability to run - or wear shoes! The rest I had a few more ideas for.


    ;


    My neck took inspiration from owls. Humans have two socket pivots, while owls only have one. That would let me look directly behind me, or even further! Plus, breaking my neck by twisting it would be a pain in the neck.


    ;


    It did overall weaken the area in some respects, but the ability to look behind me was worth it, even if I¡¯d look like a monster while it happened. I wanted to mostly look human, but I wasn¡¯t going to sacrifice incredible practicality that wasn¡¯t immediately obvious.


    ;


    I yawned and stretched, then froze.


    ;


    ¡°Unpicked mangos, what time is it!?¡± I jumped up, out of my chair, and dashed through the door. I spotted a clock, and cursed again.


    ;


    I was late to work. I¡¯d spent too much time relying on [Timekeeping] to tell me when I needed to do something.


    ;


    Good thing I was already in my workplace!

 Chapter 365 - Operation: The Improved Elaine II

    A few hours of mindless library work, and a quick dinner with Auri, Iona, and Fenrir, and I was back in my mini office, continuing to work on my skeleton design.


    ;


    I¡¯d picked up the crumpled paper and brought it to Auri for disposal.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ;


    She liked my new project.


    ;


    I was happy with my design, but something was nagging at me. I leaned back at my picture, trying to work out what was bothering me about it.


    ;


    Eventually I flipped open the Medical Manuscripts, and started going through various diagrams. I groaned when I got to the elvenoid anatomy section.


    ;


    My design was a few hairs off of the elven skeletal design. And with a few exceptions - like being able to entirely rotate my head - their design was better.


    ;


    With some difficulty, I swallowed my pride and made a few corrections to my design. I wasn¡¯t going to let hubris sabotage the rest of my life.


    ;


    I checked my earlier notebooks on various skull designs I¡¯d toyed with over the past three years. I remembered them all, but there was nothing quite like double checking things to properly center and frame my mind.


    ;


    The pachycephalosaurus, or ¡®pachy¡¯, was a mid-sized dinosaur, which was to say its head, when bent over, was just a hair under mine. It was known for its incredibly robust skull, which it used to headbutt predators, and each other. The two pachys would line up, then charge at each other, colliding head to head at insane speeds. Their weight meant there was a significant amount of momentum that their skulls needed to absorb, and their entire heads were about being hard, thick, and with the right amount of padding for their brains so that they didn¡¯t get rattled around.


    ;


    It was perfect. I wasn¡¯t going to take their skull wholesale - I didn¡¯t want to look like a dinosaur head - but there was significant inspiration from their design. Even better, there was a type of saurian that was modeled after the pachy. One of my biggest fears was head injuries, and their protection was just what the doctor ordered.


    ;


    That was enough for one day, and I called it quits, heading home a little earlier than I planned.


    ;


    Time to unwind with Iona and the rest!


    ;


    ;


    The next day was the details and practicalities of the skeletal system. I had the design, but that didn¡¯t mean I had the materials.


    ;


    I was throwing things at the wall and was going to see what stuck, and what modifications and compromises I¡¯d need to make once everything was in place. For my initial run through, I elected to use Kun Peng bones. They were light enough for the titanic creature to fly through the air, while strong enough to survive the crushing pressure of the deep ocean. For bone marrow I was eyeing up unicorn marrow, which had a list of fantastical properties long enough that I couldn¡¯t believe it was classified as a non-magical material. The biggest one though? The blood cells produced carried 50% more oxygen than most other blood cells. The marrow could absorb tremendous amounts of shock and impact, and just bounce right back, which meant blows would sort of get ¡®absorbed¡¯ into it, and stop propagating through my body. Other biomancers had noted that it easily took to small modifications, without needing to make significant tradeoffs in other areas.


    ;


    Almost every part of Auri, for example, was classified as magical. In other words, it just didn¡¯t work without some sort of special magic making it possible. If I tried to give myself wings of flame, I¡¯d just get a brief burning smell, then a pile of ashes. There was something intrinsically magical about a phoenix that my level of biomancy couldn¡¯t replicate.


    ;


    I put a star next to the unicorn marrow, and added a note.


    ;


    Confirm with Marcelle and two other professors that Unicorn Marrow is mundane, and the reference book I acquired didn¡¯t have a typo in it.


    ;


    Just to be sure, I checked the reference book in question, paging through it until I found the section on unicorns. This book agreed that it was commonly listed as a mundane material.


    ;


    A consultation with Metallurgy and Meat was next, and bless the author. He¡¯d listed the best metals and alloys to use in an elvenoid body at the very front of the book.


    ;


    A number of magical metals started the list. Mithril was the ideal combination of strength and weight, while Adamantium was practically unbreakable. Orichalcum wanted to float, and Purium leeched impurities and toxins, acting as a panacea for poisons. Terrarium¡¯s density was unbeatable. Starsteel amplified magic, while Lusterite had no weight.


    ;


    I was practically drooling over all of them, but they had three problems.


    ;


    The first was getting any magic metal in the quantities I wanted was insanely expensive.


    ;


    The second was working them into something resembling the complex shape I wanted.


    ;


    Those two issues were bad, but I could work with them. I¡¯d be willing to work and save up to get the metals to ensure I could have the best future possible.


    ;


    The third issue made me sigh and pass over them entirely.


    ;


    Magic metals weren¡¯t conjurable. If my arm got cut off, [Dance with the Heavens] would dutifully restore my arm, modifications and all - except for the magic metals. I¡¯d have a gaping void there, with all the structural compromises, pain, and the rest involved.


    ;


    It had to be mundane, and I facepalmed as the first mundane metal made the list.


    ;


    Titanium. Specifically, a titanium alloy with a metallurgical notation that I didn¡¯t understand, but I would. Most bodies didn¡¯t react at all to its presence.


    ;


    With a different colored pen - silver - I started to delicately trace a hexagonal pattern over all of the bones. I was tempted to take a shortcut here. After all, I knew what I meant, and there was no way the skeleton diagram wasn¡¯t getting redrawn a half dozen times.


    ;


    Down that path lay sloppiness though, and sloppiness in this project would get me killed.


    ;


    Done properly was the name of the game.


    ;


    I did make a note in a different color.


    ;


    While the designs for my own body require frequent quantities of low-level healing to maintain, another reader may find replacing titanium with Purium to be a worthwhile trade, as most of the healing I am planning is to cleanse my body of toxins that are otherwise unhandled. The proposed titanium structure is simply for strength and durability, and the structure will take to a different metal with minimal fuss.


    ;


    I circled the note, and added a note to the note.


    ;


    Note to self: This is for my current plans. If I change how I want to use my healing down the line, this note needs to be modified to show how Purium may or may not work.


    ;


    Once the titanium was drawn on the skeleton, I switched to a red quill.


    ;


    My joints were up next. I spent far too long waffling between titanoboa and basilisk joints. Titanoboa¡¯s were a bit more flexible, while basilisk;s were a bit more durable, and ¡®held¡¯ things together better. It¡¯d be harder for someone to, say, get me in a joint lock and dislocate my arm.


    ;


    I wanted to imprint some runes on me. Runes that I¡¯d have access to, no matter how badly my life went, no matter what weirdness I came across. It¡¯s why I picked up Carving Your Enemy¡¯s Bones into Runes and Power by Amina Tagreb, a complete primer on ¡®how the heck do I put runes on my bones¡¯. Granted, the author had been assuming dismembering your enemy before whittling away, but the principles were transferable.


    ;


    My rune philosophy came into play here. I wanted runes that would be with me for a lifetime. That would be useful forever. Combat-related runes were almost entirely out. A runic shield wouldn¡¯t be as good as my [Mantle], and more importantly, the rune and array wouldn¡¯t scale with me as I leveled. Sure, there were a dozen ways to mitigate it, but at the end of the day, they just weren¡¯t worth it.


    ;


    No, I wanted runes that would be as useful to me at level 4000 as they were at level 500. Utility runes were primarily the name of the game.


    ;


    The first was a simple one, drawn in Octagony. Pure water conjuration. If I ever got stuck underground, or in a desert, I could conjure up some water and get a drink. An isotonic solution would be marginally better, but unfortunately, it exploded in complexity. The marginal utility from a slightly different solution wasn¡¯t worth the dramatically increased cost of space for the runes.


    ;


    I sketched them into my pelvic region, the mix of bones in an excellent arrangement to take the spherical shape Octagony mandalas formed.


    ;


    The language was more complex to write than Anaconda was, but it was more compact. It would let me draw the runes even larger, giving them more time before they burned out.


    ;


    I did need to look up a standard water conjuration rune set in the Overflowing Stack at some point, but that¡¯s why I was doing this in the library. Bonus - anything I didn¡¯t know I didn¡¯t need to work out. I could just post the problem near the Overflowing Stack, and post a bounty of a few dozen coins on the problem. One of the more brilliant wizards could tackle the problem and provide me with the solution.


    ;


    I worked hard at wizardry, but I wasn¡¯t a genius at it. Octagony constantly gave me headaches to boot, and while I was confident in my ability to write anything I wanted in Anaconda, I knew when to back off and let the people truly passionate about the subject tackle a difficult problem.


    ;


    Runes burning out was a problem for another day. I hoped [Lepidoptera] could adapt to refresh my runes. I hoped that [Dance with the Heavens] would properly restore the runes when I used it. However, if both of those failed, [The Dawn Sentinel] evolving into the insane healing class I¡¯d been promised should fix the issue. The last backup was [Butterfly Mystic]. The class was all about acquiring skills, and I was sure with dedicated practice I could get another ¡®engrave runes into my body¡¯ skill.


    ;


    After water was an almost pure oxygen bubble for my head. Pure oxygen could potentially poison me. This rune set was also going to be in Octagony, and I was centering it on my head. It made the construction of the mandala easier, since it needed to be centered where the rune was centered, and not displayed.


    ;


    Air. Water. The third was food.


    ;


    Anaconda was the language of choice here, and anything ¡®biological¡¯ and ¡®wizardry¡¯ immediately scaled to absurd complexity, for no good reason. Almost 60% of the bones in my body were dedicated to summoning sugar, a simple compound with an acceptable calorie density. Part of the issue came in that multiple bones were a piss poor way of constructing a proper mandala, and instead I needed to draw hundreds upon hundreds of small arrays, each one connected to each other.


    ;


    That one I simply starred as a ¡°To draw later¡± set of runes. I hadn¡¯t even started and I could feel a migraine coming on. The complexity made me think there was a wizardry language dedicated to organics, and I put a post in the Overflowing Stack asking for a compressed way to generate sugar at a range. While also mentioning the runic bones aspect to it.


    ;


    The fourth rune was a shelter rune. It would make a small metal ¡°half egg¡± that I could barely curl up in. The longer I ran the skill, and the more mana I put into it, the thicker the walls. The idea was simple. If I was stuck in the middle of a sandstorm or something, I¡¯d need some minor shelter to properly cast the right spell for the situation, but that could require some time, effort, thinking, or simply being able to peruse a spellbook to find the right spell for the situation. The runes I was making would let me have all that.


    ;


    I put the runes on my spine.


    ;


    Next up was a set of buffs, similar to Origen¡¯s Inscriptions. Runes that slightly improved my strength, speed, dexterity, and vitality. There were two ways of going about it - a larger flat bonus, or a smaller percent-based bonus.


    ;


    I went with the smaller percent based bonus. It was worse than the flat bonus - for now. As I leveled up though, the percent based bonus would scale with me, and continue to be useful, while the flat bonus would eventually get lost in the noise.


    ;


    I was thinking of eternity with my build.


    ;


    Food. Water. Air. Shelter. Buffs. My Radiance magic provided some minor heating, but more in the ¡®melt something and use the residual heat to warm myself¡¯ more than anything else. It was one area I was less concerned about.


    ;


    No, I had a tiny amount of room left. I¡¯d left my sternum clear just for this.


    ;


    Jiwa was a solid language for highly specific runes with no flexibility whatsoever. It was no good for conjuring water, for example, because it¡¯d conjure the water at the focal point of the rune - inside my body.


    ;


    Jiwa was excellent for the next rune I was looking at, a skill that I¡¯d danced around wanting almost my entire life. A skill I¡¯d constantly grabbed gems for, and now I¡¯d be able to use on my own.


    ;


    [Greater Invisibility]


    ;


    An upgrade from even Magic¡¯s [Invisibility with Eyeholes], [Greater Invisibility] had it all. It muffled outgoing noise. I wouldn¡¯t occlude sound, so echolocation couldn¡¯t find me. It softly removed footprints. It removed my scent. It emitted light exactly the same way and amount my eyes absorbed, letting me continue to see without any telltale hints I was there. It was exactly what it said on the tin - Greater invisibility.


    ;


    Getting all that done in another language would be dozens of linked rings at a minimum, each one densely packed with hundreds upon thousands of tiny runes. Jiwa did it all with a single symbol.


    ;


    Studying the rune, and all the different ways it removed my presence from the world was embarrassing. It neatly laid out a dozen ways Lun¡¯Kat could¡¯ve detected me, painting in excruciating detail just how naive I¡¯d been.


    ;


    My skeleton was basically inscribed and layered twice over at this point. I had one small spot on my chin, where the Octagony air runes wouldn¡¯t reach, and they wouldn¡¯t be close enough to interfere.


    ;


    There wasn¡¯t anything super practical I could fit there, but there was a fun little rune I could include. It would rarely be practical, not with my skills and Auri, but why leave any space unused?


    ;


    In a homage to my old love, my old skill, and my old element, I squeezed in [Fireball].


    ;


    One system down! Just the rest of the body to go!


    ;

 Chapter 366 - Operation: The Improved Elaine III

    The days flew by as I continued to work on my project.


    ;


    Muscles were next. The first part was the design, and A Collection of Useless Organs and Muscles, and Proposed Forms and Functions, along with notes from old biomancers who¡¯d worked on the human system in the past were invaluable.


    ;


    Humans had a few useless muscles. Occipitalis Minor. Palmaris Longus. Pyramidalis. The Plantaris muscle in the leg brought back some fond memories - almost half the students in my anatomy class had misclassified its tendon as a nerve!


    ;


    While not quite a muscle, humans also had extra focal fat mounds on the torso, where nipples might¡¯ve gone if elvenoids had more than two mammary glands. Similarly, humans had what I was calling ¡®whisker anchors¡¯ on the face.


    ;


    I drew those in bright yellow, marking them as something I was including for the moment, but was unsure about. There were distinct pros to including tiny, nearly invisible whiskers on my face, along with significant cons. I was planning on tackling that more when I got to the senses.


    ;


    The muscles themselves were a bit of a curious mix. I¡¯d gotten it hammered into my head that insects were a terrible basis, and the only reason they were able to perform so well in a mass to weight ratio was they were so tiny. Trying to scale their muscles up to human size always ended in disaster.


    ;


    I¡¯d looked for other places for inspiration instead, and the notes of biomancers past came in handy. After checking their work, cross-referencing different designs, and just plain looking them up on my own, I ended up with an interesting mix of giant, vampire, and elven muscles over the majority of my design, with some minor centaur inspiration on my legs.


    ;


    I¡¯d done some research on fast twitch versus slow twitch muscles. My natural inclination had been to make nearly all of my muscles fast twitch. Those were the quick, strong muscles without staying power or endurance. [Sunrise] would fill in that gap! Whenever I started to flag, whenever I got tired, I could just use the skill to energize myself, giving myself the best of both worlds.


    ;


    The problem?


    ;


    It didn¡¯t work.


    ;


    Unless I went deep into screwing with my muscles, and only let my body grow fast-twitch muscles, I¡¯d just equalize back to however I used them. I¡¯d only done medium research on how to ¡®fix¡¯ my muscle ratios before realizing I¡¯d need to make uncomfortable sacrifices in other areas. I didn¡¯t want to need to rely on mana to run for more than a few minutes either - I¡¯d spent too many years working on my physical fitness to nuke that.


    ;


    The other aspect worth noting was when I examined myself with [Elvenoid Visualization], most of my muscles were slow-twitch. I was built like an endurance runner, not a sprinter.


    ;


    I was willing to listen to my body on this one.


    ;


    I hadn¡¯t forgotten that I was also helping Iona improve her body, and her main focus was on power and maintenance. I ended up with a similar mix on her design, sacrificing a hair of performance to let the body know that, no, she didn¡¯t need to degrade her muscles if they weren¡¯t always in use, while also drawing them as large and as compact as I reasonably could. I leaned a little towards fast-twitch muscles for her, while still keeping a strong layer of slow-twitch muscles.


    ;


    Hey, if I could help my girlfriend skip literal years of bulking at the gym, why not?


    ;


    I estimated that she might be able to lift almost 1,000 lbs before stats kicked in once I was done. She¡¯d need a similarly reinforced skeleton, but I was going light on the rest of the modifications. Mostly because I needed to do it ¡®right¡¯ on her - no cheating with skills! - and I was already making some changes to accommodate the skin changes she wanted. Otherwise, she¡¯d be human, through and through, on everything else.


    ;


    Just like she¡¯d requested.


    ;


    I then needed to work on connecting the muscles to the bones themselves. The design wasn¡¯t entirely the same. There were small, subtle modifications that I made, allowing for increased performance. Like athletes of old, from Earth. The material was the question. There were a dozen creatures with different and interesting tendons and ligaments, although arachnids consistently floated to the top, and they were the most-represented ligament used in the notes of other biomancers I¡¯d found, although they only made up about a third of total ligaments used.


    ;


    They were a tough, black material that could stretch and twist, while being practically impossible to break. Like a biological spider silk.


    ;


    I briefly entertained the thought of having some way to generate and sell the material in bulk. Some sort of cow, with enough internal organs rearranged to make the spider silk?


    ;


    I started to doodle the design when a cold wave of terror washed over me.


    ;


    At best, I was designing a chimera, which the School would expel me for.


    ;


    At worst, I was designing a new species, which the Inquisition would take a dim view of.


    ;


    Okay, if nothing else, I needed to replace biomancy with something else before I became tempted to¡­ experiment. I knew enough to be dangerous, and potentially invite divine disfavor.


    ;


    It¡¯d suck if Iona got marching orders from her patrons to eliminate me.


    ;


    I crumpled the paper up, then incinerated it myself with Radiance. I¡¯d take getting yelled at for starting a small fire in the library over potentially getting smited.


    ;


    [*ding!* [Anatomical Drawing] leveled up! 19 -> 20]


    ;


    ¡°Only¡± drawing in safe conditions didn¡¯t exactly promote rapid leveling. Better than nothing!


    ;


    The heart was the last muscle, and it was special in more ways than one. To start, it had its own muscle type, and it wasn¡¯t easy to modify the heart without considering the arteries it was connected to. Everything in the body was connected.


    ;


    My musings and logic on a second heart had never been fully refuted. I¡¯d heard strong arguments against it though.


    ;


    Primarily, the heart was there to move blood around the body, and blood existed to provide nutrients to everything. The critical one was oxygen.


    ;


    My primary heart was located near my lungs, and if my heart got blasted to pieces, there was a strong chance my lungs were also in serious trouble. No lungs, no air repository for blood to grab and continue circulating with.


    ;


    There was also the massive drop in blood pressure I¡¯d experience with a blown heart, but the blood-related modifications should help.


    ;


    The thing I was hoping to do with the second heart, if it came to that, was to keep pumping the remaining thick blood - I had plans for that - around my head, dramatically expanding the amount of time I¡¯d remain conscious, and able to extract myself from the latest monster trying to kill me.


    ;


    Nor had I ever found a reason not to use a second heart. The first one was in my chest, and my second one I located in my lower abdomen, right near my belly button.


    ;


    It sucked that I couldn¡¯t protect it with a second rib cage, but I¡¯d lose too much flexibility if I did. Gut punches were going to hurt more than before, but I¡¯d have a second heart. Didn¡¯t matter if someone cored me like an apple, and somehow stopped my healing. Heart number two was there to save the day!


    ;


    Normally, rapidly dropping blood pressure would be a major issue after getting cored. The blood would just¡­ drop right out of me, like someone splitting a barrel of mango juice in half, and with how blood pressure worked, it would leave my head and brain first, causing me to pass out.


    ;


    The modifications I was making to my blood would make that a long, slow process, letting my brain remain oxygenated long enough to make a difference.


    ;


    I¡¯d thought it would be super cool if I had two different hearts, but that logic rapidly fell apart. There was an optimal heart configuration, and it¡¯d be foolish not to take it.


    ;


    Two leviathan hearts, sized down to fit inside my body, was my heart selection. While I didn¡¯t have the size ratio of a leviathan body-to-heart, I had shenanigans planned for my blood that would make it difficult to pump. It roughly balanced out, but I¡¯d need to start running extensive calculations once everything was in place to properly balance everything.


    ;


    One tricky one I dreaded was the relative oxygen uptake. Both second chambers needed to pump blood to the capillaries around the lungs, then both third chambers needed to reuptake the oxygenated blood, before the fourth chamber pumped the blood around the body. Except the different hearts had different volumes to handle, but the same circulation to work with, and the third chamber had the same problem.


    ;


    I marked the problem in red. I needed to work with Marcelle on this problem. None of my research into other animals had similar systems to work off of. At best, creatures with multiple hearts tended to have dedicated gill-hearts, on top of main circulatory hearts.


    ;


    Speaking of gills - the math behind them didn¡¯t work, not with the other modifications I wanted. Lungfishes had been good inspiration, but the size and ratio constraints, along with my planned shenanigans, had made gills a net loss of oxygen.


    ;


    Gills worked by osmosis. They exposed oxygen-poor blood to water with high oxygen concentrations, and let the oxygen pass through.


    ;


    My blood shenanigans included taking inspiration from beaked whales, of all creatures. Part of the reason whales could dive for so long was they used their blood as an oxygen repository. The rest of my shenanigans were around the exact composition of blood, along with the red blood cells. Hence the unicorn marrow. While I was modifying the composition - technically, I would be modifying the bone marrow to produce what I wanted - I cut down on platelets and eliminated white blood cells, increased red cell production, and cut down my plasma as hard as I felt I could. My blood would be thick and sluggish. It wouldn¡¯t want to clot easily, nor would it be good at fighting off diseases. It was going to be a harsh strain on my hearts to pump. Which looped back around to why I¡¯d wanted leviathan hearts. They were strong enough for the demands I wanted to put on them.


    ;


    My blood was another area where my skills came into play. My own healing would handle cuts and injuries - I hadn¡¯t had a scab in years, no matter how many scrapes I got into. Similarly, I purged my body of any disease or toxin the moment I was infected. Designing an immune system that worked, and didn¡¯t attack my own body, would require huge amounts of work, and force me to make performance compromises in other areas I didn¡¯t want to.


    ;


    I wasn¡¯t entirely axing an immune system, that¡¯d be stupid. But I was only going for a basic, simple front-line system, like what crocodiles had. I didn¡¯t bother with an advanced system like gnomes. Nothing I ever got hit with ever reached that part of my immune system in the first place! The only thing it could do was make mistakes and attack me.


    ;


    Best of all, I¡¯d only need the smallest trickle of mana - a few points a day - to keep everything running properly.


    ;


    It wasn¡¯t pure upside. If I ever got entirely cut off from mana, if a powerful canceler got to me and held me in their grasp for days or weeks on end, I wouldn¡¯t be able to fight off any infection that made it past my meager front-line defenses. At the same time, that was just a pointlessly elaborate way to kill me. Anyone that could keep me powerless, with no access to mana for weeks on end, was strong enough to kill me anyway.


    ;


    There was a minor concern about getting trapped in the fae lands for years on end again, but I was determined not to let that happen.


    ;


    There wasn¡¯t a single fairy tale that involved anyone getting so much as a cough while in the fae lands. Disease worked differently there, just like everything else.


    ;


    Artery and vein design was up next. This one I was practically writing from scratch. The circulatory system was an excellent example of ¡®good enough¡¯, nowhere close to an optimized design. Vessels looped all over the place, came too close to the surface in some areas and crossed organs awkwardly in others.


    ;


    None of that here.


    ;


    The main vessels were designed close and tight to bones, while steering clear of joints that might pinch them shut. I arranged an extra artery to go to the circle of vessels at the base of the skull, wrapping near the spinal column. I was overengineering a bit here - I was confident that I could heal a slit throat, and even if I was prevented from healing, the extra oxygen in my blood would keep my brain working for dozens of minutes, instead of seconds, and that was before my redundant brain plan came into play.


    ;


    I did cheat on drawing the capillary design. Plain and simple, they needed to be everywhere. It was a given.


    ;


    I¡¯d investigated a few pseudo-heart designs, but none of them worked well enough to incorporate. They came at a performance cost, and didn¡¯t add anything. I didn¡¯t want a blood cushion in my feet like a horse, as interesting as it sounded.


    ;


    For the arteries and veins themselves, thunderbirds happened to have a fantastic design, although rocs were a close second. The magnificent birds subjected themselves to some of the highest forces of all the creatures I¡¯d studied in Zoology. The Museum of All Things had a wonderful set of them that I could study, and I was anticipating more than a few trips to the Museum once I had my designs set to properly examine and [Analyze Organ] every piece I wanted to use.


    ;


    It was possible that another creature had better veins, but if there was, I didn¡¯t know, and no biomancer had ever made a note of it. The same was true of most everything I was doing. I¡¯d never studied the thousands of different species of flies, for example. I simply had to trust that I was standing on the shoulders of giants, and that what they had brought forward was the best.


    ;


    I wanted to continue onto the torso-related organs, and I cursed as I immediately needed to redo my circulatory system design. I needed additional blood-brain barriers. I needed to reroute an artery to go through the singular kidney. I needed to¡­ do a ton.


    ;


    Biomancy design was an iterative process. I debated redoing the circulatory system now, but decided against it. I¡¯d see what other compromises and redesigns I needed to do, and make multiple all at once.


    ;


    The brain came first. I¡¯d studied mine extensively, and I knew for a fact - my brain was screwy. I didn¡¯t pay attention properly, and bounced around more than normal.


    ;


    It was also me. If I wasn¡¯t bouncy and flighty, was I even Elaine? Who would I be if I did extensive brain surgery, all in the name of becoming ¡®better¡¯?


    ;


    Heck, there were advantages to being bouncy and flighty. My attention snapped to different things more easily, I made decisions faster.


    ;


    I didn¡¯t know who I¡¯d be, but I knew I wouldn¡¯t be me anymore. I wasn¡¯t touching my brain, even though I knew my norepinephrine was deficient. Or maybe my dopamine.


    ;


    With all that said, I was willing to clone my brain, and create multiple ¡®backup¡¯ brains throughout my body. Very, very small backup brains, with as little as possible to ¡®count¡¯ as a brain. I was going to play this carefully.


    ;


    The only thing I needed the backup brains for was to count as ¡°still alive¡± if my head got obliterated. While I was ¡°still alive¡±, [Persistent Casting] was active, and it would regrow my head, keeping me alive.


    ;


    If my head got obliterated with [Persistent Casting] off, that was it, game over, I was dead.


    ;


    The worst-case scenario was each brain would spin off into their own person and consciousness, and there¡¯d be five people in a single body. Even worse would be if each one gained their own unique System.


    ;


    That would be one hell of a mess, and I drew red skulls all over the diagrams to MAKE SURE I¡¯d double check this with Marcelle, and anyone reading my notes in the future would know what I was looking at and thinking was dangerous.


    ;


    The best-case scenario was all the brains seamlessly integrated together, multiplying my thinking and processing speed by five, while removing my vulnerability to headshots entirely. Indeed, getting decapitated would only cost me a fraction of the mana to restore, as I could simply regrow my head, as opposed to needing to regrow my entire body!


    ;


    Best case, of course.


    ;


    The backup brains I was a little more willing to be¡­ experimental¡­ with. I didn¡¯t need sensory processing, for example. I did need a brain stem to connect to the rest of the nervous system, along with higher functions.


    ;


    It frankly terrified me to make the proposed changes.


    ;


    As for storage? I just knew I was asking for trouble with everything I wanted to cram in my body, and my torso and head were already stuffed. There wasn¡¯t a lot of storage space left in my body. The only thing I could modify were some of my fat stores, and to hollow out a small cavity for a miniature brain. Places close enough to my spine to cleanly hook up into the rest of the nervous system.


    ;


    The more I looked at my diagram, the less I liked it. I did not want to carve out some fat in my butt to store extra brains.


    ;


    I hunted down two fat textbooks on brains, and started reading. After three days of research, I had a tentative solution.


    ;


    I could rearrange the pseudo-brains to be more like braided rope, and thread them through my torso. I¡¯d go down to two extra brains, but that would have to be enough.


    ;


    Brains led to nervous systems, and drawing the nerve diagram was just as fun as everything else had been. It did give me a chance to fix issues such as the Recurrent Laryngeal Nerve, which started at the brain, looped down around the heart, and went back up to the voicebox. For no good reason.


    ;


    I got seven strokes into the nerve diagram before calling it quits. I needed the rest of the organs in place before I could start hooking everything up together. I¡¯d just leave the nerves trailing off the brainstems for now.


    ;


    I did want to use kirin nerves, and I was going to ask Reinhard if she¡¯d be willing to give me a hand with that. [Elvenoid Visualization] wouldn¡¯t work on her, she wasn¡¯t an elvenoid. I didn¡¯t need to dissect her or anything¡­ just¡­ chop a few pieces off, heal her back, and examine the bits I¡¯d chopped off. Much better than an old sample from the Museum!


    ;


    On second thought, she might not be too willing to let me study her. I put a star next to kirin nerves.


    ;


    I¡¯d also have to loop back to the bones, and make sure they properly stored the elements required for nerve transmission.


    ;


    It never ended!


    ;

 Chapter 367 - Operation: The Improved Elaine IV

    For the life of me, I couldn¡¯t work out a way to practically harden the nerves against electrical shock. Fundamentally, a weak enough shock playing over my nerves looked exactly like a normal transmission, making various muscles contract or relax. Nerves were simple. They received a signal, they passed the signal along. I worked out a few designs that would analyze the length and intensity of signals, then throw them out. Technically, it would work.


    ;


    It would also murder my reflexes to dust, and make it feel like I was moving through life on a half-second delay. Imagine. Wanting to lift up a mango to take a bite, and watching my hand perform the action an eternity later.


    ;


    Starting to dodge half a second after seeing an arrow. It wasn¡¯t a feasible design.


    ;


    Another thing to ask about. It wasn¡¯t the end of the world if I couldn¡¯t manage it, although the ¡®hardening¡¯ design might be useful at the nerve endings¡­


    ;


    I was slapping things together without checking full-body integration. That came after the initial designs.


    ;


    I started with the lungs. I¡¯d waffled between whale and mosasaurus for some time, but currently the wind was blowing towards mosasaurus. Both helped deep dives, and while I wasn¡¯t interested in taking up deep sea scuba diving, between my blood, my air spell, and now my lungs, I¡¯d be able to survive hours without an external air source. I wasn¡¯t planning on needing to use it, but right now suffocation was my biggest weakness. I would be shocked if I didn¡¯t become immune to suffocation next class up.


    ;


    Which would be weird. Being able to mostly survive on pure mana? That just felt¡­ wrong. There wasn¡¯t anything I could point to, and it didn¡¯t include still needing to eat and drink.


    ;


    I¡¯d always be vulnerable to having a large enough rock dropped on me, even if it eventually needed to be the size of a mountain. That small reminder of my mortality was weirdly comforting.


    ;


    Also, globally it seemed useful. If a forbidden Miasma classer attacked me with deadly gas, I could hold my breath for an hour, use my air bubble spell, and get at least another hour or so.


    ;


    The only shame was the creatures I was emulating were able to spend nearly four hours underwater with a single breath. I wasn¡¯t willing to make the compromises needed just to spend that long underwater, but I could get to an estimated respectable hour, no problem.


    ;


    After searching far and wide, I¡¯d landed on the vicious deinosuchus, a crocodile relative, for my stomach. Critically, its stomach acid was powerful enough to dissolve metal, which was needed for my titanium bones. Also, being able to melt metal meant it was strong enough to digest anything else I could eat. It was a bit of a shame in a way - I was making myself nearly immune to ingested poisons, toxins, and foodborne illnesses at the same time, but I simply didn¡¯t need the protection.


    ;


    Pairing nicely with the stomach was the deinosuchus¡¯s liver. It produced the right type of neutralizing enzyme, letting the rest of my digestive track go to town. The only downside?


    ;


    Absolutely terrible alcohol neutralization. I was already a bit of a lightweight, and I was going into the featherweight category. Not the end of the world, not when I could purge myself into sobriety with a moment¡¯s notice, and needing less alcohol to get drunk wasn¡¯t exactly a loss. Harder to walk the fine line between ¡®tipsy¡¯, ¡®buzzed¡¯, and ¡®sloshed¡¯ though.


    ;


    I consulted Metallurgy and Meat in a perfunctory manner, simply checking that I wasn¡¯t getting thrown any twists. Unfortunately, according to the text, I was going to be in for a fun time.


    ;


    When stomach acid dissolved titanium, the metallic titanium would become coated in an oxide layer, and that oxide layer was called ¡°sapphire¡±, which was completely insoluble. I needed to reverse the process, get the titanium back into a useable form without it binding to anything else, then having it pass through the digestive track.


    ;


    I suspected the liver wasn¡¯t going to be recognizable by the time I was done with it.


    ;


    The small intestine was where nutrients were picked up, and deinosuchus was entirely wrong for that task. It was fundamentally a meat eater, and its digestion showed.


    ;


    Humans and other elvenoids were weirdly good at digesting food, but we were second to the king of eating, the biggest hog on the block.


    ;


    Pigs.


    ;


    I made a little purple star next to ¡®pig small intestine¡¯, noting that I¡¯d need to confirm that I wouldn¡¯t develop an allergy to onions as a result of using their small intestine. Biology was weird at times, and I needed to look up the mechanism of pig allergies to onions to make sure I could still eat them.


    ;


    I couldn¡¯t develop allergies without white blood cells, but there was always a chance the professor who¡¯d mentioned it once off-hand in a lecture hadn¡¯t used the proper technical term. An entire species being allergic to something sounded like an intolerance, not an allergy.


    ;


    My large intestine was performing some of the same function as my kidney, and my search for the right one had led me down a bizarre path.


    ;


    The large intestine was primarily for water uptake, and frankly, almost everyone absorbed water just fine. There were almost no important differences between any animal, or how they handled it. The only fun part was the colon, where I could do something like grab a wombat colon to poop cubes.


    ;


    Thinking about it from a water uptake perspective had led me down a different path. Who drank weird water?


    ;


    Practically nobody. Animals drank freshwater, and saltwater fish had their own mechanisms for separating water out. Even sea snakes and similar animals didn¡¯t drink seawater! They swam to the top of the ocean when it rained, and drank out of the ¡®puddles¡¯ on the surface of the ocean!


    ;


    Sea otters and sea lions were almost unique in the animal kingdom for being able to drink saltwater. I happily stole their design for both my large intestine, and for my singular kidney.


    ;


    One kidney, because sticking an entire second heart in my stomach needed to shove other organs out of the way somewhere.


    ;


    Speaking of my kidney, it was my biggest weakness by a long shot. I was shoving a ton of different organs and body parts together. Everything gave off different waste products, and it was the job of the kidneys to scrub everything out of the blood and move it to the bladder.


    ;


    Problem was, I was generating a lot of waste, and there wasn¡¯t much overlap between the toxins generated. A proper set of kidneys that could handle everything coming in was one of the major sticking points of any chimera.


    ;


    Exceptionally clever biomancers could find ways that one organ¡¯s waste was another¡¯s input, allowing internal self-cleaning, a modest efficiency gain, and importantly, lower stress on the kidneys.


    ;


    I was cheating.


    ;


    My healing properly recognized what was a waste product, and what belonged. As long as my healing was going strong, as long as I had [Persistent Casting] up or remembered to heal myself once a day, I was fine. The mana cost was tiny. Single digits a day, I wouldn¡¯t even notice the drop. It did loop back around to the immune system problem. If I found myself denied the System for extended periods of time - like, half a weekish at my initial estimate - renal failure would kill me.


    ;


    The list of symptoms for normal human renal failure was a real treat. Swelling was the mildest symptom, quickly escalating to internal bleeding, confusion, seizures, coma, and death. Fun stuff.


    ;


    It was the price I paid for the absolutely fantastic, out-of-this-world performance the rest of my body would get. Otherwise I might as well go full elf and be done with it.


    ;


    It was a risk, but everything in life was. I looked at my life, at the world around me, and the criteria needed to be utterly screwed.


    ;


    I went back to the skeleton design and added in a note.


    ;


    Find a place to insert arcanite. Protected? Hard to lose? Possible to reinsert after dismemberment.


    ;


    Can use multiple spots!!!!!


    ;


    There. With just a few grams of arcanite scattered around my body, I could always pull a tiny trickle of mana to perform dialysis, and keep myself alive. I¡¯d still end up sick as hell, but I¡¯d live.


    ;


    That¡¯s if I managed to survive whatever captivity was denying me mana.


    ;


    I snorted.


    ;


    I was taking the smallest, babiest steps towards becoming a magical creature. It was roundabout, but fit the broadest definition.


    ;


    The only awkward part about places and locations was, politely, replacing the arcanite when it inevitably got obliterated. My skull was out, but my hipbones worked. I¡¯d just need to knife myself, crack open the bone, shove an appropriately-sized crystal in, then wash healing over it.


    ;


    Hmmm. I¡¯d have to check if [Oath] was cool with that. It¡¯d require a meditation session or two, but it was far better than nothing.


    ;


    Since I wasn¡¯t using my kidneys for their primary function, water extraction and management became the key feature I had them for. This looped right back to the sea lions, and something I could use kidneys for.


    ;


    Salt management. Not a toxin, not something my healing would easily or properly manage. Sea lion kidneys were the second part of the puzzle that would let me drink salt water like it was normal water.


    ;


    Everything in the body was connected, and I was reluctant to modify my brain. All of my instincts would scream at me when I drank salty water, saying it was bad. My stomach might even rebel, my little lizard brain convinced that it was bad for me. I needed to override that with my sure knowledge that I could drink the water safely.


    ;


    Retraining myself wasn¡¯t going to be fun.


    ;


    On the kidney note, I was unsure if the sea lion kidney would be able to properly process the extra-thick blood I was aiming for. Another place for extensive math and calculations.


    ;


    [*ding!* [Anatomical Drawing] leveled up! 24 -> 25]


    ;


    My kidneys drained into my bladder, and there weren¡¯t any modifications I wanted to make here. The short urethra women had resulted in higher than expected instances of urinary tract infections, but my healing reared its head again.


    ;


    There was no need to make any changes. It worked just fine. I didn¡¯t need a super sized bladder, an extra stretchy bladder, and heaven help me if I decided to go for a small bladder.


    ;


    I didn¡¯t want to be an old lady going to the bathroom every other hour at 25. No way.


    ;


    On the organ reduction note, I had no desire to have kids of my own. None at all. I could make some careful trimming to my ovaries and the rest of my reproductive system. It was the other piece of the ¡®how do I make room for the second heart?¡¯ puzzle.


    ;


    There were more organs, many of which were either kept the same, or upgraded to the elven equivalent. My esophagus¡­ okay, fine, that one needed an upgrade to handle the new and improved stomach acid I was dealing with. Just another example of how everything was tied together. Gallbladder. Lymph nodes were part of the practically-defunct immune system and I didn¡¯t need mammary glands if I wasn¡¯t going to have kids. My pancreas was going to need an entire overhaul into something brand-new to help regulate the concoction my blood was turning into, and my pituitary gland was going to require careful, careful calibration.


    ;


    If [The Stars Never Fade] trolled me and I massively overshot, I needed to make sure whatever young body I turned into could survive, and grow back into adulthood.


    ;


    I flipped back to my skeleton diagram and crammed a note into the margins.


    ;


    Growth plates.


    ;


    My spleen was once again part of the immune system, and I made sure to show it crossed off in my notes. I didn¡¯t want to accidentally include it, then have it faithfully produce an immune system that would go berserk on my new body.


    ;


    Dozens of glands.


    ;


    The pituitary was another place for angry red circles, for the same reason as growth plates. I was fine with its current status, but I needed to ensure it¡¯d work if I ever became a kid again. Again, I had no plans on using [The Stars Never Fade] hard enough to become a kid, but the skill had shown targeting an age was tricky. I¡¯d be damned if the dice rolled and I became eight years old again, and I had no way of growing up.


    ;


    That would suck.


    ;


    I was tempted to play with the adrenal gland, but I couldn¡¯t figure out what direction I wanted. If I increased adrenaline production, I¡¯d go fight-or-flight more often and harder. When it worked, it¡¯d work well.


    ;


    At the same time, I¡¯d go into fight or flight more easily, in inappropriate situations.


    ;


    If I tuned it down, I¡¯d keep a cool and level head in all situations. I¡¯d also lose the benefits of adrenaline flooding my system and helping my strength and reflexes in do or die situations.


    ;


    I mentally shook my head. I was thinking of a human body with that. The new body I was designing wouldn¡¯t need adrenaline to make full use of everything I had. There wouldn¡¯t be an adrenal boost to my performance.


    ;


    I added in a tiny muscle that could directly stimulate the adrenal gland, letting me control it when I wanted to, but otherwise left it untampered with.


    ;


    I was slightly putting off the next step, and I turned to my skin to keep delaying.


    ;


    My skin was interesting. I¡¯d gone over dozens of variations and possibilities. Poison dart frog, for bright colors and deadly poison? Chinchilla to have the softest fur in the world?


    ;


    I went with standard human skin for the epidermis layer. One of my goals was to keep looking almost entirely human, and my skin looking like it should was a major component of that. No matter what clever tweaks I thought I was making, it just didn¡¯t look human anymore. At a glance, elven skin was the same as human skin, but I suspected the longer someone looked at me, the more wrong I¡¯d appear. Better to take no risks with the external appearance.


    ;


    The remaining layers I was going to have fun with.


    ;


    The shade of skin was another topic of debate. There were pros and cons to every shade possible, from skipping melanin entirely to be albino, to packing it in as densely as possible. None was objectively, measurably the best possible combination.


    ;


    In the end, my own vanity carried the day. I liked how I currently looked. No need to make any external changes.


    ;

 Chapter 368 - Operation: The Improved Elaine V

    Internal changes to my skin were a different story. The skin had quite a few layers, and the epidermis was the main layer people saw.


    ;


    The dermis was a different question, and something I could play with.


    ;


    For Iona, I elected for tightly packed hexagonal shaped ankylosaurus plates. She¡¯d lose a little bit of flexibility, in exchange for practically having a second layer of armor. It was the only major modification I was making to her body, outside of the norm.


    ;


    I spent a fruitless afternoon digging into honey badgers. Their skin was amazing on the defense. It was like a quarter-inch of rubbery defenses.


    ;


    Careful examination, and a trip to the Museum of All Things, proved an unfortunate truth.


    ;


    It worked well because of how thick it was. If I tried the same thing myself, I¡¯d lose a ton of flexibility, definition - I¡¯d look crazy fat - and I¡¯d practically be relegated to waddling around, like a penguin.


    ;


    Instead I investigated my plan B.


    ;


    Rainbow serpent scales. I¡¯d seen them up-close with Galeru, and they were striking. Sadly, I could only show them off if someone was peeling the skin off my body, but they weren¡¯t there for their looks. Less defense, more flexibility. Like a layer of gambeson, instead of heavy plate.


    ;


    I couldn¡¯t replicate Iona¡¯s wyvern-blood infused skin. I could bribe Fenrir like hell to get a few liters, heal him back up, and bathe in that.


    ;


    Nobody said getting wyvern blood had to be hard.


    ;


    Skin was also where I could be [Pretty]. Also known as surgical hair removal.


    ;


    It was a permanent look, but I was happy with it. A fleeting thought went to makeup - I could make my skin permanently have something like ¡®natural¡¯ makeup going on.


    ;


    Intellectually, I decided not to - it would make applying a different style of makeup harder, and I never knew when my tastes would change down the line - but I still caught myself making small modifications to my face.


    ;


    The math around photosynthetic skin didn¡¯t work out again, and I was getting frustrated with all these cool things in nature that I couldn¡¯t stick into my body. The surface area to time in the sun to energy produced and carbon dioxide broken down just didn¡¯t end with happy numbers, not when I needed to kill all other functionality in the parts of the skin that were photosynthesizing.


    ;


    Given how many different functions I could possibly cram into the skin, I put aside my diagrams, and started sketching an entirely different set.


    ;


    Set 2.0 had no armor layers, but went hard on the iridophore/chromatophore cells for full-body active camouflage. In short, I could always blend into my surroundings.


    ;


    Assuming I was entirely naked.


    ;


    I¡¯d also need a new way of triggering vitamin D synthesization¡­ which happened in the kidneys, which I would need to loop back around to see if the kidney I¡¯d selected would work still for that - and I¡¯d want to be naked often enough to use the ability, and for some reason didn¡¯t want to use the greater invisibility rune I¡¯d carved into my sternum.


    ;


    Skin 2.0 was looking like a bust. I put aside the half-completed design, with a reminder on skin 1.0 that it existed. There was a chance I¡¯d circle back to it.


    ;


    While I was on skin and hair, I had a few vanity items I wanted to address. I toyed with changing my hair color. What would I look like as a ginger? A blonde? Blue hair? Pink hair? Silver hair?


    ;


    A full rainbow of every color?


    ;


    The possibilities were amusingly endless, but at the end of the day, I liked my current color. I¡¯d never dyed it before, and I always could dye it in the future.


    ;


    I did make it silkier, and fixed it so it¡¯d tumble down in a wavy way without ever having to curl it into that style. I tweaked the growth rate as well, and tightened up how hard my scalp held onto hair.


    ;


    There was no way to make my hair not knot. I blamed the gods for making hair work like that.


    ;


    I did make a few minor body shape modifications here and there, studiously ignoring the source of my inspiration.


    ;


    The last vanity item I tackled was smell. Sweat was an important cooling mechanism, and I had no intentions of stopping it. However, I could mitigate how I smelled to a certain extent. Sweat smelling came in two parts - the actual sweat itself having trace amounts of waste products in them, and bacteria interacting with the sweat. With my waste handling, I didn¡¯t need to smell bad. I could modify the composition of my sweat to kill most of the extraneous parts of it, not giving anything to the bacteria to eat, along with axing the parts that smelled bad. I didn¡¯t want to ruin my love of mangos by constantly smelling like them, so I picked a few flowers.


    ;


    When I sweated, I¡¯d smell vaguely of lilacs and roses.


    ;


    Perfect.


    ;


    Everything tied into each other. Speaking of smell, it was time that I finally tackled my senses.


    ;


    Eyes were bluntly the most important sensory organs to humans, and I recognized I was being biased by placing so much importance on them.


    ;


    I was a greedy guts, and I wanted everything. I couldn¡¯t have everything in my eyes. If I packed more rods into my eyes to improve my night vision, I¡¯d have to shove cones out of the way. If I used an eagle¡¯s pupil to zoom in on far away sights, I¡¯d lose the broad side-view that deer had. If I made an eye capable of seeing in the deep, my flying vision would be terrible.


    If I crammed fifty different eyeballs into my skull, I¡¯d have mobs with pitchforks and torches trying to burn me at the stake. Not at the School, of course, but in the broader world. No fifty-eyed abomination for me!


    ;


    It did remind me of Night, and him telling me the story of Creation.


    ;


    I wanted to find him again.


    ;


    I needed to find him again.


    ;


    I had faith, backed by no reason at all, that he was still alive and out there somewhere. He¡¯d survived since Creation. He¡¯d survive the few years I needed to find him.


    ;


    Back to eyes.


    ;


    Form followed function, followed form. I was sticking with the standard human design, which meant a pair of close-set eyes facing in the same direction. A predator¡¯s eyes. Something like a herbivore¡¯s wide-vision would be largely wasted as the fields of view overlapped with each other.


    ;


    I started to write eye pro-con lists, along with annotating eyes with ways I could improve them. Eagles for flying and distance vision, deer for a wide field. Predators to spot movement, grazers to scan through fields.


    ;


    I had a minor breakthrough when I realized how many creatures gained massive benefits from a third eyelid. Humans even had vestigial remains of a third eyelid! I didn¡¯t need to make complex changes.


    ;


    The breakthrough let me axe huge chunks of my eyeball list, and one family in particular rose to the top of the list.


    ;


    Cats.


    ;


    Fantastic prey and movement vision, excellent color, able to see in the dark and mildly underwater, cats had some of the best eyes in the animal kingdom. Somehow, the performance stats were better than an elf¡¯s. Why the gods hadn¡¯t given elves cat eyes, I¡¯d never know. What was nice was how they saw in the dark. They didn¡¯t cram more rods into their eyes. No, they had a reflective layer called the tapetum, which acted a bit like a mirror, letting them focus better.


    ;


    It¡¯s why their eyes shone back in the dark. The first clear sign I¡¯d have that I wasn¡¯t strictly human, the first sign that anyone could see.


    ;


    In the dark.


    ;


    Looking right at me.


    ;


    With a light.


    ;


    Ehhh¡­ it was acceptable. Even though Auri was a perpetual light source.


    ;


    I did modify the pupil back to a human look, and I did manage to squeeze in two more modifications.


    ;


    The first was restoring the third type of eye cone that humans had, and tigers lacked, then adding a fourth ¡®flavor¡¯ of eye cones, which humans rarely had. It¡¯d make the world richer in color, for lack of a better word.


    ;


    How did one explain blue to a blind man?


    ;


    How did one explain super blue, to one who could only see normal blue?


    ;


    The second was borrowing inspiration from eagles again. Humans had one foveae. Cats had zero. Raptors and other birds of prey had two.


    ;


    My eye diagram was looking a little cramped, and I suspected I¡¯d need to make sacrifices down the line when I polished it all up.


    ;


    After the eye was adding in a third eyelid. The question was - frogs, or camels? Frogs were better for underwater, while camels were better for a desert and sandstorms.


    ;


    I elected for the clarity of being able to see well with my third eyelid closed, and figured I¡¯d try to thicken it as much as possible, to allow for high speed flight and the like.


    ;


    I also needed to dig into why I shouldn¡¯t keep it closed at all times¡­ seemed useful.


    ;


    Smell should¡¯ve been easy. Too many darn rabbit holes.


    ;


    I started with bloodhound, and went digging.


    ;


    Sharks had better smell than bloodhounds did, but going through notes and reference books, elephants had an even better sense of smell.


    ;


    Looking up the mechanism was disappointing though. Their sense of smell was better because they packed so many receptors into their nose. It was a sheer size issue, as opposed to a quality issue.


    ;


    A note on the elephant reference page on their sense of smell had me looking up the male silk moth. They could smell a single pheromone source from seven miles away.


    ;


    Their scent organ was a gigantic antenna though, annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd I looped right back around to sharks. I was happy enough with their sense of smell. Assuming their sense of smell worked as well on land as it did in water - it had been designed to smell fish in the ocean, not mangos in a forest, or cookies in a dorm.


    ;


    While I was on sharks, I wanted their extra sense. In particular, their ability to sense electrical fields, finely tuned towards the ones living creatures gave off. I did look at mantas, who shared the sense with them, but sharks had a more developed and refined electrical sense.


    ;


    That was easier than I imagined to include! I wondered if it would give me the ability to detect Artemis. Probably not, since she¡¯d need to be using the Lightning for me to sense it.


    ;


    I had two last notes on smell.


    ;


    The first was taste.


    ;


    I wasn¡¯t touching it. I liked how food tasted as-is, and I didn¡¯t want to mess with it more. What was the point? Plus, smell and taste were so closely linked already. I toyed with the idea of making titanium ¡®tasty¡¯, but that was mostly in the brain, not in the receptors.


    ;


    The second was an interesting little organ, called the vomeronasal organ. It was a vestigial¡­ extra sense of taste?


    ;


    I was curious about turning it ¡®on¡¯, but I just plain couldn¡¯t find any notes about how to turn it into a functional sense, and I didn¡¯t have a great interest in adding another ¡®dimension¡¯ to my taste buds.


    ;


    While not smell, the human sinus cavities were poorly designed, and could use tweaking. Specifically on drainage patterns. It was the small things in life.


    ;


    I had two plans for hearing.


    ;


    The first was echolocation. I¡¯d started with bats, but as I went digging, I realized that they were finely tuned towards hitting small, fast moving creatures, and required large ears on swivels.


    ;


    Until I¡¯d taken the marine biology class, I¡¯d thought dolphins would be a good source of echolocation-related hearing. Except they didn¡¯t do it with ears, it was more a large fat-filled cavity that they used to take inputs, and processed from there.


    ;


    Echolocation would limit the rest of my hearing somewhat.


    ;


    Hearing version 2.0 was going wide. Combine elephant hearing of some of the lowest frequencies with the greater wax moth¡¯s ability to hear the highest frequencies.


    ;


    Sensory overload was a significant concern. I¡¯d be able to hear everything, like I was always in a crowded room trying to pick out a conversation. I should adapt with time, it wasn¡¯t a good reason to axe the design.


    ;


    Hearing version 3.0 was a disorientation-oriented choice. A simple chimpanzee inner ear would let me always know which way was up, and I¡¯d never be disoriented. I wouldn¡¯t have hearing that was the envy of the world, but it couldn¡¯t be weaponized against me, nor would I ever get lost flying in a storm. Worse hearing than an elf, but better at knowing which way was up.


    ;


    The pro list wasn¡¯t thrilling me, but it was a valid option.


    ;


    I tentatively marked down hearing 2.0 as my preferred design. If I couldn¡¯t adapt after my initial biomancy design and pass, I¡¯d stuff cotton in my ears, cast [Shush!] on myself, and try again.


    ;


    I was adding extra senses with an electrical sense. Pit vipers had a heat sense that let them sort of see in pure darkness, and that was relatively easy to add.


    ;


    I did want to cross-check it against my visual sense, since I wanted to see in infrared as well. There was no point in duplicating organs. My initial look said that pit vipers had a much stronger, much deeper heat sense than what little expansion of my infrared vision could manage, but the range brought me up short.


    ;


    Roughly a meter. That was nothing. A sense that only let me know if something was practically on top of me when there was no light - so no Auri, no Radiance, no wizardry - wasn¡¯t as useful as I thought. My stats would improve it a bit, but the initial distance was so pathetic it wasn¡¯t worth making sacrifices and rearranging nerves for. I could use that space for other things.


    ;


    All that work, probably down the drain.


    ;


    My sinuses were getting a little cramped, but my eye structure was something of a mess as well. I might shift the sense to where it made the most sense.


    ;


    I toyed with a few more ideas.


    ;


    I currently had no allergies, and the paring down of my immune system should entirely remove that concern.


    ;


    Poison - and venom - was off the table, and I reluctantly axed the ability to give a small electrical shock like some eels did. The difficulties managing it, just to lightly shock people, wasn¡¯t worth it.


    ;


    Similarly with becoming spider woman. It was a full-body commitment to have multiple large-scale spider spinnerets that I could shoot on demand. It did look technically possible though¡­


    ;


    I cleaned up that section of my notes and explained what I was thinking. Perhaps, one day, a new bright-eyed and bushy-tailed biomancer would come across my notes, and be inspired.


    ;


    [*ding!* [Anatomical Drawing] leveled up! 29 -> 30]


    ;


    Geckos could stick to walls easily, but how they did it wasn¡¯t replicable at larger sizes. Part of it was due to their small size, like how water bugs could skate on water. Runes could copy the effect, but I was running out of bones to engrave. How often would I want to stick to the ceiling of a room, or climb a cliff, instead of just flying? It didn¡¯t feel worthwhile.


    ;


    There were a dozen, hundreds of other considerations that I needed to get into my initial notes that didn¡¯t have clear and obvious locations like the rest of my organ systems.


    ;


    Most creatures had an anti-choking mechanism. Elvenoids had a voice box instead, the ability to speak more important than avoiding choking. Well, I was here and making changes and fixes, and the two weren¡¯t mutually incompatible.


    ;


    Humans couldn¡¯t make vitamin C on their own, they had to get it from fruits and vegetables. Most other creatures could make their own vitamin C, and at first blush I didn¡¯t even need to make modifications to make my own vitamin C. My organ substitutions had done it for me already!


    ;


    Some things I just couldn¡¯t change, and I had to sigh and accept them as terrible flaws.


    ;


    Who put a recreation center next to a waste processing plant?!

 Chapter 369 - Operation: The Improved Elaine VI

    [*ding!* [Anatomical Drawing] leveled up! 29 -> 30]


    ;


    Simply sketching and resizing all my organs, muscles, joints, bones, etc., to fit inside my body was merely the first step. Nothing played nicely with each other, and it was my job to figure out what compromises were needed to get everything running smoothly.


    ;


    Things went from as complicated as blood pH, to as mundane as ¡®what temperature did my organs want to be at¡¯. I had a mix of warm-blooded and cold-blooded organs, and I needed to do things like check if the excess heat from the warm-blooded parts would destabilize the enzymes and reactions that the organs used to operating at a lower temperature would try to perform.


    ;


    The unicorn bone marrow needed to produce a slightly different type of blood cell. My small intestine needed to properly process titanium.


    ;


    My liver needed to un-fuck titanium digested by my stomach.


    ;


    My kidney got significant attention, or rather, waste management.


    ;


    Life was full of risks. There were dozens, hundreds, thousands of different ways I could die. My modifications were going to make me faster, stronger¨Cbetter. It was the name of the class after all. I firmly believed that my changes would help me survive in hundreds more places that I wouldn¡¯t normally, while opening up a few niche scenarios where I¡¯d be in more trouble than before.


    ;


    Close seven hundred holes. Open three. It was worth it to me. The ability to improve myself in nearly every physical way, from being faster, stronger, quicker, improving my reflexes, letting myself eat anything, giving myself hours of air, giving myself not one but two new senses, extra brains to dodge my headshot weakness, freaking armor under my skin - I got all that, for a vulnerability to getting cut off from the System for days on end.


    ;


    Not even mana! The Arcanite I was designing into my skeleton would handle that. It mitigated the threat of a powerful curse eating all of my mana regeneration. While curses could zero out my regeneration, they only rarely hit a target¡¯s mana pool, and even then my ¡®use mana to cast¡¯ took priority over a curses¡¯s ¡®drain current pool¡¯. Assuming both were instantaneous.


    ;


    No, it¡¯d have to be a massively powerful Canceler who wanted me dead, and like.


    ;


    If they were that much stronger than me, and had me in their power, and wanted me dead? I was dead.


    ;


    The other weakness was getting blasted to another world, one without a System, and I considered that prospect to be vanishingly unlikely. I did make a second tiny hollow in my body, and aimed to put in a pendant of the five gods, wrought out of cold iron. It might not work the way I imagined it would, but either way I was determined.


    ;


    No more fae shenanigans. I wasn¡¯t going to let them screw with my life again.


    ;


    I considered the trade off to be worth it.


    ;


    One aspect I hadn¡¯t thought all the way through - my vitality helped extend how long I could be without my healing magic. Instead of days at my baseline, I was probably weeks before the build up started to cause significant issues.


    ;


    That was assuming I got my mana cut off, and I wasn¡¯t cut off from the System entirely. Only way I knew of that happening was getting yoinked back to the Fae realm, and I was taking permanent precautions against that happening again.


    ;


    That was my kidney baseline, and it assumed my current design did nothing. I wanted to make modifications to expand it further, but it was at the bottom of my list.


    ;


    Other math was less fun. My hearts were a big issue.


    ;


    If I tried to run them in parallel, I needed two full designs of arteries and veins. Not the end of the world, since I could ¡®layer¡¯ them next to each other, while having capillaries constantly exchanging blood between the two to maintain equilibrium. The downside was a spacing one - everything was just so cramped already! I wanted to run my arteries and veins as close to my bones as possible, which required finagling at my joints, and if one heart got taken out, I¡¯d ¡®lose¡¯ most of that circulatory system. Lung oxygen uptake was also tricky. That was the main sticking point of having them in sequence, and each capillary system would need to ¡®dance¡¯ around each other, dramatically cutting my total oxygen uptake. Half my air-related efforts would get shredded. My body would also adapt over time to having both systems ¡®live¡¯, and at the end of the day, it started to look like I¡¯d be doubling my weak points while decreasing performance.


    ;


    If I ran them in sequence, I encountered an entirely new set of problems, namely around the lungs, and secondarily on blood flow. Two hearts pumping was a lot, while only one heart pumping wouldn¡¯t be enough.


    ;


    It was a mess, and none of my calculations were coming out with a happy face. I started a new notebook for questions I¡¯d ask Marcelle.


    ;


    I wanted to do them in one big go, instead of constantly wandering over there and seeing if she was in her office.


    ;


    Amino acids were next.


    ;


    They were much easier than I¡¯d feared. Initially, I¡¯d been concerned that some of the species I was mixing and matching from would use a different set of amino acids, but no. Out of the thousands and thousands of potential amino acids that existed, all life consisted of the same 20.


    ;


    My essential amino acids - the ones my body couldn¡¯t produce - had changed around a bit. It called for the most minor shift in my diet, and I¡¯d loop back around to them later. With a bit of work, I could make all amino acids nonessential.


    ;


    Amino acids set, I had the raw materials to build any and all proteins my body needed. The trick was now to ensure my body could produce those proteins. The arachnid spider-silk tendons and ligaments, for example, relied on a substance produced in their ampullate gland.


    ;


    I could potentially make it on-site in the tendons themselves, but that would require dissecting exactly how the ampullate gland worked, and finding out why it was being produced in a specialized organ and not on-site.


    ;


    Humans didn¡¯t have an ampullate gland. Hells, I couldn¡¯t even find a comparative structure!


    ;


    Fortunately, they could be tiny, and I had evicted my spleen earlier in the design process.


    ;


    That was simply the start of my protein woes, and that was with all the amino acids present and accounted for!


    ;


    Then there was every other nutrient required. I got two organs in before taking a step back, and listing out the requirements for every single part of my body.


    ;


    Then it was off to the stomach and digestive tract!


    ;


    Fundamentally, I¡¯d still need to eat all the nutrients my body required. I wasn¡¯t handling exotics, like poison or venom, so I didn¡¯t need to eat special beetles for venom production or anything like that. A benefit to keeping things simple!


    ;


    Of course, some creatures generated the toxin wholesale, and didn¡¯t need a specialized diet, and¡­


    ;


    I was keeping it simple.


    ;


    Instead, I needed to tackle the digestive tract, specifically the stomach and small intestine.


    ;


    The small intestine got a pass. I¡¯d picked pig specifically because it could absorb everything, and absorb it well. If there was something it couldn¡¯t do, well, I¡¯d simply replace it with a small intestine that could. That was its only job.


    ;


    The stomach was trickier. Specifically, vitamin K1 was giving me a hard time, while K2 was properly passed through. Why on Pallos K1 wouldn¡¯t work while K2 did, I¡¯d never know, but the two were practically interchangeable.


    ;


    Bloody hell this was a pain.


    ;


    Item after item, cross-compatibility after cross-compatibility. Weird, random problems.


    ;


    Like, how did I handle my rainbow serpent skin layer when it shed? It would shed between two layers of skin, would I peel off my entire epidermis every time it wanted to shed?


    ;


    The trick happened to be approaching it sideways. Snakes shed their skin when they grew, and they were almost always growing. Turning off the growth mechanism stopped the shedding problem entirely¡­


    ;


    ¡­ unless I ended up overshooting when using [The Stars Never Fade]. I was happy with Immortality, but boy was it screwing with my biomancy designs.


    ;


    I went back to fiddling with the snake skin growth mechanism. Instead of entirely disabling it, I had it trigger only when the pituitary was sending out the ¡®grow grow grow¡¯ chemicals. It didn¡¯t stop the ¡®shed-explode in a gory mess and temporarily become a snake lady¡¯ problem, but fuck it.


    ;


    It wouldn¡¯t kill me, and the problem was niche enough that I wasn¡¯t worried about it.


    ;


    Lifespan calculations. How long did each part last? When did I need to get worried enough about my body to use [The Stars Never Fade]? I knew how long a human lived, but what was the average lifespan of a tiger?


    ;


    Correction.


    ;


    What was the average lifespan of a tiger, after adjusting for their typical vitality? Reference books gave a typical lifespan, but there was no way of knowing what the typical vitality, and therefore lifespan multiplier, of a tiger was.


    ;


    The same went for every single body part I was using, with an added twist.


    ;


    I was looking at frog¡¯s third eyelids for my design, for example. Frogs tended to have a short lifespan. But would their third eyelid degrade at the same rate, or was it something like their little froggy heart giving out after just a few years? Or were the numbers utterly skewed by the sheer number of creatures in the world who found frogs delicious?


    ;


    There wasn¡¯t an answer to my question, not in any reference book I could find.


    ;


    Design after design. Compromises and solutions. Clever fixes and janky hacks. One issue was solved, and it broke three fixes. I¡¯d feel pleased as I finally wrapped up the nerves, only for my electrical sense to turn into a dumpster fire.


    ;


    But.


    ;


    One by one.


    ;


    Minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day.


    ;


    I was getting there. My list of active issues had more items taken off than added on.


    ;


    I was getting there.


    ;


    ¡°Evening, love.¡± I dragged myself in through our dorm door, Iona studiously going over her books.


    ;


    Not math, thank goodness.


    ;


    ¡°Here.¡± Iona grabbed a mug from the coffee table and held it out to me. Bless my girlfriend. I never asked for it, yet she unfailingly always had a cup or a snack or a treat waiting for me after a long day of working.


    ;


    ¡°Bbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrpt!¡± Auri attempted to dive-bomb the exposed mug. I flickered out [Mantle], protecting my drink.


    ;


    Auri faceplanted right into my shield.


    ;


    ¡°Thanks, you¡¯re the best.¡± I grabbed the drink from Iona, sitting down next to her and leaning in.


    ;


    ¡°Rough day?¡± She asked as I sipped the mango juice.


    ;


    ¡°Oh yeah. Massage?¡± I gave Iona my best puppy dog eyes.


    ;


    Drat. That¡¯s what I should¡¯ve done. Puppy dog eyes, not tiger eyes.


    ;


    She leaned back and patted her lap, and I splayed across her, carefully keeping my mug upright.


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯re the only one I know who can get sore sitting in a chair all day.¡± She teased me as her fingers sank into my sore butt.


    ;


    ¡°Mmmmm. You know it.¡± I said.


    ;


    ¡°Do you want to talk about it, or have a break?¡± Iona said.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ;


    ¡°When I¡¯m done with it, Auri. Talk. Somewhat. I¡¯m almost done. Tomorrow I¡¯m going to Marcelle, and I¡¯m going to ask her my question list.¡± I took another deep drink of my juice.


    ;


    ¡°BRPT!¡±


    ;


    ¡°Fine, here.¡± I extended out my nearly finished mug, Auri diving beak-first into it.


    ;


    ¡°Oh! Oh! Is my question going to be on there?¡± Iona asked.


    ;


    I was going to lose all credibility with Marcelle when I asked Iona¡¯s question. Her gentle massaging fingers, and the fresh mug of mango juice she had waiting for me made it all worth it.


    ;


    ¡°Yup. I¡¯m not messing with your brain if that¡¯s the answer though.¡± I said.


    ;


    ¡°Not even for thirty minute-¡±


    ;


    ¡°Nope.¡± I interrupted, knowing the rest.


    ;


    Iona clicked her tongue.


    ;


    ¡°Drat. Hey, do you want me to redo your diagrams and drawings for you?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Yeah! Please, that would be amazing.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Two days from now I¡¯ve got the day free. It¡¯s a date!¡± Iona said.


    ;


    I gratefully kissed her.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrppppppppppt.¡± Auri made a disgusted noise at our antics.


    ;


    ¡°I had an idea about Fenrir.¡± I sighed with relief as Iona¡¯s wandering fingers undid a knot.


    ;


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Iona asked.


    ;


    ¡°I should make the whole thing into a mystery, and give him a ¡®case¡¯ to ¡®solve¡¯. Have some sort of, I dunno, evil blood sucking lair or something. He¡¯ll happily give up some blood if it¡¯s for his ¡®case¡¯.¡±


    ;


    Iona laughed and spanked my butt.


    ;


    ¡°Whoo!¡± I jerked up, my mug jolted up, and a juice-soaked Auri went flying across the room.


    ;


    ¡°BbbbbbbbbbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrpppppppppppppTTTT!!!¡± She complained as she let herself get catapulted across the room.


    ;


    She could easily open her wings and catch herself, but she had a sense of humor.


    ;


    ¡°Fenrir would totally go for that! Let¡¯s see, first we need a victim¡­¡± I straightened up on the sofa as Iona animatedly described the perfect ¡°mystery¡± for Fenrir.


    ;

 Chapter 370 - Operation: The Improved Elaine VII

    I wrinkled my nose as I knocked on Marcelle¡¯s door.


    ;


    ¡°Please wait, I¡¯m with a student.¡± She answered from the closed door.


    ;


    Welp. Nothing to do but wait. There was no sense in a last second review of everything, I¡¯d done it three times already and I was more liable to trip myself up and make a mistake at this stage, than find a true error.


    ;


    I¡¯d gone shopping for the items we needed for Fenrir¡¯s ¡®case¡¯ ahead of time, and I¡¯d underestimated magic.


    ;


    People committed to making stinky socks could make really stinky socks. The bear trap had been expensive, but I considered it an investment - wyvern¡¯s blood was priceless.


    ;


    I did think Iona was yanking my chain slightly with the ball of yarn and a red lunchbox, but eh. It¡¯d be fun. The drums were going to be loud though, I hope we wouldn¡¯t annoy any of our neighbors.


    ;


    The door opened, and I got out of the way of the black-robed student who left.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine! Come on in.¡± Marcelle waved me in, and I sat down at her desk.


    ;


    She reached down to where I knew she kept her wine bottles, and paused.


    ;


    ¡°Are we discussing real biomancy that you¡¯ll be performing, or not?¡± She asked me.


    ;


    I grimaced.


    ;


    ¡°Real biomancy. I¡¯ve got some questions on my project, and I was hoping for you to review what I¡¯ve got so far. Tell me if I¡¯m doing anything stupid.¡±


    ;


    Marcelle nodded.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m happy to help. Shoot.¡±


    ;


    ¡°First question is about multiple hearts. I can¡¯t work out if they should be in parallel or in sequence. Here¡¯s the issues I¡¯ve found with each¡­¡±


    ;


    I explained my issues I¡¯d run into while I pulled out my heart diagrams, passing them over to Marcelle. Her eyebrows steadily climbed up into her bangs as she read over my notes.


    ;


    ¡°Ambitious.¡± She finally replied. ¡°But it¡¯s been done before. You want to have them in sequence. Look up Hryng¡¯s formula, it¡¯ll give you the pieces needed to adjust the two hearts so they¡¯ll work together. You¡¯ll also need Yolico¡¯s Spacing, both of which can be found in Hearts and Healers.¡±


    ;


    I scribbled down what Marcelle said.


    ;


    ¡°Alright, next question. I was wondering about unicorn marrow¡­¡± I said, moving to the next problem I had on my list.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°... Akres¡¯s Binding.¡± Marcelle answered my last question. ¡°I¡¯m getting quite excited to see what you¡¯ve cooked up!¡±


    ;


    I grinned, seeing the moment for what it was.


    ;


    ¡°I was hoping you could take a peek!¡± I pulled out two full notebooks of details, Iona having helped me neatly draw and compress everything down.


    ;


    It was a full body redesign. Those weren¡¯t small, short passages.


    ;


    Marcelle¡¯s eyes went wide.


    ;


    ¡°I thought you were doing one person.¡± She said as I planted the notes in front of her.


    ;


    ¡°This IS one person. Well, ok, technically there¡¯s a second person, but they¡¯re a small, fairly standard to-mostly-elf modification. Actually, I had a question on that first.¡± I said as Marcelle picked up my notes, starting to idly flick through them. Not nearly slowly enough to understand the details on each page, more getting a high level overview of the whole thing.


    ;


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    ;


    ¡°I ran the calculations needed. It¡¯d take me around seven billion points of mana to fully make the changes I want to on my friend. Do you know if there¡¯s some sort of special permission I need to ask the School for to use that much mana at once? Any paperwork or anything?¡±


    ;


    Marcelle slowly put down my notes, and stared at me in silence.


    ;


    ¡°Do you even have enough magic power to perform an operation of that size?¡± She finally asked.


    ;


    I bit my lip and nodded.


    ;


    ¡°I think so. Roughly 800,000 magic power while healing - and performing biomancy - puts me at a little over two hours total cast time.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Two hours is a long time. Are your calculations before or after you do the biomancy in a roundabout way?¡±


    ;


    Shit. I didn¡¯t even know what her question meant.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m unsure what you mean.¡± I honestly replied. Marcelle sighed.


    ;


    ¡°Take the heart. With the numbers you¡¯re giving me, you¡¯d need to spend a few minutes on the patient¡¯s heart alone. You can¡¯t simply enlarge an eighth of it, and assume the entire thing will remain functional long enough for you to finish modifying it. In those few minutes, your poor patient will be undergoing multiple cardiac events as you modify that segment. For each one, you¡¯ll need to instantly diagnose the symptoms and cure only the symptoms, not the root underlying cause, which will slow your modifications down. If you over-heal, you¡¯ll revert the biomancy changes you¡¯re making. If you fail to heal, you¡¯ll kill the patient. You see the issue?¡±


    ;


    I reluctantly nodded.


    ;


    ¡°How do I fix them?¡± My heartrate was slowly going up. I didn¡¯t want to have the conversation with Iona ¡®oops, sorry, I know I promised biomancy but I can¡¯t deliver.¡¯


    ;


    Although¡­ pure muscle enhancement, and nothing else, wouldn¡¯t run afoul of the problems Marcelle described.


    ;


    Marcelle frowned.


    ;


    ¡°Generally¡­ you don¡¯t. This is why biomancy is targeted for small changes at adults, large changes at children, or self-improvement. However¡­¡± Marcelle signed, and gestured like she wished she had a glass of wine. ¡°The healing students at the School might enjoy the challenge and working with you. The School would like it if you gave them a heads up when planning to use that much mana, talk to some of the [Clerks] in administration. They¡¯ll give you details.¡±


    ;


    I nodded, my spirits raising once again. No awkward present revoking!!


    ;


    ¡°Is there a chance you can review my main design?¡± I asked her.


    ;


    Marcelle picked up my notes, and started flipping through them again.


    ;


    ¡°No.¡± She answered as she flipped another page. I raised an eyebrow. It looked like she was reviewing my notes. ¡°This is too complex for me to properly review here and now, or broadly. I do have other students, classes, and responsibilities, and telling you I¡¯ll review it will also make me ethically responsible for your outcome.¡±


    ;


    I pulled a face, but didn¡¯t say anything. She was reviewing my notes. I wasn¡¯t going to interrupt her.


    ;


    ¡°However,¡± She said, and I refrained from pumping my fist. ¡°Your notes and methods are good enough, and detailed enough, to present as a final thesis. Schedule a time where myself and four other professors in Biomancy or Healing are free for at least two blocks, and be fully prepared to defend your build. You¡¯ll kill two raptors with a single stone. Not only will you get the undivided attention of five professors trying to poke holes in your proposed plan, but if you succeed, you¡¯ll meet one of the Biomancy Track graduation requirements. We can schedule your personal biomancy examination at the same time. If you pass, congratulations! You¡¯ll officially have your first School Track completed.¡±


    ;


    Whoa. I wasn¡¯t super interested in having the Biomancy Track designation, but it would be nice. Much more important was getting five of the foremost experts in the world doing nothing but tearing my build apart for four hours straight. That was invaluable.


    ;


    ¡°While I¡¯m glancing over your notes, I¡¯m noticing a few problems already.¡± Marcelle frowned at my notes. ¡°I¡¯m all for you presenting, but they¡¯re going to need to be in better shape than this. I¡¯m only seeing half of an immune system? You¡¯ve cut down to one kidney, and a quick look is telling me you¡¯ll die in¡­ I¡¯d estimate a month. In your shoes, I¡¯d entirely remove the second heart, it¡¯s not going to perform as well as you hope, and run a half-dozen small kidneys in parallel, each one dedicated to handling a different set of toxins. It¡¯s also clear you never took Senescent Studies. I would know, I have to approve everyone taking the class.¡±


    ;


    I had answers to most of that.


    ;


    ¡°The build is for me. Remember my [Persistent Casting]?¡±


    ;


    Marcelle dramatically groaned.


    ;


    ¡°Not this again. I thought you¡¯d stopped teasing me about it. Yes, yes¡­ oh! Yes! I can see how that would work well, clever use of leaning on your skills to close holes, and open up new possibilities. Your lack of Senescent Studies is still showing.¡±


    ;


    I was obviously missing something big, and Marcelle was all but begging me to ask her.


    ;


    ¡°What¡¯s Senescent Studies, and where¡¯s it causing me issues?¡± I asked.


    ;


    ¡°It¡¯s all about how bodies age, and what, exactly, is going on, along with how to pause or reverse aging.¡± She put down my notes and stood up, entering an all-too-familiar lecture mode. ¡°Now, I believe you should delay a quarter, and take just a few more classes before trying this out. Specifically, in your design, you¡¯re pushing temperature tolerances.¡±


    ;


    I gave a slow nod, but Marcelle was waiting for my response.


    ;


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m a little more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations, but everything should operate perfectly fine at 98.8 degrees.¡±


    ;


    My brain had been the big derp moment when working out temperatures. I had to obey its thermal range. Everything else was tweakable. I would run hot, but I¡¯d also carefully and systemically made sure all my organs had blood vessels go to the surface and back, letting physiological reactions act as a cooling vent when needed. I was a little more vulnerable to the cold, but at the same time, I had Radiance magic, Auri, wizardry, and a high metabolism.


    ;


    ¡°Right, but you¡¯ve got three organs where 98.8 is the top end of their thermal range after your modifications, if your notes are correct.¡± Marcelle said. ¡°On paper, it¡¯s healthy. In practice, your organs will age faster. I also see sea otter organs here, and they have a baseline of 15 years of adult life, since you wouldn¡¯t be dumb enough to use a juveline¡¯s. I understand that you¡¯re a high level, but even if you had a four times multiplier to your lifespan, that¡¯s only 60 years left. Your thermal shenanigans will cost you, and cut that down to a third, if not less. As a pure human, with your healing, you¡¯re looking at closer to eighty baseline, which at a four times multiplier is 320 years left. You¡¯re committing a slow suicide here. Are you really ready to say your life is half over?¡± Marcelle finished her lecture by slamming my notebook closed, and handing both of them back to me.


    ;


    ¡°Revise, and make sure everything is perfect before presenting your thesis. I can also give you permission to attend Senescent Studies. I was just waiting for you¡­ to¡­ ask¡­¡±


    ;


    Marcelle¡¯s eyes narrowed as she looked at me, her fingers thoughtfully drumming on her arm.


    ;


    ¡°Everyone - everyone - asks to join Senescent Studies. You¡¯re one of the brightest students I¡¯ve ever had the pleasure of teaching.¡± She was slowly listing off points, and the look on her face was making me nervous. ¡°You¡¯re a healer, you know old age is how you¡¯re going to die. You¡¯re a purple robe¡­¡± Marcelle suddenly grinned at me.


    ;


    ¡°Why, Elaine! You never told me you were an Immortal!¡±

 Chapter 371: Operation: The Improved Elaine VIII

    I froze at Marcelle¡¯s question, like a deer in the headlights.


    ;


    Honestly a pretty stupid reflex, and not one I could exactly biomancy out.


    ;


    ¡°No - noooooo?¡± Even as I said it, I knew my protest sounded weak. ¡°I¡¯m only 25 years old!¡±


    ;


    Marcelle snorted.


    ;


    ¡°Age has nothing to do with mortality, although congratulations on seizing it so young. And you¡¯ve been at the School for a few years to boot! That is one heck of an accomplishment, you should feel proud.¡±


    ;


    Welp, the cat was out of the bag, and I doubt continuously denying it would endear me to Marcelle.


    ;


    Marcelle sat back down at her desk, and pulled out two bottles and two glasses.


    ;


    ¡°Ah, before we continue.¡± She fiddled with something under her desk. ¡°There! Privacy wards are in place. No eavesdropping student will be able to hear your secrets. I apologize for saying it out loud before turning them on.¡± She poured me a glass from one bottle, and herself three fingers from the other.


    ;


    ¡°Bloodwine.¡± She explained without me asking. ¡°Vampire delicacy, I imagine the taste wouldn¡¯t be to your liking.¡±


    ;


    I nodded and took a sip, as Marcelle toasted me and had a drink herself.


    ;


    ¡°Ahhh¡­ ok. Immortality. Congratulations again. Makes sense now why you were asking about what advice I¡¯d give a vampire back when you first showed up.¡± She gave me a toothy grin, and I responded with a weak chuckle.


    ;


    ¡°Thank you. You know, I thought I¡¯d been good at hiding it.¡±


    ;


    Marcelle nodded.


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯re not bad. I¡¯m fairly close to you, and you did give me a detailed, in-depth blueprint of how your ideal biology would work. Putting all the pieces together wasn¡¯t hard. Keep in mind, the biomancy department has the highest rate of mortals seizing Immortality of any place on campus.¡±


    ;


    I nodded, not daring to believe things were this easy. This smooth. This¡­ lack of blackmail and extortion.


    ;


    I suppose I hadn¡¯t mentioned I could grant it to others. That probably helped.


    ;


    ¡°That makes sense.¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say, and I was just going to let Marcelle talk.


    ;


    ¡°Now, full transparency here. I¡¯m half taking off my advisor hat, and putting on my recruiter hat. With that said, I do genuinely believe the advice I¡¯m about to give you is what¡¯s best for you, otherwise I wouldn¡¯t give it to you.¡±


    ;


    This sounded fascinating.


    ;


    ¡°Go on.¡± I took another sip of the wine, partly to let Marcelle know she could keep talking, and partly so I wouldn¡¯t have to say anything.


    ;


    ¡°Vampires tend to all work together. There are some exceptions, like the Immortal Company, but even then those are all vampires, working together.¡± Marcelle explained. ¡°With that said, I also work together with other vampires, and the Exterreri Empire is where we call home. Now, I¡¯m a [Biomancer]. Getting to work at the School as well is my life¡¯s dream, everything I could ask for. With that said, part of my job is trying to recruit talented individuals. You would thrive in the Exterreri Empire.¡±


    ;


    I gave a slow nod. Marcelle had done a lot for me, and she seemed to truly believe what she was selling. Didn¡¯t mean I¡¯d bite, but with everything she¡¯d done for me? I was willing to hear her out.


    ;


    I had to imagine the School knew she was recruiting for Exterreri¡­ and probably other people were recruiting for their various groups as well.


    ;


    ¡°As you should know by now, every vampire has the ability to grant Immortality. Yet, people don¡¯t chase after us the same way they chase after healers who can grant Immortality. It¡¯s because we all work together, in a cohesive whole. That same protection is extended to our citizens. You go to a mortal country? You¡¯ll start all manner of bickering, and they¡¯ll never leave you in peace. You go to an Immortal country? Unless you¡¯re in the Penujuman Necrocracy, someone will snap you up and make you perform. The nicest will be Jurcor, where you¡¯ll end up signing a contract that you¡¯ll regret. The harshest would be Urwa, where they¡¯ll throw you in chains and silks and sell you around. Unless, of course, you¡¯re a citizen of the Exterreri Empire, famous for protecting their citizens.¡±


    ;


    I was thinking about what Marcelle was saying.


    ;


    ¡°And if I say no?¡± I asked her, figuring I¡¯d get all the details.


    ;


    She sighed and eyed her glass, like it¡¯d personally committed a terrible crime by being empty. She poured herself another small splash.


    ;


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll be sad that a talented and brilliant woman such as yourself is going to encounter unnecessary hardships, and I¡¯ll hope you survive long enough to make your way to Exterreri. If you have a sponsor or a job offer, I¡¯ll wish you the best, and pray to all the gods that it works out well for you.¡±


    ;


    I nodded. She¡¯d given me a lot to think about.


    ;


    ¡°Do you know a vampire called Night? A progenitor, one of the first?¡±


    ;


    Marcelle shook her head.


    ;


    ¡°I wish. Someone you knew back then?¡±


    ;


    I nodded.


    ;


    She gave me a sad look.


    ;


    ¡°The odds are good that he¡¯s dead. Nobody - nobody - survives that long. Not even the best of us.¡±


    ;


    Her words washed over me like water on a duck¡¯s back. I completely disregarded them.


    ;


    He was alive. I had nothing supporting that but faith, but I was going to find him.


    ;


    I didn¡¯t know what I was doing after the School. My Deception Ring would help me travel mortal lands, and I was getting a good lay of what the world looked like, while in a safe place. Finding Auri¡¯s family was still on the list, but I had only the faintest of leads to go off of.


    ;


    I¡¯d like to stay with Iona¡­ but all that was a problem for another day. I¡¯d have to consider Marcelle¡¯s offer carefully.


    ;


    Heck, it was barely an offer. More like ¡®this country would be perfect for you¡¯.


    ;


    ¡°Thank you. Before I go, I have one last question for you. Please don¡¯t judge me too hard for it, my girlfriend wanted me to ask.¡±


    ;


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± Marcelle asked.


    ;


    ¡°Well, she¡¯s got this question about pigs¡­¡±


    ;


    ¡°Two weeks off? Why?¡± Shirayuki¡¯s tails lashed behind her, flickering back and forth like a displeased cat.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m going to be performing biomancy on myself, and doing a full-body change. Recovery and physical therapy to relearn my body is going to take time just to learn how to walk again.¡±


    ;


    She gave me a curt nod.


    ;


    ¡°Acceptable. Do you have your baseline numbers?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Baseline numbers?¡± I mentally reviewed everything I knew of biomancy, coming up blank. Marcelle hadn¡¯t even mentioned it.


    ;


    Shirayuki sighed.


    ;


    ¡°I swear. Nobody does this properly. Nobody measures the impact of a new skill they get. Nobody tests exactly how much they improve. We will do this properly for you, so both you and I know what you¡¯ve done. You will run. You will jump. You will throw things. You will fly. You will swim. We will carefully measure and record each of these items, then once you are done, we will do them again.¡±


    ;


    I grinned. This was a great idea! I can¡¯t believe I hadn¡¯t heard of it in any of my classes. I suppose the dwarf that offered me the apprenticeship vaguely had something of a point. My classes taught me the academic methods, but there were practical, real-world aspects of my skills and the implications that I¡¯d need to learn on my own.


    ;


    ¡°We begin with running.¡±


    ;


    I was starting to run into serious traction issues when I pushed myself as hard as I could on the ground. Especially when there was some morning dew, pure physics were conspiring to slow me down, to try to get me to slip and slide instead of run. Flying eliminated most of those issues, but then I wasn¡¯t testing my physical body anymore.


    ;


    Most physical classers had a skill or two to help themselves, and I eyed [Anatomical Drawing] as a potential skill slot to gain [Traction] or some related skill to help me out.


    ;


    It took a full day of testing, but at the end of it, I had some numbers. I mentally translated them around to more familiar numbers, the Pallos standard distances being completely different from Earth¡¯s.


    ;


    I skipped the short dashes. There were too many confounding factors that made it difficult to perform, and the data was entirely useless as a result.


    ;


    3200 meter dash: 38 seconds. I felt like I spent far too much of the distance accelerating.


    3200 meter dash flying: 51 seconds. It was tied to my jogging speed, not my all-out sprinting speed.


    Obstacle course: 28 seconds. All the extra grips made navigating through it easy.


    ;


    I was moving at speeds that would normally require skills like [Traction], specially enchanted boots, or biomancy-modified feet to get a proper grip on the ground. With the weight and the forces I was applying on the ground, I should be ripping through dirt like I was running along a sandy beach. It should be slipping and sliding under my feet, making my footing as treacherous as wet ice.


    ;


    Dexterity was here to save the day. I didn¡¯t know how it worked, just that it did, the stat allowing supernatural movement over the ground. It let me run on the dirt like it was, well, dirt, but at normal speeds.


    ;


    Some classes went deep into the dexterity stat. With enough points in the stat they could run on falling leaves, treat a piece of string like a metal pole, and balance on a spiderweb. It was neat, but not a direction I was particularly interested in exploring.


    ;


    At the same time, I was getting unbalanced again. My speed was outstripping my dexterity, and I was just a hair over the proper 8:1 ratio required to properly control myself. I was starting to feel the tiniest loss of control, little almost-slips, my feet only staying stable because the ground was flat and maintained. Forget about anything like running perfectly on sand, and I was eons away from running on raindrops or other utterly absurd feats like that.


    ;


    It usually wasn¡¯t an issue. When I needed to move, I generally took to the skies. What I lost in ¡®peak running speed¡¯ I made up for by being able to take the direct route. I wasn¡¯t going to mess with my free stats with my impending biomancy changes either. I wanted to see what was going to happen, but right now my dexterity was up for further consideration.


    ;


    Deadlift: 600 lbs. My strength stat wasn¡¯t nearly as well developed as my speed. No issues with my dexterity here!


    Bench Press: 440 lbs. Fortunately, there weren''t nearly the same issues as my speed was running into.


    ;


    Ok, technically, I wasn¡¯t benching 440 lbs. I was benching 110 lbs in the 4x gravity section of the gym. Same thing.


    ;


    I¡¯d proposed throwing a ball, but other factors made that impractical. Something about wind and air pulling on balls harder the faster they were thrown, making the length nonlinear when measuring. Also, technique mattered a ton.


    ;


    I could see the words a kid without a System unlocked could see at 15 meters away from 180 meters away. I couldn¡¯t wait to see what would happen with my new eyes!


    ;


    ;


    I was back at the grind. Marcelle had answered dozens of my questions, giving me pointers and telling me which books I needed to reference. Of course, I then needed to track the book down in the library, find the reference, and crucially, understand the reference.


    ;


    Being a good biomancer was a skill.


    Being a good researcher was a skill.


    Being a good author was a skill.


    ;


    It was rare to find all three skills in a single person, and most of the people writing these small niche books had the first two skills, and utterly lacked the third one.


    ;


    I needed to get dozens of professors¡¯ schedules from the administration building, and of course that wasn¡¯t easy either. I¡¯d gone to the big admin building first, who¡¯d told me it was in the small admin building. The small admin building had insisted it wasn¡¯t there, and to go back to the big admin building, who¡¯d given me precise instructions where in the small admin building I needed to go. I did get to see a copy of all the schedules, but they wouldn¡¯t give them to me, so I had to blow a ton of paper redrawing all the schedules, before I could even start to try and find five professors who had the same four hours in a row free.


    ;


    My request for using a large amount of mana for a single project was equally tedious. I needed to get forms filled out in triplicate, then get each one of them signed by a dozen people, most of whom didn¡¯t respect their posted office hours.


    ;


    That, or the office hours were from a few decades ago. I caught one peeling off a wall, and the paperwork called for a particular signature of a fellow who¡¯d retired a few years ago. The [Clerks] either hadn¡¯t updated the paperwork I needed to fill out, or were still using old written forms.


    ;


    Untangling that kafka-esque mess hadn¡¯t been fun.


    ;


    ¡°You need Professor X¡¯s signature.¡±


    ;


    ¡°He retired.¡±


    ¡°Well, the form says you need it. Get Radras to write you an exemption.¡±


    ;


    ¡°But¡­ he¡¯s the founder of the School¡¯s current iteration. He¡¯s been missing for centuries, presumed dead.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Yeah, it sounds like it¡¯ll be tricky.¡±


    ;


    Also, who the fuck was named X? Did his parents hate him or something? Was he their 24th kid, or whatever number X was in their native alphabet?


    ;


    I forged onwards.


    ;


    Technically, this was extraneous, and I didn¡¯t need to have anyone do a full systematic review of everything I was trying to do, nor did I need to get the Biomancy Track certification.


    ;


    But I was playing it safe.


    ;


    Time passed, notes were prepared, and I¡¯d gone over them a dozen times with Iona.


    ;


    ¡°Alright, one more time.¡± I told my girlfriend.


    ;


    ¡°Nooooo, please spare me.¡± Iona begged.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯ll do the thing with the ropes you like so much.¡± I shamelessly tried to bribe her.


    ;


    Iona shook her head.


    ;


    ¡°Nope. Not worth it.¡±


    ;


    I gave her my best pouty eyes.


    ;


    ¡°But-¡±


    ;


    ¡°Nooooooooope. I¡¯ve done this eleven times with you.¡± Iona put her hands on my shoulders, and earnestly looked me in the eyes. ¡°Believe me, you¡¯ve got this. Nobody knows this stuff better than you do. Seriously. Have faith in yourself. You¡¯ll knock them out of the park.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri landed on my head, drumming her little flaming hummingbird feet on my hair. ¡°BrrrPT!¡±


    ;


    ¡°Thanks for the vote of confidence. I guess I¡¯ll try to get some sleep.¡±


    ;


    Iona gave me a sudden grin.


    ;


    ¡°Wait! We all know that tomorrow¡¯s a super big deal for you, yeah?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Yeah?¡± I agreed. Iona knew all this, but was going somewhere with it.


    ;


    ¡°Well! I know you, you¡¯re going to be up all night with butterflies. You¡¯re going to get a terrible night¡¯s sleep right before you get grilled for hours. That¡¯s no good.¡±


    ;


    I wrapped my hands around my lover¡¯s neck, looking up at her with mischief in my eyes. I knew Iona too well, I knew where this was going.


    ;


    ¡°Oh? Would you happen to have some guaranteed sleep remedies?¡±


    ;


    She waggled her eyebrows at me.


    ;


    ¡°You bet!¡± She swept me up in her arms, skirt and hat going flying all over.


    ;


    She leaned in a bit, and I pulled myself up to kiss her as she started to walk over to our bedroom.


    ;


    ¡°BrrRRRRRrrrRRRRrrrPPPT.¡± Auri made retching noises in the background.


    ;


    ;


    I slowly woke up, the ephemeral joy of a long, deep night of sleep radiating from my bones, the soft light slowly brightening up the room.


    ;


    Wait.


    ;


    The soft light brightening up the room!? The island was in the wrong spot for that!


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m late!¡± I cried out to nobody in particular, throwing off the sheets and scrambling over the end of the bed to get out the door.


    ;


    I stopped at the door, dashed back, grabbed a purple robe - mine or Iona¡¯s, couldn¡¯t tell, oh well being the short one had benefits - and dashed back through the door.


    ;


    ¡°Whoa, Elaine, where¡¯s the fire?¡± Iona asked me.


    ;


    ¡°Deftheisthing!¡± I stumbled out a half dozen words. ¡°LATE!¡± I shrieked as I tried to¡­


    ;


    Hang on.


    ;


    Iona was way too chill about this.


    ;


    I paused a moment, and looked, really looked, at Iona. And Auri. And Fenrir. And the groaning coffee table filled with food.


    ;


    I finished waking up.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m¡­ not late am I?¡± I asked.


    ;


    Iona shook her head.


    ;


    ¡°Island picked up some speed last night. Block and a half until you need to present. Auri enlisted us to make you a good breakfast.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri puffed out her chest, pleased as punch with herself.


    ;


    I looked down at how disheveled I was, and awkwardly laughed.


    ;


    ¡°Heh. Hah. Alright. Auri, why don¡¯t we do a little flame bath?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrrrpt!!!¡±


    ;


    Two minutes later, I was sitting down at the table, Iona having already helped herself.


    ;


    Auri had helped get all my favorites. A half-dozen mangos. A few pitchers, orange juice, water, milk, mango juice. Some sunny side up eggs and toast. A suspiciously clean plate near the end of the table with some grease stains on it, and a content looking Fenrir.


    ;


    My own little found family, right here.


    ;


    ¡°Smartosaurus, mind if I come and watch?¡± Iona naturally asked right as I took a big bite.


    ;


    ¡°Hmmm?¡± I asked around my mouthful of food.


    ;


    ¡°Your presentation! I think it¡¯s super neat.¡±


    ;


    I could use the support.


    ;


    ¡°Sure!¡±


    ;


    ;


    Everyone had come. Auri, Iona, even Fenrir had squeezed himself into the halls of the Wood Tower to the room in question.


    ;


    We filed in at exactly the minute in question, finding a set up just like the entrance exams. Five professors on a high desk, in a half-ring around us. Marcelle was in the middle, and she gave me a cheerful wink as I entered. There was an elf, a devil, a human - I knew for sure, because I''d been talking with all of the professors to get this arranged in the first place - and a minotaur.


    ;


    I knew their names, but I was mentally referring to them by their species, except for Marcelle. It was easier, fewer things to mentally juggle as I tried to perform.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine¡­ Elaine?¡± The elf¡¯s eyebrows drew together.


    ;


    I chuckled at that, getting the stacks of copied notes passed out to each of the examiners.


    ;


    ¡°It¡¯s a long story, but yes.¡± I confirmed. Four of the professors picked up my notes and started reading through them, while the minotaur left his untouched. He was one of my lowest picks of professors, being focused on emergency field medicine, triage, and the logistics of getting injured soldiers to healers. But, his schedule fit with the other four.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine. Which organ drives the cardiovascular system, and what can you tell me about it?¡±


    ;


    I raised a single eye at that. I guess we were starting easy, and going to get harder as we went along. The open-ended nature of the questions was interesting as well, and I was guessing a partially complete answer would see me dinged.


    ;


    But if I took too long to describe everything about the heart, we¡¯d run out of time.


    ;


    An interesting method.


    ;


    I glanced at Iona, barely in the edge of my vision. She gave me a small, tight smile and a tiny nod. Auri flared a little brighter, and Fenrir?


    ;


    Well, he seemed to be dozing.


    ;


    ¡°The heart. It¡¯s a unique muscle, and a unique muscle type. In most elvenoids it has four chambers¡­¡±


    ;


    ¡°Phoenixes are famously creatures of magic and flame. What changes would you perform to a specimen, such that their great great grandchildren are creatures of magic and water - or ice - instead?¡±


    ;


    ¡°I don¡¯t know. The best I can give - I believe the definition of a phoenix is intrinsically linked to their fire nature. Making one of water instead isn¡¯t a phoenix. There is a potential violation of the Divine Decrees if one succeeded.¡± I promptly replied. The questions had indeed steadily escalated in difficulties, until I was taking a few minutes to think about it before answering. I realized I was burning the valuable ¡®analysis¡¯ time, and nobody wanted to hear me stumbling through questions I didn¡¯t know. Instead, I was giving a concise ¡°I don¡¯t know¡±, along with a few minor facts on the situation.


    ;


    The minotaur just looked at me and grunted, then peeked down at his list of questions.


    ;


    ¡°I am satisfied that Elaine Elaine knows her biomancy to the point of being awarded a bronze grade in her Track from the examination portion.¡± He formally stated to the rest of the examiners.


    ;


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Marcelle quickly said. The rest of the professors only took a moment further to agree.


    ;


    ¡°I will pass this over to you.¡± The minotaur formally said, leaning back in his chair.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine Elaine. I am quite concerned about a number of aspects on this proposed diagram.¡± The elf said. I started to sweat, glancing at Iona then to Marcelle.


    ;


    Iona gave me a little, silent round of applause - Auri mimicking her with mage hands - while Marcelle smiled and nodded encouragingly at me.


    ;


    ¡°Please let me know.¡± I straightened myself and looked the elf in the eye.


    ;


    ¡°Your immune system and dialysis simply have the note ¡®covered by a skill.¡¯ Do you intend to cast a skill on yourself, every single day? A fast acting infection, a bad piece of meat, and you could end up delirious while you sleep, making casting a skill difficult if you are not in the proper frame of mind.¡±


    ;


    I took a deep breath. There was no way I wasn¡¯t letting some of my skills out of the bag here.


    ;


    ¡°I have a meta skill called [Persistent Casting], which I keep running with my healing at all times.¡±


    ;


    ¡°That seems a hair excessive.¡± The devil said.


    ;


    The minotaur snorted.


    ;


    ¡°Good sense on a battlefield. I¡¯ve seen you on the School¡¯s combat team, correct?¡±


    ;


    I gave him a grin.


    ;


    ¡°You have! And yes, much of my experience before attending the School was attached to a military organization. I¡¯ve been attacked in my sleep before. It might be a hair paranoid, but it¡¯s saved my life a few times, and I just don¡¯t see myself ever dropping the skill. On a related note, it¡¯s great for surviving decapitation.¡±


    ;


    That casual little factoid caused a predictable stir, and I felt myself grinning with energy. Iona had been right. This was my jam! I totally had it!


    ;


    ¡°Since it¡¯s integral to my life already, I saw an opportunity to use it in my personal biomancy build, dramatically improving my performance over what is normally possible.¡±


    ;


    The elf looked vaguely impressed, which was practically impossible. Nobody impressed the arrogant elves.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m looking at your proposed kidney design, and your choice of using a modified sea otter base is confusing me.¡± The devil said. ¡°Your notes state the why of the chosen organ, but to my understanding, flamingos are superior in every respect I know of. Can you explain your choice? Additionally, can you explain your reasoning for a single kidney, instead of eight kidneys working in tandem?¡±


    ;


    I bit my lip, hating to admit it, but knowing I had to.


    ;


    ¡°I was unaware that flamingos had comparable, if not superior, properties than sea otters for the aspects I wanted them for.¡± I admitted. ¡°I will examine my design after, and make adjustments as needed.¡± With two biomancy professors thinking I¡¯d made a stupid mistake not using multiple kidneys in tandem - and more possibly silently agreeing - I needed to revisit the entire section and idea.


    ;


    With how linked together everything was¡­ it meant an entire rework of all the systems. Hopefully I¡¯d be able to free up some compromises I¡¯d made in other places, and task the kidneys to them.


    ;


    Just needed to find room in the body for it.


    ;


    The devil waved his hand at me. ¡°No matter, no matter. The interest was largely academic, as your proposed kidney design works. How much utility do you believe a second heart will give you? I see the logic written out, but no numbers on how many seconds or minutes extra you will gain in a fairly niche situation. Is your heart regularly ripped from your chest?¡±


    ;


    The questions started to come fast and thick.


    ;


    ¡°Why a tiger eye design basis over an elven one? Or, more importantly, why call it a tiger eye? It¡¯s so modified as to be unrecognizable.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Well, I started from a tiger, and figured I¡¯d keep the original inspiration and reasoning for anyone consulting my notes in the future.¡±


    ;


    [*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Analyze Diagram]. Would you like to replace a skill with it? Y/N]


    ;


    Analyze Diagram: Ability to examine a biomancy blueprint, and spot errors and flaws in the design. Improved sensitivity per level. -50 mana regeneration.


    ;


    I wasn¡¯t in a great spot to carefully examine my choices, but [Analyze Organ] had gotten its time to shine in the Museum of All Things. I¡¯d taken a detailed look at each body part I wanted to use with the skill¡­ and that was it. I couldn¡¯t imagine any other use to the skill, especially not when I was at the end of the road here. I dropped the skill for [Analyze Diagram], resolving to test the skill out later.


    ;


    ¡°What is the purpose of these¡­ pseudo-brains? They don¡¯t appear to be powerful enough to process on their own, they won¡¯t generate a new system, and they¡¯re too far separated to be added brainpower.¡± The human asked.


    ;


    ¡°[Persistent Casting] along with my healing and magic power currently allows me to survive decapitation. However, I am unsure if I can survive my brain getting crushed. The distributed brains should allow my body to be considered ¡®alive¡¯ even after my head is incinerated, allowing my skills to kick in and keep me alive.¡±


    ;


    That got a round of impressed muttering.


    ;


    ¡°No shielding on your second heart?¡±


    ;


    ¡°I considered flexibility to be more important.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Then why not do away with ribs entirely, and optimize along that angle?¡±


    ;


    ¡°They do continue to provide support.¡±


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯ve given yourself new senses, but you haven¡¯t made any corresponding changes in your brain to be able to use them. Instead, it looks like you¡¯ve hooked the new sense up to¡­ I¡¯m unsure what I¡¯m looking at here.¡±


    ;


    I grimaced at that.


    ;


    ¡°I traced the comparative anatomy section in the human brain to the respective species¡¯s brain. Granted, the part of the brain is quite a bit different, but the brain is also famously adaptable. I should be able to, after time and practice, be able to use the new senses.¡±


    ;


    I got some frowns at that.


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯re signing up for weeks, if not months, of blinding, debilitating headaches.¡± Marcelle said.


    ;


    I nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Why not simply modify your brain to accommodate the new senses?¡±


    ;


    ¡°I believe down that path lies madness. My brain is me, and I¡¯d very much like to not start being arrogant enough to modify my brain.¡±


    ;


    That line wasn¡¯t well-received. Two of the professors snorted dismissively, while Marcelle and a fourth rolled their eyes. Only the minotaur didn¡¯t give an major outward sign of disapproval, simply raising one eyebrow.


    ;


    ¡°Speaking of senses, how do you plan on handling the overload?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Time and practice.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Why a small percentage based rune buffs, instead of a larger flat increase?¡±


    ;


    ¡°As time goes on, I believe the percentage increase will outperform the flat boost.¡± I was skirting dangerously close to the Immortality reveal with that question.


    ;


    On and on the questions went. A few minor flaws or mistakes were pointed out, but I started to smile.


    ;


    The bulk of my design was getting no questions or comments. Either every single one of them had skipped my circulatory system, my muscles, my nerves, and more, or I¡¯d done them right.


    ;


    The aging questions came, of course, and I simply sweated through them. Marcelle kept shooting me amused looks at my discomfort, but I wasn¡¯t going to admit to a bunch of random people that I was Immortal.


    ;


    Our time came to an end mid-question.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine, what do you say about -¡± The human asked, as Marcelle interrupted.


    ;


    ¡°That¡¯s time. I know we all have things to do after. I propose with the inventiveness and thoroughness of the design, along with how Elaine has pushed new boundaries and cleverly integrated her skills to push performance, that she be awarded gold for this portion.¡± Marcelle said.


    ;


    ¡°Nonsense.¡± The elf said. ¡°The number of minor flaws can¡¯t be ignored. I agree that her design is inspired, and worthy of praise, but the errors clearly indicate a silver grade.¡±


    ;


    The professors clearly had places to be and things to do. There was no long discussion, Marcelle immediately moving it to voting.


    ;


    ¡°All those in favor of gold?¡± Marcelle raised her hand.


    ;


    Nobody else did.


    ;


    She put her hand down after a moment.


    ;


    ¡°All those in favor of silver?¡± She asked again.


    ;


    Four hands went up.


    ;


    ¡°Bronze on the knowledge examination, silver on the practical. Final grade of bronze Biomancy Track to be awarded to Healer Elaine, after three and a half years of study at the School. All those in favor?¡± Marcelle asked, and five hands went up.


    ;


    Marcelle produced a scroll and a large, ceremonial quill. She signed it with a flourish, and passed it around. All the professors added their signature to the scroll, returning it to Marcelle.


    ;


    ¡°Congratulations Elaine, on your first graduation from the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft.¡± She leaned forward, handing me the scroll.


    ;


    I could only grin at the applause I got. Iona was particularly enthusiastic, pounding her hands together like she was trying to make enough noise to burst my eardrums. Auri didn¡¯t want to be outperformed, and had a round dozen pairs of hands clapping furiously.


    ;


    I was more than happy to shake everyone¡¯s hands.


    ;

 Chapter 372: Operation: The Improved Elaine IX

    I skipped back, happy as could be. The sun was shining, there wasn¡¯t a cloud in the sky, I was a graduate once over, and my biomancy plans had gotten thoroughly analyzed by a panel of experts.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine! Iona!¡± A familiar voice called out to me, and we turned and looked at who¡¯d called me.


    ;


    It was Iya, the familiar naga flanked by a pair of retainers.


    ;


    We swerved and headed over to her.


    ;


    ¡°Iya! What¡¯s up?¡± Iona asked.


    ;


    She slowly blinked at us.


    ;


    ¡°I heard that Elaine was taking her Biomancy Track examination. I wanted to offer my congratulations.¡±


    ;


    I grinned.


    ;


    ¡°Just passed! Bronze in biomancy!¡±


    ;


    She gave a small half-bow.


    ;


    ¡°My deepest congratulations on your success. If you do not have plans to celebrate, perhaps you will permit me to arrange for a small celebration?¡±


    ;


    Iona and I glanced at each other, and I shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°Sure!¡± Iona said. ¡°We¡¯d love that!¡±


    ;


    Iya beamed at us.


    ;


    ¡°Excellent! My mansion, after the final class today?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Sounds like a plan!¡± I agreed.


    ;


    Iya had one of the fancy accommodations that some incredibly wealthy students could pay for. An entire house, just for her.


    ;


    Well.


    ;


    House was a bit of an understatement.


    ;


    Mansion was correct. And Iya¡¯s was nice. Silver linings to the whole Raith incident!


    ;


    We kept going home, Fenrir slinking into his office.


    ;


    ¡°Should we do it now?¡± I asked Iona.


    ;


    ¡°Yeah, why not. Could even put Iya¡¯s party as part of the mystery. A great big revelation during a fancy celebration? Right up his alley.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡± Auri was thrilled with this idea, and the three of us got to work.


    ;


    It only took a few minutes to get everything in position. We¡¯d planned and prepared ahead of time.


    ;


    With the scene set, the socks in position and the bear traps armed, I was ready to get to work.


    ;


    I dramatically burst into Fenrir¡¯s room.


    ;


    Wait.


    ;


    What the fuck?


    ;


    How was it storming?? It was pouring outside, with the occasional thunderbolt punctuating the steady staccato of the storm. And where had he gotten the bottle of whiskey??


    ;


    Eh. Whatever.


    ;


    ¡°Fenrir! It¡¯s terrible! You¡¯re the only one who can help me!¡± I dramatically cried out, pretending to swoon over his tail.


    ;


    It was a dark and stormy night¡­


    ;


    ;


    ¡°Hang on, we¡¯re doing this now?¡± Iona was nervous, fidgeting with her hands.


    ;


    ¡°I mean, why not?¡± I asked her. ¡°We got the wyvern blood, your design got thoroughly signed off on, and this takes a while.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Well, the guards might want to talk to us about last night¡­¡± She said.


    ;


    I dismissed her concerns with a wave.


    ;


    ¡°We already told them it was a dramatic reenactment on campus.¡±


    ;


    ¡°And they yelled at us for not using the proper venues!¡± Iona said.


    ;


    ¡°I mean, yeah, but why would they follow up more? Iya already said she was fine.¡±


    ;


    Iona grumbled.


    ;


    ¡°Fine, my butt. Nobody loses a wall of their house and is fine with it.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Sure, but that¡¯s irrelevant to what we¡¯re doing. If you¡¯d like, we can stall, but¡­ why?¡±


    ;


    Iona blew a raspberry.


    ;


    ¡°Yeah, you¡¯re right. There¡¯s no good reason to stall. Let¡¯s go get this scheduled.¡±


    ;


    It wasn¡¯t quite that easy. We needed to circle back on the mana use request form, then talk with the hospital staff to get a team ready. I was a little nervous on the sheer number of student healers involved - it only took one person fucking things up to make this much harder than it needed to be - but that was the price I paid. It was otherwise free, and how else would I get a team of healers doing nothing but watching over Iona for hours on end?


    ;


    While we waited, I went back over my notes, seeing how my new skill worked.


    ;


    It was disconcerting at first. I sat down with my notes, opened them up, and started reading.


    ;


    As I read each word, as I studied each diagram, everything was cast in a faint shade of pink.


    ;


    Not good.


    ;


    [*ding!* [Analyze Diagram] leveled up! 1->2]


    ;


    With the level, the red highlights on the words and pictures got a little darker, a little richer.


    ;


    At the same time, I knew it wasn¡¯t a complete and total disaster, like the skill was highlighting. I continued reading, the skill leveling up in the background, and the faint pink turning into a dark crimson.


    ;


    An early page about my skills, and how I was relying on them for various aspects, turned green when I read them, instead of red.


    ;


    Interesting.


    ;


    I was about three quarters of the way through reading my notes when a dozen words on the page I was looking at snapped from deep red to bright green. Something had changed.


    ;


    I flipped back to my first page, my skeletal design, noting that most of it had turned green, from the prior red.


    ;


    My initial guess was it had to do with how much of my blueprints I¡¯d ¡®read¡¯, letting the skill form a ¡®structure¡¯. Kind of stupid that I had to reread all of my own notes - I had perfect recall of them in the first place - but magic was wonky at times.


    ;


    I didn¡¯t go into great experimental depth, figuring I¡¯d see what happened after I completed my reread. More and more words snapping to various shades of green and yellow, with a few reds still mixed in.


    ;


    When I read the last word, nearly everything I was looking at turned various shades of green, with a few yellows in the mix.


    ;


    My best guess? My notes used a combination of what I knew, plus what I¡¯d read, in order to indicate if an aspect would work or not, and how poorly it would go otherwise. Skills rarely ¡®gave¡¯ knowledge, but instead highlighted aspects and drew attention as needed.


    ;


    I flipped to a few aspects the panel had pointed out, finding most of them in various shades of orange or red.


    ;


    One of them was highlighted in green still, and that was going to cause me a headache and a half. The items we all agreed on that were wrong were easy. They were wrong, and I needed to correct them.


    ;


    This item?


    ;


    It said that, as far as I knew, I was correct, but the professor had said it was incorrect, and gave his reasoning for it.


    ;


    Well, shoot.


    ;


    I had hoped to perform my biomancy immediately after Iona¡¯s. Looked like I still had some work to do.


    ;


    First things first though.


    ;


    I was replacing my much-beloved second heart with additional kidneys. The panel had been right about that.


    ;


    Which meant an insane number of items were going to need to be changed.


    ;


    And double checked. Seven times.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°Ready for your big day?¡± I asked Iona over breakfast. I¡¯d gotten her favorites from the cafeteria.


    ;


    She nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Nervous, but yeah. I have faith in you.¡±


    ;


    That meant a lot, coming from the [Paladin].


    ;


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I grabbed her hand and squeezed it.


    ;


    She squeezed back.


    ;


    ¡°So, about the pig thing¡­¡± Iona asked me.


    ;


    I threw my hands up in exasperation.


    ;


    ¡°We are not doing the pig thing!¡±


    ;


    Fenrir emphatically shook his head in agreement with me.


    ;


    ¡°Thanks.¡± He growled, his word barely understandable.


    ;


    Time flew by, and we found ourselves in the hospital.


    ;


    I was familiar with the head medic, and I recognized a few of the students from the rounds I¡¯d been doing.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine! Glad to see you¡¯re still around, thought you¡¯d graduated or got kicked out!¡± He told me.


    ;


    I shook my head.


    ;


    ¡°Nope, I was working on my biomancy thesis.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Excellent. Healer Winug, Healer Lippe, if the two of you would check in with the patient please?¡±


    ;


    The two healers nodded, and I squeezed Iona¡¯s hand. The two of them led Iona away to have a private conversation. Fairly standard stuff, making sure she wanted this of her own volition, that I wasn¡¯t coercing her or pressuring her, et cetera.


    ;


    ¡°How¡¯d your biomancy thesis go?¡± He asked. It felt a little awkward to be small talking in front of so many people, but we needed to burn a bit of time before the operation began.


    ;


    ¡°Graduated bronze! I had them tear apart my own plans. If everything goes well, I hope to be your next patient.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Excellent! When do you plan on doing that?¡±


    ;


    I shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°Right after this? Figure we could keep each other company in the hospital. With that being said, I should probably start working.¡±


    ;


    He nodded at me.


    ;


    ¡°Right. Follow me, we have a room with the proper access to the main mana stores prepared.¡±


    ;


    We walked through the familiar halls of the hospital, the student-healers trailing along like a line of ducklings in black hats. Before long we ended up in the room in question.


    ;


    The entire floor was a solid piece of arcanite, and I knew from my reading most of the arcanite on the campus were simply a few, solid, gigantic pieces, cleverly fused together to form the bones of the campus. They were in different segments just to prevent one idiot from draining the entire campus dry, but there was a scaling effect present with arcanite. A single 10 kilogram block held more mana than two 5 kilogram blocks combined. It encouraged large works.


    ;


    The arcanite floor was hooked up directly to the campus¡¯s main reserves, the idea being that if a healer needed the vast reserves on campus, they should be able to access it. Faith in the profession.


    ;


    The firing range had another large piece, but it wasn¡¯t hooked up to anything else important. Once a year or so some idiot bird would drain the entire thing.


    ;


    There hadn¡¯t even been anything left to burn! I had no idea what Auri was trying to do with that.


    ;


    The room was atypical for a number of reasons.


    ;


    The room itself had a single bed, entirely flat and not particularly designed for comfort, in the middle of the room. Plenty of space was given around the bed for a dozen or two healers to cram in. It was the major operating room, and it was assumed that anything that required the School¡¯s massive reserves was also likely to require more than one healer.


    ;


    It didn¡¯t hurt to have the space just in case.


    ;


    ¡°I need a chair.¡± I pulled out my notebook dedicated to Iona¡¯s changes, and started reading. One of the students got the nod from the head healer, and scrambled to get what I¡¯d requested.


    ;


    The head honcho in question clapped his hands.


    ;


    ¡°Right! Everyone, this is a rare opportunity. Healer Elaine is about to perform massive, large-scale biomancy on an adult warrior who is not her. I myself have only seen a half-dozen similar operations in all my decades here, and outside of the School? I know of no facilities that are capable of performing the same operation. Perform your diagnostic skills. Watch. Learn. Level.¡±


    ;


    He¡¯d captured everyone¡¯s attention, and they were hanging onto his every word.


    ;


    ¡°For this operation, Healer Elaine is the boss. She says jump, you jump. She says to get out, you get out. If I tell you the sky is blue, and she says the sky is green, the sky is green. She knows what¡¯s going on here better than I do, and if we screw up, we could kill the patient. Does anyone have an issue with this?¡±


    ;


    Heads shook, but one hand went up. A student I didn¡¯t recognize.


    ;


    ¡°Healer healer? What¡¯s up with that?¡± He forced a laugh, but nobody laughed with him. We just gave him a stare.


    ;


    The head healer coughed.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine was¡­ unfortunately named.¡± He said, but I was more than a bit mad.


    ;


    This was a delicate, high-powered, high-risk operation. I didn¡¯t need jokesters, pranksters, funny people, or people who couldn¡¯t stay serious and on-task here. The more healers present, the higher the risk of someone fucking something up.


    ;


    ¡°Out.¡± I ordered. ¡°If making jokes is your idea of what¡¯s appropriate in the operating theater, you¡¯re not welcome.¡±


    ;


    ¡°But your name is funny.¡± He whined, and wilted under the combined glare of everyone else in the room.


    ;


    He slunk out as Iona came in with the two healers.


    ;


    ¡°Everyone good?¡± Head honcho asked his two minions.


    ;


    They nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Healer Elaine, I¡¯m turning this over to you.¡± My chair arrived as he said that.


    ;


    I directed it next to Iona¡¯s bed, then stood on it so everyone could see me.


    ;


    ¡°Hello everyone! Let¡¯s get right to it. Today, we are performing a full body biomancy operation on Iona here. Our relative magic power to vitality ratio means I can transform 12 grams a second. Iona weighs enough that this operation will take roughly three hours once I begin. Now, you¡¯ve heard it before, but I¡¯ll say it again. Do not blast unimaged heals at Iona. Do not try to simply fix an area. If you do, you¡¯ll end up reverting the changes I¡¯ve made, and worst case, we¡¯ll need to start over from the beginning. Does everyone understand?¡±


    ;


    I got a round muttering of ¡®yes¡¯ and ¡®yes healer¡¯ and ¡®of course¡¯.


    Worked for me.


    ;


    I clapped my hands together to refocus everyone.


    ;


    ¡°Excellent! I will now start preparing my image. This might take a significant amount of time. I will let you know when I begin casting. Iona, the skill¡¯s off, right?¡± I asked her, referring to her vitality-boosting passive.


    ;


    She nodded. ¡°It¡¯s off.¡±


    ;


    I sat back down in my chair, grabbed my notebook on Iona¡¯s build from my bag, and started skimming, rebuilding the image in my mind.


    ;


    I had all of this memorized, checked, and cross-checked. The skimming simply helped form it in my mind properly.


    ;


    Also, I was able to blatantly cheat.


    ;


    I built the image in my mind, designing it to move from Iona¡¯s extremities in, and made sure I was only targeting her. Then tied it off with [Persistent Casting], but using [Biological Manipulation] instead of my more common [Dance with the Heavens]. I opened my eyes.


    ;


    ¡°Everyone ready?¡± I asked.


    ;


    There were some starts and jumping, and a new healer ran out the door to get a few of the other students who had left.


    ;


    I didn¡¯t blame them. Everyone was busy, and someone closing their eyes for an extended period of time wasn¡¯t interesting, not when there were other things to do.


    ;


    ¡°I believe we are ready to assist.¡± The head honcho confirmed after a few minutes.


    ;


    Iona raised her hand, and closed her eyes, her lips silently moving as she prayed to her goddesses.


    ;


    ¡°Hey.¡± Iona cracked her eyes open and turned to me, looking deep into my eyes. ¡°I love you.¡±


    ;


    I gave her a crooked grin that was meant to be reassuring, but I¡¯d be lying if I said my heart wasn¡¯t racing.


    ;


    ¡°I love you as well.¡±


    ;


    Instead of grabbing her hand or anything like that, I leaned back in my chair, and stuck my right foot out, laying it across Iona¡¯s legs. My left foot was touching the floor, and I started to draw mana in as quickly as it was leaving.


    ;


    I could feel the burn as I channeled so much mana through my body. It was a well-studied phenomenon, but no biomancer or healer had ever found physical damage from channeling mana like this. It was simply uncomfortable, and the discomfort slowly increased with time.


    ;


    ¡°Whoo! Tingles!¡± Iona shuddered slightly.


    ;


    ¡°Yeah, legs, arms, lower torso, face, skull, then upper torso. Most of the issues will happen there.¡±


    ;


    ¡°And you¡¯re just¡­ sitting there?¡± Iona asked. I was getting some looks from the other healers.


    ;


    I shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°Yes? I¡¯m channeling my entire mana pool every second. This is difficult from a biological building standpoint, and from a mana and power access perspective, but the actual changing is fairly simple with all my skills.¡±


    ;


    That wasn¡¯t a surprise to anyone here. The only reason this room was used was for major operations that required enormous amounts of mana. The only part that raised a few eyebrows was my magic power to mana ratio being high enough that I could instantly dump my entire mana pool.


    ;


    It was somewhat anticlimactic. The preparation had been the hard part, but the execution was straightforward.


    ;


    ¡°Right. All of you should start casting diagnostic skills. Nothing should be going wrong at this stage. This is a good opportunity to see the ¡®normal¡¯ problems that biomancy is causing in your diagnostics.¡± I told the assembled healers.


    ;


    I followed my own advice and pulled up [Elvenoid Visualization], the tiny trickle of mana it required entirely inconsequential to the overall operation. As I watched, the very edges of Iona¡¯s toes subtly changed, indicating my skill was working.


    ;


    The ones who needed to touch Iona to work their magic jostled around a bit, and even my chair got bumped around. There was a reason I¡¯d made my skill work on only Iona - I foresaw other people touching me, and that would cause issues.


    ;


    ¡°Leveled.¡± One of the healers tersely reported. I lifted an eyebrow, but didn¡¯t say anything. It wasn¡¯t disruptive.


    ;


    ¡°Leveled!¡± Another one called out, and I grinned. My next words would set the tone.


    ;


    ¡°Levels for everyone! Let¡¯s stay focused, but we¡¯re going to be here for a while. Any bets how many levels total, across everyone we get today?¡±


    ;


    I flipped through the [Elvenoid Visualization] again, checking on the various layers of progress. So far so good.


    ;


    ¡°Eight!¡± The first call came in.


    ;


    ¡°Two levels already? Nah, we¡¯re all getting a level. 14.¡± A second prediction was made.


    ;


    ¡°Ummmm¡­¡± Iona looked at me nervously. ¡°Is this alright?¡±


    ;


    I gave her a shrug as I leaned back in my chair more.


    ;


    ¡°It¡¯s when we¡¯re all doing nothing but talking about you and how you¡¯re dying that we have a problem. If we¡¯re chit-chatting about normal life? It means everything¡¯s fine, and everything¡¯s okay.¡± I told her.


    ;


    The blonde gave me a stiff nod.


    ;


    ¡°Alright. Talking about normal life. I like that. Let¡¯s talk about something normal. What about your third class?¡± She slipped into English for that last part, a private language only the two of us spoke.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m still unsure, but yeah, I need to decide, don¡¯t I.¡± I replied back in the same tongue. ¡°Which one¡¯s your favorite?¡±


    ;


    Iona shook her head.


    ;


    ¡°My favorite doesn¡¯t matter. I still think [Bookwyrm] is the best class for you. Think about it! What does the world of your soul look like?¡±


    ;


    ¡°A library.¡± I promptly replied. We¡¯d shared this ages ago.


    ;


    ¡°A library.¡± Iona repeated. ¡°With your guide being a librarian. Not an orchard, with your guide being a gardener.¡±


    ;


    My mind instantly flashed to having a world of my soul being filled with trees and mangos, and needing to harvest the right one. Sounded fun.


    ;


    ¡°Not a zoo, with your guide being a keeper. Now granted, [Bookwyrm] is a reading class, not a librarian class, but it¡¯s quintessentially you. It¡¯s where your soul is most comfortable. It¡¯s why I was delighted to see a [Paladin] class when my soul is a temple, and my guide a priestess. It just fits, in a way like nothing else does.¡± Iona brushed some of her hair out of her face, her hand spasming as parts of it got changed.


    ;


    I stopped and thought about that. I wasn¡¯t sure why Iona hadn¡¯t brought it up before, but it made sense. I was in an intellectual bind. My classes all had powerful arguments for and against them on an intellectual level, but few on an emotional level like Iona was proposing.


    ;


    ¡°That¡­ yes, that could work. Tell me more.¡± I told Iona.


    ;


    She gave me her patented grin. Gods, that grin.


    ;


    ¡°Well, your love of reading and books is obvious, plus the Spatial element always comes with fun goodies. I think¡­¡±


    ;


    We chatted away, the comfortable talk of two people who¡¯d been together for a few years, and had caught up on most of each other¡¯s history already. Who could almost read each other¡¯s minds.


    ;


    Occasionally Iona would twitch or grimace, as one change or another caused a type of discomfort that her [Chilled Mind] didn¡¯t interpret as pain, and didn¡¯t mute. The changes slowly marched through her body, 12 grams a second.


    ;


    Time slowly tickled by, and light conversation surrounded us as the procedure continued. I was burning through a prodigious amount of mana, and I was starting to get an idea of just how crazy all of this was.


    ;


    Assuming an absolutely perfect image, and no large penalty due to my range, and average sized people, I could heal six to twelve decapitations a second. That was how much mana I was pouring into Iona every second, and I was going to do it for two, almost three hours straight.


    ;


    If I didn¡¯t know for sure that the hospital had way more healers than patients, that everyone here was well looked after, and that the levels I was helping provide all the healers would go on to help them save more lives, I¡¯d feel massively guilty over the whole thing.


    ;


    Similarly, I was getting an idea just how insane it was that the white-robed witch was able to fully disintegrate the skinwalker with a single word, a single skill. She¡¯d channeled as much mana, with the power to match, in a single second as what was taking me three hours.


    ;


    It made me think of Destruction, the sharp pang of loss dulled somewhat by time and therapy. It would never go away, but the edges weren¡¯t as jagged, weren¡¯t as raw. I might¡¯ve been able to accomplish something similar by grabbing [Channel] and working on it for¡­ some 450ish days straight.


    ;


    Nevermind.


    ;


    ¡°Healers! Look alive! We¡¯re going into the final segments! Call out when you see a problem and that you¡¯re fixing it, don¡¯t wait for me to assign an issue!¡± I called out as my [Elvenoid Visualization] showed that we were creeping into her upper torso, along with the spinal column, neck, and other critical parts.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m scared.¡± Iona whispered to me.


    ;


    I leaned forward, awkwardly juggling around so I traded from my feet being on her, to holding her hand, all without ever losing contact with my girlfriend.


    ;


    ¡°I know. It¡¯ll be ok.¡± I clasped her hand with both of mine, practically in a prayer pose.


    ;


    She squeezed my hand, then squeezed my hand as her eyes went wide. Blood welled up as she bit her lip, her improved teeth combining with her biting skill in an unfortunate interaction.


    ;


    She wasn¡¯t screaming though, which was great for our focus. The other healers stopped chatting entirely, simply calling out when they spotted a problem and what they were doing to tackle it.


    ;


    I felt the bones in my hand break, [Center of the Universe] dulling the pain. I didn¡¯t say anything about it. Iona must know what she was doing, and I wasn¡¯t going to give her grief over it. I could bear it.


    ;


    [*ding!* [Center of the Universe] leveled up! 470 -> 471].


    ;


    We sat there, locked together, in a private world of our own. Blue starry eyes staring unblinkingly into green starry eyes as my biomancy finished, controlled chaos all around us as the healers kept Iona alive through the procedure.


    ;


    With no fanfare, just like that, we were done.


    ;


    I pulsed [Permanence] through Iona once, twice, five times before the skill finally stopped ¡®taking¡¯.


    ;


    ¡°How do you feel?¡± I asked Iona.


    ;


    ¡°Weird. Hungry. Terrible about your hand.¡±


    ;


    ¡°No aches? Nothing feels wrong? No impending sense of doom?¡± I flicked her visualization back up, running through everything again.


    ;


    She shook her head, the motion exaggeratedly large.


    ;


    ¡°No - whoa! - but I could eat an entire cow.¡±


    ;


    I smiled at her.


    ;


    ¡°That¡¯s normal. Now, as you¡¯ve noticed, you¡¯ve been improved. Small motions only until you¡¯ve worked out your new body.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Understood.¡± She confirmed.


    ;


    I let go of her hand, mentally throwing a lazy ¡®heal¡¯ at it. My bones snapped back into position, the bruise vanishing like it¡¯d never existed. I shook it out once, then started talking.


    ;


    ¡°Excellent work everyone! Do we have a total level count?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Thirty three, plus whatever you got!¡± Someone called out. ¡°Leveling in both classes counts as leveling twice!¡±


    ;


    I grinned.


    ;


    ¡°Zero levels for me! My biomancy class is capped at 128.¡±


    ;


    There were some boos at the announcement, predominantly from the person who¡¯d bet 35 levels total from everyone, and was now losing to the person who¡¯d bet 32. The stakes were simply bragging rights, but it was a fun team building activity.


    ;


    ¡°We need to move Iona to a recovery room. That¡¯s all people, thank you for coming! Hope the levels and experience were worth your time. I can¡¯t say how much I appreciate it.¡±


    ;


    A few of the healers left, immediately off to other tasks. There were a few more rounds of self-congratulations, and the crowd dispersed. Four healers stayed back with a stretcher, and I carefully directed moving Iona from the bed to the stretcher, and off to a room.


    ;


    ¡°You know, I could get used to this sort of treatment.¡± Iona said. ¡°I¡¯m still hungry, and I¡¯m under healer¡¯s orders not to move much¡­¡± She fluttered her eyes at me.


    ;


    I snorted at the blatant request.


    ;


    ¡°Yeah, yeah, I¡¯ll feed you your whole cow.¡± I said.


    ;


    Iona wriggled her eyebrows at me, asking another question. I decided to half ignore it.


    ;


    ¡°You should be drawing again by the end of the week.¡± I told her. I was being extra-generous on the timeframe. Nobody got mad when they were told a week to recover and it took them three days, but if I told Iona it¡¯d take a day and it took three instead, that just caused bad feelings all around.


    ;


    I got pouty lips, but we were in a recovery room already.


    ;


    It was the rare ailment that a healer couldn¡¯t just wave a hand and fix, especially with the sheer number of different types of healers we had present. Occasionally, a problem would arise that would require moderate recovery times. Like some of the biomancy patients I had brought back to the hospital.


    ;


    Or like having a nervous system rewired, and muscles dramatically strengthened. Iona would need a few days of physical therapy before she was in control of herself again. Her dexterity, and to a lesser extent, her vitality, would be helping, along with there being fundamentally nothing wrong with her, but changing all of her muscles wasn¡¯t the same as simply leveling up and getting more stats.


    ;


    I fed Iona, carefully slicing each piece of food into small, bite-sized pieces, and ladling a hearty stew into her mouth. At first she was awkward, her mouth opening too large and grinding too hard, but as I watched she quickly regained control of that one small portion of herself.


    ;


    The [Physical Therapist] came as we finished up.


    ;


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry, am I intruding?¡± She asked as she poked her head around the door.


    ;


    I shook my head.


    ;


    ¡°I was just finishing up. I¡¯m going to grab a few things, then I¡¯ll probably be your next patient.¡± I cheerfully told the therapist.


    ;


    I got a doubtful look from her.


    ;


    ¡°Don¡¯t hurt yourself.¡± She told me, then turned to Iona.


    ;


    ¡°Hi, I have some students with me today, do you mind? I¡¯m healer¡­¡± She started to give her usual speech.


    ;


    I mouthed the words ¡®I love you¡¯ to Iona, and got a cheeky would-be wink in return. It was more like a comical grimace.


    ;


    I left to get some supplies for my own biomancy operation.


    ;

 Chapter 373: Operation: The Improved Elaine X

    First stop: The library. I was going to be laid up, potentially for weeks, and I wanted to have some light reading. What Marcelle had said about the Exterreri Empire was interesting, and I wanted to get some reading done on the subject. I didn¡¯t want to be trying to work while I was convalescing, and the topic was interesting.


    ;


    Ok, fine.


    ;


    Everything was interesting to read about, if done well.


    ;


    Second was home, where I¡¯d previously bought a few pounds of powdered titanium. I was doing biological manipulations, and the skill didn¡¯t extend towards conjuring up metal. The plan was to slowly drink a titanium-smoothie mix over the next few days after my biomancy operation, and let my body properly process and deposit it into the right places. It would also let me know if I¡¯d done that part of the operation correctly, and if I needed to make adjustments. Far easier to make changes now, while I still had the biomancy class, than discover it wasn¡¯t working in a few years!


    ;


    It was one of the quirks of healing magic. See, the body continuously updated what it ¡®should¡¯ look like to the System, and healing magic checked on what the body ¡®should¡¯ look like when making repairs and fixes. It¡¯s why normal healing magic didn¡¯t handle age or starvation. The changes made to the body updated the ¡®template¡¯ to the new look. Fat people got healed back to being fat, and skinny people got healed back to being skinny.


    ;


    It got weird with things like cancer not updating the template, but brain injuries did - after a short period of time. Seven different types of funky.


    ;


    When I finished with [Biological Manipulation], my bones wouldn¡¯t have any titanium, although my body would ¡®know¡¯ what to do with any ingested titanium. Similarly, my template would be updated to not have any titanium in the image. As I drank the titanium smoothies, and as the metal was deposited onto my bones, my image would get updated, just like it would if I ate thirty pounds of cake and gained a dozen pounds. If my arm got broken, [Dance with the Heavens] would restore my arm, metal hexagon pattern in my bones and all.


    ;


    Speaking of cakes.


    ;


    Third was the cafeteria, where I loaded up on food. I made sure Auri and Fenrir had access to everything they needed, and I was back at the hospital.


    ;


    I quickly found healer Lippe.


    ;


    ¡°Hey Lippe!¡± I called out to the suspected noble.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine. Is something wrong?¡± She asked me.


    ;


    ¡°Eh, not really. I¡¯m checking myself in.¡±


    ;


    I got a skeptical look. Fair, because I hadn¡¯t explained my plans to biomancy myself to the facility yet. I just hadn¡¯t needed to make a big announcement ahead of time or anything. This was me letting them know about my plans.


    ;


    ¡°Why?¡± She asked.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m about to biomancy myself, and I¡¯m going to need the works. A healer in case I screw up and pass out with a bad build, living assistance, physical therapy after.¡± Biomancy changes on the scale I was performing always came with a significant amount of ¡®how do I walk again?¡¯ occurring after, as all the nerves got scrambled and rewired. It wasn¡¯t a big deal, but it would make for a few annoying days. It was why Marcelle had suggested I plan on two weeks for recovery after performing the biomancy. The recovery in question was figuring out how to walk again, and the like.


    ;


    Lippe shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°If the experience and levels are anything close to your earlier performance, everyone will be banging down the doors to participate. Can you wait a few hours to get a group together?¡±


    ;


    I could push the issue, and just do it now, but why bother? I could help a dozen students level and learn, just by being patient.


    ;


    Pun intended.


    ;


    A hop, skip, jump, and two hours later, and I was in a bed next to Iona¡¯s. We weren¡¯t using the fancy arcanite high-mana room for this, since it was a self-operation, AKA it was only going to cost around 80,000 mana - and that was with a generous margin of error.


    ;


    ¡°Alright everyone, thanks for coming. I see a few of you are still around from this morning.¡± I winced. This was so much more awkward than directing things.


    ;


    ¡°Anyways, this is going to be a little different. All of my changes are going to happen at once. Nothing should go wrong, but you never know. I¡¯m likely going to end up with a blinding headache, so if I scream and clutch my head, ignore that. After that? Well, I¡¯ll be done, and hopefully I won¡¯t need anyone to help. With that being said, I can¡¯t hold onto my image once I¡¯ve made it. It¡¯s far too complex for me to get distracted by anything. I estimate two hours total to build everything, and you¡¯ll know when I¡¯m almost done when I get to the last page of my notebook.¡± I tapped the book in question. ¡°You might want to find something else until that happens. Oh! If I pass out, get help from some of the other biomancers. They¡¯ll be able to use my notes to figure out what went wrong, although I did have a number of professors sign off that the build should work. Although that was before the edit I put in.¡± I was rambling, and shut up.


    ;


    Most of the healers wished me luck and walked away.


    ;


    ¡°You got this brainosaurus!¡± Iona cheered me from the other bed. ¡°You¡¯ll totally knock¡­ uh¡­ you¡¯ve got this!¡±


    ;


    I gave her a thumbs up, then focused.


    ;


    I wanted to also use this time to make my new [Persistent Casting], but the issue with making my heals was I also included all the ways I could be harmed, and how to optimally fix it. That would make this take tons longer, and I couldn¡¯t take up everyone¡¯s time like that.


    ;


    However, I did have the time to do this properly. I isolated my left hand, and focused on everything I was going to do to it. Bones, joints, tendons, ligaments, capillary system, blood, nerves, the whole works. It didn¡¯t neatly tie back to the rest of my body, but that was alright.


    ;


    I focused on building the image just for my hand, took a deep breath, and executed the change. My hand briefly writhed in front of me, but critically, [Smooth as a Baby¡¯s Bottom] didn¡¯t level up. I immediately blasted a normal heal through my hand, reverting the changes.


    ;


    Excellent. The System didn¡¯t think I¡¯d made any correctable mistakes with the design of my left hand. Time to do the left foot!


    ;


    Round and round I went, slowly performing biomancy on a single part of my body, checking it for errors, then reverting them back. I started with my extremities, and slowly worked my way in.


    ;


    I felt comfortable enough to do my - calling them minor organs felt wrong, but organs that I could survive going haywire for a minute or two - internal organs as well, ensuring that I hadn¡¯t made any mistakes, that nothing had been critically overloaded.


    ;


    I could handle some small changes with [Smooth as a Baby¡¯s Bottom], but if too many things went wrong at once, that was a message to me to go back to the drawing board and figure out what had gone wrong.


    ;


    I had done my research. The skill wasn¡¯t leveling.


    ;


    After checking my lungs, then reverting them, it was time for the main event. I flipped back to the first page of my notebook, and started to build the full-body, full-system image required to completely transform myself. One piece. Two pieces.


    ;


    Three pieces.


    ;


    The hundred, thousands of tiny pieces that made up a single, functional human body. I pictured it all, in every detail I¡¯d written down, all the modifications and changes. I¡¯d been doing nothing else but working on this project for months now, and the picture came easily to me. Heck, I¡¯d just formed the image for every single part of the puzzle!


    ;


    Repetition was the mother of learning, even when I didn¡¯t have the skill.


    ;


    Time flew as I completed the image, and without fanfare or announcing it - every bit of focus on keeping the complex structure in my mind - I triggered [Biological Manipulation].


    ;


    I was instantly slammed with a blinding headache. I was torn with a moment of indecision - to use [Permanence] or not. I erred on the side of caution, holding off on the skill. I gasped for breath, but it didn¡¯t feel like anything was happening.


    ;


    This was expected, but unwelcome. My blood was super thick, and my skills didn¡¯t have much about creating oxygenated blood. My old blood was still there, simply transformed, but the relative oxygen saturation had dramatically dropped, due to the dramatically increased capacity.


    ;


    It was rapidly reoxygenating, my lungs doing work, but it took time for it to reach every part of my body.


    ;


    No, worse was the assault on my senses. I could hear everything, every pin drop like a cannon in my ears, the softly glowing lights like my attempts at blinding someone with Radiance. I could smell what someone three floors away and seven rooms over had eaten two days ago. I had sensory input I couldn¡¯t interpret, that I¡¯d need help understanding.


    ;


    And all that was pain. Terrible, horrible, vicious pain. Like spikes going through my brain, like a hangover I couldn¡¯t heal, like the worst migraine of my life.


    ;


    I closed my eyes and just rode it out.


    ;


    What else was there to do?


    ;


    ;


    ¡°Elaine?¡± A whispered word went off like a bombshell in my ears. Iona had noticed me stirring.


    ;


    I tried to open my eyes, my arm shooting up towards the ceiling instead.


    ;


    This was going to be harder than I thought.


    ;


    ¡°I can see you¡¯re up. Good. Can you eat?¡±


    ;


    I tried to open my mouth, and wriggled my right toes. I tried to lift my left arm up, and arched my back instead. I tried to lift my right leg up - figuring nothing was hooked up to the right thing anymore, and I should just skip my right arm entirely in my question to figure out how to do things again - and my eyes opened.


    ;


    I tried to wiggle my toes, hoping to open my mouth.


    ;


    I peed myself. In front of Iona. I wanted to die of shame.


    ;


    Fuck me, this was going to be a long recovery period.


    ;


    ¡°Hey Elaine, you doing okay?¡± Iona plopped down next to me as she whispered. The heavenly scent of freshly cut mangos accompanied her.


    ;


    I could also smell the slightly sour smell of the mango skin, now gone. Iona had been handling them herself, personally, and the faintest metallic scent came to me. I think it was steel, reacting with the subtle oils on her skin, telling me what type of knife she¡¯d used to cut the mangos.


    ;


    There was a depth and subtlety to scents and smells that I was learning, an aspect I hadn¡¯t considered. I knew the coppery smell of blood - as a human. I was entirely unprepared for the raw depth of scent that simple copper had, and I needed to learn and catalog everything in multiple new scents now. A long trip to the Museum was in order. Maybe a dedicated class to handling powerful senses.


    ;


    I groaned, and lifted a hand. I¡¯d figured that much out.


    ;


    I used [Mantle] to draw words.


    ;


    Too much everything. Might¡¯ve overdone it on the senses.


    ;


    Iona shrugged her now extra-massive shoulders.


    ;


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s easy. Just get a skill to help you out.¡±


    ;


    I frowned, or tried to. I kicked the side of my bed instead. I then remembered the new way I needed to frown, and properly did it. I didn¡¯t want to blow a skill slot just to manage my senses. That felt like a terrible idea, I¡¯d lock a skill slot permanently. I was getting better and better at processing the world around me every day.


    ;


    But, the idea had some merit. I should investigate it before dismissing it out of hand, especially since it came from Iona. I did have a practically free general skill in [Anatomical Drawing].


    ;


    Alright, give me some time to work through it. I wrote to Iona.


    ;


    ¡°Cheers, enjoy!¡± I heard her relax against her chair, the wood creaking slightly as she readjusted. Not that anyone else would¡¯ve heard it.


    ;


    I took a deep, bracing breath, and mentally prepared myself for the incoming anguish. I then focused on my senses, on controlling them, and getting everything I could from them.


    ;


    My headache spiked, like five pickaxes being driven through different parts of my brain - my main brain - and I was rewarded with a series of System notifications.


    ;


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Sharpened Senses]! Would you like to take this skill?]


    ;


    Heck no.


    ;


    Well, okay, maybe one day in the future I might. It was a fairly solid skill, but right now my problem was my senses were too sharp, and I was having trouble adapting.


    ;


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Dulled Senses]! Would you like to take this skill?]


    ;


    Ugh. This was almost as bad. It¡¯d be a crutch, and I¡¯d either have to undo the crutch in the future, or just live with worse senses. It didn¡¯t fix my problem. If I wanted to dull my senses, I didn¡¯t need a skill. Blindfolds and earplugs would do it.


    ;


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [The World Around Me]! Would you like to take this skill?]


    ;


    It wasn¡¯t obvious from the name what the skill did, and I dug a little deeper.


    ;


    The World Around Me: You¡¯ve dug deeper than most to extract every little detail of the world around you. You¡¯ve honed and trained your senses, then brought them to the peak of performance. You¡¯ve deepened the spectrum of colors you can see, you¡¯ve given yourself the ability to see in the dark and underwater, to focus at great distances. You¡¯ve improved your sense of smell beyond what any natural creature has, along with allowing your hearing to hit upon the full range of possibility. You¡¯ve added new senses to yourself. Bring them all into a cohesive whole, and know what is going around you. Larger sphere of awareness per level. Awareness and details dependent on senses and knowledge. -222 mana regeneration.


    ;


    Wow. I wasn¡¯t sure if that would fix my sensory issue, but I was happy to see what the skill could do for me.


    ;


    I took it, dropping [Anatomical Drawing] - no nausea!! - and the world¡­ changed. For the better.


    ;


    Before I was interpreting what I could filter out of my sensory overload to pick out details, like tuning into a single conversation in a busy marketplace. Yeah, I could hear everyone chatting, but I was only focused on one conversation, only operating on one bandwidth.


    ;


    Now, in a small sphere around me, I knew everything that was going on, with perfect clarity. It was like I could hear every conversation in the marketplace, and tune into it, and somehow understand and follow what everyone was doing. Within the small sphere I had.


    ;


    This was a powerful skill. My radius was small, for now, but I knew everything that was going on under my bed. I couldn¡¯t see under my bed, but my skill, combined with my senses, could.


    ;


    I didn¡¯t know what type of wood the bed was made out of, but I suspected if I took the time to smell different woods, different oils and glues, that I¡¯d get a fantastically detailed look at what was going on.


    ;


    Outside of the sphere, it was the same mess of fishmongers yelling about the latest catch after a tsunami had dumped an ocean¡¯s worth of fish into their stalls.


    ;


    But the skill was taking the edge off of it.


    ;


    ¡°Everything alright?¡± Iona whispered to me, the noise now manageable and bearable.


    ;


    Well, I just decided that I need to sniff glue. My [Mantle] told Iona.


    ;


    Without looking, I could tell that she was putting on a pout.


    ;


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [The World Around You] leveled up! 1->2].


    ;


    Leveling the skill up had one of the more obvious effects of any general skill I¡¯d used. My sphere of awareness expanded, and the floor was now included. I could tell every swirl in the wood, where the moisture was bending and warping things, how long ago it had been since it was last mopped, the fact that it hadn¡¯t been cleaned properly since the last time a female human had bled on it.


    ;


    I was far too intimately familiar with the stench of blood.


    ;


    ¡°Definitely feeling better.¡± Iona muttered. ¡°Right, I need my cuddleosaurus back. The more you practice, the sooner you¡¯re coordinated, and the faster you¡¯re out of that bed and back into ours.¡±


    ;


    I rolled my eyes - successfully - at Iona¡¯s comment. I tried to stick my tongue out, but that was connected to the flail-bone instead.


    ;


    ¡°I invented a game!¡± Iona brought out the bag of mangos, like she¡¯d had any hope of hiding them from me. ¡°It¡¯s called, we¡¯re both going to practice moving!¡±


    ;


    She plucked a mango cube out of her bag, and using her [Telekinesis], gently hovered it over my head.


    ;


    ¡°Good luck!¡± She cheerfully called out. I¡¯d gotten practice eating, and I thought about the new, proper movements I needed to make. Shark-like, I snapped forward and up, only to watch with dismay as the mango cube floated away from me.


    ;


    I gave Iona the mightiest pout I could.


    ;


    She lightly tutted me.


    ;


    ¡°Going to have to work harder than that for your mango.¡±


    ;


    Never had I been so motivated.


    ;


    ;


    Recovery was slow and painful. Iona was done in less than a day, only needing a single session with a physical therapist to readjust herself. The changes I¡¯d crafted were relatively small, after all.


    ;


    Mine were not. I was like a baby, although I had quite a few advantages over one. I knew what the heck walking was, and that I wanted to do it, for example. I had a mature body, and wouldn¡¯t get self-sabotaged by muscles not working.


    ;


    A few days had gone by with no unexpected problems, and I felt comfortable enough to use [Permanence] on myself to lock in the changes.


    ;


    My senses had been one of my largest stumbling blocks, but [The World Around Me] had neatly taken care of that problem, while also giving me a sphere of complete awareness. I was rapidly becoming a huge fan.


    ;


    Lying in bed wasn¡¯t helping me, and I spent every waking moment working on regaining control. There was no way to make titanium-dust smoothies taste good, and I simply elected to drink them in the most concentrated way I could, to just get it done and over with.


    ;


    Unfortunately I couldn¡¯t drink them all in one sitting, my body couldn¡¯t process that much metal at once. Had to sip a little every day. It was going to be worth it.


    ;


    There were more enjoyable exercises than drinking metal.


    ;


    Reading books, for example, was great for practicing my fine motor control. Mmmmhmm. That was totally the reason, and not my need for a mental break from the frustrating betrayal my body constantly performed.


    ;


    [Mantle of the Stars] could slowly move, and it was solid enough to hold a book. I could read as soon as I¡¯d worked out how to open my eyes again, and how to focus with them.


    ;


    I could even read in the dark, the tiny glimmer of light coming off the [Mantle] enough to see like it was bright as day!


    ;


    The first few books were boring treaties on how the Exterreri Empire currently worked. Lots of vampires, predominately in cities, used clouds of ash over cities to prevent the sunlight from reaching them. Humans were the predominant farmers in the ashless countryside, and honestly the whole thing was dry enough that I nearly fell asleep.


    ;


    A Nearly Complete History of the Exterreri Empire was written more like a novel, and dramatically more enjoyable. It started with their creation myth.


    ;


    The one known as the Roadbuilder, Titanslayer, Faminevanquisher, Dragonfriend, and more has more titles and stories to his name than we can possibly describe. The gods blessed the birth of Maximus Atius Draconis, showering the humble cottage in which he was born with rainbows, an eagle alighting on his crib. For he was a direct descendant of one of the gods themselves, foretold to greatness.


    ;


    I snorted - now connected to the fart bone - in disbelief.


    ;


    Divination and prophecy didn¡¯t exist. Full stop. Not even the gods could do it.


    ;


    As a babe, he strangled a venomous snake that had slithered into his crib, demonstrating the strength of arms he would be known for. He was talking by the time he was six months old, and was writing poetry at nine. As a child, before his System unlocked, he cleverly designed a trap for an infamous man-eating lion. His first class was [Paragon of Perfection]. He joined the colosseum young, and boasted a record of 251 wins and 7 losses in his time there.


    ;


    I remembered what my fellow Rangers had said about the colosseum. Someone was always ¡®supposed¡¯ to win.


    ;


    When the barbarian invaders came, he led his fellow countrymen in fighting them off, campaigning across the land. He fell in love with their princess, but alas, cruel fate tore them apart. She was promised to another tribe, and his love moved mountains and diverted rivers. He fought the barbarian¡¯s champion in single combat for her hand, and when their vile treachery caused his spear to break, an elemental of Lightning, said to have taken the form of the most beautiful woman in existence, gifted him the legendary spear Culexabri.


    ;


    Barbarians, as a general rule, didn¡¯t have the society or culture needed to have a [Princess]! Honestly.


    ;


    He saved a dragon from certain death, and the creature, wisest and greatest of the god¡¯s creation, who saw the nobility of his soul and entrusted his youngest child to be a companion to Atius.


    ;


    I was smelling bullshit. Quite literally, the stables weren¡¯t too far from the hospital, and the wind was blowing in the right direction. I bet with more practice, I could even figure out what the bulls were eating!


    ;


    Having fought for the peace of the land, his fellow countrymen wanted to crown him king. Thrice did he refuse, for he was a simple man of the land, no great [King] or [Emperor]. Thrice more did the people of the land come to him, insisting he wear the crown, that he lead them and protect him.


    ;


    Eventually, he bowed to their wishes, and accepted the crown, naming himself Emperor Night, First and Last of His Name.


    ;


    My blood ran cold at the last sentence.


    ;


    All this time, I¡¯d been looking for hints of Night. For details, information. Anything.


    All this time, it had been right in front of me, in the history texts of the Exterreri Empire. I knew they had a number of vampires. I hadn¡¯t done more than a cursory glance at the current leadership structure, not seeing his name anywhere.


    ;


    Finally, I was seeing his name - untranslated from the Creation original - in a textbook about the history of the Empire.


    ;


    And I didn¡¯t believe a word of the rest of it. Especially if Night was involved, head of the ¡®Smoke and Mirrors¡¯ Sentinels. Now that I was looking for it, the fingerprints of his propaganda were all over the pages.


    ;


    Not him, personally, but his brand.


    ;


    I knew I had to go to the Exterreri Empire.


    ;


    ;


    With Iona greatly motivating me, along with my physical therapist, and nothing being fundamentally wrong with me, I managed to regain my faculties in two weeks. It took another two - burning through the remainder of the quarter, along with the break between quarters - for me to get to an acceptable level of performance and control over my body.


    ;


    What I considered acceptable wasn¡¯t what most other people had in mind. I still thought of myself as a Sentinel.


    ;


    ¡°Ready. Set. GO!¡± Shirayuki called out, and I was off sprinting as she started to say go. My reflexes had been enhanced, the brain-ropes along with the kirin nerves getting me off the starting block in a time measured in hundredths of a second.


    ;


    I was forced to dig into the ground as I ran, flinging clods of dirt behind me as I sprinted the length of the field.


    ;


    The issue hadn¡¯t been as pronounced earlier. The difference here was my fundamental speed had dramatically increased. It was like walking on sand, versus running on sand. I had gone from ¡®walking¡¯ on the dirt, to ¡®running¡¯ on the dirt, and my dexterity couldn¡¯t handle the increase.


    ;


    Putting it another way:


    ;


    If I had no stats at all, if it was just my body running like this on dirt, I would be causing the same problem. Since my dexterity was slightly out of balance, forget negating the effect, it was getting amplified.


    ;


    Traction was now an issue. Maybe I should get [Traction] as a skill?


    ;


    If I was on stone, I wouldn¡¯t have any of these issues.


    ;


    For now, I sort of ¡®skipped¡¯ as I ran, the air blasting around me and causing significant drag. I closed my third eyelid, the membrane acting like goggles against the wind.


    ;


    I had my sphere of awareness, but I was moving too damn fast for it to be useful. The sensory input was there one moment, gone the next. As the skill leveled, as I got used to it, I imagined it would become more useful.


    ;


    Runes on the bottom of my feet were the first idea, but it had problems. All things for me to sort out after I was done with this dash.


    ;


    And I was done. I put on the brakes, plowing a pair of long furrows in the dirt as I tried to stop myself.


    ;


    ¡°Time!¡± Shirayuki called out, then was silent.


    ;


    I didn¡¯t need to pant or catch my breath or anything. The run had been nothing, barely a light warm up.


    ;


    What was taking her so long to announce my time?


    ;


    ¡°Elaine. 3200 meter dash, 18 seconds!¡± She eventually called out from across the field.


    ;


    I mentally ran the conversions, then staggered as the implications hit me.


    ;


    I¡¯d been slowed down by a dozen physical factors. Poor traction. Wind drag. It was one of my first full out sprints since getting a handle on myself, and I knew as I got better at moving at high speeds, I¡¯d shave off quite a few seconds. Three to five. A huge number.


    ;


    I wasn¡¯t quite there yet, but I was eyeing up the sound barrier as a target.


    ;


    ¡°Frankly amazing time, Elaine.¡± Shirayuki spoke from across the field, but I could hear her, no problem. ¡°You¡¯re faster than nearly any other physical classer I¡¯ve seen in your age division. Work on your control, get a skill or two to manage the impact you have, and you¡¯ll be unstoppable. I recommend enchanted boots. Ready for the next test?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Ready!¡± I called out. Shirayuki¡¯s suggestion of enchanted boots made me feel like an idiot. Of course those would be the perfect solution to my traction problem! I focused a little too much on myself, and all the things I could do to fix my problems, forgetting that sometimes, other people had useful, powerful skills as well, and could simply make a solution to my problem.


    ;


    It was an issue with my mind set. I needed to readjust my thinking, and consider reaching out a hand to others and asking for help, instead of insisting I do everything myself.


    ;


    Physical stats weren¡¯t linear. Doubling strength didn¡¯t mean I could lift twice as much. There was quite a lot of research done on the topic, and best as the [Scholars] and [Researchers] had figured out, there was a cube-root factor to strength. It was mitigated by the physical stats multiplying each other.


    ;


    My biomancy had done great things for me though. It had multiplied my baseline, so my strength stat had a better base to work off of, for example. Going from 5 times my normal strength to 10 times my normal strength would usually require getting my strength stat about 8 times as many stat points as it currently had invested.


    ;


    But by dramatically improving the base, I got all those ¡®stats¡¯ ¡®for free¡¯, and they¡¯d always stick with me. The biggest winner was my speed.


    ;


    I was almost as fast as the physically-focused, vow-boosted Iona was.


    ;


    Well, before I¡¯d made similar changes on her.


    3200 meter dash: 18 seconds.


    3200 meter dash when flying: 19 seconds.


    Obstacle course: 11 seconds.


    ;


    Deadlift: 1200 lbs.


    Bench Press: 900 lbs.


    ;


    I could see an individual blade of grass from across the stadium. I could see the little patterns on an ant crawling up the stem of a clover.


    ;


    I could rotate my head almost completely around.


    ;


    Best of all, I felt like I was filled with energy. Like I could move and jump and run for days on end, and never slow down.


    ;


    Frankly, I was thrilled. Operation: The Improved Elaine was an unqualified success, and the changes would stay with me for the rest of my life. I could now grab a different third class, and enjoy the best of both worlds. It was almost like having half of a fourth class!


    ;


    First things first though - anti-friction runes on my skin. They were going to be skin-colored, and only light up when in use, which I thought was pretty cool. The ability to ¡®slip¡¯ through the air, and ignore wind resistance, would be a nice utility that could last for the rest of my life, and wasn¡¯t exactly a good spell to stash in a spellbook.


    ;


    I was back in the world of my soul, resetting my third class. Grabbing my real third class.


    ;


    Librarian was smiling as I came, a single book waiting for me on the table. I shook my head as I looked at it.


    ;


    ¡°How did it take me so long to realize?¡± I asked her. ¡°How could I have made any other choice?¡±


    ;


    She didn¡¯t say a word. She simply gestured around, at the tens of thousands of colorful books that surrounded us. That reminded me of the hours, the days, I¡¯d spend doing nothing but perusing them, because reading books in the library was fun. Of spending hours curled up in a chair, reading about the adventures of maybe-Elaine.


    ;


    Of the fact that my world, the inner me, was a library. That books were my thing, that they¡¯d always been my thing. From reading extensively in my first life, to raiding libraries just to learn how to read, telling tales to Rangers for a chance at life, to writing scrolls and trying to invent books. When I¡¯d found myself stuck in a dragon¡¯s lair, the treasure I¡¯d been most interested in were her books, not her gold or weapons. I¡¯d spent hours browsing, desperately trying to find any book that I could crack open and read.


    I was a [Bookwyrm], through and through.

 Chapter 374 - Interlude - Around the world

    Iona woke up to a punch in the face.


    ;


    It was a mostly harmless punch, the fist having no direction or intent behind it. The Valkyrie opened her eyes, but stayed lying down, grabbing Elaine¡¯s fist as it flailed again.


    ;


    She was having another nightmare. One of the hazards of sharing a bed with Elaine. She was whimpering, her face twisted in anguish and longing.


    ;


    Iona wrapped her arms around Elaine, and the woman immediately calmed down. She shifted in her sleep, putting her head on Iona¡¯s chest, then settled down. Her breathing slowed into long, deep breaths, and Iona watched the tension leech out of her muscles.


    ;


    A small smile crossed her face, and she kissed the top of Elaine¡¯s head.


    ;


    ¡°Love you.¡± She whispered. ¡°Sleep well.¡±


    ;


    Iona closed her eyes, and was well-trained in the art of falling asleep whenever, however. She was back asleep in seconds.


    ;


    ;


    [*ding!* [Eternal Artist of Living Flesh, Blood, and Life] leveled up! 830->831!]


    ;


    ¡°Again?¡± Marcelle remarked to nobody.


    ;


    Vampires were lucky to level once a decade. This was the seventh time she had leveled in three years.


    ;


    Something is going on. Something big. Marcelle thought to herself as she let the saber-toothed rabbit escape from her grip, back into its cage.


    ;


    She couldn¡¯t ignore it any longer. She had to find out what was generating all those levels.


    ;


    First things first. See if the other professors had noticed a similar phenomenon¡­ or if the other vampires had.


    ;


    Tolthor, son of Lamae, was the most famous, highest-leveled [Postman] in the world. He accepted letters for delivery, any time of day or night, and had the power and skills to simply teleport the letter or small package to its intended destination.


    ;


    His prices weren¡¯t cheap though. He averaged a single letter a week, and was paid so extravagantly, he was able to live in the lap of luxury in a manner mere mortals could only envy. His postal territory generally only covered the Immortal lands, but on rare occasions he was called to send a letter to mortal royalty.


    ;


    A package, anywhere in the world, in an instant.


    ;


    It was a far drop from the greatest [Postman] in the world to the more common ones. The best reasonable message delivery was the Ceaseless Circuit, their bags and powerful [Couriers] marked by a scroll with wings. The Immortals who found themselves working for the Ceaseless Circuit were the best, fleet of foot and untouchable. They were not quite as instantaneous as Tolthor was, but they boasted they could get a letter delivered anywhere in the world within three days.


    ;


    If one read the fine print on their boast, they specifically meant the southern continent, and messages delivered to the northern continent weren¡¯t guaranteed, nor were messages to the School.


    ;


    Flying fortresses were right out. The target needed to have a fixed, non-moving address.


    ;


    Within the Ceaseless Circuit were multiple levels of priority, from high-value, as quick as possible delivery, to the more mundane mailbags that tracked from town to town, the cheapest letters delivered in bulk when one of the organizers got an entry level runner to move the mailbag.


    ;


    That was, of course, the well-organized Immortal organization, who had the time, and more importantly, the stability to form a wide-reaching network.


    ;


    Mortal lands were trickier. Oh, they attempted to mimic the Ceaseless Circuit. Express Parcels Unlimited attempted to make similar claims to the Ceaseless Circuit, but not even the most fanatical supporters believed they were close to the same class. No, the post in most of the world worked on a town or city level. If a villager somehow knew how to read and write, knew another person who could also read and write, and somehow had the spare coin to send and receive letters, they would need to travel to the nearby town just to drop a letter off, and hope that the post would move it along, that enough coin had been attached to the letter to make it worth it.


    ;


    Nobody wanted to deliver a letter across multiple mortal lands, and there frankly was little communication across those lands. Who needed to talk with someone more than a county or two away? Who knew anyone more than a county or two away? The life of the average citizen of Pallos didn¡¯t include much travel, and most travelers were looked upon with a degree of suspicion.


    ;


    Multinational letters were a tricky thing.


    ;


    Take the letter one Vitus had written in Rolland, postmarked for Sangino. 30 arcanite coins had been attached for its delivery. The trip was a long one, and a [Courier] picked it up along with a few other long-distance letters as she delivered an urgent message to the Blade of Grass Sect, located in The Great Tang. She took 5 of the 30 coins for herself, a meager amount made worth it only because she was making the trip already.


    ;


    Now the letter had gotten closer to its destination, but there were only 25 coins left. It stewed for some time, no mail heading towards the Forbidden Four users of Nime or the tribes of Tuvan. Eventually, enough westward bound mail piled up, that a courier finally was interested in hopping across the Tuvan Tribes into Lithos. He took 10 of the remaining coins - excessive, for the length the letter still needed to travel. There, it was snowed in for a winter, with no couriers interested in making the trip through the snow for the paltry amounts offered.


    ;


    The letter¡¯s lurching journey continued, the pay regulating the letter to the bottom of the pile, only taken up by runners bundling enough letters together to make the trip worthwhile for themselves. After all, 15 coins to travel a third of the way around the world? It wasn¡¯t close to enough.


    ;


    Still, piece by piece, hop by hop, the mail system did work, getting the letter to its destination nearly four years after it was postmarked.


    ;


    Nowhere close to the record for longest delivery. That record belonged to a letter in a watertight safe that had sunk on a ship, retrieved 200 years after sinking. Once it arrived in Sangino, with a single coin attached for delivery to the door in question, the street runners practically fought over who¡¯d get to deliver it.


    ;


    The address was well-known for its generous tips. A fact, if known to the couriers halfway across the world, would¡¯ve gotten the letter delivered much more quickly.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°All rise for her majesty, the Golden Lioness, Queen Aimee Morgans the Fourth!¡±


    ;


    The dukes and duchesses of Rolland stood attention in the chamber off to the throne room as Queen Aimee swept into the room, in the appropriate ceremonial dress for the occasion, the golden lion stitched huge. A rare sight, compared to the usual armor she was known to wear.


    ;


    It wasn¡¯t just the highest levels of nobility in the Crown¡¯s discussion chamber - her most trusted advisor, the hand, was present, along with the treasurer, and a number of other high ranking members of the court.


    ;


    The queen glided to her seat and sat down, everyone else continuing to stand by their chairs.


    ;


    ¡°We permit you all to sit.¡± She declared after a moment, and seats were taken. ¡°We would like to thank you all for attending this year¡¯s tournament, and for bringing matters of the realm for us to discuss. Duke Ector Connors. I believe you mentioned you had an urgent item?¡±


    ;


    The duke made a fist so tight his fingernails turned white. He snarled.


    ;


    ¡°The Han empire¡¯s civil war continues to spill over our borders. We¡­¡±


    ;


    On and on the conversation went, matters of the realm discussed before the council of the highest peers.


    ;


    ¡°Duchess Marie Argent.¡± The queen called.


    ;


    She shared a look with Duke Montalembert, who gave her a small nod.


    ;


    ¡°The Valkyrie Order.¡± She said. ¡°They are simply unable to hold their land. They are unable to protect their serfs. It is causing unrest. It is breeding monsters, who then lash out at my vassals. They simply do not have the forces needed to support and sustain the area they cover. Famous or not, their sparkling reputation no longer matches the reality of the situation. They are not one of us. I move that they be declared Outlaws, such that their holdings and wealth can be used to properly recompense those of us who have suffered, and proper management over their territories can resume.¡±


    ;


    That sparked an argument, an old one. One that had been discussed many times in drawing rooms and dance floors, but never brought as a petition before the Queen.


    ;


    The Queen sat back as her nobles argued. And oh, what flowery arguments they made. Fundamentally, it came down to wealth and power. The Argent and Montalembert families would be enriched, and become more powerful if the Valkyries were outlawed, and argued as such that they should. The Watsons, Barnetts, and Connors argued against it, not because they believed they were right, but because it would empower a rival.


    ;


    Such was the petty politics of the kingdom.


    ;


    Queen Aimee needed to walk a fine line, balancing the various powers among each other. As lands and powers went, she could simply be considered a duchess with a slightly larger holding, and had nothing close to absolute power. She needed to balance the various desires of her nominal vassals, such that they would continue to listen to her. Continue to keep her in power.


    ;


    Speaking of power. Outlawing the Valkyries would gain her nothing, but make it look like she was weak, the other duchies able to simply seize power and give her nothing in return. There was a type of power in that, in people petitioning her for the solution, but down that path entirely ended¡­ poorly.


    ;


    After all. The royal name being Morgans was a relatively new - only 300 years old - development, and everyone here knew it.


    ;


    Siding with Argent and Montalembert would annoy Watsons, Barnett, and Connor, but it wasn¡¯t that simple. Fundamentally, they were correct in that the Valkyries, who were nominal vassals of the throne but only just, weren¡¯t pulling their weight. Agreeing to their demands in full would enrich them too much. But the status quo wouldn¡¯t be allowed to stand.


    ;


    Naturally, they knew this, and had asked for far more than would ever be granted, letting the Queen demonstrate the ability to restrain them, in exchange for them getting what they actually wanted.


    ;


    Politics. A delicate dance that everyone here knew how to play, a game that the members of the table loved to play.


    ;


    As the Queen started to softly speak, everyone else immediately shut up, Duke Ector cutting off a word mid-shout.


    ;


    ¡°The Valkyries were reduced in number performing their service most admirably.¡± She said. ¡°And there is not a single person here who denies it. Their history is long and storied, and nothing can come out of declaring them Outlaw. We do not wish to paint Sigrun into a corner where bloodshed is her only option. Indeed, we believe a celebration in their honor is due! Their current lands and holdings are undeniably unprotected, and they have stubbornly clung to holding them. We can not permit this, and we shall reassign their lands to lords more capable of holding them. The Valkyries are permitted to remain in Rolland, and will continue to enjoy all the protections and privileges awarded to them.¡±


    ;


    Unsaid was that without a tax base, a land base, they¡¯d have no money, and wandering knights didn¡¯t make nearly enough to cover their expenses, especially for a full organization like the Valkyries.


    ;


    Even if they were permitted to keep holding Castle Valkyrie and the attached town, it might be barely enough for the reduced size of the organization, forever strangled and unable to grow more.


    ;


    In essence, they were very politely being shown the door, and in a manner they couldn¡¯t even complain too harshly about.


    ;


    Naturally, they could join the retinue of any current lord or lady of Pallos¡­ fully trained, fully equipped, high level knights were difficult to acquire, and there would be a number of open arms.


    ;


    ¡°We do not wish for a repeat of the Valkyries, however, and overtax the poor counts and barons who live nearby by suddenly doubling the size of their holdings, without the appropriate manpower to protect the lands. We believe that will have us here again in a few years, discussing which poor lord or lady should have their lands stripped once again.¡±


    ;


    There were delighted looks on the pro-Valkyrie faction¡¯s faces, while the duke and duchess who wanted them gone looked like they¡¯d eaten a lemon. They knew what was coming next.


    ;


    ¡°There is ever a shortage of lands for promising young lords and ladies who wish to hold their own. We request that each of you submit a few candidates for baron, along with proposed holdings that the Valkyries currently protect.¡±


    ;


    The Queen, naturally, had a number of retainers who could be brought tighter to her with the promise of land. Oh, by the numbers, the distribution would be fair.


    ;


    But the richest parts?


    ;


    All but one would go to those would go to those loyal to the Queen. The crown jewel of the Valkyrie holdings, however, would go to the Montalemberts. It would mollify them, let them believe it was recompense for handling the fallout of the Valkyrie¡¯s territory becoming unmanaged. Naturally, there was a knife in the offering. They were getting too powerful, and such blatant favoritism would cause the others to scheme against them, instead of the Queen¡¯s loyal retainers who would be able to quietly grow richer.


    ;


    ;


    The witch in white robes sat in her garden, smelling the ever-blooming flowers.


    ;


    It was a place of peace. Of calm meditation. A place where she could sink in for a few minutes, or a few years, and simply¡­ enjoy the easy beauty of nature.


    ;


    Work called though, and the witch got up, the pollen falling off her clothes. The flowers regrowing where she¡¯d sat, springing back like she¡¯d never been there.


    ;


    The white-haired lady walked over to where the latest graduation reports lay, a list of everyone the School could claim was an alumni. She liked to keep tabs, know who was going through the School she helped direct. The knowledge was occasionally useful.


    ;


    Flora of Arminium scanned the lists, freezing at a name.


    ;


    At the place.


    ;


    Elaine of Remus.


    ;


    ;


    Jaclyn walked into work, and began her usual morning curses.


    ;


    Silently. No need to let others know her true thoughts.


    ;


    When she had accepted the offer for Immortality, the conniving vampire had left out one critical detail.


    ;


    Immortality meant retirement was impossible.


    ;


    Mortals could retire. They could read the writing on the wall, and know they were going to die soon. There was a whole structure in place to allow them to gracefully age, supported by their family, then die. It only worked because they died.


    ;


    Immortals couldn¡¯t. One day they¡¯d run out of money, and be forced back to work. Jaclyn had tried at one point. Scrimped and saved and managed to take off a whole century, doing nothing but relaxing and enjoying herself.


    ;


    Then her money ran out, and she was forced to work once again. This time, in a much less prestigious, much lower paying position. She¡¯d needed to work her way up the ladder once again. Difficult when half her superiors were vampires, and as disinclined towards retirement or leaving their jobs as she was.


    ;


    Jaclyn had worked her way back up to the highest position that didn¡¯t include mandatory retirement every 40 years - to prevent stagnation at the highest levels, and stop power structures from crystallizing - and stayed there.


    ;


    Which meant paperwork. Reams of paperwork, every day. It was her job, and she¡¯d even taken [Paper Pusher] as her third class. The worst part was, with literal millennia of experience doing it, she was good at it. Exceptionally competent, as Night would put it. Which meant trying to cross train out of it into something new, while keeping her standard of living was hard. Not impossible, but the barriers were high enough, and the work to pay ratio generous enough, that Jaclyn simply¡­ stayed.


    ;


    She sat down at her desk as the sun rose, its System-denying rays blocked by the thick clouds of ash the mages kept perpetually shadowing the capital, and started to work through the newest pile of paperwork. Requests for funding. Forms that required approval.


    ;


    Mentions of Rangers lost, and who city team leaders believed they could use to replace them.


    ;


    It was a bad month. This was the second mention of a lost Ranger out of the thousands in the Exterreri Empire, and Jaclyn cleaned up the request, filled out the appropriate form, and put it in her "out" tray to deliver to the correct person later.


    ;


    A wrinkled, weather-beaten letter waited for her at the bottom of the pile. She opened it like all the rest, the years jading her response to the words inside.


    ;


    To Command,


    ;


    I have encountered a human individual, using the name Elaine, who has claimed to be a Sentinel. She speaks the vampire tongue, and is preparing to be admitted to the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft.


    ;


    The evidence she provided of being a Sentinel was entirely incorrect, and she gave the title Dawn. I believe that she originally grew up in Exterreri, possibly as the daughter of a servant of a high-ranking citizen, and acquired the tongue simply by constantly hearing it as she grew up. She then fled to Rolland, hoping to lose herself in the crush of humans present, and lean on the reputation of the Sentinels for her own personal gain.


    ;


    I do not dare presume to suggest what Command does.


    ;


    Sincerely,


    ;


    Vitus of Minervia


    ;


    Jaclyn thought back to an Elaine she had known. A fierce and proud gladiator, a peerless fighter and warrior she had loved. Jaclyn had convinced the powers that be to Turn her, but she didn¡¯t survive the early years, having picked a fight before she¡¯d known deep in her bones that the sun stripped everything away.


    ;


    She shook her head at the memory from when she¡¯d been a young, 700ish year old vampire, and processed the request. A request that technically would need Command to approve, but in practice would be followed. They usually listened to the [Head Clerk] who¡¯d been on the job for centuries, while they were limited. There was no Sentinel Dawn, the title not having been used in almost a thousand years.


    ;


    Generally, titles were retired until everyone who¡¯d known the last Sentinel with that title was gone.


    ;


    Type: Impersonator


    Location: School of Sorcery and Spellcraft


    Recommendation: Deploy the roving Ranger team. Attempt to bring back alive for public trial and execution.

 Chapter 375 - New Skills!

    I opened my eyes after selecting the only class I could¡¯ve.


    ;


    [*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve gained the class [Bookwyrm]!]


    ;


    No levels in it. Drat. Resetting my class didn¡¯t seem to bring stored experience over. I wanted the almost 900 stat points per level!


    ;


    My improved senses made me the ultimate sneak. I could tell what Iona and Auri were doing in the living room. Skye was studying in her room, and Varuna had left about an hour ago. Reinhard¡¯s room was the only one I couldn¡¯t peek into, the kirin having established a number of privacy runes in her room.


    ;


    Smart. I should probably offer to make a set for Skye, so she didn¡¯t think I was constantly spying on her.


    ;


    Onto my new skills!


    ;


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Spatial Affinity]!]


    ;


    Affinity, fun.


    ;


    Figuring out the affinity tree had been one of my earlier classes. It came in four tiers, corresponding to the four stars in the constellation I¡¯d seen when I built [The Dawn Sentinel].


    ;


    Affinity came first. It was the ¡®basic connection¡¯ to the element. I could technically ditch the skill, but my skills would be significantly more expensive. As I leveled the skill up, I was technically getting more efficient, but after the first few dozen levels I¡¯d need to look long and hard to see any gains.


    ;


    Authority came next. The connection was improved. The efficiency was dramatically better, and most importantly, I¡¯d get offered better skills than I would with affinity. Upgrading affinity to authority wasn¡¯t easy; I¡¯d been trying for years now with no luck. The generally accepted method was to completely surround oneself with the element.


    ;


    Iona had apparently done it while in a frost wyvern¡¯s lair, ice all around her. It was why we went to stargaze at the lake together, hoping that being under the vast starry sky would nudge our affinity towards becoming authority.


    ;


    Mastery came after that. It was the advanced connection, with great skills, and a minor ¡®sense¡¯ of the element around whoever had the skill. The efficiency was naturally greater than Authority. It also came with a minor resistance towards the element. If Iona got [Ice Mastery], she probably wouldn¡¯t feel the cold until it got cold.


    ;


    I had no idea how [Earth Mastery] would work on a high-speed rock, but I suspected that was the minor aspect of the protection.


    ;


    Spirit was the final tier. A perfect connection, dramatically improved efficiency, a strong sense of the element, and the most powerful skills. Being able to turn into the element was one of the better-known skills that required spirit, but it wasn¡¯t the only one.


    ;


    The nice thing about improved efficiency is it pseudo-multiplied my magic stats. If I was getting triple the oomph out of each point of mana, it was like my mana pool was three times as large, like my regeneration was three times as strong, and my larger skills looked like I had three times as much magic power supporting them.


    ;


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Reading]!]


    ;


    Reading: You saw the name of the class, right? Read faster. Comprehend more. Let the visions that the book takes you down become richer and more vibrant. Always know where you left off. Always able to open a known book to the right page. Read in the dark. Read better.


    ;


    The keystone skill for the class, it was exactly what the class wanted to do, just like my healing class wanted [Dance with the Heavens]. A pity there wasn¡¯t an experience boost or anything.


    ;


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Lair]!]


    ;


    Lair: What good is a Bookwyrm without her own personal lair to devour books in? Small pocket dimension for reading. Can only store books and limited furniture. Space increased per level. 160,000 mana per cast.


    ;


    HOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK. This was more like it! A personal pocket dimension!? Just for reading!? I had never heard of anyone having a personal pocket dimension. I suspected Acquisition had extra-large loot bags, but this was in a literal realm of its own.


    ;


    The draconic theme of the class was starting to rear its head.


    ;


    And that mana cost!! 160,000 mana per cast?? I only had 25,000 magic power! At 300 magic power per level, I¡¯d need another 450 levels just to cast the skill!


    ;


    [Channel] jumped to the top of my list for a general skill that I needed to acquire.


    ;


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Bookwyrm¡¯s Hoard]!]


    ;


    Bookwyrm¡¯s Hoard: Every bookwyrm needs a collection of the most precious books, safely stored away and immediately available. Book spatial storage. Increased collection size per level. Mana cost scales on book size.


    ;


    My mind instantly jumped to spellbooks. Unless something about the skill was wonky, I could grab and store my spellbooks, spells already inscribed and ready to go, arcanite in them and everything, and have every single one at my fingertips at all times. With [Reading], I¡¯d also be able to instantly open the spellbook to the right page.


    ;


    And that was before I considered having books to read at any time, any place! If I ended up in a similar life to when I was a Ranger or Sentinel, I¡¯d always have books to read, without needing to cart them around!


    ;


    For the sake of completeness, I should see if I could store non-books in there, and see when something counted as a book. Could I slice a mango up finely, carve some words into the flesh, and store it in my hoard?


    ;


    I was also a little concerned about the mana cost line. [Lair] was absurdly expensive, and I knew as a rule Spatial was the second-most expensive element, right after Storm.


    ;


    Thinking about storing different objects made me realize a flaw with [Lair]. It didn¡¯t say anything about other people. I doubted I could get Auri or Iona to join me in the [Lair].


    ;


    This called for experimentation! Right after I finished seeing the rest of my skills.


    ;


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Beneath the Dragon¡¯s Eyes]!]


    ;


    Beneath the Dragon¡¯s Eyes: You¡¯ve snuck around a dragon¡¯s lair under her watchful eyes, trying desperately to read the contents of the books in her library, unable to touch or move them around to read the contents. No more! Now you can read the pages of a closed book! Forbidden archive? Secret library floor? Magical encryption? As long as you can see the book - and understand the language - you can read it!


    ;


    That¡­ huh. It was a skill. The practical use seemed limited for such a grandiose name. I quickly checked ahead, but no. I¡¯d only gotten offered 8 skills.


    ;


    I did wonder if [Beneath the Dragon¡¯s Eyes] worked with [The World Around Me]. Something to test!


    ;


    The skill jumped to the top of my list of ¡®replace or evolve¡¯. Maybe I could merge it into [Reading]! The two seemed like they had enough overlap.


    ;


    These were the initial skills on a level 8 class, nevermind the purple draconic quality to the class. I¡¯d need to work to develop the skills, just like I¡¯d needed to work on my other classes.


    ;


    Although¡­ maybe I wasn¡¯t giving ¡®break magical encryption¡¯ enough credit as a line. I hadn¡¯t done a ton of digging into the subject. I believed knowledge should be freely available, and disdained the idea of locking or encrypting my notes, nor did I have the right mindset and inclination to try and break encryptions. For all I knew, someone would kill to have a skill like this.


    ;


    I¡¯d have to see.


    ;


    [*ding!* [Bookwyrm] has leveled up! 8 -> 9. +40 Vitality, +40 Speed, +100 Mana, +100 Mana Regeneration, +300 Magic Power, +300 Magic Control from your class! +1 Mana, +1 Magic Power from your element! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)!]


    ;


    Ooooh, I leveled! I briefly wondered if it was because I was reading the text of my new skills - a classic [Bookwyrm] activity - or if Auri was doing something phoenix-like, and I was getting experience funneled from her.


    ;


    I was fairly certain she got experience just by living. It was unfair!


    ;


    Wait, hang on. Something was weird.


    ;


    Chimera (Elvenoid)!?


    ;


    I pulled up my status.


    ;


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Chimera (Elvenoid)]


    [Age: 25]

 Chapter 376 - War Class

    ¡°War.¡± The professor paced in front of the class. He was built like a soldier, his robes clearly modified to let him run and fight at a moment¡¯s notice, and he carried a sword strapped to his waist.


    ;


    In a twist, the class was held in one of the stadiums, not in a classroom, and the uniform for the class was the exercise outfits, not the typical poofy robes that were required everywhere else. Mormerilhawn, the Black Rose, master of the arena, was lurking near the sidelines, chatting with Shirayuki. I could eavesdrop on their conversation, but then I wouldn¡¯t be focusing on the first lecture of the War class. ¡°It is a word that encompasses so much, and is boiled down to such a little word. War. What is a war? Anyone.¡± He asked the moderately-sized class.


    ;


    A few hands hesitantly went up, and one confident hand.


    ;


    I kept my hands down. I didn¡¯t know for sure, and venturing a poor guess would just waste everyone¡¯s time.


    ;


    The professor seemed to think the same thing, and immediately pointed at the student. He stood up and recited.


    ;


    ¡°War is simply a continuation of politics by violent means.¡± He sat down after finishing his answer.


    ;


    The professor nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Good. Eloquently put. There is always an objective to war, and while you¡¯ll rarely be in a position to know what it is, attempting to divine it is useful. The objective can be dumb. Sometimes it is as petty as pride, or a desire to show off. This class, like a war, will be ugly and brutal. I¡¯m not going to mince words. I¡¯m not going to try and pretend war is noble and glorious. Those of you who believe that have been lied to.¡± The professor continued to energetically pace in front of us like a caged tiger.


    ;


    ¡°The master of the arena has graciously agreed to assist with our class today, and will be assisting sporadically. All of you have gotten shielded. Nobody here is at risk of being harmed. I am planning on a practical demonstration later.¡± He announced.


    ;


    The fact that he was telling us this ahead of time told me that the ¡®practical demonstration¡¯ was going to be a surprise. I started to evaluate the students around me.


    ;


    ¡°There are a dozen different types of war, which I¡¯ll get into in a minute. Fundamentally, nearly every war, by the numbers, is economic. It¡¯s about amassing wealth and power for those directing the war. These are the least devastating on a large scale, and also the most common. I call these ¡®raider¡¯s wars¡¯.¡± He paused, like he expected the vast swaths of angry mutterings from his students.


    ;


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s what most ¡®wars¡¯ are.¡± He continued on. ¡°One noble doesn¡¯t like another. They get a party together and raid the territory of the other. They¡¯ll try to seize gems and goods, with the larger prize being capturing another noble and ransoming them back to their family. This can happen from small levels to a national scale, when an entire country ¡®wages war¡¯ on another country. In reality, the people there are simply trying to obtain wealth, in one form or another. Capturing and settling new land, a permanent source of wealth, is another, larger goal. Occasionally this is broken out into wars of conquest. End of the day, they¡¯re all the same. Raider¡¯s wars.¡±


    ;


    The angry mutterings were reaching a crescendo.


    ;


    ¡°Homework! For bonus points. Write an essay explaining why I¡¯m wrong. Moving on.¡± The professor had neatly and skillfully decapitated the brewing mutiny among his students.


    ;


    ¡°Knowing the motivation is important. If you¡¯re against raiders, they¡¯re in it for the money. Make it too expensive for them to continue, and they¡¯ll generally cut their losses and return home. Can¡¯t bribe them, they¡¯ll keep extorting you for more. Need to hit them in the pocketbook for them to go home.¡±


    ;


    The mutterings were back, and he held up a hand.


    ;


    ¡°With that being said, I will acknowledge that pride and ego often come into play here. Attackers are willing to keep going, on the chance that they¡¯ll end up making a profit, and because whoever¡¯s in charge can¡¯t retreat for various political and personal reasons once the attack¡¯s commenced. It takes a significant kick to the teeth for them to retreat with nothing, but once it¡¯s too expensive to keep going, and they get a minor win with which they can claim victory, then you can count on them leaving.¡±


    ;


    A hand shot up, the same as before. The professor eyed the student doubtfully, but then called on him.


    ;


    ¡°What¡¯s your number?¡± The professor asked the student. The student with his hand up in the air pointed at himself.


    ;


    ¡°Me? Number?¡± He asked.


    ;


    The professor nodded.


    ;


    ¡°How many intelligent beings have you killed in a team or army? Monsters don¡¯t count.¡±


    ;


    The student paused a moment.


    ;


    ¡°23.¡± He answered.


    ;


    ¡°Alright Mr. 23. What¡¯s your question?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Will they still leave if it¡¯s a war of conquest like you said, where the goal is land?¡±


    ;


    The professor sighed.


    ;


    ¡°Less likely, and that¡¯s where it gets¡­ messy. And by messy, I mean a lot of blood, screaming, and stacked bodies. Let¡¯s continue on. One aspect to raider¡¯s wars which is particularly nasty to handle is when the people making the money are the arms suppliers. People who are making their money and wealth selling weapons, armor, and expertise to those actually waging the war. They¡¯re getting paid either way, and have every incentive to keep the war going.¡±


    ;


    The professor continued to pace, and I was fascinated. He had a presence, an energy, that was captivating.


    ;


    ¡°Next up is what I¡¯m broadly defining as an ideological war. The gods are only involved in a fraction of ideological wars, but fundamentally, they¡¯re all the same. The attacker has a deep-seated belief that the defender must die. Rarely, the goal will be for something other than killing off another group. These are harder to deflect, and correspondingly rarer. It also segues nicely into my next type of war. Total war.¡±


    ;


    He stopped, and looked at us all.


    ;


    ¡°Total war is what most people think of when they hear war. It is a war for survival. It is a do or die war. One country¡¯s ideological war is another country¡¯s total war. When a country believes it is in total war, all the rules are gone. There is no Treaty of Kyowa. There are no rules of engagement. There is no proper treatment of prisoners. It is why I have such respect for Nime.¡±


    ;


    The students were talking loudly amongst each other, and the professor silenced us all with a gesture. It didn¡¯t stop the students, of course, he simply used some Sound magic to mute them.


    ;


    ¡°Nime understands these principles better than anyone else. They cultivate Poison, Miasma, and Spore classers. Anyone attacking them knows that they¡¯re not going to respect the so-called ¡®rules¡¯ of war, and will unleash anything and everything they can simply to survive. Every attack on Nime is an assault on the small nation¡¯s very survival. They know how to properly threaten others. It is why nobody raids Nime. The cost to wage a raider¡¯s war on the nation is too high, most of the attackers will get killed. An ideological war is likely brewing, as they are routinely condemned for openly violating Kyowa, but nobody acts on it. Nobody is harmed enough to do something about it. The nation is poor, and the cost-benefit analysis is always negative.¡±


    ;


    I saw his point. ¡°I might die, but I¡¯m taking you down with me.¡± Was one hell of a deterrent.


    ;


    ¡°I want you all to spend a few moments thinking of conflicts you¡¯ve heard of, and seeing if you can categorize them.¡± The professor said. ¡°Then we¡¯ll move onto the next section.¡±


    ;


    I thought of the Formorian war. That had been a total war, Remus¡¯s very existence hanging on the outcome. They were monsters. They didn¡¯t want wealth or land, they simply wanted to consume.


    ;


    From their point of view, it was probably a¡­ raider¡¯s war? They ignored the dwarves, who were too tough a nut to crack.


    ;


    Lun¡¯Kat attacking the dwarves was probably something of an outlier. Probably also an ideological war, but designed to cause damage to the dwarves, instead of enriching herself. Probably a good example from everyone muttering about ¡®that¡¯s not how wars work.¡¯


    ;


    At the same time, when faced with stiff enough opposition, she did leave the battlefield.


    ;


    ¡°Moving on. Who can tell me why armies are primarily composed of [Warriors]?¡± He asked the students.


    ;


    More confident hands went up, and the professor called on one of them.


    ;


    ¡°Number?¡± He asked.


    ;


    ¡°Three. Solo kills all.¡± The woman had a particular swagger to her voice. I could imagine her strutting, even though we were all sitting on the ground.


    ;


    ¡°Ms. 3. Why are armies primarily [Warriors]?¡± He asked her.


    ;


    ¡°Because they have staying power.¡± She promptly replied. ¡°Level for level, stat for stat, quality for quality, a [Mage] is more lethal than a [Warrior] or a [Ranger]. But they run out of mana quickly, on the order of seconds. A [Warrior] can fight for hours on end.¡±


    ;


    I snorted. A bad [Mage], sure. There was a reason all Rangers got trained, and were issued armor and weapons.


    ;


    At the same time, I couldn¡¯t deny that she was right. Most mages were significantly weaker without mana than a warrior of a similar level, and that was before armor and weapon skills were brought into consideration.


    ;


    The professor nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Only partially correct. [Warriors] and [Rangers] are capable of fighting for hours, while [Mages] are only strong for a short period of time. A larger, more important aspect is that it¡¯s physical work. Anyone with physical stats can pick up a spear and join a shield wall or picket line, letting armies recruit from the general population. Mages, in contrast, require significantly more time and training as a mage to get to a respectable level where they can make an impact. A mage is equivalent to a career warrior. Han¡¯s generals, Rolland¡¯s knights, Vollomond¡¯s raid leaders, Lithos¡¯s trolls and more are strong examples of career fighters from around the world, all of whom rival a mage in their ability to impact a battlefield. They simply do it over the course of hours, instead of minutes or seconds. Ms. Elaine, in the purple robes, would you be willing to give me a hand for this next section?¡±


    ;


    It took me a tenth of a second to realize he was talking to me. The purple robes looked fantastic, but they made me stand out in the sea of black, and I was used to being the picked-on student in classes. I stood up.


    ;


    ¡°Sure! What are you wondering?¡±


    ;


    ¡°I picked you because you¡¯re a healer, and healers are generally a known quantity in what they can do. Unlike, say, a mage, who could have any number of unusual skills. Please, feel free to decline, and I will pick on someone else to share. In broad strokes, would you be willing to tell us roughly how long it would take you, under ideal conditions, to empty your mana pool, and what you could accomplish in that time?¡±


    ;


    I weighed his request. On one hand, skills were generally private, and asking someone to reveal their skills to the world was rude. On the other, the professor didn¡¯t seem to give a damn about trampling over feelings, and he was right that healers were a known quantity.


    ;


    That, and my skills had been on display in the arena, although I didn¡¯t know if anyone here had watched me.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m oathbound. I can empty my entire mana pool in a single second.¡± I deliberately included the oathbound detail as a misdirection. I¡¯d had time to learn what most healers were like, and broadly, what people thought of oathbound healers.


    ;


    Harmless do-gooders. I had absolutely no problem leaning into that reputation¡­ and it was the truth!


    ;


    ¡°A single second. What can you do then?¡±


    ;


    I shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°Keep everyone inside the stadium alive, from heart wounds to decapitation, bringing everyone back to perfect health. Naturally, exactly how many people and how many injuries depends on the number of people and the severity.¡±


    ;


    The professor nodded.


    ;


    ¡°For a single second, the healer is a goddess, literally performing miracles. At the right time, at the right place, she can sway the entire battle her way, healing every single person. But what happens after that second? What happens after her miracle?¡±


    ;


    ¡°She dies.¡± One of the students answered, unprompted.


    ;


    I loudly snorted. Not likely. I wasn¡¯t going to ruin the professor¡¯s lecture though.


    ;


    To my surprise though, he gave me a wink.


    ;


    Oh fuck.


    ;


    I saw exactly where this was going.


    ;


    ¡°The healer dies! Exactly! Now, as I mentioned at the start of this class, everyone is shielded by the arena master. Nobody here can get hurt. Elaine, if you would do the honors of demonstrating an empty mana pool?¡±


    ;


    He totally knew I was part of the combat team. I was guessing that one of his lessons was something about deception in warfare, since he¡¯d deliberately called me out as a healer - which, on the surface, was entirely reasonable.


    ;


    Just wished he¡¯d talked to me before. Was probably another layered lesson in always being prepared.


    ;


    I knelt down and stuck a finger in the dirt, and unleashed [Nova Lance]. The layers of dirt helped hide what, exactly, I was doing, and after 20 seconds my mana pool was depleted.


    ;


    I then threw up my [Mantle of the Stars] in a sphere around myself, the skill requiring a single point of mana upfront to cast.


    ;


    With an added bonus - it gave me enough space around myself for what was about to happen. I already saw one or two students - including Ms. 3 - who had realized what was going on.


    ;


    ¡°Break it to empty my mana pool.¡± I announced, putting my foot over the glassy hole I¡¯d drilled through the dirt. I subtly bent my knees in preparation for what was going to happen next.


    ;


    I looked at the professor.


    ;


    ¡°I can use regenerating mana, right?¡± I asked him.


    ;


    He gave me a tiny nod as he started to speak.


    ;


    ¡°Right! First practical demonstration of the day! Remember, you¡¯re allowed to go all out, nobody here will be harmed! The healer has arrived, and performed a major miracle, revitalizing and saving hundreds! If she escapes, she¡¯ll be able to return soon and do it again! All [Warriors] and [Rangers]! Kill the healer!¡± He announced, and the world turned to chaos.


    ;


    I promptly activated the greater invisibility rune in my chest and jumped. I¡¯d known what was coming, and I¡¯d reacted faster than anyone else had.


    ;


    What was nice about the rune was it took just a hair less mana to run than my current regeneration rate, and I¡¯d gain more and more regeneration as time went on. The cost was fixed, and one day I wouldn¡¯t notice it at all.


    ;


    I¡¯d reacted fast enough that I needed to take down my own shield so I didn¡¯t slam into it. Nobody had smashed it fast enough.


    ;


    I soared over the thinnest part of the crowd. As I did, the professor made another announcement.


    ;


    ¡°Healers, Mages, and non-combatants, if you could please sit down for this demonstration.¡±


    ;


    People sitting down were off-limits. Got it.


    ;


    I landed heavily on the arena grass, the force of my landing making the grass around me ripple. I carefully started to prowl around, trying to find the best place to start my part of the fun.


    ;


    I heard a few students complain that they hadn¡¯t known, and hadn¡¯t brought a weapon along with them, and it was unfair and how were they supposed to participate.


    ;


    Idiots.


    ;


    That was the whole point of the exercise!


    ;


    A few more people were wondering what was going on, since I¡¯d clearly disappeared. Was the exercise over?


    ;


    ¡°The healer is still alive and around! What are all of you lollygagging around for!? Stop asking questions and find her!¡± The professor roared with a smirk.


    ;


    That got a few students to jump, but I¡¯d already found my quarry. One of the students had a longsword, and was marching around, swishing it through the air.


    ;


    I took a deep breath. I was putting a lot of faith in Mormerilhawn here.


    ;


    At the same time, I knew how his shields worked, and what was effective, what would transfer and what a lethal blow was.


    ;


    I stalked up next to the student, and as he completed a swipe, I chopped down with my arm. I hit the wrist hard enough that it would¡¯ve been broken without the shield, but it was enough to disarm the student. Before he could shout a warning I twisted, using my other hand to punch him in the throat, and he vanished.


    ;


    The Black Rose¡¯s shield had considered him ¡®dead¡¯, and teleported him out of the arena.


    ;


    Leaving his weapon behind.


    ;


    I quickly picked it up, my invisibility automatically extending to cover it as well.


    ;


    The hunt was on.


    ;


    I was likely stronger and faster than most of the warriors and other physical classers here. I didn¡¯t have skills supporting my weapons. [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority] was about fighting prowess, not hardening weapons.


    ;


    There was still uncertainty and confusion, but a few Classers were starting to organize the other students. I didn¡¯t have a whole lot of time here.


    ;


    I dashed forward to the first likely target, another student who was staring at the ground, seeing something I couldn¡¯t. He was intently looking at the path I¡¯d taken though, and while greater invisibility was supposed to erase my footsteps, I wasn¡¯t going to discount a more powerful skill somehow divining tiny traces.


    ;


    I was unused to longswords and how they handled, but fundamentally ¡®stick them with the pointy end¡¯ was true of all weapons. A quick thrust at his chest, and he vanished without anyone noticing.


    ;


    ¡°Take in this feeling.¡± The professor lectured as I worked on my next target, my sword flickering out like a spear to teleport him to the sidelines. ¡°The sudden chaos. The fear. The lack of knowing. The violence and confusion. The unexpected. This is a small fraction of what war is like, and the best I can replicate in a classroom setting like this. In the real world, you wouldn¡¯t get a warning. You wouldn¡¯t get a lecture at the same time. Try to grab onto these feelings, and understand a small part of what war is. What you will subject others to. Master yourself.¡±


    ;


    I managed to take out three more students during his speech, focusing less on stealth, and more on speed.


    ;


    I was tempted to force the professor to teleport off the field as well, to really hammer home the lesson he was trying to impart.


    ;


    Instead I crept around a student who somehow had gotten himself a shield. I paused right before I was going to slice him in half from groin-to-head.


    ;


    He didn¡¯t exist in my sphere of awareness.


    ;


    He was an illusion, a mirage. A clever lure by one of the other students.


    ;


    The rest of the students had, by this point, realized something was up. That I was still here, picking people off, and they were organized and huddled together.


    ;


    I skipped back a dozen steps and grabbed a pebble.


    ;


    Time for Brawling¡¯s favorite trick!


    ;


    I wound up and threw the rock as hard as I could, aiming to brain the star organizer.


    ;


    I cleanly missed. The rock went sailing over her head.


    ;


    I mentally grumbled to myself.


    ;


    I hadn¡¯t fully figured out every last aspect of my new body, and it wasn¡¯t like ¡®how to throw rocks¡¯ had ever been in any of my training courses.


    ;


    ¡°Stop! Halt the exercise!¡± The professor bellowed. ¡°The healer has successfully escaped, able to come back later and heal dozens of people once again. What have we learned?¡± He asked the group.


    ;


    I dropped my invisibility and rejoined the group. I got dirty looks from a number of the students jogging back from the sidelines, where they¡¯d been teleported away. Didn¡¯t care.


    ;


    Mormerilhawn also came over.


    ;


    ¡°High level healers are hard to catch.¡± Ms. 3 said, giving me a look that was hard to interpret.


    ;


    ¡°That this class is bullshit.¡± A student muttered under his breath. I could still hear him.


    ;


    ¡°Level matters.¡± A familiar student called out. I handed his longsword back to him, getting a small nod of thanks in return.


    ;


    The professor nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Another important lesson is not to judge by tags or looks.¡± The professor said. ¡°Mormerilhawn?¡±


    ;


    The arena master stepped up.


    ;


    ¡°For those of you who pay attention to these sorts of things, Elaine is the star of the School¡¯s under-30 combat team.¡± He announced. ¡°She is a mage-healer, and yet took out a third of you with her physical capabilities alone. She was on track to successfully eliminate the rest of you, in spite of her stated goal being escape. Deception is the heart of warfare, but do not underestimate the System, and what it empowers all of us to do.¡±


    ;


    The professor turned to me.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine, given your age and level, are you willing to share your numbers with us?¡±


    ;


    The request didn¡¯t sting like it would¡¯ve before I started seeing Linnet regularly. I closed my eyes, processing the numbers.


    ;


    After passing the biomancy hurdle, and having a little more than a year left at the School, I was preparing for my Medical Track thesis. The Medical Manuscripts. I¡¯d be getting endless looks and whispers¡­ might as well start preparing.


    ;


    Nobody would believe my numbers, but I didn¡¯t care.


    ;


    ¡°14,878 intelligent beings killed in a team.¡± I stated. The vast majority of them had been shimagu at Ochi, where I¡¯d let rip. ¡°13,565,516 System kill notifications while working in a team.¡± I further stated. The end of the Formorian war was responsible for most of those, Destruction¡¯s earthquake combined with the literal hand of a god descending to smite the dread queens.


    ;


    I opened my eyes to a field of wide eyes and slack jaws.

 Chapter 377 - Deep Lore

    The professor had a controlled look on his face, and I got to watch in real time as the vast majority of my fellow students - probably the nobles with the training for it - controlled their faces and emotions.


    ;


    Oh, now they¡¯re able to properly control themselves in front of new information, and not before when the professor was lecturing.


    ;


    ¡°Ms. Highscore. You clearly have experience with war, would you mind sharing?¡± The professor asked me.


    ;


    I was getting real annoyed being put on the spot.


    ;


    I shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°Kinda. I don¡¯t care if you don¡¯t believe me, I¡¯m more interested in what the expert has to say on the class.¡±


    ;


    I sat down where I was, pointedly staring at the professor to continue his lecture. I ignored the students sitting down around me, furiously whispering with each other.


    ;


    ¡°There¡¯s no way, right?¡±


    ;


    ¡°She¡¯s gotta be lying.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ve killed 15,000 people. See how easy it is to say!¡±


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen her in the library. She¡¯s got an excellent reputation for honesty, doesn¡¯t care about our reaction, and seems annoyed by it all. [Cold Reading] says she¡¯s telling the truth, somehow.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Yeah, but in what conflict? Had to have happened in the last 10 years, and I haven¡¯t heard of anything of that size.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Worth investigating. If nothing else she¡¯s unsponsored and high leveled, wonder if we can recruit her?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Even with her level and tag?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Details. It¡¯s easy to work that out.¡±


    ;


    Okay, that particular conversation was fascinating, and I wanted to know more. There was an easy way to let me travel mortal lands?


    ;


    Sadly, the professor started lecturing again, and they shut up to pay attention.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m going to touch on honor for a moment. In a war, it is important for most of you. Honor means you are following a code of conduct, and while you are following it, your opponents will follow a similar code. It tells you that you are in a typical raider¡¯s war, and that defeat in battle will generally mean a ransom. Expensive, yes, but the alternatives are worse.¡±


    ;


    He started pacing again, regaining some of the energy and attention he¡¯d lost at my stunning pronouncement.


    ;


    ¡°What is worse? Simple. Your opponents believing they are at the end of their rope. Poisoning your food. Murdering your children in their cradle. Razing every stretch of land they can. Honor, as much as some sneer at it, is a social contract. It keeps the rules of war intact, and prevents small conflicts from escalating. It was mentioned earlier that war is simply a continuation of politics by other means. An honorable war suggests that non-violent resolution is still possible, is still manageable. It is half a step closer to peace. Once honor is gone, the only reason two parties will meet at a negotiating table is for one to attempt to assassinate the other.¡±


    ;


    I felt like that last bit was a little hyperbolic, but his point was made.


    ;


    If I ever found myself in a conflict where honor mattered, I was in the wrong fight.


    ;


    ¡°Speaking of escalating conflicts! Let¡¯s discuss Immortal wars. You¡¯ll notice they didn¡¯t show up in the list from earlier.¡±


    ;


    I knew Iona had quite a lot to say about the topic, although I¡¯d come to realize she was a little biased on the topic.


    ;


    ¡°Immortal wars are the same as the other three. Raider, Ideological, and Total. Fact of the matter is, they simply have more power thrown around when they fight. A mortal mage is throwing high speed lumps of rock, an Immortal mage can throw a mountain. When two Immortals fight - not two countries, two people - the landscape is often rearranged, and they don¡¯t care about collateral damage. When two countries fight, well. There¡¯s a reason the end of the last major Immortal war is the start of the current era, with everything before being marked as ¡®old¡¯, and everything after being marked as ¡®new¡¯. Granted, there were a number of surviving Immortals, and civilization didn¡¯t entirely collapse, but according to the records, this is a normal part of the cycle.¡±


    ;


    He paused for dramatic effect. I was enthralled.


    ;


    ¡°Yes, cycle. There is a high level, somewhat predictable cycle over centuries and millennia of how the world works. Now, please keep in mind the exact details and speed will differ on a case to case basis. I am simply trying to speak of the high-level brushstrokes that occur. We will start at the end of an Immortal war. The ¡®survival¡¯ era. The world lies shattered. Cities have been razed, newly created volcanoes dot the lands, and fields burn. Monsters thrive, and expand into the missing ecological niche, their populations exploding as civilization isn¡¯t able to beat them back well.¡±


    ;


    ¡°In that gap, people survive. Countries tend towards having a dominant race present in their borders, and the world ending doesn¡¯t tend to cause mass migration of the sort needed to dramatically change what species lives where, although it does happen. Powerful fighters defend small enclaves from monsters as civilization begins to reassert itself. With the help of the System, and old knowledge, we rebuild. The powerful fighters are lauded and declared [Heroes], and they naturally turn into the first [Lords]. A crazy patchwork of civilization erupts, the small surviving villages turning into towns. We leave the ¡®survival¡¯ era, and enter into the ¡®patchwork¡¯ era.¡±


    ;


    He paused a moment to allow those who needed to take notes to finish scribbling.


    ;


    ¡°The patchwork era is interesting. Tens of thousands of small city-states, each with their own version of a ruler, generally a warrior-lord. This era is defined by a rediscovery of knowledge, and by a thousand small scale conflicts between the various locals. Some remember that cooperation and working together is optimal, others try to conquer their neighbors. After all, civilization has largely been reset for a few generations at this point. The ethics, knowledge, and philosophy we take for granted has largely been forgotten, except for small enclaves.¡±


    ;


    He gestured all around himself.


    ;


    ¡°The School of Sorcery and Spellcraft is an excellent example of this. The School¡¯s highest calling is to help restore knowledge to the world after the cataclysm of a true Immortal war¡­ when it isn¡¯t burned down itself.¡±


    ;


    I remembered orientation, and how the guide mentioned the Vault was supposed to store knowledge against that. It had sounded far-fetched at the time¡­ but maybe it was the truth.


    ;


    ¡°This era is where ¡®ancient magics¡¯ thrive, where discovering the lost and powerful artifacts of the prior era help define who does well. Slowly, as time passes, the nations rebuild themselves, as the patchwork of various civilizations merge and meld together. After all, a fledgling nation of seven cities can easily add an eighth with no allies to their ranks, with minimal violence, and the vast tapestry of elvenoid civilization is stitched together once again.¡±


    ;


    ¡°As this process accelerates, we enter the ¡®golden¡¯ era. Lost knowledge is rediscovered, and life and civilization progresses in leaps and bounds. The old has been turned over, and there is vast room for expansion and discovery. The ancient forests are beaten back, monsters are driven back into their lair, and it is a bold, glorious time to be alive. Opportunities abound for everyone!¡±


    ;


    Ah dang. Sounds like we weren¡¯t in the golden era.


    ;


    ¡°The golden era moves onto the crystalline era. This is where issues arise. Nations are too large, butting up against each other. There is no room to easily expand, and the easily rediscovered lost knowledge has been found. True discovery and innovation is required. If only mortals lived on Pallos, it might be manageable. We might be able to find a way to move forward. But it is not only mortals that live on Pallos.¡±


    ;


    He paused with that ominous pronouncement.


    ;


    ¡°Immortals live on Pallos, and they feel the effects of the crystalline era more profoundly than mortals. See, throughout the survival, patchwork, golden, and crystalline era, mortals are born and die. Most Immortals that are born don¡¯t die. Now, all Immortal countries have ways to mitigate undying [Lords]. The rulers that don¡¯t tend to get killed by an ambitious underling, until enough turmoil settles into a sustainable pattern. Exterreri mandates retirement. The Golden Court along with the Tympestshard Council works along family and clan patterns, although with technical differences that aren¡¯t the topic for this class. Draakveld culture doesn¡¯t permit them to form anything larger than a village, and even then there is no village head. The Bhutai provinces have no interest in that sort of thing. Urwa, against all odds, does manage to have Immortal, undying [Lords] in positions of power for centuries. Study their succession if you wish to see how it goes wrong. Jurcor permits all this, but require enough paperwork, and the network and web of alliances and treaties is so confusing, that half the time the devils aren¡¯t quite sure if they¡¯re attacking their ally or not.¡±


    ;


    Urwa sounded overall like the least pleasant place to be.


    ;


    ¡°Speaking of going wrong, all the systems I mentioned go wrong in various ways. Immortals gather wealth and power, and soon they butt heads against rivals trying to gather similar wealth and power. Inevitably, the lesson from the start of the lecture comes into play. War is simply a continuation of politics by other means. When the powerful Immortal with thousands of levels, and tens of thousands of retainers under their banner with thousands of levels decides to take what they want by force, well. The defender fights back, and rare is the war waged by people with eternity to gather strength and make allies where nobody else is involved. If nothing else, the previously mentioned collateral damage is likely to draw in new parties.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Thus starts and ends the shortest era of this lecture. The Immortal war era, or the cataclysm era. When the dust settles, the survivors rule over a world of ashes, and the survival era begins once again. Now, you may have mentioned I didn¡¯t talk about empires in all this. The rise and fall of empires is a curious thing, generally accelerating the patchwork era¡­¡±


    ;


    ;


    Mormerilhawn teleported next to me as the class ended.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine.¡± He greeted me. I tilted my head at him.


    ;


    ¡°Mormerilhawn. Is there something I can do for you?¡± I asked him.


    ;


    He studied me for a long moment.


    ;


    ¡°For what it¡¯s worth, I believe you.¡± He said, and without further ado, turned and walked away.


    ;


    That was¡­ kinda weird. Probably the closest thing to an apology I¡¯d get from him, for helping enable the professor.


    ;


    Still, I kept him in mind. If he believed me, and my story about Remus, he could be helpful when I went to prove my ownership of the Medical Manuscripts. It was going to take more than a bit of work to convince the people I wanted to convince that I was telling the truth.


    ;


    I did get a chance to meet up with Auri after the lesson though.


    ;


    ¡°Hey Auri! Off to baking class?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ;


    ¡°Oh, sorry, your Specialty Breads course.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡± Auri nodded like she was the wisest [Sage] who had ever lived, one mage hand zipping in to straighten her crooked hat.


    ;


    ¡°Save some for me, will you?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ;


    I continued on to my destination - the student center. The start of the quarter had some big wargame tournament thing going on, and Iona was competing. I was showing up to give her moral support¡­ and get some advance reading in on my next few classes.


    ;


    ¡°Hey love!¡± I gave her a quick kiss.


    ;


    ¡°Hey spaceosaurus!¡± Iona grinned at me. ¡°You didn¡¯t have to come, you know.¡±


    ;


    I shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°I know. I wanted to.¡±


    ;


    I shoved my way to a spot with a stool, overlooking the Mirage-board where the war games were held. Good practice for budding [Strategists] and the like, and they could even level playing it! It was supposed to mimic a real war, although after this morning¡¯s lectures I had my doubts.


    ;


    The game began with enthusiastic, yet inexperienced, fanfare.


    ;


    ¡°Go Iona! Pillage his villages, burn his towns, and leave no stone standing on top of each other!¡±


    ;


    It was easy being bloodthirsty when it was just a game.


    ;


    I did discreetly summon and drop one of my textbooks to the floor. I¡¯d found I could read anything that was in my sphere of awareness.


    ;


    On one hand, it looked like I was intently staring at Iona¡¯s game, watching her beat the stuffing out of her opponent.


    ;


    On the other, I had words scrolling across my vision.


    ;


    [*ding!* [Bookwyrm] has leveled up! 21 -> 22. +40 Vitality, +40 Speed, +100 Mana, +100 Mana Regeneration, +300 Magic Power, +300 Magic Control from your class! +1 Mana, +1 Magic Power from your element! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)!]


    ;


    [*ding!* [Spatial Affinity] has leveled up! 21 -> 22]


    [*ding!* [Reading] has leveled up! 21 -> 22]


    [*ding!* [Astral Archives] has leveled up! 21 -> 22]


    [*ding!* [Hunger for Knowledge] has leveled up! 21 -> 22]


    ;


    ;


    ¡°The northern continent.¡± The professor started. ¡°It remains largely unsettled. The reasons for this are legion. The wild and untamed nature allow creatures to obtain a much higher level than normal, giving a challenge to those who would explore. Natural treasures grow. But mainly, there is a significant aspect to might makes right. The non-elvenoid natives of the northern continent don¡¯t tolerate elvenoid intrusion, and even the School flying over occasionally attracts¡­ ire. Additionally, the Wardens, for reasons unstated, enforce the ban. Even during an Immortal war, they don¡¯t permit others to settle there. Granted, crossing the ocean is a massive endeavor, and the ocean itself is theorized to have more high level creatures, but that is a topic for a different class.¡±


    ;


    ;


    ¡°The name of this class is exactly what we¡¯re talking about. Divine items. Now, every quarter, there¡¯s some fool who thinks we¡¯re talking about well-made items, mysteries from a forgotten era that we don¡¯t know how to replicate, or oddities. No. This class is about items handed down to us from the very gods themselves. The Woundspear. Farwalker¡¯s cane. The Sword of the Betrayer. The Solstice Banner. The Everflowing Chalice. Crow¡¯s Cape, the Supple Dagger, the Lantern of Truth, and many more. They do not follow the normal rules of what can and can¡¯t be done with the System. They are not of the System, they are of the Divine. In this class, we will go over the known divine items, as well as theorize what properties and rules the gods must follow when bestowing one of them upon their followers.¡±


    ;


    I glanced over at Iona, my eyebrows raised. She responded with a grin, and mouthed ¡®love you¡¯ at me, then turned back to the lecture.


    ;


    I see why she¡¯d convinced me to take this class with her! It sounded neat!


    ;


    ;


    ¡°Curses suck.¡± The professor started. ¡°They¡¯re difficult and tricky to break. The easiest curses to break are ones that are supposedly buffs, skills that drain your mana regeneration to boost something else. In the proper situation, you want these buffs. The worst curses are impossible to break and spread themselves. The werewolf curse is the most prominent of these curses, and believe me, if it wasn¡¯t for their long history, they would be wiped out to the last. Now, often curses have a limited lifetime, but that can still be enough to debilitate or kill. In order to break them, you¡¯ll need to know how they work. We begin with classifying them into groups¡­¡±


    ;


    ;


    ¡°... and as you should all know, a Grand Feat occurs for a species when a member of the race achieves level 4096, and ascends¡­¡±


    ;


    The tip of my quill snapped as I shoved it too deep into the paper. Damnit, I liked that quill!


    ;


    What?!


    ;


    Iona could¡¯ve mentioned that when she was telling me about the gods!! I knew about the ascension, but the Grand Feat had been completely skipped! Hello, that detail might¡¯ve been somewhat important!!


    ;


    ;


    ¡°Shera, the Dreamer. Wulfric, the Bloody. Baojunshe, the Tyrant. Inias, the Divine. Teruo, the Pure. Iztacoatl, the Arcane. Ragnar, the Renewer. Manadhion, the Nightmare. Learn these names. Know these names. They are the Guardians, and we believe them to be our great protectors, our shield against extinction.¡± The professor started the lecture with a bang.


    ;


    ¡°Now, technically, the exact purpose and role of the beings known as Guardians is much speculated on. I will attempt to stick to known facts. There have never been more than eight spotted at a single time, a number believed to be significant for various reasons you should all find obvious. People have approached and studied them, and they act normal, if exceptionally high-leveled. The announcement declaring them as Guardians only appears during calamities, and they appear to know about them as they happen, appearing from around the world. This has led to speculation that they¡­¡±


    ;


    ;


    ¡°This is the Practical Spatial Magic class! If you don¡¯t have a Spatial element, this isn¡¯t the class for you. You¡¯ll want the Introduction to Spatial Magic class right across the hallway.¡± The professor in orange robes said. He obviously knew his stuff, and knew it well from a practical standpoint.


    ;


    Our class of nine suddenly became a class of three, two in purple robes and one in blue. He clapped his hands and beamed at us.


    ;


    ¡°Excellent! Introductions!¡±


    ;


    Everyone introduced themselves, and the names of my fellow students went in one ear and out the other. I could always retrieve them later from [Astral Archives].


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m going to start with the most famous Spatial skills, because frankly, that¡¯s what everyone wants to know. Personal storage. Blink. Teleport. Portals. Intangibility. Dimension hopping. Distance manipulation. Spatial expansion. Spatial tears.¡±


    ;


    ¡°As a rule, Spatial magic takes twice as much, or four times as much, magic power as the mass of the object being manipulated baseline. It is my take that almost all Spatial skills are really the same two aspects, just done in different ways. Let¡¯s start with the basic one, storage skills.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Storage skills of various sorts are easy, because they¡¯re a straight double of the mass in grams. Almost. There¡¯s a little bit of fuzziness around displacing air and the like, but at the numbers Spatial magic is dealing with, that¡¯s a rounding error. A very, very useful rounding error, which I¡¯ll get into in a minute. The object is removed from Pallos space, and is brought to what I¡¯m going to call ¡®personal space.¡¯ Once there, it¡¯ll stay there until you retrieve it.¡±


    ;


    Obvious enough, but I dutifully took notes. This was the introductory course.


    ;


    I had noticed that my [Bookwyrm¡¯s Hoard] had required significantly more than twice as much mana as mass, but the class was new. My affinity was low-level, and my skills were at the starting line.


    ;


    ¡°Blink and teleport are generally the same thing. The only way teleport works is by specific restrictions and conditions permitting buy-offs that let the distances become manageable. Even then, it¡¯s in the realm of the highest levels. Onto blink! It¡¯s my take that blink is simply storing and retrieving the object being teleported. Think about it! It¡¯s like it¡¯s being stored, moved, then resummoned. That¡¯s why, baseline, it costs four times as much mana and magic power as the mass of the object being moved. There is a steep non-linear scaling to the distance traveled as well, but end of the day? Storage, retrieval. Simple!¡±


    ;


    I wanted to cry and curse. A ¡®harmless¡¯ side-effect of Operation: The Improved Elaine had been dramatically increasing my weight. I was about 60% heavier than before.


    ;


    Dense jokes aside, that was screwing horribly with my numbers.


    ;


    ¡°Now, I¡¯m going to go back to that little rounding error I was talking about before. See, you can teleport yourself into a wall if you¡¯re not careful. Nasty when it happens, and if you¡¯re stupid about it, you¡¯ll probably kill yourself. However! Remember how I said you also need to move air around? Same with whatever you¡¯re teleporting into, except wood and stone is heavy. The dramatically increased cost to the blink will alert you to an issue, and if you¡¯re careful with how you cast your skill, it¡¯ll fail to cast entirely instead of teleporting your head into a wall.¡±


    ;


    I took furious notes on that.


    ;


    ¡°Portals are next, and they¡¯re only distantly related to dimensional hopping, even though most people lump them together. Portals are great for moving other people, since teleporting others is nearly impossible. Imagine the massive cost in the first place, now imagine that cost multiplied by vitality.¡±


    ;


    He gave a dramatic shudder. I wonder if he knew Mormerilhawn? The elf was teleporting others¡­ although I suppose he was only able to do it to people a fraction of his level, and even then Iona was too much for him. In a free for all event. With a ton of other people.


    ;


    ¡°Portals work in one of two ways. The first is a type of distance manipulation. The [Mage] needs to twist and bend space to connect two points together. Extremely expensive, and scales terribly with distance. After all, twisting space between two points a mile away is an entirely different game than twisting space between two points ten miles away. The second are tears and rips in the fabric of reality. Still stupidly expensive, but the cost is fixed, no matter the distance. Of course, you¡¯ll potentially invite divine disfavor, as you¡¯re technically destroying the fabric of reality. Let¡¯s all work hard at not getting smited.¡±


    ;


    I¡¯d probably get smited extra-hard with Iona right next to me. Portals sounded fun, but given the orange robed professor was calling them ¡®expensive¡¯ I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d be looking at them for the next, oh, century or three at minimum.


    ;


    ¡°This leads me nicely into spatial tears. Best weapon and defense in existence, and in the top 5 ways to get a god to directly smite you. Might even invite one of the big five to do it personally! If a portal might get angry rumblings, a spatial tear will get you torn a new one. I am not going to discuss how to do them in this class, for obvious reasons.¡±


    ;


    When I dropped biomancy, I thought I was done potentially getting in trouble with the Divine Decrees. Noooooo, Spatial was another element that could screw me.


    ;


    Then again, unlike with biomancy, I didn¡¯t really have the urge to start ripping the fabric of reality apart. I liked reality.


    ;


    ¡°With that being said, occasionally there are old spatial tears lying around, being dangerous. Don¡¯t fall into one, weird stuff can come out of them, and if you find one, do everything you can to close it. Come back to the School if you must, I¡¯ll do it myself.¡±


    ;


    I¡¯d never heard of this before. I was hoping it was a niche industry-specific concern, and not a larger, global concern.


    ;


    ¡°Intangibility is occasionally in Spatial, although it tends to be in the Dark and Void domain more frequently. It¡¯s an odd duck, and there¡¯s no real rules on how much it¡¯ll cost, and what you can do with it. It all depends on the skill in question.¡±


    ;


    I doubted I¡¯d be able to get intangibility in [Bookwyrm]. It just seemed too far removed. I suppose I had a minor form of it in [Beneath the Dragon¡¯s Eyes]? It let me sort of turn book covers intangible, in a sense?


    ;


    ¡°Dimensional hopping is next.¡± I straightened up at that. [World Traveler] had been an option since my first class, and I had a powerful curiosity about it.


    ;


    ¡°Couple of ways of going about it. A teleport, a tear, a twist, manipulation, slipping away, it¡¯s all possible. The end result is the same. Ending up in a different dimension. Some old, old records suggest that some dimensions don¡¯t have a System, if you can believe that, and warn not to go there, else you¡¯ll be stuck. Granted, we have no records from anyone who¡¯s actually been to one of those worlds, so there¡¯s no corroborating accounts¡­ but maybe that¡¯s because they get stranded. I¡¯m covering this briefly for your understanding, but we¡¯re not going into the topic in this class. Take the advanced class for it.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Lastly, the one you¡¯ve all been waiting for, and the first major topic of this lecture. Spatial expansion. Bags of holding, crates of storage, and so many, many more. Expensive in every sense of the word, and if you¡¯re the ones selling it?¡±


    ;


    The professor chuckled.


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯ll be able to pay for your kids, all their grandkids, and all of their kids to attend the School without blinking.¡±


    ;


    ;


    It had taken me far too long to realize what the topic of The Apex Creature was. When I figured it out, I felt like an idiot, and immediately signed up for the class.


    ;


    ¡°The absolute pinnacle of creation doesn¡¯t tend to bother itself with us.¡± The dragonling professor started her lecture. ¡°Unless we bother them. Now, thousands of things could bother them. There¡¯s the obvious ¡®break into their home and steal their stuff¡¯, but I think we can all agree that would bother most of us. Then there¡¯s the arbitrary. ¡®I was watching that tree grow for decades and you cut it down!¡¯ Unfortunate.¡±


    ;


    There were a few weak chuckles at that.


    ;


    ¡°I want to talk about one aspect in particular that explains why I am speaking so oddly in this room, and I fully expect all of you to follow. Please note that the source of this is the venerable Long Zhi, the Cerulean Scholar. He is a grand font of knowledge, a generous soul willing to share his research with us poor mortals. We will not mention him again. Names. Names are powerful things. Each time you mention one of them, it is like a tiny candle in the darkness, the smallest flicker of flame in the dark. They know. I believe they are proud of it, of a thousand small mentions lighting up the darkness of their mindscape, forming a flickering array. When you call them by their name, it is a much brighter signal, and the more powerful among them can ¡®hear¡¯ a small amount of what you say.¡±


    ;


    She paused, letting the implications sink in.


    ;


    ¡°Again, this feeds their ego. They enjoy it. What they do not enjoy is someone constantly calling them, setting off non-stop flares to their mind. Insulting them. Belittling them. Do it often enough, and you can provoke their wrath. Hence, the roundabout nature of this class.¡±


    ;


    NOTE TO SELF: DO NOT SAY HER NAME.


    ;


    It made me wonder how calling their name worked as languages shifted. Just trying to think the logic through made my head hurt, and I decided my time and efforts were better spent on other tasks.


    ;


    ¡°Next, I want to talk about why ¡®suicide by apex creature¡¯ isn¡¯t a viable technique¡­¡±


    ;


    ;


    I grabbed a fun book for some casual reading, and plopped down into my favorite chair in the library. Classes were over, and while I did need to do some homework, and I could just read it in my sleep, I just flat-out wanted to read a book for fun. I had free time.


    ;


    This was the life. Fluffy chair. Sun streaming through the window behind me, giving me beautiful natural light to work with. Books to my left. Books to my right. Books behind me.


    ;


    Wait.


    ;


    Books¡­ behind me?


    ;


    I looked at the window.


    ;


    Sun. Light. I waved my hand through the sunbeam. Shadows.


    ;


    I closed my eyes and focused on [The World Around Me].


    ;


    A wall, yes.


    ;


    No window.


    ;


    And on the other side of the wall¡­ a bookshelf, just like the rest of the ones in the library.

 Chapter 378 - The Hidden Library

    Books.


    ;


    There was an entire bookshelf filled with books behind me, where the window claimed there was open air and light.


    ;


    The obvious answer was the window was an illusion, filtering in ¡°natural¡± light for the benefit of the students. The windows weren¡¯t everywhere though, and up until now, they¡¯d always been consistent with each other and how the outside of the library looked.


    ;


    The library could be spatially warped, but given the power requirements not only to set a spatial warp, but to maintain it, I had my doubts.


    ;


    The easiest solution was to skim a half-dozen of the books with my new skills - I could read through walls! - and see what section they belonged in, then go to that section and see what it looked like from the other side.


    ;


    My language acquisition had gone decently. I was fluent enough in the ¡®keystone¡¯ languages of the world, although that didn¡¯t mean I¡¯d be able to speak to anyone. I had none of the ¡®minor¡¯ languages that were in active use, although when pressed I could possibly identify the language when presented with the written words. I didn¡¯t have any ¡®dead¡¯ languages, or any way to even guess which dead language something was written in.


    ;


    I mentally started paging through titles, [Reading] combining well with [The World Around Me], looking for one that was in a language I recognized. A number of titles were in dead languages, and some of the book bindings and pages were¡­ creative.


    ;


    I found the first title I could read in high elvish.


    ;


    Daedalus: The Complete Guide to the only Self Correcting Wizardry.


    ;


    I paused at the title. Maybe this section was all about obscure wizardry languages? Lothar had mentioned that there were dozens, if not hundreds, of other languages, and the School only focused on a few. I took a peek inside the book, reading over the words.


    ;


    [*ding!* [Bookwyrm] has leveled up! 22 -> 23. +40 Vitality, +40 Speed, +100 Mana, +100 Mana Regeneration, +300 Magic Power, +300 Magic Control from your class! +1 Mana, +1 Magic Power from your element! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)!]


    ;


    [*ding!* [Spatial Affinity] has leveled up! 22 -> 23]


    [*ding!* [Reading] has leveled up! 22 -> 23]


    [*ding!* [Astral Archives] has leveled up! 22 -> 23]


    [*ding!* [Hunger for Knowledge] has leveled up! 22 -> 23]


    ;


    That was fast. A benefit to taking a class doing things I wanted to do anyways!


    ;


    The more I read, the more excited I got. The language was indeed self correcting. It recognized patterns in runes, and could easily restore runes that got slightly damaged or worn out automatically! The mana consumption was higher at first, and making true ever-lasting runes required a small arcanite supply, but only a tiny one.


    ;


    This language was brilliant! I made a mental note to study it further, a little sad that I hadn¡¯t discovered it in time for my biomancy modifications.


    ;


    I mentally closed the book, resolving to check it out, put it into my [Bookwyrm¡¯s Hoard], and read it tonight while I was sleeping.


    ;


    I decided to check one or two more books before going to the obscure wizardry section of the library, and seeing what the wall looked like from the other side.


    ;


    The next book was in Roami, a language I recognized but didn¡¯t know. The language of the Kalea, of the ocean dwelling folk. I skimmed through it, but there wasn¡¯t anything I recognized as a rune in the book. There were a few obvious spells in a wizardry language I didn¡¯t know, but it wasn¡¯t a guide to the language. Those had a certain look, for lack of a better word. The same way I could recognize a dictionary from a novel.


    ;


    I skipped along a few more books. This section had an unusually high quotient of non-keystone language books! I eventually found the next one I could read.


    ;


    The Sealing of Thraximundar the Terrible.


    ;


    This didn¡¯t look like a wizardry book at all.


    ;


    Thraximundar was a familiar name. I poked my [Astral Archives], and the memory jumped to my mind.


    ;


    A notification I¡¯d gotten when I first exited the fairy ring.


    ;


    [*whoop whoop!* Whoa, you won¡¯t believe this one! Thraximundar the Terrible has wished for true, genuine, Immortality. Nothing can kill him! Nothing can stop him! I can¡¯t wait to see what he does! Good luck everyone!]


    ;


    I started to read the book, curious what was inside.


    ;


    Welcome, members of the council of five who have unlocked this book. Inside details the location and bindings around one Thraximundar the Terrible, an ogre who wished for true immortality.


    ;


    His reign of terror was legendary during our time, but we recognize that during the inevitable march of time, his name will be lost to myth and legend.


    ;


    Unless the world itself is at risk of crumbling, do not unleash him. He will promise everything, and inevitably betray those he deals with. It is his goal to stand on top of the world, and have all subservient to him.


    ;


    We tried everything. He cannot be killed. In desperation, we sealed him away in the deepest labyrinth, a thousand and one enchantments laid down to prevent his escape.


    ;


    This book details the location and protections surrounding his imprisonment.


    ;


    [*ding!* [Beneath the Dragon¡¯s Eyes] leveled up! 7 -> 12!]


    ;


    This¡­ this was not a wizardry book. [Beneath the Dragon¡¯s Eyes] and the opening lines of the book suggested that this was an encrypted book, one I¡¯d casually ripped right through.


    ;


    On one hand, I felt having knowledge of a literal unkillable monster might be dangerous. On the other, it¡¯d be one hell of a feat for upgrading my class to read the book.


    ;


    I was getting nervous as I flicked through another dozen or so books before landing on a third one I could read.


    ;


    The Sunless Death. The title proclaimed.


    ;


    The Sunless Death was a curse-plague placed on the sun in the year 18573, by the Miasma Classer [REDACTED]. Any being who looked at the sun was infected, and the curse-plague ate at the brain, driving the victim mad. They tended to wildly lash out at everyone around them, spreading chaos and destruction, before dying in agony. The most characteristic mark of the curse-plague was the eyes going entirely black, hence the name, The Sunless Death.


    ;


    It only lasted a day and a half before the Classer was slain, likely due to Guardian intervention. The lessons learned from the event, and the details of the skill in question, are worth preserving for future knowledge and learning, to better contain and prevent similar episodes.


    ;


    I stopped reading as notifications popped up.


    ;


    [*ding!* [Bookwyrm] has leveled up! 23 -> 24. +40 Vitality, +40 Speed, +100 Mana, +100 Mana Regeneration, +300 Magic Power, +300 Magic Control from your class! +1 Mana, +1 Magic Power from your element! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)!]


    ;


    [*ding!* [Spatial Affinity] has leveled up! 23 -> 24]


    [*ding!* [Reading] has leveled up! 23 -> 24]


    [*ding!* [Astral Archives] has leveled up! 23 -> 24]


    [*ding!* [Hunger for Knowledge] has leveled up! 23 -> 24]


    ;


    Okay. Wow.


    ;


    This was not the harmless ¡®obscure wizardry¡¯ section. This was something else entirely.


    ;


    My guess was it was like the banned and closed-off areas of the Museum of All Things, a forbidden section of the library.


    ;


    What the book didn¡¯t mention, and I had some sneaking suspicions about, was the Classer might¡¯ve ascended. If I could heal the entire world, all at once, I¡¯d have level up notifications flying past me so fast I wouldn¡¯t be able to keep up. I¡¯d hit the cap in hours.


    ;


    Someone going out and trying to murder a significant portion of the world population? That either ended in death, like the book suggested, or ascension. It was probably not mentioned, because who wanted to start going around saying ¡®hey, murder as many people as you can as quickly as you can, and become a god!¡±


    ;


    It made me think back to the war class I just had, and what the professor had mentioned about Immortal wars.


    ;


    How many were triggered by an Immortal saying ¡®forget the slow and steady way, let me just farm as much experience as possible, become a god and get out of here?¡¯


    ;


    The implication was terrifying. I had new respect for the Forbidden Four elements, and the pseudo-global ban on people taking them.


    ;


    They were the ¡®kill as many people as possible as quickly as possible¡¯ elements, and cutting them off at their knees suddenly sounded like a wise idea.


    ;


    The next book was a stupidly impractical one. [The World Around Me] let me use all my senses in my sphere of perception, and I was well familiar with blood, in dozens of different forms. The book was written in blood, and the leather was probably something uselessly macabre, like human skin or some nonsense.


    ;


    Honestly. There was a reason paper and ink was standard, and it wasn¡¯t because blood was secretly superior or something. The time and manufacturing costs alone meant whoever had written it could¡¯ve made 20, 50 copies instead! What a waste.


    ;


    Right then. There were a few different ways I could tackle things from here.


    ;


    First, I could just sit on this wall, and read as many books as possible. They seemed to have a certain weight to them, the System granting me levels just by skimming through the introduction. Something about the rarity, difficulty, or gravitas was helping me level, and level quickly. When I was done, I could just move along the wall, find the next spot, and keep reading. I could build a whole ¡®outer perimeter¡¯ of the hidden library, reading what books I could find.


    ;


    I could then collate the languages used, and try and pick up the most commonly used language, or bring a list of titles to Iona to translate for me. I could pick out the most promising books, and translate those, one word at a time while I made a copy for myself.


    ;


    Rare, forbidden books in [Bookwyrm¡¯s Hoard] could also do nice things for that skill, then [Dream Reading] would kick in hard.


    ;


    The second was more daring. Trace along the edges of the library until I found a door. Open the door, my new sphere of awareness letting me know exactly how the tumblers in a lock were arranged. Sneak into the library, and read all the books, not just the ones at the edges.


    ;


    The third?


    ;


    Well, I wasn¡¯t great with people, but I wasn¡¯t a complete idiot.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°Martin! Just the demon I wanted to see!¡± I cheerfully called out to the [Librarian].


    ;


    He slowly put down the book he was reading, peering at me over his half-moon glasses.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine. You¡¯ve returned all the books, yes?¡± He asked me.


    ;


    I nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Yup! All shelved back exactly where they belong. Even fixed a few misplaced books while I was at it!¡±


    ;


    He gave me a small smile.


    ;


    ¡°Excellent! What can I do for you?¡± He asked me.


    ;


    ¡°Can I go into the hidden section of the library?¡± I asked him.


    ;


    He sighed.


    ¡°There are no hidden, forbidden, secret, cursed, extra-dimensional, or other unknown parts of the library.¡± He recited. ¡°You know this. Indeed, I¡¯m sure I¡¯ve heard you tell other students the very same thing!¡±


    ;


    I crossed my arms and lifted a doubtful eyebrow. I looked around his office.


    ;


    ¡°Is this place properly warded against eavesdropping?¡± I asked him.


    ;


    He snorted at me.


    ;


    ¡°No, because there¡¯s nothing to protect against. Nothing sends up a flare of ¡®I¡¯m talking about secrets¡¯ like a bubble of complete and total silence, and I have nothing to hide.¡± He emphasized.


    ;


    ¡°Well, alrighty then. You don¡¯t mind if I work through the wall on the fourth floor and read Daedalus: The Complete Guide to the only Self Correcting Wizardry, The Sealing of Thraximundar the Terrible, or The Sunless Death, do you?¡±


    ;


    Martin froze.


    ;


    I stared him down.


    ;


    ¡°Is there a procedure to checking the books out? Anyone special I need to consult? Or do I check them out as normal?¡±


    ;


    He unleashed a string of inventive curses in his native Frisian.


    ;


    ¡°All copies of Thraximundar are magically encrypted, how did you break it?¡± He complained.


    ;


    I shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°New skill of mine lets me selectively break encryption on books.¡±


    ;


    ¡°So you just waltzed in and started looking?¡± Martin grumbled.


    ;


    ¡°Nope! Second new skill lets me see through walls.¡±


    ;


    He eyed me unhappily.


    ;


    ¡°And read through walls. That¡¯s a different skill!¡±


    ;


    He threw his arms up in the air.


    ;


    ¡°Fine! Yes! It exists! We don¡¯t tell people there¡¯s a forbidden section of the library, because then every Tom, Dick, and Harry tries to break in and read things, convinced that the answer to their problem is inside! No, you may not check out books in there. I¡¯ll talk with some of the other librarians to see if we need a student to do the cleaning inside. Just remember, half the books in there are cursed.¡±


    ;


    I grinned, and suppressed the urge to manically rub my hands together. That would be a bad look.


    ;


    ¡°Great! My new class is all about reading books. Think I can bother the Acquisitions team or the archivists to let me read some of their stuff to help level up?¡±


    ;


    Martin glared at me from over the rim of his glasses. He was great at the look, but I was immune.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure you understand the gravity of your request, especially the implied one about reading books in the forbidden section. Knowledge should be preserved, but some knowledge shouldn¡¯t be spread. The Sunless Death murdered hundreds of thousands at a conservative guess, and tens of millions on the high end in a single day. The book gives all the information needed to recreate the curse, although power and mana are major bottlenecks. Thraximundar is still alive, still exists, and wants nothing more than to be free to trample over the world again. Daedalus goes wrong, and when it does, you end up with the Labyrinth of Abydos. It keeps shifting because the language is constantly trying to correct itself. There is not a single harmless book in the collection, although if you find one, please let me know. We can return it to normal circulation.¡±


    ;


    I sobered up at Martin¡¯s speech. He was right. I¡¯d been giddy over finding a cool ¡®harmless¡¯ secret, catching the School in a lie. The prospect of thousands of hidden, banned books, each one fantastic experience for my class, the entire section of the library singing like a siren about improved [Bookwyrm] evolutions, had gone to my head. He was right to chastise me over it.


    ;


    ¡°Is there a double-secret hidden library? Like, is the one I found the ¡®decoy¡¯ hidden library, and there¡¯s a second one with the really, really dangerous stuff in it? Or is there just one.¡±


    ;


    Martin gave me a look, and didn¡¯t dignify my question with a response.


    ;


    ¡°As for the Acquisitions team, I don¡¯t know, why don¡¯t you go ask them instead of bothering me. Shoo!¡± Martin flapped his hand at me, banishing me from his office.


    ;


    I was totally going to check for a double secret hidden library.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°Are you sure you¡¯re going to sleep in the library?¡± Iona patted her bed lovingly, trying to entice me to stay with her.


    ;


    My heart was torn. I wanted to stay and snuggle with Iona, but I also wanted the chance to level up [Bookwyrm] and improve the class quality.


    ;


    ¡°You know it¡¯s best for me to spend a night now and then in the library.¡± I told Iona.


    ;


    She¡¯d been given the rundown about the forbidden section after promising not to tell anyone. With her [Vow], I fully believed it was an ironclad promise. She couldn¡¯t lie, and saying ¡®I¡¯m not going to tell anyone¡¯ was good enough for me.


    ;


    ¡°Yeah, I know. I¡¯m going to miss you.¡± The [Paladin] said.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m going to miss you as well. But hey! It¡¯s only for one night a week.¡±


    ;


    We lingered over the goodbye. There was no reason to linger, I¡¯d be back in the morning, but there was no rush.


    ;


    I was back in the library in no time at all. The way to get into the forbidden section was interesting.


    ;


    First, there was a false wall. I needed to pull the book How To Avoid Large Ships off the shelf, which triggered a mechanical wall to open up.


    ;


    Inside was a cozy little reading cubby. There were some sofas and plush chairs, and a pair of bookshelves on the walls. The only books in here were common books that could be found all over the library, in the most available language. In other words, books that nobody would be inspired to pick up and idly look through.


    ;


    Students occasionally found this room, and that was fine. The whole point of the room was to hide exactly how anyone accessing the forbidden library got in.


    ;


    Rumors about the library occasionally ¡®eating¡¯ people suddenly made a lot more sense. Students saw librarians enter the room, but never leave. It wasn¡¯t possible to perfectly hide that something was going on, although clearly the more oblivious students - like myself - completely missed what was going on.


    ;


    The trick was getting through the second set. A round dozen books needed to be moved, picked up and replaced, rotated, and pressed in sequence.


    ;


    Once that was done, a wall panel slid back for a few seconds. An illusion over it made it difficult to detect if a student happened to miraculously stumble upon the right sequence. A brisk walk through, and I was in the forbidden library.


    ;


    I hadn¡¯t found any double secret hidden libraries, and it wasn¡¯t for a lack of trying. I¡¯d walked along every single outer and inner wall of the library, searching for secrets. The only thing I¡¯d found were a half-dozen books secreted away by old students then forgotten. Martin was delighted with my find, and I didn¡¯t mention the circumstances of why I was looking.


    ;


    A bored [Sentry] had a cozy desk and a pile of entertainment, the last line of defense against anyone sneaking in. Maybe I could get my job reassigned to that role, and get paid to sit and read rare books.


    ;


    It didn¡¯t look like anything particularly special or amazing. There were no books flying through the air, no magical constructs wandering the aisles. It was just¡­ emptier, and the occasional bookshelf had shimmering barriers over them, the books on those shelves all cursed.


    ;


    I was not going to try and tango with curses that even the experts at the School couldn¡¯t break. It wasn¡¯t like they wanted a ton of cursed books, but the [Cursebreakers] were only so good.


    ;


    I browsed a few books, trying to find a few that were acceptable.


    ;


    The Secret of the Pekari


    Purple Gold Demonic Heaven Devouring Eclipse Technique


    Ritual Sacrifice and You: How to Properly Tenderize Sacrifices to Maximize Output


    ;


    Finally I found a fat one that made me curious enough to pick up and put in my [Bookwyrm¡¯s Hoard].


    ;


    The Kamo Report. Reading the synopsis made me clench my jaw, the book as ugly as the rest of the ones here. I might, just might, be able to learn something practical from the book, although getting the knowledge would be¡­ painful.


    ;


    The Kamo unit had been part of the Kalea marines during a war against Ralakar, and they had a creative interpretation of what prisoners of war meant. A check of the dates indicated that it predated the Treaty of Kyowa.


    ;


    [*ding!* [Bookwyrm¡¯s Hoard] has leveled up! 10 -> 11]


    ;


    I settled into one of the chairs, drew a quick little glyph with [Lepidoptera] that turned into a floating sign that I was just sleeping, and everything was alright, and closed my eyes.


    ;


    It took a few minutes for me to enter my dreamscape, [Dream Reading] kicking in and letting me read in my sleep.


    ;


    I selected The Kamo Report from my stored books, and the scene started to slowly build itself around me.


    ;


    I was on a beach, sand stretching as far as the eye could see, the ocean waves crashing against the shore. The sun appeared on the horizon, painting the tips of the waves red.


    ;


    Pens appeared on the beach at regular intervals, sturdy constructions of wood and twine. As I continued to watch, each pen was populated by a number of dragonlings of all ages and sizes. Each one was faceless though, no visual details having been given. Levels, classes, and vitality populated over all of them, the book I was ¡®reading¡¯ having taken detailed records.


    ;


    A number of aquatic elvenoids dotted the scene, armed guards patrolling between the pens. Every now and then they¡¯d poke a trident into the prisoner pens, forcing the dragonlings back from the sides.


    ;


    The scene zoomed into one of the pens.


    ;


    Dragonlings withered and slowly died in the pen as the sun rapidly zipped across the horizon. Notes popped up above each one as they died, explaining how long it had taken each dragonling at what age and vitality to die of simple exposure to the elements, and the estimated cause of death.


    ;


    Estimated formulas floated over a rapidly expanding pile of bodies, as the members of the Kamo Unit refined their estimates and calculations. One final equation was left floating over a pile of bodies, flies buzzing around them.


    ;


    Interestingly, vitality started off rapidly having a powerful compounding effect on survival times, before plateauing hard. My guess was the early stats in vitality rapidly improved the body, and the improvements built off of each other. Then the cube root aspect to vitality¡¯s improvement kicked in, dramatically lowering the returns.


    ;


    IF the information was correct, it was useful. It gave me a framework to triage based on vitality, and who was likely to survive injuries like that, and who needed immediate attention. The syllabus of one of my classes mentioned I¡¯d be learning similar functions.


    ;


    Then I was moved to the next pen, as the section on simple exposure ended. Next up was a shaded pen, where the dragonlings were fed.


    ;


    But not watered.


    ;


    The dragonlings didn¡¯t quite drop as quickly as the ones exposed to the elements, the meager shade delaying the cruel end. I watched a scene of some of the dragonlings killing each other, a ¡°Useless Data¡± card floating over the slain dragonlings.


    ;


    I got to watch a minor rebellion, a number of dragonlings bursting out of their pen, seizing weapons and turning them against their captors. It was ruthlessly suppressed.


    ;


    The entire thing started off bad, and went steeply downhill from ¡®let¡¯s see how long it takes for people to die of dehydration.¡¯


    ;


    I flat-out quit the book when it got to the firing range experiments.


    ;


    I didn¡¯t need to know that badly.


    ;


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Chimera (Elvenoid)]


    [Age: 25]


    [Mana: 635,470/635,470]


    [Mana Regen: 319,486 (+638,272)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 1,339]


    [Dexterity: 2,396]


    [Vitality: 17,976]


    [Speed: 18,008]


    [Mana: 62,731]


    [Mana Regeneration: 62,860 (+63,017)]


    [Magic Power: 29,746 (+762,985)]


    [Magic Control: 29,728 (+762,523)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 513]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 513]


    [Cosmic Presence: 323]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 11]


    [Center of the Universe: 472]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 513]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 513]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 492]


    [Sunrise: 471]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 401]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 401]


    [Radiance Resistance: 401]


    [Nova Lance: 401]


    [Lepidoptera: 180]


    [Nectar: 401]


    [Solar Corona: 401]


    [Scintillating Ascent: 401]


    [Kaleidoscope: 401]


    [Class 3: [Bookwyrm - Spatial: Lv 24]]


    [Spatial Affinity: 24]


    [Reading: 24]


    [Lair: 1]


    [Bookwyrm''s Hoard: 11]


    [Beneath the Dragon''s Eyes: 12]


    [Dream Reading: 16]


    [Astral Archives: 24]


    [Hunger for Knowledge: 24]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 380]


    [: ]


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 256]


    [The World Around Me: 36]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 513]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 513]


    [Persistent Casting: 431]


    [: ]

 Chapter 379 - General Skills

    The School had a class for everything. With [Bookwyrm] eating two of my general skills, I had open slots, and I was determined to make the best of it.


    ;


    The problem I ran into, the School was also too good at teaching, and general skills had the most options by far. The list was almost literally endless. Even after cutting it down to size I was struggling.


    ;


    [Parallel Thoughts] would let me split my mind into multiple tracks, letting me think about multiple things at once. I could read and carry on a conversation at the same time. I could cast multiple different wizardry spells while focusing entirely on a fight.


    ;


    I could rub my belly and pat my head at the same time effortlessly.


    ;


    And that was the introductory skill, with only one extra thought track. It evolved in a series of well-documented improvements, getting more and more absurd.


    ;


    I had already picked the skill over similar skills like [Secondary Processor], [The Voices Inside Your Head Are Real], and [Mental Helper], although [Mental Clone] was still on the list. Basically a subconscious ¡®mini me¡¯ to talk with and point things out.


    ;


    The voices in my head would be real! I swear!


    ;


    There were a half-dozen skills along the lines of [Inner World], [Mind Palace], [Shadow Boxing], and [Internal Trainer]. I could mentally practice or review things. It worked best when I knew what I was doing, but I could literally train in my mind. Fortunately, they were strict upgrades over skills like [Wizardry Testing Ground], and I could safely axe that skill from my list.


    ;


    Naturally, the skills got absurd when combined with [Parallel Thoughts]. Multiple [Shadow Boxing] sessions going on at once? Dozens of internal mini-Elaines practicing wizardry or sparring? Combined with [Dream Reading], and I could barely imagine the results.


    ;


    If those were the only amazing skills offered, it¡¯d be easy. But nooooo. It was never that easy.


    ;


    [Wisdom] promised to help me make better decisions, although the skill sadly took time to properly build up enough levels to become potent. I couldn¡¯t just take the skill to help me figure out the best skill to take, although it was tempting.


    ;


    [Critical Thinking] and [Common Sense] were two skills that weren¡¯t common enough in the world, and both were in [Wisdom¡¯s] vein. Instead of thinking more, I¡¯d think better. The improved thinking speed I got from my companion bond was already helping with thinking more.


    ;


    [Cold Thoughts] and [Emotionless] had some logic behind them, but I was a little too concerned what conclusions I¡¯d come to while relying on them. Those skills were the harbingers of ¡®it totally made sense to start a civil war, it was the only way I could fix things.¡¯


    ;


    [Timekeeping] was an available general skill, and I¡¯d grown to rely on it for the few short years I had the skill. Sounded silly, but near-perfect timekeeping and alarms had proven their worth. There was something to be said for taking a skill I already knew¡­ but I wanted to have my skills for the rest of my life.


    ;


    This whole losing general skills and resetting from scratch was for the birds. I very well could end up finding skills were duds, removing them, and replacing them, like I had with [Spotless], but the goal was to grab permanent skills.


    ;


    [Mental Journal] would let me make notes to myself, and keep them there. That, and other memory skills overlapped too hard with [Astral Archives]. It did give me the idea to make a ¡®book¡¯ inside my [Astral Archives] that were memories of me making notes to myself, and having a second ¡®book¡¯ of ¡®completed¡¯ notes.


    ;


    Back to the stronger skills, [Imagination] promised to be a fantastically good one. My wizardry was limited by what I could think of, my ability to come up with ideas and think things through was only so good. [Imagination] would let me be more, be better. It was hard to describe¡­ I lacked the proper imagination to do so.


    ;


    [Curiosity] was the hallmark of intelligence. I was already curious enough to kill a dozen cats though, and I wasn¡¯t sure if leaning into that aspect of my personality would be beneficial. Becoming more distractible?


    ;


    Speaking of distractible, [Focus] was the best of the mental skills that could help me out. [Hyperfocus] was a bit too much, and [Concentration] had just barely lost in the pro-con analysis.


    ;


    [Self Control] was another skill that not enough people had. I considered the skill, and it was still on my list, but I had a lifetime of discipline giving me a leg up. [Discipline] was another skill, and they just never ended.


    ;


    [Comprehension] promised that I¡¯d be able to absorb more information, faster, and it synergized well with [Bookwyrm].


    ;


    And that was only a small fraction of the mental-type general skills! I¡¯d cut down a list of thousands and thousands of mental skills to just that ¡®short¡¯ list.


    ;


    The meta skills were up next, and [Channel] was on the top of the list. I couldn¡¯t use [Lair] without it, and the skill was a critical prerequisite to get [Blink]. Mostly because a quick back of the napkin math suggested that [Blink] would take 320,000 mana at least to cast, and that was for blinking in place!


    ;


    They got more interesting from there. [Trigger] let me make conditions for casting spells, and precharge them! A few of my competitors in the Gladiator Games used the skill to devastating effect. [Mages] with it literally spent weeks preparing skills, only for them to go off when needed.


    ;


    A trigger word was a popular way of letting the spells loose, and they effectively gave themselves a mana pool that was 10 or 20 times the normal size with how many skills they prepared.


    ;


    Every year there was grumbling that it should be banned, that it was basically arcanite. The counter-argument was that it was a skill, and anyone could take the skill. [Delayed Casting] was similar to [Trigger], and frankly, intelligent use of [Trigger] could replicate anything [Delayed Casting] could manage.


    ;


    Interestingly, it combined well with [Imagination], but not [Parallel Thoughts]. I didn¡¯t need to think more, I needed to think better.


    ;


    [Automatic Aim] was a skill Artemis could use, but Radiance made life easy. At the same time, it could be good for wizardry spells¡­


    ;


    ¡­ eh, I was trying to justify a bad choice. I happily crossed that one off my list.


    ;


    [Twincast] was the best of the ¡®doublers¡¯, and like the name suggested, it ¡®echoed¡¯ any skill a second time, at the same level of [Twincast]. The upgrade path was obvious - [Triplecast], [Quadruplecast], it just went on and on. It was great for penetrating armor and hardened positions.


    ;


    [Imbue] could let me have one skill deliver a second skill.


    ;


    [Range] was a simple but powerful one. The range of all my skills would be increased.


    ;


    The list went on and on and on.


    ;


    Speaking of [Range], that also touched on the whole section of meta aura skills. Increased range, the ability to shape an aura, the ability to exclude people from an aura, compressing it¡­ the list was just as endless, and I¡¯d cut that train of thought off at the knees by saying I¡¯d take the general meta version, not the specialized one.


    ;


    [Preset Skill Casting] was the last meta skill I was considering. It let me ¡®design¡¯ a series of skills to cast in particular ways, along with time intervals between each casting. The higher the level, the more skills I could pack together, and the more sets of skills I could ¡®save¡¯.


    ;


    I felt like I lacked the [Imagination] to properly appreciate all the things I could do with it! Then again, most of my skills were standalones.


    ;


    There were emotional skills. That list I¡¯d rapidly cut down to just [Joy], a skill that improved my appreciation for the little joyful things in life. It was awfully close to being a drug, and it was just barely toeing the line for what I considered acceptable mental changes on myself.


    ;


    After all, in a way it changed me just as much as something like [Imagination] would change me.


    ;


    Lastly were the more ¡®normal¡¯ general skills. [Running] would give me a hand with my minor dexterity issue, as would [Traction]. I wanted these skills forever though, and I would slowly get back in balance¡­ especially after dumping the last of my free stats into my dexterity, and classing up [Bookwyrm].


    ;


    [Prayer], [Sweeping], [Climbing], [Flying]... basically any and every activity could be a general skill. At the School, it was only too easy to find out exactly what each skill did, and how to get it.


    ;


    ¡°What do you think?¡± I asked Iona and Auri.


    ;


    ¡°BrrrRRrrrpt.¡± Auri conjured up a pair of mage hands to grab her head, then wove her head around in a big circle.


    ;


    ¡°Yes, yes, you¡¯ve got a huge headache. Thinking about this hurts.¡± I rolled my eyes at the bird¡¯s antics.


    ;


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you mentioned something about spellbooks a few times now?¡± Iona asked me.


    ;


    I nodded.


    ;


    ¡°[Bookwyrm¡¯s Hoard] plus spellbooks sounds utterly disgusting to me.¡± I confirmed. ¡°As long as I¡¯ve thought of the array and drawn it out, and I have quality spellbooks to use, I¡¯ll always have an arsenal on me.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that 90% of what [Trigger] does anyways?¡± Iona asked.


    ;


    I was so proud. She was using percentages in normal conversation! Correctly!


    ;


    ¡°Right, but the mana pool expansion is pretty nice, and it¡¯s on sorcery, not wizardry. No penalty.¡± I said.


    ;


    ¡°Much more limited though.¡± She said.


    ;


    I nodded in agreement.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt! BRPT!¡± Auri demanded.


    ;


    I tilted my head and thought about it.


    ;


    ¡°That¡¯s¡­ a pretty good idea. Which categories do you think?¡± I asked my girlfriend.


    ;


    Her eyebrows wrinkled in concentration.


    ;


    ¡°If it were up to me, I¡¯d take a pair of social skills. Why insist on doing everything yourself, when you can form bonds with other people, and lean on their skills and abilities the same way they lean on you? Plus, making more friends? Yes please! End of the day, we¡¯re just two people. A dozen, a hundred people can do more than we can. However, that¡¯s me. That¡¯s not you, and we both know that. The way I see it, you can expand in one or two of three directions.¡± She slowly spoke, working her way through Auri¡¯s question. ¡°You can improve your mind with a mental skill. You can improve your magic with a meta skill. Or you can improve your body with a more general skill.¡±


    ;


    That snapped the whole discussion into focus for me.


    ;


    ¡°Right, let¡¯s ditch the general skills. I¡¯m pretty happy with my body, and I¡¯d like to focus on magic and mind.¡± I said.


    ;


    ¡°What synergizes well with your current skills?¡± Iona asked. She probably had some ideas of her own, but was asking good questions to help me better frame the problem and think of things.


    ;


    ¡°Everything.¡± I grimaced. I¡¯d already cut the stuff that didn¡¯t work well.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ;


    ¡°No, we can¡¯t just burn the skills and pick the surviving one.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt, brrrrrpt.¡±


    ;


    I laughed at the little pyro¡¯s logic.


    ;


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll make you a promise. If I get stuck on a bunch of skills, and they¡¯re all good, I¡¯ll write their names on a piece of paper and let you burn them all. I¡¯ll take the last skill standing.¡±


    ;


    A really fancy way of generating a random number.


    ;


    ¡°Well, we¡¯re at the School, best place in the world for skills. Do you think you can pull off any mergers?¡± Iona asked.


    ;


    I thought about the problem from that direction.


    ;


    ¡°[Lucid Dreaming] and [Dream Reading] are similar.¡± The wheels in my mind slowly turned as I worked through the problem. ¡°I cut [Lucid Dreaming] for having no benefit at all, because of [Dream Reading], but it¡¯s in the same category as [Shadow Boxing]. If I take the right variant, it should be able to merge with [Dream Reading], and let me do anything in my sleep, not just read.¡±


    ;


    Iona gave me a brisk nod.


    ;


    ¡°Excellent! What else?


    ;


    ¡°[Channel] and [Blink] or [Lair].¡± I was getting excited. I¡¯d let myself get overwhelmed, but looking at it from the lens of ¡®how do I upgrade my current skills¡¯ let me kick the can down the road, and give myself a solid powerup. This was something like a once in a lifetime chance, to use the School¡¯s knowledge and resources for my own.


    ;


    [Reading] and [Comprehension] could get merged, although I was being a little greedy trying to merge everything into the skill. [Astral Archives] and [Hunger for Knowledge] were already both top-tier skills, being an evolution of skills I¡¯d evolved a couple of times already.


    ;


    It was helpful for removing options. I was still on the fence on mental or meta skills though.


    ;


    I did have two skill slots¡­ ignoring synergies for a moment, what were the best skills in each category?


    ;


    ¡°Do I need to think more, or think better?¡± I asked Iona.


    ;


    She didn¡¯t even blink at my non sequitur.


    ;


    ¡°More.¡± She instantly replied. ¡°Elaine, I love you. I¡¯m biased here. But you are the single most brilliant woman I¡¯ve ever met, if a bit of an airhead. I can barely read your notes,-¡±


    ;


    ¡°Hey!¡± I protested. My writing wasn¡¯t that bad!


    ;


    ¡°-not like that.¡± Iona rolled her eyes and ruffled my hair. ¡°What you¡¯re reading and studying. I can¡¯t imagine you even smarter, and if we¡¯re being completely honest, I¡¯m afraid you¡¯d completely leave me behind if you went deeper. That¡¯s not to say you¡¯re not a complete idiot at times, but you¡¯re a genius. Think more. Two of you at 100 is better than one of you at 110, right?¡±


    ;


    I shuffled over next to Iona, giving her the biggest hug I could while burying my head in her chest.


    ;


    ¡°Love you too.¡± I sniffled out, murmured into her shirt.


    ;


    After that little speech, [Parallel Thoughts] went to the top of my mental skills list for a ¡®final¡¯ skill.


    ;


    We held each other for a few minutes, simply enjoying each other¡¯s company.


    ;


    ¡°BrRRRRRRrrrrrrrrrrrpt.¡± Auri made some snoozing noises, breaking the moment.


    ;


    ¡°What meta skill is best for each class?¡± Iona asked me.


    ;


    My mind raced through the skills, and the answer became obvious.


    ;


    ¡°[Imbue]. It¡¯s the best for my healing class. It¡¯ll let me attach a heal to [Nova Lance] or [Kaleidoscope], and both have a longer range than [Wheel of Sun and Moon]. Plus, no distance penalty! Yeah, I could blast harder or more, but end of the day, I¡¯m a [Healer], and [Imbue] is perfect for it.¡±


    ;


    Mostly. There was the question of what would happen once I upgraded [The Dawn Sentinel] and [Wheel of Sun and Moon] merged with [Dance with the Heavens]. It might render the skill moot.


    ;


    At the same time, I wasn¡¯t going to try to play the grand guessing game of ¡°what were my skills going to evolve into, and what was optimal for that?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Great! Are you all set with your general skill plans?¡± Iona asked.


    ;


    ¡°Yeah! Thanks again. When are we poking at your skills?¡± I asked the blonde.


    ;


    She grinned.


    ;


    ¡°After we go shopping! The letter of credit finally made it, and Sigrun posted it before I left for the School! I¡¯m looking to turn Fenrir¡¯s scales into an aketon, and he needs a full suit of armor. Going to find one of the high level crafters looking for a project, and pay them. We all win!¡±


    ;


    Iona had explained the letter thing before. She was a recognized Valkyrie, and could access some small sums from The World Bank - not to be confused with The First Bank - but to spend significant sums, she needed proof.


    ;


    ¡°Isn¡¯t he still growing?¡± I asked.


    ;


    Iona nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Yes, but Ashala got me a set of estimates. Given her level, I¡¯d be surprised if Fenrir ended up a centimeter off her ¡®uneducated guess.¡¯¡± Iona snorted to let me know what she thought of Ashala being ¡®humble.¡¯


    ;


    ¡°Shopping! Let¡¯s go! I need to pick up a good pair of enchanted boots. Do you think I can buy an improved Deception Ring? One that guards can¡¯t see through? More people to heal in mortal lands than Immortal lands after all. Oh! And books! We should see what books they have!¡±


    ;


    I shot out the door.


    ;


    Shopping trip with my girlfriend!


    ;


    It was a shame I only had a little more than a year left at the School. How quickly time flew by!

 Not a chapter -I fucked up hard. Beneath the Dragoneye Moons - The Gladiator Gauntlet preorder snafu

    Hey!


    I fucked up my preorder.


    Tl;dr: I uploaded the wrong manuscript, and Amazon''s locked things such that I can only fix it AFTER it goes live. https://imgur.com/a/iafHKv8


    Whoops!


    Long version: I miscalculated how many chapters were left in book 9, and I had the wrong date. I needed to pull the launch forward a week, which had me scrambling hard on... Friday the 13th... while publishing Chapter 404 - Not Found... to fix everything and get it all ready to go. After hours of blood, toil, tears, and sweat, I got it all ready, read, polished, and uploaded to Amazon. Great!


    Except, somewhere along the line, I couldn''t read, and I uploaded book 7''s manuscript to Amazon as book 9''s. This is 100% my fault. Completely and totally. Amazon then promptly locked my preorder for launch, which means I have no way of changing the manuscript until it finishes it launch. I contacted three different Amazon reps, hoping one of them would be like "Yes, actually, I know the deep magics that''ll fix this for you"


    The only deep magics they found is at 0 UTC I can change my manuscript back, and contact Amazon, hoping that they can speed-push the change through.


    Anyway. All this to say, if you preordered book 9 and it gets delivered wrong, force an update in a few hours from this post, and the right copy should be delivered to you. If you can''t wait, contact me and I''ll get you a copy. Heck, if you jump on my discord, I''ve given carte blanche to all my patrons to share a copy of book 9 with you! (Patrons get copies of the book ahead of time, and I posted the wrong file to them as well initially. Friday the 13th had NO MERCY for me.)


    Once again, this is completely my fault, and I''m very sorry for any inconvenience.

 Chapter 380 - Interlude - Auri - The Great Brrrrptish Bake-off

    ¡°Welcome one and all to the Great School Bake-off! This quarter we have an exciting new set of [Amateur Bakers], drawn from the thousands and thousands of [Students] here at the School, to wow and impress the judges. Without further ado, let me introduce our illustrious judges!¡± Florena the Harpy announced to the meager audience. Amateur baking wasn¡¯t the most exciting of activities, and the vast majority of the fans were here to see if there were any major screw-ups or epic fails. That was much more interesting than watching bread rise.


    ;


    Silly fans! Baking was the absolute best. Making tasty food? Yes! Watching people be happy? Yes! Pulling off a neat challenge? Yes!


    ;


    Burning was the best thing in creation. I could burn just a little, and make something besides ashes!


    ;


    Well, actually¡­ maybe these fans weren¡¯t silly. They were smart enough to come see me! ¡­ and everyone else as well, I guess.


    ;


    I would just have to wow them extra hard!


    ;


    ¡°Our returning judge is the famous Rabbitstew! Don¡¯t let his green visage and simple name fool you, Rabbitstew is a [Gourmet] and [Chef] like no other! His biting words have left dozens, nay, hundreds of students in tears over the years! Anyone who can satisfy him can cook for nobility, nay, the very king and queen themselves! Everyone give it up foooooooooooooor - Rabbitstew!¡±


    ;


    I was a little surprised at how enthusiastic the crowd was for Rabbitstew. He sounded mean. Still! He was the key to THE PLAN! THE PLAN to make everyone happy!


    ;


    ¡°Softening his harsh words, we have Corknarr! A new judge to this event, her sensitive nose is able to tell exactly what¡¯s going on inside the baked goods before she even bites in! But wait! Corknarr prefers subtle flavors, while Rabbitstew likes them strong and bold! Will our contestants try to make a dish to satisfy both, or will they attempt to flatter one judge¡¯s tastes over the other? Speaking of contestants, here they areeeeeeeeeeee!¡±


    ;


    The [Announcer] flung her wing out. That was the cue to enter! Let¡¯s gooooo!


    ;


    I zipped ahead of the slowpokes, darting straight to my station! Fast bird! Quick bird! A hand to keep my black hat on!


    ;


    Florena started to announce the contestants. The dread Aleesia was back. Booo! Hiss!


    ;


    I refocused on the important things in this event. The big bird with bad wings made it clear. First this event, second cooking for [Kings] and [Queens]. Quick and easy.


    ;


    After, I could order the [Servants] around, get fancy crowns and dresses for Elaine¡­ and Iona, although she might like pants more. I would be rich! Famous! Successful! And I could share it with all my friends! They wouldn¡¯t need to worry anymore!


    ;


    People kept saying there were no shortcuts to success, but they didn¡¯t think. They didn¡¯t see the obvious shortcuts that popped up like that.


    ;


    Like, DUH!


    ;


    I looked over my station. It had a wide surface, with plenty of drawers filled with every cooking implement I could want! I also had a number of goodies I was allowed to bring with me. Mostly fruits and meat! Flour, eggs, salt, butter, and the like were provided to everyone.


    ;


    For free!


    ;


    ¡°Right then! For your very first challenge, the judges would like to see your best savory pies. They need to be stuffed, and able to feed four. No itsy bitty pies! You have ninety minutes. Ready? Set? Baaaaaaaaake.¡± Florena declared.


    ;


    I sprang into action! A time limit! Just like when Elaine went to class, and I only had two hours to cook something tasty!


    ;


    I conjured up two dozen [Mage Hands], and flicked my attention around as I ordered them all to perform!


    ;


    Get the cups! Sharpen the knives! Place the bowls on the table! Scoop the flour! Level it off, now dump it into the pot! Crack the eggs, measure the butter, and grab a whisk!


    ;


    Two hands to zest a mango! More hands to start cutting the meats! More mangos need to be carefully sliced just right. Too fat, and they won¡¯t cook! Too skinny, and they¡¯ll be dry and BLEH!


    ;


    The contents of the pie were next. I was blatantly cheating. Sneaky bird! Mangos were the most delicious fruit in the world, so those were going in. Fruit and meats were delicious together, and clever me gathered a fine selection for the stuffing. Beef, chicken, and my secret weapon - rabbit. After all, the judge was Rabbitstew.


    ;


    Rabbit would be perfect for him. They¡¯d never see it coming!


    ;


    Pork was right out though. Elaine hated pork! Boo pork! Tasted bad!


    ;


    Three hands with knives were busy slicing and dicing the fruits and meats into tiny bite-sized pieces. As each slice of meat came off the whole, I quickly doused them in a perfect little flame, searing the outsides and trapping the moisture inside.


    ;


    Tasty! Delicious!


    ;


    Pieces to sample!


    ;


    Two more hands got a little bit of mango zest into the crust, then the crust mixing was complete. I flew over, and had a finger dip into the dough to properly sample.


    ;


    Doughy! Perfect! Ready to bake!


    ;


    I conjured up a pan made out of flames at exactly the right baking temperature. Flip over! Dump! Don¡¯t need spatulas to scoop things out! Just use the hands, shove all the dough out, then pat it down! When everything was in place, POOF! Dismiss the hands! Leftover dough falls into the pan!


    ;


    Brilliant, brilliant baking. Others also had neat tricks! I watch! I steal!


    ;


    My beak dropped open as I looked at the table next to me. The [Chef] there had carefully stacked all of his ingredients together, and I was just in time to watch them all meld and merge together into a pie!


    ;


    No fair! I couldn¡¯t do that, or steal that trick! Cheating! CHEATING!


    ;


    ¡°Cheater!¡± I brrrpted out. I looked around to see the accusation land, the stunned expressions¡­ nothing.


    ;


    Instead, they were all cheating in some way. Not fair! This should be skill less! The only allowed skills should be [Baking], [Mage Hands], and [Inferno Conjuration]!


    ;


    The judges were wandering around, and had clearly seen the show. They headed over to the [Chef¡¯s] table.


    ;


    ¡°Well, what do we have here? You¡¯re already done?¡± Corknarr¡¯s nose twitched eagerly as steam started to come off the pie.


    ;


    The [Chef] nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Bit ahead of schedule, but I figure this lets me do some clean up and decorating. Hope you all don¡¯t mind.¡±


    ;


    ¡°If it tastes good, who cares?¡± Rabbitstew eyed the pie doubtfully. ¡°Skill-based prep always tastes a little funny though. Doesn¡¯t have that¡­ love¡­ to it.¡±


    ;


    The chef paled at that, but the judges were already moving on.


    ;


    To my station. Of course they would! They could see the absolute marvel I was preparing! It didn¡¯t matter how long they¡¯d spend at the other places, I was going to win!


    ;


    Then cook for kings! Riches, fame, rare ingredients to cook with, fancy nests, endless flowers to burn, the works.


    ;


    ¡°What do we have here?¡± Rabbitstew asked.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrrpt!¡± I smugly replied. People couldn¡¯t understand me! I could sass all I liked!


    ;


    But sassing Rabbitstew was a bad idea. Extra bad if he could understand me. He was the key to the kingdom! I wrote words in flames above me.


    ;


    Meat and Mango pie! With cheese filling.


    ;


    Rabbitstew¡¯s eyebrow went up.


    ;


    ¡°Meat, mango, and cheese? That¡¯s ambitious. The mangos look fresh, how are you planning on handling the moisture?¡±


    ;


    I gave the judge a disbelieving look. He¡­ knew how to bake, right? The announcer had talked him up a bunch.


    ;


    Still! Question! Answer!


    ;


    By baking it!


    ;


    How else did one handle moisture?


    ;


    ¡°Right! Well, I¡¯m very excited to see how this turns out.¡± Corknerr said, and the two moved on.


    ;


    I continued to slice and season each bit of the stuffing while the crust baked. I rolled out some more dough for the pie top, and neatly cut it out into a circle.


    ;


    The moment the crust was done, I began to layer it all together, alternating fruit and meat slices, with liberal amounts of cheese to glue it all together. The top went on, I stamped on it a few times to give it a distinct phoenix-foot look on the edges, then whoosh! Flames for cooking!


    ;


    Careful, careful flames. Needed to be exactly right! Just as hot as needed!


    ;


    Nothing to do now but wait! Wait, snack on the leftovers, and scope out more of the competition.


    ;


    Aleesia, the cookie-menace, was back, trying to steal my glory yet again. I had soundly thrashed her back when we¡¯d set up competing stalls across from each other, and it had nothing to do with the fact that my food had been free, no.


    ;


    I was just better.


    ;


    Decorations!


    ;


    Flowers! Everyone liked flowers! Decorative flowers for the pie!


    ;


    Juice! Juice was tasty. Squeeze some leftover mangos to make juice to go with! ¡­ sample a bit, this was thirsty work! Yum yum!


    ;


    Little juice pictures for the top of the pie when it was done!


    ;


    Bugs! Insects! Spiders! All tasty and healthy, but most people found them icky as decoration. Poor taste! Bad taste! But this was an event for making food for others, so their taste was important! Yes!


    ;


    Time passed in a blur, and the pies were ready! With plenty of time left over! Dozens of hands made baking fast. I couldn¡¯t wait until after the contest, where I could chow down!


    ;


    The judges wandered over.


    ;


    ¡°Well Auri, how do you think you did?¡± Corknarr asked.


    ;


    ¡°Great! It all went well!¡± I told her, while writing the same words above my head.


    ;


    She took a deep sniff.


    ;


    ¡°It smells positively divine. I can¡¯t wait to try it!¡±


    ;


    ¡°Let¡¯s see.¡± Rabbitstew grunted, grabbing a knife and cutting himself a generous chunk. He placed it on its side, and poked at it a few times.


    ;


    ¡°Good filling. But see here, you¡¯ve got a soggy bottom. Too much liquid. The sear only works short term on meat, the juices leak when you cook it long enough. Next time, try squeezing the fruits before you put them in.¡±


    ;


    Who cared about the soggy bottom! It was all about the taste! THE TASTE! And it tasted great!


    ;


    Water. My eternal nemesis, appearing to haunt me even in a baking contest!


    ;


    The two judges took big bites of my pie, and I puffed up in delight.


    ;


    ¡°Mmm! Just marvelous! I doubted your flavors would work, but they¡¯re spectacular together! A bit too much spice though, and mango zest is an¡­ inspired choice.¡± Corknarr praised me! Yes! Success! I let off a little multi-colored flame, to show her how happy I was.


    ;


    Rabbitstew looked less happy.


    ;


    ¡°Rabbit. Everyone cooks rabbit. It¡¯s overdone, and overcooked.¡±


    ;


    My beak dropped open as they left.


    ;


    What!?


    ;


    WHAT!?


    ;


    Nooooooo!


    ;


    Argh! Stupid bird! Silly bird! OF COURSE other people would think to make Rabbitstew food made out of rabbit! Bah!


    ;


    Okay!


    ;


    Right!


    ;


    Time to get the fire on these wings! This round hadn¡¯t gone so hot. Next round I¡¯d show them!


    ;


    I¡¯d show them all!


    ;


    ;


    The cake finale! The main event! The first round of the gauntlet of kings!


    ;


    I had outdone myself this time, yes I had!


    ;


    I made a huge lava chocolate cake, big enough that I could swim in! If I could get inside.


    ;


    Decoration was big! Drizzles of chocolate on the sides as ¡®lava flows¡¯, fresh strawberries cut like flowers! Little bits of greenery for trees, and I¡¯d made an entire little chocolate town at the base of the cake! Red frosting speckled with chocolate chips made the entire thing look like a volcano!


    ;


    The ¡®lava¡¯ inside the cake utterly swallowing up the town at the bottom was a fun feature, oh yes! Appeal to the bloodthirst inside of everyone! Also appeal to the love of chocolate every living being had!


    ;


    [Baking] had even leveled up! Yes!


    ;


    And here came the judges! They hadn¡¯t liked my other creations, but I came back! Time and time again! I learned! I improved!


    ;


    Cooking for [Kings], here I come!


    ;


    ¡°Oh my! This is a lovely little cake you have here! What a scene! I practically feel like I¡¯m sitting at the bottom of a volcano, waiting for it¡¯s eruption!¡± Corknarr gasped as she reached my cake.


    ;


    ¡°Yes, thank you very much, I worked hard on it.¡± I told her back.


    ;


    ¡°Village going to be destroyed by the volcano. Nice.¡± Rabbitstew held out a fist.


    ;


    I knew what that was for! [Magic Hand] go! Fist bump go!


    ;


    Corknarr gasped.


    ;


    ¡°No! Those poor villagers!¡±


    ;


    I couldn¡¯t help it. I gave her the stink-eye. Really!? They were fake! Not-real! I could burn them to a crisp and Elaine wouldn¡¯t be sad!


    ;


    The judges cut into the cake. Tasty lava flows! The lava on the top even fell onto the chocolate ¡®lava¡¯ on the inside, making it look neat!


    ;


    I had totally planned that. Yup. Just like that.


    ;


    ¡­ I hadn¡¯t planned that. I should remember what I did for next time.


    ;


    ¡°Oooh! A most excellent effect!¡± Corknarr sniffed eagerly, and the judges each had a slice.


    ;


    ¡°Tasty.¡± Rabbitstew commented.


    ;


    ¡°Not usually my favorite, but this was a treat!¡± Corknarr said.


    ;


    They moved on, and my heart fell to my feet. Not very far.


    ;


    They had barely said anything!


    ;


    I watched them go to Aleesia¡¯s cake.


    ;


    Bah! It was barely a cake! It was just a pile of cookies¡­ floating cookies.


    ;


    Okay, it was clever of her to make the cookies fly like a phoenix. That was smart!


    ;


    The judges talked for a bit, then ate one of the flying cookies.


    ;


    ¡°Oh my! The flavor keeps changing! Did you link all of them together?¡±


    ;


    Aleesia nodded.


    ;


    Not fair! Magic! Cheating! Nooooooo.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°Well, this was an exciting first round of the Great School Bake-off! Thank you everyone who attended, this was an exciting first round. First, we¡¯re going to announce our star baker for this round, the one who knocked our socks off the most, the tastiest food.¡±


    ;


    I puffed up. I was ready! I was going to be adored for something other than my looks and intrinsic nature! Elaine was in the stands, watching!


    ;


    She loved the pie I had baked. Best thing she ever tasted! The mango juices had soaked the crust perfectly, and I barely got a slice! Said it made it feel much better after the ¡®cheating potion smashers¡¯ and the ¡®only third place¡¯.


    ;


    I had made two more the exact same way.


    ;


    ¡°Aleesia! Congratulations!¡± The judges called out.


    ;


    No. NO! Anyone but Aleesia!


    ;


    I wanted to stomp on my hat, but this wasn¡¯t the time or the place. Cool. Collected. Dignified. Yup, yup, that was me. I¡¯d just win the star baker next round.


    ;


    Or heck, maybe I wouldn¡¯t! Only thing that mattered was winning the whole thing.


    ;


    ¡°Congraaaaaaaaaaaaaaatulations.¡± I was only a little sarcastic with my words to Aleesia. Anyone else I¡¯d be fine, but nooooo, it had to be her.


    ;


    Still! Dignity in defeat! I had lost, I could do nothing but accept it and move on!


    ;


    ¡°Now, sadly, in each round one of us can¡¯t continue on anymore. It was particularly difficult this time, as everyone is just so talented! Auri, I¡¯m sorry, you won¡¯t be joining us next week.¡±


    ;


    Nooo!!


    ;


    Don¡¯t stomp the hat. Dignity in defeat.


    Don¡¯t stomp the hat. Dignity in defeat.


    Don¡¯t stomp the hat. Dignity in defeat.


    ;


    A single tear did roll down my cheek.

 Chapter 381 – Divine Errand

    ¡°Librarian!¡± I cheerfully waved to my doppelganger.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine! Great to see you back!¡± Librarian waved me over.


    ;


    ¡°Let¡¯s get right to it!¡± I strode over towards the stairs. Librarian put a hand over her heart and faked outrage.


    ;


    ¡°Ah! I see how it is! The moment you get access to real books, I¡¯m cast aside! It¡¯s been a year since we last talked and everything!¡±


    ;


    I rolled my eyes at her - my - antics.


    ;


    ¡°We have all the books we could want now!¡±


    ;


    ¡°I do want to find out who the killer was! Did her ¡®best friend¡¯ kill her as a love rival? Or was it a political assassination? I need to knowwwww!¡± Librarian whined.


    ;


    ¡°Well, the faster we make our choice, the sooner we¡¯ll find out, right?¡±


    ;


    The room snapped around me, and I found myself in a chair, three books hovering in front of me.


    ;


    ¡°Right! We¡¯ve got three real options after I filtered out all the nonsense.¡± Librarian announced.


    ;


    I looked at the books. They were pretty clear.


    ;


    [Draconic Sage] - Neither rain nor snow, angels or dragons, mortals or gods, nor all the dangers of the world can keep you from knowledge. Your teachings have shaped the course of the world, and your hunt for new books has led you to peril, secrets, and to brave the wrath of dragons and administration alike. Take this class, and plunder the knowledge of the world. +300 Magic Power, +300 Magic Control, +300 Mana, +300 Mana Regeneration per level.


    ;


    This class was all about mental skills, reading, knowledge, and the like. It was impressive with the offered stats. [Hunger For Knowledge] would get another upgrade, [Parallel Thoughts] would become a class skill, and the class essentially doubled down on the reading for levels aspects. [Beneath the Dragon¡¯s Eyes] would merge into [Comprehensive Speed Reading].


    ;


    However, the spatial skills basically went kaput. [Bookwyrm¡¯s Hoard] and [Lair] would both bite the dust, and I wouldn¡¯t be getting anything more.


    ;


    [Spatial Scholar] - Oh traveler from another world, you are steeped in Spatial Magic. Most people go their entire life without encountering a smidge. You¡¯ve carried your belongings in expanded storage, crossed between multiple worlds, own multiple personal pocket dimensions, have a sphere of senses around you, and more! You are a Spatial Mage, through and through. Dive deep down, and explore the endless dimensions, explore strange lands, and always have a book on you! +510 Magic Power, +51 Mana per level.


    ;


    The class kept some of the learning and knowledge aspects of [Bookwyrm], but it was something of a side-grade into a pure spatial mage. The stats were correspondingly mediocre. In its defense, they were the two stats I needed to even think of casting the more advanced Spatial skills.


    ;


    I tapped it with a frown.


    ;


    ¡°If I wanted to be a space mage, I would¡¯ve taken it from the get-go.¡± I complained.


    ;


    Librarian shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°Third best class offered, and it is a logical progression. How many space magic classes have you taken by now? How many hours have you spent trying to get [Blink]?¡±


    ;


    I muttered a curse at how right she was, and moved onto the last book.


    ;


    [The Very Hungry Bookwyrm] - You were a poor, starving child, looking around to devour books but unable to find a single one around you. You went out into new lands to search for books, finding them with dwarves. Elves. Dragons. When flung to a new land, your first instinct is to find the nearest library, and catch up on what¡¯s happened. Sleep was making you lose valuable reading time, so you found ways to keep reading in your sleep! Honestly, take a break¡­ and take this class, and forge on all the more, never separated from your precious books. +80 Dexterity, +80 Speed, +80 Vitality, +240 Magic Power, +240 Magic Control, +240 Mana, +240 Mana Regeneration per level.


    ;


    The stats were generous, and fixed my dexterity problem once and for - nope, wasn¡¯t going to finish that thought and jinx it.


    ;


    It was the ¡®logical continuation¡¯ class. It didn¡¯t go as deep into the knowledge and mental aspects as [Draconic Sage], nor was it as Spatial-focused as [Spatial Scholar]. I was rewarded for all my hard work and efforts in my book finding and reading efforts though. Rare books. Forbidden books. Banned books. Hidden books. My endless search for the unknown tomes, along with generous helpings of more ¡®mundane¡¯ novels had helped the class quality.


    ;


    [Spatial Scholar] was right out. I didn¡¯t pick Spatial mage when I¡¯d picked my third class for a reason. I was a [Bookwyrm]. I did understand why it was offered, with the amount of time I¡¯d spent screwing around with [Channel] and [Lair], and the classes, but no.


    ;


    The question was simple. Did I want to keep some interesting Spatial spells around, or go deeper into the knowledge and mental aspects?


    ;


    Phrased that way, it was easy. I liked being able to haul around a ton of books. The idea of teleporting, even a little bit, was appealing. [Bookwyrm¡¯s Hoard] literally let me level in my sleep.


    ;


    ¡°[The Very Hungry Bookwyrm] please!¡± I picked the book up, satisfied that this selection had been relatively easy and straightforward for once.


    ;


    ¡°Excellent! Let¡¯s get you checked out.¡±


    ;


    ;


    I woke up to notifications.


    ;


    [*ding!* [Bookwyrm - Spatial] has upgraded to [The Very Hungry Bookwyrm - Spatial]!]


    ;


    [*ding!* [The Very Hungry Bookwyrm] leveled up! 32 -> 76. +80 Dexterity, +80 Vitality, +80 Speed, +240 Magic Power, +240 Magic Control, +240 Mana, +240 Mana Regeneration per level from your Class! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration per level for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Magic Power per level from your Element!]


    ;


    [*ding!* [Spatial Affinity] leveled up! 32 -> 76.]


    ;


    [*ding!* [Comprehensive Speed Reading] leveled up! 32 -> 76.]


    ;


    I loved the School. Classes for everything, which made upgrading skills a breeze. [Butterfly Mystic], ironically, was hard to upgrade further, since I¡¯d already put significant work into it, and some of my Radiance feats were difficult to beat. [The Dawn Sentinel] just didn¡¯t upgrade, due to the absurd skills in the first place, and the fact that it was a build-a-class.


    ;


    [Bookwyrm], as a new class though? Upgrade opportunities, upgrade opportunities everywhere. I¡¯d maxed my skills out, then gone hunting for various ways to upgrade and merge skills. Not everything came with a new name, but my [Reading] skill evolutions were nice.


    ;


    [*ding!* [Bookwyrm¡¯s Hoard] leveled up! 32 -> 76.]


    ;


    No [Lair] levels or upgrades, likely because I¡¯d hit level 32 yesterday in it.


    ;


    The skill was a bust in my opinion. It hadn¡¯t mentioned light, and the [Lair] was pitch black. In a combat setting, it took ages to ¡®escape¡¯ into the [Lair], meaning it was no good as a life-saving tactic. I couldn¡¯t bring anyone with me. It was uncomfortable.


    ;


    Look at me, complaining about my own private pocket dimension.


    ;


    [*ding!* [Beneath the Dragon¡¯s Eyes] leveled up! 32 -> 76.]


    ;


    [*ding!* [Vivid Dream Reading] leveled up! 32 -> 76.]


    ;


    [*ding!* Would you like to merge [Vivid Dream Reading] and [Parallel Thoughts] into [Parallel Dreams]?]


    ;


    I declined the offer. [Parallel Thoughts] was just too useful of a skill to merge.


    ;


    [*ding!* [Astral Archives] leveled up! 32 -> 76.]


    ;


    [*ding!* [Hunger for Knowledge] leveled up! 32 -> 76.]


    ;


    Perfect.


    ;


    The more balanced dexterity finally got my speed back under control, and my brand-new stats had increased my magic power and control by roughly 30%.


    ;


    I was going to destroy the next Gladiator Games.


    ;


    I got out of bed, and rejoined Auri in the main living room.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri asked.


    ;


    ¡°Ended up taking the standard upgrade to the class. [The Very Hungry Bookwyrm].¡± I told her.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ;


    ¡°You should class up soon. Use our last two quarters at the School to upgrade skills, and we can see how close you are to unlocking your third.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brpt!¡± Auri conjured up a little hand, giving me a salute.


    ;


    I settled down, and started to work.


    ;


    First things first. I split my mind in two with [Parallel Thoughts], able to think of multiple things at once. The skill wasn¡¯t a passive - yet - and it took focus and mana to use.


    ;


    I teleported out my fourth spellbook onto the table. I flipped it open to the next, fresh page, and started thinking about what spell I wanted to write next. What was complicated enough that drawing the array ahead of time was useful, but general enough that it wouldn¡¯t rot in my spellbook for years? I¡¯d looked up a few samples, but the really interesting stuff tended to be in private collections. Wizards tended not to share their spells, even if they were in a language I knew! The School was great at teaching us how to construct any spell we wanted, but that didn¡¯t mean I could immediately think of dozens of brilliant spells, nor could I think up nifty shortcuts to make parts in three runes instead of thirty.


    ;


    Octagony had completely defeated me. I had nothing but praise for the [Wizards] who could wrap their mind around the twisted ways the language worked.


    ;


    Putting it another way. I¡¯d been given a dictionary, and taught how to write books. There were thousands of brilliant minds out there who¡¯d written their own books, and I¡¯d love to, uh¡­ borrow inspiration¡­ from what they¡¯d come up with.


    ;


    It sounded pretty bad when I put it that way.


    ;


    The second split of my mind teleported out the murder mystery I¡¯d been working on before classing up. My left hand caught the book, and [The World Around Me] let me read the novel without needing to have my eyes on it.


    ;


    Reading comfortably wasn¡¯t good experience, but it did get things done.


    ;


    There was no time magic, not with the System. But being able to easily do two things at once? I had practically doubled my available time. If I had taken the same class load as the first quarter I arrived, I¡¯d be able to easily manage it. One hand to take notes, a second hand to do homework.


    ;


    Becoming ambidextrous - or at least making my handwriting legible - was on my list.


    ;


    I was quietly working and reading when a grim-faced Iona barged in through the door.


    ;


    I immediately teleported my books back into my [Bookwyrm¡¯s Hoard], snapping my focus back to a single train of thought.


    ;


    ¡°Who died?¡± I asked, half in jest, half completely serious.


    ;


    Iona paused.


    ;


    ¡°Nobody yet.¡± She said.


    ;


    I stood up, splitting my mind in half again. One was focused on fighting preparations. What spells I had at the ready, what the rules of fighting were at the School, an estimate of where we were in the world and what falling from the island would mean, and more.


    ;


    The other was focused on Iona.


    ;


    ¡°Sounds like a story. Do we need to leave now, or do you have time to explain?¡± I asked.


    ;


    She paused, her eyes flickering.


    ;


    ¡°I can explain. Might as well, since I¡¯ll probably get expelled from the School at the end.¡±


    ;


    Game face was on, and my ¡®fighting prep¡¯ track took a sharp turn into ¡®oh goddesses no is Iona about to break up with me it¡¯s too soon I thought we had more time noooooooooooooooooooooo¡¯


    ;


    ¡°Yeah, you better explain.¡± I internally winced. That came out a lot frostier than I¡¯d intended.


    ;


    Iona looked slightly hurt by my words.


    ;


    ¡°Sorry, that came out badly.¡± I immediately explained. Communication!


    ;


    ¡°Right. Selene and Lunaris have made their first big ask of me. Some idiot cultivator,¡± She spat the word with real venom, like finding half a worm in her apple, ¡°has decided to class up, and that insulting the moon goddesses would make for a fine tribulation. The coward knows he¡¯s protected by the School¡¯s barriers, and the two goddesses also know that. Instead of wasting their power, they¡¯ve tasked me to ¡®handle it¡¯.¡±


    ;


    I frowned as I thought back to how cultivators worked the System. They had a class that wanted to simply meditate about leveling, which was the most broken thing I¡¯d ever heard. Well, until I¡¯d gotten leveling up in my sleep, but I¡¯d earned it, that was fair. Theirs wasn¡¯t.


    ;


    Because reasons.


    ;


    They had a whole ¡®defying the heavens¡¯ theme going on, and their meditative leveling had no real risks or conflict. It was hard to get enough accomplishments and achievements for a powerful class when all they did was sit around. End of the day, they went for the biggest, baddest achievement they could find.


    ;


    Insulting the gods. Enraging them to the point where they attempted to smite the uppity bastards.


    ;


    Now, there were way more cultivators than gods¡­ I think¡­ and the numbers just didn¡¯t make sense to me. If I was a betting woman - okay, to be fair, I was, my issue would be finding a bookie to take the bet - I¡¯d bet that most ¡®tribulations¡¯ were just a high level Lightning Classer the Sects had on-hand, who threw moderately powerful bolts at the members trying to class up. Getting a divine¡¯s attention was hard. Getting one of the more important god¡¯s attentions was even harder, then surviving their attempts at judgment?


    ;


    Whooof.


    ;


    No wonder everyone said cultivators had a few screws loose! I¡¯d seen divine judgment with my own eyes, it wasn¡¯t pretty.


    ;


    Now Iona was going to be that divine judgment. Being on a mission from a pair of goddesses was no excuse to break the rules in the School¡¯s estimation, and their retribution would be swift.


    ;


    A thought jingled at the edge of my memory.


    ;


    ¡°Hang on, I have an idea. I just need to think about it for a few minutes.¡± I told Iona. Tension visibly drained from her shoulders, and she half-collapsed onto the sofa.


    ;


    It sagged dangerously under her weight. We¡¯d been putting a lot of abuse on that sofa¡­


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt! BrrrrRRrrrPT! Brrrrpt, brpt brpt BRPT!¡± Auri suggested darkly. I gave her a withering look.


    ;


    ¡°Auri, do you really think nobody would investigate a ¡®mysterious fire¡¯ in a place warded to the high heavens, especially one where people die? You don¡¯t think they¡¯d look at the very public Inferno bird with a reputation for being able to burn straight through magic? Think about it! If you¡¯re going to commit arson and murder, you need to do it intelligently!¡±


    ;


    I¡¯d given up on trying to teach Auri not to commit arson and murder¡­ but at the same time, she was all talk, and no action on that front. I hadn¡¯t seen her commit any arson or murder¡­


    ;


    Wait, shit.


    ;


    Was Auri actually good at covering her tracks, and had been committing sins behind my back?!


    ;


    ¡°Brrpt! BRPT!¡±


    ;


    ¡­


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯re right Auri, nobody would ever trace a mysterious drowning back to you. That¡¯s an excellent idea.¡±


    ;


    Nevermind on the ¡®Is Auri secretly murdering people and getting away with it¡¯ train of thought.


    ;


    Iona gave a weak chuckle at Auri¡¯s support.


    ;


    ¡°Thank you, Auri. I appreciate having a friend as good as you to back me up.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ;


    ¡°Thank fuck.¡± She said with feeling. ¡°I was so worried about what you¡¯d think. That you¡¯d think me some heartless assassin or cold killer. That I¡¯d cocked it all up.¡±


    ;


    I considered sitting next to her, or on her lap, but I didn¡¯t think the mood was right.


    ;


    Nor did I want the sofa collapsing under the two of us.


    ;


    One track of my mind was chasing down various ideas, piecing everything I knew together into something resembling a plan. The other kept talking.


    ;


    [Parallel Thoughts] was weird.


    ;


    ¡°I mean, how long have we known each other? How long have we been dating? You¡¯ve made no secret of your profession, or how you handle problems.¡±


    ;


    Iona waved my comments away.


    ;


    ¡°It¡¯s real easy to say and think that when it¡¯s abstract. When we¡¯re on a flying island, attending the School. Different when it hits home, when it¡¯s staring you in the face. When I¡¯ve been given my marching orders.¡±


    ;


    I snorted.


    ;


    ¡°My title of Sentinel wasn¡¯t - isn¡¯t - for nothing.¡± I reminded her. ¡°I don¡¯t like killing people, but I¡¯ve done it before, and I doubt I¡¯ll avoid ever doing it again.¡± Thank fuck for Linnet and her extensive therapy.


    ;


    She shrugged her massive shoulders.


    ;


    ¡°You love the School and being here. Learning. I thought you might pick that over me.¡±


    ;


    ¡°People matter more than a book or a fancy scroll.¡± I retorted.


    ;


    Please don¡¯t notice the singular, please don¡¯t notice the singular. I prayed. Not to the moon goddesses, they¡¯d snitch on me in a heartbeat.


    ;


    My plan finally came together.


    ;


    ¡°AHHA! I¡¯ve got it!¡± I cried out.


    ;


    [*ding!* [Parallel Thoughts] leveled up! 28 -> 29]


    ;


    Iona arched a dubious eyebrow at me.


    ;


    ¡°I have to handle this. That¡¯s not negotiable.¡± She reminded me.


    ;


    I flapped my hand at her.


    ;


    ¡°Yeah, yeah. I got it. Okay! The moon goddesses desire vengeance, right?¡±


    ;


    Iona nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Prompt and thorough vengeance. They didn¡¯t say what, exactly, had happened, but they sounded mad.¡±


    ;


    They never sounded mad.


    ;


    ¡°Right. Now, the worse the tribulation, the better quality class the cultivator gets. Tribulations can also impact how their class evolves. What if we gave them a curveball of a tribulation?¡±


    ;


    Iona¡¯s eyes unfocused as she talked with her patrons.


    ;


    ¡°Go on.¡± She said.


    ;


    ¡°They told us at orientation that students weren¡¯t to call down tribulations on the island. Unsurprisingly, the School takes a dim view on students getting lightning and fire rained down on them.¡±


    ;


    Iona slowly nodded.


    ;


    ¡°So, let¡¯s bury them in paperwork. Bring our complaint to the guards, the clerks, the scribe, the administration, anyone who¡¯ll listen. Complain to the priest at the temple. We¡¯ve got a valid complaint, and while I have no idea how to run it well, you know people like I know books. I¡¯m sure you can make it work. They get expelled from the School, a massive blow to their pocketbook, if not further arrested and imprisoned or fined, their ¡®tribulation¡¯ turns into a complete bust from a class quality aspect - what are they going to get, the Dao of Paperwork and Prisons? - and hopefully it assuages the goddesses.¡±


    ;


    Does it? I prayed to them myself.


    ;


    Iona slowly grinned, and bounded back up, filled to the brim with energy.


    ;


    ¡°Yes¡­ yeeeeeeessss! That works beautifully! With 100% less murdering!¡± She gave me a quick peck.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine, I love you, now and forever. Never leave, okay?¡±


    ;


    I teared up at the unexpected confession and hugged Iona.


    ;


    ¡°I don¡¯t plan on it.¡±


    ;


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Chimera (Elvenoid)]


    [Age: 26]


    [Mana: 702,080/702,080]


    [Mana Regen: 368,980 (+780,641)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 1,327]


    [Dexterity: 6,294]


    [Vitality: 24,921]


    [Speed: 24,953]


    [Mana: 77,248]


    [Mana Regeneration: 77,368 (+85,878)]


    [Magic Power: 43,854 (+1,124,855)]


    [Magic Control: 43,778 (+1,122,905)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 513]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 513]


    [Cosmic Presence: 323]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 11]


    [Center of the Universe: 472]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 513]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 513]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 492]


    [Sunrise: 471]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 444]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 444]


    [Radiance Resistance: 444]


    [Nova Lance: 444]


    [Lepidoptera: 444]


    [Nectar: 444]


    [Solar Corona: 444]


    [Scintillating Ascent: 444]


    [Kaleidoscope: 444]


    [Class 3: [The Very Hungry Bookwyrm - Spatial: Lv 76]]


    [Spatial Affinity: 76]


    [Comprehensive Speed Reading: 76]


    [Lair: 32]


    [Bookwyrm''s Hoard: 76]


    [Beneath the Dragon''s Eyes: 76]


    [Vivid Dream Reading: 76]


    [Astral Archives: 76]


    [Hunger for Knowledge: 76]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 380]


    [Parallel Thoughts: 29]


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 256]


    [The World Around Me: 36]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 513]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 513]


    [Persistent Casting: 431]


    [Channel: 25]

 Chapter 382 - Practice Makes Perfect

    I flung myself over the wooden wall, and kicked off the backside to nimbly leap over the mudpit waiting for me at the bottom. I let myself drop, kicking off against the ground the moment my right foot landed, leaping into the ropes. With far more agility and dexterity than any monkey or ape, I swung through the course, building up speed.


    ;


    At the far end I let go, letting myself soar through the air without magic, entirely bypassing the sand pit that was the end of the obstacle course. My toes landed on the edge, and I bent my knees to absorb the impact.


    ;


    There were no cheers or accolades. It was just another aspect to honing my body, and the few dozen other members of the School¡¯s combat team were off doing their own thing.


    ;


    I did give a small nod to Iris. The selkie had been on my team every School event I¡¯d attended, and I was hoping she¡¯d be on my team for this last one.


    ;


    Finished with my 10th run through the obstacle course, I moved to an isolated section of the field, and started to practice my skills.


    ;


    I wanted [Blink]. The way to get it was to practice a ¡®similar¡¯ skill, and the best I had was [Lair].


    ;


    I started to [Channel] [Lair], the only way I could cast the skill.


    ;


    The theory on [Channel] was great, but what Destruction had never mentioned was how inefficient it was at low levels. It took me a solid 15 seconds to cast [Lair], while at full efficiency it should¡¯ve only been around 4 seconds.


    ;


    [Spatial Affinity] was already giving me over 90% of its maximum theoretical efficiency. The curve on the early efficiency levels was steep.


    ;


    I popped into my disappointing space after the skill finished, and immediately started to cast it again, to get out. I figured that was the closest thing to ¡®blinking¡¯ I could do, even if my mana pool only let me cast it a few times before I needed to pause.


    ;


    The place was pitch-black, but [The World Around Me] let me see without light. I¡¯d brought a sad little blanket with me that I snagged from where it was floating. I wasn¡¯t sure what would happen when I dropped the skill, but why waste?


    ;


    I¡¯d picked an arbitrary direction, and called it the ¡®floor¡¯. A bit misleading, since there was no gravity in my pocket dimension. I just floated in the middle of space, the pocket dimension its own little world.


    ;


    The floor was hard and unyielding, and best that I could tell, it wasn¡¯t made of anything. It was just¡­ there.


    ;


    I was standing on the end of the world.


    ;


    I¡¯m sure if I didn¡¯t have [The World Around Me] that it would just look like a black floor or something, but I had the skill. It was deeply unnerving to see nothing under the razor-thin ¡®floor¡¯. The world, the universe, literally just ended.


    ;


    Same with the walls, and the ceiling.


    ;


    Utter, suffocating darkness. I just floated there, slowly rotating in place.


    ;


    It might¡¯ve been fun to bounce off the walls and float like my own private trampoline park, but there was no getting over the thinness of the walls, the knowledge deep in my rune-etched bones that I was a hair¡¯s breadth from oblivion. Intellectually I knew I was safe, but my intellect was entirely overruled by the rest of my body almost literally staring into the abyss.


    ;


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [When You Stare into the Abyss, the Abyss Stares into You.]! Would you like to replace a skill with it? Y/N]


    ;


    I rejected the skill, only to get a few more.


    ;


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [The Void At the End of the Universe.]! Would you like to replace a skill with it? Y/N]


    ;


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Cracks in Reality.]! Would you like to replace a skill with it? Y/N]


    ;


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [The End.]! Would you like to replace a skill with it? Y/N]


    ;


    I rejected them all, and tried to purge their memory from my mind.


    ;


    Best I could do was put them all into one ¡®book¡¯ from [Astral Archives] and put it in a dusty corner.


    ;


    To be fair, I could easily conjure up my own light, and I could turn off [The World Around Me].


    ;


    I popped back into existence, and I held my breath, waiting for the notification.


    ;


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ¡­


    ;


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Channeled Blink]! Would you like to replace a skill with it? WARNING: Skill will automatically merge with [Channel].]


    ;


    YES!


    ;


    Channeled Blink: Vanish from the world, and reappear a short distance away! The skill is not responsible for existential crisis about the nature of the soul, consciousness, persistence, and if the person who reappears is really you, and not a perfect clone with your memory, knowledge, skills, and levels. Ah heck, what does it matter? You¡¯ll always think you¡¯re you, regardless of the truth. 0.1% decreased mana cost per level, improved channeling efficiency and retention per level.


    ;


    I paused at the message.


    ;


    I knew how clones worked, how they really worked. Too many people had the idea of making clones, and that it¡¯d be ¡®them¡¯.


    ;


    No. It didn¡¯t work that way at all. Twins were an excellent example of how it did work. A clone was an entirely different person. There was no consciousness transfer. It was a distinct person, mind, body, and soul.


    ;


    Oh!


    ;


    Soul!


    ;


    This was easy! If [Channeled Blink] really disintegrated me and created a perfect doppelganger, one so good that not even the new me could tell, then I¡¯d be dead. If I was dead, my soul would go flying back into Samsara. I wasn¡¯t on great terms with a lot of the gods, but I was dating the most wonderful woman in the world who was. I could just ask her to poke Selene for me, and they could tell me if Spatial mages tended to have a steady stream of extra souls showing up and marching towards reincarnation.


    ;


    Putting it that way, it seemed unlikely. All those souls would have to come from somewhere, and I didn¡¯t think blink and teleport-happy Spatial mages were creating a steady stream of souls.


    ;


    Plus, like. I¡¯d already been teleported a dozen times by the master of the arena.


    ;


    I took [Channeled Blink], replacing [Lair].


    ;


    I was ¡°out of mana¡±, and by that I meant [Channeled Blink] probably wanted half my prodigious mana pool for a single cast. If it was efficient! Right now, it might take more like my entire mana pool, although that would go down as the skill leveled. There was no way I was waiting to try out my cool new skill though!


    ;


    I thought about ¡®jogging¡¯ over to the arcanite pillar in the stadium, but eh. My ¡®jogging¡¯ speed was a blistering pace that most people in my age bracket couldn¡¯t follow. Why bother? New magic waited for no one!


    ;


    The anti-friction runes on my skin lit up as I sprinted full speed at the arcanite. I would¡¯ve plowed a pair of deep furrows into the dirt as I stopped, but my fancy enchanted boots did the job for me. I ignored the looks I got as I slapped my hand onto the pillar, draining a few hundred thousand points of mana out.


    ;


    I wanted to test the skill here and now, but that would be rude beyond the pale. I went back to my testing area, blazing across the arena.


    ;


    I made it back to a testing area, and stood at the corner. I focused on the far corner, and tried to cast [Channeled Blink].


    ;


    Nothing. I felt that the skill didn¡¯t even ¡®take¡¯. It was like trying to step on a stair, only to find nothing but air.


    ;


    I slowly ¡®walked¡¯ my focus point back, until it ¡®clicked¡¯.


    ;


    Then there was nothing to do but wait as the skill channeled. I felt it ¡®charge¡¯, and knew it was ¡®primed¡¯. I held the skill, noting that my mana had stopped draining - at least that I could tell, rounding errors in my regeneration made spotting small drains hard - then I unleashed the skill, teleporting a short distance.


    ;


    Not to the spot I¡¯d been aiming for though. I¡¯d been trying to get myself to move about a meter straight ahead, instead I ended up more like half a meter at a 30 degree angle to my left.


    ;


    [*ding!* [Channeled Blink] leveled up! 1->2]


    ;


    I wanted to groan as I ¡®saw¡¯ my clothing fall in a pile behind me. [Channeled Blink] was the entry-level skill, and clothing apparently didn¡¯t count as ¡®me¡¯ yet.


    ;


    Iona was going to love my new ability. It was the ultimate stripper move.


    ;


    Oh! It would also act as an instant, on-the-spot bath! I would be teleported, not any of my dirt and grime! I was probably going to hold off on that, Auri liked the daily flame baths too much.


    ;


    I turned around and started getting dressed again as I mused.


    ;


    [Channel] was great for packing more mana into a skill than my power normally allowed, but it did nothing for my control. If I wanted accurate blinks, I needed more Magic Control. It¡¯s why the class had offered balanced amounts!


    ;


    Well, the skill was practically useless right now. It was going to take years, if not decades, of dedicated practice to level the skill up enough to pretend to be practical, let alone get enough magic power to instantly cast it. I also had noticed that the skill mentioned nothing about the range increasing with the level, just channeling efficiency and total cost reduction.


    ;


    But it was the first step. The first step on a long road, one that would hopefully end with me being able to teleport at will, wherever I wanted.


    ;


    That was worth a few decades of investment.


    ;


    And hey, I was Immortal.


    ;


    I had the time.


    ;


    ;


    I finally had that last open general skill slot. I¡¯d been practicing, getting skills and merging them into my class skills for some time, and I was now at the end of the road.


    ;


    Only thing left to do was get [Imbue]. That one was a little tricky.


    ;


    I knelt down to the dirt, and started hitting it with a lightly-powered [Nova Lance]. At the same time, I conjured up [Kaleidoscope] butterflies from where the lance was ¡®hitting¡¯, focusing on having one skill ¡®make¡¯ the other.


    ;


    When that didn¡¯t do anything, I took my butterflies and manually detonated them a short distance away from me, popping up my [Mantle of the Stars] as each one exploded.


    ;


    I took the [Mantle] and touched it with my finger, triggering [Sunrise] as I did so.


    ;


    It took a few rounds, mixing and matching different skills, before I got it.


    ;


    [*ding!* Congratulations! You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Imbue]! Would you like to take this skill?]


    ;


    I gladly hit ¡®yes¡¯.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°Attention everyone! Please come over here for a short meeting!¡± Shirayuki called from the middle of the field, her voice magically amplified.


    ;


    I seized the moment to practice trying to move while channeling a blink. I could, but the skill ¡®broke¡¯, and the mana didn¡¯t come back.


    ;


    Drat.


    ;


    I jogged on over, joining the rest of the members of the School¡¯s team.


    ;


    ¡°The next Gladiator Gauntlet is fast approaching. I know you¡¯ve all been eagerly waiting to see what the teams are. There¡¯s been some background events going on that have caused us to delay. Well, no more! The teams are as follows. Unrestricted free for all: Floris, Renoir¡­¡± Shirayuki started to read off names.


    ;


    ¡°Now, for the under 100 and under 30 age groups, we have a new team member who¡¯ll be competing in every group.¡±


    ;


    That got a murmur out of all of us.


    ;


    ¡°Someone under 30 who can compete with the under 100¡¯s!?¡± I whispered to Iris. The mage returned a raised eyebrow.


    ;


    ¡°You can¡¯t even compete in that group can you?¡± She asked back.


    ;


    I shook my head.


    ;


    I¡¯d had a crazy life, and was a silly high level, with strong quality on all my classes.


    ;


    The members of the under-100 team might not have had equally absurd lives - although some of them had - but more importantly, they¡¯d had triple the time to work on themselves. More than that, if I ignored the first 8 years of my life where I couldn¡¯t level up at all.


    ;


    Someone my age who could compete with them!? I had to see this.


    ;


    ¡°Everyone, I¡¯d like you all to meet Morning Breeze, the newest member of our team.¡±


    ;


    A black hat - just a black hat - floated through the air towards us, then started to swirl around the group.


    ;


    ¡°Good morning!¡± An eager voice whispered in my ear. ¡°It¡¯s really exciting to meet you all! I can¡¯t wait, all of this sounds like just so much fun!¡±


    ;


    My jaw dropped open as I realized what was going on. Someone else said it though.


    ;


    ¡°We got an elemental on our team!?¡±


    ;


    I had no idea how I could even touch a Wind elemental, let alone harm one. My first instinct was to use Wind magic, but that would be like trying to fight a Fire elemental with Fire. It¡¯d just make her stronger. My anti-friction runes might let me ¡®slip through¡¯ her, but that would just make it a stalemate.


    ;


    Shirayuki gave a curt nod.


    ;


    ¡°Yes. The pendulum has been swinging the wrong way on cheating at the Gladiator Gauntlet for too long. This is one of the minor games outside of the 16 year cycle of major games, but we want to send a message. Nobody cheats, because when cheating is accepted, we win. With that said, I¡¯m going to have specific directions for each team. The remaining members of the under-100 free for all are as follows¡­¡±


    ;


    ¡°... lastly, for the under-30 team event. Elaine, Iris, Ling Li, Sir Polarton, Pascal Bischoff, Sarama Dheer, Morning Breeze. Thank you.¡±


    ;


    We broke into our teams. There was no overlap this year, the School was serious about winning. They wanted our full focus and attention just on our event, no splitting practice.


    ;


    I¡¯d been with Iris, Ling Li, and Pascal since my first tournament. Sarama had joined us a bit later, the dragonling from Ralakar an excellent alchemist. She didn¡¯t directly fight, but having her on our team allowed us to use the potions she brewed.


    ;


    Morning Breeze was obviously new, and I had no idea how to talk with him or anything. Sir Polarton was new as well, although I¡¯d encountered him before, leaving Linnet¡¯s office.


    ;


    I had to crane my neck back to look at him.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯ve never been teammates with a bear before!¡± I stuck my hand out for a pawshake.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m not a bear.¡± Sir Polarton denied. His mouth didn¡¯t move at all, and his eyes had the characteristic movements of a Sound Classer.


    ;


    I raised an eyebrow doubtfully, and opened my mouth to protest that, no, he was obviously a bear. Iris caught my eye and slowly shook her head.


    ;


    ¡°I propose Elaine acts as team leader this year.¡± Sarama said. ¡°She¡¯s got the experience, and has successfully led the team in the past.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Sure.¡± Iris said while Pascal nodded his metal head. Almost five years at the School, and I hadn¡¯t heard him utter a single word.


    ;


    Ling Li gave a grudging nod.


    ;


    ¡°Errr, Morning Breeze, are you okay with this?¡± I asked nowhere in particular.


    ;


    A black hat came on a light gust of wind.


    ;


    ¡°Sure! What do you need me to do?¡± She asked.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure what you can do. Did Shirayuki talk with you?¡± I asked.


    ;


    ¡°Oh yeah! She said I should just do this!¡±


    ;


    With that, I got picked up off the ground, my teammates hovering next to me. Then we were involuntarily zoomed across the arena, and dumped on the sidelines.


    ;


    ¡°Just like that! That¡¯s apparently all I need to do to win? Oh wait, I didn¡¯t hurt any of you, did I?¡± Morning Breeze earnestly asked us.


    ;


    I traded shocked looks with my teammates. We were all thinking it, but Sarama said it.


    ;


    ¡°This is going to be a breeze.¡±

 Hey! Where did the chapters go?

    Hey! Not a chapter!


    ;


    Some of you were in the middle of reading BTDEM when it rudely vanished. It''s going to KU, and will be there soon. You''ve got a short timeframe to jump on discord and grab the epubs from the appropriate channel before I yoink them. https://discord.gg/d9VT2Mw9ca


    ;


    Cheers, and sorry for the interruption to your reading!


    ;


    Words words words there''s a 500 chapter min on chapters. WORDS WORDS WORDS. WORDS WORDS WORDS. WORDS WORDS WORDS. WORDS WORDS WORDS.

 Chapter 383 - Citation Needed

    I was excited for the upcoming tournament, but I wasn¡¯t going to let it dominate my thoughts. Also, doing some quick math on how much time I had left at the School, how much time the Gladiator Gauntlet was going to take, and how long it was going to take to verify my claims had me realizing that I was in a little bit of trouble.


    ;


    I had wanted to wait as late as possible to start telling people I had written the Medical Manuscripts, to enjoy a peaceful life at the School. I was happy at the impact they had, and I didn¡¯t need the credit. The System had already rewarded me twice over for them, once in a capped [Oath], a second time in powerful classes.


    ;


    But I wanted social recognition. Credit. I had earned it.


    ;


    After doing the math, I teleported the book I was holding back into my storage, stopped writing my homework assignment - wartime triage was interesting, but the homework assignment wasn¡¯t going to make or break me in the class - and strode over to my little storage chest.


    ;


    I opened it up, looking at my little collection of treasures.


    ;


    The cloth with the stitched prayer from my parents, the last memento I had of them. A few angel feathers. My Sentinel badge. A couple of gems.


    ;


    Artemis had my armor, and it sounded like it had saved her life a few times. I just wasn¡¯t sure if armor would do anything for me these days.


    ;


    A few sets of nicer clothing. A few birthday presents from Iona - mostly romance stories she wrote about the two of us. They weren¡¯t well written, but they were made with love, and that¡¯s what counted. The rest were her best efforts at drawings of the two of us, and I treasured each and every one of them.


    ;


    And in the corner, a few bamboo scrolls and charcoal sticks that Amber sourced for me. They weren¡¯t exactly the same as the ones I had in Remus, but they were close enough.


    ;


    I took them to my ¡®office¡¯, my old room where Iona and I had crammed both of our desks in to jam our beds together.


    ;


    Technically, I could multitask, but some things just felt important enough to give my full and undivided attention to.


    ;


    Like my ¡®final thesis.¡¯


    ;


    I was rewriting the Medical Manuscripts, although for integrity¡¯s sake, I was only going to present the ¡®original¡¯ version.


    ;


    My major issue was going to be in validating them. I had a plan, but I had no idea if people were just going to blow me off. The truth was too wild, too fantastical, too out there. It was far, far easier to believe that I had a [Conwoman] or [Forgery] class.


    ;


    I had some ideas of how to handle it, but fundamentally, I was taking a shot. I was going to flat-out hope curiosity and my reputation - as weak as it was - would be enough to get people to start looking at me and my work, instead of dismissing me outright.


    ;


    That all came later. First, I needed to write a copy of the Medical Manuscripts as they existed in my time.


    ;


    [Astral Archives] made it easy to remember exactly what I¡¯d written, although I cringed slightly at a few errors I now realized had slipped through my editing, and a couple of flat-out incorrect bits of information I¡¯d written down. I kept the language in the original Creation, although only a handful of people would be able to read it.


    ;


    It took me a few hours to carefully write out the six scrolls. I didn¡¯t sign them once I was finished, instead rolling them up and carefully storing them back into my chest.


    ;


    It was time to arrange a meeting.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°Marcelle. Ratcatcher. Thank you both for agreeing to meet with me.¡± I politely smiled at my biomancy mentor and one of the School¡¯s [Archivists] I was friendly with.


    ;


    Ratcatcher rubbed his hands together.


    ;


    ¡°Am I finally getting to see what goodies you¡¯ve brought from Remus? Should¡¯ve given them to me to study years ago, who knows how much damage you¡¯ve done to them.¡±


    ;


    His hands slowly drifted towards the scrolls I was holding, before he clenched them and withdrew them. I shuffled them under my arms a bit more, hiding the title.


    ;


    ¡°Yup. In a sense.¡±


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m curious what you have, and why we¡¯re meeting here.¡± Marcelle glanced around the fancy administration building.


    ;


    I gave her my best mysterious smile, which for all I knew made me look like a loon.


    ;


    ¡°Well, you know how anything done before the School can also count as a thesis?¡±


    ;


    Marcelle nodded, and recited.


    ;


    ¡°Knowledge is knowledge, no matter how or where the boundaries are pushed.¡± Her tone shifted into a more normal one. ¡°Although that¡¯s only for the most advanced degrees. You can still qualify perfectly well in your healer tracks on knowledge. And that doesn¡¯t explain why we¡¯re here.¡±


    ;


    I shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°I needed one more person to help me out with this. Marian.¡±


    ;


    Marian was the name of the incredibly high level devil who was the head [Administrator] of the School. Over level 3000, it was kinda overkill to ask her for help, but she was the best person for the job.


    ;


    Marcelle lifted an eyebrow at the door we were waiting outside of.


    ;


    ¡°You need Marian¡¯s help? What on Pallos could you possibly need her for? She¡¯s not a medical person.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Signature validation!¡± I said.


    ;


    ¡°Now I¡¯m real curious.¡± Ratcatcher continued trying to stare a hole into the scrolls I was carrying. For all I knew, he had a skill like mine that let him read through the paper.


    ;


    ¡°That seems like overkill to ask her when every [Clerk] and [Scribe] in the School could do the same thing.¡± Marcelle gently reprimanded me.


    ;


    I shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°I figured with what I¡¯m going to show you, the higher level the better. Makes it less likely that you think I¡¯m running some sort of scam, or trying to pull a fast one.¡±


    ;


    Ratcatcher opened his mouth to say something, but the door opened, and a smiling professor I didn¡¯t recognize left. I walked inside, impressed again by Marian¡¯s office.


    ;


    Books. Books everywhere. The ceiling was coated in them, and dozens of open books lined a hallway behind her, quills industriously scribbling in them. I had some vague idea of how she managed it, and I was all the more impressed.


    ;


    I restrained my urge to peek into her books. They weren¡¯t mine to read, and they were mostly student and other administrative records. I wouldn¡¯t want someone poking into Marian¡¯s office, and reading all about me.


    ;


    ¡°Marcelle. Ratcatcher. Elaine. Excellent, you¡¯re perfectly on time. Now, what can I do for you Elaine? You mentioned this would probably be short, and I¡¯ve got another appointment in a few minutes.¡±


    ;


    I gave her a curt nod.


    ;


    ¡°Real simple. I just need a signature done. I dunno if verified signatures have changed throughout the ages, but if they have, I¡¯m hoping you can do an ancient Reman one?¡±


    ;


    Marian gave me a doubtful look.


    ;


    ¡°To the best of my knowledge, signature skills have never changed. Why would they? It would ruin half the point of the skill. Right, place your papers here, and grab this quill.¡±


    ;


    I did what Marian said, and I got a scandalized gasp from Marcelle as she saw the title of the scrolls.


    ;


    I quickly signed my name without a flourish, and turned to Marcelle with a grin.


    ;


    ¡°I did tell you I wrote these.¡±


    ;


    ;


    There was stunned silence from Ratcatcher and Marcelle. Marian looked with a quirked eyebrow between the three of us, then spoke.


    ;


    ¡°Well, if that¡¯s all - ah, I just leveled, thank you Elaine.¡± Her words broke the silence.


    ;


    ¡°What.¡± Marcelle¡¯s tone was stern, and she crossed her arms.


    ;


    Ratcatcher grunted. Marian held up a single finger.


    ;


    ¡°Please wait one moment.¡±


    ;


    Ink flowed across the top paper on a pile on her desk, then neatly folded itself into a crane. It flew circled around the room once, then flew out the window at high speed.


    ;


    ¡°Now. Explain what all the fuss is about please?¡± Marian demanded.


    ;


    She held a finger up, forestalling any of us from answering, then pointed it at me.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine.¡±


    ;


    ¡°I wrote the original drafts of the Medical Manuscripts when I was living in Remus. I want to use them for my thesis presentation.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Within the rules. Ratcatcher?¡±


    ;


    The goblin looked longingly at the scrolls, and his shoulders slumped.


    ;


    ¡°I got excited in the moment, but they¡¯re not Remus-era artifacts. Just a reproduction. You¡¯ll want an [Appraiser] to judge it.¡±


    ;


    I frowned, but Marian shot me a glare, and I kept my mouth shut.


    ;


    ¡°Marcelle?¡± She pointed to the pale vampire.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine¡¯s basically claimed to be the original author of the single most famous treatise in medicine. It¡¯d be like someone coming along and claiming that they founded the School. It¡¯s absurd. There¡¯s no way to prove it, and nobody will believe it. Elaine, frankly, I¡¯m disappointed.¡±


    ;


    I¡¯d expected Marcelle¡¯s reaction, but it still stung.


    ;


    ¡°And back to Elaine.¡± Marian pointed at me.


    ;


    ¡°I wrote them. I deserve credit for them. And I can prove it. Look at my signature. Compare it to the degraded version on the Medical Manuscripts you have. Ratcatcher, you¡¯ve got a skill for that, right?¡±


    ;


    The goblin stroked his beardless chin.


    ;


    ¡°That¡­ is a potential way to verify parts of your claim, yes. Get me a few more copies of your signature, and I¡¯ll take a look. I was never big on the Manuscripts myself, I prefer [Runesmith¡¯s] work, but in theory it¡¯s incredibly easy to disprove¡­ as you well know.¡±


    ;


    His eyes narrowed as he looked at me, putting together a bunch of questions I¡¯d asked him over time.


    ;


    ¡°It does explain your curious obsession over signatures and validation though.¡±


    ;


    Marcelle sputtered in indignation.


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯re not seriously considering her claims, are you!?¡±


    ;


    Ratcatcher nodded, and Marian narrowed her eyes at us as she slid another paper and quill towards me. I quickly got the hint, and picked up the quill, signing my name a few more times.


    ;


    ¡°She did say she was from Remus, and-¡±


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m busy, and this discussion doesn¡¯t seem to need my presence anymore. Out.¡± Marian ordered. I picked up the paper I had signed, and passed it to Ratcatcher as we dutifully exited her office.


    ;


    ¡°I know a nearby conference room.¡± Marcelle was still shooting me dirty looks, but we all went to the room anyway.


    ;


    ¡°Right, as I was saying, disproving her claim is trivially easy.¡± Ratcatcher said. ¡°A mismatched signature, a history that doesn¡¯t work, it¡¯s simplicity itself to demonstrate that Elaine¡¯s pulling the biggest prank on us. If not? Well¡­¡± Ratcatcher looked significantly at me.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m happy to sign my name any time, any place, anywhere. Just let me know what I need to do!¡± I told the two.


    ;


    Marcelle crossed her arms and glared at me.


    ;


    ¡°This is a terrible prank.¡±


    ;


    I rolled my eyes at her.


    ;


    ¡°You should know how seriously I take this. Do you think I¡¯d pull a joke at this stage? Come on. Here, let me tell you a story. The¡­ slightly less edited version.¡±


    ;


    Marcelle finally uncrossed her arms, and sat down in one of the chairs.


    ;


    ¡°Right. I¡¯m listening.¡±


    ;


    I leaned back in my chair, and started to tell the story of my reincarnation.


    ;


    ;


    Marcelle and Ratcatcher were slightly less skeptical at the end of my story, but that just might be my own healthy dose of copium and self-delusion. They went off to verify my claims, and my school life didn¡¯t stop just because they were looking into things.


    ;


    I wasn¡¯t going to sit around doing nothing while they investigated either.


    ;


    I had let myself get way too distracted by my cool new skills, my classes - Triage and Warfare, Poisons Spores and Miasmas, Advanced Spatial Sorcery, and more - reading books, and I¡¯d never properly sat down and tested my new [Bookwyrm¡¯s Hoard]. I wanted to test what exactly I could stash and store.


    ;


    The majority of testing woes came from acquiring niche things to experiment with. There wasn¡¯t exactly a thriving market of books half-hollowed out for potions or daggers to slip inside!


    ;


    The old round of testing had been lame. Books, and only bound books had qualified. Spellbooks with arcanite spines had been the most adventurous thing that had made it into my [Hoard], but hey. It was a level 8 skill. It had room to grow.


    ;


    Plus, with my level ups, my [Hoard] was now larger, and I could¡­


    ;


    Damnit System.


    ;


    I was almost literally sleeping on a pile of books, wasn¡¯t I?


    ;


    The library was pretty good for this, and there was a collection of unusual books that I started with.


    ;


    The first book wasn¡¯t a book at all, but a scroll. I put my hand over it, and let out a little squeal of delight as it vanished with a faint pop.


    ;


    ¡°Yes!¡± I did a goofy little dance in the middle of the library, waving my arms one way as I jiggled my hips the other. It worked! My skill hadn¡¯t said anything, nor had the name changed, but it was better!


    ;


    Score one for testing!


    ;


    Getting each of the books to test was a small adventure in and of itself, and had me madly running around the campus. Fortunately, I could split my mind into pieces, and keep doing my homework in one section as I ran around in another.


    ;


    Or talked with Iona, or played with Auri, or¡­


    ;


    Frankly, I should¡¯ve learned about and picked up [Parallel Thoughts] when I was eight. This skill was stupidly good! How did I ever live without it!?


    ;


    Then again, I¡¯d never heard of anyone in Remus having it¡­ not even Night had suggested it. Knowledge, education, and the strange properties of the island we were on struck again!


    ;


    Gods, I loved Iona so much for getting me to take that skill. I was going to see if I could get Artemis to pick it up as well!


    ;


    A hollowed book was next, and that was a dud. I believed it was because it wasn¡¯t actually a book. It was storage masquerading as a book.


    ;


    Artbooks had always counted, along with picture books. They were terrible for leveling though. Straight artwork on a wall didn¡¯t work, but it was more than a bit of a stretch to call that a ¡®book¡¯.


    ;


    A book made out of food required some of Auri¡¯s finest work, the pastry flakes some of the most delicate things I¡¯d ever seen. It didn¡¯t count, in spite of being a perfectly valid story.


    ;


    Magic was weird. Arcanite spine? Perfectly okay.


    ;


    Pastry pages? Nope! Rejected!


    ;


    Maybe the System was recognizing that it was more ¡®food¡¯ than ¡®book¡¯, although leather bound books had ended up in my [Hoard] no problem.


    ;


    I wonder how much arcanite was too much for a book?


    ;


    The thought had prompted a brainwave.


    ;


    Fancy covers didn¡¯t cause issues. They were just part of the book.


    ;


    The currency the world used was entirely gem-based.


    ;


    Could I get a book with a fancy, gem-encrusted cover, and use it to stash emergency funds?


    ;


    Preliminary testing on a library book said yes! My issue was affording a book nice enough that I could stick gems into in the first place¡­


    ;


    Novelty-sized extra large books went in without a problem, although my Spatial magic classes had warned me of a potential issue. Namely, it took up far, far more storage space than it should, roughly taking up the space that 10 books would take, instead of one.


    ;


    Unfairly, going in the opposite direction didn¡¯t help. Tiny books, perfectly scaled for ants and gnomes with powerful magnifying glasses, still counted as a full book.


    ;


    And weirdly, thick, heavy encyclopedias counted as a normal sized book. It was only the novelty-sized ones, the ludicrously large ones made for giants, that caused issues.


    ;


    Notebooks counted now, no matter how little had been written in it. I could even stash entirely blank ones!


    ;


    Some clay slabs and stone tablets worked, and upon close examination, it seemed like what was written on them changed if it was valid or not.


    ;


    That realization led me down a spiraling rabbithole of ¡®what counts as a book¡¯. Trying to get, say, a shield with a full story painted on it into my storage failed miserably, while the same words on a leaf got in.


    ;


    The best I could tell was a ¡®primary purpose¡¯ test. Was the object supposed to be a book, or something else?


    ;


    I wanted to test ¡®origami books¡¯. Specifically, metal bent and folded into a book, that with some clever manipulation, could be folded and refolded into a shield, weapon, or other supplies. That unfortunately fell squarely into the domain of ¡®you want a what?¡¯, and there weren¡¯t any for sale or testing anywhere on the campus. A few [Craftsmen-Students] told me they could do it, but quoted me an insane number just to test an idea that might or might not work.


    ;


    I also had book frustrations. Between [Parallel Thoughts], [Comprehensive Speed Reading], and [Vivid Dream Reading], I was churning through a lot of books every night. I tried to store an entire bookshelf all at once, only to fail miserably.


    ;


    I was stuck at one book at a time.


    ;


    For now.


    ;


    A book made out of pure water did store itself nicely into my [Hoard], and the magic maintaining it even survived being taken out again!


    ;


    ¡°You should test how damaged a book can be before you can¡¯t store it anymore.¡± Iona suggested to me as I cooed over the water book that lived.


    ;


    I turned to her, disgust and shock written all over my face. I didn¡¯t need to say anything, I just looked at her¡­ while my right hand was busily inscribing the newest spell I¡¯d discovered into my spellbook.


    ;


    She held her hands up.


    ;


    ¡°It was just an idea!¡± She protested.


    ;


    I considered making a joke about her and the moon goddesses, proposing some manner of sacrilege, but no.


    ;


    They weren¡¯t the same, and I knew it. It didn¡¯t stop me from continuing my withering glare.


    ;


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you try making something out of books, and seeing if you can store that?¡± Iona suggested while she pulled me onto her lap.


    ;


    ¡°Mmmm, that¡¯s right, I require pacification. Rawr!¡± I mock-growled at Iona as she dug her fingers into my shoulder, immediately finding exactly the right spot.


    ;


    ;


    I tested dozens, hundreds of different objects, whenever inspiration struck and when time and resources allowed.


    ;


    A single piece of paper didn¡¯t work, but a folded piece of paper with words on it did. It should¡¯ve been an early test, but I just hadn¡¯t thought of it.


    ;


    My heart started to beat faster as I realized the implications of that.


    ;


    ¡°Mom¡¯s prayer.¡± I whispered to myself, before blitzing out of the library, papers flying in my wake.


    ;


    I half-sprinted, half-parkoured across the campus back to my room, Auri spinning in tiny circles as I blazed past her.


    ;


    I think she put some extra spin on it just to complain.


    ;


    ¡°BrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrpTTT!!¡±


    ;


    I ignored my pyromaniacal friend, and reminded myself to open the chest, not smash it.


    ;


    The prayer my parents had carefully stitched into cloth was still there, still protected.


    ;


    Still fragile.


    ;


    I could barely keep armor intact in my life. I had no idea how I was going to keep the last thing they¡¯d ever given me intact.


    ;


    With trembling hands I picked it up and folded it, then tried to store it.


    ;


    It vanished with a faint pop, and I sagged in relief, a small tear running down my cheek.


    ;


    ¡°Brrpt? Brpt!¡±


    ;


    My eyes widened at Auri¡¯s idea, the little phoenix having followed me and seen everything.


    ;


    ¡°Auri. You¡¯re a genius.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ;


    I laid down in my bed, skipping a class. Then a second class. My excitement was keeping me up, but I wanted to, needed to, sleep.


    ;


    Sleep eventually took me, and I zipped through all my options in [Dream Reading] to get right to it.


    ;


    I shamelessly cried as a memory-perfect image of my mom and dad appeared in front of me.

 Chapter 384 - Interlude - The Proof is in the Pudding

    Ratcatcher sat back in his chair, taking off his glasses and massaging his eyes.


    Kelpie was a mess. The runic language had been invented by one of the seafaring folk, but none of them could agree who. Not even a race, let alone a specific author. They didn¡¯t have the same traditions of respecting authorship like the elves did, and all of the records conflicted.


    Ratcatcher had a special interest in wizardry languages, although he had no talent for wizardry himself. He enjoyed unraveling their history, their story. It was his niche, and the School allowed him to explore that to his heart¡¯s content.


    His eyes drifted back to Elaine¡¯s signature, the girl¡¯s claims absurd. He¡¯d done a bit of reading into the subject, and she was essentially claiming to have founded medicine.


    Ridiculous.


    He took her signature, and went to grab a copy of the Medical Manuscripts from the library. The School was primarily on the Yaris branch of copies, and he sat down at a table right there to compare.


    [All the Tiny Threads of the Rainbow] was his skill, and as expected, the signatures didn¡¯t match.


    But they matched enough. No copy was perfect, and signatures in particular were finicky. The higher level the [Copier], the better the signature. With that being said, people did start their lives at a low level, and had to work anyways, regardless of how ¡®perfect¡¯ their work was. It usually didn¡¯t matter for day to day life, but it got more interesting when trying to trace the exact history of a book.


    Most [Scribes] and [Actuaries], when comparing signatures, really checked for the match to be above a given threshold, then simply reported back if it was a ¡®match¡¯ like that or not.


    Ratcatcher¡¯s skill was a little more nuanced than that. Not only did it give him an exacting percentage, but it told him where and how the signature matched. It was incredibly useful for rederiving book genealogies.


    The percentage that did match was fairly high, far higher than random chance. Ratcatcher¡¯s own signature, if he wrote the word ¡®Elaine¡¯ instead of his name, would be maybe a 2% match. This one was closer to 40%.


    Normally, 40% would be enough for him to entirely dismiss her claims. But the Medical Manuscripts were ancient. 40% of the signature matching was enough for him to continue investigating.


    He [Noted] which portions of the signature matched, then went through the library until he found a copy of the Medical Manuscripts on the Rudolf line.


    Another solid partial match. He [Noted] what parts matched, then went back to the archives.


    The Lucienne copy was an ancestor of both the Rudolf and Yaris version of the Medical Manuscripts, and the School was blessed enough to have a copy in its archives.


    Another partial match. The parts that were a match on the ¡®later¡¯ generations of the Manuscript were also a match against this sample. Interestingly, some parts that Rudolf, Yaris, and Lucienne all had in common weren¡¯t matches, which implied they were miscopies that had been ¡®properly¡¯ copied down.


    It meant one of two things.


    Either Elaine was one of the greatest [Con Artists] Ratcatcher had ever encountered, or she was actually who she claimed to be.


    Critically, if she was a [Con Artist], the high signature match, and the proper alignment to the Lucienne copy, implied that she had access to a much, much older version of the Manuscripts.


    Either way, it was worth digging into further. Ratcatcher would have to see if a member of the Acquisitions team could be persuaded to borrow an old copy of the Manuscripts from a private collection, or maybe the Academy would be willing to lend them a copy.


    He was friends with the town¡¯s auction house [Appraiser], and maybe she¡¯d be willing to take a look and give her opinion. Elaine was claiming to be the original, and that was more in their domain.


    Marcelle was deep into her bottle of bloodwine. She¡¯d specifically tweaked her personal tolerances such that she got exactly the right level of drunk when she¡¯d drunk the perfect amount of wine. Handly life hack for a [Biomancer].


    If she really wanted to, she could directly manipulate her blood alcohol content, getting her to the right level of intoxication. It was an interesting exercise, but it entirely defeated the fun of drinking.


    The fun was the social aspect, drinking with friends and socializing. Hence her social circle.


    She was gloomily mulling over Elaine¡¯s claim. Why would her star student do something like that?


    The annoying part was, even if she was right, she should¡¯ve known just how impossible it would be to prove her claim. Inventing a cheap Immortality potion was worthless if the recipe couldn¡¯t be distributed, after all. It just ruined the reputation of the person making the claim, and reputation was everything. People didn¡¯t trust strangers because they didn¡¯t know their reputation. A [Carpenter] who made wobbly chairs would find their customers going anywhere else.


    Ratcatcher had mentioned some promising initial results though, and Marcelle felt duty-bound to give the matter some cursory thought. If nothing else, it could protect her from the fallout of her mentee¡¯s fall from grace, if she was the one to poke a hole in the story, or stop it from spreading too far.


    Elaine seemed to have some sense on that front.


    ¡°... and I leveled! It¡¯s been months since the last time, I thought I was more than due for one with all my efforts.¡± One of Marcelle¡¯s friends said.


    A minor spark lit in Marcelle¡¯s mind as she offered congratulations, along with the rest of her friend group.


    There was the mystery of Marcelle¡¯s recent leveling speed. Could Elaine¡¯s claims be true? Could they be related?


    ¡°Do you have a student called Elaine - yes, her name is Elaine - in your class?¡±


    She shook her head.


    Another one of Marcelle¡¯s friends spoke up.


    ¡°I do. She¡¯s one of yours, right?¡±


    Marcelle swirled her glass, taking a measured sip before responding.


    ¡°She is. Have you been leveling much lately?¡±


    He shrugged.


    ¡°Got an overdue level a few weeks ago, and got lucky on a second level recently. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary besides that.¡±


    Hmmm.


    As Elaine¡¯s mentor, Marcelle had access to her schedule. It was worth poking around, and seeing if there was a correlation between people leveling up quickly, and having Elaine as a student.


    Marcelle¡¯s other leads and ideas on her higher leveling rate hadn¡¯t panned out, and it was worth checking out. If Elaine really was the reason she¡¯d been leveling faster?


    Well.


    That would be interesting.


    ¡°Professor Marcelle. Welcome. Is there something I can help you with?¡± Mormerilhawn stood up to politely greet his fellow faculty member and Immortal.


    He saw it as his duty to guide the younger Immortals, help smooth their path through life. Guide them, in a sense. If he didn¡¯t do it, they¡¯d be blind and helpless.


    ¡°Yes, I was wondering if I could borrow a few minutes of your time?¡± She asked him.


    The master of the arena gestured into his home, sitting down in the guest receiving room where he always had a small spread of snacks for any visitors.


    Hospitality was important.


    ¡°Please, make yourself at home.¡± He waited for Professor Marcelle to sit down, before gracefully taking a seat himself.


    The two made polite small talk for a few minutes. There was no reason not to, they both had eternity.


    Eternity didn¡¯t mean they didn¡¯t have other duties, and soon enough they circled round to the topic of conversation.


    ¡°Is there an issue I can assist you with this¡­ evening?¡± The island¡¯s endless spinning around the globe made the greeting of the day permanently awkward.


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m wondering, have you been leveling at your usual pace, or if you¡¯ve noticed anything unusual recently.¡±


    The Black Rose immediately shook his head.


    ¡°I have noted no change in my leveling speed. Why, have you encountered some phenomena?¡±


    Professor Marcelle gave a slow, almost hesitant nod.


    ¡°Indeed. I believe I have traced it to an individual - Elaine - and I¡¯m interviewing people who¡¯ve had extensive contact with her.¡±


    That was more than a little interesting, given the tiny human¡¯s history and prowess.


    ¡°Oh? What are your findings?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll need to properly correlate my results, but as of this moment, those related to the medical and healing fields are seeing a marked increase in levels. Do you know anything about her history?¡±


    Mormerilhawn let a minor grimace cross his face.


    ¡°It¡¯s mysterious. I know what she¡¯s claimed. A trip through the fae realm. The ancient Remus empire of old. I am unable to properly validate her claims, but they do not matter. I can tell you what I have noticed.¡±


    Marcelle leaned forward a hair, a huge movement with the level of perception Mormerilhawn had.


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t fight like any organization I know of. She moves like she¡¯s expecting to have gear that nobody wears. She has experience in wars, and her kill count speaks of large-scale conflicts. The only conflict that springs to mind, given her age, is the Han civil war, although her monster count suggests a second large conflict on the northern continent.¡±


    He raised an eyebrow at her.


    ¡°Between ¡®being well-trained in a style that doesn¡¯t exist, participating as a human in a secret war in the north, then campaigning relentlessly in the Han since she was 10¡¯, or simply being a victim of the fae, a known, if rare, phenomenon, which do you believe is more likely?¡±


    Marcelle looked thoughtful.


    Flora stared at a few different reports that crossed her desk.


    Her position was almost entirely hands off, letting her meditate and tend to her gardens. A calm, peaceful life that she had carefully carved out for herself.


    The news was threatening her peace. It looked like somebody was claiming, once again, to be the Healer, the original writer of the Medical Manuscripts. Her mysterious disappearance when Flora was a little girl left the world ripe for imposters. The frequency had decreased as time passed and people forgot the details, but it looked like another one had been trotted out.


    It had been quite some time since the last time an imposter had shown up, and Flora was wary. There had been a few attempts on her life, using the little-known connection between the two. The Witch in White had thought everyone that knew about their connection was dead - it had been over 20,000 years - but it was a little too much of a coincidence for this Elaine to be at the same School she was a board member of for her liking.


    Seeing the name in the list of graduates had been one thing, but her claims were another.


    Flora wasn¡¯t particularly devoted to the gods, but she had a working relationship with a few of them. It was a pure business transaction. She provided them with mana, they kept a running account of how much she¡¯d donated, and charged accordingly for various services or favors. It didn¡¯t work for most Pallos inhabitants, but her level and longevity made her an attractive business partner.


    Words anathema to any of the truly devoted, but Flora didn¡¯t mind. She would never get a blessing, but at least she knew where she stood in relation to her gods, and they knew she was a thought away from joining them if she wished. Flora had been at the 3584 class up for so long, she¡¯d immediately cap and ascend with a thought.


    Delphine. Got an issue. Any insight? She prayed to one of her favorites - the patron goddess of flowers. She gave a quick breakdown of the issue to her goddess.


    There was silence for a long moment.


    Yes. It¡¯ll cost though. The goddess replied.


    Flora rolled her eyes. Of course it would cost.


    How much?


    Delphine named a number that was frankly usurious. It was only a mana request, against her established balance. No favors or offerings required. Flora could pay, and they both knew it. The goddess was simply getting as much as possible from her.


    Deal. Flora replied.


    There¡¯s an Iona at your School. One of Selene¡¯s [Paladins]. Can¡¯t lie, can see statuses, close to Elaine. Talk with her, it¡¯ll help.


    Flora opened her eyes, a flowery clone flash growing on the main campus.


    Time to do some digging.

 Chapter 385 - The Gladiator Gauntlet I

    I turned the innocent-looking amulet over in my hands. The [Enchanter] claimed it could beat even the most penetrative [Identify], leaving me safe and undetected from even high level mortal guards.


    ;


    I just had no idea how it was so much better than my Deception Ring, or how it worked. I could only see a portion of the runes, written in a language I was unfamiliar with, and even after looking up the part I could see, I just didn¡¯t get how it worked.


    ;


    I was hesitant to trust it. At the same time, I was trying to remember that I could trust others, and how long had I been using gems and armor issued by the Rangers? I¡¯d blindly trusted Origen¡¯s Inscriptions back in the day, why was this different? I was using enchanted boots.


    ;


    I guess it was because of how much was riding on it. If it worked, I could freely travel the world. If it didn¡¯t, I was stuck until I figured out a new way to move around.


    ;


    I¡¯d never been one to let others tell me I could or couldn¡¯t do something. On one hand, I had a healthy respect for the rule of law, but on the other, something about ¡®your existence means you¡¯re not allowed¡¯ just grated on me on a fundamental level.


    ;


    I gave myself a self-satisfied nod. I now knew why it was bothering me so much. All the sessions with Linnet helped me divine my own mind better!


    ;


    I¡¯d be able to give it a bit of a test run at the upcoming Gladiator Games. I was a known quantity in some respects, but enough new people were around that I could modify my level, and see if anyone noticed.


    ;


    The purple robes were going to be a dead giveaway though. Argh!


    ;


    I slipped the amulet over my head, and turned it on. One of the downsides to the amulet was it only set my level to 256. Making it more flexible was possible - but it made it much more expensive. I only had so much money to spend, and I prioritized the anti-penetrative properties.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri flew back into the room, bringing another set of purple robes with her. My mind snapped back to what I was supposed to be doing.


    ;


    ¡°Excellent! Do you think I¡¯ll need more than two hats?¡± I asked my little friend as I took the robe from her, and started to roll it up.


    ;


    Auri perched on my shoulder, then darted her beak into my long hair. She grabbed a mouthful, and critically looked at it.


    ;


    ¡°Brrpt.¡± She muttered to herself, and repeated the process a few times.


    ;


    I rolled my eyes at her antics.


    ;


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯ll be fine, and no, my hair looks great.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt¡­¡±


    ;


    ¡°You wanted to stay with Fenrir, remember? Can¡¯t have your cake and eat it too!¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brpt!¡±


    ;


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure one day you¡¯ll figure out the right skill to manage it. Maybe a Mirror element for your 3rd class?¡±


    ;


    Auri flew off at that, and I resumed packing. The School¡¯s team was leaving for the Gladiator Gauntlet tomorrow, and I didn¡¯t want to be left scrambling.


    ;


    I was just about done packing when I heard Iona coming back.


    ;


    ¡°Welcome home! How was the super secret cloak and dagger meeting? Were you given an honorary mask for your trouble?¡± I asked my girlfriend as she entered.


    ;


    Instead of answering she strode over to where I was, wrapping me in her arms and tilting me back as she gave me the biggest kiss of my life.


    ;


    ¡°Goddesses, I wish you could always be around to welcome me home.¡± Iona said.


    ;


    ¡°Mmmmmmm.¡± I contently hummed back. ¡°Same here. And?¡±


    ;


    We straightened back up.


    ;


    ¡°And someone very high level had a lot of interesting questions about you.¡± Iona laughed. ¡°She even wanted to know if you had any [Assassin] skills!¡±


    ;


    ¡°Alas! I am caught! I¡¯m secretly a deadly assassin, who took a vow to do no harm! I work by¡­ convincing people to see the error of their ways and¡­ going off to a hermitage or something?¡± I had no idea how an [Assassin] would work with the type of [Oath] I had.


    ;


    Iona chuckled.


    ;


    ¡°She¡¯s asked me to pass on a message. She believes you, and will work with Marcelle and the rest to present and confirm your claims when you present your thesis. She did ask for a specific date and time for your presentation. It¡¯s the fourth day of the two week break after our last quarter.¡±


    ;


    Basically, I¡¯d give my presentation, claim my credit, then vanish.


    ;


    ¡°That sounds fine. Will I ever get to know the name of my mysterious benefactor?¡± I asked Iona.


    ;


    She chewed on her tongue.


    ;


    ¡°She asked me not to say. She¡¯s not sure if she wants to talk with you or not.¡±


    ;


    Huh. Weird. Maybe she just liked her privacy or something?


    ;


    Trying to get into unknown people¡¯s minds was hard, and I had better things to do with my time.


    ;


    ¡°Are you all packed?¡± I changed the subject.


    ;


    Iona looked me up and down with a familiar glint in her eyes.


    ;


    ¡°Almost! You¡¯re just so cute I could stuff you into one of my bags. Wanna try it?¡±


    ;


    I was going to strain my eyes rolling them so much.


    ;


    ¡°If it¡¯ll make you happy, sure. But not if you¡¯re bringing your armor, that just sounds uncomfortable. I got the schedule earlier. If we win fast, I¡¯ll be able to run over and watch your strategy events. I¡¯ll probably miss the opening moves, but I¡¯ll be there.¡±


    ;


    Iona ruffled my hair.


    ;


    ¡°Once I¡¯m knocked out of the strategy tournament, I¡¯ll be able to cheer you on! Bringing my armor, sorry. I want to see what a professional [Enchanter] can do with it. The students here are pretty good, but¡­¡±


    ;


    ¡°But you want the absolute best for the equipment saving your life.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Exactly!¡±


    ;


    The benefits to wanting broadly legal equipment. My new amulet wasn¡¯t exactly kosher in most places.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°Bye Auri! Bye Fenrir!¡± I waved off our companions as Iona and I boarded the skyship. It was a fat, lumbering thing, entirely enclosed and with significantly more cargo room than the ferries.


    ;


    It wasn¡¯t made for anything resembling long hauls, but the island usually moved around enough that it was a simple matter of timing our departure and return for when the island was nearby.


    ;


    ¡°That¡¯s Fenrir?¡± Sarama asked in disbelief.


    ;


    ¡°Yup! Iona¡¯s companion.¡± I told her.


    ;


    ¡°He¡¯s huge. He¡¯d eat me alive in one bite! Are you sure he¡¯s safe to have at the School? How have I never seen him before?¡± Sarama asked.


    ;


    ¡°He stays at the stables. I can understand why you¡¯d be worried, but he¡¯s a big softy.¡±


    ;


    I blinked, and took in Fenrir¡¯s size again. Iona was going to need a special seat just to sit on him, she wasn¡¯t going to be able to straddle his neck. I¡¯d heard the story of how Fenrir¡¯s mother had eaten Iona whole, but it was one thing to hear the story, and another to see just how massive a creature that could do that was.


    ;


    I¡¯d bet on Fenrir in any fight. Also, the School¡¯s complaints about how much he ate suddenly made a lot more sense.


    ;


    And the price tag of his armor. No wonder it was only large organizations that had super massive creatures! It gave me a much greater appreciation for Auri, and how cheep she was to feed, even with the bond-induced gluttony and baking supplies.


    ;


    Iona finished saying her goodbyes and boarded the ship, and then we were waiting.


    ;


    ¡°Bye love. We¡¯ve got a room reserved for our team, and we want to do some last minute review with Morning Breeze.¡±


    ;


    Iona grumbled good-naturedly, but gave me a quick peck. I met with the rest of the under-30 team in our reserved room.


    ;


    I got in and everyone was here.


    ;


    I assumed. The floating black hat with nothing there, not even in my [The World Around Me], was unnerving.


    ;


    I closed the door.


    ;


    ¡°Oh my! Elaine, could you please open the door just the smallest crack? It¡¯s a little stuffy in here otherwise, and I just hate being trapped.¡± Morning Breeze fretted to me.


    ;


    I obliged the elemental.


    ;


    ¡°Alright! Everyone ready for the tournament? Anyone gotten bribe offers yet?¡±


    ;


    Pascal shamelessly raised his hand, his wolf¡¯s mask morphing into a grin. Ling Li snorted derision at him. I lifted an eyebrow at her.


    ;


    ¡°Remember, accepting bribes then not acting on them is a great way to line our own pockets with the School¡¯s blessing, and make people give up. Pascal, Vollomond again? Your family again?¡±


    ;


    He nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Right, Pascal¡¯s potentially compromised if we encounter the Vollomond team, and we¡¯ll have him anchor if that¡¯s the case. Not that I anticipate them making it through the qualifiers.¡±


    ;


    Pascal put a hand over his heart like he was hurt.


    ;


    What would Iona say?


    ;


    ¡°...Because we have the best person in the entire country on our team.¡±


    ;


    He looked slightly mollified at that.


    ;


    ¡°Not all of us are immune to the pressure and temptation, and we all have levers that can influence us.¡± Li primly replied, shooting Pascal a dirty look.


    ;


    ¡°Bribes! Oh my! That sounds so sordid! So much fun! I wonder if anyone will try to bribe me?¡± Morning Breeze shot around the room, my robes flapping in her¡­ passing? Body?


    ;


    ¡°Maybe!¡± Sarama said. ¡°Elaine, this year I¡¯ve got extra security on my potions, and I¡¯m going to be literally sitting on the chest the entire time we¡¯re not fighting. No repeats of last year from me! That was embarrassing.¡±


    ;


    I shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°Eh. It¡¯s not like anyone died. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity, you should explore and enjoy the event. Now, Morning Breeze. Sorry if this question is stupid, but you¡¯re the newest member of the team. Can you tell us how the event works?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Oh! Oh! I know this! This is one of those questions to make sure I actually know what¡¯s going on!¡± Morning Breeze immediately outed me, and threw me under the high speed carriage.


    ;


    ¡°... yes, yes it is.¡± I squeaked out. ¡°And?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Team battles! Seven people on each team! Single elimination tournament, 64 teams in the higher bracket after preliminaries, and each team fights twice! The first time is a singles battle, king of the hill style, and the second time is a full team fight! The team battle is worth 11 points, and each knockout in the singles battle is 2 points. The winning team of the singles part always gets the full 14 points, just in case a team isn¡¯t full for some reason! Like a disqualification, or if someone thinks they can single-handedly win it all by themselves. If one team can eliminate the entire opposing team and only lose a single person, they win without needing the teamfight. Otherwise, it¡¯ll depend on the teamfight to figure out who wins!¡± Morning Breeze whispered into all of our ears, her excitement in contrast to how softly she spoke.


    ;


    ¡°Exactly. Now, the singles elimination continues regardless if it matters for determining the winner of the round or not. The total points we get are cumulative, and stick with us for the entire tournament. They act as tiebreakers for the teams that get knocked out, and determine their final standing and prizes. Doesn¡¯t matter for us.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Why?¡± Sir Polarton asked, his muzzle not moving a hair.


    ;


    I grinned at him.


    ;


    ¡°Because we¡¯re going to win the whole thing!¡±


    ;


    My comment was predictably well-met, and we spent some time on it.


    ;


    ¡°Right, circling back to how we¡¯re going to win this. If there are no objections, and Shirayuki doesn¡¯t come in and override me at the last moment with some special request, Morning Breeze, you¡¯re going to be our lead in fights. Just blow them out of the arena, their shields will eventually trigger, and we¡¯ll counter as needed if somehow you¡¯re eliminated. I¡¯m going to preferentially have Iris and I lead, so we can recharge enough mana to be useful in the teamfight. Similar strategy with the teamfights. I want quick, brutal wins. I don¡¯t want to give anyone enough time to figure out a counter to Morning Breeze. If they do, we¡¯ll adapt from there. Questions?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Yeah, are we going to be moving or watching Morning Breeze work?¡± Iris asked. ¡°Last time we talked, you weren¡¯t sure if you wanted the impact of the rest of us watching.


    ;


    ¡°Good question. I was thinking¡­¡± I started to go over the plans, my teammates helping me refine our strategy one last time.


    ;


    ;


    The Gladiator Gauntlet was held at a permanent location in Cartref Clyd, the fauns famous for their hospitality and generosity.


    ;


    I¡¯d been skeptical that an entire nation managed on ¡®we¡¯re nice and hospitable¡¯, and had gone digging at one point in my desire to learn more about the world.


    ;


    They were terrifying diplomats, and had deep ties with all their neighbors, and their neighbors¡¯ neighbors. They also played nice with mercenary companies, allowing them to create their own towns to winter in, as well as paying them to defend the country if needed. The conditions were generous enough, and the risk low enough, that they were able to get away with not paying them terribly much, while gems and coins flowed in from their foreign work. The sheer number of mercenaries made it safe, which meant it was free money to accept the defense contract, which¡­


    ;


    All in all, it was a fairly brilliant maneuver that nobody else had quite managed to replicate. It gave them a strong reputation for peace, and their geographical position near the center of the mortal realms meant that they were the ideal host and organizer for events.


    ;


    Which in turn made people think favorably of them¡­ and gave the fauns a chance to show off all the bright and shiny mercenaries working for them, deterring greedy idiots.


    ;


    All this to say, the Gladiator Games had multiple well-used arenas for the events, along with various suites and living areas for the contestants. The School had their own reserved wing for their team, and we made our way to our rooms.


    ;


    I was arm-in-arm with Iona. She was at the Gladiator Gauntlet as an ¡®independent¡¯, not as a member of the School. She believed the wargame tournament she¡¯d be participating in was a valuable learning experience, even if she wasn¡¯t a member of the School¡¯s official team.


    ;


    I¡¯d asked her why she wasn¡¯t going as a Valkyrie and representing them.


    ;


    ¡°We don¡¯t do that.¡± Was her answer.


    ;


    It meant she¡¯d need to pay for her own lodging, and why pay a ton of money when we could shack up in the luxurious accommodations? We were going to do that anyway, and nobody minded.


    ;


    ¡°We made it! Seven days of exploring and adventure, seven days of fighting, one day of ceremonies, and that¡¯ll be it! Let¡¯s go explore the town together?¡± Iona asked after we dumped our stuff in my room.


    ;


    I quickly thought about it. Limited time with Iona for a fun date in the tourist trap?


    ;


    Or¡­ doing what I should be doing?


    ;


    I shook my head.


    ;


    ¡°Sorry love. I need to scout the arenas, and see what they have set up for us this time. I¡¯ll be happy to go into town this evening or tomorrow though!¡±


    ;


    Iona purred at me.


    ;


    ¡°Late this evening. I¡¯m probably going to work up an appetite.¡±


    ;


    I waggled my eyebrows at her.


    ;


    ¡°Can¡¯t wait!¡±


    ;


    ;


    I slowly walked to the arena where my event was going to be held, splitting my mind into two different portions, both of them entirely focused on my senses and [The World Around Me].


    ;


    The vast majority of people didn¡¯t cast [Identify] on every single passing person. Out of the small fraction of people who did, most of them couldn¡¯t break through my Deception Ring.


    ;


    I was trying to find the few paranoid individuals who not only [Identified] everyone they crossed, but who could also break through my enchantments. A light test run of how good the amulet I had was, before I put my faith and life in its hands.


    ;


    Cartref Clyd being home to mercenary companies had dozens of them sending teams to the Gladiator Gauntlet, and while not quite guards, they were a cautious lot. I picked a meandering path that brought me near as many of their quarters as possible, as well as near other team¡¯s resting areas, and subtly checked out the guards as they eyed me with everyone else on the street.


    ;


    No unusual reactions¡­ but my damn purple robes could be screwing with that as well.


    ;


    Argh!


    ;


    I made it to the arena, and was let in without any fuss. Scouting the grounds was a well known and well honed practice, and I wasn¡¯t the only one there.


    ;


    This year it was a fort map. A simple four-walled fort was in the middle of the arena, with a deep moat around it. There was a small tower in the middle of the fort, with a spiral staircase inside. Holding the fort - more likely the tower inside the fort - was probably going to be the stallbreaker of the event, a hedge against a team or person turtling up or simply flying too high to get caught.


    ;


    I checked out a few of the other scouts. I recognized some of my competitors, while others were new.


    ;


    My duties done, I headed back to chat with my teammates, and meet back up with Iona.


    ;


    ;


    I was dressed in something skimpy, lying alluringly in our bed, reading two different books at the same time while waiting for Iona. I wanted to give her a nice surprise to make up for not being able to go on a date with her earlier.


    ;


    I was not prepared for an ugly crying Iona to come through the door, sniffling as hot tears stained her tunic.


    ;


    I snapped my [Parallel Thoughts] closed and sprang up.


    ;


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong!?¡± I rushed over, letting my girlfriend lean on me.


    ;


    ¡°The Valkyries.¡± She sobbed out. ¡°They¡¯re gone.¡±

 Chapter 386 - The Gladiator Gauntlet II

    I let Iona lean on me, being her support, her pillar. I half-wrapped an arm supportively around her, as I helped her sit down on the bed with me.


    ;


    ¡°The Valkyries are gone? What?! Tell me more. How did you find out? What do you know? Are you okay?¡± I fired off questions as fast as I could think of them.


    ;


    Iona was shaky.


    ;


    ¡°Some - some nobles from Rolland. They were quite smug about it, and they had no reason to lie. They were even able to name which [Lord] had gotten which territory in exquisite detail. That¡¯s not an off the cuff lie.¡± Iona¡¯s jaw was clenched, and her knuckles were white.


    ;


    I thought of and discarded a dozen ideas, empty platitudes. I was thinking about this, using all tracks of my mind bent towards the problem.


    ;


    I quickly settled on words to say.


    ;


    ¡°Could they have exaggerated? Overstated the effect? From what I¡¯ve heard, the Valkyries are well respected, I can¡¯t imagine they rounded them all up and executed them, right?¡±


    ;


    Iona¡¯s jaw relaxed, and I felt her become less rigid. Less like a block of ice. She spent several long moments thinking about it.


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯re right. Sigrun and the rest wouldn¡¯t have gone quietly if there was treachery, the brats would¡¯ve been crowing about it, and I doubt the established nobility would accept such blatant maneuvers. They never considered us one of them, but we were close. They know that in their heart of hearts. They let the crown execute us, it¡¯s a short jump before they¡¯re on the chopping block themselves, and the cowards know it. Plus, [Valkyrie¡¯s Valor] is still intact¡­ although that might not mean much, a single Valkyrie is enough to keep the skill alive.¡±


    ;


    I could practically hear Iona going from denial, to depression, and straight to anger.


    ;


    ¡°What are you going to do?¡± I asked her.


    ;


    ¡°I should do nothing. I should just enjoy myself while I¡¯m here. I should go try and find where they¡¯ve relocated to. There¡¯s no way they would¡¯ve forgotten me, or any of the other Valkyries. But¡­¡± Iona trailed off, clenching her fists again.


    ;


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to just let this go. To let the smug pricks insult us, and just get away with it. I want¡­¡± Iona trailed off.


    ;


    ¡°I want to hurt them. Badly. But it has to be done right.¡± Iona was clenching her jaw again.


    ;


    We¡¯d shared our respective restriction skills with each other. Possibly not the smartest moves, but we were in love, and Iona could read my skills. She thought it was only fair to share.


    ;


    She was bound to act honorably. She couldn¡¯t, like, stab someone in their sleep over a grudge like this, because it was the furthest thing from honorable.


    ;


    ¡°Beat them in the strategy games! Rub their face in it!¡± I cheered her, trying to raise her spirits and redirect her anger in a productive manner.


    ;


    She shook her head, her hair waving like golden wheat.


    ;


    ¡°I know you think the world of me, love, but I¡¯m frankly not that good. I¡¯ll beat most everyone, but any true [Tactician] or [Strategist] will beat my ass seven different ways. It¡¯s why I¡¯m here as an independent. Good practice for me, heck, it might be worth a level, but I have no delusions of grandeur. I¡¯ll get deep into the preliminaries, but I doubt I¡¯d even qualify for the main event. More time to cheer you on!¡± Iona tried to put a good spin on it, but I could see she was upset.


    ;


    ¡°Okay. Alright. Um. What if I tried to get you on the School team?¡±


    ;


    Iona thought about it for a moment and shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°I appreciate the gesture, and I¡¯m willing to talk with¡­ Shirayuki, right? I don¡¯t think they¡¯d be alright with changing the lineup of either team of theirs on short notice, and for no better reason than my grudge.¡± She said.


    ;


    ¡°What! Of course there¡¯s a million good reasons! You¡¯re a triple classed fighter! You¡¯re a physical fighter with the best biomancy modifications possible! You could kick the ass of nearly anyone in our team in single combat! You¡¯d be a great addition!¡± I rallied, continuing to try and raise Iona¡¯s spirits, as well as giving a strong justification for why she¡¯d be great on our team.


    ;


    Iona gave a slow shake of her head.


    ;


    ¡°You know I¡¯m right. An outsider, versus people who¡¯ve trained and practiced with you all for weeks to years? You do have a good point though in trying other events¡­¡±


    ;


    Iona stared off into the distance, the massive Valkyrie like a block of ice as she sat still. I continued to lean into her, to hug her, to comfort her with my presence.


    ;


    ¡°The free for all is too chaotic.¡± She said out loud. ¡°The singles tournament is more about the people, and less about the backers, although there is an element of that. You do have a point about the team event though¡­¡±


    ;


    I raised an eyebrow.


    ;


    ¡°Rolland¡¯s a seeded team. You¡¯d need to fight your way through the preliminary event, win a slot, then keep winning through the various high powered teams until you hit their team - if someone else doesn¡¯t knock them out first.¡± I said. ¡°On top of that, you¡¯d need to win out in the singles portion of the tournament, because if they can knock you out going one at a time, you¡¯re unlikely to beat them when it¡¯s seven of them against you, with how the point system works. I thought your build wasn¡¯t great for that sort of thing?¡±


    ;


    Iona slowly nodded a few times, processing what I was saying. She slapped her knee and stood up.


    ;


    ¡°Well, it sounds like I¡¯ve got my work cut out for me. Do you think I should talk with Shirayuki first, or sprint for the tournament registration? Closes at midnight, right?¡±


    ;


    I glanced out the dark window.


    ;


    ¡°Split up. Go register, I¡¯ll talk with Shirayuki. If I somehow manage to get you onto the School¡¯s team, it¡¯s just money, right? Who cares if we lose some, if it salvages your honor?¡±


    ;


    I got the biggest hug from Iona.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°Absolutely not.¡± Shirayuki¡¯s tails swished in annoyance. ¡°I understand that she¡¯s a high level warrior, and if she¡¯d approached us before the event, before we¡¯d formed the teams, maybe. There might have been a chance. Here, now? Right before the event starts? If something happened to a team member of ours, we¡¯d replace them with someone else from one of our teams. From what you¡¯ve said, she¡¯s known about us for years, and is only just now interested. No. It¡¯s not happening.¡± Shirayuki said with finality.


    ;


    I wanted to argue more, to advocate for Iona as hard as I could. At the same time, I knew it was fruitless.


    ;


    ¡°Thank you for hearing me out.¡± I politely told the kitsune. ¡°Is there any conflict with me helping her out?¡±


    ;


    Shirayuki thought about it for a brief moment.


    ;


    ¡°No. Not unless she somehow manages to get paired against us. You¡¯re compromised if that¡¯s the case.¡±


    ;


    I snorted.


    ;


    ¡°Sure, but she¡¯s a single person. If our entire team can¡¯t win, I don¡¯t know what to say. Especially with Morning Breeze. None of Iona¡¯s skills can touch her.¡±


    ;


    Shirayuki nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Excellent. With that said, at her level, with a small amount of luck, she will actually manage to make it through preliminary rounds. It¡¯s rare, but [Warriors] over 512 do occasionally show up in the team event and solo their way to the main event. It¡¯s hard, it¡¯s rare, but it does let them show off before the world stage, usually for recruitment purposes. Usually they¡¯ll go for the singles tournament, as it¡¯s a better bet, but what Iona is doing isn¡¯t unheard of. She¡¯s in trouble the first time she meets a grease mage though.¡±


    ;


    I couldn¡¯t help but laugh at the mental imagery. Those were always hilarious. Not particularly amazing, but they were one of the counters to a powerful physical classer. Without good footing, without leverage, it was hard to throw a proper punch and have it do anything.


    ;


    ¡°One last note. She¡¯s after the Rolland team, yeah?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Correct.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Excellent. The one thing I can do for you is help arrange for her to meet the Rolland team in the first round of the main event. As you know, the seeded teams all sit down with the organizers and hash out what the brackets look like. I can advocate for her to meet the Rolland team in the first round, which they might be receptive to, and I know the organizers will love it. A grudge match to spice up the first round? They¡¯ll eat it right up, and Rolland will see it as both an easy win, and a way to prove their decision was correct, while ¡®crushing¡¯ a minor ¡®rebellion¡¯. It¡¯s not much, and she still needs to get there herself.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Thank you!¡± I told Shirayuki.


    ;


    ¡°Now shoo! I have things I want to do!¡± She flicked her tails at me, and the dismissal couldn¡¯t be more clear.


    ;


    ;


    I paced outside the building where we were staying, waiting for Iona to come back, thinking about all the things I needed to tell her. All the advice that would serve her well.


    ;


    There was a combined team weight limit to gear. That wasn¡¯t going to be a problem for Iona, who only had a single contestant on her team. Gems weren¡¯t allowed, but she didn¡¯t have any. Being out of bounds wasn¡¯t an immediate disqualification, but it did ¡®burn¡¯ the protective shield that determined when someone had been knocked out. If a contestant spent too long out of bounds, they automatically lost. The length of time depended on how strong of a shield they¡¯d gotten, how far out of bounds they were, along with how much damage it had taken. The flight ceiling, or practical lack thereof.


    ;


    Then there was the meta. Grease [Mages] were just the start. Mages abusing [Trigger]. Harpies needed to be taken out fast, at the start, or it¡¯d devolve into an aerial battle where their natural gifts gave them a strong edge. Centaurs, in a twist, rarely engaged in their normal hit and run tactics, instead crashing through with furious momentum. Kitsune¡¯s often ran clever meta illusions, making it look like their opponents won. When they left the stage, they¡¯d win by forfeit. Of course, half the time they disguised themselves so they wouldn¡¯t look like a kitsune, which had everyone paranoid.


    ;


    Companions were allowed, but they counted as a full individual, and needed to follow all the same rules. Poison was also allowed, but had strict rules around the shielding and usage.


    ;


    Iona came back, thunderclouds on her face.


    ;


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I rushed over, searching her face for clues.


    ;


    ¡°Money.¡± I could hear the restraint in her voice. ¡°Valkyrie¡¯s accounts are no good now, given our uncertain status, and the entry fee¡¯s more than I have on me.¡±


    ;


    ¡°How much?¡± I asked, willing to open my pockets and give Iona whatever she needed.


    ;


    She named a figure. I whistled.


    ;


    ¡°They charge that much to enter?!¡±


    ;


    Iona nodded glumly.


    ;


    ¡°And entries are closing in about an hour. Might just go punch something to let off steam. It¡¯s the healthier thing to do¡­¡±


    ;


    There were quite a few other things she¡¯d want to do to blow off steam, and while I was game, I also wanted to help Iona.


    ;


    I shook my head.


    ;


    ¡°Hang on. Let me talk with Pascal. I¡¯m not sure if his family¡¯s nobility, or just has more money than the gods, but either way, they own a Mallium mine. I have enough money back at the School that I can pay him back.¡±


    ;


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to do that.¡± Iona protested.


    ;


    ¡°Yes, I do.¡± I firmly rebutted her. ¡°We¡¯re together. We¡¯re partners. We support each other. We help each other. Right now, you need help. I have a potential solution. Now come on, let¡¯s go talk with Pascal before registration closes.¡±


    ;


    ;


    I knocked on Pascal¡¯s door.


    ;


    ¡°Hey Pascal! You around?¡± I asked.


    ;


    I didn¡¯t hear anything, but a few moments later the door opened.


    ;


    ¡°Mind if we come in?¡± I asked my taciturn teammate.


    ;


    He nodded his wolf¡¯s head helmet and gestured, welcoming us in.


    ;


    ¡°A [Vow of Silence]. Wow. I¡¯ve never seen one of those before.¡± Iona said. ¡°I¡¯m deeply impressed.¡±


    ;


    Pascal¡¯s wolf mask morphed, first into a surprised-alarmed expression, then into a proud and satisfied one.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯ve got the ability to see stat sheets.¡± Iona quickly explained.


    ;


    ¡°Pascal, we¡¯ve got a favor to ask of you. A big one.¡± I cut through the small talk. Wasn¡¯t Iona concerned about the deadline?? Why was she chitchatting?


    ;


    Iona shot me an unamused look for some reason.


    ;


    His mask morphed into a quizzical expression, and Iona sighed. She gave me a significant look, which I think I correctly interpreted. I should do the ask here.


    ;


    ¡°Okay, so. I¡¯m asking this as someone who knows you, and not as your team captain. Feel completely free to tell me no and throw me out. Iona here is looking to enter the same event we¡¯re in as an individual. Because reasons. She¡¯s short on the entry fee, and while I have the money at the School, I don¡¯t have it on me right now. I can pay you back. Can you lend us a few coins, so she can enter? Registration is closing soon, and you¡¯re one of the only people I know who could make this work.¡±


    ;


    Pascal thought about it for a few tense minutes. His true expression under his wolf¡¯s mask was normally unreadable, but I inched a little closer to him, and got to see what was happening thanks to [The World Around Me].


    ;


    He looked thoughtful, nervously licking his lips. His eyes flickered as he performed mental calculations, before he finally put on a resolute look.


    ;


    He nodded at us, but his mask changed to display a 16.


    ;


    ¡°16?¡± I asked him.


    ;


    His mask morphed into a 16%.


    ;


    ¡°Ah. You want us to pay interest. Deal!¡± I exclaimed, not bothering to think through the math on it. Yeah, I¡¯d have to pay more than we borrowed, but whatever. It was all worth it.


    ;


    He handed us the money, Iona made some polite noises, and we raced off to the registration.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°Team members?¡± The faun [Clerk] asked Iona, latest in a long list of questions.


    ;


    Iona looked at me and shrugged.


    ;


    Why was she doing that?


    ;


    ¡°Iona. Fenrir. Auri. Reinhard¡­¡± She named off a few more of her friends, bringing the total to 7 people. A full team.


    ;


    ¡°Hey!¡± I protested as the faun dutifully wrote down the names. Iona grinned and winked at me.


    ;


    ¡°All¡¯s fair in love and war, right? Time to find a courier, I¡¯ve got an urgent missive for the School.¡±


    ;

 Chapter 387 - Interlude - Iona - The Gladiator Gauntlet III

    Elaine fussed around Iona, making sure every buckle and strap of her wyvern-scale aketon was properly strapped down and secured.


    ;


    Not that there were a lot of them.


    ;


    Iona had just barely made it under the registration deadline, and had a most interesting session with the [Judge] calibrating her shield. Biomancied subdermal armor was rare. She was close enough to a dullahan that they ended up using similar rules to build her shield.


    ;


    The opening ceremonies had come and gone, Elaine with the full School team near the front, and Iona in the back with the rest of the teams without the backing or ranking to be showcased.


    ;


    ¡°Okay, so this is just the first round. It¡¯s not over if you get beaten here, it¡¯s a round robin format. They said that your shield slowly regenerates, but it¡¯s practically a lie. It regenerates so slowly that it doesn¡¯t matter, and damage persists between individual 1v1 fights. Don¡¯t take all your blows on the same part of your body. Losing because of a technical shield-out sucks. They do look at total points though, which is unfortunate on your tiebreakers since winning one against seven in the main team battle is going to be hard, but winning out will make all that moot. So fight! Win! Beat them up!¡± Elaine babbled advice as quickly as she thought of it.


    ;


    ¡°I got this.¡± Iona said with complete confidence as she studied her first round opponents.


    ;


    Reading their status sheet, to get a better idea of what they could do. Checking for hidden trumps or obvious [Weaknesses].


    ;


    Each individual had a number of them, but as Iona compared and studied, their respective strengths overlapped their team member¡¯s weaknesses beautifully. Interestingly, they were running not one, but two supports, and their second support looked like they had close to zero combat capabilities.


    ;


    It was a shame Iona¡¯s [Vow] wasn¡¯t active for these fights. The added boost would¡¯ve been nice, but Iona was strong even without it. At the School, she was able to lift 125 lbs¡­ in the 128x gravity floor of the gym. Right around 16,000 lbs.


    ;


    That was without her wyvern-scale aketon, or mallium armor.


    ;


    ¡°In the seventh ring. Team Iona versus Team Fiona Academy. First contestants, please step up.¡± The [Referee] quietly announced. With the skills at play, anyone focusing on this particular arena would hear him perfectly. There were simply too many teams for preliminary rounds to each get a full arena dedicated to them. There was an [Announcer] for the entire stadium, for all the teams participating, who ran commentary on all the fights, usually spotlighting one team or ring at a time to focus on and discuss to the broader audience.


    ;


    ¡°Go get them!¡± Elaine cheered as Iona stepped up onto the stone platform.


    ;


    Selene. Lunaris. I ask for your aid, and dedicate this victory to you. Iona silently prayed to her patrons.


    ;


    Normally there was a mental game of rock-paper-scissors as each team tried to figure out who the other team would lead with, and try to pick an early counter to gain an advantage. It wasn¡¯t rare for the early advantage to decide the winner, as each team picked their team member to counter whoever was on the stage, giving the first round winner the final victory. The other aspect to consider was mage¡¯s mana regeneration. Sending mages up early gave them more time to restore mana for the team battle. A mage anchoring a team could step in during the last rounds to knock out an opponent, but then they¡¯d be useless during the teamfight portion. It was a minor way to balance their oversized impact in a single duel.


    ;


    All that went out the window with Iona. She was the only member of the team present, and she didn¡¯t have to worry about who the other team sent up. The warrior had to fight them all in the end.


    ;


    They had two supports by the looks of it. The woman had a classic ¡®my skills empower people¡¯, but the man had a strange and unusual set of skills. He summoned food, and eating the food worked as a short buff.


    ;


    She let her armor flow out from behind her back, coating her entire body. She didn¡¯t have a weapon - the Valkyrie had left them behind at the School, not thinking she needed them - but her entire body was a weapon. Just not one boosted by [Weapon Mastery].


    ;


    [New Moon¡¯s Dance] and [Valkyrie¡¯s Valor] did both assist with brawling though, and Iona could always reshape a portion of her mallium into a weapon. It was a trick she wanted to hide for as long as possible.


    ;


    [Frost Wyvern¡¯s Fang] was a skill she was more than happy to reveal early on.


    ;


    With a thought, [Star-Forged] expanded from covering just her body, to coating her layers of armor in the protective skill. Anything hitting her armor wasn¡¯t hitting Iona, and her shield was safe and intact.


    ;


    Of course, if her armor was destroyed, it was a case of ¡®too bad, so sad, hope you win enough to repair it¡¯. People spent too much time focusing on the fortunes that could be won in the Gladiator Gauntlet, and completely ignored the fortunes obliterated by the fights.


    ;


    Fiona Academy sent their heavy bruiser - Mubai - up to meet Iona. He had a number of tiger-themed skills, a [King of the Brawlers] class along with [Lord of the White Tigers]. Iona expected him to close in, and to swipe at her with large, heavy blows, reinforced with cutting claws.


    ;


    He was only in the mid-300¡¯s though. The sheer disparity in levels and stats would doom Mubai, but his face didn¡¯t hold a hint of that. He approached the battle boldly, with confidence, chewing on the sausage his support companion provided.


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!¡± The [Referee] announced as his skill separating the two combatants dissolved, letting them at each other.


    ;


    Iona exploded into motion, charging directly at Mubai. [As Steady as the Stars] gave her impeccable footwork, letting her balance on even the most treacherous terrain, along with not destroying anything she moved on. She could make fantastic leaps - or simply charge her enemy.


    ;


    All of Iona¡¯s staring at the brawler¡¯s status hadn¡¯t prepared her for him pulling out a crossbow and shooting her with it. It simply wasn¡¯t one of his skills, and he¡¯d cleverly hidden it in his clothing.


    ;


    [Selene¡¯s Grace] neatly nudged the projectile out of the way, letting Iona continue her assault. Mubai roared and charged at her, the shimmering paw of a white tiger appearing around his arms.


    ;


    He swiped at her as they closed, the skill extending his reach. Iona ducked under, letting it pass clean over her as she stomped her right foot down. Twisting, putting her whole body into the strike, she blasted upwards with a vicious uppercut, catching the Fiona Academy¡¯s brawler directly under the chin in a beautiful strike.


    ;


    The arena flashed with a multitude of colors as a bright red shield appeared around Mubai, absorbing the otherwise-lethal strike and signifying his loss.


    ;


    ¡°Winner, Team Iona. Please return back to your respective sides.¡± The [Referee] declared.


    ;


    Mubai picked himself up off the ground, giving Iona a quarter-bow of respect before returning to his team. They huddled up and quickly strategized, before sending their next contestant up.


    ;


    A slender bunnykin, the second-highest level fighter Team Fiona had, hopped onto the stage next, eating a chili pepper.


    ;


    ¡°Hiya! Please be gentle!¡± She waved merrily to Iona.


    ;


    The big eyes, soft fur, and cheerful demeanor didn¡¯t fool Iona. Her skills were uniformly nasty. She wasn¡¯t quite as heavy of a hitter as Mubai had been, but Iona was resolved not to underestimate the bunny.


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!¡± The [Referee] announced, and the battle was joined.


    ;


    Iona expected the crossbow this time. She stood still as her opponent whipped one out and shot a bolt at her, electing to snatch it out of the air in a stunning display of grace and dexterity.


    ;


    Her opponent bounded up to her and took a swing at Iona. The Valkyrie stood there, silently staring down her opponent who pulled her punch at the last second, dropping and trying to sweep her feet.


    ;


    Iona jumped up, letting the blow pass under her as she tried to work out how she was going to beat this opponent.


    ;


    [Counterblow] and [Perfect Dodge] promised any half-hearted attack by Iona would miss, then be brutally punished. At the same time, she was specced deep into speed and dexterity, lacking the power to punch through Iona¡¯s protections easily. The odds were good that the bunnykin would break her hand punching Iona¡¯s armor, instead of Iona feeling anything.


    ;


    Which led to the strange stalemate between the two of them. Iona continued to neatly side-step any attack that might be a problem, not throwing a single punch back.


    ;


    Showing off to anyone watching that, yes, she was the better [Warrior].


    ;


    As the stalemate continued, she read each of the bunnykin¡¯s skills in detail, looking for the critical piece of information that would turn the tide of the stalemate.


    ;


    Iona almost laughed as she saw it. The bunny¡¯s skills worked on attacks.


    ;


    With a single graceful move, Iona brought her hand down on the agile opponent¡¯s shoulder. Not an attack - a friendly grab.


    ;


    The flexible fighter froze as Iona¡¯s fingers tightened.


    ;


    ¡°Do I need to?¡± Iona asked in the rabbit¡¯s native language.


    ;


    She pouted and pulled a face.


    ;


    ¡°No¡­¡± She sullenly kicked the ground. Iona turned to the [Referee].


    ;


    ¡°Well?¡± She asked him.


    ;


    ¡°I need the words.¡± He apologized to Iona.


    ;


    ¡°I surrender.¡± The bunny said, twisting herself out of Iona¡¯s grasp and leaping off the stage.


    ;


    One member of the team was glaring murder at Iona. She didn¡¯t need [Social Lubricant] or [Winter¡¯s Allure] to tell that they were a couple. He was the highest leveled member of their team, and his restriction skill locked an entire class away, except for specific circumstances and conditions.


    ;


    Naturally, the boost was insane if the conditions were met, and Iona was being gentle in small part to dance around them.


    ;


    The bunnykin backflipped her way off the stage, tumbling like a [Gymnast], and the next member approached, cramming down three food-based buffs their support was handing out.


    ;


    The dude loved food way too much, and a quick peek at his skills revealed a Fire mage. Every single skill related to flames, and Iona briefly thought about Auri as she studied him.


    ;


    His physical stats were low, and he fit the definition of a glass cannon perfectly. He was boosting those stats with a fat sausage, but it wasn¡¯t going to be nearly enough.


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!¡±


    ;


    Iona instantly summoned her [Frost Wyvern¡¯s Fang], a shortbow and arrow shimmering into existence in her hands. She was already twisting, bending the bow into a perfect half-crescent moon, then unleashed the arrow right at his center of mass.


    ;


    No need for a [Trick Shot] or [Blizzard Shot]. Just straight violence.


    ;


    A torrent of flames started to erupt from the mage¡¯s mouth as the arrow landed, his shield bursting into a fatal red as the arena sparkled with colors, signifying Iona¡¯s win.


    ;


    ¡°Winner! Team Iona!¡± The [Referee] declared as the mage looked on with shock.


    ;


    ¡°But¡­ but¡­¡± He protested, getting a steely look from the [Referee] in turn.


    ;


    ¡°You have been defeated. Please send up your next team member.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Wooo! Perfect victory!¡± Elaine gleefully cheered Iona¡¯s victory from the sidelines.


    ;


    The tall warrior didn¡¯t relax or break her composure. This wasn¡¯t the time or the place for screwing around. Three members down, four to go. Two of them were supports.


    ;


    To her surprise, the food-buff making support stepped up next. Iona lifted an eyebrow under her helmet.


    ;


    His skills were incredible. She¡¯d never seen anything like them, even at the School, and having them at his level? She was impressed. He could conjure up food that acted like the most powerful potions, granting large stat boosts.


    ;


    Of which he was currently horking down as many as he could, as fast as he could conjure them. One of his skills let him ignore the usual penalties and restrictions around stacking potions, and his stats were skyrocketing¡­ relative to their starting point.


    ;


    His stats utterly sucked. It must¡¯ve been the tradeoff for the amazing class, and Iona felt a flicker of curiosity as to why he was being sent up now. If their team managed to win on one of their next two fighters, the Valkyrie wasn¡¯t confident that she could properly take all seven of them at once. They¡¯d win the entire match. Sending the support up now simply fed her free points.


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!¡± The [Referee] had no patience for Iona¡¯s internal musings as he began the fight.


    ;


    To Iona¡¯s utter lack of surprise, another crossbow made an appearance as she strode across the stage to her opponent.


    ;


    [Selene¡¯s Grace] took care of the bolt, but then he threw out a half-dozen tiny metal balls. They exploded into motion on impact, thin metallic tendrils whipping through the air around them as they landed.


    ;


    Iona didn¡¯t even feel them. The layers of her skill-reinforced armor stopped them dead in their tracks, slapping impotently against her arms and legs, and she carried on through the hail of metal before reaching her prey.


    ;


    He tried to fight back. He tried to dodge.


    ;


    The tyranny of stats let Iona jab out once, his shield flaring protectively as she won another round.


    ;


    The two teams reset, and Team Fiona¡¯s speedster made her entrance onto the stage, eating more of the support¡¯s conjured food.


    ;


    Honestly, it was something of a blessing that the other support¡¯s skills weren¡¯t useable in the single¡¯s format. Double-buffs might be enough to give Iona trouble, especially with dedicated specialists.


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!¡±


    ;


    Iona was prepared for waves of inky black smoke that erupted from the speedster, the slender woman vanishing into the darkness. Iona¡¯s blessing was simply unfair.


    ;


    [Gaze of the Galaxy] along with [Lunaris¡¯s Gaze] allowed her to pierce the veils of darkness without issue. She crouched into a ready stance, and as the speedster tried to silently flank her, dagger poised to strike Iona in the armpit, Iona lashed out with a vicious backhand, landing a solid blow.


    ;


    That was enough to take out the fragile speedster, and the match was quickly called in Iona¡¯s favor.


    ;


    ¡°Go Iona! You¡¯re the best! Five down, two to go!¡± Elaine cheered from the sidelines. ¡°Keep beating them in one hit!¡±


    ;


    The second support stepped up onto the stage, and the Team Fiona Academy strategy crystalized for Iona.


    ;


    They were reserving their heavy hitter for the last round, hoping to wear her down with the rest of the team. Hoping that she¡¯d show off all her skills.


    ;


    A beautiful and delicate woman stepped onto the stage, and Iona almost felt a moment of pity for her. Her combat abilities were next to nothing¡­ although she had signed up and agreed to fight with the team.


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!¡± The faun declared, and Iona implacably strode over to where the woman was standing.


    ;


    The crossbow strategy made a lot more sense with her on the team, giving the woman a chance at defending herself. A high-tension crossbow with a single prepared shot could take out most warriors with a surprise blow, able to punch through metal and trigger the shield.


    ;


    Iona was ready as Rong pulled out a crossbow at point-blank range. The paladin mentally grabbed the crossbow and jerked the top of it up with [Telekinesis] as the Fiona Academy support pulled the trigger.


    ;


    Her shield flared red, stopping the bolt from puncturing her head, and the support started to cry angry tears as she stomped off the stage.


    ;


    Iona mentally shrugged. There was a reason [Warriors] needed armor-reinforcing skills, and why people rarely wore armor or used weapons without the ability to reinforce them. At higher levels, it was just giving their opponents another weapon to use.


    ;


    Any metal-coated mage against a high level Metal mage was in for a bad time, practically handing their opponent a perfect cage which they could use to crush them with. It didn¡¯t work at lower levels, but at higher levels it was a risk.


    ;


    Her last opponent took the stage, and Iona looked at him warily. Stan was in the high 400¡¯s, pushing 500, and every last one of his skills was terrifying, before his restrictive [Promise].


    ;


    ¡°I am no threat to you, your team, or your loved ones.¡± Iona clearly stated before the [Referee] could start the match. [Social Lubricant] and [Allure of Winter] both helped her read the cues Stan was giving off, letting her make minor adjustments to her speech. ¡°We are both here to compete and show off, and that is all. Win or lose, we¡¯re all walking away intact at the end of this, with the worst damage possible being to our pride.¡±


    ;


    He¡¯d have to be a raving lunatic to think Iona was a threat to his loved ones after that, which was the critical condition for his [Promise] to activate.


    ;


    No [Promise], no massive stat boost, no unlocked class. He¡¯d be a single class [Warrior] against her triple classes.


    ;


    He narrowed his eyes, and Iona smirked as she read the subtle tells that let the pieces of the puzzle click for him.


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Glory. Ho-¡± The [Referee] was interrupted right as he was starting the countdown for the fight.


    ;


    A bright light suddenly illuminated the stage they were standing on, and the [Announcer¡¯s] voice boomed.


    ;


    ¡°Well! [Lords] and [Ladies], do we have a treat for you here in Ring 7! Team Iona only has a single member, and in a fierce struggle against Team Fiona Academy, she has defeated all opponents with a single blow! I¡¯m excited to see the final battle! Will the One Hit Wonder continue her spree? Will Fiona Academy pull a reversal and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat? Find out now!¡±


    ;


    Iona was always good with people, and the logic immediately fell into place for her, in spite of the Valkyries tending to eschew these types of events.


    ;


    Performing well, performing flashily would get more people interested in her and her one-woman crusade. More people watching would mean more people would see her defeat Rolland, and salvage the honor of the Valkyries - and her desire for vengeance.


    ;


    Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Stan. How could she defeat him in a single blow?


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!¡± The [Referee] made a bit more of a show of starting the event, conscious of the spotlight on the ring.


    ;


    Iona burst into a sprint as vines erupted around her. They wrapped around her arms and legs, trying to drag her down, to bind and trap her.


    ;


    Iona powered through them all, although they slowed her a hair. A cage of black grass enclosed Stan, acting as a physical barrier separating Iona from her opponent. Two thick tendrils shot from his hands, the grass morphing to look like a pair of striking snakes.


    ;


    The Valkyrie sacrificed a portion of her armor to make an axe, sweeping through the attack and neatly ¡®decapitating¡¯ the ¡®snakes¡¯. As she charged at Stan, another vine pulled him away as a dozen metal balls were flung at her.


    ;


    She pivoted, ignoring the storm of metal pinging against her helmet, chasing after her prey.


    ;


    He was fast with his vine-like grass pulling him around, but not as fast as Iona. She quickly caught up, and started to morph her metal into a long spear. She thrust out at Stan, the spear elongating, her long arms giving the weapon even more reach, and Iona neatly ¡®stabbed¡¯ him through the heart.


    ;


    It was a solid blow. [Stable As The Stars] gave her perfect footing to launch off of, [Lunar Mass] increased her weight and thus her momentum, and she¡¯d timed her strike well. The arena exploded in light as a red shield popped into existence around Stan.


    ;


    ¡°Winner! Team Iona!¡± The [Referee] declared.


    ;


    ¡°Well I¡¯ll be! Iona has done it again, defeating her opponent with a single blow! Let¡¯s give it up for the One Hit Wonder!¡± The [Announcer] roared. The crowd was thin this early into the preliminaries, but she did get some cheers.


    ;


    Iona bowed her head, praying to her goddesses.


    ;


    Selene. Lunaris. I did it! Thank you for your support. I wouldn¡¯t have been able to do this without your blessings and your grace.


    ;


    You go, One Hit Wonder! Selene cheered. Lunaris was laughing herself sick.


    ;


    Iona grinned and jumped down off the stage to an eagerly waiting Elaine.


    ;


    ¡°You did it! Great job! I¡¯m proud of you! Alright, the team battle¡¯s next, but that doesn¡¯t matter, you still win the round even if you lose the battle. Then there¡¯s a quick turnaround to the next round. It¡¯s punishing on mages, they¡¯ll be low on mana. You got this!¡±


    ;


    Elaine gave Iona a hug, and she spent a moment refocusing. Paying attention to what was truly important in life. Elaine¡¯s presence was reassuring, and she relished her embrace. She was more important than her desire for petty revenge.


    ;


    In the end, her quest for vengeance was meaningless. It was simply to balm her heart. Iona would like to have her cake and eat it too though, getting both.


    ;


    But she wasn¡¯t going to lose sight of the people important to her in the attempt, nor what the Valkyries stood for.


    ;


    [Name: Iona]


    [Race: Mostly Human]


    [Age: 26]


    [Mana: 210,700/210,700]


    [Mana Regen: 141,570]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 300]


    [Strength: 41,060 +(523,515)]


    [Dexterity: 41,060 +(523,515)]


    [Vitality: 74,968 +(194,917)]


    [Speed: 45,615 +(581,591)]


    [Mana: 21,070]


    [Mana Regeneration: 47,402]


    [Magic Power: 24,381]


    [Magic Control: 24,381]


    [Class 1: [The Dusk Valkyrie - Celestial: Lv 520]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 520]


    [New Moon''s Dance: 520]


    [Weapon Mastery: 520]


    [Strength from the Stars: 520]


    [Star-Forged: 520]


    [Strike of the Twin Moons: 165]


    [As Steady as the Stars: 130]


    [Gaze of the Galaxy: 520]


    [Class 2: [Traveling Archer - Ice: Lv 420]]


    [Ice Authority: 420]


    [Shortbow Skills: 420]


    [Blizzard Shot: 420]


    [Allure of Winter: 420]


    [Trick Shot: 420]


    [Weaknesses: 420]


    [Glacial Slow: 420]


    [Frost Wyvern''s Fang: 420]


    [Class 3: Skybound Paladin of the Moons - Gravity: Lv 130]]


    [Gravity Affinity: 130]


    [Telekinesis: 130]


    [Lunaris''s Gaze: 130]


    [Lunar Mass: 130]


    [Flight of the Valkyries: 130]


    [Grasp of the Moon: 130]


    [Selene''s Grace: 130]


    [Harmony of the Spheres: 130]


    General Skills


    [Spicy Drawing: 264]


    [Valkyrie¡¯s Valor: 520]


    [Adaptable and Flexible: 385]


    [Relentless Pursuit: 288]


    [Vow of Iona to Lux: 425]


    [Social Lubricant: 262]


    [Determined Education: 380]


    [Companion Bond Between Iona and Fenrir: 256]


    Other


    Blessing of Selene and Lunaris

 Chapter 388 - Interlude - Takatane Sakai - The Gladiator Gauntlet IV

    Scouting was difficult. Not only did Sakai need to study dozens, if not hundreds, of different [Warriors], [Mages], and [Rangers], but he needed to pay attention to the fights his own team was in!


    ;


    Fortunately, he wasn¡¯t alone. Kira - Takashige-dono in public, he reminded himself - had nominally divided the work up among the six of them.


    ;


    Practically, the four of them. Futsu-sama was the shogun¡¯s woman, one of the military dictator¡¯s loyal retainers, sent to keep an eye on Kira. His lord couldn¡¯t say no, and there did seem to be sparks between the two of them. Of the romantic sort. Either way, it didn¡¯t change the fact that she had her own set of orders, and was only nominally scouting, taking two easy teams and calling it her contribution.


    ;


    Nobody would dare suggest she wasn¡¯t doing enough.


    ;


    Sakura-chan - not that it was her real name - was a favor the Eventide Establishment had asked of Kira. He couldn¡¯t say no, and the woman had been given her own set of goals and a private agenda that none of them knew.


    ;


    She did fight in the event with them, and performed adequately, but vanished as soon as a round was over, performing tasks that only the ancestors knew. Sakai wasn¡¯t quite sure if she truly had a Wood element, or if she had a Mirage class hiding a Poison element.


    ;


    Deadly flowers fell under more than one element.


    ;


    Sakai knew having Sakura-chan and Futsu-sama along with them was politically advantageous for Kira¡¯s ultimate goals, but he couldn¡¯t help but secretly grumble deep within his heart at the extra work being unceremoniously dumped onto him.


    ;


    He kept one eye on the stage, where Sana-san was dueling one of the flea-ridden Vollomond werewolves, and the other roving over a dozen different teams he was supposed to scout.


    ;


    Harper Hall had sponsored a team, the bards aiming to eke out just enough wins in the singles fight to dominate the teamfights. Sakai noted they were using an entirely different set of instruments this round, already showing off their wide variety early in the tournament.


    ;


    He mentally marked them down low on his list. Anyone trying to show off all their tricks on the second day was doomed to mediocrity.


    ;


    Black Rock had entered a single terrifying golem, just a hair under the weight limit, with six members to support it. It counted as equipment, and could remain on the stage round after round.


    ;


    Defeat the golem, or defeat the controllers? Sakai wondered to himself, resolving to continue studying how their opponents handled the situation.


    ;


    ¡°Takatane-sama.¡± Kuma-chan grabbed his attention. ¡°I apologize for being unskilled. Can you confirm for me that¡¯s the Eternal Legion?¡± She pointed to a team.


    ;


    Sakai squinted, his vision much better than the [Mage¡¯s].


    ;


    ¡°Yes. Keep a careful eye on them. They will be a great challenge to Takashige-dono¡¯s ambitions here. You will be well rewarded for good information on them, should we encounter them.¡±


    ;


    Kuma-chan nodded, and Sakai continued looking around at various teams.


    ;


    One of the teams caught his attention. They¡¯d divided up the hundreds of teams among the four of them, knowing that day 1 intelligence was likely to be worthless. Many of their competitors would get immediately knocked out, and were not worth studying in detail. It was hard to know who would rise up, and who would fall, and knowing the capabilities of the losers did nothing for them.


    ;


    A [Knight] of some sort had entered the tournament alone, a loss as sure as a kitsune¡¯s ghostly flames. Sakai had been delighted for her to be assigned as one of the teams he needed to watch, as he could safely ignore her in favor of more likely opponents.


    ;


    She had utterly crushed all of her opponents on the first day without a single loss, becoming the darling One Hit Wonder of the [Announcer]. The small wings on her helmet, the only decoration on her armor, jogged a memory for him.


    ;


    She was a Valkyrie, a famed knightly order. Unusual to see one in a tournament; they tended to eschew these types of events.


    ;


    One more team for him to track, and he spent a brief moment checking out her fight.


    ;


    She had a walrus by the tail, and she was busy spinning it around in a circle. Sakai was entranced, watching the moment. He was rewarded by getting to see her launch the poor mammal in a beautiful spinning arc, before he moved onto more competitors.


    ;


    A lich - a lich - had sunk its phylactery deep into the stone, and was slowly creating skeleton minions. A massive risk, but the creature was likely to win out unless someone could dig up his phylactery or win on stall rules. Crazy that the gods had recently answered the remaining lich¡¯s prayer for another one, and even crazier that they let the phylactery go anywhere.


    Unless it was a fake.


    ;


    ¡°Sakai-kun! Your turn has come.¡± Takashige-dono ordered his childhood friend. The kitsune had disguised himself from the start as a human.


    ;


    Sakai nodded, adjusting his grip on his katana, resolving to win.


    ;


    ;


    The tournament continued, and the number of teams Sakai needed to scout rapidly dropped as they continued to win and win and win.


    ;


    ¡°Thanks to the excellent work of Sakura-chan, we know who our final opponent is tomorrow.¡± Kira nodded at Sakura, who handed him a small slip of paper. He unrolled it and read.


    ;


    ¡°Team Iona. Sakai-kun, I believe you were responsible for scouting?¡±


    ;


    Sakai nodded and clasped his hands together.


    ;


    ¡°If it pleases Takashige-dono, I will give my report on Team Iona.¡± He said.


    ;


    Kira nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Proceed.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Team Iona initially consisted of a single [Warrior], predictably named Iona. She is clearly a Celestial [Warrior], an Ice [Ranger], and her third class isn¡¯t obvious. I believe it to be a Wind, Gale, or Gravity element, and as a member of the Order Valkyrie, I believe it to be another [Warrior] class.¡±


    ;


    Sakai paused a moment to reorganize his thoughts.


    ;


    ¡°There¡¯s only a single opponent tomorrow?¡± Futsu-sama asked incredulously.


    ;


    Sakai hesitated a moment.


    ;


    ¡°Possibly. There was a commotion as a large, armored wyvern landed nearby at one point, and Iona seemed to know the monster. The beast has never taken the stage, and is merely 256. While large and powerful, I do not believe he has the power to pose a threat. Iona herself has defeated every single opponent sent against her single-handedly. What concerns me is who¡¯s giving her advice, who¡¯s been present at every battle of hers.¡±


    ;


    Takashige-dono¡¯s eyebrow quirked up, and that simple move never failed to impress Sakai. The kitsune wasn¡¯t changing his facial expression at all - he was masterfully modifying his illusion, pulling all the right muscles to show a ¡®natural¡¯ expression.


    ;


    A show for his enemies, who naturally would have spies managing to watch them, even in this isolated location thousands of miles from home. A never-ending performance.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine, member of the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft¡¯s team. An obvious alias, calling herself ¡®healer¡¯ when she displays as a healer. The School¡¯s favored to win this year, and she¡¯s their known sweeper. Nobody knows her background, her sponsors, not even where she was born! It¡¯s like she popped out of the void, and there is a modest bounty from [Information Brokers] for her details. Her exact classes and breakdown are believed to be Celestial Healer, Radiance Sorcery, but there is some debate if her third class is physical, or Radiance Wizardry. She hasn¡¯t displayed any obvious third class attributes, but has them. She¡¯s demonstrated invisibility, but only invisibility, and other Mirage-like skills she¡¯s used before have had mandalas involved.¡± Sakai said.


    ;


    ¡°Takatane-kun. We will concern ourselves with the School¡¯s team, and the exact details of their champions, when it is time to face them.¡± Futsu-sama reprimanded him, her eyes flickering to Kira¡¯s as she did.


    ;


    The kitsune remained still, allowing the correction to stand.


    ;


    ¡°Apologies. Permit me to continue. Elaine is quite obviously in a relationship with Iona, and given her prowess, begs the question of why the woman is not a member of the School¡¯s team. I believe there is some deeper plot that we are unaware of. Regardless, her perfect combat record has made it difficult to divine weaknesses, although I can share a number of observations I have been able to make.¡±


    ;


    Sakai took a breath, and at a nod from Kira, continued.


    ;


    ¡°She is incredibly strong. I witnessed her throwing an animal weighing hundreds of kanme. She out-wrestled multiple members of the Order of the Fivefold Cross. Tower Faust attempted to chain her down, and she simply ripped through the chains, using them to beat the mage down. For footing, no grease or Ice mage was able to unbalance her, although she was slowed by them. Her armor is mallium, and she formed spikes on her boots, stomping around the arena. Multiple teams raised pillars, attempting to control the battlefield. The ones she didn¡¯t balance on top of she smashed through, touching once again on her monstrous strength. Tower Faust tried to lift the platform up, to out of bounds her by sheer redirection, and her reaction?¡±


    ;


    Sakai watched too many plays. He paused a moment, looking at Iemori-kun and Kuma-chan.


    ;


    ¡°She folded her arms and did nothing. The mage ran out of mana before she could be thrown out.¡±


    ;


    Kira was frowning, and Sakai continued on.


    ;


    ¡°On the defensive front, she runs a classic set of aketon under metal armor. She naturally has skills empowering them, and light attacks will simply bounce off. Heavy blows are required to even attempt to pierce her armor. Her visage is terrifying to behold. A blank metal slate for a mask, the mallium allowing her to completely seal herself within her armor. A Water sorcerer attempted to drown her, but could find no purchase. Arrows occasionally swerve when they approach, although given how many hits her armor has deflected I believe the skill to be a weak one. She tanked an entire [Trigger] barrage, but the level of the casting mage left much to be desired. Now, looping back to the School¡¯s Elaine being present, I would say the most dangerous part of Iona appears to be her intelligence network. She¡¯s kept it quiet, but she appears to know all her opponents capabilities, and masterfully negates their skills and advantages.¡±


    ;


    ¡°What weaknesses have you observed? What strategy would you have us employ?¡± Sakai¡¯s oldest friend asked him, cutting to the chase and demonstrating a staggering level of trust in public.


    ;


    ¡°With respect. She struggled a bit against aerial foes who were able to get off the ground. Most she managed to reach or shoot with her bow before they attained a significant height, but one Windrider managed to get high, and the two stalled for the entire time I was able to observe. It is my great shame to admit that at the time, I had many other opponents to scout, and was unable to see how she managed victory.¡±


    ;


    Sakai bowed slightly, mentally begging Kira to forgive him.


    ;


    ¡°You are forgiven. Carry on.¡± His [Lord] said.


    ;


    ¡°Invisibility doesn¡¯t work well. She simply fires a blizzard arrow to unveil her opponents, but given how she¡¯s moved to defend herself against mages in the past, I would say our best chance is to focus our efforts on overwhelmingly powerful strikes, and not give her a chance to retaliate. Her biggest weakness is she is a single woman. Iemori-kun and Kuma-chan should ignore retaliation, and pour everything they have into hitting as hard and as fast as they can. They will be eliminated, but their combined efforts should weaken her shield to permit myself, Sana-san, and Futsu-sama to land a critical blow that will grant us victory.¡±


    ;


    Sakai looked up at his [Lord], and there was one part unsaid.


    ;


    Kira¡¯s own trump card, a guaranteed victory against any team. It would only work once, and they wanted to save it for the main event, not use it in a preliminary.


    ;


    ¡°Excellent work Sakai-kun.¡± Kira praised him. ¡°We will attempt that, but given the critical juncture and stage we are at, I would like to try one more thing. Sakura-chan?¡± He asked.


    ;


    Sakai didn¡¯t get chills at the implication. He knew what Sakura-chan was, and for his [Lord¡¯s] ambitions, distasteful tasks were occasionally necessary.


    ;


    The [Poisoner] nodded at Kira¡¯s implied request.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°Takatane-san. Sakura-chan still isn¡¯t back.¡± Kuma-chan told Sakai.


    ;


    He frowned as he paused in strapping his armguards.


    ;


    ¡°She¡¯s never missed a fight before, and this is the critical one.¡± Sakari briefly pondered, before going to report to Kira.


    ;


    The kitsune looked displeased, then brightened.


    ;


    ¡°She has selected an inopportune moment to go missing. I can only conclude that she was successful. Given our guaranteed victory, and the chaos present during the last round of the preliminaries, she must be off on some greater task, seizing a moment in the chaos.¡±


    ;


    Sakai politely bowed.


    ;


    ¡°Takashige-dono¡¯s wisdom is unparalleled.¡± He sincerely flattered his [Lord]. The kitsune snorted.


    ;


    ¡°Go, finish your preparations. We must look as if we are entirely unaware of any issue, that we do not know who our next round opponent is, and there is always a chance that Sakura-chan simply weakened our opponent, instead of eliminating her. There is a further chance that Sakura-chan¡¯s intel was incorrect, and we shall have a surprise fight on our hands.¡±


    ;


    Sakai bowed, turned, and left to complete his preparations.


    ;


    ;


    The team followed Takashige-dono to their assigned arena for the final round of the preliminaries.


    ;


    ¡°[Lords] and [Ladies]! Up next we have an exciting matchup! On the north side of the arena, we have Team Shining Shrine!¡±


    ;


    The crowd cheered. Sakai watched his lord for cues on how to act. Takashige-dono stayed still and dignified, and the rest of his team followed his lead.


    ;


    ¡°And on the south side of the arena, the One Hit Wonder herself, Team Iona!¡±


    ;


    The crowd was much more excited, and the [Warrior] herself exited the waiting area, striding up with her blank, faceless mask. A massive wyvern exited behind her, coated head to tail in shining armor, the mark of two entwined moons stamped in various places.


    ;


    He was smoking a pipe, of all things.


    ;


    ¡°Sakura-chan failed.¡± Futsu-sama muttered darkly.


    ;


    Sakai couldn¡¯t help but agree. His eyes were drawn to some action by the sideline.


    ;


    The Elaine exited the arena, taking up a place by the halfway mark of the arena. She crossed her arms and glared at team Shining Shrine.


    ;


    Sakai would¡¯ve paid it little attention, but a second individual joined her, mimicking her actions. Crossing her arms, and glaring at the team.


    ;


    A third. A fourth.


    ;


    The entire School¡¯s under-30 teamfights team - and they just kept coming.


    ;


    The members of the under-30 team did not concern him so much as the much, much higher leveled individuals that started coming out. Cursed Immortals started to join them, demons, devils, and elves.


    ;


    All told, nearly 70 individuals, all wearing the crossed wand and lightning bolt of the School, were on the sidelines, crossing their arms - when they had them - and glaring at team Shining Shrine.


    ;


    They didn¡¯t say anything. The pressure was palpable, pressing down on them without a single skill being used. The [Referee] looked at them but said nothing.


    ;


    ¡°I don¡¯t think we can expect Sakura-chan to be coming back.¡± Takashige-dono lightly remarked. ¡°Takatane-kun. You have extensively studied our opponent. This battle is less strategy, and more about our ability to defeat a single foe. I place my hopes and dreams in your capable hands, and trust you to direct us to victory.¡±


    ;


    Sakai was honored.


    ;


    ¡°I will not fail you, my lord.¡± He said. ¡°Sana-san. Respectfully, I must ask you to go first, and test to see if she is at full capabilities. Attempting to win is futile, your goal is to try and draw out as many skills and abilities from her that you can, to drain her mana. If she is manaless against our mages, we stand a chance.¡±


    ;


    ¡°As you command, Takatane-san.¡± Takashige-dono¡¯s retainer said to Sakai.


    ;


    Sakai felt like an egg had been thrown on his face with how quick and brutal the fight was. Sana did her best, but the Valkyrie¡¯s moniker of One Hit Wonder wasn¡¯t for show.


    ;


    The entirety of the School¡¯s team continued to remain on the sidelines, throwing them death glares.


    ;


    Sakai clenched his fists. Idiot. He berated himself. He glanced at Kira, who was standing stone-still.


    ;


    His [Lord] must be up to something. The illusion wasn¡¯t even breathing.


    ;


    ¡°Kuma-chan. Do not worry about defenses. Spend every skill at once, and aim for her chest. The goal is to do damage to her defenses. Iemori-kun, the same goes for you. She can defeat any one of us, but the purpose here is to trigger her shield, not win flawlessly. Go.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!¡± The fight was on.


    ;


    Kuma-chan put up a slightly better showing than Sana-san had, but the bar was low. The two traded long-range attacks, the Earth [Mage] firing dozens of high-speed pebbles. The rocky storm was powerful enough that none of Iona¡¯s arrows could break through, and the Valkyrie was forced to hunker down behind a shield.


    ;


    Kuma-chan managed to puncture the shield in a few spots, denting the Valkyrie¡¯s armor before running out of mana.


    ;


    ¡°I surrender.¡± The [Mage] declared, before hopping off the stage. She glanced at him, worried.


    ;


    Sakai clasped the woman¡¯s shoulder.


    ;


    ¡°It was honorable to admit defeat when you could not continue. It would have brought us shame if you forced her to throw you out.¡±


    ;


    Kuma-chan relaxed.


    ;


    ¡°Thank you.¡± She said.


    ;


    ¡°Iemori-kun. Don¡¯t try to blind her, the faceless mask implies she doesn¡¯t need to see, and it blocks your attacks. See if you can take to the skies.¡± The Brilliance-Radiance [Mage] stepped forth at Sakai¡¯s commands.


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!¡± The [Referee] announced.


    ;


    Iemori-kun sprang forth, stepping up into the skies. Platforms of brilliant light formed under his feet, and hexagonal panes of light bubbled around him in a shield.


    ;


    The shield shifted and moved, deflecting arrows one at a time. Sakai was elated. The Valkyrie had to be spending more mana per arrow than Iemori-kun was spending to deflect them, and [Warriors] didn¡¯t have large mana pools! Victory was in sight!


    ;


    The Valkyrie seemed to come to the same conclusion, the barrage ending. Instead, she started to run, then leapt. The jump was impossible, some skill needing to fuel it, but it was odd.


    ;


    Iemori-kun continued to step up into the air, running from the fearsome leap, but every step he took caused the Valkyrie¡¯s flight to wobble slightly.


    ;


    ¡°Drop the platforms!¡± Takashige-dono ordered, and Iemori-kun promptly obeyed. The two of them fell, and Iemori twisted in the air, aiming at Iona, the fighter stuck hanging in the air with nowhere to run.


    ;


    The [Mage] blasted burning Radiance at her, aiming to melt through her armor, or overheat her enough to trigger the shield.


    ;


    Masterful. Sakai thought to himself. Takashige-dono certainly had an eye for talent, and Iemori was one of his lord¡¯s better recruits.


    ;


    The armor rippled as the Radiance played over it, the two contestants falling in the air.


    ;


    Gravity was a cruel mistress, and Iemori-kun wasn¡¯t able to trigger a victory before landing on the ground. Miraculously, he managed to arrest enough of his fall to not trigger a loss - but that was before Iona landed on his head, feet-first.


    ;


    The crowd let out a collective oooooh in mock sympathy as the shield glowed red. From the heights involved, with the weight of the woman and her armor, Iemori¡¯s brains should¡¯ve been splattered over hundreds of shaku.


    ;


    ¡°Victory! Team Iona!¡± The [Referee] announced.


    ;


    Iona opened up her armor, great gouts of steam escaping as the blonde shook her head, sweat running down her face in rivulets.


    ;


    Cooking her in her armor works. If only we had another Fire Mage, or similar. Sakai cursed to himself.


    ;


    The two teams reset, the School continuing their unnerving vigil. Sakai was starting to sweat.


    ;


    ¡°I will go.¡± Takashige-dono declared, and Sakai sat back.


    ;


    The [Referee] looked a little doubtful at Takashige-dono¡¯s approach, but started the fight anyway.


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!¡±


    ;


    Iona grabbed her glaive, and immediately started an intricate dance around herself like a kabuki dancer. She completely ignored Takashige-dono¡¯s moves and actions, simply moving like a rushing river.


    ;


    Her glaive flashed in the sunlight as she danced. Takashige-dono - no, his illusion, Sakai reminded himself - tried to poke in, and find a gap in the whirling blades.


    ;


    He failed, getting struck by the blades and being sent flying. He tumbled over the dirt before crashing into a tree, his shield unable to take that one last insult. It flared red.


    ;


    ¡°Victory! Team Iona!¡± The [Referee] announced.


    ;


    Iona didn¡¯t stop her spinning dance, and the [Referee] frowned. The faun marched over to where Iona was continuing to spin her deadly dance.


    ;


    ¡°Excuse me. The round is over. Please return to your side.¡± He ordered Iona. She didn¡¯t move.


    ;


    ¡°Foul!¡± A member of the School cried out. The cry was quickly echoed by the remaining members of the School, standing on the sidelines.


    ;


    ¡°Foul! Cheating!¡± They cried out, a murmur rapidly spreading through the crowd. Iona continued her dance.


    ;


    A faint pop occurred as the Black Rose himself teleported high above the arena. He touched a small rune on his shirt, and his voice was broadcast.


    ;


    ¡°Team Shining Shrine. Minor Penalty, Impersonating a Referee. Penalties must be greater than the attempted gain. Team Shining Shrine loses this round. Team Shining Shrine loses a second contestant, at their selection.¡± The Black Rose decreed.


    ;


    With a louder pop, Kira stumbled as his real body reappeared in front of the team, the illusion on the field fading - all of them.


    ;


    The kitsune shook his head, and his usual illusion spun off of him as Sakai¡¯s lord disappeared from view.


    ;


    ¡°Futsu-chan. With respect, Takatane-kun has the best chance of winning.¡± Takashige-dono said.


    ;


    Sakai stepped up, and mentally prepared himself.


    ;


    He was going to attempt to end this in a single blow. It was his best - only - chance at winning and redeeming Takashige-dono. He needed to win, for his [Lord] and friend.


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!¡± The normal [Referee] declared, although the Black Rose was still hovering over the battle. Still watching.


    ;


    Sakai crouched down, one hand on his scabbard, the other on the hilt of his sword as he prepared his skills.


    ;


    [Iaido]. [Lightning Strike]. [The Single Slash That Cuts Through the Heavens]. [Thunderbolt Speed]. [The Piercing Dark]. [Cut]. All his actives, buffed by a number of passives. [Kenjutsu]. [Stalwart Samurai]. [Retainer¡¯s Resolve]. [Lightning Armaments]. [Sheathed in Darkness].


    ;


    He couldn¡¯t move, not with everything prepared and ready to go. He wasn¡¯t worried about arrows, not after Iona had spent them all in her earlier fight, and his own defenses against such attacks.


    ;


    Instead, he watched as the silent, faceless figure of death slowly approached. She didn¡¯t run, she walked. One step at a time. An axe in one hand, a shield in her other.


    ;


    Dread slowly mounted in Sakai¡¯s heart. Who was he, to finally take down the invincible juggernaut? Nobody had stopped her. Nobody had slowed her down.


    ;


    She had nearly 150 levels on him.


    ;


    As she approached, he realized one last thing that he¡¯d intellectually known, but was now standing in front of him.


    ;


    The woman was a behemoth. She towered over Sakai¡¯s slight stature, and her armor made her even wider.


    ;


    Strength. Speed. Dexterity. Vitality. Armor. Toughness. Weapons. Skills.


    ;


    She had it all.


    ;


    Sakai carefully watched her, determined to make his mark. Determined to bring honor to his lord.


    ;


    She paused, a single footstep outside of his range. A half-formed thought emerged in Sakai¡¯s mind, wondering how she knew, before he banished it, and focused.


    ;


    This was it. The final strike of the match. He was ready.


    ;


    The two of them stared at each other. Sakai through the slits in his helmet, Iona with the blank, featureless mask.


    ;


    The tension grew, and the crowd started to mutter as the two stared at each other. Sweat beaded on Sakai¡¯s forehead, trickling down his face and neck.


    ;


    Any moment now. I am ready. Any moment now. I am ready.


    ;


    His grip tightened on his sword, and he shifted slightly, ready for the moment.


    ;


    Then Iona suddenly jerked forward! This was the moment!


    ;


    Sakai slashed out, only to watch Iona dance back, the movement having already been planned.


    ;


    He had a brief moment to curse.


    ;


    Shameless feints.


    ;


    An axe to the face ended his hopes of winning a spot in the main event.

 Chapter 389 - The Gladiator Gauntlet V

    I wanted to leap and cheer at Iona¡¯s victory over the Shining Shrine jackasses, but I maintained discipline and composure.


    ;


    The idiots had sent a freaking [Assassin] after Iona, and compounding onto their sheer stupidity, they tried it right in the middle of the School¡¯s living quarters!


    ;


    It was almost stupider than me trying to sneak into Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair! Okay, so she had better disguises than I did, and the uncapped team had a lower level than the dragon, but there were 18 of them healthy and hale to the single injured Lun¡¯Kat.


    ;


    She had met a swift end at the hands of one of my high level Immortal schoolmates, who¡¯d ended up disintegrating her so thoroughly that we didn¡¯t have any evidence to bring to the administrators.


    ;


    Whoops.


    ;


    Instead, some quick detective work had determined that Team Shining Shrine had gone after Iona. We were all here as a show of force. A reminder not to fuck around by sending assassins in the night, and that bad things happened to people who tried that stunt.


    ;


    We weren¡¯t saying anything, but attracting quite a lot of attention. Shirayuki was responsible for planting a few well-timed and well-placed rumors, and the interest should do the rest.


    ;


    Or something like that. I left all the people manipulating nonsense to others. I was just doing what Shirayuki said.


    ;


    Crossed my arms and glared at the losers. The message was extra-potent by Iona winning out, although it¡¯d been a close one. That Radiance mage almost got her.


    ;


    ¡°Team Iona versus Team Shining Shrine. Winner of the singles portion. Team Iona! 14 to 0.¡± The [Referee] announced to cheers.


    ;


    ¡°Wait for it.¡± Shirayuki ordered, and we continued glaring.


    ;


    ¡°Well [Lords] and [Ladies], what a show! The One Hit Wonder continues her undefeated string! Will we finally get to see a team fight out of her?¡± The [Announcer] wondered.


    ;


    ¡°I concede the team match portion.¡± Iona promptly declared.


    ;


    ¡°Team Iona concedes the team match portion.¡± The [Referee] repeated. ¡°Team Iona versus Team Shining Shrine. Final score, 14-11. Victor. Team Iona!¡±


    ;


    The team from Nippon-koku quickly slunk off as the crowd roared in approval.


    ;


    ¡°Team Iona secures one of the coveted spots for the finals!¡± The [Announcer] confirmed.


    ;


    ¡°They¡¯re gone. Thank you everyone for your participation. Break.¡± Shirayuki commanded, the teams rapidly dissolving so they could go have some fun.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine. Can you and Iona meet back in our rooms in a few minutes? I¡¯d like to speak with the two of you. Mainly her.¡± Shirayuki asked.


    ;


    I nodded.


    ;


    ¡°You got it!¡± I turned and went down the field, meeting Iona at the end. She was murmuring quietly with Fenrir, patting the beast on his armored helmet. His oversized pipe continued to smoke.


    ;


    ¡°Having fun, Auri?¡± I asked.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± She replied from her little hiding place inside the pipe.


    ;


    ¡°Shame you never got a chance to pop out.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt¡­¡± She sadly agreed.


    ;


    Fenrir and Auri had cooked up multiple wild plans together, including Operation: Dragonbreath. I¡¯d nixed that one on the very real possibility of Fenrir swallowing Auri, and that ended with one of them dead, shields or no. I was also concerned that they were going to completely ignore me, and do it anyway.


    ;


    Iona stopped her discussion with Fenrir, and I jumped in.


    ;


    ¡°You did it.¡± I quietly said.


    ;


    My girlfriend nodded.


    ;


    ¡°I did. Just one more fight.¡± Her hands clenched and relaxed. Her armor started flowing off her body, forming into the solid block she always kept on her back, revealing the wyvern-scale aketon underneath.


    ;


    ¡°Let¡¯s head back? Shirayuki wants to talk.¡±


    ;


    Iona gave a curt nod.


    ;


    ¡°Sure. Let¡¯s get Fenrir out of his armor first.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Please.¡± The wyvern grunted with difficulty. Part of his bond let him speak, just a word or two at a time.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt! BRPT!¡± Auri conjured up a bunch of [Mage Hands], and they started to fly over Fenrir¡¯s armor.


    ;


    ¡°Ooooor I guess we can let Auri be his [Squire].¡± I said.


    ;


    Iona shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°Works for me¡­ although, Auri, if you do this now, how are you going to get all the pieces back?¡±


    ;


    ¡°BRPT!¡± The swarm of hands paused, then started rebuckling everything.


    ;


    Iona and I traded a look, then a laugh. I watched the solid rod of tension in her shoulders melt away, relaxing as the adrenaline slowly left her system.


    ;


    ¡°Let¡¯s go see what the fox wants.¡± Iona said.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°Valkyrie Iona. A stunning performance. Let me congratulate you on a blazing undefeated streak. Come, sit.¡± Shirayuki greeted us in one of our suite¡¯s living rooms.


    ;


    Iona nodded and took the offered seat. I debated sitting on the best seat in the room, but decided that I should follow some measure of proper decorum. Plus, the sense I got from Shirayuki was she wasn¡¯t amused by public snogging.


    ;


    ¡°Thank you for your kind words.¡± Iona replied. The conversation was mostly between Shirayuki and Iona, but I couldn¡¯t help but get a cheeky, shit-eating grin on my face as I thought about how we¡¯d had the chance to get Iona on our team, passed on it, and she¡¯d just proven herself as one of the strongest combatants on the field. ¡°I heard you would be able to help me arrange a match with Rolland next round, during the seeding meeting?¡±


    ;


    Shirayuki nodded.


    ;


    ¡°I can, but it¡¯s not quite so simple. See¡­¡±


    ;


    I knew this was somewhat important, but the interpersonal relationships, their management, and the politics involved quickly made my eyes glaze over. The long and the short of it was: The ¡®big name¡¯ teams all got together with the organizers and hashed out the bracket for the ¡®finals¡¯, aka the single elimination for the remaining 64 teams. Small teams - like Iona - didn¡¯t get a seat in the meeting, because politics was a bitch. Shirayuki was going to help Iona get what she wanted¡­ but wanted to see if she could get anything in return.


    ;


    The whole thing was a headache, and I loved Iona, but I just couldn¡¯t bring myself to be interested. We¡¯d fight whoever it is we fought. Having all the brackets be drawn out of names in a hat seemed perfectly fair and reasonable to me, but noooo. That could have two powerhouses meet in an early round, and that wouldn¡¯t be ¡®exciting¡¯ enough for the organizers, who wanted¡­


    ;


    Honestly, it was almost enough to put me to sleep.


    ;


    ;


    Iona and Shirayuki finished up their meeting, then Shirayuki went off to continue doing gods-knows-what before the big seeding meeting.


    ;


    ¡°Hey, want the details on the Rolland team?¡± I asked Iona.


    ;


    She frowned.


    ;


    ¡°Is that allowed?¡±


    ;


    I snorted.


    ;


    ¡°Duh. I can guarantee that they¡¯ll be buying information about you as soon as possible. Plus, you¡¯re going to peek at their stat sheet anyways, right? What¡¯s the problem in learning about it a little early?¡±


    ;


    Iona nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Makes sense. Help me get out of this?¡± She gestured to her aketon.


    ;


    I gently shook my head and laughed at her utterly shameless ploy. We ended up in our bedroom, Iona facedown on the bed as I massaged her back.


    ;


    ¡°You know, I have no idea how we get all this information about people.¡± I remarked. ¡°Most people keep their skills close to their chest, but we¡¯ve got tons of details about them.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Are you serious?¡± Iona asked. ¡°You¡¯re wondering how the School knows about nobles and their classes?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Uhh¡­ yeah?¡± I moved down from Iona¡¯s shoulders to her back, digging my fingers in to loosen her muscles. ¡°Most people keep it secret.¡±


    ;


    Iona scoffed.


    ;


    ¡°You say things like that, and it¡¯s such a stark reminder that you¡¯re not from around now. Alright, yes, people do try to keep their skills secret, but nobles have to be visible. People need to see them. People need to see them working and protecting them. Nobody respects the [Lady] who spends her days locked away in her castle. If nobody knows who she is, she has no influence, and no power. They need to be seen, and more than that, if they want to be halfway competent, they need levels. That means doing stuff, usually in front of dozens or hundreds of people, and being highly visible while they act. It¡¯s literal child¡¯s play to know what the local noble family has for elements and a few skills. Most will be able to keep passives or rarely used skills under wraps, but everyone knows their elements and bread and butter skills. That¡¯s before we start talking about [Information Brokers].¡±


    ;


    I¡¯d never really thought of it that way. Rangers had kept moving, an anti-corruption method that also meant they never stayed in one place long enough for people to get dossiers on them¡­ not to mention the high fatality rate. Sentinels were a little more visible with their skills and classes, but even then we¡¯d kept a solid smokescreen on our abilities. Magic and Mirage were two examples that instantly sprang to mind as Sentinels who deliberately went out of their way to claim different elements than they truly had.


    ;


    ¡°Yeah, alright, fine.¡± I stroked a finger along Iona¡¯s side in a way I knew was particularly ticklish on the woman. A tiny bit of petty revenge¡­ for honestly no good reason besides making me feel bad.


    ;


    She twitched and bucked under my ministrations.


    ;


    Success! I could do this ¡®people¡¯ thing every now and then! It just took a few years of dating! I switched tracks to useful, productive information.


    ;


    ¡°The Rolland team. In no particular order, we¡¯ve got Elric Morgans.¡±


    ;


    ¡°The Shining Prince?¡± Iona interrupted. ¡°I haven¡¯t been around for a few years. Did he finally hit 512?¡±


    ;


    I paused, reorganizing my thoughts.


    ;


    ¡°Yes, but only recently. Not quite sure what it is yet.¡± I replied.


    ;


    Iona let out a pleased noise as I hit a particular knot in her muscles.


    ;


    ¡°Oh yeah, that¡¯s the spot. Shining Prince. Youngest brother to the Queen. Speedster. Groomed to be one of the royal family¡¯s Champions.¡±


    ;


    The idea of Champions had been novel to me when first introduced, but they made a ton of sense thinking about it. In short, nobles and royalty of all stripes didn¡¯t need to be the biggest, baddest, strongest fighter around. Being good at killing things was no indication of governing or administrative ability. It also wasn¡¯t a good measure of leadership or military strategy.


    ;


    However, it was greatly in the Crown¡¯s interest to have one of the strongest personal fighters under their direct control, and what better way than to have a close family member who¡¯d taken to fighting? Everyone called them something different, but the generally accepted term was Champion. They didn¡¯t lead the nation, but they were a deterrent against someone getting a really big stick and trying to overthrow the monarch.


    ;


    ¡°He¡¯s nice enough according to rumors, but that could just be the royal family paying off the [Bards] to say that.¡± Iona said. ¡°I¡¯ll bet fifty coins to your one that he¡¯s brought Ruination with him.¡±


    ;


    ¡°I have no idea what Ruination is, and I¡¯m not taking that bet. What¡¯s the point of my intel if you already know it all?¡± I asked in exasperation.


    ;


    ¡°You massage me. That¡¯s the point.¡± She replied into her pillow. ¡°There¡¯s literal thousands of nobles. I don¡¯t know who¡¯s come, and I might not know them all. Ruination is one of the Morgans¡¯ famous greatswords. The entire blade is Ruinite, then it¡¯s enchanted to the high heavens and back.¡±


    ;


    I grumbled a bit to myself.


    ;


    ¡°Isabeau Lakewood?¡± I offered a name up.


    ;


    ¡°Obsessed with hunting. That said, that¡¯s the only thing I¡¯ve ever heard about her. Up and coming hunter, will be a [Huntmaster] one day, too far down the line of succession for anything else.¡±


    ;


    ¡°She¡¯s triple classed now.¡± I added in.


    ;


    Iona swore.


    ;


    ¡°Mantle, Forest, Dark. I¡¯d tell you not to try to run and hide from her, but that¡¯s not a factor. Expect large arrows, and don¡¯t try to rely on your armor to protect you from them. They¡¯ll punch right through, she¡¯s got skills around it.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Ah yes. All I have to do is dodge dozens of arrows.¡± Iona sarcastically replied. Her words were technically true, along with there being no intent to deceive, letting her get around her [Vow] restriction.


    ;


    Weird how language, words, and tone worked like that!


    ;


    ¡°Grimwald Dragonfly.¡± I offered up the next name on the team.


    ;


    ¡°I know of Count Dragonfly. Never heard of Grimwald.¡± Iona said. ¡°Also, lower please?¡±


    ;


    I shuffled down on her back a bit, and started massaging her lower back.


    ;


    ¡°Sorcerer. Highly mobile, likes Fire a little too much.¡±


    ;


    Iona grunted.


    ;


    ¡°Eira Barnett.¡± I gave the next name on the list, frowning as I remembered a detail. ¡°She seems low level to be participating here.¡±


    ;


    ¡°It¡¯s political.¡± Iona instantly replied. ¡°Barnetts are a dukedom, and there¡¯s more to this event than just winning. I don¡¯t expect much out of her. What¡¯s interesting is her level.¡±


    ;


    ¡°What about it?¡± I asked.


    ;


    ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t think she was the heir to the duchy.¡± Iona said. ¡°But a noble staying at 256 is a public declaration that they think they¡¯re in line to inherit. Most of the nobility will publicly class-up when they take their position, showing they¡¯ve taken the [Duchess] class, etcetera. Classing up before taking the role is a sign that they¡¯re not interested in succession, removing them as a threat to their siblings who should inherit. Of course, it¡¯s more complicated than that, and keeping a second or rarely, a third class at 256 to potentially grab the [Count] class if they¡¯re given a lucky opportunity is a thing they¡¯ll do.¡±


    ;


    My head was spinning at the politics and complex interpersonal interplay, and I just knew Iona was giving me the short, simple version. I decided to change topic away from interpersonal politics of damn nobles, and back to easier stuff.


    ;


    ¡°She is a wizard.¡± My change of topic was about as subtle as a mango to the head.


    ;


    ¡°All the Barnetts are. It¡¯s what they¡¯re known for. They¡¯ve got some logic behind it.¡±


    ;


    I shrugged and carried on.


    ;


    ¡°Annora Argent?¡±


    ;


    ¡°That jackass!?¡± Iona half-bolted up, before remembering that I was on top of her.


    ;


    ¡°Uh?¡± I dumbly replied as Iona settled back down.


    ;


    ¡°The Argents are the duchy that controlled most of the area around the Valkyrie¡¯s.¡± Iona explained. ¡°I¡¯ve met Annora a few times. She¡¯s cute enough, but every time I thought about dragging her off to my bed she opened her mouth and I remembered that she¡¯s completely insufferable. I do have standards, you know.¡±


    ;


    I flicked Iona¡¯s ear.


    ;


    ¡°Well, you clearly don¡¯t need the intel report on her.¡± I primly replied.


    ;


    ¡°Just tell me if that damn griffin is here or not.¡± Iona grumbled back.


    ;


    ¡°There was a griffin mentioned, yes.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Ugh.¡± Iona complained. ¡°The two are as bad as each other. Let me guess, someone from the Connor family is the last member?¡±


    ;


    I shook my head, before remembering that Iona couldn¡¯t see me. Derp.


    ;


    ¡°No, Godwin Peacevale.¡± I answered.


    ;


    ¡°Eh, close enough. They¡¯re one of the counts sworn to the Connors. The team is nice and politically balanced among the six duchies. How convenient.¡± I could feel the disdain dripping off of Iona¡¯s voice.


    ;


    ¡°Easier for you to beat them up though, right?¡± I asked her.


    ;


    ¡°They¡¯re only sending one dud, but yes.¡± Iona said. ¡°The Peacevales, by all accounts, have the right idea as nobility. That they¡¯re there for the good of their people, and it¡¯s a noble¡¯s job to empower. They¡¯re just so sanctimonious and annoying about it. Are the maces here?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Uhh¡­ yeah, the intel report said Godwin¡¯s using two maces, how¡¯d you know?¡±


    ;


    ¡°The family has a pair of weapons called The Twin Sisters. Hard to know if they¡¯ve given him the real ones, or he¡¯s on a training pair. That¡¯s good to know ahead of time. They¡¯re made out of Phasite. They go straight through metal, trying to block them is a sucker¡¯s bet. At the same time, the Peacevales tend towards large-scale buffs, so they¡¯re practically wasted in his hands.¡±


    ;


    ¡°He sounds easy enough to beat in a one versus one?¡± I cautiously offered up.


    ;


    ¡°Should be. Right, flip over. My turn to massage you.¡±


    ;


    The ¡®massage¡¯ didn¡¯t last that long.


    ;


    ;


    A few dozen of us were hanging around the School¡¯s quarters, waiting for Shirayuki to get back from the meeting. Those of us who were here were the ones that really cared about the brackets.


    ;


    Shirayuki stormed into the room, her tails lashing angrily. The temperature of the room plummeted as the Ice [Elementalist] stomped around the room.


    ;


    Mormerilhawn walked in behind her.


    ;


    ¡°Disqualified!¡± She shouted, throwing her hands up in the air, and my heart skipped a beat. ¡°Those no-good, rotten, blasted¡­¡± She went along in that vein, cursing the judges, the fauns¡­


    ;


    No.


    ;


    What did she mean?


    ;


    ¡°You gotta say more than that!¡± One of the elves promptly shot back. ¡°Did we all get disqualified? What for?¡±


    ;


    Shirayuki stilled.


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯re right. Let me clarify. Morning Breeze has been disqualified from all teams she was a member of. Under the disqualification rules, she can¡¯t be replaced, and all six teams are going to be fighting down a person.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Not fair!¡± I protested, my voice just one among the chorus objecting to this turn of events. Iona slipped her hand in mind and gave me a quick squeeze.


    ;


    ¡°If I may explain.¡± The Black Rose spoke softly, but he had a way of cutting across the entire room, everyone silencing themselves to listen to the [Judge] speak.


    ;


    ¡°As you should all know, I am one of the premier [Judges] of this event. Neutrality, and adherence to the rules and laws is my calling, regardless of my affiliation with all of you. I will now attempt to explain the rules and policies that came into play here.¡±


    ;


    He slightly adjusted how he stood, and suddenly, he had presence.


    ;


    ¡°As an elemental, Morning Breeze¡¯s exact age is impossible to determine, even by our experts. There is no way we can verify that she is within the age brackets given. Further, elementals tend to exist in one way, shape, or form, before springing into existence. What is the proper age metric? From the time the wind first started to blow, or from the time Morning Breeze was created? That was the first concern. The second concern is a shielding and protection one. While all combatants in an event may choose to forgo shields, I am the only one who is able to even begin to form a protection for Morning Breeze. This places her at great risk¡­ from a rules and philosophy perspective. That said, a number of [Judges] did agree that common sense could apply, since she is an elemental. No, the last, great point came from the Silver Clause. Shirayuki, would you care to explain the Silver Clause?¡±


    ;


    Our coach stopped storming around so much, and walked over to the Black Rose.


    ;


    ¡°The Silver Clause. In a way, it¡¯s what I wanted. Just not quite like this.¡± She explained. ¡°When a team shows up with a way to flat-out win the entire event - multiple events even - and there¡¯s simply no hope for anyone else to win, and the organizers are concerned for how the event is going to be viewed, they invoke the Silver Clause. In a nutshell, our secret weapon gets banned, but we get generously compensated, both with money, favors, and influence. I don¡¯t like it. I¡¯d much rather have Morning Breeze make our point for us instead. But I should be able to use it to crack down hard on all the other shenanigans that are going on. That idiot [Poisoner] who tried to sneak in last night will help us make our point.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Boooooo!¡± I called out, and I wasn¡¯t alone.


    ;


    ¡°Pathetic.¡± The Black Rose¡¯s voice cut across us. ¡°Are you not members of the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft? Do you not have anything better to do? In many senses, you have already won this year¡¯s events, in all categories. Do not be such poor sports. Lastly. You are the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft. It would be to my eternal shame if you are unable to entirely sweep all of the events, even down a single person. Think!¡± Mormerilhawn ended his speech with a derisive snort, and teleported out of the room without another word.


    ;


    He did manage to shut us up though. Shirayuki seized the moment.


    ;


    ¡°Mormerilhawn is correct. This is a chance for us to show the world that we are the best. I expect nothing less than total victory. Now, for the brackets. I will start with the unrestricted singles. Anyone interested please meet me in my room.¡±


    ;


    ;


    I filed into Shirayuki¡¯s room with Pascal, Sarama, and Iona.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine. Pascal. Sarama. Excellent, please take a seat.¡± We did as Shirayuki asked.


    ;


    ¡°We pulled some early round luck.¡± Shirayuki said without preamble. ¡°The seeded Lithos team met with disaster on the way over. They had three trolls with them, and something about an overly large tree, a rabbit, and the fact that they had imported Aerie wine meant the three trolls encountered sunlight.¡±


    ;


    We all gave a sympathetic wince. The troll¡¯s curse was nasty. Instant death when sunlight was involved?


    ;


    ¡°They asked to meet against one of the powerhouses in the first round, and with some negotiations, I managed it to be us. Their one request is we take them out fast and hard, to minimize their time in the spotlight. That¡¯s the first round taken care of. Second round¡¯s going to be against the Yellow Jackets, unless the team that won through the preliminaries can beat them, and it¡¯s possible that the Yellow Jackets don¡¯t want us to beat the stuffing out of them. On a larger note, Hapensburgs is on the other side of the bracket, along with Chanlarr and the Wizard¡¯s University. Calador¡¯s and the elf Academy are on our side. Round 5 and 6 respectively. Round 3 and 4 are completely up in the air. Questions?¡±


    ;


    Iona looked like she was physically in pain, and I had enough information to start.


    ;


    ¡°With the whole Silver Rule nonsense, does that mean I don¡¯t need to worry about potion smashers anymore?¡± Sarama asked.


    ;


    Shirayuki gave a curt nod.


    ;


    ¡°In theory, and the fauns know we¡¯ll be quite cross with them if they let any shenanigans occur after the Silver Clause was invoked and we specifically asked for skullduggery to be reduced. They know we¡¯ll be extra annoyed with them if anything happens to us specifically. I expect dramatically increased security. All this to say, no. Your potions should be safe.¡±


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to remove the traps then¡­¡± Sarama muttered to herself.


    ;


    Iona was slowly dying in the background while all this was going on. Shirayuki turned to her.


    ;


    ¡°Yes. You¡¯re against Rolland in the first round.¡±


    ;


    Iona¡¯s triumphant shout almost burst our eardrums, and got people running.

 Chapter 390 - The Gladiator Gauntlet VI

    ¡°Want company?¡± I asked Iona.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri was also offering to come.


    ;


    Iona shook her head.


    ;


    ¡°You should get enough sleep. You¡¯ve got a long day tomorrow.¡±


    ;


    I snorted in derision.


    ;


    ¡°We have a bye tomorrow. We¡¯d have to screw up beyond belief to lose.¡± I retorted.


    ;


    ¡°It¡¯s still not fair to ask you to stay up all night.¡±


    ;


    ¡°What are girlfriends for?¡± I asked rhetorically, then saw the look on Iona¡¯s face. ¡°And don¡¯t say what you¡¯re thinking.¡±


    ;


    She closed her mouth and smirked at me.


    ;


    ¡°Thanks. You can come if you¡¯d like. I doubt it¡¯ll be particularly comfortable.¡±


    ;


    I shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°Eh. I¡¯ll just loot some of the pillows, and make myself a nest.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Yes, I did get the idea from the bestest bird ever, how¡¯d you know?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡± Auri puffed up in self-satisfaction.


    ;


    ;


    The four of us wandered down to the local tabernacle after dinner. Fenrir curled up outside, the [Priests] less than amused by his presence but nobody was willing to make an issue out of it. Iona and I, trailed by an excited Auri, went inside, and without issue, found a small private chapel for her.


    ;


    Iona kneeled down in her full armor in front of the altar, and started praying.


    ;


    I arranged my pillows around me in a small fortress of fluff, and sent a quick prayer off to the moon goddesses. They were Iona¡¯s patrons after all.


    ;


    I didn¡¯t know what to say, so I kept it short and sweet.


    ;


    Heya! Thanks for looking after Iona! I appreciate it!


    ;


    I teleported out a single book, getting ready for a long night. My stash of them was running low, otherwise I¡¯d read two at once. If I burned through them too fast though, I¡¯d have nothing to do, and boredom sucked.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri asked me ¡®quietly¡¯.


    ;


    ¡°She¡¯s doing a knightly vigil.¡± I wanted to laugh at the pun. ¡°Staying up all night praying to her goddesses.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Yeah, you can go hang out with Fenrir if you want.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ;


    A blazing streak of flames was left in the air as Auri left to do something more fun.


    ;


    Watching Iona though?


    ;


    That never got old.


    ;


    I settled further into my pile of pillows, and waited out the night as Iona prayed.


    ;


    ;


    I blearily stirred as Iona gently shook my shoulder.


    ;


    ¡°It¡¯s morning. You should probably get ready for your own event.¡±


    ;


    My new and improved senses helped me know it was just barely, technically morning. I went outside, and yup, the sun was a mere suggestion on the horizon.


    ;


    Auri and Fenrir were still outside. Fenrir was curled up like the largest cat in existence, his tail almost covering his nose. Auri was sleeping on the tip of his tail, every exhalation of Fenrir¡¯s stirring her flames.


    ;


    ¡°Need any help getting ready?¡± I asked my love.


    ;


    Iona shook her head.


    ;


    ¡°I appreciate you staying with me. Thank you.¡±


    ;


    A quick hug and a kiss later, and I was off for my own preparations.


    ;


    ;


    Weigh-ins were first. Each team had a combined weight limit of 700 lbs of equipment, and I could easily imagine what things could look like without a limit, with magic involved.


    ;


    Like. A team with enough money and motivation could bring an entire mobile base, or even a flying fortress! The weight limit, along with the gemstone ban and age limits, were the major limiting factors.


    ;


    Sarama, Iris and myself were all ¡®lightweights¡¯. In other words, we had the tight-fitting School uniforms that were as light as possible, weighing less than a pound each. We were all issued daggers, and Sarama and Iris were both bare-footed. I had on my fancy traction-improving boots.


    ;


    Everything was enchanted. The big issue with enchantments was powering them. We¡¯d need to use our mana to fuel the enchantments, and if we were doing that, we weren¡¯t using our mana on other things.


    ;


    Like [Nova Lance] to the head.


    ;


    Sarama¡¯s potion supply counted against our weight limit, and was easily the single largest weight expense. The second largest weight ¡®expense¡¯ was going towards Pascal¡¯s and Sir Polarton¡¯s armor and weapon sets, which were significant. Ling Li was a medium weight, the cultivator requiring a heftier range of weapons, without full heavy armor.


    ;


    Naturally, backup weapons and spares for the armor pieces most commonly damaged were part of our loadout. It wasn¡¯t unheard of for teams to make the finals, and the heavyweight warriors were simply missing pieces of armor. The only thing that was allowed to be replaced was simple clothing.


    ;


    Melt a sword into slag? Better have a backup sword, or fight with the melted metal. The third option was to have a crafter on the team who could fix and supply weapons, like how Sarama being on our team allowed us to use potions.


    ;


    [Bookwyrm¡¯s Hoard] was, interestingly enough, a problem. It was impossible to verify that it was empty, but I wasn¡¯t the first Spatial mage with personal storage. I thought it was complete bullshit that anything stored inside my Spatial storage counted against our weight limit, when magically conjuring the exact same thing with a conjuration skill didn¡¯t count - and retrieving stored items cost about twice as much mana as conjuring the same thing!


    ;


    It was completely unfair, but I didn¡¯t write the rules.


    ;


    ¡°Place all your gear here please.¡± The faun running things pointed to a large magic circle painted on the ground.


    ;


    Most of our gear was already on, and I summoned the first spellbook - my offensive magics one - and placed it on an empty spot. One at a time, I grabbed my pre-written spellbooks and added them to the pile, the faun dutifully noting the details of each one. It¡¯d be a minor penalty - aka losing the current round, and automatically losing a second one - if I took out a book that wasn¡¯t ¡®registered¡¯, even if it was a mundane book.


    ;


    I supposed, in theory, I could conjure up an extra-large book and drop it on someone.


    ;


    I¡¯d be obligated to say meep meep if I did.


    ;


    ¡°Is this everything?¡± The faun asked us.


    ;


    I looked around at my teammates.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯ve got all my gear on. Ling Li?¡±


    ;


    The cultivator nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Sir Polarton?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Everything on.¡± He said without even opening his mouth.


    ;


    Honestly, the bear could at least do a better job pretending he wasn¡¯t a 9 foot tall polar bear.


    ;


    A quick round of confirmations - with Sarama hovering over her potions like an overprotective hen - and I turned back to the faun.


    ;


    ¡°All set!¡± I confirmed.


    ;


    He worked his magic, and confirmed the weight.


    ;


    ¡°691 lbs. Thank you for making this easy.¡± He said.


    ;


    We exchanged a round of high fives - I dodged getting swatted by Sir Polarton¡¯s idea of a ¡®gentle tap¡¯ - and quickly started to change into our gear.


    ;


    It was time!


    ;


    ;


    There was another ceremony to kick off the ¡®finals¡¯.


    ;


    ¡°It is my great pleasure to announce the finalists of the 211th Gladiator Gauntlet! This year we have a star-studded cast like none before! First¡­¡±


    ;


    I wanted to roll my eyes. Dude practically gave the same speech every year.


    ;


    It had taken Shirayuki explaining it to me in small words, but I managed to get the logic. This was one of the times we were highly visible. This was one of the moments to show off. By showing off here, we got the attention we wanted, attracted eyes, and then by winning after, we got people interested in sending their kids to the School.


    ;


    We hammed it up.


    ;


    Sarama juggled ¡®potions¡¯ - really colored water, enchanted to glow - and her [Potion Handling] skill made it flawless. Ling Li had an elegant dance of her leaves around her, while Pascal had his wolf-mask in fierce and snarling shapes, ¡®snapping¡¯ at leaves that got close to him. Sir Polarton was flexing and stretching like he was some sort of [Body Builder], and Iris was seated on a moving throne of Ice, Lightning sparkling around her and through her chair.


    ;


    I was being a little less subtle.


    ;


    I just made a giant arrow out of [Mantle of the Stars] pointing down at us.


    ;


    Different teams had different approaches, depending on their personality and goals. Iona was silently studying the Rolland team, and the Lithos team was trying to stay small and unobtrusive. Hapensburgs were acting like the entire event revolved around them, while Wizard¡¯s University was shooting off celebratory magical fireworks.


    ;


    The elven Academy members were all but turning up their nose at the whole thing, while Chanlaar had their own display of skills.


    ;


    I think. They usually had an [Illusionist] showing off a completely different set of skills, given how easy it¡¯d be to scout their elements otherwise.


    ;


    I wanted to walk around the various competitors at some point, and see what I could see. [The World Around Me] easily penetrated all but the strongest illusions, letting me see what was real. There was usually a powerful illusionist team, and they could take anyone by surprise. Extra so if they were smart and careful about it. Unlike that idiot team Iona had beaten.


    ;


    The stands were a bit light, but that was understandable. The biggest draw of the under-30 event was showing off how different places educated and trained their newest generation. Or so I thought. Solid for people thinking about their legacy and heirs.


    ;


    People who just wanted a good show went to watch the unrestricted bracket, going on at the same time in a nearby arena. That was one impressive show, and I admitted with no shame that I snuck over there to watch the events when we were done.


    ;


    A few vendors moved around the stands, selling hot food and cold beer to anyone with the coins to pay for them, extracting every last bit of value out of the tourists.


    ;


    ¡°... without further ado, let the game begin!¡± The [Announcer] roared, and one at a time we filed off the field, into one of the waiting rooms.


    ;


    ¡°Hey! School of Sorcery and Spellcraft! Great! You guys are up first, follow me!¡± A faun enthusiastically bounced up to us. [The World Around Me] was more or less automatic, letting me know he was authentic.


    ;


    We¡¯d caught a fake a few years ago trying to direct us somewhere else, which would¡¯ve had us miss a round. That was part of the nonsense Shirayuki had been fighting against.


    ;


    We followed him - unfortunately ruining my chance to quickly consult with Iona - and were soon at another door, back into the arena.


    ;


    ¡°... and from the north entrance, one of our favorites! Give it up for the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft!¡± The [Announcer] shouted, and we exited again to cheers.


    ;


    I ignored the crowds this time, my eyes snapping to the four remaining members of the Lithos team. Three men and one woman, all of them dressed like the [Raiders] they were portrayed as. Unlike the popular rumor, their helmets did not have horns on them, but most of the other depictions were accurate.


    ;


    They weren¡¯t the nicest neighbors, using their longships to sail up and down the major rivers, finding villages and other small settlements to raid, pillage, and loot.


    ;


    My sources of information might be a hair biased though.


    ;


    ¡°Shirayuki¡¯s deal with them is we¡¯re supposed to take them out fast and hard.¡± I reminded my team. ¡°Ling Li, sorry, going to hold you in reserve for this one. Iris, do you want to do it or should I?¡±


    ;


    The selkie thought about it a moment.


    ;


    ¡°Two and two?¡± She suggested.


    ;


    That sounded fine. Enough to quickly take them out, but neither one of us would burn so much mana that we couldn¡¯t do anything in the teamfight portion. It¡¯d also give them 2 points, giving them a tiny edge in the rankings against teams that were entirely eliminated. A small concession.


    ;


    ¡°Go first. You need the regeneration time more than I do.¡± I told the selkie.


    ;


    She nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Teams, present your candidates!¡± The [Referee] called. Iris and one of the Lithos warriors both stepped forward, on opposite ends of the generous arena. It wasn¡¯t the flat stone of the preliminaries, no. It was back to the fortress setting I¡¯d seen earlier.


    ;


    The two teams could see each other clearly, across a dirt field. To the west side, there was a small fort, surrounded by a moat and with a small drawbridge. To the east side there was a small stand of trees acting as a ¡®forest¡¯.


    ;


    Adding in some small torches along the inner walls of the fort gave the eight basic elements some representation each. Earth and Air were easy and obvious, from the dirt ground, the stone walls of the fortress, and¡­ well, Air was everywhere. Water was in the moat, while the little torches provided the Fire. Metal chains supported a Wood drawbridge, and I expected a variety of mundane weapons inside the fort. The little grove of trees were also obviously Wood, and the shadows they provided were Dark.


    ;


    The games being held during the day gave the obvious Light, and with that, the basic elements were all represented in a mix the game organizers believed was optimal. Nobody who relied on [Water Breathing] would be missing a body of water to use, and anyone who could [Rapidly Grow] had trees to start.


    ;


    The field changed from year to year, but the idea was the same. Give people common resources they¡¯d normally have access to, so they could best show off. Unfortunate for people who had advanced elements like Sand, but those were the breaks.


    ;


    The fort was also the tiebreaker. If, say, a flying [Mage] shot up into the air, and couldn¡¯t beat a [Warrior] on the ground, they¡¯d otherwise stalemate. The fort allowed for a tiebreaker - whoever controlled the tower in the middle uncontested for long enough would automatically win.


    ;


    Lastly was the arena shields. Powerful wards, they didn¡¯t let skills in or out. Aura skills were prevented from going in, stopping interference, and the combatants could unleash powerful attacks without worrying about the crowd.


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!¡± The [Referee] announced, and the fight was on!


    ;


    Iris walked forward as the Lithos warrior charged across the field, working on closing the gap. Most fights started that way, the two contestants simply meeting on the field of battle and exchanging blows.


    ;


    Iris let him get inside her maximum range, then waited. And waited. And waited some more. Her rapid leveling had constantly increased her range, and there was no sense in showing it early.


    ;


    When he was close enough she let out a steady stream of Lightning, the bright flashes and thunderous sounds hiding what was happening to most viewers. I could see no problem, and everyone saw the Lithos warrior¡¯s shield flare a bright red, as the many-colored lights sparkled all over the arena, signifying the end of the round.


    ;


    ¡°Victory to the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft! The School shows once again why it¡¯s one of the favorites to win the whole thing!¡± The [Announcer] crowed as Iris and the Lithos contestant walked back to their sides.


    ;


    ¡°An excellent victory.¡± Ling Li graciously allowed.


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯re still good for a second, right?¡± I asked Iris. She nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Only a quarter of my mana. I could take them all!¡± She said.


    ;


    ¡°You probably could. Let¡¯s stick to the original plan. They might have a trump they¡¯re hiding, and want to go down in a blaze of glory against us, instead of the original ¡®let us beat them¡¯ arrangement they made.¡± I countered.


    ;


    Iris and their second contestant took to the field, and the second match ended within seconds of the two contestants meeting. Iris¡¯s initial blast of Lightning did nothing, some skill protecting the [Raider], but a blizzard in a bubble put him away nicely.


    ;


    She returned back.


    ;


    ¡°Strong work.¡± I told her. ¡°I¡¯ll take it from here.¡±


    ;


    Iris looked a little disappointed, but she knew it was the right call. I knew roughly what her mana to power ratio was, along with how many skills she had, and she was running low. The eternal curse of a mage - we were amazing for a few seconds, then nothing.


    ;


    I stepped forward.


    ;


    ¡°The School is making a substitution!¡± The [Announcer] called. ¡°We have the star of the School herself, Elaine Elaine! With fearsome Radiance magic, a nigh-unbreakable shield, and a powerful [Warrior] class, this combatant is a powerhouse and a half, and easy on the eyes to boot!¡±


    ;


    I was going to strangle the faun¡¯s scrawny little neck at the end of this. With that said, I didn¡¯t mind the misinformation about my third class being spread around.


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!¡± The [Referee] ended my misery at the [Announcer¡¯s] antics, and the fight was on.


    ;


    For about a second.


    ;


    My [Nova Lance] had reach. I could hit a combatant standing on the other side of the stage from where I was standing, and I had no issues showing it off. They¡¯d already seen it in prior years, and people had to declare when they were fighting unshielded.


    ;


    That was obnoxious. Bartolo had let everyone know I was an Oathbound healer about three minutes after he¡¯d betrayed us, and people quickly gelled to the fact that going into a fight unshielded against me severely hampered my options. I hadn¡¯t been a good enough wizard at first, nor had I gotten my biological upgrades done yet, and the year after had been rough. It wasn¡¯t a spar, and it wasn¡¯t a real fight, so I found myself entirely bound to do absolutely no harm to my opponents. They knew it, and completely abused the fact.


    ;


    I had more tools at my disposal to fight back now. Two years of seeing what tricks people came up with, and how they got out of what I¡¯d thought up had refined my arsenal of wizardry.


    ;


    All in all, it was good to be a high level [Mage].


    ;


    I basked in the brief adoration of the crowd and the announcer, not even needing to move to reset myself.


    ;


    The next round was much like the first, and I still had a large chunk of mana. A blinding [Nova Lance] to the eye, carefully going through the eyeslit, and we were the winners.


    ;


    ¡°Winner of the singles portion. The School of Sorcery and Spellcraft. 14 points to 2.¡± The [Referee] announced, his words magically amplified.


    ;


    The Lithos team shouted their surrender. I assumed. I didn¡¯t know the language.


    ;


    The [Referee] did though, and my suspicions were quickly confirmed.


    ;


    ¡°At 25 points to 2, the winner of the first round is the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft!¡± He decreed.


    ;


    I skipped out on the [Announcer¡¯s] inane, overly eager analysis in favor of finding Iona.


    ;


    ;


    There wasn¡¯t much I could say or do for Iona while we were waiting. She sat, almost perfectly still, and I put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. Honestly, the only thing I could do for her was be here. Be her support.


    ;


    I knew how much this meant to her.


    ;


    From where we were waiting, I could occasionally see flashes of lights from the unrestricted arena, along with hearing their [Announcer] giving the blow-by-blow of the fight.


    ;


    There were some skill-shenanigans involved with the shield for those events, and the actual display. The events were over in seconds, the Immortals involved able to trade blows so quickly that it was over before the average viewer could see what was going on. They were somehow capturing the fight, and playing it ¡®slowly¡¯ for everyone to help with the excitement.


    ;


    Those events were also risky. Genuine death was a possibility. The Black Rose couldn¡¯t teleport out people at that level, and his shields were up against people of the same level he was. There was a strong possibility that an attack would penetrate his shields, and be lethal all at once.


    ;


    Predictably, the crowds loved it. The event had more professional [Gladiators] than the other events, and I knew that only a tiny fraction of the world¡¯s powerhouses were showing up for it.


    ;


    Soon enough, it was Iona¡¯s turn to fight.


    ;


    ¡°Hey.¡± I grabbed Iona¡¯s hand as she started to leave. ¡°No matter what happens, remember I love you. Okay?¡±


    ;


    She squeezed my hand back.


    ;


    ¡°I love you too.¡± The Valkyrie said, before leaping down onto the arena. Fenrir and Auri joined her a moment later.


    ;


    I ignored the fluff they said about the Rolland team. Boo Rolland! Go Iona!


    ;


    ¡°And on the south side! We have Team Iona! This warrior single-handedly fought her way through the preliminaries with a perfect, undefeated record! That¡¯s right [Lords] and [Ladies]! Valkyrie Iona here won every single fight to stand before you today!¡± The [Announcer] shouted. ¡°Will her record continue? Or can the Rolland team successfully bring her down? Find out soon!¡±


    ;


    Iona stepped forward without her helmet on, and began speaking. Someone involved with the event quickly caught on, and magnified her voice for everyone to hear.


    ;


    ¡°I am Iona, the Dusk Valkyrie. Know that I am sworn to tell no lie, that I have taken a sacred [Vow] to that extent. Every word I speak here today is the truth. The history of the Valkyries is a storied one, a tale you are all familiar with. Under promises and treaties with the royal family of Rolland, we settled down in the country, having been promised support. Yet, when the Valkyries took to the field to defend Rolland, the [Duke] left us to die. When it came time to support us after years of upholding our bargain, the [Queen] abandoned us to the cold.¡± Iona paused a moment, letting the murmurs ripple through the crowd.


    ;


    ¡°I name the nobility of Rolland cowards. The craven lot do not deserve the thrones they sit on, nor do they deserve the crowns they place on their heads.¡±


    ;


    I sucked in a cold breath through my teeth. Those were fighting words. If Iona said anything remotely like that in Rolland, they¡¯d do their damndest to arrest her, try her for treason, and summarily execute her¡­ if they didn¡¯t skip straight to the last step.


    ;


    There was no way they could back down from the challenge. The loss of face on the world stage¡­ I had a hard time trying to figure out how bad it was going to be. Bad. Big. Even I could tell, and I had the social skills of a dimwitted goldfish.


    ;


    ¡­ wait, there was no way Iona tailored that speech to my level of understanding, was there??


    ;


    Rolland was definitely off my list of future destinations, at least in the near future. Maybe I¡¯d give it a few generations before I poked my head in there again.


    ;


    One of Rolland¡¯s members stepped forward, and I recognized him as the Shining Prince. A solid candidate to rebut Iona.


    ;


    ¡°I am [Prince] Elric Morgans, brother to the [Queen], [Duke] of Bellington and [Champion] of the realm. The poor [Valkyrie] across from me is sorely mistaken. We filled our end of the bargain. We upheld our oaths and promises. The Valkyries failed. They failed to protect their land. They were inadequate to protect their people. They permitted monsters to breed and level in their lands, then spill over into their neighbors, where they ravaged the population. What were we to do? Let them continue to be weak, and destroy us from the inside out like some parasite? Or cut the festering wound out?¡±


    ;


    He let the crowd process that.


    ;


    I pulled a face. Ouch. That particular speech had been a little too on the nose. There was a little too much truth to it.


    ;


    ¡°For this insult to our honor, I demand that we fight without shields. To the surrender. Or is the Valkyrie the very coward she decries us to be?¡± He taunted Iona.


    ;


    ¡°I gladly accept your challenge. Make your peace with your gods.¡± Iona shouted back, magically amplified by the arena.


    ;


    The prospect of real bloodshed was getting the crowd excited.


    ;


    ¡°Both parties have agreed to an unshielded match. A reminder that killing a surrendering foe will not only get you entirely disqualified, but is illegal, and the penalties are stiff.¡± The [Referee] announced.


    ;


    The nasty part left unsaid - killing a foe in the heat of the moment happened. Everybody knew what they were getting into. Fighting unshielded was rare as a result. It was just a game, nobody wanted to die.


    ;


    Iona reformed her helmet around her head as he spoke, picking up her glaive and shield. She was strong enough to use both at the same time comfortably, so why not?


    ;


    I saw her bow her head slightly, praying to her patrons right before the fight. The Shining Prince himself stepped up as her first opponent. He had full heavy plate on, while carrying a greatsword as wide as his thigh, and almost as tall as he was.


    ;


    Ruination. A blade forged of the magic metal ruinite, able to corrupt, destroy, and absorb other metal it came into contact with.


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Glory. Hono-¡± The [Referee] was starting the match when the world shifted.


    ;


    The skies went dark, and on long unused instinct, I looked up into the sky. Ready to see a flock of ravenous dinosaurs ready to descend upon us and feast.


    ;


    What I saw made me wish there was a ravenous flock of pterodactyls ready to descend upon us and try to eat us alive.


    ;


    The moons had been knocked out from their normal orbit around Pallos. One was superimposed over the sun, creating a total solar eclipse.


    ;


    The illusion on them shattered, revealing pale blue and yellow orbs. A column of light radiated down from each of them, anointing their chosen [Paladin] on the field.

 Chapter 391 - The Gladiator Gauntlet VII

    The moons had shifted in their orbit.


    ;


    The moons had been shifted. Selene and Lunaris - I could imagine no other entity that could even begin to think about pulling off the stunt - had spun the moons in their orbit, eclipsing the sun and explicitly highlighting Iona before a crowd of hundreds. Soon to be thousands, if not tens of thousands. What was happening had to be visible before half the world!


    ;


    Roughly?


    ;


    This was going to cause all sorts of havoc with the tides, calendars¡­ my mind boggled at just how many things got casually upended with a single move.


    ;


    The fact that the goddesses could casually shatter the illusion Lun¡¯Kat had on the moons was also interesting, with dozens, if not hundreds, of implications. Things to work through another day.


    ;


    ¡°-r. Match Pause!¡± The [Referee] caught himself in the middle of starting the fight, aborting right before saying ¡®fight¡¯.


    ;


    The crowd exploded. We all got to our feet, cheering or screaming. The screaming portion of the crowd was mainly trying to flee the arena, and get out before something bad happened, while the cheering part couldn¡¯t wait to see what happened next.


    ;


    I was on my feet like the rest of them, yelling myself hoarse.


    ;


    Then the howls started. I whirled around to one behind me.


    ;


    Some of the spectators, scattered here and there, were werewolves. Generally harmless, all but the most sociopathic werewolves restrained themselves during the full moon. They knew the phases of the moon the way I knew where the nearest source of mangos was.


    ;


    Divine intervention had understandably screwed with their careful planning, and now they were transforming. In the crowd. With no restraints.


    ;


    Werewolves could transform into the wolf-elvenoid hybrid when they wanted, and still retained most of their faculties. It was different under a full moon, or two.


    ;


    Chaos erupted. I split my mind into pieces, one focused on everything else going on, the other on the werewolf right in front of me. One was in fight mode, the other was in heal mode.


    ;


    I didn¡¯t want to kill anyone if I didn¡¯t have to. None of the werewolves here had planned to transform, to become raging beasts attacking everyone around them.


    ;


    The werewolf snarled and lunged at the woman next to him, who was screaming and falling back. I shot forward, throwing up a shield between the two of them. The werewolf bounced off my shield, and turned to me. His lips were curled back, showing his teeth, and he crouched before pouncing at me.


    ;


    He was slow. A fat [Merchant] by¡­ I wanted to say day, but it was daytime right now. Either way, he didn¡¯t have significant stats boosting him. It was trivial to step into his wild swipes, and grab him by the throat.


    ;


    The other part of my mind noted a dozen different people getting mauled. We were all under full moonlight, and it was trivial for my mind to flicker out, casting [Wheel of Sun and Moon] along with [Dance with the Heavens] to heal and stabilize everyone in my range.


    ;


    None would die while I was here.


    ;


    The part of me handling the werewolf was still going.


    ;


    ¡°Bad doggy.¡± I said. He snapped at my face, his teeth closing an inch away from my nose. I used my other hand to clamp down on his snout, forcing his mouth closed.


    ;


    ¡°No. Down.¡± I said.


    ;


    What I was saying was terribly offensive to an untransformed werewolf, but most of the social rules of etiquette went out the window during a murder attempt. He started it.


    ;


    He tried to scratch at my back. I snapped my shield up behind me, protecting my clothes. I doubted he could penetrate my subdermal rainbow serpent scales, but why go shopping for another outfit?


    ;


    Then he kicked me. The angle was bad - I was holding his throat and mouth, and my shield was protecting my back. He had a significant height advantage on me, and with bestial cunning, let my grip on his throat hold him up.


    ;


    His kick tore my shirt and raked across my belly, drawing the thinnest of bloody lines. It didn¡¯t manage to get through my biomancied skin, but I felt a sharp chill spread from the source, starting to settle into my bones.


    ;


    Oh fuck.


    ;


    The werewolf curse. There was nothing else I could imagine that felt like that.


    ;


    My healing had nothing on it. It just wasn¡¯t something it could handle. I¡¯d need to see a cursebreaker, and fast.


    ;


    Then, so fast I only caught an azure blur, the werewolf was viciously ripped from my hands. I was left with a tuft of fur as blessed warmth spread through my body. The curse lifted.


    ;


    I blinked, collapsing my [Parallel Thoughts] back together, mentally replaying what happened. [Astral Archives] gave me a perfect look.


    ;


    A demon, probably one of the Immortal combatants in the unrestricted tournament, had shot through, picking up dozens of other werewolves before grabbing mine, and had continued on, seizing the beasts and securing them - and the audience - against further harm.


    ;


    More Immortals were sprinting through the arena, moving so quickly they were blurring. A powerful [Cursebreaker] was clearly also at work.


    ;


    The woman who¡¯d almost gotten mauled by the werewolf was still lying there in shock. I took a few steps over and offered her my hand.


    ;


    ¡°Hey. You okay?¡± I asked in the language I thought she¡¯d recognize the most, using a gentle tone.


    ;


    She flinched at me, and I drew back.


    ;


    I scanned the stadium, continuing to blast healing all around me.


    ;


    It looked like things were rapidly coming under control again. I was reminded of the sheer tyranny of stats and levels. I was a cut above just about everyone my age. Heck, when it came to mortals it wasn¡¯t bragging to say I was in the top fraction of the top 1%.


    ;


    I was a complete baby when ancient Immortals entered the picture.


    ;


    The [Announcer] had been blessedly silent the entire time, and I had a brief moment of hope that one of the werewolves had done him in. He spoke up, and my dreams were dashed.


    ;


    ¡°[Lords] and [Ladies], please remain calm. Our security has things well under control.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Bullshit.¡± I muttered under my breath. Their security had done nothing. It was all the other competitors. I had to imagine Vollomond was having a Bad Day.


    ;


    I had some minor sympathy for Night. He¡¯d told me about how the gods had kept messing with creation, but I¡¯d never really appreciated what it meant for a pair of goddesses to just twist the moons in the sky and upend everything.


    ;


    ¡°Without further ado, let us continue the games! And yes! Here is Mormerilhawn, the Black Rose himself!¡± The [Announcer] shouted as Mormerilhawn teleported into the arena. He took in the situation at a glance, and had a quiet word with the [Referee], who nodded at him like a bobblehead.


    ;


    He went to have a quiet word with Iona, and damn his skills. He had a [Private Conversation] skill or something. Great for investigations for [Judges], less great for when I wanted to eavesdrop on what was going on.


    ;


    He did keep glancing at the moons while talking with Iona. A [Runner] of some sort sprinted onto the field, handed the [Judge] a slip of paper, and sprinted back off the field. Mormerilhawn took a quick look at the slip of paper.


    ;


    My eyes let me peek at what was written, and the language was Combrogi, one of the keystone languages I¡¯d learned. I could only make out ¡®permit¡¯ due to the angle, with no context.


    ;


    Drat.


    ;


    The Black Rose then had a quick word with the Shining Prince, then stepped forward to the middle of the field.


    ;


    He stepped forward, and his voice was magically amplified.


    ;


    ¡°I have determined that the present events do not qualify as Outside Assistance. Iona is a [Paladin] of Selene and Lunaris, and their assistance is valid. If anyone has an issue with the ruling, take it up with them.¡± Mormerilhawn drily added that last part, pointing up at the blazing moons hanging in the sky.


    ;


    ¡°Yes!¡± I screamed, the crowd having a similar reaction.


    ;


    The¡­ much larger crowd. Forget the werewolf assault, this arena was the place to be. People were pouring into the stadium to watch the match, and I spotted the first fliers hovering over the edge, peeking into the arena.


    ;


    ¡°The One Hit Wonder is permitted to continue fighting! What other miracles will we see today!?¡± The [Announcer] continued stating the obvious.


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!¡± Mormerilhawn decreed, and the fight was joined.


    ;


    ;


    Iona was honored beyond words. Selene and Lunaris had shifted the very sky to show their blessing. To show they cared. To show their favor for the Valkyries and Iona¡¯s fight for honor and recognition.


    ;


    To bring attention to Iona and her cause in her hour of need.


    ;


    She hadn¡¯t asked, they¡¯d just done it. Spotlighting her in the glowing beams of the two moons for the world to see.


    ;


    Prayers and thanks would have to wait though. They clearly expected Iona to win, and win big, in front of the ever-growing crowd. Each victory Iona achieved would bring people to her goddesses, and that was right.


    ;


    First was dealing with Elric, the Shining Prince. Triple classed with Brilliance and Gale being his main classes, and Sound being his new third. Iona had gotten a chance to study the Rolland team during the opening events, and had the start of a plan for each member of the team.


    ;


    No plan survived first contact with the enemy, but the broad strokes and outlines were there.


    ;


    Brilliance was his main [Knight] class, and the reason for his title. He had the standard fighting skills, armor and weapon reinforcing skills, an energy skill, a barrier skill, and a skill to let him [Shine]. People could always find him in a fight, a blazing beacon of hope - and it let him blind his foes.


    ;


    Gale was his second element, focusing on passive speed, active skills to help him move faster, skills to sharpen his blades and a few diplomacy and politics-related skills. It wasn¡¯t as scary as his Brilliance element, but still deadly.


    ;


    His Sound class was last, and Iona was almost able to ignore it. The skills were primarily command-related, with a single skill dedicated to improving his speed.


    ;


    All in all, he was fast. Possibly faster than Iona was, even after Elaine¡¯s brilliant [Biomancy] additions. His greatsword, Ruination, also threatened to smash through Iona¡¯s defenses, even with her skills.


    ;


    However, nothing was free. His speed focus came at a cost, namely his vitality and strength, along with weaker magic stats than Iona had. Two of his classes were split, a leader-warrior hybrid. Wearing his mana out would slow him down, but would it slow him down enough?


    ;


    Iona had two different plans for Elric. If she encountered him late, she¡¯d take to the skies with [Valkyrie¡¯s Flight] and pepper him with arrows. It would wear away at his defenses, and [Frost Wyvern¡¯s Fang] let her apply her full strength to her arrows. She had a reasonable shot at punching through his armor and getting an arrow or two into him. It wouldn¡¯t be enough to make him yield, but it¡¯d give Iona enough of an advantage to directly clash with him.


    ;


    Elric was her first round opponent though, and [Valkyrie¡¯s Flight] was a mana-hungry skill. She didn¡¯t want to blow all her mana on her first opponent, not when there were six more after him.


    ;


    She was stronger than he was by a significant margin. More durable. Iona won the moment it became a slugging match, where she could trade blows with Elric.


    ;


    Naturally, the Shining Prince would want to avoid that.


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!¡±


    ;


    The fight was on.


    ;


    Iona charged the prince, glaive held in two hands while her shield was securely attached to her left arm. The prince¡¯s armor began shining, but it was a useless attempt to blind Iona. He didn¡¯t know Iona¡¯s perception skills couldn¡¯t be disrupted like that.


    ;


    Iona¡¯s own skills came online. [Weakness] was searching for any vulnerable point, while [Lunar Mass] increased Iona¡¯s weight and momentum - and that of her weapons. [Harmony of the Spheres] would try to bridge the gap in their speed when it came to swinging weapons around, and [Star Forged] reinforced her own weapons and armor. All this was before her true passives came into play.


    ;


    The Valkyrie shifted her grip on her glaive as she waited for the prince to make the first move. Anything she did, Elric was fast enough to counter. Iona¡¯s improved reflexes suggested that she could react to his moves, even if she wasn¡¯t fast enough, and the current mutual charge was beneficial to her.


    ;


    If they collided, Iona would bowl Elric over like he was a child, Brilliance barriers or no. She was heavier than him, even before her skills, and she welcomed a direct clash that would let her apply her strength.


    ;


    He was no idiot, bringing his greatsword up like a fencer¡¯s foil, threatening to run Iona through with it.


    ;


    The collision was like a high speed game of chess, but with hundreds of pounds moving at inhuman speeds. Most of the mortals in the overflowing stands wouldn¡¯t be able to keep up.


    ;


    Iona cursed. Normally, she could just batter the sword out of the way and continue her charge. Except Ruination would utterly destroy her glaive if she tried. Iona making the first move, or changing course, would give Elric the opportunity to gain the momentum advantage. With his speed and experience, it¡¯d be trivial to turn the small advantage into a larger one, snowballing until victory was his. The same was true for Iona, both [Warriors] powerful and experienced.


    ;


    Iona knew it.


    ;


    Elric knew it.


    ;


    Iona called his bluff.


    ;


    At the last possible moment, she let go of her glaive with her left hand, retracting her armor from the same hand. She moved to slap the greatsword out of the way, but Elric twisted the blade, continuing to present the sharp edge of it to Iona¡¯s hand as the point went towards her heart.


    ;


    Iona twisted, casting [Frost Wyvern¡¯s Fang] to summon her horn bow into her hands as she slapped the blade anyway. It was sharp and reinforced, slicing straight through the bow, but not only did Iona have a layer of padding on her gloves, but the ankylosaurus subdermal layer Elaine had modified her with added as a complete set of armor.


    ;


    Biological armor, which Ruination couldn¡¯t work its magics on.


    ;


    The layers slowed the sword down, but it was still a greatsword moving at incredibly high speeds, reinforced to impossible sharpness by Elric¡¯s Gale skill. It bit deep regardless, Iona¡¯s hand half bisected between her middle and ring fingers all the way down to her wrist.


    ;


    Without her modifications, without her stats, Iona¡¯s hand and most of her arm would¡¯ve passed through the greatsword, entirely failing to modify its trajectory. It would¡¯ve impaled her through and through, and that¡¯d be the end of her run. Her modifications, acting as a third layer of tough armor changed all that, letting her push the sword completely out of the way.


    ;


    The sacrifice was worth it though. She was now inside of Elric¡¯s guard, and in spite of his best efforts to change course, it was too little, too late. She slammed into him like a charging triceratops, and a triceratops would¡¯ve done less damage than Iona did.


    ;


    His Brilliance shield on his armor shattered, and Iona¡¯s impact was enough to dent and break his skill-reinforced armor, transmitting the shock and the impact all the way to the prince¡¯s body.


    ;


    She didn¡¯t pause. Didn¡¯t rest on her laurels.


    ;


    Didn¡¯t give him a chance to get up.


    ;


    Iona followed through on her charge, leaping on top of Elric before he finished tumbling across the field. Easy enough when her charge had never stopped, the only danger being the chaotically flashing Ruination.


    ;


    Then the two were grappling, Iona able to leverage her greater strength and weight. It was an overwhelming advantage.


    ;


    She grabbed Elric¡¯s arm and professionally snapped his elbow with her knee, the prince unable to escape.


    ;


    He screamed, an anti-pain skill not being on his list, and Iona grabbed his second arm.


    ;


    Elaine had modified Iona with biomancy, giving her subdermal dinosaur armor. That had been secondary to the main modifications she¡¯d made - making Iona strong.


    ;


    Making Iona ridiculously strong.


    ;


    With a savage tug, she ripped off the Shining Prince¡¯s other arm, then started bashing his head with his own arm, slapping him back and forth as she rained blows down on him.


    ;


    Her lips were curled back and she was practically snarling, the savage aspects of her bond with Fenrir bursting through.


    ;


    ¡°I yield! I yield!¡± The prince shouted his concession after the briefest of moments.


    ;


    Iona got up, not being particularly careful how. She weighed a lot, and wasn¡¯t particularly gentle in how she got up. She didn¡¯t deliberately hit the prince or anything, and the two went back to their respective sides, the prince stotically carrying his ripped arm over one shoulder.


    ;


    A [Medic] was rushing out onto the field to treat him.


    ;


    The beams of moonlight followed Iona¡¯s every move.


    ;


    ¡°Round 1, winner, Team Iona.¡± Mormerilhawn officiously and clearly declared. ¡°Current points are 2-0 in favor of Team Iona.¡±


    ;


    Yay! Go Iona! Whoo whoo whoo! Fight! Win! Huzzah! Selene cheered into her ears.


    ;


    One down. Six to go. Shame you couldn¡¯t nab Ruination and offer it up, or at least break it. Lunaris was a little more critical. It¡¯s going to be back in the teamfight. Still, the arm ripping should give them all a moment¡¯s pause, which will be useful.


    ;


    Iona took stock as she moved back. She¡¯d barely dipped into her mana reserves, but her left hand was busted. She could get a solid three-finger grip on a weapon, but her ring and pinky fingers were going to be useless. She was also bleeding, and the wound was deep enough that it wasn¡¯t going to stop on its own.


    ;


    It was acceptable. Elric Morgans was one of the largest powerhouses on the Rolland team, and Iona felt that she¡¯d gotten a little lucky that he¡¯d gone for the quick victory, and was unprepared for her sacrificial move. At the same time, she was now weakened for the next opponent.


    ;


    And all the ones after.


    ;


    A [Healer] tended to Elric on the other side, but Iona got no such respite. It was one aspect of the king of the hill format the tournament was based on. Their team was quietly chatting, but Iona had no hope of hearing them through the crowd¡¯s excitement.


    ;


    Not that it mattered. She had to fight through all of them.


    ;


    ¡°Rolland, please send your next contestant forward.¡± Mormerilhawn declared, and Grimwald stepped up.


    ;


    Iona briefly flicked through his stats and skills. Two split noble-sorcerer classes, Fire and Lightning. He had flight in his Lightning class, and was heavily power-focused with a relatively small mana pool. If Iona could endure his initial assault, she won.


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!¡±


    ;


    Iona conjured up her [Frost Wyvern¡¯s Fang] as soon as the fight started, snapping off a half-dozen arrows towards Grimwald. He had a defensive skill, but it was worth the attempt.


    ;


    Iona took off sprinting towards the fort before her arrows landed. Grimwald took to the moonlit skies, bolts of Lightning neatly dispatching her arrows. Iona gave up on taking any further shots from even further away as the sorcerer rapidly gained height. She angled her shield to defend against any attacks, but none came. The [Mage] continued to soar up into the sky as Iona made a beautiful dive into the moat.


    ;


    Any attempts at burning her out would need to get through the huge heatsink that was the water, reflecting the twin orbs in the sky. It also insulated in the most minor fashion against Lightning, providing a weak shield against the element.


    ;


    Getting cooked out of her armor was one of Iona¡¯s larger concerns. Lightning strikes were of a lesser concern, given her layers of skill-enhanced armor. Still, a stray jolt in the wrong place could be lethal.


    ;


    Grimwald saw where Iona dove to, and vanished behind the castle. The [Announcer]¡¯s voice quickly became filtered from the arena, along with the sounds from the crowd. A measure so Iona wouldn¡¯t know a sneak strike was about to occur from the crowd¡¯s reaction.


    ;


    Iona flipped her bow back into her hands. The green-eyed [Warrior] didn¡¯t need a perfect shot - she simply needed a [Blizzard Shot] to fill the air with ice and snow, which would foul Grimwald¡¯s assault. Aiming anywhere near him would do the trick.


    ;


    Iona had thousands of hours of practice. Along with her stats and skills, she could snap-aim her bow and arrow and hit a spinning ring from a field away. Any shot that would be in ¡®roughly the right direction¡¯ would be a heart-shot, the only question was which chamber of the heart the arrow was going for.


    ;


    Once the mage was out of mana, the fight would be over. Grimwald¡¯s stats suggested the exchange would only take seconds.


    ;


    Iona slowly circled in the water, watching for any hint of the sorcerer. Would he come over the wall of the fort? Would he be clever, and go low? Would he try to electrify the entire moat, hoping the surprise and skill made up for the distance and lack of proper aiming?


    ;


    ¡°The fort¡¯s flag has been raised by Rolland. Team Iona has five minutes to contest before the round ends.¡± The Black Rose announced.


    ;


    Iona cursed to herself as she started to swim to the shore. Grimwald wasn¡¯t trying to fight - he was trying to use the anti-stall tiebreaker rules to win!


    ;


    Blasted games and their rules. The contest should be determined by a fair fight, nothing else.


    ;


    Now she¡¯d need to storm the fortress and dislodge the mage from his spot. The only benefit to Iona was Grimwald needed to be in a fixed location to trigger the anti-stall rules.


    ;


    The curling tower in the center of the fort.


    ;


    A soaked Iona dragged herself up and out of the water, looking up at the fort walls.


    ;


    She could go over them, and expose herself in a single perfect moment to Grimwald¡¯s assault. She could try to go through the open drawbridge, but that presented the same challenge.


    ;


    Iona didn¡¯t like either of those options. She started to jog, then run along the side of the fort, her weight increasing with every step thanks to [Lunar Mass]. With enough momentum built up, at the right time and place, Iona twisted and went through one of the stone walls.


    ;


    She continued to run as masonry fell around her, her entrance louder than any siren. The falling dust and rubble shielded her, and the element of surprise and poor visibility was enough for Grimwald to hesitate.


    ;


    Iona slammed through the flimsy door at the bottom of the tower, and looked up. There was only a spiraling stone staircase, and Iona began her trip up.


    ;


    There was a chance Grimwald would come down the stairs to ambush Iona early, but she doubted it. Leaving the top of the tower would reset the clock on the tiebreaker.


    ;


    Iona reached the final stretch before the top of the tower, and grinned. Grimwald obviously knew she was coming. He must have every skill ready to launch the moment she turned the spiral in the tower.


    ;


    Iona stepped back, letting her armor morph and flow off of her. A thin strand connected her to her armor, letting her continue to control and manipulate it, although no longer being on her body meant [Star-Forged] didn¡¯t protect and enhance it anymore.


    ;


    Using [Telekinesis], Iona ¡®equipped¡¯ the armor with her shield and axe. Then she had the empty suit of armor ¡®charge¡¯ around the corner, and leapt back.


    ;


    The hallway exploded with Fire and Lightning as Grimwald unleashed his entire arsenal at an empty suit of armor. Heat washed over Iona as the stone started to melt, and her waterlogged clothes started to steam.


    ;


    A cry of triumphant dismay escaped Grimwald¡¯s lips. Triumph followed by horrified realization, with a note of despair added to the end.


    ;


    Iona stepped over the molten puddle of her armor and former weapon, locking eyes with Grimwald. She quickly checked his status before doing anything else.


    ;


    45 mana left. He was done.


    ;


    ¡°Yield.¡± Iona demanded.


    ;


    ¡°No!¡± The sorcerer tried to leap off the tower, but Iona was too quick compared to the magically-focused [Mage].


    ;


    She sprinted across the remaining distance, grabbed his shoulder, and yanked him back. Her hand crushed his shoulder joint into thousands of tiny bone shards, and he crashed to the ground. Iona stomped hard, turning the family jewels into pulp.


    ;


    Grimwald shrieked.


    ;


    ¡°Yield.¡± Iona knelt down, crushing his thigh and breaking it into four pieces as she did so. Her hand wrapped around his throat. ¡°I will not ask a third time.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Yi-yield.¡± Grimwald croaked out. He was instantly teleported out of the arena, Mormerilhawn clearly judging his injuries to be significant enough to warrant immediate attention.


    ;


    Iona walked back to her melted armor and focused.


    ;


    The beauty of Mallium was how it flowed and moved. It practically was a liquid already, and Iona was able to ¡®herd¡¯ it along with her without needing to directly touch more than the smallest of threads.


    ;


    She was using her left pinky for it, already mauled beyond recognition or usefulness. The burns it was leaving behind would heal.


    ;


    Iona dipped the superheated metal in the moat on her way out, a great gout of steam heralding her poor armor returning to a usable temperature. Iona had it reform around her body as she moved back to her side, the moonbeams anointing her every step.


    ;


    The [Paladin] briefly mourned the loss of her axe. It had been a necessary sacrifice. It didn''t mean she was happy about it.


    ;


    Selene was laughing herself sick in Iona¡¯s ears.


    ;


    OOooh, that¡¯ll show them. They¡¯re going to yield much more quickly now. Lunaris analyzed.


    ;


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Iona whispered to her goddesses.


    ;


    ¡°Round 2, winner, Team Iona.¡± Mormerilhawn pronounced, repeating his tone exactly if not the words. ¡°Current points are 4-0 in favor of Team Iona.¡±

 Chapter 392 - Interlude - Iona - The Gladiator Gauntlet VIII

    ¡°Rolland, please send your next contestant forward.¡± Mormerilhawn¡¯s voice was loud and clear as a bell, and Eira Barnett stepped forward. The Rolland¡¯s team strategy was clear - put their casters in early, and give them enough time to regenerate mana for the teamfight.


    ;


    Iona stood where she was, basking in the light of her patrons. The two moon goddesses had shifted the moons in their orbit to cause a solar eclipse, then shone down beams of light from the illusion-shattered moons onto Iona, spotlighting her for half the world to see.


    ;


    Just about everyone who could was watching Iona, and the skies were getting crowded as more and more people flew in to watch.


    ;


    Eira was low level for the event - waiting on her 256 class evolution, probably waiting to become a [Duchess] before evolving to get the improved class as a result - but she was also a wizard. Iona¡¯s usual trick of reading skills to know what was coming was completely useless here.


    ;


    Iona hadn¡¯t studied wizardry like her genius girlfriend, and wouldn¡¯t be able to instantly figure out what kind of spell was being cast just by seeing part of the mandala. She¡¯d need to wait until the spell was cast. A tiny time differential, but it could be important.


    ;


    However, just because she couldn¡¯t see the spells didn¡¯t mean she couldn¡¯t abuse her ability to peek at skills.


    ;


    Eira had a high mana regeneration stat, excellent control, low power and low total mana. The Barnetts were famous - possibly worldwide, although Iona hadn¡¯t traveled the entire world to know - for their wizardry, and had an ancient legacy of practice. Iona expected extremely efficient, well-placed spells. Running Eira out of mana wasn¡¯t an option, Iona was going to need to take her out.


    ;


    While Iona couldn¡¯t tell what wizardry the [Heiress] was going to cast, the Valkyrie¡¯s ability to peek at status sheets wasn¡¯t entirely useless. Barnett¡¯s skills revealed interesting information. She was heavily focused on her wand, with skills like [Maestro of Magic], [Conductor], [Wand Mastery], [Bind Trigger Spell: Wand], [Fractal Wand] and [Channeler of All the World¡¯s Mysteries]. It was practically an artifact of power with how much she¡¯d put into it and while she was holding it.


    ;


    Iona hadn¡¯t gotten a chance to look, but she¡¯d bet there¡¯d be dozens of sockets for gems on the wand, the spell-storing items removed for the event. Crucially, she didn¡¯t see any skills that extended Eira¡¯s vitality to the wand, unlike what most [Warriors] had for their armor. It was a rare skill for [Mages] in the first place.


    ;


    She also wore no armor, but had a longsword at her hip.


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!¡± Mormerilhawn decreed, and Iona had no more time to plan.


    ;


    She conjured up her bow and arrow, snapping off a trio of arrows. It wasn¡¯t likely, but it was always worth checking if Eira lacked the skills or reflexes to handle arrows, and Iona would snag a quick victory.


    ;


    The Valkyrie almost did. Eira flicked her wand as the fight started, but not quite fast enough. One arrow took the wizard in the gut, before the remaining arrows disintegrated around her.


    ;


    Iona could try to simply wait things out from here. Gut wounds were nasty, and Eira was more likely to yield early to get treated, than risk death for a simple game.


    ;


    The emerald-eyed Valkyrie wasn¡¯t going to wait though, and was already blitzing down the field, the moons continuing to spotlight her. Eria flicked her wand a few more times as she started to half-run, half-limp away.


    ;


    In a dozen different directions, as mirages were conjured up. They were eerily accurate, each one bleeding and limping, the blood splatters remaining on the field. A heavy mist filled the field, trying to obscure Iona¡¯s vision.


    ;


    More dangerous was Iona¡¯s sudden inability to breathe. She inhaled and gasped as no air entered her lungs. It was one thing for the Valkyrie to hold her breath, it was another thing entirely for her to exhale and there to suddenly be no air anymore.


    ;


    She was on a short clock.


    ;


    Eira¡¯s mirages faded into the Mist, and they were good enough to fool Iona¡¯s skills. They weren¡¯t good enough to fool her blessing, and it only took a heartbeat of rapidly scanning the fakes to find the real one. Iona turned in her charge, mentally reaching out with [Telekinesis].


    ;


    Eira wasn¡¯t going down without a fight, and discordant screeching, like the worst nails on chalkboard imaginable, filled the air. Iona staggered slightly, but kept going. Vines sprouted from the ground, trying to wrap around Iona¡¯s ankles but the Valkyrie simply plowed through them.


    ;


    Finally, she mentally latched onto Eira¡¯s wand with [Telekinesis], and simply yanked it out of her hands.


    ;


    ¡°I yi-¡± Eira started to say as the wand snapped into Iona¡¯s hands, where the Valkyrie promptly snapped it in half before Eira could finish her sentence.


    ;


    ¡°-ield.¡± The [Heiress] slumped down as Iona shattered her wand - and the likely months, if not years, of preparation that had gone into making it. Iona took a deep breath in, air finally filling her lungs.


    ;


    The advantage of wizards was they could prepare things ahead of time, and have a massive arsenal. The downside, of course, was the preparations getting thrown into a fire - or snagged and snapped in half.


    ;


    Eira was promptly teleported off the field, and Iona walked over to the Rolland¡¯s team side while the [Referee] declared the end of the match. They glared at her suspiciously, the moonbeams continuing to follow the [Paladin].


    ;


    ¡°Here. Hope Lady Barnett is able to eventually repair it.¡± Iona handed the shattered remains of the wand back to Prince Elric.


    ;


    He studied her silently for a moment before taking the pieces.


    ;


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    ;


    Iona turned and strode back to her side of the field, looking at the crowd.


    ;


    Elaine was still front and center at the middle of the arena, waving and cheering wildly. Iona shot her a thumb¡¯s up, and noticed some of the vendors had seized the moment, swapping to selling little blue and yellow candies.


    ;


    Iona wanted to roll her eyes. Whatever got people interested in the moon goddesses.


    ;


    Almost instantly beat her! What a shame! Selene commented.


    Snapped that wand. Good going! Classy move to return the pieces. Lunaris added.


    ;


    ¡°Rolland, please send your next contestant forward.¡± Mormerilhawn decreed, and Iona wanted to curse as Annora stepped forward.


    ;


    She was a Crucible [Knight], but more importantly, the element she was focused on was adamantium. The metal was practically indestructible, and her class was focused around using it. Her armor looked normal, but Iona was willing to bet that it had a nail-thin line of adamantium inside of it.


    ;


    Annora¡¯s skills supported that. She had a [Shock Absorption] skill, which would negate Iona¡¯s attempts to rattle her around inside her armor like a die in a cup until she yielded. Her armor was cleverly made, with the straps and buckles on the inside, requiring another skill to put it on - but preventing anyone from taking it off. [Telekinesis] would lose in a heartbeat to her armor-reinforcing skill, Iona would simply burn mana to no effect if she tried. Lady Argent had a skill like Iona¡¯s that let her wear a helmet with no holes in it. There wasn¡¯t a slit for Iona to jam a knife into or anything.


    ;


    Her second class was almost entirely focused on being a [Lady]. The only combat-applicable part was it was a Wind element class, with the ability to make air. Trying to drown, choke, or use gas was an exercise in futility.


    ;


    She was a turtle inside an indestructible shell. A nearly-perfect defense.


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!¡±


    ;


    The two fighters sprinted at each other, Annora wielding a longsword and shield to Iona¡¯s glaive. The two met in the middle, and Annora attempted to run Iona through with her sword.


    ;


    There was a risk when an unbreakable weapon met breakable armor, and Iona wasn¡¯t going to try and directly take an adamantium weapon to the chest, even if her superior stats and skills suggested it¡¯d be harmless.


    ;


    Almost contemptuously, Iona battered the sword out of the way with her glaive, the follow up move smashing into Annora and causing her to tumble and roll. It didn¡¯t hurt her, but Iona could easily move her around.


    ;


    Iona began a deadly [New Moon¡¯s Dance], not giving the Crucible knight a moment¡¯s reprieve. She smashed and battered at her, demonstrating her clear superiority, and trying to break Annora¡¯s [Shock Absorption] skill.


    ;


    It was also cathartic to be able to beat Annora up to her heart¡¯s content. She had voluntarily entered the arena. She was trying to fight Iona. She could yield at any moment.


    ;


    All the smug looks and snide comments Annora had ever made - Iona was paying them back. With interest.


    ;


    Iona did try to break Annora¡¯s joints and bones however she could. The armor was well-built, and it would lock onto itself before Iona could pull or twist a joint far enough to break.


    ;


    The insufferable warrior refused to yield, and Iona could continue to smack her around as long as she liked. Punches, kicks, throws, slashes, shield bashes, and more. Iona threw Annora up and tried to impale the lady on her glaive, then smashed the handle down onto Annora¡¯s helmet when she landed. Iona picked Annora up by the ankles, and used her as a sledgehammer on the fort¡¯s walls. She grabbed the [Lady] by the shoulders and held her underwater.


    ;


    Annora struggled the entire time. She was like a tiny kitten to Iona¡¯s tiger. Her blows and attempts at resistance were entirely futile - the only thing she had going for her that could possibly compete was her toughness.


    ;


    Eventually one of Annora¡¯s skills would have to give, and Iona would win. The Valkyrie was a little concerned about the damage her weapons were taking, and stuck to using her fists and body more.


    ;


    Her heart sang in relief. It just felt so good to beat the stuffing out of one of Rolland¡¯s [Nobles], and as a massive bonus, it was the snooty, obnoxious, Annora.


    ;


    Iona dragged her to the top of the tower, the woman still trying to fight back against Iona¡¯s iron grip. Iona threw her off the top, then immediately jumped down after her.


    ;


    Iona was a big woman to start. Taller than most men, and wider to boot, nearly every inch of her raw muscle made even denser thanks to her anatomy¡¯s biomancied modifications. That was further amplified by [Lunar Mass], and every single kilogram of the weight and momentum crashed down onto Annora¡¯s head.


    ;


    It would be enough to kill even a 4-digit Classer. Annora¡¯s adamantium armor absorbed it all, not even denting. Iona ended up doing more damage to her legs than she inflicted, the shock traveling through her body and rattling down to her bones. She swear she felt something crack.


    ;


    It was almost the same issue she had against the bunnykin in the first round. Iona was almost hurting herself more than she was Annora as she beat on the woman.


    ;


    She still wasn¡¯t yielding, taking the moment to throw a weak punch at Iona¡¯s leg. It harmlessly bounced off her [Star Forged] boosted armor, and Iona grabbed Annora by the neck, dragging her back to the center of the arena. The moons continued to spotlight her every action, and Iona lifted a struggling Annora by the neck in front of a crowd baying for blood.


    ;


    The Valkyrie grabbed Annora¡¯s head and tried to snap her neck by twisting the helmet, but no. Another clever latch saved the [Lady¡¯s] life.


    ;


    Iona slammed Annora to the ground, and walked a few steps to pickup her long-dropped longsword. She walked back over to Annora and punted the knight as she tried to stand back up, causing her to fall back to the ground. Iona wrenched her arms behind her back and knelt on her, pinning the lady.


    ;


    She held the longsword up on two hands, an offering.


    ;


    ¡°Oh Selene and Lunaris, greatest goddesses of the pantheon. I wish to offer you this weapon, the spoils of war. Please accept this offering in the spirit it was offered.¡± Iona grandly stated, pitching her voice loud enough to be carried.


    ;


    Annora struggled even harder under Iona, but she was no match for the Valkyrie¡¯s weight or leverage.


    ;


    Yoink! Lunaris gleefully shouted in Iona¡¯s ears, as the blade vanished.


    ;


    Hey! No fair! I wanted that one! Selene complained.


    ;


    Iona wanted to laugh at their reaction. If only people could hear them like she did. She grabbed Annora¡¯s shield, and kneeled on her back again, offering up the shield in her hands.


    ;


    ¡°Oh Selene and Lunaris, greatest goddesses of the pantheon. I wish-¡±


    ;


    ¡°We yield!¡± The Shining Prince called from the sidelines.


    ;


    ¡°Is that the team¡¯s consensus?¡± Mormerilhawn correctly asked back, the rules requiring more than one teammate on the sidelines to surrender for a participating member.


    ;


    ¡°We yield.¡± Godwin confirmed.


    ;


    Iona threw the shield down in disgust, got off of Annora, and walked back to her side. She ignored the dirty look Annora was surely sending her way. Losing an adamantium blade? Annora was going to be screwed when she got back home and her family found out.


    ;


    ¡°Round 4, winner, Team Iona.¡± Mormerilhawn pronounced. ¡°Current points are 8-0 in favor of Team Iona.¡±


    ;


    Wooo! Loot! Selene crowed in Iona¡¯s ears.


    How much more do you think we can shake out of them? Lunaris wondered.


    Dibs on the next one! Selene called.


    Whoever gets it gets it. Lunaris was all prim and proper, completely betraying her words.


    ;


    Iona took stock of the situation. She was starting to feel a little light-headed. While Annora had been a crushing tactical victory, it had come with numerous benefits to the Rolland team. Namely, Iona had continued to leave a trail of blood all over the arena, and the fight had taken time. Enough time for Grimwald to regenerate some of his mana for the upcoming teamfight.


    ;


    ¡°I-O-NA! I-O-NA!¡± The crowd was chanting, celebrating her victory. Iona thrust a fist up in the air to the adoring crowd, and they loved it, cheering and screaming. The moons continued spotlighting her, showing off that she was the clear star of the show.


    ;


    I can¡¯t ever thank you two enough. Iona prayed.


    ;


    Well, win three more then say that! Selene laughingly reproached Iona.


    Don¡¯t worry about the teamfight. Lunaris reassured Iona.


    ;


    ¡°Rolland, please send your next contestant forward.¡± Mormerilhawn had been doing this a while. His voice and intonation was exactly the same each time.


    ;


    Godwin stepped forward.


    ;


    ¡°I must profess my profound disappointment in you and your order.¡± He sniffed before the match began. ¡°It was your duty to protect, shelter, and nourish, and you abdicated it entirely. I find it hard to believe¡­¡±


    ;


    Iona shot a pleading look - hidden behind her helmet - to Mormerilhawn, begging him to start the fight and shut up the sanctimonious idiot.


    ;


    That, and the blood loss was starting to get to her. She mentally readjusted her mallium, clamping down on the injury. She didn¡¯t need the Rolland team to win via stalling out.


    ;


    Mormerilhawn was no idiot.


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!¡± He declared, cutting straight through Godwin¡¯s speech.


    ;


    Iona had studied his skills, and her opponents were dwindling in number. She sent off a round dozen arrows Godwin¡¯s way, reloading and firing as quickly as she could.


    ;


    He wasn¡¯t wearing heavy armor, and he was focused on empowering others, not himself. The [Buffer] wasn¡¯t entirely defenseless, and his personal barrier flared as arrows hit it, the man trying to run and dodge out of the way.


    ;


    One, two, three, four arrows broke against it before the fifth punched through. The sixth missed him, but Iona had adjusted her aim as Godwin started to move. The rest quickly feathered him, and he crumpled in a spray of blood.


    ;


    ¡°YIELD!¡±


    ;


    ¡°WE SURRENDER!¡±


    ¡°WE GIVE UP!¡±


    ;


    His team was shouting and roaring, and Mormerilhawn promptly teleported him off the field. Iona wanted to shake her head.


    ;


    Supports. Best thing ever in the teamfight portion, a complete liability in the singles part. The current thinking had a single support on a team as optimal, but they were free wins as far as she was concerned.


    ;


    ¡°Round 5, winner, Team Iona.¡± Mormerilhawn pronounced. ¡°Current points are 10-0 in favor of Team Iona.¡±


    ;


    That was almost disappointing. Selene remarked.


    What were they thinking, sending him out now? Lunaris said.


    ;


    ¡°Rolland, please send your next contestant forward.¡±


    ;


    Annora¡¯s griffin stepped forward. Not as high-level as Annora herself, the beast still had solid levels. Iona noted that it was missing its usual armor, and she suspected the team weight limit had come to bite them.


    ;


    The griffin could breath fire though. Fire and Gale were its elements, and it had a strong anti-projectile skill. Arrows would be a waste.


    ;


    Iona frowned to herself. The only plan she could imagine was a powerful, decisive strike as the griffin dove onto her. With her glaive and stats, she was concerned that it would be an immediately lethal blow.


    ;


    The animal hadn¡¯t signed up for this fight. He hadn¡¯t asked for this.


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!¡±


    ;


    Iona took off sprinting for the fortress as the griffin, egged on by Annora, took to the skies. Iona leaped over the moat, climbed over the rubble that used to be the fort¡¯s walls, and jogged up the tower. She grabbed the waiting flag, and tied it to the pole.


    ;


    It looked terrible, but looks weren¡¯t the point.


    ;


    ¡°The fort¡¯s flag has been raised by Team Iona. Rolland has five minutes to contest before the round ends.¡± The Black Rose announced.


    ;


    Iona crouched down into a ready stance, hands on her glaive, slowly rotating to keep the griffin in sight. Blood pooled in her gauntlet, and Iona opened a tiny hole to let some of it out.


    ;


    The half-eagle, half-lion grabbed some of the boulders lying around and took off with them. He flew above Iona¡¯s head and dropped them down.


    ;


    She contemptuously side-stepped the attack with plenty of time left for it to keep falling, and gave a derisive snort at the awful attempt. The stalemate continued, the clock ticking in Iona¡¯s favor.


    ;


    ¡°One minute left until Team Iona¡¯s victory. Rolland, you must dislodge Team Iona from the tower in order to prevent their win.¡± The Black Rose clearly announced.


    ;


    The griffin shrieked, but Iona didn¡¯t break her stance. She didn¡¯t believe Annora¡¯s steed would just let it be, not with the advice she was yelling.


    ;


    ¡°Thirty seconds.¡± Mormerilhawn declared.


    ;


    The griffin, egged on by Annora, dive-bombed Iona. He had a skill relating to it, but Iona held firm, angling her glaive.


    ;


    He would either have to break off, or impale himself on Iona¡¯s weapon. She didn¡¯t want to potentially kill the griffin, but she wasn¡¯t going to pull her weapon either.


    ;


    His beak opened, and flames washed over Iona as he curved, unwilling to impale himself on her glaive. The temperature inside Iona¡¯s outfit jumped sharply and uncomfortably, but she held on.


    ;


    ¡°Victory! Team Iona! Rolland, please recall your member.¡± Mormerilhawn said.


    ;


    Boooooooo! Boring! I wanted a show! Selene complained.


    Stupid bird. Lunaris said.


    ;


    Iona walked back to her side, while the griffin returned to his.


    ;


    ¡°Round 6, winner, Team Iona.¡± Mormerilhawn pronounced. ¡°Current points are 12-0 in favor of Team Iona. Please send forward your last contestant.¡±


    ;


    Isabeau Lakewood stepped forward, and Iona tensed.


    ;


    Most nobles in Rolland were given extensive resources and opportunities as they grew up. The chance to level and learn under the best. Some of them took to it and succeeded, letting the System fulfill their full potential. Others squandered the opportunity, and were usually left on the side. Everyone sent by Rolland were people who¡¯d seized the opportunity and done well for themselves.


    ;


    Then there was Isabeau. She¡¯d taken the resources and opportunities, and done things with them. She¡¯d been hunting from an early age, and simply didn¡¯t stop, constantly going out to hunt bigger and bigger game, leveling the whole time. She would¡¯ve gone far in life, rising up to a high level, even if she started with nothing.


    ;


    She had started with far more than nothing.


    ;


    Iona looked over her stats and skill. Lakewood had fairly evenly distributed stats, working on both her skills and physical abilities. Nearly everything was dedicated towards hunting, and the majority of the skills transferred over to combat like this.


    ;


    There was an [Oath] that Iona couldn¡¯t exploit, but it couldn¡¯t be brought to bear against her either.


    ;


    The [Lady of the Hunt] clearly favored spears and arrows, although Iona would need to be careful with the [Instant Trap] skill. The [Apex Predator] could fire off powerful arrows, although Iona bet if she could get in close it¡¯d be over.


    ;


    Honestly, that was the case with all of Iona¡¯s fights. Get in close, and she won. Elric had been the only challenge in that respect, and he¡¯d been first.


    ;


    The [Bloodsoaked Stalker] had numerous concerning skills. [Prepared to Kill Everyone I Meet] was frankly alarming, and Iona was wondering if it was worth a quiet word with Prince Morgans after the event. [The Most Dangerous Game] further implied unsavory tactics, although it could be reasonably applied to the deadliest animals in the forest.


    ;


    She only had two skills relating to being a noble. [Blue Blood], the utterly useless skill that let [Nobles] identify each other, and [Polite].


    ;


    The rest were combat and hunting related. [Barbed Arrows]. [Penetrate]. [Instant Reload]. [Head Shot]. [Splinter Shot]. [Rapid Fire]. And so many more.


    ;


    Her bow was nearly as tall as she was, and her quiver had arrows that were closer to ballista bolts than the regular arrows most [Archers] used.


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!¡±


    ;


    Lakewood took a knee and began firing, each arrow as long as Iona¡¯s arm and as thick as her thumb. She was forcing Iona to sprint across the entire distance of the field under heavy fire.


    ;


    It was only going to take Iona a few seconds to make it across the entire field. Most of the time would be spent on accelerating, and Iona had no issues going though Issabeau if needed.


    ;


    At the same time, Lakewood¡¯s skills let her fire dozens of arrows per second, each [Rapid Fire] shot [Instantly Reloaded], then split into a multitude of arrows with [Splinter Shot]. It let the [Lady] fill the air with a storm of wood and metal, a deadly barrage Iona needed to endure.


    ;


    [Selene¡¯s Grace] wasn¡¯t going to cut it. It could slightly nudge the arrows out of the way, but they were reinforced with multiple skills, each one far higher level than [Selene¡¯s Grace] was.


    ;


    [Trick Shot] was fantastic. Iona unleashed arrow after arrow into the incoming barrage, one of her arrows striking the incoming bolts and fouling them into two more shots.


    ;


    Even with a three-to-one advantage, Lakewood was simply able to fill the air with more arrows than Iona could. The advantage of more skills dedicated to a single art.


    ;


    Not all of Lakewoods shots behaved the way Iona expected them to, different skills on different arrows causing a chaotic barrage. Iona fired a [Blizzard Shot] into the storm of arrows, hoping the changing conditions would send them off course.


    ;


    The Valkyrie¡¯s honed reflexes helped her snatch an arrow out of the air, a fraction of an inch away from her faceplate. She twisted to dodge a second one, a third arrow glanced off her armor, but a fourth one thudded into Iona¡¯s chest, [Penetrate] helping pierce Iona¡¯s gear.


    ;


    Iona wasn¡¯t a healer. She didn¡¯t have perfect anatomy knowledge like her girlfriend did. The arrow might¡¯ve clipped her lung, it might not have. Either way, it wasn¡¯t a through and through, and Iona didn¡¯t let it stop her. She kept racing towards the [Lady], intent on finishing the fight sooner rather than later. Iona repositioned her shield, protecting her head and chest.


    ;


    As Iona got closer, she had less and less time to react to each arrow, and more and more skills came into play. She took an arrow in her arm, two in her gut, then one more in her shoulder. Arrows punched through her shield, but lost enough power and bounced harmlessly off her helmet. More arrows glanced off her armor, denting it or ripping pieces off. [Allure of Winter] kept the pain at bay, letting her keep moving.


    ;


    The skill didn¡¯t stop mechanical issues, and Iona took an arrow in the thigh, knee, and shin. Bones broke, and Iona was forced to clamp her armor down like a makeshift splint.


    ;


    And kept going.


    ;


    Every footprint was filled with blood as the unstoppable juggernaut charged, yelling and screaming. Arrows flew fast and thick, the [Apex Predator] realizing she wasn¡¯t going to make it, and backing up, trying to get a little more space.


    ;


    Hoping Iona would fall before reaching her.


    ;


    Nothing could dissuade the makeshift pincushion from her goal though. Death or victory, there was no middle ground for Iona. Not when her goal was so close. Not when she could taste victory.


    ;


    Not when Elaine was watching.


    ;


    Not when the goddesses had spotlighted her for half the world to see.


    ;


    A half-dozen more arrows slammed into Iona¡¯s body, puncturing through her armor.


    ;


    The Valkyrie was slowing. Bleeding profusely, internally and out. Half her organs were shutting down, ripped in half with metal barbs stuck in them.


    ;


    Iona had no time to be playing nice. Her glaive came down like divine judgment, splitting the [Lady of the Hunt] in half from her shoulder to her groin.


    ;


    She instantly collapsed, her eyes rolling up into her head, and Iona stepped forward to finish her off.


    ;


    Instead, Iona blinked as the world shifted around her, and she appeared in a sterile white room filled with shimmering shields and white-clad [Healers] with a faint pop.


    ;


    Healing magic washed over her, the arrows falling out of her like a tree shedding autumn leaves. Iona jerked back, turning the executioner¡¯s blow she had been about to perform into an awkward move. Her heart fell into her boots.


    ;


    She¡¯d been so close. Being teleported out meant the round was over, the [Judge] having made his decision.


    ;


    Mormerilhawn teleported in a moment later. He cleared his throat, and projected his voice.


    ;


    ¡°I have executed my discretion as the [Judge] to determine the winner of the Rolland vs Team Iona round, in order to preserve the lives of the contestants. Round 7, winner, Team Iona. Current points are 14-0 in favor of Team Iona. Team Iona has won the singles portion of the match.¡± He declared.


    ;


    [*ding!* [Skybound Paladin of the Moons] leveled up! 130 -> 180. +70 Strength, +70 Dexterity, +112 Vitality, +70 Speed, +60 Mana, +60 Mana Regeneration, +140 Magic Power, +140 Magic Control from your class! +1 Free Stat for being Mostly Human! +1 Mana, +1 Vitality from your Element!]


    ;


    Iona ignored the rest of her level up notifications, shooting her fists up in a triumphant roar, not caring that her glaive went through the ceiling.


    [Name: Iona]


    [Race: Mostly Human]


    [Age: 26]


    [Mana: 254200/254200]


    [Mana Regen: 162,508]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 350]


    [Strength: 45,488 +(579,972)]


    [Dexterity: 45,488 +(579,972)]


    [Vitality: 83,114 +(216,096)]


    [Speed: 50,675 +(646,106)]


    [Mana: 25,420]


    [Mana Regeneration: 51,702]


    [Magic Power: 33,236]


    [Magic Control: 33,236]


    [Class 1: [The Dusk Valkyrie - Celestial: Lv 520]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 520]


    [New Moon''s Dance: 520]


    [Weapon Mastery: 520]


    [Strength from the Stars: 520]


    [Star-Forged: 520]


    [Strike of the Twin Moons: 165]


    [As Steady as the Stars: 130]


    [Gaze of the Galaxy: 520]


    [Class 2: [Traveling Archer - Ice: Lv 420]]


    [Ice Authority: 420]


    [Shortbow Skills: 420]


    [Blizzard Shot: 420]


    [Allure of Winter: 420]


    [Trick Shot: 420]


    [Weaknesses: 420]


    [Glacial Slow: 420]


    [Frost Wyvern''s Fang: 420]


    [Class 3: [Skybound Paladin of the Moons - Gravity: Lv 180]]


    [Gravity Affinity: 180]


    [Telekinesis: 180]


    [Lunaris''s Gaze: 180]


    [Lunar Mass: 180]


    [Flight of the Valkyries: 180]


    [Grasp of the Moon: 180]


    [Selene''s Grace: 180]


    [Harmony of the Spheres: 180]


    General Skills


    [Spicy Drawing: 264]


    [Valkyries Valor: 520]


    [Adaptable and Flexible: 385]


    [Relentless Pursuit: 288]


    [Vow of Iona to Lux: 425]


    [Social Lubricant: 262]


    [Determined Education: 380]


    [Companion Bond Between Iona and Fenrir: 256]


    Other


    Blessing of Selene and Lunaris

 Chapter 393 - The Gladiator Gauntlet IX

    I released [Channeled Blink] as Iona was teleported off the field. Rules and regulations be damned, I wasn¡¯t going to let anyone die in front of me. Mormerilhawn was on top of his game, teleporting Iona and the archer out to the waiting healers the instant before I was going to unleash my skill, bypassing the arena¡¯s barrier and blasting them both with heals.


    ;


    That had been way too close.


    ;


    ¡°Round 7 winner¡­¡± Mormerilhawn was cool and competent. That wasn¡¯t to say he didn¡¯t know what the current score was, and how teleporting out both competitors at the same time looked. We were all hanging onto his every word, waiting to see who the winner of the singles segment was.


    ;


    And he knew it, giving the crowd a moment to work itself up.


    ;


    ¡°Team Iona! Current points are 14-0 in favor of Team Iona! Rolland no longer has combatants for the singles portion of the team event, and we will now move onto the team fight portion.¡±


    ;


    He teleported away on the last word.


    ;


    It was a day of miracles. It was a literal miracle that the goddesses intervened, and an even bigger one that Iona had somehow won, against all odds. Okay, maybe that one wasn¡¯t such a miracle, I had faith in her. I was on my feet, cheering with everyone else. Underdog stories were popular. Just about everyone liked the story of the plucky [Knight] showing up a bunch of nobles.


    ;


    I split my mind with [Parallel Thoughts]. One kept cheering, while looking at Auri and Fenrir, waiting for Iona to show up again, while the other started to work on a magic mandala.


    ;


    Shame I couldn¡¯t say anything to Shirayuki about not letting Iona into our team. She had helped quite a bit with Iona, and her reasoning made too much sense at the time.


    ;


    The columns of light from the moons were still active, moving around, letting everyone know where Iona was. Right now, she was in one of the medical rooms, buried in the stadium, and the moonbeams were slowly marching along the stands as Iona steadily made her way back out to the field.


    ;


    The reaction to being in the moonbeams was mixed. Most people didn¡¯t care, occasionally having a minor elated look to be in the spotlight for a moment, or a disappointed look when the light didn¡¯t do anything for them. Some fearfully jumped out of the way, not wanting to risk the touch of the divine, and a few lunatics pushed and shoved their way just for the chance to touch the light.


    ;


    Iona walked out the door a few moments after I finished composing my mandalas, and with a thought, a dramatic wave, and [Lepidoptera], I slammed a blinding array of Radiance into being in front of myself, empowering it. The runes glowed, and bright letters formed above them.


    ;


    Iona, the Dusk Valkyrie!


    ;


    I had a fancy crackle of explosive noises going off, which was entirely lost as the crowd collectively lost their damn minds again.


    ;


    I was in no position to criticize. I was up against the wall to the arena, screaming myself hoarse with the rest of them.


    ;


    ¡°What a show! What an incredible performance by Iona, the Dusk Valkyrie!¡± The [Announcer¡¯s] voice magically cut through the din, perfectly hearable without being shouty or loud. ¡°That was only the singles section! Iona hasn¡¯t participated in a single team fight so far, but it sounds like she¡¯s got quite the grudge against the Rolland team! Will Iona fight? It¡¯d be some moonshot if she managed to beat them all! ¡±


    ;


    Iona bowed her head, her hair waving in the non-existent breeze. Fenrir snaked his armored neck forward, nuzzling her. The Rolland team was huddled up, discussing.


    ;


    The distance, the noise of the crowd, and how quietly they were talking didn¡¯t matter to my new and improved senses. I could pick their conversation out, and eavesdrop no problem.


    ;


    Heck, I could even tell that two of them smelled an awful lot like each other, and from what I knew of the Rolland nobility, that would be something of a scandal if it came to light.


    ;


    ¡°... we fight. The Valkyrie struggled against myself and [Lady] Isabeau, and just the two of us together could probably win. That¡¯s before [Lady] Annora comes into play, and the rest of us.¡± Prince Elric said.


    ;


    ¡°We¡¯ve lost the round, but we can exit with good grace. Being at the absolute bottom of the ranking would be humiliating. Even the Lithos team got two points!¡± Annora agreed.


    ;


    ¡°Shields on though.¡± Isabeau shuddered. I wasn¡¯t too surprised that she was advocating for them, given how she¡¯d just been sliced in half. That tended to refocus and sharpen one¡¯s perspective on safety equipment and life.


    ;


    Mormerilhawn teleported back to the field. An opaque barrier appeared in the middle of the arena, hiding what the two teams were doing from each other.


    ;


    ¡°Contestants. 30 seconds until the teamfight begins.¡± Mormerilhawn declared. Iona started to climb up onto Fenrir¡¯s back, getting her weapons sorted. Auri flew onto his head, the three of them clearly planning to act in concert.


    ;


    I didn¡¯t have much hope for Fenrir or Auri to make a large difference in the fight. The two of them were still 256.


    ;


    The seats around me shifted and warped, leaving me sitting on my own in the stands.


    ;


    One moment there was nothing but air. The next, two beings were next to me. Their very presence screamed in [The World Around Me], a twisted otherworldly distortion that made me want to put an ice pick through my eye. They were impossible to begin comprehending, they-


    ;


    I turned off [The World Around Me], and life snapped back into focus. Two women were on either side of me, unfolding chairs. One was in a dress of pastel blues, the other in light yellow¡­ sundress had to be the wrong word, must be a moondress.


    ;


    [*ding!* [The World Around Me] leveled up! 36 -> 37]


    [*ding!* [The World Around Me] leveled up! 37 -> 38]


    ¡­.


    ;


    [*ding!* [The World Around Me] leveled up! 55 -> 56]


    [*ding!* [The World Around Me] leveled up! 56 -> 57]


    ;


    Joy. I could only hope the levels were due to witnessing the divine, and not because I was in massive amounts of danger.


    ;


    I¡¯d love to turn the skill back on, and rapidly acquire levels, but I was genuinely concerned of going utterly insane. Mortal minds were not meant to gaze directly into the faces of gods. My skin was prickling, and I was starting to sweat.


    ;


    They set up in an impossibly short amount of time, lounging on their chairs, feet propped up on a footstool, and a pair of parasols shading them. Not that they needed shade from the sun, they¡¯d already moved a fucking moon to block it!


    ;


    Selene and Lunaris had come down to watch the games.


    ;


    ¡°Fire.¡± Selene pointed at Iona, whose armor and weapons erupted with divine flames. She startled a bit as her equipment began to harmlessly burn.


    ;


    Well, it was harmless for her. I did hear Auri¡¯s shriek of appreciation all the way across the field.


    ;


    ¡°Food.¡± Lunaris pointed into the crowd, at one of the vendors. A pair of beer mugs and a half-dozen snacks zipped into her hands, entirely ignoring whatever anti-theft skills the seller might¡¯ve had¡­ and the arena¡¯s famous shield. She handed one¡­ over? Through? Behind? Me to Selene, then looked out at the field.


    ;


    ¡°Yellow? Oooooh, no no no, we can¡¯t have that.¡± She tutted. ¡°Blue!¡± Lunaris pointed her finger at Iona¡¯s divine flames, their color changing from a deep gold into a blazing blue.


    ;


    ¡°What! That color was great!¡± Selene protested. ¡°Gems.¡± She pointed at the poor robbed vendor, a small torrent of glittering gems falling out of the sky, onto his tray.


    ;


    He grabbed what he could and started to try and make his way out of the crowd as more people dove for the falling money. A dozen vendors changed path, angling towards us, hoping to get some of the divine bounty.


    ;


    ¡°Iona¡¯s color is blue. It¡¯s always been blue.¡± Lunaris primly replied.


    ;


    I just stood there and sweated as the goddesses bickered over my head. Somehow. Even though I was standing and they were sitting on either side of me.


    ;


    ¡°Contestants. Five seconds until the teamfight begins.¡± Mormerilhawn was eyeing the goddesses warily.


    ;


    ¡°It¡¯s about to start!¡± Lunaris rapidly patted Selene¡¯s arm. ¡°Mana.¡± She pointed at Iona.


    ;


    ¡°Four.¡±


    ;


    ¡°I can see that! Also, mana? Iona¡¯s not going to notice she¡¯s got unlimited mana.¡± Selene said.


    ;


    ¡°Three.¡±


    ;


    ¡°I know. That¡¯s what makes it funny.¡± Lunaris sounded way too pleased with herself.


    ;


    I somehow both heard and smelled Selene rolling her eyes as she took a swig of her questionably-acquired beer.


    ;


    ¡°Two.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Disintegration.¡± She pointed her finger at Rolland¡¯s team, and my heart jumped into my throat. I looked over, starting to breathe again as Isabeau simply looked shocked and despondent about losing her bow, instead of the goddesses having annihilated one of the competitors or something.


    ;


    A hue and cry went up at that.


    ;


    ¡°Match pause!¡± Mormerilhawn aborted his countdown, teleporting over to us. He fearlessly looked up at the goddesses.


    ;


    ¡°I must insist that you refrain from any further interference in the match.¡± He was polite, but firm. ¡°Divinely assisting your chosen is one matter, but directly fiddling with the opposition can not be tolerated. Any further interference, and I will need to eject you from the match.¡±


    ;


    The two goddesses looked at each other and laughed.


    ;


    ¡°It¡¯d be funny to see you try¡­¡± Lunaris said.


    ;


    ¡°But we¡¯ll stay out of it! Somewhat.¡± Selene took another long draft of her beer. ¡°Should we?¡±


    ;


    Lunaris didn¡¯t answer, instead the two goddesses shifting, standing to either side of Mormerilhawn. The elf was cold and cool in the face of overwhelming power, and they each put a hand on his shoulders.


    ;


    ¡°See cheaters!¡± They decreed in unison, and Mormerilhawn¡¯s eye twitched.


    ;


    ¡°Shoo.¡± He swatted at the goddesses like they were mosquitoes, and the two shifted back to their seats.


    ;


    I was continuing to keep very quiet, and as still as I could. I didn¡¯t imagine for a moment that them appearing to either side of me, while shifting the rest of the crowd away, was any sort of coincidence. Not with my close relationship to Iona, and their patronage of the woman.


    ;


    And I was a little good at putting my foot in my mouth. Hard to commit linguistic cannibalism if my mouth stayed shut. Actually, could I cast [Mute] on myself?


    ;


    I spun out a [Parallel Thought] to work on that.


    ;


    [*ding!* [Parallel Thought] leveled up! 29 -> 30]


    [*ding!* [Parallel Thought] leveled up! 30 -> 31]


    ;


    Oh fuck me sideways. I canceled trying to figure out how to cast [Mute] on myself, and went all-in on analyzing the situation, applying every single bit of what I¡¯d learned in my life and read in books towards figuring out what the fuck I did next.


    ;


    Mormerilhawn touched his vest again, his voice amplified once again, booming through the stadium.


    ;


    ¡°I have unfortunately been compromised by an unavoidable gift given by one of the parties involved in the match.¡± His voice was impressively neutral. ¡°The match will continue to be paused until a new [Referee] is located.¡±


    ;


    Given the sheer quantity of [Referees] they had running the events here, and that we were literally the center of attention, there was a new [Referee] on the field before Mormerilhawn had even finished speaking.


    ;


    ¡°Contestants. 30 seconds until the teamfight begins.¡± He promptly stated, and the two teams tensed. Fenrir began an awkward, galloping run in the section they were allowed to roam in, flapping his wings and taking off right before the end of the section.


    ;


    ¡°Drink?¡± Selene somehow offered me a mug from a perfectly reasonable angle, in spite of being behind me and to my side.


    ;


    I mentally discarded the how as ¡®divine shenanigans¡¯, and worked overtime on figuring out how I should react.


    ;


    Polite offer of a beverage. Known person giving it to me, extremely unlikely to be spiked. Healing would purge any mundane toxin, before my abnormal biology is factored in. Safe to accept. Social norms dictate I accept it, thank them for their generosity, and take a sip.


    ;


    ¡°Thank you.¡± My voice came out far more mechanically than I¡¯d hoped, and I took a polite sip.


    ;


    I wanted to spit it out, and spray beer across the field. I hadn¡¯t tasted anything so foul since drinking Aegion¡¯s ill-advised experiments!


    ;


    ¡°Awww, no spit-take.¡± Lunaris sounded disappointed.


    ;


    What?


    ;


    ¡°She¡¯s far too polite and careful.¡± I could practically see Selene sticking her tongue out at Lunaris.


    ;


    ¡°Contestants! Begin!¡± The [Referee] yelled, dropping the veil between the two teams. Where had the time gone!?


    ;


    ¡°Wooo! Go Iona!¡± The two goddesses cheered in unison, a pair of goofy little flags popping up in their hands. They vigorously waved them, cheering on their [Paladin] with gusto.


    ;


    Selene and Lunaris were bantering about me. They were clearly close. I was an outsider. They wanted something with me. I could interject into their conversation, but it might be rude. They had just criticized me for being too polite. Perhaps the most polite option was the incorrect one. Maybe¡­


    ;


    ¡°So, what are your intentions with our [Paladin]?¡± Lunaris¡¯s voice was unexpectedly serious, the question clearly directed at me.


    ;


    Elaine.MANDALA has encountered a critical error.


    ;


    ¡°Buh, uhhh¡­ cuddles, kisses, and massages? Moonlit walks? I guess?¡± I stuttered out as Fenrir and Annora, mounted on her griffin, charged at each other in the sky. Annora and Iona both had lances out, although Fenrir¡¯s long neck was a massive liability in the clash that was about to occur.


    ;


    ¡°Hmmmm¡­¡± Lunaris trailed off with an unhappy tone.


    ;


    ¡°Tut tut. Cuddles and kisses? That doesn¡¯t sound very serious at all.¡± Selene said. ¡°What are you planning to do for work?¡±


    ;


    How did they not know that?


    ;


    Actually. Who cared why they were asking, time to perform. Without stuttering. Or having bad answers. Short and sweet might be best here¡­? I¡¯m not sure if they cared too much about money, or social status, or anything like that.


    ;


    Uh. What did they care about? Knowing that would make this so much easier.


    ;


    ¡°Healing people.¡± I answered.


    ;


    ¡°Are you religious?¡± Lunaris asked, and the interrogation was on.


    ;


    It was surreal watching Iona fight while the goddesses interrogated me. One moment Grimwald was unleashing a torrent of flames at Auri - a stupider move I couldn¡¯t imagine, as she effortlessly seized control of them all and sent them back at him with a derisive brrrpt - and the next, I was being asked if I had any plans for children by a goddess.


    ;


    I got to watch Fenrir blasting the grounded team with Lightning and Ice coming from his mouth, while hearing Lunaris handle petitioners at the same time she was asking me questions.


    ;


    ¡°Would you say you like books or Iona more?¡±


    ;


    Well, shit. The easy, obvious answer was Iona. That¡¯s what they wanted me to say, that¡¯s what I felt. But what if they thought it was a lie? Wait, they could see lies, couldn¡¯t they?


    ;


    I was back in full overthinking mode as Iona realized she had unlimited mana, and unleashed a torrent of [Blizzard Shot] from up high, blinding most of the audience and attempting to bury and freeze solid the Rolland team. Most of them vanished under the onslaught, and I could hear Auri complaining about all the ¡®bad water¡¯ and ¡®nobody could appreciate her in these conditions¡¯.


    ;


    Honestly, letting Auri into this event was a mistake. Her ego was going to get way too big, and she was going to get more ¡®second Triumph¡¯ ideas.


    ;


    ¡°What do you think about Iona¡¯s math skills?¡±


    ;


    Finally, an easy one!


    ;


    ¡°Oh, they suck.¡± I heard the words slip out of my mouth, my eyes widening in horror. No! I had been so careful until now to keep the filter between my brain and my mouth intact!


    ;


    The two goddesses just burst into laughter at that one.


    ;


    ¡°Oooh, she¡¯s finally fun!¡± Lunaris clapped her hands in delight.


    ;


    ¡°Yes! Alright Elaine, when are you going to propose to Iona?¡± Selene asked.


    ;


    ¡°Buh?¡± I responded stupidly, her question short-circuting me again. ¡°Propose?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Yes, propose. When you ask someone to marry you. I thought you were the smart one!¡± Lunaris teased me.


    ;


    ¡°Oh, stop teasing the poor girl, she¡¯s trying so hard to impress us.¡± Selene fussed. ¡°Elaine, don¡¯t worry too much. We¡¯re already here for the show, and decided to say hi while we¡¯re at it.¡±


    ;


    ¡°CUT HER IN HALF ALREADY!¡± Lunaris yelled to Iona. ¡°Why do you think we empowered your weapons?!¡±


    ;


    Iona was far too disciplined to flinch, instead taking Lunaris¡¯s advice and carving through Annora¡¯s adamantium armor.


    ;


    Oooooh, that was going to be expensive, even for a duchy. Annora was so screwed, between losing the heirloom weapon and now her armor getting sliced apart.


    ;


    ¡°No pressure on the marriage thing. When you¡¯re ready, you¡¯re ready. Don¡¯t worry, we¡¯ll handle all the arrangements!¡± Selene cheerfully gave me a new nightmare.


    ;


    At the same time, I could relax a bit.


    ;


    ¡°Oh, we¡¯ll just elope then.¡± I flippantly responded. The Rolland team was down to just the Shining Prince, effortlessly cutting through Auri¡¯s [I am the Brrrettiest] skill. Iona was flying high on Fenrir, peppering the prince with an endless barrage of arrows. Some were getting through, and it¡¯d only be a matter of time before he was teleported out.


    ;


    Iona¡¯s victory was near.


    ;


    I saw the divine blue flames gather around Auri, the little bird having figured out the trick of stealing the goddesses¡¯s fire. She launched it as a tiny, spinning fireball into the mess.


    ;


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Butterfly Mystic] has leveled up to level 444->446! +8 Strength, +8 Dexterity, +70 Speed, +70 Vitality, +70 Mana, +70 Mana Regen, +70 Magic power, +70 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen, +1 Magic power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Strength, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    [*ding!* [Radiance Affinity] leveled up! 444 -> 446]


    [*ding!* [Radiance Resistance] leveled up! 444 -> 446]


    [*ding!* [Nova Lance] leveled up! 444 -> 446]


    [*ding!* [Lepidoptera] leveled up! 444 -> 446]


    [*ding!* [Nectar] leveled up! 444 -> 446]


    [*ding!* [Solar Corona] leveled up! 444 -> 446]


    [*ding!* [Scintillating Ascent] leveled up! 444 -> 446]


    [*ding!* [Kaleidoscope] leveled up! 444 -> 446]


    ;


    And that little stunt had been worth two levels. In the mid 400¡¯s.


    ;


    Yikes.


    ;


    Soon, Auri would be leveling me, instead of the other way around! It was exciting, I had more than enough of not leveling [The Dawn Sentinel].


    ;


    The two goddesses'' heads snapped in the same direction, vaguely east and upwards, Lunaris¡¯s twisting unnaturally far.


    ;


    ¡°That¡¯s our cue.¡± Lunaris grimly said.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine, it¡¯s been wonderful chatting with you. One last note I¡¯d like to leave on.¡± Selene was speaking quickly, right on the edge of what I could understand.


    ;


    ¡°Many, many, many people get the impression that just because we, or another god, favor a mortal, that we¡¯ll constantly intervene. Press our fingers on the scale, keep them safe.¡±


    ;


    ¡°It¡¯s not true.¡± Lunaris took over. ¡°Please understand, we do not care if Iona dies. It simply means she goes from enjoying her time on Pallos, to joining us as an angel.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Much easier for her to visit!¡± Selene said. ¡°She¡¯ll always be with us. We can¡¯t wait for the day to come.¡±


    ;


    ¡°We wouldn¡¯t do anything like hasten her demise.¡± Lunaris said. ¡°But we¡¯re not going to bail her out of trouble.¡±


    ;


    ¡°This isn¡¯t trouble. This is important to her¡­ and look at all the new worshippers we¡¯ve gotten!¡± Selene was practically salivating as she gestured around the arena.


    ;


    She was right. Already I was seeing dozens, if not hundreds, of symbols of the goddesses, and more than a few people were on their knees or bowing, worshiping them. One enterprising vendor had already managed to get copies of the little flags Iona¡¯s patrons had been waving, and was doing brisk business selling them.


    ;


    ¡°Rolland has no contestants left on the field. Victory in the teamfight portion, Team Iona! Final score of 25-0!¡± The [Referee] announced to an adoring crowd.


    ;


    ¡°Yes! Go Iona!¡± Selene cheered, jumping to her feet and waving.


    ;


    ¡°Enough chitchat. It was wonderful meeting you, goodbye.¡± Lunaris said, and without further ado, the goddesses were simply gone.


    ;


    Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s illusions snapped back over the moons, and they started to drift through the sky again, baleful eyes staring down at us.


    ;


    I looked up at them, spotting a distant figure high up in the sky.


    ;


    My eyes let me pick out her iridescent black scales.


    ;


    She circled as hundreds of powerful auras snapped into place, the effect rapidly cascading as more and more people noticed what was going on and turned on their effects. The air began to feel stifling and cloying.


    ;


    The Stygian Deceiver circled once.


    ;


    Twice.


    ;


    Then left.


    ;

 Chapter 394 - The Gladiator Gauntlet X

    ¡°Three cheers for Iona!¡± I shouted as the Valkyrie entered the School¡¯s living room. After today, all of the School¡¯s teams had competed at least once. Shirayuki had gotten a whole feast arranged for us.


    ;


    With a single exception, the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft¡¯s teams and contestants, regardless of category, had successfully won their first round. Granted a few events had enough time to have had several rounds go already¡­ but the idea was the same.


    ;


    Iona wasn¡¯t a member of a School team, but she¡¯d come with the School, and after today? I had to imagine everyone here was bragging as hard as they could that Iona was a member of the School, basking in the cast-off glory of her stunning victory.


    ;


    The cynical part of me wanted to say that if she¡¯d lost, the same people would quickly claim that while she attended the School, she wasn¡¯t a member of any of the official teams.


    ;


    I squashed that part, and tried to just enjoy the party.


    ;


    One of the more outgoing members of the under-100 team coordinated the cheers.


    ;


    ¡°Hip hip!¡± He shouted.


    ;


    ¡°Hurray!¡± The rest of us roared.


    ;


    ¡°Hip hip!¡±


    ;


    ¡°Hurray!¡±


    ;


    ¡°HIP HIP!¡±


    ¡°HURRAY!¡±


    ;


    Everyone politely piled onto Iona, slapping her back and handing her drinks. She wisely grabbed two of them, fending off further attempts by showing people her full hands, and the party was on.


    ;


    There were almost 200 of us in total across all of the School¡¯s teams. Add in that nobody partied like students did, the endless delicacies - and wholesale beer - that the fauns were busy marking up and selling to everyone, and a nearly unlimited budget?


    ;


    We threw one hell of a party.


    ;


    ;


    [The World Around Me] was fantastic for waking up. I didn¡¯t need to crack my eyes open. I didn¡¯t need to look around in confusion to see what was going on, and get a picture of¡­ well¡­ [The World Around Me].


    ;


    The skill didn¡¯t tell me how things had happened. Why was Auri hanging by a foot from the ceiling? Why were some of her flames weird? Why was there a pyramid of fruit pits on a desk? And why was Iona¡¯s mallium armor shaped like that!?


    ;


    On one hand, I didn¡¯t have a hangover because of my new and improved biology. On the other, I hadn¡¯t quite internalized that I was now a super lightweight. Half a drink and I was toast. Something I hadn¡¯t quite considered - with my thicker blood, it took much longer for the alcohol to hit me, and when I kept going¡­


    ;


    It was a good thing I was in a safe environment, with people who would look after me, and my own healing could instantly purge the alcohol from my system if I wanted to.


    ;


    Some things were blessedly normal. Iona was snoring away next to me. We had blankets on, in roughly the right position. I¡¯d liberated the proper number of pillows for myself from my lover. There were approximately the right number of clothes in the room.


    ;


    There were no events today. I snuggled deeper into the blankets, spooning against Iona - the backpack - closed my eyes, buried my nose in her scented hair, and went back to sleep.


    ;


    ;


    I slowly stirred awake, getting an excellent view of Iona doing her morning stretches.


    ;


    ¡°Morning.¡± I yawned, shuffling over in bed. It was so comfortable, I just didn¡¯t want to leave.


    ;


    ¡°The mighty pharaoh awakens!¡± Iona teased me.


    ;


    Another nifty thing with [The World Around Me] was I could see my face without a mirror. I had a charcoal stain on my chin for some reason.


    ;


    It bugged me, on some deep instinctive level. It was wrong for it to be on my face. I furiously scrubbed at it, not caring that a pillow was a casualty.


    ;


    ¡°Okay. Pause. Back up. What happened last night?¡± I asked Iona. I hadn¡¯t been around for all the misadventures, and while I could easily consult [Astral Archives], there was something about hearing the story, and trying to piece it together that was fun.


    ;


    She grinned savagely at me.


    ;


    ¡°It all started with Auri getting into a keg, and everyone encouraging her.¡±


    ;


    I could just imagine Auri getting drunk. She was a little gluttonous - totally not my fault, no matter what her companion skill said - and was a featherweight at best.


    ;


    ¡°How are we in a bed, and not in a pile of ashes?¡± I asked.


    ;


    ¡°Well, you see¡­¡± Iona finished her stretches and sat down next to me on the bed. I idly rubbed her leg while she regaled me about last night¡¯s misadventures.


    ;


    ¡°... and when we pointed out that making a throne and sitting on it was high treason, and nobody here would be happy, you switched gears, and declared yourself a pharaoh. The fruit pharaoh. Then you started rummaging through the trash, and¡­ tada, the mighty fruit-pip pyramid. We¡¯ll be sure to embalm you with mango juice when you die, oh wisest ruler.¡± Iona teased me.


    ;


    ¡°No. There¡¯s no way I did that.¡± I protested, finally consulting [Astral Archive].


    ;


    My face fell as Iona¡¯s grin grew wider.


    ;


    ¡°Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.¡± I dove back under the pillows, covering my head.


    ;


    It was true.


    ;


    It was all true.


    ;


    And¡­


    ;


    ¡°Auri classed up!? While drunk!?!¡± I practically shrieked.


    ;


    Oh no. Oh no oh no oh no.


    ;


    I looked up at Auri, and cast [Long Range Identify].


    ;


    [Mage - 456].


    ;


    A quick check confirmed my companion bond skill had leveled up as well. Maybe that¡¯s why the charcoal on my face had bothered me so much? A huge spike in my bond-influenced vanity?


    ;


    I needed to figure out if being drunk impacted classing up or not. What happened if I wasn¡¯t entirely sober inside my own soul? I imagined nothing would change¡­ but I could also believe my guide would be just as drunk as I was.


    ;


    ¡°Please tell me she got something good.¡± I asked Iona. She whistled.


    ;


    ¡°Yeah. [Phoenix of the Divine Flame]. Look at her flames.¡± The Valkyrie pointed at Auri, still slowly spinning from one foot on the ceiling.


    ;


    I looked, and after Iona pointed it out to me, I figured out what the weirdness with parts of Auri¡¯s flames - her body - was.


    ;


    They were the same type of divine fire Selene and Lunaris had granted Iona during the fight. The same ones Auri had seized and used for herself.


    ;


    ¡°Okay, she probably picked a good class.¡± I allowed. Should I start calling her Promethea?


    ;


    Iona¡¯s eyes briefly unfocused and refocused.


    ;


    ¡°It¡¯s not a goddess-blessed class.¡± She sounded surprised. ¡°Just a very good one. Probably. I don¡¯t remember what her stats were earlier.¡±


    ;


    I was briefly tempted to make a joke about Iona not doing the math properly anyways, but no. That would be too mean. I did send off a quick prayer of thanks to the moon goddesses, figuring that they deserved some credit for Iona¡¯s win and Auri¡¯s fantastic class. Then I changed the topic with all the subtlety of a brick thrown through a window.


    ;


    ¡°Hey, how are you feeling?¡± I asked her.


    ;


    ¡°I know how to hold my alcohol.¡± She teased me, ruffling my hair. Goddesses, that felt good. She knew how to hit just the right spots. I popped back up.


    ;


    ¡°No, I meant about yesterday. Rolland. Beating them, and winning.¡± I clarified.


    ;


    ¡°Ah.¡± Iona said, going quiet. Her fingers subtly twitched as we sat in silence. She took a deep breath.


    ;


    ¡°I feel¡­ empty, mostly.¡± She said. ¡°It was incredibly satisfying in the moment, but exactly zero of my problems got fixed. I still don¡¯t know what I¡¯m doing next. I don¡¯t know what happened with the Valkyries. Heck, there¡¯s a chance I¡¯ve made things worse by embarrassing Rolland like this. I look back and ask¡­ what was the point?¡±


    ;


    Iona despondently stared out into space.


    ;


    I squeezed her hand.


    ;


    ¡°I know what the point was.¡± I tenderly, softly said.


    ;


    ¡°What?¡± Iona asked.


    ;


    ¡°Petty revenge!¡± I beamed at her with an unrepentant grin.


    ;


    Iona¡¯s mouth slowly widened into a grin, then she cracked up laughing. I joined in, and the tension vanished.


    ;


    ¡°I guess you could call it that!¡± Iona roared, quickly ending up in a good mood.


    ;


    ¡°Plus, the thing with your goddesses had to be good for you, right? You got to show them off in front of the entire world!¡±


    ;


    Iona jumped out of bed and started pacing around our little room.


    ;


    ¡°Yes. That was¡­¡± She trailed off, a dreamy look on her face, her fingers moving like she was looking for the right words.


    ;


    ¡°Indescribable?¡± I suggested.


    ;


    Iona twirled around and snapped her fingers at me.


    ;


    ¡°Yes! That¡¯s it! Exactly!¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrrpt?¡± A sleepy Auri wanted to know why we were walking on the ceiling.


    ;


    ¡°Auri, you¡¯re upside down.¡± I said.


    ;


    ¡°BRRRPT!¡± She protested the impossibility of the situation.


    ;


    ¡°What do you think is more likely? The humans on the ceiling and the bird on the floor, or the mighty phoenix in the sky, and the puny humans on the ground?¡± Iona asked Auri.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡± Auri liked Iona¡¯s logic. ¡°Brrrpt, brrpt brpt.¡±


    ;


    I facepalmed.


    ;


    ¡°Auri, I¡¯ve already made a nest with Iona. So to speak.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡±


    ;


    ¡°No, I am not making a bigger nest!¡± I protested as Iona started to laugh.


    ;


    ¡°You losing an argument to a bird with a brain the size of your pinky will never stop being funny.¡± She said.


    ;


    ¡°Yeah, yeah¡­¡± I complained as Auri freed herself.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± She shot off to get breakfast.


    ;


    ¡°How are you feeling about the Valkyries? Now that you¡¯ve had some time to process.¡± I asked Iona. I hadn¡¯t wanted to poke and prod when it was fresh, and when Iona was heaven-bent on exacting revenge.


    ;


    She sat down heavily next to me, an explosive breath leaving her.


    ;


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± She admitted. ¡°I know we¡¯ve been putting off the ¡®future¡¯ talk, but now it¡¯s even more up in the air.¡±


    ;


    We had, by mutual unspoken agreement, not talked about what was going to happen with us after the School. The [Oracle] did not have a good forecast for us¡­ not that they could be trusted in the first place. It looked like we were, surprise surprise, doing it now.


    ;


    What would Iona say? The irony of thinking what Iona would say when talking with her wasn¡¯t lost on me in the slightest. Linnet was also good inspiration.


    ;


    ¡°Why did you decide to become a Valkyrie in the first place?¡±


    ;


    Iona was quiet for a long moment, her hands clenching. I put my hand on her arm, letting her know I was here for her.


    ;


    ¡°Stories. Luck. And disaster.¡± She said, and I stuck my chin on her shoulder, saying nothing, encouraging her to keep speaking.


    ;


    ¡°I had a friend growing up. Lux. We were two peas in a pod, although she could be a bit of an airhead at times. We did everything together. Played. Learned. Explored. Just the two of us, in our little village. We¡­ I¡­¡±


    ;


    Iona shook her head, taking a deep breath.


    ;


    ¡°I fucked up. We were playing in an old mine, and I hit a support beam. Collapsed the entire thing on her head. One of the Valkyries - Alruna - was there. Just sheer luck. I didn¡¯t think there was anything left for me in the village, and I wanted to be out there. To be strong enough to shield others. To protect the Lux¡¯s of the world. Alruna accepted me, and the rest is history.¡±


    ;


    That sounded quite a lot like what happened with me and Lyra. An accident. A stupid, preventable accident, that I knew better than to do.


    ;


    I opened my mouth, almost sharing my story again, then closed it.


    ;


    No no, this wasn¡¯t the time to make this about me. This was about Iona.


    ;


    ¡°Well, you¡¯re still a Valkyrie, regardless of what the organization is doing, right?¡±


    ;


    Iona gave a sharp nod.


    ;


    ¡°Yes. Even if I¡¯m the last one standing. I am, and forever will be, a Valkyrie.¡±


    ;


    ¡°And what does that mean to you?¡±


    ;


    Iona straightened up.


    ;


    ¡°There¡¯s lots to it. In short though? My [Vow].¡±


    ;


    We¡¯d shared our respective restriction skills with each other ages ago, and I instantly recalled Iona¡¯s.


    ;


    First, protect the meek.


    I will defend those who cannot defend themselves.


    I will act with honor and with integrity.


    I will not lie.


    I will not be silent in the face of injustice.


    My shield might break, but my spirit never will.


    I will be the sheltering light, driving away darkness.


    I will be generous when I can.


    I will never betray another, nor my conscience.


    I will act with temperance and valor.


    I will smite evil wherever I find it.


    I will not sit by idly while evil triumphs, nor will I cower in the face of it.


    I will be a force for righteous justice.


    I will always remember you.


    ;


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know what the future holds. But we¡¯ll find a way. Together.¡± I reached out and grabbed Iona¡¯s hand.


    ;


    She nodded.


    ;


    ¡°We will. Got any ideas on the how? I have no idea how I¡¯m going to feed Fenrir after we graduate, short of retreating to the wilderness and carving out a territory for him, and true wilderness that can support a predator of his size is hard to come by.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Alright. We need a base of operations, or more importantly, a home. We need money. Sad fact of life. I think Amber might be able to help me out, she should owe me some money.¡± I technically had invested with her¡­ I just wasn¡¯t sure what the status of all that was. ¡°Then we find problems, and go deal with them. Together. Let¡¯s see if we can build something, you, me, Auri, Fenrir. I don¡¯t know what it¡¯ll look like. I don¡¯t know what the future holds. Heck, maybe we should try wandering without a base of operations for a while to see if that works for us. Go visit the Han empire, there¡¯s enough people who need defending and healing there right now to keep us busy for years. Assuming we can find enough food. But there are enough problems in the world to keep us busy forever. What do you think?¡± I stuck my hand out at her.


    ;


    Iona hesitated, indecision warring on her face. My heart thudded in my chest as I waited for her response


    ;


    ¡°It¡¯s a pretty picture.¡± She finally said. ¡°I need to see if there¡¯s anything from the Valkyries first. If we have a new place or not. Plus, where do you imagine we make a home? You are an Immortal, and even with your¡­ dubious artifacts¡­ mortal lands aren¡¯t going to be that friendly.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Exterreri.¡± Marcelle¡¯s pitch was still fresh in my mind. ¡°Although, I¡¯ll have to see. If there¡¯s somewhere better, I¡¯m all ears. Either way, I want to be with you. I want to stay with you.¡±


    ;


    Iona nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Same here. We¡¯ll figure something out. Together.¡±


    ;


    That was all I wanted to hear.


    ;


    ¡°Together.¡± I reaffirmed.


    ;


    ;


    The middle rounds of the Gladiator Gauntlet flashed by. Iona dropped out after beating Rolland, claiming that she¡¯d done what she came here for and further participating was pointless. Her second round opponents were delighted for the bye. The organizers were a little less amused. Iona was a hit, and they were disappointed they couldn¡¯t have another round with her in the arena, packing the stadium.


    ;


    To my great amusement, they discovered they had absolutely no leverage. Prizes? Iona didn¡¯t care if they increased them or decreased them. Future competition? The same. No matter what they offered her, she just didn¡¯t care, and it was hilarious to watch them get increasingly frustrated over the whole thing.


    ;


    Her winnings were more than enough to pay Pascal, who was very happy to remind us that the 16% interest was regardless of how quickly we managed to pay it off. I was probably going to leave this part out of my letter to Amber¡­ I wanted to watch her have an aneurysm when I told her in person the next time we met! Whenever that was.


    ;


    Speaking of byes, the School got a round 2 bye as well. Shirayuki had gotten us paired against the Yellow Jackets for round 2, and we were ready to humiliate them after their backstab a few years ago. We held something of a grudge.


    ;


    They never showed up, electing to take the ¡®minor¡¯ hit of being an awkward no-show - made less awkward by Iona dropping out, to some minor grumbling - instead of fighting and losing.


    ;


    They were all a bunch of thugs anyway.


    ;


    The Vanishing Tower were our round 3 opponents, and the entire way the Phantasym Magocracy operated made my skin crawl. The basic idea was sound. A powerful wizard erected a tower for research and study, a fortified position for themself against the wilds - and other, less scrupulous wizards. It was an even toss up if they¡¯d establish themselves in a town or village, or if people would come to the new, protected area and settle down.


    ;


    Then, in classic master-apprentice fashion, they¡¯d find a number of promising young individuals, and pass on their knowledge, raising up the next generation.


    ;


    All good. Where it got weird - because of course they couldn¡¯t just have a normal, civilized society - was there was a deep-seated cultural belief that part of the knowledge transfer involved sex. I didn¡¯t want to know the exact details and reasoning behind it, because ew. Male, female, regardless of the gender of the master and apprentice.


    ;


    And the master of the Vanishing Tower clearly had a type.


    ;


    I was more than happy to stomp them as fast as I could.


    ;


    One of the Aerie flocks was up next. Given that every harpy could innately fly on their own, they automatically negated half of our team. The rumor mill said the tiebreaker rules were introduced because of them. Ling Li and I were the only ones who could fly without potions, although Sarama had a small supply of them for Sir Polarton and Pascal. Iris had enough range with her sorcery, and Sir Polarton and Pascal were both tough enough to make good use of the tiebreakers.


    ;


    Then we were in the final 8. The usual set of powerhouses were present, and Calador, the famous war college located over an active volcano in the Han empire was next. That was one hell of an aesthetic.


    ;


    We clobbered them, although Iona let me know that their strategy game team had managed to win their entire tournament.


    ;


    Like.


    ;


    Their members secured 15 of the top 16 spots, with one elf from the Academy slipping in 7th. Calador was the place to become a [Tactician], [Strategist], or [General]. The School was more of an all-rounder.


    ;


    Being a good leader didn¡¯t make a good fighter, although the match was close. We only had 6 people to their 7, and we felt the lack of Morning Breeze hard.


    ;


    The elven Academy were our semi-final opponents, but in an ironic twist, they were easier than Calador. A twist of the mortal-Immortal divide on Pallos was that mortals tended to have higher levels at a young age. Immortals had eternity to level up, and most of them took the ¡®why take the risk?¡¯ approach. The presence of powerful Immortals overseeing large stretches of land and dealing with problems before they could threaten anyone had a cascading effect where there simply weren¡¯t enough threats or dangers to get the high levels at a young age.


    ;


    There was something there with that thought. An idea of ¡®total possible experience¡¯ and the distribution of who got it. It all fell apart when non-combatants entered the picture, along with danger multipliers - or lack thereof - but there was something there.


    ;


    Regardless of the low threats and relatively low levels, they were still elves, drawn from three different nations into a single great center of learning. I was completely sure it was the same one Awarthril had suggested I head towards once upon a time, and they had perfected gaining experience, leveling, and class quality over the eons.


    ;


    It all balanced out at young ages.


    ;


    Lastly, we were up against one of our eternal rivals. The great academy of the nobility, the place where all the young [Princes] and [Heiresses] spent several years getting to know each other in their rarified stratosphere, making connections and doing gods knows what young nobles got up to when crammed together.


    ;


    Hapensburgs.

 Chapter 395 - The Gladiator Gauntlet XI

    ¡°From the north side! The renowned center of learning, the temple of knowledge, the garden of minds, the place that¡¯ll turn you into a genius! Please welcome The School of Sorcery and Spellcraft!¡± The [Announcer] shouted, and we exited the gates to great fanfare.


    ;


    We were allowed a few people with us to give us advice on the field. Each final was held ¡®on its own¡¯ so to speak, with no other competing events at the same time. All the better to maximize crowds - and sales. Shirayuki was with us to personally oversee things and direct, and Iona was with us. Ling Li had a sect mate of hers with us, and Pascal had a cousin or something joining him.


    ;


    ¡°And from the south side! The leaders of tomorrow, the blue bloods, the most noble and honorable Hapensburgs!¡±


    ;


    Unfortunately, they got a lot more cheering than we did. Hapensburgs was the place for nobles, and it wasn¡¯t like the average person could travel halfway around the world to watch some games. The people filling the stands were the wealthy, rich, powerful, and well-connected, and were constantly rubbing elbows with the parents of Hapensburgs¡¯s students - if they didn¡¯t have kids at Hapensburgs themselves!


    ;


    With that said, people who couldn¡¯t send their proteges to Hapensburg wanted the School, so it was a bit of a wash at the end of the day.


    ;


    Like how Rolland¡¯s team had the Shining Prince wielding Ruination, each member of the Hapensburgs team had come equipped with fantastical weapons and amazing artifacts, helping them crush their way through the competition. They didn¡¯t dare wield them against us.


    ;


    The School had a well-deserved reputation for breaking and smashing all artifacts deployed against us. It had taken a decade or two of teams in the past focusing on nothing but destroying them, often to the detriment of our victories back in the day, but we¡¯d earned a ferocious reputation thanks to them.


    ;


    Artifacts deployed against the School died. Victory wasn¡¯t worth the price of replacing them.


    ;


    Very few other organizations could afford to throw so many matches for the sake of gaining a reputation, and those that did often wielded their own artifacts. They tended to have a sort of mutual respect for the cost and price, and while they did occasionally break, they didn¡¯t deliberately try to smash them.


    ;


    All to say, people put away the fancy, super expensive family heirlooms when facing off against the School, even if it cost them their chance at winning the entire event. Hapensburgs would reap the benefits of winning, while the individual team members would bear the price and the cost of losing a priceless heirloom.


    ;


    It made the playing field a bit more even.


    ;


    ¡°Iris. You¡¯re up first.¡± Shirayuki said. ¡°Barring significant issues, Ling Li, you¡¯re second, followed by Elaine. Sarama, have the mana potions ready.¡±


    ;


    We¡¯d made a half dozen plans in advance. Shirayuki was simply letting us know we were going with plan A - the mana regeneration one.


    ;


    ¡°Teams, please send forth your first contestant!¡± The [Referee] - not Mormerilhawn, being an employee of the School was a bad look in the finals here - announced.


    ;


    Iris stepped forward, the selkie nearly indistinguishable from a human without her seal skin. She was busy drinking three different potions Sarama handed to her, a set of boosts to help her out. Blessedly, nobody on the Hapensburg team was a support. Something about most high-ranking nobility not taking such a ¡®lowly¡¯ role or some nonsense. Seven combatants was a legitimate strategy though, especially since we were down a combatant. On the other side, a falcon beastkin stepped forward. One of the [Pharaoh¡¯s] great great grandchildren, I was unsure where, exactly, he was in the line of succession. Somewhere single-digit.


    ;


    ¡°For the first round! Netos Sekhemkhet of Ankhelt versus Iris of nowhere! We¡¯ve seen both of these contestants through the event, and now, here at the finals, they¡¯re all set to clash! Who will come on top? The¡­¡±


    ;


    The [Announcer] had way too many words to say about things, and from the calculating look the [Referee] was shooting towards his booth, he was inclined to let him talk.


    ;


    ¡°I might be stating the obvious here, but Sand and Earth.¡± Iona said. ¡°Looks to be around¡­ errr¡­ two-thirds magic, one-third physical. A little heavier on the political and leadership skills than average, but higher stats than I¡¯d expect.¡±


    ;


    Iona helping out felt like cheating. At the same time, we¡¯d just gotten five other rounds of watching all the members of the Hapensburgs team fight. The only surprise was his element was Earth, not Mountain.


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!¡± The [Referee] blessedly started the event.


    ;


    A rolling sandstorm exploded into being on the far side of the arena, barreling towards Iris at high speed. It was like a hundred ravenous beasts were lunging and snapping from the storm, threatening to devour all in their path.


    ;


    Iris didn¡¯t bother trying to blast anything through the storm. Sand was fantastic defensively in that respect. It had mass, but in thousands of moving parts. ¡®Hard¡¯ attacks like a stone shot could punch through easily, but ¡®softer¡¯ attacks like Lightning and Radiance got eaten and thrown a dozen different ways.


    ;


    Iris might¡¯ve tried to shoot Ice shards through the storm, but didn¡¯t. I couldn¡¯t read her mind, but Netos was no idiot. He would¡¯ve moved from his starting position, so blind attacks wouldn¡¯t hit.


    ;


    Iris seemed to practically ¡®slip¡¯ into the storm. All I managed to see from my position was the Sand immediately around her ¡®freezing¡¯ and stopping, before she was in.


    ;


    We spent a tense minute watching the storm, all while the [Announcer] wildly speculated what was going on inside. The occasional flash of Lightning made its way out of the top, along with rumbles deep inside.


    ;


    ¡°Ooooh! That had to hurt! That much bleed-off is more power than most Light mages can manage, and it¡¯s just a cast-off from one of Iris¡¯s attacks! Thank goodness our shields prevent blinding¡­¡±


    ;


    This particular [Announcer] was only barely managing to rank over adventurers on my list. The only nice thing I could say about him was he worked a mostly honest job for a living.


    ;


    I knew a magic array that would let me mute a single person, but I didn¡¯t know how to modify it so I could mute a single person through their own Sound skills. It was worth thinking about¡­ another day.


    ;


    The sandstorm started to calm down, then a bright red light flashed deep in the arena, as bright lights started to sparkle across the barrier.


    ;


    ¡°And we have a winner!¡± The [Announcer] said.


    ;


    No shit Sherlock.


    ;


    The Sand fell like the world¡¯s most abrasive shower. Iris was walking back to us, coughing and hacking, while Netos was angrily storming back to his side, shield bright red.


    ;


    ¡°Round 1 Winner, the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft. Current points are 2-0 in favor of the School!¡± The [Referee] announced.


    ;


    Shirayuki¡¯s tails went up, and slowly moved back and forth in a happy motion.


    ;


    ¡°Excellent showing.¡± She praised Iris.


    ;


    Iris grimaced.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m completely out of mana. That took everything I had.¡± She said.


    ;


    ¡°Understandable. Try to bait out an attack, but if they call your bluff, concede before you make us look bad. Appearances are more important than ever here.¡± Shirayuki said.


    ;


    ¡°Understood.¡± Iris accepted a mana potion from Sarama, throwing it back before stepping forward again.


    ;


    Sarama¡¯s mana potions were good, but they couldn¡¯t instantly restore an entire mana pool. Iris knew to blow the mana if she could find an easy chance to win, but otherwise, it was better ¡®saved¡¯ for the teamfight portion.


    ;


    ¡°From Hapensburgs! The Son of the Son of the Sun! Xocoh!¡± The [Announcer] said, and the kobold stepped forward. It was her first year here, and she was carefully removing a number of decorative feathers from her head. Kobolds were small, like miniature dragonlings. It was easy to tell the largest kobolds from the smallest dragonlings - dragonlings had horns, while kobolds had none. They were all distinct from Saurians, who each had a clear and obvious dinosaur ¡®ancestor¡¯.


    ;


    ¡°It still bugs me that they call her the Son of the Son, when she¡¯s a woman. Like, seriously?¡± I complained to nobody in particular.


    ;


    ¡°They could at least call her the Grandsun.¡± Iona punned, and we all groaned. ¡°She¡¯s Inferno, Inferno, Radiance. Radiance is relatively new.¡± Iona said. We were all ignoring the [Announcer] blathering in the background. ¡°Some of those Inferno skills are big ones. Wouldn¡¯t want to be on the receiving end of them.¡±


    ;


    Iona and I traded a knowing glance with each other.


    ;


    ¡°That¡¯s interesting. She¡¯s been primarily using Radiance this entire time, I¡¯d assumed it was primary.¡± Shirayuki said.


    ;


    ¡°She¡¯s looking to level it.¡± Ling Li said.


    ;


    ¡°Dibs on next.¡± I glanced at Shirayuki. ¡°Sorry, but my skill set counters her too perfectly for me not to.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Elaine is¡­ likely better suited to the task than I am.¡± Ling Li admitted. The cultivator was big on leaves, and leaves against fire was a horrifically one-sided matchup.


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!¡± The [Referee] kicked the match off.


    ;


    Xocoh immediately started to glow with a brilliant Radiance, stepping up into the air like she was ascending the steps of a ziggurat. Iris was taking a defensive stance, and Xocoh had called our bluff. She was showboating in front of the crowd, taking her time, and critically, not throwing any large attacks Iris¡¯s way.


    ;


    Iris was close enough that I could see her perfectly with [The World Around Me]. It let me see her conjure up hundreds of tiny Ice needles, so clear and perfect as to be practically invisible. Without a single obvious motion, she silently launched them at Xocoh. An ¡®assassination¡¯ attempt, so to speak.


    ;


    A heartbeat later, and Iris raised her hand.


    ;


    ¡°I surrender.¡± She turned around and walked back through the barrier to us, slowly shaking her head.


    ;


    ¡°Round 2 Winner, Hapensburgs! Current points are a 2-2 tie!¡± The [Referee] announced.


    ;


    ¡°A [Heat Aura]/[Flame Defense] merged variant.¡± Iona quickly explained. ¡°Melted the Ice before it got close. It doesn¡¯t look like she was aware of the attack.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Elaine, you¡¯re up.¡± Shirayuki confirmed.


    ;


    ¡°Iona, fast, Radiance is low level, Inferno is the rest, yeah?¡± I asked.


    ;


    She groaned, knowing where I was going.


    ;


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s just a game though, it¡¯s not worth the risk.¡±


    ;


    I snorted.


    ;


    ¡°What risk?¡± I asked.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine¡­ don¡¯t do anything stupid.¡± Shirayuki¡¯s voice was dangerous.


    ;


    I bounded forward.


    ;


    ¡°From The School of Sorcery and Spellcraft! One of their main anchors! Elaine!¡± The [Announcer] started going over my history in the games - and my utter lack of background or known sponsors.


    ;


    Annoying.


    ;


    ¡°Hey ref!¡± I called across the field to the [Referee].


    ;


    ¡°Is there an issue?¡± He asked.


    ;


    ¡°A really minor one. Can I fight this one unshielded?¡± I asked him. ¡°To be clear, I don¡¯t want a mutual unshielding, but Xocoh can¡¯t hurt me. I figure I¡¯ll save everyone the effort.¡±


    ;


    There was a collective gasp from half the crowd, and the other half oooohed. Then everyone exploded into discussion. Xocoh was glaring murder at me, and the ref came over to chat.


    ;


    ¡°Are you sure?¡± He asked quietly. ¡°Can¡¯t bail you out if you get in too deep, and I can¡¯t teleport you out of danger if you go too deep.¡±


    ;


    I shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sure.¡±


    ;


    Xocoh was going to try to murder me.


    ;


    This was going to be hilarious.


    ;


    ¡°You are now unshielded.¡± The [Referee] said. ¡°Best of luck.¡±


    ;


    He walked back to the center of the field as the [Announcer] continued to rant and rave about my choice.


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!¡±


    ;


    I let out a large, fake yawn, and slowly started to stroll to the center of the field. I split my mind in half with [Parallel Thoughts], and one half popped one of my spellbooks out of [Bookwyrm¡¯s Hoard], while the other kept a razor-sharp eye on Xocoh, and what she was up to.


    ;


    She was climbing steps again, and with each footfall, the shape of an ancient, massive ziggurat became clearer and clearer. With how the Radiance and skill were interacting, it was like she was standing atop a mountain of gold.


    ;


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [Glory of the Ziggurat]! Would you like to replace a skill with it?]


    ;


    Butterfly Mystic¡¯s ability to crib other Radiance skills coming in handy! Sadly, I liked my skills too much, and at this point I was simply looking to upgrade skills, not get new ones to merge around.


    ;


    The kobold started to chant, a ritual skill forming out of burning flames in the air above her in the shape of a quetzalcoatl.


    ;


    Nobles. Always needing to show off. Couldn¡¯t just shoot me with a rock like a sensible Classer, oh no, they had to make a whole production out of it.


    ;


    Honestly, how¡¯d they ever get those levels?


    ;


    At the same time, I had to admit - if I had a brazen target willing to stand still and let me wind up an attack, I¡¯d wind up the biggest, baddest attack I had.


    ;


    ¡°[Itzel¡¯s Divine Wrath].¡± Xocoh announced, imperiously pointing at me.


    ;


    The flaming quetzalcoatl roared towards me, and I safely tucked my book back away into my [Bookwyrm¡¯s Hoard]. I instinctively braced myself for impact, my trained instincts unable to overcome my surefire knowledge that I was completely safe.


    ;


    The flames crashed and roared over me, my companion bond letting me see straight through them as if they weren¡¯t there. Xocoh looked smug.


    ;


    She thought she was murdering someone in lukewarm blood, and she looked smug. I was starting to see where Iona¡¯s hatred of the nobility came from, and I couldn¡¯t wait to wipe that smug look off her face.


    ;


    The only casualties were my lightweight clothing. Ah well, we¡¯d all gone through a couple of pairs each this tournament, and it was the one area the fauns were fairly relaxed on us replacing without impacting our weight limit, unlike armor, weapons, or arrows and the like.


    ;


    The skill finished, the beast of flames spending itself entirely and dissipating against the ground. A half-dozen smaller fires had started in the grass all around me, thin grey smoke spiraling into the air.


    ;


    I brushed non-existent dust off my shoulder, and did my best to smirk at Xocoh.


    ;


    ¡°That¡¯s it?¡± I asked.

 Chapter 396 - The Gladiator Gauntlet XII

    I looked up at Xocoh, who was going cyan with fury. Kobold quirk there.


    ;


    Well, might as well rub it in a bit. I split one part of my mind off to work on a Water-generating spell, while taunting my opponent some.


    ;


    It was terrible practice, but this was a show. I was being a [Showwoman] today. Or something like that. Rah rah go!


    ;


    Either way, glory to the School! Down with Hapensburgs! Make them look bad!


    ;


    I needed to get some serious practice and training in after this to unlearn any bad habits I might¡¯ve picked up.


    ;


    ¡°I mean, yikes, that didn¡¯t even warm me. Are you using illusions? Are you secretly a Mirage mage? Oh wait, hang on, the fires are real. Sheesh. You could think about how hard the fauns work to keep this place looking nice.¡±


    ;


    I popped out a spellbook, [Comprehensive Speed Reading] letting me instantly flip it open to the page I wanted. I put my hand on the pre-drawn mandala, the lines glowing and the page disintegrating as mana flowed through it.


    ;


    A new outfit popped into existence on me, the material questionable and the cut so bad that any novice [Tailor] would want to gouge their eyes out, but it was clothing.


    ;


    More importantly, it made a point. I was so unconcerned with Xocoh that I could blow mana on pointless clothing that was going to get disintegrated again.


    ;


    I snapped my spellbook back into my [Bookwyrm¡¯s Hoard], not wanting to risk it. I¡¯d poured dozens of hours into crafting the spells inside, and it wasn¡¯t protected. Taking a flaming blast would incincerate it, burn it to ashes, and I¡¯d be a real sad panda if that happened.


    ;


    My spell finished crystallizing, and I cast the mandala with [Lepidoptera], making it extra-large for the crowd. I sprayed the little fires that had erupted near the edge of Xocoh¡¯s spell, deliberately ¡®wasting¡¯ a ton of mana doing something ¡®useless¡¯.


    ;


    In other words - rubbing in how little Xocoh was doing, and how little concern I was appearing to give her.


    ;


    In reality, I was still laser-focused on her. I was unshielded for the fight, mostly because I trusted in my fire immunity more than the organizer¡¯s shields to protect me. Xocoh could still pull out a crossbow or some other tool, just like Iona¡¯s first round opponents had surprises.


    ;


    The other issue was Xocoh was another Radiance mage. Great for yoinking skills off of when she displayed them, but she had [Radiance Resistance] and possibly [Radiance Manipulation] herself.


    ;


    If I sent my butterflies at her, the odds were great that she could simply seize control of them. My [Nova Lance] was significantly stronger than her resistance though, and it could probably take her out, although the mana cost would be prohibitive, compared to other ways I had of winning.


    ;


    She couldn¡¯t hurt me, and I had to use wizardry or physical blows. Easy enough once I got close, and I could close the gap at any time, ending the fight.


    ;


    The big question was how I¡¯d end the fight.


    ;


    At this level, on this stage, it was more than just ending it and winning. It was about showing dominance.


    ;


    I was carefully managing my mana, keeping myself close to full, knowing my regeneration would top up any issues I had.


    ;


    Xocoh was still standing on top of her ziggurat made out of Radiance, her eyes narrowed at me in careful calculation.


    ;


    She spat a word in what was probably Arawak, then searing Radiance came pouring out of her, bathing the entire arena in harsh rays.


    ;


    I¡¯d done the same thing often enough to recognize what was going on.


    ;


    ¡°Nope! No mirages here! Just 100% pure me! It feels nice though, keep going.¡± I tilted my head back, ¡®enjoying¡¯ the ¡®sunlight¡¯, although I couldn¡¯t bring myself to close my eyes. There was showboating, and there was being stupid. If she was in range of [The World Around Me], maybe I could keep my eyes closed, but it wasn¡¯t quite high enough level to reach her.


    ;


    Xocoh screamed in impotent rage - honestly, some nobles just had incredibly fragile egos - and launched a new barrage of flaming skills at me. I gave a dramatic yawn as they landed on and around me, stretching like I didn¡¯t have a care in the world.


    ;


    It stopped as suddenly as it started.


    ;


    ¡°Okay, we¡¯re done.¡± I announced, teleporting out another spellbook, opening it up to exactly the right page. With a press of my hand, I activate the spell, the handle of a shortsword forming in the center of the mandala. I grabbed the handle and slowly - from my point of view, probably not to everyone else - ¡®pulled¡¯ the weapon out of the spell, feeding it enough mana to form the weapon as I ¡®drew¡¯ it out.


    ;


    There technically was a short window where my spellbook was vulnerable. In practice, I¡¯d stash the book and abort the spell before any attack hit.


    ;


    It was, by most objective standards, a shit weapon. It didn¡¯t have any of the fancy¡­ stuff¡­ that regular blacksmiths could do to a weapon, let alone skill enhancements from either the maker, or from myself.


    ;


    However, I could enchant it myself. A quick trio of Jiwa runes, drawn by [Lepidoptera], glowed as the metal melted around them during the engraving process.


    ;


    Durability.


    Gripping.


    Heat Resistance. The sword was useless if Xocoh just melted it! While I was immune to fire, I wasn¡¯t immune to molten metal.


    ;


    My concerns were the weapon getting yoinked and turned against me. After the event? It¡¯d probably get destroyed, so nobody passed it off as a ¡®real¡¯ weapon, and not a conjured one.


    ;


    It only took me a second or so to arm myself, most of it spent carefully managing the spell generating the weapon. Then I snapped my wings open and soared up to Xocoh. She had to be out of mana at this point, and the longer I dragged this on, the more the kobold and Netos could restore their mana.


    ;


    Having both of them be out of mana for the teamfight would be a major strategic edge, starting to even up the numbers between both sides.


    ;


    She spat at me, and I used [Mantle of the Stars] to block it. I did not want to get spat on. That was the only resistance as I ¡®impaled¡¯ her, sword-first. A bright red shield appeared around her, signifying her loss.


    ;


    There were no further saliva-based assaults as the match was called.


    ;


    ¡°Round 3 Winner, The School of Sorcery and Spellcraft! Current points are 4-2 in favor of the School!¡± The [Referee] dutifully called out the score as we retreated to our respective sides. Sarama offered me a mana potion, which I declined with a hand.


    ;


    ¡°Strong work. How much mana was that?¡± Shirayuki asked.


    ;


    ¡°Practically none. Didn¡¯t need to heal anything.¡± I said.


    ;


    I got some raised eyebrows at that, then Hapensburgs sent forth their next member, a gnome. Short, wearing the classic uniform of the Hapensburgs team, with dark hair and brown eyes, carrying a crossbow nearly as tall as he was.


    ;


    Gnomes were the single biggest loser in ¡®the System multiplies the base¡¯ of all the elvenoids in the world. With a height measured in inches - my opponent was about two inches tall - they simply didn¡¯t have much to multiply in the first place, nearly every single combatant specializing in magic. Heck, most of their population did as well! Gravity was a popular element, since even a low-level mage could move more material than the average gnome worker, given the small scale they worked on.


    ;


    Magic was magic. The rules and abilities stayed the same, regardless of size¡­ mostly.


    ;


    ¡°Tinbeg. Spatial and Mantle, with a specialized [Trigger] variant.¡± Iona quickly said.


    ;


    Spatial was part of the mostly.


    ;


    ¡°Crossbows and [Teleport].¡± Shirayuki confirmed. ¡°He¡¯s slippery, but you should be a harder counter to him, with how fast Radiance is. I¡¯d been planning to keep you for this match, why are they feeding him to us now?¡±


    ;


    [Blink] and the closely related [Teleport] scaled their cost on mass, and gnomes, with their tiny mass, could use Spatial magic on themselves like nobody else.


    ;


    The gnome called something out to the referee, who had a brief conversation with him in the gnome¡¯s tongue. Switching back to Combrogi, he made the conversion clear.


    ;


    ¡°Tinbeg has requested to be unshielded for this fight. School representative, would you like to be unshielded for this fight?¡± The [Referee] asked.


    ;


    I cursed. A huge amount of my arsenal was eliminated with that move. He wasn¡¯t the first to take advantage of my [Oath] status, and he wouldn¡¯t be the las-


    ;


    Wait.


    ;


    He very well might be the last person to ever take advantage of my [Oath] in an event like this.


    ;


    Huh. That was kinda sad, in a way. This could be my last 1v1 fight ever.


    ;


    ¡°Heck no! He¡¯s scary!¡± There was no way I was fighting unshielded against someone who could harm me. I wasn¡¯t risking life and limb on a game, just no. Iona chuckled in the background. I stabbed my conjured sword point-first into the ground, leaving it available for me next round if I managed to win this one.


    ;


    I couldn¡¯t use it, and we both knew it. Why carry it around?


    ;


    I continued to ignore the obnoxious [Announcer].


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Glory. Honor. Fight!¡± The [Referee] called with minimal fuss.


    ;


    I couldn¡¯t just blast Tinbeg. Blasted lack of shield and my [Oath]. I needed to force him to surrender without hurting him¡­ and he knew I couldn¡¯t hurt him. A sword - or heck, with his size, a fingernail - to the throat couldn¡¯t force a surrender when the gnome knew it was a bluff, and I couldn¡¯t follow through.


    ;


    The gnome immediately shot his crossbow, the single ping! - not a thwack - of the bow firing resulting in three silver bolts - screaming across the field. They magically grew larger as they left the crossbow, otherwise they¡¯d be roughly as potent as a toothpick. I neatly side-stepped the now full-sized bolts, letting them slam against the arena¡¯s protective barrier. I then charged across the field at full speed, the anti-friction runes on my skin lighting up as my enchanted boots dug into the dirt.


    ;


    I was going straight for the tiebreaker flag. This was going to be an endurance contest. Could I dodge or tank enough attacks to win via tiebreaker before my shield was triggered?


    ;


    The gnome quickly and expertly reloaded, and fired a second barrage as I was three-quarters of the way to the fort. The single shot once again split into three. A deft twist dodged two of them, but I wasn¡¯t able to dodge all of them. The third bolt ¡®bounced¡¯ off my skin, transferring momentum to my body but nothing else as my protective shield ¡®ate¡¯ the rest of the harm.


    ;


    It was worth the minor hit to my arena shield, versus using [Mantle of the Stars] to deflect. An extension of Maximus¡¯s ¡®take it or shield it¡¯ training from eons ago, delivered in a small field outside of a minor city from a long-dead empire.


    ;


    Then I was through the gates.


    ;


    Climbing up the tower was trivial, taking only a few seconds before I tied the School¡¯s flag to the center pole.


    ;


    Which started the countdown.


    ;


    ¡°The School of Sorcery and Spellcraft has claimed the center tower. Hapensburgs, you have five minutes to dislodge the School¡¯s contestant before they win.¡± The [Referee] announced.


    ;


    I cracked open my spellbook to [Billowing Darkness], engulfing the top of the tower in blackness thicker than night.


    ;


    ¡­ this was something of a bad look, wasn¡¯t it? [Evil Queen] Elaine, on top of her tower, surrounded by shadows? With the smallfolk besieging and trying to take me down? Yeeeeeeah, oops.


    ;


    Annoyingly, it didn¡¯t seem to slow him down in the slightest. Given the massive hollowed-out trees they lived in, it should''ve come as no surprise that he was adept at fighting in the dark. He teleported on top of the fort¡¯s walls, loosening another set of those damn bolts.


    ;


    I predicted his next attack, dropping to the ground and doing a pushup, before springing back to my feet. As I jumped back to my feet, I summoned one of my spellbooks.


    [*ding!* [The Very Hungry Bookwyrm] leveled up! 76 -> 77. +80 Dexterity, +80 Vitality, +80 Speed, +240 Magic Power, +240 Magic Control, +240 Mana, +240 Mana Regeneration per level from your Class! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration per level for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Magic Power per level from your Element!]


    FINALLY! A level! Woohooo! It had been way too long since my last one!


    I banished the distraction from my mind, feeling momentarily sad for all the spells I was about to burn through.


    I flipped my spellbook open to the spell I wanted, putting my hand on the mandala. The Awarthril Special. The runes glowed and the page disintegrated as I cast the spell. Chains erupted from the mandala, chasing the gnome, as globs of sticky ooze liberally sprayed around in his direction.


    If I tied him down, I could just sit back and relax. I didn¡¯t like my odds of succeeding, but it was better than doing nothing.


    ¡°Fwoop!¡± He called out, but I was ready. I knew from prior matches that Tinbeg liked teleporting to blind spots, or even just to break up line of sight and force people to find him again, but neither were a concern with [The World Around Me]. I mentally directed the chains, the oversized manacles grabbing his entire body. His crossbow was being impossibly held by the tip of a single finger, impling skills at play.


    ¡°Boop!¡± He teleported again.


    Fucking.


    Trigger.


    Mages.


    ;


    This time he teleported practically under me, almost jamming the crossbow into my chin. He launched a shot from point-blank.


    ;


    The [Triple Shot] slammed into my head, and I was reflexively slapping at him with my free hand as he called out ¡°Gazoop!¡±, vanishing again. This time he teleported far away, further than [The World Around Me] perceived.


    ;


    My shield was calibrated to an absurd degree. I could take dozens of his shots to my head before I got concerned about losing.


    ;


    The organizers didn¡¯t quite believe me when I said my head wasn¡¯t a weak point, and I wasn¡¯t willing to demonstrate. I was fairly certain I was significantly tougher than the shield they¡¯d given me indicated, but I wasn¡¯t willing to prove it.


    ;


    Binding wasn¡¯t going to help. He¡¯d just teleport out of whatever I did, assuming I could even trap something as small as him to begin with. I traded out my spellbooks, opening up a new set of abilities.


    ;


    I shielded a second attack, pinpointing where the gnome was. Another spell, another page disintegrated, and a cone of screeching, disorienting noise blasted out.


    ;


    It was on one of the lowest power settings I could manage, gnomes being particularly fragile. My spell couldn¡¯t harm him, but it might make him feel dizzy.


    ;


    I ducked another triple shot, cursing. So much for that.


    ;


    Fuck, I couldn¡¯t wait to get the skill to a combat-practical state for myself.


    ;


    Binding and restriction wasn¡¯t going to work, nor could I apply anything strong enough to slow or disorient Tinbeg. Harm was completely out of the question and far too easy to cause accidentally against such a tiny opponent. My hands were somewhat tied.


    ;


    Same spellbook, different page, and I had the wind blowing around me, causing my hair to whip around. Tinbeg¡¯s bolts wavered and were blown off course, and I was briefly elated that I could just stand here with the [Twister] spell going.


    ;


    Then he adjusted his aim, and I dropped the spell. It was costing me significantly more mana to disrupt his shots briefly than he was spending, and I¡¯d need to use a new spell every time he adjusted his aim. It wasn¡¯t worth it.


    ;


    Fine. Time to change mindset, track, and strategy.


    ;


    I stood there, crossing my arms and wrapping myself in [Mantle], having it flow like a cape woven of starlight. Offense wasn¡¯t working, and fundamentally, this contest was about showing off. Standing here, daring Tinbeg to attack, demonstrating a flawless defense would do more for our image than a thousand ineffective attacks from me.


    ;


    That just made Hapensburgs look good.


    ;


    I dropped the darkness spell, letting the crowd watch. Why be a [Showwoman] if I was hiding the entire event from the audience?


    ;


    Tinbeg was no amateur, and bolts came flying thick and fast within seconds of me standing there, daring him to act.


    ;


    I had a good amount of fun using [Nova Lance] to simply burn the silver bolts out of the air, utterly disintegrating them. It made for one hell of a lightshow, and an impressive display to boot.


    ;


    I had to be extremely careful with each shot. The bolts were coming in a straight line from Tinbeg to me, and my Radiance beams only came in straight shots. Just a flicker of [Nova Lance] at the power needed to disintegrate bolts at Tinbeg could seriously injure or flat-out kill him.


    ;


    I stopped after a close call had my heart leap into my throat. Winning a round in a game wasn¡¯t worth someone¡¯s life.


    ;


    I dodged some, deflected others, shielded more, and flat-out tanked the rest. His goal was to get me to move. My goal was to stay here. It was an endurance contest within a showmanship contest.


    ;


    I wasn¡¯t too concerned about getting his [Trigger]-set [Teleports]. Tinbeg was too fragile to enter the teamfight unshielded, and I was going to blast his ugly little face into a thousand pieces the moment he had a shield on.


    ;


    ¡°Hapensburgs, you have four minutes.¡±


    ;


    An annoying reminder that winning via the anti-stall rules gave the Hapensburgs mages who¡¯d already fought more time to recharge their mana. Bah!


    ;


    Bolts flew up from one part of the wall in a steady stream, and I simply walked to the other side of the tower to avoid them. A moment¡¯s pause, then they¡¯d start up again from a different position.


    ;


    I considered erecting a set of thick metal walls, but no. The mana requirement for something like that was absurd, and so far I was keeping my mana pool high. The gnome was blowing through mana at a prodigious rate, and I didn¡¯t want to win the battle only to lose the war. Keeping me intact for the teamfight was more important than spending all my mana on a questionable defense.


    ;


    [Mantle] got a strong workout as a billowing cape, making me look good. Didn¡¯t cost anything when it wasn¡¯t deflecting any attacks!


    ;


    ¡°Hapensburgs, you have three minutes.¡±


    ;


    I briefly tried flat-out lying down to not give any profile for Tinbeg to shoot at. He teleported above the tower, and rained bolts down on me. Being on the floor was terrible tactically, and he got in a few good hits before I rolled out of the way.


    ;


    ¡°Hapensburgs, you have two minutes.¡±


    ;


    The cheeky little shit tried to teleport on the tower, shooting me from point-blank. The angle was finally right, and a [Nova Lance] disintegrated half his crossbow. He teleported off.


    ;


    It didn¡¯t stop him for long - but he didn¡¯t repeat the stunt.


    ;


    ¡°Hapensburgs, you have one minute.¡±


    ;


    Tinbeg teleported back onto the tower, and I sniped his crossbow again. He looked smug, dropping the smoldering embers of his bow, and I got a Bad Feeling.


    ;


    Three ghostly crossbows appeared around him.


    ;


    Then five.


    ;


    A dozen.


    ;


    Dozens.


    ;


    Hundreds.


    ;


    He intoned words I didn¡¯t know, but I knew the general gist of.


    ;


    Some utter horseshit [Noble] skill. Probably like [Every Man, Woman, and Child Picks Up A Weapon in Defense of the Tree] or some other nonsense like that.


    ;


    I made the snap decision to showboat. This was obviously Tinbeg¡¯s trump, and I was so close to winning. I could jump off the tower or fly away, but that¡¯d reset the timer, and give the rest of his team all the more time to recover.


    ;


    If I defiantly stood here, not flinching as I took the entire barrage, and won? The entire match would practically be over, people wouldn¡¯t be talking about anything else.


    ;


    All the bows fired. Each bolt and shot was weak, but there was the sheer quantity of it. A storm of metal rained down on me, feeling like a light breeze.


    ;


    ¡°Ten seconds left.¡± The [Referee] declared.


    ;


    I smirked as the storm petered out, and made the snap call not to make the same brushing motion as I did against Xocoh. The fight wasn¡¯t over yet, and flubbing the last seconds could make me look bad.


    ;


    My shield had to be low after all that abuse. Just a few more seconds.


    ;


    ¡°Nine.¡± The ref counted down.


    ;


    ¡°Floop!¡±


    ;


    Tinbeg teleported onto my head, a new bow pointing down at point-blank to my head.


    ;


    He fired as the ref announced ¡°Eight.¡±


    ;


    My shield sprang up, bright red.


    ;


    Damn. Blasted accumulated-shield damage limit. I suppose having all my mana available was more than a fair tradeoff for my shield having a maximum amount of damage it could take before I was ¡®out¡¯, and frankly, I¡¯d have probably taken enough ¡®damage¡¯ to drain a huge chunk of my mana anyways.


    ;


    ¡°Round 4 Winner, Hapensburgs! Current points are a 4-4 tie!¡±


    ;


    Fucking unshielded jerk. Exploiting my [Oath] like this was so unfair.


    ;


    ¡­ Then again, I¡¯d been trained by Artemis. Her first lesson was literally ¡®don¡¯t fight fair¡¯, and I guess it was being turned on me.


    ;


    Ah well. While I¡¯d lost the round, strategically, it had been a win. The 1v1¡¯s didn¡¯t matter anymore for determining who took the crown, and I came out of that fight looking much better than Tinbeg. The crowd wasn¡¯t dumb. They knew he¡¯d exploited the rules hard, and even then I¡¯d just stood there and taken the brutal beating without blinking.


    ;


    At this point it was all about weakening the various members of both teams, and given how reluctant Tinbeg had been to use that last, big skill, and all the teleporting around he did, he had to be out of gas, and mostly out of mana. I¡¯d ask Iona to check.


    ;


    Meanwhile, I was sitting pretty with 85% of my mana pool left, Sarama had mana potions, my mana regeneration was crazy, and I was pretty happy about our chances.


    ;


    Sir Polarton went up next, and he had no issues about causing harm, and everyone knew it. A single devastating roar from the Sound Classer, impossible to teleport to avoid, crashed across the field and instantly eliminated the fragile gnome.


    ;


    6-4. There was an argument that we should¡¯ve substituted me out the moment Tinbeg wanted to fight unshielded, but that would¡¯ve looked bad, compared to the display I¡¯d put on. Plus, I¡¯d ended up so close to winning.


    ;


    Iona was happy to confirm that Tinbeg was entirely out of mana to boot.


    ;


    The great-great-many-times-great grandson of Sultan Qizm took the field, the elf all flowing lines and elegant swordplay, dancing around Sir Polarton in a stunning display that had our jaws dropping.


    ;


    Sir Polarton was still a fucking polar bear, and while elves were the god¡¯s perfect creation, they had nothing on a half-ton killing machine. The two ended up in a mutual kill, eliminating each other.


    ;


    8-6. We still had a lead!


    ;


    We sent up Ling Li, and I was startled to hear the name Sahel announced from the other side, a beautiful naga slithering up to represent Hapensburgs.


    ;


    Iya was a member of the Sahel family, and from what I understood, she was the heir. So why was this Norta being announced as the heir?


    ;


    ¡°Any ideas?¡± I asked Iona as we watched the fight.


    ;


    She snorted.


    ;


    ¡°They¡¯re all a pit of vipers. My ideas range from one¡¯s a fake, designed to throw off assassins, to they¡¯ve both been told they¡¯re the heir, and they need to out-maneuver and kill each other for the survivor to end up ruling the house.¡±


    ;


    I eyed the magic Norta was throwing around.


    ;


    ¡°Iya is so fucked if it¡¯s a direct fight.¡±


    ;


    Iona nodded agreement.


    ;


    Ling Li was flying high on a gigantic leaf, firing an unending stream of razor-sharp, acid-edged leaves at Norta. They withered and died before they could reach her, and the naga kept drawing dark runes to fire spells back.


    ;


    The [Cultivator] and the [Wizard] exchanged blows for far longer than I¡¯d imagine, Shirayuki getting more and more impatient the entire time.


    ;


    ¡°She¡¯s stalling.¡± She finally declared. ¡°Waiting for the rest of the team to regenerate. Ling Li! Concede!¡± Our [Coach] shouted across the field.


    ;


    Ling Li stormed back, and it was 8-8.


    ;


    We were down to Pascal and Sarama. Sarama was our potion maker, and potentially deadly in a fight, throwing her concoction. It was also the last round, so we were willing to go all-out, and Pascal was no slouch.


    ;


    At the same time, it didn¡¯t matter, and we all knew it. The teamfight would determine the final winner¡­ although the more points the loser racked up now, the better prizes they¡¯d get. Motivation from the fauns organizing the event to keep us fighting.


    ;


    Pascal stepped up, and half transformed into the werewolf he was, his pool of mallium twisting around him. Norta had burned a good amount of mana fighting Ling Li, and he quickly beat her.


    ;


    10-8 in our favor.


    ;


    Someone announced as the Vollomond [Princess] was next, and Pascal turned to us with an awkward look on his face. Shirayuki gave an exasperated sigh.


    ;


    Fucking politics. Even if it was ¡®all clean fun¡¯, and there were ¡®no repercussions¡¯, we all knew that was something of a lie. Openly ¡®defying¡¯ the princess of the country he and his family lived in, and were prominent, if low-level nobles, was a poor life choice for his future. At the same time, showing deference could easily get him and his family noticed in a good way, and he didn¡¯t want to be made to potentially wreck his future over a single event.


    ;


    Politics.


    ;


    ¡°We¡¯ll pull you.¡± Shirayuki¡¯s tails told the real story of how she felt.


    ;


    ¡°Nobles.¡± Iona spat onto the ground.


    ;


    ¡°Nobles.¡± I agreed, adding my spit.


    ;


    Pascal looked deeply disturbed at our display, but Ling Li of all people put a comforting hand on his shoulder.


    ;


    10-10. Only Sarama was left. Sarama, and her limited supply of potions.


    ;


    ¡°We concede the rest of the singles portions.¡± Shirayuki announced, and with that, we were moving into the teamfight.


    ;


    My last fight. The one that would determine if I ever got to wear the crown of the Gladiator Gauntlet or not. The one that would let me feel I got the chance to repay the School for granting me free tuition, and a place to learn and read for years.


    ;


    I - we - was determined to win.

 Chapter 397 - The Gladiator Gauntlet XIII

    ¡°Potions!¡± Sarama broke open her chest, handing them out to everyone. ¡°Physical stat buffs.¡± Our [Alchemist] was meticulous, always explaining what she was handing out to everyone, even though we¡¯d seen them a dozen times already. A safety precaution, given that some potions had the same color and even smell as other, entirely different ones.


    ;


    We all got handed little blue vials of across-the-board stat boosting potions. I knocked mine back, feeling it burn and coil in my stomach. Iris retched, but the rest of us were a little more stoic.


    ;


    Everyone but me got sensory-boosting potions. My senses were already absurd, and something about my new biology didn¡¯t play well with the potion, turning the world into a kaleidoscope of colors and reflections, causing auditory hallucinations, instead of helping me.


    ;


    A set of durability potions got handed out. At this level, with the sheer variety of things [Alchemists] could make, on-the-fly adjustments to our shields were critical, especially with some of Sarama¡¯s more interesting concoctions.


    ;


    ¡°Last potion for everyone.¡± Sarama dug deep into the bottom of her chest, before pausing and looking up at Shirayuki.


    ;


    ¡°This is the right time and place for them, yeah?¡±


    ;


    The kitsune thought for a moment, her tails going still.


    ;


    ¡°Yes.¡± She said.


    ;


    ¡°Great! I¡¯ve got something special for everyone today. Potions of Potential!¡± Sarama emerged from her chest with six tiny vials filled with a murky white liquid.


    ;


    ¡°Very, very expensive.¡± Sarama had never mentioned how expensive potions were before, even though my rough estimates had us drinking diamonds worth of liquid each tournament. I looked at mine questioningly, wondering what it did.


    ;


    ¡°Right, Potions of Potential. They make you your best. They push you to be more, to fulfill your full potential. It¡¯s hard to describe. Just think of them as a boost to everything you can do, and more.¡± Sarama said. ¡°If, by some miracle, you can afford to drink these regularly, don¡¯t. They¡¯re not chemically addictive, but some people keep going back for more.¡±


    ;


    That sounded like they were addictive. But what did I know, I was only the team medic. Welp. Bottoms up.


    ;


    I tipped the tiny vial back along with the rest of my team, and felt energized. Every cell of my body had seen the light and was singing in chorus with angels. I wanted to bounce and dance and move and fight and fuck and live. I immediately saw the appeal at being able to feel like this all the time.


    ;


    Sarama handed out a special potion to Iris and Sir Polarton.


    ;


    ¡°Totally calibrated for humans.¡± The dragonling said with a straight face.


    ;


    Sir Polarton growled.


    ;


    ¡°Most excellent.¡± He wandered a distance away from us before downing it. Sarama wandered off to the other half of our strip to prepare.


    ;


    ¡°Thirty seconds until combat begins.¡± The [Referee] called out our remaining prep time.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine. Sweep their mages, then engage on the harpy.¡± Shirayuki was rapid-firing orders. ¡°Sir Polarton. Go after the werewolf. Pascal. You¡¯re on the elf. Sarama. Hit the beastkin. Iris. You¡¯re needed to take out the kobold, Elaine¡¯s Radiance isn¡¯t efficient against her resistance. Ling Li. You¡¯re on clean-up behind Elaine if she doesn¡¯t manage to take out the gnome and the naga. Pick targets of opportunity after. Iris, you¡¯re with Pascal. This is it. Do us proud. Break.¡±


    ;


    Iris put a hand on Pascal¡¯s shoulder, and downed her potion. She rapidly began shrinking, the [Mage¡¯s] profile dramatically reduced. Her hand anchored her to Pascal¡¯s shoulder, and he shifted his mallium to give her a defended place to sit on/attack from. Basically becoming gnome-sized, with the same ¡®density¡¯ as a full elvenoid. By the same token, at nearly the same time, Sir Polarton¡¯s potion was causing him to grow enormous, nearly the size of Fenrir.


    ;


    Sarama had a transformation potion. She had a whole variety of creatures she could temporarily transform into, but a manticore was her favorite. A series of cracking and popping noises put my teeth on edge as she transformed into a fierce manticore, cruel fangs, terrifying wings and vicious poisoned tail all.


    ;


    Bless shields. My healing would interact poorly with that potion, attempting to force her back into her ¡®true¡¯ body.


    ;


    I grabbed the makeshift enchanted sword I¡¯d made, and bent my knees a few times, shifting my weight from foot to foot. I was ready. The Potion of Potential had me raring to go. To show off what I could to, to fight, to dominate.


    ;


    Potent stuff.


    ;


    ¡°Fame. Honor. Glory. Fight!¡± The [Referee] kicked off my final fight ever of the Gladiator Gauntlet, the cloaking veil between the two teams dropping.


    ;


    I was off at a sprint, charging across the field, my eyes snapping to my targets.


    ;


    Tinbeg was fast, his endless teleports making him slippery. [Nova Lance] was faster, instantly blasting him, triggering his shield and forcing his teleport off the field.


    ;


    It was incredibly satisfying, and only took a fraction of my mana. My eyes flashed to Norta, and I spent a moment [Imbuing] my [Nova Lance] with [Kaleidoscope].


    ;


    Radiance lanced across the field, taking her out. A kaleidoscope of butterflies made of Radiance formed where my beam hit, and with a tiny thought, they quickly spread across the Hapensburgs team.


    ;


    I detonated them before they could get too far, before they could react, but I was a hair slow. Xocoh managed to seize control of a quarter of them, but the rest of the Hapensburg team was engulfed in explosions. I didn¡¯t think it was enough to knock anyone else out, but it would¡¯ve done significant damage to their shields, softening them up.


    ;


    Two down already, the rest weakened, and we were less than a second into the match.


    ;


    I started a third attack against the pharaoh¡¯s heir, but a deadly wall of Sand was already forming, acting as a shield. Sir Polarton roared defiance against the Sand, the entire storm shuddering under his ferocious assault.


    ;


    I changed targets to the harpy, snapping my wings open and taking flight. I kept up [Nova Lance] on the sandstorm generator for two more seconds as the harpy and I soared into the sky, above the raging tempest.


    ;


    The rest of my team vanished into the storm, and it was just the two of us, soaring in the air at dizzying speeds.


    ;


    Physically, I was better than she was. I was faster, stronger. My goal was to end this quickly, and return back to the rest of the battle.


    ;


    She had the advantage of being a dedicated aerialist, a natural-born flier with multiple skills and classes dedicated to the art of soaring through the sky.


    ;


    Another day, another place, and we might¡¯ve had fun simply flying together under the vast blue sky. Alas, it was not that day¡­ although I did take a chance to study her with [Scintillating Ascent], seeing if anything she did could improve my own flying.


    ;


    I took careful aim and hit her with a [Nova Lance]. Instead of her shield flaring into existence and marking her out of the event, the part of her wing I hit exploded into burning feathers. A defensive skill at work, protecting her shield.


    ;


    The harpy wasn¡¯t taking my blows lying down. Oversized feathers with jagged ends formed around her, shrieking down as they fired down at me. It was like a hail of javelins.


    ;


    The potion of potential was doing good things for me. It crystalized the world, let me see everything that was going on in slow motion and high detail. It helped me instantly path out a way through the javelins that I would be entirely untouched.


    ;


    I twisted, turned, dodged, and occasionally smacked a javelin-feather out of the way, noting that she¡¯d effectively gotten off two attacks with each feather launched. The first against me, then the second blind shot of the feathers against Sir Polarton, who was a gigantic target, if hidden in the sandstorm below.


    ;


    We continued to spiral up into the sky, dancing a strange waltz across the blue. I¡¯m not sure I could¡¯ve kept up before my biomancy.


    ;


    She couldn¡¯t be made out of endless mana, and whenever I had an opening through her featherstorm, I hit her with [Nova Lance]. Three hits later, and she was teleported out of the event.


    ;


    I dropped my wings, and let myself drop. I twisted so I was diving headfirst, back into the storm.


    ;


    For a few glorious seconds, I just let myself enjoy life. I let the wind blow through my hair, the breeze caressing my body. I let the fight and the battle slip away from me, and simply lived in the moment. It was a shielded fight. Nobody was at risk of dying. This was more like a game than anything else, the lack of stress was freeing.


    ;


    My friends were here. We were all happy, fed, and safe.


    ;


    Then the sandstorm was coming up fast, and I opened my eyes, snapping my inner eyelids shut. A free pair of biological goggles, no matter where I was.


    ;


    I dove through the storm, looking for signs of the fighting. [The World Around Me] was only so large, and I needed to see further than the skill extended. Flying through a sandstorm was vaguely like swimming underwater with powerful currents. The sand howled around me, pushing and pulling me as I flew. The Sand gave ¡®weight¡¯ to the wind, pushing me around like no breeze could. Lightning flashed in the distance, and I banked, heading towards Iris.


    ;


    Without warning, the Sand stopped, falling around me in great curtains. As I flew up to get my bearings, the [Referee] began announcing the most glorious words, and the sound of the crowd filtered back into the arena.


    ;


    ¡°Hapensburgs no longer has any members on the field. The School of Sorcery and Spellcraft wins this round! At 21 points to 14 points, The School of Sorcery and Spellcraft wins the entire match! As this is the final round, I am pleased to present to you the winner of this year¡¯s tournament!¡±


    ;


    We won!


    ;


    WE WON!


    ;


    I flew up, above the sand, making a happy little circle as I did so. I unleashed a tiny trail of the smallest little [Kaleidoscope] butterflies that I could, having them explode harmlessly behind me.


    ;


    Like a trail of sparkling stars, like my own personal firework show.


    ;


    Wooo! We won! I let out a cheer, joining the rest of my teammates.


    ;


    The [Announcer] was babbling on, and it was all over. It was my last event.


    ;


    The consequences of my actions would never catch up to me! Muwahahahahahaha!


    ;


    I flew over to his booth and hovered in front of him.


    ;


    ¡°Your announcing sucks.¡±


    ;


    I¡¯d wanted to tell him that for years. I flew away cackling, off to find Iona and the rest of my team and celebrate!


    ;


    ;


    The next few hours were complete chaos. We were leaving early the next morning back to the School, and had way too many things to do and not nearly enough time to do them in. End of the day, we were all students, and all missing classes to be here.


    ;


    From wrapping up the last event, being shown off in front of various crowds, closing ceremonies where everyone, from all the different events and brackets got their prizes in front of screaming crowds, to a party mixing with everyone, it was just a non-stop whirlwind of activity.


    ;


    We were back in our school robes, Iona and I both in purple. I wasn¡¯t bothering with my Deception Ring or amulet at all. I was hanging on Iona¡¯s arm at the party, letting the beautiful blonde be the lightning rod of attention. Not too many people wanted to talk with me when Iona, the [Paladin] that had her goddesses intervene during the event, was right there. With all that said, being on Iona¡¯s arm made me look and feel good.


    ;


    I might also have been a little tipsy. I had slightly better self-awareness of how much I¡¯d drunk, but it was still a delicate line.


    ;


    ¡°Sir Polarton! Juuuuuuuusht the bear I wanted to seeeeeEEEEEe!¡± I greeted my teammate, half-swaying against Iona¡¯s sturdy arm. Like a rock, like an anchor, she kept me upright.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine.¡± He growled back, his massive muzzle not moving an inch.


    ;


    ¡°I wash thiiiiiiiiiinking.¡± Wait, I¡¯d be trying to sway? I was slurring my words? I¡¯d had too much. Damn. I purged my system of alcohol, immediately sobering up. I shook my head.


    ;


    ¡°Sorry. I was thinking. Doesn¡¯t matter you¡¯re a bear, you¡¯re practically an elvenoid like everyone else.¡± I patted him on the thigh, not daring to go through his clear white fur. Dude was big.


    ;


    Auri classing up had spiked my companion bond level hard, and I was feeling the effects. I brushed another errant strand of hair back, sabotaged by the little phoenix in question.


    ;


    Auri in my hair was interesting to some people, but she wasn¡¯t enough to distract people from Iona.


    ;


    To her great displeasure.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrrpt.¡±


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯re right, they have no taste.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrrpt!!¡±


    ;


    ¡°You were totally part of the winning team, the most glorious part of it.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡± Auri fluffed her flames up more, strands of my hair getting knocked out of place. I put it back with a sigh.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯d just gotten that fixed.¡± I complained.


    ;


    ¡°BRRRRRRRRRPTTTT!!!!¡± Auri shouted, grabbing my hair and tugging me to ¡®look¡¯ in a particular direction.


    ;


    ¡°Oooh! Mangos! Be right back!¡± I slipped my arm out of Iona¡¯s, heading towards the most glorious of prizes spotted at the buffet table.


    ;


    Mangos were an extreme luxury in Cartref Clyde, since Xerius was pretty far away. I shamelessly scooped up the dozen that were on the tray, Auri conjuring up a few [Mage Hands] to smuggle them under my robe.


    ;


    As I gleefully pilfered the expensive delicacy, I was struck by the sight of a skinny demon, practically skin and bones, staring longingly at the buffet table. There was something about him that had me wander over for no good reason at all.


    ;


    ¡°Hey. You know you can eat the food, right?¡± I asked him in High Elvish.


    ;


    He slowly, painfully shook his head.


    ;


    ¡°Gluttony is my Sin. To want, but never be satisfied.¡± He tore his eyes away from the buffet.


    ;


    ¡°Excellent showing. A good evening to you.¡± He walked off, vanishing into the crowd.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s get back to Iona.¡± I agreed.


    ;


    The whole exchange got me thinking about curses. Demons had a twist on a racial curse, where each one had something they desired, but would never be satisfied by. They collectively called it their Sin, and some indulged, vainly chasing satisfaction, while others, like the fellow I¡¯d just talked with, clearly took an abstinent approach.


    ;


    Difficult when it was something as critical as food.


    ;


    My own body was on an accelerated timeline, and it had me wondering.


    ;


    I had less than a single quarter left at the School. I¡¯d need to use [The Stars Never Fade] on myself in the next decade or so, if not earlier to ensure that I had zero problems from one of my organs aging too fast.


    ;


    Should I get it done and over with while at the School, and use their resources and knowledge to research and find ways of mitigating my curse?


    ;


    I should talk with Marcelle, and see what she thought.


    ;

 Chapter 398 - Orienting to the Future

    ¡°Brrrrpt!¡± Auri shot off down the hallway to our shared suite.


    ;


    ¡°Home!¡± I dramatically cried out, feeling a pang of regret and sadness.


    ;


    My little rented suite was the only home I had. In just a few more weeks I¡¯d officially be homeless.


    ;


    And without a job.


    ;


    Something had gone very wrong somewhere, and I wasn¡¯t quite sure where. Apart from the whole fairy ring business.


    ;


    I¡¯d figure it out. With Auri and Iona.


    ;


    ¡°We¡¯re back!¡± I cried out as I burst through the doors.


    ;


    ¡°Championosaurus won the whole thing!¡± Iona announced to our remaining suitemates, wherever they might be.


    ;


    Frankly, it was only Reinhard, Skye having already graduated and left.


    ;


    Reinhard burst through her door.


    ;


    ¡°You!¡± She yelled at me, stalking down our hallway and pointing accusingly at me.


    ;


    ¡°Me?¡± I asked, looking around. What had I done¡­?


    ;


    Reinhard was poking at my chest with every sentence, but was staying far away enough to still remain polite and non-threatening.


    ;


    ¡°Yes! I don¡¯t know what you¡¯ve done, but I do not appreciate armed men accosting me to inquire about you and your whereabouts. You are supposed to be keeping a low profile! For Auri! For the rest of us! Whatever it is you are doing, please stop, or tell the goons that I am not to be bothered.¡±


    ;


    Having said her part, Reinhard whirled around, and stomped back to her room. She magically closed the door behind her, a large glyph burning on the door.


    ;


    That was a ¡®keep out¡¯ if I¡¯d ever seen one.


    ;


    I scrunched my eyebrows up.


    ;


    ¡°Any idea what that was about?¡± I asked Iona.


    ;


    She shook her head.


    ;


    ¡°Maybe if Reinhard had given us a better description of who had shown up, we¡¯d have some idea.¡±


    ;


    I grabbed Iona¡¯s hand and dragged her to our room, activating the privacy runes I¡¯d etched in a long time ago for¡­ reasons.


    ;


    ¡°Going through a quick list of why armed people would be looking for me.¡± I started thinking out loud. ¡°I¡¯ve barely spent any time since my fairy misadventures outside of the School. People could want me because of my level and my tag, but usually people would only get annoyed if I¡¯m living where they are, right? Nobody would chase after a healer over 256 in Immortal lands?¡±


    ;


    I ended my thought with a question to Iona. She knew the culture of the world much better than I did, having grown up and all that jazz here.


    ;


    ¡°Unlikely. It depends on the exact relations - I can¡¯t tell you how Geum interacts with Draakveld - but it¡¯s expected that Immortals live in Immortal countries. Sure, there might be the occasional border dispute, but I¡¯ve never heard of anyone traveling all this way just for a high level healer. You¡¯d expect half the professors here to be harassed if that was the case.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Maybe it¡¯s because of the Gladiator Gauntlet? The Yellow Jackets wanted to try intimidating or bribing me to throw a fight? That doesn¡¯t really make sense to me, you¡¯d think they¡¯d know the schedule of the Gladiator Gauntlet, and not completely miss me¡­¡± I said, then snapped my fingers.


    ;


    ¡°Wait! When I did all that biomancy! I had a few sketchy people, including some dullahans, ask for modifications. Maybe one of them¡¯s come back to haunt me?¡±


    ;


    I knew they had been too good to be true, and I¡¯d done some reading after the fact. Adamantium armor for dullahans was a sign of the royal family¡­ half of which was currently missing, thanks to the civil war ripping the Han Empire apart.


    ;


    ¡°That¡­ sounds reasonable. Once you¡¯re done with the School, you¡¯ll be practically impossible to find. That, and you¡¯d be protected by your sponsor, whoever they are. That¡¯d be their thinking at least. If they weren¡¯t supposed to be here, I can believe them staying for just a short time until the School realizes they¡¯re not supposed to be here and kicking them out. From them interrogating Reinhard it sounds like they might¡¯ve just landed and started asking questions, trying to find who you were and where you were. Maybe expect more annoyed people?¡± Iona theorized.


    ;


    I groaned.


    ;


    ¡°That all sounds right. Still, end of the day, they paid so much money. Totally worth it, would do it again as long as nothing else happens. Right, unless I¡¯ve got my days of the week horribly wrong, I have a class¡­ now. I¡¯m going to run and catch the tail end of it. Love you!¡± I gave Iona a quick peck, regretting that I¡¯d just come back and didn¡¯t have a mango to quickly grab on my way out.


    ;


    ¡°Love you too!¡± She said as I dashed out the door, straightening my robes.


    ;


    I was going to be late, but I could at least look presentable.


    ;


    ;


    I knocked on Marcelle¡¯s door a few days later.


    ;


    ¡°Enter.¡± She said, and I slipped in.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine! Oh my goodness, you should¡¯ve said you were coming! I would¡¯ve arranged a much nicer place for us to meet! Would you like a drink?¡±


    ;


    I laughed and held my hands up at Marcelle.


    ;


    ¡°Whoa, chill! It¡¯s still me! Nothing¡¯s different about me than the first time I walked through your door. I will take that drink though.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Oh, of course, of course! Here, take my chair, it¡¯s nicer.¡±


    ;


    I shook my head.


    ;


    ¡°No need, it¡¯s your chair! I¡¯m used to the normal one.¡±


    ;


    Marcelle fussed over me like I was a [Queen] as I took a seat, my advisor clearly star-struck. She poured me a generous helping of one of her favorite vintages, and I took a deep sip, enjoying the fruity aroma.


    ;


    She believed. She knew deep in her ever-shifting bones that I was the [Mother of Modern Medicine]. The only question was, would I still get quality advice from her?


    ;


    ¡°What can I do for you? Any issues with your classes?¡± Marcelle asked after some initial polite conversation.


    ;


    ¡°Looking for advice. As you guessed, I seized Immortality.¡±


    ;


    Marcelle lifted her glass in a toast.


    ;


    ¡°A thousand and one congratulations to you for your achievement.¡±


    ;


    I took a sip at Marcelle¡¯s toast.


    ;


    ¡°My question is one of timing. Sorry if my next question is sort of personal. You were turned from mortal to Immortal. When did you decide to make the change from¡­ human? To vampire? And why? I¡¯m starting to think about my own time to change. Do I wait as long as possible? Do I get it done with now? Can the School help me with my curse? What¡¯s your take?¡±


    ;


    Marcelle leaned back in her chair, my questions grounding her. The star-dazzled look in her eyes faded, replaced with the cold, calculating look that I knew so well.


    ;


    ¡°An excellent question, ironically one that isn¡¯t asked often enough. Most of the time, Immortality skills are passive, immediately granting their benefits the moment it is taken. No chance or question of timing. When given a choice, too often mortals who manage to seize Immortality will immediately use their ability, staving off death. I was in something of a similar position. When I was told that my contributions to the Exterreri Empire were enough that I was to be granted the gift of vampirism, I didn¡¯t hesitate or wait. I immediately accepted, and was turned within the hour.¡±


    ;


    Marcelle got a faraway look in her eye as she took another sip of her wine.


    ;


    ¡°Part of it was that I''d grown up in Exterreri. I knew the place. I knew vampires. I knew what I was getting into. A larger part was juvenile excitement. I¡¯d worked half my life for the opportunity, and I was afraid that it would just vanish. That they¡¯d realize they had made a mistake, and I wasn¡¯t worthy.¡±


    ;


    I cocked my head, puzzled.


    ;


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you train as a [Biomancer]? Couldn¡¯t you seize it on your own?¡±


    ;


    Marcelle tilted her glass back and forth, the wine sloshing hypnotically.


    ;


    ¡°Yes, and no. Yes, I could¡¯ve seized it on my own, but that was my backup plan. I¡¯d always wanted to be a vampire. You have to understand, growing up in Exterreri, they were the top. The most beautiful. The coolest. The richest. The best. Everyone wanted to be one growing up, and I succeeded. But enough about me. We were talking about you.¡±


    ;


    I nodded, wanting Marcelle to continue expounding on her wisdom. She looked at her glass, and lifted it up, drawing attention to it.


    ;


    ¡°I have been drinking, so I will make absolutely no comments on your biomancy, or my estimates about it. With that said, I will give the general advice that people can die of old age, and the longer you wait, the more likely that is.¡±


    ;


    That¡­ was stunningly obvious and worthless advice, although I guess Marcelle was being careful with her strict ¡®biomancy and alcohol don¡¯t mix¡¯ rule.


    ;


    ¡°As for your curse. The School is the single greatest center of learning in the entire world. There are two whole curse departments in the Dark tower alone, one of which researches curses that White Dove hands out. Most of their effort is dedicated towards the common racial curses, but some will be interested in granted curses. They have a wide range of knowledge. My plan, back before I was offered the gift of vampirism, was to wait until as late as possible before privately turning myself. I would get the wording of White Dove¡¯s curse, then poke around and discreetly ask the curse department about it, possibly modifying some of the wording if I could. Now, there are a few important caveats to that. First, I was waiting because I wanted to be a vampire. Second, I had permanent access to the School as a professor. You could simply speak the word and be made a professor after your contributions if you wanted to, but if you were planning on doing anything else, that doesn¡¯t apply. In your position? Take the curse now, while you are in a safe and secure location, talk with some experts about what you received, and make plans for your life with that knowledge. What if you discover that you need to be submerged in the ocean once a day? You¡¯ll want to look at coastal nations, and who¡¯s friendly. What if your curse is to never touch the ground again? The School will happily take you, or you need to start looking into treehouses. A curse of your socks always being wet is mitigated by living somewhere dry, the list is endless. You¡¯re lucky, you¡¯re young and unsponsored. You can move anywhere in the world! Best to find out now.¡±


    ;


    I swirled my glass of wine, thinking about what Marcelle said.


    ;


    She brought up a number of excellent points. I¡¯d need to double check my biomancy notes, and cross reference with a book on aging to triple check what my internal age was - and if it was worth resetting early.


    ;


    To use a human analogy with no vitality - a heart could last 90 years. However, at 60 years, it was starting to slow down, and show its age. It could be worth turning a 60 year old heart back to a 20 year old heart, even if it wasn¡¯t ¡®almost dead¡¯.


    ;


    ¡°Thank you Marcelle. You¡¯ve given me lots to think about.¡±


    ;


    ¡°No worries! I heard that you managed to win the Gladiator Gauntlet this year?¡±


    ;


    I gave her a grin, the vampire clearly wanting to chat about more mundane topics. Why not?


    ;


    ¡°Yeah! We had a blast! The first round was practically a bye, the Lithos team having run into some issues¡­¡±


    ;


    ;


    ¡°Iona. My endless condolences for your loss. May I borrow a half block of your time, along with Elaine¡¯s, for a meal and a discussion?¡± Iya managed to find us in the grand central park, Iona drawing the people she¡¯d met during the Gladiator Gauntlet while I lay on her lap, reading two different books at the same time.


    ;


    With a mental sigh at being interrupted, I closed the least-favorite book in [Parallel Thoughts], shifting my attention to the beautiful naga. My other thought process kept going, gripped by the riveting tale of a poor alchemist in Suen trying to make his fortune.


    ;


    ¡°Sure. Does the last meal of the day work for you?¡± Iona asked. We couldn¡¯t exactly call it the evening meal, given that the sun was just coming up over the horizon¡­ in the ¡®afternoon¡¯.


    ;


    Honestly, as much as I loved the School, the time and the sun aligning once again would be nice.


    ;


    ¡°That would be most excellent. I can¡¯t wait for the honor of your presence.¡± Iya looked like she wanted to say something more, but slithered off instead.


    ;


    ¡°Wonder what she wants?¡± I asked.


    ;


    Iona shrugged and idly scratched my scalp just the way I liked it.


    ;


    ¡°Dunno. She might want to talk about her sister¡­ cousin? You did face her in the games.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Oh yeah, Norta. Alternatively, I dunno, there was some minor divine fucking intervention during the tournament, and she did explicitly call you out. Maybe she wants to talk about that? Either way, Iya has great food.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri was a big fan of Iya¡¯s treats.


    ;


    ;


    Iya had a modest spread laid out for us and her other retainers when we arrived. It looked like normal fare, but a closer examination showed the quality hidden by the simplicity.


    ;


    Also, she knew her audience. Mangos!


    ;


    I noticed Raith subtly ducking out of the way, and my eyes narrowed at him. Still wasn¡¯t a fan.


    ;


    We sat down, Iona and I being given preferential seating near Iya, Auri having a little dish all to herself and Fenrir outside with a gigantic raw hunk of beef, and started some small talk. I sent a quick grace off to the moon deities. Was still kinda new to this whole ¡®being religious¡¯ thing, but hey, it couldn¡¯t hurt, right?


    ;


    ¡°We met a relative of yours at the Gladiator Gauntlet.¡± I smoothly and expertly changed the topic of conversation from the School¡¯s current flight pattern and if we¡¯d see the living storm or not, to what I suspected Iya wanted to talk about.


    ;


    Iona started to choke-cough, pounding on her chest.


    ;


    ¡°Are you okay?¡± I asked her. She nodded, her face starting to go red.


    ;


    ¡°Oh? Which one?¡± Iya asked.


    ;


    ¡°Norta. Part of the Hapensburgs team? Same family name as you, was alright as a mage.¡±


    ;


    Iya laughed.


    ;


    ¡°Oh, if only I could see you say that to her face. She¡¯d have a conniption! ¡®Alright as a mage¡¯ indeed.¡± Iya continued to laugh, and even a few of her retainers chuckled at the joke.


    ;


    Something I liked about Iya - while she had minions, they weren¡¯t obviously ¡®laugh at the boss¡¯s joke¡¯ type. They seemed to take a perverse delight in pointing out when Iya was wrong about something, and she took corrections with good grace.


    ;


    Iona seemed to recover - kinda strange, I thought she was practically immune to choking with her stats - and rejoined the conversation.


    ;


    ¡°What¡¯s the deal with you and Norta? You¡¯ve said you¡¯re the heir, but Norta¡¯s at Hapensburgs. The Omospondia Confederacy is a little hard to understand, pardon my ignorance.¡±


    ;


    Iya tilted her head at Iona.


    ;


    ¡°I understand the confusion. Frankly, it depends on who you ask, and I can¡¯t be sure that even I know the truth. If such a thing as ¡®the truth¡¯ truly exists. Additionally, there is what I have been told, and a number of motives I suspect are the truth. The fundamental truth of Omospondia is that steel sharpens steel. Norta was sent to Hapensburgs. I was sent to the School. Aka was kept at home. We have all been given resources and opportunities. Our father wishes to see which one of us will rise above the others, and claim the family seat.¡±


    ;


    Iona raised an eyebrow.


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯re going to be killing your sisters?¡±


    ;


    Iya nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Yes. What better way to determine who is most worthy, who is the best suited to continuing the family? Selecting the first born is stupid. They could be feeble-minded. They get coddled. Spoiled. Never wanting for anything. You¡¯ve seen it yourself in Rolland. How many of the [Lords] and [Ladies] are truly the best suited for their role? How many second sons and third daughters would do a better job? We Sahels inherit our seat, true. But we must earn it.¡±


    ;


    ¡°BrrrRRRrrrpt! Brpt?¡± Auri was struggling to wrap her mind around the whole concept and idea. She was thinking that Iya had a few points.


    ;


    Iona gave me a wordless look that said see? Told you they were a bunch of backstabbing snakes.


    ;


    I rolled my eyes at her, hopefully telling her ¡®yeah yeah you¡¯re right no need to rub it in.¡¯


    ;


    ¡°Fruits?¡± Iya offered us each a tray of the food. I¡¯d already picked all the mangos out of it, but appreciated the gesture, and grabbed a nice apple. Iona shot a quick smirk at me as she grabbed a banana. We ate as Iya continued to talk.


    ;


    ¡°I am glad that you asked, Elaine.¡± Iya must¡¯ve noticed our ¡®conversation,¡¯ but smoothly ignored it. ¡°It would be completely unfair for me to have this next discussion without the two - excuse me, three - of you having the proper context. Iona, once again, my condolences for your loss. Elaine. It is my understanding that the two of you are, at this time, tragically unsponsored. You have no place to be, no home to go to once your time at the School comes to an end, and from our discussions, your end is coming soon. I would like to offer the two of you the shelter of the Sahel family. Come with me. I can guarantee that even if I should lose the war of succession - which I have no plans to - you will be safe and secure as retainers of the Sahel family. I don¡¯t expect an answer now, but please, think on it.¡±


    ;


    One of Iya¡¯s retainers cut in after Iya¡¯s offer had been hanging out in the air for a few seconds.


    ;


    ¡°Auri, in your expert opinion, what¡¯s the best wood to burn?¡± He asked.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt? BRPT! Brrrrpt, brpt brpt Bbrrrrrrrrrpt!¡± Auri started to speak, carving flaming words in the air to describe what she meant.


    ;


    Well, it depends on your definition of best. Do you want the hottest wood? The longest burning? The prettiest? Even within each type of wood, there are dozens of factors to consider. Take the common oak, for example¡­


    ;


    I spent the rest of the meal chewing over Iya¡¯s offer, and I could see Iona doing the same.

 Chapter 399 - A Mango A Day

    ¡°What do you think of me getting cursed now?¡± I asked Iona, delighted by the surprise she was trying to hide from me. [The World Around Me] meant the number of things that could surprise me up-close were minimal!


    ;


    She frowned. I knew what she thought of Immortals, and my heart fell.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m not the biggest fan of Immortals in the first place, but what you¡¯ve told me, it makes sense now. With that said, I¡¯ve got a bigger concern.¡±


    ;


    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Please stay old enough. I¡¯m not sure we could be dating if you were suddenly a child. Just¡­ no. It doesn¡¯t work for me.¡±


    ;


    Oh thank the moon goddesses. I sent them a quick prayer of thanks, donating a hefty chunk of mana. Iona¡¯s concern was about us dating, and not breaking up or anything.


    ;


    ¡°But you think it¡¯s wise for me to trigger now?¡±


    ;


    Iona thought about it for another minute, mulling it over.


    ;


    ¡°Yes. What Professor Marcelle said about it makes sense to me. Here!¡± She tossed her ¡®surprise¡¯, a mango she¡¯d found. My face lit up as I caught it.


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯re the best.¡±


    ;


    ;


    ¡°Elaine! Elaine! ELAINE!¡± Iona shouted as she burst through the doorway, the poor hinges never having a chance against her.


    ;


    I closed my book with a sigh, my other thought process wavering at Iona¡¯s interruption, but gamely still tracing the array I had mentally assembled into my spellbook.


    ;


    [Gust] was a classic. Weak, but it could have a wide variety of uses.


    ;


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I asked, using [The World Around Me] to continue my perfect view of my array even while looking away from it.


    ;


    Iona waved a piece of paper in an envelope at me, a little box tucked under her other arm.


    ;


    My skills would let me be a great¡­ mediocre¡­ spy. I could read what was in the letter, closed and waving around.


    ;


    Understanding the language was a different hurdle.


    ;


    ¡°The Valkyries! I got a letter!¡± Iona slammed down next to me, bouncing me up and out of the sofa.


    ;


    The poor sofa never stood a chance, giving up the ghost with a resounding crack.


    ;


    ¡°Stop breaking things!¡± I complained.


    ;


    ¡°Sorry.¡± Iona was sheepish as she put the box on the table. ¡°You can fix them, right?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Yeah, but that¡¯s not the point! I don¡¯t want to figure out the right array for however the sofa¡¯s broken this time. I have better things to do.¡± I complained, then seized the moment. ¡°Like kissing you! If I¡¯m working, no cuddles.¡±


    ;


    Iona pouted, but the message got through. She eagerly tore the missive open, her eyes scanning it so quickly her pupils blurred.


    ;


    She was done in seconds, leaning back on the broken sofa.


    ;


    Something else went crack, and I gave her the Evil Eye.


    ;


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Evil Eye]! Would you like to replace a skill with it? Y/N].


    ;


    Not the time System.


    ;


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± I prompted her, since she wasn¡¯t speaking.


    ;


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ a lot to take in.¡± She said. ¡°The short version is this. Sigrun has declared that we¡¯re going to return to our ancient roots. We started off as [Knights-Errant] wandering the world, doing what we believed needed to be done. It¡¯s how our tradition of acquiring squires came to be. We¡¯d pick up anyone interested while we were on the road. We were poor by virtually every metric, but usually there¡¯d be a farmer or innkeeper who¡¯d be willing to feed us for the day, in memory of a time when one of us had helped them in the past. Eventually Rolland offered us territory and a place to stay, you know the rest. Well, Sigrun¡¯s declared that we¡¯re going back to that model. Only beholden to our conscience.¡±


    ;


    The implications of that were getting me excited for selfish reasons.


    ;


    ¡°That means¡­?¡± I asked.


    ;


    ¡°It means I¡¯m free to do what I think is best.¡± Iona said.


    ;


    It was rude to be happy because of Iona¡¯s misfortune. I tilted my hat down to hide the beaming smile I couldn¡¯t control.


    ;


    ¡°Why are you - HEY!¡± Iona wasn¡¯t exactly born yesterday, and was way better at people than I was.


    ;


    ¡°You JERK!¡± Iona complained as she jumped on top of me, her hands finding my sides and mercilessly tickling me.


    ;


    ¡°Ahahahaha no stop nooooooooooooooooooooo!¡± I protested as I squirmed under Iona¡¯s assault.


    ;


    ;


    I rested my head on Iona¡¯s naked chest, tangled in the blankets, tickling having led from one thing to another. I idly traced one finger up and down her body, from her chin down to her navel.


    ;


    Iona shivered with delight. She reached over, grabbed a slice of mango, and slowly, sensually, teased me with it before feeding it to my grasping mouth.


    ;


    Fuck yes. Mangos. Hit almost as hard as sex, just in a different way.


    ;


    ¡°More?¡± I pleaded, already knowing I¡¯d eaten the last slice. Iona knuckled my forehead.


    ;


    ¡°You know we¡¯re out.¡±


    ;


    ¡°What do we want to do?¡± I asked Iona, switching the subject away from the last mango I¡¯d eaten.


    ;


    ¡°Well¡­¡± She playfully growled at me.


    ;


    I flicked her nose.


    ;


    ¡°No, for real. After the School. Do we want to take Iya¡¯s offer? It looks acceptable from where I¡¯m lying. Do we want to explore the world? Settle down somewhere? I think the School¡¯s also willing to offer me a job. We need to start thinking about this. We need to discuss this, seriously. I don¡¯t want graduation to come around and we¡¯re suddenly separated because we didn¡¯t communicate.¡±


    ;


    Iona was silent for a moment.


    ;


    ¡°Do you really think Iya¡¯s offer is good?¡± She asked, turning over a bit to look me in the eyes.


    ;


    Goddesses, her eyes were beautiful. Emeralds and stars.


    ;


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ alright?¡± I was hedging here. It sounded decent on the surface, but Iona¡¯s reluctance had me sensing a trap.


    ;


    Iona shook her head.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine, I love you to pieces, but you¡¯re charmingly naive at times. I¡¯m good at this, I sometimes miss or don¡¯t realize just how naive. I¡¯ve been willing to go along with Iya so far because there¡¯s no reason to piss off a powerful family for literally no reason, and because you¡¯ve been having fun, but she is a master manipulator and liar. After seeing her retainers and how she treats them, and how they treat her, can you really believe that Raith was acting on his own? That he didn¡¯t have orders to see if you were susceptible to intimidation? Deliberately ¡®missing¡¯ that there were three of us, then correcting herself? Iya knows how much you like Auri, and that you two are bonded. She¡¯s drawing attention to Auri, and how she considers Auri a full person. Boom! Deeper in your good graces. We¡¯d be immune to fallout if she loses the succession fight? HA! There¡¯s no trust there, they¡¯d throw a noose around our necks in a heartbeat if they didn¡¯t poison us in our sleep first. There are thousands of other small things Iya¡¯s done. Each and every single one of them is designed to make her likable, improve her position, and manipulate every single person around her. She sees the world in levers and pressure points, and found yours years ago. She¡¯s been carefully pressing and manipulating them ever since.¡±


    ;


    My mouth was forming a perfect ¡°O¡± in outrage.


    ;


    ¡°What! She¡¯s been manipulating me!? Why didn¡¯t you say anything!?¡± I was mad at Iya and myself.


    ;


    Iona pressed one hand to her eye. I was lying on her other arm.


    ;


    ¡°I did! I tried! Quite a few times, subtly! And less subtly! I called her a snake, how much more obvious do I need to be? I thought you knew, and were going along with it for whatever reason!¡±


    ;


    Uhhh¡­ all of those had gone completely over my head. I thought it was because Iya was a naga, and Iona was being a little rude.


    ;


    I patted Iona¡¯s arm.


    ;


    ¡°Well, let it never be said that you¡¯re not extremely supportive, although you need to work harder to get through how dense I am with people. I take it you want to decline?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Yes. It¡¯s one of the few places I won¡¯t follow you to. I am willing to take a tour through the country to see if there are any problems that require a Valkyrie¡¯s attention, but I will not make it my home.¡±


    ;


    I nodded, nestling deeper into Iona¡¯s chest.


    ;


    ¡°Great, that¡¯s one option down. What do you want to do?¡± I had a half-dozen half-baked plans. Eradicate diseases. Find Auri¡¯s family. Find Night. Make sure Artemis and the rest were safe and secure. Go out and heal people.


    ;


    I had a few more ideas in that vein. There was a drought in the Silver Horde, although I wasn¡¯t sure how much I could do against that. The challenge would be worth some levels. There was a civil war in the Han Empire. Endless casualties, but dipping my toe in a civil war was dicey. Suen was having a terrible outbreak of the Pekari, although there was no telling if it¡¯d be over by the time we got there.


    ;


    I wanted to make a home. A base. A place to feel safe and secure.


    ;


    In short, I had a hundred ideas, and no big flashing arrow telling me which one to pick. I¡¯d been driven by something or given direction nearly my entire life. The whole world being open to choose was strange. Opportunity overload.


    ;


    ¡°Find problems and smash them. Preferably problems that respond well to being smashed. Find the injustices in the little tucked away places in the world, and be the sword and the shield. Preferably somewhere near Rolland, where I can see if I can bump into other Valkyries. Find a way to feed Fenrir. Now that I know what the other Valkyries are doing, I feel like I can make plans.¡±


    ;


    I started up in the middle.


    ;


    ¡°Fuck it. Let¡¯s go to the Han Empire after we graduate. Civil war. Near Rolland - even near Castle Valkyrie if I remember my maps right. People for me to heal. Injustices for you to fix. The whole place is a mess. Wouldn¡¯t surprise me if the Valkyries scattered through the area.¡±


    ;


    Iona gave me a long kiss on my head.


    ;


    ¡°Let¡¯s think about it. Jumping into a civil war after a five minute conversation is stupid, but I¡¯m open to the idea. Let¡¯s make sure we¡¯ve planned it out properly, but as ideas go¡­ it works.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrrrrrpt!!¡± Auri yelled from the other room. I threw a pillow at the wall.


    ;


    ¡°Stop eavesdropping!¡± I shouted.


    ;


    ¡°BRRPT!¡±


    ;


    I grumbled as I nestled back down into Iona¡¯s arms, and sighed.


    ;


    ¡°She¡¯s got a point though. We should get a home and a base first. Make sure we can feed Fenrir. Have a place to retreat to and lick our wounds.¡±


    ;


    Iona pursed her lips a bit.


    ;


    ¡°I¡­ yeah, alright, she¡¯s right. I¡¯m trying to jump into this a little too hastily. I¡¯ve always had a base of operations, I shouldn¡¯t just assume I can work without one. Where are you thinking?¡±


    ;


    ¡°We should have Auri in this discussion. Fenrir as well, if we can manage it.¡±


    ;


    Iona grimaced.


    ;


    ¡°Fenrir¡­ I¡¯m not sure he¡¯d care enough. Food, a hunt, a shelter, and he¡¯s happy as can be.¡± She said.


    ;


    Fenrir did sleep a lot.


    ;


    ¡°Right. Auri, wanna join us?¡±


    ;


    The little phoenix zipped in, trailing flames that briefly hovered in the air, then burned out like an afterimage.


    ;


    ¡°Xerius would be nice.¡± I said carefully. ¡°It¡¯s where mangos grow, and I think it¡¯s where Remus used to be. Or, errr, the Remus I knew. Sadly¡­¡± I trailed off, and Iona picked up right where I left off.


    ;


    ¡°It¡¯s mortal territory, and we were just talking about you becoming Immortal.¡± She finished off.


    ;


    ¡°Right. Would love to travel now and then, but I don¡¯t think I can set up a home. Not without stepping on too many toes.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Please don¡¯t.¡± The very idea of it seemed to pain Iona. ¡°Unless it¡¯s Nippon-Koku. They¡¯re much more tolerant of Immortals. Practically cater to them. They¡¯re right on the border, and they know Immortals have serious coin to spend on their shows.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Right, I¡¯ll put them on the list. Humor me for the sake of completeness. Nippon-Koku. Jurcor. Draakveld. Exterreri. Tympestshard. Golden Courts. Urwa. Modu.¡±


    ;


    ¡°BRRRRRRRPT!¡± Auri protested. Modu was cold. And dark. It was where Iona had found Fenrir.


    ;


    ¡°I just asked you to let me finish my list for completeness, then we can start crossing things off.¡± I scolded my little friend.


    ;


    ¡°Brpt.¡± Auri had done No Wrong, fighting against the evils of Cold and Snow. How she was BFF¡¯s with Fenrir, I¡¯d never know.


    ;


    ¡°Modu,¡± I said with a pointed look at Auri. ¡°Bhutai, and Penujuman. Am I missing anywhere?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Gwyllt.¡± Iona promptly replied. I smacked my forehead.


    ;


    ¡°Oh yeah, Gwyllt. Is¡­ that even an option? Do apistles let other people settle there?¡±


    ;


    Iona shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°Dunno, but it is classified as Immortal. Draakveld is right out.¡±


    ;


    I popped out a notebook into my hand, and Iona snapped a quill out from our desks in our other room into my hand.


    ;


    ¡°Fancy.¡± I commented on Iona¡¯s control and being able to hit things accurately without line of sight. I wrote down the list, crossing Draakveld off.


    ;


    ¡°There is no way I could tolerate Urwa from what I¡¯ve heard of it.¡± I crossed the desert country off my list. ¡°My understanding is Lithos isn¡¯t an option, although I could try to make it work if you want to go back¡­?¡± I trailed off. I knew Iona had been born there, and grew up there, and it was filled with Immortal trolls.


    ;


    She shook her head.


    ;


    ¡°It¡¯s not home, and it¡¯s firmly a mortal country. They wouldn¡¯t like you there.¡±


    ;


    Well, that answered that.


    ;


    ¡°BRPT.¡± Auri nearly blew out my eardrums with the force of her shout, and Iona clapped her hands over her ears, bumping me. I was slightly exaggerating Auri almost blowing out my eardrums, but she¡¯d earned the name Stentor.


    ;


    Auri conjured a small fireball, slowly bringing it towards ¡®Modu¡¯ on my list.


    ;


    ¡°Alright, alright, I get it.¡± I crossed the country off the list.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m not big on trying to live with elves. Petty I know, but have you been around elves a bunch?¡±


    ;


    I thought back to my travels with Awarthril, Serondes, and Aegion. I imagined living like that forever, not just a few months.


    ;


    ¡°Yup, nope, say no more.¡± I crossed off the Golden Courts and Tympestshard. ¡°Any other obvious exclusions?¡±


    ;


    Nobody said anything for a minute, all of us thinking.


    ;


    ¡°No obvious issues. Less obvious issues?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Just thinking about Jurcor and all the paperwork they flash around gives me headaches.¡± Iona flopped back. ¡°Please, spare me from a lifetime of paperwork.¡±


    ;


    I crossed the country off with a flourish, and decided to address the elephant in the room.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯d like to take a serious shot at Exterreri.¡± I said. ¡°Marcelle suggested it. My reading, as much as you can read about a country, suggests it¡¯s similar to where I came from. It has vampires, and maybe my old mentor. It protects people like me.¡±


    ;


    Iona shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°I have no problem with that, as long as you¡¯re willing to look at other places if it doesn¡¯t work out. Yeah?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri trilled her assent.


    ;


    ¡°Yeah. We¡¯ll have more information to work with then.¡± I circled Exterreri, leaving the rest of the list untouched. Our other options if things didn¡¯t work, and countries and places we could revisit if things went poorly.


    ;


    The two of us chatted a bit more, then got up.


    ;


    ¡°Oh yeah, there was that box.¡± My eyes widened as I saw what was inside of it, seeing straight through the walls with [The World Around Me].


    ;


    Iona opened the box, sucking in a cold breath as she saw the bounty inside. She picked up a handful of the ruby coins and let them fall back into the box, each one glittering like a drop of blood.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°Elaine! Just the elaine I wanted to see!¡± Marcelle ambushed me after one of my classes.


    ;


    ¡°Professor. Is there anything I can do for you?¡± I was extra-conscious of being a student, and wanting to make sure I didn¡¯t get an overly swollen head.


    ;


    ¡°Yes. We¡¯re still working on your final thesis presentation. We¡¯re convincing a few people at a time, and as the pool of people who know what¡¯s going on expands, it becomes easier. However, a few people want to meet you and talk with you. Mind giving us a few minutes of your time?¡±


    ;


    A few minutes of my time here and there was a pittance compared to how hard a full thesis was to normally write.


    ;


    Then again, I¡¯d spent accursed months aboard a ship editing. I¡¯d paid in blood, toil, tears, and sweat to write the manuscripts in the first place!


    ;


    ¡°Sure, lead the way. Anytime, anyplace, I¡¯m at your disposal.¡± I told Marcelle.


    ;


    She beamed at me.


    ;


    ¡°Excellent! We¡¯re talking with the Dean of Medicine today.¡±


    ;


    ;


    That meeting had been a little more tense than I¡¯d expected. Grilled, sliced, diced, and fried. Dunno why my mind was on barbeque, maybe it said something about my mental state. Or my own musings were an attempt to distract me from what I was about to do.


    ;


    I took a deep breath, and quintuple-checked my gear. A nervous tic I¡¯d developed as a Ranger. If my gear and training were good, I¡¯d be fine.


    ;


    Not that any of my preparations could help against White Dove. They were simply to bolster my own confidence.


    ;


    ¡°Now Auri,¡± I said. ¡°This is an important meeting with White Dove. Please don¡¯t be rude to her.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri claimed she had learned her lesson from last time.


    ;


    I entered the dangerous workshop building - the privacy and protection on the rooms were second to none - and had a quick conversation with one of the student workers manning the desk.


    ;


    His eyebrows were missing, and his clothes had a distinct blast pattern on them.


    ;


    ¡°Rough day?¡± I asked.


    ;


    ¡°Rough week.¡± He complained. ¡°It¡¯s just not worth replacing robes until they¡¯re shredded beyond repair. Special permission and all that. Right, have you reserved a room?¡±


    ;


    I nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Name¡¯s Elaine. One of the black rooms. I think that¡¯s the classification I need?¡±


    ;


    The colors of the rooms corresponded with the estimated danger level, similar to the School robes. Black was the lowest level, then purple, blue, etc., all the way to red and white.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine, Elaine¡­¡± He muttered, running his finger down a schedule. ¡°Elaine! Ah, here you are. Right, got a few questions for you before we begin.¡± He pulled out another piece of paper.


    ;


    ¡°Sure, shoot.¡±


    ;


    ¡°About how much mana is going to be used in your project?¡±


    ;


    ¡°A thousand or so? It might vary, but I¡¯m not spending a ton.¡±


    ;


    He nodded and ticked a box.


    ;


    ¡°Are you involving Spore, Miasma, Poison, or Void elements?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Nope.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Do you need a healer on standby?¡±


    ;


    I snorted, and pointed to myself.


    ;


    ¡°Do I count?¡±


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯ll mark that as a no. Is there any way your work produces toxic fumes?¡±


    ;


    On and on the questions went. Self-perpetuating. Fae. Divine Edicts. A question that danced around itself, asking about dragons. Cultivators and tribulations. Anomalies.


    ;


    ¡°Right, good, good. Are you planning on summoning any extra-dimensional beings?¡± He asked, already ticking off the box ¡®no¡¯.


    ;


    ¡°Uh.¡± I awkwardly paused. He froze.


    ;


    ¡°I don¡¯t like the sound of that¡­¡± He glared at me.


    ;


    ¡°Maybe?¡± I squeaked out. ¡°Define extra-dimensional beings?¡±


    ;


    ¡°If you need the definition, that¡¯s a yes.¡± He muttered. ¡°Red room 3, subbasement 7. Please wait at least an eighth of a block before starting, that¡¯s when I take my break and I do not need another containment breach.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt brrrrpt brrrrrrrrrrpt.¡± Auri was laughing on my shoulder.


    ;


    ¡°Yeah yeah, real funny.¡± I rolled my eyes and took the key to the room in question.


    ;


    Going down the spiral stairs was interesting. The whole place felt and looked sterile, with thick layers of runes plastered on every wall. Runes for purification. Structure. Stability. Containment. And more! I made a new ¡®book¡¯ inside of [Astral Archives] and memorized everything here.


    ;


    If I ever wanted to make my own workshop - I don¡¯t know why I would, but who knew - the runes here, carefully iterated on over generations, would make an excellent starting point. Possibly finishing point as well!


    ;


    Then I was in the room, and it was time.


    ;


    I focused on myself, thinking of what age I wanted to be.


    ;


    I was aiming for 26. My birthday was coming up soon, and I wasn¡¯t quite sure how my differentiated aging worked, I was fairly confident that my internals were ¡®older¡¯ than my externals. Aiming for my current age - basically subtracting a day from how old I currently was - should fix any issues internally, while giving myself plenty of padding if I ¡®overshot¡¯.


    ;


    I¡¯d never overshot by more than three years before, and even if I doubled my biggest overshoot, that¡¯d leave me at 20. Minimal risk of ending up as an 8-year old.


    ;


    No sense in delaying. I opened up the relevant ¡®book¡¯ about my biomancy changes from [Astral Archives], and focused on myself, starting to channel [The Stars Never Fade].


    ;


    The world faded away into pure darkness, even Auri¡¯s flames eaten by the endless nothingness.


    ;


    Then, in the distance, a single pinprick of light appeared. Then a second, a third, dozens, hundreds lit up all around me, placing me in the center of the vast cosmos. Rocks circled stars, which clustered together into galaxies. Those galaxies formed superclusters, and the entire universe circled around me in a glorious display of light.


    ;


    Then I started moving through the various clusters, dashing through the display at a speed that made light look slow. I narrowly missed hundreds of galaxies, and was thrown through dozens more until I slowed at a spiral galaxy.


    ;


    I started ¡®falling¡¯ towards the spiral galaxy, near the edge, one yellow sun growing larger and larger in my view as I zoomed in on this particular piece of the universe. Four gas giants circled around the star, but I wasn¡¯t heading towards any of them.


    ;


    Instead, I was brought to a small blue marble floating in the void, a moon almost the quarter of the size of the planet orbiting around it.


    ;


    Then the changes started. Mountains receded as tectonic plates pulled away, and others rose up as plates clashed. Dirt and rock lifted themselves up, flowing back into volcanoes, while islands sunk into the ocean. Tons of dust lifted from the planet, forming into one massive asteroid that zipped away into the endless expanse of space. Continental plates shifted, slamming themselves back together in a single mass.


    ;


    And then it was done. The world looked new and primal, cooled from the fires of creation but teeming with limitless potential.


    ;


    [*ding!* [The Stars Never Fade] has leveled up! 11->12]


    ;


    The world slowly faded back into existence, and my old nemesis was back.


    ;


    White Dove.


    ;


    I boldly stared her in the eye, back straight, unashamed of my actions and willing to look the consequences squarely in the face. Waiting for her to pronounce judgment.


    ;


    ¡°Oh great lover of fruit.¡± She intoned.

 Chapter 400 - Keeps the Doctor Away

    I didn¡¯t feel much different from when I¡¯d started. Maybe a hair more energized. Wasn¡¯t any shorter, thank the System, and I still looked like an adult.


    ;


    Success!


    ;


    All that was left was White Dove.


    ;


    ¡°Oh great lover of fruits.¡± She intoned, and the world shook. Her words had Power to them, reverberating through Creation itself. Words spoken, almost directly into my mind, that I could instantly and innately understand. White Dove was Magic.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri was very politely saying hello.


    ;


    White Dove tilted her head at my phoenix friend.


    ;


    ¡°Cousin. Well-met. It¡¯s been months since we last spoke. You should visit more often.¡± White Dove toned it down for Auri, then she was back, Speaking to me.


    ;


    Hang on, months, wait wha-


    ;


    ¡°Elaine of Earth. Elaine of Remus. Elaine of nowhere, and Elaine of Pallos. The Dawn Sentinel. Butterfly Mystic. The Very Hungry Bookwyrm. Mother of Phoenixes, Traveler of the Fae, Butcher of Ochi and Founder of Medicine. For too long have you evaded my grasp, slipped away through the cracks in time. For too long have you avoided my eye. No More.¡±


    ;


    The walls shook at that pronouncement, and I was sweating bullets. The start had gone well, and the sheer number of titles I had that White Dove noticed were almost a point of pride.


    ;


    Until Ochi.


    ;


    Then it rapidly went downhill. Her mentioning my love of fruits was also more than a hair concerning.


    ;


    Not my mangos.


    ;


    Anything but my mangos.


    ;


    ¡°You have denied me, and for this sin, I curse you. No more shall you enjoy the kiss of the red fruit. First, you shall not be able to approach anyone who¡¯s eaten one. A lover¡¯s touch denied. A dying patient unable to be saved. A crowd unpassable. Second, the touch of the fruit is your bane, and incurable by your magics. No more shall you shrug off every wound. No more will injuries entirely cease to concern you. No more are you immune to every poison under the sun and moons. Third, should you partake of the fruit, your healing magics will be denied to you until the next day. You shall be forced to watch your friends swell up from an envenomed bite. Watch a child crushed by a cart. Witness an earthquake topple a city, and you shall be powerless to assist.¡±


    ;


    Each word was filled with hatred and venom. Every word was like a knife to my heart.


    ;


    ¡°I curse you.¡± White Dove spat, before flying off, through a wall.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri asked as I clutched my chest.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m alright.¡± I said, my mind half-frozen.


    ;


    I¡¯d expected the curse, I just¡­ I was just thrown off kilter. Off-balance.


    ;


    As far as curses went, at first glance, I¡¯d gotten a fairly gentle one. I wasn¡¯t risking death half the day, unlike the poor trolls. I wasn¡¯t unable to touch anything, like the dude who¡¯d gotten the gold-touch curse. My every word wasn¡¯t going to be changed, unlike the lawyer. I didn¡¯t have some doom hanging over my head. I could walk in the sun, swim in a river, and generally, the fullness of life was still available to me.


    ;


    Except for one thing, the most important thing of them all.


    ;


    Frankly, from a high level, it felt like Sextia¡¯s curse. She¡¯d been unable to bathe except in the light of two moons, and even then she¡¯d found a workaround.


    ;


    ¡°But why did it have to be mangos?¡± I complained to Auri. Honestly, that was just rude.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrrpt¡­?¡± Auri asked.


    ;


    ¡°Yes, I - wait. WAIT. Auri, you¡¯re a genius!¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrpt.¡± Auri puffed up in smug self-satisfaction. Of course she was a genius, she was Auri.


    ;


    White Dove hadn¡¯t said ¡®mangos¡¯ at all! She¡¯d said the red fruit!


    ;


    Mangos weren¡¯t red! Orange, yes. Occasionally green. Sometimes they were speckled like a rainbow, going from green to yellow to orange, with the slightest hint of red at the end. An extremely overripe one, or a rare variant could be red, yes. The color was one of the things that just made them so perfect. That made them the most divine fruit, the best idea the gods had copied over to Pallos when they were creating the world.


    ;


    It was one stretch of an imagination to call mangos the red fruit. I suppose like the poor fellow who¡¯d been cursed with simply ¡®doors¡¯ I¡¯d been given something of a mystery to solve.


    ;


    What, exactly, was my curse centered around? Auri and I left the red room to a small crowd.


    ;


    ¡°Whoa. What¡¯s up?¡± I asked, facing a wall of dangerous-looking Immortals. They had come here fast, I¡¯d barely been in there ten minutes, start to finish!


    ;


    ¡°What was that?¡± One of the elves demanded.


    ;


    ¡°Uhhhh¡­¡± The main reason I¡¯d used one of the dangerous workshop rooms was to have privacy. Big or small, all of White Dove¡¯s curses were designed to inconvenience, if not outright kill, Immortals. A curse - my curse - was a deeply personal thing, and as soon as I figured out what the red fruit was, I¡¯d know what my own personal kryptonite was.


    ;


    I hadn¡¯t even brought Iona with me, and she hadn¡¯t asked or even seemed surprised. There was a good chance I¡¯d end up telling her, but she recognized that our relationship did still have boundaries. Yay healthy relationships!


    ;


    My own personal kryptonite that, from the sound of it, was the perfect substance to kill me with. I wasn¡¯t big on being completely paranoid, but I wasn¡¯t completely stupid. The moment ¡®this thing can kill Elaine¡¯ got out in the slightest, it was guaranteed to make it to an [Information Broker], and then it¡¯d be out there. Quietly lurking, ready and waiting to bite me one day.


    ;


    If I mentioned White Dove, it was entirely possible that one of the Immortals here could, with some crazy skill or another, figure out what she¡¯d said in the room. It had happened recently, I bet a Sound Classer could hear the echoes or a Wind Classer could read the currents.


    ;


    They were still waiting for an answer.


    ;


    ¡°Um. Why do you want to know?¡± I asked.


    ;


    ¡°You shook the entire building.¡± The same elf crossed his arms and glared.


    ;


    ¡°Oops? Didn¡¯t think that would happen. Used less than a thousand points of mana, in a reinforced room, didn¡¯t think it was possible.¡±


    ;


    I got a sea of disbelieving looks. Most of these Immortals couldn¡¯t shake the building from inside one of the reinforced rooms if they tried.


    ;


    The student worker who¡¯d originally let me in was at the back of the crowd, and spoke up.


    ;


    ¡°Wait, did you summon an extra-dimensional being to grow out your hair?¡± He asked.


    ;


    ¡°Uhhh¡­ yes! That is an effect that occurred.¡± I was being awkward and I knew it. ¡°Aren¡¯t my experiments supposed to be private? Especially since I filled out the paperwork?¡±


    ;


    There was much grumbling and discussion, but with my steadfast refusal to say anything, and the lack of evidence, like scorch marks or the like, and the fact that I had followed all the rules properly got them off my back.


    ;


    The crowd eventually dispersed, and I started to make my way back up through the building. Sub-basement 7 meant I was deep, and on sub-basement 2, I encountered an issue.


    ;


    There was a single, huge spiral staircase to facilitate evacuations and rapid response to issues. I passed by people going down as I was going up, and I felt no need to rush past other people going up either. Just good old polite manners as we all moved through a dangerous building.


    ;


    I suddenly stopped. It wasn¡¯t like running into a brick wall, it was more like I simply couldn¡¯t move forward. My limbs wouldn¡¯t respond to my commands, my foot wouldn¡¯t lift off the stair. The person behind me almost ran into me, and after a brief moment, cussed me out and moved around me.


    ;


    My heart froze in terror. What was wrong with me? Why couldn¡¯t I move?


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri asked. I gave her a tiny shake of my head.


    ;


    Or tried to at least. I could move my head one way, but not back.


    ;


    Alright. I wasn¡¯t entirely frozen. Experimentally, I tried to step backwards, and my body let me. More people were passing by me, and I was starting to make something of a clog in the normal flow of people.


    ;


    Then like a rubber snapping, I could move forward again. I instantly marked the person who¡¯d passed me by, scanning him from top to toe, memorizing every detail.


    ;


    [Artisan - 177]


    ;


    The orc¡¯s tag was nothing special, and nobody else had seemed inconvenienced by him. White Dove had mentioned a fruit, and I¡¯d spent quite a lot of effort improving my senses.


    ;


    The other thing she¡¯d mentioned was ¡®unable to walk through crowds¡¯, and I saw what she meant. If random people had a pseudo force-field or something that I couldn¡¯t cross, that promised to be a pain in the ass. The only thing going for it was the School was a great melting pot of foods, but the rest of the world wasn¡¯t.


    ;


    I took a deep sniff in, and I could smell everything. From meals to hygiene habits, all the way to the faint odors of people they¡¯d recently been with. I could immediately tell that two people shared a class together. The harpy had just gotten laid. The naga didn¡¯t sleep on a pillow, but on coals. One person had recently been in the library, a second had a frog as a companion, and a third had an omnipresent smell of salt.


    ;


    Critically, I wanted to know what the orc had been eating. He¡¯d had a stew for lunch, with rice, sausage - pork, with oatmeal and cherries - green bell peppers, red bell peppers, a white onion, carrots, celery, garlic, salt, pepper, water, bay leaves and cilantro. A slice - I assumed, I couldn¡¯t get quantities - of apple pie had been his desert. Apples, sugar, wheat flour, butter, water, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, lemon juice. Breakfast for him had been Zuppa Toscana. Olive oil, sausages - chicken this time, with pineapple? - red onion, potatoes, tomatoes, oregano, cayenne pepper, salt, pepper, heavy cream, kale, and bacon bits. There were a few more subtle notes that were being drowned out.


    ;


    I also got a sharp note of strawberries and cream with sugar, a decadent midday snack.


    ;


    Apples. Red Peppers. Strawberries. Cherries. Cayenne Pepper. My list of candidates was five possible red fruits, assuming White Dove hadn¡¯t been fucking with me.


    ;


    A few more sniffs got me a wide sample of other people on the stairs, and I rapidly started cross-checking and eliminating candidates.


    ;


    Cayenne pepper instantly went off the list, a few other people around me having eaten it. I was free and out of the building, and continued to just walk through the crowds of students, strolling in the sunset as I worked through the rest.


    ;


    Red peppers got crossed off next, and strawberries had clearly been a thing this morning. Shame I¡¯d missed out, strawberries with cream were delicious.


    ;


    Then it was like I hadn¡¯t been paying attention and ran into a wall. It took a quarter of a second to identify who was giving me grief this time, and another half a second to figure out everything they¡¯d eaten for their last few meals.


    ;


    One commonality instantly jumped out.


    ;


    Apples.


    ;


    Apples?


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri asked from my shoulder.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you in a minute, hang on.¡± I said as I backed up, freed myself, and continued walking back to my dorm.


    ;


    I thought about what White Dove had said. The practically omniscient White Dove, who¡¯d called out my extra-Pallos origins. Who¡¯d seemed to know about Earth flawlessly.


    ;


    One line in particular stood out to me as I reflected.


    ;


    unable to heal until the next day.


    ;


    Apples.


    ;


    Days.


    ;


    Healer.


    ;


    Did White Dove seriously curse me with an apple a day keeps the doctor away!?

 Chapter ??? - Meanwhile, the sidekicks

    The realm of the fae connected to all worlds, forming the greatest crossroad in the multiverse. Smart travelers, those who knew the Rules, those who treated the realm with the proper respect such a deadly place deserved, could use the realm to quickly and easily hop between worlds.


    ;


    Others¡­ others did not.


    ;


    ¡°BRRRRRRRPT!!!!!!!¡± Auri screamed as she fled, chased by a flock of pixies. She hadn¡¯t know! This wasn¡¯t fair! It was only two fields of flowers! They were practically begging to be torched!


    ;


    She ducked and weaved, jumping into another fairy ring, a portal to another world.


    ;


    A blinding flash of purple light later, and she was bodily thrown into a smokey room. Three other critters were sitting around a table. A plush bunny toy, an orange cat, and a juvenile dragon.


    ;


    The plushie¡¯s eyes burned with purple flame, its shadows not of a rabbit. Instead it was that of a monster, with tentacles, appendages, and impossible geometry.


    ;


    ¡°Let¡¯s play together!¡± It said with a mechanical, pre-recorded voice.


    ;


    I am She-Who-Feasts-On-Many-And-Collect-Much-Gold! This is a fun place. Much gold.


    ;


    The orange cat simply stretched, and Auri, in her brilliant genius, realized what this place was.


    ;


    It was a secret dimension! The Pet Extradimensional Association. Naturally, no taxes would have to be paid.


    ;


    Yes, yes, it was all Auri¡¯s brilliance that let her figure it out, and nothing to do with the floating blue screen in front of her telling her all that.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± She asked.


    ;


    ¡°Let¡¯s play together!¡± The plushie said with its mechanical voice. A deck of cards appeared on the table, a perfect perch for the little hummingbird was created from nothing, space distorting and twisting to put Auri at the table with the other three.


    ;


    Cards were dealt as the rules of the game were forcefully shoved into everyone¡¯s minds. Auri¡¯s flaming body flared up as the knowledge was forced into her head, Orange batted at the air, She-Who-Feasts-On-Many-And-Collect-Much-Gold snapped at the air, then groaned and held her head.


    ;


    There was a faint scream and distant popping noise as Plushie¡¯s eyes briefly glowed brighter.


    ;


    ¡°I love you!¡± It said.


    ;


    Auri had the sense that whatever had shoved the game rules into her head wasn¡¯t going to bother them again.


    ;


    The entirety of her life savings appeared on the table in front of her. Arcanite, jade, diamond and ruby coins. Money appeared in front of the others as well. A few gold coins in front of She-Who-Feasts-On-Many-And-Collect-Much-Gold, who promptly grabbed them with a fearful look on her face. She tried to stuff them back into the pouch around her neck, but no matter how she shoved and shoved, they just reappeared on the table in front of her.


    ;


    Then she got a crafty look on her face, and started to shovel them as fast as she could into the pouch.


    ;


    Auri shook her beak sadly. There was no infinite gold replication glitch going on. The poor dragon¡¯s brain had been fried by greed.


    ;


    Orange batted at a pile of gold du-cats that appeared in front of him, while Plushie was practically buried under a pile of paper money.


    ;


    The deck of cards was shuffled by the magic of the place, cards spun to each of the players. Auri peeked at hers.


    ;


    King of Diamonds.


    Ace of Hearts.


    ;


    Red! Both were red! The color of flames, of burning, not the dull black of ashes and coal. Both cards were super high value as well! Yes! Perfection! A winning hand!


    ;


    Auri conjured up a few [Mage Hands], brrrpted in satisfaction, and pushed more of her coins to the pot in the middle. The money was as good as hers!


    ;


    =================


    ;


    She-Who-Feasts-On-Many-And-Collect-Much-Gold calculated her cards, and what they meant. This table was tough. Plushie was an enigma, a perfectly blank figure that was impossible to read. Occasionally it flickered, moving positions slightly. She-Who-Feasts-On-Many-And-Collect-Much-Gold had learned to fold when that happened - Plushie always won those hands. It did it rarely enough, and was losing the thin pieces of paper that was its money often enough, that She-Who-Feasts-On-Many-And-Collect-Much-Gold didn¡¯t think victory was impossible¡­ merely, that it was at Plushie¡¯s whims.


    ;


    Orange was a cat. A pure cat. One that strutted around the table when she felt like it, napped when she felt like it - the rest of them considered her to have folded the hand when it happened - and was somehow accurring a larger and larger pile of gold.


    ;


    She-Who-Feasts-On-Many-And-Collect-Much-Gold¡¯s gold! Arthur started to get frantic at the thought, but no, no. She was a dragon. It was still her gold, no matter how much it was in front of anyone else.


    ;


    The phoenix though, she was tricky. She-Who-Feasts-On-Many-And-Collect-Much-Gold still couldn¡¯t figure out if she was brilliant with bluffs, making obvious tells when she had a bad hand and keeping it stone-cold secret when it was a good hand, or if she was simply an idiot who couldn¡¯t calculate statistics and probability when there was gold on the line. She was currently burning brightly, colorful flames popping and sparking a small light show around her. She had a good hand¡­ or thought she did.


    ;


    The bidding went to Orange, who lazily batted in another pile of her gold. She-Who-Feasts-On-Many-And-Collect-Much-Gold gulped, and looked at her hand.


    ;


    Not the best. But with this much gold on the line? The chance to add so much to her precious hoard?


    ;


    What were the chances that a cat had a better hand?


    ;


    She-Who-Feasts-On-Many-And-Collect-Much-Gold nudged more of her coins in.


    ;


    ;

 Chapter 401 - Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3

    ¡°You¡¯re interested in White Dove¡¯s curses for¡­ academic reasons.¡± Professor Lugon arched a doubtful eyebrow up at me, looking my purple robes up and down. ¡°Riiiiiiight. What questions do you hypothetically have?¡±


    ;


    Okay. In hindsight, being a high level healer asking about Immortality curses was a little more obvious than I thought. Extra-so if people regularly consulted the professor.


    ;


    Given his reaction, the cat was already out of the bag, and I doubted he¡¯d look favorably upon me if I endlessly danced around the truth we both knew.


    ;


    ¡°Alright, fine, yes, I¡¯m wondering about my own curse, and portions of it.¡±


    ;


    Professor Lugon immediately held up his hand, avoiding his majestic set of antlers.


    ;


    ¡°I do not want to know the full content of your curse. When it inevitably gets out, as all such things do, I do not wish for you to place the blame at my feet. Far too many students have come back, attempting some measure of petty revenge for believing that I have violated their trust. No more. Please speak in abstracts.¡±


    ;


    I hesitated, my carefully organized list of questions shredded to pieces.


    ;


    Somewhat. I¡¯d just need to modify a few words.


    ;


    ¡°White Dove seems to give multiple examples after each part of her curse. Do they mean anything specific?¡±


    ;


    Lugon shook his head.


    ;


    ¡°An excellent question, I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d ask! No, White Dove is simply attempting to, as best as I can tell, invoke despair. The specific examples are all possible, but are not prophecy or a look at the future. Indeed, you can think of them as helpful cautions as to what might happen.¡± He peered at me, clearly waiting for my next question.


    ;


    The backhanded compliment grated, but, well, elf. They believed, deep in their bones, that they were better than everyone else, and we poor little elvenoids needed their help. Which, admittedly, he was giving. But heck, even the word elvenoid was vaguely insulting.


    ;


    Accurate, and a word everyone was on board with, so it was useful for good communication, but the etymology was irritating.


    ;


    The examples thing was nice, and something I was already starting to realize. I could move through crowds, occasionally getting ¡®buffeted¡¯ by someone who¡¯d eaten apples recently.


    ;


    ¡°Sorry, I¡¯ve got a specific word I¡¯d like to ask about. White Dove used partake. Does that mean anything specific?¡±


    ;


    Lugon grimaced.


    ;


    ¡°That depends on far too many factors for me to properly comment on. A significant aspect of it is your native language, your mother tongue, and the language you speak in. Some are lucky for all three to be the same, but not always. Words have different meanings and connotations. Partake in High Elvish means something subtly different from the same word in Hakka, which has dozens if not hundreds of meanings to every syllable, and Tilan has such specific definitions that curses given in the language tend to be incredibly narrow and precise. White Dove generally gives her strongest curses in that tongue, but I digress. Languages and Curses is the course to take if you would like to know more. Generally, broadly, and do not quote me on this, partake in High Elvish means to use in the customary manner. Context depends. Partaking in hunting is different from partaking in drinking water, and there are further definitions depending on the tongue.


    ;


    ¡°What does the next night mean to you?¡± That part of the curse was easy enough to modify. Lugon didn¡¯t want specifics, and flipping day to night was easy enough.


    ;


    ¡°Once again, this is cultural. When does night begin? Is it at the same time every day? Is it when the sun touches the horizon? When it is halfway down? When it is fully gone? When the last light dies? Does the change of the season change when night occurs? If you are the fastest runner in the world, does sprinting to meet the night count? Can you hide behind a mountain to bring on the night quicker? Some self reflection is required, and depending on the severity of the curse and the penalty, some experimentation may be required.¡±


    ;


    I wanted to groan at White Dove¡¯s curse. I knew exactly when it was the next day. Not only was it an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but the third part was clear. I¡¯d be refreshed at dawn.


    ;


    I had to wonder if other people¡¯s curses were as ironically well-tailored for them as mine was, or if White Dove had given me extra attention for granting it to a dozen other people first.


    ;


    ¡°Right, next question¡­¡±


    ;


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯re sure about this?¡± Iona asked.


    ;


    I nodded. My curse was both harmless enough, but had a knowledge-heavy component to it, that I wanted to share it with Iona. If we were going to be spending tons of time together - decades, centuries, or more - it was important that Iona knew.


    ;


    ¡°Yeah. Half the point of getting cursed now was I could use the School resources to help me figure out my curse and the limits of it.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrrrrpt!!!¡±


    ;


    ¡°Oh pshaw. You only want to drink gallons of apple juice, don¡¯t lie.¡± I teased Auri.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± She adamantly shook her head.


    ;


    ¡°And eat apples.¡± I corrected myself.


    ;


    ¡°BRPT.¡±


    ;


    Auri puffed up and proudly confessed that, yes, those were her goals. I rolled my eyes.


    ;


    Iona and Auri left, off to acquire as many apple-based products as reasonably possible, and were back in short order.


    ;


    They managed to find six different varieties of apple, a slice of apple pie, apple sauce, apple chips, apple juice, apple cider, and a cider donut. On the weirder side, they also managed to find soap, shampoo, perfume, and candles that all claimed to be apple-scented. A more practical set of items that Iona found were potions, apples occasionally finding their way onto ingredient lists.


    ;


    ¡°Right. I think we should start with the least offensive items first, and move on. The moment I can¡¯t touch you anymore, the rest of the items are hard to experiment with.¡± I told Iona.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ;


    ¡°You are a good backup, but I¡¯m not even sure if it applies to phoenixes eating things. How weird would it be if I couldn¡¯t approach an animal because they¡¯d eaten an apple?¡± I said. Being around horses would be weird, even though apples were usually just a treat for them.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt, brpt!¡±


    ;


    I smacked my forehead.


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯re right! I should totally visit Bridget later!¡± Bridget, Auri¡¯s main teacher and one of the ¡®lower education¡¯ teachers, was a dryad. Specifically, an apple tree dryad.


    ;


    ¡°Potion first?¡± Iona suggested, already having uncorked it, and more importantly, getting us back on task.


    ;


    ¡°Potion first.¡± I agreed, Iona taking a sip.


    ;


    ¡°Anything?¡± She asked, and I waved my hand towards her.


    ;


    ¡°Nope, that¡¯s fine.¡± I confirmed. Iona took a deeper sip, and I waved my hand near her.


    ;


    ¡°Still nothing. I¡¯m going to hold off on trying it myself for now.¡± I said. ¡°Candles next?¡±


    ;


    Candles, soap, shampoo, and perfume each did absolutely nothing. I had a brief flash of panic when I realized that I was inhaling the candle smoke, but Iona nicked her finger with her knife, and I was able to heal it no problem.


    ;


    ¡°Nobody will be able to burn a ton of apples and smoke me out.¡± I was satisfied by that discovery and realization.


    ;


    ¡°Assuming the [Candlemaker] put real apples into the candle, and isn¡¯t just calling it apple-scented, or making it smell like apples with a skill.¡± Iona rebutted.


    ;


    I clicked my tongue. Damn. Iona was right.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri asked.


    ;


    ¡°You can burn some apples at a point, yes.¡± I told her.


    ;


    ¡°BRRRPT!!!¡± Nothing Auri liked more than being told ¡®yes, please, commit arson.¡¯


    ;


    ¡°Oh, hang on, dumb thought.¡± I got up and walked next to the apples. Nothing stopped me from doing so. I went to pick one up, just barely stopping short of touching it. Nothing.


    ;


    White Dove hadn¡¯t said anything about not being able to touch apples, but it was worth a quick check.


    ;


    ¡°I think¡­ let¡¯s check the cider donut next.¡± We¡¯d gotten through all of the apple-derivatives, time for the apple food itself.


    ;


    ¡°Down the hatch!¡± Iona chomped down on the donut, eating it in two clean bites.


    ;


    I waved my hand at her.


    ;


    ¡°Huh. Okay, weird, that doesn¡¯t count.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Apple pie next?¡±


    ;


    I winced.


    ;


    ¡°I know that works, because that¡¯s the original thing that stopped me. Let¡¯s do¡­¡±


    ;


    ¡°BRRRRPT!¡±


    ;


    ¡°Alright, fine, we¡¯ll do apple juice.¡± The words weren¡¯t even all the way out of my mouth before Auri had completed a perfect swan - errr, phoenix - dive into the juice.


    ;


    I tried to move my arm towards Auri, and couldn¡¯t.


    ;


    ¡°Right. It applies to you, but maybe because you¡¯re considered intelligent? I dunno, I¡¯m going to have to find a horse or something.¡± I said.


    ;


    Iona grabbed a few of the apple chips, and I wasn¡¯t able to approach her either.


    ;


    ¡°Best guess. Anything that¡¯s a, uh, half step away from apples also counts.¡± Apple juice, apple pie, apple chips - all of them were practically apples, while the cider donut was processed quite a bit before arriving at its final form.


    ;


    ¡°Fairly generous.¡± Iona commented. ¡°What¡¯s next?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s see what I can do.¡±


    ;


    I moved back across the room, then tried to approach Iona. When I got near - about two meters away - it was like I just couldn¡¯t move forward. I could think about it, I just couldn¡¯t get my body to act on my thoughts. Iona took a step towards me, but nothing changed. I still couldn¡¯t move towards her, but it wasn¡¯t like I was being pushed away. I tried to speak, but only some garbled syllables came out. She lifted a finger to slowly poke me, and I took a step backwards. A second step, and I was out.


    ;


    Critically, I could also speak again.


    ;


    ¡°Alright, it looks like I can move away from someone who¡¯s eaten an apple, but I can¡¯t move towards them. I¡¯m guessing a side effect of that is I can¡¯t speak well. My tongue can move away from you, but not towards you, and that¡¯s just weird.¡± Interestingly enough, I could still breathe, even if it caused my chest to expand towards the forbidden person. This curse was gentle. Then again, I could hold my breath for literal hours. Not being able to breathe was an inconvenience, nothing life-threatening.


    ;


    ¡°Can you keep moving towards me if you¡¯re already in motion?¡± Iona asked.


    ;


    ¡°Let¡¯s find out!¡±


    ;


    We positioned ourselves, and I pitched myself sideways, falling like a tree.


    ;


    ¡°Timbeeeeeeeer!¡± I cried out as I collapsed sideways, straight through the ¡®no go¡¯ zone. I needed a better word for that.


    ;


    Iona caught me and gently lowered me to the ground.


    ;


    ¡°Looks like you can move through the field, just can¡¯t control yourself.¡± Iona said.


    ;


    Interesting. Being stopped from controlling my body in certain ways was annoying, but I didn¡¯t run the risk of going from 500 mph to 0 when in an all-out sprint and hitting someone who¡¯d eaten an apple. Otherwise it¡¯d be like hitting a brick wall, except a brick wall would be more yielding and forgiving than an impenetrable force field.


    ;


    Or hell. As I leveled and grew stronger, the change in momentum would get even larger.


    ;


    Iona sat down on the couch, putting her legs on my back.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m curious, can you escape when someone¡¯s doing this?¡± She asked.


    ;


    I quickly ran through a dozen different actions in my head, my body not responding to any of them. Physical movement was right out, although I could deploy my butterfly wings.


    ;


    [Channeled Blink] was up next. I focused, trying to teleport away from Iona. A few seconds of charging later, and I repositioned.


    ;


    Minus my clothes.


    ;


    ¡°Huh.¡± I said as I looked around. Iona lifted an appreciative eyebrow.


    ;


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± She shamelessly looked me up and down, in spite of seeing me almost every day.


    ;


    ¡°For some reason it never occurred to me that I could reposition my body when blinking. I started off lying down, but I blinked to a standing up position.¡± Something I should¡¯ve tested, but I¡¯d always gone from standing up to standing up or lying down to lying down.


    ;


    ¡°What¡¯s next?¡± Iona asked.


    ;


    I eyed the apples with trepidation.


    ;


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s see what they do to me.¡±


    ;


    I tentatively reached out a finger - left pinky, I could afford to sacrifice it - and tentatively touched a green apple.


    ;


    Nothing happened.


    ;


    I moved over and touched a red apple in the same way.


    ;


    Nada.


    ;


    ¡°Well, this isn¡¯t nearly as bad as I thought it could be.¡± I grabbed the apple with my hand and picked it up. I tossed it up and down experimentally a few times.


    ;


    The apple was just an apple. Nothing was happening, besides gravity insisting that the apple go down.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Not time for the arson experiment no.¡± I said, then thought about it.


    ;


    Next was trying to injure myself with the apple, then eat the apple. Seeing what apple-smoke did to me was before eating the apple¡­ but yes, I wanted to try to injure myself with it first. It would be optimal to eat the apple an hour before dawn, if I could accurate predict WHEN that would be. Damn flying island. It was fun at first, but it was getting real old.


    ;


    ¡°Smack me with the apple?¡± I asked Iona.


    ;


    ¡°Where?¡±


    ;


    I thought about it.


    ;


    ¡°Left foot.¡±


    ;


    Iona smashed the apple down onto my bare feet with barely a moment¡¯s hesitation, putting significant force into the blow. It was needed with how reinforced my body was.


    ;


    The poor apple never stood a chance. For lack of a better word, it practically disintegrated, small chunks and mash flying off in every direction. Iona quickly stepped back two elegant steps, removing the ¡®no movement¡¯ zone.


    ;


    ¡°Yeowch!¡± I complained, grabbing my foot and hopping on my other one. ¡°That hurt!¡±


    ;


    I hadn¡¯t felt pain like this in ages. [Center of the Universe] had been dulling and translating my pain.


    ;


    ¡°Fuck fuck FUCK!¡± I continued to hop around the room. ¡°She didn¡¯t say anything about them hurting! Just no healing!¡±


    ;


    ¡°Your skill is part of your healing class.¡± Iona pointed out.


    ;


    I had quite a few choice words for White Dove, and it wasn¡¯t like I was trying to stay on her good side anymore. I¡¯d been cursed, it was done and over with, I could cuss her out to my heart¡¯s content. Doubted I¡¯d make any soldiers blush, I¡¯d heard most of the insults from them in the first place!


    ;


    I looked at my foot. Iona had controlled her strength enough that she hadn¡¯t broken anything, but I had one hell of a bruise. My healing magic wasn¡¯t doing a thing to it. I tentatively poked at it, to see if there was anything special about it.


    ;


    Nada. Just a bruise.


    ;


    ¡°Can I make a suggestion?¡± Iona said.


    ;


    ¡°Yeah, what¡¯s up?¡±


    ;


    ¡°What happens if we cut off your foot?¡±


    ;


    I held up my hand.


    ;


    ¡°I am all for it, but maybe when you¡¯re not filled with apple-repulsing power?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Why don¡¯t I nick an ear to see if me eating apples empowers me? Worst-case, you get to wear more earrings for a few hours?¡± Iona suggested.


    ;


    My eyes widened.


    ;


    ¡°That¡¯s brilliant! Go!¡± I promptly threw myself onto the sofa, a ready and willing patient for Iona¡¯s proposed plan.


    ;


    A quick prick of my ears showed a nice aspect of my curse - people who¡¯d eaten apples weren¡¯t specially empowered against me.


    ;


    ¡°About that foot?¡± Iona suggested.


    ;


    I¡¯d come to terms with myself a while back about how minor self-mutilation wasn¡¯t harm. My healing instantly snapped everything back while I felt no pain. I wasn¡¯t about to start throwing myself into woodchippers to try and level up though. I had some standards.


    ;


    The earring experiment suggested that there would be no issues. However, how it interacted with the bruise was going to be interesting.


    ;


    ¡°Do it.¡± I clenched my teeth and watched my foot get cleanly sliced off, instantly popping back into place.


    ;


    Without the bruise.


    ;


    Iona had moved away after chopping my foot off, giving me full motion again.


    ;


    ¡°Auri, could you do the honors?¡± The words were barely out of my mouth before my old foot was ashes. Leaving biological waste lying around was just plain rude.


    ;


    ¡°Next experiment¡­¡±


    ;


    ¡°BRRRRPT!¡±


    ;


    ¡°Alright, fine, burn the apples. We need a lot of smoke¡­¡±


    ;


    The experiments continued, the three of us testing the limits of my curse.


    ;


    Smoke made me cough a bunch, but otherwise didn¡¯t cause any issues. Iona eating an apple wore off, somewhat predictably, at dawn. The color of the apples in question didn¡¯t matter - green apples were just as problematic as red apples. Crabapples didn¡¯t count for whatever reason. Me touching or juggling apples didn¡¯t cause any issues, I had to eat the apple - or apple-derived product. Apple juice, apple pies, etc., were all off the menu.


    ;


    Unfortunately, it seemed like ¡®partaking¡¯ had a generous definition. Simply passing my lips disabled my healing until dawn, and the School¡¯s island flying all over the place kept changing when that was. Occasionally we would fly into the rising sun, and my curse would be over quickly. Otherwise it seemed to try and stay in the light or darkness, and I¡¯d be in trouble for an extended period of time.


    ;


    ¡°Basically, if you¡¯re ever in trouble, fly east.¡± Iona summarized. ¡°Make things wear off faster.¡±


    ;


    Partaking of apples in non-conventional ways didn¡¯t count, but I wasn¡¯t about to start regularly¡­


    ;


    Honestly, the less said about partaking of apples in unconventional ways the better. It wasn¡¯t like I got any flavor or nutrition out of it.


    ;


    As for creatures causing issues, it was only creatures the System deemed as ¡®intelligent¡¯, in other words, those that came up with [Mage], [Artisan], etc. when [Identifying] them. Bacteria eating apples didn¡¯t count, which made sense - otherwise I wouldn¡¯t be able to approach any apples. Horses, and more importantly, Fenrir, could eat apples and wouldn¡¯t cause me a single moment of concern.


    ;


    My shield was worthless against apples. Even a lightly tossed apple went straight through my shield like it wasn¡¯t there - except it also left a perfect apple-shaped hole behind it. Appleseeds were just as bad as apples. I wasn¡¯t quite willing to test a lethal dose of cyanide derived from appleseeds to see what would happen, but I suspected it was too far removed from apples to count.


    ;


    Poisons mixed with apple juice probably would. Again, not an item I was willing to test, and my LD-50 on poisons were wack in the first place with my biomancy.


    ;


    Iona wacked me a few time with a club made out of apple wood, which didn¡¯t do a thing to me. The leaves were equally mundane. Only the fruits themselves caused issues.


    ;


    I was happy that we¡¯d crossed Modu off our potential list of places to go. Accidentally eating an apple, then needing to wait months before the next dawn? Yikes.


    ;


    I wasn¡¯t able to experiment with illusions or perspectives, but the island¡¯s non-stop flying did let me experiment with timing. In short, whenever the dawn occurred, I was good, no matter if it was three hours since the last time I¡¯d experienced a sunrise, or thirty.


    ;


    The biggest issue that came up was ¡®oiling¡¯ weapons with apple juice. Iona¡¯s blade, dipped in apple juice, caused injuries that didn¡¯t respond to my healing. It also didn¡¯t respond to [Cosmic Presence] boosting my innate healing rate, and I¡¯d cheated and skimped a little when making my biological modifications. Iona had proven earlier with the bruise on my foot that other injuries could ¡®overwrite¡¯ the injury, at which point I was healing a ¡®mundane¡¯ injury.


    ;


    The other critically important aspect was eating apples. If enough less-processed apples made it into my food, my healing would be disabled, and I¡¯d be relatively easy pickings.


    ;


    My dramatically improved senses helped with avoiding apples. I could figure out the ingredient list of a stranger¡¯s breakfast simply by passing them on the road. Figuring out what was in my food was trivial, unless some powerful skills were brought in against me. I doubted anyone would be able to casually slip me some apple without me knowing.


    ;


    I was pleased with my efforts to keep my curse a secret. As long as nobody knew my aversion to apples, I was safe. The moment it got out, I was potentially in trouble.


    ;


    After all.


    ;


    White Dove had armed the world with a way to kill me.

 Chapter 402 - Graduation I

    I knew I needed to graduate. That my time at the School was coming to an end. That I had reached the end of my knowledge acquisition, that the School simply didn¡¯t have much left to teach me in my chosen fields of expertise. That a single month of travel would teach me more than a year in the School.


    ;


    Knowing that it was the right thing didn¡¯t have me dreading the end of my time here. Like a cruel joke, time seemed to speed along, our birthdays came and went - 27! - and finals were upon us.


    ;


    My last finals. The classes were easy enough, but the tracks were a different matter.


    ;


    I wasn¡¯t presenting a thesis for my Wizardry Track, but there still was a final panel examination. I wasn¡¯t familiar with any of the professors performing the examination, and they all looked tired and irritable. Doing a few dozen intense hours-long back-to-back exams would do that to a person.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine of Remus.¡± The first examiner flipped his papers with a sigh. ¡°Applying for Wizardry Track graduation in Jiwa and Anaconda.¡±


    ;


    The second examiner snorted at Jiwa. Must be one of those wizards who thought Jiwa was cheating, and ¡®too easy¡¯.


    ;


    ¡°Young lady, where are your preparations? This is the Wizardry Track exam.¡± A third examiner peered over her glasses at me.


    ;


    I held out my hand, and teleported one of my spellbooks into it.


    ;


    ¡°Preparations like this?¡± I asked.


    ;


    ¡°One spellbook is doable.¡± The first examiner muttered.


    ;


    I gleefully pulled out thirty more at that.


    [*ding!* [The Very Hungry Bookwyrm] leveled up! 79 -> 80! +80 Dexterity, +80 Vitality, +80 Speed, +240 Magic Power, +240 Magic Control, +240 Mana, +240 Mana Regeneration per level from your Class! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration per level for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Magic Power per level from your Element!]


    ;


    ;


    ¡°Silver in Jiwa. Silver! The only question I missed was Vetisan¡¯s Binding, and that¡¯s niche because Kunada¡¯s Method is superior in every way!¡± I complained to Auri and Iona.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡± Auri sympathized.


    ;


    ¡°How¡¯d Anaconda go?¡± Iona helpfully asked.


    ;


    I made a disgusted noise.


    ;


    ¡°Even worse if you can believe it. My specific spells weren¡¯t general enough. My general spells weren¡¯t specific enough. My ability to write arrays on the fly wasn¡¯t ¡®up to standard¡¯, which they never named or stated. They seemed to expect I¡¯d have meta skills that I just don¡¯t have the slots for. Who dings a student in an Anaconda exam for not being able to integrate Delas into it?! That¡¯s not part of the language! That¡¯s an entirely different language! Honestly, I almost suspect that they gave me bronze just so I wouldn¡¯t appeal a fail and take up even more of their time.¡±


    ;


    I muttered more about their supposed proclivities and their mother¡¯s weight.


    ;


    I yanked my mind away from my train of thought on myself, and focused on Iona. ¡°How about you?¡± I asked, trying to be a good girlfriend.


    ;


    ¡°Gold in Politics, gold in Interpersonal Relationships, gold in Drawing and Painting, bronze in Art, bronze in Mathematics, bronze in Logistics and Supply, and silver in Individual Duels.¡±


    ;


    I started at the last one.


    ;


    ¡°Wait, Individual Duels is a track?¡±


    ;


    Iona nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Apparently. They tracked me down to give it to me. Something about having the entire world watch me crush a team with a divine blessing in play made them want to make sure they had a claim on me. Figured it¡¯s harmless, and I get an extra track. What¡¯s up with your Medicine Track exam?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrrpt!!¡± Auri made impressed noises at Iona¡¯s accomplishments.


    ;


    ¡°Marcelle said it was going to be scheduled special. Speaking of, I need to sit down and study it more. I do not want to make any mistakes on this, not with all the effort she¡¯s going through with my thesis. I can not make her look bad.¡±


    ;


    With that I sat back down, popped out three reference books - hurray [Parallel Thoughts] level-up milestone! - and got cracking.


    ;


    ;


    My Radiance Sorcery exam was about as straightforward as I could hope for. Blast things to pieces. Show off my utility skills. Demonstrate any neat tricks I had.


    ;


    Sorcery was hard to properly evaluate, as it was, by definition, a grab bag of tricks. Some of the professors believed breath was important, whiles others graded on how well I used the abilities I had.


    ;


    It was a fierce argument, but my ability to utterly annihilate every target given - including a few mirrors - managed to edge out a Gold in Radiance Sorcery by a narrow 3-2 vote.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°Are you ready?¡± Marcelle asked for the fourth time.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m ready. I¡¯m sure.¡± I¡¯d done everything I could to prepare. I¡¯d reorganized my entire [Astral Archive] to properly make a mental ¡®shelf¡¯ for all my medical knowledge, then carefully rearranged and ordered all my knowledge into books. Most tidbits of information ended up in five or six different books, just so no matter which one I ¡®picked up¡¯, I¡¯d have the knowledge handy.


    ;


    It was a perfect memory skill, and not only that, but I could organize it. I had unlimited storage - as far as I could tell. Why not make use of it?


    ;


    My clothes were perfect. Fresh, clean, magically pressed, put on after breakfast, with my earned tracks stitched into the hem. I looked every inch the dutiful student.


    ;


    ¡°Alright. Here we go.¡± Marcelle opened the doors to the lecture hall, and we entered.


    ;


    The first thing that grabbed my attention was that instead of the normal five examiners, I had a whole panel of fifteen, each of them an old Immortal. The one in the center had been one of the professors interviewing me to enter the School in the first place, and I¡¯d had him for my The Art of Medicine in Warfare class. The second thing I noticed was the minor audience. A dozen or so professors and other faculty members had each claimed their own seat in the lecture hall. I recognized most of the faces here as people Marcelle and Ratcatcher had been working with, introducing me to as the author of the Medical Manuscripts.


    ;


    ¡°Welcome all. Today we have a special event. Healer Elaine here is one many of you are familiar with. You have seen her in the hospital, or taught her in class. Some of you know her for a different reason. Elaine has given credible evidence that not only is she a listed contributor to the Medical Manuscripts that we have all studied, but she wrote the original copy. This has been corroborated a few different ways, and we¡¯d love to show you our evidence after this graduation panel. Without further ado - Elaine of THE Remus Republic.¡±


    ;


    Slowly expanding knowledge of what I¡¯d done felt something like a conspiracy, and I could immediately see which members of the interview panel hadn¡¯t been ¡®read in¡¯ so to speak. Some had their eyes widen, a few sucked in a breath.


    ;


    Kinda hard to get large rises out of old Immortals.


    ;


    ¡°Explains why this one got scheduled special.¡± One devil on the far left end said.


    ;


    ¡°Each in turn.¡± The middle elf said. ¡°Elaine. It feels like yesterday you were in front of me, being interviewed for admittance to the School. Congratulations on successfully completing your classes. I would like to start with a question you struggled with on your initial entrance exam. If you encounter a rapidly spreading malady that you determine is created by a Miasma Classer or similar, what steps would you take?¡±


    ;


    The open-endedness was part of the beauty of the question. Also, I knew what I¡¯d done wrong last time.


    ;


    Contact proper authorities - I wasn¡¯t the authority anymore!! I had been in the mindset of ¡®I am the boss, the final authority, and I am empowered to do whatever is needed to fix this shit.¡¯


    ;


    Except¡­ the average healer wasn¡¯t. The average healer wasn¡¯t able to kill a Classer on a suspicion - not only was it legally dicey (I hated the phrase ¡®it depends¡¯ on the legal readings I did) - but most healers just didn¡¯t have the skills, ability, or mindset to take a life. The professors here also frowned on it. The proper answer was to alert the correct authorities, then continue on with the rest of the plague methods.


    ;


    ¡°A creature with copper-based blood has a heart attack. What is your method of treatment?¡± The next question came in the middle of my description of how I¡¯d organize different levels of healers.


    ;


    I blinked, dropped the mental books I¡¯d been holding with [Astral Archive] and picking up a new set of books.


    ;


    The question was plain unfair, designed to trip me up. It was a trap, but it didn¡¯t feel aimed at me. Just at cocky students in general. To no surprise, it came from one of the professors who occasionally taught some of the biomancy courses.


    ;


    ¡°Carefully. Since there are no copper-based blood species with a heart, I have to assume I¡¯m dealing with a complex biomancied subject. My exact plan of action would vary depending on a thousand factors, primarily the heart design itself. How do I know they¡¯re having a heart attack? Are they an elvenoid? What size are they? Do I have a reason to believe their changes are permanent, and I can simply address the problem, or are they in the middle of an operation and my tactics need to change? With that being said, a cardiovascular event can broadly be treated¡­¡±


    ;


    On and on the questions went, and the difficulty just went up. Even a few professors who had liked me in class, who believed that I was the originator of the Medical Manuscripts, weren¡¯t pulling any punches. Either this was the treatment everyone got, or people wanted to see me fail, or people wanted to give me a chance to show off, or ensure there were no accusations of people going easy on me. Or there was something else going on, a mix of multiple motives, or whatever. I wasn¡¯t in a position to think or analyze it, and without Iona to spell it out, I was lost.


    ;


    What I wasn¡¯t lost on was what I needed to do.


    ;


    Hit it out of the park. Crush every question thoroughly and perfectly. Prove that I knew my stuff.


    ;


    [The World Around Me] let me see every single detail. [Parallel Thoughts] let me split my minds. I was close to the professors. After I hit my stride, I was able to skim through the entire list of questions they all had - each professor had a different set - then send off my parallel thought processes down my literal memory lane, grabbing books and preparing answers. Frankly, it almost felt like cheating. To avoid accusation of impropriety, I made sure to wait and let professors ask their questions before I started to answer.


    ;


    On and on it went. Some professors let me finish the prior professor¡¯s question before jumping in, others simply asked when they were satisfied by the prior answer - regardless if other people wanted to hear it or not. It was easy enough to figure out who needed concise answers to their questions, and who I could expound with, and fully answer all the details.


    ;


    [The World Around Me] also let me see professor¡¯s eyes flicker off to the side, focusing on nothing, a quick and subtle movement that let me know they¡¯d just gotten a System notification.


    ;


    Levels for everyone!


    ;


    ¡°Thank you all.¡± The central figure said after a grueling six hour interrogation. No other final exam had taken nearly so long, but given that everyone had leveled a skill or even a class, nobody seemed eager to bring the event to a premature close.


    ;


    ¡°I have one last question for Elaine. What do you plan to do after you graduate?¡±


    ;


    That question took me by surprise. It wasn¡¯t written down on his list. It was also easy.


    ;


    ¡°Find people to heal, and heal them.¡± I shrugged, letting them know my answer was done.


    ;


    ¡°I believe we¡¯ve heard enough. I propose Elaine should be awarded gold for the knowledge portion of the exam. All in favor?¡±


    ;


    Fifteen hands were up in the air before he even finished speaking.


    ;


    ¡°Congratulations, Elaine. I look forward to your thesis defense.¡± The center professor said.


    ;


    [*ding!* [The Very Hungry Bookwyrm] leveled up! 80 -> 81! +80 Dexterity, +80 Vitality, +80 Speed, +240 Magic Power, +240 Magic Control, +240 Mana, +240 Mana Regeneration per level from your Class! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration per level for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Magic Power per level from your Element!]


    ;


    It took me another three hours to get out of there, and that was only because Marcelle ended up swooping in to extract me.


    ;


    ;


    I took a sip of Linnet¡¯s magical tea. It was snowing outside, the island on a brisk flight path over the northern continent.


    ;


    Honestly, I¡¯d be pretty happy to be in a stable location soon, where I didn¡¯t need to pack winter clothes for the afternoon during a blazingly hot morning. Where the sun set at a reasonable hour.


    ;


    Linnet had a fire roaring in her hearth, heavy blankets she¡¯d sown herself strewn over the sofa and a never-ending supply of warm tea.


    ;


    I wanted a room like this wherever I ended up.


    ;


    I put my teacup down and broke the companionable silence.


    ;


    ¡°Linnet. You¡¯ve been amazing these last few years.¡± I said. She sipped her tea.


    ;


    ¡°Oh peshaw. I¡¯ve just done what anyone would do. Cookie?¡± She offered me the tray.


    ;


    I¡¯d never seen the tray empty, and the smell of baking filled the room. I happily accepted one.


    ;


    ¡°I think sadly, this is our last meeting. Our goodbye.¡± I was starting to tear up a bit. I didn¡¯t want to leave Linnet. I didn¡¯t want to lose the grandmotherly ear, the shoulder I could always rest on.


    ;


    But life moved on. Time marched forward, without pause, without rest. The sun rose, and the sun set. Time goes by, we can never stay the same.


    ;


    All that would be left of today were memories, drifting like a snowflake in the wind.


    ;


    Linnet was quiet a long moment.


    ;


    ¡°A goodbye is simply another chance to say hello. Who knows what the world will bring? Don¡¯t worry about me so much, worry about that thesis you¡¯re presenting! It sounds like it¡¯ll be quite the event! Exciting! I¡¯ll be sure to mosey on down myself and watch.¡±


    ;


    I wasn¡¯t entirely satisfied with the answer, but I plowed on.


    ;


    ¡°Linnet. I¡¯d - if you want, I can make you young again. Just -¡±


    ;


    Linnet cut me off with a slow shake of her head.


    ;


    ¡°That¡¯s very generous of you, but I¡¯ll have to decline. I¡¯ve made my peace with the world already. White Dove will be taking me soon enough. No need for any of that frantic running around you Immortals do for me, oh no. I¡¯m happy here.¡±


    ;


    Linnet made it clear that she didn¡¯t want to argue or discuss the topic more. We switched to more mundane matters, although we got interrupted near the end of our time.


    ;


    The island had a broadcast system, powerful inscriptions fueled by kilos of arcanite to make announcements when needed.


    ;


    ¡°Warning. Warning. Warning. Take shelter. Take shelter. The island is about to pass through Xyris, the Living Storm. Take shelter. Warning. We are about to pass through Xyris.¡±


    ;


    Linnet gave an overly dramatic sigh.


    ;


    ¡°Well! I don¡¯t feel like swapping my skills with anyone else, do you?¡± The question was purely rhetorical. Nobody wanted their skills randomly swapped around with other people caught in the storm - especially not with the absurd number of fish with silly skills around.


    ;


    ¡°Not at all.¡± I agreed.


    ;


    ¡°Good! Help me get the cookies out of the oven. Want to make a fresh batch with me?¡±


    ;


    Did I ever! It was almost a treat that the island¡¯s flight path was bringing us through Xyris, extending my final moment out with Linnet.


    ;


    ;


    Linnet watched the door close on Elaine, her heart breaking just a little once again.


    ;


    Another one she¡¯d helped. Another one who¡¯d left, who she wouldn¡¯t see again. Sometimes it was just so hard to see people leave, and Elaine was just so lonely.


    ;


    Linnet cheered herself up by reminding herself that she¡¯d freed up some time, and helped Elaine. Another poor lost soul would come knocking on her door soon enough, another person who needed a fresh cookie and warm tea.


    ;


    She took out a tiny, specially made teacup, and poured the smallest splash into it.


    ;


    ¡°For you.¡± She called out into the empty air.


    ;


    The teacup was half-empty when Linnet next looked, a gentle coooo echoing through the air.

 Chapter 403 - Graduation II

    A few more days went by where I had nothing to do but pack, repack, fret, worry, compete with Auri in ¡®who can burn more¡¯, prepare for my thesis defense, and cuddle with Iona.


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯re sure you¡¯re okay with Exterreri? I¡¯m not pressuring you to do something you don¡¯t want to? It¡¯s not just because of me?¡± I asked for what must¡¯ve been the¡­ 60th time or so.


    ;


    43rd a quick review of my memories said.


    ;


    Iona sighed.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine, I swear, if you ask me this question one more time, I¡¯m going to tickle you. Until you beg for mercy, and then I¡¯ll keep going. YES. I am sure. Why don¡¯t you read a book?¡±


    ;


    ¡°I am! And writing in my spellbook. [Parallel Thoughts] for the win!¡±


    ;


    ¡°Go read more books.¡±


    ;


    She did have a point. My book-access was about to sharply go down.


    ;


    Blessedly, the time came to present my thesis before I could annoy Iona into breaking up with me.


    ;


    ¡°All ready?¡± Marcelle asked with Ratcatcher.


    ;


    I nodded, filled to the brim with a frenetic, nervous energy. This was it. This was the time. I¡¯d prepared and over prepared for this. Checking over my notes. My evidence. Rehearsing questions. Then going a little too far, and paying for someone to help pretty me up. Hair, clothes, makeup, nails, everything. Cost a pretty penny to go into the town to get it done - no student practitioners here - but it was worth it.


    ;


    Shame I didn¡¯t have [Pretty] anymore, this would¡¯ve been good for a few levels.


    ;


    Iona, Auri, and even Fenrir tagged along, eager to watch and support my thesis defense.


    ;


    The trip to the grand stadium - the grand stadium - was practically a blur. I knew the whole thing was going to be an event, but I hadn¡¯t quite realized the sheer scale of the event.


    ;


    An island wide broadcast went out as we were almost there, echoed not only in the four keystone languages, but in a dozen other popular languages as well.


    ;


    ¡°Attention all students, professors, members of the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft, and town members. If any of you have an interest in medicine, history, linguistics, people, literature, teaching, or just flat-out leveling for watching an event, please make your way to the Grand Stadium.¡±


    ;


    Iona and I traded looks.


    ;


    ¡°BrrrRRRRRrrrpt!!¡± Auri made an impressed noise. A speedster blazed past us, through the main gates of the Grand Stadium, and we hustled through before too many others could cause us trouble. Fenrir flew up with Iona, and perched on the platform designed for large fliers.


    ;


    Marcelle, Ratcatcher, Auri, and myself waited in one of the antechambers as an inquisitive crowd started to filter in. It was the two break weeks between quarters, and most students were taking a break, or didn¡¯t have much to do. The practical promise of leveling - regardless of class - just for watching an event was enticing. I¡¯d be tempted to show up to such an event. Worst-case, I could just read in the stands.


    ;


    ¡°I need to get going. Best of luck. Ratcatcher is going to stay with you. You¡¯ll know when to make your entrance.¡± Marcelle vanished down another passageway after that.


    ;


    In no time at all, I heard her magically amplified voice speaking.


    ;


    ¡°Welcome one, welcome all, to a very special thesis defense! Yes, you heard me, today¡¯s specially broadcast event is a thesis defense, one like you¡¯ve never seen before, nor will you ever see again. Yes, I¡¯m including the ancient Immortals among us in this. You too have never seen a thesis defense like this, nor will you ever see one again, and depending on your speciality, I can almost guarantee a level. But first! Let me introduce to you all our panelists. We will start with the head of the Department of Medicine, Professor¡­¡±


    ;


    Marcelle then went on to list virtually every single professor in the medicine, biomancy, history, and a few other departments. I had a good 80 or so members on my panel.


    ;


    ¡°Now, I¡¯m sure you¡¯re all wondering what could cause such a stir. What thesis gathered so many people here today, that has caused such interest. Has there been some revolutionary breakthrough in the field of medicine? Was the Riddle of Aelia solved? Not today! The School of Sorcery and Spellcraft accepts theses written before students attend the School. Pushing the boundary of knowledge is pushing the boundary of knowledge, no matter when or where. What I have for you is something ancient. Blasted through time, born before every known Immortal alive today and young enough to compete on the School¡¯s combat team, deceived by the fae and founder of medicine as we know it today, it is my great honor to present - Elaine of Remus!¡±


    ;


    I looked at Ratcatcher and he gave me a quick nod. I exited to confused murmurs from the crowd.


    ;


    Marcelle had simply introduced me and the panelists. She hadn¡¯t done the reveal yet. Explained why we were here.


    ;


    The panelists were something fierce. They were on what I could only describe as a ¡®short¡¯ bleacher, twenty to a row and stacked four high. They loomed over the spot I was clearly meant to go to, peering over glasses and papers at me.


    ;


    Maybe a third had been previously convinced of what was going on. This was news to the rest of them.


    ;


    I could only imagine how hard this would be if we hadn¡¯t done all the prep work ahead of time.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine of Remus. Elaine. Her name means ¡®healer¡¯ in nearly every language. One has to wonder - what were her parents thinking when they simply named her ¡®healer¡¯?¡±


    ;


    Marcelle either had a talent for public speaking, or more likely, had developed the skill over her long immortality. She paused a moment for a brief chuckle.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯ve mentioned Elaine is ancient. She is so ancient that she predates her name meaning healer.¡± Marcelle paused and grinned. I could see the coin slowly, oh so slowly, starting to drop for a few people. A single breathy ¡°Impossible.¡± A jaw unhinging.


    ;


    ¡°Indeed, there is strong evidence that she is single-handedly responsible for the word ¡®Elaine¡¯ taking on the meaning it has. Mortals and Immortals, Elaine here wrote the original draft of the Medical Manuscripts. Not an early copy. Not an early contributor. The original. She is the first author, the one who got the idea. Who took charcoal to bamboo, and penned the foundations of medicine as we know it today.¡±


    ;


    A slow murmur went through the crowd as people processed and realized exactly what Marcelle had said. She let people talk for a few seconds, before seizing the moment and carrying on before someone else could butt in.


    ;


    ¡°Now, these claims are extraordinary. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Elaine will take more normal thesis questions after the evidence is given. Next is the woman who needs no introduction. Director Flora.¡±


    ;


    Needs no introduction? I¡¯d never heard of the woman before! I¡¯d never met her in all of this!


    ;


    And yet, as a flower unfurled near me and an old lady in dazzling white robes stepped out, I realized I did know her. She was the one who¡¯d stepped in with the skinwalker.


    ;


    ¡°I am Flora. I too was born in Remus, although I came here today the hard way.¡±


    ;


    There was a brief round of chuckles at that.


    ;


    ¡°While I never had direct knowledge or interaction with Elaine, she was active in a similar time and location that I was in. Without giving away too many of my own secrets, I am satisfied that Elaine is who she claims to be.¡±


    ;


    The witch in white - Flora - didn¡¯t even give me a look before dissolving into a flurry of pink petals, dancing on the wind.


    ;


    That summary seemed useless to me, but I wasn¡¯t well versed in Immortal politics, Flora¡¯s reputation, and what weight her words would have. A number of professors looked impressed, and were quickly twisting and talking with each other, dozens of rapid conversations held at speeds only high level Immortals could manage. Flora¡¯s words clearly had significant weight to them, and I only spotted three frowns in the crowd.


    ;


    Looking good, looking good.


    ;


    By Flora¡¯s own words, she was ancient. Like, five times older than Night had been when I knew him. It reinforced my belief that Night could be around. One person had made it from Remus until now. Why couldn¡¯t a second one?


    ;


    Wait.


    ;


    WAIT.


    ;


    Artemis¡¯s School of Sorcery and Spellcraft had been founded during my era. Flora claimed to have been from Remus, around my era. She was at a School with the same name. Was this School the sam-


    ;


    ¡°Next up, I would like to present our resident [Archivist], Ratcatcher.¡± Marcelle announced after a carefully calculated - I assumed - time had passed. Damn her for interrupting my musings! ¡°He specializes in tracing signatures and their lineage.¡±


    ;


    The goblin stepped forth next to me, and handed out dozens of folders, then began to speak.


    ;


    ¡°Welcome. Please take a copy of my paper and pass the rest along. Thank you. Elaine is an interesting case, given the extreme age of the signature, the sheer prevalence of the Medical Manuscripts, and the tens of thousands of different signature lineages associated with such an old work. Elaine¡¯s signature against contemporary works - Specifically, the Yaris branch - is a stunningly low 41.90% match, which is normally entirely disqualifying. The specifics of where and how the signature matched is the subject of the paper in front of you, for those of you willing to delve into the technical details. Given the extreme age in question, and the utter lack of precedent for a signature so copied over the ages, and a survivor claiming to be the author in question, I deemed it reasonable to continue investigating. The Rudolf line was next, and¡­¡±


    ;


    Ratcatcher was no Immortal. He hadn¡¯t been given the chance of multiple lifetimes to polish his social skills, goblins weren¡¯t exactly famous conversationalists, and his job in the archive didn¡¯t exactly have a constant whirl of people coming in and chatting with him.


    ;


    All this to politely say that while Ratcatcher was correct, and technically going over everything properly, he was boring as sin. I had to use [Sunrise] three times on myself to keep my eyes open and look interested.


    ;


    ¡°... in the end, the part that convinced me more than any other was the System.¡± Ratcatcher was finally winding down. The professors that had been stated as part of the Department of History looked like cats that had been dropped into a vat of cream, while a few of the Department of Medicine professors looked confused and lost. Two were playing cards under the table with each other, and I was a little offended.


    ;


    Only a little. Ratcatcher was boring. Thorough, convincing, but he¡¯d gotten everyone on board forty minutes ago¡­ and was mostly just rereading the paper he¡¯d just handed out to everyone.


    ;


    ¡°I have gained twenty levels directly related to my investigations here. Looking into an imposter or conwoman wouldn¡¯t be nearly as rewarding, and I believe only the true author could provide such experience. Any questions?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Yes, I-¡± One professor opened his mouth and started to ask a question, only to wither under the combined glare of literally every single other person in the stadium. Except Ratcatcher. The demon sitting next to him clasped one massive hand on the clueless professor¡¯s shoulder, and she leaned in to whisper something to the man.


    ;


    Marcelle clapped her hands.


    ;


    ¡°Thank you Ratcatcher for the thorough explanation.¡±


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯re most welcome.¡±


    ;


    He tilted his hat at the assembled professors, and walked away.


    ;


    ¡°Ratcatcher brings up an interesting point. Levels. Being around significant figures tends to cause more levels and experience than being around people who haven¡¯t accomplished much. Those who are blessed to discuss philosophy with Long Zhi, long may he protect this School, can confirm. I am embarrassed to admit that it was only in Elaine¡¯s third year that I noticed my own leveling rate had dramatically increased. Seven levels. Seven levels in three years, and we vampires drew a short straw, usually only getting one every decade. This led me to suspect something was going on, and I chased down hundreds of false leads before Elaine came to me with her revelation. Cross-checking with other professors and students - many of them sitting here today - has indicated a moving locus of levels. Those who have taught Elaine in medicine or biomancy have reported increased levels. Those who have worked with her, or assisted with her own biomancy work have gained surprising numbers of levels compared to their peers who have not. A few have been offered powerful classes that look and sound strange - [Assistant to the Founder] being one such example - but all neatly and directly tie back to Elaine. I have presented my example of levels, you will now hear from others.¡±


    ;


    Thus began the veritable parade of people coming forward and adding their testimony. Some knew what was going on ahead of time, others hadn¡¯t. Some professors added in their weight.


    ;


    An [Authenticator] from the island¡¯s auction house came around, although I didn¡¯t think he was that helpful. Of course I¡¯d written it, and I had to use modern supplies for it. Still, he was another mango in the bowl. Never could have too many of those!


    ;


    Throughout the storm I stood there in my robes, carefully watching each of the professors without saying a word myself. Careful not to stare at anyone too long. The picture of a healer.


    ;


    The healer.


    ;


    The Elaine.


    ;


    It was fun to see how many levels I was handing out to the various professors, every silent ding! another nail in the coffin.


    ;


    That might not be the best analogy.


    ;


    Only one storm could blow forever, and it wasn¡¯t this one. Things started to wind down, and it was my turn.


    ;


    ¡°Thank you all. Now, this is still a thesis presentation! We¡¯ve gotten the background and evidence that Elaine is capable of presenting the work in question, and that she is indeed the author. With that said, now it¡¯s time for the healer in question to take the stand, present her work, and have the capable men and women of the panel decide if it¡¯s good enough.¡± Marcelle finished with a wicked smile. Someone sputtered and choked at her words.


    ;


    ¡°If it¡¯s good enough!?¡± She cried out in protest.


    ;


    ¡°Shhh!¡± Another one silenced her.


    ;


    I stepped forward and laid down my scrolls in front of the panel.


    ;


    ¡°I am Elaine of Remus. I would like to present my thesis to the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft. It is my collection of notes and understanding of medicine, collated and written in a single location to try and spread my knowledge.¡± I kept it simple, knowing I was in for a brutal grilling.


    ;


    If nothing else, the examiners would be salivating at the chance to level. They quickly got an order to ask questions in, and an agreement not to cut me off as I was answering. The chance to level was too good.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine. I¡¯m a big fan. How did you get such knowledge, at such a young age? Is your work a compilation of other scraps of knowledge? Walk me through how it was made.¡±


    ;


    I never expected to keep all my secrets, not when how much of the Medical Manuscripts had come from my reincarnation. Hadn¡¯t quite realized it at the time, but as we prepared, yeah. It became obvious. People didn¡¯t seem to flip out that much when I mentioned my history, and I was well-shielded here.


    ;


    ¡°Best way of explaining it is I¡¯ve been god-touched. Shortening a long and confusing story, I was born with excess knowledge, primarily of a medical nature. My mother was also a healer, and it was only natural that I follow in her footsteps. As I grew up, I got the opportunity to place all my knowledge down in a single place, to try and spread it throughout the city I was living in. Maybe - just maybe - it¡¯d end up in a few extra cities. I had no idea that it¡¯d reach this scale. To loop back around to your question. I stood upon the shoulders of giants - of a completely different world. I can¡¯t exactly claim originality, broadly, but in a Remus sense, I can.¡±


    ;


    So much for short and sweet. I thought about discreetly wiping my sweaty palms on my robes, but no. Everyone would see the motion, there was no hiding from so many Immortal eyes.


    ;


    My answer set off a fresh round of discussions, and a few well-worn arguments reanimated. Did my answer count as I had originally done the work? Or was I simply a collator of others'' knowledge? ¡°Both¡± was a bit of a surprise, wildcard answer.


    ;


    The conversations and discussions weren¡¯t all done when the next professor in line wanted to ask her question.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine. The [Oath] written down is quite something. What can you tell us of its origins and inspiration?¡±


    ;


    Lyra was an old scar at this point.


    ;


    ¡°The inspiration is easy. I fucked up. Hard. I was still concerned with the world. With my knowledge. I¡­ didn¡¯t put forth my best efforts. My friend died. I swore to myself - never again. At the time my System was freshly unlocked, and I didn¡¯t have good memory skills. I made my [Oath] on the spot, with what I thought was right. I included it when I wrote the Medical Manuscripts, in case one or two people were interested in it.¡±


    ;


    The last part was said sardonically, and I got a number of sympathetic, understanding looks.


    ;


    The questions continued, prior commitments forgotten, the time limit blown to pieces. I was trying to ignore the crowd, but I had an awareness of my surroundings, trained into me, that didn¡¯t let me quite ignore them. People were coming in and out, but on average, the crowd was growing.


    ;


    The island was flying fast, against the rotation of the planet. Nightfall came, the moons flashed by the sky, the sun peeked up over the horizon, and minions were acquired to bring snacks and drinks to everyone.


    ;


    Marcelle finally stepped in.


    ;


    ¡°Professors, I¡¯m sure Elaine will be happy to meet with you all on an individual basis. However, we have been here a long time. Out of respect for each other¡¯s time, I move that we discuss if Elaine¡¯s thesis is sufficient for graduation from the School.¡±


    ;


    I have no idea how Marcelle said that with a straight face, but she did.


    ;


    A privacy veil shimmered over the professors, but it wasn¡¯t particularly good. Only really stopped sound. [The World Around Me] easily pierced it, and I was able to follow the proceedings.


    ;


    There was fierce arguing for some reason, with rapid shows of hands as less than half the professors raised their hands, then a different less than half of the group raised theirs. A number of them weren¡¯t voting at all, and people kept switching sides around.


    ;


    Marcelle put a hand on my shoulder.


    ;


    ¡°Good job.¡± She said. ¡°I can¡¯t tell you how impressed and honored I am to have met you, and been your advisor.¡±


    ;


    I gave her a crooked grin.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m still me. I was so lost when I came here, you helped me find my feet. You organized all this! I would¡¯ve tried with barely anything backing me up and gotten laughed out of the room, if not outright expelled. Because of you, I had strong evidence. Because of you, I found my feet in this world. Because of you, I¡¯ll be heading to Exterreri after this, to try and make a home. I don¡¯t know how I can say thank you enough.¡±


    ;


    Marcelle gave my shoulder another squeeze, and gave me a toothy grin.


    ;


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s easy enough! When you¡¯re settled in, write me a letter, invite me over, and have a nice bottle of wine ready!¡±


    ;


    Finally enough votes got cast one way - was I really that close to getting Silver instead of Gold, or hells, not qualifying at all? - and a large scroll was pulled out. Every present shuffled around to sign the scroll, then the veil dropped.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine scored a gold on the knowledge portion of her Medical Tracks. After much discussion, we have determined that Elaine¡¯s thesis in Medicine is beyond all standards we have, and she has earned a platinum for her thesis. Given that platinum is an impossible knowledge designation, we hereby award Elaine a platinum grade for her Medicine Tracks. Congratulations.¡±


    ;


    I accepted the scroll and the handshake with a tear in my eye.

 Chapter 404 - Not Found

    Hey Artemis!


    ;


    I¡¯m about to graduate from the School! I got Platinum in medicine! Apparently the scrolls I wrote back when we were traveling together as Rangers managed to become a little important. Ha! And to think you teased me about them. Well, who¡¯s having the last laugh now?


    ;


    Iona¡¯s Valkyries have had a spot of trouble, and she doesn¡¯t exactly have a place to return to. She also made something of a small mess in Rolland, and we¡¯re avoiding the country for a short time. 100, maybe 200 years.


    ;


    Exterreri looks promising. Iona and I are going to see if we can settle down there. We¡¯re aiming for the capital, Sangino. Marcelle has given me a letter of introduction which should make things smoother.


    ;


    I have no strong evidence for this, but I believe Night is alive. My studies have suggested that the Exterreri Empire is similar culturally to how Remus was, and I struggle to believe that there isn¡¯t the guiding hand of vampires from Remus in how similar they are. It¡¯s also the country of vampires. I¡¯d love for you and Julius to visit at some point! I¡¯ll send you my address once we¡¯re settled in a bit, otherwise we could miss each other and never find each other again. That would suck.


    ;


    I miss you and Julius. I wish we could see each other more often, but being at the School has made me more aware of just how violently people see healers like me. I also ended up being a little bit of a big deal, and I suspect I¡¯m a little too famous to be anonymous for long if I settle down in mortal lands. I could probably take some trips now and then though!


    ;


    Say hi to Julius for me!


    ;


    All my love,


    ;


    Elaine


    ;


    I made eight copies of my letter, and sent it to eight different places I thought Artemis might get it. Communication and keeping in touch with people was hard, and I was determined to put in the work - and the money! - to stay in touch with Artemis.


    ;


    Amber was next.


    ;


    To my favorite money munchkin-


    ;


    Hey! Long time, no see! I haven¡¯t heard from you in a while, and I hope it¡¯s just your adventures combined with the bad post, or letters are too expensive.


    ;


    I¡¯ve graduated! Iona and I are heading to Sangino in Exterreri. We think our prospects are best there.


    ;


    I know you mentioned occasionally taking trips to Urwa. I can¡¯t promise anything right now, but Exterreri sounds like it¡¯s safe enough for me to sell that thing you want me to sell. Everyone else is protected from the type of concerns we have in other places, and it sounds like I¡¯d be naturally folded into the same protections.


    ;


    Please let me know that you¡¯re alright! Then again, getting letters to me is going to be difficult for some time. I¡¯ll be sending more messages out when I can.


    ;


    I have a few books I think you should read. Given that I¡¯m copying this letter to a few different locations, I can¡¯t attach them to the letter. Anyway, here¡¯s the list¡­


    ;


    ¡­


    ;


    Cheers,


    ;


    Elaine


    ;


    I paid a [Scribe] to copy Amber¡¯s letter 31 times, and sent the copies all over the place, hoping one would reach her.


    ;


    ¡°Elaine! Just the person I wanted to see!¡± Martin the [Librarian] half-ambushed me as the [Scribe] was finishing up his copies.


    ;


    ¡°Martin. Everything alright? I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯ve returned all my books, and there are no books left hidden in secret corners.¡±


    ;


    He paused.


    ;


    ¡°The way you phrased that last part is deeply concerning. No, everything¡¯s alright. I¡¯m just wondering if you¡¯d be willing to sign a few books for us? The Museum of All Things got the original you submitted, but I¡¯m hoping to get a couple of copies for the Library.¡±


    ;


    I looked at him suspiciously.


    ;


    ¡°Define ¡®a few¡¯.¡± I said, and since I was dealing with Amber¡¯s letter, I was in a mercantile mood. ¡°And are you willing to pay per signature?¡±


    ;


    We struck a quick deal that was going to cramp my hand, and have me stay a little longer than I technically was allowed to - I should be booted off the island before the next quarter started, but the School really, really wanted a few more bites out of me.


    ;


    I whistled all the way back home, funding for the next year or two secured. Maybe enough to buy a small, out of the way home.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°We¡¯ve got two more weeks here?¡± Iona confirmed.


    ;


    I nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Yup! School wants me to do a few more things for them, and Martin pulled a few strings. They¡¯re paying me well enough that it¡¯s worth it, and it gives us a little bit of time to say goodbye.¡±


    ;


    Iona frowned.


    ;


    ¡°Like. I¡¯m fine with this. I just wish you¡¯d talked with me before deciding.¡±


    ;


    I internally cringed. Shit! I¡¯d been rude, acting without thinking.


    ;


    ¡°Sorry! Martin was right there, and it seemed like too good of a chance to pass up.¡±


    ;


    Iona sighed and ruffled my hair.


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯re good. Just keep us in mind, yeah?¡±


    ;


    I nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Yeah. Got anything special you¡¯d like to do? As my way of saying ¡®whoops, sorry¡¯?¡± Nothing like shameless bribes to get back in my girlfriend¡¯s good graces.


    ;


    ¡°Of course!¡± She grinned wickedly at me. ¡°A date! To all the places we¡¯ve seen!¡±


    ;


    ¡°That sounds nice. When and where?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Well, first the gardens, a tour of the arboretum, then when it gets dark let¡¯s go to the Museum. I hear they have a fancy new exhibit!¡±


    ;


    I grinned, touched by Iona¡¯s thoughtfulness and quiet pride in my work.


    ;


    ¡°Sounds great!¡±


    ;


    ;


    The date almost went well. My concerns about having a normal School life were well-founded as every fourth person seemed to recognize me, and wanted to interact with me.


    ;


    ¡°Why me?¡± I complained to Iona after casting a complicated spell to change the look of my face.


    ;


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± She asked.


    ;


    ¡°Why do I get bothered, and not any of the other famous people here? Like the [Princesses] and whatevers.¡±


    ;


    Iona gave me a Look.


    ;


    ¡°Are you - no, no you¡¯re not. Alright, it¡¯s like, three different things going on. First is the sheer scale of things. There¡¯s a bunch of [Princesses], there¡¯s only one you. Second is the importance. The really important nobles end up in Hapensburgs, not the School. Third is deterrence. Your house doesn¡¯t have a reputation for beheading annoying petitioners. Fourth is accessibility. Fundamentally, anyone interested in the Rolland [Princess] can probably petition the crown for their issue, while you¡¯re the entire locus. Plus, no bodyguards.¡±


    ;


    Iona somehow said the last part with a straight face. I punched her arm.


    ;


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that why I¡¯m dating you?¡± I asked rhetorically, then slipped my hand into hers.


    ;


    She squeezed, and I squeezed back.


    ;


    ;


    Iona and I were giggling as we got back to our suite, only to be ambushed by Auri and a half-dozen flaming images.


    ;


    Not that I was really surprised, being able to see them through the wall and all. [The World Around Me] was busted.


    ;


    ¡°BRRRPT! Brrrpt, brpt bbbbrrrrrrrrrrppPPpppTT!!¡± Auri frantically explained. Iona was nodding along, and I agreed.


    ;


    ¡°Yes, we can throw a big fancy going away party for everyone. How many of your friends did you want to invite?¡± I asked.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ;


    ¡°¡®All of them¡¯ is sweet, but we need numbers! You¡¯d bake more cookies for eight people than you would for three, right?¡± I said.


    ;


    ¡°Plus, I¡¯d like to invite a few of my friends over, and it could be nice to invite your combat teammates.¡± Iona said.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri gave me a number, and I wanted to pinch my nose. But no, no. I was Auri¡¯s companion. I should be supportive. Instead, I gave her a beaming smile.


    ;


    ¡°Great! Alright, what do you need me to do to get ready for this party?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt! BRPT! BrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrpT!¡± Auri started sending off orders like the world¡¯s smallest [General]. Iona and I traded each other amused looks, and got to it, followed by a flurry of [Mage Hands].


    ;


    ;


    ¡°This party might¡¯ve gotten away from me a little.¡± I admitted to Iona as we watched Auri putting the finishing touches on the preparations, and the first guests started to arrive.


    ;


    Iona shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°Like, yeah? At the same time, why not? We only live once, we¡¯re leaving, and why not celebrate this moment with our friends?¡±


    ;


    I nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Oh yeah! Don¡¯t get me wrong, I¡¯m all for it, but¡­¡± I gestured out to the three different grills Auri had going, along with the it¡¯s-better-to-ask-forgiveness-than-permission fire pit Iona had dug out with four whole pig carcasses starting to slow cook. We had two tables dedicated to desserts that we¡¯d spent the last week baking - and I was happy to say we because Auri had kept me running around, buying supplies and making everything go smoothly for her baking marathon. There was a table for non-grilling food, two kegs of the cheapest beer I could find - we were already breaking the bank, and full kegs weren¡¯t cheap - and all in all, we had an entire feast going.


    ;


    Iona sagely nodded over the prep work.


    ;


    ¡°We might be able to feed the three gluttons with all of this.¡±


    ;


    Three gluttons? Auri for sure, she was always eating, Fenrir required silly amounts of food, and -


    ;


    ¡°HEY!¡± I protested and punched Iona in the arm as she cracked up laughing.


    ;


    People started to trickle into the party, everyone contributing something to the party, and Auri lit up the fires. Fenrir lay there like a small hill, curling around half the park where we were throwing the party and leaving his head near the large grill, waiting for his food to finish.


    ;


    I thought he liked it raw, but maybe Auri had gotten to him. Auri cooking and Fenrir eating was a potent combination.


    ;


    I recognized a number of the people who were here. Marcelle brought a number of bottles of wine. Professor Lothar had a taste for smoked meats that he was happy to share. Martin brought a stack of stroopwafels. Sir Polarton brought a basket of berries. Even Reinhard showed up, towing a freshly caught shark!


    ;


    It wasn¡¯t just my friends who showed up. Iona¡¯s friends and some professors came over, and Bridget - carrying baskets of apples, why - came with a number of Auri¡¯s classmates. Children of other professors and students at the School.


    ;


    Iona leaned over and whispered in my ear.


    ;


    ¡°I got this, but we won¡¯t be able to socialize a ton.¡± She moseyed over to where Bridget had put down the lethal basket of apples, and plucked a few out. Iona shot me a cheeky wink as she downed an apple in two bites.


    ;


    I spun off a [Parallel Thoughts] mind just to smell everyone and track who¡¯d eaten an apple, and who I needed to avoid, along with potential escape routes to make it less obvious that something was going on. I was starting to regret this party. I was hours away from flying literally halfway around the world from any forbidden fruit.


    ;


    ¡°BRRRRRRRRRPT!!¡± Auri gave the mightiest cry she could as she ascended up a pillar of multi-colored flames, hovering in the middle of the crowd. With a thought, a tiny chef¡¯s hat made out of brilliant white flames appeared on her head. She started to give a speech as best she could with her limitations.


    ;


    ¡°Brrpt! Brrrrrrrpt, brpt brpt bRRRrrppT!!¡±


    ;


    She wasn¡¯t dumb, and she wrote words in flames above her head as she spoke. Only in one language, and the few unfortunate souls who didn¡¯t know the language needed someone else to translate for them.


    ;


    Hello! Thank you everyone for coming here, it means a TON to me! It¡¯s been quite a journey these past few years with you all, and¡­


    ;


    Auri gave one hell of a speech, but forgot two critically important parts.


    ;


    One - this was an informal BBQ, not a fancy dinner. There wasn¡¯t room for big, fancy speeches, and people were starting to chat with each other and carry on instead of listening. I didn¡¯t blame them, I was starting to think about splitting off a third thought process to read a book. The part about having baked a special treat for every single person invited was sweet.


    ;


    Two - food didn¡¯t stop cooking in awe of her speech abilities. Her grandstanding ended with an untranslated brrrrrrrrrpttt!!!! As one of her projects started billowing black smoke.


    ;


    I chuckled at that. A phoenix burning something. She must¡¯ve been so distracted with her speech.


    ;


    People came and went, saying hi, enjoying the party.


    ;


    ¡°This is for you!¡± Marcelle handed me a beautifully detailed set of biomancy references. A [Bookbinder] must¡¯ve spent hours on making it. ¡°You simply must write and tell me your address once you settle in.¡± Marcelle said. ¡°Being your advisor these past five years has been a joy, and I¡¯d love to keep in touch.¡±


    ;


    I smiled at her, noting Iona swooping back to the apples and eating a few more.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯d like that as well! I¡¯ll make sure to write once I settle in. And thank you for the books, they¡¯re wonderful.¡±


    ;


    We exchanged a few more pleasantries, and the party moved on. Lothar, one of my main wizardry teachers found me next.


    ;


    ¡°Congratulations.¡± He rumbled at me. ¡°I heard about your final exam. Remember, a wizard can never be too prepared.¡±


    ;


    It took me a few moments to realize he was talking about my wizardry final exam, and had nothing to do with my medicine thesis.


    ;


    ¡°Thank you. I¡¯m aware I¡¯m only at the start of my wizarding journey, and I have miles and decades to go before I can even think I¡¯m halfway competent at it.¡±


    ;


    I felt like I was something of a bruiser with my wizardry. I could throw huge amounts of power and mana at a problem, so I never needed to work under tight constraints. A downside of coming to the discipline with a high level.


    ;


    It was weird to think of myself as a thuggish brute, but like. The complex seven-ring array to make things happen, or the quick and dirty sigil for the same effect? I did have the spare power and mana to burn.


    ;


    I made a mental note to practice my efficient spell forms when bored.


    ;


    Lothar nodded.


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯ve got the right mindset. You¡¯ll do well.¡± He spotted another professor he wanted to talk with - I assumed - drifting back into the crowd.


    ;


    I found myself needing to dodge and weave through the crowd a bit to not have awkward forcefield instances with my curse. Auri was in deep discussion with Bridget, and my plan to check if apple tree dryads caused issues were thwarted by an obvious, stupid thing.


    ;


    Didn¡¯t matter if I could approach her or not, apples were a critical part of her diet. I carefully backed off, mentally noting escape routes if Bridget wanted to talk with me. Which was likely, given my relationship with Auri.


    ;


    Blessedly, Auri and Bridget came to an arrangement - I wasn¡¯t sure what, I wasn¡¯t eavesdropping on every single conversation here, that¡¯d be rude and take up way too much mental space and social energy - and a bunch of apples went into the grill, and up in smoke.


    ;


    Auri shot me a look, and I gave her a grin.


    ;


    Good job! I mentally shot at her. [Telepathy] wasn¡¯t a skill, but Auri and I understood each other. She puffed up proudly at her brilliant - actually brilliant - method of disposing of most of the apples in a way that nobody would think twice.


    ;


    Apple-smoking meat was a thing, and Auri was a [Baker]. Maybe not with the class, but it was her thing.


    ;


    Goddesses. I loved Auri and Iona so much. The way they just found ways to try and help me without saying anything. I had to figure out a good way to say thank you.


    ;


    Ling Li was at the party with the other members of the School combat team, and she also found time to chat with me. Her robes were slightly modified from the base, looking more like a cultivator¡¯s robes than a witch¡¯s.


    ;


    She clasped her hands and half-bowed to me.


    ;


    ¡°Fairy Elaine. It has been a great pleasure to make your acquaintance. If you should ever find yourself near the Blue Luan Paradise Sect, I would be honored if you would give us some face and visit.¡±


    ;


    Surprisingly formal from her, but I guess we weren¡¯t about to get into a fight - or technically on the same team anymore. I tried to mirror her bow.


    ;


    ¡°Ling Li. I¡¯d be honored to swing by at some point.¡± I started off strong and formal, and completely punted it with the casual swing by. Ah well.


    ;


    The party continued. Fenrir made a big show of eating the roast pigs whole, to the excited squeals of the kids and paling of a few less martially-inclined members.


    ;


    On and on it went. People got drunk and threw skills into the air, fireworks exploding above us. A strong [Whistler] could get an entire multi-part song going - between bites of food! Fenrir somehow got a cutthroat game of cards going, manipulating Ice to finely handle the cards.


    ;


    As far as parties went, it was pretty good.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°Humor me for a second?¡± I asked Iona.


    ;


    ¡°Yeah, what¡¯s up?¡±


    ;


    ¡°I know we¡¯ve talked about Exterreri extensively, but I just wanted to double check that you¡¯re alright with me trying to find Night.¡±


    ;


    Iona chewed her tongue for a moment.


    ;


    ¡°Like. I¡¯m fine with you looking for him, but can you promise not to turn it into an obsession or anything, or burn too many resources on it? The odds of him being alive, in this place, and findable are vanishingly small, and I¡¯d hate to lose you on a greased pig chase.¡±


    ;


    I pouted at that.


    ;


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s a greased pig chase. But¡­ yes, I see your point. I can¡¯t make it my entire life, but I¡¯ll be kicking myself if I don¡¯t try. If I don¡¯t put forth a real effort. He¡¯s the only person I can imagine has survived this long, and he¡¯s important to me. He was my mentor, my teacher, my boss and my coworker. Dare I say he was also a friend? Imagine if you got twisted through the world. Wouldn¡¯t you want to find Alruna?¡±


    ;


    Iona was nodding along the entire time.


    ;


    ¡°No no, I totally get it. I¡¯m with you. Just¡­ I don¡¯t want to lose you down an impossible rabbit hole. If something can¡¯t be found, if someone¡¯s died thousands of years ago, how will you ever know to stop looking?¡±


    ;


    She had a painful point.


    ;


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not like I don¡¯t have any leads.¡± I said. ¡°Vampires need to be turned. I can just ask who turned which vampire, and try to trace the turning tree, so to speak.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Unless it all ends in a dead end. Entirely possible with your Night being alive.¡±


    ;


    Iona was right, but it was somewhat frustrating.


    ;


    ¡°I get it, it¡¯s imperfect, but it¡¯s the best I¡¯ve got. Anyway, you¡¯re all packed?¡±


    ;


    Iona nodded, and drew me into a cuddle.


    ;


    ¡°I am. Your attempt to change the topic is as subtle as always. Sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to be such a downer. I¡¯m here for you. I¡¯m happy to search. I just don¡¯t want to spend my entire life on a futile search. Does that make sense?¡±


    ;


    I nodded, letting Iona wrap her strong arms around me.


    ;


    ¡°No, absolutely. I¡¯d never ask you to spend your whole life on a search with me. That¡¯d be insane.¡±


    ;


    Unsaid was Iona¡¯s reluctance to become an Immortal.


    ;


    ¡°Packing! Are you all set?¡± Iona asked.


    ;


    ¡°I think so, but I¡¯m not great at organization. Usually had a list to help me out. Doing it alone is not great.¡±


    ;


    Iona kissed me.


    ;


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s what I¡¯m for. Let¡¯s go see if you¡¯ve got everything.


    ;


    ;


    It was time. Fenrir was wearing his full armor - easier for him to carry it. I had as many books as I could legally take stashed in my [Bookwyrm¡¯s Hoard]. Iona and I each had a chest full of our stuff - clothes, coins, and the rest - and another chest simply for generic travel supplies, like tents, bedrolls, tinder kits and more. Two more chests were filled with preserved foodstuffs, and a single barrel of the most dread evil water rounded out our carrying supplies. Each of these were attached to Fenrir in some way, shape, or form, the massive wyvern making logistics easy. He didn¡¯t count as a protective wagon, and there were no great arcanite reserves on him, but I¡¯d take him over the Argo any day of the week if dinosaurs attacked.


    ;


    Auri had an easy-come, easy-go attitude towards possessions, her biggest desire in life to have a kitchen and a nest. Fenrir had his well-loved pack of cards and pipe tucked away with Iona¡¯s gear.


    ;


    I circled Fenrir one last time, triple-checking our preparations.


    ;


    ¡°Ready?¡± Iona asked.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrrpt?¡± Auri added her voice, letting me know she was impatient and ready to GO! ON! ADVENTURE!


    ;


    ¡°Go.¡± Fenrir growled, his deep voice rattling my teeth.


    ;


    The packs were on, triply-strapped. The armor had all the latches done. The sky was clear, the sun was just peeking over the horizon, and there was a soft summer breeze, the scent of flowers drifting on the wind.


    ;


    ¡°Alright. Everything looks good.¡± I flew up onto Fenrir¡¯s back, settling in front of Iona on the saddle.


    ;


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± I said.


    ;


    Fenrir charged down the field, jumping off the edge of the island and snapping his armored wings open.


    ;


    The four of us flew into the rising dawn.


    ;

 Chapter 405 - Interlude - The Pendulum

    ¡°Why are we here?¡± Decimus unhappily threw another branch into the fire. The fire didn¡¯t need the extra fuel, but Decimus was bored out of his mind.


    ;


    Livia arched an eyebrow, the two Rangers on nightwatch.


    ;


    ¡°Because we think the idiots calling themself the Circus of Smiles went this way?¡± She answered.


    ;


    ¡°No, no, I get that. I mean, why are we camping here? We¡¯re not exactly stealthy, and Palma is just a few miles away. Why camp?¡±


    ;


    Livia didn¡¯t say anything for a minute or two, adding another log to the fire while she waited.


    ;


    ¡°I figure because it¡¯s harder.¡± She finally answered.


    ;


    ¡°Yeah, but why make it harder? We¡¯ve proven we¡¯re the toughest. We¡¯re the best. Why camp, instead of staying in a tavern? I know it¡¯s deliberate we¡¯re out here, I just can¡¯t wrap my head around it.¡± Decimus said.


    ;


    Livia was quiet for a minute, organizing her thoughts.


    ;


    ¡°Have you heard of the pendulum theory?¡± She asked.


    ;


    ¡°Pendulum theory? Can¡¯t say I have.¡± Decimus answered. ¡°Is the blasted pendulum why we¡¯re here?¡±


    ;


    Livia nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Yeah, pendulum theory. It only applies on the largest of scales. Countries and decades. It¡¯s somewhat controversial, not everyone agrees. Alright, think of this. You¡¯ve got two cities fighting each other. Everyone levels, yeah?¡± Livia said.


    ;


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Decimus said.


    ;


    ¡°What happens when someone starts winning?¡± She asked.


    ;


    Decimus shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°Easy. They win.¡±


    ;


    Livia shook her head, then nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Well, yes. If they win, they win, it¡¯s over. Burn their fields, salt their cities, destroy their monuments. Simple. Pendulum theory applies more when one side doesn¡¯t manage to immediately win. My scale might be off. Here¡¯s how I see it, on a grand scale. Two cities - no, two countries - fight each other. One starts winning, and winning hard. Issue is, as they¡¯re winning, fewer of the soldiers are getting into scraps and fights. They¡¯re on guard duty. Logistics duty. They¡¯re not getting in fights anymore. The pendulum¡¯s swung towards one side. There¡¯s also the question of committing elite troops, and regulars. If they¡¯re winning hard, it¡¯s easy, and there are fewer levels to be had after the initial push. On the other side of things, the second country is losing, and losing badly. Everyone is in every fight, and the odds are impossible. What does that do for your level, fighting every day against impossible, overwhelming odds?¡±


    ;


    Decimus grunted.


    ;


    ¡°Levels. Levels like crazy, for everyone.¡±


    ;


    Livia nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Exactly. Unless the first country can quickly overwhelm and thoroughly exterminate the opposition, the opposition¡¯s going to get real strong, real fast. In the meantime, the first country¡¯s going to be going soft. The second country is making elites, and the first one¡¯s focused on getting rich. Eventually, things will shift and change enough that the pendulum swings back the other way. The people who almost lost are now the powerful ones, and the first country is filled with soft targets.¡±


    ;


    Decimus chewed over that for a minute.


    ;


    ¡°We¡¯re the first country.¡± He concluded. ¡°We¡¯ve won too much.¡±


    ;


    Livia nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Aye, that we have. I think the government knows it, the vampires aren¡¯t stupid. Why is there still wilderness? Why are great forests and deep caves allowed to stand? Why don¡¯t we raze them all to the ground, and tame the wilds once and for all? Same reason Sentinels have a minimal threshold before they¡¯ll step in. You think Arachne couldn¡¯t find the Circus of Smiles, kill them all, and be back before lunch? They don¡¯t get any experience for crushing a level 500 threat, while we¡¯ll all get a few levels for it. No monsters? No levels. No levels? No elites. No next generation. We¡¯d be a sitting target for even a mortal country to invade. Can¡¯t ruin the source of experience, even if it costs a few lives from the occasional attack.¡±


    ;


    Decimus immediately made another connection.


    ;


    ¡°That stupid imposter Sentinel mission. I thought it was something of a set up. A single aged letter sent years ago, for a single person who said it once, in one of the hardest targets in the world that¡¯s conveniently accessible, and who just so happens to be on a trip when we get there!?¡± Decimus was working himself up the whole time. ¡°I get ¡®impossible challenge for levels¡¯ but come on! That was absurd!¡±


    ;


    Livia shook her head.


    ;


    ¡°For what it¡¯s worth, I believe that was a real mission. Fake missions just aren¡¯t worth it. But that mission does illustrate my point nicely. How peaceful are things that the Roaming Ranger Team can be deployed on something so petty? How good are things that we can fail a mission and it doesn¡¯t matter? How many times have we leveled recently? How many missions have we gone on this year? Not enough. Things are too peaceful, too quiet, too easy. Which is why we¡¯re here, in the forest, and not in a tavern.¡±


    ;


    Decimus sighed.


    ;


    ¡°Levels.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Levels.¡± Livia agreed. ¡°Makes it easier knowing why?¡±


    ;


    Decimus nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Yup. Just gotta find the biggest, baddest thing in here, fight it, level, then we can sleep in a tavern.¡±


    ;


    Livia laughed at his unrepentant grin, and threw another stick into the fire.


    ;


    ;


    Viria readjusted the jug on her shoulder, cursing her ancestors once again for building their house so far away from the main well. Water jar readjusted, she continued to limp into the village.


    ;


    The walk wouldn¡¯t be so bad if she hadn¡¯t twisted her knee running around when she was a teenager. The one moment of fun, running through a field, ruined her whole life when she rolled her ankle on a rock, fell badly, and wrenched her knee.


    ;


    The local [Witch] was good for cuts, scrapes, potions, midwifery, setting broken bones and hundreds of other little tasks, but something as large as Viria¡¯s knee injury had been too much for her. She¡¯d tried to set it and fix it, but it never set right.


    ;


    The jug started to slip from her grip, and Viria paused to readjust it. Putting it down would mean picking it back up again, and that was worse than pausing a moment.


    ;


    ¡°Need a hand?¡± Rusticus asked Viria, the man bounding up with a grin.


    ;


    Viria frowned at him. She didn¡¯t think he was being entirely altruistic.


    ;


    ¡°No.¡± She curtly refused him, continuing to limp along. Rusticus didn¡¯t take the hint, walking literal circles around Viria, as if showing off how well he could walk would endear him to her.


    ;


    ¡°Awww, come on, don¡¯t be like that. Here, let me-¡±


    ;


    Rusticus was in the middle of trying to grab Viria¡¯s jug off her shoulder when he froze, staring off into the woods behind her.


    ;


    ¡°This isn¡¯t funny.¡± He curtly jabbed at Viria. ¡°Knock it off.¡±


    ;


    Viria had no idea what he was talking about. She carefully twisted her head around, making sure not to put any more weight or stress on her bad knee.


    ;


    Her water jug slipped from her hands, shattering on the dirt road.


    ;


    Viria had never seen one before, but she¡¯d grown up on stories of them.


    ;


    Everyone had.


    ;


    ¡°PEKARI!¡± She screamed at the sight of the mottled green-brown elvenoid golems. She started limp-running as fast as she could towards her home, water forgotten. She knew there was no chance at outrunning them, not with her knee, and that hiding was the only chance she had.


    ;


    Rusticus roared with anger. No stupid metal construct without a level was going to invade his village, not while he drew breath. He was level 140. The golems were level 0. He picked up the closest weapon he could find - the handle of Viria¡¯s broken jug - and charged the marching Pekari soldiers.


    ;


    The cry of alarm had been picked up by the rest of the village, and people were running, hiding, or fighting, no real organization present. The majority tried to scatter into the woods, hoping to evade the tightening cordon. A father tossed his kid high up into a tree, a safe hiding spot - so long as the Pekari didn¡¯t look up. The local [Brewer] hustled through his kegs, smashing the plug out of one deep in his stocks. He hauled himself up and into the barrel, knowing that Pekari never came for goods - only people.


    ;


    The golem¡¯s arms blurred as it thrust its spear through Rusticus¡¯s chest, mechanically and efficiently killing him. The line of Pekari didn¡¯t even pause as they killed Rusticus, the constructs marching over his fallen body, stomping him into the ground. A second golem took aim at the fleeing Viria, and with a soft cough, fired a metal slug at the fleeing woman.


    ;


    Viria screamed as she fell, clutching the stump of her leg as the magically propelled slug ripped through her bad knee. The force of it ripped half the limb off, and she hit the ground hard, bleeding into the dirt.


    ;


    They won¡¯t take me. Viria swore to herself through the blinding pain. They¡¯ll never take me.


    ;


    Adrenaline warred with pain and won, and Viria turned over onto her belly. She started crawling towards a wood pile, hoping against hope that she could bury herself in it, and the automatons would pass her by. One arm in front of the other, she half-crawled, half-dragged herself to the pile as screams of fear, panic, pain, and loss erupted all around her as the Pekari mercilessly mowed down any resisting villagers, and crippled anyone who tried to run. Her destroyed leg spurted blood onto the dirt, mixing to make a disgusting mud, and a trail even a toddler could follow.


    ;


    The Pekari weren¡¯t known for the ability to follow any trail.


    ;


    Viria was three arm-pulls away from the pile when a cold foot mercilessly stepped on her hand. She screamed as the weight broke her hand, and her screaming took another note as a hot brand pressed against her bleeding leg.


    ;


    She passed out from the pain, and the Pekari grabbed her leg. Uncaring of any damage it might do, the construct turned around, and started to drag her back to their lair.


    ;


    Along with the rest of the villagers.


    ;


    ;


    Ebbot coughed and knuckled his forehead.


    ;


    I didn¡¯t even drink all that much last night! He silently complained as he rolled with the swaying of the ship¡¯s deck. Captain Gil must¡¯ve bought the cheap stuff. Again.


    ;


    He squinted up at the sun, dunking his mop in his bucket and slapping it down onto the ship¡¯s deck.


    ;


    Bad food. Bad pay. Bad cargo. Bad port. Why am I here again?


    ;


    Ebbot cursed all his prior life choices that led him here, to Captain Gil¡¯s ship. When he¡¯d signed up to be a [Sailor] he imagined a daring life on the high seas, transporting valuable cargos - spices, gems, magical woods and more - all around the world. He¡¯d be with a crew of competent sailors, working by day, drinking by night, and ripping through the port town brothels and bars like wildfire when he had a chance.


    ;


    Only the last one had even a shadow of coming to pass. Instead of gems and gold, they were transporting grain, and from how well-sealed the ship was combined with the smell that wafted out whenever Ebbot got too close, he doubted anyone would buy it. It¡¯d put the captain in a worse mood, their pay would go down, far below the promised rates - and it wasn¡¯t like Ebbot had anyone he could complain to about that, ships and crews were notoriously difficult to enforce the law on - the [First Mate] was a bad-tempered brute who looked for any excuse to beat Ebbot - if one of the other [Deckhands] hadn¡¯t sparked his ire already - and the entire ship was cheap. Bad lines, repaired and returned to service that looked like a stiff breeze would snap, rotting timbers that were ¡®good enough¡¯ and ¡®too expensive to replace¡¯, and now even the grog was bad.


    ;


    That¡¯s it. Ebbot swore to himself. Last trip. I¡¯m getting off at the next port, and finding a different ship - any ship - to sign onto. Don¡¯t care if it¡¯s a slaving ship, it¡¯s got to be better than this. Just two more days until port.


    ;


    A port found in the storm that was his life, Ebbot got to mopping with renewed vigor.


    ;


    ¡°Squeak?¡±


    ;


    Ebbot turned at the noise, and threw his mop down in disgust.


    ;


    ¡°Rats! Now we have rats!¡± He complained to the sky. His complaint was cut short by a short, vicious cough.


    ;


    ¡°[Sailor] Ebbot!¡± The [First Mate] roared at him, and Ebbot jumped. Between his hangover and his own reflections, he hadn¡¯t seen the ugly gorgon sneaking up on him.


    ;


    Ebbot snapped to attention.


    ;


    If he showed proper deference now, he might reduce the lashing he got.


    ;


    ¡°Sir!¡± He called out properly, his head swimming in pain.


    ;


    As the [First Mate] got in his face and roared at him, all Ebbot could see was the rat fleeing back into the depths of the ship.


    ;


    ;


    Arachne was well named. It was natural that the name fit like a spider silk weave dress, given that it was bestowed upon her rise to Sentinel.


    ;


    She was, among other things, a [Thinker], her mind expanded and improved dozens of times over by skills and classes. The tiny threads she wove through the entire city sent tiny vibrations to where she sat in her lair, like a spider who¡¯d woven a city-wide net.


    ;


    She heard everything that happened in Sangino.


    ;


    She felt every footprint, every movement, every vibration.


    ;


    She knew all.

 The story so far

    Hello! Welcome to another installment of Beneath the Dragoneye Moons! Here¡¯s a quick recap of the story so far.


    ;


    Book 1: Elaine is reincarnated on Pallos with some of her knowledge, Papillon having swiss-cheesed her memories before allowing her to reincarnate. Elaine grows up, realizes she still knows biology. Tries a little too hard to lie low, and accidentally kills her friend, Lyra. Takes her healing [Oath] and meets Artemis. When her family tries to marry her off at 14, she decides to run away from home and join the Rangers. She gets kidnapped by runaway slaves-turned-bandits. The Rangers smash the group, and Elaine asks to join. Julius denies her until she reveals the full extent of her reincarnated status. He changes his mind and lets her tag along. They arrive in Virinum, where a monster is terrorizing the locals. The Rangers come up with a plan to take down the monster, and Elaine is critical in keeping Kallisto alive. After the fight, Julius offers for Elaine to join them as a real Ranger, and she accepts. The book ends with Elaine classing up, merging her Light and Dark healing classes into a Celestial class. With the open class slot, she takes a Fire mage class.


    ;


    Book 2: Elaine starts practicing with her new skills, learning her new limits and capabilities. Kerberos, her fiance, hires some adventurers to retrieve Elaine. They kidnap her, but her Ranger teammates come to the rescue, killing most of them and arresting the rest. Shaken but undeterred, Elaine continues with the team, experiencing just how dangerous life is on the road for a Ranger team. From dinosaur swarms, bandits, twitchy teammates and deadly monsters, there¡¯s never a moment¡¯s rest for the team. They arrive in Perinthus, a town dying to multiple plagues. Elaine shines, healing as many people as she can while slowly building a map of the victims. It soon becomes clear that one is mundane, and the other is caused by a Classer. The Rangers investigate, determining who the culprit is, and execute him without a trial. Leaving Perinthus, the team continues on, getting into various situations as they complete their round. During this time, Elaine writes the Medical Manuscripts. After two years, they arrive back in Ariminum, the capital, where Elaine reunites with her parents and they come to an understanding. She is told that she¡¯ll need to attend Ranger Academy to ¡®properly¡¯ become a Ranger, and Arthur is promoted to Sentinel Toxic during the Ranger Convocation.


    ;


    Book 3: Elaine attends the grueling Ranger Academy, where she meets Sentinel Night, her mentor. While she¡¯s there, she¡¯s brought to the front lines against the endless Formorians, in one part to directly fight them and level herself, and in another to keep an eye on Sentinel Toxic¡¯s mass-poisoning efforts, checking that they¡¯re not going to blow back on the soldiers. After returning from the front lines, she¡¯s pitted in a colosseum match against her former finance Kerberos, where she blows his head off. She classes up, trading Fire magic for Radiance magic, achieving one of her lifelong dreams - flight. Upon graduation, she isn¡¯t assigned to a team, instead being promoted to Sentinel Dawn. She goes on a failed date with Jaclyn, and learns that Night is a vampire. He teaches Elaine about the creation of the world, and Elaine goes off on her first Sentinel missions, shaking down her gear and experience. She encounters a weak plague and a pirate attack, and returns triumphant. A series of reports shows a few more years of Elaine¡¯s Sentinel work.


    ;


    Book 4: The book begins with the Formorians breaching the wall, and all hands are on deck. All available Sentinels, along with priest Demos, fly out to the front lines, where they entrench themselves deep within the horde for a last desperate strike against the Formorians. Destruction channels a massive earthquake, while Demos beseechesa god to intervene on their behalf. Both go off, each killing one of the Formorian Queens, and the Sentinels split, forming a strike team to kill the last Queen. Elaine and Bulwark return back to help the remaining soldiers against the horde, and they finally succeed in winning their thousand year war against the Formorians. Elaine classes up, obtaining [The Dawn Sentinel] and building a skill to obtain in the future - Immortality. Hunting and Elaine are sent to make sure there are no other Formorian Queen eggs or anything like that in the hostile wastes the Formorians came from. The two delve deep into the Formorian territory, finding someone else was on the other side - dwarves. The two of them split, with Hunting returning to report their findings while Elaine hangs out with the dwarves. They convince Elaine that they¡¯re not the people to talk with, and she should be brought to the capital and talk with someone important. She agrees, but while they¡¯re traveling, they¡¯re interrupted by Lun¡¯Kat fighting with the Guardians. In order to stay alive, Elaine and the surviving dwarves dive down an old mine shaft, finding themselves deep underground.


    ;


    Book 5: Elaine and the dwarves are trapped underground, trying to survive the monsters, traps, and orcs. Ned is replaced by a shapeshifter, but they finally find an underground dwarven city. Elaine shows off her healing prowess once again, slicing open dwarves to find out how their implanted augments work. She discovers that the dwarves have no intention of letting her go, and devises a plan to escape. She flees once again to the underground, where she is chased by the inevitable shluggoth. Running away, she finds Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s lair, where the dragon is injured. Elaine is sworn to heal anyone, and enters to heal Lun¡¯Kat. She mostly resists taking any treasure, only snagging a single small, hot, red egg before fleeing back to the open air and freedom. Elaine gets [The Stars Never Fade], the immortality skill. She unfortunately has no idea where she is, and starts heading north when she bumps into a trio of elves. They¡¯re heading in roughly the same direction, and Elaine joins up, for safety and guidance. They fight a hydra and emerge victorious.


    Book 6: After pissing off some trolls, they encounter a gnoll, who Elaine makes young again with [The Stars Never Fade], practicing her immortality skill for the first time and meeting White Dove. They travel further to Ochi, a city infested with Shimagu who can hijack other people¡¯s bodies. After struggling with her ethics and morals, Elaine heals the people infested with Shimagu, killing the intelligent bodyjackers in the process. The action devastates her though, and being close enough to Remus, she travels the rest of the distance alone. She finds herself in a city, with a Ranger team nearby - home at last! The book ends with the egg hatching in a blaze of fire, Auri emerging from the flames.


    ;


    Book 7: Elaine struggles with looking after a newborn Auri, eventually realizing that she¡¯s one of the rarest and most legendary creatures to ever exist - a phoenix. The two make their way back home, where they find Artemis has been sold into slavery and Julius is missing. After freeing Artemis, Elaine reports back to the Sentinels, where she finally hits the level 512 milestone and unlocks her third class. Elaine has a tearful reunion with her friends and family. News of her ability to make people young again makes its way to the Emperor, who pressures Elaine into making him young again, no matter the price. Elaine negotiates - poorly - women getting equal treatment in the eyes of the law. Augustus agrees, and Elaine has a triumphant parade through the city, where Augustus announces both the change, and a war against the Shimagu. News reaches the Sentinels about where Julius went missing - a fairy ring - and Elaine, along with Artemis, Auri, and Autumn - enter the ring, intent on retrieving him. They succeed, but fae trickery and divine intervention mean they leave the fairy ring tens of thousands of years after when they entered.


    ;


    Book 8: Elaine and the rest are utterly lost in this new world. They don¡¯t speak the language, and half of what they do is illegal. They¡¯re fortunate to meet Iona, a Valkyrie, who has a blessing to speak any language. She helps orient them to the world, and Elaine decides it¡¯d be best for her to attend the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft, to gain as much knowledge and information that she can. Julius and Artemis decide they want to try joining the Hunter¡¯s Guild, and Autumn - now called Amber, after she sold her name to the fae for power - wants to kickstart her dream of becoming disgustingly rich. Elaine attends the School, where she learns as much as she can, and takes a ¡®practice¡¯ third class, Biomancy, in order to make modifications to herself that¡¯ll last her entire lifetime - eternity. It also gives her a good view on the remaining classes she has. She also starts to learn the art of Wizardry, etching runes and glyphs to create any magical effect - at a steep knowledge, time, and efficiency cost. Iona and Elaine fall for each other and start dating, and the book ends with Elaine performing a massive biomancy operation on herself and Iona, permanently improving their bodies. The book ends with Elaine taking her third class ¡®for real¡¯ - [Bookwyrm].


    ;


    Book 9: Elaine and Iona are continuing their School adventures. Elaine is a member of the School¡¯s combat team, and the Gladiator Gauntlet is the main event. Elaine attends along with Iona, who discovers that Rolland has effectively disbanded the remnants of the Valkyrie order. Iona enters the tournament, intent on extracting a pound of flesh from the nobility, while Elaine struggles to win the event for the School¡¯s glory. They¡¯ve given her five years of free tuition, the least she can do is return with a trophy for them. Both are victorious, and return to the School. Elaine¡¯s body is on a shorter lifespan than usual with her dramatic biomancy modifications, and chooses to get cursed sooner rather than later by White Dove, because at the School she can research mitigation tactics. She¡¯s cursed, and graduation is around the corner. She graduates in multiple tracks, and gets recognized as the founder of modern medicine due to her efforts with the Medical Manuscripts back in the day¡­ regardless of how many other people contributed over the eons to the book. After graduating, Iona and Elaine fly off together to Exterreri, hoping to find Night.


    The Magic System Refresher


    This is a simple refresher, covering the major points without getting bogged down in the minor details. Beneath the Dragoneye Moons is a litRPG magic system. There are 8 stats - Strength, Dexterity, Speed, Vitality, Mana, Mana Regeneration, Magic Power, and Magic Control. Most people have two classes, with people over level 512 unlocking a third class. Each class has an element. The eight basic elements are Light, Dark, Water, Fire, Wind, Earth, Nature and Metal. Each combination of two of the basic elements creates an advanced element - Light and Dark make Celestial, for example. Each element has things it can and can¡¯t do, along with the class. People get experience for doing things their class wants to do. A [Lumberjack] gets experience for cutting wood, and not very much for killing a monster. A [Knight] gets a lot of experience for killing a monster, and very little for chopping wood. Leveling up a class gives stats, and raises the cap on skills for that class. Each class can have up to 8 skills, and there are 8 general skill slots.


    Skills as of the start of this book:


    ;


    Elaine:


    ;


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial]] Elaine¡¯s healing class.


    [Celestial Affinity] Affinity skill. Empowers all of her Celestial skills, lets her get better skills, and more efficiently uses mana for Celestial magic


    [Cosmic Presence] Passive AOE improved healing speed aura. It won¡¯t regrow an arm, but it¡¯ll clot and passively heal at a 300x+ rate


    [The Stars Never Fade] Makes a person¡¯s body young again. Immortality skill - using it will annoy White Dove, who¡¯ll curse whoever Elaine uses it on


    [Center of the Universe] Anti-pain skill. Let¡¯s Elaine know she¡¯s been hurt without being debilitating. Can be broken with enough main.


    [Dance with the Heavens] The main healing skill. Practically a panacea, it only struggles with esoteric injuries, such as petrification


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon] Gives [Dance with the Heavens] range, but only when Elaine and her patient are both touching moonlight or sunlight


    [Mantle of the Stars] Weak barrier skill. Flexible, moveable, and can be reimaged and reshaped however Elaine visualizes.


    [Sunrise] Energy skill! Uses to invigorate and reenergize. Better than a cup of coffee in the morning


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance]] Elaine¡¯s blasting mage and wizardry class. Likes exploring and learning new things to gain experience, also levels from fighting.


    [Radiance Affinity] Same as Celestial Affinity, but for Radiance skills.


    [Radiance Resistance] Stops Elaine¡¯s Radiance skills from burning herself


    [Nova Lance] A powerful Radiance beam from her fingers, Elaine can control the intensity, brightness, heat, and more! Uses it as anything from a kill-spell, to pointing at things far away


    [Lepidoptera] Wizardry skill! Used to draw runes made out of glowing Radiance. Has a few skill enhancements folded into the skill itself - Enchanting lets her make enchantments on things (so-so - the class and the skill isn¡¯t set up for it), and the skill will also nudge almost right runes to be correct.


    [Nectar] Simple mana-generating skill


    [Solar Corona] Massive buff to Elaine¡¯s offensive Radiance skills. Lets [Nova Lance] and [Kaleidoscope] hit much harder than expected.


    [Scintillating Ascent] Flight skill! Can be improved by studying other flying creatures.


    [Kaleidoscope] Summons a butterflies of Radiance that Elaine can mentally control for a short time. Explodes at the end of lifespan (Elaine can dismiss them instead of them going boom)


    [Class 3: [The Very Hungry Bookwyrm - Spatial]] Elaine¡¯s reading books class!


    [Spatial Affinity] See Celestial Affinity


    [Comprehensive Speed Reading] Lets Elaine read and understand super fast, and improves how vividly she imagines things. Also lets her always know where she left off in a book, always open the book to the right page, read in the dark, and read better.


    [Channeled Blink] A short-range teleport that requires a few second to wind up.


    [Bookwyrm''s Hoard] Spatial storage for books and book-like objects.


    [Beneath the Dragon''s Eyes] Can read books when they¡¯re closed, break through magical encryption.


    [Vivid Dream Reading] Can read anything in [Bookwyrm¡¯s Hoard] while sleeping. Combos amazingly well with [Parallel Thoughts] to read multiple books at once, as well as [Comprehensive Speed Reading]. Level while sleeping!


    [Astral Archives] Perfect memory skill, also lets her organize her memories, store them, and ¡®pull¡¯ large amounts at once to the forefront of her mind.


    [Hunger for Knowledge] Experience skill! Elaine gains more experience for everything she does.


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify] Gives Elaine the level and class abstraction of people


    [Parallel Thoughts] Lets Elaine think about multiple things at once.


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri] Bond between Elaine and Auri. Elaine gets to be fireproof and think much faster, while also being more vain.


    [The World Around Me] Insane sensory skill. Sphere of perfect perception around Elaine, as well as helping her manage her super senses.


    The super senses aren¡¯t a skill, they¡¯re the result of her biomancy.


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra] Elaine¡¯s solemn healing Oath. Insane boost to her healing abilities, at a price.


    [Sentinel''s Superiority] For being a Sentinel. 25% boost to all of Elaine¡¯s class skills.


    [Persistent Casting] Let¡¯s Elaine ¡°set and forget¡± skills. Primarily used to be permanently healing herself.


    [Imbue] A new skill of Elaine¡¯s lets her ¡°attach¡± one skill to another. Elaine thinks it¡¯ll be useful for healing.

 Chapter 406 - Into the rising sun

    Secrets, secrets, they¡¯re no fun, unless they¡¯re shared with everyone!


    ;


    The silly little ditty was stuck in my head, running on repeat, as Fenrir flew all of us away from the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft. Iona pulled on his harness, more of a way of communicating than any real control, and he obediently turned to his right, flying south.


    ;


    I¡¯d been flying on my own for years. I¡¯d occasionally flown under the power of others. The first time I¡¯d ever ¡®flown¡¯ was after Julius asked me to become a Ranger, and Artemis had lifted me up on a platform of stone. Another major flying experience was with Sky, as he brought us to the frontlines.


    ;


    Flying on Fenrir was a whole different experience. There was a living, breathing creature under the layers of metal and leather, sheer¡­ well, Fenrir wasn¡¯t exactly unbridled power now, was he? We jostled slightly with every beat of his wings, then our flight became smooth as he glided for a distance.


    ;


    Another big difference was we were strapped in, leather straps around my legs, Iona¡¯s arms around me. It wasn¡¯t feasible to get up and walk around, not with the wind and narrow, unsteady footing. A hairband stopped my hair from eating Iona¡¯s face. I¡¯d given myself a third eyelid when doing my biomancy operations, and they acted like a pair of goggles, keeping any little bits of dust and dirt out of my eyes, and stopping the wind from drying out my eyeballs.


    ;


    Interesting that I¡¯d never had that problem with [Talaria] or [Scintillating Ascent]. A minor effect of the skill?


    ;


    With all that said, I was probably a faster flier than Fenrir. I had significantly more levels, and I wasn¡¯t weighed down by a ton of stuff. It was one part practice, two parts making sure we didn¡¯t get separated, one part hanging out with Iona that I was here, and not flying literal circles around Fenrir.


    ;


    Auri was in the back, on Fenrir¡¯s tail. I occasionally heard a delighted ¡°Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrpt!¡± as he swung his tail up and down, Auri having an utter blast of a ride.


    ;


    ¡°We¡¯re over Suen, right?¡± I shouted back to Iona, unsure how well she could hear me with the whistling wind.


    ;


    ¡°Yes! And you don¡¯t need to shout, I can hear you just fine!¡± She said.


    ;


    I nodded and snuggled deeper into her embrace. This was nice. One of Iona¡¯s hands started to wander, massaging me here and there. I reached down with my hand to her leg, and started to softly scratch her just the way she liked it.


    ;


    I leaned back to just watch the world drift by. I had a few books for in-flight entertainment, but no. My stash of books was extremely limited for the foreseeable future, and I didn¡¯t get that much joy out of rereading stories, not nearly as much as reading them for the first time. I wanted to savor them. I wanted to save them for the right time and place, when we were snowed in with a cozy fire or something.


    ;


    Or when I knew where my next supply of books was coming from. Whichever came first.


    ;


    The view was gorgeous. A beautiful summer sky with a few drifting clouds above promised a wonderful day of flying. I leaned forward, looking over Fenrir¡¯s neck to see the ground below.


    ;


    We were high up, but not too high, and my biomancy operation had done wonders for my vision. I could make out the individual corn sprouts reaching for the sky in the fields. I could make out the different rods a [Fisherman] had set up along a river. I couldn¡¯t see through the forest canopy though. Super vision wasn¡¯t the ability to see through walls - that¡¯s what [The World Around Me] was for!


    ;


    ¡°Do we know where in Suen we are?¡± I asked Iona.


    ;


    There was a pregnant pause behind me. I twisted my neck all the way around to stare right at Iona.


    ;


    ¡°We do know where we are, right? I don¡¯t like that look on your face¡­¡± I really didn¡¯t. Iona had the awkward ¡®oh fuck¡¯ look of someone who¡¯d walked into class without homework, and the professor had just asked everyone to turn in their assignment.


    ;


    ¡°Could you please not do that with your neck? It¡¯s super squicking me out.¡± Being able to turn my head a full three-quarters of the way around was a hilarious trick.


    ;


    ¡°Whoooo, whoooo.¡± I mimicked the sound of an owl, continuing to stare accusingly.


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯re the one who knows where we¡¯re going! I thought you had this all set, and could glance at a mountain and know where we are!¡± Iona kept protesting.


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯re the native! You¡¯ve literally had classes on the world, maps, and you took a cartography class! I¡¯ve seen a few world maps, and about three inches of Rolland and Cartref Clyde!¡±


    ;


    Iona held up her hands in surrender.


    ;


    ¡°Arguing about this isn¡¯t going to get us anywhere. Do we want to keep flying south, stop at a town or village and ask for directions, or try to figure out where we are by looking at the map and landmarks?¡± She asked.


    ;


    I mentally crunched through the options.


    ;


    ¡°Why not all of them? Let¡¯s keep flying south, and ignore any small towns or villages. I doubt they¡¯ll be on the map, and without being rude, I¡¯m not sure if they¡¯ll have the necessary knowledge to properly point us in the right direction. We know we need to go south. If we see a large town or city, we can stop by and orient ourselves. While we¡¯re flying, why not check the map, and see if we can figure out where we are anyway?¡±


    ;


    Iona nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Sounds like a plan. Also, this was a communication fail by us. We need to do better, I¡¯ll make sure I talk more about who I think is doing what. Now, about that neck orientation¡­?¡±


    ;


    I twisted my neck back to normal.


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯re right. I assumed, you assumed, hey, at least we¡¯re in Suen and not Phantasym.¡±


    ;


    There was another awkward silence behind me.


    ;


    ¡°...We¡¯re in Suen, right?¡± I asked.


    ;


    ¡°I don¡¯t see any wizard towers, so yes.¡± Iona said.


    ;


    [The World Around Me] let me ¡®see¡¯ inside of things, and I could look at most of our belongings that we¡¯d strapped to Fenrir. Included in one of our chests was a medium quality world map, along with a more detailed map of Exterreri. [Comprehensive Speed Reading] let me skim the map quickly and easily from where it was safely tucked away.


    ;


    ¡°Good! Alright, I¡¯m going to start checking out the map. Yell out landmarks you see.¡± I said.


    ;


    ¡°Mind if we bring the map up here?¡± Iona asked. ¡°I¡¯d like to read it as well.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Sure! Hey, challenge me, I¡¯m working on my efficiency. How much mana and power budget do I get to bring the scroll up here?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Hmmmm¡­ how about 5000 mana?¡± Iona suggested. She didn¡¯t know a ton of wizardry, but she did know that it was roughly eight times as expensive as sorcery to do the same thing was - at a minimum.


    ;


    ¡°Alright, 5000 mana to retrieve the LOST SCROLL OF WHERE THE HECK ARE WE!¡± I boomed the last words out like a mighty [Archwizard] might.


    ;


    I split my mind in three with [Parallel Thoughts]. One was dedicated to sweeping and looking around, noting places, mountains, forests, and other landmarks. The second went to reading the map, trying to find a similar place in Suen - or anywhere near the place. The third started to construct a stupidly complex array to get the map into my hands.


    ;


    On the landmark front, we looked vaguely like we were in Suen. The only other real options were Ralakar or Phantasym, and both countries had distinct styles, for lack of a better word. Suen was ¡®bland¡¯, and the countryside we were flying over was equally bland. The island the School was on didn¡¯t fly that fast.


    ;


    Sadly, the [Cartographer] had taken some artistic liberties, and there were just ¡®mountains¡¯ on the map, no great detail as to what the mountains looked like. The northern continent wasn¡¯t even on the map! Just a bunch of ocean with depictions of sea monsters.


    ;


    The spell array was the trickiest one. First was figuring out what I wanted to happen. I needed to rearrange the contents of the chest, getting the map to the top. I needed to tilt the chest such that everything wouldn¡¯t fall out when I opened it. I needed to open the lid a crack. I needed to float the scroll out, close the chest and latch it, then levitate the map into my hands.


    ;


    All while on a living creature, flying high and fast. Wind shear would be an issue.


    ;


    Then there was doing all that efficiently. Iona had given me a 5000 mana budget for this task, an arbitrary number that felt way too low.


    ;


    The whole point of the exercise was practicing being efficient though. At the same time, we weren¡¯t in a classroom. This was the real world, and a mistake here could have us lose our map - or an entire chest of our belongings!


    ;


    I constructed my ¡®brute force¡¯ method first, and added in a half-dozen redundancies for other issues. An array to grab the chest if it fell. An array to freeze our belongings if it started to tip. An array to grab the map and yank it to me.


    ;


    Worst case, I could just rip myself out of the saddle and dive for the map, or anything else. Would need to restitch my part of the saddle, along with anything else I¡¯d broken.


    ;


    Backups secured, I started to work on the main project. It was interesting to see how little things were different at each step. Take opening the chest. Instead of a quick Zoh rune to open, I needed to get into the nitty gritty. I had to mentally map out the latches. I had to figure out their mechanism. I needed to work out how they moved. I then needed to write a whole array just to target that one specific bit, and nudge the latch a tiny distance. I copied that array, changing the targeting a hair to the other latch.


    ;


    Once the latches were done, I needed to lift the lid of the chest enough to get the map out, without letting it flap in the breeze. After the scroll was out, I needed to close the chest again and relatch it, instead of using a simpler Rairlik rune.


    ;


    Then there was getting the scroll to me. I could just zip it across the distance, but again, efficiency. Fenrir¡¯s body was a mass of tiny swirling eddies of wind, with some spots shaded from the wind shear and other parts fully exposed. Instead of going directly from the chest to my hands, I could see if there was a path along the side of his body that would be more complicated, but in the end, use less mana.


    ;


    All the little details were annoying on one level - I had an easier solution already devised - but on another, they thrilled me. I felt like I was practicing magic. Throwing [Fireball] around was great and all, but carefully building a new spell like this? I felt very proper-witch-like. Wouldn¡¯t want to spend all day every day doing it, but it was satisfying on a deep and primal level. Challenging myself to think and create just scratched some human itch in my psyche.


    ;


    Didn¡¯t come close to mangos, books, or healing people, but I didn¡¯t have a surplus of any of those on hand.


    ;


    ¡°How¡¯s it going?¡± Iona asked.


    ;


    ¡°I think I¡¯ve got the arrays figured out. I need to double check them, there¡¯s a bunch.¡± I¡¯d only built one spell with more arrays ever, and that had been a technical exercise to try and link as many arrays together as possible! The other issue was I couldn¡¯t test the array, nor fix any mistakes I¡¯d made. No, I had one try to get this done perfectly first time.


    ;


    [Astral Archives] helped, but the best analogy I had was writing a sentence. I wouldn¡¯t make any spelling errors, but it was possible that I had a grammatical error in there somewhere, and only by painstakingly checking every word could I have any confidence that it was right. Similarly, changing one word could mean I needed to change others - like how ¡°arose¡± became ¡°had arisen¡± when a tense was changed.


    ;


    Except wizardry wasn¡¯t that simple, oh noooooo. It would be more accurate to say the entire array needed to be edited on a single change, although the nature of wizardry meant only a single circle needed to be changed - not the other interlinking circles.


    ;


    ¡°Ready?¡± I asked Iona.


    ;


    ¡°Ready!¡± She confirmed, patting Fenrir¡¯s neck. ¡°Stay steady, witchosaurus is doing some magic.¡±


    ;


    I started tracing the symbols in the air with [Lepidoptera], the glowing runes stationary relative to my position, in spite of Fenrir¡¯s flight.


    ;


    Central array. Shifting array. Flight array. Chest array. Stillness array. Latching array. Movement, relative, positioning, targeting, and a dozen other arrays were traced before me in the soft golden glow of Radiance as I carefully assembled my spell.


    ;


    One last glance to make sure the spell I¡¯d cast was the same one I¡¯d imagined, and I activated it. The runes burned in the air as mana coursed through the mandala, and I carefully watched with [The World Around Me].


    ;


    The chest opened.


    ;


    The scroll flew out.


    ;


    The chest closed.


    ;


    And I let out a triumphant shout as the map slapped into my hand.


    ;


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    ;


    [*ding!* [Parallel Thoughts] leveled up! 101 -> 102]


    ;


    I¡¯d gone a bit over my mana target if how much mana I¡¯d spent to craft the mandala was included. Ignoring that, and I was just under.


    ;


    Iona ruffled my hair.


    ;


    ¡°Nice! So where are we?¡±


    ;


    I rolled my eyes at her as I used [Mantle of the Stars] to make a windbreak, unrolling the map.


    ;


    ¡°We¡¯re somewhere in here.¡± Suen was one large island, which made defining the boundaries easy enough. ¡°As long as we keep going south, we¡¯ll hit the border. Find the nearest city from there?¡± There wasn¡¯t anything super obvious that let me instantly pinpoint where we were, not even after all this flying. A few small towns here and there, but nothing that had screamed YOU ARE HERE.


    ;


    Iona traced her finger from Suen to Exterreri, then paused at the nation and tapped on it a few times.


    ;


    ¡°Why?¡± She asked. ¡°Now that I¡¯m looking at it, no matter where on the southern coast we end up, the rough direction is the same. We¡¯re going south by south-west, and we want to be west of the Crystal sea. Now, if it¡¯s the end of the day, sure, let¡¯s stop and hit a tavern, but if we¡¯re confident this is Suen, I don¡¯t see the need to stop.¡±


    ;


    I studied the map again.


    ;


    ¡°I guess the only question is Omospondia. Do we want to cut west across the land bridge, follow the coast but be forced east, or just fly over?¡±


    ;


    I could feel Iona shaking her head.


    ;


    ¡°They¡¯ll do their best to shoot us out of the sky, if for no other reason that we might be a rival¡¯s plot. I don¡¯t like the idea of flying the wrong way, so yeah, you¡¯re right. Let¡¯s land when we hit the coast, get our bearings, cross along the Omospondia-Ralakar border, then follow the coast south. Cross the Serene Bay, and we¡¯re in Exterreri.¡±


    ;


    The flight plan looked viable and almost one of the shortest ways to Exterreri, although we weren¡¯t going to land near Sangino. We¡¯d need to travel more in the country, but for no good reason, I¡¯d feel a little better once we were ¡®there¡¯.


    ;


    ¡°Alright! Sounds like a plan.¡± I wanted to kick back and lean into Iona, but no. Stupid saddle straps. Instead I rolled the map up and handed it back to Iona.


    ;


    ¡°Cheers, for you!¡± I had a cheeky grin on my face.


    ;


    ¡°Hey, wait, I don¡¯t want to hold this the entire way!¡± She protested.


    ;


    ¡°Ahhh, what a shame!¡± I languidly stretched out. ¡°If only someone hadn¡¯t wanted to see the map for herself!¡±


    ;


    Iona bonked me on the head with the map.


    ;


    ¡°Sassosaurus.¡± She accused me while slipping the scroll into her saddlebag.


    ;


    Her other hand slipped somewhere a little more fun, and the ride became a lot more interesting.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°Iona?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Mmmm?¡± Iona breathed into my ear. I swatted at her.


    ;


    ¡°Serious for a minute.¡± I reproached her. Iona snapped up, standing up straight, one hand snapping to her lance and the other ready to form a shield out of her flowing mallium armor.


    ;


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± All traces of playfulness and teasing were gone.


    ;


    ¡°So I haven¡¯t gotten around terribly much.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    ;


    ¡°And there¡¯s a wide gap between theory and practice.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Go on.¡± Iona started to relax.


    ;


    ¡°But is that a fucking plague flag over there?¡±


    ;


    I pointed to a sparkling harbor town in the distance. We¡¯d finished traveling across Suen, and were approaching the southern border. I could just barely pick out the fine details - it was at the edge of my range of vision - but there was a checkered black and yellow flag flying from the ramparts.


    ;


    Iona squinted in the direction I was pointing, and we flew until she could make it out.


    ;


    ¡°Yup.¡± She grimly confirmed. ¡°That¡¯s the plague flag.¡±


    ;


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Chimera (Elvenoid)]


    [Age: 27]


    [Mana: 786,000/786,000]


    [Mana Regen: 451,384 (+877,695)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 1,299]


    [Dexterity: 6,714]


    [Vitality: 25,468]


    [Speed: 25,500]


    [Mana: 78,600]


    [Mana Regeneration: 78,717 (+87,769)]


    [Magic Power: 45,038 (+1,155,225)]


    [Magic Control: 44,956 (+1,153,121)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 513]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 513]


    [Cosmic Presence: 323]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 12]


    [Center of the Universe: 472]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 513]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 513]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 492]


    [Sunrise: 471]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 446]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 446]


    [Radiance Resistance: 446]


    [Nova Lance: 446]


    [Lepidoptera: 446]


    [Nectar: 446]


    [Solar Corona: 446]


    [Scintillating Ascent: 446]


    [Kaleidoscope: 446]


    [Class 3: [The Very Hungry Bookwyrm - Spatial: Lv 81]]


    [Spatial Affinity: 81]


    [Comprehensive Speed Reading: 81]


    [Channeled Blink: 36]


    [Bookwyrm''s Hoard: 81]


    [Beneath the Dragon''s Eyes: 81]


    [Vivid Dream Reading: 81]


    [Astral Archives: 81]


    [Hunger for Knowledge: 81]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 380]


    [Parallel Thoughts: 102]


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 456]


    [The World Around Me: 59]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 513]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 513]


    [Persistent Casting: 432]


    [Imbue: 35]

 Chapter 407 - A Yellow and Black Plague I

    Iona and Fenrir wordlessly worked together to land a non-threatening distance away from the town. While they were doing that, I was double checking my amulet and deception ring settings, making sure they both displayed me at 256. Had to keep my true level a secret.


    ;


    It didn¡¯t help a ton, warning bells were ringing by the time we¡¯d landed and guards were scrambling onto the wall. Interestingly, all the guards here were equipped with bolas, a throwing weapon that was basically a bunch of cords with weights on the end. A weapon designed for ranged capture, although usually not great inside a crowded city.


    ;


    ¡°You¡¯d think all of Fenrir¡¯s armor and gear would clearly indicate that he¡¯s tamed and safe.¡± I remarked to Iona.


    ;


    She grunted at me.


    ;


    ¡°Yeah. Well, wish me luck, I¡¯m going to go talk with them.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Want me to come with? I¡¯m good with guards.¡±


    ;


    Iona hesitated.


    ;


    ¡°How good¡¯s your trader tongue, and do you want half the guards in the city checking your protections?¡± She asked.


    ;


    I eyed Fenrir.


    ;


    ¡°Why don¡¯t Auri and I unpack some supplies while you mollify the guard.¡± I suggested.


    ;


    Iona nodded and headed over to the gate, everything but her helmet slamming into position as she manipulated her armor.


    ;


    I kept an eye on Iona and the guards, ready to dash over at a moment¡¯s notice, while we grabbed all the chests off of Fenrir. Wasn¡¯t fair to him to just leave them there, and I didn¡¯t know what we¡¯d need, or how long we¡¯d be here.


    ;


    I took a deep whiff as I unpacked, a nice seaside breeze bringing the scents of the city to me, getting a vague idea of what was going on in the town.


    ;


    Fish was my first impression. A thousand and one smells of hundreds of different fish, and each of their parts, in various stages of decay. From the freshly-killed marlin brought in by a fishing trawler, all the way to minnows that had been forgotten for three weeks, I smelled it all.


    ;


    There were the usual mess of port city smells, from salt, fresh fish, a subtle odor of fish that had gone bad and other unsavory things rotting, a kaleidoscope of elvenoid smells and everything that life generated, wood, and the hundreds and thousands of other scents that a town made, that I could get on a quick sniff. There were probably a thousand secrets I¡¯d just uncovered, if only I knew the background and context of everything I¡¯d just smelled.


    ;


    Three things stood out to me.


    ;


    First was the putrid scent of disease, of rot and puke, of necrosis and death. People were sick. People were dying.


    ;


    That¡¯s why we¡¯d stopped.


    ;


    The second was the accursed scent of apples. Suen wasn¡¯t exactly close to the Silver Horde, but the Silver Horde was coastal, and Suen was the island-nation of trading and bartering. No surprise that one of their trading ports had apples.


    ;


    Third was the blessed smell of the ambrosia, the whole reason for my existence. As Suen was a trading port and had apples, it also had mangos. The freshest smelled like they were picked a day ago - a preservation skill was in play. They ranged all the way down to rotten, and eh, Auri could work some fire magic to extract the flavor into something else.


    ;


    I had more than smell though, and the sounds coming from the city were just as interesting as the smells.


    ;


    Fishmongers were still yelling about the catch of the day. Someone was yelling how the plague was the wrath of Thanatos, who¡¯d come to reap the city. A beggar was crying out, asking for coin or healing. There were wails of despair mixed with outrageous flirting, a funeral and a game of chance.


    ;


    I wasn¡¯t in the city yet, but I was starting to get a picture of a town in trouble, but life was still continuing. Not as bad as Perinthus had been, no large-scale disaster that was consuming the life of every person inside.


    ;


    I wasn¡¯t sure what Iona said, not speaking the language she used with the guards. It was undeniably effective, as with three sentences the guards on the wall vanished, and with two more they were nodding and beckoning her in.


    ;


    Iona jogged back over.


    ;


    ¡°Good work!¡± I told her as the Valkyrie slung a pair of chests under her arms, and balanced a third on her head.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt? Brrrpt?¡± Auri looked back and forth from Fenrir to us. I shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°It¡¯s your decision. I do smell mango¡­¡±


    ;


    Auri shot over to Fenrir¡¯s head.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt, brrrrpt.¡± She apologized while rubbing her head up against his cheek.


    ;


    ¡°BRPT!¡± She shot over to us, and landed on my head. Her beak snapped towards the city.


    ;


    ¡°Brpt BRPT BRPT BRRRRRRRRRRRRPT! BrrrrrrrrRPT!¡± She heralded a CHARGE!, then told me, most noble of steeds, to ride forth.


    ;


    Iona flicked Auri off my head.


    ;


    ¡°Be nice!¡± She scolded the little phoenix.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri was indignant as she returned to her favorite seat on top of my head.


    ;


    ¡°Place is called Osengard. Didn¡¯t get any unusual demands or requests from the guards. Seems like a run of the mill Suen port city.¡± Iona gave me the quick rundown. I nodded.


    ;


    We headed off towards the gates. We were almost there when Auri straightened up like she¡¯d been electrified.


    ;


    ¡°BRRPT! Brrrrrrrrrrrrpt!¡±


    ;


    I wanted to facepalm, but was carrying too much.


    ;


    ¡°Yes, I know I need to stay low key.¡± I told her. ¡°I¡¯m well aware of how much I can show off before people realize I¡¯m not an unusually strong 256.¡±


    ;


    ¡°What¡¯s your plan for that?¡± Iona asked, making sure to speak English so nobody could eavesdrop in.


    ;


    ¡°Hiding my Spatial class. The only obvious skills are [Channeled Blink] and [Bookwyrm¡¯s Hoard]. Minimal use of my Radiance class, and stick to a slow and sedate pace in public. Claim a high [Oath] level and a focus on mana regeneration for my healing prowess. Add in that I¡¯m a recent graduate of the School, it should pass muster.¡±


    ;


    Iona slowly nodded. I knew she wasn¡¯t thrilled with the deception thing - her own [Vow] had her swear not to lie, and she considered most forms of disguises and deceptions a natural extension of that - but grudgingly tolerated the necessity of me not telling the whole truth. It didn¡¯t mean she liked it, and I went with selectively telling the truth as opposed to crafting any lies. Kept everyone happy.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrrpt?¡± Auri asked. I shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°I mean, there¡¯s nothing wrong with me being bonded to a creature higher level than I am, right? As long as I show 256? All capped healers have a level they¡¯re supposed to be, no crime there?¡± Every statement was a question, because I knew the theory, but not the practice.


    ;


    Iona nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Exactly. More than a few cases of healers deciding to throw caution to the wind and classing up during a disaster. Usually they¡¯ll get a fairly strong class, then try to get out of the area once it¡¯s over. You should be fine.¡±


    ;


    Speaking of fine, we were at the gates. The guards waved us through after Iona paid them. Three obsidian coins¡­ pricey for simple entry!


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯d say enjoy your stay, but¡­¡± The guard trailed off and looked meaningfully at the black and yellow plague flags. ¡°Welcome to Osengend.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Can you direct us to the center of the healing efforts?¡± I asked in halting trader-tongue. Not my best language.


    ;


    The guard shook his head.


    ;


    ¡°I don¡¯t know of one. Talk with the [Mayor].¡±


    ;


    Iona and I traded looks.


    ;


    ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll do that.¡± Iona replied, then strode into the town. I hurried along behind her, narrowing my eyes as I saw the guard split our entry fee among the other guards, pocketing our coins.


    ;


    I¡¯d thought the entry fee had been a little high, and it looked like the guards were scamming outsiders. I had to remind myself that I wasn¡¯t a Ranger anymore, that Sentinels didn¡¯t operate here, and to let issues like this slide to tackle the more important things. Still, it rankled.


    ;


    We were here and I¡¯d gotten distracted. At the same time, I didn¡¯t need a ton of time to prepare anymore.


    ;


    I opened up my big mental book of infectious diseases inside my [Astral Archives], the memory skill letting me organize and instantly recall things I¡¯d learned. I opened up my mental book of how to heal and cure diseases in every elvenoid species I knew. I tied all that knowledge together with [Persistent Casting], [Wheel of Sun and Moon], and [Dance with the Heavens], creating a large zone around myself of invisible healing magic.


    ;


    Anyone coming within roughly 80 meters of me, who was touched by sunlight or moonlight while I was also under the sun or moon, would be purged of any diseases they had, and the scars and side-effects of the plague would also be cured. I was ignoring mundane injuries for the moment. While disease took remarkably little mana to destroy - even at a low level I was able to make a difference in Perinthus - wounds were a completely different ballgame, and I had a city¡¯s worth of people to tackle.


    ;


    My mana got chunked as I turned my healing on, a large number of people immediately falling under its umbrella, and all of them instantly healed.


    ;


    [*ding!* [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri] leveled up! 456 -> 457]


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri made appreciative noises that I was working hard to level her up, and that I should keep at it.


    ;


    I made a little picture with [Mantle of the Stars] in front of her, miming a bird going into a cup. Wasn¡¯t a particularly good depiction, but Auri got the message.


    ;


    ¡°This is your event. Where to?¡± Iona asked.


    ;


    I readjusted the chest I was carrying.


    ;


    ¡°A tavern to drop our stuff off at, then let¡¯s talk to the [Mayor] and see what the organization looks like. No sense in disrupting a working system, or missing a central location for patients.¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯ve already got my healing up.¡±


    ;


    Iona nodded and pointed to a sign.


    ;


    ¡°Tavern¡¯s right there. Do we want to hunt for a deal, or just settle in?¡±


    ;


    I shook my head.


    ;


    ¡°Just settle in.¡±


    ;


    Well positioned tavern near the gate like that. Location location location!


    ;


    We entered the tavern, and I cursed [The World Around Me]. The place looked clean enough. A few [Laborers] in the corner were eating a quick lunch. The floor was neatly swept. The counters were clean. A [Bartender] was cleaning the same glass over and over again - but I noticed that as she re-cleaned the same glass, a different glass was polished.


    ;


    Sympathy magic?


    ;


    Behind the clean outward appearance though, I could see everything. All the dirty little secrets. The rats in the walls. The slightly aging ingredients. The mystery meat in the stew. It also let me see that most of the rooms were empty. Not just ¡®whoever¡¯s renting the room is out for the day¡¯, a ¡®the room is ready for the next patron¡¯ empty.


    ;


    I turned the skill off. I was practical enough to know that every single place was hiding dirt and grime, that no location was absolutely perfect. Ignorance was bliss in some situations. I¡¯d be happy enough here.


    ;


    Iona approached the [Bartender].


    ;


    ¡°How much for a night?¡± She asked.


    ;


    ¡°Two jadeite coins a night per room. Three people per room max. Comes with daily cleaning, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, whatever¡¯s on the pot. Each meal comes with a flagon, although you¡¯ve got to pay for more individually. Can I sign you two up for two rooms?¡±


    ;


    I started to open my mouth, but Iona held out a gauntleted hand, letting me know she wanted to take the lead. I was happy to let her barter, I¡¯d been a hair away from accepting a single room on our behalf.


    ;


    ¡°The place is practically empty, and the town¡¯s under a plague flag. I¡¯m escorting a powerful healer who can do quite a lot. How about eight obsidian coins per night, we¡¯ll take one room, and we¡¯ll pay for three days up front.¡± Iona proposed.


    ;


    A quick round of haggling occurred while my eyes glazed over. It was just money! Pay the lady and let¡¯s go!


    ;


    The two finally settled on a single jadeite coin per night, paying four days up front, one room, and I¡¯d heal the staff. I practically rolled my eyes when the [Tavern Keeper] proposed that clause, I¡¯d do it anyway, but hey, that¡¯s why I let Iona do the haggling for us.


    ;


    Iona and the [Tavern Keeper] shook hands.


    ;


    ¡°Pleased to have you! Name¡¯s Iwanna, shout if I can help you with anything! Grab any of the free rooms and let me know which one it is.¡± She said.


    ;


    Iona and I dropped our stuff off in one of the top floor rooms, both to have a better limited view, and to get a little away from the smell and sound of the street.


    ;


    ¡°Does she have sympathy magic?¡± I asked Iona as we dropped our chests off.


    ;


    Iona nodded.


    ;


    ¡°Yup. Nifty application of it, and it gives the place a certain vibe.¡± She looked pointedly at the double-sized bed in the corner of the room, sending an obvious message.


    ;


    I rolled my eyes at her, sending an equally strong one back.


    ;


    ¡°Hey, do you mind if I just take off? Time spent here is time I¡¯m not healing people, and it¡¯s starting to bug me. We know where to find each other again now that we have the room.¡±


    ;


    Iona flapped a hand at me.


    ;


    ¡°Yeah, shoo, go. Auri, keep Elaine out of getting into too much trouble before I catch up again.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri gave a little salute, her claws digging deep into my hair as I dashed out of the room.


    ;


    ¡°BRPT!¡± Auri leaned over my head and pecked me in the eye.


    ;


    ¡°Yeow! What was that for!?¡± It didn¡¯t hurt, but getting poked in the eye was startling. I¡¯d expected her to stop and look at me.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrrrrrrrrpt!¡± Auri imperiously commanded me. I rolled my eyes at her.


    ;


    ¡°I am taking it easy! I am going slowly! I am acting like I should!¡±


    ;


    Even as I protested I realized she was right. I¡¯d been running way too quickly, falling into my natural habits too easily. My biomancy enchantments plus my speed stat and improved nervous system had me innately moving like I was a level 400 [Warrior], not a pudgy 256 [Healer].


    ;


    I slowed down.


    ;


    ¡°Hey, do you know where the healing effort is organized, or where the [Mayor] is?¡± I asked Iwanna as I got down the stairs. She¡¯d switched from cleaning the same glass over and over, to wiping down the same patch of countertop, cleaning the table the [Laborers] had been eating at.


    ;


    She shook her head.


    ;


    ¡°Haven¡¯t heard of any special healing effort, although the Healer¡¯s Guild is probably taking care of that. Could just be them. [Mayor¡¯s] official place is near the town center, can¡¯t miss it. Don¡¯t bother him at home.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Without further smalltalk I hit the streets at what I hoped was a brisk walk.


    ;


    I¡¯d never turned off my [Persistent Casting], and I noticed a small dip in my mana as I stepped back onto the street, trying to blend with the crowd. I did turn on [The World Around Me] again.


    ;


    The city was a port city. I¡¯d bought a number of tunics for Exterreri, but that wasn¡¯t the commonwear here. At the same time, Suen had a wide variety of elvenoids present, from humans to gorgons to nagas, ogres and minotaurs, fauns and yeti, and a wide variety of both saurians and beastkin. The [Sailors] and [Deckhands] were from all over, and wore whatever they wanted to. So I was marked as an outsider, but as just another one in the crowd, instead of sticking out like a sore thumb.


    ;


    The streets were somewhat chaotically laid out. I figured I¡¯d ask directions instead of trying to find my own way to the middle.


    ;


    ¡°Hey, can I ask you where the town center is?¡± I asked a random vendor.


    ;


    ¡°Sure! Three coins for the information!¡± She held out her hand expectantly. I snorted, rolled my eyes, and walked away. I wasn¡¯t going to pay for basic information that everyone knew like where the town center was.


    ;


    Three vendors later - all charging suspiciously the exact same amount - and I reluctantly forked over a few arcanite coins for directions to the Healer¡¯s Guild. I wasn¡¯t going to let my pride - or the sneaking suspicion that I was getting fleeced - get in my way of healing people who needed it.


    ;


    Plus, I figured that the Healer¡¯s Guild would know for sure what was going on.


    ;


    An interesting twist to my skills - I barely saw the plague at all. I was a walking zone of cleansing, purifying magic, and practically anyone infected was cured by the time I got to them. The only people I wasn¡¯t fixing well before I got to them were people inside houses marked with a bright red cross painted on their door, or hiding out in dusky alleys.


    ;


    I mentally noted the people I detected who were holed up sick inside of a house, promising to loop back to them. The brutal mathematics of a casualty event were clear - by moving, by walking through the crowd, I¡¯d hit dozens upon dozens of people with healing, instead of the two to three people inside a home. Entering a home - a whole process in and of itself, knocking, explaining to passersby that I was trying to help, getting the people inside the home to open up, and healing everyone in the home - just took too much time. I¡¯d lose the ability to be blasting my healing all around me. That was before the calculation of reaching a centralized healing process came into play.


    ;


    It broke my heart to pass by sick people, carefully tended by loved ones. A couple was slowly feeding a man who looked so old, it was a tossup if it was plague or advanced age that was keeping him in bed. A woman, all by herself, shivering in a pile of blankets, slowly looking through a pantry that was empty. A girl no more than four was trying to feed her mom, unaware that she¡¯d already perished.


    ;


    I swore that I wouldn¡¯t rest until I¡¯d visited each and every one of them.


    ;


    I did see the effects of my work. People excitedly showing off their hands. People stretching, jumping. Some people were nervous, certain the other shoe was about to drop, while others hugged and cried. It wasn¡¯t everyone, and I suspected for every person visibly cured there were dozens of others in their incubation period I¡¯d helped, but it was validating.


    ;


    With all that said, when I found someone lying in the back of a shaded alley, sick and delirious, I spent a few seconds skipping over. This was a quick and easy heal, and it let me see what I was dealing with.


    ;


    [The World Around Me] had given me a decent picture, but one thing it didn¡¯t do was show color.


    ;


    The first thing I noticed was his hands. Tanned skin quickly made way to pitch-black hands, fingers curled in an agonizing rictus. He was shivering in the blisteringly hot tropical summer day - almost certainly a fever. There were large egg-sized swollen blisters near his armpits and groin, and I lifted his arm up to confirm with my eyes what I suspected the disease was.


    ;


    The Black Death.


    ;

 Chapter 408 - A Yellow and Black Plague II

    The Black Death. The Plague.


    ;


    In many ways, it was good news. It was a relatively mundane disease that I knew. There wasn¡¯t a Miasma Classer secretly attempting to murder an entire city. It wasn¡¯t some bizarre mutation caused by magic. I knew what the reservoir and cause was, namely rodents and fleas.


    ;


    I healed the poor beggar and got back up, moving towards the healer¡¯s guild with renewed speed and vigor.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡± Auri warned me.


    ;


    ¡°I know.¡± I was pushing my luck with how I was moving, but fuck that. I¡¯d take getting run out of town if I did my work first. I also struggled to imagine a lynch mob would be coming for me when I was actively fighting the plague wracking the town. Like, everyone kept telling me it¡¯d happen, but I just could not imagine it. Would people really be that vicious? Would they really shoot themselves in the foot that hard? And even if they did¡­ that was just more people in one place to heal!


    ;


    My focus was permanently split, one [Parallel Thoughts] devoted purely to checking on the apple-status of people around me. There weren¡¯t many, and a combination of crossing the busy street, or looking at vendor¡¯s wares when someone passed by was more than enough to handle the issue. It was annoying, it was slowing me down, but it wasn¡¯t a problem. My secret was safe.


    ;


    Back to the plague.


    ;


    It wasn¡¯t all good news. The Black Death had devastated Europe for a reason. The lethality rate was around thirty percent, and death could occur as quickly as 24 hours from infection. Vitality and skills played merry hell with those numbers, but the disease stayed lethal.


    ;


    The Black Death was classified in three different ways, depending on where a patient was infected. It was pneumonic plague when a patient had breathed in the bacteria, and was primarily located in the lungs. Coughing would naturally spread the disease further. Bubonic plague was when the cause was from the bite of a flea, or otherwise getting infected through broken skin. Someone handling fluids from an infected patient that had cuts on their hand - like the family I could see through the walls, where the dad had sliced his hand on his knife and was now looking after his sick kid - would also result in bubonic plague. The last type was septicemic plague, where the bacteria got into the bloodstream and multiplied.


    ;


    That one got ugly.


    ;


    Someone infected by the Black Death could get one, two, or in rare cases, all three types of plague.


    ;


    The other bad news was the reservoir was fleas. Healing people was easy enough, I was doing it automatically. How did I kill enough fleas to stop the disease from coming back? My style of blast healing didn¡¯t automatically teach immune systems how to identify the bacteria responsible - damn Papilion for erasing the name from my memory - but it did clear everything out of the body, and fixed it to perfect health. Sometimes that was enough for a patient¡¯s immune system to build enough defenses against the plague, but that took time and resources, something in short supply in the city. Until that happened, they were vulnerable to reinfection, and with how quickly the plague acted¡­


    ;


    I could keep people alive until the cows came home, but unless I could tackle the fundamental issue causing the plague, I¡¯d just have a revolving door of patients.


    ;


    Speaking of, I was nearing the Healer¡¯s Guild. It was fairly obvious, a large building with the classic modern symbol of healing.


    ;


    A hydra, coiled around the trunk of a willow tree. There were all sorts of metaphors and symbolism in it, most of which went over my head. The obvious ones had to do with the fantastic healing abilities of hydras, willow bark being the key painkiller, and something about the shelter of the tree.


    ;


    There was a large commotion in front of the Guild as I arrived, throngs of people leaving as someone shouted at them.


    ;


    ¡°Come back! The proper fees haven¡¯t been paid!¡± The shouter protested. He was standing on a crate.


    ;


    ¡°We¡¯ll pay if you can show us who did it!¡± A leaving member shouted over their shoulder.


    ;


    Oh.


    ;


    Hmmm.


    ;


    Whoops, that was probably me. Ah well.


    ;


    I pushed my way against the crowd, ending up at the door of the Guild. The shouter slumped, and spoke without looking at me, a well-practiced speech.


    ;


    ¡°Patients through that door. Please have your payments ready, and we¡¯ll get to you as quickly as we can. Getting a healer sent to your home costs extra, and we¡¯re backlogged on house calls at the moment.¡±


    ;


    I stood looking up at the crier.


    ;


    ¡°Excuse me! I¡¯m a [Healer]. I saw the plague flags and stopped by to help. Where should I go?¡± I asked him slowly and carefully. My trader-tongue was mediocre at best.


    ;


    He did a double-take, and I once again prayed to the moon goddesses that my disguise was holding.


    ;


    ¡°Ah, a healer! Excellent, follow me, I¡¯ll show you where to go. Hang on, you¡¯re not the one who healed everyone waiting in line, were you?¡±


    ;


    Ah, whoops, I¡¯d been slightly obvious about that. ¡®Everyone is mysteriously healed¡¯ followed hand in hand with ¡®a new healer shows up three seconds later¡¯ was as obvious as it could get. Denying it would be pointless.


    ;


    ¡°Yup, that was me.¡± I happily said as the man led me into the Guild.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri hopped in circles on my head, showing how proud she was of me.


    ;


    Controlled chaos in the midst of minimalist wealth was the guild. It was all made of varnished wood, wealth without being ostentatious about it.


    ;


    That, or it was because of all the sick and dying patients filling the room. Easier to clean up all the messes made if it was only wood. A few orderlies were working in the room, talking with patients, collecting payments, and escorting them down another set of hallways.


    ;


    A semi-familiar setup, except seen from the other side. It was like how Perinthus had been organized, except I¡¯d never seen the waiting room. I was tempted to use [Imbue] with [Nova Lance] and hit everyone in the room, but no. [Cosmic Presence] already ensured everyone here would last until they saw a healer, they were going to get medical attention, and there was no sense in disrupting things right now.


    ;


    I¡¯m pretty sure I¡¯d massacred the entire line waiting to get in already. If the room wasn¡¯t empty on the way out I¡¯d think about it again¡­ although everyone here was about to be healed. Was speeding the process along worth robbing a junior healer of experience, when the end result was going to be the same?


    ;


    A tricky question for fifteen-minutes-in-the-future-me.


    ;


    ¡°How¡¯d you expect to get paid? How are you going to pay the Guild tax?¡± The person leading me asked, then shook his head. ¡°Nevermind, I¡¯m not the person to be asking that. Here we are!¡± He pushed a door open and ushered me into an office.


    ;


    I¡¯d gotten a look before the door opened, I just didn¡¯t know which room was the guild leader¡¯s room. A minotaur sat like a fat toad behind a desk towering with paperwork, and a parrot was in one corner, its bright colors contrasting sharply with her grey hair.


    ;


    [Long Range Identity] showed me [Leader - 341]. Interesting. It wasn¡¯t a [Healer] tag, and being allowed past 256 implied that none of her classes were medical in nature, yet she was the guild leader.


    ;


    ¡°[Guild Leader]. This is¡­ a new healer from out of town.¡± I sensed the moment where he realized he¡¯d never asked for my name. He quickly recovered and carried on.


    ;


    ¡°Had a minor issue where she healed the wait line. She said she wants to help.¡±


    ;


    The woman gave a sickly sweet smile.


    ;


    ¡°Thank you Barvah! I¡¯ll take it from here, why don¡¯t you be a dear and leaf?¡±


    ;


    The crier - Barvah - nodded his acknowledgement and left. The [Guild Leader] shifted around in her chair, shuffling a few papers around.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I guarantree this won¡¯t take long.¡± She said. Her quill moved slowly and methodically across the paper, and I swear she was moving extra-slow.


    ;


    Level 341 in a leadership and probably paperwork-related class, and working at a speed an unboosted human would work at? I dunno if she was deliberately trying to annoy me.


    ;


    Auri and the parrot were glaring murder at each other, sparks practically flying between them. Auri puffed up her brightly colored feathers and started strutting around, while the parrot was preening and showing off all of his colors.


    ;


    In short order she put down the paper and looked up at me.


    ;


    ¡°Well! I¡¯m quite sorry about that! Melvinna at your service, what can I do for yew? I¡¯m sorry, I never caught your name. Barvah said you¡¯re new here, are you planning on putting down roots here in Osengard, or are you just branching out for new opportunitrees?¡±


    ;


    The tree puns were getting old, and I had a decision to make.


    ;


    Elaine was my name. I was proud of it. I liked it.


    ;


    It also caused no end of issues, given that healer in trader-tongue was, naturally, Elaine. I had a nice title that I could use, a second name I responded to well, and even if people spoke Creation, it didn¡¯t matter.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m Dawn! I was passing by when I saw the flags, and I felt obligated to help. I figured I could see what organizational system you¡¯ve got going on and work with that. How can I help?¡±


    ;


    Melvinna tutted at me for some reason and frowned.


    ;


    ¡°Please tell me you¡¯re not one of those oathbound healers? They needle me so.¡±


    ;


    Now I was utterly confused. The leader of a Healer¡¯s Guild¡­ who didn¡¯t like oathbound healers?


    ;


    The parrot jumped in.


    ;


    ¡°Squack! Gems for service! Gems for service!¡± He screeched, the infernal thing having a Sound class to amplify his words.


    ;


    My confusion must¡¯ve been evident on my face. Melvinna sighed.


    ;


    ¡°We all have things to do, there¡¯s a plague on. Short version. About a hundred years ago, three friends settled in Osengard, oathbound all. They were strong, their skill helped with regenerating mana. Each one claimed a different plaza and marked it with their skills. Anyone walking through was healed, at no cost, at no charge. Quick, easy, efficient. Over time, they became fixtures. Everyone loved them. They wanted for nothing, were charged for nothing. A paradise.¡± She practically spat the word.


    ;


    ¡°Issue was obvious to anyone with eyes. Other healers couldn¡¯t compete. Why get charged a jadeite coin for medical attention when you could walk through a plaza? Who even got sick when their daily routine got them healed? One by one the other healers left town, and the three friends didn¡¯t bother to train apprentices. They were living large, wanting for nothing while their skill worked.¡±


    ;


    Seemed like a pretty good gig.


    ;


    ¡°Sixty years. They were the fixture of this city for sixty years. Then they were all felled in the span of a week. I won¡¯t bore you with the rumors and theories. They were dead. And the city had no healers, not even an apprentice, and people used to not paying for healing. How woad you convince someone to move here? How do you restart a critical guild? Stumped? So was the town. I was brought in to fix the issue, and I did. Let me make the rules very clear to you, young sapling. You can heal whoever you want, and charge what you¡¯d like. Guild law - which is also city law, so no getting smart with me - is a five arcanite coin charge per patient healed, per day. Now, how you get the money is of little concern to me, but word to the wise - you¡¯ll bankrupt yourself trying to do it yourself. If you choose to take a room here and heal at the guild hall, we¡¯ll handle all that, and pay you appropriately, after our cut has been taken. Good if you don¡¯t wish to tackle the business aspects of healing, and simply want to help. I understand that I sound harsh and uncaring, but you have not seen a city with no healers. I have. It will not happen again under my canopy. Am I clear?¡±


    ;


    The woman had gone all fanaticism and steel, a true believer in her cause. I didn¡¯t agree in the slightest, but she had maybe a third of a point. None of which applied during a fucking plague.


    ;


    I could argue until she dropped dead of old age, but I doubted I¡¯d change her mind, and there were people out there I could heal right now.


    ;


    I technically answered her question.


    ;


    ¡°Yes guild mistress. You¡¯re clear. I believe I will manage on my own, you seem to be running a tight operation here. How much do I owe for the line I healed outside, and is there anyone I can talk with regarding combating the source of the plague?¡±


    ;


    Her greasy smile came back, and I was once again uncomfortably reminded of a toad. A competent toad, by her own story, who¡¯d reanimated an entire guild from scratch, but a toad.


    ;


    ¡°Well! What an understanding young sprout you are. I do admire the spirit of an oathbound healer, don¡¯t get me wrong, and it is a noble pursuit. This one time, I¡¯ll waive half the fee. Average of fifty people in line, five coins a person, 25 obsidian coins. Half of that is 12 obsidian coins and five arcanite. Barvah can collect the tax, and it¡¯s expected that you pay once a week. He can also direct you to Tessa, who¡¯s working on the root causes. It stems from fleas, if you could believe it!¡± She sounded so shocked and scandalized at that, like she wasn¡¯t the head of the Healer¡¯s Guild.


    ;


    That was practically daylight robbery. That was a full day¡¯s wages for an [Apprentice], and I¡¯d gotten the bill for seconds of work.


    ;


    ¡°Understood.¡± I curtly agreed, unable to bring myself to making the nice polite noises I should make.


    ;


    I turned on my heel and left the office as quickly as I could, Auri briefly making a subtly rude gesture in the shape of her flames, not enough for anyone to properly take offense to - it could¡¯ve just been an accident of fire, like seeing shapes in clouds - but good girl.


    ;


    I was wasting time here, people weren¡¯t getting healed. People had probably died because I was delayed with the enormous ass of a guild mistress, instead of being out there.


    ;


    The issue wasn¡¯t the tax. It wasn¡¯t the payment. It was the obstacle. I could literally heal people by the thousands. Needing to pause, collect payment, then move on would limit me to one or two people every few minutes. It was a fine setup when I was level 150 and gated by my mana regeneration. It was a completely different story when I was over 500, and gated by how many people I could get in range of.


    ;


    Getting to know what was going on with the plague prevention issues was important, and I got quick directions from Barvah. I had a plan forming, and I chose, for the greater good, for the sake of the plan that was forming, not to heal the waiting room. There were enough healers.


    ;


    I left the guild hall, and I¡¯d never turned my [Persistent Casting] off. There was no visible line, no sudden purge to let slip what I¡¯d done. But anyone approaching was going to find themselves miraculously healed, and I doubted they¡¯d keep going to the guild hall.


    ;


    I easily spotted Iona in the crowd, the Valkyrie a head taller than most of the other people here. She spotted me at the same time, and we quickly walked towards each other.


    ;


    ¡°How do you feel about becoming a wanted criminal?¡± I asked my girlfriend.


    ;


    Iona quirked an eyebrow up.


    ;


    ¡°Tell me more.¡±

 Chapter 409 - A Yellow and Black Plague III

    I slung my arm into Iona¡¯s, and started walking towards where Barvah had said Tessa was working on a solution to the plague. My healing was still blasting around me, curing anyone who got near.


    ;


    ¡°First thing¡¯s first. Going by Dawn here because I don¡¯t want to explain my name every three seconds. Second. City¡¯s got an interesting law. For every person I heal, they charge five arcanite coins as a fee to the guild.¡±


    ;


    Iona gave a slow nod.


    ;


    ¡°About the price of a sandwich, lets them keep track of who¡¯s in town, makes sure that everyone acting as a healer is trained as one, and providing funding for the guild to do what it needs to do. Seems reasonable so far.¡±


    ;


    I shot her a glare, but Iona just kept looking around the crowd, not noticing my displeasure.


    ;


    ¡°How many people do you think I¡¯m healing this second?¡± I asked her.


    ;


    I could see the windmills turning in her head, and her mouth opened.


    ;


    ¡°Ah. Yes, I see the problem. That¡¯s what, 100,000 coins a day? They didn¡¯t make an exception for a plague?¡± Iona asked.


    ;


    I shook my head.


    ;


    ¡°Not in the slightest. I don¡¯t intend to stop in the slightest, and while I know your own [Vow] has limitations, you¡¯re in the clear to help me, right?¡±


    ;


    Iona thought about it.


    ;


    ¡°It¡¯s¡­ tricky.¡± She admitted. ¡°Like, yes, I¡¯m all for you healing people. That¡¯s fine, no issue there. I¡¯ll remove any obstacle to that. But like. End of the day, we¡¯ve got a bit of a nest egg.¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri liked nest eggs.


    ;


    ¡°All the Guild¡¯s asking for is to get paid according to their law. If we¡¯re broke, we¡¯re broke, and we can¡¯t pay them. That¡¯s easy enough. Is it that easy to say ¡®no, this is our money¡¯ when we should pay the tax, when we do have money? We paid to enter the city, if we disliked that, should we sneak into the city like thieves? Drop in from the air to avoid the tax? We¡¯re strangers here. We¡¯re not going to like every custom and law we encounter. This is the most mercantile city I¡¯ve ever encountered, doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m not playing by their rules and paying people when I need to. How are we any different from adventurers if we pick and choose what rules to play by?¡±


    ;


    Ouch. Right through the heart with that adventurer comment, and I saw Iona¡¯s point. Adventurers ran around, doing whatever they wanted and ignoring the law because they didn¡¯t like it. I didn¡¯t want to be an adventurer, or anything like one.


    ;


    ¡°I see your point, but the law is basically ¡®give me all your money because I said so¡¯. There are fundamentally unjust laws, and taking your logic to the extreme, where do we stop? After they take all our money? Do we let them take our possessions as well and auction them off? A full set of mallium goes for a pretty penny. I¡¯m unsure of the penalty if we can¡¯t pay, do we let them jail us for a decade or three? Do we happily line up for the hangman¡¯s noose? Even pretending the law is in place for a good reason, it is being grossly misapplied in the current situation. People who are poor can¡¯t afford the tax, let alone healing, and that¡¯s before they¡¯re in the midst of their entire family dying around them. Their neighbors dying. We can¡¯t protect the meek if we let a stupid law tie our hands. Watching people die to appease the fat toad in her office isn¡¯t honorable, and a massive injustice. It¡¯s hard to be the sheltering light, or generous, if we let ourselves get tied down like this.¡±


    ;


    Iona raised her free hand in surrender.


    ;


    ¡°I got it, I got it.¡± She testily replied. ¡°You don¡¯t need to go down every line of my [Vow]. Why don¡¯t we figure out an amount we think is fair to pay as a tax, pay that and only that, and heal as much as we want?¡±


    ;


    I mulled it over for a moment, then nodded.


    ;


    ¡°That feels like a reasonable compromise, although it grates. People are usually paying me to heal them, not the other way around. Such bullshit¡­¡± Didn¡¯t have the time to ask everyone to hand over a few coins, not at the speed and scale I wanted to operate at.


    ;


    I had a few more choice words about the guild mistress under my breath.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrrpt?¡±


    ;


    ¡°No, please don¡¯t repeat any of that.¡± I told Auri.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrrrpt!!¡±


    ;


    I facepalmed as Iona laughed. She quickly steered us off to a food vendor, flipping them a coin and grabbing an oversized gyro in a single smooth motion. My girlfriend shoved it into my hand.


    ;


    ¡°Eat.¡± Iona commanded.


    ;


    My stomach rumbled, and I became aware of just how hungry I was. Healing, using magic on this scale, wasn¡¯t free. I was much more powerful, and could do tons more in a short timeframe.


    ;


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I downed the food in a few quick bites.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m thinking¡­ a single emerald coin?¡± Iona proposed.


    ;


    I shuddered at the thought, but it was only money. ¡®Only¡¯ 200 lives saved.


    ;


    I¡¯d already done more than that in my brief walk from the guildhall to where Tessa lived.


    ;


    ¡°Fine, but let¡¯s pay it in arcanite coins. Make them count a thousand coins.¡± I was feeling petty.


    ;


    ¡°We can do that, but whoever¡¯s taking the money probably has a skill for it.¡± Iona pointed out.


    ;


    I grumbled a bit at that, then brightened up.


    ;


    ¡°Oh! You can find me someone who doesn¡¯t have the skill!¡±


    ;


    Iona chuckled.


    ;


    ¡°Sure, I can do that for you. What¡¯s the plan?¡±


    ;


    I knew what she was asking. The healing plan.


    ;


    ¡°I figure if I¡¯m doing this blatantly, they¡¯ll get mad sooner rather than later. I was going to be subtle. Go invisible and hit the rooftops. I¡¯m thinking I¡¯ll circle and criss-cross the city a half-dozen times to hit the bulk of people. Getting people who are in shadows, who are inside their home and can¡¯t leave, is trickier. Figure I¡¯ll need to sneak in after I get the bulk done and heal individuals. I don¡¯t want to risk using [Nova Lance] to [Imbue] [Dance With the Heavens] through walls. Don¡¯t know if people on the other side are tougher than their walls¡­¡±


    ;


    Iona shot me a puzzled look.


    ;


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you just [Imbue] your [Cosmic Presence]?¡±


    ;


    I almost missed a step as I looked at her with an open mouth.


    ;


    ¡°Uh. Fuck, I feel stupid now.¡±


    ;


    It was the work of a moment to use [Astral Archives] to tie [Dance With the Heavens] with [Imbue] to [Cosmic Presence], then tie it all off with [Persistent Casting].


    ;


    Metaskills were such incredible bullshit.


    ;


    [*ding!* [Imbue] leveled up! 35 -> 36]


    ;


    ¡°Yup that - shit.¡± I swore as my mana rapidly dropped. It didn¡¯t quite zero out, but I¡¯d just spent maybe a quarter of my pool.


    ;


    [*ding!* [Imbue] leveled up! 36 -> 40]


    ;


    [*ding!* [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri] leveled up! 457 -> 458]


    ;


    I cussed up a storm.


    ;


    ¡°... MANA PENALTY!!¡± I screamed to the uncaring sky. [Imbue] wasn¡¯t terribly efficient at the current level, and while I¡¯d be rapidly raising it here, the penalty sucked. While the skill didn¡¯t mention it, the School¡¯s book had also discussed a ¡®hidden¡¯ penalty when [Imbue] was applied to aura skills like this. Penalty on top of penalty in a crowded area?


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri was pleased.


    ;


    ¡°And you!¡± I complained. ¡°How the fuck are you getting a second level already!! You JUST GOT ONE! At over 450!¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrrpt.¡± Auri¡¯s smug look was infuriating.


    ;


    Iona flicked the cocky bird off my head and patted my arm.


    ;


    ¡°Think about this. How much mana does it take to heal someone with your [Imbue]? How much mana did you just spend? How much mana do you generate a second? Do the math, and you¡¯ll know how many people you just helped, who needed it.¡±


    ;


    I gave Iona an amused look as Auri flew back to my shoulder, loudly protesting her treatment and promising to get me mangos the next time she could.


    ;


    ¡°Because you don¡¯t want to do the math, do you?¡±


    ;


    She shook her head.


    ;


    ¡°Nope. I got the track, I am SO DONE with math for a while. I¡¯m leaving that to you.¡±


    ;


    I chuckled.


    ;


    ¡°We¡¯re here. You sticking around?¡±


    ;


    Iona nodded.


    ;


    We pushed through the door into an apothecary, my mana starting to slowly tick up. This felt better, because I knew I¡¯d be able to use all my mana, and not ¡®waste¡¯ any. I¡¯d be forced to take a break or slow down for regeneration reasons sooner rather than later, and at least this break was productive.


    ;


    The place was typical, but interesting. There was only a small area for customers, a fence walling off from the rest of the store. Instead, we could see rows upon rows of potions, each one neatly labeled and priced. I didn¡¯t recognize most of the potions, although the names were self-explanatory. Three cauldrons were bubbling merrily, while a fourth had frost forming along the sides. No druglord lair in the basement this time, thank the goddesses!


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯m out of stock on Plague Potion, brewing a new lot now. You¡¯ll have to wait if you need some!¡± The [Alchemist] shouted from the back of the room.


    ;


    Iona and I didn¡¯t need to communicate to know she¡¯d take the lead on this.


    ;


    ¡°Hello! Are you Tessa? We came from the Healer¡¯s Guild. Dawn here¡¯s an expert and is wondering if she can lend a hand.¡±


    ;


    A human made her way from the back, dirt under her fingernails, her ponytail holder gamely trying to keep her hair back, and various stains all over her apron.


    ;


    ¡°Hi! Wow, you¡¯re tall. I¡¯d shake your hand, but I¡¯ve got toxic reagents on them. Before you ask, skill. Melvinna sent you? Can you help with bees?¡± She asked rapid-fire.


    ;


    ¡°Bees? Not fleas?¡± I asked, tilting my head.


    ;


    Tessa shook her head.


    ;


    ¡°Sorry, thought Melvinna would¡¯ve filled you in. Yes, bees. Concocted poisons will only get us so far, in spite of the special license we obtained. Don¡¯t want a reputation for brewing poisons either. It was a hard no on Miasma, not that I blame them, and we lack an Ice classer that can properly do what needs to be done. So bees. My husband¡¯s a [Beekeeper]. Helps a ton with growing all these herbs, I¡¯ll tell you what. He¡¯s training them to swarm rats, and teaching them how to overheat fleas. Still think that one¡¯s a waste, he¡¯s got a skill for it. Helps with wasps you know. Should be another week or so before we¡¯re ready. Think you can help?¡±


    ;


    It took me a moment to process what she was saying and figure it all out. They wanted to use bees to find and kill a majority of the rats and fleas in the city. Unconventional, but if it worked, it worked, and the System gave everyone a big hammer. Not too surprising that everything looked like a nail.


    ;


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I can help with that, sorry. But it sounds like you¡¯ve got it well in hand. Anything we can do to help?¡± I asked.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrrpt?¡± Auri had her usual solution to everything. Fire.


    ;


    Tessa gave a sharp nod.


    ;


    ¡°Yes. Our major concern is how many rats we need to kill, and while my husband¡¯s got a skill around bee stings, we¡¯re unsure if it¡¯ll last with the scale we¡¯re dealing with. Kill rats¡­ if you can.¡± She seemed to realize she was talking to a [Healer] last second, and that normally, I wouldn¡¯t have good rat-killing skills.


    ;


    Iona and I traded looks, then looked at Auri.


    ;


    ¡°BRPT! BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRPT!¡±


    ;


    ¡°That handles the fleas, but how are you planning on handling the pneumonic person-to-person transmission?¡± I asked the [Alchemist].


    ;


    She smiled.


    ;


    ¡°Good question! It doesn¡¯t. Our thinking is with the reservoir out of commission, it should be manageable from there. Normal healers can handle the rare person-to-person transmission.¡±


    ;


    It made sense. It was almost exactly what we¡¯d done in Perinthus, although without an army ready to burn the city down and less coordinated.


    ;


    ¡°Sounds like the best thing I can do is get out of your hair, and help people.¡± I said.


    ;


    ¡°Thank you, Tessa.¡± Iona said, and we stepped outside.


    ;


    ¡°BRRRRRPT!¡± Auri demanded.


    ;


    ¡°You read my mind.¡± I told her. ¡°Let¡¯s work together. I¡¯ll spot rats and point them out to you, you burn the rats, and only the rats! Put out any flames after!¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri gave me a tiny salute with her wing, then started to stare around me like a bird of prey, intent on hunting rats twice her size.


    ;


    ¡°I¡¯ll get you food. Tap me in the next direction you¡¯re heading, I¡¯m pretty obvious, crimosaurus.¡± Iona half-teased me with a serious tone.


    ;


    I stuck my tongue out at her, and she pulled me into a kiss. We broke and she looked deep into my eyes.


    ;


    ¡°Hey. I love you. Be careful, alright? Yell if you need help.¡±


    ;


    I kissed her again.


    ;


    ¡°I love you too. I will.¡±


    ;


    With one last quick hug, we broke apart. Auri flew out and hovered next to me. I recalled the Jiwa rune for [Greater Invisibility], and started drawing it in the air in front of me with [Lepidoptera]. In no time at all, the spell finished, and I got to watch my arm fade from existence.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Butterfly Mystic] has leveled up to level 446->447! +8 Strength, +8 Dexterity, +70 Speed, +70 Vitality, +70 Mana, +70 Mana Regen, +70 Magic Power, +70 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Strength, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    ;


    Heck yeah! Doing new things, exploring new places, seeing a multitude of new magic and learning about it, and casting spells for unusual purposes - stealth healing - were all things [Butterfly Mystic] loved. Add in that it was life and death for thousands, if not tens of thousands of people, and I had a formula for a level!


    ;


    All of my other skills in [Butterfly Mystic] leveled up as well.


    ;


    [*ding!* [Radiance Affinity] leveled up! 446->447]


    [*ding!* [Radiance Resistance] leveled up! 446->447]


    [*ding!* [Nova Lance] leveled up! 446->447]


    [*ding!* [Lepidoptera] leveled up! 446->447]


    [*ding!* [Nectar] leveled up! 446->447]


    [*ding!* [Solar Corona] leveled up! 446->447]


    [*ding!* [Scintillating Ascent] leveled up! 446->447]


    [*ding!* [Kaleidoscope] leveled up! 446->447]


    ;


    I couldn¡¯t be seen. I couldn¡¯t be heard. Minor traces of my passing, like disturbed dust and eddies of wind, would be corrected and fixed. I couldn¡¯t even be picked up by echolocation!


    ;


    This wasn¡¯t my city, my country, or my culture. A building was a building, but there were all manner of little bits and pieces hanging off of it that I had no idea what they were, how securely the average builder attached them to the structure, or if there were any skills at play. No hanging from the window-dressing for me, oh no!


    ;


    I did have a silly amount of stats to give me a hand though.


    ;


    I bent my knees and jumped straight up, half-folding against the edge of the rooftop. With a deft move, I flipped up onto the roof, getting my feet under me. I made a little arrow with [Mantle of the Stars] in front of Auri, pointing to where I was. She flew up onto the roof, managing to smack me straight in the face.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± She apologized, flying in largeish circles around me.


    ;


    I shifted [Mantle] into a thumbs-up in front of her. One of the downsides to [Greater Invisibility] was I couldn¡¯t talk with anyone. Another major one was I couldn¡¯t fly - my Radiance wings blew straight through the illusion.


    ;


    And ugh. It used a bunch of mana regeneration to boot. Not enough that I was normally concerned, but I had healing to do! I was already planning on dropping [Greater Invisibility] when it started to get dark.


    ;


    I surveyed what I could see of the city from my rooftop. Wasn¡¯t the biggest roof around, but I got a feeling that I was closer to the walls than the harbor.


    ;


    I could try criss-crossing the city, dividing it up into zones, then tackling one zone at a time. I could circle the city, from the perimeter and go deeper until I spiraled into the center.


    ;


    The other question was who I healed. The brutal mathematics of triage were rearing their ugly head again. People out on the street were healthier than people stuck inside their home, but healing people with [Wheel of Sun and Moon] instead of [Imbue] was much cheaper.


    ;


    I ran the numbers. I could hit eight to thirteen people with the same mana using [Wheel] over [Imbue]. The [Imbue] people were generally closer to death, and less likely to be healed. [Wheel] people weren¡¯t in critical condition, but they would be progressing to critical condition soon.


    ;


    There was another twist with the Black Death. In some cases, in some species, the immune system completely collapsed. The very same immune system that was responsible for a number of physiological responses to the disease, like the fever, sweating, body pains, coughing and more. Which had a person feeling great for about a day before they dropped dead.


    How many people were on their last day, out and about, feeling great? I didn¡¯t know. They¡¯d get pulled from the brink of death.


    ;


    Save a grandmother on her deathbed, or save ten young men who were partying hard, barely sick. One sailor, drunk out of his mind inside a tavern, or a dozen street rats. Hit the outer edges of town, or cross through the center first. Dart into homes quickly and smack one person with an efficient heal, or blaze as much distance as possible, hitting as many people as I could.


    ;


    Alright, fine, ¡®darting into homes¡¯ was a euphemism for ¡®breaking in¡¯. It was for a good cause! Nothing like an adventurer!


    ;


    I was condemning people to die either way. It was never easy making peace with it, but I reminded myself that I was saving people who would otherwise die no matter how I sliced it.


    ;


    And that hemming and hawing over how to best do it was wasting time. Time that could be spent healing people instead.


    ;


    I was going to go fast. I was going to hit as many people outside of buildings as I could, since I had no plans to slow down or stop once the sun set, and then more people would be inside. [Wheel of Sun and Moon] would only be good for a short time period, at the right angles. The phases of the moon weren¡¯t in a good spot, and I was unsure what the angles would be like here. At that point, I¡¯d switch to hitting people inside, and hope I didn¡¯t attract the wrong sort of attention.


    ;


    I decided to cross the town, since the central town square was a familiar place where I could keep reorienting myself. In a slightly petty move, it also meant I¡¯d keep throwing a wrench into the Healer¡¯s Guild operation. From what I¡¯d seen, I didn¡¯t think they had any downtime, so I wouldn¡¯t be taking healers out of commission. There was also something of a guarantee that a large number of sick people would be there, while some parts of town might be empty or abandoned.


    ;


    It had taken me less than a minute to work through everything, my bond with Auri multiplying with my stats to increase my thinking speed to an absurd degree.


    ;


    With a heavy heart I turned off the [Imbue] blast. If my mana got high enough, I¡¯d flicker it on to drain down a bit.


    ;


    I turned [Mantle] off, then made a second one in front of Iona, pointing in the direction I was going. Should¡¯ve thought of this before I went invisible, but meh.


    ;


    Then I made [Mantle] into a small little star-studded mango near me, so Auri could follow along, then I was off, bounding across the rooftops like a [Cat Burglar].


    ;


    I was slowed down a bit by Auri¡¯s speed, and I paused when I detected the first rat¡¯s nest. A pointed arrow was all that was needed for Auri to let out a warcry, and dive in through an open window.


    ;


    I pulled a face at the screaming, shouting, burning, more screams as the rats came boiling out of the walls, smoke going everywhere, a thrown pot and a broken chair. Auri came darting out of the window two minutes later, the families inside still running and shouting like there was an intruder inside.


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri was very proud of her work. I facepalmed. I was completely invisible, she couldn¡¯t see me, but I did it anyway.


    ;


    I pointed a [Mantle] arrow down to the street, waited for a spot open enough that I didn¡¯t need to worry, and dropped down onto the road. Auri came fluttering down, and I dismissed the spell.


    ;


    ¡°This isn¡¯t working well. We should split up. I¡¯m going to find Iona, have her be in the central square. She mentioned food, she can also relay messages. I¡¯m going to keep running around and healing. I want you to search and destroy rats. Meetup points are Iona, the central square, and the tavern. Got it?¡±


    ;


    ¡°Brrrpt! Brrrpt?¡±


    ;


    I knew I was going to regret this, but I didn¡¯t see any reason to say no.


    ;


    ¡°Yes. Burn them to your little heart¡¯s content. Burn them all.¡±


    ;


    My heart sank into my feet as Auri flew away like a meteor, cackling madly.


    ;


    ¡°Brpt brpt BRPT BRPT BRRRRRPT!¡±

 Book 10 is now on Amazon!

    book 10 is officially up on amazon!


    https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/b0c678l63k


    book 9 is now on kindle unlimited!


    even if you don''t read btdem on amazon, i''d like to politely ask if you''d be willing to leave a rating or review on amazon. it lets amazon know "oh hey this book is popular/well liked", and the algorithm then pushes it, throwing me into a virtuous upward cycle.


    thank you,


    selkie

 Chapter 446 - Phenomenal Cosmic Powers!

    i didn¡¯t have a lot on my plate.


    ;


    i had a full buffet of things that i needed to do.


    ;


    check my new class. check my level. grab my new skills. figure out the small hill¡¯s worth of iron night had sent me as backpay. read the letter tyrannus sent. figure out what i was doing next, and a thousand other tasks.


    ;


    iona just slowly shook her head as she looked at the pile of iron.


    ;


    ¡°do you need my help picking skills, or can i head into town?¡± she asked.


    ;


    ¡°i should be good.¡± i loved iona to death, but i felt fine with my own insights and judgements for my skills. if i did have a major conflict, i could just hold off on grabbing skills until she came back.


    ;


    ¡°gotta run a few errands and pick up dinner. want anything?¡± she asked.


    ;


    ¡°mangos.¡± i promptly replied as i split my mind with [parallel thoughts] to try and handle all of the different problems.


    ;


    iona gave me a quick peck, jumped on fenrir, and the two were off a moment later.


    ;


    meanwhile, i was reviewing my new skills and class.


    ;


    [*ding!* [the very hungry bookwyrm - spatial] has upgraded to [ancient loremaster of legend - spatial]!]


    ;


    [*ding!* [ancient loremaster of legend] has leveled up! 128 -> 180. +100 dexterity, +100 vitality, +800 mana, +800 mana regen, +1600 magic power, +1600 magic control from your class per level! +1 strength, +1 dexterity, +1 speed, +1 vitality, +1 mana, +1 mana regeneration, +1 magic power, +1 magic control for being chimera (elvenoid)! +1 mana, +1 magic power from your element per level!]


    ;


    i shuddered as i saw the notification. not due to any changes in particular, just due to the sheer overwhelming power it represented.


    ;


    i had been impressed when i¡¯d gotten [the dawn sentinel], and the ¡®measly¡¯ 500ish stats per level. now i was getting over 5000 stats per level, an entire order of magnitude difference.


    ;


    i knew what my stats had been, and i looked up what they were now, just to see the change.


    ;


    stats


    [strength: 1,335 -> 730]


    [dexterity: 10,946 -> 16,191]


    [vitality: 33,142 -> 38,394]


    [speed: 33,174 -> 33,226]


    [mana: 94,870 -> 136,574]


    [mana regeneration: 94,992 (+118,265) -> 136,644 (+170,122)]


    [magic power: 58,527 (+1,521,702) -> 131,425 (+3,417,050)]


    [magic control: 58,392 (+1,518,192) -> 131,231(+3,412,006)]

 Chapter 447 - Trying Out New Skills

    while i was going through all my skills, reading what i¡¯d gotten and testing them out, i was also reading war sentinel tyrannus¡¯s letter.


    ;


    dawn,


    ;


    entirely up to you, but the rest of the war sentinels regularly meet and discuss. every third day for lunch at the celestial supper.


    ;


    see you!


    war sentinel tyrannus.


    ;


    i needed iona to decode if the letter was a polite order, a request i couldn¡¯t refuse, or actually entirely up to me. still, i wanted to go. a smaller group of sentinels to help me find my feet, who¡¯d all been in the same situation i was in now? sign me up! looked like the next meeting was in two days, which suited me just fine.


    ;


    speaking of meetings, legata valeria mentioned that she wanted to have some private discussions with me. she was in command of the sixth legion, the one i was attached to, and i¡¯d be working closely with her for the foreseeable future. so many things to do!


    ;


    like figure out how to clear out the damn pile of iron coins night had left me with.


    ;


    we needed to buy a bunch of boxes or a few spatially expanded boxes, then manually scoop every single coin, put them in the boxes, then figure out how to ship them back. we¡¯d need enchanted boxes to handle the weight, figure out how to move them to the city, find a buyer, and¡­ it was all a mess.


    ;


    but way too much money to ignore.


    ;


    okay, there were a lot of moving parts to the problem, but none of them were insurmountable. good boxes, ones that were spatially expanded, reinforced to hold the weight, and enchanted to be lightweight existed. they¡¯d be useful for as long as the enchantments lasted for us generally, and i had faith that, even if i didn¡¯t know the language, that i could maintain the enchantments.


    ;


    a home always needed more storage.


    ;


    while it was a huge hill of coins, a couple of good shovels combined with our stats should neatly clear the place up.


    ;


    problems always felt so much more manageable after they¡¯d been broken down into pieces, and a solution for each part found. there was only one part of the problem i didn¡¯t have a good solution to yet.


    ;


    how was i going to prank night back?


    ;


    ;


    i almost wanted to facepalm at myself. i¡¯d spent a ton of time ironing out the coin logistics, then picked up [vault of ages]. minor downside to [parallel thoughts].


    ;


    at the same time, bringing them all in with the skill was still a challenge, both on the ¡®tons of tiny coins to pick up¡¯ basis, and the ¡®sheer amount of weight to be teleporting around¡¯ basis. it was no panacea, but it might make some stages easier.


    ;


    taking a look at it with a silver lining - power leveling opportunity!


    ;


    as soon as i was done picking out my skills, i wanted to give them a test run. skills didn¡¯t come with detailed instruction manuals - i had to test them out myself.


    ;


    i had a brief pang of grief as i remembered maximus and artemis teaching me how to use fire skills for the first time. things to test, to experiment with. that had been - gods, that had been almost half my life ago.


    ;


    i missed them. now that i was settling in, i¡¯d have to see if i could send artemis and julius some more letters. but¡­ what would i do differently? i¡¯d already sent a letter to every place i could think of telling them what my plans were. was there any point in sending them more?


    ;


    what if they got my letter and decided it wasn¡¯t firm enough to come?


    ;


    yeah, that was a good reason to send out another wave.


    ;


    back to skills!


    ;


    [vault of ages] i¡¯d already given a test-run, and i was surprisingly impressed with it. no need to test it further right this second.


    ;


    i rotated through books fairly quickly, and i didn¡¯t have any easily on-hand to test [manuscript mastery] with. it¡¯d be interesting to see how the encryption-breaking portion worked. i was sure some people in sanguino worked hard on encrypting books - maybe i should track them down at some point to test my skills against them.


    ;


    it could even be a win-win! i practiced my skills, they practiced against someone who could break their skills, it was a wonderful contest of pitting abilities against each other to level them both up, and possibly improve it. diminishing returns meant we couldn¡¯t just sit and stare at each other all day, but it could be worth a few levels per person.


    ;


    i had a minor heart attack when i realized there had been a real chance [bookwyrm¡¯s hoard] could¡¯ve gone away while i was classing up, dropping the last thing i had from my parents - their prayer to me for good luck and safety.


    ;


    i took a calming breath, centering myself.


    ;


    if the skill had broken during my class up, iona had been there. auri was here. they knew how important it was to me. iona would¡¯ve caught it and protected it until i was awake again. it was still in my [loremaster¡¯s library]. it was still safe.


    ;


    i was going to have fun testing the limits of this skill. the sentinels probably had ways to test various skills, although i wasn¡¯t sure if they were equipped to test a skill so far out of the normal combat range.


    ;


    eh. there had to be somebody who could help me test skills out, for a price. money was almost no object, it was all about finding the person¡­ and night would be exactly the right person to direct me.


    ;


    perfect.


    ;


    [blink] was a straightforward upgrade of an existing skill, and i already had a pretty good idea of how it worked. the major differences were that i could bring small items with me, and my dramatically improved power and control implied that i¡¯d teleport faster, and more accurately. i stepped into a slightly clearer area, and gave auri a warning.


    ;


    ¡°hey auri, careful, i¡¯m going to try teleporting around a bit. i don¡¯t want you to get caught in it.¡±


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!¡± she cleared out, and went over to the pile of iron, doing her own investigations on it.


    ;


    i kept a half-eye on her. i wasn¡¯t sure what being buried in coins would do to her, and while auri was amazing, i wasn¡¯t sure her flames could incinerate iron. melt it into a slag heap on top of her, yes. which would be worse than being buried by the loose coins in a lot of ways.


    ;


    i focused on the skill, mentally picturing where i wanted to go. after three seconds, i popped out of existence, only to instantly reappear.


    ;


    i was mostly where i was aiming for, and i sighed as i saw all my clothes fluttering to the ground behind me.


    ;


    [*ding!* [blink] leveled up! 42 -> 43]


    ;


    right. i had to do more to get this properly worked out.


    ;


    most magic required a strong image to work. it was why only some skills could be placed in gemstones. my [blink] image clearly needed work.


    ;


    i got dressed again, and focused on the same spot, imagining all my clothes still on me. after three seconds i [blinked] again.


    ;


    my hand shot out to snag my tunic that was fluttering to the ground next to me, grabbing it before it could hit the dirt again.


    ;


    [*ding!* [blink] leveled up! 43 -> 44]


    ;


    i wanted to curse and swear, but i refrained.


    ;


    i knew what the issue was.


    ;


    my magic control.


    ;


    i had the magic power and mana when channeling to activate the effect i wanted - teleporting a short distance. thanks to system-shenanigans, my body always ended up in the right configuration - i wasn¡¯t doing anything nasty like splicing my head off, or swapping my arms and legs, or just getting a mixer going to town on my guts.


    ;


    clearly, the same protection wasn¡¯t extended to my clothing, and i was willing to bet that it wouldn¡¯t extend to other small items i was bringing with me. my magic control wasn¡¯t high enough to properly ¡®control¡¯ the skill, so it was going a little wild.


    ;


    i bet if i had an armor or weapon skill, my teleportation would flawlessly and properly bring them along with me, since they¡¯d be ¡®me¡¯.


    ;


    magic control was the ¡®quiet¡¯ magic stat. it wasn¡¯t flashy like magic power. it wasn¡¯t how many spells i could rapidly sling like mana. it wasn¡¯t how fast my mana restored, calculating how much endurance work i could do like regeneration. it was there, quietly in the background, keeping everything working nicely.


    ;


    until it was neglected.


    ;


    then everything went haywire. fireballs went in the wrong direction, radiance beams unfocused and got too large, healing magic didn¡¯t get the fine details right, and teleports didn¡¯t keep everything together. while i was ¡®under¡¯ the limit, everything went fine, and the more i went ¡®over¡¯, the worse it was.


    ;


    my tunic showing up within arm¡¯s reach wasn¡¯t a big deal, but it was annoying. i¡¯d need to test more to see if this was a ¡®close¡¯ teleport miss, or a ¡®far¡¯ teleport miss.


    ;


    leveling up would fix almost all my issues. leveling [blink] would improve how efficient i was, which came hand-in-hand with needing less magic control. leveling my class would improve my magic power and magic control by leaps and bounds, rapidly closing the gap. leveling my class would also open up my [spatial authority] level cap, and as that went up, i¡¯d get a weaker ¡®broad¡¯ buy-off for my skills.


    ;


    the cold math on my [blink] suggested that i should be able to do this in two seconds, not three, which also implied that something about my image was inefficient. it was like the difference between my ¡®just heal them¡¯ image, and my ¡®this is exactly what¡¯s wrong with them¡¯ image, and ¡®this is how we¡¯re fixing them¡¯ image.


    ;


    i¡¯d taken the classes at the school, i¡¯d studied hard, but clearly the picture they¡¯d taught was incomplete, or they were fundamentally missing something.


    ;


    i wasn¡¯t going to stress over it.


    ;


    the one other thing i could, in theory, do, was revert my biomancy changes. i¡¯d packed on a ton of dense weight with my changes, going from around 45kg to 80kg. [blink] directly scaled how much mana, power, and control i needed based on how much weight i was moving around.


    ;


    it was a horrible idea for uncountable reasons, but technically valid.


    ;


    [astral archives] was up next, the skill so similar to its prior iteration that its skill name hadn¡¯t even changed. i delved into my mental archive, finding it looking much like it always had.


    ;


    rows upon rows of neatly labeled books, filled with my memories. a desk that i could place books on, to have immediate access to everything inside. the entire place was rearrangeable, a way to easily find, store, and organize memories and knowledge.


    ;


    i grabbed one of my favorite tomes, shelved right next to my mental desk. the big, fat book of all medical knowledge i knew. i grabbed it every time i wanted to perform any medicine on anyone.


    ;


    i placed it on my desk, and my head was filled with every speck of knowledge i¡¯d ever gained and put in this book. interestingly, on my mental desk, little images shimmered to life. anatomical diagrams. surgery procedures. plague response.


    ;


    there might be more to it, but it looked like [vivid dream reading] had given its ¡®vivid visualization¡¯ aspect to [astral archives].


    ;


    [lust for lore] was entirely passive, nothing to investigate there.


    ;


    last was the big one.


    ;


    [rapid reshelving].


    ;


    image was everything. i mentally ¡®grabbed¡¯ an arbitrary coin from the pile, and imagined it teleporting into my hand. then i engaged the skill.


    ;


    almost predictably, nothing happened. i slowly walked towards the pile of coins, until the one i was visualizing popped into my hand, the rest of the pile shifting slightly.


    ;


    [*ding!* [rapid reshelving] leveled up! 1 -> 2]


    ;


    i grinned.


    ;


    ooooh, this could be fun!


    ;


    ¡°hey auri, make sure you stay away from the iron pile for a minute, going to try something.¡± i said.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!¡±


    ;


    a few quick experiments ensued.


    ;


    i couldn¡¯t teleport half a coin to my hand. i had no idea why - snapping a coin in half let me teleport the two halves no problem - but i couldn¡¯t teleport half a coin, or any other object. the bark on a stick, for example, or leaves on a tree. something about being ¡®attached¡¯ kept it attached.


    ;


    ¡®that¡¯s just the way it is¡¯ was the best i could come up with. on a positive note, that meant things like my tunic kept all its little bells and whistles when being teleported around - no need to explicitly think of each piece.


    ;


    i could teleport a single coin from the middle of the pile. being crushed by the weight of tens of thousands of other coins didn¡¯t stop me at all. interestingly, i had to know the coin was there. i couldn¡¯t imagine ¡®a random coin that was surely there¡¯ - i had to deliberately, explicitly pick that coin. [the world around me] made that a breeze.


    ;


    i couldn¡¯t teleport one object into another, which was really weird when i thought back to my spatial class. like, i was teleporting my coins into air all the time. what made air teleportable-into, what let my magic ¡®shift¡¯ air, but not a leaf? why didn¡¯t air count?


    ;


    could i displace water? a quick check with my waterskin indicated yes.


    ;


    a quick spell traced into the air with burning light froze the water, and i tried to teleport a coin in again. now it didn¡¯t work.


    ;


    i could go insane trying to work it all out. i left it to the [scholars] and [researchers] at the school of sorcery and spellcraft, and focused on simply mastering what i had.


    ;


    only worked with air and water¡­ so far, that i knew about. the system knew why, but that¡¯s the way it was, and there was no sense in complaining about it.


    ;


    some careful [nova lance] at a few coins melted and carved them a bit, and i was able to teleport them ¡®together¡¯. the prohibition on ¡®can only teleport to air¡¯ didn¡¯t seem to also ban ¡®teleport into insane configurations.¡¯


    ;


    [*ding!* [rapid reshelving] leveled up! 13 -> 14]


    ;


    i was still working on how sending from place a to place b - neither of which was me - worked, when iona returned on fenrir.


    ;


    a huge smile involuntarily split my face as i saw her coming, and i tilted my head in confusion when i saw she had a passenger.


    ;


    who was that?

 Chapter 448 - Interlude - Nina - First Impressions

    nina clutched iona¡¯s waist, utterly terrified.


    ;


    valkyries were supposed to ride, like, horses and shit, or maybe even a triceratops.


    ;


    nobody had said anything about fuck-off huge wyverns!


    ;


    sure, she was strapped in, but the inches-thick leather looked practically flimsy next to the wyvern¡¯s sheer size.


    ;


    her belly, full for the first time in years, completely overrode any thoughts of this possibly being a bad idea. no idea that resulted in nina getting a full meal was a bad idea - even if the swaying and jostling of the wyvern was threatening to divest her of lunch.


    ;


    never. nina swore to herself, locking her muscles down.


    ;


    she¡¯d never let this meal go, and the warm feeling that was more than just hot food.


    ;


    fenrir flapped again, and the sun hit nina square in the face again. she squinted and turned her head.


    ;


    the fucking sun.


    ;


    nina had never seen the sun before, sanguino constantly shaded by ashes. she¡¯d heard story after story about it, which always detailed how beautiful and warm it was.


    ;


    not that it was as miserable as a copper¡¯s boot to the face.


    ;


    ¡°almost there!¡± her valkyrie called out, and nina¡¯s lunch lurched as the mighty beast - fenrir! that was his name! - dove down.


    ;


    nina screwed her eyes shut as the ground came rushing up towards them, trusting that iona and fenrir knew what they were doing, but not wanting to see it happen.


    ;


    the landing was as soft as a feather. nina cracked her eyes open, eager to see the famed castle of the valkyries.


    ;


    she saw¡­ nothing. a mountain, with a third of its trees bowled over, the circle of life already hard at work. a few larger clearings, a campfire, a steely-grey pile, a woman, and a bird on fire.


    ;


    must¡¯ve been some skill or another. nobody seemed distressed or alarmed at the little flitting fireball.


    ;


    nina killed the crushing disappointment building up in her.


    ;


    if she couldn¡¯t see the castle, maybe it was invisible! that made a lot of sense to her!


    ;


    she cast [examine] on the two, surprised at the result.


    ;


    [mage - 520] from the¡­ bird?


    ;


    nina checked again, getting the same result.


    ;


    [*ding!* [examine] leveled up! 30 -> 31]


    ;


    huh.


    ;


    she checked the person.


    ;


    [healer - 256]


    ;


    [*ding!* [examine] leveled up! 31 -> 35]


    ;


    whoa! nina had no idea why that happened, but levels! [examine] was famously hard to level up, and four from one person!


    ;


    iona stood up on fenrir¡¯s back, and turned to nina.


    ;


    ¡°hey, do you need any help getting down?¡± she asked.


    ;


    even if this somehow wasn¡¯t a test, nina didn¡¯t want to be a burden. she didn¡¯t want to show weakness.


    ;


    on the streets, people who showed weakness were relentlessly mobbed, beaten, then left for dead. vulnerabilities existed to be exploited, and nina had done more than her fair share of it. an illusion of a crying kid to get people to drop their guard, followed by a swift blow to the back of the head.


    ;


    that life was hopefully behind her, but years of survival instincts were only muffled by a single good meal and hope. they were nowhere close to dead and buried.


    ;


    she wanted to show iona that she could do it herself, that she¡¯d be able to at least unbuckle herself.


    ;


    nina shook her head, the illusion overlaying her mimicking her every move.


    ;


    ¡°no, i think i¡¯ve got it.¡± she said.


    ;


    ¡°alright, shout if you need anything.¡± iona bent her knees and jumped off the wyvern. nina watched in awe as hundreds of pounds of coordinated muscle flew through the sky.


    ;


    one day, that¡¯d be her.


    ;


    first, the buckles.


    ;


    nina did her best to split her attention between watching iona, her valkyrie, interact with this new person, and figuring out how all these thrice-damned buckles were put together!


    ;


    nina liked to think of herself as a people person. seeing the tangled web of relationships, seeing how people interacted with each other, was a vital skill. nothing worse than misjudging who was part of a group when getting into a fight.


    ;


    it would take the blindest idiot not to realize the two women¡¯s relationship. they were lovers, made clear by how enthusiastically they greeted each other. so maybe they were just here to pick her up, then keep going on to wherever the valkyrie¡¯s castle was?


    ;


    that made sense to the kitsune.


    ;


    the flaming bird flew over to nina as she was cursing the buckle.


    ;


    ¡°donkey-fucking stupid corn nuts!¡± the kitsune swore as the buckle just tightened, instead of loosened.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt?¡± up close, the little bird was clearly a hummingbird, and had a bunch of different colored flames. nina leaned back from the bird, and started to struggle against the straps.


    ;


    level 500 on a bird? that was a walking calamity. the [mage] tag combined with the level implied that it had killed a lot of things, and birds weren¡¯t famous for their intelligence or restraint. the moment it saw nina as food, prey, or easy experience, her time as a squire would be over.


    ;


    and iona didn¡¯t seem to notice what was going on!


    ;


    nina struggled against the restraints, trying to break out, rapidly flickering through her mental category of illusions.


    ;


    what would scare the bird off? what would bore the bird into leaving?


    ;


    nina threw a bad illusion of a door over her. the door itself was a work of art, a fine one nina had sneaked close to a modest business to copy in detail, but it was how it was presented that was a disaster. it wouldn¡¯t fool anyone with a brain - four doors connected to each other, a blank void above, on top of a wyvern¡¯s saddle? - but it should be enough to trick the bird into leaving her alone.


    ;


    she stared at the hummingbird through the illusion.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt¡­¡± the bird¡­ shook its head at her!?


    ;


    then a dozen flaming hands appeared around nina, and closed in on her.


    ;


    she didn¡¯t scream. screaming was how you got people to know there was a problem, and they¡¯d join in on the beating. instead she lashed out at the hands, determined to go down fighting.


    ;


    not that her punches did anything to the flaming fists. they swarmed around her, and-


    ;


    nina had been braced and ready for the punches, the grabs, an initiation beating. she was not ready for the hands to expertly undo all of the buckles, instantly freeing her.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!¡± the little bird flew over to fenrir¡¯s head, and the two started chattering together.


    ;


    the kitsune started, and shrugged.


    ;


    maybe that wasn¡¯t a homicidal bird.


    ;


    nina didn¡¯t even think to look the gift bird in the mouth. things fell off carts all the time in sanguino, and people who asked questions got a mouth filled with broken teeth at best.


    ;


    she nimbly climbed down the ropes on fenrir¡¯s harness, marveling at how easy it was. no slick tiles, no broken bricks, no questionable handholds.


    ;


    was this what it was like, being rich? not having to worry about things falling out from under her?


    ;


    nina was still half-convinced she was in a dream. ying long, [crime lord] of the three dragons triad, must¡¯ve noticed her lurking outside the casino. he¡¯d thrown a powerful illusion over her, giving her one last moment of hope before ripping it all away, a cruel form of torture.


    ;


    the kitsune reassured herself that it was too weird. anyone trying to trick her would¡¯ve had the illusion go to castle stormwatch or something, not¡­ a clearing in the middle of a mountain.


    ;


    nina walked over to iona, noting how short the other woman was.


    ;


    their relationship was probably also a working one. stories of valkyries escorting healers around from village to village were some of the least popular stories of the famed order, but they did exist.


    ;


    there were worse fates than boring escort work. nina bounded up, determined to make a good impression on the valkyrie¡¯s lover - and on iona herself, by extension.


    ;


    her thought process was simple. a healer, with a valkyrie? protection was clearly the name of the game, and that was the role nina believed she¡¯d be taking. she¡¯d still be hitting people over the head for money, but it was a socially acceptable way of hitting people over the head for money. that made all the difference.


    ;


    as nina approached, the healer started, and turned her side to the kitsune, pointing out a single finger at her.


    ;


    ¡°hey love, you know there¡¯s a girl under the illusion, yeah?¡± she asked.


    ;


    iona nodded.


    ;


    ¡°yup. nina, no need to be disguised here.¡±


    ;


    nina instantly obeyed, not wanting to find out what happened if she disobeyed the valkyrie. best case would be a light beating, which really wasn¡¯t so bad, but she didn¡¯t want to disappoint.


    ;


    the healer¡¯s reaction turned on a dime.


    ;


    ¡°oooh, you poor thing. here, this should feel better.¡±


    ;


    nina shuddered as tingles went through her body; her fingers shifted slightly, her broken and poorly fixed nose wrenched itself back into position, and so much pain just left.


    ;


    the poor teenager had no idea how much low level pain she¡¯d been living with until it all left. it was like gauze had been removed from her eyes, and she could see again. her mind, no longer overburdened by a thousand screaming signals, could think.


    ;


    nina wasn¡¯t particularly religious, but she sent a prayer of thanks to argyra the silver-tongued, patron goddess of thieves and crooks, thanking her for sending a healer her way.


    ;


    she mentally frowned.


    ;


    iona might not like her praying to the goddess of thieves and crooks. maybe it was time to find a new deity to worship? was there a goddess of valkyries?


    ;


    wasn¡¯t the time for it. she needed to thank the healer, make a good first impression.


    ;


    nina drew herself up, thumping her chest. she didn¡¯t know how valkyries saluted, and had no helmet to tilt.


    ;


    good first impression, good first impression.


    ;


    ¡°hi! i¡¯m nina! when iona¡¯s not around, you can rely on me to protect you!¡± she boldly proclaimed.


    ;


    iona and the woman traded amused looks, and burst into laughter together. nina wilted, hot embarrassment flushing over her cheeks.


    ;


    why?


    ;


    what had she done wrong?


    ;


    it was so unfair. just as things were starting to go well.


    ;


    she fought back hot tears that threatened to spill over.


    ;


    show no weakness, show no weakness.


    ;


    iona figured out what was wrong sooner, and stopped. the giantess clapped a massive hand on nina¡¯s shoulder, giving a look to her lover.


    ;


    ¡°do you want to do the introductions, or should i?¡± the healer asked.


    ;


    iona shook her head.


    ;


    ¡°it''s your accomplishment, you should do it.¡±


    ;


    the healer grinned at nina, and stuck out a hand.


    ;


    ¡°hi! war sentinel dawn, pleased to meet you!¡±


    ;


    nina swayed slightly at that, her ears understanding the words but her brain not comprehending. iona¡¯s steadying grip on her shoulder was all that kept her up.


    ;


    war sentinel? her?


    ;


    but¡­ but¡­


    ;


    nina wanted to die of embarrassment. there was no reason to think the two of them were lying, and of course a valkyrie would be shacking up with someone incredible.


    ;


    she¡¯d just suggested she could protect a war sentinel. what would iona think? probably that she was stupid.


    ;


    wait. hand still out.


    ;


    nina mechanically shook dawn¡¯s hand. the healer grinned at her.


    ;


    ¡°you can also call me healer.¡±


    ;


    nina scrunched up her eyebrows, confused. wasn¡¯t¡­?


    ;


    the war sentinel pulled her hand back and sighed. nina trembled, worried she¡¯d done something wrong, waiting for the blow.


    ;


    iona opened her mouth, and nina flinched.


    ;


    ¡°healer¡¯s name is literally elaine.¡± she explained. ¡°it¡¯s a really long story.¡±


    ;


    the healer - no, elaine - grimaced.


    ;


    ¡°believe me, no fun. call me dawn or elaine, they both work. this here¡¯s auri.¡±


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!¡± the little hummingbird flew over to elaine, perching on her shoulder. she waved a jaunty wing at the little kitsune.


    ;


    ¡°she¡¯s a phoenix.¡± elaine confided, and nina felt like her world had been rocked again.


    ;


    not a hummingbird with a fire skill.


    ;


    a phoenix.


    ;


    what was next, a dragon?


    ;


    nina involuntarily thought of her ride over.


    ;


    nope.


    ;


    nevermind.


    ;


    dragon was basically covered.


    ;


    iona was giving her a look, but nina had no idea how to interpret it.


    ;


    ¡°elaine, as i was saying, this is nina. she¡¯s asked to become my squire, and i¡¯ve said yes. going to have to train her up a bit.¡±


    ;


    war sentinel dawn gave nina a different, appraising look, then grinned.


    ;


    ¡°hey! i think i solved our water issue!¡±


    ;


    nina did not like the sound of that, not at all.


    ;


    but if that¡¯s what it took to stay here, if that¡¯s what it took to be a [squire], then nina would haul water all day, every day.

 Chapter 449 - All The Planning!

    i looked over the poor shivering waif in front of me once again.


    ;


    poor girl. i was no genius at people, but even i could see how she was flinching. i was frankly impressed at how she¡¯d kept going, even with all the issues i spotted. malnourished, underweight, broken fingers that hadn¡¯t healed right, parasites all over, it was a testament to elvenoid tenacity that she¡¯d been up and moving.


    ;


    iona had clearly fed her a large meal before coming back, and i eyed the clearing we were in.


    ;


    i¡¯d just declared that nina was the solution to our water troubles, but this was no time to execute on that. we barely had a shelter for us, and we were tough.


    ;


    nina?


    ;


    nina was a city girl, like i¡¯d been. we didn¡¯t even have a wagon for her to sleep in!


    ;


    ¡°what are you thinking for the next few days?¡± i asked.


    ;


    iona switched to english, and started talking at the edge of her speed stat. a quick way to communicate a lot of information privately.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯ll be honest, i have almost no idea what i¡¯m doing here with a squire. i figure i¡¯ll start teaching her practical stuff that she needs to know now. the most basic, gentle wilderness survival, with all of us looking over her shoulder and helping. nothing nearly so cruel as ¡®hunt or go hungry¡¯, not with what shape she¡¯s in, but ¡®here¡¯s how to build a fire¡¯, ¡®here¡¯s how to set up a camp¡¯, and other fundamentals that we spot she¡¯s lacking. she needs to start on this, make a clean break from her old life. to know that this is real, that it¡¯s not some joke. being out of the city, being away from the environment that was shaping her, should do a world of good. after that? slow training in all things squire. do you want to help?¡±


    ;


    i crossed my arms and drummed my fingers. i was semi-staring at nina through [the world around me], without the awkward social bit of actually staring at her.


    ;


    ¡°you¡¯re not wrong, but at the same time, she needs rest. food. she needs to build her body up a bit. she needs to be warm. i¡¯d love nothing more than to help, and i¡¯m sure as a war sentinel i can tap a ton of resources to help her out. however. the healer in me is insisting that she take a break. sleep in a warm room. she might not have wilderness survival, but i¡¯m willing to bet that she¡¯s spent more nights sleeping outside than we have. she¡¯s got the survival knack, she¡¯s not a sheltered kid. tell her the history of the order. the philosophy. i get the sense that she wasn¡¯t exactly on the straight and narrow, not with those callouses i¡¯m seeing, and starting off setting her on the right road could be more valuable than wilderness survival.¡±


    ;


    iona clicked her tongue a few times, and gave nina another appraising look.


    ;


    ¡°healer¡¯s orders? a few days of rest and food?¡± she confirmed.


    ;


    i sized nina up some more, thinking about potential paths. it was possible that i could apply my healing in such a way to turbo-charge her strength building and food, and there was something to be said for going hard, but¡­


    ;


    i nodded.


    ;


    ¡°yeah, healer¡¯s orders.¡±


    ;


    iona switched back to high elvish.


    ;


    ¡°nina, we¡¯re going to spend a few days in the city. hot meals and warm beds while we review the basics of what it means to be a [page] and a [squire]. dawn and i are also going to dissect your build, and frankly, you¡¯ll probably need to reset both classes.¡±


    ;


    a spark of an idea ran through me, but i let iona and nina finish.


    ;


    nina was looking defiant at the idea.


    ;


    ¡°lady valkyrie, ma¡¯am, i don¡¯t need no coddlin¡¯. i¡¯m tough! i can do it here. no need for fancy beds.¡±


    ;


    iona and i traded amused looks, neither of us missing nina¡¯s lack of denial over food. iona tilted her head to me a hair, letting me know the next part was on me.


    ;


    ¡°healer¡¯s orders.¡± i brusquely told her in my no-nonsense voice. ¡°you¡¯re a mess, and we¡¯re going to work on fixing that. i can¡¯t just magic away all your issues. think of it like a house. we can start trying to put beams up now, but then we¡¯re building on a poor foundation. let us fix the foundation, so you can be the best valkyrie you can. no arguing.¡±


    ;


    i was skipping over a bunch of stuff, like the fact that a [biomancer] probably could magic away most of her issues - and that was the other thing i wanted to talk with iona about. if she was resetting her classes anyway, she¡¯d be in the perfect spot for a biomancer.


    ;


    nina looked like she wanted to protest more, but iona drew herself up, crossed her arms, and glared with her best intimidating look.


    ;


    the poor girl wilted under the potential for iona¡¯s disapproval, and the valkyrie cracked a grin.


    ;


    ¡°plus, all the hot meals you could want!¡±


    ;


    ;


    we quickly found ourselves back at the drop of blood inn.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt.¡± auri commented as we entered.


    ;


    i sighed.


    ;


    ¡°yeah, i thought we were done with this place as well.¡± i said in a language i didn¡¯t think nina knew.


    ;


    we were doing the right thing, but it was a bit unfortunate to go from home to a tavern. warm sheets, mattresses, toilets, and someone else doing the cooking quickly reminded me of why a tavern was actually quite nice.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!¡±


    ;


    ¡°go, have fun.¡± auri flitted back out the door, heading into town. night had promised to help us settle in, and a little bakery for auri was one of the ¡®easy¡¯ things he said he could do. auri figured this was a good time to get started, and really, she wasn¡¯t needed here and now. she knew where to find us.


    ;


    we settled into our rooms - different ones than last time, and nina got her own private room, a luxury she protested that she didn¡¯t need - and i set up a bunch of privacy wards in our room.


    ;


    ¡°want me here?¡± i asked iona.


    ;


    she nodded.


    ;


    ¡°oh yeah. you at least have some experience teaching, and i¡¯ll admit, i¡¯m a little scared. what if i screw this up? my first chance at a squire, and there are no other valkyries around to give me a hand with anything. jump in if i¡¯m screwing something up.¡±


    ;


    i nodded.


    ;


    ¡°yup, can do.¡±


    ;


    iona grabbed nina, and we started.


    ;


    ¡°what do you think a valkyrie is? what do we do?¡± iona started off by asking.


    ;


    nina frowned, immediately going deep into thought.


    ;


    ¡°you fuck monsters up!¡± she boldly proclaimed, like everything depended on her being right.


    ;


    iona shook her head.


    ;


    ¡°it¡¯s okay to admit when you don¡¯t know something.¡± she said, and nina flinched at her words. she opened her mouth, as if to protest and argue that she was right, then closed it again, clenched her jaw, and nodded.


    ;


    ¡°it depends on the individual valkyrie, but we do a lot. broadly, we¡¯re a knightly order, which means we try to make the world a little bit of a better place, mostly through force of arms. often, yes, that involves slaying monsters. killing goblins, pirates, bandits and marauders are all examples of killing monsters. at other times, we¡¯ll engage at the edges of a war, on the side we believe is right. sometimes, we¡¯ll simply defend others from the war. we can also be called upon to be peacekeepers, negotiators, to show up and let people know that we¡¯re ready to intervene. amazing how many problems can be resolved when villagers suddenly know there¡¯s a powerful force nearby that¡¯ll intervene if things turn to blows. we escort healers, caravans, builders, and anyone else who¡¯s trying to improve the world, but can¡¯t travel alone.¡±


    ;


    iona shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°broadly, we do what we think is right.¡±


    ;


    nina¡¯s face scrunched up as she thought about it, and slowly nodded.


    ;


    ¡°right. tell me if this is a honkin¡¯ stupid question, but how do i know what¡¯s right? till yesterday, muggin¡¯ a man for his pouch was right, cause it kept me alive. now, i know you all don¡¯t do that sorta thing, and i¡¯ll be the first to admit my compass¡¯s all screwy, and i wanna do it right, i just¡­¡±


    ;


    the last words were practically forced from her. i could see the sheer effort it took for her to say it.


    ;


    ¡°... i don¡¯t know.¡± she admitted, almost flinching again.


    ;


    her little flinches were subtle, but iona and i didn¡¯t have crazy vitality and senses for nothing. it was clear as day to us.


    ;


    nina¡¯s utter lack of any morals came as no surprise to either of us. iona had picked nina up off the street, and she¡¯d already confided in me that the kitsune had a [mugger] class. not exactly the most auspicious start. couldn¡¯t blame her for it - we all did what we had to do to survive.


    ;


    i had first hand experience with that. ethics and morals quickly gave way when pure survival was on the line.


    ;


    at the same time, it was physical violence - the key was directing it in a proper direction.


    ;


    ¡°morals and ethics are tricky things.¡± iona smoothly said. ¡°nobody gets it right all the time, and even to this day, i¡¯ll wonder if i¡¯m doing the right thing. dawn and i will occasionally conflict on what we believe is right, and it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if we disagreed more in the future. one fundamental, basic rule i¡¯ll give you to start with - how would you feel if someone did it to you?¡±


    ;


    nina scowled at that.


    ;


    ¡°like. how would i feel if someone hit me over the head with a cosh and stole my¡­ pouch?¡± she stumbled over the last word, and i shivered at all the other fates possible.


    ;


    iona nodded.


    ;


    ¡°exactly!¡±


    ;


    nina was still scowling.


    ;


    ¡°pretty awful. but don¡¯t the people you kill in a fight feel pretty awful about it as well?¡±


    ;


    ¡°well, yes.¡± iona said. ¡°but¡­¡±


    ;


    the two of them talked for hours, covering a wide range of topics. nina¡¯s reactions, and the information in question, was interesting enough to keep my attention¡­ that and trying to work out everything that was going on in the kitchen just by the smells. i was probably on a three minute delay, but i think it was potato and leek soup tonight. nina slowly grew more comfortable with us, and started opening up, asking her own questions in return.


    ;


    ¡°when do i become a valkyrie, for real, and not just a squire?¡±


    ;


    iona laughed at the question. nina grinned, a heady, reckless look that said ¡®i can¡¯t believe i just said that and got away with it!¡¯


    ;


    ¡°would you believe that was one of the first things i asked alruna, my mentor?¡± iona said.


    ;


    nina nodded.


    ;


    ¡°nobody likes to see themselves at the bottom of the heap of shit.¡± she agreed.


    ;


    ¡°we go in three stages.¡± iona said. ¡°[page], [squire], [valkyrie]. there¡¯s more to it, but broadly, that¡¯s it. [page] is where you start, levels 8 to 32. now, you¡¯re coming to us after having unlocked, and you¡¯re unlikely to have the [page] class offered at the start. i¡¯ll eat my helmet if you don¡¯t have an [apprentice] class available, and we¡¯ll work out what you take. [squire] comes after that, and after working with me for some time, when i decide you¡¯re ready, you¡¯ll class up at 32 for it, maybe merging your classes. after that -¡±


    ;


    i was familiar with iona¡¯s process and how the valkyries worked, and i loudly coughed in the middle. iona paused and looked at me.


    ;


    ¡°yeah?¡±


    ;


    ¡°you can do [squire] at 128, you¡¯re not gated at 256 here.¡± i pointed out, letting iona process the rest on her own. with the look of enlightenment on her face, she got it.


    ;


    ¡°we¡¯ll work out exactly what classes you¡¯re getting when.¡± iona corrected. ¡°we could have you merge as late as 256, to try and get your first class as powerful as possible. after being a [squire], traditionally, you¡¯ve got until you¡¯re 20 to perform a feat of bravery and valor, at which point you¡¯ll be accepted as a full valkyrie, be given a title, and set loose on your own.¡±


    ;


    nina looked a little worried at part of that.


    ;


    ¡°work out my classes?¡± she asked.


    ;


    iona immediately saw the issue, and backpedaled.


    ;


    ¡°you¡¯ll be the one to decide your path. what classes and skills to take, what your build will look like. dawn and i both went to the school of sorcery and spellcraft, and we know a lot. we can guide you to the optimal classes, configurations, and paths, to help you get the most powerful classes and skills you can. it¡¯ll save your life. for example, one skill we both have is an [education] variant. it helps us level faster.¡±


    ;


    nina proudly drew herself up and thumped her chest.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯m a kitsune, and i¡¯m good with my illusions! that¡¯s going to be one of my classes!¡±


    ;


    i couldn¡¯t help but let out a snort of disbelief. i¡¯d been around some really, really good illusionists, and nina was massively overstating her abilities.


    ;


    she looked offended.


    ;


    ¡°watch!¡± she threw her ¡®street tough¡¯ illusion over herself. iona shot me a look that clearly said ¡®please take her down a few notches, but don¡¯t utterly shatter her confidence.¡¯


    ;


    ¡°your shadow isn¡¯t quite right. it¡¯s close, but it¡¯s not there. you¡¯re missing the crossing impact of the fourth light source.¡± i immediately started analyzing. ¡°your clothes don¡¯t have stitches, they have texturing. your movements are locked to what you¡¯re doing inside the illusion, it doesn¡¯t look like it¡¯s independent. do i need to continue?¡±


    ;


    a furious nina dropped the illusion and scowled at me.


    ;


    ¡°well, how about this!¡± she asked, standing up and going invisible.


    ;


    it worked - for my eyes. [the world around me] gave me a perfect image of what was going on.


    ;


    ¡°hold up some fingers.¡± i said, tracking her with my eyes as she tried to sneak around the edges of the room.


    ;


    ¡°three. four. seven. two, and yes, i can see what¡¯s going on behind your back.¡±


    ;


    nina dropped the illusion and sagged, defeated.


    ;


    ¡°how?¡± she asked.


    ;


    i shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°powerful sensory and anti-illusion skill. want to try again, without me using it?¡±


    ;


    nina nodded, trying to regain some of her pride. i paused [the world around me] as nina went invisible again.


    ;


    i closed my eyes for dramatic effect.


    ;


    i pointed to her as the floorboards creaked, as the whisper of wind by her movement gave her away.


    ;


    ¡°sense of hearing.¡± i announced, then swapped.


    ;


    foxes and kitsunes had a smell about them. nothing pungent, nothing repulsive, but they had a smell. it was easy to tell where it was coming from, and i continued to point as nina tried to move around the room.


    ;


    ¡°sense of smell.¡± i reported, switching again.


    ;


    vibrations were harder in some senses, but exactly like sound in another. air currents delicately brushing against my skin, small vibrations that i teased out from the rest of the activity in the inn on my feet.


    ;


    ¡°sense of touch.¡± i said, and moved onto some easier ones.


    ;


    i¡¯d given myself a few exotic senses, like the ability to sense magnetic fields. nina blazed like a beacon in that one, and i could also feel the heat she was giving off.


    ;


    ¡°some exotic senses.¡± i explained, opening my eyes. ¡°you can reappear now.¡±


    nina was fuming, and stomped over to the chair, throwing herself into it. she crossed her arms and glared daggers at me.


    ;


    iona started to say something, but i gave her a tiny shake of my head.


    ;


    ¡°it¡¯s better that you know now.¡± i emphasized. ¡°you have to know the limitations of your skills. i tried to pull off a slightly better version of your skill in a dragon¡¯s lair. i have to think the only reason i¡¯m alive is i was highly entertaining, healed her, and only touched what i had to. better to find out now, today, against me that it¡¯s full of holes, and not when it¡¯s your life on the line. yeah?¡±


    ;


    nina reluctantly nodded at that. i carried on before iona could say anything - i¡¯d been quiet for hours, which had to be a record or something. all the words were now coming out.


    ;


    ¡°invisibility is useful. proper invisibility. here, i¡¯m going to show you [greater invisibility] from jiwa.¡±


    ;


    i started to trace the rune in the air, burning light emanating from it. better to recast it now, saving a charge from the one engraved on my bones, with the bonus of showing nina what wizardry looked like.


    ;


    the rune completed, and i vanished as i poured mana into it.


    ;


    one downside - nobody could hear me, the rune muffled my noise as surely as it let light pass through me. i quickly let the skill disperse.


    ;


    ¡°part of what iona wants to do with you is show you all the tricks of an illusionist, and make you the best possible illusionist you can be.¡±


    ;


    iona opened her mouth to protest, and i kicked her under the table. i was on a roll!


    ;


    ¡°now, iona briefly touched upon [oaths] and [vows], and i think it¡¯s fair to give you a heads up on this. part of iona¡¯s [vow] is a line against lies and deceptions, which mirage as an element tends to trade in. if she¡¯s giving you a hard time about it, feel free to tell me about it, and i¡¯ll see what i can do.¡±


    ;


    iona looked furious at me, and i gave her a deadpan stare back. she closed her eyes, the tension in her shoulders loosened, and she gave a brisk nod.


    ;


    ¡°dawn¡¯s right, as much as i hate to admit it. i¡¯m probably going to be giving you grief for your illusions for a long, long time, but if they¡¯re right for you, they¡¯re right for you, and i won¡¯t take that away. the one thing i¡¯m unsure about is merging for an illusionist class. kitsunes innately have a strong mirage affinity, i don¡¯t know if we can get a water and a light element to merge for you. might be worth getting that element after your primary merger. do you have any thoughts on the elements you want?¡±


    ;


    nina frowned at that, thinking hard.


    ;


    ¡°heck, do you know if you want to take the physical path, or the mage¡¯s path?¡± i added in. ¡°mirage tends towards the magic stats in the first place.¡±


    ;


    nina shook her head at that, her face clearing up.


    ;


    ¡°physical. i¡¯m a fighter and a scrapper through and through. i can always rely on my body, none of this ¡®oops no mana¡¯ nonsense for me. hit em, hit em hard, and hit em again so they don¡¯t get up.¡±


    ;


    it sounded like there was a story there, and i wasn¡¯t going to argue.


    ;


    however, i did have something to add.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯ve known a bunch of illusionists over my life.¡± i said. ¡°one in particular springs to mind with your description. awarthril, an elf. she was a powerful warrior that used illusions. she acted as the front-line fighter for her team, and used illusions to hide her team members, and create decoys of them. she then used ooze and mantle to try and chain monsters down before physically engaging. a style like that might be worth looking into.¡±


    ;


    nina looked interested, but iona looked pained.


    ;


    ¡°you¡¯re not the first kitsune valkyrie.¡± she said. ¡°the untouchable was a kitsune. used mirage and mist, deception, dodging, and misdirection. was practically untouchable until a goblin swarm got to her. having a strong personal physical prowess to back up mirages is good, but i¡¯ll always be concerned about when your tricks fail you. then you¡¯re in just as much trouble, with a fraction of the abilities of your opponents.¡±


    ;


    the poor squire looked pained at the news that kitsune valkyries, better trained and deeper into the art of deception could and had died, but was trying to put a brave face on it.


    ;


    ¡°you don¡¯t have to decide right now.¡± iona reassured her. ¡°in fact, it might be good to study the fighting styles of a number of different people before you find one that¡¯s comfortable for you. we¡¯ve got time and years.¡±


    ;


    nina nodded agreement.


    ;


    ¡°if you figure out what you want around the time you reset your classes, we could also see about incorporating that into whatever biomancy we look into.¡± i added in.


    ;


    iona did a double-take at that.


    ;


    ¡°wait, really?¡± she asked.


    ;


    ¡°oh yeah. thought it was traditional or usual for you lot, yeah?¡±


    ;


    ¡°yeah, but¡­¡± iona trailed off. i knew what she was worried about.


    ;


    ¡°seriously, don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    ;


    we were a team after all.


    ;


    who was i to be tight-fisted, or anything short of generous?


    ;


    i knew the finances of our relationship were terribly lopsided, and i wasn¡¯t going to start driving wedges between us over something so stupid.


    ;


    ¡°let¡¯s talk about squire duties.¡± iona shifted track. ¡°there¡¯s going to be a lot of work that looks and feels like gruntwork. that¡¯s because it is. hauling water up a mountain is solid character and bodybuilding, but honestly, the primary reason is that it¡¯s convenient for us. not going to lie or sugarcoat that for you. another part¡­¡±


    ;


    i settled back down as iona started to detail all the expectations she had of nina, and lightly chuckled to myself.


    ;


    in some ways, it was like looking into a mirror.

 Chapter 450 - Death By Meetings I

    nina coming into our lives was interesting, and promised to keep us all busy for the foreseeable future. however, i still had a job to do, and the meeting with the rest of the war sentinels was just around the corner.


    ;


    literally.


    ;


    ¡°auri, can i get a dozen cookies, a loaf of your tastiest bread, and a stick of butter?¡± i think i was auri¡¯s first customer in her new bakery.


    ;


    rows upon rows of fairly basic goods lined her shelves, but to be fair, she¡¯d just opened up for the first time. burning flames were above each one, giving a price. the kitchen roared in the back, auri effortlessly keeping a dozen different confections in various stages of cooking at once.


    ;


    how the fuck she¡¯d gotten a spot, supplies, a kitchen, and the required logistics chains in a few days, even with night pulling some strings was astonishing.


    ;


    especially the location! there had to have been a working store here just a few days ago, what happened to it?!


    ;


    the sheer speed boggled the mind, and i put it out of my head.


    ;


    tasty food was here, for sale, and auri had a business. one that she was taking seriously.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!¡±


    ;


    i spluttered in outrage.


    ;


    ¡°really!?¡± i protested.


    ;


    taking way too seriously.


    ;


    ¡°brpt.¡±


    ;


    one of auri¡¯s [mage hands] poked me in the chest, and made the ¡®pay up¡¯ motion. i sighed, fishing the coins out of my pouch, and handing them over.


    ;


    ¡°thief! scoundrel!¡± i protested.


    ;


    ¡°brrpt!!¡±


    ;


    ¡°i knew amber was a bad influence on you!¡± i shook my fist at auri as she neatly packed everything up for me with a legion of hands.


    ;


    ¡°brrrrrrrpt!¡±


    ;


    ¡°yes, of course i¡¯ll tell everyone where i got it from¡­ if it¡¯s good!¡± i teased auri with one last parting shot before i left her store.


    ;


    ¡°brrrrrrrpt!¡± a fireball chased me out, and i legged it.


    ;


    the celestial supper was just around the corner, and the place was fancy. they were leaning hard into the celestial theme, pillars of stars on the marble columns, the moons and sun over the entry arch. i went inside, discovering that the entire ceiling was an illusion. an inky black sky, scattered with stars, with various planets and suns slowly drifting through the vast cosmos.


    ;


    good taste.


    ;


    i realized as i entered that i had no idea where in here we were meeting. fortunately, the place had staff. i waved one down, noting that i seemed to be a little underdressed for the place.


    ;


    i got a look. i probably deserved it.


    ;


    ¡°may i be of assistance?¡± he asked, giving my bag a dirty look. it obviously had someone else¡¯s food in it, and it was probably a little insulting to walk in here with it.


    ;


    sharing the glory of auri¡¯s baking would make it all worth it.


    ;


    ¡°hi! yeah, is war sentinel tyrannus here?¡±


    ;


    he sniffed at me. actually sniffed!


    ;


    oooooooh, i was going to have fun.


    ;


    ¡°he is currently in a private room, and has asked not to be disturbed.¡±


    ;


    i grinned at him, channeling my inner shark. sure, it was teeny-tiny, but i was pretty sure it had a good predatory grin.


    ;


    ¡°yeah, see, i¡¯m supposed to be there. oh! let me introduce myself.¡±


    ;


    i stuck out my hand.


    ;


    ¡°war sentinel dawn, pleased to meet you.¡±


    ;


    he brightened up.


    ;


    ¡°ah! dawn, a pleasure to make your acquaintance. i¡¯d heard rumors of a new war sentinel, and was wondering when you¡¯d arrive. please, right this way.¡±


    ;


    i was a little taken aback. i was half expecting to go through the whole usual mess of ¡®yes i am¡¯ ¡®no you¡¯re not¡¯, and i¡¯d planned to shortcut that all by asking him to ¡®just skip to the end where you poke your head in and ask¡¯, but¡­


    ;


    well, i guess if this was a regular hangout for the war sentinels, the staff here would be a little more in-tune with what was going on with us than usual.


    ;


    he brought me back to a private room, and knocked on the door.


    ;


    ¡°enter!¡± a booming voice commanded, and i boldly stepped into the smoky room. [the world around me] showed arachne¡¯s ever-present threads terminating at the edge of this room, the sentinel giving us some privacy for our chat.


    ;


    seven people sat around a table strewn with cards and dice, plates of bloody snacks near everyone.


    ;


    right. fuck. vampires, they liked their food bloody, not baked. how did i forget that??


    ;


    i recognized most of them. tyrannus was the highest leveled of them, sitting at the center of the table. he¡¯d mentioned he was off-rotation during the sentinel meeting where i¡¯d met everyone, but that didn¡¯t seem to extend to the weekly card game. flood had been with arachne when she was dishing out [loremaster] knowledge, the woman¡¯s hair half-black and half-white. depths had also been at the meeting, and hadn¡¯t said much, but she looked intense. i recognized calm, but i didn¡¯t think i¡¯d seen the other three yet.


    ;


    well! time for a good first impression! i¡¯d half-laughed iona out of the room when she suggested i just ¡®be myself¡¯, and gotten a decent first line out of her.


    ;


    the rest was up to me.


    ;


    ¡°hi! i¡¯m dawn! nice to meet you all in a more casual setting. i brought some goodies! my companion recently opened a store nearby, and i figured i¡¯d bribe you all. forgive me for being a complete idiot and forgetting the blood!¡±


    ;


    welp.


    ;


    i had started off strong, and promptly veered off track.


    ;


    tyrannus gave a boisterous laugh.


    ;


    ¡°well met! dawn, sit, sit! anything you want here today¡¯s on me!¡±


    ;


    there was an obviously open chair, and i sat down.


    ;


    ¡°thank you! it¡¯s so nice to meet you all like this! i¡¯ll be honest, i¡¯m still a little overwhelmed by it all.¡±


    ;


    flood gave me an arched eyebrow.


    ;


    ¡°proper prior planning prevents piss-poor performance.¡± she starkly reminded me, a direct jab at my food offerings.


    ;


    the other sentinels looked interested in what i¡¯d say to that.


    ;


    ¡°shaking down equipment and methods in low stakes environments is how we correct and learn.¡± i bit back. ¡°i doubt anyone here can say they¡¯ve never made a mistake.¡±


    ;


    to my surprise, flood grinned at me.


    ;


    ¡°good to see you¡¯ve got some spine! introductions all around, i suppose? tyrannus, would you like to start?¡±


    ;


    ¡°sure! i¡¯m war sentinel tyrannus, and arguably the most senior war sentinel.¡± he said. i tilted my head at that.


    ;


    ¡°arguably?¡± i asked.


    ;


    he threw his head back and laughed.


    ;


    ¡°arguably! you¡¯re around now!¡±


    ;


    i chuckled at that, and waved my hand at him.


    ;


    ¡°no no, i have no idea what i¡¯m doing here, i¡¯m not going to claim seniority on anyone. unless it¡¯s really convenient!¡±


    ;


    my joke landed well with the crowd.


    ;


    ¡°necessity is the mother of pulling rank!¡± one of the sentinels i didn¡¯t know yet said. he was the one smoking, although his eyes didn¡¯t reflect an ash element. possibly a secondary or tertiary element - or he just liked smoking, as noxious as the habit was.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯m the ¡®classic¡¯ war sentinel.¡± tyrannus continued. ¡°all my elements and classes are geared for it. mist. poison. fossil. i hit morale and slowly kill lots of people. blinding, disorienting fogs for our foes, followed up by poison-infused bone dinosaurs stomping through. while the enemy is confused, lost, and being murdered by the bones of ancient tyrannosaurus rexes, the fifth legion moves in and mops up, easy as pie. i¡¯m far weaker in an individual fight than most people my level, but i got the title tyrannus as a combination of my signature bone constructs, combined with the terror i instill.¡±


    ;


    a little bone construct of a t-rex was assembled on the table by tyrannus, and two smaller armies of people were made by one of the other sentinels here. one looking all shiny, armed like the legions, and the other a mass of barbarians. the two ¡®armies¡¯ clashed, the bone t-rex went through the barbarians, and they were routed, running screaming as the ¡®legions¡¯ crushed them.


    ;


    ¡°cool! who¡¯s doing the illusions?¡± i asked.


    ;


    one of the sentinels i hadn¡¯t met yet waved his hand.


    ;


    ¡°that¡¯s me!¡± he volunteered. ¡°war sentinel legion. i am the seventh legion, hence the title.¡±


    ;


    i leaned forward with a grin.


    ;


    ¡°okay, that¡¯s a totally cool statement. how are you the seventh?¡±


    ;


    he rubbed his hands together.


    ;


    ¡°brilliance and mirage are my only relevant classes and elements. third one¡¯s for me. most of the seventh is an illusion in the field. people quickly figure out they¡¯re fighting illusions, which is when the blades start to become ¡®real¡¯. by that point, it turns into a massacre. an illusionary army, whose blades are real?¡±


    ;


    i shuddered as i imagined trying to fight such a thing.


    ;


    ¡°and of course your team is hidden with you¡­ or do you disguise yourself as just another one of the soldiers?¡± i asked.


    ;


    he winked and tapped the side of his nose.


    ;


    ¡°that¡¯d be telling, yeah?¡±


    ;


    all the while the soldiers had regrouped, the barbarians against the legion again. the barbarians charged into the legions, getting a confused look on their face as their weapons ¡®missed¡¯ everyone, comically scratching their heads.


    ;


    then the ¡®legions¡¯ started hacking them apart.


    ;


    ¡°why do you bother with the illusion of an army, when you could just send a whirling mass of brilliance at people and be done with it?¡± i asked.


    ;


    ¡°people know to run away from that, or could figure out how to counter what i¡¯m doing.¡± legion bluntly replied. ¡°that, and one person standing outside a city is easy, the solution clear. an entire ghostly legion setting up siege weapons? an army filled with unkillable people? that gets people working along different lines entirely. it¡¯s far, far, far more complicated than what i¡¯m saying. for example, one member of my support team is an ooze expert, who makes a lot of the blows other people make on the soldiers look and feel real, which makes them coming back and hitting all the scarier. i could literally spend all day talking about different things i do, but that defeats the point of a quick introduction!¡±


    ;


    ¡°sounds good! i might have some mirage-related questions for you later. a member of my team just picked up a kitsune as her [squire]...¡±


    ;


    ¡°yes, i¡¯d love to compare training notes at some point!¡± legion said.


    ;


    tyrannus gently coughed.


    ;


    ¡°i think all of us are going to want some training notes from dawn.¡± he said. ¡°that¡¯s half the reason we have these meetings.¡± he explained to me. ¡°there aren¡¯t a ton of us, and trading resources and training is valuable. let¡¯s save the swaps and offers until introductions are done?¡±


    ;


    he looked around, quickly getting buy-in from everyone. i nodded as well. no reason to rock the boat, or avoid going with the flow.


    ;


    ¡°sentinel flood. we¡¯ve met.¡± the woman gruffly introduced herself. ¡°i¡¯m a [strategist] and buffer. completely useless without an army to support. i¡¯ve got a thousand tricks up my sleeve.¡±


    ;


    legion had team barbarian against team legion again. the two armies clashed, only for the barbarians to get flooded out.


    ;


    ¡°story! story! story!¡± one of the last sentinels i didn¡¯t know yet started to chant, her voice quickly picked up by the rest of the sentinels.


    ;


    flood sighed, rolled her eyes, and crossed her arms.


    ;


    ¡°fine. fine!¡± she grumped. ¡°title¡¯s flood. third legion. i had a brief moment when i was a legata where diverting rivers into our enemies was my go-to trick. did it one time too many, got promoted as flood when raised to war sentinel.¡±


    ;


    the sentinel in question who¡¯d started the ¡®story¡¯ chant loudly booed, and flood gave her the evil eye.


    ;


    ¡°well, what about your title story, war sentinel stacked?¡± she pointedly glared.


    ;


    ¡°there¡¯s no way.¡± i said, eyeing her. sentinel stacked was, well¡­ stacked.


    ;


    she glowered and crossed her arms under her generous bust.


    ;


    ¡°it¡¯s war sentinel queen, and you know it. titan had a terrible naming sense, may the gods look after his soul, and we all know it.¡±


    ;


    i wasn¡¯t a social savant, but i knew when to keep my mouth shut.


    ;


    the woman sighed, picked up the deck, and shuffled it with impossible nimbleness and dexterity.


    ;


    ¡°war sentinel queen, formerly stacked. second legion. the long and the short of it is - we deal with cards. we¡¯ve got a half-dozen meta skills that lets us slowly charge up different cards with powerful effects, and the longer we¡¯re at it, the bigger they get. what¡¯s fun is the longer we are between conflicts, the bigger the cards get, and the more people know our stockpile¡¯s growing. it¡¯s getting to the point where us simply showing up will get people to leave. only real limit on how high we can go is guardian intervention. manadhion, the nightmare, gave us a real talking-to at one point and destroyed half our stockpile.¡±


    ;


    she shuddered at that.


    ;


    ¡°haven¡¯t charged anything up that high ever since, but they seem to be fine with us having more, weaker cards. title¡¯s queen, both on the card suit in half the world, and because at one point we ended up forming our own little monarchy after an immortal war.¡±


    ;


    she chuckled at that.


    ;


    ¡°arachne was pissed. we had to do a whole song and dance to get our people accepting the fact that we were getting absorbed into another country, which was a mess and a half. got a bunch of neat songs out of it though! half of them are still sung.¡±


    ;


    that sounded like a story and a half! also, i wasn¡¯t going to ask about titan. i might ask night or arachne. sounded like he was giving out titles at some point? i was a little confused about queen¡¯s operation though. was that her entire team doing stuff? that was an interesting way to look at things - it wasn¡¯t her, it was her and her entire team making things happen.


    ;


    a good way of recognizing and supporting the people who worked in the background and made things happen. i approved.


    ;


    tyrannus kicked queen under the table.


    ;


    ¡°half of them are still sung, and four centuries later you¡¯re still referring to yourself as royalty! that¡¯s why arachne gets so pissy over it!¡±


    ;


    nevermind. all those lofty ideals just crumbled to dust.


    ;


    ¡°calm.¡± the next man introduced himself, steamrolling the conversation. ¡°lava. mountain. 11th legion. large channeled skills. major disruptions. nobody can fight when the ground under their feet betrays them, and when volcanoes erupt.¡±


    ;


    legion was much more descriptive with his little lightshow, a volcanic eruption emerging in the middle of a group of barbarians and just killing a ton of them. the legions came in after, casually ¡®stabbing¡¯ the fallen barbarians.


    ;


    night had mentioned how destruction had been a sort of precursor to war sentinels, and it looked like calm was a sort of successor to his seat. massive ¡®fuck this army up¡¯ effects - with the benefit of having a full legion to act as mop-up.


    ;


    dude did not seem chatty. i couldn¡¯t tell if that was his personality, if he really was as calm and emotionless as his words and title implied, or if he just barely had a lid on his anger, with the title a cruel joke or misdirection.


    ;


    [*ding!* [ancient loremaster of legend] has leveled up! 180 -> 181. +100 dexterity, +100 vitality, +800 mana, +800 mana regen, +1600 magic power, +1600 magic control from your class per level! +1 strength, +1 dexterity, +1 speed, +1 vitality, +1 mana, +1 mana regeneration, +1 magic power, +1 magic control for being chimera (elvenoid)! +1 mana, +1 magic power from your element per level!]


    ;


    i gave the notification the side-eye. i hoped that was auri cooking a bunch of new goods in a high-stress environment - grand new opening of a bakery in a swanky part of town, new business, all that jazz that got [bakers] levels - and not because there was another fire started somewhere that i¡¯d need to attend.


    ;


    ¡°war sentinel depths. ocean. unattached to a legion.¡± the next woman introduced herself. my eyebrows tried to escape into my hair.


    ;


    ¡°how¡¯s that work?¡± i asked.


    ;


    she shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°because, like legion, i can take on an army or city myself and win. unlike legion, i don¡¯t have the same intimidation factor. like tyrannus, i¡¯m not great at punching at my weight, but i punch down fantastically well.¡±


    ;


    i stared at her, and saw tyrannus nudge her under the table. legion had his little army of ¡®barbarians¡¯ facing off against a single woman.


    ;


    ¡°skills! i¡¯ve got a weird one called [water echo]. it¡¯s a toggled passive. when it¡¯s on, anytime i move i leave a trail of water behind me. i¡¯ve got some more skills dedicated to the specific handling of just that water, and it¡¯s tailored narrowly enough that i get to control it all on a macro scale. i start off small, but watch.¡±


    ;


    she gestured to the little lightshow legion had going on. depths was alone, running in circles away from the barbarians. water sloshed off behind her in great gouts, slowing down her pursuers. slowly, bit by bit, the water level rose, and she started to control it, flinging great amounts of water all over the place. by the time the barbarians realized there was an issue and started to run, depths had whole tidal waves crashing around on what was once a dry and flat plain.


    ;


    i blinked at that. how much mana was that!?


    ;


    wait, she said it was a passive. so no mana to summon the water!? that was broken.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯m also our deep-sea specialist, and most of my missions are core instead of war. i¡¯m a little surprised i haven¡¯t been reassigned to core, but arachne reckons there are morale reasons not to ¡®lose¡¯ a war sentinel.¡±


    ;


    tyrannus shook his head.


    ;


    ¡°you¡¯re still war because you can take on an entire army.¡± he said. ¡°not many core sentinels could, and i¡¯d argue only three war sentinels can. don¡¯t sell yourself short.¡±


    ;


    depths looked pleased as she leaned back, grabbing another snack.


    ;


    ¡°calamity. 1st legion. i kill people.¡± the last man said. his eyes, unlike everyone else in the room, had no markings of an advanced element, and he had one of the highest levels i¡¯d seen any vampire have - [mage - 2625]. ¡°poison. miasma. third class is to keep me entertained. i¡¯m half the reason forbidden four exists as a concept in this day and age.¡±


    ;


    he flicked a few cards.


    ;


    ¡°there¡¯s really not much more to say.¡±


    ;


    a picture was worth a thousand words, and legion was quick to deliver. a bunch of barbarians showed up, a mini-calamity showed up, and they just keeled over and died.


    ;


    sounded like toxic mixed with hesiod. mass murder on an industrial scale. i had a lot of thoughts about that, but i¡¯d been the one dishing out death myself by the thousands to civilians at one point.


    ;


    ¡°that¡¯s us! we all have teams, a few of us have companions, but tell us about yourself. what are your relevant elements, how do you see yourself operating, and what¡¯s your experience?¡± tyrannus asked me.


    ;


    i was glad they¡¯d had me go last. gave me a good feel for how they did things.


    ;


    ¡°well! celestial healer. i¡¯m hammering all the details out still, but i imagine i¡¯m going to be a great big ¡®nobody dies while i¡¯m here¡¯. not as big or flashy as the rest of you, but i¡¯ve historically been fairly popular on battlefields.¡±


    ;


    ¡°like this?¡± legion made the two armies again, the sides clashing. each time a barbarian was struck down, they stayed ¡®dead¡¯, but each time a legionnaire was hit, they just shrugged it off and kept going.


    ;


    ¡°yeah, close enough!¡± it got the idea across.


    ;


    ¡°what are your limitations? range, power, sustainability, large-scale combat prowess, personal combat prowess, and what does your team currently look like? how much experience do you have in warzones, and what types of conflicts?¡± tyrannus asked. before i could answer, he added a few more words.


    ;


    ¡°we¡¯re only asking because we want to help. you¡¯re one of us now, and nobody comes into this with all the right answers.¡±


    ;


    i nodded.


    ;


    i¡¯d heard all about them - now it was time to tell them all about me!

 Chapter 451 - Death By Meetings II

    i figured i¡¯d establish my credentials first, and then show the gaping holes in my skills second.


    ;


    ¡°war. i¡¯m used to a slightly different type of total war than all of you probably are. there was this race called formorians back in remus. imagine an ant the size of a man. vicious, coordinated, but not terribly intelligent. they came at us in endless waves, and we got very, very good at killing them. literally had to kill them in shifts. all day, all night, then all of the next day as well. endless. for millennia.¡±


    ;


    alright, i¡¯d hooked them. they looked impressed.


    ;


    ¡°it wasn¡¯t all bad news. as i said, monsters, the basic soldiers only level 120, no big skills, not terribly smart. they just¡­ attacked. easy enough to dig in and defend ourselves. problem was pushing back. we could hold a defensive position, no problem. we could slowly advance. we had a three-wall structure that was slowly disassembled and rebuilt to push the lines forward. inevitably though, something went wrong, and we¡¯d get pushed back hard. that¡¯s what the situation was like when i got there.¡±


    ;


    calamity and calm were looking a little doubtful at the story of struggling against 120¡¯s, and flood had a look of open disbelief.


    ;


    ¡°please remember, we were inside of something called the dead zone, or low experience zone. we got a fraction of the experience most people got in other areas, and the world was young. night didn¡¯t even have his third class yet! our second strongest sentinel was around level 400. we hadn¡¯t worked out a fraction of what was possible. enchantments didn¡¯t exist. inscriptions did, and they were a weak precursor to enchantments. wizardry didn¡¯t exist, although i met a [bard] who sort of mimicked what they could do in a way.¡±


    ;


    i paused, and figured that i¡¯d earned this. i could brag a little. i was with my peers.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯d only just written the first copy of the medical manuscripts.¡±


    ;


    calamity still looked doubtful, but flood and calm had been won over. eh, i supposed the dude specialized in ¡®murder fucktons of things very very very fast¡¯, he might not be too impressed.


    ;


    ¡°i was sent to the front lines to help level. i was in ranger academy, our way of turning potential prospects into rangers, teaching them everything they needed to know. in hindsight, it was clear that i was there for a multitude of reasons, but the primary one was my level was too low. a couple of months with a large supply of arcanite, blasting formorians and healing soldiers worked wonders for my level.¡±


    i was getting some impressed looks.


    ;


    ¡°an argument could be made that you¡¯ve seen more battles than some of us!¡± tyrannus chuckled with good humor. ¡°sorry, didn¡¯t mean to interrupt.¡±


    ;


    i shook my head.


    ;


    ¡°no worries. there isn¡¯t a ton more. a sentinel toxic managed to figure out a way to bring poison back to the queens, killing one and weakening the rest. they went all-out then. sent their heavies, larger than most villas, breached our walls. it gave us a chance though. a strike mission where it was all of the sentinels against their last push. sentinel destruction was a bit like you, calm, and [channeled] a massive earthquake. a priest called down a miracle, and then we split. one strike team, and one to go back and help with the cleanup. spent my time fixing people up, keeping them alive enough to hold the line.¡±


    ;


    i thought about my other experiences, and grimaced.


    ;


    ¡°i also fought a city of body-jacking parasites called the shimagu and won, but¡­ the less said about that, the better.¡±


    ;


    ochi still haunted me.


    ;


    i still didn¡¯t have the right answer to it. did i do the right thing?


    ;


    to my surprise, calamity looked sympathetic.


    ;


    ¡°i think we all have one or more of those in our past.¡± he said. ¡°sounds like you¡¯ve got a fair enough amount of experience fighting alongside people, which is good. how about fighting against other people? other armies?¡±


    ;


    i grimaced.


    ;


    ¡°nothing on that front, on the army scale.¡± i easily confessed. ¡°small squads, yes. i¡¯ve gotten involved in healing the aftermath of a long-running war, but not directly in the front line battles like i imagine you all do.¡±


    ;


    tyrannus nodded.


    ;


    ¡°that¡¯s an excellent base to work with! i¡¯ll be honest, i was a little worried when arachne told us that you were becoming the next war sentinel. felt more like you were being slotted in because you didn¡¯t work well anywhere else, rather than having proper chops of your own. what are you comfortable sharing about your stats and skills?¡±


    ;


    i wanted to be offended, but tyrannus had something of a point. if a level 150 showed up to the sentinels one day and night declared ¡®hey, he¡¯s one of us now, and taking a rare seat¡¯, i¡¯d be a little skeptical.


    ;


    maybe a lot.


    ;


    i was aware that most of the other war sentinels had quite a few levels, and possibly centuries of experience on me. i was a little fish in a big lake.


    ;


    okay, maybe i was slightly larger than a little fish.


    ;


    at least i didn¡¯t have the vampire experience penalty holding me back!


    ;


    ¡°skills! i¡¯ve got close to a healing panacea skill. there are some niche things it can¡¯t manage, like pure petrification, but i haven¡¯t found much it can¡¯t handle. now, i don¡¯t have the depth of experience the rest of you have, but on a battlefield, i imagine the only thing i¡¯ll struggle with are curses. and blows that are immediately lethal. a hammer to the head, top-down, is just one example of something i don¡¯t think i can cure. otherwise? stabbed, sliced, burned, frozen, decapitated - i can handle it all, have handled it all, at a significant range, across an entire army. 3.5 million points of magic power, and the control to go with it.¡±


    ;


    i said the last point with pride. i was good, and i knew it.


    ;


    legion whistled.


    ;


    ¡°that¡¯s impressive.¡± he said. ¡°that should be enough to keep the frontline up and then some. big question is - mana and regeneration?¡±


    ;


    i grimaced.


    ;


    my stats were good.


    ;


    my magic power and control specifically made the cut.


    ;


    the fuel?


    ;


    ¡°mana pool is 1.3 million, mana regeneration is 2.7 million per hour.¡± i confessed.


    ;


    there were pained noises around the table. everyone except flood.


    ;


    ¡°you¡¯ll need a [battery] or eight on your team.¡± she said. ¡°shores up your weakness. by the sun, doesn¡¯t even need to be part of your regular team. kick the legata of the sixth eight different ways until she gets a full detachment for you. be more than worth it.¡±


    ;


    depths was slowly nodding, and that reminded me. i snapped my fingers.


    ;


    ¡°drowning! depths could absolutely drown all of us, and i wouldn¡¯t be able to save a soul. well, apart from killing her.¡±


    ;


    tyrannus nodded.


    ;


    ¡°it¡¯s good that you¡¯re thinking of ways you can be circumvented. i recommend making a full list, and sharing it with the commander of your legion. it¡¯ll give her a priority list in a battle of what classers she needs to handle, where she needs to focus her efforts and firepower, and what she can leave to you. the more comprehensive it is, the better the two of you will work together. remember. a lesson almost all of us need to learn is - we¡¯re not alone on the battlefield. we¡¯re with an army. we do our part, and we trust them to do theirs. same with our team! do you have anyone? that was some wyvern at your induction ceremony.¡± tyrannus said.


    ;


    i nodded.


    ;


    ¡°yeah! auri, my companion. phoenix, heavy on the inferno. working on her third class now. she does phoenix things, but she¡¯s still very young. not a lot of experience. iona, a valkyrie. physical warrior. her bond¡¯s fenrir, the wyvern. we¡¯re still shaking everything out. you¡¯ve all mentioned getting some people to help with mana on the battlefield, and that¡¯s high on my list. i think, technically, iona¡¯s squire nina is also part of my team, but she¡¯s a low level kid and won''t have much impact right now. i think i got a little sidetracked on skills, i¡¯ve got some strong utility ones i should mention.¡±


    ;


    i shifted back to my skills. i¡¯d gotten a little sidetracked on my stats, and in tyrannus¡¯s defense, i had mentioned all my relevant healing skills after just mentioning my healing class. given how many other sentinels hadn¡¯t talked about one or two of their classes, simply mentioning they were hobby or for fun classes, it made sense to skip over what i wasn¡¯t talking about. heck, at my level, it was entirely possible that my third class wasn¡¯t developed at all!


    ;


    ¡°combat-wise, i¡¯ve got¡­ well, with this crowd, i wouldn¡¯t call it a powerful radiance attack. most of you could probably shrug it off without noticing. does decently well against people of my level. i¡¯m a mediocre wizard.¡±


    ;


    i wasn¡¯t trying to be humble. there was a sentinel called archmage, and i hadn¡¯t exactly gotten glowing reviews from my studies at the school. merely¡­ adequate. for a mortal graduate. with this crowd, calling myself mediocre was probably overselling my capabilities.


    ;


    ¡°... my best trick is full invisibility from the jiwa rune, although i¡¯m working on getting a full set of spellbooks prepped and ready. that¡¯s one area i could use help in. as flood knows, arachne recently stuffed a full [loremaster¡¯s] worth of knowledge into my head. helped me get a sweet class. i can store my spellbooks, i¡¯ve got a short-range teleport, and i just got a bulk storage skill. it¡¯s not amazing. i need to personally teleport inside anytime i want to move anything, which absolutely murders the efficiency and how quickly i can move stuff, but hey, it¡¯s a full personal pocket dimension, what¡¯s there not to love?¡±


    ;


    queen was looking envious.


    ;


    ¡°makes us want to reset a class just to get a skill like that!¡± she joked. ¡°use it as storage enough, and it might morph into a pure storage skill. that¡¯s what we¡¯d do in your sandals.¡±


    ;


    i nodded.


    ;


    ¡°yeah, i like the sound of that. we haven¡¯t touched on gear, and i¡¯ll just quickly mention i¡¯ve got very little. mainly a few trinkets to help hide my level, which¡­ is probably pretty useful, thinking about it.¡± i was musing out loud, considering how my gear interacted with my role. ¡°nobody¡¯s going to think much of the low-level healer near the backlines, especially if there¡¯s a few other healers.¡±


    ;


    legion grinned.


    ;


    ¡°yeah! now you¡¯re talking! that¡¯s just my style. i¡¯ve got so many tricks for hiding in plain sight, we¡¯ll have to arrange a time to coordinate.¡±


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯d love that! could also teach nina some illusionist tricks.¡±


    ;


    ¡°they don¡¯t even need to be real.¡± queen said. ¡°just look real. might be worth asking archmage if she¡¯s got some illusion spells for you to borrow and copy.¡±


    ;


    i was immediately seeing the use of these talks.


    ;


    ¡°apart from that, i¡¯m a blank slate gear-wise. don¡¯t even have real armor. do have some neat biomantically augmented scales under my skin though, i dabbled in biomancy at one point.¡±


    ;


    ¡°a blank slate¡­ and the only war sentinel that can stand in the sun.¡± tyrannus said. ¡°don¡¯t discount that. all of us with teams have someone who can help with that issue.¡±


    ;


    everyone got their heads together.


    ;


    ¡°you don¡¯t want a team that¡¯s too large.¡± queen said. ¡°unless you enjoy ruling and managing dozens of people, and you¡¯re paying them so little that you can afford it, you¡¯re constrained. you¡¯ve got quite a few already, we¡¯d look at one, maybe two more people in your team before shaking things down. fundamentally, we think you¡¯ll be a war sentinel most like us and flood. we¡¯re there, we¡¯re attached to the legion, but the legion operates more or less as normal. we throw out big skills, and the legion operates around that, taking advantage of our presence, but not fundamentally changing how they operate. unlike calm or tyrannus, where the legion changes their operating procedures, or requires special equipment, like calamity.¡±


    ;


    the man gave a cheery wave.


    ;


    ¡°every single helmet on a member of my legion requires a number of enchantments.¡± he said. ¡°lets them wade through what i¡¯m throwing out.¡±


    ;


    i didn¡¯t have any skills like that. i wasn¡¯t a one-woman army like depths or legion was.


    ;


    i was simply support. amazing support, but support.


    ;


    ¡°works for me. any suggestions?¡±


    ;


    ¡°my personal take? you¡¯ve got some firepower, you¡¯ve got some defense. you need batteries. with all that said, you¡¯re pretty covered on the light utility front, and the one thing i can recommend is a strong barrier mage.¡± tyrannus said. ¡°your valkyrie companion isn¡¯t proper defense. she can engage well against other classers coming at you, but you¡¯ve got nothing to handle potshots at the rest of your supports.¡±


    ;


    ¡°apart from healing them after they¡¯re hit.¡± i pointed out.


    ;


    tyrannus nodded.


    ;


    ¡°apart from healing them after they¡¯re hit.¡± he agreed. ¡°consider though. ¡®don¡¯t worry, you¡¯ll be fine, ribs grow back¡¯, versus ¡®we¡¯ve got shields on you, you¡¯re protected and safe¡¯. one¡¯s more likely to get enthusiastic participation, versus the other.¡±


    ;


    made sense.


    ;


    ¡°what else?¡± i asked.


    ;


    queen started to deal cards out.


    ;


    ¡°what else? a game!¡± queen said. ¡°we¡¯re partial to spite and malice, do you know the rules?¡±


    ;


    vaguely. [the world around me] would be a huge help. i wasn¡¯t going to say that¡­ and i had money that everyone else had their own way of making things interesting.


    ;


    ¡°yup!¡± i said.


    ;


    ¡°great! who else is in?¡± queen asked.


    ;


    ¡°water.¡± depths interrupted, gesturing to be dealt in as she continued the discussion. ¡°always think about the water¡­¡±


    ;


    ;


    we must¡¯ve spent half the day just chatting, going over things, thinking up ideas and ways we could help each other.


    ;


    ¡°enough about me! how can i help all of you?¡± i eventually said. my brain felt like it was roasting from all of the ideas, skills, gems, team compositions, advice, and everything. i mechanically drew a card, lifting an eyebrow up.


    ;


    legion had thrown an illusion over the card again, making me think i¡¯d drawn a different card. half the time he removed the illusion right before i played it, the other half he kept it, faking innocence the entire time.


    ;


    i hadn¡¯t let on that i could see right through the illusions yet. i was waiting for the perfect storm of cards, and a large enough pot, to execute.


    ;


    i had a few lists in my [astral archives] of things i needed to do. gemstones were on the top of the list - i wanted to get a half dozen for everyone in the eventide eclipse for starters.


    ;


    ¡°i can charge moonstones, of course, but it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if everyone already had some. if anyone has a healer on their team, i¡¯m pretty sure i can work with them for a level or two.¡±


    ;


    tyrannus raised an eyebrow. i couldn¡¯t tell if it was at me, or the card he¡¯d just drawn.


    ;


    a slightly annoying part to [the world around me] - i couldn¡¯t easily tell if someone else was looking at an illusion, not without obvious tells.


    ;


    ¡°dawn, i know you¡¯re a little young, and forgive me if this sounds condescending, but are you aware of the potency effect?¡± he asked.


    ;


    ¡°also known as the big fish effect when you¡¯re not a fossil.¡± queen glared at tyrannus, folding her cards.


    ;


    i thought i might know what they were talking about, but i wasn¡¯t sure.


    ;


    ¡°maybe. tell me more?¡±


    ;


    flood spoke up, her voice scratchy.


    ;


    ¡°raise eight. you know night. imagine he takes an apprentice every decade. how strong will the class offerings be for that? now imagine he teaches 1,000 soldiers every day. do you think they¡¯ll get as good of a class as the apprentice?¡±


    ;


    i shook my head.


    ;


    ¡°no way.¡± i said. flood¡¯s cards were good, no way was i beating them.


    ;


    flood nodded.


    ;


    ¡°exactly. the more a significant person spreads themselves, the less potent their effect is. you are, by all accounts, a big fish when it comes to the system. i won¡¯t say no to you teaching my legion¡¯s medics, but you have to be aware that you¡¯re diluting your potency, and frankly, for not a particularly good reason. it¡¯s your call, i¡¯d love the help and the boost to my healer¡¯s classes, i¡¯m not going to tell you how to run your life, but keep it in mind. consider grabbing an apprentice every decade or so, then sending them our way once they¡¯re trained up.¡±


    ;


    i - huh.


    ;


    i was thinking like a mortal too much. i just didn¡¯t have the time or experience taking the truly long view of things. an apprentice a decade sounded like it¡¯d take forever, but no. it¡¯d ¡®only¡¯ be 50 years before each of the war sentinels that had a healer on their team had one personally trained by me.


    ;


    the idea was interesting, and a direct, concrete way that i could not only help the other sentinels, but also improve the lives of countless numbers of people. i had significant weight, just in the healing arena. how much better would everyone be if there were more powerful healers running around?


    ;


    couldn¡¯t hurt.


    ;


    ¡°yeah! once i¡¯m settled in i¡¯ll be happy to help. that might take a while. oh! does anyone know how to acquire spatially expanded boxes? trying to get my hands on a few for my own personal reasons.¡±


    ;


    flood spoke up.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯ve got a supplier. let¡¯s talk after.¡±


    ;


    tyrannus stretched and flopped his cards down.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯m out.¡± he said.


    ;


    ¡°fold.¡± i promptly followed his lead.


    ;


    ¡°show.¡± flood said, followed by the rest of the sentinels in the game.


    ;


    i eyed the cards.


    ;


    flood was going to win, barring any legion shenanigans. someone kept rearranging the deck as it sat there, and i had money on it being queen. her entire thing was around cards.


    ;


    if that was the case though, why did she keep getting such mediocre hands? unless she was playing a long game¡­


    ;


    ¡°ha!¡± flood crowed as she raked in the coins. ¡°better luck next time, suckers!¡±


    ;


    i smiled at the scene.


    ;


    i think i was going to be alright here.


    ;


    ;


    the meeting ended and we broke up, some of the sentinels leaving before others. i stuck around a minute, wanting to chat with flood about the boxes. queen also hung around.


    ;


    ¡°dawn. you mentioned being able to store books and other information. can you store a card?¡± she flipped me a playing card with the depiction of an angel with a square and a triangle.


    ;


    i deftly snatched it out of the air, and tried to move it to [loremaster¡¯s library]. the card was heavy in a sense. it took multiple orders of magnitude more to move it around than i expected - a thousand points of mana instead of ten - but it went in with no other trouble.


    ;


    ¡°yup! why?¡± i asked, teleporting the card back out and flicking it to queen.


    ;


    ¡°because this is one of our effect cards. with your [oath], we believe it would be difficult for you to use one of our powerful trump cards. however, we almost never use our mass cancel card, and it could be invaluable to you. take it!¡±


    ;


    she flicked the card back to me, and i focused, trying to see how close it could get before teleporting into my [loremaster¡¯s library].


    ;


    the moment it touched my forehead it was teleported in. queen gave me the quick rundown of how it worked.


    ;


    ¡°it was most wonderful to meet you dawn.¡± she said. ¡°we know you are still settling in, but we would like to send you a promising apprentice in a few years for you to train for us, if you are amenable to the idea.¡±


    ;


    i nodded.


    ;


    ¡°yup! always happy to. as you said, it might be a while, and there¡¯s no promises that they¡¯ll still want to stick around after, but yeah, sure, i¡¯m game!¡±


    ;


    there was some potential trickiness with my [oath] and limiting how many people i taught, but i¡¯d cross that bridge when i got to it.


    ;


    queen gave me the quick rundown of how to activate the card, which was scarily easy. i could¡¯ve accidentally activated it in the middle of the city!


    ;


    she said goodbye and left, and flood handed me a much more normal card, with a name and address.


    ;


    ¡°he makes spatial boxes.¡± flood coughed and cleared her throat. ¡°reasonable rates, mention you¡¯re a war sentinel and get a discount. expect to hand over 30,000 arcs a box though. when you¡¯ve got a minute, i¡¯ll send my optio over with a few thousand moonstones to charge.¡±


    ;


    flood gave me a brisk nod, slapped the table, and got up.


    ;


    i felt a little taken advantage of, but it wouldn¡¯t take me terribly long to charge so many gems, especially if someone else did all the arranging and making it easy. [astral archives] made the image trivially simple, and once someone else had put them in a line, i could just walk down it with a trailing finger and charge them all up.


    ;


    we helped each other, and i¡¯d be saving lives.


    ;


    i got up and left.


    ;


    the dude who¡¯d helped me find the room saw me leaving, and steered my way.


    ;


    ¡°dawn. a letter arrived for you.¡± he politely handed me a sealed letter, then neatly turned on his heel and left, continuing his work.


    ;


    i skimmed it as i kept walking out.


    ;


    dawn,


    ;


    i¡¯ve got a task i¡¯m working on for you. i¡¯ll give you all the details if it materializes. shouldn¡¯t take more than a few months. one minor request. you¡¯re currently fairly new as a sentinel. can you try not to become so famous as one that everyone will know about you?


    ;


    specifically, i¡¯d like you to minimize interactions with the 4th legion, for reasons that¡¯ll become clear. i¡¯ve let legata katerina know.


    ;


    night assures me the best way for you to do this is to try and become famous. your natural inclinations towards social situations will cause it to backfire.


    ;


    or simply continue settling in.


    ;


    my best


    ;


    the letter was signed with a spiderweb. it was clear who it¡¯d come from.


    ;


    i shrugged.


    ;


    the request seemed to be perfectly fine. i wasn¡¯t exactly seeking fame¡­ although, wow, night did not think highly of my social skills.


    ;


    time for a quick stop at auri¡¯s bakery, then i figured it was time to meet legata katerina in a more formal setting.


    ;


    it was like they were trying to kill me via meetings!

 Chapter 452 - Death By Meetings III

    i double checked the address and my location.


    ;


    yup. this looked like it was the right spot. a typical home in an average neighborhood. nothing ornate, nothing special, but far from a slum or apartment.


    ;


    the two [legionnaires] standing guard outside the door helped reassure me that i was at the right place. full armor and spears, the weather getting cooler probably helped.


    ;


    ¡°hi! i¡¯m looking for legata katerina, of the sixth?¡± i asked them.


    ;


    one of them turned to me.


    ;


    ¡°you need - sentinel dawn!¡± he cried out, immediately saluting. the other guard promptly turned to me and saluted as well.


    ;


    okay. as much as i grumbled about it, presenting me in front of the entire sixth with that whole ceremony thing was paying off. instant recognition. no issues with identity, questioning me, or any of that nonsense. i gave them a cheery wave.


    ;


    ¡°hi! yup, that¡¯s me. legata katerina?¡± i prompted.


    ;


    ¡°right this way!¡±


    ;


    the two guards glanced at each other, and one of them escorted me inside.


    ;


    the place was odd inside. clearly a home, but just as clearly being used as some sort of office. we passed through rooms with flimsy desks shoved into corners with industrious [scribes] working hard.


    ;


    the guard led me to the hortus, a little open-air garden in the middle of the house, and saluted to legata katerina.


    ;


    [leader - 731]. one of the highest leveled mortals i¡¯d ever seen.


    ;


    i¡¯d met the woman at the after-ceremony party before, where she¡¯d been all smiles and handshakes, smoothly rubbing elbows with everyone else present. now i got to see her vaguely at work.


    ;


    we weren¡¯t in the field, and she¡¯d skipped the traditional gear and armor of a legionnaire for lighter clothing, her grey-streaked hair tied up in a severe bun. the woman was stocky and old, with a weather-beaten look from decades in the field, and arms that indicated she was no stranger to the hard physical labor of soldiering.


    ;


    she was seated at a desk, a few people around her. i recognized the rank symbols for the second in command, the standard-bearer, a few people who were some mix of scribes and runners, and a single tribune. the top brass of the legion. only missing the camp prefect, who was probably out and about doing their job.


    ;


    ¡°war sentinel dawn for legata katerina!¡± the guard announced.


    ;


    ¡°dismissed.¡± the woman idly flicked her wrist at the guard, who saluted again, turned on his heel, and promptly left.


    ;


    ¡°one moment sentinel.¡± katerina said. ¡°tribune. is there anything else?¡±


    ;


    he gave a curt nod.


    ;


    ¡°yes ma¡¯am. disciplinary issue. soldier got into a drunken fistfight with a civilian last night. came up for discipline with centurion opal this morning. when she saw who he¡¯d gotten into a fight with, she kicked it up to me, and i¡¯m kicking it up to you.¡±


    ;


    katerina gave the tribune a flat look.


    ;


    ¡°well, don¡¯t stand around all day, spit it out! who¡¯d he get in a fight with?¡±


    ;


    the tribune swallowed.


    ;


    ¡°quintus pompeius senecio sosius priscus¡¯s second son.¡± he smoothly said the entire behemoth of a single name out in one breath. ¡°you know-¡±


    ;


    katerina waved him off.


    ;


    ¡°yes, yes, head of the legion budgetary committee for the house of bone.¡±


    ;


    she explosively sighed and leaned back in her chair.


    ;


    ¡°well, that¡¯s a pickle.¡±


    ;


    the legata eyed me standing behind the tribune, at the entrance to the hortus.


    ;


    ¡°war sentinel dawn. i trust you¡¯ve been listening in. how would you handle the situation? tribune tristan decides to tell you about the issue, instead of me. the rules are clear, but the matter is politically sensitive, potentially impacting the operation of the legion if the wrong egos aren¡¯t properly managed.¡±


    ;


    good first impression, good first impression.


    ;


    i gave her a cheeky grin.


    ;


    ¡°last i checked, i¡¯m not in the chain of command for this type of problem, not unless you and half your staff are dead. at which point, i¡¯ve got bigger issues facing the legion than a political dustup. frankly, tribune tristan tells me about this problem? i politely direct him to you, and let you figure out the solution to the issue.¡±


    ;


    katerina barked out a laugh.


    ;


    ¡°i think we¡¯ll work well together.¡± she said, and refocused on tristan.


    ;


    ¡°here¡¯s what we¡¯re going to do. leonidus, you¡¯re going to pen a very polite letter to senecio, extending our apologies, this isn¡¯t how we like to conduct ourselves, heap the bullshit on thick. mention that every rule and law is going to be followed to the letter. offer to let him or his son hold the lash themselves, if they¡¯d like, and the number of lashes is going to be maximized. throw in some time in the stockade, and latrine duty for two weeks. i¡¯d offer to double the number of lashes, but we¡¯re already needing to follow the rules to the letter, or the crusty old fart will come down on us even harder. have ardenus deliver the letter personally with reed, and bring two squads with you. full spit and shine, maximum polish. not the one involved in the fight, and not wren. tristan. through the centurion, let the soldier know about the penalty, and more importantly, why. throw him 888 arcs for his understanding and cooperation, then see if maxlin can brew him something fancy. something that lets him feel the pain and the sting, but removes the aftereffects, lets him bleed plenty, but heal quickly. that should interest that maniac enough that he¡¯ll sit down and do it, while also neatly following the rules to the letter. am i missing anything?¡±


    ;


    the second coughed.


    ;


    ¡°katerina, we¡¯re moving out tomorrow. time in the stockade isn¡¯t going to be useful, practical, or help senecio¡¯s ego.¡±


    ;


    she snorted.


    ;


    ¡°fine. no stockade, three weeks latrine duty.¡±


    ;


    tribune tristan saluted and left. i stayed where i was.


    ;


    katerina eyed me.


    ;


    ¡°well? you don¡¯t seem to be the type to play games, and i haven¡¯t got all day.¡±


    ;


    i almost hurried up to her desk, then remembered who and where i was.


    ;


    i was sentinel dawn, and this was my legion.


    ;


    i didn¡¯t march, that¡¯d be wrong. i did stride forward with confident steps, stopping in front of her desk.


    ;


    first impression was over, what about second impression?


    ;


    ¡°hi! i¡¯m dawn. we met before. i¡¯m settling into the role, and figured we should have a chat. get a feel for each other, set expectations, start to get an idea of how we¡¯ll work together, all that good stuff.¡±


    ;


    i¡¯d started strong thanks to some of iona¡¯s suggestions, annnnnnnd promptly lost it.


    ;


    katerina nodded.


    ;


    ¡°excellent. arachne gave me a basic overview of your capabilities. got some mixed feelings about you. on one hand, we¡¯ve got a war sentinel now, excellent! not even a vampire, which is fantastic, it opens up more possibilities than normal. on the other, your age, background, level, and speciality gives me a moment¡¯s pause. not born in exterreri? never marched with the legions? only 500? just a healer? i¡¯ll admit, i need some reassurance here, and some ideas of how we¡¯ll work together. there was a big fancy speech when you were promoted, but let¡¯s put our cards down on the table for a minute. every third word of that speech is a gross exaggeration when it¡¯s not a total lie. my mind¡¯s open, hit me.¡±


    ;


    i gave katerina a tight smile. on one hand, her concerns made sense. on the other, i was so tired of proving myself. of explaining myself.


    ;


    maybe, just maybe, if i was lucky, this would be the last time.


    ;


    ¡°three and a half million points of magic power, with enough control to perform perfect repairs. roughly 100 meter radius on my direct healing, and a slightly larger radius on an extremely rapid passive healing aura. while i have mana, it¡¯s virtually impossible for anyone to die near me. it¡¯s technically possible that we could get hit with something powerful enough that overloads my healing but, politely, we¡¯re utterly fucked if someone like sentinel stacked hits us with one of her cards anyway. you may be older than i am, you may have campaigned more years than i¡¯ve been alive, but i¡¯ll wager i¡¯ve seen more hours in fully engaged battle than you have.¡±


    ;


    i was getting comfortable. settling into my role like a second skin.


    ;


    i was sentinel dawn.


    ;


    i was a healer.


    ;


    this role was right for me, and i¡¯d been trained on how to take command of a small team of rangers to execute my goals.


    ;


    i wouldn¡¯t dream of commanding a full legion, but right here, right now?


    ;


    katerina and her team were simply another group of rangers, and that role i knew exactly how to execute.


    ;


    ¡°from you, i need at least a squad of batteries. the more the merrier. i only have a million points in my mana pool, and while that¡¯s far more than enough for any small-scale engagement, i suspect it¡¯s nothing when we get to a proper pitched war. i¡¯ve got layered artifacts to disguise my level, and my initial thoughts involve remaining inconspicuous. just another healer in the backlines. maybe throw on some armor and join a squad. might need to rearrange some people, but picture me in the middle of a testudo, surrounded by batteries, my skills immediately healing any fatal wounds. can¡¯t do much about drowning or curses though.¡±


    ;


    katerina and the rest of her group studied me carefully.


    ;


    ¡°that is¡­ interesting.¡± she finally admitted. ¡°i can¡¯t tell you how many times a [mage] has insisted that a team supporting them and them alone will absolutely and for sure change the tide of any battle we engage in, but they¡¯ve never had the experience, power, and backing to make me think it was possible. that, and with all due respect to sentinel calamity, it seems unlikely that you¡¯ll gas us in the middle of the night to test preparedness. are you familiar with the sixth legion¡¯s specialty?¡±


    ;


    devour had covered it in his lessons, and i¡¯d done some additional reading since hearing i was assigned to the sixth.


    ;


    ¡°sixth legion, cognomen dread.¡± i recited. ¡°famed for alchemical concoctions and weapons. heavier and more compact than most other legions, you trade outriders, flanking, and cavalry forces for going deep on the alchemy. the main weapon i¡¯ve heard about are effectively explosive rocks, but i suspect the true capabilities aren¡¯t written down in books.¡± i drily added the last part.


    ;


    ¡°in large part because it depends on the optio leading the alchemists at the time.¡± katerina agreed. ¡°we have one of the highest accident rates in-¡±


    ;


    katerina was cut off by a bunch of shouting and yelling deeper in the house, and the sounds of a fight. her staff tensed, drawing weapons as the legata remained calm at her desk.


    ;


    ¡°if it ends up being a problem, it ends up being a problem.¡± she said. ¡°carrying on, highest accident-¡±


    ;


    a moment later there was a cry, and a guard hurried over. he opened his mouth, and katerina raised an eyebrow at him. he remembered himself, and saluted.


    ;


    ¡°legata! we caught a high-level spy in the house, but as we moved in to capture him, he walked through a door and vanished! he was a saurian, no obvious insignia.¡±


    ;


    katerina looked doubtful.


    ;


    ¡°what level?¡± she asked.


    ;


    ¡°legata! over 800.¡± he briskly reported.


    ;


    ¡°you managed to find a spy over level 800?¡± katerina¡¯s tone was doubtful, and i agreed with her. the soldiers were mostly around level 256, and managing to stumble into and find a spy triple their level? it just didn¡¯t make sense.


    ;


    the standard-bearer was getting excited.


    ;


    ¡°katerina, permission to speak?¡± he asked.


    ;


    ¡°granted.¡±


    ;


    ¡°was the saurian an iguanodon-type?¡± he asked the soldier.


    ;


    the soldier nodded.


    ;


    ¡°yes sir.¡±


    ;


    the standard-bearer turned back to the legata, acting like a kid at christmas.


    ;


    ¡°katerina, i think that was arash the wanderer.¡±


    ;


    the name didn¡¯t have the impact he thought it would.


    ;


    ¡°who?¡± katerina asked the question we were all thinking.


    ;


    ¡°arash the wanderer! immortal, famously cursed to never exit the same door he entered. sighting him¡¯s supposed to be good luck!¡± the standard-bearer looked around, his excitement slowly dimming as none of us particularly cared.


    ;


    that was one heck of an interesting curse though. mine felt tame by comparison. knowing white dove, dude had probably been something of a homebody before getting cursed. it¡¯d fit her style.


    ;


    ¡°not a spy then, just an interruption. got it.¡± katerina summarized. ¡°dawn. would you be willing to give a demonstration of your abilities? say, now?¡±


    ;


    i wanted to nod. to say yes.


    ;


    i knew what would happen if i did.


    ;


    violence. absurd amounts of violence, two centuries, cohorts, or even the entire legion going to a mock-battle, doing their best to figure out just how strong i was. people would be stabbed, slashed, punched, trampled and more. yes, i¡¯d be there to patch them up, but in no way, shape, or form was this not a massive amount of harm that i¡¯d be inflicting on people.


    ;


    there were some areas where my [oath] was cut down to the bare bones, and other places where i was a little more generous with the spirit of things. not ordering violence on people was one area where i drew the line, where another healer might not.


    ;


    awkward for a war sentinel, to be sure. ordering defensive positions to be taken, then operating off that was workable, but not offensive like this.


    ;


    ¡°one slightly awkward problem.¡± i told the legata. ¡°i¡¯m oathbound, and i wrote the original [oath]. i can¡¯t say yes to this, but if there¡¯s a practice session, i¡¯ll be there.¡±


    ;


    i got a look from katerina. a really unamused one.


    ;


    ¡°a war sentinel,¡± she said, voice completely flat. ¡°that¡¯s sworn to first, do no harm?¡±


    ;


    eh.


    ;


    that was a pretty accurate description.


    ;


    ¡°yup!¡± i cheerfully said. ¡°that¡¯s me!¡±


    ;


    she squeezed her eyes shut and rubbed the bridge of her nose with her fingers.


    ;


    ¡°gods save us all.¡±

 Chapter 453 - A Display of Skill

    ¡°sentinel dawn. do you require any special equipment or a team member to perform a small demonstration?¡± katerina asked.


    ;


    i shook my head.


    ;


    ¡°no. batteries are ideal for large-scale extended engagements, but i can let you know when i¡¯m running low on mana.¡± i said. ¡°in a twist, i¡¯m suboptimal under ashes and related cloud cover. i perform better when under sunlight or moonlight. has to be moonlight, i can¡¯t do anything under a clear night with no moons.¡±


    ;


    katerina snorted her amusement.


    ;


    ¡°a different twist from the rest of the war sentinels. right. no time like the present. get centurion decimus and centurion opal to form up their soldiers, full gear, ready for a fight outside the camp. go!¡± legata katerina ordered one of the [runners], who nodded and took off at a sprint.


    ;


    we watched the [runner] leave, then katerina pushed herself away from the table and stood up.


    ;


    ¡°leonidus, you¡¯re in command.¡± she ordered as she walked out of the room at a more sedate pace. the man saluted his understanding, and took katerina¡¯s spot as the rest of her staff fell in around her.


    ;


    ¡°reed, what¡¯s your thinking on preparedness?¡± katerina asked as we walked out of the house, gathering up a number of the soldiers who immediately fell in and started following the woman.


    ;


    ¡°ma¡¯am. part of this trip was billed as a chance to see and explore sanguino, for morale purposes. springing an exercise on them, in a place they believe is safe and restful, might not only impact the centuries in question, but the rest of the legion.¡±


    ;


    katerina gave a small nod.


    ;


    ¡°correct. at the same time, i believe it¡¯s a strong reminder that this is not a vacation, that we¡¯re here in our formal capacity as the sixth, and that we now have a war sentinel working with us. keep people on their toes.¡±


    ;


    maybe a reminder like this was overall good for the legion. maybe it was bad.


    ;


    i was glad i wasn¡¯t the one needing to manage and think about all this. i hadn¡¯t gotten this scope of command stuffed into my head, and i was sending a couple of fervent prayers up to the gods, praying for katerina and reed¡¯s good health.


    ;


    ¡°make way! make way!¡± the soldiers yelled as we moved through the crowds. people parted before the armed soldiers, and we were able to walk through the city completely unimpeded.


    ;


    heck, some of them cheered us, no matter how we were disrupting their day. i did catch a few sour looks thrown in our direction, but all in all exterreri¡¯s propaganda engine was doing its job, keeping the legions beloved.


    ;


    katerina and her staff talked about any number of administrative issues, people they needed to meet, dissecting letters they¡¯d gotten and what they meant, and what different senators wanted and needed. the job sounded endlessly more political than i¡¯d ever imagined¡­ although i suppose that wasn¡¯t too much of a surprise.


    ;


    emperor augustus had basically held katerina¡¯s job before marching his legions home and seizing power. at a given social level, at a certain command of a large enough army, the job was almost as much politics as it was waging war.


    ;


    aw fuck.


    ;


    i was probably going to get involved in that one way or another. if i didn¡¯t do anything, katerina would be able to seamlessly imply my support on various things, wouldn¡¯t she? i¡¯d basically be subsumed into the identity of the sixth legion, moved on the chessboard without any input.


    ;


    fortunately, blessedly, i wasn¡¯t alone.


    ;


    i was going to sic iona on the problem, and she¡¯d love that. let her push her own agenda with minimal input from me, keep some vague sense of independence, and completely remove that headache from my life.


    ;


    the gate guards didn¡¯t even bother us, simply saluting as we were let out.


    ;


    huh.


    ;


    i wonder if someone could dress up like a soldier and just have the guards ignore them. seemed like a bit of a hole. then again, they¡¯d need quite a few people all in agreement, and armor was expensive.


    ;


    the sixth legion didn¡¯t have their fort in sanguino. it was much further west, and they¡¯d marched all the way down here simply for my promotion ceremony, which was a bit mind-boggling to think about. almost ten thousand people moving hundreds of miles just to say hi?


    ;


    i suppose it was decent experience and practice moving around, making sure logistics and supply trains worked. exterreri wasn¡¯t in a forever expanding mindset. the legions were closer to a deterrent than an expansionary force these days.


    ;


    ¡®we have an army, and we know how to use it, so don¡¯t invade us¡¯ more than ¡®who¡¯s next?¡¯ that was the basics i assumed¡­ the reality was way, way, way more complicated than that.


    ;


    i hadn¡¯t brought up my [butterfly mystic] or [ancient loremaster of legend] classes because, frankly, i didn¡¯t think they were that relevant to the introductions. [butterfly mystic] had quite a lot of personal utility and self-defense, but that was more along the lines of ¡®i know how to protect myself¡¯ than anything special. [vault of ages] promised to eventually become important, but right now my ratio on being able to move things in and out of it was horrible. i could teleport a few dozen kilograms each time, but the cost to move me was significant.


    ;


    if i wanted to move in 20 kilograms of supplies, i needed to teleport myself and the supplies in, at a cost of around 200k mana, then teleport myself out for another 160k mana. that was just to store the items, retrieval was just as bad.


    ;


    the skill had stupid potential, especially as i leveled it up and generally got stronger - the overhead on teleporting myself in and out stayed constant, as long as i didn¡¯t get fat - but right now it was almost there.


    ;


    it was good enough now that i wanted to start planning out what i was sticking in it, and slowly start to acquire and move supplies, but it wasn¡¯t at the stage where it was anything close to a strategic asset.


    ;


    maybe in a few hundred levels i could solve all of a legion¡¯s logistical issues. right now, it was confined to me and my team.


    ;


    we followed one of the main roads out of sanguino, eventually finding the camp about sixteen miles away from the city. a brutal walk for a low level, a solid evening stroll for people with significant speed.


    ;


    [*ding!* [ancient loremaster of legend] has leveled up! 181-> 182. +100 dexterity, +100 vitality, +800 mana, +800 mana regen, +1600 magic power, +1600 magic control from your class per level! +1 strength, +1 dexterity, +1 speed, +1 vitality, +1 mana, +1 mana regeneration, +1 magic power, +1 magic control for being chimera (elvenoid)! +1 mana, +1 magic power from your element per level!]


    ;


    i guess the levels were spaced far enough apart to only be of minimal concern. that, and i hadn¡¯t seen half the city on fire.


    ;


    it was far away enough from the city and the ashen umbra that at this time of day, we were just getting the edges of the setting sun gracing the campgrounds.


    ;


    the boundary of the legion¡¯s camp was abrupt. a field filled with nodosaurus was next to rows upon rows of neatly packed and organized tents. there was no spilling out, there were no tents out of position - it was like a perfectly designed grid.


    ;


    nodosauruses were the standard pack beast for the legions. they were a bit like an ankylosaurus, if an ankylosaurus had long legs and no club at the end of their tail. their broad, hardened back made them ideal for packing and carrying tons of weight, and their long legs let them move fast enough to be useful. the dinosaurs could pull a cart or wagon just as easily as they could carry supplies on their back. they weren¡¯t used in fighting or combat at all - one legion had a specialty of training and unleashing beasts - it wasn¡¯t the sixth - but every army needed their beasts of burden.


    ;


    that was the camp prefect¡¯s job, and she was doing her job well.


    ;


    we walked through the camp, getting a feel for it. soldiers diced and wrestled, stirred cooking pots or had small circles where they told stories. katerina¡¯s passing didn¡¯t cause major interruptions, although most soldiers stopped what they were doing to give her a respectful greeting.


    ;


    ¡°legata.¡±


    ;


    ¡°legata.¡±


    ;


    ¡°commander.¡±


    ;


    now and then, some people were unhappy with the state of things, as soldiers tended to be.


    ;


    ¡°this whole thing is stupid!¡± one soldier animatedly told her friends, gesticulating and waving her arms. ¡°why, if i was in charge here, things would be better! we wouldn¡¯t be bedded in the mud! we wouldn¡¯t be marching around for stupid fucking ceremonies! we - fuck, she¡¯s right behind me, isn¡¯t she?¡±


    ;


    the soldier developed self-awareness as her friends plastered on polite smiles, nodding respectfully to katerina as she loomed up behind the complaining soldier in question.


    ;


    she spun on a heel and saluted.


    ;


    ¡°legata.¡± she politely said, bowing her head.


    ;


    katerina studied her for a minute, the situation rapidly getting more awkward for the poor soldier. i could see the edges of katerina¡¯s lips twitching with barely-contained mirth.


    ;


    ¡°eight lashes, and report to leonidus tonight. i want a detailed list of all the things i¡¯m doing wrong, and your proposed solutions. extra punishment detail if it¡¯s poor, promotion opportunity if it¡¯s good.¡±


    ;


    the nameless soldier suddenly looked quite nervous at that, and i couldn¡¯t blame her. marching around for stupid ceremonies? they¡¯d gotten orders from the top to be in a given place at a given time, nobody here could do a thing about that. the field was slightly muddy? i was willing to bet this was the best place near the city to hunker down, and that every other place was significantly worse.


    ;


    at the same time, it was a chance to be heard, and i suspected if the soldier had figured out genuine issues and their solution, katerina would want to hear about it and know. i was starting to get a picture of the woman. a strict disciplinarian who could listen and take feedback, who could play the political game just as easily as the military one.


    ;


    ¡°as you command, legata.¡± the soldier saluted again, and we were off.


    ;


    it was like an invisible line was drawn through part of the camp, and off to the side i noticed that the clean rows of the legion¡¯s tents were replaced with what could only be described as an utter mess. it was clear at a glance that those were the camp followers, enterprising individuals following the army around for all the coins spilling out of their pockets. the more things changed, the more they stayed the same. the camp could¡¯ve been directly lifted from the camp followers from the formorian war. from [cooks] offering to make the legion¡¯s standard rations tasty, to washerwomen offering to clean clothes, to traveling bards and troubadours offering entertainment, prostitutes to gambling dens, childcare to scribes writing letters home, barbers to sutlers, a small mobile city came with the legion, offering all the amenities of home away from home.


    ;


    someone had turned a tent into a full service sauna! steam was the element obviously in use, and the fabric of the tent looked too soft to normally handle such moisture and heat. skills did amazing things.


    ;


    couldn¡¯t get rid of them either - there¡¯d be a literal mutiny. remus had even leaned into their existence with the formorian war, where they¡¯d built an entire section just for them.


    ;


    there was an interesting question i was faced with, one i hadn¡¯t expected to grapple right this moment.


    ;


    i was dawn, war sentinel of the sixth. my area of expertise was healing. the camp followers had a few medics, people plying their trade in the mobile city, often to other camp followers, and occasionally to legionnaires.


    ;


    was it ethical for me to sweep through the camp, and heal every single man, woman, and child in there?


    ;


    on one hand, they were my responsibility. pseudo-members of the sixth. there were possibly a few people there who needed my service.


    ;


    on the other, i¡¯d be muscling every other healer out, knocking the legs out under their livelihood in one fell swoop. oh, sure, if i just did it once then never again, they¡¯d barely even notice i¡¯d been by, but what about doing it regularly? would people stop visiting them entirely? would their funds dry up, and they¡¯d leave for greener pastures? what about all the levels i¡¯d be denying?


    ;


    what would happen if i drove the healers off as an incidental to my presence, then we really needed them one day? like, if there was a relatively minor disease outbreak while i was out on a trip or just taking a few days between visits or something. then what would happen?


    ;


    as much as i¡¯d hated the [guild mistress] of osengard, she¡¯d found a way to stomp on a single person driving all the other healers out of business, making sure there wasn¡¯t a single point of failure for an entire city. i wasn¡¯t always going to be around. i wasn¡¯t always going to be traveling with the sixth. i¡¯d have other duties now and then, other stuff i wanted to do. books to read, mangos to eat.


    ;


    heck, i had an enforced vacation for eight years coming up! what would the legion do if they had to start from no healers every time it was mandated i take a rest?


    ;


    tricky, tricky¡­ there wasn¡¯t a good, clean answer. there wasn¡¯t an obviously right answer, not when i didn¡¯t have a patient in front of me begging to be healed.


    ;


    for lack of a proper sounding board - i wasn¡¯t going to bounce this off katerina, not when i barely knew her - i decided to sweep through once a month or so on my own. not so often that i¡¯d drive all the other healers out of business, but not so rarely that a deep, lingering cancer would get a chance to grow and strangle someone from within, or a heart disease would progress to a fatal attack or anything similar.


    ;


    yeah.


    ;


    that sounded like a decent balance to start with. i¡¯d probably tell katerina that¡¯s what i was doing, and see if she could get an adjunct to track the healer population and levels.


    ;


    as we got closer to the end of the tent city, more soldiers came sprinting past us in full gear, holding their tower shields and spears close to them.


    ;


    hey, they weren¡¯t late until katerina got to the field! the utter lack of a delay between the legata sending off the runner, and her leaving to the field meant the soldiers didn¡¯t have much time, if any, to prepare.


    ;


    that was part of the point.


    ;


    ¡°here we are.¡± katerina said. she looked over her shoulder as a few more troops came sprinting by.


    ;


    katerina took a deep breath.


    ;


    ¡°centurion opal! centurion linus! report!¡±


    ;


    the two centurions in question hurried over, their helmets having fancier plumes than the average soldier. their own command staff continued overseeing the legionnaires falling into formation.


    ;


    ¡°i am getting a firsthand look of sentinel dawn¡¯s abilities, to properly manage her integration with the legion.¡± katerina said. ¡°the two of you will clash. no strangulation or choking abilities, and don¡¯t get fancy with interception and deception orders. let¡¯s skip the potions, damn things are too expensive for a spar, and will interfere with sentinel dawn¡¯s baseline. apart from that, full skills, tools, and abilities. try to kill each other. maintain lines and discipline. when disengagement is ordered, i expect it to be promptly obeyed. understood?¡±


    ;


    opal looked nervous.


    ;


    ¡°legata. with all due respect. we¡¯re going to actively try to kill each other? no holding back? no sparring protocols?¡±


    ;


    katerina nodded.


    ;


    ¡°yes. wait for my signal to begin. also, mark anyone not currently in formation as of now. they are late, and i expect you to properly investigate why they were not in the proper state of readiness.¡±


    ;


    the centurions didn¡¯t look happy about that, but both of them saluted and returned to their respective groups.


    ;


    ¡°dawn. let me know when you¡¯re ready, i don¡¯t want this to become a disaster.¡± katerina quietly murmured to me.


    ;


    i nodded.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯m going to start off with my strongest healing.¡± i quietly told the legata. ¡°with time and experience, i¡¯m hoping to slowly dial in on the proper amounts.¡±


    ;


    katerina nodded her understanding. i snapped my skills to readiness.


    ;


    first was splitting my mind into five. four to track everything that was happening in the battle, processing what i was seeing through [the world around me], and a fifth to pay attention to everything else going on.


    ;


    good habits started now, and i wasn¡¯t going to let tunnel vision be the end of me.


    ;


    it was easy. with the setting sun framing the field, [wheel of sun and moon], [persistent casting], [dance with the heavens], and [astral archives] all came together to create the most potent healing field i could manage.


    ;


    high on my to-do list was to figure out a more practical image for wartime medicine. my image would restore people to the perfect picture of health, but frankly?


    ;


    in a fight, people didn¡¯t need to be perfect. people needed to be good enough. if i could get a solid good enough picture, i might be able to save, say, 30% of my mana. that would let me heal an additional 42% more people, or heal for that much longer. it would also give [cosmic presence] a chance to properly shine.


    ;


    if i managed to make it a longer heal, my strong regeneration would kick in, extending the healing time even further. it was a virtuous cycle, made possible with my strong images and knowledge of medicine.


    ;


    one meta skill i didn¡¯t have, and was unlikely to pick up anytime soon, was [cyclical casting]. it was a variant on [persistent casting], where i could set skills to flicker on and off at various intervals. there was an argument to be made that i should flicker my healing on and off, to better extend the time even further, and give [cosmic presence] even more to do, which would relieve the direct mana burden on me. that would again stack things favorably towards keeping lots of people alive for a long time.


    ;


    wasn¡¯t thinking of taking the skill, and i was ready with my magic.


    ;


    ¡°ready.¡± i told katerina, mere seconds after she¡¯d asked. my companion bond with auri let me do a lot of thinking quite quickly.


    ;


    ¡°begin!¡± she roared with a voice that threatened to blow out my eardrums.


    ;


    if she didn¡¯t have a sound class, i¡¯d eat my hat.


    ;


    128 people sounded like a lot, but seeing them square up against each other brought home just how few people it was in reality. how easy it was to pack them in one spot.


    ;


    it wasn¡¯t actually 128 people. that was simply the number of [legionnaires] in formation, eight wide, eight deep, two centuries. the centurions commanding the groups were off to the side, with a standard-bearer, trumpeter, and five soldiers with varying degrees of fancy plumes on their helmets.


    ;


    around three-fourths of the soldiers were firmly at level 256. the ones who weren¡¯t were either the career soldiers who figured they were in the legions for life, the centurion and his staff, or hadn¡¯t quite made it to 256 yet. the rest were waiting for better achievements, or waiting to see what life held for them after soldiering to perform the last class up many of them would ever see.


    ;


    the centurions barked orders, and in an interesting twist i could see their mouths moving, but couldn¡¯t hear anything. my enhanced eyes were able to pick out that none of them had the sound element manifestation visible in their eyes - but the trumpeters did.


    ;


    the two teams formed up in mirror-image testudo formations. the shield wall came down hard in the front, two spears poking out from every gap, and the soldiers behind them lifted their shields up and over their heads.


    ;


    i¡¯d never considered the axis of warfare that was communications, but katerina¡¯s orders regarding interception and deception orders suddenly made sense. being able to fake an order to your enemy was a powerful tool.


    ;


    another set of orders were silently barked, and standards moved as the trumpeter¡¯s cheeks swelled, blowing silent horns.


    enchantments flared to life and magic swirled as runes etched into the shields, armor, and weapons were activated. a few skills had obvious effects. stone, bark, and all manner of other materials coated and covered shields, giving an extra layer of physical protection to the soldiers holding them. a few spears glowed with heat, others turned various colors from acid to wood enhancing their weapons. a couple of the soldiers grew in size and stature, gaining an extra six inches of height, and the corresponding muscle mass. it was rare that two soldiers had the same spells going.


    ;


    more orders in near-perfect unison, and the two centuries started to slowly march towards each other.


    ;


    the two groups started to differentiate themselves as one group manifested a shimmering aurora over them, looking like it was binding the group all together as one. century aurora, i mentally dubbed them.


    ;


    the second one picked up quite a lot of speed, an invisible wind practically giving the sandals of the legionnaires wings. century wind.


    ;


    banners twisted and furled, trumpets were silently blown, and century aurora paused and dropped the upper shields of their testudo. their frontline slammed the bottom of their shields into the ground, and the remaining seven lines launched their short throwing spears at century wind. a small smattering of rocks, darts, metal shards, and all manner of other skill-based attacks were also launched, skills mixing seamlessly with physical weapons to create a deadly barrage.


    ;


    they weren¡¯t holding back. the weapons weren¡¯t padded, the rocks whizzed with lethal intent, and a few of the darts were coated in poison.


    ;


    my heart caught in my throat at the assault.


    ;


    this was it.


    ;


    this was where i ended up being as good as i claimed, as good as i hoped, or people would die.


    ;


    people would die in a pointless, stupid training exercise, just to show how good i was - or wasn¡¯t, as the case may be.


    ;


    my healing was up and running, and i watched with nervous anticipation as century wind angled their upper shields to better catch the ¡®rain¡¯.


    ;


    the shields mostly held. rocks smashed and dented shields, while darts quivered harmlessly in wood. the javelins were the biggest issue.


    ;


    the few that were poorly thrown, or had soldiers with strong skills defending themselves clattered harmlessly against the shields, but then rolled off them. they had to go somewhere, and while a number of them ended up rolling off to the sides, a few of them dropped into the century, uncontrolled flashing blades attached to a shaft trying to trip and stab people. mostly harmless, and the few soldiers that stumbled over the javelins were quickly grabbed by their fellows and straightened back up, before they could get trampled.


    ;


    those were the gentlest ones.


    ;


    the moderate ones punched through the shield but ended up stuck there, some going through thick arms or delicate hands, causing the soldiers to grimace or scream in pain. those that ripped the javelins out of their arms found a hefty toll of flesh was taken by the barbs on the end¡­ which was immediately restored to them by my healing.


    ;


    the word spread basically instantly, and the few who¡¯d stoically taken the hit and kept running, kept their shield up, quickly and efficiently ripped their arms out of the barbs, grinning savagely as they saw their flesh knit back together.


    ;


    then there were the killer javelins. those thrown by soldiers with strong skills, or simply had a high strength stat, finding those weaker targets among the century. those blasted enormous holes through shields, continuing unimpeded to skewer the two poor souls front to back. their armor wasn¡¯t enough, and they were pinned like a butterfly to a collector¡¯s board.


    ;


    alive, of course.


    ;


    that was where my healing shone. that was where i brought them back from the clutches of black crow. practically as quickly as they were skewered and mauled, their flesh was reknit, their blood restored, and instead of leaving two bodies behind to slowly scream themselves to death, a savagely grinning century reintegrated them into their ranks.


    ;


    the two soldiers dropped their destroyed shields and took cover under their neighbor''s shield, helping hold it up and layering their skills over.


    ;


    all this happened in seconds, from the first rock hitting a shield, to the last soldier finding their feet and carrying on with the rest of the troops.


    ;


    then century wind struck back. with more orders i couldn¡¯t hear, the soldiers readied one of a half-dozen stone spheres from each of their belts, placing them in slings. i wasn¡¯t super familiar with alchemy. were they just rocks, soaked in a potion? an easy container for some concoction? a fancy skill making things work?


    ;


    didn¡¯t matter too much how it was done, end of the day.


    ;


    at another shout, the soldiers drifted apart a bit, making small cracks in their shields, and started to spin. at the third order, they lobbed the rocks at century aurora¡¯s frontline.


    ;


    they formed back up and charged as quickly as they could, spears pointing out from the gaps as the rocks landed against the driven shields of century aurora, scattering in front of the formidable shield wall.


    ;


    then the rocks exploded in a cascading ripple, throwing shrapnel every which way. the front line shields held through the first explosion, but the second, third, and fourth wave of explosives tore through the shields, destroying them so utterly as to become useless, then the explosives ripped through the vulnerable soldiers.


    ;


    i suspected there was more than one type of alchemical the soldiers could throw, and someone had grabbed the wrong one. a spurt of green flames roared up in a lonely pillar, before quickly dying down and out under the cascading explosions.


    ;


    was probably more useful when massed together.


    ;


    exterreri military doctrine went heavy on the upper armor, while sticking to loose skirts that were easy to move in and light shin guards and sandals for the lower. properly protecting the areas most often hit with heavy gear, while sticking to lighter armor for flexibility, speed, mobility, and cost.


    ;


    the issue was - most often hit.


    ;


    the alchemical explosives detonated from the ground up, and more than one soldier went cross-eyed as their family jewels turned into pulp. my healing aura was on full blast, and replacements were swiftly obtained, future generations saved, but i had nothing for the mental echo.


    ;


    century wind had made their hole, and they were trying to rush in before century aurora could recover.


    ;


    and they succeeded. the soldiers in the century aurora front took a moment too long to realize that they were completely alright from the devastating assault, that the worst that had happened was their shields were destroyed, and hadn¡¯t properly adapted to managing what happened next. wind was on them like a fox on a rabbit, viciously thrusting spears, savaging the aurora soldiers.


    ;


    each stab hit home, a spurt of blood spraying every which way, painting the soldiers as crimson as the banners they fought under. the soldiers fought back, their fellows stepping forward and forcing them back, bringing a new set of shields to bear and protect.


    ;


    the half-destroyed, half-saved line got sent to the back, and things got complicated as the centuries got down to the grisly business of trying to off each other.


    ;


    of trying to murder their fellow legionnaires, when they were functionally immortal, when they just wouldn¡¯t die.


    ;


    i kept a steady eye on my mana.


    ;


    [mana: 1,377,364/1,381,780]


    ;


    i¡¯d barely touched any, my regeneration almost keeping pace with the exchanged blows. the hardest had been the javelins that broke through, followed by the explosives.


    ;


    now the two shield walls were poking at each other, the defenses a little stronger than the offenses, exterreri doctrine looked more towards a defensive wear-down of their enemies, rather than brutal, aggressive swings.


    ;


    i kept an eye out on everything, noting how the magics got subtler, smaller, and arguably deadlier. one [mage] was making the ground rise up and grab ankles, while a different one was pouring water in around the opponent¡¯s feet, making the ground soggy and wet, preventing people from getting good footing. a nearly invisible knife was flitting around inside century wind, cutting throats that immediately healed themselves back. smoke blew from century wind into century aurora, causing hacking coughing fits.


    ;


    katerina narrowed her eyes at that, but said nothing. i suppose it technically wasn¡¯t choking people, but it was pushing the line.


    ;


    acid sprayed, melting through a shield, the poor soldier behind it screaming and dropping his weapons as he got a faceful. the spears came fast and thick at him, but the century¡¯s discipline held, the fellows behind him dragging him out of the way as a new soldier stepped up.


    ;


    lightning crackled, jumping from soldier to soldier. mist was blown away by gale. rocks and blades swerved as gravity forced them in new directions. lights flashed in people''s eyes, and one soldier seemed to have infinite pocket sand. ice met void, fossil met gemstone, and radiance was scattered by ocean. disintegration beams of decay briefly flashed around, destroying armor and failing utterly to do anything to flesh.


    ;


    thanks to my healing.


    ;


    i wasn¡¯t going to say it out loud and jinx it, but the soldiers were invincible. a severed hand was an inconvenience, a spear through the breast an annoyance.


    ;


    [mana: 1,379,951/1,381,780]


    ;


    i was netting mana. after the initial assault and engagement, the damage had slowed down. only two lines of the soldiers - 16 legionnaires in total - were stabbing at each other at any given moment, the rest firing skills, holding shields, and generally being backup. since the first line wasn¡¯t falling, there was less for the people behind them to do.


    ;


    it was starting to speed back up again, as the soldiers started to realize in their bones that they were unkillable. that they could take insane risks, and suffer no punishment for it.


    ;


    that, and their gear was steadily disintegrating around them. i had nothing for that.


    ;


    ¡°sentinel dawn! look alive, non-lethal.¡± katerina barked. she gave a quick nod to two of her escorts, who drew weapons and advanced on me.


    ;


    oooooh, that was a dick move, but i could see her thinking. how good was i at healing when under pressure. could i take care of myself?


    ;


    i gave the legata a one-fingered salute to let her know what i thought of the latest twist on the exercise, then got cracking.


    ;


    i flipped one of my ¡®stare at the fight¡¯ thought processes over to ¡®beat the living daylights out of these two soldiers.¡¯


    ;


    her guards were ¡®only¡¯ level 300, and the call to be non-lethal was entirely unwarranted. of course i wasn¡¯t going to hurt them!


    ;


    i ran down my options as they charged at me, and mentally shrugged.


    ;


    i wasn¡¯t going to beat them in hand to hand combat. yes, i was faster. i was possibly better trained, although they had classes designed for hand-to-hand combat. i was not stronger, and there were two of them.


    ;


    killing them was simple. a [nova lance] through the eye would do it.


    ;


    i had a dozen different wizardry spells loaded into my books that would stop them dead in their tracks.


    ;


    i wanted to just run literal circles around them, but ugh. image and all that. this was the first exposure the legion was getting to me, and i¡¯d gotten the ¡®sentinel image¡¯ stuff hammered into me often enough. the school had been a nice break, a time where i didn¡¯t have to worry every waking minute, but that was done.


    ;


    i had a job now, a home, responsibilities. that also came with some unpleasant tasks, such as beating people with style.


    ;


    just because i needed to look good, didn¡¯t mean i had to leave the soldiers with any dignity.


    ;


    my mind raced as i considered and discarded dozens of options, looking for the one with the most style, and the least amount of mana spent.


    ;


    sadly, this wasn¡¯t a spot for [rapid reshelving] to get a workout. i was willing to bet they both had armor skills, and didn¡¯t feel like blowing a hole in my mana pool.


    ;


    i could use [rapid reshelving] as a delivery system. summon some noxious mushroom or something, and teleport it to their face. they¡¯d run right into it.


    ;


    high mana, low style, and no stopping power. i had a few lethal tricks up my sleeve, and a lot of harmless ones, and almost nothing in the middle.


    ;


    i could wrap them in increasing layers of chains. i could summon a metal stick and trip them. i had a dozen different types of slimes and oozes with various effects.


    ;


    then i hit upon a brilliant idea. i turned to them with a vicious grin as i summoned the right spellbooks out of my [loremaster¡¯s library], instantly flipping to the correct pages thanks to [manuscript mastery].


    ;


    i sent my mana into the two spells, a metal bucket appearing a moment before yellow paint splashed into it.


    ;


    i dipped my finger into the paint, cursing just how stupidly complicated a paintbrush was to write out runically - each bristle on the head needed its own circle, it was absurd! - and got to work.


    ;


    i wasn¡¯t the strongest. i didn¡¯t have an armor skill.


    ;


    but i was fucking fast. i was willing to bet i had twice as much speed as they did, even before my biomancy modifications. when i put my mind to it, when i applied myself, it was like they were moving through molasses. i had more than enough dexterity to twist and weave in impossible ways, to contort myself in knots.


    ;


    i slashed my painted finger against the first legionnaires¡¯s shield, casually dodging the spear thrust from the second one with a laugh. i ducked and weaved through their assault, finger painting both their shield in the front, and armor on the back as i danced circles around them, all the while keeping my healing up, keeping the men and women of the two centuries beating the shit out of each other alive.


    ;


    i had a brief moment of regret that i didn¡¯t take [lady of the dance]. goddesses, that would¡¯ve been a thing of beauty to witness right now. dancing under the blades, finger painting while keeping a hundred people alive.


    ;


    to my untrained eye it looked like discipline was starting to break down, the engagement devolving into an all-out brawl as the heady experience of invincibility was meeting the frustrating reality that their opponents were also entirely unharmed. none of their efforts mattered, and with everyone¡¯s blood up, with so much pain inflicted¡­


    ;


    i was glad this was not my issue.


    ;


    if i was seeing it now, katerina probably saw it three minutes ago. she also saw what i was painting on her soldier¡¯s backs, making a mockery of their skills while at the same time showing off mine.


    ;


    she had the good grace to let me finish my finger painting before calling a halt.


    ;


    ¡°centurion opal! centurion decimus! cease, cease, cease!¡± she roared.


    ;


    the two soldiers sent to test me stopped as well, and i grinned at my artwork.


    ;


    the old sentinel badge, my personal emblem, was slowly dripping in paint on their shields and backs.


    ;


    [*ding!* congratulations! [the dawn sentinel] has leveled up to level 520->521 +3 dexterity, +24 speed, +24 vitality, +170 mana, +170 mana regen, +48 magic power, +48 magic control from your class per level! +1 strength, +1 dexterity, +1 speed, +1 vitality, +1 mana, +1 mana regeneration, +1 magic power, +1 magic control for being chimera (elvenoid)! +1 mana, +1 mana regen from your element per level!]

 Chapter 454 - Breaking and Entering

    the two [centurions] started to yell orders, no longer silenced. the two groups of soldiers slowly disengaged, warily keeping an eye on each other. someone took a parting shot, a high speed rock magically propelled to the face, but i wasn¡¯t in the chain of command, and wasn¡¯t an idiot. my healing was still going.


    ;


    the parting shot almost got the fight going again, and katerina looked distinctly unamused as the [centurions] cracked down to get everyone off the field.


    ;


    she shook her head.


    ;


    ¡°get optio coral. she¡¯s going to want to clean the field. let her know the centuries involved are to be given a week¡¯s worth of combat pay, and everything that coming down from a battle entails.¡± katerina ordered one of the omnipresent runners around her. he saluted and took off running through the tents.


    ;


    ¡°let the [centurions] know that they¡¯ve got tonight and tomorrow morning to do what they need to do. i expect to see them over lunch to discuss their thoughts.¡± katerina told another runner, who saluted and slowly walked out onto the field.


    ;


    nobody wanted to be running into a bunch of jumpy soldiers who¡¯d just been fighting for their lives.


    ;


    ¡°sentinel dawn. i¡¯d like to invite you to a review session. do you have the time now, and a favorite wine?¡±


    ;


    i always had time for one of those.


    ;


    ¡°sure! i¡¯m always partial to a fruity red. don¡¯t mind white if you have it though! lead the way!¡± i said.


    ;


    there was no way they had mango wine here. it was extremely rare in the first place, and this was an army. if they occasionally ended up with exotic fruits, i¡¯d be surprised. same story with apples, and cider. i was extra unworried because i could always smell it ahead of time.


    ;


    i followed katerina and her entourage to a much larger tent, guarded by a few bored soldiers who snapped to attention as we approached. most of katerina¡¯s escort spread out around the tent, taking up positions as we all entered.


    ;


    the tent was spacious, most of it dominated by a single table in the middle. a personal living section was cordoned off in the back. katerina grunted at the pile of papers on the desk, grabbed a chair, and sat down. the standard-bearer sat down with her, but apart from him, we¡¯d shed most of the other high-ranking members of the legion at one point or another. one member of her entourage grabbed some small snacks and started handing them out, along with mugs. he passed a bottle to katerina, who looked at it and grunted appreciatively.


    ;


    ¡°vesontio. excellent. have you had one of theirs?¡± katerina poured herself a hefty mug, before pouring into my mug, then handing the bottle off to her standard-bearer.


    ;


    reed, his name was. i¡¯d finally picked that up from various context clues and conversations. he poured himself half a mug as i shook my head.


    ;


    ¡°i haven¡¯t. city far to the west, yeah?¡±


    ;


    ¡°some members of the tympestshard council will come by now and then, bemoan how terrible the grapes are and how poor, unfortunate humans can¡¯t possibly know better, ¡®gift¡¯ them better grapes, then fuck off back to their woods and crystal cities.¡± katerina laughed. ¡°completely ignoring the fact that the grapes used are the exact same ones a different elf bastard handed over. nothing can change my mind at this point that it¡¯s a few different growers in competition with each other, all trying to see which one ends up being the most popular wine in exterreri or some nonsense.¡±


    ;


    she toasted vaguely off to the west.


    ;


    ¡°may their petty competitions keep us in good wine, and may that be the harshest fighting we see from them in our lifetime.¡±


    ;


    i could drink to that.


    ;


    ¡°to the sixth!¡± reed dutifully toasted, and we got down to business.


    ;


    ¡°i know what i saw, and what i think. sentinel dawn, what was your take on the exercise? what went well, what didn¡¯t?¡±


    ;


    ¡°nobody died.¡± i started off stone cold serious. ¡°that¡¯s a huge win in my books. mana-wise, i barely spent anything. my regeneration wasn¡¯t quite able to keep up with the two centuries fighting, but my pool¡¯s massive in comparison. under good conditions, i could¡¯ve kept them alive until they all dropped of exhaustion. my image is poor for this particular type of scenario, and i need to work on it. something to do with time and experience. your little surprise was unwelcome, but didn¡¯t change a thing, and that last soldier¡¯s sneak attack at the very end didn¡¯t go anywhere.¡±


    ;


    katerina looked thunderous at the last one.


    ;


    ¡°yes, and i¡¯m not looking forward to the attempted murder trial on that one. reed?¡±


    ;


    the standard-bearer was looking like he was having a conniption at katerina¡¯s sentence. he leaned forward.


    ;


    ¡°with all due respect, with sentinel dawn¡¯s presence, it¡¯ll be easy to argue that it couldn¡¯t possibly be attempted murder. she¡¯d just demonstrated that nobody could die. perhaps assault and disobeying orders?¡±


    ;


    katerina waved her hand.


    ;


    ¡°i still want to try it as attempted murder. a topic for another time. dawn, you mentioned that you operate best under sunshine or moonlight, yet you just said you could keep going until they all dropped of exhaustion. how do you handle sunset? what are your capabilities under less ideal conditions?¡±


    ;


    all fair questions, and it hadn¡¯t escaped my notice that the shadows had been creeping across the field when katerina called a halt.


    ;


    ¡°first, i¡¯ve got a passive healing aura. it¡¯s not going to save anyone from massive injuries, but it¡¯ll stave off the worst of slowly being chipped down. light cuts and slashes - and by light, i mean to the bone, missing vital organs - should heal themselves in extremely short order. i have [imbue] and a few ranged skills. it¡¯s not perfect, it''s terribly inefficient, relatively speaking, but i can keep people up that way. lastly, in a pinch, with small numbers, i can just walk up to people and slap them. it¡¯s how i started as a ranger. just running into fights, tagging the rangers that needed it, and running back out again. my skills and abilities have grown since then, but i¡¯m never averse to returning to the fundamentals. my mana regeneration also means i¡¯m never truly out and useless. keeping a single line alive isn¡¯t much, but it¡¯s better than nothing.¡±


    ;


    katerina gave me a sharp nod.


    ;


    ¡°ties nicely in with your request for a full line of batteries, and after today¡¯s demonstration, i¡¯m much more inclined to make it happen. might need to trade with another legion. i¡¯ll set leonidus on it, let him work his magic. you mentioned a poor image?¡±


    ;


    ¡°yup.¡± i said. ¡°i¡¯ve got thousands upon thousands of images across every single elvenoid race prepped, along with thousands of different types of injuries and diseases, and how to cure them. what i don¡¯t have are partial cures. i¡¯ve needed to triage people and injuries before, only taking care of the worst ones, but i haven¡¯t built a full army image yet.¡±


    ;


    i grimaced.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯m also deeply concerned that i¡¯ll get something about it wrong. i forget an artery? i misjudge how much blood is needed? i miss an interaction with my healing aura? soldiers will slowly die, thinking i¡¯m going to save them. frankly, it scares me.¡±


    ;


    my pronouncement had a brief moment of silence, before reed spoke up.


    ;


    ¡°i never got deep into images and how they work, but could you simply subtract minor things you know aren¡¯t an issue out, and gain some efficiency that way? like bruises, or something else almost entirely harmless?¡±


    ;


    i chuckled.


    ;


    ¡°the idea¡¯s good, and i¡¯ll look into it. but taking bruises as an example. that¡¯s when people are bleeding a little inside. if i ignore bruises entirely, that naturally encompasses all internal bleeding. i wouldn¡¯t heal anyone rattled by the alchemical¡¯s explosive shockwave, for example.¡±


    ;


    the standard-bearer opened his mouth in a perfect ¡°o¡±.


    ;


    ¡°medicine and healing is more complicated than we think.¡± katerina gruffly reminded reed. ¡°that¡¯s why we leave it to the specialists, and let them figure out how they do their thing. remember maxlin and the five pigs?¡±


    ;


    reed groaned and flopped back.


    ;


    ¡°please don¡¯t remind me about that.¡± he begged.


    ;


    ¡°that¡¯s why we don¡¯t interfere with the technicalities.¡± she reminded him, then turned back to me.


    ;


    ¡°equipment and morale. you saw the meatgrinder out there, you saw how people were impacted, and how we were a hair away from the two centuries punching each other after their gear was wrecked. got anything for that?¡±


    ;


    i shook my head.


    ;


    ¡°nothing in the slightest. i¡¯m going to shamelessly push that problem off to you. i keep people alive.¡±


    ;


    katerina grunted.


    ;


    ¡°fair enough. that is my job in the end. your fight with my escort. excellent show and display of skill, but are you capable of properly defending yourself if your team isn¡¯t present? if you¡¯re caught alone, assassins come for you, are betrayed, or otherwise find yourself needing to fight for your life?¡±


    ;


    i nodded.


    ;


    ¡°oh yeah. i was in no danger. when i¡¯m in no danger, my [oath] to do no harm kicks in, and kicks in hard. took me years before i got alright with sparring, and even then i aim to fight more like i did now. when i do need to fight? i go straight for the kill.¡±


    ;


    the legata eyed me up and down.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯ll take your word for it. anything else i need to know?¡±


    ;


    i hesitated, unsure if i was willing to extend my trust, knowing i needed to.


    ;


    ¡°you¡¯ve got to have privacy wards. can you get your strongest wards up and around us?¡± i asked.


    ;


    katerina raised an eyebrow, and called over her shoulder.


    ;


    ¡°get me optio petra, and however many [enchanters] she¡¯s got with her on short notice here.¡± she ordered one of the runners, who saluted and took off.


    ;


    ¡°the rest of you, shoo.¡± she ordered with a flap of her hand.


    ;


    the tent emptied out with salutes, and my eyes flickered over to reed, who was still sitting at the table. katerina raised an eyebrow at me, and i stared at reed again.


    ;


    she sighed.


    ;


    ¡°reed, you¡¯re dismissed for the evening.¡±


    ;


    the man took his leave, and a panting petra, along with a few other people, came into the tent a few minutes later.


    ;


    ¡°legata! you called?¡±


    ;


    ¡°privacy wards. your strongest. i don¡¯t want anyone to ever hear or figure out the conversation i¡¯m about to have.¡± she ordered, remaining seated the entire time.


    ;


    the enchanters bustled around us, setting up a number of protections. i recognized a single one, written in melas, and i swiftly memorized the one written in anaconda, spinning out a thought process to try and figure out what it was doing. i recognized almost all of the runes, it was just how it was put together was interesting¡­


    ;


    they finished up and left.


    ;


    i wasted no time.


    ;


    ¡°my curse.¡± i said. ¡°it¡¯s related to apples. i doubt we¡¯ll see many out here, so it¡¯s broadly not an issue, but apples are my bane.¡±


    ;


    i gave her the full rundown, along with what my experiments had revealed.


    ;


    katerina chewed over that, then gave me a brisk nod.


    ;


    ¡°thank you for your trust. i¡¯ll keep it in mind.¡±


    ;


    we made a few more polite noises, then separated.


    ;


    ;


    it was late, it was dark. i wanted to see how auri had done, see if nina had any questions for me, cuddle with iona.


    ;


    i had another job to do first. one last task, and this evening had given me the perfect opportunity.


    ;


    i flew away from the sixth legion¡¯s camp, back to sanguino. the entire way there i flapped up, gaining altitude, going higher and higher into the dark sky. i made it to the ceiling of the world, the great ashen bat that hovered protectively over the capital, shading the city in perpetual night. as i neared sanguino, i took a deep breath, and dipped up into the ashes.


    ;


    i had hours of air capacity, thanks to my dip in biomancy, but i didn¡¯t need it all. i flew over the city, occasionally peeking down out of the clouds to check where i was, and navigate to the next place i needed to go.


    ;


    i knew my destination, and i was starting to get familiar with the layout of sanguino. i paused in the air, high up above the library, and stopped, hovering in the ashes.


    ;


    then at the speed of thought, i dropped [scintillating ascent], going into freefall, and activating the [greater invisibility] rune on my chest.


    ;


    i fell through the air, spending a moment savoring the wind in my hair. the breeze caressing me, the sheer joy and freedom of being alive, free, and moving. the world was my oyster, the sky was my stage, and all the world was a play.


    ;


    i focused as the ceiling of the library rushed up at me, cursing the fact that i was still short of an instant [blink]. this would be so much easier if i could teleport.


    ;


    nobody could know what i was up to. not auri. not fenrir. not nina, katerina, sentinel tyrannus or night.


    ;


    not arachne.


    ;


    especially not iona.


    ;


    with her ever-present threads in the city, it was impossible for her to not know something was going on. as long as she didn¡¯t know it was me, that was fine, and it was clear that she just didn¡¯t care about the vast majority of crime in sanguino. otherwise there wouldn¡¯t be any gangs running around, for one.


    ;


    right as i was about to hit the roof of the library, i teleported a spellbook out of [loremaster¡¯s library], instantly flipping it open to the right page. i summoned a sheet of metal under my feet right as i landed, bending my knees to absorb the impact of going from terminal velocity to nothing.


    ;


    my knees screamed in protest, and i probably would¡¯ve popped something if i didn¡¯t constantly have my healing going.


    ;


    but hey! huge improvement! last time i¡¯d landed from terminal without slowing down with my wings had been at the guardian fight, where i¡¯d broken every bone from my pelvis down, and most of the other ones as well! now, with my improved biomancied skeleton and massively increased vitality, it was just a little hard on the knees.


    ;


    i wasted no time on the roof, lying down on it and [blinking] through the ceiling.


    ;


    i was falling again, but starting over from scratch. it was easy enough to use a spellbook to summon a set of heavy weights over my feet, landing on my makeshift boots.


    ;


    i had good boots and shoes in my spellbook, but none of them would disguise my vibration-profile from arachne, and i wasn¡¯t going to gamble on just using [greater invisibility] to hide myself. it might work, but i was taking no chances on this operation. none at all.


    ;


    nobody - nobody - could ever know.


    ;


    instead of an 80 kg elvenoid with a distinct step pattern and unique biomancy that could easily be traced, i was more like an 87 kg wtf with plodding circle metal shoes. enough of a difference that it should hopefully throw off the scent.


    ;


    the library was empty at night, which made it easy to navigate around. i debated trying to go during the daytime, set up shop in some corner reading a normal book, and using [the world around me] in combination with [manuscript mastery] to read the books i needed to, but no. arachne had a solid sense of what i could do, and she¡¯d know i was close enough to read the books in question. with how terrifyingly intelligent she was, with how incredible her ability to gather information was, it¡¯d be trivial to know i was using [parallel thoughts] to read the book in question.


    ;


    and nobody could know.


    ;


    i snuck through the memorized halls of the library, quickly finding what i was looking for, the book that contained the forbidden knowledge.


    ;


    lithos¡¯s longboats and love-knots: tracing troll influence on matrimonial customs.


    ;


    what was the best way to propose?

 Chapter 455 - Squire Training

    i pulled the covers tighter over me as iona slipped out in the early morning. she managed to extract herself so nimbly that i didn¡¯t get a blast of cold air or anything.


    ;


    on one hand, i wanted to go back to sleep. on the other, i kinda wanted to know what iona was going to think up this morning for nina, plus, i could surprise her by getting something hot ready for her when she got back.


    ;


    it wouldn¡¯t be a great surprise if i instantly got up though. speaking of surprises¡­ spring. spring was the correct time to propose. why it had to be late autumn now, i never knew, but i guess it beat summer?


    ;


    with only a small amount of reluctance, i hit myself with [sunrise], energizing myself better than any cup of coffee would. i shamelessly spied on iona and nina with [the world around me], tracking what was happening.


    ;


    iona snuck into nina¡¯s room, and gave the sleeping kitsune a concerned once-over, making sure nothing was obviously wrong. that she wasn¡¯t getting pushed to the edge so hard that it was showing, that there wasn¡¯t some injury she was hiding that would interfere with training.


    ;


    i could¡¯ve told iona that nina was fine, but this was also something she felt directly responsible for, that she had to do herself.


    ;


    satisfied that she wasn¡¯t about to break her squire, iona took a deep breath and roared at the sleeping girl.


    ;


    ¡°squire nina! up on your feet!¡± she shouted, her voice reverberating through the inn, and i heard a smattering of grumbling from a number of other guests of the tavern.


    ;


    ¡°brrpt!¡± auri started awake at iona¡¯s shout, having a few choice words for people who interrupted other¡¯s beauty sleep. ¡°brrpt brpt brrrrrrrrrrrrpt!!¡±


    ;


    she eyed iona¡¯s chest of clothes menacingly.


    ;


    i mimed flicking auri from the bed, too lazy to actually get up and out of bed yet.


    ;


    ¡°don¡¯t you dare.¡± i threatened the little pyro.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt¡­¡± auri evilly muttered.


    ;


    i rolled my eyes.


    ;


    ¡°okay, yes, get your revenge by feeding nina the tastiest food you can. please. be my guest.¡±


    ;


    we wanted to feed nina as much as possible, and auri¡¯s brilliant idea of revenge was to feed nina some of her baked goods¡­ while iona watched.


    ;


    truly, such devastating vengeance would go down in history, striking fear in the hearts of all who heard of it.


    ;


    i swear the [innkeeper] would¡¯ve already kicked us out if i wasn¡¯t a sentinel, and i suspected after a few more days of this she would evict us, vip or not. yelling at an unholy hour wasn¡¯t endearing us to the other guests of the inn.


    ;


    nina scrambled out of bed at iona¡¯s barked orders, the two of them heading outside.


    ;


    i peeked out the window to see what today¡¯s exercise was, noting that my neighbors on either side were curious enough to get over their unhappiness to look as well.


    ;


    i winced at iona¡¯s morning exercise.


    ;


    suicide sprints. dash 10 meters out, 16 pushups, dash 10 meters back, 16 pushups. then 15, 20, 25 meters, continuing the same routine. it was a punishing workout, and i was glad to be past that stage of my own training.


    ;


    didn¡¯t mean i could slack though. i should do my own exercises.


    ;


    ¡°ready?¡± i asked auri.


    ;


    ¡°brrpt!¡±


    ;


    the two of us shot out of the tavern, heading towards sanguino at top speed.


    ;


    auri had to be up bright and early to start her bread baking, and if i wanted to get iona some sort of special treat, simply grabbing the normal breakfast that the innkeeper offered wouldn¡¯t be enough. that was a normal breakfast, not a nice, hot, fancy breakfast.


    ;


    the gates weren¡¯t open yet, so we hopped the walls.


    ;


    ¡°hey! you can¡¯t do that!¡± a pair of guards hustled over as we flew over.


    ;


    i stopped and flew down to them. i didn¡¯t say anything. i just pulled out my sentinel badge, and lifted one eyebrow at them.


    ;


    they stopped so suddenly i swear a skill must¡¯ve been involved, and shot off a pair of crisp salutes.


    ;


    ¡°sentinel! a thousand and twenty-four apologies!¡± one of them shouted. it was a nice round expression in high elvish, no matter how awkwardly it translated.


    ;


    with that taken care of, i was off again, zipping through the streets to auri¡¯s bakery.


    ;


    hey, she made good stuff, i wanted good stuff, it was a win all around for everyone.


    ;


    it took a few minutes for auri to get started, opening the store, organizing her kitchen, starting to knead the dough and stick it in her proofing ovens. hilariously, arachne¡¯s threads didn¡¯t go all the way into the oven, staying at the edges.


    ;


    i¡¯d be surprised if they were that vulnerable to fire, but maybe sensing the details of an oven wasn¡¯t worth the effort.


    ;


    she didn¡¯t have a decay skill to speed the process up. just plain, simple [baking].


    ;


    shipments needed to be received and processed in, and a thousand little tasks all needed to be done by one little bird.


    ;


    ¡°need a hand?¡± i asked, eyeing a particularly large and heavy crate. the mana requirements to move that had to be rough.


    ;


    ¡°brrpt¡­. brpt.¡±


    ;


    auri didn¡¯t want me to, out of a sense of pride, but she recognized that maybe, just maybe, her life would be easier if i gave her a hand while i was hanging out, and reluctantly let me help her.


    ;


    still, i managed to extract two hot pies out of auri in short order.


    ;


    ¡°how much?¡± i asked her.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!¡±


    ;


    ¡°fair enough.¡± pies as payment for the heavy lifting i did seemed to soothe her ego properly, and i was off, back to the inn, effortlessly balancing a pie in each hand.


    ;


    i was a little disappointed at my strength cratering, but wow, i could feel the added dexterity! it was like the pies were sticking to my hand as i navigated the street, effortlessly zipping by the early risers.


    ;


    i danced past the line at the early morning gate, ignoring the shocked protests. balancing one of the pies on my head, i fished out my sentinel badge, and flashed it at the guards as i bounced out without even slowing down.


    ;


    the guards that saw it snapped to a salute, while the ones that didn¡¯t had a moment of confusion before they were told.


    ;


    eh.


    ;


    i didn¡¯t need all that saluting, especially when it was holding up the line, but arguing with them and trying to get them to change their mind would just be a waste of everyone¡¯s time.


    ;


    i made it back to the inn, slipping in through the front door so nina and iona wouldn¡¯t see me. i slipped one of the pies into nina¡¯s room, then threw down some quick runes to keep it hot and preserved. the second one went into our room, where i repeated the enchantments.


    ;


    then i peeked out the window, curious what was going on now.


    ;


    in the time i was gone, iona and nina had finished up warmups, and had moved onto other training.


    ;


    ¡°high guard!¡± iona ordered, and nina spun the quarterstaff into the appropriate position. iona critically looked over it, and adjusted nina¡¯s pose, gently moving her hands into the right spot before giving her an approving nod.


    ;


    ¡°left strike!¡± she called out, nina swinging the pole in the prescribed manner. iona shook her head.


    ;


    ¡°no no, like this¡­¡± she stood behind nina, showing her the motion again, and where she¡¯d gone wrong.


    ;


    i smiled and watched the two of them with one thought process, as my other four worked on refilling my spellbooks, writing down new spells i¡¯d thought of and replacing my recently used ones.


    ;


    if only this could occur at home.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°i swear to the moon goddesses, if you try to hug me right now, you¡¯ll be sleeping on the couch.¡± i warned iona as she entered our room.


    ;


    she paused.


    ;


    ¡°we¡­ don¡¯t have a couch?¡± the valkyrie asked.


    ;


    i pointed at her.


    ;


    ¡°exactly. bucket of water, downstairs. hot food after.¡±


    ;


    iona gave her armpit a discreet sniff and pulled a face.


    ;


    ¡°bucket of water, downstairs, aye aye.¡± she winked, blew me a kiss, then turned around and bailed back downstairs.


    ;


    nina was already doing her level best to inhale the pie i¡¯d left for her, and iona returned after becoming slightly more palatable.


    ;


    i jumped into her open arms when she came back, leaning into her hungry kiss.


    ;


    ¡°breakfast! goddesses, what did i ever do to deserve you?¡± iona said as she hurried over to the table. i remained clinging to her like a barnacle, nuzzling her chest.


    ;


    ¡°and a show!¡± i threatened as she sat down. ¡°also, being totally awesome is what you did.¡±


    ;


    i didn¡¯t get too many chances to practice [rapid reshelving] - doing things ¡®normally¡¯ was still my default way of moving things around - but i remembered this time! breakfast, straight to my mouth!


    ;


    [*ding!* [rapid reshelving] leveled up! 14 -> 15]


    ;


    we continued to be insufferably cute over breakfast, enough to give diabetes to even the most hardened criminals.


    ;


    ¡°plans for the day!¡± i broke away from our latest snogging session. ¡°can i borrow nina? i want to go back to doing my healing clinic, and without being too delicate about it, she¡¯s something of a native to the area. she can help me navigate what¡¯s going on socially, and it¡¯s a valkyrie squire-ish thing to do.¡±


    ;


    iona didn¡¯t even need to think about it before she nodded.


    ;


    ¡°oh yeah, that¡¯s great. see if you can find ways to level her classes. we need to get both of them to 128 to reset them. i doubt you¡¯ll have any luck with her [mugger] class, but the [illusionist] one? you¡¯ve spent a bunch of time around mirage classers, see what she can do, give her pointers and suggestions.¡±


    ;


    ¡°yeah, i can do that.¡±


    ;


    i reluctantly got up again, this time with the ashen clouds much brighter, signifying a reasonable hour of the day.


    ;


    i popped over to nina¡¯s room, where the kitsune was flopped on her bed. i dashed over and touched her with a finger, healing her entire body - but not infusing her with energy. good for the muscles - instantly repaired for immediate strength gains, but her body needed to know how to process lactic acid out, and more importantly, she needed the mindset to push through physical exhaustion. that, or get a skill to handle it. she groaned and did her best to spring to her feet as i entered, wobbling slightly.


    ;


    i grinned at her.


    ;


    ¡°hey! up for a day in town? i need a helping hand at my clinic.¡±


    ;


    she visibly brightened up at that.


    ;


    ¡°yes!¡±


    ;


    i debated blasting her with water and throwing her a bar of soap, but decided against it. honestly, iona¡¯s bad habits were already rubbing off. or, more likely, she¡¯d never gotten the chance to regularly bathe.


    ;


    ¡°great! see you outside in ten. clean up, we don¡¯t want to scare everyone off.¡± i said as i left the room.


    ;


    nina shot a dark look at the door, and tried to mutter under her breath, vastly underestimating my hearing.


    ;


    ¡°smellin¡¯ all clean and proper is more likely to scare everyone off.¡±


    ;


    ;


    growing up, i¡¯d always wondered about ¡®building character¡¯ exercises and the like. why did we stand in line, when dad could just get us through the line in a flash?


    ;


    i wasn¡¯t the only one wondering about it.


    ;


    ¡°beggin¡¯ your pardon, but we could just skip all this nonsense, ya?¡± nina asked me.


    ;


    ¡°yup!¡± i cheerfully told her, staying right where i was in line.


    ;


    ¡°but we¡¯re waiting anyway.¡± she asked.


    ;


    ¡°yup!¡± i confirmed.


    ;


    i was waiting to see if she¡¯d muster up the courage to ask me directly or not. another growth moment.


    ;


    ¡°if it¡¯s not too much trouble, why are we waiting in line?¡± she finally asked.


    ;


    i grinned.


    ;


    ¡°glad you asked! because you won¡¯t always be able to skip the line, and it¡¯s worth remembering that, and knowing how to.¡±


    ;


    nina groaned.


    ;


    ¡°that feels like the most useless skill.¡± she complained.


    ;


    ¡°waiting in a line? yes, absolutely. handling disappointment and knowing how to be patient? i¡¯ll disagree on that. why don¡¯t you work on your illusions?¡±


    ;


    nina shot me an outraged look.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯m standin¡¯ here in my natural state, everyone¡¯s starin¡¯ at me, and now you want me to practice illusions!?¡±


    ;


    ¡°yup! you need to have confidence in yourself. trying to hide away behind an illusion works once you¡¯re comfortable in your own skin. plus, weren¡¯t you planning on dropping both of your classes for basic elemental classes to merge into your [squire] class? you¡¯re going to be without illusions soon enough, better get practicing now.¡±


    ;


    nina grumbled more, but obediently started working on her illusions.


    ;


    lines were boring, and i wasn¡¯t sure the valuable life lesson was worth the utter misery that queuing was. i let my mind drift away on the clouds, letting my thoughts bounce around from place to place.


    ;


    i was brought back down to pallos by shouting. two men were shoving each other, a hair away from drawing knives, and nina was grinning. a quick review of what had happened made me facepalm.


    ;


    nina had taken my directive to practice her illusions well, and applied them with trickster¡¯s mischief, making it look like one man had tried to pick another one¡¯s pockets, and gotten ¡®caught¡¯. the two were now a hair away from blows.


    ;


    ¡°no.¡± i reprimanded the kitsune, grabbing her ear, twisting it, and dragging her after me.


    ;


    ¡°yeow yeow yeow!¡± she yipped after me as i dragged her along.


    ;


    children.


    ;


    ;


    several messes later - mostly having nina explain herself, apologize, and try to talk her way out of trouble, with no sentinel ¡®get out of problems free¡¯ badge flashes, and we were finally in the city.


    ;


    nina relaxed significantly once we were inside, but i could still see that she was tense, noting where guards were.


    ;


    ¡°you belong here now.¡± i quietly told her.


    ;


    ¡°yea. i know that. i don¡¯t feel that, or believe it.¡± she said.


    ;


    fairly astute.


    ;


    ¡°it takes time. the more you do it, the more you practice, the more natural it¡¯ll feel. no substitute for experience.¡± i told her.


    ;


    in a hilarious twist, she relaxed as we got to the bad parts of town, while i got tenser. she patted my arm with a vulpine grin.


    ;


    ¡°it takes time. the more you do it, the more you practice, the more natural it¡¯ll feel. no substitute for experience.¡± she could barely keep her laughter in as she repeated the exact words i¡¯d just said to her back.


    ;


    i rolled my eyes at her.


    ;


    ¡°yeah yeah smartass, let¡¯s see you sass iona the same way.¡±


    ;


    her grin vanished, replaced by a wide-eyed innocent look.


    ;


    ¡°me? sass? never.¡±


    ;


    i flicked her ear, and soon we were at my little healing business.


    ;


    or¡­ where i was supposed to have my own little healing business. several people had broken in, and had neatly settled into my space.


    ;


    i sighed.


    ;


    it never ended.

 Chapter 456 - The Dragon Triad I

    i put my hand on my hips, staring at the people who¡¯d turned my admittedly unimpressive little store into their home.


    ;


    how did i fix this? how did i gently get everyone out? how -


    ;


    ¡°this your place?¡± nina asked, giving it a critical eye.


    ;


    ¡°yeah. supposed to rent this floor, but people are squatting.¡±


    ;


    really, ¡®floor¡¯ was being extremely generous here. it was the business room at the bottom of a crowded apartment building. even here, arachne¡¯s ever-present threads snuck through the area.


    ;


    ¡°what do we do now?¡± she asked.


    ;


    i pursed my lips.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯m not sure. ask the guard?¡±


    ;


    nina rolled her eyes at me, grabbed my hand, and pulled me to an alley.


    ;


    ¡°they¡¯ll never come. just fob you off with some excuse. only time i¡¯ve ever seen the coppers here was the catch-fire plague ripping through the town. short of that, they¡¯ll never come.¡± nina¡¯s emotions bled into her words, a complex mix. relief and bitterness, disappointment and pain.


    ;


    i was oddly stumped. i seriously doubted flashing my sentinel badge would do the trick here. there came a point where people were so far removed from authority, that authority ceased to have any meaning. the emperor himself could show up, and¡­


    ;


    wait, no, they¡¯d probably leave for him, on account of all the soldiers with pointy spears near him.


    ;


    ¡°you¡¯re the expert, what would you do?¡± i asked the kitsune.


    ;


    i wasn¡¯t too proud to admit i was out of my depth. that she had more experience than me in this area. admitting that i didn¡¯t know something was the first step in correcting the issue.


    ;


    she looked startled.


    ;


    ¡°me, the expert?¡± she asked in disbelief.


    ;


    ¡°yup! you know more than me, and it¡¯s just us, therefore, you¡¯re the expert!¡±


    ;


    nina looked unconvinced by my reasoning, but shrugged it off.


    ;


    one moment nina was standing in front of me, the next a heavy-looking thug was. vicious scars crossed his face, and he wore a blue headband and an open vest.


    ;


    nina was wrapping her tails around her waist under the illusion, and gave me a little nod.


    ;


    ¡°did you up as well. remember to swagger.¡± she said, walking back and forth a few times in the alley to properly get the gait down.


    ;


    her transformation was impressive, and i was reminded that kitsunes were natural tricksters. she swaggered out into the street, and i did my best to mimic her walk, trying to put on my best sneer.


    ;


    if that even translated out through the illusion nina had layered over me.


    ;


    this was fun!


    ;


    less fun was the way people flinched and cowered when they saw us. fortunately it was only a short walk to my clinic, and nina slammed the door open.


    ;


    ¡°alright ya pissants! clear out! this here¡¯s the property of the dragon triad! fuck off or die!¡± she screamed, kicking one person in the face and making a ruckus.


    ;


    [the world around me] was a fucking lovely skill, and i could not get enough of it. i could enjoy the show that was going on without concern.


    ;


    one dude got up in nina¡¯s face, trying to look all tough.


    ;


    ¡°oh yeah?¡± he said.


    ;


    nina grabbed him by the throat, drew her ¡®sword¡¯, and ran him through, stabbing again and again. blood dramatically sprayed the back wall in great gouts, and the rest of the people were already fleeing through the open, unguarded door, grabbing what meager possessions they could.


    ;


    in under a minute, the place had been cleared out. i eyed nina¡¯s work.


    ;


    ¡°blood doesn¡¯t spray like that, you know.¡±


    ;


    ¡°what!¡± she protested. ¡°it totally does!¡±


    ;


    i shook my head.


    ;


    ¡°not at all. maybe - maybe - if it was a decapitation you¡¯d get a spray like that, but not for a stabbing like you did. luckily nobody noticed, and that nobody got ¡®splashed¡¯ with the blood.¡±


    ;


    nina bounced on her feet, dissipating the illusion.


    ;


    ¡°oh! that! no, i planned that! i made sure there was nobody behind the illusion i made, and that the blood didn¡¯t go all over! nothing for people to check!¡±


    ;


    ¡°your blood¡¯s not flowing either.¡± i pointed out. ¡°you¡¯ve got it dripping down the walls - too slowly - but it''s basically vanishing once it hits the floor. the pool isn¡¯t expanding.¡±


    ;


    nina dropped the rest of the illusions, bouncing over to close the door.


    ;


    ¡°fine.¡± she complained, switching the subject to something not focused on her shortcomings like all teenagers did. ¡°what do we do now?¡±


    ;


    i gestured around the clinic, filled with crud that not even the poorest and most desperate were willing to bring with them.


    ;


    ¡°now, my little minion, you get to clean the place.¡±


    ;


    nina groaned and called me names as i chuckled. i was tempted to make a chair, sit down, and read or work on some spellbooks, but no. that would make me a bad boss.


    ;


    i let her stew on her own for a few minutes, picking up rags that were more disintegrated than whole, before hiking up my tunic and joining her in the work.


    ;


    ;


    hard work was good for a person, but there was only so much hard work i wanted to do. once the bulk items were out, i used the jiwa rune for [immaculate purification] to purge and cleanse the room, transforming it from grubby and smelling strongly of piss, to a modest clinic once again.


    ;


    the structural supports of the place were starting to go. someone had carved away at them, and they were going to be a bear to replace. fortunately, not my job¡­ although i doubted it¡¯d be easy to get the [slumlord] who owned the place to do proper, major, expensive repairs.


    ;


    sometimes, it was so frustrating trying to work here. it felt like everything was conspiring against me, making it hard to work here.


    ;


    i reminded myself that¡¯s why i was here. i had unlimited advantages and privilege. i could get out of any problem. i could apply pressure at the highest levels. i could easily defend myself. i had multiple independent streams of income.


    ;


    even i struggled to work here. remove any one of my advantages, and it became clear why the poorest parts of town were hard up on healers - among many other things - which made my presence all the more valuable.


    ;


    i dusted my hands off once the spell was done - more as a show of things, than any cleaning that needed to be done, the rune had seen to that - as nina¡¯s mouth dropped open.


    ;


    ¡°what!?¡± she squeaked.


    ;


    i gave her a grin.


    ;


    ¡°while i¡¯ve got you for the day, interested in learning magic or medicine?¡±


    ;


    nina¡¯s eyes were shining, but she hesitated.


    ;


    ¡°all due respect, can i be learnin¡¯ magic and still be a valkyrie?¡±


    ;


    i nodded.


    ;


    ¡°oh yeah! did you know that iona¡¯s technically a spellsword? her third class has a few neat skills in that direction. the valkyries even had a bunch of pure mages! it¡¯s the mindset, the mentality that makes a valkyrie, not the skills or classes.¡±


    ;


    nina gave me a brisk nod.


    ;


    ¡°alright! yes please!¡± she said.


    ;


    i grinned.


    ;


    ¡°well, first i need to teach you your job here, so you can help me out.¡±


    ;


    nina nodded so hard her tails started to gently wave. i teleported out my big book of signatures, and flipped it open to the third page.


    ;


    the first had been filled out when someone scrawled their name in huge letters, eating up 2/3rds of the page, and the second page had been ripped out when someone tried to do a runner with it. my work here was not exactly off to auspicious starts, and that was before i¡¯d abandoned the place for almost a month.


    ;


    ¡°alright. healing clinic. people come in, get healed, sign their name in my book - more practically, make their mark, most people here can¡¯t read or write - then leave.¡±


    ;


    nina cocked her head.


    ;


    ¡°no payment?¡± she asked in disbelief.


    ;


    i chuckled with how strongly i was reminded of a certain friend of mine.


    ;


    ¡°you¡¯d get along well with amber.¡± i said as a non-sequitur. ¡°but no. i get tax breaks or something per signature. problem is, a lot of people skip out. want to make this place look nice?¡±


    ;


    i blinked, and the room transformed.


    ;


    nothing big. nothing ostentatious. just some simple artwork on the walls - copied from the inn we were staying in - and smoothing over a burn on one wall.


    ;


    i tilted my head at her, and she looked embarrassed.


    ;


    ¡°beggin¡¯ your pardon. but i figure this is the right level of fancy to not attract the wrong type of attention. plus, uh¡­ i haven¡¯t seen anything fancier before.¡± she admitted.


    ;


    my heart broke a little at that.


    ;


    ¡°tell you what. my mentor, night, is still around, and i¡¯ve been meaning to have dinner and catch up with him. i was thinking of bringing you along anyway, and you might get to see what it¡¯s like.¡±


    ;


    i thought about it for a bit.


    ;


    ¡°honestly, in my experience, i think the best thing to have is space. art comes after that, but after a minimal point, a table¡¯s a table. right, we also need some signs outside, advertising free healing.¡±


    ;


    nina poked her head out and back in.


    ;


    ¡°done! magic?¡± she said, sitting down in front of me with criss-crossed legs, looking up with big eyes.


    ;


    ¡°magic!¡± i said. ¡°now, properly, what i think you¡¯re asking about is called wizardry. i¡¯m not nearly as good at explaining the bare bone fundamentals as i am with medicine, but i¡¯ll try. in essence, the system gives skills that let us trace runes originally made by [rune smiths] or [rune masters]...¡±


    ;


    ;


    the first client of the day - month, my treacherous brain reminded me - walked into the clinic. younger man, [artisan - 166] tagged.


    ;


    i gave nina a significant look, and she stared blankly at me. i gave a deep, obvious sigh, and refocused.


    ;


    ¡°hi! need healing?¡±


    ;


    ¡°it burns when i pee.¡± he bluntly told us.


    ;


    i could just poke him and heal him, but everything nina was doing with illusions was getting me in a mood. i made a little [kaleidoscope] butterfly, the golden glow lighting up the room, and [imbued] it with my best ¡®heal everything¡¯ image i had, then sent it on its way.


    ;


    my eyes widened at the insane cost, and i wanted to facepalm.


    ;


    i had to pre-load butterflies with all the mana needed to heal an issue when [imbuing] like this. my full heal included decapitation, among other issues.


    ;


    i¡¯d just blown 100k mana on a simple bacterial infection.


    ;


    i was just not thinking today. i stuck the memory of the interaction on the front page of both my ¡®full medicine book¡¯ and ¡®everything to do with [imbue]¡¯ book inside my [astral archives], a red flag not to make the same mistake.


    ;


    fundamentally, it worked though, and that¡¯s all that mattered.


    ;


    ¡°thanks! please make your mark here.¡± i opened my big book of signatures up, offering up a quill.


    ;


    he wasn¡¯t even listening, already halfway to the door.


    ;


    nina rushed him, grabbing the man and slamming him against the wall.


    ;


    i lifted an eyebrow. impressive, given the relative stat and level differences. nina was almost pure bluff here, and i really didn¡¯t want this to turn into a fight.


    ;


    ¡°listen here you stupid fat fuck.¡± nina bared her fangs in his face. ¡°dawn here¡¯s nice enough to heal without asking for shit, except that you kindly put your name in her little book. now, are you going to do that, or do i have to rip your fucking hand off to make a nice little mark?¡±


    ;


    nina was doing something clever with shadows and darkness, making her look a little bigger, meaner, and feral, sharpening her teeth and lengthening her claws, while also giving the place a suitably dour mood.


    ;


    the dude nodded, nina released him, and i got the fastest signature i¡¯d ever seen before he fled out the door, muttering curses on the two of us.


    ;


    ¡°well. that was effective.¡± i said. nina lit up, her ears flicking. i landed on an obvious, hilarious possibility.


    ;


    ¡°did you just level from that?¡± i asked.


    ;


    ¡°yup!¡± she proudly told me.


    ;


    i snorted with amusement. that counted as mugging someone? well, she had used the threat of violence to extract things from people. good enough for the system, and ethical enough for me and iona!


    ;


    i wondered if we could set something up with some of my friends to have nina ¡®mug¡¯ them. it wouldn¡¯t be perfect experience, but we only needed to get her to 128 to reset her classes.


    ;


    nina looked so proud of herself. i ruffled her hair.


    ;


    ¡°good work.¡±


    ;


    ;


    nina being here, knowing what¡¯s what and who¡¯s who made things much easier, and my big book of signatures was actually getting quite a collection!


    ;


    ¡°you know,¡± nina said as she put her hands on her hips, watching the latest patient leave. ¡°i¡¯m startin¡¯ to see why people make such a fuss over this. this is nice.¡±


    ;


    i made a mental note to tell iona. she¡¯d be thrilled that her squire was enjoyin¡¯ - enjoying - the nuts and bolts of being a valkyrie. it wasn¡¯t all epic battles and thrilling escapades. sometimes, just sometimes, it was about the dull, mundane work that had to be done.


    ;


    things were going well, which meant it was time for things to go to shit.


    ;


    a few [toughs] of the dragon triad walked through our door. the real deal to what nina had pretended to be earlier on, the same idiots who¡¯d tried extorting me before.


    ;


    this nonsense again. i was debating trying to pull a night and seeing how far i could throw them into bloodmoon bay. probably not too far, but if i carried them over the water then dropped them, maybe they¡¯d get the hint.


    ;


    unlikely, given their extra-thick skulls, but i could hope!


    ;


    [warrior - 290]


    [warrior - 256]


    ;


    not exactly the most threatening of levels.


    ;


    the bigger one cracked an evil smile at me, while the smaller one leered. i wanted to roll my eyes at how bad it all was.


    ;


    would that really -


    ;


    actually, yes. yes, it would. if i didn¡¯t have my levels and training, i¡¯d be a little concerned. stuck in a room with no real escape, with two people larger, stronger, higher leveled and better armed, and more willing to do violence?


    ;


    nina, bless her brave little heart, was standing tall, an illusion over her tails hiding how they were nervously swishing behind her.


    ;


    ¡°well well well, look who we have here.¡± little thug lasciviously looked us up and down, trying to strip us with his eyes. ¡°a little healer¡¯s come scurrying out of her hole.¡±


    ;


    big thug held out a hand, cross-checking little thug¡¯s approach.


    ;


    ¡°whoa. prolectus. be nice. we¡¯re here to protect the poor little healer¡¯s place from getting ransacked and destroyed. nobody wants the place destroyed, yeah?¡± he said.


    ;


    nina sauntered forward, with the invincible air only teenagers had. she shot them a cocky grin.


    ;


    ¡°yeah, nobody wants war sentinel dawn¡¯s place destroyed. be a real shame.¡± nina poked the little one¡¯s chest.


    ;


    he grabbed her neck and hoisted her up with a snarl.


    ;


    things moved very quickly.


    ;


    ¡°listen here, you little-¡± he said.


    ;


    i was already starting to move as he lashed his hand out.


    ;


    everyone on pallos was super. it didn¡¯t mean we were all made equal, or had close to the same order of magnitude on our stats. by the time he¡¯d gotten his last word out, i¡¯d flown across the room, gotten above him, and was pointing straight down.


    ;


    [the world around me] helpfully showed what was beneath my target. that my fingers were in line with mostly solid stone, dirt, and a sewage pipe.


    ;


    nina had spent years starving and malnourished. iona and i were working on slowly building her back up to a ¡®normal¡¯ baseline, but it was one of the few things that i couldn¡¯t snap my fingers and fix. it was innate to her system image backend. the only cure was food, rest, and exercise, over several months, just to undo the worst of the damage.


    ;


    it very neatly made nina a patient of mine. not anything i¡¯d deliberately aimed for, nothing like a trap, but she was under my care nonetheless. i could lift a knife in defense of her - and a brute lifting her by the neck, trying to strangle her and snap her spine, absolutely qualified in every single way.


    ;


    i was officially recognized as a sentinel again. clean up and disposal was no longer a huge hurdle.


    ;


    i didn¡¯t want to hurt people. i didn¡¯t want to fight, to kill.


    ;


    it¡¯d be so easy to fire a [nova lance] through his brain, vaporizing the parts responsible for consciousness right before annihilating his brain stem and severing his soul from the mortal coil.


    ;


    the simplest thing ever, cleanly removing my problem.


    ;


    i did my best to preserve life whenever i could. it was fundamental to being a healer, to my own being. it was a significant part of why ochi still tore me up. could i have done better? could i have found a solution that didn¡¯t involve a massacre?


    ;


    i could say i¡¯d tried my hardest there.


    ;


    here and now? i could try quite a few things before resorting to lethal options. there was some argument that it was more humane to simply kill the person, that chopping them up into pieces was far crueler than simply killing them.


    ;


    we were in a world filled with magic. any problem short of death could be cured and fixed.


    ;


    death was the end, and life was important.


    ;


    two [nova lances] shot out from my index fingers, carving through the [tough¡¯s] shoulders like a hot knife through butter, slicing his arms off. the room exploded with heat and light. i¡¯d angled things, and he was skinny enough that i was also able to lop off his legs at the knees.


    ;


    my beams were so hot, so powerful, that the entire operation was completely bloodless. the dude had a puzzled look on his face as he slid forward off his leg stumps, unsure why his limbs weren¡¯t responding anymore.


    ;


    his grip on nina¡¯s neck loosened, freeing the kitsune.


    ;


    i didn¡¯t like killing, and i¡¯d carefully preserved his life.


    i still felt immense satisfaction from seeing nina¡¯s knee squarely land in his face.

 BTDEM Crossover Artwork!

    hey all!


    i saw pirateaba was running an art quest thing and thought "hey, wouldn''t a crossover with a number of pirate''s favorite authors be cool?"


    quite a bit of coordinate later, and a large artwork purchase, and we have the crossover!


    titles and authors left to right!


    jin from boc


    mei ling from boc


    ulvama the goblin from twi


    erin from twi


    (above)


    auri from btdem


    bi d (big d) from boc


    apista from twi


    (below)


    salvos from salvos


    melas from melas (anyone noticing a trend with melasd''s character/book names...?)


    elaine from btdem


    iona from btdem


    had a great time coordinating this, and now artwork for everyone!


    on a posting-related note:


    all posts for the week have been loaded, and should all post at exactly the same time - 10pm est. i''m going to try to have this be a pattern moving forward where all posts are prescheduled and come out at exactly the same time and day every week. no telling if i''ll be able to keep up with it, so no commitment, but i''d like it to be the case.


    also no idea if rr schedule will work exactly the same!


    a little sorry for the double not-a-chapter posts, but as i mentioned i''ve already scheduled all the posts for the week and i don''t want to fiddle with it. post incoming soonish!! no ads on this one because that''d just be cruel.


    also, the new posting time is 4am my time, aka... first post is open and available for those members of the f5 sect who want it!


    cheers all,


    selkie

 Chapter 457 - The Dragon Triad II

    the bigger thug reacted at the same time nina was kneeing the disarmed thug in the face, hand whipping to his waist where he had a sword.


    ;


    i jammed a finger under his chin.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯m [oathbound].¡± i calmly told him. ¡°i can only strike when someone is threatening me or a patient.¡±


    ;


    i gave his sword a significant look, his hand still on it.


    ;


    ¡°do you want to draw that? do you think your vitality is that much higher than your friends? do you really want to test if i¡¯m a war sentinel or not?¡±


    ;


    his friend finally realized that he was a quadra amputee, and started screaming. the [thug¡¯s] eyes flickered down.


    ;


    ¡°leave, and i¡¯m happy to heal him. then fuck off, and leave us alone. yeah?¡±


    ;


    with another thought process, i teleported one of my spellbooks out of storage, and snapped a silencing spell in the general direction of sir screamer.


    ;


    honestly, limbs grew back. no need to make so much noise about it.


    ;


    the brute looked like he was going to say something, and i jammed my finger deeper into the fleshy part.


    ;


    i didn¡¯t have nearly enough strength to actually do anything - but the message, along with the obvious display of a third element was clear. his teeth clicked shut and he did his best impression of a nod, while not actually moving his head down.


    ;


    i was still unfamiliar with [rapid reshelving]. it just wasn¡¯t the first thing i thought of in situations. however, seeing nina nab a fallen coin bag made me think of the skill, and i snatched the brute¡¯s purse off his hip.


    ;


    hopefully nina leveled from that, and i hoped the financial sting would be a reminder to the [thugs] not to try it again. i had no sympathy for people trying to extort us in the first place - turnabout was fair play.


    ;


    ¡°restitution.¡± i said, dangling the pouches in front of the two. ¡°now shoo.¡± i stepped back, swooping down to grab nina¡¯s hand and hauling her back with me.


    ;


    the ambulatory member of the dragon triad grabbed his friend around the waist, and hauled him out, leaving the limbs behind.


    ;


    i shot out a healing-[imbued] lance after the two of them, neatly hitting the gang member between the eyes and restoring his limbs. maybe, just maybe, they¡¯d realize i had a level of accuracy, and i¡¯d taken it easy on them.


    ;


    nina finally spoke, absentmindedly rubbing her throat.


    ;


    ¡°thank you. and, uh, wow.¡±


    ;


    i tossed her the pouch with a grin.


    ;


    ¡°your allowance. don¡¯t spend it all in one place!¡±


    ;


    nina beamed at me, and i gestured at the severed limbs still lying in the doorway.


    ;


    ¡°by the way. can you figure out how to dispose of those?¡±


    ;


    nina bounced to the task with an almost suspicious amount of enthusiasm.


    ;


    i wasn¡¯t sure i wanted to know how to best dispose of bodies in sanguino - and i didn¡¯t want to know why nina knew how.


    ;


    ;


    as much as i wished for the dragon triad to simply go away and leave us alone, we weren¡¯t that lucky. i was getting ready to close up for the day and head back to the inn when we were disturbed yet again.


    ;


    four guards practically burst through my front door, the sniveling coward i¡¯d de-limbed earlier following behind them.


    ;


    ¡°her! she¡¯s the one that attacked me!¡± he said in a quavering voice, pointing me out.


    ;


    my eyes narrowed.


    ;


    [the world around me] let me see in pockets, and while i couldn¡¯t see color, i could see that two of the guards had headbands in their pockets.


    ;


    well. that was an interesting, although not entirely unexpected twist. i doubted i could talk my way out of this. i¡¯d try, but i wasn¡¯t sure.


    ;


    the guards snapped their attention to me.


    ;


    ¡°miss, you¡¯re under arrest for attempted murder.¡± one of the guards with a headband said, as they drew their lashes.


    ;


    they rapidly strode over to me, and i threw a [mantle of the stars] barrier up across the room, cutting us off. i turned to the wall, arachne¡¯s omnipresent threads climbing up it.


    ;


    i left a little hole for speaking, and drew my sentinel badge, along with my personal one.


    ;


    ¡°sentinel dawn here. do we really have to do this the hard way?¡±


    ;


    the same guard spoke up.


    ;


    ¡°impersonating a sentinel? they¡¯re going to give you the death penalty. might as well execute it now, save us a load of issues.¡±


    ;


    the second guard with a headband in his pocket loudly agreed, followed soon by the other two.


    ;


    and i had nina to defend as well.


    ;


    ¡°arachne. i¡¯m trying real hard here not to make a large pile of bodies, and we¡¯re going to have a serious problem one way or another. step in before i start dropping people.¡± i spoke directly to the wall.


    ;


    one of her threads slapped my hand as a dozen more sprang up from the ground, wrapping the guards up in silken cocoons. they fought and struggled, a dozen different skills fighting against arachne.


    ;


    it was futile.


    ;


    i knew from firsthand experience.


    ;


    i did stop a few rocks thrown my way with [mantle of the stars], glaring at the offender.


    ;


    ¡°we¡¯ll get you for this!¡± one of the possibly-not-totally-corrupt guards yelled. he was quickly silenced by a mass of threads covering his mouth.


    ;


    nina was practically trembling in terror.


    ;


    ¡°he¡¯s real.¡± she whispered. ¡°the spider is real.¡±


    ;


    ¡°she.¡± i absentmindedly corrected, getting another thwack on my hand. i tried to slap the thread back. my speed was laughable before arachne¡¯s control. ¡°arachne is wonderful once you get to know her. also, technically my boss. so, your boss¡¯s boss¡¯s boss. boss cubed.¡±


    ;


    nina¡¯s knees continued to shake, and i put a hand on her shoulder.


    ;


    ¡°courage. breathe. we¡¯re fine.¡±


    ;


    ¡°but the spider¡­¡±


    ;


    she reached out and grabbed my arm for support. i started to walk out when a little tendril snaked around my ankle.


    ;


    please stay. arachne wrote out with her tiny threads. she knew i could read them.


    ;


    i shrugged.


    ;


    no skin off my back.


    ;


    nina looked back and forth from the tied up guards to me.


    ;


    ¡°now what?¡± she asked.


    ;


    ¡°now, we wait.¡±


    ;


    i crossed my arms and tapped my foot. i was no good at waiting like this, but i had to.


    ;


    i also had to move. staying still like this was causing me to itch deep inside, like something was wrong by me staying still. i paced back and forth in the unoccupied half, probably driving nina nuts.


    ;


    a familiar face, a familiar team finally showed up, like a million years later. or six minutes later, given how often i¡¯d paced back and forth and how long it took me to pace the room.


    ;


    ¡°livia!¡± i cheerily greeted the head of ranger team gale, waving her over. ¡°so glad to see you!¡±


    ;


    she and the rest of her team piled into the room, absorbing the situation in a heartbeat. they were armed to the teeth, full armor on, shield up and weapons in hand. she saluted.


    ;


    ¡°sentinel dawn. we were alerted that our presence was urgently required here. ranger team gale reporting.¡±


    ;


    i nodded and straightened my back.


    ;


    ¡°ranger livia. i¡¯ve gotten in a bit of a pickle.¡±


    ;


    i gave the full explanation of what had happened, start to finish. three of the guards were getting very, very still, perhaps starting to realize just how badly they¡¯d fucked up. the last one was squirming and fighting even harder than before.


    ;


    the ranger looked sour at the end of my explanation.


    ;


    ¡°this a corruption in the guard case then?¡± she asked, striking right to the heart of the matter. i nodded.


    ;


    ¡°probably among other things.¡±


    ;


    she sighed, the weight of a thousand things to do crashing over her.


    ;


    ¡°do you need my assistance for anything else?¡± she asked.


    ;


    ¡°no. didn¡¯t want to make an ever-expanding pile of bodies.¡±


    ;


    livia saluted, and started barking out orders.


    ;


    ¡°vipon! you¡¯re in charge of interrogation and containment protocols. stone tower. decimus, chandilon, you¡¯re with him. helea. take justina, set up camp at site water. make it nice, eight out of eight, max luxury. we¡¯re not going to be sleeping in town for a few weeks. radagos, meritor, you¡¯re with me. let¡¯s move it people! we need to hit hard and fast, before they figure out what¡¯s going on and close ranks. go go go!¡±


    ;


    the ranger team sprang into action. the first three grabbed the wrapped-up guards, added a few extra bindings before hustling out. stone tower was one of the codewords that could refer to, among other things, stormwatch castle. made sense to base an operation out of there.


    ;


    as for the rest of it?


    ;


    it wasn¡¯t my wheelhouse. it wasn¡¯t my job. unless they came back to bother me more, my part here was done.


    ;


    ¡°let¡¯s close up shop for the night.¡± i told nina.


    ;


    she was out the door like a red shot.


    ;


    ;


    we walked through the streets of sanguino, the ashen skies above starting to darken as the sun set. nina had a bunch of questions about what just happened.


    ;


    ¡°wait, we¡¯re just¡­ walking away?¡± she asked, glancing back, all confused.


    ;


    ¡°yup!¡±


    ;


    ¡°i thought we were going somewhere. like, working on the investigation, smashing the three dragon triad, all that good stuff. why not? isn¡¯t this, like, your job?¡±


    ;


    i shook my head.


    ;


    ¡°sentinels aren¡¯t rangers, and vice-versa. i¡¯m slowly coming round to what arachne was telling me before. let people at the right level handle the problem. first, a corruption investigation is far, far outside of my skillset. i¡¯d bungle it, hard. iona would be decent at it, but she¡¯s got no experience with systemic corruption, and rooting people out. that¡¯s my team out. second, none of us have the right classes or skills. not only do we have nothing to lean on to help us out, we¡¯d get almost no experience for it. livia¡¯s team does. this is the sort of thing that¡¯ll make them stronger. if i handled every single medical problem in the city, there¡¯d be no second generation of healers. nobody to rise up.¡±


    ;


    nina was thinking hard on it, and i decided to give it in blunter terms.


    ;


    ¡°imagine if iona slew every single monster she came across. would you ever get a chance to level? to practice your craft? how could you become a fearsome valkyrie if you¡¯re never given the chance to grow?¡±


    ;


    that connected hard.


    ;


    ¡°ah.¡± she said.


    ;


    a panting messenger ran up to us, and squinted at the two of us.


    ;


    ¡°dawn¡­?¡± she tentatively asked me.


    ;


    i stopped and looked at her.


    ;


    ¡°yup. what¡¯s up?¡±


    ;


    ¡°can¡­ can you prove it?¡± she asked, between great gulps of breath.


    ;


    well. she¡¯d asked for dawn, so i subtly flashed my two badges.


    ;


    ¡°thank the gods. letter for you.¡± she handed me a scroll, staggered over to a nearby bench, and collapsed onto it.


    ;


    i¡¯d finished reading the letter before the second word was out of her mouth.


    ;


    sentinel dawn,


    ;


    your armor and other gear is finished. please come by castle stormwatch at your earliest convenience to retrieve it.


    ;


    yours faithfully,


    ;


    quartermaster harper


    ;


    i eyed the letter suspiciously.


    ;


    this was nothing like how harper talked. not at all. not in the slightest. i couldn¡¯t imagine the bubbly personality writing this. maybe she had an assistant pen it or something.


    ;


    i handed the letter to nina, while absently tagging the exhausted runner with [sunrise]. she perked right up.


    ;


    ¡°thanks!¡± she yelled as she was off on her next run.


    ;


    ¡°time to take a detour.¡± i said, heading off towards stormwatch castle.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°prepare yourself.¡± i muttered to nina as i knocked on the [quartermaster''s] door. i could see harper practically sprinting from the other side.


    ;


    ¡°ohmygosh it¡¯s dawn! like, hi darling! i¡¯ve missed your fab face sooooo much, and i¡¯ve, like, been totally dying to tell you this. you¡¯re just, like, so hard to get in touch with! sit, sit! i know you¡¯ve been, like, super anxious and all? not having your epic armor and all? well, guess what! it¡¯s totally glammed up, and, like, ready for you!¡±


    ;


    harper seized both of us by the hands and dragged us inside, more by force of personality than her strength.


    ;


    ¡°seriously babe, i¡¯ve been working my fingers. to. the. bone. and getting my nails done right? sooooooooo hard. but! i¡¯ve been fueled by my dedication to my bestest bff ever, and, like, gallons of coffee, and it is done. you will totally eat your heart out when you see it. tada!¡±


    ;


    harper made it to my gear on a stand, and threw off the covers with a flourish.


    ;


    she wasn¡¯t kidding. it was a work of art. deadly efficiency was married to beautiful lines and swooping structures.


    ;


    the bulk of the armor was scale, like most of the exterreri elites i¡¯d seen so far. the scales only went to my biceps, but the waist flowed all the way down, turning into a split skirt as it ended at my knees. void-black, as dark as could be, with tasteful red trimmings around each scale.


    ;


    my personal sentinel symbol, the eagle in sunburst, was embedded in the scales on my left breast, while the bat sigil of the sentinel organization was on my right.


    ;


    the helmet was a mean looking thing, all sleek angles to deflect blows, along with a generous neck strap to protect that region. the pauldrons were on the shorter, smaller end, designed to take a blow deflected from the helmet and continue deflecting it away from my body.


    ;


    heavy gauntlets would go all the way up to my elbows, and small ridges on the knuckles suggested they could be used as a weapon. the boots were equally heavy, with extremely generous padding at the bottom.


    ;


    they looked both deadly, and insanely comfortable.


    ;


    there was no cape.


    ;


    harper pulled out what looked like a jumpsuit.


    ;


    ¡°okay, so, like, you were a real challenge. no armor skill? girl, you¡¯re going to, like, get yourself killed! it¡¯s totally not cool. finally, i thought ¡®wait, harper, what are you doing!? if she doesn¡¯t have an armor skill, like, give her one!¡¯ so all the runes work together to make a totally neat armor skill. a self repairing armor skill. like, it¡¯ll never break from being overloaded! took most of the time to work that little puzzle out! be totes careful, the mana costs are way high, and someone, like, totally stronger than you can just rip through it, but it¡¯s better than going out practically naked! this underlayer¡¯s made out of basilisk scales, and should totally help with the joints. don¡¯t, like, try to take hits on it, but it¡¯s better than nothing. boots and gloves use peryton hide, and we were, like, so lucky that the hunter¡¯s guild had some for sale! it¡¯s totally sweet, half the sentinels are jealous that you were next in line for gear!¡±


    ;


    harper continued to give me the rundown of my gear while i studied it closely. i picked each piece up, articulating the joints on the gauntlets, studying the runes on the vest, becoming intimately familiar with each part.


    ;


    i tried to point some things out to nina here and there when i thought of it, but primarily this was the stuff that was keeping me alive - and i had no idea what nina¡¯s frame of reference was to even begin to explain the intricate runes that made up the enchantments on the pieces.


    ;


    ¡°okay! do you want to try it on?¡± harper asked.


    ;


    i looked at nina.


    ;


    ¡°want to help me with this?¡± i asked her.


    ;


    ¡°uh. sure. do you need help?¡± she asked, furiously looking over the armor and trying to figure out which piece she needed to hand to me first.


    ;


    ¡°the underlayer first.¡± i gently directed her as harper backed up, biting her painted nails to stop herself from squealing.


    ;


    much.


    ;


    i could hear a high pitched whine of excitement coming from her direction.


    ;


    i guided nina through what i needed, her face looking more and more perplexed.


    ;


    it clicked for me why she was so confused.


    ;


    ¡°one of a squire¡¯s normal duties is to help arm and armor their knight, or in your case, valkyrie.¡± i explained to her, pointing to the strap on the gauntlet that needed adjusting. ¡°tighter! try to make it hurt! there you go. now, while iona¡¯s your knight, and i¡¯m a sentinel, i¡¯m working on improving your class quality here, and giving you a bit of practice. iona¡¯s got some special armor. it¡¯s pure mallium, so it flows on her mental command. also means she doesn¡¯t need help suiting up.¡±


    ;


    ¡°a full suit of mallium!?¡± harper shrieked from her corner before slapping her hands over her mouth. ¡°like, sorry! don¡¯t mind me!¡± she took one hand off her mouth and waved at us.


    ;


    nina continued to help me into my stuff, getting her first good look at how intricate armor could be. getting practice for when she¡¯d one day get her own suit.


    ;


    ¡°harper, if you really need something to think about¡­ nina here¡¯s going to need a full suit of her own one day. ever designed a valkyrie¡¯s helmet before?¡±


    ;


    nina looked utterly poleaxed at the thought, stopping what she was doing entirely. i wiggled my boot in front of her, reminding her of her task.


    ;


    ¡°you, girl, are absolutely my best friend for-ever! yes, i would die to design a valkyrie set! and for a kitsune! ooooh, dish, i need to know everything to make a perfect set!¡±


    ;


    she paused, thinking.


    ;


    ¡°oh! and i¡¯ll even give you a totally sweet discount! only 250,000 arcs!¡±


    ;


    i blanched at the number, while nina looked pale and unsteady.


    ;


    i shook my head.


    ;


    i was ridiculously well compensated, and a large part of that was because i was expected to gear up my team personally. this was exactly what my funds were for, and it wasn¡¯t like nina was going to be geared up tomorrow. it¡¯d be a few years.


    ;


    nina stepped back.


    ;


    ¡°i think i¡¯m done?¡± she said, offering me my helmet.


    ;


    that piece i did myself.


    ;


    harper hadn¡¯t mentioned there was an enchantment to help with my hair, but the helmet flawlessly wrapped my long hair up into a neat bun as i put it on, preventing it from simply blowing in the wind.


    ;


    i rolled my shoulders and flexed, feeling a half-dozen places where it wasn¡¯t quite done right. rather than potentially embarrass nina to death correcting her in front of harper, i moved at top speed to fix all the minor issues myself.


    ;


    i paused and looked in the mirror.


    ;


    i looked amazing. a little too ¡®dark soldier of the empire¡¯, but damn me if it didn¡¯t have style.


    ;


    ¡°ehhh! okay, okay! weapons and shields now!¡± harper bounded over, grabbed my hand, and dragged me deeper into the armory.

 Chapter 458 - Seize the Day, Mug the Night

    i let other people do their jobs, and a few weeks later, was busy having a grand old time.


    ;


    i cheered along with the rest of the crowd, one hand slipped into iona¡¯s while the other one pumped in the air.


    ;


    iona, if anything, was even louder and more enthusiastic than i was at the events, a harvest festival morphed through the years to a fantastic event.


    ;


    night - nyx in public, when he wasn¡¯t acting as the leader of the sentinels - was much more restrained, simply smiling happily at the events while slowly clapping. nina had started the event looking around wide-eyed in amazement, before fully getting into things, jumping and screaming.


    ;


    the colosseum¡¯s floor morphed, turning into a woodland paradise. trees grew, a little stream snaked through the arena, various medium sized rocks popped up, the whole works.


    ;


    ¡°vampires and humans, mortals and immortals all, citizens and guests, i am delighted to see you all before me!¡±


    ;


    this was a big event, and it was the emperor himself giving a speech. it was a brilliantly done thing, engaging, simple, accessible, and short. bless the emperor, may he reign a thousand years, blah blah blah. more like 128 years, the max an emperor could rule.


    ;


    a cursory glance at history indicated that very few made it that long.


    ;


    ¡° ¡­we have our last event, our most ancient tradition! today, we gather to witness a spectacle like no other, a contest that embodies the changing seasons themselves! spring¡¯s escape!¡±


    ;


    the emperor sat back down, some political hand shaking, nodding, and general schmoozing happening in the vip box.


    ;


    we were content down in the stands with the rest of the crowd. iona was the only one who even vaguely stood out a bit. bless my deception ring.


    ;


    i jumped up and down, cheering wildly the whole time, as a gate opened, and a brown rabbit lopped out of the gate. it was coated in flowers weeping sap, and in theory the colosseum spent an entire year acquiring a rabbit with exactly the right skills and classes to make a good sacrifice.


    ;


    in practice, i suspected that they glued it all to the rabbit if they couldn¡¯t find one in time. i was too far away to tell with [the world around me] one way or another. it was all in good fun either way.


    ;


    [rabbit - 65]


    ;


    high level for a simple rabbit that only lived a few years. it might have its second class, but it could still be in the child stage, hard to tell.


    ;


    ¡°welcome spring! will our cunning avatar escape the jaws of the beast? will spring evade winter, heralding the season by escaping her icy clutches? now! let us welcome the winter! give it up for - aster!¡±


    ;


    the emperor¡¯s speech had been replaced by the usual announcer. there was no way the vampire would give a blow by blow of the events.


    ;


    a second gate opened, and a wolf nimbly bound into the arena. just like the rabbit with spring, the wolf embodied winter, snow swirling around her fur, icicles for teeth, and snowflakes in her eyes. the part of the river she was near started to freeze over, and frost coated the grass around her paws.


    ;


    [wolf - 278]


    ;


    yeeeeeah, this wasn¡¯t going to be a contest. unlike the rabbit, they kept the same wolf year to year, showing her off now and then until her big day.


    ;


    there was a reason they kept replacing the rabbit, and not the wolf.


    ;


    ¡°begin!¡± the announcer shouted, and started narrating the events.


    ;


    i tuned him out as i watched the event.


    ;


    another gate opened, mounds of lettuce, carrots, turnips, onions, the whole nine yards of a luxurious rabbit feast. some clever wind use was clearly blowing the scents into the colosseum, and i could see the rabbit¡¯s nose twitching.


    ;


    naturally, the wolf was between the rabbit and freedom. it started to prowl forward as the rabbit blissfully hopped towards his doom.


    ;


    ¡°is there a scent-related skill?¡± i asked iona.


    ;


    ¡°not directly.¡± she said. ¡°i think it¡¯s a compounding effect from all the ice skills, and [hunting] combined.¡±


    ;


    i nodded and leaned forward to get a better look at the show.


    ;


    ¡°run! run left!¡± i yelled my futile advice at the rabbit, knowing it wasn¡¯t going to do a thing, still enjoying participating in the event in my own way.


    ;


    ¡°hide!¡± nina shouted.


    ;


    ¡°kick her!¡± iona¡¯s advice was particularly straightforward. monster massively outclassing you? just fight it anyway and win! it had worked for her.


    ;


    ¡°pounce and bite, rip and tear.¡± night - nyx - decreed, like his simple statement would rearrange the world to his will.


    ;


    i looked at him with mock-horror. he gave me a toothy grin.


    ;


    ¡°what? am i not permitted to root for the predator, for the inevitable victor? is there some rule that states i must cheer for the prey?¡±


    ;


    i stuck my tongue out at him.


    ;


    ¡°we want you to cheer for a short winter, so we don¡¯t freeze!¡±


    ;


    night laughed.


    ;


    ¡°in a crowd of this size, with all cheering for the helpless underdog, mustn¡¯t some of us take the mantle up for the wolf? for winter? should the poor creature down there enjoy not a single ounce of support, not one shout in her favor?¡±


    ;


    ¡°go aster!¡± nina shouted, instantly converted by night¡¯s argument. she flinched at iona flicking her ear, but straightened up and kept cheering for the wolf. it was all in good fun.


    ;


    iona and i traded amused, proud looks.


    ;


    in such a relatively short period of time, nina was no longer terrified of iona¡¯s disapproval. no longer changing like a willow in the wind whenever she thought iona might dislike something.


    ;


    the event was predictable. the rabbit froze when it saw the wolf, and when winter started to approach spring, he bolted.


    ;


    in some years, the wolf played with the rabbit, making it a hunt, making it a game, slowly exhausting the hare. skills were shown by the wild animals.


    ;


    occasionally a rabbit would be wily, and we¡¯d all celebrate the herald of a short, mild winter, of spring coming quickly after a light snow.


    ;


    this year was bloody icicle fangs and a drawn-out rabbit scream, as aster feasted before a disappointed crowd of thousands.


    ;


    night showed his fangs in a smile, something rare in remus but much more common now.


    ;


    ¡°there is, of course, the additional satisfaction in emerging victorious.¡±


    ;


    i threw the end of my snacks at him. i didn¡¯t even see him move, but they completely missed him.


    ;


    ¡°lunch?¡± i asked him, the crowd filing out.


    ;


    he shook his head.


    ;


    ¡°alas, i have a prior engagement that i must attend to. arachne mentioned that she would like to have a chat with you, when convenient.¡±


    ;


    i frowned at night¡¯s statement.


    ;


    that was¡­ unusual.


    ;


    if susan wanted to chat with me, it was personal, a social call. arranging a time and a place for dinner, or entertainment. a pleasant outing together.


    ;


    if arachne wanted to talk, it was sentinel business. night was on vacation, and breaks were vigorously enforced. arachne didn¡¯t operate by having night pass on messages, she worked with a whole network of couriers to deliver mail and summons.


    ;


    the juxtaposition implied both that it was formal, and informal at the same time, and i couldn¡¯t make heads or tails of it.


    ;


    i could feel iona¡¯s stare boring into the back of my head.


    ;


    ¡°okay! i¡¯ll swing by when i can. i¡¯m assuming her lair¡¯s the right place, and not your home?¡±


    ;


    night gave a curt nod.


    ;


    ¡°indeed. if there is nothing else¡­?¡±


    ;


    ¡°go for it.¡± i told iona. she whispered a word in nina¡¯s ear.


    ;


    ¡°yarr!¡± she jumped onto the bench and menaced night. ¡°your money or your life!¡±


    ;


    given that we were in the middle of a crowded arena, nobody gave us a second look. night raised an eyebrow at me, and i shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°trying to level up her [mugger] class to a reset point is harder than it looks.¡± i explained.


    ;


    ¡°ah, it makes perfect sense.¡± he said, pulling out a single arcanite coin from his pouch. ¡°alas, i have chosen to part with some of my hard earned coin, rather than take your life.¡± he pressed the coin in nina¡¯s hand, who¡¯s eyes flickered with a notification and sparkled.


    ;


    ¡°yes! i hit it! nine levels in one go! 128! hey, wait! your money or your life, not mine!¡±


    ;


    night and i started laughing as nina looked confused. iona just facepalmed.


    ;


    i was glad it worked. it was tricky to figure out experience, and how the system worked at times. the sheer level difference and weight night had neatly balanced out with how little risk there was to the move. at a point, something was so scripted, so safe, that it almost entirely negated any advantages there was to a move.


    ;


    fortunately, a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of experience from mugging night was more than enough to propel nina the last few levels she needed to hit 128. she could finally reset her classes, and start down the long road to 256, where we were hoping she¡¯d merge the two, gain a nice number of stat points, then start her ¡®real¡¯ second class, sitting on a strong foundation.


    ;


    we didn¡¯t let her actually mug anyone, and there was only so much strong-arming she could do at my clinic or auri¡¯s bakery. the dragon triad was well and truly out of my hair these days, and i was starting to become known to the locals. i was no longer the fancy uptowner, but starting to become a member of the community.


    ;


    saving lives did tend to quickly change people¡¯s minds, no matter how distrustful and suspicious they¡¯d started out. still wasn¡¯t leaving furniture there though.


    ;


    i hopped onto a higher bench and slung an arm over night¡¯s shoulders, summoned a book, and threw up a quick sound barrier.


    ;


    ¡°nyx here happens to be from my time, and is literally the vampire progenitor. the original. created by the gods, consummate survivor, literally older than dirt, and one of my best friends. he trained me, and if you¡¯re very, very lucky, he might give you some lessons one day.¡±


    ;


    night smiled. nina goggled.


    ;


    ¡°do not get your hopes up, young kitsune. it is my understanding that you shall be following the most noble path of a [knight-errant], instead of the dirtier work of the sort that i teach.¡±


    ;


    nina cupped her hands together and bowed low, her ears touching the floor.


    ;


    ¡°it is an honor to meet such a venerable elder.¡± nina talked to the floor the entire time.


    ;


    ¡°no, it is my honor to meet such a promising youngster. who knows what you will discover? who knows what ideas you will come up with? i implore you, never be afraid to question. never be afraid to adventure out, to chase rumors. to take a stand when you believe it to be fit. you will struggle. you will fail. life will disappoint you; people will fail you. throughout all that, remember. it is not the events. it is how you react to them.¡±


    ;


    nina nodded, still bowed to the floor, and iona nudged her with a foot. she straightened back up.


    ;


    ¡°thank you.¡± her earnest reply almost brought a tear to my eye.


    ;


    it certainly brought two to iona¡¯s.


    ;


    ;


    we continued with our lunch plans in spite of night¡¯s absence, celebrating nina¡¯s achievement. auri had closed up her bakery, and fenrir was shrunk down to a reasonable size. i¡¯d had a quiet word with the waiter, slipping him a pouch full of coins so nina didn¡¯t know exactly how much we were spending on her celebration. it was the little things.


    ;


    ¡°you¡¯re ready to reset!¡± i celebrated with the rest of the eventide eclipse. ¡°also makes it the perfect time for you to get your biomancy changes. have you figured out the changes you want?¡±


    ;


    nina looked deeply uncomfortable and looked at iona. the valkyrie stared at me.


    ;


    ¡°yes. we¡¯re doing malnutrition, strength, tail length, speed, and fur to start with. keeping the changes small enough to stay within the same species, which eliminates a lot of fun things. a couple of little things that we¡¯re going to keep private for now.¡±


    ;


    i wanted to protest, to explain that i¡¯d gotten a degree in biomancy from the school of sorcery and spellcraft, and that i had one of the best knowledge bases in the world for biomancy changes¡­ but if iona was telling me that they wanted to keep it private, they¡¯d keep it private. sanguino had a dozen or so [biomancers] living in the city, all who were experienced and competent.


    ;


    fine. i¡¯ll change the topic.


    ;


    ¡°last i heard, you weren¡¯t sure what element you were aiming for.¡± i said as the party started to wind down. ¡°have the two of you figured it out?¡± i asked.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!¡± auri predictably, and somewhat unhelpfully, suggested fire. fenrir flicked his tail, sending auri shooting off the table and into the wall.


    ;


    ¡°i do want to play with fox fire a bit if i can ever work it out.¡± nina admitted. ¡°but i don¡¯t see myself taking fire along with mirage long term. it just doesn¡¯t work.¡±


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!¡± auri shouted as she landed back on the table, her face scrunching up in concentration.


    ;


    after a moment of nothing happening, we moved on, ignoring the constipated looking phoenix on the table.


    ;


    life was fucking weird.


    ;


    iona and nina traded looks, and iona tilted her head at nina.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯ve narrowed it down to four elements.¡± she said. ¡°sound¡¯s the first one. a classic pairing with mirage, i¡¯d be leaning in hard on the deception and subterfuge angle. not only is it strong in a fight, it¡¯s got amazing utility outside of one.¡±


    ;


    ¡°the biggest issues i¡¯ve seen with it,¡± iona smoothly interjected. ¡°is that i can¡¯t teach it. it¡¯s far, far outside of what i know, and to my knowledge, there are no surviving valkyries versed in the arts. it also doesn¡¯t hit particularly hard, which is something nina¡¯s been looking for.¡±


    ;


    ¡°okay, what¡¯s next?¡± i asked.


    ;


    ¡°ooze!¡± nina looked way too excited about that one, practically bouncing up. ¡°i¡¯ve heard so many neat things about it! i can give my illusions flesh and weight, making them as real as can be. i can conjure up nasty materials. it¡¯s got flexibility and weight to it, two of the things i¡¯m looking for. i can protect people, i can hurt people, i can do anything with it!¡±


    ;


    ¡°but not everything.¡± iona said. the two of them had clearly spent many long nights discussing the topic. my cold bed had attested to that! ¡°an ooze class that can conjure up a reasonable facsimile of flesh and blood will struggle to also make caustic oozes, or flammable tar. if you pick up a class that does have all that, you¡¯ll lack the physical warrior aspects, and mirage lacks armor reinforcement skills.¡±


    ;


    ¡°it sounds like a solid element. maybe you could merge at 128 instead of 256, experiment with the element, and pick a direction at your last class up.¡± i suggested.


    ;


    if i had anything to say about it, it wouldn¡¯t be nina¡¯s last class up. culturally, most people expected it, and it was called that.


    ;


    nina looked at iona, who didn¡¯t look pleased at the idea. her face mimicked the valkyrie¡¯s.


    ;


    ¡°storm¡¯s next.¡± she said.


    ;


    i raised an eyebrow as high as i could at that.


    ;


    ¡°it¡¯s a look at the fundamentals.¡± she explained. ¡°mirage is going to be one of my elements. from that, i¡¯ve got light and water. i should have a good amount of flexibility. i know i don¡¯t want to be hit.¡±


    ;


    the kitsune absent-mindedly rubbed a spot on her ribs where iona had gotten a particularly good wallop on the girl this morning when her guard was terribly wrong. i¡¯d immediately healed it, but the blow still stung mentally.


    ;


    ¡°illusions are great for not being hit.¡± nina continued on. ¡°water¡¯s got flexibility. from there, i want to be fast and strong. wind is the element for being fast. fire¡¯s the element for being strong. both of them together?¡± she asked.


    ;


    ¡°storm.¡± i concluded. fenrir gave a happy snort, and nina petted his head.


    ;


    ¡°plus, fenrir¡¯s here. should help me with a class¡­ right?¡±


    ;


    i smiled. that had been one of my lessons.


    ;


    ¡°that¡¯s right!¡± i proudly told her. ¡°it might be more focused towards cold and snow than most other storm classes, if you get a visible elemental use in one of your skills.¡±


    ;


    ¡°which is extremely unlikely.¡± iona added in. ¡°downside of storm, you¡¯re not going to get anything particularly cool or neat. just a set of passive buffs, maybe a few active skills that don¡¯t have an elemental manifestation.¡±


    ;


    nina clenched her jaw.


    ;


    ¡°i can live with that.¡±


    ;


    stronger girl than i was. i¡¯d be miserable if one of my classes didn¡¯t have freaking amazing magic to see.


    ;


    ¡°lastly, of course-¡± iona grinned at nina¡¯s outraged growl.


    ;


    ¡°hey! mine!¡± she protested, looking and acting her age for once. a big win, in my book. she shouldn¡¯t have to be an adult yet.


    ;


    ¡°celestial!¡± she proudly told us. ¡°it¡¯s the element the two of you have. iona knows all the tricks of a celestial warrior, it¡¯ll be easy!¡±


    ;


    iona and i locked eyes, and i gave the smallest little shake of my pupils. iona gave the tiniest look of acknowledgement, wordlessly communicating with me.


    ;


    it sounded more like nina was saying it to be nice, because it was what she should say, rather than any true passion for it. unlike how she¡¯d gushed over ooze, she had like nothing nice to say about celestial. no real drive, no strong reasoning.


    ;


    i wasn¡¯t offended. it wasn¡¯t for everyone. there were some elements that i went ¡®meh¡¯ on, that held minimal attraction. i¡¯d only be offended if she did go celestial, and ended up being unhappy with her choices.


    ;


    ¡°i think sound and celestial are your weakest options.¡± i said. ¡°you¡¯d be going down a radically different path with sound, and you don¡¯t sound excited about celestial.¡±


    ;


    ¡°i am!¡± she protested. iona shot me a look that said she clearly didn¡¯t believe her.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!¡± auri finally un-constipated herself and got three glowing will-o-wisps floating around her, conjuring up the fabled fox fire that was a uniquely kitsune ability.


    ;


    the lords and ladies of flames, the keeper of the inferno, the master of fires, phoenixes, clearly could nab it as well. given that auri could generally instantly summon any fire she wanted - divine included - it clearly took some effort to use fox fire.


    ;


    the will-o-wisps flickered, filling the room with an eerie blue light. the shadows lengthened, and the images in the room warped as ethereal singing started.


    ;


    nina clapped her hands with delight, and iona aborted a bonk.


    ;


    ¡°i want to do that!¡± she squealed.


    ;


    ¡°storm!¡± i fake-coughed.


    ;


    ¡°something to keep in mind. whatever you choose, we have the time to take a trip to one of the elemental sites. it could help.¡±


    ;


    ¡°huh?¡± i asked.


    ;


    iona shot me a puzzled look, then widened her eyes.


    ;


    ¡°oh! i¡¯ve told you about them, just not with those words. there are some places in the world that are just weird. the reverse glacier that showed my opposite reflection for example? that¡¯s one of the mirror sites. maybe a mirage site. same with the flame pillars, it¡¯s a fire site.¡±


    ;


    that made quite a few things click for me.


    ;


    ¡°the titan¡¯s geyser. that¡¯s¡­ water?¡± i asked, naming a tourist attraction in exterreri.


    ;


    iona shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°maybe steam? not terribly important for us. what¡¯s nice is with dawn¡¯s job, we could visit the star¡¯s gate in the golden courts, the shifting swamp of draakveld, the valley of mist in rolland, the caves of singing glass in aerie, or maybe dip you into xyris, the living storm.¡±


    ;


    i looked at iona, utterly horrified by that last idea.


    ;


    ¡°but-¡± i protested, shutting up at nina¡¯s interested look.


    ;


    ¡°doesn¡¯t matter much if my skills get all scrambled up, yeah? they¡¯re all resetting, should be easy enough grabbin¡¯ new skills.¡± she said.


    ;


    i massaged the bridge of my nose.


    ;


    that was a horrifically bad idea, but i had a feeling i wouldn¡¯t be able to stop it. all i could try to do was mitigate the damage.


    ;


    having nina go into xyris would indeed improve her storm class offerings. the longer she stayed there, the higher quality she¡¯d get. at the same time, her skills would be constantly hot-swapped. the storm randomly scrambled the skills of everyone inside it. the bulk of the creatures inside the living hurricane were fishes and birds, who randomly took skills offered, and they weren¡¯t particularly strong.


    ;


    didn¡¯t stop some idiots trying their luck every year. the legend of seraphina, the oceanic tempest was a semi-popular one. the story went that she¡¯d gotten sucked in while fishing, and emerged with a [vortex of oceanic tempest, unleashed by the kraken¡¯s will] at nearly 4000. with that single skill, she pulled off all manner of ludicrous feats.


    ;


    of course, when it was only low level idiots and fish in the storm, the odds of getting anything good were horrific. much more likely to end up with [fly] twice, [splashing] once, and three different [peck] variants. both on the class skills, and the general skills.


    ;


    a discussion for another day. when resetting everything, i suppose there was nothing to lose¡­ besides, you know, getting smacked by an uprooted tree and flat out killed. the storm was alive, and had something of a temper.


    ;


    the discussion was on. the pros and cons of each element, each of us having a different favorite, a different pull.


    ;


    to my great surprise, auri was voting celestial. almost all her best friend¡¯s eyes were starry, and she wanted nina¡¯s eyes to be starry as well, nevermind that nina was aiming for rainbow mirage eyes again.


    ;


    i was advocating ooze in the end. passion and love had always won the day for me, and i thought nina should follow hers. fenrir and iona both thought storm was a real winner.


    ;


    frankly, the moment iona let it slip that she thought storm was the best, it was all over. it was more of a challenge to get nina to consider the other elements.


    ;


    ¡°do i just¡­ do it now?¡± nina asked.


    ;


    ¡°yes.¡± iona said. ¡°aim for [page] classes, or anything similar that terminates in the [valkyrie] class. ask your guide for assistance.¡±


    ;


    ¡°make one last illusion before you go!¡± i reminded her. ¡°it¡¯ll be a while before you can make one again!¡±


    ;


    a half dozen nina¡¯s suddenly filled the room, giving us all a hug. an embarrassed nina quickly laid down, before the lights showing a class-up started to dance around her.


    ;


    i snuggled into iona.


    ;


    ¡°sooo¡­ you going to feed me that mango you¡¯ve got stashed away, or what?¡± i asked with a cheeky grin.


    ;


    iona bent over to kiss me, before pulling out said fruit.


    ;


    goddesses, i love that woman.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°arachne. you wanted to chat?¡± i asked the leader of the sentinels, at the center of her city-spanning web, deep in her underwater lair. the woman had style.


    ;


    she smiled at me.


    ;


    ¡°sentinel dawn. i have a mission for you.¡±

 Chapter 459 - There’s no place like home

    i saluted arachne.


    ;


    ¡°forgive me, i haven¡¯t been sent on a mission before. just, the entire situation feels a little unusual. a message through night, instead of a courier? directly to me, and not something with the sixth?¡±


    ;


    arachne gave me a small smile.


    ;


    ¡°good, you did notice. yes, this one is unusual, even by sentinel standards. normally, what i¡¯ve got here is a job for a ranger team. specifically, ranger team gale.¡±


    ;


    she gave me a pointed look at that.


    ;


    ah. the very same ranger team i¡¯d tied up - perfectly correctly and legitimately - on a corruption investigation. it was still ongoing, although the message had been heard loud and clear - don¡¯t fuck with dawn¡¯s clinic.


    ;


    at the same time, i happily dodged all responsibility for tying the team up. arachne knew about it. arachne left it there for the right people to eventually discover and handle the problem.


    ;


    the right people were now handling the problem, and going to level from it.


    ;


    ¡°i wouldn¡¯t normally tap you, but you¡¯ve previously expressed a strong interest in the topic, and the risks are extremely low. i believe this will be a good mission to shakedown your equipment and team. congratulations to nina on resetting her classes, but the timing is awkward.¡± arachne winced at the last part. ¡°that is partially on me.¡±


    ;


    i was dead curious.


    ;


    ¡°what¡¯s the mission?¡± i asked.


    ;


    ¡°you mentioned the [playwright] of taketori monogatari might be from your world, and we¡¯ve found where he¡¯s going to be for the winter. his name appears to be narukami akamaru. he¡¯s at the city of kuri in nippon-koku. given the significant impacts you have had on pallos, we are most interested in recruiting him to exterreri, on the off chance that he¡¯s able to replicate a small fraction of your success.¡±


    ;


    i crossed my arms at arachne.


    ;


    ¡°is this a euphemism for kidnapping? it sounds like a euphemism for kidnapping.¡±


    ;


    arachne laughed at me.


    ;


    ¡°no, my dear dawn, no euphemisms with you. i have taken to heart your direct methods and way of speaking. when i say recruit, i truly mean recruit. i have seen what happens when kidnapping and coercion is applied. it works - briefly. a hundred years or so, tops. without sufficient leverage, it is impossible to make a craftsman perform to the best of their ability. paintings are muted and dull. rebellion is fomented, morale is destroyed, and a rot sets in from within. no, kidnapping and coercion is for only the most dire of straits, which this is not.¡±


    ;


    sometimes, things were all nice, and then i was reminded that arachne and night had founded and kept an empire together thousands of years, helping rebuild it from the ashes each time it was knocked down. that often included doing not nice things.


    ;


    i was reserving judgment. night and arachne had earned the benefit of doubt, and had demonstrated that they were remarkably hands-off in most situations. for all i knew, the last kidnapping had been centuries ago.


    ;


    ¡°you are authorized to offer almost anything within mortal means to draw him to our cause. land, money, citizenship, protection, skills, resources. if he is truly from your world, you have a stronger cultural background to understand what will make him tick, what offers could be enticing. offering to turn him into a vampire is the only matter in which you are not authorized to offer. this does not extend to your own, personal immortality skill, should you choose to share it.¡±


    i gave arachne a flat look, silently communicating how i felt about that. she immediately interpreted my concern.


    ;


    ¡°if you happen to turn him immortal, we will compensate you properly. is the average price that your immortality gems sold for at auction, with a 20% premium for your service, sufficient? that comes out to approximately 320,000 arcs.¡±


    ;


    i did a double take at that.


    ;


    ¡°hang on, how did you know-¡± i cut myself off and facepalmed. it was literally arachne¡¯s job to know stuff, even though amber hadn¡¯t made it back and finished the transaction yet. nice to get an update on how she was doing.


    ;


    arachne gave me her patented all-knowing smirk. i shook my head, focusing on the issue at hand.


    ;


    ¡°right! mission! go recruit the potential dude from earth. hit me with all the details, and i¡¯ll see what i can do.¡±


    ;


    arachne held up a hand.


    ;


    ¡°before i give you all the details, just checking one last time. this is purely optional. if you want to decline, that¡¯s fine, i¡¯ll happily send it over to a ranger team. i¡¯m only asking you because of your stated desire to look into this.¡±


    ;


    i eagerly nodded and held out my hand.


    ;


    ¡°yup! plus, there¡¯s a big mystery, something i can¡¯t figure out and i¡¯d like to ask about. the tale in question that made me think something was up? it¡¯s not exactly huge and famous. yet, it¡¯s been almost 25,000 years since i came to pallos. there¡¯s a certain implication that they¡¯re from a similar time period as me. what¡¯s going on with that!?¡±


    ;


    arachne looked thoughtful.


    ;


    ¡°i have some theories of my own.¡±


    ;


    i perked up at that. she gave me the same all-knowing smile.


    ;


    ¡°which i will be happy to share with you after this mission, as to not taint your own analysis.¡±


    ;


    i mimed my heart being stabbed.


    ;


    ¡°cruel! so cruel!¡± i complained.


    ;


    ¡°speaking of cruel¡­¡± arachne said, clearly enjoying my distress. ¡°it¡¯d be far too cruel of you to leave on a mission, and not even have a home to come back to! your new home should be built tomorrow.¡±


    ;


    i spun off one thought process to analyze what she said about not coercing people, how this whole mission was basically endless bribes to get a potentially valuable person to come to exterreri, and arachne making sure i was putting down roots. there was something there¡­


    ;


    eh, maybe i¡¯d just make iona analyze it.


    ;


    another train of thought continued the conversation.


    ¡°wow, thank you! how¡¯d you manage that?¡± i asked, immediately knowing i¡¯d fallen for her trap.


    ;


    arachne winked at me.


    ;


    ¡°oh, i pulled a few strings.¡±


    ;


    ;


    ¡°what did arachne want?¡± iona asked as i made it back to the inn.


    ;


    i plopped down gratefully onto the bed, leaning into iona as she started to work on my knotted muscles with her rough, calloused hands. they smoothly -


    ;


    i killed that train of thought. i knew exactly where it led, and i wanted to talk business first.


    ;


    ¡°hey auri!¡± i called out. the little hummingbird peeked cautiously inside.


    ;


    ¡°yes, it¡¯s all safe, come on in.¡± i said. the little hummingbird darted over, nestling in my hair.


    ;


    ¡°two things.¡± i answered. ¡°first, we¡¯ve got a mission. i know nina just reset her classes, which is less than optimal. if you want to stay behind, i¡¯ll totally get it. it¡¯s a weird one. a recruiting mission in nippon-koku.¡±


    ;


    iona looked unimpressed.


    ;


    ¡°yes, nobody better to send than someone breaking at least two provisions of the treaty of kyowa, and probably half a dozen minor agreements on top of that.¡±


    she had a point. auri was nodding along.


    ;


    ¡°it¡¯s the person i think might be from earth.¡± i hurriedly added. ¡°arachne wants me to go, due to my own stated interest in the topic. if they are from earth, well, they¡¯re not exactly a native of nippon-koku. it¡¯s not a big, flashy mission of any sort. just, go in, poke around, see if they¡¯re willing to take a stupid amount of money to move back here, and come back. maybe see the sights a bit. no violence, no blood, no problems.¡±


    iona picked me up, turned me around, and put me on her lap. she stared deep into my eyes, and without breaking contact, knocked on the wooden walls of the inn.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!¡± auri pecked my head.


    ;


    i rolled my eyes at her.


    ;


    ¡°yeah, yeah, point taken. i¡¯d want to go, regardless if the sentinels officially sanction a mission or not. i suspect arachne is doing me something of a favor.¡±


    ;


    ¡°she also wants to know everything you can get. it¡¯s not entirely altruistic.¡± iona pointed out.


    ;


    ¡°brrpt brrrpt!¡± auri chimed in.


    ;


    ¡°true.¡± i admitted. ¡°but it¡¯s something i want to do.¡±


    ;


    iona shifted, her stern look becoming much happier.


    ;


    ¡°well! something you want to do is an entirely different story.¡± she frowned. ¡°nina resetting is poor timing. i don¡¯t want to take her, and we can¡¯t leave her here.¡±


    ;


    i grinned.


    ;


    ¡°well! that brings us to the next point! arachne pulled some strings, and our house is getting built tomorrow!¡±


    ;


    iona groaned at the terrible pun that i¡¯d shamelessly reused, then grinned and pumped her fist.


    ;


    ¡°fuck yeah!¡± she grabbed me and kissed me, and i loved it.


    ;


    ¡°brrrrrrrrrrptt!!¡± auri shrieked her approval, then started worrying. ¡°brrpt, brrrrpt? brrrpt? brpt!!!¡±


    ;


    three seconds later, she was shooting out the still-closed window, smoldering embers in the outline of a hummingbird ¡®improving¡¯ the room¡¯s airflow.


    ;


    ¡°that¡¯s really nice of auri to want to make food for everyone. we¡¯re kinda in the middle of nowhere. what else can we add in?¡± i asked.


    ;


    iona had an evil look on her face. it was entirely unnatural, and struck fear into my heart.


    ;


    ¡°help me get a barrel! it¡¯s water hauling time!¡±


    ;


    ;


    the next morning was a flurry of communication and coordination, before the main event.


    ;


    turned out with magic and skills being a thing, the biggest issue in building a house was getting all the material in position. the second biggest issue was getting all the right people at the right place at the right time.


    ;


    fortunately, not my headache. the builders - casa pernoctare - had 95% of that figured themselves, and the last hurdle was showing them where, roughly, we wanted the house built. they¡¯d do a little bit of shifting on their own, for esoteric building reasons.


    ;


    hey, people didn¡¯t tell me how to set a bone, i didn¡¯t tell builders what the best place to make a house was.


    ;


    iona was on the ground, the valkyrie being much better at discussion, communication, and coordination than i was. i was high up in the sky, giving the hybrid tiger-eagle-butterfly eye of things. nina was down with iona, acting as her runner and general errand girl.


    ;


    hey, it was literally what her class wanted her to do. in a twist, she¡¯d only come out with one [page] class - she hadn¡¯t really had the proper prerequisites when classing up the first time, and didn¡¯t have a wind [page] class available, with her second class being the all-round [apprentice] class. she¡¯d get double [squire] at 32, no trouble.


    ;


    casa pernoctare was impressive. they¡¯d basically hijacked the entire road with wagon after wagon of stones in large blocks, piles of gravel, bags of pebbles, mounds of rocks, smooth polished marble slabs, unfired clay, planks of wood, rods of steel, and the thousand other materials needed to build a home, pulled by a mix of mules and nodosauruses. [wagon drivers] looked bored in the mix, a [foreman] was shouting directions, and a veritable army of [builders] were wielding shovels and pastries that auri was dishing out as fast as she could.


    ;


    fenrir was deeply amused by the whole thing, saddled to the fangs with slightly squashed bread and cake. in an unexpected twist, seeing him had calmed people down. maybe their logic was something this big and scary would stop anything else from harassing them? we were a little in the middle of nowhere, and even now the wilderness pressed in on the roads, the grasping tendrils of life trying to crumble and erode civilization¡¯s roads.


    ;


    iona waved to me, and i dove down.


    ;


    ¡°can you mark our proposed road again?¡± she asked. ¡°it¡¯ll be easier and faster than the [surveyor] working out her own path.¡±


    ;


    i flew up again, checking one last time the path we wanted the road to take. there was a nasty little cliff between our proposed spot and the nearest road, and it was far cheaper to simply go around it.


    ;


    with two fingers firing [nova lance], two paths of blazing radiance, i traced the outline of the road from the easiest intersection, up the mountain, and right to the base of our home. we¡¯d already chopped down the offending trees, but nature was undeterred. in just a few short weeks brush had sprung up, ferns had exploded into the light like they¡¯d always belonged.


    ;


    my magic seared a path through them, marking the edges of where we wanted things to go. i flew back up, and got to watch the magic happen.


    ;


    i had to remind myself that this was almost pure physical stats. i could perform brief miracles, but hours long marathons of superhuman efforts like i was watching were the miracle of the physical side of the system.


    ;


    a few of the [builders], perhaps [woodcutters] or [clearers], advanced forward with axes and machetes. they hacked and sliced away at the foliage, killing bushes and hauling large sticks out of the way. one fellow followed a little behind with a pickaxe, looking a little bored. given what the others were doing, maybe he was supposed to smash large rocks?


    ;


    we¡¯d already cleared those out. i guess they didn¡¯t believe us when we said we had, but then again, i couldn¡¯t blame them.


    ;


    one of their only [mages] walked a good distance away from them, and when they were far enough, a small lick of controlled flame went up as he cleanly burned away the debris.


    ;


    ¡°brrrrrrrpt!¡± auri¡¯s shriek of excitement heralded the little phoenix shooting over like a comet. i saw the issue, and dove down to intercept her, glorying as the wind gently held me.


    ;


    in a beautiful display i hoped iona had caught and would draw, i managed to catch auri like a flaming ball before she could make trouble.


    ;


    ¡°auri.¡± i lifted her up to eye level and stared at her. ¡°no. we all have a job to do. right now, yours is baking and giving people food, right?¡±


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!¡±


    ;


    ¡°and his job is to cleanly burn things. remember, other people are allowed to burn stuff as well, and they might be doing something besides just burning. come on. if you want to participate, ask to learn, instead of taking over.¡±


    ;


    ¡°brrrrrpt!!¡± auri shrieked in protest that¡¯s exactly what she was doing!! it was terribly unfair for me to make assumptions about her like that, and it wasn¡¯t lunchtime yet! the snacks had all been distributed!


    ;


    ¡°ooops. sorry! my bad!¡± i apologized and let her go. iona laughed at the whole thing - not in a mean way.


    ;


    ¡°you good?¡± she called out across the field.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯m good!¡± i yelled back, taking once again to the air.


    ;


    the burning mage was an interesting look at a number of my old fire lessons. he didn¡¯t endlessly conjure flames up. no, after a little spark to get started, he was carefully herding the flames down the path, keeping them under control while getting a whole road¡¯s worth of greenery burned. it was an excellent display of mana conservation, one i could¡¯ve taken lessons from in another life.


    ;


    then the army of diggers descended, with three shovels to every pickaxe, with the occasional exotic tool mixed in. they broke stones, then dug deep with their shovels, going through ground far easier than they had any right to, moving more with each haul than would ordinarily be possible. a deep trench that would be filled in to make the road appeared at record speed, five [mages] stomping along behind them.


    ;


    there were no clever tricks here. stone and dirt were heavy, and even with the shovel army doing a fine job of things, the process of making things just right took lots of mana.


    ;


    once they¡¯d gotten a distance away from the road, the first cart moved into position. a layer of mortar was poured, and more [builders] with rakes jumped in, smoothing it down. no [mage] this time, but i did spot the mortar moving in ways that suggested the [builders] had several related skills.


    ;


    the moment it was in place, it hardened, and by the time the cutting wave made it to the clearing where we hoped to place the villa, the first layer of stones were being physically hauled into the road, carelessly dumped on top of the hardened mortar.


    ;


    no skills here, it wasn¡¯t needed. just move rocks from a to b, and it didn¡¯t quite matter how they ended.


    ;


    precut stones for drainage were slotted in next, and nearly all the people working on that were tagged as [artisans]. it was fascinating that they just needed to hammer things close enough, and the stones would snap to each other.


    ;


    bags of pebbles were upended onto the stones, and things slowed down for a few hours. the caravan started to slowly move up the road, each emptied wagon cutting through the wilderness to get back to the main road. the cutting crews helped with that, chopping a path through the trees and helping guide the animals down the treacherous terrain.


    ;


    the caravan made it to the clearing where our home would go, and broke for lunch.


    ;


    auri¡¯s baked goods entirely vanished, and she and fenrir went on a supply run back to sanguino to get more. not that it was entirely needed - one of the supply wagons was packed with the [laborer¡¯s] meals.


    ;


    nobody was turning down free cookies.


    ;


    iona, the [foreman], and a few other people put their heads together as she shared the blueprints that vitruvius had made for us once again. layer by layer, she went over the diagrams again, and an illusion started to form in the clearing.


    ;


    a translucent image of what needed to go where, a handy, almost-impossible to screw up guide to where the [builders] needed to put materials for the [artisans] to work on, and the final location for everything.


    ;


    then he snapped the full illusion of what the place should look like over it all, and iona beckoned me down.


    ;


    ¡°check if this looks right.¡± she said.


    ;


    ¡°on it!¡± i flew back up into the air, frowning at the awkward way two rooms didn¡¯t join together properly. i flitted back down.


    ;


    ¡°check how the bathhouse is meeting the master bedroom.¡± i told the [foreman]. ¡°it doesn¡¯t look right to me.¡±


    ;


    he looked like he wanted to argue for a moment, but i guess having the bird¡¯s eye view of things, and being vaguely polite about it got him to double check things, stomping through his own illusions.


    ;


    i chuckled quietly to myself as he stumbled on a stray rock he¡¯d accidentally masked. whoops!


    ;


    at the spot in question he flickered back through the diagrams vitruvius made, scowling, and correcting himself.


    ;


    which of course meant i had to run back through the entire illusionary diagram, checking every room. this was the final chance to find and fix anything, before it became permanent.


    ;


    i consulted with iona on a few minor things, and some of them had to be that way due to the piping in the walls or floor, and a few were just misunderstandings due to how complex the entire diagram was.


    ;


    we signed off our approval on the plans, and the [builders] got to work, having finished off lunch in the time we were confirming the plans.


    ;


    a small army of shovels went back to work on the ground, a couple of [laborers] started grabbing bags of sand and upending them over the pebbled road, and stacks upon stacks of fitted stones were laid down on the road, completing the construction. it was slow, tedious work, but the [artisans] - same ones who¡¯d put down the drainage stones on the side - had time.


    ;


    everyone else was building an entire house.


    ;


    the illusion of the villa went almost entirely transparent. the brightest and most visible items were the piles of wood, stone, marble, iron, and all the other resources that were needed. the crew wasn¡¯t exactly a perfectly well-oiled machine - people got in each other¡¯s way, tempers flared, and a fistfight almost broke out - but i wouldn¡¯t believe things going perfectly smoothly on a construction site anyway. people swore, cursed, and the perimeter line for the house clearly marked that the rest of the mountain was obviously a latrine. nevermind the real one that was dug and clearly marked.


    ;


    hey, how the sausage got made was never pleasant. such was life.


    ;


    stage by stage, shout by shout, dispute by dispute, the place rapidly came to life. trenches were dug, foundation and piping was laid, [mages] and [artisans] walked along them, automatically fixing and adjusting a thousand tiny things with their skills. then the ground was leveled by hand, shovel, and skill, then the frame was erected. the bare bones of the house were complete.


    ;


    i started to recognize a few people who simply patrolled around, checking that an area was good before reporting back to the [foreman]. then the area would shimmer with the next stage of construction. nice to know there were quality controls.


    ;


    the water cistern went up, along with the physical and magical filtration, and iona helped nina strap an empty barrel to her back, pointing in the direction of the nearest river.


    ;


    i flew up as high as i could, keeping a careful watch over nina on her first trip. she barely had any levels, and right now could use some cautious oversight. just in case. the place wasn¡¯t completely tamed, no matter that all the bustle and activity had scared everything off.


    ;


    she made it down the mountain easily enough, quickly overtaking the people laying the road tiles and the sand. she got a little lost finding the river - it wasn¡¯t obvious - but her ears twitched at the sound of running water about a minute before i was going to dive down and give her a tip.


    ;


    i watched with amusement and a faint sense of nostalgia as she wrestled with the barrel and the river. there was a whole epic tale to be sung there, one girl¡¯s battle against the raging river in a bid to appease her demanding and exacting master. it had failures and triumphs, struggles and joy as the barrel resisted attempts to be easily manipulated, got ripped out of her hands at one point, she ended up almost getting swept away, managed to grab it and swim back to shore, found out she was on the wrong side of the river, worked her way back, and finally, finally, had a half-full barrel. she slung the straps over her shoulder, and started finding the road again, then following the long path back up the mountain.


    ;


    i almost dropped in when she lost the barrel, but was pleased i didn¡¯t when i saw her gaining 4 levels when she finished her first run.


    ;


    she looked like she was going to cry after climbing up the cistern ladder, emptying the barrel in, and seeing just how little it did to the total volume we needed.


    ;


    i came in then.


    ;


    ¡°hey! good job!¡± i told her. ¡°let¡¯s do the next run together!¡±


    ;


    i scrounged up another barrel, then we did another water run together. after getting reassured that she could do this safely without my supervision, i picked up the pace, bouncing back and forth between the river and our steadily growing home.


    ;


    goddesses, this was going to take forever. the water level was barely moving.


    ;


    fenrir, of all people, noticed the issue, and poked his snout in.


    ;


    ¡°no conjured water or ice.¡± i reminded him. ¡°it¡¯s not good.¡±


    ;


    he snorted a great draconic snort, and took off with a flap of his wings. i watched him go over to the river, and utterly blast the hell out of it with his [ice beam] skill. he then grabbed the floating iceberg in his talons, picked it up, and flew it back over.


    ;


    iona noticed, and did a single bounding leap over to the tower.


    ;


    ¡°go!¡± she shouted, and fenrir dropped the icecube from as low as he could. iona and i applied ourselves, getting the ice in the cistern, and not breaking the whole thing as it landed.


    ;


    i had a fleeting moment of pride, before the reality of what i¡¯d done crashed over me, all the implications of my actions catching up with me. i shivered and rubbed my arms.


    ;


    ¡°fuck. the bath is going to be so fucking cold.¡±


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!¡±


    ;


    or not.

 Chapter 460 - To Nippon-Koku!

    it took two more days for them to finish everything up. the bulk of the work was done the first day, and everything after was the fine details. installing doors, getting the windows just right, planting grass in the inner courtyard, sanding the wood, and the thousand and one other little details. it was stunning to watch the whole thing come together.


    ;


    equally stunning was the bill. i knew how much it cost, but actually paying brought it all home.


    ;


    i was at the bank with the owner of casa pernoctare. just him, a [banker], an [appraiser], and a half dozen burly [warriors] as i counted out a mix of diamond and ruby coins, each one worth 10,000 arcs.


    ;


    ¡°267, 268, 269, 270.¡± i said, carefully moving the last coin onto the 27th pile. one of the [bankers] was intently overseeing the transaction, the owner was looking terribly casual, and the [bodyguards] were looking every which way, anticipating legions of [thieves] jumping out of any corner.


    ;


    ¡°every coin is real.¡± the [appraiser] declared, and the [banker¡¯s] eye twitched. of course they were real! the bank¡¯s reputation would get destroyed if they weren¡¯t!


    ;


    the bank was fascinating from a magic perspective. they had something on all the vaults that completely blocked my [the world around me] skill, and every inch was covered in glowing runes. the visible runes were completely fake, illusions coating the real runes. the few that i could read past the mirages were clearly obfuscation runes, and i¡¯d bet everything in my vault that the real runes and security were two or three layers deep, located in a place that not even my super senses could decipher.


    ;


    good stuff. was happy i had my money here. i was debating if our funds would be safer in [vault of the ages], and i was tempted to start splitting my funds¡­ once i had funds again.


    ;


    ¡°pleasure doing business with you, dawn.¡± the [owner] offered up his hand, and i shook it, the invisible chains of debt briefly but firmly binding me to the bank.


    ;


    i made a boatload of money, but i didn¡¯t have it quite all on hand at the moment. nina¡¯s biomancy didn¡¯t help. it was critical, it would pay off over her lifetime, but expensive. felt like a drop in the bucket compared to the house though. ¡®only¡¯ 40,000 arcs. you know, an experienced craftsman¡¯s annual earnings.


    ;


    ¡°same! i¡¯m torn if i want to do business with you again or not!¡± i joked, and the man laughed like he hadn¡¯t heard the joke before.


    ;


    we signed a pair of scrolls, and half the people in the room added their signatures to them. with that, i officially and properly owned the villa. i promptly teleported the scroll into my [loremaster¡¯s library], ensuring i couldn¡¯t lose it.


    ;


    with a skip to my step i made my way over to auri¡¯s bakery, our designated meetup spot.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°can i get another cookie?¡± i asked auri, giving her my biggest, widest eyes.


    ;


    ¡°brpt.¡± she shook her beak, firmly denying me.


    ;


    no shoes, no shirt? that was fine, auri would happily sell me baked goods. no coins? that was a different question entirely, and the answer was clear - no service.


    ;


    she¡¯d spent way too much time around amber.


    ;


    i narrowed my eyes at her, but decided not to make an issue out of it. my purse had been completely demolished, both by paying the construction company, and by acquiring nina a celebratory gift.


    ;


    auri had a steady crowd going through, most of whom were whispering excitedly and pointing at auri.


    ;


    ¡°no way that¡¯s a phoenix.¡± one of them whispered.


    ;


    ¡°totally is!¡± her friend replied.


    ;


    ¡°is not!¡±


    ;


    others were studying auri, and more people were buying her goods.


    ;


    ¡°entirely mundane.¡± one man muttered as he left the store, studying one of auri¡¯s cakes. ¡°not a speck of a skill¡­¡±


    ;


    business looked brisk, and a [mage hand] composed of flames swung by my table. auri dropped off a scroll¡­ and a single cookie.


    ;


    curious, i read the scroll where it was, not bothering to open it. i delicately nibbled on the cookie. om nom nom!


    ;


    ah.


    ;


    ah.


    ;


    the scroll was auri¡¯s financial notes, and the place was not turning a profit. yet. i didn¡¯t mind if the bakery became an endless void consuming my coins if auri was happy, but my little friend was determined to make it on her own. to contribute in her own way. it was a matter of pride.


    ;


    which translated to no free cookies for me. there was some wonky logic behind me funding the gap in the store¡¯s finances, and a lack of free cookies, but i understood where auri was coming from. that was one thing, and this was another one.


    ;


    i had faith that she¡¯d get there. the store was getting more and more crowded every week, and it was only a matter of time before she made enough to be profitable. the killer was the property tax.


    ;


    also, i wanted tea. auri should totally start selling tea.


    ;


    i popped a library book out of my storage, put my feet up on the chair across from me, blissfully ignored a wagging finger made out of flames, and started to read while waiting for iona and nina.


    ;


    i almost didn¡¯t recognize nina when she entered my sphere of perception. only with iona right next to her, giving her an arm to lean on for support, along with the massive lack of nine-tailed kitsunes in sanguino, was i able to tell.


    ;


    she was at least three inches taller to start, and completely reforged. no longer was there a trace of a malnourished background. no longer were her bones criminally weak. her hair was fully filled out, no longer patchy in some places where stress had caused it to fall out. a thousand and one other tiny metaphorical scars that had been etched into her body, etched into the very backend the system used to determine how i healed them were gone.


    ;


    i hadn¡¯t gotten the full details of everything they were going to do, but clearly the two of them had decided that nina had worked hard enough, and the muscle cheat was on. she had to have had at least thirty pounds of additional muscle added to her frame.


    ;


    her tails looked to be at least another inch longer, all bushy and so fluffy. the two of them entered the bakery a moment later. i waved to them.


    ;


    iona spotted me and quickly navigated over, nina an awkward, gangly mess of limbs. like a teenager suddenly growing an extra three inches over the course of two minutes.


    ;


    ¡°how¡¯d it go?¡± i asked, completely unable to hide my enthusiasm.


    ;


    iona and nina traded a look, the two of them silently communicating. iona raised an eyebrow at nina. the kitsune got the hint.


    ;


    ¡°great!¡± she said. ¡°i¡¯ll only figure it all out once i finish growing up, but everything seems fine!¡±


    ;


    i gave her a flat look of disbelief. she could barely stand!


    ;


    then again, i had been stuck in a hospital bed for almost a week after my biomancy changes. people in glass houses and all that.


    ;


    ¡°hurray!¡± i cheered.


    ;


    a small cake, coated with frosting and strawberries, came flying towards us with nine ethereal will-o-wisps burning over them, a [mage hand] deftly dissolving into nothingness as it landed on the table. auri¡¯s little celebration present.


    ;


    her cookie reluctance earlier now made a lot more sense. she was giving us a huge free cake in the first place! okay, amber hadn¡¯t completely rubbed off on her.


    ;


    ¡°congratulations on the biomancy!¡± i cheered.


    ;


    iona clapped a hand on nina¡¯s shoulder.


    ;


    ¡°good job. another hurdle down - and this one will make the rest of them that much easier.¡±


    ;


    the valkyrie sliced the cake up into five uneven sized pieces, wrapping a large portion up for fenrir, and a tiny little slice went onto a plate for auri. nina got the fox¡¯s share of what was left, the ginger¡¯s eyes sparkling with joy as she grabbed a fork and dug in.


    ;


    i shouldn¡¯t have laughed.


    ;


    but it was just too funny when she completely overshot the return, and landed the cake firmly between her eyes.


    ;


    after a stunned moment, she laughed as well.


    ;


    ¡°presents!¡± i announced.


    ;


    ¡°presents?¡± nina asked.


    ;


    ¡°presents! for you nina! congratulations!¡± i handed her the gift i¡¯d prepared.


    ;


    nina teared up at the small wrapped package. my heart sank into my stomach.


    ;


    ¡°problem?¡± i asked.


    ;


    she sniffled.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯ve never gotten a present before.¡± she quietly admitted, and my heart broke just a little.


    ;


    ¡°open it!¡± i encouraged.


    ;


    she unwrapped the present - iona and i pretending not to notice any fumbles - and pulled out my gift.


    ;


    a brush. a brush with about a dozen enchantments to make brushing easier, and a glimmering pearlescent handle.


    ;


    ¡°it¡¯s beautiful.¡± nina¡¯s voice wavered as she whispered her thanks, then she started full-out bawling.


    ;


    iona and i wrapped her up in a hug, and all was right with the world.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°legata! may i have a word?¡± i poked my head into katerina¡¯s command office.


    ;


    the sixth legion was back at its home base, and that meant no more tents. the fort was three quarters of the way to being a fully fledged town, the only thing truly lacking being the chaos of a civilian presence and the desire to expand past their walls. not that it stopped the camp followers from building right outside the walls of the sixth legion in the first place.


    ;


    i¡¯d bet quite a lot of money that this spot would be a proper town within the next two decades, and that the sixth would need to move to a new spot to be ¡®proper¡¯ soldiers. or something like that.


    ;


    what was interesting, and i couldn¡¯t wait to see the reason why, was the sheer number of non-exterreri armor and weapons moving around in crates. a few exotic items here and there were to be expected, but this looked like they wanted to completely rearm the legion in different gear. i had no idea why they¡¯d want to do that. everyone had trained in a particular style. the gear was already harshly optimized over decades, if not centuries or millennia. why shift? why change?


    ;


    also, none of the gear was using the red, gold, and black of exterreri¡¯s colors, nor was the bat sigil present. instead, it was all blue and silver, with a closed fist as an emblem.


    ;


    my best bet was it was for a training exercise of some sort. put team 1 in exterreri gear, team 2 in this new gear, and let them fight it out. make people adopt different tactics, given how often the skirmishes between centuries i oversaw turned into shield falls futilely poking at each other.


    ;


    given my position in the legion, i was sure i¡¯d be told sooner rather than later what was up. need to know and all that.


    ;


    also want to know.


    ;


    katerina sighed as she saw me, the three centurions and one tribune snapping to attention.


    ;


    ¡°since that meeting¡¯s been shot, yes, dawn, please come in. make yourself comfortable. tea?¡± she offered.


    ;


    i was¡­ okay, fine. i was starting to get better with the social stuff. time, experience, and hanging around iona for long enough was starting to get some of it through my head, and i needed to stop denying that i couldn¡¯t do it at all. i was no savant at it, it didn¡¯t come easily, but i had started to get enough experience with it, see the same patterns often enough, to put together rudimentary basics and niceties.


    ;


    like katerina¡¯s tone was like a rattlesnake¡¯s tail, warning me that the correct answer was ¡®no ma¡¯am¡¯ and being in and out like a shot.


    ;


    ¡°no ma¡¯am, thanks for the offer. i¡¯ve got a mission separate from the sixth. wanted to let you know.¡±


    ;


    katerina gave me an unimpressed look.


    ;


    ¡°i know that you can be called on other tasks. will you be back before the saturnalia? next time, this meeting could¡¯ve just been a letter. if there¡¯s nothing else¡­?¡±


    ;


    i recognized a dismissal when i saw one.


    ;


    ¡°i should be back by then! sorry! bye!¡± i dashed out, my newfound confidence crumbling around me.


    ;


    oh no. just when i started to think i was getting decent at the whole social thing, just when i was finding my feet under myself, i¡¯d committed one of the worst sins possible.


    ;


    i¡¯d made a meeting that could¡¯ve just been a letter!


    ;


    lock me up! throw away the keys!


    ;


    but keep the mango supply going.


    ;


    ;


    all of the eventide eclipse had been in and out of our home ever since the construction started. we got to watch it be assembled. we went over every inch of it, looking for problems and errors. most of that was me with [the world around me], and the [foreman] had gotten annoyed at both me and some of the [builders] as i was able to call any corners they cut, any trash that they tried to hide in the wall.


    ;


    not all of the [builders] directly worked for the construction company or something like that? it wasn¡¯t important, the long and short of it was i¡¯d been all over the place already. we all had.


    ;


    but not like this. not all together.


    ;


    not as a family.


    ;


    nina clutched her brush and trusty metal pipe. auri had changed her flames to look like the fanciest, purplest toga. fenrir¡¯s scales gleamed. iona looked like she was on top of the world, and i was clutching the potted mango seed i¡¯d gotten way back when we first made it to sanguino. the odds of it being still alive and fruitful were slim, but i was ever the optimist.


    ;


    ¡°you mentioned a tradition like this?¡± iona picked me up in a princess carry. i clutched my pot carefully, kissing her once she finished.


    ;


    ¡°that¡¯s for when we get married.¡± my eyes twinkled as i stared into hers. she gave me a wink.


    ;


    ¡°close enough, yeah?¡± she asked.


    ;


    i snuggled in.


    ;


    ¡°close enough. onwards!¡± i pointed with the pot of command, and iona deftly opened the door with her foot.


    ;


    she carried me over the threshold, the rest of the eventide eclipse piled in - sans fenrir - and i once again marveled at the place.


    ;


    broadly speaking, there were two sections to the villa. a ¡®public¡¯ half, where guests might be entertained, and a ¡®private¡¯ half, which was just for us. the public half was in a square shape, four small wanna-be towers on each corner, and the central courtyard that opened to the sky. most of our various workrooms were in this area as well. from iona¡¯s future art galleries (okay, fine, that was most of the hallways), to my armory, a training salle and a workout spot, a core room that we would eventually fill with arcanite, to an industrial sized kitchen, spare bedrooms, a chapel, and a dozen other spots, it was the ¡®main section¡¯.


    ;


    awkwardly, nina hadn¡¯t been part of our lives when we got the designs of the place, and she had the pick of any of the ¡®public¡¯ rooms as her own, instead of one of the more ¡®private¡¯ rooms that were more intimate.


    ;


    a hallway offshoot from the main square public area, and that hall was filled with mirrors. auri¡¯s request, her contribution, her zone. it was a neat effect as well!


    ;


    at the end of the hall were two sets of rooms, one to the left, one to the right. the one on our left was the master bedroom. huge walk-in closets, a nice bathroom, the works. on the right was our more private living area. cozy fireplace in a living room, a small kitchen and pantry attached to it.


    ;


    the four of us walked through the place together. nina was gaping at everything, iona was all smiles.


    ;


    my eyebrows were scrunched up.


    ;


    ¡°what is this place missing?¡± i asked out loud, wiggling out of iona¡¯s grip.


    ;


    ¡°furniture?¡± she suggested.


    ;


    i tilted my head.


    ;


    ¡°maybe that¡¯s it¡­?¡±


    ;


    ¡°brrpt!¡± auri suggested, and i laughed. not just at her suggestion, but at how it was right.


    ;


    ¡°we are missing pictures of the glorious you!¡± i said. ¡°i¡¯m so used to mosaics being displayed, that¡¯s what we¡¯re missing!¡±


    ;


    ¡°dibs!¡± iona called. ¡°dibs! i¡¯m calling dibs on the art.¡±


    ;


    ¡°you¡¯ve got dibs!¡± i happily agreed. iona hadn¡¯t gotten nearly enough chances to stretch her artistic muscles recently, and if she wanted to dabble in a new artform for our entire house? more power to her.


    ;


    ¡°this place looks like it might be difficult to clean.¡± nina commented idly. the three of us stared at nina. i got a wicked grin on my face.


    ;


    ¡°why are you all - oh come on!¡± she threw her hands up in the air as i cackled. a proper, witchy cackle. shame i didn¡¯t have my school robes anymore, it would¡¯ve been perfect.


    ;


    iona patted nina¡¯s shoulder.


    ;


    ¡°it¡¯s all part of the deal. that being said, i know elaine¡¯s got a few cleaning spells in her endless spellbooks, and we are hoping to enchant the place so it self-cleans.¡±


    ;


    bless magic, in all its forms.


    ;


    the ¡®garden¡¯ was basically all dirt right now. critically, it was actually dirt, and not just loose stone or other forested mountain floor. with about four seconds of effort, i dug a nice little hole, and planted the seed deep.


    ;


    ¡°home.¡± i said, hugging iona.


    ;


    ¡°home.¡± she agreed.


    ;


    ;


    the second order of business was testing out the new bath. it was deep and luxurious, but exterreri baths all had a similar issue. namely, since the water was almost always in the bath and ready for people to jump in - baths weren¡¯t run the same way, especially with magic helping things out - the pipe from the water cistern to the bath wasn¡¯t particularly large, leading to only a small trickle refilling the bath at any given time.


    ;


    ¡°this is going to take weeks.¡± i hyperbolically complained to iona as i watched the anemic trickle of water pour into the empty bath.


    ;


    iona squinted her eyes at the bath, calculating.


    ;


    ¡°unfortunately.¡± she agreed.


    ;


    i dramatically groaned, and hopped into the empty bath. my feet were completely dry, the puddle hadn¡¯t even made it out here yet. i sighed, and ran a number of calculations.


    ;


    i could try to conjure water, but water was heavy. add in the hefty mana to effect penalty that wizardry had, along with the potentially nasty effects if someone drank the water, and it just wasn¡¯t worth it.


    ;


    ¡°fine, fine. another day.¡± i hopped back out of the bath.


    ;


    i balefully eyed the small pipe that was denying me one of my favorite ¡®at home¡¯ luxuries, before reminding myself that in just a few weeks i¡¯d be singing its praises. just one of the tiny hiccups moving into a new place.


    ;


    better than the basement leaking, the roof missing shingles, rotting beams in the ceiling, or a thousand other issues that could be challenging me at this time!


    ;


    ;


    the sun was setting, and iona headed off to sanguino to light a pair of candles from a temple dedicated to selene and lunaris, the twin goddesses of the moons.


    ;


    i wasn¡¯t particularly religious, although i was trying to brush up on the twin goddesses for iona¡¯s sake. one twist i was surprised at - although i shouldn¡¯t have been - was it didn¡¯t matter what the phases of the moons were at for a consecration. simply that the moons were out. new moons to full moons, it didn¡¯t matter, as long as they were present, and the sky was reasonably clear.


    ;


    ¡®reasonably clear¡¯ was apparently a whole theological thing as well, given the heavy cloud cover on some parts of the world. i had felt myself starting to lose focus as iona explained, and i communicated that to her.


    ;


    fortunately, she¡¯d understood and hadn¡¯t been offended, and what she¡¯d mentioned about the candlelit procession was far more interesting. not the procession itself, but how religion changed and adapted over time.


    ;


    the goddesses didn¡¯t specifically have their own rituals that they demanded. however, whatever rituals people came up with, they tended to endorse. this was something that most of the gods and goddesses of the pantheon did, although a few were demanding and particular.


    ;


    eternity was a long time. expecting people to keep and remember the same rituals and routines the entire time, expecting that life and culture wouldn¡¯t shift and change, expecting knowledge of minute particulars to survive immortal wars was absurd. the most successful gods were adaptable and flexible.


    ;


    they could always descend to pallos and remind priests of what they wanted, or make a decree, or just flat-out chat with people to remind them.


    ;


    but it didn¡¯t matter too much. they got divine juice or faith just the same from a ritual. it didn¡¯t have to be the ritual.


    ;


    in other words, it was performing the ritual, not the contents of the ritual, that was important.


    ;


    for iona, consecrating our chapel to the moon goddesses was a big deal. even auri wasn¡¯t cracking jokes or fooling around. nina looked like the biomancer who¡¯d done her work had shoved a large rod somewhere deeply unpleasant.


    ;


    fenrir was shrunk down, and the four of us waited by the open front door. we¡¯d opened the rest of the doors from here to the chapel so there¡¯d be no awkward ¡®hang on, pause while i get the door¡¯ during the procession.


    ;


    then, we waited. the seriousness of the event was the only thing helping me keep still, no matter how boring it was. i redirected every urge to fidget at iona¡¯s serious face as she left, almost fully clad in armor, to the temple.


    ;


    thus, we waited. waited while iona slowly trekked from sanguino to here on foot, slowly and solemnly walking the whole way with two flickering candles. by a small miracle - a proper miracle with a capital m - one flame would be blue, and the other flame would be yellow, no matter what the candles were made out of. faith fueled it.


    ;


    in a fun twist, iona was one of the very rare people capable of performing the entire ritual on her own. it called for both a priest, and protection. the protection could be anything - even the locals walking around the priest carrying the lights. as a [paladin], iona counted as both.


    ;


    hours passed. the moons rose, three-quarters full, and slowly marched across the sky. they started to fall back down to the horizon, and i was beginning to worry that iona wouldn¡¯t make it in time.


    ;


    i didn¡¯t have the nerve to ask what would happen if iona ¡®failed¡¯ to consecrate the chapel in time.


    ;


    hours and hours later - the walk wasn¡¯t a short one - i spotted the flames flickering through the trees. i sharpened my focus, my chimeric eyes able to pick out the details.


    ;


    iona was calm and serene, placing every foot exactly where it belonged, moving so smoothly it was like she was gliding. a small procession was behind her, other faithful of the twin goddesses who¡¯d taken the opportunity to participate. a minute later i could hear her softly humming hymns. it was both harder and easier once i could see and hear her. on one hand, the finish line was approaching. she was almost here. i could directly see her face, hear her voice, and remind myself of the importance of what we were doing to every impulsive urge i had.


    ;


    ignoring all the spiritual importance for a second, this would be good for a level or two in her [paladin] class. probably only one. it was a small chapel, one person, and she had a solid number of levels as a [paladin] already. every level was a level, no reason to complain about it only being one for a safe, relatively short activity.


    ;


    on the other, dear gods, she walked so slowly. it was almost causing me physical pain. i knew she could cross the distance in half a minute, if not faster. instead, i got to watch her walk for 90 minutes.


    ;


    i distracted myself by how nice it was watching her walk. i¡¯m pretty sure the goddesses would approve of my thoughts.


    ;


    it was their moment, i sent them a little prayer.


    ;


    hey!


    ;


    consecrating a chapel to you! hope you like it!


    give iona a lot of credit for this one, she deserves it!


    ;


    i swear i might¡¯ve felt a slight brush at the edge of my consciousness after sending the prayer up. i did notice that the goddesses took a tribute of mana.


    ;


    eh, i wasn¡¯t using it, sure, they could have it.


    ;


    at last iona finished coming up the road, we silently fell in around her, acting as a sort of honor guard. iona switched from humming, to singing the hymns. i¡¯d already memorized them, but it wasn¡¯t right for me to sing or hum them with iona without my ¡®counterpart¡¯ also singing them. auri had a single word, fenrir¡¯s singing was more growling, and nina didn¡¯t know the tunes yet.


    ;


    so i progressed in silence. most of the others trailing along with iona did know the right words and songs - frankly, i was surprised that one person didn¡¯t know, it wasn¡¯t the average follower who joined a procession like this - and with some minor fanfare, we all entered our home.


    ;


    the moonlight came down as we crossed the central garden, creating a vague illusion of arches that we passed through. maybe a small miracle, maybe a coincidence.


    ;


    we entered the chapel, the altar already draped with blue and yellow cloth. the four of us spread out in the back, with only a bit of awkward shuffling.


    ;


    we hadn¡¯t exactly gotten a chance to rehearse or practice this.


    ;


    iona made it to the altar, and bent her head.


    ;


    ¡°by the light and grace of the twin moons, we call upon thee, the two-as-one, the one-as-two, o divine¡­¡± iona started her prayer out loud, lighting the candles with the two oddly-colored flames.


    ;


    as the candles touched the sacred torches on the altar, the flames ¡®leapt¡¯ from one to the other, entirely abandoning the devices used to bring them here.


    ;


    magic. with a capital m. gifts of the divine, outside of the system. if i didn¡¯t have so many other things going on, if i wasn¡¯t trying to study wizardry as well, i¡¯d be sorely tempted to delve into the divine mysteries.


    ;


    that, and i just didn¡¯t really feel a strong connection with any god or goddess. transactional faith did sort of work, but¡­ i was kinda busy. i did try to pray to the moon goddesses now and then, but it didn¡¯t click for me the way it did for iona.


    ;


    once she no longer needed to carry the sacred flames, iona took a knee to the altar, which i remembered was a big deal for her. there were only three people she¡¯d kneel to in her life - her mentor, her gods, and her lover.


    ;


    the ritual continued. elixirs that had been left to soak in the moonlight were sipped and passed around, the cups never emptying. incense was burned, somehow invoking the smell of the moon. i had no idea what the moon smelled like before then. ethereal voices joined in the chants.


    ;


    then at the climax, the consecration itself, i felt a surge of divine power, of a presence filling the room. a single feather fell from the ceiling, gently kissing iona.


    ;


    my heart melted at the smile of peace and contentment on her face.


    ;


    ;


    there was a knock on the bedroom door. [rapid reshelving] instantly hid the ties, and i used the skill again to instantly get dressed.


    ;


    [*ding!* [rapid reshelving] leveled up! 19 ->20]


    ;


    ugh. fine. a level was a level, and i guess this was stressful.


    ;


    ¡°come in!¡± iona called out. really, there was only one person it could be.


    ;


    nina poked her head in.


    ;


    ¡°iona. elaine. um. can you come to the garden please?¡± she asked.


    ;


    ¡°yeah!¡± i hopped out of bed, and we all made our way to the garden. the moons were out, lidded at half-full like the great dragon herself was blinking. the stars were twinkling, and goddesses, it was good to see the night sky again, instead of eternal ash.


    ;


    fenrir and auri were already in the hortus.


    ;


    nina stood near my buried mango seed, taking a deep breath. she spun round to us, and lifted a hand.


    ;


    i swear upon my honor and the light that guides me, to serve justice unwaveringly.


    i pledge to protect the innocent, to vanquish evil, and to uphold the virtues of righteousness.


    with every breath, i shall strive to be a beacon of hope and a shield against darkness.


    i dedicate my sword and my heart to the cause of righteousness, bringing light to the world.


    in the face of adversity, i shall remain resolute, unwavering in my devotion to the path of righteousness.


    i vow to uphold the sacred laws, to defend the weak, and to be a champion for the voiceless.


    i bind my soul to the pursuit of truth and virtue, forsaking personal gain for the greater good.


    through courage and compassion, i shall be a source of inspiration and strength for those in need.


    i solemnly swear to confront the darkness within and without, never succumbing to its temptations.


    ;


    wow. that was quite a bit more high-brow than i was expecting from nina - and using significantly more complex language. made me think she was cribbing hard from other [oaths].


    ;


    nina¡¯s face slowly fell as her words finished echoing off the walls. her ears wilted, turning down, and her tails went down. a minute passed. her fist clenched, and she started to hyperventilate, eyes darting frantically around. her lips moved in a silent prayer. then two.


    ;


    she started to tremble as she looked at iona.


    ;


    ¡°i - i didn¡¯t get the skill.¡± she sniffed, hiccuping through the statement, fighting the tears.


    ;


    iona smiled, took two steps forward and wrapped nina in a hug.


    ;


    ¡°hey, hey, shhhh, it¡¯s okay.¡± she reassured the teenager. ¡°it just meant it wasn¡¯t right for you. that you didn¡¯t believe it deep in your heart.¡±


    ;


    ¡°but i want to!¡± nina exploded. ¡°i want to believe that! i want to be a good valkyrie! isn¡¯t that what it¡¯s all about?¡±


    ;


    ¡°there¡¯s more than one path.¡± i said. ¡°more than one way. that one sounded like, what, the [oath of the righteous paladin]? maybe yours is more the [sworn vengeance of the wrathful valkyrie]. give it time. wait to see what clicks with you. what resonates. what you believe, deep down, is right. there¡¯s no rush.¡± i did my best to reassure nina that everything was alright.


    ;


    ¡°you¡¯re not going to kick me out?¡± nina asked, looking up at iona with big eyes.


    ;


    i punched my girlfriend in the arm.


    ;


    ¡°if she does, she¡¯s sleeping in the garden, and you¡¯re always welcome to live here. alright?¡± i said.


    ;


    iona shook her head.


    ;


    ¡°never.¡± she reassured nina. ¡°many valkyries never even take a [vow]. it¡¯s not required.¡±


    ;


    with a lot more reassurance, we finally all made it to bed. just in time for the sun to start peeking over the horizon.


    ;


    not exactly the most auspicious start to my first mission, which we were leaving for in the morning.


    ;


    uh.


    ;


    which was now-ish.


    ;


    ==============================


    ;


    i was both ready and not ready at the same time to go on the mission to nippon-koku. in the end, i went with the old reliable just do it, and i left with iona and fenrir after packing several dozen different knick-knacks in my [vault of ages]. if i wasn¡¯t careful, i¡¯d spend years prepping the [vault] before actually doing anything with it. auri wanted to keep working on her bakery, and she was keeping an eye on nina, who was just a little too low level right now. the mission was a little too far from the valkyrie¡¯s normal mandate for her squire to get solid experience, while being on her own, looking after the place was.


    ;


    the system was fucking weird at times. i was sure that soon enough it would swing back round, where sweeping the floor would make nina swing a mace harder or some other ridiculous nonsense.


    ;


    heck, i wasn¡¯t thinking weird enough. probably something like drinking milk making her illusions more solid, or smelling the flowers improving her armor.


    ;


    the two of them were tasked with not burning the place down, and settling in.


    ;


    the three of us were soaring over the sea of stars, chatting.


    ;


    ¡°let¡¯s take a wide detour south.¡± i said. iona tugged on the reins, and fenrir obligingly turned south.


    ;


    ¡°why¡¯s that?¡± iona asked.


    ;


    ¡°there¡¯s an island roughly in the direction we were heading that might go boom.¡± i explained. ¡°there¡¯s a void mage experimenting there.¡±


    ;


    iona shuddered.


    ;


    ¡°i was so much happier before i knew that. how do you think nina and auri are holding up?¡±


    ;


    ¡°oh, they¡¯re fine!¡± i reassured her. iona looked all strong and stoic in front of nina, and couldn¡¯t stop worrying the moment she was out of sight. ¡°i¡¯m really impressed with how quickly you managed to teach nina to read!¡±


    ;


    iona froze.


    ;


    i twisted my neck around like an owl.


    ;


    ¡°you¡­ you haven¡¯t taught her to read at all, have you?¡± i asked, a little accusatory.


    ;


    ¡°whoops.¡± iona said. i smacked my forehead. real hard to do with my neck twisted all around.


    ;


    ¡°how is she going to talk with auri!?¡±

 Chapter 461 - Interlude - Nina - Communication

    nina finished waving iona off. on one hand, she was sad to see the valkyrie go, but on the other, it was almost a relief. a break from the constant training. a moment to rest.


    ;


    nina had spent years on the streets, often alone. having other people constantly near her grated on her in a way that was hard to properly define. she didn¡¯t have good words for it - it was simply comfortable being alone for a bit.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt?¡± auri fluttered up and perched on her shoulder, trilling her high pitched birdsong.


    ;


    nina stared blankly at the bird. she didn¡¯t have elaine¡¯s innate ability to understand auri, iona¡¯s blessing for all languages, or even the bond that fenrir and auri seemed to share, letting them talk.


    ;


    it was just noise to her.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯m sorry, i¡¯m not elaine. i have no idea what you¡¯re sayin¡¯.¡± she explained to the bird. auri could understand her at least.


    ;


    the bird rolled her eyes at nina. the squire wanted to sass auri back - old street instincts, combined with auri being a tiny bird - but good sense won out.


    ;


    flaming squiggles appeared around the phoenix. words, nina knew. she just couldn¡¯t read any of them.


    ;


    ¡°i can¡¯t read!¡± she snapped at auri, perhaps a little meaner than she¡¯d intended.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!¡± the bird said, then a series of flames dotted a path between them, and the villa¡¯s entrance. four flaming hands, each one on a different side of the door, pointed a single finger at the door. the hands moved back and forth, making it incredibly, blindingly obvious what auri was trying to say.


    ;


    nina followed the path back inside, faced with the huge, empty house.


    ;


    now what?


    ;


    there were no neighbors. no desperate need to find food. no monsters to fight, no obvious tasks to handle. the squire figured that she could haul another barrel or two of water to replace what they¡¯d used earlier in the day, but after that?


    ;


    ¡°hey auri, can you teach me how to use fox fire?¡± nina asked. it stung her a little to ask. she was a kitsune, it was supposed to be innate to the species, especially after taking a fire element.


    ;


    she still hadn¡¯t unlocked the skill though.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!¡± auri replied, then remembered that nina couldn¡¯t understand her, and nodded furiously.


    ;


    ;


    nina huffed and puffed down the road, glancing back up the mountain to where the villa was still visible.


    ;


    she¡¯d always been carried by fenrir to and from sanguino, and hadn¡¯t quite realized how damn far the city was from iona¡¯s home. she could barely make out the edges of the ashen bat clouding the city. resetting her classes wasn¡¯t doing her any favors either, her speed, strength, and vitality down to almost nothing.


    ;


    ¡°you¡¯re not helpin¡¯.¡± she scolded auri, more to get frustration out of her system than any real complaint. plus, the words were probably a lie. auri was trying to help. probably.


    ;


    maybe.


    ;


    in an aggravating way.


    ;


    ¡°brrrrpt!¡± the phoenix didn¡¯t let up her aggravating circling of nina, her tiny wings buzzing at the speed. embers trailed behind her, but if that was all, it¡¯d be easy.


    ;


    no, auri had dialed it up to 17. a full pathway of glowing foxfire lights, little explosions of flames, and a dozen hands clapping and ¡®cheering¡¯ as nina jogged down the almost empty road.


    ;


    ¡°please,¡± nina begged. ¡°mercy.¡±


    ;


    the clapping and cheering hands vanished.


    ;


    the rest stayed.


    ;


    nina kept running.


    ;


    ;


    auri eventually had mercy on nina. that, or she wanted to get to her bakery in time to actually make something for the day, and not lose the entire day to nina¡¯s slow running. four [mage hands] were summoned, and nina was whisked down the road at high speed, screaming as the road passed inches from her nose.


    ;


    ¡°ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!¡±


    ;


    what was a comfortable distance for a three inch hummingbird was ¡®life flashing before her eyes¡¯ to nina.


    ;


    worst of all?


    ;


    they didn¡¯t even make it all the way; auri ran out of mana before they finished getting to sanguino.


    ;


    the gate was another challenge, the little phoenix burning words into the air until a high ranking guard showed up. nina¡¯s instincts screamed at her to turn away, throw up an illusion, and start walking the other way.


    ;


    she grabbed those instincts, dragged them into a dark alley, and hit them over the head with her trusty pipe until they stopped twitching.


    ;


    she belonged now. she was one of the people the guards were supposed to protect, not one of the street urchins the guards hunted.


    ;


    the guard - who seemed to know auri - waved them through the gate.


    ;


    ¡°atlas.¡± the guard offered his hand to nina. she boldly took it and shook back.


    ;


    the instincts against guards were still slowly turning into a puddle of blood in a back alley.


    ;


    ¡°nina! iona¡¯s squire, although she¡¯s out of town for a few days.¡±


    ;


    ¡°ooof, and leaving you behind? shame. i¡¯m semi-permanently assigned to auri. don¡¯t want any issues happening with her.¡±


    ;


    auri puffed up, and nina wanted to scream at the sheer unfairness of it all. she knew there was no point in it - all she could do was suck it up and keep going.


    ;


    but a guard, just to escort one person around? one person who knew what they were doing, and could easily get themselves out of any trouble?


    ;


    there were a thousand and one problems in the city that could use a guard¡¯s attention, and they were off escorting auri around.


    ;


    it didn¡¯t make the bitter taste any better, and it didn¡¯t help with the unfairness resonating in nina¡¯s heart.


    ;


    ;


    getting to the bakery was easy enough, and auri and nina quickly worked out a system. blue arrows were ¡®grab this¡¯, and green arrows were ¡®place here¡¯. discouragingly, the moment nina was done moving one thing around, another pair of arrows immediately appeared, giving her the next task.


    ;


    on the plus side, auri needed a taste tester. nina was stuffed before they even opened for the lunch crowd, and the goodies didn¡¯t stop coming.


    ;


    this is perfect. nina thought as she hauled bags of flour around. why didn¡¯t i ever think of this before?


    ;


    she knew the answers.


    ;


    no connections. the wrong classes. the wrong look. nobody would hire an [apprentice] who looked like they¡¯d walk off with the coins after scaring all the customers away, not when their cousin¡¯s nephew needed a job.


    ;


    the shelves were filled with freshly baked goods, the doors opened, and nina was slammed. an elvenoid face that could talk was much more approachable than a small bird that wrote in flaming letters.


    ;


    some people even seemed to think that nina was the owner, no matter how she tried to redirect attention to auri.


    ;


    ¡°oh, i¡¯m just here to see the phoenix.¡± one man told nina. she frowned at him.


    ;


    ¡°buy somethin¡¯ and get out, or get out.¡± she firmly told him.


    ;


    he laughed at her.


    ;


    ¡°ha! you¡¯re level 15, how are you going to make me do anything?¡±


    ;


    auri demonstrated exactly how she was going to make him do anything. nina eyed the new doorway.


    ;


    ¡°you know, i think i figured why you¡¯re not making any money.¡±


    ;


    a flaming finger flicked nina¡¯s ear.


    ;


    ¡°you know i¡¯m right!¡± she protested before the next customer came forward.


    ;


    remarkably, nothing came out of auri¡¯s violent ejection. more favoritism from the guard.


    ;


    ;


    nina had no talent at reading auri, but even she could see the phoenix looked proud as punch as the doors closed in the evening, the little bird counting out the coins she¡¯d made.


    ;


    blue arrows appeared everywhere, with a single green arrow where the trash was. nina¡¯s shoulders slumped. she was exhausted, and the bakery was a furnace. auri naturally loved the heat, and most customers were in and out before it could get to them.


    ;


    nina had spent the entire day, coated in fur, panting and sweating profusely. she didn¡¯t want to - but she was no stranger to hard work. the only major difference was, her very survival didn¡¯t depend on succeeding.


    ;


    the thought of saying no literally never crossed her mind. doing what needed to be done was core to nina¡¯s being.


    ;


    auri seemed to notice how she was flagging though, and lent a little helping hand. solid inferno coated every inch of nina, armoring the [squire] as if she was a full [knight].


    ;


    nina looked down and marveled at her gear.


    ;


    ¡°wow. can you do this every time i fight?¡± she asked.


    ;


    [*ding!* unlocked [phoenix flame armor]. take the skill?]


    ;


    the system prompted nina with a new skill, one she¡¯d half-earned.


    ;


    the only hesitation nina had was which skill to axe. she was at the start of her journey again, and she didn¡¯t have an armor skill yet. it wasn¡¯t exactly what iona had wanted, but it was close enough.


    ;


    plus, the phoenix implication would do stupid things for her next class up.


    ;


    she took the skill, and started to wonder if she could get anything from fenrir in her wind class.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!¡± the flaming lights pulsed even brighter, and nina jumped.


    ;


    right! she still had a job to do!


    ;


    clad in blazing armor, the [overheated knight of the flame] got to work.


    ;


    ;


    to nina¡¯s surprise, they didn¡¯t immediately leave town once they were done, instead going shopping. through a game of charades - and figuring out the obvious answers - it was easier for auri to purchase food through someone who looked elvenoid and could actually talk. atlas¡¯s presence made it less sketchy, and nina was soon loaded up like a mule.


    ;


    ¡°back to the store then?¡± she asked, turning without waiting for a response. a huge flaming x appeared in front of her, and nina stumbled and tripped as she tried to stop in time.


    ;


    auri instantly dismissed the flames before barbequing the poor ninetails, grabbing her before she could fall.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!¡± auri fluttered around nina, redirecting her.


    ;


    nina¡¯s face fell.


    ;


    ¡°we¡¯re taking this home!?¡± she cried out.


    ;


    her legs burned. her feet ached. she¡¯d started the day out with a full marathon, had spent all the normal operating hours on her feet, running around in the bakery, and was now expected to finish the day off with a second marathon, this time with thirty pounds of food on her back.


    ;


    she wanted to cry.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!¡± auri nodded her head, then perched on her shoulder.


    ;


    well.


    ;


    nothing else but to do it.


    ;


    ¡°need a hand?¡± atlas asked.


    ;


    nina almost broke and took advantage of the guard. but no. that¡¯d make her no better than the rich toshes that had personal guards. the sooner they shook him, the sooner he could be doing useful work.


    ;


    or maybe, if i say yes, he¡¯ll stay out of the way, out of the slums, and there¡¯s one less guard to harass people.


    ;


    in the end, nina¡¯s distaste for guards won out.


    ;


    ¡°no thank you.¡± she politely replied, and got walking.


    ;


    one foot in front of another. nina started to chant the mantra to herself. one foot in front of another.


    ;


    [*ding!* unlocked [endurance]. take it?]


    ;


    nina instantly accepted the general skill, the burden on her body immediately lightening.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!¡± auri cheered encouragement from nina¡¯s shoulder, and as soon as they were out of the town, a hall of foxfire lights lit the way for nina.


    ;


    one foot in front of another.


    ;


    ;


    [*ding!* unlocked [foxfire]. take it?]


    ;


    ¡°yes!¡± nina found the energy to leap in the air, coming back down on bloody paws. she grabbed the skill, immediately focusing on it.


    ;


    nine ghostly will-o-wisps appeared over nina¡¯s tails, and she reveled in the feeling for a moment. they clicked with her. they were meant for her. it was an open-ended question if they¡¯d survive the merger into the storm element.


    ;


    the pain came back, and nina gritted her teeth.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt?¡± auri drew images of nina being carried, flying through the air again. third time auri had offered this trip.


    ;


    ¡°please.¡± nina agreed, accepting this third time.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!¡±


    ;


    nina was slowly getting used to flying, and started to wonder if she¡¯d take a skill in it. she could see why elaine enjoyed it so much.


    ;


    ;


    battered, exhausted, and with the moons having already peeked in for the night and left again, the two members of the eventide eclipse finally made it back home.


    ;


    ¡°thank fuck!¡± nina shouted as she got through the door. auri grabbed all her bags and vanished in the direction of the pantry.


    ;


    [*ding!* [unlikely page] leveled up! 13 -> 14]


    [*ding!* [street apprentice] leveled up! 15 -> 19]


    ;


    levels. solid for a day¡¯s work. the larger increase in [apprentice] made sense, given how much nina had been working as one, versus being a [page].


    ;


    nina¡¯s fur stood on end as she heard voices coming from within the house. instinctively, she reached for her illusions to hide herself, but she didn¡¯t have them anymore.


    ;


    she wanted to run, to hide, to scurry into a dark corner.


    ;


    nina wasn¡¯t that scared little girl anymore.


    ;


    she was a squire - okay, technically an [unlikely page] - of a valkyrie. didn¡¯t mean she was going to charge in all stupid-like, but she wasn¡¯t going to run and hide.


    ;


    ¡°hey auri!¡± she yelled.


    ;


    she knew she was low level. auri, on the other hand?


    ;


    the two of them snuck through the house, the other voices having paused when they heard her shouting, then started talking even faster.


    ;


    nina found them in the private dining room. a man and a woman. the man was lean and scarred, relaxing over a mug of beer. iona¡¯s beer. the woman had short blonde hair, her feet up on the table, and was eating from the end of a knife.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!¡± auri shouted, flying over to them and zipping around them excitedly. ¡°brrrrpt!!!¡±


    ;


    friends of iona¡¯s? nina boldly stepped into the room. in poor, broken high elvish, the woman greeted her.


    ;


    ¡°many greetings! name my artemis is!¡±

 Chapter 462 - Adventures in Nippon-Koku

    i had a fairly uncomfortable realization when we finished crossing the sea to nippon-koku, one that shook my self-confidence and made me look deep inside myself. one that had me do some serious soul-searching.


    ;


    i¡¯d never really traveled to another country before. not voluntarily, on a temporary basis.


    ;


    oh, sure, hunting and i had crossed the formorian wastes to see what was on the other side, discovering the dwarves. but i hadn¡¯t gone out there intending to visit a new country, a new culture. once there, my greatest goal had been leaving, and getting back home. sure, i¡¯d crossed through the centaur plains and the shimagu city, meeting new people and cultures the whole way, but it hadn¡¯t been my goal. they were simply between me and my goal.


    ;


    technically, visiting the fae realm might count, but for a thousand and one reasons - mostly it¡¯s the fae, they don¡¯t count - they weren¡¯t added.


    ;


    rolland was involuntary, the school of sorcery and spellcraft was an island, not a nation. the stops they made sort of counted, but it wasn¡¯t like i¡¯d deliberately gone out of my way to travel, more like they were pit stops.


    ;


    trying to find analogies for how the school moved around was weird. there was nothing quite like it.


    ;


    going to cartref clyd for the gladiator gauntlet also sorta counted, and traveling to exterreri was to find a home.


    ;


    mission or not, this was the first time i ever felt like a tourist. traveling to new lands to have a good time. i should totally see if i could find a book of magic or two to learn from. [butterfly mystic] would love that. sure, it wasn¡¯t as potent as the school, but critically for [butterfly mystic], it was new, and the class was all about new.


    ;


    a level up notification broke me out of my musings.


    ;


    [*ding!* [ancient loremaster of legend] has leveled up! 182 -> 183. +100 dexterity, +100 vitality, +800 mana, +800 mana regen, +1600 magic power, +1600 magic control from your class per level! +1 strength, +1 dexterity, +1 speed, +1 vitality, +1 mana, +1 mana regeneration, +1 magic power, +1 magic control for being chimera (elvenoid)! +1 mana, +1 magic power from your element per level!]


    ;


    i held my breath as i looked at the notification, praying that i didn¡¯t get another one. one notification was fine. edge of a level, got a small trickle from pointing out the void [mage] island that we detoured around, auri doing her thing splitting experience with me. typical. expected.


    ;


    a second level would suggest that auri was gaining some significant experience, and i didn¡¯t want to return home to a smoldering wreck. she¡¯d gotten a few levels here and there far faster than i thought she would, and nobody would let me know what was going on with that.


    ;


    i let a sigh loose as nothing else happened for a few minutes, content that everything was alright at home with auri and nina, and refocused on traveling.


    ;


    we¡¯d gone a bit further south, and snow had already fallen heavily. most people were tucked away in their homes, smoke merrily puffing out of chimneys, and there just frankly wasn¡¯t a ton going on. most people stayed warm and safe in the winter months, indulging in indoor activities with their families.


    ;


    plenty of people did brave the snows for various reasons, and quite a few people hurried over when iona landed outside the village, while a few more went and hid inside their homes. fenrir was pretty damn scary¡­ and a rider didn¡¯t really mitigate that.


    ;


    iona hopped off and went to chat with them, and get our bearings. i didn¡¯t speak a word of yayoi.


    ;


    the people of pallos were interesting. most countries had a few dominant races that mixed freely in cities, but when it came to villages, they tended to only have a single species living there. my personal theory was it was one part xenophobia, and three parts families. couldn¡¯t easily marry a member of another species and have kids, it just didn¡¯t work. any village large enough to support two species would need to be the size of two smaller villages stuck together, along with a lack of interspecies friction at the village level - too easy to have a grudge lasting generations against an other, at which point it was well on its way to being a small town instead.


    ;


    nippon-koku was one of the more diverse countries. small enclaves of elvenoids made homes here that weren¡¯t found anywhere else in the world. this little village we¡¯d stumbled across was the home of some kappa. imagine a large turtle with intelligence and thumbs that walked on two legs.


    ;


    iona hopped back after a few minutes.


    ;


    ¡°kobi here gave me directions to the next place. do you want to do a quick healing pass?¡± she asked.


    ;


    ¡°yeah!¡± i hopped off fenrir and rose into the air, not bothering to go through the whole ¡®mime explaining what i wanted to do before slowly going through the process¡¯. i just blitzed through the village in an instant, using the same combination of skills that i¡¯d used in osengard. there was a nasty case of pneumonia in one baby, and i fixed one man¡¯s cracked shell that had never healed quite right.


    ;


    ¡°good to go!¡± i landed back on fenrir¡¯s back as a gale of snow whipped through the town, the wind finally catching up to what i¡¯d done.


    ;


    iona took off, and i swear fenrir tried to whip up an even larger snowstorm. rivalry? or working on his storm element?


    ;


    ;


    iona managed to get us to kuri in a few days, her [relentless pursuit] skill leveling up as well as her [traveling archer] class. she also managed to quickly track down where narukami akamaru was located, and we quickly found ourselves in a hot spring.


    ;


    ¡°oooh, this is nice.¡± i said as the heat washed over us. i liked a little bit of snow, but i was rapidly discovering that i was not a fan of prolonged cold at all. rainbow snakes were tropical creatures, and i¡¯d upped my nerve sensitivity. it wasn¡¯t important that my new biology was a little more vulnerable to the cold¡­ and for all the freezing i¡¯d done, getting somewhere warm was all the nicer.


    ;


    iona made some appreciative noises as well.


    ;


    ¡°maybe once all this is over, we can spend some time here together?¡± she asked with a cheeky wink.


    ;


    ¡°sure!¡±


    ;


    iona navigated us through the various levels of people, all while i enjoyed the hot steam.


    ;


    ¡°they¡¯re in one of the smaller baths.¡± she finally said. ¡°do we want to join them, or wait?¡±


    ;


    ¡°they?¡± i asked. ¡°thought it was just one?¡±


    ;


    ¡°he¡¯s got some friends with him.¡± iona explained.


    ;


    ah, yeah, that made sense.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯ll be honest, joining them or waiting seems to be a question that you¡¯re much better at answering than i am.¡± i said, trying to make the right decision in spite of my excitement. i was almost vibrating with anticipation. i could meet someone else from earth!


    ;


    i knew my normal social graces were more likely to sink the initial impression than anything, so i deferred it to the person who actually liked that sort of thing.


    ;


    iona shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°why wait? let¡¯s go say hi.¡±


    ;


    i held iona¡¯s hand so i didn¡¯t sprint forward in my excitement - it was frowned upon to do that sort of thing here, and i needed the solid physical marker to ground me.


    ;


    towels were the outfit of the day for the pool, and i froze as we were changing.


    ;


    ¡°uh.¡± i paused, a little awkward, tuning down my senses as far as [the world around me] would go. i wasn¡¯t a peeper or any sort of pervert.


    ;


    ¡°what¡¯s up?¡± iona paused.


    ;


    ¡°they sound busy in there. why don¡¯t we wait for them?¡± i internally grumbled as i got dressed again. i wanted to take a dip in the hot springs!


    ;


    later.


    ;


    iona laughed, and gave me another cheeky grin.


    ;


    goddesses, i loved that grin. it did things to me.


    ;


    ¡°just have to wait i guess!¡±


    ;


    ;


    i spent the time uncomfortably waiting. there was only so much tuning down my senses i could do, and they were not trying to be subtle at all. pretty sure it was fairly rude, but this wasn¡¯t my place, this wasn¡¯t my culture.


    ;


    iona tried to distract me with various plans, which only somewhat succeeded. i was too nervous, too impatient, and too willing to use [parallel thoughts] to my detriment.


    ;


    i could see my relentless tap tap tap of my feet on the floor was driving iona nuts, but she was nice enough to not say anything. she knew i was being restrained, but i just had to tap.


    ;


    finally, finally i heard footsteps and wingbeats heading towards the door. i patted iona¡¯s arm furiously as i stood up, expanding my sphere of perception and senses once again.


    ;


    they washed over the people about to come back in. one dude, seven women. the guy looked like a human, which wasn¡¯t a given with papilion having offered me a chance to become a golden crow. then there was a werewolf, harpy, yuki-onna, dryad, minotaur, catkin, and goblin. the yuki-onna looked vaguely familiar, but i couldn¡¯t put my finger on why. skye was the only other yuki-onna i knew, was there some sort of resemblance? or was it simply a snowflake-like delicate look that they all shared?


    ;


    ¡°goblin. looks friendly enough.¡± i muttered quietly to iona, giving her the heads up. she was not a fan of the little green gremlins, and given her history, i wasn¡¯t surprised.


    ;


    then he walked into the room, followed by the rest of his group. his eyes widened as he saw us, and he said something that instantly got iona all stone-faced and looking pissed. then as fast as the emotions appeared, her face smoothed over and she replied in english.


    ;


    ¡°no thank you. we heard a rumor you might be from earth?¡± she said.


    ;


    the dude¡¯s eyes widened up, but before he could say anything the harpy - only level 189, nothing special - shrieked and launched herself at us, flapping her wings and battering iona, who basically just ignored her.


    ;


    ¡°what¡¯d he say before?¡± i asked quickly in creation under the beating wings, swaying back to avoid getting smacked by one.


    ;


    ¡°he was excited to see a ¡®pair of smoking hot babes¡¯ and wanted to know if we would join ¡®the hero¡¯s harem¡¯.¡± iona answered with clear disgust. ¡°his actual name¡¯s jake jason.¡±


    ;


    ew. she had better self control than i did. i might¡¯ve just walked right out, mission or not.


    ;


    ¡°yellow here¡¯s yelling about ¡®how dare we turn him down¡¯ and ¡®he¡¯s the best¡¯ and other such nonsense.¡± iona added in as the rest of the party tried to talk yellow down.


    ;


    i didn¡¯t think it was her name, but of course they all had different hair colors. i suspected that was the so-called hero¡¯s doing, and not natural.


    ;


    after talking down yellow, and a whole three rounds of discussion, we agreed on a better place to chat, and found a language that enough of us spoke.


    ;


    english, of all things. jake only knew yayoi and english. some members of his¡­ harem, ew, just saying it made me feel squicky - spoke it, ¡®to better impress the hero¡¯, and with iona¡¯s blessing, it made it the strongest language.


    ;


    it took a bit of shuffling around, and an utterly inane argument/fight about who got to sit next to jake, but we finally got down to business in a tea shop. most of the girls were dressed normally, but the minotauress was in a maid¡¯s outfit for some ungodly reason.


    ;


    ¡°you two chicks from earth or something?¡± he opened the conversation up with that, staring at iona¡¯s chest. i crossed my arms over my chest. iona shook her head.


    ;


    ¡°just me.¡± i said. ¡°heard something that made me think you were as well?¡±


    ;


    jake¡¯s eyes lit up.


    ;


    ¡°yeah! but this place is totally cool. it¡¯s like a magic japan! they even have rice and soy sauce!¡±


    ;


    ¡°master is the best ~ nya!¡± the catkin draped herself over jake, and my eyes narrowed as something clicked.


    ;


    ¡°slaves? really?¡±


    ;


    forget recruiting this asshole, maybe there was a nice prison we could throw him into.


    ;


    ¡°whoa! she¡¯s cool with it!¡± jake protested.


    ;


    iona and i traded a look. she gave me a tiny shake of her head.


    ;


    fine. if iona didn¡¯t think it was worth making a huge fuss over right this second, i wasn¡¯t going to. i wasn¡¯t going to lie to arachne at the end of the mission, but right now my personal needle was set dead to ¡®throw into a lake and figure out if there was a way to delete memories¡¯.


    ;


    ¡°how¡¯d you come here?¡± iona diplomatically asked, changing the subject. i just sat and fumed, keeping my eye from twitching.


    ;


    ¡°got wasted by truck-kun. some goddess told me that the world needed a [hero], shoved my soul into a practically dead body, and here i am! living my best life.¡± he eyed us up again and got an idea.


    ;


    ¡°hey! we need a healer with us, and two for the price of one? i wouldn¡¯t say no to being crushed between your thighs!¡± he leered at iona.


    ;


    i could see iona¡¯s toes digging in through the floorboard as she tried to remain civil.


    ;


    ¡°we¡¯re representing the exterreri empire. we¡¯d like to extend an offer for you to come settle in over there, and we¡¯re empowered to offer you significant incentives to join.¡±


    ;


    dear goddesses, i had no idea how iona managed to stay on-task like that. her social skills had to be capping out like crazy in the background. i would¡¯ve already put him through a wall.


    ;


    jake clicked his tongue and did finger guns at the two of us.


    ;


    ¡°i want something from you, you want something from me, i¡¯m sure we can make something work!¡±


    ;


    one of the girls protested.


    ;


    ¡°but then there¡¯s less of you for meeeeeeee!¡± she whined, and quickly swapped languages to let everyone else know what was going on.


    ;


    ¡°why do you even like this guy?¡± i asked in pure confusion. nothing - nothing - about him was attractive in any way, shape, or form. i just couldn¡¯t see it.


    ;


    ¡°because he¡¯s so nice.¡± the seven girls said in eerie chorus, nevermind i wasn¡¯t sure if half of them understood me.


    ;


    i glanced at iona with no small amount of concern while jake was trying to reassure everyone else that there was more than enough of him to go around, with quite a few crude gestures. mind magic wasn¡¯t supposed to be a thing, but he clearly had some sort of divine fuckery going on. her eyes unfocused, communing with her goddesses.


    ;


    ¡°just a shareable experience buff.¡± she snapped back and explained.


    ;


    [warrior - 420].


    ;


    not much of an experience buff, was it?


    ;


    actually - depended on when he came over, and his current age. if it was only a few years ago, that was an insane pace. such bullshit! i got smacked around with having large chunks of my memories removed, and jake got a fucking buff!? a shareable buff!?


    ;


    i had a brief, heretical, blasphemous thought, wondering how hard it¡¯d be to kill a god, before purging the idea entirely. the gods could clearly hear prayers in the privacy of my mind, i didn¡¯t want to give anyone any ideas about smiting me.


    ;


    i took a deep breath and tried to refocus and center myself.


    ;


    i didn¡¯t have to like the guy. i had a job to do, and i was going to do it to the best of my abilities.


    ;


    within reason. i was not letting him get anywhere near me. i had standards, and i¡¯d rather fail the mission first.


    ;


    i¡¯d focus on that. my curiosity was secondary. once we¡¯d figured out if he was coming or not, we could chat about earth. i had so many questions.


    ;


    although¡­ hmmm¡­ wouldn¡¯t making some sort of connection first be a good idea? would that make him more amenable to moving? it sounded like a good idea to me¡­


    ;


    i glanced at iona, raising a questioning eyebrow, trying to communicate my question. by some magic known only to iona, she figured out what i wanted and nodded.


    ;


    ¡°what year was it when you came over? and where are you from?¡± i asked.


    ;


    jake and i started comparing notes, and it was surprising. the date he left was just a few short years from the last date i remembered. which was weird to me.


    ;


    had whatever happened to my soul caused it to drift through the currents of time? had it been involved in samsara, the great cycle not caring about when a person was reincarnated (or so some monks claimed)? or did jake¡¯s own divine meddling cause him to be blasted forward?


    ;


    could the different worlds be operating at different effective speeds? that didn¡¯t quite make sense to me - i felt like some fundamentals would break if that were the case, but i couldn¡¯t point to an easy example - but hey, it was magic, it didn¡¯t have to make perfect sense.


    ;


    in spite of my faint hopes, he¡¯d had no idea about me or my family. no news from anyone i knew. the world had just¡­ continued to turn after i¡¯d died. oh, it sounded like everything had gone to shit, but didn¡¯t it always?


    ;


    a nice thing about news and information on pallos - i wasn¡¯t constantly bombarded with how things were terrible all over the world. just small, local woes that were more gossip than anything else.


    ;


    jake¡¯s background was unfortunate. he claimed to be a misunderstood genius who couldn¡¯t decide if he wanted to broker peace in the middle east, revolutionize mathematics, or create a new genre of music that would be famous world-wide.


    ;


    ¡°of course, my teachers misunderstood me.¡± he confided. ¡°kicked me out. it¡¯s just so hard being so smart, you wouldn¡¯t understand.¡±


    ;


    iona¡¯s fingers twitched like she wanted to strangle him. only my [oath] prevented me from cheerfully joining her.


    ;


    jake¡¯s¡­ dubious sense of his own intelligence made most of his ideas and information suspect. global information systems, perpetual motion machines, anti-matter, which was like the opposite of matter¡­ somehow¡­ die-sun spheres - the name alone had me frowning - something about perfect free markets, cellphones, and a hundred other ideas that spewed out like a firehose. i swear he was making words up to sound impressive.


    ;


    attempts to gain any sort of details usually ended poorly.


    ;


    ¡°what¡¯s a gamma ray burst?¡± i asked.


    ;


    ¡°oh, it kills everyone, instantly. bang! every single living thing, dead!¡±


    ;


    iona couldn¡¯t keep the obvious question to herself.


    ;


    ¡°so how are you alive?¡± she asked. jake rolled his eyes.


    ;


    ¡°duh! it¡¯s never happened!¡±


    ;


    ¡°how would it happen?¡±


    ;


    ¡°well, a bunch of gamma rays would come, and kill everyone.¡± jake said very slowly, like he was talking to a small child.


    ;


    i was half suspecting this was a test by arachne to see if i could keep my cool. never before had the self imposed shackles of my [oath] been so keenly felt.


    ;


    i almost - almost - missed kerberos, my once-fiance.


    ;


    some of the things jake talked about made no sense to me at all, and given his surprise, i suspected they were at the heart of what papilion had stripped from me.


    ;


    ¡°wait, you don¡¯t know what nukes are?¡± jake asked with utter disbelief. ¡°are you sure you¡¯re from earth? everyone knows what nukes are. you know, hiroshima, end of world war ii, all that?¡±


    ;


    i frowned. world war ii rang a bell, but either huge parts had been stripped out of my memories, or he was making a bigger deal out of it than it actually was. given that it was called a world war, i suspected the issue might be on my end.


    ;


    ¡°i¡­ don¡¯t. what do you know about them?¡± i asked.


    ;


    jake gave a too-confident laugh that iona frowned at. she twitched a finger, and i divined it to mean ¡®absolutely nothing¡¯.


    ;


    ¡°they destroy cities! just, boooooooooooom, city gone!¡± he made explosion noises as his hands mimed a large explosion.


    ;


    my eye twitched at how utterly useless that was. the only part that was vaguely useful was the fact that pure technology, with no system or anything helping things along, could create such an effect.


    ;


    iona could see that i was nearing the end of my rope, and frankly, the whole conversation felt like a bust.


    ;


    ¡°is there any amount of money, status, or items that could persuade you to relocate to exterreri? i know the brothels in sanguino are quite famous and rather extensive.¡± iona offered up.


    ;


    i suppose, on some level, jake and iona were on similar wavelengths. i knew iona was resisting going out and screwing everyone she wanted to because of me and my desire to be monogamous, and maybe she¡¯d be able to speak his language enough to get him to come over.


    ;


    that, and he couldn¡¯t stop staring at her chest. there was a part of me that didn¡¯t feel great about it, but i compartmentalized it.


    ;


    ¡°we¡¯re buying him passage on a ship if he says yes.¡± i muttered to iona in creation. ¡°i am not letting him get close enough to be grabby on fenrir the whole way back.¡±


    ;


    iona gave me a small nod of vigorous understanding.


    ;


    ¡°fenrir would literally eat him halfway through.¡± she agreed. ¡°plus, ten people and all their supplies might be too much for a full overseas trip.¡±


    ;


    thank fuck.


    ;


    jake snapped his fingers.


    ;


    ¡°yes, actually! apart from everything else you¡¯re willing to give me, you round my party out perfectly for this quest i have!¡±


    ;


    iona and i traded another look. she lifted an eyebrow, and my shoulders slumped.


    ;


    ¡°what is it?¡± i asked, managing to keep the despair out of my voice. of course there¡¯d be a dumb side-quest. it was almost like i was an [adventurer].


    ;


    if i had to do it, i had to do it.


    ;


    ¡°i want to be a [dragonrider hero]. i heard rumors of a dragon nearby, and what¡¯s a more perfect companion for a hero than a dragon? help me steal one of its eggs.¡±


    ;


    i froze at his proclamation, biting down on my tongue from saying something inadvisable.


    ;


    we were going to get so fucked.


    ;


    ¡°iona.¡± i didn¡¯t even bother finishing my tea, jumping up and out of my seat and heading for the door. she instantly got what i wanted, and the two of us headed out of town, just in case.


    ;


    jake and his harem followed us.


    ;


    ¡°hey! what¡¯s the big idea?¡± he asked.


    ;


    ¡°let¡¯s talk outside the town, okay?¡± i said.


    ;


    i was frankly terrified of a dragon deciding to torch the town to the ground. if things were going to escalate - okay, that was a lie, things were already escalating, hard - i wanted as many people out of the way as possible.


    ;


    i was thinking furiously as we walked, a thousand and one implications tumbling together. i crafted what i thought was a decent sentence, knowing that we were being eavesdropped on.


    ;


    ¡°there is a dragon nearby if i remember where we are correctly.¡± i told iona in a hurried voice. ¡°kanadaj, the carmine fixer. i¡¯m going to do my best to stop anyone from raiding his nest.¡±


    ;


    there. message sent. someone was after his eggs, and we were working on stopping it. hopefully the dragon wouldn¡¯t budge unless something happened.


    ;


    ¡°my [vow] is active, by the way.¡± iona quietly told me. ¡°i must stop jake, one way or another. i don¡¯t have the option of walking away from this.¡±


    ;


    i gave a curt nod of understanding. just like how my [oath] could trap me in unfortunate circumstances, so could iona¡¯s [vow]. this was blessedly less unfortunate than usual. i was completely on board with stopping jake¡¯s stupid plan. it was now a higher priority to me than recruiting him, although i¡¯d happily take both wins if i could somehow manage it.


    ;


    we finished getting out of town.


    ;


    fenrir had landed in a beautiful glade next to a half-frozen lake. the trees were dormant for the winter, but in the spring and summer this had to be the place in kuri.


    ;


    iona stopped in the snow as jake and the rest piled out into the field. fenrir opened one magnificent eye at them.


    ;


    ¡°bitching dragon!¡± jake yelled. ¡°that¡¯s what i¡¯m talking about! got a spare egg or eight?¡±


    ;


    fenrir didn¡¯t have all the social graces. he didn¡¯t need to make nice. he loomed over jake, brought his face down, and roared.


    ;


    i clapped my hands over my ears, mentally cursing as all the women were blown away. somehow, all of them landed in compromising poses, and they had to have done that deliberately.


    ;


    they were mildly injured though. blasted [oath]. i healed them all.


    ;


    jake had demonstrated some sort of spine, and only took a few steps back.


    ;


    ¡°whoa, yeah! i gotta get me one of these! he for sale?¡±


    ;


    iona looked murderous, and i was entirely inclined to let her go to town. heck, i could easily spin this to arachne as ¡®too stupid to live¡¯ and ¡®prevented a dragon attack¡¯. might even get a few [loremaster] levels out of it.


    ;


    ¡°fenrir is not a dragon, and not for sale.¡± iona patiently explained. ¡°listen, dragons are dangerous. not like most creatures and monsters where you can get away with nonsense, dragons are on an entirely different level. they will kill you, eat you, then burn down the closest few towns because they can. we¡¯re talking here, and not in the town, because every time you say ¡®dragon¡¯, every single one of them can hear it. if they decide to do something about it, i don¡¯t want thirty thousand civilians caught in the crossfire.¡±


    ;


    not a word of that got through to jake. he swelled up with pride.


    ;


    ¡°your words simply validate how much of a genius i am!¡± he boasted. ¡°nobody else would even dare to think it! yet, i will be the strongest!¡±


    ;


    red - the catkin - jumped in again.


    ;


    ¡°nothing but the best for akamaru ~ nya!¡± she took the chance to jump on jake, which of course had the rest of the girls fighting for his attention, and to get their fair share.


    ;


    ¡°you know what. i think i¡¯m reporting this mission as a failure.¡± i told iona as we waited for the gaggle to sort themselves out. again.


    ;


    ¡°thank the goddesses.¡± iona sagged in relief. ¡°is your [oath] still applying, even with the threat?¡±


    ;


    i nodded.


    ;


    in some ways, our respective restriction skills were at odds with each other. iona¡¯s demanded that she stop jake, and violence was likely. mine demanded that i did no harm, and while he wasn¡¯t trying to directly hurt anyone, i was bound and shackled.


    ;


    we were on the same wavelength at least, so we weren¡¯t coming into a harsh conflict. i believed that communication would carry the day.


    ;


    ¡°even if they were at the entrance to the cave, i couldn¡¯t do anything unless they attacked me first.¡± i confirmed. ¡°the same logic that lets me detach my healing a [soldier] who¡¯s going to try and fight someone else, from the harm they will cause there. the same way it doesn¡¯t worry about people i can¡¯t see, also applies here. they wouldn¡¯t be directly attacking me or causing me harm. just indirectly antagonizing someone else. i¡¯m not great at that.¡± i admitted.


    ;


    iona grinned at me.


    ;


    ¡°good thing one of us is, yeah?¡±


    ;


    ¡°yeah. what¡¯s the plan? i don¡¯t want him to die if at all possible. ¡®hi arachne, i know you sent me to recruit him, but we murdered him instead¡¯ isn¡¯t a good look on my first mission.¡±


    ;


    iona made a sound of agreement. ¡°ten years from now, that¡¯s all they¡¯ll remember. i can punch down. his antics, level, and plan means he¡¯s far from being considered meek or defenseless, and his class is double [mirror]. all about borrowing power from the girls. limited, but with how many he¡¯s got, jake has a lot of tricks up his sleeves. i think i¡¯ll just slowly escalate with him and see how it goes.¡±


    ;


    i patted her shoulder.


    ;


    ¡°sorry that my mission is halfway turning into your mission.¡± i said. jake and his harem were still sorting themselves out, and i wish i could block my ears at the promises being made between them all.


    ;


    iona smiled again.


    ;


    ¡°you kidding? i¡¯m delighted! i get worried that i¡¯m just tagging along, contributing nothing and being a huge money drain on you. i get concerned about all that. now i get to basically fix a problem for you? it¡¯s great! that, and i made my [vow] for a reason. protecting an entire city? it¡¯s what i swore to do. imagine if i dragged you to a war zone.¡±


    ;


    well, hey, it took all types.


    ;


    jake sorted himself out again, and iona stepped forward.


    ;


    ¡°jake! listen. come to exterreri, and we¡¯ll figure out a wyvern¡¯s egg on top of everything else. can¡¯t let you go after a dragon, but the image is the same.¡±


    ;


    jake blew a raspberry.


    ;


    ¡°wyvern, smyvern. dragon or bust! dragon or bust!¡± he started chanting, his backstage dancers soon picking up the chant.


    ;


    ¡°it¡¯s a stupid idea. is there anything we can do to get you to change your mind?¡± iona asked. her mallium was starting to spread across her body and down her limbs, still hidden by her tunic, but she was getting ready for a fight.


    ;


    red jumped forward again, power posing with not nearly enough clothing for the weather.


    ;


    ¡°you take that back! akamaru is an unparalleled, once in a thousand years genius ~ nya!¡±


    ;


    something about that seemed to give jake an idea. he got a sly look i didn¡¯t like.


    ;


    ¡°okay! let¡¯s duel! me versus you. if you win, we¡¯ll stop. if we win, you¡¯ll go out to dinner with us. i¡¯m sure i¡¯ll win you two lovely ladies over.¡± he flashed us what he probably thought was a charming smile, and just made it feel like spiders were crawling over my back.


    ;


    iona looked at me. i grimaced and nodded.


    ;


    ¡°fine.¡± she agreed. ¡°when do we start?¡±


    ;


    the two worked out the fine details, which was to say - in just a few minutes.


    ;


    iona and jake went to separate sides of the field. armor coated the valkyrie, and she retrieved her glaive, shield, and axe from fenrir¡¯s gear bags.


    ;


    jake put on some questionably light armor, then held his hand out. there was a snap-hiss as a curved blade of glowing red radiance sprang to life. he swung the blade a few times experimentally in front of him.


    ;


    i pinched my nose.


    ;


    a lightsaber-katana. i don¡¯t know why i expected anything else.


    ;


    ¡°watch the blade.¡± i murmured to iona. ¡°it should cut through most things. aim for a dodge, not a block.¡±


    ;


    she nodded her thanks.


    ;


    ¡°omae wa mou shindeiru.¡± jake said right before we began. iona didn¡¯t translate, but she didn¡¯t look impressed.


    ;


    ¡°go!¡± orange cheered, and the fight was on.


    ;


    this fight was almost harder than the gladiator gauntlet duels. iona didn¡¯t want to kill the obnoxious brat, and there were no protective shields here.


    ;


    she shot across the snowy shield in an instant. jake tried to do an artemis, and blasted iona with sustained lightning coming from his off-hand.


    ;


    ¡°unlimited p-¡± he got out as iona completely ignored his attack, ducked under a wild, amateur strike - seriously, i could swing a sword better than that and i had almost no training in long blades - and punched him.


    ;


    lightly. gently.


    ;


    with a gauntleted fist.


    ;


    it went through his pathetic excuse of armor, and i could hear his sternum breaking as his entire chest caved in. he went flying back to his gaggle, who cooed over him. green popped out a potion and poured it into his mouth.


    ;


    unfair! foul!


    ;


    jake sprang up.


    ;


    ¡°all according to keikaku!¡± he declared.


    ;


    ¡°that¡¯s outside interference.¡± iona¡¯s voice was colder than the weather. she did not like dishonorable actions.


    ;


    the warning rattle in iona¡¯s voice was completely dismissed by jake.


    ;


    ¡°my friends are my power! with the power of love, we will-¡±


    ;


    iona didn¡¯t wait to hear the rest. she grabbed him by the hair and spun. round and round she went, until she let him go like a discus. he spun over and over in the air, arcing above the lake, before landing with a mighty splash.


    ;


    iona hummed a war tune as she got her bow out and a few arrows. she nocked the arrow, pulled it back, and fired it.


    ;


    way, way over his head.


    ;


    then she rapidly fired a second arrow, they collided in midair, and both went straight for jake. good [trick shot] practice.


    ;


    both arrows ended up in his feet, a testament to iona¡¯s skill. a carefully calculated blow to let him know he was in trouble, that iona could kill and sink him at any time, but not enough to hinder his return if he promptly gave up. he sank a little further, but could keep swimming.


    ;


    ¡°surrender?¡± iona asked.


    ;


    ¡°never!¡± jake yelled.


    ;


    four arrows later, and he was shouting his surrender. he was losing steam fast, and sank under the icy water right as he was about to get to shore.


    ;


    ¡°do we fish him out, or¡­?¡± i asked iona. she sighed.


    ;


    ¡°maybe?¡± she started to approach the edge as all the women ran over.


    ;


    there was an eruption of water as jake and another lady exploded out of the lake.


    ;


    ¡°oh fated king,¡± the lady of the lake spoke, her voice echoing in an ethereal and magical way. ¡°oh destined [hero]. take this sword, and become king. rule the world, wisely and justly.¡± she offered him a jewel-encrusted greatsword, glowing runes in a language i didn¡¯t know etched down the blade.


    ;


    i threw my hands up in disgust.


    ;


    ¡°you have got to be fucking kidding me!¡± i shouted as his harem cheered.


    ;


    jake stepped forward, extending his hands out to the sword.


    ;


    ¡°tha-¡± was the last word he got out.


    ;


    in a single swift motion, the rest of the oversized anglerfish erupted out of the water, the lady of the lake lure on the end of its tendril whipping away as row upon row of pointy teeth closed around the hero. in a single grinding motion, he was gone, and the fish submerged itself once again.


    ;


    [*ding!* your party has participated in slaying a [harem hero] (mirror - 420)// [the main character] (mirror, 369)]


    ;


    [*ding!* [ancient loremaster of legend] has leveled up! 183 -> 190. +100 dexterity, +100 vitality, +800 mana, +800 mana regen, +1600 magic power, +1600 magic control from your class per level! +1 strength, +1 dexterity, +1 speed, +1 vitality, +1 mana, +1 mana regeneration, +1 magic power, +1 magic control for being chimera (elvenoid)! +1 mana, +1 magic power from your element per level!]


    ;


    averting an epic threat from manifesting was solidly in [loremaster¡¯s] domain, and dealing with jake¡¯s quest to disturb a dragon clearly counted. i¡¯d been a little more on the edges than i would¡¯ve liked - the fish solved the problem, iona strongly contributed, and i was on a third order effect at best - but a dragon was potent enough that it trickled over nicely.


    ;


    i checked the fish.


    ;


    [anglerfish - 1871]


    ;


    that was a mean one, and iona took a few short hops back.


    ;


    ¡°well. i can¡¯t say i¡¯m sad to see him go.¡± she said as she got back.


    ;


    ¡°best of all, we didn¡¯t do it!¡± i agreed. ¡°home?¡± i asked. after all the nonsense today, i was in no mood to explore nippon-koku. forget their magic, forget their books, i just wanted to be warm and safe in my own bed again. after about a four hour long hot bath.


    ;


    iona looked around.


    ;


    ¡°home.¡± she agreed.


    ;


    red - the catkin - whirled on us, and i expected a tearful tirade, maybe a vow to figure out a way to reanimate him or something. instead, she started cussing up a storm, quickly joined by some of the others. i only understood what red was saying, but given the body language of the rest of them, they probably had similar thoughts. i¡¯d have to ask iona later.


    ;


    ¡°fuck!¡± she swore, ripping off her collar in a single easy motion and hurling it into the lake. ¡°do you know how much bullshit i had to put up with for that sweet, sweet experience boost!? nya~ this and nya~ that, and now he¡¯s fucking dead!? such bullshit!¡±


    ;

 Chapter 463 - Springtime is wartime

    the three of us basically took off instantly, leaving jake¡¯s girlfriends behind. they were already scheming up ways to try and reanimate him.


    ;


    i had full confidence that they wouldn¡¯t succeed¡­ although i¡¯d let arachne know about it, and maybe keep me in the loop if any zany events occurred. successful reanimation would be huge, although with tens of thousands of years of bereaved and grieving people trying, with literal gods probably putting their thumb - or whole weight - on the scale, and it just not being a thing, i had my doubts.


    ;


    speaking of¡­ i wanted to chat with iona about the events.


    ;


    i flew closer to her, deciding to ride on her shoulders for a minute. my legs clamped around her neck, and she grabbed my knees to keep me secure.


    ;


    ¡°hey otherworldosaurus!¡± she cheerfully greeted me. ¡°what¡¯s up?¡±


    ;


    i tilted my head back, gazing at the wondrous blue sky above us, my hair lashing in the wind. iona flicked my knee.


    ;


    ¡°yeah, yeah, very clever.¡± she laughed. i answered her question for real, and not in the annoyingly literal way.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯m pretty disappointed in how little i learned from jake.¡± i complained. ¡°the whole thing went off the beaten path so fast i never got a chance to compare all the notes i wanted to.¡±


    ;


    iona pulled a face.


    ;


    ¡°you¡¯re right.¡± she said. ¡°the only time i saw you light up was when you two were discussing the years. how you feeling?¡±


    ;


    i sighed.


    ;


    ¡°resigned, mostly. it was such a fucking disaster, i¡¯m just glad to be out of there.¡±


    ;


    my shoulders sagged.


    ;


    ¡°and a little bummed out. i wanted to know¡­¡±


    ;


    earth wasn¡¯t home, not anymore. pallos was, and i¡¯d made my peace with that a long time ago. i had still been curious about earth though, and jake had told me nothing useful. i swear, it seemed like he lived under a rock and just played games all day.


    ;


    and that was before knowledge came into play. sure, magic replaced air conditioning nicely - i don¡¯t think i¡¯d be nearly as content on pallos otherwise - but things like the internet, if jake was capable of making it happen, would change everything.


    ;


    not that it had looked like he was trying to make anything, just have a good time.


    ;


    i shook my head.


    ;


    life was good, and comparison was the thief of joy.


    ;


    ¡°what went wrong, what went right, and what could we have done better?¡± i asked.


    ;


    ¡°we found them no trouble. that part went well.¡± iona promptly replied. i ruffled her hair. it was right there, too easy not to.


    ;


    ¡°strong work.¡± i praised. she¡¯d done all the tracking and finding.


    ;


    ¡°we worked decently well when we realized jake was a problem and needed to be handled. i know there¡¯s not a lot we can do about it, but your [oath] did throw a few problems where you couldn¡¯t directly fight jake.¡± iona said.


    ;


    i shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°sure, and while i completely agree with the what and why, your [vow] also might¡¯ve caused issues where you had to fight and stop him. six of one, half dozen of another, neither one threatened so much trouble to completely derail the mission.¡±


    ;


    ¡°arguably, it did completely derail the mission.¡± iona argued. ¡°we wanted to recruit him and bring him back to exterreri. we almost entirely failed the mission. we didn¡¯t bring him, and whatever knowledge he had is gone.¡±


    ;


    i frowned at some of iona¡¯s phrasing.


    ;


    ¡°almost entirely failed?¡± i asked.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯m starting to get a handle on arachne. maybe. at least enough to predict that she¡¯ll see a silver lining in all this. we didn¡¯t get to recruit him - but nobody else could either. nobody¡¯s going to suddenly come out with a major military or economic advantage.¡±


    ;


    i snorted in disbelief.


    ;


    ¡°him? i got major ¡®idiot¡¯ vibes, and it was like he knew the ideas, but absolutely no way to implement them or even the fundamentals of how they worked.¡± i was skeptical.


    ;


    iona chuckled.


    ;


    ¡°yeah? anyone looking at you wouldn¡¯t believe that you - ow!¡± i had started knuckling iona¡¯s head as hard as i could about five words into her sentence. i knew i wasn¡¯t actually harming her - my strength was too low - but it was the gesture, the message.


    ;


    i smiled sadly as i thought of mom, and her wooden spoons. the futile, painless spoons, that dad played along with, and when i was old enough, tough enough, i did too.


    ;


    the system was both a great equalizer, and a great granter of disadvantages.


    ;


    ¡°pbrrrrrrrrrt.¡± i blew a raspberry at iona, refocusing on the here and now, not bothering to even spin off a [parallel thoughts] process. she tilted her head back and grinned at me.


    ;


    ¡°you know it¡¯s true.¡± she teased.


    ;


    i crossed my arms and pouted¡­ which probably just added fuel to her argument.


    ;


    iona sighed deeply as we flew over the sea of stars.


    ;


    ¡°what¡¯s up?¡± i asked.


    ;


    iona hesitated.


    ;


    ¡°i love you very much.¡± she said, patting my leg. i knuckled her hair.


    ;


    ¡°okay, now you¡¯re making me nervous. what¡¯s so terrible that you need to butter me up first?¡±


    ;


    she tilted her head back, looking at me with a mischievous smile.


    ;


    ¡°you¡¯re the love of my life, and i¡¯m perfectly content and happy with you. with all that said¡­ could you imagine having a dozen beautiful men and women around at all times, all interested?¡±


    ;


    iona¡¯s eyes glazed over a bit again, and this time i knew she wasn¡¯t chatting with her goddesses.


    ;


    i indulged in the thought for a bit. iona wasn¡¯t wrong, the fantasy was quite nice.


    ;


    it was just that though - a fantasy. the reality wouldn¡¯t be nearly so clean or nice, and that was just for sex, not even touching on love.


    ;


    ¡°mmmm. yes, yes i can.¡±


    ;


    iona refocused with a hopeful look on her face. i flicked her nose - gently.


    ;


    ¡°it¡¯s not for me though. are - are you completely happy?¡± i was more than a little worried asking.


    ;


    iona flexed her shoulders, and somehow, by sheer physical prowess multiplied by the gifts of the system, managed to ¡®pop¡¯ me into her arms, where she caressed me.


    ;


    ¡°i am. i love you, now and forever.¡± she kissed me.


    ;


    i eventually broke the kiss.


    ;


    ¡°even with¡­ the immortality thing?¡± it hadn¡¯t been something we¡¯d properly addressed, knowing we had years.


    ;


    iona hesitated.


    ;


    ¡°is it really so bad? with my vitality, i should live 400, maybe 600 years. ever notice you don¡¯t see old warriors at that age? how everyone fighting is under 100? yeah. there were no old valkyries for a reason. you¡¯re immortal, i¡¯m not, but it doesn¡¯t change anything. i¡¯ll be dead before then.¡±


    ;


    i gritted my teeth.


    ;


    ¡°not if i have anything to say about it.¡± i firmly declared.


    ;


    iona smiled sadly.


    ;


    ¡°i know.¡± she whispered, keeping careful control over her voice.


    ;


    ¡°so¡­ together until one of us dies. you interested in making it formal at some point?¡± i asked with roughly all the subtlety of a brick. dealing with jake had completely drained my social graces, and this wasn¡¯t exactly a conversation to dance around.


    ;


    the only thing surprising about a proposal should be the when and how. both parties should have talked about it ahead of time, and known it was coming. marriage wasn¡¯t a surprise that should be sprung. it was a measured conversation.


    ;


    boring, not terribly romantic, but it was the right way to do it.


    ;


    iona didn¡¯t immediately answer, and a terrible weight started to crush on my chest. my mind, sped up by auri¡¯s bond, started to go over and over a hundred, a thousand different possibilities. my self-confidence started to shake, and-


    ;


    ¡°yes.¡± iona firmly replied. ¡°but i¡¯ve got some thoughts of my own.¡±


    ;


    i repositioned myself on fenrir, properly positioning myself for a serious chat.


    ;


    ¡°yeah?¡± i asked.


    ;


    ¡°first, off the top of my head, i hate the immortal idea that relationships and marriages and the like need a time limit. till death do us part.¡± iona almost cracked up on the last line, and what she¡¯d just said about valkyries not making it to 100 took on extra weight.


    ;


    i easily nodded.


    ;


    ¡°absolutely.¡± i swore.


    ;


    ¡°with all that said, i¡¯ve been thinking about nina. she was too low level for this, and i¡¯d hate for her to stay low level. i¡¯d like to go on a few rounds with her. probably outside of exterreri, they¡¯ve got things down pat here. not enough conflict for a budding valkyrie. barely enough for me! i feel like we¡¯ve settled down enough, found our feet, and now i want to go out and be a valkyrie.¡±


    ;


    i eagerly nodded.


    ;


    ¡°of course! i agree with you, we¡¯ve found our feet well enough, have gotten a base established. we¡¯re in an excellent position to go out into the world and do some good. any ideas where to start?¡±


    ;


    iona clicked her tongue unhappily.


    ;


    ¡°the valkyrie-squire relationship tends to be one to one for experience reasons. if there were two valkyries to one squire, the danger and difficulty of any encounters would go down sharply, which also decreases the experience quite a bit. both in terms of levels, and real world expertise. similarly, two squires to one valkyrie splits the duties and experience a little too hard for meaningful levels.¡±


    ;


    i could feel iona giving me a pointed stare, and i could pick up what she was putting down.


    ;


    ¡°you want to go alone.¡± i said.


    ;


    ¡°if you don¡¯t mind.¡± iona said.


    ;


    i paused, then shook my head.


    ;


    ¡°i mind a tiny bit. i love you. i¡¯ll miss you. it¡¯s disappointing that i can¡¯t come with you. but i understand. nina needs experience. levels. it¡¯s part of your thing to go out and work like this, and i¡¯d never try to stop you. that¡¯s not what our relationship is. is there a chance i¡¯ll be able to come in the future?¡±


    ;


    iona cracked a relieved grin.


    ;


    ¡°thank you. i want to do a few rounds with you and nina at some point where you¡¯re acting as a [healer], but i think that¡¯s for the future, like you said. when she¡¯s got a few more levels, when she¡¯s a [squire] instead of a [page], when i¡¯m not trying to get the bare bone fundamentals down. when it¡¯s not my first [squire].¡±


    ;


    ¡°maybe when i¡¯m on a break from being a sentinel. that could be a good window?¡± i suggested.


    ;


    iona nodded.


    ;


    ¡°oh yeah! or even this summer. we¡¯ll work it out.¡±


    ;


    i briefly debated asking iona if she¡¯d be fine for a few weeks or months without any bedroom fun, but axed the thought.


    ;


    we both knew where we stood regarding monogamy, and the heart of iona¡¯s [vow] revolved around acting honorably. there were few actions less honorable than lying and cheating.


    ;


    content and satisfied, i laid back and continued plotting.


    ;


    i still had a good number of the remus coins, but i needed to think of a good spot for modifying them¡­


    ;


    ;


    in a trip that was too short for the time i wanted to spend with iona, too long for how badly i wanted to be home, we were getting to bloodmoon bay and sanguino. we¡¯d flown around the experimental island again - there was no way that wasn¡¯t ending in tears one day - and we were getting some nervous looks from the guards on the walls.


    ;


    i mean, i¡¯d be a little concerned if a huge fucking armored wyvern was approaching our home.


    ;


    ¡°hey, i wanna report back to arachne, and run some errands. wanna come?¡±


    ;


    ¡°nope.¡± iona promptly replied. ¡°i¡¯ll let you have the fun conversation with arachne. i want to get back home, and see how nina¡¯s doing.¡±


    ;


    i hopped up, standing precariously on fenrir¡¯s neck.


    ;


    ¡°cheers, see you later!¡± i let myself fall backwards off fenrir, like a high diver going into a stone basin.


    ;


    i didn¡¯t immediately open my wings, enjoying the rush of falling. there was still a primal part of me that screamed in terror, that insisted we were going to die, that humans - nevermind that i wasn¡¯t exactly a human anymore, the lizard part of my brain never got the news - weren¡¯t meant to fall like this.


    ;


    i was fairly certain that i could walk off landing at top speed on the hard streets of sanguino. i basically had when i¡¯d jumped down for my library reconnaissance mission. at the same time, didn¡¯t want to accidentally land on somebody, nor did i want to traumatize the hell out of anyone by going splat in front of them.


    ;


    i¡¯d get better, of course, but i had a sneaking suspicion that watching someone turn into a flesh pancake wasn¡¯t an easily scrubbed memory.


    ;


    i slowly unfurled my wings, flapping a few times to catch the wind. i turned my freefall into a dizzying series of acrobatic maneuvers, finding new and fancy ways to twist and turn in the air as i fell.


    ;


    i was in no particular rush.


    ;


    i directed myself near stormwatch castle, not wanting to go head to head against the fortress¡¯s aerial defenses.


    ;


    they were calibrated to deal with very high level immortals. i wasn¡¯t arrogant enough to think i could survive them, no matter how hydra-like my defenses were.


    ;


    i landed, worked my way through the various systems, corridors, and guards, and soon ended up outside of arachne¡¯s lair.


    ;


    one difference in how things were done these days - fewer large scale meetings of all the sentinels. the report i¡¯d had when i first came back was an unusual exception, not the norm. the expectation was more that our individual teams would handle things the way we saw fit, and various sentinels had created their own little clubs to meet and discuss things. like the war sentinel meetings.


    ;


    it was a good thing. there were just too many of us.


    ;


    after a short wait - and an angry-looking sentinel mirror storming out of arachne¡¯s lair, half her bottles missing and a nasty-looking burn on her armor - i was beckoned in.


    ;


    ¡°sentinel dawn.¡± arachne greeted me with an arched eyebrow. ¡°i don¡¯t see you¡¯ve come back with anyone in tow. issues?¡±


    ;


    i grimaced.


    ;


    ¡°you could say that. from another world? most likely. i can¡¯t imagine many situations where he wasn¡¯t. he was also one of the biggest idiots i¡¯ve ever encountered.¡± i said.


    ;


    arachne didn¡¯t react at all to what i¡¯d said.


    ;


    ¡°tell me more.¡± she said.


    ;


    i gave the rundown of events, starting from when we¡¯d found him, to the end.


    ;


    ¡°... then he decided he wanted to rob a dragon. a specific dragon that i knew was nesting nearby.¡± i gave arachne a significant look, trying to silently communicate how i knew it. arachne figured it out - she was the one who¡¯d given me the map in the first place! ¡°i tried to dissuade him, iona tried to dissuade him, but he was bull-headedly insisting on going through with it, egged on by his harem members.¡±


    ;


    the pun was completely intentional. arachne didn¡¯t even blink, let alone groan. boo.


    ;


    ¡°given the potential for devastation if he followed through, my team and i put forth our best efforts to stop him. he insisted on a duel, of all things, and iona ended up throwing him into a lake, to try to get him to concede without killing him, trying to salvage the mission. a monster - an oversized anglerfish, i believe - ended up luring and eating him instead. we called it a day, and headed back home.¡± i finished summarizing the mission.


    ;


    arachne was tapping the edge of her chair in the end.


    ;


    ¡°how do you believe you did?¡± she asked. i¡¯d had some time to reflect upon that exact question on the way back.


    ;


    ¡°acceptably well.¡± i answered. ¡°we failed in the primary mission, yes. we could¡¯ve executed various maneuvers better, yes. broadly, we prevented the situation from escalating in a massive way, we didn¡¯t drive jake into the arms of our enemies, or give him any cause to hate exterreri, and the secondary purpose of a shake down run was successfully executed. i leveled eight times. i¡¯m not going to put this one in the rousing success column, but it¡¯s not going to haunt me as a massive failure either.¡±


    ;


    arachne nodded, and started to ask me a dozen more questions, each one probing into my thoughts. she didn¡¯t directly comment on anything, but the woman was a master of the socratic method, asking thought-provoking questions for me to analyze my own actions and decisions.


    ;


    ¡°understandable. why would it be bad if the situation had escalated?¡± she asked.


    ;


    i scrunched up my eyebrows at her.


    ;


    ¡°because¡­ mad dragon rampaging all over the place, burning cities, killing livestock, causing massive devastation? that¡¯s¡­ a bad thing, yes?¡± i asked, completely puzzled at her question.


    ;


    ¡°where would the dragon in question be rampaging?¡± arachne asked.


    ;


    this felt like a trick question, but i dutifully pulled up a mental map of the world - thank you [astral archives] - and studied it.


    ;


    the sea of stars was too large to easily cross in a hate-fueled rampage. why would a dragon go that way, when easier, more direct targets were in their sight? i mentally traced a dozen different rampage paths, all centered on kanadaj¡¯s lair.


    ;


    ¡°nippon-koku primarily. maybe dipping into modu, depending on the scale of things.¡± i answered.


    ;


    ¡°yes. i believe that, overall, you¡¯ve done a fine job. i have one last question for you to reflect upon, before we move onto other topics. don¡¯t give me an answer here and now, just think about it with your team. from an exterreri perspective, what are the benefits and downsides to a dragon rampaging through nippon-koku?¡±


    ;


    i almost felt something click in my perspective of arachne and the situation.


    ;


    i wanted to talk it out more with iona, but from an exterreri perspective, devastation and ruin being brought to our neighbors could be both a boon and a curse. it was a prime chance for exterreri to extend and expand its soft influence, as long as refugees coming into the country didn¡¯t cause too much of an issue. there were a hundred more pros and cons, but i could suddenly see that some people would absolutely benefit from such an event.


    ;


    heck, it was almost like when lun¡¯kat had wrecked the dwarves. i hadn¡¯t gotten the full story yet, but it sounded like remus had been merrily expanding into the new territory with almost no resistance at all. completely different than if they¡¯d been going strong.


    ;


    didn¡¯t mean i regretted a single one of my actions. iona and i had been working as one there, determined to do what was best for the people we¡¯d found ourselves with.


    ;


    i¡¯d be a terrible ruler. apart from not being interested, i¡¯d struggle to put the interests of my people over the wellbeing of others in the way that was needed.


    ;


    arachne and night had no such issues. i knew it required a certain way, a certain type of thinking to be in their position, a morally grey character, and it just wasn¡¯t for me.


    ;


    ¡°i believe i understand, and i¡¯ll give the question all due consideration.¡± i promised.


    ;


    ¡°excellent. things have been moving in the background, and while nothing has gone as initially planned, i believe i have your next assignment. again, this one is entirely voluntary, but significantly more important.¡± arachne said.


    ;


    [*ding!* congratulations! [the dawn sentinel] has leveled up to level 521->522 +3 dexterity, +24 speed, +24 vitality, +170 mana, +170 mana regen, +48 magic power, +48 magic control from your class per level! +1 magic control, +1 mana, +1 mana regeneration per level for being chimera (elvenoid)! +1 mana, +1 mana regen from your element per level!]


    ;


    i split my mind, focusing on two things at once.


    ;


    yes! the mission hadn¡¯t gone off particularly well, but in the end, i¡¯d done enough for a level! a big success in my books, especially with all of my capped healing related skills bumping up a hair.


    ;


    the other part of me saluted.


    ;


    ¡°nine levels!¡± i quickly updated my report, then got a little more serious. ¡°ready.¡± i doubted i¡¯d be a sentinel if i declined optional missions. just wasn¡¯t in my nature.


    ;


    ¡°i don¡¯t want to say the exterreri legions have gone soft,¡± arachne preambled. ¡±but we haven¡¯t had a significant threat or conflict within a mortal lifespan. life is good. society is stable. our neighbors are larger than we are, and not directly threatening our interests in a military way. given that most of them are immortal nations, the long passage of time favors them heavily for a coming conflict, and they know it. we can keep the best and the strongest warriors alive, but we lack in depth, not without causing more issues than we can solve. we vampires level slowly, while every year that passes has more elves be born, gives them more time to level.¡±


    ;


    that sounded like one heck of a story. i¡¯d have to raid the library and find out more.


    ;


    ¡°the legions, while they continue to solve smaller problems, are becoming more and more a political body. scions of powerful houses join not to defend exterreri, but to further a political career. soldiers keep themselves at 256, because they know they don¡¯t need levels to survive, and want to see what will happen after their career, to get a class for that. our fortresses are unassailed, turned into towns by the passage of time instead of defending against attack. in short, there are issues being caused by this long stretch of peace that is threatening to have the legions fall apart under their own weight.¡±


    ;


    wow. i¡¯d noticed a few pieces of it here and there - the forts becoming towns was a big one - but i hadn¡¯t quite grasped the whole picture. a time issue, or a perspective issue?


    ;


    ¡°this isn¡¯t the first time we¡¯ve encountered this exact issue.¡± arachne said.


    ;


    gods, sometimes it was hard to grasp that arachne and night had personally overseen the rise and fall of multiple civilizations. this wasn¡¯t a new problem for them. this was the same problem, echoing back over time.


    ;


    immortality.


    ;


    i could see if the same problems kept having the same solutions time and time again, that the same problems would occur as a result. the same solutions being applied again would result in¡­ the same problems.


    ;


    again. and again.


    ;


    like the hands of a clock going round and round the face, a dog forever chasing its tail.


    ;


    a snake, forever eating itself. the ouroboros of my immortality skill took on new meaning.


    ;


    night staying as hands off as he possibly could, letting mortals run around trying to solve issues made a lot more sense.


    ;


    arachne kept talking as i thought about the issue. yay [parallel thoughts]!


    ;


    ¡°what we are doing is preparing a single legion to operate as a foreign mercenary company. the plan is to shuffle, not the most dedicated, but the most interested soldiers in from various legions to form a single legion, that we will then send off to another land - the han empire is the current destination - to act as a mercenary company. there, the legion will be tested in the fires of warfare, and brought to new heights. the initial plan had revolved around keeping you a secret, and having the fourth legion operate overseas. after all, a war sentinel being deployed is no longer exterreri working on improving their soldiers, but an act of war, one that would bring the mortal nations screaming to our borders in one powerful coalition.¡±


    ;


    arachne gave me a grin.


    ;


    ¡°however, you are not a vampire. you do not shy away from the sun, and have multiple means of hiding your level. that, and an entire legion who will fight on your behalf. the members of your team are from a well-recognized organization in that part of the world, and i¡¯ve even gotten reports that some of the few remaining valkyries are active in the conflict. now, i want to be clear on this next part. the legion going out to gain experience, both in the sense of levels and the practical aspect, would happen with or without you. it is not the first time we¡¯ve done such a thing, and it won¡¯t be the last. your presence in the field would make life easier. more of our troops would survive to come home, to kiss their spouse again, to hug their children. i am aware of your [oathbound] nature, and i know you won¡¯t be able to help yourself helping others, no matter which flag they march under. that is fine. i¡¯ll admit, there¡¯s more than a few misgivings about what will happen when you¡¯re faced with other elvenoids in open conflict, and how it¡¯ll work with your [oath]. this is an excellent opportunity for you to work that out, without the consequences being dire for exterreri. what do you think?¡±


    ;


    this was practically a no-brainer. chance to heal people, many who probably desperately needed help, and an opportunity to reconnect iona with some of her fellow valkyries?


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯m in. when are we leaving?¡± i asked, my mind churning with possibilities. hopefully iona and nina could complete a full round before then, get a bunch of levels, then come with me. i had a natural instinct to try and protect nina from a war zone, but no. that wasn¡¯t right. that¡¯s the path she wanted to take, and the sooner she could see it, experience it - especially under our protective aegis - the sooner she could help, and do something about it. the levels she¡¯d gain.


    ;


    no, taking nina was the right call, assuming she had enough basic levels in the first place to survive.


    ;


    arachne had a tinkling laugh, like glass chimes in the wind.


    ;


    ¡°no rush! winter is coming, and that¡¯s the season where everyone hunkers down. war is a spring and summer game, and the sixth legion will be deploying then. i say the sixth, but in reality, it¡¯s going to take us all winter to finish reshuffling soldiers and rearming them, along with drills. can¡¯t be too obvious that it¡¯s the exterreri legions, otherwise they¡¯ll rightfully think it¡¯s an invasion!¡±


    ;


    what arachne had mentioned before about things being bad for our neighbors potentially being good for exterreri flashed through my mind again. the han empire was far away - about as far as rolland, the two shared a border - but that didn¡¯t mean there wasn¡¯t some advantage. with how bloody and ugly the civil war was from what i¡¯d heard, sending an entire army could be paid for in massive concessions down the line.


    ;


    also, the crates of non-legion standard weapons in the sixth suddenly made sense. they were already gearing up. logistics took time.


    ;


    all that was a little over my head. it wasn¡¯t all good, but a single fundamental truth wasn¡¯t changed.


    ;


    people were dying every day.


    ;


    i had the ability to do something about it.


    ;


    i was being given a golden opportunity to do something about it.


    ;


    one way or another, i¡¯d be saving lives.


    ;


    iona and i had even discussed going to the han empire after we graduated! trying to find night and settling in exterreri had taken priority, but now was perfect.


    ;


    even better than going alone?


    ;


    we had an army with us.


    ;


    only downside was we¡¯d need to wait a while, but if nobody was truly attempting to fight general winter, our presence wasn¡¯t immediately needed.


    ;


    ¡°sounds good.¡± i agreed, and changed the subject. ¡°i¡¯ve got a skill called [vault of ages].¡± i quickly gave arachne the rundown on the skill, my level in it, and my relevant stats. ¡°do you have any suggestions for what i should store in it?¡±


    ;


    ¡°food.¡± arachne replied after a brief pause. ¡°food and water. normally i¡¯d also suggest books, but you¡¯ve got that covered in another skill. tools are another solid addition. i know you can simply conjure tools with your skills, but keep in mind that most often you¡¯ll want to be giving the tools to others, not keeping them for yourself. a tool that¡¯ll degrade and break isn¡¯t worth it, not when people put their lives depending on it. similarly, you¡¯ll never know when you¡¯ll be lacking the tools to make the tools.¡±


    ;


    i took mental notes.


    ;


    ¡°got any recommended books?¡± i asked.


    ;


    arachne did have quite a list, and i took more notes, vowing to swing by the library next time i was in town.


    ;


    ¡°sadly, our time here is at an end, and i have another appointment.¡± arachne stood up at the end of the list.


    ;


    i saluted my commander.


    ;


    ¡°as you will.¡± i said, and we left together.

 Chapter 464 - Old Friends

    an: this is my first day sitting down and trying to 0-100 write a full chapter. let me know if the quality is noticeably different one way or another.


    ;


    ;


    i leisurely flew back home. i didn¡¯t want flying to become perfunctory. i didn¡¯t want it to become just a way of getting from a to b. i had a bit of time to simply enjoy it, to revel in the absolute freedom of unconstrained motion, knowing that i could simply pick a direction and fly for hours if i wanted to.


    ;


    i did want to see iona, spend as much time as possible with her before her trip, and check up on auri, so i still headed homewards.


    ;


    [the world around me] gave me a perfect sphere of perception around me, but my ¡®basic¡¯ senses were still ludicrous beyond that sphere. i could see and hear things from great distances, and once in a while my ability to see deeper into the uv spectrum than normal humans revealed interesting things. the drab, colorless birds? turned out they were gorgeous, with brightly colored stripes all over their feathers! hidden just out of the human spectrum. flowers had additional dots, and some plants looked like an artist had taken a bucket of paint to them.


    ;


    it let me see farther, and most importantly, hear farther. usually, [the world around me] helped control it, so i wasn¡¯t trying to process an entire city¡¯s worth of gossip at once. it did occasionally let me pick out distant voices, and hear what they were saying.


    ;


    brains were weird. a distant voice chatting? easy to filter out, it was done unconsciously.


    ;


    a voice i recognized? a voice that cut to the very core of my being, a voice that practically raised me, a voice from my childhood, who¡¯d molded me into the person i was today? a voice that was practically family?


    ;


    ¡°artemis!¡± i yelled to the great blue sky, and moved. the anti-friction runes tattooed on my skin started to glow as i poured power into them, making a beeline straight to home. i pushed my body and wings to their top speed, cranking out every inch of performance in my desire to go faster.


    ;


    i made it home in seconds, and used a gravity assist to dive down, pushing my speed to the utter limit. i got a glimpse of fenrir trying to dig into the side of the mountain as i dove, but couldn¡¯t get a perfect look as i started to ¡®wobble¡¯ in my dive. my magic wasn¡¯t suited for the speeds i was going at, and i was starting to lose control.


    ;


    haste made waste.


    ;


    slow was smooth, smooth was fast.


    ;


    i flared my wings, bleeding off some speed as i bolted through the front door, the bucket of water artfully placed on top not even starting to fall when i was already through the room.


    ;


    i careened around some corners, occasionally bumping into a wall in my haste. the mango peels on the floor only distracted me because mango!, but flying left no chance at all that i¡¯d slip on them. a bookcase had all of its books rearranged from the proper arrangement to ¡®largest sized book to smallest¡¯, which was another outrage.


    ;


    i smelled artemis¡¯s dirty hands behind all of them. it was like she had nothing better to do!


    ;


    hang on, wait. iona was also here, and the water bucket at the front was freshly set up!


    ;


    thinking time was over as i burst into the living room where everyone was sitting around.


    ;


    including artemis and julius.


    ;


    ¡°artemis!¡± i yelled again, taking the most direct path to her. she spun, automatically lashing out with lightning and darkness. oooh! she got a new element!


    ;


    didn¡¯t blame her for lashing out, it was the only way she could possibly hope to survive a high-speed attack, which my rushing looked like.


    ;


    i only slowed myself down enough to not turn us all into high-speed paste, but otherwise eagerly threw myself into a hug. her face went from fear to terror as she recognized me, then morphed quickly to delight as my healing utterly negated everything she¡¯d tried.


    ;


    ¡°healy-bug!¡± she laughed with delight, spinning me around before knuckling my hair. ¡°how¡¯ve you been?¡± in the distance, a water pail finished crashing to the floor.


    ;


    iona and julius were already out of their chairs in alarm, only just starting to relax as they realized everything was fine. i was unhurt, artemis wasn¡¯t being attacked, life was good.


    ;


    there¡¯d probably be a round of scolding all around, but eh, as long as artemis and i were cool with it.


    ;


    my eyes sparkled as i separated from artemis, a mad grin splitting my face.


    ;


    ¡°great! you¡¯re here! and julius!¡±


    ;


    i was a little more restrained with julius, just because i was already stopped. the years had added a few more lines to his face, and his hair was going grey. the system and vitality helped slow down aging, not stop it entirely, and julius was around 55.


    ;


    the thought brought me up short. artemis was around 45 herself. gods, where did the time go? it was only yesterday that we were all young.


    ;


    well, with [the stars never fade], old age claiming my closest friends would never be a concern.


    ;


    ¡°elaine! it¡¯s great to see you again!¡± julius grinned.


    ;


    iona sat back down in her own chair, torn between amusement and glaring at artemis, letting me reconnect with my friends. nina was harder to read, standing in a corner of the room, looking relieved.


    ;


    hang on¡­


    ;


    ¡°where¡¯s auri?¡± i asked.


    ;


    ¡°cooking.¡± artemis promptly answered.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!¡± a shriek of protest came from the small kitchen, auri objecting and saying she was baking, not cooking.


    ;


    ¡°if i say you¡¯re cooking, you¡¯re cooking!¡± artemis roared back.


    ;


    ¡°....brpt.¡± a very small squeak of assent came back from the kitchen. i raised an eyebrow.


    ;


    ¡°wow. what did you do to auri?¡± i asked.


    ;


    artemis flapped a hand at me, sitting back down. i sat on my favorite seat - iona¡¯s lap. she nuzzled me gently with her nose.


    ;


    ¡°oh, she tried to boss us around when we first showed up. we had some fruitful discussions about the pecking order.¡±


    ;


    julius and i dutifully groaned at the pun. i looked around.


    ;


    ¡°the villa is still standing.¡± i said with some surprise. i wouldn¡¯t use the word ¡®restrained¡¯ with either artemis or auri.


    ;


    i split off a [parallel thought] to properly observe everything. there was an empty bowl that smelled faintly of mangos on a table, with an eye-rollingly bad half-circle of sliced mushrooms around it. the side near artemis had clearly been munched on, the mage¡¯s hunger getting the better of her ¡®fairy ring¡¯ prank.


    ;


    speaking of - levels!


    ;


    [mage - 525] - artemis was doing well for herself! i¡¯d seen the third element earlier, but still! that was a lot of levels.


    [leader - 333] - julius looked like he was stalling out for some reason. i had some thoughts why, but i¡¯d chat with him about it.


    ;


    i¡¯d never answered artemis¡¯s question.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯m doing great! oh! night¡¯s alive!¡± i was so excited to share that tidbit.


    ;


    artemis got real quiet for a moment. i felt iona¡¯s hands subtly tense around my waist, the valkyrie about to jump in and make it not-awkward.


    ;


    julius saved the moment.


    ;


    ¡°it¡¯ll be nice to see him again. do you think he¡¯d be open to that?¡±


    ;


    i nodded.


    ;


    ¡°oh yeah! he¡¯d be delighted!¡±


    ;


    artemis cracked a grin, one that i knew was fake from all the time i¡¯d spent around her. i considered butting in, but no. i¡¯d let artemis work through her own emotions first, then maybe julius. if that didn¡¯t work, then maybe, maybe, i¡¯d ask iona for advice.


    ;


    wooo! i was figuring out this social and interpersonal relationship stuff one small revelation at a time! one day my big mental book of ¡®all the rules to operate under in polite society¡¯ would be complete, and i¡¯d never need to worry about it again!


    ;


    it was a little disheartening that interacting with artemis vaguely fell under social stuff these days. then again, maybe i was just getting better at all of it, and starting to see the lines and connections where before i¡¯d been oblivious.


    ;


    ¡°what else have you been up to?¡± julius asked after a brief, almost-awkward moment.


    ;


    ¡°oh, tons!¡± i eagerly jumped in, and artemis laser focused on me, whatever was haunting her vanishing. ¡°we just came back from a mission. the stupidest mission i¡¯ve ever been on, but i¡¯ll get to that in a minute. let me start with when we sent you the letters from the school. we left shortly after and¡­¡±


    ;


    i regaled them with my - our - tale, as nina served the refreshments auri had baked. iona joined in, adding her thoughts and perspective from time to time.


    ;


    i did a double-take at her story of meeting nina. i hadn¡¯t realized quite how much violence had been involved with her tackling the dragon triad¡¯s outpost. artemis approved.


    ;


    i naturally included all of my new classes and skills - after casting a few privacy spells.


    ;


    ¡°... and then we got back. you see why i called it the stupidest mission - let me finish!¡± i protested as artemis shamelessly laughed herself sick, not even bothering to try to stay in her chair. julius was holding his head in his hands.


    ;


    ¡°of all the reports i ever received¡­¡± he bemoaned for an instant before shaking his head again. iona was smirking behind me.


    ;


    i rolled my eyes.


    ;


    ¡°yeah, yeah, i¡¯m sure i¡¯ll find it hilarious in a week or two. how about you? picked out your third class yet?¡±


    ;


    i knew iona could tell me, but hey, it was artemis¡¯s story to tell, not mine.


    ;


    artemis stretched with a grin.


    ;


    ¡°i did! dark mage. technically, it¡¯s got a bit of a teaching aspect to it, but hey, i was always teaching practical combat. only fits! i was lacking the oomph to kill things really fast, so i grabbed it!¡±


    ;


    i looked at her with a flat stare. artemis, one of the deadliest mages i knew, felt like she was lacking oomph?


    ;


    dear goddesses, just how deadly was she now, and with how jumpy she was, how much had i taken my life into my own hands just now?!


    ;


    ¡°that¡¯s fantastic! any idea what advanced element you¡¯ll pick?¡± i asked.


    ;


    artemis shook her head.


    ;


    ¡°nah. i¡¯m thinking maaaaybe i merge my earth and dark class into gravity, but eh, i don¡¯t really care that much for the element. would give me a nice pile of stats, but then i¡¯m a shittier earth mage, and i need to start on dark again. void would be nice, but everyone here¡¯s so uptight about it. humph.¡±


    artemis crossed her arms and pouted, as iona looked seriously alarmed. she shifted me off her lap, and leaned forward.


    ;


    ¡°you can¡¯t take a void mage class.¡± she stared right into artemis¡¯s eyes, speaking with deadly seriousness.


    ;


    artemis narrowed her eyes back, the lightning deep inside them flickering like a tempest.


    ;


    ¡°who¡¯s going to stop me, you?¡± she challenged.


    ;


    ¡°yes. it¡¯ll break my heart, it might ruin my relationship with elaine, but yes, i absolutely will.¡± iona said with deadly sincerity.


    ;


    the two women stared at each other for a moment, julius and i trading nervous looks. nina bailed out the side door.


    ;


    artemis cracked a smile after a tense moment.


    ;


    ¡°see! i told you everyone gets really uptight about it!¡± she tried to sock julius in the arm, who effortlessly dodged. he was still a speedster, and artemis was more of a pure mage than i was. ¡°you¡¯ve picked a good one here elaine! don¡¯t let go of her!¡±


    ;


    iona¡¯s shoulders relaxed, and she sat back down in her chair.


    ;


    ¡°don¡¯t joke about that.¡± she chuckled with a nervous laugh. ¡°i had no idea how that would¡¯ve ended.¡±


    ;


    ¡°we¡¯ve got some tales of our own.¡± julius smoothly changed the direction of the conversation.


    ;


    artemis bolted upright.


    ;


    ¡°oh! oh! tell them about the fire-breathing megalosaurus!¡±


    ;


    julius gave her a puzzled look.


    ;


    ¡°you hate that story, you got roasted.¡± he said. nina chose that moment to re-enter the room with her trusty rod, awkwardly slipping it behind her back when she saw we weren¡¯t fighting after all.


    ;


    artemis waved her hand.


    ;


    ¡°yeah, but after elaine¡¯s nippon-koku disaster, they could use a laugh at my expense.¡±


    ;


    there was something about artemis cheerfully serving herself up for our mirth and entertainment that touched me. i felt a tear well up, and i went and gave her another hug.


    ;


    ¡°missed you.¡± i whispered quietly.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°... then the diplodocus redirected the meteor up, and, and¡­¡± julius was wheezing with laughter as he tried to finish the story. ¡°... it landed right back on its head!¡± he smacked his fist into his other hand, miming it exploding like a ripe cantaloupe.


    ;


    iona chuckled and shook her head. nina and auri had eventually joined us, and the squire¡¯s mouth dropped open in horror.


    ;


    ¡°no, you¡¯re kidding.¡± nina said.


    ;


    artemis shook her head.


    ;


    ¡°not in the slightest. sometimes, now and then, the people you¡¯re fighting will screw up. sometimes, rarely, it¡¯s a trap. it usually isn¡¯t, and exploiting your enemy¡¯s mistakes is vital.¡±


    ;


    nina was internalizing everything artemis was saying hard. given her teaching credentials, given that she was still alive - and i was also still alive, in large part thanks to her - there were worse sources to learn from.


    ;


    i laughed and smiled with them all, wondering. hoping.


    ;


    ¡°what are you two planning on next?¡± i asked.


    ;


    ¡°having babies.¡± artemis said with a stony face.


    ;


    she what?! artemis was going to-!?!?


    ;


    julius choked and started coughing, pounding on his chest.


    ;


    artemis cracked one of her infamous grins.


    ;


    ¡°nah, just fucking with you. should¡¯ve seen the looks on all your faces!¡± she leaned back and pretended to fan herself. ¡°priceless.¡±


    ;


    artemis slunk slowly deeper and deeper into the chair as we all threw murderous looks in her direction. nina quickly caught on and joined in, putting her hands on her hips, while auri did her best ¡®i¡¯m not mad, i¡¯m disappointed¡¯ slow beak shakes.


    ;


    ¡°that is a shit joke.¡± julius decreed when he finished getting the wine out of the wrong pipe. ¡°utterly terrible. worse than bringing over some mangos for elaine, then eating them before she showed up.¡±


    ;


    ¡°i was hungry!¡± artemis weakly protested.


    ;


    she read the room and shut up. julius sighed.


    ;


    ¡°we don¡¯t know.¡± he said. ¡°we¡¯ve discussed a lot of options. artemis got some interesting classes relating to the school of sorcery and spellcraft that you two attended.¡±


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!¡± auri protested.


    ;


    ¡°four of us attended.¡± i quickly translated auri¡¯s correction. ¡°not sure if i¡¯d properly count fenrir in though.¡±


    ;


    julius nodded.


    ;


    ¡°either way, that¡¯s a thing. no idea what to do with that knowledge. made artemis¡¯s third class incredibly potent.¡± there was a sad note in julius¡¯s sentence. ¡°hunting things is decent work, although it¡¯s losing its appeal. it¡¯s pretty nice here, it feels like remus in a few ways. the ways it doesn¡¯t are jarring, but we might stick around. teaching is an option. i¡¯ve wanted to try it myself for a while. tutoring. all that¡¯s gone out the window when you mentioned night was still around, and you got back pay. he¡¯s clearly willing to lend a helping hand, and he¡¯d open far more doors, and know about options we have no idea about. we should talk with him to find out more.¡±


    ;


    i completely agreed, and i¡¯d had a persistent thought telling me the same thing.


    ;


    ¡°exactly what i was thinking.¡± i said. ¡°but if you ask for backpay, make sure to specify modern currency.¡±


    ;


    artemis laughed at that, pounding her fist on the side of the chair.


    ;


    ¡°that¡¯s just like night!¡± she howled with laughter, iona joining in on the fun, before julius¡¯s stern glare got her to calm down.


    ;


    julius and artemis traded a look.


    ;


    ¡°give us some time?¡± julius asked.


    ;


    ¡°of course.¡± iona smoothly stood up, grabbing her dishes and our guests¡¯s. i jumped in, trying to make sure i pulled more than my fair share.


    ;


    after a few minutes of a private discussion - i¡¯d made sure my quick wards could keep my senses out when i¡¯d set them earlier - the two of them exited the room.


    ;


    ¡°we¡¯re ready! no time like the present!¡± artemis cheerfully decreed, and we were off.


    ;


    ;


    the hardest part was figuring who would come. we eventually decided to keep it small - just me, artemis, and julius.


    ;


    it didn¡¯t take too long to get back to sanguino, navigate the lines, guards, and streets, and finally make it to night¡¯s place.


    ;


    i knocked on the door, deep underground.


    ;


    ¡°nice digs.¡± artemis looked around and marveled. ¡°they¡¯ve done something to the stone here, i can¡¯t get any grip on it with my magic.¡±


    ;


    didn¡¯t surprise me to hear that night had layers upon layers of defenses in his home. didn¡¯t survive for tens of thousands of years without security.


    ;


    night opened the door with a smile.


    ;


    ¡°artemis. julius. i have missed the two of you, and it brings me no greater joy than to see the two of you darken my doorstep once again.¡±


    ;


    i protested.


    ;


    ¡°hey! how do you remember them immediately, and had to go to the wall for me!?¡±


    ;


    my protests were utterly ignored by the other three. artemis socked night in the arm, who permitted it.


    ;


    ¡°hey night you old bloodsucker! you¡¯ll have to try harder to bump me off next time.¡±


    ;


    julius coughed.


    ;


    ¡°didn¡¯t you explicitly want to go on the mission, no matter what anyone said?¡±


    ;


    artemis waved him off.


    ;


    ¡°details. semantics.¡±


    ;


    night chuckled darkly.


    ;


    ¡°come in, come in.¡± we all piled in, and started to follow night. ¡°as for how i immediately recognize julius and artemis, it is simplicity itself. when i retrieved my memories of you, dear dawn, they required context. other people and events that shaped you, that were important to understanding who you are. naturally, julius and artemis were included in that list, quite highly too i might add. that was before your report mentioning that the two of them had come with you to this era upon pallos. it would not do for them to remain locked away, in storage. on to celebrations! i am certain that i have a bottle of a most wonderful vintage. sadly, i drank my last bottle from old remus a few thousand years ago - a celebration of finding an original piece of the indomitable wall - but i have some fine imitation wines.¡±


    ;


    artemis missed a step at the mention of the wall.


    ;


    ¡°can we see it?¡± she asked.


    ;


    night paused, then smoothly continued on in a different direction.


    ;


    ¡°naturally. forgive me, it should have been the first place i went to. it is inevitable. with only a few exceptions, almost everyone who has ended up surviving their name being placed on the indomitable wall wishes to see it. reactions differ, you must understand, but the desire to see, to know, remains almost universal.¡±


    ;


    we quickly reached the wall, and artemis honed in on her name. julius followed more somberly, taking the time to read every single name on the wall.


    ;


    even as a speedster, even with his ability to zip through them, it¡¯d take him hours or days to read every name in the hallowed hall. night chose to walk with him, and no amount of immortality, no gifts of gods or the system could remove the weight of time and memories on his face. the tens of millions of friends he¡¯d made, then buried. the names that would only ever come from his lips.


    ;


    an eternal sentinel. watchful. remembering.


    ;


    artemis got real quiet when she saw her name chiseled into the wall. simply ¡®artemis¡¯. no modifiers. no ¡®of¡¯.


    ;


    no sentinel title.


    ;


    a single word in a lonely hallway was the sum of her life, the only echo of her work as a ranger coming down through the years. if not for the mention of the school, perhaps it would be the only trace of her life, of her entire existence.


    ;


    i stood near her, offering her comfort. i pretended not to see the tear rolling down her face.


    ;


    then in a twist, she barked out a laugh, pointing at her name.


    ;


    ¡°ha!¡± her shout echoed down the hallway, julius frowning slightly but night remaining stoic. ¡°i survived!¡±


    ;


    and, as artemis was wont to do,


    ;


    she danced a merry jig in front of her grave.

 Chapter 465 - Friends come, friends go

    i¡¯d made the connection, and i was starting to feel out of place. artemis, julius, and night all had their own relationship with each other, independent of me. i¡¯d gotten them all chatting again, things seemed to be going smoothly.


    ;


    i made a brilliant excuse to deftly leave in a smooth way.


    ;


    ¡°hang on, i think my phoenix is on fire.¡±


    ;


    with that, i deftly slipped out, and returned home.


    ;


    ;


    i settled into a pair of cozy chairs in front of a small fire with iona and the rest of the eventide eclipse. nina was included as a member, and fenrir was shrunk down. auri¡¯s new favorite seat was inside the crackling flames, the tiny traitor. we¡¯d just eaten with artemis and julius, so we simply had tea.


    ;


    hot chocolate was on my desire list, and i¡¯d be planting more mangos come the spring.


    ;


    a cozy place, a cozy moment, belying the topic of conversation. war and violence.


    ;


    i spun a [parallel thought] off to start pondering. how many wars had been decided by classers sitting comfortably by the fire, spending thousands of lives in a single sentence? that wasn¡¯t what we were doing here, but the power, impact, and topic were similar enough to give it some thought.


    ;


    ¡°brrpt!¡± auri thanked me for my hard work getting her levels. which reminded me that she¡¯d gotten me a few levels.


    ;


    ¡°and thank you for your hard work getting me levels!¡± i cheerfully told the little pyro. auri puffed up in pleasure.


    ;


    iona flicked a piece of jerky at fenrir, who snapped it out of the air. fenrir then curled up at her feet, making a small ice wall between him and the fire. the two didn¡¯t say anything to each other, but even i could tell they were recognizing each other¡¯s efforts in a similar way. nina looked interested.


    ;


    ¡°what¡¯s the deal with animals?¡± she asked.


    ;


    iona and i communicated with a look. the valkyrie wanted to handle it herself, given the way valkyries and companions interacted.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯ll explain while we¡¯re on the road. i want to spend a week gathering supplies and gearing up, then we¡¯re heading out on our first round.¡±


    ;


    nina jumped up with joy.


    ;


    ¡°we¡¯re going!?¡± she shouted.


    ;


    fenrir lifted his head and glared at nina.


    ;


    ¡°indoor voice.¡± i complained.


    ;


    ¡°brrpt!¡± auri shrieked in protest, having just realized that nina had been calling her an ¡®animal¡¯. i petted her with a finger.


    ;


    ¡°she wasn¡¯t trying to be mean.¡± i quietly tried to sooth auri. ¡°biologically, we¡¯re all animals.¡±


    ;


    now auri was giving me the stink eye.


    ;


    ¡°yes.¡± iona replied to nina¡¯s question, possibly saving me from auri trying to see if she could beat my fire immunity. ¡°the timing of dawn¡¯s last mission was poor, to say the least, but generally you¡¯ll be coming along on everything we do. given the scale of issues we¡¯re likely to handle, we need levels on you sooner rather than later, and there¡¯s no real substitute for just doing it. you¡¯ve got enough fundamentals, and all of our bases are settled enough, that it¡¯s worth building on now.¡±


    ;


    i jumped in.


    ;


    ¡°iona, worth noting that arachne has something for the entire sixth legion in the spring. we¡¯re all going to the han empire. i know we discussed going there after the school, there¡¯s rumors of valkyries being there, and if nina¡¯s got a few levels under her belt, this seems like an excellent opportunity for us? think you can be back before we leave? it¡¯s still a few months of training nina, then it gets you into one of the best places for the dusk valkyrie to be¡­ i think.¡±


    ;


    iona clicked her tongue.


    ;


    ¡°maybe.¡± she stressed. ¡°you¡¯re right in almost every way. historically, valkyries haven¡¯t attached themselves to armies, even when we believe in a conflict. armies tend to misbehave, and we generally find ourselves needing to take corrective action.¡±


    ;


    i winced at the loaded words. iona was right. it would be far too much to expect the 4,000+ soldiers and all the attached support to always act in a way that she¡¯d approve of, nevermind what orders might need to be given.


    ;


    ¡°yeah, totally reasonable. still, interested in being in the vague area? i¡¯m sure there are enough problems to fight and injustices to correct without needing to directly butt heads with the legion. that, and i¡¯d like to think i¡¯ve got some sway to correct problems without a throwdown being needed.¡±


    ;


    iona stared into the flickering flames for a few minutes, the rest of us letting her think. well, auri and fenrir started to play some sort of game on his ice wall, but the rest of us were silent.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯ll need to think on it more.¡± iona said. ¡°the premise is solid. i can¡¯t point to any one thing and say ¡®this is a problem¡¯, but my instincts are screaming at me that it¡¯s a bad idea. you¡¯re right that we wanted to go to the han empire before deciding to come to exterreri. do you think you¡¯ll have issues with [oath]?¡±


    ;


    i nodded.


    ;


    ¡°fuck yes, [oath] is going to cause me problems. but like. what¡¯s the point in sitting safe and comfortable at home when others are suffering, just because it¡¯ll cause me trouble? i don¡¯t plan on spending my life avoiding the conflicts where i can do the most good. this lets me figure things out now. i should probably have some long talks with night before we go.¡±


    ;


    night had been instrumental in helping me shape and work out how my [oath] applied back in ranger academy. long nights of slowly walking around the island, discussing the skill and its usage. what my beliefs were, the philosophy behind it and the various applications.


    ;


    we¡¯d discussed ranger teams against hostile people, of course, and minor rebellions were a thing. i¡¯d even participated with destruction in quelling one.


    ;


    however, we¡¯d never handled large-scale warfare like this. it had been almost inconceivable. humanity had been on the brink against the formorians. we just didn¡¯t have big wars against other people. closest similarity were larger goblin tribes occasionally rattling their spears, and that was a clean-cut problem.


    ;


    ish.


    mostly.


    sorta.


    ;


    ¡°well, no pressure from me. i¡¯d love you three to be around. if you don¡¯t want to, you don¡¯t have to. just know there¡¯s always a safe spot for you near me, no matter if i have to fight my own legion or not.¡± i said.


    ;


    ¡°let¡¯s not fight a legion.¡± nina piped up. ¡°that sounds like a bad idea.¡±


    ;


    we laughed at that, and moved onto lighter topics.


    ;


    ¡°are you fine with artemis and julius crashing here short term, or maybe even long term?¡± i asked iona. we built the place with way more space than we ever needed, in anticipation of having lots of guests.


    ;


    iona nodded.


    ;


    ¡°completely. i know you¡¯d be fine letting some valkyries crash here, or even the entire order. who am i to say no to your friends? it¡¯s our house.¡±


    ;


    i grinned at her.


    ;


    ¡°yeah, our house, so i like to get buy-in from everyone.¡±


    ;


    ;


    we all had things to do, and iona went to sanguino with nina on some excursion or another. i wanted to take a day or two to relax, and i wanted to be home when artemis and julius came back.


    ;


    i noticed fenrir was digging into the side of the mountain again. hard, without any proper forelegs. he used a combination of ice magic, his powerful jaws, and the little hooks on his wings to slowly chip away at the rock.


    ;


    ¡°what are you up to?¡± i asked, having an idea but wanting to make conversation. out of the entire eventide eclipse, i felt like my relationship with fenrir was the weakest of all the bonds, and if i had my way, we¡¯d be together for a long, long time.


    ;


    i was fairly certain that fenrir was immortal, and even if by some tragedy iona died of old age, fenrir would still be around. he was tight with auri, and i struggled to imagine him flying off somewhere else if she died.


    ;


    ¡°cave.¡± he growled. ¡°home.¡±


    ;


    ahh, made sense.


    ;


    ¡°want help?¡± i asked. ¡°i can chip in myself, or see about getting some [laborers] to help. keeps progress going on your cave while you¡¯re off with iona.¡±


    ;


    a good idea suddenly came to me. i could totally sprinkle a few gems or pieces of gold in the wall, then wander down to the adventurer¡¯s guild and post a quest or something. ¡®there¡¯s an old immortal hideout in my backyard please get rid of it or something¡¯. have them come, excavate the cave for fenrir, then leave once it turned out there was no lair.


    ;


    quest complete!


    ;


    ¡­


    ;


    although, with my luck, it¡¯d turn out there actually would be an immortal hideout in my backyard, then they¡¯d plunder it all and i¡¯d be left sad, and fenrir still wouldn¡¯t have his cave.


    ;


    better to do things properly i suppose. iona would disapprove of my plan.


    ;


    fenrir thought about it for a bit, the cogs slowly turning.


    ;


    ¡°later.¡± he growled out. i patted his leg.


    ;


    ¡°well, if you need any food, or want me to clear some of the rubble out, just let me know!¡±


    ;


    i interpreted a snort as agreement, and left him to it.


    ;


    ;


    julius and artemis came back after a few hours, and naturally we got chatting.


    ;


    ¡°any idea what you¡¯re going to do?¡± i asked.


    ;


    ¡°nope!¡± artemis answered without a care in the world. ¡°going to take a break, see some sights, goof off for a bit. have a vacation. then maybe we¡¯ll find something we like.¡±


    ;


    julius gave me a look. i tilted my head, and he flashed me a few old ranger signs.


    ;


    i flashed a quick response.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯m going to borrow julius for a minute.¡± i told artemis.


    ;


    she waved us off.


    ;


    ¡°just remember, he¡¯s not your boss anymore!¡± she said.


    ;


    the two of us moved to another room.


    ;


    ¡°is this private?¡± julius asked.


    ;


    i figured i had time, and instead of pulling out one of my spellbooks i cast half a dozen privacy wards.


    ;


    ¡°now it is!¡± i made a mental note to get a room permanently enchanted with privacy wards. why not?


    ;


    i did know why i wasn¡¯t enchanting everything with them - mana cost, and plain old space to put the enchantments. a topic for another day.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯m struggling with what to do.¡± he said.


    ;


    ¡°everything alright with artemis?¡± i asked.


    ;


    he hesitated, then nodded.


    ;


    ¡°yes. mostly. the issue is with me.¡±


    ;


    ¡°your level?¡± i guessed.


    ;


    he nodded.


    ;


    ¡°i took [ranger-commander] variants when i got promoted. in both classes. why not? it was the natural extension of what i¡¯d been doing, it was my job, it was the end of my career. i¡¯d be in the role until i retired. it was perfect for me, in every single way.¡±


    ;


    it sounded to me like julius was justifying his choice to himself once again, rather than trying to convince me.


    ;


    ¡°it was absolutely the right call with the information you had at the time.¡± i reassured him. ¡°don¡¯t beat yourself up over it.¡±


    ;


    he nodded.


    ;


    ¡°yeah. problem is¡­¡± he spread his arms and looked hopeless.


    ;


    ¡°it¡¯s a dead end now.¡± i confirmed. ¡°basically nothing you do is getting you good experience, and artemis is massively outstripping you.¡±


    ;


    ¡°you understand.¡± he said. ¡°i can¡¯t keep up with her. i know she¡¯s slowing down, taking on smaller risks for me. but it¡¯s not quite working.¡±


    ;


    there was a clear and obvious solution to this.


    ;


    ¡°have you talked with her about it?¡± i asked. ¡°instead of me?¡±


    ;


    ¡°absolutely. we¡¯re in vague alignment over the problem and the solution. the issue we have is, we can¡¯t find where to implement the solution. something that works for both of us.¡±


    ;


    ¡°well, maybe you¡¯ll find it here. you¡¯ve got night in your corner now. if he can¡¯t help you figure something out, nobody in the world can. i¡¯m supposed to have a team, and i¡¯d welcome you and artemis on it any day of the week. just let me know.¡±


    ;


    julius cracked a grin, and put his hand on my shoulder.


    ;


    ¡°thank you, elaine. i am eternally grateful to you.¡±


    ;


    i patted his hand, remembering the day, long, long ago, that i sang and told tales to ranger team 4, the day i changed julius¡¯s mind and got him to accept me as a tag along.


    ;


    i grinned.


    ;


    ¡°guess i was someone special and important, huh?¡± i asked, finally finding a moment to use his own words against him.


    ;


    julius snorted and rolled his eyes.


    ;


    ¡°please, i stand by what i said. every teenager thinks they¡¯re special and important. i just hope i¡¯m around on the day you make the same realization.¡±


    ;


    ;


    in a week, with little fanfare, iona and nina were ready to leave, planning on traveling to vollomond. there was the right mix of problems and safety to train a new [page] on. iona even privately confided in me that she hoped nina would hit 32, and be able to get [squire]! leveling that fast was bound to come with solid achievements above and beyond being iona¡¯s squire, but even so, nobody was expecting greatness from the first level 32 class-up.


    ;


    the two had spent the morning doing some last minute preparation, triple checking that everything was ready. nina was getting an earful for forgetting tinder, which iona had managed to catch.


    ;


    ¡°lunch!¡± i handed over two lunches i¡¯d personally cooked, seasoned with love. all of iona¡¯s favorites, along with a love letter and a risque picture of me. something to remind her of home while she was out and about.


    ;


    my only regret was i couldn¡¯t see the look on her face when she found it.


    ;


    iona hopped down off the fully armored fenrir, and strode over.


    ;


    ¡°thanks, love! it smells delicious!¡±


    ;


    i grabbed her in a hug, enjoying the height difference. her arms wrapped around me.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯ll miss you.¡± i said, tightening my grip.


    ;


    she hugged me back, kissing the top of my head.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯ll be back before you know it.¡± she promised.


    ;


    ¡°you better be!¡± i said.


    ;


    we spent a sickeningly long time saying goodbye to each other, neither of us wanting to break the moment but knowing we needed to.


    ;


    auri, bless her little heart, finally managed to get us moving along.


    ;


    ¡°brrrrrrrrrrrrrrppppttt.¡± she made a disgusted retching sound, finally killing it.


    ;


    iona hopped onto fenrir in a single superhuman leap, and artemis and julius came out to wave them off.


    ;


    i had to be dramatic. i grabbed a silk and waved it as hard as i could, waving them off as they flew off into the distance.

 Chapter 466 - The Saturnalia

    being a war sentinel wasn¡¯t all fun and games. i felt the crushing responsibility of the lives of the [legionnaires] in my hands, and the stress and pressure was steadily growing as the fated day to leave approached.


    ;


    the legion was divided into eight cohorts, each headed by a [tribune]. generally, most issues simply needed one, sometimes two cohorts dispatched to handle the issue. it let the legion handle several things at once, and i¡¯d imagine i¡¯d start dipping my toes into ¡®real¡¯ conflicts by tagging along with a cohort on a light mission or two.


    ;


    instead, i was being thrust into the deep end by having the entire legion deployed at once.


    ;


    there was the other side of the coin to the whole thing.


    ;


    occasionally, now and then, being war sentinel dawn was all fun and games.


    ;


    it was the saturnalia! a festival deep in winter, celebrating the end of the old year, and welcoming in the new year. in one of the rare meetings i had to attend, legata katerina made clear that we¡¯d finished shuffling the members of the legions around, and that we all needed to put forth maximum effort during the saturnalia as a bonding activity.


    ;


    ¡°the [legionnaires] need to know, like, and trust each other before we put them at the business end of a spear.¡± the legata gruffly told us all.


    ;


    on paper, i was the single most powerful classer in the sixth legion. that was the whole point of a war sentinel - if someone else was stronger, if someone else had more sway to how the course of battle went, shouldn¡¯t they be the war sentinel instead?


    ;


    in practice, nothing was that simple, and most everyone knew it.


    ;


    it did mean that katerina wanted me highly visible on all the events, along with several other members of the legion.


    ;


    i woke up bright and early on the morning of the saturnalia to an unusually hot bed. [the world around me] helpfully let me know that auri was right next to me, burning brightly but carefully not setting anything on fire.


    ;


    ¡°auri?¡± i asked, a little confused at her presence, and why she was burning so hotly. ¡°is everything alright?¡±


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!¡± she reassured me, and i cracked an eye open and smiled at her, slowly stroking her flames.


    ;


    ¡°you¡¯re sweet, but you know that¡¯s not what i meant.¡±


    ;


    i¡¯d idly dropped yesterday that i was sad about my bed being cold, and auri had figured out a literal way to help out.


    ;


    i had some hopes that iona would¡¯ve managed to find a way to pop back briefly for one of the winter celebrations, but so far i¡¯d had no luck. no letters either, but that was only to be expected. even if she sent a letter the second she landed in vollomond, she¡¯d likely be back before any of them arrived.


    ;


    heck, i was likely to be in the han empire before any of them even left the kingdom!


    ;


    ¡°ready for the big day?¡±


    ¡°brrrpt!!¡±


    ;


    auri had been working hard on her various flames, and had worked out a few browns and greys, letting her ¡®dress up¡¯ like she was wearing a miniature suit of armor. it was adorable. she even had a new ¡®hat¡¯ added to her collection! a miniature helmet, exactly like a [legionnaires].


    ;


    sadly, the sixth was stationed at their fort, and it wasn¡¯t near sanguino. i didn¡¯t have the luxury of a slow morning. i hit myself with [sunrise] and used [blink] to get out of bed and instantly undressed.


    ;


    [*ding!* [blink] leveled up! 46 -> 47]


    ;


    i was trying to use [blink] whenever it was halfway reasonable to, working on grinding the level up. it was sloooooow. painfully slow. the low stakes of each [blink], combined with having infinite things to do, meant i didn¡¯t always remember.


    ;


    ¡°flame bath?¡± i asked auri, who promptly obliged.


    ;


    ¡°thanks!¡±


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!¡±


    ;


    i shuffled closer to my closet until a tunic was close enough through a wall that i could [rapid reshelving] it straight onto my body, instantly getting dressed.


    ;


    no level this time.


    ;


    between [the world around me], [blink], and [rapid reshelving], i was regretting not making more secret rooms, passages, and storage closets in the villa. i could easily see and access things inside them, while they weren¡¯t immediately obvious to anyone else.


    ;


    maybe one day we¡¯d make an expansion to the place, and i¡¯d squirrel away as many secret parts as i could. or even make the entire thing secret!


    ;


    the imagination boggled at all the things possible with magic, and i didn¡¯t even have a building skill! silly things were possible with that.


    ;


    i wondered if anyone made a castle inside a cloud? it should be doable, the only question was mana and power requirements¡­ levitating stuff was expensive.


    ;


    i walked over to the armory where i kept my ceremonial gear, and another round of [rapid reshelving] got me geared up in no time at all. the only interesting thing was i needed to lift my feet slightly when teleporting my greaves on. couldn¡¯t just teleport them onto my feet, there was the floor in the way!


    ;


    i continued to marvel at harper¡¯s skill. i looked amazing. all sharp black with subtle red lines. she knew her business! my pair of badges - the sentinel one, and my own personal emblem - finished the look.


    ;


    no helmet, of course. the armor was ceremonial, the whole point of the event was to see each other, smile, and make friends.


    ;


    i just needed to shrug my shoulders and twist my elbows a bit to remind myself that the straps were all at the right positions. it still felt weird for a moment, i wasn¡¯t yet used to teleporting my armor on myself.


    ;


    i popped into the smaller kitchen for a minute, where auri was fretting, making sure all the food was ¡®just right¡¯ for our guests - artemis and julius figured staying with friends was far nicer than getting lost in the city - and the man in question was nursing a mug of something warm and sweet smelling.


    ;


    ¡°morning, julius!¡± i said with a cheer only possible thanks to [sunrise].


    ;


    he lifted the mug in a toast.


    ;


    ¡°morning. your big celebration is today, yeah?¡±


    ;


    ¡°yup!¡±


    ;


    he nodded.


    ;


    ¡°listen. i know you¡¯re going to be tempted to focus on the appearances, and nail that aspect. i have no doubt you¡¯ll do that well. remember though, this isn¡¯t just a ¡®dawn looks nice¡¯ event. mingle. meet people. otherwise, they¡¯ll think you¡¯re standoffish. that you think you¡¯re better than they are.¡±


    ;


    julius gave me a look over his mug, making the rest of what he wanted to say clear.


    ;


    old instincts died hard, and julius was still my commanding officer in them. i did resist the urge to salute him - it¡¯d be entirely inappropriate, given that i was in my full ceremonial sentinel gear.


    ;


    ¡°understood.¡±


    ;


    strangely, i felt more confident than i had before. maybe being ordered to do social stuff was an option?


    ;


    oh wait.


    ;


    pastos.


    ;


    nevermind.


    ;


    ¡°i should get going.¡± i said, hoping that history wouldn¡¯t repeat itself, and privately deciding that seeming a little standoffish was a better option than a repeat.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!¡± auri exploded into one last flurry of flames, getting everything just right.


    ;


    ¡°i know how bread works.¡± julius made a shooing motion. ¡°go on, don¡¯t be late.¡±


    ;


    i gave him one last smile and bolted out of the place, pausing only a moment to pull out my spellbook and cast the magical equivalent of a delayed stinkbomb right outside the room artemis was still sleeping in.


    ;


    hey, she started it!


    ;


    ;


    ¡°sentinel dawn. excellent! your schedule.¡± leonidus, the second-in-command of the legion, handed over my schedule for the day. most of it looked pretty normal, but¡­


    ;


    ¡°we¡¯re replacing wren with hazel?¡± i asked, furrowing my eyebrows. last i knew, wren was the third judge on most events, along with the legata and i. ¡°also, an alchemy contest? please don¡¯t tell me i¡¯m going to be drinking random potions.¡±


    ;


    leonidus gave me a pointed look.


    ;


    ¡°if you attended the meetings you¡¯d know all this already.¡± he pointedly remarked. ¡°i know you¡¯re new, i know you¡¯re still assembling your team, but unless you strongly object in the next meeting i bring it up in, i¡¯m assigning you a liaison. nike. she¡¯s the head of the battery line you¡¯ve been asking about.¡±


    ;


    i opened my mouth to protest, then thought about it.


    ;


    wait.


    ;


    he wasn¡¯t letting me protest now. he was going to bring it up in a future meeting, and i¡¯d need to be at said meeting to protest. either i started attending all the meetings to object - at which point leonidus won anyway - or i accepted with good grace, got a liaison, and started to regularly meet with one of the people i¡¯d be working closely with.


    ;


    ¡°to answer your questions - yes. wren argued that he should participate directly in all the events as the primus pilus. sitting on a table does him no good, and he persuaded the legata. as for the potions?¡± leonidus gave an evil grin. ¡°nobody says you have to drink them to judge them, which is always a source of hilarity in alchemy contests. they¡¯re all over there stirring up the best potions they can think of, then katerina judges them on their color. the first year she did it¡­¡± leonidus trailed off with a silly look on his face.


    ;


    i glanced at auri, who was practically vibrating with excitement.


    ;


    ¡°we¡¯ll see.¡± i told the little pyro. hey, if we could be ridiculous in our judging criteria, why not?


    ;


    some more shuffling around, and i found myself sitting in some prime seats in a makeshift arena, next to katerina and hazel. reed stood behind us, ready to amplify katerina¡¯s voice or make his own announcements. a few [runners], [scribes], and [assistants] were hanging out with us, katerina¡¯s perpetual escort. she never knew when she¡¯d need to send messages or need a hand with something, and today was no exception. most of her escort had been peeled off to help leonidus, who was actually running the event instead of presiding over it. the soldiers had built the arena themselves under centurion rhoda¡¯s supervision. good camaraderie exercise, and it helped flex the fort-building muscles the legions were supposed to be famous for.


    ;


    i had a sneaking suspicion that rhoda would be building siege weapons and demolishing the arena after all the events were done. everyone liked blowing things up.


    ;


    actually¡­


    ;


    ¡°when¡¯s the stadium being destroyed?¡± i asked katerina.


    ;


    she snorted her amusement.


    ;


    ¡°good morning sentinel dawn. how are you? is the saturnalia so terrible that you¡¯re already asking about when we¡¯re going to demolish the place?¡± katerina had a little bit of bite to her words. i backpedaled hard.


    ;


    ¡°whoa! no, i just haven¡¯t been around anything big getting destroyed near me like this.¡± i had a few experiences that sort of counted, but nothing so direct. the formorian walls had already been down when we made it there, trees weren¡¯t buildings, ochi was still standing when i¡¯d left, etc. ¡°i figured i should be there and get some experience before having it happen for real.¡±


    ;


    ¡°wise. next week.¡± katerina told me. ¡°first thing in the morning.¡±


    ;


    hazel leaned over.


    ;


    ¡°do you want a particular role, just observe, or be in the trenches?¡± she asked.


    ;


    ¡°i think i need to meet with nike, then katerina, i think we should discuss exactly how i operate as a war sentinel. flying overhead is fine in drills and practice sessions, but it paints the biggest fucking target on my back. i think deception, smoke and mirrors, is the name of the game here.¡±


    ;


    ¡°aye, we¡¯ll discuss it later.¡± katerina agreed, then focused on the growing crowd, looking kindly, but imperious. aloof, yet approachable. no idea how she did it, but i was conscious of how many eyes were on us.


    ;


    my vanity wouldn¡¯t let me present anything less than my best, and i subtly traced a spell with my fingertip to help with my hair.


    ;


    in a weird twist, the system-imposed vanity from my companion bond with auri was steamrolling my desire and urge to fidget and move so hard i didn¡¯t even feel it. i briefly marveled at the sensation.


    ;


    was this what life was like for everyone else?! did people really have it this easy? fuck, i¡¯d been robbed.


    ;


    optio beatrix brought her lines out to the floor of the stadium, the 24 of them either helping to drag a small altar out to the middle of the field, or holding various sacrifices.


    ;


    that¡¯s what the [priests] had determined was the ¡®right thing¡¯ to do in the current day and age. it didn¡¯t surprise me that the larger gods ended up with a more primitive set of rituals. when everything went to shit, i imagined the biggest, strongest gods got the most attention, people eagerly throwing whatever they could in their general direction. some people - mostly those deep in the priesthood or highly educated, like those from the school of sorcery and spellcraft - knew that it was people who had made the rituals, and the gods simply accepted them.


    ;


    most didn¡¯t.


    ;


    thanatos, god of death, demanded a crow or a dove to be sacrificed in his name. we had found a crow, cawing balefully in its cage, flapping its wings against the bars. aion, goddess of life, required a domesticated animal. beatrix had obtained a huge bull in the prime of his life, over level 100. papilion wanted an animal of change. frogs and butterflies were common, and the god/dess was something of an asshole regarding the slime debate. they refused to answer the question of ¡®is a slime an acceptable sacrifice¡¯ in any way, shape, or form.


    ;


    sure, it was people who made the rituals. it was somewhat ironic to me - people kept arguing about the status of slimes, yet it was people who could figure it out. if the consensus was that slime sacrifice worked, it¡¯d work. if the consensus went in the other direction, it wouldn¡¯t work.


    ;


    didn¡¯t stop papilion from being an asshole. they could decree an answer one way or another and stop the fighting. at least, that was my amateur theological understanding of the matter.


    ;


    it had to be more complicated than that though - the high priests weren¡¯t idiots. if it was that simple, wouldn¡¯t they just¡­ fix the problem?


    ;


    the bigger the offering, the larger the sacrifice, the happier the gods, and the more likely they were to bless us in the coming year. for papilion, beatrix had gotten her hands on an enormous serpent, its skin starting to molt.


    ;


    the goddess seira, divinity of order, required a colony insect sacrificed in her name. ants and termites were hugely popular sacrifices, given how much of a pest they were, and the goddess liked them just as much as bees. glass walls enclosed an entire fire ant¡¯s hive. they weren¡¯t native to the area, but no expense was being spared.


    ;


    not when we knew we were deploying soon. it hadn¡¯t been announced to the general troops yet, but people weren¡¯t stupid. they could put one and one together. a massive reshuffling of troops? the logistics clerks chatting about all the different weapons being obtained? a dramatic upping of drills?


    ;


    they knew something was up, just not what.


    ;


    xaoc, lord of chaos, had a singular demand.


    ;


    cats.


    ;


    no other creature would serve, and an evil-looking mouser, missing an ear and with an ugly scar slashing across his face was hissing at everyone and everything.


    ;


    the [priests] and [chaplains] arranged the animals onto their respective portion of the altar, or, in the bull¡¯s case, near aion¡¯s side. order opposed chaos as life opposed death, with change in the center, mediating it all. katerina got up, and i mimicked hazel in staying seated. reed amplified everything katerina said, letting everyone hear her.


    ;


    ¡°sixth legion!¡± she roared. ¡°the dread!¡±


    ;


    cheers and screams of approval met her opening of the ceremonies.


    ;


    ¡°welcome! welcome, old soldiers, who¡¯ve been with us for decades. welcome, new legionnaires, who¡¯ve just joined us. i say this with complete confidence - we are the single best legion in the entire empire!¡±


    ;


    katerina¡¯s speech whipped the crowd up into a frenzy. lots of ¡®we¡¯re the best, rah rah rah, we¡¯ll crush our enemies, see them driven before us, and hear the lamentations of their women¡¯.


    ;


    i felt myself getting caught up in the excitement, but i deliberately tried to separate myself from it. i didn¡¯t want to be a blind fanatic, unquestioningly supporting the empire.


    ;


    i was a sentinel, yes, but that didn¡¯t mean i was going to leave my senses at home.


    ;


    the legata kept the speech short and sweet, then handed it over to optio beatrix. the [chaplain] began her own speech.


    ;


    ¡°welcome friends. another year gone. another year ahead of us. today, we thank the gods and goddesses above for their blessings, and hope to see them again in the coming year. we thank the emperor for his strong leadership. the senate for their wise guidance. the¡­¡±


    ;


    no wonder katerina could keep her speech short and whipping people up. she¡¯d delegated the boring speeches to everyone else!


    ;


    ¡°we give thanks to aion, and her gift of life.¡± beatrix announced, and the [priest] ritualistically sliced the bull¡¯s neck open, the life-blood spilling all over the goddess¡¯s portion of the altar. the bull kicked and bucked as its life spilled out, the holy men and women effortlessly dodging its thrashes. a skill was clearly being used with the blood, directing it to the altar. not a single drop landed on the ground.


    ;


    the bull died, and was promptly castrated, the remains thrown onto the altar. one of beatrix¡¯s seconds raised his arms, sent up a prayer, and ignited the altar.


    ;


    the magic didn¡¯t care that blood wasn¡¯t normally flammable.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt.¡± auri observed with interest.


    ;


    the rest of the bull was hauled away, to be a centerpiece on one of the feasts. i was pretty sure i was scheduled for that one.


    ;


    ¡°we give thanks to thanatos, and his gift of death.¡± beatrix announced next, and the crow¡¯s neck was swiftly snapped, the body placed on the altar and ignited moments later.


    ;


    much easier than the bull. the gods didn¡¯t care about the disparity in difficulty.


    ;


    ¡°we give thanks to papilion, and their gift of change.¡± beatrix announced. the serpent was placed, cage and all, on top of the middle of the altar, papilion¡¯s place in the big five pantheon. a blade was plunged through the cage, and it took the combined efforts of most of the priests to keep things under control.


    ;


    the snake was skinned right then and there, the scales thrown onto the altar and immolated with the rest. the body was hauled away, and i mentally debated if i was going to have some snake at lunch.


    ;


    ¡°we give thanks to seira, and her gift of order.¡± the ants were placed, enclosure and all, on seira¡¯s portion of the altar, and ignited while alive.


    ;


    i¡¯d burned plenty of formorians to death. i didn¡¯t have a leg to stand on to complain.


    ;


    "we give thanks to xaoc, and his gift of chaos.¡± beatrix put the final offering on the altar, the cat.


    ;


    then she opened the cage, releasing the cat into the world. letting a little more chaos roam around.


    ;

 Chapter 467 - Nike

    the rest of the saturnalia went by with¡­ no incidents at all. nope. none. the mess at the feast didn¡¯t count, i¡¯m the sentinel and everyone loved it.


    ;


    there were chariot races and wrestling contests, gladiatorial games against vicious dinosaurs, a mage tournament that hastily had to go back to the original rules after my healing proved too powerful, dancing, singing, the dreaded alchemy contest.


    ;


    tribune hazel insisted that this year, we all drink the potions.


    ;


    ¡°we are the alchemy legion.¡± she insisted. ¡°i¡¯m in charge of the specialists, including the alchemists. optio maxlin has repeatedly complained about command¡¯s habit of judging on inane criteria. what message does it send if command is unwilling to even try?¡±


    ;


    ¡°if any of them poison us, i can just heal it.¡± i muttered.


    ;


    legata katerina narrowed her eyes.


    ;


    ¡°this was the sort of thing that should¡¯ve been discussed before the event!¡± she hissed at hazel, plastering a smile on her face and downing the first potion to shocked gasps.


    ;


    i drank as well, and being a bird was a surreal experience. somehow, i knew how to fly with the wings i was granted, and the world was so much bigger and stranger.


    ;


    auri was the same size as me, for one.


    ;


    i took off, spreading my wings and marveling at what ¡®true¡¯ flight felt like.


    ;


    [*ding!* congratulations! [butterfly mystic] has leveled up to level 498->499! +8 strength, +8 dexterity, +70 speed, +70 vitality, +70 mana, +70 mana regen, +70 magic power, +70 magic control from your class per level! +1 strength, +1 dexterity, +1 speed, +1 vitality, +1 mana, +1 mana regeneration, +1 magic power, +1 magic control for being chimera (elvenoid)! +1 strength, +1 mana regen from your element per level!]


    ;


    i got the level as i returned to normal.


    ;


    ¡°sixteen out of eight!¡± i declared. ¡°it got me a level, best potion possible.¡±


    ;


    my announcement basically killed the rest of the contest. katerina and hazel were all too happy to declare the potion that leveled up the legion¡¯s war sentinel as perfect, and while a few of the alchemists were bummed - only fair when their potion hadn¡¯t even been tried yet before someone got a perfect score with brownie points on top - most were excited to congratulate the winner.


    ;


    who¡¯d gotten three levels of his own.


    ;


    all in all, a rousing success of an event.


    ;


    the feast was fine. nothing to say about it. food was eaten, yes. drinking occurred. some bawdy songs were sung, and gripping tales told. yes. that is what happened. oh, and entertainment! there was lots of entertainment. for a loose definition of entertainment.


    ;


    i slept with the legion - wait, phrasing - and woke up bright and early the next day to meet nike. it wasn¡¯t hard - nike and the rest of her line had been transferred to the sixth legion explicitly because of me. they¡¯d had a few days to settle in, and we were now ready to meet. leonidus was able to direct me right to them.


    ;


    i took the long route, walking slowly towards them while [parallel thoughts] let me greet the various soldiers pleased to see me, while also mulling on the nature of command and my role.


    ;


    what was the best way to approach this? there were several competing methodologies, all of which applied.


    ;


    the first and most obvious one was to lean on ¡®i¡¯m sentinel dawn, here¡¯s what i need.¡¯ it was the expected chain of command, the ¡®right¡¯ way for an officer of the legion to interact with the rank and file soldiers. it was distant, it was aloof, but it made a necessary distance. i¡¯d be making calls and decisions that imperiled their lives. space was required.


    ;


    it¡¯d be all too easy to get off on the wrong foot. all too easy to step on toes and quickly develop resentment and dislike. the last thing i wanted was for the troops i was trusting to have my back to be plotting how best to stick a knife into it.


    ;


    the counterpoint was i¡¯d been trained as the leader of a ranger team. i¡¯d taken command of, and primarily handled, situations where we were all close. where i could be, should be familiar. i hadn¡¯t been trained as a legion officer, with the proper ways of maintaining distance, and a few of my initial plots and plans involved me effectively blending in as ¡®just another soldier¡¯. i couldn¡¯t dress like a legionnaire and act like a tribune. it came with its own set of issues, ones that i couldn¡¯t quite properly articulate, but i could just broadly point to ¡®nobody else does it this way and there¡¯s got to be a reason for it¡¯ as the source of my discomfort.


    ;


    i decided it was easier to start off with the distance, so to speak, and slowly ¡®come down to pallos¡¯, as opposed to starting off close, then try to establish distance later.


    ;


    i knocked on the wooden door of the barracks room, where nike and her line were assigned. i hadn¡¯t quite considered when i¡¯d been planning out my improved senses how it¡¯d let me spy like crazy on everything. half of the line was missing, and the other half had partners sharing their narrow cots. no privacy in the legion, and yesterday had been one heck of a party.


    ;


    at least, that¡¯s what i assumed was going on, and it wasn¡¯t the entire line shacking up with each other.


    ;


    welp, yesterday¡¯s partying was over, and there were enough soldiers moving around that going up to the door in my full sentinel gear, hesitating, then turning around would be remarked on. plus, this was at my convenience, not nike¡¯s.


    ;


    ¡°legionnaire nike!¡± i bellowed with my best impression of quintus, my ranger academy drill instructor, making sure i focused on my presence as well. ¡°report!¡±


    ;


    i kept my face stony no matter how hard i was laughing inside at the sheer chaos unleashed by my statement. everyone woke up, one woman i assumed was nike was running around furiously, other people getting up were getting in her way, and one couple had an utterly horrified look at waking up in each other¡¯s arms.


    ;


    ahh, beautiful, hilarious chaos.


    ;


    it was clear that nike wasn¡¯t a physical classer, and she spent a moment straightening out her hastily-thrown-on tunic before opening the door and paling.


    ;


    ¡°sentinel dawn!¡± she shouted, throwing a hasty salute. i could see her muscles twitching as she thought of and dismissed several more things to say, before settling on a simple ¡°reporting as ordered!¡±


    ;


    [mage - 311].


    ;


    ¡°walk with me.¡± it wouldn¡¯t do to have the conversation right here, and now i could see why it was such a favorite.


    ;


    ¡°what have you been told about your assignment to the sixth?¡± i asked nike once we were out of the barracks.


    ;


    ¡°sentinel ma¡¯am. i haven¡¯t been told much, but i¡¯m a [battery]. simple enough to figure it out, ¡®specially after you came knocking at my door. you need people with my class. i have the class you need. does it get much more complicated than that?¡±


    ;


    she wasn¡¯t wrong.


    ;


    ¡°not particularly. there are some layers of complexity in the execution. how have you done this previously?¡± i asked.


    ;


    she gave me a puzzled look. ¡°yes? i was assigned to the siege and artillery century.¡± she answered. ¡°keeping the artillery [mages] topped off. simple stuff.¡±


    ;


    i was mentally cursing leonidus. i was getting the vibe that i was going to need to be in a number of miscellaneous meetings i didn¡¯t want to be in, because nike might not be up to the job. too much to ask for hyper competence from everyone i met. if she was that good, she should be a ranger.


    ;


    still, i didn¡¯t need her to be a one woman wonder. just good at her job.


    ;


    also, my question had been a little dumb.


    ;


    ¡°right. going to be a little different with me. i¡¯m going to be healing the legion. we¡¯re not sure quite what it¡¯s going to look like. something that¡¯ll help me shape the look of this all - how, exactly, does a [battery] transfer mana?¡± i asked. i had a vague inkling, but i knew it required an element i didn¡¯t have, and there was just so much endless magic to learn about. i didn¡¯t know every niche, no matter how hard i tried. maybe in a few centuries i¡¯d have a better grip on it all¡­ but at that point, the old stuff might be obsolete, and there could be a ton of new magic to learn.


    ;


    i caught nike¡¯s flash of concern on her face before she smoothed it over.


    ;


    ¡°arcanite rods.¡± she answered. ¡°all [batteries] have arcanite as an element, letting us refill the crystals. you drain the rods as fast as we fill them up.¡±


    ;


    hmmm. alright.


    ;


    ¡°what¡¯s your mana pool and regeneration look like?¡± i asked.


    ;


    ¡°mana pool¡¯s pretty small. i can give you about 140 mana per second, and a normal entire line can do just under a thousand mana per second. zeus though, he¡¯s got a [promise], and our line can do closer to 1500 mana per second as a result.¡± nike was clearly proud of the boost that one dude was providing, and i was personally impressed. he was worth almost an entire line on his own!


    ;


    i mentally translated the numbers. i wasn¡¯t used to working in mana per second, but it was clear [batteries] were. i had about 800 mana per second of regeneration, so the entire line would be almost tripling my regeneration. in a protracted battle, it was going to be all about the regeneration.


    ;


    ¡°is the small mana pool typical of a [battery]?¡± i asked.


    ;


    ¡°yes ma¡¯am. if storage is needed, we generally will fill up a large arcanite crystal. we¡¯re fantastic at keeping arrays up.¡±


    ;


    i had my doubts about how viable a massive arcanite crystal would be to lug around, and the sheer impracticality of needing to constantly run or fly back to it to top off, then jump back into the battle. it was a prime target, a huge amount of money, and it painted a target on my back as ¡®that one healer that keeps running out of mana and going to the huge crystal while this legion seems to have unlimited healing¡¯. i wasn¡¯t even partially trained in intelligence and counterintelligence on the field and in battles, but even i could make the obvious connections.


    ;


    it also killed the idea of having them disguise themselves as a typical line, and i¡¯d run back to them when i needed to be refilled. they were a continuous supply of mana, bolstering my regeneration, not a pool i could tap for a top off.


    ;


    ¡°do [batteries] fight at all, or are you purely supportive?¡± i asked.


    ;


    ¡°we fight.¡± nike gave me an eyeroll. ¡°everyone and their sister seems to think [batteries] can¡¯t fight. we can! it¡¯s just different. we focus on low-cost, high-regeneration spells. wands are typical, and we can fuel far, far more enchantments than any other class, bar none. none of our attacks are particularly powerful, but like.¡± nike looked around shiftily for a moment. ¡°imagine, pretend, for a moment, about a wand that could spray a deadly contact poison. low cost, high impact, deadly. the blowback would be fatal to most people, but a second set of enchantments acts as an antidote. i gotta say that the more mana we put into our enchantments and spells, the less we have to give away, so we don¡¯t fight lots. we just can.¡±


    ;


    i stopped and stared at nike.


    ;


    ¡°do you have a wand that sprays deadly contact poison?¡± i asked. she shook her head furiously.


    ;


    ¡°no ma¡¯am! they¡¯re highly illegal, and against legion regulation. it was just an example.¡±


    ;


    i lifted an eyebrow. i didn¡¯t believe her at all, but my liedar was terrible on the best of days.


    ;


    ¡°thank you, nike.¡± i told the woman. ¡°now, you¡¯ve probably heard most of this, so forgive me for going on a bit. i just want to make sure we¡¯re on the same page. see, i¡¯m good at healing people, and¡­¡±


    ;


    ;


    ¡°legata.¡± i entered her office when it was clear she was between tasks.


    ;


    [*ding!* [the world around me] leveled up! 86 -> 87]


    ;


    spying was occasionally useful.


    ;


    ¡°dawn. good timing. what can i do for you?¡±


    ;


    ¡°well, i¡¯ve got some initial thoughts how my team and i should operate in the han empire¡­¡±


    ;


    i explained my plan to her, along with the questions i had to see if it was possible. she leaned back thoughtfully.


    ;


    ¡°that would work.¡± she said. ¡°but we¡¯d need more people to do it. there¡¯s going to be some grumbling, most people will think it¡¯s useless, but it¡¯ll be excellent cover¡­¡± she trailed off thoughtfully, absent-mindedly chewing on the end of a quill.


    ;


    ¡°yesssss.¡± she slowly drew the word out. ¡°yes, i think that would work beautifully. you don¡¯t mind getting dirty, do you? how are you with makeup to change your facial structure?¡±


    ;


    well, after being challenged like that, i had to say no.


    ;


    ¡°if getting dirty saves lives, throw me into the pig pen. i don¡¯t know much about changing my facial structure, but i¡¯m more than willing to learn anything and everything about makeup!¡±


    ;


    katerina grinned, and we got to plotting.

 Chapter 468 - The Extinguisher of Legends

    the old year had ended, the new year was in. night and arachne were busy, busy people, and while i¡¯d gotten a number of invitations to fancy functions and various parties, without iona to push me and provide a strong incentive to go, i¡¯d declined almost all of them. the only one i¡¯d accepted was a party the war sentinels were throwing, which had felt a little out of my league. it wasn¡¯t that i felt i didn¡¯t belong or anything like that, just that their idea of entertainment was founded on most of them being over level 1000, which allowed for some niche, extreme stuff.


    ;


    however, in the end, i did get to arrange a nice little sit-down dinner with night, arachne, and clotho, her bonded black widow spider. julius and artemis joined us, and my heart had a little crack in it when iona failed to miraculously appear out of the sky at the last second to join us.


    ;


    i knew she was out and busy. i knew she¡¯d be back in just a few months, if not weeks, and that the time wasn¡¯t so long as to be worth making a ton of trips. i knew she hadn¡¯t been gone long.


    ;


    but all those were logical arguments, and i missed her something fierce.


    ;


    auri had baked, julius had scrounged up some relatively old bottles of blood wine, artemis had acquired enough different food to feed an army, and i¡¯d gone ham on enchanting every last square inch of the villa. we all pitched in on the cooking.


    ;


    auri was very particular on the difference, and with me around, she was a little better at telling artemis where to stick it.


    ;


    we didn¡¯t have a proper arcanite core yet, but i could run the enchantments myself for now.


    ;


    one moment our doorway was clear, the next night, arachne - susan, here at an informal event - and clotho, arachne¡¯s bonded spider, were at my door. gods, they were so fast i didn¡¯t even see them approaching.


    ;


    ¡°hello!¡± susan stepped inside.


    ;


    ¡°hey! come on in!¡± i shouted, hurrying over to properly greet them like a good hostess. ¡°thanks for coming!¡±


    ;


    ¡°oh no, thank you for inviting us! your place is simply marvelous!¡± susan gushed over my home, while clotho, sitting on her shoulder, waved a jaunty leg at auri. the little phoenix puffed herself up importantly.


    ;


    ¡°remember.¡± i muttered out of the side of my mouth, well aware that everyone could hear me anyway. it was about the appearance of the thing, not the actuality. ¡°they¡¯re guests. be nice.¡±


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt.¡± auri tried to be quiet with her protest, but it was merely tolerably loud instead of her usual high powered blast. she wanted to let me know that she had a store, plenty of customers, and knew how to be polite.


    ;


    she ended her reminder with a buffet of her wing to the back of my head. i loved immunity to fire. it included immunity to being smacked by solid flames!


    ;


    night smiled as he entered, holding a wrapped gift in his hands. i could see through the waxed paper easily enough, and lifted an eyebrow.


    ;


    that was an excellent housewarming present. night knew me well.


    ;


    ¡°night! how are you? come in, come in, don¡¯t let the cold get you!¡± ¡®cold¡¯ was a relative term, and part of me wanted to go on a dizzying analysis on how temperature was relative. our ¡®cold¡¯ here in exterreri was someone else¡¯s ¡®warm spring day¡¯, but at the same time, we were all used to our warm and cold, so our cold felt cold¡­ until stats and skills kicked in, which¡­


    ;


    thank the system for [parallel thoughts].


    ;


    ¡°elaine. i must concur with susan, your home is most wonderful. i get a strong sense of behaaglijk from it.¡±


    ;


    i tilted my head in confusion, not knowing the word. night understood.


    ;


    ¡°it is a word from frisian with no good equivalent in high elvish or creation.¡± he said. ¡°it exemplifies the idea of cozy. comfortable. warm. snug. agreeable. everything a home should be. it is the crackling log in the fireplace. the hot mug of milk. the warm embrace of a loved one.¡±


    ;


    i looked around with night¡¯s words in mind.


    ;


    ¡°behaaglijk. yes.¡± his description was accurate.


    ;


    we made more polite small talk as we made our way over to the garden, where i was hosting dinner. a fancy set of spells had snow drifting through the air, only to vanish once they hit the ground.


    ;


    ¡°brilliantly done.¡± susan praised as she saw the snowfall. ¡°it¡¯s not an illusion at all. such a clever application of ice, wind, fire, and dark.¡±


    ;


    i coughed awkwardly.


    ;


    shit! that would¡¯ve been a much neater way of doing it! ah well, live and learn. the more practice i got, the better i¡¯d be.


    ;


    hey!


    ;


    wait!


    ;


    there¡¯s no way susan didn¡¯t know how i¡¯d actually done it! i wasn¡¯t trying to hide it at all, the runes were glowing all around the edges of the garden. she was trying to subtly steer me down a better path!


    ;


    my shocked look must¡¯ve made it to my face, because the rainbow-haired woman sent me a cheeky wink.


    ;


    everyone sat down and made various greetings as auri and i bustled around, getting food served for everyone.


    ;


    the idea of getting a few apprentices to do the gruntwork was starting to become appealing. i could see the benefits of such an arrangement! heck, i could even pay someone to do all this.


    ;


    be helpful to nina as well. the place was big, and i was starting to feel like i was rattling around in it a bit.


    ;


    ¡°auri, i do believe that your current accommodations are lacking a certain flair, one i seem to recall a much younger elaine gushing over once upon a time.¡± night said as he presented his gift to auri.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!!¡± auri¡¯s estimation of night went way up, mostly for bringing her gifts.


    ;


    in a surprise, she didn¡¯t just burn the paper off. she fluttered around it, her wings buzzing at the speed they flapped at, carefully ripping the paper apart with her beak. one spot then another, she artfully shredded the paper.


    ;


    i already knew what was inside it. auri¡¯s scream of birdy approval when she finally unwrapped enough of it to see what was inside was a thing of beauty. night smiled as she burned away the rest of the paper in her excitement to see her new arcanite perch.


    ;


    auri twisted and turned to see herself in her new perch, then hopped up.


    ;


    ¡°brrptt!!¡± she declared it perfect and marvelous.


    ;


    ¡°i am most pleased that it meets your approval, young one.¡± night said with a smile, and susan shot him a loving look.


    ;


    i refocused on the conversations going back and forth, moving quickly from appetizers - a charcuterie board, with artful drizzles of basilisk blood for the vampires - onto the main course. tasty, tasty agnolotti, stuffed with rapini and king salmon! pork loin on the side, a small dish of curry imported from ralakar - a day of flying there, a day of flying back - and a beautiful set of freshly cut garden greens in a salad.


    ;


    for the vampires we had ethically sourced silvery unicorn blood, warmed and spiced. the seller was the seventh person i¡¯d tried claiming to sell unicorn blood, and the first one i believed. i knew what it smelled like thanks to varuna, my roommate skye¡¯s bonded companion back at the school. i¡¯d dropped an idle word about it to auri, who¡¯d dutifully passed the message along to atlas. i figured that was good enough.


    ;


    the ethical part i had no way of confirming, but i couldn¡¯t imagine a steady supply without some willingness on the unicorn¡¯s part.


    ;


    night leaned back, swirling his glass of blood wine and bringing it up to his nose. he breathed in deeply.


    ;


    ¡°ahhh, a most wonderful find. elaine, i have been looking for interesting tales recently, and i have one from my past which i believe you would find most fascinating.¡±


    ;


    i straightened up, although julius and susan were still deep in discussion on the nature of command. susan was delighted to hear how julius viewed things in remus times, considering it a valuable source on how thought, philosophy, and command had evolved over time.


    ;


    ¡°too far back for anyone to remember, too long after you were cruelly torn from pallos, a powerful spatial mage appeared.¡± night began to recount. ¡°at the highest levels, fights become interesting, to say the least, and blows can come from any direction, from any element. yet, one thing remains true the world around - the vitality defense.¡±


    ;


    night was slowly weaving his spell of words, drawing all of us into his story.


    ;


    ¡°two individuals of even vaguely the same level can not directly impact one another. they must find another way to visit violence. this one mage, however, found something of a workaround. an arguable loophole, in the time before the divine decree banning tearing the very fabric of space was enacted. indeed, i have good cause to believe that this nameless mage was the cause of said decree, due to it coming ¡®round near the end of his lifespan. but i digress. the mage, you see, was a master of portals, spatial magic only available at the highest levels. not only did he have the power to rapidly create small portals, but he worked out a way to move them through space, ¡®scooping¡¯ up anything that went through.¡±


    ;


    night paused for a moment, letting us imagine such a thing. i immediately saw the connection.


    ;


    ¡°he could ignore people¡¯s vitality when teleporting them.¡± i gasped, imagining all the horrible things that could be done with such a power. into an active volcano, into the depths of the planet, and a thousand other possibilities sprang to mind.


    ;


    auri¡¯s eyes went wide, and artemis had an evil grin on her face.


    ;


    ¡°ooooh, i¡¯d love to do that to some people.¡± she said. ¡°just throw someone into the bottom of the ocean, and let them drown.¡±


    ;


    night nodded.


    ;


    ¡°indeed he could. but he was more clever than that. see, many powerful immortals could survive being taken to the bottom of the ocean, and such widespread slaughter would draw unpleasant attention. instead, he simply sent people on a trip. the other thing he¡¯d worked out was how to make portals to other worlds. what does it matter if your opponent is alive, if they have been stranded on another plane of existence entirely? for all practical purposes, they are dead.¡±


    ;


    night swirled his glass of wine around again, taking a delicate drink.


    ;


    ¡°that is the background to this tale. the story, proper, is how i found myself trapped on a world called aetherion, a world entirely lacking in the system but rich in a different type of magic, and how i found my way back home, to pallos proper. this is a tale that requires three days and three nights to properly regale, but alas, i shall have to cut it short.¡±


    ;


    night paused for a moment, and i didn¡¯t even care that sauce was dripping off my ribs, onto my nice tunic.


    ;


    ¡°i have stolen from sleeping barrow kings, thrown tyrants off the highest peaks, and survived a single night with morgana moonwhisper. i have navigated the labyrinth of souls, recovered the heart of the forest, and sung so beautifully that the siren of sylvara wept and tore out her voice.¡±


    ;


    he paused, letting his words soak in and ignite our imagination.


    ;


    ¡°i am nyx shadowbane, warden of the dark, sovereign of shadows, and guardian of the dreamrealm. you might have heard of me.¡±


    ;


    ;


    susan and julius rapidly finished their conversation as night started to get into the meat of the story, all of us engrossed at every word coming from his mouth. he spoke rapidly, every single one of us here classers and able to keep up with his furious pace. still, it was clear that he was dramatically abbreviating portions of the story.


    ;


    him getting caught. the portal closing over him. the new world. new rules.


    ;


    new magic.


    ;


    bit after bit, word after word, night wove the most fantastical tale. a finger poking auri got her to get the desserts - her pride as a [chef] overriding her desire to hear the next part.


    ;


    it was slowly becoming clear that all of night¡¯s titles and achievements that he¡¯d just mentioned were purely from his time on aetherion.


    ;


    night was detailing how they¡¯d weakened a dam, preparing to flood out a town that a shape shifter of vicious power and seeming true immortality had taken over.


    ;


    ¡°the beams split with an almighty crack,-¡±


    ;


    right as night said crack, a vicious lightning bolt cracked through the sky, landing just outside the villa. artemis was on her feet in an instant, knife in hand as stones began to spin around her.


    ;


    ¡°excellent instincts.¡± susan praised, manipulating threads that clotho was furiously spinning. ¡°single human male. i don¡¯t recognize him.¡±


    ;


    if looks could kill, whoever was interrupting our dinner party would¡¯ve been struck down by night.


    ;


    ¡°bird! i know you¡¯re in there! you ruined my life! come out!¡± the dude shouted in trader tongue from outside. susan quickly relayed and translated the words to those of us with poorer senses. i was tempted to put my hands on my hips and glare at auri, but restrained myself.


    ;


    all eyes were drawn to the phoenix.


    ;


    for all that it looked like auri was continuously getting into trouble, she wasn¡¯t. the last few times i¡¯d tried to save the situation i¡¯d been completely wrong, and misread both her and the situation. from the builders, to as early as this evening, auri had been doing the right thing, and it¡¯d be wrong of me to prematurely scold her, or even accusingly ask what she¡¯d done.


    ;


    ¡°what do you think is going on?¡± i asked auri.


    ;


    she made a shrugging motion with her wings.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt?¡±


    ;


    ¡°would you like me to intervene, dear?¡± susan asked. ¡°we are as inconvenienced as you are.¡±


    ;


    ¡°give us a few minutes to try and resolve it ourselves. you¡¯re guests, you shouldn¡¯t need to be involved.¡± i said.


    ;


    i got up with auri, and started to head out. julius and artemis joined me.


    ;


    ¡°we live here, we¡¯re not exactly guests.¡± artemis explained. i nodded my understanding.


    ;


    i made sure my [persistent casting] was on, both for myself, a small area of effect for julius and artemis - we¡¯d be in moonlight once we were outside - and two casts for auri. whoever it was seemed to have a beef with her, and while she was a phoenix who could revive, why take any risks?


    ;


    i assumed my enemies were competent. if someone was explicitly going after auri, i assumed they had something prepared. like a bucket of water.


    ;


    we got outside.


    ;


    [ranger - 340] was the dude¡¯s level, and it was like he came out of the jungle or something. quetzalcoatl feathers made a cape, jackalope horns were shaped onto a crude helmet, a rabbit¡¯s foot was at his waist and he had a glorious hoof-shaped bruise on his chest. a necklace filled with various carnivore¡¯s teeth was around his neck - megalodon teeth and medusa fangs were distinctive - and he had a cerberus fur loincloth. he wasn¡¯t quite steady on his feet, and he was armed with a pair of scimitars, but lacking in armor. he looked enraged at seeing us.


    ;


    ¡°you destroyed my life!¡± he screamed at auri, starting to flourish his blades in a complex dance. ¡°it was all going perfectly, i was going to be great! then you came along!¡±


    ;


    it clicked.


    ;


    suen. osengard. the plague town we¡¯d been driven out of, after fixing their problem. i crossed my arms.


    ;


    ¡°you already tried to murder us once, now you¡¯ve chased us all the way down here?¡±


    ;


    julius made a pacifying motion.


    ;


    ¡°let¡¯s see if we can talk this out.¡±


    ;


    the dude snarled, his blades increasing in speed. he took a step towards us.


    ;


    ¡°yes! no! i -¡±


    ;


    that had been enough for artemis. with a dozen sharp overlapping cracks, two dozen small sharp rocks leapt from around her, crossing the distance in an instant and pulverizing the man. blood, brain, and gore arced across the ground, and he dropped dead like a puppet with its strings cut.


    ;


    [*ding!* your party has slain an [extinguisher of legends] (lightning, 340)//[pursuer of myth] (mantle, 314)]


    ;


    ¡°sorry love.¡± artemis apologized to julius. ¡°i didn¡¯t see that ending peacefully, and it¡¯s better we get his notification than him ours, or poor auri¡¯s. especially with that class.¡±


    ;


    julius sighed and rubbed his eyes.


    ;


    ¡°you made the right decision.¡± he easily admitted. ¡°just wish that people weren¡¯t so stupid.¡±


    ;


    susan¡¯s threads had already neatly grabbed every single bone shard and shredded artery, neatly wrapping everything up into a tidy package. in moments, it was like the [extinguisher of legends] hadn¡¯t even darkened our doorstep, every inch cleaned up and removed.


    ;


    i patted his back.


    ;


    ¡°that¡¯s what we admire about you.¡±


    ;


    ¡°we all know you¡¯re more than willing to give the execute order.¡± artemis chimed in, slipping her arm around his waist. ¡°one of us has to be the reasonable one, otherwise we¡¯d both be rotting in jail!¡±


    ;


    julius hugged his wife.


    ;


    we went back inside and settled down again. susan and night had clearly helped a little with the dishes, subtly making our lives easier while not stepping on our toes.


    ;


    i started a new book inside my [astral archives] - clever social moves by susan and night, and started taking notes. when in doubt, they were the masters.


    ;


    ¡°i am dying to know what class he had that got you all so interested.¡± susan prompted us as we sat down.


    ;


    ¡°[extinguisher of legends] and [pursuer of myth].¡± i answered before artemis could, throwing her a smug look.


    ;


    susan¡¯s eyes went wide, and night whistled.


    ;


    ¡°the class sounds most potent. a concern one must always hold is the ability for an individual with the proper skills and classes to punch far, far above their weight. elaine, auri, he might have even held a threat to you and your lives! such a class could be explicitly designed to slay those who are out of myth and legend, which the two of you most assuredly qualify as. you might have found your healing deserting you, or the legendary phoenix¡¯s resurrection failing. indeed, a few more levels and i would be wary of engaging such a person.¡±


    ;


    artemis looked smug. i pointed a knife at her.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯m pretty sure you also qualify as legendary, miss founded-the-school.¡± i pointed out.


    ;


    ¡°yeah, but i didn¡¯t wait for his speech. now he¡¯s dead, and i¡¯m feasting!¡±


    ;


    i didn¡¯t have a second knife to point at artemis. drat.


    ;


    ¡°no feet on the table!¡± i quickly said before she could put her sandals up. she mimed horror.


    ;


    ¡°me?¡±


    ;


    ¡°yes, you!¡±


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt?¡± auri wanted to hear more of night¡¯s story.


    ;


    ¡°what happened after the dam broke?¡± i asked, quickly redirecting the conversation to night¡¯s story.


    ;


    ¡°well! i hopped onto one of the largest logs with my boon companions, and we rode down the flood together, hoping to strike in the chaos and confusion. however, we hadn¡¯t considered that¡­¡±


    ;


    ;


    the dawn was arriving as night wrapped up the abridged version of his story.


    ;


    ¡°... as much as i wish to say that the enorian assassins found me at the height of the ritual, alas, reality occasionally lacks the dramatic flair of a story.¡±


    julius and i traded disbelieving looks. his entire adventure had been something out of a story! night had a tiny little quirk in the corner of his lips, clearly aware of how his words were received.


    ;


    ¡°the ritual completed, and a portal was ripped clean open from aetherion to pallos. i had already said my goodbyes to those who would be staying behind, and quickly stepped through with those who wished to see new worlds, and explore new mountains. we found ourselves on the northern continent and that¡­¡± he paused for a dramatic moment. ¡°is a story of its own.¡±


    ;


    i enthusiastically clapped and cheered at the end of night¡¯s story, a sentiment quickly picked up by everyone else. auri made a whole audience¡¯s worth of [mage hands] to join on in.


    ;


    we started to get up and out of the garden, nobody wanting the vampires to be exposed to the sun.


    ;


    ¡°dawn. would you do me the privilege of walking together once again?¡± night asked.


    ;


    i straightened up at his request. he¡¯d called me dawn, not elaine, so this was important.


    ;


    ¡°yes.¡± i said.


    ;


    in a twist, we stayed inside, navigating through rooms in a slow, endless loop, staying out of the garden in the center of the villa and out of the faint rays of the morning light. wasn¡¯t sure how the two vampires planned on getting home, but they were welcome to spend the entire day here if they wanted to.


    ;


    vampire room i mentally added to my list of things to add to the place. a deep, secure, lightless crypt for visiting vampires.


    ;


    ¡°i have had many causes to observe the workings of your [oath] upon the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people who have taken it up since your time.¡± night began the conversation in his typical manner, hands clasped behind his back, stepping slowly and pausing for me to absorb his words.


    ;


    some routines had been sorted out ages ago, and never changed.


    ;


    ¡°a regret i have - i shall not tell you a bald-faced lie and claim it is my deepest regret, not when that would do injustice to so many others - is that, after a time, i simply forgot that they were because of you. the memory was not important, and so i allowed it to be relegated to the annals of history, failing to give you proper credit. for that, i would like to apologize.¡±


    ;


    i waved him off.


    ;


    ¡°you had every reason to think i was dead, and how many literal years of time have you spared yourself by not tracking my name every time it could possibly come up?¡±


    ;


    night nodded his thanks.


    ;


    ¡°over time, i have seen many, many healers engage on the front lines. those who choose to pursue the path of both sorcery and healing remain rare, for obvious, self-selecting reasons, but there are a few every generation who make a name for themselves. i have also seen a number of people struggle with their vow to heal all who come, when just moments before their patient was attempting to end their life. when people across the battlefield are not directly choosing to try and harm the healer. i was concerned when arachne settled on the role of war sentinel, although you seemed to go into it with both eyes open. nonetheless. i believe a conversation on the topic of ethics would be fruitful, in the light of your imminent deployment to foreign fields. a deployment that, if i recall correctly, you explicitly asked not to have happen as part of your regular duties, and yet, which you find yourself now wrapped up in. come, tell me of your thoughts.¡±


    ;


    i grinned.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯d wanted to have this exact conversation with you night, thank you.¡± i said. ¡°last things first, the han empire. i¡¯ve been wanting to go for a while. in fact, iona and i almost went there after we graduated instead of going to exterreri, both of us having a good reason to be there. my starting thoughts are fairly simple, and i know they¡¯re going to evolve over time. before a battle, after a battle, everyone is fair game. everyone deserves aid. there¡¯s an argument that i¡¯m making a tactically poor choice to ensure my enemy is in fighting shape before an engagement, but i feel fairly secure in after the battle. during the fight is where i anticipate problems. my initial thoughts are fairly simplistic. they¡¯re trying to kill me and harm my patients, so i¡¯m going to defend myself and my patients first. however, i can anticipate several situations where it might not be so clear cut¡­¡±


    ;


    night knew what he was doing with the time and the sun. dusk came and went before we even began to wrap our conversation up.

 Chapter 469 - The Question

    the winter weeks flew swiftly by, and a false spring was raising everyone''s hopes. it wouldn¡¯t be long before winter¡¯s cold jaws clamped down on its neck, reminding us all that it was winter, but i was enjoying the nice day and the fine company.


    ;


    by ¡®the sixth legion is leaving in the spring¡¯ arachne and the rest of command meant early spring, and there was a ton of running around and shuffling going on in the legion as people got everything ready at the last minute.


    ;


    we¡¯d determined that i needed to lay relatively low. plausible deniability was the name of the game. ¡®sentinel dawn¡¯ wasn¡¯t going on the excursion out to the han empire. sentinel dawn would attract all sorts of ire. the han could claim it was an invasion, although they were too far away and way too busy to do anything about it. no, more threatening was the potential prospects of the wardens stepping in, my presence arguably a violation of the treaty of kyowa. the extreme reaction, one extremely unlikely, but who knew how political winds could shift and what chances opportunities would seize, would be a full-on outcry how ¡®immortals are invading!¡¯ and ¡®we must all band together and fight back!¡¯


    ;


    extremely unlikely, to the point where we were still willing to go through with the operation, but weirder shit had happened.


    ;


    soldier elaine was going to be a simple [healer-soldier], part of the 2nd century in the third cohort. i wasn¡¯t even the leader of the line! that was nike.


    ;


    on paper. we all knew what was up.


    ;


    pure coincidence that the rest of the line were all [batteries]. they obviously knew what was up, but were selected partially for their ability to keep their mouth shut. frankly, i was stunned that there were seven [batteries] in the entire legion with a reputation for discretion!


    ;


    i was blatantly cheating though. instead of getting all my gear packed up and stowed away on the line¡¯s nodosaurus, i¡¯d just teleported it all into [vault of ages]. i was also debating sleeping in there, given the extra comfort and safety, but that question was still up in the air. it would commonly reveal that i had a third element and more mana and magic power than a level 128 [healer] should have.


    ;


    my deception ring was set to 128, while my amulet was permanently displaying 256. if someone got through the first one, they¡¯d see the second one. if they could sense they¡¯d broken through a skill or enchantment that could fool [identify], seeing the exact same class and level on the second round would just be evidence that there was a third layer.


    ;


    there were levels upon levels of deception, a whole hallway filled with smoke and mirrors around my presence in the legion, and that was simply what we were practicing on ourselves! i¡¯d complained at one point that arachne was going overboard, but that just had her laugh.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯m doing the bare minimum.¡± she said. ¡°you haven¡¯t even seen me get started.¡±


    ;


    i wisely shut up at that point.


    ;


    i had a dozen makeup kits hiding out in my [vault of ages] simply to modify my appearance, so soldiers that were a little more familiar with me wouldn¡¯t instantly recognize me and rat me out to everyone else.


    ;


    katerina and the rest of her command knew about me, of course, but not even the tribunes had been told that i was hanging around. we still hadn¡¯t settled on whether i was still the third in the chain of command or not if katerina and leonidus should die. i was of the opinion that if we got there, we were so fucked anyway and should be going back home.


    ;


    we had a meeting to hash it out once and for all. the chain of command had to be crystal clear before we left - both to us, and to the troops. ¡®sentinel dawn is third in command¡¯, to me, gave a blatant message of sentinel dawn is here everyone and was less than subtle. there was no plausible deniability.


    ;


    a discussion for¡­ i wanted to say another day, but sadly, it was for later today. before that, a fun meeting!


    ;


    i walked into the restaurant where the war sentinels met once a week, and made my way to our room. i was a little early, only tyrannus beating me to the punch. he had a long stalk of wheat in his mouth.


    ;


    ¡°tyrannus. anything interesting this week?¡± i asked the man, settling into my customary seat. the man thoughtfully chewed on the stalk for a bit before answering.


    ;


    ¡°eh. a raiding party of a bunch of young elves from tympestshard decided that exterreri looked like a fun place to ¡®party¡¯ a little. only killed two of them, managed to capture the rest. letting the [diplomats] sort it out. i¡¯ll tell you the full story once everyone¡¯s here.¡± he said. ¡°you?¡±


    ;


    i wasn¡¯t quite vibrating with excitement, but there was a kaleidoscope of butterflies making my stomach their home.


    ;


    ¡°sixth is deploying soon!¡± i couldn¡¯t stop my voice from becoming a nervous squeak. i made sure to drum on the table with the tips of my fingers, not my nails. i didn¡¯t want to drive tyrannus and the rest nuts.


    ;


    he gave me a knowing nod.


    ;


    ¡°stole a few dozen of my favorite soldiers! try to bring them back home alive, yeah?¡±


    ;


    i got quiet and still at his comment, overcome with sonder. each soldier had their own full, rich lives. they all had friends. families. favorite foods, children, social circles. they¡¯d each spent hours upon hours working on their classes, agonizing over which skill to take. they all had a favorite memory, cherished moments, and embarrassments that cropped up at inopportune moments.


    ;


    i¡¯d need to keep them alive. i¡¯d be looking at them and judging in a snap, judging in less time it took my heart to beat, if they would live or die. if i¡¯d extend saving magics their way, or judging if their unwilling sacrifice would let me save three more.


    ;


    i wasn¡¯t even there yet, and the responsibility was already threatening to crush me.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯ll do everything in my power to.¡± i answered tyrannus, who managed to successfully read into my somber tone. he didn¡¯t say anything, but he did pour me another drink and push it my way.


    ;


    he didn¡¯t have to say anything. i was in rare company, meeting with the few others in the world who shared a similar burden.


    ;


    the rest of the war sentinels slowly trickled in, only depths missing. probably on a mission to the bottom of the sea of stars.


    ;


    after a round of greetings, tyrannus stood up and clapped his hands together, creating a deafening clap that silenced us all.


    ;


    ¡°dawn here is about to deploy on her first full-legion mission, a little stroll through the han empire.¡±


    ;


    a few chuckles met his announcement, a couple of cheers in my direction. i clamped down on my anger at how callous they all seemed about it. it wasn¡¯t a good time to start a fight. they knew - or they should. i found it hard to believe that people were just an abstraction to them. that they didn¡¯t care at all.


    ;


    maybe they didn¡¯t though? enough people coming and going could inure an immortal to the realities, could jade them to the fleetingness of a mortal life. it was one of iona¡¯s big complaints.


    ;


    ¡°we¡¯ve all met and talked over the years, but for our newest member, advice before she goes! i¡¯ll start!¡± tyrannus proposed. i saw queen starting to take out a deck of cards.


    ;


    the sentinel turned to me, and any joy was gone. he was all business.


    ;


    ¡°never stop thinking about morale.¡± he said. ¡°doesn¡¯t matter how strong your army is, doesn¡¯t matter how big the other army is. morale wins and loses more battles than anything else, and your presence in the sixth can easily swing it one way or another. i know your thing is keeping people alive, and i know enough about the system and warfare to know you won¡¯t be able to keep everyone alive. when making the call, consider the impact it¡¯ll have on the army. a single standard-bearer does more for morale than an entire line of soldiers. the primus pilus can be worth an entire century. it¡¯s your decision.¡±


    ;


    i absorbed tyrannus¡¯s words, and while they had merit, while i¡¯d meditate on them later, i almost wanted to entirely disregard them. my goal was keeping people alive. i¡¯d far rather the almost 100 people of a century survive than wren, simply in terms of lives saved.


    ;


    but¡­ if morale was high, that could create an effect where, globally, more people lived. a butterfly effect. then again, if i started to consider the knock-off effects of who i healed and what they did too closely, i¡¯d need to consider other parts of my [oath] with knock-off effects.


    ;


    don¡¯t heal the [terrible tyrant], he¡¯ll murder more people as a result. yet, those sorts of thoughts went against the beating heart of my [oath], to render aid to those who needed it.


    ;


    there was silence after tyrannus¡¯s advice, and queen started to shuffle her cards. the most senior war sentinel looked around, a little disappointed.


    ;


    ¡°anyone else have advice for dawn?¡± he asked. calamity shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°dawn operates so differently than most of us that my advice is worse than useless.¡± he simply stated, throwing a few coins into the middle of the table. ¡°nothing about dodging armies and hitting supply lines and agricultural bases is useful or practical for dawn¡¯s style.¡±


    ;


    flood gave a curt nod of agreement.


    ;


    ¡°aye. no offense dawn, but you¡¯re closer to a [primus pilus] than a [strategist]. calm probably has better advice.¡±


    ;


    the man in question looked startled, then thoughtful.


    ;


    ¡°yes¡­ large skills that turn the tide of battle?¡± he mused out loud. ¡°i didn¡¯t consider it like that, but yes, it fits. bunker down. the legions are fantastic at building fortifications. try to get the legate - oh the sixth, that¡¯s a legata these days isn¡¯t it? - to build a fort, and have them come to you.¡± he frowned at the thought. ¡°then again, you don¡¯t exactly force a victory if they don¡¯t come to you, so i¡¯m unsure how useful the idea is.¡±


    ;


    ¡°if the sixth¡¯s legata can force people to attack them in the first place, she¡¯d be building a fortification anyway.¡± flood pointed out. ¡°i know she¡¯s mortal, but remember, we all started as one, and you don¡¯t get old and grey in the legions by being an idiot.¡± the woman knocked on the table, signifying queen to deal her in.


    ;


    i seized the moment to signal queen to throw me a pair of cards. the top two cards were good, promising a strong opener. a little cheat, but - damnit! queen dealt one to flood, then one to me, then one to flood again! my opener!


    ;


    a quick pair of [rapid reshelving] casts ¡®fixed¡¯ my hand, although from how flood and queen narrowed their eyes, i wasn¡¯t sure if i¡¯d been fast or subtle enough. especially since they were visibly and obviously giving out ¡®loud¡¯ tells - i knew both of them had the most perfect poker face when they wanted to.


    ;


    aw fuck.


    ;


    legion spoke up.


    ;


    ¡°we¡¯ve talked about this before, but i¡¯ll just say it again so tyrannus doesn¡¯t bug me. disguise and deception are your best friends. they will figure out you exist. they will be looking for you. you need to find a way to perfectly blend in, hide your level, your class, your appearance. it might be tempting to keep changing how you look, but don¡¯t do it. people much smarter than you or me are going to be actively on the lookout for that sort of thing, and ¡®this one soldier keeps changing their appearance and nobody else does¡¯ is something they can figure out with relative ease, which paints a huge target on your back.¡±


    ;


    he glanced at tyrannus who nodded his assent.


    ;


    ¡°let me tell you a few stories about how i learned that the hard way¡­¡± he said, snapping a pair of illusions over his cards.


    ;


    i smirked. he was overlapping with a card flood already had, and the player order meant he was going to reveal first. ooooh, getting caught cheating here was unpleasant.


    ;


    ;


    ¡°hey! no! not fair!¡± my protests were futile, falling on deaf ears. strong hands gripped my arms and legs, not letting go in spite of all of my twisting and thrashing. ¡°legion was cheating more! he got caught more! this isn¡¯t fair!¡± i yelled.


    ;


    tyrannus shrugged.


    ;


    ¡°yeah, but you were more obvious, and need the reminder before you head out for the first time.¡± he gave the signal, and two of legion¡¯s hardlight bodies poured hot tar over me, carefully avoiding the mouth. queen shook her head.


    ;


    ¡°honestly, teleporting cards around? right in front of our noses? please, that was a terrible effort. someone half your level would¡¯ve caught on. this is just a good reminder to do better next time.¡±


    ;


    i swore and threw a finger in her vague direction, twisting uncomfortable as the tar worked its way under my clothes, being stupid uncomfortable.


    ;


    ¡°annnd down.¡± tyrannus ordered, an entire barrel of feathers upended over me. i was placed down, crossing my arms and glaring at everyone. flood had an evil grin as she popped snacks in her mouth, and calamity was rolling his eyes.


    ;


    ¡°i hate you all.¡± i declared as i [blinked] out of the mess, grabbing my clothes with [rapid reshelving] a moment later. ¡°i hate you all so much.¡± the tar, without a body to support it, simply collapsed in a feathery heap.


    ;


    a few coins traded hands, queen being the smug recipient of most of them.


    ;


    ¡°she¡¯s not dumb, of course she knows how to use her skills.¡± the sentinel smugly informed the rest.


    ;


    ¡°i thought she¡¯d have the grace to wait until we were at least gone.¡± legion muttered.


    ;


    ¡°if it keeps you alive, it¡¯ll be worth it.¡± tyrannus said to me. queen finished pocketing her winnings and flipped me another card.


    ;


    i spent every ounce of focus on the spinning calamity, getting it into [loremaster¡¯s library] before it could detonate. would queen stop casually flinging those around?!


    ;


    ¡°good job getting out so quickly. i¡¯ve been thinking about your [oath] and what i could make that could help. i wanted to do a mass-ooze spell, but realized too many people fall over in a fight. you could easily drown someone, and that¡¯s no good. instead, that card will lay long thick strands over the battlefield, like super-sized spider silk, then quickly harden. it¡¯s a little flexible, so people can still move a bit, but that makes it much harder to cut or smash apart. hope you won¡¯t need it, but now you¡¯ve got a second card if you do.¡±


    ;


    i was touched. i knew each card took queen weeks or months to make, and she hadn¡¯t given me a single hint until now that she¡¯d been working on it.


    ;


    ¡°thank you. if anyone has spare moonstones they need recharged, please, let me know.¡±


    ;


    ;


    ¡°dawn. welcome.¡± katerina welcomed me into her office. ¡°the rest of you, dismissed.¡±


    ;


    the usual set of the legata¡¯s followers saluted and left the room, giving us a private meeting. plausible deniability.


    ;


    ¡°we¡¯ve all known this was coming for some time.¡± katerina said without preamble, handing me over a thick set of papers.


    ;


    i muttered a quiet ¡°thank you.¡± i wasn¡¯t entirely convinced by arachne¡¯s philosophy that ¡®manners made the immortal¡¯, but it couldn¡¯t hurt.


    ;


    ¡°the exact details have been kept under wraps until now, to minimize the chance of the information making it to the wrong party too early, and in case various negotiations broke down. first and most importantly. i know everyone¡¯s been bored during the winter, and most preparations are complete. we¡¯re leaving in three days.¡± katerina announced.


    ;


    i nodded stiffly, all my plans gone in the space of five words.


    ;


    ¡°the fiendish ferrymen are going to be working in tandem to open a pair of portals for us to get to the han. the way back we¡¯ll have to figure out ourselves. our best [analysts], vampires included, believe that the wei are most likely to win the war. now, this is warfare, so nobody knows for sure, but we¡¯d ideally like to be on the winning side.¡±


    ;


    made sense. we were fighting for levels, but nobody wanted to die. the entire exercise was pointless if we didn¡¯t survive it.


    ;


    ¡°we have a contract with the wei faction to act as mercenaries, and we will be working with one [great general] wang jian. now, if things change, remember. we¡¯re acting as mercenaries. i am very willing to entertain other offers and switch sides if needed. we¡¯ve all seen the weapons and armor being used, we¡¯ve all drilled with them.¡±


    ;


    round shields over tower shields, and the spears had quite a bit more heft to them. the basic tactics remained the same, which was important for getting everyone up to speed quickly enough. the armor was totally different though, but eh, i took the approach that armor was armor.


    ;


    ¡°we¡¯re calling ourselves the ironbear brigade, nominally out of lithos. now, onto the details of where we¡¯re going. you¡¯ve got the list of generals, information, tactics, and a few of the strategies we¡¯ve developed. i don¡¯t want it to pass, but bluntly, you need to know. if leonidus and i both die, you¡¯re in command, and you have to lead the sixth.¡±


    ;


    fuck. i was going to be in charge.


    ;


    i split my mind into four pieces, each one jumping to a different part of the document and reading. all my skills together meant i could get through the entire thing in under a minute.


    ;


    i skipped directly to the ¡®sentinel dawn is now in charge¡¯ contingencies. bless katerina, most of them were variations of ¡®announce what was going on to the troops, keep it quiet, and get the hell out of the han empire.¡¯ it looked like we¡¯d have to march out, which was less than ideal.


    ;


    one plan that had my eyebrows shooting up into my hair was operation fortification. it called for the legion to build one of their famous forts in a desirable location, and settle in. start life over, half the world away. become a mercenary company for real. either integrate into society with a bend towards influencing the leadership and politics to be favorable to exterreri down the line, or waiting for extraction.


    ;


    they didn¡¯t take the short view here. i could see how a powerful block influencing a country to be favorable to exterreri could really pay off long term, but - ah.


    ;


    of course.


    ;


    the plan called for me to rule, at first openly, then from the shadows, such that the people didn¡¯t forget their roots or their mission.


    ;


    i had no desire to become a [governor], and i had a feeling it¡¯d be faster and easier for me to sell off enough immortality gems to pay the fiendish ferrymen to open a portal back home.


    ;


    another section of the package tore me in two. i couldn¡¯t tell if it was serious or not. it was written like it was serious, but it was so over the top and absurd that i just couldn¡¯t tell if it was another layer of the mercenary deception, or if someone actually thought it was a good idea.


    ;


    rules for the ironbear brigade


    1 - pillage, then burn


    ¡­


    7 - do unto others


    ¡­


    13 - there is no ¡®overkill¡¯


    14 - violence solves all problems


    ¡­


    ;


    the thirteenth point made me wonder if artemis had written the manual, and they just kept going, each one seemingly trying to one-up the rest of them.


    ;


    there was something nagging me about the consequences if these became normalized behaviors in the legion and the active encouragement of it, but it was way above my paygrade and skillset.


    ;


    the han empire had been doing well, once upon a time. a great [emperor] overseeing his domain, peace and prosperity, everyone agreed he had the mandate of heaven. all good stuff.


    ;


    then he died, and a succession crisis occurred. infuriatingly, the document didn¡¯t go into the details of why or how, just the fundamental end result. i guess it wasn¡¯t important for all of us here and now, but i was curious!


    ;


    the empire had split into five factions, each one with a ruler claiming they had the mandate of heaven, each with their own colorful cast of generals.


    ;


    the chu faction had managed to seize control of the capital city. everything flowed from kun ming, they claimed, it was the cultural and political heart of the empire. their position had them also defending the great wall of the han, a check on raiders from the ankhelt kingdom. interesting to me, they also touched on rolland, and they weren¡¯t too far from the old seat of the valkyrie order¡­ as the wyvern flew. wang qi, biao gong, zhang tang, xin - names and dossiers of generals flew past me. haku ka jumped out at me, simply because he was famed for having 100,000 prisoners of war executed¡­ by being buried alive.


    ;


    note to self: do not get captured by haku ka.


    ;


    the qin had the ¡®instruments of state¡¯, which mostly seemed to be the imperial seal, ring, and a few other trinkets that way too much importance was placed on. nothing was mentioned about them being divine instruments, which implied that anyone else could just¡­ make their own. it was a fairly weak claim to the throne.


    ;


    more practically, they controlled the tears of vulcan.


    ;


    the han empire was filled with dullahans, and i had to wonder if the name of the empire was derived from their name. armor wasn¡¯t just important to dullahans, it was literally part of their body. the tears of vulcan were one of the more practical magical spots in the world. endless lava bubbled up from the tops of the mountains, and slowly wormed down the slopes, before vanishing into the base. somehow, they were always hot, always flowing, and didn¡¯t count as conjured material.


    ;


    the dullahans had harnessed the phenomena. huge forges were placed over the endless rivers of lava, the heat captured and controlled. metals were harvested directly from the flows, and the forges produced tons upon tons of tools, weapons, and armor daily. control of the forges was a major economic and military advantage.


    ;


    naturally, they were located near the center of the han empire, and bitterly fought over. losers tried to smash as much as they could before being forced to retreat, and the report suspected that there was a significant shortage of skilled [blacksmiths] who could work them.


    ;


    why leave a resource for your enemies?


    ;


    much of the fighting occurred near the tears, and there was a whole section on them another thought process was working on.


    ;


    the qin generals were a little shorter. there was more of a mix - meng tian was a pure strategist with no known close combat abilities, while wang ben was an expert spearmaster. kyou, with adamantium armor, who¡¯d taken 100 cities. meng ao kept a smaller unit, but each soldier had fully enchanted gear, and teng was rumored to never blink.


    ;


    i was interested in the wei. that was the faction we¡¯d contracted to help out with. they claimed to have the true heir to the throne, and the intelligence report agreed - han long was the previous emperor¡¯s eldest son. a footnote indicated that they believed kyou of the qin was an unrecognized bastard of the former emperor.


    ;


    the other heirs who¡¯d caused the initial succession crisis were mostly believed to be dead, but that didn¡¯t stop the war at all. apart from wang jian, the wei also had hu shang, lian po who¡¯d deserted the qin, lin xiang ru who was ill - i wondered why that made it into the report, i should poke around if i could - and zhao she, who had a nasty reputation. ¡®kidnap family members from important people from the other side and strap them to shields¡¯ sort of nasty, as well as having his entire honor guard fire upon an enemy during a duel he was engaged in.


    ;


    artemis would approve.


    ;


    the yan¡¯s claim to the throne was the dragon banner, and there was an entire page dedicated to the artifact. in bold letters at the top of the page was an order.


    ;


    secure the dragon banner if possible. believed to be the divine artifact ¡®the solstice banner¡¯.


    ;


    the list of all the generals started to blur together. wang he, yang duan he, the lady of death, pang nuan, who liked killing opposing classers, yue cheng, fu di - each had extensive notes.


    ;


    the zhao were the last faction, and their claim was more practical.


    ;


    they were the biggest. they lacked any of the ¡®legitimacy¡¯ of the other factions, but they had the most people, the most food, and the biggest armies. meng wu, huan yi, zhao kuo, wu qing, ling huang, and more were all listed.


    the last note had me make a disgusted noise.


    ;


    great generals are constantly dying and shifting sides, and promising individuals are constantly being promoted in the turmoil. information may be outdated.


    ;


    how was i supposed to track what was going on if people kept changing sides!?


    ;


    ;


    the days flew by in a flurry of preparation.


    ;


    the portal was a thing of beauty. daytime here, yet i could see the night stars on the other side. it was wide enough for soldiers to go through eight by eight, and tall enough that a siege engine could be brought through.


    ;


    katerina had ordered no siege equipment. loudly. repeatedly. it was too much like invading. i¡¯d seen enough parts stashed away in various wagons and strapped under nodosauruses to know that the siege geeks had no intention of obeying that particular order.


    ;


    one day katerina might call for siege equipment, and it¡¯d be a ¡®miracle¡¯ how quickly it was assembled.


    ;


    actually - i bet she wouldn¡¯t be. i bet there was a large degree of plausible deniability going on there as well, and i didn¡¯t need to know about it. if i was in charge, we weren¡¯t going to be breaking down the gates of a city. unless something had gone tragically wrong.


    ;


    julius and artemis had agreed to help hold down the fort while i was gone, the two of them considering it a sort of long-overdue vacation.


    ;


    auri was with me, of course, and she¡¯d worked out a brilliant trick to not being seen. there were some flames that were almost completely transparent and invisible. sure, it didn¡¯t work against everyone, there were numerous skills that could let someone see her, and she still existed and was hot, but it was a great defense against casual inspection.


    ;


    i was hanging back a bit when a flurry of motion caught my eyes, a number of troops pointing up into the sky. i shielded my eyes, my eyes widening in delight as i caught what they were seeing.


    ;


    fenrir! which meant iona!


    ;


    shit! not terribly many people knew about fenrir¡¯s connection to me in the sixth, but enough did. i stealthily slipped away - nevermind the rest of my line, and the soldiers behind me noticing a ¡®sudden gap¡¯ - going invisible and dashing to the other side of the legion¡¯s fort. i dropped my invisibility and started to signal up to fenrir, flashing a harmless [nova lance] as a sort of landing signal.


    ;


    i noticed there was no nina.


    ;


    iona and fenrir landed, but iona didn¡¯t disembark. she held out a hand to me.


    ;


    ¡°we need to go now to save some slaves.¡± she said.


    ;


    her words crashed into me, causing a brief freeze.


    ;


    did i go with katerina and the rest of the sixth legion, on my job to help and heal people?


    ;


    or did i go with iona?

 Chapter 470 - The Decision

    iona¡¯s request had briefly stunned me, but one thing i prided myself on was rapid decision making. it had been trained into me for years, and i¡¯d honed the skill to a high degree.


    ;


    ¡°go!¡± i shouted, wanting to be loud enough that iona could hear me. then i dashed off at top speed to where katerina was waiting, my mind working furiously on four tracks.


    ;


    auri revealed herself and started flying towards iona, wanting to hitch a ride.


    ;


    iona and i had a solid bond of trust. she was already starting to take off as i sprinted away, auri, just barely managing to grab onto fenrir¡¯s tail - and her little perch there.


    ;


    good. the three of them were set.


    ;


    the first track was reviewing my impulse decision. there was never any question in my mind of who¡¯d i¡¯d go with. i knew iona. we had a solid, strong bond of trust. if she saw that i was about to head out with the legion, and still thought she needed me, well, that was easy.


    ;


    she needed me.


    ;


    just like she had my back when i was proposing wacky and wild adventures like tax fraud for a good reason, i assumed she was trying to pull me for a good reason.


    ;


    we were fast. whatever iona needed to do couldn¡¯t take that much time, and the legion was going halfway around the world. the current plans called for at least a week of adjusting to the new environment before we started marching, and campaigning was 99% boredom, 1% sheer terror. the odds of the legion getting into a serious scrap before i returned was almost nothing.


    ;


    if i wanted to, i could throw a bunch of numbers into a matrix and calculate the estimated lives saved on either end. i was willing to bet if i did it, i¡¯d end up with ¡®go with iona¡¯ to be the correct decision in that aspect.


    ;


    that was before the fact that she was my partner. that i wanted to propose to her. between my eternal job and my hopefully-immortal partner, i knew which one i was picking.


    ;


    katerina was going to chew me out, but hey, she could only really chew out soldier elaine. sentinel dawn wasn¡¯t present.


    ;


    arachne was a different question, pun intended. if the last reporting in was standard, she¡¯d ask me a number of questions to meditate over. the harshness of the questions would depend entirely on how she thought of it, but they¡¯d be designed to be introspective.


    ;


    night would approve. i saw the way he slowly stepped though the hallway of names, thousands upon millions of dead friends staring back at him. i¡¯d heard the pain and longing, the excitement and memories in his voice as he told us of his tale of aetherion, and the friends he¡¯d met and lost there. i was confident that he¡¯d choose his closest companions any day.


    ;


    artemis would tell me to do whatever i felt like doing, while julius would disapprove of me flitting off.


    ;


    the second mental track was easy, figuring out the best way to tell the legata.


    ;


    the third was trying to work out the various implications of me leaving now. i¡¯d be very visibly leaving¡­ from the troop section, after declaring that i wasn¡¯t going to be around. plausible deniability! see everyone, look, sentinel dawn is not here. she left.


    ;


    sure, rumors would fly, and it¡¯d be all-but-confirmed that i was around once people walked off a spear through the heart, but that wasn¡¯t the point. the point was to be able to claim that i wasn¡¯t there with something resembling a straight face.


    ;


    a number of different factions would be quite unhappy if i was openly running around, flaunting my level and class combination, or my immortality.


    ;


    my fourth thought process was working out what to tell the legata. i settled on short, sweet, and couldn¡¯t complain back at me.


    ;


    i teleported out a notebook, ripped out a blank page, and used some quick [lepidoptera] work to utterly cheat. i wrote out a quick letter with razor-thin lines of my runedrawing skill, the magic failing to find a proper ¡®spell¡¯ and simply burning itself into the paper.


    ;


    nobody said i ever needed to use skills the way they were supposed to be used. finding new and unusual ways to capitalize on my skills was a skill in and of itself! i wish i had more time to experiment with everything. to read, to learn magic, to-


    ;


    if wishes were fishes i¡¯d drown.


    ;


    kat,


    ;


    errand. meet you in han


    ;


    d


    ;


    short, sweet, to the point. i was just barely done writing the message when i got in range of katerina.


    ;


    [rapid reshelving] teleported the message in front of her face, and she snatched it out of the air. i didn¡¯t wait to see her reaction, snapping my wings open and blazing after fenrir.


    ;


    it took me a lot more work to catch up with him than usual! he was growing his third class fast, probably helped by a hefty dose of iona going out and getting levels, sharing her experience with him. i was still faster, but fundamentally wyverns were one of the lords of the sky. one of the fastest creatures out there. i was only able to catch up with fenrir thanks to all the stats i had in speed, my extensive study of various types of flight improving my skill, along with my biomancy changes. i didn¡¯t think it¡¯d last terribly long though.


    ;


    i flew next to iona, and drew an often-used set of runes, letting us talk without the wind grabbing all our words.


    ;


    ¡°what¡¯s up? where¡¯s nina?¡± i asked.


    ;


    iona quickly explained that they¡¯d ended up in aerie heights after an adventure and a half - she¡¯d tell me the rest later - and the three of them had stumbled upon a slaver ring run by a harpy flock. iona had torn through them like a knife through hot butter, and too late realized there was a dead man¡¯s switch that had been tripped.


    ;


    ¡°... nina¡¯s feeding mana into the switch to delay it, but we calculated it won¡¯t last much longer. instead of trying to find a healer or an expert that can handle the collars willing to go with us, i figured it¡¯d be easier to grab you.¡±


    ;


    i lifted an eyebrow.


    ;


    ¡°what do you need me to do?¡± i asked.


    ;


    ¡°ideally, [rapid reshelving] can take the collars off, and have the skill gem embedded do its thing harmlessly.¡± iona gave me a quick breakdown of what she knew about the gems and collars. ¡°in much less ideal circumstances, well, nobody can die with you around¡­¡±


    ;


    i pulled a face.


    ;


    ¡°getting their heads blown off only to heal it back on is not a pleasant method.¡±


    ;


    ¡°beats slavery or death though, yeah?¡± iona countered.


    ;


    ¡°that it does.¡±


    ;


    iona gave me a detailed breakdown of everything she knew, including nina¡¯s mana regeneration. i frowned, running my own calculations.


    ;


    ¡°i think¡­ i think you¡¯re off a bit.¡± i said, going over what iona had told me.


    ;


    ¡°what! where?¡± she protested. ¡°i¡¯m not a wizard like you are, but i did read your notes and i know the basics!¡±


    ;


    i nodded.


    ;


    ¡°yeah¡­ the basics¡­ you¡¯re missing a loss factor. nina¡¯s losing a small percentage of what she¡¯s putting in. normally not too important, but it changes the math of when they¡¯ll go off. we¡¯re going to be late.¡±


    ;


    late in this context meant dozens of deaths.


    ;


    iona swore, and it felt like fenrir figured out a way to get a tiny bit faster. like going from a run to a sprint.


    ;


    i hit him with [sunrise] and [dance with the heavens]. we¡¯d need to be as fast as possible to make it.


    ;


    ;


    we were able to catch up a little more while making our mad sprint to aerie. iona had found me by sheer virtue of our unbreakable bonds of love¡­ and asking artemis where i was. aerie bordered both exterreri and vollomond, although her excursion deeper into exterreri to find me at the sixth¡¯s camp had badly hurt her calculations.


    ;


    i stayed quiet with the thought that maybe if she¡¯d gone to see night or arachne, that they would¡¯ve had a faster solution. then again, finding them in sanguino might¡¯ve taken just as much time as flying to the sixth¡¯s camp, with less guarantee that it¡¯d work out.


    ;


    we had time for the long version. nina and iona had made it to vollomond, no problems, and had landed in a random village. helped out with a few things, the mayor ended up being a werewolf that was developing a taste for human flesh, the usual for a wandering valkyrie and her squire.


    ;


    it was always the [mayor]. unless it was the [butcher].


    ;


    they kept traveling around, lurching from place to place like a pair of drunken sailors, trying to help in whatever way they would. usually it was fairly mundane help. a tree turned into logs for an elderly widow to make it through the winter nights, or commonly, simply going away and not eating through parts of the villager¡¯s stores was the most useful thing they could do.


    ;


    then they hit rumors that a local mine was stealing people away and forcing them to work in its depths. nina had wanted to go in mace swinging, but iona had preached temperance. investigation.


    ;


    fenrir perked up at this part of the story, and i got a few rare words from the wyvern.


    ;


    ¡°fun. complicated.¡± he snorted proudly at himself.


    ;


    iona patted his neck.


    ;


    ¡°it had rained the whole time, blasted wet season.¡± she said. ¡°to all of our surprise, the mine was only a little shady. not enough for me to start putting heads on pikes, but a few [miners] were released from their contracts.¡± she chuckled to herself. ¡°first day, first hour we were poking around, and the owner promptly presented them to us, declared they were released from their contracts, and asked if he could help with anything else.¡±


    ;


    mines in vollomond prompted a memory, one of my teammates in the gladiator gauntlet. his family had owned a mallium mine.


    ;


    ¡°was it a mallium mine?¡± i asked.


    ;


    iona looked puzzled for a moment.


    ;


    ¡°no, copper, why?¡± she asked.


    ;


    i shook my head.


    ;


    ¡°not important, go on.¡±


    ;


    the disappearances and the mine were unrelated, no matter what the locals thought. but the fact that there were people vanishing out of their bed was still unresolved. careful investigation had led them to a harpy flock raiding out of aerie, kidnapping people and selling them to various markets in omospondia.


    ;


    which led to the current issue. iona had happily smashed the slaver ring to pieces, tearing through them in a way only an enraged valkyrie could manage, only to find out after the fact that the slavers had a safeguard against a slave rebellion. one that nina was doing her best to delay.


    ;


    ¡°how about you?¡± iona asked once her story was done. i could see what she was doing.


    ;


    i gave her a little nuzzle.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯ll tell you when all of this is over. let¡¯s plan.¡±


    ;


    ;


    aerie heights had the single most famous magical landmark in all of pallos. i didn¡¯t count the dragoneye moons, because they were because of a skill, and they weren¡¯t on pallos.


    ;


    the shattered mountains.


    ;


    there was nothing like them in the entire world, although the flying island the school was on was a distant cousin. it was like a mountain range had been elevated into the sky, then a god had smashed them into thousands of floating splinters. some were the size of a pebble, a deadly hazard to anyone flying through at high speed, while the largest chunks were literal mountains just hovering there, slowly turning on various axes.


    ;


    the mountains were dotted with caves, some barely more than an impression in the stone, all the way to vast honeycombs hollowing out the mountains. the flocks of aerie heights made the caves their home.


    ;


    it was hotly debated if the mountains were ¡®naturally¡¯ floating, if a god was directly responsible for keeping them afloat, if this was some classer¡¯s powerful flex - my personal favorite theory, like lun¡¯kat¡¯s moons - or if the mountains and stones were filled with massive reserves of untapped skyte.


    ;


    harpies called the shattered mountains their home, nobody else able to fly nearly as well as them. there was a whole clamor of the harpies ruling the sky and shitting on - sometimes, quite literally - the people who lived on the ground, but that wasn¡¯t important right now.


    ;


    ¡°last time, confirming this is the path?¡± i asked iona, going over the crude map we¡¯d made. she tapped her fingers on a particularly long loop.


    ;


    ¡°yes, but i think you should be able to skip past this part here. there¡¯s a gap, but it was too narrow for fenrir. think you can find it? the hideout¡¯s fairly well hidden.¡±


    ;


    i chewed my tongue thinking about it, the question having been passed back and forth a dozen times.


    ;


    ¡°yes.¡± i finally said with more confidence than i felt. ¡°you¡¯ll be powering yourself towards it. if i get lost, i¡¯ll retrace my steps and find you.¡± my senses should help dramatically with that. i could see a blade of grass waving from where i was, hearing fenrir when he wasn¡¯t trying to be sneaky would be easy.


    ;


    iona pointed.


    ;


    ¡°there are the gates.¡±


    ;


    i was off like a shot, blazing through the sky towards a pair of pillars that iona had nicknamed ¡®the gates¡¯. they were like a pair of columns, stretching half a mile in height and thicker than a house, marking an ¡®entrance¡¯ to the endless, occasionally-shifting maze that was the shattered mountains.


    ;


    i ignored other fliers, harpies occasionally squawking indignantly as i flew past on a mission of mercy.


    ;


    i only had limited experience flying against floating obstacles. the school fortunately had a ¡®flier¡¯s obstacle course¡¯ that i¡¯d occasionally run through, but it still felt weird to be going under an obstacle.


    ;


    the occasional rock was easy enough to dodge. they didn¡¯t really move, and between my senses, reflexes, small size and dexterity, i had no real issues.


    ;


    i paused at an intersection, working on orienting myself, trying to balance ¡®rush, people will die¡¯ with ¡®haste makes waste¡¯ and ¡®i¡¯m going faster than iona and fenrir.¡¯


    ;


    an echoing explosion was a worrying, solid signal of the direction i needed to go, and i took off towards it. i quickly saw the entrance to the hidden cave the slavers had been using, and blazed inside, taking in the scene in an instant.


    ;


    nina looked terrible. the kitsune had huge bags under her eyes, and was shaking with exhaustion. tears had dried on her face, and she gritted her teeth as her paws stayed firmly on the central enchantment, feeding what mana she could into it.


    ;


    splashes of blood all over the walls ended in long bloody smears towards the entrance of the cave. perfectly spherical cutouts in the walls mixed with patches of soot and a dozen other traces of a fierce battle that had been held here.


    ;


    my heart sank as i saw the various elvenoid slaves that were scattered across the room. young to old, three different races, men and women, but less than half of the number iona had told me about. only 18 left. they looked starved and malnourished, huddling in various parts of the cave. their chains had been broken, and only half of their manacles were off. iona had figured out the dead man¡¯s switch while removing them, and had immediately taken off.


    ;


    i wasted no time on fancy introductions. i grabbed the nearest collar with [rapid reshelving] and teleported the entire thing off. it ¡®only¡¯ cost me 20,000 mana, a pittance against my reserves, and an impossible amount of magic power for most people.


    ;


    i moved fast. i was starting to focus on the next collar i needed to teleport when the first one began to activate its spell array, effectively exploding. i sliced the room in half with [mantle of the stars], protecting me and the victims from the explosion.


    ;


    an explosion had to go somewhere. by giving it an easy outlet, it didn¡¯t batter against [mantle] until something broke.


    ;


    ¡°elaine. you¡¯re here.¡± nina sighed with relief and passed out, her hands slipping off the sigils. i teleported off a second collar in the time it took her to speak and pass out, then swore as i saw her hands slip off.


    ;


    things went very quickly from there.


    ;


    i could see the faint traces coursing through the sigils nina had been fueling, recognizing that they¡¯d triggered the moment nina¡¯s hands had slipped off. dashing to it and trying to pump my own mana into it wouldn¡¯t do anything, the deadman¡¯s switch had already activated.


    ;


    18 people still needed saving. i only had 10 fingers. i split my mind as far as it would go, each part focused on saving lives.


    ;


    [mantle of the stars] was relatively weak as far as shielding skills went, but i had a lot of power to put behind it these days. i picked the two biggest, toughest looking men, and wrapped their collars with fancy applications of [mantle], leaving a hole for the explosive energy to escape from pointing in a relatively harmless direction. i was making a snap judgment here, going off appearances and not running [identify] to check levels and class archetypes to try and work out who might had the most vitality. for all i knew, the delicate-looking grandmother in the corner had so much vitality that shielding her neck was the better call, but i had to made a call. an assumption. i could only pray it was the right one.


    ;


    a third [mantle] wrapped around a medusa¡¯s head. the slavers had cruelly sheared off her snake-hair, and i didn¡¯t know what they¡¯d regrow as, how long they¡¯d be, if they¡¯d lash out at anyone nearby, if she had a powerful fossil or poison element¡­ too many unknowns. better to just hide them for the moment. that required no gestures on my part.


    ;


    a spellbook fell out in front of me, already turned to the correct page. i caught it with my knee and surged mana through the spell. i blasted a tightly-clustered group of 4 - a small family, by the looks of it - with the strongest dispel i had in my arsenal, neutering their collars and draining the skill out of the gemstones. i could only hope it was enough.


    ;


    i snapped my arms out to either side at a speed that would be impossible without the system, spreading my fingers in a way that would suggest a dozen broken bones if it wasn¡¯t for my dexterity, and shot 10 [nova lances] around the room, each one [imbued] with [dance with the heavens] and some of my best images.


    ;


    two of the lances i needed to make emergency edits to, my high-speed thoughts the only way i was able to do them in time. i didn¡¯t have a pre-made template for ¡®heal all injuries except burning holes i made in people.¡¯ i had to make two different crude ones on the fly that would fix whatever nastiness the collars would do, while not interfering with my beam.


    ;


    as nina¡¯s head cracked on the hard stone floor, all hell broke loose. all 14 remaining charged collars exploded almost at the same time that my beams arrived.


    ;


    i wrapped nina up with a loose covering of [mantle], protecting her to the best of my ability. i didn¡¯t quite have the ability to mentally ¡®cascade¡¯ [mantles] and dictate which ones broke first. either they¡¯d all hold, or they¡¯d all break.


    ;


    most of them were normal. people were healed as the explosions ravaged their face and broke their neck, metal shards being extruded from jellied eyeballs as delicate necks snapped into shape then back out of shape like a pen being clicked. eardrums burst and were restored, brains were rattled, and people lived.


    ;


    they shook, they rolled, they screamed in agony and generally made keeping my life-saving beams on them difficult.


    ;


    two of the beams were tricky.


    ;


    the first one went clean through a man¡¯s arm, burning a neat hole the size of a grain of sand, before hitting the woman he was shielding and going through her chest. the two spasmed in pain, and i gritted my teeth as my [nova lance] carved new and interesting patterns in their flesh. none of the healing i was providing was designed to handle charred flesh and radiance-created holes - indeed, it was explicitly casted not to fix them, otherwise i¡¯d instantly heal the first man before my beam could finish going through him, dooming the woman he was shielding.


    ;


    the second pair was just as bad as the first, but the only good angle i had involved going too close to the first woman¡¯s heart.


    ;


    in all this, nina was barely shielded, ragdolling as she was pelted by a dozen different blasts, getting cut up by the flying shrapnel. my loose [mantle] took the worst of the hits, but i couldn¡¯t afford to try catching them all. otherwise, the two [mantles] that were wrapped around collars risked breaking. i took an ungainly hop forward, carving deeper into the four people i was applying my special [nova lance] to, then doing a sort of back-flop to keep my hands aimed at everyone, but getting my foot on nina, keeping her alive.


    ;


    the explosions were short and violent, ending almost as quickly as they¡¯d started. i killed my [lances] as i hopped up to my feet, sprinting to one end of the room as i sent a harmless [nova lance] and [kaleidoscope] butterfly over my shoulder to the other end of the room, healing the first pair i¡¯d been forced to burn through. i made it to the second pair, brushed them both with a healing-infused finger, then sprinted back over to the first pair, heaving with [oath]-induced nausea.


    ;


    burning through one person to heal both them and a second person wasn¡¯t a violation. nowhere close. however, the nanosecond they were out of immediate danger, the moment the slave collar¡¯s explosive fury had finished venting, my [nova lance] was undeniably doing harm with no good attached. the circumstances were unusual enough that i wasn¡¯t eating a full-blown [oath] penalty, simply experiencing significant nausea and discomfort from putting my toes over the line.


    ;


    wasn¡¯t even losing a level.


    ;


    ha.


    ;


    not that losing a level in [oath] was actually a penalty. i had too many of them banked.


    ;


    i made it to the pair i was running to, laying hands on both of them. mostly for the lady i¡¯d sent the [kaleidoscope] butterfly to - an image of full-body total injuries healed was far too expensive to [imbue].


    ;


    i spent a moment looking around. satisfied by my success, i let myself slump down against a wall just as my body finished dumping adrenaline into my system.


    ;


    success.


    ;


    nobody had died.

 Chapter 471 - Aftermath

    it was no time to rest. i collapsed most of my [parallel thoughts], moving to help people while checking on my notifications at the same time. they were of all different races, and their clothes suggested almost as many origins as people.


    ;


    ¡°it¡¯s alright.¡± i said in high elvish, the cadence of the language having a pleasant lilt, and my tone hopefully conveying the rest. ¡°you¡¯re safe now.¡±


    ;


    one by one, i used a fine line of [nova lance] to burn twin lines through their manacles, protecting their wrists and ankles from the molten iron with [mantle]. the first man i freed tried to shy away from me at first - burning holes in people wasn¡¯t exactly a great first impression, as well as everyone exploding at the same time i¡¯d shown up - but after burning his chains off, the rest were almost eager for my attention.


    ;


    another part of me was checking on my notifications.


    ;


    [*ding!* congratulations! [the dawn sentinel] has leveled up to level 524->525 +3 dexterity, +24 speed, +24 vitality, +170 mana, +170 mana regen, +48 magic power, +48 magic control from your class per level! +1 strength, +1 dexterity, +1 speed, +1 vitality, +1 mana, +1 mana regeneration, +1 magic power, +1 magic control for being chimera (elvenoid)! +1 mana, +1 mana regen from your element per level!]


    ;


    i¡¯d spent half the winter drilling with the legions, and had gotten a pair of levels out of it. it had been some time since my last one, and while the healing just now hadn¡¯t been hard on my power, it had been a very technically difficult maneuver.


    ;


    i seemed to be on the right side of the leveling curve. each level took more experience than the last one - nevermind how opaque actual experience was - and people often found themselves on the ¡®wrong side¡¯ of things, where their higher levels didn¡¯t make it easier for them to level enough to offset the increased experience, and so they slowed down quite a bit. [lust for lore] helped a lot, and the more levels i got in [ancient loremaster of legend], the faster everything went.


    ;


    i wondered if it was possible to get an experience buff strong enough that each level would be easier than the previous level. that would be pretty broken. and neat.


    ;


    nothing i knew said it was impossible¡­


    ;


    the high quality classes i had, and the bountiful opportunities i found as war sentinel were keeping me on the right side of things, getting a slow but steady number of levels. the years i¡¯d spent helping auri catch up were helping out as well, the little phoenix¡¯s shared experience going to all my classes - [the dawn sentinel] included.


    ;


    of course, i was also splitting my experience with her. it all worked out.


    ;


    [*ding!* [mantle of the stars] leveled up! 495 -> 496]


    ;


    speaking of curves - i suspected [mantle] was going to fall off, although i¡¯d gamely kept it up so far.


    ;


    [cosmic presence] was one i was hoping would get a workout in the han.


    ;


    i wanted to slap myself at the thought.


    ;


    if [cosmic presence] was getting a workout, that meant dozens of people were getting injured in a way i couldn¡¯t quickly or easily fix, and on the scale of things that i was likely to tackle? more like hundreds or thousands.


    ;


    [*ding!* [rapid reshelving] leveled up! 103 -> 104]


    ;


    only a few teleports, and a full level. hurray! the skill was a pain to level, and i was worried about my class quality if i didn¡¯t max it before classing up [loremaster].


    ;


    [*ding!* [parallel thoughts] leveled up! 233 -> 234]


    [*ding!* [the world around me] leveled up! 95 -> 96]


    [*ding!* [imbue] leveled up! 202 -> 205]


    ;


    oh hey, doing things in a completely new way helped [imbue]! no surprises there, and while i wanted to see if there were fancier ways i could make things happen, i hadn¡¯t exactly thought about ¡®what¡¯s a good situation where i can burn through people and heal them at the same time¡¯ before.


    ;


    levels were levels, and i wasn¡¯t going to complain.


    ;


    i finished the manacles and checked on nina, somewhat concerned that she¡¯d passed out. that wasn¡¯t healthy, and i was a little worried. my healing should be able to cure anything mundane.


    ;


    a thorough examination revealed that she was simply exhausted, snoring happily on the sharp stone floor. most of the slaves were eyeing me warily, wondering what was next.


    ;


    i teleported myself into [vault of ages], reorienting myself as i came into the space. interestingly, i always entered in the same room, rather than the last room i¡¯d been in, and the [vault] didn¡¯t care for 2-d construction. rooms were on all sides of me, including above and below, and i had to push off walls to move around.


    ;


    or just fly. but this was the only place where i could bounce off the walls. it felt like heresy to say so, a most blasphemous statement, but flying was almost not-fun here, not when there were so many more interesting ways to get around.


    ;


    it was fun, forcing myself to expand my thinking. with no gravity, every direction could be up! or down! it was all a matter of perspective.


    ;


    i snagged a mango i¡¯d left for myself in the ¡®entry room¡¯, cursing out past-me for being a greedy guts and 1) not stocking enough, and 2) for eating a few every time i came in here¡­ then mentally shouting at future-me¡¯s inevitable cursing of present-me for eating this mango here and now.


    ;


    i was going through the storage! it only made sense to grab three mangos! it wasn¡¯t like i was eating a dozen of them, sheesh. it was a very reasonable one-time snack.


    ;


    i pushed off the ceiling- now the ground, by mental decree - and shot through the open door. i snagged the edge with my hand as i passed, changing what direction was ¡®up¡¯ and shooting to another room. i snagged a pillow as i passed by, then tightened the straps keeping my bedding tight and in one place. downside to no gravity - things wanted to drift around, and i had to be constantly vigilant to keep everything neat, organized, and in their place. i knew i had a strong tendency to just¡­ let things be, do what needed to be done in the moment, and let everything go to hell behind me.


    ;


    except, if i let that happen, i¡¯d suffer for it, so i was putting forth a strong effort to keep things organized. the moment my vigilance relaxed a hair, it¡¯d all go to hell in a handbasket.


    ;


    i kicked off a wall, now a floor, and shot through a few more rooms before ending up in one of my armories. i still had the legion-standard armor on, and i spent a few seconds [rapid reshelving] it to an open stand, and putting on a simple tunic. then i hit the ceiling, did a fancy handstand and flip, and presto! it was now the floor, and i was shooting towards one of my pantries.


    ;


    everyone was malnourished and had been starving. strong, rich food was a bad idea right now. at the same time, i¡¯d made sure [vault] was filled with good food - none of this soldier¡¯s tack that was occasionally issued - so i spent a moment calculating what would be acceptable.


    ;


    i settled on a single loaf of bread and a jug of water to start with. i wasn¡¯t being stingy. once people got that down, i¡¯d start bringing out more food. i just didn¡¯t want to accidentally kill anyone by feeding them.


    ;


    i teleported out, slipping the pillow under nina¡¯s head. the lucky girl was still a teenager, she¡¯d probably wake up and stretch once, and forget she¡¯d ever slept on rock. unlike julius, who¡¯d managed to hurt himself sleeping the wrong way.


    ;


    i was paranoid about that. sleep injuries seemed to happen to everyone, regardless of stats or levels. ¡®just part of getting old¡¯. i hoped my biomancy changes, healing, and immortality would prevent that¡­ hurting myself sleeping sounded like it sucked!


    ;


    handing out bread to people was a little harder. everyone was starving - literally - and nobody wanted to ¡®only¡¯ take the small amount i was breaking off. the language barriers didn¡¯t help - i was sure i could eventually find a few languages that i spoke with various people, but that didn¡¯t stop them descending upon me like wolves right now.


    ;


    i wasn¡¯t exactly physically intimidating, and while i had a decent presence, it just didn¡¯t matter when people were starving. instead, i found myself forced to break out chunks of bread and stuff them in hands, before dancing out of reach, darting over to redirect grasping hands from slaves trying to steal from each other, and repeating. the medusa¡¯s snake-hair hissed and snapped at people, but even starving she had the presence of mind not to let them get too close to anybody. i didn¡¯t need a fight erupting over hair, and the snakes were brightly colored, warning of a potent poison.


    ;


    coral snakes, if i was properly matching them to the book description. it was one thing to read about medusas and all the different types of snakes they could grow, and it was another to see them and try to identify them.


    ;


    i couldn¡¯t even properly smack the hands!


    ;


    iona showed up a few minutes later, and took in the scene at a glance. she started roaring orders at various people, and they immediately recognized their savior - and iona being over 6 feet tall of pure muscle and armor helped immensely on the intimidation factor. they promptly fell in line, with no further issues.


    ;


    i shot iona an amused look, filled with love.


    ;


    ¡°sometimes i hate you, you know that?¡± i said. the valkyrie was kneeling next to nina.


    ;


    ¡°i know. everything alright with nina?¡± she asked, peeling back an eyelid.


    ;


    ¡°just exhaustion.¡± i confirmed. ¡°she doesn¡¯t have the stats or the skills to stay up for days on end, and basically passed out the moment she saw me.¡±


    ;


    iona grimaced and nodded.


    ;


    ¡°she did good.¡±


    ;


    ¡°tell her that when she¡¯s awake!¡± i said.


    ;


    the next few hours went by smoothly. iona and fenrir left to find a ground settlement - carefully hidden from the air so the harpies couldn¡¯t easily descend upon them - while i slowly brought out more food and water for people. iona¡¯s words had gotten them to stop fighting, and when it was clear that i was continuing to bring out food, they calmed right down.


    ;


    iona came back soon enough, we loaded everyone up, and brought them to the settlement she¡¯d found. it wasn¡¯t perfect, it wasn¡¯t a long-term solution, but there was only so much we could practically do. at what point was someone saved? when their captors were dead? when their chains were broken? when they were freed from the prison? when they were at a safe place? when they were back home? when their home was rebuilt? their livelihood?


    ;


    iona took a practical approach - get them to safety, then let them sort it out from there. it wasn¡¯t ideal. hardship was in their future, either integrating into a new community, probably one that had never seen the species they were, forever a mistrusted outsider, or attempt the long and perilous path back to their home with no resources.


    ;


    it wasn¡¯t perfect. it wasn¡¯t ideal. but it was something they could manage on their own.


    ;


    life was never perfect. i could fix a [lumberjack¡¯s] crushed legs, but i couldn¡¯t fix the economic problems that led to him being in a dangerous position in the first place - or from going back to them. if he was lucky, the next tree wouldn¡¯t come down on his head. i couldn¡¯t fix poverty. i couldn¡¯t fix crime. i couldn¡¯t fix many of the underlying issues that generated patients.


    ;


    like the han empire. all i could do was heal people. i couldn¡¯t solve every problem the empire had that caused them to devolve into a civil war in the first place.


    ;


    iona and i dropped the last people off and went back to the cave where nina was sleeping. i caught iona up on what had happened in the short time she was gone, then i was a little mean. it had been a few hours, we both felt like it was time to get a move on. i found one of my extra-spicy dishes imported specially from ralakar, and stuck it under her nose.


    ;


    her nose twitched as the spicy blend hit it, and i shielded the dish as she woke herself up with a mighty sneeze.


    ;


    too late i realized i¡¯d missed the window for a great prank. ah well.


    ;


    nina¡¯s eyes went wide seeing the food, and iona nodded.


    ;


    ¡°eat up!¡± she said, and nina didn¡¯t even bother standing up before she started wolfing it down, snot trailing out of her nose as she wasn¡¯t quite used to the spice level used.


    ;


    ah well. hunger was the best spice after all. i grabbed a few more pillows, passed them out, grabbed a perch for auri, and we all sat down. except fenrir, who was lying down on one of the massive floating rocks.


    ;


    ¡°nina. excellent job hanging on until elaine arrived. you are a credit to the order.¡± iona said as nina was licking the bottom of the bowl. my stomach growled - all this feeding of other people, and i¡¯d completely forgotten myself.


    ;


    iona¡¯s words were like sunlight for a flower. nina beamed, proud as anything over the compliment.


    ;


    ¡°curious what happened while i was gone though. there are fewer people than we left.¡± iona said.


    ;


    nina¡¯s ears drooped and she looked away from us, intensely studying the blood-stained walls.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt.¡± auri tried to be reassuring, some flaming hands in various colors sending a message to nina.


    ;


    the squire took a deep breath, and started to speak.


    ;


    ¡°it all went to shit the moment you left.¡± she gestured around the room. ¡°the big dude almost immediately started stormin¡¯ around and yellin¡¯, sayin¡¯ how we were all doomed. how you¡¯d - beggin¡¯ your pardon - abandoned us to die, and there was no way you¡¯d make it back in time. how if-¡± nina choked up for a minute.


    ;


    i hadn¡¯t seen anyone there that i¡¯d call ¡®the big dude¡¯.


    ;


    ¡°how if there were fewer of us, we¡¯d all last longer. fewer mouths to feed. more time on the dead man¡¯s switch. there was an argument.¡±


    ;


    nina hung her head.


    ;


    ¡°i couldn¡¯t do anything about it.¡± she mumbled. ¡°wasn¡¯t strong enough. wasn¡¯t big enough. had to keep feeding my mana in.¡± i pretended not to see the tears she was trying to hide. ¡°big dude threw the couple that was arguing with him out the cave.¡± not said was the long, long fall they would¡¯ve had, followed by the unpleasant end. ¡°another slave was a hero. tackled him by the knees from behind, took both of them over the edge. damage was done though. the thought of fewer people was stuck in everyone¡¯s head. nobody was forcin¡¯ it. a few of the greybeards, they, they¡­¡±


    ;


    nina was practically bawling.


    ;


    ¡°they took the fast way out.¡± she cried. ¡°they had the highest pull on the system. more time on the switch. said she¡¯d lived a full life, and¡­¡±


    ;


    iona wrapped nina up in a hug, and i hovered nearby, trying to be comforting. auri hopped onto nina¡¯s head, trying to wrap her wings around the kitsune.


    ;


    ¡°you saved eighteen lives today.¡± iona said. ¡°eighteen people are free and clear. the slavers are dead. you pushed yourself. you acted honorably. it sounds like you did everything possible. i¡¯d tell you not to beat yourself up over it, but i have the feeling that it¡¯d fall on deaf ears.¡± iona flicked nina¡¯s ears in a friendly way. ¡°when you¡¯re beating yourself up over it, critically examine what you could¡¯ve done differently. ¡®being stronger¡¯ isn¡¯t an answer, that¡¯s not a different action. ¡®fight and beat someone 10 times your level¡¯ only works if you have a solid plan how that would happen against a foe with unknown skills. stay practical, stay grounded, and know i¡¯m proud of you. you¡¯ve also hit level 32, and after this, i¡¯d say you¡¯re in a good position to take [squire].¡±


    ;


    that didn¡¯t seem to cheer nina up, she still looked miserable. i was staying well out of it.


    ;


    ¡°i¡¯m a failure.¡± she mumbled.


    ;


    ¡°no, you¡¯re not.¡± iona¡¯s tone and words were as strong as she could make them. ¡°listen¡­¡±


    ;


    i was pretty sure i¡¯d just be piling on if i joined in, and iona seemed to have this well in hand. i teleported back into [vault] and grabbed myself a meal - no idea where it was on my internal clock, that had gone all sideways - and worked on refilling my spellbooks, replacing used up spells and adding new ones that i¡¯d thought of, all while trying to be a comforting or invisible presence.


    ;


    iona and nina had a long discussion while auri and i faded back a bit, eventually leaving the cave to hang out with fenrir. one point i thought of that iona and nina did eventually bring up was the choice of courier. iona had gone for good reasons, but perhaps nina should¡¯ve been the messenger instead.


    ;


    it might¡¯ve changed everything.


    ;


    it might¡¯ve changed nothing.


    ;


    ¡°you did great, you big lug.¡± i patted the side of his neck. ¡°iona¡¯s giving nina a bunch of credit right now, but we all know who the hero of the story is. the bold and dashing wyvern that flew through the day and night to bring aid.¡±


    ;


    fenrir chuffed happily at the compliment, and auri started to strut in front of the wyvern, making her own complimentary brrpts at his deed. it was a group effort in the end, but with how quiet fenrir was, i felt like it was all too easy to forget him.


    ;


    ¡°brrpt?¡± auri asked me, eyeing up nina and iona in the cave.


    ;


    ¡°if you think you¡¯re in a good position to class up your second class, you should do it.¡± i agreed. ¡°we¡¯re going to a dangerous place, and getting levels could make the difference.¡±


    ;


    ¡°brrpt¡­?¡±


    ;


    ¡°only if you want to take your third class now. the same logic applies, but do you know what you want?¡±


    ;


    auri thought about it a bit, then shook her head.


    ;


    ¡°brrpt.¡± she tweeted with determination.


    ;


    ¡°yeah, splitting the difference is fine.¡± i sighed. ¡°it¡¯s impossible to know what the right call is at any point. sometimes i still wonder about my other class options. what would my life be like if i¡¯d chosen differently? where would i be now? what would be different? what would be the same?¡±


    ;


    auri nodded like a wise sage, and in a serendipitous moment, both her and nina had the sparkling lights indicating a class-up erupt around them at the same time.


    ;


    ¡°you got her?¡± i asked fenrir, who shot me an evil eye at the question. i put my hands on my hips.


    ;


    ¡°it¡¯s a fair and reasonable question, making sure we¡¯re all on the same page.¡± i scolded. he snorted at me, nodding his head. i flew over to iona.


    ;


    ¡°everything good?¡± i asked, and she nodded her confirmation.


    ;


    ¡°everything¡¯s good. we need to get to the han empire after this, yeah?¡±


    ;


    ¡°as soon as possible.¡± i agreed.


    ;


    ¡°have you worked out how you¡¯ll find the sixth again?¡± she asked. i pulled a face.


    ;


    ¡°they¡¯re with the wei. fly around, ask questions, and we should find them soon enough. they¡¯re attached to a huge-ass army, we¡¯ve got skills for it. i¡¯m not going to curse it by calling it easy, but it¡¯s not like they¡¯re trying to hide.¡± i said.


    ;


    iona clicked her tongue.


    ;


    ¡°i hope we can resupply before getting there.¡± she held up a hand to forestall what i was going to say. ¡°i know, i know, you¡¯re more than happy to share, but we cannot have enough supplies going into a war zone, and we¡¯re a little depleted on our end.¡±


    ;


    we discussed the logistics of it a little more as first auri, then nina came out of their class ups.


    ;


    ¡°brrrpt!!!¡± auri shrieked in joy over her offering.


    ;


    ¡°[fireborn immortal of the resplendent eruption].¡± iona said. i gave auri - really, moreso the system - a disbelieving look.


    ;


    ¡°am i supposed to believe it¡¯s some sort of coincidence that it spells out fire?¡± auri puffed up proudly at that one, in spite of having nothing to do with it.


    ;


    ¡°i think i liked [the phoenix everliving] more as a name.¡± i said.


    ;


    ¡°brrrrrrpt!!¡± auri protested strongly, mentioning that the class was dark purple and she¡¯d just gained hundreds of levels in it. her skills hadn¡¯t changed too much, but that was alright, she liked them the way they were. they were already brrrefect.


    ;


    nina woke up shortly after, and to nobody¡¯s surprise, had gotten two [squire] classes.


    ;


    ¡°i already got offered a merger!¡± she was all excited over that. ¡°but i know the plan was to get it at 256 so i held off.¡±


    ;


    iona held her hand out, and a mass of mallium, carefully controlled, came out of her hand, formed like an overly large mace. she broke it off and handed it to nina.


    ;


    ¡°my gift to you for reaching the milestone.¡± she said. ¡°enough mallium to work as a morphic weapon. it¡¯ll give you the ability to practice with any sort of weapon while we¡¯re on the road, and who knows? maybe it¡¯ll end up fitting your style.¡±


    ;


    nina beamed as iona handed her the gift.


    ;


    it took a bit longer than i would¡¯ve liked, but before long we were all up in the air, traveling towards the han empire.


    ;


    the journey was unremarkable. we made good time, occasionally needing to go around a city or port, occasionally stopping by briefly for supplies. soon we were traveling over rolland, with iona looking down nostalgically at the castles and pageantry, and the same day we saw the eruptions from the tears of vulcan.


    ;


    and a battle in progress, two armies clashing in a half valley.


    ;


    i pointed down. i didn¡¯t need to say anything - iona was already urging fenrir into a dive.


    ;


    there were people who needed help.


    [name: aoife auri stentor]


    [race: phoenix]


    [age: 6]


    [mana: 3,471,390/3,471,390]


    [mana regen: 3,323,535]


    stats


    [free stats: 0]


    [pushing power: 30]


    [fancy flying: 47,433]


    [reactions and reflexes/twitchiness: 50,078]


    [zippiness: 50,198]


    [kindling: 347,139]


    [new juice: 347,115]


    [flame size: 303,812]


    [fire control: 303,704]


    [class 1: [phoenix of the divine flame - inferno: lv 525]]


    [inferno authority: 525]


    [phoenix rebirth: 5]


    [inferno manipulation: 525]


    [inferno conjuration: 525]


    [true flames: 525]


    [burn magic: 525]


    [domain of fire: 525]


    [auri''s meteor storm: 525]


    [class 2: [fireborn immortal of the resplended eruption - inferno: lv 495]]


    [see magic: 495]


    [immolate: 495]


    [everything burns: 495]


    [clinging flames: 495]


    [burning orbs: 495]


    [mage hand: 495]


    [i am the brrrettiest: 495]


    [flame selection: 495]


    [class 3: [feather of the flame - fire: lv 8]]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    general skills


    [phoenix''s perfection: 525]


    [incandescence: 380]


    [adorable: 333]


    [precocious: 290]


    [companion bond between auri and elaine: 525]


    [flying: 456]


    [preening: 525]


    [baking: 350]

 Chapter 472: Minor Interlude - Qiao Zhi

    silver qiao zhi was a busy, busy man, but he always had time to hold onto the brass love charm lin lei had given him. the [battlefield observer of the threefold reflection - radiance] was attached to [tactician] huang ling in [great general] pang nuan¡¯s army. zhi swelled with pride as he considered how important his job was in the grand scheme of things.


    ;


    he would win the war. the mandate of heaven had blessed the yan, and it was through qiao zhi¡¯s efforts that victory would be obtained.


    ;


    zhi scanned the battlefield, looking for promising young flowers. the [5000-man commander] and [generals] of tomorrow. those with subtle skills, those quietly slipping under the attention of the rest of the army.


    ;


    not the brass-plated woman breathing a cone of lava in front of her, decimating her opponents. not the bronze man wielding a scythe. not the [beast tamer]. the megatherium was coated in iron plates, and carving a slow but steady line through the center of the battlefield. the dullahan clad in copper, standing near the back lines with an absurd fishing pole might be worth a mention. the man was casting his line, artfully snagging the occasional head left behind, then reeling it screaming back to where he and his friends quickly smashed it to death, before casting out again.


    ;


    it was worth seeing if he could get some merits for reporting it.


    ;


    qiao zhi turned to huang ling, cupped his hands, and bowed. the decision saved his life, as a whirling blade of all edges and no handle went buzzing through where his chest had just been.


    ;


    everyone took potshots at the command post. any person slain there, from the grand [tactician] or [strategist] overseeing the battle, to the smallest [banner carrier] or [messenger] was impactful.


    ;


    the near miss didn¡¯t faze zhi in the slightest. the heavens were with him. he¡¯d have his revenge against his good-for-nothing father.


    ;


    ¡°esteemed [tactician], this one has a small matter to report, one which i believe you have already seen but i would be remiss in failing to mention.¡± zhi half-shouted each word, enunciating clearly to be heard over the din of battle.


    ;


    huang ling glanced down at the bowing dullahan, his silver armor under flowing robes marking him as a member of the scholar class. he gestured his commands, and the banners shifted their signals. the troops started to slowly shift and move around in accordance with the new orders, and pang nuan, along with his elite cavalry force, began to carve a route through biao gong¡¯s troops, intent on plucking the latest flower he¡¯d identified.


    ;


    ¡°speak.¡± ling commanded. zhi remained bowing, his hands cupped in front of him.


    ;


    ¡°the [fisher of men] located in the rear lines appears unusually competent, and his style is promising to rapidly gain many levels.¡± he reported.


    ;


    ¡°i am aware.¡± ling coldly informed the upstart, refocusing on the battle. the observation was valid, but so obvious as to be nearly useless.


    ;


    the [observer] bowed deeply and returned to his tasks, the man¡¯s mouth moving as he shouted to the troops while scanning the field.


    ;


    the [tactician] briefly reconsidered his words. qiao zhi was new enough to the observer role that he should be encouraged when possible, and the only error was in the obviousness of the target. otherwise, he was entirely correct.


    ;


    ¡°the target was good. there is a plan. continue bringing me observations like that.¡± huang lied. all warfare was based on deception. in order to fool his enemies, he first must fool his allies.


    ;


    there was no plan for the [fisher of men]. he was too well ensconced in the back of the army, and barring a lucky shot, they would not get him.


    ;


    pang nuan had a plan, a sure-fire way to win the war. in his boundless wisdom, he knew the war would not be short. it would not be won in a single decisive engagement. it would not be won this year.


    ;


    it would not be won this decade.


    ;


    his plan?


    ;


    lose the battle to win the war. sacrifice the battle to identify and ¡®pluck the delicate blooming flowers¡¯. in a decade, the chu would wake up one day and find that they had no talents. no powerful ironclad warriors to take the field, none who could stand in the way of the yan¡¯s next generation.


    ;


    pang nuan wouldn¡¯t be alive to see the day. such forward thinking, such dedication to the task and war, such nobility of purpose, almost brought a tear to huang ling¡¯s eye.


    ;


    qiao zhi got to his tasks with vigor after being harshly scolded by huang ling. they could not afford for a dullahan to only have a single task. each member of the yan army had multiple roles, multiple tasks they could fill. those fighting had two fighting classes. those at the command post had two different jobs, ones carefully selected that could be done at the same time. be on guard and raise banners in communication. be ready to run messages and bathe the area in radiance, stopping illusions from trying to misdirect the leaders. observe the battlefield and be the [speaker of truth - sound].


    ;


    qiao zhi did not need to use his mouth to watch the battlefield. instead, he used it to motivate the nearby troops, reminding them why they were fighting. spreading the unspeakable truth of the vile chu.


    ;


    ¡°the chu are less than filthy pigs! rabid dogs have more value than a single hair on their head! they are a vile pest, one that must be exterminated with vigor, for the good of all! they are dirty, savage and uncivilized! they live in mud and squalor! they take the land that is rightfully ours! they can not be trusted, their every breath a malignant lie! the only good chu is a dead chu! their whores are diseased! their very bodies will corrupt and corrode our noble and pure yan! like a parasite, they must be excised!¡±


    ;


    as zhi was extolling the troops, a large, armor-clad wyvern landed on the treacherous cliff bordering the battlefield. for reasons he did not fully understand or need to know, the two sides weren¡¯t fighting over the ridge that would give unparalleled access to the battlefield. his lips curled up in distaste as he saw who hopped down from the beast.


    ;


    a valkyrie. one of the meddlesome warriors who kept sticking their nose where it didn¡¯t belong. lin lei had been brutally slain by one while on a simple foraging mission. if he somehow survived getting his father killed, his next goal was to hunt down each and every one of the women. he¡¯d slowly make them suffer before releasing them to thanatos.


    ;


    a cold shiver went down his spine as he checked on her level.


    ;


    [warrior - 530].


    ;


    pang nuan would be able to fight her, he was sure, but nobody else in the army was capable.


    ;


    zhi turned away. not his job, not today. all he could hope for was huang ling deciding to get rid of one of the meddlers when she was neatly in massed crossbow range.


    ;


    also, that was one big wyvern¡­


    ;


    zhi continued to shout encouragements at the troops, hoping against hope that some of his words would reach the valkyrie, she¡¯d see the error of her ways, and die fighting the foul chu. wouldn¡¯t be the first time he¡¯d set two of his enemies against each other, wouldn¡¯t be the last.


    ;


    zhi got back to scanning the field, and his eyes narrowed as he started to notice a pattern. his [heaven¡¯s eyes] helped him see that which was hidden, helping spot anomalies. in one spot the mighty yan were being laid low by base chu treachery, their valiant soldiers stumbling a moment before being cut down. his gaze sharpened on the area, the truth revealed to him.


    ;


    small vines were quietly emerging from the ground, wrapping around an ankle and causing people to stumble before quickly retreating underground. a common strategy.


    ;


    what was uncommon was how well it was working, and zhi forced himself to carefully look at the disgusting chu, attempting to best identify who was causing the issue. it was rare, but not unheard of, for people to deliberately offset the center of their effect, and¡­ ahha! one particular 5-man squad was being a little too protective of an iron-member in the center of their squad, who kept subtly twitching her fingers. even as zhi watched she gained two more levels, and shrugged off a crossbow bolt to the shoulder.


    ;


    he whirled to huang ling, cupped his hands together and bowed.


    ;


    ¡°qiao zhi reporting!¡± he shouted again.


    ;


    ¡°speak!¡± huang commanded. zhi rapidly detailed who¡¯d he¡¯d seen and where. huang smiled.


    ;


    ¡°most excellent! scribes! mark three more merits for qiao zhi!¡± he commanded, before giving out a series of orders. banners were moved, and the entire army shifted.


    ;


    qiao zhi felt the intoxicating thrill of power. he had caused this. his words had made the entire army shift, and now pang nuan was off to pluck another delicate flower, and trample her into the dirt where she belonged.


    ;


    qiao zhi imagined executing his father would feel the same way. the same feeling of power. the same intoxicating rush.


    ;


    his family - his true family - were brass, marked as members of the artisan class. life was going well until a passing court official had taken notice of his mother, and demanded a night of entertainment. qiao zhi appearing four months later, clad in silver instead of brass, had torn his family apart. an appeal to the court official had ended with a hefty fine for his family daring to slander the official¡¯s good name.


    ;


    his siblings had resented him, marked as an outsider, marked as different. marked as the one who¡¯d destroyed their family. zhi was eight when his mother couldn¡¯t take it anymore, and the only small blessing in life was that he was marked as silver, as a scholar.


    ;


    it wouldn¡¯t do for a scholar to be toiling in the fields, no.


    ;


    he¡¯d gotten his chance. his chance to learn letters and numbers, and a path forward.


    ;


    anyone, copper to brass, bronze to silver, could join the ironclad ranks of the army. obtain merits. kill his worthless father, who¡¯d destroyed his family. bring his lifeless head to his siblings and true dad.


    ;


    place it on his mother¡¯s grave, so she would know she¡¯d been avenged beyond the grave.


    ;


    the praise, the merits, the intoxicating thrill of power pushed zhi to new heights, to new efforts. he scanned the battlefield twice as fast, shouted invectives against the chu twice as hard. he spotted another subtle effect, one that was actively hindering the [great generals] progress.


    ;


    people on the left side of the battlefield weren¡¯t dying easily. most dullahans, as part of their very nature, could survive being decapitated. every one was born in armor, and even the most meager of bronze farmers died hard.


    ;


    but people just weren¡¯t dying. only the most blatantly destructive of injuries were causing a death. qiao zhi witnessed a spear being elegantly thrust through a chu¡¯s heart, only for the man to strike an underhand blow back instead of collapsing.


    ;


    oddly, the yan soldier also survived the blow, and the two were pummeling each other to no effect. zhi noticed the effect wasn¡¯t localized. the vine-tripper¡¯s efforts to trip the [great general¡¯s] horse was completely in vain. she tried to dive out of the way of the general and his personal guard. pang nuan used his mighty sword to cleave the woman in half, with the rest of the horses trampling over her as he finished his strike.


    ;


    she got up again, along with the rest of her five-man squad. on the other side of the battlefield, biao gong was carving through softer troops, making his way to the command post. huang ling whirled on qiao zhi in a fury.


    ;


    ¡°explain!¡± he ordered, drawing his sword and putting it on qiao zhi¡¯s throat.


    ;


    zhi started to sweat. he didn¡¯t have a spatial element, he couldn¡¯t survive his head being taken off like so many other dullahans could. he frantically scanned the battlefield, getting a quick idea of the radius of the healing effect, and immediately finding the center.


    ;


    amazing what one could do with a sword against the neck. he squinted, bringing the full strength of his [heaven¡¯s eye] to bear, and pointed with a shout.


    ;


    ¡°there! next to the valkyrie! there¡¯s an invisible [healer]!¡±


    ;


    ¡°two demerits for qiao zhi!¡± huang ling shouted, sheathing his sword and giving out another set of orders.


    ;


    the [great general] and his entire escort began charging towards the cliff.


    ;

 Chapter 473: The battle of Heping Gu I

    Chapter 473: The battle of Heping Gu I


    My mind split into five practiced parts, and I was thankful to Katerina for ¡®forcing¡¯ the centuries to keep battling each other while I was around. I wasn¡¯t fumbling in the dark, I wasn¡¯t trying to find an optimal configuration.


    There were still plenty of unknowns though. The centuries hadn¡¯t really been trying to kill each other, not when they knew a strong healer was in play. There was a level of lethality they¡¯d avoided that I¡¯d need to get used to.


    I glanced up at the sky as Fenrir dove, trying to judge the cloud cover. Dark clouds were on the horizon, promising a ferocious storm later, and the sun was scooting over in that direction. More concerning was the amount of smoke and haze coming from the battle. Fires burned, Ash was thrown around as freely as Sand, stampeding horses kicked up clouds of dust, and that was just the beginning!


    I don¡¯t think I¡¯d ever asked myself before ¡®how much shadow is too much¡¯ for [Wheel of Sun and Moon]. My worst case scenarios had involved thin beams of moonlight or sunlight in otherwise dark caves, or thick clouds of Ash already blocking out the sun. Hadn¡¯t asked ¡®when is there so much smoke that my skill stops working¡¯ before.


    If I could still see people, was that enough? Indistinct shapes?


    On the other side of the smog, was seeing the outline of the sun or moon enough? How much was too much?


    Most importantly though:


    Would I notice in time that [Wheel of Sun and Moon] was no longer working? Something to be vigilant about.


    ¡°Going invisible. Love you.¡± I told Iona, starting to draw the rune in the air as Fenrir dove. I was going to try and be subtle with my Spatial magic in the Han. Plausible deniability was the name of the game, and if I only ever showed two elements, it was hard to say I was over 256. Wizardry and the ability to lethally defend myself won over the raw utility of Spatial magic, and I could always cheat a little. I could always throw up a ton of fake runes and use them to ¡®cast¡¯ one of my other skills. They had to be fake and not real, because otherwise a hostile wizard could properly identify what I was doing and know something was off. By using ¡®made up¡¯ runes I could always claim a heritage with a new or unknown [Runesmith].


    If I used the real runes with a current language? The only point to doing that was letting people know exactly what I could do, and blowing an order of magnitude more mana to get the same effect.


    Although - ugh. It was entirely possible, almost probably, that people would see my wizardry, and via sheer idiocy, come to the right conclusion.


    ¡°Hey! I see someone using Radiance, Celestial, and Mirage! They must be a triple classer!¡± No matter how obvious my wizardry was, no matter how in-their-face I did it, some people were just idiots. Being generous, some people were simply poorly educated and didn¡¯t know wizardry could do that sort of thing... but even then.


    Hopefully anyone using bad logic to come to the right conclusion would get bonked by their teammates or utterly ignored.


    With the utter absurdity of magic, the runic mandala I was tracing in front of me stayed stationary relative to me, streaks of light tracing through the air as Fenrir dove. Naturally, if I tried to walk and trace the rune at the same time, it wouldn¡¯t work, but being carried did.


    Magic made no sense at times. All I could really do was roll with it.


    I finished tracing out the rune, fading to invisibility just before Fenrir landed on the cliffside. I hopped off and rushed to the edge of the battle, all seven of my senses assaulted by the carnage. Just one part of me was observing the battlefield, the first time I¡¯d seen people on this scale trying to kill each other outside of a Mirage. It let me gawk at the sheer scope of things without neglecting my healing. It was both more and less chaotic than I¡¯d imagined.


    First was the amount of people. There were so many people, I struggled to properly wrap my mind around it. I thought a full Legion was overkill, that we¡¯d be complete overkill.


    No.


    The 4,000-some fighting members of the Sixth would maybe be a single wing of the army. A small wing.


    The battle was in a half-valley, neither side committing troops to taking the high ground Iona and I had just landed on. There had to be a reason why, and it was making me nervous to be in a potentially trapped area without knowing the threat or why two armies had mutually decided to ignore the advantageous ground. The Tears of Vulcan rumbled in the distance, the view unobstructed by soft rolling fields of trampled paddies and burned farms, volcanoes erupting spectacularly.


    Most of the people were dullahans, clad in a wide variety of metals. A smattering of non-dullahans were scattered here and there, usually clumped together. A coven of thirteen Osmopodeia [Witches] were flying with broomsticks over one of the armies, occasionally dive-bombing the other side and unleashing a flurry of potions, while powerful shields deflected flurries of crossbow bolts.


    Dullahans, by their very nature, came fully armored. With that said, they could change and upgrade their armored skin throughout their lives, as well as put on actual armor on top of it. There were diminishing returns, of course, but between the [Laborer - 213] in a single layer of armor and a simple spear, and the [Warrior - 319] with two sets of armor and intricate weapons on her back, it was clear who was a professional soldier, and who¡¯d grabbed a spear and signed up to ¡®defend¡¯ their land.


    I could make out the two sides, mostly based on the direction they were facing, and the fighting between the two lines. Parts of the line were fierce, on fire. People were just pummeling each other, going hard, doing their best to kill each other. Clumps of battle. Other places were calmer, the two lines jostling for position and lightly poking at each other, but neither side committing. Cavalry - usually on horses, not always - carved through the sides, powerful warriors trampling on infantry while better-equipped troops attempted to maneuver into position to trap and kill the rampaging troops. Each member of the cavalry had a pennant attached to their spears, clearly marking their allegiances. Banners of red, gold, blue, green, grey, and a dozen more snapped in the breeze, moving up and down as the soldiers fought and repositioned themselves. Their helmets were plumed, their horses vicious, and they all looked a little larger than normal.


    Two of the sets - one on each side - was headed by a soldier that was unnaturally large, and there had to be skill or a biomancer involved. My bet was on skill.


    A megatherium looked to be the center of the battle, slowly carving through the soldiers. I made a snap decision not to include the beast in my healing. I had to draw a line somewhere, I had to put lives on scales and judge who would live, and who would die. Beasts and other less intelligent animals already didn¡¯t weigh heavily on my scales, and a single gigantic sloth, eating attacks from every direction would take the same amount of mana, the same amount of healing, as dozens and dozens of elvenoids. It wasn¡¯t particularly close, and when it died, it¡¯d stop massacring so many others.


    The judgment picked at my morality, it bled my soul, but it was right.


    There were three different types of archers I could pick out.


    The first was easy. A bow too big to be a shortbow, and far too short to be a longbow, a quiver of arrows, and a commander shouting volleys.


    One set worked in pairs, with the crossbowman on their backs, legs up in the air, bracing and aiming a massive crossbow with their feet. A second soldier, generally young, low-level, or entirely lacking a combat tag, was next to them, helping them crank the bow back and reload it as fast as they could. A solid way to multiply the force of stronger troops. They were in neat rows, but I imagined if the cavalry ever got to them it¡¯d be devastating with how immobile they were.


    The last I hesitated to call ¡®archers¡¯. Four men hoisted an enormous construct on their shoulders, like a small ballista. Instead of the typical ballista bolt I associated with Exterreri and Remus, each one fired dozens of thin, arm-length bolts, controlled by a fifth soldier.


    Skills were involved in ammo generation, and all types of arrows were ripping across the field with minimal concern for friend or foe. If hostile cavalry were tearing through part of the battlefield, soldiers on that side were happy to rain arrows into that location, not caring if they hit their own troops to have a chance at hitting the high powered Classers on the opposing side.


    That was before the mages. Artillery magic hadn¡¯t come close to falling out of vogue in the intervening centuries. It was just so effective. The gruesome difference was the dullahans had a strong tendency towards Metal mages over Earth mages.


    Runners were hustling between the field medics and the Metal artillery mages, dragging bodies behind them. [Butchers] or some class like that were hacking the bodies apart, stripping off the metallic skin, and handing it over to the [Mages], who promptly fired the body parts across the field.


    Other people were scampering all over, trying to collect spent ammo and arrows, and bringing them back to the mages to reforge and refire.


    Shockwaves rippled across the battlefield, and Mirages flickered in and out of existence. Screams and yells were shouted from all over, some of them amplified by Sound elements.


    Cries about the ¡®impurity of metals¡¯ and ¡®they¡¯re coming for your children¡¯ on the Yan side - easy to pick out who was who when they kept shouting each other¡¯s name - while the Chu were all about ¡®the ultimate execution¡¯.


    I felt myself sorely tested in the moment. A strong part of me wanted to say ¡°fuck them, fuck this, you¡¯re all terrible people¡± and walk away.Checkk new novel chapters at


    But I had sworn otherwise. I had sworn to never see a patient as anything other than another creature in pain. I had sworn to not discriminate who I heal based on class, sex, race, what gods they pray to, nor by any other means. No matter how vile their beliefs, no matter their goals, I had an [Oath] to uphold. The propaganda spewed by the leadership didn¡¯t necessarily reflect the beliefs of the common soldier.


    It did raise an interesting question.


    Was there a line too far? Was there a stated belief system, a goal or purpose that someone was working towards that would be too much for me? If Thraximundar, the famed scourge of the past, laid dying in front of me, claiming that if I saved him he¡¯d work on enslaving the entire world, should I heal him? Would that make me complicit in his later actions?


    The raw text of my [Oath] said I had to help him, barring no patients of mine immediately present that I had to defend.


    I¡¯d known for a while that I was passing over human limits, becoming more powerful than most mortals ever would.


    The world had an omnipresent indicator of the utter peak of System magic - the baleful Dragoneye Moons that stared down at us every night, Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s eternal gaze. The strongest skills in Mirage, famous for having a longer range than most other elements, could hit the moon.


    I wasn¡¯t there yet.


    But I did have my first skill measured in kilometers. I was slowly transitioning into the high-powered Immortal ranks.


    The very same ranks that set off world-shaking Immortal wars.


    Speaking of [Wheel], it was going full blast, although with a fraction of the range that [Cosmic Presence] enjoyed. I was kicking myself. When I¡¯d designed my skills, I hadn¡¯t quite considered the full impact of the various range-related stars in each constellation, and how I¡¯d filled each up with starlight. I had no idea that my healing-related magic power would get so large. [Wheel of Sun and Moon] was a supplemental skill to [Dance with the Heavens], and it required an image to function off. A really complex image because I needed to include multiple elvenoid species, each with their own unique biology. Before [Astral Archives] came along, I¡¯d needed to painstakingly recreate the image every time I wanted to use it, getting every detail right from the smallest of catalysts to the largest traumas, and every single type of injury and the most efficient way to fix them. Instead, I¡¯d already done that, and spent countless months with the Sixth refining the image to only fix the worst of injuries, and leave people in a position where [Cosmic Presence] could do the rest. Bruises, hairline fractures, shallow cuts, armor dents and more were left off the list, to conserve the mana to handle more injuries. That, and [Cosmic Presence] could pick up the slack.


    The solution was less than elegant. I saved a tiny percentage of mana rebuilding my image like that. Large, traumatic injuries took up most of the mana I was spending, and arguably all the small stuff I wasn¡¯t fixing wouldn¡¯t even add up to a single large wound.


    But it might. Over time, over the hours, I might save enough mana to fix a single injury. To save one more life.


    It brought warmth to my heart to see my healing wash over the battlefield. It made my soul sing to its very core to see all the lives I¡¯d just yanked out of Black Crow¡¯s grip all at once. My mana was dropping fast, but my presence on the edge of the cliff, watching over the battlefield was a promise.


    None shall die while I am here.


    I was invisible, but Iona knew me too well. She stepped up next to me in full armor, sunlight gleaming off her winged helmet. The Valkyrie slammed the end of her glaive into the rock, a solid message of defiance against the bale winds that blew over the battle.


    Black Crow appeared in front of me, flapping and cawing unhappily for a moment before vanishing once again, down to the field to reap lives.


    Outside of my circle of influence.


    My mana was dropping like a clay ox into the ocean, and I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d be able to keep this up for long. My range was too far, with too many people hellbent on killing each other. My ¡®premium¡¯ heals would only hold for so long before I was running on fumes, mana regeneration, and [Cosmic Presence], but while I was here, I mattered.


    Two women were sliced in half, their bodies reforming as the blade rippled through them like water. Half their clothing and their spears didn¡¯t survive the blow, but they did, stabbing the surprised warrior in the face.


    I saved him too.


    There was a strong argument what I was doing was fucking stupid. I was stepping into a warzone where both sides were actively killing each other, and I was healing everyone I could... so they could better hack and slash at each other until I ran out of mana, then went back to killing each other.


    Yet.


    I believed, with no good evidence for it, with the greatest of hubris, that my actions mattered. That some of the lives would be saved, that people would be better off for it all. That a few poor souls would end up alive instead of dead.


    My work was probably best done around the battle. Before and after. Cleaning the aftermath, helping pull people from the brink.


    That wasn¡¯t who I was. That wasn¡¯t what I¡¯d sworn to do. I¡¯d regenerate the mana, and I¡¯d do those tasks as well.


    The Acid clouds tried to roll into my section and were stopped cold. Everyone who would¡¯ve suffered a horrible death to them instead shrugged it off like it was nothing, and further shrugged off when another devastating fireball erupted around them.


    Huh. There were a lot of fireballs going around the Acid clouds.


    A man fell over, riddled with arrows, then got back up the next moment. A woman took an artillery shot to the chest and kept walking. The blow blasted half of her still-beating heart into the hands of the soldier behind her, who took a moment to realize with horror what he was holding and threw it into the churning gore-mud they were all marching over. A cavalry unit, lead by one of the generals, bisected and trampled a woman. She looked a little beaten by it all, but soon recovered, springing to her feet again.


    I couldn¡¯t save them all. One dullahan made his armor flow like water, suffocating the person he was fighting. I had nothing for suffocation. An elite brought down a warhammer bigger than I was on a person¡¯s head, instantly killing them.


    I guess that was one way to know that I couldn¡¯t fix ¡®head pulped to nothing¡¯ problems without getting into the situation myself. Hopefully my backup brains would kick in if that ever happened to me...


    Lastly were the third types. The awkward in the middle problems. The people stuck between life and death, Black Crow¡¯s claws sunk firmly into their soul and refusing to let go. I focused on a particularly good example, my ethics ramming into stone cold practicality.


    The woman who¡¯d been gracefully soaring across the battlefield had gotten caught. Chains had grabbed her ankle, preventing her escape, and more and more of them had wrapped around her as people seized the opportunity. She was far behind enemy lines, no help was coming, her blade was shattered on the ground, and the soldiers around her were enthusiastically stabbing her with everything they had. Didn¡¯t matter that the wounds instantly healed up, they just stabbed her again and again, some leaving their spears in her, others twisting viciously to cause as much damage as possible. She screamed in violating agony with every blow, trying to thrash against the chains that stubbornly insisted that she die. The people stabbing her knew whatever skill was keeping her alive had to have a limit, and they were going to take great pleasure in stabbing her until they found it.


    Mana was mana. It cost as much to heal a blow the fifth time as it did the first, and a stab wound was roughly the same cost as another to heal. Numerous factors changed the details, but the broad cold truth remained the same.


    She was doomed. There was no rescue coming. Every stab of hers that I healed was a stab on someone else I wouldn¡¯t be able to fix in just a few minutes when my mana ran out. She was ¡®spending¡¯ the lives of dozens of people just to extend her existence by a few agonizing seconds.


    There wasn¡¯t even a case to be made that she was tying down soldiers who¡¯d otherwise be occupied. She was in a solid block of enemy troops.


    There was only one Elaine. I was only one person. I had to choose.


    Did I prolong a single life, at the expense of dozens?


    The answer was all too easy.


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon] didn¡¯t let me explicitly exclude people. I could pick as many people as I wanted to be impacted, or I could pick a range, a direction, even vague shapes, and heal everyone inside of it. I didn¡¯t have a ¡®fuck you in particular¡¯ aspect to the skill, even though some area of effect skills did.


    However, I did have strong control over my image. I modified the image I was using to explicitly exclude the woman, and my heart died as I passed the executioner¡¯s sentence.


    I forced my eyes to remain open, even as they blurred with tears, as five lances plunged into her arching body, her mouth opened in one last begging scream.


    I wasn¡¯t cold. I wasn¡¯t uncaring. It was just... necessary.


    I don¡¯t think it would¡¯ve been a comfort to her, doubly so if she knew I was likely going to be healing some of her killers. The subtle distinction would be lost.


    It was the right thing to do.


    Why did it hurt so much?

 Chapter 474: The Battle of Heping Gu II

    Chapter 474: The Battle of Heping Gu II


    I¡¯d been on the edge of the cliff for less than a minute, a tenth of my mana already gone. It had been sheer hubris to imagine that I¡¯d defy death entirely for the entire army for any length of time, although my mana wasn¡¯t dropping as hard as it used to. I¡¯d fixed everyone¡¯s problems, and now I was only curing people who were still in range and getting new injuries. Even then, my range wasn¡¯t large enough to hit the entire army. I didn¡¯t exactly have the ability to measure distances at a glance, let alone also calculate how high up I was and then run the sphere calculation to figure out exactly what my radiuses were, but [Wheel of Sun and Moon] had a roughly 60-meter radius, while [Cosmic Presence] was clear over a kilometer. That was to the ground, so the true radius was larger.


    When I ran out of mana, I¡¯d be running off of regeneration and [Cosmic Presence], my presence no longer staying Black Crow entirely.


    The drums continued to bang, banners moved, and a bright spotlight of Radiance flew from one of the command posts, a perfect circle highlighting me and stripping away my invisibility.


    Uh oh.


    That couldn¡¯t be good.


    I threw myself back as Iona hefted her shield, but no blows immediately followed up the spotlight. I crawled forward, peeking my head over the cliff to see what was going on.


    ¡°Incoming.¡± Iona tersely reported. I could feel and see the ground around me starting to crumble as Iona dramatically increased her weight, preparing for a fight.


    I didn¡¯t need the ¡®incoming¡¯ pointed out to me. One of the [Great Generals] was barreling towards us, his entire entourage following. I didn¡¯t point out to Iona that there was an entire cliff between us and them - the System made all things possible, and if the general didn¡¯t believe that the cliff was going to stop them, I wasn¡¯t going to be an idiot and assume it would.


    ¡°Fenrir! Get Nina out of here!¡± Iona shouted.


    Fenrir roared his disapproval on leaving his bonded companion behind, and Nina equally protested that she was being left out of things again.


    I [Identified] the general and his entourage, and my blood went cold.


    [Warrior - 809] The [Great General] wasn¡¯t a [Leader], he was a full-blown [Warrior], and had nearly 300 levels on us. He was a classically tall, broad, and muscular fighter, with interesting metal tattoos melted onto his arms. He was wielding a sword and a small round shield. He vaguely looked like he could be Pang Nuan from the dossiers I¡¯d read, but it wasn¡¯t terribly easy sticking a name to the face when I only had a poor description to work with. The streaks were distinctive. Knowing he was part of the Yan helped narrow it down a bit, but for all I knew he was a general who¡¯d recently swapped sides.


    [Warrior - 385] He had a hundred men in his escort, nearly all of them pushing 400, and a few random ones having their third class already.


    Countless years of massive bloodshed, of living and dying by the sword, had resulted in a powerful core of mortal soldiers that would make Exterreri jealous. Arguably, it had made them jealous enough to send the Sixth out here to get a fraction of the levels and power that the average Han soldier enjoyed.


    Fenrir and Nina took off, although I saw Fenrir summoning Ice javelins for Nina, who was eyeing up the charging soldiers. I couldn¡¯t spare any more attention for them though; I could only hope they stayed relatively safe.


    I debated my next actions. Should I step back into a more defensible position? Was that turning my back on people?


    I¡¯d come to the belief during the Guardian fight that I¡¯d die because of my [Oath]. That it¡¯d place me in an untenable situation, forcing me to expose myself to certain death to save others.


    I was still at peace with that decision. I could, with great sophistry, make an excellent case that I should go be bundled up in a city somewhere, only seeing people under the safest of conditions and circumstances.


    Indeed, if I looked at the shape of the world, it was clear that most [Healers] had come to a similar conclusion.


    Stay out of the fight. Stay out of danger. Heal the people who made it to you safely.


    That... wasn¡¯t me. It wasn¡¯t how I saw my [Oath]. It wasn¡¯t how I saw my calling.


    At the same time, there was a massive gulf between ¡®stay off the battlefield¡¯ and ¡®paint myself bright colors and dance in front of a ballista¡¯. I was already on the battlefield, and the fact that I wasn¡¯t flying over the center, pouring healing out until I turned into a pincushion, implied that I wasn¡¯t going to be utterly moronic about it.


    I wasn¡¯t going to leave the battlefield until all had been healed. But I was going to take some basic, sensible precautions, like stepping back behind my shield, making it a bit easier for those who wanted to protect me to do their job.


    The [Great General¡¯s] troops hit the cliff wall, and their horses kept charging up like it was nothing. The archers from the other side suddenly pivoted, all of them moving so perfectly it had to be a skill, and unleashed hell in our direction.Gett your favorite novels at


    I scrambled back from the edge, glad that the lethal hail wasn¡¯t aimed at us. The Chu army was taking its shot at decapitating - wait, dullahans, poor phrasing - the Yan general, the man and his entourage having perfectly painted themselves as targets on the cliff.


    The general himself turned and smacked all the arrows going for him away with a contemptuous backhand of his shield. A huge radius of arrows, far larger than his shield, fell out of the air.


    ¡°Can you take him?¡± I was worried, and made sure I was back on my feet. There was no question that he was coming for us, or more likely, me.


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri thought it wouldn¡¯t be a problem, although with the way she was shifting from foot to foot told me she wasn¡¯t nearly as confident as she felt. Iona nodded slowly.


    ¡°He¡¯s higher level than I am, and running boosting skills. [Conqueror¡¯s Might], [Gale of Guile], [Graceful Decimation], and [Godly Guard].¡± Iona paused, her eyes flickering as she read words visible only to her. ¡°He¡¯s got some nasty skills. Pure fighter it looks like, he¡¯s no [Noble]. Levels don¡¯t matter in the end. I¡¯ve got more stats when boosted.¡±


    I¡¯d trust her on that. We were speaking rapidly, and didn¡¯t have time for Iona to give me the full dump of all his skills.


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri flew off the edge of the cliff as Iona and I hopped back. She split into dozens of clones with [I am the Brrrettiest], and a thousand blazing Infernos erupted under and around the [Great General]. Flames every color of the rainbow, red, green, orange, yellow, pink, black, white, clear, teal and more erupted in mighty explosions. Flaming comets erupted and descended, magic burned, and even the very air caught on fire. My clothes started to crinkle in the heat.


    Nina tried to throw a few javelins, but they melted as they reached Auri¡¯s furnace.


    Pang Nuan¡¯s blade blurred as it sliced and circled around him, slicing Auri¡¯s fireballs in half. His horse and most of his escort weren¡¯t as skilled.


    ¡°BRRPT!¡± Auri fluttered back up towards us, shrieking in outrage at how dare he survive and other impolite curses. Her [Mage Hands] grabbed a few rocks and she lifted them up, her little eyes screwed up in concentration as flames bathed the rock. As soon as she melted them she threw them at the general, who easily blocked with his shield.


    His horse wasn¡¯t so lucky, but that didn¡¯t stop the man. He somersaulted off his now two-legged horse, letting it scream the rest of the way down the cliff before it ended in an ugly crunch, killing another soldier who¡¯d survived the fall down - but not the equine rain.


    The Chu weren¡¯t missing their chance, and volley after volley of arrows were aimed at Pang Nuan, the cliffside shuddering as the artillery mages turned their full firepower upon us. Boulders reshaped the landscape as they crashed down on top of the cliff, while tiny high-speed flecks of obsidian ripped through the air, promising death to anyone they hit.


    Reality snapped back as the pommel clattered to the ground in front of me, the bit of the blade sticking out the back falling down. I realized I¡¯d ended up on the ground with no idea how that¡¯d happened.


    ¡°BRRPT! BRRRRRRPT!¡± Auri was shaking me with her little wings as crystalized tears flew off her face. I didn¡¯t have brainfog or anything, although [Parallel Thoughts] had turned off. I guess because I hadn¡¯t been thinking? I quickly recreated my various thought processes, and figured out what had happened.


    One of the minor perks I¡¯d added to [Dance with the Heavens] when I¡¯d built the skill included a way to dissolve material that was trapped in my head or chest. Didn¡¯t bother with the rest of my body, but they weren¡¯t that important.


    Pang Nuan had clearly found an opening. I thought I was fairly hot stuff when it came to my speed and vitality, but clearly I wasn¡¯t nearly good enough. His attack had been good, reinforced by a powerful skill or three, and his sword must¡¯ve severed a whole mess of things in my brain, which was why I couldn¡¯t move, could barely think.


    But I hadn¡¯t been dead, and [Persistent Casting] was still on. I¡¯d healed.


    I got better.


    I¡¯d earned the [Undying Cockroach] class back in the day.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright, Auri.¡± I said as I got up, rapidly increasing my distance between Iona and the [Great General], then activated my Greater Invisibility rune in my chest.


    Knowing that it had already been dispelled once, I also activated a number of other runes engraved on my bones. The ones that made me stronger and faster. Tougher and more flexible. If there was a follow-up strike, I¡¯d be ready for it.


    Iona had gotten something of the upper hand on Pang Nuan, his blow on me creating a beautiful opening for the Valkyrie. She was busy biting off his fingers, and broadly seemed to have the situation under control.


    I glanced down at the battlefield.


    The Yan forces were in a controlled retreat, and the Chu were pressing them hard. The Chu¡¯s general was carving a path of destruction towards the command post. Hopefully they wouldn¡¯t be as much of a dick as Pang Nuan.


    Fenrir was still around, and he was no idiot. He knew which side was causing Iona and I grief, and in his own way, he came up with his own solution to keeping Iona safe.


    My heart went into my throat as Fenrir dropped into a strafing run, keeping well outside of my healing range.


    Fenrir was a wyvern. A goddamn big wyvern.


    An army killer.


    He opened his mouth as he flew just above the Yan soldiers, and a solid beam of Ice with vicious trails of Lightning blazing around it descended upon the troops, the whole thing so bright it was like a second sun had erupted on the battlefield, so loud I wanted to clap my hands over my ears, and so cold I felt the temperature drop.


    The lucky soldiers were the ones in the middle.


    And next to those soldiers.


    And next to those soldiers.


    Lightning jumped from soldier to soldier, the dullahan¡¯s metal a living part of their body, a perfect conductor.


    Iona got noticeably faster as Fenrir carved through the troops, her blows that much heavier. The general¡¯s face contorted as she broke the balance, then started to drive him back.


    Fenrir carved a path of certain death 10 troops wide, and most of the troops near them were dead or critically injured. He swept back up, arrows and spells bouncing off his plated armor, nevermind piercing through his scales underneath. Nina was holding on with tight-fisted fury, her mouth opened in a scream.


    Fenrir finished his run, turned, and went back for a second one. The coven of witches streaked out to intercept him, firing dozens of spells at the beast.


    His neck twisted at an impossible angle, and his jaw snapped shut on one of the [Witches], only a pair of red shoes and broken parts of a broom falling to the ground far below. The witches broke and scattered, retreating faster than the rest of the army.


    Fenrir chewed a few times and swallowed. Good boy.


    The Yan soldiers broke, all while Iona and the [Great General] continued to duke it out. Iona¡¯s surprise momentum at her increased stats in the fight was starting to wear off, and the general was starting to recover with the clever application of skills.


    ¡°Fight like a berserker!¡± I roared at Iona, hoping that my words would get to her through the endless clashing of metal on metal. ¡°Trade blows!¡±


    Iona clearly heard me, and traced a bloody blow across Pang Nuan¡¯s chest. Her arm was left exposed, and the warrior took his chance, hacking it off at the elbow.


    It instantly reformed of course, and Iona used the moment of surprise to punch him in the face with her spiked gauntlet. The man used the momentum of the blow to flip back, glanced down at his retreating army, then spat at us.


    ¡°Next time.¡± He swore, narrowing his eyes at me. Before we could do anything else, he dashed off down the cliff, and tore into the vulnerable side of the Chu army, throwing it in disarray.


    A panting Iona collapsed next to me.


    ¡°Goddesses.¡± She swore. ¡°I don¡¯t think I¡¯ve ever fought someone so damn good. I think he could give Sigrun a run for her money. There¡¯s nothing I want to do more than to drag you to some bushes and blow off some energy.¡± A guilty look flashed over her face. ¡°Are you alright?¡±


    I patted her.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine.¡± I crept back to the edge of the cliff, focusing my attention on the people below. ¡°When this is done, find me a comfortable bush.¡±


    The battle was over, but my work was only just beginning.

 Chapter Book 11 is up on Amazon! Admin week!

    Chapter Book 11 is up on Amazon! Admin week!


    Hey all!


    It''s admin week! See you all next week for chapters! Sorry for the delay, this week''s been hectic and insane for /amazon/B0CP4HYYD5


    Sentinel Dawn has returned.


    Can you please go to the link, and if nothing else, leave a review of the story? I know you haven''t finished reading it all yet, but you''ve got a little more than half of it already, and more reviews on the book = Amazon pushes the story more.


    Once it has 1k reviews (should be pretty doable, all the other books are over that number) I''ll be releasing a bonus chapter.


    Cheers!


    Selkie

 Chapter 475: The Han Civil War I

    Chapter 475: The Han Civil War I


    I poked Iona with my toe.


    ¡°Come on, we¡¯re just getting started.¡±


    Iona rolled up onto her feet, and quickly scanned the battlefield. Seemingly content at what she saw, she took a knee and started a quick prayer up to her goddesses.


    It was good timing. I viewed the battlefield.


    The bulk of the fighting was over, and the Chu didn¡¯t seem terribly interested in pursuing the Yan, who were retreating in good order, not routing. They looked experienced at it.


    I pursed my lips as I tried to work out my next move. Iona was in good shape. I needed to take care of Auri, but retrieving her juice from my [Vault] would blow a huge amount of mana that I didn¡¯t want to lose right this very moment.


    Battles weren¡¯t clean. Death was rarely quick. It was why my presence was such a boon. A spear through the gut and spine was incapacitating, and eventually lethal. That ¡®eventually¡¯ could be anywhere from minutes to days, depending on a thousand different factors.


    Arrows were a particularly nasty culprit. Arrows in... almost anything really... weren¡¯t quickly lethal. Debilitating, sure. Painful as hell, yes. But unless it was a heart, neck, or good headshot, it was an extended death by slow blood loss.


    A soldier was being carried off the battlefield by his buddies, the shaft of an arrow sticking firmly out of his head. It must not¡¯ve hit anything instantly lethal, and he had a slim chance of living if he was seen by a healer quickly enough.


    I triaged him as ¡®probably getting aid¡¯, ¡®too far away¡¯, and ¡®plenty of people not getting help right here.¡¯


    It was too much to ask that every injured soldier got dragged out of the fighting. That they got medical care and assistance. Far too many troops were just... left there on the battlefield. In the mud, puke, and gore, surrounded by the glassy-eyed stares of those whose souls had already left.


    Some of the debatably lucky ones had gotten trampled into the mud, their heads stepped on and forced into the mud time and time again, bringing their head back up for a gasp of air only for another foot or hoof to come down on them, forcing their heads under once again until they choked, suffocated, and died. It was a slow way to go, a miserable way to go, but they were gone, unlike some other debatably lucky fellows with mortal injuries that had even slower, more agonizing deaths.


    The sounds changed as the fighting died. Some soldiers got louder, begging for aid from their victorious side, while those on the losing team got real quiet and pretended to be dead.


    If they didn¡¯t get any aid soon, they¡¯d be dead for real. It was a gamble born out of sheer desperation, a way to kick the can down the road. A poor scarecrow erected to stave off the final bird.


    An idle part of me wondered about their perspective. Crippled, abandoned, slowly going colder in the mud as I bled out. Would I find the peace to accept White Dove in those final moments? Would the inevitability get to me? Would I accept my fate, my end?


    Or would I rage? Rage against the dying light, rage against the fading embers? Would I dig my nails into the dirt until they cracked and bled? Would I bite down, breaking my teeth, just for another second?


    A detachment of the Chu soldiers had something to say about that. While the vast majority of the army was retreating and regrouping, a few squads were heading out onto the battlefield with spears, thoroughly going through and stabbing everyone to make sure they were dead. They were skipping over people from their own side who were clutching to their pants, begging for aid and help.


    ¡°Sorry Auri, going to have to wait a bit on that juice.¡± I jumped down from the small cliff, Auri¡¯s claws reflexively digging into my shoulder.


    ¡°Brrpt...¡± The phoenix didn¡¯t have the energy to complain more.


    Iona got up from her prayer and stepped off the cliff with me.


    I readjusted my healing again to include everyone, and landed on the soft pile of charred horses at the bottom of the cliff. My eyes widened, and Iona landed next to me with a loud thump.


    ¡°Iona! Someone¡¯s still alive in here!¡± I jumped off the heap and pointed to the pile.


    Without any hesitation, without any consideration for the fact that they¡¯d just been trying to kill us a few minutes ago, Iona tore into the pile like a whirlwind, throwing bodies out of the way with no concern for where they¡¯d land.


    I tapped my foot and made my decision. I ripped a few rocks out of the cliffside and delicately placed Auri in the little nest I made for her.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be fine here. Rest.¡± I told her, then dashed down the battlefield, my area of effect moving with me.


    I sprinted as fast as I could until my mana dropped to nothing, then slowed way down until I found the ¡®sweet spot¡¯ where I was healing as much as I was regenerating.


    It was far, far slower than I wanted. Too slow.


    A pair, a man and a woman, looked around, then got up and started to sprint off the battlefield, holding hands with each other. Clearly members of the Yan army.


    I mentally wished them luck.


    Orders were shouted, and a cloudburst of arrows rained down on the unlucky couple.


    ¡°No!¡± I shouted, throwing [Mantle of the Stars] in the way, trying to intercept the arrows.


    [Mantle] promptly shattered on the first arrow reaching it. I was keeping my mana practically at 0 with all the healing I was doing, and I just didn¡¯t have the fuel to keep it up. My heart broke as the couple was pincushioned, falling again.


    Her surrender didn¡¯t seem to matter too much to the soldiers, who were starting to form up in a half-arc around us, drawing their weapons. Iona banged the butt of her glaive once against a dead body, the ringing of metal on metal sounding like a gong.


    ¡°As you said, I just fought Pang Nuan to a standstill.¡± She declared, part of her helmet peeling away to reveal her face. Hope she didn¡¯t catch an arrow in the mouth with her armor down. ¡°Do you believe you can even lay a scratch on me? When I am performing my famed calling?¡±


    She slowly looked at each one of them, smirking the whole time.


    Ahhh, that¡¯s why. The intimidation factor.


    They shifted uncomfortably, and I left to let Iona do Iona things, continuing to cross the battlefield, shooing off the vultures.


    Both literal and metaphorical.


    Vultures were already descending down onto the field, and I [Nova Lanced] one that was ripping out guts and eating them from a still-alive soldier who wasn¡¯t able to defend themselves from being eaten alive. A conspiracy of ravens cawed unhappily at a murder of crows that descended down onto the field, helping themselves to dinner, and a small flock of dinosaurs was wheeling on high, eyeing all the easy, fresh food but not quite willing to commit themselves yet.


    I was moving through the battlefield as quickly as I could, fixing people up as soon as I had the mana for it, but there were just so many bodies. I found it was far easier to walk on the metal-clad backs of the dead, than to try and be respectful and leap from isolated patch of goo to isolated patch.


    The dead were dead. They could be put to use in service of the living.


    Looters were slowly creeping onto the battlefield, avoiding the heavily-armed troops continuing their grisly work but not being stopped by them either. I was unsure if they were associated with the army, or simply camp followers seizing an opportunity. Shields were collected, spears were stacked, and some bodies were dragged off.


    If only all looters were so kind.


    A pair of looters were tugging the boots off a soldier¡¯s feet, and when the soldier happened to be still alive and protested his treatment, a quick pair of spears to the chest ended the argument.


    Murdered. Over a pair of boots.


    Nobody else even blinked at it.


    I was so far away. There were so many people that needed help. I couldn¡¯t do it all.


    All I could do was watch. Watch a man get murdered for his boots. Memorize the faces of those who¡¯d done it, to know. To remember. To possibly have a quiet word with Iona.


    I was still listening in on her conversation. She wasn¡¯t backing down, but the soldiers couldn¡¯t either. The [Great General] from the Chu - Biao Gong - slowly trotted out onto the field. Iona tilted her glaive a bit, and Fenrir came sweeping by overhead.


    I continued my work.


    I couldn¡¯t perfectly fix everyone. The System granted countless number of skills and abilities. I could fix the cooled Lava that had sprayed through a shoulder and hardened behind, but I couldn¡¯t break metal bars wrapped around a body. I fixed countless soldiers screaming with Acid having partially melted their body, but the lady trapped in the slime was on her own.


    Actually, no. I could do better than that. I could be better than that. It didn¡¯t cost any mana, and I¡¯d be able to just move a little faster to finish going back to 0.


    She looked up at me with fear as I approached. I bent over and grabbed a severed hand and a broken shield, tossing them onto the Ooze as footholds.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡± I leaned over, digging my fingers into her armor. ¡°And UP!¡± I yelled with exertion, my pathetic strength against the Ooze.


    It was tough, but with a little bit of help from me, the warrior was able to get enough leverage to bring her strength to bear, and with a squelchy pop, she was freed from her slimy prison.


    I wanted to puke at what I saw next.


    A team of scavengers had dragged out a set of beams in a square. One by one, they took a dead body and tied it to the beams, the end of the limbs being tied to the corners.


    Then a few of them took out a strange tool that looked like an urumi, a bunch of metal whips. They started to flay the body, stripping all the metal off, collecting it into a pan below. Harvesting the valuable metal before anyone else could, in the least humane fashion.


    I had no doubts that they wouldn¡¯t care if the person they strapped in was still alive or not.


    I looked out at the battlefield, the scavengers, crows, looters.


    The killers, the people trying to discreetly leave.


    Fenrir up in the sky, Iona staring down another [Great General].


    500 people saved.


    5000 more to go.


    And this was only my first battle.

 Chapter 476: The Han Civil War II

    Chapter 476: The Han Civil War II


    Step.


    Heal.


    Regenerate.


    Step.


    Heal.


    Regenerate.


    Haze coated the battlefield, a miasma of death. Dust, dirt, sand, metallic shavings, and a thousand other things floating through the air, making people cough now and then. Nothing particularly deadly. Maybe a minor increase in lung cancer down the line.


    In the hands of a Forbidden Miasma Classer, it could be the start of a potent weapon. Even in the throes of a vicious civil war, I¡¯d seen no widespread use of any of the Forbidden Four elements. Granted, I¡¯d only seen one battle, but my naive understanding of the Forbidden Four is once it came into play, it was impossible to put the genie back in the bottle.


    Either there was a single line people weren¡¯t willing to cross, or anyone who started to walk that path met a swift end.


    Every step moved the radius of life around me, pulling another from the fate of a slow death. My [Wheel] range was large enough that I was encompassing three to thirty new people every time I took a single step. [Cosmic Presence] had a dramatically larger radius than [Wheel of Sun and Moon], and I was going slowly, my mana constantly at 0. Going slowly let [Cosmic Presence] work for minutes on people before I showed up, and that was like getting hours of healing before I got to them. It wasn¡¯t tons, but it stopped all but the worst cases from dying before I got to them, and made [Wheel¡¯s] healing cheaper by the time I finally did arrive.


    I was spending most of my time on the Yan side of the battlefield. The winning Chu soldiers were organizing, heading out to the battlefield in teams and picking up their wounded comrades. I noted divisions in their ranks, some soldiers stepped over or on for people to pick up a less wounded person and haul them back. From giving them an arm to lean on, to throwing them over a shoulder or placing them on a stretcher, dragging them back to the questionable safety of their side, and their own medics and healers.


    Part of me was rabidly curious why some soldiers were being ignored in favor of others, but another part of me cautioned against knowing.


    I was trying to keep track of everything going around me, but [The World Around Me] had a limited range, and while I could move my eyes in two different directions, I could only face one way at a time.


    I kept my head on a swivel, reminding myself time after time about plausible deniability. It was pretty shot at this point - nobody at 128 could heal at the scale I was operating at - but it wasn¡¯t entirely gone. Many of the people I passed took their sweet time getting back up, a number of Yan soldiers electing to continue playing dead. That, and the sheer radius I was operating under. A keen-eyed [Analyst] might work it out, but for the most part, I was vaguely, plausibly, not the cause. It meant I couldn¡¯t twist my neck all the way around - I was trying to look human. I couldn¡¯t sprint at high speeds - I shouldn¡¯t have the speed for it. I let myself trip and fall a few times when I stumbled on blood-slicked armor.


    I kept a careful eye on and ear out for Iona and Auri, my girlfriend staring down a [Great General] with weapons barred. Then to my eternal surprise, the general sheathed his sword and Iona rammed the butt of her glaive into the ground, the two of them shaking hands.


    I watched with an open mouth as the general gestured, and one of his aides handed over a fat jingling pouch of coins.


    I thought they were going to murder each other!? How¡¯d Iona manage to get paid instead!?


    I mean, I¡¯d overheard the conversation, but I was utterly baffled.


    Equally surprising was a series of orders were barked out, and most of the Chu troops withdrew from the field. Only the scavengers were left.


    Ugh. Even the Chu soldiers hauling their friends back to the infirmary abandoned the field.


    Iona wasted no time, [Frost Wyvern¡¯s Fang] conjuring up her powerful shortbow and some arrows. She let loose at the scavengers who were flaying the metal off dead dullahans, her [Trick Shots] neatly pinning their loose clothes to the stripping frame, another pair of arrows disarming them entirely.


    The message was clear. Go away, or else.


    They fled, and Fenrir landed. Iona climbed onto his head, handing the pouch of coins to Nina as she passed. Iona then stood proud as Fenrir lifted his head up high, giving her a commanding view of the battlefield. Nina secured the coins in one of Fenrir¡¯s endless saddlebags, then the [Squire] scrambled up his neck and stood next to her mentor, acting as a second pair of eyes.


    Iona only needed to act once more. A looter had found resistance from one of the bodies he was trying to rob, and lifted a rock up high. Iona shot a pair of arrows through his eyes, instantly killing him.


    A warning shot to people Iona disapproved of, and lethal repercussions after.


    The Yan soldiers quickly realized that another had taken to the field, and they seized the opportunity, getting up and bailing off the field. I was slowed down a bit by the Chu no longer pulling bodies off, but I could still heal at the rate of a person every second or five, depending on the severity of their injuries.


    I worked my way back to Iona, choosing to get almost three hundred people inside my radius so I could talk with her. Why not get two things done at once?


    ¡°Keep an eye out.¡± She told Nina. ¡°Let me know if anyone¡¯s misbehaving.¡± The blonde said that last part in a domineering way, her voice booming over the battlefield. Just because the frozen sentinel was no longer standing on top of the wyvern¡¯s head, didn¡¯t mean she wasn¡¯t watching, waiting, and ready.


    ¡°How did you do that!?¡± I hissed at her. Iona shot me a cocky grin.


    ¡°Well! It was easy. I just... asked very nicely.¡± She said.


    I tried to punch her, remembering that I needed to move slowly. It was torture, and Iona was able to snort in amusement before effortlessly side-stepping.?iscover new chapters on


    ¡°For real.¡± I complained. ¡°How?!¡±


    Iona¡¯s smirk vanished, and she got serious.


    ¡°Reputation.¡± She said. ¡°Reputation, and knowing what they prize. Valkyries have a reputation here, a strong one. The [Great General] knew that when I placed myself in a position, I¡¯d have to fight for it, even if it was to the death. Even if it was entirely suicidal. In the right position, with the right cause, against the right people, I might be able to get through a third of his army before I was taken down. He knew it, I knew it. It would be terribly expensive morale-wise just to marshal his troops up and out again, and to take on a single Valkyrie? Right after a devastating battle? But he couldn¡¯t just give up. He couldn¡¯t just walk away. I couldn¡¯t make demands, and expect him to follow it. I needed to give him face. I needed to give him a reason to pull his troops back, to concede the battlefield to us. That way, he didn¡¯t lose any standing with his troops, and can declare it a victory of sorts. I knew it, he knew it.¡±


    Iona was beaming with pride.


    ¡°I got him to hire us.¡± She coughed twice in the foul air. There was nothing particularly devastating, it was simply the post-battle haze.


    ¡°What.¡± I was coldly furious, but willing to hear her out. Iona knew that the Sixth had been hired by another faction. She knew I had to get back to them. She¡¯d been the one complaining that she couldn¡¯t stick with armies, that they tended to misbehave.


    And now she¡¯d sold her services as a mercenary!? That wasn¡¯t what the conversation I¡¯d heard sounded like! I knew there had to be a good explanation, but the phrasing and situation pissed me off.


    Too many people had died, my temper was already frayed. I knew it, and tried to get a leash on it.


    The Valkyrie shook her head.


    ¡°Sorry, not like that. Specifically, you¡¯re hired to heal people and clear the battlefield, and you¡¯re strongly invited to go through his camp as well. I¡¯m part of the package deal to keep you safe. It¡¯s a common arrangement. Alruna traveled like that all the time.¡±


    Iona gave me a significant look.


    ¡°They¡¯re not dumb though, they know you¡¯re far stronger than you look. They¡¯ll take a shot at you if they sense weakness, but for now, they¡¯re happy to use and abuse you to get their troops up and fighting fit as quickly as possible.¡±


    The Valkyrie paused, then stressed her next words.


    ¡°They will do everything they can to kidnap you, throw you in chains, and force you to be their pet healer until they can¡¯t get away with it anymore. We both know what would happen if they succeed, so let¡¯s not let them.¡±


    Life spread through him. A great screeching filled the tent as metal ground on metal as his skin shifted and realigned itself to its proper arrangement. The arrow dissolved like it never existed, and his breathing smoothed.


    He started to stir, and I got out of there.


    I wasn¡¯t in it for the thanks. I wasn¡¯t in it for the accolade. I was in it for life, for healing, for the art, the craft, the defiant dance against the two-faced grim reaper.


    ¡°Next tent.¡± I said, watching my mana shoot up with pleasure.


    A bit of time here, and my mana would be high enough to actually do something by the time we made it to the triage tents.


    There was going to be a murder.


    Iona faced off against a dozen muscular guards, the weakest one at level 375 and the strongest with three classes. Lightning practically shot between the two sides as they faced off, neither willing to yield.


    Nina was posturing next to Iona, and doing a bang-up job of it. Somewhere in the last few hours she¡¯d found her confidence, and was willing to push people around who were many times her level. Her level was steadily rising through the trials and difficulties, and I had to mentally applaud Iona¡¯s decision to bring her with us.


    Iona barked out words in a language I didn¡¯t know, and the guards hardened their stance.


    I got the general gist of the problem.


    We were at one of the major triage tents where the wounded were being attended to, and the healers were in high demand.


    The [Healers] were also one of the ¡®softest¡¯ targets in an army, and one of the hardest to replace. They shared a hallowed distinction with [Strategists], [Enchanters], [Alchemists], and other related high-level support staff where the classes took years to train and level properly, could be a huge force multiplier, and were generally non-combat. It made them tasty targets for assassination, given that removing one could cripple a significant portion of an army.


    No healer? Wounded troops died or were forced off the battlefield forever, doomed to go back to their burnt-out farm and spend years limping around with one leg, trying to eke a living out of the ground.


    Healer? They were back in the fight the next day.


    [Alchemists] and [Enchanters] were similarly potent, and a smart [Strategist] was the difference between a roaring victory and a massive rout. In most armies [Smiths] were just as valuable, but dullahan¡¯s natural affinity towards Metal and their own bodies clad in ingots made [Smiths] a little less crucial here.


    We weren¡¯t dullahans.


    We weren¡¯t part of the army.


    The [Guards] here absolutely did not want to risk one of their few remaining [Healers] getting bumped off, and Iona just screamed danger. Her fighting Peng Nuan to a standstill had ripped through the army like a wildfire, and she was broadly considered the [Heroine] of the day. Minds with more twists than mine, more devious than Odysseus, considered the possibility that Iona was here to assassinate one of their few remaining medics.


    Nevermind that she was accompanied by another [Healer]; it was clearly just all a giant ploy. Even Iona¡¯s honeyed tongue, capable of turning a fight into gems, wasn¡¯t getting us inside the tent.


    [Cosmic Presence] was penetrating though, so I was doing some good, much to the surprise of the numerous [Aides] inside. Not enough [Healers], but plenty of volunteers. Children of the soldiers running up and down, bringing cups of water and cold rations to the injured. Teenagers cleaning bloodied bandages with water or skill. [Apprentices] placing and replacing splints. All of them surrounded and were directed by a few senior [Healers], directing the entire fiasco with the grace of conductors, swiftly moving from patient to patient. They poured what little mana they had regenerated into them before moving onto the next crisis.


    Iona and the guards were still arguing, bitter words passed back and forth, hands on weapons. A few were even drawn by the lower-leveled guards, who knew that if it came to a fight they¡¯d need the preparation advantage to have a hope of keeping up.


    They were doing their job, and frankly, doing it fairly well. When the roles were reversed, when I was trying to manage a Legion triage tent in the near future, I¡¯d want the august members of the Sixth to be keeping out random people. Especially a ¡®low level¡¯ healer who was accompanied by a potential high-level assassin.


    I completely understood where they were coming from. It didn¡¯t mean I agreed with them.


    ¡°Love.¡± I plastered a pleasant smile on my face, speaking in English, sure that everyone could see right through my acting. ¡°Don¡¯t react too hard, and don¡¯t get too deep into a fight. I¡¯m going to fix this.¡±


    Iona glanced at me out of the side of her eye, before refocusing.


    ¡°You sure? There¡¯s a few more tents after this one, I don¡¯t think it¡¯ll work.¡± Bless the woman, she¡¯d instantly divined what I was planning.


    ¡°Better one than none, and I¡¯ve got a plan.¡±


    She lifted an eyebrow and stepped back. Iona relaxed her shoulders and changed her posture, standing down. A hand on Nina¡¯s shoulder brought her back a few steps and protected the squire behind her mentor.


    ¡°Go.¡± She said, and I was off like a shot.


    My plausible deniability was almost completely in shambles, and with my original, natural appearance to boot. My big hope to salvage it all at this point was to never be seen again like this, and to go far, far away. Add in the fancy cosmetics I had, and I¡¯d look like a new woman.


    I was fast. I wasn¡¯t the fastest woman alive or anything, but with how the speed stat had sharply diminishing returns - cube root - my biomancy changes multiplying my base was currently worth hundreds of thousands of points in speed. Points that, when combined with my stature and the element of surprise, had me blaze past the guards.


    My speed advantage wasn¡¯t quite enough - hard to run through people - and one of the guards managed to grab my tunic as I dodged the swinging sword of a second one. The tunic was fragile, unreinforced cloth, but instead of letting it rip and slowing me down, I just [Rapid Reshelved] it into the tent, ¡®juggling¡¯ it.


    Not caring that I was half-naked, past the line of guards, I ducked into the tent and moved.


    First up was a second cast of [Rapid Reshelving], instantly redressing myself.


    I had the same image up still, [Persistent Casting] meaning I didn¡¯t need to think about it anymore, and I sprinted down the aisle, tapping every foot I passed, changing the prognosis of half the patients if not more.


    I did feel a little bad about freaking most of the [Healers] out though. I was a blur to their senses, looking like an assassin out for their blood. One of them was far enough down the tent that they had the time to duck and cover, while their assistants boldly arrayed themselves in front of the medic, entirely willing to sacrifice themselves to give the healer a slightly better chance of staying alive.


    It was fortunate that I wasn¡¯t after their head, just their experience. Interestingly, one of the medics was over the famed 256 threshold, painting a target on their head for other nations. He completely ignored me, continuing to operate on his patient.


    I supposed, like me, when they had an entire army at their back in the middle of a vicious meatgrinder in the first place, there wasn¡¯t exactly much more to fear. What were they going to do... send more armies after them? The Han Empire was a bloody mess.


    I didn¡¯t know if he had upgraded his second class yet or not. I didn¡¯t know if it would do anything.


    But I was Elaine, the [Mother of Modern Medicine]. My manuscripts had changed the world, had shaped the art as the world knew it today. Night and Arachne had mentioned the potency effect, where the less I did, the more impact and weight it had.


    I conjured a single harmless [Kaleidoscope] butterfly and sent it his way, deftly controlling it as I flew down the path, going back and forth like I was skiing, tapping everything I could. The butterfly alit on his nose and I twisted my neck around, shaping and pitching my voice.


    I didn¡¯t know if it would do anything.


    It could do nothing.


    It might do everything.


    ¡°With my blessing.¡± I whispered.

 Chapter 477: Minor Interlude - Hong Jia - The Han Civil War III

    Chapter 477: Minor Interlude - Hong Jia - The Han Civil War III


    When Hong Jia was a child, he had a dream.


    He would stand triumphant on the battlefield, his spear raised up to the heavens as legions of loyal troops shouted his name. In the way such childish fantasies were, he had one foot on the head of his enemies, his armor would be HUUUUUUGE, and perhaps even a member of the royal family would glance at him! He would naturally be a weaponmaster without peer, and would only need to march every other day, and...


    His dreams grew fragmented and indistinct. There was never a family involved though, nor did a childish Hong Jia even have a concept of a home. He simply traveled with the endless baggage trains and camp followers, playing [Soldier] with his friends, and finding ways to scavenge food and sleeping spots at night.


    Hong Jia had grown up with war. His earliest memories involved fire and ruin, his family fleeing. He¡¯d grown up as one of the numerous camp followers, and his destiny was painted with delicate brush strokes.


    He would take up the spear, join the army, and die.


    One by one, his older friends attained an age where they were ¡®encouraged¡¯ to join, left for the battlefield, and never came back. It was a particularly bad streak of luck for his group, but not a single member survived their first battle.


    What was Jia to do? He was a kid. He had no real skills, no ability to strike out on his own if the very idea could even permeate his head.


    The first time one of his friends survived, being taken to the triage tent instead of the forges of rebirth, Jia piled into the tent.


    He held his hand as dozens of people hurried around, trying to figure out what he could do. How could he save his friend? How did he stop the bloody coughing? What could he do about the screaming?


    ¡°You, boy! Fetch me some water!¡± One of the [Healers] imperiously snapped at Jia.


    That one commandment changed his life.


    Jia hopped to his feet and charged off, finding a cup of water for the senior [Healer], and his fate was sealed. His destiny averted. The senior found Jia pleasing to her eyes, his quick feet and stable hands useful. He was conscripted as one of the dozens of [Assistants], and the red tents became his life.


    That one commandment changed his dream.


    No more did Jia dream of the battlefield. It had been utterly shattered beyond repair. Now he dreamed of a life of healing, of repair. Of people sighing in relief when he entered a room, of the [Great General] respectfully asking after him.


    Of staying away from the battlefield, from the death.


    He would be the greatest healer the Chu had ever known!


    Battle after battle, year after year, Jia learned the trade by digging arrows out of people. While other soldiers developed their muscles by swinging spears, he developed his by setting bones. When the troops were partying, Jia was listening with rapt fascination as his mentor read from the famous Medical Manuscripts, trying to impart all the knowledge he¡¯d need as a [Healer] himself one day.


    Within minutes of breaking through to the Sage realm in his Mind cultivation as a [Battlefield Surgeon], he swore the [Healer¡¯s Oath]. 2.5% additional Ling and Qi Manipulation per small step.


    Friends came and went like the seasons, the ever-shifting flow of war like the waters of the great river - sometimes ebbing, sometimes flowing. His heart leapt into his throat when [Healers] were targeted by the enemy, and he never breathed a word to a single soul how happy he was when [Tacticians] were the designated top target of assassinations.


    Jia didn¡¯t stop working when his mentor, his teacher, his very heart and soul was struck down by an [Assassin] posing as a wounded soldier. He carried on, weeping freely on his patients who tried to comfort him just as he tried to heal them.


    There was a grand decree, a world-wide edict from the very heavens above that no [Healer] should cross into the Enlightened realm.


    Hong Jia no longer believed in the heavens. What were they going to do, strike him down? The whole world had been trying to strike Hong Jia down since the moment he was born!


    He crossed the threshold without ceremony, breaking the forbidden barrier.


    Nobody said a word. No lightning descended from the heavens to punish his transgression.


    Hong Jia didn¡¯t dream anymore. The grindstone of the world had worn away at him, carving him down to nothing. There were no more ambitions. No more hopes.


    He almost welcomed oblivion.


    The least he could do was save one last life. Hong Jia didn¡¯t cower, didn¡¯t bend, didn¡¯t hide. He continued his work, placing a hand on the patient¡¯s chest and starting to form his image.


    The arteries and guts were the first to be formed. If those two were present and healed, the rest of the unknown soldier¡¯s body could stitch itself, especially in the presence of whatever healing skill he possessed. Next up were nerves - Jia knew his ability with nerves was poor at best, and many soldiers had complained of numbness after he¡¯d saved their life.


    The comments hurt. He knew he was no School-trained [Healer]. He¡¯d learned the trade on the job, heard a torn and bloodstained copy of the Medical Manuscripts once. It was a blessing of the System in the first place that he could even perform a [Restoration] at all!


    Such excuses were just that - excuses. Hong Jia didn¡¯t let the snide comments get him down. He used them to push himself, to focus on his areas of weakness and try to improve. This one last heal would be his unknown masterpiece.


    The crush of bodies couldn¡¯t stop the [Assassin¡¯s] deadly payload, a single glowing butterfly. It zipped through the smallest cracks, the tiniest holes, and Jia felt peace.


    At last, he could rest.


    The butterfly alighted on his nose, and a voice whispered to him, softly managing to cut through the din and the shouting.


    With my blessing.


    [Rejoice! [Elaine¡¯s Oath] has been improved! 2.5% Ling and Qi Manipulation per Small Step-> 4% Ling, Qi Manipulation, and Qi Restoration per Small Step]


    An angel.


    That was the only explanation Hong Jia could come up with. He had been visited by an angel.


    The miracle rekindled a fire in his heart. He turned to the next patient and frowned.


    ¡°What is this man¡¯s condition?¡± He asked his aide. When she didn¡¯t reply, he turned and snapped.


    ¡°Nurse!¡±


    She jumped, having still been entranced by the near-death experience. To her credit, she only fumbled for a minute before replying.


    ¡°Oh! Um. Amputated arm?¡±


    Her confusion was clear. There was no amputated arm, although bandages and bloodstains implied something had happened with the soldier¡¯s arm.


    The man in question stirred and got up, his eyes flying wide at Hong Jia¡¯s scowling visage. He immediately cupped his hands and tried to bow, all while half-lying in bed.


    ¡°This one greets his savior! A thousand thanks and blessings on your house and ancestors!¡± He shouted with vigor.


    Jia looked up and down the tent, confusion soon giving way to realization. He fell to his knees and wept.


    It had been an angel, and more than improving his [Healer¡¯s Oath], she¡¯d done one other thing.


    She¡¯d performed a miracle.

 Chapter 478: The Han Civil War IV

    Chapter 478: The Han Civil War IV


    ¡°Push!¡± I yelled.


    It was cliche. It was classic. But there was a reason for it.


    What other advice, what other orders could I give to a young woman giving birth? What else could I say that would permeate the haze of pain and exhaustion as I helped deliver new life?


    We were in a crowded tent, the nameless woman¡¯s close female companions crowding round. Nina was literally asleep on her feet in the corner, and it was only a matter of time before she toppled over. Auri was using her as a perch, my shoulder a little too crowded at the moment.


    Iona was an unforgiving taskmaster, insisting that Nina keep up with our grueling, demanding pace, regardless of her skills or ability to stay with us.


    I was of two minds about it. Part of me said that it was fruitless. Pushing people to exhaustion and then past the point didn¡¯t develop anything. It was worse than taking a measured approach to things, then resting, recovering, and going again.


    That was from a physical fitness standpoint though. Another part was practical. Nina was on track to become a Valkyrie herself. Her apprenticeship was primarily done via on-the-job training. This was the job. The demands being made weren¡¯t artificial, they were a live, practical experience of what it was like to be a Valkyrie. A glimpse at what a fully matured [Knight-Errant] was expected to do regularly.


    We were at the last patient. I was inclined to let Nina catch some shut-eye. She¡¯d performed admirably, and given how Iona was turning something of a blind eye to it all, I think she agreed.


    My girlfriend was patrolling around the tent, paranoid that general Biao Gong hadn¡¯t taken a swipe at us yet, and was bound to at some point soon. I thought the mess at the triage tent had sorted that problem, but was willing to defer to Iona¡¯s massively superior interpretation.


    Another part of me stayed Radiance-focused on my patient. She¡¯d pooped as most women do during childbirth, one of the small indignities that never got mentioned. One of the girls whisked it away, everyone pretending it hadn¡¯t happened to not embarrass the lady any further.


    ¡°Okay, stop. Breathe.¡± I ordered the exhausted woman, checking the baby again.


    The head was positioned right, the cervix was dilated, the cord wasn¡¯t wrapped. Everything looked promising. The only part that had me frowning was the woman¡¯s narrow hips combined with the baby¡¯s large head.


    Honestly. With the gods ripping ideas from all over the place, they couldn¡¯t have made some quality of life adjustments? Even elves had to play the ¡®big head, small pelvis¡¯ nonsense!


    The situation wasn¡¯t close to dire. The worst-case scenarios had me performing an emergency cesarean, but I preferred not to go there if I didn¡¯t need to.


    I was getting a few dirty looks from some of the other women here. I was clearly young, new, not a dullahan, displaying at a low level, not part of the group, had a funny accent, and clearly didn¡¯t have a child of my own. What could I possibly know of childbirth? What advice could I give? How useful could I be?


    The argument had been earlier, but older, wiser heads had prevailed when presented with my utter confidence and command of the situation. I was in.


    ¡°Ready to go again?¡± I asked the sweaty, pained face.


    With a grimace and a whimper she nodded and beared down again. Things shifted, things moved.


    ¡°Keep going!¡±


    ¡°Go!¡±


    ¡°Push!¡±


    The entire tent got super busy as the miracle of life emerged. I tapped the baby with [Dance with the Heavens], and the same to the mother along with a hefty dose of [Sunrise].


    Just in time to catch Nina as she toppled over.


    ¡°I¡¯m awake!¡± She insisted, pushing herself back upright as she tried and failed to stifle a yawn. ¡°Awake! What¡¯s next? I¡¯m - I¡¯m ready.¡±


    I patted her arm.


    ¡°We¡¯re done. Come on.¡± I said, leaving the new mother to her expanded family. We were stopped on the way out by someone who had to be called Auntie, she just gave off those vibes so strongly. She seized my hand in hers.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± She said tearfully. ¡°Thank you for helping my little Lin¡¯er.¡±


    I hit myself with [Sunrise], the burst of energy unable to fully ward off the literal 24 hours of full-time non-stop healing I¡¯d just done. It was less physical tiredness, and more on the emotional and mental side. I plastered a smile on, too exhausted to muster up the energy for a real one.


    ¡°It¡¯s no problem. I need to rest now.¡± I politely excused myself and Nina, and we were out. Iona was waiting for us.


    ¡°All set?¡± She confirmed.


    I sighed, looking around, trying to think of anything else that needed to be done.


    I didn¡¯t see any injuries past a stubbed toe with my supernatural senses. It was why I had felt like I had time to watch over a childbirth, instead of expending my mana as quickly as possible to save as many lives as I could.


    ¡°All set.¡± I confirmed. ¡°What¡¯s the plan? We all need a break.¡±


    Iona nodded.


    ¡°Get out of here, have Fenrir give us a ride, find a place to camp for the night while we all sleep. Plan from there.¡±


    I arched an eyebrow at her. That wasn¡¯t ¡®immediately go find the Sixth¡¯. I had no reason to object to the proposed plan though, and Iona wasn¡¯t dictating ¡®we have to go do this other thing.¡¯ Just talk about it.


    I was totally fine talking about things.


    A pair of high-ranking commanders and their bodyguards materialized out of the darkness. None of us were startled by their approach. Iona and I had known they were there, and Nina was too exhausted to jump. The two commanders cupped their hands and respectfully bowed.


    ¡°My lady Valkyrie. Honored Oathbound.¡± The higher-ranking one said. ¡°Your gifts of life here are much appreciated, and we are preparing a banquet in your honor. Please, would you give us face and attend? Great General Biao Gong is impressed with your prowess, and would like to reward you, as well as grant you a map of other places that could require your august presence.¡±


    It felt like a trap. It smelled like a trap. Iona had predicted the heck out of Biao Gong and that he¡¯d make some sort of move. For the life of me, unless they planned to open up with 10,000 crossbows after we¡¯d sat down, I couldn¡¯t imagine what the trap was though. I also didn¡¯t know how to properly decline it without causing some sort of offense.


    Like. I didn¡¯t care that much about stepping on toes, especially because I was going away and not planning on interacting with anyone here again, but I was sure there were more problems that could be made.


    Which was why I was shutting up and letting Iona take the lead.


    She smiled and tilted her head at the men.


    ¡°Great commanders, you give us much honor and face by inviting us to such a celebration.¡± She said. ¡°Sadly, we are too exhausted and tired at the moment to attend such a feast.¡±


    ¡°But of course, of course!¡± The commander replied. ¡°We have prepared luxurious accommodations for all of you! Just as a soldier can¡¯t go directly from the battlefield to meet the emperor, so too can you not directly go from your place of battle to meet the great general! Come, rest first, it will give the cooks more time to prepare.¡±


    Iona¡¯s smile was unwavering.


    ¡°Ah, but my beast, my bond companion Fenrir is far too large to land here! I am afraid that he would sow terror and cause problems, and with how generous your hospitality is, I couldn¡¯t dare impose such a burden!¡±


    The two went back and forth, each side deftly and politely trying to one-up each other without a single threat being uttered, a battlefield of words that I understood, but couldn¡¯t follow in the slightest. Nina turned to me with confusion in her eyes. I shrugged, switching to High Elvish.


    ¡°Yeah, I have no idea either, sorry.¡± I told the confused kitsune.


    Iona emerged triumphant from her battle of words, the commanders gracefully accepting their loss and retreating.


    I think. It was hard to tell.


    ¡°What was that all about?¡± I asked as we hurried out of the camp. ¡°I could tell they were up to something, but not what.¡±


    Iona nodded.


    ¡°Good instinct. It was a clever alignment. They were trying to marry our interests together, correctly identifying that your mission was to heal as many people as possible. My bet is that map would¡¯ve been real, and they would¡¯ve given us the position of as many Chu armies as possible. Their goal would be to effectively recruit you to their cause. If they keep you bouncing between various disaster sites, you¡¯d practically be an agent of theirs, regardless of your actual affiliation. The more we let Biao Gong do or give us, the deeper in we¡¯d be.¡±


    Huh. Yeah, that absolutely could¡¯ve worked on me, especially if I wasn¡¯t trying to get back to a predesignated spot. I could easily imagine it working on people with different [Oath] interpretations, trying to leverage their bleeding hearts to their advantage.


    I could easily imagine [Oath] being weaponized against the wielders. Physical chains wouldn¡¯t even be needed, just a never ending corridor of suffering, a sisyphean task to keep me busy for their own gain.


    Iona flashed her shield towards the sky, Fenrir descended, and we all flew eastwards to try and find a spot to rest and camp. Once there and all set up, I popped into [Vault of Ages] to replenish our food supplies and get treats for everyone.


    The moment I popped inside, hunger hit me like a sledgehammer. I was starving, literally. I¡¯d gone 24 hours with barely a bite to eat, and the huge mana expenditure had taken a massive toll on my body and reserves. I found myself scarfing food even as I tried to collect enough for everyone else.


    By the time I emerged all three of them were asleep, having passed out in the few minutes it had taken for me to ransack my stores. The light of two half-moons shone down on the Eventide Eclipse. Fenrir was curled up in a draconic pile, with Iona leaning against a leg, a quill in one hand and the start of a sketch in her notebook. Nina had her head in Iona¡¯s lap, and Auri was perched on Fenrir¡¯s nose.


    I peeked at Iona¡¯s sketch, then regretted it slightly. She was drawing the scene where I¡¯d almost died, lying there with a sword through my head as Auri cried over me.


    I¡¯d been fine, but I hadn¡¯t properly considered what that would¡¯ve done to Iona. How that must¡¯ve looked.


    How had she felt in that moment, watching her lover die? She was my strength, my pillar, but I wanted to come up with something for her. Some way of letting her know I understood. That everything was alright.


    Was everything alright? Was watching someone you love die and come back to life water off the duck¡¯s back?


    I took the first watch, spending the time watching the moons and mulling over life, and what I could do for Iona.


    If I should do anything.


    ¡°Morning!¡± I delighted in being far too energetic and awake as I woke Auri up with a deep jug of her favorite juice.


    ¡°Brrpt...? BRPT!¡± I could tell the exact moment the smell of the juice hit Auri¡¯s nose, as her tiny pupils enlarged.


    ¡°Brrrrrpt!¡± Auri dove head-first into the juice, starting to guzzle it greedily. I peeked in, double checking that she hadn¡¯t fallen in this time. It had been years since the last incident, but...


    Satisfied that Auri wasn¡¯t about to commit suicide via gluttony, I sat down with everyone else around an oversized boar being twisted on a spit.


    ¡°Nice, Iona!¡± I gave the blonde a thumbs-up as I took my seat. Her long tresses shook as she denied it.


    ¡°Not me. This was Nina¡¯s hunt.¡±


    ¡°Whoa. I¡¯m impressed!¡± The thing was larger than Nina was, and probably had a more developed System to boot!


    The kitsune flushed with pleasure under the compliment.


    ¡°Fenrir helped.¡± She said.


    Iona and Fenrir snorted in tandem.


    ¡°You used Fenrir¡¯s presence, that doesn¡¯t mean he helped. Go on! Be proud! Take credit for what you¡¯ve done!¡± Iona urged.


    A bit more small talk, and we got down to the meat of the conversation.


    ¡°You implied that we needed to plan, which suggests we¡¯re not immediately going to see the Sixth.¡± I said. ¡°Right?¡±


    Iona nodded.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Nina and I caught the hint of traffickers around the camp, promising that for an obscene number of gems, they can get them out of the camp, out of the warzone, and to a safe and promised land.¡± She snorted in disbelief. ¡°There¡¯s a chance it¡¯s real, but it sounds like classic smuggling. Have people put themselves at the mercy of the smugglers, usually being ¡®hidden¡¯ in cargo containers and secret spaces, then hand them off to slavers. They¡¯ll even cooperate until the box is opened, and whoops! They¡¯re on an auction platform.¡±


    Iona¡¯s face twisted in disgust, and Nina shuddered.


    ¡°There¡¯s a layer of deceit, underhandedness, and predatory behavior to it all that I just can¡¯t abide by.¡± Iona concluded.


    [*ding!* [Parallel Thoughts] leveled up! 234 -> 240]


    Nothing really notable there. Was approaching another thought process, although I was unsure how many more would be useful.


    The skill was also hard to upgrade. I¡¯d researched thinking skills at the School, which had helped me grab one of the best in the first place.


    [*ding!* [The World Around Me] leveled up! 96 -> 100]


    A slightly increased range. Nothing special at 100.


    Ugh. I almost regretted my stint at the School. I¡¯d spent so much time honing and polishing my skills that they had nowhere to go for a long, long time.


    [*ding!* [Persistent Casting] leveled up! 435 -> 511]


    My eyes almost popped out of my head at that one until I remembered that it was the glue that had tied all my healing together. Of course it had seen a huge jump.


    I was pleased with my levels, and I allowed myself to daydream over the possible class upgrades and possibilities for [The Dawn Sentinel].


    I knew there was going to be an option to ¡®normally¡¯ upgrade it. Another variation of [The Dawn Sentinel], a Sentinel-Healer role. My guide, Librarian, had all but promised that a version of [Mother of Modern Medicine] would be available.


    What else would there be? What special twist would the System throw at me, what unexpected delights would be delivered?


    I felt more than ready to class up the moment I got the chance. It wasn¡¯t an empty, hollow class like [Ancient Loremaster of Legend] felt. Indeed, if my offerings weren¡¯t all black I¡¯d be stunned.


    I let part of me daydream over the endless possibilities the System could offer me, while another part chatted with Auri as we flew over the Han Empire.


    ¡°Hey Auri, your first big battle, how do you feel?¡± I asked my little phoenix.


    ¡°Brrrpt...¡± Auri turned away from me, hiding her face under a wing. I paused in my flight, putting my full attention on her.


    ¡°Auri, no. I love you. I promise. I¡¯d never think badly of how you feel. Everyone processes differently.¡± I plucked Auri off my shoulder, cradling her in my hands as clouds drifted below us.


    ¡°Brrrpt...?¡± She asked nervously.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I reassured her.


    ¡°BRPT! BRrrrrrrrrrrpt!!¡± Auri started jumping around in my hands like she was filled with beans. ¡°Brrpt BRPT brrrrrrrpt!¡±


    I carefully schooled my face. I couldn¡¯t claim that any reaction would be fine then have a horrified look at Auri¡¯s utter glee over being free to ¡®let loose¡¯ and ¡®show the utter superiority of phoenixes¡¯.


    She wasn¡¯t human. The phoenix was the vainest creature on the planet. I had to remember that.


    We were extremely close, and after an understandable juvenile phase, Auri had perfect control over herself, her flames, and her reactions to things.


    At the same time, her core, her credo, involved ¡®every problem can be solved with fire¡¯, and it had taken me time to teach her that ¡®burning every bad person wasn¡¯t the answer.¡¯


    It was still core to her though, and she¡¯d finally had a problem that could be gleefully solved with fire and flames, with a roaring inferno. She¡¯d been able to let her little phoenix heart sing to the tune of a thousand blazes.


    Of course she was happy.


    It brought a tear to my eye that she was more worried about my reaction, than her direct happiness. In a way, she was all grown up, worrying about her friends and family before her own happiness.


    ¡°You did good, Auri.¡± I reassured her. ¡°You did good.¡±


    A small break in the clouds revealed the sprawling empire below us, and my eagle eyes caught the edge of a fluttering banner.


    The Ironside Brigade.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± I told Auri. ¡°It¡¯s the Sixth!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Chimera (Elvenoid)]


    [Age: 27]


    [Mana: 2,094,080/2,094,080]


    [Mana Regeneration: 1,709,040 +(2,722,512)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 71]


    [Dexterity: 24,260]


    [Vitality: 49,132]


    [Speed: 36,364]


    [Mana: 209,408]


    [Mana Regeneration: 209,424 (+272,251)]


    [Magic Power: 241,906 (+7,015,274)]


    [Magic Control: 241,627 (+7,007,183)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 580]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 580]


    [Cosmic Presence: 487]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 17]


    [Center of the Universe: 474]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 580]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 580]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 495]


    [Sunrise: 480]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 520]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 520]


    [Radiance Resistance: 520]


    [Nova Lance: 520]


    [Lepidoptera: 520]


    [Nectar: 520]


    [Solar Corona: 520]


    [Scintillating Ascent: 520]


    [Kaleidoscope: 520]


    [Class 3: [Ancient Loremaster of Legend - Spatial: Lv 256]]


    [Spatial Authority: 256]


    [Manuscript Mastery: 256]


    [Blink: 78]


    [Loremaster''s Library: 256]


    [Vault of Ages: 21]


    [Rapid Reshelving: 104]


    [Astral Archives: 256]


    [Lust for Lore: 256]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 421]


    [Parallel Thoughts: 240]


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 580]


    [The World Around Me: 100]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 580]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 580]


    [Persistent Casting: 511]


    [Imbue: 205]

 Chapter 479: The Han Civil War V

    Chapter 479: The Han Civil War V


    I paused before I dove down to the Sixth¡¯s camp, debating how I wanted to do this.


    The Sixth was in full swing. They¡¯d already felled a few hundred trees and assembled an entire fort out of wood, tall walls, walkways and all. It was one of the things the Legions were very, very good at, and it wouldn¡¯t surprise me if Katerina ordered the Ironside Brigade to assemble a full fortress every night of campaigning.


    Difficult, yes. Left a trail of forts other people could use in our wake, for sure. Amazing protection that other armies could only envy? Absolutely.


    At the same time, if we ever needed to retreat, we¡¯d be able to go straight to one of our old forts and bunker down, making us a tough nut to crack.


    It was a bit of a tell that the Ironside Brigade wasn¡¯t a Lithos operation, it was an Exterreri one, but that decision making occurred at the Legata¡¯s level, not mine. If she judged the risk-reward to be worth it, I wasn¡¯t going to argue.


    Blazing down with my wings sparkling was the opposite of plausible deniability, and I had justified leaving with all the bells and whistles as maintaining the charade that I wasn¡¯t in the Sixth. Coming down like a divine angel of mercy was the opposite of subtle.


    The question was, how did I get back in?


    I could try to sneak in of course, but that would be a terrible look if I got caught. Exterreri troops weren¡¯t dumb, and we were at war. If I was caught, they¡¯d try to immediately execute me as a spy. Trial? Talking to their boss? No need! We caught a spy!


    Hmmm. At the same time, they couldn¡¯t actually execute me. I was extremely difficult to kill, and I would match my full power and skillset against all the cancelers the Sixth had combined.


    It¡¯d be humiliating if I was caught though.


    I tabled the idea. It wasn¡¯t unworkable, it would let me stretch out some old skills of mine and stay in practice.


    I could walk up to the guards and say ¡®hi, I¡¯m coming back from a patrol¡¯ or something. I was part of the Sixth, I knew the ins and the outs. I knew the passphrases and challenge questions.


    I also knew I¡¯d be asked why I was out of uniform, why I was alone, where was the rest of my patrol, and other awkward questions. If we were still in Exterreri, I was confident I could just breeze right past the guards without being challenged. But we were in the early days of a foreign campaign. I bet everyone was on their guard.


    Huh.


    At the same time, I bet I could just walk in, and if I was ¡®caught¡¯, congratulate them on ¡®passing¡¯ the security test, and could I please see Katerina? It should get me through with minimal fuss. Being a human here would help. Most of the natives were dullahans, and we stuck out like a sore thumb.


    I weighed the two options against each other, and shared them with Auri.


    ¡°What do you think?¡± I asked her.


    She thought about it for a bit.


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡±


    I grinned at her. Yeah, alright, the look on Katerina¡¯s face when I uncloaked in her office would be priceless, and the two methods were about even on the balance of things. A guaranteed ¡®something is weird¡¯ versus a coinflippy ¡®everything is fine¡¯ versus ¡®big mess¡¯.


    I had confidence in my abilities, and while people guarded from the sides, it was rare that people guarded from straight up.


    Time for the Elaine infiltration special!


    Auri and I quickly came to an agreement where she¡¯d wait. The little phoenix wasn¡¯t quite the master of sneakiness, given that her methodology was something along the lines of ¡®burn all the witnesses¡¯ and that wasn¡¯t what we wanted to do.


    In a move I was doing often enough that I was seriously debating taking a week off to perfect, I lined myself up over the real command structure - the big fancy one was a fakeout - drew the Greater Invisibility Jiwa rune, and dropped my wings right before it activated.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Free Falling]. Would you like to replace a skill with it? Y/N]


    Free Falling: For some reason, you keep going up really high then letting yourself drop to the ground. Why!? How are you still alive!? Anyway, take this skill to steer yourself better and make less of an impact when you land.


    I chuckled at the notification, enjoying my brief flight.


    Although, was it still flying when I wanted to hit the ground? The definition of flying was ¡®throw yourself at the ground and miss¡¯, but I wasn¡¯t planning on missing.


    The fort rushed up at me, and I flipped myself around in the air, going feet-first, ready to land and roll. [Persistent Casting] was permanently on myself, and I didn¡¯t need to worry about injuries - just being so obvious that even my greater invisibility couldn¡¯t handle it.


    To my great surprise, I landed softly, barely needing to bend my knees to absorb the impact. I ducked into an alley beside the command post, getting out of the way of the patrols, spending a quick minute trying to figure out what was going on.


    [Strength: 71]


    [Dexterity: 24,260]


    Ah.


    Even if it was as mundane as [Know when to stay quiet] or [Keeping my mouth shut] or something.


    ...


    Nope. Damn.


    Well, the room was empty and closed, and her wards were starting to go off. For once she didn¡¯t have her endless entourage of [Scribes] and [Messengers] hanging around. It was the perfect time to drop in and face the music.


    I focused on [Blink], my body repositioning itself a moment later. At 240k magic power, I almost had enough to instantly teleport.


    A quick twist, and still invisible, I landed on the floor with cat-like grace, trying to figure out the best way to approach Katerina. Saluting in front of her? In the chair? Emerging from a shadowy corner?


    ¡°SENTINEL DAWN!¡± Katerina roared at me, and I jumped up and dismissed my invisibility, saluting the Legata.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn here and reporting ma¡¯am!¡± I rattled off. ¡°Ma¡¯am, how did-¡±


    ¡°SHUT UP!¡± Katerina roared at me again, her eyes blazing with uncontained fury.


    I shut up.


    ¡°Do you have any idea what you did!?¡± She slammed her quill down on her desk so hard it broke, got up and started stalking around me. ¡°Do you have any idea of how much trouble you caused!? Going AWOL! Leaving in front of the entire Legion! Having your wyvern spook the town! It. Is. A. Disaster. Almost all our plans, gone! Out the window! Everyone saw you leaving from a line full of [Batteries]. We can¡¯t do that anymore! We¡¯ve needed to shuffle a third of the lines around just to disguise your new deployment, and we didn¡¯t even know if you¡¯d be around! I¡¯ve had the entire command structure asking me which plans we needed to operate on, and I couldn¡¯t tell them because I didn¡¯t know! Because you didn¡¯t tell me! I¡¯ve had half the Legion despairing that their War Sentinel very clearly LEFT US right before we deployed! ¡®What does she know that we don¡¯t?¡¯ they keep asking, and even now that you¡¯re back, I can¡¯t bloody well TELL THEM because that destroys the ENTIRE POINT of plausible deniability! What sort of lacking discipline...¡±


    Katerina was pissed, and she¡¯d clearly had a lot of time to think about all the problems I¡¯d caused and her need to fix them all.


    I... hadn¡¯t quite realized the full impact of my actions, and Katerina was letting me have it. Rightfully so. I only answered with a ¡°Yes ma¡¯am¡± or a ¡°No ma¡¯am¡± when needed, standing ramrod straight, staring at the wall.


    Eventually Katerina was done lecturing me - that, or she didn¡¯t have enough time to lecture me more, needing to get on with the rest of her work - and sat back down at her desk.


    She didn¡¯t ask me to sit.


    ¡°Right. What do you have to say for yourself?¡± She asked, tired and weary.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am. Over 100 levels gained in the week I was gone, ma¡¯am.¡±


    Katerina paused in grabbing a new quill.


    ¡°At what quality levels?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am. 50 in a black quality class, 55 in a dark green class, 20 in a light green class.¡±


    The quill fell from Katerina¡¯s hand.


    ¡°You have a black quality class?¡± She whispered.


    I continued to stare at the wall, using all my willpower not to grin at her shocked reaction.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am. Yes I do. Over 7 million points of magic power and control at the moment. Mana¡¯s a little lacking though.¡±


    Katerina leaned back and stared at the ceiling, looking like an old woman for once.


    ¡°By the gods...¡± She muttered, then got back ahold of herself.


    ¡°Right. Dawn, as you know, both Dawn and Elaine are a little too well known in the Sixth. ¡®Legionnaire Elaine¡¯ is about as obvious as possible with recent events, and I¡¯m not even going to entertain Dawn, in any language.¡± Katerina gave me a significant look. ¡°I had a number of interesting names for you to use while here, such as Eve, Lilith, or Venus.¡±


    Those sounded pretty good, fun pseudonyms. I could absolutely nail Venus.


    ¡°Instead, because I¡¯m displeased with you, because I¡¯m petty, and because you need the reminder not to be a complete idiot, while we¡¯re here you¡¯re going to be Bunny. Legionnaire Bunny.¡±


    My facade cracked a bit at that. Bunny!? I was going to be called Bunny!?


    Katerina got an evil smirk at the look on my face.


    ¡°Now, I know we discussed disguises, and I know you¡¯ve got your storage skill. Use my office as a safe space to get your gear together, otherwise there will be even more questions than we can answer. Auri can stay with command, nobody will blink an eye at it, and it¡¯ll cause all the right rumors I need to foster. Then go report to your new line. First cohort, first century, fifth line. Hop to it!¡±


    The Look on Katerina¡¯s face promised she was going down a rabbit hole of puns.

 Chapter 480: The Han Civil War VI

    Chapter 480: The Han Civil War VI


    I teleported into my [Vault] and fumed for a minute while I navigated to where my ¡®Ironside Brigade¡¯ gear was, and started to get dressed.


    First thing first - makeup. Not my usual set of cosmetics, but some subtle pieces to change the shape of my face. Long lasting, sticky putty for my nose, a ridge on my cheeks and around my eyesocket, all designed to make me look like a different person. Someone who knew me or had the right skills would see through it, but it would hide me from the majority of the Legion - or anyone who knew Dawn and happened to be around.


    Weirdly, my vanity helped here. I wasn¡¯t fitting in with my personal image of how I looked best, but I was determined to look good either way. It was like a high-quality mask. Not my normal look, but I could make a mask work for me.


    A strong, long-lasting alchemical foundation went over that, and I slipped away to my ¡®Elaine feels pretty¡¯ room to grab some extras on top of it. It was going to be clear that I was wearing makeup - I might as well lean into it and wear more, helping soothe myself while campaigning, and creating an obvious layer of ¡°Bunny wears simple makeup and reapplies it¡± so nobody would question me fixing up my disguise.


    I slipped what was hopefully a few week¡¯s supply into my pocket, knowing I¡¯d need to sneak away to visit [Vault] again if it got low. A midnight trip to the latrine would probably work.


    Back to my armory!


    Long chainmail went from my shoulders to my knees, while a metal helmet called to my fantasies, begging for a pair of horns on them. Sadly, they were to remain fantasies, and my helmet remained hornless. I suspiciously eyed a heavy fur cloak, remembering that nobody I¡¯d seen was wearing one. Heavy leather boots promised protection from the elements and not much else, and the shields were round. A seax - a type of short sword - and a spear completed the ensemble.


    The gear was enchanted, and the Sixth had three whole lines of [Enchanters] who tried to keep everything running properly. Bunny didn¡¯t know how to enchant. Bunny would need to semi-regularly bring her gear over to the enchanters to get it fixed up. Then again, I think it was a whole-line exercise done on a regular rotation...


    Bunny was going to need to smile, nod, and go along with what everyone else was doing a lot. Most of this stuff were basics I should¡¯ve already been taught.


    I felt and looked like a Lithos raider. Just needed to get a longship and I was all set! That was the whole point of the different gear. A layer of deception and deniability. Oh no, it wasn¡¯t Exterreri sending a whole damn army somewhere else; we were ¡®just¡¯ raiders. That happened to build forts.


    Frankly, the excuse was paper-thin, but apparently even a paper-thin excuse was all the [Diplomats] needed. I didn¡¯t think we were fooling anyone, but that layer of thinking was far over my head.


    Which brought my thinking back round to my new moniker.


    Legionnaire Bunny.


    My knee-jerk reaction was I didn¡¯t like it. It wasn¡¯t a good name.


    I mulled it over as I got dressed, moving at impossible speeds.


    I¡¯d held different identities over time. Healer Elaine, Sentinel Dawn were my big ones, core to my identity. The whole idea was a layer of deception and subterfuge to hide the fact that an Immortal, a powerful asset of Exterreri, was in a place I had no business being.


    And I¡¯d be in the army proper for some time. Given the expense and the scale, from everything I knew, we weren¡¯t here for a battle or two. We were going to be here a while, unless there was an unexpected breakout of peace.


    Why make myself miserable?


    Why not embrace Legionnaire Bunny? Have a persona?


    The weirdest thing happened. As I started to mull the idea over, it was like it was hijacked. I had the urge, the impulse, to do an amazing job with it. To put on the best ¡®show¡¯ possible as Legionnaire Bunny. The thought was so bizarre, so foreign, I stopped what I was doing and examined it, looking at it from every direction.


    The cause was obvious.


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri].


    It was the vanity aspect. I couldn¡¯t half-ass it, not when it was how I looked and displayed myself. It was how I was going to present myself to the world, so of course I had to do a great job with it. It was only natural!


    The insidious thing about the bond-induced vanity was it made perfect sense with itself. I was extra glad that the System didn¡¯t permit foreign mental manipulation and influences, because wow, doing it to myself was bad enough.


    There was no good reason to fight it though, unlike an operation where I had to be smeared in mud or jump into a pigsty, so I let it flow through me, all working on answering a single question.


    Who was Legionnaire Bunny?


    What were my assets, what mix of abilities could I display as my persona? What was required, and what abilities could I keep under wraps?


    There was no hiding my [Healer] tag. But I didn¡¯t need to be a strong healer. Like, sure, in a battle I¡¯d be quietly and subtly healing the entire Legion - sorry, brigade - but what did I want to show?


    I think I¡¯d tell people that I could fix up minor injuries and diseases. Anyone with something more severe - a broken bone in training, for example - either had the Brigade¡¯s actual medics around, who could use the experience, or it would be so bad that I had to immediately step in, at which point I could hopefully use a ranged heal to fix the issue.


    If I couldn¡¯t? Well, I wasn¡¯t going to let someone die for a deception.


    I wanted to make a cohesive whole, and with the name Bunny speed was a natural contender. I had enough speed to make most speedsters blush. There was one easy aspect.


    Healing and speed - why would I have both?


    Well, that implied I was getting hurt running around, and it made me think of a [Messenger] or scout. The Brigade had three whole lines of [Messengers] already, it didn¡¯t make a ton of sense for me to be one unattached to Optio Ardenus. Scouts and recon were under Optio Apollo, but most centuries had a few attached ¡®natively¡¯. [The World Around Me] along with my senses gave me fantastic scouting abilities.


    One medium ability and two strong abilities was about the limit of what I thought I could reasonably show, without breaking everyone¡¯s belief that I was ¡®only¡¯ level 256.


    Oh! Wait! Bunny was also energetic. [Sunrise] was a fairly simple skill that I¡¯d need to keep going and going and going.


    That was it for abilities. Now, who was Bunny?


    I couldn¡¯t stray too far from who I was innately, otherwise I¡¯d never maintain the facade.


    Hmmm.


    Okay!


    Bunny was bright, cheerful, energetic, bubbly, enthusiastic, and always willing to help out. Maybe channel Harper a bit.


    Yes!


    Bunny also had no head for names. She was a little harebrained.


    Perfection.


    Grizzly was the boss. A big mean old bear of a man, I had to imagine he wasn¡¯t a [Centurion] because he didn¡¯t want to be.


    Darts was the lady from earlier who was juggling them, and had quickly shaken all of us down for our allotments. With Grizzly giving his tacit consent, we¡¯d all handed our 2-3 darts over to her. Hey, she had a bunch of skills around throwing things, and I didn¡¯t.


    Specs had crystal or glass lenses over his eyes like glasses, but they were so foggy I couldn¡¯t imagine them helping him see. There had to be some skills at play there, and I was sure I¡¯d learn what they were soon enough. I was resisting reading a few heavily dogeared books in his bag.


    Boots put her gear down next to Darts, and the first thing she did was take off her boots, take out a leather polishing kit - that wasn¡¯t standard issue - and start polishing her boots. I could see that she had three more pairs in her bag. Given that she was over level 300 and one of the older members of the line, and how important boots were, I resolved to find myself a few extra pairs myself.


    Only ones that looked fabulous, of course.


    Ginger arrived on Grizzly¡¯s shitlist. The ginger arrived drunk as a skunk, smelling of gin and complaining that the sun was ¡®a vast conspiracy against mortal eyes¡¯. The woman was barely able to slur out a greeting. She also had a number of interesting herbs in her bag, but I wasn¡¯t about to rat her out.


    That wasn¡¯t what Bunny did.


    This was also a small scale operation, and if I pretended it was a Ranger team instead of a line in the Legions, the proper way of handling it would be to quietly pull her off to the side and discuss it there. Only if it escalated as a problem would I need to do something.


    Publicly calling her out in front of everyone, when I wasn¡¯t the boss?


    Nah, my training said that was a terrible move, although maybe if Grizzly and I had a shift together or something I¡¯d drop a word with him and let him deal with it.


    Blockhead didn¡¯t seem to have much going on upstairs. I¡¯d met quiet soldiers. I¡¯d met average soldiers. But it seemed like he¡¯d taken a few too many hits to the head, and just... there were no lights on. The hamsters had quit. He took a moment to process anything Grizzly said, and was just sort of checked out.


    I reserved judgment. Soldiers didn¡¯t need to be smart or quick, and he could be a perfectly competent, loyal comrade-in-arms. Brains were not an indicator of value.


    Last was Drippy, who arrived sniffling. I gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder, blasting healing through him and fixing whatever problem he had.


    ¡°Hi! I¡¯m Bunny! Welcome, welcome!¡± I enthusiastically greeted him.


    He sniffed in a way that set my teeth on edge, visions of murder running through my mind.


    Grizzly stood up.


    ¡°Welcome everyone. I feel like I was doing this speech just three weeks ago,¡± He paused, letting most of the line chuckle weakly.


    Oh.


    OH.


    Shit.


    He had done this speech three weeks ago. It was my fault he needed to do it again.


    It was my fault a third of the Legion had to do this speech again.


    I¡¯d really fucked up.


    I chuckled in embarrassment as Grizzly continued his introduction. Long story short, he was a lifer, with no ambitions of moving up and on. The Legion was his life.


    He pointed to me.


    ¡°First off we¡¯ve got the most interesting name here. Bunny, would you mind doing your introductions? And your level of [Soldier¡¯s Solidarity] if you have it.¡±


    Oh shit. I didn¡¯t have[Soldier¡¯s Solidarity].


    I got a series of mixed looks at that. I hopped up, bouncing a little. I didn¡¯t want to lie if I could at all help it, which required some clever wordplay.


    ¡°Hi everyone! I¡¯m called Bunny!¡± I waved cheerfully at everyone, giving my best sunny smile. ¡°It¡¯s so nice to meet a buncha new friends! I went to Ranger Academy at one point, so I don¡¯t have [Soldier¡¯s Solidarity], buuuuut at the end of it they didn¡¯t have a spot for me on a team.¡± I let the memory of those few terrifying seconds pass through me, hunching my shoulders. ¡°But I¡¯m here now! I can¡¯t wait to meet you all! I even have nicknames for all of you! Grizzly! Darts! Boots! Specs! Ginger! Blockhead! Drippy!¡± I pointed to each one in question, who got various looks of horror on their face before laughing at the next name.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got minor healing! If you¡¯ve got little scrapes or bumps let me know and I¡¯ll fix you right up! Diseases, gone! If it¡¯s more serious like a broken bone go see the medics! I¡¯m really, really fast but not very strong. I¡¯m good at spotting things! Like, Boots, you¡¯ve got extra boots in your bag! Super good idea! Darts, I can¡¯t wait to play cards with you! Specs, do the different gems do different things for you? Grizzly, I can¡¯t wait to hear what nice tunes you¡¯ve got with that whistle! Blockhead, you¡¯ve gotta personalize a little!¡±


    I almost said Ginger¡¯s name then stopped myself. Nope not going there. I stumbled verbally a little, but was so quick I doubt anyone noticed it.


    ¡°Anyway yeah that¡¯s me!¡± I gave another cheery wave and sat down.


    Holy shit that was exhausting. How did bubbly people do it all the time!? ALL THE TIME! They didn¡¯t just do a quick little talk and be done with it, they lived like this.


    How did anyone live like this!?


    Grizzly looked poleaxed and coughed lightly.


    ¡°Well, I think Bunny¡¯s going to be on a lot of guard duty. Darts, you¡¯re up next.¡±


    I slowly got to know my fellow soldiers.


    Darts was a throwing expert. Blockhead was the highest level and a pure [Warrior]. I hadn¡¯t mentioned the drawing of his family in his bag, it seemed too personal to call out. Drippy was an Ooze spellsword, and claimed he was pretty good at cooking the standard rations. I wasn¡¯t sure how close I wanted his drippy nose to my food. Ginger knew how many minutes were left until she could leave, ¡®assuming Exterreri time¡¯. Boots had a husband and three kids back home. Specs was a Radiance [Mage] - Gemstone [Warrior] split, which was different from a Spellsword. He could blast Radiance from his eyes, and the Gemstone class helped ¡®modify¡¯ his abilities.


    Grizzly took it all in stride.


    ¡°Excellent! Now, we¡¯ve got the rest of the afternoon free. Why don¡¯t we do some drills and start getting together as a line?¡±


    I mentally shrugged.


    He was the boss.


    I¡¯d done the entire thing backwards. Ranger, Sentinel, and now finally I¡¯d try out this ¡®soldiering¡¯ thing.


    Just as long as nobody asked me to be an adventurer.

 Chapter 481: The Han Civil War VII

    Chapter 481: The Han Civil War VII


    Soldiering was boring. Mind-numbingly, absurdly boring.


    March here.


    March there.


    March in the sun.


    March in the rain.


    March on the rocks.


    March in the rain that turns frigid as a frost wyvern flies by.


    I loved Iona but damnit Fenrir, people were down here! Stop practicing your new element!


    March in a bog.


    Set up camp.


    Wait, nevermind! Strike the camp, get back to marching.


    Drill. Drill. Drill.


    March up the hill.


    March back down the hill.


    Nevermind, we want to march up the hill.


    Cut down a tree. Smooth it out. Shape it. Tie ropes around it and help lift.


    Liberally apply [Sunrise] to keep going.


    A thousand small indignities. We were often marching off-road, or on ¡®roads¡¯ that were so filled with water and mud it was impossible to tell. The grain ration was generous, but it was always grain and every day, twice a day, our line had to grind it up and figure out how we were cooking it today. Rarely, we had everything needed to make bread, but when pushed it was usually gruel. There was no mercy on the weather - pouring rain or pounding sun, we had to move from A to B.


    Always fucked, never surprised.


    Fuck chainmail. Fuck it so hard. The tiny, fiddly repairs when it broke was insult added to the injury of cooking alive in it during the heat. Thank fuck for Lucius - the man was a savant when it came to fixing stuff, but I didn¡¯t want to lean on him too hard, he did so much for all of us.


    Week after week, month after month. It was almost my birthday again, and we hadn¡¯t been in a single battle yet, although we¡¯d geared up like we were about to fight three times now.


    All while under the obvious pressure of being second-class citizens.


    We were mercenaries. We were human. The dullahans viewed both with suspicion, and if there was ever a debate or argument between an ¡®Ironside Brigade¡¯ soldier and a dullahan attached to the main army?


    Only the most egregious offenses were ever decided in our favor. Everything else had a convenient excuse why the dullahan should be favored.


    Always fucked, never surprised.


    I learned my lesson when I paid a camp follower to improve some of my clothing. They had some beautiful stitching and embroidery in a style that couldn¡¯t be found in Exterreri, and I thought some style and flair on my tunic would both make me a little happier, and make a nice memento when I was done here. Naturally, someone else picked up my tunic ¡®by mistake¡¯.


    Well, I must have been mistaken. It clearly wasn¡¯t my tunic, why would I impugn the good dullahan¡¯s honor by claiming it was mine? Was I a dirty thief? Entirely possible, since I was a mercenary.


    Ooooh, that got me so pissed. But not surprised in the slightest.


    Another boring part was guard duty.


    Turned out I was good at it. Really, really good. Being able to instantly scan the entirety of everything a person carried made it easy to sniff out any problems, issues, or contraband. I was almost too good at it, to the point where the [Centurion] had to pull me aside and ask me to use some discretion in what I called out. I¡¯d managed to impact morale to a noticeable amount, and small, discreet amounts of personal contraband were... to have me using my best judgment.


    In other words, stop fucking the other soldiers, and let some things be a surprise. Hey, who was I to argue against a reversal of the Legion¡¯s usual operations?


    Just because I was good at it didn¡¯t mean I enjoyed it. Standing around trying to look imposing when I was 5 foot nothing was a challenge. Standing still?


    Impossible.


    Even with my mind split apart and trying to wander off in thought to entertain myself, I was bored out of my gourd. Scanning the sky for Iona was one of the few things I could do while standing still and doing my job, and it always lit my heart aflame whenever I saw Fenrir winging overhead.


    Did she see me down here? Could she pick me out of the crowd?


    I stifled a yawn as I waved through a pair of soldiers, ignoring what the one on the left had at the bottom of his boots - a Mirage ring that would let him modify his appearance, harmless enough and I remember him leaving the camp with it - and sniffing after the one to the right.


    Did my nose deceive me...?


    No.


    It couldn¡¯t be.


    I smelled a faint trace of mango on his shirt. Not close enough to have been in contact with it, but someone in the camp might have some... dried, sugar-coated mango? I think that¡¯s what I was getting.


    Bunny was friendly.


    Bunny enthusiastically volunteered for everything, no matter how fucking stupid of an idea that was.


    Bunny had quite a few favors that people owed her.


    I was totally going to see about cashing a few in to get my evening free so I could go a-mangoing.


    A nervous set of camp followers approached the gate next, looking for entry so they could entertain. It was convenient, and I¡¯d attended a few plays myself. Anything to entertain myself during the long stretches of boredom.


    I glanced at Boots, who was on duty with me. She sighed at my look.


    ¡°Who, where?¡± She asked.


    ¡°The lady with the pink ribbons, small of her back, knife.¡± I reported. Some contraband I let through, but there were rules for our troops and rules for camp followers. We didn¡¯t allow weapons in, and after the first fight that turned into a murder - I hadn¡¯t been involved in any way shape or form - I wasn¡¯t inclined to show the slightest bit of leniency.


    ¡°No ma¡¯am. Just the apples.¡±


    Katerina nodded crisply.


    ¡°Then head on out, take care of the vorlers, have a few days to yourself, and sneak back in. Send me a message ¡®vampire smiles¡¯ so I know you¡¯ve succeeded, and haven¡¯t died to the Vorlers or gotten into some mess.¡±


    The Legata flicked a sheet of paper at me, detailing everything she knew about the Vorler infestation.


    I saluted and left, off to exterminate the scorpion-like menace down to the last egg.


    It got me thinking about the various threats in the world as I snuck out of the camp - why hadn¡¯t I heard anything about Pekari here?


    First thing was getting my tunic back.


    The follower¡¯s camp was a disorganized mess with people setting up anywhere they could. Some small semblance of local order prevailed as troops being unable to navigate through meant nobody would visit, but any organization was on a local level, not a broad level. There just wasn¡¯t a single ruling authority or anything like that. Camp followers were just an entrepreneurial bunch - or families following their soldier around.


    In Exterreri or any human-dominated area, I¡¯d just walk right in and blend in with the crowds. The dullahan ratio meant that was entirely unfeasible, and I had to be much sneakier about it.


    At the same time, there were barely any guards around. Small blessings. The huge crush of crowds made it difficult to sneak through though, unless I wanted to run on people¡¯s heads.


    Which... was a valid option thinking about it. I had the speed and dexterity to just run over people like that, stepping from shoulder to head. They¡¯d barely notice I was there, and I could whip through the crowds in a moment.


    Huh.


    I felt like I was relying a little too much on my invisibility these days, but I just didn¡¯t have a team backing me up. We couldn¡¯t make elaborate schemes where I hid in a barrel inside a wagon, or anything like that.


    The idea made me want to facepalm.


    I didn¡¯t have to hide in a barrel... I could just hide under a wagon instead.


    Hmmmm.


    Between the two ideas, I wanted to run on people. I¡¯d never done it before, and my stats were finally at a point where I might be able to get away with it. I didn¡¯t have anything against working on becoming sneakier, but this was my first chance to do something really cool and new.


    I activated the anti-friction runes on my skin, making it so I¡¯d slip through the air and not make a breeze. With glowing confirmation that they were working, I cloaked myself with a drawn rune, then approached the camp at a dead run.


    I ducked and weaved through the crowd, the press of people not yet thick enough that I needed to do something about it. Then, when three soldiers, arms wrapped around each other¡¯s shoulders, blocked the path with their drunken stumbling, I leapt almost straight up. One foot delicately landed on an arm as I scanned the crowd in an instant.


    Wow. Being able to see over a crowd was great! Was this what it was like being tall?


    I rapidly [Identified] a dozen potential landing spots, then delicately pushed off, half-floating to my next perch. From person after person, stand to head, shoulder to ground, I bounded like a nimble bunny hopping over a field, barely a whisper left in my wake.


    It was thrilling. It was terrifying.


    I was ¡®only¡¯ level 580, without a Sound or Mirage class, and I could move utterly unnoticed? How many powerful Classers were watching me now, giggling at my antics? How far up did the layers extend?


    Could the dragon see me through the two eyes bright in the sky? Did the baleful crimson glare reveal all to the stygian deceiver? If I wanted to keep something truly secret from her, would I need to wait for a night with no moons?


    The apples weren¡¯t quite isolated, and it almost felt like good practice. Each step I took, each move I made, I needed to quickly evaluate the people around me, see if I could tell if anyone had recently eaten an apple or not, and shift my path appropriately.


    I had felt like I was stagnating. Soldiering wasn¡¯t exactly pushing my abilities to their limit. This outing was a solid stretch of my skills, a strong refresher. A good way to stretch my legs.


    I dropped by my destination.


    Not the mangos. Those were for later. A treat, a reward for a job well done.


    I stopped by the seamstress and sniffed the air, my nose wrinkling at all the smells.


    I had super senses, but it didn¡¯t mean I was an expert at using them. There were so many harsh smells in the air in the first place, and so many people moving through, that teasing out exactly the right scent was difficult, to say the least.


    I managed it, but following the trail and jumping on shoulders and stalls while following the scent was beyond my skillset.


    I growled with frustration. Fine! I wasn¡¯t so proud that I couldn¡¯t accept a small loss like that, weighed against everything else.


    I removed my invisibility in a huff. I didn¡¯t need to be all sneaky to try and... legally purchase mangos from someone selling them, unlike Operation: Tunic Retrieval.


    I¡¯d get that bastard another time. With interest.Usurious interest.


    I followed my nose and was devastated to find that the mango stall WAS CLOSED FOR THE NIGHT!


    NO!


    My mangos! My precious, life-giving mangos! Cruelly trapped behind a sign saying ¡®Closed¡¯! Who would do such a thing!? What devious thoughts went through such a twisted mind!?


    The inhumanity!


    [Rapid Reshelving] to the rescue!! A generous portion of coins placed in exchange for a few slices of dried mango would make the sadist¡¯s morning, and I had the most holy of treats, the nectar of life, the raison d''etre.


    I was no [Greedy Guts Mango Merchant That Unreasonably Closes Their Stall At Night], no. I was a kind and generous soul, one willing to share my bounty with others!


    I got out of the camp as quickly as reasonably possible without running into any more apple problems, nor moving so quickly that I was obviously a Classer of some sort.


    Signaling Auri was hard. The Sixth built their walls high and didn¡¯t allow nearby structures to peer into our camp. Great for stopping spies, scouts, and rogue mages throwing rocks at people, less great for me sending a message to Auri.


    I managed it, and the two of us slipped away to the woods to enjoy the bounty together. The timing was fortuitous in many ways.


    ¡°Happy Birthday, Auri.¡± I told my friend as I hand-fed her mango slices. We were up in a tree together, like a bird and a demented mango-squirrel.


    ¡°Brrrrrrrpt!!¡± Auri ignored the mango, taking the time to fly all over me, pecking at me, running her beak through my hair, and giving me a full body inspection to make sure everything was okay.


    I sniffed and hugged my tiny friend.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to make me cry.¡± I lied - the tears were already rolling. ¡°I missed you too.¡±


    In a tree together, beneath the light of the Dragoneye Moons, we shared a mango.

 Chapter 482: Interlude - Nina - The Han Civil War VIII

    Chapter 482: Interlude - Nina - The Han Civil War VIII


    Nina shivered in the cold air, thankful it was at least spring and no longer the deep snows of winter Vollomond. Her feet crunched over an unplanted field, the first hint of weeds seizing the opportunity to grow and meeting a swift end against the late frost.


    Her legs threatened to wobble. Nina had spent a single naive night believing since they were on a mission, daily sparring and exercise would be put on hold. Doing it ¡®for real¡¯ would replace the morning, afternoon, and evening drills and runs.


    One night - not even a full night - was how long she¡¯d held that belief, and come war, plague, or famine, her thrice daily drills would continue.


    Even with Iona slowing herself waaaay down and using less strength than Nina, the kitsune just couldn¡¯t beat the towering Valkyrie.FOlloow newest stories at


    Iona and her squire approached a slightly broken down hut, something about it triggering Iona¡¯s instincts to investigate further.


    ¡°What, exactly, makes you think there¡¯s something worth looking at here?¡± Nina debated flashing [Phoenix Flame Armor] to warm herself up, but elected to use [Foxfire] to see a little better in the early light - and get some warmth! She missed Sanguino¡¯s temperate climate, even Auri¡¯s hellish bakery.


    Too hot was far better than too cold. With all the confidence of a teenager, Nina was sure she¡¯d never change her mind, even the next time she was baking alive.


    Then again, apparently freezing her tails off first thing in the morning was what Valkyries did.


    Iona pointed to a few parts of the hut.


    ¡°There¡¯s a small hole in the roof. An intact one suggests someone lives there, a much larger one would imply there¡¯d been significant time since there was a problem. A small one is new. Similar story with the top of the window starting to fall off.¡±


    Nina noted the parts Iona pointed out, committing the details to memory and learning the broad strokes of the lesson.


    ¡°Would the slightly untended field also count?¡± She hesitantly asked, thinking it matched the pattern but unsure.


    ¡°Good!¡± Iona praised. ¡°That¡¯s another classic sign. Come on.¡±


    The two opened the door, and the scent of death hit them like a sledgehammer to the nose. Iona barely blinked, but Nina had to step back outside for a moment to retch.


    A family of bones were huddled in a corner, one adult with three children of various ages, the youngest just a babe. A knife was on the ground, and the flies and maggots had already finished with the bodies. The metallic skin had degraded, leaving piles of oxidized dust around them. Iona knelt next to them, closely looking at them all.


    ¡°Starvation.¡± She pronounced, and Nina knelt down, trying to figure out how Iona figured it out from scraps of cloth and bare bones. Up, down, over and around she looked, but all she saw were bones.


    ¡°How can you tell?¡± She finally admitted defeat and asked. Iona smiled at Nina, her mentor¡¯s approval like the warm summer sun.


    ¡°Experience, mostly.¡± Iona explained. ¡°Empty larder. Soldiers ¡®foraging¡¯. Winter. The knife here.¡± Iona pointed to a small blade. ¡°The mother knew the cause was hopeless, and spring was too far away. Instead of slowly dragging it out, she probably had one last meal for everyone, then slit her children¡¯s throat before turning the knife on herself.¡±


    Iona didn¡¯t believe in euphemisms or sugarcoating details when teaching Nina. The different cultural backgrounds made it too easy for them to draw different conclusions.


    Nina took longer to get off Fenrir¡¯s back, needing the help of the rope ¡®ladder¡¯ tied to his armor.


    The village was practically deserted, nearly everyone fleeing from Fenrir. Nina briefly thought that Iona might¡¯ve come in too hot, but maybe she¡¯d planned on almost everyone fleeing, just the people too hurt and unable to move left behind. Less interference, less arguing for the first aid Nina was supposed to administer.


    If this village was lucky enough to have a [Healer] Nina would be superfluous. Most small communities didn¡¯t have anything more than a [Wise Woman], and nobody here was the silver of the Scholar class that healers came from.


    Nina thought such a cultural distinction was unutterably stupid, but then again Exterreri cloaked their cities in Ash so she supposed she didn¡¯t have a leg to stand on with stupid traditions.


    The sounds of distress were always the best indicator of injuries, and Nina¡¯s ears twitched as a few reached her. She went with the youngest one first, dashing into the hut.


    A kid, five or six years old, was clutching a well-patched metal doll under one arm and had a tiny hammer in her other hand. She was banging on her mother¡¯s chest, trying to close a nasty cut top to bottom.


    Nina didn¡¯t need a skill to know she was dead.


    ¡°Mommy, please, please wake up.¡± She banged the hammer on her mom, trying to force it closed, ignoring Nina. ¡°Mommy, please, we fix like this. I fix. Wake up mommy.¡± She banged once more on her mom, moving to shake her arm. ¡°Wake up.¡±


    There was nothing Nina could do in that moment to help, and other cries of distress were starting to dim. She left, her heart breaking again, and left to tend another injury. A broken arm, and Nina felt odd relief at that.


    She knew how to set an arm and make a splint. She could solve this one.


    She didn¡¯t have any way to get the steady plink plink plink of a tiny hammer out of her ears.


    Nina caught a sword swinging at her head out of the corner of her eye, and dove forward to dodge it. A few hairs got sliced off her tail, but she was already up and turning at the [Laborer - 170], her morphic tool shaping itself into a mace.


    It was the weapon Nina was most comfortable with, and this was a fight for her life.


    The young soldier must¡¯ve circled back, hoping to hit the village while Iona was chasing down the rest of the [Bandit-Soldiers]. He thrust again at Nina, and it was so poorly done she was sure it was a feint. Nina hopped back as the soldier over-extended, and she realized that, just maybe, he was that bad.


    A quick swing of her mace to the back of his head had him crumble to the ground. Nina straddled him, grabbed her mace with two hands, and brought it down with all her strength. Three more bashes on his head got metal and brain flying around the street, and a massive puddle of blood pooling in the middle of the village.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve slain a [Farmer of the Rice (Wood, 170)]//[Shepherd of Sheep and Goats (Earth, 128)]]


    Nina shook her head sadly, the ease of the battle in spite of the relative level differences suddenly making a lot more sense. He hadn¡¯t been a [Soldier], not really. Just another farm boy running off to join the army because all the alternatives were worse.


    Shaking, Nina got up, and it took her a few tries to clean her mace. An approving snort from Fenrir made Nina jump, and reminded her that she¡¯d been watched over in a sense. A [Lightning Bolt] from Fenrir could¡¯ve bailed her out of any trouble.


    Plink plink plink.

 Chapter 483: The Han Civil War IX

    Chapter 483: The Han Civil War IX


    There were little small moments of glory and beauty on the campaign trail, like the stolen picnic with Auri. There were grand indignities and terrible crimes, but perversely, it was the little stuff that really got to me.


    Like my birthday.


    It had poured recently, and the entire day was spent in the drizzly aftermath, slogging through the mud, getting our line¡¯s nodosaurus unstuck an unknown number of times as flies buzzed around us, and filth settled into every crack and crevice. Hostile sabotage on our grain wagons - or maybe just pure incompetence - meant dinner was slightly moldy. I was completely immune to something as simple as mundane food poisoning, but it was unpleasant. Rumors had risen that we were getting into a fight soon, the Big One, but they were nothing new. Half the time we were getting into a fight ¡®any day now¡¯, and I¡¯d learned to ignore the rumors. Obnoxiously, they dominated the conversation, killing any attempts at talking about something else. Anything else. I¡¯d spent half the day craning my neck skywards, hoping to see Iona fly by on Fenrir, but even that small pleasure had been denied to me. Auri had spent most of the day huddled away with Command, and there just hadn¡¯t been a good moment where I could slip away and say hi to her.


    Happy birthday to me.


    There was nothing I could do for the small pair of broken bodies tossed casually to the side of the road, crows feasting on their innards. Deep hoofprints and the assorted other injuries suggested that their only crime had been getting in the way of a column of cavalry, perhaps a wagon. The freshness of the bodies suggested that it might¡¯ve been the very army I was part of that did it.


    More and more I was questioning what First, do no harm meant. I, personally, wasn¡¯t causing a single shred of harm to anyone. I felt like my disguise, my act of soldiering, was violating the spirit of my [Oath], if not the letter.


    It¡¯s why I wouldn¡¯t harm anyone, even in a spar. It felt too close to a violation. Too close to turning my back on my sacred [Oath].


    It was weird. I thought I¡¯d made my peace with sparring years ago, but suddenly it was rearing its head in an ugly way.


    Part of it might be that I didn¡¯t feel like I could hit people and instantly snap them back to full health without blowing my cover, meaning my blows would cause actual harm.


    Soldiering was different than being a Ranger or a Sentinel. I didn¡¯t have the words for why or how, what exactly made one acceptable and the other a near-violation, but I felt deep in my heart and soul that it was different. It was frustrating - if I could pinpoint the why, it might help. Perhaps it was the lack of agency? Or knowing that soldiers often punched down on the weak and helpless, while Rangers and Sentinels often were brought in to punch up?


    None of those quite resonated with me as the reason why it was different.


    The worst part was, I knew I had options. I could go to Katerina and tell her the deception wasn¡¯t working for me, and to just let me ¡®openly¡¯ be with the Ironside Brigade. I could wander Han alone with Iona, free from any obligation. Hells, I could just go home.


    The thoughts were almost intrusive. I was bonding with my fellows. Grizzly was like a warm fire. Blockhead had a heart of gold. Boot¡¯s fashion sense was impeccable. I was coming to love them like my own brothers and sisters. I would never abandon them, and that was before all of the social and personal ramifications of desertion.


    There was something freeing about knowing I could just up and leave if I had to though.


    Left, right, left, right.


    Another day, another march, and the clear blue sky rumbled with thunder.


    Discipline held, we didn¡¯t stop, but basically everyone looked up in the sky nervously.


    ¡°What do you think?¡± I asked Specs.


    He frowned, sighed, and shook his head.


    ¡°Always fucked, never surprised.¡± He repeated the Legion¡¯s unofficial motto for the rank and file.


    My lips went into a flat line.


    ¡°Yuuup. We¡¯re going to get fucked somehow.¡±


    The words had barely left my lips when the Centurion called for a halt.


    ¡°Century, halt!¡± He barked out, and our line grouped up like everyone else, hands instinctively drifting towards weapons.


    All hell broke loose.


    Rumbling thunderheads rolled across the horizon, faster than any natural cloud could move, and the sky darkened as thunderbolts occasionally crashed down around us.


    ¡°Fucking Immortals!¡± Drippy cursed as rain exploded all around us.


    I was quite thoroughly cursing every Immortal and Storm Classer by the time I got into our tent. Someone was fighting, possibly very far away, but the impact of what they were doing was reaching around the world to touch us here in the Han.


    We probably weren¡¯t the target, and not the only ones getting screwed. Reminded me a bit of when the goddesses of the moons had shifted the moons in their orbit, casually fucking tens of thousands of people if not more with their action. Karma had come round, and now it was my turn to be on the wrong end of someone, somewhere, doing something big.


    Every inch of me was soaked, and the vicious rain had even worked its way into my pack. My makeup had run like crazy, and I hoped the foundation layer was intact enough to keep the face-changing putty disguised.


    The floor was wet. My bag was wet. The bedroll was wet. The food was wet. I threw myself down with a squish, debating if I should say ¡®fuck it¡¯ and break my cover to be dry again.


    Instead I sighed as I looked up at the ceiling, feeling the water penetrate my hair and starting the indignities all over again.


    ====================================================


    Darts slung an arm in mine, and started to steer us away from where our line had pitched our tent for the evening. She waved to everyone else.


    ¡°I¡¯m just stealing Bunny for a minute!¡± She yelled over her shoulder at Grizzly. He waved in lazy understanding.


    I walked with Darts, raising an eyebrow. She was very subtly trembling, belying a nervousness behind her confident face.


    Bunny was friendly. Bunny was outgoing. Bunny was totally cool with this.


    Even if Bunny wasn¡¯t cool with this, I was. I knew Darts in a way I¡¯d known very few people. Spending every waking moment, and most of the sleeping ones tended to do that. I knew how she had a favorite side to sleep on. How her pillow had to be oriented exactly the right way. How she brashly jumped in on situations, even when she didn¡¯t have all the information.


    The bond wasn¡¯t quite like the one the Rangers had, but there was a certain sense of solidarity between us all.


    We chatted idly as Darts steered us out of the camp, my eyebrows wanting to climb higher and higher on my face.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± I finally asked when we had some distance, mentally cursing as I¡¯d briefly dropped the Bunny persona. ¡°How can I help you?¡± I quickly recovered, getting a bit of the pep and spark Bunny had back.


    [Sunrise] to the rescue! Energy! Pep! Bubbles!


    Darts looked around nervously and lowered her voice.


    ¡°How good of a healer are you...?¡± She asked.


    I eyed her warily, unsure why she was asking. I¡¯d made what I could and couldn¡¯t do clear, so why the sudden question?


    What would Bunny say?


    ¡°I¡¯m alright! The Optio¡¯s line is much, much better than I am, but if you have a problem, let me know and I¡¯ll see what I can do!¡±


    Enthusiastic, peppy, helpful. Bunny nailed.


    ¡°Shhhh!¡± Darts hushed me. She looked around paranoid, like a bunch of commandos were about to jump out from behind a tree and whispered to me.


    ¡°I had a little... malfunction... with the potion the ¡®Brigade¡¯ issued.¡± She confessed. ¡°I now have a very little problem that needs some... medical help.¡±


    Her problem instantly crystallized for me. An ancient [Alchemist], one probably even more famous than me, had worked out THE POTION. An incredibly cheap concoction made out of herbs that grew practically everywhere, with wide tolerances in the brewing process, it worked on all elvenoids, men and women, and acted as a one-dose, month-long contraceptive. An ancient miracle that was still wildly popular to this day, and drew a steady supply of customers to [Alchemists] everywhere.


    If Darts had a problem relating to it...


    I lowered my voice as well.


    ¡°You want an abortion?¡± I asked carefully, wanting to explicitly make sure we were both on the same page.


    Darts bit her lower lip and nodded.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to go to the healer¡¯s line if I don¡¯t have to.¡± She confessed. ¡°I just want it to be...¡±


    ¡°Discreet.¡± I nodded. ¡°Just confirming. You¡¯re absolutely sure. You know this is permanent. You know this isn¡¯t reversible.¡±


    Darts gave me the most confident affirmation I¡¯d heard.


    ¡°Yes. Knew since the moment I found out.¡±


    Abortion was a little trickier for me than most people. I knew that the System only recognized me as a person the moment I was born, but I¡¯d been ensouled and aware as a fetus. Without that added layer of personal complication, I¡¯d have a completely clean conscience on the procedure.


    Darts had a right to her body and her own self determination. Ochi had given me a crisis of conscience in that respect - when does the rights of a person to self-determination outweigh another¡¯s ability to live? - but that was when dealing with fully formed and sapient individuals with their own full lives. A clump of cells with potential was wildly different.


    First, do no harm.


    The words were haunting me these days, and it was easy to put all of the different harms on a scale and balance them. Dart¡¯s wants and needs, the harm I¡¯d cause her not performing the procedure - admittedly, she¡¯d just go to one of the Brigade¡¯s healers and fix her problem there - far outweighed the cells growing in her body.


    A not-insignificant part of that depended on how far along Darts was. There was a stage in pregnancy - varying depending on the elvenoid race in question, with the variable gestational periods - where I just said no. Where the scales tipped in the other direction.


    I knew that some people then took their newborn for a long walk in the forest, with various degrees of ¡®compassion¡¯ involved, and like.


    I wish I had enough power, influence, and resources to make sure that never happened.


    But there was always a new tragedy. Always an injustice. Always a problem to fix.


    I shuddered at the memory of teeth and hefted my new spear again.


    ¡°Wolf missed.¡± I half-lied as I took position again. ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡±


    My shoulder healing was a little more potent than I¡¯d claimed, not that anyone got to see how bad the injury actually was. I just wasn¡¯t suited to contests of strength, and unfortunately Bunny was laboring under far too many restrictions to use all my ways of circumventing that unfortunate drop in my stats.


    The attack had brought my issues with soldiering into crystal clarity, showing me exactly where and what my problem was. Why Legionnaire Bunny was a poor disguise.


    My hands were tied twice over, and if I didn¡¯t get rid of my shackles, somebody would die.


    I had held the line though. I had kept my shield up, and protected my fellows.


    ==========


    Grizzly pulled me aside for a private conversation. And by that, I mean he kicked everyone else out of the tent.


    He crossed his arms and stared at me. I knew what he wanted. I sighed.


    He continued to stare at me, tapping his fingers on his arm.


    ¡°Bunny, I want the truth.¡± He said. ¡°Are you...¡±


    I tensed up, expecting him to ask if I was Dawn, and the whole mess that would come with that.


    Still, lying to everyone - or at least not telling them the truth - felt really bad, and Katerina had clearly been alright with a line knowing my identity back when I was with Nike and the rest.


    All these thoughts flashed through my head from one word to the next.


    ¡°... part of the black ops division?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Uh.¡± I said a little stupidly, not sure how to respond. Grizzly narrowed his eyes and ticked points off his fingers.


    ¡°You¡¯ve gone missing three times, but nobody in the chain of command seems to care. You¡¯ve got a background as a ¡®failed Ranger candidate¡¯ but seem to have all the skills and then some. You move like you¡¯ve got experience. You¡¯re way faster than your level, nevermind that you¡¯re supposed to be a ¡®speedster¡¯ as your second. And the final point is I have friends in the Second. Specifically, Aemilius.¡± He stared at me in a pointed way.


    That wasn¡¯t ringing any bells for me.


    ¡°Should I know who that is?¡± I asked.


    Grizzly threw his hands up in the air.


    ¡°Yes! You should! He was the [Centurion] in charge of your line for years! If you¡¯d actually been a member.¡±


    Shit! Katerina had prepped a solid background for me, and I¡¯d reviewed it, but I¡¯d gotten the name of the current[Centurion], the one who¡¯d been ¡®in command¡¯ when I left the unit, not the old one.


    ¡°But nobody - nobody - seems to care that your background is fake. I just get told to drop it.¡±


    I sighed, deciding to salvage what I could out of the situation.


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Bunny, and yes, I¡¯m involved in a few... extracurricular... activities for the Legata now and then.¡± I confessed. ¡°For reference, two of my excursions were Vorler hunts, and my scouting abilities make me extra good at making sure they¡¯re exterminated. Can we please keep a lid on it?¡±


    Grizzly gave me the evil eye and nodded slowly.


    ¡°I¡¯m a career soldier. I know about keeping my mouth shut. I just...¡± His shoulders slumped. ¡°I just wish you¡¯d trusted me enough to tell me, that¡¯s all. It hurts when you kids keep secrets from me.¡±


    I kept my wince purely internal.


    ¡°If it helps, I¡¯ve got a bunch more secrets I¡¯m not telling you and can¡¯t.¡± I said.


    He slowly nodded.


    ¡°That does help. Will they harm me or the line?¡±


    I shook my head furiously.


    ¡°Not at all, nope. No.¡± I said.


    ¡°Then keep your secrets.¡±


    ===========================


    I left the tent that evening, noting that the walls were exactly as high as always, but that there was a double patrol of soldiers. Howls and trumpets echoed from the woods around us and the army we were attached to, but the sounds were muted. Muffled.


    Skill against Skill, the rumors were that Yang Duan He, the Lady of Death was responsible for the raid. One of the Yan generals, she didn¡¯t fight on open fields. She engaged in hit and run tactics, harrying armies as they traveled. She was a poor commander in a pitched battle, but I had to imagine there was a reason she alone had the title Lady of Death in a deadly civil war.


    Rumors were naturally going triple-time that this time we were about to get into a fight. The Big One. Like we hadn¡¯t heard it a thousand and one times already.


    I didn¡¯t wander, I didn¡¯t travel. I just stared at the fire, wishing it would blink back at me or trill a brrrpt my way, meditating hard on why being a soldier felt so radically different than being a Ranger. Why I could put myself in the middle of a goblin warren as a Ranger and ¡®self defense¡¯ everyone attacking me, while a wolf leaping unprovoked for my throat as a soldier threw up a mental wall.


    Being on my own was fine.


    Being a Ranger was fine.


    Being a Sentinel was fine.


    Hell, being a War Sentinel was fine.


    Being a soldier? Not fine.


    What was the difference? What did soldiers do that Rangers didn¡¯t? Why the huge internal reaction?


    I felt like Ranger was the best comparison. It was my first, and in many ways, the role of a Ranger in a team was the closest I had to being a soldier. Both were teams of 8. Both were military units.


    Where did they differ?


    What was a Ranger¡¯s job?


    Rangers were designed to handle large threats. Problems. They were designed to help people.


    My eyes widened at the realization.


    There was the difference.


    Sentinels and Rangers, fundamentally, at their core, existed to help people. Sure, it was generally through excessive violence on problems, but their existence was a helping hand. Removing threats. Anything I was doing as a Ranger or Sentinel was helping my fellow citizens and countrymen.


    Soldiers weren¡¯t.


    Soldiers were tools. A weapon in someone else¡¯s hand, and very little otherwise.


    Another problem was the severe limitations I was operating under.


    On my own, I could¡¯ve taken the wolf and his rider no problem. I could easily disarm them, tie them up, and present them on a platter. I¡¯d always had issues punching down. If I didn¡¯t need to dramatically harm a person, I didn¡¯t.


    Take the [Thug] from the Three Dragon Triad. I was well within my rights at the time to send a [Nova Lance] through his head, but I¡¯d held back. Restrained myself to ¡®simply¡¯ temporarily crippling him, deescalated the situation, and patched him back up.


    Bunny couldn¡¯t do such a thing. My attempts at keeping the Bunny persona up, seamlessly integrating with the Legion, clashed too hard with who I was at my heart.


    I had the ability to take someone down with minimal harm, and so I felt like I couldn¡¯t use an excessive amount of it instead. If I¡¯d stabbed the rider, I couldn¡¯t have helped him, and the harm I did to him would¡¯ve been magnified many times over as the rest of the line merrily stabbed him to death. Then I would¡¯ve been caught between a rock and a hard place. Aid and comfort to the enemy, treason, blah blah blah all that good stuff.


    My problem and the solution was clear.


    I didn¡¯t work as a rank and file member of the Legion. I wasn¡¯t Legionnaire Bunny, and I didn¡¯t even need a classup offering it as an option to know that. It just wasn¡¯t who I was at heart, and it clashed too hard with my own principles for me to effectively work as her. Instead, if I continued on, I¡¯d just let my line down at a critical moment, damning them.


    No, as strange as it sounded, if I was Dawn, War Sentinel of the Sixth, I had far fewer problems and compunctions. I had agency as Dawn. I had all the tools needed to do the job without clashing too hard with who I was at heart.


    Plus, I¡¯d get to see Auri more.


    Fuck, I could go and fly regularly. When was the last time I¡¯d flown, properly flown? It¡¯d been ages.


    I loved my freedom, I loved being able to move around at will, to go where the wind blew me.


    Bunny couldn¡¯t. I acknowledged the petty stuff as petty, but when push came to shove, when the steel came out and the blood flowed, I had my hands tied too hard as Bunny to be effective. Even as a mask for Dawn, I couldn¡¯t let someone else get hurt because of the deception.


    With a heavy sigh I got up, and went to see Legata Katerina.

 Chapter 484: The Han Civil War X

    Chapter 484: The Han Civil War X


    Katerina¡¯s guards were tripled, and harsh Radiance bathed nearly every inch of the camp-fort. Everyone was on high alert from the raid today and Yang Duan He¡¯s army of raiders clearly circling around, sniffing for weaknesses and opportunities.


    Never before had I been so thankful that we spent hours every day building a fort just to sleep in for a single night. I would never dare to think that we were safe, but we were a tougher nut to crack than the main army next to us, who continued their haphazard way of just... settling down wherever.


    If - when - the Lady of Death sent raids in the night, they¡¯d be targeted at the much more vulnerable camp.


    Bunny would be stuck with her line.


    Dawn could go out and help.


    I knew which one I wanted.


    I kept a careful distance from the steely-eyed guards and saluted.


    ¡°Legionnaire Bunny here to see the Legata!¡± I crisply announced myself.


    ¡°There is a chain of command.¡± One of the guards informed me. ¡°The Legata isn¡¯t seeing anyone that she hasn¡¯t summoned.¡±


    Perfectly reasonable. I eyed the heavily patrolled intersection - the Legata wasn¡¯t going to put the command building out of the way to easily get decapitated - and thought through my options.


    In for an obsidian, in for a diamond. The best way to not get noticed was to be discreet. Not call attention to myself. Not do big flashy moves. I was just another soldier on the road.


    I lifted part of my tunic up from my chainmail¡¯s neck hole and quickly wiped my face down, dislodging the putty around my cheekbones, eyebrows, and nose, completely changing my face.Gett your favorite novels at


    ¡°Dawn for the Legata.¡± I strolled past the stunned guards, who didn¡¯t try to stop me. ¡°You¡¯re under orders to keep quiet.¡±


    I paused and remembered some of the rumors flying around the camp.


    ¡°That includes betting pools, you hear me?¡±


    I didn¡¯t turn to see the guards salute or acknowledge my order, but I could tell.


    I got eyes and whispers from a few of the [Scribes] and [Messengers] I passed, but most were so absorbed in their work that they didn¡¯t properly register just another soldier passing through on business. The best way to hide at times was in plain sight.


    I paused outside the Legata¡¯s office, another pair of guards snapping to attention at my approach. I could see that a meeting was in full swing through the walls, and I wasn¡¯t going to barge in on it. What I wanted wasn¡¯t that important.


    ¡°At ease.¡± I told the guards, then leaned against a wall to wait.


    We built a new fort every evening, but it was sparse and spartan. We didn¡¯t bother with fancy things like benches, and there were three whole wagons dedicated just to carrying around command¡¯s desks, chairs, and other supplies.


    I waited for a bit as various people went in and out of the meeting, until Leonidus, the second in command, caught me waiting outside.


    ¡°Bunny. Do you need anything special?¡± He asked.


    I gave him a Look, hoping to silently communicate things to him. I wasn¡¯t sure if he was stressing my name because I hadn¡¯t gotten to talk with the Legata yet, he was reminding me of the deception, if he was trying to politely maintain it, if he just didn¡¯t like me, or something else. Trying to find the right words to communicate my intentions was hard.


    ¡°I am hoping to have a word with the Legata soon.¡± I said. ¡°The matter isn¡¯t urgent, nor is it particularly private.¡±


    Leonidus, to his credit, seemed to properly divine what I was saying after a moment¡¯s hesitation.


    ¡°Come join us.¡± He invited me in. ¡°You might as well know what¡¯s going on.¡±


    I nodded and resolved to shut up in a meeting that I had no background knowledge on.


    Katerina, most of command, and quite a few fancy dullahans were standing over a table, an intricate illusion detailing a few mountains, a river, a walled city, and quite a few tiny armies with various emblems on it.


    The rumors were true. We were about to get into a fight.


    Katerina¡¯s eyes flickered to me as the fancy silver dullahans kept talking, the illusion moving as he explained.


    ¡°My issue with that is I¡¯d end up at the front soon enough.¡± I answered.


    Katerina waved a dismissive hand.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got plans to keep your line in the center of the cohort, just like some other ranged specialists.¡± She said. ¡°We¡¯re going to have most centuries keep a line permanently at the back to hide one line not shuffling. Mostly the artillery mages, since setting up a standard encampment for siege weaponry won¡¯t work with the Ironside Brigade deception. Can you operate like that?¡±


    I nodded.


    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am.¡± I hesitated, another thought crossing my mind, but sure that Katerina wouldn¡¯t say yes.


    ¡°What¡¯s on your mind?¡± She asked, far too perceptive.


    ¡°Legata. After the battle, I¡¯d like to heal any wounded members on the field, regardless of army.¡± I took a deep breath, knowing I¡¯d never get what I wanted if I never said anything. ¡°And I¡¯d also like to visit the opposing armies after the battle to cure and heal anyone I can. I know they¡¯re supposedly our enemies, but -¡±


    ¡°Granted.¡± Katerina interrupted me. ¡°I don¡¯t care about their side getting healed after the battle, this isn¡¯t our war. As long as the Sixth is prioritized, please, go ahead. It¡¯s more fodder for the Sixth to level against, it¡¯s more experience for you, I just have a request.¡±


    I tilted my head, curious. Katerina knew she could give me orders and I¡¯d listen - a request was optional.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have full details on your third class, but it¡¯s clear you have powerful perception abilities. Would it be an issue if you went before the battle? Tomorrow night would be a good time for an unaffiliated Oathbound Healer to visit Meng Ao¡¯s camp in a flashy way not tied back to Dawn. While you¡¯re there, if you can pick up on as many plans, papers, and any scrap of information you can and bring it back, that¡¯d be lovely.¡±


    I narrowed my eyes at how accommodating Katerina was being. Healing people the day before the anticipated battle?


    ¡°What are you not telling me?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s need to know.¡± She answered.


    I crossed my arms and stared at her.


    ¡°Katerina, I¡¯m third in command. Two armies are about to clash. We both know I¡¯m - ah.¡± I said as it clicked. ¡°You need me to be flashy to cover for the -¡±


    Katerina¡¯s glare boring into my eyes told me clearly to shut up.


    The Legata wanted a distraction for the black ops group Grizzly thought I was part of to do their work. I wasn¡¯t going to be the only one crossing sides and trying to cause mischief. Members of Meng Ao¡¯s army would also try their own hand at sabotage, assassination, and theft before the fight, and that was before Yang Duan He¡¯s wolfriders tried to fuck with both sides.


    Unless she¡¯d been hired or turned coat since the last intel we¡¯d gotten, and fuck I hated the fog of war.


    I refocused down to what I wanted, and what I was asked to do.


    Everyone wanted me out, about, and healing people. Great! I could happily make that happen.


    ¡°Would you like me, in order to best preserve the idea that I¡¯m a neutral healer, go through Wang Jian¡¯s camp as well and heal people? Might as well get our side fully fighting fit first. Plus... practice gathering information.¡± I suggested.


    Katerina mulled the idea over.


    ¡°Yes and no.¡± She said. ¡°Do it, but don¡¯t be flashy, and don¡¯t gather information. If Meng Ao captures you and attempts to execute you as a spy, I have full faith in your ability to fight clear of the situation. Similarly, I have faith in your ability to escape from Wang Jia¡¯s grasp, but not in their inability to trace you back to us, and we don¡¯t need to be brushed as traitors. It¡¯s good thinking. With that said, if you could fly high over our camp once with your butterfly wings out, that¡¯d be great. Don¡¯t tell me when.¡±


    I saluted my understanding.


    ¡°The timing is awkward, but can we discuss how I¡¯ll move and live in the Legion going forward?¡± I asked.


    Katerina shook her head.


    ¡°Take it up with Camp Prefect Robin.¡± She said. ¡°Let her know you¡¯re entitled to a private tent, and you¡¯ll be taking over Auri.¡±


    I wanted to jump for joy at the last part. I could only grin like a madwoman.


    ¡°Anything else I can do for you?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Not unless you can get your Valkyrie friend¡¯s wyvern to weigh in on the battle.¡±

 Chapter 485: The Han Civil War XI

    Chapter 485: The Han Civil War XI


    Auri and I had a fantastic reunion in a tent for four. Our new tent, our new home.


    ¡°Brrpt!!¡± Auri pulled out a rare present that she¡¯d managed to scrounge up and save ever since my birthday. My eyes widened at the delicious smell.


    ¡°Mmm. Chocolate!¡± I wiggled in delight as she presented the slightly melted bar that she¡¯d been keeping safe. I broke off a piece for the phoenix, and we enjoyed our reunion and belated birthday.


    One downside to splitting off from a line - all the chores were now mine. Instead of having a team of nine to get everything set up and taken down every day, it was a team of two.


    Many hands made light work, and Auri¡¯s [Mage Hand] promised to pull more than their fair share of work.


    I eyed the rising sun and suppressed a yawn. The next few days and nights promised to be exciting, and I¡¯d need all the sleep I could get.


    ¡°Auri, I¡¯ve got an important mission for you.¡± I told her.


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡± Auri promptly changed her flames to the Ironside Brigade colors, throwing a birdy salute my way.


    ¡°See if you can find Iona. I¡¯ve seen her fly overhead a few times, and you¡¯ve been more free than I have. Unless you want to stay and hang around?¡±


    ¡°Brrpt BRPT brrrrrrrrrrpt!¡± Auri was off on her Important Mission, fully expecting another small parade for her success. Maybe a medal or two.


    My eye twitched. Just how much had Auri¡¯s ego been stroked!?


    Okay, I had to admit, if I¡¯d spent the last few months being carted around, fed treats, told how great I was, and generally relentlessly spoiled, I might have my ego grow a few sizes as well.


    ¡°Auri, just remember other people like burning things too!¡± I called after her.


    ¡°Brrrrrpt!¡± She tweeted her agreement as she faded into the sky.


    The mission was important. Iona¡¯s presence was everything from a soothing balm on my soul, to potentially a terrifying Classer on the battlefield, depending on how she viewed things.


    More importantly?


    I just wanted to see her again. To feel her strong arms around me, her calloused hands and soft lips again.


    First things first - duty. Which meant sleep.


    Fortunately, we were in position, and Meng Ao¡¯s army wasn¡¯t. We¡¯d be spending the day getting ready, freshening up and running drills, being rested and well-fed while Meng Ao¡¯s army wouldn¡¯t.


    My understanding of why everyone was so sure the upcoming battle would have to occur was unclear, but I bet it had something to do with the prosperous town nearby and the close proximity to the Tears of Vulcan.


    I drew out a pair of mandalas, delighted that I could finally use wizardry to make my life easy again, throwing up a simple ¡®do not disturb¡¯ illusion along with a noise dampening one. I briefly debated a few more quality of life wards, but instead decided to get a little more shuteye before I spent all my time enchanting a tent, and no time at all actually using any of them.


    I¡¯d regained an old talent with the months spent as Bunny.


    I was asleep before my head hit the bedroll.


    I woke up with a distinct lack of Auri or Iona around. The sun was still high overhead, and I quickly got a breakfast-lunch and a small bag of coins. Then I went to visit the camp followers.


    The entire time I was Plotting. What would be a flashy way to heal people without making it clear I was Dawn?


    It didn¡¯t take long for me to find a new outfit, and I haggled only because not haggling would stand out. A long flowing outfit, not too shabby but nothing that screamed I was wealthy.


    I double-checked my arrangements with Robin and the timing with Leonidus, and Auri intercepted me about an hour before I was going to slip out of the camp.


    ¡°Brpt!¡± Auri reported total success! Iona located!


    I jumped up and held out my hand.


    ¡°What are we waiting for?¡± I asked, [Rapid Reshelving] the last few bits around. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    Auri blazed out with burning streaks of Inferno in her wake, but I had to be a little more subtle than that.


    I walked out with my full uniform on, some of the gate guards squinting in almost-recognition. End of the day, they cared about people coming in, not out, and after a mile or so of walking in Auri¡¯s direction, a hasty visit to [Vault of Ages] - I didn¡¯t bother putting stuff back where they belonged, I¡¯d deal with that later I had Iona to see - and I was sprinting invisible at high speed behind Auri, working hard to make sure my new dress didn¡¯t get caught on branches and bushes.


    Soon enough Fenrir¡¯s bulk became visible in a little depression in the mountains, Iona and Nina sharing a fire with an entire cow-sized dinosaur on a spit roast.


    [Warrior - 128] Nina¡¯s tag said. I wanted to whistle at the leveling speed - she¡¯d been working hard. I mean, yeah, I¡¯d gotten more levels at a higher level, but I¡¯d been in Nina¡¯s shoes. I knew how tough it was. She must be waiting for more accomplishments before classing up, although I thought she was taking [Squire] again.


    ¡°Elaine!¡± Iona jumped to her feet and dashed over, pure enthusiasm and delight on her face. ¡°You escaped!¡± She crushed me in a hug, and it was everything I wanted.


    Auri flew over to Fenrir, and the two started to excitedly catch up with each other, thrilling brrpts occasionally mixed with low rumbles, and plenty of nuzzles between the two friends.


    ¡°I did!¡± I said with a laugh. ¡°At last! I am free from the clutches of the Ironside Brigade! Sweep me off my feet, dear knight, and carry me to a castle far away!¡±


    Iona laughed and swept me off my feet, winking at Nina. She quickly stacked a few stones on top of each other as Iona brought me back to the fire.


    ¡°Your castle, dearest princess.¡± Iona put me down and bowed dramatically at the little stack of stones.


    I gently hovered my foot on it, not trusting it to hold any weight, and stuck my nose in the air as I put on airs.


    They were big believers in the Four Symbols - the Black Xuan Wu of the North, the Azure Dragon of the East, the Vermillion Phoenix of the South and the White Tiger of the West.


    The Azure Dragon was right out. I wasn¡¯t going to mimic a dragon, not now, not ever. I was a little less superstitious about it now, but I wasn¡¯t going to tug on Night¡¯s cape.


    The Vermillion Phoenix was a little too on the nose for me, Auri, and the Dawn persona. The Black Xuan Wu was a contender, although the White Tiger was a little too vicious for my tastes.


    My issue with both the Tiger and Xuan Wu was a lack of ¡®proper flashiness¡¯. Yes, they were iconic animals. My issue was if I wanted to [Imbue] to have them otherwise touch people, they¡¯d need to be moving fast. The tiger would be bouncing all over the place, looking like a ¡®real¡¯ attack perhaps, and the Xuan Wu was slow.


    Well, the snake-tail of the beast could work. It was an option, but I¡¯d had a whole day of thinking.


    I wasn¡¯t part of the Han Empire, and borrowing a symbol could work, it might not. What symbols were good for healers in general?


    The willow and the hydra.


    Forming [Mantle] into a moving willow-ent was doable, but it looked a little weird and managing that many individual leaves and branches to properly move was beyond my capabilities. I took pride in my work!


    A hydra though? A hydra was perfect. A clear symbol of health and healing - nevermind that it was a ferocious beast almost impossible to put down - with multiple ¡®heads¡¯ that each granted health.


    It also wasn¡¯t associated with me, Exterreri, Sentinels, the Sixth or the Ironside Brigade in any way.


    ¡°Ready?¡± Iona asked outside Meng Ao¡¯s camp follower¡¯s temporary site.


    I closed my eyes and visualized what I needed, spinning off two [Parallel Thoughts] to work on controlling the illusionary beast. With careful strokes, I spun out [Mantle of the Stars], bringing to life a shimmering, glittering, see-through hydra, speckled with all the stars in the sky throughout its body, necks and heads.


    [*ding!* [Mantle of the Stars] leveled up! 496 -> 497]


    [Imbue], [Persistent Casting], [Astral Archives] and [Dance with the Heavens] all came together in harmony to make the solid hydra a beacon of life. A few test moves had the heads moving where they should be, but it was clear I wasn¡¯t incredibly skilled at manipulating them like they were a ¡®real¡¯ hydra.


    ¡°Your legs aren¡¯t moving.¡± Nina gleefully pointed out. ¡°Nor is the body moving with the correct counterbalance to the head¡¯s movement.¡±


    I shot the little illusionist a dirty look, getting a smug one in return.


    Some nervous guards approached, and Iona intercepted them and started to sweet-talk our way in while I worked on the hydra¡¯s fine control.


    ¡°Can I sit on it?¡± Nina asked hopefully.


    ¡°Sorry, it¡¯d burn my mana pool too quickly.¡± I told her. ¡°That¡¯s if you don¡¯t shatter it entirely.¡± [Mantle] was still a shielding skill in the end, and levitating people with it was far outside of what the skill could easily handle. I might be able to use it as a seat for Nina, but it¡¯d drain the mana like a sink.


    Iona beckoned us over.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡± I said.


    The plan was to work our way through the followers, and once they¡¯d seen how I was helping, try to move onto Meng Ao¡¯s camp and see if they¡¯d let us in. If they wouldn¡¯t? Well, I wouldn¡¯t be happy, but I wasn¡¯t going to force the issue.


    The hydra lumbered through the road, and I¡¯d dramatically underestimated the intimidation factor. About half of people shied away, ran screaming, threw something at the hydra, or otherwise caused a fuss.


    Step by step, tent by shabby cart, we walked through the camp, my mind almost entirely dedicated to controlling the hydra and its eight heads. Every time I saw a sick person, I¡¯d direct one of the hydra¡¯s heads to slowly, gently touching them, letting healing fix most of their problems.


    And problems they had aplenty.


    Armies weren¡¯t exactly hygienic. Constantly on the move, they just set up wherever each evening. There were no latrine pits carved out, no discipline on where waste was disposed of versus drinking water obtained versus bathing and cleaning. Skills and classes helped, but couldn¡¯t fix all the issues. Food got rained on and went moldy, and mice broke into grain bags and left ¡®presents¡¯ behind. The close contact, harsh conditions and poor hygiene was the perfect cauldron to brew diseases in.


    The armies usually cared enough to try and mitigate somewhat - a disease ripping through the camp would almost immediately jump to the main army - but there was only so much they could do.


    I liked to believe my frequent trips to the people following Wang Jian combined with [Cosmic Presence] stamped out most problems before they started, and the few levels I¡¯d gotten in the skill suggested it had.


    I guess I¡¯d succeeded in the ¡®big distraction¡¯ aspect of my mission, although I wasn¡¯t in the camp proper yet. Maybe all the yelling and fuss would have the main army come out, although I doubted it. There was a callous disregard from the highest levels for the followers. The [Generals] could afford to have their family travel with them directly, in style, protected by the rest of the army. The common soldier¡¯s family would be in among the camp followers. They cared a great deal about their safety, but weren¡¯t as empowered to defend and protect them. Any [Healer] with a shred of competency was usually pressed into service working with the army directly, further exacerbating the problem.


    ¡°Hydra of healing!¡± Iona bellowed at the top of her lungs, her voice carrying almost as much as a Sound classer¡¯s. ¡°Come have all your woes fixed! All ailments cured! Just one touch, no charge!¡±


    Iona¡¯s charisma was terrifying to watch in action. People still scattered at times, but more came over for help.


    A few of the people who ran ended up in moonlight for enough time that I could flicker a thought out with [Wheel of Sun and Moon] and cure them anyway, and people who hid from the hydra were ¡®sniffed out¡¯.


    In an annoying twist, the people throwing stuff at the hydra, or more commonly, patting or hugging the illusion, cost significantly more mana than most of my healing. [Mantle] was a shield skill in the end, and ¡®blocking¡¯ all the people was a harsh drain on my mana.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [The Dawn Sentinel] has leveled up to level 581 -> 582 +3 Dexterity, +24 Speed, +24 Vitality, +170 Mana, +170 Mana Regen, +48 Magic Power, +48 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    [*ding!* [Mantle of the Stars] leveled up! 496 -> 498]


    [*ding!* [Imbue] leveled up! 205 -> 216]


    It took us hours to work through the camp followers - we couldn¡¯t move particularly fast, not with how big I¡¯d made the ¡®hydra¡¯ and how poorly laid out everything was - and by the time I was thinking about moving onto the main camp, parts of it were on fire, horses and triceratops were stampeding all over the place. Iona and I stared at the chaos in silence, and the sea of weapons that were being waved around as the soldiers worked on getting the situation under control again.


    ¡°I think that¡¯s a bad idea.¡± She said.


    ¡°Yup. I¡¯m not seeing anyone hurt, and I know they¡¯ve got plenty of their own medics.¡± I agreed. ¡°I think they¡¯ve got some mercenaries off to the side. A bunch of harpies? Think we should go over there?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s do that.¡± Iona agreed.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [The Dawn Sentinel] has leveled up to level 582 -> 583 +3 Dexterity, +24 Speed, +24 Vitality, +170 Mana, +170 Mana Regen, +48 Magic Power, +48 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]

 Chapter 486: The Han Civil War XII

    Chapter 486: The Han Civil War XII


    I woke up to a fist-sized stone slamming in front of my face, my eyes going cross-eyed for a fraction of a second before I finished waking up and the adrenaline hit.


    I was up and moving, trying to figure out the situation, thankful that I¡¯d slept in my full armor with my spear in hand.


    I burst out of my tent as more rocks rained down on us. I looked skywards, seeing the harpy mercenaries as tiny dots against the clouds.


    Those bastards. I intellectually knew it would happen, but it felt like they were twisting the knife. I¡¯d just gone through their camp and healed them to the best of my abilities last night. Now they were trying to murder me.


    I dashed around the camp as quickly as I dared, looking for injuries, for casualties. To my great befuddlement, I only saw one soldier injured. A number of his fellows were carrying him on a stretcher to the medical tents, the man clutching the mangled ruins of his leg as he screamed in agony.


    I healed him with a thought. Sure, he¡¯d get excellent care and attention from the Optio and her line, but why wait? We were under attack.


    Almost as quickly as it started, the hail of rocks ended. A quick guesstimate on numbers suggested that the harpies had simply run out of mana.


    A second guesstimate suggested that the number of casualties was so low because of a person¡¯s top-down profile versus how much room there was. In short, they were just spraying and praying, although the sheer quantity of rocks being dropped suggested they¡¯d get quite a few people before the day was done.


    Horns started to blow and drums were beaten. The entire camp boiled alive with people running to their assigned position. A breakfast of preserved rations was handed out by the [Quartermaster] and her minions.


    I went to find Katerina at the center of the storm, calmly sitting and analyzing the situation as Leonidus issued command after command. She spotted me and waved me over.


    ¡°Bunny.¡± She stressed the word. ¡°Take command of the 1st Cohort, 4th Century, 8th Line. They¡¯re your [Batteries]. Fall back to the specialist position. I expect you to stay roughly there as we position and the fight engages, but we have eyes. Use your own discretion where you need to be and when, but understand if I ask you to reposition to a specific spot, there is probably a damn good reason for it.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt! Brpt?¡± Auri asked.


    ¡°Legata. Auri¡¯s position?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Would like to keep her with command.¡± Katerina instantly replied. ¡°Deploying her at the right time and place could be crucial, and nothing screams ¡®pay attention to me¡¯ like a phoenix on your shoulder.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt brrrpt...¡± Auri muttered darkly, looking at the harpies circling high above. A few had lit torches in their talons, and I knew Auri had a grudge against most other birds.


    Oversized birds trying to kill me and using fire? Frankly, I was shocked that Auri wasn¡¯t already up in the sky, attempting to establish dominance. Given how those fuckers had tried to murder me in my sleep, and were still semi-actively trying to kill us, I had absolutely no qualms about Auri doing what she did best - and could potentially even ask her to do so!


    ¡°Stay here then.¡± I said.


    Katerina turned from whatever was distracting her and looked me in the eyes.


    ¡°Dawn. Keep my people alive.¡± The Legata implored me.Gett your favorite novels at


    I snapped a fast salute and rushed off to my spot.


    The Legion was already forming up outside the walls, and I went with the milling crowd as we all fell into formation. I found my line quickly enough, and put myself in the Sentinel mindset.


    I was Sentinel Dawn, and this was my calling. My team. I was trained on taking control of small squads, and while I was just one piece in a larger battle, what I was asking of my team was minimal. Stay with me. Provide me with mana.


    I recognized Nike as I approached.


    ¡°Nike. Bunny taking command.¡± I winked, completely out of place with the upcoming battle, but when facing the gallows what else could I do?


    There were looks of understanding across the line, a mad set of grins as the [Batteries] realized who they were working with.


    We got in line at the back of the century, right in the middle of the cohort. The backs of my fellow soldiers were in front of me, giving me only slight glimpses of the field when people aligned perfectly.


    I was still in the first cohort, and I recognized my old line getting into formation. Grizzly and Boots, Darts, Blockhead, and the rest of them. I would¡¯ve needed to twist back awkwardly to try and say hi or even have them start to recognize me, but it wasn¡¯t the time or the place. Good to know and see them here.


    They¡¯d keep me safe, and I¡¯d keep them alive.


    Sounds started to do weird things. First, every noise abruptly cut off. The only thing I could hear was the sound of my own heart beating, along with other internal processes. Then some sound returned, but just the noises of the Legion. The steady rustling of chainmail, the nervous chatter that the [Centurions] didn¡¯t try to stomp down on, the rushing as the slower soldiers made their way into position. The rolling of drums, and the occasional trumpet blare.


    There was a whole axis of warfare I was entirely unfamiliar with, that I didn¡¯t fight on in any way, shape or form. An axis that could screw me hard if I ended up being on the wrong side of it.


    Information warfare.


    Sound classers on our side worked hard to issue orders. The entire command structure to Reed, Reed to the tribunes, the tribunes to the centurions, and the centurions to the soldiers in the line.


    At the same time, Sound classers on the other side tried to intercept, prevent, or in the worst cases, change the orders we heard. If Katerina ordered ¡®All units charge¡¯ and it was changed to ¡®Everyone retreat¡¯, that was a disaster. Similar to being able to intercept plans, and the whole axis of fighting that happened there.


    That was just on a single element. Mirages had their own part, although almost nobody fell for ¡®simple¡¯ illusions. Acts like my cosmetics where I dressed up entirely to look like something different was the smallest level of the deception. It ranged all the way up to stuffing bags with straw and putting them on donkeys to look like another cavalry regiment.


    There were subtle battles alongside any number of elements. Plays and counterplays, all the elements clashing in a thousand ways. Dark clashing with Light, Fire against Water, Wood and Metal wrestled, and Wind sped while Earth tried to stop it.


    I trusted my fellow men and women of the Legion to do their job.


    They trusted me to do mine.


    ¡°... Dawn¡¯s in.¡± Reed¡¯s voice crackled in my ear. The Standard Bearer¡¯s job was simple on the surface - hold the standard of the Legion high. The reality was he was in charge of all the communication and information warfare on the battle, with Optio Ardenus running a set of specialists to help him out.


    ¡°Good. Dawn, we¡¯ve got eyes on you, but if you have to move, let us know to confirm it. Otherwise, be mindful that you¡¯re in the command comms.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡± I kept my speech short and to the point. ¡°Any issues with me issuing line commands?¡±


    ¡°Dawn, just talking to you now.¡± Reed¡¯s voice came in my ear again. ¡°Technically, yes, but I¡¯ll drop you out of the command chat when it happens. Unless I¡¯m dead, at which point there is no command chat anymore, and you¡¯ll be relying on normal signals.¡±


    I nodded, then realized he couldn¡¯t see me. Or... could they? They did say they had eyes on me, but better not to trust that.


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    More orders were issued, people and centuries shuffled around, and in a heartbeat, in an eternity, the fateful orders were given.


    ¡°Century! Shields! Up!¡± The [Centurion] roared, the commands echoed by his own standard bearer.


    I lifted my shield up, and at the same time, I turned my healing all the way on, measuring rough distances, and checking what the field looked like.


    It was surprisingly good.


    Six of the eight cohorts were out, the other two in reserve at our fortress, guarding our supplies and our rear. From what I gathered from the command chatter, the harpies were forcing us to commit significantly more forces than usual to protecting our rear, just by their very presence. That, and they could continue to harass us from on high.


    Each cohort was in a 3x3 grid of centuries, with the ¡®middle¡¯ being a group of artillery mages and other specialists. The cohorts themselves were in a 2x3 grid, the long side facing the enemy. I was in the middle-front cohort, thinking that maybe I should take my line and step back into the specialist group, and look like another set of protected mages.


    Wang Jian was clearly present in his army, riding high on his horse, a massive calligraphy brush in one hand. With powerful strokes he drew falcons and pterodactyls in the air in front of him, the ink ¡®staining¡¯ in streaks behind him. Then the birds shook their heads as they ¡®came to life¡¯ and took to the sky as jet-black blobs of ink, some of them flying up to fight the harpies, and others circling the enemy lines, looking for an opportunity.


    Those were the opening moves an ink mage was willing to show. I was dead curious what else he could do, and was reminded with a shiver of Lun¡¯Kat, who made similar constructs out of pyronox.


    ¡°Meng Ao! Shields down!¡± Katerina ordered. ¡°Dawn! We¡¯ve got incoming, full heals!¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re up.¡± I replied, watching what could only be Meng Ao climbing into the sky on steps of air. He had billowing robes, eschewing additional armor, and only held a single long, thin sword. He pointed it down at his army and began to speak.


    [Mage - 920]


    That was the strongest mortal I¡¯d ever seen, and the [Mage] tag threatened massive, overwhelming firepower, with a lack of staying power.


    ¡°I want to hear this.¡± Leonidus said in the command chat.


    ¡°Agreed. Reed.¡± Katerina ordered.


    There was a faint pop and Meng Ao¡¯s voice was suddenly in my ear as well.


    Two lines in Katerina was screaming orders for every single [Mage] to open fire and take him down now.


    ¡°One true Dao,


    The two, the Taijitu, the yin and the yang.


    The four seasons, their eternal embrace cycling through the years.


    Eight trigrams, the bagua, life¡¯s circle and the mysteries enthralled.


    Sixteen virtues, teaching harmony, wisdom, and life¡¯s true aim.


    Thirty two paths, the Dao unfolds more, leading to enlightenment.


    Sixty-four hexagrams, wisdom of the ancients.


    Bloom, He?i lia?n da?o¡±


    At every line of Meng Ao¡¯s poetry my heart grew tighter.


    Skills ranged all over the place, from the weak to the strong. The narrower a skill was, the stronger it could be. Skills that had special restrictions on them tended to be flat-out stronger than skills without restrictions, but were less versatile.


    It was why [Nova Lance] only came from my fingertips these days. I¡¯d aimed for a narrower, but more powerful skill.


    A skill by someone that high level, with the absurd requirement to recite such a long poem before it?


    Katerina¡¯s order to kill him now was exactly the right move, no matter that their barrier was still up. The Legion had thrown their best barrier breakers against Meng Ao¡¯s army¡¯s Brilliance barrier, but he was still standing at the end of his skill.


    It held before the end of the skill, and Meng Ao dropped his blade, another ritual move empowering an already absurd skill.


    As it hit where his feet were ¡®standing¡¯ on the air the blade dissolved into thousands upon millions of black lotus petals that fluttered through the air to us, growing and growing into a massive storm of petals.


    Then they descended upon us all. A tsunami as black as night, as dark as the void, their petals consuming every mote of light roared up from Meng Ao and crashed over us.


    The edges were razor-sharp. They didn¡¯t cut through our armor, but every single exposed piece of flesh, every single joint, every eyeball, they found and cut. Nothing was instantly lethal, but the damage was everywhere, to everyone. A cut eyeball was blinding, and a cut carotid was lethal.


    [Cosmic Presence] was stupidly good against the skill though, given the fine, razor-sharp nature of the blades.


    I laughed when I realized it. No matter that [Wheel of Sun and Moon] was practically out of commission due to the petals being so thick they briefly blocked out the sun - [Cosmic Presence], in an unexpected twist, was just that good against it. Almost like me running face-first into a Mirror classer.


    Weirdly, if the blades hadn¡¯t been so sharp, I would¡¯ve had a much worse time. Tearing injuries were harder for me to passively handle, but shallow, razor-sharp cuts were exactly the type of injury I could handle without thinking about it.


    The black storm quickly turned bright red with freshly spilled blood, and while my main focus was on people, on the flesh and blood that made up our bodies, the whirling blades were less discriminate. Exposed leather was torn to shreds, ropes were snapped, and the Sixth Legion¡¯s specialty were potions.


    Explosive potions. There was a delicate balance between the toughness of the material used to contain the potion to prevent accidents, and needing them delicate enough to break and shatter on impact, then explode.


    Meng Ao¡¯s delicate petals, designed to cut down soldiers like a farmer harvesting wheat, were more than potent enough to break dozens upon dozens of vials, which then did what they did best.


    Explode.


    Cataclysmically.


    The Legion was rocked by cascading explosions ripping through our ranks as the explosions from one set triggered the few potions that hadn¡¯t yet detonated, showering us in the flames, ceramics, and explosives that were the peak of deadliness that we usually tried to apply to everyone else. Small blessing that it was, the bloodied lotus petals swirling around and through us didn¡¯t catch fire, possibly due to a skill from Meng Ao to prevent his trump from simply being burned away.


    My mana dropped like a stone in spite of the [Batteries] doing their best.


    ¡°Ironside Brigade! Advance!¡± Katerina ordered, and the cry was taken up by the tribunes and centurions, trying to force us to march forward out of the disaster zone, no matter the flames or petals.


    Not everyone made it out. No matter my healing, no matter my abilities, the stars had poorly aligned for seven Legionnaires, whose still bodies remained behind. One of the Optio¡¯s troops quickly grabbed them and hauled them away.


    We didn¡¯t leave people behind.


    The storm died away, and I could see exactly where the edge of [Cosmic Presence] was, Wang Jian¡¯s army having a perfect half-circle cut through it. One side was screaming and bloody, and the other was untouched.


    ¡°Fuck! Dawn, is that you!?¡± Katerina asked in my ear.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Anyone looking and thinking about what I¡¯d done and my range of influence could see exactly where I was. Strangely, it didn¡¯t scare me. I was right in the middle of the Legion. My Legion. They could try to come and get me if they wanted to.


    A stream of curses from everyone attached threatened to overload the command chat briefly before Reed restored order.


    ¡°Trump cards are out and used, I¡¯m bringing mine in.¡± Katerina said.


    Katerina had the same trick Artemis had taught me, where she knew how to infuse her voice with her element. I¡¯d been taught it was mostly useless, only good for showboating, but in her case, as head of the Legion, showing off was often a good thing. A way to raise morale, and if she was lucky, and Reed managed to break the enemy¡¯s Sound-proofing, a way to kill their morale.


    Katerina¡¯s voice was tinged with encroaching darkness and whispering shadows, of creeping shade and the death of hope. Of the abyssal void that came to claim us all in time.


    ¡°Arise.¡±


    Our shadows came to life.

 Chapter 487: The Han Civil War XIII

    Chapter 487: The Han Civil War XIII


    My shadow came to life.


    It became solid, three dimensional, as it picked itself up off the ground, wielding the same weapons I did. I had to look to confirm with my eyes what I thought I saw - I no longer had a shadow. Sunlight just... passed through me and hit the ground as normal.


    My shadow took up a defensive pose next to me, shield up, spear at the ready. The same size as me, seeming to wear the same gear, all painted in the darkest of shadows. Everyone in my line had their shadow awaken as well, and I was soon surrounded by a second set of undying soldiers.


    Mine naturally wasn¡¯t the only shadow to have arisen. The entire Legion had a clone with them. The shadows followed orders perfectly, mechanically. They weren¡¯t just copying the movements of the person next to them. I waved my hand experimentally, but my shadow kept facing forward. Moving slightly, like it was a living, breathing thing.


    I whistled and broke out a thought process.


    Dark was one of the most lethal elements. I didn¡¯t need to go any further than Artemis picking it up as her third class¡¯s element as evidence, but it was uniformly considered one of the deadliest.


    It suffered from a range problem. Dark just didn¡¯t go very far, and I suspected it might even have a penalty in how far from the caster a Dark skill could go. It was part of why most Dark or Void element users tended to be warriors like Iona¡¯s mentor Alruna, or Hunting from Remus. Dark required people get real close and personal to effectively use.


    Massive strength or a hyper specialized, conditional skill could extend the range, and Katerina had both.


    It wasn¡¯t my skill, and I didn¡¯t consider my shadow to be ¡®me¡¯, no matter how much she looked like me. I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d be responsible for any harm she did, but I had to question what would happen if I stepped near someone, and the shadow tried to murder them.


    Where was my responsibility?


    ...


    I could probably stop it just by moving myself, so I was possibly responsible enough for it to count.


    Damn.


    The shadow legion made me briefly wonder why Katerina was ¡®just¡¯ a Legata, and not a War Sentinel. How large was the gap between the two? Were all the Legatus this powerful?


    How powerful were the two cards that Queen had gifted me?


    Orders were shouted, and everyone squeezed a little closer together, metal and wood shields overlapping with shields of inky Darkness. Spears in the front row went low, while spears in the second row went high, two layers of pointed steel and all-consuming void pointed towards our foes.


    The Legion was tightly packed together on the left wing of the army, practicing a tight, defensive formation as opposed to a looser, more aggressive one.


    ¡°Left!¡± The [Tribune] roared, and the entire cohort took a left step forward. ¡°Right!¡±


    The Centurions joined in the cadence, drums beating in slow time with the commands.


    We took a right step forward, having drilled this particularly slow method of advancement for months... years for almost everyone here.


    Drills tried to be bloodless combat, to turn combat into bloody drills.


    Rocks and metal slugs whizzed over my head like angry bees. Arrows rained down on us, and long-range skills were fired in our direction.


    A vortex of air hit one of the [Batteries] at an odd angle, slipping past the shield and connecting solidly with his head. The pressure difference snapped his neck, and my healing snapped it right back into shape.


    I traced the shot back where it came from, quickly losing it as the distance became significant. I was forced to mentally reevaluate the Wind element when it came to combat.


    I¡¯d always been told, seen, and believed it was one of the weaker combat elements, and it was only now that my assumptions were being challenged. If it could pack a lethal punch at that sort of range, it was a serious element to look out for. Not as good as Earth or Metal for long-range ¡®reach out and touch someone¡¯, but the potential was there. It had a different set of utility than Earth or Metal at the very least.


    Then we were past Meng Ao¡¯s barrier.


    We hit the enemy lines not with a crash, but with a whimper. I couldn¡¯t see it, being so deep in the formation, but I could hear it. The desperate cries on the other side to ¡®hold the line¡¯ and to ¡®kill the invading barbarians¡¯ the moment they entered Sound range. The staccato of metal on metal as the dullahans trembled at our approach, then the sharp, acrid tang of blood.


    Left. Right.


    An implacable, remorseless killing machine, the Legion didn¡¯t slow one bit as we hit the dullahan lines. We simply scythed through the irregulars and conscripts like they weren¡¯t there. A slow-moving engine of death, that chewed up everyone foolish enough to stand in its path.


    We marched slower going up a hill.


    ¡°Rotate!¡± The [Centurion] in charge of our century called out, and the first lines stepped to the side and stayed in a defensive position while the rest of the troops continued forward. Weird shit happened with the shadows and the soldiers trying to occupy the same space - they sort of flowed over and through them. Once the former front line hit the back of the century, they slid back into position, and continued to march forward.


    The cohort was a 3x3 grid of centuries, and part of our drilling included how to ¡®rotate¡¯ the centuries around the stationary center - where I was - to always keep fresh soldiers in the front.


    In theory we could also rotate the entire Legion, but I had my doubts on the practicality of that in the heat of battle.


    I got to see glimpses of how the shadow legion fought. They were made out of Darkness, they had no substance to them. Blades created eddies through their bodies as they passed through, but the shadow¡¯s spears were even deadlier than a real one. Their shields ¡®ate¡¯ attacks.


    A sword passed through one of the shields, and only half of it came out again. The soldier had a brief shocked look on his face before a half-dozen spears impaled him, and left him for the third line to finish off.


    The lack of substance wasn¡¯t all upside. A clever dullahan with a grisly whip made out of a human spine - why!? - used the shadow soldiers to their advantage, lashing his whip down low, through their feet, then flicking it up to strike calves and thighs. The man was a clever Classer, realizing that we didn¡¯t move out of our formation. As long as he kept backpedaling, he was free to harass us outside the range of our spears. Our pace couldn¡¯t be stopped, it was good for a thousand things, but we were a little weak against a powerful skirmisher with a longer reach than our weapons. Optio Maxlin¡¯s lines were trying to redistribute potions, but it was taking time.


    Soon we¡¯d be deep inside Meng Ao¡¯s army, and we wouldn¡¯t be able to get anymore. One or two more volleys of potions, that was it.


    ¡°Wren! Take out bone whip!¡± Leonidus ordered over the command channel. The soldier in question blitzed through our lines, engaging with the skirmisher in an utterly unfair 2 on 1, the Primus Pilus¡¯s shadow joining in on the fight. The level disparity made short work of the duel, and Wren made his way back into the Legion to triumphant cheers from the rest of us.


    Burning blood started to rain down on us. The ground fell away beneath a trap, three soldiers screaming in agony as sharp downward-facing barbs let them in, but not out. Not without taking a pound of flesh.


    ¡°Three steps!¡± The [Centurion] ordered his century, able to quickly respond. ¡°Front line, fall back!¡±


    The century moved forward, protecting and covering the soldiers in the pits. I turned my head and focused my voice in the way I¡¯d been taught, putting every ounce of command and authority into my words.


    ¡°Pull them out!¡± I roared, having faith in Reed¡¯s ability to keep me from shouting in command¡¯s ears.


    The soldiers did what they were told, and while boots, belts, and some chainmail was left behind in the pits, the soldiers came out fine.


    Night and I had spent many hours discussing my [Oath] and how it¡¯d apply to battles like this, where people were trying to kill other people, and I was firmly on one side. I thought I had mostly figured it all out - while people were trying to kill me and mine, I was content to heal one side in favor of another. The gods and goddesses knew I¡¯d done it often enough working as a Ranger or a Sentinel.


    What surprised me was the sheer disparity in abilities. The average Exterreri soldier had a few dozen levels on the base conscripts, and that completely ignored that our side was labeled [Warrior] while they were [Artisan] and [Laborers].


    We didn¡¯t have to kill them all to utterly crush them. I couldn¡¯t see what was going on past the century right in front of me to do more, but I could do one little bit. Make this one part of the battlefield a little saner. Save a few more lives. Each life saved was a victory, a balm to my soul.


    ¡°Dawn to the Legata. I need the century in front of me to start taking prisoners.¡± I didn¡¯t shout or yell, there was no need with all the skills flying around, Sound included. I had faith in Reed¡¯s abilities.Gett your favorite novels at


    ¡°Dawn. Unable to fully secure and extract prisoners at this time.¡± Katerina¡¯s voice echoed in my ears.


    ¡°Katerina. No need to extract.¡± I tried to keep the frustration out of my voice. I wish she could just listen and understand and do it.


    A skill? A miracle? Sheer, bloody luck?


    Specs couldn¡¯t believe it either, taking his helmet off and marveling at the dent, studying it through his multi-faceted glasses.


    The second rock obliterated his head, showering us in blood and bone. Nike¡¯s eyes bulged in disbelief.


    ¡°Dawn!¡± She yelled at me in shock and surprise more than anything else.


    ¡°I¡¯m powerful, I¡¯m not all-powerful!¡± I snapped back at her, fighting back the despair at one of my friends dying. We¡¯d lived and laughed together for months, and he was dead in an instant. There was no time to mourn, to grieve, to lament his life, a thousand others needed my attention now or the list would simply grow.


    I suppose I¡¯d always been right about my suspicion that instantly obliterating a head was more than my healing could keep up with.


    I was no [Chaplain] or [Priest], no [Gravedigger] nor [Mourner]. The living were my concern, not the dead, no matter how much it broke my heart. I stepped over Specs, wishing things could¡¯ve been different.


    Through all this, no matter the obstacles sent our way, we implacably chewed our way through Meng Ao¡¯s forces. The complaints about our formation, speed, and how many troops we had fighting in the front going on in the command chat steadily died out, replaced by utter smugness from Katerina. She didn¡¯t say anything, but I could feel it radiating off her in waves as we utterly crushed our foes.


    The sun steadily climbed overhead, and of all things, I caught myself wondering about lunch.


    Lunch.


    While on the battlefield.


    I wanted to rage and scream at myself for becoming so detached from the battle. From the countless lives snuffed out around us. At thinking of my stomach when I¡¯d just stepped over Spec¡¯s cooling body, trying not to slip on the blood. How many had fought? How many had died? How many notifications starting with ¡®your army has slain¡¯ were waiting for me?


    And I was wondering about lunch?!


    I needed Iona, or maybe to fly to the island and find Linnet.


    I reviewed injuries to see if there was anything I was missing. If my healing was failing in some respect.


    Crossbow bolt to the face. The eye was pierced, the orbital socket was blown back, and wood, steel, and bone shards were embedded into the brain. Frontal lobe and parietal lobe shredded. Middle cerebral artery and ophthalmic artery ruined, pouring blood and causing secondary issues. Meninges punctured, all three layers. Back of the skull blown apart.


    [Dance with the Heavens] was on the case. The bolt was dissolved, not a fleck of metal, wood, or any minor impurities from either left behind, such as a crushed up portion of an insect shell from the wood or carbon from the steel. Harmless, practically unnoticeable, but in the brain it would cause endless issues. The skull fragments snapped back into place, recreating the structure of his head. Jellied eyeball was brought back together in the vitreous, then the choroid, retina, fovea, sclera, lens, cornea, pupil and iris were all reconstructed. The optical nerve reattached the eye to the brain, the meninges was stitched back together. Destroyed neurons were recreated out of thin air, pulled from the great dimension that stored all matter. Arteries were reconstructed, and the blood pooling in his head was vaporized, returned in kind to the dimension the neurons had come from.


    The pain receptors on the side of the head stopped screaming that everything was wrong. My own close look at the operation had me satisfied that not only had I stolen him back from Black Crow, but he¡¯d stay stolen. No tiny shard was left in his brain, slowly inching towards an artery, ready to rupture it in his sleep and cause a massive brain aneurysm.


    ¡°Check check! Incoming charge! Right wing!¡± A voice screamed in the command chat.


    ¡°Ironside! Right! Face! Brace!¡± Katerina instantly ordered.


    In near-unison, we all stopped where we were, and turned to the right. The soldiers on the former front, now the left wing, still had their spears and shields in the same direction, but were no longer advancing.


    ¡°Dawn! Maximum visibility, front of the formation, now!¡± Katerina barely kept herself under control as she shouted orders in my ear. ¡°Be showy!¡±


    ¡°Hold position!¡± I ordered Nike and the rest of my line, dropping my shield.


    Maximum visibility was the order.


    My wings unfurled from my back as I shot off towards the front lines. Multiple spellbooks snapped into existence as I teleported them out of [Loremaster¡¯s Library], instantly opening them to the right pages and casting the skills at high speed.


    A Sound spell to make me loud.


    A Radiance spell to give me a powerful glow, almost but not quite blinding to look at.


    A second Sound spell to imbue my voice with Radiance and Celestial, giving my words vibrancy and weight. I could do one myself, but not both.


    I arrived in front of and slightly above the front cohorts in a flash.


    ¡°Dawn has arrived!¡± I yelled in triumph, raising my fist above my head. My hair whipped around me from the sudden deceleration, and I realized exactly why Katerina had needed me here and now, a brief morale boost far more important than trying to maintain plausible deniability.


    We were facing a heavy cavalry charge.


    Instead of horses, it was a herd of triceratops barreling down towards us, each one coated in steel inches thick, their horns with serrated coverings. Their riders all had long spears pointed towards us, and the greatest game of chicken was occurring.


    The charge couldn¡¯t break through the entire Legion. Shifted as we were, they¡¯d need to break through three whole cohorts, each one piled 24 soldiers deep. It just wasn¡¯t possible, they¡¯d get bogged down and die.


    Only if we held the line.


    Only if the troops in the front didn¡¯t break and run.


    Make no mistake, in front of a heavy charge like that, everyone in the first three or four lines was a dead man walking. There was no way to survive, and I doubted I could do terribly much for them. Heads would burst like grapes under the heavy hooves, and anyone being trampled by the triceratops would be outside of sunlight long enough that [Wheel of Sun and Moon] wouldn¡¯t be able to do a damn thing for them.


    If the soldiers broke, it could have a cascading effect on the Legion. ¡®They broke and ran to save their lives, why shouldn¡¯t I also save my life?¡¯


    If we didn¡¯t break, the cavalry died.


    If we broke, we died.


    They charged at us, and I instantly picked out a soldier with a much fancier hat, a commander of sorts. I raised my finger at him, intent on [Nova Lancing] him and potentially killing the charge in its infancy.


    ¡°Dawn, hold fire!¡± Katerina yelled in my ear. I paused, unsure why I shouldn¡¯t start blunting the impact and taking out their strongest warrior, but discipline and trust held.


    I stared them down, flying in the sky, daring them to hit us. It was only for a few seconds, but at the speeds everyone moved at, the seconds were like an eternity. The front ranks took a knee, shadow and flesh alike, and the second and third ranks clustered in around them.


    The battle didn¡¯t end just because we were facing one segment of the army. The battle continued to rage on, not just up and down our little corner of the battlefield, the Legion surrounded and besieged on all sides, and winning, but high in the sky where harpy feathers burned and fell, where archers were firing arrows and skills all over, the fight stretching for thousands upon thousands of men and women doing their best to butcher each other.


    I had come up from the bottom of the well, and had a glimpse of the world. The only part that mattered in the moment was the charge coming my way.


    I blinked.


    They blinked, and turned the charge away from us.


    ¡°Alchemicals! Fire!¡± The tribune ordered as the triceratops thundered in front of our formation. Maxlin¡¯s remaining potions were broken out, and thrown at the beasts.


    ¡°Dawn, return.¡± Katerina crisply ordered in my ear. I was back to my spot in a flash, not seeing the need to pretend I was slow anymore. Then, the command chatter went dead quiet in my ear for a heart-stopping moment. Words I feared and dreaded were spoken with an almost clinical detachment.


    ¡°Leonidus is dead.¡±

 Chapter 488: The Han Civil War XIV

    Chapter 488: The Han Civil War XIV


    I took the news of Leonidus¡¯s death with a cold, almost clinical detachment. The man was efficient, but we weren¡¯t particularly close, and so many people were dying I was practically numb to it. The part that worried me the most was I was now a single heartbeat away from being in command of the entire Legion. Thousands of lives would become my responsibility.


    Katerina had to live.


    At the same time, that thought was personal, selfish. If I had enough mana to save Katerina or three other soldiers, life won. I¡¯d save more people, and accept the burden of leadership.


    I gathered a few more details about how he¡¯d died, all the better to protect the rest of the Legion.


    In short, my healing radius just barely covered the Legion when I was in the middle. When I was deflecting the charge, more than half the Legion was no longer covered, including command. Officers had potshots heading their way all the time, and Leonidus had simply been unlucky.


    The battle continued to rage, and my mana ping-ponged all over the place. It went down hard after a bad clash, then for nearly an hour it steadily crept up as Meng Ao¡¯s forces refused to properly engage with us, choosing to move around the unkillable block of legionnaires, then crashed down as Wang Jian used us as the ¡®anvil¡¯ in the classic ¡®hammer and anvil¡¯ strategy.


    Auri flew down to my shoulder, pleased as punch.


    ¡°Brrpt BRRPT!!¡± She chattered gleefully in my ear. ¡°Brrrpt!!¡±


    Spears clashed against shields, and people screamed and wrestled with each other, locked in a bitter struggle of life and death.


    ¡°Auri, this is not the time or place.¡± I reprimanded my little fiery friend.


    Auri puffed herself up unhappily.


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡±


    ¡°Tell me all about it later.¡± My words came out a little meaner than intended. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Auri, I am interested, but it¡¯s the past now.¡±


    Auri stomped unhappily on my shoulder, her little feet going ting ting ting on the chainmail, but otherwise accepted that it was indeed a poor time to tell me about her aerial adventures against the harpies. They were out of the picture, that¡¯s all that mattered for now.


    I got to witness the Legion¡¯s cognomen and reputation for alchemicals in person, for real.


    ¡°Hold! Brace!¡± Katerina ordered, the entire Legion coming to a halt a few moments later. The front row knelt as the second row stepped forward, everyone doing their best to interlock shields. Katerina¡¯s shadow Legion joined in, the third row put their shields up, and the entire Legion turned into a prickly hedgehog.


    ¡°Elites incoming. Prepare for Firestorm.¡± Katerina ordered.


    ¡°Firestorm.¡± I repeated the order to my [Batteries]. ¡°Rods down, wait for the signal, then rods back up.¡±


    Eight rods got tucked into belts as Nike and the rest of my line acknowledged my order, the [Batteries] grabbing and hefting the lethal potions in one hand, keeping their shield up with their other.


    ¡°Wait for it... wait for it...¡± Katerina cautioned in my ear, then my ear clicked as Reed changed the communication channels around.


    ¡°Ironside Brigade! Firestorm!¡± Katerina ordered.


    In waves, the front centuries of the Legion threw out their potions, arcing them up and over the first few lines of the hostile Han soldiers charging at us. Some of the potions were deflected, others were grabbed by skills and thrown back at us. Defensive abilities prevented some of the potions from breaking, and a few were just plain duds.


    We knew that would happen, which was why we¡¯d thrown over 500 of them. The vast majority got through.


    In a great ripple of explosives, the potions detonated, throwing ceramic shrapnel and green flames roaring through the ranks of the dullahans, cutting the first few rows off from the back and their reinforcements. They had nowhere to run to, not unless they wished to dive through the deadly flames, and we were waiting for them on the other side.


    ¡°Legion. Advance.¡± Katerina calmly ordered, and the butchery continued.


    The century in front of me continued to attempt to take prisoners. One of the captured elites, in a fit of idiocy or preferring death over capture, tried to kill one of the line leaders as we passed over her, gesturing with her hand and sending a metal bullet up and under the chainmail protection we all wore.


    I flicked a finger out, intercepting the shot with [Nova Lance] - far cheaper than healing what that attack would do - and permitting the rest of the century to put her down once and for all.


    Why? Why couldn¡¯t she have chosen life?


    I chose instead to focus on all the people I did save. The occasional prisoner was nice, but seeing Grizzly walk away from a spear in the throat made my heart leap for joy. Boots had a nasty shot take a bite out of her flank, and her walking it off made my soul sing.


    Shame about her boots though, they were utterly ruined now.


    All up and down the Legion, dozens, if not hundreds, of people survived blows they should have no reason to shrug off. I wasn¡¯t invincible or omnipotent, but I chose to look at the bright side. At the rising sun promising a tomorrow for us all.FOlloow newest stories at


    Auri eventually recovered enough mana, and gods, phoenixes were terrors.


    She darted off my shoulder and, hovering only inches above the ground, zipped forward, ducking and weaving between legs, dodging boots, and generally being almost impossible to see until she¡¯d passed by in a burning streak. She was out of my view and outside of [The World Around Me] in seconds.


    Moments later, deep inside Meng Ao¡¯s lines, near the command center, a massive fireball erupted, almost too bright to look at until my immunity to fire kicked in. Even from way back where we were, it felt like a bonfire, crisping my eyebrows and drying out my mouth.


    A molten pile of cooling metals was left behind as Auri triumphantly soared back to my shoulder.


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡±


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    I kept half an eye on him, but to his credit, nobody died. Four broken limbs, yes. Poetic justice as he robbed them instead, I was all for the karma. Pissing on them after? That was just going too far.


    How Katerina didn¡¯t live with a perpetual headache was beyond m-


    Aw fuck. I was the source of just as many headaches to Katerina, wasn¡¯t I?


    We cleared the field in record time, and returned back to the fort. I was sitting on a pile of level up notifications, but I wanted to wait until I was done with all my work and healing before checking them out. The stats and improved skills were automatically applying in the background, so it wasn¡¯t like I was deliberately weakening myself.


    A number of small pyres were being assembled. I counted them all, learning the patterns and arrangements of the logs, memorizing the grain in every stick of wood. Each pyre was a failure on my part. A life I¡¯d sworn to save, and failed to do so. Their bodies laid in rest next to the pyres, a full century acting as an honor guard while the funerals were prepared. Two of them I knew by name.


    Only two.


    ¡°Detail. Dismissed.¡± I softly ordered, letting Wren, Nike, and their lines off on a break, to go do what they needed to do.


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri hopped off my shoulder, hovering in front of the pyres. ¡°Brrpt, brrrpt!!¡± She conjured up a [Mage Hand] and tried to point at various things that needed improving, so the fires would burn as strongly and as brightly as possible, giving her fallen friends the best possible sending-off.


    I forced myself forward, forced myself to walk up to the shrouded bodies. I made my hand peel back the cloth covering the faces - or what little was left of them. A mess stared back at me, a head so mangled and ruined I didn¡¯t know who it was.


    But I¡¯d remember. For eternity, I would remember.


    ¡°What was his name?¡± I asked one of the honor guards.


    ¡°Titus.¡± He answered with a tear. ¡°Just Titus.¡±


    I nodded solemnly.


    ¡°Titus.¡± I repeated. ¡°I will permanently remember him.¡±


    The solstice was coming up. My day of remembrance. The day practically everyone I knew and loved had died.


    [Astral Archives] was like a mental library, a mind palace of books. I walked up and down the imaginary rows, finding the fat book in question in a place of honor. A podium at the center.


    Book of the Dead.


    The list, the knowledge, the names and memories of everyone I knew who had died, in a single solemn place. My own Indomitable Wall, one that only I could visit. I flicked it open, the first entry an ancient wound.


    Lyra. My childhood friend, the one who¡¯d inspired my [Oath]. A poor girl, whose only record of ever existing was me and my memory. Night wouldn¡¯t know her. There wouldn¡¯t have been a single record anywhere in Remus of her existence. After all, she was a girl, a second class citizen thrice over. Her entry was thick and detailed, the years of our lives together etched into paper. From our first meeting, to the games we played, the way she laughed and danced, the way she begged for food and inhaled every morsel she could get her hands on, it was all there.


    Name after name, life after life, I flipped through the pages until I reached the end, a blank space for a new name.


    Titus. I mentally inscribed the words, not having much to say. Soldier of the Sixth Legion. Died under my protection fighting Meng Ao.


    A whole life, boiled down to a simple sentence. I wish I could do more. I wish I had the time to talk with his friends, find his family. Ask about him. See what he¡¯d been like. His interests, his desires. I wish I could record the entirety of his life in a way that would make him come to life.


    I didn¡¯t have the time. The relentless clock of time continued to tick in my ear, every heartbeat letting me know that people were still wounded and injured, and I needed to get to them now before they succumbed to their injuries. It was entirely possible that I¡¯d be gone so long that I¡¯d miss their funeral, and I was still regenerating mana.


    ¡°Dawn.¡± The soldier respectfully interrupted my thoughts. ¡°I just want to say thank you. You saved my life and my friend¡¯s lives at least twice. There¡¯d be dozens more pyres without you. You probably know all this, but I just had to say it.¡±


    I rewarded the man with a sad smile.


    ¡°I just wish there were no pyres at all.¡± I was feeling morose.


    One by one I learned their names, flinching as I was told Spec¡¯s name.


    I hadn¡¯t even recognized his body.


    It hit me then.


    One day, every single man and woman in the Sixth Legion would be inscribed in my Book of the Dead. I was Immortal. I was going to outlive them all. By fire or flames, sword or spear, or, by some miracle, the sweet embrace of White Dove as they died of old age, one day I would have every single name written down. Their lives would end, and mine would continue.


    The weight of Immortality briefly threatened to crush me. I shook it off - I had no time for a crisis of conscience now, not even with [Parallel Thoughts]. There were wounded who¡¯d been dragged off the battlefield to help and save.


    I cut through the layers of security, making it straight to the Legata. I threw off a crisp salute.


    ¡°Legata. I¡¯ve got [Oath] business elsewhere. I¡¯ll return in a bit.¡±


    Katerina frowned, then shrugged. Were the crinkles in her crow¡¯s feet a new headache I¡¯d just given her, like Wren had given me one?


    ¡°You¡¯ll miss the officer¡¯s meeting, which is unfortunate. You need to start attending now that you¡¯re the second in command. I¡¯m tapping Tribune Tristanus or Hazel to take acting second in command, but you¡¯re still next if I die. We¡¯re doing the funerals at sunset, then after action reports. Be back by then.¡± She ordered.


    I took off at full speed, my anti-friction runes the only thing that stopped mountains of paper from whirling in my wake.


    I had a Black Crow to disappoint.

 Chapter 489: The Han Civil War XV

    Chapter 489: The Han Civil War XV


    I was familiar with Wang Jian¡¯s army and capabilities. We¡¯d marched near them for months now, and I knew Optio Henrietta¡¯s lines of [Medics] were all at full strength and mana still, and that this was the perfect chance to gain a number of levels and improve our reputation. Katerina would deploy them to Wang Jian¡¯s army, they had their own medics, great. Their need for additional medical attention existed, but it wasn¡¯t nearly as great as Meng Ao¡¯s.


    His army had been defeated and routed. Soldiers running on broken ankles, trying to staunch the bleeding from an arm that no longer existed, the works. They were fleeing, hoping to outpace Wang Jian¡¯s riders, unable to stop, organize, and perform triage on their troops.


    I flew up high to get a good view of what was going on, to see where they were. No sense in chasing after a small detachment that was going the wrong way. I wanted to hit the bulk of the army, then maybe see about chasing down anyone who¡¯d fled in a different direction.


    While up in the sky I spotted Fenrir circling, neither Iona nor Nina on his back. I hesitated a moment, then darted over to the wyvern. I landed on his snout, balancing perfectly in a way only insane dexterity could manage.


    ¡°Everything okay? Everyone alright?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Tracking.¡± Fenrir nodded down, and I twisted my neck all the way around to see what he was pointing at.


    A number of wolf riders were bounding away from the battle, Iona bounding after some of them. They were splitting and scattering, and while Iona was far faster than even a System-boosted wolf, she wasn¡¯t so fast she could catch all the scattering ones. Fenrir being eyes in the sky - literally - suggested that The Lady of Death was going to have an unpleasant evening. Nina was trailing behind, unable to keep up with Iona, instead making sure the people left behind were dead dead - not that Iona would make a mistake with notifications - looting them, and vaguely straightening out limbs for a slightly more respectful end.


    I studied the woods and mountains for a minute, before deciding that Iona had things well in hand. She was a juggernaut, an unstoppable force of righteous wrath. A few fleeing jumped-up bandits weren¡¯t going to pose a threat to her, although I was slightly concerned about Yang Duan He¡¯s title.


    ¡°Good job.¡± I patted Fenrir¡¯s snout, then let myself fall off his nose, snapping my wings open and continuing to follow the traces of Meng Ao¡¯s army.


    I found them quickly enough, and I didn¡¯t bother carefully analyzing every detail. Checking out every formation, seeing what was where. I just dove right into the thick of it. Heck, I still had on my Ironside Brigade armor!


    I was tired. Tired of soldiering, tired of blood and death, tired of carefully hiding every capability I had just to sneak around a little better. I¡¯d shown my hand already. The existence of a powerful healer in the Ironside Brigade had to be known by the powers that be. I was going to openly, quickly, and with my full powers heal the remnants of Meng Ao¡¯s army.


    It was a minor point, but it helped justify it to myself - the added difficulty would be worth a number of levels. [The Dawn Sentinel] was skyrocketing at the moment, and I was determined to squeeze every last bit of power out of it.


    I was fast. I dropped in like a meteor strike, [The World Around Me] giving a perfect picture of what was going on. I dropped, hitting the ground and tagging three people before the first cry of alarm went up. Stabbed in the arm. Broken wrist. Torn tendon. Bam bam bam. Three high speed pokes of my finger, three injuries cured, and I slipped under a hand trying to grab me, continuing to run through the camp, looking for more people who needed my help.


    I sensed a double amputee in the tent next to me. I ripped through the side as a dozen soldiers converged on my position and tagged the poor soldier.


    ¡°Sorry about the tent!¡± I yelled as I ran through the front, the chasing soldiers in hot pursuit. A great hue and cry went up, and three more soldiers tried to corner me.


    ¡°Not today!¡± I cheekily yelled as they stabbed at me, jumping gracefully over the spears.


    I¡¯d always wanted to do this. I ran up the spear, then springboarded off the soldier¡¯s head, fixing his ruined eye in the process.


    I couldn¡¯t get everyone, and I needed to liberally apply [Wheel of Sun and Moon] to ¡®catch¡¯ a number of bad injuries that I didn¡¯t quite see an easy path to.


    My blood was pumping, and I found myself grinning. I was enjoying this. Testing my abilities to the max, while also healing people? Only thing that could make this better was Auri and a mango. There was a certain joy, a thrill in being very, very good at what I did, and executing it to the best of my abilities.


    I wanted to snort in disbelief. Did he really think - yes, yes he did really think that would work on me.


    I didn¡¯t take responsibility for other people¡¯s actions - mostly. Things like Osengard made me rethink a few aspects, but ¡®do this or else I¡¯ll murder people¡¯ was firmly on the murderer¡¯s head, not mine.


    He wasn¡¯t entirely wrong about one part though. As long as he kept hurting people, I would be forced to stick around and save them. A trap that only really worked on [Oathbound] healers.


    ¡°What do you want?¡± I asked, trying to find other solutions.


    ¡°For you to join us, and at the end of this war, a merciful death. It is the only way you can atone for all the bodies left behind on the fields today.¡± He answered. ¡°Else, you are already in my power. A slow, tortuous existence until we have squeezed every last bit of utility out of your body, then you will die without an intact body. Come, make your choice.¡±


    I had quite a few more choices, but I was forced into the Artemis solution.


    Artemis was twitchy as hell for a reason. Mages were delicate, fragile. Most of their stats were loaded into the magical stats, and most of their abilities were offensive. It varied, of course, but Artemis was still alive because she was on a hair trigger. Defensively, they tended to not have terribly much going for them.


    Mages often had various defenses. Not being near attacks was one of them. Meng Ao had demonstrated a fantastically strong Brilliance barrier, although no telling if it was him or one of his subordinates. Radiance had some weaknesses - Mirror was hilariously effective against it - but it had strengths. The ability to straight up ignore Brilliance barriers was one of them, although in the elemental tiering list, the range was only medium.


    Speaking of bodyguards - he¡¯d put himself in front of them. Probably something about negotiations and power? Hard to take someone seriously when all you could hear was a muffled voice behind a dozen [Honor Guards]. Iona would¡¯ve been able to interpret it better.


    Speaking of, they probably had various skills to protect him, even like this. Worth thinking about.


    There was a tyranny of stats. An inescapable gap that occurred due to level quality. A single level in a black-quality class could be worth hundreds of levels in a red-quality class. Thousands in a pink-quality class. I was sitting on 128 levels in a black class, which punched far above their weight.


    Radiance was fast. Close enough to instant that it didn¡¯t matter, it tied with Light and Brilliance for speed. I never needed to anticipate where someone would be. I could just point and shoot.


    Over 250,000 points of magic power, and [Solar Corona] was a six-figure passive that didn¡¯t get enough time used.


    I had sworn to protect my patients, and Meng Ao was actively harming my patients as quickly as I healed them up.


    I was Dawn, War Sentinel of the Sixth Legion of Exterreri. Healing was my cause and calling, but I knew I needed to defend myself and my patients.


    I didn¡¯t do any big, dramatic moves to tip off the [Bodyguards]. My hands were constantly moving, just part of walking, and it was trivial to adjust a single moving finger a hair to aim it towards Meng Ao¡¯s eye, and unleashed a full-power [Nova Lance] at his eye.


    Automatic barriers instantly sprang up, bodies, spears, and shields all started to move.


    Seven [Bodyguards] slumped over dead - probably a protective skill for them to take a blow instead of the general - as the lance went through Meng Ao¡¯s head, bursting out the other side in blazing light and the faint stench of burning pork. My [Oath] rebelled - the [Bodyguards] were on the darker side of a grey zone, and I¡¯d sort of killed them - in a minor way, causing a wave of nausea and vertigo so bad that I stumbled, but it didn¡¯t matter.


    [*ding!* You have slain a [Great General of the Han (Mantle, 904)]//[Voidheart Lotus Sage (Forest, 920)]//[The Boundless Holder of Li Ji (Spatial, 673)]]

 Chapter 490: The Han Civil War XVI

    Chapter 490: The Han Civil War XVI


    Everything got a little messy after slaying Meng Ao, and I found myself flying towards the wall of the Ironside Brigade¡¯s temporary fortress in no time at all. Most of his wounded had been healed, and nobody, nobody, tried the same stunt of injuring more people to force me to stick around.


    They did come for my head hard though, and I was one woman. I could take a general by surprise and overwhelming firepower, but that move was literally an eighth of my mana pool.


    The funerals had finished, a couple dozen soldiers respectfully standing around the smoldering coals of the pyres, paying their last respects. I wish they could continue to stand vigil as long as they wanted to.


    I blitzed over the fortress walls, dropping on top of a startled guard.


    ¡°Pay attention.¡± I snapped at him. He should¡¯ve seen me coming, and not been so surprised. ¡°Sound the warning alarm.¡± I ordered.


    The soldier fumbled a moment, snapping off a salute. ¡°Ma¡¯am, yes ma-¡±


    ¡°NOW!¡± I roared. He almost jumped out of his boots, fumbled at his belt, and blew the warning alarm. The clear notes of the trumpet echoed through the fort, the other guards taking up the signal and repeating it at once.


    The response was both fast and slow. We had just spent the whole day fighting, so we were tired, but we¡¯d also spent the whole day fighting. Our blood was up.


    The camp didn¡¯t quite boil over like a kicked ant hive. More like an ant hive where all the ants were drunk on sugar. I spotted Katerina, and flashed over to the Legata, who was already climbing a ladder into the observation tower. The rest of her endless [Scribes], and [Aides] followed her up, but the [Messengers] stayed at the bottom. All the better to run around on her behalf.


    ¡°Bunny. I assume your return and the alarms are related?¡± She didn¡¯t pause climbing at all, and I floated next to her, wings gently beating.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri flittered up to me, landing on my shoulder where she belonged. I bopped her with my head, acknowledging her presence.


    ¡°Yes Legata. During my operation I ended up slaying Meng Ao, and last I saw, I had his entire army chasing me. I doubt they¡¯ll come all this way, but I wasn¡¯t going to mention it for the first time when they showed up on the horizon.¡±


    Katerina grunted in acknowledgement, reaching the top of the ladder.


    ¡°Right, let¡¯s see what we¡¯re up against.¡±


    It got decidedly awkward when nobody else showed up after me. Meng Ao¡¯s troops didn¡¯t suicidally return to the battlefield, and I could see the rumor mill quickly propagating what I¡¯d done through the ranks. First the tribunes and other officers, a quick intercept by the rank and file as a conversation was had near hurrying soldiers, and the whole thing spread like wildfire.


    Dawn killed the [Great General] Meng Ao.


    Morale had started high, and not even an ¡®oops maybe a second battle¡¯ was able to dampen the mood, not when the troops found out why all their partying had been interrupted.


    We only stood to for thirty minutes before Katerina called it. Auri was fairly upset that she¡¯d been up high on the tower with everyone glancing her way for a mere 30 minutes.


    ¡°If they were going to commit suicide and attack us, they would¡¯ve done it by now.¡± She declared. ¡°Call to stand down.¡±


    Trumpets blew, drums were banged, and great cheers went up. Katerina tilted her head a fraction.


    ¡°Robin, triple the beer ration. See if you can get us a roast going. Morale¡¯s high, and I want people to have this evening as a highlight to remember in the coming months. Reed, call an officer¡¯s meeting. All non-active centurions and above. I think we need to go over everything again.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri wasn¡¯t invited to the meeting, and she could tell.


    ¡°More time to party with everyone.¡± I reminded her.


    ¡°BRPT!¡±


    ¡°Legata, I¡¯ve got some additional information for you before the meeting starts.¡±


    Katerina didn¡¯t pause her march to the command center.


    ¡°What is it?¡± She asked.


    ¡°As I was fleeing, I managed to get near the command tent. My third class does handle books and information like you mentioned, and I was able to scoop up most of their records. I¡¯d like to say all their records, but we both know there¡¯s always a few floating outside, being carried around and the like.¡±


    Katerina halted, her entourage coming to a stop. On one hand, they pretended like they weren¡¯t listening into our conversation, on the other they had to. I swear half the ears were bending and straining to hear what happened next. What juicy gossip there was.


    ¡°All their records.¡± Katerina replied flatly. ¡°Not just their books. Their maps. Codes. Scrolls. Loose paper.¡±


    I nodded.


    ¡°Yup! All of it! Even got a quill scooped up by my skill, which makes me think there¡¯s a coded message on it somewhere. All I could pick out with my senses were pictures, but since my skill thinks it¡¯s information, maybe Optio Coral or Optio Ardenus can make something of it.¡±


    Katerina pointed out one of the [Scribes] and [Messengers].


    ¡°You. Show Bunny to a room where she can deposit the records. You. I need a detail of guards on the room, Legata¡¯s orders. Go.¡± She ordered.


    I slipped into a packed room. The Legion didn¡¯t see a point in making big meeting rooms in their temporary forts, and what we wanted to discuss wasn¡¯t open air. We just barely fit, but thanks to dozens of skills, none of them mine, it all worked out.


    Bless whoever had the cooling Ice aura. I wanted to shake their hand.


    ¡°First, I want to address proper naming conventions. As you all may have noticed, Sentinel Dawn is indeed with the Sixth Legion.¡± Katerina pointed to me standing next to her, annnnnd half the room couldn¡¯t see me. No stage or anything. I raised my hand and waved it around.


    ¡°Heya!¡± I cheerfully said, letting Katarina lead.


    ¡°Outside of this room, she is to be referred to as Bunny.¡± Katerina stressed. ¡°Diplomatic nonsense. The tribunes know what¡¯s going on with that, as well as the more experienced centurions. Ask later if you don¡¯t know.¡±


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    The Legata plowed on, not even pausing a moment to let murmurs or quiet discussions occur.


    ¡°I want to reaffirm the chain of command now. Tribune Pierce is temporarily promoted from tribune to my second. Sentinel Dawn is in command of the Legion should I die. I will brook no discussion on the topic, and in the event of my untimely demise, you are all ordered to support her with everything you can. Am I understood?¡±


    There was an anemic response, a scattering of ¡®yes ma¡¯am¡¯ and ¡®as you will Legata.¡¯


    Katerina put her hand on Reed¡¯s shoulder and shouted, her words dramatically amplified.


    ¡°Sixth Legion! AM I UNDERSTOOD!?¡±


    ¡°Yes ma¡¯am!¡± They roared in unison.


    [Mana Regeneration: 1,831,433 +(3,116,736)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 456 (Effectively: 3,648)]


    [Dexterity: 24,802 (Effectively: 264,092)]


    [Vitality: 53,472 (Effectively: 835,500)]


    [Speed: 40,704 (Effectively: 801,177)]


    [Mana: 222,568]


    [Mana Regeneration: 222,624 (+ 311,674)]


    [Magic Power: 246,963 (+ 7,902,816)]


    [Magic Control: 246,684 (+ 7,893,888)]


    [Class 1: [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial: Lv 640]]


    [Celestial Affinity: 640]


    [Cosmic Presence: 555]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 17]


    [Center of the Universe: 476]


    [Dance with the Heavens: 640]


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon: 640]


    [Mantle of the Stars: 496]


    [Sunrise: 505]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 560]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 560]


    [Radiance Resistance: 560]


    [Nova Lance: 560]


    [Lepidoptera: 560]


    [Nectar: 560]


    [Solar Corona: 560]


    [Scintillating Ascent: 560]


    [Kaleidoscope: 560]


    [Class 3: [Ancient Loremaster of Legend - Spatial: Lv 256]]


    [Spatial Authority: 256]


    [Manuscript Mastery: 256]


    [Blink: 78]


    [Loremaster''s Library: 256]


    [Vault of Ages: 22]


    [Rapid Reshelving: 108]


    [Astral Archives: 256]


    [Lust for Lore: 256]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 421]


    [Parallel Thoughts: 241]


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 640]


    [The World Around Me: 110]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 640]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 640]


    [Persistent Casting: 517]


    [Imbue: 216]

 Chapter 491: The Sword in the Stone

    Chapter 491: The Sword in the Stone


    Time went by, and while my eidetic memory let me perfectly memorize everything that was going on, when one day was just like the days around them, they all got lumped into the same book in [Astral Archives] and mostly forgotten about.


    Three years. Three years we campaigned in the Han Empire, occasionally changing who we were contracted with, occasionally moving back to old generals and stomping grounds. The skirmishes were endless, and the pitched battles that were so great for levels were rare.


    Throughout all of it, some scenes and events were burned into my mind, events I would never forget.


    I was affectionately teasing Auri that she was in a ¡®goth phase¡¯.


    She was going full-on black with her body flames. Gone was the colorful, bright and chirpy phoenix from Remus and the School. In were a dozen shades of black. Coal. Midnight. Ink and obsidian, sable and jet, soot and ash.


    I was struggling to tell if Auri was genuinely sad, depressed, or down over everything going on in the Han empire, or if she was artistically exploring herself and different options. I tried to get her to open up about it, but she was strangely closed-off.


    She was also playing with Inferno in other ways. Things burned nicely in the air, yes, but what about burning things underground? Melting rock and using that?


    The Tears of Vulcan constantly erupting on the horizon was getting Auri thinking of Lava in all sorts of different ways, experimenting to see what the melting point of various types of rocks were, and if she could then throw them with her [Mage Hands], make them explode, and just generally fucking around and exploring her skills and abilities.


    I approved.


    ¡°I¡¯m always here for you, no matter what.¡± I told my goth friend. She nuzzled me back.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    I was hanging out with Auri when a subtle scent hit my nose.


    I was subconsciously parsing thousands upon thousands of scents every minute, trying to ignore the TMI. I didn¡¯t want to know who was sleeping with whom. I didn¡¯t want to know about poorly controlled diabetes. Please, spare me the details about a person¡¯s last bath being three months ago when the rest of their line forcefully dunked them in a stream. I knew who wiped poorly and who wasn¡¯t a complete savage.


    Too. Much. Information.


    I could destroy the Legion in a one-hour meeting, calling out everyone¡¯s ¡®secrets¡¯. I had no social graces, no social skills, and had enough blackmail material thrice over to do it.


    Broadly, I tried to ignore it all. When the smell of freshly cut grass hit my nose as a minor undercurrent though, I twitched, breaking off the conversation I had with Auri, letting the burning flower I was holding turn to ashes without paying attention.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri asked, but I was distracted, sniffing deeply and suspiciously.Gett your favorite novels at


    It was not freshly cut hay, and my mind spread out, checking the wind direction. I picked myself up in a flash.


    ¡°Never a dull moment. Come on, let¡¯s go.¡± I told Auri, dashing over to the closest pair of guards patrolling the wall of the fort of the day.


    ¡°Announce a full Legion stand-up now.¡± I ordered them. The younger guard eyed me suspiciously.


    ¡°Who are-¡± He got two words out before the older guard smacked him over the head.


    ¡°At once, ah...¡± He trailed off awkwardly, recognizing me but not knowing how to address me.


    ¡°Bunny.¡± I winked at him. He saluted back.


    ¡°At once, Bunny.¡±


    The stand-up call went out, but I didn¡¯t go over there, instead choosing to intercept Katerina. She eyed me as I landed.


    ¡°This surprise yours?¡± She asked. My eyes flickered to her omnipresent followers, and I lowered my voice. They could probably still hear me, but the message of keep it quiet was probably transmitted.


    I... I was getting better at this social thing. I had to run into every single fucking pole in existence between my starting line and where I was now, but I was getting it. Slowly building up an endless maze of rules that dictated how I navigated every interaction.


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m smelling ricin placed in the wells. I¡¯m not sure how to handle a large-scale poisoning event like this, although I can try to track down the culprit. Just wanted everyone not drinking water while you sorted it out.¡±


    I had to admit, ricin was a horribly effective poison to pick. The symptoms closely matched dysentery and other classical illnesses that ripped through armies. It wasn¡¯t like people clutched their throat and foamed at the mouth, no. They just shit themselves to death, and with the rumors of an impending battle, it might ¡®only¡¯ weaken one side, not outright kill anyone. But kill three quarters of the combat effectiveness of an army right before a battle?


    The battle would be over before it even started.


    Katerina smiled and clapped her hand on my shoulder.


    ¡°Good work Bunny. Thank you for not making this a bigger mess. I¡¯ll take it from here. Do you want Wren and his line if you manage to track down the culprit? Or are you set with your group?¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri had a Target, a bundle of kindling that I wouldn¡¯t object to her burning. A proper Bad Guy.


    I knew Iona would go apoplectic at someone actively poisoning wells.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got this.¡± I said.


    Unfortunately, I wasn¡¯t able to trace the culprit, her own skills at stealth and infiltration protecting her once again. The slippery target that had harried us now and then, managing to evade even Iona¡¯s [Relentless Tracking].


    Yang Duan He, The Lady of Death, had struck once again.


    Struck - and missed, as I managed to smell the faintest trace of the poison before it could get to its lethal work.


    Assassins were just rude. I woke up one evening to a half-dozen gnomes with empty crossbows in my tent, the clinking of half-dissolved bolts falling off me, and the echoes of a fading headache.


    To their credit, they were professional. No screaming, just a terse codeword.


    It was all they got out.


    [Nova Lance] was faster than anything they could manage.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [The Dawn Sentinel] has leveled up to level 677 -> 678 +3 Dexterity, +24 Speed, +24 Vitality, +170 Mana, +170 Mana Regen, +48 Magic Power, +48 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Butterfly Mystic] has leveled up to level 596 -> 598! +8 Strength, +8 Dexterity, +70 Speed, +70 Vitality, +70 Mana, +70 Mana Regen, +70 Magic Power, +70 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Strength, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    ¡°Ironside Brigade! Forward! March!¡± Katerina roared her orders, Reed amplifying them so we all heard what was going on. Katerina¡¯s orders, what other people were saying, and nothing else, the Sound barrier around us protecting and preserving orders.


    I was not happy with this engagement, to say the least. We were sieging a city. When it came to other people trying to murder my Legion, I was firmly on the side of the Legion. When it came to inarguable self-defense of the home and hearth?


    I was once again conflicted.


    The gates of the city flew open, a single man in colorful flowing pink robes sitting in front of a zither.


    [Leader - 872].


    Meng Ao¡¯s clan member and relative Meng Tian wasn¡¯t supposed to be here. The city wasn¡¯t supposed to be held by the Qin. The man was famous for his cunning and tactics, deadly traps and maneuvers. If he was here, it was a trap.


    The only question was, what was the trap?


    His eyes were closed, and he plucked a single note on the zither. It twanged in the crisp morning air, utterly shattering all Sound-related protections the Ironside Brigade had. I could see everyone¡¯s mouth¡¯s moving, but couldn¡¯t hear a word of what they were saying. The casual display of breaking our protections came with it an implied threat - he could mimic and fake as many orders as he wanted.


    A second note rang out as the [Great General] began to play a tune. Faster and faster he played a song, and I could feel it. The marching army, the clashing battle, the song told a tale of waves crashing back and forth, triumph and despair. All while completely neutering dozens of Sound Classers in the Ironside Brigade alone, nevermind the hundreds in Wang Jian¡¯s army.


    His Sound manipulations weren¡¯t deadly, nor did they stop our backup methods of communicating by flag and banner, a full halt being called. I clumsily ordered my line to stay put, and dashed back to Katerina and the rest of Command. Auri burning letters in the air was ironically one of our fastest methods of communication.


    Via mime and pantomime, we came to the conclusion that, yes, it was a trap, but it was a double-layered trap. It looked too good to be true, trying to draw us in, but in reality we all knew Meng Tian had a reputation. He wanted us to think it was a trap, so the best move was to charge in and force him to reveal the army we had no intel or information existed in the area.


    To be fair, Meng Tian had hidden entire armies before.


    There was also brief wondering if Meng Tian was out for revenge. If he specifically wanted my head after I¡¯d slain Meng Ao.


    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Yup. Feels like the one we found in Exterreri. Wanted you around before we checked it out. Want to come?¡±


    With a pitch like that, there was no way I could say no.


    ¡°Brrrrrpt!!!¡± Auri sprinted off into the distance, wanting to be first in.


    We all traded looks, and I sat down on a rock.


    ¡°We¡¯re standing on it, aren¡¯t we?¡±


    ¡°Yup.¡±


    ¡°How long until Auri figures it out?¡± I asked, and a brisk betting pool was set up.


    Fifteen minutes later - Fenrir won - Auri was back, complaining how we were ¡®so mean¡¯ for not telling her sooner.


    Iona showed us the way to a deep underground base, and it was frankly a little disappointing. I¡¯d grown up on stories of trapped lairs and deadly dungeons. The reality was so much less fun.


    Nobody wanted to live in a trapped environment. People were living there. Stepping on the wrong stone and getting peppered with a thousand darts was no fun. Same with maintaining the traps. Things rusted, levers broke, the cistern leaked.


    People weren¡¯t Pekari. We just strolled right in, [The World Around Me] revealing the occasional skipped corners in construction, but otherwise not finding any traps.


    The other part to finding hidden lairs is if I wasn¡¯t the first one there, there was nothing.


    However, all that to say, I wasn¡¯t going to ruin Nina¡¯s fun, nor Auri¡¯s. I zipped through the place, noting a disappointing lack of secret passages behind bookcases - or maybe the people who¡¯d come through before had removed the bookcases, hard to tell - and finding only one very interesting item. It was so interesting I didn¡¯t see the need to seed the place with little gems, old books, or other fun ¡®loot¡¯.


    ¡°Place is clear, have fun!¡± I told the two, and they were off like a shot.


    Iona knew me. She gave me a look.


    ¡°Might want to poke your goddesses, there¡¯s something really interesting here.¡± I quietly told her.


    Her eyebrows went up, and she strode in through the door, her armor flowing around her.


    Screams of excitement told me when the interesting item had been found, and I was there a few moments later.


    There was a sword in a great slab of stone that extended far into the ground, one that gently radiated divine power. On the stone was an inscription.


    Only the Worthy.


    Iona¡¯s mouth was moving in silent prayer as Nina and Auri were staring in open-mouthed shock.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s a divine artifact.¡± I told them. ¡°Not sure which god granted it, but hey, here it is.¡±


    ¡°Aelion, God of Valor.¡± Iona absently replied, her hand twitching towards it then stopping. ¡°Selene and Lunaris really want it.¡±


    She seemed to struggle internally for a moment before shaking her head.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you all see if you can use it first? They¡¯re fine waiting, and it¡¯s strong.¡±


    If we could use it?


    ¡°BRRPT!¡± Auri had seen plenty of fighting, and the idea of having her own divine weapon seemed Just Right to her. A pair of [Mage Hands] wrapped themselves around the hilt, and started futilely pulling on the blade.


    A ¡®bead of sweat¡¯ formed on Auri¡¯s forehead - she was doing it herself, the brat - and more hands joined in. She started hovering higher and higher as she strained to pull the blade out, but nothing happened. One moment dozens of hands were trying to lift the sword, the next they all vanished as Auri ran out of mana, the little hummingbird collapsing to the ground. She kicked up some dust in frustration.


    ¡°Brrpt BRPT!¡±


    Stupid sword, not even made out of fire, only good for...


    ¡°Mind if I give it a go?¡± I asked. Nina¡¯s ear twitched at that, but Iona nodded.


    I felt voices whispering in my ear as I put my hand on the sword, transmitting concepts instead of words. War and battle, valor and honor, all sorts of things I just didn¡¯t like.


    I gave it a few half-hearted tugs, noting that it should be loose but wasn¡¯t. I shrugged.


    ¡°I¡¯m clearly not worthy.¡± I joked. ¡°Iona, want to see if you can brute force it?¡±


    Iona grinned and cracked her knuckles.


    ¡°Oh yeah, you better believe I want to show the sword who¡¯s boss.¡±


    Iona started off casually trying to pull the sword out of the stone, seeing if it would cooperate. The gently radiating divine power took on an ugly note, fiercely rejecting the paladin of another goddess.


    Iona narrowed her eyes at the blade.


    ¡°Fine then.¡±


    She took a stance around the sword, her mallium metal flowing around her hands, arms, and the sword to get a fantastic grip. She wiggled, getting herself into the proper position, then heaved, her muscles bulging as she applied her full force, the veins in her neck popping out as she exerted herself.


    The sword didn¡¯t move.


    Everything else did. The entire place shuddered, and the very foundation cracked under Iona¡¯s pulls.


    ¡°Stop stop stop!¡± I yelled, waving my arms. ¡°You¡¯re going to bring the whole place down on us!¡±


    Iona glared balefully at the sword, which seemed to be smug of all things. She gestured from Nina to the sword.


    ¡°Alright Nina, you¡¯re up.¡±


    The ginger kitsune took a stance near the sword and wrapped her hands around it, her nine tails fanning out in a circle around her. She suddenly looked regal, like a [Princess] or [Queen], and the little factoid that the Nippon-Koku ruling family had nine tails suddenly seemed really important.


    She pulled.


    The blade shifted a fraction of an inch.


    With a triumphant roar, Nina pulled more...


    ... completely unbalancing herself and toppling over as the blade slid back down into its groove. Cursing and swearing, Nina picked herself back up, kicked the sword, and tried to pull it out with all her might.


    Ten very embarrassing minutes later of Nina cursing, swearing, and pulling at the blade, and she called it quits. Iona hugged the tearful squire, patting her hair.


    ¡°Hey, hey, it¡¯s alright.¡±


    I smirked at the two.


    ¡°Iona¡¯s about to get revenge on it, watch.¡± I said.


    That cheered Nina right up.


    ¡°Yeah! Go kick its ass!¡± She yelled. I wasn¡¯t sure if the blade trembled at that or not, and Iona grinned evilly and walked up to it, putting her hand on top of the pommel.


    ¡°Selene, Lunaris, by right of discovery, by right of possession, I dedicate this gift to you.¡±


    The blade vanished in a sparkle of divine power.

 Chapter 492: Interlude - Legata Katerina - Military Machinations

    Chapter 492: Interlude - Legata Katerina - Military Machinations


    Something was wrong.


    Katerinas [Legatas Imperial Intuition] was hounding her. Telling her something was not right, and if she didnt figure it out, theyd die.


    That simple.


    Water levels of Shuixi higher than usual for the time of year.


    Annual festival next week. Likely to be held with additional vigor, due to surrendering and paying tribute to Zhao She and Wang Jian. Army participating.


    Estimated 40,000 tons of raw clay in. 35,000 tons of pottery produced. Water is 20% of raw clay by weight. 3,000 ton discrepancy.


    Iron composition of the Legions new armor: 84% iron, 8% bronze, 5% copper, traces of titanium, aluminum, tin, and other metals.


    The Sixth Legion was attached to Zhao Shes army, whod met up with their old employer, Wang Jian to siege the city of Shuixi. After some threatening and posturing, including threatening to let the barbaric Ironside Brigade loose upon the women and children of the city, and a three-day siege where the armies conspicuously built siege engines outside the wooden walls of the city, theyd capitulated with barely a shot fired.


    High civic pride.


    8% more cows than usual. 3% fewer sheep.


    Utter lack of dinosaurs or other scaled animals.


    Mountain snowcaps melting.


    Katerina chewed on the inside of her cheek, a nervous habit, as she reviewed dozens of documents and thousands of pieces of information, debating if she needed to call a full officers meeting or not.?iscover new chapters on


    No, no. Itd be impossible to explain every piece of information she had available, and trying to corral the dozens of razor-sharp minds into a solution would take more effort than it was worth. If she knew what the problem was, shed call the meeting in a heartbeat to find a solution.


    City claims to have been founded on the remains of a slain celestial serpent. Densely packed, built up high as a result of the legend.


    Primary export: leather and textiles.


    Armys food reserves: 20% pre-tribute, 80% post tribute. Legion reserves: 60%.


    Mosquitoes seem unusually thick in Shuixi. Reported pests with levels.


    Shuixi scents their streets with oregano.


    Bridge tolls on three of four bridges.


    There was something hiding in the vast reams of data shed gathered. Some combination of effects trying to warn her of a tragedy.


    It was hidden deeply, otherwise her skill would be highlighting it and screaming the details into her ear. Wasnt the first time she almost had all the pieces of the puzzle and needed to work it out, wouldnt be the last.


    Primary construction material: wood.


    Place reeks of leather chemicals and dyes.


    Drills have been up 28% from normal. Friendly rivalry between Wang Jian and Zhao She? Burning off energy after prepping for the siege and not carrying through?


    Legion morale at medium-high. The people spoiling for a fight are mad, the majority are relieved to have skipped a full battle.


    The last datapoint had Katerina use [Of Two Minds] to think about the aspect in more detail.


    Were approaching three years, and the troops are tired. Should head home at the end of this season. Dont tell anyone, theyll be like horses smelling the barn. Too eager to get home, wont do a damn thing properly until then.


    Get me Optio Coral, Optio Ardenus, and Tribune Hazel. Katerina ordered one of her [Messengers]. They were out the door in a flash, the three officers making their way to the command structure.


    At ease. Katerina replied with a smile to each one.


    Adjustment: Morale higher than before.


    The nagging sense of doom didnt diminish with the new information. Instead, it was only going stronger.


    Katerina looked out onto the field around Shuixi. The armies had almost entirely encircled the city, and now that the siege was lifted, hadnt bothered to reform back into a tight tent, instead choosing to simply party where they were.


    Booze rations down significantly across the board.


    There was far less drinking and alcohol flowing than Katerina anticipated, leading her to think that maybe the reports theyd gotten on how much tribute had been paid were wrong, or her estimates of their reserves were off. That, or they were anticipating one huge party at the festival itself.


    Was that the missing piece of the puzzle? Was that what was wrong?


    The sky darkened and the moons rose, full and foreboding. As red as the lanterns they were designing. Wang Jian himself came along with a large escort and collected a batch of the lanterns. It grated a bit to be used as base manual labor like this, but what could they do? It was part of the cover, and it was more fun than thousands of other tasks they couldve been asked to do.


    Katerina forced herself to remain stately. To pace at an appropriate speed. Everyone looked to her to see and set the mood, and if she was running in a panic, the Legion would get into a panic. If she was seen as calm and in control, the Legion would be calm and in control. Panic beget panic. Calm beget calm.


    Katerina scanned the Legion, picking out dozens of faces and names out of the crowd. Always-reliable Wren noticed her glance and waved. Tribune Callus was laughing with his centurions and a number of other members, all of them making the red lanterns as an activity and drinking. Dawn and Auri had made their own, although the phoenix - a phoenix - had decided to light her own a little early.


    It promptly went up in flames, like everything a phoenix did. Katerina smiled at the pair bickering like an old married couple, the Sentinel losing to a non-stop stream of brrrpts.


    Her smile faded as she got the last piece of the puzzle. As it all clicked together.


    As a thousand lanterns all along the south side of the encampments were lit.


    As a thousand burning torches took to the sky.


    The resisting city. The densely packed wood. The [General of a Thousand Jade Scrolls]. The slight increase in Wind mages. The city not being a Wei city, the sheer brutality of a civil war.


    They were going to burn the city to the ground.


    With everyone still inside.


    And that meant


    Katerina whirled on Optio Coral.


    Population of Shuixi! Now! She ordered.


    Coral stammered out a number.


    Katerina swore and put a hand on Reeds shoulder. He could let her borrow his skills, at the same time he could borrow hers. It worked nicely, and she roared out to the entire Legion, damn the diplomatic consequences.


    They didnt matter at this point, not if they all died.


    Sixth Legion! TO ARMS! Full assembly! Every last one of you, get out there, now!


    Get me Dawn. She snarled at Reed, and a little click in her ear let her know the channel was open.


    Flighty, bleeding-heart Dawn wouldnt be able to resist trying to save the citizens of Shuixi, and Katerina grudgingly approved. It was the same instinct that had led to her current power level, and one here again, gone again Dawn was still worth more than an entire line of Optio Henriettas.


    It didnt mean Katerina wasnt going to try and steer Dawn to protecting the Legion, and with the right knowledge, she would.


    Dawn, when you get the notification, immediately return. Katerina ordered.


    Only the fastest [Speedsters] were assembled on the field outside the fortress, but it was enough. Enough for Katerinas trump skill [Empire of Nightmares, We Fight In The Shade, We Are Masters Of the Darkness, Rise Up, Shadows of the Legion!].


    Arise!

 Chapter 493: Auri and the Thousand Lanterns I

    Chapter 493: Auri and the Thousand Lanterns I


    Id been enjoying a carefree day with Auri, playing with the lanterns while privately thankful that wed avoided another siege when the call came from Katerina.


    Sixth Legion! To arms! She roared, the blast echoing off our walls. Full assembly! Every last one of you, get out there, now!


    Auri and I sprang into action. I used [Rapid Reshelving] to snap my armor and all my gear on, and the rest of the Legion was scrambling to respond to Katerinas call. Auri flew up in the air, gaining height to better dive down.


    My first thought was a drill. It wouldnt be the first time, it wouldnt be the last.


    There was something in her tone though. A tense note of fear, the call for everyone to get to arms. One way or another, for some reason, wed been caught with our tunics down - but we werent ordered to man the walls of the fortress like we would if we were getting attacked. Calling us the Sixth Legion, not the Ironside Brigade, completely throwing the subterfuge out the window. The only reason Katerina, always in control, would do that is if it no longer mattered. The alarm bells werent ringing.


    Something was very, very wrong. I was just starting to think about flashing Radiance around me to see if I was caught in an illusion when my ears clicked, a sure sign that Reed had looped me into a communication.


    Dawn, when you get the notification, immediately return. Katerina ordered.


    What was going on?


    I took flight, catching up to Auri in a moment, and my heart dropped as I took in the scene.


    Thousands upon thousands of burning lanterns were being released up into the sky, just like they would at a festival. Auri and I had noticed when we were making a few of our own that they seemed poorly designed. The torch was too close to the upper structure, and the lanterns would catch fire before they would burn out.


    As the thousands and thousands of lanterns went up into the sky though, I realized they hadnt been poorly constructed. Theyd been made just right for the purpose - burning the city of Shuixi to the ground. The armies had encircled the city, and the lanterns were drifting with unnatural speed towards the tinder walls of Shuixi.


    The combination of Katerinas call to arms, orders, and my own fucking ethics made my decision, what I had to do, abundantly clear. I was not going to let a city of hundreds of thousands of people burn alive in front of me.Gett your favorite novels at


    Quick math suggested that my actions alone wouldnt be enough. Wouldnt be nearly enough. But I wasnt alone. The city had to have thousands of Classers by pure numerical calculation, and half of those could probably do something about the attempted arson.


    At the same time, Zhao She and Wang Jian wouldnt be trying this sort of treachery and attack if they didnt have confidence that it would work.


    Auri! I shouted, springing into action. She knew what I wanted, and we shot after the lanterns at top speed. I quickly outsped Auri, snatching her in my hand like a burning ball and continuing on at high speed. Katerinas words echoed in my mind, a [Parallel Thought] spun off trying to parse her order.


    Immediately return when I got the notification? Which notification? Should I turn my army-kill notifications on and return the first time I got a kill notification?


    I almost instantly got in range of the closest wave of lanterns, and a set of [Nova Lances] spun around me in all directions as I twirled, rapidly destroying a chunk of them.


    BRPT! Auri shouted, and I flung her towards the city. [Nova Lance] had a longer range than Auris [Inferno Control], and keeping her with me was pointless when she could make it to the city faster, and start her own work.


    Out of the corner of my eye I saw the Legion forming up on the field, Katerinas [Shadow Legion] duplicating the army. We werent going for a small defensive formation - Katerina had the Legion spread out in a line 1-century thick by 24 long. They werent even fully formed when she issued the order to attack, and the Legion plowed into the unprepared side of Wang Jians army.


    What the fuck?


    I was all against war crimes, and I knew Katerina didnt particularly like participating either, no matter how often wed marched, sieged cities, and otherwise peripherally participated, but stabbing our now-former allies in the back like this in a surprise attack seemed to be a bit much for Katerina.


    My respect for her skyrocketed. Seeing a crime beyond the pale for even her, she didnt hem and haw and refuse to act, or pull back and say nothing we could do. No, outnumbered at least 10:1, and possibly more, she was saying this is not alright and doing everything in her power to change it.


    My interpretation could be off.


    The odds were so dramatically against us I didnt want to think of likely outcomes. Both Wang Jian and Zhao She were lifers, having grown up on warfare. Katerina was snapping at their heels level-wise, and had at least a few decades on them, but Id bet they had a better class quality.


    A similar story went for most of the troops. With only a small degree of patriotism coloring my glasses, I believed that Exterreri professionals were just as good as the elite [Honor Guards] each general had.


    But they had almost as many [Honor Guards] as we had in the entire Legion, and that was before the tens of thousands of less-elite soldiers in their armies.


    In short, we had a great position, the element of surprise, and slightly immodestly, the Eventide Eclipse, but I didnt have to be a scholar of warfare to know we were a little doomed.


    It was now or never. I had a few extra cards hidden up my sleeves - literally. The Sixth was still forming up, but I could buy them some time.


    I teleported out Queens Ooze card from where Id kept it inside [Loremasters Library], and hesitated, searching for the best spot. I wasnt quite clear on the range of the effect


    I spotted a concentration of Han soldiers rallying around one of their 5,000-man commanders, far from the Legions line but close enough to be their first serious challenge. I primed the card and flicked my wrist, sending it spinning through the air.


    I went back to scything through the thousands of floating lanterns like wildfire through dry paper, getting serious work done even as the decidedly not deadly card spun through the air, the skill still potent enough to potentially turn the tide of the entire engagement.


    The card landed and unleashed hell. Thousands upon thousands of thick, sticky strands as wide as my wrist unraveled from the card the moment it impacted. Each one sprung out in a different direction, and the moment it hit a target, dullahan, ground, or otherwise, the strands stuck to them, they unfurled, each one going in another direct, springing forth like the spiderweb from hell. The further from the center it went, the thinner the strands were, but Queen knew her stuff. Even as thin as a hair, the strands were a gigantic pain in the ass - sometimes literally.


    In moments thousands of troops were stuck together, strands grabbing helmets and hands, arms and legs, chests and backs, and tying them all together. The Ooze rapidly hardened, but stayed flexible enough to bend when tested, making it even hard to try to chop and break. It let people move around a little, but not much, and the strands that hit the ground anchored the entire formation.


    Good. The entire section of the army was out of the fight, and my only regret was how thin the Han line was. If they were thicker, if they werent trying so hard to encircle Shuixi, I wouldve caught significantly more. As-is, the Legion would have significantly more time to find their feet, get in formation, and fight the Han.


    I was about a tenth of the way around the circle when an inky tiger snarled and pounced at me, deadly claws slashing at my head.


    I twisted and dodged, Wang Jian himself flying after me with wings made out of paper, dozens upon dozens of talismans trailing after him. Reams of paper were slapping themselves onto his body, forming another layer of armor, while ink wrote out inscriptions, faintly glowing before disappearing as he buffed himself. His mouth started to move, but I ignored him, not caring what he had to say. I doubled back, knowing Id have to cross over a number of paper lanterns that were already burned, but Id get more done than trying to fight Wang Jian.


    I did activate my own buffs though, the rarely-used runes on my bones boosting my physical capabilities. I was stronger, faster, and tougher. Not a ton, but every little bit counted.


    If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    The first lanterns, sped along by supernatural Wind, touched down in the city. Most were quickly extinguished, but even from my poor, obfuscated angle, I could see some fires started to catch and spread.


    Wang Jians paper snapped into position to the side as a familiar frost arrow went for his head.


    Iona! She was here, she was helping!


    The arrow punctured through a few layers before stopping, but Ionas best trick with her archery was never her piercing power. Dozens more arrows shot towards Wang Jian from all sorts of strange angles, her [Trick Shot] combined with the rapid fire rate of a shortbow forcing the general to react, spend time and resources combating her.


    It wasnt their first clash, and hopefully would be their last.


    His talismans rearranged themselves, and a dark beam of disintegration carved through my chest. I ignored it and flew on, my magic healing my body as quickly as it was destroyed. Wang Jian rearranged his talismans, and blinding chains of Brilliance shot out at the speed of light, trying to shackle and control me.


    Fuck my low strength. Normally I could just pull against the bindings, playing physical abilities against mana pool, and drain Wang Jian down. I was on a clock.


    I had dozens of options, but speed and low mana cost were my prime directives. [Blink] would get me out at the cost of a huge chunk of mana; mana that I needed for the citizens of Shuixi.


    I could fight Wang Jian, but Id seen enough of him throughout the years to know he was slippery and well-protected. I couldnt easily [Nova Lance] him like Id done to Meng Ao, he was wearing a helmet of paper, ink writing out more enchantments as I watched.


    No, my goal was to save lives, and right now, minimizing the number of lanterns that landed on Shuixi was key.


    I tried to keep my bag of wizardry tricks endless. It didnt always work, but dispel was always useful. Wizardry against wizardry, I was confident in my stats, mana, and ability to outlast Wang Jian.


    I snapped out a book, knowing Id just revealed I had Spatial magic and confirming a third class, but I knew the [Great General] was no idiot. Ever since Id deflected Meng Aos strike over three years ago, it was clear that I was stronger than I looked, that I was hiding secrets.


    I dispelled the chains, shot off towards the still-flying lanterns, and the race was on.


    The dragoneye moons were full in the sky, watching our every move.


    Interlude - Iona


    This fire was wrong.


    The fire was bad.


    The flames themselves were perfect, but their use no.


    My heart cried out at it, and I instinctively knew, from the tip of my beak to the end of my tail, to put the fire out.


    That this was one blaze that shouldnt burn.


    I put aside my thoughts and feelings for the moment, hitting the city at all the speed 79,658 zippiness could provide. I would think on them more later!


    Yes! With Elaine!


    She wasnt a bird brain, but she was smart!


    She would know why I was sad.


    Already the flames were roaring, an all-consuming beast bent on devouring Shuixi. They flared higher when I came in, coming up to greet their lady.


    WATER!!! I cursed my most vicious obscenity to myself.


    [Domain of Fire] was on!


    I flew, and the flames bowed to me. Extinguished to my will.


    The city was big. Far too big.


    The flames closed in behind me.


    Stupid fire! Disobedient fire!


    I knew why. Id removed the flames, not the heat or air. The holy fire triangle still existed.


    All around me, people burned alive.


    They crushed themselves against the barricade, the press of bodies stopping them from being able to remove it.


    They threw themselves out of windows. I tried to catch them! I did!


    Too many.


    They trampled each other rushing to the river.


    The water the water the water was go the water was good. Safe! Protecting!


    Here, tonight, the water was good. People running to it! Hauling buckets! Throwing it on the fire!


    Someone throwing water like a ball!


    Go water?


    This.


    Fire.


    Was.


    Wrong.


    How did I fix it? How did I make it right?


    Elaine! Yay!


    Elaine was here!


    Elaine would make it all better!


    Elaine


    Elaine couldnt make it all better.


    She cried as well.


    The water today was good. The tears werent bad.


    I wasnt crying.


    Nope.


    But Elaine Elaine was trying, and couldnt fix it all.


    I saw.


    I saw with my little eyes.


    I knew Elaines skills.


    Sometimes sometimes her skill was keeping burning people alive longer.


    Sometimes it was good. I could reach them in time, yes! I could get rid of their flames!


    Sometimes I turned my beak away. Sometimes I couldnt watch.


    Fire sometimes, fire was the bad one.


    A cloud zipped across the sky, pitch black and rumbling.


    Rain?


    It stopped over the city, and the clouds parted, revealing a kun-peng.


    Fish? Bird? Bit of both! Size of two whales.


    [*ding!* You are in the presence of Guardian Teruo, The Pure]

 Chapter 494: Auri and the Thousand Lanterns II

    Chapter 494: Auri and the Thousand Lanterns II


    I continued my madcap dash back and forth across the city, trying to heal as many people as I could, my mana cratering. Tens of thousands, if not more, people burning to death in front of my eyes, and there was only so much I could do.


    Then I got the notification. We all got the notification.


    [*ding!* You are in the presence of Guardian Teruo, The Pure]


    Katerinas order to return once I got the notification suddenly came into crystal clarity, and I twisted my neck around like an owl to see what was going on while I started dashing over and through the blazing inferno to get back to the Legion.


    I didnt believe I was abandoning the tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people currently burning to death. Guardians were all about preserving life. Usually it was preemptive - the classic example was a high level Immortal using [Channel] with a powerful skill, trying to crack the planet in half - but often it was retributive. The Guardians showing up after LunKat dropped the sky on the dwarven nation came to mind. Rare was the event that they showed up in the middle of, but here we were.Yo?ur favorite novels at


    I spun off a [Parallel Thought] to wonder how, exactly, Katerina had known a Guardian was going to arrive. Id heard the theory at the School, but her ability to predict was amazing, and reframed a number of her decisions.


    Guardians existed to preserve life. To put brakes on mass slaughters executed by powerful Classers. They didnt always succeed. Immortal Wars, as history demonstrated, showed they could be overwhelmed, and Id seen LunKat fight off all eight Guardians at once. The presence of the Guardian meant we were all subject to their whims and desires. Quick and immediate retribution.


    As I turned my head, I caught a flash of Fenrir and Iona, the two still doing their best against two whole armies. Fenrir was diving down, away from the guardian and towards the tens of thousands of troops with pointy spears. The Guardians presence hadnt slowed them down at all - they were just being a little more careful about where they were flying.


    A massive cloud parted, and a kun-peng two or three times the size of a blue whale lazily flapped his wings, lord and sovereign over the skies. Id researched all manner of fantastical creatures when performing my biomancy operation, and my bones had been strongly modeled after a kun-pengs. It was like a whale with birds wings attached to it, but sleekly integrated. It didnt look bizarre like a chimera did, instead it looked like a cohesive whole more akin to a manticore. It flew in the zenith of the sky as easily as it dove to the deepest depths of the sea. As a phoenix was half a step behind a dragon, a kun-peng was half a step behind a phoenix in ranking, easily equal to or possibly superior to the mighty krakens and leviathans of the deep.


    The body was a deep cerulean blue, with the wings a lighter cloudy blue. I could see its eyes, the inky depth of the Void promising utter devastation.


    [Ranger - 3350].


    Thick stormclouds rumbled overhead, expanding from Teruo in an instant, covering the entire sky, hiding our actions from the Dragoneye Moons. Rain came pouring down on us, soaking me in an instant, dousing the city. Fascinatingly, the rain didnt stay. The moment after it doused the flames and cooled the wood, it vanished. No sense in saving a city from fire, only to wash the entire thing away.


    It also healed somehow, the drops of water proving to be lifesaving to every body it touched. I clinically noted that it didnt have the restoration property that Light healing had, but everything else I saw suggested that Teruo was using a Storm element, not a Water element.


    There was Storm healing?!


    I caught a glimpse of Auri, her black flames sparking in every direction as she flew desperately to get under shelter. My eyes narrowed at the raindrops somehow completely avoiding her, like a little umbrella. Even when the wind gusted, making the rain go sideways, not a single drop of water touched the little gothic phoenix.


    Did Teruo have such control over what he was doing that he could control every single raindrop?! Holy shit.


    My job was done here. The moons were now clouded, and [Wheel of Sun and Moon] was off the table. I could try manually healing, but given the length of time itd take yeah. I needed to get back to the Sixth. The population of Shuixi needed some additional care, but that could wait.


    I swept around in a large circle and healing everyone I could see in a flash. The entire time, I craned my neck skywards, watching Teruo, seeing if I could catch a small fraction of his flight to evolve [Scintillating Ascent]. The skill got better the more flights I could study, and kun-pengs were on my shortlist of want to see.


    Then I was out of here.


    Wang Jian was high up above Shuixi, his rain of now-extinguished lanterns put on pause at the notification, the man boldly staring up at the Guardian.


    Teruo opened his mouth up, and a great consumptive ability formed, like the maw of a black hole. Wang Jian fought bitterly, flinging spell after skill, pulling out trump cards Id never seen before. All of it was consumed by the great maw, the endless Void negating every ability.


    In moments he was sucked down and killed, Teruo closing his mouth, slow wings flapping in the air.


    I crossed the city walls, the harsh downpour instantly ending the moment I was over them, shooting back across the open field to the Legion, studying the Guardian the entire way. I could feel my flight evolving and changing, eking out additional speed as my flight improved. I was a little nervous about how far-flung the formation was. I couldnt hope to reach them all.


    I dove down to an optimal position to heal from, noting with relief that two of the harpoons werent heading for us, but instead the nearby Han forces. I ignored what was going on with them, choosing to focus on the Sixth.


    Dozens of defensive skills flared against the attack, but the Void-empowered shot went through them all. Katerinas [Shadow Legion] leapt up, bravely putting their shields between the attacks and the Legion. Didnt matter - the attack utterly destroyed the darkness soldiers, the shadows snapping back to their owners feet. Two soldiers - a [Centurion] and a regular line member - were singled out, the harpoon piercing them skull to groin before exploding in a burst of Acid.


    The moment I identified the targets I snapped [Mantle of the Stars] to one, and [Nova Lance] to the other, [Imbuing] both with my healing image.


    I was strong. I was powerful. I was one of the best [Healers] in the world, backed by an entire army. Id survived a bare wisp of an attack from a Guardian in the past, tanking a single spore of Yuroks plague. Id just taken a harpoon to the hand and won.


    I wasnt save someone from a direct Guardian attack strong yet. I wasnt able to protect the soldiers from direct hits to the head, to attacks penetrating their entire bodies. The highly compressed Acid exploded out from the inside of their bodies, dissolving them entirely and spraying everyone next to them with highly concentrated, potent skill-boosted Acid.


    My focus shifted from the dead troops to the survivors, each using their own skills and abilities to try and escape, to survive the nasty assault. The attack clearly wasnt directed, it simply was a side-effect of the Guardians attack, collateral damage as it killed those it deemed guilty and spared the rest.


    Speaking of sparing - to my dismay, I saw another, much larger harpoon fired off from the Guardian in our general direction. The kun-peng wasnt satisfied by simply attacking, wasnt going to let the fact Id diverted the blow go. The Guardian was going to make sure their target was dead.


    To my relief, to my dismay, the much larger shot landed in the Han forces, obliterating not only the target, but everyone in a five meter radius around her.


    Id tanked the shot, only for it to have not been aimed directly at us.


    No orders needed to be given to get away from the Acid fountains. Everyone just instinctively moved away, with orders to that effect coming in a heartbeat later. The sooner people got away from the Acid, the better.


    [Mantle of the Stars] was easy enough to expand to touch more soldiers. [Nova Lance] was a little trickier. I changed it from one finger to all ten, then started to dance my fingers like I was playing a piano, the saving light flickering from one soldier to the next.


    I almost succeeded. Apart from the two whod been singled out for death by Teruo, only one soldier whod been standing too close to the centurion, trying to save him, had died.


    All across Zhao She and Wang Jians armies, harpoons fell, exploded in Acid, and people died.


    All the years of campaigning in the Han Empire had taught me a little about the Acid element, and an unusual property it seemed to have. Acid plus Metal made an explosive gas, one that any spark could set off. The dullahans skin was made out of metal, creating a base for the explosion, and metal hitting metal could also make a spark.


    Three seconds after the Guardians attack, gigantic explosions ripped across the armies, cascading from one place to another.


    A thought clicked, an idea connected, and I looked at my reformed hand in horror.


    FUCK! No! My Deception Ring! An ancient, priceless artifact, one Id gotten from the old gnoll! My main protection that let me wander around mortal lands without issue! It was gone! Entirely dissolved by Teruos Acid!


    Ugggghhh.


    I still had my second layer of protection, my amulet, but the loss of the ring hurt. It was one of the very, very few items Id brought with me from Remus, and now it was gone forever. My distractible mind instantly jumped to the prayer my parents had given me, safe inside [Loremasters Library]. At least that was still there, still safe.


    Teruo, the Pure, looked down at all of us from on high. He was still flying in place above Shuixi, the angry avatar of judgment and justice, Guardian of life. With a slow flap of his wings, the kun-peng ascended higher into the sky, above his clouds. The moment he disappeared, Fenrir, carrying Nina and Iona, shot up into the clouds, chasing after him.


    It took me a puzzled moment in [Parallel Thoughts] before the memory clicked, and I laughed, sending Nina a mental thumbs up.


    When we were talking about Ninas path, wed half-joked about dipping her into the living storm, the oddity that shuffled skills around. Instead, preparing for her 256 upgrade and merger of Wind and Fire into Storm, theyd found an equally potent storm to fly around in for quality.


    The rainclouds of a Guardian.

 Chapter 495: The Tears of Vulcan

    Chapter 495: The Tears of Vulcan


    The Sixth Legion was the only intact fighting force after Teruos judgment had descended upon us all. Katerinas quick thinking, combined with us having not released any lanterns, meant only two spears had gone for the Legion. The combined Han forces had it much rougher.


    Basically every single officer of theirs had been taken out, and each explosion of caustic Acid in the middle of their ranks and formations had further devastated their troops. Katerina immediately ordered the Legion to descend upon the frightened and scattered Han troops, and with nobody to properly take charge - their entire chain of command and then some being decapitated - along with a bloody Guardian ruining their day - morale quickly collapsed, the Han were routed, and Katerina was looking smug with an additional 40 levels under her belt from a single evening.


    I would be too in her shoes.


    Auri rejoined us soon after the rain ended, and I didnt anticipate seeing Iona and the rest until the storm dispersed.


    Brrrpt! BRPT BRPT! Auri had a lot of complaints about the stupid rain coming out of nowhere and looking before trying to kill a person and similar things.


    They felt hollow though. Without substance. Auri wasnt spending her time looking around in every direction, trying to subtly figure out how many people were looking at her and admiring her brrettiness. She was looking down at her feet, deep in contemplative thought.


    I gently stroked her head with a single finger.


    Hey, Im here if you want to talk. I said.


    Auri hopped a little closer to my cheek and nuzzled it.


    Brrrpt. Brpt? She asked.


    Maybe wait until were back in the fort before classing up?


    Dawn, a word. Katerina flagged me down as the Han broke and we regrouped. I mentally cursed - how did Katerina know I was about to jump back to Shuixi and see what I could do?


    The woman gestured, and one of her endless runners took off towards our fortress.


    Legata. I saluted the woman who was grinning like the Cheshire Cat.


    Im about to announce it to the rest of the Legion, but were leaving. Going home. Our reputation is going to be interesting from here on out, and were about to be in a world of hurt from every single force here. Ideally, youd move with us, but I know you cant resist going to Shuixi. Letting you know what the plans are, and what I need from you.


    The runner returned, and Katerina unfolded a map.


    Were here. She jabbed to a point in the western part of the Han empire. Exterreri is here.


    Exterreri was fucking far.


    The plan right now is to march to Rolland, and negotiate with Count Peacevale. Katerina traced a line going south, a little south-west, down to the nation that used to house the Valkyries.


    Countess. I corrected, Katerina lifting an eyebrow at me. The old Count died two years ago and his daughter took over. Ionas from the area and keeps tabs on whats going on.


    Good intel. Countess then. I mean no disrespect requesting that you go on a courier mission, but youre the fastest person in the army by far. Im hoping you can get to our embassy in Lyon, and let them know whats going on. Theyll be able to smooth the process, and prevent any diplomatic issues. She said.


    I interrupted.


    Wait, am I going as Sentinel Dawn or Legionnaire Bunny? Am I telling them about the Sixth Legion, or the Ironside Brigade?


    Katerina waved dismissively at that, then frowned as a noise squawked in her ear.


    No, no. Second cohort, pull back. Fort duty. Start securing our rear. Third, I need you going out to our flanks, I dont like the look of that group over on the hill. Optio Maxlin, I need


    The Legata spent a few minutes issuing orders before turning back to me.


    Apologies for taking your time like this Dawn, I know youre eager to go. Enter the city as Bunny, or any other identity you care to take, and reveal yourself as Sentinel Dawn at the embassy. She chuckled darkly. What Id give to see the looks on their faces when a Sentinel strolls in through the doors Once you let them know whats going on, let the [Diplomats] work their magic. Swing by when youre done with Shuixi. Ill have a letter for you to deliver when you get there. After that, please make your way back to the Sixth, unless the embassy has anything critical for you. Only thing I can imagine is having you personally visit the new Countess to soothe egos.


    I saluted my understanding, privately doubting that Id be tapped for diplomatic missions.


    Well, no. The way my luck went, I would be tapped, but Id do my best to sneak out of it, mostly by mentioning that I was so terrible at social events that Id formerly been banned from participating, nevermind for something as delicate as this.


    I spread my wings and zipped off to Shuixi.


    Fucking Teruo and his FUCKING CLOUD COVER!


    [Wheel of Sun and Moon] was my big major healing skill, and missing it meant Id needed to either manually touch people, or use [Imbue]. Given the scale of the devastation and the sheer amount burnt down, it wasnt like there were triage centers or really anything left easily accessible. Just piles of coal on top of fallen timbers burying people alive.


    The vast majority of the city had been burned to the ground, a pile of cold coals. A few buildings here and there still stood, flame and burn marks scarring their visages.


    Iona had joined me, the need to help people from disaster her overwhelming imperative. We barely traded three words beyond I love you, but the two of us worked in comfortable tandem, always staying near one another. Fenrir and Nina stayed up high in the stupid fucking annoying stormclouds, the kitsune trying to improve her incoming class quality.


    It didnt apply as much for Fenrir. He was a wyvern, on his own path, and was dutifully working on blizzards and snowstorms. Sure, it might help a little, but only technically.


    Iona used [Grasp of the Moon] and heaved, muscles bulging as she moved half a charred house, her skill keeping the structure together. I zipped in, picking up a girl and her loyal dog, healing both with a thought.


    Melted metal-skin was nasty.


    I dropped them off and flew off before they could say a word, flying in a quick circle around the block we were currently working on. Iona put the frame of the house back down, more intent on saving the next person, knowing that rebuilding would be a lifetimes worth of work. Face burns, arm burns, back burns, burns and lung damage from smoke inhalation were the order of the day.


    The smell of burnt timber with a hint of pork threatened my stomach, redoubling my resolve to never, ever eat bacon again.


    By the time I swooped back around to Iona again, she was at another building, lifting the remains up. This time though, there were no survivors.


    The anguished wails wouldve haunted me if it wasnt the all-encompassing cacophony to the entire event.


    Congratulations. Ionas exhausted voice betrayed none of the excitement of her words. I tilted my head in confusion.


    On? We were halfway through the city, and I was needing to range further and further out to find people to help. My job here was almost done, at which point Id need to swing back and act as a [Courier] for the Sixth.


    Your level. You hit it. Iona told me.


    My eyes widened in realization as I checked my notifications, scrolling all the way to the last one instead of getting the usual compressed view. Id started the siege of Shuixi at 735, and now


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [The Dawn Sentinel] has leveled up to level 767 -> 768 +3 Dexterity, +24 Speed, +24 Vitality, +170 Mana, +170 Mana Regen, +48 Magic Power, +48 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    I wanted to jump and shout and scream for joy. But this wasnt the time. Save people now, celebrate later. There was a reason I checked on notifications after, not during.


    It was undeniably exciting though, a feverous bubbling that started in my stomach, a kaleidoscope of butterflies dancing in my guts.


    Id done it! Id crossed the great gap between 256 and 768. I firmly shunted the part of me that wanted to babble with excitement and speculate wildly into a [Parallel Thought], letting part of my mind go nuts.


    Hey Elaine, can you do me a big favor? Iona asked while casually benching a bridge.


    Uh, sure, whats up? I said, slightly distracted by the notification and the thousands of ramifications and implications.


    Can you class up while Im around? Youre impossible to surprise otherwise with your sensory skill, and Ive got a big one for you.


    What did she - oh.


    OH!?iscover new chapters on


    I thought I knew exactly what surprise she wanted to spring on me! I wasnt ready! I had my own surprise I wanted to spring on her! Or at least at the same time!


    The small surge of excitement at such a momentous event quickly died to my all-consuming apathy. I needed a break. A long break. One where, once I was done, I could be surprised and horrified by life again. I needed a mango. And a massage. And a long break of lazing around.


    When I got home, after doing what I needed to do, I was going to spend a week in bed doing nothing but reading. I was going to be the laziest Sentinel that ever existed. I wouldnt even walk to the bathroom, Id just [Blink] over there instead.


    I knew Auri mentioned wanting to class up. As soon as I was done helping her with that, I had some errands that needed to get done.


    Interlude - Auri.


    Flowers!


    Glorious flowers!


    Flowers everywhere!


    The happy-fire-dreamland was a wonderful place. All the flowers, just for me!


    Brrrpt! She answered, and a ceramic vase popped up in front of me, filled with an artful arrangement of flowers, echoing ghosts of potential paths behind each of them.


    I dismissed the ones with white, pink, red, yellow, and orange nectar. Too bad! Not good enough! Too many choices!


    Three flowers were left behind, and thousands of ghostly options floated as potential and possibilities.


    Time to be smart!


    I could pick it now, or, I could be a smart birdbrain and study them. Study like Elaine studies things! Then see the bestest option, and work towards it! Do lots and lots of things relating to it, to make the nectar inside even sweeter!


    No, no, no, maybe, no, no - yes.


    The path was clear! The option the best!


    I would take [Molten Mythwing - Lava] at level 8 with its super tasty dark green nectar, and work super duper hard on it, then at 256, become a [Pyroclastic Sovereign - Lava].


    Brrrpt? Not-me asked, wanting to know if I had picked out a class. Reminding me that I needed to burn the flower to make my class selection.


    I shook my head at her. No, burning the flower here was a waste. Yes, it was the happy-fire-dreamland, not a real place, but I knew better now. Flowers were too pretty to burn. A fleeting moment of enjoyment for myself, then nobody else could enjoy them.


    Not-Auri couldnt enjoy it when I wasnt around. It was only one flower in a field of thousands, but it was too much.


    No.


    I gently leaned forward and plucked the flower with my beak.


    [Name: Aoife Auri Stentor]


    [Race: Phoenix]


    [Age: 6]


    [Mana: 6,633,330/6,633,330]


    [Mana Regeneration: 6,371,395]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: ]


    [Strength: 30]


    [Dexterity: 84,291]


    [Vitality: 90,916]


    [Speed: 90,916]


    [Mana: 663,333]


    [Mana Regeneration: 663,333]


    [Magic Power: 580,441]


    [Magic Control: 580,441]


    [Class 1: [Phoenix of the Divine Flame - Inferno: Lv 768]]


    [Inferno Authority: 768]


    [Phoenix Rebirth: 8]


    [Inferno Manipulation: 768]


    [Inferno Conjuration: 768]


    [True Flames: 768]


    [Burn Magic: 768]


    [Domain of Fire: 768]


    [Auri''s Meteor Storm: 768]


    [Class 2: [Fireborn Immortal of the Resplendent Eruption - Inferno: Lv 740]]


    [See Magic: 740]


    [Immolate: 740]


    [Everything Burns: 740]


    [Clinging Flames: 740]


    [Burning Orbs: 740]


    [Mage Hand: 740]


    [I am the Brrrettiest: 740]


    [Flame Selection: 740]


    [Class 3: [Molten Mythwing - Lava: Lv 32]]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    [: ]


    General Skills


    [Phoenix''s Perfection: 768]


    [Incandescence: 546]


    [Adorable: 366]


    [Precocious: 365]


    [Companion Bond between Auri and Elaine: 768]


    [Flying: 768]


    [Preening: 602]


    [Baking: 380]

 Chapter 496: The Sword, the Lava, and the Embassy.

    Chapter 496: The Sword, the Lava, and the Embassy.


    I loved Auri, but waiting around while she classed up was torture. I had so many things I was far too excited about. We were done with the war! We were going home! Id be able to hug Julius and Artemis again. Id be able to see Night and Arachne! I wouldnt be constantly looking over my shoulder, waiting for the next ambush, the next attack. I wouldnt be running doomsday scenarios through my head, trying to work out various hypotheticals, and mathing out who I could save, and who had to die.


    Id planted mango trees before I left. How were they doing?


    Then there was classing up, and I was almost salivating with anticipation. I knew I had a class similar to [Mother of Modern Medicine] waiting for me, and I suspected I had to have a few more black-quality [Healer] classes waiting. What else would there be? What flavor would they have?


    What options would they give me for the future?


    Best of all - what surprise did Iona want to spring on me once I woke up? I had a pretty good idea, but I didnt want to build my hopes up too high.


    I entertained myself with thoughts of all the things Id do once I was back in Sanguino, building up quite the list and making sure it was all written down.


    Katerina walked in through the tent door.


    Bunny. I heard you had a few questions for me? She said with no preamble.


    The Legata was insanely busy, and I was grateful for her stopping by to satiate my curiosity. I cut straight to the heart of the matter.


    Yes. Why did you issue the order to attack the Han forces? We were super outnumbered at the time, and being second in command, Id like to know the reasoning if you happen to meet Black Crow early.


    Katerina snorted her amusement at the idea of meeting Black Crow early, given her grey hairs.


    I dont know how much you know about Guardians, but from what I understand, they can see guilt in a way. Maybe culpability? Either way, when a disaster strikes, they know exactly who caused it, and tend to react accordingly. The Sixth having made the lanterns and supporting the Wei would make us guilty, but if we were trying to fight those truly responsible for the atrocity, it absolved us in a sense. Hence only two harpoons sent our way, instead of the entire command structure marked for death.


    I tilted my head, not wanting to push my luck - Katerina had come all the way out to personally visit while I was looking after Auris class up - but eternally curious.


    The two attacks we took? I asked. She got the rest of the question.


    Centurion Hans had run a competition for who could make the most lanterns. His group tripled the number of lanterns anyone else made, and it was all because of him. Legionnaire Jason had gotten into the lanterns a little more than most, and made 24 in a single day. His line hadnt gotten to battle yet, and we figure he hadnt managed to purge himself of more than normal amount of guilt in time.


    I nodded.


    Thank you, Legata. I told the woman.


    She briskly nodded, did an about-face, and was out of the tent a moment later, off to the next task.


    The sparkling lights around Auri faded away, the phoenix returning to reality.


    Brrpt! BRPT! She almost immediately ditched her gothic black flame scheme, returning once again to the vibrant and bright bird I knew and loved. Brrpt brpt brpt!


    Auri chattered on and on, telling me all about the world of her soul, and all the things shed seen in there, all the things shed thought about.


    The class? I asked her.


    Her eyes opened wide, and she smacked her forehead with a wing.


    BRPT! She admonished herself.


    Her eyes focused on words I couldnt see as she scrolled through notifications and offered skills.


    Brrpt, brrrpt, brrrpt She muttered under her breath as she worked out the puzzle of skills, selecting which ones to take and which ones to ditch. BRPT!


    She gave me the breakdown of skills and the class details.


    Lava? Wow! I patted my shoulder, offering Auri her favorite perch. Tell me more!


    While I attentively listened to Auri dishing the details, my mind leapt and made a connection to an old flame of mine, Serondes.


    Hadnt thought about him in ages.


    He had helped keep Auris egg warm, encasing it in his Lava. I had to wonder if that had any impact on Auris decision? If being wrapped in molten rock as an egg had subtly influenced her in that direction? It didnt seem insane but shed spent a lot more time being bathed in Radiance.


    Humph. I hoped that wasnt the case, because Id be a little peeved if shed taken it because of that. It was stupid and a little jealous, but hey, I was only human-ish.


    I remembered another part of my life. When I was classing up [Pyromancer], and I was selecting which element I wanted [Ranger-Mage] to be. In the end, I had narrowed it down to Radiance and Lava, and only narrowly had decided to take Radiance over Lava. In a strange way, it made me think Auri and I were on similar wavelengths, having both flown close to the eruption.


    My shoulder suddenly started to burn, and I jumped with a small scream of discomfort and surprise.


    AH! FUCK! I yelled, Auri jumping up with a start.


    Brrrpt!? She asked with concern as I patted my shoulder, dousing the harmless flames before they could eat my shirt. I liked my shirt.


    Very nice skill being able to turn part of your body to Lava. I praised her. It turns out I am not immune to Lava like I am to Fire.


    Brrpt! Brrrrppttt Auri cackled evilly, then did a double-take at herself. BRPT! BRPT BRPT BRPT! She yelled at herself, shaking her head. She didnt mean it, but some of her bad jokes were well-ingrained pathways, and she didnt want to make them anymore. Not with her new thinking and realizations. Brrrpt?


    I smiled.


    Yes, Im fine. Now! Youve got Lava, which is great for what I want to do next.


    I told Auri the plan, who perked right up at the idea.


    Brrrpt!! She enthusiastically agreed. Brrrpt?


    I eyed the Tears of Vulcan in the distance, running mental calculations, figuring the ratio of the impact of the situation, versus the chances of getting in trouble.


    Wed get in some trouble, sure, but I was also getting the fuck out of here.


    Alright, lets do it there. I agreed with her.


    I shot over to Katerina and saluted.


    Just 36 hours ago or so the lanterns around Shuixi had gone up, and the city had burned. Tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people had burned alive, screaming the whole way. Guardian Teruo had needed to intervene, the kun-pengs judgment falling on all of us.


    And now I was waiting in line. Surrounded by people happily chatting away about their lives. The price of bread at market, a recent scandal in the nobility, who was sleeping with whom, complaints about the weather it was all just so mundane. I felt disconnected from it all, apart from it all. Like I was in a bubble, a world apart.


    A few people tried to engage me in conversation, asking about my fancy outfit - really just a normal Han empire everyday set of clothes - but I ignored them. I just wasnt ready for the world to be quite so normal yet.


    I recognized what I was thinking and feeling wasnt quite right, and chalked it up to the abrupt shift between warzone and civilian life. I should talk with Linnet or some other [Mind Healer] about it before it became a problem. See what the other War Sentinels did.


    I made it to the front of the line, and put on my best charming smile, doing my best to look like a harmless healer.


    Id grown up with guards. I knew how to charm them, if no one else, and get through most checkpoints.


    Name? She asked.


    Bunny! Here to work for a day! No goods to declare! Heres 15 arcs for the toll! I beamed as I held out exact change, doing my best to make their lives easy. Itd been trivial to hear what questions were asked and what the toll was while waiting in line.


    Id also used the Creation word for Bunny, the name completely different from the language used here, so there wasnt going to be any concern about youre named what? from them.


    The woman grunted, and seeing how easy I was making everything, decided not to make trouble for herself. Clean, well-dressed, a human like most everyone else in Rolland, and clearly looking like I was on a mission, I briskly walked through the streets of Lyon, taking in the sights.


    It was like everything I ever thought a medieval-age city would look like. Crowded cobble streets, vendors hawking their wares with flashing magical signs, knights occasionally riding by on tall white horses, the place was wonderful. Not nearly as nice as Sanguino - they could really work on their sewage and roads - but it was like a dream.


    I did get some looks when I asked for directions to the Exterreri Embassy, but hefty bribes - uhhh, unexpected additional compensation - turned questioning [Innkeepers] and [Courier Receptionists] into very helpful sources of information.


    Which brought me to the estates of the Exterreri Ambassador. A grand mansion in the middle of Lyon, with the jarring, yet relieving image of several Exterreri heavy soldiers in full armor outside the gates.


    I walked up, noting how many other guards were around - most of the embassies being near each other - and how many patrols were on the road. Random hooligans causing trouble for diplomats could be a diplomatic disaster, and the [Queen] clearly didnt want any issues.


    That, or it was the wealthy part of the city, and the usual guards existed to protect the rich and powerful kicked in. I liked guards more than most people, buuuuut it didnt stop me from recognizing some unfortunate realities around their position in various cultures.


    One of the Exterreri guards had scowl lines that were slightly less deep than his neighbors, and I walked up to him. His eyes narrowed at my approach, but he didnt say anything.


    Hi! Id like to meet with the [Ambassador] if at all possible? I asked in High Elvish, not really knowing protocol.


    He sighed, and his fellow guard rolled her eyes. The fact I was speaking High Elvish seemed to go over their heads, the implications missed.


    You cant just walk up and ask to meet the [Ambassador]. He patiently explained. Would you walk up to a mansion or castle and ask to meet the [Baron] or [Count]? An [Ambassadors] position is similar. Now, if youd like to know more about Exterreri, we do have regular events showcasing some of the delights of the country.


    I was nodding along with a vacant expression, trying my damndest not to escalate. I wanted to grab and twist his ear and hiss words inside it, but instead I had to settle for a pitched whisper.


    Im the fucking Dawn Sentinel, and I need to fucking talk with the bloody [Ambassador]now. I hissed at him. Ill be happy to show you my credentials inside but I shouldnt need to explain to you the levels of shit that will rain down on all of us if they catch one of our fucking War Sentinels in the fucking capital.


    Message received, a signal was fired across several neurons, and the guard practically tripped over himself opening the gate. A dozen eyes watched me enter, but it was fine. I was on Exterreri ground now.


    How important is this? Do I need to barge in and interrupt the [Ambassadors] meeting? Do I need to call all the guards to present? Give me something to work with. The guard asked me as we entered the estate.


    I shook my head.


    Were fine. No big rush. Ill take a room and meet with him when hes got a minute, but I wont deny Im throwing a massive headache into his lap. Critically, its his headache, not any of ours.


    The guard relaxed and grinned at that.


    Hes a decent bloke, but I cant say I wouldnt mind him getting a few more headaches and less time, ah, socializing.


    I chuckled at the image. I was sure going to parties and rubbing elbows with all the other bigwigs was important, perfectly setting himself up to know all the right people and the proper things to say for situations like these, but from my practical, just do it point of view I didnt mind him getting more work.


    Right, give me a moment. I asked the guard. Let me change into something a little better.


    Without waiting for confirmation I teleported into [Vault of Ages], idly noting that it was an amazing place to class up. No need to have anyone protect me! Just so long as it wasnt my Spatial class I was improving. No idea what would happen if I tried, getting flung into the endless void was one of the better options.


    I rubbed the sword I was working on with a smile, then darted over to the armory. Fortunately, dust didnt accumulate or settle here, because my poor Sentinel gear hadnt seen a lick of action the entire time Id been in the Han Empire. Id barely worn it since I got it, and Harper had to be crying at all the lost cool moments.


    It wasnt combat, so the ceremonial gear went on. Black scales with crimson rivulets running between them, gauntlets and greaves. No helmet - it was for show - and a pair of badges pinned to my chest completed my outfit. I shrugged and twisted, getting it to all feel just right before teleporting back out of my [Vault].


    Sentinel! The guard instantly snapped to attention, instinctively throwing a salute my way. It is an honor to have you here!


    I snorted my amusement, once again mentally praising the works of prior generations of Sentinels and whoever designed the armor. It was one thing to hear I was a Sentinel, and quite another to see it.


    At ease. Let the [Ambassador] know I want to see him when hes got a few minutes better make it an hour, actually. I corrected myself, thinking of the scale of the problem I was about to drop in his lap.


    Of course! Can I get you anything? Refreshments? Also, if I can ask, youre not a vampire? He asked the last bit as a question. I thought all Sentinels were vampires.


    I could use some food. I admitted as my stomach eagerly leapt at the thought of nibbles. And only most of us are vampires. I know theres a troll, a few elves, and one demon


    I wove a tale to the guard, liberally mixing in agreed-upon lies with the truth. Sentinel Invincible was far too high-profile to keep hidden, but there was only one elf Sentinel, not three. The truth and the lies mixed together made it nearly impossible for anyone to properly take aim at the organization, and it wasnt like they could figure out that our stories were rehearsed. We all had a narrow range of numbers and lies to mix in, even to our own citizens.


    Smoke and mirrors.


    The door to the opulent parlor burst open, the vampiric [Ambassador] impeccably well-dressed to the nines in a toga.


    Sentinel Dawn! A pleasure, a pleasure! He greeted me with open arms and a bared smile, his fangs just barely touching his lips. I do wish I could entertain you for a week, but alas, I hear you need to speak with me urgently. What terrible concerns bring a Sentinel to my doorstep?


    I stood up at his entrance, and not quite knowing how to treat the man, defaulted to a respectful nod of my head. Couldnt hurt.


    As you may or may not know, the Sixth Legion went on a bit of an expedition to the Han Empire I started off my tale, rapidly giving him all the details. The mercenary mission, the desire to level, the sort-of-but-not-quite clandestine nature of the event. The [Ambassadors] face was a perfect poker mask, flawlessly transitioning from emotion to emotion without a single twitch or inner thought revealed.


    He had known about the Sixths deployment, but the recent events were news to him. In the end he got up and clapped his hands.


    Excellent! Thank you Sentinel, for bringing this to my attention before its a disaster. I will have to send your Legata a pint of lions blood or a recommendation to become a vampire simply for having the foresight to send you over. A rare trait in Legati to be sure. He bemoaned. As for you. Excellent work, but please, please, do this old man a favor and leave for Exterreri. Just thinking about trying to hide you and what the consequences would be if youre found is giving me an ulcer.


    I didnt love the idea, but I could see where he was coming from. My presence here was breaking more rules, laws, norms, and conventions than I knew, and while my quick slip in and out disguise was pretty good, thered be questions if I started staying at the embassy full time, let alone interacting with the army. I was pretty sure I could manage it - Id successfully done it for years - but I wasnt adverse to going home, not after letting the rest of the Eventide Eclipse know what was going on.


    As you wish, [Ambassador].

 Chapter 497: Interlude - Pieces Falling into Place

    Chapter 497: Interlude - Pieces Falling into Place


    Swish swish swish.


    Qing Jies bones ached. Qing Jies joints ached. Qing Jies knees told him when a storm was coming.


    Swish swish swish.


    Qing Jie was an old man, a [Sweeper] in the imperial palace. Hed been one ever since he was a young boy, and hed spent his entire life holding a broom, keeping the hallways of the palace clean.


    Swish swish swish.


    He cast his skill, a pile of dust vanishing. He wasnt disappointed anymore. Eight decades of sweeping every day, of using his skill at every moment had hammered it out of him.


    A number of court officials came down the hallway, and Qing Jie held back a hiss of pain as he pressed himself into the wall, his joints protesting at the sudden movement.


    His old friend, his once-sworn brother Jing Li was in the middle of the crowd, looking two decades younger than Qing Jie. The two had promised revenge together after the Chu had slaughtered their entire village, entered the palace together. Found whatever position would take them.


    To Qing Jies eternal shame, he hadnt made the cut to even be a eunuch, only the lowest, most humiliating position available. Jing Li had joined him, and the two hotblooded men had plotted the downfall of the Chu, sure that the two of them could topple the vast empire together.


    How young! How naive!


    Jing Li had quit after only two years, too afraid to keep going. The two had argued bitterly over it, and the bonds of their brotherhood had broken.


    Qing Jie had always kept an ear out for Jing Lis activities, and stared at their retreating backs as he got back to sweeping.


    Swish swish swish.


    He was a low level court official, an embarrassment at such an old age if one didnt factor in his lowly, humble origins. Hed gotten married. Hed had kids and had welcomed in his third grandchild recently. He looked happy and content with life, laughing at a joke, a number of younger officials looking up to him for guidance and mentorship. Jing Li probably had an invitation to one of the minor feasts attached to the side of the [Emperors] grand event.


    For Qing Jie, it simply meant more sweeping.


    Qing Jie had learned eons ago to school his expression, to not show any trace of what he was thinking. He didnt curl his lips and sneer like he would as a young man - and had barely avoided being executed when hed done it to the wrong person.


    The [Sweeper] still carried those scars.


    He used his skill for the 1,937th time that day, the medley of sweepings vanishing once again. Qing Jie didnt need to think about counting, his skill did it for him.


    Swish swish swish.


    All the stories said what he was trying to do wouldnt work. That it was doomed to fail.


    As a young man, Qing Jie hadnt seen any other way. Poison was too slow, too guarded against. Miasma he didnt know enough about, and Spore was right out of the question. The two brothers would enter together, and with all the forethought and patience of youth, would have their revenge by the end of the week.


    The end of the month, if they were unlucky.


    The stories all said it never worked. Qing Jie and Jing Li had always reasoned that of course theyd say it didnt work - nobody survived when it did work.


    Swish swish swish.?iscover new chapters on


    Qing Jie was convinced that there were legions like him. Tens of thousands of others whod been wronged by the Chu - or maybe one of the other factions - and would do anything, anything, to enact revenge.


    Swish swish -


    BOOM.


    Katerina stared at the map on the wagon, moving back and forth with practiced ease as the nodosauruses slowly pulled it along. Her skill was ready at her fingertips, the words at the tip of her tongue. She was ready.


    The trap was set. The bait was out. All that was needed was for the prey to take advantage.


    Katerina couldnt look out and confirm everything herself. That would defeat the point.


    One of Optio Petras line members wasnt just an [Enchanter]. They had subtle, but potentially devastating Mirage skills. Nothing big. Nothing major. Nothing that would change the course of a battle, not with all the anti-illusion abilities being thrown around.


    That, and after it was used properly for the first time, the card was revealed. It was spent. Anyone falling for the same trick twice deserved it.


    Large illusions were usually seen through, one way or another. An Earth Classer could tell the footfalls didnt match the weight. A Wind Classer could tell the breeze didnt blow right. Metal could sense that there wasnt as much metal to manipulate as they could see. Anyone with two brain cells could count and realize that an army hadnt suddenly doubled in number, or that the huge stretch of emptiness with dust being kicked up was a bunch of invisible soldiers.


    No, to Katerinas mind, the best Mirages and illusions were subtle and quiet. Barely known, barely seen, even by their own army.


    The Sixth Legion - Ironside Brigade no more - was going home. Katerina had deliberately relaxed the standards. Had told everyone what was going on. Had the column arranged in a high speed formation to Rolland, one that was vulnerable to ambushes and attacks. Shut herself away in a wagon, and had minimal oversight over what was going on.


    Then sent a quiet order to Tribune Hazel, to pass down the chain of command to the relevant soldier. One that just so happened to be marching near Nike and the other [Batteries].


    Make us look tired.


    Shadows under eyes were slightly enlarged. Shoulders were drooped just a little extra. Wounds were showing, the result of Katerina declaring an extra-large party right after announcing they were going home.


    Because we dont want to carry it all that way! Shed joked and laughed, only a few of her [Tribunes] aware of the machinations behind her eyes.


    We, Kyou sagely observed. Are late.


    The two of them twisted to see the Qin banners flapping in the breeze behind them, considering how much nicer the Zhao pennants were.


    The words of power echoed out, Nina staring up at the moons, silently begging the staring lidded eyes for an answer. For the System to respond to her heart and her pleas.


    All too conscious that both Iona and Sigrun, the Orders [Grandmaster], were staring at her. Watching her.


    The kitsune had tried many [Oaths], [Vows], and [Promises] over the years. [Knightly Protector]. [Justicar]. [Light Against the Darkness]. Shed tried building her own, but theyd always felt flat. Stale. Like they didnt quite fit.


    Nina had just tried the [Wrathful Avenger], and it hadnt stuck either.


    The kitsune thought she knew the problem, but shed never, ever share it with Iona or, worse, Sigrun. Theyd judge her so harshly for it.


    She had some idea of what she wanted. What words resonated with her in the way Iona had described her [Vow]. They were not the ideals that shed been taught the Order Valkyrie espoused though. Not the noble and high-minded way of thinking Iona believed to her core.


    What was she doing as a [Squire] if she couldnt live up to the ideals of the Valkyries?


    What was she doing if she couldnt even take the most aggressive [Oath] that existed?


    Iona and Sigrun mustve noticed her reaction. The drooping ears, the wilting tails. Sigrun clasped a hand on Ninas shoulder.


    It comes in time. She told her. We each find our own path. You are, without a doubt, one of the bravest [Squires] Ive ever seen, leaping into battle again and again. You are more than qualified to become a full Valkyrie the moment youd like, your acts of bravery apparent 1024 times over. Not many girls would willingly sign up for the Valkyries after we were kneecapped, and yet you did. Not many would survive a warzone, willing to fight every enemy, and yet Ionas told me youve done just that. Youre willing to fight up, even without a skill boosting you, and I am nothing but impressed. You are a true Valkyrie, through and through. Im just sticking around to figure out the best title I can give you.


    Sigrun smiled encouragingly at Nina and patted her shoulders again. Ninas heart was elevated by the old womans words, the shame she felt at the words that resonated with her redoubled.


    She could never tell them.


    One thing confused the kitsune though, her eyebrows scrunched up at one detail.


    Why did Iona look so pained when Sigrun mentioned figuring out a title for Nina? Wasnt that a good thing?


    Prince Feng Taizi reminded himself that he needed to sit up straight. That he needed to look brave for everyone. That he wasnt allowed to cry.


    The life of a [Prince]-to be was a lonely one. There were no friends. Family either ignored him or tried to kill him. The politics and machinations at the highest level forced children to grow up far too quickly, even before their System unlocked. At only 6, Crown Prince Feng Taizi was too old.


    Too young.


    And-


    And he had to remember, he wasnt [Prince] anymore.


    Hed skipped [Crown Prince] entirely.


    The Mandate of Heaven had fallen onto his shoulders.


    He was [Emperor of the Qin]. Only without the class, because he was too young.


    His father had died to assassins, his older brothers and sisters falling as well. The assassins had come for him too, but there were only so many talented killers for hire who were willing and able to target royalty, and the strength and awareness of his [Bodyguards] had been a surprise. Most had died protecting the boy, but in a miracle of protection, the Systemless boy had survived.


    Feng tilted his head back and squared his shoulders, biting his tongue so the pain of riding a horse this fast, this furious through the Tears of Vulcan wouldnt show. Wouldnt make his few remaining protectors think he was weak and undeserving.


    They would be richly rewarded when Feng returned to the true capital of the Han Empire, and he ascended the throne.


    There! Liu shouted and pointed to galloping horses trying to flank them. Pursuers, intent on finishing the job. We turn here!


    The four of them thundered into a small valley, a little tabernacle at the center.


    Go go go! Inside! Liu urged, pressing the horses to go even faster.


    Liu looked scared. Feng would be brave for Liu, as he had to be brave for everyone in the Qin - no.


    As he had to be brave for everyone in the Han.


    Liu scooped Feng under one arm as the horses thundered towards the door, jumping off and skidding to a halt inside the tabernacle. The loyal retainer dropped Feng like a sack of grain - Feng understood the need for urgency and protecting his life occasionally overrode the rules of decorum - and skidded to a halt in front of the small, sad altar, the symbol of the five gods prominently displayed overhead.


    Sanctuary! Liu begged the gods. I ask for sanctuary!


    The divine message went around, an offering of power to protect the faithful requesting sanctuary.


    The gods bickered and argued about many things, but five things theyd all agreed on were sacred to them as a whole. That theyd all do their best to keep sacred.


    Not desecrating places of worship was one of them, and it was a little looser than the rest. Places of worship went up all the time, and they were taken down all the time. The gods couldnt throw a fit every single time a temple was turned into construction material, or every time a chapel was lost to the ages and slowly deteriorated.


    Liu had been faithful his whole life, and the divine barter of power offered for his protection was acceptable. Not enough for a full fledged large-scale miracle - else Seria mightve simply performed her own and solved the issue - but not a piddling amount that would be ignored.


    Two goddesses pricked their ears up when the offer went around. They had a [Paladin] practically next door, with extreme mobility, and best of all, this was the sort of thing shed die for.


    Iona, somethings come up. Selene said.

 Chapter 498: Interlude - Iona and Nina - Sanctuary

    Chapter 498: Interlude - Iona and Nina - Sanctuary


    Nina was familiar with Ionas eyes unfocusing as the [Paladin] talked with her moon goddesses. Even in the middle of dinner the two were always dropping in on her! It was like they were a merry band of five, not three. With [Grandmaster] Sigrun visiting and her supersized spinosaurus, Serratrix, they were a whole busy group! Nina loved the companionship, the comradery, the sisterhood. Family, like shed never had before. Iona snapped back to reality a moment later.


    Emergency. Lets go. Iona dropped her plate and fork, bending her knees and leaping onto Fenrirs back in a single motion.


    Nina stuffed one last huge bite of food into her mouth - no telling when the next meal would be - and scrambled after Iona, grabbing one of the ropes leading up Fenrirs side.


    Hold on! Iona ordered, and Fenrir took off, Nina dangling off the rope like a worm on a hook, baited to catch well, practically nothing in the world wanted to tangle with a wyvern.


    Ionas armor flowed around her, encasing the Valkyrie in its protective embrace. A little smaller, a little thinner ever since shed donated a portion for Ninas weapon.


    Nina had spent some time meditating on a companion or steed like Iona had Fenrir, and Sigrun had Serratrix. Supersized was not her jam, not after all the hours shed spent tending Fenrir, then later on had been roped into helping with Serratrix. Something small if she even continued the tradition.


    It wasnt required that Valkyries have a partner or steed.


    Nina, unfortunately, was missing a critical piece of the puzzle. Namely, with Iona and Fenrir around, and needing to rapidly respond all over the Han empire to various issues, shed never had to walk the length of an entire country, one of the main reasons the Valkyries and most other knightly orders took on steeds. She wasnt a speedster, or had any particular long-range mobility skills.


    Sigrun watched Iona and Nina fly off in a hurry, shrugged, and finished her meal before hopping onto Serratrixs back. She patted the large carnivore fondly.


    Look, you greedy lug, youll get too fat and wont want to move if you finish everything of Fenrirs, and you probably dont want to piss the wyvern off. Thats one big sucker.


    The dinosaur roared at Sigruns impeccable logic, and she pulled on the reins.


    Come on. With a divine message for help, its got to be something big. Lets see if we can give them a hand.Yo?ur favorite novels at


    The sail-backed steed roared again, oriented himself in the direction they flew off in, and began to plod after them.


    Fenrir quickly flew to where the small tabernacle was, located inside a quiet valley. Soldiers were already beginning to slowly march in, but they were in no rush, focused more on making a long screen and slowly advancing such that nobody could slip out and escape their net. Iona narrowed her eyes at them but didnt attack, unsure of the specifics of the situation.


    All she knew was the goddesses had transmitted a cry for sanctuary to her, and that she was to protect whoever wanted the shelter of the tabernacle.


    Be on your toes. Iona advised Nina. We dont know the situation. Anyone could be an enemy, anyone could be a friend. Keep your head on a swivel.


    Nina nodded, reflexively playing with her mallium, shaping it into a knife, then a mace, a claw then a sword.


    The three of them landed heavily in front of the tabernacle, the single entrance guarded by a dullahan pointing a spear at them. Fenrir roared at the man, who flinched and held steady.


    Iona and the man quickly talked, the Valkyrie pointing to her winged helmet at one point. They didnt talk fast enough. A bolt flew through the air and fortunately clattered off Fenrirs armor, but the wyvern was a marked beast. A sitting duck on the ground.


    Iona jumped off Fenrirs back, and Nina slid to the ground, thankful that her skills and abilities had held out, and shed been able to stay holding on the entire time. The one time she hadnt


    She shook her head to clear it, hyper aware once again that she was outfitted as a [Squire], and didnt have the centimeters of thick metal between herself and a hostile world. Fenrir took off into the sky.


    Iona and the man finished their conversation, and the man bowed deeply, then gritted his teeth and dashed off towards the side of the valley, aiming for one of the less guarded cliffs.


    It was the Wobby Pass all over again.


    Ionas heart was calm, her mind pure. She accepted her fate, knowing deep in her bones that she was doing the right thing.


    Someone tried to fuck with the ground, turn it into mud to make her sink in or foul a step. [As Steady as the Stars] kept her footing perfect, supernaturally keeping her on top of the goop that should by all rights suck her and her extra-heavy body into the ground.


    Ooze slipped into the tabernacle and ignited, the Classer controlling it hoping to burn, cook, draw out enough air, or kill the boy via smoke inhalation. There was little Iona could do about the existing blaze, but she did find and kill the Classer in question, trusting to Nina to handle it.


    Shed been around Auri often enough.


    A powerful [Mage] blasted her with Acid and Inferno, the first practically harmless against her but the second heating her up to the point where blisters popped all up and down her arms and legs. Iona gritted her teeth through the pain, throwing her glaive in a desperate move, impaling the [Mage] and continuing on, slaying four more soldiers before coming to a quivering stop in a tree trunk. Another soldier closed in with a spear, jabbing at Iona from just outside of her now-shortened range. She grabbed the shaft and yanked, bringing the soldier in close. With a twist, she disarmed the soldier, threw the spear like a javelin at the [Sniper-Archer] along the ridge of the valley, the weapon moving with such speed that he wasnt able to dodge it.


    In close with the now disarmed soldier, Iona slammed her hands down on his metal shoulders, her fingers digging deep into his body. With a snarl, she pulled the man apart down the middle, using the momentum of the blow with [New Moons Dance] to punch through two more troops who were trying to flank her.


    Fenrir descended down, Lightning and Ice crossing the valley in a mighty roar, the flow of soldiers slowing slightly. The two had lived and fought together for years, and the great wyvern knew exactly how close he could get to Iona, how much she could take.


    The pillar of descending Lightning landed a mere meter away from her, while an oversized greatsword of Ice killed yet another soldier. Iona dashed forwards, grabbing the weapon Fenrir provided, then dashed back to the entrance of the tabernacle. She did a sliding kick at the last portion, breaking the legs of a soldier trying to rush in, then with a thought, caused a dozen needle-sharp spikes to emerge from her gauntlet. She grabbed the soldiers neck with her spiked hand and twisted, dropping the soldier with a wet gurgle as he choked on his own blood. Then she swept her Icy greatsword up, deflecting a thrust spear and perfectly countering.


    A shot of metal twice the size of Ionas head impacted the side of the tabernacle at hypersonic speeds, multiple [Mages] having worked in tandem to accelerate the shot to unreal velocities. The very ground shook at the force of the impact, but the walls of the tabernacle held, divine providence preventing the violation of the holy site.


    To Ionas minor dismay, no divine retribution came down from the skies into the mages, and in the brief gap in the fighting, the goddesses explained why.


    Too much power required. Selene gasped.


    This is rapidly becoming not worth it. Lunaris agreed.


    The two goddesses could split the heavens and smite the blasphemers, but the expenditure of power, and this not being their temple, calling, or domain, simply made it too expensive for the goddesses.


    The brief reprieve let Iona rearm herself, drawing out [Frost Wyverns Fang] and snapping off dozens of arrows, piling up more bodies before they could get close to her.


    A blinding slash of blazing energy came out of the woods, cutting through trees like they were butter. Iona had only a fraction of a second to cross her arms, putting her shield in front of her body before the attack hit her. Her armor helped, her subdermal anklyosaurus scales took the brunt of the blow, but she was still left with a long, bloody gash going from her left shoulder down to her right hip, freely bleeding.


    With a thought, she reformed her now-thinner mallium over the wound, cinching it down. Iona was trading flexibility for not bleeding out.


    The wound was bad. She staggered as her body unexpectedly betrayed her, stepping forward and letting [As Steady as the Stars] guide her footwork to rebalance herself.


    Sigrun and Serratrix arrived at that moment, the [Grandmaster] using [Flash Step] all along the rim of the valley, her blade freely drinking the blood of the people firing arrows down. Iona took advantage of the moment to retrieve her glaive, [Telekinesis] coming in handy once again.


    Two moments later, the [Great General] pushed his way forward.


    Iona took a deep breath, and settled into a stance, warily eyeing the soldiers emerging from the torn up underbrush, aware that theyd tried to slip past into the temple while she was distracted.


    Not while I still draw breath. Iona swore to herself.

 Chapter 499: Interlude - Nina - To Cut Off the Head of the Snake

    Chapter 499: Interlude - Nina - To Cut Off the Head of the Snake


    A crippled body fell into the chapel, his spine broken. He looked young, a fresh recruit from the farm off to join the glorious Zhao armies.


    He had a home. Friends, family, a fiancee waiting with bitten nails for him to come back home. To settle down and grow rice.


    Nina took three quick steps forward, and with a sharp downward blow, caved his head in. Bronze and brain went flying as she got the kill notification.


    Nina skipped backwards, returning her mace and round shield to the standard guard position, on the balls of her feet waiting for the next blow, the next attacker, the next thing she had to protect against.


    Her eyes were locked on Ionas broad back, marveling at the tempest of destruction occurring right outside the door. How, no matter the blow, no matter the attack, Iona was there, seamlessly transitioning from stance to stance, move to move, flawlessly slaying all those who would come. Stacking bodies up like firewood.


    Nina hesitated, and seeing a minor lull in the battle, rushed forward again. She ignored the gore as she pushed and pulled the body into position at the doorway, making a minor speedbump that anyone trying to break in would need to step over.


    Why were we here? Nina wondered, but no, that wasnt the right question. She knew why they were there. The simplest answer was because Iona said so or Because the goddesses had asked, but it was deeper than that. More fundamental. They were protecting a life.


    A searing pain cut through her ear and she jumped back, snout bared into a snarl.


    Then the pain hit, and the snarl redoubled in volume as Nina refused to whimper, turning the pain into anger. A quick look around revealed the culprit, a broken arrowhead with a tuft of her fur sunk deep into the stone altar.


    Nina paled.


    That was almost Feng. If she hadnt insisted he hide behind the altar, that wouldve killed him, and that wouldve been that.


    The [Squire] shot her shield up, intercepting a pair of slower arrows that Iona let through, then jumped forward and stomped on a small metal skill-bug. She didnt know what skills were attached to it or what it could do, but either way she wasnt going to let it get to the tiny [Emperor] and find out.


    Another soldier - no, boy, the rusty-faced teenager looked younger than Nina - made it in. Iona had clearly chosen to let him through for Nina to handle, choosing to deal with other issues instead.


    He stabbed poorly at her, but Nina was used to it now. It was no trap, no trick, no deception. She angled her shield, redirecting the force of the blow as she stepped in close. An underhand shot with her mace to the groin disabled the teenager, then a swift mace to the head made him collapse in a heap at the floor.


    No notification though. The boy had a hard head.


    Nina gritted her fanged teeth and smashed down, one, twice, thrice, before finally getting the notification that it was over. She stepped back into the guard position, a habit long drilled into her by Iona, and was rewarded when several razor-sharp leaves came spinning into the room. She intercepted one with her mace, a second with her shield, but the entire room shook with the force of an angry god as something hit them hard. Nina tripped and fell onto the leaf, impossibly cutting her leg down to the bone.


    She hissed in pain. The kitsune limped over to the most recent body, tore a strip of cloth off, and wrapped it around her leg, trying to stem the flow of blood.


    Why are we killing them? That wasnt the right question either. They were attacking, Iona and Nina were defending. They were trying to kill the two of them, defending themselves was only natural.


    A grease fire erupted by the door, and Nina jumped back coughing, pulling her shirt up over her mouth. Shed already pulled the wood away from the door, and there wasnt much she could do about a magical, skill-empowered fire. Her Fire element was a [Warrior] one, it didnt include [Flame Manipulation] or [Fire Resistance].


    Lightning and Ice roared down cataclysmically outside the door, removing all questions about how to handle the fire. After a few minutes of Fenrirs displeasure raining down on the Zhao, there was sudden silence, broken only by the falling of trees and some soft tears behind the altar.


    Nina poked her head back, only to see Feng wiping away his tears. He sniffed, looked at her, and drew himself up to his full height. He blabbed something to her that she missed. Nina put her hand on his head and pushed him back down, ignoring the spluttered complaints.


    Stay down! She hissed at him, wary of another stray attack killing the boy.


    A blinding light blazed past the door, and Nina gasped in horror as Iona took the blow head-on. Blood dripped freely, and corpses littered the area, almost making a hill of bodies.


    Nina tried to quickly count how many bodies there were, but utterly failed. A quick eyeballing with unfortunately experienced eyes told her over a thousand bodies were littered around the ground, and those were just the ones she could tell, who still had intact corpses.


    Why is his life worth more? Nina asked herself.


    That, at last, was the right question. Part of Nina wondered about it, while the rest of her marveled at an injured Iona fighting not one, but two[Great Generals] to a standstill, all while preventing anyone else from getting close to the door.


    Why was the young [Emperors] life worth more than anyone elses? Oh, sure, on an individual basis it was easy to proclaim a protection for children. The royalty aspect didnt matter in the slightest to Nina.


    But a dozen people? Were a dozen lives worth the young boys?


    A hundred lives? All full and rich, many of the [Soldiers] involuntarily conscripted from their farms and villages? They didnt want to be here much more than Feng did. They arguably had far fewer options than the young [Emperor] did regarding their presence on the battlefield, them being forced into the blender of whirling metal and violence called Iona.


    A thousand lives? How could one person be worth more than a thousand lives? If they were all old and with millions of heinous crimes under their belt, sure, a single innocent soul was worth more. But the souls outside, with a few exceptions of the leadership, were just as innocent as the boys. A different fate, different circumstances of their birth, but they were being harvested like rice.


    Why were their lives worth less than a tiny fraction of the [Emperors]? How were the scales balanced there?


    Nina knew she hadnt grown up with the most intact ethical compass. Her morals could most generously be described as loose, and she tried to put herself in various shoes, see what everyone thought.


    The boy, of course, wanted to live. He was innocent.


    The soldiers, too, wanted to live, to no longer be in the war. To go home, and live a peaceful life.


    The generals were too far away, too esoteric for Nina to figure out. If anyone should die, they should. Them, and their own nobility and leaders, the ones pushing them to this cause of action.


    Ninas thoughts drifted back to the [Emperor], arguably, possibly one of the ones driving the entire conflict. If not his orders now and today, then his simple presence and existence was causing the fighting. He was the head of the snake. Perhaps the jewel on the tip of the snakes nose.


    With his death, the battle would be over.


    Nina thought about what everyone else had been saying, what shed been told and seen.


    No.


    With his death, the entire war might be over. There were tens of millions of souls in the Han empire, suffering under the civil war.


    How could the scales possibly balance?


    What justification did Nina have to extend the battle, the war, when the safety and comfort of so many relied on a single thin thread?


    The fact that the two of them would die for the prince did admittedly enter into Ninas thoughts. The survival instinct was engraved deep into the former street rats psyche, the fundamental underpinning to everything else built on top of her mind. To her great credit, she examined the idea, recognized its validity, and dismissed it, doing her level best to not factor it into her thinking and decision making. A near-impossible bias to avoid, but Nina did her best to put herself in Feng Tiazis shoes, and go over her thoughts once more.


    She took a deep, shuddering breath.


    The move would damn her. If the gods and goddesses didnt smite her, Iona would, and shed undoubtedly be thrown out of the Valkyries. Her future would be ruined, if she had one at all, and everyone would hate her.


    Shed never go back home. Never see Elaine again. Never hear Auris bright chirps. Never get told to run laps, haul water, get scolded for a bad stance or warmly praised and hugged when she got something right. Her path terminated here.


    Nina mentally added her life on the grand scales in her mind next to the princes, seeing if theyd tip at all. Praying, with tears in her eyes, that she could justify another route, another path.


    The scales remained firmly tipped, and with a shuddering breath, Nina knew what she had to do.


    The kitsune walked to the back of the tabernacle, and placed a hand on the altar, sending a quick prayer of forgiveness up. The gods could mess with the cycle of reincarnation, and in her last hours, Nina didnt want to piss them off more than she had to.


    Sorry about this. She prayed, then leaned over to the [Emperor].


    No, not Emperor. Think of him as he is, and dont cloak what Im doing in pretty words.


    Her tear-filled eyes locked with Feng Tiazis, and she smiled sadly.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    I will strike the hands that wield people like knives.


    I will not put loyalty before that which is right.


    Though blood will stain my hands and fur, it will always be for the greater good.


    I will gaze at the greys beyond the black and white.


    I will remember that rules and laws do not make right, nor does might.


    I will smite the wicked.


    Nina hesitated at the very end.


    Shed grown up with Iona. Been formed and molded by Ionas ideals, both stated and lived. Shed seen how life was, and Iona wasnt entirely wrong. The endless search, the endless belief towards the greater good was potentially a trap. A road to devastation, paved with good intentions. Moderation, to an extent, was required.


    The atrocities shed commit couldnt be forgotten either, not unless she wanted to become a monster herself. One that would pit her against her very sisters-in-arms.


    "Whenever possible, I will act in such ways to protect the weak, with temperance, valor, and integrity.


    I will remember what was sacrificed and atone for what I can."


    It was Ionas turn to cry at the end, her squires thoughts and ideals diverging so far from what Iona had tried to teach her.


    At last, after years of trying and dozens of failed attempts, Nina got the notification shed been waiting for, hoping for, dying for.


    [*ding!* You have sworn [Ninas Creed]. Would you like to accept this General Skill? WARNING: Creeds are binding.]


    Without hesitation Nina accepted the skill, then she read what it did.


    Ninas Creed: A solemn creed from Nina, in remembrance of Feng Tiazi. +2.5% speed, strength, dexterity, vitality, magic power, magic control, illusion strength, illusion durability, and illusion detail per level when striking at the root of the problem.


    Her heart fell early on at the low bonus number displayed. 2.5%? Only 2.5%?


    But the more Nina read, the more excited she got. It wasnt a large percentage over a few stats - the percentage applied to a frankly stunning array of abilities. Somehow, the System knew she was hellbent on taking Mirage for her second element.


    Missing her illusions was like missing a limb for Nina, and she was more than ready to class up and regain her mastery.


    Her delight at getting the [Creed] at last was clear. Sigrun had a weird look on her face, and cleared her throat.


    In my capacity as the [Grandmaster] of the Order Valkyrie, I would like to formally acknowledge that Nina, squire of Iona, the Dusk, has successfully completed all elements required to be properly acknowledged as a full Valkyrie, one of us. Her acts of bravery are as endless as the stars in the sky, as unbound as the roiling stormcloud up above. One, before all others, is worth noting. In defiance of her Valkyrie and orders, in spite of deadly danger to her life, she navigated a treacherous situation with clear eyes and a calm heart, believing she was sacrificing everything she had for her beliefs. Such an act shows conviction and bravery of the likes rarely seen. Nina, you are a Valkyrie, through and through, and I name you, the Fox. Rise, and join us.


    Nina rose in disbelief. Sigrun grinned at her.


    Sorry I dont have a pair of wings handy.


    Iona was still upset though. She knew the betrayal wasnt casual or directed at her, but Nina had violated her fundamental principles. She wanted to scream and rage at her, and was still confused why Sigrun seemed to be taking it all so casually. However, she had enough presence of mind and social graces not to say anything that couldnt be taken back. Not to say anything that would shatter the now-fragile bond between the two of them.


    Sigrun was canny. The leader of the Valkyries, like any organization lasting beyond a single warlord-like leader, had to have a good head on her shoulders. Needed to know organizations, and more importantly, people. She knew what sort of blow her beloved Dusk Valkyrie had just taken, and that theyd all need time to heal and try to reform relations.


    Now, I know this is all a bit sudden. Dusk, I believe sending you off to the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft was one of the best things that could happen to you, and Id like to continue the tradition, so to speak, with Fox, first of the newest generation of Valkyries.


    Ninas ears went up then down.


    Even if by some miracle Sigrun got her admittance to the School, she knew her formal schooling and education was so poor she couldnt even start an education there. She could read and write no problem, and knew her basic numbers. However, a true, formal education was both past her ability to learn, and Ionas ability to teach. It saddened the kitsune a bit, the door to wizardry like Elaine could perform forever closed to her, but it was what it was. There was no sense in crying over the impossible.


    Now, I believe the School would be all wrong for you, but what do you say about going to Nippon-Koku for a spell? I have some friends in the Eventide Establishment, and I think your talents would grow by leaps and bounds there, on top of being close to home. What do you say?


    Nina looked at Sigrun in confusion.


    Wait. The Eventide Establishment exists!?


    Nina woke up in the world of her soul, her head still spinning with how fast everything had happened. 24 hours ago shed been campaigning in the Han, learning from the fabled [Grandmaster] of the Order, prepared for however much longer theyd be staying in the war-torn country, grappling with her own [Oath].


    How things had changed!


    Nina gazed along the streets of an unknown Exterreri city, the population hustling around. Everyone had a pouch on their hips in various colors, and each person in the world of her soul was indicative of a potential outcome she could choose - if she could properly choose.


    A [Baker] was right next to where Nina had stepped into her world, the woman humming merrily as she used phoenix flames to cook. A pair of foxfires hanging over her shoulders indicated a Fire or Inferno elemental choice. Her pouch was dark green, promising fantastical abilities as a [Baker] simply if Nina was able to rob her. The kitsunes short time with Auri baking had offered great things - if she wanted it.


    A [Guard] with a solid sphere of Earth over one shoulder had a light green pouch, but they tended to move in patrols of multiples, just like in real life.


    Why does my world have to be so annoying. Nina grumbled to herself. Why cant I just pray at an altar or pick a book or something easy?


    Finding a mark was only half the challenge in Ninas world. The other part was actually managing to obtain the class. The bigger, richer, and more important a class she wanted was, the more guarded they were, the more effort Nina would have to put into getting it.


    Grumbling to herself, Nina decided to stroll along for a few minutes, seeing what there was to see, before deciding on her class. A [Senator] in royal purple robes was bustled along on a palanquin, each of her guards with a subtly different [Bodyguard] class. In a twist Nina found hilarious, the [Senators] pouch was pink, while the [Bodyguards] were orange to green.


    Ninas entire world fuzzed, the bustling streets replaced by a great feasting hall, dozens of Valkyries cheering and toasting with servants rustling around, an entire castle full of life and classes to pick. Almost immediately, her world fuzzed back to the cityscape.


    Nina jumped and held a hand over her beating heart.


    What was that!? She said.


    Her guide popped out of a dark alley and shrugged.


    Were changin. She said. On a deep level. Not quite all the way there yet, but were changin so hard the Systems recognizin it.


    Nina was disturbed at the idea. She didnt mind the new soulscape, but the thought that something might go wrong in her soul while she was in it


    Lets go to the Valkyries. She said, not needing to say anything more.


    Her guide, herself, her other half grabbed her hand, and the two girls sprinted through the city streets, laughing at life, shouting obscenities at the guards, and making their way to a place only her guide knew.


    Nina stared at the options, licking her lips in envy at the power of one of the options, a blue class with roiling thunderclouds over the shoulder and across the armor. A class inspired by Teruo, a powerful warrior without compare.


    But no, that wasnt what she wanted. The two of them eyed a powerful Valkyrie, winged helmet and all, a gale trapped in a sphere over one shoulder, a dark green pouch on her belt. Storms rumbled across her shining plate armor, inspired by the Guardian, the phoenix, and the wyvern. Phoenix flames and foxfire occasionally danced around a well-used and loved mace.


    She eyed up the place they were at, the seeds of an idea coming together.


    Nina knew what she wanted. Now she had to earn it.


    Alright, heres the plan She whispered to her guide.


    Nina awoke as [The Fox Valkyrie - Storm] - [Sly Trickster - Mirage].

 Chapter 500: Returning Home and Classing Up.

    Chapter 500: Returning Home and Classing Up.


    After the [Diplomat] politely told me to get lost, I wasted no time at all getting back home to Exterreri.


    It was a little frightening how easy it was for me to cross over vast swathes of mortal territory. I flew high up in the sky, a bit under the clouds, dipping down occasionally when I needed more air. The major roads and cities occasionally led me astray, but it wasnt anything simply going west for a while wouldnt fix. At my height and speed, I was untouchable by mortals. By the time one of the few rare Classers who happened to be looking my way could spot me, then raise any sort of alarm, I was already gone, traveling faster than most news.


    I wasnt the only one who crossed the skies at high speeds. Every now and then Id encounter someone else off in the distance, the two of us maybe occasionally trading a wave before going about our respective business.


    Skys ancient warning, and a lifetime of fear growing up around the fearsome pterodactyls and ornithocheirus that ruled the sky did leave a bit of caution in my bones. That, and the knowledge that the Wardens would take a dim view to my presence if they discovered me kept me alert, and before long I recognized the architectural style change to that of Nippon-Koku, and later the same day reached the shores of the Sea of Stars.


    I took a quick break before crossing it, hitting the Exterreri coast, then turning north before finding myself at Sanguino.


    How small the world was! With my speed and skills, with my flight and ability to ignore most danger, I could just move, traveling across the world in days. The world felt a little smaller, a little less glorious with how easy and accessible it all was.


    At the same time, Id deliberately taken the slightly longer western route specifically to avoid most Immortal territories, where I couldnt travel as easily, and there was still the entire northern continent. DiiSco?ver new stories on


    Id debated saying hi to Arachne and Night before heading home, but decided against it. I wanted to go home. I was well aware that Arachne was the leader of the Sentinels before she was somewhat a friend of mine, and while Night was off-rotation and firmly a friend, with Arachnes threads, shed immediately know and Id be off reporting about my adventures, spending hours recounting it to her and whoever else needed to know.


    No.


    I needed some peace and quiet. I wanted to see Artemis and Julius again. I had vague hopes that Amber might be around, implausible in any other situation if her thrice-charmed lucky coin wasnt considered.


    I landed at my house, my ears suggesting nobody was around but my nose telling me thered been a few people recently, including what was possibly the scents of Julius and Artemis. Of course they wouldnt be hanging around at home all day every day, they were probably out and about, living their best lives.


    The other smells I wasnt so sure about, but I was confident that there was a good explanation. Friends invited over for dinner, or something similar.


    One of the things Id set up back in the day, and was finally ready for me, was a bath. A deep, glorious, luxurious bath, always full of water.


    I passed by the kitchen on the way to the bath, and quickly raided it for a snack. Oranges, bananas, and the Exterreri special, cherries and blackberries. A pot of cream and a second of honey topped it off, and I sent a silent prayer of thanks to Artemis and Julius for keeping the place so beautifully maintained, perfectly ready for my return.


    In the central garden, miracle of miracles, joy of joys, the mango trees Id planted were doing beautifully. Still young, still small, scrawny little things, they had the first hint of mangos growing on their branches. Most had none, a few had one, and the largest one had two whole mangos growing. Impressive, given that the trees usually took five years or more to start producing fruit!


    My discipline and good sense managed to wrestle my greed into submission. I should wait, let the fruits grow and mature, then reap the bountiful harvest.


    I dove into the bath with my snacks on the edge.


    Cold! Well, lukewarm.


    With a frown, I carefully applied [Nova Lance] to the water, my mana dropping as I got the bath to a near-boil. Happy, I leaned back, letting myself float in the water, my hair splayed out behind me.


    I floated blissfully in the warm water, occasionally heating it up a little more with a skill. I let the heat soak into my muscles, loosening them up, relieving tension in spots I didnt know I had. Literal years of grime and muck came off me, the Legion only able to quickly bathe in the occasional river, nothing like the luxurious soak I was currently enjoying. I occasionally ate a berry dipped in cream or honey, letting my worries float away on the soft currents, trying to enjoy the peace that I abruptly found myself at.


    No war. No violence. No blood and screams.


    Just contentment and warmth. Floating in the soft current, my aches melting away like soft traces of morning dew.


    All good things eventually came to an end, and I heard the footsteps far before anyone came to the bath room.


    My bowls were empty, and I cracked an eye open at the approaching [Servant]. She didnt bat an eye at me, but the excessive amount of steam did give her a bit of a hard time.


    Well, good. No hassle, no fuss, just a half-raised eyebrow when she saw me before she wordlessly collected my empty snack bowls and bustled them off. I suppose she survived - literally - working under Artemis, so a layer of gumption and brains were mandatory.


    It did mark the end of my bath, and with some reluctance, I hauled myself out, drying myself off with a beautifully placed towel and donning a neatly folded tunic.


    It was official. I was in love, and had to figure out how to keep her around when Artemis and Julius inevitably left.


    I wrapped up and took a tour of my own home, trying to figure out what was new and different, and what was the same. Going from a tent to a villa in the span of a week was surreal, and I was still trying to adjust.


    Adjust I did as I made it to the master bedroom, the gloriously large bed still there. I remembered one of my prior promises, and having spent more time in a sack than a mattress over the last three years, I gleefully jumped onto it, canceled my tour, and was promptly as lazy as I could be.


    Home.


    The only issue with my early laziness is I forgot to grab a gigantic pile of books to read in bed. Maybe Julius would be nice enough to help me out? Either way, while I was working on not moving at all, I decided I should do some prep work. I didnt know when Iona was going to be back.


    I teleported into [Vault of Ages] without moving, and still not twitching a muscle, used a combination of [Blink] and [Rapid Reshelving] to get my proposal sword out of storage, and back into the real world. More [Rapid Reshelving] hid the sword under the bed.


    I figured if Iona was planning on proposing to me while I classed up, being able to say look under the bed as a response was pretty good.


    At last, I heard the wonderful sounds of Julius and Artemis coming back.


    Hey! Artemis! Back here! I shouted through the villa, intent on being as lazy as I could be.


    I shrugged. Sure, why not?


    Nearly all the spines of the books were in black, with scattered stars across it mimicking a starfield. Only a few classes werent Celestial-element, and I had serious doubts that Id take anything non-Celestial.


    Hilariously, many of the titles were also in black, showing the quality of the classes, practically blending in with the cover. I was reminded of the classup with [Pyromancer] where I had a bunch of red-text titles against red covers.


    Black on black was far better. I didnt want to filter my choices too hard too early on. The bookcase wasnt that big, and I wasnt exactly on a massive time crunch. I was still vaguely on Operation: How Lazy Can I Be?, and spending serious time in the library of my soul was an excellent way to pass the time.


    Somewhat. I still had Iona waiting for me, and a surprise I was giddy for.


    I wasnt going to read every book, only some of them. Id read everything purple and black though, choosing to skim a few of the lower quality offerings. The first one that jumped out at me made me laugh.


    [The Lusty Exterreri Maid - Celestial]the cover proclaimed in orange. I was intrigued enough to open it up and flip through it, seeing what it had to say.


    [The Lusty Exterreri Maid - Celestial]: The princess and the knight. The rogue and the high priestess. The captain and the mermaid. The bard and well, frankly anyone. The [The Lusty Exterreri Maid] is familiar with all manner of roles and playing, and is an expert at all sorts of tools and arts. Their knowledge of ropes and knots is unparalleled, along with their dress and attire. Not only is a [Maid] an expert at cleaning, they are well versed in other disciplines. A [Maid] is an expert gardener, whose fields bloom with unrivaled beauty and fragrance, drawing admiration from all who stroll by. Their expertise in handling delicate petals and stems is unrivaled. Yet, they are not good at only gardening! Their culinary prowess is unmatched, both in creating and eating. They have ways of whipping cream and kneading dough that can leave the observer flushed and hungry for more. +50 Dexterity, +50 vitality per level.


    I was blushing furiously at the end of the description, and flipped through the book, seeing what potential and futures the class could hold for me. I obviously wasnt going to take the book, but it had some ideas for Iona and I to explore in the future


    [The Biggest Bounty - Celestial] was the next book to catch my attention. I flipped it open, curious.


    [The Biggest Bounty - Celestial]From Suen to the Han Empire, from Urwa to The School of Spellcraft and Sorcery, all across the world there are bounties on your head. Dead or alive, youre a wanted woman in large parts of the world, everyone from law enforcement to bounty hunters, adventurers to lords and the ruling nobility want to see you come to justice for your many crimes. T-


    I threw the book down in disgust. The class was worthless. Yes, please, take a class that has nothing to do with healing, and become a tastier target? Make it harder for people to catch me? I didnt care, but I was genuinely offended that so many people put a price on my head to the point where the System was offering me a class about it.


    It was extremely interesting that I was offered it though. I hadnt known I had so many bounties on my head. Like, yeah, I knew Id pissed off a huge number of people in the Han, some in Suen, there was the Gladiator Gauntlet, it wouldnt surprise me if someone took offense to me there.


    I was a member of the Exterreri military. I had an army at my back that I could point to if anyone tried funny business.


    Most interesting was the mention of Urwa and The School. The School I was generously going to assume some of the faculty members wanted to talk with me, and had put out a bounty for delivering a letter to me so we could have various discussions. I had kinda shaken things up a bit with my announcement that I was the original author of the Medical Manuscripts, and I hadnt been great about leaving a forwarding address or additional information.


    Urwa was scarier. It was the domain of elves, the place I knew Amber sold my Immortality gems to. Bounty hunters from there could even be higher level than Night if the price on my head was high enough to tempt someone of that level to move, and potentially cause a serious fuss.


    Exterreri wouldnt take the capture or murder of one of their Sentinels lightly. In that way, I was protected.


    MOVING ON!


    There was a [Witch of the Galaxy] book that briefly caught my eye, and the predicted [Legionnaire Bunny] was offered, but I was more interested in the high powered classes. The healing ones.


    Can you show me the healing related ones? I asked Librarian. She waved, and the bookcase was replaced by nine books in a neat row. I decided to go broad, then investigate each one in-depth.


    My options were potent, to say the least.


    [The Arbiter of Life and Death]. [The Elaine]. [Saintess of the Dawn]. [Savior From The Stars]. [Medic of the Dread Sixth Legion]. [The First Oathbound Healer]. [The Last Sentinel of Remus]. [Healer of the Stygian Dragon, Rainbow Phoenix]. [Crows Acquaintance, Doves Nemesis].


    By the way. Librarian mentioned with a tone that was far too casual. I knew that tone. I used it myself. Whatever Librarian was going to casually mention was far too important, and had her all in a tizzy. While youre glancing at your major options, it might be worth taking a look at the balcony.


    Burning with curiosity, I got up, and made my way over to the balcony. I opened the door and stepped out, a realization hitting me.


    I laughed.


    Its a wizards tower! I exclaimed, pointing up at the rest of the great library. All the floors are stacked on each other like a wizards tower!


    Librarian rolled her eyes at me.


    Duh! Anyway, heres the last serious option, but its not complete yet. Still getting a few offers.


    The balcony wasnt fully enclosed, a small opening in the railing offering an exit, a way out.


    It was a long way down, but the plaque and the pile of letters next to it explained everything.


    It was a different offering, not quite a class, yet part of the System nonetheless. My eyes were glued to the name offered, and all the implications it had. There was no element listed, and the text was in shining gold, not one of the standard qualities offered at all. The pile of letters addressed to me had names on them, the top letter having two familiar names written on the cover.


    Selene.


    Lunaris.


    I was entranced by the name, unable to stop staring at it.


    [Angel of Mercy]

 Chapter 501: Angel of Mercy

    Chapter 501: Angel of Mercy


    I think Im going to need a minute, a chair, and an explanation. I said to Librarian, sitting down heavily on the balcony.


    Within the pure magic that was the world of my soul, with the manipulations Librarian could pull off, the deep, comfortable chair appeared before I could hit the ground, cradling me in its soft embrace. Librarians clothes swirled around her, and she took on the image of a strict [Schoolteacher], garbed in the purple robes from the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft.


    It all boils down to a fairly simple explanation. As Librarian spoke, the pile of letters got bigger, a fat envelope added to the bottom of the pile, and a half-dozen postcards sprinkling down on top. No matter how many letters were added, the pile mysteriously was able to stay balanced on the table. Not even the faux-wind blowing around my wizards tower could grab them and make them fly away.


    As we know, hitting the level cap grants divinity. She said, and I nodded along.


    Basically all the gods are ascended former mortals of Pallos. I agreed, using the mortal term like divinity, not in terms of Immortality-mortal. I was willing to bet large sums of money that most gods had either been born Immortal, or had seized it on their journey.


    Right. Now, weve managed to hit enough accomplishments, do enough things, to be offered a sort of early exit, for lack of a better word. Weve handled angels and been near gods, weve granted blessings and been a venerated figure. No class description for this one, since its not a class, its minor ascension. Were not at the cap though, we cant become a goddess. We can become an [Angel of Mercy], and ascend to a smaller level, so to speak. The letters, Librarian gestured to the pile that was slowing down its growth rate. Are offers from various gods and goddesses for us to join their domain. Id like to imagine were getting an unusually high volume of offers, but eh, for all I know everyone with angelic offerings gets this much attention. I will say, I dont have knowledge of whats inside the letters, but I can easily know who sent what.


    I nodded and refocused on the pile.


    Is there a reason we havent gotten this before? Like when I classed up my third class?


    Yes. We didnt qualify then. No qualifications to become an angel, no offers to join a god. Independent angels do technically exist, but theres a reason virtually all angels are with a god or goddess. Frankly, I think theres only a few goddesses that wed be interested in. Want me to filter the letters? Just for the big names were interested in? I doubt were terribly interested in a tier three god weve never heard of.


    I stared at the pile, thinking.


    Did I want to read a dozen different offers from gods for a class that I might or might not take? When she said there were only a few interesting ones, I believed her.


    Then again, how often would I get a chance to read divine words? I wasnt as obsessed with reading every book in my library - the stories existed in the outside world now - but letters, addressed to me, from the gods?


    Okay. Ill read the really interesting ones to start with, loop back to the classes, figure out which one I want to take, then come back and read letters until I get bored with them. How often do we get personalized letters from a god? Theyve never written to me before. I said. Is there a description for the class, and do I take it like normal?


    Librarian shook her head.


    No to both. Theres no description, its becoming an angel. It does mention what Aspects wed get. The angelic powers. Heal, Purify, and Know. Wed basically be divinely powered to run all three Aspects. Similarly, you take it by stepping off the balcony, a literal leap of faith. You grow your wings, get your halo, and ascend up into the sky.


    I hesitated. If nothing else, the way of getting the class was pretty cool.


    Lets see the letters. Which ones are the interesting ones? I asked. Librarian waved her hand - pure theatrics - and five letters were left, including the extra-thick one. I opened the one from Selene and Lunaris first, having a close connection to them thanks to Iona.


    Hey Elaine!


    We know youre super busy and overwhelmed with options, so well keep it short. Ionas going to become one of our angels someday. We all know this for a fact. Join us, and be able to be with your lover eternally!


    We can also arrange things to let you stick around the mortal realms for most of Ionas lifespan as well, and if you want more, we can talk about it!


    Warmly,


    Selene and Lunaris, Twin Goddesses of the Sacred Moons


    PS: Yes, shes waiting for you right now!


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    It was only the first letter, but it was a strong contender right out the gates. Eternity with Iona sounded pretty good. I doubted too many of the other gods could offer something nearly as nice.


    The second letter made my blood freeze at the name.


    Aion, Goddess of Life.


    One of THE Big Five. The Goddess of Life herself was extending me an offer.


    Lumornor, Lumornor [Astral Archives] didnt function here. Where had I heard that name before?


    I opened the letter and felt like an idiot. RIGHT. I knew that name! I knew that name twice over.


    Elaine,


    Ive only recently become aware of your renewed presence and activity on Pallos. I must give you credit for my ascension. My friend, Aegion, gifted me what I understand to be an original copy of your Medical Manuscripts, and the ideas and insights inside saved me centuries, if not more, of experimentation and learning.


    While a little outside of your primary domain and area of interest, I have been proud to learn that you ended up briefly taking up my art of biomancy, using it to improve yourself and others.


    Come join! Im willing to provide almost anything youd like or want.


    Lumornor.


    Well, that confirmed quite a few things, and gave me a million more questions. Questions I suspected Id only know the answer to by accepting an offer. I was curious, but not that curious.


    I was also a little suspicious. Only Aions letter so far had mentioned encroaching darkness. Were the other gods in the know? Was there some trick? Was I being recruited into a divine army to battle those Id only find out about later?


    Or were there divine tiers? Was Aion one of the only ones fighting? Was I being offered a comfortable home berth while others fought? So many questions, and the communication was one-way.


    Also, maybe I should pray to Lumornor, and see if he could let me know what had happened to Aegion, and the rest of the elves Id traveled with. Normally, I could assume they were all dead, but they were Immortal elves. A small measure of closure and confirmation would be nice.


    Oof, this offering was harsh. I grabbed the last one Librarian thought I might be interested in. The gigantic package.


    Ciriel, Goddess of Healing


    I hope this letter finds you in good health and high spirits. Congratulations on the classup! I know youve got thousands of options, and even more letters waiting for you. I even heard a rumor that Aion was making you an offer! Wow!


    Im well acquainted with your legendary work, as might be clear from my title and domain. Its truly tragic that the fae interfered with you, and you were unable to claim the title and domain of healing yourself. When I discovered you were still alive, and hadnt died, I felt shame at taking the domain. Not that I can give it up or anything. Its why Id like to extend to you an offer to join me as one of my angels. I can think of no other mortal more worthy of the opportunity.


    I must make it clear that it was your work that led me down the path Ive taken, and led me to ascending into the heavens in the first place. I wont bore you right now with my full story. I do want to gush! The insights you crafted on the art of healing, the methods you developed for curing ailments, the rational and systematic approach to it all are just astonishing! That, and the PHILOSOPHY at the heart of it all! The marriage of knowledge and heart! Simply brilliant!


    As I watch over my domain, I cant help but think of you, and


    The letter was fucking long. No wonder it had taken so long for Ciriel to add it to the pile!


    It was basically fanmail.


    From a goddess.


    The idea made my head spin, and I finally made it to the end of the letter.


    would love nothing more than your ascension and joining with my domain. Most of your healing abilities will turn into aspects, and you will be able to continue your work, simply in a slightly different manner. In here or in the heavens, you will be able to heal people.


    If you should choose to keep to your mortal coil, know that I am watching over you with great interest, and am more than willing to shield you from the wrath and ire of other gods should they ever become displeased with you.


    Your biggest admirer,


    Ciriel.


    Every letter Librarian had filtered out for [Angel of Mercy] hit like a bombshell.


    All that, for one class, one offering.


    I had nine more to go through.

 Chapter 502: Nine Options

    Chapter 502: Nine Options


    With the major rock in my class options analyzed, I went back to the more normal offerings.


    If five strong black quality classes could be called normal.


    I decided to slow roll it a bit. Take it from blue to black.


    One thing I quickly noticed was that each of the books talked extensively about my healing accomplishments, and they all overlapped. Some focused a little more on different parts than others, but all of them mentioned all my achievements. I had filtered for Celestial healing classes, and the bulk of my accomplishments was in the field of medicine, so it was no surprise.


    The top number, the biggest one, was also one I sort of felt I cheated on.


    Healing has touched more than a million lives.


    A million was a lot of people, but every time Id walked in a city, [Cosmic Presence] had been active. The Han Empires population was so dense that it only took a little bit of time to qualify, let alone all the traveling Id done and cities Id visited.


    Directly saved more than 500,000 people from imminent death.


    That one I was crazy proud about. That accomplishment was worth bragging about.


    Wrote the Medical Manuscripts.


    That, and the tens of thousands of knock-off effects were mentioned throughout my accomplishments.


    Healed a dragon. Healed/bonded a phoenix. Healed an angel. Healed


    I had a long list of creatures my healing was just barely able to heal, and Id helped with.


    Huge battle numbers. My willingness to heal both sides - including, to my surprise, someone whod been actively firing shots at me just minutes before. That was one highlighted hard in [The First Oathbound Healer].


    Survived attacks from a Guardian. Survived dragonfire. Survived phoenix flames. Survived the wrath of a God. Survived


    I was an [Undying Cockroach] through and through, and my achievements reflected it.


    I had achievements from the start. From doing every little bit I could in Aquiliea, to healing the bandits whod captured me, to my desperate run for Kallisto. Perinthus and the plague, Ranger Academy and injuries. My work as a Sentinel, the last stand against the Formorians. The angel, the dwarves, and the dragon. Elves and centaurs, phoenixes and wyverns. Healing when it was illegal, when it put my life at risk. Healing when it was safe and easy. Biomancy, and how I tried to improve lives with it in my own little way.


    Wars and plagues. Mass casualty events, all the way down to casually healing scratches on individuals. My offerings listed them all.


    It was worth mentioning that many of the skills were upgraded in similar manners. Every class, for example, had [Wheel of Sun and Moon] merging with [Dance with the Heavens], opening up a new skill slot for me to use. Additionally, the restrictions for the healing at range aspect of Wheel vanished entirely. I no longer needed to be under moonlight or sunlight, seeing the stars, caressed by the sky, or anything like that. Simple distance was the only criteria, although the penalty and range were different class to class. All of them boosted the potency of my already-existing healing skills, but to different degrees. Apart from the subtle differences between existing skills, each class had their own range of entirely new skills offered, and arenas of operation.


    I remembered the old angel constellation from when I was making [The Dawn Sentinel], and it was clear that even the worst healing skills on offer had basically the entire constellation filled out. Petrification was an excellent example of something I could easily handle now. The only thing missing was medium and strong cursebreaking. Even strong cursebreaking tended to no longer be a healing skill, but a dedicated [Cursebreaker] skill in different elements. Like how Water healing couldnt restore limbs.


    Another major aspect was nearly every class had minor biomancy included in it. It wasnt true biomancy, not by any stretch of the imagination, but the ability to fix a number of genetic defects and flaws were included. Things like sickle cell anemia, immune diseases, certain types of diabetes, etc. Changes to the base template that were otherwise not allowed. The type of fixes that were occasionally offered in [Midwife]-type classes.


    My study of biomancy helped and informed the upgrade though, permitting me to do everything I knew was possible, healing all sorts of defects.


    Suffocation was another one I would no longer need to worry about, although food and water were an eternal requirement.


    Each offering was naturally different from the rest, focused on an aspect that the others didnt. They also each had a slightly different offering of additional skills.


    With a polite request, I got some paper and a quill to start writing down notes on each class, building a grid to best compare apples to apples when I could. Writing down which classes offered [Celestial Authority] and which ones gave [Mastery], for example, along with technical notes on each upgrade. Given how similar the classes were to each other, the devil very well could be in the details.


    [Saintess of the Dawn] In the pantheon of sacred callings, the Saintess stands as a paragon of light and protection, a blazing beacon in the darkest hours. This hallowed class is revered not merely for its profound healing abilities, but its ability to protect, shield, buff, and more! The Saintess is the avatar of the first light that scatters the shadows of despair, bringing hope and renewal to all in need. Her presence is a sanctuary, a shield against malice and corruption. The Saintess embodies the very essence of divinity and benevolence. The powers vested in a Saintess transcend conventional healing. Her touch mends the most grievous of wounds, her prayers shield the weak from harm, and her calling upon the stars purges corruption. She is a wellspring of divine energy, channeling the very gods and goddesses themselves. She is filled with divine wisdom and guidance, able to soothe all those who come to consult with her. The path of a Saintess is one of selflessness and sacrifice. Her journey is filled with trials that test her spirit and resolve, yet her conviction never falters. She is a radiant force, the glowing sunrise that drives away the darkness! +100 Magic Power, +100 Magic Control, +800 Mana, +800 Mana Regeneration per level!


    I had to admit, it was a little more off-base and interesting than some of my other healing classes. It was strongly healing-centric, but not only did it have fantastical healing, but my barriers and shields were promised to be greatly empowered, and Id have access to a wide variety of buffs that I could bestow on people. What was nice was not only was I offered strong single-stat buffs, but also amazing omni-improvements that helped with everything. [Untarnished Icon], [Lady of Life], [Bastion of Hope], [Hand of Ciriel], [Answer the Whispered Prayers], [Sworn Ally], [Unblemished Apex], [Avatar of Rebirth], [Faith in her Protector]... the skills just went on and on and on!


    If that was all, itd be amazing.


    It wasnt. The class also made it clear that it would be much easier for me to request miracles from the gods and goddesses. I knew there were quite a few divine entities interested in me, and I could possibly request help from several of them, not just one.


    The class ran screaming headfirst into the 8 skill slot problem. Dozens and dozens of powerful skills, but only room for 8. If I took [Invoke Miracle] I might not have room for [Sunrise]. I didnt want to give up [The Stars Never Fade] for [Fated Intervention] or [Your Destiny is Life], but I only had so many slots, and unlimited options on my skills.


    It was a good problem to have. Sort of like Oh no I have 40 thoroughbred unicorns but my stables can only hold 8 of them, what ever shall I do!?


    If [Saintess of the Dawn] appealed to me, Id need to dig hard and deep to figure out my exact build. Unlike [The Dawn Sentinel], where Id massacred a huge amount of potential to make it work exactly the way I wanted to, with [Saintess of the Dawn] Id be able to keep tinkering with the skills until I had the exact configuration I wanted.


    It was clearly a religious class, all of which were hamstrung at only blue quality. Generally far higher than anyone could hope to achieve, but I wasnt exactly normal.


    Activity wise, it was a wild departure from [The Dawn Sentinel] in many ways. The core healing aspects remained, but it would reward me far more for staying in a temple, handing out blessings, buffs, and healing, than it would for attending meetings and marching on the road.


    I mightve screwed up a little. Right now, that was super tempting. Id just spent three and a half years in a warzone, witnessing the worst humanity had to offer. A class that went nope, sorry, wed like you doing the cleanup but not watching your brothers and sisters in arms die horribly next to you was super appealing.


    Heck, it looked like I could still function as the Sixths War Sentinel. My healing range would increase massively. I just wouldnt be getting as much experience for it.


    Right. One class down. [Saintess of the Dawn] was a strong option, and the biggest mark against it was the quality. Blue was good.


    It wasnt black.


    [Crows Acquaintance, Doves Nemesis] was up next.


    [Crows Acquaintance, Doves Nemesis] The loom turns, and the threads of fate are spun out in ten thousand glorious colors. Black Crow//White Dove are the cutters, the snippers of the threads of destiny, cruelly pruning the tapestry of life. Crows Acquaintance, Doves Nemesis is one who would grab the shears of death and wrench them again, allowing the threads to continue spinning and weaving out in beautiful harmony. It is a class for one who has seen the divine manifestation of both Crow and Dove, who has defied them to their face. They refuse the finality, the end, the great death and the cycle of samsara. They help the defiant throw off Black Crow, and challenge the peace White Dove offers to all souls. The Nemesis is more complex than a mere battle against death. It is steeped in the moral quandaries of eternal life, carefully navigating the ethics behind Immortality. How much is too much? Will preserving too many lives here and now simply cause further, more violent bloodshed in the future? By preserving the parents, are you robbing the children of their future, one in which no elders make way for the younger generation? Conflict is at the heart of the Nemesis, from conflicts of the body, to conflicts of the mind and soul. +1313 Free Stats per level.


    The title was interesting, and a dive into the story of what my life would be like with the class was revealing.


    In short, it was the Immortality class. With [The Dawn Sentinel], Id taken the bare minimum on the Ouroboros of Immortality, and this class maximized it. Thered be no cooldown on the skill. No limitations on the types of creatures I could make Immortal. It would be permanent Immortality, and Id gain much finer control over ages.


    Interestingly, I could also make someone older. I could be 8 years old one minute, and 98 the next, then bounce back to 18.


    My funds would be unlimited. I could spend a day charging thousands of Immortality gems, and while flooding the market that way would cause the price to crash, there was still a lot of money to be made doing it.


    The direct healing abilities naturally upgraded and improved, but the shields and barriers stayed the same, as did [Sunrise]. It was a fascinating option, but I didnt quite feel like it was right for me. I was fine with my current pace of being able to hand out Immortality, although stretching the skill a bit and making it permanent was very appealing.


    Not critical though, not in the way Id needed the skill before.


    If my life had been even a fraction less strange, I would still be level 500 and change, bouncing around in Remus. I felt a pang of loss at the sentiment, all the people Id known who were gone, but boxed the emotion up. Put it in a pile with the rest.


    The philosophy hinted at was interesting, but more interesting if I was taking the class, versus having the Immortality skill with a cooldown and restrictions. It might be worth having some long discussions with Night about the nature of being able to endlessly produce Immortals, and the ethics involved. Hed naturally done a ton of thinking on the topic.


    I was classing up here.


    [Medic of the Dread Sixth Legion] - You are the lifeline of the Sixth Legion, the glowing savior that negates death and brings life. Youve healed


    Take this class, and may your brothers and sisters in arms never fall! +888 Strength, +888 Dexterity, +888 Speed, +888 Vitality, +888 Magic Power, +888 Magic Control, +888 Mana, +888 Mana Regeneration per level!


    Uhhh no. I had a few regrets even going through the class. It was basically a hyper specialized [Medic] class, but Id lose so much, namely in what I got experience for. A simple upgrade of [The Dawn Sentinel] would have everything [Medic of the Dread Sixth Legion] had, without the drastic narrowing in scope.


    It was one of the only classes without the minor biomancy, which made sense. By the time someone joined a Legion, they were already fit and healthy.


    The only interesting part was a side-path that was available. [Repair] was a class skill, the basic one simply helping me repair armor and gear a little better. As I gained experience - both with the skill, and physically repairing thousands of armor sets in all the different ways they could break - the skill could slowly evolve into letting me repair things magically, into a ranged repair, into a massive area of effect repair skill. Of course, Id run into the only 8 skill slots problem again, and itd take decades of semi-normal operations to level the skill that far, but it did exist.


    It was academically interesting as a fun skill, but didnt appeal to me as something I wanted to have.


    To the bottom of the pile! The stat distribution was nice. One level and Id have strength again!


    [The Last Sentinel of Remus] You were crowned in glory and laurel wreaths, the first woman Sentinel of Remus. Now, in this day and age, you are the last one who can claim the title Sentinel of Remus.


    My heart practically stopped at the line, and I skipped the rest of the introduction, speed reading through the book at top speed. I relaxed with a sigh.


    Night was still alive. He hadnt died, although I strongly suspected I wouldve been told before I even landed that something had happened.


    No, from the tone and the sense I got, Night had simply been around too long. He had done too much, been in too many places, held the title of Sentinel in too many countries and iterations of Exterreri. He just didnt qualify as a Reman Sentinel anymore, he was far, far more than that.


    I suspected as time went on, as my identity was married to Exterreri, that the option would fade away to dust. That one class up, I wouldnt get the option to become [The Last Sentinel of Remus].


    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.


    It wasnt thrilling me. It was more about being the final Sentinel of Remus, carrying that torch, rather than being a Sentinel. It was a legacy class, a historic class, not a modern day Sentinel class. Oh, sure, it still had healing at its core but fundamentally, it probably shouldve been filtered out if I was a little more careful with my words.


    Four classes, and I was fairly confident I wasnt taking three of them. [Saintess of the Dawn] was still on the list.


    Onto the good stuff! Onto the goodies! Onto the black classes!


    I started with the one that was my name. Because I could.


    [The Elaine] - The Healer. The Elaine. +100 Strength, +100 Dexterity, +400 Speed, +400 Vitality, +500 Magic Power, +500 Magic Control, +6666 Mana, +6666 Mana Regeneration per level.


    I was nodding along on the offered stats until I got to the mana and regeneration portion, where I felt like doing a double take.


    HOW MUCH mana and regeneration!? By all the goddesses that sent me invitation letters


    I knew my current issues were primarily around mana and regeneration these days. [Oath] was boosting my magic power and control to absurd levels, to the point where I couldnt keep up with my mana. I needed more mana, and the class delivered.


    The class description was great! I loved the short nature of it, the weight and impact it offered. It sadly told me very little about the details of the class, and for that I needed to go digging.


    I delved deep into the class, feeling an innate affinity for anything named after me. I wasnt just a healer, Id be the healer.


    The class was fame-focused. It didnt have me resting on my laurels, but doing things that spread the knowledge of medicine and the Medical Manuscripts were strongly rewarded. Also, to a certain extent, being myself. Could I level simply from eating mangos? What a life!


    Mastery


    Mastery


    Spirit


    Mastery


    Healing Efficiency boost


    Medium


    Medium


    None - Skill broadens


    Low


    High


    Medium


    Range Size (New Healing Skill)


    Huge


    Large


    "Small"


    Medium


    Large


    Small


    Healing efficiency at range


    Poor


    Medium


    Poor


    Medium


    Good


    Medium


    New Cosmic Pres Range


    Huge


    Huge


    Small


    Medium


    Large


    Medium


    New Cosmic Pres effectiveness


    Medium


    Medium


    Low


    Medium


    High


    Medium


    Sunrise changes


    Excellent.


    Active aura


    Changes to self-only


    No change


    Active aura


    No change


    Shields (Mantle Upgrade)


    Dramatic


    Medium


    Poor


    Medium


    Poor


    Poor


    Immortality


    Small CD Reduction


    Modest CD


    All creatures


    No change


    Modest CD


    No change


    Buffs


    Extensive buffs offered


    Medium buffs


    No buffs


    Minor buffs


    Large buffs


    Minor buffs


    Leveling speed ranked


    6


    1


    5


    3


    2


    4

 Chapter What class is Elaine going to take?

    Chapter What class is Elaine going to take?


    Hey!


    I forgot to include a poll last chapter. Sorry!Gett your favorite novels at


    There''s also a small typo with the end of chapter table. I''ll be fixing it.


    My good friend Void Herald''s book Commerce Emperor is releasing tomorrow! I''m excited, it''s super good!


    Spoiler for enough words:


    words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words

 Chapter 503: Yes, Yes, a Thousand Times YES!

    Chapter 503: Yes, Yes, a Thousand Times YES!


    I decided to tackle the angel in the room first - [Angel of Mercy]. It represented such a large departure from everything else that it was worth evaluating first. If I was going to take it, great, that killed the rest of the discussion. If I wasnt going to take it, that neatly eliminated a single class from contention.


    Id earned [Angel of Mercy]. I had no issues taking it in that respect, and the idea of flying around with wings and a halo was appealing. My understanding was mana and resources werent as much of a concern, but time was always a problem.


    Itd also mean leaving life on Pallos. I didnt regularly see angels flying around smiting evil. I didnt personally know about any angel guardians, although stories were filled with them. My time on Pallos would basically be at the end, moving onto the next level of existence.


    Id love to be an angel. Id love to fly around like one. But I wasnt ready to leave Pallos. I wasnt ready to leave Iona. I wanted to see what stupid trouble Artemis got into next. I had long walks with Night to go on. I had dinners with Susan to attend. I had drinks with Julius. I needed to make Katerina Immortal, and I wasnt ready to leave my brothers and sisters of the Sixth Legion behind.


    I had mangos to eat, books to read, and magic to learn. I just wasnt ready. It was too sudden, too much of a surprise.


    If Id known ahead of time, if Id gotten the warning or had a few decades preparing my final approach so to speak, Id be more willing to take the class and ascend. Out of the blue like this, as a complete surprise?


    The timing was super unfortunate.


    My Radiance class was approaching its own 768 upgrade, and I loved flight. Hopefully I could get an angelic theme going there, and get 95% of the benefits, with none of the downsides.


    With a heavy heart I leaned back in the plush chair.


    Alright, bring me back in, Im not taking [Angel of Mercy]. I told Librarian. She flicked a hand at me.


    Bring yourself back in, Im not your chauffeur! She complained. I stuck my tongue out at her, but she was just as entitled to being lazy as I wanted to be. I mentally flexed, and floated the chair inside with me still sitting in it. I mentally summoned the six books, spreading them out in front of me.


    [Saintess of the Dawn] was next up. It was a fantastic class. I could see myself taking it, handing out peace, protection, and healing to everyone who came to me. It had a dizzying array of spells and skills I could take, a thousand and one options for me to use. It scratched so many itches I never knew I had until I saw the class.


    It was also far too weak, and I couldnt believe I was saying that about a blue class. The Dawn Sentinel was only dark green, and just barely dark green at that. [Saintess of the Dawn] was unquestionably a large qualitative upgrade.


    It just wasnt good enough. I knew what I wanted to do primarily - heal people. I could heal more people, better, with every other class I was offered. For the remaining aspects, the buffs, the protection, I could lean on my wizardry for most of it.


    The only thing I was truly saying goodbye to were proper, strong shields and barriers. Preventing people from getting hurt in the first place was admittedly superior to patching them up after from the harm reduction perspective, and it wasnt like I was sitting in the backlines waiting for patients to be brought to me.


    No.


    I was usually in the thick of things, perfectly positioned to throw shields into the way of approaching harm.


    I reluctantly put [Saintess of the Dawn] at the bottom of the pile, with a little mental note that if I decided to take up the path of shields and protection, to revisit the class.


    That left the five healing classes.


    [The Elaine] was a fame-based class, one with amazing leveling speed and pretty decent improvements across the board.


    [Healer of the Stygian Dragon, Rainbow Phoenix] was the expansion class, one that let me heal far more than any of the other options. The going wide aspect naturally lent itself to going up next time I classed up power-wise.


    [Arbiter of Life and Death] was the Sentinel option. In many ways, its identity was clearest, and the questions posed the easiest.


    [Savior From the Stars] was the pure healer upgrade. It won across the board in numbers and boosting my healing abilities, but lacked any of the charming extras from the other classes.


    [The First Oathbound Healer] was the [Oathbound Healer] upgrade. It was like a mix of [Savior] and [The Elaine], a little bit of a halfway mark between the two.


    The first question I asked myself was simple, and sort of useless.


    Were there any classes I would be unhappy taking?


    I rapidly arrived at the answer of no. I would be perfectly content with any of the offered classes. Even [Saintess of the Dawn] was an acceptable result!


    Okay, great! I couldnt make a wrong decision here. I wouldnt be tormented by my decision. Unlike [Firebug], which looking back on what an idiot Id been as a kid still made me wince, I doubted any of these choices would cause me regret.


    The question was, which one was me? Which one did I most resonate with?


    Or did I want to do some min-maxing, and select a class that best boosted my powers?


    In that respect, [Healer of the Stygian Dragon, Rainbow Phoenix] was the clear loser. With minimal buffs to my abilities, and the lowest stats, what it had going for it most was sheer diversity. The other classes all had strong points in their favor.


    Which one let me be the most powerful healer?


    From a healing perspective, [Arbiter of Life and Death] was in fourth. It was the class to take if I believed myself to be Sentinel Dawn deep in my heart, but it wasnt as cleanly focused on healing as the other three. It did include more personal protection and protection for others, along with a suite of interesting abilities, but the pure number crunching had it a little weaker.


    Where it shone was active experience gain, and that led me on a wild tangent down that path. Everything was interconnected. Experience led to levels, levels led to stats, stats led to healing abilities.


    Id ranked [The Elaine] as the fastest leveling class, but that was assuming a long measure of peace. [Arbiter] leveled from far more activities than [The Elaine] did, and when push came to shove and I was screaming in battle with the rest of the Sixth Legion, it would level faster than any of my other classes.


    I went back to my math, and tried to calculate how many people I could heal in a single day after gaining 150 levels.


    The results were shocking.


    Id calculated percentages and relative ratios in all my previous calculations, but when running the numbers on how many people can I heal in a day, my jaw dropped. I triple-checked my numbers, absolutely certain that I mustve misplaced a 0 or multiplied a number wrong.


    It couldnt be right.


    It undeniably was.


    The difference between the two classes was do I want to heal 9,000,000 people in a day, or 8,000,000 people in a day?


    In a 16 hour day. Not even a full 24 hours!


    It was stupid. It was absurd.


    It was right.


    The added power for [The First Oathbound Healer] was getting completely wasted, vanishing into the void. Who cared if I could heal a million more people in a single day when finding that many hurt people in the first place was impossible?


    I did a similar calculation for [The Elaine] and [The Arbiter of Life and Death], and the numbers told a similar story. [The Elaine] could heal quite a lot more than [Arbiter] could, but I was looking at degrees of stupid numbers no matter how I sliced it.


    Fine.


    The utility discussion, which I had axed earlier as nothing is drawing me as much as the raw power, was back on the table. Annoying that I had to loop back to it, but this was my main class, my core. It was worth spending the time and doing it properly.


    [The First Oathbound Healer] didnt have any true utility. I was getting a general upgrade across the board, and admittedly, a free general skill slot wasnt nothing. My general skills were some of my most-used skills in day-to-day life, and I could do amazing things with another open slot. Still a contender, but for a completely different reason.


    [The Elaine] was a little weaker. Most of its added utility was in being the healers healer. Boosting other healers, leveling quickly, having some interesting skills with [Sing My Name] and the like.


    [Savior] was chomping at the bit with a half-dozen extremely powerful buffs, each one packaging a number of different abilities and improvements. A few of my skills I wouldnt drop under any circumstances, but between the open slot from [Wheel] and [Dance] merging, [Sunrise] and [Mantle of the Stars] being optional skills, I could potentially grab three powerful auras or buffs to help others.


    [Arbiter of Life and Death] came roaring back onto the stage when it came to utility. It was the battlefield Sentinel class, and it packed a number of goodies. There were the significantly stronger shields - not quite[Saintess of the Dawn] level, but good enough. There was the armor skill, and there was the battlefield awareness. I was unsure how good the battlefield awareness truly was - [The World Around Me] was busted as hell, and I doubted anything could top it - but it existed.


    The sheer strength and quality of the offerings in [Savior] and [Arbiter] quickly outstripped both [The Elaine] and [The First Oathbound Healer], narrowing down my options to those two.


    More analysis time! At least Id cut down my offerings down to two, and I wouldnt be upset at either one winning.


    Buffs were arguably better for an army and supporting high-level Classers - like Iona and Fenrir, a little less so with Auri - while shields were better for weaker people and individuals. My shields would be good, they werent going to be shield an army good like War Sentinel Legions could be.


    The tiebreaker ended up being a fairly simple idea.


    I couldnt heal everything. Things like the rock smashing Specs head in, the elf being executed by the Wardens. Overwhelming damage that was immediately lethal, even with the instantaneous nature of my healing.


    A shield could stop things like that. With the increased shield, I couldve snapped it above his head and blocked the killshot. Improved stats and buffs galore wouldnt have helped him in the moment, not with a rock that large going that fast.


    Even with [Savior From the Stars] generally having better skills healing-wise than [Arbiter of Life and Death], they both ran into the healing = yes issue, where the improved skills didnt matter that much for my healing, it was already at utterly fucking stupid levels.


    It wasnt what I had expected to take at all. I was so close to taking [The First Oathbound Healer]. If I hadnt triple-checked the math in every way, shape, or form, I wouldve taken it and possibly been left feeling dissatisfied when I realized how much it wasnt working.


    I quietly closed the books, and reshelved them for Librarian. I wasnt going to be rude and just leave unchecked-out books lying around! Especially not when Librarian also wanted to be lazy.


    I tucked the ancient leather bound tome under my arm, and turned to face Librarian.


    I would like to take [Arbiter of Life and Death], please.


    I woke up from the world of my soul, dozens of notifications ringing in my ears. My awareness briefly flickered as [The World Around Me] turned back on, Iona kneeling by my bed.


    Her smile lit up her entire face as she saw me waking up, and she held out her hands as she asked me the question Id been waiting for years to hear.


    Elaine, love of my life, star of my world, will you marry me? She asked.


    My carefully laid plans around the sword Id secretly forged and stashed under the bed went right out the window. My heart raced with joy as I leapt out of bed, into her arms. My lips met hers.


    Yes, yes, a thousand times yes! I cried out.


    Then my brain caught up with the rest of me, and I realized what Iona was holding.


    Wait, whats that?

 Chapter 504: Bloopers/Interlude - Shenanigans of the Sixth

    Chapter 504: Bloopers/Interlude - Shenanigans of the Sixth


    The men and women of the Sixth Legion were just that - men and women. Predominantly human, at that. They were good. Well-trained, well-equipped, drilled and practiced.


    But they were only human. And like all people, they made mistakes, little ones that skills didnt always catch. There were errors. Pranks. And the occasional malicious compliance with stupid orders.


    During the war seasons, a good amount of the bullshit was put to the side in favor of staying alive, of presenting a united front and fighting well.


    During the winter, when people were bored?


    Thats when the shenanigans happened.


    Detail! I want my wagon shining clean! [Centurion] Astenies roared. His wagon - his personal wagon, the one hed always rode in - had been an unfortunate victim of the mornings drills, having been splattered from top to bottom with mud. Nothing too unfortunate, but it would stick out like a sore thumb. Not only that, but the soldiers had nothing to do. Keeping them busy with something was better than letting a dozen idle hands figure out mischief.


    All in all, something of a win for the [Centurion]. He adjusted his cloak against the bitingly cold wind.


    But- One of the hapless soldiers started to say something. Astenies turned and roared at him.


    But nothing! Are the Han descending upon us? Are dinosaurs attacking? Has the alarm been sounded? What was that? No? Thats what I thought! Now get to it!


    Perhaps if the line leader had said something Astenies wouldve been more inclined to listen, but the woman in question was standing ramrod straight, saluting her understanding of the orders.


    You heard the [Centurion]! She barked out, Astenies missing the glimmer of mischief entirely. Were going to make this wagon shine!


    Very good. Astenies said, huddling a little deeper into his cloak and wishing for the warmth of his tent and the small brazier he had going there. He turned and left, visions of hot food and warm furs dancing through his mind.


    A malicious gleam entered the line leaders eyes.


    Right then! He wanted his wagon to shine. Septimus, Octavius, start working on the mud. The rest of you, start hauling buckets of water. Need to make it nice and clean after all.


    Octavius furrowed his eyebrows.


    But its freezing out. He protested.


    Exactly.


    [Centurion] Astenies emerged from his tent the next morning to find his beloved wagon shining and gleaming in the early morning sun, the attention of half the Legion on it as sparkling light caught the block of ice freezing it solid.


    I know [Camp Prefect] Robin has a duty roster, but this is stupid. Legionnaire Bunny complained to Specs. Rain was pouring around them in great sheets of water. The clever location and design of the Legions winter fortress meant it wasnt too much of a concern, the water captured and funneled away before it could do too much harm.


    Specs pushed some water around with his broom, giving Bunny a strange look.


    This your first time in the army or something? He asked.


    Bunny shut up, and continued sweeping the dirt roads.


    In the pouring rain.


    Why?


    Because the duty roster said so.


    I am an [Alchemist]! Not some two-bit jar-headed grunt that doesnt know the difference between a reagent and a solvent! Orhun protested.


    Tribune Hazel shook her head. Optio Maxlin was on a well-earned temporary leave, and Hazel had taken command of the alchemist lines in his absence.


    Everyone rotates through. Would you rather have this duty during the summer? Hazel was a big believer in convince people youre right when she had the opportunity to. She knew she could pull out the Im your commanding officer and Im ordering you to do this, but that didnt work long-term for herding the collection of egos and specialized skills that was the Specialist Cohort.


    No. Orhun defeatedly admitted. I wouldnt. Alright, hand over the manual. Its just one night duty right?


    Hazel glared at the alchemist-soldier.


    You will be getting the manual yourself from the [Scribes], and I didnt hear how youre unfamiliar with some of our standard operating procedures.


    Orhun felt a shiver run down his back.


    Right.


    [Tribune] Hazel, not [Optio] Maxlin. He had to watch his words.


    But imagine if they do! Well drink like emperors! Mogna encouraged.


    It took four beers for Nesmuss good judgment to be impaired enough to go along with his friends hare-brained scheme. One very large purchase and Mogna retrieving their lines wagon later, and they were heading back to the Legions fortress.


    Bunny was on guard duty, and even drunk, even not part of her cohort, Bunny scared Nesmus. She looked friendly and happy enough.


    Hed met a few strong people over the course of his life, and Bunny reminded him of them. It wasnt anything obvious, it was simply the way she could perfectly control her presence. Hed missed her entirely passing through the gates one too many times, only noticing her lurking in the shadows when he was only two steps away from the woman. Hed also seen how, in spite of her tiny size, she could tower like a titan and yell down a dozen people, each with a foot and a hundred levels on her.


    That sort of presence control and complete unflappability in the face of power was not normal. The only reason she could possibly be unscared of so many large warriors looming over her tiny self was, Nesmus reasoned, if they were weak compared to her.


    His mouth dried up as they approached the gate, and the guards naturally barred their entry. An entire keg was too much, let alone six. Mogna flourished the paper like it was a sword.


    As you can see! Regulations permit us to bring six whole drinks in with us! One, two, three, four, five, SIX! Mogna weaved unsteadily on top of the barrels as the guards looked at the paperwork with furrowed eyebrows.


    Well, she is technically correct. One of the guards mentioned. The senior one sighed, but Nesmus only had eyes on Bunny. He was sure she was the real boss here.


    She wasnt moving, which was an encouraging sign in his books.


    Alright, you lot, get through. Dont do it again, and you better invite us to the party! The senior guard waved them through, and Nesmus couldnt believe his luck.


    They were going to drink like emperors indeed.


    At least, until the regulations were amended.


    A few years after the conclusion of the Han Civil War.


    Silver-clad Li Wenxian stared at the numbers in front of him, trying to work out who he could reasonably make take the fall for this disaster.


    It wasnt his fault. It wasnt his responsibility.


    But he had been tasked with finding out, and the results were terrible. Heads were going to roll, and he needed to figure out a way to make sure it wasnt his.


    The [Scholar] went back to the old records, hoping to find an error there, one that would demonstrate that he was in the clear.


    Census Records: Year 711 of the Han Dynasty


    Households: 10,677,960


    Population: 56,486,856


    It was only 60 years ago. Were the [Scholars] then corrupt? Did the [Court Officials] change their numbers to make themselves look better?


    It was impossible. Li Wenxians report had radically different numbers. Things had settled down enough that he couldnt even try to claim disharmony from the rebuilding!


    Census Records: Year 3 of the Zhao Dynasty


    Households: 2,459,840


    Population: 16,163,863


    Were in agreement then? Selene asked Lunaris. The two vibed on a deep level together, able to know each others thoughts sometimes before they even had them. Still, for the important things, they communicated directly, making sure there were no issues.


    Yes. We need to tell Iona. Lunaris agreed.


    Communication on Pallos was difficult. It took a long time for word to spread from one nation to another, and that was in the great civilized south.


    In the north, things were even harder.


    It had taken Reinhard the kirin a good deal of time to get home from the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft. Time to reintegrate back home. Time to do the thousand and one welcome home! tasks and activities. Time to refind her place among her people, to settle back down.


    Only when everything was set and settled did one of her lowest-priority tasks finally bubble up towards the surface. A little note from one of her roommates that she was to pass on. That they were going in a direction, and might settle down there.


    Reinhard dutifully passed it along, and it took time for the right kirin with the message to meet one of the reclusive and elusive phoenixes, and let them know that a long-lost sister of theirs was traveling through the southern continent. A burning needle in a gigantic haystack.


    The message had been garbled as it was passed along from one place to another, and the myriad of languages it went through didnt help. The phoenixes got the general idea.


    One of their own was being held by a human in the Exterreri Empire.

 Chapter 505: The Arbiter of Life and Death

    Chapter 505: The Arbiter of Life and Death


    Several years ago, when Iona was leaving to take Nina on her first [Squire] adventure


    Everything came down to geography.


    The Exterreri Empire was founded near the elven lands, on the shores of the Sea of Stars. Just across the Sea of Stars was Nippon-Koku, home of, among other races, kitsunes.


    Which was how Nina had found herself in Sanguino in the first place, the port city on the Sea of Stars.


    Nippon-Kokus neighbor was Vollomond, home of werewolves.


    When Iona decided to take Nina to Vollomond, they naturally needed to pass over the Sea of Stars and Nippon-Koku. Given that it was directly after the discussion Iona and Elaine had about marriage and life, the thought was at the top of her mind.


    Shed remembered that Jake had been from Earth like Elaine, and that he had a number of people he mightve shared marriage customs with.


    It would be a great surprise for Elaine, a fabulous loving gesture. None of the girls had been lying to her, and Iona left satisfied, with a plan for a great proposal gift.


    It never occurred to her that Jake mightve lied


    Whats that? I asked, my tone making my thoughts clear.


    Iona started and did a double-take, looking at the collar in her hands.


    A collar. I wasnt some pet to be leashed up! Yes, we had a fun bundle of rope in a closet, but a collar was like, eight steps too far.


    As I became more aware of the world and my senses and [The World Around Me] turned back on, I was able to get a detailed look at it.


    It was fabulous. Ten thousand tiny stitches in it detailed dozens of scenes with the two of us. From when we met in a tavern, to the lake where wed started dating, to montages of our adventures together, it was clear Iona had spent hundreds of hours hand-stitching the entire thing together. It ended with Auri and Fenrir each holding a moonstone on the front.


    I immediately regretted my words and the face Id pulled. It was a stunning display of love and dedication, if a little misguided.


    A collar. Red and the rest of Jakes girls said it was the typical Earth custom to propose with one. Iona said. They also talked about a red string, but I thought it was too much.


    I facepalmed, ignoring the dozens of notifications ringing in my ears.


    Jake was lying through his teeth. I said. We dont use collars. Phef. We use rings. Typically two. One for the proposal, and a second for the marriage.


    Oh. Iona looked down at the collar, her face falling. I-


    I didnt let her finish. I half-leapt out of bed, wrapping my arms around her neck and planting a kiss on her lips. I could feel myself moving differently already, launching myself far faster than Id planned, sinking deeper into her arms than intended. Id clearly gotten a few levels - even 2 wouldve more than doubled my strength stat!


    Its lovely. I insisted. I can tell it was made with love.


    Not wanting to linger over a potentially awkward moment, I broke the hug, took it, and sat back on the bed.


    For you! I proclaimed, and used [Rapid Reshelving] to get the proposal sword Id made onto the bed. It was Ionas turn to look a little awkward, and she coughed.


    Elaine, moonlight of my life, I love you, but did you raid a 500 year old book or something? Iona brought the sword up to her eyes, giving it a critical look, then experimentally flourished it.


    Hey! I flushed as I protested. It wasnt that old 400. I muttered. Also, be careful with it. Its not well-forged, I did it myself. I dont want you swinging it too hard and breaking it or something.


    Iona laughed and sat on the bed with me. I leaned over and nuzzled her.


    Were a right pair. I said.


    She wrapped an arm around me.


    That we are.


    We spent a few minutes in bliss.


    I was engaged! I had a fiancee! I was going to get married!


    Soo do we want to talk dates? When were doing this? Where? What traditions are we going to use? I wanted to know it all! This was so exciting!


    Is there anything particularly important to you? Iona asked. Whats critical for a ceremony from your perspective?


    We got talking, and started to hammer out various details. I shot an annoyed look towards the door as I detected footsteps pausing outside.?iscover new chapters on e aspects of marriages transcended time and space, elements distilled down to the essentials.


    A ceremony.


    A promise.


    An exchange.


    And, of course, there was naturally a huge party. The exact details of each one different from culture to culture, and it was fun starting to figure out what we wanted and how it would go.


    Do you want rings? Iona asked. I put my hand out, and Iona started to play with my fingers.


    The recent loss of my Deception Ring occurred to me, and I grimaced.


    Yes but also no. I end up in fairly dangerous spots, and Id hate to lose it. I want to be with you for a long, long time, and losing the symbol of our marriage would suck. I also didnt have my [Lost and Found] skill anymore.


    I was inspired by Arachnes neck tattoos, the sign she had with Night. Also, Artemis and Julius had matching tattoos. That, and our earlier discussion.


    We didnt want this until death did us part or anything. I didnt plan on dying, and Iona was practically guaranteed to become one of Selene and Lunariss angels after death. Death would just be an unfortunate speedbump in our relationship, if it came for us at all.


    Immortality was weird.


    What if we got tattoos instead? Got someone with the right skills to make it part of our image? That way we cant lose them. I said.


    Hmmm. Iona was thoughtful. Im initially optimistic about the idea, but the logistics are tricky.


    I cant take it anymore! Artemis yelled as she burst into our bedroom. Eeeeeee! My little healybugs ENGAGED! A thousand twenty-four congratulations!! She swooped in, picked me up in a hug, and twirled me around. And it couldnt be to a better woman. Congratulations on nabbing Elaine!


    Artemis put me down, grabbed Ionas hand, and started to vigorously shake it. Julius walked in, slowly shaking his head.


    Artemis, youre going to have months to plan. Theyre newly engaged. Give them a few hours.


    Juliuss implication burned my ears, but Artemis just waved him off.


    We were all piled in a heap for weeks after you proposed to me. She countered. I didnt see no privacy then or anything.


    So because we had it bad, they also have to have it bad. Julius crossed his arms. I lightly punched Artemiss arm.


    Yeah! What was all this about teaching youngins to live better lives, hmmm? It was fun sassing Artemis.


    Iona wisely stayed out of it, beaming at me with a silly grin.


    Another ding! Went off in my ear.


    My class! My skills!


    Alright all of you, celebration later. I need to figure out my new skills.


    Artemis lit up, and dashed out of the room.


    Be right back! She yelled over her shoulder. Iona put me on her lap, wrapped her arms around me, and was a very comfortable seat while I brought up my notifications and started reading through them.


    [*ding!* [The Dawn Sentinel - Celestial] upgraded to [The Arbiter of Life and Death - Celestial]!]


    [*ding!* [The Arbiter of Life and Death] has leveled up! 768 -> 770. +400 Strength, +400 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +1600 Magic Power, +1600 Magic Control, +1000 Mana, +9000 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]


    Whoof. Those were some stats and a half. A bit of a shame that it was only two levels, but Id finally hit the tipping point right at the end of the Han civil war.


    No more outlying dexterity eating my strength!


    [*ding!* [Celestial Affinity] has upgraded to [Celestial Mastery]!]


    Not only would I be getting better skills, but my mana would go a lot further.


    Celestial Mastery: This skill represents a profound deepening of your connection to the Celestial element. You are the master of the cosmos, ruler of the eternal sky and boundless galaxies. Youve harmonized with the very essence of the stars and the myriad mysteries of the universe. Your abilities are not only enhanced, but elevated to a level where the Celestial and the arcane intertwine seamlessly. Improved Celestial mana efficiency per level.


    Excellent! My Celestial class was high level enough that Id really be feeling the impact from this. It was a large part of the math around healing everyone.


    [*ding!* [Cosmic Presence] has upgraded to [Aurora Curialis]!]


    Aurora Curialis: The Aurora Borealis dazzles the sky like the Aurora Curialis heals the body. Drawing its power from the ethereal beauty and natural energies of the aurora, this skill gently envelops all, promoting rapid natural healing and rejuvenation. The vibrant colors dance around the injured, stitching flesh back together, closing wounds, and helping the body bring itself back into peak physical condition.


    The Aurora can not only help and heal, but it can also hinder. Healing can be selectively prevented within the range of the Aurora Curialis. Increased range per level. -16,376 Mana Regeneration. Mana contesting efficiency improved per level.


    Id seen enough warfare and there were enough other buffs going around that I wasnt convinced that [The Stars Smile Upon You] was a helpful skill.


    I was generally fighting against the high level Classers. That one [Great General] trying to kill me at the very start of the war was fresh in my mind, and the Eventide Eclipse, my closest friends and family, was a small group. I reread the single-target buff descriptions, and noticed that they didnt include a species restriction.


    I could buff Fenrir if I wanted.


    I wasnt sold on the single target buff over an armor skill though. I figured Id ask my primary target about it.


    Hey Iona. Got a question for you. I said.


    Sure, what can I help you with? She said.


    Ive got the option of two buff skills for you, or an armor skill. Which do you think I should take?


    I gave her the detailed breakdown of the three skills, Julius and Artemis listening in.


    Armor skill. Artemis instantly said. Always take the armor skill. Itll save your life.


    Even with my healing? I countered. I took a sword through the head and survived.


    Julius said nothing. I hadnt asked him.


    Im going to say the armor skill as well. Iona said to my great surprise.


    Oh? Whys that? I asked, genuinely surprised.


    Fighting stronger and fasters all very well and good, along with all the other fancy effects, but if youre hitting me with that, Im fighting close to you. I worry about you. All the power in the world doesnt change that. With an armor skill, I can worry less about you, and fight more aggressively, and less defensively. Im less in the protector role.


    That brought up another good point.


    Sure, but isnt qualifying for your [Vow] to kick in worth something? Will I still qualify? No matter how good my buffs are, nothing compares to the power your [Vow] provides.


    Iona nodded in recognition.


    You still would, no question about it. A slightly harder to kill healer is still a healer, and youre still the love of my life. Dont worry about me so much, stay safe for you.


    Well, that made the decision easy.


    I did take [Arbiters Eyes] first though, hoping theyd merge into one of the skills in the few hours I had before a skill faded. To my great disappointment, I didnt get any immediate notification that theyd merged or upgraded.


    With everything done, I took a look at my stats.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Chimera (Elvenoid)]


    [Age: 31]


    [Mana: 2,524,790/2,524,790]


    [Mana Regeneration: 2,052,061 +(4,318,034)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 1,959 (Effectively: 15,672)]


    [Dexterity: 26,643 (Effectively: 283,695)]


    [Vitality: 64,167 (Effectively: 1,002,609)]


    [Speed: 51,399 (Effectively: 1,011,687)]


    [Mana: 252,479]


    [Mana Regeneration: 268,618 (+ 431,803)]


    [Magic Power: 260,409 (+ 10,025,747)]


    [Magic Control: 260,130 (+ 10,015,005)]


    [Class 1: [The Arbiter of Life and Death - Celestial: Lv 770]]


    [Celestial Mastery: 770]


    [Aurora Curialis: 741]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 25]


    [Luminary Mind: 476]


    [Universal Cure: 770]


    [Arbiters Eyes: 1]


    [Shroud of the Stellar Sea: 580]


    [Zenith Everlasting: 566]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 643]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 643]


    [Radiance Resistance: 643]


    [Nova Lance: 643]


    [Lepidoptera: 643]


    [Nectar: 643]


    [Solar Corona: 643]


    [Scintillating Ascent: 643]


    [Kaleidoscope: 643]


    [Class 3: [Ancient Loremaster of Legend - Spatial: Lv 256]]


    [Spatial Authority: 256]


    [Manuscript Mastery: 256]


    [Blink: 140]


    [Loremaster''s Library: 256]


    [Vault of Ages: 64]


    [Rapid Reshelving: 224]


    [Astral Archives: 256]


    [Lust for Lore: 256]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 448]


    [Parallel Thoughts: 294]


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 768]


    [The World Around Me: 174]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 770]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 770]


    [Persistent Casting: 600]


    [Imbue: 263]

 Chapter 506: Shroud of the Stellar Sea

    Chapter 506: Shroud of the Stellar Sea


    Julius, youre fair, what are the terms of the bet? I asked him.


    I shot Iona a quick look, wordlessly sending an essay to her.


    I know youre more fair than Julius is, but Artemis would listen to him more than you.


    Bless Ionas heart, she immediately understood me, replying with a raised eyebrow.


    I completely understand, and wouldve suggested the same thing.


    Julius stroked his chin.


    Well. Lets get far away from here, we dont know if your new shield will deflect things at unusual angles. Artemis is going to throw enough firepower at you that Id prefer a mountain between us and anything fragile. The terms are one full mana pool. If Artemis cant break your shield with her entire mana pool, you win. Otherwise, she wins.


    The more mana I have left, the longer the loser has to do their thing! Artemis quickly jumped in. Iona looked incredulous. Julius shook his head.


    Nope. That wasnt part of the bet.


    Artemiss face fell, but then quickly picked up again.


    Oh! Iona! Youve got some sweet archery skills, and I want to test out my shield. Try after?


    Iona grinned.


    Sure! Id be happy to!


    We passed through the gardens, and Artemiss eyes lit up at the trees.


    Oh! I could shoot the trees, and see if you can block them. Itll let me go a little more aggressively, since I dont need to worry about killing them.


    I gasped in horror.


    Artemis! No! I protested. Id get better! The trees wouldnt!


    Iona shot Artemis a dirty look, promising terrible retribution if she tried. Artemis defiantly tossed her hair back.


    Youre invincible and the closest thing to unkillable Ive ever seen. She said. Your shield skill is about protecting other people. Just protecting yourself is almost a pointless exercise.


    She had a point, and Iona was stroking her chin thoughtfully.


    We could try an exercise with random trees getting shot. The Valkyrie proposed. You do have a point with protecting a number of targets over one.


    I was in full agreement.


    I could also test the battlefield awareness skill, and see if I can prod it to merge. I added. It was ripe to merge with [The World Around Me], both of them being extremely similar perception skills, and extensively using it would give it better chances of merging.


    Frankly, the best way of merging the skills would be high-pressure, high-stress situations. Artemis shooting at my precious mango trees was better than shooting at some random forestry I didnt care about, and finding an orphanage to use as firing practice while I defended would be the best experience yet.


    All that said, I wasnt quite ready to line orphans up and tell Artemis Go nuts.


    We wandered off to a more deserted section of our mountain, finding a relatively open clearing. I eyed the trees around me.


    This is a pretty good spot. I said, pointing to a dozen trees. Lets call those the targets?


    Artemis shrugged.


    Sure.


    Mind if I join in? Iona asked. Itll let us escalate further.


    I eyed my mana and estimated Artemiss, running some calculations.


    Even after Ionas contributions, I was pretty sure my mana reserves werent going to be the issue with my bet. It was immediate overwhelming impulse that concerned me.


    Yup. I activated [Arbiters Eyes], gaining a new and different perspective.


    It was like I suddenly had a minor top-down view of the world on a different layer of sight, the skill letting me process both views seamlessly. I didnt even need to break out [Parallel Thoughts] to think about both views!


    It wasnt blowing me away.


    [*ding!* [Arbiters Eyes] leveled up! 1 -> 2]


    My field of view expanded a modest amount, but it was literally doubling in level. Some quick calculations suggested that the view would get suitably epic in time. As it was, I just barely had Artemis, Iona, and the dozen marked trees in my view.


    Begin. Julius said.


    To Artemiss credit, she didnt immediately fire on the trees. This was an exercise to figure out my skill and how it worked, not a bet. She cleanly pointed to a tree, levitated a rock, spun it around her hand a few times, then fired away.


    The moment she pointed I threw up a large [Shroud of the Stellar Sea] dome in front of the tree. It looked like a direct upgrade of [Mantle of the Stars], which it was. While [Mantle] had been a starry field against an image of the night sky, [Shroud of the Stellar Sea] was taking it to the next level. It was a cut of the thickest part of the galaxy above us, the stars multiplied a hundred times. It was harder to see through, but also visually looked stronger.


    Artemiss rock cracked through the air, setting my teeth on edge. It shattered against my shield, the stars in the area faintly pulsing. My mana barely twitched at the attack, but it wasnt like Artemis had put her all into it.


    Good. She said, bringing up her second hand and pointing to another tree. Lets go.


    Like some sort of [Conductor], Artemis pointed from tree to tree, launching an attack at each one. She went faster and faster, her hands flashing as she launched rocks at different trees.


    To my minor dismay, I found it simplicity itself to keep up with her. She just moved so slowly compared to me. Id gotten stronger, and somewhat left her in the dust.


    It got much harder once Artemis started faking her signals. She pointed at a tree three meters to my left, and shot a rock at one two to my right. I almost stumbled on the first one, just barely getting a barrier in place, but then I was ignoring her hands, and just paying attention to the attacks themselves.


    The more we practiced, the more comfortable I got with the skill. I could see the strong value in [Arbiters Eyes] giving me an entirely new perspective in battle, another way to keep track and see everything that was going on.


    [Parallel Thoughts] let me briefly debate if I wanted to stop using [Arbiters Eyes] and see if [The World Around Me] was good enough. If it wasnt, Id have to revisit keeping the skill. At the same time, if I stopped using the skill now, the odds of it merging plummeted.


    Hmmmm.


    [The World Around Me] would eventually become strong enough one way or another. I decided to be greedy, and continued trying to merge the two together. There was a chance Id get punished for the decision, but the worst-case scenario wasnt that bad.


    Iona walked up next to Artemis and stretched. I wasnt sure if she was trying to distract me - because it was working - or letting me know she was joining in. Perhaps a bit of both?


    Iona summoned her bow and arrows, and slowly took aim at a tree, firing a shot off at a leaf. I blocked it, and she quickly ramped up her pace, firing arrows as quickly as she could summon them.


    Unlike Artemiss straight and simple Earth attacks, Iona got fancy with [Trick Shot]. She fired a few arrows in high curves, forcing me to block from unusual angles. When a dozen arrows came raining down, she shot a brilliant arrow into the storm, where one arrow bumped into a second, which collided with a third, ending up redirecting half the swarm at the last second from their original targets, to an entirely new set of targets. I was forced to expand my shield to its limit to catch everything.


    The second time she tried that, I stopped the cascade arrow before it could touch anything, and glowed under Ionas silent praise as she blew me a kiss.


    I almost rolled my eyes when Artemis shot a full-powered gravel shot at my face. Teenage me wouldve flinched so hard, and gone through a dozen different stages of betrayal and grief. I was just happy that Artemis wasnt pulling any punches, and giving my skill a proper workout.


    I blocked that last shot in style, concaving my shield to get all the gravel into one spot, then dismissing the shield to have it fall right into my hand. Artemis vigorously applauded that move.


    Nonsense! Julius protested. Ive been on the road often enough. I know the last thing I want to do when getting home is to have a bunch of guests that I need to tend to. I know I wanted someone with a hot cup of tea, a dinner, and a bath all laid out. Its the least we can do for you.


    Julius and Iona continued their entirely sincere discussion on politeness and hosting, along with the best way to get back home. I tilted my head at Artemis. I was all for shield upgrades. Id just gotten one, but another one? Sign me up! [Arbiter of Life and Death] wasnt restricted in upgrading skills like [The Dawn Sentinel] had been, and there was nothing saying I couldnt get skills that the book hadnt described.


    Hit me. I said.


    Right. Remember how I told you there were two types of shields? Solid walls that you bring up, initial cost but nothing for impact, versus walls that cost no mana, but take magic power and mana on impact?


    I stared at Artemis. I wasnt an idiot, Id been using shields most of my life, and had gone through the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft.


    ... yes. I finally confirmed. Yes, I know how shields work.


    Artemis had a triumphant look on her face.


    But wait! Theres more! She said. This only works for a few elements, but destructive shields! They cost almost nothing to conjure, and instead of stopping an attack, destroy it! Its shit against any attacks that are vitality-reinforced, but itll stop anything else for a fraction of the cost!


    Bad against swords, great against projectiles. I summed it up.


    Artemis nodded.


    Oh yeah! Most Earth attacks are focused on more projectiles, or more speed. Nobodys trying to throw heavier rocks. Iona here is a great example, where she just shot me with more arrows, instead of going for a heavier one.


    Two small arrows is the same effort for you to block as one heavy one thats the same weight. Iona pointed out. It also does nothing about a fist to the face.


    And it takes you twice as long to fire those two. My point exactly! Artemis was enthused about her shield. Now, sure, the fist is a valid point, and Ive got protection with my Earth element, but Elaine, you dont like being close enough to get hit in the first place, so its perfect!


    If I can even get that sort of skill in Celestial. I didnt want to get my hopes up too high. It sounded too good to be true.


    The anything vitality-reinforced ignores it like tissue paper was a big flashing red sign on it, but my experience with Fire and Auris Inferno suggested a different angle. I had plenty of experience with the System and how things worked at this point to figure out a lot of the underlying principles on my own.


    For a projectile like an arrow, there was the weight, and there was the speed of the arrow. My current shields needed to stop the momentum of the arrow, burning mana every time they were hit. It was the same between an arrow, and a sword swung by a soldier. As a rule of thumb, Id need about as much mana to defend against an Earth mages attack as they needed to conjure and throw the attack in the first place.


    For a normal shield, not the strongly boosted shield skill I had now.


    In contrast, a deletion-style shield would only need to eliminate the weight of an object. An Earth mage could spend 30 mana conjuring a rock, 3,000 sending it to my face, and Id only need 30 mana to delete it. The offset was, of course, the fist to the face issue Iona had mentioned.


    It was worth investigating.


    Bah. Dark is the primary element for this sort of thing, and Celestials got enough interesting properties that it should be able to get it working. The vast void between the stars, and all those sorts of things. Artemis waved her hand.


    We arrived back at the villa.


    I see no reason I cant try to sidegrade, and see whats offered. I cautiously said. Any suggestions how to change my shield like that?


    Just like any other skill upgrade or modification. Try to destroy things as they hit your shield. If you can use your Celestial element for it, thatd be best.


    [The Arbiter of Life and Death] had nothing destructive about it. I started to work out a few different spells I could try making, along with the plain and simple [Nova Lance] objects as they hit my shield. It wasnt a great way to get a sidegrade offered - itd probably take me a few months at minimum, to a couple of years maximum - but it was the only thing I could think of in the moment.


    First I needed to master [Shroud of the Stellar Sea], which would take quite a lot of effort. Fortunately, I had an army that was willing to help me out on that front.


    My exercises hadnt gotten the happy [*ding!*] notification of [The World Around Me] merging with [Arbiters Eyes]. I could absolutely see a few years of solid practice with the two skills eventually merging them together - but they were far more likely to get merged in the class skill slot over the general one.


    With some reluctance for the merger not obtained, I dropped [Arbiters Eyes] and picked up [Etheric Aegis]. The skill was a little unusual - it was a passive, but unlike most passives that were always on, I needed to think about turning it on.


    I got a vague sense that my skill had expanded to my tunic, sandals, and everything else I was wearing. It was like me, Elaine, as a person, had expanded, and the clothes were now extensions of my skin. Sandals were now the extension of my feet. It was like they were numb extensions though - I couldnt feel anything from them.


    I looked down at my feet and shrugged. No reason not to experiment! I slowly unwrapped my sandals, noting that the leather straps still felt like me even when they were lying down. All while my foot was inside the sandal, the skill was clearly expanded and protecting it. I daintily took my foot out, slowly and carefully.


    When my foot was roughly a quarter out, the skill just stopped. No warning, no feedback, no alert, just - one moment it was me, and the next it wasnt.


    Whatcha up to? Artemis asked. It was a fair question, given that I was staring at my foot half-out of my shoe.


    New armor skill. I told her. Trying to figure out where it starts, and where it stops.


    Artemis shrugged and grabbed two parts of my tunic, experimentally pulling at it.


    Yup, solid armor skill here. She said, unable to simply rip it apart.


    [*ding!* [Etheric Aegis] leveled up! 1 -> 2]


    We should get you suited up later on, and Ill start hitting you. Iona offered. Its how Valkyries level their armor skill initially.


    It sounded kinda fun to get wrapped up in armor and thrown around like an invincible pinball. I couldnt wait.


    Sure! That sounds fun! Wanna have a contest to see who can throw me up the highest?


    Iona laughed and Julius rolled his eyes.


    Fenrir would win that every time, but that could be funny to watch.


    I grinned.


    Its a deal! Operation: How Far Can We Throw Elaine starts after dinner! I said.


    Youre going to lose your lunch. Julius was being waaaaaaaay too sensible with his practical comments and rest after eating nonsense. Also, you and Fenrir are way stronger than I am. Im teaming up with Artemis. He said to Iona.


    Ahh, Julius. I knew I liked him for a reason.


    We sat down for Im pretty sure it was dinner, but my sense of time and meals was all wonky post classing-up. Titania was a gem, and dinner was fantastic.


    It made me miss Auri with a sharp pang of longing.


    Shes with the Sixth. Shell be home soon. I reassured myself. The Sixth had me idly thinking about my various adventures there, and a few items Id given myself to do once I got back. Id managed to find a few moonstones and charge them up with [The Stars Never Fade]. Hopefully that should be enough to lure Amber over again! I couldnt wait to see her again.


    Crazy to think that my little beanpole of an apprentice was all grown up and having her own adventures now. Why was time so unfair?! Thinking of things to do, I wanted to chat with Iona about something.


    Hey Iona, I got a really interesting class up offering just now. I said, starting to broach the topic of [Angel of Mercy] with her.


    Yeah? Tell me about it. She said. Artemis leaned in.


    Dish! Tell me everything! Then Ill tell you some neat little classes I got offered relating to the School. The System seems to think its the same one


    My head whirled around at that little teaser, but Artemis just leaned back in her chair and grinned at me.


    Titania came in at that moment and bowed slightly.


    Theres a [Courier] for Sentinel Dawn from Sentinel Arachne. She announced.


    Shit.

 Chapter 507: Poor Guests

    Chapter 507: Poor Guests


    Id be the first to admit, I hadnt exactly been the model of the perfect Sentinel since returning back to Exterreri and Sanguino. Id basically shot right home, jumped into a bath, then tunneled under the covers of my bed and stayed there.


    Three, almost four years deployed in the field, and I felt like Id more than earned it. The Sixth wasnt back yet, and I figured I had some time. What would they need me for anyway? What crisis, what issue, could possibly need Sentinel Dawn, and not one of the six dozen other active Sentinels? My job was being attached to the Sixth.


    I didnt groan as I got up from the dinner table, waving down Iona and Julius whod started to get up to follow me. Artemis stayed seated, but had doubled the speed she was scarfing down food.


    Smart woman.


    Ive got this. I told my friends.


    Thank you Titania. I said, the woman nodding and bowing slightly. I mused over what the possibilities could be as I navigated my way to the entry.


    My best case scenario was Arachne politely going excuse me Dawn, I was hoping youd report back in of your own volition when coming back home, and this is a friendly reminder that Id love to hear what happened in the Han empire.


    I didnt want to think what other scenarios could be. A plague was high on the well thank fuck list, all the way down to wars broken out, everyone up and at them.


    A war wouldnt be fair. Id just gotten back home!


    Id just spent years getting the message war isnt fair ground into my face.


    I didnt flinch when I saw the [Courier] with a four-man escort at the door, but it was a near thing. The only time when a [Courier] had an escort was when the missive was of critical importance.


    I wasnt polite. I quickly scanned the missive in the fancy envelope before I even entered the room. Perks of [Manuscript Mastery] along with [The World Around Me].


    Sentinel Dawn,


    You are summoned to appear before Sentinel Arachne and the rest of Command on a matter of extreme urgency. Details are in the form of: Book by order of which we discussed, word number.


    4-9273, 7-283, 11-33894


    Do not come before decoding the message.


    Sincerely,


    Sentinel Arachne.


    PS: Bring Valkyrie Iona with you, I have some questions for her, unrelated to the above.


    My eyes narrowed. Either this was the most elaborate congratulations on getting married prank ever, or there was something so sensitive going on that even Arachne had to put it into code.FOlloow newest stories at


    For fucks sake. I spun off three [Parallel Thoughts] to work on decoding the stupid letter.


    Smoke and mirrors.


    If something Major was going down, everyone would be looking to the Sentinels.


    Well, mostly. There were a number of other bodies and-


    I shunted the thought off into [Parallel Thoughts] to happily natter on about the various structures in Exterreri and whod be looked to for leadership and support in various positions. The [Emperor] was a big one, but


    End of the day, I had to look good for appearances sake, especially if everything was going to hit the fan. Give people confidence that they were in good hands, no matter how true or false that may be.


    Thank you [Courier]. I tried to [Rapid Reshelving] the letter to my hand, showing off a bit, but the [Courier] had his own skills protecting it. I tugged on it a few times anyway, figuring it would help him level up if nothing else.


    We continued to speculate what Arachne wanted to see Iona for as we navigated our way through the endless maze of tunnels under Sanguino. Our general consensus was Arachne wanted to borrow Ionas blessing to see status and skills to check up on someone.


    The two of us made it to Arachnes underwater lair without any issues, the door silently opening as we approached.


    Once again I was struck by the sheer aesthetics of the place. It was a large dome of thick green glass at the bottom of Bloodmoon Bay, light barely filtering in. Fish swam by and crabs scuttled on the dome. Arachne got up from her chair, the center of the gigantic spiderweb that covered all of Sanguino. I Radiance-focused in on her neck tattoos, studying them with one part of [Parallel Thoughts]. Would neck tattoos look good on me? On Iona? Was there any inspiration to be taken there?


    I was engaged! Thank fuck for [Parallel Thoughts], Id never get any work done otherwise.


    Sentinel Dawn. Valkyrie Iona. I am so pleased to see the two of you back alive and well. No Auri?


    We traded looks. Auri obviously wasnt around, but just as clearly I wasnt acting like my heart had been ripped out. Arachne was practically omniscient within the boundaries of Sanguino, but didnt have feelers all the way out to my home, so she couldnt have known Auri wasnt around yet. Well, technically, I suppose the phoenix not visiting her bakery was a bit of a clue, but then again, Id dove under the covers and hadnt done a thing.


    Auri elected to stay with the Sixth as they returned home. I reported. Additionally, I would like to apologize for not immediately reporting back in. I-


    Arachne waved off my explanation.


    Dear, you dont need to explain yourself to me. Ive been in more wars and campaigns than I can count. I completely understand the need to just exist after such events. Night would like to swing by if youre alright with it. Hes got some experience in these matters. I suggested waiting until you came out on your own. For that, I would like to apologize, but the situation here is delicate.


    Arachne started to pace nervously back and forth. Id never seen her in anything but utter control of the situation.


    We can speak freely here. She said. First off, I would be utterly remiss for failing to congratulate you on classing up. You have successfully passed the great divide, and at your age, can be counted among the elite of the elites. If things go wrong, Dawn, know that this is a safe place. They wont come down here, not with so much water that can threaten them. In the worst-case scenario, if you manage to get them down here, break the glass. The entirety of Bloodmoon Bay crashing down on their heads might be enough to permanently kill them, but I would not want to find out. I dont believe it will come to that. They are an eclectic, touchy lot, with a non-stop stream of obnoxious demands. Nothing too serious. They are quite determined to talk with Auri one way or another. I believe the best course of action is to send Sentinel Spark to the Sixth Legion, and have him retrieve Auri. She is your bonded companion. Thoughts?


    I couldnt see any reason why I wouldnt want Auri back home sooner. I glanced at Iona, who wordlessly divined my question. She nodded.


    Sure, lets do it. I said.


    Arachne nodded.


    The message has been sent. Hopefully Rolland has not lost an entire army. She said dryly.


    Arachne then stepped in front of Iona, half-bowing before her. Her words and tone went super formal, reminding me strongly of Night.


    Valkyrie Iona, great [Paladin] of the moons. I wish to beseech Selene and Lunaris for a small fraction of their wisdom, praying that they will grant me with an answer to a small question of mine. A question that is potentially lethal to speak, a question that is dangerous to know the existence of, and even more dangerous to know the answer. Yet, despite all this, I humbly ask for you to become a conduit between me and the goddesses. Are you so willing? She asked.


    That wasnt what I was expecting at all. We were sure Arachne wanted Iona to peek at someones stats, not directly make a request of her patron divinities.


    Arachnes door opened again, and a sword was carried along by her endless threads.


    Do not think I am so crass as to ask without offering anything in return. She continued. Please, take this offering, for yourself or the goddesses. Forged of an alloy of Skyte, Glacium, and Starsteel, the elements of Gravity, Ice, and Celestial, a blade fit for a [Paladin] of the moons, humbly offered up to the goddesses so they might consider my question.


    Now I was getting worried. The blade was beautiful, with delicate filigree dancing around the blade. I suspected it was far more dangerous and practical than it looked, and alloying magical metals together was something only a master [Smith] could do. It didnt come cheaply, that was for sure.


    The style was in the typical short sword that the Exterreri legions favored, and wasnt a great fit for Iona. I suspected it was an acquired blade, not one forged special for the occasion. The alloyed elements implied it was though ah well.


    Iona nodded and outstretched her hands, accepting the offering. She had to be getting some solid [Paladin] experience, if not levels, from all this. She held the blade up high in two hands, kneeling down to the floor.


    Oh Selene and Lunaris. By right of gift-giving, of offering, of possession, I offer you this blade. Take it, if you should have use of it.


    In a sparkle of divine energy, the blade vanished, little motes of blue and yellow scattering and dancing around Iona in a non-existent wind.


    Arachne took a deep breath in and out, then asked her question.


    Is the [Illusionist] behind the images laid upon the moons also behind the Moon Cult?

 Chapter 508: The Mastermind

    Chapter 508: The Mastermind


    My mind wavered, [Parallel Thoughts] coming to a screeching halt and merging back into one at Arachnes question. I quickly fired it back up, splitting my mind into two. One to look at Iona, one to think about the question.


    Ionas face was going through a rapid metamorphosis. Shocked realization as she made the connection Arachne was implying, then unfocused eyes as she communicated with the goddesses followed by a dozen complex, shifting emotions. I let her be while I did some thinking of my own.


    Arachne had spent ages building up to her question, making it clear she had something Important to ask. I wasnt expecting the sheer gravity and scope of what she was saying and implying.


    I looked up above, at the hundreds of billions of gallons of water above my head. Enough to drown a phoenix or three, enough that Arachne felt like she could bad-mouth them down here.


    It suddenly felt like nothing at all. Just a thin veneer that could oh-so-easily be boiled off before the full might of an ancient dragon crashed down on our heads. A pathetic barrier between us and utter destruction.


    It brought home just how small and fragile I was in the grand scheme of things. I was getting a swollen head. I was practically immortal and untouchable in the Han empire, in mortal lands.


    I was still one of the lowest-leveled Sentinels. My class quality made up for a lot of sins and level issues, but Id been a big fish in a small pond. Sure, LunKat was probably the second-deadliest creature on the planet - [Loremaster] education made it abundantly clear that serpent was the deadliest by miles - but she wasnt the only one who could eradicate Sanguino with a thought.


    It gave me new appreciation for Immortal wars, and how they just destroyed everything. LunKat versus the Guardians had erased an entire nation, and that was arguably an evening tantrum, not a dedicated effort to murder everyone she could.


    One of the things that let me sleep at night was most dragons, for one reason or another, werent terribly active. They didnt burn cities indiscriminately, they didnt demand tribute from subjects, they were effectively in their own bubbles. Sure, anyone going into their territory was likely to have a bad time, and reports of dragons eating livestock were occasionally found to be true, but they usually left elvenoids and civilization as a whole alone.


    Now it sounded like one of the oldest, meanest, smartest, and egotistical dragons was stepping down off her high mountain, and putting her thumb on the scale in mortal affairs. That was almost scarier than simply rampaging and trying to burn down the world. Whatever she wanted, whatever she was after, couldnt be done by burning and destroying. It was deeper, more subtle.


    It would be terrifying and world-spanning. Id first heard rumblings of the Moon Cult back at the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft, and Id seen them here and there in Sanguino. There hadnt been a trace of them in the Han empire, but that was almost to be expected.


    What did she want?


    I let the thought go. Iona, the Moon Goddesses, Night and Arachne were far more qualified to try and work out what a dragon from the time of creation was up to. In a sense, I was barely qualified to know her name, let alone guess at her motives and reasoning!


    Well, all that assumed the answer was yes, and it wasnt some normal ancient Immortal elf running around fucking things up. Honestly, I hoped that was the case. It would make all this so much easier.


    Iona swallowed a visible lump in her throat before answering.


    Yes. She croaked out. She is behind the Moon Cult.


    I slipped my hand into Ionas and squeezed it, offering what little comfort and reassurance I could against the face of overwhelming might.


    I didnt despair though. My entire life Id been trained how to handle threats far greater than I could possibly imagine.


    Placate. Kill. Drive off. Tolerate.


    The second and third options were right out. Shed survived from creation until now. LunKats reach was global. She was orchestrating all this from thousands of miles away.


    Placate was possible, if we had any idea what she wanted. It was also less palatable than other options. LunKat was, by all indications, terrifyingly intelligent. The way her lair was arranged spoke to the fact that she was no dumb beast, no monster that could be tricked or easily deceived. Any placation ran the real risk of LunKat going thanks, now Im going to just keep doing it.


    Tolerate was looking like the only real option from my usual list. She wasnt exactly stealing livestock and razing cities to the ground. She just had a cult. A relatively harmless-looking cult from the sound of it.


    If I reframed the issue as how to handle the cult instead of LunKat, the monster became much easier. That, and I wasnt alone. It wasnt on me to solve the issue.


    I had a team. I was a single Sentinel of Exterreri, one among dozens. There was the entire apparatus of a nation-state that could potentially be mobilized to handle the issue.


    Me and the rest of the Eventide Eclipse against LunKat? Not a chance.


    The entire nation of Exterreri against the Moon Cult? Yeah, I doubted many gambling houses would take bets on that.


    Unless it counted as messing with her horde, her treasures? I found that difficult to believe. It wasnt like shed openly declared they were hers, and it was expected that mortals conflicted with one another. No, it didnt make sense. It had been years since I first heard of the Moon Cult, and it wasnt like I regularly heard about places devastated by a particular dragon.


    I was back. I was recentered. The world was right again.


    I was better about dragons, but they still struck a deep, primal fear into my soul. The thought of one of them eyeing me or the place I lived up for destruction filled me with worry and concern, and I didnt think it was unreasonable.


    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    I was less than a bite to a full-sized dragon. Of course Id be concerned!


    Atlas grimaced, and waved me in.


    Well, its all you. Work your magic. He said.


    I walked in. Stepping over the threshold was like stepping into an oven, my skin immediately prickling with the heat.


    Interesting. It couldnt all be fire then, I was immune.


    The garden was torched and scarred. Once upon a time there mightve been a [Gardener] constantly causing the flowers to bloom, scatter, fold, and bloom again, but now there were just burnt-out trees and piles of ashes around. Blinding light and flames roared in the center, clearly marking where the birds were hanging out.


    The gently rolling hills quickly gave way to three birds sitting in the middle, each one on a charred tree, surveying their kingdom of ash.


    Auri looked like a hummingbird. She had the size, shape, colors, and sound of one. Like Auri was a hummingbird, each one of the phoenixes was modeled after a different type of bird.


    The first one was an eagle owl, burning feathers as dark as night. Dark flames danced in its eyes, an eternal blaze of Pyronox promised to all those whod cross it. An amulet hung around its neck, a large agate gem sparkling in the center.


    [Long-Range Identify] brought back [Mage - 3982].


    [*ding!* [Long-Range Identify] leveled up! 448 -> 470]


    Holy shitballs. The phoenix was just a hair from divinity and becoming a god. No wonder Arachne and everyone was treating them with kid gloves - the phoenix had over a thousand levels on the strongest Sentinels in the country!


    Stopping my hands from trembling, I looked at the second one. A heron blazed with blinding Radiance, threatening to cap my [Radiance Resistance] for all time.


    [Mage - 2814]. More reasonable, more manageable. Exterreri could, if we worked hard at it, handle this phoenix before its resurrection came into play. Not that managing a hostile mage was ever good.


    [*ding!* [Long-Range Identify] leveled up! 470 -> 485]


    The third was modeled after a dinosaur, but nothing said phoenixes had to only look like modern birds. A great tupandactylus was like a pterodactyl with a massive crest on its head, burning with the more traditional Inferno flames.


    [Mage - 3148] the tag said. Another massive powerhouse. The phoenixes had sent a number of powerful representatives.


    My skill*dinged!*again, and I spammed it on the three phoenixes as hard as I could, spinning out a new thought process to grind out some quick and easy levels inside of a second. Why not?


    [*ding!* [Long-Range Identify] leveled up! 485-> 528]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Butterfly Mystic] has leveled up to level 643->645! +8 Strength, +8 Dexterity, +70 Speed, +70 Vitality, +70 Mana, +70 Mana Regen, +70 Magic power, +70 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Strength, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    Huh. I suppose this did technically count as seeing new magics, and under the influence of a phoenix, it was no surprise my levels were going up.


    I should check on Atlass level. He mustve gotten a ton since Auri and I first showed up.


    [*ding!* Would you like to upgrade [Kaleidoscope]to [A Raging Tempest of Golden Phoenix Feathers]! Y/N]


    [*ding!* Youve unlocked the Class Skill [Blazing Presence of the Phoenix]! Would you like to replace a skill with it?]


    [*ding!* Would you like to change [Solar Corona] to [Crowned by the Summer Solstice, Blessed by the Noon Sun]! Would you like to replace a skill with it?]


    Uh.


    Well, shit. Thank you [Butterfly Mystic] for quickly and easily picking up on skills I see! Nothing like a stupidly high-level Radiance phoenix to get good skills offered, and those were just the start! I had to wonder if I could pick up anything really nice from the heron


    No! Bad thought! I was here to try and resolve a problem, not see how many skills I could grab! They were tempting, Id need to look at them properly later on


    I approached, and the owl put its claw on its amulet.


    You do not come bearing food or gifts, nor do you have the look of one of those talkers. Who are you? His voice came from the amulet.


    I bowed respectfully.


    I am Elaine, bonded companion of Aoife Auri Stentor, the phoenix you are looking for. I-


    My world exploded into flames.

 Chapter 509: Extra Crispy

    Chapter 509: Extra Crispy


    I tried to put my hands in the pockets of my tunic - it had pockets! - but alas, my tunic didnt survive the conflagration I was subjected to. Neither did my amulet - shouldve taken it off before coming here. Stupid. Id left it on out of habit. The heat and the flames had taken the metal and gems straight from solid to gaseous, preventing me from needing to work out how I could handle the molten metal.


    Oh well. Note to self: Dont have valuables near the phoenixes.


    Instead, I put my hands on my hips and looked around, noting how big the blaze I was being subjected to was, trying to think of pithy one-liners. I noted that it was only the red flames of Inferno - the classic golden look of Radiance or black flames of Pyronox were entirely missing.


    This was an almost peerless opportunity. A phoenix trying to kill me with its flames? Training, drilling, and for real had wildly different impacts on skill gain and class levels, and just because I was immune, it didnt mean there werent fantastic multipliers going on to any experience I could get. [Parallel Thoughts] went on and kicked into overdrive, each mind hitting a different set of skills, seeing which ones I could quickly practice.


    Being on a Celestial skill kick, I threw out a tiny [Shroud of the Stellar Sea] bulwark, unsurprised as it instantly broke, the all-consuming flames eradicating it without a whimper. [Zenith Everlasting] got its first trial run, and my heart started to beat wildly as if Id just ingested a dozen stimulants.


    I [Blinked] in place, but there was sadly nothing intact and near enough to use [Rapid Reshelving] on. I tried to manipulate the flames themselves with the skill, but it just didnt take. Either [Rapid Reshelving] itself wasnt able to move flames around, or the phoenix had such strong skills that I couldnt touch it.


    I was just preparing to [Imbue] a butterfly when the Pyronox owl flew over in a blinding blaze of dark flames, smacking the Inferno tupandactylus with its wing. The flames vanished, and I stretched and yawned loudly.


    Oh! Thank you for the lovely warm-up, it was getting a little chilly here.


    The owls head snapped around as he stared at me, and the other two phoenixes looked at me with frank disbelief.


    Rapid-fire, the three birds started talking to each other, trading whooos and squawks and great honking cries, wings beating and small gouts of flames erupting in their argument. I couldnt understand a word they were saying - my phoenix-fu extended to Auris brrrpts and nothing else.


    One part of my mind quickly checked on my level up loot from my shenanigans.


    [*ding!* [Etheric Aegis] leveled up! 2 -> 20]


    Damn shame. My tunic had lasted only a fraction of a second, getting only a fraction of a second of experience. If it had lasted even a hair longer, I probably couldve skipped a few hundred levels. Interesting to know that my fire immunity didnt extend to my clothes.


    [*ding!* [Aurora Curialis] leveled up! 741 -> 743]


    Oh nice, I hadnt even tried to level that one up.


    [*ding!* [Luminary Mind] leveled up! 477 -> 490]


    I had a feeling this skill was going to just start leveling up all over the place. If simply thinking was enough to level the skill up, I was in good shape. My hopes of it merging with [Parallel Thoughts] were going up.


    [*ding!* [Shroud of the Stellar Sea] leveled up! 580 -> 610]


    Easy levels! Shame I didnt have a way to try and delete the flames as they hit.


    Ahha! That was an idea though. Use the [Shroud] to cup a bunch of water, have Auri hit it with weak fireballs from above, the shield is deleting matter. That would be an easy way to push the skill in that direction!


    [*ding!* [Zenith Everlasting] leveled up! 566 -> 580]


    Nothing to say.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Butterfly Mystic] has leveled up to level 645 -> 646! +8 Strength, +8 Dexterity, +70 Speed, +70 Vitality, +70 Mana, +70 Mana Regen, +70 Magic Power, +70 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Strength, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    I suppose get engulfed in a phoenixs flames counted as new experiences and magic enough for the class to level up.


    [*ding!* [Blink] leveled up! 140 -> 142]


    The skill was a huge pain in the ass to level. Id take it.


    Seriously, it felt harder than a level 500 skill for some unknown reason. Maybe if Id tried to escape with [Blink] instead of staying still I wouldve seen more levels.


    No levels on [Rapid Reshelving], which said my skill couldnt move flames in the first place.


    [*ding!* [Parallel Thoughts] leveled up! 298 -> 333]


    Yes! Another thought process!


    [*ding!* [The World Around Me] leveled up! 174 -> 180]


    I mentally patted myself on the back for thinking to try and level up under an enraged phoenixs attack. The only thing that concerned me was his control - hed kept it to just the park, yeah? Hadnt blasted half the city? I struggled to imagine someone as high level as the phoenix hitting so many targets they didnt intend to, but then again, I knew nothing about phoenix culture and mentality.


    I pretended to brush some ash off my shoulder.


    Part of my companion bond with Auri, I said in an even, conversational tone. Is a complete immunity to phoenixes. Come on now, weve sent for her, she should be here any day now, if not later today. No need for such hostility.


    I was naturally lying through my teeth. I was fairly certain my fire immunity extended to Pyronox, but it only worked on some types of Radiance skills. That was ignoring the phoenixes potentially having some meta-magic that could bypass my immunity, or just, like, making a solid bar out of Pyronox or something and beating me over the head with it. That wasnt fire anymore, that was a club. I was immune to a sword made out of Inferno, in an odd twist of how the fuck does this work, but I wasnt willing to test things.


    Before any one of the phoenixes, I was nothing. I was potentially durable enough to survive various shenanigans, but I didnt want to test them or infuriate them. Perhaps I was underselling myself a little, but it was better to be humble than to have a swelled head.


    The owl gripped his amulet again with a claw.


    It is not our goal to simply burn you from existence, He glared significantly at the tupandactylus phoenix, who threw his crested head back in defiance. But we do require answers. There are no records of a phoenix going missing that matches the description we have been given, nor are there any eggs unaccounted for. A bond with a dwarf? Preposterous!


    That couldve gone better. I idly commented. Iona shrugged.


    It seemed to go swimmingly from where I was standing. She said. No major incidents, nothing went outside the boundaries, nobodys dead, theyre not flying away in a huff, youre uninjured given your record, its practically a divine miracle. Iona teased.


    I blew a raspberry in her direction.


    Fine, fine, yeah. Lets go shopping? I proposed.


    Iona slung her arm in mine.


    Lets! She agreed.


    [Parallel Thoughts] once again to the rescue! I had three new interesting skills offered, and given they were from the strongest Radiance [Mage] Id ever seen, on top of being a legendary phoenix, there could be some nice goodies.


    A Raging Tempest of Golden Phoenix Feathers: A single flap of the majestic phoenixs wings summons a blinding tempest of razor-sharp golden feathers, filled to the brim with destructive potential. The feathers appear to move under their own consciousness and power, their mystical fluttering confusing to those who behold it. In truth, they are controlled by the summoner, each one going exactly where directed. -8,128 Mana Regeneration.


    I squinted at the skill, sure there was some catch to it, something I was missing.


    But no, it just looked like a straight-up upgrade to [Kaleidoscope]. Stronger, more powerful, a sharpness aspect, and instead of butterflies, Id have feathers. It had the same passive regeneration drain makes it stronger when used aspect that Id started to see in [Arbiter], hinting at how deadly it was. It didnt quite have the insane numbers that [Arbiter] skills did - I suspected I was getting a halfway skill, not the full-powered version - and it was fun to see how the regeneration was a perfect number.


    Really, the only issue was I was moving away from the Butterfly theming of the class, which would influence the theming of future evolutions. If I entirely replaced all my skills with phoenix-related skills - or killed all the butterfly ones with phoenix ones at least - Id get offered [Phoenix Mystic] as an upgraded class over [Butterfly Mystic]. Which wasnt the worst thing to have happened. Probably be rewarded a little more for being noble and phoenix-like over wandering around, but that wasnt the end of the world. Especially not if I upgraded a number of skills now.


    Well, that and the new name was a mouthful and a half.


    Unable to see a true downside, I accepted the new skill.


    [Blazing Presence of the Phoenix] was less interesting. It was an aura/domain skill, and it was the reason the place had felt hot when Id entered the garden. It amplified Radiance skills and abilities, and implied a whole host of minor things that I was frankly uninterested in. I liked my current skills and set up too much. The fact that itd been offered as a level 1 skill, as opposed to an upgrade, showed how far off it was.


    If I was a triple-Radiance Classer, Id have jumped on the skill in a heartbeat, making it one of my crowning accomplishments and the center of an entire build. I wasnt though - I didnt have the spare skill slots to entertain the aura.


    [Crowned by the Summer Solstice, Blessed by the Noon Sun] left me feeling smug as a bug in a rug. I dismissed it.


    [Solar Corona] was already better in virtually every aspect. It was why the System had offered a change, not an upgrade.


    All in all, I had strongly upgraded one skill without even trying, and I was a happy panda.


    The two of us went through the city on an idle date, just browsing the thousands of sights to see. Deadly encounter one minute, shopping the next, being a Sentinel was weird as heck at times.


    The chatter I was picking up all around me was another indicator of how weird things were at times. A good number of people were talking about the pillar of Pyronox flames that had reached the Ashen clouds above us, but it wasnt like that was all people were discussing. A good number shrugged and said something along the lines of so what? It wasnt like they were unused to casual displays of huge skills, although they were frowned upon.


    Two [Alchemists] were arguing with each other across the street. One was distinctly scaly, while the other had a bone theme going on.


    All you sell are poisons! The bone-alchemist accused the scaly one. He hissed in laughter.


    Yesss, yesss, but I label my poisons properly! I dont slip laxativesss into healing potions! He accused right back.


    The two were high-level and probably Immortal, and were bickering like an old couple. They were driving away all sorts of business from the two of them, but seemed to enjoy shouting and arguing across the street more than making a living.


    It took all types.


    Lettuce! Cabbages! Get your produce here! A devil shouted from behind his stall, effortlessly juggling a dozen different fruits and vegetables. I instantly spotted my favorite treat.


    Oooh! Mango! I cried, bounding over to the vendor. He grinned at my approach and clear eagerness.


    Ill buy all your mangos! I declared, Iona facepalming behind me.


    Ehhh, I was probably breaking a dozen of Ambers rules about how to buy and sell in such a way to squeeze every last arc out of a body, but I was getting mangos!


    Not even Ionas silver tongue could stop me from getting horribly fleeced, not with how eagerly Id approached. Eh, I had almost four years of pay that I hadnt spent in the bank, I was fine. It was practically a rounding error. We left with a sackful of mango, and I took one out. I lovingly gazed at it, admiring the soft skin and beautiful colors. The smell! The touch! Oh blessed perfection that was mango, how I missed you so.


    Can I borrow a knife? I asked Iona. She started to hand me hers, but pulled it up at the last second. I tilted my head, wordlessly asking the question.


    She wagged a finger at me.


    I know you havent forgotten your bet with Artemis. The Valkyrie said. Im not going to stop you, just reminding you.


    My face fell. The evil sadist grinned at the look on my face and the dilemma I was facing.


    Fuck. I swore with feeling. Any mango I ate would be the first mango.


    Artemissssss!!! I screamed at the sky, shaking my fist dramatically.


    Naturally, that was the moment Sentinel Spark skidded to a halt in front of us, Lightning crackling around him in a great halo.


    I only had eyes for the little bundle of flames cupped delicately in his hands.


    Brrrpt!

 Chapter 510: Interlude - Auri - Extended Relatives

    Chapter 510: Interlude - Auri - Extended Relatives


    Life was good!


    Life was great!


    I was suspicious.


    That meant life had an ambush waiting behind a bush somewhere.


    Old Auri wouldve spotted a tree and burned it to destroy a dozen ambushers. Old Auri wouldve pretended that the dozen notifications from birds and the nest of badgers at the base of the tree wouldve been a success. That the snake was filled with deadly poison, and that Id just saved the day.


    No more! Id turned over a new feather!


    I held my beak up high, sitting on Wrens spear. All the fancy banners and symbols of the Legion had gotten packed away. Something about diplomacy and not being an invading army. Bah humbug! That meant less attention on us! Fewer people to admire me! Fewer flames to show off!


    How could I possibly show off my fire before adoring crowds of thousands if - oooh, honey!


    Brrrpt! I told Wren, fully knowing he couldnt understand a word I was saying, so I said brrrpt to mess with his head. Then I flitted off through the woods to find the delicious smell!


    Honey, honey, an excellent reason for not burning flowers! More flowers meant more honey!


    I made it to the hive and hovered, studying the flight patterns of dozens of busy bees buzzing around, trying to find a way in.


    I could just burn them all, but no, no, I was no lumbering bear. Mass murder for a snack?


    Old Auri wouldve said yes. Old Auri would already be beak-deep in honey, drops of it crystalizing on my wings.


    Better Auri couldnt find an easy way to get that sweet, sweet honey, and the poor baby bees needed it as well


    Better Auri went home with no honey.


    Sometimes being better sucked.


    Spear or wagon, spear or wagon hmmm who was carrying me today? Purple-hair always had a pouch of treats he was willing to share, while Ms. Deerkin liked singing. Elaines [Batteries] were good for showering praise on me, but Legata Katerina sometimes had fun missions and things to Properly Burn


    Belly hungry! Time for second breakfast! Treats it is!


    I flew over to Purple-hair and landed on his spear.


    Food? I asked, doing my best to look cute, hungry, and feed-able. I knew he couldnt understand me, but the way I stared at his sugary snacks made what I wanted clear.


    Purple-hair laughed, and soon I was eating honey-encrusted sweets with no issues about how it had been obtained.


    A crackle of Lightning made all my feathers puff out, and I turned my head to try and follow.


    Quick! Fast!


    A man in black armor was talking to Katerina, and a woman was sitting on his shoulders, holding an umbrella angled in a way to keep the sun off him.


    Interesting! Fun! I wanted to know what was going on!


    I zipped over! Zoom! Yay! Flying was great!


    One of Katerinas aides pointed to me, and everyone turned and looked at me.


    Uh oh.


    There was being the center of attention, and there was being the Center of Attention. This did not look like the good kind.


    UH OH. That was a Sentinel. Looking for me?


    Elaine was okay, right? RIGHT?


    I pulled up my status sheet, letting off a relieved ember when our bond skill was still there, still intact. She was alive, at least.


    Whats going on? I asked.


    Sentinel Spark, this is Auri the phoenix. Katerina quickly introduced us. Auri, Sentinel Spark would like you to go with him.


    The man nodded as he turned to me. The woman riding on his back flawlessly kept the umbrella between him and the sun.


    Youre needed urgently back in Sanguino maam? He hesitated over the last part.


    I looked at Katerina, who nodded at me.


    Alright! Lets go! I said.


    The Sentinel opened a bag, and I gave him a disgusted look before remembering just how fast he was. Maybe the bag would be a gentler trip? At the very least Id be sheltered against the wind


    Four barfed-in and burnt bags later, we made it to Sanguino. The spinning top of the bag opened. Up, left, right, it just wouldnt stay still.


    Stupid moving bags! Every effort of mine to get out resulted in me hitting the sides, and I burned the bag in pure frustration.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    He clearly had spares, it wasnt special.


    I was getting better at this, but I wasnt perfect.


    Elaine! I said, trying to fly to her and hitting the wall instead. Im back!


    Just we went over a small hill, and suddenly, I could see them.


    Three flaming birds, sitting up in a tree. An owl, a heron, and a tupandactylus.


    They looked at me.


    I looked at them.


    Hi! I said.


    It really is a phoenix The heron squawked.


    A hummingbird too. The owl said.


    Higher level than the story suggests. Perhaps it was a lie? The dinosaur suggested.


    The owl shook his head.


    No, from my understanding companion bonds keep the two at the same level. It is only natural that her level is close to the humans.


    Hey! I protested. Elaine isnt some human! Elaine is the best!


    Truly? The owl asked. How are you certain that is the case? From our understanding of the story, she was the first one you met. The one who hatched you, who fed you. Are you absolutely certain that there was no underlying influences on you to create a bond between you two? No clever manipulations?


    I started laughing at the idea of Elaine manipulating anyone, let alone me.


    Ha! No way! She couldnt manipulate her way out of a stack of dry twigs if she tried! I said.


    The underlying thought worried me though. The manipulation? No way. The impression?


    I couldnt say no.


    Hmmmm. Well, that matter can be put aside for the moment. We should leave for the Phoenix Peaks, where we can discuss further and introduce you to all the others. This is no place for a phoenix to live, and weve been here far too long already. The sooner we can leave, the better.


    Agreed, agreed. The heron said. Theyve blocked out sunlight here, the heathens.


    The dinosaur shuddered.


    Far too cold. Lets return to a civilized place.


    Hmmm.


    Can Elaine come with us? I asked. Wed just come back from an adventure, but it was time for another one! Bit of a quick turnaround - my poor bakery was going to get even more ruined - but hey! Phoenixes! New friends! Distant relatives! Lets meet them all!


    The three looked like Id suggested we all go for a swim or something.


    The phoenix lands are primarily for phoenixes. The owl explained slowly, like I was some idiot child.


    But the wedding is soon! I protested, then turned to Elaine, whod been an utter saint this entire time. I knew how hard it was for her to just stand still like this, especially when we were talking about her.


    It just confirmed what I said earlier - Elaine was the best.


    When is the wedding? I asked her. She shrugged.


    We got engaged today. She said. We havent had time to start discussing it.


    Ooops.


    Wait! This wasnt my fault!


    The wedding doesnt mat- The tupandactylus started to say, but the owl cut him off with a wing.


    Is this wedding hugely important to you? He asked.


    I nodded.


    Of course! Elaine and Iona are getting married! Itll be so much fun! I said. Oh!! You should all meet Fenrir as well!


    An idea came to me. A brilliant idea!


    Hey Elaine, can the phoenixes be invited to the wedding? Theyre kinda like distant relatives of mine, of a sort. Please? I asked.


    Elaine promptly nodded.


    Of course theyre invited! She said. Id be happy for them to attend.


    Hmmmm. The owl mulled it over for a moment or two while the other two shifted from talon to talon. I would be willing to attend, under one condition. Come to the Phoenix Peaks for a time after the event, and see what life is like there. I am confident that once you are among your own, you will find it a paradise like no other.


    I did want to see the Phoenix Peaks and meet other birds like me.


    There were others just like me!


    I quickly explained it all to Elaine, who slowly nodded.


    Yes, Im fine with that. She said, then switched to English, which was like our private language!


    Ill need Iona to sanity check me, but something Im worried about - if they dont want to help you come back, what happens?


    I repeated Elaines answer back to the phoenixes while I mulled over her question.


    That made two deeply disturbing questions Id been given.

 Chapter ???? - A Tale of Nice Tails

    Chapter ???? - A Tale of Nice Tails


    The Cast:


    Sifu-Sensei Vainquer Knightsbane, AKA Vainquer the Dragon


    Story link: /amazon/B081VRFXBM


    Author link: /profile/107213


    Fairy Thread Seeker, AKA Ariane the Vampire


    Story link: /fiction/26675/a-journey-of-black-and-red


    Author link: /profile/105290


    Lady Quartermaster, AKA Catherine Stray Cat Leblanc


    Story link: /fiction/33600/stray-cat-strut-stubbing-never-lol


    Author link: /profile/147338


    Fairy Elaine, AKA Elaine


    Story link: https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B08NWJMXXV


    Yuren Jie stood before the temples gates with a heart full of pride.


    At long last, he had made it to the top of Beast Mountain. The great jade gates of the entrance stood with the majesty of the heavens themselves. A great stairway of stone awaited him beyond it, alongside great buildings as old as time itself.


    This. This was where Yuren would complete his formation and ascend to greatness.


    Yuren Jie wasnt special among would-be cultivators. He was simply young, handsome, incredibly talented, phenomenally luckyhard work was for those who werent born winners, after alland most importantly of all, about as modest as a peacock on a strut. He was a magnet for beautiful women, though of course, he remained above the influence. Girls led to romance, romance led drama, and drama led to work.


    And real work was beneath Yuren, like the earth crawled beneath the sky.


    No other sect was worthy of being graced with his immense talent. The Golden Order Sect had produced the greatest and most powerful cultivators in all of the Thousand Story Realms. He would soon put them all to shame.


    And so, it was with great pride that he stepped inside the temple. He immediately sensed a warm power flow over him like water on a smooth rock; an energy filling his body with serenity and energy. It was as if all his exhaustion and doubts vanished in an instant.


    He found himself entering a courtyard of well-tended grass and lotus flower ponds. A haven of peace were it not for its occupants.


    A bunch of disheveled men crawled on the ground with the grace of maggots.


    She just wont stop firing at us a man rasped, his clothes full of holes and his eyes beset with fear. Every day


    I cant Another replied, while clearly in a fugue state of some kind. Get back here, minion get back here


    Losers, Yuren thought. He knew cultivation wasnt for everyone. Few possessed the willpower to claim their rightful place at the worlds apex. He didnt look down on these failures, not really. They were just beneath his notice.


    Thankfully, Yuren soon noticed an elder meditating near a pond; a great and powerful cultivator with a long white beard, plain silk robes, and wizened skin. The man turned his head at Yuren with eyes full of wisdom.


    Who are you? he asked, his words carrying the weight of a mountain.


    I am Yuren Jie, aspiring master under the heavens, Yuren introduced himself. I have come to join the Golden Order Sect, greatest in the Thousand Story Realms.


    You are in the wrong place, the sage replied before returning to his meditation. Get lost.


    The casual, sudden dismissal filled Yurens heart with anger and incomprehension. Isnt this Beast Mountain? he protested in disbelief. Then you should be in the Golden Order Sect!


    No, we are the Golden Hoarder Sect now. With an H and an A. We used to be the Golden Order, but Dragon Sifu-Sensei insisted on the name change. The sage shuddered. Arguing with Dragon Sifu-Sensei leads us further away from enlightenment and closer to ignorance, so we accepted his wisdom with pain and humility.


    Your sects name does not matter to me, only its power, Yuren declared. How dare that old geezer not recognize his limitless potential? I have to come to train and take my rightful place among the Immortals.


    To join our Sect is to experience great suffering, the elder replied without looking at Yuren. You know not what one must endure to ascend.


    Im not afraid of anything, old man, Yuren insisted. I will pass any test I must.


    This time, the elder deigned to look at him again. But his eyes His eyes were devoid of anger and pride. Instead they radiated compassion. A deep sense of pity, the kind one reserved to cancer patients or the most miserable of all creatures.


    It took Yuren completely aback. W-why do you look at me with such pitiful eyes?


    The elder shook his head with a deep sigh and a quiet look of resignation. He rose to his feet and then agreed to Yurens request. Very well, he said. Dragon Sifu-Sensei will see to your initiation and put you through the Test of the Mind.


    A dragon? So the rumors were true, the Golden OrdHoarder Sect included a true dragon among its elders.


    Yuren nodded sharply, and then followed the elder deeper into the temple. The noise of explosions coming from nearby courtyards rocked the structure, but Yuren paid more attention to the strange energy pervading the air. Was that a spell of some kind?


    You are now under the influence of Fairy Elaines healing power, the Elder explained upon noticing his curiosity. It shall heal your wounds, even the searing flames of Dragon Sifu-Senseis divine breath.


    Yuren had been begging to ask something. Sifu-Sensei? Arent they the same thing?


    You are not to question Dragon Sifu-Senseis logic, the elder replied with the wisdom of the eon-old turtle. You will hurt yourself and your wounded spirit will crawl away from enlightenment.


    You didnt answer my question.


    There is no answer, only acceptance.


    That made no sense, but Yuren didnt have time to wonder for long. The elder soon led him down great stairs wide enough for an army to climb and before great closed gates of gold dug into the very heart of the mountain. It would take two giants to open them.


    Dragon Sifu-Sensei awaits beyond these doors, said the elder. I must warn you that only the strongest of will can endure what awaits you.


    Then Im overqualified, Yuren replied.


    Once again, the elder sent him a gaze full of pity and compassion.


    It started to wear on Yurens nerves. Are you looking down on me, old man?


    The elder shook his head. With no more time to waste on this senile old fool, Yuren approached the golden doors and waited for them to open. They didnt. He stood in place for five minutes, waiting for the gates to bow before his majesty, before noticing a smaller backdoor dug into the stone. He grumbled as he walked through it.


    What awaited him on the other side nearly left him blinded.


    Never before had he seen such a wealth of treasures gathered in a single place. A vault larger than an entire town stretched far and wide before his eyes. An ocean of gold glittering like the sun filled each and every corner under the weight of marble pillars.Yo?ur favorite novels at


    And atop its greatest hill stood a dragon.


    A great and mighty beast with crimson ruby scales, jet black wings, and claws longer and sharper than any spear. The beasts fangs alone matched all of Yuren in length. The creature raised its immense and wise head upon sensing his approach, then looked at his visitor with eyes of shining gold.


    Yuren immediately realized that something was wrong.


    This looked like a dragon, felt like a dragon, but it wasnt a Long. It had no fur, no deer horns, no mustache. Was it a rare form Yuren had never heard of?


    Who dares interrupt my slumber? asked the dragon, his voice stronger than a thunderstorm, his words heavy with the force of a hurricane.


    I do, oh great dragon sifu-sensei, Yuren replied upon bending the knee. I am


    Insignifiant! the dragon interrupted him with a grunt. Call me Dragon Sifu-Sensei, if you wish to live.


    I Yuren frowned in utter confusion. Had he offended the dragon somehow? I just did.


    You will call me Dragon Sifu-Sensei, capitalized. I can tell the difference. The great dragon narrowed his eyes at Yuren, his tail sending waves of coins falling down his throne of treasures. Are you a thief? I hope so. I havent had breakfast yet.


    Far from it, Dragon Sifu-Sensei. How did he The letters felt right, but he couldnt explain why. I have come to study with the Golden Hoarder Sect.


    Ah, excellent. The dragon suddenly sounded pleased. He raised his mighty head and swaggered, his chest full of pride. Then know that I, Vainqueur Knightsbane, First under the Heavens, Great Buddha of this Age, Master of the Golden Hoarder Path, and King of Beast Mountain, shall gladly accept your fee!


    Yuren squinted in confusion. The fee?


    The dragons happy mood suddenly deflated. Yuren felt his blood run cold as the immense beast looked at him with unbearable suspicions.


    Your entrance fee, the great dragon asked, smoke coming out of his nostrils.


    Yuren had the impression of standing on thin ice. Or in this case, kneeling in front of a very large beast with a gullet of swirling fire.


    F-For the sect? For the first time in his short life, Yuren found himself suddenly beset with dread. There is an entrance fee?


    Of course there is one! Do you think this place is a home for homeless cultivators? The dragon rubbed his claws together. You must pay the low, low price of ten thousand gold to join my sect.


    The price was so outrageous that Yuren forgot to be afraid. Ten thousand? You can buy half a kingdom with that!


    I do not like your tone, miserly poor disciple. The dragon snorted fumes and raised his head so high it nearly hit the ceiling. Did you expect the secrets of the universe to come cheap? That I, the greatest immortal under the heavens, would teach you the way of the Dragon Dao for free?


    But


    I am a dragon, Vainqueur interrupted him sharply. Your kind named its best techniques after me. Which one sounds better, Immortal Dragon Fist or Puny Ape Slap?


    Yuren opened his mouth to answer, but what could he say before such ironclad logic? The weight of his insignificance suddenly dawned upon him when faced with a creature large enough to swallow him in one bite.


    Come to think of it, I should charge you for cultural appropriation too, Vainqueur muttered to himself. Your species debt towards me keeps increasing.


    I, uh Yuren gulped. The realization of his own poverty suffocated him. I do not have ten thousand gold


    The dragon looked at him as if were lesser than a cockroach. It reminded Yuren of how he used to look on others, but magnified ten thousand times over. Like a noble king glaring at a pile of horse shit waiting to be squashed.


    Are these clothes all that you have? he asked with a dangerous edge to his voice.


    Yuren gulped and then nodded.


    Give me your shirt, the dragon said. Give it to me. Give it to me now.


    Yuren was too intimidated, too ashamed, to resist. He threw his shirt at the dragons hoard, keeping only his pants.


    Your debt has decreased to nine-thousand, nine hundred ninety-nine thousand gold and nine silver, the dragon declared with ludicrous precision. To reward your dedication and humility, I shall accept you as an Emergency Food Disciple.


    Yuren didnt like that title at all. Why emergency?


    Because everyone outside the sect is just food, the dragon replied kindly. Yuren wisely didnt push the subject further. Emergency Food Disciple is the lowest rank in my Golden Hoarder sect. Then you have Minion Disciple, Minion Master, Princess, Virgin Princess, Catering Gourmet, and then Chief of Staff. And then there is me, Dragon Sifu-Sensei. Do you understand your place?


    Yuren opened his mouth to argue, when he suddenly noticed piles of ashes in a corner of the vault. Somehow, he had the intuition that they didnt start out as firewood.


    I I do, Dragon Sifu-Sensei.


    Good, Vainqueur replied. Henceforth, you shall work for this sect for free until you repay your entrance fee. It should only take you five hundred years or so, factoring in the interests and the first class lodging accommodations.


    Five hundred years? Yuren choked. But I wont live that long!


    The dragon looked at Yuren with condescension. The young disciple suddenly remembered the entire reason why he even came to this place; and why it suddenly didnt appear like a good thing anymore.


    Why do you think, Vainqueur asked, We dragons taught you humans how to become immortal?


    Yurens heart skipped a beat in his chest, his soul suddenly assaulted by the primal terror of the modern man. The ultimate technique which had brought countless aspiring masters low.


    The Student Loan Debt Trap.


    We taught you immortality so you can work longer hours and make us richer. Time is money, and right now, you are wasting mine. Vainqueur dismissively waved a claw at Yuren. Return rich or not at all.


    Yuren found himself walking back to the exit before he realized what was happening. His mind, his pride, screamed at him to make a stand, but whenever he tried to straighten his spine, it crumbled back under the weight of his defeat.


    Loafer, he heard the dragon complaining behind his back. Another one who lives in his mothers cave.


    Yuren closed the backdoor behind him, and found the Elder waiting for him.


    He looked surprised to see the disciple alive at all.


    What just happened? Yuren muttered to himself, his brain scrambled. He tried to find an explanation for this meeting and found none. None of this made sense.


    Dragon Sifu-Sensei was brought in as a treasurer, to better protect the sects funds from thieves, the Elder explained. Dragon Sifu-Sensei is so good at his job that he keeps the gold safe from us too. He only lends us one-one tenth of what we ask for.


    One one tenth? Yuren Jie did a quick calculation in his head. Like a tenth of a tenth?


    Hence why we ask for ten times of what we need each time.


    But thats still a tenth! Yuren protested.


    Dragon Sifu-Sensei is bad at math, but you? The elder looked into his eyes. You will be worse.


    A terrible pain raced through Yurens skull, raw and sharp. Blood dripped down his nose and inside his lips. Then he sensed Fairy Elaines magic healing his head from whatever wound he suffered through.


    What is this? Yuren asked upon touching his blood. What is this?


    You went through a brain aneurysm, the elder explained. By surviving a meeting with Dragon Sifu-Sensei, you have taken your first step towards enlightenment. Next is the Test of the Body.


    A chill traveled down Yurens spine.


    Ascending to the heavens might prove a little harder than expected.


    Yuren Jie walked the many peaks of the Golden Hoarder monastery, wondering what in all realms he had gotten himself into.


    There were many manners of sects under heaven, from righteous to demonic, but none with a foreign dragon extorting new prospects. And that was but the first in a long series of surprises. Elders who ought to be overseeing mortal affairs, nodding gravely over cups of tea, ran around in a frenzy to pursue strange and outlandish philosophies.


    The fist of utilitarianism must be wielded for the happiness of the many, not the great happiness of the one!


    That is not the nature of a cultivator!


    That is not as clear of an answer as I expected, he said. Not that he minded too much. If the sect needed him to scythe through ten million innocent civilians to prove himself, then that would be a small price to pay. Though I am curious as to her capabilities. There had to be something more here.


    Stray Cat cleared her throat. She gave my girlfriend a free sweetcake the other day.


    Pardon?


    Thats basically flirting, you know? she said.


    You wish for me to punish a mortal because she has laid eyes upon your girl? he asked.


    She didnt just lay eyes. Laying eyes is fine. My girl is the prettiest girl under heaven, so I cant blame either mortal or immortal for wanting to look. She gave my girl sweetcakes. Thats crossing a line! Only Im allowed to give her cake!


    Yuren Jie looked at her and took a moment to process what he was hearing. It was petty. It was petty and jealous. But it was also a task. One that would surely test his skills. I accept, lady quartermaster, he said with a low bow of respect.


    Cool, she said. He wasnt sure what the weather had to do with anything, but he chose not to question her. By the way, youre Yuren Jie, right?


    Yes?


    Oh, yeah, youre supposed to be at the medical pavilion. Like, right now. Im pretty sure if you dont show up soon, Fairy Elaines gonna be pissed, and between her and a live nuke, Id rather piss off the nuke, you know what Im saying?


    Yuren Jie glanced down the path, then bowed quickly before darting along. He couldnt afford to be late!


    Once he was done with this medical examination, he would begin upon this quest. It would be one of the first steps towards gaining what he needed to defy the heavens!


    ==========


    ~Selkies part because Im just too impatient~


    Yuren hurried onto the Medical Pavilion. The sharp crack from Fairy Thread Seekers weapon as she fired upon the slowest members of the entrance class, along with the occasional hair-raising cackle let him know that, in spite of his side quest, he was not so utterly late to the lecture on safe sects.


    Why they needed such a thing, Yuren didnt know. And yet, was that not the point of attending the Golden Hoard Sect? To receive wisdom from his elders? Truly, it was the only way this once-in-a-generation genius would ascend past the heavens. He would remember his stepping stones fondly once hed arrived.


    For now, it was time for wisdom.


    Yuren could not claim to be the first in the lecture hall, and yet, he did not have the ignominy of being the last. He managed to slip in past a few fellow disciplines, rubbing their buttocks and complaining about Fairy Thread Seekers methods.


    He wanted to snort disdainfully at them.


    Weak. A basic trial, and they were complaining about mere pain? He had seen the truth - Fairy Elaines powers healed all injuries as they occurred. What was a little bit of pain on the bitter path of cultivation?


    Yuren entered the grand lecture hall, the inside distorted to thousands of miles large, likely by some fantasy author with no proper sense of scale, and where the words structural integrity and loadbearing were simple suggestions.


    The seats at the front were all taken by the over-eager, as were the seats at the back by the lazy. Yuren rolled his eyes at the painfully transparent ploys, and sat in the middle.


    A beautiful cultivator took to the stage, with hair the color of soft hazel and blue eyes that twinkled with stars deep inside. Yurne rubbed his eyes and looked again.


    There really were stars deep inside the cultivators phoenix eyes, and he straightened up as the petite woman began to speak.


    Im Fairy Elaine. As part of the orientation to the Golden Hoarder Sect, we will be discussing Safe Sects practices.


    There were titters around the room, and some of the men gazed lustfully at the jade beauties that were scattered throughout the room. Yuren wasnt thinking too highly of his peers. While they chased the unobtainable flowers, he studied the blade. Seeking attachments was a distraction from cultivation and the Dao.


    First! Before two Sects do battle with each other, it is important that both Sects understand that they are going to do battle.


    Yurens eyebrows scrunched up as he tried to divine the wisdom inside. He struggled - didnt that completely remove sneak attacks and thefts? Then again, the Golden Hoard Sect was considered one of the most noble, virtuous, upstanding, dignified, honorable, gallant, respectable, principled, esteemed, righteous, valiant, stalwart, and gracious sects around. Maybe this was just one of their rules.


    Second! Demonic cultivators can be hidden within the ranks of a sect. It is impossible to know where they are, and which sects have hidden members within their ranks, and which ones are clean. When doing battle, it is best to always protect ones sect from demonic cultivators trying to infiltrate.


    Shouldnt there be a lecture about how to identify demonic cultivators, and prevent infiltration? Perhaps that was a later, more advanced lecture.


    Third! Know I wanted this to be first, but was overruled. A sect should never ever, under any circumstances, do battle with a thousand year old vampire, or similar. Dont do it. No.


    Would a vampire at a mere seven hundred years be acceptable? Or was that too similar? Yuren dutifully wrote down a note to ask later.


    Fairy Elaine continued her lecture, dropping morsels of wisdom such as dont flash your sword carelessly, its perfectly acceptable to battle the Chrysanthemum sect with proper preparation, and a long segment about cultivation realm and level matters. Dont do battle outside your realm, I might not be able to put you back together.


    Yuren scoffed at that. He was a genius whose battle prowess could cross realms! But why was she saying battle so strangely, and why was half the lecture hall laughing and blushing?


    The last part of this lecture before we break out the bananas! It is well known that Sword and Spear sects enjoy battling Flower and Gourd sects. However! It is perfectly acceptable for a Sword Sect to battle a Spear Sect, just as it is acceptable for a Flower sect to battle a Gourd sect.


    Yuren was convinced by now the others in the lecture hall were idiots. The most basic of revelations - a Sword Sect battling another Sword Sect? How obvious! - was causing an uproar. A dozen disciplines spat blood in outrage. Three near Yuren suffered Qi deviation, their faces going purple as they clutched at their chest. Down near the front, such basic words had caused a revelation in a fellow disciple, the man instantly jumping three realms as the enlightenment raised his cultivation.


    Yuren nodded to himself. Truly, he was a once-in-a-millennium genius.


    ===========


    Yuren hurried after Cat - Lady Quartermaster - unsure quite how hed ended up following her, of all people. Perhaps it was the reasonable amount of martial might - Fairy Elaine didnt seem to have any, Fairy Thread Seeker was too liberal in her application of violence, and sifu-sen- Sifu-Sensei, Yuren mentally corrected himself, suddenly paranoid that the dragon could read minds and the Lack of Capitalization inside of them - hurt his brain and caused nosebleeds every time he got near him.


    Perhaps that was why the Catering Hall had the most powerful disciples.


    Or maybe he followed the Lady Quartermaster simply because of the promise of treasures, new weapons, and neat rewards that had actually been delivered on. He wasnt quite sure how a Gre Nade worked, but the impact it had in practice had been satisfying.


    Truly, the Golden Hoarder Sect had earned their reputation.


    They skirted around the pigpen, then scooted down one of the Sects main roads.


    Hey! You! A commanding voice arrested Yurens movements. He froze, like a mouse under the gaze of a hawk, slowly turning his head.


    Yuren clasped his hands and bowed to Fairy Thread Seeker, who beckoned him over.


    Well? Are you just going to stand there all day? She demanded. Yuren hurried over to see what she wanted, getting handed three jade slips.


    Peerless cultivation manuals? Indomitable martial techniques? Repositories of forgotten treasures? Endless possibilities flashed through Yurens mind. His months of hard work were finally paying off! The heavens were smiling upon him!


    Please return these to Fairy Elaine, with my thanks. Fairy Thread Seeker said. And tell her I think shell enjoy the last one. What are you still doing here? Shoo!


    Yuren bobbed his head and shot out the door before Fairy Thread Seeker could think to use him for target practice once again.


    On the empty trail to the Medical Pavilion, Yuren sneaked a look around. There was nobody around, and he couldnt feel any spiritual presences looking at him. Fortunate favored the bold, and holding three high-level jade slips was a once in a lifetime opportunity. No mention had been made of a reward - perhaps the chance to glean wisdom from the jade slips was his reward, should he be able to comprehend the profound knowledge deep inside without exploding. The best would be a new cultivation technique that would let him get twice the results for half the effort.


    Without a moments hesitation, Yuren plunged his consciousness into the jade slip, plundering its vast and unfathomable knowledge for himself.


    His nose started to bleed at the deluge of information that slammed through his mind. Titillating moonlight rendezvous and ripped bodices, dark and mysterious men with plucky and bold women.


    Junior, you dare? Are you courting death? A soft voice whispered from behind. Yuren jumped a foot in the air, spat blood, and immediately threw himself into a kowtow.


    Please forgive this impudent ones transgressions! He shouted out to Fairy Elaine. With a flick of her sleeves, she teleported the jade slips from his hands to her, and lifted an eyebrow at him. Yuren didnt know if he should laugh or cry. Fairy Thread Seeker wanted me to return these two to you, and thought you would enjoy the last one!


    Fairy Elaines face lit up, and she chuckled like a dirty old man. She waved Yuren off.


    Dont go sneaking around. Be off with you, I hear Cats looking for you by the Treasure Pavilion.


    Yuren started to sweat again. The Treasure Pavilion was across the entire sect, and one of the loudest, most boisterous places. Fairy Elaine could hear that far?


    Yuren found Cat again, and was engaged in the mundanities of the day, when, like thunder from a clear sky, the alarm bells began to ring.


    The Lady Quartermaster perked up, throwing her paperwork into a corner.


    Its a lobster attack! She proclaimed, grabbing a key and unlocking the door to where the heavy Ordi Nance was kept.


    Lobster? Yuren asked. Dinner was rebelling?


    It was supposed to be monster! Cat yelled from the depths of the room. Here, catch!


    Yuren caught a heavy, malleable block of unrecognisable substance. He poked it with his finger, seeing how it sank in.


    Except there was a typo, and autocorrect turned it into lobster! Cat continued to explain, throwing more blocks to him. Yuren tried to catch them all, but two fists couldnt block four hands.


    Yuren had been learning wisdom, and one key component was to keep his mouth shut when heaven and earth were flipped on him.


    Lets go! Cat came out with a cart filled with more of the blocky plastics, clearly indicating that he should push. Yuren hurried after the Lady Quartermaster, quickly arriving at the field of battle.


    The field of battle was all the walls of the sect. Against each one of them, monstrous lobsters the size of horses were attacking with terrible pincers, firing energy blasts from their claws. Nevermind the impossible vast distance between the Sect and the nearest body of water larger than a pond. Experts were as common as clouds, manning the walls and firing their own martial techniques back at the ravenous, neverending hordes.


    Hoard vs Horde.


    Yuren flinched as an expert was blown apart, an energy blade destroying his entire chest. A moment later he was restored, whole once again, slapping his now-naked chest and cursing the lobsters.


    Yurens mouth dropped open. He thought Fairy Elaines healing was for training, and didnt have any true capabilities in combat. Truely, he had eyes, but couldnt see Mt. Tai.


    Stop staring, weve got a job to do. Cat said. Im going deep. I need you to She looked him up and down, appraising him. He got the sense she changed her mind halfway through.


    Stand on the wall. When I call, throw me a new set of C4.


    Understood.


    The Lady Quartermaster went invisible, a block vanishing off the top of the pile. Yuren kept his eyes sharp, but from where he stood on the wall, he had an unparalleled view of the battle.


    It raged back and forth, grand techniques splashing against the hardened shells of the lobsters. Ghostly fists and sword intent flew across the field, grand fireballs exploding on shells while haunting music turned lobster against lobster.


    The lobsters were winning - should be winning - except the members of the Sect appeared to be invincible. No matter what attack they took, no matter what damage they suffered, they jumped back up a moment later in the picture of perfect health, leaving behind arms, legs, and clothing. When a lobster died, it stayed dead.


    Cat briefly appeared on the field, and Yuren peerlessly threw two more blocks of C4 at her. She caught them and vanished again, a lobsters claw snapping where shed just been. Yuren narrowed his eyes, noting a small piece of the white substance appearing on a lobsters head.


    That much was enough to kill one of the tenacious beasts? Where fist and sword fell, that was a killing blow?


    Impo-


    Yuren shook his head. Hed resolved not to say or think that word anymore.


    The sky darkened behind him, and he turned to see what was happening next. An enormous flying ship had launched from the Sect, Fairy Thread Seeker standing on the prow with a tricorn hat, laughing maniacally.


    You will rue the day you have run afoul of the Dread Pirate Fairy Thread Seeker, Queen of the arbitrarily high number of seas! Prepare to be tenderized! Servants! Open fire!


    The cannons on the ship began to roar, smashing down at impossible speeds. Shell and pincers went flying, and Yuren dodged a large claw, only to get slapped in the face by an antenna.


    HOW DARE THEY-


    Yuren took a deep breath. Down that path lay swift death, Fairy Elaines healing or not. Cat briefly appeared again, and Yuren tossed her some more explosives.


    Dragon Sifu-Sensei took to the field next, his immense wingspan casting a great shadow on the world below. The dragon rained down a pyroclastic hell onto the lobsters; and those he didnt burn, he poked with his mighty claw. His finger alone carried the strength of the heavens.


    Minions, get back here! he roared. The food has decided to die with honor: by feeding me! Cook them at once!


    The elite members of the Catering Hall flew over the wall on oversized spatulas, frying pans, knives, forks, woks, baking sheets, and whisks. Half of them were clicking tongs together menacingly. Eight of them were carrying an oversized cauldron of garlic butter between them. With deadly blows and lethal martial-cooking techniques, the members of the Catering Hall fought their way to Vainqueur, and began cooking. Half of them set up a perimeter, fighting the unending lobster legion, while the other half began slicing, dicing, and cooking.


    Fried. Boiled. Steamed. Grilled. Baked. Sauteed. Broiled. Poached. Stewed. Smoked, barbecued, pan and deep-fried, acid-cooked and more. Every way there was to prepare food, the elite members of the Catering Hall provided. Dragon Sifu-Sensei, ever the wise and patient Elder, swallowed anything unlucky to be caught within arms reach.


    Cat showed up again, and Yuren tossed her the last of the explosives. A few moments later, she was by his side, touching her throat. Her voice boomed as Yuren clasped his hands over his ears.


    FIRE IN THE HOLE! She yelled, most of the members dropping behind the wall. Yuren mightve been slow, but he wasnt quite an idiot, and he threw himself below the ramparts.


    A cataclysmic explosion ripped through the lobster hordes, launching themselves into the sky like a river dragon ripping itself from the ground. Then, like the winter rains, a bloody barrage of finger-sized pieces started to rain down on all of them. Tails and shells joined the five viscera and six bowels in a gory rain.


    UNLEASH THE PIGS! Another voice yelled.


    Dread Pirate Fairy Thread Seeker screamed back from her ship.


    NOT THE PIGS YOU LOUSE-RIDDEN IDIOTS! ILL-


    It was too late. The gates opened, and ten thousand flaming porcines took to the field, scything through the lobsters like a knife through melted garlic butter.


    A delayed explosive launched a grapeshot of flaming bacon up into the sky. By the divine hand of providence and author fiat, they landed beautifully on the flying ships sails, setting them ablaze.


    The ship started to go down in a torrent of profanities.


    Vainqueur! You lazy bastard! Do I have to do your job for you!? A voice - was that Fairy Elaines? - screamed from Dread Pirate Fairy Thread Seekers sinking ship.


    I am your job! Vainquer roared back. The purpose of life is to cater to dragons! Minions have jobs, and I have everything else!


    There was a pause, and Yuren swore he heard a soft sigh on the breeze.


    Then the sky lit up as a dozen beams of pure, blinding Radiance launched from the ship, circling around the walls impossibly fast. Yuren was dozens of paces away from the beams occasionally sweeping over his head, and yet he was starting to sweat as the temperature soared.


    Lazy ass! the voice shouted one last time. Yuren glanced over to Vainqueur, where a single one of his absolutely-totally-real whiskers had been cut in half, the other end slowly floating to the ground.


    A hesitant cheer came up, then quickly increased in volume as the members of the Sect picked it up and welcomed their sudden and unexpected victory.


    Maybe not too unexpected Yuren mentally amended.


    Cat grinned and punched Yuren in the arm.


    Yeah! Thats how we do it here! Okay, Im going to grab Lucy and the kittens, and were all going to have a nice little picnic. Your job is to get us some space, some lobster, and most importantly - some butter.


    Yuren nodded. He could do that.


    As he secured part of the food, members of the Sect were organising a large lobster roast under the militant commands of the Catering Hall. A great amount of butter was brought out, but Yurens face fell as he realized it was only one-one tenth of the amount needed. Lady Quartermaster exited the Sect with her mortal wife, Lucy, in tow, and quickly fought off a few other members to grab a hunk for herself.


    The rest is for Dragon Sifu-Sensei. She explained at his wordless question. The catering budget is a black hole from which nothing escapes. If it runs out, the lower disciples are expected to fill in. We make sure there is always funding for it.


    Yuren nodded, the statement making perfect sense to him. Dragon Sifu-Sensei obviously had a catering budget. For the rest of us, livingor rather, survivingunder the glory of Sifu-Sensei was enough.


    Truly, he had been enlightened.

 Chapter 511: The Messy Aftermath

    Chapter 511: The Messy Aftermath


    I was a tree. A serene, unmoving being, swaying gently in the wind. I was not - hang on. A tree was a terrible thing to be near four phoenixes.


    This was possibly the most important meeting of Auris life. Possibly? Maybe?


    It was super important to her. There were stars shining in her eyes, even without a Celestial element, as she gazed adoringly upon the three phoenixes, talking as fast as she could. She was practically hopping from foot to foot!


    When they offered for Auri to visit the homeland, I knew the trip was set in stone.


    In fire? That made no sense eh, whatever. Shed be going, and I was super excited for her! It would be like if Papilion had reincarnated me as a golden crow, and I finally got to hear about humans somewhere. Id have to go check it out.


    The broad strokes settled, Auri asked me a difficult question.Gett your favorite novels at


    Brrrpt?


    I shook my head. No way.


    I think it might be better if Atlas and the rest of Sanguino managed the phoenixes. I delicately suggested. They seem happier here than they would in our place.


    Three demanding phoenixes? I could see it now. Id probably snap by the end of the week. Fire, chaos, destruction, Ranger squads, Sentinel teams, the whole works.


    However, it wasnt just about me. Auri had equal say in things, and I did want to try to be somewhat flexible and accommodating.


    Why dont they come to visit, and you can show them around? I suggested. Show them your nest, bake them some food. Plus, you can come down here as often as youd like and have them pamper you.


    Brrrpt?


    Both the phoenixes and the team to keep them happy. I clarified.


    Yikes. Id been hoping that some time back in Sanguino, working in her bakery, would help deflate Auris ego a hair. It had gotten a little swollen from all the attention in the Sixth, and now even more people were going to be paying attention to her and hanging onto her every word and whim? I had hopes that shed stay reasonable, but who knew?


    Auri communicated it all back to the phoenixes - now that she was here to translate, I wasnt quite sure where I stood with them. I could see my status being anywhere from holy savior who extracted a phoenix from the clutches of a dragon, all the way to evil human who bonded with a phoenix and is keeping her captive. There could also be elements of ewww humans were so much better than they are elf-style arrogance. Given how they had the entire capital dancing in the talons of their feet.


    The tupandactyluss reaction when Id mentioned I was Auris bonded suggested more of the second than the first, but that was before Id told my story.


    I tried to let my mind wander to better help my body keep still. I was basically window dressing here. If only the phoenixes would do some flying, I could covertly study them and see about improving [Scintillating Ascent]. Id probably be seeing more of them at some point, and Id try to study them then.


    Actually - what was I doing here, besides potentially annoying the phoenixes by showing my face?


    Hey Auri, mind if I leave? The four of you can stay here as long as youd like, and you know the way back. I dont want to intrude.


    The three dismissive looks I instantly got helped settle where I was in the pecking order, and with barely a word, I was out of there.


    I naturally picked up Iona, and given the late hour, we headed home. There was no need to push the System and our stats to the extreme to get home as quickly as possible. We just walked along, a newly engaged couple on an ash-lit stroll.


    Despite the hour, the streets were only slightly less packed than daytime. The strong vampire culture and the ashen skies making the distinction between day and night less important meant almost as much business occurred at night as during the day. Carts and horses were tied off to poles while [Farmers] unloaded their goods, causing elegantly dressed vampires to dodge around them with a laugh.


    Arachne wove a few questions out of threads as we left the city, mostly asking me what the status of the phoenixes was, what they were planning, thoughts, impressions, etc. Basically trying to get as much information as possible, since her threads had been burnt out of the phoenixs park.


    You mentioned something you wanted to talk about Iona suggested leadingly.


    Ugh. I moaned. Its important, but not that important ah fuck it, let me explain before anything else happens.


    I quickly went over [Angel of Mercy], the chance to divinely ascend, and the portfolio of offers Id glanced over. Ionas eyes were shining at the end, and she seized my hands.


    Elaine! This is amazing! Its fantastic! Its the best engagement present you couldve ever given me! She was almost babbling she was talking so quickly. You can join me one day! Ooooh, but hmmmm. She went quiet as all the implications around how Id join her, and all the prerequisites were made clear. Shed need to be dead, and Id need to hit a class up.


    Will you join me for eternity? Iona asked quietly. I squeezed her hand.


    I answered her question with a question.


    Didnt we just get engaged earlier today? I said. Yes, Ill follow you.


    Iona squeezed my hand back.


    Goddesses, that was today? She asked rhetorically. I nodded, and my jumping-around addled brain made a few insane leaps of logic to end up at a decent idea.


    Do you have any objection to me turning the collar you made into a bookmark? I do need one. I said. Or a bracelet?


    Iona furiously shook her head.


    No, no, go ahead, Im mortified over the whole thing. She said. I side-headbutted her affectionately.


    It was made with love, and thats what counts. I said.


    We had a lazy lie-in. Given that we made it home a little before the sun was peeking over the horizon, wed more than earned it. Auri wasnt back yet.


    So many things to do. I complained to Iona after wed spent a few hours getting up and ready. A really lazy morning. Need to check in with Arachne. Need to bring Artemis and Julius up to date. I think todays one of the War Sentinel dinners, but Im not sure exactly when they are anymore. I probably need to visit Harper for another set of gear, and get a few practice sets we can wreck. Night wants to talk blah. How did I end up with all the social arrangements, and youve got nothing? I demanded of my outgoing, social paramour.


    But, just like that, Julius and Artemis made themselves scarce. It was unfortunate, but understood.


    Iona stretched as she got up, and I spent a quick moment admiring the view. Again.


    Time to get things done? She suggested.


    Yeah, lets get going. I said.


    As I stepped into the Celestial Supper, I was made aware again of Immortality, and all it entailed.


    Normally, being gone almost four years from a place would have it looking different. Nothing huge, nothing major, but perhaps some of the interior would be shuffled around. New decorations would be in place. The tables would be rearranged. A dozen little or big things would have changed, letting me know without a doubt that time had passed, and life had gone on without me.


    Not the Celestial Supper.


    They catered to Immortals and those who wanted to join their rarified ranks, and had kept the place looking exactly the same. Some places chose to constantly change things up, constantly wanting to be the new delight to indulge in ever-changing tastes and the desire to have things be fresh and interesting.


    Even the scratches and stains on the tables were the same! The occasional dent and nick in the candle holders were still there, but fortunately it avoided being uncannily off by at least having those slightly rotated and different from the last time Id been here. Signs of life, of the place being well-used - apart from the patrons, of course, and bustling waitstaff - and not a creepy stasis field.


    I entered and approached the hostess, who I didnt recognize from before. Another new aspect.


    The trappings might last, but the people, the mortals? They didnt.


    Excuse me. Ive lost track of time a bit. Is the War Sentinel meeting happening today? I asked.


    I got a bit of a skeptical look, which I wasnt too surprised by. I lacked the canines and pale disposition needed to be a vampire, although my level was pulling a lot of weight. Her eyes widened a hair after a moment of thinking.


    Sentinel Dawn! Its a pleasure to finally meet you. Yes, Tyrannus and the rest are in the back. Would you kindly follow me?


    She led, I followed, and wow [The World Around Mes] expanded range in a restaurant that catered to the rich and powerful revealed a lot of interesting secrets from the other diners. It made me happy that Arachne was content to simply listen, observe, and not interfere with most dealings, savory or unsavory.


    Here you are. The [Hostess] bowed slightly and gestured to the door. I strode through without a care in the world, most of the other War Sentinels on the other side. A quick glance showed Calamity and Depths were missing.


    Dawns back! Tyrannus bombastically greeted me as I walked through the door, hoisting a bloody horn in my toast.


    Little Dawn made it back! Queen gestured, all the cards snapping back to her hands.


    Oi! I was winning that hand! Legion protested.


    You had a mismatched trio with no overlapping suits. Queen primly replied.


    What does it matter? Dawns here, thats far more interesting than any card game. Calm didnt bother grabbing his share of the pot back, simply spearing an extra-bloody steak with a knife and eating it directly. Three and a half years? Her first deployment? Shes the only one whos going to be talking in a minute.


    All due respect Dawn, Im more curious how your Legata performed. Flood said.


    No offense taken. She had a brilliant maneuver around a Guardian I think youd love to hear about I trailed off, knowing I was teasing them with the mention of a Guardian.


    It had all happened recently, and Iona and I were some of the fastest people whod been there, it wouldnt surprise me if the news hadnt hit Sanguino yet. Predictably, the room stilled.


    You had a Guardian called down on you all? Flood asked with naked disbelief. And youre still alive to talk about it?


    One of Queens cards helped. The woman in question looked incredibly smug at the mention of her gift being used. Let me start at the beginning. It didnt start particularly well, as a member of my team - my fiancee now!! - had an emergency literally as we were deploying


    Snacks were handed to me as I explained what Id done, and my glass of wine never dipped below half. The Sentinels rarely interrupted, except to ask for a minor point of clarification here and there, little details that Id forgotten or they found particularly interesting.


    Queen was clapping at the end.


    Excellent use of my cards! She praised. Beautifully done! Its a shame you cant practice more often with them, because theres some neat tricks around them, but thats exactly the type of situation theyre for! Let me see if I can rustle up a few more for you.


    The assassination was good. I wonder if I can replicate it somehow. Legion wondered. An illusion of healing people dont need it to last particularly long, as long as I can draw the target out


    I wasnt trying to assassinate anyone! I protested. Plus, how havent you thought of that before? I asked.


    Dawns right Legion. Tyrannus said. Dont try to fluff her ego by pretending its something you havent thought of before. Its not part of her specialty, and it does nobody here any good.


    Im more concerned with the start of the mission. Flood was frowning at me. Simply up and leaving like that? Its a poor move.


    Lets discuss that. Tyrannus said. The Legion versus the team. When push comes to shove, and the two have competing interests, which one should take priority and why?


    Legion and Calm quickly broke for Team above the Legion, while Tyrannus and Flood went hard on Its about the Legion. Queen took a delicate and nuanced take to it, where the multitude of competing interests had to be balanced.


    The Guardian got a lot of discussion, and Flood was thoroughly impressed by Katerinas quick thinking and decisive action.


    Eventually, we wrapped up, and Tyrannus dropped one last surprise on me.


    Dawn, to celebrate most War Sentinels first missions, we host the Feast of Shadows. All the Sentinels are invited, its basically a big party. Are you interested in us doing this for you?


    I hesitated a bit. A big party wasnt my thing, but Iona would like it, and I didnt spend a lot of time around the other Sentinels. It could be good to get to know them more. Arachnes method of sending messages when we were needed was extremely efficient in some ways, but it kept us out of touch in others. Only little groups like the War Sentinels meetings had me meeting other Sentinels with any regularity.


    Yes please!

 Chapter 512: The Long Night

    Chapter 512: The Long Night


    There was always something new. Someone asking for attention, someone knocking on my door.


    Knock knock knock.


    Iona and I traded looks.


    Ill get this one. I hauled myself out of my far too cozy couch, idly wondering if I needed to stash some of my books somewhere else before Auri arrived with the phoenixes.


    Made me wonder if the two were related. It wouldnt surprise me at all if Arachne had sent over some reinforcements my way, like Atlas and his team to help keep the phoenixes happy. She knew my social reputation, and if they were left in my care


    Well, wed be lucky to have an Exterreri Empire still standing before the next Immortal war. Might as well grab a pair of pointy ears and practice my High Elvish.


    The woman naturally entered my view of [The World Around Me] before I could get to the door. Didnt recognize her at all, but I could tell she was human. I opened the door.


    Hello? Can I help you? I asked.


    Yes! Are you the lady of the house? She asked brightly.


    Uh oh. I had a bad feeling about this.


    I am I said warily.


    She clapped her hands together.


    Oh excellent! Im Flavia! This home of yours looks wonderful! I sell enchantments and enchantment services to make living at home much easier and more comfortable! We offer a wide range of-


    Ugh. I knew it. I KNEW IT!


    Door to door salesmen. A scourge in any reality, in every world. There was no escaping them! There was no getting away! I started to close the door in her face, with a quick No thank you.


    Wait! She said, throwing her arm in the door.Vissit  for new novels


    Risky move - my level suggested I could accidentally crush her arm off if I wasnt careful or slightly unbalanced. Thank goodness for dexterity.


    OneOfOurFavoriteItemsIsASlideToEjectUnwantedSalesmen. She blurted out in an impressively fast go.


    I paused closing the door.


    The idea of feeding a tiny bit of mana to an enchantment and watching door to door salesmen go flying was awfully tempting


    I opened the door a hair more.


    Tell me more. I said.


    The beaming look on her face told me Id been got, hook, line, and sinker.


    Iona handled most of the negotiation, and we agreed to review a contract a week from now for a slip and slide salesman-be-gone that would, with a little trigger enchantment by the door, make a narrow friction-free slide from our door, all the way down the mountain to the road. We declined the optional stink them up package.


    Mostly because it sounded like a fuckton of fun for us to use ourselves. A magic slide almost an entire mountain long? Yes please!


    I was reading a book the slow way, halfway through the climax, when another knock came on our door.


    I whimpered in faux-pain. Iona glanced at how far I was through the book - only a bit left! - laughed, and patted my leg.


    Alright, Ill get this one. She said.


    Love you too! I replied without ever taking my eyes off the page. I closed my ears and didnt listen in on what was going on, I had to know!


    Page after page flew by as I cheated, reading far faster than I was supposed to in order to find out what happened next.


    Noooo! I cried out as I got to the end, Iona entering at the same time. I looked up, my eyes brimming with tears.


    He got home sixteen years later after defeating the evil, but that was right when his girlfriend decided he was dead, moved on, and married his friend! Its not faaaaair! I said. The book had been like a punch to the gut. True love was supposed to win! He was supposed to get it all! Id been rooting for the two of them! Sure, it was entirely unrealistic and unfair, but I was a bit of a sucker for the love against all odds stories.


    Iona paused, rapidly shifting gears back and forth.


    Atlas sent a runner. Theyre wondering what the optimal accommodations for them in this area are, since the phoenixes are going to be here. I was thinking weve got the room for all of them?


    I nodded.


    Yeah, but food and cooking is going to be interesting. We should have a meeting with them to figure it out.


    I was getting oooooold. I was the one planning out meetings and arrangements, and the best ways to get things done. What had become of me!?


    Good plan. Iona said. I think I heard something rattling on the roof, Im going to go check it out.


    I suppose, in a way, history had borne me out. The combined races of the world had banded together to eradicate the shimagu to the last.


    I can believe that. I said after a few minutes of quiet pondering. Are there any specific examples?


    Night nodded.


    Oh yes. Sentinel Ocean in particular struggled deeply with the problem, and quickly requested retirement from the front lines, to better manage the issues and problems around the Nostrum Sea. Monsters did not care nor understand that we were in a war, they continued to rampage and cause problems just as they do to this very day. I will say, I do believe we have quite a bit of a better grasp on the issue now than we had back in the day, but that is simply a function of where we are at in the great cycle of Immortality. Unimportant for the moment - unless you wish to have a discussion along the lines of monster hunting to briefly distract yourself?


    I wanted to immediately shake my head, but instead I thought about it for a minute.


    Did I want to talk about monster hunting instead of the Han Civil War?


    No, not really. Id spent a good amount of time running and dodging the problem for a bit, this was the time to tackle it head-on.


    Hang on, wait, no.


    I was being a huge idiot.


    Night tended to have a policy that basically boiled down to Ill keep my hands off things unless I need to combined with let people make their own mistakes and discoveries. Hed try to guide me and give me advice, letting me think through things, but what if I just cut straight to the heart of the issue?


    What happened if I just asked him what the best, most successful way of dealing with this was? He probably had the most lived experience of anyone ever, and he dabbled in a thousand and one different things.


    What would you do in my sandals? I asked Night. Im I dont even know all the right words to describe how Im feeling. What Im feeling. Just that war sucks.


    Night flashed an approving grin my way, a sparkle of acknowledgment that Id asked the right question glinting in his eyes.


    Excellent. He said, and the single word filled me with joy. It lightened my steps, and was like a cool balm filling my heart.


    He gave me half a minute to bask in the feeling before carrying on.


    There is no one magical skill to solve all your problems. He said. There is no singular solution, and I do not promise that any advice I give shall work. Indeed, if you simply go through the motions of the steps I suggest, that could be worse than doing nothing at all, for at the end you shall not find catharsis, but instead a deep and gaping disappointment as your work has borne no fruit. It is something you must go into with your eyes open and your heart ready to bear a heavy burden.


    I spent a minute digesting that, idly noting we were on the road to Sanguino, the glittering stars above half-coated by the ashen mantle of the city.


    Basically, Night wasnt offering me a shortcut. Simply a roadmap. One Id have to walk myself, and I couldnt try to skim or cheat it.


    Seemed fine to me. Better than just wandering in the dark.


    I chuckled at my own bad joke. Night lifted an eyebrow, and I waved him off.


    Stupid joke I thought to myself. I said. Alright, I think Im ready to hear it.


    Night let the joke pass - hed probably heard it a thousand times already - and started to speak.


    First is an acknowledgment of what has happened. Of what was done, and to who, by whom. It is my understanding that men and women were left behind in the Han Empire. It is no failing to acknowledge that, and the feelings that stem from the events. It is no issue to review what happened, when, and why. Understand, review, learn, and grow. But do not fall into the trap of wondering what you couldve, shouldve done, and obsess over it. Analyze. Think. Learn. But do not stay trapped in the past, for the past is inaccessible and will kill you. It will seep and suck all life and joy out of your existence. On that note, you may find it valuable to talk with the families and friends left behind from those who are no longer with us. Should you choose to do that, remember to look at the other side of the coin as well. Find those whose lives you saved, who you pulled from the clutches of Black Crow himself, and talk with them. Eat with their family, get to know their friends, for the lives you saved are just as valid, if not more so, than the lives no longer with us. Recognize both life and death.


    That I hadnt thought of that. Id been so focused on the people I directly knew in the Sixth that Id forgotten about well, arrogantly, almost everyone else.


    You did not fail. Not in the small, not in the large, not in the slightest. Night seemed to sense and know that now was the time and the place for the words.


    They meant more than I could say.


    Ten minutes passed as I processed, as we walked along. I gave a tiny nod, letting Night know I was ready for more.


    The next part is both easier and harder. Live. He suggested. Enjoy planning your upcoming nuptials. I have a minor suggestion for that, another time. Work on your classes. If you would like to discuss them further with me, I always have an ear for you. Indeed, I am quite curious about your options and offerings in your most recent class up, as you have potentially tread new ground that not even I am familiar with. Explore your hobbies, indulge in them, but beware of excess. Do not pick up gambling, drink, or similarly destructive vices. I believe you are in better control of yourself than most, and are less susceptible than others, but I have been wrong before. The greatest [Paragon] I knew fell to gambling, while some of the seediest and least stable individuals have managed to entirely avoid vice when presented. Go to Phantasym, learn magic and spells from the [Witches] and [Wizards] there. Find out how you want to grow and evolve your classes. You have wealth, perhaps commission a [Runesmith] to create a new rune with the singular purpose of generating an entire set of the Medical Manuscripts. I can recommend a few in the Bhutai Provinces.


    Night grew uncharacteristically silent near the end, perhaps having a thought of his own that he needed to mull over.


    His ideas were good.


    I had no idea where I was taking my [Loremaster] class. I liked the idea of it, I loved the stats, power, and skills. I was blessed that Auris shared experience had quickly maxed the class, I found learning about all the cool little secrets and hidden niches in the world, but I wasnt a [Loremaster]. Where did I want to take the class?


    Similar question with [Butterfly Mystic]. Right now it was a sort of cobbled-together heres some neat abilities, OH, by the way, heres a touch of wizardry, right, lets go! class. What was my plan for it? Did I want to keep it as a hybrid class? Did I want to focus on the sorcery or wizardry? What was my upgrade plan?


    Auris level suggested it was time to start thinking about it.


    I hesitate to add this last item, for I do not believe it will help, but is certainly a distraction and a great headache which, in large part, is entirely due to your actions so my sympathy is limited. Amusement tinged Nights words, and I swear he was grinning in schadenfreude. Pay attention to Auri and the phoenixes. Work with them. See what you can learn and level from their presence. I do think, in the balance of things, that working with them will be beneficial, but not to the extent you are concerned about the aftermath of the Han expedition. However, I would be remiss in failing to mention your friends. Do not simply work with the friends and family of the fallen and the alive, but pay attention to your own life as well. Your own people. Auri. Artemis. Julius. Your friend with no name, and of course, your new fiancee.


    We were approaching the gates, and I sensed our talk was nearly at an end. Night was amazing. Hed somehow managed to pace his walk in such a way that I thought wed slowly been going down the entire time, and yet, wed crossed twenty miles in the span of our discussion.


    These are all good things to think about. I said. Speaking of Iona and our wedding, two quick questions. Would you be willing to give her a similar talk that you gave me? And you mentioned a detail about the wedding?


    Night stopped and turned to me, grinning.


    Why, yes. I would be more than happy to have a brief conversation with Iona, should she choose to bend a willing ear to this old mans words. I have had many opportunities throughout the years to explore various professions. Have you found a priest yet, and if not, may I offer myself up as one to perform the ceremonies for your wedding?

 Chapter 513: Setting Up the Dominos

    Chapter 513: Setting Up the Dominos


    I got poked in the side.


    My consciousness briefly flickered to [The World Around Me], letting me know I was safe in my home. I groaned, rolled over, and stuck my head under the pillow.


    I was tired. Id spent most of the night awake, and Id earned my rest. I didnt want to get up, and I didnt-


    I got poked again, more insistently. I paid a little more attention this time, noticing the hand was disembodied.


    Oh. It was Auris [Mage Hand].


    Wait.


    I fully woke up, helped along by a generous dose of [Zenith Everlasting] helping me wake up. I threw off the covers and dashed to the door of the bedroom, where Auri was politely peeking in.


    Theyre here? I asked.


    Brrrpt! She confirmed.


    Okay, okay. What do you need me to do? I asked.


    Auri looked up at me with plaintive eyes.


    Brrrpt? Shed hoped I had an answer.


    Iona chose that moment to emerge from the breakfast room.


    Want me to handle this? She offered.


    Absolutely! I was more than happy to throw this problem to the gorgeous woman who had [Social Lubrication] as a skill and thrived on solving these sorts of problems. I didnt quite think Id end up getting the phoenixes to burn our place down, but worse things had happened when I needed to do highly social things.


    Iona stretched and cracked her neck.


    Alright, show me where they are. She told Auri. Elaine, I need you sitting down by the fire, visibly reading a book. Theres a kettle of tea ready, and Julius left us with some fine porcelain cups with flames on them. Were going to be emphasizing a calm and relaxed atmosphere, with a love of fire in our day to day lives. Show that we like what they like. As they get a little more used to us, well relax a bit.


    Ionas eyes flickered a moment, and she grimaced.


    Auri, can you quickly turn off the water for the pool and eliminate what weve got there? A murder phoenixes here room isnt going to go over well, even if theyre understanding. Im going to find Titania, Ive got some more ideas to run by her. Chop chop, theyre here now, lets get into position.


    Chop chop! I was happy to follow Ionas orders, they seemed to make perfect sense. I wouldve I dunno, probably had Auri bake them some food and given them a tour. Ionas way of trying to align everything was beautiful, and I took some mental notes.


    I wouldnt have thought of our bath at all until walking into the room, and Id imagine it wouldnt have gone over too well.


    Breakfast sounded nice, and I had no issues with go relax and be an ornament. If that was my job here, so be it! If it was always my job, that would be a problem, but now and then, for Auri? Yeah, I could make it work.


    Tea was acquired almost as quickly as a book, [Rapid Reshelving] getting me everything, dressed, wood in the fireplace, and a quick spell encouraged the embers into a cozy flame. I settled in to read, and realized I had way too much energy to only slowly read. I split my mind into a half-dozen parts, each thinking about something else.


    One was obviously reading the book, while another was focused on listening to what was going on. Where were Iona and the phoenixes, what were they doing? Two more parts were working on what Night suggested - looking at my classes and thinking what I wanted to do with them, and while I was on the topic of Night and his suggestions, I was working on a few new spells to add to my spellbooks.


    Where did I want to take [Butterfly Mystic] when it evolved? On one hand, I was really happy with the skills provided. [Scintillating Ascent] for flight, [Nectar] was an amazing mana regeneration skill, [Solar Corona] had a stupid amount of work put into it, an unreplicatable passive, and [A Raging Tempest of Golden Phoenix Feathers] was strong. It had started as a sorcery class, and was still going strong as one. Sticking to a path was rewarded in many ways.


    On the other, [Lepidoptera] and wizardry itself offered me endless options and possibilities, limited only by my understanding, imagination, and ability to find and write new spells. I could use an entire class for it! It scratched the itch of all the spells and all the elements nicely.


    At the same time, I was thinking about [Loremaster]. I liked the skills, I liked reading, but actually being a [Loremaster] was a little too much extra on my plate. I had enough things I was doing already - an entirely new job was just too much. I didnt have the time or ability to properly work on the class, and be one. Like, learning everything was fine and dandy. I was happy with that, I liked that part. It was the go out and actively warn and ward against the threats part that I was less than thrilled with. The knowledge wasnt going away, the learning was fun. It was like teaching. The time in class was fun, but the prep work and lesson planning wasnt. I was lucky my companion bond with Auri meant I hadnt stagnated at a low level forever, unlike poor Julius and his classes. Dodged a [Pebble Toss] there.


    Usually, most of the time, my [Parallel Thoughts] were compartmentalized from each other, but this time, a spark hit. A connection was made between the two.


    I leaned fairly heavily on some of [Ancient Loremaster of Legends] abilities for my wizardry. [Loremasters Library] was filled with my spellbooks, and [Manuscript Mastery] was most often used to instantly flick to the right page to cast a spell. It wouldnt be insane to evolve the class to a wizardry one.


    [Solar Corona] didnt benefit wizardry spells, not even Radiance ones. The major loss I could see was writing spells. Spatial wizardry was awkward. By awkward, I meant slow and tedious.


    Radiance was great for on the fly casting. I could carve runes out of glowing light in the air in front of me, or rapidly inscribe them at the speed my fingers could flick onto the page of a spellbook. Earth wizards could easily mold granite or other rocks like putty, easily putting down long-lasting enchantments. Water mages could conjure or manipulate water into the shape of runes. Fire mages could shape the flames of a fireplace, Dark wizards could manipulate shadows, etc.


    Spatial wasnt the only odd-duck element when it came to wizardry, but it was one of them. In theory, at the highest levels, with the right skills, I could bend the fabric of the world into the shape of a spell. More than a little expensive just to create the runes for a spell, which would then need additional mana to cast and create the effect.


    No, Spatial had the plan B of almost all elements - quill, ink, paper, and the right skill. Spells would be harder to cast on the fly, but Id still be able to do it.


    Night had mentioned a few people he knew, and his ideas around getting a rune made explicitly to generate a set of the Medical Manuscripts was genius. I wondered if any of them happened to also be Spatial wizards? Meeting and discussing things with them before upgrading the class could only do good things. The combination was incredibly rare - Spatial Wizardry with Runesmithing? - but Night had been around forever, and Immortals tended to stay alive until everything went sideways. If he didnt know a person directly, hed know someone who did.


    Wait - wasnt Archmage also a Spatial Wizard? I should talk with her some more. She didnt seem to like me too much for some unknown reason, but persistence and some [Social Lubricant] from Iona might make things work. Interacting with a few Spatial Wizards, learning from them, getting some spells, could be just the ticket I needed before upgrading [Ancient Loremaster of Legend].


    Also, I wanted to sit and think on the upgrade for a bit. It sounded good today, but Id been visited by the Bad Idea Fairy masquerading as the Good Idea Fairy before.


    Speaking of Iona and her social skills, I was listening to her giving the phoenixes a tour. Not all of my ideas had been terrible!


    ... over here weve got Auris hall of mirrors, and her arcanite nest. Iona was saying.


    Brrrpt! BRPT! BrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRrrrpt! Auri was super excited to show it off. The owl hooted, and I mentally added in another reason Iona was perfect for this - she could understand them perfectly.


    Her blessing was frankly stupid.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Butterfly Mystic] has leveled up to level 646->648! +8 Strength, +8 Dexterity, +70 Speed, +70 Vitality, +70 Mana, +70 Mana Regen, +70 Magic power, +70 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Strength, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    Oh nice. Showing off ones nest was clearly a very phoenix-like thing to do. Enough so that it was worth a pair of [Butterfly Mystic] levels.


    Perhaps Id get lucky and get an [Arbiter] level as well?


    No such luck.


    I stuck my nose even more firmly in my book, and did the only thing I felt might help in the moment:


    Prayed like heck to Selene and Lunaris.


    I had pray to Ciriel on my todo list, but I felt Ionas patron goddesses might be more useful in the current situation.


    By some divine miracle of silver tongues, only a single frying pan was the casualty of the phoenixs first visit. Id heard what was going on, but Id only understood half the participants.


    Do I want to know? I asked as I tried to pry the cooled lump of slag off the kitchen floor without bringing the rest of the kitchen with it.


    Iona sighed.


    Apparently, baking is below a phoenix, and there was a big argument over it. The owl had to smack down the tupandactylus and the frying pan got the worst of it.


    [Wings] had the minor downside that it no longer grew and evolved by studying flight, and the [Pretty] aspect was gone entirely. I traded it for raw speed, mobility, endurance, and theyd last even when hit. The theming went from butterfly wings to heron wings, but they still sprouted out of my back, giving off a faint glow as they did so.


    I looked like an angel.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Chimera (Elvenoid)]


    [Age: 31]


    [Mana: 2,841,420/2,841,420]


    [Mana Regeneration: 4,679,904 +(8,996,062)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 12,689 (Effectively: 101,512)]


    [Dexterity: 37,348 (Effectively: 397,682)]


    [Vitality: 89,830 (Effectively: 1,403,594)]


    [Speed: 77,062 (Effectively: 1,516,811)]


    [Mana: 284,142]


    [Mana Regeneration: 540,304 (+ 899,606)]


    [Magic Power: 303,864 (+ 12,154,560)]


    [Magic Control: 303,585 (+ 12,143,400)]


    [Class 1: [The Arbiter of Life and Death - Celestial: Lv 800]]


    [Celestial Mastery: 800]


    [Aurora Curialis: 750]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 25]


    [Luminary Mind: 495]


    [Universal Cure: 800]


    [Etheric Aegis: 21]


    [Shroud of the Stellar Sea: 615]


    [Zenith Everlasting: 580]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 666]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 666]


    [Radiance Resistance: 666]


    [The Rays of the First Dawn: 666]


    [Lepidoptera: 666]


    [Nectar: 666]


    [Solar Corona: 666]


    [Wings of the Mythical Sunbird: 666]


    [A Raging Tempest of Golden Phoenix Feathers: 666]


    [Class 3: [Ancient Loremaster of Legend - Spatial: Lv 256]]


    [Spatial Authority: 256]


    [Manuscript Mastery: 256]


    [Blink: 142]


    [Loremaster''s Library: 256]


    [Vault of Ages: 65]


    [Rapid Reshelving: 224]


    [Astral Archives: 256]


    [Lust for Lore: 256]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 530]


    [Parallel Thoughts: 335]


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 768]


    [The World Around Me: 180]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 800]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 800]


    [Persistent Casting: 600]


    [Imbue: 263]

 Chapter 514: The Wedding I

    Chapter 514: The Wedding I


    Time had passed, both too slowly and too quickly. Too slowly, in that the three phoenixes kept finding new and interesting ways to give us all grey hairs, and too quickly in the sheer excitement and anticipation of getting married!


    It was like I blinked, and my wedding was going to be the next day.


    I couldnt sleep a wink. I spent the first half of the night with my Phoenix party, sipping wine, nibbling on cheese, and playing stupid games with my friends. Then I headed off to bed for the big day, put my head on my pillow, closed my eyes, and willed sleep to take me.


    It. Would. Not.


    Theres nothing more frustrating than wanting to sleep, needing to sleep, knowing sleep was critical for the next day, and being completely, totally, and utterly denied it. It was so unfair! I was doing everything right! Good sleep hygiene, going to bed at the right time, leaving enough hours in the night to be well rested - everything. And I was betrayed by my overexcited brain that refused to let me sleep!


    Iona was far luckier than I was. She staggered back home from her Wyvern party with a number of other Valkyries, muttered love you, flopped into bed and was out like a light.


    I tapped her with [Universal Cure] so she wouldnt be hungover, and continued to stare at the back of my eyelids as the hours dragged by.


    Then it was the day! The big day!


    Our wedding day!


    I was brimming with too much nervous energy, and a liberal application of [Zenith Everlasting] didnt help in the slightest. Auri was already up and about, baking a few quick things before making her way back over to her industrial-scaled operation in the city.


    She had initially wanted to do all the baking for the wedding, but the cruel realities of math and logistics had reared their ugly heads. Shes settled for doing only some of the wedding baking, including the prized centerpiece - the wedding cake itself.


    Oh! Youre up! Amber popped out of the kitchen, her hands smeared with flour. She was my maid of honor, and her long hair was done up in a braid as always, glittering with dozens upon dozens of gemstones woven into it. Give me a moment to fix you breakfast.


    No need, I can- I started to say before the woman interrupted me.


    No no no, this is your big day. Sit! She commanded.


    I wasnt going to argue. I sat down, and a sleepy Iona joined me a minute later, yawning the whole way.


    Isnt it supposed to be bad luck for us to see each other before the event? I asked. Iona popped something in her back.


    Ooooh, that hit the spot. She slumped down into a chair. It is, but then again, Im supposed to kidnap you back to right here, so its not like were bending a few traditions already.


    More like the two of you are making everything up wholesale. Amber came back into the breakfast room with a tray for me. A cup of tea, a cup of milk, a slice of heavily buttered bread and slices of a half-dozen fruits, mangos included. Iona, can I get you the same? She asked.


    Iona accepted with good grace.


    I know I sprang my wedding present on you a little last minute, I said. Iona snorted and interrupted me.


    You gave it to me three days before the wedding, in nobodys world is that last minute. She said.


    Yeah, but Im just checking. It fits well? No issues? Youre comfortable with it? Im just a little worried here.


    Iona put her hand over mine and lightly squeezed.


    Its fine. I love it. Everythings going to be alright. She said.


    Amber came out a moment later with a little tray for Iona.


    Wheres Goblin Slayer? She asked. We need to coordinate, and make sure everything is set.


    I think my maid of honor is still sleeping off last night. Iona said.


    Amber tsked and vanished back into the kitchen. Auri passed her in the doorway.


    BRRPT! Brrrpt? Brpt? Brpt? Brpt??? She asked rapid-fire. Iona held up her hands.


    Were fine, were fine, thank you. She said. Good idea though, Ill ask Goblin Slayer to help you with moving the cake.


    Auri! Were going! I shouted through the house, my little hummingbird friend zipping over a moment later.


    The three of us headed over to Sanguino, where I had my first appointment with a [Hairdresser]. One so good, shed been turned into a vampire for it, and it turned out we hadnt started making plans a minute too soon - shed been booked for months, and it was only thanks to a generous payment that wed gotten squeezed in for a quick five minutes for the lovely Sentinel instead of ending up years down the waiting list.


    We walked into the salon.


    Hi- Id barely gotten the word out before a finger with a long nail was pointed at me.


    Elaine. Waist-long hair, modest curls, volume on top. Preserved for a day. She snapped her fingers, and my hair morphed and changed all around me to the predetermined hairstyle. A wall flipped around, revealing a full length mirror.


    Thank you, come again. The woman said before I even got a word out, turning back to another client of hers, one that she was spending excessive amounts of time and chatter on.


    I didnt mind - it was the difference between being a regular slotted in permanently, and someone whod taken the back door for a quick session. The lady knew her work well - it was absolutely perfect. I bounced the curls around a bit, the System-enforced vanity from my companion bond finding it just right.


    Ill never get over how fast some people can use their skills. Amber said with a shake of her head. Come on, lets get your makeup done.


    Brrrpt! Auri was equally impressed with the speed and skill used.


    Shouldnt you be at your bakery by now? I asked her.


    Brrrpt, brrrpt. Auri protested. This had been on the way, and she wanted to see the cool skills and support me on my big day. The few minutes now was worth it.


    Need you back before Im done with my makeup, remember?


    I supposed it wasnt that much different from my healing. I had the longer sessions where I teased out the issue and educated my patient about what was going on, what I was doing, and why - often to help train someone else - and when I just needed someone healed and to move on.


    Makeup! Amber decreed next. Lets go!


    The makeup was slightly less fancy, and I sat down in a chair, letting the couple - a man and a woman - fuss over me and apply everything needed for the big day. Foundation first, and I was secretly pleased that I needed no concealer. Permanently running healing on myself left my skin absolutely flawless. Some artful blush helped highlight my cheeks, and only the slightest touch of primer was needed. I was almost certain they did that just because they felt the need to do something. Setting powder helped lock everything in - it was going to be a long day - then mascara, eyeliner, and eye shadow were applied.


    I briefly debated going fancy with the lipstick - either some combination of blue and gold for the Moon Goddesses, a single red streak down the middle, or some other fancy pattern, but elected for only red. I kept a stick in my bag - Id apply it later, there was no keeping it on easily all day, and no sense putting it all on now.


    A number of skills were used the entire time, giving it all a mystical look. It was good. I approved!


    We half-walked, half-hustled - Skills or not, I didnt want to ruin any of my prep work - over to the temple where the wedding ceremony was going to be held.


    There was a little chapel-like house just across the street from the temple, and thats where we were headed.


    It felt weird. So many people were moving and organizing on our behalf, and I was mostly oblivious to it all, having been hustled away by Amber to get ready. I bumped into Julius and Artemis on the way in, but they seemed to be having their own issues.


    We are going to be late! Julius hissed at Artemis.


    Weve got plenty of time! She retorted.


    Not if we need to go all the way back!


    I smiled and waved at the two bickering like an old married - wait.


    They were an old married couple.


    We were guided into a little room where I got ready, and one of the key items of the ceremony was there - The Dress.


    You ready? I asked Auri as I got changed into my under-dress outfit and asbestos shoes.


    Brrrpt! She confirmed.


    Starting at my head, then slowly flowing down, Auri dressed me in flames.


    The door opened.

 Chapter 515: The Wedding II

    Chapter 515: The Wedding II


    The dress was something special, something only Auri and I could do. Wed practiced it in her hall of mirrors, working on getting something just right that I loved.


    My little phoenix friends utter mastery over flames of every color gave me infinite possibilities and variations. Interestingly, white as a wedding color hadnt caught on, or at least hadnt been the Exterreri fashion for hundreds of years. They took the approach that brides looked much better in black, which seemed strange to me - but not getting married in black seemed strange to them.


    Took all kinds.


    Either way, red had always been my color, and red was the primary color of fire.


    My wedding dress was predominantly red, going from my shoulders, sweeping all the way down to my ankles. We couldve gone for a super fancy train or ridiculous dress - Auris mastery of flames could let us do silly things - but that just wasnt me. It was a tighter, closer dress that I wouldve described as clingy if it wasnt made out of fire.


    From that base, Auri showed off. Subtle threads and laces were woven throughout in dozens of different colors. Blue streamers, orange wings against my back, a trim of green around the hem, and finally, a tiara of golden flames on my head.


    Auri needed to be close to me in order to keep the flames going, and so she was hiding in the tiara, the flames the exact color of her beak. As my bonded companion, it was only right that she spent most of the day with me.


    The doors flew open, music from the temple across the road blared, and Iona marched in with a dozen other Valkyries, a barbaric grin on her face.


    She looked fantastic.


    A Valkyrie first, shed elected to get married in their tradition, which in her case, meant getting married in her full plate armor. The very same full plate Id gotten for her as a wedding present.


    I was well-paid. I thought an entire oversized villa was expensive.


    It was nothing compared to a suit of three-alloy magical metal.


    Crucible smiths were rare.


    Magic metals were rarer, every scrap desired.


    Crucible smiths that could alloy magical metals were about as rare as healers that could grant Immortality to others.


    And then I needed a smith that could alloy exactly the metals I wanted, which was like getting the exact type of Immortality-granting from a healer.


    In the end, Id needed to settle a hair for a [Crucible Alloy Smith] that actually existed, as opposed to getting my dream combination done. The combination was arguably more amazing than what Id planned, given that the smith actually knew their stuff, versus my doodling and daydreaming.


    Adamantium. Famous for being practically indestructible.


    Arcadium. Famous for slowly regrowing itself, with an emphasis on slowly.


    Aegea. Utterly useless on its own, it amplified any other magical metals it was alloyed with.


    Alloying metals together naturally made their individual properties weaker - an adamantium alloy wasnt quite as indestructible as pure adamantium - but the aegea blended in reversed that, making the suit even stronger than pure adamantium.


    The mango on top - the entire blend came out dark blue, and Iona looked amazing in it. I felt my knees go a little weak as she came in.


    She suddenly stopped as she locked eyes with me, almost causing a pile-up as the other Valkyries behind her werent expecting her to stop.


    Wow. She said breathlessly. You look fantastic.


    I blushed at the compliment, and felt my normally confident tongue getting all tied up.


    Thats why were here to kidnap her! Goblin Slayer shouted, Ionas maid of honor keeping things moving along.


    Technically, she wasnt called a maid of honor, but the role translated well enough.


    The rest of the Valkyries roared in bloodthirsty approval, the six of them quickly surrounding me. Goblin Slayer moved to pick me up, then hesitated, looking to Iona.


    Uh, Dusk, is it safe? Shes got 400 levels on me and those flames look hot.


    They were a little more understanding that I had my own set of traditions and people who wanted to respect me, and that was the excuse given why I had the easy way through.


    Nobody was willing to give voice to the real reason - there literally werent enough Valkyries. Most of them had decided to come attend this event - our place was rapidly becoming the new nerve center of the Valkyries, being all wandering [Knight-Errants] wasnt great for communication, who wouldve guessed. Even with nearly all of them being here, they needed to spread out quite a bit more than was normal just to fill the entire aisle, barely giving Iona a passable trial of blades.


    I was grinning like an idiot the entire way up, even when the men and women of the Sixth turned into a number of Sentinels providing an honor guard. Devour and Queen, Tyrannus and Skater, Ooze and Calm.


    My eyes caught Artemis and Julius sitting in a seat of honor, the two of them filling in for my parents for the ceremony. Mirroring them was Alruna the Perpetual and Sigrun the Grandmaster, filling in for Ionas parents.


    We didnt have parents, and yet, at the same time, we did. Seeing them sitting there and beaming filled my overflowing heart with joy and love.


    They were here for me.


    Night was the priest for the event, dressed in a simple cloth raiment. Iona and I stepped up before him at the same time, the two of us trading a loving glance.


    It was here! It was now! It was time!


    A pair of trumpets quickly blasted out some high happy notes before falling silent again.


    We paused a moment, and the room darkened as the predicted solar eclipse hit, one of the moons blotting out the sun. An auspicious time for our ceremony. A subtle influence and presence from the moon goddesses - the ashen skies above Sanguino entirely blotted out the sun. The eclipse shouldnt have done anything.


    It was a fairly brilliant maneuver, and I mentally praised them. The wedding was attended by a lot of high level Classers, and as a subtle flex it was great. They would all notice.


    Night spoke softly, but his words carried. I had no doubt that even the soldiers suffering from tinnitus with a padded helmet on in the back of the temple could hear every word clearly. Not that anyone was, I was blasting my healing throughout the entire section of the city.


    Welcome one and all, welcome humans and vampires, welcome old and young to this auspicious event, the marriage of Elaine, the Dawn Sentinel to Iona, the Dusk Valkyrie. On this day


    My heart was racing too fast and I only had eyes for Iona. Nights speech washed over us. A message of love, of commitment. Of two becoming one, of facing challenges together as a team.


    ... and now, if the two of you would please link hands. Night asked.


    Iona and I clasped hands together, my right with her left. Night turned to the altar, took the red ribbon, and tied it around our hands and wrist. We were bound together, and itd be bad luck if we broke it before the end of the night. Cooperation and teamwork were required, and while nobody could tell if wed used a skill to reinforce it and make it harder, it wasnt classy to do so.


    The vows, if you would. He said, nodding subtly to me.


    Id worked on them quite a bit, but I was no poet. In the end, Id gone for shorter and sweeter.


    Iona, my love, as I stand in front of you, Im reminded of the day our paths first crossed, a moment that forever altered the course of my life. In you, I found not just a partner, but a soulmate, a companion in both sorrow and joy. I vow to be your sanctuary, your place of peace and understanding. I vow to listen with compassion, speak with kindness, and act with love. In health, I will celebrate and walk beside you, basking in the light of our shared joy and triumphs. I will be the steadfast hand that holds yours, the gentle voice that soothes your fears, and the unwavering spirit that supports you. In sickness and in health, through blessings and curses, in wealth and poverty, not even death can do us apart. I swore.


    The crowd was silent as Night turned to Iona.


    I have faced countless challenges, but standing here before you and pledging my heart is the most significant and joyous battle I couldve ever undertaken. I vow to protect you as your eternal guardian, in both life and death. I promise to be your sword and your shield, to fight for our love with the utmost fervor. In the quiet moments away from battle I will be your gentle companion, listening and learning from your wisdom. Come weal or woe, come famine or disaster, come cataclysm and destruction, blessing or curse, I will be by your side. I promise to respect, cherish, and love you, for all that you are and all that you make me, and not even death can do us apart. She swore.


    [*ding!* Youve unlocked the General Skill [Wedding Vows with Iona]. Would you like to replace a General Skill with it?]


    [Warning: Vows are binding]


    Iona clearly got the same notification, and we locked eyes, thinking the same thing. A tiny shake of her head, a flicker of my eyes, and we mutually dismissed the notification.


    We didnt take the skill. Why would we?


    Now. Please bow to each other. Night said, which was our first challenge. We were close enough for our hands to be tied together - if we didnt execute it well, wed bump heads and look bad. Wed practiced, which was fortunate, and executed the bow flawlessly.


    Bow to your parents. He said, which was another small challenge. We needed to shuffle in a circle to keep our ribbon unbroken, but we pulled it off.


    Bow to the moon goddesses. Night said, and the two of us had to shuffle around once again.


    Before Selene and Lunaris, before all the gods and goddesses in the pantheon, before the heavens and earth, before the vast and boundless sky, before friends and family, with the power vested in me, I declare you two married as wife and wife. You may kiss.


    We kissed.

 Chapter 516: The Wedding III

    Chapter 516: The Wedding III


    My cheeks burned as we kissed in front of everyone, the crowd cheering and clapping at our display. Iona fearlessly pulled me in closer, heedless of Auris flames, to get a better grip on me as she kissed.


    One of the Valkyries shouted out a crude suggestion in Sanglo, and the soldiers of the Sixth got the tone, even without understanding the words. They immediately tried to one-up the Valkyries, shouting their own suggestions in High Elvish. A harsh glare from Night and Sigrun quieted them, but didnt dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd.


    Our kiss was deep and thorough, and I never wanted the moment to end. I tried to stretch it out, splitting up my thoughts and having them all focus on the moment, on my love.


    Alas, it had to end.


    Iona picked me up and twirled me around - the quick way for getting around with our hands tied together - and triumphantly raised her hands in front of everyone. In a stunning display of wedding guest coordination, they shifted over, making a new aisle for us to walk down and out of the temple hand in hand, Amber and Goblin Slayer trailing behind us. The palanquin was waiting for us outside, and the two of us got in, our maids of honor and a much-argued over mix of other guests lifting us up. A sized-down Fenrir flapped after us, circling around.


    Hed been shrunk down size-wise, but he still weighed the same. I was pretty sure hed break anything not super specially reinforced. Even if the palanquin was somehow reinforced, the spines of our bearers were not that buffed.


    Brrrpt! Auri quietly tweeted her congratulations from my tiara.


    Youre doing great. I told her, without tearing my gaze away from Iona. She just looked so happy. Her pupils were gigantic as she stared unblinkingly at me, a goofy grin plastered across her face. She squeezed my hand.


    Yo Dusk, you two lovebirds ready to get moving? Goblin Slayer asked, breaking the moment. Its your day, your wedding, but I carved my name into a keg, and if we dont hurry, the locusts will have drunk it all dry by the time we get there.


    I snorted at the unbidden image of Goblin Slayer swimming in a keg of beer, drunk as a skunk. Iona didnt break her loving gaze as she answered.


    Yeah, lets go. She said, and we were off!


    Most of the guests were going to the big wedding party, but we had a different destination first. They could get the fun and games started, and we could come in at the height of the party.Vissit  for new novels


    It was nice being carried around! We were carted off to our next destination - a tattoo parlor!


    It was easy for me to get out of my wedding dress, into my under-shift. Auri simply turned off the flames.


    Iona and her suit of armor was not nearly so simple. We had to stand there while Goblin Slayer and another Valkyrie slowly peeled enough layers off to reveal the area Iona wanted tattooed.


    We sort of had matching tattoos. They were each personalized for ourselves and each other, and the two combined made an image greater than the sum of the parts.


    Wed both elected for a full-back tattoo of the others companion in delicate white ink, with the design going all the way down our arms to our fingers. There was some minor day-of adjusting with how, exactly, our fingers were twined together that the [Artisan] would have to work around.


    Are you two ready? He asked. I wiggled a little more into the face-down holder I was in, still looking at Iona. She squeezed my hand then slightly readjusted her fingers into a better, more comfortable grip.


    Ready! Iona said.


    I wasnt.


    I spent a silent minute checking every little minute thing I could sense around me, from a bird five blocks over singing its morning song, to a pair of rats arguing over a breadcrust down in the sewers. Only when I was satisfied that no assassins were lying in wait, that no disaster was about to hit me did I drop [Persistent Casting] of [Universal Cure], two [Parallel Thoughts] dedicated to watching for danger around me.


    It unfortunately paid to be paranoid, even on my wedding day, even with Arachne keeping her vigil.


    Ready! I said. Unfortunately, Id waited a little too long, and my silence had gotten awkward. Oh well.


    Iona clearly understood, and mouthed the words its alright at me. I blew her a little kiss, and the two [Tattoo Artists] started working.


    [Luminous Mind] prevented me from feeling anything, and stats and skills worked together in harmony to quickly get the design on our skin. Fenrir would dominate my back, as Auri dominated Ionas. Phoenix and wyvern representing us. A setting moon, representing the end of night and hence the coming dawn, went onto my back, while a rising moon, the dusk, went onto Ionas. A thousand more patterns and small details went into both of our designs, the two artists wed paid to do the work having outdone themselves by miles. Lightning bolts and triceratops, fairy rings and a tribute to the moon deities, the Remus Sentinel sigil and the Valkyrie wings and so many more little symbols that were important to us.


    And of course, on our fingers, the shape and pattern of the red ribbon we had tying us together were imprinted on our skin in red, a permanent reminder that we were bound and committed to each other, mind, body, and soul.


    They were quick, but I was a little nervous at the end.


    Youre sure theyre imprinted properly? I asked them. Getting the ink as part of our System image so healing wouldnt remove it was hard, and it wasnt like Iona and I had standard biology or low vitality.


    Aye, or my name isnt Atramentum! The [Artist] said.


    I raised a skeptical eyebrow and turned [Universal Cure] back on, impressed that none of the ink faded.


    A quirk of [The Stars Never Fade] was some imprinted things - like tattoos - would come with the reversion. Magic was just weird like that. Id used it on myself a little before the event just in case it changed in the future, and would always aim for an older age.


    Amber threw her hands up in triumph.


    To the party! She announced.


    To the beer! Goblin Slayer enthusiastically agreed.


    We found ourselves bundled up again and hauled off to the big party.


    Amber and Goblin Slayer opened the doors with a dramatic flourish as Fenrir flew overhead, making a beeline for the buffet table.


    The brides have arrived! They each announced in different languages, and the party turned to focus on us. We smiled and waved our way over to our table.


    It had been impossible to sort out who would sit with us and who wouldnt. Iona had eventually come up with a genius solution.


    This table is perfect. I gushed again as we shuffled around to sit down. Just us, so its intimate, then a guest chair for anyone to sit in and briefly chat? Its so good!


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    Iona beamed at the compliment.


    Its also supposed to represent all the guests here sitting with us. She said.


    Its genius. I repeated. I probably wouldve done something dumb like sit Sigrun next to Katerina.


    Iona shuddered in mock-horror as we took our seats. For whatever reason, the two got along like oil and water.


    The party was epic. Tables dominated a third of the room, with a huge, practically endless buffet against one wall. Fenrir was busy destroying the four whole cows labeled For the Wyvern, dont touch, and there were meals from all over the world on offer. A dance floor covered another third, with a four-man band performing music on request. It was almost entirely confined to the dance floor, but a second band - a flutist and a violinist - were providing ambient happy background music to the rest of the party. The last third was half-games, half-bar, with rows upon rows of kegs holding both alcohol, and a wide variety of fine blood for the vampire guests. The party was rowdy and in full swing, but it was still early enough and the people involved sane enough that nobody was drunk off their tits and throwing skills around.


    Yet.


    Then I caught a durian fruit Artemis had somehow located and thrown my way.


    Durian!? Durian!? How did you find durian!? I yelled at her. No! Take it away! Come on Artemis.


    I did my best Sentinel Dawn is displeased face, and Julius was right there a moment later.


    Not cool. He said. This couldve really caused an issue.


    Artemis looked pale.


    But that wasnt a durian when I grabbed it. She protested. Come on, I have some sense.


    The five of us traded looks, and Iona turned to Nina with a sickly sweet tone.


    Nina, my dearest friend. I believe we might have a minor issue with some ninjas at our party. Is there a chance you could handle the issue for us?


    Nina looked positively feral at the suggestion.


    Oooh, I know exactly who it is as well. She snarled. Akushu was talking about stinking up the wedding the whole way over. I am going to get him.


    I am right there with you. Artemis had murder in her eyes.


    No killing people at my wedding! I protested. Artemis paused.


    Whats the radius on that order? She asked Julius. How far away until Im no longer at the wedding?


    Julius seriously thought about it.


    Three blocks. He decreed. If its three blocks away, its not the wedding anymore.


    Artemis and Nina traded a look, the two of them on exactly the same wavelength. They nodded once, and went hunting. I groaned and headbutted the table.


    We are not living in a culture where a wedding is boring if there are no deaths! I complained.


    Brrrpt! Brrrpt? Auri agreed, and at that moment, the three phoenixes decided to make their own entrance.


    I shot wary looks at them, fully expecting some degree of antics, perhaps demanding the central spotlight, but they simply found spots high up in the rafters to hang out and watch the events. Mostly Auri.


    ...brrpt? She asked softly, almost embarrassed.


    Yeah, go enjoy things with your friends, you dont need to spend the entire time on my head not having fun. I told her. I wasnt a huge fan of how close Auri was with the phoenixes and how much time theyd spent together, but I wasnt about to start being an ass about it. Not at my wedding.


    Not when Auri was leaving tomorrow to the Phoenix Peaks.


    Also, give them my thanks for behaving and not making a scene at our wedding. Iona said. I know it was all you asking them nicely, but it doesnt hurt to pass the message along.


    After a few minutes with the phoenixes, and doing a quick drink run for them - to my surprise, the three phoenixes were all fans of the vampires bloody drinks - Auri returned to us and our table.


    The day flew by and turned to night with no decrease or slowing down of the activities. People came, sat at our table, and chatted for a bit before going off. Iona and I danced and ate, reveling in the party. A relieved Julius escorted a disappointed Nina and Artemis, while Sigrun and Wren broke a table arm-wrestling. Amber had made sure a slow but steady supply of mangos made their way to our table, and just as I finished one, another freshly sliced mango would arrive on a tray.


    The lucky waiter ended up with thousands of arcs in tips, mostly from Iona.


    [Zenith Everlasting] provided me with endless energy, and Iona had her own skills helping out.


    Then it was time for The Cake. A 12-layered monstrosity, one for each of our classes plus our companions. Auris new Lava element class included a [Molten Sugar] skill, which had let her do utterly impossible designs on the cake and figurines to top it.


    Naturally, there was a beautifully detailed and colored version of Iona and I topping the cake.


    Iona and I split the top layer together, a rich chocolate layer with oversized sugar crystals inside, supposed to be Celestial for our shared element.


    Auri, youve outdone yourself, this is divine. I gave a second compliment by diving right back into my half of the cake, inhaling it as fast as I could, no matter my already-bulging stomach.


    Ive never eaten a better cake. Iona confirmed.


    Brrrpt. Auri made a relieved noise, then jumped over to a glass of wine. Brrrpt! Brrpt?


    Yes, go nuts. Just dont get so hungover that the phoenixes tease you tomorrow. I said.


    Sadly, all good things come to an end, and our wedding was one of those.


    Hey, as a twist, do you want me to carry you all the way back? I offered Iona. She adamantly shook her head.


    No, no, Ive been literally dreaming and fantasizing about this ever since we got engaged. She said. Itd mean a lot to me.


    To one last round of very drunk cheers, Iona lifted me up in a princess carry, then grinned wickedly at me.


    Well, hang on, if this is supposed to be a kidnapping She said, shifting me around until I was over one of her shoulders.


    Hey! I protested, more in jest than anything serious. If she found it fun, sure, Id go along for the ride.


    To one last cheer, Iona waved at the remaining guests, and we were off.


    Iona was highly motivated to get me back home for obvious reasons, and in minutes we were barging through the door.


    Oh, by the way Iona trailed off meaningfully as she carried me to not-our-room. Surprise!


    I gasped.


    Iona had, obviously with help from the other Valkyries, converted one of the rooms into a reading nook. Floor to ceiling shelves dominated every inch of the room that wasnt window or door, and theyd been stuffed with thousands and thousands of books. I slid down, tracing a finger over the spines, skimming the titles.


    I love you.

 Chapter 517: Interlude - Auri - The Phoenix Peaks I

    Chapter 517: Interlude - Auri - The Phoenix Peaks I


    I couldnt sleep a wink.


    The wedding had been a blast! Tons of fun! Endless mango juice! Even the three grumps loosened up and seemed to have fun! Petri still had his beak waaaay up in the air, but Ra and Sasha had some good conversation with Night and a few of the older vampires!


    They were so old! How did anyone get that old?!


    Sashas flames were still burning strong, which was a huge relief. When I got that old, my flames would be just as pretty as they were today.


    No! Prettier!


    I paused a moment, examining the thought. Was I being too selfish? Too self-centered? Was I making everything about me again?


    Hmmm no. It was okay to think of myself now and then, but it was good to double check.


    Bah! Stupid no sleep! Dawn was only a little ways away - wed partied through most of the night - and while Elaine and Iona were clearly awake and having a ton of fun, I didnt want to just stare at myself in the mirror until the phoenixes decided it was time to leave.


    Hmmm. I wondered if Titania was up yet? I should run around, see about making things a little easier for everyone, maybe get some last-minute baking in.


    Apparently, there were no ovens in the Phoenix Peaks, which sounded like a travesty. Thank the gods and goddesses, when Id told Elaine, wed gone out together to the library, and read books on how to make primitive ovens. Add in Lava, and I felt comfortable sculpting my own!


    Yeast and other baking supplies would be more of a challenge. At least I could make it feel a little more like home?


    I hadnt even left and I was already starting to feel homesick Was this really a good idea?


    I fluttered over to the smaller kitchen, and magically started to put everything together with a half-dozen well-practiced [Mage Hands]. Water, yeast, sugar, salt, oil, flour - keeping it as simple as possible today, my mind was elsewhere. I didnt want to try for a ~fancy~ loaf, only for it to go wrong because I was distracted. It was the last loaf I was making for Elaine and Iona before their honeymoon trip - what a silly name, it should be called a mangomoon, mango for Elaine, moon for Iona - and before I left.


    They were going to Jurcor! Tropical sun, sandy beaches, little fruity drinks!


    I thought as I stirred everything together, before I started kneading the dough.


    Exercise time! Exercise day! Use the feet! Work it!


    YES!


    Yes it was!


    I was going to meet all sorts of other phoenixes! I was going to meet others just like me! I was going to see how we lived! What life was like! I had a whole WORLD just waiting for me, that I knew nothing about!


    It was a trip, an adventure. What was the point in staying home my entire life, and never sticking my beak into new and interesting things?


    I half-prepared more food for everyone, half-cleaned up as I went, trying to make things as clean and nice as possible. I wanted Amber to go wow I miss having Auri here when I left. I wanted Titania to feel my absence. I wanted


    I wanted to be felt. To be remembered. To leave an Auri-shaped hole in everyones heart.


    I took the loaf out of the oven - where had the time gone!? - and put it on the table to cool. I used my claws to write a little Love, Auri on the bread.


    The sun was starting to rise, and it was a good time to say goodbye to Elaine. I fluttered over to the door, and pushed my way in with my beak, making sure I wasnt intruding on a private moment.


    They were taking a break. Good.


    Hey Im going to be leaving soon. I said.


    Elaine flew up, her eyes widening comically.


    Oh! Let me see you off! She sprang out of bed, magically dressing herself.


    It was too soon, too fast, and we were all outside as sunlight steadily marched down the mountain.


    Are you prepared? Sasha asked, the owl turning his head to observe us all. After thinking a bit, he hastily added another question. Have you said all your goodbyes?


    Yeah! You aint coming back! Petri squawked.


    Plblblblblblbl. I did my best impression of blowing a raspberry at Petri, which infuriated the tupandactylus phoenix to no end.


    He had a baaaaaaaad superiority complex, and was so easy to wind up. Just had to do anything vaguely elvenoid, and hed fly into a rage. Id started off being nice to him, before realizing he was an irredeemable jerk and I could be mean to him after all.


    The world was also incredibly inaccessible when it came to covering long distances. I had a lot of points in zippiness, so I could go super fast when I wanted to, but my pushing power was stuck at 30. I didnt have the stamina to cover long distances, and no Elaine to give me unlimited energy.


    I didnt have the vast wingspan to carry me great distances, which was why Fenrir was so awesome! He could carry all of us and months worth of supplies without breaking a sweat!


    He was awesome for so many other reasons, of course.


    All that to say, I found myself clutching Sashas back feathers as I squinted my eyes and leaned forward into the gale-force winds from his flight. We were covering ground fast.


    Half a day and we were already over Ralakar, heading north to the Phoenix Peaks.


    I dont want you to think weve deliberately kept anything from you. Sasha said, and I got a little nervous. That sounded like theyd kept something from me. But the timing of you finding out wouldnt matter one way or another, but could potentially give the vampires some extreme leverage over us, so we didnt want to explain until now.


    I squinted at him. This better be good I was still close enough to home that I could hop off and fly back to Exterreri. Just needed to make it to a single city, make a fuss, and get a nice Ranger team to escort me home, in exchange for a dozen levels. The first thing Petri had done upon meeting Elaine was trying to burn her to cinders, and I still held that against him.


    Asshole.


    As you must be well aware of, each phoenix follows after a similar bird that can be found somewhere in existence. I take after the noble eagle owl, while Ra takes after the mighty bennu heron. Exactly what offspring a pair of phoenixes will have is up to fate, the gods, the System, or the Essence of the First Flame, depending on your belief. I myself was a surprise between a pelican and a red-tailed hawk, although my mother recalled a great-great-great-great ancestor of hers mightve been a masked owl.


    Yup, alright, Im following. I said. I knew phoenixes came in all shapes and sizes - because we were the best - but I wasnt aware of how random offspring could be.


    Some lineages are lost. Ra said. Just gone. Ive never seen a swan. There hasnt been one in living memory. I can only imagine how beautiful shed be.


    The entirety of the hummingbird line was believed to be extinct. Your presence, your existence, gives hope that we will see not only more hummingbirds in the future, but hope that many other lineages might still be out there. As such, your presence, even should you choose to stay only a few years, would greatly revitalize the community. Sasha said. It is also why we didnt want to tell you earlier. Knowing of your importance could have resulted in additional demands. I hope you dont feel like there was an unacceptable level of deception involved.


    Hmmm.


    Okay, it was fun to know I was extra-special! Yay! Old-me wouldve obsessed over the idea endlessly.


    New-me just made a little tiara and slapped it on my head. Because I was indeed the brrrettiest princess ever.


    The knowledge stuff was fine, I guess? It wasnt like it impacted my decision at all, they hadnt lied, it wasnt some false pretense stuff, just a little extra youre a bit more special than you might think. The timing was fine, better now than getting it sprung on me when I was there, and it wasnt like they waited until we were over the ocean to tell me.


    Yeah, leave some eggs behind! Petri crowed at me. The rest of us shot him a disgusted look.


    Why is he with us? I asked. Sasha looked like he had regrets.


    Hes one of the strongest fliers, and was comfortable making the distance. Then he won the lottery of who would come with me. A method of selection I deeply regret.


    We flew on, with some good natured bickering, and some less well-meaning insults occasionally traded.


    Then we hit it.


    The ocean.


    The great ocean dividing the world into two halves. It glistened from horizon to horizon, as far as my eyes could see. Id crossed large bodies of water before - wed gone over the Sea of Stars a few times - but this was different in a way. I knew just how far it was, and it put a chill in my feathers.


    So much water was just unnatural. The antithesis of life! How could so much of it exist in one place? It made no sense!


    Higher. Sasha said, and my ride along with the other two phoenixes soared up, up, up into the sky, up past the clouds, up to the point where the flames making up our bodies started to flicker weakly in the thin air.


    I gazed down at the ocean, not wanting to miss this view. It wasnt the first time Id seen it - Id occasionally seen it from the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft when it flew over - nor would it be the last.


    Largely, it was boring and dangerous, a vast blue expanse of gently rolling waves. Occasionally the wind would pick up, topping the waves with whitecaps and whipping up a howling gale, or the waves would crash into each other, making ship-killing mega-waves.


    Near the shore there were plenty of sea monsters, but deeper in there were fewer.


    Ooh! A pod of whales! Amazing creatures, able to live in the water like that.


    Oh! Speaking of the School! There it was, floating north!


    Ha! Poor Artemis, itd take her weeks to make it back!


    The phoenixes kept flying powerfully over the ocean, and the light of an erupting volcano against the horizon was our first clue that we were near land again, near the northern continent.


    Wed made it.


    The Phoenix Peaks were in sight.

 Chapter 518: Interlude - Auri - The Phoenix Peaks II

    Chapter 518: Interlude - Auri - The Phoenix Peaks II


    Sasha was fast. It didnt take long until we were over blessed dry land again, and no longer over the killer water.


    The Peaks were interesting. A whole range of mountains, with a few of them glowing with active lava. My totally expert eyes from seeing the Tears of Vulcan up close and personal suggested that most of the mountains were volcanic, but most of them were dormant.


    I hoped I got to see one go boom while I was here!


    Errr


    In a totally safe and not ruining anyone elses day way, of course.


    Gouts of purple flames from one mountain clashed with the orange flames from a second. I couldnt see the phoenixes in question yet, but their impact was unmistakable.


    Some mountains were rocky, some were fresh and green, and others were coated in burnt trees and a thick haze. Interesting! My claws tightened in anticipation.


    I was about to meet more phoenixes!! What were they like? Were they nice? Were more of them like Ra, or like Petri?


    Oh holy mango juice. If they were all like Petri I was out of here.


    As Ive mentioned before, each phoenix has their own peak. Sasha explained. You can move to another mountain if youd like. You dont need a reason. Perhaps the view is nicer, or its about to erupt. The golden eagle likes to hunt a herd of deer, and will try to muscle out any phoenix who gets in his way. The crane is feuding with the albatross, and relentlessly chases her off her peak whenever she settles down and claims a place.


    Some are just wet drips. Petri said.


    No.


    Really.


    I am so surprised.


    That was awfully rich, coming from him. I half-expected he was one of the wet wipes who went around bullying everyone.


    There are a number of traditions and customs around the practice. Ra said. Suffice to say, there is both a grace period after moving away from a mountain, and more peaks than there are phoenixes. You should never find yourself without a home.


    The mountain range took on new meaning.


    From countless peaks, there suddenly werent nearly enough.


    That was it?


    That was all the phoenixes in existence?


    More people went through my bakery on a given day than there were mountains here, and that was a single bakery in a single city. Yes, it was the best bakery in a major capital, but


    There were just so few of us.


    Ra started to explain some of the cultures and traditions, but I was lost in thought, trying to count how many mountains there were.


    Petri shot forward, the flames on his body surging as he got about three miles ahead of us. He threw his beak back and let out a triumphant shriek.


    Home! He shouted.


    How - OH!


    Sasha passed some invisible line a moment later, and both of our fires flared up as well.


    The Phoenix Peaks felt incredible. Like Id been a banked fire my whole life, and now the vents were open to let air in. Like Id been a dimmed fire, and a fresh log was thrown on. Like a bunch of wet logs had been replaced by perfectly dried ones, I felt like a million rubies.


    Whoa! I put words to my feelings. This is great!


    Petri chose that exact moment to fire off a half-dozen fireballs into the sky, punctuating my statement. The three of us started to dive down towards the Peaks.


    Bye! Auri, Ill see you around! He said, speeding off into the distance.


    Ugh. If I could never see him again thatd be great.


    A blue flame caught my eye and I peered down, hoping to catch my first glimpse at another phoenix!


    A penguin phoenix was standing at the very edge of the shore, looking forlornly at the waves lapping the shore. The waves receded, and he waddled forward a bit, then the wave crashed back in as he darted back, flapping his flippers as gouts of steam erupted where water met fire.


    To go swimming would be a death sentence.


    Ooof. I knew each phoenix reflected another bird, but Id never imagined what would happen if one of us became a water bird.


    Wait. WAIT! Wasnt there a special type of fire that burned underwater? Yes, yes there was! Id seen it at the School! In the Museum of All Things that Burned! I should tell the penguin about it! Maybe he knew already, maybe it would help!


    Sasha clearly noticed who I was looking at. Somehow. Even though I was on his - who was I kidding, the owl was almost level 4000, of course he could know what I was up to on his spine.


    I noticed he had slowed down a bunch, and I hopped off his back, spread my wings, and flew under my own power.


    Naturally, one way to be uncontested on your peak is to have an undesirable one that nobody else wants. Was Sashas only comment on the phenomena. An empty peak has been picked out for you to initially find your wings as you settle down, but naturally, you are more than welcome to move to any one you wish to. As long as a nesting couple isnt there, you are welcome to contest it.


    Are any of the active volcanoes empty? I promptly asked. I wanted flowers, yes, but Id just gotten [Molten Mythwing], and wanted to work on the class for a bit before my next upgrade.


    Ra chuckled.


    Little one, youre not the only one with a Lava element. You can ask nicely and see if anyones willing to share, trade embers, or see if you can kick anyone else off the peak. There arent many active volcanoes, and Lava is one of the more popular Fire elements here.


    I looked to my left again, seeing the faint glow of the burning lava. Made sense. If the phoenixes were living their entire lives here, being drawn to Lava was only natural.


    What did phoenixes do all day?


    I flew to a nice big tree that overlooked the meadow, perched in a nice branch with a good view, and started thinking.


    I had no idea what phoenixes did all day. Burn things? Tend to their peak?


    Thank goodness for Bridget, my teacher and caretaker at the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft. Shed helped me get the idea of becoming a [Baker], and I had no idea what Id do with myself on a daily basis without it and my friends providing structure.


    I had no idea what to do with myself. I was supposed to be the [Lady] of this area, maybe I should fly around the mountain and look for problems?


    WAIT! I needed a nest! I had no nest! No lovely arcanite reflecting me from a thousand angles, no hallway of mirrors showing me a million times over. How was I supposed to get any of that?


    Oh! Obsidian could be nice! I just needed to find a nice patch, melt it with my flames, then [Lava Manipulation] it into a nice shape.


    Was there any obsidian here?


    What was on my mountain anyway? I should do a patrol, just to see what I was working with. What resources I had. Where I could find some nice flowers to drink nectar from, and what insects were tasty.


    I took another look around, remembering something else.


    It was late summer in Exterreri. Meant it was deep winter here. At this temperature, winter was wonderful. I put another point in favor of the Phoenix Peaks being so close to the coastline, even though there was so much water there.


    Then I should make an oven! Or maybe a kiln, depending on the material. Uhhh was there a difference between the two? They were both decent for baking


    A kiln it was!


    Okay!


    Explore! Strategize! Make a nest! Make a kiln! Dont starve! I had a PLAN! I had things to do!


    I zipped around the mountain, trying to take notes about what I saw. Trees! Blackberries! Bears!


    Wait. Something didnt make sense. Pine trees and tropical weather? What? My bond let me steal some of Elaines knowledge, and that didnt sound right at all.


    I missed her. I wish she was here so I could ask her all these questions.


    ah well, mysteries of the Phoenix Peaks. Carrying on!


    Rabbits, owls, raccoons, foxes, dinosaurs of all stripes! Archaeopteryxes, compys, gallimimi, pegomastax and achatina! Badgers and songbirds, fruit trees - with no fruit, booo the season - and a big stream with fish. The sabertooth salmon looked delicious! Ant hills and termites, some troodons and oh! There was a tiny herd of wild horses! I zipped into some natural caves and found bats and axolotls. Clever-me followed some bees around, finding hidden flower patches. A few small ponds had fowl. Hare-brained hares darted out of their holes when I went in to explore. I was just saying hi! A skunk was warding off a curious bear cub, and I had to wonder - did I really want skunks on my mountain?


    OOooooh! Clay! It had clay! I needed clay to make a kiln!


    Or was it that I used clay in a kiln?


    This survive in the woods alone thing sucked. Maybe Id be returning sooner than I thought


    No! That was Quitter talk! I wasnt a quitter! I wasnt going to let the first obstacle drive me away! Everyone else lived like this and made it work! I was going to make it work as well! Who knew, maybe Id find it fun.


    I summoned my [Mage Hands] and got to work.


    The moons were up as I finished my work, patting the last of the clay in place.


    Perfect! Beautiful! I was the best!


    Okay, okay, now I had to fire the clay!


    FIRE!


    The kiln exploded spectacularly, shards going in every direction.


    [*ding!* Whoops, [Phoenix Rebirth] leveled up! Lets not tell Elaine, okay?]


    But but I wanted to tell Elaine about it


    In the shattered remains of my first big project, I started to cry a little.


    It was just so unfair! It was just so hard! I just wanted a little oven to pretend I could bake here! Just a little slice of home away from home! Was that too much to ask for!?


    A pair of flames came over the peak in a nearby mountain. From where I was in the meadow, I could see them blazing down the mountain, then back up my mountain.


    Oh! Visitors!? I was having visitors!


    I looked around the utter disaster of the mess Id made.


    Quick! Clean up before guests come over!


    BURN THE EVIDENCE!


    [Auris Meteor Storm]


    A second later, and the only trace of my ill-fated adventure was a smoking crater.


    Two phoenixes ran up, one black and white, while the other had feathers of green and blue. An ostrich and a velociraptor. They tilted their heads at me in perfect unison.


    Hi! You must be the hummingbird weve heard so much about. The ostrich said. The raptor snapped at her.


    Of course shes the hummingbird weve heard so much about! She snarled. Better question is - want to go to the Dungeon with us?

 Chapter 519: Mangomoon

    Chapter 519: Mangomoon


    Auri


    The Dungeon sounded like a ton of fun! Endless levels of puzzles and traps, fake-real monsters and TREASURE! It was one of the Things To Do around here!


    From everything I could tell, The Dungeon was what Elaine called an Oddity, something that just Didnt Make Sense. It played by its own rules!


    I wanted to be an Oddity. I wanted to play by my own rules! Like be able to be here and be with Elaine and the rest at the same time. That would be fun!


    The Dungeon was apparently a huge blast, a source of endless levels and amusement. Some places were fixed, the same for everyone. Some levels overlapped where we could meet other Dungeon divers. Other rooms were random, but everyone agreed - go deep enough, and the experience started to get really good.


    Getting in or out of The Dungeon was a bit of an adventure, given how many other creatures lurked near the entrance. It was worth knowing who was around, whod gone in, and when someone had too much treasure for their level, and could spark an argument.


    Leave with a few gems, some nice nest material? Sure, whatever. Sashas translation amulet was apparently a Dungeon reward, although one hed traded for.


    Leave with a few dozen level up obelisks because those were somehow a thing!?


    Well, the high level creatures that lurked around the entrance would want to get their hands on it, or protect their youngsters whod just gotten one. A kirin wouldnt steal an obelisk from another kirin, but might be willing to snatch it from a phoenix, and


    The whole stealing treasure thing is stupid. I declared to my new phoenix friends. Magenta the pink flamingo, Chompy the velociraptor, Weavy the ostrich, and my latest friend, the fifth member required to go to The Dungeon, Four-Wing, a phoenix modeled after a thunderbird. She was alright with Lightning, but not as good as Fenrir.


    Go as deep as we can! Four-Wing proclaimed. Level as much as we want! Return with all the treasure we find, and dare them to take it from us!


    Chompy roared in approval.


    The bonfire for all the embers, and all the embers for the bonfire! Weavy proclaimed.


    Burn down all obstacles! I added in, fluttering my wings as we got ourselves hyped up.


    It wasnt Elaine. It wasnt Fenrir and Iona. It wasnt Exterreri or The School.


    But I was determined to have fun here, make the most of things, and who knew?


    Maybe Id like it more.


    Shouting and screaming, blasting Fire and Lightning around in all directions, we barrelled to the swirling purple mists in an ancient archway, vanishing into The Dungeon together.


    Our flaming bodies lit up the dark cave we found ourselves in, the portal on the other side swirling red. A tiny snake hissed at us from the middle of the floor, baring its fangs at us.


    [*ding!* Welcome to The Dungeon.]


    Hmmm. I should change that notification.


    [*ding!* Oh wise and beautiful Auri, we would like to once again welcome your august presence to The Dungeon!]


    Much better. There was no harm in getting things to display nicely.


    Four-Wing and Chompy wasted no time, both of them throwing attacks at the helpless snake.


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a dungeon creature. Experience rewarded.]


    Huh, another new one. The creature really wasnt alive, was it?


    Having solved the room - the first room was always the same for everyone - the portal at the end turned green, signifying that we could leave.


    First! Weavy yelled, sprinting full-speed to the portal.


    You have to say go! I protested, zipping after her.


    The rest of my friends followed, and we delved deeper into The Dungeon.


    Elaine


    I waved goodbye to Auri until they were out of view, and kept waving for a minute later, just in case. My mouth cracked open in an involuntary yawn. Iona waggled her eyebrows salaciously.


    Weve both been up more than a day, and it was a super high level day at that. I said. Buuuut I do need a bath if you want to join me. Then bed.


    Iona looked far too excited at that.


    Sleep. I corrected. The incorrigible rogue - my wife now!! - looked unrepentantly happy, her grin not fading a hair at my correction.


    I went and did exactly that, waking up that evening to Iona gently shaking my shoulder.


    Hey wifeosaurus. She teased me. I figured you didnt want to miss dinner, and start getting your sleep schedule back on track.


    I sniffed, detecting that dinner was just starting to warm up as Iona slipped into bed next to me. I cuddled up to her.


    The leftovers smell divine. I said. Shame we


    I facepalmed as the obvious realization hit me. Iona grinned and quickly pecked me.


    Remembered preservation magic exists? She said. I burrowed deeper into the blankets.


    Yes. I muttered. Be real easy to apply as well. I yawned again, wanting to get up naturally and not use [Zenith Everlasting] to get going. There was a slim chance I wanted to go back to sleep later to fix my sleep, and if I zapped myself now, that would never happen.


    I slipped out of bed, and instinctively called out.


    Hey Auri, want to do a flame bath? I asked.


    The wave of wrongness, of loss, of emptiness hit me before the echoing silence did. Iona came up behind me, slipping her hands around me and giving me a surface to lean on.


    Shell be back in no time. My wife said.


    I know. The place just feels so empty. I said. Iona gently squeezed me.


    That would be because you missed breakfast and lunch. She informed me. Now, lets go fill that gaping hole of yours with food.


    Food! I agreed, bounding off to the kitchen. It wouldve been wrong last night to eat it, but I am going to eat all the garlic dishes!


    Iona pulled a face at that. I had a demonic grin.


    Then kisses!DiiSco?ver new stories on y wife looked unimpressed.


    Alright, I didnt start this fight, but I know how to end it. Wheres the spicy food


    I mock-shook a fist at her as we kept walking.


    You might win this round, but youll lose on the other end!


    Laughing, we went to sit down and eat our first home meal as a married couple.


    We should leave tonight. I said.


    If youd please follow me, Ill show you to your rooms. The [Bellhop] offered, moving off with a spring in his step.


    I swear he reminds me of a rabbit somehow. I whispered quietly to Iona.


    Shhh! She shushed me while trying to restrain her own laugh.


    A few of the doors with the gold and silver inlays are portals. The minotaur said, and my jaw dropped. There are a few different buildings that you can go to, but right now I would like to direct your attention towards the sapphire, which will link you to the underwater rooms, and the central diamond, which will bring you to the Stellar Oasiss hub. Simply press on the gem, and witness!


    I was only half paying attention to his words, my mind frantically studying the detail, enchantments, and inlay. Portals?! They were insanely expensive! Having them as an enchantment to boot, that anyone could activate!? That was extra expensive!


    The modular nature was a non-issue, and it probably helped that they were all going to fixed locations, but just how much mana and arcanite was this place sitting on!?


    [*ding!* [Butterfly Mystic] leveled up!]


    Id shortened my notifications at long last. Yay for [Butterfly Mystic!]. If this place lived up to half its reputation, Id get another half dozen levels just by studying all the cool and interesting magic. Weird how I could sort of pay to level up but wasnt that basically what [Students] and [Apprentices] did?


    Iona nudged me, and I realized Id zoned out a little. I stepped through the portal, [The World Around Me] going a little wonky as I split through. I briefly ended up with two fuzzed spheres as my body was split in half as I moved through the portal.


    [*ding!* [The World Around Me] leveled up!]


    We were underwater. Properly, truly, underwater, in a vast hall that was all rooms on one side, and pure glass on the other and ceiling. Underfoot was warm, tropical sand, and I immediately slipped my shoes off to let my toes sink into it.


    Your rooms are right over here. The minotaur gestured. Let me reassure you that the soundproofing on the rooms is quite sturdy, and there are no quiet hours or anything of the like. One of the Classers running the Stellar Oasis has [Party All Night], an aura that will leave you feeling constantly refreshed and invigorated, no matter how little sleep you might get, effectively adding days to your stay.


    Oooh, that sounded like a great aura! I think my [Saintess] class had a similar aura offered in its endless set of skills, but with a different name and theme.


    We got to our room. The side away from the door was dominated by more floor to ceiling windows, giving us a beautiful view of a colorful coral reef and the thousands of tiny fish swimming around in it. There was one large bed that was literally made out of clouds.


    The glasses will teleport any drink we have directly to them. Do not fear, we are not conjuring material, but at the same time, I would beg you to have caution. With no [Bartender] keeping an eye on you, and the ability to summon substances of varying strength, it is possible to partake too much. While the glasses are resistant to breaking when dropped, they are nowhere close to indestructible.


    And were billed a small fortune if we do break them. I whispered quietly to Iona. It had been in the paperwork Id just signed. Page 289.


    The bubble tour is a popular first experience at the Stellar Oasis. It can give you a good overview of all the amenities offered. If you need any assistance, simply request assistance out loud. We will promptly be at your side.


    Interesting! And maybe a little spooky.


    Thank you. Iona said, tipping the man generously. He bowed and left. Ionas eyes drifted to the cloud bed.


    You are insatiable. I replied to her wordless request. Lets go try that bubble tour that was suggested.


    One moment! Iona dove into her trunk, retrieving a fresh notebook and her drawing pencils. Alright, Im ready, lets go!


    The heat hit me in a wave as we portaled to the central hub. It was wonderful. Blue skies, a few white clouds drifting through the sky, some birds cawing on the wind. A few other guests were walking around, Immortals from all over. A demon held hands with an elf, while a pair of devils were merrily bickering by a pool.


    It was easy enough to find the bubble tour, and there was a devil giving away ice cream to anyone who wanted some. The place was all-inclusive, wed paid enough at the start that everything inside was free. I got mango flavor, while Iona got a chocolate-vanilla-fruit mix.


    I mock-shuddered at her choice.


    What? She licked her treat. I like tasting everything. Its not like Im a one-noter like you are. She teased.


    We sat down in the staging area, and a great bubble of soap popped into existence around us, including a little love bench for us to sit on. I sat down and crossed my legs, aware that the bottom of the bubble was transparent.


    Theres something nice about going with the old familiar comforts. I flirted back.


    We took in the sights as the bubble lifted up, getting a good view of everything going around. Waterways crossed through the air, a lazy river that went up. The beaches were made out of sparkling white sand, and every incoming wave was huge, right until the moment it was about to hit the shore. Then it decreased in size to a more reasonable amount. Guests of the Stellar Oasis were playing games on the beach, there was an amphitheater, a buffet hall, and so much more!


    I rested my head on Ionas shoulder.


    I love you. I said.


    I love you too. Now, stay just like that, I want to capture this moment forever. Iona said, her pencil moving over the page at high speed.


    The Stellar Oasis was amazing. The bathrobes were so soft I wanted to weep when I took them off. There was a snow section, with a downhill ski slope that seemed to never end, and the snow was warm enough that there was no discomfort. A potion hot tub had all sorts of interesting effects, and the [Bartender] had taken a potion to transform into a dilophosaurus or so she claimed.


    Shes actually a dinosaur! Iona whispered urgently into my ear, able to sneak a peek into her stats. A dinosaur is mixing our drinks!


    That was far cooler than oh I took a potion to look like this.


    The beach was eternally perfect, and I could even somewhat control how solid the sand was, letting us make an epic sand castle with some of the other guests. Iona was half of a competitive spirit, and some famous general - Id never heard of him - was the other half of a competitive spirit, and the two teams built the largest castles we could, then fired harmless sandballs at each other.


    One of the buildings had all sorts of tinker toys, including a set of runes engraved in stone that could be rearranged in various orders to make different fun effects, letting anyone play at being a wizard. It was briefly novel for me then boring, since I could do my own wizardry - and they did it all wrong!! - but Iona had a blast.


    There was the most skillful skill-less performance Id ever seen. Someone had decided to turbo-charge their initial class by not accepting anything, and was still level 8 at 150 years old. The benefits of being Immortal. He had a wonderful stage act and performance, made all the more novel and interesting by the fact that there couldnt be any true skills on display.


    Level 100+ [Actors] and [Thespians] were a dime a dozen. But someone who could stand, act, and joke better than one, while clearly not having any skills or classes for it was fresh and revitalizing.


    Iona did not like the instant painter. She wanted - perhaps a little jealously, she freely admitted - to have all of our pictures and memories of the place made by her. I had no strong feelings about it, and if it made her happy, sure, why not?


    A trampoline section sent us to dizzying heights, made manageable only by the fact that both of us could fly. A few of the other guests looked a little green, which was pretty funny.


    One of the only things that was truly limited at the resort were transformation tonics, where we could drink them and experience being another animal for half an hour or so, limited to one per person per day.


    A [Hundred Hand Massage] followed a trip in the every direction is down room, where we could easily walk on the wall, ceiling, or innumerable little fun obstacles that littered the room. Iona was nearly as glued to it as I was to the innumerable enchantments I found all over the place, studying them and adding them to my list of spells I knew.


    One thing I had to be careful about - I didnt know the runic language they were using, and until I did and spent time studying it, I was basically casting blind.


    A gang of super intelligent racoons tried to rob the resort, and there was mutterings of a Pekari assault going on nearby. Iona and I needed to remind ourselves that we were on vacation, and that other people were paid to fix these problems.


    Didnt stop me from scruffing one of the racoons I found in my belongings though.


    Now listen here you. I said, staring at the dangling raccoon at eye level. I am here on vacation. I dont want to have to deal with you and your gangs shit. Go bother somebody else before you become enough of a problem that I need to handle you. Now shoo.


    Fortunately for us, they didnt see it as a challenge, instead causing mischief everywhere else.


    We went diving in the sea, and with a mix of potions and enchantments, were able to walk and freely swim among the coral reefs with no problems.


    Jurcor was weird about their fashion - in my opinion. The devils put way too much stock on who was wearing what, and had whole things about fine clothing. That I could tell, there were clearly hidden depths to it all.


    The short of it was a ton of clothing shops in dozens of different styles, cuts, and makes, and was the whole reason both Iona and I had brought an entire extra empty trunk.


    Shopping and souvenirs! I spent an unwise amount on dresses and trinkets, while Iona liked custom-tailored suits. She also spent an unbelievable amount on a set of paints.


    Well, unbelievable to me. The artist believed shed gotten it at an absolute steal.


    I didnt know it was physically possible to charge that much for paint.


    Iona, with her brilliant silver tongue, somehow managed to talk the management of the resort into giving us an extra two weeks stay.


    For free.


    I had no idea how she managed to do it, only complaining about how stupid charisma was. Quietly.


    Sun, sex, food, and alcohol, it was the perfect mangomoon for us.

 Chapter 520: Changing of the Guard I

    Chapter 520: Changing of the Guard I


    Vatius


    Vatius believed he played one of the most important roles in the Exterreri Empire.


    Sure, the Senate passed laws.


    Sure, the Emperor ruled.


    Sure, the guards, Rangers, and Sentinels took care of problems.DiiSco?ver new stories on


    Sure, the various guilds ran the economy.


    Sure, merchants made the whole thing run smoothly.


    Sure, theyd all starve without farmers.


    But!


    All that paled in comparison to his work. His art.


    Who would know of the Sixteen Trials of Sentinel Invincible if it were not for him?


    Who would know of the great triumph of Sentinel Devour against the near-mythical typhon, if he didnt tell the tale?


    Who would ever hear of the greatest romance between Sentinel Dawn and Valkyrie Dusk, the two names oh-so-poetic, if he didnt shout it from the rooftops?


    Vatius was a [Bard], both best and worst of his type, and credit where credit was due:


    Vatius was extremely well organized, and his favorite subjects were the Sentinels.


    One day his genius would be appreciated and noticed, and hed gain an official position - along with vampiredom - on his songs. Until then, hed continue writing and studying the movements of the Sentinels, getting as many songs and inspiration as possible.


    [Year 28,267] - The Twilight Romance - Sentinel Dawn and Valkyrie Dusk getting married.


    Notes: Couldnt find much about their early years together. It was like they just saw each other, said lets get married and went from there. Only the wedding is factual - the fights, duels, and feuding families are made up. Popular with the ladies.


    [Year 28,268] - The Undying Legion - The Sixth Legion eliminating an entire Pekari army without a single casualty.


    Notes: Not only did nobody in the Legion die, none of the ancillaries died either. Verses 3, 5, and 6 about them are unpopular, cut from further iteration. Extremely popular with soldiers.


    [Year 28,269] - Bid for Immortality - Sentinel Dawn holding an auction in Sanguino.


    Notes: The wordplay in this ones excellent, but nobodys interested. Use as reference. Might find more success in mortal lands. Look into translating into Yayoi.


    Today was an important day.


    It didnt mean I was going to slack off.


    Immortality, eternity, an easy source of income and a somewhat relaxed job made it all too easy and tempting to sit on my laurels, grab some mangos from the garden, kick up my feet, grab a book, and indulge myself. All day, every day.


    I woke up to the smell of frying eggs, with salt, pepper, and a tiny dash of cayenne peppers. I inhaled deeply, enjoying the scent, and happy that I didnt need to worry about how ungodly expensive spices were on Pallos.


    I slipped into the small private kitchen, where Iona was expertly frying fourteen eggs. Two for me, a dozen for her. I grabbed a mango and orange out of the bowl, and started peeling both. [Rapid Reshelving] got me plates directly out of the cupboard and onto the table. The Valkyries that occasionally passed through the place got the large-scale kitchen, but our private domain was just for the family.


    Morning love! Sleep well? She asked as I arranged the slices of orange artfully onto her plate.


    Eh. I was up, I was functioning, I had a full day ahead of me, [Zenith Everlasting], go!


    [*ding!* [Zenith Everlasting] leveled up! 600 -> 601]


    Oh nice. Itd been a while since Id seen that one level up.


    Iona expertly flicked her knife out, slicing off two slices of bread. With a deft twist of her wrist, she sent them my way. [The First Rays of Dawn] was complete overkill for toasting bread, but it was fun getting both sides done completely evenly before they landed on our plates. I frowned at mine.


    Overlapped a hair here. I pointed to the spot as Iona sauntered over with the hot frying pan filled with delicious dinosaur eggs.


    Chicken, of course.


    She squinted at the spot I was pointing to.


    I think I see it. She removed any further analysis of my aim by dumping two eggs onto my toast. Eat up! Big day today.


    Thanks! They look great! I chowed down with gusto. Iona started eating as well, eventually grabbing a pitcher of water and starting to pour it onto the table. Without a word I teleported a cup right into the stream, smoothly intercepting her pour before it could be a problem.


    I loved our teamwork.


    Are you up for hitting my armor after breakfast? I asked.


    Iona hummed and nodded.


    Yeah, I can make that work. Sharp weapons? Ive got something Id like to try, and dulls could ruin the effect.


    Titania was the only squishy person around, and she knew to stay far away from the sparring room. Some Valkyries might also be using the salle, but this early in the morning they were likely doing other activities. A few little chores that helped keep the place running, alleviating the impact of their stay here. Iona and I cleaned up entirely after ourselves, and our housekeeper never entered. It was a safety thing, and it made it a little easier on us all.


    I teleported into [Vault of Ages], mentally checking what my to-do list had.


    Ugh. At some point I still needed to sit down and plot out the contents of every room at the level 85, 90, 95, and 105 markers. One thing Id never considered with the skill - how often Id need to manually pick up a bunch of stuff and move it around to a better storage layout when it expanded.


    It was always worth it long term, but it sucked in the moment. The first half-dozen times Id needed to replan and remodel had been fun, then it turned into a chore. Who knew a gigantic pocket dimension for storage could be such a chore?!


    I passed through a nearby broken and destroyed room, filled with armor sets that were battered and broken to the point of uselessness, and found one of my last remaining intact sets. Id need to visit Harper soon, she had a [Smith] that repaired the sets for me. Good experience for everyone!


    [Rapid Reshelving] was such a fun skill. I wasnt finding huge amounts of use in instantly move things from one spot to another, apart from little gimmicks like Iona pouring herself a glass of water this morning, but it was incredibly useful for getting things in the right configuration immediately. Case in point - putting on a whole suit of armor took a thought, not thirty minutes and a [Squire]. I grabbed a short sword - swinging against an unarmed target was pointless, and it helped keep Iona mindful of her own openings - and I was set.


    I popped back out into our sparring room, Iona slowly moving through a few katas with her glaive.


    I hated the glaive.


    I didnt stretch or limber up, simply making sure [Etheric Aegis] was up and active. Most enemies wouldnt give me the chance to prepare and warm up. Why should I practice under unrealistic conditions?


    That wasnt to say we were completely abandoning all sanity and reason.


    Ready to spar. Iona said.


    Ready to spar. I confirmed.


    As the last syllable left my lips, Iona lunged at me with her glaive. I tried to dodge, but shed been prepared and ready, and she promptly ran me through the gut. A fast jerk to the side ripped my entrails out, my healing reforming my body into perfect shape behind her, but my poor plate clanged against the far wall.


    Iona grinned savagely at me, her eyes burning with unholy light. Naturally, she continued swinging. With the little bit of extra momentum from getting impaled, I was able to dodge the first few swings, anticipating with the familiarity of long practice where shed move next and what blow was coming.


    The Valkyrie quickly closed the momentum gap by sheer virtue of being faster than I was, and right before she was going to get me, changed her style anyway and slammed the shaft of her polearm over my shoulder.


    My collarbone broke and my pauldron had it even worse, and we spent the next 20 minutes systemically wrecking every piece of armor Id put on.


    [*ding!* [Etheric Aegis] leveled up! 201 -> 202]


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    Woo! Today was a good day! It had been a while since my last level up on the skill. I was getting a sense of deja-vu


    Iona managed to destroy my greave with style.


    Glaives arent supposed to bounce off walls. I complained, yanking the polearm out of my foot. We were going to need to re-tile the room soon enough - we kept wrecking the floor. Who knew a good sparring room would be so expensive? My wife winked at me.


    You know I love you, right? She said.


    I know. I confirmed.


    Weve finished dismantling the [Battery] line, as per your request. Nike has remained with the Sixth, while the rest have been redistributed to the other Legions as per their need.


    I hope we dont end up regretting this.


    Legata Katerina.


    Short, simple, and thankfully no our scouts have found traces of a monster. Standby for extermination messages.


    My job done, I flew back home, the trip having calmed me down. I took the time back to simply enjoy life, enjoy flying. How the wind whistled around me. How the air seemed to wrap around me like an old friend.


    It was wonderful. Why couldnt life always be like flying?


    I suppose the lows and the boring parts highlighted the fun parts, and made them all richer. There was no such thing as light without darkness, after all.


    Back home I shaped [Shroud of the Stellar Sea] into a cup, poured some water into it, then flipped open a spellbook to a simple Fire spell, which I shot into the water.


    Steam hissed and the water frothed and roiled, and I sighed at the exercise.


    It was boring, but I wanted to see if I could get a neat shield skill out of it, to study the effects and the offered power if nothing else. I glanced at the sun, and almost had a heart attack.


    Moldy mangos! I was going to be late!


    I dropped my spell and shield, uncaring of the spilled water that went everywhere - Sorry Titania, I didnt usually leave my messes uncleaned, that was unkind of me - and bolted out the door at top speed, flying to Sanguino with my anti-friction runes glowing blue against my skin, in stark relief against the marriage tattoo on my back.


    I had a meeting with Night, and if it didnt happen today, it could be months before I had another chance to talk with him.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Chimera (Elvenoid)]


    [Age: 35]


    [Mana: 3,494,560/3,494,560]


    [Mana Regeneration: 9,983,821 +(20,085,302)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 34,398 (Effectively: 275,184)]


    [Dexterity: 58,974 (Effectively: 627,955)]


    [Vitality: 143,144 (Effectively: 2,236,625)]


    [Speed: 130,376 (Effectively: 2,566,191)]


    [Mana: 349,456]


    [Mana Regeneration: 1,085,692 (+ 2,008,530)]


    [Magic Power: 392,514 (+ 16,878,102)]


    [Magic Control: 392,235 (+ 16,866,105)]


    [Class 1: [The Arbiter of Life and Death - Celestial: Lv 860]]


    [Celestial Mastery: 860]


    [Aurora Curialis: 770]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 51]


    [Luminary Mind: 588]


    [Universal Cure: 860]


    [Etheric Aegis: 202]


    [Shroud of the Stellar Sea: 640]


    [Zenith Everlasting: 601]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 740]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 740]


    [Radiance Resistance: 740]


    [The Rays of the First Dawn: 740]


    [Lepidoptera: 740]


    [Nectar: 740]


    [Solar Corona: 740]


    [Wings of the Mythical Sunbird: 740]


    [A Raging Tempest of Golden Phoenix Feathers: 740]


    [Class 3: [Ancient Loremaster of Legend - Spatial: Lv 256]]


    [Spatial Authority: 256]


    [Manuscript Mastery: 256]


    [Blink: 181]


    [Loremaster''s Library: 256]


    [Vault of Ages: 81]


    [Rapid Reshelving: 235]


    [Astral Archives: 256]


    [Lust for Lore: 256]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 530]


    [Technical Drawing: 56]


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 860]


    [The World Around Me: 203]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 860]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 860]


    [Persistent Casting: 640]


    [Gardening: 98]

 Chapter 521: Changing of the Guard II

    Chapter 521: Changing of the Guard II


    Night was a gracious vampire, my mentor, my friend. Hed spent quite a lot of time with me, helping me settle in when I first came back.


    But he was a busy, busy man.


    During his vacation from leading the Sentinels, he still had a full social calendar. Not only did most of the Sentinels seek to bend his ear on occasion, but he was the vampire. He seemed to know everyone, have connections to all the movers and shakers, was mentoring at least three people in wildly different arts and pursuits, that I knew of, and entirely bucked the notion that Immortals were stuffy, boring, and didnt keep up with things.DiiSco?ver new stories on


    The idea of an Immortal staying in a cave and not noticing thousands of years were passing was laughably absurd. Time passed for them like everyone else, if perhaps a hair faster than normal.


    Stacking on top of that, Night was about to resume command of the Sentinels, giving Arachne a much-deserved break. Susan wouldnt be tied into every single thing that occurred in Sanguino. She wouldnt have feelers in every room, she wouldnt hear every whisper that occurred, nor feel every footstep, every movement, every skill. She didnt need to stay on top of every conspiracy, nor would she need to let most criminals go.


    The months leading up to the transition of power were busy for both Susan and Night. In spite of being married, they managed to not bring work home with them too often, and Night had years of catching up to do.


    In time, when the hourglass turned and the two traded off again, theyd need to do the same thing. Only much faster, given Arachnes heavy focus on all things knowledge and information.


    When I brought my question to Night about what Aion had implied about fight against the encroaching darkness that threatens all life on Pallos, he hadnt immediately known. He needed to spend some time unlocking the proper, relevant memories, and with everything else going on?


    Well, that had taken time. While I had a moment of his time, Id also included a list of other questions. Questions that, mere hours from taking over, he finally had an hour to answer.


    No longer was I sneaking through a weird tannery and making my way down through tunnels. Instead, I walked right up to Castle Stormwatch, the Bloodsworn Order looking extra-spiffy today.


    Hey, the Sentinels were about to go all-out, and we had a friendly rivalry going on of sorts. I didnt interact much with them - I barely knew the names of three members of the Bloodsworn Order - but that didnt mean there wasnt a professional rivalry going on.


    A few members of each group took it way too seriously. It wasnt my problem.


    A few guards, a lot of hallways and uncountable art displays later, and I was knocking at the appropriate door, having already confirmed with a pair of guards that I belong.


    Enter. Nights familiar voice was brusque and promised no nonsense. I quickly slipped into the meeting hall.


    Night had a pair of powerful Immortals by his side - an elf and a devil - a third one - a dwarf - slipping by behind me to deliver another stack of papers. I couldnt help but sneak a peek at the papers. It wasnt like they could be top-secret.


    List of Sentinel Candidates was written at the top. Each candidate had exactly five sheets of paper dedicated to them, and it seemed like they cast a wide, wide net when vetting candidates. Maxlin, Wren, and Katerina from the Sixth all had their own files. To my surprise, the notes on Wrens implied he was the most likely of the three to make it - but even that wasnt super promising.


    Nights aide carefully moved a few files around, clearing a little spot on the table and placing the list of candidates where they belonged.


    Dawn. Welcome. Night looked up as he put down the paper he was reading. I would like to apologize for the nature and timing of this. The information was important enough that it warrants a direct conversation, but I find myself lacking in the time to have a full, proper discussion as usually marks our meetings. Come, sit, I will introduce you to my personal team along with everyone else at the ceremony later. Night said with a hint of amusement.


    Sentinels were rarely recruited. I was still the newest recruit, and the only one obtained during Arachnes most recent tenure. I dont know why it came as a surprise to me that Night had his own personal team assisting him - and that only one of them was a vampire!


    First, the encroaching darkness that threatens all life on Pallos. Addolorata, Daku the Five-Hundredth and Thirty Sixth, Talathil, you may leave the room if you do not wish to be cursed with knowledge.


    To my great consternation, the room cleared out in moments. Just how badly had Night traumatized those three that their curiosity had been replaced by caution!?


    How badly traumatized was I about to be!?


    Eh couldnt be worse than what I learned as a [Loremaster]... could it? Well, if it was, itd be great fuel for class rarity!


    I sat down next to Night, deciding to suppress my curiosity on all the reams of paperwork and not potentially traumatize myself with more knowledge, or distract myself from Nights information.


    It is fortunate that I was able to regale you with my tale of finding myself trapped on Aetherion. Night started.


    I nodded. I remembered that! It was the story of when Night got yoinked by a portal mage onto another planet. That idiot hunting Auri had crashed the party, but Artemis had fixed things.


    For narrative purposes, I cut a number of aspects to my tale, parts that wouldnt add to the story yet were part of my adventure. Nobody needs to hear the mundane details of how I fed on blood for the sixty-fourth time, nor did every trip between a city require a ballad on how an axle broke and we helped a farmer along the way. Mundane details. There are other parts that I passed over, such as the complexities of the magic available there, and the intricate details and research into spells that we needed to do. Fascinating to a [Researcher] who would like to know how other schools of magic work, but boring from a narrative perspective.


    If you ever need to send someone my way, my doors always wide open for anyone with a letter from you.


    Night smiled at me, a twinkle in his eye.


    Ah my dear, how youve grown! Its such a joy to see. Now, I believe that covers everything. I apologize once again Elaine, but the timing of your query is most unfortunate.


    I nodded and stood up.


    No, thank you Night, youve given me a lot to think about. I wont disrupt you anymore. Thank you for your time.


    Night smiled, letting his fangs show.


    Then I will see you at the ceremony later. He picked up another stack of papers, and I recognized a dismissal when I saw one.


    Success!


    I got up, saluted, spun on my heels, and left. Nights team was just outside the door, and they efficiently piled in behind me the moment Id left.


    Today was shaping up to be an odd day. I figured since I was working on the various questions that had been brought up when I last classed up, the day was all off-kilter. As it wasnt quite time for me to start getting ready, I hunted through the city until I found a temple dedicated to Ciriel, Goddess of Healing.


    She was relatively popular, as far as goddesses went, although less popular in a major city like Sanguino. Gods could grant miracles to their faithful, and out in small villages and other places where there werent well-trained [Healers], begging Ciriel for a miracle of healing was one of the only options. The closer a miracle was to a goddesss portfolio, the more likely it was to be answered.


    Of course, out in little villages, there were good arguments to be made about praying to harvest gods, wood, sheep, wheat, stone, clay


    I took a seat in one of the benches, bowed my head and clasped my hands. I dont know why Id put this off so long.


    Hi Ciriel.


    Its me, Elaine. Im not too good at this prayer thing, but-


    My prayer was interrupted by a voice in my head.


    Elaine!!! Im so happy you finally reached out! You have no idea how anxious I was when I didnt hear from you. I thought Id done something wrong. Alright, I hope Im not being too excited and forward, but I am so impressed!


    Ill be honest, I thought for sure that you were another elf when I read the Medical Manuscripts. With Lumornor being the famous spreader and all that. Imagine my surprise when you werent!


    Huh, Ciriel I guess that was a pretty elvish-sounding name.


    Im so curious! Howd you write them? Howd you know?


    Trade you a question for a question! I teased back. I dont know a lot of gods and goddesses. Do elves lose their arrogance when they ascend? What got you into medicine and healing in the first place?


    An embarrassed laugh came back to me over the connection.


    By my books, ascending was the greatest dose of humiliation and embarrassment ever.Ciriel said. An Immortals lifetime worth of memories of being far too arrogant and condescending hit all at once. I almost died from sheer mortification when I realized what Id said and done. It was the WORST. Ill freely admit I took a few decades to stew over it and try to make some amends, but in some ways, making amends just amplified the problem and - yeah, lets not talk about that anymore.


    My ears perked up at Ciriels swear. By her books? Another bookworm? Another part of me told me not to laugh at the goddess. Not because she was a goddess, but laughing at someone whod just revealed a private embarrassment was the wrong thing to do. It just wasnt kind.


    Well, my turn! Youre probably familiar with Papilion


    I leaned back as I started to give Ciriel the basics of my story, a smile playing over my face as we chatted. I felt like Id met a kindred spirit, another healer, one whod gone the whole distance.


    Another friend.

 Chapter 522: Changing of the Guard III

    Chapter 522: Changing of the Guard III


    The ringing symphony of steel on steel greeted me when I returned home, a pair of Valkyries sparring in full gear. I poked my head into the salle, watching a display of skill and magic, seeing once again how an utterly alien style of fighting worked. A longsword and kite shield wielded by a pachysaurus type saurian against a bearkin wielding a greatsword almost as tall as she was - and she towered over Iona by a full head.


    On one hand, combat was combat. Trying to kill someone was trying to kill someone. On the other, gear and tradition informed optimal movements. Remus and Exterreri favored lighter armor - relative to what Valkyries used - strong tower shield, spears and short swords. There was a fundamental assumption underpinning our drills and tactics that wed have someone on either side of us, covering us as we fought in tandem.


    The Valkyries didnt. They had much heavier armor, and the fundamental assumption that they were alone.


    Of course Id seen Iona sparring thousands of times, but it was different as an outsider, and it was rare to get two heavies clashing against each other.


    There was one odd thing I was noticing though I wasnt familiar enough with the style to be certain, and the last few years had helped me grow socially a bit.


    Just a little. Better than I was before.


    I was aware that I was the [Lady] of the house. The owner, the person with the purse strings who made it all happen. It gave me a somewhat uncomfortable position over the Valkyries. They thought, in the back of their mind, that if they annoyed me too much that theyd wear out their welcome. That theyd be evicted once again.


    On one hand, absolutely not. I wouldnt do that to my wife.


    On the other, if they were absolutely terrible guests and constantly trashed the place or casually demolished walls - neither Iona or I had the classic [Fortification] skill, a popular skill for reinforcing buildings housing powerful Classers - then yeah, theyd probably wear on my patience and temper enough that Iona would be the one caught in the awkward position between us, and would probably make the Valkyries find alternative arrangements.


    The bearkin smashed down with her greatblade, the saurian being forced down to one knee as she blocked. A swift kick from the bear took out her support, and the saurian tried to roll. The greatsword came down with more than enough reach to trap her before she could finish her roll, and the two paused their duel, the winner obvious.


    Youre favoring your right leg a bit. Everything alright? I asked the longsword-weidling Valkyrie. The bearkin offered her hand, the other Valkyrie taking the assist to get pulled back up.


    Well, if youre noticing it, theres no way Brute didnt. She said. No offense.


    The bearkin - Brute, obviously - snorted.


    Like I couldnt see that bait a thousand fathoms away. Come on, make it more subtle. Last round, loser buys drinks? She offered.


    With a flick of her sword, the saurian got back into position.


    Beer tastes sweetest when bought by the loser. She agreed.


    I left the two of them to it. Id tried to help - turns out I was only seeing a trap being laid out. It was better to ask, than assume.


    While there was no need to get changed into my ceremonial Sentinel gear in a particular place, it was my ceremonial gear. I felt like some pomp and ceremony was required for gearing up.


    I went into my [Vault] - By the goddesses - errr, Goddess? Ciriel was cool, maybe I should start swearing by her - I dont know what Id been thinking when I nearly didnt take the skill. Easy logistics was so cool.


    Oh by Ciriel, I was getting old. I was geeking out over storage! Next thing I knew Id be happy we had good trash!


    oh no, I was old, I was excited about how easy our trash was.


    Putting that aside, I swam through my [Vault of Ages], mentally making a note that whatever Spatial class I took, I had to make sure I kept the skill.


    Then again, there was a strong argument that I should empty the [Vault] out before classing up. If I got an irresistible offering, I wouldnt want to lose everything contained in my storage. Id need like two months of effort to slowly clear everything out. That classup wasnt going to be an impulse one. Needed to talk with Nights friend first.


    The location of my ceremonial gear was interesting. Storage! I didnt want it in my armory and taking up space - everything in there was fight for my life equipment- but I also wanted it close to my armory in case I was out of all other gear, and had to use it. My black armor, along with the other ceremonial trimmings, got an entire room to themselves, letting it have the weight and gravitas required for the moments I needed it. I briefly debated putting it on manually, but in the end - nah. Who had time for that?


    Full scale, tastefully trimmed with red. Enchanted to always catch the light just right and shine - even when ashes clouded the sky. Gauntlets, enchanted to help me hold my grip on things and stay on my body. The enchantment was neat, I could hold things upside down for a brief moment before gravity took over. Greaves, enchanted to ring a little louder when I stomped down with them.


    My cape. Red, of course.


    My sigils were emblazoned onto my chest. The right was my personal sigil, the golden eagle of Remus bright gold against the black scale, and the fangs and wings sigil of the current day Sentinels on the other side.


    A few quick cantrips - I didnt do a full practice for them, not for something this serious - made sure everything was spiffy. I went through my vault, making it to walk-in closet #3 - the Jurcor shopping dress one.


    Look, making sure I had a nice collection of clothes and dresses wasnt purely due to Auris vanity. They were nice! A good remembrance from our mangomoon!


    It had a full-room mirror in it, and I spent some time admiring how I looked, fiddling with a few clasps and tucking them in.


    With a nod and grin to myself, I left the [Vault], almost landing on top of Iona.


    Hey! Fancy meeting you here! I said. Need a hand with your armor?


    Please. Iona asked. The fancy outfit Id gotten for our wedding wasnt like her mallium, which she could equip with a thought, nor did she have a fancy teleporting skill. She could get it all on herself with [Telekinesis], but a second pair of hands made it much faster.


    We got everything on, and without asking, to my delight, Iona grabbed the tabard with my personal Sentinel sigil on it, clearly indicating her affiliation.


    I looked her over with a critical eye, smoothing out a practically invisible wrinkle while Iona looked on with an amused grin, her helmet under one arm.


    Got it all? She asked. Were going to be late at this rate.


    Arachne kept it short and sweet, and ceremonially took off her Sentinel badge and cape of office, and handed it back to Command. She kept her spider-like personal sigil on, stepped off the stage, and cheerfully strolled out of the room.


    [The World Around Me] let me see the thousands of threads Arachne had everywhere, and I got to watch all of them getting raveled in as she stopped her unending surveillance of Sanguino.


    It was her turn to rest. Shed earned it.


    Command got up and started their speech, and while I was a fan of accountability and the like, that didnt mean my affection extended to the actual [Politicians] and [Senators] holding the role.


    I swear, most of them had to have their own long-winded speech, like they were in front of a crowd. Only two kept it extremely short and sweet, and their [Ranger] and [Warrior] tag implied theyd served in the army or even as a Ranger before eventually turning to a political life. Bless those two.


    Long story short - Night was taking charge. Oh, sure, they put it in a thousand flowery terms, but it was nothing more than a simple changing of the guard.


    Then the drums rolled, and Night himself came in, armed to the teeth. Four of his teammates followed him in, three Id already seen before and a medusa. A slow chant started, one I quickly joined.


    Night. Night. Night. Night.


    His simple presence was enough to whip centuries-old vampires into a frenzy. He reached the stage, turned around, and held his hands out. We quieted down. Two of the Commanders put the cape of office on Night, and sat back down. He began his speech, putting every ounce of his powerful oration to work.


    Friends, Rangers, Sentinels all, I am pleased to once again be in your presence, that you have chosen to once again trust me to lead you all through these times.


    I was ready for a boring speech. I wanted a boring speech.


    My wish was not granted.


    We are at war. Night spoke, and the entire stadium, already quiet for the charismatic leaders speech, went absolutely still.


    We are at war! Night said a second time, louder. Our enemies circle the border, testing us in a dozen different ways. Urwa attempts to flood our streets with opium. An unknown actor, believed at this time to be the Golden Courts, are interfering with our weather patterns, causing drought in an attempt to create a famine. Protectionism is on the rise! Those fantastical materials belonging to the Crucible and Sylvan element are hoarded, vanishing into smithies and armories. Elven hunts are becoming bolder, freely crossing into our territories. Jurcor attempts to extend their reach into our nation under the guise of laws and contracts, trying to shackle and cripple us with debt. A second unknown actor is trying to drive a firm wedge in human-vampire relations, attempting to divide us and trigger a civil war.


    Someone snickered. Night got Radiance-focused on him.


    Make no mistake! Night shouted. These events, while seeming small, herald the end of an era of peace and prosperity. They signal that the greed of our neighbors is boundless, that they wish to devour our territory and people! All this has happened before, and all this will happen again! This is not the time to be complacent. This is the time for vigilance!


    A thought suddenly struck me.


    If everyone was trying to throw various wrenches into our country werent we also likely trying to throw wrenches into theirs? A lot of the attacks had various degrees of plausible deniability, and even Arachne couldnt properly trace who was trying various bullshit. It would be naive to assume that Exterreri was the global punching bag, and we werent doing our own nonsense. Nobody would ever admit to it of course, but it made too much sense for me to ignore.


    A simple word of warning is far from enough for the events occurring. Nights tone had calmed down, but we were still hanging onto his every word. Starting tomorrow, I am reinstituting daily stand-up meetings. I predict before this Immortal Era heats up into a deadly war conflagrating the world, that we will see a number of assassination attempts. Our enemies will try to silently pick us off one at a time. They seek to weaken us, from our foundations to our top, searching for any crack in the pillar of support that enables us all. Vigilance is key!


    Night went on in that vein for a bit, but the end was a surprise to me.


    One final note. While there is a bill passing its way through the Senate at this time to similar effect, as leader of the Sentinels I am able to make additional proclamations and rules. The latest enemy to have thrown her hat into the ring is both one we can not afford to fight, and yet, one that is easy to battle at the same time. The Moon Cult is hereby outlawed. No member of the Rangers, no Sentinel, no member of any team or group connected in any way to us can participate. They seek to usurp control of the entirety of Exterreri, and we can only thank our lucky stars that our opponent lacks either proper subtlety, or vastly underestimates elvenoids.


    A few of us shuddered as we understood the implication, and a few more went pale. In the audience stands, someone was getting up with a red face, looking like he was about to start yelling at Night. A very embarrassed-looking Sentinel darted out of the crowd, up into the stands, and grabbed their teammates arm, gently guiding them out of the stadium.


    I couldnt help but eavesdrop on them. Super hearing sucked at times, but at others it was so nice.


    ... embarrassed me in front of everyone! The Sentinel hissed. When Sentinel Night, the fucking progenitor, is declaring war on a cult, that is not the time or the place to be kicking up a fuss! No! When Night is saying that your good friends are plotting the overthrow of the government, you have to seriously consider what direction to go in!


    But-


    No buts! Give yourself a week to get over it, but break it off.


    Gossip was best when it didnt interfere with me at all.


    At the same time, this was a Night I hadnt seen before. Id seen Night, the calm leader of the Sentinels. Night, my friend, my mentor. Night, the ruthless killer who did what needed to be done.


    I wasnt sure if this was a new facet to him, or if this was his way of impressing upon us the very real challenges we were going to be facing. I had to wonder why Arachne hadnt brought all this up.


    Maybe it was the slowly growing intensity level? An opium war wasnt exactly worth an all-hands-on-deck alert, nor were mean contracts or slow changes in export law worth noting. However, once all of them were put together, it started to paint a different picture. Saving them for a change in tenure and with it, a change in tone, made sense.


    [*ding!* Youve unlocked the General Skill [The Ten Thousand Rules of Society]. Would you like to replace a skill with it? Y/N].


    The Ten Thousand Rules of Society: With painful observation, by stepping in every mistake possible, youve slowly learned the rules of social etiquette and interaction, and have started to see how others words, motivations, thoughts, and actions are all linked. With The Ten Thousand Rules of Society, you will always have the current rule and interaction for every situation at the front of your mind, no matter the situation.


    I skimmed over yet another general skill notification. Everyone got them all the time - the big difference was how big the name was. It implied it was significant, and my eyes opened wide.


    This this was a genuine, at-long-last, social skill. I liked my general skills as they were, but it seemed like Id finally broken the curse.


    I was almost happy declining the skill. Id spent so long working and categorizing the rules myself, I didnt need the help anymore. Plus, I liked my general skills, and I had a book in my [Astral Archives] dedicated to social rules already.


    We face challenging times! But, we are Exterreri! When have we not faced challenging times? From the very moment White Dove cursed vampires, we were doomed to struggle! From ancient Remus, we have fought for our survival! This conflict is in our blood and bones, and we shall prevail. Exterreri Eternal! Nihil Sine Sanguine! Night raised his fists over his head as he shouted the last words.


    Nihil Sine Sanguine! The crowd roared back.

 Chapter 523: Changing of the Guard IV

    Chapter 523: Changing of the Guard IV


    Night knew when he finished a speech strong.


    I am passing off further matters to Addolorata. While not a Sentinel herself, she is a member of my team, and speaks with my voice. Without further ado, he sat down, and a devil stepped up to the front of the stage.


    Night had four visible members of his team, and I was willing to bet there were a few more that werent public-facing. Id briefly met some of them when Id met with Night earlier, but took the chance to study them now.


    First was the devil whod stepped up.


    [Artisan - 1423] her tag revealed, and her eyes suggested an Ash element as her highest level.


    I wasnt going to judge on the relatively low level. If she was on Nights team, there was a reason for it. A gap that she filled. At the [Artisan] tag as well, it could be harder to level than simply battling others.


    Class quality could also factor into it. I punched way above my weight with two black classes under my belt, and it was possible shed undergone numerous resets. As an Immortal - well, everyone on Nights team had to be Immortal, including the medusa and the dwarf - she had infinite time to cycle and get something good.


    [Ranger - 3584] was the elfs tag. She mustve known Night a long time. Tiny swirling leaves in her eyes suggested a forest element, and her impossible gracefulness suggested a stupid number of stats in dexterity at the very least. Shame she didnt carry a bow or anything obvious, but I suppose if Iona could get a skill to simply summon her weapons at any moment, the elf could as well.


    The dwarf was also strong. [Artisan - 3410], with faceted eyes speaking to the gemstone element. I could faintly sense thousands of gemstones woven into his beard and all over his body, from diamonds so tiny I couldnt believe they could hold a skill, to a massive obsidian shield nearly as large as he was. I shuddered to imagine what type of Dark skill could be held in such a gigantic reservoir, and I failed at calculating just how much mana such a skill could hold - especially with a Gemstone Classer potentially able to magnify it in a multitude of ways.


    There was a tiny chance it was a fake-out, but eh, at Nights level? I could believe the dwarf was hauling around a delete city spell.


    A tiny part of me wondered if the elf and the dwarf got along.


    [Warrior - 3332] was the last member of Nights merry band, a male medusa with the bone-white eyes of the Fossil element. His hair squirmed with sea kraits, the black and white rings promising a swift death to anyone who got close. A pair of scimitars were strapped to his waist, and he stared at us with folded arms and a bare chest.


    Part of my attention - thank you [Luminary Mind] - had stayed on the devil as she began addressing the crowd. Thank you. Sentinel Depths, Spark, Invincible, Unmoveable Addolorata continued rattling off a list of Sentinels, and I couldnt quite see what tied them all together. Talathil would like to speak with you all regarding mobility and deployment.


    Hmmm. Thinking about it, they were some of the less mobile Sentinels, werent they? Wait, no Spark was one of the fastest, that couldnt be it. The fastest and the slowest?


    Eh it wasnt really my business was it?


    The one low level Sentinel was included in the list, but I wasnt.


    Addolorata rattled off two more groups of Sentinels, and included a few Ranger teams that were present, before assigning them to receive additional instructions from either Daku or Irro.


    Sentinel Dawn, please see me after the event. She finished.


    Oh boy. I wasnt in a group - I was being singled out explicitly. That was never fun. Now thats out of the way, weve booked a feast! Appetizers are going to be held on the third floor while catering sets up a buffet here. Those of you without other assignments are free to mingle until then. Those whove been asked to meet with one of us - dont worry, well get you back here before everyone else finishes eating all the food! She joked. Alright, dismissed!


    I caught Ionas eye burning with curiosity in the crowd. I tilted my head, letting her know she was more than welcome to come down and see what was going on. We were a team after all.


    Addolorata gestured, and we followed her, the devil sashaying over to one of the smaller rooms that gladiators occasionally used to prepare themselves right before a match. She closed the door without a gesture once we were in, spinning on her heels to face us.


    Definitely not a combatant.


    Dawn! First things first, no need to worry. I only singled you out because youre the newest Sentinel, and havent gone through a rotation before. If there had been more Sentinels recruited, youd all be here! Im here to answer all your questions, and just give you a general briefing of what to expect. Now, Night mentioned your unique circumstances, but not all the details. Have you attended Sentinel daily meet-ups before? She asked.


    The question brought me back in an instant. The hours spent in an underground room with the rest of the Sentinels, sometimes listening to another report, usually bullshitting about something. Brawling had a favorite chair, and Magic kept seeing if he could get a rise out of someone by appearing in odd locations, like walking on the ceiling. A nostalgic smile played over my face.


    I missed them.


    But time and grieving had done a lot to heal the wound. No longer was it a bleeding raw and open injury on my heart. There was a scar, sure, but there was no longer a hot knife ripping through me.


    I kept my answer professional.


    Yes, the new system of Arachne sends a message when she needs something is unusual to me. I said. I could see Iona thinking hard - I bet it was about the Valkyries and their communication.


    Oh excellent, that will make this much easier. We meet at Castle Stormwatch for lunch. It gives time for early morning reports to come in, late night reports to be decided upon, and a bit of time for everyone to settle in and commute to Sanguino if needed. Talathil is handling shuffling around a few of the Sentinels, such that those deployed to a border can make it to Sanguino for the daily update. Nothing for you to worry about, I hear your mobility is fantastic, and that youre living near Sanguino in the first place. Is this still correct?


    I nodded, and Iona verbalized my answer.


    Yes we are. She said. Addolorata twitched a finger, like she was checking an item off a list.


    Excellent! Now, Nights speech. Youre possibly wondering what it means for you, and what changes? What needs to be done?


    Iona and I traded looks. It was like the devil was reading my mind.


    Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.


    Yeah, I was wondering about that. I hadnt been on a war is coming, but its here in subtle ways footing ever frankly, I hadnt even trained for something like this. All of my training and experience revolved around this person with a spear and the System is trying to end your life, not good orators are attempting to create a classist rift and spark internal issues.


    The rest of the letter was an unreadable mess of scribbles and spilled ink, and not even [Manuscript Mastery] could decipher the intent.


    Hey, Artemis wants us to visit. Want to go once Im on break? I asked.


    If Auris back. Iona said. I dont know how youre so calm over her still being gone, without a word from her. If it was Fenrir, Id be biting my nails off.


    I got a bunch of level up notifications from her today. I tried to hide my anxiety. Iona knew how I felt. Plus, her due back day is during my break. At sunrise, if shes not back, Im going to immediately leave and go find her.


    The two thoughts together clicked.


    Oh! The Schools an easy way to get to the Northern Continent, isnt it? I said. I knew that, but Id never had Auri and the School in my mind at the exact same time when debating the logistics of how to go rescue Auri from the Phoenix Peaks if needed.


    A timeline was starting to emerge, one that I shared with Iona.


    Go on break.


    Go see Nights friend in the Bhutai Provinces. Work on my Spatial wizardry a bit, get a fancy rune made.


    Go home.


    Go to the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft.


    If Auri was around, great! Wed have a fun little trip.


    If Auri wasnt, then wed go to the Phoenix Peaks and pick her up.


    ...I know Im asking a lot, and its all centered on me. I finished. After all that, lets do a few things and explorations you want to do? It wasnt about being fair, necessarily - I didnt think because we spent a week doing my thing we should do a week doing Ionas - it was more about balance and yes Im thinking of you.


    It sounds like a good plan, but Im unsure if Id be any help in the Bhutai Provinces. She said. From what I know and understand of the culture, youd be better served going alone, rather than bringing a bunch of people in tow. Depending on how long youd be, I might go on another [Knight-Errant] round after classing up. That, and Id love to see if we can smash the Pekari once and for all. Lets have some ambition.


    Oh, youre ready? I asked. Iona had been sitting on triple 768 for a while now. I wanted to discuss more about the Pekari thing, but was distracted by her classing up declaration. [Luminary Mind] letting me think about multiple things didnt mean I could talk about three things at once.


    I think its time. She said.


    The two of us lovebirds chatted about Ionas classes and the likely directions shed take each one as we headed back home. Unless something amazing was waiting for her in her first class, she was going to take the Valkyrie upgrade. For her third class, she was naturally sticking with [Paladin], even if a black class was offered to her. It was simply too important to her, too core to her identity, to leave it behind. The middle one was up in the air. There were a number of different directions Iona could take with it, and shed see what was offered.


    You should take the third classup first. I suggested. Iona agreed.


    That ones a lock, and the added stats will improve the quality on the other two.


    Then the Valkyrie class, followed by the Archer class. I suggested. Gives you the widest range in the middle.


    But see, I doubt my quality will be as good there, so I think taking the second class first would optimize my offerings on the Valkyrie class, which is more important for me Iona said.


    We cheerfully went back and forth on the various pros and cons as we headed home.


    Ionas classing up was super exciting!! I couldnt wait to see what she got!


    We got home, found Titania had fixed us dinner - the woman was an absolute gem - and sat down to eat, still talking over her class choices.


    ...theres got to be something good about Fenrir. I said. Frost Wyvern, Ice as an overlapping element, I have to believe theres going to be a strong offering relating to him. It even has skills referencing him!


    It felt like a natural extension to me.


    It feels like a massive departure from what the class currently is. I-


    I held my hand up, rudely interrupting and wordlessly asking for silence. [The World Around Me] was fantastic for detecting everything. Including sneaky ninja-trained Valkyries trying to climb over our roof and surprise us. I grinned at Iona, planning all sorts of mischief.


    One moment. I said. I stood up on my chair, jumped up to the ceiling of the room, then [Blinked] onto the roof, where Nina was trying to sneak in.


    Ahha! I yelled as I grabbed her in a headlock. I caught you!


    Nina sputtered in disbelief.


    Your skill is so unfair! She complained. I was trying to sneak up on Iona and surprise her! You had to ruin it!


    I ruffled her hair.


    Good to see you too kiddo. I said. Come on, Ionas going to die of happiness when she sees you.


    Mnot a kiddo.

 Chapter 524: Sentinel Meeting

    Chapter 524: Sentinel Meeting


    Night was back!


    I practically bounced through the streets, my cape fluttering around me as the citizens got out of my way with nothing more than a respectful Sentinel. greeting, or similar.


    I deliberately restrained myself and slowed down, Iona catching up a moment later, an amused look on her face. I had a distracted thought that wondered how well her new armor would catch sunlight - hadnt had a proper chance to see it, not with the ashen clouds over Sanguino.


    Trying to start a panicked stampede? She teased. Nothing scarier here than a Sentinel running.


    I muttered a deflection, my stomach twisting and turning in knots. Iona had no mercy, possibly due to the savagery aspect she got from Fenrir.


    Were only an hour early. She effortlessly dodged a sandal thrown across the road, a heated argument underway.


    I slowed down, and went around a cart instead of over it, just to prove my point.


    Look, its been tens of thousands of years since I was at one of these. I countered - poorly. Let a girl be a little nervous, yeah?


    I then utterly betrayed my earlier attempt at slowing down and trying to prove I was calm and collected by ducking down and speeding up to pass under a palanquin, instead of waiting for it to pass by. I gave it the stink-eye as Iona waited a heartbeat, and then continued walking.


    I tried to keep myself humble, and I wouldnt start shit over it, but I seriously had to wonder who had the gall to see a Sentinel, fully fledged in armor and badges, going down the road and say nah, Im going to cut them off and hope theyre in a good mood. Seriously?


    I reset my thoughts, trying to prevent myself from growing the sort of ego that could be problematic, that ended up with me demanding everyone bow, scrape, and clear the road every time I passed.


    Law and order held sway in Sanguino and Exterreri. Rank, status, and level didnt mean as much as rule of law, and a palanquin with right of way was fully entitled to cut me off.


    I was so full of energy. I bounced my leg up and down as I waited for Iona to catch up with me. I swear my wife was going at normal speed just to fuck with me, and her grin suggested that was exactly what she was doing.


    I almost - almost - whined at her to hurry up, but that wouldve been going too far. Instead, I tried to burn off some of the frantic, restless, excited energy somehow. Without making the Sentinels look bad.


    After an agonizing eternity of six minutes, we made it to Castle Stormwatch, where the guards let me through with a smile and shot cold looks at Iona. We made our way through the vaunted halls, past the displays of various trophies from Exterreris conquests.


    I took a careful look at them, paying special attention to the dates. All of them, without exception, were from the current era, after the latest rounds of violent Immortal wars. The timeline spoke to near-constant conquest up until around fifty years ago.


    Gods. Goddesses. Ciriel. There we go.


    Things were well, I couldnt say things were peaceful with a straight face, not after leaving the Han Empire. But things were relatively stable. Border skirmishes were the biggest thing I was hearing about. Urwa was lightly raiding all their neighbors, but were mostly content to stay in their lands and make themselves obscenely wealthy. There was a long-standing sibling rivalry between the Golden Courts and Tympestshard Council that occasionally erupted in bloodshed but was at a low simmer. The demons of Draakveld didnt allow anyone to stay more than a night, but didnt try to murder their neighbors.


    In a word, peace.


    If only everyone could be content. It only took a few greedy guts to spoil it for everyone. A few people pushing for more and more and more, consuming everything and never dying, never releasing their chokehold.


    Id sworn to do no harm, but right now Ninas [Creed] was looking mighty tempting. Commands use of the Shadow Sentinels to quietly keep the peace was sounding reasonable.


    I shook my head as I arrived at the room, a dozen servants carrying heavy trays of food getting out of my way. I pulled a face as I darted in, Iona laughing behind me.


    I couldnt even tell them to ignore me, no, go on ahead! I complained to her, eyeing up the grand buffet being set up along the wall, trying to mentally mark some choice pieces. If the meetings were a third as chaotic as the Remus ones had been, thered be an absolute free-for-all for the food at the end, and I didnt want to waste any time hesitating over what to get. Proper prior planning prevented piss poor performance! For everything from battling for my life, to battling for lunch.


    Farmed hypsilophodon legs - the skin was so tasty crisped and herbed - and barbequed lesothosaurus ribs that made my mouth water just looking at them were my top picks. Garlic rice, a salad with walnuts and a jug of dressing that smelled divine, and cupcakes for dessert.


    All hail Night! All hail the new world order! If this is how we ate during Sentinel meetings, I wanted to have them three times a day.


    Iona and I grabbed a bench to share near the food. The seating here was interesting. A large number of benches, each able to seat roughly three people comfortably or four if they squeezed together, all facing a slightly elevated platform near the front of the room. There were no windows in the room at all. I suspected security took precedence over comfort and light then again, maybe it was because most of the Sentinels were vampires, and Sanguino might not always have an Ashen cloud cover.


    Or heck, maybe this was Meeting Room #14, and whoever administered Castle Stormwatch had decided it was the right room for us. We werent the only military power in Exterreri. There were the Rangers, Command, the Legions, and the Bloodsworn Order, to name a few.


    Adventurers didnt count.


    Do the Valkyries ever have meetings like this? I asked Iona as I mentally debated if I could [Rapid Reshelving] a particularly tasty-looking cookie directly into my mouth. There should be enough of a gap if I opened my mouth wide enough maybe fake a yawn.


    She shook her head.


    Never like this. Occasionally, in the winter, when the grand hall would fill with us all, Sigrun would make a quick announcement. Ionas voice was tight, the echo of old pain etching itself into her eyes as her hand tightened around her winged helmet.


    I felt bad asking. Even if every single Valkyrie alive constantly had a squire, and all of the squires made it and raised their own, it would be decades before she was in another hall of warrior women.


    I patted her armored leg, silently letting her know I understood.


    Sentinels with a few members of their team started to trickle in. Archmage, the tiny gnome-turned-vampire was one of the first members in, floating along on nothing. A pair of hulking orcs providing muscle to the fragile mage. She tsked at the arrangement, and with runes flashing faster than I could see, transfigured one of the front-row benches into something like a tiny tower.


    Iona was looking displeased as she stomped back, the unhappy look on her face decreasing as she read Nights apology. [Rapid Reshelving] blatantly and openly stole some of the dessert table.


    Hey, after being called out like that in front of everyone, I was more than willing to jump the line, and dared anyone to say something about it. Queen mimed a laugh at my theft.


    Cupcake? I softly whispered to Iona, offering it to her.


    With a brownie. She affirmed, using [Telekinesis] to flagrantly snatch a second desert off the table.


    Calorie therapy secured, we listened to Night speak.


    ... and Sentinel Archmage, we have deployments for the four of you. Addolorata has the details.


    Dammit! I swore as Archmage and three other Sentinels got up, walked or floated to the front of the room, and got a set of notes from Addolorata. There went my chance to chat with Archmage! Id have to do it when she was back.


    I knocked on the wood of my bench. I hoped I hadnt jinxed it.


    The four Sentinels were gone in less than a minute, swiftly striding out to whatever disaster required the presence of Exterreris hardest hitters.


    As many of you know, each rotation I try something a little different. This time, I believe an after action report, no matter how aged, is appropriate even if no Sentinel has recently returned from their mission. Lastly, we will discuss the missions the Sentinels who have just been dispatched are on, debate the finer details of the deployment, and, should we come to a consensus that either additional resources are required, or the wrong Sentinel was dispatched, we will send a second Sentinel to assist. Fortunately for today, Sentinel Sabre, who would like to be called the Sword Saint, has recently had a battle that he has requested to share today. Sentinel Sabre, if you would take the stage please?


    Night offered, and the ogre stood up, marching over to the stage. He lacked a few of the traits that marked vampires, and I wondered if he was one of the rare mortals whod seized Immortality on their own.


    If so, I was starting out super impressed. Seizing it as a [Healer] was difficult enough, but doing it in a combat class was damn-near impossible.


    I leaned forward as he started to speak, wanting to catch every word.


    Hello. I am Sentinel Sabre. I am of the opinion that we should constantly be on the road, like members of the Bloodsworn Order, close enough to problems that we can react immediately. Each and every one of us has sufficient power to handle most issues, even if we are not perfectly suited to it. To date, Command has not seen fit to deploy us in this manner.


    He sounded sour about that last part, and I thought he was making good points. Iona was nodding along with him. It only made sense - it was how [Knight-Errants] operated, it was kind of like how Rangers operated, but our heaviest hitters needed to know where to be. Simply scattering people around and hoping could work for 95% of our problems, but the remaining 5%...


    Plus, then the War Sentinels and Shadow Sentinels ended up in an awkward spot, and there was a lack of knowledge cross-pollination


    But the rapid response to problems could significantly reduce those issues, and-


    Thank goodness for [Luminary Mind].


    In my personal attempt to demonstrate the validity of this proposal, I go on a daily patrol around Exterreri, hoping to stop problems in time. Three days ago, I encountered an elf and a demon fighting, high level powerhouses both.


    There was a ripple of murmurs at the prospect of a demon powerhouse, and what I quickly got from listening to literally everyone in the room was concern. Concern that the demons of Draakveld, whod held themselves to a rigorous standard and kept to a simple life, were starting to see rogue elements breaking free. Rogue elements that could result in them rising again, and this was bad for reasons I didnt quite know in the moment.


    They were throwing around skills that could wipe out a fraction of a city if aimed poorly, and given how Exterreri was neithers home, there was no care for collateral damage. I


    Sentinel Sabre started to tell his story.


    An elf from Tympestshard Council was aggressively attacking a demon. The elf had Gemstone, Radiance, and Mirror elements, and was aggressive at using all three. Gigantic seraphims made out of diamond, wielding burning ruby swords and firing Radiance from their hands and mouths chased the demon, who freely wielded Darkness, Gravity, and Brilliance. He hid in the darkness, and shadows reached with hungry mouths, the Brilliant light amplifying their strength. Force and Brilliance panes snapped into existence whenever the Darkness was pierced through by the Radiance attacks, stopping the latest scattering of razor-sharp sapphire shots.


    When attacks missed, fields burned. When one of the angels was deactivated or cut off from its creator, it fell like a rock, destroying sheds before breaking into a million sharp pieces of high-speed shrapnel.


    When the demon had his forearm burned off, he descended down on some shepherds, briefly enveloping them in further Darkness before taking off again. Nothing was alive when he left, a series of dried-out bodies on one side, a restored arm on the other.


    ... I am not good at protecting things. Sentinel Sabre freely admitted. My best solution was to end the fight, one way or another. My logic at the time was simple. If one of the two combatants was dead, the fight was over. I saw no true reason to attempt to keep both alive, not when they so casually disregarded our sovereignty and citizens. I briefly weighed the elfs life on a scale, balancing a near neighbor with positive feelings towards us, versus removing a powerful Classer who will undoubtedly one day turn against us. The second weighing I did was the aggressor. It is far easier to join in a hunt for prey, than to attack the predator. There was a strong chance, should I attack the elf, that the demon would continue to flee, leaving me alone in single combat. The potential rise again of Draakveld, I will admit, did not cross my mind, but further analysis now suggests my decision to attack the demon was correct.


    Sabre continued on, describing his abilities and how he used them. [Skin of Steel, Bones of Iron] was his defense, and [Battle Meditation] let him continuously ramp up as he fought, a rare skill in Mantle. His duel, probing moves, feints, and getting himself into a position to stack a number of devastating active skills at once. [Mantle-Breaker], [Cutting Wind], [Blade Storm], and [Punish] all came together with [Perfect Parry] to strike down the demon in a single blow. The demon dying, and what classes he had, along with Sabres speculations on what they meant.


    ... I was deeply concerned that this was the start. He said. With Sentinel Nights announcements, a pair of Immortals carelessly fighting over Exterreri? I saw the start of the end flashing before me, and it was clear the elf was considering starting a second fight after I prematurely ended his battle. Instead, he chose to simply lecture me on everything I did wrong, then ran away.


    There were some disbelieving laughs at that, mine included.


    Night took the stage next to Sabre.


    Thank you Sabre! He said. Who would like to be the first to comment? Yes, Eruption?


    Sentinel Eruption stood up.


    Well done Sabre! She said. Brilliantly executed. Now, I have some questions about the deflection skill you mentioned


    It wasnt the barely-contained chaos of the Remus Sentinels, but in many ways, it felt familiar. I smiled as the warm comfort of the after action report settled over me.

 Chapter 525: Interlude - Iona - Classing up

    Chapter 525: Interlude - Iona - Classing up


    Iona knelt in the chapel, her head bowed in prayer, her hands clasped around the shaft of her axe.


    Selene and Lunaris, I pray for your guidance and grace. Light the way forward, and help me through the trial I am about to undertake.


    A raspberry blew in Ionas ear. Selene wasnt amused by Ionas prayer.


    You know exactly what youre doing! Have faith in yourself! Selene said.


    You know yourself as well as we do, and nobody knows your own heart and offerings better. Lunaris added. We cant give you good advice here.


    Yeah, youve got this! Selene chimed in.


    Ionas heart was serene, and she continued praying, explaining herself a bit.


    Believing I have all the answers and not seeking counsel is pure arrogance. Down that path leads me in a direction I dont want to go.


    Well, check us off the list! Selene answered back. Youve talked with us, we believe in you, theres no need to worry. She said.


    You should worry. Lunariss words sped Ionas heartbeat right up. Selenes been up to mischief with your [Paladin] offerings. Dont read too much into them, she just wants a laugh.


    Hey! Selene protested. Dont tell her that! I wanted to see her reaction without it!


    For all you know, shed actually take it! Lunaris argued back.


    Iona smiled, at peace with herself once again, as the two goddesses argued in the back of her mind. Her future was secure, her way clear. The goddesses had indirectly reassured her of one of her deepest unspoken fears.


    She would still be a [Paladin] when she woke up from her classing up. It was a small fear, a silly one, but one she harbored anyway.


    We should tell her. Selene said.


    Well, after youve directly messaged Iona that, of course we have to tell her now! Lunaris sounded annoyed. Which was fair.


    Iona lifted an eyebrow, her stomach clenching in fear. The goddesses had been nothing but open and kind with her, seemingly keeping no secrets. What more could they possibly add? What was a secret?


    The air above the altar shimmered, and the two goddesses partially descended into Pallos, creating a pair of small avatars, the size of a doll, of themselves on the altar. Ionas heart started to race.


    This wasnt a casual hi hello. Whatever this was, it was serious.


    Selene in yellow and Lunaris in blue held hands together, starting to Speak. The words were for Ionas ears only, their divine might preventing anyone else from getting the message. They spoke at the same time, their words and voices overlapping in perfect harmony.


    Iona, our blessed, our chosen. We believe in you. We have faith in you. You have strong potential to go the distance, and one day in the future, when your strength has finished maturing and you are at your peak, we will make a request of you.


    Ionas heart felt like it was going to evict itself from her chest it was beating so hard.


    What is it? She whispered.


    We have asked many to try over the millenia, and clearly none have succeeded. Know that failure wont diminish you in the slightest in our eyes. Know that simply trying will elevate you to the highest position of esteem. We dont expect you to try today, this year, or even this century. Wait until the end of your long life, and try then.


    It sounded like a suicide mission. At the end of her life? Iona had no problem going out in a blaze of elderly glory, versus slowly declining into dementia and more and more problems. Sure, Elaine would do her best, but Iona didnt want to be an old dottering lady who couldnt even feed herself. It felt wrong to her.


    They paused a moment, letting the tension rise. With one last blast of light and noise, they laid down a sacred quest for their [Paladin].


    Free the moons.


    Without any fanfare, the two of them vanished, divine sparks slowly falling to the altar.


    Iona continued praying and meditating over the quest the entire evening, not shifting even when her joints started to protest. The goddesss divine mandate continued to echo through her mind.


    Free the moons.


    There were so many ways it could be interpreted, but the most obvious one was also the hardest one.


    Slay LunKat.


    Slay a dragon.


    The fact that the goddesses had declined to even mention her name wasnt lost on Iona. The first thought her imagination jumped to was LunKat simply flying over and eliminating the potential threat before she had time to grow and level.


    That was merely the first thought. It wasnt lost on Iona that she hadnt been ordered to slay the dragon - simply free the moons. There were other ways that could be accomplished. Her first thought was an equally powerful Radiance classer dispersing the illusion - although the distances involved were intimidating. Persuading LunKat to stop it? Iona had faith in her silver tongue, but she doubted it was that good. With time, maybe, but if LunKat was open to persuasion, it was likely someone wouldve succeeded by now.


    Other plots, other plans danced their way through the Valkyries head throughout the night as she continued praying. Shed need to talk with Elaine about all of this.


    When dawn came she stood up, stretching her joints out, then briskly turned on her heels.


    Iona was a little surprised to see her wife snoozing in the back of the chapel on one of the benches. Elaine could be sneaky when she wanted to be, and not everyone had overpowered perception skills like she did. Iona smiled and unclasped her cloak, trying to wrap Elaine in it.


    She stirred, her eyes snapping open.To?p novel updates on


    Id like to see my Valkyrie offerings now. Iona said. Priestess gestured, and Iona stepped through another room to get to her offerings.


    Six altars burned with lights of various colors, from yellow to light purple. Five cloths on the altars were entirely black with stars studded on them, indicating that every offering was Celestial, and the last one was layered red-and-black. Iona initially thought it was Lava, but on closer examination it was a Crucible offering.


    [Legendary Realtor] was easily the worst class offered, although it was related to the Valkyries. In short, it was about how the Order Valkyrie was now housed at Ionas home, and completely changed how she operated from a warrior, to a keeper, administrator, and protector of the home. If she was a [Lady] of Rolland, Vollomond, or just generally in charge of a castle, fort, or other fortification, the class would be perfect.


    [The Flexible Knight - Crucible] leaned into how Iona had used a solid mass of mallium for over a decade as her armor, and occasionally her weapon. It was a weak side-step, the only saving grace being the elemental change. Iona was entirely uninterested in changing from Celestial, so the class stayed.


    [Champion-Errant] was a less Valkyrie-focused knight class. It was effectively the I dont want to be a Valkyrie anymore class, and Iona was perfectly content being one.


    [Fury of the Moons] was a second[Paladin] offering, focused on doling out brutal vengeance on behalf of the goddesses. Iona suspected part of the offering was the quest the two of them had just laid upon her. She was already their [Paladin], and while devoted, knew that life was more than religious, fanatical devotion to a pair of goddesses. She was faithful, but she was no [Zealot].


    [Valkyries Hope] was starting to get more like it! A pure Valkyrie warrior class, it was about Iona being the bright and shining hope of the Valkyries, the strongest of the destroyed generation. The one who was forging a future for the Order, not simply clinging onto the remnants of the past. It immediately went to the top of her list.


    [The Valkyrie Paragon]was the final offering, the one Iona had saved for last. A pair of burning purple braziers promised power, and it was another direct Valkyrie upgrade class. Less so about being the hope blazing forward, the class was about Iona being the Valkyries Valkyrie. As Sigrun had dubbed her, one of the best of us, the one we all hope to be.


    Iona frankly felt more comfortable as a [Paragon] than a [Hope]. Maybe one day shed take up a greater burden, but for the moment, simply being the best of them was enough for her. [The Valkyrie Paragon]offered strong stats - and merged in her [Vow] into her main class. It wasnt something she ever intended to give up, and the minor boost was nice.


    With a brief apology to the Goddesses for not taking [Fury of the Moons], Iona took [The Valkyrie Paragon]. +200 Free Stats, +400 Strength, +400 Dexterity, +1000 Vitality, +400 Speed, +100 Mana, +300 Mana Regeneration, +50 Magic Power, +50 Magic Control per level.


    Onto the third class! Priestess grabbed Ionas hand, and the two of them cheerfully walked over to the third room. Under different circumstances, if it wasnt a temple, the two of them wouldve probably been skipping. The most recent class Iona had picked had felt good. It had felt right. She was happy with it.


    The last room was the most complicated one. Iona had gone into the class up with a strong idea of what shed wanted for her first and third class, but the second was a little more up in the air.


    [Frozen Huntress] was a natural upgrade of [Traveling Archer], focusing on tracking down large monsters and slaying them. The classs name was deceptive for how powerful it was. Full credit for killing an adult wyvern boosted the quality to an incredible degree. It was a little more focused on the huntress aspects, but that wasnt the worst. The [Paladin] and [Valkyrie] class got a little more credit for fighting elvenoids and other intelligent creatures, while [Frozen Huntress] focused more on killing monsters.


    [Rime Battle Mistress] was all about fighting in a dozen different styles.


    [Justicar of Ice] was a more bow-focused sniper and rapid-fire class, where Iona would lean into her bow and archery a little harder than she had been.


    [Dragonslayer Aspirant] was almost immediately rejected by Iona. The goddesses had said at the end of her life, and Iona was still at the beginning of hers. If, by some miracle, she made it to old age, shed look at dragonslayer classes again with a critical eye.


    [Wyvernrider Frostlady]was the Fenrir-related class, and the one that caught Ionas eye. Her companion bond would move up into the class, and it was all about fighting in tandem with her partner. It clearly distinguished the class from the rest of them, and made her decision easy. +300 Strength, +300 Dexterity, +300 Vitality, +300 Speed, +300 Mana, +300 Mana Regeneration, +300 Magic Power, +300 Magic Control per level.


    [Hailstorm] sounded like a fun upgrade to [Blizzard Shot] to boot.


    Looking over her selection once more, Iona gave a brisk nod of satisfaction.


    Right then. Lets wake back up.


    Iona still needed to select all her skills, but a quick look at her stats made her smile.


    [Name: Iona]


    [Race: Mostly Human]


    [Age: 35]


    [Mana: 1,141,850/1,141,850]


    [Mana Regeneration: 174,591]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 2,536]


    [Strength: 163,809 (+3,503,055)]


    [Dexterity: 164,084 (+3,508,936)]


    [Vitality: 324,897 (+1,887,652)]


    [Speed: 185,912 (+3,975,728)]


    [Mana: 114,321]


    [Mana Regeneration: 114,321]


    [Magic Power: 162,964]


    [Magic Control: 162,964]


    [Class 1: [The Valkyrie Paragon - Celestial: Lv 830 ]]


    [Class 2: [Wyvernrider Frostlady - Ice: Lv 820 ]]


    [Class 3: [The Relentless Paladin - Gravity: Lv 790 ]]

 Chapter 526: Interlude - Fenrir - Investigative Files I

    Chapter 526: Interlude - Fenrir - Investigative Files I


    It was a dark and stormy night. Detective Fenrir, Private Weyevern, was deep in his office-lair, surrounded by piles of unpaid bills. Hed done a few favors for the [Landlady] over the years, and was at no risk of being evicted.


    The fact that none of the bills had Fenrirs name on them never once crossed his mind. His teeth delicately wrapped around a barrel of whiskey, and with one quick tilt of his head, he swallowed the entire thing whole.


    The whiskey was just like life. Full of splinters, and it burned the whole way down. Burned like his old flame, whod left with nothing more than a tip of her hat and a promise shed be back one day.


    That had been months, nay, years ago. He despaired of ever seeing her again.


    Thunder rumbled, and a bolt of lightning crackled down right in front of the opening of his cave, briefly blinding and illuminating. When the bolt faded, a soaked dame, dripping water onto his floor, was inside his office. Her presence cast shadows that danced along the walls with a life of their own. Her dress clung to her like a whispered secret, her eyes holding the depths of the night sky. Mysterious, inscrutable. Her hair cascaded down like the waves of the endless ocean, promising naught but fathomless depths that all would get lost in, and stories untold. Her lips were painted with the first blush of a blood moon, and she smelled of expensive wines and cheap perfume. She was danger and desire, a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.


    Her composure briefly flickered like the last light of day when she saw Fenrir, but she quickly put herself back together. She boldly strode forward, her shoes clicking against the stone floor like the ticking of a clock counting down to disaster.


    Ive got a case for you. Her voice was a mix of desperation and determination. Man I work for - Mendaxus - is an up-and-coming politician with enemies. The kind of enemies lurking in shadows deeper than the ones were in. They didnt like what he was saying, and tried to silence him - permanently.


    Fenrir worked a splinter of the barrel between his teeth. Hed heard all this before. It was just how the world worked.


    I need someone who isnt afraid to navigate the murky waters of the citys underbelly, someone who can find out whos behind it and why. The guards are a dead end, theyre just as entangled in this as everyone else. I need someone else. Someone different. Independent. Someone who can get to the truth of the matter.


    It wouldnt make a difference in the grand scheme of things, but a case was a case. For all Fenrir knew, tomorrow the parties trying to silence the politician would be knocking on his door, asking for his help. It was all the same.


    As long as the money was good, hed do it.


    It was clear that The Spiders absence had emboldened the criminal elements. They knew they could get away with it, and without The Spider to keep them in line, it fell to Fenrir.


    I dont care what it takes or what houses you need to burn down,


    Fenrir snorted, letting an Icy blast coat the dame, instantly stiffening her dress as it froze. Her teeth chattered as she finished her plea. Her voice softened, but the iron in her eyes never dimmed.


    Just find whos trying to kill hope in this city before its too late.


    She straightened up, the distant lights of Sanguino backlighting her like the last flickering candle of the city.


    Fenrir grabbed a second barrel of whiskey, throwing it back with a motion as sharp as the broken glass that littered the streets of the city.


    Alright. He growled, activating the runes etched on his body, shrinking himself down to a more manageable size. Show me.


    Chaos and Order had both visited the scene of the crime. An unnatural stillness lay over it all. The podium, once a beacon of hope and change, now stood silent and splintered, a solitary witness to the violence that had pierced the mornings calm. A snipers shot, aimed with deadly intent and malicious intentions, had shattered more than just the speech; it had shattered the illusion of safety in a city teetering on the brink.


    The ground was littered with debris of panic. A doll, dropped in haste from a childs arms then ruthlessly stomped on by the careless members of the city fleeing the violence. A lunch wrap, starting to rot from the inside out like the city itself. Splashes of water coated the place like thered been a rainstorm, and flecks of blood were everywhere, from a thousand different bodies. A tribute demanded by the city, a tribute unwillingly given. Fenrir sniffed at a bottle that had been carelessly tossed, judging whoever had left it behind for their poor taste in alcohol.


    Still, he couldnt afford to be discerning, and his favorite beer had always been free. A snap of his teeth, the biting sting of broken glass the only way he could feel alive once again.


    There was nothing to be found in the remnants of the crowd, scattered like their hopes had been.


    He flapped up to the podium, noting circles upon circles of runes engraved into the stone, a central spot dedicated to an arcanite core. It was as empty as the citys soul. The runes were written in an elaborate, curving script, a language only the elites knew and deliberately kept to themselves. Just another way the rich and powerful could screw over everyone else.


    Fenrir snorted, looking around more. There were no traces of the bullet that had been fired, but his race and element let him know deep in his bones what had happened.


    It had been an Ice spear. A crafty weapon from a crafty assassin, who knew the evidence would melt away just like he would once the sun came up. Fenrir got down on his feet and wings, closely examining the traces of the Ice, working out the pattern written in water and blood. He traced spot after spot, working out the angle the spear had come from, then looking down a wide and straight street.


    Either the shooter was an expert shot, or hed curved the attack. Fenrir would work out which it was.


    Something bothered him about the whole thing. Something was wrong about it all. A part of it didnt make sense, and Fenrir couldnt put claw nor tooth on the issue.


    Fenrir stalked away, pulling his hat low down over his eyes. It hadnt been an answer, and The Spider as much as said that she did know who did it, but it was a direction. An angle to play.


    Who benefited?


    The obvious answer was the political rivals. The other ones running for the same senate seat as the politician. An easy way to win an election was to make sure he was the only one in the running. Long live democracy. Assassinate rivals until democratically elected dictator for life.


    The attempt was still bothering Fenrir.


    He had a lead now, and it was time to talk with the man in question whose life had almost been snuffed out like a desperately guttering candle. It was time to find out who the other players in the game were, the hidden puppet masters pulling the strings. Who else could make sure the guards were in the right place at the right time, than another politician greasing the right palms?


    It was all starting to come together, and it painted exactly the type of picture Fenrir expected to see.


    It took some tracking down to find the man in question, but Fenrir was able to get it done. Private guards swarmed around his headquarters, quadruple the usual number. Unsurprising, given how many people were trying to silence his voice in the world.


    Naturally, they barred his path.


    You cant come in. They said, spears crossing the door and physically barring his entry. Mendaxus is in an important meeting.


    Ha. More important than his life? Fenrir muscled his way past them, ignoring both their protests and sharp steel that broke against his scales, like a toddler trying to punch a gladiator. He slammed the door to the meeting room open, witnessing a heavy pouch of gemstones trading hands between two men.


    Corruption. Of course. It was no surprise to Fenrir, and it didnt bother him at all. The one in the fancy toga was Mendaxus, who smelled of expensive oils and indulgent lifestyles. The fat vampire didnt have a single callus on his hands, and he smelled of ink and blood.


    Who are you!? The vampire yelled, the pouch of gems vanishing into his clothes. Help! Monster!


    Hang on. Ink and blood? Fenrir growled as he prowled forward, sniffing the man deeply. A spell started to get drawn in the air, but with a sharp bite Fenrir snapped it like a guard beating a protestor. He pounced, pinning the assassin.


    He did it. Fenrir growled, his teeth opening wide over the vampires head. I can make this all disappear if you dont want to involve the guard.


    HELP! The vampire screamed. Murder!


    The only murderer here is you. Fenrir growled. Mendaxus was sneaking along the edge of the room, a coward to the end. No surprise there. Politicians were great at making sure everyone else spilled their blood first.


    I didnt murder anyone! He blathered, trying desperately to buy his life with words. The secretary hired me! It was supposed to be good advertising for my barriers! Save your life against anything! I get more business, Mendaxus gets the popularity from being an almost-martyr, everyone wins!


    Fenrir reeled back like he was struck, a few oddities that hadnt made sense suddenly falling into place for him.


    The assassination attempt. It had only been one shot. Any assassin whod graduated beyond drinking milk knew about shields and barriers, and would fire at least two attacks. One to break the shield, and a second to get the job done.


    The Spider hadnt suggested who wouldve benefited. Shed asked who had benefitted, and from a failed assassination attempt, Mendaxus had been the clear winner. Mendaxus, and whoever this enchanter was.


    Fenrir roared in frustration and realization, a blast of Lightning and Ice taking off the top of the headquarters. With furious flaps of his wings, he flew back home.


    The case was over, closed. Done. Finished.


    There was nothing left to do.


    It had been a setup. The whole time, from the start, the dame had set him up! Fenrir didnt know why, the twisted minds of the political class and those who served them too tortured for even him to follow, but it was obvious hed never been meant to succeed. Perhaps hed been meant to take the fall for the attempt, the guards waiting at the scene of the crime primed to arrest him and pin the blame on him. He wouldve made quite the specimen - infamous Private Weyevern attempts to slay local hero wouldve been quite the headline - but hed avoided that trap.


    He didnt care about reporting it to the fuzz or running the information to others. Not his case, not his problem. When things cooled off a bit he might be able to use the knowledge to call in a few favors, open a couple more doors that would otherwise be shut in his face.


    There was one last part that stung to the whole thing, one last bit of knowledge that frustrated him as he sipped on a barrel of cold whiskey on the rocks.


    Truly, the citys heart was as empty as his bank account. He definitely wasnt getting paid for this one.

 Chapter 527: Adventurers are Good for Something

    Chapter 527: Adventurers are Good for Something


    The great wheel of time meant nothing stayed the same, no matter how much I wanted it to.


    This too shall pass. Both a happy and a sad statement, an ode to the relentless march of time and change.


    My little clinic was one of the places that had undergone numerous changes, no matter how much I resisted and tried to prevent anything from being different. My new healing ability to ¡®fix¡¯ minor defects bordered on biomancy, and the fact that I was handing out ¡®free biomancy¡¯ was quite a draw to the poor citizens who had no other recourse.


    The Healer¡¯s Guild knew about it, and directed people to me if they had no means to afford a normal biomancer. I was a little suspicious of the arrangement at first, but Aulus, my primary contact in the Healer¡¯s Guild, had explained it to me.


    In short, I¡¯d destroy a large number of livelihoods. Aulus, along with a number of other high-level healers, were all in a position where they could offer free healing to practically the entire city, at which point they¡¯d be in a gigantic race to the bottom as well as neutering any other up-and-coming medics. Same with a number of other industries - there existed Immortals capable of single-handedly destroying every job in the city, but they didn¡¯t because it was a terrible long-term idea. Stunts like me healing most of Sanguino every decade or so were okay, because it was a government flex - ¡®look what we can do¡¯ - but doing it regularly was a no-go.


    At the same time, the Guild under the Willow & Hydra symbol wasn¡¯t heartless. If people truly had no hope of ever affording a biomancer to fix their baby¡¯s blindness, or a kid had a complex digestive allergy to milk, strawberries, and a host of cross-reactive fruits, they were sent my way, to camp out in my clinic hoping that today would be one of the rare days I showed up.


    Today promised to be a busy day, and I was going to be gone for an unknown amount of time. I swung by my clinic, there being a bit of a crowd, but nothing too gigantic or unmanageable. An issue with me semi-randomly healing the poorest people who otherwise couldn¡¯t afford help was most of them couldn¡¯t afford to spend even an hour walking across the city, then hanging out effectively doing nothing until I showed up. The other nice part was the parade during the changing of the guard. I¡¯d fixed up so many invisible long-term problems that it was mostly people who¡¯d been outside of my kilometer-wide moving radius on that day, or who¡¯d been born since then.


    Of course, since the world was cruel and the poorest parts shoved to the sides of the city while the parade path was in the middle, many of the people who¡¯d needed my services the most hadn¡¯t been inside my range. I seriously had been considering going rogue at some point and saying ¡®fuck this, everyone go forth and be in perfect health forever.¡¯


    I was focusing more and more on my wizardry, hoping to get a strong class offered when I upgraded sooner rather than later. My wizardry was being so focused on spellbooks, and having a ¡®history¡¯ of [Bookwyrm] in the class along with the strong reading elements, that I believed I could get a hybrid wizardry-reading class. It should be an option. Either way, with a prepared spell for my voice and an on-the-spot spell for a hovering stone platform - it took seven awkward minutes as people watched - and I was ready.


    ¡°Hi!¡± I waved to the watching crowd. ¡°I¡¯m Elaine. I¡¯m going to fix you all up in a moment. Before I do, two quick things. First, when I¡¯m done, if you could please make your mark in my book, that¡¯d be great.¡±


    I hated the taxman. Hated, hated, hated, and every signature made him gnash his teeth and kept more gemstones in my pocket. He even could figure out the rough value of what was in [Vault]!


    I¡¯d been strongly pro-taxman until a number of my exemptions and special statuses had run out, then the sticker shock had done bad things to my opinion of the profession. I retained enough sanity not to take it out on the man doing his job, because giving him grief was a sure way that he¡¯d squeeze every last coin out of me, versus doing the slightly more generous check.


    Long experience had taught me that if I didn¡¯t ask people ahead of time to sign my book, they¡¯d pretty much all leave the moment I was done. Asking ahead of time at least got a percentage of them to stick around and make their mark.


    ¡°Second! I¡¯m going on a trip. It¡¯ll be a month or two at least. If you know anyone waiting for me and have missed me - sorry.¡±


    The massive wave of relief I saw nearly guilted me into staying and continuing to help.


    By Ciriel, this was impossible at times. I was split in so many different directions, so many competing interests. How much self-sacrifice was enough? When did I say ¡®I¡¯m done for the day, time to go home and look after myself?¡¯ How could I look at the person next in line and say ¡®goodbye?¡¯


    Well, at least I didn¡¯t have that problem. The issue of ¡®how proactively should I be seeking out people to heal¡¯ did haunt me at times. Would it really be so terrible if I looped all over the world, catching the millions upon millions of people who¡¯d fallen through the cracks and improving their quality of life? Would it really cause that many problems? Besides personal ones for me, being on the Warden¡¯s shit list.


    I knew that one day I¡¯d have had enough, and do it. Today was not that day.


    It only took a thought, and everyone was healed. Allergies cured. Eyesight restored, tinnitus removed.


    My new ability to perform ¡®mild¡¯ biomancy straddled the line between healing and biomancy. I had no doubt that by itself, it would be flagged as a [Healer] class, and my bonuses to power, control, and healing efficiency all applied. At the same time, I had to fight past the vitality defense every time. I was operating on a tiny enough scale most of the time that it didn¡¯t matter, but it chunked my mana far more than I would expect.


    Fortunately, kids who hadn¡¯t unlocked the System yet tended to have 10 or less vitality, making the multiplier insignificant for them, and even at 1000 vitality I could easily brute-force the problem with my other skills decreasing the costs.


    My work done, I checked briefly for apples, sniffing the air.


    They were primarily grown literally halfway around the world, which was why I¡¯d had the occasional problem with them in the Han Empire, but here in Exterreri they were a luxury. I avoided fancy parties that the [Emperor] and some [Senators] threw, no matter how many times I got an invitation, and the potential presence of apples was only part of it. Here in the worst part of town, my biggest risk was someone had found some digging through the trash.


    Fortunately, today, there wasn¡¯t any, so I didn¡¯t need to make an excuse and fly away. I mentally decided that today wasn¡¯t going to be a day I flew away ¡®random¡¯ just to throw off the scent of anyone meticulously observing me. I descended, pulling my big middle finger to the [Taxman] out of [Loremaster¡¯s Library] and opening it, a quill and a capped ink bottle already on my belt. I was hit with a deluge of gratitude and complaints from the people who¡¯d stayed behind.


    ¡°Thank you for restoring Primus¡¯s foot!¡± A woman was practically sobbing into my tunic. Thank goodness for the System helping me keep my book safe! I handed the quill and book to another man, who quickly signed it - fancy, he was literate, rare in this population - and he handed it back.


    ¡°Why are you leaving? My cousin needs your help, can¡¯t you stay a single day longer?¡± A man was going beet red in rage. Normally I¡¯d wonder if his blood pressure was alright, but I¡¯d just fixed him up. It was so unfair of him to guilt trip me right after helping him out.


    I wish Iona was here. With three sentences she would¡¯ve had the crowd forming an orderly line.


    I sent a prayer to Ciriel.


    Argh! Ungrateful patients! They always get on my nerves. How do you handle them? I asked.


    I always wanted to wring their scrawny little necks. Ciriel confessed. But as I got older, as I saw more, I realized more that everyone is fighting their own demons. Fear often manifests as anger, and eight minutes from now you¡¯ll be free and focusing on yourself and your own happiness. The fear and pain will linger with whoever¡¯s giving you grief until they break free from its shackles or learn to handle it. Pity is a good emotion.


    ¡°I can walk again! I CAN WALK!¡± A teenager was jumping acrobatically in the back, going far higher than a systemless human could manage.


    ¡°If you keep jumping like that, you won¡¯t be able to for much longer!¡± I good-naturedly shouted back.


    ¡°Excuse me.¡± A quiet voice would have usually been drowned out by the crowd asked. ¡°My grandpa¡¯s not better.¡±


    Ciriel gave me the basics, most of which I¡¯d skimmed in the Medical Manuscripts. It was more an area of curiosity, since most [Healers] who¡¯d read the Manuscripts and had the right elements could just do the job themselves.


    I had to admit, despite myself - I was impressed. They¡¯d gotten the books in thirteen major languages, although a number of them were suspiciously identical in some ways. The same paper, the same cover, heck, even the binding glue smelled the same. I rapidly made the connection between that and the price I was paying per set, and laughed.


    ¡°The rascals!¡± I half-shouted. ¡°They took a copy to a local [Translator] and had them do the work!¡±


    The [Reception] looked a little nervous at that.


    ¡°There was nothing in the brief saying they couldn¡¯t-¡±


    I waved her off.


    ¡°No, no, it¡¯s fine, it¡¯s the end product I care about, not how they did it. I¡¯m happy.¡±


    With an unnecessarily dramatic wave of my hand, I pulled all the books into [Loremaster¡¯s Library], moving onto the scrolls. There were fewer sets here, all the volumes in seven different languages - six of them major languages, and only one obscure one - and noted that for each set of scrolls, they¡¯d industriously gone out and found someone who could make a single gigantic scroll containing all the same information.


    ¡°I¡¯m happy to accept both forms.¡± I said, sweeping them into my [Library]. I didn¡¯t know if it would be better if the spell I was asking for made a bunch of little scrolls for people to read and study, or if a single gigantic scroll would be easier. My own wizardry theory had pros and cons for each method, and I¡¯d never even gotten into the fundamentals of [Rune Smithing]. Best to give Night¡¯s [Rune Smith] friend Kunchenjab as many options as giantly possible.


    The scrolls and the books were the only ones the [Adventurers] had been able to get quite a lot of duplicates of. The two agate gems had Sound recordings of the entire Medical Manuscript on them, which was an excellent point in favor of doing things that way. If the rune would explain everything, there was no need for the [Apprentice Healer] to be able to read. The counterpoint would be I couldn¡¯t just drop it and run - only listening to the Medical Manuscripts once at a low level was unlikely to engender enough understanding to do what I wanted, and it was only for an audience that was immediately present. Plus, there was so much information.


    Still, it was an option.


    The gemstones themselves wouldn¡¯t work too well for my purposes. If I was going to record an entire lecture, I¡¯d probably need to work with Kunchenjab directly and probably verbally say the parts. Amber had swung by recently, claiming that ¡®it finally wasn¡¯t unlucky to visit¡¯ which was absolutely charming, and she might like the gems for her collection. Or just as a little gift. Why not?


    Two separate events connected themselves. Amber had shown up after the [Taxman]. No wonder it would¡¯ve been unlucky for her to show up earlier!


    One aspect that had occurred to me and threatened to simply undermine the entire process was linguistic drift. Short-term it didn¡¯t matter, but I was asking for an entire rune to be made, a permanent, unchanging way to generate a set. Sure, Creation remained unchanged from the moment the gods had stuffed it into their first creation¡¯s head, but everything else had drifted and changed over the years. I was primarily hoping mortals would be the beneficiary of the runes, but a hundred years from now, a thousand after civilization was shattered and rebuilt, would anyone still be speaking Hakka? Altaic was popular now, but Godae was liable to shift a bunch. Was there a good language to put this all in? Was it worth making three or four different sets per cast, each in a different set? Would languages drift too far, too fast?


    It could destroy the entire project.


    I still felt it was worth it.


    After the gemstones with the recordings on them came the more esoteric versions, where the [Adventurers] had really earned their pay.A fan from Nippon-Koku was written in Yayoi. They¡¯d gotten their hands on a set of bones from Penujuman Necrocracy, with the Medical Manuscripts written in Kra-Dai. Clay tablets from Ralakar written in Samkra, and a set of wax honeycombs from the reclusive Gwyllt.


    I hadn¡¯t known it was possible to write Buzz down, and I doubted it would be any good... still, it fit the letter and spirit of what I asked for, and there was nothing wrong with having my own personal collection of Medical Manuscripts.


    A quipu from Tonzaltzintli was easily the most exotic and unusable one I had, but that was just plain fun to own now.


    A few of the formats I had issues with. The fan in particular I was torn on.


    ¡°This one¡¯s missing too much.¡± I tapped the fan in question with my finger. ¡°I see that it¡¯s multi-layered, which is nice, but it¡¯s a loose primer at best. It¡¯s fancy, but I couldn¡¯t give it to an [Apprentice] and have them learn the Medical Manuscripts properly. Same with the clay tablets. They¡¯re sturdy, but they¡¯re a light overview, not the full set of texts.¡±


    The [Receptionist] frowned, and I quickly came up with a compromise. Thank you Amber!


    ¡°How¡¯s this. I doubt you want to have them, and I doubt the party that took the quest is interested in getting them back. I¡¯ll take them, but at a quarter price.¡± I proposed.


    ¡°I¡¯ll need to discuss with an [Arbiter].¡± The [Receptionist] said.


    A few minutes later, and I got a couple hundred arcs refunded. I waved my hand again, dramatically pulling everything - honeycombs and all - into [Loremaster¡¯s Library].


    [Adventurers] could be occasionally useful, if used properly and in small doses. I¡¯d still keep a wary eye on them if they swung by my place, and remain downright paranoid if I encountered one in a place where civilization was a distant word, but... they¡¯d come through on this one.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I said.


    ¡°The Adventurer¡¯s Guild appreciates your patronage, and hopes you think of us if you have any additional needs.¡± The [Receptionist] said.


    A few polite noises later, and I was heading home.


    An art supply store was between me and home, and I stopped by there, picking up a notebook filled with outrageously expensive paper that Iona had been staring at with doe eyes the last few times we¡¯d been in the store. I had no idea how paper was nine arcs a sheet, but it had something to do with tooth density, durability, and lack of acidity.


    The things I picked up from listening to my lover rave about her hobbies.


    Casual ¡®because I love you and I can¡¯ present secured, the last item I needed before heading off to the Jakhong Monastery in the Bhutai Provinces, I headed home to say hello, and then once again,


    Goodbye.

 Chapter 528: Traveling to the Jakhong Monastery

    Chapter 528: Traveling to the Jakhong Monastery


    I woke up to Iona bolting upright in bed, swearing up a storm. I jumped up, snapping my wings open, a flood of information entering my mind from [The World Around Me], looking for the fire, looking for the [Assassin].


    Were the gnomes back to finish the job?!


    After a few heart-pounding moments of adrenaline flooding my system, my fingers poised to catch a spellbook and [The First Rays of Dawn] on the tip of my tongue, and Iona slowed down a moment, shaking her head at me.


    ¡°Sorry love, didn¡¯t mean to wake you up. Go back to sleep?¡± She offered weakly, knowing I wouldn¡¯t accept.


    I loved her for it anyway.


    ¡°I¡¯ll literally die of curiosity if you don¡¯t tell me. Not just a nightmare?¡± I asked.


    Iona shook her head, throwing off the covers and slipping into her slippers. I used [Rapid Reshelving] to teleport her bathrobe on, and she stretched, cracking her neck.


    ¡°Appreciate it. Divine mission, urgent enough to wake me up now but not so important I need to dash out of the house this instant. I figure I can spend eight minutes freshening up, eight on breakfast, four on getting ready, then I need to leave.¡±


    I shot Iona a distinctly Unamused glare, and she dished more details as she walked to the bathhouse.


    In a spur of inspiration, I brought out a spellbook, cast three different horrendously complex spells out of it, then flipped around, walking on the ceiling backwards as Iona talked.


    Gods, Magic would¡¯ve laughed himself sick if he saw me.


    Walking as annoyingly as I could, I quickly processed what Iona was saying. As we passed by the small kitchen on the other side of a wall, [The World Around Me] plus [Rapid Reshelving] got half of breakfast out on the table. Iona talked fast.


    ¡°A vampire¡¯s messing with the fabric of reality in a big way.¡± She quickly explained. ¡°I¡¯m not the only one being tapped at the moment, but the gods would like them stopped sooner rather than later. They¡¯re in Sanguino.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll be a paladin party.¡± I joked, then got a little more serious. Iona stripped and stepped into the bath, and I used my magic to grab soap and a cloth, immediately getting to work on Iona¡¯s back. Goddesses, she was so strong, it made my heart flutter and stuck a kaleidoscope of butterflies in my stomach. ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure Exterreri takes a dim view on people messing with reality, especially a vampire. Given how fresh the news is, should I talk with Night about maybe deploying a Ranger team?¡±


    Hang on. It was a vampire messing with stuff, and they were usually the most successful mortals turned. Maybe it was a job for a Sentinel squad.


    Iona pursed her lips then nodded.


    ¡°Sure. It¡¯ll stop Susan from making pointed comments about ¡®rogue vigilanties operating in Exterreri¡¯ and giving me the stink eye next time we have dinner.¡±


    Iona sounded genuinely frustrated, so I didn¡¯t laugh at her. I knew better than to suggest other Valkyries go along with her - it just simply wasn¡¯t how they operated.Vissit  for new novels


    ¡°Can you meet a team at Castle Stormwatch?¡± I asked her.


    She clicked her tongue, then nodded.


    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m so sorry this is happening right before your trip, the timing¡¯s awful.¡±


    I shrugged.


    ¡°It¡¯s a trip for fun. It¡¯s not like I¡¯m incurring huge expenses or anything. I can delay a day or two.¡±


    Iona furiously shook her head.


    ¡°No, no, go. Shoo. I¡¯ll be upset and disappointed in you if you stay. Have fun.¡±


    I decided not to argue, and finishing her back, I sped off to the kitchen, finishing a quick breakfast for Iona, and buttering a slice of bread for myself. I popped into [Vault], speeding through but not too fast - haste makes waste - and grabbed a few moonstones already charged with [Universal Cure]. Was four gems enough for her, or should I add a couple more?


    Better safe than sorry. I grabbed a second handful of the gems, then I teleported back into reality, dropping them by her plate. Running at an appreciable fraction of the speed of sound and eating at the same time wasn¡¯t recommended, but I did it anyway as I sped off to Sanguino.


    I hit a minor snag as I wasn¡¯t an active-duty Sentinel, but I was able to get in front of Addolorata soon enough, and explained the situation.


    As for what they meditated on - existence. The great cycle of Samsara was well-known at this point. When people died, their soul reincarnated somewhere else to continue life, if they weren¡¯t one of the extremely rare individuals recruited to become an angel, or somehow achieved divinity.


    The [Monks] of Bhutai were seeking to escape the cycle, believing if they attained enlightenment that their souls would be free to... I wasn¡¯t exactly clear on what they thought would happen to their souls after enlightenment and escaping the great cycle of Samsara.


    Some gods - and from the tone of The Tragedy of the Atheist, Glowor - took an exceedingly dim view of the monks. Seemed to me it was a them problem. They weren¡¯t hurting anyone, what did it matter that they didn¡¯t worship a god?


    Hey Ciriel! What do you think of the Bhutai [Monks]? I asked my new friend. At first I thought her silence meant she wasn¡¯t going to answer.


    A bit odd. She replied two minutes later. They don¡¯t pray much, and I¡¯m rarely interested in taking a look at what¡¯s going on there. I do know almost all of them enter back into Samsara, so like... what was the point? Hope you¡¯re not thinking of joining them! She joked.


    Nope! Heading there on a trip, was thinking about them, figured I¡¯d see what you knew. I said. Oh! Hang on! I think I¡¯m there!


    To the south of me rose the mighty Rimounan Mountains. They stood testament to the planet¡¯s ancient majesty and the god¡¯s abilities at Creation, a colossal range that whispered the secrets of the ages through its snow-capped peaks and shadowed valleys. It was a place where the earth reached up and kissed the sky, a land of gigantic proportions and equally large inhabitants. The rugged spires were like the spine of the world, cloaked in white. Forests of cedar and pine dotted the cliffs and released fresh scents into the air, only failing when the air got too thin.


    The border of Exterreri and Bhutai was at almost the exact point where the rolling plains sharply turned into gigantic mountains, as the Legions of the era were able to win every engagement until they reached the mountains, then broke against them like an egg thrown at a cliff. Hopefully the engagement had been decisive enough that none of the giants involved carried a grudge to this day.


    Weird how ¡°ancient history¡± to me was someone¡¯s current lived experience.


    I could spot a few monasteries and villages from where I was, each one far larger than the mortal equivalent. Giants all had mostly standard elvenoid proportions, if a little thicker on the leg bones than normal, just scaled to ten times the size of a human. Ten times the size one way, ten times the size a second way, and suddenly a village was literally a hundred times the size of a human one.


    I went so high up past the clouds that I needed a pair of spells to help me fly. An air bubble for oxygen, and a heating spell for comfort. Then I continued to fly through the Rimounan Mountains, still needing to navigate around the occasional extra-tall peak, waving to a pair of [Gurus] who were peacefully meditating high in the sky. One waved back, the other didn¡¯t seem to notice me.


    As I got deeper into Bhutai, half the plants changed. Cedars and pines still grew, but an ancient [Biomancer], [Horticulturalist], [Farmer], or related class had gotten to them and changed them. They were as gigantic as the inhabitants of the land, and I spun off a thought process with [Luminary Mind] to be impressed. There was some serious chops going on with the change to the trees. I¡¯d learned quite a bit about trees thanks to needing to work on treants, and I ¡®knew¡¯ that most trees had a hard physical limit on how large they could be thanks to moving water from the roots to the top. Redwoods and the like were able to bypass the limitation by absorbing mist from the air, letting them become gigantic but stifling the environment in which they could grow. Whoever had modified the trees had to be some sort of genius - I couldn¡¯t imagine a way to get it to work.


    Then again, it wasn¡¯t like I¡¯d gone super deep on tree knowledge and modifications. I was willing to bet - no, scratch that, I simply hoped - whoever had worked on the trees and other flora to supersize them didn¡¯t know how to make subdermal scales on a human. Or an elvenoid chimera, as it may be.


    A few times I needed to stop, pull out a map I¡¯d copied out of [Loremaster¡¯s Library], try to match where I was to the map, then continue to navigate my way onward. The map wasn¡¯t particularly good. I couldn¡¯t tell if there was no commercial desire to properly map Bhutai, the [Mapmaker] hadn¡¯t been that good, if it was ancient and out of date with how Classers - especially giants - could literally pick up mountains and move them around, or related but subtly different, if the mountains got moved around fairly frequently.


    The last one felt unlikely, but what did I know? I¡¯d seen a mountain literally stand up and be a giant. Which was something I hoped to ask about here. Giants didn¡¯t seem to be that large - so what had I seen? Hopefully it wasn¡¯t like asking a dwarf if they knew about gnomes...


    Without significant difficulties, I found the huge, sweeping Valley of Echoing Prayers, and below me, the Giant¡¯s Stairway leading up to the Jakhong Monastery.


    Whoops. Slightly wrong direction.


    I could just drop onto the Monastery with my letter from Night and go from there, but he¡¯d suggested approaching with humility, and walking through the valley. I was asking one of their eldest [Monks] and [Rune Smiths] Kunchenjab for a huge favor, and if Night suggested that swimming in acid would be good for me, I¡¯d probably make sure my clothes were in a safe spot before I took a dip.


    I flew to the other side of the valley, then dropped like a great heron or angel descending from on high. I was tempted to see how deep of a crater I could leave when I hit, but that could be rude to everyone else.


    The chants the valley was so famous for reached my ears before I landed, dozens, if not hundreds, of [Monks] chanting sutras that echoed beautifully through the valley. A single sutra could bounce around for minutes, giving time to contemplate the teachings within.


    The ground just kept on coming and coming and coming, and I realized it was both further away and larger than I expected, a trick of perception when everything had been enlarged. It was almost like I was a gnome, living in the world of humans.


    I hit the ground as another sutra started, and stared up at the path I needed to take.


    It was miles long, and speeding it was probably only marginally better than flying straight to the place.


    Three long roads wove through the Valley of Echoing Prayers. A golden one, a regular cobblestone road, and a broken game trail. If I was remembering my readings properly, there was a ¡®right¡¯ road to take and a wrong one, a symbolic measure of the path I should take.


    Then again, perhaps I only had a juvenile understanding of the meaning, and any path, every path, was the correct one? Or did I need to keep switching which path I was on as they wove between each other?


    Plenty of thought, plenty of contemplation, simply for selecting the road I was to walk on. Of course, the roads themselves were sized for a giant, far larger than I needed.


    Well, better to be thought I was earnestly trying to understand as a novice than actively being rude.


    With one sandaled foot, I took my first step on the cobblestone path, the one I metaphorically understood to be the middle way.

 Chapter 529: The Jakhong Monastery I

    Chapter 529: The Jakhong Monastery I


    Id already decided that Id take the journey through the Valley of Echoing Prayers slowly. It served three purposes.FOlloow newest stories at


    The first was that Night had recommended it. The second was to work on my grasp of the Kanauri language, exclusively spoken in the region. A good number of giants might be fluent in High Elvish, but the region was so insular I doubted it was widespread. Then again - giants, practically Immortal lifespan, and -


    I spun off a thought process with [Luminary Mind] to ruminate on the approximate percentage of the population that spoke High Elvish, and a second one to think about the meaning of the middle way and how it applied to the road.


    Being able to speak the native language would endear me to the locals, and hopefully Kunchenjab would appreciate it. Plus, the chance to learn something new!


    Speaking of learning new things - this was a prime opportunity to learn more about their religion and philosophy. A new way of thinking, a way to unwind. Perhaps there was wisdom in their words, a way to find peace and tranquility.


    With nothing better to do at the moment, I started to walk down the cobblestone path, noting that I was not the only traveler on the road. The majority of travelers were giant [Villagers], using the convenient and secure path to move up and down the valley. A few giants clad as [Monks] were either walking to the monastery themselves, or meditating under a tree.


    Other non-giant Elvenoids were rare, but we existed. I was walking along, contemplating the meaning of the three different roads when a foot came down on my head. It had nearly reached me when I realized the giant wasnt going to change their stride for me, and a quick [Blink] off to the side stopped me from entering a contest of my strength versus their weight, also known as the Elaine doesnt get turned into paste maneuver.


    My eyes narrowed at the villager who had to have seen me, but just didnt give enough of a shit to try and avoid stomping me. Most people were considerate enough not to step on cats, and the size difference was roughly right.


    Jerk.


    At least I knew to be careful of the other giants.


    The part of me thinking about the road had come to a number of half-conclusions. More questions than answers, but simply thinking about the questions was enlightening in and of itself.


    One big thing I noticed was everyone else traveling along took their own path. Some stuck to the same type of road, while others were more practical and simply took the fastest path to where they were going. A few people deliberately seemed to be aiming for the most winding route possible, which had to be a choice.


    Yet, at the end of the day, did we not all arrive at the same place, the destination we were heading towards? Was the path not taken simply that - a different path? Was there wisdom in following what Id mentally dubbed the middle way no matter how it weaved and wound around the other two paths? Or was part of the lesson saying that I should stick to the middle path, and occasionally the middle path was paved with gold, and at others it was a poor beggars game trail?


    Thoughts and questions, forcing me to actually think in a different way for the first time in years. I appreciated it. Too long Id been staying in the same thought patterns, the same reactions, and this was a solid way to force flexibility back into my thinking.


    My mental evaluation of the mandatory breaks Sentinels had to take went up quite a few notches.


    One of my own thoughts, a phrase Id read in a book a long time ago and worlds apart came back to me. I could learn more from a single footstep than a thousand books.


    Id been [The Very Hungry Bookwyrm] and devoured a thousand books. Now I was taking some steps myself.


    The giants started up a new low chant, voices as deep as the ocean, and I paused, stepped off the road to the side, and listened. My Kanauri was entirely theoretical - Id literally memorized a dictionary before coming here, thank you [Astral Archives] - so translating the words was a slow process, as I painstakingly worked out which word was being said, no mean feat with accents and the like, tried to figure out if there was any grammar attached to the word, looked it up, and bit by bit constructed a single sentence. It was helpful that the words continued to echo throughout the valley, letting me hear them again and again.


    Be who you are; otherwise you will miss your life.


    Once Id pieced the sentence together, I started walking down the road, thinking on the words, practicing saying them myself. It was a bit of a shame that [Ancient Loremaster of Legend] was capped, along with [Astral Archives] and [Lust for Lore] - this would be amazing experience for them. Hopefully it would help with my class quality when I upgraded soonish. Then again, a good chunk of this trip would improve my quality.


    I mostly agreed with the philosophy, but perhaps that was because everything had worked out well for me. Id generally taken classes that resonated with me, that I felt were very me, and found joy in my levels and my work. Id taken classes for fun, Id gained skills for the joy of it, and Id been rewarded through life.


    I found it difficult to fully endorse the idea. There were some people who just werent all that, and striving to be better or different from how they currently were would be an improvement. Yet, if someone went into a job they disliked because their true passion was laying around doing nothing, and ended up finding joy and improvement in that way, was becoming a better person like that being who they were?


    I was starting to wrap up my thoughts when the next prayer hit. Another translation-and-practice session later, and I had the essence of the thought.


    The root of suffering is attachment.


    The doors of the Immortal are open.


    Let those who can hear respond with faith.


    The two sentences, carved in letters taller than I was, was the first steps solemn creed.


    When in Remus, act as the Remans. I sat down cross-legged in front of the words on the stairs, mindfully not going to the center where a passing giant would turn me into a red stain on the steps - probably sacrilegious, but their relationship with death seemed a little iffy from what I could understand. The next great journey and all that.


    While tall, I could still jump up and grab the lip of the stair, even before the System had improved my physical capabilities, and before my biomancy came into play. On one hand, I wanted to take it seriously, to show the proper reverence for the almost-religious stairs. On the other, there were no accommodations for me, and no way to combine graceful, elegant, and humble. The last one was the sticking point - there were all sorts of fancy moves I could pull off, but none of them were humble.


    With a small jump, I grabbed the lip of the stair, and did a full-body pull up to bring myself up and over, like how Id get out of a swimming pool. Probably the most humble move I could pull off, but not exactly graceful or elegant.


    Everything in moderation. The words from before echoed back. Well, I might as well try a different way of getting over every step.


    I looked up, my face stoic as I rapidly counted how many steps were left. There were 125 steps until I hit a thick bank of clouds, and I remembered the Jahkong Monastery being higher than that. Each step was also long, large enough to comfortably fit a giants foot and then some.


    According to who one follows, so does one become. Like ones associates one becomes.


    Ooof. That one hit hard. I thought about all the people Id spent my life around, starting with Artemis. I hadnt exactly been around the best role models, and theyd undeniably shaped and influenced my thoughts, which in turn shaped my actions and ethics.


    While only the second step, I found the message profound enough to spend significant time meditating over it, trying to trace influences of different people on me and how it shaped my views.


    What would I have been like if Id spent more time around gentle healers? If Id worked with people who used violence as the last resort, instead of quickly picking up a blade, or reflexively casting?


    The thoughts moved onto how I shaped others, and it reframed Nights reluctance to be heavily involved in everything in Exterreri in spite of his ability to literally rule the country as [Emperor]. If he knew his tendencies, thoughts, philosophy, and actions rubbed off on others - I had no doubt he was crystal aware of it, not at high age, experience, and willingness to learn and do everything - did he not want to shape everyone into an ancient relic with certain thought patterns and behaviors? It put his willingness to step back, to let people make mistakes and figure things out for themselves in new light.


    Should I step back myself? Or did I have a bright and shining light to offer, one that I should help radiate from the mountains and see if I could shape others onto a kinder, gentler path and way of life?


    Was my life one to be envied and emulated?


    Id spent significant time working my way through the valley, but this one step, this one ideal, triggered so many thoughts and self-examination that I stayed for hours, contemplating the thought.


    [*ding!* Youve unlocked the General Skill [Meditation]. Would you like to replace a skill with it? Y/N]


    [*ding!* Youve unlocked the General Skill [Thoughtful Contemplation]. Would you like to replace a skill with it? Y/N]


    [*ding!* Youve unlocked the General Skill [Serenity]. Would you like to replace a skill with it? Y/N]


    As usual, the System was offering me quite a few skills, none of which I was interested in taking in the moment.


    After enough time I got up and stretched, then did a standing jump to get over the next stair. Step after step I tackled with acrobatic excellence, striving for beauty and perfection in all things. I jumped up, grabbed the lip, then kicked into a front flip over the step. I ran at the wall, using momentum and obscene amounts of dexterity to simply run up the side of the wall.


    200 steps. 200 lessons. The [Monks] didnt stop chanting, although after 50 steps I wasnt getting solid echoes anymore. The laws of Sound didnt change just because there were giants chanting. Step by step I made my way to the top, eventually reaching the Jahkong Monastery. A single [Monk] was waiting at the door, and immediately spotted me.


    Amitabha, traveler. What brings you here?

 Chapter 530: The Jakhong Monastery II

    Chapter 530: The Jakhong Monastery II


    I slightly bowed to the [Monk], in a similar manner to how I¡¯d seen the occasional giant greet each other in the Valley. The gates he was in front of were enormous. They were modestly sized for the country, but they were larger than even the grandest city gates I¡¯d seen. My head went from shin-height to ankle-height, and he was too far away for me to see anything from [The World Around Me].


    Aspiration. Words. Action. Effort. Mindfulness. The eight pillars I¡¯d passed helped inform my words. I didn¡¯t know how successful I¡¯d be, I was a rank amateur and this was the first time talking to anyone from the culture, but hopefully the effort and mindfulness parts would lend me a hand.


    ¡°Amitabha. May the light of the benefactor illuminate and guide you. I was told that the [Runesmith] Kunchenjab lives here, and I have a request to make of him, one that I believe will ease suffering. Does he still live here, and may this one make a polite request of him?¡±


    I straightened up at the end, not wanting to talk to his feet the entire time. The giant had an awkward look on his face.


    ¡°Ahh, traveler, this is unfortunate, but Kunchenjab has requested that we turn away those he does not know. I am sorry that your long journey has failed at this final step. Could we offer some hospitality?¡±


    Welp, so much for talking my way in.


    I held out my hand, summoning the letter of introduction Night had written. It was on a scroll, the short dimension as long as I was tall.


    ¡°A letter from Night, Night, or occasionally as Nyx. He claims Kunchenjab as a friend.¡± I said, mixing Night¡¯s Creation name with the Kanauri word for it, and throwing in his sometime-title. I was missing the correct word for close or personal friend, unsure of which word in Kanauri was correct, given the various shades of meaning and how the language had four different words for it.


    I missed my [Learning Languages] skill. Sometimes. Digesting a dictionary was not the same as a skill to guide my learning.


    ¡°I do not know this ¡®Night¡¯ person, but I will trust your word and deliver the message. Would you like to come in for tea?¡± The [Monk] invited me.


    I bowed again. Seemed to be the right thing to do.


    ¡°Please.¡±


    The giant casually opened the door with one hand, the gates opening smoothly.


    ¡°This one¡¯s name is Chodak. Come this way.¡± He rumbled. ¡°Stick close to me, as some of my brothers and sisters do not tend to look out for small ones.¡±


    He sounded most peeved at that, like it was some fundamental failing on their end. Perhaps it was? It didn¡¯t sound like proper compassion for all living things, great and small.


    The [Monk] was slowly striding with his staff through the open courtyard of the Monastery, and yet, I had to jog with my enhanced speed just to keep up.


    Giants, in an inverse of gnomes, benefitted massively from physical stats. They already had such large base numbers that even a small multiplier did fantastical things for them. An interesting lesson from my comparative anatomy lessons at the School was that giants were the weakest ¡®magical¡¯ race. Attempting to simply biomance myself into the size and shape of a giant would fail. My bones wouldn¡¯t be able to support my weight, and I¡¯d need either the faintest touch of magic - like how Auri was made out of living flames - or [Giant¡¯s Grandeur] to stand up without snapping my legs like a lumberjack using [One Swing, One Tree]. The type of peaceful meditation ¡®regular¡¯ giants (not frost giants) were known for didn¡¯t require any magical stats. Add in Immortality and stupidly long legs, and voila - I struggled to keep up with even the simplest of [Monks].


    Monks were practicing in the courtyard, a single mentor calling out strikes and poses, and the rest of the giants following suit. Some calls were fast, and others moved with glacial speed, like they were engaged in a contest of who could finish last without ever standing still. I could see most of the concepts idealized by the eight pillars in the movements... or maybe I was really stretching my imagination, having a hammer and everything looking like a nail.


    We entered the monastery, and the idea of being a gnome redoubled. Everything was ten times the size, from the bricks to the doors. To my great surprise, it was brightly and brilliantly painted, with gorgeous repeating patterns, elaborate designs, and colored columns. I¡¯d expected a severe and plain environment, with only the bare minimum present, but I guess that wasn¡¯t properly part of the Middle Way? It wasn¡¯t opulently luxurious, nor was it bare and plain. A bit of life and excitement in the daily necessities of living.


    Why not surround oneself with art and joy, when it comes at minimal expense?


    Chodak occasionally paused and greeted other [Monks] as they passed each other, but never stayed for a long conversation. I could hear songs, hymns, and chants coming from various other places inside the Monastery. We arrived at a set of stairs, and the [Monk] paused.


    ¡°I apologize, little one. Do you have much difficulty with the stairs?¡± He asked. I shook my head, then realized he might not be able to - who was I kidding, of course their vision would be good enough to see.


    ¡°No! Keep going, I can keep up. I¡¯ll fly if I have to.¡±


    ¡°Mmmm. This is good.¡± He said, then went up the stairs, leading me to a ¡°small¡± - larger than most kings¡¯s throne rooms - room with a simple table and chairs.


    I didn¡¯t bother trying to scale Mt. Chair. The legs were three times my size, and I snapped my wings open, flying up. When I realized that, even sitting in the chair, I wouldn¡¯t be able to see over the edge of the table, I just kept going, feeling a little like I was a fairy or pixie. Just needed a pitchfork and an attitude.


    ¡°Tea.¡± Chodak rumbled, presenting me with a simple cup. ¡°Please wait here while I deliver your message to Kunchenjab.¡±


    The ¡®simple cup¡¯, of course, was so large around I could just barely touch my fingertips on either side, and came up to my collarbone. I could, with a bit of squeezing, take a bath in the teacup. I was thirsty, the gesture was kind, and I doubted the tea was going to be reused or anything. Quickly tying my hair back, I leaned in and took a drink. I tried to be a good guest and not eavesdrop on everything that was going on inside the monastery, no matter how tempting it was.


    I was undisturbed in the little room, and Chodak came back a few minutes later.


    ¡°Kunchenjab has a small mote of time he can spare for the letter-bearer now.¡± His odd inflection hinted strongly that he was simply quoting Kunchenjab directly.Yo?ur favorite novels at


    I followed Chodak around, the [Monk] soon knocking on another door.


    ¡°Enter.¡± Kunchenjab said, and we did.


    ¡°You are asking me to create copies of the second most successful piece of literature of all time, second only to the System Book. There is no need to assist the Manuscripts to spread further. Copies are scattered across the world in a thousand forms,¡± Kunchenjab gestured to my impressive collection that I¡¯d gathered in a relatively short timeframe. ¡°And are constantly copied. I have known old [Wise Women] to teach letters by having students copy the Manuscripts, the texts heavily annotated through the ages. I¡¯ve known an Immortal who made it their life¡¯s goal to spread the word, desiring like you that none should suffer. The continued success of the book and the knowledge it contains tells me it needs no further assistance, and spending my time on such a project would be a waste.¡±


    Ouch. I could see his point, but if three sentences could deter me from a project I¡¯d set my mind on, I would¡¯ve never left Aquiliea. I¡¯d come this far, and while I wasn¡¯t going to fight to the bitter end - I was still hoping for some tutoring in Spatial Wizardry - my hopes and dreams were rapidly crashing down around me. It wasn¡¯t looking good.


    I did have at least one more card to play.


    ¡°This is going to sound a little unbelievable, but I did write the Medical Manuscripts. The basis at least, that everyone built off of. I¡¯m Elaine.¡± I said, pointing to my name featured prominently on the front.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. I don¡¯t believe you.¡± Kunchenjab¡¯s response was swift and brutal. ¡°The claim makes absolutely no sense.¡±


    I quickly weighed my options, [Luminary Mind] splitting my thoughts to better... honestly, it was so when one thought process got distracted, I¡¯d still be working on the problem.


    It seemed like getting Kunchenjab to create a rune for me was right out of the question. That boat had sailed, hit stormy weather, sunk onto a kraken, and was currently acting as a fine set of matching toothpicks.


    ¡°I understand.¡± With a thought and a few skills, all my books vanished back into [Loremaster¡¯s Library]. Hey, at least I had a decent starter collection, and there was nothing stopping me from writing my own mandala to do the same thing. It¡¯d just be a lot larger, complicated, and extremely time-consuming every time I wanted to cast it. The bigger issue was other people couldn¡¯t use it themselves, but I suppose that wasn¡¯t the worst. Only I¡¯d be able to cast it easily and reliably, and I could make updates as new knowledge was discovered.


    Although... at that point just writing the book would be much faster, less resource-intensive, and it wouldn¡¯t fade and decay like all conjured material would. Alternatively, I could try to do what some Immortals did, and play the super long game. Sponsor a promising up-and-coming [Runesmith], make him Immortal, wait until he was good enough to do it for me.


    Yeah, that could work. It had a timeline measured in centuries, and I wasn¡¯t quite ready to start executing century-long plans, not when I was about to have a decade-long plan work out for the first time ever, but my dreams weren¡¯t ruined. I¡¯d just need to go about it a different way.


    Thank goodness for [Luminary Mind]. I¡¯d been able to reference my big book of social rules and ask myself ¡®what would Iona do¡¯?


    ¡°Is there anything I can do to observe your Spatial Wizardry at work?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I would like to hear your questions about titans.¡± He said. ¡°As for staying and observing, I am not quite the person to ask, but I can tell you this. All who wish to stay at the Jakhong Monastery must contribute in some way to the upkeep and wellbeing of all who live within its walls. What do you offer?¡±


    I immediately discarded the idea of money. From what I understood so far, simply offering to pay to stay would be an insult, and I felt like I was on thin ice with Kunchenjab not believing my claims about being the author of the Medical Manuscripts. It burned me deep inside that I was so casually dismissed and disbelieved, but my chart and ¡®What would Iona say?¡¯ kept telling me to swallow my pride and deal with it later.


    Most physical work was outside of my expertise as well. Getting a bucket of water up the stairs would take me a day, and be a small, human-sized bucket. A giant could carry a bucket large enough to flood out my villa up the stairs in minutes.


    Healing was naturally on the table. I was probably the strongest healer in the Monastery, and possibly the strongest in the country. It might be enough, it might not be.


    Another benefit I brought to the table was my small size. I could get in and reach areas that might be difficult for a full-sized giant to reach. I also had [Gardening].


    I quickly explained how I could contribute.


    Kunchenjab looked thoughtful, then nodded.


    ¡°Very well, traveler. I believe that will do. Now, about the titan you claim to have seen.¡±


    ¡°Literal mountains. Most of the giants I¡¯ve met are ¡®only¡¯ about ten times my size, and...¡±


    I explained about the battle between Lun¡¯Kat and the Guardians, how a stray blow hit a mountain that stood up and smacked Lun¡¯Kat. As the tiniest bit of petty revenge - not Iona approved - I saved the best part for last.


    ¡°... unfortunately, timeline wise, this happened about 23,000 years ago.¡± I explained. Kunchenjab did not look amused at that, the stones whirling faster around his head to the point where they started to hum.


    I had to wonder - was Kunchenjab bad at being a monk?


    ¡°You jest.¡± He frowned at me. I gave him a great big shit-eating grin, then modulated it a little as I remembered I still wanted his help with Spatial wizardry.


    ¡°Nope! Witnessed it personally. I was born a long, long time ago.¡±


    He narrowed his eyes at me, then peace and calm descended on his face, turning it smooth like glass.


    ¡°Amitahba. Very well, I will permit karma to dictate the outcome of your life. Should you be virtuous and speaking candidly, with truth, may the light of the benefactor shine down on you. Should you be spinning yarn for your own reasons, may you get tangled in them and choke. I will treasure the knowledge you have brought about our greatest ancestors. You should find Chodak, and have him direct you to the gardens. Come visit me when the sun sets.¡±


    I bowed and hopped off the desk, plummeting the height of a five-story apartment building down to the floor. It absorbed my impact without complaint - it had been built to survive literal giants - and went to find Chodak.


    I figured I¡¯d stick around as long as I wanted, and when I missed Iona too much or got bored, I¡¯d head back home.


    Vacations were weird.

 Chapter 531: The Jakhong Monastery III

    Chapter 531: The Jakhong Monastery III


    About a month later, I woke to the grand humming of the giants, greeting the rising sun in their own way.


    I spent a brief moment disoriented, having changed where I was sleeping a few times now. The first night I¡¯d slept in a giant¡¯s shoe, not realizing what it was. After a great amount of embarrassment, I¡¯d tried sleeping in [Vault of Ages], but the looming sense of dread, the complete deadness of the [Vault], and occasionally peeking into the vast nothing beyond the walls urged me to find alternative arrangements.


    And alternative arrangements I found!


    The Jakhong Monastery wasn¡¯t built with non-giant elvenoids in mind, but there was a small population living here that managed to make it work. Most were also [Monks], contemplating the vast mysteries of the universe when they weren¡¯t contributing to the Monastery¡¯s upkeep.


    My bedroll was in a corner, and I jumped out of it in pure habit, quickly scanning the room for threats, my senses extending all around me as my heart raced.


    There¡¯s no threat. I¡¯m not under attack. I¡¯m exactly where I expect to be. Nothing¡¯s wrong. Calm down.


    My racing heart slowed down as I fought down the sudden surge of paranoia and anxiety. It was rare these days that I woke up thinking I was under attack, but every once in a while my subconscious was a massive bitch and got me all riled up.


    It didn¡¯t help that I¡¯d been attacked in my sleep multiple times throughout my life.


    Embarrassed at the display, but unwilling to show it or have it slow me down, I rolled up my bedroll with the other [Monks], stashing it away in a closet. I paused as I saw a small crack past the wall thanks to [The World Around Me], and called out to Uirphen, the elf who helped organize all of us ¡®little ones¡¯.


    ¡°Hey Uirphen, I think there¡¯s a crack developing back here. I¡¯d be surprised if my skill was the first one to detect it, but I¡¯m just letting you know in case there¡¯s a real issue.¡±


    The elf took the news with serene grace.


    ¡°Thank you Elaine. I will bring it up with the [Monks] later.¡±


    On one hand, with all the Immortals running around, someone had to have a [Fix Cracks] skill, or even passive. On the other, the ¡®little one¡¯ rooms were basically mouse holes, parts of the Monastery that had crumbled a bit, then hollowed out and expanded to create additional rooms. I was no [Architect], but it seemed like a bad idea to me. Then again, it had stood for decades at the very least, so what did I know?


    I teleported a scroll out of [Loremaster¡¯s Library], rolling it open. I carefully examined the 7-circle array inside for any trace of degradation. I¡¯d painted the rune just yesterday, using extra-thick lines, so there shouldn¡¯t be any issues, but it paid to be safe and to practice.


    Satisfied that the rune wasn¡¯t going to cataclysmically explode in my face, I used [Lepidoptera] to actually make the rune, not yet having the skills to use ink and paper to create runes. It was all practice for when my skills shuffled around. I activated the spell, a combined cleansing/cleaning spell on myself, combined with summoning a jar of ink, a fresh sheet of paper, and a simple brush. Having ¡®bootstrapped¡¯ my supplies, I turned the page in the spellbook, recreating the exact same rune I¡¯d just cast. One of my lessons and spells from Kunchenjab. A neat little trick, a set of circles I could add to any spell, giving me the supplies to remake the spell - including the ink, paper, and brush to write it out.


    Being made purely out of conjured material, it would decay, and [Loremaster¡¯s Library] wouldn¡¯t stop the process at all. It was why I had to be extra-careful and check the runes over before casting them.


    My morning ablutions handled, I scurried along the side of the walls like a mouse, making sure I wasn¡¯t getting in the way of the giants stomping through the halls. It was like the road system in Remus in a nutshell. They had their lanes, I had mine, and as long as everyone stuck to them, traffic moved smoothly.


    I made it to the kitchen, where another [Monk] was handing out bowls and spoons. I took mine, and lined up for the teacup the giants had placed on the floor for us. Their teacup was enough soup for all the ¡®little ones¡¯ and then some - I could literally take a bath in it, let alone get a solid breakfast. The soup was vegetarian, like all their food. Since Samsara and the cycle of reincarnation was a known thing, they took the logic a step further and said that any animal could have any soul, and it was an act of cruelty to cut their life off short. Given how they had a System, I was sweating a little at the implications and how right they seemed.


    I remembered reincarnation. According to the [Monks], my soul had been reborn thousands of times and would die thousands of times until I finally achieved enlightenment and escaped the bounds of Samsara. Any animal I ate could possibly have contained my soul, or the soul of any one of my friends or family.


    My socialization reserves were at stone-cold zero. I didn¡¯t feel like making small talk with the other [Monks]. I quickly ate my food and returned my licked-clean bowl to the [Monk] who¡¯d been handing it out in the first place. As I got near, my bowl finished cleaning itself, and almost as soon as I¡¯d returned it, it was handed out to the next person in line.


    It was weird being able to turn things around so quickly, but hey, a cleaning aura seemed like one of the most generically useful day-to-day skills a person could have. I was a little jealous.


    Curse the System for only granting me 32 skill slots! I wanted EVERYTHING! Thank goodness wizardry let me tap into quite a few fun things, at a price.


    I hustled out to the courtyard, grateful that the monks had their daily conditioning. I grabbed my quarterstaff from where I¡¯d leaned it against the inside of the door yesterday, and exited into the courtyard.


    A number of giants were already up and about, slowly moving their staves in sync with the leader. A form of physical meditation. I found a spot off to the side, near the front, where I could actually see the leader and not endless feet and calves, and started to move along with the same exercises.


    ¡°Let your body become one with the mountains.¡± The leader called out as she moved into Mountain Pose. ¡°Let your breath become one with the air.¡±


    ¡°Little Elaine. Do you believe you have contributed to the Monastery on this day?¡± The [Runesmith] asked in a ritual fashion.


    ¡°Yes, mighty Kunchenjab.¡± I replied, keeping it simple.


    ¡°Then come here and ask your questions.¡± He patted his desk with a hand nearly as large as I was, and I flew up. His desk was already cleared, and I teleported out of [Loremaster¡¯s Library] the project I¡¯d been working on for the last month. A scroll that would be considered a hefty book for a giant unrolled itself in front of us, the entire thing filled with a dense script in my smallest handwriting.


    Kunchenjab had refused to make a simple rune that would generate the entire Medical Manuscripts - so I decided to do it myself, under the guidance of one of the best wizards in the world.


    I¡¯d decided on a set of scrolls, because all the fiddly nonsense with book bindings, covers, glue, different materials, double-sided pages, and all that other nonsense was a huge increase in difficulty without any true practical payoffs. The sharp decrease in difficulty once I¡¯d decided to do scrolls had been promptly undone when I decided to make it in three different languages at once. High Elvish, Hakka, and Altaic. A shame Trade-Tongue was so limited it didn¡¯t have most of the needed words.


    A set of runes teleported themselves out of Kunchenjab¡¯s personal storage with a faint pop, creating a ring around one eye. They flared with light, the wizard casually activating three dozen different methods of enhancing his vision.


    I quickly took mental note of every rune he was using, and their order. This was one of the subtle lessons Kunchenjab had. I was embarrassed it took me three days to notice he was doing it. Every time I came in and visited, he had a different set of runes, a different set of functions. Careful observation and study would expand the repertoire of spells I had, and I suspected many of them were unique to the giant, or otherwise not broadly spread.


    He was a [Runesmith] after all. He was the one making the runes the rest of us used.


    Once he¡¯d seen that I was taking notes on his runes, he¡¯d started to display more, the set of stones curling his head and wrists constantly changing.


    I¡¯d come prepared with questions. The first day I¡¯d been unprepared, and Kunchenjab had kicked me out in a minute, telling me not to waste his time.


    I was sure he was terrible at being a [Monk] at this point, shiny bald head or not.


    ¡°You¡¯ve told me how spells fail when written at this scale, because the mana takes time to process through the channels, and has finished burning up earlier sections before the mana¡¯s made it to the ends.¡± I said. I hadn¡¯t learned this at the School, but then again I hadn¡¯t taken the most advanced wizardry classes either, and the size of my spell array was measured in square meters. ¡°You gave me a solution to use both booster-capacitor arrays and multiple mana input circles, but I ran the math and it looks like it¡¯s still too large, and will burn out. What¡¯s the next stage in super large arrays?¡±


    ¡°Well spotted.¡± That was literally the highest praise Kunchenjab had ever uttered. ¡°The next and final step...¡±


    I furrowed my eyebrows in concentration, my dismay growing as I realized I¡¯d basically need to completely start over again.


    Nobody said this project was going to be easy, but as I mentally traced out the supporting superstructure for the mandala, I realized I might finally have all the pieces of the puzzle to finish my project.


    Kunchenjab continued to lecture for thirty minutes, detailing all the ins and outs of the method he was describing, ensuring I had all the details and twists down. At the end of his lecture I bowed again.


    ¡°Thank you, mighty Kunchenjab, for imparting your wisdom to me once again.¡±


    The giant snorted.


    ¡°You¡¯re one of Night¡¯s. Let him know next time you see him that I might send a request or two his way.¡±


    I noticed that Kunchenjab had carefully avoided using the word favor, and I knew how Night felt about those.


    ¡°Now, I believe our time tonight is at an end. Shoo.¡± Kunchenjab unceremoniously kicked me out of his lair, and I found myself wandering back to the quarters.


    I was lonely. Kunchenjab¡¯s two sentences at the end of his lecture was more than I¡¯d talked with anyone else here. In the darkness and silence, my heart ached for Iona, ached for home.


    I¡¯d failed in my primary quest, but was successful in my secondary objectives.


    What was I still doing here? I had the last piece of the puzzle to complete my huge spell - which had to be worth at least a modest achievement when I classed up - and Kunchenjab had implied something similar when he gave me a message to pass to Night.


    I wandered the hallways, past the sleeping room - I quickly let Uirphen know I was leaving - and grabbed my staff before heading straight out the doors. Once there, under the baleful crimson glare of the twin moons, I opened my wings and took flight north.


    It was time to go home.

 Chapter 532: Underhanded Plots

    Chapter 532: Underhanded Plots


    Flying back home was a joy, eager impatience warring with my enjoyment of flying. I redoubled my resolve - shortly after Auri was back home, the Eventide Eclipse should go exploring around the world. Problems for Iona to fix, people for me to heal, and sights to see. Iona was fully mortal, and as long as I didn¡¯t draw too much attention to myself, we shouldn¡¯t have any problems. If I contained myself to healing sick children in villages who needed specialized care, and not flexing by mass-healing entire cities all at once, I should stay entirely off the Warden¡¯s radar. Night might be a little annoyed that I wasn¡¯t easily contactable in case of emergency, but I was on vacation. I was allowed to...


    Actually, I kinda wasn¡¯t allowed to do anything I wanted. I was a special military asset, and I assumed there were a number of countries and nobles who¡¯d be unhappy at me poking around at sensitive things, plus there was image and reputation to concern myself with.


    As long as I was discreet and didn¡¯t cause problems, I could do what I wanted.


    Exterreri was much better mapped out than Bhutai was, thanks to a strong central government and me living here, and I was able to easily navigate my way back home. A smile blossomed across my face as I spotted Iona from several miles away, sitting on top of our villa with her sketchpad in hand, quietly drawing out the beautiful vista.


    Chuckling to myself, I retracted my wings and activated my [Greater Invisibility] rune on my chest, having new appreciation for how many sub-variants of the rune existed, and by extension, how long it had taken to get the rune down perfectly. Kunchenjab had shown me a wrist full of dozens of different variants one lesson, and I¡¯d explored them one by one. It was a little hard to properly understand them when I was both casting them on myself, and had [The World Around Me] to pierce all but the best-crafted illusions.


    I invisibly fell through the sky, utterly unconcerned with my landing. I was pretty sure I could simply absorb the impact with my body, and if I landed badly and sprained my ankle going from terminal velocity to zero, my healing would fix me right back up. I glanced down as I was about to land and swore.


    Fuck! Sheep! I was falling like an anvil, and dense enough to utterly ruin some poor [Shepherds] day. They¡¯d instantly know there was a problem as well, what with that global wish letting them all know where their sheep were at any time.


    Fully trusting that the sheep would do the stupidest, most suicidal thing possible, I snapped open my wings, killing my invisibility, and tumble-rolled to the ground, where I had the presence of mind to immediately recloak. I ended up with my eyes inches away from a sheep¡¯s teeth, getting a close-up view of chewing, and a hot blast of sheep breath in my face.


    Baah.


    I picked myself up, and jogged down to the road, dodging the few travelers who were out this far, not even leaving a trace of myself like the morning breeze. I made it home at an appreciable fraction of the speed of sound, feeling a little like the rest of the world was stuck in molasses.


    I snuck up on my wife, waiting for the perfect moment. When she paused her drawing for a moment, putting her pencil up to her lips, I struck. I wrapped her in a hug from behind as I dropped my invisibility, resting my chin on her shoulder.


    ¡°Hey love, I¡¯m back.¡± I said. She didn¡¯t jump up, much to my disappointment. I snuck a peek at what she was drawing.


    Iona was going for the full vista view, but with a little twist. With her skills, she was able to manipulate and control her pencil so finely that she could draw tiny details on the extra-nice paper I¡¯d bought for her.


    Ahhh. That¡¯s what the fancy paper did. It let her make details at a level only a Classer could manage.?iscover new chapters on


    She reached a hand up and stroked my cheek.


    ¡°Missed you love. Give me just a moment to finish this, and I¡¯ll greet you properly.¡±


    I flushed at the words, and couldn¡¯t wait.


    ¡°You have been on the road quite a bit...¡± Iona hinted, and I got it.


    ¡°Meet you in the baths!¡± I shouted, teleporting through the roof to get to them faster.


    Praise Titania, there were fresh-ish mangos waiting for me in the kitchen, and I blitzed through the house at top speed to better eat them in the bath. I stripped down and slipped into our large, hot bath, billowing clouds of steam giving me some minor privacy from the Valkyrie I knew was also taking advantage of the place.


    Hey, it was the semi-public one, and we¡¯d invited them into our home. I wasn¡¯t going to begrudge them using the place. I made my way over to the far corner, and let myself float in the hot water, letting the warmth seep into every bone. In a hidden display of economically using every part of the fruit, of the very essence of waste not, want not, I sunk my teeth into the skin of the most beautiful of fruits, the blessed and holy mango.


    The sweet juice exploded in my mouth and ricocheted across my brain, lighting up every nerve. For one brief, glorious instant, I was utterly blissed out, wrapped in the sweet embrace of hot water and mango. Alas, cruel mastication and sensory adjustment quickly dulled the pleasure, and I was forced to take yet another bite.


    This was the life.


    The only disappointing thing was I couldn¡¯t do it forever, all the time. It¡¯d lose its effect if I tried. Sweet, delicious things had to be done in careful moderation, unless I wanted to forever ruin them for myself. Had to be a little more aware of that as my timeline and horizon stretched longer.


    Such a thing would be a nightmare, if I somehow managed to ruin mango for myself forever more.


    Iona came in less than a minute later, the timing suggesting she¡¯d finished a tiny part of her sketch then came down here as quickly as possible, stopping only to store her art supplies. Even after all these years, even after all this time, seeing her made my heart race and butterflies flip in my stomach.


    She spotted me, and a look of pure love and adoration lit up her face, the silly smile never leaving as she slipped into the bath next to me.


    ¡°Love you.¡± I whispered.


    ¡°Love you too.¡±


    I¡¯d just finished tending to my mango grove when the distant sound of falling trees reached my ears. I paused, focusing in a bit, hearing some voices celebrating.


    Huh. That didn¡¯t sound right.


    I took to the air, scanning around our mountain, and saw a small group chopping down trees by the base of the mountain. It didn¡¯t look like a small operation, nor did it look like a bunch of teenagers screwing around.


    Actually, if a bunch of teenagers wanted to ¡®screw around¡¯ by getting in several good hard day¡¯s labor cutting down trees, I¡¯d be all for it. Tell me where to sign. It¡¯d be good for them, and the bulk of the reason we hadn¡¯t done a ton with the mountain was to encourage enough game to flourish that feeding Fenrir wasn¡¯t a logistical nightmare. Kids learning valuable skills and gaining experience by chopping a few down? Yeah!


    Oh no. I think I was officially getting old. The prospect of seeing kids working hard was exciting and the potential highlight of my day! Help! Help! Turn back the clock! Let me party all night with no consequences in the morning!


    I spun off an extra thought process with [Luminary Mind] to ruminate on age, and how at least I didn¡¯t hurt myself by sleeping wrong, thank you magic. There was something interesting in there how I matured mentally at a similar pace to what I expected, and vitality not slowing down the evolving thought process...


    I folded my arms and pursed my lips.


    They were not supposed to be here, but it wasn¡¯t exactly like this spot in particular was the easiest timber for anyone except maybe exactly one crotchety old farmer, and he was content to do his own thing. If - big if - if he decided to pull some bullshit, he wouldn¡¯t be doing it openly in broad daylight. I briefly debated confronting them myself, but no. I was acceptably good at social work, but the mistress of silver tongues herself was around.


    She was up with Fenrir in his cave, reading him a story and scratching a spot under his chin. The wyvern puffed his pipe in obvious contentment, barely cracking an eye open as I approached.


    ¡°Hey!¡± I waved to Iona, sitting down gratefully on an overstuffed chair Fenrir kept in his cave.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Iona looked up from her book and paused.


    I waved my hand at them.


    ¡°Nothing that can¡¯t wait until you¡¯re done.¡± I settled deeper into the chair, enjoying Iona¡¯s storytelling. She did the voices so well - velvety for one character, then seamlessly switching to the smoke-scarred voice of another. I¡¯d missed half the story, and I quickly caught up thanks to [The World Around Me] and [Manuscript Mastery], resisting the urge to read ahead and simply listening to Iona.


    ¡°You also miss Night¡¯s meetings and being able to regularly chat with him.¡± She pointed out, attacking my half-wrap like it had done something wrong.


    ¡°Sure, but who knew paperwork could take so long to handle, even with Classers dealing with it.¡±


    ¡°Cross city paperwork filed in six different spots?¡± Iona pointed out one of the things we¡¯d learned on our merry-go-round. ¡°Pure logistics dictates it takes time, and we¡¯ve ended up with one of the best helping us out. When someone needs a healer, they go to you. When someone needs an injustice righted, they come to me. When a lot of wood needs to be burned, Auri¡¯s the one to ask.¡±


    I crossed my arms, none too happy with the answer but accepting it. I wish it was Night directly helping us out, but in spite of his vast skills, he did know when to delegate, and I couldn¡¯t insist that he directly fix problems for us, not when he had someone dedicated to fixing these sorts of issues. A bit of a shame that both Iona and Night overlapped on the ¡®fixes problems that can be punched¡¯ axis, it¡¯d be nice to work directly with him more often.


    I was having a sudden realization and medium-sized crisis about my mentors and preferences in partners - both Artemis and Iona were fit, blonde, and with green eyes to start - when Addolorata walked in through the door, a stack of files in one hand. She tucked her wings in to not bump them, and sat down on her stool behind her desk.


    ¡°It¡¯s all bad news, but it¡¯s about a one on the disaster scale.¡± The devil said without preamble. ¡°We¡¯re all busy people, so I¡¯ll get right to it. A [Saboteur] or related class has impersonated you, Elaine, and sold off a considerable amount of your property. Given the timeline, you¡¯ve discovered it about as quickly as possible, which helps. We have more options than we otherwise would. Now, it can all be unwound, but the [Saboteur] was clever. The property was sold to upstanding up-and-coming citizens of Exterreri, each one well-considered by their peers. In addition, each one is relatively well-connected with a strong [Solicitor], and while we¡¯d eventually win the case, everyone would be spending vast sums to work it all out, all while your name and the Sentinel¡¯s reputation is being dragged through the mud. It¡¯s an impressive piece of work, and if I¡¯m ever able to work out who¡¯s behind it I¡¯m going to send them the exact same problem, but with a twist. In the end, I have to give them credit. This is a successful sabotage on the part of our enemies, a sign that people are taking the impending war seriously, and are already starting to act.. It¡¯s far, far easier to throw rocks than repair windows, especially when you throw them at intangible situations that a skill and a wave of the hand can¡¯t fix. We¡¯re either forced to fight each other, causing deep resentment among the population, or you need to take a significant blow to your personal finances and holdings, which only the most generous of [Saintesses] would be able to accept without sour feelings or resentments.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t sure if Addolorata had noticed my fists curling in my lap, and even Iona had an angry spark in her eyes.


    This sort of thing was technically possible with the System, but given the vast chaos that could be caused by impersonators and the massive miscarriages of justice that could result, it tended to carry the death penalty. Civilization ran on trust, and if the trust was shattered, everything would collapse.


    ¡°We should tell Nina about this, it¡¯s the sort of thing she lives for.¡± I muttered out of the corner of my mouth.


    Iona caught herself in a laugh, turning it into a snort instead.


    ¡°All this ignores the sums of arcs that are undoubtedly far gone from Exterreri at this time.¡± Addolorata continued on. ¡°Another aspect I hate saying is the tier of this case is a little below me. It would be taken up by the Ranger¡¯s finest [Lawyers], and I have no doubt they¡¯d succeed. Naturally, the Rangers would be footing the entire bill, although there is only so much budget for fixing sabotage. There are only so many arcs in circulation. As the wronged party, the decision is yours. What do you want to do? Please let me know when you¡¯ve decided, but time is sensitive on this matter. The sooner we move to fix it, the better. I need to draft several laws to present to the Senate to fully lock down Sentinel¡¯s and Ranger¡¯s property to prevent similar issues from occurring again.¡±


    On one hand, Addolorata wasn¡¯t even a [Senator], and being a non-human, non-vampire probably worked against her. On the other, she spoke with such easy confidence that I had no doubt I¡¯d be hearing about the new law next week. Maybe I could even sneak into one of the Sentinel meetings to see everyone¡¯s reaction.


    We made some polite noises and excused ourselves, taking a walk around the city to figure out what we wanted to do. When Iona got a sparkle in her eye and bought me an extra-large mango-banana smoothie, I knew I was being mangoed up.


    I lifted an eyebrow as I greedily slurped the drink down, not wanting to waste precious mouth space talking.


    ¡°I think I¡¯ve got a solution!¡± Iona was grinning, her charismatic energy flowing off her in waves. ¡°Alright, the money doesn¡¯t really matter now, does it?¡±


    I shook my head. Supporting the Valkyries in our small way barely put a dent in my Sentinel pay, let alone the occasional bonus I got selling Immortality gems. I had some loans, yes, but they were being paid off, and I had beer tastes on a champagne budget. The finances didn¡¯t matter.


    ¡°Well! Let¡¯s mentally reframe this a little. We¡¯re not losing chunks of the mountain - we¡¯re finally getting a bunch of new neighbors! We can meet them, we can socialize, we¡¯ve got people we can say hi to. Auri can bake them cookies, and the endless drama will keep Fenrir working as a Private Weyevern forever. Let¡¯s flip it around! We¡¯re getting friends! We could host parties twice a week - uh, once a week,¡± Iona hastily amended her sentence at my horrified face. Her terrible suggestion almost made me spit out my drink! It would be a crime against creation to waste rare mango like that! ¡°Maybe have some more people around, be the start of a village or even a small town! What¡¯s not to like about it?¡±


    I gave Iona the old stink-eye while I seriously thought about it, the gears turning in my head.


    ¡°I want significant room between us and the closest people.¡± I laid out my demands, noticing how Iona was guiding us back to Castle Stormwatch. ¡°I¡¯m also worried about Fenrir and his food.¡± I chewed over the idea.


    It... frankly sucked. The entire situation was extremely frustrating. I¡¯d gotten some diplomatic-related training, but it more revolved around ¡®how to not make absolutely everyone hate my guts when I needed to deliver unpleasant news¡¯ sort of thing, along with the elements that were associated with investigations. Rangers and Sentinels were generally pointed at problems that required overwhelming violence or System skills to solve. A mess like this? I couldn¡¯t snap my fingers and solve it, nor could anyone else. Unraveling it was going to be long and painful, no matter who I decided was going to get the short end of the stick, and there was going to be no shortage of hurt feelings. Such bullshit. I mentally elevated Arachne¡¯s protection high up - I had no doubt there were dozens of plots every year that she quietly removed in the background. Now that she was on her break, they were actually coming to fruition. Made me wonder how they had anyone qualified to do it - or if they were watching and waiting for the guardian to leave before striking. I wasn¡¯t happy about it, but it was hard to deny that I¡¯d been had. Someone had to absorb the loss, and I was frankly in far better of a position than almost anyone to absorb the loss. I could always ask the government to cover it for me - a discretionary fund had been mentioned - but I was self-aware enough to know Rangers and other ¡®smaller¡¯ members of the organization were also getting hit, and once the fund was empty, it was empty. I didn¡¯t want to donate to it and supplant our enemy¡¯s funding, but simply not tapping it when I had Sentinel-level pay and significant alternative income was possible.


    The frustrated feelings bubbled up inside me, and I mentally marked that I needed some significant self-care time to feel alright. Just after a calm vacation to boot. It was insult added to injury - come back after a long vacation, and WHOOPS! Something¡¯s so wrong at home that I ended up more stressed than I started.


    Silver lining though - next year the [Tax Collector] would only be getting a tiny fraction of what he¡¯d scalped from us this year.


    Iona had a bounce and a gleam in her eye after we informed Addolorata, who looked relieved that we weren¡¯t about to tie up a bunch of resources on something stupid. With my demands that we get a certain distance, there was one sale that needed to be unwound, and the fact that we weren¡¯t suing everyone was going to be a demerit to our case, and-


    [Lawyers]. There was a reason everyone hated them until you needed them, and EVEN THEN it was such bullshit that ¡®trying to be nice¡¯ was translated into ¡®AHHA! We can try to fuck them over!¡¯ in legal-ese.


    I had a brief surge of desire to be like a pampered [Noble] where my word was law and I didn¡¯t need to have any of these pesky ¡®court¡¯ things. Alas! We were all believers in the rule of law, even when somewhat weaponized and turned against us.


    By Ciriel, it was a devastatingly effective attack in some ways. It was absolutely trying to worm its way into my brain. I had to wonder if whoever orchestrated the attack knew about the Valkyrie''s history, and was trying to also get them evicted again for a trauma redux.


    I made a mental note to bribe Night to tell us the after-action report of Addolorata doing the same things to our enemies. Maybe see if a Mirage Classer could be close enough to see and reenact the whole thing later.


    Iona picked up an entire keg on the way back home.


    Literally.


    ¡°Hey, think I can get a ride on that?¡± I asked Iona, who slapped the side of the keg she was one-handedly carrying.


    ¡°Hop on! No way to make faster friends than the two magic words.¡±


    I accepted my ride, and joined Iona in chorus.


    ¡°Free beer!¡±


    A little less free when I was the one paying for it, but eh. Silver linings! Do my best not to think about how I¡¯d been screwed!


    I had no fucking idea how Iona had managed to invite a bunch of our new neighbors we hadn¡¯t met yet to the party - I¡¯d been with her all day! We traveled through the city together! SHE NEVER HAD A MOMENT TO SEND INVITES! Agarblogag, it didn¡¯t make sense! - but she had, and the party was in full swing.


    Auri would love this many people to eat all her baked goods. I was coming round to the thinking that ¡®someone else had spent a ton of time and effort to make a whole village and get us a bunch of new friends.¡¯ I was still frustrated over the whole thing, but trying to stare at the positives helped.


    We had more money than we knew what to do with, what was losing a bit? Ugh, if it was just that, it¡¯d be fine, but it was the violating feel that drove me nuts. It was like a robber breaking into my home and stealing the spare change and the cat litter. It wasn¡¯t about the cat litter, it was about the invasion.


    Iona had been tasked with explaining the situation to people, and had somehow turned that into loyal pledges and steadfast outrage on our behalf, our new neighbors chomping at the bit to obtain JUSTICE, however they could. She was being loaded up with quite a few promises and gifts, and somehow making heaps of gold out of spun thread.


    It was a miracle to watch.


    I wasn¡¯t a fan of blood sports, but I had a brief moment of thanks towards how popular they were in Exterreri when Fenrir dropped half a bloody elven body into the middle of our party. Laughs and drunken cheers greeted the wyvern and the dead body he¡¯d dropped in the middle of the dance floor instead of screams and shouts. Fenrir happily puffed on his pipe.


    ¡°Case closed.¡±

 Chapter 533: To The Phoenix Peaks!

    Chapter 533: To The Phoenix Peaks!


    412 days later, I woke up with a start, my jaw aching from grinding it all night long. I wanted to angrily throw off the covers and stomp around without a care in the world, but I held myself back. Iona would end up bearing the brunt of my bad mood, and that wasn¡¯t fair to her.


    That was it. It was going to be six years and a day tomorrow, the moment the sun crested the horizon, and Auri wasn¡¯t back. She was obviously still alive and doing fantastically well for herself - the never-ending levels she fed back clearly indicated she was alive and active - but I knew her. We¡¯d promised, and no matter how bird-brained she could be at times, I didn¡¯t believe for one second that she¡¯d forgotten. Even if Auri had decided to stay at the Phoenix Peaks, it was entirely unlike her not to come back and at least say something, and our companion bond existed and was strong.


    No, something was wrong, and I¡¯d spent the last three months preparing for the eventuality that I¡¯d need to go to the Phoenix Peaks personally to figure it out and fix things.


    I started to stomp-sneak over to the kitchen when I heard Fenrir just outside the villa. My curiosity stronger than my stomach, I turned on my heel, changing directions, and went to see what the wyvern wanted.


    He was fully decked out in his custom armor, ready to go to war. Sharp sheathes covered his claws, a thick breastplate covered his chest, and his wings had a light chainmail draped over them. He turned to me and growled as I left.


    ¡°We leave now? Auri?¡± His voice held a faint note of begging as he said more words strung together than I¡¯d ever heard. I shook my head, patting his leg.


    ¡°Tomorrow. First thing. We¡¯re going to go get her.¡±


    Fenrir roared at the sky, the leaves and branches on nearby leaves bending back at the sheer force. I clapped my hands over my ears.


    Well, now everyone was going to be awake.


    I stormed back inside, bringing my bad mood with me. There was only one Valkyrie with us at the moment, and she pressed herself against the side of the wall as I passed, then hurried on out, muttering something about ¡®time to get going again.¡¯


    I bumped into Iona right before I hit the kitchen, my wife¡¯s hair all frazzled.


    ¡°Everything alright? What¡¯s got Fenrir worked up?¡± She asked, her hands flexing like they wanted a weapon.


    ¡°Auri.¡± I half-growled, half-cried. Iona¡¯s face softened.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to get her, alright? She¡¯s alive, she¡¯s fine. It could be as simple as she forgot to keep track of the time properly, or couldn¡¯t get a ride. Maybe the living storm is acting up, and it delayed their travel plans.¡±


    I shot Iona a foul look that said exactly what I thought of her ideas, then closed my eyes and took in a deep breath.


    I wasn¡¯t being fair to people. I should eat, drink, try to fix my head, and be nicer to everyone who was trying to lend me a helping hand. It wasn¡¯t their fault. I shouldn¡¯t be this cranky to them.


    Fourteen eggs and half a pitcher of water later, and I was still a bit of a nervous wreck. Less angry with life, and feeling a hair contrite about it.


    ¡°Idea. You might not like it.¡± Iona suggested.


    ¡°What is it?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go to the Warden¡¯s embassy in Sanguino, and ask for permission to visit the Northern Continent.¡±


    I side-eyed her and sighed.


    I knew her [Vow] wouldn¡¯t demand that we listen to them if they said no, and it was something that could make our trip a little easier. It just felt like a waste of time.


    Time that I¡¯d otherwise fritter away with the jitters, and it could be productive. I¡¯d finished the grand spell array to make copies of the Medical Manuscripts, a project I¡¯d thrown myself into with endless enthusiasm to try and distract me, and it was done. I had a gigantic, working mandala, with a single copy in my storage and the entire thing memorized if I wanted to spend laborious hours copying it again.


    Frankly, it was far better to have a copy myself, and cast a basic clone spell on the books. Ugh. It was one of the first spells I¡¯d learned in School, a literal entry-level ability. It almost never came up on exams, it was so simple.


    Making copies without using the language¡¯s default ¡®make a copy¡¯ spell was on exams, and it just... blah.


    Keeping my books in [Loremaster¡¯s Library] and pulling them out and duplicating them was just so much easier than anything else.?iscover new chapters on


    ¡°Alright, let¡¯s do it.¡± I reluctantly agreed.


    The two of us headed into the city. The Warden¡¯s primary directive was preservation and protection of the Northern Continent, and as part of my [Loremaster] education, I knew why.


    The short version was another agreement, between the highest levels of elvenoids and creatures like dragons, kirin, phoenixes, rocs, and the like.


    They got the Northern Continent, unmolested, and we got to build civilization down south. Of course, they could still fly around and wreak havoc down here if they wanted to, while elvenoids were mostly barred from the North, and there were a few other details that made me think we got the short end of the stick.


    At the same time, it did seem to mostly prevent dragons from pillaging and burning everything in sight, which also helped explain why they¡¯d been so terrified of dragons in Remus and now they weren¡¯t the ungodly terror of the skies.


    They enforced ¡®No Immortals fucking around in mortal lands¡¯ because they were asked nicely at the Treaty of Kyowa, and for reasons known only to them, they¡¯d accepted. They claimed it was to keep sharp at their current job, but I wasn¡¯t sure if I believed it.


    While the Wardens were headquartered in the Golden Council, they did have a small outpost in each Immortal nation¡¯s capital. Lucky us, that was Sanguino.


    The capital was large, sprawling, and it wasn¡¯t like there were signs on every road saying ¡®Warden Embassy this way.¡¯ We could search the entire city if we had to, but fortunately, the Warden Embassy was well-known to the local guards, who always had a solid contingent near them.


    All hail the local guards! They fixed most issues if given the chance. If only I could pay guards to do random tasks, they¡¯d entirely replace adventurers overnight.


    We had to cool our heels a bit - I wondered if mentioning I was a Sentinel helped or hurt our cause - but eventually the [Majordomo] elf came out with a sniff. Level 768 - I bet he was cycling his classes through. There was no telling if he was on his first, early cycle, or deep into the process. The difference could be huge in terms of stats and abilities.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    ¡°The [Wardens] will see you now.¡± He said slowly in clear, perfect High Elvish, like we might not understand him if he spoke at a normal speed.


    Elves were on an axis. Awarthril and Mormerilhawn, the [Referee] from the School, were on the nicer end of things. They had a tolerable grasp on their curse, and actively tried to be kind.


    This jackass probably would¡¯ve been a dick even without his curse.


    Iona and I stood up, and he still managed to somehow look down on her, even as she towered above him. Frankly, it was almost impressive.


    ¡°This way.¡± He gestured, almost like we wouldn¡¯t be able to walk through the door if he hadn¡¯t pointed it out to us.


    The only thing I could say in his defense was members of the general public were occasionally that dumb.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn and Valkyrie Dusk for the [Wardens]!¡± He announced. We were hoping being recognized military elites, especially of the host country, would grant us some courtesies, one warrior to another.


    Wardens didn¡¯t have titles, names, or any other identifier besides their silver, impenetrable mask having animal shapes. Their masks were impossible for me to see past, and even disguised their body. It wasn¡¯t like I could pick out a scar and identify the Warden based on that. It was a thorough, impenetrable disguise.


    For mortals.


    ¡°Skinwalker!¡± Iona hissed, her mallium instantly flowing around her into protective armor. I reflexively took a step back, positioning myself behind Iona in the way we¡¯d drilled so often.


    [Mana Regeneration: 11,402,681 +(23,649,101)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 40,261 (Effectively: 322,088)]


    [Dexterity: 64,805 (Effectively: 690,044)]


    [Vitality: 157,948 (Effectively: 2,467,938)]


    [Speed: 145,180 (Effectively: 2,857,578)]


    [Mana: 367,460]


    [Mana Regeneration: 1,231,724 (+ 2,364,910)]


    [Magic Power: 416,668 (+ 18,250,058)]


    [Magic Control: 416,389 (+ 18,237,838)]


    [Class 1: [The Arbiter of Life and Death - Celestial: Lv 876]]


    [Celestial Mastery: 876]


    [Aurora Curialis: 771]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 55]


    [Luminary Mind: 602]


    [Universal Cure: 876]


    [Etheric Aegis: 222]


    [Shroud of the Stellar Sea: 650]


    [Zenith Everlasting: 609]


    [Class 2: [Butterfly Mystic - Radiance: Lv 768]]


    [Radiance Affinity: 768]


    [Radiance Resistance: 768]


    [The Rays of the First Dawn: 768]


    [Lepidoptera: 768]


    [Nectar: 768]


    [Solar Corona: 768]


    [Wings of the Mythical Sunbird: 768]


    [A Raging Tempest of Golden Phoenix Feathers: 768]


    [Class 3: [Ancient Loremaster of Legend - Spatial: Lv 256]]


    [Spatial Authority: 256]


    [Manuscript Mastery: 256]


    [Blink: 195]


    [Loremaster''s Library: 256]


    [Vault of Ages: 92]


    [Rapid Reshelving: 256]


    [Astral Archives: 256]


    [Lust for Lore: 256]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 532]


    [Technical Drawing: 79]


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 876]


    [The World Around Me: 216]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 876]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 876]


    [Persistent Casting: 650]


    [Tender Gardening: 108]

 Chapter 534: Alumni Visit I

    Chapter 534: Alumni Visit I


    My energy levels crashed almost the second we took off towards the flying island where the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft was located. I hit myself with [Zenith Everlasting], then briefly split off a thought process to work out why.


    The solution hit me like a pie to the face. It was because I was doing something about Auri¡¯s situation now, instead of restlessly waiting. All of my restless pacing around had done me no favors.


    To my mild surprise, Fenrir was now faster than I was. When had that happened? I used to be able to dominate him in speed contests with my greater stats, but I suppose the brutal realities of physical ability and his stats catching up was bound to eventually tip the balance.


    I strained myself, flying faster to catch up, trying not to shed a tear.


    They grew up so fast.


    How much different would Auri be when we reunited?


    Iona shouted something at Fenrir, who slowed down enough for me to grab onto some of the netting over his armored body, then he sped up again.


    I climbed hand-over-hand over the ship-inspired netting that was keeping various bags, chests, and other luggage secured - we never knew when we¡¯d need extra stuff, and there were situations and possibilities where [Vault] wasn¡¯t accessible - reaching Iona and her saddle there in no time.


    She lightened the mood with a smug look on her face, not needing to say anything about Fenrir¡¯s flight speed.


    ¡°I was thinking about what we should say to the people at the School once we land!¡± Iona shouted over the wind. I held up a finger, and a spell later, we could talk at normal volume.


    ¡°I think you should do the initial talking. Now, mentioning we¡¯re both alumni will open a number of doors, and...¡±


    We continued to discuss our plans as we traveled across the Sea of Stars, Nippon-Koku, and Vollomond. The travel was most uneventful - not many creatures could catch us, and wyverns stood at the top of the food chain. Our biggest risk was rustling the feathers of a dragon, and I still had the map of known lairs memorized. Our speed was a clear indication of ¡®just moving through¡¯, which could tweak someone¡¯s tail, but hopefully not enough to start anything.


    We did steer clear of a pair of rocs engaged in a mating dance. Nothing made people and animals stupid like sex did, and they regularly included elephants in their diet.


    On the elvenoid front, we were big, high level, armored, and moving fast. They¡¯d need to see us - a challenge at the height we were flying at - scramble a response team, and more than that, want to scramble a response team fast enough to catch Fenrir.


    Everyone here was content to let flying wyverns be. I was honestly concerned about Fenrir in the North - I suspected he was a medium-sized fish there, but without the necessary survival instincts. He¡¯d be a great big shining ball of experience and food for half the monsters there.


    ¡°Is this the place?¡± Iona asked, circling over a town. I felt a tiny bit bad for any panic or worry we might be making.


    I checked the position of the sun against the map, squinting down at the town. My eyes shifted and refocused, letting me see the signs outside in clear detail, [Manuscript Mastery] helping me read the ridiculously-tilted letters.


    ¡°Yes, this is it. I think- Ahha!¡±


    I shouted and pointed towards where I¡¯d spotted the School, speedily flying along.


    ¡°There!¡±


    I reflexively grabbed onto Iona as Fenrir turned on a dime, speeding on an intercept course to the flying island. The School was much harder to get onboard when it hadn¡¯t slowed down.


    Fenrir matched pace with the island, and we started to move in for a landing at the School¡¯s designated spot. I smiled as I looked over the rings of buildings dominating half the island¡¯s space, feeling a surge of nostalgia.


    This was where I¡¯d found my feet again after getting fucked by the fae. This was where I¡¯d met Iona, where we¡¯d started dating. I¡¯d gotten my third class here, learned biomancy and applied it in a practical fashion to myself, and been cursed by White Dove.


    My smile faded at the unpleasant reminder.


    I could almost ignore apples in Exterreri. The Silver Horde, where most apples were grown, was half a world away.


    The School, on the other handed, prided itself on its diversity. Not only were apples semi-regularly on the menu, Bridget, Auri¡¯s main teacher, was a dryad of an apple tree.


    There was a small landing party waiting for us at the skyport. A number of black-robed students - ooh, one purple robed student! - and a green-robed professor were waiting for us as we landed.


    I jumped down from Fenrir¡¯s back first as we¡¯d planned, putting on a cheery smile like Iona had recommended.


    ¡°Hi! I¡¯m Elaine - no really, that¡¯s my name - and I¡¯m a graduate of the School! We just came by to meet some old friends. Hope that¡¯s fine?¡±


    The students looked to the Immortal professor, whose jaw dropped. He pointed at me.


    ¡°Are you the same Elaine that graduated with Platinum in Medicine!?¡± He almost shouted. I shot him my best cheery grin as Iona dropped next to me like an anvil.


    ¡°Yeah! That¡¯s me! Hope it¡¯s fine for us to stay here for a short time?¡±


    ¡°Yes! Uh, well, I need to double check the rules for that wyvern. It¡¯s been a long time since we had someone that large here. Ah. Awkwardly, we¡¯re about to head north. That might interfere with your plans a bit?¡±


    We left a few minutes later to the fancy administration building, to see if we could find a hint of where Artemis was. Most cities didn¡¯t have a big list of who lived where, and the School and the island town attached to it were no different. The letters Artemis and Julius had sent to us had been suspiciously devoid of a return address, although everything we sent to ¡°Artemis and Julius, The School of Sorcery and Spellcraft¡± had gotten delivered. That and the ¡®big news¡¯ they wanted to share had me deeply suspicious that Artemis had somehow wrangled herself into a bigshot position, and finding her would be as easy as asking for directions.


    If that didn¡¯t work, I was going to mail her a letter, and stalk the [Courier] who took it.


    It was fun blending in again! Iona and I walked arm-in-arm down the wide paths, admiring the magic that filled every facet of the School. A student was on a levitating, plush armchair, furiously reading while Lightning crackled off it, propelling it dangerously down the path, students flinging themselves out of the way. Iona paused and dared the chair to hit her, and I had visions of tragedy. Luckily, he noticed at the last minute, pulling on the controls and crashing by the side of the road. He got up, and started to yell.


    ¡°You IDIOTS! Watch... where... I¡¯m very sorry.¡± His tone took a dramatic turn as he took in Iona¡¯s outfit, level, and stature. She lifted an eyebrow at him, pointing a finger.


    ¡°You are not the only one on this road. I fully expect you to be more considerate of others. Don¡¯t let this happen again.¡±


    The full force of her charismatic disapproval had the student muttering at his feet. Iona nodded, twirled the two of us as we turned down the road, and we carried on.


    One student cast an extremely basic fire-breathing array, throwing flames up into the air to impressed oooohs from his friends.


    That was impressive!? I supposed they were just students.


    Most students got out of our way with barely a glance, and one [Healer]-tagged student¡¯s jaw dropped when she properly read the graduation inscription on my robe. She elbowed her friend.


    ¡°Look!¡± She hissed.


    Why¡¯d I ever leave this place? The ego boost was amazing.


    A student hurried by, cradling three open books in her hands. I was hit with a sudden surge of nostalgia. I¡¯d seen something similar when I¡¯d first arrived at the School, wanting to be able to do it myself.


    Now I could.


    I peeked over her shoulder, flash-reading the title, table of contents, and first chapter. Acid element studies, economics, and a spicy bodice-ripper that I¡¯d hesitate to read in public.


    Was I sure that turning my third class into a Wizardry class was the best move? I loved reading, and I had excellent logic for a hobby class dedicated to things I loved.


    Things for [Luminary Mind] to ponder over.


    We made it to the fancy administration building, which was almost entirely devoid of people. Made sense, the School wasn¡¯t in a slow-down phase so the number of people who¡¯d be in here would be at a minimum. I let Iona take the lead, confident in her silver tongue being able to get us through anything.


    Plus, I could take notes and ask her about it later. I¡¯d never be as good at it as she was, but there was no reason for me to utterly abdicate learning social rules.


    ¡°Hi! I¡¯m sorry if this isn¡¯t the right place, but we¡¯re looking for Artemis, a friend of ours. She¡¯s been a bit cagey about what she does and where she lives, and I¡¯m taking a wild shot in the dark here, but do you know anything about her?¡±


    Iona got a slow, skeptical look. In slow motion, almost like she was cursed or something, the [Clerk] asked Iona a question.


    ¡°Are you Yamana Utzuki or Jarl Kalmar?¡± She asked, each word excruciatingly painful.


    I furrowed my eyebrows as Iona answered in the negative. Jarl I recognized as Lithos pseudo-nobility - the power structure was flat enough that it was hard to justify, given the lowest peasant would be able to semi-regularly talk with the local Jarl, tempered by their, well, temper and disposition towards violence - but where had I heard Yamana before... Yamana, Yamana... I searched through [Astral Archives], eventually finding the name in the geopolitical section as opposed to the people section.


    What did Artemis have to do with the ruling clan of Nippon-Koku!?


    Wait, hang on. That wasn¡¯t the important part.


    How did the first person we asked for help not only know who Artemis was, but had a guest list immediately available?!


    ¡°Iona and Elaine? Ah, yes, you are on the list. High priority too. Wow. That¡¯s quite something.¡±


    I had no idea if the [Clerk] was fucking with us or not, her tone was so slow and emotionless.


    ¡°Here¡¯s a token. It¡¯ll get you onto the water basin island. Have a nice day.¡±


    Iona and I traded identical shocked looks.


    Artemis was on one of the orbiting subislands!? The same ones that the White Witch and Long Zhi had!?


    I was starting to suspect that the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft was the School Artemis had founded.


    Nothing else made sense to me.

 Chapter 536: Alumni Visit III

    Chapter 536: Alumni Visit III


    The first thing to do was to test [Event Horizon].


    I summoned the skill in front of me, a small black disk with glowing edges appearing in front of me. With a bit of practice and testing, I found I could change the size of the disk, making it larger or smaller, and I could summon as many as I could think about. I found I could either have the disks ¡®hold forever¡¯, put a timer on how long they lasted, or dismiss them when I wanted to.


    I could move them around, but it wasn¡¯t nearly as efficient as dismissing it and recreating it in a new spot.


    We all suspected that summoning the disks took a little bit of mana as it actively destroyed a bit of air, but my regeneration was so high I couldn¡¯t tell if that was the case or not.


    I couldn¡¯t control the shape, just the size. It was always a flat disk of pure darkness, with the edges glowing. No matter what angle I looked at it, the edges were glowing while the rest was dark, which was weird but kinda cool.


    Not nearly as pretty though, which was a vicious stab into the vanity. Most of the time, when the companion bond vanity was messing with my head, it came along with perfectly reasonable explanations. This time, it just grated like a loose tooth.


    I could summon the disks inside soil and rocks, which put it firmly in the Darkness side of Celestial, as well as giving a really good reason why it¡¯d been so hard for me to get the skill myself.


    When Iona cautiously swiped a vitality-reinforced chair through one of the disks, they all vanished with a pop while my mana took an absolutely murderous hit.


    ¡°Interesting.¡± Artemis said. ¡°While it¡¯s something of a downside, it suggests that if you overpower someone enough, you could actively destroy their weapons or even their hand.¡±


    [Event Horizon] being a set of disks was obnoxious from a full-sphere protection standpoint. I needed to make four spheres all around me, then one on the top. After that, I needed one on each corner, and at that stage I was annoyed enough to make them larger and overlapping, so I wouldn¡¯t be endlessly plugging holes. It was going to be a little worse at stopping gas-based attacks, but my healing shrugged those off with a laugh.


    When it came to protecting other people, men and women of the Sixth Legion, from various attacks and projectiles? [Event Horizon] promised to be king.


    There was a fun ¡®things come full circle¡¯ aspect to the skill. It had started off, eons and a lifetime ago, as [Privacy], a dark veil that let me consult with patients without other people eavesdropping. With the newest evolution, it once again could act as a strong privacy barrier. Light, sound, air, nothing got through - although it was trivial for a person to walk through.


    An interesting twist to the skill was it didn¡¯t try to ¡®eat¡¯ people at all. A fist passed through harmlessly, without draining any mana, but a fist holding a skill-reinforced knife did drain mana until the skill broke. Trying to pass a knife through the skill without reinforcing it with a skill simply dissolved the knife, and let the hand pass through harmlessly.


    All in all, some vague dissatisfaction I had with the skill was alleviated by the knowledge that it had plenty of room to grow and evolve as time went by.


    The island was heading for the North Continent, but at its own sweet pace. It was going to take about a week to cross the ocean, and more than once I considered just flying as high as I could, then shooting around the planet to the Phoenix Peaks and going to find Auri now.


    Iona and everyone else restrained me and counseled caution and research. I was persuaded to class up my second and third class, once I got a few things settled. In particular, a visit to the restricted section of the library could give my third class one final bit of oomph when it came to upgrading it. We spent our time going on nostalgia tours, seeing the places we¡¯d been.


    ¡°This is so weird.¡± I said as we strolled down the roads, a great tiger in the night sky indicating it was ¡®day¡¯ according to the School¡¯s own schedule. ¡°Like, where is everyone? The roads are so empty.¡±


    Yeah, there were two or three students running around, but that was practically abandoned. Iona laughed and patted my arm.


    ¡°I think you¡¯re forgetting something.¡± She teased me with that voice that could drive me so crazy. I bit on the obvious bait.


    ¡°What am I forgetting?¡± I asked, ready to get roasted.


    Iona delivered.


    ¡°You were always in class!¡± She gleefully teased. ¡°The only times you were on these roads, you were rushing back and forth between classes, the cafeteria, our dorm, or the library! The busiest times of day! Of course it looks weird to you, you never stopped to stroll down them casually!¡±


    I made a disgusted noise, and briefly considered retaliating by mentioning I¡¯d made the most out of my time here. There was the potential that it¡¯d go over quite badly though, and the insult might be too low of a blow. I was all for teasing, but not when it actually hurt someone¡¯s feelings.


    ¡°Speaking of the cafeteria, want to grab some food then go to the lake where we started dating?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yeah!¡±


    We picked up an absolute mess at the cafeteria. Blueberry waffles drenched with maple syrup, piles of cream on top of them with chocolate sprinkles so thick it turned it brown. We openly smuggled them out, knowing the disapproving glares had no power here, and used our dexterity to easily balance them while we headed over to the lake. We passed through the School¡¯s center park as we did so, the eight central towers of learning looking almost exactly the same as when we¡¯d last been here. Enthusiastic students had painted a mural on the Earth tower, and the Wood tower had a whole new set of blooming flowers, but the others looked mostly the same.


    I stiffened as we got near, tuning down my hearing.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we find a slightly different spot to eat these?¡± I suggested.


    ¡°Someone¡¯s already busy in our spot?¡± Iona asked with a laugh.


    ¡°Ahhh, young love!¡±


    We sat by the lake, looking at the crescent moons reflected in the still water, stars scattered across the sky. My head was on Iona¡¯s shoulder, and her arm was wrapped around my waist as we ate our delicious waffles.


    ¡°Let¡¯s make a tradition of this.¡± I quietly suggested. ¡°Every decade or so, let¡¯s make sure we come here.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s do that. It sounds nice.¡± Iona agreed.


    Iona had a number of professors she wanted to swing by and say hi to, and so did I. I first went looking for Marcelle, my old vampire advisor. I checked her schedule, and nostalgically wandered around campus until she had office hours. She had the same office, so she was easy enough to find. I knocked on the door, sensing two people in her room but not wanting to pry too deeply.


    College campuses were a bad place to have super senses. Kinda made me want to proctor an exam for shits and giggles, see how many people I could catch cheating. At the same time, I had a bit of a packed schedule. Lots to do. The idea of giving a lecture briefly flitted across my mind, but the time it would take to organize and arrange... I had a lot to do. Maybe another day.


    ¡°I wonder who that could be...¡± She said quietly. ¡°Excuse me. Come in!¡± The last part was much louder, and I entered with grace. Marcelle was sitting with another vampire, a mostly full bottle of bloodwine on the table, and two half-full glasses in front of them. It took me a minute to recognize the other vampire. Only ¡®school¡¯ and ¡®vampire¡¯ was able to get me the connection. It was the jerk who¡¯d helped translate my entrance exams - Vitus.


    ¡°Elaine, my darling, my favorite student! Come on, sit down, take a seat! Vitus and I were just talking about the old country together, and last I remember you were heading that way! How have you been? Were you ever able to find Aulus?¡±


    A few more things clicked, a note in my [Astral Archives] leading to another segment of memories, where I¡¯d been with Arachne. Granted, I¡¯d been tied up, hanging from the ceiling, so a little distracted.


    Vitus had been the one who sold me out! He¡¯d sent a letter to the Rangers tattling on me! However, I was here, in Marcelle¡¯s office, and he was a guest. The laws of hospitality ruled, and I wasn¡¯t going to start any nonsense.


    ¡°Marcelle! Yes! That letter of introduction was perfect. It really helped me find my feet.¡± I warmly greeted her, and since hospitality ruled, I briefly, but coldly, acknowledged her company. ¡°Vitus. Thank you again for translating when I first came here.¡± If I didn¡¯t say another word, that¡¯d be fine.


    I sat down, Marcelle growing a vine that grabbed another glass and put it down in front of me. She rummaged around in her desk, grabbing a more normal wine - blood wine just didn¡¯t do it for me for a large number of reasons - and poured me a generous helping.


    Vitus narrowed his eyes at me, and opened his mouth.


    ¡°Frankly, I¡¯m surprised to see you back here, alive, and not crucified along the main road. Impersonating a Sentinel is a major crime, you must¡¯ve toned it down.¡±


    Thank dexterity - without my dexterity being so much greater than my strength, I would¡¯ve lost control and shattered the wine glass in my hand. Instead, I gently put it down, ignoring Vitus.DiiSco?ver new stories on arcelle. I apologize, I need to visit my wardrobe for a minute.¡± I said, vanishing into [Vault of Ages] a moment later.


    Vitus was going to be rude? Vitus was going to be a dick?


    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Fine. I didn¡¯t start this, but I could finish it. Sentinels had broad powers and rights, which practically speaking only extended towards Exterreri citizens - of which Marcelle and Vitus were both one.


    The room faded away into darkness, motes of starlight appearing all around us. The cosmos spun, and we went on a journey through space, passing by glorious nebulae, burning stars, gas giants with beautiful rings, and multi-colored planets in orbit. Finally we settled down on a meteor blazing through space, a brightly burning tail trailing off to the side, away from the sun. My skill took.


    The meteor reversed direction, and started to ¡®suck in¡¯ its tail, growing larger and larger as it spun round and round the solar system. Another large chunk came round and slammed into it, easily doubling its size. I judged with my skill level and experience that Julius was roughly the age I was aiming for, and I dropped the skill, reality fading in once again.


    [*ding!* [The Stars Never Fade] leveled up! 55 -> 56]


    Julius looked fantastic. I felt like I¡¯d nailed it, and wow, I realized I¡¯d never seen Julius this young. He¡¯d been much older when I first met him.


    Goddess. How time flew.


    White Dove flew in through the window.


    There weren¡¯t any windows in the room.


    She alit upon Artemis¡¯s head, giving me the stink-eye as I glared at Artemis, hoping she wouldn¡¯t try to do anything unutterably stupid in defense of her husband. We¡¯d talked about it before, but there was no telling with her. Her orbs didn¡¯t react, but there was no telling with the twitchy mage.


    White Dove spoke, rattling the very island itself. Large waves from the lake crashed against the walls of the villa, and the furniture rattled.


    I suppose this was one place in the world that never got earthquakes.


    ¡°Tiberius Julius Lepidus. [Ranger-Commander]. [Cutting Breeze of the Rangers]. You have chosen to deny me forevermore. For this, I curse you. Oh mighty warrior. May every weapon you pick up carry the weight of all those you have slain.¡±


    I was expecting the full 3-in-1 curse that White Dove usually did, but she vanished after the simple pronouncement, leaving behind only a single white feather, drifting down onto the table. Julius looked a little worried.


    ¡°Why do I have the feeling that I¡¯m going to have problems with dinner knives?¡±


    I knew perception could shape a lot of things, from skills to curses. I decided to fuck with Julius just a little.


    ¡°Why are you worried about the dinner knives? I¡¯m pretty sure you taught me how to use forks and spoons as weapons as well!¡± He¡¯d taught me the philosophy of ¡®everything can be a weapon¡¯ after all, it wasn¡¯t like I was truly messing with him. Artemis would¡¯ve reminded him about the idea ten minutes into their conversation about it, if he hadn¡¯t come up with it in two.


    ¡°You little shit.¡± The words were mean, but the tone?


    Pure affection.


    Iona and I were visiting the library, working on checking off everything we wanted to do. Vitus¡¯s office was officially checked off my todo list - for this visit. Iona had a vicious streak in her - it was far better to fuck with a single important thing than to toss over his entire office. It might take some time for him to notice, meaning he wouldn¡¯t be on guard for the next few visits.


    Plus, it tended to take shrimp a few weeks to properly ripen, and they were inside the curtain rods.


    I loved my wife.


    Medium-low on our list was investigating the Pekari, to better prepare ourselves for after this trip. Iona wanted to see if she could significantly cripple, or even outright destroy their operation.


    I set my goals a little lower. There had been millions upon millions of Classers ever since the Pekari started their activity, untold centuries ago. In all that time, none of them had wanted to wipe out the Pekari? Nobody had Iona¡¯s level and drive, and wanted to fight them to the bitter end?


    But, just as Iona vigorously supported me in everything I wanted to do, I wanted to support her.


    A familiar blue-robed demon was at the front.


    ¡°Martin! How are you?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Elaine.¡± He didn¡¯t miss a beat. I was guessing being a [Librarian] included supercharged versions of my memory skills, among other things. ¡°Welcome back. Are you here to return the books you checked out?¡±


    I froze, my mind racing. Wait. What books? Had I checked something out and committed the cardinal sin of not returning it? Oh gods, how high were the fees? Wait a minute...


    Martin grinned.


    ¡°Just messing with you! Here for anything special, or just looking around?¡±


    I leaned in with Iona and dropped my voice to a conspiratorial whisper.


    ¡°Ah, well, you see, while I was here, there was a certain book in the section that doesn¡¯t exist that I saw, but never ended up reading. I was wondering if I could be allowed to take a look at it?¡±


    Martin went from affable and friendly to on-guard in a heartbeat. He glanced at Iona and back to me.


    ¡°It¡¯s going to strongly depend on which book and why.¡± He said. ¡°Follow me to my office.¡±


    We found ourselves in his sealed stronghold a while later, Martin sitting behind his desk with his hands folded on his desk.


    ¡°Now. Make your case.¡± He said. ¡°You are not here as one of the [Students] working in the library, but as an outsider requesting access to otherwise forbidden knowledge.¡±


    I straightened up, silently communicating with Iona. I was taking point on this.


    ¡°I¡¯m a [Loremaster] now, although I¡¯m unsure for how much longer.¡± I started. ¡°I¡¯ve got access to vast quantities of information, knowledge, and dangers already. I¡¯ve already been trusted to read the contents of the library in the past. We¡¯re looking to read The Secret of the Pekari, to better fight them.¡±


    Martin looked like he wanted to laugh when he heard the title. Instead, he shook his head.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to flat-out deny you, but please trust me when I say this. Reading that book will harm your ability to combat the Pekari. If you wish to learn all about them, there¡¯s a section dedicated to the Pekari in the library, which I will be happy to guide you to. However, if you insist, I will let you read it.¡±


    Iona and I traded another look. Knowledge was power.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t I go read that book, and you start digging through the standard knowledge section. We¡¯ll meet up in a bit and trade notes?¡± I suggested.


    Martin sighed.


    ¡°Your loss. Come on.¡±


    He nabbed a student and had her direct Iona to the standard section, while he took me to the forbidden section. I shamelessly used all my skills in combination to speed-read as many books as I could, absorbing cursed knowledge from tomes I¡¯d found too boring back when I¡¯d been a student here. In no time at all I had the book in my hands.


    The Secret of the Pekari.


    I wasn¡¯t big on author names, but this one caught my eye.


    By Susan Weaver.

 Chapter 535: Alumni Visit II

    Chapter 535: Alumni Visit II


    As I looked at the little token that would grant us permission to visit Artemis¡¯s sub-island - I couldn¡¯t believe Artemis had an entire island - I realized a little problem.


    ¡°Wait. How do we get to the islands?¡± I asked the [Clerk]. I mean, I supposed I could probably fly over there, but with the School¡¯s defenses and a token implying the island had additional protections, it was possible there was a special method.


    I hadn¡¯t heard any concrete information about the islands when I¡¯d been a student here, just crazy rumors. Like if someone flew upside-down on the night of no moons in the sky, while singing a particular rowdy song and drinking, they¡¯d be able to get in.


    Watching someone try it and epically fail had been the highlight of that month.


    ¡°There¡¯s a ferry when the weather is good.¡± The [Clerk] said.


    ¡°Thank you for your time, we appreciate it.¡± Iona said.


    Getting to Artemis¡¯s little island was an adventure in and of itself, but we finally made it. I eyed the villa built on the edge of the lake that dominated the place, seeing some people swimming in the water.


    ¡°Do you think they copied our villa?¡± I asked Iona. ¡°They did spend quite a few years there, maybe they liked the layout.¡±


    She squinted at the place as we approached.


    ¡°Maybe? On one hand, we had a really good [Architect] build the place, and I¡¯m not sure I¡¯d trust the students here on their first real project, best school in the world or not. On the other, the people teaching the classes are unparalleled, and the two of you could¡¯ve drawn similar inspiration from Remus. I think we¡¯d need to go inside to see, but the swimming dock is new at least.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go find Artemis!¡± I tore through the air towards the compound, only to hear a high-pitched whine a moment later.


    ¡°Heeeeeeeeealy buuuuug!¡± Artemis tore out of her home, surfing on some rocks up into the air. ¡°You finally made it!¡±


    My senses and significantly higher speed and vitality made it trivial to get a good look at Artemis as she was flying towards me.


    She was looking great! A few more laugh lines around her eyes and mouth suggested that time was taking a slow toll on her, but the time was filled with joy. She had a relaxed appearance, a far cry from the utterly paranoid Artemis I¡¯d grown up with, the one who was looking for danger behind every bush - and, to be fair, usually finding it. A pair of orbs hovered over each shoulder, one solid Earth and the other made of swirling Darkness. My old mentor hadn¡¯t bothered to wear a school robe, instead having a tunic with an apron over it, handprints made out of flour all over it. She hadn¡¯t gained too many levels, a strong indicator that her life had been peaceful, and she wasn¡¯t constantly throwing around [Lightning Bolts] to stay alive.


    I slowed down and grabbed my hat as Artemis tackled me, letting her carry us to the ground. Iona followed behind us.


    Artemis put me down, and dusted off my shoulders and arms, looking delighted like she¡¯d just won the biggest pot at cards. A few black-robed students peeked out curiously.


    ¡°Look at you! You don¡¯t look like you¡¯ve aged a day since I last saw you!¡±


    An awkward look froze on my face, and Artemis shot me a cheeky wink. She twisted her head around at the gawkers.


    ¡°Oi! This is my friend, Elaine, and there¡¯s nothing interesting going on here!¡±


    I mean. Saying there was nothing interesting was a guarantee that they¡¯d all be eavesdropping like mad... but maybe Artemis was aware of that.


    ¡°Artemis! I¡¯m so glad to see you again. How¡¯s life at the School treating you?¡± Iona asked, confidently holding out a hand for Artemis. They shook, and Artemis looked thrilled.


    ¡°Fantastically! I-¡±


    ¡°Hey love! Is that Elaine!?¡± Julius emerged from the house, dusting flour off his hands. He traded a curt respectful nod with Iona.


    Artemis whirled with me.


    ¡°Yes! Our little healy-bug¡¯s back!¡±


    Julius cracked a grin.


    ¡°Excellent! Cookies are in the oven. I swear keeping this lot fed and happy is harder than any Ranger tour. Everything alright with Auri?¡±


    My former Ranger leader still had his sharp eyes. ?iscover new chapters on


    ¡°Weeeeell, that¡¯s part of why we¡¯re here. She-¡±


    Julius flashed me the ancient Ranger hand-signal for quiet, and I shut up. Artemis clapped her hands together, a massive skill-based thunderclap roiling throughout the miniature island. Students spilled out of the villa, assembling poorly in the field.


    ¡°Alright all of you! I¡¯ve got some friends over, and we¡¯d like some private time to catch up together. Today¡¯s lesson! When the teacher has old friends swing by, sometimes she wants to chat with them! Get out of here, see you all tomorrow.¡±


    There were no complaints or grumbles, although the looks on their faces suggested they wanted to. A few envious looks were shot our way, and a few eyes widened as they caught the notation on my robe.


    ¡°Thank you for your teachings, instructor.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for today.¡±


    ¡°Appreciate it.¡±


    Most of the students had some variation of a courtesy they extended Artemis as they filed past us, towards the edge of the island where there was a ferry waiting for them.


    I froze as they passed me.


    Two of them had eaten apples recently, and the full force of their healer-repelling field hit me. Trying to run, dodge, flee, or otherwise act would simply draw dramatic amounts of attention to me, attention I could mostly avoid just by standing very still.


    Artemis narrowed her eyes and shouted, her voice magically amplified.


    ¡°Roofus! I can fucking count, you ingrate! Don¡¯t make me fucking drag you out!¡±


    One last black-robed student came sprinting out of Artemis¡¯s home, trying to shove his way into the crowd like it would disguise him from Artemis¡¯s wrath.


    ¡°What¡¯s the story with them?¡± Iona asked. Artemis laughed, like a grandmother amused by the antics of her small grandchildren.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s quite the tale, let me tell you! Here, come on in, we¡¯ve got milk, cookies, and good beer. Come on in!¡± Artemis said.


    ¡°Not as good as Auri¡¯s cookies, but we¡¯re working on it!¡±


    Three hours later, Iona and I were stuffed to bursting with delicious cookies. Sugar, peanut butter, chocolate chip, lemon, snickerdoodles - I swear, Artemis had gone from ¡®hardened killer¡¯ to ¡®industrial-scale cookie maker¡¯.


    ¡°These orbs are great.¡± Artemis pointed to them. ¡°It¡¯s a passive-active skill with a modest mana drain, but any attacks coming my way are automatically intercepted.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s done wonders for her mental state.¡± Julius said. ¡°She¡¯s not throwing Lightning bolts every time someone drops a plate.¡±


    Artemis socked Julius in the arm.


    ¡°That was once!¡± She protested.


    ¡°Fine. Once on a plate, three times on cups, four soup bowls...¡±


    Artemis shot him a look that promised he¡¯d be sleeping in another room if he continued the list, and he shut up.


    ¡°Go on! Try something!¡± Artemis said. Iona flicked a plate at her. A bolt of Darkness shot out from the Dark orb at the same time a shield of Earth materialized in front of the plate. The bolt annihilated the plate before it could even reach the earth, which flew around Artemis three times before merging back with the Earth sphere.


    ¡°Tada!¡± Artemis said. ¡°Elaine, speaking of shields, have you managed to upgrade your skill yet?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± I frowned. It hadn¡¯t been for a lack of trying, but all these years later and I still hadn¡¯t succeeded. I didn¡¯t know if I was doing something wrong, if it wasn¡¯t a ¡®natural¡¯ evolution it wanted to go through, or if it just plain wasn¡¯t in [The Arbiter of Life and Death¡¯s] skillset.


    ¡°Alright, alright, cool! I want to show you another neat trick! Come on, follow me!¡± Artemis bounded out of her chair, Julius sighing at the table.


    ¡°I got this.¡± Iona said.


    ¡°No, no, you¡¯re a guest, don¡¯t bother.¡± Julius tried to wave Iona off. She arched a single eyebrow at him, and all the plates, dishes, and cups lifted themselves up, flying over to the kitchen. Julius stared after them and shrugged.


    ¡°Alright, that was easy enough, thank you Iona. Let¡¯s go see what Artemis has in store.¡±


    We found Artemis on a scarred and scorched field. I was intimately familiar with Lightning strikes, and the field screamed Artemis. She drew herself up to her full height as we entered.


    ¡°I, Artemis, Founder of the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft, will now teach Elaine how to properly use a Darkness shield. Block.¡±


    Artemis giving me enough warning before she attacked almost stunned me enough that I didn¡¯t throw up my shield. I recovered in time, throwing up [Shroud of the Stellar Sea] in a protective bubble around us all.


    A narrow, focused bolt of Lightning crashed against my shields, somehow entirely silent.


    The System¡¯s blue box appeared in front of me.


    [*ding!* Would you like to upgrade [Shroud of the Stellar Sea] to [Event Horizon]? Y/N]


    Event Horizon: The black hole. The absolute finality of nature, the great gravitational well of the vast cosmos. Nothing that passes the event horizon can ever come back, utterly annihilated for all practical purposes. -32,752 mana regeneration.


    I blinked at the notification, then refocused on Artemis, who looked as smug as a [Mage] who¡¯d just used [Chain Lightning] on a goblin horde.


    [Luminary Mind] let me think about the choice while the rest of me thanked Artemis and explained the skill, getting some light feedback.


    I wasn¡¯t completely sure I wanted to take the skill, just that I wanted it offered so I could compare. There were pros and cons to the two different styles of shields, and the exact analysis would depend on the details.


    The details that were staggeringly light on the skill description.


    The words and imagery used were powerful. Short, sweet, to the point. ¡®Utter annihilation¡¯ was direct and to the point. The mana regeneration rate was lower, which was both a pro and a con. It implied it was weaker than [Shroud], but at the same time, destruction-type shields didn¡¯t need to have quite the same amount of power as blocking-type shields. At the same time, it would free up a modest amount of mana regeneration for myself.


    The downside to destruction-style shields was the complete weakness against vitality-reinforced attacks. Then again, most of those happened at close range, and a physical Classer whaling on my shield was a great way to rapidly drain my mana and break the shield. It was the classic counter to instant shields like [Shroud].


    There was utility to consider. [Shroud] could, at a continuous cost depending on what it was holding, be any tool I needed, any shape I wanted. I¡¯d done things like make a food funnel for a hatchling Auri, or wrapped myself up like it was clothes.


    I suppose [Event Horizon] also worked for clothes. Speaking of...


    [Shroud] was just so pretty as a skill!


    The decision might not be reversible though. If I went to [Event Horizon] and didn¡¯t like it, I might not be able to get [Shroud] back.


    Plus, starry fields...


    ¡°How¡¯d you do that?¡± I asked. ¡°I¡¯ve been trying for literal years, and you made it happen in a single go?¡±


    Artemis looked way too smug, and I doubted I¡¯d hear the end of it. She¡¯d earned it though.


    ¡°Well! The biggest part is, frankly, the island we¡¯re on. It¡¯s an Oddity. I don¡¯t know if you heard the rumors or if students know for a fact, but the property of this Oddity is skill development and acquisition. It''s incredibly easy to pick things up. I¡¯ve got a [Teaching] skill which helps, and I¡¯ve got a ton of weight to throw around System-wise. I¡¯ve figured out how to put it all together and get people skills like that.¡± Artemis snapped her fingers to demonstrate.


    ¡°Speaking of weight - I was wondering about the potency effect. Isn¡¯t helping people all the time diluting the quality of classes you¡¯re upgrading, and making skills harder to teach?¡±


    Artemis scoffed loudly.


    ¡°Bullshit. Yeah, maybe I could get someone a better class if I taught one person every decade, but bully to that! I¡¯d rather spread a thousand promising seeds than go all-in on one student. It lets me spread the love, and if the System isn¡¯t rewarding as hard, so what? Just being my student shouldn¡¯t be a treat, a reward with no effort put into it. They want good classes? They can earn it themselves.¡±


    I explained the details of my skill to them, along with what I thought.


    Everyone gave me their opinions, most of which was a rehash of things I¡¯d already thought of. Julius had the most interesting take.


    ¡°You know, it¡¯s possible that you weren¡¯t able to get the skill to evolve like that because it¡¯s normally too far outside of what a [Healer] class, and your class, is supposed to do. The School lets you stretch further, but I¡¯d expect a shield skill like that to be the domain of a more dedicated barrier classer. I¡¯d consider what holes you currently have in your kit, and if it fills them or not.¡±


    Julius had a good point.


    I had a lot of tools in my arsenal. I literally carried around multiple warehouses worth of goods and equipment. Kinda... the need for extensive passageways between the different rooms in [Vault]significantly cut down how much I could store and carry around. I didn¡¯t need to shape [Shroud of the Stellar Sea] into a food funnel for hungry phoenix hatchlings, I had a room filled to the brim with kitchen supplies already.


    Thinking about it - I should absolutely start building storage units inside of [Vault].


    I had tons of tools. It was a little worse against vitality-based attacks, better against everything else. It wasn¡¯t going to stop a tidal wave, but then again, [Shroud] would instantly shatter against one as well.


    In the end, I took [Event Horizon].

 Chapter 537: Interlude - Susan Weaver - The Secret of the Pekari

    Chapter 537: Interlude - Susan Weaver - The Secret of the Pekari


    A long, long time ago, in the Fourth Remus Empire:


    ¡°You¡¯ll never believe what I bought today!¡± Susan grinned as she entered the tent where her friends and fellow [Seamstresses] and [Camp Followers] lived and worked. Her eyes rapidly adjusted from the bright sun outside to the more reasonable darkness in the tent.


    ¡°It¡¯s a loom.¡± Olive said.


    ¡°Is it the loom you¡¯ve been saving up for?¡± Beth asked.


    ¡°You haven¡¯t talked about anything else for months. Please tell me it¡¯s not a loom.¡± Cora said.


    Susan puffed out her cheeks and finished dragging the coffee-table sized loom into the room. The cramped tent instantly became tiny, and her friends groaned and complained good-naturedly, Beth throwing a needle in Susan¡¯s direction.


    ¡°Hey!¡± The [Spinner of Yarns] protested as the needle pinged off the loom. ¡°This is how we¡¯re getting out of here! Don¡¯t damage it!¡±


    Susan was saying the loom was their way out, but in truth, she knew her most potent tool was something else.


    Her mind.


    She yearned for knowledge, burned for it. There was a great fire in her chest that demanded to know everything. Susan knew she was at the bottom. She¡¯d been born in a camp, and if she didn¡¯t work her ass off, she¡¯d die in one. If she were lucky, she¡¯d marry one of the soldiers first, maybe have a few children and repeat the cycle.


    No. She wanted more. She would be more. She knew she was ignorant, but worked every hour of every day to fix it, listening, learning. A weed trying to grow in a desert.


    She sat down, grabbed the worst set of yarn they had. An ugly grey they¡¯d picked up for cheap when a batch of dyes got mixed together, utterly ruining the yarn. It was thick, coarse, and nobody wanted their clothes stitched back together with it, making it the perfect set to practice on. Susan carefully set everything up, knowing it was likely going to be ruined as she learned.


    ¡°You know, I¡¯ve been wondering, and I don¡¯t want to dampen your spirits. If you¡¯re spending all your time on the loom, aren¡¯t you not fixing clothes anymore, just replacing one set of work with another? How¡¯s that supposed to work?¡± Olive asked.


    ¡°[Stitch and Bitch].¡± Susan promptly answered, having worked through the problem before.


    ¡°How? You¡¯ve only got one set of hands.¡± Beth asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s already a multi-tasking skill, shouldn¡¯t be too hard to make it multi-task more.¡± Susan said.


    ¡°Enough about Susan! If anyone¡¯s getting out of here, she is.¡± Cora said. ¡°Unlike Maeve. She¡¯s pregnant again.¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Olive gasped. ¡°Seriously!? Is it at least one of the same fathers?¡±


    Beth laughed.


    ¡°I¡¯ll bet every single arc I have that it isn¡¯t. If she charged for what she did, she¡¯d own the whole camp.¡±


    Olive shot Susan a look. The woman was usually quick to jump in, but was spending her full focus on the loom, slowly weaving the yarn into the first bolt of ridiculously ugly cloth.


    ¡°I bet Susan has something even juicer.¡± Oliver said. ¡°Go on, what¡¯s the most infamous [Gossip] have for us today?¡±


    ¡°Well!¡± Susan rose to the challenge. ¡°Rumor has it that a vampire was spotted last night.¡±


    [*ding!* The skill [Stitch and Bitch] leveled up! 129 -> 130]


    [*ding!* The class [Spinner of Yarns] leveled up! 136 -> 137]


    Gasps went around the small tent, Cora yelping as she drove her needle a little too deep, drawing blood from her thumb. She instantly started to suck on it, waving her other hand and using a skill to prevent and remove stains.


    ¡°Did he suck someone¡¯s blood?¡± Beth asked.


    ¡°Do we like vampires?¡± Olive asked.


    ¡°Vampires are on our side... right?¡± Cora asked.


    ¡°In theory.¡± Susan hedged. ¡°But I¡¯m not so sure...¡±


    The four of them chatted and worked, steadily working through a pile of torn clothing. Beth even tackled a pair of boots for free, hoping to break her skills through into letting her stitch up sandals and boots. Being able to improve them would be a major boon, and carve out a niche among the rest of the camp followers, a way to make enough money that she could maybe make the harrowing trip out to one of the towns or cities, and have enough to rent out a meager shop.


    Susan¡¯s ear twitched as she heard far-off shouts and screams thanks to [The Walls have Threads]. It only worked on walls she was touching made out of threads, which was basically every tent ever made, perfect in the camp follower¡¯s living arrangements.


    She stood up.


    ¡°Pack it up girls, something¡¯s happening.¡±


    Her friends knew better than to argue. They had started off with a dozen of them, and those who hadn¡¯t listened to Susan when she got like that weren¡¯t around for a reason.


    Susan left her loom behind. If they needed to run, the last thing she wanted was to be weighed down by it.


    The four women exited the tent, Susan orienting away from the screams, bundling up her skirts, and marching off at a brisk pace. Her friends followed.


    The violence and screaming escalated, and soon they found soldiers running towards the commotion. The fighting caught up with them.


    Golems made out of gleaming green metal were mercilessly moving through the camp, weapons mirroring what the Legions used like a cruel mockery. A [Legionnaire] thrust his spear through one golem¡¯s chest, but the golem was metal, not flesh and bone. The counter-strike went through his head, and he dropped.


    Metal slugs buzzed through the air like angry hornets, and Susan kept her head on a swivel, trying to see and [Understand] everything. Small spider-like golems scuttled around like insects, positioning themselves before spitting out a dozen slugs, then scuttling along.


    Where is safety? How do we get out? Susan asked herself.


    Cora screamed and grabbed her hand - no, the stump of her wrist where her hand used to be - and fell to the muddy ground hard, splattering her dress as blood started to geyster.


    ¡°Go!¡± Susan shouted to her other friends, coming to a slow stop then running back to Cora, skirts hiked around her waist.


    Why don¡¯t I have a movement skill!? Susan cursed herself in the moment, kneeling down next to Cora.


    ¡°Thread!¡± She demanded, using a skill to pull one out of Cora¡¯s ruined dress. Susan slapped her hand away and tied the string aggressively around Cora¡¯s forearm. ¡°Keep it strong!¡± She said, then froze.


    Cora continued to sob as a dozen golems loomed above them. The butt of a spear came crashing down onto her back, then the golems grabbed her by the ankles and started to drag her away.


    ¡°No! NOOOOOOOOO!¡± Cora screamed and yelled, trying to grab onto things, constantly forgetting she only had one hand now. ¡°NO!¡±


    Tent, barrel, crate, body - it didn¡¯t matter what she grabbed onto, the golems continued to drag her away. Susan remained frozen, hating that she was once again not doing anything for her friend, thankful that she was untouched.


    Why? She asked herself. Why Cora? Why not me? What¡¯s the difference between us? What principles are they using?


    [*ding!* [Cool-headed] leveled up! 43 -> 44]


    It was like a shuttle moving over a loom, like a needle dancing over clothes. There was always a pattern. Always a reason, even if she couldn¡¯t see it. Susan remained frozen as the golems continued to march back and forth, killing some people and dragging others away.


    What is different about me? Susan wondered. Why am I ignored?


    The first thought that popped into her head was she was a [Seamstress]. It was dumb, it was unlikely, and Cora had just been dragged off. It wasn¡¯t that.


    Susan carefully looked and listened, entertaining ideas and dismissing them.


    Hair color? Weight? Weight to height ratio? Could I be pregnant? Skills? Class level? Even class level versus odd? Class quality? Nail length?


    Finally, she hit one she thought might be right.


    She... was staying still? Did the golems work off movement? They had to sense things somehow, right? Or did they have their own skill to see? But maybe the skill was movement-based?


    Her heart started to race as she saw a series of evenly spaced holes in the wall, her mind conjuring up everything she¡¯d ever heard about spike traps. She couldn¡¯t pause and look at it, not with the lethal hail raining around her. She¡¯d catch a dozen shots by pausing.


    A stone sank under her foot. Susan kept her eyes open, waiting for the inevitable end.


    It didn¡¯t happen.


    Steely, resolute, unflinching, Susan walked through the hall, the spiders scattering as she reached a largeish room.


    There seemed to be endless vats filled with green fluids, each one with a floating body inside. A few [Identifies] giving back levels proved the people were still alive. Cruel implements hung from the ceiling, and torture racks lined the walls. Bits of meat hung off the hooks, but they looked too fresh to Susan¡¯s eye. She¡¯d seen her fair share of rotting meat. Like they¡¯d been placed there then preserved. The lack of any bodies currently occupying them, and the lack of activity in spite of the recency of the capture suggested the whole thing was a play. A cruel, evil play, one that dragged any number of unwitting people into and murdered hundreds, but a play nonetheless.


    There were props and actors, but who was pulling the strings?


    Susan stopped when she saw Cora, floating in the green ooze. Her destroyed hand was now a fleshy lump, and the string that had been around her arm was dissolved. Susan looked around for something, anything, that could indicate a way to open the vat, but came up short. She didn¡¯t want to risk destroying it and peppering her friend with glass, and had no idea if releasing her would help or hurt. What happened when people weren¡¯t exposed to the ooze anymore? Would they die? If Cora spent too much time in there, would she turn into another golem? Was that what they were after?


    Each answer Susan came up with just led to a dozen more questions. There was another hallway at the end of the room, and she decided to try to delve deeper.


    Deeper... into the dim but suspiciously still-lit hallway. The hallways that only started to faintly glow once she¡¯d entered. The golems were golems - most of them didn¡¯t even have eyes! What were the lights for, except biologics who happened to find their way in this deep?


    Traps and larger golems accosted her, all manner of fantastical constructs. A pair of ballista bolts, thicker around than she was and twice as long as Susan was tall, thundered down the hallway, barely missing her on either side. An enormous crusher rumbled down the hall, promising to obliterate Susan. A trapdoor opened right as the threshing arms were on her, dropping Susan down. Her instinct was to reach out and try to stop herself, but she just barely managed to resist scraping her hand raw and bloody against the walls - a sure way to trigger the golems into acting far more aggressively.


    The temperature started to aggressively rise, and Susan entered into another, far larger room.


    The lights were bright red from vast quantities of molten metal and burning forges, the rest thrown into deep shadows by the moving lights.


    She stood near the top of a gigantic, multi-story foundry. Huge cauldrons of liquid metal on chains moved around the room, stopping over molds and pouring their load in. Broken golems were thrown into a furnace, metal pouring out the other end. Parts found their way onto moving walkways, where crushing stamps came down and assembled parts together. Metal was rolled, steam hissed, hammers clanged, and not a single word was spoken. An inspection walkway was oh-so-conveniently placed near the entrance of the hallway, and Susan crept forward, suspecting the game had changed once again.


    Yet, if they didn¡¯t want Susan to be here, why had she been tacitly allowed to come so far?


    Dread started to rise up, and Susan debated trying to flee. She was in way, way over her head, and the [Legatus] would pay fantastic sums to learn of a gigantic army being formed right under his Legion. Enough to set Susan up with not only a new loom, but a spindle, bolts of cloth, a wagon, nodosauruses, and enough funds after that to reach a new town with herself and all her friends, and their friends as well.


    But no - that felt like far worse of an idea than continuing forward. Susan took as many mental notes as she could, seeing all the different models that had ¡®hindered¡¯ her approach, and dozens more that hadn¡¯t made an appearance yet. At some unknown point in the process, they seemed to gain ¡®life¡¯, animatedly walking off the assembly lines. Round slugs were forged from scrap metal, loaded into mining carts at several per minute before they rumbled away on long metal rails. Some golems that came off the lines looked like the rumored mythical elves, wielding a pair of curved blades instead of the stout spear-and-shield of the Legions. Others looked like the barbarians they faced, and more creatures were represented from around the world, looks that Susan would¡¯ve laughed at any bard for describing. Golems that looked like half-wolves, crocodile-headed golems, golems the size of a finger.


    Susan continued to observe and think, and an extra-large golem approached from the front. Susan started to back up, running directly into a second golem that had snuck up behind her in utter silence. The golem grabbed her by the shoulders, and Susan slumped in defeat. The two picked her up, and marched her along.


    In the seat of their power, what could Susan do? The best thing was to remain uninjured, and hope she could escape at some point. They escorted her to what looked like an oversized minecart with an opening on the side, letting her stand as they all crowded in. The golems dropped her to the floor, and Susan picked herself up, lurching and catching herself on the extra-large constructs as the minecart started moving.


    ¡°Do either of you understand me?¡± She asked. ¡°Where are we going? Who are you? What do you want? Is someone controlling you? Is there...¡±


    Her curiosity unleashed, she asked non-stop questions for nearly an hour as the minecart shuddered through the earth, going deeper and deeper.


    Susan was definitely not in the Fourth Remus Empire anymore.


    At last the cart stopped, bright light entering through the opening on the side. The golems repositioned themselves in such a way that made it clear she was supposed to exit. There was no point in sticking around, and Susan left.


    The cavern was almost impossible to describe. Thousands of glittering, glowing crystals lined the walls of the cavern, with a gigantic palace slapped right down in the middle. A broad walkway led from one side to another, and a smaller one rose up from the perilous drop to where the minecart had dropped her off, connecting the little ¡®secret¡¯ entrance to the main portion. Susan took the invitation, crossing and looking around.


    On the other side of the walkway, away from the palace, bristled endless defenses pointing out. Extra-large slug shooters, thick shields, crackling rods sputtering bolts of lightning, and legions of constructs protected the final boardwalk. All along the boardwalk were glowing signs in hundreds of languages. Susan searched until she found one she recognized.


    Welcome, and congratulations, Adventurer! You have passed the Trials of the Pekari! Come inside to collect your prize!


    Susan eyed the defenses again, glad she hadn¡¯t had to go through that. What level would she have needed to be to even have a chance? At least 400, right?


    Levels made her think of the notifications she¡¯d suppressed, and she took a peek.


    [*ding!* The class [Spinner of Yarns] leveled up! 141 -> 256]


    [*ding!* The class [Scrappy Survivalist] leveled up! 81 -> 128]


    She swallowed the lump that suddenly appeared in her throat.


    How many levels!?


    Susan dropped one of her needles, quickly stopping to pick it up. The golems wouldn¡¯t let her, the metal foot crushing it before she could pick it up.


    They¡¯re going to silence me. Susan thought, before looking at the signs again.


    No... they¡¯re going to reward me?


    It had all seemed so obvious when someone stopped to think about it. Yet, the treatment and levels suggested anything but.


    She was marched through the eerily silent palace, before finally started to hear laughing voices echo through the halls.


    At least they¡¯re not screams. Susan thought.


    She was brought to a large dining room. Two people were sitting at a table, laughing and eating. Sort of.


    One was a bony skeleton, laughing with an absurd crown on his head. A thin gold band vainly tried to keep a gigantic gemstone five times the size of his head attached, and was somehow making it work. Next to him was a handsome figure with white hair and red eyes, blood thick around his mouth and a carcass in front of him.


    It¡¯s not human. Susan thought with relief. She tried to identify the skeleton.


    [Mage - 3584].


    Susan went pale and swayed slightly. She was far past the realms of Legions and vampires. This was the realm of Immortals, and she had no idea that levels could get that high.


    ¡°Night! Night! Here she is, the little wisp of a girl we¡¯ve been watching!¡± The skeleton roared with laughter, pointing at Susan and pounding the table like it was the greatest joke he¡¯d ever heard. ¡°She figured it out! By all the gods, she figured out my little trick!¡±


    He threw his head back and kicked his heels as he howled, endlessly amused.


    The vampire - Night - smiled and took a drink.


    ¡°Indeed, Anurak, she did. Quite the clever one.¡± He refocused his attention on Susan, and she felt all the hairs on her neck go up. ¡°As Anurak Sathirat is far too busy being amused at his own cleverness - which is to say, your cleverness - let me be the first to congratulate you. I know this may come as a surprise to one who managed to, in the span of mere hours, solve the riddle of the Pekari, but it is quite a rare mind that is able to unravel the mystery. A reward is customary, and as I am also here, having been treated to a scene of your exploits, allow me to add on my own reward to the pile. Pray, tell me, is there some boon I can offer?¡±


    Susan¡¯s mind jumped immediately to a new loom, and her mouth was half-open before the rest of her brain caught up to her and snapped it shut.


    A new loom? A new loom?! From someone who lived in a palace?!


    From... a vampire?


    A vampire... like the best of the Fourth Remus Empire?


    No, no, she could do better. A little information had brought her this far. What would a lot of information do? What would a connection do? It¡¯d be like stitching her as a patch onto the tapestry of the vampire, brought along on adventure and participating in circles that she previously didn¡¯t know existed.


    Plus, something in the back of her mind whispered, he was kinda cute.


    What was the best way to frame this? He clearly was no idiot, and would see through things if Susan tried to be too clever.


    Ah. In that case, it was better to be overtly subtle.


    ¡°Dinner.¡± She finally answered. ¡°You can treat me to dinner.¡±


    Anurak howled with renewed laughter at the joke, and Night¡¯s eyes glinted with interest as a genuine smile crossed his face.


    ¡°Dinner.¡± He repeated, understanding exactly what Susan was getting at. ¡°I believe I can arrange something.¡±

 Chapter 538: A Tale as Old as Time

    Chapter 538: A Tale as Old as Time


    ... In conclusion, the Pekari, controlled entirely by Anurak Sathirat, are net beneficial. The danger is real for anyone choosing to fight them. The pressure and, correspondingly, levels, are impossible without a genuine threat. Their targets are those who are sick or injured, no matter the disease. It is naturally questionable if blowing off someone¡¯s hand only to regrow it is the best course of action, but Anurak, in spite of being slightly mad, has vast quantities of data that he claims backs up the benefits.


    They only go after places that Anurak deems to be ¡®too peaceful¡¯, too quiet and content. I have some doubts, mostly formed by my limited worldview when I first encountered the Pekari, but I can¡¯t deny the seeming increase in attacks in nations that are utterly at peace, and the absence when there is a full-blown total war occurring. Attacks during medium-sized skirmishes and wars are where the boundary tends to get shaky.


    I believe Anurak is semi-directly controlling each Pekari, and there are unconfirmed accounts of adventurers finding ¡®deactivated¡¯ Pekari. He denies both claims, but that is to be expected.


    After having presented all the evidence, I further believe that Anurak attempts to bring buried ruins back to accessibility. The average distribution of ancient ruins and secret hideouts versus the odds of a Pekari tunnel running near them are too far skewed to be anything other than deliberate machination, an attempt to prevent anything from being buried for eternity.


    The Pekari are designed as a challenge for mortals and low levels. Nearly anyone can reasonably start fighting the golems, which split up into smaller and smaller groups when on excursions, to the point where a farm boy can hit one on the back of the head. Their tracks are designed to be easily followable, and slow but steady escalation of threats and difficulty are designed to constantly pose challenges for growth, culminating in arriving at Anurak Sathirat¡¯s palace, where they are congratulated and rewarded.


    I have no doubts that many have chosen not to believe the ancient lich¡¯s claims, and their bodies likely litter the chasm around his palace. The challenge is designed to be conquerable at around level 1000. The gulf in level is far too great for the average adventurer to overcome, and that is before the lich¡¯s phylactery is taken into account.


    The Pekari are also working on a number of different initiatives to help all civilization. From fighting Vorlers to battling the denizens of the deepest underlayer, they provide a tireless army fighting at no risk to a civilized mind.


    This knowledge and information comes at a price. Please, I implore of you dear reader, do not tell others about this knowledge, unless the need is dire. Knowing the tricks to them, knowing the details, utterly ruins the challenge. When fighting the Pekari, full experience, levels, and class quality are available if battling them in earnest. They are out to kill the adventurer, and the adventurer is out to destroy them and ¡°rescue¡± whoever has been captured. The knowledge that one can simply walk in, or never engage in fighting and the Pekari will not engage back, is a poison pill. What point is there to the noble [Knight] knowing the net benefit the Pekari provide? How is it a challenge to the cunning [Rogue] when they can just waltz in? What motivation does the [Farmhand] have to save the pretty girl next door, knowing that she is in a healing, restorative state?


    What is the point, when the mastermind is unassailable and practically unkillable?


    This is the great Secret of the Pekari. Teach others at their peril.


    Susan Weaver.


    I stared at the last few sentences in shock.


    Fuck.


    That¡¯s what I got for not listening to other people. I was told reading the book wouldn¡¯t help me fight the Pekari, and would have the opposite effect. Martin had been right.


    The Eventide Eclipse was at the perfect level and class quality to fight through the Pekari. The challenge would¡¯ve been great, the rewards even better. The entire thing had been obviated by a single book. There was no more challenge, and by the same token, there was no getting our name carved on the great board Anurak had, getting a present from him, having tea, and experiencing the grandeur of the place ourselves.


    Oh! This was why the Pekari weren¡¯t mentioned as a threat when Arachne was teaching me what I needed to know to become a [Loremaster]! They weren¡¯t a threat, and didn¡¯t rate on the scale, in spite of them seemingly being a green or possibly even blue-scale problem.


    Silver linings, silver linings... I suppose if I didn¡¯t tell anyone else, Iona and the rest could still challenge the Pekari. She¡¯d be pissed at the end though, feeling she¡¯d wasted all that time. That, and there was no way I¡¯d be able to keep this a secret from her. I¡¯d start acting awkward, she¡¯d instantly sniff me out, annnnnd yeah.


    Fuck.


    I closed the book - didn¡¯t need to open it to read it, but it was the small pleasures in life - and put it back.


    Well, I guess we didn¡¯t have to waste our time fighting something that didn¡¯t need to be fought.


    In a bit of a daze, I left the hidden library, Martin shooting me an insufferable ¡®I-told-you-so¡¯ look on the way out.


    Yeah, yeah, he was right. He¡¯d known. He had to have known. He had tried to warn me off it.


    I found Iona at one of the study desks, a half-dozen thick volumes about the Pekari surrounding her. She looked up at me, and her entire face just lit up.


    Goddess, I loved her so much.


    ¡°Elaine! This book¡¯s a fantastic resource! It¡¯s got detailed descriptions about all the Pekari, what we can expect to find deeper in, rare variants, everything! It¡¯s like the author knew exactly what I was looking for! What¡¯s wrong?¡± She asked, picking up my mood.


    I petulantly swung my hand at the book.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t matter.¡± I grumped. Iona¡¯s eyebrows went up, and she looked around the room.


    ¡°Really? Can we talk about it here, or...?¡±


    I sighed.


    ¡°Yeah, we should go somewhere private.¡±


    ¡°Should I check the books out?¡±


    I shook my head.


    ¡°There¡¯s no point.¡±


    ¡°This I gotta hear.¡±


    Twenty minutes later, and Iona was outraged in our room at The Wandering Inn.


    ¡°It¡¯s all fake!?¡± She half-screamed. ¡°The whole thing with the Pekari is a fucking scam!?¡± Bless the thick soundproofed rooms.


    I flopped down onto the bed, frowning at the ceiling.


    ¡°Yuuup. Seems like it.¡±


    ¡°Argh! Fuck!¡± Iona looked mad. Couldn¡¯t blame her. My understanding was she¡¯d actively fought against them repeatedly, and to learn it was all a game, a sham, some crazy Classer¡¯s idea of fun?


    ¡°I had a friend that died to them!¡± Iona raged.


    ¡°Want to go beat up a bunch of them?¡± I suggested. ¡°They¡¯re one of the easiest enemies for me to fight. I don¡¯t need to be concerned at all about them.¡±


    Iona plopped down next to me with a disgusted noise, the bed creaking as I was catapulted up.


    ¡°No, what¡¯s the fucking point?¡± She swore. ¡°I think I¡¯ll get right with the idea eventually, I¡¯m just in a bad headspace.¡±


    She put her head in her hands and swore again.


    ¡°Fuck. They fight Vorlers. Of course. Fuck. It all makes so much sense now.¡±


    I patted Iona¡¯s leg, nuzzling her arm with my head.


    ¡°Do you mind if I go to the gym? The School has some things designed to be hit really hard, and right now I want to beat the stuffing out of something.¡±


    I waved a hand at her.


    ¡°Yeah, go nuts. Come back when you¡¯re done though, I want to class up before we hit the Phoenix Peaks.¡± I¡¯d run the risk-reward on classing up now, versus waiting. On one hand, quick and easy power. A ton more levels under my belt, a huge increase in my stats.


    On the other, a bunch of new skills to get right with and adapt to and learn. I had my familiar skills that I knew like the back of my hand, and fully half of them would be upgrading or changing.


    My analysis said it was worth it. Auri had been funneling all sorts of crazy experience to me over the last few years - experience that I paid for in massive worry over what she was doing - but it had leveled up my main class quite a bit.


    What was waiting for me level-wise on my third class? It was worth it.


    Iona nodded and left, gently closing the door behind her.


    Oh!


    Library, Phoenix Peaks - I should bug Martin again and see if there was anything else I could shake out of him about the area. For no reason, of course. My companion bond was a phoenix after all, she was curious about the place. And, well, she¡¯d probably want to know more about it.


    Where was she right now? Oh, taking a little vacation and having some fun.


    ¡°What!?¡± I asked, eyes darting around.


    ¡°Coming in here with a level 1 skill again? I thought we¡¯d talked about this!¡±


    It took a moment to recall what she was talking about, and I sputtered in outrage.


    ¡°[Handy] isn¡¯t crucial to me the same way [Ranger¡¯s Lore] was back in the day!¡± I protested. She laughed.


    ¡°Yeah, but the look on your face was funny.¡±


    Classes classes everywhere! I wasn¡¯t entirely sure where I was taking [Butterfly Mystic], and Librarian had found a nice selection of books to peruse.


    [The Dawn Spear]. [Fluttering Polymath]. [Reborn Ancient]. [Sunlit Dancer]. [Seraph of the Dawn]. [Echo of Asura]. [Butterfly Cleric]. [Radiant Slayer of the Endless Formorian Swarm].


    Going vaguely in quality order, [Reborn Ancient] was the phoenix class. Annoyingly, the Radiance heron had almost as much of an impact on the class, if not more, than Auri, but the two were both strongly represented in the class. It was a little more ¡®simple-minded¡¯ in some ways, but it was powerful. Besides the stats, a big draw was hanging out with Auri would be slow but steady experience. Leveling up for doing what I wanted to do anyway? Yes please!


    It went more into ¡®Radiance as the sun¡¯s flames¡¯ and less into the pinpoint precision that I was used to, in exchange for powering up. I also remembered Auri¡¯s desire for me to not have a phoenix class, although I was unsure if it also extended to Radiance as an element, instead of Inferno. It was also just barely a black quality class, eking over the stat threshold by a hair.


    The big issue with the ¡®Radiance as the sun¡¯s flames¡¯ was the massive hit my skills would take. Across the board I¡¯d drop dozens to hundreds of levels, and they¡¯d work in completely different ways. I wasn¡¯t super inclined towards the class, and ¡®undo decades of training, practice, and instincts, and relearn how to fight from the start¡¯ wasn¡¯t appealing, even on a good day.


    [The Dawn Spear] I dismissed early on. It was the blood and violence class, the offensive Radiance sorcerer. It was the class that wanted to kill Meng Ao, the class that fought the Formorians, the class that aggressively scythed down my enemies.


    I¡¯d taken the class and its direction in a strong self-defense direction from the earliest days of being a Ranger. But, in so many ways, my situation had changed from the young woman I¡¯d been in the dwarven city, alone deep underground, and surrounded by enemies. I had Auri and Iona to protect and defend me, Fenrir¡¯s gigantic bulk and investigative powers willing to be bent to my needs, just as I was willing and able to protect and serve them in any way. I didn¡¯t need or want the ¡®biggest violence¡¯ class.


    [Sunlit Dancer] was fun, but it wasn¡¯t me. Dancing for a year straight under the high noon sun - or 23,456 years, the System occasionally seemed confused which one it was, which to be fair, so was I - had gotten me a killer dancing class on offer. It wasn¡¯t quite as good as [Lady of the Dance] had been, but the vibes were the same.


    [Fluttering Polymath] was the easy pick, the natural upgrade to [Butterfly Mystic]. It was the evolution of the class, wanting to do all the same things my current class did. Looking at it, almost nothing changed from my current class except the stats per level - it was still all about growth and self evolution. The big issue was, I felt I¡¯d done the best I could with my skills growing this way. I struggled to imagine further growth in this style, not with everything I¡¯d already done. It was high purple as well, which mattered when the stat ranges got so large.


    [Seraph of the Dawn] looked fun! It combined phoenix aspects with divine influence, the angels I¡¯d met and the gods who¡¯d given me offers, along with my wings and current aspect of looking a bit like an angel, then mixed in some medium offensive aspects from [The Dawn Spear] and the growth and learning aspects from [Fluttering Polymath]. A nice little addition - the ¡®fighting¡¯ portion was strongly a ¡®defend others¡¯ aspect, which was exactly what I wanted to do when I was forced to battle. Less good at being the aggressor, but when was I ever? It was the ¡®half and half¡¯ class, not as good as either one alone, but able to cover for itself.


    ¡°Just triple checking.¡± I asked Librarian. ¡°This class is not a divine ascension class. I¡¯ll be a human, on Pallos, just with a fun flavored class.¡±


    The merciless pedant shook her head.


    ¡°Nope! You¡¯ll be an elvenoid chimera on Pallos with a fun flavored class.¡±


    I blew a raspberry at her.


    [Butterfly Cleric] was cheeky, and had me groaning. Papillon¡¯s offer to become a cleric of his, nevermind that I was claimed by Ciriel in a sense.


    ¡°Am I stupid?¡± I asked Librarian. ¡°I feel stupid. Butterfly Mystic, it¡¯s practically right there on the label that it¡¯s related to Papilion! Butterflies are sacred to him! Like... did I fuck up?¡±


    Librarian shook her head.


    ¡°Every single class has elements sacred to one god or another. Dawns are sacred to Solaris, Goddess of the Sun. We¡¯re not worried about anything with the name Dawn in it. Spears are sacred to-¡±


    I waved Librarian off, getting her point.


    ¡°Alright, alright, I got it.¡±


    [Echo of Asura] was only clinically interesting.


    ¡°It was light purple until you ripped out [Lepidoptera].¡± Librarian remarked. ¡°It¡¯s amazing what one skill can do for class quality.¡±


    The last offering was a curiosity. [Radiant Slayer of the Endless Formorian Swarm]. It was exactly the same as when I¡¯d last been offered it, and I pointed to the book with a confused look on my face.


    ¡°The Formorians are extinct, yeah?¡± I asked.


    ¡°They should be.¡± Librarian hedged. ¡°They weren¡¯t exactly subtle or restrained, and we haven¡¯t found a single mention of them in any book we¡¯ve ever read here.¡±


    I frowned at that.


    ¡°There was no notification from Genie though...¡± I slowly said.


    ¡°We were there when we killed the last of them.¡± Librarian countered. ¡°The wish hadn¡¯t been made yet.¡±


    We traded a nervous look, and I shrugged.


    ¡°Well, if there are any around, Night killed their queens 2500ish levels ago.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but they also level.¡±


    I slapped my forehead.


    ¡°I feel stupid. We should ask Ciriel.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll cost her.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but she could know the answer.¡±


    ¡°Gods aren¡¯t all seeing.¡±


    ¡°Formorians didn¡¯t seem to have issues leveling, and looked Immortal from what I understood. At least one of them should¡¯ve ascended by now, and ¡®hey are there any gods who used to be Formorians, say, a Goddess of Formorians¡¯ is a valid question she could answer.¡±


    Librarian nodded in agreement.


    ¡°It¡¯s also true that we still qualify for the class. It could just be as simple as ¡®qualifications remain, class is offered again¡¯.¡±


    I smiled nostalgically at the book.


    ¡°Remember when this was the best class offered, not one of the worst?¡±


    Librarian grinned.


    ¡°We were so tiny and cute!¡± She said.


    ¡°This kitten has claws!¡± I rawred, miming swiping the air with little kitten claws.


    After goofing off a bit in the liminal space that seemed to slip oddly through time, I got back down to business.


    While I did have Auri, Iona, and Fenrir to help me out, I wasn¡¯t going to ditch all self-defense. I still liked the growth and evolution aspects that [Butterfly Mystic] had, and the angelic imagery of [Seraph of the Dawn] appealed. In this space, I wasn¡¯t impacted by the bond¡¯s vanity, but I still thought I¡¯d look so fucking pretty with the wings. [Fluttering Polymath] could be just as strong skill-wise as [Seraph] was, so the two elements I put on the scale were simple.


    Higher class quality versus easier evolutions?


    It was almost a no-brainer. Earlier I¡¯d reasoned that I¡¯d gotten most out of the skill evolutions as I¡¯d been able to.


    [Seraph of the Dawn¡¯s] stat spread was solid. +512 Speed, +512 Vitality, +1024 Mana, +1024 Mana Regeneration, +1024 Magic Power, +1024 Magic Control per level.


    ¡°[Seraph of the Dawn] please!¡±

 Chapter 539: Skills, Skills Everywhere!

    Chapter 539: Skills, Skills Everywhere!


    I woke up and stretched, shifting my body around. Classing up space was a little unnatural. It was more akin to being unconscious than being asleep, and my body didn¡¯t do all the little adjustments.


    Iona was a blur of motion next to me, a tray of food rapidly being assembled from parts.


    ¡°Sandwiches?¡± She offered up a stack, a glass of cold milk next to them.


    I was ravenous. I grabbed the top one and chowed down. Fresh lettuce and tomatoes, thick slices of turkey, generously applied mayonnaise, and freshly cracked black pepper and salt.


    That was just the first one. Iona had outdone herself. The second one was brontosaurus belly, salami, pate, grilled chicken, cucumber slices, avocado, and egg. It seemed like too much at first, but the combination worked beautifully.


    A reuben was next, and I started to slow down as my stomach woke up and realized we had FOOD again. I poked the dramatic organ, mentally telling it to not be such a drama llama. I¡¯d blitzed the classups, it wasn¡¯t like I¡¯d been down for days reading every book.


    A long drink of cold milk helped wash it all down, and I reached for a fourth sandwich as Iona started talking.


    ¡°Ever going to check your notifications?¡± She teased me. ¡°You¡¯ve got some nice skills.¡±


    I had a lot of notifications. I¡¯d already looked at a few of them, just quickly checking what I had, but now I needed to look at all of them. I scrolled back through the log to find the right spot.


    [*ding!* [Erudite Archmage] leveled up! 256 -> 712. +512 Mana, +512 Mana Regeneration, +1024 Magic Control, +1024 Magic Power from your class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Magic Power from your Element per level!]


    Holy stats. I¡¯d glanced at it before, but I was about to get a loooot of magical stats.


    The one minor ¡®downside¡¯ to [Erudite Archmage] being a beautiful combination of reading and scholarly magic was just that - it was scholarly magical research and reading. It was less intended for battle and fighting - although it had no real penalty for it, and could easily be bent in that direction - but the stat distribution was all-in on the magical stats. The class didn¡¯t need or want any physical stats, so it didn¡¯t offer any. There was a reason wizards were routinely depicted as old. Combined with the levels I was going to get from [Seraph of the Dawn] though, I was excited to see what my stat total was going to be..


    [*ding!* [Blink] has merged with [Rapid Reshelving] to create [Teleportation]!]


    Teleportation: Move objects, including yourself, from one spot to another. Slightly increased range per level.


    Huzzah! The two felt like a natural fit to merge, and I¡¯d been able to instantly [Blink] myself around for a while now. The limited range had been annoying, but now I was FREE! To slowly level up and gain more range.


    The class wasn¡¯t a dedicated [Teleporter] class, and I doubted I¡¯d ever get fantastic mana discounts or secondary skills to really go somewhere, but being able to instantly reposition myself and objects had been fun and useful for years.


    [*ding!* [Technical Drawing] has merged with [The Everflowing Quill of Phoenix Feathers and Whimsical Dreams] to make [Reality, Writ As You Will]!]


    Reality, Writ As You Will: Your works have shaped reality and now your spells shall too. Your quill dances with feverish energy, drawing out mystical symbols that will reshape and bend reality to your will. The cosmos bends to your desires, making each spell cast cost less mana. -4096 mana regeneration.


    First off, that was such a cool skill name! It came with a minor discount on casting spells, and I couldn¡¯t quite tell yet if I¡¯d be casting large enough mandalas at a scale where the benefits would kick in, or if it would end up being mostly flavor text.


    Wizardry was the pursuit of a lifetime, and I could endlessly improve in a variety of ways. From inventing new spells, to refining existing ones, from researching and learning new languages, to learning more tricks in old ones, from preparing more spells for life and combat, to thinking of smarter ones to use in a given situation, there was no end to the depths of wizardry.


    [*ding!* [Reality, Writ As You Will] is level 530]


    That was a bit of a shame. It dropped, probably because the power went way up in level, and possibly because it crossed classes. It wasn¡¯t maxed anymore, and it was going to take me a long, long time to level it all the way up again. Especially if Auri kept doing insane things to level.


    My stomach nervously clenched, and I let [Luminary Mind] start worrying over her again. I dismissed the rest of my skill level up notifications - I¡¯d see them all at the end in my stat sheet.


    No upgrade on [Spatial Authority], which was expected. I wasn¡¯t delving deep into the elemental aspects of the class, so much as using the elements for their thing. I wasn¡¯t explaining it well.


    [*ding!* [Manuscript Mastery] has upgraded to [Cozy Reading]!]


    Cozy Reading: A book, a crackling fireplace, a storm outside, a cup of hot chocolate and your wife nearby. What¡¯s not to love? You always understand what you¡¯re reading, and will rapidly acquire new languages when reading them. Improved control over reading speed per level. -64 mana regeneration.


    It was an unusual variant on [Reading], and on the surface felt like a bit of a downgrade to the skill. At the same time, everything from [Manuscript Mastery] was still there, with the potential for more from the line ¡®You always understand what you¡¯re reading.¡¯ The scant description meant I was fully prepared for it to be deceptive, and do something like improve how comfortable I was while I read. The ¡®control over reading speed¡¯ was a fascinating line. I¡¯d seen something similar in the past, mostly from [Speedster]-related abilities from books - I¡¯d go faster and faster each level, but I could also deliberately move slower, and keep myself at the lower speed. In other words, with careful application of the skill and basic math, I could choose exactly when I would finish reading a book. Like, right before bedtime.


    Perfect for [Cozy Reading].


    The skill was interesting on another axis. It was far, far more powerful than the name suggested. I wasn¡¯t going to make any bets, but I suspected if I did a deep dive into all recorded instances of the skill, I would have one of the strongest-worded ones.


    [*ding!* [Loremaster¡¯s Library] has upgraded to [Repository of the Magus]!]


    Repository of the Magus: Infinite books at your fingertips. Summoning speed depends on number of books in storage. Summoning speed increased per level. -512 mana regeneration.


    My eyes narrowed at the ¡®upgrade¡¯, and I tried to summon a book to me. It instantly appeared in my hands, and I had a moment of enlightenment.


    By Ciriel! I had no maximum capacity for books. If I ended up with too many in my storage, I suspected I¡¯d start to have issues with getting any particular book out, but everything strongly implied I could walk into the School¡¯s library, and teleport every single book into my storage.


    They¡¯d murder me dead, of course, but I¡¯d die with a smile on my face.


    [*ding!* [Vault of Ages] has upgraded to [Tower of Knowledge]!]


    Tower of Knowledge: The repose of every good archmage, the tower spirals up into the sky, providing all manner of rooms a mage might need. +1 extra story every 8 levels. -8192 mana regeneration.


    That sounded great! On the other hand, I was dreading to see what the inside of my storage looked like right now. I had planned on emptying it all out before upgrading, just in case, but life had conspired against me with the Auri deadline. I¡¯d asked Librarian for [Vault]-only options, and the skill was a little too useful to ever ditch, but I was...


    Why was I speculating, when I could just go check?


    I teleported into [Tower of Knowledge], and dragged my fingers down my face in horror.


    ¡°Nooooooooooooooooooo...¡± My scream petered off into nothingness.


    The more I saw, the worse it got.


    [Tower] was indeed arranged as a tower. Each floor was far larger than eight rooms in [Vault] combined, a solid upgrade in total storage volume. There was hemming and hawing to do on larger, more warehouse-like floors versus many little rooms, but that didn¡¯t concern me at the moment.


    Each floor had a large opening in the middle, with no stairs, pole, or anything to help get between levels. The [Tower], being in its own pocket dimension, naturally didn¡¯t have any gravity. There was soft light glowing from everywhere, banishing all shadows, and the air was fresh and crisp, smelling slightly of a spring breeze. A number of cargo rings could be found carefully placed on floors, walls, and the ceiling.


    The lack of gravity meant I could easily fly between levels.


    It also meant there was nothing keeping my stored supplies grounded. I had previously strapped them down, put food into barrels, teleported in furniture to better store items, had water in kegs, etc. Everything in its place, as much time and effort as that had been. Enchantments had been carefully laid down to improve my quality of life and the vault.


    The skill upgrade had reshuffled everything. It didn¡¯t even have the good grace to keep things together! Flour coated every other surface, only being picked up by some droplets of water spinning through the air. Dishes spun lazily in space next to swords, a hammer lightly bounced off the glass of a cabinet, fruits and metal ingots rattling around in a mug, and a partial rune lay mercifully dead on the wall.


    It was a disaster. Forget anything being in its place, it would¡¯ve almost been better if nearly everything had been destroyed. At least then I wouldn¡¯t have had to clean the place up first! If there was gravity, at least everything would break once and be still.


    I pushed through the mess, every action causing a never-ending cascade of follow-up reactions, looking for my major items. My Sentinel gear, some rope and straps.


    At least The Great Reshuffling hadn¡¯t split individual items apart. My helmet was still in one piece, and I didn¡¯t bother looping rope in fancy ways around it, simply choosing to use [Teleportation] to instantly tie a knot. I dragged it along behind me like a boat gathering seaweed, slowly searching through each level to find what I needed.


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    Full emergency combat gear acquired, I moved back towards the entrance, using [Teleportation] on every single spare bit of mango that came into my sphere of perception. I stress-ate them, justifying to myself that they might get ruined with all the chaos going on in here. I tied my armor down with the handy cargo rings. Then I teleported back out, figuring it was going to take months at the very least to handle it all.


    Great timing. I¡¯d known there was a risk-reward with upgrading, and it wasn¡¯t a disaster, just... really shit right now.


    [Astral Archives] kept the same name and had minimal changes. It was already a fantastic skill.


    [*ding!* [Lust for Lore] has upgraded to [Endless Pursuit of Knowledge]]


    Endless Pursuit of Knowledge: The pursuit of knowledge is never ending. The day you stop seeking it out is the day when you stop growing. New knowledge is easier to grasp and some connections or patterns in the grand story of existence become easier to pick out. 3.5% increased experience for classes and skills per level.


    Hurray! The experience boost was subtle, but I gave it a lot of credit for my levels over the years. The bonus from [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority] helped out quite a bit too. Also, the bit about classes and skills was interesting. Had prior iterations only helped with one? I was unsure about ¡®new knowledge is easier to grasp¡¯ - I rarely had any issue picking things up, even when other students complained that professors didn¡¯t make sense.


    Okay! There was still a ton of testing to do, but I had my new Spatial skills! Onto the Radiance skills!


    Radiant Angel¡¯s Spear of Obliteration: Summon a beautiful spear of pure Radiance with a single thought, choose a target, and obliterate them. Clad your weapon in Radiance and smite your foes. Improved speed and destruction per level. -8192 mana regeneration.


    The description was suggestive that I could conjure up unlimited spears of Radiance and fling them at sub-lightspeed at targets, as well as infuse any weapons I held with Radiance and turn them into lethal weapons.


    There was some redundancy with [Rays]. [Rays], to me, felt like a much better skill, and there was a reason I¡¯d used it for years. The largest upside to a third truly offensive skill was it increased my damage output by 50%. The big bottleneck in a mage¡¯s instantaneous combat ability was the number of combat skills. I could throw [Rays] and [Feathers] at my magic power, effectively hitting people ¡®twice¡¯. [Spear] let me hit people ¡®a third time¡¯, and looked like it was going to end up stronger at hitting a single target than [Rays], even if it was a little slower.


    I was going to need to spend every waking minute between now and when we left the island to get Auri practicing my skills at the firing range.


    Satisfied with my picks, I could finally take a peek at my stat sheet.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Chimera (Elvenoid)]


    [Age: 38]


    [Mana: 6,910,190/6,910,190]


    [Mana Regeneration: 13,699,941 +(41,557,542)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 40,823 (Effectively: 326,584)]


    [Dexterity: 65,269 (Effectively: 694,984)]


    [Vitality: 203,035 (Effectively: 3,172,422)]


    [Speed: 190,267 (Effectively: 3,745,025)]


    [Mana: 691,127]


    [Mana Regeneration: 1,555,022 (+ 4,154,824)]


    [Magic Power: 904,127 (+ 39,600,763)]


    [Magic Control: 903,335 (+ 39,566,073)]


    [Class 1: [The Arbiter of Life and Death - Celestial: Lv 876]]


    [Celestial Mastery: 876]


    [Aurora Curialis: 771]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 56]


    [Luminary Mind: 602]


    [Universal Cure: 876]


    [Etheric Aegis: 222]


    [Event Horizon: 650]


    [Zenith Everlasting: 609]


    [Class 2: [Seraph of the Dawn - Radiance: Lv 855]]


    [Radiance Mastery: 855]


    [A Light Shining in the Darkness: 1]


    [The Rays of the First Dawn: 855]


    [Radiant Angel''s Spear of Obliteration: 1]


    [Celestial Dew: 855]


    [Sunrise Halo: 855]


    [Wings of the Seraphim: 855]


    [Six Wings, Six Million Feathers: 855]


    [Class 3: [Erudite Archmage - Spatial: Lv 712]]


    [Spatial Authority: 488]


    [Cozy Reading: 712]


    [Teleportation: 195]


    [Repository of the Magus: 557]


    [Tower of Knowledge: 92]


    [Reality, Writ As You Will: 530]


    [Astral Archives: 326]


    [Endless Pursuit of Knowledge: 644]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 532]


    [Handy: 1]


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 876]


    [The World Around Me: 216]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 876]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 876]


    [Persistent Casting: 650]


    [Tender Gardening: 108]

 Chapter 540: Fire, Aim, Ready!

    Chapter 540: Fire, Aim, Ready!


    I had new skills! So many new skills!


    It wasn¡¯t an emergency, there wasn¡¯t a fire or people dying, so I decided not to sprint as fast as I could to the firing range to test things out, or the flying obstacle course.


    I simply... brisky strode through the paths, System-weirdness making me look like I was casually strolling through the boulevard, nevermind that I was going hundreds of miles per hour.


    Casually strolling.


    I clasped my hands behind my back, grinning the whole way, almost the perfect image of a slightly mad [Archmage]. I needed a bigger, whiter beard to properly pull that off... but maybe I was putting off more of a Merlin vibe, living backwards through time and looking young.


    I did need to dodge quite a few apple-infested people. The School had a wide variety of food grown, and there was usually some of the dreaded fruits in the cafeteria. It was easy enough to dodge them, and just for fun, I dodged a few more people to make my ducks and weaves follow a fun pattern.Follow the latest novels on


    Stats at this stage got interesting. The main thing I noticed was I could control how quickly I perceived the world. I didn¡¯t feel like everyone was eternally trapped in molasses, even though I could move and think like they were otherwise.


    What sort of society would it be if I couldn¡¯t ¡®slow myself down¡¯ to ¡®normal¡¯ speeds? Would cities be segregated by speed and vitality? Would a whole second set of people live ¡®overlayed¡¯ on the first?


    In a way, it was a little like Immortal and mortal countries segregating from each other. I idly ruminated on the topic as I continued to not-rush around.


    Ahhhhhhhh! I wanted to though! I had ideas! Plans! Things to experiment with! [Luminary Mind] plotting out a totally-cool and absolutely not indulging my inner eight-year-old idea!


    I knew I was going to eat a lot of dirt, some metaphorically, some physically. Skills didn¡¯t come with huge ¡®how to perfectly use this¡¯ manuals. I needed to come up with ideas. Test, iterate, refine. I had to break old habits, old muscle memory. I needed to find my limits, and that often happened when I went a little past them. I needed to figure out what I could do, then use my imagination to think of more ideas, try them out, and see what happened.


    In many ways, it was the task of a lifetime, but basic proficiency was doable in a short timeframe. Even shorter if I was willing to run face-first into walls, sometimes literally. My healing would help significantly. I didn¡¯t need to work up [Fireball] from a small level to a larger one, I could immediately start at the largest one possible and tone it down from there. Anyone watching would probably laugh themselves sick at how much I was going to have things blow up in my face, but it would work, and it would work quickly.


    Ciriel¡¯s divine grace and by every tasty mango - I was pretty sure I was about to obliterate the sound barrier. [Arbiter] had been slowly trickling speed in over the years, but the description of [Wings of the Seraphim] suggested it was significantly stronger than [Scintillating Ascent].


    As I headed over to the firing range, I continued to think on just how perfect the School was for classing up.


    Not only did the flying Oddity the School was on make it easier to get skills, but the School had helpfully set up a firing range and an aerial obstacle course to test it all out!


    I could genuinely see now how the School had evolved here. Start off with people figuring out it helped gain skills easily - my experience with Remus and the Dead Zone suggested it was not easy to figure out in the slightest - then people wanting to test out their skills. Add in some enterprising fellows setting up a basic flight course, firing range, growing trees, and other ways to test skills out, and suddenly the island¡¯s a pretty neat place. Add in libraries to have skill-reference books, and the island was 60% of the way there. Wasn¡¯t quite sure how it ended up being Artemis¡¯s School - my theorizing could only go so far - but the chain felt logical.


    Of course, I could just be reverse-engineering in my head, and the truth was wildly different. Like, someone said ¡®that¡¯d be a cool island to put the School on¡¯, and everything happened from there.


    I let [Luminary Mind] ruminate wildly on the topic, while running two additional thought processes that worked on my spellbooks, reviewing them, making lists of spells I needed to re-add to the books, and thinking about anything else I needed to include while I was here.


    The School still had the Overflowing Stack, a fantastic wizardry resource, and I¡¯d love to make more use of it if I had the time.


    So many things to do, so little time. I needed to prioritize and go from there.


    It only took me a few seconds of speed walking and thinking to make it to the aerial obstacle course. I stopped and stomped my foot as I arrived.


    Damnit! I had a million things to test and prepare before dropping off the island, and testing all clothing variations in my flight was a bad idea. I needed to test tight clothing or armor, because that¡¯s what I was going to operate with in the Phoenix Peaks. Except my flight clothes were spinning deep in my [Tower], and the armor was wholly inappropriate for the spot.


    Nothing to it. I teleported into the disaster that was my personal storage, glanced longingly at my armor, and shot off through the debris, scanning everything with [The World Around Me]. I found my shirt being molested by a dinner fork, and shorts wrapped around a shovel.


    Well, at least the place was a little tidier. I put my fancy robes near the entrance, changed, and teleported out.


    It didn¡¯t matter if I was running or flying here - people expected big shows at the School. I ran onto the field, jumped, and with a mental twist in a new-but-familiar skill, I unfurled my new wings for the first time.


    Light exploded around me as I gasped. Six gorgeous wings emerged from my back, three on either side. With a single flap I shot up into the air as hard as I could, an explosive boom echoing in my wake. The last few numbers of my mana flickered as I regenerated mana as quickly as I burned it. I found myself needing to frantically twist and turn to avoid the various obstacles and other fliers, blasting my healing out as hard as I could.


    A slight shudder went through me as I berated myself for being an absolute idiot. I¡¯d known I was probably going to crack the sound barrier, I just hadn¡¯t thought I was going to do it so quickly or easily. The sheer force and pressure from it was enough to blow out eardrums, rattle bodies, and otherwise cause modest harm to all the other fliers.


    My healing was mitigating any serious[Oath] violations - everyone was staying pretty much in perfect health, just getting shaken up a bit as my shockwave passed over them - but it was still a deeply unpleasant feeling. I held my hands up and hung my head in shame as two instructors swarmed me.


    ¡°I know, I know, I fucked up.¡± I said before they could say anything. ¡°New skill, two new classes, was too excited and wasn¡¯t thinking properly. Everyone¡¯s already fixed up.¡±


    Once in a while I wondered why cities had various means of segregating high-statted Classers from other people, or in other words, why children had safe zones of their own. Then I got reminded that it only took half a moment of carelessness to cause massive harm.


    I swallowed my pride and let myself get equally berated and lectured by the two flying [Instructors]. It wasn¡¯t the first time, but it¡¯d hopefully be the last.


    Lucky for me, I knew they couldn¡¯t ever spend too much time on one person. There was bound to be - yup, there it was, someone else new to the skill had just let it fail on themselves half a mile above ground. The two were off like a shot on an intercept course, and I went back to testing [Wings of the Seraphim].


    The first thing I did was activate my anti-friction runes. Not only would I go faster, but I wouldn¡¯t leave a devastating sonic boom in my wake. The term ¡®anti-friction¡¯ occasionally got members of the School of Natural Philosophy up in arms. According to them, the rune was horribly misnamed, and should be called something different for the effect it produced.


    I was on team ¡®we all know what it means and the name¡¯s fine¡¯.


    Hmmm. Was it worth trying to change the skill to prevent it at all? It was a horribly untargeted ¡®attack¡¯, and I could see it causing more problems than it was worth. Something to think about.


    I flapped my way up, my six wings not moving all in unison, and quickly reached the ¡®ceiling¡¯ to the flight zone. Then I dove, pushing my body to its limits, using the stat-boosting runes engraved on my bones.


    I had basically never used them before getting [Arbiter], not knowing when I¡¯d need them. Now that I could restore them easily, I was much more willing to play with them.


    It was such an incredible rush. The air whipping my hair around, the gale at my fingertips, the howling in my ears. I¡¯d wanted to fly at an early age, and it never got old.


    The only downside to testing my top speed, maneuverability, acceleration and the rest was it went by so fast. I waited until the last possible moment to flare my wings open and try to bleed off speed, only to eat dirt.


    Wasn¡¯t sure how much my lack of injuries was from my vitality, and how much was my healing, but I suspected I would¡¯ve been taken out of here on a stretcher if it wasn¡¯t for [Universal Cure]. The instructors landed next to me as I sprayed dirt out of my mouth, making worried noises. I waved them off.


    It was a good thing I¡¯d picked a private range. That could¡¯ve legitimately killed someone in the main firing Range, forget the [Oath] violation. ¡®Whoops, didn¡¯t mean to accidentally scythe down a dozen students testing this skill, my bad¡¯ was no excuse.


    Another session of spellbooks later, and I was ready to test out [Six Wings, Six Million Feathers].


    The first thing I tried was summoning a single feather. My wings didn¡¯t manifest, which was nice.


    It was... a feather. The entire feather, from hard, pointy end all the way to the bristles in the back. It was soft and downy, a white feather glowing softly with Radiant light.


    Huh.


    I had a random thought strike me, and I got wildly distracted from what I was planning. I [Teleported] the ink jar to my hand, then dipped the feather in the ink, and tried to draw with it.


    It went terribly. The ink didn¡¯t want to sink in, there was nothing notched or carved, and all in all, fresh feathers weren¡¯t good for making quills. My finger would be a better emergency ¡®draw with something¡¯ object.


    Oh well. Live and learn. That was the whole point of this!


    Re-focusing on my new skill, I ripped out the page of the book I¡¯d ruined - it was more ¡®notebook¡¯ than ¡®reading book¡¯, so it wasn¡¯t sacrilege - and let it drop onto the edge of the feather.


    It sliced clean through, without a hint of resistance. I tried it on myself, nicking my finger, even through my subdermal scales and improved vitality. With another thought I made the feather super-soft, even the calamus bending, but not breaking.


    With a flick of my wrist and a mental command I sent the feather spinning down the firing range, effortlessly slicing through the regenerated blocks, before exploding with a command.


    The range¡¯s shields flared as it prevented debris from hitting me.


    Whoof! That had oomph, and I hadn¡¯t even been trying to maximize it!


    How many feathers could I summon at once?


    I tried it, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of feathers instantly filling the space around me. I could probably summon more, but I had literally stuffed the entire room full of them.


    I looked at my feathers, I eyed the destruction one feather had done. I remembered Auri causing problems with her [Burn Magic]. On the other end of the equation, it had taken a full-power [Rays] and hadn¡¯t blinked.


    I decided to find a nice deserted mountain to test against instead. I didn¡¯t think it was stronger than [Rays], buuuut my flight experiments were fresh in my mind. I really didn¡¯t want to hurt anyone, even by accident.


    I dismissed most of the feathers, leaving only a few hundred around. I practiced having them fly around in formations, fly in fancy patterns, generating some wind from the firing range to see how it impacted them. It was fun - I could choose if they got blown away from the wind, or if it would slice straight through it. That would give me a significant range boost if I was downwind of my target, at the cost of a little control. Mirrors had nothing on the feathers, which was a nice plus. I supposed they weren¡¯t actually rays of light, so there was nothing to truly deflect. Again, Mirror Classers could probably do some utter bullshit.


    The flurry of super-sharp objects make me think of Meng Ao. Wasn¡¯t this basically a direct upgrade of his black lotus petal skill? They were super sharp and in a huge swarm.


    ... Huh. I was probably stronger now than he had been then. Weird to think about.


    [Radiant Angel¡¯s Spear of Obliteration] was up next. I held my hand up, a gleaming spear of pure Radiance snapping into existence. It was a pilum in the Remus style, my experience, upbringing, and vague familiarity with the weapon coloring the summon. I could feel the waves of heat radiating off it from where I stood, and with my recently dropped [Radiance Resistance] I didn¡¯t want to touch it and burn my fingers off.


    I made a throwing gesture, flinging the [Spear] down-range. It passed clean through the first target dummy, leaving a sizzling hole of molten metal behind it, and embedded itself in a second dummy before exploding.


    It was more of a ¡®shaped charge¡¯ than a ¡®small¡¯ explosion from [Feather]. Beautifully, it kept itself mostly self-contained. On one hand, it made it harder to hit a bunch of people at once, on the other, it kept the hallmark of Radiance and what I liked skills to do - unerring precision.


    [*ding!* [Radiant Angel¡¯s Spear of Obliteration] leveled up! 1 -> 20]


    I immediately tried another [Spear], this one flying much faster through the air before cleanly penetrating two dummies. It ¡®fizzled out¡¯ after that, and I got to testing.


    Turned out, I could summon two dozen spears at once, and [Luminary Mind] helped me control them all, letting me fling them with a mental thought.


    Next up was a practice weapon, and I tried imbuing [Radiant Angel¡¯s Spear of Obliteration] into it. It started to glow, growing white-hot in my hands.


    Huh. I¡¯d expected to get punished here for a lack of [Radiance Resistance], but no. I suppose most ¡®imbue weapons with shenanigans¡¯ had innate self-protection, otherwise flaming swords and lightning strikes wouldn¡¯t work. Made me wonder if I could summon a spear then grab it.


    My ¡®ooh shiny idea¡¯ brain executed on the idea before I fully thought it out.


    ¡°FUCK!¡± I swore, dropping it and blowing on my hand. It was a little dramatic - my healing had instantly fixed me - but it was hot.


    It was clear there were two modes. ¡®Summon a hand weapon¡¯ and ¡®summon a thrown weapon¡¯.


    Right. I wasn¡¯t summoning extra weapons. Then again, pilums weren¡¯t really made for anything other than stabbing the other person or throwing them. I wasn¡¯t going to be blocking with one, and I didn¡¯t need to hold onto it to destroy something.


    I spent the rest of the day practicing in bursts, then taking spellbook breaks while I waited for my mana to regenerate. Finally, it was time for dinner, and I popped into my [Tower], grabbing a few needed cleaning supplies and clothes. I teleported back out, and quickly got to work, my heart beating with furious excitement.


    It was time! I had the classes! I had the knowledge! I had the levels! I had the outfits! Most importantly, I finally had enough magic power to pull the stunt off even with the huge wizardry penalty. Blasted weight increase from my biomancy had really set me back on this project. [Reality, Writ As You Will] was helping with a small discount.


    My witch robes on over my Sentinel armor, my broomstick enchanted to fly, I sat side-saddle on it and with a thought and careful control, I took off, grabbing onto my broom and hat as I took off into the sparkling night sky.


    ¡°Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!¡± I screamed out in pure joy and elation.


    I¡¯d done it!


    It had only taken me thirty whole years, but I was flying on a broom as an [Archmage], witch¡¯s clothes over armor.


    Just like I¡¯d dreamed of as a kid.

 Chapter Artwork: Elaine and her broom!

    Chapter Artwork: Elaine and her broom!


    By the wonderful Fuyudust!


    Gett your favorite novels at inder: I''m moving, and there will be no chapters until July 15th. This current week is acting as admin week, and next week is needed to finish half-settling in from moving. Making sure the internet''s working, my computer''s assembled, you know, all the things needed to actually write.


    On a positive note, book 13 is done in my notes, and I''m starting on 14! 13''s super short (69k words), but it''ll be the first book RR gets before Amazon does! Huzzah! I do need to set up the preorder link at some point.

 Chapter 541: Descending Upon the Northern Continent

    Chapter 541: Descending Upon the Northern Continent


    With her gift of gab, miraculously not lying or even deceiving people in the slightest, Iona had somehow persuaded the relevant parties to let Fenrir fly around the North Pole. I wasn¡¯t quite sure where lies of omission fell on Iona¡¯s [Vow] - there were times when they weren¡¯t allowed, and Iona was an endless chatterbox, then it swung back and Iona didn¡¯t have to explain everything. Best I could tell, her understanding of the spirit of her [Vow] continued to evolve.


    Fenrir being fully armored didn¡¯t fit with anyone¡¯s plans except his, where he dreamed of battling endless legions of gigantic monsters to free Auri, who was surely held captive in some foul lair. Fair point to him - if we needed to battle legions of gigantic monsters, his armor would help. For leaving the School and the phoenixes themselves, the armor was a hindrance.


    It had been hastily stuffed into my [Tower], along with all the other bags and trunks we¡¯d brought along, and I¡¯d heard some awkward cracking and breaking noises as I stuffed everything in. One of my chests had gotten stuck between an unmoving stone and my strength, a bunch of bananas bursting and desecrating a hat of mine.


    I hadn¡¯t packed them like that, the big shuffle from upgrading my skill had fucked me over once again. One of these days - probably right after we got Auri back - I was going to remove everything from my [Tower], and redo the whole thing.


    Basically everyone could use a spell once it was made. It was the creation that was difficult. I¡¯d made a dozen different spells for Iona, from a charm that enclosed her head in fresh, breathable air, to a spell that turned her skin impervious to acid. None of it would last particularly long, nor was it very strong stuff, but it didn¡¯t need to be. They were simple ¡®let Iona stay in Fenrir¡¯s mouth¡¯ spells, with a hefty dosing of ¡®in case of accidental swallowing...¡¯


    While warm and summery in the south, the north was in the depths of winter. It didn¡¯t help that in order to properly sell Fenrir leaving the island, we were departing while over the North Pole. Even on the Island, with its shields and huge number of quality of life spells, it was freezing. The wind howled, bringing a flurry of snowflakes dancing through the School under an eternal night.


    Our nighttime exit from the School went off without a hitch. Fenrir left, flapping in the wind with a roar of triumph. The weather had to be great for his Storm class.


    It was both easier and harder for me. Kunchenjab had helpfully displayed a number of Jiwa runes for seeing things, and I cast all of them. The world sprung around me in a thousand glorious details.


    Delicate golden lines criss-crossed the School, one going right through me. A silvery web was overlaying the ground, and I could see a thick pillar of white light shooting up into the air, terminating on the ever-shifting animal high up in the School¡¯s sky that told time. Dozens and dozens more spells, wards, and charms sprung to life around me.


    Whooooa. Was this how Auri saw the world?


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the Class Skill [All The Magic of the World is Laid Bare Before My Eyes]. Would you like to replace a skill with it?]


    I spent a moment ruminating on the skill while trying to adjust to everything I was seeing. In the end, I declined. The skill didn¡¯t require a lot of magic power, and I could mostly replicate what it did with wizardry. I wanted skills that I couldn¡¯t easily replace with a spell I already knew.


    It sounded glorious though.


    The important parts were the swirling shields around the School. The island was encased in a blue shield with runes swirling like lace all around it, a clear dome that looked crystalized like a cut gem, and millions upon millions of tiny red dots. It would¡¯ve been a little too easy if they were all in a single layer.


    I was a little disappointed that neither [Erudite Archmage] nor [Seraph of the Dawn] leveled up looking at all this cool new magic. I suppose my level was higher than most people got in their lifetime, and I couldn¡¯t just stroll down the road picking levels up anymore, large experience boost from [Endless Pursuit of Knowledge] or not.


    I made sure we were all paid up at The Wandering Inn for the next few weeks - didn¡¯t want to give the game away by checking out while we were over the North - and slipped the key under the door to our clean room. Just because there was a [Cleaner] dedicated to turning over the room, didn¡¯t mean we had to make more work for him. The broomstick I¡¯d just enchanted was great for that. Just because it was more durable and could fly, didn¡¯t mean I couldn¡¯t keep using it for its original purpose.


    Then using [Greater Invisibility], I slipped out of the inn. Thankfully, my broom was small and close enough to me, and the designer of the spell smart enough, that it came with me. I would¡¯ve needed another plan otherwise.


    It was fascinating to see the spell interact with all the magic around me. Some spell lines twisted out of my way, while I ¡®passed through¡¯ others no problem. I could see ¡®ripples¡¯ from my step being absorbed and removed. Not only were all physical traces of my existence removed, but most of the magical ones as well.


    There was no sense in being complacent. [Greater Invisibility] was an older, well-known rune, and anyone worth their degree should know a way to magically detect someone under the skill. I, personally, didn¡¯t know how, but that didn¡¯t mean it didn¡¯t exist. They really gave degrees out to anyone, didn¡¯t they...


    I walked to the edge of the island, [Teleporting] over new barriers I started to see near the edge, careful not to let my broom hit the wards. Wards that warned that students were approaching the edge.


    I wanted to dramatically step off the Island, but there were a number of additional barriers right at the edge, so I had to [Teleport] over them, letting myself freefall. I carefully timed each [Teleport] to get me over the layered barriers, contorting myself and my broom each time to avoid touching them at all.


    The wind gusted, grabbing the broom and trying to force it into the shield. I thought it was the protective one, not one of the more delicate alarm structures, but what did I know? I yanked the broom close to my body, acrobatically twisting in the air somehow - thank you dexterity - before falling enough to teleport for the last time out of the School.


    Possibly massive overkill for getting out. Possibly the only reason a hunter-killer team of Wardens wasn¡¯t dispatched to handle me. Immortals in mortal lands was their ¡®keeping the blades sharp¡¯ job - enforcing the North¡¯s neutrality was their true calling.


    Fortunately, monsters tended not to send [Couriers] off to the Wardens. We were free and clear, and didn¡¯t need to worry about them too much.To?p novel updates on


    Unfortunately, we were still in view of the School, and [Wings of the Seraphim] were about as flashy as a flying skill got. I couldn¡¯t use it under [Greater Invisibility] because of how Radiance and Mirage interacted, and my initial plan of ¡®just go splat on the ground and have Fenrir find me¡¯ was ruined by the heavy snow covering the North Pole. That¡¯s where the broom came in!


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.


    I put it between my legs and shot off towards the wyvern, Iona¡¯s companion occasionally shooting off [Lightning Bolts]. Anyone watching might think it was a dominance display - I knew he was lighting himself up enough that I could find him.


    We made it out of the blizzard, the glorious night sky with all its stars glittering unfurling above us, like some cosmic building spilling a jug of milk. We were lucky enough to see an aurora, glimmering ribbons of green and blue spilling across the night sky in beautiful celestial splendor. A herd of elk were trotting along


    That¡¯s when Fenrir got cored.


    One moment we were flying around, the next Fenrir bucked and screamed as a thick jade-colored spear of ice went through his body, belly to spine, exploding out the back in a shower of steaming, freezing gore.


    [Persistent Casting] was the unsung hero of my kit, letting me permanently keep [Universal Cure] on. My first thought, as I flew unsecured through the air, was to check on Fenrir.


    He was alright. In spite of his spine being broken, the attack going straight through his skill and vitality-reinforced skills, the attack had only destabilized him slightly. My healing had immediately snapped everything back together - after he¡¯d reflexively flung me off his back.


    Iona had a skill for riding, and had stuck to his neck like she was glued there. Her bow was already out, firing endless [Hailstorms] towards the ground, where the attack had come from.


    I snapped my wings out, spinning and dodging around in an erratic pattern, scanning the ground for the attacker. Between the snow and Iona¡¯s [Hailstorm], I couldn¡¯t see who or what was attacking us. More spears of jade-colored Ice lanced up from the ground, rapidly turning into an impossible storm. Staring at the source of the attacks, I only saw a small hole in the snow.


    [Six Wings, Six Million Feathers] combined well with [Radiant Angel¡¯s Spear of Obliteration], and I sent a few probing attacks in the direction of the attacker, joined by a few of Fenrir¡¯s Ice spears. I held back, knowing my main job here wasn¡¯t long-range damage, but to keep everyone alive. I had great healing, but Fenrir was big.


    Kill. Placate. Drive off. Tolerate. The four ways Rangers had to handle a problem. There was a last one, based on assumptions that didn¡¯t apply to Rangers, that never even crossed my mind when I¡¯d worked as one.


    Run away.


    I flew near Iona, my attacks still in the air. Dozens of spikes continued to fly at us, focused on Fenrir, in a deadly barrage. Every time Fenrir was hit he staggered in the air, slowing down as his wing was torn then repaired, as his guts exploded out then got instantly fixed.


    I had a brief vision of the Formorian war flash across my vision, as the Sentinels dove into endless needle barrages. This was the same thing, writ large.


    Nobody died today. Not on my watch. [Event Horizon] started to put in some serious work, intercepting shots that strayed close enough to me, vanishing the attacks into the endless darkness.


    ¡°We need to leave!¡± I shouted. Iona¡¯s eyes went huge as she stared at something behind me. I twisted my neck around to see what was coming.


    A gigantic ghostly scorpion, clearly a projection of some sort, stretched for a mile. Its body shimmered with stars, outlining and defining where it was. Its malicious curved tail nearly reached the clouds. The monster reached up with an incorporeal claw, grabbing the aurora above us, then brought it down on our bodies.


    Fenrir used [Flash Wing], and in a crackle of Lightning, leapt forward with Iona, trying to dodge the attack. I was small and hard to kill, I didn¡¯t mind them trying to avoid the epicenter of the attack without me.


    It passed through us like a thousand red-hot knives through soft butter. Dozens of criss-crossing bloody lines popped up on Fenrir as the aurora effortlessly passed through him. The attack was so clean in some ways, but the aurora was so big, I couldn¡¯t just heal it as it happened. Like a blade a kilometer long slicing through us. I lost a leg while Iona got bisected at the waist. Fenrir half-exploded into bloody chunks, his rapidly reforming body ¡®pushing¡¯ all the chunks away at high speed, baptizing up all in blood.


    The wyvern shot a devastating set of [Lightning Bolts] back towards the source of the attacks. My Radiance skills landed with similarly devastating effect, turning the patch of snow and ice into a steamy sauna. I vaguely hoped to get a kill notification as I parboiled the scorpion.


    No such luck.


    We weren¡¯t standing still. The whole time Fenrir was pushing himself, hurtling along. The scorpion - I assumed it was a scorpion, with the shape it was manifesting - was just so damn large.


    Still, it felt like we were leaving it behind, and the endless barrage of jade-Ice was coming in at a steeper and steeper angle. I pushed my flight, hurrying to catch up with Fenrir. It was clear he was the target, a delicious meal for the bug. Heck, if it was actually normal-scorpion-sized, with how things were preserved here, it could literally last the bug decades. He was faster than me, but still well in range of [Universal Cure]. Iona had him slow down a bit, just to be safe.


    The oversized bug, seeing his attack with the aurora fail, waved it through us a few more times. I twisted and turned, keeping the smallest amount slicing through. I didn¡¯t think it mattered - I barely noticed my hand falling off and regenerating, same with my feet - but I never knew when the attack would have some more oomph to it, something that could give my healing a run for its money. If not today, then in the future. Carelessly taking every attack was a sure way to end up dead one day.


    Fenrir was not having a good time of it. My mana was slowly but steadily going down, Iona¡¯s companion¡¯s massive bulk significant to regenerate. Four slices through, four bloody sets of falling chunks I maneuvered through, four full-wyvern bodies regenerated, and the scorpion stopped.


    Then it reached out with an impossibly large claw, and with the speed, power, size, and surprise factor, suddenly targeted the bright glowing angel in the sky. Its claw tightened around my neck, and decapitated me with a snip.


    My naked body regenerated so fast it sent my old body cannonballing down to the ground below. I shivered as I flew up to Iona, landing on Fenrir¡¯s back.


    ¡°Go go go!¡± I shouted, and we were off.

 Chapter 542: The Northern Continent I

    Chapter 542: The Northern Continent I


    We blazed out of the scorpion¡¯s territory in a freezing gale. Naked + winter + north pole was a terrible mix, and we landed soon. I used one of my built-in runes to create a metal half-dome around us, then promptly teleported into my [Tower] to get another set of warm clothes and food. Upon leaving, we started a fire, and started to relax.


    Twenty minutes later we were chatting and eating when Fenrir snapped over to us, a frozen finger of Ice over his mouth in a silent shhhh. I instantly shut up, both Iona and I going on high alert.


    Swiftly and silently, Fenrir coated our entire shelter in a thick layer of ice, little snowflakes flurrying around him as the temperature plummeted. I wanted to shiver, but with supreme self-control, I let the cold in, let it flow around me. I think Fenrir was trying to hide us from a heat-sense as well, but I wasn¡¯t sure. I did know there had to be a reason he was deliberately freezing us all.


    Iona and the shrunk-down wyvern silently communicated with each other, a bunch of little head tics and subtle movements transmitting information. She then used some hand signals to tell me what was going on.


    Wolf. Large. Over 1000.


    Fenrir¡¯s Ice and blizzard in a teacup was muffling quite a lot of the information I normally got, but knowing what to look for helped me zero in on it. I strained my senses, interpreting everything, knowing vaguely what I was looking for.


    At first, I had some trouble believing it, but the ground tremors, the snapping of high up branches, and the casual pushing over of trees made it clear.


    When Fenrir had said large, he meant shoulder as tall as the pines. The lone wolf was massive.


    At ¡®only¡¯ a little over a thousand, I thought the three of us could take him. It might be a bit of a fight, but between outnumbering the wolf, our intelligence, and our class quality, it should be more than doable.


    But we¡¯d just gotten our asses handed to us by an oversized bug, and Fenrir had made the call. Maybe there was something he saw, or maybe he was simply being protective. Either way, I wasn¡¯t going to argue.


    Plus, there was a certain savage beauty in nature, in a ¡®simple¡¯ creature that had climbed so high. It would almost be a tragedy to kill it simply out of preemptive concern for our well-being.


    The Northern Continent was almost like a nature preserve. A place barely touched by civilization, ruled by greater creatures. It wasn¡¯t like the wolf was a threat to innocent farmers and civilians. He simply was.


    Unlike that bug.


    I think I was developing a nasty grudge against that scorpion. I fully intended to live forever, and maybe, in a few centuries and a thousand levels, I could head on back with the full Eventide Eclipse and get some revenge.


    It was hard to figure out how much time was passing when we were all trying to be still, on edge as an apex predator was near.


    ¡®Near¡¯ being a very relative term. It was a few miles away, but with vitality enhancing everyone¡¯s senses, the range skills could be thrown at, and distances easily covered, it was near. Iona could probably make a shot that far, and she used a shortbow!


    It eventually moved on, padding silently through its territory. I was a little sad I didn¡¯t get to see it.


    ¡°Should we camp here for the night?¡± Iona suggested. ¡°I don¡¯t think we can travel quite as fast as we planned, and getting some rest after everything might be a good idea.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m all for it.¡± I agreed. Fenrir nodded, and we got to work.Vissit  for new novels


    The cover and disguise Fenrir had made was good - we were just another block of ice in the tundra. A little unusual, but we were hidden from most creatures that simply used their senses, not their brains. No wolf would sniff us out, no xiaotingia zhengi would see us from the sky, no snake would sense our heat. Iona carved out chunks of soil that I teleported into [Tower], bringing out her armor, food, and other comforts.


    This was much easier than traveling in a wagon. Endless semi-fresh goods, although most were questionably squished. It was a shame we couldn¡¯t make a fire, although Fenrir did make us a little air hole. I cast a dozen wards to help us stay hidden and linked them to me, fueling them throughout the night.


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    ¡°How are you still alive?¡±


    She grinned roguishly.


    ¡°A cute pocket healer, that¡¯s how. I wouldn¡¯t try this without you around... and honestly, wouldn¡¯t be here without you. All balances out, doesn¡¯t it?¡±


    We were all high level Classers. Even our ¡®slow and steady¡¯ was quicker than most mortal [Couriers] going at full sprint, and we devoured land at a steady pace. The terrain started to shift, rapidly getting warmer as we headed south.


    It was so weird, going south and warming up.


    ¡°Hold up.¡± I said. ¡°There¡¯s - RUN!¡±


    I took off sprinting, Iona and Fenrir crashing behind me.


    ¡°Huge dinosaur just got thrown through my perception.¡± I quickly explained, omitting how uncertain I was about the details. Something big was either being thrown, or had the worst[Jumping] skill in existence. A moment later, a far-off crash resounded through the forest we were traveling through. A deep bellow roared behind us, the primal cry of a carnivorous dinosaur who¡¯d had enough.


    It was deep and loud enough to make my chest vibrate, and Iona staggered as it hit her. Fenrir instinctively roared back.


    Trees flashed before us as we parkoured through the deep woods, using tree trunks as springboards. I landed near an annoyed adder that tried to strike at me, but I was already gone before it could land.


    A response to the dinosaur¡¯s challenge roared back, the tone constantly changing as if -


    We broke out into a small field, and I twisted my neck. Yes, one of the other fighters was a gigantic silverback gorilla, clad in layers of stone ¡®armor¡¯ clearly made by a skill. It was beating on his chest, fangs bared at the aucasaurus.


    The aucasaurus opened its mouth, a ball of Radiance briefly forming inside before a [Hyper Beam] shot out at the gorilla, who leapt off to the side. The dinosaur swung its head, the beam carving through the forest and setting fires everywhere it went - including in front of us.


    ¡°Go! Go! Go!¡± Iona shouted, her head down as she pounded over the ground. Fenrir liberally blasted Lightning around the two of us, flying back and forth to keep us safe.


    We weren¡¯t the only creatures running for their lives. The forest erupted into life around us. Velociraptors ran next to deer, not bothering to try and take a nibble out of their flank. Squirrels hopped onto the backs of beelzebufos, the oversized frogs hopping away at top speed. A small herd of einiosauruses started to stampede, one of them bodying a tree hard enough that it fell over. Even a treant seemed to be speedrunning its curse, slowly uprooting itself to start waddling away. Iona snapped out her bow, and started shooting other animals in non-lethal spots, aiming for legs and knees. At one point a beelzebufo hopped close to her, and she lashed out with a chop, breaking its spine and leaving it helplessly croaking behind us.


    People loved to laugh about ¡®I don¡¯t need to outrun the monster, I just need to outrun you¡¯, but it was a lot less funny when it was actually happening.


    Most of the creatures fell down as the gorilla pounded the earth, sending rippling shockwaves for miles. Iona and I kept our footing, and I bounded over the back of a saurolophus as it was the fastest path.


    ¡°Hey Elaine!¡± Iona looked like she was having the time of her life, an adrenaline junkie getting the best fix possible. ¡°We should have Fenrir scare more animals and travel like this! We¡¯ll be there in no time!¡±


    Oh Goddesses.


    She was hopeless.


    I loved her so much.

 Chapter 543: The Northern Continent II

    Chapter 543: The Northern Continent II


    ¡°Why is it always snakes!?¡± I screamed to Iona as we sprinted through the dense jungle, a tiny Fenrir slowing down enough that we could keep up with him. Iona was sprinting straight towards a dense patch of bushes, my wife having complete faith in my abilities to keep the way clear.


    With a thought, I obliterated a thick mass of undergrowth with liberal application of [The First Rays of Dawn], a few ashes drifting in the breeze the only remnants.FOlloow newest stories at


    ¡°Snake!?¡± Iona leapt over a log. In the time it took her to leap, she summoned her bow and an arrow, twisted, and smoothly released a [Hailstorm] behind us. ¡°Snake!? If you¡¯re calling that a snake, of course everything¡¯s going to look like a snake to you!¡±


    I didn¡¯t need to look back to see the monster plowing through Iona¡¯s [Hailstorm] like it was nothing. A few slitted eyes closed and heads hissed at us, but nothing we¡¯d tried so far had even scratched its scales. Blinding and irritating was the best we could hope for.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see. Slitted eyes. Fangs. Hissing mouth. Long and sinuous. It looks like a snake. It hisses like a snake. It¡¯s trying to eat us like a snake. I dunno, it seems to pass the duck test.¡±


    ¡°What fucking part of that looks like a snake!?¡± Iona was trying not to cry-laugh. ¡°It¡¯s got multiple heads! It¡¯s got fucking wings. It¡¯s a winged hydra, it¡¯s nothing like a snake! Next thing I know, you¡¯re going to start calling dinosaurs snakes! Of course if you call everything a snake you¡¯re going to be chased a lot by snakes!¡±


    Iona slid under an ancient tree turned into a bridge, effortlessly clearing out a muddy trail. I slipped through right behind her, the log exploding into a million sharp splinters aimed at us a moment later as the typhon obliterated it.


    I snap-analyzed the shards. If they were going a little slower, I¡¯d let them literally bounce off me. As it was, I didn¡¯t feel like getting dozens of splinters. I snapped [Event Horizon] up, some of the splinters vanishing into oblivion.


    Iona had some different ideas. With a display of [Telekinesis] I found frankly impressive, she managed to magically grab huge chunks of them and shoot them at the typhon¡¯s eyes. Artillery Mage-lite - with more magic power behind it than most Sentinels of Remus.


    ¡°Something¡¯s up ahead!¡± I yelled, sensing... nothing?


    Which was sensing something. Wildly different from the unending bounty of the lush jungle.


    The trees suddenly stopped, leaving a great circle of nothing in the middle of the jungle. I spent a moment absorbing it all.


    It was like the world had been scoured down to the bedrock. Forget heavy leaves and thick trees, colorful flowers and blooming bushes - there wasn¡¯t even dirt. It was like a titan had taken a cookie cutter to the jungle, cleanly removing a chunk.


    The typhon skidded to a halt, wings flaring and heads hissing as it refused to go past the clearly demarcated line. Iona and I slowed down as we went a little deeper into the empty zone, not wanting to stay close enough to the typhon to tempt it into taking a quick little nibble.


    ¡°This is new.¡± Iona said. We both knew what was going on - we¡¯d entered the territory of another apex predator, one strong enough to scare the typhon off.


    ¡°Do we want to fight the typhon, or fight whatever¡¯s in here?¡± I asked.


    Iona mulled it over.


    ¡°Whatever¡¯s in here.¡± She said. Fenrir roared agreement.


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡±


    ¡°Everything else is coexisting. There¡¯s no reason to kill a powerful monster that¡¯s just being itself, and letting the cycle of life continue. Not here. But whatever¡¯s here isn¡¯t doing that. It¡¯s clearing out everything. Might as well leave things a little better than we found them, yeah?¡±


    I frowned at that.


    ¡°Or... we could just sprint through this territory and get closer to Auri.¡±


    Iona rolled her eyes.


    ¡°Well, yeah. At the same time, the question was ¡®which do we want to fight¡¯, not ¡®what are we doing.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Ugh, you¡¯re right. Want me to take a look?¡±


    ¡°Mine.¡± Fenrir growled, taking off. Iona shrugged, turned south, and started walking.


    ¡°Can¡¯t offer up a case near Fenrir without him taking it.¡±


    I eyed the omnipresent cloud cover.


    ¡°It better not start raining again.¡± I complained. Rainforests were aptly named, as I¡¯d discovered to my soaked dismay.


    Iona held up a finger.


    ¡°Wait for it. Waaaait for it... the laws of comedic timing dictate we get a rumble of thunder... now.¡±


    We stopped for a moment and listened. I snorted a laugh at her when nothing happened.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t always-¡±


    A mighty crack boomed across the sky, bright Lightning turning the overcast day incandescent.


    Iona and I took off sprinting in the direction Fenrir had just left, all banter gone in an instant. I squashed the traitorous parallel thought that wanted to say it doesn¡¯t count if it¡¯s someone¡¯s skill, but Fenrir deciding to sprint off without talking to us was concerning.


    I soon heard tiny whimper-mewling noises, some growls and wanna-be roars from something small, sloshing sounds, claws on stone, squishing noises, then Fenrir¡¯s [Icebeam] drowned everything out. We crested a small hill, and I immediately took in the situation.


    The apex predator that had scared off the typhon and stripped the jungle down to the bedrock was a slime. A gigantic, oversized slime that towered twelve meters tall, and slightly more around. The slime had cornered an akhlut pup in a small valley.


    An akhlut was basically the cross of an orca with a wolf, deadlier than either one. They had an interesting smell, like blood and brine.


    A pair of larger akhlut bodies were half-dissolved in the slime, slowly breaking apart.


    [Slime - 2231]


    [Akhlut - 8]


    I couldn¡¯t tell if the slime operated on ¡®inevitable death¡¯ or had been toying with its prey, but either way, the akhlut was alive.


    Fenrir was hovering above the slime, bathing it in Ice, slowly freezing the entire monster. Iona shot forward, going around the slime, then dropped down into the little dead-end canyon. ¡®Canyon¡¯ was being a little generous, the walls were barely ten feet high. She scooped up the pup, who tried to bite and claw at her, and easily hopped out.


    Practically mundane teeth and claws versus adamantium alloy? No contest. Worst possibility was the puppy hurting herself.


    I opened up my wings, taking to the sky. In a different situation, I would try to burn out the slime entirely, Radiance being alright against the gelatinous monsters. On one hand, they were like water in the sense that the heat was diffused and spread out, making it difficult to burn through or strike precise targets. On the other, that was exactly what was needed to kill a slime in the first place. However, Fenrir¡¯s Ice was trying to do the exact opposite, and we¡¯d cancel each other out.


    Instead, I scanned everything else, staying low as to not draw the ire from other creatures, but at the same time knowing the only threat was right here. I double, tripled, then continuously checked that my healing was up, everyone was included, my mana was stable, and the akhlut was now included.


    The puppy clear, Fenrir¡¯s beam upped in intensity. Crystalline ice structures started to form in the slime, which seemed to be shaking in rage. The puppy was now barking up a storm in Iona¡¯s arms, trying to get to the slime. Iona jumped up next to me, floating with [Flight of the Valkyries].


    ¡°She¡¯s got moxie.¡± My wife commented, nodding to the akhlut.


    ¡°Sooo, I take it we¡¯re rescuing wildlife now?¡± That¡¯s what everyone¡¯s actions were saying, but communication was key. No matter how much I assumed, no matter how in-tune with one another we were, there was nothing wrong with confirming.


    ¡°Fenrir seems to want to. She¡¯s brave, and I don¡¯t see the sense in letting her just die, no matter how ¡®natural¡¯ it is. Especially not to that.¡±


    ¡°Oh yeah. Seems like she wants to kill the slime herself.¡± I said.


    ¡°I¡¯d be amused to see the class quality from that, but I¡¯m pretty sure she¡¯d die just getting close to the ice.¡±


    Fenrir was almost done freezing the slime into a block of Ice, and the two - three - of us backed off a bit, the bitter cold making me shiver.


    Iona was fine, of course.


    ¡°Any idea how it¡¯s still alive if it¡¯s this easy to kill?¡± I asked dubiously.


    ¡°Both Fire and Ice are terrible elements here. I¡¯ve seen almost nothing with either one.¡± iona said. ¡°Just a few low level creatures here and there. There¡¯s no real Ice to get started with, and Fire with this much water? The slime has fantastic skills against almost everything else.¡±


    ¡°I mean, we¡¯ve seen Radiance. That tends to be great against slimes.¡± I said.


    Iona shrugged.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what to tell you.¡±


    Fenrir resized himself back to normal as the sunlight gleamed off the frozen tip of the slime. Waves of condensation came off the ice block as the freezing cold met the humid heat, then Fenrir landed on the slime.


    To my minor surprise, she was loving the rain, squirming in Iona¡¯s arms to get more of it. We traded a look, Fenrir joining in and failing to give cute little puppy eyes.


    Seriously, Fenrir looked eight different types of malevolent and evil. Poor guy.


    Thinking about it, it made sense Moxie liked the rain. Akhlut were amphibious. The fins on her back, tail, and elbows weren¡¯t just for show.


    ¡°Let me go scout around a bit and make sure we¡¯re going in the right direction.¡± I conceded.


    Fenrir was off in a flash, Icy walls rising up in a modest circle around us. Iona let Moxie down to play, and she promptly started sniffing around. There was a leopard tortoise hiding in its hole a few feet away - I wondered if Moxie would pick up its scent.


    Might be for the best, I was willing to bet ¡®puppy teeth¡¯ versus ¡®shell hardened by skills¡¯ would be a good lesson for the akhlut.


    Mindful of the fucking dragon tossing around fucking storm systems, I shot high into the sky. It was possible that whatever was in this territory would take offense, but it was even likelier that they were dodging either the dragon or the thunderstorm.


    My hair went up in a halo all around my head.


    ¡°Overcooked mangos!¡± I swore right as the lightning bolt hit me.


    [*ding!* [Etheric Aegis] leveled up! 222 -> 224]


    My body was smoking, and I wanted to file a complaint. Only two levels for getting struck by lightning?! Come on! It was no fair!


    Figuring I was high enough, I popped into my [Tower], grabbed my broomstick, cast [Greater Invisibility] with my chest rune, and teleported back out.


    I¡¯d originally made the flying broomstick for fun, but it was turning out to be an invaluable way to fly around invisibly. I made a mental note to go see a really good[Enchanter] when I was back home and get myself a really nice broomstick, not the slapdash job I¡¯d done.


    I scanned the horizons, trying to spot where we needed to go next. The heavy rainfall made it hard. I had super eyes twice over, but I couldn¡¯t exactly look through walls, rain or wood.


    Except if I was close enough, then [The World Around Me] would...


    I siphoned the thought off to the side.


    I was primarily looking for the ocean, since we were-


    My heart went into my throat as the soft glow of a distant volcano appeared to be just over the horizon. We were almost there.


    We were almost there!


    I quickly scanned the lands between where we were, and where we needed to go, marking a dozen landmarks and creating a tentative path. Avoid the steep canyon, and we wanted to steer well clear of the unnatural-looking swamp. The river looked crossable, which was to say, not teeming with high level predators, and the hills were a left-left-right pattern, unless we wanted to climb them.


    I looked down. Moxie and Fenrir were having a blast, the older predator trying to teach and show the new one how it all worked. The desire to get a move on warred with the sweet moment the two of them were having.


    Auri was right there. So close I could almost see her. It had been six years, and she was late. I didn¡¯t know what was going on with her. I didn¡¯t know if she was alright, if there was a problem - any of it.


    It... I felt Moxie could wait. It was a little selfish of me, but sometimes it felt like my existence was nothing but giving.


    I landed next to everyone right as Moxie bit down on the turtle, its shell going Mirror-bright before Moxie howled in pain, pawing at her face. Fenrir promptly ate the entire turtle whole, and I healed Moxie with a thought.


    ¡°We¡¯re almost there!!¡± I shouted as I landed in the mud. ¡°We need to go that way!¡± I pointed.


    Moxie yowled a protest, and Fenrir grumbled his displeasure, but we all started to sprint through the muddy, rainy savannah, dexterity keeping us on our feet while Iona¡¯s strength plowed through the thick, tall grass like it wasn¡¯t there.


    We blazed through, pushing our stats hard. Still, it felt far too slow. We were almost there! We were miles away. We were going fast! We had to detour around the swamp.


    It was agony. Not even the sweet agony of anticipation, no, it was the cruel agony of walking up to a wreck, knowing something was wrong and simply waiting to find out the extent of the damages. Everyone was alive, right? Who was hurt? How much? How wrecked is everything?


    A coatl shot out of the sky, aiming for Moxie. Iona started to react, reaching out to strangle it single-handedly, but I killed it with [The Rays of the First Dawn] before it could get close enough.


    ¡°Not this time.¡± I muttered to the smoking corpse. Iona [Telekinetically] snapped the body to her hand, and fed it to a happy Moxie.


    We got to the river and I paused, stomping my foot in frustration. I¡¯d picked up a much stronger blood and brine scent. Fenrir had clearly noticed it as well. Iona cocked her head at us.


    ¡°We need to follow the river downstream.¡± I explained. ¡°Might have found some more akhluts.¡±


    I wanted to sprint to Auri, I was willing to be a little selfish, but there were degrees of selfishness. If this was Moxie¡¯s chance at a family? I¡¯d take it. It was likely she wouldn¡¯t survive the phoenix peaks either.


    I hung back and let Fenrir take the lead, constantly glancing towards the reddish glow diffusing through the heavy rain.


    We were so close.


    The river terminated in a large lake, and when the wind gusted the right way, I could smell some of the ocean. The scent path also terminated in the lake. Fenrir snorted his lack of amusement, and flew up high, changing himself to full size before diving into the lake.


    The waters roiled and the waves splashed up to our knees. Moxie struggled in Iona¡¯s armored arms, trying to get into the water.


    ¡°No, girl.¡± Iona gently tried to soothe the akhlut. ¡°If you go in there, we¡¯ll never see you again. Just have a bit of patience.¡±


    Moxie yowled her defiance, struggling even harder, her instincts telling her the water was where she belonged. A moment later the water surged up in a huge bubble as Fenrir exploded back out, gently holding two squirming adult akhluts in his claws. He flapped over to us and made high walls out of Ice, then carefully dropped them in. One went to bite at Fenrir while the other one rolled over in a submissive pose.


    [Akhlut - 268]


    [Akhlut - 256]


    Not exactly peak predators of the area.


    I spun off a thought.


    The pair of akhluts - clever, vicious, powerful predators that worked as a team - would¡¯ve been a dangerous request back when I was a Ranger. There was a high chance we would¡¯ve lost someone if they developed a taste for human flesh and made the connection that humans were found on roads. Now I was wondering if I could use my worst stat and lift them with one hand.


    Probably... not.


    While I had [Luminary Mind] ruminating on how far I¡¯d come and threat evaluations, the akhluts had noticed each other and were staring at each other, noses twitching. Seeing the situation a little more under control, Fenrir shrunk back down to a less intimidating size, while Iona put Moxie into the pen, and the three slowly came a little closer, sniffing even harder. Iona slowly tensed, like a spring being coiled, ready to leap into action.


    Then Moxie play-bowed to the akhluts, who came closer, sniffing and licking her. I put my head on Iona¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°Awwww.¡± I cooed over them. Iona wrapped an arm around my waist.


    ¡°Looks like it¡¯s working out?¡± She said. Fenrir landed near her, looking pleased.


    ¡°It does.¡± I confirmed.


    The three akhluts slipped into the water, a trio of deadly predators unleashed on the traumatized fish population. I wondered if they ever hunted like crocodiles? We watched a minute as Iona stripped out of her armor in seconds, [Telekinesis] plus stats making the chore easy.


    ¡°Can you store this?¡± Iona asked.


    ¡°Sure.¡± I teleported her armor in.


    We were so close to the phoenixes, and against flame and fire like they wielded, Iona¡¯s armor was pure hindrance, adamantium or not. Pure heat was one of her bigger threats when she was armored up, and there was the very real possibility that the phoenixes could melt her armor around her. Getting her out of it would be ugly. Less ugly with [Teleportation], but ugly.


    Then we were off like a shot, the ground blurring as we ran miles and miles as fast as we could, taking advantage of most living things hunkering down in the brutal storm. The hills grew bigger and bigger, and Iona pointed.


    ¡°Shouldn¡¯t we climb that one and get our bearings?¡± She suggested. ¡°We might already be here.¡±


    I nodded my agreement, and the two of us went on the fastest hike of our lives. A glorious mountain-and-ocean vista unfurled before us as we crested the summit, the peak suddenly having bright sunlight instead of rain.


    Mountain after beautiful mountain stretched out before us. A volcano was burbling. One peak had a whole roc phoenix on it.


    And by the ocean, a penguin phoenix, clad in white flames, was diving into the ocean. It hit the water with a gigantic eruption of steam.


    We¡¯d made it.

 Chapter 544: The Phoenix Peaks

    Chapter 544: The Phoenix Peaks


    I spent an endless moment taking it all in. The mountains, rising high into the sky before crashing down into the ocean. The harsh line between the storms and the peaks, a clear demarcation of territories. An indicator that even the dragons were respecting the phoenix¡¯s home territory. The vast and sprawling forests on most of the mountains - with one I could see burned down to ashes. A volcano burbled in the distance, a roc was nesting on one of the mountains, and a penguin phoenix, of all things, had gone for a swim.


    Old me¡¯s brain would¡¯ve broken over a creature of fire going swimming. To the me here and now? Nothing was more natural. Of course a penguin-phoenix could swim in the water, it would be weird if it couldn¡¯t. The System made all things possible.


    Then again, I think I might¡¯ve been more than a little disappointed if Auri had come out of her egg as a penguin. They didn¡¯t exactly inspire the happiest emotions in me.


    ¡°We¡¯re here! We made it!¡± I cheered, squinting my eyes and scanning all the mountains I could, confident I¡¯d see a bright flash of color any moment. A hummingbird made out of fire dancing between flowers, sipping on their sweet nectar.


    I spotted a few phoenixes, one a dinosaur, but the rest mostly of the hawk and eagle varieties.


    ¡°Hmm.¡± My exuberance was starting to flag. Iona spoke up.


    ¡°You know, phoenixes are all intelligent. I can speak to them. Why don¡¯t we just go up to one of them and ask about Auri?¡±


    I wanted to smack myself in the face.


    Yes. Yes, that was a somewhat obvious solution to the problem. The phoenixes might care slightly about the agreement the Wardens were enforcing, but then again, we were just popping in and popping out. Words and diplomacy could get us fairly far, if applied properly.


    ¡°We did have a few at our wedding. That¡¯s got to count for something.¡± I agreed. ¡°Should we go find the owl and talk with him, or... your call, you know this stuff better than I do.¡±


    Iona was pleased as punch from my compliment.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see if one of the locals will guide us. There¡¯s nothing better for getting through layers of society than to be escorted by a known individual.¡±


    Huh. Made sense to me, I wrote the rule down in [Astral Archive¡¯s] big book of social rules. I¡¯d kind of already known it, with guards escorting me and the like, but hearing it boiled down so succinctly and clearly was nice.


    ¡°Right. Got an idea which one we should approach?¡± Iona¡¯s cheat to see skills was a never-ending font of value, as was her ability to speak any language.


    ¡°Yeah. Let¡¯s go for the phoenix over there. Nobody¡¯s got a language skill, but he¡¯s lower-level, and his skills are less destructive.¡± The phoenix in question might¡¯ve been a red-tailed hawk style phoenix, but I wasn¡¯t quite sure. My birdwatching was mediocre on the best of days - mostly trying to match birds to what I¡¯d seen idly browsing through bird books - and the whole ¡®made entirely out of fire¡¯ threw me for a loop.


    [Mage - 384]. A fairly young phoenix, and Iona told me he was ¡®only¡¯ 90 years old. I wasn¡¯t sure what phoenixes did all day, and if that level rate was good or not. Compared to a mortal living their life, it was decent, although I¡¯d seen how unfairly the System lavished classes and skills on the living flames.


    ¡°Walk or fly over?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Let¡¯s walk.¡±Vissit  for new novels


    The three of us headed over to the mountain in question at a brisk pace, not so slowly that it¡¯d take forever, but not so quickly that it looked like an attack. We were halfway up the mountain when the phoenix appeared in the trees above us, screeching a protest.


    Iona¡¯s face twisted and contorted in weird ways, looking pinched. She screeched back, speaking fluent phoenix.


    I couldn¡¯t catch a word of what they were saying, but it was entertaining to see the phoenix almost fall out of the tree. He screeched a clear question back at Iona, and the two ended up in an animated conversation.


    Then Iona screeched a question back, and the phoenix got pissed. A ring of burning sound launched from his mouth at us.


    Iona hooted at the owl. We¡¯d kept her ability to understand them mostly under wraps until they¡¯d left when they were visiting, but there was no reason to keep it a secret now. She switched back to High Elvish for my convenience.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Auri?¡± She demanded. I stepped in.


    ¡°She was supposed to be back weeks ago, and didn¡¯t return.¡±


    The phoenix flew off at impossible speeds, then returned a moment later with an amulet around his neck. The owl landed on a non-existent branch, wrapping a talon around the amulet.


    ¡°Release,¡± He then gave out a series of chirps, squawks, and screeches - I assumed that was the phoenix¡¯s name. ¡°... and then we¡¯ll discuss things.¡±


    Iona tossed the hawk phoenix up to the Pyronox phoenix, the former comedically spinning beak-over-tail with how my lover flicked her wrist. A quick exchange between the two phoenixes had the hawk flapping away to another mountain at top speed, Fenrir eyeing him up like he was lunch. To be fair, Fenrir could probably get a lot out of eating a phoenix. I debated casting an area cooling skill, just to show I had a solid command of Ice and was ready to use it, but some rough math suggested I¡¯d either burn an unwise amount of mana, or the display would be too impotent, and demonstrate an easily exploitable weakness.


    Ah well, we could literally sweat a bit, just as long as we could make the phoenix metaphorically sweat.


    Iona crossed her arms and stared at the owl.


    ¡°Alright, he¡¯s released. Now, where''s Auri?¡± She demanded.


    ¡°Is it my problem if she¡¯s chosen not to return?¡± He sniffed at us. ¡°Have you considered that she likes it more here? We haven¡¯t stopped her at all, you know. ¡±


    I wanted to rage and protest, but with how Iona had crossed her arms and was steely-eyed staring at the owl, I decided to hold my tongue and let her handle it.


    ¡°Maybe you should let us meet her, and directly confirm for ourselves.¡± She retorted, saying nothing else.


    The silence grew uncomfortable, and he continued talking.


    ¡°You have done well for... humans, I believe it was... to come this far. Crossing the ocean is no mean feat, nor is arriving at the Phoenix Peaks. Auri is currently taking on the Dungeon challenge. You can find her there. Now. I will insist that you leave the Phoenix Peaks, and do not return. You are not welcome.¡±


    ¡°Give us a proper map and directions to the Dungeon, and we will.¡± Iona shot back. ¡°Give us poor directions, and we know where someone is who can recorrect our course.¡±


    I was a hair confused. We were sure the owl wasn¡¯t lying?


    The owl narrowed his eyes and tilted his head at us.


    ¡°Fine.¡± He said. ¡°I will direct you myself. I will not step in, should you perish on the way to the Dungeon.¡±


    The three of us traded a knowing look.


    He was absolutely going to lead us through every single monster nest and apex predator between here and where the Dungeon was.


    Jackass.

 Chapter 545: Valley of Myths

    Chapter 545: Valley of Myths


    We finally got a name for the Pyronox owl phoenix. Auri had apparently nicknamed him ¡®Sasha¡¯, and I wanted to facepalm at her naming choice. Kinda hoped a gigantic snake would eat him after he showed us where Auri was.


    Fenrir returned to full size, and I think we managed to surprise Sasha with how quickly we were able to travel. Taking a suspiciously-meandering route, we didn¡¯t encounter any true problems, although there was the occasional delayed attack behind us.


    Something threw an entire pine tree at us, like a javelin. It missed by almost literal miles.


    I tried to speculate why we were being ignored while we traveled - wyvern-phoenix combo, maybe Sasha had taught all the neighbors to ignore the phoenixes - but I couldn¡¯t get into it. I couldn¡¯t do a deep dive. Even my partitioned mind got distracted, all tracks returning to a singular thought.


    We were almost there! We were almost at Auri! It had been years, and I missed her dearly.


    The terrain abruptly shifted, from a lush subtropical forest, to the first veneer of proto-civilization I¡¯d seen. A deep valley cut through the forest, with trees being burned a significant distance from the edge. Crude rock walls marked out ¡®viewing spots¡¯ into the valley, and my heart leapt into my throat at who was there.


    In a nutshell: Everyone. A flood dragon eyed a more classical dragon from across the divide, a xuan-wu in the segment next to the coiled monster. A winged tiger prowled back and forth, intent on the valley and ignoring the hydra next to her. Three-legged golden crows were across the valley from phoenixes, where the Radiance heron phoenix was hanging out. Manticores were next to unicorns, and a sole griffin looked bored. The sun was briefly shaded, and I looked up. A quetzalcoatl was circling with a kun-peng and a thunderbird. Fenrir was fascinated by the wyvern snoring in his spot, the scales a bright silvery, shimmering color as opposed to the ice-blue of Fenrir¡¯s.


    That was either going to be trouble, or great.


    There were more, of course. Dozens of different species with one or two representatives, and I wanted to freeze and crawl into a hole as I spotted a pair of silver-masked Wardens on guard. One of them spotted us and nudged the other one, and a pair of glares followed us around.


    There was an uneasy tension that even I could feel. Stress wafted up from the combined creatures like one of Maxlin¡¯s alchemical experiments.


    There were obvious cultural things here that I couldn¡¯t hope to grasp at a glance. A dozen kirins seemed to be some mix of in charge, resolving disputes, or being servants to everyone - it wasn¡¯t quite clear what their role was, just some mix of all three. A few were effortlessly moving fresh carcasses to meat-eaters, and a tropical mix of fruits and berries to herbivores. A ¡®panel¡¯ of three kirin were overseeing a dispute between a hellhound and a penguin-like kairuki over a bejeweled vase. Two more were at the ¡®head¡¯ of the valley, directly over the portal in question.


    It generated far more questions than I could hope to answer. Where did the jeweled vase come from?? Who¡¯d made it? Why did a hellhound want it? What could it do with it? It wasn¡¯t like they had homes and potted plants. Who put jewels on such a thing? How would they bring it ¡®home¡¯? Just... why!?


    The only question I could somewhat guess at was how they were intelligent enough to even be arguing. That seemed simple to me - the System had granted them an [Intelligence] skill, or something related.


    I¡¯d seen exactly one kirin in all the years I¡¯d been alive and wandering around, and that had been Reinhart, transformed into an elven form. Now I was seeing a ton of the mythical creatures. I wondered if any of them knew Reinhart, or if that was a terrible thing to ask. Like someone else assuming I knew everyone in Sanguino, or knew all humans. I hadn¡¯t seen Reinhart¡¯s ¡®native¡¯ form, and only had pictures in books to go off of.


    Kirin were the epitome of grace. A deer¡¯s body, an ox¡¯s tail, hooves of a horse and a flood dragon-like head, their manes flowed like flames. Their scaled skin shimmered with fantastical colors, most of which defied definition or description.


    Sasha went to land at the phoenix¡¯s spot, and we went to land next to Sasha. He rebuffed us with a wing and a haughty look.


    ¡°This segment is solely reserved for phoenixes.¡± He said, and we took off, circling around on Fenrir¡¯s back, the Warden¡¯s glare following us the whole way.


    I switched to Creation and started talking with Iona.


    ¡°What is his problem?¡± I complained. ¡°He wasn¡¯t nearly this rude when we met him.¡±


    Iona frowned, deep in thought.


    ¡°It could be he was being diplomatic, or putting on a show.¡± She said. ¡°Alternatively, he was summoned as we ended up fighting a phoenix and then asking him questions. It¡¯s not the best of looks, and he could be mad at us because of that. Imagine if some random humans had been doing that to Auri. Would you want Sasha to react that strongly?¡±


    I frowned. Iona had a good point. What had possessed us to ask a little more forcefully? Nerves, maybe? Desperation? If someone had been doing that to Auri, I would¡¯ve hoped that Sasha finished the job, as vindictive as that sounded.


    ¡°Okay, in reflection, that had been a terrible idea, and Sasha¡¯s letting us off lightly.¡± I said. ¡°Makes sense that he¡¯s got absolutely no desire to give us anything resembling a helping hand.¡±


    Violence had beget violence, and one poor turn had earned another. I was smarter than this. I knew better. Stress and nerves were getting to me, and not in a good way.


    I took a look down, to see what all the fuss was about. Inside the valley was a shimmering portal. Three sphinxes landed near it, and nervously looking around at everyone staring at them, entered the portal one at a time. They vanished without a stir from the watchers. The sphinx observer yawned, gigantic lion¡¯s teeth bared to everyone.


    There were a few open slots, but I doubted they were truly unclaimed. Better to get in a fight with the known griffins, than to try and mess with an unknown monster.


    ¡°Do you think we can land on the border rocks?¡± I asked Iona. ¡°Just hang out in the margins?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I can easily envision getting torn apart by a dragon and a snake tail at the same time.¡± Iona struggled with sarcasm at times, her [Vow] a little strict. Her tone was obvious, and her words were entirely truthful.


    One of the Wardens flew up to us, his devil wings making his race clear for once. [Ranger - 1991] his tag said. Not that it mattered - the sheer number of creatures here and all their levels was far more important in any conflict than his individual power. Unless, by some miracle, all of them ignored us fighting, it all came down to ¡®who was annoying them more¡¯.


    ¡°Excuse me. What are you two doing here?¡± He demanded of us. ¡°Humans aren¡¯t permitted in the North, and certainly aren¡¯t allowed in the Dungeon.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not a human!¡± I cheerfully threw a wrench in his argument. ¡°I¡¯m a chimera!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m mostly human.¡± Iona said. ¡°Technically not a human though.¡±


    Our attempts to throw the Warden off his game utterly failed, and his hands dropped to the hilts of his slightly curved swords. Iona tensed, and Fenrir locked a baleful eye on the Warden. One of the kirins flew up to investigate. Iona whinnied at her, a voice filled with booming thunder and far-off hoofbeats.


    Could¡¯ve knocked the kirin out of the sky with a feather with how she reacted to that. Goddess, that blessing was stupid.


    The kirin neighed back in her native language, and the two struck up a brisk conversation while the Warden awkwardly looked on.


    ¡°Look.¡± I tried to explain things to the Warden while Iona and the kirin talked, Fenrir obligingly hovering in place. ¡°My friend and bonded companion¡¯s in the Dungeon. We just want to wait for her.¡±


    The kirin swapped languages to an archaic High Elvish. How old was she!?


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°They are acceptable to us. You know the rules.¡±


    Skills were being prepared, the Wardens were drawing their swords, and I found myself slowly backing away from the imminent free-for-all before I paused, a sudden thought striking me.


    What if Auri came back to this mess?


    I stepped forward again. A mixed group of unicorns and kelpies started to back away from the entrance, leaving plenty of space between them and the pissed croc.


    The kirin flashed up into the sky, the flood dragon retreated back to his zone, and everyone generally chilled. Except the deinosuchus, who was stomping and raging in the valley.


    ¡°Hope someone steps in before another group leaves the Dungeon.¡± Iona said. ¡°Otherwise there will be another fight.¡±


    For better or for worse, things calmed down enough before the next group left. The deinosuchus did snap at the unicorn¡¯s hoof as they crossed each other, who mimed a kick at his head, but that was it.


    Fenrir spent a good amount of time pestering the other wyvern. When a third, small wyvern emerged from the dungeon, the two of them went off flying together.


    Sasha came and went. It seemed like he generally had better things to do than stare at the Dungeon portal non-stop, but now and then he dropped by. He¡¯d have a quick discussion with the heron phoenix, then leave again.


    It only took a week of mechanically eating what Iona shoved in my hands, unblinkingly staring at the portal, to discover why everyone was watching over things.


    A treant popped into existence, a flexible willow bending in the light breeze. Artifacts shimmered into existence around her, and as usual, half the monsters looked at the valley, and half looked where the treant overseer should be.


    There was no tree there, simply a blank space.


    Then the valley erupted into chaos. A dozen magical ravens descended on a bunch of rings, and other monsters and beasts piled in, each grabbing what they wanted, shoving, clawing, and biting others as the free for all over loot started. The fragile equilibrium was broken. Branches flew and leaves fell like tears as the treant¡¯s rewards were snapped up by almost everyone else.


    The kirins stepped in again, taking one of the rings back from the birds and shooing everyone out of the valley with their loot. I took the moment to flicker a heal to everyone, fixing all the injuries. The lack of flash made it hard to tell what I¡¯d done, but Iona shot me an approving smile.


    The treant was right at the edge of what my skills could do, taking a penalty high enough that I noticed my mana drop to heal the tree. My skills were designed for flesh and blood, not wood and sap. Thankfully, I could heal all elvenoids, of which the treant was one. Otherwise, I¡¯d be forced by my [Oath] to carefully tend the tree until the willow was the picture of health. Given how slowly trees moved, I was glad not to find myself in that mess.


    I leveled from that. I had most of my notifications still suppressed, but I could see it on my stat sheet. The same stat sheet where I kept an eye on [Companion Bond Between Elaine and Auri], the one letting me know that she was still alive, still fine.


    What was taking her though? Was she really still here?


    We settled back in. Occasionally Iona would try to make some small talk, and I¡¯d answer her, one eye on my skill, the other on the Dungeon.


    Sasha flew over at one point, delicately alighting on the rocks between groups to the stare of some Wardens, then had a few words with us.


    ¡°Auri¡¯s time in the Dungeon is highly unusual, and far outside what we expected.¡± He admitted. ¡°They told us they were aiming for a far shorter trip.¡±


    Without waiting for a response, he flew off again, the Wardens re-appraising us.


    Fenrir returned, looking pleased as punch, shrinking down and sitting next to Iona. He¡¯d gotten a massive cigar from somewhere - I knew it wasn¡¯t one of his usual pipes - and had a shit-eating grin a mile wide as he puffed.


    Good for him. A small, mean, petty part of me wanted to be salty at his success and happiness, but we were all here for the same reason, the same goal.


    Auri.


    Then, at last, late at night during a pair of full moons, in a flash, a flare of five flames, a crackle of electricity, and the entire valley filling with shimmering lights, there she was.


    Auri!


    She was looking fantastic. The same size as always, but her colors seemed extra-vibrant. Her flames burning hotter than ever before. A ring of colorful molten Lava flecks surrounded her, like she was a miniature planet, and she had a little bird message capsule around one leg.


    Everyone got real interested at the sheer quantity of loot being generated, and a part of me noted the Radiance heron phoenix was taking flight, puffing himself up and starting to throw around bright skills.


    I only had eyes and ears for my little Auri.


    ¡°BRRRRRRPT!!¡± She shrieked, utterly ignoring the loot, and immediately turning south and high-tailing it at top speed out of the valley. ¡°BRRRRPT!¡±


    I¡¯m late! I¡¯m late! Sorry everyone, I need to go NOW, and get back home! Elaine¡¯s going to be WORRIED SICK about me! Oh no, I am SO LATE!


    ¡°Auri! I screamed, unfurling my six wings and taking flight. ¡°Auri, I¡¯m right here!¡±


    I shot after her, trying to catch Auri like she was a tiny burning ball. Fenrir and Iona shot after me a moment later, as most people were intent on what was going to happen to the phoenix¡¯s loot - far too much to easily carry or remove, and it was possible something would happen.


    Didn¡¯t matter, didn¡¯t care - wait, no. I did care. They were Auri¡¯s friends.


    ¡°Auri!¡± I shouted as I caught up with her, flying side by side.


    ¡°Brrpt - BRPT!?¡± Auri came to a comedic halt, right as I did. I threw my arms out for a hug as Iona and Fenrir caught up.


    ¡°BRRRPT!¡±


    Auri flung herself at me.


    And all was right in the world.

 Chapter 546: Reunion

    Chapter 546: Reunion


    Auri was back on my shoulder, chirping loudly.


    All was right with the world again. I felt a huge weight lift off my shoulders, years of concern and worry melting away with every brrrpt out of her beak. Iona and Fenrir landed next to me, giving us some space but clearly eager to make their own greetings.


    Auri conjured up two flaming clones of herself, one circling Iona with frantic energy while the other one landed on Fenrir¡¯s nose, and started animated dancing on his nose.


    ¡°BRRPT! Brrpt! BRPT! BrrrrrRRRRRpppT!¡± Auri was hopping from foot to foot, trying to cram way too many words and sounds together, practically tripping over her own tongue in her desire to say everything. ¡°BRRPT!¡± She finally demanded in frustration, throwing up a big flaming arrow pointing back the way we came from.


    I laughed. When I started talking, it was like the floodgates had opened.


    ¡°Sure! Let¡¯s go meet your friends! I can¡¯t wait! Tell me all about your time here. I want to know everything! I missed you so much. I¡¯m so happy you¡¯re back. What took you so long?¡±


    Auri shuddered at the question.


    ¡°Brpt.¡± She made a disgusted, almost throwing-up noise. I put my hand up to my mouth and failed miserably to suppress a laugh.


    ¡°You got stuck in a water level?¡±


    ¡°BRPT!¡±


    >


    I tried to put on a poker face.


    ¡°I think I¡¯m going to need the full details of it, and the rest of what you¡¯ve been up to, just to make sure it can¡¯t happen again.¡±


    Auri rolled her eyes in an exaggerated way.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± She fluttered off my shoulder, going first to Fenrir and bopping him on the nose. Then she hovered over to Iona, and tried to ¡®whisper¡¯ in her ear.


    I could still pick it up though, even without my improved hearing. ¡®Auri¡¯ and ¡®quiet¡¯ did not belong together.


    >


    We weren¡¯t traveling at top ¡®sprint as fast as we can¡¯ speed anymore, and we started heading back. I sensed one of the Wardens vanishing back the way we came from, and we soon made it back to the valley.


    Auri¡¯s friends were busy at the ¡®trading post¡¯, and I could practically see a flame lighting itself over her head as she looked from Iona to the post.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± She sweet-talked my wife, who laughed and strode over, cracking her neck with a great grin on her face.


    The poor kirins didn¡¯t know what hit them. I imagined social skills weren¡¯t exactly popular here, and if they were, it was more like [Posturing] and [Mark Territory] rather than [Social Lubricant]. Add in years of haggling and negotiations with cutthroat merchants, and the kirin¡¯s ¡®trading post¡¯ put up all the resistance of a kid¡¯s lemonade stand.


    Which naturally put her right in the good graces of all of Auri¡¯s friends. I¡¯d gotten a chance to study them briefly as Iona briskly bartered.


    All of them were phoenixes of various sizes. A pink flamingo, a thunderbird with four wings that crackled with electricity hovered high above, a little too big to easily ¡®trade¡¯, an ostrich, and a velociraptor. They all huddled around Iona as she concluded her negotiations, handing out prizes to everyone like candy. Burning rocks and caged flames, tasty treats and delicious fruits, phoenixes didn¡¯t seem to have much use for most objects. A downside to being utterly ridiculous and made out of fire.


    ¡°Brrpt! BRPT!¡± Auri shouted out a bunch of suggestions which boiled down to ¡®let¡¯s go to my place and party one last time¡¯. Everyone seemed to agree, and we all headed out, following Auri. Apparently, we could simply fly back to the Phoenix Peaks and nobody would bother us. The two grounded phoenixes hopped onto the thunderbird¡¯s back with practiced ease.


    ¡°Followers.¡± Fenrir growled, and Auri translated to everyone else with a sharp ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    They all stopped on a dime, turning around with impossible agility, spreading into an established formation. I vaguely recognized it from the Sixth Legion, and my heart melted.


    Auri had been importing tactics and teaching her friends! They listened to her!


    While part of me was gushing over Auri and everything she did, the rest of me was primed and ready. I¡¯d been on edge ever since we¡¯d jumped off the edge of the School, and had been attacked enough to know it was the right move.


    One of the silver-faced Wardens halted in the air a few miles from us. With everyone¡¯s stats and skills, it was pretty close. I couldn¡¯t tell what he was doing behind the mask, but it was pointed at us, a pair of swords pointed down and held loosely in his hands.


    I couldn¡¯t quite reach him with my skills, although I pulled out a dozen spellbooks, having them flutter behind me. Ten of them were useless chore and quality of life spells, but I couldn¡¯t cast that many spells at once, and I didn¡¯t want to offer up all my battle tomes for easily getting picked off. Smoke and mirrors. Iona summoned her bow and arrows, Lightning crackled on Fenrir¡¯s claws and the thunderbird¡¯s wings, and all sorts of flames started to grow around the phoenixes.


    It was the same Warden from earlier at level 1991, and I had no idea how a fight between all of us would go. We had numbers, the utter bullshit that was phoenixes and their refusal to die, and class quality on our side. On the other, weaklings didn¡¯t end up as Wardens, and having twice the levels on us was significant. I could fight eight level 450 [Warriors]. It wouldn¡¯t be easy or pretty - that was the level the Sentinels in Remus were - but I thought I¡¯d come out on top.


    The Warden was running the same calculations I had, and came to the conclusion it wasn¡¯t worth it. He angrily slammed his swords back into their sheath, then drew a thumb across his neck before speeding back to the Dungeon.


    ¡°You know, I¡¯m not sure why we worked so hard on hiding where we¡¯re from when Auri¡¯s about as distinct as they come.¡± I said.


    ¡°Gives them the whole world to search, instead of narrowing it down.¡± Iona answered.


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    ¡°Somehow, I think three minutes at an information broker asking for ¡®phoenixes¡¯ will get them what they want...¡±


    ¡°Sure, if they remember to ask. Although, yes, maybe we were going a little overboard.¡±


    ¡°Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrpt.¡± Auri blew a raspberry at his back.


    ¡°Brpt!¡±


    Then promptly complained about anyone possibly forgetting her, or not being able to find her. The more things changed, the more they stayed the same!


    The immediate crisis averted, we continued onto Auri¡¯s peak, landing in a meadow near the top of the mountain.


    ¡°Brrpt! BRPT!¡± Auri fussed over her friends, making sure they were well-settled and happy before bouncing back over to us. ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Yes! Give me the tour! Show me everything!¡± I said.Yo?ur favorite novels at


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    [Dexterity: 71,971 (Effectively: 766,347)]


    [Vitality: 225,977 (Effectively: 3,530,891)]


    [Speed: 213,209 (Effectively: 4,196,593)]


    [Mana: 739,932]


    [Mana Regeneration: 1,755,814 (+ 4,773,619)]


    [Magic Power: 969,337 (+ 43,377,831)]


    [Magic Control: 968,513 (+ 43,340,957)]


    [Class 1: [The Arbiter of Life and Death - Celestial: Lv 895]]


    [Celestial Mastery: 895]


    [Aurora Curialis: 795]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 56]


    [Luminary Mind: 610]


    [Universal Cure: 895]


    [Etheric Aegis: 240]


    [Event Horizon: 655]


    [Zenith Everlasting: 615]


    [Class 2: [Seraph of the Dawn - Radiance: Lv 870]]


    [Radiance Mastery: 870]


    [A Light Shining in the Darkness: 50]


    [The Rays of the First Dawn: 870]


    [Radiant Angel''s Spear of Obliteration: 45]


    [Celestial Dew: 870]


    [Sunrise Halo: 870]


    [Wings of the Seraphim: 870]


    [Six Wings, Six Million Feathers: 870]


    [Class 3: [Erudite Archmage - Spatial: Lv 740]]


    [Spatial Authority: 490]


    [Cozy Reading: 740]


    [Teleportation: 200]


    [Repository of the Magus: 559]


    [Tower of Knowledge: 94]


    [Reality, Writ As You Will: 540]


    [Astral Archives: 333]


    [Endless Pursuit of Knowledge: 650]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 533]


    [Handy: 30]


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 895]


    [The World Around Me: 220]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 895]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 895]


    [Persistent Casting: 670]


    [Tender Gardening: 108]

 Chapter 547: Bloopers

    Chapter 547: Bloopers


    The scorpion stopped.


    Then it reached out with an impossibly large claw, and with the speed, power, size, and surprise factor, suddenly targeted the bright glowing angel in the sky. Its claw tightened around my neck, and decapitated me with a snip.


    My head tumbled through the sky, end over end, no longer having long hair to get in my way. All my biomancy modifications were good for keeping me awake and conscious.


    Heal. HEAL! I screamed to myself, trying to activate the skill, not knowing why I couldn¡¯t do it or feel it. I caught a glimpse of a glowing six-winged angel high up in the sky, head intact, flying fast towards Fenrir and Iona.


    Heal!


    All my powers had deserted me. The System was gone. The ground was rushing up at me. I-


    I love you Iona, Auri.


    I shuddered as memories poured into [Astral Archives], pushing aside and compartmentalizing dozens of unpleasant thoughts. Fenrir slowed down enough for me to catch up, and I slammed into Iona¡¯s arms, pulling my knees up to my chest, full-body shudders having nothing to do with the cold.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Iona instantly caught on.


    ¡°L-l-land.¡± I stammered out. ¡°We have to land.¡±


    Only the extremely well-trained part of - I hesitated to call it me, not with the revelations battering my mind - was able to stay vaguely vigilant and aware of the world around me. I was scanning for additional threats and attacks, ready to respond but unsure if I should.


    I was in a bit of a daze as Iona landed in muddy tundra, in the heart of an old growth forest. I reached out for an old set of runes, instantly summoning a half-dome of metal around me to act as an instant, temporary shelter. I continued to hold my knees, gently rocking myself as Fenrir and Iona busied themselves around me, securing the shelter.


    I¡¯d died. I had the memories of being decapitated, of seeing a scared head falling to the ground. I - no, Elaine, the true one - had been in there. My stream of consciousness hadn¡¯t continued uninterrupted. I¡¯d come into existence the moment the head had been fully separated and a new one regrown.


    Tears threatened to freeze on my face as I dragged my fingers down my cheeks, almost like I was trying to peel my face off.


    From my point of view, I¡¯d been flying along, decapitated, then I regrew my head and carried on.


    Was that truly ¡®me¡¯ though?


    I felt like an imposter. The clone who¡¯d supplanted the original.


    The chain of events were clear. I had lost my head, my mind and consciousness falling to the ground to burst open like an overripe grape. That was the real ¡®Elaine¡¯.


    Who was I now? A mewling babe with multiple lifetimes of experience? Just...


    My mind circled over it again and again, going over the events, my horror mounting. I don¡¯t know how long I stayed there, the sun doing the weird sunrise-actually-sunset thing that higher longitudes experienced. The nausea and disorientation were intense. I threw myself forward and threw up, barely avoiding backsplash from the wind.


    Iona sat with me and caressed me the whole time, murmuring in my ear.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? I¡¯m here for you. I love you. It¡¯s alright. Everything¡¯s okay. Everyone¡¯s alive.¡±


    I shuddered at her touch, felt warmed by her love.


    It was fake. False. How would she react when she knew I wasn¡¯t Elaine, her Elaine, but an imposter? One wearing a skin suit so perfect her divine blessing couldn¡¯t pierce it?


    Goddess.


    Auri.


    It wasn¡¯t fair to her. She¡¯d destroy herself out of guilt. Elaine had gone to rescue her, and had died for it.


    I had to tell Iona. I had to confess. But her love, her warmth, was like a bonfire in a blizzard. I wanted to stay with her just a little longer. Enjoy her love just a moment more.


    For a moment the idea flashed through my mind. FOlloow newest stories at


    Just never tell Iona. Carry on like nothing had happened. Live a double life like a changeling.


    The guilt would destroy me. It would eat me up alive from the inside out.


    ¡°I¡¯m... I¡¯m not Elaine.¡± I stammered out, waiting for the inevitable blow. Iona leaned back - still hugging me - took a long look at me, and pressed back in.


    ¡°Yes you are.¡± She insisted.


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°No!¡±


    ¡°Of course you are.¡± Iona¡¯s hug was stickier than an octopus.


    A shrunk-down Fenrir came over and sniffed me.


    ¡°Elaine.¡± He concluded, nodding with the certainty of a detective who¡¯d closed the easiest case in the world.


    ¡°What makes you think you¡¯re not Elaine?¡± Iona asked.


    ¡°Because she was in the head! It got chopped off! She fell, and... and I grew back in her place.¡±


    ¡°Why does that matter?¡± Iona asked. I shot her a confused, betrayed look. She hugged me more.


    ¡°No, seriously, I¡¯m trying to understand here what the issue is. I get it¡¯s disturbing you, I want to know why.¡±


    Ah.


    ¡°Because I am my consciousness?¡± I said. ¡°Her uninterrupted perspective of the world went that way?¡±


    ¡°So everytime you go to sleep you die?¡± Iona asked with significant skepticism.


    ¡°No! Not like that. You wake up in the same body, as the same person. There¡¯s some pausing, but it¡¯s not interrupted. It¡¯s continuous.¡±


    ¡°Curse you! I swear I¡¯ll-¡±


    Splat


    I was not immune to dragontail.


    A familiar blue-robed demon was at the front.


    ¡°Martin! How are you?¡± I asked him.


    ¡°Elaine.¡± He didn¡¯t miss a beat. I was guessing being a [Librarian] included supercharged versions of my memory skills, among other things. ¡°Welcome back. Are you here to return the books you checked out?¡±


    I froze, my mind racing. Wait. What books? Had I checked something out and committed the cardinal sin of not returning it? Oh gods, how high were the fees? Wait a minute...


    Martin grinned.


    ¡°Just messing with you! Here for anything special, or just looking around?¡±


    I leaned in with Iona and dropped my voice to a conspiratorial whisper.


    ¡°Ah, well, you see, while I was here, there was a certain book in the section that doesn¡¯t exist that I saw, but never ended up reading. I was wondering if I could be allowed to take a look at it?¡±


    Martin went from affable and friendly to on-guard in a heartbeat. He glanced at Iona and back to me.


    ¡°It¡¯s going to strongly depend on which book and why.¡± He said. ¡°Follow me to my office.¡±


    We found ourselves in his sealed stronghold a while later, Martin sitting behind his desk with his hands folded on his desk.


    ¡°Now. Make your case.¡± He said. ¡°You are not here as one of the [Students] working in the library, but as an outsider requesting access to otherwise forbidden knowledge.¡±


    I straightened up, silently communicating with Iona. I was taking point on this.


    ¡°I¡¯m a [Loremaster] now, although I¡¯m unsure for how much longer.¡± I started. ¡°I¡¯ve got access to vast quantities of information, knowledge, and dangers already. I¡¯ve already been trusted to read the contents of the library in the past. We¡¯re looking to read The Secret of the Pekari, to better fight them.¡±


    Martin looked like he wanted to laugh when he heard the title. Instead, he shook his head.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to flat-out deny you, but please trust me when I say this. Reading that book will harm your ability to combat the Pekari. If you wish to learn all about them, there¡¯s a section dedicated to the Pekari in the library, which I will be happy to guide you to. However, if you insist, I will let you read it.¡±


    Iona and I traded another look. Knowledge was power.


    But listening to people who knew stuff, and was strongly suggesting against it was wisdom. No amount of power mattered if it wasn¡¯t wisely applied, and there had to be a good reason Martin was warning us off it.


    ¡°Alright, we¡¯ll skip that for now. Let¡¯s go hit the section about the Pekari in the library?¡± I suggested to Iona.


    She waggled her eyebrows. That wasn¡¯t all Iona wanted to hit in the library.


    A coatl shot out of the sky, aiming for Moxie. Iona started to react, reaching out to strangle it single-handedly, but was too slow. Its jaws extended comically large, and it ate Moxie in a single bite before flying off into the sunset.


    Wait! I recognized that coatl!


    I shook a fist after the feathered serpent.


    ¡°CORDAMOOOOOO!¡±


    I couldn¡¯t tell what the other Warden was thinking, not with their mask and lack of expressive body language, but I¡¯d guess he wasn¡¯t too amused.


    ¡°Divine blessing. I see. Many thanks to you. I will pass the information along. What did you want to meet for?¡± He completely ignored the elf passed out on the floor. Must not be a fan.


    Medically, he was fine.


    Iona smiled winningly, and I was confident in her silver tongue.


    ¡°Well! One of our friends, a phoenix, bonded companion to Sentinel Dawn here, went to the North Continent. She was supposed to be back by now, but hasn¡¯t arrived. We¡¯d like permission to go there and bring her back.¡±


    ¡°Sure, that¡¯s a perfectly good reason to head up there.¡±


    A day later we were drinking with Sasha, looking at the Dungeon.


    A great clashing of steel rang out through the temple, killing the music, and that was my signal to go. I slowly walked through the steel arch, keeping an impressed half-eye on Iona.


    The Valkyries did things a little more... violently.


    The Sixth presented arms, letting me walk through them.


    The Valkyries had a complex and intricate weaving of flashing blades moving at superhuman speeds and strength. If Iona walked at exactly the right pace, she¡¯d pass through them all without a single nick.


    Worst case, she¡¯d lose her head entirely. Literally.


    In their tradition, it was a test of resolve, commitment, and bravery. Anyone could pass through, and the idea was simple. If they weren¡¯t willing to test their lives against the steel, if they weren¡¯t committed or brave enough to weather the storm, what sort of spouse would they make?


    It was impressive, watching them-


    My hands flew up into my face in horror as one of the Valkyries slipped, their blade going straight through Iona¡¯s chest. She went down with a gurgle.


    ¡°Medic!¡±


    The Dragon was deep in her lair, stirring. Layers upon layers of plots and plans were slowly ripening, coming to fruiting. It was time to reactivate one of her oldest assets.


    With careful deliberation, she crafted a fine illusion, breathing life into it. She set it to walk free, seeing how it walked, ran, and jumped. How it would try to use skills.


    Test after test it passed, and she was just about ready to unleash it upon the world again, a deadly agent to further her aims. Last was the voice test, trying out the name it had the last time it walked the world.


    ¡°Hi! I¡¯m Sentinel Magic!¡±

 Chapter 548: Interlude - Pluvius Nix

    Chapter 548: Interlude - Pluvius Nix


    The month the Eventide Eclipse returned from the Phoenix Peaks.


    Nix.


    Nothing. Apart from. To put an end to, to cancel.


    Denial.


    Refusal.


    Pluvius had a home. Had a family. It all came crashing down around his ears one terrible night. His dreams had been haunted ever since, causing him to endlessly toss and turn at night. A comment from one of the [Guards] who¡¯d picked him up stuck with him as he¡¯d fought and raged, screamed and begged, and so he adopted the name for himself.


    Nix.


    A piercing whistle banished dreams of blades and blood from his mind, and Pluvius Nix bolted out of bed at the crack of dawn together with dozens of other orphans in various degrees of stumbling out of bed. Each orphan had their own bed. It was small, the mattress was lumpy and the pillows looted, but it was theirs, a single maple leaf at the top of each one. They all reacted differently, some jumping up like they¡¯d been hit with Lightning, others futilely pulling the covers over their head to try and get some more rest, others still simply crying at the start of the day.


    Nix helped one of the four year olds out of bed, not bothering to wrinkle his nose at the smell. She¡¯d had another accident, but Nix was sympathetic. He¡¯d had his own back when he¡¯d first come to the Maple Orphanage, and one of the older girls had given him a hand. She was gone now, and Nix liked to dream that she had gone off to bigger and better things, to a place where she had to share with one person max. Hasta was going to have to wash today, but that meant more hands washing, which meant it was unlikely Nix would be recruited to the task. He preferred getting assigned to the kitchen, stirring the hot cauldron for the stew and catching tantalizing glimpses of knives that the older boys and girls used to chop the vegetables.


    The crying child wasn¡¯t fully comforted yet, discovering her wet clothes and wailing more. Nix didn¡¯t want to be on the wrong end of a switch though, and hastily turned back to his bed, fumbling in his attempts to make it before The Matron came in.


    Eight minutes. That¡¯s all they got in the morning. A few of the children with an unlocked System were already done, spending a few minutes chatting with each other or trying to wake up on their own. Nix was halfway done with his bed when a pair of small hands grabbed his tunic, and a pair of grey eyes wordlessly pleaded with him.


    Nix sighed.


    ¡°Alright, just today, understand?¡± He asked for the eighth day in a row. Hasta nodded silently, and Nix stopped his own efforts to help the girl out. Everyone needed a helping hand in life.


    Finished with Hasta¡¯s bed, Nix turned back to his own when the door banged open. The Matron had arrived. Nix stopped trying to make his bed and stiffened next to it, facing the central aisle, along with the three dozen other orphans in their dorm. Her shoes clicked against the floor as her eyes silently swept back and forth over the orphans, evaluating them. Judging them. Eyes flickered from Nix¡¯s bed, to Nix, to Hasta, to Hasta¡¯s bed, and she swept along without comment. One of the kids sneezed. The Matron reached the end of the room, paused for an exactly prescribed amount, then swept back down the aisle.


    Rumors abounded about The Matron. The most outlandish was that she was a vampire, drinking the blood of children in the middle of the night. Some said she was an ex-soldier, no, an ex-Ranger. Others claimed she was an underworld boss, selling naughty children to fight pits. Still more claimed she was a [Cultist], secretly a demon, or the absolute worst one of all.


    She was a triplet, and there were two more Matrons out there, somewhere, terrorizing children.


    It was well-known that she could hear everything going on at Maples.


    The Matron paused at one point, glaring at a pillow. Then she moved on. When she reached the front of the room, she clapped her hands together and smiled.


    ¡°Good morning everyone!¡± She said.


    ¡°Good morning Matron.¡± Everyone dutifully replied in chorus, Nix included. Enthusiasm levels varied, from some children belting out the greeting to Hasta barely mumbling it. She looked like she was going to cry again.


    The Matron¡¯s smile was unwavering.


    ¡°Today is a VERY special day. We have a VERY special guest coming to visit today. She¡¯s donated quite a lot to Maples, and she mentioned wanting to do a VERY special project with you all.¡±


    Ears were perked, and a few kids tried to whisper to each other, their voices dying under The Matron¡¯s Sound control.


    ¡°Now, I don¡¯t believe she¡¯s hoping to take anyone home with her today, but we never know. I do know she¡¯s married and has no children. I fully expect everyone to be on their best behaviors. Creptus. Pugia. Jacta. Clesydrus. Crinita. Kitchen duty. Falca. Falx. Sweeping and cleaning. The rest of you, wash up. We want to look our very best this afternoon.¡±


    Nix¡¯s heart started to pound with anticipation and nerves. One part of him was sure he was about to, somehow, not get in trouble. The other was waiting for The Matron¡¯s shoe to drop.


    ¡°Now, some of you I am most disappointed in. Interitus. Return the dolls to their owners. Yes, all of them, and they better be nicer than when you first nicked them. Imera. Hasta. Nix. Pliromis. Please stay behind. The rest of you, please, get started!¡±


    A few eyes swung towards beet-red Interitus, while pairs of bare feet walked out of the room, filing past The Matron. The room slowly cleared out, leaving the five behind.


    ¡°Imera. You are sick, and there is no shame in that. There is shame in trying to conceal it, and I¡¯m not mad, simply disappointed in your poor decision to hide it from me. Go see the [Healer].¡±


    Imera nodded and ran off, The Matron¡¯s mystique growing in Nix¡¯s mind.


    ¡°Nix. It is commendable that you try to help others, but it is impossible to help others if you do not help yourself first. I expect you to be fully ready tomorrow, regardless of the state of the people around you. Go wash up.¡±


    Nix nodded, the words crueler than any corporeal punishment The Matron could hand out. He almost had a sympathetic wince for Interitus. Almost.


    Washing was both no-fun and exciting at the same time. Nix was too young to have had life trample all hope out of him yet, and he was at the ideal adoption age. Old enough to be out of the ¡®high-maintenance¡¯ and ¡®dies young¡¯ phases, young enough that his System hadn¡¯t unlocked yet and was still, in a word, ¡®moldable¡¯. Nix washed his tunic, then his hair and his face, all while everyone gossiped. Nix was content to listen in on the other groups, his sharp ears picking up various conversations. Far better to keep his mouth shut and collect the dubious wisdom of the group than to waggle his tongue and muddy the waters.


    ¡°Well! Everyone, please say thank you to Sentinel Dawn and Valkyrie Dusk!¡±


    The two women waved as the children chorused a ¡®thank-you¡¯. It didn¡¯t come sincerely from Nix¡¯s heart, why would it? The only thing he had to be thankful for at the moment was an afternoon at the park, although even that was questionable, as there was some sort of ¡®special activity¡¯ planned.


    ¡°The two of them have donated over a million arcs to Maples. In other words, we¡¯ll be able to pay for each and every one of you here today to take up an apprenticeship, even if you¡¯re not adopted out.


    ¡°Thank you!¡± Nix blurted out, the words quite a bit more heartfelt than before. A Glare from The Matron promised retribution later. He studied the two women closer.


    Nix wasn¡¯t sure of what he wanted to do in life, but being rich enough to casually hand out a life-changing amount of money to almost a hundred orphans? That was something he wanted to be.


    The Matron went on a speech for a bit, and Nix kept a perfectly still face as the shorter woman¡¯s eyes started to glaze over in boredom. He didn¡¯t let his mouth drop open - adults could do that!?


    ¡°... and I would like to now hand it over to Sentinel Dawn.¡± The Matron said.


    There was a brief pause, and Valkyrie Dusk elbowed Dawn. She started and looked around.


    ¡°Ah, yes! Hello! I¡¯m Sentinel Dawn. I¡¯m a bit on the old side, and I sorta invented medicine as it¡¯s practiced today. I don¡¯t do this a lot, so all of you should get some fantastic class qualities out of it, especially if you apprentice yourself as a healer. To a healer.¡± She laughed like she¡¯d made the funniest joke ever. Nix didn¡¯t get it, Diotima forced a laugh.


    ¡°You know what I¡¯m saying. Anyway! I have a practical, helpful project for all of you today, one that¡¯s a genuine problem for me. You¡¯ll all be able to walk away from today saying you helped a Sentinel with a real problem of theirs. You¡¯ll be helping me move objects from one place to another, then helping me put them all back again.¡±


    Nix wasn¡¯t the only one looking around, not seeing anything in the strangely-empty park. Diotima looked bright and bushy-tailed, like she couldn¡¯t wait to show off to the prospective parents.


    Sentinel Dawn¡¯s hands blurred, and a moment later, a vast Mirage spread over the grounds, marking it into a thousand grids.


    ¡°You might have to work together on some of these items. Don¡¯t worry about the heavier stuff, Iona will take care of it.¡±


    Sentinel Dawn gave them a quick breakdown of what went where, a solid third of the terms going over Nix¡¯s head and half of it leaving as soon as it entered. Even Diotima looked pained.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get started!¡±


    Sentinel Dawn then vanished into thin air, causing gasps from everyone. She reappeared a moment later, staggering under the weight of a ludicrous amount of stuff. A full wardrobe over one shoulder, a barrel under her other arm, and a chest between her legs. Iona rolled her eyes and one-handedly took the wardrobe off her shoulder.


    Nix¡¯s eyes almost bugged out. Iona casually crossed the park, planting the wardrobe down.


    ¡°Diotima. Pliromis. Off to the wardrobe, please empty it out.¡± The Matron ordered. Diotima gave a dazzling smile to Iona, ran over to the wardrobe, and promptly screamed when a dead fish flopped out of it onto her head.


    The orphans were giving the two women strange looks. Who kept fish in their wardrobe? Nix liked her style.


    The Matron gestured, the orphans stepping forward. As soon as the chest was placed in a new spot, she ordered a few more forward to help with unpacking and sorting.


    As soon as Dawn had divested herself of her loot, she disappeared again, only to emerge with another bundle of unusual supplies. The Matron was quietly freaking out.


    Valkyrie Dusk was starting to call out directions, explaining where various things needed to be put. Soon it became clear. Food went in one pile, clothes in another. Tools went under the old oak tree that Nix loved to climb, while dishes and forks were piled near a seesaw.


    He hurried along, loving the simplicity and variety in the task. What was going to be in the trunk? Surprise! It was a pair of mud-encrusted boots and a dozen cucumbers. Nix was convinced the Sentinel was quite mad and at least level 300, maybe 350, but to his surprise, found the activity fun! Dozens of orphans were running around and laughing, opening things up and sharing what they¡¯d found.


    He eyed the pile of weapons growing near Dawn¡¯s spot. Somehow, mysteriously, they were never jumbled up with anything else. Made sense - no matter how crazy she was, she didn¡¯t want to cut herself on a sword or stab herself with a spear.


    A bunch of meat pies showed up at one point, and the orphans devoured them as though they¡¯d never seen food before. A [Runner] was sent off to get more, and Nix decided, mad or not, the Sentinel was pretty good stuff.


    Diotima¡¯s eternal smile was growing strained, and the looks she shot the prospective parents looked more and more desperate. Nix¡¯s heart went out to her.


    The park was getting comically packed with junk. At one point, a goblet fell down on Dawn¡¯s teleport back, and Nix hurried over to pick it up and move it to the right spot.


    ¡°Hey.¡± Dusk said with a smile. Nix¡¯s heart skipped a beat, then the next two. She was talking directly to him! ¡°Pluvius. You¡¯re doing a great job. Thank you.¡±


    Dawn teleported back in the middle and smiled as she dropped a mattress with a shovel and coil of rope.


    ¡°Yeah! Couldn¡¯t do it without you Nix, you¡¯re solid.¡±


    Nix¡¯s heart grew three sizes as his head swelled with pride. He knew he wanted to be them when he grew up. They¡¯d donated enough money for him to get an apprenticeship, and he wasn¡¯t quite sure how to accomplish it, but he knew what he wanted to be one day.


    Nix knew he was going to join the Legions, and become a [Soldier].

 Chapter 549: Distant Friends

    Chapter 549: Distant Friends


    The month the Eventide Eclipse returned from the Phoenix Peaks.


    Iona started wheezing the moment we crossed the doorway to home, slapping her knee and letting her laughs echoing through our villa.


    ¡°The look on their faces when we told them to all put it back!¡± She pulled the shock-despaired face that had been identically mirrored on nearly a hundred orphans faces at the same time.


    I started to involuntarily laugh.


    ¡°I felt so bad for them! Just, like - there¡¯s a good reason for this, we promise!¡± I said. ¡°What was up with that crying girl? I felt so bad for her!¡±


    Iona stopped laughing, an awkward look crossing her face.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure she¡¯d pinned her heart on us adopting her.¡± She confessed. ¡°And realized near the end of the day that wasn¡¯t happening.¡±


    I winced as auburn-haired Titania silently showed up in the entryway, a tray of light snacks and drinks prepared.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Iona hovered them over to us, stepping out of her boots.


    ¡°Thanks!¡± I echoed, opening my mouth, tilting my head back, and letting Iona pour the water in it. It was dumb, it was silly, but it was fun.


    ¡°Do we know if Auri is planning on baking tonight, or should I prepare the evening¡¯s meal?¡± Titania asked.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you prepare for five plus Fenrir?¡± I suggested. Fenrir got his own food classification, given how much he could pack away. ¡°You¡¯re invited to join us, as always, and Auri might bring Atlas or some other friend round.¡±


    Currently, there were no Valkyries stopping by, and the pile of waiting letters was quite thin. It just drove home how few of them were around.


    Titania bowed.


    ¡°I¡¯m honored that you¡¯d invite me, but I¡¯d be far more comfortable eating alone. If you wish, I will dine with you.¡± She gracefully deflected my invitation, and I shrugged.


    ¡°No worries!¡±


    Titania bowed


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure I mentioned we weren¡¯t looking to adopt.¡± I circled back round to the earlier conversation.


    ¡°They¡¯re children, we could¡¯ve ran an entire parade past them telling them we weren¡¯t looking to adopt and had them all recite it eight times before we started, and half of them would still be secretly harboring hope.¡± Iona said.


    ¡°Ah, fine, alright.¡± I conceded. ¡°Dinner?¡±


    Iona smirked savagely at me.


    ¡°I think we¡¯ve got about thirty minutes before then. Need to let poor Titania cook, and I¡¯ve got the perfect activity after today¡¯s work.¡±


    I grinned back.


    ¡°So do I! I¡¯ve got that [Handy] skill I want to work on. Build a few new cabinets for my [Tower], maybe a nice dresser, you know.¡±


    I winked at Iona, knowing I was being a little imp. She held her hand out and I took it, happily letting Iona drag me to a room we¡¯d cleared out specifically for this task that got my wife more excited than anything else.


    A table dominated the middle of the room, and a number of smaller tables were pushed against the walls. Reams of blank paper were stacked on each one, three inkpots and a half-dozen quills neatly lined up on every desk. In large letters I¡¯d made a sign that hung from the back.


    Operation: Moonfall.


    Titania was a treat, and had outdone herself once again. Plates of little dippers were scattered all over the table. Bread cubes and pear slices, broccoli and cauliflower, roasted potatoes and pickles were all over the place, a bubbling pot of cheese fondue in the middle. After saying a quick variant of grace, Iona and I were merrily digging in with Fenrir at the end, the meal for six turning into three.


    Titania was preparing the second course, a hearty broth where we¡¯d dunk in shrimps and beef cubes, more bread and ravioli, thin slices of goat and salmon, cook them on the spot, and eat them. A chocolate course was after, and it was only Iona¡¯s rule that we give Titania a raise just four times a year that stopped me from paying her more than I made.


    ¡°Open!¡± I commanded, and Iona obliged. I [Teleported] in a beautiful piece of roasted broccoli, the cheese dripping off it into her mouth.


    Iona levitated a few into my mouth, and really, who needed hands at this point?


    There was a knock on the door, and I almost choked as cheese tried to go down the wrong pipe. Iona pounded my back as I reached for some water. Titania started to head off, and I waved her down as my food failed to murder me.


    ¡°No no, I¡¯ve got this.¡± I wiped my face off, stood up, and headed for the door. Iona joined me, and I focused on my senses, trying to figure out what was going on. Fenrir raised his head briefly, snorted, then went back to eating his entire raw cow.


    It was a bit of a curse knowing absolutely everything sometimes, and I often narrowed things down when I wanted to enjoy life and not know about mold, or rats scurrying along the edges of the villa, looking for a way in. We got more visitors than we used to, the start of a village springing up along the base of the mountain, but it was rare for people to trek alllll the way up to our door, especially now that there were other people they could bother if they were like, stuck in a storm or something.


    We narrowed our eyes at Amber, who grinned like the reprobate she was. One thing she was sure about over the years - Amber¡¯s coin was lucky purely for her. She was the one benefiting, and just because it was good for her, it didn¡¯t mean it was good for the other people caught up in her wake. As money-focused and mercantile as Amber was, she didn¡¯t want to hurt people, but there was no promise that the arrangements she was making and people she introduced to each other were good for each other.


    Gigantic book of social interactions or not, I was still a little on the thick side when it came to implications and unasked questions, nevermind the terrifying headache that was second-order effects. However thick as a stone wall my head might be, I did catch the hint of a question in Skye¡¯s story. Iona clearly had as well, and I¡¯d take her lead on when a good time to properly discuss it would be.


    ¡°I suppose it¡¯s our turn to explain what we¡¯ve been up to since we graduated!¡± I said. ¡°First were our adventures at the School, and it¡¯s such a shame you graduated when you did! Iona beat the stuffing out of the entire Rolland team single-handedly in a one against seven, with the Moon Goddesses personally descending to show their support!¡±


    Skye threw Iona a thoroughly unimpressed look, then quickly regained control of herself.


    ¡°No no, I¡¯ve got to hear this.¡± Iona said. ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    Skye took a centering breath and straightened herself up in her chair, the perfect image of refined elegance. I could see the [Princess] she¡¯d been.


    ¡°I¡¯m aware of exactly when that was, and I hope that my words do not cause you to change your disposition towards me.¡± Her tone was smooth as glass. ¡°I was, unfortunately, engaged in negotiations for a position at the time. We were walking down a forest path together, and the tone of the conversation was... cordial. Polite. We seemed to be reaching an accord. Then the moons shifted, the earth moved, and the entire estate was thrown into a panic, concerned about an assault. We attempted to continue the conversation after, but the mood was broken. The conversation perfunctory. I can¡¯t say I am sure I would¡¯ve been able to secure the position, however...¡±


    Whoops. Iona looked embarrassed, and briefly closed her eyes. There was a sudden presence in the room, weight of the divine weighing down on us, then a plop as an object dropped into our fondue. I immediately [Teleported] it out, examined it a moment, decided it was for Varuna and not Fenrir, then teleported it to Skye, who jumped in surprise. I turned to Iona.


    ¡°Did we just get a divine hoof rasp?¡± I asked in disbelief. Skye was eyeing the rasp with disbelief, like it was a snake going to bite her.


    ¡°Yes?¡± Iona had a direct line to the Goddesses, and it sounded like she couldn¡¯t believe it herself. Amber¡¯s eyes shone with greed.


    ¡°Should I change out the pot?¡± Titania asked, the normally unflappable [Housekeeper] seemingly unsure.


    ¡°As weird as it is, I think it¡¯s even more sterile than our forks. It¡¯s brand new and unused, right?¡± I asked Iona. She was suspiciously silent, and I knew that look on her face.


    ¡°Did we just get a used unicorn rasp into our dinner?¡± Amber asked.


    Titania didn¡¯t wait for an answer to our question. She swooped in and stole the pot away.


    ¡°What do you think?¡± Iona asked a few hours later. I flicked her with a finger, purging both of us of the generous amounts of alcohol we¡¯d been drinking.


    ¡°Titania, do you need a topup or energizer?¡± I asked her. She shook her head.


    ¡°Begging your pardon mistress, I¡¯m unsure why I¡¯m involved in this conversation at all.¡±


    Iona waved her complaint down.


    ¡°Because you¡¯ve got seniority. You¡¯ve been around longer. You¡¯d be working with her. If you think you can do the job and are better suited to it, let us know. If there are areas where you¡¯d overlap, let us know. We trust you and your judgment, and you¡¯ve proven to be extremely capable over the years. I don¡¯t want to step on your toes in the slightest, and value an honest assessment.¡±


    Titania hesitated, then answered.


    ¡°There¡¯s only minimal overlap between what Skye proposed she can do, and what I do. The overlap primarily pertains to the groceries, and I¡¯d be more than happy to offload that chore onto someone else. I like being here, and if her great big unicorn can make the trip to Sanguino regularly, good for them!¡±


    Iona and I traded a quick look, and I felt guilty. We were pretty close to the city for us, but for people without the same levels and skills it was quite a hike. The little village growing by the base of the mountain did promise to eventually alleviate that, but for now, I was tempted to say yes purely based on that. Iona fractionally tilted her head, wanting me to speak my mind.


    ¡°I¡¯m a bit of a sucker.¡± I freely admitted. ¡°But Skye¡¯s arguments and skillset were compelling. Titania keeps this place perfectly, and you¡¯re charismatic, charming, and like people. But what she pointed out about the village developing, the ¡®Immortals on a mountain¡¯, and the sheer amount of administrative and accounting work that she can keep on top of and opportunities she can seize sounds good. Even Night has someone who can handle that sort of work for him, arguably two people, and didn¡¯t the Valkyries have someone similar? We¡¯ve got the funds, we know Skye, and hey, as she mentioned, unicorn manure does great things for a garden!¡±


    Iona chuckled.


    ¡°Your true motives are revealed! You just want more mangos!¡±


    I gasped and put a hand over my heart.


    ¡°Well I never! Of course I just want more mangos! But it¡¯d be cheaper for me to just buy more, honestly, than go through something this convoluted. From a humanistic standpoint, I like being able to help people. From a Sentinel point of view, our team¡¯s tiny and most Sentinels have someone to handle administration and paperwork. Financially, we¡¯re in great shape. Hiring people to make our life easier seems like a good investment. It seems good to me.¡±


    Iona hummed non-committedly.


    ¡°That¡¯s a good argument for getting a [Majordomo] or [Chief of Staff], but is Skye the best one possible?¡±


    That, I didn¡¯t have a great answer to. My instincts wanted to say YES!, but there was an impulsive tribal instinct involved. We knew Skye, it was easy to bring her onboard and call it a day. It didn¡¯t mean she was the best candidate. The ¡®Varuna go vrooom¡¯ argument was one I could get behind.


    ¡°She... might not be.¡± I admitted, recognizing her admitted lack of experience doing the actual job itself. ¡°What do you propose?¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we let her crash for a month or two as a guest, as is only proper.¡± Iona said. ¡°We¡¯d do that either way. Then, I¡¯ll poke around a bit. See if there¡¯s anyone else we could compare to, and-¡±


    I had great senses, and while I didn¡¯t want to know everything always going on around me, certain sounds cut through the shroud of disinterest I tried to throw up, that perked my ears up like nothing else and hyper-focused me to using all my senses to the best of their ability.


    The quiet rattle of chainmail was one of those.

 Chapter 550: Slavers Die

    Chapter 550: Slavers Die


    The month the Eventide Eclipse returned from the Phoenix Peaks.


    ¡°Stop! Shh!¡± I held up my hand, Iona instantly cutting herself off midword, muscles rolling and tensing.


    I brought all my senses to bear, concerned at how close they all were before I heard anything. I only heard two people, and quickly triangulating their position was... weird. Two people just didn¡¯t walk that distance from each other. They were armed, and they weren¡¯t taking the road up. The noise they were making was so faint, it was like they were trying to conceal themselves - and, frankly, doing an admirable job of it.


    ¡°Trouble.¡± I said, popping into my [Tower of Knowledge] a moment later. We¡¯d gotten everything organized and arranged today just in time. Sure, maybe we could¡¯ve just done it ourselves, but a hundred pairs of eager hands had made re-sorting and reorganizing everything that much easier, on top of weighing on their early class evolutions. It wasn¡¯t something I could do everyday - the reality of having a truly messed-up storage that needed to get rearranged wouldn¡¯t have the same oomph if I deliberately messed it up - but I¡¯d made a tangible impact on their lives.


    And tangible organization to my [Tower]. The entire first floor was my armory, the items I¡¯d need fast. Iona¡¯s adamantium alloy armor was in here as well, the convenience of transportation and usually having it near outweighing the occasional awkwardness if she needed it at home and I wasn''t around. A brisk round of [Teleportation] got the ribbon out of my hair and snapped my full armor on, helmet and all, with a minor concession to my billowing red cape, just in case I was overreacting - or could intimidate a problem into leaving. A non-violent solution was the best solution, but I loosened the clasp enough to immediately remove it if necessary. Iona¡¯s armor in hand, I popped back out to reality, then [Teleported] all her gear on in an instant. Iona stretched, then her agile fingers flicked over buckles and straps, fixing a thousand minor things.


    Less than five seconds after I¡¯d heard the first rustle of chainmail, and we were armed and ready.


    ¡°Fenrir.¡± Iona dashed off to help the wyvern arm up - I didn¡¯t keep his armor in [Tower]. I knew Iona would also be letting Titania, Amber, and Skye know what was going on. Varuna didn¡¯t though, and I left the villa through a side door to the garden.


    My poor cucumbers! Ah well, I suppose they were eaten by a guest, and it wasn¡¯t like the unicorn had decided to take a single bite out of them and move on. My mangos were untouched, and therefore I had bigger problems.


    ¡°Varuna.¡± My voice snapped out in the habitual command tones I used when I needed people to listen to me right now. ¡°Possible trouble. Letting you know.¡±


    The unicorn snorted and dashed past me, the doorframe not quite surviving the unicorn squeezing into the villa. Fine - if he was worried about Skye and wanted to protect her or get her out of there, I wasn¡¯t going to complain.


    A moment later Iona joined me in front of the villa on the terrace, trees cleared out to give ourselves sight lines, and Fenrir remained crouched down in the center garden the villa was built around, protected by thick armor slabs. We faced the way the intruders were going to emerge from the forest.


    I could only hear two, but I rapidly caught sight of more.


    ¡°I see five.¡± Iona said in English. ¡°Elf on their stat sheet. We cleanly out-stat them, but they¡¯ve got higher levels.¡±


    I used [Long-Range Identify] on all of them, trying to get a better sense of what we were dealing with.


    [?]


    Damnit. I¡¯d used deceptive tactics often enough that I couldn¡¯t complain about them rebounding.


    ¡°Seven here.¡± I muttered back, catching a flash of shadows. ¡°Eight now. [Identify] is just returning a question mark. Light them up?¡±


    ¡°Mmmm.¡± Iona hummed to herself. ¡°No, let¡¯s let them do the first overtly hostile action. Overtly.¡± She¡¯d read my mind. I¡¯d been about to ask if sneaking around wasn¡¯t hostile or not, and I was sure there were dozens more layers to her actions that she didn¡¯t quite have time to explain.


    I trusted her.


    Voices called out in High Elvish a moment later.


    ¡°Ah, they¡¯ve caught onto us!¡± One elf laughed.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t like we were trying to be sneaky!¡± A second one bantered back. ¡°It took them this long to notice?¡±


    Iona clasped her hands behind her back and gave me a tiny tick with her head. I released a soft glow of [A Light Shining in the Darkness], explicitly marking Iona as ¡®friendly¡¯ and the elves as hostile. We¡¯d all be able to see - heck, Iona and I could see in the dark - but now it wasn¡¯t threatening, and there was an added layer of deception.


    Eight elves emerged from the forest a moment later, although I continuously scanned for more hiding in the woods. If I was up to nonsense, that¡¯s what I would do... but then again, the cursed pride of the elves might not let them do such a crass thing.


    Unless, of course, an elf prided themselves on being that good and stealthy, at which point it was possible I¡¯d never detect them, bio-engineered improved senses or not.


    They wore flowing silks in bright colors, most of them having at least a scimitar strapped to their waist. One floated, bare-chested and cross-armed, on a cloud, choosing to fly on a rumbling stormcloud instead of walk. The other seven were on the ground, their clothes and equipment reminding me of every story of Urwa elves I¡¯d ever heard.Geett the latest novels on


    Iona¡¯s hands started to rapidly flash behind her back, mixing up Ranger hand-signals I¡¯d taught her with the occasional Valkyrie signal.


    Then, of course, were basic numbers.


    Slave-go. Iona flashed three times, the limitation of hand signals not allowing for great nuance. Frankly, it was a miracle that ¡®slave¡¯ was even a signal. Only the sheer cultural weight of the institution in Remus had gotten it in. It took me a moment to interpret what she was saying, and my hackles went right up.


    Slavers. Eight of them sneaking up on our home in the middle of the night wasn¡¯t exactly a friendly social call.


    Left. Nullifier. Void. 1029. Mantle. Prison. 1002. Merchant. 1005. Priority.


    ¡°Hello!¡± I waved to them. ¡°What can we do for you?¡±


    The elves laughed at my greeting, choosing to completely ignore me.


    One over. Mage. Inferno. Sand. Mirage. Unimportant.


    ¡°Hey!¡± One of the elves shoved another. ¡°Look at that healer chick! She¡¯s probably the source!¡±


    Warrior. Gale. Mirror. Ocean. Mine.


    This was a live, deadly threat to our lives and freedom, and it was time to channel every single bit of Artemis inside me.


    I was faced with a relatively new problem, one I¡¯d never truly been faced with outside of a theoretical discussion with Night, more than half my life ago.


    How sure did I need to be to attack someone threatening me? My [Oath] didn¡¯t demand I had to be an idiot. If someone was drawing a bow, with a nocked arrow aimed at my heart, I didn¡¯t need to wait until they loosed their arrow to defend myself.


    The elves were so fucking unprofessional and confusing that I couldn¡¯t tell if they meant me harm or not. It was clear from implication that they were a bunch of evil slavers, but I was genuinely confused, and couldn¡¯t tell if they were going to fuck off, or attack. It was enough of a grey wiggle room where I found my hands metaphorically tied.


    There was a mighty crash behind us as Skye, on Varuna¡¯s back, muscled through a wall - Iona¡¯s weak [My Home is My Castle] skill must¡¯ve gotten a few levels from that - then took off down the mountain in a blur. Things went to shit.


    The djinn-like mage, floating on a cloud, snapped a hand out and fired a bolt of Lightning after Skye. The other elves drew their scimitars and exploded into motion.


    I promptly sent my [Six Wings, Six Millions Feathers] after their [Healer], following it up with a hefty dose of [The Rays of the First Dawn] through his head. More than half my feathers simply vanished on approach, probably from the [Nullifiers] Iona mentioned. The rest landed, and [The Rays of the First Dawn] landed unimpeded, a benefit of lightspeed magic. He survived the initial hit, but I didn¡¯t relent, the million feathers descending upon him like a localized apocalypse.


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Custodian of Flesh (Celestial, 1189)]/[Master of Mortal Merchandise (Celestial, 546)]/[The Man Who Sold the Moons (Celestial, 556)]]


    Fenrir roared as he took off, the Lightning bolt curving from Skye to splash harmlessly against his armor. He circled once, getting some speed, before preparing to go into a diving run.


    A few Mirages briefly flickered into existence before the mage realized my Radiance was overpowering them without any effort. The Sound-Poison mage was backing up from the violence, not obviously doing anything besides drawing his weapon but I didn¡¯t trust that. Sand swirled from both the flying elf and the [Mage], and the two warriors dashed to Iona, trying to catch her in a classic pincer. She kicked up her rocks at the non-Mountain [Warrior], using [Telekinesis] to speed them up, while stones rumbled around the Mountain [Warrior]. Four sets of chains sprang up on Iona¡¯s arms and legs, two made out of stone and two made out of metal.


    Just as the [Healer] died, I immediately snapped my [Rays] to the two other targets Iona had called out as Priority, cursing their reflexes. I¡¯d hoped to get them taken out before they could bog her down. Their chains arrested her swing, then the Radiance killed both of them. Iona immediately snapped them and engaged the two warriors, using the swinging chains as an extra set of weapons. The Mirror [Warrior] deflected Iona¡¯s Earth-mage proxy attack right back at her, as the Mountain spellblade started to pummel her with stones.


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Superior Spellbreaker (Void, 1029)]/[Muzzle of the Unruly (Mantle, 1002)]/[Seller of Spice, Silk, and Souls (Celestial, 1005)]]


    [*ding!* [Omniscient Coordinator (Brilliance, 1077)]/[Vanquisher of Hope (Void, 424)]/[Binder of Hopes and Dreams (Earth, 720)]]


    I flung myself at the flying mage, then had to spin and abort my physical attack as Fenrir came roaring past me. In Ice and Lightning, the two mages died, then he whirled and chased the third one.


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Magus of the Searing Sands (Inferno, 1161)]/[Dustbowl Drowner (Sand, 775)]/[Avatar of the Shimmering Oasis (Mirage, 545)]]


    [*ding!* [Djinn of the Storm (Storm, 960)]/[Muon Trapper (Lightning, 828)]/[Devil of the Drylands (Sand, 796)]]


    I dove down to Iona¡¯s fight against the two elves, blows trading so quickly I couldn¡¯t keep up. There was a bubble of Ocean around Iona¡¯s head as one of the Warriors tried to drown her, and she-


    Nevermind. It took me a moment to replay what I¡¯d seen. Throwing her shield into the Mountain [Warrior¡¯s] face, she tackled the second [Warrior] around the waist, bringing the two of them to the ground. Grabbing his horns, she slammed his head into the unyielding stone again and again, first cracking his skull before exploding his brains out. One final punch through his face left no doubt to his fate, even with the System notification.


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [The Biting Wind (Gale, 1173)]/[The Untouchable Reflection (Mirror, 813)]/[The Great Drowner (Ocean, 512)]]


    The Ocean around her head dropped.


    The Mountain [Spellblade] was absolutely pummeling Iona the entire time, from raining heavy blows on her helmet to endless barrages of rocks, culminating in an Earthen pillar that tried to crush her. Her adamantium, biomancy changes, and my healing combined let her shrug it all off until a second pillar blasted her away. Panting, the Mountain [Spellblade] looked around and tried to run.


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Silencer of Screams (Sound, 1107)]/[The Sweet Sedation (Poison, 1109)]/[The Meditating Monk (Light, 509)]]


    Iona swiftly conjured her bow, and a twang later the elf was rolling on the ground. In a pounce, Iona was over him, grabbing his horns and his neck. With a single savage pull she ripped his head off his neck, his spinal column coming along for the ride. A horrified rictus marred his face, before Iona dropped his head into her knee, popping him like an overripe melon.


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Crustcaster (Mountain, 1123)]/[Earthborne Rockcaller (Mountain, 1190)]/[The Highest Mountain (Mountain, 745)]]


    I looked around, seeing Fenrir returning. We¡¯d devastated the area, the place was a mess. Blood and stone littered the area, and most of the fragile objects near the front had gotten broken from a thousand tiny sonic booms. I landed with a sigh.


    [*ding!* [The Arbiter of Life and Death] has leveled up! 895-> 896. +400 Strength, +400 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +1600 Magic Power, +1600 Magic Control, +1000 Mana, +9000 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]


    [*ding!* [Seraph of the Dawn] leveled up! 870 -> 871. +512 Speed, +512 Vitality, +1024 Mana, +1024 Mana Regeneration, +1024 Magic Power, +1024 Magic Control per level from your class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Strength +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]


    Eh. Being in a team and splitting experience with Auri made it all safer, but not great experience. I hadn¡¯t really used [Erudite Archmage] at all in the fight, and the ¡®downside¡¯ of it being a reader-mage ¡®witch studying magic high up in her tower¡¯ class was it didn¡¯t like combat. I was fine with that.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go make sure Amber¡¯s alright.¡± I said.


    Amber was fine, and a few minutes later Skye returned with the entirety of Ranger Team Gale behind her, flying in on a roc. I was still sweeping up the broken pottery as Iona built a bonfire, the valuable parts of the elf¡¯s gear already stripped off and put to the side. I waved to the Rangers.


    ¡°Hey! Great, you¡¯re just in time to help us clean up! As a concerned citizen, I have some reports to make!¡±


    Livia shot a poisonous glare at Skye, who shrugged.


    Good decision making during a crisis, knowing who to find, how to find them, and effectively getting them here in minutes?


    Iona beat me to it, calling across the front yard.


    ¡°We have to hire her now!¡±

 Chapter Image Gallery!

    Chapter Image Gallery!


    Welcome to Beneath the Dragoneye Moons! Below is a selection of artwork I''ve commissioned, or fans have drawn, for the series! There may be some spoilers inside - click next to continue onto the story, or stay a few minutes and check out the cool artwork!


    I am constantly getting new artwork, and I''ll be trying to update the image gallery as new stuff comes in - and as I find and remember things! If you''re an artist, and you enjoy reading BTDEM, feel free to shoot me your portfolio! I''m happy to take a look!


    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Visitt (.)co/m for the latest updates

 Chapter Dedication

    Chapter Dedication


    This story is dedicated to my wonderful wife, Lauren, without whom this wouldn''t be possible. Her endless love and support keeps me going.


    This story is also dedicated to my beautiful daughter Flora, whose smiles light up my every day.Follow the latest novels at novelhall.com


    Lastly, I''d like to thank Royal Road. My story and success wouldn''t be possible without their website.


    Thank you, to each and every one of you.

 Chapter Catchup Artwork!

    Chapter Catchup Artwork!


    Hey all! for new novels


    I''ve been slacking on giving you all the sweet, sweet artwork that Patreon and everyone else has. Sorry! Take the artwork!


    First, a Merry Christmas present from Tsuu!


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    More Tsuu work, The Egg:


    Elaine:


    Hunting:


    More Elaine:


    Lun''Kat in her lair:


    and Toxic:

 Chapter 551: Interlude - Auri - The Bakery

    Chapter 551: Interlude - Auri - The Bakery


    Earlier the same day


    Why had I wanted to return to civilization? WHY!?


    Civilization had invented such tortures like lines and gate tolls and grabby toddlers with sticky hands. I ignored such nonsense somewhat existing around The Dungeon. That didn¡¯t count, civilization was required there.


    ¡°Birdy!¡± The sticky-handed bandit in question tried to reach up and grab me again. ¡°Birdy here!¡±


    His parents had started scared of me, then when I didn¡¯t burn him to cinders like a mage...


    ¡°NO! Go away!¡± I shrieked at the kid, knowing he¡¯d only hear brrrpt.


    Why were kids so fragile!? I probably couldn¡¯t even [Mage Hand] him without accidentally breaking everything! I couldn¡¯t lose my spot in line!


    Unfair! Tyranny of the helpless! At least he couldn¡¯t get this hi - WHY WAS HE CLIMBING A CART. NO.


    I fluttered higher, considering putting a pillar of Fire to help hold my spot in line. But noooo, grubby-guts would probably walk into it. The coolest Lava I had was [Spun Sugar], and I¡¯d used that exactly once against a monster before declaring never again. No matter how much of a tiny monster the toddler was being.


    I did make some hands and waggled a finger in the parent¡¯s face.


    ¡°It¡¯s just a bird.¡± One said to the other.


    Ooooooh, those little! If I ever saw them in the bakery, I would double charge them!Th.e? most uptodate novels are published on n(0)velbj)n(.)co/m


    No! Wait!


    Triple charge them! Ha!


    Ughhhh. At the Phoenix Peaks I could just burn anything giving me problems.


    I shook my beak.


    No no no! The Phoenix Peaks had their own problems! The wood wasn¡¯t drier on the other side! The wood was drier where I put it in the sun! There was no flour, no sugar, no kilns, no adoring fans - none of that! Most importantly, there was no Elaine, no Fenrir, and eh, I suppose no Iona was also a big minus.


    ¡°Pretty birdy!¡±


    Yes! Exactly! Like THAT! I slowed my wings down, letting [Fancy Flying] and System nonsense keep me in the air while I showed off my beautiful plumage to an adoring audience of at least one.


    Then I was at the gate, getting Looks from all the guards.


    ¡°Hey! Long time no see! Where¡¯s Atlas?¡± I asked them, knowing they were getting a bunch of brrrpts. I knew how much Elaine liked guards, and I relented a little, writing my request out in flames. One of the guards swallowed nervously.


    ¡°Ah, excuse me, gate toll is-¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got it here!¡± I said, reaching for my messenger capsule.


    Best. Dungeon. Loot. EVER! Near-unlimited storage on my leg? YES PLEASE! I knew I had a bunch of coins in there from-


    Wait.


    WAIT.


    Where was it!? My storage! Who had - oh water.


    I had screwed it up. When I¡¯d thrown it at idiot-face who wouldn¡¯t stop bugging me about making eggs together. The look on his silly beak when I¡¯d hit him with an entire ocean of water had been priceless, but I¡¯d completely forgotten to get it back in the mess!


    Nooooooooooooooooooooooo... eh whatever. It was filled with a literal ocean¡¯s worth of water. I didn¡¯t need everything to be that soggy anyway.


    I sparked, like Elaine¡¯s sigh.


    I knew I was being a bit of a grape wood over it all. It really was a shame I¡¯d screwed up and left it behind. My fault, something to remember. Hopefully Weavy and Chompy would find it and pick it up! They were going to make a bunch of eggs, and there were all sorts of goodies inside a young phoenix could use! Yes! I had basically everything at my feather tips here, and-


    An awkward cough brought me back to where I was, and the fact I was holding up a guard. WHOOPS!


    Ahem.


    I¡¯m a phoenix, no need to donate to me to let me into the city. I wrote out in flames.


    Sure, that wasn¡¯t how it worked... buuuuut I also knew how twitchy they were around phoenixes, especially after seeing Sasha and Ra fly roughshod over Sanguino for a few months. One of the guards coughed awkwardly, but the senior - she had the fancy hat, Elaine was right, guards did have excellent taste - waved him down.


    ¡°If you¡¯re willing to wait a bit, we¡¯ve got a special escort for one of your... plumage?¡± She suggested.


    Atlas! Yes please, he¡¯s the best! I wrote back, moving off to the side.


    My message raised a few eyebrows, a [Runner] went off, and I felt as pleased as a roaring bonfire with myself.


    I both didn¡¯t need to pay AND I¡¯d gotten them to go find Atlas for me. Perfection!


    ¡°Bye pretty birdy!¡± The bestest toddler EVER waved to me as he entered the city, and I set off a Fire show for him. The guards got a little twitchy, but eh. Bestest Toddler was nice, deserved a show, and his sticky hands were now somebody else¡¯s problem!


    Atlas came jogging up a few minutes later, a whole squad of guards with him. He relaxed when he saw me and waved.


    ¡°Hey Auri! Welcome back! We¡¯ve missed you!¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    Missed you as well! What¡¯s with all the extras?


    Atlas turned and gave a few quick orders, and they went back off being good guards of the city.


    ¡°Well, we frankly weren¡¯t sure if it was you or not, so we were being careful.¡± He explained. ¡°Can¡¯t be too careful.¡±


    I flew out of the kitchen and yelled at her a bit, mostly incoherent brrrpts. She leaned back right as a second [Runner] came into the store, panting and gasping, sheets of sweat falling off him. Another teenager. Was Atlas getting back at me somehow, subtly fucking with me just because, trying to expand my horizons, or giving great opportunities to kids? I had no way of telling.


    ¡°Phidippidia! No fair! You cheated, that one doesn¡¯t count!¡± He complained between gasps of air. ¡°Whoa! You set the owner¡¯s bird on fire!? Not cool!¡± He said.


    ¡°No I didn¡¯t!¡± She shot back. ¡°She sent me some sort of message, but I couldn¡¯t read it.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure yo- BY AION¡¯S LEFT TIT!¡± He swore and jumped about a foot in the air, going pale and swaying slightly.


    What now? Ugh, I should go back in the kitchen and... yeah that¡¯s what I¡¯ll do.


    I pulled out some chairs with [Mage Hand] and pointed them to the chairs. Where words failed, charades would work, and if the third runner couldn¡¯t read, then maybe the second one could translate for all of them. I did it so fast that the second dude hadn¡¯t gotten a chance to say anything more.


    Shaking, he sat down, Phidippidia sitting down across from him.


    Good. Stay you two, and don¡¯t make a mess until I can send you all out to be useful! Kids these days - oh no.


    Was I getting old!?


    Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo... hang on.


    If getting old meant I wasn¡¯t as stupid as hawk-face from the Peaks or the teenagers here, then please, bring it on! I quickly changed my color scheme to various off-white, then conjured a little flaming cane out of classy black flames, then hobble-flew back to my bakery.


    Ca ca ca ca! Little old lady baking mysterious goods! Yes! It was perfect! A beautiful return to form! Just needed some magical peaches or something to top it all off. The kids started to talk in the back.


    ¡°Did you see his level!?¡± The second runner tried to ¡®whisper¡¯ to his friend.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure the bird¡¯s a girl, and no.¡± The first girl said.


    ¡°Almost 900! What is it doing here in the middle of the city!? Where¡¯s the owner!? Do the guards know!?¡± He said.


    ¡°Uh, duh, the guards know. One of them sent us here, remember? And, again,, I¡¯m pretty sure the bird¡¯s a girl.¡± She said.


    ¡°How would you know if the bird¡¯s a boy or a girl!? It¡¯s not like you¡¯ve studied them!¡± He said.


    ¡°I just know.¡± She said.


    ¡°Is not.¡± He said.


    ¡°Is too!¡± She said.


    Yes, yes... talk about me more? I think? I wasn¡¯t quite sure if I should be happy or not with their discussions. On one wing, they were praising how good I was, on the other...


    AH! What was I doing thinking about them! I had things to do! The kitchen was a mess! I needed to clean it! Sort things! Organize them! Get the right things on the counter and prepped! Pie dishes and oven stones, mixing bowls and stirring spoons, stations ready! Fires banked!


    Oh good! The third one came in! Messages away!


    I need you to go to Farina¡¯s, and pick up three sacks of flour please!


    Sugar! I need a small barrel full. You can get it from...


    Restocking the store had money burning like a single dry leaf hurled into an Inferno. Bowls were being stirred, meat was sliced and seared - NOT pork, Elaine hated the stuff - vegetables were rinsed, and we! Were! In! BUSINESS!


    Atlas got as much free food as he could stomach, and his friends were also invited to come get free food. I remembered Amber¡¯s rules! Well, a couple of them. Here and there. They were really more ¡®suggestions¡¯ than rules, right?


    Another [Runner] came in with an order for several dozen pies, with a familiar signature and a heart on the bottom. Three by three, loaves of bread made their way to the front as I debated an age-old question.


    There was no way I was going to sell everything today. Opening late after years of not being in business, I¡¯d be lucky to have a dozen people go through the door. At the same time, if my shelves were practically bare, I¡¯d scare away even those few. It would take SO LONG to become famous again.


    What to do, what to do...


    I debated while using [Spun Sugar] to manipulate the molten sucrose into an impossibly delicate shape for a wonderful three-layer cake. I was feeling quite pleased with myself! Real baking skills! Something I couldn¡¯t have done without this skill! A delicate spiderweb draped from the cake. I was going to put it out as an attractor piece today, then deliver it to Susan at the start of the night. She¡¯d love it!


    AHHA! Marketing! I just needed to become famous today! Perfect plan. Nothing a gigantic pillar of flame wouldn¡¯t fix.


    But... hmmmm... it was breaking the rules quite a bit. And I knew part of why I was Atlas¡¯s favorite and tolerated so well was because I did follow the rules. No burning everything to the ground, paid my taxes, didn¡¯t make outrageous demands... I did have to live here for a long, long time. No sense in annoying everyone...


    AHHA! Brilliant idea!


    I was a phoenix, and the last six years had helped hammer home just how special that was. I was going to break the rules juuuuuuust a little. One short giant pillar of flames. Oh! I could try to do a little better than that! The smell of food made people hungry, so maybe if I could get the burning smell to smell like freshly baked bread and cake, they¡¯d... go flocking to whoever was nearby.


    Water!


    Well, figuring out how to make flames make the smell I wanted after was a good exercise. It was all relating to flames, I was a phoenix, how hard could it be?


    I popped out front, checking my stock again and the time. I was going to have to work so late just to get everything prepared enough to come in before dawn tomorrow to have a shot at actually doing decently today. The three funny [Runners] were gone, but Atlas was sitting in a corner by a window, keeping an eye on the street.


    Hmm. He was the best! He deserved something nice!


    I put a little flaming badge on his chest. Looking very closely, it read Best Minion Ever. He sputtered.


    ¡°I am not your minion!¡± He protested. ¡°I¡¯m a Captain of the Guard!¡±


    Uh huh.


    ¡°Suuuure!¡± I brrpted at him. ¡°Enjoy!¡±


    I fluttered back into the kitchen. Out of the corner of my eye I checked on Atlas, burning a little brighter at his actions.


    He was smiling and rubbing the badge.

 Chapter 552: Construction

    Chapter 552: Construction


    Six years after the Eventide Eclipse returned from the Phoenix Peaks


    The Celestial Supper was just as good as the first time I¡¯d walked through its doors... by Ciriel, almost two decades ago. I was still slightly torn between ¡®comforting familiarity¡¯ as the insides of the restaurant remained unchanged all this time, and ¡®eerie stasis¡¯ as it remained exactly unchanged. I had to wonder - would I change my mind in the future, and go straight to ¡®comforting familiarity¡¯? Only time would tell, and I was content to sit back and let it happen.


    I flickered through the room, subtly flexing on everyone that I could just [Teleport] rapidly from spot to spot to get to where I was going. I stuck to the normal ¡®walking¡¯ path and tried to make it clear where I was coming from and going to - didn¡¯t want anyone jumping and losing their very expensive meal - but I could teleport eight times in a second, and I recovered enough mana to teleport just under every seven seconds.


    Grinding out [Teleportation] levels was a bear.


    Another fun little trick I could pull was scanning everyone as I flashed by them in a single burst of [The World Around Me] repositioning. I [Teleported] a few coins into one particularly empty purse, figuring it was my good deed for the day, and multi-tasking so many different things at once was novel enough for experience.


    No dings though. I was all too aware a lifetime of levels usually ended up at less than half my current level, and most of those lifetimes were spent on their skills as well. Still, every little bit counted! Even an ant could eat an entire mango if they were determined enough.


    And somehow avoided my attention for long enough to eat it. Some insects and animals in my orchard were good, improving things and generally net increasing the number of mangos I got, but not all of them. Part of the perfection of mangos included their thick skin, which meant even if they fell on the ground they were still perfectly edible. Truly, the gods and nature combined had outdone themselves when creating mangos.


    With one last careful [Teleport] I snapped into the War Sentinel¡¯s room, already sitting in my chair. Nobody blinked an eye at my abrupt entrance - more¡¯s the shame, I was hoping I¡¯d get one of them to jump one of these days. At the same time, nobody really managed to sneak up on a Sentinel. We all had our tricks, and the Sentinels who didn¡¯t have good situational awareness were in the graveyards.


    I sniffed at the food, my mouth drooling at the scent of spices.


    ¡°Dawn! Welcome! We¡¯re doing a meat barbeque today, thought it¡¯d be fun.¡± Sentinel Tyrannus said. ¡°No pork for you, no fish because of Depths, and select dinosaurs are excluded due to Queen.¡±


    I grinned as I [Teleported] samples of all the dishes onto my plate, piling it high, remembering the big favor Depths had done for all of us.


    Auri, the bird brain, had forgotten about her messenger capsule, but Iona had brought it back with her. Some careful questioning and investigation had revealed that there truly was an entire fucking ocean worth of real water inside the little capsule, which made it one of the deadliest items in the world. For various reasons, Iona couldn¡¯t simply offer it up to the Moon Goddesses, and Ciriel didn¡¯t want it. I would¡¯ve gotten a dozen levels as a [Loremaster] dealing with it, but I¡¯d moved away from that class. Instead, Depths had undertaken a perilous journey to the bottom of the ocean, where the great hole was. She¡¯d dodged krakens and wrestled sharks, grabbed treasure between two leviathans fighting and tricked a siren before finally tossing it in, forever removing it from the world.


    She¡¯d gained three levels from all that, and yikes did vampires ever get a raw deal on the leveling front.


    Made me wonder why we didn¡¯t deal with more threats that way, but a mental review of them gave strong reasons why we couldn¡¯t do that for most of them.


    ¡°How do you classify a fish?¡± I asked her, curious. ¡°What makes a fish a fish and not, say, an eel? Where¡¯s the line?¡±


    The woman slowly blinked at me as Queen protested Tyrannus¡¯s description.


    ¡°The sharovipteryx is a noble creature! A complete marvel! It can both run on four legs and fly, there¡¯s nothing better as a kingdom icon!¡±


    He snorted and Legion helpfully provided an illusion of what one looked like.


    It was like a medium-sized salamander, except the hind legs were super wonky. Each hind leg was almost as long as the salamander was, with webbing between the leg and the tail. A worse combination of ugly and impractical I couldn¡¯t imagine - although I supposed they could glide, possibly even fly with the right skills. I imagined they were only still alive thanks to the divine decree against bumping off species.


    Let¡¯s see, big book of social rules... can¡¯t quite keep my mouth shut, we were all friends or coworkers, find some middle ground where everyone can be happy, be diplomatic...


    ¡°They don¡¯t look particularly tasty.¡± I said. ¡°So it¡¯s no real loss to skip on them?¡±


    Queen gasped in faux-horror while Calm started to laugh his ass off. The rest of the War Sentinels currently on duty slowly filtered in while we discussed the merits of various animals and how tasty they were, along with liberal praise for the staff and [Chefs] of the Celestial Supper.


    It was good stuff!


    ¡°Since we¡¯ll never get there if I don¡¯t start it. To business! Next ten minutes are reserved for nothing except shop talk.¡± Tyrannus said.


    It was a clever move that had taken me years - and Iona explicitly pointing it out - for me to notice. The ten minutes thing was a deception. Once a bunch of passionate people all started talking about their thing, there was no way we¡¯d shut up until our time at the Celestial Supper was over.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got an issue that¡¯s been brewing for a while, and was hoping to get everyone¡¯s advice on.¡± I said.


    ¡°Sure Dawn, what¡¯s going on?¡± Tyrannus pounced on my question like a tyrannosaurus rex spotting a pig.


    ¡°My Legion¡¯s basically stalled out fighting each other when I¡¯m around.¡± I said. ¡°They¡¯re honestly getting more experience drilling when I¡¯m not around than live fighting when I am. Pretty sure I¡¯m making it too safe for them, and I¡¯m torn on what to do. I¡¯m going to bring it to the Legata, but I wanted to check in with everyone here first.¡±


    Flood nodded approvingly at the last line. It wasn¡¯t quite the first rule, but one of the most important rules of issues when being a War Sentinel - Did I talk with the Legate or Legata? The person in charge of running the Legion? Most issues could be fixed with clear communication.


    ¡°I think you need to step back a minute from levels, and look at real, tangible experience gained.¡± Flood ground out. ¡°Barring that little jaunt in the Han a few years back, we¡¯ve had a lack of opportunities and fights to hone our edge. The Core Sentinels are busier and I¡¯ve heard the Shadows are stretched thin, but we¡¯re War. Drills only do so much. Since you¡¯ve brought it up, I¡¯ve been meaning to ask. Mind if I ask Legata Katerina for a full Legion-on-Legion spar, with you overseeing it?¡±


    I shot Flood an unimpressed look and folded my arms.


    ¡°You know my answer to that. Yes I mind, but if it¡¯s arranged, I¡¯ll be there anyway.¡±


    ¡°Your [Oath] is weird.¡± Depths said. Legion and Tyranus both snorted into their cups - I was a bit of an airhead at times and a little out-there, but Depths was waaaaaaaay out there. People in glass houses and all that...


    ¡°Today¡¯s clearly Dawn day! An idea I¡¯ve toyed with now and then. Calamity¡¯s always working on new brews, so to speak, and I¡¯ve been wondering. Field testing them is, hmmm, awkward, let¡¯s say, and I was thinking. What if we picked out a nice city in Osmonpodenia or something, they¡¯re all a bunch of miserable snakes, and Calamity let rip there. At the same time, you heal them. Both of you are doing it live, and - alright, alright, I get the idea.¡± Tyrannus said.


    I¡¯d been glaring open murder in Tyrannus¡¯s direction ever since I realized his idea was ¡®let¡¯s commit mass murder on the down-low for levels!¡¯


    ¡°Command would murder us. Arachne would string us up. Night would murder us. The diplomats would murder us. The Senate, half the Sentinels, any Immortals hiding there...¡±


    I kept going, ticking each group off my fingers, finishing naming various groups when I ran out of fingers. And toes, after placing my feet on the table.


    A bunch of coins traded hands, along with a few grins.


    ¡°Hey!¡± I protested, looking around. ¡°You were all just winding me up!¡±


    ¡°I mean, we did wind up Legion last week.¡± Tyrannus smugly reminded me, only for an untouched turkey leg to suddenly reposition itself from his plate to mine. I grabbed it, extended [Etheric Aegis] to protect it against shenanigans, and debated how to best clean all the blood off it. Good for vampires, way too strong a taste for me. Also, goblin was one hell of a choice. I had regrets.


    Which... fuck, might¡¯ve been in Tyrannus¡¯s plan the entire time. Dude was canny, but rarely showed it, unlike Flood.


    ¡°That was different!¡± I protested. ¡°He brought it on himself! It was actually funny!¡±


    Legion groaned and threw himself back in his chair. Carefully - he could go through the chair and half the walls in this place like tissue paper if he wanted to.


    ¡°That¡¯s completely different! Idiot elven ¡®hunting parties¡¯ deserve what they get!¡±


    What scared me about the whole thing - I suspected if I said ¡®yes¡¯, we¡¯d be making plans right now. I was no naive idiot - I knew what my coworker¡¯s jobs and business were, and sometimes I felt out of place, being the one advocating for peace and not doing harm. It was an odd place for it, but someone had to do it.


    At others, I felt completely at home and in harmony with them. Broadly, we all wanted the same thing, we just saw many different ways of getting there. I could hold my nose up in the air and refuse to work with them at all, or I could do the most good possible in the position I held, and do my best to temper them.


    Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Any new ones?¡± Flood growled out. I¡¯d swear her throat was damaged if I hadn¡¯t subtly tried healing it a few thousand times by now. I added one to my mental count as I briefly poked [Universal Cure].


    Legion flicked a finger, and a detailed map of Exterreri overlayed our table. A few new red dots pulsed.


    ¡°Here, here, here, and here.¡± He said.


    I frowned and leaned forward. Flood beat me to asking the question.


    ¡°In the last week!?¡±


    The weekly War Sentinel meeting was always a nice time, and I took the chance while I was in Sanguino to swing by [Quartermaster] Harper¡¯s office, grabbing several rolls of paper from [Repository of the Archmage].


    ¡°Daaaaaaaaawn! Oh my gosh, hi! It¡¯s been, like, FOREVER since you¡¯ve last been here! How¡¯s my favorite girl doing? You look TOTALLY amazing, as always! You have style! I am so jealous, and we have so much to catch up on! I¡¯ve missed you like crazy!¡±


    I grinned at the bubbly [Quartermaster].


    ¡°Heya Harper! Sorry I haven¡¯t been around as much, but I think I¡¯ve got something super interesting for you.¡±


    ¡°OOOOOooooh, Dawn, you always bring me the best stuff. Hit me with it girl! I am totally ready for this!¡±


    It turned out - going to the moon was fucking difficult. Magic made it possible for us to even consider it, but the sheer calculations and logistics were... yeah. We¡¯d been spending years working everything out, and I was pretty sure we were still missing stuff. We¡¯d spent four years planning and calculating before showing our work to Arachne, who¡¯d loved the idea and was intrigued. She¡¯d then poked more holes in our plan than a spiderweb, and mentioned Night had known a few people who¡¯d taken the trip before us. We hadn¡¯t quite needed to go back to the drawing board, but more calculation and planning was needed.


    When I¡¯d asked Night about it, he¡¯d simply smiled and said he looked forward to what my solution was. Ughhhhhhh I understood why he did it, but it didn¡¯t make it any less infuriating.


    Naturally, there was my work as a Sentinel, and eight years of vacation had gone by too quickly. I was back on duty before we¡¯d even finished calculating the raw estimated trajectories needed, and I couldn¡¯t leave for two months on a trip. Hopefully in the sixteen years I was ¡®on duty¡¯ we¡¯d figure it out, and be able to launch shortly after.


    ¡°Is there a reason working as an [Apprentice] won¡¯t work?¡± I asked. On one hand, if the money had vanished or been embezzled, I¡¯d be pissed. On the other, I had Fenrir and Skye to sic on the problem.


    ¡°I... don¡¯t really see myself going that way.¡± He said.


    Ugh. Idiot teenagers and the propaganda machine.


    ¡°My advice, in the strongest possible words, is don¡¯t join. If you have to join the Legions though, I¡¯m attached to the Sixth, and I¡¯ll do my level best to keep you alive.¡±


    Fuck.


    That spark that lit up in his eyes?


    The entire first half, the important part of my advice had just gone out the window, and I was sure I was going to see a familiar new recruit in a couple of years, when he¡¯d finished his training period.


    Damnit, I hope I hadn¡¯t killed him.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Chimera (Elvenoid)]


    [Age: 44]


    [Mana: 7,695,490/7,695,490]


    [Mana Regeneration: 16,393,330 +(50,591,044)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 49,689 (Effectively: 397,512)]


    [Dexterity: 74,104 (Effectively: 789,059)]


    [Vitality: 237,472 (Effectively: 3,710,500)]


    [Speed: 224,704 (Effectively: 4,422,849)]


    [Mana: 769,549]


    [Mana Regeneration: 1,833,424 (+ 5,059,104)]


    [Magic Power: 1,007,359 (+ 45,381,523)]


    [Magic Control: 1,006,513 (+ 45,343,411)]


    [Class 1: [The Arbiter of Life and Death - Celestial: Lv 901]]


    [Celestial Mastery: 901]


    [Aurora Curialis: 901]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 102]


    [Luminary Mind: 722]


    [Universal Cure: 901]


    [Etheric Aegis: 388]


    [Event Horizon: 680]


    [Zenith Everlasting: 701]


    [Class 2: [Seraph of the Dawn - Radiance: Lv 883]]


    [Radiance Mastery: 883]


    [A Light Shining in the Darkness: 350]


    [The Rays of the First Dawn: 883]


    [Radiant Angel''s Spear of Obliteration: 311]


    [Celestial Dew: 883]


    [Sunrise Halo: 883]


    [Wings of the Seraphim: 883]


    [Six Wings, Six Million Feathers: 883]


    [Class 3: [Erudite Archmage - Spatial: Lv 760]]


    [Spatial Authority: 540]


    [Cozy Reading: 760]


    [Teleportation: 310]


    [Repository of the Magus: 600]


    [Tower of Knowledge: 228]


    [Reality, Writ As You Will: 570]


    [Astral Archives: 397]


    [Endless Pursuit of Knowledge: 710]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 580]


    [Handy: 277]


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 901]


    [The World Around Me: 343]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 901]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 901]


    [Persistent Casting: 710]


    [Tender Gardening: 299]

 Chapter 553: ROUS

    Chapter 553: ROUS


    Ten years after the Eventide Eclipse returned from the Phoenix Peaks


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn. Excellent, I was looking for you.¡± A young-looking Katerina said the moment I stepped into the command tent. The [Legata¡¯s] curse wasn¡¯t one she could exactly hide from people - she had to delegate effectively everything, including putting on clothes and feeding herself. Fortunately, her [Empire of Nightmares, We Fight In The Shade, We Are Masters Of the Darkness, Rise Up, Shadows of the Legion!] skill was still perfectly serviceable - it was a mass delegation, or so Katerina had speculated.


    I personally thought White Dove knew exactly what she was doing, and making sure to keep the Legata in the line of fire.


    Part of me was a hair suspicious of the second one - I wondered if she simply wanted an excuse to have her staff feed her grapes at all times.


    I half-froze at her greeting, my heart sinking into my boots. That meant trouble.


    ¡°Legata.¡± I saluted. ¡°Where do you need me?¡±


    She pointed to the second-closest town to the Legion on the map.


    ¡°Local Ranger team¡¯s reported a, and I quote, ¡®biomancied horror¡¯ that they¡¯re unable to take care of. For reasons that elude me and I¡¯ll be following up on later, they¡¯ve elected to contact us to give them a hand instead of requesting a Sentinel from the capital. If it¡¯s outside of their expertise, I want a Sentinel on-hand. I¡¯m dispatching the Fifth Cohort and Tribune Lavender to handle the problem. I envision you as a subject matter expert first to be consulted if they need assistance, a healer second - bring everyone back alive - and lastly, the big hammer if they¡¯re unable to solve the problem themselves. Don¡¯t step in unless you absolutely have to.¡±


    I raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°A full Ranger team is already calling for help, and you think it¡¯ll be handled without me?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Rangers... as a team, tend not to be idiots.¡± Katerina said after a moment. ¡°Any individual one? Yeah, some questionable judgment now and then.¡±


    ¡°Frequently.¡± Someone faux-coughed in the tent. The corner of Katerina¡¯s lips twitched in amusement. There was a definite rivalry between the Rangers and the Legions, and I¡¯d started my career on the other side of it. While I¡¯d spent significantly more time as a member of the Legion than as a Ranger, my loyalties were still firmly on ¡®Team Ranger¡¯.


    ¡°Frequently.¡± She agreed. ¡°Same could be said about any of our soldiers though, so let¡¯s not sling rocks around too hard, yeah? All in all though, Rangers are trained to go to the Sentinels first, so the fact that they¡¯re reaching out to us makes me suspect we¡¯re better suited for the job than a hand-picked Sentinel, so I¡¯m willing to let our people have a crack at it first. Right, Tribune Lavender is probably still forming up, and it¡¯d be a huge morale boost if you made it before they left. You still on for drinks with the rest of command later?¡±


    I nodded, the recent tradition a favorite of Iona¡¯s.


    ¡®See you then.¡± I agreed.


    ¡°Dawn. Bring them back. All of them.¡± Katerina said without looking up from her table.


    I nodded, saluted again, and left the command structure. It took me a moment to swap my gear around - going into a fight, no fancy capes permitted - then I took to the air, blazing [Universal Cure] around me, the daily ¡®check up¡¯ on the Legion.


    The [Healers] here got plenty of experience on the daily scrapes, sprained ankles and occasional accidents that occurred when around five thousand people were either bored, or training with sharp weapons. I didn¡¯t feel bad in the slightest here that I was giving them a daily ¡®once-over¡¯ when I swung by in my morning report. Legions moved and deployed slowly, and my time was valuable. If they didn¡¯t need me for the day, I headed back to Sanguino.


    I zipped over to where Tribune Lavender was forming up the Fifth Cohort, silently landing next to her as she ordered everyone into formation. I scanned the soldiers with a smile, catching a dozen familiar eyes past their helmets, and noting a new-yet-familiar face.


    Nix.


    Well, at least he¡¯d listened to some of my advice and joined the Sixth Legion. He looked way too excited at seeing me, and his line leader smacked the back of his helmet.


    ... Were we seriously letting kids join the Legions? Although, wait. I scrunched my eyebrows up as I calculated.


    He wasn¡¯t really a kid anymore, was he?Th.e? most uptodate novels are published on n(0)velbj)n(.)co/m


    Fuck.


    I swear he¡¯d been seven like, three days ago! Where did the time go!?


    ¡°... Once again, we are going on a live excursion.¡± Lavender shouted, her [Standard-Bearer] ensuring she was heard by all eight centuries in the Cohort. ¡°We¡¯re heading to Massa, where the local [Ranger] team will let us know more. Sentinel Dawn, would you like to add anything?¡± She asked.


    I stepped up a bit, automatically starting to take in a deep breath to project my voice before remembering the [Standard-Bearer].


    ¡°I am here primarily as an expert in the field of biomancy, and secondarily as a [Medic].¡± I said softly. ¡°You are fully capable of handling the problem yourselves, and I will be deeply disappointed if I need to start firing off Radiance attacks to bail you out. Tribune Lavender will be the one expressing that displeasure.¡±


    There we go. Some reassurance on my part, coached in language they all understood, and hopefully the threat of Tribune Lavender¡¯s displeasure would keep them all motivated and moving. Otherwise they might get complacent at ¡®oh, the Sentinel¡¯s watching over us, we don¡¯t need to try too hard¡¯ or some other nonsense like that.


    ¡°Right! Fifth Cohort! Move out!¡± Lavender shouted with a sharp chop of her short sword. Bugles blared, drums rolled, banners flashed, and like an ancient arthritic rhino, the Cohort moved out.


    Armies did not move quickly. At all. I was bored after two minutes of flying above the cohort after the order was given, when some of the centuries were still standing there. Like, yeah, I¡¯d seen and done all this in the Han Empire, but it was a little different when I was free flying above, and my lunch plans with Auri had gone up in smoke.


    Actually... that was a good idea. I¡¯d been a Sentinel here in Exterreri far longer than I¡¯d been one in Remus, but the old, ingrained habits died hard. I had a team now, a full group to support me. I didn¡¯t have to do everything alone, and from the pace of things, it looked like the Cohort was going to reach Massa tomorrow.


    I dropped down to where Tribune Lavender was.


    ¡°Can I help you, Sentinel Dawn?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Yeah. Going to check in with the Rangers in Massa to ensure it¡¯s not an immediate crisis, then fly across the country, pick up a teammate or two of mine, then fly back. You know, an extra round of my morning commute. I figure Sentinels work in teams, I should have my team here.¡±


    Lavender nodded.


    ¡°Thank you for the clear communication. When do you anticipate you¡¯ll be back?¡±


    I turned my head all the way around, deliberately squinting at the parade ground where the last few centuries were getting moving. The way my neck twisted had some of Lavender¡¯s personal line looking green.


    ¡°Might be back before the Cohort gets on the road?¡± I suggested lightly. My joke was met with a choked laugh, and Lavender wasn¡¯t as steely as Katerina. She chuckled to herself.


    ¡°Gods, what I wouldn¡¯t give for a skill to make everyone march twice as fast. Right, get going.¡±


    I spiraled high up into the sky on six wings, then shot off to Messa. My arrival gave the gate guards a bit of a heart attack, and wind whipped around everyone in line. I interrupted a pair inspecting a wagon.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn for the local Ranger team, please.¡± I ordered.


    The farmer decided not saying a damn thing was the wise move, and the guards looked at each other with frozen shock. I cleared my throat and pointed to the higher level one, with formless and grey eyes constantly shifting, rippling like a breeze was blowing through them.


    ¡°Please go get me the local Rangers.¡± I said, and he took off sprinting.


    ¡°Ahem, beggin¡¯ yer pardon yer Sentinelness, but is the city... safe?¡± The [Farmer] asked. I landed and shot him my best winning smile.


    ¡°BRRRPT!¡± Auri shrieked in excitement, her wings beating so quickly they caused a stiff breeze to blow through the bakery. ¡°Brrrpt brrpt BRPT BRPT BRTP!!¡± She shot off a dozen orders to Atlas, who was unofficially part of the team at this point.


    The [Guard Captain] and [Phoenix Minder] sighed, stood up, and took his place behind the counter without a protest about how this ¡®wasn¡¯t his job¡¯ or anything like that.


    ¡°Joined the guard to avoid working in a store my whole life, ended up working in a store my whole life. In hot armor.¡± He muttered to himself with a smile.


    I grabbed Auri and we zipped over to Fenrir¡¯s cave, where I dropped her off to wake up the wyvern and check to see if he was interested in coming along with us. I had to tear my eyes away from my mango grove - oooh, just a bit of pruning here, an examination there, then I could read the afternoon away, surrounded by my beloved trees - but duty called. Iona was the only one who was hard to track, and I eventually almost literally sniffed her out like a bloodhound. Super senses were a pain at times - but when I wanted to know or find something, they were excellent.


    ¡°Elaine! Hey!"


    ¡°Want to murder a bunch of rats?¡± I asked after explaining the situation. Iona raised an eyebrow at me.


    ¡°I love doing anything and everything with you, but honest question. Do you think I¡¯ll be the slightest bit useful? Rather, will I be helpful, or am I taking the overkill to stupid amounts of overkill?¡±


    ¡°No such thing as overkill!¡± I gleefully quoted Artemis before thinking about it.


    I paused, imagining the situation. 512ish soldiers in a long shield wall stabbing the heck out of the rodents... or 512 soldiers stabbing the heck out of them, and one Valkyrie acting as a one woman [Reaper]?


    She gestured to the work she was doing. I sighed.


    ¡°Love you, see you later, might borrow Fenrir anyway.¡±


    Iona snorted.


    ¡°Okay, if Fenrir¡¯s coming along, I am absolutely overkill.¡±


    Turned out Fenrir wanted to mostly snooze, and Auri and I zipped across Sanguino, back to the Fifth Cohort.


    ¡°You¡¯re late!¡± Lavender teased. ¡°We¡¯re all off the parade ground!¡±


    I rolled my eyes as Auri fluttered up to perch on the standard, puffing herself up as the soldiers cheered her presence. She was well and truly the mascot of the Sixth, and there were occasional rumblings at changing our cognomen to ¡®Undying¡¯, both for my healing and Auri¡¯s phoenix-ness. There was an added layer of ¡®smoke and mirrors¡¯ I approved of. Anyone who thought we were ¡®Undying¡¯ because of Auri would get surprised by my healing, and anyone who thought it was because of me would have an Auri-shaped surprise burning through them.


    ¡°Any thoughts?¡± I asked the Tribune.


    ¡°Quite a few, but I¡¯ll see what the scouts have to say before committing to any plans.¡±


    I drifted up, remembering what my job here was supposed to be. Healing, subject matter expert, and only if things went to shit, Sentinel. I got no experience trying to run a Cohort, meanwhile the [Tactician], Tribune, [Scouts], and the hundreds of men and women of the Cohort did get experience by doing their thing. Pressing too hard on the scale now would either bungle things up, as they knew things I didn¡¯t and were experts in areas I wasn¡¯t, or just utterly ruin any experience possible for them.


    I did have things I could do to level though, and I grabbed an old favorite book from [Repository of the Magus].


    Yup. Leveling. That¡¯s totally what I was up to here.


    Nix


    Nix trembled in formation. The Cohort was spread out in a thin line, three deep and almost two hundred wide, the classic killing formation they¡¯d drilled in time and time again. A thick mist hung over the valley, unusual for the time of day. Nix suspected a skill, but was too low in both level and rank to know what the Tribune was thinking.


    ¡°Shields up!¡± The [Centurion] barked, and Nix hefted his shield again, cursing as it was already feeling heavy. ¡°Spears down!¡±


    Nix dutifully obeyed, damning his past-self for volunteering to be on the front line, instead of one of the smarter third-line soldiers. Their job was to stab everything they walked over, making sure they were dead.


    ¡°It¡¯s just rats.¡± He tried to convince himself. ¡°Just rats of an unusual size.¡±


    He didn¡¯t believe it. They didn¡¯t deploy the Legion for rats. Rats that they¡¯d herded with steel and blood to a killing ground they couldn¡¯t escape. This was it. No more screwing around. He was going to ask Hasta to marry him once and for all if he got out of this alive.


    Nix¡¯s eyes started to drift skyward, to see if Sentinel Dawn was still there.


    Was- Was she reading a book?!


    ¡°Eyes forward!¡± His line leader barked, and Nix snapped his eyes back to the ground.


    ¡°Cohort, advance!¡± The order echoed oddly in his ears, but his legs automatically moved on their own, endless months of drills and training proving effective.


    Left, right, left right. One foot after another.


    Sentinel Dawn would stop reading when the battle started, right? She wasn¡¯t going to ignore them all as they died?


    Fireballs started to explode deep in the Mist, waves of heat washing over them. Sweat instantly prickled Nix¡¯s brow as they marched towards the Inferno.


    I signed up for the Legions, not firefighting duty! He complained to himself.


    A rat almost as tall as he was lunged out of the thick Mist, jaws filled with serrated teeth as long as knives flashing to his face. Nix instinctively stabbed forward, as the soldiers next to him and behind him stabbed.


    His shield was in the right place, his helmet strapped on tight, and what few skills he had were active. It wasn¡¯t enough to stop a several-hundred pound rat, who snapped off their spears deep inside its body before bowling him over entirely, breaking through the line and snapping his left arm and ribs with a sickening crunch.


    Nix didn¡¯t hear the orders being screamed or see the shortswords coming out, ramming again and again into the rat¡¯s side. His entire life became trying to keep gigantic jaws away from him. Tiny scrabbling paws ripped and tore at his body, his armor crushed under the weight. His hands were sliced cleanly through before the rat bit down. It felt like red-hot knives were ripping into his throat, and convinced he was dead, his eyes drifted to the heavens, ready to meet the gods.


    I¡¯m sorry, Hasta. He thought. I¡¯ve failed you.


    The rat suddenly got heavy on him, and Nix ignored the kill notification. He was dead. Everyone was shouting and yelling. Geez. Couldn¡¯t he die in peace? Thirteen years of borrowed time, and-


    His line commander slapped him in the face as the ruined parts of his armor fell off him.


    ¡°GET UP!¡± He roared, bodily hoisting Nix up, thrusting a spear into his hand. ¡°You do not stop! You do not lie down to rest! You take your spot in the line, and you HOLD YOUR FUCKING GROUND!¡±


    Nix jumped and hurried forward.


    This was a weird afterlife.

 Chapter 554: Interlude - Nina - The Paperwork of Assassination

    Chapter 554: Interlude - Nina - The Paperwork of Assassination


    Fifteen Years after the events at the Phoenix Peaks


    Nina was the picture-perfect vision of a naive, rosy-cheeked and fresh-faced [Maid], excited to be working at [Countess] Brunswick¡¯s castle.


    Quite literally. She¡¯d studied dozens of young human women, seen how attractive other people found them, then blended their traits and looks together to create just one of her many disguises.


    It was tweaked after each use. Nina had made the mistake of reusing a ¡®face¡¯ exactly once, and the resulting fight had gotten her a half-dozen levels and set her target on such high alert that she¡¯d needed to circle back a few years later.


    It was as ¡®real¡¯ as it could be in so many ways. Nina kept the same size and most of her body shape, tightly wrapping her tails around her body so nobody brushed them and wondered what was going on. Being the youngest, newest member of the castle also meant she was the least protected and most vulnerable, and she was lucky to get a warning before someone bumped into her or rudely shoved her to the side. An easy price to pay for the access and intelligence she was gathering, but if she looked like a muscular brute of a man and people felt soft curves and a delicate frame when touching the ¡®man¡¯, questions would rapidly be asked and Nina¡¯s cover would be blown.


    She¡¯d never made that mistake, it was too fundamental to being an illusionist and trickster.


    Nina had a mop, bucket, and a job to do, and was scrubbing hard, her invisible ears twitching as they tried to pick up any and all information. It was unlikely she¡¯d overhear anything sensitive or that changed her mind, but there was all sorts of low-level intelligence she could gather in the meantime. Who was in favor, who¡¯d screwed up. Occasionally ¡®hidden¡¯ servant¡¯s passages revealed themselves as people were moving in the walls, and it was generally a good idea to have an idea of who was around Nina.


    If nothing else, the [Head Butler] would never catch her slacking off.


    One of the infamous [Slayers] was coming up the stairs, and Nina polished off a section, making sure to properly position herself. The [Slayer] came up the stairs, medium armor and the classic tricorn hat, and the Valkyrie gasped.


    ¡°Oh! Sir Slayer! What an honor!¡± Nina shamelessly batted her eyelashes, letting a blush creep up her neck and cheeks, ¡®innocently¡¯ letting her breasts bounce. The picture-perfect blushing [Maid], overwhelmed at the fame and prestige of one of Vollomond¡¯s most lauded warriors.


    Ego. Pride. Sex. Vanity. Arrogance. Jealousy. All of them were weapons, and Nina had no issues in using each and every tool at her disposal to get what she wanted. She was walking a tight line. On one hand, if she stood out too much, some ¡°noble warrior¡± would want to ¡°rescue¡± or ¡°elevate¡± her, and then she¡¯d be stuck, her freedom effectively curtailed by a lover who wanted to spend far too much time with her. On the other, if she was practically invisible to everyone, then she¡¯d be questioned far more often when found in sections she might not be allowed in, an unknown face that required challenging.


    No, the middle path was the best one. Men and women, everyone liked their strengths pandered to, their egos stroked. An attentive ear, a pretty face. Nina¡¯s methods weren¡¯t perfect, nobody¡¯s were. There were women jealous of the image she put forth, men who found her attention suspicious. But generally, the effect was there.


    A pretty, eager, hard-working face that people recognized and let through unchallenged. That was Nina¡¯s goal, and her hidden ears twitched as she made polite noises and shamelessly flirted with the [Slayer].


    ¡°Did you get the boar?¡± She asked breathlessly, like it was the MOST exciting thing that had ever happened. Nina could practically see him inflate, and she wondered how on Pallos people actually acted the way she did. She just didn¡¯t understand it, unless they were doing the same thing she was.


    ¡°Of course!¡± He boasted. ¡°His head will adorn the [Lady¡¯s] walls on the morrow, and we shall feast on his flesh tonight!¡± The [Slayer] winked salaciously at Nina. ¡°Perhaps we can find a place at the table for you on my lap, letting you pick the finest pieces?¡±


    Nina gasped like the idea was overwhelming, her tails itching as they wanted to swish behind her but were bound tight.


    ¡°Oh Sir [Slayer]! Little me at the high table? I could never!¡±


    Nina could and had on countless occasions. One memorable time she¡¯d sat on a particularly paranoid [Baron¡¯s] lap, and managed to poison his wine after the [Taste-Tester] had confirmed it was clear. Not her favorite moment, and it had taken weeks of washing for her tails to feel clean again. She much preferred a hunting accident, swapping the labels on potions, or best of all, being able to ¡®properly¡¯ and ¡®honorably¡¯ fight her target to the death.


    Years of training under Iona had rubbed off on her. At the same time, she wasn¡¯t going to risk an unfair fight, and both Elaine and Iona had quite a few words on the topic. The conflict between their words and actions regarding fighting seemed obvious to Nina, but both of them seemed to accept it without a blink.


    The [Slayer] grinned flirtatiously at Nina. ¡°We¡¯ll see! The [Countess] wants to meet with us, so alas, duty calls.¡±


    Nina continued to dutifully mop as his footsteps faded down the hallway, cleaning the section as quickly as she could while other members of the castle bustled back and forth. Her ears strained, slowly confirming the chance she¡¯d been looking for was here.


    People ebbed and flowed through the castle like a toy maze filled with sand being turned over and around. Sometimes one part of the castle was heavily populated, other times it was deserted as everyone moved to another section for one reason or another. Nina had been piecing together the castle and where everything was located over the months, and she was wrapping up work in the tower where the documents were, just as half the castle was shifting over to one of the great halls. She sped through her work, checked again to see if anyone seemed to be lying in wait for her or wanting to talk, and the moment the coast was clear she picked up her bucket and walked over to where she wanted to be.


    There were thousands of ways to detect intruders that were using Mirages to sneak around, and by being a visible member of the staff, Nina was dodging nearly all of them. [Tremorsense]? Nina was right there, walking along. Of course it seemed like someone was there. [Whispers of the Wind]? Yup, there was a person there. [Echolocation]? Again - a person there, of the right size, shape, and weight. Vollomond was a hair easier to operate in than other places, as the high number of accepted werewolves gave easy explanation why Nina seemed to be hiding fur. Culturally, it was the thing to do.


    Far too many of Nina¡¯s compatriots in the Eventide Establishment - the ninjas, not to be confused with the Eventide Eclipse, the name for Elaine and her friends - tried to rely on pure invisibility and stealth when they first started training. That was one mistake the instructors were happy to beat out of them, instead of throwing them in the deep end and letting them find out for themselves.


    There were no guards stationed at the office she wanted to explore, but the door was locked. Nina¡¯s time in the Eventide Establishment had taught her more than basic skills and concepts.


    Dragon. Monkey. Bird. Monkey. Boar. Ox. Serpent. Monkey. Rat.


    Then there was proving the corruption and that the [Lady] or [Guild Master] was a problem. Were the taxes high and [Serfs] driven hard because the nobility enjoyed hosting lavish parties, or was there a purpose behind the taxes? A reason? Was the discontent due to gross mismanagement, or the simple eddies and flows of the economy? Were people starving because the king¡¯s men took all the crops, or was a local famine to blame?


    Proving beyond a shadow of a doubt to Nina¡¯s strict standards that outright murder was mandatory was an insane bar to clear, and she occasionally went years between attempts, as nobody cleared the bar she imposed on herself. One notable case she¡¯d been ready to administer a poisoned needle before discovering that the lavish parties being thrown were to woo multiple guilds into setting up significant expansions locally, and had succeeded. The use of resources in such a manner was questionable in the extreme, but in a twisted way had been for the good of the city and people living inside.


    After all that, there was the issue of the heir and succession. Would a small civil war be sparked by the death? Would there be a clean transition of power, or would Nina simply be sowing chaos in her wake, a cure worse than the disease? Would the heir be better than the relative they were replacing?


    The last part Nina had slowly been working on over the years, and the answer to that question was becoming ¡®yes¡¯ more frequently.


    The magical wood documents were the last piece of the puzzle Nina needed. Removing the [Countess] Brunswick and letting her [Heir] take over would be a significant boon to all involved. Well, her, and the two [Advisors] who¡¯d been a horrific influence, and who¡¯d keep spewing poison in the young [Heir¡¯s] ear after he took power. No, the situation in Brunswick called for the removal of three people. The fact that she would need to pay for another week¡¯s rent in the inn didn¡¯t influence her decision to execute on her plan now - but it was a nice cherry on top.


    Nina spent the next few hours detailing every part of Countess Brunswick¡¯s holdings and issues that she knew of, along with one to three proposed solutions for each. She then slipped the papers into an envelope, and drew a stylized fox on the front.


    Her heart ached, the artist skills acquired through delightful candlelit evenings with Iona. Vollomond wasn¡¯t that far from Exterreri... Nina resolved to head that way once she was done here. It had been far too long since she¡¯d been able to kick back and relax a bit, spend some time with the only people she considered family.


    Preparations complete, Nina gathered her stuff and left the inn, carefully feeding a number of extra documents to the main room¡¯s fire, ensuring they would burn completely. She then dropped off what she didn¡¯t need at the front of the storage in a bundle of rags. There was a chance she¡¯d lose it all - but it wasn¡¯t that important in the end.


    She¡¯d worked late through the night, and some people might consider the time of day to be unholy early in the morning. Her face as a [Maid] let her literally walk right into the castle, the sleepy guards simply waving her through. Nina picked up an oil can from storage, and being a recognized face, clearly doing a job, let her stroll through the castle with complete impunity, none of the fellow late night owls or early bird risers bothering her. Why would they? She was even visibly doing her job, moving around, refilling the occasional torch.


    The first thing she did was slip the package of papers into the [Heir¡¯s] personal washroom cabinet. He¡¯d discover it soon enough, and Nina was a bad assassin. She had a reputation. When The Fox performed her bloody work, a detailed package was left for the inheritor, explaining all the current issues she¡¯d identified, and proposed plans to fix them. As her exploits grew, as more people discovered her little information packages, people started to take them more seriously, letting the bar that [Heirs] needed to clear lower just a bit.


    The first [Advisor] was easy enough. Nina walked right up to his room and silently slipped in, not bothering to go invisible or anything. Once inside, she morphed her mallium into a long, sharp knife, and surgically rammed it through his right eye socket, mentally expanding it once it was inside the brain to rapidly destroy it and kill him. The notification was nearly instantaneous.


    He was a member of the Moon Cult, and in Nina¡¯s experience, they were everywhere. Whenever she found traces of them, she took notes and sent them along to Iona, who seemed eternally plagued by them, but there was no telling what, exactly, they were aiming for, apart from worming their way into various places of influence. Short of a god to pray to, they were almost like a religious organization, helping each other out when they spotted one another but otherwise not seeming to have a coherent plan. At times, they ended up at the top of Nina¡¯s list, like the advisor she¡¯d just handled, and at others, they were some of the best people around.


    Nina had adopted a ¡®wait and see¡¯ approach to them, but if there was a decision to be made on who to eliminate, she deferred a hair to Iona and eliminated the Moon Cult member.


    He died in his sleep, almost peacefully. Far better than he deserved, with the endless torment he was significantly responsible for visited upon the tens of thousands of souls living in the county, but quick and silent was the name of the game. The moment his body was discovered, the moment one of the werewolves smelled human blood, their guard would be up and it¡¯d be impossible to get anything done.


    The second advisor was asleep with two men in her bed, and Nina aborted the attempt on her life. She had sworn to strike at the root of the problem, and while she was accepting of collateral damage in her quest to improve lives, the scales tipped the other way when their lives were added onto them.


    Nina scurried through the hallways of the castle, approaching her final challenge. The [Countess¡¯s] room wasn¡¯t nearly as easy to get into. The assassin couldn¡¯t just walk up and say she was there for cleaning, not with the guards on the door and the unusual hour.


    Nina went entirely invisible, padding over on soft leather boots, rolling every footstep so it wouldn¡¯t be heard.


    The door was unlocked - with guards posted and Brunswick¡¯s infamous temper, who¡¯d dare inconvenience her by locking it - but again, guards were posted. Fortunately, they weren¡¯t physically blocking the door, standing to either side of it.


    Nina layered some tricky illusions. First, an illusion of the door, on top of the door itself. Next, she made the true door invisible, then carefully poured a bit of oil on the hinges to stop it from squeaking. It would smell, and the guards would pick up on the smell, but hopefully it smelled enough like everything else, and it wasn¡¯t so overpowering that they¡¯d pick up that the hinges had somehow been greased right under their nose.


    Holding her breath, Nina carefully teased the door open, praying the [Countess] hadn¡¯t left a window open and the guards weren¡¯t about to get a cool breeze to alert them to the door. She slipped inside, closing the door behind her, and reformed her mallium knife.


    Nina was a professional. No waking the [Countess] up. No discussions. No asking ¡®why¡¯, no monologuing, nothing. Simply a quick, surgical strike to the brain from the eyes, followed by a ding!


    In order to avoid displaying too many patterns, Nina then changed her morphic weapon to a mace, and bashed the corpse¡¯s skull in, making a pinky nail-sized piece of skull the largest remaining part of her head.


    Her job done, Nina fled the castle, making it outside before the cry went up.


    Each job was exhausting, and a caravan heading west cinched it for Nina.


    It was time to go back to Elaine and Iona¡¯s place.


    It was time to go back home.

 Chapter 555: Moonfall I

    Chapter 555: Moonfall I


    21 years after the events at the Phoenix Peaks.


    I didn¡¯t feel almost 60. Age and White Dove had their talons in some of my friends, those who¡¯d deferred Immortality for now, and they looked a little older. Iona¡¯s insane vitality meant she aged at an eighth of the speed a Systemless person would, and her changes were subtle. A few hairs had gone grey here and there from stress, but that was it.


    For me? I¡¯d stayed at the peak of youth and vitality the entire time, continuously rejuvenating myself to a biological age of approximately 25, keeping my organs from prematurely failing. It kept me fresh and energetic, and I had to wonder what it was doing to my thinking and thought processes.


    I was still... vaguely human though.


    I woke up a little groggy to a cold bed, mentally berating myself again for leaving ¡®switch my sleep cycle¡¯ to the last minute. All sorts of delicious smells filled the air, and a thousand and one sounds reached my ears and woke me up before I could check the time and see if I needed to be up now, or if I should be sleeping more.


    With a sigh I [Teleported] out of bed, and a series of rapid [Teleports] later I was splashing face-first into our warm bath.


    I blew bubbles into the water while I adjusted, then flipped over and floated on my back for a bit, letting the warm embrace slowly wake me up.


    Tonight¡¯s the night.


    The thought, the reminder, jolted me to full awareness faster than getting hit by one of Artemis¡¯s [Lightning Bolts].


    Tonight was the night!


    I had to look my best. I pushed my speed and dexterity to the maximum as I scrubbed and washed myself at absurd speeds, not really caring about all the water being flung everywhere. I was a bird in a birdbath, losing half the water in the gargantuan pool was to be expected. After, I zipped out, using a clever [Teleportation] trick to instantly dry myself, then hit my vanity a moment later, three rooms over.


    My hand paused in the middle of applying foundation.


    Hang on. Every single pound, every single gram was accounted for, with only the smallest of tolerances. Did I really, absolutely, need to be looking my absolute best in front of tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people?


    My hand trembled as a vicious war erupted inside of me, the practical side at war with my vanity.


    Forget White Dove¡¯s curse on apples. The vanity I got from my companion bond with Auri was the true curse.


    The vanity part of me won out when it pointed out that I could literally dip my face into [Event Horizon] to wash off and delete the makeup, and the survival part pointed out that pixie cuts were adorable and I¡¯d look amazing with one.


    The last second stuff was weird. We¡¯d done our best to plan everything out, but we clearly hadn¡¯t planned out every single last detail.


    My outfit for the next three months was next, and it could only be put on with [Teleportation]. I¡¯d been right back in the School. It took years of experience and leveling to get the skill high enough to be easily useful, but once I was there and critically, in the habit of using it, it was good. Spatial for the win! Shame it was so expensive, but the quality of life improvement couldn¡¯t be beaten.


    The outfit was one-of-a-kind, unique for my build, biology, and situation. It had a dozen different layers, each doing something unique. The ones I really cared about were a number near me designed to be luxuriously comfortable, and to feel like it practically didn¡¯t exist at all. Like being wrapped in a warm, weighted blanket at all times, but designed by [Tailor] Classers so that I wouldn¡¯t start to feel like it was ¡®too much¡¯, in the same way a shirt worn for days on end started to feel icky.


    A layer of personal enchantments deeper in would be keeping everything clean, and where we were going... yeah. The less said about how my natural functions were handled, the better, and it was both terrifying and a little humiliating when I had to test it all out on the ground. All aspects of it.


    Honestly, sunk-cost fallacy and how much this all meant to Iona had been the only thing keeping me going at that stage.


    The last layer was made out of shimmering overlapping teal scales, and I had my suspicion what they were made out of. Harper refused to say what they were, ¡®for my own protection¡¯, and the final cost on the outfits was staggering. Each individual layer had been treated with a different set of alchemical solutions to improve them in one way, shape, or form - except the scale layer - and the technical specifications were thicker than some dictionaries. The only thing stopping it from being a marvelous suit of armor afterwards was how bulky it was - I wasn¡¯t going to be doing any sprinting in this - and the utter lack of gloves. My bare hands were exposed, a sealant around them stopping anything from getting in, and the helmet looked like a fishbowl.


    Harper had laughed her ass off when I asked, and Iona and I kept making fish-faces when we tested them out. Glub-glub, I¡¯ma fish. Speaking of her...


    I closed my eyes, letting my ears locate my beloved wife. A quick [Teleport] through a wall and a dash along the walls, running literally over the heads of bustling staff members, Valkyries, and only-Skye-knew-who running around, and I joined Iona in our great planning room. She looked frazzled.


    ¡°Hey!¡± I gave her cheek a quick peck, looking all over the room.


    ¡°Time to store it all.¡± I confirmed, swiping my hand over the wall and storing it all in [Repository of the Magus].


    Wall after wall, pile after pile, I dumped all the papers in, mentally able to ¡®see¡¯ the tags and labels we put on each one. SPEC-11-v0.2.1843 was an early iteration of the space suits we were wearing, TRAJ-17-v6.44.204 was one of the plotted intercept courses. [Repository] let me ¡®sort¡¯ the files, and the TRAJ ¡°finalized¡± sets - truly, only the latest iteration, we had learned wisdom about calling ANYTHING ¡®final¡¯ a long time ago - were near the ¡®top¡¯, metaphorically speaking. The SPELL set was a detailed list of everything we thought we needed, with endless tallymarks next to them as I wrote each one out in duplicates - along with a few blotches when I¡¯d cast one of the spells. Iona¡¯s eyes glimmered with unshed tears as the last of the paperwork vanished, and I found myself blinking rapidly as the unexpected emotions hit.


    [*ding!* [Repository of the Magus] leveled up! 650 -> 651]


    [*ding!* [Luminary Mind] leveled up! 791 -> 792]


    I suppose decades of work for a project of this size did have some significant weight to it. Only one level was a bit of a disappointment, but I suppose with how high of a level it was, it made sense. Would¡¯ve been dozens upon dozens of levels at sub-100, but over 600? I had to work for every level.


    Just like that, it was all gone. Stored away. It was far better to bring the extra papers and not need them, than to realize we needed an old trajectory, calculation, or thought, and not have it. [Astral Archives] had a copy, but Iona didn¡¯t have a perfect memory for this.


    I hugged her. She needed it. I needed it.


    The Valkyrie sighed, and brightened up.


    ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s do the ceremony!¡±


    I poked her ribs.


    ¡°Eat first.¡± I scolded her. ¡°We¡¯re going to be burning calories on this, you¡¯ve been burning the entire candle, and we need to be at peak performance. Eat. Or else.¡± I threatened, not having any ideas what I¡¯d actually do.


    Iona nodded.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll eat something. Think Auri left us a pie?¡±


    I snorted.


    ¡°Unless she¡¯s changed her recipes recently, I think she¡¯s left us 41 pies.¡±


    ¡°Such overkill.¡± Iona hurried over to our private kitchen, one of the few places in our villa that was just for us. ¡°I think I can eat three now, and maybe stuff one more in during the parade.¡±


    I found my appetite was being held hostage by the steadily increasing knot of tension in my stomach.


    Holy Ciriel. We were actually doing this. Speaking of ceremonies and Ciriel, I should say hi to my friend. It was kinda weird that anytime, anywhere, I could say hello. Made me a little self-conscious at times and drained my introvert batteries whenever I was aware, and I was so thankful that Ciriel let me talk first before responding.


    Hey! It¡¯s the big day! We¡¯re going soon! You going to watch the launch? I asked her.


    Yes! It¡¯s going to be super exciting! I don¡¯t want to rain on your parade, I really don¡¯t - also, Selene bribed Elarin, the Rain God NOT to mess with the parade, he was totally going to - but back in my day, I got the chance to heal some people who¡¯d gone part of the way to the moon, and got quite a few nice levels out of it! Hopefully you¡¯ll see some of them yourself! I¡¯ll be watching most of it - unless you clearly don¡¯t want me to! Just pop over and say hi if you ever need to chat and are bored. The goddess said.


    Okay! I will!


    I kept up two different conversations, one with Ciriel, one with Iona, as I forced myself to eat. The suit was big, bulky, and hard to move around in, but every bit of practice was good.


    [*ding!* [Etheric Aegis] leveled up! 450 -> 451]


    Then it was time for the ceremony, and the start of the end.

 Chapter 556: Moonfall II

    Chapter 556: Moonfall II


    A bell, amplified by both skills and enchantments, rang out, the pure notes resonating through the entire villa. The entire place boiled with action as people shifted around. [Priests], [Paladins], and a dozen other assorted religious-types, along with a solid chunk of the Valkyrie Order headed towards the chapel, and I anticipated a number of arguments over who was allowed in and who would have to wait outside. I had things to do and went to find Skye, bumping into Nina on the way over.


    She was doing great. Energetic, a bounce in her step and a glimmer in her eye. Life was treating her well, and I always enjoyed hearing about the improvements in people¡¯s lives. Less so about how she got those results, but even Iona had begrudgingly admitted Nina¡¯s strategy paid off well. The gossipy part of me wondered if she¡¯d ever get married - a long string of boyfriends had appeared over the years, but her dedication to her craft and constant traveling put a strain that no romance had been able to overcome yet.


    My biggest concern with Nina was honestly her level. She leveled slowly - level 388 right now, maybe I was spoiled on my leveling speed and Iona¡¯s - and some rough math on her vitality and age - mid forties - worried me. Physically, she was older than Iona at this point. That, along with Iona¡¯s assertion that Valkyries didn¡¯t die of old age - they died when they slowed down too much.


    Nina wanted to stay mortal as long as possible to continue honestly operating in mortal lands. ¡®Only breaking one major law at a time¡¯ sort of thing.


    ¡°Elaine!¡± She quickly stepped in, wrapping me in a tight hug. Her fur was so soft, and it was always a miracle how tall she had gotten.


    ¡°Hey kiddo!¡± I completely disregarded that she was, by all accounts, middle-aged. ¡°Not attending the ceremony? Iona¡¯s looking for you.¡±


    She shuddered.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a dozen arcs riding on there being a brawl, and I think Iona will appreciate me not breaking a candelabra over a priest''s head when this is all done.¡±


    I snorted at the mental image.


    ¡°Yeah I¡¯m sold. Hey, walk with me, I was going to see Skye.¡± I said. Nina hurried after me.


    ¡°Hey, so, um, I know everyone and their brother is trying to get you to bring something with you to the moons.¡± She waffled, and I snorted. Nina was too old and too experienced to be waffling.


    ¡°What do you want me to bring?¡± I asked, cutting to the heart of the problem. She hadn¡¯t been kidding about everyone wanting us to bring something to the moon, and once word had gotten out, we¡¯d been inundated with various knick-nacks, items, and donations to the temple. End of the day we only paid for a few initial items, and the requests kept coming in. Including absolutely last-minute requests like Nina¡¯s.


    Of course, it was Nina - I¡¯d be taking her requested item one way or another.


    ¡°They¡¯re over here.¡± Nina beckoned, and led me deep into the Valkyrie-claimed portion of the villa. It was all ours - but some parts I mostly stayed out of to respect their privacy, just like they stayed out of ¡®our¡¯ wing.


    Nina tapped a crate, and I gasped as I saw what was inside.


    ¡°Nina! It¡¯s beautiful!¡± I said, and she flushed with embarrassment, handing me a sheet of paper.


    ¡°Here are the calculations for it. If...¡±


    I didn¡¯t let her finish her sentence, swooping the kitsune into a hug.


    ¡°Of course we will.¡±


    ¡°Can you keep it a surprise until you get there?¡± She asked.


    I grinned impishly.


    ¡°Oooh, that sounds like fun, yeah! I¡¯ll do that!¡± I hefted the crate, and with a bit of effort, popped into [Tower of Knowledge].


    The years had been kind to my skill leveling, if not my class levels, and I had a whopping 43 floors. The first floor had been retooled in preparation for this mission, filled with endless emergency measures. The second floor was my combat floor, my entire armory carefully stationed, and the third to tenth floor were purely survival supplies for the trip.


    I gently floated through the floors, snagging some clips on the twentieth - the ¡®tower supplies¡¯ floor - and noted that I seemed to be getting low on barrels again. Might make a few more when we got back, see if I could level [Dexterous and Handy].


    Temple supplies were kept near the top, and I blessed the zero-gravity in here, along with Nina¡¯s thoughtful decision to pack everything in a crate. I gently pushed the box where it belonged, then strapped it down so it wouldn¡¯t float around.


    Technically, nothing should move without me pushing it around, and I didn¡¯t need the straps. In practice, I never got anything to truly zero speed, and it would be far too easy to set off a long chain reaction. I¡¯d un-fucked my tower once, I wasn¡¯t going to do it again.


    Nevermind that I¡¯d want to reorder the floors again after the mission.


    Satisfied, I popped back to existence.


    ¡°Right! I need to find Skye.¡± I said. ¡°Want to come, or was that it?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s it!¡± Nina said. ¡°Thank you so much again!¡±


    ¡°Oh, nothing to it, you¡¯re family, of course!¡± I said.


    Nina¡¯s hug was to hide her tearing up, but she forgot about [The World Around Me] - I could see everything. I patted her on the back.


    ¡°Pssst.¡± I mock-whispered to her. ¡°If you want to get involved in the ¡®surprise¡¯ the Valkyries are trying to pull, you should leave now.¡±


    Nina pulled back and looked at me in horror, and I winked at her.


    I quickly caught glimpses of the Sixth Legion at the foot of the mountain, the men and women whose lives I was responsible for utterly destroying anyone¡¯s hope of traversing the road normally. One did not simply go around a fully deployed Legion, and Katerina was hoping enough pomp, ceremony, and effort around this would cause everyone to gain levels. Then there was the morale factor, and a bit of an excuse to throw a party and have people go to Sanguino for a bit. A fair take, and I took brief flight near the bottom, drifting over to a palanquin specially for me.


    I recognized tons of faces in the crowd, the men and women I¡¯d spent so much time with. I could only name about a third of them easily, but with thousands and thousands of people and names, I was satisfied with that.


    Oh! Nix had gotten promoted! He was a line leader now! Good for him. I¡¯d been worried when he first came to my door and said he wanted to join the army. So far, he¡¯d survived and thrived, and my guilt over the situation was slowly lessening.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn.¡± Katerina smiled at me. ¡°Good to see you here.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t wait to get rid of me?¡± I teased. She snorted in amusement.


    ¡°If I could only be so lucky. Legion! Forward! March!¡± She commanded, and with great fanfare, we set off.


    I was tempted to break into my book stash thirty seconds after we started. Holy Ciriel above, I¡¯d forgotten how slowly an entire Legion moved, and how far away we were from Sanguino. I managed to hold out for another two minutes by leaning on my vanity aspect, but rapidly got suuuuuuuper bored. Iona and the rest were still waiting on the road, waiting for us to pass! THE REAR OF THE LEGION HADN¡¯T EVEN STARTED MOVING! This was pure agony. Torture. The worst of the worst. The corner of Katerina¡¯s mouth twitched at my obvious discomfort.


    ¡°Something the matter, Sentinel Dawn?¡± She asked with a traitorously straight face.


    Actually... I was bored, chatting or trading insults would pass the time.


    ¡°Your face.¡± I flippantly replied, grabbing the handles of the palanquin as the legionaries carrying me missed a step.


    Katerina shot me a flat look, and I replied with a smug one. I was on vacation, and the War Sentinel attached to a Legion was socially equal.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry to hear how terrible your taste in faces is.¡± Katerina smoothly replied. ¡°Perhaps some ogres from Osmonpondia would be more to your taste?¡±


    I mimed being shot by an arrow, and the parade quickly passed as we traded good-natured barbs. A few of the soldiers were brave enough to join in, much to Katerina¡¯s consternation.


    About a mile outside of the city, a scruffy dog ran up to us with a missive between his teeth.


    ¡°Marley!?¡± I half-shouted at Night¡¯s immortal pooch. I skimmed the letter with [The World Around Me], laughing at the contents.


    Elaine,


    I have given the subject much thought. As you well know, I am predisposed to allowing others to make their own mistakes, and to face challenges they themselves have selected unwarned. In this instance, at the final hour before you depart, Susan has strongly advocated for you, and my heart has wavered a small amount, and I do not wish to see one of my oldest friends die. And yet, I do not wish to simply hand the solution to you to read. Marley is going to return with a second letter. I wish for you to store it without glimpsing at its contents, and to only read it in case everything should go wrong. With that being said, and this is of critical importance - READ BEFORE YOU TELEPORT.


    Please do not reach for my letter first. Try a thousand different tactics and solutions, endeavor to solve the problem yourself, before reaching for the crutch that is the answer hand-delivered to you.


    Yours,


    Night


    Arachne here.


    While Night¡¯s sending you all a letter, I figured I¡¯d add on. The Moon Cult was planning a large-scale sabotage of the operation. Given the size and severity, I personally stepped in, and it¡¯s been handled. Launch away with no concern on that front!


    I¡¯ll be personally watching!


    Arachne


    Marley ran all the way up to the soldiers carrying my palanquin and started to trot along, wagging his tail while he panted.


    ¡°Thank you Marley.¡± I said. One of Katerina¡¯s [Adjuncts] snorted and offered his hand to the dog, who promptly delivered it then scampered off towards the city. The [Adjunct] tried to offer me the letter, and I mentally shrugged, pulling it into [Repository].


    My personal library was getting a workout today! The little dog appeared a few minutes later, bearing a second letter. My curiosity was so powerful, but I trusted Night, and I stored it without reading.


    The city gates were thrown open at our approach, and I happily let my healing extend as far as I could push it. [Universal Cure¡¯s] range was a good chunk over a kilometer, but I knew it wasn¡¯t at a kilometer and a half yet. More precise measurements hadn¡¯t occurred. Occasionally I checked behind me to see what Iona was doing, but the winding streets quickly made that pointless.


    There was one heck of a turnout for the event, even though the Sixth wasn¡¯t returning triumphantly from some campaign or another. I still felt like we¡¯d been robbed after returning from the Han Empire and not getting a parade - I suppose this made up for it. I could see morale going up in a thousand smiling faces from the soldiers as we marched through the city.


    The crowds loved us. Flowers and small candies were thrown at us, magical dust floated around, arcanite coins rained down - half of them were illusions - skills were fired off by absolutely everyone, and one grinning soldier peeled off an expertly shot pair of underwear, blowing a kiss back into the crowd.


    Then we were at the colosseum, and the Sixth parted smoothly up the stairs while I waited for Iona.


    Then hand in hand, divine candle in Iona¡¯s other hand, we walked into the area filled with a hundred thousand cheering citizens, with the object of all this fuss right in the middle, pointing up.


    The Argo II.

 Chapter 557: Moonfall III

    Chapter 557: Moonfall III


    Iona and I waited hand-in-hand by the gate leading to the coliseum, various speeches and a few initial games going on. The pre-show before the real show, entertainment for those who came early and grabbed a good seat.


    Also, I mentally bounced around inside of [The World Around Me], a habit I¡¯d developed over scanning around with my eyes.


    ¡°Where is Auri?¡± I asked, mostly knowing the answer but wanting to get some of my frustration out. ¡°She said she¡¯d be here.¡±


    Iona squeezed my hand.


    ¡°She¡¯s never managed so many people before, or been the sole vendor to an event this large.¡± My wife said. ¡°I¡¯d be shocked if something didn¡¯t come up and delay her. I imagine the worst-case scenario is we¡¯ll come out of the gates and see a flaming cake saying ¡®good luck¡¯ or something.¡±


    I chewed the inside of my cheeks.


    ¡°Yeah. Ugh, I wish we could¡¯ve figured out a way to get her to come along with us. Stupid vacuum. Stupid smoke.¡± I grumbled.


    Iona squeezed my hand again, and waggled her eyebrows.


    ¡°Well, while you¡¯re getting all antsy here, why don¡¯t I try distracting you while we wait for all the stuffy speeches to finish up? Booo [Senators]! Boo long speeches!¡±


    I shuddered.


    ¡°Any hope you had of that went away when you reminded me [Politicians] existed.¡± I teased her.


    I caught a faint rrrrr at the edge of my hearing, that rapidly got louder as Auri tore through the hallways, causing a huge ripple in the crowds as people flinched away from the tiny, devastating phoenix flying at high speeds right over their head. She blazed into the waiting room a moment later, her orbiting ring of Lava spinning at crazy speeds, a dozen caramel treats brought along with her.


    ¡°...rrrRRRPT!!¡± Auri¡¯s wings flared with fire as she rapidly braked, heat washing over us all.


    ¡°Auri!¡± My face lit up. ¡°You made it! Are you ready?¡±


    ¡°BRPT! Brpt?¡± She offered us the treats, and I happily took a pair, starting to lick it right as Iona downed hers in a single ravenous bite.


    ¡°Thank you!¡± I was grateful for the last minute sugary treat. ¡°Everything going alright? Any fires you¡¯ve needed to put out?¡± I grinned mischievously at the last part, still knowing how to rile Auri up.


    ¡°BRRPT!¡± She protested my idiom. ¡°Brrpt brrpt BRPT! Brrrpt, brpt...¡±


    Her quick and dirty version of the thousand moving parts that were needed for the day, and the various wrenches that had been thrown into it and how she fixed them were far more entertaining than pompous Senator #37¡¯s speech, or whoever was up next. A poorly maintained road had caused a pothole, which had broken a wagon wheel, forcing several carts delivering supplies to Auri to detour, which had...


    It was like listening to the longest story of ¡®if you give a mouse a cookie¡¯, except it was all real and live, a testament to fragile systems and a lack of redundancies. I was starting to sweat over the Argo II, our mission, and a few critical points where we didn¡¯t have any redundancies.UppTodated from  disappointed that we¡¯re not with the Argo II, checking it over.¡± Iona fretted. ¡°We should¡¯ve insisted. After what Arachne said in her letter...¡±


    I put my hand on her arm.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be alright. Everyone¡¯s invested in this. In a few minutes we¡¯re going to walk out there and get in the Argo II just like we¡¯ve practiced a dozen times. We¡¯re going to wait, then we¡¯re going to lift off without any problems. It¡¯ll work out. Even ask your goddesses! They¡¯ll tell you the same thing.¡±


    ¡°Brrrrrrrpptt....¡± Auri was entirely convinced that I¡¯d jinxed it with that, and we were going to explode in a gigantic fireball.


    ¡°How are we going to end up in a gigantic fireball?¡± I asked her. ¡°There aren¡¯t even any flames or explosives involved!¡±


    ¡°Brpt.¡± Auri knew what she said.


    Iona half-lidded her eyes and tilted her head forward a fraction, praying to her patrons. A few fidgety minutes later - age had not helped with standing still at all damnit - and my ears perked up at the [Announcer].


    ¡°Vampires and mortals, ladies and gentlemen, bold citizens of Exterreri and foreign guests alike, it is time for the main event! The part we¡¯ve all been waiting for! The bold ascent of Sentinel and Valkyrie alike, a testament to the power of Exterreri, complimentary names, a trip to the moons themselves, I am pleased to present - Sentinel Dawn and Valkyrie Dusk!¡±


    The gates rumbled open and the Classer responsible for the lights shone them on us. I smiled and practically bounced up and down as I waved to the crowd, enjoying how I looked and how I¡¯d literally practiced how to do this once upon a time.


    Auri came along with me, spinning around me in an orbit like her [Ring of Lava] orbited her, like the moons orbited Pallos. She eventually settled down onto my shoulder. We looked around together, and I tried to spot all my friends in the crowd. Queen and Depths were together, along with a number of their teammates, and I spotted Legion and Calamity clapping. Devour had a few flames going, and all eight members of Ranger Team Gale - a few had swapped around over the years - were in a line, digging into treats they¡¯d bought from Auri¡¯s grand bakery operation. I swear I saw Night deep in one of the shadows, but I wasn¡¯t entirely sure, and Arachne was up next to the [Empress]. The Sixth Legion had a whole section to themselves, and I made some large gestures in their direction to draw attention to them.


    Iona was all sparkles and smiles herself, only a vein in her neck betraying the tension she felt. I was sure I had a thousand tells on the kaleidoscope of butterflies my stomach was home to, and we walked out to the screaming crowd. The Argo II was being lifted up at the center of the arena, and my eyes caught the prior act that was now leaving.


    ¡°Wait - did they have a pair of [Gladiatrixes] dress up as us??¡± I asked Iona. She smirked at me.


    The speeches went on for quite some time while I hung unhappily in a slowly growing cloud of smoke. We had multiple plans and redundancies for dealing with it, but most of them involved being up in the air, off the ground. I sighed.


    ¡°Using one of my worst smoke spells.¡± I communicated to Iona. ¡°Page 44.¡±


    ¡°Aye, smoke spell is good. Page 44.¡± She confirmed.


    With a thought, I pulled out one of my endless spellbooks out of my [Repository], and Iona grabbed it with [Telekinesis]. Hovering in front of me, she flipped it open to page 44, and I tilted my head forward, pressing my nose against it. My hands were a little busy keeping me hanging, and it was good practice for what we were going to do.


    The spell lit up, and the page disintegrated as the smoke cleared.


    Then it got quiet. Real quiet. Ice formed up and around the Argo II as Fenrir coated us with a solid layer, creating a pair of wyvern-sized handles. He flapped over and grabbed them with his hind legs, and my breath hitched as the first number lit up the sky.


    10.


    I¡¯d insisted on a countdown from 10 instead of 8, claiming it was good luck. Night had snorted in amusement while Arachne and Iona had laughed themselves sick over it all, but in the end, I¡¯d gotten my way.


    9.


    Levels, levels, everywhere. To nearly everyone, mortal and Immortal alike, this was a major event. It had weight, difficulty, freshness, uniqueness, and every single other thing the System enjoyed when determining experience. The only thing it was ¡®properly¡¯ missing was ¡®mortal peril¡¯, and honestly, Iona and I were going to be staring that aspect right in the face for quite some time. Getting the government interested was another major boon. They¡¯d tacked on enough pomp and ceremony to the entire thing to give more weight, and it wasn¡¯t like there was a limited amount of experience to go around. The more people that were involved in various aspects, the more experience they could get. For example, Auri¡¯s baking. Her classes only had baking tertiary to them at best - more things to do with Fire, mostly - but it WAS part of her class. Us simply going to the moon was the same amount of experience, pomp and ceremony or not, but the pomp and ceremony also gave Auri a chance to push her baking and skills to rise to the occasion, and now she could tap the experience as well. The same went for the [Announcers], the [Gladiatrices], heck, even the [Empress]! The Sixth Legion supporting their Sentinel was a boon to them, and the list went on and on and on.


    8.


    The crowd had figured out the countdown, and even with the steel and enchantments all over, we could hear them counting down in unison.


    7.


    6.


    Most of the dings! - or whatever other sound people had customized their notifications for - would hit when we launched. There would probably be a second set when we landed, then a few more when we finished the temple, and a third set when we landed back on Pallos.


    Of course, the degree of the dings! Would heavily depend on how successful we were.


    5.


    Auri fluttered low down, and with exquisite flame control, lit up the bottom of the Argo II like a rocket, but keeping the heat from touching Fenrir¡¯s Ice. It wouldn¡¯t do for it to get melted on takeoff, we¡¯d all look bad and get flung all over.


    4.


    There wouldn¡¯t be any dings! on [Erudite Archmage] - it was capped, and I was hoping this mission would give enough weight and experience to the class for a good evolution. It wasn¡¯t directly linked to what the class wanted to do, but there¡¯d been enough scribbling in dusty old tomes, research, and the creation of magical spells to work it.


    3.


    Auri and I would be splitting the experience, but we were both getting differently distributed experience in the first place. It would ¡®even us out¡¯, getting all our classes a little closer to each other.


    2.


    I expected more levels off [Seraph of the Dawn]. There was still the ¡®go to new places and explore¡¯ as a minor aspect thanks to [Butterfly Mystic], and I¡¯d explored a lot of the world. The moons? Completely new, and I ran the very real risk that my eyes wouldn¡¯t be starry at the end of this, but glowing with golden light.


    That would be very bad.


    1.


    LIFTOFF!


    Fenrir flapped his wings and effortlessly picked us up, shooting high into the sky.


    [*ding!* [The Arbiter of Life and Death] has leveled up! 906-> 908. +400 Strength, +400 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +1600 Magic Power, +1600 Magic Control, +1000 Mana, +9000 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]


    [*ding!* [Seraph of the Dawn] leveled up! 885-> 888. +512 Speed, +512 Vitality, +1024 Mana, +1024 Mana Regeneration, +1024 Magic Power, +1024 Magic Control per level from your class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Strength +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]


    We were on our way to the moons.

 Chapter 558: Moonfall IV

    Chapter 558: Moonfall IV


    I had a lot of images in my mind of how this was going to go. Papilion had removed quite a lot from my mind, and I hadn¡¯t spent much time over the years thinking about it - I¡¯d gone fully native - but the space shuttle launches, the vibe and the feel of them, were one memory that had been preserved. Roaring flames underneath, rattling sensations, and a whole lot of force and energy being applied.


    I had no idea past that how any of it worked - that had been surgically removed with a sledgehammer - but there was a certain feel, a certain expectation I had coming into this on what launch day would be like.


    We¡¯d practiced launches, Fenrir lifting us all up, so it wasn¡¯t entirely unexpected, simply... dissonant. He was a powerful Classer in his own right on top of being a bloody wyvern, and the ride up was smooth as a washed mango¡¯s peel. There was a small jerk as Fenrir lifted us up, and then it was a smooth trip up.


    I looked down, and watched Sanguino rapidly drop away from us. First the colosseum became a tiny dot, then the city, and suddenly I realized I was looking at a solid fraction of the world. The moons were far off to our right, their light glimmering off the Bloodmoon Bay. The Sea of Stars once again proved why it had that name, as the hundred thousand stars in the sky were reflected in the water. That was the top of Fenrir¡¯s flight ceiling, and it was our turn.


    ¡°Ready to disengage.¡± Iona said.


    ¡°Aye, ready to disengage.¡± I confirmed, bracing my arms and muscles against the gauntlets, plagued by sudden doubt. Could I seriously push the spaceship for 11 days? Was my wrist strong enough? I could heal through breaks and fix muscle fatigue, but what about the mental fatigue?


    I reassured myself again that it couldn¡¯t be worse than Ranger Academy. I¡¯d done worse for longer. At the same time, I didn¡¯t have the same driving impetus. It wasn¡¯t my entire future for me.


    I glanced back at Iona, and doubled my resolve.


    It was important for her. It was huge, and I¡¯d walk over burning broken glass for her. Pushing for a few days? Bah, that was easy.


    I flapped my wings at full force, effectively trying to push the entire spaceship plus Fenrir. I¡¯d honestly have more luck trying to move a mountain.


    Fenrir disengaged his Ice, smoothly peeling back as it all came with him. Dropping that much Ice straight down onto Sanguino would probably kill quite a few people, and he peeled off. Iona quickly waved, but the sudden weight of everything crashed over me, and we started to fall.


    Wasn¡¯t the first time we¡¯d practiced, and I fought down the usual surge of panic as we began to slowly spin, flapping my wings and straining against the sheer weight of everything. Iona was doing her part and more - [Flight of the Valkyries] plus [Telekinesis] was doing some of the lifting, but her magic power, mana, and regeneration paled in comparison to mine.


    I grunted and strained as I pushed against gravity, blessing how many times we¡¯d practiced and Iona¡¯s [Star-Forged] armor skill preventing any little bits from getting damaged.


    In a gale and flurry of feathers and wings, I righted the ship, ignoring how backwards it was for my wings to successfully ¡®push¡¯ air while trapped in an airtight container. Magic was weird and awesome that way.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got control, accelerating.¡± I popped my mana bar in front of my face, watching it rapidly dwindle as I accelerated us.


    [*ding!* [Seraph of the Dawn] leveled up! 888-> 889. +512 Speed, +512 Vitality, +1024 Mana, +1024 Mana Regeneration, +1024 Magic Power, +1024 Magic Control per level from your class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Strength +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]


    I hadn¡¯t gotten any levels on test flights. The ¡®real¡¯ flight had enough weight that the levels were starting to slowly roll in.


    I was a hair disappointed that [Celestial Mastery] didn¡¯t upgrade to [Celestial Spirit]. What was more Celestial than visiting space? I had some hopes when we landed on the moon.


    This was where the fine calculations came in. I¡¯d worked out exactly how much mana I needed to keep in reserve if everything went to shit, how much mana I¡¯d need to spend effectively accelerating, and when I was at max speed. Iona had a number of tools and instruments that helped her estimate and double-check my work.


    This wasn¡¯t a disaster of a launch, and I rapidly gained speed as we left Pallos behind us. At a certain point, it seemed like we just weren¡¯t moving at all, thanks to the distances involved. I carefully tilted the spaceship around until all the stars were lined up, noting that my head was just ever-so-slightly in an uncomfortable position to be in the right spot.


    Damnit. This had been a comfortable spot when I calibrated it! I had to wonder if something went wrong somewhere, if there was a minuscule tolerance adjustment, if things had shifted, or if it was pure biology.Finnd new chapters at novelhall.com


    I sighed.


    ¡°Liftoff successful?¡± I questioned, wanting Iona¡¯s confirmation. I could see everything she was doing and could read her well enough to guess the answer, but we weren¡¯t doing something that could easily operate on ¡®guesses¡¯ and ¡®I¡¯m pretty sure I know.¡¯


    ¡°Liftoff successful.¡± Iona confirmed.


    I kept an eye on my mana, making small adjustments to how hard I was flying until I was regenerating ¡®only¡¯ about 1000 mana/second. Iona stretched awkwardly in her seat, making sure not to leave too much of it at any point. I was trying not to push [Etheric Aegis] too hard, since our skills would ¡®clash¡¯ if both tried to reinforce the hull, instead of ¡®overlap.¡¯ Some skills DID work that way, but for whatever reason, one of our skills didn¡¯t want to play nicely.


    I was willing to bet it was both of our skills. Both Sentinels and Valkyries tended towards ¡®lone operative¡¯.


    ¡°Hey, what¡¯s that over there?¡± Iona nodded in a direction. ¡°Roughly... ugh these degrees, hang on...¡±


    My eyes zeroed in on the target Iona pointed out. An elf was meditating in space, a dozen portals around her with a solid bar of metal in each one.


    Wait, no. Not solid metal bars - they were spheres moving so damn fast it looked solid. A moment later she¡¯d zoomed off the horizon, and my mouth went dry as I realized just how ridiculous of an attack was being channeled.


    I couldn¡¯t imagine going through all that effort if it wasn¡¯t an attack.


    ¡°Someone¡¯s going to have a really bad day.¡± I said.


    ¡°Should talk with Arachne at the end of this.¡± Iona said.


    I was starting to make a noise of agreement, but my stomach decided to rumble, protesting and demanding to be fed.


    ¡°Feed me captain!¡± I jokingly demanded.


    ¡°Aye aye, feeding!¡± Iona dramatically flicked a finger, and the only bag we¡¯d brought on board opened up, a mashed sandwich floating out. She hovered it in front of my face, and I snapped out like a crocodile, grabbing the whole sandwich in my jaws and trying to eat the whole thing fingerless.


    In my defense, that had happened, and I¡¯d only fallen for it once.


    Iona simply smiled, choosing not to argue.


    ¡°Books are good?¡± I asked, boredom rapidly setting in. I had eleven whole days of nonstop flying to go before reaching the moon, and after the initial excitement I wasn¡¯t exactly jumping for joy.


    ¡°Books are good.¡± Iona confirmed. I let out a little happy noise - we were in space, nobody cared about ¡®dignified¡¯ here - and grabbed the first book Skye had prepared for me to read - Legacy of the Lifebringer - then settled in and paced myself. Iona¡¯s eyes drifted slightly, talking to her patron deities.


    The twin goddesses of the moons were very invested in our mission - Lunaris especially. It was ¡®her¡¯ moon we were going to.


    I was halfway through my first book when Iona¡¯s eyes flew open.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± She swore.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± I asked, guiltily adjusting my flight pattern again. Must¡¯ve drifted a hair when I was reading, I needed to split my attention better with [Luminary Minds].


    ¡°That fucking lizard¡¯s been screwing with our flight!¡± She said.


    It took me a moment of thinking before my jaw dropped open. Only long-honed instinct and the deep impression Julius had made - Don¡¯t say their name - stopped me from saying Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s name.


    I blasted [A Light Shining in the Darkness] all around us, the clear steel hull letting the light through. I expected some levels, possibly for the stars around us to shift or even reveal that we were hurtling straight towards Pallos, but nothing happened. Iona tsked at the whole situation, clearly getting live updates from her goddesses.


    ¡°Illusion¡¯s too far away.¡± She said. ¡°Hang on, we¡¯re going to get a correction.¡±


    A pair of orbs appeared in front of me, looking scarred and pitted like I imagined the true surfaces of the moons looked like. Iona clicked her tongue as her eyes flickered, and the moons rapidly readjusted their position. The paladin shook her head with a rueful chuckle.


    ¡°Goddesses of the Moons, yes. Orbits, gravity, and tides, they¡¯re great at. Intercept courses? Not so much. Follow those.¡±


    I eyed the moons skeptically, unsure at the precision I was being offered and exactly how I was supposed to use it.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got no idea how to use this.¡± I said.


    ¡°Yeah, hang on.... Get me TRAJ-17-v24.11.311, TRAJ-17-v24.6.781, and TRAJ-17-v24.3.123.¡± Iona said.


    I flicked the three over from [Repository of the Magus] and floated them over to Iona, who frowned as she looked over them, getting into a deep, silent discussion with the goddesses. Now and then she called out for more trajectory charts and star charts, flicking some back my way to store in my storage. I continued flying ¡®straight¡¯, not bothering to line up the dots on my... it wasn¡¯t exactly a windshield with no wind, was it? - with the stars.


    [*ding!* [Repository of the Magus] leveled up! 652-> 653]


    The weight involved was making everythingding! freely.


    Finally, Iona and the goddesses seemed to reach a conclusion, and a bunch of tiny moons, alternating blue and yellow, appeared in front of me in a line, like tiny dots.


    ¡°Just follow the path!¡± Iona said.


    Well... alrighty then.


    It wasn¡¯t what we¡¯d planned, but I trusted that Iona and the goddesses had figured out the correct path. I imagined I was eating a mango, then getting a drink of water or eating a blueberry. Mango, water, mango, blueberry, mango, water... I got bored fast, and after the alright from Iona, went back to reading.


    [*ding!* [The Arbiter of Life and Death] has leveled up! 908-> 910. +400 Strength, +400 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +1600 Magic Power, +1600 Magic Control, +1000 Mana, +9000 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]


    Hello levels, what the heck are you for? I doubted that was Auri - she¡¯d need to be doing something gigantic to get those levels, and the experience should be enough for [Seraph] to also level, but I didn¡¯t think following divine tic tacs was worth two levels.


    I split my attention with [Luminary Mind] and was a little outraged that I¡¯d been right! I¡¯d followed the stars exactly, and I did fly straight! Lun¡¯Kat had been slowly shifting the stars on me to throw me off!


    It was tiny, it was petty, but it pissed me off. My mind was my sanctuary. Causing me to doubt myself like this lit a deep flame of burning anger at the dragon. A flame I could do nothing about.


    I amended that thought.


    This entire mission was a huge boon to the Moon Goddesses should we pull it off, and it was clear they were in conflict with Lun¡¯Kat. I could do nothing about it, except help Iona and the goddesses succeed. I pushed forward with renewed determination, wanting nothing more than to stick it to the dragon.


    Spite was one hell of a drug.


    [Persistent Casting] worked with [Wings of the Seraphim], and I was able to continue flying while I slept. An unusual combination - normally I¡¯d end up way off I-don¡¯t-know-where if I tried to sleep and fly at the same time, but here it worked, only needing the smallest course corrections every time I woke up. The days rapidly blurred together, the suits thankfully doing their job when it came to managing waste, and I¡¯d relaxed a few days ago.


    Levels continued to slowly roll in while we traveled.


    On the eighth day I was flying along like normal, when I was suddenly ripped so hard from my spot that my bloody hands and wrists were left in the gauntlets, then slammed into the side of the Argo II so hard I was turned into a paste.

 Chapter Im sick, no Chapters next week

    Chapter I''m sick, no Chapters next week


    What it says on the tin. I''m sick, there''s no chapters next week.


    Words required to post.


    STILL not enough words? Cripes.


    The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.


    Patreon is 25 chapters ahead and people are LOVING it

 Chapter 559: Moonfall V

    Chapter 559: Moonfall V


    My healing snapped me back to the picture of health, but that was the only thing that looked good about the situation.


    [*ding!* [The Arbiter of Life and Death] has leveled up! 910-> 911. +400 Strength, +400 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +1600 Magic Power, +1600 Magic Control, +1000 Mana, +9000 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]


    Not now.


    It was like the hand of a god had descended and smacked me like a fly, and there¡¯d been so little ¡®me¡¯ left that the healing had explosively scattered the remains of my body all over the shuttle, painting the entire inside in gore. It was almost entirely red, but dozens of tiny bone shards stuck up from everywhere, and the occasional rainbow serpent scale shimmered in the light. My old hands were still dangling from the gauntlets, my radius poking out like an accusing finger. Iona blinked, the white of her eyes in comical relief against the rest of her red face, and she spoke urgently. One hand was up and shielding the candle, the protective casing on it entirely broken.


    ¡°Elaine? Elaine! Speak to me, what¡¯s wrong, what¡¯s going on?¡± She was at the edge of her seat, brimming with the primal need to get up and rush over to me, to tend and care for me. Only our drilled discipline kept her in her seat - we needed her skill running to preserve the hull, especially if this was going to happen again.


    ¡°I¡¯m alright.¡± I automatically said as I scanned around, [Luminary Mind] splitting into a number of different thought processes. I slowly replayed the scene in my mind, trying to work out what had happened.


    I¡¯d been flying along one moment, then violently jerked away the next. None of my senses had picked up anything, [The World Around Me] didn¡¯t have anything unusual in the picture.


    I went cold as the part replaying my injuries and cataloging them started to roll in with the complete damage report. I¡¯d been entirely pasted, from head to toe. My brains were scattered in a 300 degree cone.


    I shouldn¡¯t have survived that. This was exactly the type of injury that should¡¯ve done me in entirely. The only thing I could imagine was the complex interplay between my vitality, healing, and biology, combined with ¡®only¡¯ getting squashed on one side, not both. I¡¯d been hit by a hammer, not a hammer and anvil. I shivered and unsteadily pushed myself off the wall, letting me slowly float across the shuttle.


    There was a me-sized and shaped dent in the wall where I¡¯d ended up that deformed the skill-reinforced steel. My spacesuit was ruined. The weakest seam had come undone, unzipping me from head to crotch, giving an avenue for everything to escape through. My helmet had shattered, and there were shards of bloody glass embedded in the ceiling. A piece fell out of Iona¡¯s cheek, my permanent healing throwing it out.


    ¡°Good thing we didn¡¯t make the whole thing out of glass.¡± I joked poorly, trying to bleed off some of the tension.


    ¡°Elaine.¡± Iona said more urgently. I wriggled out of the ruined remains of my spacesuit, one part of my parallel thoughts noting that biological functions were about to become so much harder, then pushed away. I held up my hand, letting it slowly flip me through the shuttle, then pushed away an eyeball that was getting a little too close.


    ¡°I know, I know, I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m still trying to work out what happened. I¡¯m coming up with nothing.¡± Technically, I wasn¡¯t coming up with nothing, but my brain was coming up with wildly outlandish theories. Like attack by an invisible dragon - we wouldn¡¯t be alive if that was the case, plus it made no sense. The list only got more absurd from there. The biggest part I worried over was it looked like I was the only one impacted. Vitality defense excluded an external attacker, so the problem was me. Somehow. I worried over the problem more, continuing to scan everything.


    Our current set of supplies were ruined, but I had more in my [Tower]. They looked like they¡¯d had blood and bone explosively sprayed all over them, but not like they¡¯d been pasted by massive forces. It had only been me.


    ¡°We¡¯ve been thrown quite a bit off course, and we¡¯re currently in a deep spin.¡± Iona said. ¡°The sooner we can work this all out, the better.¡±


    I nodded. This deep in space, the risk wasn¡¯t returning to Pallos and burning up in the atmosphere, it was the harshness of space itself. Speaking of, one of Iona¡¯s big concerns was her candle. I cast a quick spell to resecure it. I¡¯d cast a better set of spells later.


    ¡°Going to get some cleaning done before we resume. Maybe refresh our supplies.¡± I said. I opened my wings to-


    I was alert, I was aware, and feeling myself suddenly jerked the wrong way had me stopping my flight. Didn¡¯t stop me from getting pasted a second time, this time from the legs-up, but it wasn¡¯t as bad. I ¡®stopped¡¯ about halfway up my body before I reformed. I pulled myself up and out of the large dent I¡¯d made in the ship, only for everything not strapped down suddenly trying to escape.


    [*ding!* [The Arbiter of Life and Death] has leveled up! 911-> 912. +400 Strength, +400 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +1600 Magic Power, +1600 Magic Control, +1000 Mana, +9000 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]


    ¡°Breach!¡± I yelled, lowering myself back into the hole. Iona swore, and moved like she was going to get up.


    ¡°Stay! Still!¡± I yelled, reminding her. ¡°Whatever¡¯s going on, the last thing we need is to lose the armor on the shuttle!¡±


    ¡°Fuck!¡± She swore again, her knuckles going white on her seat. My body was still plugging the hole, and my mind raced as I tried to figure out a solution. We had gems to handle breaches, but most of them assumed small ¡®punch in¡¯ breaches, not an Elaine-sized hole. Fortunately our redundancies had redundancies, because I¡¯d knocked out one of our repair gems in my hurtling around.


    ¡°Should I teleport to-¡± My teeth clicked together as Night¡¯s letter slammed back into my mind.


    ...only read it in case everything should go wrong. With that being said, and this is of critical importance - READ BEFORE YOU TELEPORT.


    ¡°Night knew this was going to happen.¡± I whispered. Iona took one hand and wiped her face off, nodding at me.


    ¡°The letter he sent. Should we read it now?¡± She asked.


    Our ship was coated in gore, we were spinning out of control, my flight was fucked up, and my body was physically plugging a hole. My breathing was getting heavier in the thin air, like I¡¯d been launched from sea level to the top of a mountain in a single go.


    My training and practicality demanded I pull the letter out now, weight and levels be damned. There was no sense in trying to solo the monster as a Ranger when we had an entire team to back us up. I felt it was time to tag Night in.


    ¡°We could try to see if we can solve this ourselves.¡± I hazarded. ¡°It¡¯d be more levels, and possibly more weight?¡± I was trying to make some concessions to Iona and her goals.


    Iona shook her head.


    ¡°No, let¡¯s get the letter now.¡± She insisted, worry etched in her face.


    I cautiously teleported it out of [Repository], breathing a little mental sigh of relief as it stayed still. I read it outloud.


    Elaine,


    I hope you¡¯re reading this due to your eternal curiosity getting the better of you, rather than encountering a problem in deep space.


    Skills are interesting things, and as you know, no two skills work exactly the same. From what I have seen and observed of your flight skill, it is a RELATIVE skill, and not an absolute skill. That is to say, your flight depends on Pallos itself, not upon your body. This has a number of advantages and disadvantages, one of which you are encountering now.


    As you are flying towards the moon, your skill¡¯s frame of reference has abruptly shifted from Pallos-local to Moon-local. Your current velocity is far, far faster in Moon-local than it is on Pallos-local, and I suspect at this point that you have been violently shoved into the side of your craft, possibly repeatedly as I hope you¡¯ve tried a number of things before reading this letter. The experience is good for you.


    If you teleport, your relative velocity will be set to Moon-local, and the shuttle will be barreling away from you too quickly for you to ever catch up, barring a literal miracle. Selene and Lunaris may deign to intervene, given the nature of the mission, but gods can be fickle. I would not rely on them to bail you out, a paladin of theirs onboard or not.


    The solution is relatively simple, and I¡¯m a bit disappointed that you were not able to solve it yourself, as other pioneers who¡¯ve visited the moons before and returned to tell me their tales have. At the same time, your classes are not [Explorer] or [Celestnaut], but a [Healer] and a [Paladin], so you can be forgiven the shortcut. Iona must use her skills to slow the Argo II down to a Moon-local speed. Then you should brace your legs against the hull, and fly at top speed as hard as you can away from the direction you¡¯re trying to push. This will cause you to attempt to match the speed of the Argo II, making the relative speed difference one that your body and the grand ship you are upon small enough to effect a change. From there, you can regain control, and continue on your journey.


    Do note the same thing will happen on the way back. Forewarned, you should not have nearly as many problems.


    I hope we are able to laugh over this missive in approximately four weeks, when I expect you back.


    All the best,


    Night


    The letter was soothing, and I felt a calm come over me.


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°Okay, okay, this is all fixable.¡± I said. ¡°Night even made it sound easy!¡±


    It was no good.


    ¡°I think we¡¯re ready for you again.¡± Iona announced.


    ¡°Point to where I should go.¡± I said. Iona tapped two spots right over her shoulders, and I lifted an eyebrow. That was a lot of faith in me and my abilities - if something went wrong, her head would be between a hard place and a rock quite quickly. I didn¡¯t offend her by asking if she was sure, instead grabbing and floating into position. I was basically squatting over her face, but not in a fun way. Iona let go of her candle, and grabbed my rear. I could see all of her muscles flexing under her suit.


    ¡°Ready?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Just confirming, because this still feels a bit weird to me - I¡¯m flying away from you, right? As fast as I can?¡±


    I took out Night¡¯s letter again and we both reread it.


    ¡°It makes sense to me.¡± Iona said. It took me a few moments later for the picture to click once again.


    ¡°Alright, yeah.¡± I agreed. ¡°It makes sense to me as well. Just confirming, I doubt we have any planned TRAJs for where we¡¯re going to end up, yeah?¡±


    ¡°Ish?¡± Iona agreed. ¡°We¡¯re not so far off that existing TRAJs won¡¯t work. We¡¯re well within the margin of error. Or... fuck, no we¡¯re not. Our velocity¡¯s completely changed. Yeah, we¡¯re completely off. Let¡¯s get into position, then discuss how we¡¯re getting there.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Countdown from three?¡± I proposed.


    ¡°Three. Two. One. GO!¡± We counted in unison, then I spread my wings and tried to fly as fast as I could forwards.


    My knees bent at the sheer force, protesting the amount of effort and complaining that my joints weren¡¯t made for this. Iona¡¯s hands pushed up, helping support all the forces rumbling through my body and spreading out the impact on the Argo II. My mana dropped hard as I pushed it into the skill, getting myself just a little bit more speed. I cut it off with only a sliver of mana left in my pool, and quickly returned back to ¡®normal¡¯ speeds. Thank dexterity I didn¡¯t overdo it and shoot across the Argo II again. That would¡¯ve been awkward.


    I almost wanted to complain about the lack of [Seraph] levels for the stunt, but I¡¯d gotten a little spoiled recently with how easily levels came.


    We had a few minutes of calm while my mana regenerated. My stomach rumbled and my mouth was dry. While I was in a blessed position to normally not worry about the physical demands of extensive spellcasting on the body, we were on a bit of a crunch. I couldn¡¯t go into [Tower] and retrieve any of my supplies before ¡®syncing¡¯ my speed with Iona¡¯s. Or in other words, getting the Argo II¡¯s local speed close to Moon-local.


    ¡°Are you as hungry as I am?¡± I asked Iona. She licked her dry lips.


    ¡°I¡¯m fairly certain that talking about anything else is a smarter decision.¡± The blonde said.


    ¡°Good point.¡±


    We drifted for a bit, then I circled back to position.


    ¡°Ready to push?¡± I asked, getting back into the over communication cadence.


    ¡°Aye, confirm ready to push.¡± Iona said.


    ¡°Three, two, ones, go!¡± We shouted in unison, and I flung myself forward again.


    The hardest part of the move was when the relative speed was the greatest, and our first efforts had blunted the bulk of the edge. I gritted my teeth as my knees bent again, but slowly, surely, was able to bring the Argo II back under control.


    ¡°I think I¡¯ve got it.¡± I said as I flew forward, almost hovering in the middle as I flew at top speed. Iona snorted and pulled a hair with [Telekinesis], and I twisted slightly to slot myself into the gauntlets again.


    It felt like I was getting ripped apart again, but gentler. The difference in velocities between what I could ¡®push¡¯ the Argo II at and what I was currently going wasn¡¯t that large, the only difference being what I was trying to push. My muscles screamed at me, then were soothed by a combination of [Universal Cure] and [Zenith Everlasting], and we were soon flying along at a good speed.


    [*ding!* [Zenith Everlasting] leveled up! 888 -> 889]


    I almost wanted to see how long I could stay awake under the skill¡¯s influence to level it up as hard as I could, but it was a bad idea.


    ¡°Supply run in eight minutes, then let¡¯s recalculate the course.¡± I suggested.


    ¡°Agreed.¡± My wife said.


    I spent an immortal moment looking outside, once again reveling in the sheer beauty of the vast cosmos. For all that we were on a mission, there was no sense in missing out on this once in a lifetime opportunity to stare at the stars.


    Goddess, they were beautiful. They didn¡¯t twinkle out here. They burned brightly and defiantly, sending their light for untold billions of miles before it reached my eyes.


    I was Immortal. I had all of eternity. Would I someday board another ship like the Argo II, and go deeper into the vastness of space? Were there new worlds to explore?


    Suddenly I didn¡¯t feel like I was forever confined to the surface of a single planet. I rotated around, and took a look at Pallos.


    It was a tiny blue marble in the vastness of space. Everyone I¡¯d ever known, every single man, woman and child, every monster, beast, and dinosaur, was on that tiny dot. I felt my mind expand at the sheer profoundness of it all, words utterly failing to describe how tiny and insignificant it all was. From the smallest ant to Jormungandr, from level 1 to level 4096, that was it. That tiny fleck of blue, only a little larger than the boundless expanse of stars all around it.


    I don¡¯t know how long I stared for before Iona coughed, and I was reminded about Earth as well. There were even more people on their own blue marbles.


    ¡°About that supply run?¡± She suggested, and I snapped back to reality, the here and the now.


    ¡°Oh! Right!¡± I said, looking around and evaluating, then shrugging.


    We needed everything.


    I vanished into [Tower of Knowledge] and zipped to the third floor, thankful I didn¡¯t need to drop off anything on this run. I grabbed more air canisters, a picnic basket, and a small barrel of water, before grabbing two victory mangos. I then teleported back into reality, my scales and healing fending off the harsh vacuum of space. It felt like thousands of pinpricks under my skin, in my eyeballs. Pressure trying to escape, but being healed just as quickly as it was damaged. My scales were doing good work, helping keep everything inside, but I didn¡¯t want to see what happened when it failed on me. I sped towards the Argo II, [Teleporting] back in and shivering as the sensation dropped.


    [*ding!* [Teleportation] leveled up! 411-> 412]


    ¡°Victory mangos!¡± I told Iona as I bit into mine, skin and all, like a totally normal and civilized person.


    ¡°I thought those were for after the mission.¡± She started to peel hers like a... well, I loved her very much, mango-waste or not.


    Eh, who was I kidding, we both knew I was going to eat it.


    ¡°We have lots of victory mangos.¡± I primly told her. ¡°For situations just like this.¡±


    Iona smiled, and we ate the mangos together, made all the sweeter by floating through space, drifting through the void.


    Three days later, we gently landed on the blue moon.

 Chapter 560: Moonfall VI

    Chapter 560: Moonfall VI


    The moon.


    There were two of them, and the layer of illusion Lun¡¯Kat had over them had ended about half a mile from the surface - lower than most clouds were on Pallos. The illusion was razor-thin, as most mirages were, and the ancient dragon had clearly not bothered to do anything so mundane as make it see-through on one side.


    Above us was an endless illusion of a dragon¡¯s eye, looking down on us just as much as it was looking up. I¡¯d never wondered before what it would be like to be stared at up-close by a planet-sized eyeball, but now I knew.


    [*ding!* [Seraph of the Dawn] leveled up! 893-> 894. +512 Speed, +512 Vitality, +1024 Mana, +1024 Mana Regeneration, +1024 Magic Power, +1024 Magic Control per level from your class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Strength +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]


    [Erudite Archmage] was getting so much weight in the background. I didn¡¯t know how much of it was good - I was probably going to have to take the second or third-best class - but I was getting quite happy with the direction it was heading in.


    It was terrifying on a primal level. Intellectually, I knew it was... acceptable. The lizard part of my brain was screaming that there was a GIGANTIC PREDATOR RIGHT THERE! ALERT! ALERT! RUN! HIDE!!


    The ¡®fight or flight¡¯ reflex had landed solidly on ¡®flight¡¯, with my body seemingly forgetting that ¡®fight¡¯ was even an option. Staying in control when my body was so desperately screaming for ACTION was difficult, and Iona¡¯s knuckles were white as she continued flexing.


    On our way down I¡¯d hit the illusion as hard as I could with [A Light Shining in the Darkness], carving a large hole through the mirage. Practically speaking, if anyone was looking at the moons as I did it, they might see a tiny little blip in a single speck - if they had good eyesight. It was nothing like when the titan had smacked Lun¡¯Kat down and forced her to drop the illusion entirely.


    The levels were epic.


    [*ding! [A Light Shining in the Darkness] leveled up! 410 -> 750]


    Honestly, I was a little surprised there wasn¡¯t more to it. The sheer weight of Lun¡¯Kat¡¯s illusion on the moons was literally unmatched by anything else I knew. She¡¯d been running them almost non-stop since creation, and being able to metaphorically and almost literally poke it in the eye was an achievement and a half.


    I was willing to bet if I flew around at illusion-level for a bit and just spent a bunch of time breaking it, I¡¯d have a max-quality black [Breaker of Illusions] or similar class waiting for me. It would also help my [Seraph] class, assuming I wanted to keep going down the path.


    Good class quality and skill levels, improvements around the board for everyone involved in this mission. Made me want to figure out other ridiculous stuff we could do, but it was really hard to top going to the moon.


    Well... maybe we could try going to another planet, but I wasn¡¯t sure how possible that was.


    The moon itself was... bland. Dusty blue rocks as far as the eye could see, but virtually no ¡®texture¡¯. The land was flat, with no meteor strikes that I could see, no mountains, nothing. It took me some time to realize why it looked so weird and different.


    The moons had been created, not formed, and it seemed like the gods had paid minimal attention to the fine details. No atmosphere meant no wind, and 30,000 years was nothing on the cosmological scale. No mantle and core meant no tectonic motion, and I realized the moons were virtually untouched since they were made. It was like taking a fairy ring to the past, as impossible as that was, and getting a glimpse of the world moments after creation.


    Was this the sort of vast hellscape that Night had found himself on? Endless rocks as far as the eye could see, all in the same shape? Honestly, it was a bit of a literal miracle that the moon didn¡¯t have a thick layer of dirt on it... but it would¡¯ve been interesting.


    I suppose if the gods had made the moons more habitable, there¡¯d be a bunch of people living here by now.


    Iona had the honor of going first onto the moon.


    With my ruptured suit, I could survive vacuum, but didn¡¯t want to test it. We¡¯d skipped the airlock portion of the Argo II in favor of less weight, and we had a brief debate if I should be around for a pivotal, emotional moment.


    ¡°It¡¯s important.¡± I argued. ¡°I¡¯ve survived a bunch of space jaunts on supply runs, and this isn¡¯t that different. Except for the length of time. And the location. Look, if anything goes terribly wrong, I¡¯ll jump into my [Tower] and be perfectly safe. I¡¯ll be coming back to the same relative position, so it¡¯s not like it¡¯s a huge problem, and I could do the first construction supply run at the same time.¡±


    Iona opened her mouth with a single finger upraised, then paused.


    ¡°You know what? I¡¯m convinced. Ready?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Nope, hold on. Communication enchantments, let me grab the backups.¡± I said. I went into [Tower], bringing some trash along the way, and found a pair of agate earrings. I clipped mine on, then brought them out to Iona. I [Teleported] them through her helmet to skip the whole on-off process, neatly setting them on her ears at the same time. With a thought, I activated mine, letting me still talk with Iona even with the vacuum separating us.


    [*ding!* [Teleportation] leveled up! 413-> 414]


    ¡°Ready?¡± Iona asked, gesturing with her candle. We¡¯d brought a LOT of backups for the candle¡¯s protection, and it was extra-wrapped. The wick was nearing the one-third mark, most of the candle burned away, but it had started large and fat, and we¡¯d successfully kept it safe and protected this entire time.


    ¡°Aye, ready.¡± I confirmed.


    Iona¡¯s eyes briefly unfocused, communicating with her goddesses. I could feel the weight of divine attention and presence on us, a sort of static in the air, a pressure on my body. I gazed lovingly into her eyes, and got to witness the exact moment the stars in her eyes faded away, to be replaced by a black hole¡¯s distortion.


    Iona¡¯s [Paladin] class had just overtaken her [Valkyrie] one. It felt odd and weird to me - I liked the stars more, and hopefully this was a temporary adjustment.


    ¡°Unscrewing the door.¡± She said, putting on her mitten-like gloves.


    ¡°Aye, unscrewing the door.¡± I had my hand on one of the air canisters, ready to break it.


    Iona ¡®pulled¡¯ the door in slightly as she unscrewed it, keeping the seal tight with sheer force of MUSCLES. I grabbed onto my gauntlet tight with one hand, holding an air canister ready with the other.


    ¡°Ready?¡± She asked when it was all unscrewed, keeping the entire force of the atmosphere inside the shuttle with pure strength.


    ¡°Ready!¡± I confirmed.


    Iona opened the door fully, shielding the protected candle with a hand, a blast of air escaping into the desolate moonscape. She slipped outside and slammed the door shut, starting to one-handedly spin the hatch. I cracked the air canister, then zipped over to the hatch, helping her close the door.


    One of the Sentinels seemed to think he was a Core Sentinel because of his [Ooze Spirit] skill! Granted, he did have the ability to turn himself into some weird Ooze that went faster every time it bounced, and I had no idea how to even begin to fight someone like that. Maybe applying a lot of fire to the problem? But it wasn¡¯t like there was any biology to fight.


    ¡°I got [Celestial Spirit]!¡± I shouted at Iona, then remembered the earrings. I activated them and repeated myself.


    ¡°Whoa! That¡¯s huge!¡± Iona broke out of her prayer to congratulate me. ¡°Tell me more! I want to get it as well, if possible.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯d love you to! Here¡¯s what I did...¡±


    I explained the admittedly unimpressive events that led to the notification.


    ¡°... and I think it goes without saying that you should ask Selene and Lunaris for help?¡± I said.


    ¡°Good idea!¡± Iona went back to praying, and a few minutes later I was bored, having finished working out the math.


    ¡°Hey love! Let me get in your space suit, it¡¯ll be about twice as fast for me to empty out the tower and get everything here. Then you can build it!¡±


    Iona signed a thumb¡¯s up, and continued her prayer. I jumped up slightly, trying to see how many spins I could pull off between my speed and the low gravity.


    The answer was - I want to get off the ride. So much for trying backflips or anything else fancy. I figured Iona¡¯s prayer might last a while - she was usually pretty good about fitting them into our lives, but this was a Big Moment for her - even though she was probably just bullshitting with Lunaris right now. Opportunity!


    I popped into [Tower], and while I loaded myself up with a number of smaller supplies that I needed to bring out - no sense in wasting the teleportation mana overhead - I also grabbed a few more mangos.


    Honestly, it was a bit of a miracle that I even managed to ever get some stored. I¡¯d figured the trick out a while ago. I needed to bring about twice as many as I wanted to store into [Tower], and about half would end up stored properly.


    While Iona prayed to her Goddesses, I indulged in my personal religion. The worship of the delicious mango. Moon-mango was a variant I hadn¡¯t tried before! Time for mangomoon, part II!


    There were often constraints in how I needed to eat my mango, and I had no issues simply sinking my teeth into the sweet and juicy flesh, but variety in mango consumption was the spice of life! I opted for a more ¡®traditional¡¯ approach, cutting the skin off, then neatly cubing the flesh left on the skin. We were on the moon, so I opted for a slightly different approach. I plucked out each cube off the skin, then gently tossed them up, delighting in how slowly it moved. Like a circus performer, I snapped each bite out of the air with my teeth, before popping up the next one. Waste not, want not, I scraped the skin clean with my teeth.


    Moon mangos were the best, and I figured I¡¯d try planting the seed up here. Sure, all logic demanded that it was going to get absolutely wrecked environmentally, but a combination of divine interference and mangos being the best fruit had my mental magic 8-ball rolling to ¡®Outcome Uncertain¡¯.


    Iona rapped on the hatch, and I vanished into my [Tower]. I grabbed another set of building supplies - super lightweight wood for the most part, stone was so heavy that I couldn¡¯t move a reasonable amount into or out of [Tower] - picked up a few more air canisters, eyeing the dwindling pile uneasily, counted to 100 twice, then teleported back into reality. Iona was pressed up against the side of the Argo II, making sure my return to reality was unimpeded.


    Even a finger in the area I was trying to get back to would completely stop me, as would most other materials, vitality-reinforced or not. Iona had fortunately taken the chance while I was out to move the initial round of supplies out of the Argo II, and I cracked the canister the moment I was back. The sphere practically exploded, compressed air rushing out to fill the vacuum, and my skin stopped tingling a moment later.


    ¡°Everything all good? Success?¡± I asked Iona. Her face was alight with religious awe, a kid in a candy story.


    ¡°It¡¯s... marvelous.¡± She said. ¡°Everything I hoped for and more.¡±


    I grinned.


    ¡°Well, hey, with me doing some hauling while you take a break, you¡¯ll have lots of time to pray!¡±


    Iona looked like she wanted to kiss me, which to be fair, was her normal state of appearance.


    ¡°Ready for the swap?¡± I asked. I was vaguely looking forward to being in a suit again for a number of reasons.


    ¡°Aye, ready.¡± Iona confirmed. I lightly jumped up, marveling at the low gravity, then [Teleported] Iona¡¯s spacesuit onto me. It was way too large and awkward to move in, but strength and dexterity basically obliviated all problems.


    By Ciriel¡¯s crown, I loved the System. I could do SO MANY THINGS.


    Iona stifled a snort when she saw my face through the plate. I looked like a kid wearing their parent¡¯s clothing, but to be fair, I did steal Iona¡¯s sweaters semi-frequently. Wifely privilege. They just smelled so good and were so comfortable!


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going to get started.¡± I shot Iona a cheeky wink, which got her face to light up. ¡°By the way, some light reading for you if you get bored.¡±


    I teleported out a few books from my [Repository], along with a single spellbook. Most people could use spells, but wizardry was needed to write the spells. Basically, it was a book of talismans, in a sense. I quickly bailed out of the Argo II with another [Teleport] before Iona could read all the titles.


    A look between gleeful and lustful crossed Iona¡¯s face like a dirty old man¡¯s as she saw the titles I¡¯d selected for her, before switching to outraged as she saw the spellbook I¡¯d picked out.


    One for waste management, as it were. I did have Iona¡¯s spacesuit now.


    ¡°Elaine!¡± She bolted up all outraged, communicating through the earrings. ¡°No! You-¡±


    I waved, talking over her.


    ¡°No time to chat, gotta get to work!¡±


    I vanished without a pop, chuckling the whole way.

 Chapter 561: Moonfall VII

    Chapter 561: Moonfall VII


    I was Immortal. I was, barring a violent death, going to live forever. I was still adjusting my mindset to what that meant, and I¡¯d started to idly doodle out a list of every career I ever wanted to try - basically all of them - and ranked them in order that I wanted to try them in.


    High up on my list was [Courier], to my mild surprise. The work itself didn¡¯t sound or feel super ¡®me¡¯, but the travel, the outdoors, being able to spend most of my time just running or flying without a care in the world sounded nice. There was also a pretty major ¡®lack of responsibilities¡¯, at least compared to what I was currently doing. Someone else to figure it all out, the wind in my hair and a satchel of letters... yeah, I probably would try being a [Courier] at some point. Probably somewhere where I wasn¡¯t recognized and when I had no responsibilities, aka I was on vacation.


    My skills offered me a subset of [Courier], letting me move vast quantities of supplies rapidly over a distance. Heck, I¡¯d just transported everything needed to construct a small temple to the moon! I was rapidly shuffling the job way, waaaaaaay down to the bottom of my list. The traveling was great.


    Hauling it all out of my [Tower]? Pure misery.


    Wood and bamboo were the main building blocks I¡¯d brought out, and a wide variety of tools came along for the ride. Hammers, saws, and far too many nails were a start, but axes, shovels, pickaxes, chisels, gimlets, squares, and more came out. Even some workbenches! One of our dumber, drunker BUILD diagrams had included us ¡®bootstrapping¡¯ various tiers of workbenches and construction equipment, until we sobered up the next day and realized we could just... bring it pre-assembled. Our current BUILD plan, before I¡¯d gotten my suit destroyed, called for Iona to quarry as much moonrock as she could to build the temple with.


    Our redundancy involved me carrying enough supplies to build an entire temple, and Iona was probably going to go out and mine some rocks anyway. Either way, no matter how I sliced it, no matter how I distracted myself, this was incredibly boring work with long stretches in the middle to regenerate my mana.


    Piles of raw clay ended up next to pottery I¡¯d been asked to bring, crystals carelessly thrown next to the rope. Lanterns and candles felt questionable to me, but they were for the aesthetic, and the statues were blessedly hollow. They¡¯d be impossible otherwise. I had my doubts that the paint could dry in the lack of air, there were some sacred trappings, and of course, the thousand and one various ornaments and knick-knacks we¡¯d brought here.


    But mostly wood and bamboo. Soooooo much wood and bamboo. According to Vitrovious, we could do some really interesting builds and structures that weren¡¯t possible on Pallos due to the significantly lower gravity. We were interested, but some of the designs ended up so outlandish we had to turn them down. We had no idea how to build them!


    [Handy] was a skill I¡¯d planned out to grab when classing up, just a nice little utility skill in my general skills, something that was useful for day to day life, but not anything done frequently enough that it wasn¡¯t worth taking a skill for. Over the years I¡¯d evolved it to [Dexterous and Handy], and our plans had called for it to be the star of the show here, helping us fit everything together and build the temple.


    Communication, as always, was key.


    ¡°Hey love, I¡¯m pretty sure you want to do the building, right? It¡¯s good for your class?¡± I asked.


    ¡°It¡¯s great for my class.¡± Iona confirmed. ¡°Pretty sure I¡¯d get a boost for ¡®solo building¡¯ the temple as well, if you don¡¯t mind.¡±


    ¡°No, not at all. Gotta ask though, what¡¯s the point? You¡¯re already capped out on class quality for a divine class, any sense in pushing it?¡±


    ¡°Raw levels?¡± Iona answered. ¡°Skill quality?¡±


    ¡°Oh right, duh, yeah. I¡¯ma shut up now. Oh look! My mana¡¯s ready for another trip.¡± I vanished for another run, wanting to facepalm but not being able to thanks to the whole spacesuit thing.


    It took a few days to haul everything out. We¡¯d tried to be lightweight, but we were trying to make an entire building, and cruel physics made demands of us. We fell into a steady rhythm, once I was no longer concerned about Iona¡¯s revenge for the prank I pulled. Head into [Tower], spend about thirty seconds blowing all my mana teleporting things out, then [Teleport] back into the Argo II to take off my suit and get some cuddles. After my mana regenerated, put the suit back on, [Teleport] out, and repeat.


    Iona was clearly going a little stir-crazy.


    ¡°Want to take the suit and go for a walk? Maybe a long run?¡± I suggested.


    I could tell that Iona wanted to say yes with every fiber of her being, but she ground her teeth and shook her head.


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t want to waste our time, and more importantly, every time I get in and out of the Argo is a pain.¡± Iona was staring out at the moonscape, idly tracing shapes against the clear steel. Her voice was filled with such longing that it damn near broke my heart.


    I wish I could¡¯ve redoubled my efforts and done it twice as fast, but the System was a cruel mistress at times. My mana regeneration was my mana regeneration, and no amount of staring at it was going to change anything. I was pretty happy with my decision to pick [Arbiter] in light of its high mana regeneration and my current tasks.


    It took time, but eventually I managed to haul out the second-to-last item, leaving Nina¡¯s crate of surprises alone. It didn¡¯t exactly go in last, but it replaced an easily replaceable item.


    [*ding! [Teleportation] leveled up! 416-> 417]


    [*ding! [Tower of Knowledge] leveled up! 303 -> 329]


    Given that I¡¯d gotten maybe half a level total from loading everything into [Tower], I was pleased that the mission and the unloading was worth so many levels.


    I ate heartily inside of [Tower], working on regaining some energy and reviewing the supplies we had left. Spares of almost everything, and I was glad we¡¯d packed too much food. We were already running low on some of our favorites. It wasn¡¯t anything that made me the slightest bit concerned that we could be in anything resembling dire straits. More like going to the store, buying a nice salmon filet for dinner, then eating it. The tastiest food went first and quickly, and our tastiest food was out. We still had huge barrels of rice, buckets of beans, stacked loaves of bread, and enough butter to drown in, for a start, on top of the endless fruits, vegetables, and other assorted food. We were fine.


    ¡°Alright love, all you!¡± I flashed into the Argo II, waiting a moment for Iona to get up before switching the suit over. ¡°I¡¯m going to cook something nice, so don¡¯t be too worried if I¡¯m not immediately back.¡±


    Iona nodded.


    ¡°Ready moonwalk?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Aye, moonwalk¡¯s a go.¡± I confirmed, teleporting into [Tower] a moment later. I wandered over to the ¡®kitchen¡¯ area - it was hard having stovetops and no gravity, it just didn¡¯t work - and planned out the most obnoxious ¡®love you¡¯ meal I could plan.


    My dastardly deeds done, my own stomach sated, I returned to reality, sat back in Iona¡¯s chair, and watched the show.


    It had been the magic stats that had gotten us this far, but now it was the physical¡¯s turn to shine. Iona was roughly thirty times as fast as a human with the same base characteristics - without her [Vow] coming into play - and given the muscles she¡¯d asked for when I was doing her biomancy, she could lift 25,000 pounds effortlessly, and quite a bit more than that if she put her mind to it. Nothing I¡¯d brought was close to that weight. That was before the moon¡¯s lower gravity kicked in. All of the supplies had been gated by my magic stats versus their weight - uhh, with the lower gravity, I should be specific like the [Nerds] kept telling me and use mass - and every piece she was able to move like a twig.


    Goddesses, what a show. She was the epitome of grace and power, all while a fantastic temple to the Moon Goddesses was rapidly made in front of me.


    She started off tracing the outline of the temple, marking where each piece would go with a stick in the light dust. She zipped over to the Argo II at one point, and she didn¡¯t even need to ask me to pull out the BUILD document, unrolling it and plastering it to the side of the Argo II for her to read. Then she zipped back, continuing to work.


    Blessedly, there was no flooring - what could be better for a temple to the Moon Goddesses than the surface of the moon itself? - and a set of benches were quickly assembled. A warm-up exercise.


    Iona wielded a pickaxe against the ground, [Telekinesis] easily pulling the broken-up rocks out. Some sharp thrusts with a shovel ¡®smoothed¡¯ the hole - only possible because Iona¡¯s skills reinforced the shovel, but not the rocks - then drove down supports into the holes. Loose rocks were gently tossed in my direction, and I snapped them into the Argo II with [Teleportation]. The skill was doing a lot of work on the entire trip. Bamboo was crossed to make the walls, and the entire thing came together at a shocking speed. Whenever Iona needed a second or even third pair of hands for something, [Telekinesis] saved the day. We didn¡¯t need to worry about objects breaking under their own weight. Iona had a skill specifically for that, and we were on the moon. Gravity wasn¡¯t exactly a big threat.


    I tended to Iona¡¯s divine candle as I watched the show. There was something about the sheer competency on display that had me openly staring the entire time.


    Iona dashed over, opening her mouth and pointing to it. I revealed the meal I¡¯d cooked with an evil grin on my face, and furrowed eyebrows from Iona.


    Skewered shish kebabs. Extra-spicy. Burned on the way in, and on the way out!


    I [Teleported] them into her helmet, skipping the whole airlock process, and I could read the swears Iona was shouting as she tried to [Telekinetically] navigate them into her mouth.


    [*ding! [Teleportation] leveled up! 417-> 418]


    The cherry on top! A level for pranking my wife!


    She shot me a foul look and I made a heart with my hands, causing her to bend over laughing. I activated my earring, letting me talk to her.


    ¡°I was thinking soup next!¡± I cheerfully told my wife.


    ¡°Noooo...¡± Iona said between hiccups of laughter. ¡°Don¡¯t do it!¡±


    I grinned wickedly, but didn¡¯t get Iona soup next.


    Piece by piece, the entire temple came together. Honestly, with all the way it was made easy, it looked like assembling a toy. Low gravity was one hell of a cheat, and it took Iona a fraction of the time to build the temple as it took me to teleport the supplies out of storage.


    Whenever I started to think that magical stats were the end all be all of the System, Iona busted something out that reminded me that physical stats could perform equally amazing miracles, that the road not taken was just as valid and potent.


    The illusions over the moon made the concept of sunrise and sunset an unknown when we launched, and I¡¯d watched a bright spot in the illusions slowly march across the sky. I assumed it was the sun, and there was some play or counterplay to allowing it to ¡®shine through¡¯ a bit. Perhaps it was simply cheaper to do so, or maybe it was part of letting the ¡®eyes¡¯ go through ¡®phases¡¯, like the moons went through phases.


    Iona started to put the finishing touches on everything, and when she had a brief pause, I activated our earrings.


    ¡°Hey! Hold up on those windows, I want to replace them with something else.¡± I said. ¡°A last minute substitution.¡±


    Iona raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°And you didn¡¯t mention it to me because...?¡± It was a fair question. Communication and over communication was the name of the game, and secrets in space could easily get both of us killed.


    ¡°Because it¡¯s a harmless substitution Nina asked for. Hang on, let me get it out for you.¡±


    A minute of juggling later, and Iona had a mystery crate in front of her.


    ¡°It¡¯s supposed to replace the windows on the right side.¡± I explained.


    She pried the crate open and gasped at what was inside.


    ¡°Oh, Elaine, it¡¯s beautiful.¡± She gushed. I beamed, happy to have been the architect of the surprise.


    Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°I know! Plus, [Tower] storage and all that.¡±


    Iona placed the windows in, then glanced at the divine candle. It had a little more than a quarter left, which looked quite sad.


    ¡°I wanted quite a bit more pomp and ceremony to this, but ready for the consecration ceremony?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Hang on, let me get my spellbooks out.¡± I double-checked my mana, confirming I had enough. Everything I¡¯d calculated said I¡¯d be fine for this next step, but it was another hard to test move, and failing here would be disastrous.


    I pulled out three different spellbooks, and flipped them open to the appropriate pages. Technically, I could¡¯ve made a single mega-spell to do what these three different spells were doing, but each one was easy to write in a single, different language, and trying to link them together would¡¯ve been difficult.


    I also grabbed a ton of air canisters, my stomach dropping as I saw how much our reserves dwindled with that move. I knew we¡¯d packed three times as many as needed, but it was a little frightening to see them decline so much. I knew I could heal through it all if I needed to, but spending almost two weeks gasping and choking on nothing sounded like a miserable time.


    Aiming the atmospheric spell was a little tricky. It was fixed relative to the exact position of the mandala on casting, and I was trying to cover a large volume.


    ¡°Ready consecration spells.¡± I said.


    Iona¡¯s eyes unfocused slightly as she prayed, and I was suddenly hit with the sheer weight of the divine. The illusions across the sky flickered out, and the presence of Selene and Lunaris almost crushed me as they manifested themselves.


    Once again I could see directly into the divine, the very firmament that made up the gods themselves thanks to [The World Around Me]. Like during the Gladiator Gauntlet, my mind screamed in agony as I witnessed the impossible, twisting visions that no mortal mind could comprehend.


    One set of windows was stained glass, and each panel told a story. A girl crying over a collapsed mountain, a stylized Valkyrie on a triceratops. A bloody battle against goblins, a kneeling squire being raised a knight. A fierce battle against a wyvern, and the hatching of an egg. A chance meeting in a tavern, and a single foe standing against seven defeated enemies. A hand reaching out to a small kitsune and a marriage.


    A trip to the moon.


    And a panel of a happy family around a table.


    [*ding!* [The Arbiter of Life and Death] has leveled up! 918-> 920. +400 Strength, +400 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +1600 Magic Power, +1600 Magic Control, +1000 Mana, +9000 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]


    [*ding! [Luminary Mind] leveled up! 804-> 808]


    [*ding! [Etheric Aegis] leveled up! 451-> 455]


    [*ding! [Event Horizon] leveled up! 701-> 702]


    [*ding! [Zenith Everlasting] leveled up! 888-> 889]


    [*ding!* [Seraph of the Dawn] leveled up! 894-> 895. +512 Speed, +512 Vitality, +1024 Mana, +1024 Mana Regeneration, +1024 Magic Power, +1024 Magic Control per level from your class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Strength +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]


    [*ding! [A Light Shining in the Darkness] leveled up! 750-> 751]


    [*ding! [Teleportation] leveled up! 417-> 425]


    [*ding! [Repository of the Magus] leveled up! 666-> 675]


    [*ding! [Tower of Knowledge] leveled up! 329-> 333]


    [*ding! [Reality, Writ As You Will] leveled up! 620-> 621]


    [*ding! [Astral Archives] leveled up! 480-> 481]


    [*ding! [The World Around Me] leveled up! 365-> 400]


    [*ding! [Persistent Casting] leveled up! 730-> 740]


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Chimera (Elvenoid)]


    [Age: 59]


    [Mana: 7,959,810/7,959,810]


    [Mana Regeneration: 17,422,279 +(54,255,459)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 53,227 (Effectively: 425,816)]


    [Dexterity: 77,629 (Effectively: 826,594)]


    [Vitality: 251,646 (Effectively: 3,931,969)]


    [Speed: 238,878 (Effectively: 4,701,836)]


    [Mana: 795,981]


    [Mana Regeneration: 1,939,860 (+ 5,425,546)]


    [Magic Power: 1,039,313 (+ 47,340,707)]


    [Magic Control: 1,038,458 (+ 47,301,762)]


    [Class 1: [The Arbiter of Life and Death - Celestial: Lv 920]]


    [Celestial Spirit: 920]


    [Aurora Curialis: 901]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 200]


    [Luminary Mind: 808]


    [Universal Cure: 920]


    [Etheric Aegis: 455]


    [Event Horizon: 702]


    [Zenith Everlasting: 889]


    [Class 2: [Seraph of the Dawn - Radiance: Lv 895]]


    [Radiance Mastery: 895]


    [A Light Shining in the Darkness: 751]


    [The Rays of the First Dawn: 895]


    [Radiant Angel''s Spear of Obliteration: 330]


    [Celestial Dew: 895]


    [Sunrise Halo: 895]


    [Wings of the Seraphim: 895]


    [Six Wings, Six Million Feathers: 895]


    [Class 3: [Erudite Archmage - Spatial: Lv 768]]


    [Spatial Authority: 600]


    [Cozy Reading: 768]


    [Teleportation: 425]


    [Repository of the Magus: 675]


    [Tower of Knowledge: 333]


    [Reality, Writ As You Will: 621]


    [Astral Archives: 481]


    [Endless Pursuit of Knowledge: 768]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 585]


    [Dexterous and Handy: 369]


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 920]


    [The World Around Me: 400]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 920]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 920]


    [Persistent Casting: 740]


    [Tender Gardening: 372]

 Chapter 562: Miracle Medic

    Chapter 562: Miracle Medic


    25 years after the events at the Phoenix Peaks


    Given my druthers, I¡¯d stay locked away in my library, letting Skye and Titania rotate the books, happily devouring books as I nibbled on snacks. Maybe I¡¯d occasionally meditate for the health benefits - the giants really knew how to combine the two - but all in all, I¡¯d probably retreat deep into my happy little shell and isolate myself.


    It was a good thing I wasn¡¯t alone! After going to the moon, we¡¯d taken a year-long break, but Iona was restless and filled with energy. Nina swinging by was a good reminder to break out of my shell and go explore the world, and to be fair, the most interesting things did happen when I was out and about.


    Once my initial inertia was overcome, I was reminded of how many books were everywhere, and I worked on leveling my [Relentless Pursuit of Knowledge], nevermind that it was capped. There were people to be healed, and while all of Pallos was a tiny blue marble when viewed from a distance, it was a deep and complex marble, filled with joy and wonder.


    Which is how I found myself on a caravan with Iona, slowly rumbling over the desert sands of Ankhelt without Fenrir or Auri. Fenrir wanted to fly and push himself when he wasn¡¯t snoozing - that, and he caused panic everywhere he went - and Auri was having a grand old time with her bakery, and we did pop back frequently enough to not be missed. Also, when I was on-duty, we spent sixteen years in close contact, a little bit of traveling and separation for a few weeks now and then helped us stay friends, as odd as that sounded.


    All the countries had a long history, but Ankhelt in particular had HISTORY. The shifting sands of the desert along with the construction method of their buildings made them particularly suited towards remnants surviving Immortal Wars. Entire cities would get swallowed up by the sand, regardless if a Classer was involved or not, only for the shifting winds to unbury them thousands of years later. Bodies would be preserved and mummified, and entire cities worth of loot were simply sitting there for the [Treasure Hunters] to loot.


    Speaking of alternative careers I wanted to try out sometime - [Treasure Hunter] was pretty high up there.


    The caravan¡¯s path to Augustine was winding. The Blue Fire Wastes on one side, and wurm territory on the other. Most of the animals in the caravan had been hobbled as to not attract the fearsome beasts.


    I, personally, was hoping we¡¯d see some, and I knew Iona was itching to fight one. The creatures were rare and majestic, similar to the wyrm we¡¯d battled but also completely different. They made vast swathes of the desert difficult to traverse - for those who couldn¡¯t fly.


    Iona had successfully argued that we should take the low road, the way most people travel and experience the world, just to remain connected to mortals and their woes. To see the nitty gritty of life, instead of darting from city to city, landmark to landmark. To be able to protect people on the road.


    She spoke with such fervent ardor that I shrugged, paid handsomely to have a nice spot in the wagon, and cracked open the pile of books I¡¯d gainfully acquired from the last city I¡¯d been in.


    The lack of discrimination laws was an utter outrage! They hadn¡¯t wanted to sell to me just because I wasn¡¯t a beastkin! So I [Teleported] in the middle of the night, looted the shelves dry, and left a large sack of gems behind to pay for it all.


    It would¡¯ve been larger if they had just SOLD it to me, but nooooooo, they...


    I shook my head, thinking of Iona to distract myself and move my mind off the unhelpfully rage-inducing train of thought. Anger did me no good. Wurms! Big wurms! I¡¯d love to - oh Ciriel damnit.


    ¡°Iona!¡± I screamed in mock-rage, shaking my fist at the canvas roof. My wife¡¯s laughter echoed from the roof, where she was standing sentinel.


    ¡°It took you this long to catch onto the wurm jokes I¡¯ve been making?¡± She laughed, and mimed one of her earlier jokes. ¡°I¡¯d love to wrestle a big wurm for a whole day and night.¡±


    My cheeks flaming, I simply blew a raspberry in her direction, knowing I¡¯d been utterly defeated in every way. I could retreat and claim I was doing what I kept putting off - reorganizing [Astral Archives] - or I could change the subject.


    ¡°I want to perform a ¡®miracle¡¯ at Augustine.¡± I said. ¡°Should we do that before or after seeing the great pyramids?¡±


    ¡°After, we¡¯ll see them on the way in.¡± Iona said.


    I settled back into my cushions, readjusting some of the cooling runes. I¡¯d made a lot of friends in this caravan by not only supplying the runes, but personally empowering them. Being a [Healer] alone would¡¯ve gotten me quite a lot of grace, but the cooling was the final nail in the coffin. Nobody asked me to do a single chore, and the one idiot who¡¯d tried to start shit suddenly discovered that everyone else was still getting a refreshing Icy breeze while his runes mysteriously went on the fritz.


    Good times, good times, and nobody was harmed.


    Iona, on the other hand, made herself friends with half the caravan with her silver tongue, and all of the caravan with her sheer willingness to roll up her sleeves and make things happen. Latrines? Done in a minute. Cleaning? Iona had half of it done in thirty two seconds. Looking after the animals? If I didn¡¯t know her stat sheet, I¡¯d swear she had [Animal Handling].


    Sand also made for a fantastically smooth ride, and that was before [Wagoneer] skills.


    A few days later Iona was poking her head in through the top part of the wagon flap.


    ¡°Elaine, Elaine! The pyramids!¡± She gestured, and I didn¡¯t bother moving normally. With a simple [Teleport] I popped above to witness the pyramids in their full splendor, needing to cover my eyes.


    ¡°My eyes! They burn!¡±


    The sheer white limestone coatings on the massive tombs were reflecting the sunlight enough that it was painful to look at. I briefly debated seeing if sunbathing in or around the pyramids would help with my Radiance class before deciding that no, it wouldn¡¯t help. I had too much going for me in the class in the first place. The top was a massive brass capstone, and my mind boggled at how they¡¯d managed to get it up there in the first place. Physical labor or magic, it would¡¯ve been a gigantic undertaking. Even if they brought it up in pieces then used magic to merge it, it was huge! The symbol of Ankhelt, the All-Seeing-Eye, was etched onto every side, symbolically ¡®watching over¡¯ the citizens.


    I had to wonder if it was inspired in any way by the Dragoneye Moons high above. The eyes themselves were beastkin, and a brief glance at history suggested they changed with the ruling clan¡¯s beastkin species.


    My curiosity was itching at me, begging at me to go poke my head into the pyramids and do a bit of exploring. The only trap that could threaten me was a total collapse of the pyramid on my head, and I should be able to spy any trap mechanisms through the walls, thanks to [The World Around Me].


    ¡°The word was problematic, but in Demotic it¡¯s a specific type that refers to divine offerings that could be messy for the temple.¡± She quietly murmured. ¡°All the different types of messy, from political to physical.¡±


    It took all types, I guess. The words a culture had were a fascinating look into their mind. As the Modu giants had fifty different words for snow, describing all the characteristics, Ankhelt had quite a few words around gods, offerings, and the divine lineage of their [Pharaoh]. Given how none of the gods objected to the claim of divinity, it made me think some gods and mortals had gotten busy quite a few years ago, which had its own whole set of implications.


    Iona had never seen anyone tagged as a [Demigod], but I had a running bet that one day we¡¯d see it.


    We were led to a smaller side chapel, where a few other people were praying in the pews or offering sacrifices to one god or another. Iona bowed her head slightly and started to pray, staying aware enough of the world to shuffle forward with me as the line moved. I could¡¯ve just gone to the pews, but this was part of being slightly visible.


    Offerings were placed on the altar, and usually vanished in a small sparkle of divine light. Everything being offered was neither a live animal, nor were they problematic.


    Occasionally, an offer wouldn¡¯t be accepted, and the [Priestesses] there whisked them away for the temple¡¯s benefit. Iona raised an eyebrow at the practice, but restrained herself to an evil eye. I kept my mouth shut. I didn¡¯t approve of the practice, but it was the current culture, and there were a number of interesting arguments for and against it.


    I reached the front of the line, got on one knee and started to silently pray. I was trying to give the picture of faithful, devoted prayer, an [Adherent] or [Zealot] throwing themselves at the goddess¡¯s mercy. Trying to invoke a solemn occasion. I sent a modest amount of mana Ciriel¡¯s way.


    Heya Ciriel!


    I¡¯m pulling the ¡®divine miracle¡¯ prank again. You still cool with it? Do you want to make a show of it, or...


    Elaine! Yes, that would be great! Can you give me a moment to prepare an appearance?


    Sure! I replied back, all excited to see Ciriel again.


    It was a fantastic win-win for both of us. Ciriel got most of the credit for the ¡®miracle¡¯, and I got to stubbornly help as many people as I could without throwing the local Healer¡¯s Guild into utter disarray. It was a way I could catch the people who didn¡¯t know they were sick, or were too poor, discriminated against, or were just otherwise slipping through the cracks. My tolerance had gone down with age, and while I still sympathized with the plight of other [Healers] needing patients and to grow, healing people was more important.


    The lights in the chapel flared with divine presence, and I released my aura and my healing. At over 10 kilometers in range, [Aurora Curialis] was more than hitting the entire city, but that couldn¡¯t fix all ills. [Universal Cure] could hit right around a mile and a half. I felt a nudge in my skill as gasps echoed through the chapel.


    Many people petitioned the gods, but it was rare for them to answer in such a public fashion. Chatters, gasps, and a quick reshuffling of favorite gods occurred as Ciriel was recognized. Iona was a big help with that, promptly bowing deeply with her hands in front of her. My wife¡¯s clear tones dominated the space, projecting her voice in a way that most people could hear her.


    ¡°Honor and respect to holy Ciriel, Goddess of Healing!¡±


    The best part? Iona truly felt that way, holding the gods in high esteem. There was no deception, no attempt at concealment, just pure honor and respect for the goddess. Her voice was probably pitched a hair differently than if it was some other random deity that was being manifested, but that was it.


    My mana dropped like an anchor into the ocean, then abruptly stopped as I healed nearly the entire city in a single stroke. I¡¯d probably need to skim around the edges of the city to catch people I¡¯d missed on the first go through, but I could do that while running around invisibly.


    ¡°My miracle upon the city.¡± Ciriel proclaimed, then vanished in a sparkle of divine lights.


    Thanks, Elaine! This was a ton of fun! By the way, I nudged your skill a bit. It¡¯s covered the whole city, no need to do anything else! By the way, there¡¯s some FASCINATING drama going on between Edor and Elarin that¡¯s got me reaching for the glazed nuts. You want to know?


    Oooh! Yes, please, dish! I replied, a part of me loving gossip when I wasn¡¯t involved at all. It was like a story, except I knew some of the people involved. Vaguely, at a distance, where it probably wouldn¡¯t spill over into my life.


    They were gods, so there was no promise on that front, but it was unlikely.


    Iona helped hustle me out while I heard the next few prayers go loudly to Ciriel, and a number of [Priests] and their ilk tried to descend upon me. That was a whole mess of politics I didn¡¯t want to get into, and even Iona was tired of dealing with them.


    Bless her.


    ¡°I saw a little bookstore on the way over, next to a coffee shop.¡± She quietly muttered to me, her bulk and level opening a nice hole in the crowd. ¡°Want to go there?¡±


    Bless that woman, I loved her so much.


    [*ding!* [The Arbiter of Life and Death] has leveled up! 925-> 926. +400 Strength, +400 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +1600 Magic Power, +1600 Magic Control, +1000 Mana, +9000 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]


    [*ding!* [Aurora Curialis] leveled up! 920 -> 926]


    [*ding!* [Persistent Casting] leveled up! 802 -> 803]

 Chapter 563: Doppelganger Dilemma

    Chapter 563: Doppelganger Dilemma


    Thirty five years after the events at the Phoenix Peaks.


    I was in a bad mood, putting it lightly. A number of elves had decided to ¡®go get some levels¡¯, and their way of doing so involved flying into Exterreri, murdering a bunch of farmers and villagers, then fucking off before news arrived at the Sixth, and we were able to muster a response. My foul countenance was echoed six hundred times, the entire cohort darkly looking over the burnt fields and bodies nailed to the wall.


    [Centurion] Nix spat and asked what we were all thinking.


    ¡°Why, by all the gods, are we letting them do this? Why aren¡¯t we retaliating? We should be burning their fucking forests to the ground!¡±


    They grew up so fast.


    The sentiment was met with much agreement, and in spite of my [Oath], a part of me tugged in agreement. I wanted revenge, plain and simple.


    I knew why we weren¡¯t, the higher level analysis that went on behind the scenes. I kept it to myself, knowing it wouldn¡¯t make me any friends.


    We¡¯d lose.


    We¡¯d lose hard, and not only would Tympestshard overrun us, but the Golden Courts would join in, and the rest of our neighbors would jump on the opportunity. We might spark off the next Immortal war, but Arachne and the rest believed that everyone else would simply see a chance to eliminate a competitor before the ¡®real¡¯ fighting started. The end-game dictated that some treachery and backstabbing would probably kick off the ¡®true¡¯ war before Sanguino was sacked - it was almost as far away from the borders as possible - but most of Exterreri would be burned and dead by then.


    In contrast, defensively, we were in a much better position. If the elves had to sally out of their forests to us, we¡¯d still lose, but we were too tough of a nut to easily crack. They¡¯d have to overcommit, send bodies into the grinder, and by that point their neighbors were more likely to invade them instead.


    It was death by a thousand cuts, but I wasn¡¯t so naive as to think we weren¡¯t cutting back. Night¡¯s meetings were more often run by his devilish aide Addolorata than not, and the number of Sentinels at the meeting had plummeted, most of them being deployed. It wasn¡¯t all defensive action, and even Iona approved.


    Well. We assumed we weren¡¯t deploying our most valuable military asset raiding farmers and soft targets. Night and Arachne were smart, they knew that simply invited stronger retaliation with powerful justifications behind it for no good reason. Command... I didn¡¯t have as much faith in, but the other Sentinels would bitch and moan if they were ordered to basically go out and murder in cold blood.


    Well... most of the Sentinels would.


    ¡°Cohort, halt!¡± The order came through the [Tribune¡¯s][Standard-Bearer]. ¡°The elves are gone. Break by century, we¡¯re moving into search and recovery patterns. First century, you¡¯re staying here. Second century, Dacia. Third century...¡± The [Tribune] continued to efficiently split the cohort up, and I knew from bitter experience that each [Centurion] would further break up the individual lines to help individual places.


    I drifted over to the [Tribune], mindful of my appearance and role as the Legion¡¯s War Sentinel. Couldn¡¯t be too relaxed and in touch, not in the field, not in the current situation. I waited until all of her orders were issued before quietly speaking up. Her support staff could catch what I was saying - but they had to be in the know anyway.


    ¡°Tribune, all due respect, I¡¯ve already searched for survivors.¡±


    His hardened face blinked away a tear.


    ¡°I know.¡± He confirmed. ¡°I think we all know. I believe the search and rescue phrasing is better off. Since the elves have left, Sentinel, I believe your time might be better spent elsewhere?¡±


    I tumbled the suggestion through my thousand and one rules, determining in the end that it was truly a suggestion or comment, and not an attempt at an order. The whole thing was depressing enough, and I wasn¡¯t feeling useful enough, to stick around versus seeing if I could do some more good somewhere else.


    A question I¡¯d been debating was settled though. I needed to talk with Auri about her bakery, and see if she was willing to wind down operations for a bit. One of these days everything would go to hell, and I wanted my loved ones nearby when it happened. I didn¡¯t want to push the pause button on life, but perhaps spending more time together would be a good thing. Of course, that was simply my desire, and everyone else might be thinking other things. Plus, it wasn¡¯t like we could haul Skye and Titania around, and they were sorta part of the family at this point. Amber and Nina were forever off doing her own thing, and... yeah.


    Speaking of Amber, I should buy a bunch of protective gems for everyone. The really nice thing was since I¡¯d thought of making a large purchase from her, it was almost guaranteed that she¡¯d be over for dinner.


    Okay, Amber was going to be fine regardless of what happened.


    I took off and returned to the Sixth Legion, assisted with a few bloody drills, then spread my wings and took off towards home.


    The wind blowing through my short hair was nice, and I closed my eyes and enjoyed it for a minute. Then I opened them, knowing I could get quite off course if I flew blind for too long with my speed. I had a bit of fun playing ¡®hawk¡¯, spying on people¡¯s day to day lives, getting quick snapshots and speculating what was going on. Some [Farmers] were hard at work in their field, and one teenager was napping behind a shed, probably slacking off. Two travelers were having an argument, and a young couple were passionately entwined in a forest. Birds sang and squirrels ran, dinosaurs lumbered around eating grass and bees buzzed flowers.


    Just... life, all around me.


    Then I spotted a body in a ditch. I flew a little lower, making sure they were inside my healing radius, but nothing happened.


    Dead. Damnit. Should I stop and bury them, or-


    I almost zipped by entirely when they twitched, and almost went head-over-heels as I screeched to a stop, plunging down.


    I rapidly cycled through different healing models, making sure all elvenoids were included, then expanding a bit to make sure changelings, skinwalkers, slimes, and other such creatures would be healed. Still nothing, and I could see her breathing raggedly. In minor desperation, I changed my image to a broad-spectrum ¡®heal everything¡¯, only to get no results.


    [Identify] returned nothing - it didn¡¯t even recognize the woman, same response as casting the skill on a tree - but [A Light Shining in the Darkness] didn¡¯t dispel any illusions.


    I landed next to the woman, immediately assessing her condition with [The World Around Me] while [Luminary Mind] split off, speculating on what, exactly, had happened and what was going wrong.


    I was able to see that she appeared to be an elf, and a preliminary analysis suggested she¡¯d been brutally beaten.


    I will never see a patient as anything other than another creature in pain.


    Fuck the raids, fuck the war, fuck my anger and rage at elves in general right now - she was hurt, she needed medical attention, that was that.


    I cataloged her injuries, dredging up old memories and rusty skills. I knew the theory of healing and fixing someone, but it¡¯d been decades upon decades since I¡¯d needed to practically do anything.


    Bones, clean break: Left radius, left ulna, right humerus, ribs 2, 3, 5, 7, 8 on the left side, ribs 3-6 on the right side, jaw in three places, coccyx, and her right clavicle were all cleanly broken. Both of her tibias and fibulas had been surgically broken, and those were simply the clean breaks. The right side ribs were clearly from a single punch.


    Bones, compound break: Two of her phalanges on the left hand.


    Bones, shattered: Orbital socket, hips, shoulder bone, most phalanges, most metacarpals. Right wrist was an absolute mess.


    Bones, missing: Central incisors top, lateral incisor left, bottom left canine.Top Left pinky, left index phalanges. Her giraffe horns had been cruelly sawn off.


    For elves, some of the more self-aware could use it to get a clever point of view that wasn¡¯t impacted by their curse... assuming they could break their arrogance long enough to listen to themselves. It probably helped that the [Clone] was them, neatly bypassing most of the innate issues with it.


    It wasn¡¯t for me, but I could understand why people would do it. Unfortunately, a [Clone], peeled away from the ¡®main body¡¯ or even after the main body was killed was fairly helpless. No System, no support, and a rapidly decaying body was a bad mix.


    It explained everything I was seeing. The microscopic missing aspects? That was conjured material dissipating. The lack of System access? The original was dead, or the skill was deliberately done that way. I was leaning towards the first one. Also explained why it was so difficult to heal her. Her nature as a [Clone] with a dead original meant there was no System image to tap.


    I was on a tight timer, and I landed inside Sanguino minutes later.


    The guards took one look at a blood-soaked Sentinel in full combat gear - they knew the difference between cape off and cape on - and promptly turned back to their patrols, only one guard peeling off and hustling over my way.


    ¡°Arachne, this is Dawn. I need the current location of the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft now.¡± I spoke to a wall coated in threads. There were a few [Biomancers] in Sanguino, and I could easily commandeer them. I didn¡¯t know if they were good enough for the surgeries required. I knew Marcelle was, and the time needed to investigate and interrogate the [Biomancers] to check if they had the appropriate level of skill would take too long. It was possible they¡¯d miss something crucial, and by then it would be too late for me to transport the elf somewhere else.


    Unless the School was too far away, or inaccessible. Then I¡¯d have to go to a local [Biomancer] and pray.


    The threads shifted and morphed a moment later into words, detailing the exact location of the School, along with its current trajectory.


    ¡°Thanks!¡±


    I took off with slightly less force, not wanting to cause any harm to people.


    I chewed on the inside of my cheek as I blazed through the clouds to the School, mentally resolving myself.


    I will apply all measures that are required to my patients.


    I didn¡¯t have the time to be slow and polite. The nameless elf in my [Tower] was dying, and dying quickly. I grabbed one of my spellbooks from storage, the gale force winds almost ripping it from my hands. I flipped it open and flew backwards for a bit, sheltering the pages while I continued to hurtle towards the School, casting the set of Jiwa runes that let me see the magic of the world laid bare.


    I [Teleported] through the School¡¯s shields, flickering a few more times to prevent setting off any alarms or wards. I shot towards the School¡¯s hospital, going so quickly and touching so little that I barely saw any faces, most people having no time to react to my presence. I stopped in a dramatic gust of wind in the emergency department, paper, pens, and gowns flying everywhere.


    Didn¡¯t matter. I scanned my surroundings with [The World Around Me], combining what I saw with the knowledge I had from when I¡¯d been a [Student] here myself. I pointed to one [Healer] with a bushy white beard who looked more outraged than shocked or afraid.


    I was an armed and bloody soldier storming into their hospital after all. It wasn¡¯t a good look, and I could sense the security forces already starting to descend upon me.


    Who made teachers fight anything? The idea was absurd.


    ¡°You. I need a full team in room 304. [Biomancers] preferred, non-image stabilization required. Normal skills won¡¯t work. Move!¡± I shouted before [Teleporting] twice to reach the empty room in question. I darted into [Tower of Knowledge] before coming out with her limp body, carefully placing it on the table. Some [Healers] and the like were starting to mingle outside of the door, none of them daring to come in. I threw the door open, restraining myself from yelling at them.


    ¡°Patient¡¯s there, normal skills won¡¯t work. Move!¡± I yelled before [Teleporting] out of their way to a lower floor, then dashing out of the hospital to find Marcelle. I dodged a pair of demons in leather with clubs, then dashed off to the Wood tower to find my old mentor. She wasn¡¯t in her office, and I flew through the tower, finding her lecturing to a class. I barged in, mentally apologizing to the students but not having the verbal bandwidth to say anything.


    ¡°Marcelle. Commandeering you for an urgent medical emergency in the hospital, room 304.¡± I tapped my Sentinel badge, knowing she was loyal to Exterreri and I could, in an emergency, request her services.


    It was a power I¡¯d almost never exercised, but today was the day.


    Marcelle gaped at me in surprise, and I had to remind myself that she wasn¡¯t a combatant, wasn¡¯t used to high stress, high pressure situations like this. Some of the students were starting to make a ruckus, but they were idiot nobles for the most part.


    Her mouth snapped shut.


    ¡°Understood.¡± She said, starting to head towards the door.


    ¡°Class, dismissed until next time, where we¡¯ll be discussing the case that Sentinel Dawn has brought.¡±


    I offered to carry Marcelle and she declined. I didn¡¯t like it, but I accepted her decision, and I rapidly explained the situation, a thought occurring to me as I did.


    I knew for a fact that vampires could be healed even under sunlight when they were ¡®cut off¡¯. Huh. Interesting.


    That was when the vines came for me, and I debated playing a game of cat-and-mouse with the Witch in White while giving Marcelle more details of the patient.


    No.


    I¡¯d done enough, and at this point I¡¯d be escalating the situation for no good reason. Marcelle was competent, and I¡¯d literally traveled hundreds of miles just to tap her.


    I let the vines wrap around me and carry me away, confident that I could talk my way out of the situation, then felt startled by the thought.


    When had I become so confident at talking myself out of trouble?


    I had not managed to completely talk myself out of trouble. Just mostly.


    I got thoroughly scolded by The Witch in White for ¡®invading¡¯ the School, and Iona pointed out that my utter lack of remorse was why Vitus and Marcelle had both gotten fired.


    Like it or not, I¡¯d flown in under Exterreri colors, representing Exterreri, and as such, ¡®Exterreri¡¯ was being punished by losing a number of their recruiters.


    I¡¯d leveled from the whole ordeal, and Authil - the elf we¡¯d saved - was eternally grateful to everyone involved. The Witch in White wasn¡¯t so cruel as to immediately evict us all, and Marcelle found the challenge of morphing ¡®true¡¯ dead flesh into living flesh and bone endlessly fascinating. She leveled far more than any vampire had a right to, and I was genuinely concerned with her thoughts on ¡®doing this again.¡¯


    Marcelle had literally replaced a brain one strand at a time, and everyone involved claimed consciousness had continued the whole time, which was a huge can of worms that made me glad I wasn¡¯t a [Biomancer] anymore. Authil had basically sworn a life-debt to the vampire - I only felt vaguely put out by that. The Rangers had been competent enough to catch the men doing the mugging, and I liked to think my stormy presence at the trial had helped sink the ¡®she wasn¡¯t actually a person so its alright¡¯ argument.


    It sucked to think that the justice system worked that way, but nobody and nothing was perfect. I only had so much time and energy, I did what I could and let myself sleep soundly at night.

 Chapter 564: A Legacy Echoing Through Time

    Chapter 564: A Legacy Echoing Through Time


    Forty-Eight Years after the events at the Phoenix Peaks


    The library of Ithil was going to unveil a new set of books they¡¯d found, and the claims had them dating back to the Remus Empire.


    The original Remus Empire.


    Given how many different empires claimed the title of ¡®Remus¡¯ over the years, I was skeptical, to say the least. At the same time, elves were a little obsessed with proper credit and attribution, and when multiple high-level elves specializing in a field were all claiming the same thing, well, I wanted to take a look. Get a glimpse of home.


    It hurt to say in a way, but a piece of my heart had forever been left behind in Remus. I was happy, the wound had scarred over, but the prospect of getting a glimpse of a relic left behind was like catnip.


    Arachne worried it could be a trap, which wasn¡¯t an insane take. It took ages for us to get official permission to go, but eventually the entire Eventide Eclipse headed out to Ithil.


    ¡°One other thing I¡¯m looking forward to,¡± I said to Iona as we traveled on Fenrir¡¯s back to the city. We had a small escort of elves who¡¯d barely deigned to talk with us, but they¡¯d make things smooth - as well as probably spying on me to make sure I wasn¡¯t up to any nonsense. Which I wasn¡¯t! Overtly. Himben was their leader, and I¡¯d mentally designated him as my ¡®tour guide¡¯. ¡°Is looking at the rumored mandala in Ithil. I¡¯ve heard about it before, and now I can see it for myself. What do you think?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Hmmm... a city-wide magic circle seems insane.¡± Iona mused. ¡°But we¡¯re talking about elves here, insane¡¯s what they do. I think the reality is going to be smaller than we imagined. There¡¯s going to be a large mandala, maybe the largest in the world, but the city will have outgrown it. How could it not?¡±


    Iona had a point, and we swiftly made a bet, with Auri going for the ¡®no mandala¡¯ option, and Fenrir only grunting ¡®wildcard.¡¯


    Which was frankly unfair... but I suppose if somehow it wasn¡¯t any of the other options, he deserved the win.


    We continued to fly over the lush forests, before the glass spires of Ithil tore through the canopy, reaching for the sky.


    I was struck dumb by the sight for a moment, awed by the sheer capabilities and glory the elves were capable of building. They were arrogant, yes, but in some ways they had earned their arrogance.


    The city¡¯s population was nearly as insane as the tall spires of the city itself. Elves were innately Immortal, and the culture of Tympestshard liked dense cities. Couples had kids, and... just didn¡¯t stop having children, causing their population to snowball hard over the years. An innate cause of Immortal Wars being the population growth and lack of resources to support it, but it wasn¡¯t like anyone could declare ¡®alright we¡¯ve got enough elves now we¡¯re going to sterilize everyone¡¯.


    Yet, at a glance, the city didn¡¯t look like it was having overpopulation issues. I suppose an Immortal planning things out ahead of time gave them a significant leg up, along with incentives to do the job right. A mortal at the end of their lifespan, but at the peak of their political power, could easily be swayed - bribed - towards making substandard choices. An Immortal that had to deal with the consequences of their actions was slightly more incentivized to do the right thing.


    I was a Remus girl. The first thing I noticed were the streets. The first was obvious, the broad roads with solid traffic control on the ground. Dinosaurs of burden hauled goods into the city, smoothly driven around a well laid-out set of slightly curving roads. People walked briskly along the sidewalk, and it almost felt like looking at ants with how beautiful and precise their movements were, and how the whole thing flowed without any issues. I didn¡¯t see any kids playing on them, but Himben had been extraordinarily strict and extraordinarily clear about where they were, why, and that I was to go nowhere close to them.


    It wasn¡¯t a military secret, it was well-known.


    ¡°Ithil grows like an onion.¡± He had said. ¡°As each new generation grows up, they move to the edge of the city and settle down, slowly learning the vast mysteries of life. Before long, the next generation will move out around them, constantly expanding the city. Permanent moves are rare. Where would they move to? Which brings us to temporary moves. The central district of the city is for couples with young children who are not ready to face the world yet. It is protected by our strongest guardians, [Nullifiers] keep any skills from being used, and it is absolutely forbidden for you to visit or enter.¡±


    Fair enough. In a world of skills and the System, where everyone had magic, ¡®how do we deal with these squishy kids¡¯ was an eternal problem. With mortals, it was a little easier in a way - a mistake by the average person could only do so much damage. With Immortals, the math changed a bit - a single mistake could wipe out a sizable fraction of the children in the city. With how many people lived here, and their average age and level... yeah, I could see needing to go to the ¡®next level¡¯ and sticking them all in a single district.


    It did have me reevaluating how many elven couples had children at any given time. It couldn¡¯t be quite as much as I thought, given that everyone fit into a single district. With the [Nullifiers] mentioned, I wondered if elves didn¡¯t like living under all their skills being restricted and mostly locked away.


    Also... how would they enforce it? I suppose people could live outside the district, but then I suppose there was a lot less support, both System-wise and socially.


    The second layer of roads wound around the buildings around the second or third floor, a series of ever-moving, ever-flowing sidewalks up in the air. A fall would be lethal to some baseline humans, but unlikely to an elf and even rarer when the System came into play. Here all sorts of skills and abilities were on display, elves rapidly moving around the city unimpeded by slowpokes and transportation carts.


    I nearly missed the third layer of roads, given how they were invisible and barely used.


    Every crystal spire had a number of fine gossamer threads connecting the top of the spire to all the other nearby tops. Now and then an elf would flash over the threads, their combined speed and dexterity so high that they could basically walk on spiderwebs - and the city was built to accommodate them. They were barely used not because there were so few elves that could use them, but instead because the elves that did use them only spent seconds on them, before arriving at their destination.


    I saw a number of low-level elves sitting in trees away from the city and meditating, and I asked Himben about them.


    ¡°What are those elves doing?¡± I asked, not quite seeing the point. If it was one or two, sure, they were off doing their own thing, but it was enough as to be a cultural moment or something.


    Himben snorted in derision, and yelled to the elves instead of answering my question.


    ¡°Just move out of the city! Stop slowly weaning yourself off the auras! You¡¯re elves, for crying out loud! Have some pride!¡±


    I suppose that did answer my question. His words did get a few of the elves standing up, hopping down out of their trees, and striding further into the forest, but most ignored him or hurled insults back at us in typical teenage fashion.


    ¡°It takes pride to fight pride.¡± Iona murmured quietly behind me.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri agreed. I wasn¡¯t sure she knew exactly what she was agreeing to, given how she was trying to ¡®sagely¡¯ nod. Loved the little bird brain.


    ¡°What auras are comm- Oh!¡± I said as Fenrir flew right into them.


    It was like a ripple across my skin, a spark of electricity in my bones and a pep in my step. My hearing sharpened even more, my vision granted me sight into the deepest shadows, I felt refreshed and energized, like a million arcs. I subtly shifted how I was sitting in Fenrir¡¯s saddle, suddenly finding that I was so much better at it, and how comfortable I was.


    ¡°This is nice.¡± Iona¡¯s voice was like a thousand windchimes. The air was fresh and clean, and the auras just continued to stack up!


    A far take from Exterreri¡¯s ¡®restrain yourself and let others level¡¯, Ithil - and possibly all of Tympestshard - seemed to have a ¡®let your auras and skills loose, and let everyone enjoy.¡¯


    We passed some sort of barrier, and we could hear the songs. A thousand voices, each singing their own song, their words resonating off the crystal spires, and yet they didn¡¯t clash at all. By some twist of magic, they harmoniously blended together, from the weeping dirges of a funeral, to the brisk and happy notes of a party, to the lamenting saga of a lover waiting for her husband to come back from war. All the songs wove together, and I felt yet another layer of auras land upon me. All my dirt fled, my hair became silky and smooth, and all the wrinkles dropped out of my clothing - to start!


    Fuck, this was how the typical elf lived? No wonder half the time they were going ¡®poor mortals, how tough life must be for you!¡¯ No wonder the young elves needed to slowly wean themselves off the endless overlapping auras! They had the good life here already!


    Iona was looking extra-fantastic, and I had no idea how that particular aura worked. Fenrir was looking sleek and dangerous, his teeth sharp and his claws shining. Auri was a menace to the eyes. If she got the slightest bit of flattery I didn¡¯t know how I was going to pry her out of here.


    Thousands upon thousands of floating lights were dotted everywhere, slowly shifting through various phases and patterns, creating a light show like no other. A layer of sublime poetry could be heard with the music, and everywhere I looked was an eyeful of beauty.


    My awe at the entire thing might eventually fade with time, but I suspected that everything had been crafted to such a level, with such thought, that I¡¯d never get bored. I didn¡¯t see any runes or mandalas yet, or anything that implied a city-wide magic formation.


    ¡°That¡¯s the place prepared for your landing.¡± Himben pointed to a pasture with a number of eager-looking elves filled along with cattle, sheep, and a variety of tasty dinosaurs, and Fenrir came in for a landing unprompted. He was going to be pampered over by a dozen elves or two looking to improve their classes and levels - but I had a sneaking suspicion that the auras had already handled anything the elves were planning on doing. Or not. Either way, cities weren¡¯t super friendly towards massive beasts, regardless of their intelligence level, and even a ¡®shrunken¡¯ Fenrir was off the table. Instead he was going to stay out here.


    Himben was looking eager as we landed, happier than I¡¯d seen him up until now. Huh, maybe being away from all the auras had been making him grumpy? I knew I didn¡¯t want to leave for a good long while, it was nice here. Add in an Immortal civilization¡¯s worth of books... if the elves were halfway tolerable I was tempted.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Iona did, then laughed with delight as she sprinted across the fine threads in the city, hundreds of feet above the ground. It looked like a ton of fun and I ended up joining her, before finally settling down to what I¡¯d actually come here to see.


    The library.


    Tympestshard made little distinction between ¡®library¡¯ and ¡®museum¡¯, the two buildings being the same thing to them. It made sense. Both were dealing with ¡®history¡¯, and given the age of the books, a [Curator¡¯s] skills overlapping, yeah, sure, I could see it.


    The buildings were unspeakably grand and majestic, like everything else in Ithil. Part of me idly noted that I hadn¡¯t seen any hint of a city-wide circle yet, which made me think it either didn¡¯t exist, or was so large I couldn¡¯t see it. We went inside and my jaw dropped.


    Books. Books upon books upon tightly packed books. I¡¯d been in big libraries before - Sanguino¡¯s was pretty nice - but like everything else, the elves one-upped everyone else hard. A book bound with starlight, a book forged in flames. One had pages woven of spider¡¯s silk, and another glimmered with gems. A book made out of crystalline slates, and one that absorbed all light.


    There were mundane books, of course, by the wagonload, spiraling ever up on packed shelves. A sphinx looked to be one of the [Curators], and it simply got odder from there.


    I whimpered, and Iona patted my arm.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think we¡¯ll be able to get her out of here.¡± She joked to Himben. I nodded my agreement.


    ¡°Crowbars at a minimum.¡± I let my senses expand, let [The World Around Me] unravel to its greatest size, and split my mind into 18 different parallel thought processes, each one of them devoted to the endless books. A fraction of a single thought process was still dedicated to Iona and the arm I was leaning on, letting her steer me around while I greedily absorbed all the knowledge and stories that existed. Whispering Winds, The Last Emer, Mist of the Vale, The Silver Horn, Ironwood Heart... the titles went on and on, some repeats, some new.


    I let my skills rip, reading everything as quickly but thoroughly as I could, my mind whirring and racing with excitement as I went through so many stories and tales.


    Normally I had to limit myself somewhat. Normally. What was the point in reading everything in Sanguino in a month? Then I wouldn¡¯t have anything else to read.


    Here though, in Ithil? My time was limited, the books were vast, and it was only my good moral character that stopped me from simply yoinking a small fraction of the collection into [Repository of the Magus].


    There wasn¡¯t enough room in the skill for all the books.


    I made a sad mental note that when shit hit the fan, if there was a moment of stability and not needing to be saving as many lives as possible, that I should see how many books I could rescue. It was unlikely that I''d get the chance. Then I went right back to reading.


    Iona gently steered me to a floor where the elves were putting on a new exhibit, a collection of books and artifacts from the Remus period. I slowly detached myself from the books, finishing up each one and getting a little misty-eyed at one tragic twist in the end.


    If only he¡¯d waited another month, no, another week! They all would¡¯ve lived happily ever after! Whyyyyy.


    My attention snapped to the present, a plaque in two dozen languages helping explain things.


    These artifacts were found by the adventurer group The Drunken Dwarves following a Pekari tunnel. They encountered an ancient buried >, which had an exhibit of artifacts from the first Remus period.


    Damn. Remus was so old that they were raiding ancient museums to get items. That explained how they found so many in a ¡®cache¡¯... and why did it have to be adventurers!?


    I started to look over the artifacts with bittersweet feelings. A faded Remus standard with the familiar eagle, a moth-eaten tunic, a collection of arrowheads. The coins with a triangular hole in the middle, marble busts and mosaics, frescoes and jewelry. Spoons!


    Then scrolls. Tons and tons of familiar scrolls and tablets, and I idly read their contents as I passed, feeling strange.


    The elves were infuriatingly right again. They had gotten artifacts from the first Remus Empire, and even some from the Remus Republic! It was like my childhood had been packaged up, oxidized, and placed in a museum. It was so weird. I grew up wearing a shirt like that, the belt was familiar. The ¡®can you believe this was the wagon they used!?¡¯ was admittedly cheap, but invoked nostalgic memories of the Argo.


    A number of scrolls had also been recovered, and I came to a screeching halt at one of them, reading it over, double and triple checking the contents. Running it against other things I knew, only getting a ¡®maybe¡¯. Still, a maybe was enough. I knew the elves were perfectionists, and extracting anything from them would be a challenge. Himben was the wrong person to ask, but I figured I¡¯d start with him, and let him pull his weight as the diplomatic interface.


    ¡°I¡¯ll pay three million arcs for that scroll.¡± I pointed to one that started off with a number of remarks from endless translators and scribes throughout the ages. Each complaint and remark was faithfully transcribed and transcribed, with other people adding their own comments to the comments. Honestly, it was practically a study in language and the evolution of copying in and of itself!


    They shared similar sentiments.


    Why are we transcribing this?


    It¡¯s a direct first person account of the time.


    The person had no historical impact at all.


    It was the life of a normal person.


    She was part of a wealthy family, but she didn¡¯t even have intelligent thoughts into the family members that might matter.


    It¡¯s good practice.


    On and on the complaints went, students and apprentices being given the scroll to copy as a warmup. Numerous typos and misspellings had clearly made its way into the scroll, only to be faithfully copied over.


    That one, I blamed on skills. It was really easy to have a copying spell, it was harder to intelligently analyze what was going on.


    Iona raised an eyebrow - the amount was far past the ¡®we discuss it before we spend this much¡¯ limit. I flashed her a few hand signs, apologizing and transmitting my urgency.


    Brisk negotiations occurred, and I eventually had to not only pay more, but show them the prayer my parents had lovingly stitched for me - another genuine Remus artifact, but ¡°fresh¡± and almost entirely preserved. Thank Iona and her silver tongue I didn¡¯t need to sit for endless interviews, although I suspected I was about to get a lot more visitors knocking on my door.


    Damnit.


    With tears in my eyes I accepted the journal and promptly stored it forever more in [Repository of the Magus]


    I didn''t know for sure. Maybe I was deluding myself. Probably was, with the billions of people over the years. If I was - I was happy to accept it, and believe in my illusion.


    I had the diary of my niece.


    Diary day one.


    Grandma Julia got me this diary to write in. I don¡¯t know what I write. What should go in? Does this actually help? Dad seems to think so. Senator Themis. Might be worth recording that? Maybe?


    Oh no, I¡¯m being called. Maybe writing in here will get me out of chores. After all grandma did want me to write here, so it¡¯s a good excuse right? Let me talk about the mango bowl...

 Chapter 565: Happy Birthday!

    Chapter 565: Happy Birthday!


    Sixty Two years after the events at the Phoenix Peaks.


    I took a deep breath in, enjoying the myriad smells of life and mango. From the floral blooms to the loamy soil, the ripe mangoes to the morning dew, to sappy resin and freshly cut grass, my orchard was my happy place. My peaceful place. I¡¯d cleared a small area in the center just for me, with a few benches to sit on.


    I hadn¡¯t let the looming threat of war stop me from living and enjoying life, and I was proud of myself for it. My decades-long project to create a grove of mango trees just for me had paid off, and the place was serene and beautiful. A place I could always go, no matter how bad of a day I¡¯d had. The sun was on my face, there was a light breeze as a few fluffy white clouds passed overhead, and everything was simply perfect.


    What day it was helped.


    A trio of happy-screaming System-locked kids sprinted through the central area, playing ¡®monster¡¯. One of them was chasing the other two, and honestly, I thought they learned how to split up when running away as toddlers. The two zipped past me, but the ¡®monster¡¯ skidded to a halt and paled at me. He did his best kid impression of a bow.


    ¡°Prima Elaine! I¡¯m so sorry, we didn¡¯t know you were here. We...¡± He trailed off and flushed. I cracked open an eye and an indulgent smile, and flapped my hand at him.


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty sure monsters don¡¯t have manners that good. Plus, they¡¯re getting away.¡± I said.


    It took the kid a moment to realize what I was saying, and with a throaty ¡®RAWR!¡¯ and his hands curled up into claws, went chasing after his friends.


    I smiled indulgently. Ah, kids. They weren¡¯t usually allowed up here, and credit to their parents - they¡¯d been pretty clear about where they were and weren¡¯t allowed to go, and proper manners. Made me kinda wish I could be a godmother again or something. Someone who could see kids for a few hours, then return them home when I was done.


    I held out my hand and [Teleported] my staff from where I¡¯d leaned it on a fence to rest, almost a hundred feet away. I stood up, stretched, and started to slowly go through the meditative motions I¡¯d learned at the Jakhong Monastery, all while keeping track of the kids hunting through my orchard through [The World Around Me].


    I was halfway through my set when one of them, in the throes of trying to escape being eaten by the monster, looked like they were about to run into one of the low-hanging flowering branches. There would be a lot of crying on their end, and the branches would be ruined.


    I [Teleported] all three of them out of the grove, having enough magic power to enforce my will on low-vitality children, and repositioned them such that the two ¡®chased¡¯ kids would be running back towards the villa, assuming the ¡®monster¡¯ ran right at them. Instead, they looked around, marveling and speculating on what just happened. I smiled and whipped up a quick spell to project my voice.


    ¡°Don¡¯t monsters chase people?¡± I asked the three of them. Distractible kids they were, the monster started chasing the other two, and I settled back to finish my routine.


    ¡°Hey Elaine, everything¡¯s ready here. Come on over when you want.¡± Iona said deep inside the villa, speaking at a normal volume. My ears perked up at that, and after looting all but three - errr, make that two - mangos for tomorrow, I skipped on over to the party.


    It was our birthday! Iona and I had settled on ¡®trading¡¯ birthdays where one of us spoiled the other rotten - it just worked best for us - and I¡¯d called dibs on the big 100. Iona had been completely fine with it - she¡¯d gotten the 64th and was also the one getting the 128th, which I didn¡¯t mind at all. She tended to have very specific ideas about what she wanted, and so did I, which made our system entirely harmonious.


    I¡¯d wanted it to be a small, intimate gathering of my friends.


    I didn¡¯t realize how many of those I¡¯d gotten until I was staring at the pile of invitations.


    Iona needed no invitation, but I made sure to include Titania and Skye. They helped run the household, but the invitation, to me, was symbolic that I considered them friends, and wanted them there as themselves, not as some of the people helping out.


    Auri¡¯s invitation was made out of a burning cake, clever enchantments on the icing making burning words, spelling out my request for her attendance.


    She¡¯d insisted on making me the best cake ever, and I wasn¡¯t going to gainsay her.


    Iona and I had giggled madly as we made a mystery for Fenrir, which in theory was going to culminate with him dropping in on the party. The invitation was the present, in many ways.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t we worried about, you know, side quests?¡± I asked Iona. She chuckled.


    ¡°If he does fall into a side quest, he¡¯ll have an even better time, and root out some problem. Isn¡¯t that the best gift we could give him?¡±


    She had a point.


    Nina and Amber naturally made the list, along with Night and Susan. The semi-retired Katerina was sadly unable to attend, currently enjoying a much-needed vacation on the sunny shores of northern Exterreri.


    Nina¡¯s squire-turned-Valkyrie couldn¡¯t make it, and Iona was endlessly pleased that the wheel had turned, as she was more of Iona¡¯s mind on how to best operate. Iona had decided she wasn¡¯t taking on [Squires] anymore. The wound from Nina¡¯s ¡®betrayal¡¯ had long ago scarred over, and the two were on great terms - but the hurt echoed.


    One burned, twice shy, and I didn¡¯t blame Iona for not wanting to go through it again.


    Night and Arachne were both going to be in attendance, which included their personal Sentinel teams. Event security basically - the sun was out, they were vampires, etc. etc. Frankly, I was touched that they were even willing to take the risk, as miniscule as it was.


    Artemis and Julius had both been pried out of the School and were in attendance, along with one of Artemis¡¯s favorite ¡®gophers¡¯.


    ¡°Because I¡¯ve gotten too lazy to do things for myself.¡± Was her stated reason. I was pretty sure she was just soft on the student, and wanted to make connections and good experiences for her.


    I was a little disappointed that I¡¯d gotten Vitus fired from the School. Next on my ¡®ways to fuck with Vitus¡¯ had been to teleport out every single screw and nail from his office. Everything should remain standing until he touched it, at which point it would¡¯ve all fallen apart.


    Speaking of fucks - I was too old to give a fuck about any sort of group drama that could result from my invitations - and people not invited. All of the War Sentinels except for Calamity got an invite. We didn¡¯t get along personally, and barely got along professionally. More than I expected accepted the offer, a few declined, citing work. A number of Sentinels I¡¯d made friends with over the years, including Devour, Terminus, Springsteel and Skater, were in attendance, as was Atlas and his wife. Nix had retired - RETIRED, he was just a little kid the other day, how could he have retired already!? - to Ortus village, the rapidly growing community at the base of the mountain. Bless the original settlers, they¡¯d made it clear which direction the community needed to expand in. Both Nix and Hasta were invited, along with a dozen other friends I¡¯d made over the years.


    Librarians I¡¯d spent countless hours discussing books with over the years had gotten an invite, and since it wasn¡¯t just about me, even though I was the focus, everyone in the slowly-growing Valkyrie Order had a letter written for them, along with a dozen of Iona¡¯s closest friends.


    Harper was retired from being the Ranger¡¯s [Quartermaster], but was as lively as ever, and Marcelle held no grudge over the School stuff, and was quite happy in Sanguino, teaching and running her own questionable experiments.


    I know the Rangers had been over for a ¡®friendly chat¡¯ at least twice.


    The list went on and on, and it quickly became a bit of a joke between Iona and I. I didn¡¯t mind - I was just happy to see all my friends and family, safe and happy.


    I was no packrat, and while I didn¡¯t pretend I was a minimalist or didn¡¯t need tons of stuff, I was also pretty liberal with my income,simply... buying anything I wanted. It made gift-giving occasions hell on people, and I liked seeing people happy so... I twisted it. I gave the gifts! It was a TON of fun!


    In no time at all, I was dressed in a really nice, tight outfit - one of the gifts I was giving Iona, at her explicit request - and partying in the little garden in the middle of the villa. We¡¯d thrown a heavy canvas over the open-aired portion to make a ¡®roof¡¯ for all the vampires, an initial layer against the sun. Mystical flames floated around near the makeshift ceiling, courtesy of Auri. Fenrir had made a statue of us out of Ice near one end, the waves of cold radiating off of it a welcome relief from the heat. Tables groaned under the catered food piled high, delicacies prepared from around the world. I was feeling like Ralakar food today, the spices were simply divine.


    It would burn horrifically on the way out, but that was the price of tasty food.


    I waved to Iona as I came in.


    ¡°Hey love!¡± I said, enjoying how her face just lit up at seeing me. Over 64 years of marriage, and we still had that impact on each other.


    ¡°Elaine! You look great!¡± Her eyes danced all over me, and I spun around, showing off a bit. I looked fantastic and I knew it. ¡°Let me grab Nina, the two of us have something for you.¡±


    ¡°Okay! I can¡¯t wait! I¡¯m going to swing over to the buffet table and grab something before it¡¯s all gone.¡± I said.


    [Teleportation] was great for many things, but getting rice and curry out of a tray was not on the shortlist. Along the way I was greeted by a number of the guests.


    ¡°Elaine! Happy birthday!¡±


    ¡°Dawn, congratulations on 100!¡±


    ¡°Hey, the student that got me termin - I mean, got me a brand new job! Happy birthday!¡±


    I stuck my tongue out at Marcelle¡¯s good-natured greeting, who laughed with a mouth full of very pointy teeth.


    ¡°Marcelle, great to see you! Have you spotted the bloodwines yet? I got a nice bottle from Vesontio. How are the body modifications going?¡± I knew Vesontio¡¯s vineyards produced her favorite vintage - at least, last I checked. Her pupils rapidly changed between a dozen different animal eyes before winking, letting me know exactly how it was going. I continued to slowly walk to the buffet table, a vision of everything vanishing as people said hi to me dancing through my mind.


    ¡°Excellent! This is such a marvelous event, thank you, and once again, happy birthday!¡±


    I got to the buffet and started to heap my plate high with food, then navigated my way to the ¡®birthday girl¡¯ table we¡¯d set up in a prominent spot. There were too many people for me to sit with everyone, but I had too many friends to pick and choose who was going to sit with me, and who was going to be relegated to a ¡®second class¡¯ friend. Our solution? One modest table with a few ¡®guest chairs¡¯ that anyone could sit in.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Iona was making her rounds and chatting with people. She¡¯d join me eventually, but for now she was having the time of her life with her friends. We loved each other, we were married, but we weren¡¯t joined at the hip, no matter the jokes.


    My ears perked up at the distant sound of Auri brrpting a dozen expletives, swearing on water and mouldy bread as something went catastrophically wrong in the kitchen. A few moments of sensing later, I relaxed.


    Harper got a puzzle box made out of rare metals, with each metal containing a hint about how it was supposed to solve the greater puzzle. My mind had shorted out when the seller had explained it to me, but Harper seemed to understand my verbatim explanation.


    ¡°Girl! This. Is. TOTALLY AWESOME! Thank you thank you THANK YOU! This is the best present EVER!¡±


    Harper had looked torn between continuing to be a guest at the party, and running away to a dark corner to start working on it. Iona managed to capture that moment beautifully on her paper, the delighted indecision immortalized.


    Sentinel Devour got some unusual animal parts Auri had harvested from the North, and my little phoenix friend continued to be the MVP as she¡¯d also obtained a pair of truly fireproof gloves from The Dungeon, wanting me to pass them off to Atlas for her. For whatever reason, it couldn¡¯t come from her - proper boss-minion etiquette and all that.


    Auri had been lurking around a corner until Atlas got his gloves, then she shot over to her rightful place on my shoulder.


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± I was pretty sure she was raising a protest just for the sake of looking like she was protesting. She¡¯d gotten him the gift!


    ¡°Auri. I¡¯m not spoiling Atlas rotten. Plus, don¡¯t you want to know what I got you?¡±


    ¡°...Brrpt.¡± Auri tried to play it cool for half a second before furiously nodding her beak.


    I [Teleported] it over - I could not get over how easy the skill made life - and presented it to an adoring Auri.


    ¡°BRPT! BRRRPT! BBRPPPRRRPT! Brpt?¡± Auri bounced up and down on my shoulder in approval, before flying off, wings buzzing.


    The enchantments on the thing had been tricky. First was getting it to recognize ¡®brrpt¡¯, then keeping everything hyper efficient enough that a small trickle of mana from the arcanite inside was able to continuously power everything.


    ¡°Say ¡®Mirror mirror on the wall, who¡¯s the prettiest of them all?¡¯, and see what happens.¡± I encouraged her.


    Auri shot me a burning stare, and I sighed.


    ¡°Yes, I know you don¡¯t speak my language. Try it in brrpt.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri asked the foggy mirror. It cleared up and showed... Auri!


    ¡°BRRPT!¡± Auri was delighted. She had a whole collection of mirrors, but this was a magical, enchanted mirror, one that would show who the prettiest person in the whole world was.


    In reality, it was a simple fogging enchantment that was designed to lose power when the passive ¡®listening¡¯ enchantment picked up some specific brrpts. That had been crazy hard to do. Of course, since nobody else besides Auri could trigger the mirror - in theory - it would only ever operate properly for her.


    Iona¡¯s sketch of the moment included a shit-eating grin on my face that I was sure didn¡¯t exist.


    The elderly Titania came up next, and her present was a big one.


    ¡°Titania. If I¡¯m not wrong, you¡¯ve wanted to become Immortal, right?¡± I asked her. She hesitated a moment, glancing quickly between the three of us before nodding.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a hope of mine ma¡¯am, but-¡±


    I cut her off.


    ¡°Nonsense. You¡¯re practically part of the family, and I can¡¯t have you go dying on us. Come on, let¡¯s go to a private room for this.¡±


    Titania wasted absolutely no time in rushing over, primly sitting on a long low chair the moment we got into the room.


    ¡°Is there a target age I¡¯m going for?¡± I asked her.


    Titania¡¯s vitality hadn¡¯t been nearly as high as the rest of us, and time had hit her hard. Not so much that we were worried for her health, and this was a good time to do it.


    ¡°My early thirties were a wonderful time, if you could aim for that?¡± She asked.


    I placed my hand on her head, and with minimal fanfare, activated [The Stars Never Fade].


    The world faded away, and a lush forest faded in around us. Tall trees reaching for the heavens, laden with fruit, and berry bushes were scattered all around. The cycle of life and death repeated all around me, a tiny sapling growing into a mighty oak on my left, a bamboo thicket being sucked into the ground and returned to seed on my right.


    There were no animals, from insects to raptors.


    The spinning greenery ended on an empty patch of land, surrounded by vibrant trees. A thousand little pieces of dust gathered together, creating a single tall mushroom in the center of the glade. Then the image faded out, and reality snapped back.


    [*ding!* [The Stars Never Fade] leveled up! 511 -> 512]


    I braced myself for the appearance of White Dove, the avatar of death, to descend upon us and issue her pronouncement. The curse Titania would have to live under forever more.


    It never came.


    After a few minutes of awkwardly waiting, Titania got up and stretched.


    ¡°Thank you again, ma¡¯am. Should we get back to the party? I¡¯d hate to keep you from your celebration.¡±


    To say I was concerned was understating it a little... but what could I do? Titania had never been anything other than exemplary, no matter how odd that was, and I wasn¡¯t about to poke White Dove and say ¡®excuse me, you missed one.¡¯


    How... odd.


    We returned to the party, and I leaned over to ask Iona a question.


    ¡°Titania¡¯s marked as a human in her System, yeah? There¡¯s nothing weird with her status?¡±


    Iona peeked over.


    ¡°No, everything looks normal to me. Why, was there something odd?¡±


    ¡°You could say that...¡± I said.


    Nix and his wife and young son swung by the table next. He¡¯d been one of the kids playing ¡®monster¡¯ earlier in the grove.


    ¡°Nix! Great to see you! I can¡¯t believe you¡¯re retired. It¡¯s unbelievable.¡± I shook my head, my long hair waving in the breeze.


    He chuckled as he sat down.


    ¡°Can¡¯t believe it myself. I¡¯d always heard you were Immortal, but seeing it with my own eyes? Seeing everyone get older while you stayed eternally the same?¡± He whistled. ¡°That¡¯s some trick. How¡¯ve you been? I feel like we haven¡¯t gotten a chance to talk in ages.¡± He chuckled at his own joke, while his son rolled his eyes.


    ¡°Oh, good, good! Thank you for the socks you sent last winter Hasta, I love them! They¡¯re super comfortable.¡±


    We continued to shoot the shit for a while, his son looking more and more uncomfortable, eventually poking Nix.


    ¡°Ah right, I should get to it.¡± Nix straightened up, attaining a military bearing.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn, would you be willing to take my grandson Primus on as an apprentice to learn the healing arts?¡±


    I nodded, figuring out his question six words in.


    ¡°Of course I would - wait, grandson!?¡±

 Chapter 566: The Letter

    Chapter 566: The Letter


    Nearly 75 years after the events at the Phoenix Peaks


    ¡°Emergency letter for Sentinel Dawn from Sentinel Arachne.¡±


    I was on vacation.


    Fuck.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Chimera (Elvenoid)]


    [Age: 112]


    [Mana: 9,709,900/9,709,900]


    [Mana Regeneration: 24,556,129 +(79,242,431)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 77,951 (Effectively: 623,608)]


    [Dexterity: 102,293 (Effectively: 1,089,216)]


    [Vitality: 334,977 (Effectively: 5,234,016)]


    [Speed: 322,209 (Effectively: 6,342,040)]


    [Mana: 970,990]


    [Mana Regeneration: 2,674,850 (+ 7,924,243)]


    [Magic Power: 1,279,544 (+ 62,761,633)]


    [Magic Control: 1,278,608 (+ 62,715,722)]


    [Class 3: [Sage of Tomes - Spatial: Lv 840]]


    [Spatial Authority: 840]


    [Scripture Savant: 840]


    [Teleportation: 501]


    [The Library of Infinite Wonder: 840]


    [Tower of Knowledge: 433]


    [Reality, Writ As You Will: 700]


    [Astral Archives: 840]


    [Endless Pursuit of Knowledge: 840]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 624]


    [Dexterous and Handy: 500]


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 981]


    [The World Around Me: 533]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 981]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 981]


    [Persistent Casting: 981]


    [Tender Gardening: 420]

 Chapter 567: A Thousand Years for Revenge

    Chapter 567: A Thousand Years for Revenge


    Nearly 75 years after the events at the Phoenix Peaks


    Lossamiel had [Sworn Vengeance] on the [Slavers] of Urwa.


    At first she¡¯d been meticulous. Kept a list of those responsible for kidnapping her, passing her around before slapping her in chains and silks and putting her on an auction block. A list that included the [Auctioneers], the buyers, the suppliers, and the hated Emir Eabd.


    Being a [Slave], branded and forced to dance, wasn¡¯t the end of the world. It was bad, but it was nothing.


    Pain and raw emotion were a currency, an entertainment, and Lossamiel, along with the other slaves, had been occasionally tortured for the night¡¯s amusement, surrounded by laughing and jeering elves.


    Then there were the pits...


    When the freshness and novelty of Lossamiel had started to wear out, the [Emir] and the rest had dug deeply for new entertainments.


    Lossamiel could still hear her scream as tiny feet kicked helplessly, inches above engraved marble. Every detail was carved into her mind, from how her wrists broke against the manacles, to the exact pattern of the shirt¡¯s weave, to the choking gurgles. The horn-nubs that hadn¡¯t even revealed the antler¡¯s shape. The carefully timed cruelty to let her go just too late to do anything, the laughs as the party went on around her sobbing over her daughter¡¯s death.


    That was when she had [Sworn Vengeance], and didn¡¯t care who she hit in her quest.


    All of Urwa was rotten, and needed to be purged. Everyone involved was either a [Slaver] and deserved to die, a citizen who helped and profited off the system and was complicit, or a slave themselves who would die to see their [Slavers] killed with them.


    Freedom came one day. She¡¯d been sold to a less-careful master who was fine with ¡®refuse¡¯ from the Emir, a cheap bargain for ¡®high quality goods¡¯. He wasn¡¯t quite as good with chain lengths and skills, and Lossamiel had been able to dance close enough to wrap her chains around his neck and choke him out.


    An orgy of violence had followed, Lossamiel venting her anger on the slavers closest to her before calming down and thinking.


    Lossamiel had planned. It was a shame for the mortals whose lives would be too short to benefit from her move, it was torture for the remaining slaves, but it was better to do this right than to have a short-lived and futile rebellion.


    The first thing she studied were the locations of all the [Emirs] and [Sultans]. How they operated, what the entire slave network looked like. What her targets were and where.


    The information was freely available, and cost Lossamiel practically nothing. Simply the city toll to enter a city with a library, and she was set.


    The next project was harder.


    Years.


    Decades.


    Shera, The Dreamer, swam slowly through the depths of the ocean. She was a leedsichthys, one of the titans of the depths, but not quite the largest. Blue whales, krakens, and leviathans were larger. She¡¯d been mistaken for a leviathan often enough, and most creatures knew to avoid tangling with her.


    A shark took a curious nibble, and she simply redirected the currents to place him in her mouth, biting down with a satisfying crunch of breaking cartilage. She returned her attention to the ripples in the world.


    Shera was a Guardian, and one of the gifts bestowed upon her was to see ripples, for lack of a better word. Focal points where disaster loomed. There were all sorts of qualities to the ripples, from frequency, to intensity, to color, flavor, and more.


    Nearly every living creature gave off ripples, and the vast majority were ignored. It was almost easier to see the unusual ripples in the sea of ordinary ones, and intervention was a judgment call.


    An infrequent ripple came from the coastline, tasting of fish, colored blue and being small and rare. Some [Mermaid] trying to conjure enough water to drown the world, no doubt, but lacking in the skills and coordination to succeed. Maybe there¡¯d be a few millimeters change in the ocean¡¯s level, nothing that the tides wouldn¡¯t wash out.


    Now, if King Nereus were trying to organize the merfolk en masse to drown the landfolk, perhaps as retaliation for his daughter being butchered and eaten by orcs for the Immortality her body provided, that could create a much larger ripple, one Shera would need to investigate and nip out before the world was flooded and drowned. Again.


    A hungry set of pitch-black ripples was coming from a shelf in the ocean, and the intensity and frequency was finally large enough to stir Shera to action. With a few flips of her mighty tail, she sped through the depths, arriving at a chasm where a leviathan had been felled by a single ingested Vorler egg. It had hatched on the inside, poisoned the leviathan to death, then had feasted on the body, wildly reproducing over generations. The ancient monster was now bones, and a massive swarm of Vorlers threatened to overrun life in this corner of the ocean.


    Shera preempted all that by crushing them to death with the weight of the deepest depths of the ocean, magnified a dozen times. It was like the hand of a god had come down on them, and Shera made sure not a single tiny egg would survive.


    Perhaps it was time to dream again, to imagine the vast endless impossibilities that her Mirror element could then give rise to.


    Then one of the endless far-off ripples dramatically changed in frequency and intensity. It had been building up for years and years, but at such a low level that it was ignored. It was suddenly at such a high level that every Guardian would intervene, and Shera immediately moved, leaving devastating currents in her wake, reshaping parts of the world, moving directly towards the ripples.


    Up on the lazily spinning moon, obscured by mirages that had lasted for tens of thousands of years, a single sprout defied all the odds to burst from the ground, unfurling leaves into an impossibly hostile environment.


    Lossamiel shifted the portals a hair, pointing them from a harmless location to populated city centers. She launched her attack with a single word, knowing she would die moments later.


    But her revenge would be complete.


    ¡°[Moonfall].¡±

 Chapter Book 13 launch day!

    Chapter Book 13 launch day!


    Hey all!


    I want to say thank you for your support over the years. Thank you, each and every one of you, for helping support Beneath the Dragoneye Moons, and making it a reality. I couldn''t do this without you, and I''m forever grateful.


    First! Books 1-3 are FREE on Amazon right now! Go grab a copy if you haven''t already!


    Book 1: /amazon/B08NWJMXXV


    Quite a few people have asked over the years, and I''ve listened! Amazon only gets the latest BTDEM book on a delay, letting patrons enjoy the content far before Amazon does. You support me a lot more, you should get it far before. Plus, a nice bonus - I can now launch KU and Amazon at the same time!


    With that being said, if you DO want to support me in a non-financial way, there are a bunch of ways you can do it! If you post a rating or review on Amazon, that tells the algorithm "oh hey, this is popular and well-liked, you should push it more", which gets more eyeballs on it, which gets more sales, and it all results in a nice, virtuous cycle. You can check the book out on KU, which counts as a sale for algorithm purposes (and no need to read it even!). Best of all, you can make social media posts or boost exsiting ones, which gets more eyes in front of BTDEM!


    Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/LitRPG.books/permalink/8661050350584891/


    https://www.facebook.com/groups/litrpgforum/permalink/4669665736591023/


    I will admit - I''ve got a bit of ego tied to this launch. It''s the first time I''m trying a KU + ebook launch, and I kinda hope to see a high score number on the rank. Pure ego, I know.


    Alright, on a bit of a writing note. It''s admin week, and I''m on a psuedo-vacation. Which is to say I''m visiting my parents place while my wife and kid visit her parents, and I''m getting SO MUCH WRITING DONE! Hopefully my backlog can be fully reanimated!


    Thank you all again for all your support and everything you do!


    Selkie

 Chapter 568: The Gloves Come Off I

    Chapter 568: The Gloves Come Off I


    It was a fairly hard rule that Sentinels weren¡¯t bothered on their time off. Susan regularly sent Elaine letters when I was off rotation, asking to chat socially, or simply sending me interesting little tidbits of information. With her information processing capabilities combined with her multitasking, I had no doubt that she was in close contact and communication with hundreds, if not thousands of people.


    I also regularly met with the rest of the War Sentinels, just one of the many social gatherings and ties I had. It was a fun weekly thing, helped get me out of the house, and all that good stuff.


    Sentinel Dawn was never summoned by Sentinel Arachne though. That didn¡¯t happen.


    Or rather, I¡¯d been warned it might happen, under the most dire of circumstances.


    The poor [Courier] at the door didn¡¯t know what hit her. I flashed over at full speed, runes glowing on my body to not create a villa-destroying sonic boom, and read the letter without opening it.


    Dawn,


    Urgently need you at Castle Stormwatch.


    Bring your entire team.


    Arachne.


    Triple-gods-damnit-fuck.


    Was it now? Was everything I knew about to be upended? I could feel my heart thundering in my chest like a drum, and my palms started to get sweaty. My stomach twisted in knots.


    Not now. I thought. I still have so much to do.


    I threw a bunch of coins at the poor [Courier], not really caring that I¡¯d probably dumped two years wages in a single tip. My mind flashed to one of my more used spells, and I used [Reality, Writ as I Will] to reshape the world to my spell. My voice boomed, deafening anyone close by.


    ¡°Attention everyone! Skye, Titania, Valkyries, squires, and guests! If I am not back in three hours, head to the bunkers!¡±


    I could tell my words had kicked the hornet¡¯s nest, but I was already flying off to Fenrir¡¯s cave at my top speed, coming to a halt in a great gust of wind. ¡°Fenrir! Wake up! It¡¯s go time!¡± I yelled at him. While he was waking up, I teleported into [Tower], my own personal pocket dimension, and armed up.


    It was go time. My mind flickered through all the floors, quickly reviewing everything. Had to be prepared for anything and everything. It was decades of preparation, but I could¡¯ve used a few decades more.


    The first floor was my armory, filled to the brim with everything I could practically want and use in a fight. My Sentinel armor was prominently displayed on an armor stand, and my two badges were floating in a display case attached to the ground. Spears, short swords, round shields and tower shields filled a portion of the room, as did several less-preferred armor sets, and a collection of assorted weapons. I was barely trained and barely proficient in them, but it was better to have quick access to the weapons and not need them, than it was to need them and not have them.


    My mind flashed through the rest of the tower as I [Teleported] everything onto my body, finishing by cinching my belt tight.


    The second floor was the hall of gems, Amber¡¯s fortune funneled into a thousand and one life-saving measures. Floors 3 and 4 were secondary armories, dedicated to Iona and Fenrir¡¯s armor, weapons, and spare supplies for each of them, and the fifth floor was potions galore.


    Floors 6 and 7 were toolsheds, everything from chisels to looms, only missing out on the hyper specialized tools of some professions. Axes, saws, picks, and shovels all came in triplicate, along with more common and popular tools.


    Floors 8 through 11 was a third armory, this time dedicated to Legion equipment. Given enough time to teleport in and out of my [Tower], I could arm three centuries of troops, from sandals to spears, from banners to shields.


    The twelfth floor was my kitchen, because fuck having that on the thirteenth floor. That only took up about a third of the floor, and the rest of it was my ¡®workshop¡¯, where I hammered, sawed, nailed, and generally leveled [Handy And Dexterous] to create all the other furniture, storage, chests, cabinets, and general items used to store things inside of my [Tower]. It was a good place, filled with sweat, memories, and sawdust, but also something of a boring place. There were no great adventures, no fantastic memories, simply measure, measure, cut, drill, nail, hammer, repeat. I didn¡¯t have any particularly fancy moments or terrific insights, bugging [Carpenters] to hand me blueprints for things I wanted to make, then faithfully creating them, letting my skills guide my hands.


    The hardest part was honestly getting things to where they needed to be. I could make the biggest damn wardrobe, but the hole in the middle of the tower was only so large. I¡¯d need to make it in several parts, float each part to the final destination, and do the finishing connections there.


    It would be far more interesting if Iona and Auri could come in here, but they couldn¡¯t, and the space remained a practical one.


    The unlucky thirteenth floor was for coins and cash, along with important documents. Documents that would be worth less than the paper they were on if this was indeed the start to the great war.


    Floors 14-30 were pure food and water supplies. Enough to hopefully feed a village for a year, which was hopefully long enough for floors 31-34 to kick in - seeds, more plows, and other farming equipment. In my mind, these were probably THE most important floors, the ones directly dedicated to saving lives in the one way I was unable to help in.


    I had some brief regret on the 35th floor. It was supposed to be ingots of all sorts of metals, but they were all heavy and expensive, and I¡¯d elected to spend my time and funds filling up the rest of the [Tower].


    Which brought me to some more self-indulgent floors. It wasn¡¯t all disaster planning and future supplies, although I did like being more stocked up than a half-dozen warehouses. The 36th floor was for various trinkets and knick-knacks, along with a small unconsecrated shrine to Ciriel. The next three floors were dedicated to Iona and her artwork, thousands of pieces lovingly hung from the walls I¡¯d built inside. Her best pieces were hanging in the villa, of course, but I squirreled away those I could to these floors. Here was the hall of memories, thousands of sights, views, and people Iona had seen and sketched over our life.


    The 40th floor was dedicated entirely to my vanity and my vanity. A quarter was dedicated to the massive table, mirror, and countless drawers of lacquered wood that had been an absolute bitch to craft. Hadn¡¯t even leveled from it all. A thousand and one makeup goods were scattered in nearly as many drawers, the ghost of a once-present organizational system crying deeply over what I¡¯d done to it over the years.


    I reminded myself to clean it up and organize it, only to notice nearly a hundred other notifications in the same spot in [Astral Archives] telling me the same thing.


    Whoops.


    Floor 41-49 were building supplies of various sorts. I¡¯d intended for it to be fewer floors, but the stuff was big, and I kept liberally raiding it for my own construction projects. Bricks, clay, planks, the works.


    Floor 50 and 51 were ¡®core¡¯ rooms, filled with arcanite. Getting it in piece by piece was easy, and it was surprisingly simple to re-merge them back into a single whole on the other end. Turned out, I wasn¡¯t the first wizard with the problem. The art of fusing arcanite together, usually an Arcanite class special, had a large number of well-documented solutions. A narrow rod of arcanite ran the length of my tower, all my enchantments hooked up to it for mana.


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    In theory, I could reach out from where I¡¯d teleported into my [Tower], touch the rod, and restore my mana. In practice?


    My mana pool and regeneration dwarfed the core by such an extent, it wouldn¡¯t matter.


    Floors 52-64 were Legion supplies, from shovels to tents, toiletries to cookpots, a few ¡®assemble into wagons¡¯ and a large dose of medical supplies. The 55th floor was disassembled siege weapons.


    I had no way of telling how useful the supplies would be in the moment. It ranged from ¡®complete waste of time, money, and space¡¯, all the way to ¡®the supplies got burned and Dawn¡¯s the only one with spares¡¯.


    Floors 65-67 were empty right now, and I currently regretted not working harder on getting everything set up.


    Helmet and greaves, gauntlets and sword, a round shield and the heavy enchanted scale. Everything in its place, I teleported back to existence, Fenrir opening an eye.


    I had no cape.


    ¡°Case?¡± He grumbled. I spoke rapid-fire.


    ¡°No case. Urgent summons from Arachne. Need to get Iona and Auri and get to Stormwatch.¡±


    Most mortals would¡¯ve heard my words in a high-pitched chipmunk squeak with how quickly I was talking. Invoking Arachne was one of the better ways to get Fenrir up and motivated, and I started to [Teleport] his gear onto him, blurring into motion as I expertly strapped on every piece of his armor.


    Fenrir growled low in his throat, the rumble in his cave feeling like an earthquake. He could feel the urgency, perhaps sensed something on the stormwinds. A tendril of Ice wrapped around his pipe collection, and he placed it in front of his nose.


    ¡°Take.¡± He commanded as I tightened his helmet. I dutifully stored it, tossing it into the hall of gems to be properly sorted out later.


    ¡°Go.¡± I ordered, and the two of us took off towards Sanguino at top speed. I noticed Ranger Team Gale leaving the outskirts of the city on their roc, none of the current members part of the original group I¡¯d met.


    By Ciriel, I suddenly realized I didn¡¯t know what had happened to each of them.


    I stormed into Auri¡¯s bakery like a force of nature, glad that she wasn¡¯t on one of her trips to the North right now. How I¡¯d react if we were separated... it didn¡¯t bear thinking.


    ¡°It¡¯s time.¡± I told Auri, feeling a little bad about the fear and panic I was spreading.


    [Age: 112]


    [Mana: 9,729,940/9,729,940]


    [Mana Regeneration: 24,731,562 +(79,775,800)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 78,653 (Effectively: 629,224)]


    [Dexterity: 102,994 (Effectively: 1,096,680)]


    [Vitality: 336,579 (Effectively: 5,259,047)]


    [Speed: 323,811 (Effectively: 6,373,572)]


    [Mana: 972,994]


    [Mana Regeneration: 2,692,854 (+ 7,977,580)]


    [Magic Power: 1,282,346 (+ 63,027,306)]


    [Magic Control: 1,281,410 (+ 62,981,302)]


    [Class 1: [The Arbiter of Life and Death - Celestial: Lv 983]]


    [Celestial Spirit: 983]


    [Aurora Curialis: 983]


    [The Stars Never Fade: 558]


    [Luminary Mind: 983]


    [Universal Cure: 983]


    [Etheric Aegis: 510]


    [Event Horizon: 842]


    [Zenith Everlasting: 983]


    [Class 2: [Seraph of the Dawn - Radiance: Lv 948]]


    [Radiance Mastery: 948]


    [A Light Shining in the Darkness: 851]


    [The Rays of the First Dawn: 948]


    [Radiant Angel''s Spear of Obliteration: 430]


    [Celestial Dew: 948]


    [Sunrise Halo: 948]


    [Wings of the Seraphim: 948]


    [Six Wings, Six Million Feathers: 948]


    [Class 3: [Sage of Tomes - Spatial: Lv 840]]


    [Spatial Authority: 840]


    [Scripture Savant: 840]


    [Teleportation: 840]


    [The Library of Infinite Wonder: 840]


    [Tower of Knowledge: 433]


    [Reality, Writ As You Will: 700]


    [Astral Archives: 840]


    [Endless Pursuit of Knowledge: 840]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 624]


    [Dexterous and Handy: 500]


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 983]


    [The World Around Me: 533]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 983]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 983]


    [Persistent Casting: 983]


    [Tender Gardening: 420]

 Chapter 569: The Gloves Come Off II

    Chapter 569: The Gloves Come Off II


    The gloves were coming off. No more restraining myself for the good of other [Healers]. No more avoiding stepping on toes. No more giving opportunities for other people to step in and level.


    No more barely-tolerating people I couldn¡¯t see and hear being sick, hoping that someone else would manage to get to them. No more hoping against hope that the sick and poor would find medical attention, either by finding me when I worked in the slums, or if a kind passing Moonlight Medic gave them a hand.


    I had barely, just barely tolerated the state of affairs, going so far as to perform the occasional city-curing ¡®miracle¡¯ in Sanguino, and now was the time to put things right.


    It was like a switch flipped in my mind as my understanding of the world shifted ever so slightly. Not only was it right, but I was now obligated to always put my best efforts forward to the city I lived in or was nearby. I¡¯d need to do some soul searching on what, exactly, that meant - but I knew it was exceptionally unlikely that I¡¯d ever retract my aura again.


    People near me - for a large, generous definition of near - would live, assuming they weren¡¯t trying to kill me and mine. That simple. I mentally whispered an apology to all those healers who were going to be denied experience and opportunities, but the gloves were off.


    I didn¡¯t think I was ever going to put them back on.


    My skills practically sang in harmony as I linked them all together, unleashing my aura and my range. Thick, heavy imaginary tomes in [Astral Archives] provided all the medical knowledge I needed, from anatomy to physiology, injuries and how to cure them, a thousand and one disease and mechanisms of action. I paid special attention to interesting Miasma-improved bacteria and viruses, and tweaked my mental model to make sure I got them, even if they looked ¡®beneficial¡¯ to a human. There was a modest number of gut bacteria that were going to be caught by my new filters and images, but that was the price I needed to pay to eradicate the disease.


    I imagined whoever was the creator on the other end of the disease knew that, and quietly chuckled at their genius. I doubted it was an accident, and whoever it was had experience in making virulent life-ending plagues. Fortunately, it was only ¡®some¡¯ bacteria, not ¡®all¡¯, and the worst cases might experience some diarrhea or constipation, along with some mild stomach aches and discomforts.


    Compared to the dozens or even thousands of vampires that could die otherwise, it was a no-brainer. The minor harm to one group was far outweighed by the major harm that would occur to the other group.


    It linked up to my image in [Universal Cure] as I spread the range as far as I could. My mana dropped quite a bit. The average person was mostly healthy, only needing the bare minimum, and my skills had potent improvements, from [Celestial Spirit] all the way to the bonuses in [Universal Cure].


    Sanguino held a little over a million souls though, and I was right near the heart of the city. It dropped and I leveled, before my mana started to rapidly refill. The benefits of focusing on regeneration at this point in my life.


    I waved to where Iona, Fenrir, and now Auri were high up, and pointed in the direction we needed to fly next. Fenrir dipped a wing in a salute, and started to fly off in that direction, flames reflecting off his metal armor, not going so quickly that I couldn¡¯t catch up.


    I mentally measured the city, confirming what I already knew from decades living nearby about its size and layout. My radius was nearly 2.5 km, but it was safer to round down to 2. The city wasn¡¯t neatly shaped, but if I went along the longer axis, it would only take me nine passes over the entire city to cure every single person of every problem they had, from a splinter to stage 4 breast cancer, from a skinned shin to a mugged victim at death¡¯s door.


    Nobody died. That was my mission, that was the flag I was planting, that was the line in the sand I was drawing for this Immortal war. The quest was impossible, but right now, I didn¡¯t care. I would strive for that goal, and use every resource at my disposal to make it happen.


    I proved myself a hypocrite by promptly amending my statement. Nobody died... except the people trying to kill my patients.


    I flew back and forth along the city, taking about fifteen seconds to fly from one wall to the next, zipping over thousands of people so quickly most never realized I was there.


    [*ding!* [The Arbiter of Life and Death] has leveled up! 983-> 995. +400 Strength, +400 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +1600 Magic Power, +1600 Magic Control, +1000 Mana, +9000 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]


    Fuck, those were amazing levels. It had taken time for [The Endless Pursuit of Knowledge] to properly level and cap out, but I was enjoying a 37x multiplier to my experience. It was rare to have such a well-targeted mission to my class - literally ordered to heal the entire country in my role as Sentinel Dawn - which was helping dramatically.


    I flew up and intercepted Fenrir, settling in and strapping down with grim-faced movements. Iona tended to go out in my wedding present - the adamantium alloy armor, she loved the set and wore it everywhere, apparently it was good for the [Paladin] message - and there was no awkwardness around retrieving it.


    ¡°Auri caught me up on the situation.¡± Iona said as Fenrir accelerated, able to move faster now that I¡¯d caught up. ¡°Can you tell me about what¡¯s going on at home?¡±


    ¡°I issued the evacuation order.¡± I said. ¡°I didn¡¯t stop to grab anything on the way out. I trust Skye will balance getting to safety with grabbing additional supplies. The Valkyries were gearing up and heading down to the village to oversee what¡¯s going on. I got the sense that they¡¯re going to stay outside and help until the bitter end.¡±


    My mind flickered over everyone I knew from Orthus village. I was satisfied enough with my apprentice Primus Nix¡¯s medical education and progression, and he should be enough for medical care. The [Mayor] had a good head on his shoulders, Skye¡¯s organizational and leadership skills were peerless, and...


    Iona nodded, like there was nothing more reasonable, like I hadn¡¯t just mentioned that the recovering Valkyrie order was probably about to be wiped out to the last woman.


    Hells.


    Basically every knightly order was about to get wiped out, weren¡¯t they?


    My mind went tumbling bumbling down the thought path, a thousand fears and worries assailing me, the fog of war suddenly very thick and very real. I didn¡¯t know what other people were doing. I didn¡¯t know if this was the best thing I could do. I didn¡¯t know if Artemis and Julius were safe on the Island, I had no idea where Amber was, and Nina was probably already in a dangerous situation before the newer problems were stacked on top of it.


    Ciriel. I hope her [Creed] didn¡¯t demand she do anything too stupid.


    I thought back to Arachne¡¯s letter, and hardened my resolve.


    I had faith in Exterreri, more notably Night. I had faith in his decision making, I had faith in his partner. His motives weren¡¯t entirely pure, I knew that, but the map and the path to heal the most people in Exterreri? Yeah, all of that was real. It was an impact I could have right here, right now, today. Exterreri had a large population, and I was tasked with keeping them alive.


    Right. That I could do. When there were quiet moments, I could look into helping other people in other places.


    Auri sensed something was up with me and my mood, and nuzzled herself into my hand.


    ¡°Brpt!¡± She reassured me.


    ¡°Thanks.¡± I said.


    I couldn¡¯t bring myself to speak any of a dozen comforting lies, starting from ¡®we¡¯re going to be alright¡¯ and getting more bald-faced from there.


    One interesting quirk of various parts of the System working together was perceived travel time. I could bring my focus to ¡®unaccelerated¡¯ - permanently having my perception heightened and my thoughts sped up sounded like a special type of hell, a Curse White Dove would bestow upon a speedster - but accelerating my thoughts and mind while on Fenrir flying incredible speeds ironically made it feel like a ¡®normal¡¯ trip, instead of passing by in a flash.


    ¡°Can we have Fenrir fly low and fast over the 1st Legion?¡± I asked Iona. ¡°They tend to be tightly packed, and Fenrir¡¯s faster than I am.¡±


    Fenrir was a known, if rare sight to the Sixth, and I waved down to the soldiers who cheered at my approach. Who wouldn¡¯t want their protective Classer around?


    ¡°What¡¯s your plan?¡± I asked Iona, scanning the city. She telekinetically pulled my Sentinel badge off my uniform, slapping it into her hand.


    ¡°Going to borrow your authority to take over a park for Fenrir.¡± She said. ¡°I don¡¯t think being outside the walls is a good idea right now. You don¡¯t mind, do you?¡±


    Fenrir and I snorted in unison, for very different reasons.


    ¡°Of course I don¡¯t mind.¡± I said. ¡°Stay safe, love you, going to find Katerina or the Legate, wherever they¡¯re hiding.¡±


    Iona nodded and pointed to a particularly large open stretch in the city.


    ¡°Going to hijack that stretch of land. It looks like some rich tosh¡¯s personal garden, so only one person will be mad at me, and there won¡¯t be kids trying to climb Fenrir or mothers giving me an earful over the ¡®dangerous monster¡¯.¡± She said.


    ¡°Plus... rich people.¡± I mocked a shudder.


    Iona rolled her eyes so hard they almost fell out.


    ¡°Love. We are rich people.¡± She pointed out to me.


    ¡°Yeah, but we¡¯re different!¡± I protested. We started laughing, and I quickly kissed her. Iona wrapped her arms around me and drew me in, hungrily delving for more. I melted into her body, letting the love and oxytocin flow through me.


    ¡°Stay safe.¡± My wife¡¯s worry was clear in her eyes, and I reassured her.


    ¡°I will. Love you. Move a little closer to where HQ is if it¡¯s too far away, I don¡¯t want you and Fenrir to be outside of [Universal Cure¡¯s] range if you don¡¯t have to be.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± Iona readily agreed, Fenrir chuffing with outrage at the idea that he¡¯d let Auri be so unprotected.


    We all covered each other¡¯s back. The thought was gloriously uplifting.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri pointed out that we were far over the 8-second sappy limit, and we were in an emergency. Probably.


    She hopped onto my shoulder, and with a long, lingering look, I jumped off Fenrir, opening my wings and quickly circling the small city before landing in front of a line of troops on the wall.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn, ma¡¯am!¡± They snapped to attention and threw me a crisp salute. I raised an eyebrow.


    ¡°Are we in a designated warzone, and should you be saluting me?¡± I pointed out. There were awkward looks traded between the soldiers. The poor line leader¡¯s shoulder slumped when he realized he had to answer.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am... no ma¡¯am?¡± He said. ¡°Those orders haven¡¯t come down yet. Should we consider ourselves in a warzone?¡± The troops looked frankly alarmed at the idea.


    I cursed. I didn¡¯t know enough. The Sixth being sent to explicitly guard and man Massa¡¯s walls implied things were heating up, but I simply didn¡¯t have the knowledge or information to say what was developing everywhere else.


    The best thing I could do was be predictable to Arachne and the rest of the Command structure, and not go haring off wildly. At the same time, if I knew of a disaster somewhere else, I WOULD go investigate and do what I could.


    That too, was part of being predictable.


    ¡°Fine. Where¡¯s your Centurion?¡± I asked. I doubted the grunts knew where Command was hiding away, and going up the chain of command was how to find Katerina and see what was needed.


    He told me, and I dashed off, anti-friction runes glowing blue on my skin. I found Katerina quickly enough, in an unassuming house positioned at the crossroads of two major streets. The entire building had been taken over by the support structure of the Sixth, every room filled with scribbling [Scribes] and runners dashing around. I handed my list off to one of them, who looked like I¡¯d just handed her the biggest present in the world.


    ¡°Dawn! You made it, I was starting to get worried. What¡¯s the situation?¡± She asked.


    ¡°I¡¯ve managed to hit all the cities.¡± I reported. ¡°I¡¯m here, at your disposal, what do you need?¡±


    Katerina looked at me blankly.


    ¡°Hit all the cities?¡± She asked.


    Fucking fog of war.


    ¡°Sentinel work. There was an engineered plague, it¡¯s been handled. Station healers at the gates for travelers. I¡¯ve only seen traces of four Cohorts?¡± I asked.


    Katerina grinned.


    ¡°A little trick of the Senate. By law, a Legion only needs to have four Cohorts. Most Legions are done as eight, which gives [Legates] and the like far more weight than usually commanding a smaller group would give. Except when the Ash falls, the Senate can call up a dozen retired Legates, Primus Piluses, and the like, split the existing Legions, and get twice as many Classers on the field with weighty skills. It¡¯ll degrade our quality over time if we do it for too long, but it¡¯s a neat trick.¡±


    ¡°Alright. Where do you ne-¡±


    I was mid-word when there was a bright flash of light in front of my eyes, and we got flattened by an explosion.

 Chapter 570: Interlude - The Shot Heard Around The World

    Chapter 570: Interlude - The Shot Heard Around The World


    Eight heavy spheres screamed down to Pallos, each one targeted at a different city in Urwa. Shahrazad. Serendib. Wak-Wak. Miraj Mahal. Azraq. Jamila. Sharaf. Fajr.


    Each city had shields and protections, from enchanted walls to powerful Classers with protective skills. The most powerful defenses, however, required active concentration and activation. It was like a turtle in their shell - the withdrawal had to be deliberate. Nobody used [Persistent Casting] on the most powerful city-wide defense skills, because that involved shutting the city down entirely. The gates would be closed, entirely stopping the movement of trade.


    The spheres came down so quickly there was no time to react. Only the best of reflexes had a spark¡¯s chance in Modu of doing anything, and that was if they were looking at the right place at the right time, their fingers on the metaphorical trigger.


    Alas, there were none.


    The spheres were all well-aimed, the movement practically instantaneous. They each hit at the city center, where all of their kinetic energy was promptly and energetically converted to every other type of energy, the spheres turning into a massive shockwave along with a thousand pieces of shrapnel, which took out every building in a three-block radius, which promptly turned into several billion bricks, glass shards, and pieces of heavy, broken clay going in every single direction. The destruction scythed through hundreds of thousands of people, shredding them in a moment.


    There were survivors, of course. Classers with their own personal defensive skills, paranoid elves who gleefully crowed that they were right, and ¡®lucky¡¯ children holding a pair of bloody hands, as the people to either side of them got obliterated, and the random rolling of the dice simply spared them any physical harm.


    The cities themselves were flattened beyond recognition. Quite a few basements survived - a rare structure in the culture - and the walls survived.


    The walls had been reinforced, but the threat was internal, not external. All they did was contain and ¡®echo¡¯ the blast inside a second time, the strongest protections turning the city into a destructive kettle. Ironically, the Classers responsible tended to be in secured locations with protective skills themselves, or protected by people who had specialized skills. If they had died in the initial blast, the walls would¡¯ve fallen and the impact wouldn¡¯t have been as great.


    The impact and the cities being flattened were visible from space, where Lossamiel had a moment to bitterly laugh at the destruction she¡¯d wrought, literal millions of kill notifications scrolling in front of her while her level jumped up to the next classup. All it would take was a moment to classup, and she¡¯d reach divinity and become a god.


    The revenge was both satisfying and hollow, the culmination of years of planning still not bringing her beloved child back from the grave. The [Slaver¡¯s] grasp over Urwa should be broken and shattered though, no more would people wake up in chains, with manacles around their wrists and a collar around their neck.


    That was her last thought before a fishtail the size of a galleon obliterated her, turning her body into a fine bloody mist.


    Shera gazed down upon the world, the rest of the Guardians assembling a moment later. The ripples across the globe bounced back and forth, rapidly intensifying as the great chain of hatred, the self-fulfilling prophecy of the Immortal War came to realization.


    Each event was one that was worth all eight Guardians intervening, and yet there were dozens upon dozens of them. It was impossible to tend to them all, impossible to extinguish every fire that flared bright.


    Each Guardian picked one they felt was most suitable for them, and they split, knowing that many of them would fall in the coming days, weeks, or years, and yet still tirelessly working to preserve life.


    Emir Eabd was out of the city when the attacks hit, a solid portion of his court having taken over a nearby oasis for a week of debauchery and indulgence away from the palace. A little bit of distant scenery. His mind whirled as the shockwaves racked the city, a thousand and one contingency plans coming to the forefront.


    The damn vampire! He shattered the wineglass he was holding, dismissively flicking the remains towards a nubile slave who screamed as the shards bit into her flesh. How had she figured it out so quickly!?


    His mind moved from plot to contingency, an aspect he hadn¡¯t properly considered bubbling up to the top.


    There had been low-level rumors that one of Exterreri¡¯s Sentinels was literally the founder of medicine. The rumor was absurd, of course, and it was only mentioned on the low levels, not crowed from the rooftops. It felt like a rumor designed to mess with intelligence networks, a classic move from The Spider, and his [Spymaster] had spent quite a lot of time digging for the hidden meaning in the rumor, or the information being hidden by the tale.


    But... if it was true, perhaps they had decoded and worked out the origin of the plague. The retaliation was far outside of expectations. A Legion or three, yes. Perhaps a few of their laughable Shadow Sentinels. The ¡®largest risk¡¯ they had judged as possible was inciting Tympestshard to declare war on Urwa, playing on the elf¡¯s curse to whisper in the leader¡¯s ear Who¡¯s really the best elven nation?


    Exterreri played a delicate game, balancing Immortal lives with the ant-like mortals, thinking their tiny, fleeting lives were worth as much or more than an Immortal¡¯s contributions. Bah, sheer idiocy. By the time a mortal was half-trained, they were dead, taken by White Dove. The Spider and the current leaders of Exterreri were too soft, too delicate, to break out weapons like this. They were too focused on survival, and not enough on Glory Eternal.


    To break out the city-killing weapons as the first strike? Eabd¡¯s mind came up with a thousand answers, but one seemed more likely that the rest.


    The unkillable bastard Night had taken the field, and was running the show. Eabd felt a shiver go down his spine at the thought, no matter the burning sands under his feet and the oven-like conditions of Urwa.


    If Night was actively involved, his best move would be to distract, then run, hide, and pray there were more, better targets for the ancient vampire to go after.


    Nobody survived Night¡¯s ire.


    Nobody.


    All the thoughts, plans, and schemes went through the Emir¡¯s mind in a moment, the brass towers of Wak-Wak still falling as he came to his conclusions.


    ¡°Activate the Majestic Glacial Bloom Spectacle.¡± He ordered. ¡°We go to the submerged home.¡±


    The shockwave traveled at the speed of sound, while the light from all the burning fusion traveled at the speed of light.


    The single pebble was roughly the equivalent of a mad dragon having an unfettered week to ravage a city. Enough to flatten and burn all of the buildings, and kill nearly every inhabitant.


    Ironically, the projectile that Lossamiel had fired being a hair slower meant the impact hit the city sooner, with less time to prepare. The impact of the pebble was far more devastating.


    The Sword Saint was pacing along the walls of Sanguino when a bright flash of light pierced the Ashen clouds over the city. His hand flew to his sword, and a moment later the Ashen cloud was entirely dispersed as the devastating shockwave descended upon the city at the speed of sound. The Sword Saint leapt up into the sky, unsheathing his sword and choosing to speak the name of his skill.


    ¡°[Perfect Parry].¡±


    His blade flashed and it felt like the weight of the world was on him. He bared his tusks as he screamed, forcing the entire blast to move, the heat and energy eating away at his body, his arm, his hand, his sword.


    The Sword Saint crashed to the ground a smoking wreck, his sword melted, his arm charred, and his hand missing. He coughed as notifications flooded in front of him, detailing all the levels he¡¯d gotten for deflecting the blast into Bloodmoon Bay - and the thousands of kill notifications he was getting on fish, sharks, crabs, sea urchins, and the millions of denizens of the deep.


    A satisfied grin split his face as guards rushed over to him.


    ¡°Gods, I¡¯m good.¡±


    The blast the Sword Saint deflected into Bloodmoon Bay had to go somewhere. It tore through the water, utterly shattering Arachne¡¯s underwater lair. The shockwave hit Arachne moments before Sword Saint¡¯s body had landed on the ground, catching her entirely unaware of a threat within Sanguino before it was shattering the thick green glass, pouring a hundred billion gallons of water in.


    It wasn¡¯t an unexpected avenue, and Arachne practically expected any assault on her to start with a massive strike on her lair. Threads creeping along the glass alerted her to the issue, and she immediately executed her well-drilled evacuation plan, threads pulling her out of the way and deep into her tunnels before the water could crush her, rushing to her lover¡¯s protective embrace.


    His adamantium control slipped at seeing her freezing, pale-faced and shivering.


    ¡°Who did this?¡± He demanded, eyes flashing dangerously.


    ¡°Unknown.¡± Arachne barely got out.


    ¡°Then, Unknown will pay.¡± Night spat out.


    The shockwave had to go somewhere, and water was incompressible. It traveled through the Sea of Stars silently, barely a ripple, until it arrived at the shores of the nation on the other side.


    Just as Nippon-Koku was reeling from twin blasts destroying their two most brightly lit cities - not their most populous, simply the easiest to aim at - a tsunami hit their coast a moment later, a devastating one-two-three punch to the nation.


    Deep in the mountains near Kuri, Kanadaj was peacefully sleeping on his mountain of gold, gems, the manifestation of broken dreams and the frozen tears of authors, dreaming of princesses. A tidal wave of water smacked him, rolling him over, then washed out of his cave, taking a significant tribute with it.


    The dragon roared in rage.


    Those puny mortals! How dare they interrupt him again, and steal his treasure!


    They.


    Would.


    Pay.


    Galdir ascended on the screams of a hundred million souls tossed into the inferno, from [Bee Queens] to [Juvenile Dragons]. He rushed his selection, choosing to become the God of Softly Glowing Lights.


    The new god ignored the thousands upon millions of things to do and reached out, snagging one soul, reeling it into his tender embrace.


    ¡°Grandpa! Is that you?¡±

 Chapter 571: Interlude - The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy I

    Chapter 571: Interlude - The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy I


    The pebbles were thrown fairly indiscriminately, only Tympestshard truly ¡®spared¡¯ from Galdir¡¯s rampage. A number of other ¡®nations¡¯ were also spared his casual mass-murder to divinity, mostly due to a lack of a major population center.


    Both the gnoll tribes of Dairalt and the yetis of Tuvan would bristle at being called a ¡®nation¡¯, each tribe fiercely independent and fighting with the rest of them. Their lack of unity and greater civilization was their salvation, as Galdir didn¡¯t find throwing a pebble at them worthwhile. The monks of the Bhutai Provinces were similarly spared direct attacks, but the shockwaves didn¡¯t play nicely with the structural engineering the giants required.


    Nime¡¯s Pyongyin was spared in two parts. The first was the presence of other, larger cities nearby proving to be more tempting targets, and the Endless Waterfall that splashed down into the heart of the tiny nation, making an easy shot difficult.


    They were quick to seize upon the moment, throwing a ¡®grand¡¯ military parade through the heart of the capital. A whole three dozen [Mages] were in attendance, and the spears and shields weren¡¯t quite ready, the [Soldiers] boldly saluting the [Glorious Leader] with sharpened sticks.


    As the troops marched past the mushroom-headed [Golden Grand Generals], each one showing their dedication to Spore upon their head, the [Glorious Leader] in question was giving a rousing speech.


    ¡°... this is clearly an Immortal plot to destabilize Nime! The foreign agents are working with Rolland to destroy and undermine our glorious and peacefully expanding nation! Our unity will remain unshaken! Our autarky is our strength! Even now, our armies are marching forth to fight the Imperial Forces, where we will exterminate them once and for all!¡±


    Hyeong Sung¡¯s heart swelled with pride at the words. He would do his job! For the Fatherland! He was a fresh [Spore Spreader], and had studied ants, of all things. There was this fascinating fungus that seemed to control ants and make them fight each other, and he¡¯d tried to mash a couple of skills together the System offered to make it work on elvenoids. His [Trainers] had assured him that it would work, without a doubt, and Hyeong Sung had no reason to doubt that they were the best and the brightest, and completely accurate in their assessment.


    He couldn¡¯t wait to cast [Gangshi Plague] for the first time.


    The order for the Poison Classers to dump thousands of gallons into the river made by the Endless Waterfall did cause a minor twinge of concern in his heart. His family lived in a little village by the river, and the Poison could do terrible things to them if they weren¡¯t careful.


    He banished the treacherous and execution-worthy thought from his head. Of course the Glorious Leader had thought of that! The evacuation orders must¡¯ve already been sent.


    Pele Manava drifted through her dreams as she drifted through the great tunnels of Pallos. She had started life as a mermaid, many, many, many centuries ago, but had been fascinated with Lava, watching with wondrous eyes as it shot up from underwater volcanoes, how islands formed from the rock. Her fascination and inability to stay away from volcanic eruptions had led to rapid levels and [Lava Spirit], culminating with her spending her life as Lava, before merging with the great veins that ran through Pallos. She sloshed back and forth, letting parts of her body erupt out, continuing to build life.


    She was the majority of hot, active magma in a sizable fraction of the world, spanning hundreds of kilometers of stretched-out spirit. Her mind mostly drifted, her thoughts no longer resembling an elvenoid¡¯s at all.


    She barely remembered the little mermaid who¡¯d burned her hands grabbing still-hot rocks in the water, or who¡¯d scalded herself almost a hundred times before developing a skill to resist it.


    The thoughts and memories weren¡¯t entirely gone, and when she felt all life simply die in part of the ocean, she pulled herself together.


    Both mentally, and physically.


    A demon of Lava ripped itself out of the ground, towering up to the clouds as steam erupted from around her shins.


    Immortal Wars moved quickly. A Classer with the right stats and skills could eradicate a city without proper protections in less than a minute, and mobility skills let them travel all over the world.


    A desperate struggle.


    An escape to the Mirror Realm.


    A skill allowing for the attacker to pursue.


    A quick escape through a dusty exit into an ancient treasury.


    A flash of a sword, a falling drop of blood into a cup.


    A flipped table, and the Everflowing Chalice was tipped over.


    An ocean of blood.


    Nimbus the kirin had the good life. None of this endless grasping for power, no large hoards, no dealing with all the nonsense that was the rest of the world. He had his solitude, and he liked it. Life was uncomplicated, and all the frantic rushing around, chasing a ¡®better life¡¯ seemed like far more effort than it was worth.


    Peace, quiet, and a few clouds moving across blue sky. What more could a kirin want?


    Over the years, a small little village had cropped up in the little valley near one of the mountains Nimbus called home, and the two had developed a mutual understanding - at least from Nimbus¡¯s point of view. He was fond of the little dullahans, who left him offerings, and the kirin made sure monsters and other threats didn¡¯t bother the villagers, who in turn properly respected his desire for solitude.


    Over the centuries, he¡¯d grown fond of the little village, and was vaguely aware that they considered him a good-luck icon of sorts. His image was carved into wood, and Nimbus made sure he flew overhead at least once a decade or so - they all got so excited when that happened!


    One day, the village was a flaming wreck, only a single melted body recognizable.


    Nimbus didn¡¯t rage. Didn¡¯t go on an obliterating rampage. Didn¡¯t swear vengeance and try to track down those responsible.


    Nimbus simply wept, and the skies opened up with him, dropping heavy black raindrops for miles.


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    The [Black Tear Rain].


    Sir Pendragon was another who¡¯d quietly retired off to a farm, an Immortal protector of Rolland. He swore that he would return in Rolland¡¯s hour of need, and given the mushroom clouds over Lyon, he figured that was today.


    ¡°Kestrel, dear chap, I suppose we must be on our way.¡± Sir Pendragon stretched, popping a half-dozen joints.


    Kestrel snorted a pair of smoke rings, his star-studded blue robes screaming[Wizard]. Which he was. His preferred flavor of Immortality was living backwards, getting younger every day until he paused the skill, at which point he¡¯d start getting older again.


    ¡°Yes, yes, one moment...¡± His eyes drifted south, and he started to take huge wheezing breaths, coughing on his pipe.


    ¡°Blasted thing!¡± He swore, shaking it out and half-tripping over a bucket. ¡°Balderdash!¡±


    He huffed, he puffed, and then took a deep breath in, the whole world seeming to inhale with him.


    Then he blew south, towards the border, towards Nime, and the trees blew with him, sending a mighty gale down that way. Kestrel snorted a massive amount of phlegm, then spat.


    ¡°Ah! There we go! Right, where were we, oh yes...¡±


    Nime¡¯s Classers had pumped endless hazes of Miasma, aerosolized Poisons, and clouds of Spores towards Rolland, intent on finally eradicating their hated rival.


    Kestrel¡¯s gale blew it all right back on them, the army screaming and clutching at their throats, frothing at the mouth as their own weapons were turned back on them.


    Hyeong Sung died quickly, with a shocked look on his face.


    His carefully designed spores did not die with him, and while they were conjured, the spores they generated were not. Designed to spread quickly and control bodies, Hyeong Sung was the first gangshi to ¡®rise¡¯ from the dead, the spores puppeting his body in an attempt to find more to spread to.


    Queen shuffled her cards in her hands, a perfect poker face hiding both her worry, and the dark glee that threatened to cross it.


    She was one of the very, very few people that knew exactly how the Guardians operated. She spread the story far and wide of how Manadhion, The Nightmare, had given her a talking-to about her cards, and how they were getting a little too powerful. A nice deterrent, an excellent story that raised the mythos of the Sentinels, and the best smoke and mirrors for what happened next.


    Namely, Night and Arachne reading her into exactly how Guardians operated and detected problems.


    A single too-powerful card was a problem.


    Two dozen cards, just under the threshold to summon a Guardian on a lazy day and physically stacked on top of each other? The ¡®ripples¡¯ they created overlapped with each other, and unlike true waves, didn¡¯t amplify each other. If the cards were too far apart physically, the game would be up, and Queen had been careful.


    One card to destroy a city? No good.


    Twelve cards, each one capable of destroying a quarter of a city? It went unnoticed... and was more than enough to wipe out a city.


    Queen flicked through them again, trying to decide which combination she¡¯d use against the army arrayed against her, her [Legate] at her back, her old [Seneschal] at a familiar place to her right, all while a second thought process plotted and thought.


    Nearly everyone had given her grief over using the royal We. Except Queen was once again finding herself in a position where she¡¯d be ruling over a stretch of land and people as a monarch, and why bother yo-yoing habits when it was easier to just keep them? The wheel would turn as usual, but Queen was betting that she could push deeper into the woods this time, perhaps use the rubble she was about to create as building supplies, and when Exterreri - or whatever they called themselves next time - came knocking around again, their territory would be expanded once again.


    Yes, yes that would do nicely, and Queen was looking forward to becoming a ruler once again. Queen of the Leaves? Queen of the Forest? Ah, the options were endless, and the pageantry involved spectacular.


    She flicked out a half-dozen cards towards the city, and a full sixteen towards the coming army of elves.


    Dinen panted as he sprinted towards Ithil, none of his footsteps even cracking a twig, his passage not disturbing a single leaf.


    I have to get there. I have to get there.


    He was going to be late. Being late was synonymous with being dead.


    Dinen burst out of the trees around Ithil, not even pausing as he saw the majestic spires glinting in the sunlight.


    I made it! He triumphantly yelled to himself, continuing to [Sprint].


    [*ding!* [Sprinting] leveled up! 30 -> 31]


    A desperate skill for a desperate hour, but the urgency and situation was feeding it levels. One foot in front of another, Dinen sprinted at top speed towards his city, leaping to land inside.


    Ithil phased out of existence right before he landed, the city and all its inhabitants electing to wait out the Immortal War in another plane of existence.


    Dinen cracked his horn as he landed badly, turning up to the sun and wailing at his poor fortune, screaming and crying and tearing at his clothes.


    ¡°Noooooooo!¡±

 Chapter 572: Interlude - The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy II

    Chapter 572: Interlude - The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy II


    Xocoh¡¯s arms trembled as she held them up, her knees weak as she¡¯d held the pose for days.


    ¡°Son of the sun. Son of the sun.¡± The kobold ardents chanted. Thousands chanted and marched around Xocoh¡¯s position at the top of the ziggurat, where a gigantic spell was being channeled. It was too bright to look at, a second sun to attract Itzel¡¯s attention and divine favor.


    ¡°Son of the sun. Son of the sun!¡± The chanting reached a fervent pitch, and Xocoh did her best to aim the massive skill.


    The kobolds of Tonaltzintli had gotten a bit of the short end of the stick in life. A mortal nation surrounded by Immortals, the deadly jungle environment and grand rituals were enough to keep the younger elves at bay, while the elders usually didn¡¯t care enough. But there were no easy trading partners, and the kobolds were isolated, the elves snubbing them at every turn.


    They weren¡¯t aware of the greater goings on in the world - simply that a group of elves had put one of their cities to the sword, tearing down one of the ziggurats sacred to Itzel, and the kobolds operated on an ¡®eye for an eye¡¯ principle - nevermind that the elven eyes were far larger than theirs.


    The skies split to fervent cheering from the kobolds. Some started speaking in tongues while others passed out in relief. Xocoh was simply happy that the end of the ritual was in sight. A divine hand reached down out of the heavens, picking up the [Second Sun] and lifting it into the skies.


    Then in a mix of divine and System energies, Radiance mixing with the very sun itself, the ball turned into a beam of light, breaching the shields and protections of a city and burning it to the ground in a great conflagration.


    ===================================


    Depths flinched back as a sword came for her face, a wall of water appearing in front of her thanks to [Water Echo]. It fouled the swing enough that she was able to continue dodging, the knee-high water not slowing her down at all. The slash ended up nicking her cheek, simply another line added to her face.


    ¡°Warning. Disaster. Seek shelter. Warning. Disaster. Seek shelter.¡± A Sound Classer¡¯s alerts were chiming all over, a hilariously unnecessary alert. [Persistent Casting] had to be involved, and the source was likely unconscious.


    The sheer amount of water was hint enough that there was a problem.


    Depths flicked a finger out, another echo of water appearing behind it and shooting out like a crescent blade, slicing through an arm. Depths couldn¡¯t follow up, three spears seeking her back. She dove forward into the water, another [Water Echo] splashing down and adding to the huge amounts of water available to her. Once she was in water, she was too slippery, impossible to catch, and Depths popped up three blocks down. The Sentinel crossed her arms and ¡®slashed¡¯ out again, Water forming in an X as it blasted down the street, turning her latest pursuers into mincemeat.


    If they had taken Depths seriously when she first arrived, they might¡¯ve had a chance. She doubled over as a rock tore through her stomach, diving back into the steadily rising water to try and find the [Mage] responsible, leaving a bloody trail behind her.


    One that only a shark could¡¯ve picked up, given that all the water was already colored with blood.


    Veltrax had spent his mortal lifespan building a large bullhorn. From mining the copper and tin in the mountains, to building his own little smithy to melt them down, the parasaurus-type saurian had spent his life on the project.


    It wasn¡¯t ready when the horizon lit up with explosions. It wasn¡¯t ready when the sun flickered through a thousand colors, and a huge black dragon ripped herself from the mountains and took off. It wasn¡¯t ready when the earth shook and heaved.


    It was ready enough though, and Veltrax put his mouth on the horn and blew, a crystal note entwined with a thousand curses, amplified and cast over the plains of the Silver Horde.


    Shame it didn¡¯t reach further. He had wondered if he could make it echo around the world.


    ¡°What was the point of the flat society!?¡± Vorstenhel, demon of wrath, raged at the assembled demons. ¡°What was the point in staying low, staying out of the way? We were promised that nobody would interfere! That! Was! A! LIE. All it¡¯s done is fractured us! Made us weak! Made us prey! We are demons! We only bend the knee to one - the strongest. Crown me king, and I will throw out the invaders!¡±


    Vorstenhel¡¯s speech was only half of it - the other half was his level and his living armor.


    The System made all things possible, and ancient [Demon Kings] of old had committed vast atrocities. One in particular was a legacy that empowered whoever found it, whoever could pick it up.


    A set of living equipment.


    [Mantle Spirit] was a prerequisite, and millions of mortal lives were spent in pursuit of the few who could obtain it. Following that, the mortal in question picking up a skill to turn themselves into a sword, or shield, or helmet, or gloves, or any other piece of armor, then engaging the skill. Extra care was taken to have those who wouldn¡¯t retain awareness once they were transformed, effectively making gear that could level up, that had their own skills.


    The only true weakness was the inability to class up.


    One by one the demons knelt, each one proclaiming their allegiance.


    ¡°My [King].¡±


    Amber¡¯s coin spun high up into the air, catching the fiery light on the horizon. In a smooth motion, Amber reached out to grab it, like she had a million times before.


    The earth shook right as she was grabbing the coin, her bad leg throwing her off balance and forcing her to stumble to the ground. The coin bounced as it hit the dirt, and landed on a tree root.


    ¡°No!¡± Amber yelled as the coin merrily rolled away over the root, taking an impossible highway. Amber scrambled in the dirt as she tried to get up and run after her errant coin, her lucky guide in life.


    It vanished into the deep woods faster than she could go, and Amber briefly despaired.


    Her coin!


    She calmed down and reached for her braid, a thousand and twenty four gems woven into it. She had eight different gems simply for retrieving her coin in case of a problem, but then she paused, narrowing her eyes.


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    Amber Coin Rule #4: If the coin does something unusual, pay attention.


    Should the result be favorable, [Diggers] would suddenly find collapsed entrances were thinner than they thought, and the bunker would miraculously be next to another one with huge stores of food.


    Should the result be unfavorable, earthquakes collapsed the supports, before a swarm of Pekari descended upon them, slipping in artifacts and books, turning the place into a proper ruin to be discovered later on.


    1.


    There came a time in every vampire¡¯s life where they realized they¡¯d been utterly screwed. Where they realized their accumulated levels and accomplishments would¡¯ve been enough to reach divinity, should they have been any other race.


    1.


    Calamity had passed that point with serene acceptance. He wasn¡¯t there yet, but his leveling rate outstripped nearly everyone else¡¯s. He wasn¡¯t a god yet, but as class quality improved with time, so too did the type of godhood available.


    2.


    However, he was shackled. Restrained from doing what he did best.


    3.


    Immortal populations came in two varieties. Those that struggled to increase their numbers, like trolls, vampires, and arguably giants. And those that could rapidly increase their numbers without limit, such as elves, devils, and occasionally demons, depending on how their society shook out.


    5.


    The cold mathematics were simple. The smaller the starting population, the longer it took for people to recover.


    8.


    Fewer elves surviving the Immortal War would give the humans and vampires of Exterreri more breathing room. The fewer elves there were at the start, the longer it would be before they were all stacked on top of each other like sardines, the greater the period of peace before everything fell apart again.


    13.


    One way or another, Sentinel Calamity was going to secure Exterreri¡¯s future.


    21.


    Whatever the price.


    34.


    55.


    89.


    144.


    Raiju, God of Lightning, was a passionate lover, had a temper, and was not a fan of the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft.


    He was the favored target of cultivator¡¯s taunts, his divine Lightning smites the favored method of tribulation. When he learned not to fall for their taunts, the cultivators sought out his mortal lovers and demigod children, and raised altars to slaughter them on, making sure his wrath was incurred.


    One and all, those died, and he took cruel joy in smiting the entire sects responsible. Yet, he couldn¡¯t let it happen again, and so was forced to respond to every two-bit cultivator hurling threats and insults his way.


    He bore varying degrees of enmity towards dozens of sects - honestly, just about every single one - but the School also made it onto his list.


    Hundreds upon thousands of layered wards made any retribution he attempted upon a cultivator in their hallowed halls futile, and in spite of poorly-enforced rules to the contrary, they continued to test him.


    It was practically a fool¡¯s errand, as borrowing another as a shield from a god¡¯s divine judgment was a sure way to prevent any class quality from accruing, but it didn¡¯t stop the foolish ones.


    Many of the sects Raiju hated destroyed each other in the grand cataclysm, and he took careful watch over them. When a sect just barely managed to fight off an assault, their [Patriarch] wobbling alone in a sea of bodies, Raiju struck in their moment of weakness. A bolt of divine Lightning thicker than a body descended from the heavens, smiting the last remnants of the sect and erasing them forevermore.


    Then Raiju¡¯s eyes turned towards the School and the flying island it was on, noting how it was about to fly through a pair of clashing dragons.


    The shields would buckle and break, but the School itself should survive.


    Should no additional fingers be put on the scale.


    Civilization collapsed.

 Chapter 573: Things Fall Apart

    Chapter 573: Things Fall Apart


    I took being bowled over by an explosion with good grace. It all seemed to happen so slowly. I tucked and rolled, turning the harsh push into a somersault, and bounded back to my feet right as everything was disintegrating around me, turning into a hundred thousand splinters that were about to go through the command staff and all the [Scribes].


    They¡¯d be fine. Liberal amounts of mental trauma, but none of us were getting out of here without needing significant sessions with the [Mind Healers]. I had to protect what was actuallyimportant.


    I threw up dozens of [Event Horizons] between the former walls and the stacks upon stacks of delicate paperwork. I put my hand on top of a nearby set of papers, rapidly storing them in my [Library].


    [*ding!* [Event Horizon] leveled up! 842 -> 843]


    There was a reason I was working on paper instead of people for a brief moment. I vaguely needed the explosion to settle before I took wing, otherwise I¡¯d leave, everyone here would get shredded, and I¡¯d be in exactly the same position of needing to heal everyone, without the reassurance that a lot of people were currently close to me.


    If nothing else, keeping Katerina alive would make the further organization and cleanup efforts that much more efficient, net saving more lives. It still sucked deciding who lived and who I was alright with dying, but I was the [Arbiter], and the math was clear.


    Katerina¡¯s life and presence would save dozens to thousands more lives in the coming hours, as there was structure and order. Someone people could easily look up to, who could give orders and they¡¯d be obeyed.


    Iona and Fenrir being in my healing radius didn¡¯t hurt things either. From what little I¡¯d seen so far, they should be fine, but for all I knew this was the side-effect of a greater attack. They should still be inside my radius, and the moment this settled down a hair I¡¯d be off like a shot, rapidly circling the city again and again. My mind filtered through dozens of injuries and problems before I settled on the worst ¡®recurring¡¯ injury that I couldn¡¯t quite heal through.


    Rather, I could, but it wouldn¡¯t help.


    Crush injuries. Specifically, someone half-trapped under a pile of rubble. I could heal them, and possibly lift everything on top of them, but the moment they left my radius it would come crashing back down on them.


    [Luminary Mind] paused at that analysis, reexamining it. Fucking Ciriel, that was bad.


    My healing would try to lift several tons of building material as it restored bodies, and that was a huge drain on my mana. One or two people, sure, it was fine, but hundreds, thousands? All requiring constant exertion? My healing was stupid, but I was still in ¡®barely lift a spaceship¡¯ tier, not ¡®lift an entire city with magic¡¯ tier.


    I rapidly went through a dozen different ways to handle the problem and evaluated each one as the roof of the villa we were in slowly peeled off under the impact of the explosion, stoically watching as splinters started to pierce eyeballs and fingernails before being rejected by my absolute healing.


    Not healing crush injuries at all was an option, but a poor one. What I really wanted was to ¡®layer¡¯ the healing, such that every other type of injury was handled first, and timbers and bricks crushing people were handled second. My skill didn¡¯t distinguish between ¡®was injured, original problem no longer there¡¯ and ¡®original external problems is continuing to crush¡¯, it looked purely at current body integrity.


    Speaking of beams - I stepped forward, letting dozens of splinters break against my armor, reaching out and catching a pillar that was trying to topple over. Far easier to stop it when it was still practically vertical, than catching it when it was halfway down in full swing. The roof finished peeling off, and the roaring mushroom cloud in the sky caught my eye.


    How could it not? It was the only thing visible. Swirling specks of Ash caught my eye, the cloud protecting Massa from the sun utterly dismissed and blown away.


    Ah, I figured it out! I was going to lean on my massive regeneration. I quickly rearranged my healing to fix everything except crushed body parts and the thousand little details that derived from those, and created a complex image to only heal crush - wait, that was stupid, I could just use my ¡®heal everything¡¯ image - then tasked a portion of [Luminary Mind] to ¡®flicker¡¯ it on for a moment every three minutes or so. Suboptimal, and it was entirely possible that most of my mana would go towards lifting a building instead of fixing existing injuries, but I also had my own goddamn common sense, and the ability to see and evaluate situations on a case by case basis, throwing out targeted heals to anyone who¡¯d escaped being crushed and still needed help.


    Also... anyone that badly crushed was unlikely to survive super long. In the grand scheme of things, I was targeting an extremely specific scenario. How many people only had a building drop on half of them, not their entire body? How many people had some crucial organs crushed, necessitating a rapid timeline, but not so many that they¡¯d rapidly die?


    It was important to be thorough in my line of work, but realistic.


    All the thoughts flashed through my mind in an instant, and I was able to watch the shockwave finish traversing the villa, able to marvel at how far I¡¯d come.


    I didn¡¯t wait for the building to stop shaking, merely for the bulk of the harm to be negated.


    ¡°Take.¡± I ordered a shocked and shaking assistant, dumping the papers I¡¯d secured back into his hands. Then I unfurled my six wings and blasted off at top speed, anti-friction runes glowing so I didn¡¯t fuck everything back up again.


    My mana was noticeably dropping even before I was moving, but I elected to fly around anyway. People here were still getting injured, but I¡¯d already fixed the impact of the first few moments of the explosion. They would continue to get hurt, but so was everyone else. They were more injured, in all likelihood.


    The sky shook and darkened, the growing mushroom cloud ¡®fading out¡¯, like it was behind thick cloth. A million softly glowing lights lit up the sky. A voice echoed and boomed, impossibly loud yet whispered into my ear, spoke in a language I didn¡¯t know but intimately understood.


    ¡°Galdir, God of Softly Glowing Lights.¡± The voice said, then was replaced by another one.


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    At the same time, if Ciriel was that busy, what was happening here in Massa wasn¡¯t an isolated event. My worst fears had come true.


    The Immortal war had started.


    I continued to circle endlessly until Auri came up.


    ¡°Scouts report a similar explosion over Belum and Ephesus. Vesontio is a ghost town, there¡¯s nobody living there anymore, not even animals. Food¡¯s still on the table, clothes are still in closets, and beloved toys are still in cradles. The effects in Belum and Ephesus seem to be a little more devastating than what happened here, thank you Sentinel Dawn.¡±


    I nodded my acknowledgement at Katerina¡¯s words, already plotting how to hit Belum and Ephesus. There had to be survivors, and the medical care I could provide should lift a huge amount of the burden. Every injured person couldn¡¯t help and took out a second person with them who had to look after them. Every person I healed was worth more people trying to fix things.


    I was quite pleased with the casualty report for Massa. I hadn¡¯t been able to save everyone - the city was too sprawling for that - but given the relative population percentages, I¡¯d easily saved tens of thousands of lives.


    ¡°I¡¯ve sent a [Runner] to Sanguino, but they haven¡¯t had time to get there yet. The granary and food supply count is still ongoing, the [Scribes] estimate it¡¯ll take three days to have an answer. The big question, the crux of the meeting, is this. What do we do now?¡±


    The meeting was more like a council, where Katerina, the [Tribunes], the [Governor], various [Guild Leaders], Classers, the [High Priestess], vampires, and other important people were gathered. I naturally pulled Iona into the meeting, annnnd yeah, I had regrets.


    Katerina knew what she was doing with her open-ended question, she just had to know a huge argument would ensue, with everyone trying to talk over everyone else, but for the life of me I couldn¡¯t work out what it was. My big book of rules and how to act in polite society didn¡¯t include this level of politicking, and Iona looked pained.


    I shamelessly stole a quill and a sheet of paper from one of the [Guildmasters] - he wasn¡¯t representing the Healer¡¯s Guild and would survive a famine no problem - and wrote a quick note to Katerina.


    Am I needed here? I¡¯d rather start my healing-rescue op to Belum and Ephesus now.


    I¡¯d almost phrased it as a request, then remembered that I wasn¡¯t going to be asking permission in the first place - just wanting to move as soon as possible. Iona read it over my shoulder before I [Teleported] it to Katerina.


    Katerina wrote a single word.


    Go.


    I made the tiniest concession to Katerina and not causing a panic by having the Sentinel sprint out of the room, and instead tapped Iona on the shoulder before [Teleporting] out. She joined me a moment later.


    ¡°What was that?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°I honestly don¡¯t know.¡± The massive Valkyrie shrugged her shoulders as we hustled out at a brisk walk, everyone pressing themselves to the walls to get out of our way. ¡°I know she probably wanted your presence for a bit longer to weigh in on whatever she¡¯s planning, and getting everyone up to date all at once on the information stops the whisper game neatly. Are you going to class up?¡± She asked.


    The thought hadn¡¯t crossed my mind yet, and I frowned.


    ¡°Not until we¡¯ve got time. I¡¯ve had class ups be funky before with how long I¡¯ve been down, and we just don¡¯t know enough about anything right now for me to be out of the picture. Next thing I know we¡¯ll be told there¡¯s an emergency in Sanguino, and I¡¯ll need to fly out there. Hard to do while I¡¯m down.¡±


    ¡°Sure, but you can¡¯t hold off forever, bad situation or not.¡± Iona said. ¡°This is a quiet moment, and we don¡¯t know when we¡¯ll get one again.¡±


    I shook my head in denial.


    ¡°It¡¯s not quiet, there¡¯s two cities that actively need my help, and there¡¯s no telling what¡¯s going on in the thousand little villages and estates. It is a good call though, and keep reminding me.¡± I said.


    ¡°Will do. Also, Fenrir¡¯s got to eat. If we see something between here and there, we¡¯ll dive and catch up with you. If we¡¯re separated, three days in each city, then return back here to Massa. We¡¯ll just keep flying over the city until we meet again. Okay?¡±


    While [Telepathy] wasn¡¯t a skill, the decades together seemed to have us all on the same wavelength. Fenrir and Auri were both waiting for us outside, being given a clear berth by most people - except the Legion soldiers, who couldn¡¯t seem to get close enough, they knew Fenrir was a big softy on their side - and both of them nodded at Iona¡¯s plan.


    We hopped on board and took off.

 Chapter 574: The First Foray

    Chapter 574: The First Foray


    It boggled my mind how quickly I could move and how much I could do at times. I¡¯d just done a full, countrywide tour of Exterreri, and the fact that I could just casually fly over to a city and say ¡®alright, everyone here¡¯s in the perfect picture of health¡¯ then move on was just... wow.


    It was sobering, in a way. However fast I was, however much good I could bestow, there were hundreds of thousands of people out there who were faster than I was, and more destructive.


    The height we were at let us see what was going on for dozens of miles in every direction. Even with that, we heard the titans before we saw them. A great clashing roar had all of our heads turning to the west as two titans crested the horizon.


    They weren¡¯t true titans. One was a giant of metal and cogs, wood and glass. My eagle-sharp eyes picked out dozens of dwarves scurrying around, fixing and repairing things as the mecha battled the other entity.


    ¡°What are they fighting?¡± I asked Iona, relying on her ability to shamelessly cheat everything with her divine blessing. She squinted, a puzzled furrow on her brow.


    ¡°I... have no idea.¡± She confessed. ¡°I don¡¯t get anything back when I try to peer into its System.¡±


    I looked again and whistled. The entity was an elvenoid-shaped person glowing with pale blue energy all over. The dwarven coalition was easily driving the entity back, every step bowling over trees and carving through farms like they weren¡¯t there. Fires emerged everywhere the glowing energy person stepped, and the dwarves didn¡¯t care, continuing to fire upon him.


    I mentally flicked through the eight cards Queen had given me, wondering if they could even help. Against the dwarven construct, I could possibly gum up their works, but it was such an obvious angle of attack they had to have a solution for it.


    ¡°I mean, I¡¯d be more impressed if it was a person, but you¡¯re telling me that¡¯s a manifested skill they¡¯re fighting instead?¡± I raised an eyebrow, lips puckering as a punch back punched through the shoulder of the mecha, a pair of dwarves lighting on fire and a third dying outright to the strike.


    Fuuuuck me I didn¡¯t want to get in the middle of the fight, but now I had to, nevermind the potential tens of thousands of casualties in Ephesus. I sagged with relief as the injured dwarves healed up - clearly, they¡¯d brought along medics. Only sensible. Thank the first mango, I didn¡¯t need to leave.


    The entire sky changed color, the two titans fighting heedless of the changes. Iona nocked an arrow on her bow as I stood up and stepped back, limbering up for a fight.


    There was no fight.


    The sun had turned into several thousand rainbow colors, the world¡¯s largest disco ball in existence.


    ¡°Selene¡¯s tits.¡± Iona swore, and I practically lost my eyebrows at the profanity.


    ¡°Not a curse, not a curse, not a curse.¡± I fervently prayed, remembering the Sunless Death. [Arbiter of Life and Death] had weak to moderate curse breaking, and if someone was going full-scale ¡®curse the entire world¡¯, the curse would start at stupidly strong and go up from there.


    Nothing obvious was happening. I wasn¡¯t growing extra arms, hearing whispers at the edge of my hearing, suddenly overcome with the desire to drink blood, or turning into stone, but curses could be subtle.


    ¡°Auri, what¡¯s the first thing you ever burned?¡± I asked the bird.


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± She promptly answered. Not a memory related curse.


    Iona lifted an eyebrow, scanning around, then asked a question herself.


    ¡°What¡¯s six times eight?¡± She asked me.


    ¡°Forty eight.¡± From the looks on Iona¡¯s face, we weren¡¯t dealing with a math-related curse, logic-related, or far more likely - we weren¡¯t being mentally befuddled with drugs or other hallucinogens.


    Fenrir made an Ice hand in front of Iona, who smacked it with her own hand, giving the wyvern a high-five. Not a dexterity curse, nor was it preventing us from conjuring elements.


    Like this we continued to test each other for various signs that something was off, everyone coming in clear.


    Except for a minor scare where Auri said she liked water, but then she clarified it was good for baking - water itself was still a terrible substance.


    About twenty minutes later the sun returned to normal, and a far-off skill created a thrown pillar of dirt literally sky-high. We watched it fall with wary eyes.


    ¡°Someone¡¯s going to have a bad day.¡± I commented.


    Iona snorted.


    ¡°Everyone¡¯s having a bad day.¡± She replied.


    Ephesus was in sight a moment later, and we split up, getting started with our respective way of helping. For me, it was more of the same.


    Iona got smacked with her personal version of a [Vow]-trap in Ephesus, finding enough problems that her [Vow]dictated that she help, now. Massa hadn¡¯t been in such bad shape that she¡¯d needed to stay, but Ephesus was a different story. We split up in spite of our reservations, agreeing to meet in Massa as soon as possible. Auri came with me to Belum, horrors and wonders the entire way over.


    I blinked and missed an avatar of living Lightning crossing by, the only remnants of their trail a thousand Lightning bolts crackling in their path, mere sparks to the tempest that had flown through. The land heaved and flipped like a pancake at one point, fertile farmland plowed twenty feet under as rocks were revealed and a million critters and bugs scurried to find new shelter. The sky split on the horizon, only for a gigantic hand to manifest itself and swat down, then resealed the breach.


    Belum was as easy as Ephesus, and I knew I was neatly stacking up levels. I was sorely tempted to class up - I planned on grabbing [The Elaine] as quickly as possible and returning to the real world, but every hour, every minute counted here.


    Classers streaked by in the haze and dust-filled sky the entire time, the nights filled with vampires, and the days predominately elves - given where we lived, it made sense - mixed with the occasional devil or demon, and a single giant strode past on a mission. It didn¡¯t take a genius to know he came from Modu, not between his frozen crown and thick Ice armor.


    He didn¡¯t bother us, and we weren''t looking for trouble.


    A day later we were arriving in Massa once again. Iona and Fenrir were waiting for us, the mighty wyvern in gleaming armor perched on the wall like a gigantic gargoyle. Iona was out of sight, so I scanned the city, looking for the biggest devastation. Annnd yup, there she was, right in the middle of it.


    Massa was in an interesting state. Half of it was rubble, the other half was upright. The position of various buildings shielded others, and I could see which buildings had powerful reinforcement skills active the moment of the blast, and which ones hadn¡¯t. Many hands made light work, and makeshift buildings were already being erected. The entire city was covered in soot and cinders, the pervasive haze blocking out quite a lot of light as burnt ashes slowly rained down over the city. Good for the vampires. They were a tiny fraction of the city¡¯s population, but Classers all, and each one was doing what they could, having a visible impact. My favorite was the Water-element Classer who had streams of water being pulled from wells around him that werewas then being deposited into various jugs and buckets. A one-man fountain.


    Three-quarters of me screamed that the haze was some deadly skill, the other quarter said ¡®this was what happened when so much stuff went up in flames¡¯.


    It smelled like hopes and dreams.


    Not to paint too rosy a picture - it was bad, but the large surviving population helped significantly. My heart sank at the sheer number of stacked bodies waiting for cremation, but I reminded myself it would¡¯ve been far worse if I hadn¡¯t been there.


    I had seen the piles from Ephesus and Belum that let me know exactly how much worse it would¡¯ve been if I hadn¡¯t been here. It was sobering how much of an impact one woman could make.


    The play on their pride was a lethal shot, it would be nearly impossible to let it go. I kinda understood why the ancient Wardens tried to keep their curse a secret.


    I was no expert, but the Decay skill looked like a city-killer to me. Everything reinforced would be fine, but cities weren¡¯t entirely reinforced. Simply eliminating a few percentages of the material in a city would be enough to bring it to its knees, nevermind a third of an already-wrecked city. Some of the elves were starting to notice me and Auri, more and more eyes drifting our way and a few subtle nudges. Invincible got his fair share of looks as well, but more in a ¡®mysterious cloaked stranger¡¯ way.


    ¡°We do insist that you cease your skill while we determine the winner.¡± Katerina said.


    There was no way they were going to do that. Why would they?


    ¡°It only behooves the mighty elves to show us lesser mortals the proper way of generosity and mercy.¡±


    Oh, there we go.


    Katerina didn¡¯t seem to be quite as smooth as she thought as the elves bickered with one another, before Decay Asshole spoke up again.


    ¡°The city is lost, you will become our slaves or perish. We see no reason to pull back from the inevitable.¡± He said.


    Katerina caught my eye, and I nodded.


    ¡°Sixth Legion! To me!¡±


    It took twenty gut-wrenching, mushroom-growing minutes for the Sixth to fully assemble outside the gates, our eight champions selected to the elves eight.


    Well, seven elves and the octopus.


    The Legions believed in uniformity in equipment, from the lowest soldier all the way to the [Primus Pilus]. Each Legion could do their own thing, and Sentinels naturally had their own rules. Sandals and leather skirts, lamellar and helmets. Short swords and spears, pilums for throwing and protective gloves. Slings were standard-issue for everyone, ammunition being pebbles picked off the ground. For the price of a small stretch of leather with other uses, the rewards could be considerable. For the Sixth we only had small modifications. Tower shields were the name of the game for the heavy infantry Legion and our heavy use of alchemy meant everyone had a potion or three at their waist.


    The [Primus Pilus] had joined the Eventide Eclipse and Sentinel Invincible. Sentinel Invincible¡¯s team was purely to support him. Intelligence, shade, [Thinker], communications, logistics - his team was a classic ¡®support the Sentinel in all the ways they need help outside of combat¡¯ composition, and he was the only one stepping forward from his ¡®team¡¯.


    The last two members of our team were two of the Rangers, selected because they were the ¡®heavyweights¡¯ of the team. Far off, I could hear a few [Adventurers] arguing with some of the [Soldiers] that they should be included and considered, but they weren¡¯t even allowed to reach Katerina to present their case.


    The elves were almost all higher level than us, only Invincible having a shot at fighting them on equal footing. If it were nighttime, I¡¯d trust the troll to possibly be able to kill them all... but that sort of thinking was a bit naive. The elves had their own tricks up their sleeves. I had no idea what Katerina was thinking. There wasn¡¯t much going on in any of the channels besides bland orders, and it was embarrassing how long it took me to twig as to why. I¡¯d done the drills, but had never seen it ¡®live¡¯.


    Of course. We were horrifically outleveled, the odds of Reed¡¯s skills being outmatched and the elves listening in were extremely high. Whatever Katerina was cooking, she couldn¡¯t say out loud. I doubted the full extent of her plan was ¡®our mismatched group of reprobates can take on eight elves¡¯, not with the moves she was making. We might be able to, but it was silly to rely on a single method.


    At the same time, my healing and Auri were both complete bullshit, and there was a flicker of doubt as some of the elves started to suspect that Auri was a fully-fledged phoenix. The concern was beating down at their natural arrogance, a threat too large for their curse to ignore.


    ¡°Second elf on the left¡¯s got the best speedster skill I¡¯ve ever seen.¡± Iona quietly murmured to me as we limbered up. ¡°Octopus is half-warrior, half-spellblade. Fenrir, you should crush him in an Ice battle. Auri, watch his water attacks. The elf with the crown of thorns...¡± Iona¡¯s constant stream of dishing out everyone¡¯s skills had the elves looking sour and impatient - nobody liked their secrets being bandied around, and Invincible was grinning like a madman under his adamantium helmet. He hadn¡¯t been a huge fan of the big reveal that Iona could see stats and skills... until now, when it was working cleanly in his favor.


    ¡°Dawn. You¡¯re only healing the Sixth, correct?¡± Katerina asked.


    I double-checked my healing, ensuring that ¡®octopus¡¯ was indeed off the menu.


    ¡°Yes.¡± I had complete faith in whatever Katerina was cooking up. Auri was hopping from foot to foot, trying to stare down all the elves at the same time while also giving the octopus the phoenix equivalent of the bird. Fenrir was eyeing them all like they were lunch, which... they probably would be, assuming we didn¡¯t all die.


    If they didn¡¯t want to end up as wyvern-shit, they shouldn¡¯t have picked a fight.


    I think it was going over his head, but I appreciated the fighting spirit.


    ¡°Assemble the arena!¡± Katerina ordered, issuing a few other commands to help explain how, along with some specific placements. It looked like she wanted the weaker, lower-leveled lines closer to the elves, which had a few troops biting back remarks and a few elves smirking. The [Centurions] took up the order, and the elves helped a bit, mostly so their troops wouldn¡¯t be entirely surrounded by ours. In short order the Legion had constructed a barricade of flesh and steel, approximately 2000 men strong, shield and spears pointed inward. The elves had roughly a quarter of the circle to themselves, a distrustful gap creating a hole in the arena.


    The eight of us were doing the best to create our line, shields overlapping with spears, and Auri and I stood behind the six soldiers. The elves kept a casual distance from each other, occasionally flicking their wrist to spin a sword or stretching to keep loose. The octopus was putting on one hell of a show, all of his weapons already in a spinning blur.


    If it wasn¡¯t so serious, it would be a textbook example of [Soldiers] fighting versus [Warriors] fighting. Working as a unit versus working as individuals.


    My plan was to hit the octopus and the highest-leveled elf first with targeted Radiance beams to their vitals, then drop back to a defensive action while my mana regenerated and Auri worked her blazing magic. I had a secondary plan to possibly handle the speedster - if they were as fast as Iona claimed they could be, only Fenrir and I had the proper element to try and hit them.


    Tons of speed was great when I had the advantage. It was absolute bullshit when the other side was faster.


    ¡°We will count down from three. Upon reaching one, I will declare ¡®begin¡¯, at which point this farce of a duel will commence.¡± Decay Asshole said, not even deigning to be one of the fighters.


    ¡°Acceptable.¡± Katerina said. ¡°We are ready. For Exterreri!¡± She shouted, the cry taken up by the rest of the Sixth - and most of the civilians watching nervously from the walls.


    ¡°For Exterreri!¡± I roared as Auri brrrpted! along with us.


    Decay Asshole simply snorted.


    ¡°Three.¡±


    Our line dropped their spears, shuffling together to lock their shields together.


    ¡°Two.¡±


    The elves were still languidly stretching, some of them laughing at us.


    ¡°One.¡±


    ¡°Sixth Legion. Fire all potions.¡± Katerina ordered.

 Chapter 575: Interlude - Baradgwend - Vengeance

    Chapter 575: Interlude - Baradgwend - Vengeance


    Baradgwend seethed with barely-contained rage.


    How dare they.


    Ivyhold was dead, almost to the last man and woman. About half of the great tree homes had died, the only survivors being protected by powerful passive skills. Only a few elves had survived the vampire¡¯s attack, everyone else dropping dead in the streets, in their homes.


    There were only two survivors under level 1800.


    At least the Miasma had been quick, reaping lives faster than a farmer plucking fruits from a tree. The attack had come at night, and only quick reflexes and powerful skills had prevented everyone from dying.


    The body was unmistakably vampiric, and the marks of allegiance - the armor, the bat sigil, and a thousand other marks - were so unquestionably Exterreri that there¡¯d been brief discussion if they were being framed.


    Passion and anger had ruled the day, and the survivors of Ivyhold had rapidly gathered elves from nearby locations in the Golden Courts, and stormed over to Exterreri.


    The trail was impossible to miss. Dead bodies had been left to rot under diseased trees, the Sentinel not even bothering to bury or otherwise dignify those he¡¯d killed. Many elves had peeled off from the mission of vengeance, working on mercy instead.


    For some reason, the leader of the expedition had agreed to this utter farce of a duel, and Baradgwend ground her teeth as the countdown began. Her trump card would instantly end this battle, and the forfeit lives of the vermin could be used as a base to begin the long work of rebuilding Ivyhold.


    Exterreri had destroyed the city, Exterreri could rebuild it.


    Baradgwend was one of eight champions, each one nearly as strong as she was. Their contributions, however, would be unnecessary - she was more than enough to finish this, and would take great pleasure in killing them all.


    One of the younger elf [Thinkers] had been smart in the wake of the Ivyhold disaster, and managed to fetch the reports and knowledge the Golden Courts had on Exterreri. It had been trivial to read everything on the way over.


    The troll - Sentinel Immortal, and they said elves were arrogant - was both the hardest and easiest to kill. He was wreathed in cloaks, protecting himself from the sunlight, but Baradgwend knew from long experience that the current sunlight levels, deep haze or not, would be more than enough to kill him.


    His skills couldn¡¯t extend to the cloaks. It seemed a little too easy to Baradgwend against someone with the title of Immortal, but they weren¡¯t fighting at night, in the dark. It was daylight, however murky and concealed the sun.


    The healer in the back was probably Sentinel Dawn. She¡¯d obviously seized Immortality herself, and the reports noted no known curse observed. It went on to speculate that she had a vulnerability curse, a weakness to a particular substance, and one of the riders had peeled off to acquire Bane.


    Bane was an interesting alchemical substance. It essentially took 16,384 different substances and mixed them together, from water to gold dust, from a drop of orange juice to a fleck of granite, a drop of virgin¡¯s blood to a tiny hair cutting, then alchemical magic blended all of them together while managing to retain the metaphysical properties of all of them.


    Legends had it that White Dove had personally bestowed the formula upon a great elven [Alchemist] in aeons past, which Baradgwend only half-believed.


    No elf would need White Dove¡¯s assistance in brewing up such a potion.


    Her durability had been noted, but Baradgwend had yet to find someone who could survive their head being turned into a thousand pieces.


    The bird on her shoulder was, impossibly, a phoenix. The matched level suggested a bond, and Baradgwend was wary of the skills that could be shared. If, somehow, impossibly, the healer was able to borrow resurrection, this battle could become far harder, and would explain why a mere [Healer] had obtained the title of Sentinel. Still, Tromokrasis should be able to drown the ashes of the hummingbird phoenix repeatedly, a minor cleanup.


    The four humans weren¡¯t even worth considering. Each would be a flick of her wrist, perhaps removing their helmets first. Maybe she could get them to stab each other, that was always good for a laugh.


    And the wyvern? Ah, the wyvern would be a kill of legends.


    ¡°Sixth Legion. Fire all potions.¡±


    Base treachery. How unexpected from the little mortals, trying to gain any edge to fight the elves. It didn¡¯t matter how many edges they tried to work out, they would die. Baradgwend had more than enough time to roll her eyes as the order rippled through her ranks, activating her trump skill.


    [For a Single Moment in Time, I am The Gale]


    The world came to an effective stop around her.


    For a single second, Baradgwend could move faster than the wind, faster than a lightning bolt. It was ¡®only¡¯ a second, but given how nearly everyone else was frozen, and the strength of her skill? It was practically an eternity in which she could move around with utter impunity.


    The restrictions on the skill were horrific, but it didn¡¯t matter if everyone else was dead at the end. Baradgwend took a moment to survey the scene, nodding to herself.


    The soldiers were in various degrees of shock and obedience, the furthest [Legionaries] already putting their hand to their belt. It was passingly clever with how the soldiers had been arranged, the treachery clearly preplanned. The further ones would react faster and throw harder than the closer ones, and all of the alchemicals would land at the same time.


    Baradgwend might slash the potions, if she was feeling generous. The treachery meant all the soldiers had to die, and that was going to end up boring her to death. Maybe she¡¯d leave a few behind in the end, let some of the other elves get a few kills. Only when she tired of slaughtering the unmoving troops.


    The [Warrior of the Wind] unscrewed the Bane potion, carefully pouring it over her blade. It should last an hour, no matter how much blood it was washed in.


    [My Memory is My Life] lent her crystal-clear clarity and knowledge of the thousands of people she¡¯d met and known, dead by Exterreri¡¯s hand in the span of a night.


    Today was only the start of her bloody vengeance.


    Stabbed through the eye, cut through the neck, or stab in the heart. Eye, neck, heart. Eye, neck, heart. Baradgwend fell into a flow, methodically slaughtering the soldiers who¡¯d oh-so-helpfully lined up. More potions were slowly taking to the air as time passed, and it was clear everyone was moving. Shadows slowly contorted and rose up, each soldier cloned in pure darkness.


    That was a skill to possibly watch out for - Light and Dark were both faster than her, as the Radiance from the so-called [Healer] attested to. She wasn¡¯t the only one who could make the most of a single second, skills were flying with comedic slowness and the helmet she¡¯d let go of was a quarter of the way through its drop.


    She frowned a little at that, looking over one shoulder while mindlessly reaping the lives of the [Legionaries] in front of her. She should¡¯ve gotten her first notification by now. Perhaps everyone was moving a little faster than she thought.


    Baradgwend laughed at the Valkyrie¡¯s final strike. She must¡¯ve dawdled longer than she thought in front of the healer, for the dead woman was cleaving an axe towards the [Healer]. At the current trajectory, it would take off the remains of her partner¡¯s head.


    The troll was lumbering forwards, and Baradgwend flinched as a beam of Lightning thicker around than her waist arced from the wyvern¡¯s mouth, devastating the ranks of the elves.


    Huh. The first soldier was still moving. Baradgwend was sure she¡¯d gotten his brain stem, and the only thing he should be doing was collapsing to the ground. There had to be an active skill that was used right before she¡¯d killed him, and the body was being puppeteered through the motions. That was a piss-poor skill. It was always better to have a guiding intelligence behind the movements. Something to keep an eye on, but there shouldn¡¯t be any risk where she was. The Exterreri forces wouldn¡¯t want to smack their own troops.


    The arrows unleashed in a devastating wave from the elves would take time to reach where she was, and it would be simple enough to step around them.


    Baradgwend frowned as she finished the bloody circle. At least half a second had to have passed by, and there wasn¡¯t a single notification yet. Everyone was still up and moving, although there was some unfortunate friendly fire going on with the Exterreri forces. The [Warrior] built like a brick shithouse had chopped through the healer¡¯s neck, and was now in the process of ripping out her mauled heart.


    Mortals.


    None of them had fallen yet, and there wasn¡¯t a single notification. Notifications didn¡¯t take this long to come, and Baradgwend hopped over to the first warrior she¡¯d struck, pausing and peering closely.


    There was still a bloody line on his neck, but a quick lick of her thumb and a cleaning revealed perfect, unblemished skin underneath. The same was true of the second warrior - in the picture of perfect health. Baradgwend stabbed both of them again with great enthusiasm, then dashed over to the weakest soldiers she¡¯d started with.


    They were alright.


    How!? The seasoned elites, maybe, but the rank and file!? She double-checked what [Assess] was telling her, seeing [Warrior - 175] returned. Baradgwend sliced him again, head to groin, splitting him apart and watching what happened closely.


    It took eight of her heartbeats in the dramatically sped-up world before his flesh writhed and stitched itself back together. Disbelieving, Baradgwend sliced him up again, dicing him into ten thousand tiny pieces. Surely he couldn¡¯t come back from that.


    The sky lit up as the thousands of thrown potions exploded in a cascade, some Lightning skill igniting the potions. Baradgwend ran through the line, her sword like an extension of her arm, flicking up and down to cut throats as quickly as possible.


    This wasn¡¯t possible. This wasn¡¯t possible.


    The phoenix exploded from the blood in glorious rainbow flames, a dozen burning meteors conjured around her, launched towards the elves. The troll was charging forwards, already halfway through. Baradgwend cut and cut and cut and cut, yet the notifications weren¡¯t coming. Bodies weren¡¯t falling. She looked around wildly, trying to find the source of the problem, and sucked in a cold breath.


    Bane, slicing her head into pieces and stabbing her in the heart hadn¡¯t slowed the [Healer] down at all. Her head was back, whole and hale, and she looked none the worse for wear.


    It wasn¡¯t a vulnerability curse then, and somehow she could survive her head being effectively disintegrated. Baradgwend rushed over to the command structure, and cut down all the officers one at a time, striking down the standard and throwing the [Legata¡¯s] head to the ground.


    All in the memory of Lastril and Maidhel, who loved nothing more than to see a budding tree¡¯s leaf unfurl in the crisp spring. The three of them would rush out as winter¡¯s icy grasp started to fade, searching the endless forests with golden beams of light piercing the canopy. Waiting for the first delicate leaf to naturally bloom.


    Baradgwend had been the one to find their bodies. Found them holding hands, even as they died. She kept their memory as she hacked down the command structure, jumping back to watch.


    She cursed as a whole body regrew from the Legata¡¯s head, bark-capped boots stomping on her skull furiously to try and break her, kill her, do something.


    Nothing was working. The elf screamed in rage and frustration.


    Why wouldn¡¯t they just die!?


    Baradgwend tried to run several soldiers through with a spear, keeping it in their body to make sure they died. The first attempt failed, the spear dissolving in her hands. The second time she kept ahold of the spear as she rammed it through some random [Scribe¡¯s] head, holding it there for a long eternity. Whatever was going on, ten feet of wood through a brain, reinforced by skills, should be enough to get a kill.


    Her lips curled back in a snarl as the stolen weapon worked, refusing to dissolve or break. Baradgwend felt like an eternity was passing as she stood there, spear in head, simply waiting for the kill notification. It had to come eventually. The battle slowly raged around her, people making their first opening moves.


    Baradgwend was turned the wrong way, her skill already used, and didn¡¯t see the beam of golden Radiance that burned through her skull.


    It didn¡¯t instantly kill her, but there wasn¡¯t enough brain left to create a coherent thought before Black Crow fluttered to her right shoulder.

 Chapter 576: The Elaine

    Chapter 576: The Elaine


    That had been close. Iona hadn¡¯t been kidding when she said the speedster had a good skill - I hadn¡¯t been able to track how fast they were moving or where they were for most of the fight. She¡¯d even dodged a Radiance beam, which was absurd.


    Her sword had been coated with apple juice, among other things, and [Luminary Mind] was split into the full 20 parallel thought processes, and one of them inhaled slightly, sampling the scents in the air.


    It was so overwhelming I had to shut down the entire thought process, only getting a glimpse at thousands upon thousands of subtle scents all blended together on the edge of the sword. What was that!?


    Another thought process took up the mantle of research, quickly coming back with a number of different possibilities. One floated to the top - a potion known as Bane, designed to target curses like the one I had. Because there had to be that one [Alchemist] asshole who was like ¡®how do I kill as many people as possible and get a medal for it?¡¯


    Well, shit. Good to know my secret wasn¡¯t out, that they hadn¡¯t come prepared with apples specifically to harm me. That would imply a huge information leak, up to the point of Arachne possibly betraying me. That wasn¡¯t the case - it was more that they¡¯d thrown the entire kitchen sink at me, and apples happened to be in it.


    Thank the twin goddesses of the moons that Iona hadn¡¯t hesitated. We¡¯d practiced with my curse back in the School and had discovered a number of things. The most important one - if Iona re-did an injury done by apples, my healing could handle it. For example, if my finger was cut off by an apple blade, and Iona cut off my hand, my entire hand would regrow.


    It was good Fenrir and her were around. With my biomancy improvements and vitality, I didn¡¯t think I could slice myself up anymore - my strength to vitality ratio was waaaaay off. My immunity to fire was great, except Auri couldn¡¯t burn over an apple injury to make it ¡®fresh¡¯ - I was immune. I could possibly fry myself with Radiance, given that I¡¯d dropped [Radiance Resistance], but that was chancy and dicey. My Radiance was a precision tool, but what was most needed with apple injuries was large brute force.


    And Iona, without hesitation, without a moment of doubt, with complete faith and love in me, chopped off the injury on my neck, then put a hand through my heart to re-traumatize and let my healing take over.


    To be fair - with how I¡¯d modified my blood, I could go quite a bit longer without one than a normal human.


    I needed to look into getting a knife sharp enough or enchanted enough that even a child wielding it could slice through me. It would help prevent the issue if I got hit with a Bane potion again.


    While parts of me were musing on how close I¡¯d come, yet again, to dying, and analyzing ways I could help prevent it again in the future, the rest of me was on the fight.


    Katerina had been up to something. Get all the elves clustered together, get the Sixth very close to them, unleash the explosive alchemicals into them at point-blank range. It was a solid plan, if utterly treacherous, but all was fair in love and war. Artemis would heartily approve, and I hoped I¡¯d be able to tell her all about it. It had naturally devolved at this point to utter mayhem.


    The men and women of the Sixth Legion, as brave, trained, drilled, and well-equipped as they were, couldn¡¯t match the might of the elves. The raw tyranny of stats and the initial arrangement of the soldiers meant the laughing horned Immortals were dancing around clumsy spear strikes, darting in with lethal strikes that did nothing.


    I was keeping an eye on my mana, and apart from the pair of Radiance beams I¡¯d shot out, it was staying strong. The Sixth was standing tall as elves slowly fell. This was the fight the Legions had drilled for, this was the battle they¡¯d been shaped to fight.


    A whistle pierced through the battle, just one more sound in the cacophony, and the two Rangers fell back to the command post, joining the rest of their team.


    ¡®Shield it or tank it¡¯ had been drilled into me from a young age, and I had a dozen thought processes and a powerful skill to back it up. Tiny tenebrous shields briefly popped into existence in the way of an arrow, rock, or spell, swallowing up the devastating projectile before vanishing, my attention snapping to another attack that I needed to handle.


    It was honestly overwhelming. I didn¡¯t have ¡®track every strike in two small armies fighting¡¯ level awareness, nor was I able to multitask that well. [Persistent Casting] was doing the heavy lifting on my healing, the skill so much better than I ever anticipated when I picked it up.


    Sentinel Invincible was as good as his title, brutally crushing through the ranks of the elves, swinging his axes in devastating strokes. Trolls plus sunlight was generally a terrible combination, and all of his capes had been ripped off by the speedster. A skill cut through the haze and gloom, letting sunlight reflect off Invincible''s adamantium armor. It didn¡¯t slow him down at all, and the tusked menace continued to tear through the elves, living up to his title of Invincible.


    Fenrir was continuing to cast devastating swaths of Lightning and Ice through the ranks of the elves, and Auri continued her flaming bombardment. Iona was staying back though, probably to protect the vulnerable Fenrir while he was stuck on the ground. The Primus Pilus charged forward, meeting the octopus in a flurry of blows and getting pushed back.


    I cast an approving eye over him. He was properly fighting like I was in support, going into a purely offensive mode while ignoring defense entirely. The octopus was shredding him - fighting style couldn¡¯t overcome the huge stat differential, plus it wasn¡¯t like we drilled fighting octopi, the slippery bastards - but he was being pinned down.


    I debated pushing forwards and physically engaging with one of the weaker elves to tie them down, but hesitated. My role was here, in the back, keeping everyone alive. The mental effort needed to properly fight would be better used with [Event Horizon] eating projectiles, and kept more people safe. Not only that - putting myself right in the danger line was a poor decision - there were a thousand ways someone could-


    A large swing caught my eye. One elf was using a wooden warhammer, bringing it down on a soldier¡¯s head. A sliced brain I could heal, but a crushed one was far more difficult to handle. [Event Horizon] wouldn¡¯t help too much, there was no way it wasn¡¯t vitality-reinforced. I fired off a beam of Radiance, choosing to aim for the handle of the hammer and burning through it instead. Cheaper on the mana than going directly for the kill, and the moment I ran out of mana this entire fight was going to get ugly.


    The Decay Classer that had ruined Massa blurred in front of me, his hand reaching for my head. I threw myself backwards - while the vitality defense did a lot, hand contact could do more - and Iona tackled him a moment later, the two blurring as they fought.


    Auri didn¡¯t need me to say anything, she filled the entire area where the two of them were fighting with a roar of white and black flames, cursed fire mingling with the hottest flames she could conjure.


    A devastating strike from the skies shattered in the middle of Katerina¡¯s command circle. I took what should¡¯ve been a decapitating blow against our entire command structure and utterly negated it. The octopus Iced our entire half of the field, causing us to slip and slide, and everything not skill reinforced by the Legions suddenly shot upwards, dragging quite a few soldiers with them.


    The elves weren¡¯t completely dumb. A pair of elves abducted a soldier and sprinted him several hundred meters away before trying to kill him. Joke was on them - my healing range was far longer than that, but they outstatted him so hard there wasn¡¯t anything he could do about it. The only thing I had for extensive mental trauma by being repeatedly ¡®killed¡¯ was ¡®That sucks, I know a few good [Mind Healers]. Want directions?¡¯


    ¡°Sixth, second line of potions, rolled.¡± Katerina ordered.


    In good order, with years of trained discipline, the members of the Sixth unclipped and rolled a second set of potions towards the elf lines. Harder to see, and the octopus¡¯s Ice made them skitter and bounce across the field.


    The first effort had failed due to the reflexes and skills on the other side of the battlefield. The lack of distractions, the fact that it was an opening blow. The second wave went better, but we were still being pushed back. The elves were focusing on destroying the Legion¡¯s weapons, defanging most of our fighters. Invincible was still carving a path through the elves, and Iona rose up in smoking victory, stomping down on the dead elf¡¯s skull.


    The fact that Invincible was still going strong under sunlight had me puzzled for a moment, before I cracked a mental grin.


    Smoke and mirrors. I didn¡¯t know which ones he was using or how it worked, but it was clear there were layers upon layers of deception going on. He¡¯d earned his title honestly.


    The battle ebbed and flowed until the elves broke and ran.


    They¡¯d been fighting for vengeance, while we¡¯d been fighting for survival.


    A council was assembled again.


    We were able to skip the funerals entirely, because there were no funerals. I was [The Arbiter of Life and Death], and I had decreed that nobody on our side should die.


    The elves got stacked into a mass pyre that Auri casually lit, flash-flaming them away, but leaving a pile of weapons, armor, coins, and other trinkets they¡¯d been carrying. The loot promptly vanished into the Sixth¡¯s coffers.


    I wanted to be in touch, so I attended the council meeting. I didn¡¯t want to be in it, but I didn¡¯t want to separate too hard from Iona. There was no telling when, I don¡¯t know, a tidal wave would crack Massa exactly in half and we¡¯d be on the wrong sides of it or something.


    The infuriating thing about the meeting was it was happening at mortal speeds. The war was going on at Immortal speeds, people who could think and move faster than me were zipping around the globe, causing death and destruction. Multiple cities could be falling in the time it was taking us to discuss things, and never before had I so keenly wished for a [Dictator] to simply issue orders and make things happen. Usually a terrible system of governance, there was a time and a place for decisive leadership and orders, and a time and a place for slow discussion.


    ¡°It¡¯s midsummer. Most of the crops should¡¯ve been planted already. Most of the people don¡¯t know one lick of farming. There¡¯s going to be people assigned to utterly infertile or destroyed areas that don¡¯t have a chance. The haze is going to strangle the new shoots in the cradle. Fights over desirable places to live and farm are inevitable, and there won¡¯t be the Legions or really anyone else enforcing any sort of law and order. Monsters are already disturbed from their lair, their homes gone, and will more than welcome fresh meat delivering itself to their jaws. Trees need to be cut down and land tilled before seeds can even get into the ground. It¡¯s going to be really bad. And that¡¯s the best case scenario.¡±


    I closed my eyes and imagined it, shuddering as the images played before my eyes.


    ¡°Bad.¡± I agreed, chewing over a few different scenarios and seeing them all play out worse. ¡°I imagine riots are one of the biggest things we¡¯re worried about?¡±


    ¡°And all those entail, aye.¡± Iona easily agreed. ¡°An aspect less known. The Sixth is planning on marching a hundred miles away to a river, then setting up a fortified encampment. Enclose off hundreds of acres of farmland, use it to live. Somewhere between a large village and a small town, Katerina¡¯s gambling that established structure and law and order can let them begin farming on a large scale, with fewer worries. Bring in most of the camp followers, and let the pretend city that is a Legion encampment turn into a real one.¡±


    I could see the shape of it. I was both surprised and not. One of the old, old contingency orders for a ¡®Lost Legion¡¯ was to settle down, build a town, and make a go of simply surviving. I¡¯d encountered the contingency in the Han Empire, but never expected for it to be triggered in the heartland of Exterreri.


    It made sense, in a terrible way. ¡®Best we can do now is survive and wait¡¯. I suppose there was a reason that contingency existed, and it wasn¡¯t because of how often Legions went roaming in hostile territory. It felt a little early in some respects, but if everyone was staring down the barrel of starvation, we couldn¡¯t afford to have idle hands not working in agriculture. Exterreri¡¯s tradition of the farmer-soldier, and most soldiers looking to retire on a farm after their service was paying dividends again, a long-looking policy bearing fruit again.


    Pun intended.


    ¡°Trying to organize the entire town into similarly sized groups wouldn¡¯t work, would it?¡± I asked the Valkyrie. Iona sadly shook her blonde hair.


    ¡°No, there isn¡¯t the time or the food reserves. Whatever that elf did ripped through the city. He wasn¡¯t kidding when he called it a death knell. Anyone wanting to stay and scavenge here is simply going to starve.¡±


    My mind flashed to the library, a mental scream at the endless troves of books that had probably rotted away, destroyed forevermore. I put the feeling aside.


    ¡°What do you want to do?¡± I asked her. I had my own thoughts, but Iona seemed especially torn up about the current situation. It was a direct blow at the letter of her [Vow] - to share her bread with people who had none.


    ¡°The way I see it, we¡¯ve got a few options.¡± Iona turned a little more business-like, a flame igniting in her green eyes once again. She straightened up, shedding the weight that had been bending her back.


    ¡°I think it goes without saying that first, we need to continue to participate. I was able to do so much in Ephesus, I can¡¯t see us ducking out. We need to move, to travel, to help wherever we can. Save lives where we can, shield people from all this Immortal nonsense being thrown around.¡±


    The sudden venom in Iona¡¯s voice caught me off-guard. I¡¯d just about gotten her round on the idea of being Immortal herself. It had been quietly and tacitly understood that she¡¯d be with me for the long haul, that it was the only way she could fight Lun¡¯Kat as her patron goddesses wanted.


    The Immortal war felt like it was undoing a large chunk of that progress, the worst of the worst Immortals could do coming in full display. A problem for another day.


    ¡°Yeah, of course.¡± I easily agreed. ¡°Do we want a base of operations, or to fully free roam?¡±


    ¡°Well, let¡¯s discuss that. Pros and cons on both sides. Fully roaming has benefits. We¡¯re not tied down, we can do long trips. People aren¡¯t counting on us at a particular location. We can go wherever we think we¡¯re needed, no pressure points. We don¡¯t strip any one area by foraging too much.¡±


    The arguments felt weak to me, but I let Iona continue.


    ¡°As for settling down, we¡¯ve got quite a few options. First. We continue with the Sixth. Katerina¡¯s explicitly extended an invitation and generous terms for us. Second. We double back to Orthus village and the bunker there. The Valkyries know the region as a headquarters, and our friends will look for us there. Third, we try to find a large settlement that needs our help, and bounce around the area. Maximize the number of people we return to by default. Fourth, we look for a place in Rolland, Lithos, or some other mortal nation that could possibly need us more than an Immortal nation does. There¡¯s something to be said for defending those without defenders, although admittedly, the mortals in Immortal nations are probably feeling the hammer harder than mortals.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt!!¡± Auri pointed out the Northern Continent was an entirely valid place to base out of as well. ¡°Brrpt.¡± As well as trying to hitch a ride on the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft.


    ¡°It¡¯s got to be Orthus.¡± I said. ¡°The School¡¯s a good idea, but with it always traveling, it¡¯ll be hard to get to it when we want. I¡¯ve got a decade of travel maps in [The Library of Infinite Wonder], but there will be extended times we can¡¯t get there. Similarly with the North, the Wardens won¡¯t appreciate us, and it would be difficult to cross the ocean to actually help people. I¡¯m a War Sentinel of the Sixth, but more explicitly, I¡¯m a Sentinel of Exterreri. Everyone. Katerina sounds like she¡¯s starting a town, and that¡¯s great, but at that point, they¡¯re no longer actively going out and trying to fight invading armies, not that we seem to have any here. I¡¯m not a pocket healer for a single town, I¡¯m a Sentinel of a nation. There¡¯s no sense in me making sure a bunch of farmers are all set, not with the Optio lines Katerina¡¯s got. My talents and ability to save people are wasted there. At which point, it becomes a question of where do we think we can do the most good, or, on a smaller level, where we want to stay. We can¡¯t just ignore it all. If I wanted to ignore everything, I could just go into [Tower of Knowledge] and wait everything out.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt...¡± Auri protested. She hadn¡¯t meant it like that.


    ¡°Nina, Amber, and everyone else is going to be looking for us.¡± I said. ¡°They¡¯ll never find us if we go to where the Sixth is planning on settling in. Becoming a needle in the haystack won¡¯t get us our friends, and I refuse to believe they¡¯ll die to something so mundane. Skye, Titania, and everyone else is in Orthus. I¡¯m really not sure how it¡¯s a discussion?¡± I said.


    Iona shot me a brisk nod.


    ¡°I just wanted to make sure all our cards and options were out on the table. There was a slim chance you would want to stay with the Sixth instead.¡±


    I shook my head. My loyalties were torn, and yet, the solution looked crystal clear to me.


    ¡°No no, I can simply come by now and then. It can be one of the first surviving towns we swing by. Plus, with so many people in the area, in need of a monster slayer and arbiter of justice - isn¡¯t that exactly what a Valkyrie is for?¡±


    Iona looked far too pleased at that.


    ¡°Yes. Your eyes haven¡¯t flickered at all, have you checked your notifications from classing up yet?¡±


    I hadn¡¯t, wanting to keep my full focus on Iona. I pulled them up.


    [*ding!* [The Arbiter of Life and Death - Celestial] has evolved into [The Elaine - Celestial]]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1024->1266 +200 Strength, +200 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +2000 Mana, +10000 Mana Regen, +4000 Magic Power, +4000 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    [*ding!* [The Stars Never Fade] has upgraded to [A Drop of Eternity in a Sea of Starlight]!]


    [*ding!* [Aurora Curialis] has upgraded to [Domain of the Healer]!]


    [*ding!* [Etheric Aegis] has upgraded to [Clad in Twilight]!]


    [*ding!* [Event Horizon] has upgraded to [The Mantle of Dusk and Dawn]!]


    [*ding!* [Zenith Everlasting] has upgraded to [Elaine Eternal]!]

 Chapter 577: Exodus I

    Chapter 577: Exodus I


    I had a million things to do, and extremely limited time.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go talk with Katerina.¡± I split my mind again into several processes, doing a dozen different things at once.


    The ¡®simplest¡¯ one was designing multiple spells that could help handle all this ash and smoke in the air. We were all breathing through masks - a perfectly serviceable solution - but if this state of affairs were to persist, I wanted a dozen different solutions. Hopefully I wouldn¡¯t need them, but I¡¯d done my reading. I knew how long ash and smoke could linger from a large wildfire, and it seemed like this was one to dwarf them all.


    The next part the still-named [Luminary Mind] focused on were the details of all the new skills. I hadn¡¯t read them all in-depth in the world of my soul, and given how my ¡®as quickly as possible¡¯ class up had turned into half a day, I was glad I hadn¡¯t tried. I¡¯d probably still be out of it even now.


    A Drop of Eternity in a Sea of Starlight: Immortality skill. Turn back the hourglass of time, then shatter it.


    Oh nice! I was more than familiar with my skill at this point, and the upgrade strongly implied that people would stop aging as well as becoming younger. No more would they still need to seek out their own Immortality skill, or find further ways to fend off White Dove.


    Also... I could totally turn someone into a child, then they¡¯d be stuck there. Something to keep in my back pocket if I was ever being extorted heavily over it.


    Domain of the Healer: Rapid regeneration of everyone in range. All who cry out your name in request of succor will find your touch lands upon them. -32,752 mana regeneration.


    Oh hey! The ¡®call my name¡¯ skill got merged into my healing aura! On one hand, there was a strong ¡®educate people on what they needed to do to make it work¡¯ aspect, on the other, my name was literally healer. Anyone who called out for a healer would miraculously find their prayer granted.


    Just as long as they didn¡¯t call for a medic, doctor, or nurse though. They¡¯d be plain out of luck.


    Goddess. How weird was it that this made complete and total sense to me!? No more questioning it, no more finding it weird, just complete and total ¡®yup, that¡¯s exactly the way it should be¡¯. I was finding the acceptance odd, not the phenomenon.


    Clad in Twilight: Harness the ethereal essence of twilight, the fleeting moment between day and night, to reinforce your gear. -8192 mana regeneration.


    The ¡®low¡¯ - and how far I¡¯d come that 8000 was low - mana regeneration indicated that this wasn¡¯t the strongest of armor skills. Such was life - simply being able to reinforce my gear and prevent hostile Classers from directly manipulating it was enough for me, and the real bonus was my vitality being added, not from the skill itself.


    The Mantle of Dusk and Dawn: Dawn and dusk. Protection and destruction. Aegis and shield. A flipping coin, one side of absolute void and the other shining with the brilliance of every star in the sky. Shield and protect with both, granting succor to all those who wish to shelter in your broad shadow. -131,008 mana regeneration.


    That was a terrible skill description, and I¡¯d have to do extensive testing to see what, exactly, it meant. It wasn¡¯t like skills came with a second set of instincts that automatically let me know exactly how to use it and what it did.


    A tiny, childish part of me was squeeing with joy that I might have both types of shields - the protective starry mantle that I¡¯d had when I was young, and the destructive [Event Horizon] skill I¡¯d eventually evolved it into.


    Elaine Eternal: Neither exhaustion, weariness or fatigue, nor gloom of night, can keep you from swift completion of your duty. -512 mana regeneration.


    There was a slim part of me that hoped it would merge into my domain skill. The overlap was there - but I was in no position to start to try and figure out a brand new skill.


    Iona and I didn¡¯t bother being subtle about moving through the city. We went to the rooftops and sprinted over to where Katerina and the rest of her command structure was located.


    The dragoneye moons were rising in their full crimson glory, an ominous nimbus radiating off them. Lun¡¯kat was in a bad mood, and letting the world know about it.


    The moons weren¡¯t supposed to be full tonight.


    The city was in bad shape.


    When the first city-destroying strike had hit Massa, it had shaken but not fallen. People were still looking out for one another, lending a helping hand. The community came together in face of the disaster, pooled their resources, and did their level best to help each other.


    Oh, sure, there were pricks the world over, and I wouldn¡¯t pretend Massa or even Exterreri were any different. Selfish hoarders who wouldn¡¯t lift a finger to help their neighbors, criminals taking advantage of the chaos, and low lifes who took the moment to take advantage of people.


    Even... even adventurers tended to only be lowlifes who took advantage of people when they could about half the time. When adventurers had the moral advantage, it was bad.


    The second hit, the Decay elf rippling caustic destruction through the city, was more than the fine citizens of Massa could tolerate. No longer were they lending a helping hand to their neighbor, sharing what little they had. The very real possibility of starvation was rearing its ugly head as the news that almost all food had been rotted away ripped through the city like wildfire.


    Whoever said civilization was only three meals away from collapse got it wrong. It was an overestimate - the cracks were rapidly expanding at one missed meal, and it was all going to go to hell by the second one. The guard was gone, probably gone home to their families. What was the point of maintaining law and order if that simply resulted in starvation? Already the seeds of various riots were forming, and full centuries of steel-clad [Legionaries] hustled down the streets to break them up.


    ¡°This is going to get bad.¡± I said.


    ¡°Brrpt.¡± Auri agreed. ¡°... Brrrrrpt?¡±


    Iona eyed the walls.


    ¡°Burning the walls down might unironically help the situation if you can do it in a controlled way.¡± She said. ¡°You¡¯d be causing a panic, and I assume you can not burn people out or suck out all their air, but preventing people from getting trapped would be a boon.¡±


    ¡°If Katerina agrees, sure.¡± I said. Fenrir snorted doubtfully at the whole thing, but didn¡¯t comment. Auri started to burn brighter in her excitement, but wasn¡¯t quite able to zip around me - we were going too quickly.


    Iona and I hammered out what I was going to say to Katerina and how we were going to frame things.


    She groaned at my initial presentation. I had a whole speech about Sentinels being for all the people of Exterreri, not just the Sixth. It followed all the rules in my big book of social rules! I double checked! I imagined she¡¯d break out some mention of ¡®abandoning us in our hour of need¡¯ or something.


    ¡°No, no, that¡¯s way too blunt. You can¡¯t tell her that in front of everyone! The Sixth will end up deserting! She¡¯ll have to try to arrest you, we all know how well that will work. Here, let¡¯s do it like this.¡± My wife suggested.


    We arrived at the bristling wall of shields and spears that was Katerina¡¯s headquarters, a large number of citizens muttering darkly out of reach of the weapons. Torches were held high for light, and I¡¯d be surprised if there were no confrontations. Everyone¡¯s hair was going white under the relentless ashfall, and one of the civilians was busy scooping out ashes from the top of an open rain barrel.


    We strode in like we owned the place.


    ¡°Dawn. Excellent. We¡¯re hoping to move out tonight.¡± Katerina said without preamble. I saluted, hyper-aware that it might be the last time I ever saluted.


    ¡°Legata. We¡¯re happy to join the Sixth out to their final destination, but after that point, my team¡¯s going back to Sanguino to evaluate the situation, and possibly bring back news from High Command or the Senate. There¡¯s a chance we will be basing ourselves near Sanguino, and continue to act as War Sentinel for the Sixth, or the founded town.¡±


    Perfect! Hit all the points Iona suggested. Phrased it as ¡®we¡¯re doing this for the Sixth¡¯, while still clearly communicating ¡®we¡¯re breaking off¡¯.


    Legata Katerina shot us the stink-eye, and Leona, the second-in-command, made a noise of visible disgust. Fenrir¡¯s hackles went up, the shrunken wyvern curled around Iona¡¯s shoulders like a scaled scarf.


    ¡°Good. None of the scouts we¡¯ve sent towards Sanguino have returned, and at this point I suspect foul play.¡± Katerina¡¯s response came a few seconds later. ¡°Fenrir being based out of Sanguino will relieve our logistics. We plan to march out of here at midnight, and do a forced march all the way.¡±


    Whoof, that was going to be rough.


    ¡°Dismissed.¡± Katerina said.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    I saluted again and left the tent.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see what we can do.¡± Iona suggested, and I was all for it.


    ¡°Brrrpt...¡± Auri was a little sad that she hadn¡¯t been able to talk with Katerina about Operation: BURN IT ALL, and I shrugged.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you carefully make a number of gates in the wall?¡± I suggested. ¡°You don¡¯t get to burn everything, but clearly marking what¡¯s going on and keeping the flames contained should manage to get it done.¡±


    Iona nodded.


    ¡°Take Fenrir with you. If something happens, Elaine, light up with your skill. Fenrir, get large and throw Lightning around. Understood?¡±


    I had a nostalgic flashback to my time as a Ranger, where we had to go around in pairs.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Chimera (Elvenoid)]


    [Age: 112]


    [Mana: 15,541,730/15,541,730]


    [Mana Regeneration: 52,526,131 +(165,273,822)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 135,674 (Effectively: 1,085,392)]


    [Dexterity: 160,008 (Effectively: 1,703,765)]


    [Vitality: 566,922 (Effectively: 8,858,156)]


    [Speed: 554,154 (Effectively: 10,907,413)]


    [Mana: 1,554,173]


    [Mana Regeneration: 5,537,971 (+ 16,527,382)]


    [Magic Power: 2,283,963 (+ 144,574,858)]


    [Magic Control: 2,282,950 (+ 144,510,735)]


    [Class 1: [The Elaine- Celestial: Lv 1266]]


    [Celestial Spirit: 1266]


    [Domain of the Healer: 1266]


    [A Drop of Eternity in a Sea of Starlight: 558]


    [Luminary Mind: 1266]


    [Universal Cure: 1266]


    [Clad in Twilight: 513]


    [The Mantle of Dusk and Dawn: 860]


    [Elaine Eternal: 1266]


    [Class 2: [Seraph of the Dawn - Radiance: Lv 982]]


    [Radiance Mastery: 982]


    [A Light Shining in the Darkness: 851]


    [The Rays of the First Dawn: 982]


    [Radiant Angel''s Spear of Obliteration: 430]


    [Celestial Dew: 982]


    [Sunrise Halo: 982]


    [Wings of the Seraphim: 982]


    [Six Wings, Six Million Feathers: 982]


    [Class 3: [Sage of Tomes - Spatial: Lv 909]]


    [Spatial Authority: 909]


    [Scripture Savant: 909]


    [Teleportation: 840]


    [The Library of Infinite Wonder: 909]


    [Tower of Knowledge: 434]


    [Reality, Writ As You Will: 701]


    [Astral Archives: 909]


    [Endless Pursuit of Knowledge: 909]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 624]


    [Dexterous and Handy: 500]


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 1266]


    [The World Around Me: 533]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 1266]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 1266]


    [Persistent Casting: 1266]


    [Tender Gardening: 627]

 Chapter 578: Exodus II

    The street went dark around us, the pitch darkness of the deepest void wrapping itself around us like a lover.


    A single mote of light appeared high up in the sky, rapidly expanding into a single drop of raw starlight. It fell down towards me, landing right in front of me. It was eaten up by the void, the fabric of space ¡®rippling¡¯ where the drop fell, reverberating around us.


    Like a popping flame shooting out sparks, a thousand, a million, a billion stars slowly lit up around us, bathing us in many-colored starlight. Yellows and oranges, reds and blues, blazing whites and rare greens, all of them shone brightly around us.


    I flinched as one moved past my eyes, and the newfound perspective let me see what was going on.


    All the stars were converging on the point right in front of me. My target of [A Drop of Starlight in a Sea of Eternity] was being rejuvenated by a billion stars cascading into their body.


    One by one, faster and faster, the stars swarmed into her body. She couldn¡¯t contain or hold all the starlight, and it started to leak out of her. First her eyes, then her mouth, then her skin cracked and flaked, revealing the blazing lights underneath. She glowed like a person-shaped star, then slowly transformed in front of our eyes, going from an elderly great-grandmother, down to a middle-aged woman.


    It was the age she felt most comfortable at, that she wanted to stay at forever.


    The burning light slowly faded away, the rest of the world returning around us. Most of the street had stopped and stared at us and the informal ceremony that had just occurred, and a moment later White Dove fluttered onto my unoccupied shoulder. She nodded to Auri.


    ¡°Cousin.¡± She acknowledged, before giving me the traditional stink-eye. I grinned like the unrepentant reprobate that I was. I¡¯d given away Immortality to hundreds of people, and if I had the chance, I¡¯d give it away to thousands more. I didn¡¯t dare say or suggest that White Dove had done her worst to me - it was always a poor idea to provoke the literal grim reaper - but I wasn¡¯t going to be stopped or cowed. I was going to hold my head up high, proud of my work and what I was doing.


    There was a difference between that, and yanking her tail feathers though. I did want to offer her an apple with a shit-eating grin though.


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri was happy to see White Dove, but it wasn¡¯t exactly the time or place for a reunion.


    ¡°And you.¡± White Dove eyed the woman with ire. ¡°Cincia Livigena. [The First Class]. [My Second Class].¡±


    White Dove paused for a moment. I didn¡¯t blame her, I¡¯d done a whole ¡®who¡¯s on first¡¯ bit with Iona when she¡¯d tried to tell me what the classes were. In short- a pair of omni-jack of all trades classes that let the woman be solid at anything she tried to do, if not fantastic. We had to remind ourselves that level 400 was still a strong Classer. It wasn¡¯t like we had infinite time to find the PERFECT person to bestow Immortality on.


    ¡°I curse you to haunt this city forevermore. You will roam these streets, unable to pass the walls into the great outdoors. No more will you see open fields, no more will you feel wild grass beneath your feet. Your friends are only those who stay here, and you will be barred from visiting any family that should move away.¡±


    She smirked, in an impossible way that no dove could manage, only Dove herself.


    ¡°Forever... can be such a short time.¡±


    With a twist of her wings upon herself, White Dove vanished, off to continue reaping the hundreds of millions of lives that were currently dying in the Immortal War.


    Livigena looked stricken, and the performance we¡¯d just put on had halted all activity in several streets, as people stopped to stare at the performance. [A Drop of Starlight in a Sea of Eternity] had been a little more dramatic and a little larger than I¡¯d expected, and I don¡¯t know what black magic had stopped people from panicking - that absolutely could¡¯ve been a lethal attack.


    The moment was broken as the street - no, not just the street, the buildings, the land, everything nailed down - just dropped six inches.


    Chaos erupted as gravity remembered everything not nailed down. Most people were able to smoothly recover, even a modest amount of dexterity helped greatly.


    In an odd twist, most objects were also fine. Sure, there was a great shattering of a thousand pieces of pottery breaking, along with the clattering of a millions knives and spoons rattling on each other, but the Decay elf had ruined most fragile, non-vitality reinforced wood objects in the first place. A number of carts did break wheels and axles, completely unable to take a short drop, even with the weight and the System, but that was the largest casualty by far.


    My mana did blip as horses broke legs and dinosaurs had their claws crushed, and it wasn¡¯t like everyone got away injury-free. They were minor - simply the scale was massive.


    ¡°Fuck.¡± Iona swore, shooting up into the sky. I joined her a moment later, and Fenrir unfurled to his full size.


    ¡°Healing run.¡± I said, swooping around Massa. I could tell my radius had gotten far larger - I quickly stopped losing any mana, regenerating back to full - but without extensive testing, I couldn¡¯t tell how large. I played it safe by circling the entire city, but didn¡¯t notice my mana dropping at all. I rejoined Iona a moment later, my wife scanning the horizon with furrowed brows. A half-dozen other Classers were up in the air, looking around themselves. Difficult to see in the dark, and I wasn¡¯t going to blind everyone with [A Light Shining in the Darkness]. No matter how good the levels might be.


    ¡°See anything?¡± I asked her.


    ¡°Nothing obvious. This might¡¯ve just been a side effect of a battle going on somewhere else.¡±


    I supposed that was better than a giant stomping over to Massa to give us a hard time. Iona pointed to the mountains, far off to the south.


    ¡°Avalanche going on over there.¡± She added.


    ¡°Brrrpt!!!¡± Auri pointed out the glow of a large fire off to the east. She knew all about huge wildfires.


    ¡°If we go that way, yes, we¡¯ll handle it.¡± I told Auri.


    ¡°Brrpt!¡±


    Trumpets blew, and my eyes darted over to the column of soldiers from the Sixth. It was midnight, or near enough, and the Legion was heading out of Massa, leading by example. Or not wanting to get trapped when it all went to hell. There were all sorts of reasons, from cynical to noble, that I could ascribe to their actions, but either way I was going to stick with them until they found a spot to settle in. Reed and a number of other [Standard-Bearers] started to make city-wide announcements.


    ¡°Citizens of Massa. Please remain calm, and evacuate in an orderly fashion. The city is becoming uninhabitable. We will not be responsible for the lives of those who remain. I repeat. Citizens of Massa. Please...¡±


    My ears picked up a... I wanted to call it disturbing, but it was a more frustrating conversation.


    I eyed the map somewhat doubtfully. ¡®Lake¡¯ was a bit of a misnomer - it was larger than most seas. Both Massa and Ephesus were on the ¡®lake¡¯, and where a river met the lake was prime grounds for a town to be founded.


    The reason it wasn¡¯t? It was in Bhutai territory, a harsh red line across the map demarking where Exterreri ended, and Bhutai started.


    I decided not to argue with the politics of it. In Katerina¡¯s defense, there were no better nearby locations to try and settle down, and most of the ¡®good spots¡¯ would result in evicting large numbers of civilians. To my understanding, most of the giants didn¡¯t come down out of the mountains - the spot being pointed to was an awkward location that was part of Bhutai, but not settled by the giants or the inhabitants. It was also in the wrong direction from the Sixth¡¯s old stomping grounds, making the trek twice as long for the camp followers.


    Not my problem. I reminded myself.


    ¡°I assume you¡¯d like me to also check if anyone¡¯s currently living there?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡± The [Optio] answered. ¡°Also, please check if it looks like the river¡¯s about to be diverted. If it¡¯s not there, check if it¡¯s been dammed up. We don¡¯t want to get flooded out as we settle.¡±


    Iona and I traded a look, and I nodded.


    ¡°We¡¯ll get right on it.¡± I promised.


    We took off south, crossing the two hundred miles in a few minutes.


    Yet, within those minutes, trouble found us.


    A small faun woman teleported in behind us, swinging a greatsword twice her size at our heads. Iona snapped her arm out, axe already in hand, intercepting and deflecting the blow. Before I finished recognizing the danger and applying lethal Radiance to the problem, she teleported away, entirely out of sight and range of any of my senses.


    ¡°BRPT!?¡± Auri fired a belated fireball where the would-be assassin had shown up.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen or heard of her before.¡± I said. ¡°Iona?¡±


    She grimaced.


    ¡°Same. Best I could tell, an Immortal trying to pick people off? I barely got a glimpse of her stat sheet before she vanished.¡±


    We stayed alert the rest of the way, but the assassin didn¡¯t reappear. Part of me analyzed the path the Sixth needed to take. It was going to be hell to march - the roads simply ended a little to the south of where the Sixth currently was, and with all the good things I had to say about the Legions, they didn¡¯t march terribly far or fast when the famed Exterreri roads didn¡¯t exist.


    Iona¡¯s hand was flying over the paper, her [Vow] somehow kicking in on the situation when it came to drawing maps.


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡± Auri warned her.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± Iona replied.


    ¡°BRPT!¡± Auri complained that she was already extinguishing fires from the sheer friction of Iona¡¯s pencil against paper.


    ¡°Exactly.¡± Iona smirked at the bird. ¡°You¡¯re here, I¡¯m fine.¡±


    ¡°Brrrrpt.¡± Auri gave up.


    The river was more or less in the same location, sarcosuchuses prowling the bank. The dinosaur-crocodiles both weren¡¯t a threat to the Legion, and a great ambush threat from the water, as they could snap away unsuspecting people grabbing a bucket of water. I briefly debated wholesale slaughtering them before the Sixth arrived, but everyone else beat me to it. Iona summoned her bow and arrows, Auri threw down Lava [Meteor Strikes], and Fenrir shot down jagged javelins of Ice.


    I shrugged. Fine with me. While everyone else was slaughtering the beasts, I scanned the horizon, keeping an eye out for threats. Also shamelessly enjoying the raw majesty of the Bhutai mountains once again, the titans of earth scraping the sky. I thought of my time at the Jukong Monastery, wondering if Kunchenjab was doing alright. Might be worth a skim down in that direction, it wasn¡¯t too far. It¡¯d be good to know how the Sixth¡¯s neighbors were going to do.


    My eagle eyes caught sight of several elves in the mountains.


    ¡°Hang on, checking something out.¡± I said. I spread my wings out and flew off, getting a better long distance look at what was going on.


    There was a major operation going on, the elves trying to dig something out. With how powerful and damned perfect they were, they were threatening to move entire mountains with their sustained efforts. I frowned as a detail worried at me, a very quiet alarm bell going off.


    I flew back to Iona, and unceremoniously [Teleported] her latest map to me.


    [*ding!* [Teleportation]leveled up! 510 -> 511]


    Oh, that was bad. The little alarm bell grew a little louder, and I closed my eyes, trying to overlay the map Iona had just made with all the maps I had, trying to cross-reference exactly where I was... and if the map causing the alarm was a problem.


    I sucked in a cold breath as my mind made the connection.


    I¡¯d dabbled in being a [Loremaster] at one point, and the cornerstone to the class was knowledge. I still had all the knowledge, and I still had the responsibility. I just wouldn¡¯t be rolling in levels.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, love?¡± Iona asked me at the same time Auri brrrpt¡¯d a similar question.


    ¡°I think the elves found Valytheria, the World Sunderer.¡±

 Chapter 579: Interlude - Auri - Valytheria, the World Sunderer

    I was sitting on my favorite perch, the one I¡¯d spent countless decades on.


    Elaine¡¯s shoulder.


    Even better! We were on my best friend, Fenrir!


    I wanted to enjoy the ashes falling from the sky, the sign that great fires were raging over the horizon, but no. I knew too much. Each ashen flake was a home, a bed, a life. Hopefully they had escaped the fiery holocaust that consumed their livelihood, but I knew too much. I had burned tens of thousands of pounds of material over my long life, and I knew the difference between wooden ashes and charred flesh. I could see when it was the burnt remains of a life dancing before my eyes, and when it was ¡®only¡¯ a tree branch.


    A tree branch that was home to a squirrel or owl, where a microraptor hung from or sabertooth tigers prowled.


    No, there was no enjoying these ashes.


    Elaine was worried, staring at a far off mountain. I couldn¡¯t see what she saw - water take these tiny eyes of mine! - but she was happily sharing.


    ¡°What¡¯s Valytheria?¡± I asked the question for Fenrir, knowing he was curious as well.


    ¡°As [Loremasters] would put it, it¡¯s an orange, maybe yellow-tier threat. It¡¯s a sword, but more than that, it¡¯s the sword. Powerful Classer transformed herself into a blade, then received a divine blessing on top of it. Calling it a weapon feels like it¡¯s understating things. The sword itself is as amazing as can be, as any transformed piece of equipment is, but it¡¯s the rest of it that... I¡¯m not explaining this well.¡± Elaine took a deep breath in and slapped her cheeks.


    ¡°Okay! Trying this again! There¡¯s an approximately twenty mile ¡®extension¡¯ of the blade that¡¯ll cut through anything and everything. Including the ground. Twirl it in your hand, and you¡¯ll make a twenty mile deep, forty mile wide gouge in the land. It¡¯s how it got the title ¡®World Sunderer¡¯. Simply walking around with it cracks the planet open. The skills and abilities are forever on, and no sheath can hold it.¡± She said.


    Iona whistled.


    ¡°I imagine since it¡¯s a divinely blessed person, nobody wants to break the blade or kill them.¡± The Valkyrie said. ¡°Plus, the tool¡¯s too useful to be disposed of, simply secured.¡±


    ¡°Exactly!¡± Elaine said. ¡°More of the second than the first. We¡¯re pretty sure it was a weapon¡¯s vault originally, and the original owner died. It¡¯s not the ¡®whoops we made a couple new valleys¡¯ that¡¯s the issue so much as ¡®we flicked our wrist and sliced through an entire city and all the people inside¡¯ that makes it so threatening.¡±


    ¡°Vitality defense?¡± I asked. Life was a little unfair - I basically never got to experience the joys of the vitality defense, damn being tiny and having virtually no mass - but it was a real question.


    ¡°The divine blessing¡¯s probably half the reason it doesn¡¯t work, yeah?¡± Iona guessed.


    ¡°Yup.¡±


    The Valkyrie whistled, then her eyes unfocused.


    ¡°Hi Selene! Hi Lunaris!¡± I cheerfully called out. Hey, maybe they¡¯d take a liking to me and shower me with neat blessings as well. I loved Elaine, and if she asked Ciriel to bless me I had no doubt the only goddess with eyes to realize Elaine was THE BEST would send one my way... but they wouldn¡¯t think of it without me asking, and I couldn¡¯t ask Elaine to make that request of her friend. That wouldn¡¯t be right.


    Selene and Lunaris, on the other hand... I was going to butter them up until they slipped and bumped out a blessing for me. The plan was foolproof! Might take a few centuries of me wearing them down, but blessings were all upside. As far as I could see.


    ¡°Interesting. The goddesses have offered to have a talk with the bound person if we get our hands on Valytheria.¡± Iona said.


    Oh! Oh! I knew this! People who¡¯d turned into objects sometimes couldn¡¯t think anymore, so they couldn¡¯t undo the transformation. It took extreme skills or circumstances to change it, but gods could do it!


    Elaine squinted and looked at the mountains again.


    ¡°I don¡¯t like our chances if the elves get their hands on Valytheria, and I don¡¯t think we can all fight them. There¡¯s just too many elves there. Any ideas?¡±


    We plotted! We planned! We even did a little scheming. And in the end, we had a plan! A glorious, wonderful plan.


    It didn¡¯t have enough fire in it though.


    The four of us flew over the mining operation, where Fenrir opened his maw and roared out a bellowing challenge. Snow started to swirl around him, a grand snowstorm being whipped up.


    ¡°Good luck Auri!¡± Elaine patted me. Iona grinned and shot me a thumb¡¯s up.


    ¡°Go get ¡®em!¡± She said.


    Okay! It was my turn to shine!


    But first, I needed to change my mindset a bit. Change how I thought. I liked the way I was, but for this mission, this operation, I needed to go back to when I was a little younger, a little less mature, and a whole lot more lethal.


    Alright, alright. I could do this.


    I am an unrepentant pyromaniac with no ethics and the entire world is kindling. Juice is good, songbirds are bad, and I had an Important Mission.


    Young Auri Mindset - GO!


    Oh my flames, what were these lame notifications!? No! NO! Fix them all! There we go!


    It was time for the SUPER SECRET PHOENIX TECHNIQUE! Clear flames! Invisible! Nobody could see me! Ahahahahahaha!


    ... all this dang snow-water was annoying though, and I was making a trail of steam! Argh! No! Stupid! Bad! That wasn¡¯t sneaky-stealthy AT ALL! That was like burning a huge pile of logs on top of a mountain! As subtle as a wildfire ripping through a forest!


    No! Bad heat! Chill, cool clear flames! Ughhhh, as much as it disgusted me to burn cold, as opposed to the hottest I could manage, it was needed for OPERATION: SNEAKY BIRD.


    Wait! My ring! My beautiful, brrretty ring of rocks I kept around me! My imitation of the planets! Noooo, I had to turn it off, it wasn¡¯t SNEAKY BIRD enough! Booo!


    I was flying towards the ground, letting gravity guide me down.


    Flying.


    Not falling. Nope. I wasn¡¯t falling at all. Didn¡¯t matter that my wings weren¡¯t flapping. Didn¡¯t matter that I was going in lockstep with gravity. This was flying, not falling, and any moment [Fancy Flying] would level up and the System would prove that I was right.


    Annnnnnnny minute now.


    [*ding!* Oh Great and Magnificent Auri, Empress of Flame, Burner of All Ye Behold, the most beautiful creature in creation, Bird Without Peer and Sovereign of the Red Skies, the humble System, granter of all your wishes, would like to bestow upon you the grand skill [Flies Like A Rock]. Would you like to replace one of your many well-trained abilities with this beautiful new skill?]


    Oi! System! NO! Why would you betray me like this!?


    BURN!


    ...


    How DID I burn the System anyway? I had [Everything Burns], the System was a thing, just needed to figure out how to apply one to the other...


    Fireball! Fireball! WAIT!


    WATER!


    THIS WASN¡¯T STEALTHY!


    I was on a MISSION! A Very Important Mission! This was about being Sneaky! Stealthy! Stealing a sword! This was a Whisper Assault: Tactical Entry and Retrieval.


    WATER for sho- OH SNOWFLAKES!


    Oh rocks. That was a lot of rocks coming right for me.


    The earth couldn¡¯t wait to embrace magnificent me, trying to hit me at top speed.


    Nope! Not today!


    I flipped out a wing, catching the current as I whizzed behind an elf¡¯s head, a boiling mass of the stinky horned two-legs erupting out of the tunnels, pointing up at Elaine and Fenrir.


    Ha! Suckers! Too much water in your eyes, you can¡¯t see what¡¯s right here!


    I zipped! I zooped! I fluttered right behind a mine cart¡¯s wheel! Ahha! They¡¯d NEVER spot me here! My plan was brilliant! Foolproof! All I had to do was wait until someone started pushing, and they¡¯d carry me right into the depths! Where I would then, in a single second of [Phoenix¡¯s Perfection], figure out the next step of my plan!


    Any second now, they¡¯d start pushing.


    Annnnnyyyy second now... see, they¡¯re pushing! No wait, that was someone bumping the cart.


    ... oh wait. Yeah. If everyone else was making a distraction, then there was nobody pushing the cart. Hmm.


    HMMM.


    This required some ADDITIONAL THINKING. I needed my Thinking Cap.


    I made one out of clear and perfectly burning flames - no sense in having smoke give me away - and put it on, modeled after Fenrir¡¯s hat when he was On A Case.


    Hmmmmm.


    HMMMMMM.


    If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.


    How did I get out of this... AHHA!


    Escorted by some of the - I couldn¡¯t in good conscience call them ¡®the miner¡¯s best¡¯, no matter how good a hat the one dude had - recognized members of the group had me bypass most obstacles.


    Down and down we went, the tunnels twisting and turning. Elves passed us in a parade, pushing carts of rocks up and out. Elves going down, pushing empty carts, including the three I was with. All the loose rocks were nice. With just a little bit of heat, they¡¯d melt and become prime fuel for [Lava Manipulation]. Good, good. Much better to melt them with Inferno then use them.


    The tiny little voice inside me that was THE WETTEST BLANKET tried to scream something about conjuration being more mana efficient.


    Silence! I¡¯ll peck you out! Don¡¯t think I won¡¯t do it! I could [Burn Everything], that included tiny little annoying inside voices!


    ¡°This canary¡¯s extra useful, comes with his own light!¡± One of the elves joked.


    I continued to scree- sing - keeping a wary eye out, trying to make a map in my head.


    Too many twists. Too many turns.


    I was so lost.


    Well, end of the day, I just needed to fly up. How hard could it be?


    Hang on! Super-observant-special-fire-agent-Auri has noticed something! There were no more canaries! No more singing birds! They weren¡¯t dead in their cage or anything, there just... were none.


    Huh.


    Mysterious.


    I¡¯d need my thinking cap to solve this one, except I COULDN¡¯T put it on, I was still being ¡®innocent songbird Auri¡¯, and ¡®innocent songbird Auri¡¯ didn¡¯t HAVE a thinking hat!


    Frustration! Rainclouds!


    ¡°Here we are.¡± Hat-elf hung me up on the ceiling, and the three of them got to work.


    My beak dropped open.


    In like, six swings they¡¯d expanded the tunnel and filled their carts with rocks. With a quick stretch, they started pushing it back up the tunnel, replaced by a new trio of elves a moment later.


    Wow.


    Wow.


    These guys dug fast. No wonder Elaine was worried!


    Hmmm.


    It had been a while, and the Eventide Eclipse were still trying to distract the elves. I should get a move on before they got hurt. That would be Bad.


    I closed my eyes and listened, annoyed at the echoes of all the bad singing going around. Honestly. It was like the other birds forgot to take [Beautiful Singing] or something.


    A commotion!


    I slipped through the bars of my cage - didn¡¯t need to melt them or anything, honestly, it was like they weren¡¯t even trying - and flew over. A number of elves were crowding around an entrance, and thick barriers of purple energy protected a hovering, point-down sword. A tiny hole was in the arcanite under the sword. Sooo much arcanite - I couldn¡¯t tell how thick it was, but I could make at least three hundred nests out of the amount there.


    I was going to be a rich bird! A bird of means! Except for the whole ¡®money becoming worthless¡¯ thing.


    Bah! Who needed money when infinite reflections of ME were to be had? What else could I spend it on? Elaine had the infinite juice cheat of growing her own mangos, so it wasn¡¯t like I needed more.


    Everyone was distracted! Quick! Disguise time!


    Using [Lava Conjuration], I summoned almost-firm Lava in the shape of a cage near the ceiling, around my body, and held it in place until it hardened.


    Genius! Ninja Auri hiding in plain sight! They¡¯d see me, but they wouldn¡¯t think of me, ahhahahahaha! I started to study the sword, trying to figure out if I could just... walk in there and grab it.


    ¡°Move aside, cowards.¡± One of the elves puffed himself up and shoved several other elves out of the way. ¡°The sword¡¯s going to be mine.¡±


    PUNS. The WORST.


    The elf swaggered in, not even hesitating at the glowing purple shields. He touched them and disintegrated.


    A few gasps were had, mostly laughs.


    I was on team laughs. That was hilarious. His best phoenix impression. I¡¯m fire! POOF!


    Also a stupid amount of power.


    A bunch of commotion later, and eight mage-types strutted down the halls. Hard to tell though, I didn¡¯t have [Identify]. Elaine or Iona was always around to do that. Their level didn¡¯t matter, I was the best. Easy enough to handle them if I had to.


    ¡°We need peace and quiet to concentrate!¡± One of the mages bellowed out. ¡°We¡¯re under attack. The sooner we can retrieve the sword, the sooner we can deal with the pests. Everyone¡¯s going to be paid a bonus. Now clear out!¡±


    With a mix of grumbling and cheers, the miners left. The eight mages arrayed themselves in front of the ward, starting to chant and cast spells.


    Ha! The fools! I had at least two different ways of just walking in!


    Right. I didn¡¯t want them to get their hands on the sword, and the setup was perfect. Slowly, quietly, I filled the hallway with my invisible flames, feeding them as hard as I could. Near the door, around the frame, I laid down some deep blue ¡®cold¡¯ flames, an attempt to control the temperature at the cost of some faint glowing.


    There were enough glowing colors going around that they might not be noticed.


    Plus, if they were a quarter as competent as Elaine was, they¡¯d be utterly engrossed in their spellcasting.


    I prepared a few superheated Lava shots. Tungsten was a good one. Melted at a very high point. Made a dozen fire-clones with [I am the Brrettiest], then made two dozen more.


    Outnumbered? No, no, they were outnumbered.


    Then... I waited. The mage¡¯s robes whipped around them as the air was sucked out of the chamber, and when the first one collapsed, I struck.


    OVERWHELMING FIREPOWER!


    I¡¯d already choked one out. Two more fell screaming as molten tungsten enveloped their heads. Three went down flailing and screaming as I wrapped them in flames, and the last two were left standing, automated defenses springing up around them. A clear film of Arcanite energy bubbled around one, and the other was gushing Water while Wind whipped around them.


    I used [Burn Everything] to get through the Arcanite shield, then whipped around a large mass of liquid tungsten before nailing the last elf in the jewels.


    They weren¡¯t very shiny, and what idiot god had decided to put them on the outside, as opposed to the inside, like was sensible? Honestly. Things like that were why I wasn¡¯t religious. Except when it came to asking for a blessing. Then I was very religious.


    He groaned, folded up, and collapsed, one foot touching the purple barrier. He sizzled out, and I proudly put my beak in the air.


    Auri Firestorm! The greatest [Mage] alive! Eight versus one, the VICTOR!


    [*ding!* Oh Peerless Beauty! Oh magnificent wielder of fire and flames! The System and gods smile upon you once again, as victory rests her laurels at your feet! In a breathtaking display of skill, finesse, and stunning good looks, you have slain a Hey System! Put the notification here! Or don¡¯t, I don¡¯t really need to see it, just the rest.]


    I narrowed my eyes at the eight identical notifications, wondering if I was being sassed, or if past-me of sixteen minutes ago was an idiot who couldn¡¯t configure the System properly.


    Oh well! I could just burn away the mistakes!


    The walls were sagging from the heat, a layer of rock starting to melt. I eyed the ceiling with a surge of genuine fear and concern.


    If the entire thing came down on my head, that could kill me, and keep me killed.


    I fluttered over to the shield, debating if I wanted to use [Burn Everything] or [Phoenix¡¯s Rebirth] to get through it. Hmmm... I¡¯d just said hi to White Dove, so nah, let¡¯s skip that. I¡¯m sure she was super busy with all the murdering going on.


    I burnt a me-shaped hole in the wards and slipped through. [Auri¡¯s Many Helpers] grabbed the hilt of the blade, and swung it up and through in a great arc.


    ... whoops. That had sliced... quite a bit more than I was expecting.


    Maybe if I wiggled it just a bit... ahha! There we go! A clear path to the sky! Probably unstable as a river, but no time to think about it! Let¡¯s go!


    [*ding!* Oh Peerless Beauty! Oh magnificent wielder of fire and flames! The System and gods smile upon you once again, as victory rests her laurels at your feet! In a breathtaking display of skill, finesse, and stunning good looks, you have slain a Hey System! Put the notification here! Or don¡¯t, I don¡¯t really need to see it, just the rest.]


    Uhhh... I was going to ignore that one. Except where it was saying nice things about me.


    I flew up into the air, dragging the sword behind me, racing out of the mines before gravity remembered that all those rocks existed and started to pull them down. Already everything was collapsing, and I swerved to dodge falling rocks, the sword swinging wildly in my grip.


    [*ding!* Oh Peerless Beauty! Oh magnificent wielder of fire and flames! The System and gods smile upon you once again, as victory rests her laurels at your feet! In a breathtaking display of skill, finesse, and stunning good looks, you have slain a Hey System! Put the notification here! Or don¡¯t, I don¡¯t really need to see it, just the rest.]


    System, shhh, I was trying to fly here.


    I rejoined Elaine, Fenrir, and Iona, and we flew off, carving a new valley behind us and getting utterly spammed with notifications.

 Chapter 580: Unsafe Travels

    We had Valytheria.


    A trio of notifications rang in my ears, shared experience with Auri leveling both [Sage of Tomes] and [Seraph of the Dawn]. Far better than the kill notifications - the System was overly generous sometimes, considering us part of the same party. Then again, to be fair, we had been the distraction while Auri went raiding, so perhaps it was more clever than I gave it credit for.


    There had probably been quite a few more casualties than I would¡¯ve liked securing it, and part of me felt guilt over the whole thing.


    I did my best not to order deaths, nor to tolerate them. To save and succor wherever I could. Yet, here and now, I¡¯d known if Valytheria wasn¡¯t secured, that it would cause far more damage and harm than handling the elves would. At the same time, that sort of thinking tended to end poorly, to say the least.


    I hadn¡¯t told Auri to go. I¡¯d worked on the plans, tried to find a better way, and this was the best we¡¯d found. I knew the scale and scope of Loremaster threats, but it didn¡¯t mean it sat well with me.


    Fenrir was flying high and to the east, disguising the direction we were going. The skies were bright red as the sunset tried to filter through the ashes. Columns of smoke came from a dozen small burning fires, slowly strangling and choking all life. Iona pointed to a rumbling cloudbank, and the mighty wyvern twisted to head in that direction.


    ¡°Brrrpt...¡± Auri complained about the clouds we were about to go through, then shook her head. With a pair of her [Mage Hands] she slapped her cheeks, then went bright pink.


    ¡°Brrpt.¡± She muttered to herself. Something about young Auri being a complete idiot, too embarrassing to think about? I patted my phoenix companion.


    ¡°Yeah, I get hit with random memories of dumb things I did back when I was a kid too.¡± I said.


    Like dramatically cutting off my hair in front of the Rangers.


    Maximum. Cringe.


    Auri was nodding a little too hard in agreement with all that, but I let it pass.


    In the meantime, the sword was passed to Iona, who grimaced.


    ¡°This is going to suck.¡± She muttered, right before flicking it upright.


    When it had been point-down, it had been carving a massive furrow through the earth. As Iona flicked it up, a new furrow, dozens of miles long, was made, and we made a mirrored face at the notifications.


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Rabbit (Wind - 18)]]


    ...


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Troodon (Metal - 61)]]


    ...


    [*ding!* Your party has slain a [Kelpie (Water - 101)]]


    Nothing sentient this time, thank the goddesses and Iona¡¯s sharp flick. Now we were ¡®only¡¯ slicing through the clouds.


    ¡°I¡¯d heard why we needed to take care of this. I¡¯d known why. But it¡¯s something else entirely to wield it myself. I¡¯d throw it straight into the Mare if I could, this thing¡¯s way too dangerous.¡± Iona said.


    Even Fenrir was uneasily eyeing the sword.


    It was a simple thing. A khopesh, one of the curious curved swords of Ankhelt, it was plain in a beautiful way. There was nothing extra about it, no flourish, no ornamentation, nothing. By the same terrifying token, there were no blemishes. No dents, no nicks, nothing but an inviolate blade, the bare essence of a weapon boiled down to sharp, lethal intent.


    It took me an embarrassingly long time to try and [Identify] it, as inanimate objects didn¡¯t play nicely with [Identify]. I was sure there were other skills that let the person know what they were dealing with - a [Pawnstore Owner] would probably have something that let them know what the heck someone came in with - but [Identify] didn¡¯t, and a century of habits and ingrained knowledge did take a moment to overcome.


    [Artisan - 3072].


    Wow.


    It really was a transformed person.


    ¡°Can you still read all of their skills?¡± I wondered.


    ¡°Oh! Yeah, good question.¡±


    Iona¡¯s eyes started to flicker against invisible words, her face softening at what she read, the answer to my question self-evident.


    ¡°Pakhet. Her name was Pakhet.¡± Iona said.


    The [Paladin] put both hands on the sword and lifted it up, over her head, and closed her eyes. She started to silently pray to her patrons. Fenrir stopped flying east, went north, and started circling over the great lake.


    Iona tended to be relatively discreet when talking with her goddesses. A quiet murmured word, a startled laugh, a brief dedication of a great victory to their name. When things were happening, she was here and present, able to talk and laugh.


    A conversation of this length was a rarity, at least when we were in the field. The ashes fell on her like snow, turning her blonde hair grey.


    Iona¡¯s eyes snapped open, and she looked speculatively at the sword.


    ¡°Sorry that took so long. Pakhet accepted the offer to become an angel. Mefdet blessed her in life, and would be happy to have them return to the fold. Most of the time just then was the gods haggling over what the Moon Goddesses would get for facilitating.¡±


    She rolled her eyes and leaned in to whisper.


    ¡°Just between you and me, I think they might¡¯ve been [Fishmongers] in their prior life.¡±


    My jaw dropped open at the sheer blasphemy. Iona belly laughed at the look on my face, Valytheria wavering and drawing a pattern in the clouds.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a tad blasphemous?¡± I suggested.


    Music to her little ears.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    We flew as I practiced, hitting town after town. [Luminary Mind] was a blessing, letting me split my attention and focus on everything going on. Some of the towns were ghosts, nary a soul between the homes. Simply... ghost towns. None of my senses saw bodies in those towns, but I didn¡¯t see footprints of a great migration out either. It was like they¡¯d all been scooped up.


    Other villages had been put to the torch, smoking and blackened beams the only traces of the town that had been.


    Many were surviving, not quite as reliant on the greater world as cities were, eking out a continued existence. The Mare was a great source of life... and the ash would be a challenge, but not quite as lethal to the denizens of the lake as it was to the animals who walked on land.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1266->1267 +200 Strength, +200 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +2000 Mana, +10000 Mana Regen, +4000 Magic Power, +4000 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    It was bound to happen eventually. The portfolio for [The Elaine] included everything I¡¯d done so far, which naturally encompassed being a Sentinel. This was a mission of mercy, a mission as a Sentinel, and it deeply struck at the heart of who I was.


    Frankly, I¡¯d been a little disappointed that Auri¡¯s mission had resulted in no levels for me at all. Then again, the math on balancing our respective levels got a little funky - it was possible for me to ¡®overlevel¡¯ slightly, then funnel more experience her way, and when that happened we¡¯d noticed things got a little unusual.


    Or we¡¯d just been at the start of a level, and slicing people up with an ancient divine artifact wasn¡¯t part of Auri¡¯s experience profile, so she didn¡¯t get much from it. ¡®Wielding weapons¡¯ was pretty far outside of what phoenix classes wanted to do.


    ¡°That town could be a good place to throw some seeds and farming equipment at.¡± I pointed to the most-preserved town I¡¯d seen so far.


    ¡°Sure, but do they need them or us?¡± Iona asked. ¡°No offense to you or them, it just feels like you¡¯d be giving the farmer his third plow, or fattening up his stores, not providing coal in the winter. As much as it looks like it¡¯s snowing right now.¡±


    Iona had a point, and we carried on.


    Two unusual towns stuck out in my mind.


    The first was simply gone, a scar in the earth suggesting it¡¯d been swallowed whole. Entirely possible, and I briefly mourned for the lost souls.


    The second had tripled in size, and fifty bodies swung from the gallows, a grim reminder of something.


    ¡°I want to circle back there when we can.¡± Iona noted the spot on her map, and I agreed with her.


    ¡°There¡¯s no chance the Ephesus Ranger team is free enough to check it out.¡± It was a shame - it was exactly the sort of thing they were for.


    With the speed we were going, Ephesus was in our sights a few minutes later.


    ¡°BrrrRRRPTTT????¡± Auri asked as she studied the city. She turned to me with a hopeful gleam in her eye.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Well... if it¡¯s hostile, sure, you seem to be the best bird for the case.¡± I confirmed.


    The city had been overtaken by a plant, best I could tell. Thick vines snaked through the city, lifting buildings up. Large leaves kept the ashes off, and flowers were blooming along its length. Branches - don¡¯t ask me how vines and branches were on the same tree, I¡¯d focused on flesh and blood [Biomancy] back in the day - hung heavy with fruits. They looked like oversized red pears, and the smell was amazing.


    My sharp eyes picked out a number of people moving through the city. They looked happy enough, plucking bright red head-sized fruits and eating them. Houses were shored up by the vines, and it wasn¡¯t like there were large thorns coming off all of them.


    ¡°What do we think?¡± I asked Iona as she pulled on the reins, Fenrir turning into a wide glide around the city. She squinted and shaded her eyes as she looked.


    I cast a little spell to improve her vision, magical binoculars.


    ¡°I think the city looks fine, there¡¯s a powerful Classer involved, and flying overhead or even close is a bad, bad idea. Nobody shows off something that strong without being able to protect it, and I doubt there¡¯s a guiding intelligence. Plus... put yourself in their shoes for a moment. What¡¯s more likely, a friendly wyvern or a ferocious one?¡±


    Fenrir snorted his protest. Iona patted the armor over his neck.


    ¡°Yes, you¡¯re friendly and ferocious.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡± Auri and plants went together about as well as fire and kindling. We could spend a few hours trying to figure things out, but I wasn¡¯t sure that was the best use of our time. A note to Katerina, a few scouts, and that would take care of it.


    We were the big hammer. It was nice to see other people helping, other Classers doing what they could, and poking around their business wasn¡¯t the best use of our time.


    ¡°Let¡¯s report back to Katerina, then sweep back out.¡± I suggested.


    There was a good use of our time, and I prayed to Ciriel. A belated whoops thought had me praying and dedicating some of my excess mana to the Goddess of Healing... something I should¡¯ve done before. Couldn¡¯t do it with [Persistent Casting], it was something [Prayer] could pull off.


    Heya!


    You mentioned I was the miracle!


    Well... some of the fires over here are out. Metaphorically speaking. Is there anywhere you need a miracle on wings?


    I instantly got a reply.


    Elaine!


    Yes!


    Iridellis could use your aid.


    I nodded, before my heart skipped a beat as I placed where it was.


    That was an elf city.

 Chapter 581: I will not discriminate who I heal

    We were at war.


    There was no debate about it, no question. The only true ¡®question¡¯ was whether Exterreri even continued to reasonably exist. The potential collapse of enough aspects of government and communication could have erased the realities of the nation.


    Everyone was at war, with some Classers seemingly hellbent on extermination, while others fought to protect people. Some fought for love, some for hate, and many hid. I found, in the moment, that I didn¡¯t care too much about the motives, simply what was in front of me. People needed my help. They wanted healing. I could provide it.


    I took a fairly hard line towards people trying to kill me, or the people under my protection. I knew my interpretation of my [Oath] was one of the harshest when it came to that aspect. I was no bleeding heart, I didn¡¯t have a whole lot of sympathy for hardened killers attacking other people.


    Zoomed out, on a scale? It was no contest. I wasn¡¯t going to hold civilians accountable for a soldier¡¯s actions. I wasn¡¯t going to hold it against a Classer¡¯s family what the Classer did.


    Ciriel said people needed help? People praying to the Goddess of Healing enough that she asked me to intervene? It was no question. I was going to help, even if they were going to pick up a knife and try to stick the pointy end inside me tomorrow.


    ¡°Cat¡¯s got your tongue?¡± Iona asked, prodding deeper with her question.


    I flipped over to the positive aspects. I could help Ciriel! I had an honest-to-goodness divine mission! How many people could say they¡¯d gotten one of those?


    ¡°I think I¡¯ve got my first divine mission of mercy.¡± I said with a note of wonder. Iona¡¯s face lit up like a child getting to play with the Mirage element for the first time. I knew what it meant to her, how much of her life she devoted to the goddesses, and once again she could share that with me. ¡°I wonder if helping out will level your [Paladin] class.¡±


    ¡°BrrRRRppt!¡± Auri trilled appreciatively. ¡°Brrpt?¡± She asked where, right as Iona spoke up.


    ¡°I can only hope, but more importantly, where is it, and what do you need to do?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Iridellis. Tympestshard. I hope there¡¯s no problem with that?¡± I asked.


    ¡°What are we going to do when they attack us?¡± Iona gestured broadly at us as she asked. ¡°Don¡¯t get me wrong, I¡¯m all for this, but we are going to get attacked, flying the colors we are, and we should have a plan for that.¡±


    I pictured it in my mind, and nodded.


    ¡°You¡¯re right. Let¡¯s get planning. Here¡¯s some ideas...¡±


    Fenrir circled the Sixth while Auri and I dropped down, lightly landing on the back of a wagon, in front of Katerina. I threw a fast salute at the woman, sitting on a stool in the middle, dictating to the [Scribes].


    Her curse meant she couldn¡¯t directly write reports, not anymore. Her mind was what the Sixth needed though, not her body.


    ¡°Sentinel Dawn. Report.¡± Katerina¡¯s wagon was closed top, with a permanent writing desk and mountains of paperwork and scrolls. Her [Scribes], [Aides], and [Messengers] hovered around the command wagon, along with a number of her support staff, the [Legata] continuing to command and operate even while on the move.


    ¡°Legata. The path and your desired location are relatively clear. We¡¯ve exterminated some of the monsters lurking there, it¡¯s deep wilderness and water, there¡¯s quite a lot still alive, and more will be attracted to the scent of blood. On the way back, we were forced to detour on a mission I¡¯ve sealed to secrecy. There might be some elven activity in the mountains to the south, but we¡¯ve removed what they¡¯re interested in, so hopefully they¡¯ll clear out. Ephesus seems to be well in hand. A Classer¡¯s gotten a plant to dominate the city. It¡¯s worth further investigation in the future to determine if it¡¯s truly beneficial, or subtly hostile. A glance suggests it¡¯s doing good things for the city. Here are the maps of the region.¡±


    Auri was doing her best to sagely nod along.


    With a gesture - more for clear communication of what I was doing than any need - a stack of Iona¡¯s maps ended up on a less-crowded section of one of the [Scribe¡¯s] desks. Katerina¡¯s eyes flickered to them, making an approving noise before carrying on.


    ¡°Excellent. I¡¯ve got some questions about what you saw, and any details you consider operationally important to me about the sealed event. First, you mentioned elves. Any Classers? Any chance of them intercepting us? What would you say...¡±


    Katerina rapidly interrogated me for three minutes, firing off questions as quickly as I could answer them. Neither of us were bothering to slow down, moving at top speed to communicate as much information as I could, as quickly as we could. We both knew that time meant lives.


    ¡°Excellent work Dawn. Two centuries were sent north to gather the remnants of the Sixth¡¯s camp and bring them south. If you could check on them, that would be appreciated.¡±


    I saluted my acknowledgement, and bulldozed her with my request.


    ¡°I will also be casting a wider net. My team and I are going to scout further into Exterreri, see what needs to be done, and heal anyone who needs it. A team of Moonlit Medics for the entire country.¡±


    Auri¡¯s beak went right into the air like it was her idea.


    Katerina wasn¡¯t an idiot, and we both knew she¡¯d be undermining her own authority hard if she demanded I stay. She also knew that, right now, she didn¡¯t need me, not as badly as other people did.


    ¡°Go.¡± She said. ¡°And may the gods be with you.¡±


    The levels rolled in as we flew over the countryside, hitting city after city.


    It was sobering. I¡¯d just visited these cities, some a few days ago, on Arachne¡¯s ¡®purge the disease¡¯ mission. Yet, some were in utter ruins, gone in a blink of an eye.


    I wished I could properly analyze what happened here. Go down on the streets, study the disaster and the impact. It was unlikely to change my image or what I needed to do, but the knowledge could be invaluable. Could help another healer, prevent another disaster.


    Another part wished that people could just understand. That I could walk up to the gates, have them thrown open and be able to do what I needed to do without fear or worries. Unfortunately, all that took time, and while I waited and dithered and guards went to fetch the right people and it was all cleared, people died.


    I had no tolerance for people dying, not when I could do something about it.


    We hit the outer edge of the auras at speed. Gouts of nearly-invisible flames flared and burned the way forward, Auri slicing through the majority of the woven spells. To my eye, some of them disintegrated, the threads burning all the way down, while others snapped back. Some remained static, and one thrashed as if it was in pain. Some of the wards burned a hole like paper, others tried to flow back like water.


    She couldn¡¯t get all of them, not at the speed we were going at, but some of the wards Auri didn¡¯t get, the drops and lines, slid off us like water off a duck¡¯s back. [Greater Invisibility] could handle a lot.


    We could talk, but there was no need to. We all knew things were going well, but they couldn¡¯t last. Levels scrolled by at speed, which was only to be expected. Something new, something outside my usual operations, yet laid at exactly the heart of what it meant to be [The Elaine]? A mission of mercy requested by the literal Goddess of Healing?


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1269->1270 +200 Strength, +200 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +2000 Mana, +10000 Mana Regen, +4000 Magic Power, +4000 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1270->1271]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1271->1272]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Seraph of the Dawn] has leveled up! 985->994 +512 Speed, +512 Vitality, +1024 Mana, +1024 Mana Regeneration, +1024 Magic Power, +1024 Magic Control per level from your class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Strength +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Sage of Tomes] has leveled up! 911->926 +1500 Magic Power, +1500 Magic Control, +700 Mana, +700 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Magic Power from your Element per level!]


    Oh hey, Auri was also getting good experience out of this. Wooo shared experience!


    At this rate I was going to speed level [The Elaine], capping it in a week when it had taken me decades for [Arbiter]. Sure, the whole world was on fire, which was helping a bit.


    Even at a distance, I was able to see the impact of my work, of my abilities. Not only was I leveling, but my mana was actually dropping, the costs outstripping my regeneration. The city¡¯s massive buildings looked like they¡¯d been poked by a hot brand, clean holes ripping straight through. Disturbingly, the marks matched gigantic claws - I could imagine a Darkness dragon simply raking his claws through the city to cause the damage. Makeshift medical tents had been set up, and my eyes spotted dozens of commotions near them.


    I felt a deep sense of satisfaction at that. ¡®Wait, what, we¡¯re all healed, what¡¯s going on?¡¯ was a most excellent surprise, one I was happy to deliver. I¡¯d never get credit for this action, I¡¯d never be thanked. The happy smiles, the toddlers bouncing around their mother, a pair of elves so graceful and ageless I couldn¡¯t guess their relationship embracing, that was the only reward I¡¯d ever get for today, for here and now.


    It couldn¡¯t last, and it didn¡¯t. We were a sharp knife, cutting through hundreds of spells and auras, and one of them had to have an ¡®I¡¯ve been broken¡¯ alert, a fine tripwire to warn the caster of a problem. It happened later than I feared, but a gigantic burst of Radiance from the city was enough to strip and cancel the [Greater Invisibility] on three of us - Auri¡¯s small size let her hide in Fenrir¡¯s shadow.


    ¡°Up, up, up!¡± Iona urged Fenrir as the alarm quickly spread, the first few enterprising elves attempting to get the [Wyvern Slayer] class. Everyone was on a hair trigger. Sharp rocks and broken glass, Metal beams and Water jets, everything but the kitchen sink was thrown at Fenrir¡¯s armored underside.


    Lightning splashed harmlessly against him - [Lightning Resistance] for the win - but a swarm of bioengineered bees, of all things, were able to catch up and swarm us, looking for places to sting.


    The irony wasn¡¯t lost on me that Radiance ended up being our biggest problem. Right as we were over the far wall of the city, right as it looked like we were free and clear, a hair-thin beam of Radiance lanced out from the ground, melting a fine hole through Fenrir¡¯s armor and trying to cook him from the inside out. My [Universal Cure] image naturally included Fenrir, and he was fine.


    A dozen angry elves chased us away from the city, but Fenrir was a high level wyvern, and the lack of any obvious damage or harm besides buzzing the city had the Classer defenders reluctant to pursue.


    ¡°Yes! We did it!¡± Iona twisted back and we high-fived. Auri hopped over and joined in the celebrations. I checked the last level I got, grinning. Ciriel had been right, the city had been in dire need of a healer swinging by.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1292 -> 1293]


    Hey Ciriel! I did it! Mission Accomplished! I cheerfully sent up the Goddess¡¯s way. A glance at Iona revealed she¡¯d also benefited from the mission.


    [Warrior - 1248].


    Our Moonfall operation had done fantastic things for her level, even if she wasn¡¯t leveling at the same rate I was currently. A bit of a reverse from what we expected. At the same time, this sort of thing was exactly what Fenrir wanted to do class-wise, as far as I could tell. He was basically asserting aerial dominance over large, high-level cities, proving that he was the uncontested [Lord of the Frozen Skies]. For a given definition of uncontested. Either way - fantastic experience for him, and he¡¯d even growled out a whole conversation with Iona about wrapping a city in snowfall while we were at it.


    I noticed, thank you so much! You¡¯re just the BEST! Can you do a few more? Ciriel whispered in my ear.


    I didn¡¯t even need to ask the rest what they thought of Ciriel''s request.


    Of course. Tell me more.


    We hit five more cities before things got close enough that we decided to head back to the Sixth, and see how they were doing.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1293 -> 1344]

 Chapter 582: Decisions

    I pouted as we flew back to Exterreri, moving through a cold and wet cloudbank. Made us a little harder to see, a little harder to find, even as rain pelted my face hard enough to bruise. Well, if I was a normal human, anyway. Auri had her Lava ring of rocks spinning around her at furious speeds, the entire thing blurring into a solid-looking ring of dozens of glowing colors. Steam hissed and sizzled off the rings as she impacted raindrops, muttering to herself how she hated the weather.


    Which, to be fair, was pretty miserable when you were a phoenix made out of fire.


    We¡¯d gotten hit by something nasty at the last city we were at, and my wonderful spellbook of [Greater Invisibility] runes had bit the dust. [Clad in Twilight] was a solid armor skill, but [The Arbiter of Life and Death] didn¡¯t have anything to do with books the way [Sage of Tomes] did, and the vitality protection didn¡¯t extend to books the same way it did to my clothing, armor, and weapons. I was already tracing out more runes into a spellbook, but not as aggressively. Not as full.


    Blank spellbooks were now a difficult to replace resource, and I needed to conserve what I had. I couldn¡¯t just snap my fingers and create everything needed to make paper, let alone good paper. Fuck this whole war thing.


    ¡°We were only helping.¡± I sulked. ¡°They didn¡¯t need to be that aggressive about it.¡±


    Iona patted my arm, her other hand massaging my neck in exactly the way I liked. My eyelids fluttered as her distraction worked exactly as she intended it to.


    ¡°Looking for the Sixth¡¯s convoy now, yeah?¡± Iona asked. I reluctantly tore myself away from her tender ministrations.


    ¡°Yes... but no. We¡¯ve done a lot for me, my people, and what I want. What about you? Is there anywhere you want to go? Any miracles the Moon Goddesses want us to perform on their behalf? A favorite place, a person who needs to be rescued? Finding Nina, Alruna, anyone?¡±


    It was like I¡¯d dropped a load of bricks on Iona¡¯s back.


    ¡°I want to make it back to Sanguino and Orthus quickly. I do know once we¡¯re there we¡¯re unlikely to move around lots, and I do want to keep helping people. When do we stop? The balance is hard, and I don¡¯t know what the right answer is.¡±


    I went quiet at that, mulling it over.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what the right answer is either.¡± I said as Auri hopped over to us, fluttering up to my shoulder. ¡°The dozens of people we know and are close with, or the millions of strangers. I sound like an ass saying it like that, but...¡±


    ¡°But there¡¯s always another stranger.¡± Iona finished my thought, nodding. ¡°And we¡¯ll never say no to them. But where¡¯s the line, when do we stop to look after our own house? What¡¯s right?¡±


    ¡°When do we look after your needs, versus my desires.¡± I concluded.


    ¡°There¡¯s no good answer, all we can do is follow our heart.¡± Iona said. ¡°How do we feel about this: Exterreri¡¯s friendly territory. We¡¯ve got maps of the cities. Let¡¯s zig zag east, buzz cities we haven¡¯t visited before, circle Sanguino, and see what¡¯s going on at Orthus. Settle them, see what we can do to fix as many problems as we can there, take a week or three or eight. Then we all hop on Fenrir, and tour cities until we drop.¡±


    ¡°Brpt!¡± Auri wanted to put a hard limit on how long we stayed until heading out again.


    ¡°There might not be any cities by then... but that¡¯s a thought, hang on.¡± I said. ¡°Massa collapsed fairly quickly, but it¡¯s not like other cities and towns aren¡¯t going to have similar problems, just on a longer timeline. Auri¡¯s right. After a certain point, going back out is almost pointless, there isn¡¯t the grain moving around to support large population centers, there won¡¯t be high density targets to heal and assist.¡±


    A thousand bunkers scattered all over the world, yes. A hundred thousand farms, absolutely. But no easy ¡®we can do so much good¡¯ centers.


    ¡°Eight cities.¡± Iona proposed. ¡°Let¡¯s keep going until we hit eight empty, dead, or destroyed cities in a row, then head to Orthus. That can be our signal that enough has fallen apart that there¡¯s not much more we can reasonably do, and we should start tending to ourselves and our homes and loved ones.¡±


    The idea was like a balm on my soul, a way to relieve the part of me that screamed fly and save with every fiber of your being until you drop dead. Those with power should use it.


    If I couldn¡¯t find anyone to help, then it only made sense to stop, circle back to people I could, and look after them and my family.


    ¡°Agreed.¡± I said. ¡°Auri? Fenrir?¡±


    ¡°Brpt!¡± Auri was all for it. The Phoenix Peaks were a little short of invincible, and she¡¯d already accepted her nest, flower fields, bakery, and home as a loss. However, perhaps, maybe, we could make it four cities in a row, not eight.


    I... wasn¡¯t ready to accept them all being gone. We didn¡¯t know, they could still be there.


    ¡°Fenrir? Anything to add?¡± Iona asked. He snorted, and said the one word that summed up his perspective.


    ¡°Case.¡± He said.


    ¡°Alright! Let¡¯s go!¡± Iona whooped, and we were off.


    Fenrir dipped down below the clouds and we scanned around.


    ¡°River there.¡± Iona pointed out.


    ¡°Mountains to the south... as usual.¡±


    ¡°Detail, I¡¯m going to borrow you for a moment. I need a [Scribe] who can rapidly make copies.¡± I pointed to two of Leona¡¯s soldiers, then popped into my [Tower].


    First up was breakfast-lunch-dinner for Iona, Auri, and myself, then a heaping helping of raw meat for Fenrir. It wasn¡¯t going to be enough for him, but it should take the edge off long enough for him to try hunting. I then grabbed several bags of seeds - mainly wheat, it was an easier crop - and a single sample of a variety of unusual farming tools.


    I teleported back out and dropped most of the supplies in front of one of the soldiers I¡¯d commandeered, [Teleporting] lunch to Auri, Iona, and Fenrir. Iona smoothly grabbed hers out of the air, and Fenrir blurred as he simply snapped, grabbing his dinner whole to the startlement of everyone else. Auri completely fumbled it - but it might have been on purpose, trying to be a bit of a comedian in the face of disaster and ruin.


    I mentally flicked through the minor disaster that was my [Library], pulling out an eclectic variety of books and blueprints. Honestly, if I¡¯d known everything was going to go to shit so quickly, I would¡¯ve raided a few extra libraries. A tiny part of me mourned at the necessity of moving quickly and rapidly to save lives, that I couldn¡¯t justify dropping down onto so many abandoned cities and looting their libraries clean.


    Perhaps when things were just a little more settled I could try. I¡¯d hopefully get to them before the rain and the bugs destroyed them all.


    [Luminary Mind] continued to let me do multiple things at once, and I [Teleported] the various tools I¡¯d grabbed onto a soft landing before they could all fall - I didn¡¯t want to be standing here awkwardly juggling a thresher, among other things.


    ¡°Detail, these are some useful tools. See them secured and organized.¡± I ordered.


    I could see the brief flash of despair deep in his eyes as he saluted, one I knew well. The ¡®superior in the chain of command has given me an impossible order, and now I¡¯ve got to figure it all out myself.¡¯ I only felt a little bad.


    ¡°Sentinel, as you command.¡± He said.


    I devoured my own lunch while waiting for the [Scribe], starting to get impatient. Sure, it had only been a minute since I¡¯d sent the soldier off for one, and they couldn¡¯t move at a multiple of the speed of sound, but time was lives right now.


    I saw them hurrying over a moment later, and three quick [Teleports] later I was in front of them, sending the poor woman jumping a foot in the air.


    ¡°I need you to make three copies of each of these as quickly as you can.¡± I handed her a sheaf of papers, flipping open books to various pages and marking them. ¡°Also, a copy of each of these pages. Then file them away, let the Optio know what you¡¯ve got and where. These are important, they could save your life.¡± I stressed.


    The [Scribe] nodded without a word, simply picking up the first paper with ink-stained hands. A blueprint of how a simple fishing boat was put together. With the Sixth settling down on Lake Mare, they¡¯d need all the fishing help they could get, and it wasn¡¯t a given that they had any [Shipwrights]. The Legion had many skills, but [Siege Engineers] weren¡¯t usually taught how to make boats. With a skill letting her hover the paper in front of her, she flicked the page with her left hand, then pulled out three blank pieces of paper. Each flick of her right hand on the page perfectly copied the contents over, creases and all.


    I left her to her work. I¡¯d included everything I thought Katerina could use for the budding town she was trying to flash assemble. Boats, designs, farming techniques, agricultural practices. My heart of hearts really wanted to include science, philosophy, history, a dozen cultures and more, but I forced myself to be pragmatic. There was more to do, more places to go, more people I needed to help, and the world wasn¡¯t entirely on my shoulders. Maxlin, the [Alchemist], had his own notes and knowledge, and he wasn¡¯t the only one.


    My shoulders were not the only ones trying to hold up the sky.


    I was the only one with the healing power and mobility, and a quick analysis of my stats suggested I might be the literal best in the world.


    Black quality classes were rare, even for the best of the best. No matter how much the elves declaimed cycling the end-all be-all for class quality, it was nearly impossible to brute-force a black class. The strongest ease of access to quality class ratio I knew of was [Loremaster], where simple knowledge and the will to do something about it granted a modestly high quality class. There had to be a few more, hidden, secret, around somewhere, and dragons were known bullshit, but generally it was hard to get the highest quality classes.


    Each level I got in [The Elaine] was worth four-ish levels of a - low quality - dark purple class, eight-ish levels of a light purple class, and sixteen-ish levels of a blue quality class. Being a Sentinel of Remus, one of humanity¡¯s only defenders, fighting back the Formorians, being a Ranger, going on various missions - that had only been worth dark green.


    One level of [The Elaine] was worth thirty two levels in a dark green class, and that quality had impressed the elves I¡¯d met once upon a time.


    I was approaching 600 levels in maximum black-quality classes. 581, to be exact. That was the same stats as 18,592 dark green quality levels, which was impossible. A Classer would cap all three of their classes before being able to gain that many levels. It wasn¡¯t quite that simple - high level classes gave more stats per level-quality than low level classes - but the idea remained.


    Before my [Oath], I was potentially stronger than a level 4000 healer with average class qualities, if average were dark green or even blue quality!


    Before[Oath].


    I wasn¡¯t going to try and work out relative skill qualities, but I knew I had some of the best of the best.


    Then how many healers were as durable and quick as I was? As speedy as Fenrir, as able to go into hostile territory and enforce their desire for nobody to die like I was?


    No, I didn¡¯t think it was ego talking when I believed I was one of the best in the world, possibly the best in the world.


    Anyone, arguably everyone, could rebuild civilization. Could copy blueprints, find old books, reinvent old discoveries.


    Only I could heal people the way I did, and that¡¯s where my time was best spent. The Sixth had their own lines of [Healers], I was almost redundant when it was more ¡®peaceful¡¯.


    As soon as we were rested enough, we¡¯d be back in the air, doing everything we could.


    It would have to be enough.

 Chapter 583: Nadir

    Chapter 583: Nadir


    We flew, we healed, we fought and we ran. Levels rolled in like the tide. We got hit by Lightning, buffeted by Gale winds strong enough to move Fenrir, and almost smacked by the Sea of Stars as something tried to ¡®lift¡¯ the entire thing up.


    We¡¯d followed the coast of the Sea of Stars, civilization sprouting where water met land like moss on a stone.


    We were in Nippon-Koku when the sky turned to flames. I wasn¡¯t being metaphorical - from horizon to horizon, clouds, sun and sky were replaced by a thick layer of roiling red flames, an inferno burning crimson above us. I couldn¡¯t feel the heat, but it immediately made Iona break out in buckets of sweat. Fenrir started to droop and wilt, conjuring up thick plates of Ice around him to try and cool off. They boiled away, wreathing us in steam. A massive updraft as the Inferno sucked in all the air tried to pull Fenrir up, the thermals pushing him a second time.


    ¡°Lunaris¡¯s gaze.¡± Iona swore. ¡°Elaine, armor in storage, now!¡± She shouted, knocking her helmet with a hand.


    Iona sat behind me on Fenrir, which meant I was usually leaning up against her. She clearly had dropped her armor-reinforcing skill, and while Fenrir continued to generate more steam than a dwarven forge, I slapped my hand on Iona¡¯s helmet, making sure it was included, then teleported into my [Tower].


    Each part of Fenrir¡¯s gear was connected and touching every other part, and I couldn¡¯t take one piece without taking all of it. Which was nice - I was able to take all of it, thank you 2.5 million magic power, although Fenrir¡¯s size versus my tower¡¯s storage forced it to ¡®jumble around¡¯ as it came in. With a well-practiced thought, I moved his armor to its designated spot, before continuing to [Teleport] Iona¡¯s armor and my gear onto their respective armor stands.


    Notifications started to ding.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Seraph of the Dawn] has leveled up! 994->996 +512 Speed, +512 Vitality, +1024 Mana, +1024 Mana Regeneration, +1024 Magic Power, +1024 Magic Control per level from your class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Strength +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Sage of Tomes] has leveled up! 926->932 +1500 Magic Power, +1500 Magic Control, +700 Mana, +700 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Magic Power from your Element per level!]


    [*ding!* [Teleportation] leveled up! 510 -> 511]


    [*ding!* [Tower of Knowledge] leveled up! 434-> 435]


    I snapped out of [Tower] a moment later and reoriented to where Fenrir was slowly flying. I zipped over, the wyvern looking much happier and steam no longer billowing off him. Auri was proudly puffed up, and I had to imagine she¡¯d done something with the heat. It¡¯d explain all the levels from the shared experience. Iona¡¯s undershirt was still soaked through, and any other time I¡¯d appreciate the view.


    ¡°What do we think?¡± I asked as I landed, delicately leaning away from Iona. She was sweaty, and I loved her but did not want a sweat bath. No thank you. Not even at the end of the world, which this looked like.


    Iona opened her mouth to answer, but the sky did the explaining.


    We moved quickly, and it had been mere seconds since the sky had turned to an Inferno. A huge fireball ripped itself from the fire clouds, wider than Fenrir was long, and screamed down to the landscape below like a burning meteor strike.


    That was the first one. It was joined by dozens, hundreds, thousands more as far as the eye could see.


    A few headed our way. I doubted they were aimed, we just happened to be in the line of fire.


    ¡°BRRPT!¡± Auri ordered Fenrir to fly straight up, at the same angle they were coming down. The wyvern obeyed without question, and Auri stared fiercely at the firestorm, beak pointed directly at the incoming strike.


    I had just enough time and presence of mind to pull out a spellbook and cast breathing bubbles on all of us. The flames threatened to suffocate us.


    It was possible to tell exactly what her range was. The moment we got close enough the fireballs veered off course, crashing into each other.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1349->1350 +200 Strength, +200 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +2000 Mana, +10000 Mana Regen, +4000 Magic Power, +4000 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Seraph of the Dawn] has leveled up! 996->998 +512 Speed, +512 Vitality, +1024 Mana, +1024 Mana Regeneration, +1024 Magic Power, +1024 Magic Control per level from your class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Strength +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Sage of Tomes] has leveled up! 932->935 +1500 Magic Power, +1500 Magic Control, +700 Mana, +700 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Magic Power from your Element per level!]


    The experience overflowed nicely to me.


    We survived the first wave, then the second. The Sea of Stars started to boil and hiss as endless strikes hit it, the land burning as far as the eye could see. The whole world became fire and flames, a playground for Auri and a burning hellscape for the rest of us.


    A third and fourth wave hit, and then they were coming so fast and furious I couldn¡¯t tell the difference between them.


    I was willing to bet it was exactly eight waves though.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Seraph of the Dawn] has leveled up! 998->999 +512 Speed, +512 Vitality, +1024 Mana, +1024 Mana Regeneration, +1024 Magic Power, +1024 Magic Control per level from your class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Strength +1 Mana Regeneration from your Element per level!]


    This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    Iona snapped her head around.


    ¡°Incoming.¡± She pointed, and my eyes followed.


    I stood up and waved.


    ¡°Heeeey! Skater! Over here!¡± I yelled, continuing to try and wave the Sentinel down.


    The Sentinel turned and skated over to us, conjuring Ice in mid-air right in front of her ice skates, moving with impossible grace and beauty. She had a whole sleigh behind her, one rope over her shoulder to pull the dozen people and piled bags on top of it. Her personal team and preferred mode of transportation. It was pretty slick, and Skater loved that pun.


    ¡°Dawn! Happy you¡¯re still alive! What¡¯s the situation?¡± She asked.


    I gestured towards where I expected the capital city to be.


    ¡°I mean, not to be rude, but what¡¯s the situation here?¡± I asked.


    ¡°I have no idea.¡± She answered. ¡°Pillar of light came out of the sky. We raced over here, found a smoking hole being filled in by water. We¡¯ve been sticking in the area to find other survivors. What¡¯s the deal with... you¡¯re attached with the Sixth, yeah?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Sixth is... I don¡¯t want to call it dissolving, but they¡¯ve decided to settle down on the shores of Lake Mare and try to simply survive. It¡¯s the [Legata¡¯s] decision, but I don¡¯t do a whole lot of good standing around and making sure all their injuries are fixed up. They¡¯ve got their own Optio of [Healers], and I¡¯m able to move around quickly, help everyone. Huge firestorm in Nippon-Koku, we didn¡¯t see much in the way of survivors. Was hoping there¡¯d be something in Sanguino regarding command and control, but... that idea seems to be a bust.¡±


    Deep inside, I was mourning. I thought I was fresh out of grief, but my empathy wasn¡¯t done, was still far too willing to kick me while I was down. There had been over a million souls in Sanguino, all of which were gone.


    I didn¡¯t believe for a second that Night or Arachne had died, but everyone else? Marcelle? Atlas? The rest of the friends I¡¯d made over the years, Sentinels I knew had been stationed here?


    I was already writing their names down in my Book of the Dead, already planning on a funeral and how I¡¯d immortalize their names.


    Night had it right. A great stone wall, with every name carved by hand. It¡¯d take me a decade or two to write down everyone¡¯s name, but was a life not worth the effort? A form of Immortality, too little, too late, but a way to ensure their name was remembered and spoken forever more, staving off the second death.


    People died twice. Once when their soul was released from their body, and a second time when their name passed a person¡¯s lips for the final time.


    Once more, I would write their names. Once more, I would speak each one, keeping their spark alive, blowing on their embers to keep my solemn promise.


    I will not forget you.


    ¡°Night¡¯s probably off assassinating elves, the slippery bastard.¡± Skater said admiringly. ¡°What are you thinking of doing?¡±


    Auri and Iona were trading various looks with the members of Skater¡¯s team. My social bee of a wife knew most of them, and traded relieved looks. Auri was strutting up and down Fenrir¡¯s head like a runway model - I¡¯m glad she was distracting herself - and the mighty wyvern was hovering still in midair.


    ¡°I want to go home.¡± I said honestly. ¡°There¡¯s a whole community there that I asked to bunker down. See how they¡¯re doing, then fly back to the Sixth and let them know what¡¯s going on here. See if I can spot anyone else.¡±


    Skater traced a circle with the tip of her eponymous skates in the ice.


    ¡°I might do that myself.¡± She said. ¡°First settlement I¡¯ve heard of. Got a map? And need anything? We¡¯re well supplied, always happy to lend a hand. Pere has got one heck of a bag storage skill.¡±


    I grinned.


    ¡°I was about to ask you the same thing! I¡¯ve got a vault-like skill, I¡¯ve been stocking it for decades at this point. Here, let me show you where Orthus is. You¡¯ll be able to find us there.¡±


    ¡°Lead the way!¡± Skater said.


    It was a shame I couldn¡¯t just point to it - we could certainly see far enough on a clear day. The falling ashes created a haze thick enough that I could see all of where Sanguino should be, but not another twenty miles to where our home and mountain was, along with Orthus village.


    We flew at speed, my heart sinking a moment later as we were able to see the devastation that had been our home.


    My mango trees were burning.

 Chapter 584: The First Pillar of Civilization

    My mango trees were burning.


    Half the mountain was burning, one of the endless wildfires dotting the landscape. A cursory look suggested some asshole Classer had dropped a [Firebomb] or something similar on our villa - it was nearly charred black, with burnt and blackened trees surrounding our home, followed by a ring of fire around it. Trees crackled and popped, sap boiling out and exploding, while flaming branches fell over, spreading the fire more. The enchantments I¡¯d laid on my orchard had slowed the flames down - only sensible, given that I lived with Auri - but it was clear at a glance that the trees were beyond saving. They weren¡¯t in the ¡®edges of the trees are getting crispy¡¯ phase, they were full-on ¡®burning bush immolation¡¯ phase.


    As much as I loved them, as often as I¡¯d enjoyed their tender, succulent fruits, they weren¡¯t what was important right now.


    ¡°Bunker.¡± Iona and I said at the same time. Fenrir needed no encouragement, immediately diving down towards his burning lair. He unhinged his jaws and a mighty [Ice Beam] went through the inferno, the temperature plummeting to an uncomfortable degree.


    Sentinel Skater whooped behind us and dove straight in, firing Icy blasts from her hands. Auri fluttered down as well, and while not quite as dramatic as the other two, she was remarkably effective. The moment she got near, the flames were simply snuffed out.


    Fenrir pulled up near the concealed entrance to the bunker, and Iona and I fearlessly dove off. A suspicious rockslide had buried the entrance, and Iona swore as she started to grab rocks larger than she was, and simply hurled them away.


    ¡°Everyone¡¯s alive.¡± I said, seeing them through [The World Around Me]. ¡°They¡¯re unhappy, but alive. Going in.¡±


    I [Teleported] through the meters of rocks, appearing inside the bunker.


    We¡¯d dug it out over the years, and when it became clear that we wanted to also have a safe spot for Orthus village, we¡¯d spent significant time and effort expanding it again and again and again, enough room for some 200 souls. It wasn¡¯t comfortable room, to be sure. The bunk beds were four to a room, the sanitation was basically a line of holes over a single deep hole, the food was as basic as could be, Iona had to bend her neck to navigate the low hallways, the ventilation was questionable, and there was always the lingering question of ¡®what do people DO while stuck in here¡¯, but the point wasn¡¯t comfort, the point was pure survival.


    People had survived, which was more than could be said for the citizens of Sanguino, and a hundred other cities.


    I teleported sideways, close to the ceiling, and grabbed on with my fingers and heel to the top of the hallway. I clung to the ceiling like a spider, an impossible maneuver without my dexterity. Being able to grab things with my heel just made perfect sense.


    The tiny part of my [Luminary Mind] that remembered Earth was screaming that it made no sense at all.


    It was the only way I could fit in - the hallway was packed with people, and to my poor senses and understanding, was threatening to start a crush.


    I spent a few leisurely moments in the confines of my mind working everything out. There was time, a hasty move now could make this dramatically worse.


    We had to bow to natural sciences when making the bunker. We couldn¡¯t assume people with particular skills would make it to the bunker, either due to an accident, them traveling, or, pure and simple, dying of old age before needing it. The place was built entirely agnostically to skills and magic, no enchantments requiring arcanite to upkeep. People needed to breathe, there was no way around it. That meant we needed ventilation - and the fires raging outside were happily sucking the air out of the bunker on one end, and pouring smoke in the other. Add in the doors being blocked by a landslide - we¡¯d picked a place where there couldn¡¯t be a landslide - and the place was a dry mass of grass that had a flaming torch thrown into it.


    It really, really didn¡¯t help that the bunker was hilariously over capacity. A quick skim suggested around 600 people were inside, which was absurd. We didn¡¯t have the capabilities for that many people. What started off cozy for 200 had turned into downright cramped for 600, and that was before endless objects had been dragged in as well. We did not need grandma¡¯s favorite dresser... okay, to be fair, it was pulling serious weight storing things. There had been rules set down for use of the bunker, rules that had been put aside and disregarded.


    Then again, if I were Skye and 400 people showed up demanding entry, it might be hard to turn them away. In the end, if it worked out, I wasn¡¯t going to complain that our preparations had saved triple the lives we thought it could.


    It wasn¡¯t like people had decided to lie down and die. A strong light from deeper in the bunker was letting people see, a cleaning skill kept the latrines from stinking, [Musicians] were playing and kids were being entertained. Food was being spiced up, and most of the smoke was being pulled into a tight ball, then released back out through one of the vents.


    Skye and the [Mayor] were surrounded by angry - panicked, really, but one emotion flowed into the next - [Villagers]. Varuna, Skye¡¯s bonded unicorn, was behind her, an intimidating show of muscle and horn brought down quite a bit by how much he needed to hunch over. The place was not unicorn-sized, but the magical effects of his hooves, horn, and mane were magnified in the dark. Titania was being a gem, as always, keeping a portion of the bunker clean and tidy on her own. Secondus Nix, my once-apprentice and grandson of Nix, was cuddled up with his wife and baby. More friends and familiar faces were here, a testament to the decades of preparation.


    They¡¯d worked.


    Alright. With Iona about to show up, all I needed to do was to keep a lid on everything for the next hour, tops, and stop people from self-destructing. I mentally flipped through my spell list before deciding that I needed to manually draw a rune big enough for all the power and mana I was going to shove into it, and [Teleported] twice next to Skye.


    [Luminary Mind] was a champion, letting me do a half dozen things at the same time to regain control of the situation.


    With one thought I cast [The Mantle of Dusk and Dawn] in the stars, or dawn, configuration, boxing in everyone into their own private hexagon. My mana flickered as people crashed into the cage, and the cold truth of my shield skill tried to rear its ugly head again. I spent mana per impact, and boxing in slightly north of a hundred people all at once wasn¡¯t cheap or simple, not when all their physical stats came to bear.


    Except my mana regeneration came out like an angry bear, laughed at the drain, and smacked the cold truth back into its lair.


    Efficiency? Power? Cost? All was made futile in front of overwhelming System-granted power. I caught the thought and chucked it down a mineshaft. Maybe the Shluggoth would eat it.


    Overwhelming levels and power was no substitute for good governance, or letting me think I should push people around just because. Down that path lay becoming a [Warlord], and Night¡¯s earliest lessons resonated the hardest with me.


    I would not become a warlord, I would not use my strength as an excuse to do what I wanted. Sometimes, rarely, I needed to be a brute to save a bad situation, but leaning on that excuse was a sure-fire way to go down a bad path.


    The road to hell was paved with good intentions, and I had to remember that.


    The second thought was casting [A Light Shining in the Darkness] behind myself, lighting the room up like a shadeless day under the noon sun. A ¡®Pay attention to me¡¯, when combined with popping my halo from [Sunrise Halo] made me impossible to ignore.


    The third was conjuring up a pot of ink and a quill, then using a short, powerful Radiance pulse to etch a rune as large as I was into the wall, molten stone starting to drip out. I [Teleported] it into a cooling slag heap at my feet, then my hand blurred as it filled in the gap with ink, using [Reality, Writ As You Will] to create the largest single Jiwa rune I¡¯d ever cast. Size did matter - the larger the rune, the larger the strokes, the more mana could be channeled through it, the bigger the impact. No teeny tiny runes with gigantic effects.


    [Immaculate Purification] was cast a moment later, purging everything from smoke to stink, from the latrines to the frankly criminal lack of bathing. My ruminations on not being a [Warlord] crossed the [Luminary Mind¡¯s] barrier, suggesting that maybe I should simply campaign really, really hard to get everyone to agree on bathing being legally mandated.


    A fourth thought cast a spell I only had one of, and it was going to be really unfortunate that my next spell was going to directly contest it. Mana against mana, power against power, odds were decent that I¡¯d be murdering my own mana pool trying to cast and use both at the same time. A strong [Silence] spell muted everyone.


    A fifth cast a simple voice amplification spell, one I¡¯d used a thousand times.


    Where would we put it? There wasn¡¯t a good answer.


    Then we got to the fun part.


    Under a thick mist Fenrir and Auri cooked up together, along with two Mist users, a modest group of us left the bunker. There were two ¡®groups¡¯ as I saw it. The Classers, like me, Iona, Skye, and a few others. Then the ones I was calling ¡®potential¡¯ - teenagers and young adults willing to torch a number of their current skills and classes to get the skills and classes needed.


    I thought quite highly of them, willing to do what needed to be done now. They had the grit, the spark, and the opportunity to become Classers. I thought less of the ones who could¡¯ve been involved, and decided not to. Life would teach them a harsh lesson soon enough.


    We went down to the new edge of Bloodmoon Bay. Sanguino had been founded there for a reason, and given the speed of the Immortal War and the fact that it¡¯d been two weeks since we¡¯d last heard from anyone - on our side or not - we figured it was safe enough.


    It was a little morbid, but the remnants of the city walls made for a large, easy source of already-cut stone. No need to quarry and level and haul tons of rocks - they were literally right there for the taking. The stones were barely cool, a grave marker of a million souls, and we went straight to planning on how to chop them up and use them best.


    If the infernal ashfall didn¡¯t stop before next spring, if we didn¡¯t start getting good sunlight and soon, starvation was an ugly specter looming over our shoulders.


    I¡¯d spent the last four weeks zipping back and forth across the country, finding small settlements and communicating information between them. The last two weeks had been fairly unsuccessful, a number of the settlements hiding, moving, or vanishing, hence the long time between contact. The Sixth were the only people still in position. We were basically glorified [Couriers], a vestige of communication. Given how many people were trying to hide from prowling Immortals looking to get one last lick in or the final levels before they ascended, I didn¡¯t blame them. We got quite a few ascension notifications. I was convinced most of them were on a mountain of bodies, and mentally resolved not to pray to any of them.


    ¡°Ready?¡± Skye asked us.


    ¡°Ready!¡± I replied, with various noises of assent being made by others.


    ¡°Start here.¡± Iona gestured to the exact spot we needed to start. A small stake was down at the ¡®starting point¡¯, a fine thread wrapped around it. It was on a large, flat rock that jutted into Bloodmoon Bay, near where we expected a harbor to eventually end up. The bay, and the Sea of Stars at large, was too useful and vital a resource to simply ignore. Life came from the oceans. Fish and seaweed, clams and oysters, the sea was a vast bounty rich in harvest.


    I was still a little unconvinced that we needed to lay down the grid of Orthus Town before, you know, plowing, but I was out-voted by people who spent their lives studying this sort of thing. I had books upon books of academic knowledge, Skye had more targeted experience. Sure, a lot of it was academic in a sense, but it was also vastly different.


    There were a dozen different skills we could use for this, but my ability to have them ¡®all in one¡¯ was a big help. I used [Reality, Writ As You Will] to draw a mandala that included several exact right angles, along with a couple more ¡®anchor¡¯ angles so I was going in the right direction. I carefully laid down the array, knowing any minor deviation here would be etched in stone for decades, and if I was lucky, centuries. Also, it would ruin the further plots. I had a rune drawn on a rigid material, and I¡¯d made a half-dozen more for everyone else to use as a compass. The spell itself was barely functional and didn''t make any sense, but it was technically a complete spell.


    ¡°Three, two, one, LIGHT!¡± I shot a tight beam of light down the line, marking where the wall needed to go. A girl I¡¯d mentally nicknamed ¡®Surveyor¡¯ had won the honor of unraveling the thread, and she quickly vanished into the ashen mists, followed by Iona, Skye, Secondus Nix, and several others. I upped the amount of mana I was pouring into [A Light], trying to penetrate the thick haze.


    Should be great levels for the two Mist elementalists, and I¡¯d eat my hat if Surveyor didn¡¯t get a fantastic [Survey] variant from this. Helping a legendary Sentinel rebuild a town after an Immortal War? Her levels should be rolling in, regardless of her class, let alone the skills offered.


    The harsh part was the skill was only good for a few weeks, a month tops, before we would have everything measured and she¡¯d need to ditch it for something else more useful. It was part of why I held the ¡®potentials¡¯ in such high esteem. A brief taste of greatness, only for it to be mothballed for the next taste... and they¡¯d probably need to take a class entirely unrelated in the end.


    I¡¯d mentally marked all of them, and would do what I could for them later on. I had some serious weight to throw around System-wise, and that was before my personal power, skills, and endless supplies stashed away in my storage.


    Iona came jogging back a minute later, untied the string, and with a quick peck, jogged back into the mist. We only had so much string, and one length wasn¡¯t nearly enough. I had rope in my [Tower], just not... that much rope. Good luck Surveyor!


    Being a human flashlight was boring. I popped a book out of my [Library] onto the rock, and started reading it with [The World Around Me]. I had to carefully ration my new books, it was going to be a while before operating a printing press and writing stories was viable.


    Naturally, I¡¯d kept a printing press in my [Tower] to help jump-start book production. I was not waiting a moment longer than I had to.


    My hand was remarkably steady. Not only was my dexterity through the roof, but [Handy and Dexterous] was basically designed for these sorts of maneuvers. I even tested it out, flapping one arm like a maniac while seeing my finger dead still, like it had been hammered into the fabric of creation.


    Iona came jogging back through the mists as I was dancing a merry still-finger jig, and everyone else was quickly behind her. I did my best to rearrange myself into a still and Very Serious Sentinel, not a dancing lunatic.


    ¡°We¡¯re ready for the marking!¡± Skye was more excited than I¡¯d seen her in years. The normally reserved and chill Yuki-Onna was practically vibrating with excitement.


    ¡°Spot¡¯s marked?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Spot¡¯s marked.¡± Secondus confirmed, reflexively answering his teacher out of habit.


    ¡°Everyone¡¯s accounted for? Nobody¡¯s in the way?¡± I double checked. It looked like everyone was here, but blinding flinging around [The Rays of the First Dawn] was a great way to hurt someone unintentionally.


    ¡°Aye.¡± Skye confirmed. ¡°Fire away!¡±


    I dipped my finger down a hair, then fired [The Rays of the First Dawn] in a blistering line, going straight down until it hit the rock I was lying on. I bounced up, ready to move after what had felt like an eternity staying still.


    We headed out, my Radiance having melted and seared a perfectly straight line into the ground. We reached the first corner, a large X having been exactly crossed through by my beam.


    A right angle marked the second stage of the measuring we needed to do, and we marked it off before returning to the corner.


    With shovels and pickaxes, we dug a hole, and placed an old wooden beam down, marking the corner of Orthus Town, marking the first spot where we were rebuilding.


    The first pillar of civilization.

 Chapter 585: The First Seed

    Chapter 585: The First Seed


    The Potentials had gotten varying [Surveying] skills, and many hands made light work. The grid for New Orthus sprang up with minimal problems, and the more important work of marking out farms and plots started, and quickly got to the stage where we could start the farming process.


    The math on how large each plot should be was fascinating. Assuming wheat - the dominant crop of the region - one acre was about 4 million calories, and a person needed about 750,000 calories a year, children fewer.


    Except things went wrong. Crops died, didn¡¯t sprout, were eaten by insects and pests, floods washed them away, poor harvest... a thousand different hostile factors I was more than familiar with threatened the harvest. Then fields couldn¡¯t be forced to grow wheat year after year - the crops had to be rotated. Roots, fruits, leaves, and legumes kept fields healthy and productive - except the one acre to 4 million calories was assuming peak efficiency in the first place.


    Then people needed a place to live. We couldn¡¯t live in the bunker for years, let alone the multi-generational plan Skye was developing, nor did people want to live in the temporary barracks that were next on the list. Then we had to consider growing families, raw size logistics - prime-numbered acres were absurd to work with - the lack of good skills, and suddenly plot sizes bloomed to forty acres each.


    Cripes. I¡¯d intellectually known the difference between gardening and farming, but seeing the huge swath of land laid out for us and being told ¡®you need to work all of it¡¯ was a different story. There was nothing to do but roll up my tunic and get my hands dirty. Thank the System for all the stats I had - it would make it far, far easier on me. I had renewed sympathy for all the farmers who did the whole thing by hand with no System assistance. Whoof.


    I¡¯d told Surveyor to find me before she dropped her skill. I fully intended to reclaim my home and rebuild from the very literal ashes, and I wanted our claim and the location of our now-destroyed home marked out. Petty and selfish of me, but like... that was our home, and I suspected Iona was chomping at the bit even harder than I was to get rebuilding. We couldn¡¯t direct rebuild though. First, we needed a smaller ¡®cottage¡¯ in the middle of our fields, and would probably spend a few years growing whatever we could in the ¡®easy¡¯ field, versus the harder, rocky, mountainous terrain of our old home.


    One day, civilization would be rebuilt, and we¡¯d move back home. Until then, it was time to grab a straw hat and a hoe, and live the farmer life. Shame tons of wildlife had died or were dying, and we couldn¡¯t simply hunt for our dinner.


    Fenrir had flown off, looking for food, and I wished him luck. Part of me was speculating on a ¡®second wave¡¯ of fights and battles as various ancient creatures and lurking horrors ran out of food and started ranging out to find a bite to eat.


    Many of us were chomping at the bit to get started, all this line stuff could happen later, and Skye bowed to the demand. Once the first farm grids were outlined, most of us began.


    The only ones who didn¡¯t were the farmers who just... went back home, found their land had been miraculously spared or were in tolerable shape, and just tried to pick up life where they¡¯d left off. There was some future ugliness over who¡¯d get farmer Joe¡¯s house and land, but that was a problem for Skye.


    ¡°You know,¡± Iona said conversationally as we tried to figure out the best way for her to haul a plow. ¡°While I had a bunch of reasons for becoming a Valkyrie, one of them was that I couldn¡¯t see myself becoming some [Farmer¡¯s] wife, toiling all day in the mud with the hot sun overhead. Now look at me.¡±


    I looked up and down, resisting the urge to whistle like I wanted to every time I studied Iona¡¯s body. 112, and she still looked fantastic.


    ¡°In the dirt, cool shade? I don¡¯t know, it feels like you¡¯ve gotten your wi-¡±


    I ducked as Iona threw a dirt clod at me, giggling the whole way.


    ¡°Can¡¯t touch this!¡± I taunted. Iona narrowed her eyes, then grinned viciously. She did a put-on turnaround, put her hands on her hips, and sighed.


    ¡°Alas, you¡¯re right. I can¡¯t touch that.¡±


    ¡°No, wait. Hang on, we can talk about this.¡± I protested.


    Iona shot a wink over her shoulder at me, and threw the two straps of the plow over her shoulder.


    ¡°I think I¡¯m just going to shamelessly cheat like this.¡± She said. ¡°Ready?¡±


    I grabbed the handles of the plow, having read a dozen books about it and knowing I had no idea what I was doing.


    ¡°Ready!¡± I confirmed.


    Iona started what was basically a leisurely walk for her, effortlessly pulling the plow through the difficult soil. I held the handles, keeping it straight as it tried to do everything except make a straight furrow in the soil.


    Her skills let her protect the plow from rocks and other hazards, but we weren¡¯t leaving it up to chance. The Valkyrie stomped on some particularly large rocks she encountered, and used [Telekinesis] to move the shards out of the way.


    I helped with a liberal application of [Teleportation], moving rocks that couldn¡¯t be as easily seen, and knowing that it was more efficient for me to do it. My mana regeneration was so high compared to Iona¡¯s that the difference in cost didn¡¯t matter.


    As a bonus, in the tradition of millions upon billions of farmers before us, the broken-up stones were arranged on the side of the field, making a wall on the boundary line. It wouldn¡¯t stop anything that wanted to go over it - a child would be able to haul herself up if she wanted - but it marked the edge of our field in a way that was difficult to argue with.


    ¡°I feel like a cow.¡± Iona complained.


    I kept my mouth shut, but my wife glanced over her shoulder and saw the look on my face.


    ¡°Hey!¡± She protested.


    ¡°What!¡± I complained. ¡°It¡¯s not my fault that your description was spot on.¡±


    I huffed and puffed.


    ¡°I also ran away from home to avoid becoming, effective, a farmer¡¯s wife.¡± I said. Keberos¡¯s family hadn¡¯t exactly fit the image of a poor farmer - they¡¯d been relatively fabulously wealthy - but fundamentally, they¡¯d been farmers. It was no lie to say I¡¯d wanted to dodge being a farmer¡¯s wife... it just wasn¡¯t close to the whole picture.


    We made it to the end of our first furrow with a minimum of huffing and puffing - thank the System for physical stats making this trivial - and turned back to examine our work.


    Our very crooked work, ashes already falling.


    ¡°How.¡± Iona demanded.


    ¡°It¡¯s hard!¡± I defended myself. ¡°You try keeping the plow straight, I swear it bucks more than a horse. We don¡¯t have the skills for this.¡±


    Auri chose that moment to fly over, hovering near my shoulder.


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡± She said.


    The hard, complex way here would maximize his levels, and maximize our return on seeds. The ugly specter of starvation was still looming over my shoulder, and I was determined to stretch every single last seed. It could be the literal difference between life and death.


    Or normal food and cannibalism. The math on my rate of healing, death vs conjured food problems, and calories per pound gave a nasty solution.


    I patiently waited as he went cross-eyed, obviously reading a System notification. I had a couple as well - I just didn¡¯t obviously show it on my face when I read them.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Farming Foreman]. Would you like to replace a skill with it? Y/N]


    [*ding!* Would you like to sidegrade [Tender Gardening] to [Farming]? Y/N]


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Minion Mastery]. Would you like to replace a skill with it? Y/N]


    I briefly debated the [Farming] one before declining. I was already getting the occasional nudge from my skill, and there was no telling how far I¡¯d downgrade or de-level. Also, selfishly, perhaps short-sightedly, I just didn¡¯t want to. The skill had been perfect, practically tailored, to growing my mango trees, and by Ciriel, I was going to grow myself a new grove when I could.


    A random note - I could not read System notifications through [The World Around Me]. It was like they didn¡¯t exist to the skill, which made sense.


    I [Teleported] over to Iona, carefully not stepping on the freshly plowed soil. Then again, I probably could. I could run on falling leaves, fresh soil without a footprint? Easy mode. It was the thought that counted.


    ¡°Hey love! I see you¡¯re pulling along just fine without me, and-¡±


    Iona flipped me off with relish.


    ¡°If the next thing out of your mouth is anything other than ¡®I¡¯m happy to help you continue plowing...¡¯ I¡¯ma be annoyed.¡± She said.


    ¡°I¡¯d love to sleep on the sofa tonight.¡± I rapidly teased, my wits about me for once. ¡°I¡¯m dead curious how you¡¯d manage to rustle one up.¡± I wasn¡¯t a complete scourge though, the whole time I was picking up my part of the plow, and putting my back into it.


    The original definition of an acre was the amount of land one man could plow with an ox in a single day. A terrible imprecise unit, made all the more useless by stats and skills muddying it up. It took about half a day for Iona and I to plow the whole field, and we read each other¡¯s mind - our goal was simple.


    Always be ahead of Planter.


    [Luminary Mind] let me think of a dozen different things at once, and plowing was boring. My respect for [Farmers] went up after every step I took, occasionally brushing the ashes out of my hair. My beautiful, wonderful, flame-bathed hair. Bless Auri, and her ability to keep me clean enough to feel happy. Our water supplies were far too limited to ¡®waste¡¯ on washing water, not when the aqueduct was in a thousand pieces. Sure, in a pinch we could start desalinating the Bloodmoon Bay, but that was a full-time job with huge mana requirements. Nobody wanted a single person¡¯s skill to be the central linchpin of a community, that was how towns failed and villages died. Good, easy stone to work with, bad for having a ready supply of fresh water. Most of my mind was distracted by the field-spanning mandalas I wanted to lay down after, and how I could get them to work. Integrating runes with growing material and shifting dirt was tricky, especially long-lasting ones. Ink was extra hard to work with versus Radiance, then there was the question of ¡®can I make these runes extend over everyone¡¯s farms?¡¯


    600 souls translated to roughly 150 households, 40 acres each was a 6000 acre mandala. Add in the roads and gaps between everyone... I could try to have the enchantments along the stone walls, but those were going to shift as time went by. So fragile that one kid bumping a stone knocking the whole system down wasn¡¯t viable. The trick wasn¡¯t in power, or laying it down, the trick was in having it survive the rigors of life and the exposure to the elements. The problem had been far easier in my tame orchard, where I had the supplies to make a proper framework.


    Auri continued to work her beak off next to us, but all of her [Mage Hands] suddenly guttered out of existence.


    ¡°Brrrpt...¡± an exhausted phoenix barely made it to my shoulder, where she promptly conked out.


    ¡°Ran out of mana.¡± Iona quickly diagnosed. I passed Auri off to Iona, who started the ¡®hot coal¡¯ routine. Planter was rapidly approaching, a glint in his eye hinting that he, too, knew about our little contest.


    ¡°Juice run, be right back.¡± I said. Inside the [Tower] I grabbed Auri¡¯s favorite juice blend, a spoonful of honey, and I was feeling generous. I slapped together a quick bacon-lettuce-tomato sandwich - [Teleportation] was the best skill ever, how did I live without it? - then zipped back out, generously distributing everything. Mostly by teleporting it ontop of Iona¡¯s head.


    ¡°Look at me! The amazing table!¡± Iona spun in place, everything staying on top of her head while Planter grabbed the sandwich, ravenously grabbing a bite and barely chewing before swallowing. I put a little [Dusk] over the lid of the juice, not wanting to contaminate her drink with ashes.


    Furlong after furlong, we finished our plowing in a day, taking a moment to check on our neighbors.


    Some were doing well, about a fifth of their way through their fields, while others were struggling, their first row jagged and crooked. It was best if they struggled themselves for the first, oh...


    ¡°Give it a week before we step in?¡± I suggested to Iona.


    ¡°I was thinking the same thing.¡± She agreed. ¡°Enough time to learn and level, but not so long that it causes bitterness, resentment, or fouls the season.¡±


    ¡°They can get cabbage.¡± I decided. Iona and Planter laughed.


    ¡°You are a terrible woman.¡± She said. I bowed at my appreciative audience.


    ¡°That I am. Well, no rest for the wicked. Next stage?¡± I asked. Iona sighed.


    ¡°Yeah. Get me one of the good shovels, and the enchanted pickaxe with the double head? I don¡¯t know why, that one worked far better for me.¡±


    I grabbed the tools Iona wanted. She was off to start digging... well, digging a river basically. Sanguino had dammed up a river to create a reservoir for the city aqueduct, which was now not helpful to us. We wanted the water here, not a day trip away, and the only solution was absurd amounts of elbow grease.


    ¡°I think I can get the enchanting done before dawn.¡± I said, looking at the sinking sun.


    ¡°Bet.¡± Iona agreed, and we quickly haggled on the stakes.


    ¡°Deal!¡± I said in the end, Iona slapping her hand in mine.


    Of course, that¡¯s when the entire sky shifted, going from sundown to deep night, some god or another shifting the entire world to their whim. Iona looked just as surprised as I was, no impending knowledge of divine movement having been delivered by oracle to her.


    Given where Lithos was, and how it¡¯d just gone from night to noon there, I suspected a number of trolls were having a really bad day.


    ¡°Oh come on!¡± I complained. ¡°Foul!¡±

 Chapter 586: Sing

    I lost the bet by hours. One of the gods fucking with things was outside of my calculations, and the sun was high in the sky by the time I finished my network.


    I felt passingly clever over the whole thing, even though I was cribbing from ¡®Wizard poles¡¯, thick pillars of stone and arcanite engraved with enchantments, usually found in more rural areas where centralized networks didn¡¯t work. I couldn¡¯t make an entire field-wide enchantment - but I could carve the enchantments into various stones, and each one covered a portion of the field. I then needed to carefully place the stones all over the field, each one radiating an aura of the enchantments laid. Wards against insects and bugs - that one had to be carefully managed for pollination. Sigils to help handle too much water - a lack of water was fixed with a watering can and an alert when the levels were too low. More wards against pestilence and disease, and I blessed the ancient [Runesmiths] who¡¯d made the runes into a compact form.


    In many ways, the wards were a disaster. A lack of arcanite meant I¡¯d need to constantly recharge them throughout the day, the fields double-overlapped in some places and had little holes in others, each ward radius was slightly different thanks to different shaped and sized rocks, the ink was conjured, I had to place them on now-doomed seedlings, and it was inevitable that exposure to the elements would wear them away.


    But they were scalable, sustainable, didn¡¯t require an elaborate connected network, and I could make them for my neighbors. It broke my little witchy heart to strip out the vast majority of the fun or better enchantments, but most people didn¡¯t have the spare mana to power the really good enchantments. I was torn on making them anyway, then fueling them myself, zipping over the fields several times a day in a blur of wings and feathers.


    The question I was facing more and more - was this a good use of my time?


    I was a Classer through and through. My stats were absurd. I could lift 53 times what a normal woman could lift, and do it 116 times as fast. Those effectively multiplied together, letting me do roughly what 6,148 people could do.


    Well, if the average person was three times as fast as baseline, and three times as strong - okay, let¡¯s be honest, thanks to my puny stature and modest muscle mass, biomancy or no, six times as strong - that was still the work of 341 people... assuming I needed to apply my full strength and full speed to the task. Picking berries, for example, only looked at my speed, while lifting logs was a strength-only task. Shoveling stone, however, was both.


    Was spending, say, thirty minutes a day, every day, buzzing every field worth it to let everyone have higher quality enchantments? Or was my time better spent doing other things, something nobody else could do? Preventing people from literally starving to death was fucking important, but if I didn¡¯t include the water sensor, for example, people could develop the skills and the Skills needed to work it out themselves. It wasn¡¯t like I was kneecapping them, preventing them from making a living, and we were rapidly trying to establish something of a safety net. The vast stores of food in my storage was one such net, and I¡¯d never seen a community come together so quickly, so hard. Adversity was an excellent glue.


    Then there was the question of levels. I wasn¡¯t always going to be around to help people, and the sooner the ¡®training wheels¡¯ came off, the less I held people¡¯s hands, the faster they¡¯d be fully self reliant. I had no illusions I¡¯d always be around. Mare Town - Katerina¡¯s founded village from the Sixth - needed me, as did a thousand other places, which looped back to the original thought - where was my time best spent?


    I felt like when I¡¯d first become a Sentinel, nearly a century ago, over twenty thousand years ago. Directionless, rudderless. The basics were simple. Grow some food, protect my little community. Improve the community, our quality of life. See things grow and thrive, struggle against adversity.


    Yet, I knew I could do so much more. Fly to Mare Town, see if Katerina needed me. Fly to every other city in former Exterreri, nay, every city left in the world. See what could be done, how many were torn up, which ones were defying the fall of civilization.


    Was that the best use of my time? What about finding my friends, my family? Should I go hunting for Nina? I had a rough idea where she¡¯d been last, it wasn¡¯t insane to locate her. What about the School? Artemis and Julius? Amber?


    There were a thousand, a million things only I could do, but the sand in Chronos¡¯s hourglass was relentless. A grain a second, my Immortal time ironically limited.


    I needed to step up. To make my decisions without a guiding hand. Without Command, Arachne, the Sentinels, Julius, or anyone else telling me what to do, giving me a direction to move in. I needed to find my own direction, forge my own path blindly, without assistance. Sitting and dithering was the wrong move, the worst move. I had to act.


    Right. Things only I could do.


    I didn¡¯t know of any other [Couriers] still making rounds. Nobody had visited Orthus or Mare Town, and I had promised I¡¯d report back to Katerina now and then, and bring news. It also let me expand the number of places where I could see if I was urgently needed, more places to act as a courier. The bird¡¯s eye view as I traveled could let me spot problems and resources - we desperately needed wood. Millions of acres had burned, and the fundamental assumption of ¡®we can go chop wood to build houses¡¯ was being severely challenged, as all the wood we wanted to use was currently raining down in a fine layer of ash.


    A plan made, goals set for the next... hour... I took off to find Iona. Auri and Titania were working on a project together in the bunker. Operation: Daycare. There just wasn¡¯t a great way to handle all the kids, and while children as young as three could be vaguely trusted in the fields - everyone had to pitch in when it came to survival - there was a consensus that the very youngest could be spared, along with a few hands to look after them. I felt a little bad for Titania - we all agreed she was part of our household, and we were responsible for her, but the two of us did almost all the work already. I was happy she was finding a way to be useful.


    I took off towards the river rerouting project, spotting Skye trotting along on Varuna¡¯s back. The unicorn was looking shiny, and Skye was carefully taking notes on how everyone was doing, who needed help, and generally being The Great Communicator.


    I spotted Iona a minute later, my wife barely visible from the utter plume of soil and rock she was leaving behind. Wielding a pickaxe in one hand, shovel in the other, she was tearing through the rock and soil at a running pace, digging a significant riverbed the whole time.


    ¡°Hey love!¡± I floated backwards in front of her, giving myself enough room not to get brained by a flung rock. ¡°Going to Mare, then...¡± I gave Iona a full list of my flight plan, a way for her to try and find me if I should go missing. The gods knew it was dangerous enough out there right now that the precaution was warranted. ¡°Also going to try and find a small untouched forest.¡±


    Iona grunted.


    ¡°See if it¡¯s near the river, I¡¯m not looking forward to multi-mile hikes carrying logs over my shoulder.¡±


    I shuddered at the thought. Logs were simply... hang on. Assumptions were no way to operate, I had the numbers and reference tables. I started doing some calculations, pleasantly surprised at the outcome. ?


    ¡°For smaller logs, I can teleport them into my [Tower].¡± I said with some surprise. ¡°Assuming 40 cm diameter and three meter length, I can teleport around 400, maybe 500 an hour into and out of [Tower]. I¡¯m capped on the largest logs... well, not too terribly capped... but I think my main problem is actually space inside the [Tower], but I¡¯m quick enough to zip over and unload them, then come back. Huh. That actually works.¡± I said with quite a bit of surprise.


    I was leveling fast, with a black quality class. I wasn¡¯t quite used to my new powers, my new levels. I had far more options than previously, and things that had been dismissed as ¡®not possible, don¡¯t even think about it¡¯ were now in the ¡®sure, why not?¡¯ group.


    A second idea hit me in a brainwave, and I felt like an idiot. I put my tools down, darted back over to the tree, and unfurled my wings. I flew up and around the tree in a dizzying corkscrew, using [The Rays of the First Dawn] to surgically remove the branches, only a small char left where I¡¯d beamed through. All the branches started to fall in a great crash as I reached the top, and it was extremely satisfying to watch them collapse one after another. I then flew down the tree and made three cuts, thirding it. I was pleased as punch that my cuts had been so fine, that my dexterity and skills helped keep everything perfectly level, that the tree was just standing there. It was dead, it was in three parts, but to any casual observer the trunk was whole and hale.


    I finished my cutting flight at the top of the tree, blessing the lack of a strong wind to blow it over. I placed my hand on the trunk, and teleported into [Tower], where it just barely, awkwardly, fit in the central ¡®column¡¯ that was usually my passage between different floors. I gave it a gentle shove, letting it drift up to the top of the tower. I didn¡¯t wait to see how well it did, and I had a suddenly horrifying moment as I teleported out.


    I really, really hoped I was careful with my launch. If the log caught on the lip of one of the floors in my tower, it could wreck my supplies.


    Two more trips got the rest of the tree into my [Tower], and I roughly guesstimated that my mana regeneration wasn¡¯t going to be the bottleneck on my lumberjack excursion - storage space being far more limited than anticipated combined with travel time was going to be my bottleneck.


    I flew down to the forest floor, stored all the branches, and picked up a dozen of the best-looking pinecones I could find.


    The best time to plant a tree was sixteen years ago, the second best time was right now. I was blessed with Immortality. If all went well, I would be able to enjoy the shade of the trees I was planting.


    Planting was far better than dithering over the best course to take. Nature always found a way.


    Then it was onto the next tree.


    ¡°Sorry about this.¡± I said before I turned into a one-woman lightshow again.


    ¡°What¡¯s all this?¡± I asked Iona and Auri near the entrance to the bunker. A roaring fire - purely Auri - was cooking a pair of oviraptors on a spit roast.


    ¡°Brrpt!¡± Auri was very proud of herself, and with good reason. ¡°Brrpt, brrpt BRPT!¡±


    The monster had been sneaking around the bunker where the babies¡¯ nursery was, and Auri had taken that personally. Most of the fields were plowed by now, and a small party was being thrown.


    We didn¡¯t have much, but that seemed to make everyone all the more determined to enjoy it. A lute was produced, skills made light, and [Chef] Auri was enjoying every minute of it. Not only was she the heroine of the hour, but she was also doling out huge chunks of meat to everyone. We weren¡¯t starving, not yet, nor were we on half rations, but the days were long and hard, and there wasn¡¯t enough to feel stuffed, not until now. A clearing was made, and couples started to dance.


    ¡°Want to dance?¡± Iona suggested, and I needed no encouragement. I grabbed her hand and we giggled as we both sped towards the floor. Iona slipped her arm around my waist, and the whole world seemed to fall away as I gazed into her eyes.


    We danced, we sang, we ate great food, and as the party wound down, I gathered everyone nearby.


    ¡°Come closer, come closer.¡± I extolled everyone as I doused the lights with a flicker of thought. I rested on a throne of stars, my chair large enough that I was looming slightly over everyone. I lit myself up with [A Light Shining in the Darkness], and was really getting into my role.


    ¡°Aye, come one, come all, from ye little babes to you slightly older youngsters.¡± I shot a cheeky wink at one of the greybeards, just a year younger than I was. By Ciriel, I was possibly the oldest person here, tied with Iona.


    ¡°You know me as Sentinel Dawn. As Elaine, as the healer. As ¡®that crazy mango lady who lives on the hill.¡¯¡±


    I paused a moment for the ripple of laughter. I wasn¡¯t an idiot, I knew what people thought of me and what my reputation was.


    ¡°Ah, but throughout the years, I¡¯ve held many jobs, many roles. Why, just today I was chopping down trees, a proper [Lumberjack!]. Except chopping wood is boring, so I just magicked it.¡± I grinned at my joke, and the crowd was in a good enough mood for me to get a soft chuckle out of them.


    ¡°But now, tonight! I reprise one of my oldest jobs, my oldest roles. The one that got me here in the first place, that set me on the journey, that opened all the doors.¡± I had them now, young and old, leaning in with interest.


    ¡°A singer of stories, I was! A teller of tales! Old tales, ancient tales now, for I passed on a few notes to the one now known as The Bard. Tales from another land, another world! Each one of these you have heard before, twisted and distorted over time and retelling. And now, tonight, directly from the horse¡¯s mouth, you will hear them again, in their original glory!¡±


    We could hear a pin drop, it was so quiet. I started off with a bang, roaring the song from the depths of my lungs.


    ¡°Rage! Sing, Goddess, Achilles¡¯ rage...¡±


    [*ding!* [Dexterous and Handy] has evolved into [Everywoman]]

 Chapter 587: Hammers, Nails, and Shovels

    Everywoman: You¡¯ve dabbled in a little bit of everything. From sewing like a tailor to enchanting fields, from studying biomancy to being a Ranger, from chopping down trees to telling stories, from meditating as a monk to running missives as a courier, growing gardens and tilling fields, working as a carpenter and casting spells as a wizard, healing people and fighting monsters, you¡¯ve touched upon a thousand professions. Now go forth, and touch ten thousand more. Improved abilities per level. -16,376 mana regeneration.


    [Everywoman] was the closest thing to an omni-skill I¡¯d ever seen, and I had to wonder if [The Elaine] had been a prerequisite for it. It was like a merged skill of every professional general skill that existed, like my long-gone [Medicine]. It helped me with almost literally everything, a subtle nudge to nearly every activity.


    Nearly everything could be a job, in the end. [Couriers] ran, [Heralds] talked, [Porters] carried things, [Tasters] checked for poison, and [Courtesans] -


    Well, they made Iona a very happy woman.


    Time went by. I brought back the logs, and as a community, we de-barked them and prepared them, and Skye figured out the optimal distribution. Naturally, nobody was happy about the distribution, but there wasn¡¯t a happy solution anywhere. We all spent a day in a flurry of hammers, nails, and saws, taking the logs and building what would eventually become a guard¡¯s barracks, but for now was more like a large communal living space. Iona, Auri, and I probably could¡¯ve done it by ourselves in a fraction of the time, but I was coming around more and more to the idea that as a powerful Immortal and Classer, I shouldn¡¯t be doing everything for everyone. What was the point? Some places, some cultures, made it work - most notably the necrocracy of Penujuman, but that wasn¡¯t for me.


    We were out of the bunker at last, and everyone who wanted it had a spare, spartan room for their family. A number of our neighbors went back to their farmstead and discovered everything was still standing, shrugged, and continued on with their life. I didn¡¯t blame them - but they were also outside of our protective aegis. A couple of canny groups decided to take over the now-spacious bunker, and Skye was also sticking around there - mostly to prevent shenanigans with our stored food. There was what I had stored in [Tower], so it wasn¡¯t as critical, but nobody wanted a problem.


    It was incredible. The moment things started to fall apart, it was all about food.


    [The World Around Me] felt like a curse at times. Perfect knowledge combined with heightened senses let me fairly trivially know everything going on around me, no matter how much I didn¡¯t want to know. I had to know how the seeds and the carrots were doing and check for any lurking threats or problems in the soil - or, goddess forbid, Vorler eggs - so it wasn¡¯t a surprise to me when the first shoots pushed through the dirt, unfurling their leaves to a sun that only distantly shone on them.


    I¡¯d managed to keep a lid on it from Iona and Auri though, and the looks on their faces made it all worth it.


    ¡°We did it!¡± Iona dropped down to her knees, gently trying to half-cradle the delicate shoots. ¡°They¡¯re growing!¡±


    ¡°Brrpt! Brrrpt!¡± Auri was practically nuzzling the shoots, then straightened up. ¡°Brpt!¡±


    A flaming fence sprang up around our field, and the little phoenix fluttered up on top of it. She critically eyed her work, and the fence morphed.


    I facepalmed and Iona started to laugh herself sick.


    Auri had changed a standard fence to thin castle walls twenty feet high, complete with crenellations and regular guard towers. She used her [I am the Brrrettiest] clone skill to man the walls with dozens of guards, each one of them carefully ¡®patrolling¡¯ the top.


    ¡°You¡¯re missing a portcullis.¡± I pointed out.


    ¡°Brpt.¡± Auri retorted. She was not missing one, nobody got in. Iona looked less than impressed.


    ¡°Alright then, have it your way.¡± She then promptly walked right through the wall of fire.


    ¡°BRRRPT!¡± Auri shrieked in outrage. How dare we simply circumvent her defenses!


    ¡°Good work [Castellan] Auri!¡± I decided to be a hair less offensive and simply [Teleported] through the wall. Dark mutterings came from above as Auri Plotted revenge.


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother trying to hide something under my pillow. I can see it, remember?¡± I told her.


    The mutterings grew darker, and Auri turned the burning castle walls black.


    ¡°I feel like a two bit villain in some play.¡± Iona said as we walked hand in hand over to the plot where we were going to build our house. It sucked that we were going to rebuild a cottage not where our house was, but the mountain wasn¡¯t a good spot to grow carrots and be in the town. I occasionally darted over to one of the runestones I¡¯d placed down, recharging them with a quick pulse of mana. Goddess, I already hated the chore.


    ¡°Does that make me the evil queen, or the kidnapped princess?¡± I mused.


    When I reframed the supplies I was looking at into ¡®how many houses can we build¡¯, eight floors packed tight no longer seemed like nearly enough. Dozens of poorly made houses versus several well done places, the decision wasn¡¯t obvious. Probably a good time to remind everyone that democracy was a thing, and vote on which option we should use. Decisions for another hour, another day. I grabbed what I came here for - hinges and nails were a bear to make out of wood, and not nearly as good as the metal versions I¡¯d stored - and stuck them into my bag, then floated back down to the 35th floor.


    [The Rays of the First Dawn] let me turn a number of the logs into planks with minimal effort, and I got to feel [Everywoman] at work for the first time. It didn¡¯t help my hands be as steady as [Handy] had, yet I didn¡¯t need that - I had more than enough dexterity in the first place. Instead, it ¡®nudged¡¯ me with barely-remembered knowledge about carpentry, helping me measure twice and cut once. It pointed out the ends of the log weren¡¯t exactly the same length, and helped identify a nice section of wood that would work perfectly as a door. I¡¯d saved a number of branches, and [Everywoman] helped me pick out a few that could act as bedsprings if I properly bent them and put tension on them just right. I debated making the bed super comfortable versus the odds of us breaking it, and decided we didn¡¯t need a springy bed.


    Everything sliced enough - we were leaving the walls as proper logs, all the better to store heat - I drifted down to the tool section, finding sandpaper and a can of varnish.


    I pulled a face.


    Past-past-me had stored enough varnish for one house - barely - but past-me had merrily used it for various projects inside of [Tower], leaving not enough to fully seal up all the wood.


    Damn past-me. She used up half the varnish and ate all the mangos. I¡¯d wish a pox on her, but either she¡¯d heal it, or I¡¯d have to deal with it. I was pretty sure I had a potion to... ahha!


    I measured, I cut, I hammered in nails and generally worked my pretty ass off.


    [*ding!* [Everywoman] leveled up! 500 -> 501]


    I started off with the thick, heavy logs, half-dropping them on Iona¡¯s head.


    ¡°Incoming!¡± I yelled, a terrified vision of the log crushing my wife¡¯s skull briefly flashing through my mind.


    ¡°Got it!¡± She yelled, smoothly reaching up and catching it one-handed. The plot of land was now a hole, with corners perfectly squared off.


    With a quick kiss I went back into my [Tower] and my impossible-to-disturb workshop, and kept going.


    ¡°Our home.¡± Iona beamed at our little cottage. Even with all our advantages, and me being able to [Teleport] things instantly into position, it had taken us all day to make the place.


    ... perhaps my standards were getting a little too high to complain over building a two-story house - basement one, main level two - in one day with two people. Iona¡¯s mention of our home had a wave of sadness hit me, as I briefly grieved over our previous home.


    We¡¯d built a whole life for ourselves there. Decades upon decades of memories. Adventures and experiences, crazy dreams shared under warm blankets, stories told before a crackling fireplace. Iona reading me a story I¡¯d never heard while I massaged her feet, the sound of crashing metal as we sparred. The smell of Auri¡¯s baking filling the halls and the pitter-patter of Nina running on the tiles.


    The home had been a member of the family in all but name, and the loss was hitting me unexpectedly hard. It wasn¡¯t so easy to replace a home, and I found myself tearing up. Iona wiped one of the tears away.


    ¡°Hey,¡± She said softly. ¡°It¡¯s not the old home, it never will be. But it¡¯s our home now. I love you.¡±


    ¡°I love you too.¡± I sniffed out.


    ¡°Want to carry me over the threshold this time?¡± She suggested. I laughed at the absurdity of the thought, my wonderful wife always knowing how to cheer me up. I swooped her up, then eyed the door.


    ¡°I dunno...¡± I teased. ¡°I¡¯ve never had to use a battering ram before...¡±


    She laughed at my joke like it was truly funny, the sound of her thunderous raucous humor chasing away my stormclouds.


    Then I hit the door with her head.

 Chapter 588: Raccoon

    Titania showed up about three minutes after Iona and I were done with our inspection. She snapped her fingers, and all the sawdust, tracked mud, and general mess that was the aftermath of a construction site vanished. Nails and other such useful items slid across the floor and whizzed through the air until they were neatly stacked and arranged. We were in the middle of giving her an enthusiastic tour - earnestly explaining why the trapdoor was a great idea, and plans for including a lever - when my ears perked up. A set of sounds, ones not normal and therefore brought to my attention.


    I occasionally regretted my super senses, but not right now.


    ¡°Goblins near Nix¡¯s farm.¡± I told Iona. She swore, grabbed Rockfoe, and bolted out the door.


    Bless her for taking the quarter of a second to make sure she didn¡¯t slam the door. I debated leaving it all to Iona, and decided to back her up. Never knew when an unusual skill would perfectly counter her, and excellent hearing didn¡¯t translate to hearing levels.


    [*ding!* Would you like to upgrade [Long-Range Identify] to [Earnest Eavesdropper]?]


    Earnest Eavesdropper: Who said sight was the best way to check someone¡¯s level? Instead of needing visual contact, use auditory contact! Increased range per level.


    Well, that was an easy no. I was too used to using sight, and I was able to see incredible distances. There was significant overlap between when I¡¯d be able to use the two senses, but... I just didn¡¯t want to. Good to know I had the option easily available, and a random part of me wanted to drop a bunch of general skills, get [Identify] variants for every sense, then merge them together.


    Like I had 6-7 spare general skill slots.


    I headed over to Nix¡¯s farm, where Iona had already subdued the goblins. They were all tied up - Iona had repurposed their weapons and bent them with her bare hands - and was frowning as she tapped her foot, looking at them.


    I was a little surprised at her restraint. She no longer had the same blind hatred towards goblins she used to have, but I fully expectedRockfoe to be busy digging a dozen graves, not a dozen prisoners to manage. Plus, as prisoners, they were vaguely, nominally under my protection, which made them patients, which meant I had to help keep them alive.


    [Identify] was interesting, to say the least.


    [Laborer - 130]


    [Artisan - 91]


    [Laborer - 67]


    ...


    [Laborer - 144]


    Not a [Warrior], [Mage], or [Ranger] among them, and nobody over 200. I immediately spotted what probably stayed Iona¡¯s hand. Sunken ribs and swollen bellies, the conclusion was obvious.


    ¡°They¡¯re starving.¡± Iona said with a sigh. ¡°Idiots, starving, vaguely malicious, but... frankly, if we were in their shoes, we¡¯d be doing the same thing.¡±


    There was clearly a deeply personal struggle going on deep inside of Iona. I slid up next to her, a pillar of support one way or another. My wife began interrogating the goblins in their native tongue. They flinched at the first words and rapidly started talking to each other, surprise evident on their faces and written with their bodies.


    Iona slapped the business end of Rockfoe into the ground near the goblins, and barked out a different question, reminding them that they were alive and at her tender, reluctant mercy.


    The interrogation proceeded swiftly from there. The Nixes - thank the gods and prior planning that all of them were alive - emerged from their house to see what all the fuss was about. I waved to Secondus, my once-apprentice, and he knew me well enough to shoot me a thoroughly unimpressed look.


    We were, after all, standing on the delicate ash-covered carrot shoots, and the goblins had squashed more than a few. I couldn¡¯t flip my former apprentice off in front of his entire family... and he probably knew it too, the brat. Oh sure, he was a grown man now with a wife and kids of his own, but he¡¯d always be a brat to me. I still remembered the attempted prank with the ferrets...


    Oh goddesses. I was getting old. I wanted to be Immortal, not old.


    Iona eventually retreated with me, casting a baleful eye on the goblins, promising swift and mighty retribution if they should even think of twitching. It was either that, or she was complaining about the amount of spice they¡¯d put in the curry last night... I¡¯d gotten that exact look before when Iona emerged from the bathroom the day after.


    ¡°What¡¯s the story?¡± I asked. ¡°What¡¯s our plan, what are we doing?¡±


    She sighed again, suddenly looking more like her age.


    We made it to the goblin... I hesitated to call it a village. Encampment was the best word for it. Ragged tents revealed furs, and we all side-eyed a frying pan with the Messorem family crest - generously stretching the definition of crest - knowing the family had been wiped out in a goblin raid half a decade ago.


    A cookpot was filled with meat, nearly the entire tribe crowding around it. They were shoving and bickering, and the [Cook] was liberally applying lumps with his ladle. Wasn¡¯t stopping the goblins from shoving their bare hands into the boiling water to grab a scrap, fleeing to the edges of the crowd to gnaw on their prize.


    I swallowed around a lump in my throat, cursing my senses. I knew exactly what was in the pot, and I doubted there was a second goblin tribe around here. The dreadful algebra of necessity.


    Our arrival caused a huge amount of consternation, and one of the goblins - probably crazed and not thinking straight due to hunger, not that it excused his actions, just explained them - tried to knife me. I casually twisted out of the way, sticking a foot out and making him trip.


    ¡°Hold.¡± I told Auri, my little friend ready to defend me with overwhelming firepower. The goblin picked himself up off the ground, and turned around with a feral snarl. The goblins we¡¯d come with were yelling at him, trying to talk him down, but he wasn¡¯t listening. He lunged wildly at me, and I grabbed his wrist, plucked the knife out of it, debated doing his taxes, then gently set him down on the dirt.


    He whirled around and came for me a third time, rotting teeth like sharpened daggers going for my ankles. Iona rolled her eyes, picked him up by the neck and waist, and simply twisted him in two different directions, entirely ripping him apart.


    [*ding!* Your Party has slain a [Goblin Berserker (Inferno, 187)]/[Deadly Raider (Poison, 177)]]


    ¡°Nobody attacks my wife three times and gets away with it.¡± Iona said fiercely, then raised her voice, repeating herself in goblin.


    Quite a lot of yelling, screaming, and posturing ensued, half of the goblins facing off against us argumentatively, and the other half hurriedly sticking the dead goblin into the stew - after ripping his teeth out.


    Iona briefly flashed me a hand-sign, and I teleported into my [Tower]. Keeping in mind the starvation protocols, I grabbed some hard biscuits, and brought them out. I faded a little into the background as food and negotiations went on. It was remarkable to watch their body language. From bared teeth and crossed arms, to loosened shoulders and wide smiles, Iona¡¯s [Social Lubricant] was possibly one of the most powerful skills I¡¯d ever seen.


    I worked on picking up the language while Auri strutted around on my head. She was enjoying the new audience and showing off, and quite a few of the goblins had locked eyes on her.


    It wasn¡¯t all smooth sailing - there were quite a few arguments over different things, but I was more than willing to utterly sabotage the goblins and weaken their will. Iona was carefully spacing out what she was arguing over - I was pretty sure it was basic stuff like ¡®don¡¯t steal from your new neighbors¡¯ and ¡®murdering humans is wrong¡¯ - and every time the goblins were looking unhappy, I grabbed another dish from my [Tower], holding it enticingly. When their resolve buckled and they agreed to Iona¡¯s terms, food was handed out.


    On one hand, it felt dirty and unethical. I was using their starvation and hunger against them, withholding food until they agreed. On the other? ¡®You get food if you agree not to try and murder us in our sleep¡¯ was a line I was quite happy walking.


    Level up notifications were loud, and I didn¡¯t want my beauty sleep interrupted by leveling [The Elaine] because the goblins went on a stabbing ¡®why won¡¯t they die¡¯ spree.


    In the end, beer all around! I needed to learn Goblin, or hopefully, they¡¯d learn High Elvish.


    Orthus Town expanded.


    One of the goblins followed us out, the youngest kid we¡¯d seen. I carefully avoided thinking about why we didn¡¯t see any younger goblins. Iona asked her a question, and she shyly answered, poking Iona in the leg.


    My wife looked thunderstruck, and was left speechless for a solid minute. The whole time, the little goblin was looking more and more nervous, until it was clear she was debating bolting.


    Indecision warred over Iona¡¯s face, a thousand emotions flickering. The little goblin had sent Iona into some sort of crisis with her words, and I sidled up next to her, letting her know I was here for her, I was always here, and I¡¯d support her anyway I could.


    The goddesses knew I¡¯d gone deep into my own thoughts often enough, Iona supporting me, that I could do the same back when the roles were reversed.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    Iona swallowed hard and nodded, half-turning to me.


    ¡°Her name¡¯s Raccoon. What do you think about having an extra pair of hands around the house?¡±


    I could tell Iona wanted me to answer a particular way. Was practically begging me with her eyes.


    ¡°Sure!¡±

 Chapter 589: Plague Wind

    Raccoon was a new and interesting presence in our lives. I was less than impressed with her desire to learn ALL THE VIOLENCE from Iona and her reluctance to do the hard, needed farm work, but Iona managed to get her round.


    Weeks passed, and carrots died. The hardiest ones were growing into small and scraggly little things, but by the gods, they were alive. Growing, promising more food, promising to extend our stores.


    Raccoon approached me one morning as I was recharging the enchantments, praying for the day she leveled up enough to do the chore herself. What else were minions for? I raised an eyebrow at what she was carrying, and stood up straight as she nervously approached me. Her language skills had improved in leaps and bounds, and I was pretty sure she had a general skill dedicated to learning.


    ¡°Elaine. Uhhh. I got for you?¡± She shyly offered me up a dead opossum.


    ¡°Thank you?¡± I gingerly took the offering, trying to figure out what I was going to do with a dead marsupial. It hadn¡¯t even been washed or anything, the blood was still congealing on its fur.


    Her offering reluctantly accepted, Raccoon beamed at me.


    ¡°Is good eating! You teach me magic food skill?¡±


    It took me a moment to understand what she was asking. Maybe.


    ¡°Do you mean my [Tower] skill I get food from?¡±


    Raccoon nodded furiously.


    ¡°Yes! Lots of good eating. Raccoon and tribe no starve.¡±


    I debated trying to explain the power complexities of Spatial magic, along with the power and control requirements, before getting into the need to plan and store everything.


    ¡°Raccoon, how high can you count?¡± I asked, hoping she¡¯d make it higher. As her teacher, I had standards.


    ¡°One, two, three, four, five... six! Seven, eight... ten, thirteen, thirty six!¡±


    Raccoon nodded to herself like she was an accomplished genius, able to rattle off huge numbers.


    ¡°You teach me magic food skill now?¡±


    I sighed.


    ¡°Raccoon, you¡¯re great, but nine comes before ten, and...¡±


    I debated saying ¡®no¡¯, but I doubted that¡¯d get through to her. I drew myself up - fuck how short I was, I was still almost eye level with the goblin - and did my best ¡®evil mysterious witch¡¯ look.


    ¡°Elaine powerful Immortal mage. Puny goblin hasn¡¯t lived long enough to learn valuable secrets. Many years of learning needed first. Then, I teach powerful secret-hush magics.¡±


    I felt a little greasy after saying that. Raccoon was nodding along like it made total sense to her.


    ¡°Alright! Raccoon picks carrots now, Elaine cooks?¡± Her eyes locked on the carcass I was still holding and she licked her lips. There was absolutely no temptation to have Raccoon do the cooking herself, not after the first time. We¡¯d all seen what she considered ¡®good eating¡¯, and since it had been her first week and she was still a nervous wreck, we¡¯d politely choked it down, then made a private pact to never let her cook again.


    With quite a lot of high-speed mental effort, and a dramatic flick of my wrist, I lit up a dozen carrots I¡¯d mentally marked as being ready for harvest. Had to keep my dramatic ¡®all powerful witch¡¯ image up after all. It was the only way I could get her to practice her letters!


    She was one of the most eager students I¡¯d ever had. Once she figured out that I was teaching her ¡®runes of power¡¯, there was no stopping her thirst for knowledge. Part of me wondered if she¡¯d be disappointed down the line, but... nah that was impossible. Everyone loved reading.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Sage of Tomes] has leveled up!]


    Oh, I wondered what Auri was up to? Also, speaking of, it¡¯d been a while since we¡¯d seen Fenrir. He left to hunt and hadn¡¯t been back since. Iona still had the companion skill, so he was obviously still alive. Just... concerning.


    Carrot - oppossum soup. Yay apocalypse.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1350->1352 +200 Strength, +200 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +2000 Mana, +10000 Mana Regen, +4000 Magic Power, +4000 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    This was all occurring quite quickly.


    Another part of me hit upon the actual solution quite quickly, and terminated three different thought processes with the conclusion.


    [Guardian Erra, the Merciful]


    Well, that simplified things quite a bit.


    A moment after it finished appearing, the Vorler split, then split again, turning into a cascading fractal pattern. Its many stingers all struck forward at once in a thousand-million places, a struggling harpy revealed for a brief moment. Colorful feathers and a blowing breeze in her eyes marked her as a Gale user.


    [Mage - 768]


    Auri flew out of the cottage, starting a beeline straight to the vorler. Didn¡¯t blame her, we¡¯d been hunting the menances for decades, and they were kill on sight.


    ¡°Auri! Stop! Friendly!¡± I yelled as the System dinged at me. Too many things going on too quickly.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1353->1360 +200 Strength, +200 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +2000 Mana, +10000 Mana Regen, +4000 Magic Power, +4000 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    I had a moment of indecision, of hesitation. The massively more powerful Vorler¡¯s poison wasn¡¯t killing the harpy because of me. I was single-handedly staving off death with [Persistent Casting], and once I finalized the conclusion that the harpy was responsible and needed to die, I couldn¡¯t say ¡®whoops¡¯ and take it back. It went against nearly a century of instincts and of exterminating vorlers. My mana was regenerating faster than I could spend it. It was ¡®only¡¯ a single person being executed, and unless the trauma was immediately lethal, I could heal them again and again, as many times as was needed, until I¡¯d made my decision.


    Nobody died. That was my conviction, and right now, I could stare a Guardian in its many-faceted eyes and say ¡®wait.¡¯


    I Wait for me to judge. Wait for me to decide.


    Iwas the arbiter here.


    Auri fluttered to my shoulder.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Thinking.¡± I tersely answered.


    ¡°Brrpt.¡± She had full faith in me.


    The Vorler, scourge of all life, a species that warring armies would pause to eradicate, an infamous Miasma user, came in on a Guardian notification. The System was cleanly telling me she was a Guardian.


    But there was no confirmation, no knowledge, that the harpy was the killer. No Poison or Miasma in her eyes, no Acid or Spore or one of the other elements known for murder writ large. That the Vorler wasn¡¯t going rogue, if it were possible for a Guardian to break its mandate. A Vorler the level I was witnessing was enough of a scourge to be worth summoning a Guardian in and of itself, the skills, levels, and classes enough to take a strong stab at gassing the entire continent of life, of stripping every living soul from its mortal coil.


    The level and power were suggestive. If the Vorler, right here, was trying to kill us specifically, I¡¯d possibly be having a harder time keeping everyone alive. My mana would be slowly dropping. At the same time, normal Poison and Miasma were trivially cheap to deflect. It was only when they got supercharged by high level skills that it could possibly start to pose a challenge... and a Vorler at that level should have the high level skills in question.


    However, if they were attempting to exterminate a large population all at once, the impact and the effect would be diluted, making it trivially easy once again to deflect and prevent, my mana regeneration alone more than enough to keep up.


    Did I have enough knowledge to once again arbitrate life and death? To give the thumb¡¯s up, to allow her soul to be reaped by Black Crow? In the moment I wished for Iona, and her ability to see all stats and skills, to let me know with certainty what the right decision was.


    I arbitrated.


    I decided.


    And a winged body fell.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1360->1361 +200 Strength, +200 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +2000 Mana, +10000 Mana Regen, +4000 Magic Power, +4000 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    [*ding!* [Everywoman] leveled up! 502 -> 503]

 Chapter Merry Christmas! Patreon giveaway

    Merry Christmas one and all! I''m giving out 1000 copies of one month of BTDEM Patreon Membership! First 1000 people to click and redeem get a free month. I think


    it''s for new members only. The link is valid until the New Year my time, so don''t delay! /SelkieMyth/redeem/2A334


    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

 Chapter 590: Cleanup

    The Guardian vanished moments after I let the harpy die, and I shuddered at the thought of the Vorler running around loose. His title of ¡®The Merciful¡¯ didn¡¯t exactly inspire pretty images either - I could only imagine what a vorler considered to be ¡®mercy¡¯.


    I paced back and forth, considering my next moves, envying Raccoon¡¯s ability to sleep through anything. Which was a bit of a surprise to me, I would¡¯ve expected goblins to sleep with one eye open. Some of her ¡®casual dinner side stories¡¯ were downright harrowing, and I half expected to end up with a few more grey hairs. They looked great on Iona! A few thin strands of silver nestled among the gold.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri asked.


    ¡°I mean, Iona should know... but sure, I¡¯m feeling a little stuck here.¡± I said.


    Auri threw me a one-winged salute, and buzzed off at high speed. A pair of goggles some [Couriers] used snapped onto her face before she left a burning afterimage.


    I shook my head and went deep into [Astral Archives], trying to work out exactly where my healing radius overlapped with the map of the place. Being able to fly was a boon, I had a good mental map of the area, and thanks to my travels, I had a solid idea of my range.


    It had just increased with all the levels I¡¯d gotten, of course, but that was going to be my safety margin. I mentally overlayed my range with where we were and the map of the place. A lack of proper measuring tools was a hindrance on one end, but thanks to the careful work of Surveyor and the other Potentials, we had a strong grid I could work off of.


    I mentally bit my tongue as I worked through it all, groaning a little at the end.


    Everyone was inside my radius, with a solid amount of padding included. I wasn¡¯t trapped on the farm for the foreseeable future while we diagnosed the plague and worked out countermeasures, or worst-case, waited eight years to let it all decay. At the same time, the furthest farms, the ones not designed by Skye and outside of Orthus Town¡¯s mandate, were just barely inside. The farmers wouldn¡¯t drop dead stepping outside their fields, but if they were patrolling the edges while I went the opposite direction, into the laid-out Orthus Town, they would be outside my protection.


    That wasn¡¯t quite as bad as the major problem.


    I was soft-locked out of my [Tower]. Until we knew what the poison was, until we had a remedy or mitigation, it was entirely possible that leaving for a few seconds could cause people to die. It was unlikely, but possible. There could also be multiple poisons - it was rare for a substance to be both a herbicide and good for killing people - but it could be a single, powerful poison.


    Cytotoxic venoms were fine, and most hemotoxins would take longer than I¡¯d be gone to properly have an impact. Neurotoxins concerned me, but a contact neurotoxin should take more than a moment to penetrate skin, even if it was powdered on a child. Then there was the mechanism - any neurotoxin paralyzing nerves generally killed via respiratory distress, which took minutes before problems started to occur on a child, let alone the generous length of time I had to respond to an adult. It was the ones that traveled up nerves like fire, that rotted the brain from the inside that scared me.


    Then there were magiatoxins, unusual concoctions entirely System-made and derived. The field of medicine collectively threw up their hands trying to classify all the different possible methods of transmission and mechanisms of action, and declared the entire thing to be in the realm of the System, where anything was possible. It was more expensive and much harder to brew up a magiatoxin, but it was like the plague in Perinthus - transmissible via eye contact, for example.


    This was ignoring the fact that poisons could be promiscuous - whoever invented poison terminology was having fun - and work along multiple pathways. Then, of course, most Poison Classers weren¡¯t just sprinkling botulism on people and calling it a day. They enhanced their poisons, made them deadlier in a variety of ways. From merging poisons together to increasing their potency, from finding new mechanisms of delivery to unusual methods of delivery, all studies of poison had the caveat of ¡®... and a skill could change everything.¡¯


    Actually... speaking of Surveyor, there was the answer!


    I debated waking up Raccoon to act as my messenger, but decided not to.


    Everyone was going to wake up to a field of dead crops. Might as well let them tackle the problem on a full night¡¯s sleep.


    The shit never ended, and the ashes continued to fall.


    Titania was up before Raccoon, and saw me pacing unhappily in the field.


    ¡°M¡¯lady.¡± She respectfully curtseyed, nevermind that I was covered in dirt, her tunic wasn¡¯t exactly the best, and our home was barely more than a hut. ¡°What troubles you?¡±


    I kicked at one of the dead carrots and filled her in on last night¡¯s events. She kneeled down by one of the carrots and plucked it.


    It had been sad and scrawny to begin with. Between the cold weather, low sunlight, and lack of any real skills on our part, its mere survival until now had proved it was scrappy. Whatever poison or plague had hit it had done it no favors. It was withered and blackened, more likely to be sold by a sketchy [Witch] promising it would find true love than any self-respecting [Grocer]. Titania eyed it critically, then took a bite.


    I could¡¯ve stopped her a thousand times over, but I implicitly trusted her with the decades we¡¯d spent together. She chewed thoughtfully, swallowed, and shuddered.


    ¡°Poor fare, to be sure, and undoubtedly poisoned, yet still food.¡± She proclaimed. ¡°I am reminded of the time you wished to try a selection of poisonous berries as a snack. You found the nightshade most agreeable, but elected the risks not worth regular additions to our plates. In the face of starvation, let us not discard valid options. Poisoned, rotted, or diseased, your healing prevents those issues, and while our bodies may object, the mind is the master in the end.¡±


    I blinked and reframed how I was looking at things. When did a carrot die anyway? When it was pulled from the ground? Weeks later? I¡¯d done a cursory study of plants, but the moment of death was tricky enough for people and animals, who had a distinct notification when the soul left the body. When it came to plants, it was far murkier.


    A carrot was a carrot. A poisoned carrot, with me around, was a spicy carrot. I was in the habit of considering solutions that didn¡¯t rest solely on my shoulders, on distributed self-sustaining systems, but Titania was right. We could still eat them.


    ¡°Thank you, Titania.¡± I nodded respectfully back. ¡°That viewpoint does change things.¡±


    She nodded, rolled up her sleeves, kneeled in the dirt, and started pulling up carrots. Always willing to get her hands dirty, always willing to work hard, it was part of why I liked her so much.


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    That, and her cooking was almost literally divine. I was willing to bet she could make the blackened and diseased carrots taste good. With a wave of my hand, I [Teleported] all of the carrots in my range out of the ground, into a neat pile. All of us had to do our part.


    But I¡¯d had over a century to practice.


    I felt confident.


    [*ding!* [Everywoman] leveled up! 503 -> 504]


    ¡°I¡¯m surprised that it actually went well.¡± Iona commented. I wanted to flip her off, but no, had to remain vaguely professional and put together in front of the neighbors. ¡°I¡¯m off to refill the barrels, good luck.¡± My wife quickly pecked me on the cheek, wiping away everything except a warm, happy glow inside.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri declared she was going on a patrol, and Raccoon was clearly sticking with Iona.


    Auri, unfortunately, couldn¡¯t burn out poison and infection... yet. It required a specialized class, and she¡¯d been offered it before but never took it. Why, when I was right there? In theory, she could blanket the area in an inferno and make sure the poison was burned out, but her inability to see and properly identify it meant she¡¯d burn a lot of other things at the same time. Everything smaller than a speck of dust would be obliterated... and quite a few things larger than that would as well.


    For some reason, my neighbors were a hair reluctant to watch their homes and fields go up in flames, even though it would mostly be alright in the end. Strange that.


    ¡°Now what?¡± Surveyor asked. ¡°Should I just start classing up, or... what?¡±


    ¡°Now, I need to get in the right mindset for what I¡¯m about to do.¡± I said.


    I was pretty happy with my [Oath] and all aspects of it. I just needed to do some serious thinking about deliberately dropping healing on someone trying to help me. It was different from the harpy, who I thought was actively trying to kill me.


    I was dropping the healing for a multitude of reasons. I needed to know the impact of the poison, if it was still persisting in the air or on skin, the effects it had on people, the timeline it acted on, and more.


    Pure selfish knowledge wasn¡¯t enough.


    This was to help Surveyor. This was to carefully, in a controlled way, expose her to a lethal poison, such that she could get a class to help combat it. Helping people survive their current environment was like sparring. Except I was helping her spar the world, so to speak, and I was simply a ¡®neutral¡¯ observer, the medic on the sideline ready to step in and assist when the spar got out of hand, the arbiter who declared the bout at an end, the natural philosopher trying to learn more about the world.


    There we go. That was the right mindset.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to briefly, temporarily, drop my healing on you.¡± I explained to Surveyor. Her eyes widened.


    ¡°Is that why I didn¡¯t get a bruise when I hit my shin jumping over the wall? I was sure I was going to get the biggest, ugliest bruise ever, but it just stopped hurting and nothing ever came of it. My brother said I was lying about hitting it! Except the rocks had still fallen over, and-¡±


    I held up my hand.


    ¡°That¡¯s right. Under my protective aegis, it¡¯ll be nearly impossible for anyone to die of anything besides old age, hunger, or thirst.¡± I had a handle on suffocation these days.


    I could see the teenage gears turning in her head, and I lightly chopped her head.


    ¡°No.¡± I said. ¡°Whatever you¡¯re thinking right now, just - no.¡±


    Surveyor pouted, but didn¡¯t argue. I continued on.


    ¡°Depending on the severity, the poison might start immediately ravaging your body, it might take some effort to rediscover it. It¡¯s entirely possible that it¡¯s gone, and nothing will happen. That would be ideal. Assuming the worst, I¡¯ll let it go as far as I believe is safe, then heal you up.¡±


    Surveyor was looking distinctly green at that explanation. ¡°Then I class up?¡± She tentatively ventured. I shook my head.


    ¡°No, for a good class, you¡¯ll have to be exposed quite a few times. Three times a day, then a long discussion on various types of poisons, plagues, and miasmas, how they work, and how they could potentially be countered or removed. Half a volume of the Medical Manuscripts, but honestly, you should probably read five more to get the proper foundational knowledge. Without the knowledge, you¡¯d just get a [Poison Survivor] or [Miasma Resistor] class. We need to do this properly, and the knowledge will set you up for the future one way or another. Knowledge is power. We¡¯ll repeat for about, oh, two weeks at a minimum, although two months would be best, then you¡¯ll class up. Should be good for a light green class at minimum, but it¡¯s possible I¡¯ve got the weight to boost you to dark green for this, with a tiny, small, outside chance at blue if we¡¯re extremely lucky and Exterreri was hit harder than I thought.¡±


    Surveyor looked like she wanted to run away, and I flashed my teeth at her.


    ¡°Remember what you said - a deal¡¯s a deal, no running away.¡±


    She swallowed and gritted her teeth.


    ¡°Hit me.¡±


    [*ding!* [Everywoman] leveled up! 504 -> 505]

 Chapter 591: Snowflakes

    The ashes came up to my shins now. I couldn¡¯t decide if I wanted to walk on the ashes without leaving a trace, or sink through, leaving swishing footprints in the grey remnants of life and civilization.


    It was cold far earlier in the year than it had any right to be, and I suspected we were in for a particularly harsh and brutal winter. Auri was going to be a literal lifesaver hundreds of times over - without easy access to firewood to burn, with limited reserves, the fact that Auri was a neverending font of controlled fire was going to save the citizens of Orthus Village.


    I was going to freeze my pretty ass off. Immunity to fire was great until it wasn¡¯t, and I was seriously mentally debating spending significant amounts of time in my [Tower] just to stay warm. That, or cocoon myself in layer after layer of clothing, then liberally apply [Teleportation] to any and all problems. Ventilating our house so we didn¡¯t breathe all the air also gave passage to the South Wind to attempt murder. Or... I could be a little less of an idiot and just Radiance myself. I didn¡¯t have [Radiance Resistance] anymore.


    I made a decision on the ashes, and split the difference on how I¡¯d walk. One foot stepped on the ashes, leaving no footprint, no trace of my passage, and the other thudded deep into the not-snow, giving me a staggered walk, like a lady only wearing one heel.


    The thick clouds above me parted, roiling away like the sea in the wake of a great ship, and I¡¯d restrained in myself the instinct to flinch, to cast my eyes up to the sky and expect disaster.


    Disaster was in the sky, but it was not coming for me. A full flight of dragons were speeding along, off to commit violence and ruin someone¡¯s day.


    A dragon sighting was a rare, once-a-decade experience.


    A full flight of them was a nightmare, the normally solitary beasts cooperating only under the worst of circumstances. Part of me wanted to try [Identifying] them, but I remembered how, impossibly, Lun¡¯Kat had been able to tell I¡¯d been looking at her. I wasn¡¯t about to tug the dragon¡¯s tail. The saying was usually metaphorical.


    They vanished to the west, and I hurried home. I didn¡¯t speed, didn¡¯t fly, didn¡¯t chain teleports, nor did I dawdle. My hand was on the doorknob when a pillar of volcanic flame erupted far over the horizon.


    I couldn¡¯t tell if the pillar was small and nearby, or a fraction of the world away and so deep in space I could see it. Given the speed of the dragonflight and the timing...


    Somebody was having a really, really bad day.


    But hey, it wasn¡¯t every day we got to witness dragons causing havoc way over there.


    ¡°Hey Raccoon! You¡¯re going to want to see this!¡± I shouted.


    After a quick discussion with Iona and Auri, I went off, following the dragonflight and the low-space marker they¡¯d sent up. I spent half the trip there dodging and weaving through falling rocks, until I eventually gave up trying to dodge the endless unintentional barrage and just powered through it all with [The Mantle of Dusk and Dawn].


    I had no hopes of finding any survivors in an eight-mile radius around the edge of the dragon strike. I didn¡¯t bother looking, simply eyed the gigantic lake of Lava warily before flying around the rim, seeing if there was anyone who merely got clipped by the collateral. Someone half-crushed by the falling rocks.


    The thick black smoke meant I was relying entirely on [The World Around Me] to see, and practically speaking, I was ¡®seeing¡¯ by looking for any level up notifications, given how dramatic my healing range was compared to my visual range. Thank goodness for the extra eyelids I¡¯d included in my biomancy transformation, because of them, the smoke wasn¡¯t unbearably itchy.


    There were no levels, no notifications. I didn¡¯t know if it was due to my level and the fact I¡¯d done this sort of disaster healing before, the situation, or if my efforts were futile, and there was nobody to heal. My mana wasn¡¯t giving me any clues, giving a ceiling to how much healing I could be doing.


    I wanted it to be the first one. That I was so good at healing, that I was so powerful that this wasn¡¯t a challenge, that cleaning up a mess wasn¡¯t risky or weighty, that I was gaining no levels.


    My heart of hearts believed that everyone was dead. No matter how I extended my radius, I wasn¡¯t getting any levels.


    I screamed in frustration. I screamed and screamed into the uncaring void, my cries of despair swallowed by the ever-falling ashes. I screamed until I breathed in too much, then coughed myself hoarse before screaming again.


    Why?


    Why!?


    Why did people have to fight, to die. It was all just so senseless. I wished I could snap my fingers and change the world, but I couldn¡¯t be the first or the last to wish for a lasting, enduring peace. It had clearly fallen apart every time.


    I was useless here, but there were other places I could go, other people I could help. I flew up high, high enough where my skin tingled against the thin air and my healing started to work just to keep me alive, and looked down at Pallos.


    The blue marble had turned into a grey globe. I oriented myself, the task far harder than it had been just a year ago. I shook my head at how different everything was. The shape of the coastlines were still there, but all the details were different. Peninsulas had turned into islands, bays had been created and filled in, new mountains dotted the landscape and others had been leveled. Lakes had turned into swamps, and grassy fields now had craters being slowly filled in. Vast swaths of green forests had turned into charcoal black. Not a single mango grove was to be found - I¡¯d plotted all of them on my mental map. I double checked them all, looking for any little speck of green. There had to be some survivors, yeah...? R


    I¡¯d read a few diaries of prior Immortal Wars. None of them had described devastation quite on this scale.


    The world hadn¡¯t changed so badly I didn¡¯t know exactly where I was, and I was able to spot a few landmarks, quickly identifying more.


    Right as I spotted Lake Mare, an aurora started to shine around me. I eyed the brilliant greens and blues with suspicion, alert and waiting for an assault.


    When nothing happened I shrugged.


    Sometimes, auroras just happened.


    Sometimes, there was a bit of light and joy in the world.


    I flew down to Mare Town, mentally tracing out a path, two dozen locations in the world I knew were still up, alive, and fighting to restore civilization.


    ¡°Flightysaurus!¡± She affectionately nicknamed me. ¡°You¡¯re back! Come snuggle?¡± She opened up her blankets, patting her lap.


    I wanted nothing more than to curl up with Iona and snuggle with her. Warm in the blankets, snow falling outside, the fire crackling with my best friend. We could probably get some tea going - pine needle tea was an acquired taste - and enjoy each other¡¯s presence. Trade some stories with Titania, the woman was a veritable font of them.


    I was still holding the chisel.


    I shook my head.


    ¡°Would love to, and I will later. I¡¯ve got something to do first. It¡¯s about time, I think.¡± I held it up.


    Iona went quiet.


    ¡°Ah.¡± Was all she said.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri asked. Titania was tactful enough to give me a slow nod.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it, Auri.¡± I said. ¡°Stay in here where it¡¯s warm.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, shoo.¡± Iona politely waved me out. ¡°I¡¯ll stay up until you come back.¡±


    ¡°It might be a while.¡± I said. She shrugged.


    ¡°So? I¡¯ve held vigils for lesser things.¡±


    I [Teleported] over and planted a kiss on Iona¡¯s surprised lips, then vanished a moment later.


    Off to the mountain, off to where our home had been.


    I circled for quite a bit, looking for the best spot. One particularly steep cliff was the best bet, and I spent a long three minutes studying it.


    Then I flew up and liberally applied [The Rays of the First Dawn] to the cliff, making it mirror-smooth and shiny. There was a single large crack running down the middle, and I would simply need to work around it.


    I suspected I might run out of room, and went tiny. I could always add in obelisks later if needed, each one another page. I could make an entire forest out of them.


    [Astral Archives] was my perfect memory skill, and more practically, it was arranged like a library. Information stored in a thousand books, easily copied, moved, sorted, and ordered. Some books were special to me, like my copy of the Medical Manuscripts or beloved memories. Others were written into large volumes and promptly shoved into various dusty corners, like what I had for breakfast four days ago.


    Spoiler: It was rotten carrots again.


    I tenderly brought one of my most precious books to the forefront of my mind, one of the only volumes of memories I¡¯d named.


    The Book of the Dead.


    I mentally opened it to the first page as I got my chisel ready. I didn¡¯t need a hammer, not with my stats, not with [Everywoman] guiding my movements. I could use my [Rays], but I wanted to do it by hand. It meant more.


    I carved small. The wall was gigantic; my book was larger.


    Plus, I needed room for the inevitable expansion.


    Lyra. My first friend, my biggest mistake.


    The first name carved into stone, a flicker of immortality for my ancient friend. Once more her name was out in the world, once more people¡¯s eyes could see and wonder.


    It was one name among literal tens of thousands that I wanted to write down, that I wanted to carve into stone. I wasn¡¯t foolish enough to think it¡¯d last forever, but I could hope for a thousand years of remembrance.


    Elainus. My father, who welcomed me into this world. I kept it to just his praenomen, I needed the space.


    Julia. My mother, who tucked me in at night.


    Origen. A Ranger, one of my first companions as I set off on my life¡¯s adventure.


    Name after name, person after person, life after life, I carved their name into the wall. From my parents to a beggar whose name I¡¯d barely overheard, from Emperor Augustus to Sunrise, all were equal, all were memorialized. There were thousands and thousands of new names to add, Atlas being the largest tragedy for Auri. I was almost certain Auri¡¯s favorite guard was dead. I couldn¡¯t say the same about most of the Sentinels, and it was frustrating. I understood the ¡®decade to declare dead¡¯ policy so much better in the moment.


    Little stars denoted those I believed could have a chance of being alive, as the snowflakes melted into tears.

 Chapter 592: Law and Order

    Chapter 592: Law and Order


    Every eighth day was ¡®community day¡¯. Most everyone got together in the morning to talk and socialize, and the afternoon was for community efforts. From sweeping the roads clear of snow and ash to digging wells, there was always something we could band together to get done. The goblins were strangely enthusiastic about the whole thing, shovels and mud flying everywhere as they worked twice as hard as the humans next to them.


    I had no idea what that was about, but it lit a competitive spirit under everyone¡¯s asses, and I was all for it. With the approach of winter and the dearth of activities to do, my mind was wandering to all the weapons I had stored, and the slow increase of raids from hungrier and hungrier predators. Starvation and desperation was making them attack anything that could be dinner, and was making them dangerous.


    Many Exterreri traditions made so much more sense after the world had ended. The soldier-farmer one was blaring in my mind, and I should probably approach Skye and ask when she planned on drilling everyone in the basics.


    When raiders and bandits came, being able to form a shield wall could mean the difference between life and death for the farmers... assuming the Eventide Eclipse were on a trip. If we were around, well... nobody died without me saying so. Then again, a bandit didn¡¯t need to kill anyone to shove them aside and grab everything in a house, and if I wasn¡¯t paying attention, my healing would extend to the bandit as well! The downside of [Persistent Casting] and the image I¡¯d set - I was healing everyone, friend or elvenoid foe.


    I tended not to go to the morning community events, and I was hanging out with Auri in our cottage, idly chatting.


    I jumped up as I sensed Iona sprinting to the house.


    ¡°Auri.¡± I said, my voice tense, my eyes flickering over to Iona¡¯s armor on the stand. Made the room cramped, but in an emergency, it was the best place for it. The phoenix fluttered to my shoulder, staring at the door intently.


    Iona skidded to a halt right outside the door and carefully opened it. Her eyes were beaming and her smile was infectious.


    ¡°Elaine! Elaine! There¡¯s going to be a wedding next week! They asked me to officiate!¡±


    The emotional whiplash had me blinking, then grinning.


    ¡°That¡¯s great!¡±


    Time went by, and Skye approached me one day, gracefully gliding over the snow without leaving a footprint.


    ¡°Elaine, I¡¯ve got a problem, and I want to pick your brain.¡± She said. I straightened up.


    ¡°What can I help you with?¡± I said.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got our first dispute. Our first real dispute, and it¡¯s ugly. I¡¯m hoping you can help me untangle it all. Well, you and Iona. There¡¯s quite a few more people I¡¯d love to rope in, but at the same time, they¡¯re too close to the issue and the community. You two are the right mix of educated and removed enough to help me arbitrate. Do you have the time, say, tomorrow? The sooner we can nip this in the bud, the better.¡±


    I slowly nodded, already shuffling around mental books in my [Astral Archives]. It had been an eternity since Ranger Academy and my law lessons, and Sentinels were rarely deployed to handle issues that could be resolved by talking. Plus, while the philosophy and lessons were there, they were literally ancient. Judicial philosophy had evolved over time, and the Remus Republic hadn¡¯t exactly been fair. Iona was far better suited to this - Valkyries often found themselves as wandering adjudicators for small villages moreso than the strong arm of the law to come down on a monster¡¯s head.


    At the same time, I was more removed from the community than average, and without meaning any insult to my neighbors, was objectively far more educated and better read. It didn¡¯t automatically qualify me to pass judgment, but I had experience in the subject.


    ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡±


    Iona and I had dressed up, pulling out a pair of more formal, prettier tunics for the occasion. No armor, it gave off the wrong impression. That was the ¡®iron fist of the law¡¯ more so than ¡®respected member of the community¡¯. The vibe and politics had shifted with the new situation. I could be Sentinel Dawn... but they also all knew me as Elaine, standing next to them and applauding as Surveyor got married. The influence was different... although I was wearing my personal badge as a subtle reminder. We weren¡¯t in Skye¡¯s office for this, instead choosing to use the larger community center we¡¯d built over the weeks and months. The same place we met every week, where one of the Nixes had been married last week.


    Raccoon was dressed up and off to the side, ready to run any errands we might need. This was far better for her than learning how to swing a sword. We all believed Raccoon would be spending more time sorting out arguments than slaying beasts, much to her dismay.


    That dismay had turned into glee when she realized she could level from this, get stronger, and be better at murdering monsters. Honestly, it was a hair terrifying how she managed to bring everything back to ¡®how to effectively kill things.¡¯


    The place was slightly rearranged. The three of us were trying to cram into a table that was generous for one, cozy for two, and downright impossible for three. There just weren¡¯t any bigger tables, and no supplies to make one. Two tables would¡¯ve looked weird, a bedsheet as a tablecloth would¡¯ve been too obvious, and the hall wasn¡¯t wide enough for three. One cramped table was the best, and we hadn¡¯t found a good way to elevate ourselves well.


    I was sitting on a pair of thick dictionaries so everyone wouldn¡¯t tower over me. Proper presence and all that.


    Skye had insisted that we didn¡¯t get briefed before the discussion, to get the events fresh and untainted.


    ¡°They¡¯re both quite early.¡± Skye frowned, looking at the door. I could sense the crowd outside, and even with a wall between us, I could feel the tension and hostility. Iona didn¡¯t twitch as she telekinetically opened the doors, letting the two groups file in.


    There were clearly two groups deeply unhappy with each other. Muttered words, cold looks thrown over shoulders, and some macho posturing bullshit. I had the delayed thought that the ability to talk privately could help. It wasn¡¯t like we had a lot of paper and quills, forget ink production, and I didn¡¯t want to start flashing spells around.


    Smoke and a lack of mirrors was the name of the game. I just teleported a spellbook behind me, opened it to the right page, and conjured up a piece of paper and writing tools. Then thought about it again, and conjured up a whole stack of the papers.


    Iona was the only one without a perfect memory, but it was all about the appearance. I quickly debated going whole hog and summoning glasses, but quickly decided it was a bridge too far. Another part of [Luminary Mind] was busy scrawling out a complex spell that could let us talk privately when activated, but still hear what was going on, could be flickered, and an extra array for multiple inputs... there!


    I half-expected a ding, but no. Too much experience needed, not enough weight or difficulty. Well, at the very least we knew about it for next time. Iterative improvement and all that.


    ¡°Invisible privacy barrier.¡± I quickly explained. ¡°Kills all sounds trying to pass one way when active. Paper isn¡¯t going to last particularly long. This has all the makings of a family feud.¡±


    Iona and Skye nodded.


    ¡°I am in agreement.¡± Skye said. ¡°If the situation is this poor after such a short time, it will inevitably devolve and become a festering sore on the community.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m saying this, but we clearly don¡¯t have enough problems if they¡¯re able to get in a tiff already.¡± Iona cocked her head, thinking. ¡°Then again, this could be at the scale of a problem.¡±


    ¡°Tell me.¡± I said.


    She did.


    And my wife was right - I did hate it.


    But it was a good one.


    In the end, Skye delivered our verdict. We all stood up, and Iona called out.


    ¡°All rise for Princess Skye and her verdict.¡±


    Skye recited from memory. It was perfect, like mine.


    ¡°As the leader of Orthus Town and an Immortal, I am forced to take the long view on the situation. I do not want the poor appearance of justice today, only for a grudge to fester. We cannot sabotage the rule of law to appease a party today, should it shake the foundations of the civilization we are attempting to rebuild. We have gravely considered the case before us, and I believe even more history is required.¡±


    ¡°Aratrum, as you mentioned, your great-grandfather purchased and settled the land. What was not mentioned was the land was fraudulently acquired from Sentinel Dawn, standing right here next to me, as part of a foreign plot against Exterreri, designed to destabilize us. Instead of complaining, instead of taking it to the courts, instead of pulling the rug out from your forefather¡¯s feet and damning them, Sentinel Dawn graciously allowed your ancestor, and many other initial inhabitants of Orthus, to acquire the land and settle down. She received no compensation for such an act, no gratitude, and indeed, her family kept it quiet for the sake of peace. To attempt to then turn around with the most distant of claims is in poor form, for it is better for the farmer to use the land and keep it productive, versus one who would let it lie fallow.¡±


    Aratrum looked displeased at the verdict, but Skye wasn¡¯t done.


    ¡°Barmus, we are skeptical as to a number of your claims. You know your neighbors. You grew up with them, played with them. Your family has lived here as long as Aratrum¡¯s family has. While I¡¯ll accept that many of you are all related to each other, we are skeptical of the claims that you were entirely unaware that anybody alive could have a claim to the land. Yes, as you said before, the war has changed everything. But we are here, now and today, and praise for your actions need to be tempered with criticism for how they were taken.¡±


    Both sides looked vaguely displeased now. Skye was balancing things, not letting people know the verdict before it was delivered. Letting people listen.


    If she started off with her conclusion, nobody would listen to the reasoning, and the reasoning was almost more important than the conclusion.


    ¡°We live in the aftermath of the most devastating war Pallos has ever seen.¡± She said.


    I... kinda believed it. It was possible this was the worst Immortal war ever.


    ¡°Yet, with the devastation comes opportunity. There is endless fertile land, stretching out in every direction, for us to claim. For our sons and daughters to grow up on. For a time, we considered barring all parties from the contested property, but we cannot let a petty dispute rob us of functional land, even if we are spoiled for choice. Few lands are intact enough, and at this point, we are capable of looking to the future. Let us not discuss the next harvest, but the next decade, the next century. Let us look to the future.¡±


    More looks and murmurs. I didn¡¯t quite feel the need to split the two parties apart or to hush them, but I was considering it.


    ¡°Hear my verdict.¡± Skye said, and everyone straightened up, leaned forward. One elbow was thrown and a cousin blinked before focusing in on us.


    ¡°For the tools and other items taken from the farmhouse, Iona will inspect them, and a fine of approximately 20% of their value will be assessed, for Barmus to pay Aratrum. Given the lack of currency and pricing, we will discuss and work out an equivalent of goods, labor, or favors, to be negotiated between the three of us tomorrow. For the discovery of them came so late that many of them would¡¯ve rusted or rotted away in the meantime without skills and proper shelter to protect them. With the limited resources we have available, we can not afford to lose rare tools to neglect. Neither can we allow, shall we call it, premature grave robbing.¡± Skye looked sternly at both parties, both of which were pissed at the verdict.


    Good!


    ¡°As for the land itself, there are four different ways forward. Each year, you will approach me on which one of the four you are taking, until the fourth option is selected.¡±


    That had looks going around, and I ended up pretty happy. Iona and Skye wanted to execute the fourth option immediately, but I managed to convince them to find another way.


    ¡°The first and second are practically the same. Either the Barmus family or the Aratrum family will tend to the land for a year, and pay one-fifth of the harvest to the other family as compensation. Should they be unable to decide which family will tend the fields, the third option will take place, where both families are to contribute three workers each to the plowing, planting, growing, and harvesting of the fields. Upon harvest, the yield will be split evenly between the two.¡±


    Skye looked down on the two families, deviating slightly from the script.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have to tell you two how unhappy I¡¯ll be if you can¡¯t figure out which crop to plant. You¡¯re both intelligent, skilled farmers.¡±


    Whoop, good point. Kinda missed that. Good call! She returned back to the script.


    ¡°Lastly is the fourth option. Our community is small, and options for marriage and families are greatly limited. In this generation, or perhaps the next, it is nearly inevitable that a member of the Aratrum family will marry a member of the Barmus family. When that happy day occurs, the land will revert to their new household. This should encourage the two of you to put your best foot forward when it comes to maintaining the land and keeping it in good condition. After all, your son will one day live there. Your daughter will give birth in that house. Your grandchildren will run through those fields. The land is entirely excessive for a single household, but all of you will grow, prosper, and flourish. Let the farmstead be a symbol for the future, of hope and rebirth. May the grudge die here and now.¡±


    I was pleased with the modifications. Iona and Skye had wanted to just marry off a couple as soon as possible, because, honestly, that was the way the world mostly worked. My own experience with ¡®hey, here¡¯s your husband, good luck¡¯ had me fighting viciously against it. I didn¡¯t want to be the extra pressure that made them throw two people together because I¡¯d ordered it. I wanted the relief, the ability for them to think about it, and not go ¡®well, she¡¯s 33 and he¡¯s 17, but they¡¯re both single so I guess they¡¯re ordering those two married.¡¯


    [*ding!* [Everywoman] leveled up! 505 -> 506]


    It took a moment for the verdict to sink in. There wasn¡¯t a whole lot of cheering or happy looks, but the two patriarchs were now looking at each other in an entirely different light. Aratrum held out his arm, and Barmus clasped it.


    ¡°Well, I do believe I¡¯ve got an old wine bottle hidden away. Want to discuss this over it?¡± Barmus asked.


    Aratrum snorted.


    ¡°Only if it was one of my cousin¡¯s.¡±

 Chapter 593: Monster Attack

    ¡°Are we worried about Fenrir yet?¡± I asked. I was huddled in front of the fire, wrapped in a dozen blankets and drinking hot tea by the gallon. It was the perfect hack. I was immune to fire, not a hot cup of tea, and it was warming me up nicely. I occasionally shot fowl looks at everyone else. Auri was content in the fireplace, being the great heater. Iona and Titania had stripped down in the heat, and Raccoon had thrown modesty to the wind. To them, it was warm and balmy, practically tropical.


    Me? The tea was going straight through me. A series of hot water bottles strategically tucked around me was helping warm me up, and I could easily teleport them to Auri to be reheated.


    I had no idea how Auri warming the air didn¡¯t count, but me shivering in the blankets did. Or why heating up the air didn¡¯t warm me, but heating up water did. More magic nonsense. It made perfect sense to me.


    ¡°Nope.¡± Iona said with complete grace, sipping her own tea.


    I missed hot chocolate. We needed to speed run civilization to get it back. First things first... we had to find some cows for milk...


    The howling wind and winter slurry was the reason why Raccoon was in, and not performing some chore. Iona¡¯s armor was so polished we didn¡¯t even have a quarter of an excuse to make her polish it again, and adamantium-alloy or not, if Raccoon spent the entire winter doing nothing but polishing, she¡¯d shine it away to nothing.


    Somehow. That¡¯s just how these things worked.


    In spite of the howling gale trying to rattle our door, in spite of the snow absorbing noise and the rain battering our roof, I was able to hear thousands of sounds and pick up unusual ones.


    ¡°Something wrong?¡± Iona asked, noting the puzzled look on my face as I tilted my head towards the sea.


    ¡°Sounded like an unusually large wave crashing down. Not getting the after effects like I would for a tsunami or anything like that though.¡± I frowned.


    Iona distantly looked out, as if she could see through the thick and solid walls we¡¯d built the cabin with. Which she couldn¡¯t. No windows. Too difficult at the level we were operating at.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to check it out... which means we should look at what¡¯s going on.¡± She sighed. ¡°Flip you for it?¡±


    That was when the screaming started.


    ¡°Trouble! Let¡¯s go!¡± I shouted. I debated just teleporting out and going for it, but no. The problem was inside my healing radius, it was my snap judgment that it was better to properly tackle the problem than go after it piecemeal.


    Raccoon and Titania flung themselves to the corners of the room, starting to wrap themselves in blankets, trying to stay out of our way. Auri went up through the chimney, and I felt myself once again soft-locked out of my tower. Whatever was going on - I could sense something big over there - a moment of inattention, of my presence not blanketing the area, could result in casualties.


    I made a mental note to reassess my armory in the new world I found myself in. Threats came right up to my neighbor¡¯s doors these days.


    Iona geared herself up in a second with [Telekinesis], and we were out the door a moment later. The howling wind and driving rain slammed the door shut behind us, and my wife latched the door shut with another application of her skill.


    ¡°That way.¡± I pointed towards the bay, and the three of us shot off in the freezing cold. I closed my inner eyelid, giving myself goggles to see clearly with. It didn¡¯t work nearly so well in rain versus simply keeping dust out - raindrops on my eyelids effectively blurred my vision. The difference between being fully underwater, and looking through a rain-splattered window.


    Cold - and by rare extension, heat - had an unusual interaction with my healing. I could get deeply uncomfortable as a result, but it couldn¡¯t get to the stage of harming me. Rather, as I got cold enough that problems and harm started to occur, I simply healed it away. I did get on the slow and sluggish side, and I shivered like a half-naked woman thrust into a blizzard, and it sucked, but I was at no risk of hypothermia or freezing to death. Assuming I never turned off [Persistent Casting].


    Auri¡¯s [Domain of Fire] had a clear radius, the snow and ice mixed into the freezing rain melting and steaming as it neared her. The droplets popped and hissed as they met her, some brrrpts! of indignant outrage coming from the growing steam cloud around my little phoenix friend. That seemed to irritate her, and with a flex, she started to ¡®carry¡¯ an umbrella of Lava. In many ways, it made things worse... but she was flying dry.


    I could see well in the terrible light, but it took me a moment to process what, exactly, I was seeing. Only when the monster moved did I realize the size and scale of what we were dealing with.


    ¡°Fuck, that¡¯s big.¡± I shouted, trying to make sense of what I was seeing. It was like a hill on the move, a great mobile mound. I could [Identify] it, but Iona beat me to it.


    ¡°Whoa!¡± Iona shouted. She needed to sort of know that she was looking at something to activate her blessing. The Valkyrie quickly gave us the breakdown.


    ¡°Water vision! Go for it!¡± She shouted back, knowing exactly what I was thinking. Bless her, and cheers to eight decades of marriage. She was trying to slip her glaive between the cracks on the turtle¡¯s shell. She must¡¯ve spotted a weakness with how easily it could be reformed, assuming she could get enough leverage to move it.


    I activated one of my never-used bone runes, creating a metal shell around myself. I¡¯d imagined sandstorms when I designed the spell, ripping sand preventing me from drawing a rune to cast a spell. It worked just as well in a vicious winter storm, and I was strong enough to keep it hovering in the air, although I was buffeted back and forth as I grabbed my spellbooks and opened them up to four different spells designed to mess with the senses. Mostly sight, but also sound. A layer of darkness, a layer of illusions, and a dozen sirens going off all around the turtle. I broke through the shell a moment later, my spells cast.


    Auri changed tactics, seeing what I was doing and choosing to go along a similar route. The dark and stormy night was messing with her flames. She conjured up huge swathes of Lava around the kaiju¡¯s legs, trying to trap him. The turtle simply pulled his legs free with no indication of pain and carried on.


    The turtle¡¯s attacks started to go wild, but they weren¡¯t exactly the threat. It was the turtle¡¯s lumbering bulk, combined with his unassailable defenses that made him a tough nut.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri squeaked out in frustration, then was hit by inspiration. A new roaring inferno was lit under the turtle, and Auri fluttered up to my shoulder.


    ¡°Brrpt.¡± She proudly told me. Directly burning the turtle was too difficult... but as a water creature, Iona hadn¡¯t mentioned anything that would prevent him from being indirectly cooked. It might take a while with his bulk, but Auri was sure she could manage it in time. Given the ever-expanding half-sphere of raindrops being evaporated, I could visually see the heat she was pouring into it.


    With a crack Iona snapped off one of the turtle¡¯s scales. I could see the frown in her body language before she slid down the monster¡¯s back, grabbing him by the tail. With a grunt and a heave she started to drag and started to spin the enormous turtle.


    I continued running down my list of spells, seeing what could work.


    I could conjure rocks up high - or grab literal anvils from [Tower], nobody was in immediate danger - and drop them on the turtle. The monster''s size and speed made them likely to hit, the wind was going to foul my aim, but if Iona on the turtle¡¯s back couldn¡¯t break through I doubted a rock was going to help.


    The gaps in the turtle¡¯s shell opened a bit, and evaporated Arcanite hissed out between the cracks. The turtle opened his mouth and a ball of energy started to form, getting bigger and bigger with every moment he channeled. I wasn¡¯t quite sure exactly where he was aiming, it looked like empty air to me.


    ¡°BRRRPT!¡± Auri redoubled her flames, and a sharp crack went up and through one of the turtle¡¯s legs. Iona started to get some real swing, dragging the turtle through the mud.


    I didn¡¯t think I had a rope thick enough to tangle the turtle¡¯s legs with. If a hundred pounds of Lava couldn¡¯t slow the beast down, I didn¡¯t think rope would work much better.


    A stray thought crossed my mind, and I cursed the impossibility of it. I would¡¯ve loved to conjure up a cow¡¯s worth of meat and poison the heck out of it. The monster was clearly starving, put out some poisoned bait and call it a day. Heck, Arthur had done it back in the day against a similarly leveled sea monster! A particularly nasty runic language, under lock and key in the School, was dedicated to conjuring up all sorts of ugly poisons. It was the meat that was the problem.


    The turtle fired the Arcanite beam into the sky, nowhere close to any of us. I chalked it up to how I¡¯d blinded him.


    With a fantastic sense of timing, some of the storm clouds parted, giving a glimpse of the starry night sky above.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri hopped up and down in excitement as she saw Fenrir dive down through the clouds, Nina on his back. My heart swelled at seeing the two again.


    ¡°My territory!¡± The wyvern roared before hitting the turtle like sixty four tons of bricks. I literally could see the earth buck and ripple at the impact, shockwaves emanating from the epicenter. Iona managed to jump back just in time to avoid getting squashed.


    Fenrir had more bulk than the turtle, and the brains and willpower to use it. A vast sheet of Ice coated the ground, strong enough to support the turtle¡¯s weight and utterly destroying his ability to stand. Then Fenrir flipped the turtle over onto his back, and started to apply his jaws to the problem.


    In one massive bite he ripped away huge chunks of solid crystal plating, liquid Arcanite dripping out from his mouth and from the turtle like blood. Large gashes appeared on his stomach for the briefest of moments before my healing obviated them, Fenrir always being included in my healing image.


    Eight more bites later, and the turtle was dead.


    [*ding!* Your Party has slain a [Turtle (Water, 963) - (Mirror, 912) - (Arcanite, 898)]]


    Iona couldn¡¯t tell if she wanted to hug Nina or Fenrir first.

 Chapter 594: Smoke, no mirrors

    It took ages to get us all settled. We were going to have a reunion right now, no matter the conditions. It was just a little difficult to find a spot that could accommodate all of us, then we needed to run and let Raccoon and Titania know what was going on, and...


    It took longer to dispose of the turtle¡¯s body and work through the meeting logistics than it had to fight the monster in the first place! Iona made a small offering to her patron goddesses, kneeling down with the chunk of Arcanite she¡¯d peeled off. The rest we dumped into the bay, the safest place to leave it for eight years. We had no way of easily separating the conjured material from the real. We didn¡¯t have the Lantern of Truth, and while we could tell what was real and what was conjured - real Arcanite glowed when recharged with mana via a wizardry spell, conjured crystals were inert - separating them was practically impossible. The plan was to let the conjured material decay away, then sift through the remains to grab what was real. The five of us were huddled together near Fenrir¡¯s old - he clearly wanted it to be his again - lair, the mighty wyvern keeping the weather off us with a flex of his skills. He was curled around us, providing another layer to help keep the wind off our backs.


    Speaking of the turtle - no levels at all. None from Auri, none from a skill, nothing. It was pretty disappointing, but I supposed at the end of the day it was really Iona and Fenrir¡¯s show. Auri hadn¡¯t managed to burn anything substantial, I hadn¡¯t needed to heal anyone in the fight and it wasn¡¯t like I¡¯d been casting gigantic spells all over the place. A little frustrating in many ways, but I got why.


    Auri was in the middle, surrounded by hot water bottles that I kept [Teleporting] near her to warm up, then rotating them back to me. Iona glanced up at the sky before taking her helmet off, wiping the rain and sweat off her face.


    Then there was Nina.


    She was a frequent visitor, and I¡¯d watched her grow up from a little kid to the woman she was now. If my eyes didn¡¯t deceive me, she was physically older than Iona, which broke my heart a little. Hopefully she¡¯d accept Immortality, and I wouldn¡¯t need to start losing others, like so many other Immortals did.


    People often spoke of the curse of Immortality, beyond the one White Dove bestowed. Not for Immortals born to it, but mortals who had managed to ride the System, who had reached out and seized it for themselves. Too often, it was whispered, they were damned to watch their loved ones grow older and die, generation after generation passing, mourning the whole way.


    I was lucky enough to dodge that concern with my skill... but even without that, I felt it was a load of hogwash. It smacked of sour grapes.


    We were all damned to watch the people we loved grow old and die. Either we went early, the first member of the group at the funeral, and had our lives cut short, or we went the distance, attended dozens of funerals, and had nearly nobody to attend our own.


    It took an entire lifetime to get to the stage where people grieved and mourned. Mindset, energy, and the ability to meet new people depended on what I did, what circles I ran in, and more. While people weren¡¯t replaceable by any means, it was possible to meet new people, make new friends, and an entire lifetime of fun and memories wasn¡¯t outweighed by the grief at the end, at the passage of time and death.


    No. People who claimed Immortality would suck were simply envious in my opinion, trying to find ways to tear down others. Immortality was great. It was even better that I could bring others with me on the journey.


    Immortality was great, the collapse of civilization less so.


    Focus.


    I snapped back to the here and now, wanting to facepalm. [Luminary Mind] was great for multi-tasking and thinking about a dozen things at once when I remembered to use it! I was tired, I was excited, I was coming down off an adrenaline high.


    All excuses, I didn¡¯t have a good reason.


    Everyone was warm, everyone looked cozy, Fenrir was keeping the storm off our backs. Iona¡¯s companion was back, and Nina was alive, safe and sound. If this wasn¡¯t a time to break out the good stuff, I didn¡¯t know when was. A quick trip to my [Tower] found great food - when had I stashed almost an entire salted cow in here? - and excellent alcohol. Each one was arguably priceless at this point, but what was the point in storing them forever? They were for drinking and sharing.


    Fruity wines for Auri and I, hard liquor for Nina and Fenrir, and a small cask of a chewy beer for Iona. Salted meat and dried berries, dripping honeycombs and the biggest, most dangerous prize of all - a loaf of Ilan bread. Impossibly, the elves had improved on the recipe over the millenia, and it was only the most special of occasions that I let myself have a nibble.


    Auri started to roast - warm up, really - the beef, mugs and glasses were [Teleported] to various hands, and we settled down fast, all eyes on Nina. Iona was absent-mindedly stroking Fenrir¡¯s leg, and I was cuddled up next to her.


    Nina¡¯s shoulders hunched in, able to read the room.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to talk about the last few months right now.¡± She said, and we could all feel the Story there, extra so as she started to tear into the food with barely any manners or ceremony. Nina was level 464, a solid 24 level jump from the last time we¡¯d seen her. ¡°Let¡¯s do an after action analysis on the fight just now.¡± She said with her mouth full, catching the crumbs that fell out.


    I could see Iona struggling to put a smile on her face, to crack a joke. She flicked a berry at Nina¡¯s forehead, which the kitsune deftly snapped her snout at and ate.


    ¡°One where you come in smelling like roses, riding in at the last moment?¡± My wife teased Nina. She straightened up.


    ¡°Pretty much!¡± She brightly told Iona.


    ¡°Ignoring my healing - I¡¯ve spent more than a century refining it - I was nearly useless that fight.¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t have great tools for handling strong Mirror defenses. Usually I can bypass the defenses by stabbing people in the soft parts, but the turtle didn¡¯t have any soft parts I could stab.¡±


    She had a pair of ideas for the fight that she could¡¯ve done and didn¡¯t. The first was a smaller, stronger jet of solid Inferno, basically a plasma torch, carving into the side or under the plates, and could¡¯ve ¡®peeled¡¯ the turtle¡¯s shell away one layer at a time, if she couldn¡¯t manage a direct strike with it. The second she waffled on more, but it boiled down to a meteor strike. Fly up high, conjure a dozen mid-sized meteors of Lava, fly down with them and ¡®hammer¡¯ the turtle with terminal velocity shaped rocks. Rods from gods. She¡¯d come up with it at the moment, but thought the collateral might be too much at the time. We were fighting over our homes, killing the turtle but leaving it and the surrounding area a burnt-out husk was no good.


    Fenrir¡¯s initial impact had her reevaluating, and the five of us were trying to work out if the meteor strikes would¡¯ve been too devastating, or just devastating enough.


    On the other I was debating the pipe.


    A large part of me was saying NO SMOKING! Smoking bad! Smoking kills! It sets a terrible example! The house will smell terrible!


    That last one was the strongest one, honestly.


    At the same time, Medical Manuscripts or no, there wasn¡¯t exactly a smoking stigma.


    Another part of me pointed out that I was utterly immune to any problems from smoking, and people who were in my presence when I smoked were likely to be healthier than the average person, simply due to my healing. It was also a way to bond with Fenrir, and it would help me warm up in the freezing winter. Plus, Auri tended to put off a good amount of smoke herself when she wasn¡¯t focusing, it wasn¡¯t like clearing smoke out of our home was something new. I had eight different smoke and smell removing spells memorized already.


    Plus, there was a part of me that reveled in the delicious irony of the Sentinel¡¯s philosophy, a way to openly display it without saying anything.


    Smoke and mirrors.


    I needed to get myself a mirror.


    Auri saw what I was doing and sent a spark my way. That settled it.


    I puffed away merrily, and failed miserably to blow a smoke ring.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Smoking Kills]! Would you like to replace a skill with it? Y/N]


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve unlocked the General Skill [Smoking Skills]! Would you like to replace a skill with it? Y/N]


    I side-eyed the System¡¯s skills, convinced by now that it had a warped sense of humor. In defiance, by some Ciriel-granted miracle, I managed to blow a smoke ring, then added my thoughts on Auri¡¯s analysis.


    ¡°I¡¯ve always been a fan of small, sharp, targeted attacks.¡± I said. ¡°I think the meteor strike would be too big of a wind up, with too large an impact, and utterly useless for anything besides a stationary target. If you¡¯re aiming to take down a city, we¡¯re probably going to have Words before then and time to plan. If you¡¯re aiming for a monster, I doubt we¡¯ll ever encounter anything as slow as the turtle again. Focus on penetrating attacks. Perhaps try to melt through some rocks, working on flowing Lava out as you melt it or something.¡± I said.


    Auri nodded at my sage wisdom, and I straightened up a bit, letting a sly smile cross my face as the pipe hung. I admitted it - I was a shameless slave to my vanity, and when the thought of a Look I could manage crossed my mind, I felt somewhat compelled to lean into it.


    Hey Ciriel! I asked my goddess friend. How¡¯s it all going? Anyone need a miracle?


    I sent up some spare mana as an offering, feeling vaguely guilty that I could send up as much as tens of thousands of worshippers but just plain forgot half the time.


    Elaine! Ciriel replied. No, everything¡¯s all peachy here! How are you doing? How¡¯s your wife and Auri?


    We¡¯re doing great! I answered back. Fenrir just came back with Nina, and...


    I puffed along merrily as I chatted with Ciriel and my family at the same time, planning out how to best cultivate a fun image... or dozens of fun images and looks. I might need several homes... half of this was pure fantasy, but it was fun fantasy.


    I planned it all out, surrounded by family.

 Chapter 595: The Wheel of Time

    It was winter, and I was sitting around the Auri-fire with everyone else, telling tales with a dramatic flourish as snow fell softly around our cabin.


    It was spring, and I was pulling on the plow with conjured rope. One of those unexpectedly hard to replace items, we couldn¡¯t afford to lose any more. We were attacked by shambling dead men infested with spores. The zombies had frozen over the winter, and were slowly invading as they - and their mushroom controllers - thawed out. Auri had a grand old time, and quite a few people took Spore classes. They were excellent for pollination.


    It was summer, and I danced with my wife under the Maypole, garlands of flowers woven into my hair. I put a small damper on one of the few occasions we were all together by announcing that I was dropping my permanent healing on everyone, but educating people in another way. All they had to do was call my name, call for a healer, call out ¡®Elaine¡¯, and all their medical problems would vanish.


    [Domain of the Healer] was only good if people knew it existed.


    It was autumn, and I was the grim reaper, scything down stunted wheat. The entire growing season had been shaded by ashes, but we had enough.


    It was the second winter, and Iona wrapped her arms around her lover, keeping her warm, ignoring the smoke. She¡¯d heard the story before, but laughed like it was the first time. A quick dart of her eyes let her gauge moods and check in on everyone. Who was happy? Who was upset? What would make everyone move together more smoothly, what needs were being unmet?No?v(el)B\\jnn


    It was spring, and Iona wrangled the plow into a straight line, making a lewd joke about it and what she was going to do to Elaine later. Her wife groaned, but there was an extra sashay to her step after.


    It was summer, and Iona was arguing with her patron goddesses. The first temple in Orthus Town had been built almost entirely by Iona, from dredging up and quarrying the stone, to carving the altar and statues. They wanted the temple to be dedicated solely to them, and Iona believed the temple should be dedicated to all the gods and goddesses.


    It was autumn, and she loaded Raccoon up with sacks of grain to bring to the [Miller]. The Valkyrie was quite pleased every time she saw the millstone - she¡¯d carried it personally to make the town¡¯s mill. She paused as the goddesses whispered in her mind, letting her know of a group of people looking for help, another group that could be folded into Orthus Town.


    It was the third winter, and Auri flew from chimney to chimney, hearth to hearth, in the dead of night. A bright red hat with a white bob was on her head, a hat Elaine insisted was traditional. It was hard keeping a few hundred flames burning. Enough heat for everyone without burning the stone, enough warmth to keep poorly swaddled babies warm and stop sickness from developing. One chimney at a time, she dropped a flame, then flitted over to the next one to give the gift of fire again. House after house, hearth after hearth, her rounds were never-ending and vital to life.


    It was spring, and [Auri¡¯s Little Helpers] were out in legion, picking up rocks and moving them, then preparing the fields. Everyone needed to handle their own fields to properly level and strive... but there was nothing saying Auri couldn¡¯t work a community field for everyone. If she happened to put more hours into it and got less out of it than others, well. That was just the nature of a community field, wasn¡¯t it?


    It was summer, and Auri was flying far out, trying to find as many wild flowers as possible, carrying small jars with her. The juice reserves had run out, and her limited biology demanded sugar. If she collected enough, she wouldn¡¯t need to fly north for the winter.


    It was autumn, and Auri proudly hopped through the central fire of the harvest festival, subtly making sure everything was just right.


    It was the fourth winter, and Fenrir tracked down the thief who dared to steal food from the community granaries. A fierce legal discussion erupted, with the eventual sentence being exile. He snorted - in the weather, in the season, it was simply a different form of murder.


    That night, Fenrir made it quick and ate well.


    [*ding!* [A Drop of Eternity in a Sea of Starlight] leveled up! 520 -> 521]


    White Dove landed on the shoulder Auri wasn¡¯t on, her weight metaphysical, causing me to stagger at the not-blow. She was feeling particularly vindictive, as her claws dug into my shoulder, drawing blood through my subdermal scales. White Dove simply nodded at Auri, who did a little burst of flames as a wave back. Nina had been shamelessly buttering Auri up to help her put in a good word for her curse. Auri opened her beak to give Nina a hand, but White Dove beat her to the punch. SheSpoke, and the world shuddered.


    ¡°Nina of a dead order, a dead city, a dead nation.¡± White Dove mocked the kitsune, who flinched at the insult. ¡°[The Storm Valkyrie]. [The Killing Trickster of Hard Choices]. You have chosen the path of Immortality, a rejection of the natural cycle, a rejection of my gift, and for this, I curse you. Nevermore shall a lie knowingly pass your lips. No more will you deceive others into opening their home to you as you intend to betray and murder them. No more will you abuse sympathy and goodwill to cause harm to others. No more can you spin a pretty tale to others. May every word that passes your lips from now on taste like ash.¡±


    With a clench of her claws digging deeper into my shoulder, White Dove vanished, leaving me bleeding. I poked at the injuries as Nina¡¯s mouth opened and closed silently. Iona was looking deeply conflicted over the whole thing. Honesty on one side¡ªsomething she¡¯d always hoped Nina would take in her Restriction skill¡ªWhite Dove¡¯s curse, Nina becoming Immortal, the girl she thought of like a daughter being near her, being harmed in a sense... yeah, Iona was going to need some solid tender loving care later on.


    It was a big moment, but I¡¯d found over the years a little levity, a distraction, was nice.


    ¡°Wait, did White Dove seriously leave an actual injury on me!?¡± I joked-asked as I poked the still-bleeding wounds. I immediately went to a half-dozen different answers, and with a surprising amount of image-work - excluding a very specific injury was harder than it sounded - I tried not healing that part, while keeping everyone else up and alive.


    It started to slowly scab over, which told me [Domain of the Healer] wasn¡¯t applying.


    That asshole.


    Nina finally found her words.


    ¡°Let me tell you a story about a girl.¡± She said with a grin of delight, wrapping an illusion around herself to look like a gorgon. ¡°Her name¡¯s Metusa, and she¡¯s got the biggest head of snakes around.¡± The snakes on her hair hissed along, and Nina had a feral grin as she dropped the illusion, rubbing her hands together.


    ¡°Oooh, I¡¯m going to have so much fun with this. Thanks Elaine for all those stories about fairies! They can¡¯t lie, but they can deceive... the added challenge¡¯s great! I¡¯m going to level up so much from this!¡±


    Iona looked like she didn¡¯t know if she should laugh or cry. She chose to hug Nina instead.


    We were talking on the hill, Nina experimenting with her limits - no way to divine universal truths with her ability, sadly - when Iona went dead quiet, her eyes locking at something over my shoulder, bending her knees like she was ready for a fight. Nina went quiet a moment later, and Auri and I swiveled our necks in unison, taking a look.


    A wave of green was coating the land, the ashes removed from the air, and it was coming towards us.


    Fast.

 Chapter 596: Lifebringer

    Chapter 596: Lifebringer


    A tidal wave of green was surging towards us. Down the mountains and through the valleys, it moved at about half the speed of sound. Iona and Nina stepped up next to me, and Fenrir came down to land near us.


    My eyes could pick out dewdrops on leaves from several miles away, and that¡¯s exactly what I was seeing.


    Life.


    Hundreds of trees, thousands of leaves, and millions of blades of grass unfurling in the green wake. Animals of all shapes and sizes appeared. A swirl of ashes had a parrot appear in its wake. The bird shook itself off, looked around confused as several dozen more appeared near it, then they took off in flight together. A light breeze moved some ferns, and a pair of dimetrodons were sniffing each other curiously. Tigers prowled through the woods, woods that looked like they¡¯d been there a century and yet hadn¡¯t existed three minutes ago.


    With all that, it was nearly impossible to see the Classer responsible. There were two of them, elves both, and the first was much easier to see than the second.


    [Ranger - 1536]


    For a brief moment I thought the elf was the only Classer, the way he blended in with the flowers and leaves, the way the animals parted around him. His clothes and outfit flickered as petals bloomed and bees buzzed, perfectly melding into the background. Horns like a regaliceratops crowned his head, two small and stubby ones flanking a magnificent central horn.


    The second one was far harder to see.


    [Ranger - 3626]


    He - or she - wasn¡¯t blended into the green wave, they were the green wave. They were the sprouting bamboo, they were the freshly-turned soil, they were the pollen on the wind, they were the explosion of life, the embodiment of Gaia. No worshiper, no priest, had ever shown such devotion to Aion, goddess of life.


    My eyes flickered back where they came from, expecting to see a wave of ash or destruction in their wake. Solid ¡°old¡± growth trees blocked my sight.


    We could see them redirect slightly towards us, and the five of us braced for impact.


    I found myself unable to properly evaluate what would happen if it came to blows. I made us close to unkillable, and if anything could fight a living forest, it would be Auri and the utter insanity that was a phoenix.


    At the same time, that was over 2000 levels on us. I¡¯d beaten enough people by pure tyranny of stats to know the same could be applied to me. Heck, the level differential was large enough that they could possibly transform me into a twig, and that¡¯d be it.


    Kudzu grew and choked ferns, and freshly made beetles did battle with ants as the living forest stopped before us, a tall elf man stepping out with savage elegance and perfect poise. His horns were that of a great stag¡¯s, and he seemed completely unconcerned about being as naked as the day he was born. He tilted his head at us, then beckoned the lower-level regaliceratops elf forward with a tilt of his head.


    The elf coughed once before slowly speaking, like he was talking to a child who hadn¡¯t unlocked their System yet. Fair game in most settings, but Nina was the lowest leveled of us in the 400¡¯s.


    ¡°We are the [Lifebringers]. Our congratulations and condolences for having survived in these conditions so far. If you have a settlement here, please, take us to it and tell us your needs. Otherwise, we will simply make a grotto here that should ease your discomfort for a season or more, should proper care be taken. In either case, we offer you the gift of new companions, men, women, and children of your species to help repopulation. Please decide quickly, as we have many places to visit.¡±


    Lifebringer, lifebringer, where had I heard that before... I quickly delved into my [Astral Archives], rapidly finding the answer.


    Duh.


    He - they, clearly - were literally legendary. I¡¯d read about them in Legacy of the Lifebringer, and they were the subject of dozens of stories, children¡¯s rhymes, poems and plays. Not usually as the central focus, more of a force of nature than anything. Heck, until now I¡¯d thought them allegorical, not real, living and breathing people.


    If my Medical Manuscripts had saved millions of lives, the [Lifebringers] had created billions. Given that there were two of them in - I assumed - a master-apprentice relationship, with one uncapped towards the final levels, I was extrapolating that they were a legacy, more than a single person. [Druid] after [Druid] taking up the mantle.


    The stories had them sweeping in after a disaster or ¡®imbalance¡¯, plowing civilization under and letting nature loose, fresh and free.


    I didn¡¯t like the idea of created people at all, plus there was the one big glaring issue.


    A little down the hill, a herd of water buffalo were reconstituted from ashes, built up in moments as tall grasses sprouted all around them. The ground shifted, a small spring burbling to life under my feet, and started to flow down a channel carved into the side of the hill, ending in a depression, soon to be a watering hole.


    The [Lifebringers] didn¡¯t spare a look for what creations they were making behind them. I supposed I didn¡¯t always look at the people I healed. The two of them surveyed the other side, the side with Orthus Town and all our farms. We could see our farm from here in all its segmented glory.


    ¡°Let us move on.¡± The elder [Druid] finally spoke, and the two took off again. Nina and I both opened our mouths, but were stunned silent at the wave of green that overtook our home and lands.


    There was clearly more to being a [Druid] than ¡®life and nature good, people bad.¡¯ Crops exploded with growth, ripening in an instant and dropping their fruits, before withering away to nothing, leaving a perfect harvest on the ground. Fruit trees burst out of the ground, oranges and pears instantly ripening to various stages. Berry bushes went from dying dreams to full maturity in a moment, and the ashes!


    The miasma we¡¯d been living in since the cataclysm vanished, turning into new life. The haze that had overshadowed us and blocked out the sun, the omnipresent boot on our throat disappeared in a moment, transmuting into life and growth.


    With the [Lifebringers] hard at work, I seized the moment as I spotted the fruit trees.


    ¡°A few mango trees please!¡± I asked in a hurry, getting my request out before they were done.


    They obliged, and I enthusiastically high-fived Iona, Nina, and Auri as a trio grew out of the top of the hill we were on. I¡¯m pretty sure they had some fun at my expense though - they grew the trees large and tall enough that the lowest-hanging fruit was out of arm¡¯s reach. Not that it could stop me from getting some from ways as mundane as jumping to weaving complex spells of my own... but the joke was clear. Iona casually grabbed a ripe one and tossed it to me, and I started to take a bite.


    All the while, the [Lifebringers] continued working, finishing before my lips touched the heavenly flesh of the most divine mango.


    It wasn¡¯t just crops, fruits, and berries. The two of them grew great grain silos, and thick layers of kelp twisted and grew off the shore, making docks and piers. Wood twisted and grew to make fences adorned with flowers and leaves, and hives of busy bees were seemingly conjured out of nowhere. Chickens were created in roosts, cows found themselves in feed fields, already fenced in, and a trio of goats came into existence on top of our house, testing the construction of our roof. No two fields were the same - one farmer got psittacosaurus, famous for their eggs, and another got minmi, dinosaurs good for their studded leather hides.


    Two hundred years or more of growth and development in a moment. From choking on ash to the cleanest air I¡¯d ever smelled, from a small handful of crops to so much variety we couldn¡¯t sustain it all, from a lack of animals to hunt and husband to cows being plonked down in fenced fields, we suddenly had it all.


    All praise [Druids]. All hail the [Lifebringers]. I was going to see that a thousand stories got written about them.


    They didn¡¯t stop at the farms. Vast forests sprang up around the edges, enough wood to build eight armadas, and fish were dense enough in the water that I felt like I could walk across the entire Sea of Stars on their back. A great whale breached deeper in the bay, and a sudden thought struck me, pausing the mango¡¯s descent towards its inevitable yet tasty demise.


    Were the [Lifebringers] the reason why I hadn¡¯t seen a single extinction notification? I couldn¡¯t imagine any of the huge sauropods surviving the last few years, not with the lack of green leaves, and yet there hadn¡¯t been any extinction notifications. Rare to large, not a single species had gotten marked extinct.


    It wasn¡¯t just life they brought, although that was their name and title. Dead trees were created, a great source for fungus and other mycelium. Carcasses were created, and would soon attract clouds of buzzing flies and crawling maggots to swarm around them. Spiders and beetles, worms and moths, the entire range of life from great to small popped up. I wanted to curse as mosquitoes, bane of all living things, were made. They couldn¡¯t pierce my skin, but the endless bzzzz in the night combined with my enhanced hearing utterly sucked.


    I hesitated over shooting a thick beam of Radiance through them and simply eliminating them all. It would keep us mosquito-free for years, if not decades, but the really strong Classers right there might object. As I hesitated, they scattered and dispersed.


    Damnit.


    I had to imagine things were happening on a micro level as well. Bacteria and viruses, all part of nature¡¯s grand tapestry, had to be made. Joke was on them, I¡¯d pit my healing against anything they created.


    I was impressed. I¡¯d thought I was a good biomancer, even lacking the class, but the casual display showed just how far I was from anything resembling mastery. They had to know every last detail. From the composition of cow¡¯s milk to the mating cycle of every bug, from the range and territories of millions of creatures to geography and how it made each biome, then to which creatures in which ratios would thrive, from food webs to architecture and construction, the sheer range of skills and knowledge on casual display, worked out in moments, left me breathless. Transmuting ash into living beings? The complexity boggled the mind. I knew enough theory to be impressed.


    Maybe the apprentice was still learning at level 2048. With such a massive range of things to know... gods, if I were a hundred years younger, I¡¯d consider walking the path, simply for the knowledge.


    Without fanfare, without a goodbye, without a word, the two [Lifebringers] sped away, a growing green wave mixed with a thousand and one species left in their wake - I even spotted a unicorn! Fenrir dove down onto a dinosaur as I finally took a bite of the mango, skin and all.


    After years of deprivation, it was the sweet nectar that let the sprout of my soul unravel again and drink deeply, revitalizing and rejuvenating.


    Mmmm... mango.

 Chapter 597: The Ranger, The Adventurer, and The Library

    A year after the [Lifebringers].


    The [Lifebringers] changed everything. It was hard to overstate their impact. From roosters crowing to wake us up to logs in the fire, from all the food we could want to mundane segisaurs nipping at the edges of herds, from milk to cocoa to sugar beets resulting in tasty, delicious hot chocolate, everything was different with the wave of a Classer¡¯s hands.


    The sudden abundance took some getting used to, but it was like tens of thousands of people crawled out of their hidey holes, the [Lifebringers] heralding a new era. Many of them flocked to Orthus Town and tried to settle down, to varying degrees of success. There was friction between the new and the old, and the cynic in me said it would last until there was another wave of immigration, and it¡¯d be the same thing once again. Everything was different.


    The grumpy old lady in me - I swear it was just a part of me, and I wasn¡¯t a grumpy old lady, no matter what number the System was trying to put next to my age - said there was a distinct difference between the people who¡¯d spent years sheltering, and the people who¡¯d left the bunkers and worked their asses off through the apocalypse. Sitting around doing very little for years left an impact on people, especially those in their formative years, and I felt proper work ethic was simply rarer. Then again, I reminded myself I was being a grouch and potentially biased, and I shouldn¡¯t judge a book by its cover, nor let myself become prejudiced.


    With the spare wood and time, Iona and the rest of the village wasted no time building out and expanding the town, erecting strong walls that we could scurry behind should disaster befall us. What sort of problem would be slowed down by wooden walls barely reinforced by skills but not immediately removable by the Eventide Eclipse, I had no idea - but the safety and reassurance was there. Not only did we make the walls of Orthus, but close to 200 buildings were erected, waiting for a better future. Most of them were townhouses, but we hopefully set up a smithy, a tannery, a drydock and other fishing buildings, a market square, a printing press - sans machinery - a brewery that was getting put into action before it was even half-assembled, a number of storefronts for whoever wanted to use it, and more!


    Build it, and they will come.


    Skye¡¯s belief proved to be prophetic. Days after the drydock was complete, a pair of brothers were trying to get a fishing boat built. Auri¡¯s burning desire for a bakery saw the rest of us making her dream a reality, the building standing alone deep in the future heart of the city. The prevailing wind did have the delectable smells wafting over, the phoenix working a quarter of the time. We were still small enough of a village where everyone just about knew everyone else, and we didn¡¯t really have money yet. I knew I was sitting on enough coins to trivialize values, but releasing it all had dozens of problems. For now, barter, favors, and simply being a good neighbor carried the day, and I wasn¡¯t going to be the one to start raising walls in the name of better flow of goods.


    My personal favorite? The library.


    I breathed in deeply as I entered, the smell of freshly varnished wood heavy on the air. There was a powerful feeling of wrongness to the library though, and I could immediately identify what it was.


    The shelves were empty. Not a single book graced the endless rows of shelves. There was no [Librarian] waiting at the entrance, no quiet rustling of pages, no smell of books or little old ladies whispering hush.


    Just as silent and still as a mausoleum.


    No no no, this was all wrong.


    I didn¡¯t have the time or ability to properly tend a library. Well, I wanted to, but there was too much survival work that needed to be done first. As much as I wanted to, as nice as it would be to kick my feet back, grab a book, and read all day, every day, I couldn¡¯t justify it. Sure, Iona, Raccoon, Auri, and the rest could grow enough to feed all of us... but it wouldn¡¯t be fair on them. No, best to run the library part-time, or better yet, run it in a self-sustaining way, trusting the residents of Orthus to treat the place with respect, and... okay, no matter how highly I thought of people, no matter what faith I had in them, there was no way they were going to properly reshelve books themselves. It was never going to happen, and I wasn¡¯t going to delude myself into thinking it might. I¡¯d need to visit every week, maybe two... if I could get everything set up properly.


    I still had a solid amount of arcanite in my [Tower], constructed into a core that ran a ton of less-useful enchantments. There were also the decayed remnants of the turtle in the bay. Years had passed, and it was almost entirely true arcanite at this point. Between the two, I could probably enchant the library enough to keep pests, rain, and the degradation of time at bay, and give Orthus Town a functional library.


    The hardest part was going to be deciding which books stayed in my personal [Library], and which ones I could unleash into the world again. Choices, agonizing choices...


    [*ding!* [Everywoman] leveled up! 518 -> 519]


    Five years after the [Lifebringers].


    I was responding to a request from Skye, brought to me by the faithful [Constable] Raccoon. The little goblin was looking sharp in every sense of the word. From a beautifully polished uniform to pointy teeth, Raccoon was a surprising force for law and order - which Orthus Town needed more and more with every passing day.


    Orthus Town was rapidly growing. It wasn¡¯t like thousands of people were descending upon us, but between plentiful land, hundreds of levels from surviving the cataclysm, new families and immigrants, we were growing at a brisk pace, relative to the numbers we¡¯d started at. I was content in my not-so-small role in it all.


    Death was nearly impossible. Childbirth was miraculously safe, and it was the deepest of tragedies if a child failed to reach eight years of age. A tragedy that the growing community had somehow avoided until now. It helped that I¡¯d adjusted my healing image a hair. I didn¡¯t want the community entirely relying on me to automatically heal them - hence educating them on how [Domain of the Healer] worked and all they needed to do was shout ¡®Elaine!¡¯ to get healed - but for children I had quite a few additional safeguards, babies were still fully healed, and I had a light image around catastrophic injuries and several forms of passing out.


    It was weird - more and more children who could speak, talk, and reason had no memory of the Cataclysm at all. Around seven years before the [Lifebringers], another five after that, the natural inclination not to remember baby years, and there were solid 15 year olds working hard who had no personal experience with the ¡®before¡¯. It was wild to see - but equally interesting how the Exterreri culture was preserved in so many little ways, just in the ¡®this is just the way things are done¡¯ being passed on, father to son, mother to daughter, generation after generation.


    I could glimpse why I¡¯d been told to prioritize the preservation of culture.


    On a completely different note, I was 123, older than the oldest person ever from Earth. The thought loomed over me like Black Crow¡¯s vicious claws around my throat. But for the miracle of magic, for the miracle of the System, I would be dead. My life¡¯s candle would have been snuffed out, the tale of my journey would have reached its conclusion.


    I walked through the town hall, skipping past a line of immigrants waiting for approval to join. The approval process was startlingly simple - let Iona take a glance to check for problem classes or skills. Obviously, we liked seeing skills like [Hard Worker], [Diligent], and [Thoughtful], and the rare [Thief] class or [Murder] skill weren¡¯t allowed in. It got tricky with things like [Lazy], [Liar], or [Manipulative]. None of them were outright illegal, but they weren¡¯t desirable. Possibly the worst part of the process was the arguing, and I was so glad I wasn¡¯t involved. I¡¯d probably end up violating my [Oath] a dozen times a day.


    The people we didn¡¯t want tended to be the loudest and most vocal about it. After all, they were being denied sanctuary and shelter while their friends and families were allowed in, over the say-so of a person who couldn¡¯t possibly know. Liars lied, manipulators manipulated, and murder was technically illegal. Plus, nobody we¡¯d actually want to join would sign up after we left poor uncle Joe in seven different pieces all over the floor. It was just unhygienic.


    There was a push to empower Iona to simply say no and not allow arguing, but Iona of all people relished the debate and discussion. She was leveling from it all, mostly her [Valkyrie] and [Paladin] class, but [Social Lubricant] was making leaps and strides. Since she didn¡¯t mind, we collectively shrugged and let immigration take its sweet time. We¡¯d probably need to change the process once the numbers became overwhelming, but for now it worked.


    I shamelessly spied on everything and everyone with [The World Around Me], and tried to surprise Skye by teleporting from the hallway directly into the chair across from her desk. The place smelled impossibly of sunshine and rainbows - Varuna, Skye¡¯s unicorn companion, had been here recently. Probably through the extra large door-window in her office just for him stopping by.


    Skye didn¡¯t blink as I popped in, her head still down as she furiously scribbled away. I was a little fascinated, and refused to let Iona tell me the answer. Where did she get all the paper and ink from!? Was it a [Never Ending Quill] or something? [Reuse Old Paper] combined with [This Document Isn¡¯t Needed]? Why did she need to write so much down if she had a perfect memory? Mystery after mystery, it was undeniable that our [Queen] kept it all running.


    There was an election scheduled for next year which promised to be interesting. We laughed ourselves sick every time we imagined electing a monarch. It didn¡¯t work that way! Buuut... it did if we said it did.


    ¡°Hey Skye! Need a hand with healing policy?¡± I asked her.


    Skye consulted with nearly everyone. Tertius Nix - Secondus¡¯s son, thank goodness I didn¡¯t think I could handle another grandchild appearing out of thin air - was the resident expert on dinosaur husbandry. The Aratrum family was brought in when Skye needed to know more about tools, and what would help. I was usually consulted about healing and medical policy. My favorite time had been getting a few dozen copies of the Medical Manuscripts made and distributed. In rare moments of time for education, little boys and girls were learning their numbers and letters out of the Manuscripts, and the hope was the knowledge and the books were useful enough to kick start the next generation of healers. It had survived so long for a reason.


    Skye looked up at me and grinned ferally. I did a quick scan of her desk, absorbing more information about Orthus Town in a second than I would in three weeks of wandering, and spotted a concerning proposal.


    ¡°Not today! I know you¡¯ve got strong feelings about [Adventurers], and this proposal was submitted. I wanted your take on it.¡± She slid the proposal across to me.


    How anyone had the time and resources to write out fifteen-page proposals was beyond me. We didn¡¯t have the ability to make paper! Where was it all coming from!? I checked my library religiously, nobody was tearing out pages from the books and I personally hunted down every single one that was ¡®lost¡¯ - [The World Around Me] coming to the rescue again - where was it all coming from?! And why was nobody using all this lovely, magical paper to write more books for me!? Honestly, it was a shame.


    Stolen story; please report.


    I read it through. It wasn¡¯t the best argument for [Adventurers], but they did sidestep one of my biggest issues with them by calling for them to be part of the government, officially sanctioned, licensed, and trained, with the ability for Skye or her agents to pull permits... once we got around to the stage of needing permits.


    There were some superficial similarities to Rangers, but the devil was in the details. They were strongly self-organized in many ways. The teams were arranged themselves, the missions were brought to them, they decided what it took, if they needed payment. There was no standardization, no true incentive or motive for them to properly risk their lives in dangerous situations. They¡¯d be trained on our time, then got paid by other people and reaped the benefits for themselves. They were nominally under the government¡¯s command, but who could tell how long that¡¯d last in practice.


    ... I had some sour grapes that were coloring my perception of the whole thing. I had to remind myself that I was strongly biased, and to properly consider this.


    It was more than that though. I felt I was at a crossroads, two ghosts over my shoulders. My father and Night, and yet there were legions more. The adventurers who didn¡¯t lift a finger to protect me, the ones who tried to kidnap me. Amber¡¯s stories of adventurers helping her out, and yet, all that was minor, tiny in comparison to the great looming shadow of Night.


    This was the question, this was the crux. This was the moment that defined my starting outlook on what type of Immortal I was going to be.


    I believed [Adventurers] were a mistake for a hundred reasons. Yet, they continued to crop up time and time again, the Adventurer¡¯s Guild seemingly unable to die.


    Did I put my finger on the scale and kill it in its crib? Did I prevent the formation of an Adventurer¡¯s Guild, secure in my knowledge that I knew better? Or did I take a leaf out of Night¡¯s book, sit back, and let mortals figure things out on their own?


    He¡¯d told me the story of shields once, and that was all I needed to forever remember it. Was this time going to be better? Would it work? Would adventurers somehow defy their base nature and be good members of the community? Or would history relentlessly repeat itself?


    What type of Immortal did I want to be? What did I think was right?


    I didn¡¯t want to blindly follow what Night did because it was what Night did. At the same time, simply picking a different option because it wasn¡¯t what Night did was nothing more than a teenage tantrum, a child choosing a different option just to be contrary to the voice of reason and experience.


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 157,876 (Effectively: 1,263,008)]


    [Dexterity: 182,132 (Effectively: 1,939,342)]


    [Vitality: 702,545 (Effectively: 10,977,266)]


    [Speed: 689,777 (Effectively: 13,576,881)]


    [Mana: 1,946,050]


    [Mana Regeneration: 6,929,816 (+ 22,175,411)]


    [Magic Power: 2,916,209 (+ 202,822,336)]


    [Magic Control: 2,915,082 (+ 202,743,953)]


    [Class 1: [The Elaine- Celestial: Lv 1391]]


    [Celestial Spirit: 1391]


    [Domain of the Healer: 1391]


    [A Drop of Eternity in a Sea of Starlight: 606]


    [Luminary Mind: 1391]


    [Universal Cure: 1391]


    [Clad in Twilight: 560]


    [The Mantle of Dusk and Dawn: 900]


    [Elaine Eternal: 1391]


    [Class 2: [Seraph of the Dawn - Radiance: Lv 1024+]]


    [Radiance Mastery: 1024]


    [A Light Shining in the Darkness: 941]


    [The Rays of the First Dawn: 1024]


    [Radiant Angel''s Spear of Obliteration: 480]


    [Celestial Dew: 1024]


    [Sunrise Halo: 1024]


    [Wings of the Seraphim: 1024]


    [Six Wings, Six Million Feathers: 1024]


    [Class 3: [Sage of Tomes - Spatial: Lv 1010]]


    [Spatial Authority: 1010]


    [Scripture Savant: 1010]


    [Teleportation: 1010]


    [The Library of Infinite Wonder: 1010]


    [Tower of Knowledge: 666]


    [Reality, Writ As You Will: 1010]


    [Astral Archives: 1010]


    [Endless Pursuit of Knowledge: 1010]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 643]


    [Everywoman: 550]


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 1391]


    [The World Around Me: 606]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 1391]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 1391]


    [Persistent Casting: 1391]


    [Tender Gardening; Industrial Farming: 900]

 Chapter 598: Those Left Behind

    i proudly looked at the three surviving trainees, raccoon not in their number. i didn¡¯t bother with a fancy speech, they didn¡¯t need one, they probably wouldn¡¯t register it anyway.


    ¡°congratulations. you¡¯ve done it.¡± i told the three malnourished, sleep-deprived, shivering - well, i couldn¡¯t call them trainees anymore, could i? they were rangers now, through the same hellish initiation i¡¯d gone through.


    two of them passed out on the spot, and i gently caught them with my [mantle], lowering them to the ground. sticks for a pillow? sharp rocks in their side? didn¡¯t bother these two new rangers. the third one staggered slightly, and slowly turned his head towards auri.


    ¡°does that mean we get food?¡± he blearily asked. i gave a sharp jerk of my head to auri, who put a big flaming ! over her head before rushing over with her baked goods. he sank gratefully to the ground and started to mechanically eat her soft buns.


    i discreetly put away the badges i¡¯d prepared. they could wait until another day.


    i was jumping the gun a little. ¡®properly¡¯, there should be months of training, classes, and drills before making the final selection in a grand ceremony. it¡¯d increase the weight of the title and the event, which would help with class quality.


    at the same time, i was already down to three people. any fewer and i¡¯d have to axe the entire thing. i couldn¡¯t call one person a one-man ranger team, that wasn¡¯t how teams worked. there was also the obvious lack of senior rangers to show them the ropes on the job, how things actually worked, and i suspected between iona, nina, and myself, that we¡¯d be helping the rangers out for the first few years, showing them the practicalities of being in a community, helping out with various problems and disputes, and the biggest task of all: slaying monsters, no matter what skin they were wearing.


    i¡¯d had time to work on the classes needed and the curriculum. a lot of sparring and team building at the start, the ¡®fun¡¯ stuff after the hell months they¡¯d been through. a few of the easier classroom learnings to help show them what was next. ease them back into ¡®yes, it¡¯s alright, you made it¡¯ before getting into the more difficult topics.


    they were going to have it the hardest. no matter how much i tried to hold their hands, no matter how i worked on helping them, they were still the first, and would need to blaze their own trails, defining what it meant to be a ranger in this new era.


    i couldn¡¯t be prouder of them.


    i paused halfway across my farm as i headed home, spotting a letter on my bed.


    how the fuck did everyone but me have access to paper!? and enough paper to waste on an envelope!? it was such bullshit!!


    as most of my mind railed against the inherent unfairness of life, part of me was curious and serious enough to actually read the letter. every word filled me with greater and greater joy, no matter how short it was.


    elaine,


    it¡¯s susan and night! we¡¯re absolutely delighted to see you thriving and doing so well! we¡¯re obviously alive, and we simply couldn¡¯t pass by without saying hello. it¡¯s so exciting to see what you¡¯re doing with the rangers! night blessed the whole activity, and with a little bit of luck, that should bump the survivors¡¯ class quality up.


    on to the part of the letter you¡¯re going to enjoy less.


    we can¡¯t tell you what we¡¯ve been up to, what we¡¯re doing now, or what our future plans are. need-to-know basis, and as much as we adore you and iona, you don¡¯t need to know. you know both of our specialities, and how a secret shared is no longer a secret.


    in the short term, i don¡¯t see us staying near orthus or settling down anywhere. i do apologize that we couldn¡¯t stay and meet you or chat. events are dictating our actions.


    long term? who knows! it¡¯s a lovely place you¡¯re all building here, and it¡¯s entirely possible we¡¯ll end up settling down here. it is close to the home we had for millennia, and more than a few of our caches have survived. if [treasure hunting] becomes a thing, know they are welcome to anything of ours that they find, except the purple vial. you¡¯ll know it when you see it. the pekari are likely to stir and become more active in the next six months. if they stick to their usual pattern, they¡¯ll be doing their level best to help you for around a decade, before resorting back to their ¡®normal¡¯ behavior. with what you know, simply go to the second layer of chambers and tell anurak to knock it off. he usually respects such requests.


    night was touched by your memorial, and has added a few protections of his own to it.


    once again, we are thrilled to see all of you surviving and thriving, and i simply can¡¯t wait for the day where we can all properly sit down over a meal again and catch up!


    yours,


    susan webweaver.


    i [teleported] over as fast as i could, grabbing the letter then zipping off to find my wife. the plants bent and waved under the sheer air pressure generated by my passing, our bees buzzing angrily at the shock.


    the author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on amazon.


    julius.


    why did it have to be julius? one of my oldest friends and mentors, the gruff man who¡¯d told an idiot teenager to go home. the one who¡¯d seen the spark in me, the potential, and whose single decision had changed the course of my entire life.


    dead. just like that. hopefully artemis was still alive, it was clear she¡¯d survived whatever had killed julius and made the gravestone.


    i drifted in my grief, allowing myself to go down memory lane. julius, laughing around a campfire. julius, the stern leader, shouting orders. julius, protecting me in perinthus. the way he smiled, the way his eyes lit up when he saw artemis. how time had started to wear on him before i snatched him away from white dove¡¯s claws.


    a crunch of gravel and a loud fake cough caught my attention. i belatedly realized this was the seventh or eighth cough, i just hadn¡¯t registered the rest of them. i turned, praying to all the gods - and ciriel extra hard - it was who i thought it was.


    i turned and saw the most beautiful sight.


    ¡°artemis!¡± i screamed, throwing myself at her.


    ¡°healy-bug. you made it.¡± she said tiredly as i slammed into her arms.


    we talked for what had to be, gods, days. sitting in the witch in white¡¯s garden, eating the bounty that she was so generous to share, catching up. mostly what i had been up to - artemis¡¯s story was far more boring. i sensed there was more to it than what she was saying, but we all grieved in different ways.


    ¡°... there was this big-ass fight that we were running straight into.¡± artemis said. ¡°third one that day. stupid fucking flying island, can¡¯t ever stay still. we¡¯re about to skirt through it as usual when this huge fucking lightning bolt comes out of nowhere and smashes through every shield we have. overloaded every array, broke every barrier. i got seven levels just seeing the thing, and i don¡¯t fucking level just from looking at lightning. it all went to shit then. anyway, skip forward a few years, and my little healy-bug¡¯s back!¡±


    there were volumes in what she skipped over. i suspected an entire trilogy could be written in the one sentence of ¡®it all went to shit then¡¯. i wasn¡¯t going to poke at artemis¡¯s grief. i couldn¡¯t imagine losing iona, auri, artemis, or anyone else so close to me. i was still trying to process the hole julius was leaving.


    we talked, we laughed, we rustled up enough alcohol to get rip-roaringly drunk. we cried, we mourned, we discussed inanities and the future.


    i focused very hard on my words, pretty sure they were coming out right. i wasn¡¯t one of those drunks slurring their words when they were sure they were correct, no that wasn¡¯t me at all. ¡°come with me. we¡¯ve got... we¡¯ve got a whole town!¡±


    artemis didn¡¯t immediately answer, taking another swig of the witch¡¯s brew. it was so good. it had to be magical in a way, it got better the more i drank!


    ¡°what would i even do there?¡± she asked. ¡°it doesn¡¯t sound like you need a [teacher], and just... what would i do? at least here i feel like i¡¯ve earned my keep over the decades teaching.¡±


    that was a good question, and i was embarrassed at how long it took me to think of the very obvious answer. i might¡¯ve been a little more drunk than i thought. i purged a little bit of the alcohol sloshing through my veins.


    ¡°you know...¡± i said slowly, like leading a cat onto a boat. ¡°you kinda got robbed in remus.¡±


    artemis finished her drink and threw it at me before i could say another word. i simply teleported it past my head, making it look like it flickered through me.


    ¡°you should¡¯ve been a ranger team leader.¡± i said. ¡°they were assholes about women though.¡±


    ¡°assholes.¡± artemis agreed with feeling.


    ¡°i¡¯ve got three brand spanking new rangers half trained up. they need someone with experience to show them how to not die, and fight dirty.¡±


    ¡°no way.¡± artemis said, in disbelief more than denial.


    it took me two hours to convince her, but in the end, i was going to live with my mentor once again.


    with enough time, everything comes around full circle.

 Chapter 599: Here Be Dragons

    artemis being around was great. we had enough people trying to cram into our tiny cottage, too many settlers, and literal mountains worth of trees that we decided to move into a bigger plot.


    given how mobile most of us were - excluding raccoon and titania, who were a bit on the slower side - we rebuilt our home over the ruin of our old one, finding countless treasures that had been buried and collapsed. the material wasn¡¯t as nice, the place wasn¡¯t nearly as luxurious, and raccoon was too old and established in her job to make her haul all the water up, but we once again had our home.


    auri¡¯s hall of mirrors had shattered into a million pieces, but she was one to roll with the punches. she picked them up, had us build her a new, huge nest room, coated the walls in sticky tar then carefully, a dozen pieces at a time, rebuilt a mosaic out of the million broken pieces of mirror.


    ¡°brrrp!¡± she fluffed herself up as she looked in the mirrors, first one side, then the other.


    ¡°i¡¯ll admit, i had my doubts, but you were totally right. this effect looks amazing.¡± i said. it was like a sliver of a hundred thousand little fires flickering through the crack in a wall. ¡°you took something broken, and made it even more beautiful than it was before.¡±


    ¡°brrrpt!!!¡± auri fluttered over to my shoulder and nuzzled my cheek.


    ¡°i was thinking, we should install the bath right above, so you can heat it up. it should only leak a little.¡± i joked, yanking auri¡¯s chain a bit. she looked so outraged by the suggestion i couldn¡¯t help but laugh.


    ¡°brrpt.¡± she pouted. i had to agree.


    ¡°artemis is a bad influence on me.¡±


    all of us were on the porch, watching the sunrise. it was turning the ocean into a thousand sparkling gems, and titania had made a lovely tea for all of us. it was a beautiful moment. me, iona, auri, artemis, nina, raccoon, and titania. seven lovely ladies, nearly all of my family in one spot. amber was somewhere, and i knew she was safe thanks to her lucky coin, and fenrir was snoozing in his cave, the big lug wanting his 18 hours of beauty sleep.


    the valley stretched out in front of us, and we could also see the patchwork of farms. it was sunrise, most everyone had already been up for hours, working their ass off. the sunrise marked breakfast, and many of the [farmers] were heading home after turning out the cows, sheep, and dinosaurs to graze in the fields, while others finished their morning vegetable harvest for the freshest fruits. i could spot both the nixes and surveyor from here. a light turned off in skye¡¯s office as the natural light let her see enough to no longer spend mana on that enchantment.


    as usual, we got no warning before calamity struck. a dragon roared overhead as it dove down, the sound shaking us so badly it threatened to spill my tea. i managed to keep it all in, but i was giving the overgrown lizard the side-eye. the scales were a burnished white, and it was on the smaller, younger side. definitely a dragon though - four powerful legs, two leathery wings, scales that could turn an arrow, claws that could rip through a house, and teeth that could bite people in half.


    figured it was as good of a time as any to level up [identify].


    [kangrim, the alabaster reaver - 817]


    he landed, seized a pair of cows, blasted black flames into the air, then took off again. welp, that could¡¯ve been worse.


    raccoon, artemis and nina all jumped to their feet while i sipped on my tea.


    ¡°damn.¡± i said as two of them babbled, rocks starting to hover around artemis. ¡°that¡¯s really unfortunate for the nixes.¡± they¡¯d be fine though. two cows? orthus town was lucky enough to be considered wealthy, and the family could absorb the loss without a blink. maybe we¡¯d bake them a pie and joke about getting a [dragon livestock provider] class.


    what were we going to do, fight a dragon? kill - no way. placate - it had been placated, hopefully it¡¯d keep moving on and we¡¯d be done with it. drive off - i hoped we didn¡¯t have to, but we could probably make the area less tempting than others. tolerate - the logistics probably didn¡¯t work out, but if the dragon decided to set-


    ¡°my territory!¡± fenrir roared out as he shot out of his cave, hellbent on fighting off the intruder.


    oh fuck.


    shit went down very, very quickly. i mentally shifted gears entirely. i split my mind into as many parts as i could, each one managing something different.


    the first, greatest priority of mine was to flip my healing back on for everyone. i¡¯d mostly been relying on [domain of the healer] to ¡®wean¡¯ people off permanent healing. it would lead to things like kids thinking they were invincible, that they could jump off the top of trees and nothing bad would happen. it led to broad stagnation. it led to - it didn¡¯t matter right now.


    focus.


    a calamity had befallen us, and it was going to take every inch of skill i had, every single stat point, to get out of this merely bruised and unhappy. the dragon¡¯s black flames reminded me strongly of lun¡¯kat¡¯s flames defying all logic. lule burning to death in my arms, under my aegis, and needing to hack off my arm was seared into my memory. i was going to do everything that i could to prevent deaths.


    the second was flipping iona¡¯s armor out of storage and onto her body, along with dropping her weapons in front of her. she¡¯d be able to grab them before they fell. my wife was summoning her bow and arrows, bending her knees and making sure we were all ready to fly off to help fenrir.


    the third was activating my extremely rare stat-boosting runes. i rarely found a need to significantly increase my physical prowess, but today was the day. i¡¯d built them as a percentage boost, the effect just as strong as the day i engraved them.


    my mind flipped through spells and plans, the situation at hand looking uglier by the second, forget the aftermath. we did have a significant level advantage, and our class quality was top-notch. but we were against a dragon.


    auri was already blazing off to reinforce fenrir, who hadn¡¯t made it there yet. the white dragon was just starting to lift his head, recognizing the challenge issued.


    artemis was shouting at nina and raccoon.


    ¡°get the rangers! search and rescue, harrying!¡± she ordered.


    iona was fully ready, i was as prepared as i was going to be, fenrir was about to hit. iona and i were on the same wavelength, and we blasted off in unison, artemis trailing half a second behind us on shoes of stone. iona¡¯s weapons came with her, buzzing behind her like ducklings as she telekinetically pulled them along.


    ¡°but-¡± raccoon tried to protest.


    ¡°now!¡± artemis ordered over her shoulder.


    there was a time and a place to argue, and i wanted to argue that artemis didn¡¯t belong in this fight, that her level wasn¡¯t high enough and her quality not there. i knew exactly how effective that would be, and a fight with a motherfucking dragon was not the time or place.


    i elected to slow down a bit and pace iona, figuring the two of us hitting at roughly the same time was better than a slow trickle of reinforcements. auri worried me a bit with how she was flying ahead. there was so much knowledge lacking around dragons. like, who was the true master of flames?


    iona was talking so fast i could just barely understand her.


    ¡°pyronox, ocean, verdant. flames look nasty, try not to get hit. water jets. ability to manipulate himself, think sigrun! growing skills, unknown.¡±


    sigrun was the valkyrie leader iona had grown up under. she could self-dose with verdant to boost her baseline, which made her stronger and deadlier. i supposed it made sense that tricks would eventually overlap. and a growth skill would have additional effects depending on what, exactly, was being grown. i thought of sentinel nature, who grew bark and sharp thorns over his body to act as armor in one type of growth, and my recent adventure to the school made me think of the witch in white, who grew flowers with all sorts of spores. that could go anywhere, really.


    i got into range to hit kangrim with my radiance, but i wanted fenrir to hit first. dozens upon dozens of rocks whizzed by us like angry bees as artemis judged she was in range and opened fire.


    we managed all that in the moments before an enraged fenrir [lightning flapped] the remaining distance, then hit the dragon with ten thousand tons of force. he didn¡¯t have any foreclaws, but his hind legs sank deep into the dragon¡¯s back while his jaws closed around the dragon''s nape. the two started to tumble to the ground, heading straight for a farm. they twisted and turned in a sinuous mess.


    unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. report sightings.


    ¡°fuck!¡± iona swore, tossing her bow and arrows aside, moved her glaive in front of her, and grabbed on.


    iona and i both veered off. thanks to a quirk of the system, we could fly down far faster than fenrir and the dragon could fall down, and iona and i were both thinking the same thing - save the people inside.


    jets of water exploded out of the dragon, carving deep grooves into fenrir. they immediately closed back up under my healing, but one jet cut deeply enough to briefly sever a muscle in fenrir¡¯s neck, loosening his jaws and letting the dragon¡¯s head slip loose. kangrim twisted his head around, snarling tooth-to-tooth at fenrir, nevermind the wyvern being half again as large as the dragon.


    with my new angle and the minor separation between the still-falling draconids, i saw my chance. i blasted a fully-powered, hold-nothing-back [rays of the first dawn] directly at the dragon¡¯s eye. a feral scream confirmed i¡¯d blinded the dragon, but my hopes of quickly ending the fight rapidly vanished.


    [strength: 169,320 (effectively: 1,354,560)]


    [dexterity: 193,576 (effectively: 2,061,197)]


    [vitality: 754,624 (effectively: 11,791,000)]


    [speed: 741,856 (effectively: 14,601,952)]


    [mana: 2,086,008]


    [mana regeneration: 7,589,760 (+ 24,287,232)]


    [magic power: 3,162,167 (+ 230,205,758)]


    [magic control: 3,161,024 (+ 230,122,547)]


    [class 1: [the elaine- celestial: lv 1456]]


    [celestial spirit: 1456]


    [domain of the healer: 1456]


    [a drop of eternity in a sea of starlight: 608]


    [luminary mind: 1456]


    [universal cure: 1456]


    [clad in twilight: 565]


    [the mantle of dusk and dawn: 910]


    [elaine eternal: 1456]


    [class 2: [seraph of the dawn - radiance: lv 1024+]]


    [radiance mastery: 1024]


    [a light shining in the darkness: 941]


    [the rays of the first dawn: 1024]


    [radiant angel''s spear of obliteration: 500]


    [celestial dew: 1024]


    [sunrise halo: 1024]


    [wings of the seraphim: 1024]


    [six wings, six million feathers: 1024]


    [class 3: [sage of tomes - spatial: lv 1024]]


    [spatial authority: 1024]


    [scripture savant: 1024]


    [teleportation: 1024]


    [the library of infinite wonder: 1024]


    [tower of knowledge: 666]


    [reality, writ as you will: 1024]


    [astral archives: 1024]


    [endless pursuit of knowledge: 1024]


    general skills


    [long-range identify: 666]


    [everywoman: 614]


    [companion bond between elaine and auri: 1456]


    [the world around me: 650]


    [oath of elaine to lyra: 1456]


    [sentinel''s superiority: 1456]


    [persistent casting: 1456]


    [tender gardening; industrial farming: 900]

 Chapter 600: The Harvest

    everyone and their brother was curious about the fight that had just occurred, and quite a lot of people were going to have a really bad day. fenrir and kangrim hadn¡¯t exactly been keeping things contained when they wrestled on the ground, and quite a few fields had been utterly wrecked, to say nothing of the final farm where dragon¡¯s blood was dripping onto the fields. in small amounts, it was a potent catalyst, but the dose made the poison. there was a good chance the fields would be unusable for a long time.


    nina came rushing over and threw up a huge illusion over us and the remains of the dragon, cutting away the farmers from the view. the base was a solid dome of bright red covering the entire place, then various rotating symbols went all along the edge. skull and crossbones, ¡®ick¡¯ faces, black cats, broken mirrors, red flags, raised rattlesnakes and more were all moving and animated on the surface of the dome, a dozen different symbols from cultures around the world saying stay away. she had another neat trick - we could see from the inside out, but i doubted people could see from the outside in.


    iona and fenrir gently disentangled themselves from the dragon, as auri hovered over them protectively. nina marched up to them, and i drifted a little closer so we could all talk.


    ¡°we cannot let this get out.¡± the kitsune said. i nodded in agreement. fenrir and iona were still both coming down off the battle-high, plus the dragon''s heart was one heck of a stimulant. auri landed on iona¡¯s wobbling helmet and tilted her head.


    ¡°brrpt?¡± artemis stepped in as auri asked her question.


    ¡°the story is, we slew a wyvern.¡± nina stressed, somehow managing to speak only the truth while crafting a thousand lies. ¡°fenrir¡¯s territorial after all. we¡¯ve all seen it. just another scuffle, another monster slain.¡±


    ¡°you know what happens when we say their name.¡± artemis agreed. ¡°i propose the same thing that we did in remus, and possibly for the same reason. total ban, total secrecy. not a word gets out about this, not a mention of them to light a flame in their mind¡¯s eye.¡±


    huh. i suddenly wondered if night had managed to kill a dragon in remus at some point. it wasn¡¯t something to brag about or even mention, but it would explain why the ban was so harsh when mentioning it once or twice didn¡¯t cause any problems... and if we¡¯d managed to kill a dragon back then, there was no way night didn¡¯t have a dozen kills under his gem-studded belt already. plus, that was when night only had two classes.


    iona slowly came out of her daze.


    ¡°what are we going to do with all this?¡± she gestured to the body, fenrir already looking like he wanted to take a bite. ¡°it¡¯s a treasure trove, are we just going to let it go to waste?¡±


    everyone except fenrir shook their heads, the wyvern growling unhappily at the idea.


    ¡°harvest it, store it in elaine¡¯s [tower]. hide most of the evidence. elaine, you can run preservation on it, right?¡±


    ¡°yeah, that shouldn¡¯t be a problem.¡± i said.


    raccoon came running up a moment later with the three rangers. artemis started barking orders.


    ¡°this is top secret. don¡¯t breathe a word to anyone. we need skye, the most discreet person with the [butcher] skill, and a [tanner] that¡¯s worthy of gaining 200 levels. go.¡± she ordered the three, who saluted and vanished. my mentor turned to me.


    ¡°elaine, got a good knife or, even better, a skinning setup in that [tower] of yours? learned enough about field dressing animals from all the years... all the years we spent in the hunter¡¯s guild.¡± artemis almost broke down in the middle there at the mention of julius.


    ¡°i don¡¯t know, i¡¯ll see what i can grab.¡± i promptly vanished into the [tower], grabbing heaps of sharp tools, and a couple of blunt ones. i then thought about what else we needed, and started to grab as many empty barrels and casks as i could find, debating emptying some of them for more storage. i reappeared a minute later, and iona, nina, and raccoon were already working on manually stripping off the scales and tossing them into a pile. i rolled up my sleeves and joined in.


    the system was no longer reinforcing its body, which made the harvest far easier.


    ¡°raccoon, i need more barrels, casks, anything that can store liquid. beg, borrow, and buy as many as you can get and bring them here.¡±


    the crafty goblin nodded and sauntered off at a slow pace. i shot a questioning look after her, which was picked up by iona.


    ¡°no!¡± i protested. ¡°no way!¡±


    i couldn¡¯t get the image out of my head.


    nina had fun scaring people that weren¡¯t quite getting the hint away with her mirages, intervening before the rangers had to step in and physically bar people. with the size of the body and the space we were occupying, they had to walk briskly to maintain the perimeter.


    ¡°hey foxy!¡± artemis called out. nina whirled, and unfortunately didn¡¯t know artemis well enough yet to know that grin meant trouble. i¡¯d run screaming if artemis was smiling at me like that.


    ¡°yes? can i help you?¡± she asked.


    ¡°we¡¯re all going to take a dip in the wyvern¡¯s blood, yeah?¡± artemis asked. ¡°we¡¯re already halfway there, be a shame not to finish the job.¡± my mentor looked pointedly at all of nina¡¯s blood-matted fur.


    ¡°yes...¡± nina cautiously agreed, having some minor self-preservation instincts. she couldn¡¯t have lasted this long as an assassin without a good gut instinct.


    ¡°well, way i see it, you¡¯ve got all that fur, and it¡¯s going to cause you problems. it¡¯s great stuff for keeping the water and the rain off you, but with how it¡¯s getting all clumpy, there¡¯s no way all the blood¡¯s making it to your skin. it¡¯s a huge waste!¡±


    ¡°right.¡± nina agreed. ¡°i was thinking something similar. any ideas?¡±


    artemis managed to smother a wicked grin, and i was starting to think it was time for another [tower] run. make sure everything was well organized. check nothing was going to tip over. triple-check the enchantments. then again, i probably wasn¡¯t going to end up as collateral damage to this prank, and while we were rebuilding civilization, entertainment was in short supply.


    ¡°this is a rare and valuable resource, a once in an immortal lifetime opportunity. fur grows back, wyvern¡¯s blood doesn¡¯t, we should shave you to make sure there¡¯s no huge hole in the protection given.¡±


    how the fuck did artemis manage to keep an entirely straight face? iona¡¯s neck was bobbing with her suppressed laughter, one hand gripping fenrir¡¯s leg a little too tightly. auri was whistling, beak in the air.


    come on, auri. don¡¯t give away the game. that looked even more suspicious.


    the best way to not be collateral to one of artemis¡¯s pranks was to lean into it.


    ¡°i completely agree.¡± i piped up. ¡°sure, you¡¯ll look silly today, but two months from now all you¡¯ll remember is your skin being harder than steel.¡±


    nina looked to iona, who managed to pull herself together in a flash and nod in a stately way.


    ¡°artemis speaks wisdom.¡± she said as the woman in question drew a knife.


    ¡°now, hold still, this will only take a moment.¡±


    oh gods, artemis was right. shaved kitsune looked hilarious.

 Chapter 601: Radiance Class Up

    Chapter 601: Radiance Class Up


    It was classing up time! I¡¯d capped out both [Sage of Tomes] and [Seraph of the Dawn], and with the recent battle against the dragon - plus surviving the Cataclysm and everything that happened since I last classed up - made me confident I had more than enough accomplishments for some good classes.


    Some class ups I knew exactly what I wanted going into them; I knew what I wanted my classes to do and be for me. Right now though, the world was my oyster, large and open to explore. There were no threats on the horizon, no problems I needed to solve right now. No looming threat of violence or starvation, barring the odd wild animal attack. Given how we¡¯d just killed a fucking dragon, I was feeling pretty good about my power and skills. I doubted I¡¯d completely remove my offensive abilities, but I was open to all sorts of offerings. I had super special one-time permission from Auri to take a phoenix class if I wanted to!


    ¡°Love you too, Auri.¡± I told the little rascal. ¡°You can take a human-related class if you want to.¡±


    ¡°BRRRRPT!!!¡± There was not enough Fire in the world to express her indignation at the thought that she might want to take a human class. I cheekily winked at her, and her cheeks blew up as she stomped cutely.


    It was also possible I¡¯d find the groove that I wanted to stay in for the rest of my life. My classes had changed themes less and less over time, simply refining the focus a small amount. I¡¯d been on the [Butterfly Mystic] theme for over a century with magic, discovery, and exploration married together.


    ¡°Love you!¡± I told Iona, squeezing her hand. She rolled on top of me and kissed me deeply.


    ¡°One for the class up.¡± She winked roguishly at me. ¡°Love you too, bookosaurus.¡±


    She rolled back over - holding my hand the entire time - and was out like a light, the softly glowing lights of her own class up appearing around her. Auri, Fenrir, Artemis and Nina were on guard. It would be overkill if they hadn¡¯t already come over for snacks and games.


    I snuggled up to her, putting my head on her chest, and let myself fall into the world of my soul.


    Librarian was there in our School robes, symbols denoting our accomplishments woven in, while a glint of mischief and merriment glimmered in her eyes. She was sitting cross-legged on one of the checkout desks, and the library was as neat and ordered as I¡¯d ever seen it. Books were artfully arranged, shelves color-coded by type of class, and there wasn¡¯t a speck of dust to be seen anywhere.


    ¡°Elaine! You made it! I¡¯ve been waiting so long!¡± Librarian hopped down and ran over to me, her robes billowing as she moved. She grabbed my hands and we started to jump in excitement at seeing each other again, like a pair of school girls.


    ¡°Librarian! I did, I did! I¡¯ve wanted to come for AGES but it wasn¡¯t really the right time before but now it is and I¡¯m just so EXCITED to see you! This is great!¡± I dropped her hands and fiercely hugged her.


    Naturally, since she was me, she hugged back.


    ¡°Are you ready?¡± A grin slipped into her voice. ¡°Are you excited?¡±


    ¡°Am I ever!¡± I said. Librarian grabbed me by the hand.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s go!¡± She said, pulling me up the stairs as we ran and giggled up, stomping like a herd of rhinos.


    Libraries were supposed to be a quiet place... but it was only us in here. Staircase after staircase we ran up, passing the rooms where I¡¯d made my old selections, a trip down nostalgia lane. [Firebug] and [Pyromancer], [Ranger-Mage] then [Butterfly Mystic], before passing by [Seraph of the Dawn]. Then we got to a pair of large doors. Six sheltering wings were carved around it - there was no such thing as ¡®budgets¡¯ or ¡®practicality¡¯ in the world of my soul.


    I gasped as Librarian dramatically opened the door.


    Nevermind the sunlight streaming in through the other windows, nevermind the staircase that led up to more class ups, the walls and ceiling of the room were pure glass, a million and one shining stars twinkling down on us.


    There were no bookshelves. Instead, the books flew through the air like a flock of birds, going first one way, then another. Heavy leather bound tomes, light novels barely a dozen pages thick, classically bound books with stodgy letters, all flew through the air.


    I jumped up at a book with green lettering that came close, managing to snag it out of the air.


    Renewer of Nations - Radiance the title boldly proclaimed. I put it down on the table, and slapped it down when it tried to flop off the table and escape.


    ¡°Really?¡± I ask Librarian with a raised eyebrow. She chuckled.


    ¡°Ooooh, you¡¯ve seen nothing yet.¡± She promised.


    Renewer of Nations: The Renewer of Nations is dedicated to restoring life, healing the land, and guiding the rebirth of civilization after Immortals have wiped the slate clean. Drawn to areas where the neglect of elvenoids or the rampaging of monsters have turned formerly lush environments into barren wastelands, the Renewer will channel the power of the sun to encourage life and growth to flourish, bring animals back, and restore the balance of nature. Renwers know that unchecked growth can lead to problems, and will prune both plants and people when needed. +8 Dexterity, +64 Speed, +64 Vitality, + 128 Magic Power, +256 Magic Control, +8 Mana, +64 Mana Regeneration per level.


    It was a fun class to be sure, and a brilliant idea, but it just wasn¡¯t for me at all. I wasn¡¯t going to be bringing countries back and regrowing plants. It wasn¡¯t like I was the only one, I¡¯d only done it once, and it was a pretty dramatic departure from my current class. The low quality made sense - it had just been a random book I¡¯d grabbed, as opposed to a real, thoughtful selection. It helped hammer home just how absurd my classes and qualities were. Light green would¡¯ve been crazy for me as a teenager and younger, and yet I could only pull a face now at the stats.


    Also, ¡®pruning people¡¯ sounded like a euphemism for murdering a lot of people, which was a hard no. I¡¯d also seen cities completely overtake an area, and no druids came knocking on the walls with complaints. I wondered how bad things would have to be for them to step in?


    A reminder why I usually had Librarian filter for me, but hey! This was fun! Monster books! I let the book go and it rejoined the flock, flapping indignantly as it flew away. I instinctively reached for my wings, only to find them not there. Right. No skills inside the world of my soul. I eyed the books high up as Librarian slowly grew more mirthful in the background.


    ¡°Wait.¡± I put the pieces together. ¡°Wait. How am I supposed to get the books?¡±


    Librarian was full on cackling now. Cackling. I had a bad feeling about this...


    ¡°I¡¯ve got enough now that I don¡¯t want to have to keep fishing them out to check them.¡± I told her. She nodded in agreement, and thick chains materialized out of the desk to bind the book down. It struggled and fought against its bindings. Not exactly the way I would¡¯ve done it... but on reflection, it was exactly how I would¡¯ve done it.


    Aspirant Slayer of Lun¡¯Kat: You have aligned yourself with the Twin Goddesses of the Moon¡¯s Paladin, and your partner has been given the ultimate task of ending the Deceiver''s long reign- a hopeless endeavor, if not for you. Your history with the beast is longer than any other, final witness as you are to the forgotten race of Wood Dwarves when Nolgrod fell under Her wrath. Your legend began when you did what few in history have ever matched: rob the dragon''s hoard and escape unscathed. You have slain one of her distant kin. Your Radiance has fouled her illusions before; now, they will flee from your very presence. You have mended her flesh in ages long past, the knowledge of her body still carried within you; now, that same flesh will not survive your ire. Take this class, and do what so many millions have tried and failed in the past: Free the moons, and defeat the one responsible for their captivity. +8192 Mana, +8192 Magic Power per level.


    Hoooooly focused Class.


    It was always possible to ¡®punch up¡¯ thanks to the System. The tools needed to ¡®punch up¡¯ changed depending on each person¡¯s build, but I know I was vulnerable to a heavy Mirror Classer, for example.


    A class explicitly calling out a single monster was scary in its implications.


    My first instinct was to recoil from it. No matter that we¡¯d managed to off a dragon ourselves, it had been five to six against one, and most of us had hundreds of levels in a high quality class on the dragon. It still hadn¡¯t been a quick and easy fight.


    My second reaction was I wanted the class, just for my wife. The thought was fleeting, and the follow up was like a bucket of ice water poured over me.


    How many people had taken a class to off Night or Lun¡¯Kat over the eons? I didn¡¯t know, but I did know both of them were still alive and well. The thought naturally led to another one - I had a bunch of System weight, were people being offered classes to kill me? A scary thought.


    I eyed the flock of books, the thrill starting to turn into a chore. The thought of needing to hunt down every book was daunting.


    ¡°Can you grab me any other strong classes I¡¯m missing, that I¡¯d be interested in?¡± I asked Librarian. She brightened up.


    ¡°Sure!¡± She pointed to the flock, and one of the books zoomed over.


    [The Busy Bee] was the title of the book. I opened it and read it carefully.


    I almost wanted to say it was a joke class, but it wasn¡¯t. I¡¯d been Healy-bug for a long time, and [Firebug] was in the class¡¯s history, this was merely an extension of that. I¡¯d done a good amount of pollination work after the cataclysm - a lack of bees was unfortunate - and the class would move in a bee-focused direction. Feathers would become independent stinging bees, like in [Butterfly Mystic], but they¡¯d be able to literally pollinate plants as well as independently do minor bee-like tasks. Honey wasn¡¯t off the menu, but the power, control, mental load, and persistence made it less than viable. Also, mangos!


    It was solid, fun, but not what I was going to take.


    I started to look through my options, also keeping in mind what I was planning for my third class.


    [Renewer of Nations] was out fairly quickly. It wasn¡¯t the path I wanted to walk, and while there¡¯d be a good burst of experience now, I suspected and hoped that it would rapidly dry up. I wouldn¡¯t be stuck - Auri would drag the class along kicking and screaming - but between the low quality, lack of opportunity, and frankly not being all too excited about it, it was an easy cut.


    [Phoenix of the Rising Dawn] was solid. A little more combat-heavy than I¡¯d like, but not absurdly so. Instead of journeying, exploring, and discovering new things, I would be more heavily rewarded for trips to the Phoenix Peaks with Auri as opposed to finding a hidden valley with rare flowers. It was a contender, but I doubted it would go the distance to become my final choice.


    [Radiant Wife] was going to need some serious thought. I really, really liked how it gained experience and what it did, but did the quality and stat gain have to be so miserable!? I supposed I was only a ¡®normal¡¯ wife in many senses. It wasn¡¯t like I¡¯d done something mythical in that role, and the low quality made sense... it was just depressing. However, I had taken weaker quality classes in the past though that fit me just right, choosing to be true to myself over raw power.


    Unless I wanted to take my third class in a different direction and use this to backfill... but then I¡¯d lose a modest amount of my fighting abilities. I needed to fight less and less these days, thanks to my friends and family, but the need to be independent and protect myself was still deeply ingrained in my psyche. Being ¡®helpless¡¯ as a child, being dismissed as a teenager, and needing to fight for my life time and time again during my formative years had left a mark. I knew myself well enough to recognize it and where it came from, but it didn¡¯t change my discomfort at casting it aside. I didn¡¯t want to have to resort to knifing people thanks to the tyranny of stats to defend myself - Radiance was so much kinder, both to myself and my enemies.


    No, I was keeping the ability to fight.


    [Dawnbringer] was the natural evolution. Part of me rebelled at the idea of continuing along the same path. Had I really not grown? Had I really not evolved in the decades since I¡¯d taken the class?


    At the same time, I could argue I knew myself. I knew what I wanted from life, I knew what made my soul sing in joy. There was no shame in continuing on, in enjoying the grass I¡¯d made so green.


    [Aspirant Slayer of Lun¡¯Kat] was right out. Nope. Wasn¡¯t doing it. That was easy.


    To my mild surprise, it had come down to [Phoenix] and [Dawnbringer]. I didn¡¯t think the phoenix class would¡¯ve gone the distance, but that just showed what I knew. Always keep an open mind.


    Even though it was a finalist, it paled in comparison to [Dawnbringer]. The [Butterfly Mystic] in me was sad that I wasn¡¯t flitting off to explore new grounds and new territory... but [Dawnbringer] was truly about doing exactly that! A contradiction, but one I was willing to accept.


    I knew myself, I was comfortable in my skin.


    ¡°Let¡¯s become a [Dawnbringer!]¡± I excitedly told Librarian.


    ¡°Yes!¡± She agreed.


    We checked the book out, then the entire library rippled as I changed from my second class to my third.

 Chapter 602: Spatial Class Up

    The library flickered and rippled, the books on the ground floor being replaced by an entirely different set. If I wanted to, I could grab any one of the nearly-infinite choices, from [The Mother of Modern Medicine], all the way to a pink or white class.


    It wasn¡¯t surprising that Librarian stayed exactly the same. She was a reflection of my soul, who I was inside. I hadn¡¯t changed too much in the time it had taken to select my last class, no matter how much introspection I¡¯d just done. Perhaps when I was younger, when a long introspection session could possibly change who I was, there would be a change, but... I was older, and I had reaffirmed the path I was already on.


    ¡°Shall we?¡± I asked as I offered Librarian my arm, taking the chance to lead for once.


    ¡°Let¡¯s!¡± She said.@@@@


    I decided I wanted to tour the near-infinite halls of the library. Arm-in-arm with Librarian, we toured the halls, looking at the endless classes being offered to me. From Water to Miasma, Mirror to Void, from Light to Dark, Storm to Brilliance, every element was on display by the thousands.


    ¡°Remember when I wanted to come here just to read for days?¡± I sighed wistfully as I trailed a finger over the endless spines, enjoying the feel of the ridges.


    ¡°You still can.¡± Librarian pointed out. ¡°There¡¯s nothing stopping you, and it¡¯s been a few years since we¡¯ve last gotten a really good book.¡±


    I looked around and debated if I could afford the time. I could, there was no crisis, no pressing need to be elsewhere, and the Cataclysm had been hell on [Authors]...


    I hope I didn¡¯t just jinx it.


    I grabbed a book at random and sat down, disentangling myself from Librarian at the same time.


    ¡°Sure! Let¡¯s do it! Want to get me a few thrillers?¡± I asked, glancing at the book I¡¯d grabbed.


    [Tanner - Acid]


    I lifted an eyebrow, shrugged, and got to it. It was a red class, but it was a story, and I was always looking to learn more.


    It wasn¡¯t particularly exciting or thrilling. Vat after vat of chemicals, a nice skill to selectively smell - it would help me, but the gods have mercy on my neighbors - and a small, satisfying career.


    A book was a book, but it was disappointing that it didn¡¯t light a spark in me, didn¡¯t get the inferno of blazing passion worked up. Not all the books would be a hit, and I counted that one up to a miss, no matter my current mood for reading.


    ¡°Here!¡± Librarian dropped a significant stack on me, and I trusted that she¡¯d curated the heck out of it to give me only the best.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I told her with beaming eyes, then got down to it. Book after book, tale after tale sped by under my eyes as I greedily soaked in all the stories, my soul gently watered by narration. I made a mental note as I dropped the epic of [Princess-Knight] Elaine, an orange tale. I should absolutely save the stories for the next time I was classing up in a time when there were fewer books.


    A balance, a carefully stocked reserve for when I needed it.


    Just one more book couldn¡¯t hurt though, I had so many...


    Seven books later, and Librarian was wagging a finger under my nose.


    ¡°Elaine, I¡¯m cutting you off here. You do need to pick a class, and those stories are just as good.¡± She tried to be stern, but her voice crackled with mischief.


    ¡°Okay! Let¡¯s goooo!¡± I bounded out of the chair and up the stairs, the world of my soul letting me always feel fresh and energized.


    The setting was ever-changing, and I couldn¡¯t wait to see what the library would look like for this one. I burst through the doors with all the energy of an over-sugared toddler, greedily drinking in the sights.


    The room was small, and basically all crystal. A staircase was carved into the back wall, I could see my legs on the floor, and the place was lit by a dozen lanterns topping small crystal pillars. The center of the room had a crystal book open in front of a chair, and I lifted my eyebrow in surprise.


    ¡°Only one class?¡± I asked. She gestured with a smile.


    ¡°Go on, take a look!¡±


    I banished my concern, having complete faith in myself.


    ¡°We should totally get a cave like this.¡± I joked to Librarian as I walked over, who naturally got it and snorted.


    I sat down at the crystal book, only for a modest list of options to spring up in front of me, like an illusion. I instantly recognized the written list for what it was - all my classing up options, in one neat display.


    ¡°Cool.¡±


    [Librarian of the Lost]


    [Hoarder of Dragons]


    [Sage of Eternity]


    [Dragonbone Witch]


    [Archmage of Runes]


    Clean sweep, five dark purple classes. Nothing black, nothing light purple. I supposed the range of dark purple was massive in the first place.


    ¡°No [Loremaster] classes?¡± I asked Librarian. She shrugged.


    All of my preparation work would be unneeded, and something like that was fantastic for illusions, both visual and auditory, communications and the myriad of other ¡®small mana, huge effect¡¯ skills. At the same time, it was all minor utility, and rare was the ability that a smart [Runesmith] hadn¡¯t made at one point, nor had clever [Wizards] not put together. Often, the issue was one of power... but then again, that was the mindset I was in. I held so much System-granted power in my mind, rare was the obstacle that I couldn¡¯t simply go through, and when presented with a challenge, my usual method was generally to ask how I could hit it harder. I wasn¡¯t a clever trickster, a cunning youth tumbling my way through a fort with nothing but a skeleton key, a flask of bad wine, and my wits.


    Not needing to spend endless hours writing down spells sounded quite pleasant though, at the trade-off of losing a few of my power-required spells. The first ones that jumped to mind were my spellbreakers and cancelation effects - I wouldn¡¯t be able to use them anymore, but in exchange I could conjure up interesting materials that were tricky to write out in the various wizarding languages, like some of Auri¡¯s more interesting flames, or the divine thunderbolt I¡¯d seen in the School¡¯s Museum of All Things. Of course, those came with the same power caveat. I¡¯d only be able to cast it at a fraction of what ¡®normal¡¯ sorcery would cost, let alone sorcery boosted by skills. I didn¡¯t know what [Sunrise Halo] was going to turn into, but anything that needed blasting would be better served by my Radiance.


    It was a strong offering.


    Archmage of Runes: The Archmage of Runes is the master of ancient symbols and arcane inscriptions, wielding magic with precision and power. The Archmage is familiar with over two dozen schools of magic, thoughts, and runes, and etches their spells not just onto paper, but onto the very fabric of reality around them. Mandalas are folded into pocket dimensions, always available and never burning out. Endless enchantments are available. Preparation is the name of the game for wizards, and with Archmage of Runes, every preparation is rewarded for the rest of your life. Unwavering discipline and deep knowledge will make you a force to be reckoned with. From scribing runes of description to weaving protective wards, the Archmage of Runes stands as a testament to the enduring power of magic. +2048 Magic Power, +2048 Magic Control, +1024 Mana, +1024 Mana Regeneration per level.


    This was the wizardry-focused class. The loss of leveling from reading was almost enough to make me immediately ditch it, but it did have a neat skill. I could engrave runes in a pocket dimension attached to myself, and cast directly from them. It was like [Dragonbone Witch] in that I could seem to do nearly anything without casting, but I would have to trace out the runes myself. Only once though!


    I¡¯d already done something similar when I¡¯d engraved runes into all of my bones. From my often-used invisibility rune on my sternum, to the tiny, never-used fireball sigil sitting on my chin, I¡¯d already found great value in having spells permanently with me, always a thought away. This took that all the way up. I could have all the spells, and I wouldn¡¯t even need to remake them every time I used them! They came ¡®full powered¡¯, unlike [Dragonbone Witch¡¯s], and it was nearly enough to make up for the missing reading aspects.


    I had some serious thinking to do.


    [Hoarder of Dragons] was immediately a top contender. The poor experience or not, logistics on that scale was mind-boggling. I lost a little in the combat department, but it wasn¡¯t the end of the world. Being able to perfectly protect my friends and family mattered quite a bit to me. I didn¡¯t think for a second that Iona would stay in during any sort of danger, and the same was true of most everyone else I knew - but quite a few people could benefit from it. A perfect bunker, infinite moving around, what was there not to like? The leveling would be slow, but as [Sage of Eternity] pointed out, I¡¯d been around a while. Survived a lot. I had a companion bond to help with the experience, and I was pretty much at the point where I could brush off most meetings I didn¡¯t want to be in. What were they going to do to me?


    [Librarian of the Lost] had me leery. The skill was so good, but almost every single mental skill came with built-in protections, to stop people accidentallying their brain. Given how my mind was the seat of my soul and the center of my being, I was cautious of the downsides. I had plenty of other excellent offerings without risking madness.


    The greatest threat to me was my own bad choices. Why not make a good choice here?


    [Sage of Eternity]was the easy choice, the affirmation of the prior choices I¡¯d just made. Part of me wanted to rebel at taking the same choice again, but there was no shame in continuing to walk the path. There was shame in not choosing, analyzing, and thinking through all the options.


    [Dragonbone Witch] was far weaker than [Archmage of Runes]... but I simply adored the aesthetic. I¡¯d been threatening to try out every job that existed throughout my many years of Immortality, why didn¡¯t I start now? I already lived in a cabin high up on a mountain, deep in the woods, it didn¡¯t take too much more to throw on my school robes, dust off my broom, and start cackling when people came by. Could be fun! I needed a cauldron, first and foremost. Get some nice stew recipes... I was supposed to be classing up, not getting this distracted over dinner!


    Focus.


    [Archmage of Runes] was solid, but it wasn¡¯t like I ran out of spells. Proper prior planning prevented piss-poor performance, and as distractible as I was, that maxim had been drilled into the core of my being. I¡¯d run out of spells now and then, I occasionally didn¡¯t have exactly the right tool for the job, but that was a lack of imagination and properly making the right spells on my part, not because I¡¯d failed to prepare enough copies of a spell. On the other hand, my spellbook was a big weakness. If I was in an inferno, or otherwise in some sort of area of effect skills that prevented me from bringing out my spellbook or instantly destroying it, I was locked out of my spells. This mitigated that weakness. The skill was super cool, I¡¯d love to have it... but I liked the rest of my skills more.


    [Sage of Eternity] and [Hoarder of Dragons] were my two finalists, and I loved how both of them could help keep the people I loved safer.


    When it came to leveling speed and stats, [Sage of Eternity] won out both times.


    My [Tower] could already store quite a lot. The question was boiling down to: Did I want to store a small town¡¯s worth of people and equipment? The moving around the world quickly aspect was almost moot - I could fly and travel fast enough on my own that portals weren¡¯t significantly changing anything. I could step from one half of the world to another in thirty minutes, or in four hours.


    Then there came the number of people I could have inside. Did I really want more than a small, cozy household worth? Although, honestly, the [Tower¡¯s] storage space was vast. It was more than a cozy number of people, it rivaled the bunker we¡¯d crammed hundreds of people into! Sure, that had been incredibly cramped, uncomfortable, and not terribly sustainable, plus I might not be properly calculating how deep the grain storage was, and it had been laid out to be a bunker, versus the more vertical behavior of the [Tower], but it wasn¡¯t like I was lacking for volume. At 104 levels, I could cram in over 200 families and still have enough space to feed them for a few months. That assumed I was packing everything and everyone in like sardines.


    How many people would honestly want to live like that? How many people would want to live in the [Castle], should I take it? It didn¡¯t exactly have sunlight, and I didn¡¯t want to be the face of a great organization, nor did I want to be the [Doormaker], endlessly called back and forth to open portals around for people. It just wasn¡¯t who I was.


    Huh. I wondered if that was part of why the skill was so damn rare and hard to purchase - the people that had it didn¡¯t want to do it. Kinda made sense, my Immortality skill was like that as well.


    If I went full community with the skill, I¡¯d become an eternal servant to them, constantly opening portals around the world for them to trade with and obtain food. It¡¯d be a hecking interesting life, to be sure, but I wasn¡¯t sold that I wanted to uproot everything and do that. A small community at best.


    I also recoiled hard at the idea of moving armies around. It might be pedantic, I might be slicing hairs, but I believed there was a world of difference between following around armies and providing aid and succor to them, and all they encountered, and actively enabling armies to blitz undefended positions. It crossed a line I wasn¡¯t able to define well.


    More than that, it would paint a target on my back. I already had one, but there was a difference between ¡®can turn any battlefield, can quickly travel between them¡¯ and ¡®is a global tactical threat to everyone at all times. Can drop an army into anyone¡¯s palace.¡¯ It wasn¡¯t going to stop me taking the class or the skill... but I wasn¡¯t going to advertise the full extent of my abilities, nor let anyone, new Exterreri or not, dictate my use.


    I¡¯d probably let Night through if he asked me nicely, but at that point there was no true difference between the two classes. Either way he needed to come in, then I needed to let him out again.


    Both [Castle] and [Tower] would work to keep everyone I wanted safe and sound. When the next war rolled around - for there was always another war, another conflict, greedy assholes couldn¡¯t be content - I could open the door to all my friends and family, along with some communities, and let them in. [Hoarder of Dragons] got me to the first person faster, but some quick math suggested that simply flying all over the world to pick everyone up would be quicker in the end. I shied away from the ¡®portal plus flying¡¯ math and attempting to think of locus points that would let me pick up multiple people clustered nearby, and...


    Yeah, the math there was crazy.


    Both classes let me build a home that was nearly impervious to Immortal Wars, and secure my friends and family.


    Rather, was that much extra storage worth giving up the entire field of wizardry? I¡¯d worked my pretty ass off for that designation, and spent decades improving it. I went to the Monastery to study under one of the great masters, just to get a good Spatial wizardry class! No, the ability to store so much extra wasn¡¯t worth giving all that up. It might be a sunk cost fallacy, but by all the gods and goddesses, I¡¯d worked too hard and too long at it to give it up.


    I could still reacquire it in [Dawnbringer]... I should get offered the chance to move it over on classing up, given how it was still an exploration and discovery class, with the ability to pick up all sorts of magic-related skills, so it wasn¡¯t a total bust there.


    The two classes were tying pretty hard, which was making me loop back to the stats and leveling as a tiebreaker. [Sage] was winning out there. Plus, the ability to access everything inside the tower immediately.


    That, and like... [Sage] was just more exciting to me. It spoke to me. A castle, all to myself, with all my friends and family was super exciting, and the fact that it had the grandest library ever was nearly enough to cause a heart attack from all the excitement, but that was all a side-effect of being the [Hoarder of Dragons], not the actual raw, beating heart of the class itself. I¡¯d turned down power for the right path before, and being a [Quartermaster]/[Doorwoman] was like... sure, I¡¯ll try it out at some point in my journey, but I didn¡¯t want it to be an entire class. No matter how epic and literally the stuff of legends the [Castle] was.


    Maybe I could evolve the [Tower] down the line to be closer to it. It would take time, and it wouldn¡¯t be as kick-ass as a fully evolved [Castle] would be, but it was a fun direction to start pushing things. [Sage] was a sorcerous class in the end, and it wasn¡¯t like [The Dawn Sentinel] where I was capped on the skills I could get. I had a starting point, I had an ending point, I had a vision. The System allowed all things. If I worked my ass off, if I used my skills in the right way, trained them into the configuration I wanted, I¡¯d be rewarded.


    I wanted to have my cake and eat it too, and with hard work, mana, and the power of love and friendship, by Ciriel, I was going to do it!


    Okay! Excellent!


    ¡°[Sage of Eternity] please!¡± I asked Librarian, then scrunched up my eyebrows as I tried and failed to pick the book up.


    ¡°Wait, hang on, how do I check this out?¡±

 Chapter 603: All the Skills

    So thirsty. There was a lovely cup of water waiting for me, along with some cut-open mangos. Was Auri experimenting with ¡®smelling salts¡¯ again...? I rolled over to grab the water, and did the awkward ¡®try to drink while lying down¡¯ move. I blinked as the first refreshing gulp went down my throat.


    Wait, I was an idiot.


    I [Teleported] - was that even still the skill name? - upright, bringing the blankets along to cocoon myself. I idly read the note next to the water.


    Elaine,


    Give us a warning the next time you decide to read the books inside your soul world! We¡¯re a little worried, let us know when you wake up.


    Love,


    Iona


    Ah, whoops. I¡¯d impulsively, spur-of-the-moment decided to go a-reading. I¡¯ll have to think about it and warn people next time.


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m awake!¡± I yelled, then settled in to see what I¡¯d gotten. The mangos somehow found their way into my hands, and I got a-munching.


    Notifications!


    [*ding!* [Seraph of the Dawn - Radiance] has evolved into [Dawnbringer - Radiance]!]


    [*ding!* [Sage of Tomes - Spatial] has evolved into [Sage of Eternity - Spatial]!]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Dawnbringer] leveled up! 1024 -> 1251. +256 Strength, +256 Dexterity, +256 Speed, +256 Vitality, +4096 Magic Power, +4096 Magic Control, +4096 Mana, +4096 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Strength from your Element per level!]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Sage of Eternity] leveled up! 1024 -> 1232. +2048 Magic Power, +2048 Magic Control, +1024 Mana, +1024 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Magic Power from your Element per level!]


    Seeing the two classes leveling up side by side really drove home what a massive jump there was going up in quality. Being one of the elite Sentinels of Remus, one of the last defenders of humanity had earned me a dark green class. Granted, it might¡¯ve been a little stronger stat-wise if I hadn¡¯t invested so much in becoming Immortal, but ¡®Peak soldier of a nation¡¯ was dark green. I was three quality steps above that in my lowest class, and from what I understood, stats roughly doubled with each step up in class quality.


    A shame dragonslaying wasn¡¯t part of [Sage of Tomes] and now [Sage of Eternity¡¯s] desired activities. I was fairly sure that had single-handedly contributed to [Dawnbringer¡¯s] improved stats. Not that I was complaining, I loved both of the classes!


    Okay! Time for the big one! Let¡¯s see what new skills I received. Given that I¡¯d taken the ¡®natural upgrade¡¯ on both classes, I expected many skill names to stay the same, maybe change a bit of flavor. The real devil would be in the details, and I¡¯d need to retest all my skills to figure out what I could do now.


    [*ding!* [The Rays of the First Dawn] has upgraded to [Radiance Beams]!]


    Radiance Beams: Golden flames leap from your fingers at your command, burning even the very air itself as it instantly incinerates your foes. -32,752 mana regeneration.


    Short, sweet, to the point. The restriction mentioned was probably cosmetic - I¡¯d test it in a moment - and the mana regeneration it was taking up doubled. Excellent! The skill was my staple offensive ability, and as much as I¡¯d tried to branch out, nothing had managed quite so well as my trusty beams. Well, [Beams] now.


    [*ding!* [Wings of the Seraphim] has upgraded to [Essence of Flight]!]


    Essence of Flight: Staying on the ground is merely a suggestion for you, the vast and boundless sky your playground. -32,752 mana regeneration.


    Oooh, the first thing to experiment with! Did I still have wings? Did my talaria return? Could I simply... move myself through the air? That one would be kinda boring, I liked having wings or something else. Iona had her own flying skill, but she just moved through the air like a statue, that was boring. r?¦Á?NO?¦¢?s??


    [*ding!* [Radiant Angel¡¯s Spear of Obliteration] has upgraded to [Sun Blades]!]


    Sun Blades: Summon blades of light to strike against evil! Coat your weapons in Radiance to defeat your enemies! -32,752 mana regeneration.


    I was honestly less than impressed with the skill, no matter how long I¡¯d spent training it. I recognized the need for it - when I needed to hit something hard, I wanted the tools to hit it hard. It was just so rare that [Radiance Beams] couldn¡¯t handle a problem, but the extra firepower let me get there.


    I was willing to trade the skill for something more effective, but the skill was good and it had saved my life. It just... didn¡¯t quite fill me with the same excitement as everything else did.


    [*ding!* [Six Wings, Six Million Feathers] has upgraded to [Featherstorm]!]


    Featherstorm: A single feather can tickle, a billion will destroy all in your path. -32,752 mana regeneration.@@@@


    [Featherstorm] at least looked gorgeous, and playing around with the individual feathers was just fun! In some ways it was exactly the same as [Sun Blades], except it made me happy to see the swirling mass of feathers.


    I didn¡¯t see direct upgrades on my other skills, but a peek at my numbers revealed the truth. [Celestial Dew] had gone from 0.25% per level to 0.3% per level, a dramatic improvement to my mana regeneration. I was looking at 120,000 mana per second, which was pure insanity. Also known as 440 million mana per hour. Rounded down.


    It made me seriously consider if I should just dump mana as a stat I seriously invested in, and just went all-in on regeneration. Most fights ended when a mage¡¯s mana pool was empty, but I was handling such insanely high numbers already.


    At the same time, what could a mage who made sure their power and mana pool were both up to the mark do?


    [*ding!* [Spatial Authority] has upgraded to [Spatial Mastery]!]


    Oh thank goodness. I was dreading the mana costs involved, but now I was going to enjoy a nice, much-needed discount.


    Way, way back when, Librarian had warned me off [World Traveler], saying portals needed millions upon millions of mana to open. [Spatial Mastery] would help with that, and I¡¯d finally gotten to enough magic power and control to just... cast it.


    What had been an impossible dream as a kid was now within reach.


    [*ding!* [Tower of Knowledge] and [The Library of Infinite Wonder] have merged into [Timeless Manor of the Eternally Curious Sage]!]


    Timeless Manor of the Eternally Curious Sage: Home away from home. You have learned on roads that no longer exist, experienced cities that have been all but forgotten, and attended lessons in more than one academy. You are the eternally curious sage that wanders Pallos learning everything you can, but you also know that true knowledge must be protected at all costs. Where would be safer than with you? No longer will you have to choose between your home and your travels, your home and your knowledge will be wherever you wish. Additional rooms appear manifest with level.


    ¡°Oh no.¡± I complained to myself. ¡°I¡¯m going to need to rearrange all of it.¡±


    I was taking no bets if everything had gotten jumbled again. It totally had, and I suspected [Teleportation] was going to get a strong workout. Bonus though, I¡¯d be able to see how much it had quietly improved! Just because the skill hadn¡¯t shown an upgrade didn¡¯t mean it hadn¡¯t changed. Just... less dramatically.


    Another thing I¡¯d need to test was the library. It was now a physical space, and broadly, the skills merging was a good thing. I liked it! I retained the best elements of both skills, and got a brand new skill slot.


    The only part that was possibly a downgrade were the books being ¡®accessible¡¯. In other words, if I let Iona into the [Manor], she could wander over to the library, pick up a book, and start reading it. Which was great! Nearly every time, I wanted people to grab my books and read them.


    The two exceptions were around my spellbooks, and the prayer my parents had stitched into cloth, the one thing I had left of them. If -


    My mind froze, then went into furious overdrive.


    The prayer! The precious cloth! It was my only memento of my parents, my family, the only physical trace I had left of them. It was in my [Tower] - sorry, [Manor] - and it had just gotten wildly jumbled up with the gallons of dragon¡¯s blood I kept in there!


    In a blind panic, my heart thudding, I pulled the cloth out and brought it up to my nose, breathing in deeply.


    I swear I could still smell mom on it.


    Safe.


    It was safe.


    Wait! The rest of my books!


    I pulled them out of storage. I pulled them all out of storage with a mental tug, my eardrums popping as the entire room suddenly filled with hundreds upon hundreds of books. There wasn¡¯t quite enough space, so I just... stacked them on top of me as well. Why not, I was solid, I could take a bit of weight. Plus, I could check off ¡®literally buried in books I loved¡¯ off my list! Iona chose that moment to open the door, a faint glow of fire betraying Auri¡¯s presence.


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ¡°Elaine?¡± She was clearly worried. ¡°Are you alright in there? Normally I¡¯d think you being buried in books was your idea of paradise, but I just want to make sure.¡±


    ¡°Hey love!¡± I called out, Auri fluttering over the books towards me. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m fine, I just had a moment of concern for the contents of my skill. Give me a few minutes. Or twenty.¡±


    ¡°Lunch is on the table when you want it!¡± She answered back, leaving the door open for Auri to leave again.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± She asked me.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, and the classes are great! Give me some time to finish figuring it out.¡± I said.


    ¡°Brrpt.¡± Auri hopped over the ever-shifting stacks of books - they were still settling in, and my soul was being tortured by hot pokers over how some of the pages were being creased - flipped open a book with her beak, and started to slowly ¡®surf¡¯ it down while she read the page.


    Well, I was buried in books, might as well check the last of my notifications.


    [*ding!* Congratulations, you¡¯ve unlocked the skill [Portcullis]!]


    Portcullis: The gate to your castle is slow and difficult to open, but it will keep your inner sanctum safe from all who dare wish harm upon you, while also keeping your friends and family as protected and secured as possible. 16,777,216 mana per cast.


    Naturally, we could see into the [Manor] through the door, and I rushed forward, eager to see what the place was like! Everyone else piled in behind me, Artemis cracking a joke at my expense.


    ¡°Healy-bug!¡± She gasped. ¡°I thought we taught you how to keep places clean! Remedial lessons will begin at sunrise.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m too... old... for... yes Artemis.¡± I hung my head in defeat as Nina and Auri laughed at my expense. Iona just shook her head knowingly, with a fond smile. I had cleared out a good amount of it to prevent a repeat of last time - by the gods, Nix was a kid then and now had a whole clan! - but some parts were too rare and valuable to risk.


    [The World Around Me] combined with the new, more compact layout of the place, and I could see just about everything that was going on. I immediately started bulk [Teleporting] everything around, fixing the mess even as I gave everyone the tour, Auri lighting the way.


    I knew the class up and changing the skill would ruin all my enchantments. Then again, I could remake them even easier now!


    The [Manor] was like a luxurious ¡®castle¡¯ the richest people would have. A large central room where we exited from the portal, then neat hallways leading to rooms in orderly rows. Rooms came in a number of different sizes, easily letting me customize them to different needs. Hinges in the walls would let me easily install doors. Rooms went from the size of closets to the size of ballrooms, and I idly wondered if it was possible to get a skill to have secret passages running through the place. I¡¯d just gotten a huge piece of free real estate, why not try to upgrade it?


    Four towers were at each corner, a spiral staircase leading to a second floor, and an incomplete third floor. I was willing to bet more rooms would be added as I leveled.


    And the library! Oh wonder of wonders, it nearly doubled the size of the manor by itself. Two stories tall, shelves from floor to ceiling, it was a wonder. I couldn¡¯t wait to fill it all up.


    ¡°This place is beautiful.¡± Iona said.


    I couldn¡¯t agree more.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Chimera (Elvenoid)]


    [Age: 127]


    [Mana: 32,292,270/32,292,270]


    [Mana Regeneration: 83,680,817 +(401,067,010)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 220,549 (Effectively: 1,764,392)]


    [Dexterity: 244,805 (Effectively: 2,606,684)]


    [Vitality: 813,171 (Effectively: 12,705,797)]


    [Speed: 800,403 (Effectively: 15,754,332)]


    [Mana: 3,229,227]


    [Mana Regeneration: 8,732,979 (+ 40,968,588)]


    [Magic Power: 4,348,852 (+ 316,596,426)]


    [Magic Control: 4,347,709 (+ 316,513,215)]


    [Class 1: [The Elaine- Celestial: Lv 1456]]


    [Celestial Spirit: 1456]


    [Domain of the Healer: 1456]


    [A Drop of Eternity in a Sea of Starlight: 608]


    [Luminary Mind: 1456]


    [Universal Cure: 1456]


    [Clad in Twilight: 565]


    [The Mantle of Dusk and Dawn: 910]


    [Elaine Eternal: 1456]


    [Class 2: [Dawnbringer - Radiance: Lv 1251]]


    [Radiance Mastery: 1251]


    [A Light Shining in the Darkness: 941]


    [Radiance Beams: 1251]


    [Sun Blades: 500]


    [Celestial Dew: 1251]


    [Sunrise Halo: 1251]


    [Essence of Flight: 1251]


    [Featherstorm: 1251]


    [Class 3: [Sage of Eternity - Spatial: Lv 1232]]


    [Spatial Mastery: 1232]


    [Scripture Savant: 1232]


    [Teleportation: 1232]


    [Timeless Manor of the Eternally Curious Sage: 1232]


    [Portcullis: 2]


    [Reality, Writ As You Will: 1232]


    [Astral Archives: 1232]


    [Endless Pursuit of Knowledge: 1232]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 666]


    [Everywoman: 614]


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 1456]


    [The World Around Me: 650]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 1456]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 1456]


    [Persistent Casting: 1456]


    [Tender Gardening; Industrial Farming: 900]

 Chapter 604: Interlude - Schoon Verfrist - Conflict

    Chapter 604: Interlude - Schoon Verfrist - Conflict


    Schoon Verfrist lived a cursed existence.


    The demon hadn¡¯t asked to be born. Hadn¡¯t been asked to be born a demon, specifically. Hadn¡¯t asked to be one of the Immortal races, hadn¡¯t asked for White Dove to curse him with a compulsion that could never be satisfied.


    Hadn¡¯t asked for a Sin that was unusual, outside the norm. An outsider even among demons.


    Many of them got typical Sins. Lust and Pride, Sloth and Gluttony, Wrath, Greed, and Envy. Each was difficult, but they were known. Others knew how to handle a demon of Sloth slacking off, or working themselves into an early grave. It was understandable when a demon of Gluttony declined a meal, or asked for fifths.


    Schoon¡¯s Sin was Clean.


    It colored his perception of everything. Every surface was dirty, and could be cleaned. Every floor needed to be swept, every dish bussed, every rug beaten. Other demons could understand a demon of Envy copying every style and fashion. They didn¡¯t understand Schoon¡¯s need to wash his hands a fourth time, a fifth time. How simply removing his hands from the water made them dirty once again, how the very dust in the air was enough to pollute his fingers and make him unclean.


    It extended to more than that. Food was never prepared properly, specters of disgust floating through his mind. Ideals were polluted, always with a flaw. The less he learned of society, the better.


    It wasn¡¯t like his Sin was Lust, and he could simply go without. Entirely ignoring his urges led to a slovenly life, a rejection by peers as he smelled, dishes going unwashed and getting sick with disease. Leaning into them had led to him cleaning his house again and again, until there was no more house left, until his hand freely bled as he¡¯d flayed his skin off.


    There was no winning.


    The best thing Schoon had found was to throw himself into work, any work. The villages and peaceful, ¡®flat¡¯ lifestyle of Draakveld didn¡¯t lend themselves well to throwing themselves into endless work to distract him.


    When Vorstenhel came along, Schoon had found his answer. A leader, a cause, a mission. In the wake of the Immortal War, the demons were rising, determined to conquer the world, and take their rightful place in the hierarchy. The so-called ¡®lessons of the past¡¯ were a distant memory to nearly every living demon, and it made no sense to most of them why they restrained themselves so.@@@@


    He tried to clear it by thinking of his speech. What would the right opening be this time? Serf? No, he was too far east, this was still old Exterreri land. Still High Elvish for the language, but that looked like the Sea of Stars. He¡¯d have to switch soon. Villein? It was technically correct, but nobody knew what it meant. Ah, time for a classic.


    ¡°Rejoice, minions! The glorious Kingdom of Draakveld is delighted to annex you and your lands! No longer will you have to face the darkness alone! No longer must you worry about what strange and new world you find yourself in! We demons declare a new era! One of peace, prosperity, and learning! Together, we can see this vision made real! Together, we-¡±


    Schoon¡¯s speech was cut short by a blade going through his heart. He twisted around, meeting the visage of a snarling elf. The elf leaned forward, butting Schoon with his horns. The demon felt cold, his lifeblood flowing out of him.


    ¡°Long live Remus.¡± He spat into Schoon¡¯s face before twisting the blade and pulling it out with a flourish.


    Both Schoon and the elf blinked as Schoon remained hovering, looking hale and whole. The moment of shock quickly passed, and the two exploded in a flurry of blows and magic. Swords clashed as Sound tried to vibrate the elf apart, and Mist condensed and froze on Schoon¡¯s skin, trying to hinder and slow him down. The two battled, the ferocity intensifying as they realized any injury done to them would be healed - but by the same token, any injury they dealt was soon removed.


    A barrier of glittering stars popped into existence between the two of them. Both Immortals hit it at the same time, knowing well the rules on instant barriers created out of the Celestial element, assuming the other was responsible, and both bounced off in surprise as the shield held.


    A light flared nearby as a witch dropped her invisibility. She sat side-saddle on her broom, a wide blue hat over blue eyes and hazel hair, stars sparkling in her eyes and on her robe. The light came from her pipe as she inhaled, then a puzzled look crossed her face. Turning the long pipe upside down, she smacked the bottom a few times before a flaming bird popped out.


    There was a sharp intake of breath from the elf. Schoon expected to be hit with a tidal wave from his Sin, ashes and smoke from the burning bird, but there was none of that. The flames burned in a way that calmed his obsessive urge, that didn¡¯t make him want to clean without end.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± The bird protested, flying over to the witch¡¯s shoulder. Her pipe cleared, she took a long inhale then puffed out two rings, the second, smaller one threading the needle on the first, larger one.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t give you permission to die in my city.¡±

 Chapter 605: Interlude - Skye - Bend the Knee

    [Princess] - no matter how much the Eventide Eclipse joked about making her a [Queen] - Skye had a raging headache.


    Three heavily annotated proposals lay in front of her, and no matter how much she¡¯d delayed, waited, and stalled, there was no fourth proposal forthcoming. No matter how much she talked to the walls or sent out messages, there were no fanged smiles surprising her in the night, no better offer made.


    If there was a secret society of vampires surviving the Immortal War, they hadn¡¯t seen fit to contact Orthus. The decision was Skye¡¯s and Skye¡¯s alone, but she was not without support. Varuna was here in her hour of need, and she stroked his jaw as she debated with herself.


    The first proposal was from the New Remus Empire. It would make Orthus Town an official tributary, required to pay modest taxes. However, they didn¡¯t get anything for those taxes. There was barely a promise of protection against the demons and other powers, but that was it. There would be no [Engineers] moving through to build a network of roads, connecting them to other tributaries. There would be no new libraries erected, no civil servants arriving to smooth the livelihoods of all the members. Just taxes demanded, to be poured into the elves¡¯ hungry maw.


    The term was relatively short. Only 64 years before it could be ¡®renegotiated¡¯, and Skye knew that meant an increase in taxes - assuming the New Remus Empire won the war against the demons.


    What had her sweating - a near impossibility for a yuki-onna - was the penalty for failure to pay. They¡¯d personally execute her, which would be a shame, and let Skye feel the sharp edge of the knife against her throat. More grimly, they¡¯d octanate the population. One in eight members of Orthus Town - and, they were clear, the surrounding villages - would be chosen for execution. The remaining members of the family would be forced to beat them to death with their own hands.


    By the same token and logic, Orthus couldn¡¯t become too prosperous and stable. Then it would be something of an icicle on an elf¡¯s necklace to ¡®own¡¯ Orthus. Skye would need to thread the needle carefully. Good enough to avoid the tax penalty and keep the quality of life high for her citizens, poor enough to stay unnoticed by the powers that be. The most average city, maybe with some poor smells.


    Then there was the supporting documentation. Analysis, from crop yields to population growth, all the way to a rough sketch of the strength of both forces. Elaine had done the scouting, while Iona tried to war game out how the conflict between the elves and demons would go. Signing up to the losing team would have city-destroying consequences after all.


    Boiling it down:


    Signing up with the elves meant lower taxes, but minimal presence. They could be vaguely relied upon to defend the area - accepting tribute then letting the place get burnt down destroyed their own economic base, and weakened their argument to force others to join them.


    Signing up with the demons meant higher taxes, but also a presence. The presence was a mixed bag - it both came with benefits, but a number of demons prowling around, societally unfettered, and with a whole lot of people around they were ¡®better than¡¯ and could legally take advantage of.


    It didn¡¯t take an [Oracle] to see that would end with the Valkyries taking significant issue with the demons, and it ending in bloodshed and violence. At least the elves were ¡®only¡¯ extorting them, and had no desire to actually live in Orthus.


    None of the decisions were good, but one would have to be made. Heavy was the head that wore the crown.


    Skye chose, and bent the knee.@@@@

 Chapter 606: Interlude - Quartus Nix - The Witch of the Woods

    Quartus Nix¡¯s five-year old sister was sick, and it was his job as her big seven-year old brother to look after her. A solemn duty he took on with pride!


    ¡°Can you drink?¡± He whispered to his sister, trying to wipe back her sweaty bangs. ¡°Can you say ¡®healer?¡¯¡±


    That would fix everything, if she could just break out of her delirious state long enough to say the literal magic word. That was the way the world worked. The gods hadn¡¯t been so cruel as to create disease and injury without an easy way to fix them. Nix put one arm under her head and tilted her up in her bed, wrinkling his nose at the smell of sweat-soaked sheets. He put the wooden mug of water up to her lips.


    ¡°Please drink please drink.¡± He whispered in prayer as he tilted the mug up. A few swallows went down her throat, and most dribbled down her neck, soaking her tunic. Nix carefully laid her back down, got a rag, and started to wipe her down, debating if he needed to change her. Again. The sheets needed to be changed for sure, but Nix didn¡¯t think he could roll his sister out of bed without dropping her. He put the mug away, which was when she spoke.


    ¡°Brother...?¡± She gasped out. Nix was back by her bedside in a flash, gripping her hand with his.


    ¡°Hey sis, it¡¯s me. Just say ¡®healer¡¯ and you¡¯ll be alright. Can you say it for me? ¡®Healer¡¯?¡±


    ¡°Alright...?¡± She said, her eyes unfocused. Her hand went limp and her eyes drooped close. Nix squeezed her hand and stood up, then started to pace. He cursed, one of the foul words his ma would beat him black and blue if she heard.


    ¡°Fu...dge.¡± Nix chickened out at the last moment, eyes darting around wildly. His ma wasn¡¯t here, right? She hadn¡¯t heard? She hadn¡¯t read his mind to know what he was thinking? He wouldn¡¯t need to eat soap?


    Healing was supposed to be easy. Nobody got really sick, no injuries stuck around. All somebody had to do was say ¡®healer¡¯, and that was it! They were cured! Fixed! All better! The sickness had struck his sister down so quickly that she hadn¡¯t had a chance to utter the fateful word, and she kept drifting in and out.


    What to do, what to do? It was his responsibility to look after his sister, his parents had said so. His grandpa Secondus was a [Healer], but he was on a trip. He¡¯d said something about service for taxes, whatever that meant. Everyone was real quiet about it. What could he do? She was getting worse, and still not saying ¡®healer¡¯. She¡¯d just gone to sleep, and sitting here waiting wasn¡¯t helping her at all.


    He had to do something. But what?@@@@


    He paced back and forth before an Idea struck him.


    The witch! There were rumors of a witch living up in the mountain! She could fix it all!


    He tucked his sister in more, flipping her pillows over and making sure she had a new mug of water nearby. Just in case she woke up. Then Nix snuck out of the house, eyeing the fields.


    He¡¯d get caned so hard if they caught him ¡®shirking¡¯ his duties. What did that goblin with the animal name say again? Oh right! The best way to sneak around was to look like he belonged, or was busy with something. Nobody ever checked on the boy industriously running an errand, while the sneak checking over his shoulder would get caught and interrogated every time. Nix ducked back inside, grabbed a basket, and headed out again. Doing his best to look busy, he entered the woods at the edge of the field, heading up the mountain.


    ... Where did the witch live exactly? Nix thought about it as he faced the utter lack of a path, immediately dumping his basket. The rumors were mixed, but everyone agreed she lived high up on the mountain. Maybe he¡¯d climb to the top, and see if he could spot her from there. Yeah, that made sense! He could see everything from the top of a mountain, that would include her... what did witches live in anyway? It was a house, right...?


    Nix started to climb up the mountain, going around trees and occasionally fighting his way through bushes. Mushrooms and moss grew freely, and a little creek burbled happily. Nix cupped his hands around his mouth once he thought he was far away enough that his family wouldn¡¯t hear him.


    ¡°Helllooooooo.¡± He called out. ¡°Wiiiitch. Are you here? Helllloooooooo.¡±


    Nix paused and strained his ears, hoping for a friendly reply, or maybe a cackling laugh to show him the way. There was nothing.


    He kept going, and it was like the forest started to loom in on him. Branches grew thin, cobwebs larger than he was had looming spiders with sparkling eyes watching him hungrily, and crows started to circle, cawing loudly. Nix glanced over his shoulder, a bright and grassy path leading all the way back to the base of the mountain.


    He shivered, put his head down and started running as fast as his little legs could carry him, deeper into the mountain. He spotted a narrow trail that went between the dead trees and creepy spiders and slid through them, panting as he raced over wet rocks. A fallen tree was in the way and he hurdled over it, only to lose his balance on the slippery moss on the other side. He landed with a sickening crack of his ankle.


    ¡°Ahhhhhh!¡± He screamed out in pain, the agony overwriting any other thoughts he had. Nix screamed once more before a spider scuttling along the edge of his vision was like a bucket of ice water over his head.


    I am in the woods. Alone. Injured. With predators. What am I doing?!


    Sis. He remembered, his mind tumbling down the very short path of memory.


    He slapped his forehead.


    ¡°I¡¯m an idiot.¡± He muttered to himself, then called out. ¡°Healer!¡±


    He¡¯d never broken anything as badly as his ankle, and it was disconcerting to see it snap back into place. His hand sank in the deep moss as he levered himself back up, and started to cautiously pick his way forward. The forest started to loom in on him. Branches grew thin, cobwebs larger than he was had looming spiders with sparkling eyes watching him hungrily, and crows started to circle, cawing loudly. Nix glanced over his shoulder, a bright and grassy path leading all the way back to the base of the mountain.


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    Wait, what?! He thought to himself. This all seemed so... familiar. How was there a clear path back when he¡¯d been working his way through dead trees and cobwebs for so long? What was going on here? ?¦¡????E??


    He shivered.


    Magic.


    ¡°Um, well, you see, my sister¡¯s sick, and not getting better, and...¡± He trailed off as the witch¡¯s presence seemed to press down on him. It felt like she towered five hundred and twelve miles into the sky, that her mere presence was trying to crush him.


    There was a long pause while she puffed on her pipe, clearly thinking, and Nix wasn¡¯t going to interrupt her.


    ¡°I assume,¡± She carefully said. ¡°You¡¯d like some potion to make her better, yeah?¡±


    Nix nodded furiously.


    ¡°Yes please! Um.¡± He hadn¡¯t thought this far. ¡°I don¡¯t have anything to pay you with...¡± He said quietly.


    The witch waved her hand dismissively.


    ¡°I¡¯ll just take two-eighths of your soul.¡± She said.


    ¡°What!¡± Nix gasped.


    ¡°Oh don¡¯t be such a baby, souls grow back. You¡¯ll barely feel a thing.¡± She grasped with her hand, and Nix felt a chill stab through him. The lights grew dim, and the crow flapped down to the lip of the cauldron. The bird started to hop around the cauldron in time to the witch¡¯s conducting finger. The fire flared up in a multitude of colors, and the witch started to chant over the brew as she tossed in various items.


    ¡°Bubble, bubble, toil and trouble,


    Fire burn and cauldron bubble!¡±


    Nix¡¯s eyes went wide at the items being tossed in. A mass of eyeballs pulped and plopped. A lizard skin was wrapped in glowing moss before it was dropped in. At each item added, the cauldron spat and hissed, sparks being thrown off and the color of the brew changing.


    The witch sneezed, and a spider shot out of her nose into the brew. The witch broke off her chanting for a moment.


    ¡°No no no, that doesn¡¯t belong. Get back here!¡± She plunged her hand into the mess and fished out the spider, spots and warts molting all over her hand. Nix continued to stare in open-mouthed horror.


    ¡°Demon horn and wyvern tear,


    Elf heart and kitsune tail!¡±


    The last part had the house yelp and shake, as a handful of furs were dropped in. Nix barely noticed - the heart she¡¯d put in looked like it had still been beating.


    Just what had he gotten himself into? Maybe it would''ve been a better idea to wait for gramps... too late now. The [Witch] had two-eighths of his soul.


    The ingredients got more and more extravagant as the flames reached higher, the bird hopped faster, and the witch chanted all the louder.


    ¡°Head of man and philosopher¡¯s stone,


    The last hope of giants and a splash of reality.¡±


    Nix¡¯s eyes were wide as saucers as what looked like a baby unicorn, pages from a book - that got a jar of something thrown into a corner of the room, where the witch¡¯s magic promptly made it vanish - and a large pink object that was thrown into a different corner.


    A bottle with the word ¡°DANGER¡± on it and a skull and crossbones was produced. The witch paused and eyed it suspiciously. She opened it and sniffed. Recoiled away in disgusted horror. "Eugh, what was this?!" She then shrugged, dumped the contents into the potion, then eyed the bottle and smashed it against the side of the cauldron and allowed its fragments to fall in.


    ¡°ALAKAZAM!¡± The witch shouted at the climax. Nothing happened.


    ¡°Always going on the fritz, can never get good help these days...¡± She muttered, kicked a chair with particular viciousness, and glared at the mirror. ¡°There we go! ALAKAZAM!¡±


    A bolt of Lightning as thick as Nix¡¯s wrist came out of the ceiling and hit the cauldron with a blinding flash. As Nix blinked his eyes clear, the witch offered him a stoppered vial, filled with potion.


    ¡°Now, make sure she drinks all of that, and your sister will be right as rain.¡±


    Nix nodded, but didn¡¯t dare move without permission. The witch looked at him thoughtfully.


    ¡°You know, one day, you might try to look at joining the Rangers. You¡¯ve got the spark and the gumption.¡±


    Nix nodded again, his feet rooted to the floor. Another spell? He didn¡¯t dare check.


    ¡°Now go!¡± The witch ordered, and Nix fled.

 Chapter 607: The Witch of the Woods

    Chapter 607: The Witch of the Woods


    ¡°Fuck the tyrants.¡± I declared to my friends and family, lifting a cup of tea in toast.


    ¡°Fuck the taxes.¡± Iona heartily agreed. A sentiment I never thought I¡¯d hear from her. I was a terrible, corrupting influence.


    ¡°To striking at the root of the problem.¡± Nina added in her toast. Artemis and Auri voiced their agreement, Raccoon unfortunately on duty. Artemis glanced suspiciously in her cup before she drank. There was no little carved wooden fox in the bottom of her cup... there was one in her pocket. I was just waiting for her to discover it.


    Artemis was convinced it was Nina pranking her back for the shaving incident.


    It wasn¡¯t.


    It was Iona, who was merrily framing Nina and finding the whole thing hilarious. I wasn¡¯t helping with the pranks... but I was keeping my lips sealed.


    We could probably fight the first squad the New Remus Empire sent at us, and win. We could probably kill the second squad... and Orthus Town wouldn¡¯t exist in the aftermath. The third wave would murder us all. We couldn¡¯t expect to win against over a hundred combat-focused elves that had up to 2,000 levels on us. It just wasn¡¯t possible... not in open conflict.


    Which had us conspiring. Quite openly. Skye had subtly - and when I hadn¡¯t picked up the hints, not so subtly - kicked us out, and told us she absolutely did not want to know what we were planning. That way she could continue to do what was best for Orthus with minimal sweating over what headaches we were concocting.


    ¡°I still think it¡¯s a terrible idea not to let queen Skye know what¡¯s going on.¡± Artemis had already tossed back her drink, and had promptly refilled her cup. ¡°We¡¯re not savages. We think. We¡¯re not going to start a mess here that can be traced back to us.¡± She hesitated and looked at Iona. ¡°We¡¯re not, right? We¡¯re going to be smart about this?¡±


    Iona was clearly struggling with the question.


    ¡°Broadly, yes, but if they decide we haven¡¯t paid properly, or start making impossible demands, you can¡¯t ask me to turn my eyes. I don¡¯t want to be - what did Elaine call it again? - lawful stupid, but there has to be a line. There has to be a point where we say ¡®enough, I can¡¯t be blind to this¡¯. There has to be a point where we step up and act. I seem to recall Elaine complaining about you having similar problems in the old Remus?¡±


    ¡°I was protected!¡± Artemis protested.


    ¡°Yes... so protected you ended up arrested, tried, convicted, and sold into slavery. Very protected. I am so impressed.¡± Nina ribbed Artemis.


    We all knew the story by now. It was one of my favorites.


    ¡°I do agree with Iona. There comes a point where making sacrifices for the greater good is no longer worth it.¡± Nina, of all people, said.


    I heard a far-off child¡¯s voice calling... huh, me, of all people. Unusual.


    ¡°Helllooooooo.¡± He called out. ¡°Wiiiitch. Are you here? Helllloooooooo.¡±


    I bent my senses in that direction, putting down my tea.


    ¡°There¡¯s a kid coming here who¡¯s looking for a [Witch]. Do we want to give him a show?¡± I asked.


    A wicked grin crossed Nina¡¯s face.


    ¡°Ooooh yes. What do we have for witches? Dark forest, creepy spiders, evil-looking fungus, yeah?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Sounds about right.¡± I said. ¡°Probably a stupid dare, but we might as well give him one heck of a story to tell on the other side. If he really needs something, we¡¯ll hear him out.¡±


    I calmed and centered myself, before we all made a big show out of brewing a simple healing potion. Auri was having a blast ¡®dancing¡¯ around the edge of the cauldron while playing with the flames. Iona kept passing me tea leaves that I grabbed and threw in. Nina used her illusions to try and prank me, and I kept trying to one-up her with my chanting. Eyeballs were gross and not too kid-friendly, but then again he was just about to unlock his System and the world was rough. I managed to keep a straight face as I included a philosopher¡¯s stone into the ingredients - major overkill for a healing potion. Nina pushed my buttons a bit trying to get me to include a page from a book - that was pure sacrilege! - and I plucked a few hairs off her tail in retaliation.


    I called it a day when she escalated too far.


    ¡°Alakazam!¡±, I announced dramatically. Nothing happened, and I kicked Artemis¡¯s chair, where she¡¯d been staring off into space.


    ¡°Huh? Oh!¡± She said, snapping back to it.


    ¡°Alakazam!¡±, I shouted again, dramatically flaring my hands over the cauldron. Artemis obliged, a bolt of Lightning crackling down. Moving as quickly as I could, I stoppered up the ¡®potion¡¯ - really more like a 16-blend tea, harmless and maybe a little tasty, but hydration never hurt a sick kid - and handed it off to Nix with strict instructions. Artemis was giving me a significant look, and I think I agreed with her.


    Some of the Ranger wanna-bes couldn¡¯t pass the small trial I¡¯d placed in front of the kid, and I suggested he look into it in the future.


    He left, carefully staring at the potion as he put one foot in front of the other.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m going to see what the matter is.¡± I went invisible and stealthed my way out of the villa, quietly chuckling to myself as Nina played theater master. A wave of illusions hid the house away, and brightly illuminated the easiest, safest way home, looking like bright sunlight the whole time.


    Nix looked over his shoulder, his eyes widening comically as the ¡®evil witch¡¯s cottage¡¯ vanished entirely.


    ¡°Magic.¡± The boy said with a shiver of fear, going back to staring intently at the vial, putting one step in front of another.


    I ghosted behind him as he walked down the mountain. When he inevitably tripped - not enough looking at where he was going - I snagged the tossed potion out of the air, but let him tumble down the rocky path, making sure my emergency ¡®no child dies¡¯ healing was indeed on and running. He came to a bruised stop, and I [Teleported] the potion to a pile of soft moss in a direction he wasn¡¯t looking at.


    ¡°FUDGE!¡± He swore with the unbridled fury of a kid, looking around in a panic. I wish I could¡¯ve bottled the look of pure relief when he saw the unbroken potion. He picked it up and ran back home.


    I wanted to roll my eyes. First he was too careful, then not careful enough... kids. Hopefully he¡¯d grow up and get some sense.


    Also, did kids really move that slowly? Dang.


    It took far longer than I wanted, but we were finally at Nix¡¯s house. I lurked around, invisible, in broad daylight like some sort of [Burglar], and was able to get a good look at the situation once his sister entered my sphere of [The World Around Me]. I analyzed the situation for a minute, trying to figure out how she¡¯d slipped through the cracks of my healing safeguards.


    Ahhh. That¡¯s what happened. She was delirious, but hadn¡¯t passed out - simply slept. Since she was conscious, old enough, and able to talk, my safeguards hadn¡¯t kicked in, just waiting for her to say ¡®Elaine!¡¯ and receive miracle healing. But she was out of it enough to not be able to drive her mind enough to say the word. If things had gotten worse, then my safeguards would¡¯ve kicked in - otherwise, she would have gotten better on her own, or another [Healer] would¡¯ve gotten a chance to practice their art.


    Partial healing was much harder than ¡®heal everything¡¯.


    Okay, that all looked good. The question was, did I need to change anything?


    Oh wait! There was Nix, lifting his sister up. Lights, sound, action!


    As the girl drank the potion, I slowly cranked up [Universal Cure] on her, fixing various problems and letting her ¡®revive¡¯ as she drank up.


    The look of joy on their faces was pure magic.

 Chapter 608: Overthrowing the Tyrants I

    Chapter 608: Overthrowing the Tyrants I


    Birthday time! Woohoo!


    I¡¯d had a big bash for my 100th birthday, and it was pure insanity to me that we were having our big 128th birthday bash in an entirely different era. Like. The world we knew had ended, and we¡¯d clawed our way out of it in less than twenty years. I was used to the mundane use of skills and how Classers could change and shape the local environment, but I still couldn¡¯t wrap my head around how the truly powerful Classers could reshape the world so much in such a short period of time.


    28 years was nothing.


    28 years was enough to destroy the world, and rebuild the basics of civilization. Rebuild it enough to throw a birthday party with cake. Sure, it was in large part because I¡¯d socked away sacks of baking supplies for Auri that I broke out on special occasions, but the point remained! Cake was a damn miracle. It was like breathing - I took the ability to make cake for granted until suddenly I couldn¡¯t. Until chickens and cows vanished one day, until sugar supply chains collapsed, until vanilla was suddenly a luxury spice, until the only way to make baking powder was locked in a book, not in anyone¡¯s memory. Auri had checked, twice - nobody in Orthus knew.


    Cake was as much of a miracle as the huge party Iona had managed to throw.


    We did what I wanted for our 100th, we were all-in on Iona for our 128th. Which boiled down to inviting nearly the entire town, and me doing my absolute best to make her deliriously happy.@@@@


    A wave of sadness struck me as we all laughed, ate, and drank at a grand table together outside, people dancing in a circle around a grand bonfire.


    Almost everyone I cared for deeply and loved was here, having the time of their lives. My head was resting on Iona¡¯s shoulder as I was pleasantly buzzed, the pipe left at home. My wife was holding two conversations at once, her warm arm around my waist, her eyes sparkling as she swam through her element like a fish. Auri was having a blast in the flames, making them leap and dart around to the great joy of the dancers, her [Mage Hands] handing out cupcakes. Nina was next to Iona, in an animated conversation with Raccoon, using her Mirages to tell one of her tales.


    Heh. The tails had a tale.


    I was possibly a little more drunk than I suspected. I snuggled closer to Iona, bathing in the warm glow of family.


    Fenrir was entertaining a gaggle of children behind us with his Ice and snow, creating dizzying sledding hills for them to enjoy. It was nearly summer, and most of the kids were dearly missing winter, as those things tended to go. Artemis was sitting next to me, deep in an animated conversation with Skye on different leadership styles. She¡¯d absorbed a lot from Julius over the years, and our [Queen] was totally engrossed.


    In many ways, this was our last hurrah. All of our preparations were done, and we were planning on leaving tomorrow, scattering to the winds to try and deal with the elves, each in our own way.


    I didn¡¯t know if everyone would return at the end.


    I woke up the next morning feeling like a heavy weight was on my chest. I snuggled closer to Iona and went over the situation again.


    We¡¯d had endless discussions on the topic. I just wasn¡¯t entirely sold that not paying tribute to far-off despots was worth the price in blood needed to overthrow them. If we, as a community, had excess, and could afford it, what was money compared to lives? What was losing a fraction of the harvest compared to the rivers of blood? It was just money, no amount of coin could ever replace a child.


    I was a little too law-abiding at times. At least, until the laws came up and smacked me in the face, I tended to shrug and go with them.


    Iona, Skye, and the rest had shown me the math. Shown me the logic. 10% was often more than a poor family could take, and was the difference between surviving the winter and starving. It pushed the line in too many places, in too many communities, and it slowly added up to lives.


    Because the taxes were on top of whatever the local government was assessing. Skye had started to talk to me about taxation philosophy, and I¡¯d promptly [Teleported] out of the conversation.


    None of us dreamed we could actually overthrow the ¡®government¡¯ of New Remus. As fun as stories where a band of plucky misfits overthrew the evil despots were, we knew that just wasn¡¯t going to happen. Wealth, power, numbers, and coordination were on their side. The best we could do was to improve lives and situations where we could... possibly with an eye at striking higher.


    Nina was [Creed]-bound to try and ¡®uproot¡¯ the problem, which had the rest of us aiming for that target as well, no matter how outlandish or difficult it would be.


    At the same time, a number of Immortals had survived the War. Invincible and Skater were both with Mare Town, and I couldn¡¯t imagine them being particularly happy at the situation. Rumors had reached my long ears of Queen establishing her own little fiefdom deep in the woods, and I knew the lady. She wasn¡¯t going to take a higher power lying down.


    That was just Exterreri, just a small number of vampires I knew. Other Immortals and powers around the world probably disliked the idea and the situation just as much, and were hatching their own plots and schemes. The major advantage New Remus had was unity and numbers right now, we were all scattered to the wind.


    There was some logic to simply waiting things out. Making sure my little patch of paradise did well, making sure my neighbors always had food, and letting Father Time grind the New Remus Empire down, just as every other nation had fallen. I kept that particular idea to myself.


    ¡°Worried?¡± Iona said a moment after she woke up, able to read me like an open book.


    ¡°Yeah.¡± I didn¡¯t need to elaborate.


    ¡°Every year, let¡¯s try to meet here on this day.¡± Iona said. ¡°The gods willing, we won¡¯t need to be here again in eight years, but should that happen, we do everything we can to meet again. Agreed?¡±


    There was a chorus of agreements.


    ¡°Healy-bug, you better make it here. Need you to initiate the new Rangers.¡± Artemis said. ¡°It¡¯ll cause us problems if you miss.¡±


    I nodded my understanding.


    ¡°Stay safe. Stay alive. Stay true to yourselves. I love you all.¡± Iona said.


    There wasn¡¯t much else to say or do. All of our preparations had been completed weeks or months ago. Auri nuzzled me, hopped on Fenrir, and away they went. Nina started to walk down the mountain trail to Orthus, where she¡¯d hop on a heavily-armed trade caravan, and start her own travels. Artemis hurried after her, the kitsune and my mentor getting into a hushed, animated discussion. Something about sharpening the Rangers on a practice escort mission. Iona was about to take off into the sky when I crashed into her with a tear forming in my eye.


    ¡°Stay safe.¡± I said.


    ¡°I love you.¡± Iona said. ¡°Now and forever. Hey, this is temporary. We¡¯ll all be back together before you know it. Maybe revisit the idea of everyone living in your [Keep] skill!¡±


    I tearfully waved them off, sniffed, and was about to launch myself on my own mission of mercy when a faint voice called my name.


    ¡°Dawn, can we speak?¡±


    I whirled around, bending my ears, trying to trace who was calling me.


    ¡°This way. You have to come to me.¡± The voice said. I smelled a trap, but I couldn¡¯t detect or sense anything. I was confident in my ability to handle most problems. Anyone who was trying to lure me into a trap would get a nasty surprise.


    Plus, nobody called me Dawn here. I didn¡¯t want to say I was retired, but the most Sentinely things I¡¯d done was reviving the Rangers, occasionally fighting off a huge monster. Okay, granted, they were very much inside the Sentinel¡¯s wheelhouse, but the idea remained.


    I paused as I found an enchanted rock on the forest floor, a bit of arcanite attached to it to power the inscriptions. It was in a runic language I recognized, and I decoded it after a moment.


    It was set to play a message after a certain amount of time, then repeat the message after a second period of time. That was it.


    I pulsed mana through the enchantment, getting it to play the message.


    ¡°Dawn, can we speak?¡± The rock said.


    I wanted to facepalm. Only one message in the rock, of course.


    ¡°Now that you¡¯re done playing with rocks, follow my voice! We¡¯ve got a distance to go. Pick up the rocks as you go, we don¡¯t want to leave a trace.¡± I didn¡¯t recognize the voice, but I had a sneaking suspicion who it was.


    Less than amused, I followed the voice to another rock. Then another. And another. Feeling like I was a child being led through the forest on a crumb trail, I was reluctantly impressed with the pure timing of it all. Each rock was enchanted to give its message at exactly the right time, half a moment after I¡¯d arrived at the previous one. Whoever made this was brilliant, and knew me well, which rapidly narrowed the list down to one main candidate.


    I¡¯d gone far. Much further than my usual stomping grounds.


    It was possible it was a hostile Classer, but I seriously doubted it. I was confident in my analysis, and had absolutely no problem diving into one of the Pekari¡¯s lairs when the rocks called me in. A pair of Pekari soldiers were waiting at the bottom, and the two turned to escort me.


    Oooh yeah, I knew who this was. Every inch of the walls confirmed it. The smell of tea and cookies hit me a moment before my escorts turned the corner to a room, where Arachne was sitting at the table.


    ¡°Dawn! It¡¯s such a pleasure to be able to meet you again! Do you have a moment to chat?¡±

 Chapter Book 14 Launch Day!

    Chapter Book 14 Launch Day!


    It''s that wonderful time of year again - LAUNCH DAY!


    Beneath the Dragoneye Moons: Immortal War is now LIVE on Amazon!


    I want to thank you all for your continued support over the years. From those of you who only read on RR, to the occasional Patreon subscriber, all the way to those of you who rate, review, and rave about Beneath the Dragoneye Moons, you all have my heartfelt thanks. I couldn''t do this without you, I couldn''t do this without Royal Road.


    Most of you have gotten a chance to read BTDEM for free on RR. I tried to give a larger window this time around between posting the last chapter and taking it down for Amazon. Sadly, my minor change in schedule hiccuped the release a bit - I''d intended for you all to get a full three weeks with the last chapter, not a week in an half.


    You can pick up your copy here: /amazon/B0DT7FXDVG


    Two more books to go! It''s exciting, approaching the end like this.


    Cheers!


    Selkie


    @@@@

 Chapter 609: Overthrowing the Tyrants II

    I gracefully sat down with Arachne. She was here as Arachne, not as Susan, and keeping the right name for the right situation was one of the ways I was getting back into the right mindset. Her spider, Clotho the black widow, was dancing on her subtly multi-colored hair, and waved at me with one leg.


    I¡¯d been in a peacetime mentality for ages. Over a decade without needing to slip into the cold, calculating mindset, balancing healing with fighting for my life. The occasional raid helped keep the instincts alive, but it wasn¡¯t like I was in the appropriate Sentinel Dawn mindset quite yet. Even though I knew this was coming, there was a difference between preparing for an event, and living it.


    Arachne¡¯s presence was helping accelerate that. Clotho started rapidly spinning threads on Arachne¡¯s head, letting them float down for the vampire to manipulate. She rapidly weaved them all over the room, activating a number of privacy enchantments emphasizing the situation. I helped out by placing us in a sphere of [Mantle] in the dusk mode, with allowances for Arachne¡¯s threads. It was simply another layer, and I cast a quick spell without mentioning it to the vampire. She saw, she knew, she smiled.


    ¡°Tea? Cookies?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Of course I¡¯d love some cookies and tea!¡± I shifted slightly in the comfortable chair, all too aware that my outfit was great for traveling and possibly getting into trouble, and utterly inappropriate for the fancy teatime I¡¯d found myself in.


    Damn the vanity aspect from the companion bond, it got worse the more I leveled up.


    Threads moved, and Arachne smoothly served both of us without lifting a finger. There were only two places at the table, and I figured I¡¯d get us started with some of the obvious questions, the light chit-chat.


    ¡°Night¡¯s not going to be joining us?¡± I asked, knowing the answer and more than a little disappointed. Arachne shook her head.


    ¡°No. In the broadest sense, the Immortal War is over and done. The great battles have ended, the devastation has occurred, the Lifebringers have attempted to bring back nature and balance, and communities are rebuilding as they can. Your work in Orthus is admirable, the town is one of the best from nothing I¡¯ve seen this cycle.¡±


    Arachne lifted her teacup to me in a small salute before closing her eyes and taking a sip, savoring the brew. I mirrored her, enjoying the perfection. The vampire had taken tea-making to an art, just one of her many talents honed over an Immortal lifespan. Part of me wanted to be offended that we were only one of the best this cycle from nothing... but the rest of me was more rational. There was only so much we could do. There were only so many Classers we had, and none of them had gone through this before. It wasn¡¯t like we were Ithil, which was rumored to have phased out of existence entirely, or a small town with a number of experienced Immortals who¡¯d done this cycle a dozen times before, or even a large town that got skipped over entirely and was thriving.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I graciously accepted the compliment. ¡°I¡¯d like to say I had a hand in it, but mostly we just handed everything to Skye and let her figure things out.¡±


    Arachne waved down my protests.


    ¡°Nonsense, dear. The simple task of when and who to delegate to and cede both power and authority is a difficult one, and you chose admirably. I digress. You have always placed an unusually high value on honesty, and as such, I will not lie to you. I will not tell you that Night has decided to sit out this Immortal cycle and take a much-needed vacation, no matter how much his WIFE kept ASKING HIM TO.¡±


    The way some of those words were pointed and said over Susan¡¯s shoulder made me wonder if Night could somehow listen in on the conversation, nevermind the triple layer of privacy wards we had up. Or maybe Susan was recording the whole thing, and was going to replay it for Night. Yeah, I was going to stay way out of that one, no matter how much I wanted to add in a comment or three.


    If Night wanted to sit out an Immortal war, heck, even a few hundred to a thousand years of an Immortal cycle? More power to him. Everyone needed a vacation, and it felt to me like Night might need one more than most people. Even if it was his wife asking him to, as opposed to being entirely self motivated.


    I sipped my tea and nibbled on a biscuit, hoping desperately that it would signal my not-saying-a-word-ness.


    ¡°Night is occupied, fighting the war on a level that does not end with burning fields and razed cities, but arguably contributes more to the shape of the coming world than a full army marching over a field would.¡±


    Arachne¡¯s eyes sharpened. Clotho looked like he


    ¡°This is war, and the soldiers are words spoken in rooms like this, the generals knowledge and information passed on. Unfortunately, I am unable to speak a single word more on the subject of what Night is doing, for if the situation should turn, my counterparts around the world could glean quite a lot of information from anything I say combined with your formidable intelligence and knowledge of the man in question.¡±


    The entire room took on a different perspective. As cool and casual as Arachne was, it was clear now that her every word was measured and calculated ahead of time. That she knew me so well as to know exactly how good my senses were, exactly the words needed to pique my curiosity and to get me traveling, and even more than that - she¡¯d known, almost to the second, when I was going to leave on my trip. She¡¯d know that I was going to leave last, she¡¯d perfectly timed her triggered enchantment to call out in that one vanishing moment before I took off and left.


    I split my mind into as many parts as I could, each one thinking furiously. I needed to bring my absolute best when chatting with Arachne, especially as I wasn¡¯t entirely sure we were on the same side still. I thought we were, I was just... uncertain. I liked her, I mostly trusted her, but the entire landscape had been literally changed. Repeatedly.


    Eh... she was fine. I figured I¡¯d trust her, and go from there. I¡¯d drive myself nuts being paranoid about my friends now, and Susan was a friend.


    More than that, she¡¯d also calculated how long the sound would take to travel to the forest to find me. My search patterns and the range of [The World Around Me].


    I shivered.


    ¡°I will be entirely truthful with you. Our motives are driven in large part by self-preservation. Vampires tend to be on the top of the list of ¡®undesirables¡¯, right behind the Ekada Ruh and the necrotic armies of Penujuman. ¡®The bloodsuckers live among you!¡¯ Stories and tales will be spread, and the energies of the Empire will be turned one by one on different groups. They will try to eradicate the group, and when targets are found to be lacking, as the snake devours its own tail, they will designate a new group. Again, and again, and again, until it inevitably collapses in a cataclysm of blood. By that stage, hatred of the other, distrust of the neighbor, is rooted throughout the entire world, as that is their reach. Barriers must be broken down again, and it is a distasteful mess.¡± Arachne was practically spitting by the end, and a shiver went down my spine. Clotho¡¯s fangs were clacking together.


    I had my own memorial, my own wall of memories.


    How many times had Arachne and Night been hunted like monsters simply for their species before deciding that this particular permutation wasn¡¯t worth it? Before deciding that they needed to stifle a particular type of organization?


    I hoped it was only one. I knew that was unlikely.


    At the same time, I could respect the line Night was trying to walk even more. He didn¡¯t want to be in control. He didn¡¯t want to be the ruler. At the same time, it¡¯d be so easy to step in and say ¡®all of these things don¡¯t work, these do work, do them¡¯, and suddenly find himself in the position where he was dictating to everyone... exactly in the way he knew didn¡¯t work.


    Where would our lines in the sand be?


    ¡°Which brings me to you. Dawn, you are uniquely positioned at this time for a role of information gathering, and should you desire to take an active role off the battlefield, I¡¯d be more than happy to teach you the fundamental basics of such a position. No life will be taken, indeed, the position you could find yourself in would allow you to modify paperwork in such a way that lives would be saved.¡±


    Arachne took a small sip, and my mind raced to leap to conclusions.


    No. I mentally scolded myself. Bad.


    This was one of the unique situations where I¡¯d fill in the blanks in the way I liked best, then agree with the rosy situation I was painting myself. It was a dangerous method of self-delusion, and if Arachne was asking me to spy and sabotage for her, step one was to not delude myself.


    ¡°I believe it is safe to say the New Remus Empire will not fall on the battlefield. They have successfully learned the lessons of arrogance, and have made it a point of pride to work together. Rarely have we seen such a coalition of powerful Immortals working in concert like this together, and barring them aggravating a, shall we say, higher power.¡±


    Arachne winked at me. Hooooly Ciriel, were they going to try and frame the New Remus Empire to one of the ancient dragons? Man... we¡¯d just finished cleaning up the last big Immortal throwdown. The sight of an unknown dragon effectively erasing Nippon-Koku off the map was seared into my memory.


    ¡°They will fall apart from infighting. From inefficiencies. From thousands of Classers nibbling at their edges. Once their unity is broken, it becomes a simple matter to clean up the mess. For each war is won through preparation, before the first shot is fired. Each battle is determined by logistics. If they¡¯re not at the battlefield, it¡¯s over. There is no sense at striking at their strong point, when we can strike at their weak point. [Warriors] were recruited, [Mages] by the dozen. They were not quite foolish enough to obtain no administrators, but their numbers are limited, and they can not be everywhere. I know them well, I know their weaknesses, and you, my dear, are one of the better agents I can request. I¡¯m not going to ask you to stick your neck out particularly far, or do much besides read, learn, and occasionally relay knowledge. I will teach you how to modify paperwork, what can go missing and when, and you¡¯ll never directly see the fruits of your labor. But you will save lives, both directly and indirectly. It¡¯ll put you in the metropolitan heart of the New Remus Empire, your healing bathing over 30,000 souls daily and rapidly rising. I won¡¯t pretend that it isn¡¯t dangerous, I won¡¯t pretend there are no risks. Spies are executed by custom, generally in a gruesome manner. Are you interested?¡±


    I was, and by broken gemstones, Arachne had to know I was. A way to help that didn¡¯t involve fighting and killing? A way to save lives? A way to be present?


    In a more minor way, I wanted to try out all the jobs. To taste everything Immortality had waiting for me. I didn¡¯t have [Spy] on my bingo card for this Immortal cycle, but [Scribe] wasn¡¯t that far off.


    Plus, like... reading all day? Sure! Although, that might be an assumption. Time to check!


    ¡°How could I save lives?¡± I asked. ¡°And how much paperwork is there to read?¡±


    Arachne laughed at the second question.


    ¡°Saving lives is fairly simple. You see a report that a town failed to meet its tax obligation by a small amount? Simply edit or replace the paperwork to say it had met its tax obligation. The reaper¡¯s scythe is turned and lives are spared, although I will confess that wholesale modification in that manner might be beyond your skills. Another method could be simply losing a report. Say, scouts mention that a powerful wyvern was spotted to the south. If that report is lost, no agents are dispatched to try and hunt it down. There are a million ways to save lives, and I would be delighted to teach them all to you. As for the paperwork, near-endless. I daresay you¡¯ll get tired of reading by the time you are done.¡±


    Challenge fucking accepted.


    ¡°There is one last thing you can do right now to help out.¡± Arachne said with a sparkle. ¡°You are one of the last survivors of the true, original Remus. As we wished for you to join the Sentinels to help preserve the weight. Actively denying the imposters, even in the privacy of your thoughts, in your heart, will be enough to deny them weight and classes. A statement does it more, and the louder and more public it is, the stronger the counterweight. I don¡¯t recommend the last one, it¡¯s hazardous to your health.¡± Arachne was clearly amused at the end.


    Ooooh, that I could absolutely do. I smiled at Arachne and finished my tea.


    ¡°When do we start?¡±

 Chapter 610: Overthrowing the Tyrants III

    ¡°Let us not impose too much on Anurak¡¯s hospitality.¡± Arachne stood up and stretched. I grabbed a cookie for the road, the vast privacy shields we¡¯d put up dropping down. ¡°One of the first concepts I¡¯m going to reiterate here is operational security. It was one thing as a Sentinel to keep information from the target, but with the way we worked it wasn¡¯t of the utmost importance. The systems and procedures I designed kept in mind that many sentinels, while I would never call them unintelligent, got to their position of power generally by the application of violence. There is nothing wrong with that, but our policies and procedures were put in place for a, shall we call it a less complex mindset? There is the problem. Your talents make you well suited to handling the problem. End of story.¡±


    I nodded as I followed Arachne down the tunnels, able to sense the endless Pekari all over the tunnels, most of them just resting and being still.


    ¡°Makes sense. There was far more caution in the roving ranger teams than operations as a Sentinel.¡± I said.


    ¡°Exactly. Now, we play the grand information game. Lies and knowledge are our weapons, deceit and misdirection our shields. Information is prized above all. Given your relative discomfort with lies, I will strive to give you the needed tools and mission scope that you¡¯ll need. I expect you to use them to a minimum, if at all. It will significantly limit what you¡¯re able to do, but that is an acceptable price.¡± Arachne sighed longingly. ¡°What you could do with a different mindset...¡±


    Given that I was basically becoming a Shadow Sentinel, being ¡®acceptable¡¯ was good enough in my books. At least Night wasn¡¯t having spasms of laughter at the idea anymore!


    She led me to - was that a train!? I¡¯d seen all manner of industrial wonders in the Pekari lair, manufacturing the golems on a gigantic scale. If I were so inclined I¡¯d be the greatest [Thief] or [Stealer of Inventions] ever - there were endless ideas and methods surrounding me, things I was passively absorbing and filing away in my [Archives]. The information and operations stuff was super interesting, but hold up. This was literally revolutionary.


    ¡°Hang on, change of subject, sorry. Is that a train!?¡± I asked Susan, using the English word for it. She looked unamused.


    ¡°If you mean a train, then yes.¡± She said, giving me the High Elvish word for it. I assumed there wasn¡¯t a Creation word for it, otherwise the word and the concept would¡¯ve been dropped into Night¡¯s head. But... fuck, language was weird. I wasn¡¯t going to spend too much brainpower on it, I was frying my head just thinking of basics.


    It was quite literally a wonder. Sleek and smooth like all the Pekari designs, the engine was three times as tall as I was, and completely empty on the inside. I was more than a little disappointed at that revelation, my imagination having already conjured up fantastical magitech images... and I would¡¯ve totally stolen the designs and tried to do something with them.


    Hmmmm... Maybe there usually was something there, but Arachne knew me too well, and had it removed. Then again, there were no subtle tooling marks or anything else on the inside that suggested...


    I spun off a parallel thought to continue speculating wildly about the train and if it usually looked like that or not, and trying to do some rough calculations to see how possible doing it myself was. I was hilariously outclassed, of course, and...


    Focus.


    The first car was a luxury car. Fancy doors, no windows, but two cabins and a ¡®lounge¡¯. The cabins had storage, beds, even a little desk and chair! With plenty of space, no cramped ¡®how many sardines can we pack in here¡¯ nonsense. The lounge had scattered plush swivel chairs, a wall of drinks, and a stasis box filled with food. The food was already heavily-preserved food, heavy on the bread, cheese, and sausages, and I was a hair concerned with how long they¡¯d been in there. The blood was dried into a thick brick, which didn¡¯t look appetizing in the slightest. It wasn¡¯t like the Pekari tunnels were regularly filled with living people, and extra preservation elements weren¡¯t usually used on ¡®this is good for a year on a shelf¡¯ food. I wasn¡¯t concerned with food poisoning, so much as the taste. Rancid food tasted gross! No obvious heating elements, but then again, I came with my own set, didn¡¯t I?


    After the train and the luxury car were endless industrial cars. Some flatbeds, quite a lot of cargo, and a number of cars that were simply odd skeletal-like metal frames. If I had to make a wild guess, the Pekari soldiers could fill up on them and slot in exactly for bulk transport around Anurak¡¯s domain.


    Susan boarded the first carriage of the train as we talked.


    ¡°Sorry, distracted, but I have to know more. Trains? They¡¯d change literally everything. You know about them, you¡¯ve seen how they work, how did Exterreri not adopt trains?¡±


    Susan smiled mysteriously.


    ¡°There¡¯s a number of issues. The biggest one is the infrequently-used rail system is entirely powered by one Immortal at the cusp of ascension. Good luck finding one willing to run trains for you. A second issue is historical. We managed to get to that stage once, rails in place for the wealthy and for industrial purposes. Unfortunately, the environment that led to it was heavy on mages and golems, and the Golem Wars were particularly annoying.¡±


    We settled down in our chairs, and the train lurched into motion a moment later. Threads radiated out from Arachne, covering every surface and entwining themselves along the train in both directions.


    ¡°Tell me more?¡± I asked. Susan had to know how tantalizing I found the little morsels she was feeding me.


    Let us talk of MICE, the four things that get an agent to turn. Money, Ideology, Coercion, or Ego. I will be frank, you agreed to work with me on this on the ideological aspects. You believe what they¡¯re doing is wrong, and you are taking steps...


    Propaganda is a concern, and you¡¯ll be inundated with it. Most of it will be subtle, and you are fairly willing to go with the flow. It is a concern of mine that you¡¯ll get swept up in the current, and I believe this is one of the more important aspects...


    Part of me wants to skip the topic of assassination, but you need to know the basics, to predict others¡¯ behavior if nothing else...


    Paperwork related sabotage...


    Surveillance...


    Runic work and talismans...


    Smoke and mirrors...


    Information is good, but knowledge is better. Hold up your fingers with your answer. For your cover story, you are: 1) A wandering healer. 2) A displaced scribe. 3) A...


    I could feel a headache forming, my mind burning with the deluge of complex topics assaulting me from all sides. Arachne did not hold back. She knew how fast I could think, she knew how well I could analyze the world around me, and I was effectively getting an entire year or three of education in a matter of days.


    I was a little sad I wasn¡¯t a Steam Classer, I could¡¯ve made steam come out of my ears. I had an overflow mind to handle it, but I wasn¡¯t going to use it on a mild joke.


    A shame [Luminary Mind] was capped. The experience would be nice to ensuring it stayed capped.


    I was curious about a thousand things, and the coordination thought process got to decide which sounded the most interesting - which had two other thought processes fight over who got to use the right hand to flash hand-signals to ask another question. The left was busy answering Arachne¡¯s quiz questions.


    ¡°You¡¯ve seen it often enough, how would you take over the world?¡±


    Wasn¡¯t the best question, but it was the one I was most curious about.


    Arachne didn¡¯t even blink.


    ¡°Slowly.¡± She said. ¡°A core culture of meritocracy, administration and a modestly strong martial framework. Expand and consolidate, then a new wave of expansion and consolidation. Digest and integrate each part before leapfrogging to the next to prevent internal problems. I¡¯ve got a whole eight volume series on the subject, I can get you a copy if you¡¯d like the full details. I try to place it on everyone¡¯s desk who looks like they¡¯re taking a stab at it themselves.¡± Her face twisted unhappily. ¡°The issue it ran into the only time we tried it was time. Doing it properly takes so long, some idiots start the next Immortal War and ruin everything.¡± She shrugged. ¡°Either it¡¯s so unstable that it falls apart, or takes too long. I wish that wasn¡¯t the case.¡±


    Interesting.


    ¡°Now, what about the question you¡¯re so eagerly and poorly trying to ask me with your hand?¡±


    Wait, I was still doing that!?

 Chapter 611: Overthrowing the Tyrants IV

    ¡°I¡¯m realizing I¡¯m missing a critical skill.¡± I pushed down my embarrassment. There just had never been a need to learn this skill, it just wasn¡¯t important. Culturally, it was barely a thing. Remus had expected me to be a housewife, my parents figuring things out for me. At the School, everyone knew the path their life would take. Either they had wealthy sponsors, or were nobility themselves. Then I¡¯d worked on a combination of being self employed, or a Sentinel. At no time had I ever needed the skill, and it was a rare one in the first place, most children¡¯s lives being laid out for them by their parents.


    The Legions were always recruiting, and would take anyone.


    ¡°Which skill is that?¡± Arachne asked with her usual grace and aplomb. All the while, I was learning on twenty different thought processes, learning all manner of skills as Arachne¡¯s threads twisted and weaved, like letters in a book. I wanted an ice pack for my head, just for the dramatic look.


    ¡°Getting a job.¡± I freely admitted. ¡°I¡¯ve always just stumbled into them or done it myself. I have no idea how I¡¯d get hired in the first place, and I just... I know nothing about the whole process.¡±


    Apart from vaguely being on the receiving end now and then. Nix asking me to take on his grandson as an [Apprentice] was a good example. That looped back to ¡®who you know¡¯ and ¡®parents making arrangements for the children¡¯s future¡¯.


    Arachne¡¯s lips quirked in amusement.


    ¡°A problem far more people than you realize have had. I will add it to the curriculum. For this particular job, with your background, we¡¯ve identified a few targets of opportunity. You will be walking up to the front door with a letter and a hope, just as they are needing more manpower. However, it would not do for you to be inexperienced in the endeavor, and as such, you will need to know more. We are about to be driven past a supply drop point. Can I trouble you to teleport an addition to our lunch in?¡±


    I tasked one of my minds to scanning around me, awed by the endless industry toiling away under Pallos¡¯s surface. This was all the work of a single Classer!? My gods, it was insane.


    Part of me wondered what would happen if everyone had access to technology and methods like this, but the cynical, beaten-down part of me knew the answer. We¡¯d use it to better murder each other.


    I spotted the supply depot Arachne was talking about, the last Pekari soldier carefully placing down a jug of fresh blood.


    ¡°Got it.¡± I [Teleported] it all into the train car, the blood barely rippling as it landed on one of the tables. A half-dozen freshly baked loaves were still steaming, the cookies were still gooey, and the lettuce looked fresh and crispy. The amount was perfectly calculated as well, filling up the tables and storage without overflowing to the chairs or floor.


    Arachne and I got into the briefest of races, each trying to out-hospitality each other. I arranged a glass of milk, and a sandwich next to a pair of cookies on one table, while Susan prepared something similar at her place. I placed the blood next to her, letting her season her food personally.


    Skills tended not to have a wind up. Will and instant effect. Many skills did need to travel from the origination point, but some skills, like Mirages, could immediately snap into existence a large distance from the caster. Light was another element that could do something similar. One moment nothing, the next moment blinding white killing my vision and giving me spots in my eyes to blink out.


    Spatial could rarely cause a similar effect. Namely, when someone in a pocket or alternative dimension returned to Pallos. There wasn¡¯t a big, slow, dramatic reveal - it just happened. Not there one moment, there the next. I used it all the time when I had to teleport into and out of my [Tower]. From an outsider¡¯s point of view, I just popped back into existence.


    Which, naturally, was when Amber slipped back into existence. She slammed back into the padded chair as the difference in velocity caught up with her, but of course it was at the right angle to sink deep into the plush, velvety goodness.


    Susan and I locked eyes and rolled them together. She¡¯d met Amber before, and had seen enough utter bullshit from her by now to just run with it. The threads did fall back down, our lessons clearly at a temporary pause.


    Amber looked a little frazzled. Dirt and dried blood where she¡¯d scraped her knees, along with a slightly torn tunic. Her gem-studded braid had bits of hair sticking out, and she was holding an amulet with one of the largest gems I¡¯d ever seen. She blinked around owlishly as she settled into her chair. My former apprentice cracked a wide smile at the feast laid out in front of her.


    ¡°Oooh! Elaine! You brought cookies, thank you! You don¡¯t mind, do you? I¡¯m starving.¡± Amber had already unceremoniously dropped the multi-million arc piece of jewelry to the ground like it was nothing, letting it bounce and roll around on the floor.


    I waved my hand at her.


    ¡°Go for it! And what have you been up to these last few years?¡± I asked.


    Amber had already taken a ravenous bite out of the sandwich when she froze. She tried to answer, realized her mouth was full, shrugged, and furiously chewed before answering.


    ¡°Wait, what do you mean, years?¡± She asked. Arachne was eyeing the onyx gem like it was a poisonous spider - lovingly - and I was debating where I could [Teleport] it to. Skills in gems were generally a one-shot thing, but Amber had a recharging skill, and there were always more shenanigans around her.


    A quick conversation got us roughly on the same page as the greedy merchant systematically demolished our supply run. Susan and I both snagged some vittles for ourselves, contently munching away while we all got caught up. We went first, explaining everything we¡¯d been through. The war, picking up the pieces, and now the New Remus Empire facing off against the Demon Kingdom.


    Frankly, it was a good thing I had extensive exposure to Amber already. My jaw would¡¯ve dropped open and I would¡¯ve lost all my food otherwise.


    ¡°My lucky coin led me to the gem right as everything started to go badly.¡± Amber explained. ¡°I activated the skill, trusting it would help me out, and ended up right here! Nice place by the way, where are we?¡±


    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    ¡°Hang on, you were in stasis for over a decade, and you got repositioned at the end of it?¡± I asked in utter disbelief. This threatened to take the metaphorical cake, right as Amber was eating the literal cookies.


    ¡°From what you¡¯re telling me... yes?¡± Amber cheekily smiled. ¡°You haven¡¯t done too badly for yourself from the sound of it! Tell me more about how everyone¡¯s doing, I just heard about you.¡±


    My smile wavered as my mind flashed over everyone I knew, and how many people weren¡¯t around.


    Ouch. That was a stark reminder at how populations had collapsed. Orthus was a large, thriving town... a thousandth of the size Sanguino had been. Another part of the announcement led to another question though. I was thousands of years away from needing an answer, and it could all change, but I was ambitious and curious.


    Out of pure curiosity, what other healing related positions are there? I asked.


    Ciriel laughed.


    Oh, plenty! Healers don¡¯t often make the distance. Either a lack of levels over time, or they¡¯re deliberately hunted down if they¡¯re too close to the fights. But I¡¯m not going to ruin the surprise. Good luck~


    Phooey. I crossed my arms. Ciriel would have to see if I was going to share any mangos after that.


    Amber¡¯s arrival caused our timeline to get mildly interrupted. After Arachne¡¯s spying lectures, we moved onto practical lessons, where I worked on refining the information into knowledge.


    I had to admit, I wasn¡¯t the biggest fan of the change in mindset. Gone was the happy-go-lucky view of the world. Gone too was the harsher ¡°fight for survival¡± glasses that tried to pare things down to the basic law of the jungle, the great struggle for survival. The levers of people, the manipulation and paranoia, thinking a dozen moves ahead - it wasn¡¯t a great mindset to be in.


    Part of me wanted to hit the eject button on the entire thing. Just walk away.


    But all of my reasoning for starting this was valid. I¡¯d just need to bury the knowledge and parts of me deep, deep away after, so I didn¡¯t become eternally paranoid.


    Arachne was a gem, as always. Part of me could see the manipulation, but was it really manipulation when she was simply giving me everything I wanted? Gods, the ability to read people and align incentives was stupid.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry too much about becoming a ruthless manipulator.¡± Arachne said one day.


    ¡°Oh?¡± I asked, double checking my ¡®mask¡¯. No, my face was properly arranged, not showing my inner thoughts. I worked a bit to show mild surprise, the proper emotion for the situation. Always training, always learning.


    ¡°Yes. Your wife has the same knowledge and insight, yet you¡¯re unconcerned about manipulation from that direction. Does she seem worried and stressed about knowing the levers people have? Or does she use that knowledge to make friends, defuse disputes, and make sure people are having a good time?¡±


    When she put it like that...


    All too soon it was time to say goodbye to Amber.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got the map, right? You know where Orthus is? I don¡¯t want you getting lost.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve got it memorized.¡± Amber dutifully replied.


    ¡°You stay safe, okay?¡± I pressed another charged moonstone into her hand. ¡°Don¡¯t be greedy. If the deal sounds too good to be true it probably is.¡±


    ¡°Elaine!¡± Amber squawked. ¡°I¡¯ve lived for decades! I know this stuff!¡±


    I stepped back - it was so unfair how everyone was taller than me - and straightened out her tunic, ignoring her protests.


    ¡°I know,¡± I said. ¡°but I worry.¡± I hugged her. ¡°I can¡¯t lose anyone else.¡±


    Amber patted me on the back.


    ¡°I¡¯ll come back. I promise.¡± She said.


    With a jaunty wave and a skip to her step, my friend vanished around the corner once again, the onyx gemstone anchoring her braid like a club.


    ¡°Are you ready?¡± Arachne asked.


    I wasn¡¯t going directly to Edhallond and starting my spying. I wanted to help and to heal, and my original plan of lurking around battlefields remained. Lives would be saved during the active war that was going on, and in a far second I¡¯d gain levels.


    I knew who I was and what my roots were.


    I was Elaine, a healer.

 Chapter 612: Overthrowing the Tyrants V

    The nice thing about working with Arachne again was access to information and knowledge. The world wasn¡¯t quite such an unknown anymore. Vast swathes of the map I¡¯d flown over were no longer labeled ¡®here be dragons¡¯ - except for the parts where there were dragons.


    It was good to know who¡¯d survived. It was sobering how many hadn¡¯t. From nearly 100 Sentinels, only a little more than twenty were known to have survived. Arachne thought around four or five more might still be alive, simply continuing to take cover or not make any waves. She wasn¡¯t all-knowing or all-seeing.


    Most pertinent, she knew where the active front between the elves and the demons was, and had a few predictions when the next battle would be.


    I cast [Greater Invisibility] then stealthily slipped through the air, reveling once again in my ability to fly without being seen at last. No more did I have to use Radiant wings to move around, which burst my invisibility. I could simply will myself to move, and I did. I wasn¡¯t planning on being actively engaged in the fighting, and was still having fun with the ¡®witch¡¯ vibes. Broomstick and flowing robes, let¡¯s go!


    I was a little disturbed at how strongly I¡¯d latched onto the idea, and how much I wanted to lean into it. As I leveled, my companion bond with Auri went up, and the vanity downside became stronger and more pronounced. It wasn¡¯t actively causing a problem, but it felt like I was going to greater extremes. I was more willing to throw myself into a vibe, more willing to completely commit to the bit. There were upsides and downsides to it.


    I wasn¡¯t going to do things by half-measures. I wasn¡¯t going to say ¡®eh, good enough¡¯ on a disguise or dressing up for a ball, but perfection was the enemy of good enough. It¡¯d help me fully commit and sink into the needed mindset for my spying. I just didn¡¯t want to do anything by half measures.


    Fortunately, when it came to time spent, it was barely anything. I was quick enough, and with my new [Manor] skill, it was literally a thought to do a full swap. Just needed to think about it, and I¡¯d instantly change over entirely from ¡®witch¡¯ to ¡®Sentinel¡¯ to whatever else I needed in the moment.


    I saw the battle far before I arrived. Lumbering titans of stone clashed with behemoths of Wood. Fireballs were shot out of the sky by arrows. Domains of Darkness clashed with roiling Mist. Swords blurred as they flashed against swords. Shockwaves were sent out in a never-ending stream, like the worst [Drummer] vibrating a crowd with bass. Radiance spotlights swept the sky, revealing hidden Classers and shattering wide-spread Mirages that were being cast. The battle ranged from the devastated forest floor up to the sky, gravity merely a suggestion to most combatants. There were a few hundred people in total, levels streaming by in blue boxes as I rapidly checked out various notifications. In a bit of a surprise, I wasn¡¯t the lowest level person here, although that might not be true for much longer. I guess... it wasn¡¯t that much of a surprise? I was continuing to level and grow over the years.


    The demons were clearly anchored by their [Demon King], clad entirely in leveled gear, people who¡¯d chosen to turn themselves into an item. The elves scattered when he charged them, choosing not to engage the Classer at all. The arrogant Immortals struck back at range, trying to pick off the followers and the rest of the army. Invisible Classers threw out gouts of Lava, while a camouflaged warrior held a blade of pure Ice, snowflakes scattering in its wake.


    I didn¡¯t have a side here, and it was a relief. I didn¡¯t care who won and who lost, I didn¡¯t need to heal one side preferentially, my soul hurting just a bit on the inside. Bonus, I didn¡¯t particularly like anyone here, so I was more than happy to say ¡°fuck you and your fight.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t an idiot, I knew how it would go. The warriors would move from trying to kill each other to trying to capture and bind each other. It was likely a brisk round of executions would happen later, but I knew my limits. I was one person, here and now, and I¡¯d do everything I could to save lives. One side would probably flee before the fight was over, and everyone who lived to run away and survive another day was a win in my book. I wasn¡¯t perfect, and I could accept that.


    The fight was spread across miles and miles of land and sky, the speed and reach of the Immortals making it ¡®close quarters¡¯ for the majority of them. I leaned down over my broom and zoomed through the battle, my awareness spread all around me. [The World Around Me] let me see a barrage of lethal pebbles heading my way, and I did my best to [Teleport] the ones that would¡¯ve hit me ¡®through¡¯ my body, leaving no trace that I was there. I rolled to avoid a spinning tree that some demon had thrown, and got clipped by a disintegration beam. A chunk was removed from my arm and my healing rapidly restitched it, as it rapidly healed everyone on the battlefield. From the smallest rabbits cowering in their burrow, wondering how the world had ended, all the way up to the [Demon King] himself, Black Crow was briefly stymied.


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1457->1458 +200 Strength, +200 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +2000 Mana, +10000 Mana Regen, +4000 Magic Power, +4000 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    The battle had weight. It wasn¡¯t weight I was directly involved in. I didn¡¯t care too much about the outcome, but it was an important battle for some reason or another that I could barely be bothered to remember between the two forces. One of the first great direct conflicts they¡¯d had.


    I was eyeballing a rapidly-moving battle from close to the center. I couldn¡¯t quite tell if my healing range was encompassing everyone or not. It was a little short of 30km on my active healing, so if anyone was out of range, there wasn¡¯t too much I could do about it.


    One of the Radiance spotlights swept over me, briefly revealing my body to everyone watching. One of the nearby demons snarled and launched himself through the air at me, his greatsword literally flaming.


    I totally had to tell Auri about that when we met up again. She¡¯d love that someone was finally setting their sword on fire.


    I could fight him, but why bother? People hadn¡¯t quite figured out that nobody was dying, just that their opponents suddenly seemed a bit more durable, their bloody injuries no longer freely bled, and I was a bit of an unknown factor. I could probably core the demon with Radiance then scoot off, but why make enemies?


    Why take a life when I didn¡¯t need to?


    Instead, I reupped my invisibility - the Classers working on the anti-Mirage front had other problems - and dropped straight down before performing a hard twist, shooting under the charging demon. He sliced wildly through the air, guessing where I might be, then started to sniff, trying to find a trail.


    It wasn¡¯t a bad idea if I wasn¡¯t using [Greater Invisibility]. Bless the [Runesmith] who¡¯d crafted it, she¡¯d thought of everything. That I knew of.


    I scanned the battlefield to the best of my ability, doing my best to dodge the hail of attacks that just happened to pass through the space I was in. From a flurry of blades to a ghostly image of a ram, from a feral scream that had me briefly flying down before I realized I was disoriented to cursed bandages wrapping themselves around me - and everyone else in a mile radius - simply existing was difficult. I had to semi-reveal my location when a single arrow split into enough shots to let us fight in the shade, and I used my dusk [Mantle] to prevent myself from turning into a pincushion.


    Healing the demons and elves who remained more or less ¡®natural¡¯ was easy. More troubling were the elementals, the rare fighters who had a [Spirit] affinity plus the necessary transformation skill.


    Back in the School we¡¯d laughed and joked about ¡®how did you fight the wind?¡¯ as Morning Breeze threatened to cheese the entire Gladiator Gauntlet. I frowned as the titan of stone was knocked down and his ¡®chest¡¯ split open.


    Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.


    How did I heal a rock? It wasn¡¯t alive... but at the same time, it very much was a living creature there, being pounded by the behemoth of Wood. The cracks weren¡¯t instantly restoring themselves. The downed colossus was rapidly becoming the focus of the fight, demons rushing to save their friend while the elves pounced on the chance to turn the pivot of the fight. Nervous glances were shot at the [Demon King], who wasn¡¯t quite moving in at the moment. I had my suspicions why, but they didn¡¯t really matter.


    I didn¡¯t want to throw my hat in the ring and start firing off [Radiance Beams] in defense of my patient. My goal was levels and lives, and while I didn¡¯t hesitate to kill to defend when needed, I didn¡¯t think it was quite there yet. Plus... why this patient, when I¡¯d just be making more?


    No, here and today, everyone was my patient, and I was happy about it.


    I didn¡¯t have an image for healing a rock, but my skills were about as potent as could be. It wasn¡¯t called [Elvenoid Panacea], I had [Universal Cure].


    I focused and thought about it.


    How did I heal rock?


    I had enough of a grasp on geology and rock formation to know I was in way over my head, and my efficiency was going to take a massive penalty as a result. That was before ¡®you¡¯re stretching your skill in new and unusual ways that isn¡¯t explicitly in the skill or class¡¯s mandate¡¯ penalized me further.


    I laughed in the face of penalties. Between my efficiency and raw stats, I didn¡¯t blink at the cost. No, the trickier part would be having an image that did something. I couldn¡¯t get rocks back together with an image of bones being restored.


    The rocks were grey, and non uniform. Grey rocks, grey rocks... why did I have to love looking at the shiny gemstones so much more than the boring rocks!? Argh! Basalt, granite, scoria, chalk, shale, slate... the list of ¡®grey rocks¡¯ was nearly endless. I cobbled together what I knew of the various types of rocks into a poor image, resolving to hit the books much harder once they existed again. Metamorphic, igneous, sedimentary... each part should go back with its part. The chest should be made whole again. I threw in various organs and how they should get repaired for good measure, but I was deeply, deeply embarrassed at how gods-awful my image was.


    My image was probably worse than most [Apprentice Healers¡¯] from the Remus era. Elegant, refined, and efficient, it was not. But it was an image.


    [Domain of the Healer: 1502]


    [A Drop of Eternity in a Sea of Starlight: 608]


    [Luminary Mind: 1502]


    [Universal Cure: 1502]


    [Clad in Twilight: 580]


    [The Mantle of Dusk and Dawn: 945]


    [Elaine Eternal: 1502]


    [Class 2: [Dawnbringer - Radiance: Lv 1281]]


    [Radiance Mastery: 1281]


    [A Light Shining in the Darkness: 941]


    [Radiance Beams: 1281]


    [Solar Blades: 500]


    [Celestial Dew: 1281]


    [Sunrise Halo: 1281]


    [Essence of Flight: 1281]


    [Featherstorm: 1281]


    [Class 3: [Sage of Eternity - Spatial: Lv 1275]]


    [Spatial Authority: 1275]


    [Scripture Savant: 1275]


    [Teleportation: 1275]


    [Timeless Manor of the Eternally Curious Sage: 1275]


    [Portcullis: 64]


    [Reality, Writ As You Will: 1275]


    [Astral Archives: 1275]


    [Endless Pursuit of Knowledge: 1275]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 680]


    [Everywoman: 625]


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 1502]


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    [The World Around Me: 700]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 1502]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 1502]


    [Persistent Casting: 1502]


    [Tender Gardening; Industrial Farming: 901]

 Chapter 613: Overthrowing the Tyrants VI

    Chapter 613: Overthrowing the Tyrants VI


    I wanted to say Arachne had planned it all out, but she hadn¡¯t. She¡¯d given me the knowledge and the tools needed, then let me plan out my infiltration.


    I had a number of traps in my thinking. My training as a Ranger and a Sentinel, overseeing SERE training, and the general grooves of thinking imparted to me were misleading. My critical analysis of Edhallond had me looking for weaknesses in the walls and structure, places where a team of one to eight people could slip in. Guard tower lines of sight, sewer entrances, weaknesses in the rocks and construction, and diagrams of the runic protections inlaid on the walls.


    That was the wrong way to go about it.


    ¡°You must think about the people involved.¡± Arachne lectured, pointing to a pile of notes. ¡°None of this requires breaking the city like an egg. It¡¯s the wrong mindset. People.¡±


    Blah. I didn¡¯t want to work on analyzing people. Leave that to the social butterflies.


    At the same time, it¡¯s what I needed to do. I picked up the notes, grabbed my Big Book of Social Rules from memory, and started cross-referencing things, looking for patterns and behaviors.


    I started off with the guards, the keys to the city, the bulwark against [Adventurers] running roughshod over everything.


    Reading through the notes Arachne had on the various [Guards], I was both impressed and horrified. She knew which ones had rocky marriages, which ones had a gambling problem. The lazy ones who rose to the top, and the hard-working [Guards] who didn¡¯t get properly noticed. The ones who had lost more during the Immortal War, and those whose families were nearly untouched.


    Dear gods, what did Arachne need me for if she already had all this? I supposed that was part of the point. Intelligence was built on intelligence, and some of the files had last been updated decades ago. There was no telling if the elf with the rocky marriage was still married or not, for example.


    Way, way too many incident reports about [Adventurers] clashing with the [Guards], even in the ¡®current¡¯ era. It made an obnoxious amount of sense to me thanks to their elven curse.


    While I¡¯d learned plenty about blackmail and coercion, I didn¡¯t want to if I didn¡¯t need to. And looking through the records, I found the perfect [Guard] to slip past. Tiris was excellent


    at catching [Smugglers] and anyone trying to dodge taxes, but didn¡¯t stop anyone else, not even for a cursory talk or examination. I should be able to walk right past him.


    Unless he had a skill to peer into pocket dimensions being carried around... but there was no sense in trying to work out every contingency, or play around every skill that might exist. My sanity would be even more frayed if divine blessings came into play. Mormerilhawn had gotten a blessing to ¡®See Cheaters¡¯, for all I knew there was someone walking around with the ability to ¡®Spot Spies¡¯ or something equally ludicrous. Iona¡¯s blessing was another good example. It would reveal everything I could do in a blink, and while most of my skills played into the cover story I had, my stats and [Sentinel¡¯s Superiority] would cause questions. Then there was Auri¡¯s bond, and it just got messier from there.


    No, trying to play chess against opponents who could make up their own pieces on the spot was a fool¡¯s errand. It was best to play assuming that a pawn wouldn¡¯t morph into a hydra with ¡®eat the entire board¡¯, but also worth knowing it existed and to just flat-out run away if it happened.


    While I had to plan it all on my own, Arachne had provided me with the proper ¡®authentic¡¯ supplies. Investigative and knowledge skills were common - I even had a few of my own, arguably, between my senses, [The World Around Me], [Astral Archives], and [Luminary Mind] - and the more ¡®genuine¡¯ I could be, the better.


    I spent an hour circling around a dense thicket in the forest, carefully scanning for anyone, or any signs of a skill. Content that the biggest threat to my presence was a warren of rabbits, I uncloaked on the dirt, picked myself up, and started the 256 mile trek to Edhallond.


    I couldn¡¯t just run there, nooo. Arachne had a sense of humor, and my cover name was ¡°Rabbit¡± in Creation. ¡°Bunny¡± was too much of an overlap from when I was [Legionnaire] Bunny, but Rabbit worked.


    I was already hoping this would be a relatively short infiltration. How long did it take to overthrow a few despots anyway?


    Rabbit didn¡¯t have 780,000 points of speed. Rabbit couldn¡¯t run on strings. Rabbit was a strong [Healer] - there was no sense in trying to hide my tag long term - but Rabbit was about to have a miserable time.


    Rabbit wasn¡¯t an outdoorswoman.


    My trek was slow and stumbling. A branch was across the path, and I ran into it, letting it catch on my clothes and leave leaves in my hair. I splashed through a puddle on the path, nevermind that I had a dozen ways of getting over or around it without leaving a trace of mud on my tunic, and I slept in a cold and miserable pile overnight while dinosaurs made all sorts of growls and noises.


    That had to be the worst part. Just lying there, staring off into the dark, bored out of my gourd just to properly sell the image.


    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    The scariest part was about halfway through the trip. The elven woodlands were green and fertile, exploding with life. Fungal life wasn¡¯t excused, and I froze in terror when I spotted a mushroom ring off in the depths of the forest.


    It can¡¯t hurt me. I repeated to myself. It¡¯s over there, and I¡¯m over here.


    I was protected. One of my never-thought about Biomancy improvements had been to insert a small amount of cold iron into my body. I didn¡¯t want to test


    it, and I was suddenly aware how alone I was. There was no Auri with me, Iona wasn¡¯t holding my hand. If I ended up in the ring, I¡¯d be lost without my friends and family.


    Breathe. In and out. I reminded myself again. One step in front of the next.


    Hesitating, my heart pounding so loudly I could hear it in my ears, I started forward again. I was nowhere close to it. I¡¯d paid for my offenses. There was no reason for them to reach out and fuck me over again. They didn¡¯t reach out of their rings.


    [Scribe] Rabbit didn¡¯t have a history with the fae.


    The issue distracted me until I was nearly at the gates of Edhallond.


    I smiled inside as I spotted Tiris on duty, my timing spot on. He had the classic ¡®farmer pose¡¯ - in a tilted back chair, feet on a stool, hat over his eyes, with a long wheat stalk in his mouth. The only thing giving him away was his guard uniform. People were freely walking in and out of the open gates, and I joined the throng, simply walking right into Edhallond.


    Proper prior planning prevents piss poor performance. Good intelligence and a good plan let me literally walk right in. The auras hit me like a wave. There were at least two... no, make that three potent auras in the city, and a few dozen minor ones. The improved eyesight one was subtle, given my existing modifications. The mud simply fell off my sandals, and every breath of air felt fresh and crisp. I could get used to living like this!


    I was going to add mine to the mix right... now! Ahha! Elaine, destroying the medical economy of Edhallond! Prompt, free medical attention for all!


    As many people as there were going in and out of the gates, Edhalllond felt like a ghost city. It was built like it could host two millions souls, but there were maybe ten thousand in it. The streets wanted to be packed full of people, but there was enough room that I could freely dance and spin my way without worrying about hitting anyone. Alleys that should be crowded with vendors hawking their wares were left to the strays. Several massive buildings had collapsed into rubble. The city hadn¡¯t been entirely spared the ravages of the Immortal War, and I paused for half an hour to watch an elf single-handedly repair a building alone. Each block levitated into place, then the cracks sealed themselves over as the next set of blocks moved into position.


    I knew the math, I knew how heavy all of that was. I wanted to whistle to show how impressed I was - but the place was too quiet for me to do that.


    From there I needed to find the administrative building. I barely got any looks from the passing elves. I was just another non-elf in the city that claimed the inheritance of Remus. One of the more famous claims was the multi-nationalism. Everyone was welcomed in Remus, from the smallest gnomes to the tallest giants, from the short-lived goblins to the Immortal races. It didn¡¯t stop the elves from being the majority, but I wasn¡¯t getting too many strange looks. Most of them I was willing to chalk up to my slightly disheveled appearance.


    ¡°Excuse me deary, are you lost?¡± A matronly elf planted herself squarely in my path as she asked me in High Elvish. ¡°Oh! Where are my manners, you might not speak the language. Excuse me, are you lost?¡± She repeated in a dozen different languages, rapidly shifting between them. She started to fuss over me, picking leaves out of my hair and fixing my torn tunic with a wave of her hands.


    It was like the overbearing mother I never wished for.


    ¡°No, no, I¡¯m fine, thank you.¡± I waved her down in High Elvish, then had a thought. ¡°Unless you know where I can rent an apartment?¡±


    I already had a place in mind, thank you Arachne, but Rabbit shouldn¡¯t know.


    Also, being able to rent an apartment was wild to me. Orthus was doing extremely well, but we were still in the ¡®community comes together to help build the newcomer¡¯s farmstead¡¯ stage, not nearly to the point where we were considering apartment buildings, landlords, and rent! The scale and speed of progress was dizzying.


    And somewhat depressing. No wonder people got into spats... thirty seconds after the Immortal War was over, someone had erected apartment buildings and was going to charge rent to people to live there.


    Forever.


    The war was barely over and a small part of me was wondering when the next one would be. Like, come on. This was ridiculous.


    ¡°Oh yes! Minastan over on Lasse street. Are you sure I can¡¯t help you with anything else? A good meal, perhaps? Hot tea?¡±


    ¡°No no, I¡¯m fine, thank you.¡± I said, trying to politely extract myself from the smothering elf.


    ¡°Well... if you¡¯re sure...¡± She said doubtfully, looking me up and down again. ¡°If you need anything, ask for Fugri, I¡¯ll do what I can for you.¡±


    She left me with a concerned pat on my shoulder, and I continued on.


    I found the administrative building at last. It wasn¡¯t like they put guards on everything. From what I understood, there weren¡¯t a lot of guards in the first place. The army had conscripted most of the fighters for the war against the demons, leaving the city undermanned. Plus, it was still picking itself up after the war.


    I walked right in, already reading the thousands and thousands of documents lying throughout. Even if this failed, even if I didn¡¯t get the job, I¡¯d still done my job.


    Heck, the backup plan was for me to walk to a nearby park every day. The administrative building was on a large road, I¡¯d just be one more face among thousands, able to read everything inside thanks to [Scripture Savant] and [The World Around Me]. In many ways, my job would be easier if I took that route. The major downside would be agency. I couldn¡¯t influence things to nearly the same degree if I simply peeked at the new paperwork once a day, versus potentially changing things around.


    ¡°Hi! I¡¯m looking for Tecindo. I¡¯m hoping there¡¯s a [Scribe] position available?¡± I asked the man at the front desk. He eyed me doubtfully, visibly shrugged, and gave me an answer.


    ¡°Second floor, take a left, first door on the right. Can¡¯t miss it, look for the waterfall. Knock and wait for a response. Please promptly leave if he asks you to.¡±


    I beamed at him, letting the insult wash right over me.


    ¡°Thank you!¡±


    I mentally reviewed my backstory one last time. The [Healer] tag was impossible to hide. Wandering healer, managed to barely survive the Immortal War, looking for a calmer place to live and a change of pace. My third class would be mentioned on the reading aspect and memory. I could sell my speed and dexterity as writing-related skills. It was all planned out!


    I was a little excited for my first foray into spycraft and espionage.


    I hesitated before I knocked on the door. Not out of any concern of the mission, but because it was a gorgeous work of art. Even in a boring bureaucratic building, an [Artisan] had spent countless hours of labor on every door, each one worthy of being preserved in a museum.


    Or a library-museum, as the elves did it.


    It was a mountainous view of a thundering waterfall pouring down into a serene pool. Flowers and trees dotted the side, and I swear I could see the wind rustling the ferns. The details went down to the tiniest grain. I could see little beetles on the roses. I could see the fine mist off the spray.


    I searched for a place where I could knock without fear that I¡¯d break something, finally tapping a finger on a mostly flat surface.


    ¡°Enter.¡± The elf said, putting away his quill.


    I slipped into the room, closing the door behind me.


    ¡°Hi! I¡¯m Rabbit! I know this is out of the blue, but I¡¯m hoping I could get a job as a [Scribe] here. I-¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re hired. Let me show you around.¡±


    What.


    That was way too easy!

 Chapter 614: Interlude - Iona - Overthrowing the Tyrants VII

    Iona had forgotten how convenient it was to fly around on Fenrir''s back. The distance of hundreds of miles was just a short flight away. Now that she was on ground, on foot, it was a far harder journey. Inhuman stats or not, there were trees, mountains, rivers, and a distinct lack of a path.


    The Valkyrie had tried to go back to her roots and simply walk from one place to the next. It was the traditional method, allowing the Knight Errant to visit all the small villages that rarely saw justice or outside assistance, the ones that were all too easy to skip over from the air and neglected by the king''s men.


    That natural assumption had crumbled in the utter lack of roads. There weren¡¯t even rarely-used merchant paths. There wasn¡¯t an ancient trail that nature had mostly reclaimed.


    There was nothing. The [Lifebringers] had thoroughly erased the backbone of civilization when they restored the world, turning over the good with the bad as they brought an explosion of life. Animals had carved out game trails through the thick woods, but there was no promise that the paths went anywhere.


    Iona tried, but it was like bushwhacking through forests that hadn¡¯t seen intelligent life since the dawn of the world. She was a [Warrior] and a [Paladin]. She had solid woodscraft, but she was no [Ranger].


    It took a week of stubbornly grinding forward before the [Paladin] gave into the inevitable, and simply flew over the forest, looking for signs of civilization.


    It was the deep woods. Anyone living there would¡¯ve seamlessly blended in, only being found if they wanted to be found. Anyone cutting down trees for farmland would be seen from the sky.


    Iona flew around, looking for trouble, and trouble found her. A flock of maaradactylus thought the shiny flying object was food, and descended on the knight. Iona let her handleless blades spread out around her - [Shards of the Moon] - then reinforced them with [Glimmering Stars].


    Part of her was briefly tempted to let the sharp-toothed flying dinosaurs gnaw fruitlessly on her armor, but that was brutally crushed and put to the side. She held her blow until most of them were in range, then her blades exploded in motion.


    Mentally controlling every one, Iona went for the exact same precision strikes on each dinosaur. She could¡¯ve just killed them all in a single blow, but the practice against a ¡®real¡¯ target was invaluable. In unison that would make a ballet company weep, her blades swept through the left wing joint of each dinosaur, then the right, before piercing their chest through the heart, then looping back for a decapitation strike.


    Twelve by twelve, they tore through the mostly unleveled flocked like butchering meat. Iona kept a careful leash on herself. It was all too easy to give into the savage impulse to cruelly shred the maaradactyluses, but she knew the more she gave into the bond-given impulses, the harder they¡¯d be to shake off when she did need discipline and control.


    Iona had heard stories from Elaine of when the flying dinosaurs ruled the skies. How they¡¯d descend upon the helpless and devour them. From farmsteads to cities, from poor to rich, every citizen of Remus had flinched when the skies darkened.


    It was arguably even worse now. People didn¡¯t have the experience looking to the skies. Every flock Iona cut down now was one less terror that would multiply and become a generational scourge.


    Her travels continued as the [Valkyrie] wondered where she could do the most good. She¡¯d spent time all around the world, some places more than others. Nina had trained in Nippon-Koku, Exterreri, the Han Empire, and Vollomond. The [Paladin] had to admit she didn¡¯t know nearly enough about Ralakar and the cultural nuances to properly dispense any sort of justice or to protect people.


    Omospondia... now there was a place Iona had rarely been to. The entire place felt like a snake¡¯s den, and she wondered briefly about Iya. The naga had tried to recruit Elaine in a hilariously transparent ploy, and Iona still wanted to facepalm at how it had nearly worked. Her wife was far too gullible and trusting at times, which Iona loved about her. Absolutely infuriated her at times, but the purity of heart and soul was deeply attractive.


    Iona angled herself north, and took off towards the so-called Monster Confederacy. Orcs and ogres, goblins and nagas, arachne and gorgons, Omospondia was one of the better cultural mixing pots of the world. Which was the nice way of saying ¡®the violent misfits nobody wanted as neighbors were all exiled to the same place.¡¯


    It was not a nice place, and Iona constantly felt torn when she thought about it.


    She was sworn to protect the meek and be the shield for those who couldn¡¯t defend themselves. But when the majority of the country was proud about who and what they were, when this year¡¯s [Downtrodden Farmer] was next year¡¯s [Overseer], it felt like nobody truly qualified. They didn¡¯t need her help, they were perfectly capable of overthrowing their own leaders themselves, an all-too-regular occurrence.


    It was hard to justify a group as ¡®meek and defenseless¡¯ when they were busy brewing poisons and sharpening knives. It was a frank wonder the entire place didn¡¯t starve.


    Iona knew that part of her analysis was prejudice, and her understanding was poor. Now was a good time to correct that, and see how far the elven and demonic influence had spread.


    The [Paladin] took her sweet time traveling, visiting people she found along the way, seeing new skills and ideas she could bring back to Orthus. Her blessing let her see all skills, and knowledge of a powerful skill existing could be brought back, told to people who possibly had the right class, and with that knowledge, they could work towards the skill themselves.


    One day, I¡¯ll have to make an effort at this, then ask Elaine to write a book about it. She thought.


    A [Farmer] had a hilarious [Plot Armor] skill that worked double-duty at protecting him and his crops. Auri would love the lady with [Flaming Fashion], both her sense of style and clothes on fire. It wasn¡¯t just elvenoids that could have good skills. A chicken had [Chicken Run], another skill with two effects.


    Iona flew down to the [Farmer], going slowly and at a distance. Her armor was off, but she was confident she could catch his [Kill Shot] if needed. Everyone needed a skill to defend themselves from the wilderness in this day and age. Her weapons were stowed on her back, her glaive point-down. Even being as non-threatening and disarming as possible, the other [Fieldhands] - the older sons and daughters - were gripping their tools a little tighter, ready for an explosion of violence.


    Logistics was hell.


    ¡°Hello!¡± She called out, her blessing automatically translating for her. ¡°I¡¯m Iona, a wandering [Knight]. I¡¯m hoping I could trade a few hours of work for food and a place to sleep tonight.¡±


    Iona couldn¡¯t carry weeks of food and her armor and her weapons and spare clothes and coins and the thousand other things needed on her own. Not without a massive application of [Telekinesis] bringing it all along in a swarm of bags, or Fenrir with his cargo netting.


    Plus, this was the best way to investigate an area. See if there were monsters, of the elvenoid or other kind around. See if there were problems in the area that a [Knight-Errant] could solve. Improve lives, one step at a time.


    The [Farmer]


    eyed her suspiciously, a half-dozen faces suddenly peering out from the farmhouse and barn at her. His wife and children, possibly a few more relatives. Iona smiled disarmingly, and could practically read his mind and thought process.


    High, HIGH level Classer. Armed, weapons. If I say no, she can just slaughter us all and take everything she wants. She¡¯s offering to pay in work. There¡¯s only one choice I can make here. Might as well take advantage of the ¡®offer¡¯, and get away with minimal problems. Best keep the troublemakers away from her, there¡¯s no telling what will set her off.


    The last part was pure speculation on Iona¡¯s part, but what large family didn¡¯t think they had a troublemaker or two?


    Iona hated how her level ended up coercing people even if she didn¡¯t want it to, but that was a fundamental truth of her profession. At level 256 or 1256, an armed and armored [Knight] was a terror. The best she could do was be polite, charming, and as non-threatening as possible.


    ¡°Could use some firewood.¡± The farmer said after a minute of chewing the thought over. ¡°Trees over there are good for it. Try not to fell anything onto the fields, it¡¯ll kill the crop.¡±


    Iona wanted to roll her eyes. She knew enough about farming and lumberjacking not to make such a trivial mistake. And asking for just a bit of firewood? A small, token ask. This was a good time to show Iona¡¯s sincerity.


    ¡°Would you mind if I felled the entire section of trees and turned them all into firewood?¡± She offered.


    The farmer eyed her speculatively, turning and spitting over his shoulder before answering.


    ¡°Well, I reckon if you¡¯re going to go that far, might as well keep some trees whole. We¡¯ll turn them into planks later.¡±


    Iona smiled.


    ¡°Unless you¡¯ve got anything else, I¡¯m going to get off to work now.¡± She said.


    A half-dozen pair of eyes watched Iona slowly - by her measure - walk to the woods. Her dozen blades detached themselves and spread out around her like a deadly metallic flower, and she started to speed up as she hit the woods in question.


    She vanished in a flash, three trees falling before the first wave hit the ground with an earth-shaking thud. That signal marked a bunch of excited yelling from the farmhouse, followed by more yelling when the lady of the house ordered everyone back to work.


    It took Iona 20 minutes to chop down all the trees in a significant-sized field. Another 30 to trim all the branches and turn some of the worst trees into firewood, and 30 more to haul everything to a clear spot next to the barn.


    With a full gaggle of kids dogging her steps with wide-eyes - the parents had clearly given up trying to keep them focused on their chores - Iona went an extra mile, ripping up the tree stumps. She debated making the field entirely ready by ripping out the rocks, but no. The odds of them using the field this year were slim, and it wouldn¡¯t do to hand everything to them. Iona did break up the largest rocks, making next year¡¯s plowing of the new field go from ¡®nearly impossible¡¯ to ¡®difficult but manageable¡¯.


    Years worth of labor done in the span of a few hours.


    Iona went from ¡®suspicious stranger¡¯ to ¡®trusted friend¡¯ in the time it took to cook dinner, and was utterly besieged at the table by the kids.


    ¡°How did you do that?¡±


    ¡°Could I do that?¡±


    ¡°How old are you?¡±


    ¡°Are you going to stay here with us?¡±


    ¡°Why here?¡±


    ¡°Can I see your sword?¡±


    Iona smiled and entertained all the questions with good grace.


    ¡°Skills, maybe one day if you work hard and listen to your parents, older than you think, only for the night, because this was the place I saw, be careful with it, it¡¯s not a toy.¡±


    The conversation flowed smoothly, and Iona had a slim hope of leveling up [Social Lubricant]. Unlikely in such a low-stakes environment, and the [Dragonslayer] was more about the good conversation. During a brief lull, she managed to get in another question of hers.


    ¡°Are there any big predators or monsters in the area giving you problems?¡± She asked.


    If Iona had asked when she landed, she would¡¯ve gotten a polite brush-off, a message that they were fine. If she¡¯d asked earlier, they would¡¯ve told her to not bother and waste her time and effort.


    By now, she was nearly family, and only mentioning her age and flexing her marriage tattoo had stopped the wife¡¯s speculative looks between Iona and one of her older sons.


    ¡°Pack of raptors have gotten almost all the goats.¡± The farmer said. ¡°If you could take care of them, that¡¯d be mighty nice.¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.


    When Iona went to sleep that night, there were no more raptors in the area. She woke up to two bulging bags of food, and it took her twenty minutes to extract herself from the pile of kids before she was on her way again.


    Iona had put on her armor before landing near Sahel, the city. She was less than impressed that the city was named after the rulers. It seemed like too much of an ego trip, but perhaps it was easier on people. At the same time, Omospondia¡¯s reputation led her to believe she¡¯d be stabbed and poisoned before the sun had set. Iona knew the reputation was possibly wrong... but she wasn¡¯t going to enter the city without her plate. And helmet.


    The city had banners flying. The Sahel family banner was flying under the New Remus Empire¡¯s banner, one of the reasons Iona had picked this city to take a look at. Sahel had done well in the aftermath of the Immortal War. Most mortal nations had fared better than the Immortal nations, only being hit by ¡®spillover¡¯ for the most part. It didn¡¯t mean places hadn¡¯t been utterly devastated, simply that it hadn¡¯t been as targeted as the Immortal nations.


    She landed outside the city and worked her way through the thriving shanty town outside the city walls, trying to get a feel for the place. Orcs stuck together in muscled packs around their stalls, flexing their muscles like it¡¯d scare off [Thieves]. Which, Iona noted with some amusement, was working. Fat ogres shouted their wares with a club in their hand, flashing jewelry hanging from their tusks.


    ¡°Goat skewers! Goat skewers! Come get them! Hot, spicy, fresh off the fire! Goat skewers! You, lady, you¡¯ll love them! Come get a bite!¡± One of the [Merchants] aggressively pointed his club at Iona, who shrugged and stepped over.


    ¡°Sure, how much?¡± She asked in a guttural language that had the ogre¡¯s eyebrows flying up and his jaw dropped so much his jewelry almost fell off his tusks.


    ¡°For one who can speak The Tongue? Ha! Absolutely nothing! Friend, take as many as you¡¯d like!¡±


    Iona tried to protest, but the ogre wouldn¡¯t hear any protests. The blonde relented and took one, the spices playing on her tongue.


    Some of the [Guards] stared suspiciously at her winged helmet, and Iona got to watch a young [Thief] be too slow, too low leveled. Justice was swift and brutal. The young goblin boy was brought screaming to the guards, who put his hand on a stump. A swift swing of the sword dispensed a version of justice, and the only help the goblin got were jeers and vicious kicks.


    Iona started to wonder where she was going to draw the line. Nina¡¯s decisions and philosophy had caused her to reexamine her own in depth. New culture, new people, was such an injury on a thief caught red-handed worth intervening? Was it so intolerable versus other justice systems to step in? Did the punishment fit the crime, and was the intervention worth the cost? The [Guards] dispensing the punishment, then violently fighting through layers of protection and attempted subjugation - did the price in blood balance?


    That type of thinking was also dangerous. It was all too easy to turn a blind eye to atrocities on the logic of ¡®this wasn¡¯t worth intervening¡¯. To allow the small problems to continue unchallenged.


    Iona wasn¡¯t going to lose her shit on a single injustice in an unknown culture. She wasn¡¯t going to turn a blind eye either. Her thinking and beliefs were continuously evolving on the topic.


    She envied Elaine¡¯s pure certainty and comfort with her [Oath] these days. Iona had been sure and confident until Nina had challenged it, and most of a century later, still grappled with the question.


    Her current thinking was bricks, bricks loaded onto a camel. Iona wasn¡¯t sure exactly why she¡¯d come up with a camel instead of horses or some other reasonable beast of burden, but there it was. Every problem would be seen. Every problem would be recorded, another brick piled on the beast. Should enough bricks be stacked up, then the camel¡¯s back would break.


    Of course, a large enough brick would break the camel¡¯s back on its own.


    The barbaric justice was a regular sized brick. Camels could carry a good number of them, and it was relatively clean. An item that could be directly laid at the feet of the rulership of the city.


    Iona made it through the outskirts, making it to the line for the city gates. Children could be seen here and there, industriously working with their parents. It didn¡¯t even qualify as a brick. Children the world around had to pitch in and contribute as soon as possible. Elaine¡¯s tales of that not being the case in her world were an aberration.


    As the Valkyrie approached the gates, she was less than amused to see the occasional person skipping the line entirely. At first she thought there was a priority queue for certain personnel. Sanguino, for example, had three different lanes, and Rangers, Sentinels, and other government officials could breeze past the line entirely. One of the perks of working for the Senate.


    That wasn¡¯t the case here. The line skippers simply handed a fat purse to the [Guards], who waved them through without an inspection, directly pocketing the sums instead of in the more secure strongbox. Nobody blinked at the open bribery and corruption. Clearly, it was just part of the way things were done here.


    Open corruption was a few dozen bricks. It significantly harmed the smooth functioning of society, no matter how often people protested it made things ¡®easier¡¯. Government functions were now a matter of wealth, not merit. Corruption was difficult to fully stamp out, and Iona didn¡¯t begrudge rulers who tried but didn¡¯t always make it fully work. Allowing it done so openly, without fear, that it was a natural fact of life? Not alright.


    Nor was it alright for the guards to be openly intimidating one of the [Traders]. A werewolf from Vollomond down south, scrawny dude.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t nearly enough.¡± One of the ogres complained. Her arachne partner - an elvenoid like a spider-human hybrid, much like centaurs were horse-human - scuttled closer, the [Trader] flinching away from the spider legs.


    ¡°Nooo... not enough at all...¡± He hissed, his legs starting to feel up the cart. ¡°Another 64 arcs, at least.¡±


    Iona had seen the size of the ¡®tax¡¯ paid already, more than twice as much as anyone else coming in. The only difference she could see was the race. He wasn¡¯t a ¡®native¡¯ of Omospondia, so they were charging him more. The man was directly in front of her in line, and Iona stepped in to correct this injustice.


    ¡°Excuse me, is there a problem here?¡± She drew herself up. She was a little shorter than most of the guards, but just as wide if not wider.


    She also had more levels than all of them combined, and her smooth helmet ¡®stared¡¯ at each of the guards one at a time. The [Paladin] took great efforts to not be intimidating, because she knew she was fucking scary.


    This time, she was trying to feature in their nightmares.


    One of the orcs started to take offense, fear giving way to anger, but the rest had gone cold at her intimidation. The ogre slapped his hand on the stupid orc¡¯s chest, holding him back, as the arachne scuttled backwards. The ogre weighed his words carefully.


    ¡°No problem here, lady knight.¡± He said. ¡°Was just seeing if sir trader here wanted an armed escort in the city. It seems he¡¯s not interested. Let them through!¡± He tried to press the trader¡¯s bag of coins into Iona¡¯s hands.


    She weighed right and wrong against each other and accepted the coins, promptly returning them to the werewolf as they silently crossed through the gates.


    Iona waved off the thanks and wanted to roll her eyes at the gentle probing if she was willing to be a hired guard for the rest of his trip.


    ¡°Best of luck to you and your wares.¡± She told the werewolf in flawless Thogic, then moved on.


    Iona didn¡¯t have any particular goals in mind. She just wanted to wander around and see the place. Get an idea how it worked. She decided to go from high to low, and wandered over to the noble district, where the mansions were large enough to build a dozen apartments in the same place.


    She wasn¡¯t even allowed to walk the streets. Nervous private guards politely stopped her.


    ¡°Lady knight, could we escort you to your destination, and I assume you brought your invitation?¡± A goblin asked her. Iona didn¡¯t squat down to his level. Raccoon had taught her it was considered rude, and Iona weighed the odds of that transcending national borders and decided to stay still.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have a destination or an invitation. Was hoping to do some sightseeing.¡±


    The awkward looks all around told Iona the full story. People weren¡¯t allowed to just ¡®take a look¡¯ at the homes of the nobility... the private security was simply trying to figure out a polite way of saying it without offending the towering Classer.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take my leave then.¡± Iona made it easy on them, turning on her heel and walking away. She smiled under her helmet as they all breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.


    Iona wandered the streets of Sahel. There was an actual school, and not just a ¡®wealthy children go here¡¯ one. The games and lessons clearly had additional layers and subtext she didn¡¯t understand from her brief observation of the place, but it was a mark in the place¡¯s favor. It wasn¡¯t enough to remove any bricks, but maybe the camel was a little stronger.


    Debts were inherited, and what little Iona could pick up about the practice had the poor camel weighed down more. A way for the nobility to tighten their grip even further? A system so easy to manipulate as to make it impossible to escape, nevermind it was a child¡¯s great-grandmother taking on the debt, everyone from that point guilty?


    No, it was no good.


    Water was plentiful and free, a grand civic service Iona deeply approved of. Massive aqueducts throughout the city, no price on water in the parched environment? Most excellent. The water tasted a little sweet, but every town and every well had its own flavor. There was nothing foul Iona could detect in it, another big concern in cities.


    The Valkyrie couldn¡¯t confirm the rumors that the nobility could get away with literal murder, but it didn¡¯t surprise her. In places where it existed, the nobility usually enjoyed a number of legal privileges. Iona knew her perspective was somewhat tainted from growing up in Rolland, where such privileges were ingrained into the cultural psyche.


    A few more bricks, possibly a large number of them depending on how it was used. There was a difference between a noble being theoretically able to get away with murder, and actually getting away with murder. A member of the aristocracy who blatantly killed without the long arm of the law getting involved was likely to incite unrest, and the nobility would self correct before an armed uprising did it for them.


    There were almost no violent fights, and most arguments were at a reasonable tone. Iona heard and saw more arguments in Orthus on an average day, nevermind it was a fraction of the population of Sahel!


    One of Elaine¡¯s innocent comments had Iona looking for beggars in the streets. There were none, high to low, which either spoke to immense social programs that the [Paladin] hadn¡¯t seen executed in a mortal land ever, or the city had a way to ¡®handle the undesirables¡¯, a much more common solution. A few more bricks added at a minimum, with potentially dozens more.


    The place wasn¡¯t great, but it was clear the Sahels knew not to shit where they ate. That a happy, productive population was far better long term than squeezing the place dry in a decade with massive taxes. Iona wouldn¡¯t choose it as a place to live, and the camel was straining under the weight of all the bricks, but it wasn¡¯t a complete disaster.


    The slave markets had Iona frowning in distaste. There were vast degrees of slavery - only High Elvish had proper nuance in the language to distinguish between twenty two different types - and this was looking more like Urwa¡¯s ¡®people are property¡¯ versus the more benign indentured servitude of Suen.


    It was impossible to judge a place in a single day, entirely under the sun¡¯s watchful eye. Nighttime was when more foul deeds came out. There was a far higher rate of [Mages], [Warriors], and [Rangers] than a typical population. Even among [Farmers], most of whom needed to be wary of the wilderness and the dangers lurking within, Iona hadn¡¯t seen quite such a high rate of combat-related skills. Which looped back to ¡®who¡¯s truly meek here?¡¯


    She came to an abrupt halt as she read one particularly well-leveled [Mage¡¯s] skillset. Iona stopped so suddenly the orc walking behind her crashed into her armor. Steel walls had more give than Iona did, and he bounced off her, cursing and swearing. Iona barely noticed, she was too busy reading the skills. One in particular jumped out at her, with the rest being support.


    [Aqueduct Engineer: Population Management - Poison (382)]


    The Great Calming Brew:


    Perfect for maintaining social order and emotional stability in a turbulent society. The solution to mass unrest and violence, the Great Calming Brew calms the recipient down, makes them happy and disinclined towards violence. Why fight when happy? Why stir oneself to action when content and indifferent? The citizens will be placid and docile! The Brew acts immediately, and has long term effects. Overdoses can be fatal. An excess of violence is possible during withdrawal.


    Iona thought she should be enraged, but couldn¡¯t muster up the anger.


    She¡¯d been drugged!? Poisoned!? The Sahels were poisoning everyone to keep them compliant!?


    The Valkyrie remembered the dozens of moonstones Elaine had snuck into her bag and slipped it out, ignoring the dissatisfied complaints around her as she continued to block the road. She used the [Universal Cure] skill, and rage came roaring in as swiftly as the drug was purged.


    The Sahels were drugging everyone. Fuck the bricks, the camel was dead under their weight. Was that why she¡¯d been so passive about observing it all!? Why would she let a fucking slave market go by unchallenged!? With people being sold like that!?


    Blades sprung up and around Iona. People were calmed, they weren¡¯t idiots, and they ran screaming. Iona angled herself towards the palace and started to march, her hands clenched in rage around her glaive.


    There was a limit to her patience, and she¡¯d hit it. Many things required a second and third look.


    Drugging an entire city regularly? No, Iona was not willing to accept that. Her blades flashed through the air and executed the [Poisoner]. It wasn¡¯t flashy, there was no head flying through the air or spine being ripped out of his back. But a body with a hole through it had a lot of blood, and it freely poured onto the streets.


    She was going to sink her blade into whatever Sahel¡¯s head needed it.


    People cleared out of Iona¡¯s way. Patrolling guards took one look at the vibrating blades surrounding her, took a second and third look at her level, and patrolled in a different direction.


    Iona didn¡¯t jog. Didn¡¯t run, sprint, or fly. She stomped towards the palace, her displeasure radiating out from her, turning the event into a spectacle.


    The [Palace Guards] tried to stop her.


    ¡°Halt!¡± They ordered, pointing halberds at her. Iona nearly ignored them. One of her blades swept through the hafts with barely any resistance, and Iona didn¡¯t bother fighting them. The [Palace Guards] were brave, and even weaponless tried to tackle and dogpile Iona. She simply stomped through them, not letting them slow her down at all. A dozen bones got broken as they got in the way of an unstoppable force, but Iona didn¡¯t care about them at all. They weren¡¯t the problem, and she wasn¡¯t going to start murdering them for doing a reasonable job.


    Drugging the city? That was a death sentence.


    Guarding the palace? It was fine.


    The doors were reinforced with magic and skills, with engineering and cunning. Iona grabbed the handles and yanked the doors open, ripping the gates off their hinges. She looked around for a place to drop them without hurting anyone as the [Guards] continued to try and slow her down, crawling over her armor.


    Iona shook herself like a dog and sent them flying. One of them hit the walls at a bad angle.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve slain a [Palace Guard]!]


    The Valkyrie didn¡¯t let the death bother her. The [Guard] knew what she was getting into and risking, and Iona had tried to be gentle. An accident of physics in the heat of combat wasn¡¯t going to weigh on her mind, and the level and element didn¡¯t matter on a death notification.


    Iona rammed the gates upright into the brick pathway, and single-handedly stormed the palace.


    The first rock snapped her head back before Iona heard the crack of it firing, and she responded with extreme prejudice. [Mages] and [Warriors] boiled out of the hallways as servants fled. There were no calls to surrender or die - anyone violently invading the palace was marked for death.


    Iona had brute forced her way past the guards at the door. She¡¯d had the luxury of space and not too many opponents. She¡¯d scanned them, seen that she didn¡¯t have to resort to excessive violence, and walked past them.


    She couldn¡¯t do the same here. They packed the hallway, and there was no getting through them without casualties.


    It was short and bloody. Iona emerged from the mass of bodies with her armor painted red, blood seeping into her oversized backpack. It was the price she knew she¡¯d have to make others pay, the reason why a single minor poor policy wasn¡¯t enough for Iona to try and strike down the leadership of the city.


    The rest of the defenders broke and ran. Iona marched into the throne room, brushing past barriers, defenses, and a poisoned dart fired from behind. Iya Sahel was lounging on the throne, coiled upon her snake lower half. She was still stunningly attractive.


    Iona was more concerned with the one other person in the room. An elf, leaning on one of the pillars, watching the whole thing with a bored look on his face. A quick look over his skills revealed him to be a non-combatant, and with lower physical stats than Iona. Given the banner flying over the city, still something of a threat.


    Iya theatrically gasped.


    ¡°Iona? Is that you? It¡¯s been ages darling, we must have a chat. Whatever you want, you can have.¡±


    Iona didn¡¯t bother responding. Didn¡¯t bother with fancy one-liners, or explaining where Iya went wrong or how to sate her rage. A blade through Iya¡¯s head, and the [Tyrant] was dead. The elf started to slowly clap, and Iona recalled her blade with a thought.


    ¡°Very nice! Very well done!¡± He said in High Elvish, not bothering to use the more common tongue of the place. ¡°I¡¯d like to be the first to congratulate you on your ascension to ruling Sahel. Or, should it be called Iona now? Decisions, decisions.¡± He said with a smile. Iona turned on him, ready to fight. He held his hands up, a mocking smile never leaving his face.


    ¡°Ah ah ah... kill me and the New Remus Empire comes here. Maybe you care about the place, maybe you don¡¯t, but they¡¯ll find every last trace of you before burning the place to the ground. Then they¡¯ll hunt you down. Leave me untouched? All they care about is that the taxes are paid and there is a proper... responsible party, shall we say. Congratulations! You are now the ruler of the city. Long may you reign.¡± The last part was said with sarcasm, and Iona wanted to dodge the blood-soaked tiara flying through the air towards her.


    Fuck. Iona thought with feeling.


    The Valkyrie knew the rules the New Remus Empire operated under. Knew if she left they¡¯d shrug, murder one out of eight people in the city, and move on.


    Iona could kill one observer, one diplomat. She could probably kill the first party of elves that came scouting to see what happened. She walked through the room as the first bold servants started to peek their head in. Iona kicked Iya¡¯s cooling corpse away from the throne, and slapped the ornate chair a few times. An absurd number of traps triggered, designed to kill anyone who dared sit on the throne - or even went too close to it, in some cases. She sat down heavily and considered her options.


    It was all about people. Who could do what, the social lubricant. Iona never wanted to lead, but was now forced into the position with thousands, if not tens of thousands of lives hanging in the balance. She¡¯d have to wage her war against the New Remus Empire from here... and figure out a way to get a slightly less murderous and drug-happy ruler on the throne.


    First things first. Experience. Advice, from people she could trust.


    ¡°I need the best long-distance [Runner].¡± Iona pronounced to the crowd. ¡°A desk, a pen, and a sheet of paper.¡±


    Iona¡¯s letter was winging off to Skye ten minutes later... after half a dozen power brokers had laid their eyes on it, trying to divine the new shape Sahel would take.

 Chapter 615: Interlude - Nina - Overthrowing the Tyrants IX

    Nina was doing paperwork again, trying to determine if she could knock off a few fauns to improve lives. The calculations were extra tricky. If she messed up, and the turmoil caused by her actions made Bywater miss their tax payments, one eighth of their lives would be forfeit. Nobody would be able to point to Nina and blame her, but she¡¯d blame herself. She knew she¡¯d be responsible. That her actions had foreseeable consequences, and that she was the architect of them coming to pass.


    For once, the [Governor] of the place wasn¡¯t to blame. She was competent and well-meaning. The issue was her [Vizier]. The role had a reputation for ruthlessness and scheming, and the man in the position was a fine example. There was no question he had to be replaced, but Nina suspected she was finding the same problem the [Governor] had run into.


    There just wasn¡¯t anyone a fraction as competent.


    Competent and somewhat corrupt, versus massively incompetent? Nina hated the conclusion she was coming to.


    ¡°You are making a mistake.¡± A voice spoke from behind her.


    Nina whirled as she stood up, fanning her tails behind her. One part to distract and disorient, one part to maybe buffet whoever it was. Her small mallium bracelet shifted down her arm, morphing into a short baton. Perfect for close quarters.


    Her heart practically dropped out of her chest when she saw who was sitting in her room.


    Night.


    THE first vampire. The progenitor. Assassin without peer. Elaine¡¯s one-time mentor.


    The man she¡¯d been cajoled into ¡®mugging¡¯ when she was a kid, who¡¯d offered up her own life in amusement as her spoils. Oh fuck.


    What was he doing here!?


    Nina strangled her panic and forced herself to calm down. If Night wanted her dead, she¡¯d be dead, probably not knowing what had happened. He wasn¡¯t the type to gloat. If he wanted to talk, he¡¯d get a talk.


    ¡°Sentinel Night.¡± Nina bowed formally as she¡¯d been taught in Nippon-Koku, deciding the Exterreri salute was a bad idea. ¡°I am at your disposal. What can I do for you?¡± She retracted her baton, letting the mallium flow up her arm and turn into an arm-band around her bicep. Night was entirely in control of the situation here. The idea of using illusions briefly flitted across her mind, but Night hadn¡¯t gotten as far as he did to be fooled by a low-level kitsune. If anything, he¡¯d be insulted.


    ¡°Walk with me.¡± Night invited Nina with a gesture. The assassin glanced at her desk, only to find all of her paperwork vanishing into the cracks in the floor she used to hide them. Grabbing a cape on the way out, Nina followed Night into the darkness. The ancient vampire clasped his hands behind his back.


    ¡°I said previously that you were making a mistake. Do you know what it is?¡± He asked. Nina¡¯s eyes darted around the town. The hour was late, but lights were still on, people roaming the street. Night waved his hand dismissively.


    ¡°I have layered us with protections and privacy. Nobody in Bywater is capable of listening into our conversation.¡± Unspoken was that Night¡¯s question was still hanging. Nina thought about it.


    What mistake was she making? She was sworn to strike at the root of the problem, she believed she¡¯d correctly identified the problem in Bywater. She¡¯d done her due diligence to figure out if she was making the problem worse or not. It was her usual method of operation, and being asked to reexamine it, she wasn¡¯t finding a problem.


    There obviously was one, otherwise Night wouldn¡¯t be talking with her, but she was forced to admit defeat.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Nina admitted after a few minutes of thinking about the problem, slowly walking with Night the whole time. ¡°I believe there¡¯s a flaw in my methodology, since you¡¯re pointing it out, I just can¡¯t find out what it is.¡±


    Night smiled a brilliantly toothy grin.


    ¡°Admitting when you do not know the answer is always proud progress, no matter your age or experience.¡± He praised.


    Nina couldn¡¯t help but bark a laugh.


    ¡°You must not have heard. I¡¯m cursed. I cannot tell a lie.¡± She winked at Night, who snorted in amusement.


    ¡°Yet, you clearly do not have to tell the whole truth. Congratulations on obtaining Immortality. A gift from Elaine, I presume? I have a number of books about the fae which you should find fascinating reading. Deception without a word of untruth, a fascinating field of study. Far more practical for you than for others. I do not wish to waste both our time, for we are busy people, with a large amount of work ahead of us. Your mistake is one of impatience and impartiality. You are simply looking at who is currently here, now, and available to fill the role you are considering making vacant. You are wise to not directly tie yourself to a position which will deny you the opportunity to fulfill your calling, but you also leave no allies behind. No support. No favors to call in at a later date, no brave men and women to rally to you should you require help.¡±


    Night paused, his hands still behind his back, as Nina thought over the answer Night was giving her. In spite of his claim to not waste anyone¡¯s time, he hadn¡¯t directly delivered the answer.


    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Maybe he had? Nina thought it over.


    Leaving behind allies and support would mean extensive contact with people. Contact with people who¡¯d look favorably at her later on. Her mistake was impatience and impartiality.


    Nina was going to start with the assumption that her target selection method was good, and her philosophy was mostly sound. What problem was she running into, and how could fixing her ¡®mistake¡¯ solve the problem?


    Her biggest issue right now was the lack of a suitable replacement for the cunning [Vizier]. Anyone taking up the role would be less competent than the man currently holding the role.


    Nina didn¡¯t consider herself impatient. She didn¡¯t think she was rushing things, not with the months of careful analysis before each assassination. The world¡¯s greatest assassin clearly thought differently. Months of work were considered impatient. What would be sufficiently patient? Years?


    What could Nina do with years instead of months? If she was impartial? Hope that someone became competent enough to take up the job?


    Nina¡¯s eyes widened in realization.


    No, hope was for fools and people who wanted others to fix their problems for them. Nina¡¯s circumstances made it abundantly clear that if she wanted something to change, she¡¯d have to do it herself.


    Why hope for someone to show up, when she could make


    a suitable replacement?


    ¡°You want me to train a replacement for the [Vizier].¡± She said half-wondering, half-accusingly.


    Night smiled again, nodding in acknowledgement of her solving the puzzle.


    ¡°Not simply the [Vizier], although that is an excellent start. A good place to learn the trade, and to train a single person up. True mastery is obtained when you are able to entirely replace the important levers of government, from the leader down to the [Scribes]. Such total replacement is virtually impossible and insanely time-consuming, but it can be done.¡±


    Nina thought about the mind-boggling amount of time, energy, and effort needed to train a single person for a single job... then multiplied that by dozens. Managing egos and curriculums, doing it all in secrecy to prevent unwanted eyes revealing the conspiracy... Night hadn¡¯t been kidding when he thought Nina was being impatient.


    And what a footprint it would leave behind! Unless Nina was the cruellest of taskmasters, the newly installed government would be grateful to her. Gratitude faded, but methods of thinking rarely did, and to fade entirely among a large group of people she¡¯d taught?


    Nina¡¯s philosophy was opposed in many ways to Iona¡¯s and she still looked up to the older Valkyrie, even over a century later. She swallowed around a lump in her throat, the implications crashing down around her ears as more and more aspects came to her.


    Night grinned.


    ¡°I am particularly fond of starting with [Farmers].¡±


    Nina wasn¡¯t the biggest fan of spending a year and a half learning how to [Teach] from Night. She wasn¡¯t sure if she was supposed to be proud or not when Night declared her understanding of politics, economics, ethics, and a dozen other fields to be ¡®passable at this stage, considering your significant youth.¡¯ Entering the ranks of the Immortals had significantly raised the bar.


    She¡¯d also finally become brave enough to ask the question that had been bothering her.


    ¡°Why me?¡± She asked. ¡°I know you¡¯re high level and strong. You could fix a thousand problems in the time you¡¯re taking to train me. I know this war¡¯s important to you. Why me?¡±


    Night chuckled as they were on one of their long walks.


    ¡°I am assisting with a great many people at this time, not just you.¡± He said. ¡°I do not spend my time reading a book with my feet on the table in the hours we do not spend together. As for why I selected you? A large portion is luck. I am already passingly familiar with you. We share skillsets and professions. You are attempting to do work I believe needs to be done. Congratulations, private tutoring from the eldest vampire. Overthrowing the New Remus Empire is within my interests and my goals. I am moving directly against them, but you are one of my indirect moves against them. You wish to see them fall. I am giving you the tools to do so, with the sincere belief that later on they are unlikely to be turned against me.¡±


    Nina bit down on the part of her that wanted to mouth off to Night. To explain that if she ever believed he was the root of the problem, she¡¯d happily turn against him.


    It wouldn¡¯t make her happy, she¡¯d be devastated if she came to that conclusion - she¡¯d die in the attempt, making no true impact, she wasn¡¯t delusional - but she¡¯d try.


    ¡°There is a reason I do not directly grab the reins of power myself.¡± Night looked endlessly amused. Nina practically jumped out of her skin.


    ¡°But - how!?¡± She sputtered. ¡°Mind reading¡¯s impossible!¡±


    ¡°Is it?¡± Night asked with a voice of innocent curiosity, his eyes sparkling with mischief.


    It had taken Nina some time to work out a proper persona.


    Anubah was an old, old dog beastkin out of the ruins of Ankhelt. She was wise, had a staff, and booked no nonsense.


    It was another layer of protection for her operations. A person who existed with a thought, and vanished with one.


    Night had helped her study the nearby villages. The town was a poor recruiting choice - too many eyes on the individuals. Farms were excellent. Once a day¡¯s chores were done, there was time for children to learn and play, and it was trivial to put her paw on the scales and have the family turn a blind eye to her activities.


    If the [Crazy Old Hermit] in the woods wanted to teach their child and paid for the privilege? It was an excellent bargain, the flow of goods and money usually flowing in the other direction. Anubah would never be accepted by the community, but that wasn¡¯t her goal. Her goal was education.


    ¡°It is impossible to test for intelligence in any reasonable manner.¡± Night had explained to her. ¡°Instead, look for curiosity. The spark of interest, the mind that wonders at the world. I am currently of the philosophy that it is the most crucial trait. It is difficult to find one without prejudices in small places. Ethics, interpersonal relationships, and the rest can be taught. Can be trained. I will fully admit, it is far easier when integrity comes naturally to a person than when it is a lesson that needs to be beaten in, but it is not the trait to look for. If nothing else, properly taught enlightened self-interest is enough to correct people that you desire to have a strong sense of nobility.¡±


    Nina absolutely heard the unspoken part. How ethics were, in some cases, optional, and if she wanted to sharpen ruthless assassins for particular tasks, it was better if they had no such qualms.


    It wasn¡¯t the sort of path she wanted to tread.


    Nina arranged herself well, and sent out a butterfly with sparkling streamers behind it out to the edge of the field, where a promising young man was working hard. She manipulated the illusion, fluttering in a way sure to attract attention.


    It was a bit of a shame she wasn¡¯t looking to recruit a [Lord] or [King] or anything like that. She had plans, mostly revolving around swords in the stone. It was a pretty neat setup when she¡¯d encountered one with the rest of the Eventide Eclipse. Maybe mix it up a bit, stick it in a tree or something.


    Education was only half the battle here. The other half was going to be connections.


    The [King] was the person everyone acknowledged as the [King]. A [Vizier] without significant connections beforehand wasn¡¯t going to be successful. Already, she¡¯d done favors for half a dozen [Guildmasters] under the simple promise that they¡¯d ¡®meet someone for her¡¯. Her network of contacts in Bywater were growing in pursuit of her quest.


    His curiosity was piqued, but he looked around at the work that still needed to be done, and kept going. Nina was patient. He kept glancing up at the butterfly, and right when his work was done, she had the butterfly take off into the woods.


    The young man followed, and Nina just barely kept a grin off her face.

 Chapter 616: Interlude - Fenrir - Overthrowing the Tyrants IX; Investigative Files II

    It was a dark and stormy night.


    Lightning flashed by the window, illuminating Detective Fenrir, Private Weyevern, in his cramped office. Pictures of old glories lined the walls. Yellowed newspapers with dates of his most famous deeds were framed next to them, not a single word of his exploits written in the pages. The infamous detective was reclined on his plush chair, hat pulled low over his eyes and swirling a glass of whiskey as hard as his heart.


    A melancholic look out the window stared at the deluge of rain coming down, trying in vain to wash away the sins of the city. A grime that was impossible to remove.


    He considered the stout bottle that had started the evening sealed. Responsible drinkers took a month to polish off the whiskey... Fenrir was trying to decide if he should take the last shot now, or later. A crunch of his jaws, and the whiskey burned twice as much as the shards of broken glass. Just like the cruel hands fate dealt out when the fickle mistress was in a mood.


    A scream came from outside Fenrir¡¯s door in an octave usually reserved for breaking glass. Annoying, but it meant Fenrir had a case. A case meant the sweet, sweet sound of arcs clinking down onto his wing, and that was music to his ear anyday. Arcs paid the bills. Specifically, Bill, the bartender that kept Fenrir afloat, and Bill, the debt collector.


    So when a fiery redhead opened the door, Fenrir¡¯s heart did a few flips, his mind transported back to a better time. A time when his old flame was at the Private Weyevern¡¯s side, when they did everything together. That lady was the one for Fenrir, and he glanced at her picture on the wall. Standing next to her was like holding his wing to an inferno, and the picture wasn¡¯t even a match.


    The dame sounded like a case herself, but Fenrir couldn¡¯t be picky about his clients. It was the same as nearly every other case that walked in through his door. Her spouse was a low life, cheating on her, and the dame wanted evidence of it. It wasn¡¯t glamorous, but the sweet melody of arcs clinking together were more than enough for the Private Weyevern to get off his seat and hit the sinful streets.


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    The only surprise to the case was the dame wanted evidence of the infidelity. Finding a faithful man in the city was harder than finding an honest politician. Kept him well lubricated though, so maybe Fenrir wasn¡¯t in any position to throw too many iceballs. He had an address and a picture, and it wasn¡¯t too hard to find the horned playboy.


    The woman he was with was radiant, and Fenrir dutifully followed them around. No seedy motel for them, no. Glitz and glamour was the order of the day, the shining gold and sparkling crystals utterly failing to hide the corruption running deep inside. High stakes games of poker were played with the elite, and Fenrir narrowed his eyes as a cold case of his suddenly became hot again.


    He¡¯d been sent here on a long case, and it looked like it was finally time for his big break. The radiant woman the scoundrel was cheating with was one of the 512.


    Detective Fenrir was nothing if not professional, and he continued on the case he was on. Once the game was over, and more arcs than he¡¯d see in three years were passed around like a brothel¡¯s most popular pick, the horned scoundrel and his lady left the table.


    It wasn''t hard to track the lovebirds to their nest. Fenrir got several unfortunate eyefulls of flailing limbs doing their best to tie themselves in a knot as he watched from a nearby rooftop. The Private Weyevern made a number of detailed, accurate sculptures out of Ice, a frozen moment of fiery passion. His biggest challenge was stopping the never-ending deluge from freezing to the delicate details and morphing it into a shapeless blob. The case had been easy... too easy.


    ¡°Well well well, looks like there¡¯s a peepin¡¯ Tom up hereabouts.¡± One elf spat, smacking his truncheon into the palm of his hand. ¡°We don¡¯t like peepin¡¯ Toms around these parts.¡±


    The second elf spat.


    ¡°Not at all, not at all.¡± He agreed, raising his truncheon over his head.


    Fenrir¡¯s first move was to preserve the statues, the immutable evidence of the dirty deeds. That did him in. He was unable to outrun the thuggish goons. The pair of orthopedics in training got a solid workout on his frame, and when they were done, a full marching band was playing for the Queen through Fenrir¡¯s skull. The acoustics were incredible, and Fenrir had an all-pain pass.


    He took his trophies home, and the dame was a fix of furious and ecstatic at his prompt work. Fenrir hadn¡¯t mentioned he¡¯d made a second set, and it was the work of the night to track down the jilted husband. Another one of the city¡¯s elite.


    His scream of rage at discovering his wife¡¯s infidelity was sweet to Fenrir¡¯s ears, but nothing quite as nice as the steady clinking of arcs and whiskey bottles as his cold case was closed.

 Chapter 617: Overthrowing the Tyrants X

    I woke up in a cold bed, in a small room.


    Ugh.


    Another day I had to go to work. It was less than halfway through the week. Two days down, four to go before the weekend, where I¡¯d get two blessed days off.


    I thought I was mentally tough. I thought I was ready for all challenges. I¡¯d worked my ass off for years on a farm, just to survive! But farming for survival, on my own land with my own family, was a far cry from the sheer drudgery that was working as a [Scribe]. Well... the work was fine, it was having a boss and a schedule and being on time and...


    I was glad I had my [Oath]. My idle musings on murdering all my coworkers and getting out of here would remain just that - idle. The way the smallest amount of power went to some people¡¯s head, my god...


    And the meetings. Ah fuck, we had a bunch of meetings today, didn¡¯t we? Salab loved the sound of his own voice, and I couldn¡¯t dodge Olthor there. Fuck Olthor, he was the worst. All that, and I couldn¡¯t tell them to piss off to their face, nooooo, Rabbit was a meek little [Scribe].


    I was rearranging my big list of jobs I wanted to try out at some point. Anything that had a vague whiff of ¡®company politics¡¯ was going right out the window. Unless Iona or someone was the boss, that¡¯d be fine.


    Speaking of Iona... I missed her. Deeply. Her absence was like a toothache that couldn¡¯t be treated, a gaping hole that devoured and wouldn¡¯t be filled. I¡¯d taken to writing some poetry, mostly angsty ¡®I miss and love you¡¯ stuff. I was going to practically bury Iona under it. Fenrir and Auri would be harder... the first due to how much I¡¯d need to write, and Auri would just burn right through it all. Like trying to drown a fish.


    It all perfectly fit in my cover to boot! I had clear marriage tattoos, and hiding them was a non-starter for me. I was vague about what happened, and however terrible my coworkers were, they had enough grace to not pry.


    All of us had survived the cataclysm. All of us had scars. All of us had lost most of the people we knew. There was a rough 8 year window around the time the world blew up that was off-limits, by unspoken truce. Even Thurinthel, the insatiable [Gossip] - it was literally her class - wouldn¡¯t bring up anything from that time period. Everything before or after was fair game - everything - but she wasn¡¯t touching the cataclysm.


    Speaking of Auri, I woke up to level notifications!


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [The Elaine] has leveled up to level 1513 -> 1514! +200 Strength, +200 Dexterity, +800 Speed, +800 Vitality, +2000 Mana, +10000 Mana Regen, +4000 Magic Power, +4000 Magic Control from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid)! +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regen from your Element per level!]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Dawnbringer] leveled up! 1472 -> 1473. +256 Strength, +256 Dexterity, +256 Speed, +256 Vitality, +4096 Magic Power, +4096 Magic Control, +4096 Mana, +4096 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Strength from your Element per level!]


    [*ding!* Congratulations! [Sage of Eternity] leveled up! 1449 -> 1450. +2048 Magic Power, +2048 Magic Control, +1024 Mana, +1024 Mana Regeneration from your Class per level! +1 Strength, +1 Dexterity, +1 Speed, +1 Vitality, +1 Mana, +1 Mana Regeneration, +1 Magic Power, +1 Magic Control for being Chimera (Elvenoid) per level! +1 Mana, +1 Magic Power from your Element per level!]


    Auri was busy! I was a little worried about her, and I doubted I¡¯d ever not worry. She was my companion, my best friend. How could I not worry about her? Every notification was a signal, a message, that she was busy and productive. I loved it when reports trickled in a few days later, a version of her exploits shared. They had no idea it was a phoenix, and those were only for the reports we got! I was simply left to wonder when I got levels from her, and no reports ever arrived. We had a lot to catch up on one day.


    I was tempted to just [Teleport] around and instantly do my entire morning routine, but no. That¡¯d be revealing I was far more powerful than I was letting on. Powerful enough to make people uncomfortable. My first class and element was too obvious. Couldn¡¯t hide my Celestial eyes forever, and the levels involved made hiding my level and class impossible. It¡¯d just attract attention.


    My Radiance class I¡¯d passed off as being a dead end, only occasionally using a spark of Radiance here and there to light things on fire. Which meant no flying, which suuuuuucked even more.


    And my last class was a [Reading] class, with document storage, reading, perfect memory, and a tiny, tiny


    [Teleportation] skill. Like, ¡°I can move a piece of paper around in the same room¡± strong, not ¡°teleport trees across miles¡±. To be fair, I didn¡¯t think I could move an entire tree in a single go several miles... but each part was true.


    The things I did for the sake of my cover... the fact that I could quit anytime and just go back to normal was the only thing that made it bearable.


    Enough griping!


    I got out of bed, and only long training and discipline had me making it again. It was such a pain... it was easier to leave it open and just drop right back into it again when the day was over, but I also knew slacking on it would have me slack on other things, and if I let my occasionally-stupid brain take over like that, I¡¯d end up a complete hermit.


    I changed into pants and a shirt, which was all sorts of weird at first. They didn¡¯t do tunics here, and when in Edhallond, do as the elves. [Scribe] Rabbit would want to fit in, and I had to admit, after the initial weirdness, I settled in nicely. Naturally, with a bit of a taste for the nicer clothes, but everyone was allowed hobbies and vices. After settling in, I realized a fundamental truth about elven clothing:


    My ass looked great in them.


    I had a mirror in my room, which led to all sorts of entertaining thoughts. A glance out the window suggested a clear and sunny day, although being deep in the archives, I wouldn¡¯t get to enjoy any of it. I swear Fenrir had to be flying around, unseasonal thunderstorms kept rolling in at random times. I still had no fucking idea how the wyvern did it, and even Iona, despite being able to see his skills, didn¡¯t see anything that explained it.


    I left my small room, leading to the second room of the apartment. A small kitchen-living room combo, leading to the last room, a small bathroom. Nevermind that almost the entire apartment building was empty and abandoned, nevermind that numerous much larger, much more luxurious suites were available. The prick of a [Landlord] wanted to rent them out for the price he¡¯d eventually get once the city filled up in a couple of generations, and was perfectly happy getting no money now. The contracts tended to be long, given the Immortals involved, and he didn¡¯t want anyone nabbing a fancy room now for a low price, then just staying there for the next six centuries.


    Prick.


    I could see the appeal of wanting to get in early and become massively wealthy, but I believed there was a big difference between Orthus wanting to keep the land for itself as a community/government entity, and a private individual doing the same. At least the commute was super easy, just a short walk down the block. Part of me wondered about the ethics of slipping various slumlord¡¯s names to Nina. I rarely took responsibility for the actions of others... but it was feeling a little too murderous for my tastes. Perhaps a broader conversation on [Landlords] in general... then again, that tended to be the nobility in most parts of the world, and... I spun the rest of the thought off into [Luminary Mind].


    I got to the kitchen, and studied the runes on the cupboards again, trying to see if I¡¯d missed any trick to them. They were nice. My milk and cream were just right there, practically out in the open, and not decaying a hair. A wrapped piece of raw fish didn¡¯t smell at all, and it¡¯d been left out on the counter all night long. Not a single bug had been seen in the entire building, and I was including my ability to look inside of walls. I imagined it was someone¡¯s aura though, and not a specific enchantment. Either way, it was neat. I did like living in a place with a ton of overlapping auras.


    Like... I didn¡¯t have to do laundry. At all. My clothes were permanently clean and fresh, smelling slightly of lilacs and roses. Thank you, past-me, for modifying my sweat! Thank you, whoever had a broad cleaning aura! Small spills just vanished, which was a bit of a shame for the five-second rule and small sweets, but that wasn¡¯t an issue for me. I was faster than gravity, even if I skipped just [Teleporting] it back onto its plate. I¡¯d sliced a bunch of pears last night for lunch, and they hadn¡¯t oxidized a bit!


    Why did the System have stupid limitations on how many classes and skills I could have? JUST LET ME HAVE THEM ALL! Blah.


    I was contributing to the auras myself twice over. My ¡®everyone heals much faster, and instantly when they call my name¡¯ aura was practically unnoticed, given I was keeping up a full-sphere ¡®instantly heal everyone of all injuries¡¯ skill combo going. Because I could. Fuck people dying when I could change that.


    I was aware there was some cognitive dissonance going on, and it was going to get worse as Arachne¡¯s plot to overthrow the dictators came to fruition, but that was a future-me problem. Future-me was going to hate past-me.


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    I fried up breakfast, cooking up extra for lunch. It entertained me endlessly to see the little bits of smoke wisping up over my breakfast.


    Smoke and mirrors. The unofficial creed of the Sentinels, my whole job here was smoke and mirrors. There was no risk thinking about it in the privacy of my own mind.


    I packed up two lunches - one spicy with extras, the other more plain - and briskly walked out of the place, wanting to hit the park before work. I didn¡¯t have a nice stick yet, I was thinking of acquiring one, but there were a number of movement-meditation exercises I¡¯d gotten from the giant¡¯s monastery that didn¡¯t require a staff. In the early morning light, a soft carpet of dew sparkling like a million gems, I peacefully went through the exercises. A way to center and ground myself. I¡¯d initially started off rejecting the New Remus Empire in my mind during my morning meditation, but rapidly dropped the practice and did it during lunch instead. It was so easy to be angry at things, it was like anger and rage completely hijacked the brain, and I could tell I was getting into maladaptive thinking patterns. Not at all helpful when the goal was inner peace.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± My peaceful meditation was broken when the sun hit my eyes. I didn¡¯t need to shade them to tell I was going to be late.Again.


    Fuck fuck FUCK! I swore to myself as I briskly walked the rest of the way to work, somehow managing to end up late in spite of having an eight minute commute. Seriously, how!?


    I mean... I knew how. I didn¡¯t really want to go, there were more interesting things to distract me, and it wasn¡¯t like I had the impetus of life and death prodding me along. Doing paperwork just didn¡¯t have the same gravitas. I slipped in through the front door, tossed one of my marked lunches in the breakroom, stuffed the other into my belt - yay squashed sandwich - and tried to slip to the filing room without being seen.


    ¡°Rabbit!¡± Salab shouted at me. The elf was almost unique.


    A single rhino horn in the middle of his head, instead of the usual pair of horns where most elves had them. It gave his head a conical look, and I¡¯d noticed a number of other elves doing a double-take when they first saw him. It was an unfortunate look. Like a good, meek [Scribe] Rabbit I froze at my boss¡¯s displeased tone, mentally rolling my eyes. ¡°What have I said about being late? That¡¯s twice already this week! You can¡¯t keep doing this.¡±


    Hunched shoulders, eyes down, hands clasped behind my back.


    Ciriel, remind me that it¡¯s a bad idea to mouth off to my boss. I asked the Goddess of Healing


    It¡¯s a bad idea to mouth off to the person you¡¯re spying on, yeah. Ciriel cheekily agreed. I think Iona¡¯s totally fine with you mouthing off to her though. Just saying, we all know who the real boss is.


    I mentally blew a raspberry in Ciriel¡¯s direction, wondering at how surreal my life was sometimes. I was in a mostly deserted elf city, fantastic magic at my fingertips, then working as a [Scribe] while handling petty politics and blowing raspberries to gods.


    Gods and knowledge were so odd at times. I noticed that Ciriel never mentioned anything her other followers were up to, or other stuff she could¡¯ve gotten from them. By the same note, she claimed she never said anything about me to them, nevermind how many devotees she had in Edhallond alone. I sent her a big chunk of my current mana in prayer... totally not a bribe. I just wasn¡¯t using it, and Ciriel could use it. Maybe just a little bit of a bribe. Shame [Persistent Casting] wasn¡¯t [Persistent Prayer], I¡¯d totally grab a skill to continuously give Ciriel my spare mana.


    If I had the damn skill slots! System, why do you torture me so!?


    ¡°Well?¡± Salab crossed his arms. Fuck! Right! I was in the middle of a conversation! Not even [Luminary Mind] could spare me from the utter drudgery that was office work and talking with my boss.


    ¡°Sorry boss! It¡¯s my fault. Got lost on the way over. I¡¯d like to say it won¡¯t happen again, but, uh... yeah sorry I¡¯ll stay a bit later to make it up.¡±


    Salab wasn¡¯t convinced, narrowing his eyes at me.


    ¡°Listen Rabbit, you do good work, but this is starting to become a serious problem. You can¡¯t just keep showing up late! You need to consider your priorities, and...¡±


    He went on and on and on, and my old problem of not being able to focus on things came back with a vicious vengeance. I tried my old trick of cycling through different thoughts in [Luminary Mind] to pay some sort of attention, cheating a little with my perfect memory in [Astral Archives], but there was a world of difference between being able to perfectly recall a conversation, and paying attention. I didn¡¯t have all sorts of social skills, nevermind [Everywoman] leveling up.


    And Salab could tell.


    More yelling. I put on an appropriate face, trying to mix a few different emotions, nodding along, while just waiting for him to be done. Seriously, I¡¯d been three minutes late, and he was taking almost ten to yell at me over it! It was wildly inefficient! How could he not see the problem!?


    ¡°I need a report on the state of the archives by lunch, it¡¯s urgent. Top priority. Alright, you¡¯ve wasted enough time, get going. ¡± Salab ordered. I scurried off like a good little [Scribe], secretly glad that I was actively getting revenge the entire time.


    I mentally scanned through the building, doing a small roll call. Everyone was here, which was great! The pickup point deep under the building was empty, another one of Arachne¡¯s agents having picked up the papers I¡¯d placed there, Olthor was being his usual lazy self up in his private office, and I made it to the archive room in time for Thurinthel to sniff at me.


    ¡°You¡¯re late.¡± The elf said.


    ¡°Yeah... Salab turned being three minutes late into fifteen.¡± I complained, openly rolling my eyes. I immediately moved to the latest stack of paperwork, pushing my stats to the correct amount. My eyes started to blur as I rapidly read each page, already walking to the proper cabinet to store the papers in. At the same time, I was also getting the report Salab asked for composed.


    It was expected that all of us could do the work of a dozen people, that was simply the baseline standard. Yay the System?


    ¡°Ugh. He would. It¡¯s like he thinks if he¡¯s not talking for a minute, everyone will realize how little work he actually does.¡± She commiserated with me. ¡°Like, yeah, we get it you¡¯re the Big Boss, how lucky we all are that you¡¯re micromanaging all of us. Oh! Olthor went home last night with a girl and a guy! He¡¯s pretending to be oblivious to the marks all over his neck, but come on, nobody¡¯s that unaware. He¡¯s totally just flaunting that he¡¯s getting laid in front of everyone, but like, that¡¯s not exactly impressive, you know? With his level, at his age? It¡¯s pathetic. Speaking of! A couple in the 512 is fighting, and it looks like it¡¯s going to get ugly. I¡¯m totally pretty enough, I¡¯m going to ¡®accidentally¡¯ bump into him tomorrow night and shoot my shot, you know? Might be my chance. Want to be my winggal? I¡¯ll buy the drinks! We can go...¡±


    Thurinthel, by the grace of the gods and a full class dedicated to it, managed to get a full day¡¯s worth of non-stop gossip in only three hours. It was a bit much, but at the same time, fairly harmless. Didn¡¯t even grate on my ears, although there was so much of it. I rapidly walked back and forth, properly filing the paperwork where it belonged - nevermind if I was trying,


    I could [Teleport] it all to the right spot in seconds - while spying my little heart out.


    I could read virtually everything inside the building, and read it I did. It helped that I was all caught up, and only needed to get the ¡®morning news¡¯ so to speak. A few more towns had agreed to join the New Remus Empire as tributaries. There was a proposal about raising [Auxiliaries] that Arachne would love, but it was on Salab¡¯s desk, so I couldn¡¯t touch it for now. I just had to hope it was going to end up near Olthor at some point.


    It was best to only move documents that multiple people had seen, but Arachne left it up to my judgement. Olthor, in spite of our minimal contact, had immediately pissed me off something fierce, and I was shamelessly framing him.


    Procurement request for arms? Olthor signed off on it, put it in his ¡®done¡¯ pile, and the moment a second piece of paper landed on it, I [Teleported] it from his third-floor office directly down to the pickup point. At no point did the papers come close to me. It was possible that I was throwing wrenches in the works. After all, I sent Arachne the paperwork saying ¡°8000 spears to Ithil, signed off on¡±, meanwhile that paper was getting ¡®lost¡¯ in the organization, and the spears were unlikely to make it to Ithil in the first place.


    Eh. Arachne was smart, she¡¯d figure it out. Frankly, I was shocked that nobody had seemingly noticed the tiny output relative to the input Olthor had, and the sheer number of ¡®missing documents¡¯ should alert someone! Well, Thurinthel had sort of noticed, mostly gossiping that Olthor was clearly slacking off, we barely got anything from him down here, and wasn¡¯t that such a shame...


    The hours passed by as usual. I was looking forward to lunch.


    ¡°... mangos for sale. She¡¯ll only be around for a few days though, so you¡¯ll have to hurry.¡±


    My head whipped around so fast I should¡¯ve broken my neck. I twisted the rest of my body around so it wouldn¡¯t be quite so obvious that my neck was non-standard, and quickly reviewed my memories of what Thurinthel had been saying.


    ¡°Hang on, say that bit about the mangos again...¡± I asked. She smirked at me. Smirked!


    ¡°You are way too easy to read.¡± She teased. ¡°Just need to say that word to completely distract you.¡±


    My heart fell.


    ¡°No mangos?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Yes, there are mangos. As I was saying...¡±


    Mangos! FUCK YEAH!


    Okay, maybe I was as transparent as a shallow, clear pond to Thurinthel, but we were coworkers in the same room. Olthor started to move, and I kept careful track of him with [The World Around Me] as he went down to the breakroom, and... yes, the bastard stole my lunch. Again.


    The prick scurried back to the office with his lunch and my lunch. ¡®Because you¡¯re a human, what are you going to do about it?¡¯ was his answer when I asked him about it last week. I watched carefully as he took the first bite. He chewed, swallowed, and took a second bite before the spices hit him.


    And oh, how they hit him. His face went red, he screamed, gagged and spat, and sweat started to pour off his face. He grabbed his drink and downed it all, then shivered as the water made it worse.


    Ha! Amateur! Milk was the right answer, and we didn¡¯t have any!


    I¡¯d debated spiking the sandwich with a strong laxative as well. After some debate and soul searching, I decided not to. A combination of the overlapping auras of Edhallond mostly making them not work - my own healing had some minor aspects around digestion and constipation, but it did allow for minor remedies when needed - the sheer escalation involved, and fundamentally, it was harm. Too much harm on a prank.


    Sure, there was the argument that he deserved it. That he wouldn¡¯t get hurt if he hadn¡¯t stolen my food, if he hadn¡¯t been stealing my food for weeks now. But like... I knew exactly what I was doing. I knew I was sabotaging it, and that he¡¯d take it. The amount of laxatives I¡¯d need to use to get a dramatic effect would easily be considered harmful, and it wasn¡¯t worth it.


    Seeing him rolling around in agony, thumping on his desk to try and get some relief? That was totally worth it. There was no actual harm... assuming he wasn¡¯t allergic or something. Which my healing would immediately obviate.


    ¡°Something funny?¡± Thurinthel asked. Crap! I was grinning too much. This was something I could explain though.


    ¡°Olthor¡¯s been stealing my lunch. I put an extra spicy one in the breakroom today, while bringing my own with me.¡± I patted my... I wanted to call it a sandwich, but it didn¡¯t really qualify anymore. ¡°I suspect he¡¯s getting his just desserts right now.¡±


    Thurinthel grinned at me.


    ¡°Rabbit! I didn¡¯t know you had so much bite in you! Wait, if it¡¯s almost lunch, don¡¯t we have a meeting with Salab?¡±


    I rolled my eyes.


    ¡°Oh yeah. Another one that could¡¯ve just been a simple message, want to bet?¡±


    ¡°No bet! That¡¯s a sucker¡¯s bet! I¡¯m not taking it.¡± She said.


    I finished the last flourish on the report Salab wanted. It was thick, he better be happy about it.


    We made our way over to the meeting room, Olthor still in visible agony. Ha! Healing didn¡¯t change taste, sucker!


    ¡°Rabbit, good. Sorry about asking you for the report, I don¡¯t need it anymore. Can you refill the coffee for everyone, then get me a cup?¡± Salab asked as we walked in.


    Oh - for fucks sake! I spent ages on that report! I was not the office coffee lady! Everyone treated me like one though, requesting that I refill it for them, bring them cups, seriously, could we burn the whole place down? The work was fine, it was everyone else.


    I was in the middle of handling it when I spotted a tiny, sneaky flame working its way through the building.


    Auri!?

 Chapter ??? - Two Weeks Battle Royale I

    Elaine opened her eyes and looked around, her skills scanning the place.


    They were in an old prop plane, equipped in their normal clothes and a parachute. Four crates of supplies were along the wall, along with some rope and carabiners. There was no pilot, the plane flying itself.


    ¡°Black Crow take it all, the fairies again?¡± She swore, then spotted a familiar face. ¡°Ariane! It¡¯s great to see you again! Cat, is that you? Oh, who am I kidding, of course it¡¯s you! Well, better here with friends. Hello, you look new, what¡¯s your name?¡± Elaine asked the fourth person. Cat and Ariane gave each other a friendly nod.


    ¡°Hi... I¡¯m Julietta.¡± The last member said.


    ¡°This is Wepwawet, do you copy?¡± A voice echoed in everyone¡¯s ears.


    ¡°Copy Wepwawet, can you explain what¡¯s going on for us?¡± Cat immediately replied.


    ¡°Well! We¡¯re on the game show ¡®Two Week Battle Royale.¡¯ There are a hundred teams of four people landing on the island. The goal is to kill everyone else, and be the last team standing. Great entertainment for everyone back home watching. Smile for the camera and say cheese!¡±


    None of us looked at the camera. Cat shot it.


    ¡°Oh come on!¡± Wepwawet complained. ¡°That¡¯s not how we do this! I¡¯m your guide! Your eye in the sky! I can gift you weapons, blessings, supplies, but only if people out there, watching this, cough up the dough! Shooting the camera just pisses them off, and more importantly, kills the feed. No feed, no footage. No footage, no fans. No fans, no money, no supplies. It¡¯s basic economics!¡±


    Julietta crossed her arms.


    ¡°Press ganged into another army, great.¡±


    ¡°Listen, you got to jump out of the plane in the next two minutes. There¡¯s a storm circling the island that the game show hosts control. They¡¯ll constantly contract it to force all of you together. If you¡¯re in the storm, you¡¯ll get constantly hurt until you¡¯re killed.¡±


    Elaine started laughing at that.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯ll be a problem for us.¡± She said. ¡°How actively are these other people going to try and kill us? Uh, copy?¡±


    Wepwawet hesitated.


    ¡°Um. I¡¯d love to tell you they¡¯re all hardened killers on death row... but the hosts ran out of those a decade ago, so now they¡¯re mostly grabbing people from various dimensions to play. The game only ends when there¡¯s one team left, either from fighting, dying to the storm, or in one memorable case where everyone went to the center and refused to fight, starvation from no supplies being dropped in. No interest, no viewers, no money, no supplies... although things did get very exciting near the end.¡±


    ¡°Joy.¡± Cat said dryly. Ariane flashed her fangs.


    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°Worthy prey.¡± She said, ¡°We need to get organized and have a plan before we drop in.¡±


    ¡°Julietta, what can you do?¡± Elaine asked the girl.


    ¡°I¡¯m a shapeshifter.¡± She explained. ¡°Anything I touch, I get a full look of their complete biology. I can then mix and match biology freely. I do need biomass, although I¡¯m currently bulked up.¡±


    Ariane looked on with interest.


    ¡°Even blood?¡± She asked. Julietta scooted away from the thirsty vampire. One who¡¯d just had a ¡®whatever blood you want¡¯ dispenser dropped in her lap.


    ¡°No?¡± Julietta lied. Badly.


    Elaine held out her hand.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got some unusual biology.¡± She said. ¡°Best design I could come up with. It¡¯s not the entire thing, but if you¡¯re mixing and matching, you could get some inspiration. Can¡¯t hurt.¡±


    Julietta took Elaine¡¯s hand, and her eyes went huge. Her skin rippled as rainbow scales briefly flickered on, before getting absorbed back into her skin.


    ¡°We should go.¡± Cat said. ¡°Jump off people other people do. Let¡¯s get the initiative, and not get shot at on our way down.¡±


    ¡°Agreed¡± Ariane said.


    ¡°Wewa, is there a camera on us now?¡± Elaine asked urgently. ¡°And what¡¯s the best style of clothing that¡¯ll get the most viewers?¡±


    Wewa quickly affirmed and explained the best recent styles.


    ¡°But you only have what you brou- oh.¡± He was cut off as Elaine¡¯s clothes flickered and changed with a pop.


    ¡°Hammerspace!¡± Elaine posed. ¡°If the three of you need anything, let¡¯s sort it out once we¡¯ve landed. Should I take the supplies so we don¡¯t need to jump with them?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Cat said.


    ¡°Elaine... what are you planning?¡± Ariane asked.


    ¡°You¡¯ll see. No time to talk. Super Squad, let¡¯s go!¡±


    Elaine ran to the open ramp and jumped out of the plane.


    Without a parachute.


    There was only a distant voice, carried by the wind.


    ¡°The things I do to get back home... ugh.¡±


    Cat facepalmed and put on her parachute. Ariane slung hers over her back, but Julietta started to grow a pair of massive wings. At a glance from the other two she shrugged.


    ¡°Rather have my own wings out, then for my parachute to fail and have the lines tangle me up.¡±


    Cat held out her hands, and the other two women grabbed them.


    ¡°On three. One, two, three, jump!¡±


    The three women jumped out of the plane, popping their parachutes a moment later.


    ¡°Aim for that field.¡± Ariane pointed. Cat shaded her eyes, looking at Elaine.


    ¡°What is she doing?¡±


    Elaine was soaring through the sky, enjoying the wind in her hair and the shouted curses directed her way.


    ¡°Your turn!¡± She swooped down on another group of four jumping out of the plane. An archer with a green hood and a wooden mask, two people with starry capes, and a slime were jumping together. With a cheeky wink she teleported their supplies into her hammer space.


    It would be just as easy to teleport their parachutes into her hammerspace, and let them hurtle to the ground, but Elaine had sworn otherwise. Self defense, of herself or her patients only.


    The healer paused a moment between groups, a pair of golden wings around her ankles the only indicator of how she was flying.


    ¡°Hello everyone back home!¡± She waved to the flying camera. ¡°We¡¯ve got four more lootboxes right here to crack open, thanks to our sponsor, Mango Media! Who¡¯s ready for another midair unboxing?¡±


    A rattle of machinegun fire interrupted Elaine¡¯s speech, and she pouted as the bullets bounced off.


    ¡°No! Bad... bad guy!¡±


    One of the other teams had taken a shot at Elaine, and in a blur joined by a supersonic boom, his parachute vanished.


    The camera watched all the way down, censor bars flashing up to hide the gore. Elaine threw her hands up in despair.


    ¡°Why do they even bother with blood sport if they¡¯re going to censor them!?¡± She complained. The brightly colored, glowing, floating Classer gasped in shock as a sniper round went through her hazel hair.


    ¡°My HAIR! You BASTARD!¡± She screamed, before flying off in the direction of the shot.


    Ariane, Cat, and Julietta landed on a field. Cat rolled her ankle and hissed, but it popped back into shape a moment later.


    ¡°Down!¡± Ariane shouted, before catching a bullet out of the air. Cat returned fire with her guns, turning the nearby forest into splinters.


    ¡°Did I get them?¡± She asked. Both Ariane and Julietta sniffed the air.


    ¡°Blood, lots of it. Yeah, you got them.¡± The shapeshifter said. Her ears twitched.


    ¡°Oh great.¡± She said. Elaine landed next to them.


    Julietta started to twist and turn up, transforming into a 20 foot behemoth.


    ¡°Incoming.¡± She said.

 Chapter 618: Interlude - Auri - Overthrowing the Tyrants XI

    It was weird being on my own. Ever since I¡¯d hatched, there was always someone there. Even the Phoenix Peaks, having my own mountain, my friends would come over and say hello. After having a spot of fun with Fenrir though - pretending to breathe fire was hilarious, the shocked look on monster¡¯s faces before I went FWOOOM and they turned to ashes would never stop being funny - we had to split up, and I just didn¡¯t know what I wanted to do.


    Okay, okay, Elaine was trained in this, and I¡¯d seen enough planning that I knew how to do this.


    What was my goal?


    Making Elaine, Fenrir, and everyone else happy. Living our best lives.


    How was I going to do that?


    Their goal was to stop nosy people from poking into our business. We were going to accomplish that by removing the [Tyrants] of the New Remus Empire. We couldn¡¯t directly fight them, so...


    Blah.


    I should just burn their stuff until they gave up. That should work, right? No need to overthink it. This was basically super-permission to be the [Arsonist] I always wanted to be.


    Burn, baby burn!


    Bah! It wasn¡¯t that easy! Blasted philosophy and knowledge and ¡®thinking out the consequences of my actions.¡¯ Sometimes I longed for the innocent days of my youth, where I simply burned things. Oh well!


    I flew around the area of the New Remus Empire, thinking through Operation: Arsonist Unleashed. The upside to philosophy and knowledge and ¡®thinking things out¡¯ was I knew a number of things I could burn, without a single shred of doubt or guilt crossing my mind.


    I stared across fields of golden wheat, surrounded by orchards bursting with fruit. There was nobody here. Not an elf, not a rabbit, and nearly all insects were missing. Skills kept the fields well preserved, skills kept out the pests and vermin. Songbirds sang sweetly from the nearby branches.


    I started to sing as well, the most beautiful song the world had ever heard!


    ¡°I see grass of green, and roses of flame/


    I see them burn, for me and for you/


    And I think to myself/


    What a wonderful fire!¡±


    The other birds gave me the stink-eye, then turned around and started singing even louder.


    Jerks! Plebestrians! They wouldn¡¯t know good art if it came up and smacked them!


    [*ding!* Oh Auri, oh most wonderful Phoenix of the Flame, oh most beautiful Mistress of Colors! In your infinite wisdom you have chosen to dispense justice, and I, your humble servant The System, am here to notify you of your exploits! You have made the world a better place by slaying a [Thrush (Sound, 22)]! The world holds its breath, waiting to see what you will do next.]


    A few dozen similar notifications scrolled past, each one praising me in a different way. Yes, yes, good! All was right with the world. No more peanut gallery to interfere. No more background singers ruining my song! No more critics!


    ... also no more audience. Drat.


    I¡¯d done my research. I¡¯d looked around. Burning this farm to the ground would be fine. The owners had a few, and most of the food here was going to the nearby city. There was enough excess that nobody was going to starve now, but it was going to raise prices and start putting pressure on people. Burn enough farms, and people would need to start abandoning the city. Civilization, towns and cities and large concentrations of people, relied on excess food production from the agricultural sector. Remove that, remove the city. Remove the city, remove the military. No more fighting if everyone has to be in the fields! Everyone would have to go home, grow food, and stop being jerks to each other.


    Hurray for logic! Hurray for thinking it through!


    I ignored the part of me insisting that I was being naive, and the rich and powerful would totally let everyone else starve if it meant they got to keep being rich and powerful. Also, they might raise taxes on everyone else...


    But if nobody ever raised a wing to [Tyrants] out of fear of reprisals, they¡¯d continue to be wet wipes. I wasn¡¯t going to be held hostage to compassion. I wasn¡¯t going to start murdering people in a fiery inferno, I was going to think about the consequences of my actions, but I wasn¡¯t going to let fear of other people being dicks as a consequence to my actions rule my life.


    Now... the best way to burn this place down... oh, choices, choices, so many choices! This was a rare opportunity. How often was I allowed to simply torch as much as I wanted? How often was I handed a blank canvas and told to perform my most spectacular art? How many times were a hundred thousand flowers offered to me, pastels of every color to paint the world with?


    Oh, I was so spoiled for choice!


    Did I simply turn the entire thing into a blazing column of red fire reaching to the sky? A single grand flare reaping the entire field, a spectacular moment for all watching? A testament to the beauty and glory of the flickering flame?


    Should I leave my mark? Burn the field in the most beautiful pattern - myself, of course - and burn it with all the colors of the rainbow? Let all behold my splendid visage? It kinda painted a huge target on me... but then I¡¯d be famous.


    Everyone would know me, and try to murder me. Not that they wouldn¡¯t try to murder me anyway... and they could probably figure out who I was. This would let the non-hunters figure it out.


    Did I want to invoke dread and terror? A tiny spark of cursed green and black flames, a slow-burning inferno? They¡¯d have plenty of time to see what was going on, to try to fight the fire with dirt and water. It¡¯d be futile in front of the flames I could conjure. It would creep across the field inch by inch, devouring the entire harvest in front of their disbelieving eyes.


    Subtle and insidious? Burn just the roots, let them all slowly die?


    No no, that one was all wrong. If I was trying to be Properly Sneaky, sure, it was an option, but there were too many Classers on the other side who could probably fix the problem. Or just harvest everything first.


    That was also a point against ¡®dread and terror¡¯... they could just rapidly harvest everything and ignore my flames. Boo!


    Swarm of flaming locusts? It had a certain poetry to it, and it was quick enough that the farmers couldn¡¯t out-farm it.


    I could try smoking the entire place out, a haze of terror that would slowly drift from place to place. Oh! It¡¯d be like one of those scented candles the [Candlemakers] made! Flavor: ¡®Hopes and Dreams¡¯.


    Then there was simply spamming [Meteor Strike] all over the place, and using Lava instead of Inferno to get the job done. It wasn¡¯t as effective as making sure everything was done, but it would inspire fear and terror. It would send a clear message, and I didn¡¯t need to contain myself as much. Burning a road was hard. Dropping a meteor on it was much easier. It sent a message. It was a clear declaration of war, and I could repeat it time and time again. A calling card of sorts.


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    Mmm... the last idea was to quickly, quietly burn it down. No fuss, flares, or flourishes. Calm, quiet, lethal effectiveness.


    Ugh... that was a little boring. Elaine and Artemis were the Sentinels and Rangers. They were the ones all about getting the job done with as little mess as possible. They were the operators.


    I was an artist, and I¡¯d been handed a canvas and a mission.


    Hmm, was it possible to do something with baking? Like make a super cake and drop it on - no no no, I was going from good ideas to ludicrously bad ideas. There could be something in combining nectar with [Spun Sugar]... but perhaps another day. That could be a baking exhibition!


    Oh! Oh! I had it! I figured it out! I knew what I was going to do! This required some planning!


    I flew off from the branch, and shamelessly drank the sweet nectar from the flowering trees. A girl had to eat! There was no sense in letting the delicious sugar go to waste!


    I flew around, going from field to field, marking my targets. Farms here, farms there, a lumber operation, a mine - that one was going to be super tricky, I didn¡¯t want to murder anyone - a shipyard, mill... so many targets in so many places. This was going to be hard, but I was totally going to do it!


    Targets acquired! It took me a few weeks to grab them all, but that was fine. Ripe field, new field, burning it all down had an impact no matter what stage it was at. Okay, time to map them out, then calculate the arcs on each one... holy math, why was there so much math in art!? I mean, sure, baking had ratios, chemistry, and curves, but that was... totally the same thing. Alright, fine, I knew why there was so much math in art.


    I made two dozen [I am the Brrettiest], carefully tweaking each one to a different color of the rainbow. Because rainbows had all the colors in a spectrum, not just eight! People were kinda silly trying to divide it up into such clean lines.


    Then we flew!


    We burned the first farm down with two dozen colors of fire, almost immediately reducing it to ash and smoke, then glassing the fields. I wasn¡¯t going to let the [Farmers] just come back and immediately restart it all! What was the point in that? Classers could rebuild things almost as fast as I could burn them down if I didn¡¯t think about it. Then we flew out in a curling formation, arcing through the sky to hit the second farm. Our burning trail left a beautiful rainbow in our wake, and we barely touched down on the second farm before soaring up through the air again, hitting the first mill, and continuing to bounce around, a beautiful rainbow of utter destruction. It popped, it crackled, it sizzled! Some of the flames were cursed, some were divine. Hot were next to frozen. Some left ashes in their wake, others twisted light.


    It was so pretty!


    [*ding!* Auri! Auri! You leveled up again! [The Auri] leveled up! 1513 -> 1514! +2048 Kindling, +2048 New Juice, +2048 Flame Size, +2048 Fire Control, +512 Reflexes, +512 Zippiness per level! Oh, and +128 Fancy Flying per level! There¡¯s also the element and species stuff, but you know that already.]


    [*


    ding!* Auri! Auri! You leveled up again! [Ancient Undying Raging Inferno] leveled up! 1501 -> 1502! +1500 Kindling, +1500 New Juice, +1500 Flame Size, +1500 Fire Control, +500 Reflexes, +500 Zippiness per level! Oh, and +100 Fancy Flying per level! There¡¯s also the element and species stuff, but you know that already.]


    [*ding!* Auri! Auri! You leveled up again! [Majestic Mythwing] leveled up! 1499 -> 1500! +1024 Kindling, +1024 New Juice, +1024 Flame Size, +1024 Fire Control, +512 Reflexes, +512 Zippiness per level! Oh, and +128 Fancy Flying per level! There¡¯s also the element and species stuff, but you know that already.]


    Burning things letting me burn more things would never get old. I finished my artwork and turned to admire it, the flames reflected in my eyes.


    It was beautiful. Possibly my masterpiece. A shame it only lasted a moment, but hopefully it would touch the hearts and stomachs of thousands.


    [*ding!* Oh Auri, Greatest Phoenix to ever Blaze, oh most splendid Painter of Infernos! In your infinite wisdom, you have chosen to dispense justice, and I, your faithful servant The System, am here to praise you for your exploits! You have made the world safer by slaying a [Lizard (Fire, 27)]! All of Pallos watches eagerly to see what you will do next.]


    And! And! Not a single elvenoid kill notification! Quite a few other animals, but that was totally fine.


    Oh whoops, that was a lot of angry looking elves... curse past-me for never taking [Identify].


    Time to fly away!


    ==========


    Argh! These people wouldn¡¯t leave me alone! I flitted through the forest at top speed, a trio of elves hot on my claws. Quite literally, I¡¯d set two of them on fire and they were totally ignoring it! I mean, sure, I¡¯d killed the other five, but why won¡¯t these ones die!? Team in life, team in death, your ashes aren¡¯t even going to mingle at this rate!


    ¡°Oi! Leave me alone!¡± I protested, throwing down a hot flame behind me. The heat radiating off the flame disrupted the [Wind Vortex], breaking the fragile balance behind the attack. Ice melted as it came close to her [Domain of Fire] - why was the pointy-horned idiot still trying? - and-


    Auri exploded into embers as a rock larger than she was slapped her out of the sky, obliterating her.


    ¡°RAINSTORMS! RAINSTORM AND TYPHOONS!¡± I cursed at the top of my lungs as White Dove fluttered next to me.


    ¡°Problem, cousin?¡± White Dove asked.


    ¡°Stupid elves are mad at me! I burned down a bunch of their stuff, didn¡¯t kill any of them, and now these three don¡¯t even have the good grace to embrace you! Any chance you could, you know, lend me a wing here?¡± I asked White Dove.


    She snorted - somehow, even though she was a bird, don¡¯t ask me how that worked - and spoke.


    ¡°The elves have already rejected me, they won¡¯t take my embrace. If you truly wish for external intervention, petition Thanatos. He may be willing to assist.¡±


    I eyed my cousin suspiciously.


    ¡°And how many times has Thanatos responded to that request?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Four times since the world began.¡± White Dove answered serenely.


    Yeah... that wasn¡¯t going to happen then. Yay math!


    ¡°Would you like to go onto the next grand adventure now?¡± White Dove asked.


    ¡°Ye - NO!¡± I said. Holy crafty bird! White Dove almost tricked me!


    She clicked her tongue and I found myself back in the real world, my thousand scattered embers pulling themselves back together. The elves were closer to me now, much


    closer. The shocked looks on their faces quickly ended their argument.


    ¡°Surprise!¡± I shouted. Then I immolated them.


    [ding! Oh Auri, oh True Winged Wilder of Fire...]


    [ding! Oh Auri, grand baker who deigns to reshape our world...]


    [ding! Oh Auri, loveliest and fairest of all that has ever burned...]


    Ha! Take that!


    =========


    I¡¯d hit the fields and mines, the mills and the ships. Time to hit the city! Fenrir was probably around here somewhere.


    The place was spooky. Like a ghost town. Tons of huge buildings, and like, no people. Well, there were people, a lot of them, but not nearly as many as there could be. The scars of the Immortal War were still engraved in the skyline, some skilled elves using a massive [Repair] variant to fix things up.


    I was trying to shake the tail here, while scouting out new and interesting problems I could make. A park...? Nah, that would just be too cruel. Although nobody would be hurt... but kids could play... but the whole point was hearts and minds...


    The market? Oooh, excellent! Yes, yes, I¡¯d totally hit the place. I¡¯d need to be careful not to hit anyone, it was going to be tricky! A surgical hit... now how to make it pretty...


    The place was practically swimming in enchantments, runes, and auras. [All The World¡¯s Magic Is Revealed To Me In A Teardrop] was quite useful in seeing it all.


    An Idea hit me, the same way I hit the mango juice. I had [Everything Burns]. Could I burn a skill out? Probably not... but maybe? I knew I could burn an aura¡¯s effect - temporarily - but could I burn it back to its source? Questions, questions, and oh, so many targets!


    The elves had their children¡¯s quarters in the center of the city. I wasn¡¯t going to touch that, and I carefully noted which auras originated from the zone, which skills emanated from the center. Wasn¡¯t going to touch any of them. I was no egg-smasher!


    Apartment building, no good... One of the elves library-museums, Elaine would murder me if I torched it... aha! An empty apartment building! One scheduled demolition, coming right up!


    My target list was growing, and that squat building over there looked fancy. Fancy meant important, which usually meant I could burn it down. What was with elvenoids and that sense of style? Important granaries were plain as could be, but worthless political buildings were done up all fancy. It was like slapping on a huge sign saying ¡°Burn me¡±, and well, I wasn¡¯t going to say no to such a tempting invitation.


    What did we have here! Paper, paper, so much glorious paper! It all burned at 451 degrees, and oh, I was going to be the BEST [Firebird]ever.


    Wait.


    WAIT!


    THAT WAS ELAINE!


    She flashed a few quick hand signals to me under the table.


    Hidden. Secret.


    AHA! She was... doing something. Something hidden. Something secret. Why didn¡¯t she tell me!?


    Oh wait. Probably because it was secret. Okay, okay, I can¡¯t blow her cover.


    Waaaaait. Those were two auras coming from Elaine that I¡¯d seen all over the city. She was doing her full city thing. Which meant I didn¡¯t need to worry about burning people! Sure, they might be in brief agony as their flesh peels from their bones and their blood boils out of every orifice, but they¡¯d get better! Elaine would stop them from dying! I still wasn¡¯t going to touch the kid¡¯s district though, nope.


    I knew nobody would be able to tell what I was saying except Elaine.


    ¡°Hey! Mind if I burn this whole place down?¡± I asked her.


    Elaine winked at me, then turned and ran screaming.


    ¡°Ahhhh! A creature slipped in! Monster! Help! Help!¡±


    Oh god, I hope other people were fooled by her acting. It looked really bad to me, but maybe that was just because I knew Elaine so well.


    I couldn¡¯t resist cackling.


    An entire city, all for me?


    You shouldn¡¯t have.


    I flew outside of the building, high up into the air, and laughed to myself as I looked down on the city. No need to be too careful or subtle about it at this point.


    [Auri¡¯s Mighty Meteor Storm]

 Chapter 619: Interlude - Iona - Overthrowing the Tyrants XII

    Iona drummed her fingers against the throne, watching people slowly trickle into the throne room. They were trying to figure out what their new world would be like after she¡¯d just shaken up the existing order. The Valkyrie had already sent off a letter to Skye, asking for advice, and she suspected [Social Lubricant] was about to get a workout. She¡¯d already issued her first orders - looking to send a message - but now it was time for the next ones.


    Iona had never needed to consolidate power like this before, and was leaning on a few basics. Learn the people involved. Align incentives. Act with confidence.


    Power was granted through belief. Anyone could put on a crown and declare themselves [Queen]. The issue would be if people listened to her. Her legitimacy didn¡¯t matter if people obeyed her orders - or refused them.


    The first decision she made was about her helmet. Being able to look people in the eyes was great for the personal, friendly connection, but she didn¡¯t need that right now. The culture - that she heard of, she desperately needed a crash course on how things were actually like here - didn¡¯t approve of the friendly gesture. Keeping it on kept her aloof and distant... and kept her alive if any [Mage] tried to blow her head off with a spell. She¡¯d just disposed of the prior ruler, the sharks would be circling to see if she could be removed as well.


    The second was about the normal line of succession. Iona waited for the throne room to be filled with enough bold people, and scanned through their stat sheets to find the best member for the task she was going to issue. Eventually she found a [Meek Messenger] who¡¯d actually taken an [Obedient] skill, and pointed right to him.


    ¡°Conifer. Tell the [Heir], or whoever was being groomed to take over Iya Sahel¡¯s position, that they have an hour to gather their personal belongings and as many loyal retainers as they¡¯d like, and to leave the city. If they¡¯re wise, they¡¯ll grab enough to leave the Omospondia Confederacy entirely. Go.¡± Iona ordered, and Conifer obeyed.


    Everyone noticed, and Iona could practically feel the small shift in the room as her authority was obeyed. Two commands successfully issued. Iona wanted to ask for help and advice, but doing so at this early stage would entirely undermine her rule and authority. Part of her wanted to run away from the whole thing - she had no training for this task, no experience in the role, and her [Vow] promised to grate the entire time - but she¡¯d chosen it. This was the single best way she had in the moment to help.


    The mercy was mandated by her [Vow] - ¡®go execute this person because they were born wrong¡¯ was a horrific violation - but the way she went about it was just as important. Time to leave, but not so much time. An invitation to bring loyal retainers with him or her wasn¡¯t a kindness. It was removing problematic individuals from the government before they could start being a problem. Before they could properly scheme if they should stay and spy, before they could coordinate. Plucking the thorns off a rose.


    The last part was the deliberate use of the [Meek Messenger''s] name. It made Iona a mystery. How did she know? What intel did she have? His name hadn¡¯t been mentioned, and Iona believed the more intelligent members would take note. They were the dangerous ones, and the longer Iona could keep them off balance, the better.


    Iona watched groups instinctively form, a glimpse into the factions and groups of the Sahel court. She didn¡¯t believe that the groups being formed were the true groups - if nothing else, the various factions would be spying on each other - but she doubted that people would think to wholesale create new groups on the fly in the chaos. There were probably more factions than were obviously on display, but no ¡®false¡¯ ones, so to speak.


    The Valkyrie was flying by the seat of her pants. There was no plan. There was no grand scheme. Simply surviving one moment to the next, using her long experience with social situations to guide her. It was like cliques trying to plan an event, except they controlled the fate of multiple cities, and the planning was ¡®which knife into which back?¡¯


    Nina had a strong point with ¡®thinking through what happened next¡¯, and the consequences of Iona¡¯s actions being just as important, if not more important, than righting the original wrong. Which was why Iona was here in the first place.


    She¡¯d fixed one of the great problems the place had, but she wasn¡¯t going to walk away and let someone else handle the fallout. She was going to fix it, herself, personally. Threat or no, Iona was going to do better.


    Iona scanned skills and classes, picking out various retainers from different groups. She called them all out by name, then gave her next set of orders.


    ¡°... secure the treasury. I¡¯m sure none of us want to find the contents of the vaults have gotten up and walked away in all the chaos that¡¯s been going on today, hmmm?¡±


    It was possible, but staggeringly unlikely, that she¡¯d ended up picking all people from the same faction by accident. Iona didn¡¯t think for a moment that they were guarding the treasury for her. She simply needed them to guard it from each other. The various factions would want an overwhelming front to overthrow her, and if she could keep them bickering with each other instead of pointing their knives at her, it was a win.


    The literal stacks of bodies she¡¯d made during her assault on the palace didn¡¯t hurt. A large amount of military power they could immediately, directly call upon was gone.


    Iona stood up and stretched.


    ¡°The next order of business. I took the throne with blood and violence. Who wishes to challenge me to a duel to claim the throne for themselves?¡±


    =======================


    To Iona¡¯s mild surprise, nobody had taken her up on the duelling offer, and business had continued. A number of people were being more bold and forward, attempting to seize the moment and curry favor with the new order, as others vanished to plot and try to work out their own position.


    Iona didn¡¯t have time to meticulously work everything out and find all the right people. Fortune would favor the bold today, and she invited them to a smaller council meeting.


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    She sat down and deliberately lounged as everyone else came in. She didn¡¯t say a word as they tried to work out their seats, an orc and a naga nearly coming to blows over a particular chair. A hierarchy was already forming, and Iona was content to let them work it out among themselves. Eleven people ended up in the room along with the Valkyrie and now-ruler of Sahel - including the elven representative from the New Remus Empire, who insolently leaned against the wall, smirking the entire time. Iona couldn¡¯t wait to wipe the look off his face, but now wasn¡¯t the time or the place. Iona pretended to be aloof from the bickering, all while keeping a sharp ear out.


    The orc and the naga were still bickering when Iona clapped her hands. They ignored her, continuing to spit insults at each other. Iona flicked a finger - entirely unneeded, but the small gesture was to show she was responsible - and a pair of naked blades ended up hovering an inch away from their eyeballs.


    They shut up and sat down.


    ¡°Introductions are in order.¡± Iona said. She fluidly moved between a half-dozen different languages, occasionally using the Trader-tongue favored by the nation, usually slipping into each person¡¯s native tribal language and dialect, speaking them only as a native could.


    ¡°You are Kerk, the [Master of Rituals]. You are Daphne, [Wily Court Mage]


    . You are Ysmela, [Marshal of the Roads]. You are Allfool, [Player of People]. You are...¡± Iona did the introductions, shamelessly revealing everyone¡¯s class. They flinched at how accurate she was, then started eyeing each other up, realizing that if she was accurately revealing their class, she was also revealing everyone else¡¯s class. The knowledge was a knife, one they were happy to point at their rivals. She¡¯d named an orc, a naga, a medusa, and a goblin.


    ¡°And I am Iona, a Valkyrie. I travel around, righting wrongs. It wasn¡¯t my intention to end up ruling the place, but unless you want an eighth of you to be murdered by our cheerful friend in the corner, it seems like I¡¯m stuck in the job for a decade or so. I¡¯ll pass a few reforms, get them to stick, then happily pass the throne off to...¡± Iona paused, dangling the promise of power in front of nearly a dozen people who wanted nothing more than to have it, offering up the criteria to slowly scheme their way to more. ¡°... whoever is worthy.¡±


    A shame she was still wearing her helmet. Grinning would¡¯ve been so satisfying.


    The door slammed open, and an armored ogre with blood and fresh gore splattering his armor and tusks shoved his way in.


    ¡°I am Blacktusk!¡± He roared - no question how he¡¯d gotten the name - and stomped his way beside Iona. ¡°and by right of conquest, I am the new [Captain of the Guard].¡±


    He stared out at everyone, daring them to challenge him. Ysmela tittered a laugh, and there was a mix of chuckles and eyerolls.


    His move was a surprise to Iona, but she seized the moment - carefully keeping an eye on him, though. She patted his arm.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll do an excellent job of it, Blacktusk. I look forward to working with you.¡±


    The ogre swelled with pride, and Iona wasn¡¯t expecting too much of his intelligence. The Valkyrie didn¡¯t give the council a moment to regain their balance or their momentum. Out-leveling and significantly out-statting them all had its advantages.


    ¡°First order of business. A few of you have skills that are suboptimal. Allfool, please replace your [Plotting, Scheming, Conniving, and Conspiring] skill with something else. I can see you¡¯ve been hard at work on it, but let¡¯s not have any of that here now.¡±


    The goblin looked crestfallen, and Iona almost bought the look. He mimed a full-body nausea spasm, and even managed to vomit on command. His neighbors leaned away from the puddle, the medusa looking like she wanted to murder him for getting puke on her boots.


    ¡°It is done, your most maleficent majesty.¡± He croaked out.


    Iona sighed.


    ¡°Let¡¯s avoid lying to me, shall we?¡± She said, then sprang into motion. Her blade came down on his right hand, severing it in a bloody and bony spray. Her blade sank into the table. Allfool started to scream, started to grab his hand.


    Moving so quickly that she was a blur to everyone else in the room, she grabbed Allfool¡¯s shirt and pants, and heaved him through the window, defenestrating the goblin. He got his scream out as he started to fall, surrounded by shards of broken glass.


    Iona dusted her gauntleted hands off as she strode back to her chair. Only Blacktusk was willing to wander over to the broken window, peering down below with a satisfied nod and vicious smirk.


    ¡°Let¡¯s skip the whole ¡®lying to my face¡¯ thing, yeah?¡± Iona proposed as she sat back down, kicking her feet up onto the table. ¡°Daphne, be a dear and change your [Machiavellian Machinations] skill around. You know the parts I¡¯m talking about, unless you¡¯d like the details aired in public?¡± The System was remarkably responsive to will and desire, and it took weeks to years of effort to improve and upgrade a skill. Making a skill strictly worse was far easier to do, only requiring will and acceptance of the offered downgrade.


    The naga¡¯s poise was incredible. Iona couldn¡¯t get a hint of what she was thinking, which was probably a necessary survival skill in the cutthroat court of Sahel. She did see the skill shift around, and nodded.


    ¡°Excellent work Daphne. Ysmela...¡±


    A few servants discreetly entered the room, bearing snacks and refreshments. Iona scanned them over, and was vaguely amused when she couldn¡¯t tell if the [Assassin] was after her, someone else, or that was simply her class and the job was her role. Either way, she used her skills to tap a blade against the woman¡¯s leg, and shook her head at the woman.


    The Valkyrie didn¡¯t eat or drink at the meeting... and nobody else keeled over dead.


    ¡°The second order of business! I need names. Names of people who are competent in their position, and names of those who are woefully placed. Yes, yes, I know. You¡¯re all going to recommend your allies, and disparage your enemies. Please. You saw what I did to Allfool. Keep the lists short and topical. If yours is wildly different from everyone else¡¯s, I¡¯m going to have... questions.¡±


    Iona deliberately looked to the broken window, the curtains still swaying in the sweltering breeze. The lists came in, and miracle of miracles, the secondary exit wasn¡¯t used at all.


    Iona learned far too much, and not nearly enough at the same time. The moons were rising by the time she was willing to call it quits, having just barely gotten the political, cultural, and economic lay of the land.


    All of her ¡®advisors¡¯ were convinced that riots were going to start any day now as the drugs wore off.


    ===================


    Iona claimed she was going to sleep in one of the smaller rooms. She didn¡¯t want to bother with the no-doubt lethal traps Iya had laid in her own room quite yet. She wasn¡¯t Elaine, she couldn¡¯t see every trap around her with perfect clarity and shake off virtually every method of death.


    Iona closed the doors and windows, stuffed pillows and blankets to look like a lumpy version of herself sleeping on the bed, and gave Blacktusk strict orders.


    ¡°Nobody enters until the sun is fully over the horizon, on pain of death.¡± She told the ogre. Iona didn¡¯t trust him yet, but she literally had to sleep sometime.


    Saying that, she waited under her bed, still in full armor, and waited. She needed to sleep at some point, but she could run a day or two with no sleep, especially if it let her sleep later.


    The first attempt was practically amateur hour. An [Assassin] snuck down the side of the tower outside the window and tried to riddle her mattress with crossbow bolts. A flurry of telekinetically controlled blades sent the assassin plummeting to his death.


    The second one was clearly not working with the first at all, and tried to fill her room with gas. It blew right out the window, but it did make Iona cough and splutter as she exited the room, Blacktusk still dutifully standing guard with two more [Guards]. Iona scanned their skills, but neither of them had a Miasma class, nor did it look like they¡¯d let anyone in.


    The third wasn¡¯t strictly speaking an assassination attempt, but someone managed to lay a mild weakening curse on Iona. It was so weak she wasn¡¯t quite sure what was going on, but eventually worked out that she¡¯d ¡®lost¡¯ only a few thousand of each of her physical stats. Iona could break it with one of Elaine¡¯s gems, but they were a precious resource. She shrugged and figured it wouldn¡¯t hamper her performance in the slightest. Let them wonder.


    The whole night Iona thought. Thought about what she¡¯d learned. Thought about what could go better. Thought about how every piece of the puzzle was assembled, and how fixing one item would lead to a host of new problems, and how to fix those.


    Iona had thrown a brick through a delicate stained-glass window because she didn¡¯t like the picture that was there. Now she was picking up the million shattered shards, and delicately piecing them back together, one at a time, to make a more pleasing picture.

 Chapter 620: Overthrowing the Tyrants XIII

    Bathor held his hands up in triumph as they paraded through Ithil.


    Victory was theirs! The demons, the only real challenge to their rule, had been defeated. The [Demon King¡¯s] head was attached to the front of his chariot, the various arms and armaments paraded behind him, each one raised up on a cloth for everyone to see. He wore golden laurels, and had dispensed with part of the tradition.


    Who needed a slave whispering in his ears that he was only mortal? Bah!


    The crowds cheered at the victors, the surviving members of the 512 joining him in his Triumph. The gaps would need to be replaced and filled, and it was infuriating how much in-fighting was already going on. All they needed to do was cooperate, and everything would be great! Was it asking so much for everyone to put their egos aside for the common good?


    The New Remus Empire was going to stand for ten thousand years under his benevolent dictatorship.


    To start.


    After Auri had left my first career in smoking ruins - quite literally - I decided it was as good of a time as any to quit. Most of the paperwork had been ¡®saved¡¯, and by that I meant I¡¯d liberally [Teleported] almost all of it to the pickup point, but everything else was in ashes. I¡¯d been a [Spy] for a good time, had worked at being a [Scribe] and [Bureaucrat], and the whole thing had been unpleasant enough that a good excuse to leave was welcome.


    I hung out with Auri and Fenrir at first, but the two were a little more bloodthirsty than I was currently comfortable with. Carefully making sure the fields they were burning didn¡¯t have people in it, and robbing caravans was all well and good from a people-harm standpoint, but I couldn¡¯t bring myself to join in.


    ¡°Love you Auri, stay safe.¡± I told my phoenix friend.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡±


    ¡°Fenrir, can¡¯t wait to have a good smoke with you again. Don¡¯t let Auri talk you into bad ideas.¡±


    ¡°BRPT!¡± Auri was hopping from foot to foot in protest. I grinned at her.


    ¡°Am I wroooong?¡± I asked.


    ¡°BRPT!¡±


    ¡°You sure?¡±


    ¡°BRRPT!¡±


    I patted Fenrir¡¯s side.


    ¡°As I said... don¡¯t let her talk you into bad ideas.¡±


    I smiled as the two flew off, and I found myself adrift once again.


    Who was I? What did I want to do? What new challenges could I get to entertain myself?


    The question was simple, the answer easy.


    ¡°How many people can I heal in a day?¡± I wondered. ¡°Can I circle the world? How many large population centers are there?¡±


    I got out a large sheet of paper and a quill.


    I was done being a [Spy]. Why not try being a [Cartographer-Healer] mix?


    I flew up high into the air, and sketched out what I could see of the area on my map, then marked a small x where Edhallon used to be. I flew north to find the coastline, and got to work.


    Healing as many people as I could was all very well and good, but the first step was knowing


    where people were!


    A howling blizzard concealed Fenrir. The [Lord of the Frozen Skies] glided on storm¡¯s wings, Auri cupped delicately in his jaws. The pair of them soared, Fenrir guiding the storm¡¯s direction. He could see through the ferocious blizzard like it wasn¡¯t there, perfect for hunting prey.


    Most of the elves had hunkered down in the face of the unnatural storm, but that didn¡¯t mean too much to Fenrir and Auri. The pair silently dropped on a fortress, the sentries not managing to raise the alarm in time.


    Hundreds died in Fire and Lightning, Lava and Ice.


    There were a few survivors, but the pair wasn¡¯t going to linger, vanishing up into the stormclouds before a response could be mounted.


    The New Remus Empire was hunting them, but [Dragonslayers] were legendary for a reason.


    Nina was practically cackling with her latest operation. There was an innate joy to being a [Trickster], a mischievous streak common to nearly all kitsune. Iona and Elaine had ruthlessly stamped it out of her when it came to being an effective combatant. Wearing disguises and sneaking into places was good for scratching the itch, but Nina had gotten a taste of just how absurd she could go when she didn¡¯t have quite so many self-imposed restrictions.


    It was hilarious to see how elaborate the pranks could get, how wildly outrageous and outlandish, and people still fell for them. Nina was slowly escalating, and to her disbelieving eyes, people were falling for her latest trick, hook, line, and sinker.


    Seriously, if people were this easy to manipulate, what was the point in murdering anyone!? Just declare a [Farmgirl] the new [Queen] and be done with it!


    Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    The newest [Farmboy] she¡¯d picked as a likely candidate was as gullible as a newborn babe. She¡¯d need to train it out of him, but for now, it suited her purposes well. Hopefully he¡¯d be mature enough to accept her explanation when he figured it out or she came clean.


    But honestly. Who believed stuff like this!?


    Nina had been inspired by her adventures in the Han with Iona, and had planted a sword in the stone, along with a description.


    Whoso pulleth out this sword of this stone and anvil, is rightwise king, born of all Rolland.


    Because, you know, it was just that easy. Yank a sword up, get a free crown to go with it! It was roughly as reasonable as ¡®you were born to this person, therefore, you¡¯re the next [Queen]!¡¯


    Nina had various complaints about how Exterreri was run, but at least electing people made more sense than what Rolland was doing. Then again, she was using the gullibility and absurdity of the practice to replace it with her own, so how much complaining could she really do?


    The [Farmboy] was looking around nervously, starting to roll up his sleeve. Nina had all sorts of theatrics planned. Lights. A choir of angels. A dozen doves flying out of a bush.


    ¡°Ahh, I remember the time of creative boredom well.¡± Night said as he stepped out of the shadows. Nina jumped in surprise, cracking her head on a low branch.


    ¡°Ow! Fuck! Night!¡± She hissed at him as she rubbed the top of her head. ¡°What are you doing here!?¡±


    His lips quirked in amusement.


    ¡°Besides entertaining myself by watching your antics? We have determined a time to strike.¡± Night handed Nina a wax-sealed scroll. ¡°Before you ask, yes, it will be staggered. It is intentional. Some of the relationships you have made will be at larger risk than others, and many will choose to stay their hands entirely. I do not blame them, but for every blow struck, the chances of us shattering the blade that the New Remus Empire is attempting to forge increases. Now. I do believe you have one confused boy you must see to.¡±


    Nina twisted her neck around to see the [Farmboy]


    standing there with the sword, looking confused.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± She swore again. She¡¯d entirely missed her timing with the doves! She started to hobble out, taking on her persona. A glance over her shoulder showed nothing but dark forest, Night nowhere to be seen.


    Well, the show must go on! Old lady with most of her marbles... ready, go!


    Nina emerged from the undergrowth, muttering to herself and pretending to check a timepiece, before glancing up at the boy.


    ¡°You¡¯re late, you know?¡±


    Iona¡¯s rule of Sahel hadn¡¯t been going swimmingly, and she had dramatically more respect for [Rulers] than when she¡¯d started. Not that she¡¯d started out thinking particularly poorly about them, but the sheer amount of work and wrangling was impressive.


    She knew exactly why there was an army camped outside the city walls, but Iona was less than thrilled about it. Ruling the city was like trying to herd a thousand wet, angry cats, and the Valkyrie was coming round to the idea that drugging everyone very well might have been the lesser evil, and she¡¯d made a terrible mistake.


    At the same time, Iona firmly believed that the people of Sahel could be more. They didn¡¯t need to be like this. They could strive and rise above their petty feuds and disputes. She thought of them like wet cats, but ten thousand crabs in a bucket was more accurate. One crab alone couldn¡¯t crawl out without the rest pulling him back in, but a fisherman could simply pick up the entire bucket. Iona wanted to be that fisherman, but wasn¡¯t too prideful to admit when she simply didn¡¯t have the strength to do it herself.


    She came in without a strong plan, and it showed. Ruling multiple cities - only one city now - wasn¡¯t something that could be done on a whim, no matter how many letters Skye sent.


    When a letter appeared on a desk in her locked office, Iona was cautious before opening it.


    To Iona, Paragon of the Valkyries, Paladin of the Moons, Dragonslayer extraordinaire, Master of Sahel, etc.


    It is with utmost respect and deference that I, Arachne, take the liberty of writing to you on this matter. I would like to extend my most sincere congratulations at your choice to expand your horizons, and attempt to fix problems from the highest chapel down to the lowest sewers.


    I don¡¯t believe I am overstepping when I say that your attempts have not borne fruit. I have a number of suggestions that will steer you closer to your goal while keeping you on track for your greater goals, all the while not compromising the ethics you hold so dear.


    To sate your curiosity, and to prevent you from skipping ahead too far on the letter, your wife and companion are alive and well. Elaine has gotten dozens of levels and is happily healing, while Fenrir is acquiring a dozen nicknames, most of which involve building up his legend to a terrifying height. Nina is directly under the mentorship of Night. There is a second letter with full details coming your way, but I believe you won¡¯t be separated from them for too much longer.


    First and foremost though, I would ask that you slay the elven observer on the 13th. More precisely, given the rest of the letter, that you arrange his demise to occur at roughly that date. This is the moment we are striking, and the greater chaos that can be sown, the better our chances of success.


    Now, you¡¯ll want to conditionally surrender to the army outside your gates. I will start with the core points you must not yield on, and will continue onto a dozen more points that will provide you with solid leverage and give, such that the invaders are more likely to give you the elements you request. First...


    ...


    All the best,


    Arachne


    Iona memorized the letter, then carefully burned it in the fireplace.


    She felt a bit of guilt over the sheer amount of relief she felt, the letter offering her a way out.


    Artemis wanted to shake her head at the Rangers. Had they ever been this... green and stupid back in the day?


    Unbidden, a thousand memories paraded behind Artemis¡¯s eyes. Yes... yes they had. Usually only the most junior members. The ones that didn¡¯t shape up didn¡¯t live long enough to become senior members. They just required more seasoning, more experience. They¡¯d get there.


    A quick flash of Darkness annihilated a piece of parchment. Artemis was thoroughly spooked at how it had ended up in her pocket without her noticing.


    Artemis clapped her hands, all seven Rangers of Orthus paying attention to their team leader.


    ¡°Alright everyone! Good training today. Tonight we¡¯ve got one more lesson.¡±


    She waited for the question, the question she¡¯d trained them all to ask.


    ¡°What¡¯s the lesson?¡± Nix asked. New recruit, good kid.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad you asked!¡± Artemis said with a beaming smile. ¡°How to hold your beer! To The Stout Woodcutter¡¯s! I¡¯m buying!¡±


    There were flashes of disbelief among the Rangers, followed by cheers. Artemis frowned at them.


    ¡°But wait! What are you all doing? We don¡¯t go drinking in armor. Go! Get changed!¡±


    The Rangers scattered and Artemis strode to the tavern, opening the door with a bang. The Ranger strutted in like she owned the place.


    It wasn¡¯t a particularly nice inn, but it was the only one Orthus had for travelers. The floor was dirt, but all the furniture was new. Simple, sturdy pieces. There hadn¡¯t been the time for the bar to gather a collection of dents, burns, and marks that otherwise gave a place character.


    It wasn¡¯t terribly crowded. Two regulars - the hour was too early for more - a trio of travelers, and a pair of elves, representatives from the New Remus Empire.


    ¡°Bera! I¡¯ll have a Ranger Special, please!¡±


    Bera raised her eyebrow, but poured Artemis her drink. The Ranger grabbed one of the stools at the bar, lifting her mug to everyone.


    ¡°And I¡¯ve had a great day, so the next round¡¯s on me!¡±


    There was a cheer from everyone except one of the elves. The elf got an elbow in the ribs from her partner over her lack of enthusiasm - but it didn¡¯t stop her accepting the free drink when Bera brought it round.


    Artemis downed drink after drink, steadily becoming more generous as time went by. One of the travelers started up a song, and half the inn joined in, Artemis eventually ending up dancing on the table. She collapsed between the two elves, smelling as drunk as a skunk. She threw her arms around her two new best friends. She looked at one with a soppy smile on her face, then the other.


    ¡°Hey...¡± she asked.


    ¡°Yes?¡± One of the elves said.


    Artemis responded with overwhelming violence. Lightning burst out of her hands, [Chain Lightning] bouncing the electricity between both elves. Artemis coated her hands in Darkness and sliced through both of their heads, killing both elves.


    [*ding!* Target Eliminated]


    [*ding!* Target Eliminated]


    The Rangers jumped to their feet as the charred and smoking bodies hit the floor. Artemis jumped onto the table, all traces of her intoxication gone.


    ¡°Constant fucking vigilance!¡± She roared at the Rangers. ¡°This is why you never let down your guard! This is why you never let your enemy get close! A mage gets their hand on you? You¡¯re fucking dead! These two had a higher level than me. Higher stats! They were older, and more experienced! And now they¡¯re fucking dead because they didn¡¯t bother keeping their guard up! The same fucking thing will happen to all of you if you don¡¯t pay attention!¡±


    There was a stunned silence throughout the tavern.


    ¡°Nix.¡± Artemis pointed out the newest Ranger, one who was rapidly sobering up at the situation. ¡°How many drinks have you had, how many drinks have I had?¡±


    Nix squinted, the question seemingly causing him pain.


    ¡°... fewer than you?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Fucking WRONG! I¡¯ve been drinking watered down beer all night! You know why?¡± Artemis pointed at the charred bodies. ¡°Because our FUCKING enemies are right here! Get out, all of you, we¡¯re running drills. Let¡¯s see how you lot handle yourselves while pissed!¡±


    Bera coughed, pointedly looking at the bodies. Artemis rolled her eyes. With a gesture the dirt floor opened up, the bodies vanishing eight feet deep before getting reburied.


    ¡°What are you all still doing here? Move!¡±

 Chapter 621: Overthrowing the Tyrants XIV

    I didn¡¯t need to look at the absolute beauty of a map I¡¯d made, I had it entirely memorized. It still brought me great joy to unroll it and look it over while hovering high in the sky though.


    I¡¯d made this. Myself. With painstaking effort, hours of scribbling and erasing, bottles of ink, multiple sheets of paper, and way too much squinting at the stars. I knew my map was distorted several ways. Hands were only so good for precision measurements against the stars, and my map was on a flat piece of paper, not a globe.


    It was ugly, it was mine, and it was beautiful. Once life was a little more stable I was going to get a very nice leather roll and redraw it. Then hang it in my reading room in the [Manor].


    I was so fucking done with this war nonsense. Why couldn¡¯t people just leave well enough alone!? The sacred art of not bothering other people didn¡¯t get nearly enough love and attention.


    I scanned the map again, trying to work out my route for the week. I¡¯d worked out the fastest way to heal the most people a while ago, but doing the same thing again and again had gotten boring, fast. Now I was looking for creative paths, after having just finished a round of ¡®all the people I usually miss.¡¯ I wondered... could I draw out a picture of a phoenix? If I went there first... then looped around... the whole thing kinda looked like a twisted phoenix. If I was drunk. With a head injury.


    But eh, it was different! A new, different route. I got itchy when things were too samey. Day to day it was usually fine. A routine, people I knew and loved. Flying was always great, no matter where I was going. Needing to fly the exact same route? I had no good explanation for why that was boring me, and my need for something a little different.


    My route set, I tamed my hair into a ponytail and went off flying again. The wind in my hair, a mission of mercy... I almost wanted to ask myself ¡®what more could I want¡¯, but that list was very, very long. Iona by my side, Auri on my shoulders. Fenrir around. No need for my travels. A safe home, a full pantry, a shelf of good books. A grove of mango trees, plans to meet my friends... there was a lot I wanted.


    I ignored the blinking light the first time I saw it. The fifth time it flashed directly at me I changed course and landed. There were a number of elvenoids scurrying around from all different races. Arachne was off to the side, in a shaded tent under an umbrella, and she caught my eye. I flew over to her, ignoring and being ignored by everyone else. A snap of her fingers encased us in her threads, granting us privacy.


    ¡°Arachne!¡± I was delighted to see her at last. ¡°How are you?¡±


    She slowly smiled.


    ¡°I¡¯m doing well. We were a little concerned after Edhallon went up in flames and you were nowhere to be found.¡±


    I snorted.


    ¡°I¡¯m immune to fire, ridiculously difficult to kill and you must¡¯ve gotten the documents I teleported down to the pickup point. What was there to worry about?¡±


    Arachne arched an eyebrow at me.


    ¡°Besides you completely vanishing after? Come on, Elaine, you¡¯re smarter than that. You know the sort of effect simply disappearing has. You know what people will think. This is basic, first-order thinking we discussed and trained!¡±


    I groaned. I don¡¯t think either of us had wanted the conversation to go in this direction.


    ¡°You¡¯re right, you¡¯re right. Sorry, my bad. I assume you wanted to talk to me for a reason?¡±


    Arachne nodded.


    ¡°Yes. We¡¯re about to directly attack the New Remus Empire and finish this once and for all. I¡¯d like to extend an invitation for you to participate, if you think you¡¯re capable of seeing sides in this conflict. The assault is tomorrow.¡±


    Arachne sent me a pointed look. Yeah... anyone knowing me had to see my hand in things when I interfered with fights between the New Remus Empire and the demons, let alone a [Thinker] of her caliber. If I decided ¡®nobody would die¡¯ during the battle to overthrow the New Remus Empire, it¡¯d get ugly. I didn¡¯t want to come out and claim nobody would die in the end, but it would suddenly get a lot more complicated.


    ¡°Yes, I can.¡± I said. Arachne had just berated me for not thinking ahead properly, and I wasn¡¯t flying around without a thought anymore. ¡°Who¡¯s involved, and what happens next?¡±


    Arachne sighed and looked up to the sky, wringing her hands in frustration.


    ¡°The full details of the coalition would bore you.¡± She said. ¡°We reached out to a large number of people we believed would be interested in seeing the New Remus Empire fall. About half of them were willing to work together. The other half are sitting out, either because we couldn¡¯t come to an arrangement with the rest of the coalition, because they think they can strike to gain their own advantage in the chaos, or for one of a dozen other reasons. As for what happens next... that was an area where there are too many people, egos, and agendas. We¡¯ve agreed on only a few things. First, the New Remus Empire must fall. Second, no direct violence against people wearing red headbands during the assault. Third, we must all be eight miles away from the center of the city come the first dawn after the members of the 512 and the leadership are dead. After that, it¡¯s going to get messy.¡±


    Those were some slim rules of engagement. Nothing about helping each other, supporting each other. Nothing about civilians. I¡¯d seen what happened when angry armies sacked a city all too often in the Han, and the situation Arachne was describing was going to be a bloodbath. If it was just the remnants of the Sentinels and Exterreri I could believe that maybe it¡¯d all turn out decent - not good but not ¡®oh god I have 512 years of nightmare fuel¡¯ bad - but dozens of different groups and people? My imagination was already running wild, and I knew, just knew, that I¡¯d encounter stuff even worse than what I thought.


    ¡°That... is unfortunate.¡± I said. Arachne knew I knew, and... yeah I wasn¡¯t going to get into that with a [Thinker]. We were all on the same wavelength.


    ¡°On the unfortunate topic, some of our so-called allies have decided to thoroughly hunt everything nearby. They¡¯ve got all sorts of spurious claims why, but it¡¯s clear they¡¯re hitting our blood supply, and not too many people are willing to donate a pint. Mind sharing?¡± Arachne asked.


    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    I shrugged. I¡¯d come a long way from worrying about Night draining me dry.


    ¡°Sure, got a bowl? I¡¯m pretty sure you know where all my friends and family are. Can you send them a message from me, asking everyone to regroup and come home?¡±


    ¡°Naturally.¡± Arachne paused half a second, then continued. ¡°The letters are on their way now.¡±


    ¡°Thanks Arachne! You¡¯re the best. By the way, where¡¯s Night?¡± I assumed the vampire would be here for the big event. Arachne flashed me her fangs, mischief in her eyes.


    ¡°Need-to-know.¡± She said.


    I groaned.


    There was a big speech the next morning. I hadn¡¯t quite realized just how many Classers would be here, from all over the world, from all walks of life. An ancient oak treant was strangely reassuring. They were cursed to slowly deliberate over decisions, and one being here was a mark of how serious the issue was - even elvenoids that usually didn¡¯t engage in nation building had a bone to pick! The only person taller than the treant was a [Templar]


    ice giant from Modu. Elves from all three pre-war nations were assembled in ranks, and it looked like at least half the demon king¡¯s army had defected over to our side. I¡¯d never seen a devil armed for war outside the courtroom in the modern era, but a half-dozen made up a squad. Then there were almost fifty people like me, former mortals who¡¯d seized Immortality with their own hands.


    I wondered if any of the gems I made and sold had ended up in their hands?


    Either way, the vampires who¡¯d made it were off to the side, practically hiding. I recognized a few of my friends! Invincible had survived everything, and Skater was there. Depths was bopping her head at a curious squirrel, and Legion was a fake, but clearly around. I¡¯d heard Calamity had died, Queen was doing her own ruling thing, and Tyrannus, Flood, and Calm were alive, but not showing up. Their skillsets weren¡¯t the best for this type of assault... if they were even in a position to attend. A number of other Sentinels were here, but the known death toll simply among that group and their teams was going to be worth an entire obelisk on their own.


    The number of Rangers I knew that were confirmed dead was going to be another five.


    I shook my head, trying to get the morose thoughts out. Today was about life. About saving as many people as I reasonably could. I wandered over to my friends and sometimes co-workers, the only group I was sure wasn¡¯t going to try and stab me in the back in all the chaos.


    A dozen people got up on a makeshift stage, as low-level elvenoids started wandering through the crowd with a basket of red headbands.


    There was some minor bickering up front, before one of the elves stepped forward and started his speech.


    ¡°A hundred arcs that all of them give a speech.¡± I muttered to Skater. She snorted.


    ¡°I¡¯m not taking a sucker¡¯s bet like that. Two hundred at least one of them gives two speeches.¡±


    I weighed the chances of that when Legion smoothly came in.


    ¡°Five hundred that we don¡¯t leave before noon.¡±


    ¡°What did I just say about not taking sucker¡¯s bets?¡± Skater joked. One of the people handing out headbands arrived, and we all took ours, putting them over our heads. Legion simply added an illusion to his projection.


    ¡°You know, there¡¯s plenty of people who can see through illusions, and who¡¯ll get the wrong idea if your actual body doesn¡¯t have a red headband on it.¡± I pointed out to the trickster.


    Legion grumbled, but added a real headband.


    ¡°It¡¯s going to be damn sunny out, it¡¯s not like most of us can be directly involved.¡± He complained. I shrugged.


    ¡°Sure, but it¡¯s literally your funeral.¡±


    I was going full steam on [Luminary Mind], every thought process working as hard as it could. I went over my image, working on tweaking it as finely as I could. I couldn¡¯t do sides, equipment, or anything like that. My image worked off of my knowledge and will, what biology I wished to fix and what I was ignoring. The low level, simplistic version wasn¡¯t good enough. ¡®Heal everyone, exclude the elves from the image¡¯ wasn¡¯t up to my standards. I was better than that.


    The next layer included kids. No child was a member of the 512, and I wasn¡¯t going to let them become collateral. Teenagers and puberty is where it started to get tricky.


    Where was I drawing the line? How developed was a teenage elf before my healing image declared them an adult? I couldn¡¯t exactly say ¡®over 20 they¡¯re an adult, under 20 they¡¯re off limits¡¯, my images didn¡¯t work like that. I had to give it a specific stage, a particular cutoff. How old was an elf allowed to be, before I allowed them to die?


    If I put the line too low, I was damning thousands, if not tens of thousands, of kids to die. If I put the line too high, if I pushed it too far, I was entirely negating the assault, turning it into a slap fight where the city burned to the ground, but everyone picked up and went home at the end of the day. Tempers were already flaring, and it was the day of the big attack. How impossible would it be to try this again?


    That assumed I survived, and a thousand irate Classers didn¡¯t focus on putting me down.


    I hated war. I hated having to think of this. I wanted to just say ¡®fuck this all, nobody dies¡¯, but the New Remus Empire was forcing everyone to pay tribute on pain of executing one in eight people. One of my thought processes protested. Wasn¡¯t this analysis a violation of my [Oath]


    ? Hadn¡¯t I sworn to heal everyone, regardless of religion or creed?


    But I did heal everyone. It got murky and complex in a war, and while lily-white aspirations were nice, they were getting the mud of reality on them. If I didn¡¯t go? The city was going to be viciously and violently sacked. Sure, I could try to disclaim any responsibility - I hadn¡¯t done it in the end - but I had the power and ability to act, and I was going to.


    Healing everyone blindly had the same issue. I¡¯d just make a mess of things, and I¡¯d get to smugly pat myself on the back as everything got worse for everyone. That was no good either.


    I was going to get down in the mud, and make the hard decisions. It was where I could do the most good. The image I was constructing, after all, was simply one layer of my healing. While I was there, while I could see with my own eyes what was happening, I could and I would extend additional skills and healing to the civilians I saw, all while doing what I could to protect them.


    There was the story of the starfish. One day a big storm came in, and when it receded, the beach was filled with tens of thousands of starfish, as far as the eye could see. They were going to die soon, either dried out or eaten by birds. An old man went walking by the beach, only to see a young girl throwing starfish back into the water.


    ¡°Why are you throwing the starfish back? You can¡¯t possibly get even a small fraction of them back into the water.¡± the old man said.


    The young girl picked up a starfish and hurled it back into the water.


    ¡°It mattered for that one!¡±


    It wasn¡¯t on the scale of a city, it wasn¡¯t on the scale of a nation, but for every starfish I found and threw back into the ocean? It would matter to them.


    I settled on the line being a few months before the end of puberty on four separate traits, out of several dozen identified.


    The next nightmare I had to tackle - pregnant women. I was strongly considering general amnesty, even though at least four members of the 512 were known to be heavily pregnant.


    Fuck.


    I hated war.


    Legion had been right - it was well past noon by the time we all got moving, and half the reason we finally got off our asses were the demons simply leaving to attack, letting the rest of us scramble to catch up.


    Sara was six, and on an outing with her parents to buy new shoes! She was outgrowing her old ones, and they were starting to pinch the elf¡¯s foot. She didn¡¯t even get to see her life change forever. One moment she was walking with her parents, holding both their hands, and the next she was flipping high through the air, blood all over her body. Two sprays each from her parents being murdered next to her, so quickly she¡¯d been spared the sight entirely, and a puke of blood all down the front of her shirt when she¡¯d been cruelly punted into the sky. The blow should have killed her, but miracles abounded. No children were dying in the sudden, unprovoked assault on Ithil.


    The pain hit Sara a moment later, a brief ripple of agony that had her screaming. Then she realized she was falling through the air, and her screams redoubled. Fire and smoke were already concealing the city, and she couldn¡¯t do anything about her spinning through the air.


    ¡°Mommy!¡± She screamed out. ¡°Daddyyyyy!!¡±


    Sara fell on the high-rise wires that the most agile Classers used to zip between the skyscrapers of Ithil. It ripped through her body, healing as quickly as she was hurt, and Sara wasn¡¯t slowed in the slightest as she fell. Behind her, a dozen wires snapped and whiplashed across the city as a building fell.


    Sara continued to scream in fear, pain, and confusion, bouncing off the side of a building with a crack as bones broke and reformed. She didn¡¯t have a thought for why, or how, just that she was scared, and wanted her parents.


    Sara landed with a sickening twack of terminal meat on concrete. She curled up and cried, her entire world overturned in an instant. Her parent¡¯s lessons came to her.


    Find an adult. Tell them your name, where you live.


    Sara realized nobody was coming for her. Nobody was going to help. She picked herself up off the alley floor, her dress ruined, and hesitantly started to walk to the big street.


    She scurried back down the alley as three people barged in on the end. Two big scary-looking men had red headbands, and they were taunting and sneering at a woman they were pushing in.


    ¡°Oh, this one¡¯s going to be so much fun.¡± The first one said as he ripped at her dress.


    ¡°Yeah, she-¡± The second one started to say something, but a blinding flash of light had Sara covering her eyes. A short woman with a red headband was looking down on the two bodies with a disgusted look on her face. They didn¡¯t have heads anymore, just charred and smoking necks. The woman scuttled back, but Sara ran forward, stopping right in front of the lady. She cleared her throat, and tried to remember what she needed to say.


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯m Sara, and I live at 15 Willow Lane, Apartment 2. Can you help me?¡±


    The lady knelt down in front of Sara. Was... was she crying? Was she lost as well?


    ¡°Hi Sara. I¡¯m Elaine. Let me see what I can do.¡±

 Chapter 622: Overthrowing the Tyrants XV

    The coalition was trying to capture the city vaguely intact, and the echoes of the Cataclysm had us all agreeing that we weren¡¯t going to simply drop a few huge skills on Ithil and wipe it off the face of Pallos. The charitable part of me thought it spoke to elvenoid¡¯s better nature. The cynic in me said the leaders wanted to make sure we caught and killed the New Remus Empire leadership.


    The coalition bombarded the city with a few huge skills. Several [Mages] with a mix of [Channel], [Trigger], or just absurdly powerful skills charged up from a distance. Our presence wasn¡¯t unknown, and the wards around Ithil were up, powerful, and glowing, making the place look like it was in a golden snowglobe.


    Then the shields flickered and failed with no obvious input from our end, and the mages released their magic. With a trio of sharp cracks, boulders the size of my cottage snapped into the buildings, knocking them over like pins. Lightning, thicker than I was and stretching for miles, tore through the city, snapping around wildly like a whip. Plants erupted around the city walls, then promptly withered and died. From the thunderous look on an elf¡¯s face, he¡¯d been thoroughly countered and was mad about it. A multicolored beam of every element was fired from one last elf [Mage], and I did a double take. How did he do that!? I missed Iona, I wish she could glance around at all the cool skills and whisper their secrets into my ear.


    Smoke was already rising from Ithil. I didn¡¯t receive a single kill notification, and I sent a silent thanks to the System for not considering me part of this army. I didn¡¯t think I was one of them, and the System reflected that.


    ¡°Charge!¡± ¡°Go!¡± ¡°Onwards!¡±


    I refrained from rolling my eyes as the various coalition leaders issued their orders at the same time, each urging their faction onward. I glanced over to Arachne, clearly communicating my desire for an order from her, since that sort of thing would matter for her coming political struggles. She lazily gestured with one hand, not bothering to get up.


    The spider always did her best work from a distance, after all, and I was certain the wards failing was entirely her doing.


    I decided it wasn¡¯t a race, and I didn¡¯t need to stamp on egos, and let others claim the ¡®glory¡¯ of being the first in. At which point, the entire thing devolved into predictable chaos.


    Xaoc would feast today.


    Thick smoke mixed with Mist and Ash quickly enveloped the city, cutting most people¡¯s perceptions all the way down. Rubble was everywhere, and war cries mixed with terrified screams. I could see where auras were clashing against each other, Steam erupting as a Water and Fire domain mixed, silvery smoke billowing from a cleansing domain hitting a Decay aura. A million bugs exploded into motion everywhere I could see. From swarms darkening the skies, to cockroaches suddenly acting unnaturally, butterflies carrying spiders and a million more, a powerful Classer was at work. I nearly got distracted - how were they doing that!? I suppose controlling something without a System was trivial in terms of mana spent, especially that small, but the sheer number and multitasking... I thought [Luminary Mind] was an amazing skill for thinking several things at once, but this had to be an entire class worth of skills. I wish Iona were here, she could spot the Classer and sate my desire for knowledge.


    There was an ever-present flicker of black wings out of the corner of my eye. Ebony feathers flickered in my gaze, none of them present to [The World Around Me].


    I didn¡¯t dare for a second think they weren¡¯t real though. They simply weren¡¯t part of the material plane.


    Black Crow was feasting, his grim claws reaping a bloody harvest.


    I walked in with my head on a swivel, looking for things I could do, people I could help. Red-banded coalition members clashed with [Soldiers] and [Guards], and I almost entirely ignored the fight. My healing was up, and the people involved knew what they were getting into. I threaded through their line, ignored the challenges, and faded deeper into the city, seeing what I could do, where I could help.


    The actions of everyone else in the coalition were pissing me off immensely.


    I was working very, very hard to keep in control. I was seeing red, and I wanted to lash out at everyone involved, not just the people I could. I was ignoring the threads on the ground.


    I understood the mission. I got why some of the attackers were taking out their anger on property, and I was side-eyeing the looters and thieves who didn¡¯t seem to care about the mission, instead grabbing as many valuables as they could for themselves.


    Fine. I hated it, but I could live with it.


    It was the rest of it that I couldn¡¯t turn a blind eye to. Attacking civilians? Torturing them? No, fuck that. Promises made before the battle or not, I wasn¡¯t going to ignore it, damn the consequences.


    The 512 hadn¡¯t gone out with a bang, they died with a whimper. A thousand and twenty four sneaky assaults and plots had undermined them something fierce before they¡¯d gotten the proper groundwork done. Rumor had it that nearly a quarter of them had died last night from poison, and another third had been out of the city on various errands. Problems had erupted all over the New Remus Empire, demanding their attention. It wouldn¡¯t matter if they survived. Too much of the leadership structure was going to die, too much of the Empire was being dismantled.


    A beam of Radiance tore through one of the main streets at chest height, the thick stench of pork filling the air as hundreds of lives were abruptly - nope. I had something to say about it, and there might be an enemy combatant there, but if there was, fucking hit only them. I moved on, only getting a few steps before the next problem emerged.


    I thought ¡®impaling babies on swords¡¯ was storybook villain tier nonsense, not something people actually fucking did. Fuck.


    I stepped into an alley, blasting two more elves at point-blank range. We were here to overthrow the New Remus Empire, not take revenge.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve slain an enemy.]


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve slain an enemy.]


    The woman they¡¯d tried to victimize fled. A small girl was trembling at the end of the alley, her clothes freshly torn to shreds, dirt smearing her face. The alley had a kid-sized impact in it, and I knew how fast a body had to be going to leave a mark on concrete. She was the poster child for why I¡¯d so carefully kept my healing up on kids. The girl ran up and introduced herself, trembling like a leaf in a hurricane.


    ¡°Come here.¡± I said, holding out my hand. She shyly looked around, like her parents would just pop up from around a corner. She was moving so slowly compared to the speed that everything else was happening, and I didn¡¯t have the time to properly coax her without scaring her. I suppressed a sigh, and fired off three more [Radiance Beams], aiming two of them to be non-lethal takedowns, a warning shot before I had to do something more drastic. One of them burnt through a devil¡¯s wings. It was immediately healed up, but the soldier jumped backwards, abandoning his attack in the favor of self-preservation. The second devil had a metallic kite shield flicker into existence an inch from his body, absorbing my beam. Unharmed, he backed off as well.


    There was no warning shot for the third Immortal, a gnoll.


    I didn¡¯t want to deal with getting the life stories from the notifications. I had enough on my soul already, I just needed the confirmation I¡¯d succeeded.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve slain an enemy.]


    An arrow silently came for my head from my blind spot. I snapped up a dusk aspect of [Mantle], intercepting the arrow right before it brained me. Sara was bowled forward a moment later when the wind blast caught up to us, but I was able to righten us.


    I fired off three more [Radiance Beams], then summoned [Featherstorm], split it in two, and had them rush through a building each.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve slain an enemy.]


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve slain an enemy.]


    One of the attackers didn¡¯t get the hint.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve slain an enemy.]


    Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.


    And great, I was starting to get looks from the other red headbands. This was ugly, and it was only going to get uglier as time went on. The archer tried three more arrows, then gave up. No idea which faction the sniper was from, but if he was shooting at me, he wasn¡¯t shooting at civilians. One elf with a red headband was dragging another out of Ithil, ranting about how mom had always said his friends were no good, how could he let them drag him into this, and that mom was so mad at him.


    Naturally, I¡¯d scared Sara with my little lightshow. I smiled gently again and knelt down, offering her my hand.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get you back home, okay?¡± I asked as reassuringly as I could. She nodded and stepped forward, taking my hand. We walked out of the alley together, agonizingly slowly, and I found I needed to fire off two more [Radiance Beams], both of them melting through walls to reach their target.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve slain an enemy.]


    [*


    ding!* You¡¯ve slain an enemy.]


    In the time it took us to walk to the end of the alley, the street had become a bloody warzone. Quite literally. A swarm of horrific shadow beasts were purely illusionary, and I ignored them. Sara screamed in terror and started to bury her face in my tunic.


    Right. Couldn¡¯t entirely ignore them.


    A flash of [A Light Shining in the Darkness] deleted all of them, and I locked eyes with the Classer responsible. Violent sparks were practically shooting off with our contact, but he turned away with a huff, and resummoned his ¡®monsters¡¯ to go off in another direction.


    I knelt down next to Sara again, taking off my red headband.


    I didn¡¯t care if it got me attacked more, I was disgusted to be associated with them.


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s a little scary out there, do you mind if I put this over your eyes and carry you on my shoulders?¡± I asked, patiently waiting for an answer. A house went tumbling far overhead.


    Sara looked down as she chewed furiously on her lip.


    ¡°Okay.¡± She said quietly. I looped the headband around on itself and put it over Sara¡¯s head like a blindfold. I then hoisted her up onto my shoulders, and could feel her hands grabbing on the air above my head. Two powerful [Warriors] clashed in the sky above, their clashing blades creating shockwaves strong enough to shatter glass. I had to work overtime with my [Mantle] to stop Sara getting battered more, and they were getting dirty looks from the rest of the red headbands. We¡¯d explicitly wanted to not have this happen. A [Mage] teleported in between them as they locked blades once again, and with a bolt of Darkness, both were slain. The [Mage] teleported out instantly, there for less than a second.


    ¡°But WAIT!¡± She cried out. I paused, narrowing my eyes at a devil who looked like he was going to attack me. He did a double-take at a System notification - probably [Identify] - and moved on. All in the space of Sara¡¯s words. ¡°You don¡¯t have any horns, how am I supposed to grab on?¡±


    I patted her leg I was holding.


    ¡°I won¡¯t let you fall, and if you need to grab onto something, grab onto my hair.¡± I offered. A pair of tiny hands dug into my hair and grabbed on tightly, and I continued to do what little good I could in this corner of the city.


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve slain an enemy.]


    [*ding!* You¡¯ve slain an enemy.]


    I ignored a demon encased in a block of Ice, blood dripping from his face. It wasn¡¯t his.


    ¡°Free me!¡± He roared. ¡°I have more meek rabbits to slaughter!¡±


    No. Just... fuck you.


    A half-dozen elves with red headbands squared up against me, and I found myself reevaluating my plans. The responsibility of the small presence on my shoulders was far heavier than her weight. I opened up [Portcullis], and started to talk with the elves.


    ¡°Pardon me, let me place the audience out of harm¡¯s way before we begin.¡±


    I chained several [Teleports] together, my mind racing at a thousand miles an hour. In no time at all, Sara was tucked into a fluffy chair, wrapped in a blanket, with hot chocolate and a triangle-cut sandwich. She blinked in confusion. One moment ago she¡¯d been on my shoulders in the street, the next she was deep in my [Manor], the blindfold tucked into my waist. I wasn¡¯t sure I could stomach wearing the flag.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go find your parents and your place while you wait here, okay?¡± I asked, mentally berating myself. ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I don¡¯t have any toys, dolls, or picture books. I¡¯ve got a few stories, but they might be a little too tricky for you.¡± I supposed I did have a number of balls, but they were more ¡®heavy duty industrial¡¯ balls, less kid-friendly. In her shoes, I wouldn¡¯t want to have a ball. She didn¡¯t need a high energy activity, she needed chill, calming things.


    Sara¡¯s presence was a spotlight into a hole in my collection. Something to fix in the future.


    I chained a pair of [Teleports] to get back out of [Manor], slamming [Portcullis] shut on one of the elves who¡¯d tried to walk in. Just missed his fingers, drat.


    I settled down into a fighting stance, glancing between the elves. I didn¡¯t need to, but they weren¡¯t attacking civilians. If I could posture and talk my way out of this, I would. I¡¯d taken enough lives today.


    ¡°Is there a problem?¡± I asked the six. Swords and spears were out, and I could sense a number of stone fragments floating behind two of the elves, obvious [Spellblades]


    .


    ¡°You¡¯re not wearing a red headband anymore.¡± One of the elves pointed out. I curtly nodded.


    ¡°Again - is that going to be an issue?¡± I asked. Sentinel Invincible turned the corner a moment later, striding down the street. The massive troll had layers of capes coating his armor, and I¡¯d finally gotten Iona to spill the beans on what his secret was one cold winter night.


    ¡°Leave. You¡¯re not wanted here.¡± One of the elves said. I huffed and rolled my eyes.


    ¡°Seriously? That¡¯s what you¡¯re going with? What are you, sixteen?¡± I said. A great aurora briefly filled the sky, before a black and white braided beam pierced through it, dispersing the skill entirely.


    I pointed my finger and fired off another [Radiance Beam]. Not at the idiots, they weren¡¯t doing anything. A berserk golem was attacking everyone, and the sooner it was put down, the happier we¡¯d all be. My precision attack hit a few critical runes, and the whole thing shut down.


    The elves flinched at the sudden light and heat. My [Radiance Beams] were tightly controlled, but they were so hot that even the minor bleed-off was enough to feel like stepping into an oven.


    ¡°That¡¯s how you do it. Now, are you going to join your friends in an early grave, or are you going to walk the fuck away?¡±


    Invincible loomed up behind me a moment later, clasping his enormous hand on my shoulder. A horrifying, piercing shriek erupted through the city, vibrating my bones and shattering every glass and crystal I could sense in a fierce wave of destruction. It cut out with a loud crack. With so much chaos going on, I was a little surprised I was being picked on.


    ¡°Why don¡¯t you boys and girls let me handle this?¡± The troll asked. ¡°She¡¯s one of ours anyway.¡±


    ¡°You better!¡± One of them spat, then the six scurried off into a dead-end alley. It had gotten turned into a lake of Lava. They darted back out of the alley, flashed a rude hand gesture towards us, then scurried down a different road. I sighed, hoping my little show would scare them off anything particularly unwise.


    ¡°Hi Invincible, how¡¯s it going?¡± I asked, remembering my manners. A trio of devils were flying over the city, dropping various potions and alchemical concoctions down on us all. I zapped a dozen vials heading vaguely in my direction, I didn¡¯t want to play with whatever nonsense was going on with them.


    The troll grunted at me, spinning me slightly so we could look and talk at each other.


    ¡°Dawn. Arachne wants to know what you¡¯re doing.¡± Invincible said. I stared at the blank helmet, sealed so tightly not a ray of sunlight could get through. I teleported out a book from my [Manor] storage, and started to teleport it between my hands. Just casually. One hand, then the next. Invincible was one of the few Sentinels who could probably take me in a fight, or at least draw with me, and I suspected that was one of the reasons he was sent, over the speedier Skater. Maybe I was reading a little too much into Arachne. Or maybe she was reading me perfectly, and knew that there was no risk of a conflict between the two of us, because I¡¯d demonstrate that such a conflict was futile. Or maybe I was hitting team cohesion hard. Then again, I was already hitting team cohesion by deciding to fight problems wherever I saw them.


    ¡°Making sure I can sleep at night.¡±


    Invincible thought about that for a moment as I continued to teleport the book between my hands. I hated doing it, but I was not going to be stopped. A small section of the sky split open, and divine light came down on the far side of the city, a precision smite. I triple-checked my healing - if the gods were starting to put their thumbs on the scale, I wanted to be prepared.


    ¡°Things don¡¯t stop being wrong just because they¡¯re not happening to us or our people. If this was Sanguino, or any other city in Exterreri, you¡¯d be joining me in dispensing justice. I¡¯m not going to see the people living here as ¡®the enemy¡¯, and I¡¯m not going to stand by while others commit atrocities!¡±


    Invincible nodded and patted me on the shoulder.


    ¡°Keep that spark.¡± His voice was like rolling rocks, and his tusks looked vicious. ¡°Don¡¯t let anyone take it from you. I believe the final confrontation is about to go down at the capitol building.¡±


    I relaxed at his words. I wouldn¡¯t need to fight Invincible. Now I felt absolutely terrible about vaguely threatening him, I had to figure out a way to make it up to him. It wasn¡¯t going to be quick or easy.


    His secret to being able to ¡®stand¡¯ in the sunlight was hilarious, in my opinion. A masterfully crafted deception.


    Invincible was a troll, and the touch of sunlight was fatal to him. He clad himself in adamantium armor... and skipped on the armor skill. Adamantium was the next best thing to indestructible, and his own innate regeneration fixed any blows that made it through. Nobody tried to directly impact armor on a [Warrior], there was no point to it. Given how armor, armor skills, sunlight, and the troll¡¯s curse interplayed, his armor acted like shade, since he wasn¡¯t extending his vitality to it. Letting the sun-cursed troll walk around in broad daylight.


    Best damn smoke and mirror I¡¯d seen in a long time.


    Of course, once the secret was out, it would be trivial to fight Invincible. His helmet would be super easy to teleport off his head, at which point he¡¯d turn to stone. Hence my little threat with the book.


    Iona knew. I knew.


    And I let Invincible know I knew.


    I wanted to believe he wouldn¡¯t take action against me anyway, but there was no telling in all the chaos. A subtle threat had me feeling terrible, but I could continue what I was doing. I still felt terrible about it all.


    We made our way to the capitol building. A raging inferno of cursed Pyronox was getting larger every time water was added. A large explosion started in a market square, but another skill mostly froze the boom. The explosion was still occurring, but in slow motion, like a flower slowly unfurling in amber. A fascinating study any other day. All of the smoke and haze in the air was slowly coalescing into a gigantic bat in the sky, some vampire Classer or another shading the entire city for my allies. Thick clusters of Spores started to float through the air, and everyone I could sense in the area piled onto the Classer responsible hard, Invincible himself starting to run in that direction before realizing the Classer was dead. I wasn¡¯t the only member of the coalition attacking other red headbands!


    The wards around the place were strong, a single Brilliance [Barrier Mage] over level 3000 single-handedly running them. It took several dozen Classers a minute to bring them down, the [Mage] fleeing at the last second. Good for him! A few idiots went and chased him, but I wasn¡¯t too fussed. I wasn¡¯t sure who¡¯d won the ¡®race¡¯ between the ward-breakers and the brutes just bashing the shields, but it didn¡¯t matter too much to me. I raced in with everyone else, mentally shifting my healing a bit. There were a half-dozen animal companions, and I modified my healing to include jaguars, lemurs, and a sarcosuchus, among others. I side-eyed the demon who was on the same wavelength as a gigantic crocodile.


    The final doors were flung open into a pitch-black chamber. Something was obscuring even [The World Around Me], and I teleported a sword out of [Manor] into my hands, just in case. I hoped Sara was doing alright. It had only been a few minutes, hopefully she was still working on her sandwich.


    A brazier lit near the door with red flames. Then orange flames deeper in. Yellow, green twice, blue, purple twice. The room was nearly fully lit before the final black flames erupted.


    Night was sitting at the end of the room, eight heads on pikes in front of him. His smile was full of fangs as he grinned at all of us.


    ¡°Welcome! Glad you could finally join us.¡±


    There was a collective flinch from the group. Only Invincible, myself, and a few other former Sentinels didn¡¯t flinch. We strode forward.


    ¡°I believe there is much to discuss.¡±

 Chapter 623: Bloodhound

    Night held everyone¡¯s captivated attention. His grisly display, along with the casual ease in which he¡¯d managed to slip by everyone and kill so many powerful Classers without anyone noticing, then managing to set everything up, sent a powerful message.


    The way so many people flinched when they saw him was another message, namely one for the younger Immortals here.


    ¡®This man is powerful.¡¯ ¡®This vampire is dangerous.¡¯


    My lessons with Arachne were really paying off. Night held all of us captive with the display and force of personality, and nobody said a word during his speech. Not a whisper, not a murmur, heck, some people weren¡¯t even breathing!


    I knew I wasn¡¯t the target of his presence, but even I was standing up straight, listening, and more than a little intimidated - and I knew he was on my side! Or, err... let¡¯s be real, I was on his side. Arachne¡¯s threads started to worm their way into the room, spreading out all over. I¡¯d seen how she could fight at a distance. If anyone tried to move on Night, they¡¯d be in for a nasty surprise.


    Four of Night¡¯s teammates peeled themselves away from the crowd, and stood next to him.


    ¡°Today, we have overthrown the New Remus Empire, those who would dominate the entire world. Elves who would claim dominion over each of us. I would like to say that tomorrow, we will make a better world, but I have not come here to lie to you all. Instead, I would like to invite you all to join me a year and a day from now in Ginza, to help forge a treaty to shape the new era.¡±


    Halfway through Night¡¯s speech, Arachne¡¯s threads rearranged themselves next to me. For emphasis, she tapped me a few times on my toes. Which... fair enough, I had done my fair share of ignoring her messages earlier.


    Dawn. The coalition is going to ask for your head on a pike, next to my dear husband¡¯s handiwork. I¡¯m going to try and spin a story about your [Loremaster] training coming into play to prevent a Guardian coming down on us all, but I doubt it¡¯ll work. Casualty percentages are too low. We can¡¯t properly protect you. There are too many of them, and not enough of us, and trying armed resistance will just end with all of us dead. Night can only stall them so much. I strongly recommend you quietly and brisky get out of there NOW. We will have a debrief later, if you¡¯re willing and able to attend. It¡¯d be fairly risky for you. I¡¯ll let you decide if you want to come or not, we can do a private debrief later if you don¡¯t want to.


    I didn¡¯t want to run away. I didn¡¯t want to leave people¡¯s fates to the sacking army. At the same time, Night¡¯s speech was turning to the rules we¡¯d agreed on, and making a strong case that it was time we all left the city. A good number of the people here seem inclined to follow his suggestion. A solid third of the elves wanted to step into the rulership vacuum that had recently emerged in Ithil and the rest of the Tympestshard Council. A number of Immortals were satisfied that the job was done, and they could go home and stop being bothered by the New Remus Empire. There was still a sizable fraction of people who probably wanted to continue sacking the city, but the elves who wanted to live in this place now would probably object, and the tides were shifting.


    Mission over. I immediately shifted my healing to everyone, no longer excluding certain elves. I couldn¡¯t see the impact immediately in the room I was in - I¡¯d been healing elves I¡¯d seen with injuries for as long as I¡¯d been in Ithil. The impact would ripple through the city. From broken bones to slowly bleeding injuries, from blunt force trauma to sword slashes, from the smallest stubbed toe to elves breathing their last, everyone was instantly healed.


    I also popped my [Greater Invisibility] rune and immediately chained several dozen [Teleports] together, most of them moving in random directions. There were enough powerful Classers here that I didn¡¯t want to risk them being able to trace the ripples my teleportation left, or something like that. Classes and skills could start to get really funky at higher levels. It was far more likely that I¡¯d be tracked or found via some esoteric method I¡¯d never heard of or could imagine. Like, I¡¯d been offered a diagnostic spell that involved reading the stars. It could be anything!


    It would be easy to just leave. I didn¡¯t.


    I found a semi-abandoned building, [Teleported] into a dark closet, then threw up a few privacy spells from my spellbook. I then opened [Portcullis], and stepped into my [Manor].


    I loved being a Spatial mage. The skills were life changing.


    I didn¡¯t immediately pop up in front of Sara. The poor girl was having a difficult enough day as is, she didn¡¯t need jumpscares to get added in. I [Teleported] right outside her door, knocked, and waited an eternity for an answer. I could see her inside, a little scared, startled, and terribly uncertain.


    ¡°Hi Sara, it¡¯s me, Elaine.¡± I said, wanting to facepalm. I was mildly amused how my name meant ¡®healer¡¯, but right now, I did NOT need the confusion. ¡°Can I come in?¡±


    ¡°...yes.¡± Sara answered meekly. I opened the door and slowly, even by System-locked child metrics, walked over to her and knelt down next to her.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to go look for your parents now, alright? Can I get a bit of your hair to help me find them?¡±


    My stomach clenched as I noticed the utter lack of tears in her eyes. On one hand, it was good, on the other... she had no idea what was going on. Her life was probably ruined beyond repair.


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    She hesitated, running a nervous finger along her brown strands. Her horns had barely started to come in.


    ¡°I just need a little snip. Think of it like a trim at the hairdresser!¡± I said, taking a blind guess why she was hesitating. It was possibly really dumb, but I wasn¡¯t going to credit small children in a crisis with many critical thinking skills. Most adults lacked critical thinking skills in bad situations, unless they¡¯d been specifically trained otherwise.


    ¡°Oh! Then yes!¡± She said.


    A quick flicker of a knife into my hands, a quick sweep, and I had a small amount of her hair, and more importantly, her scent.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be as quick as I can!¡± I promised the girl, then sped back out of [Portcullis].


    I was sticking to my promise, and pushing myself to my limits. I was flying as fast as I could, moving as quickly as I could push myself, using every sense and every thought process I had available. Ithil was one of the old elven cities, predating the Immortal War, and its unique enchantments had let it skip through the entire war unmolested. A part of me ached that it had returned to reality too early, caught up in the last little ripple of the great war. I disregarded that part of me for now - the important thing was I knew how to read the layout of the city and the street signs - planted trees, marking the roads.


    Children lived in the central, heavily-protected district, which made my starting search area tiny. The wards had been thoroughly breached in the city¡¯s invasion. I zipped through Ithil, finding willow trees easily enough. A quick check later, and I found Sara¡¯s apartment. I sniffed her hair and sniffed the apartment, managing to pick apart all the various scents. Four very strong scents, and dozens of weaker ones. The usual members of the household, and guests. They¡¯d been fairly social. Three women, one man. One was Sara, one was probably her mother, and the last one was probably related. They smelled vaguely of pine sap, fresh dandelions, and the first snowfall of winter. Hard to describe, and they all had slightly different ratios. Sara¡¯s mom liked to use a perfume that smelled like honey and vanilla... and I could tell that Sara had tried it at one point, using way too much. A trail went from her room to the kitchen, then straight to the bathroom. It still lingered, to the point I thought even normal noses could tell. It had happened... roughly last week.


    I felt like an intruder. The apartment hadn¡¯t been touched, and the apartment was a perfect snapshot of their life. A few toys on the floor, a shelf of children¡¯s books. Bread was proofing for baking later, and the laundry basket was half full.


    I¡¯d apologize if I was wrong and put things back, but I had a bad feeling about it all. I grabbed all of Sara¡¯s things, and placed them into her room in [Manor]. I felt terrible grabbing most of the family heirlooms and putting them in my treasure room... but I had a steadily growing sense that none of the original owners were coming back.


    I followed the scent trail down the stairs and out the door, then flew up and started to sniff around, trying to ignore how many fearful voices I was hearing, how many terrified children were being soothed by helpless parents. Mostly in - people running back to shelter at home. I spent a full three minutes there teasing through the various smells. Hundreds of people went through the door every day, their scents overlapping each other. Then skills were fading them out, and the harsh coppery scent of blood, gore, released bowels, and a million other brutal smells of a city being sacked were overwhelming. I could pick up Sara and her parent¡¯s scents, but there were dozens of them, a new trail every time they walked out of the apartment complex. Finding THE freshest one was tricky, but I was able to find the strongest mix of pine, dandelions, and snow, and started to follow the trail.


    It took me about a second from picking up the scent to finding the bodies. Part of me had idly started to wonder how I¡¯d do a funeral. Could I store the bodies somewhere in [Manor] before burying them? Would it give Sara any sort of closure to see them and say goodbye? How ghoulish would it be to store the bodies in the same place as their kid?


    Unfortunately, the state I found them in rendered nearly all of the questions moot.


    I went back to the entrance of the apartment building, and teased through the hundreds of scents again, finding the possible-aunt¡¯s smell and following it.


    Fuck.


    It was time for the worst conversation of my life.


    I flew up to one of the remaining standing buildings, and cracked open [Portcullis]. When it was open only a hair, I [Teleported] in before slamming it shut. New idea of mine - no need to completely expose the entrance. I¡¯d trade the idea for Sara¡¯s parents in a heartbeat.


    I didn¡¯t flash right over to her room. I wandered over to where I¡¯d stored her toys, grabbed a well-loved stuffed dinosaur before heading off to Sara¡¯s room. I knocked on the door.


    ¡°Sara, can I come in?¡± I asked, giving the illusion of privacy.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Sara¡¯s voice was small and scared. I came in with the stuffed dinosaur.


    ¡°Toothy!¡± She shouted, emotionally whiplashing from frightened to gleeful in the way only a kid can manage. The elf jumped down off the chair and ran across the room, hugging Toothy so tightly I was afraid his head was going to pop right off.


    ¡°Did you find my home? Did you find mom? Can we go there now?¡± Sara rambled off a dozen questions before pausing, her eyes widening comically. ¡°Oh! Where are my manners?¡± Her cadence was clearly copied off her mother, or someone else close. ¡°Thank you very much for helping me.¡± Sara did an awkward half-bow.


    Oh fuck. Oh fuck oh fuck OH FUCK. A thousand and twenty four wishes flitted through my mind, before I steeled myself and took a deep breath. I wasn¡¯t going to be a coward, I wasn¡¯t going to run away from the task, no matter how unpleasant.


    Where to start, where to start... did she even know what death was? There was no reason to explain it to kids too early, and I hadn¡¯t detected any traces of pets. Which didn¡¯t say tons. But it wasn¡¯t like an elderly relative would¡¯ve passed, immortality was nice like that. She was after the war... but Ithil had been safe from it. The low number of people who¡¯d been in the apartment was concerning... maybe they usually went to visit relatives?


    Oh gods and goddesses, I hoped she had relatives somewhere.


    Fine. Death. I could do this. It was only the conversation that was going to define Sara¡¯s entire existence. I was going to make it gentle and pleasant. Fuck spying, Arachne¡¯s training was equally good for this sort of thing.


    I squatted down next to Sara, and looked her in the eyes. I took a ragged breath, and started.


    ¡°Sara, I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    It was beyond the ability of even the gods above for the conversation to go well. The best I could say was it didn¡¯t go terribly.


    Unfortunately, Sara didn¡¯t have any other relatives here. The Urwa-style name should¡¯ve given me a hint, but I hadn¡¯t quite put it all together until I talked with her.


    ¡°Do you have any other family, friends?¡± I asked her. There was no light in Sara¡¯s eyes to twinkle, no excitement possible with the news I¡¯d told.


    ¡°Aunt... aunty Jasmine.¡± Sara tearfully said. ¡°But you said she¡¯s also dead.¡±


    ¡°Any other relatives anywhere? Maybe another city?¡±


    Sara shook her head.


    ¡°We came from Ur-wa. It was just... just us.¡±


    She looked up at me with huge, tear-filled eyes, and asked the question that broke my heart.


    ¡°Can I stay with you? Please?¡±


    I sped my mind all the way up, a thousand thoughts flashing through dozens of parallel minds as I weighed the various pros and cons, my ability to look after a kid, what Iona would say. How important it was to give an answer with no visible hesitation to Sara. How she¡¯d latched onto me, no matter how brief our time together, and what a blow it would be to get torn away again, after I¡¯d so carefully handled things. How Ithil was about to have a gigantic, unnaturally large influx of orphans. I was responsible, in a way. They were alive.


    I couldn¡¯t save every starfish, but I could save this one.


    ¡°Okay.¡±

 Chapter 624: Home Again

    Arachne was on my side, but probably more than a little irritated with my extra-curricular activities in Ithil. I was a strong proponent of after action reports, analyzing what I did and why, along with trying to figure out weaknesses... but I was going to wait until later to analyze my actions. Sara needed me, and I was going to focus on her and the rest of my family right now. I¡¯d get around to chatting with Arachne later, and analyzing my actions then. Also, my chewing out would probably be shorter.


    The easy part of a war was winning it. The difficult part was after. Rebuilding, regrouping, and ruling.


    I didn¡¯t quite leave immediately. I took a detour... or five... on the way back.


    I was looting, plain and simple. There was no use prettying it up in fancy words. There was no use in justifying it. ¡®The library is burning down¡¯. ¡®The place is going to be ruined¡¯. ¡®I can do good things with these books¡¯. ¡®I¡¯m going to add them to the library¡¯.


    No.


    It was far better to look my actions in the eyes and own them.


    I swooped through the burning library-museum, entirely ignoring the blazing inferno. I split my mind into dozens of parts, each one rapidly [Teleporting] books as quickly as I could into my hands, where one last thought process was stashing them into my [Manor].


    It was strangely heady. I didn¡¯t want to promise I¡¯d never do it again - forever was such a long time - but after I left the last library, I mentally put a 64-year ban on doing something like this again.


    A large part of me was tempted to yell ¡®so long, suckers!¡¯ as I flew off into the sunset, but I refrained from shouting. That difficult, tricky work was all somebody else¡¯s problem. I was going back to Orthus and my home, and seeing my friends and loved ones again. I¡¯d earned the break.


    Speeches all morning, two hours of attacking Ithil, an hour on cleanup and talking with Sara, and it looked like I was going to be in Orthus for dinner.


    I flew back at my absolute top ¡®in case of emergencies¡¯ speed. I was going home! Back to my own bed! Back to my orchard! Back to my friends and family! I was going to eat mangos and hug Artemis! I was going to read a book and hike familiar trails! I was going to get my hands in the dirt and drink hot chocolate by the fireplace.


    I hadn¡¯t gotten too many levels from my spying over the last few years, although my map making and world travels had gotten me a few. The annual meetups just hadn¡¯t happened at all, which sucked. Auri, however, had been a busy, busy little phoenix, and I¡¯d gotten a steady stream of practically unearned levels from her. All of those levels had helped improve my speed, and I squeezed out every drop of speed to make it home sooner.


    The sun was setting as I circled around our cottage in the woods, a cheery smokestack letting me know someone was home. I landed, smiling as the home came into range of [The World Around Me]. I almost teared up at a sweet gesture of theirs. They had a bowl in the kitchen, stocked with fresh mangos. I had no idea how much time and effort they¡¯d spent over the time I was gone making sure it was always fully stocked with fresh fruit just in case I came over, but I was deeply touched.


    I landed and knocked.


    It was my home, sure, but barging in unexpectedly would be rude. Plus, I wanted the place to still be standing, and jump-scaring Artemis wasn¡¯t how I kept the place intact. Titania got the door.


    ¡°Titania! I¡¯ve missed you so much!¡± I bounced excitedly on my feet. Titania wasn¡¯t a hugger, and it¡¯d be rude for me to impose on her like that.


    ¡°Elaine!? Is that my healy-bug!?¡± Artemis shouted from deeper in the house.


    Artemis forewarned, I [Teleported] right next to her, wrapping my arms around the woman. They were just about to sit down for dinner, and Amber was grinning. The rascal, I bet she showed up three minutes ago. There was a suspicious amount of food being made. I opened one of my arms.


    ¡°Come on Amber, get in here, group hug!¡± I demanded. I was a little sad that it was just the three of them for now, but delighted they were all here. Amber limped in, and I was suddenly conscientious of the fact that I was the strongest one here by a huge margin, and I couldn¡¯t squeeze them as hard as I wanted.


    ¡°Eee!¡± Amber joined the pile, and I spent a blissful moment.


    Home.


    We broke the hug.


    ¡°But wait!¡± I said. ¡°There¡¯s more.¡±


    My serious tone wiped the smiles off Amber and Artemis¡¯s face.


    ¡°First things first. The New Remus Empire is no more. I just came from Ithil. Long story short, everyone got mad at the New Remus Empire and went to beat them up. Night personally executed their high command.¡±


    Artemis grinned viciously at the comment, and I remembered that she¡¯d also been personally trained by Night, once upon a time.


    ¡°Go tell Skye, she¡¯ll be delighted to hear it.¡± Artemis said. I poked her in the ticklish part of her side.


    ¡°You go tell Skye, oh mighty Ranger Commander. I am nothing more than a humble farmer.¡±


    Identical twin snorts of disbelief met my statement.


    ¡°There¡¯s going to be fallout, of course. Let¡¯s skip all that. While in Ithil I met a recently orphaned girl, Sara. She had nowhere else to go, and wanted to stick with me.¡± I shrugged. ¡°I said yes. Any last second questions before I introduce her to everyone?¡±


    Artemis shrugged.


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    ¡°I can always ask when she¡¯s asleep.¡±


    ¡°Hey Titania! I think we¡¯re going to need a kid¡¯s room set up!¡± Amber shouted over to the woman. She didn¡¯t acknowledge, but she did start to move over to a less-used storeroom.


    ¡°Quick, not really funny story.¡± Amber said. ¡°My coin suggested that I stock up on a few children¡¯s toys, but I tend to also use my best personal judgment. A sanity check. I¡¯d judged that it was a poor idea, so... sorry, I don¡¯t have anything for you.¡±


    I shrugged. I hadn¡¯t expected Amber to bring me anything. ¡°That¡¯s fine.¡± I said, then opened up [Portcullis] and stepped inside.


    ¡°Coming?¡± I asked. The two followed me in.


    I could immediately see Sara through [The World Around Me], and I internally winced. She¡¯d cried herself out and crashed, her head lolling at an awkward angle as she drooled on the blanket. I put a finger over my lips, Artemis nodded her acknowledgement, and the three of us quietly sneaked through my [Manor] to Sara¡¯s room. I quietly opened the door, and knelt down next to Sara.


    ¡°Hey Sara? We¡¯re here.¡± I quietly whispered to the girl as I gently shook her shoulder. I made sure the first thing Sara saw was my smiling face, touched with some concern. Which was how I felt, I just had the ability to properly and knowingly show the emotions in a way that would be correctly interpreted.


    A gentle shake didn¡¯t wake her up, and Artemis shook her head.


    ¡°She¡¯s all tuckered out. Let¡¯s get her into a real bed, and handle her when she wakes up.¡±


    I nodded and took a hold of Sara, the little elf instinctively curling up next to me. We silently moved back into the cottage, Titania already having fixed up Sara¡¯s room. Seriously, how did she do it!? We hadn¡¯t even had a child sized bed in the house three minutes ago! I closed the curtains with [Teleportation] - just a quick ¡®flicker¡¯ resetting their position - stopping the evening sun from streaming in. I tucked her into bed with Toothy, her doll, as Titania brought in a rocking chair, and Amber appeared a few minutes later with a plate.


    ¡°We¡¯ll catch up later?¡± She whispered. I shook my head, settling down on the chair. No idea when Sara would wake up, but it shouldn¡¯t be all alone, not again.


    ¡°Just whisper downstairs, I¡¯ll hear it from here. I¡¯ll teleport over notes to my contributions.¡±


    Amber shuddered.


    ¡°I usually forget just how much you see and know.¡± She said. ¡°It¡¯s spooky.¡±


    I shooed her away with my hand, a twinkle in my eyes.


    I¡¯d wanted to introduce Sara to everyone over dinner... but maybe it¡¯d be a midnight snack. I took two books out of my storage. One of the books I¡¯d, ahem, saved from Ithil, and a notebook. Getting a quill was another brief thought. Everyone else went downstairs, and all started on dinner.


    ¡°How was your trip back?¡± Artemis asked to the empty air, clearly directed at me. She looked around, a hair uncomfortable, like she wasn¡¯t sure how to direct her question.


    My mind stumbled upon an idea, and I pulled out a third book. A half-filled spellbook. I spent a moment with most of my [Luminary Minds] going, working out the math involved, before I got scribbling with [Reality, Writ As You Will]. I put my hand on the mandala as it finished, casting the spell.


    I was a little off. I hadn¡¯t bothered to go more precise with my casting, but a direct copy of me shimmered into existence at the table, a combination of Mirror to copy my image and Mirage to project it. I ¡®looked¡¯ Artemis in the eyes and smiled. Amber rolled her eyes and scooted ¡®outside¡¯ of my projection.


    Technically, I could mimic ventriloquy with wizardry, but sound was hard. Sounding like myself was even harder without prepared ¡®capture and cast¡¯ spells, but that would involve talking loudly next to Sara, which defeated the purpose of it. Letters, however, were completely valid.


    Trip was fine! Only took me a few hours. My flying speed is great these days! It¡¯s a little sad though, the world feels like a smaller and smaller place every time. I¡¯m pretty sure I could go around the world in a single day if I wanted to. Powerful Classer Problems, I know. How about you? Anything fun recently? I wrote down on a piece of paper, tore it out, and [Teleported] it down to Artemis.


    My once-mentor read it out loud for everyone.


    ¡°I¡¯m turning green with jealousy.¡± Amber declared. ¡°If I could move that fast...¡± She trailed off, but I could see the arcs dancing behind her eyes, jingling more beautifully than a tower filled with gold. I wondered if she was ever going to let her eyes literally turn into arcs? That¡¯d be hilarious.


    Artemis briefly tensed up, then relaxed.


    ¡°Well, let me tell you about some absolute idiots, and why there¡¯s nobody from the New Remus Empire around right now. Oh, and the new Rangers got some lessons. It all started with a note...¡±


    Speaking of notes, I started to write my next contribution to the conversation. I¡¯d add in what I thought of Artemis¡¯s story into it, I just didn¡¯t want to forget. Thank goddess for [Luminary Mind]


    letting me do several things at once. I could still actively listen to Artemis, while thinking and planning.


    Hey Amber, think you could take a stroll around the neighborhood after dinner and pick up a few kid¡¯s things for Sara?


    I stayed in my chair when Sara started to stir in the middle of the night. She¡¯d crashed early, it was no surprise. I grabbed a spellbook of mine and quickly cast a few dim lights around the room, slowly brightening colorful balls. She sat up and looked around, her face falling when she saw me. Sara promptly burst into tears.


    Not exactly the reaction I¡¯d been hoping for. She was vaguely reaching out to me, and I swooped over, wrapping her up in my arms.


    ¡°S-s-sorry.¡± She stuttered out. ¡°I thought it was a bad nightmare, then I saw you, and it¡¯s not... they¡¯re gone.¡±


    ¡°Shhhh.¡± I rubbed her back in a circle. ¡°I¡¯m here. Do you want a bite to eat? You¡¯ll feel better.¡±


    Sara shook her head, and I was suddenly lurched into an internal debate.


    She needed to eat. Did I put my foot down, and insist she eat something because it was good for her? She was just a kid. Or did I show kindness, understanding, and compassion, and leave her be? At the same time, that could be just as bad of an idea.


    Hmmm.


    ¡°Alright, you don¡¯t have to eat if you don¡¯t want to. Let¡¯s go downstairs, to the living room. I¡¯ll get some snacks out if you change your mind, and maybe we can...¡± What did parents do with their kids? Play? Chores? Sara was in no state for either one right now. ¡°... see what happens.¡±


    As easy as it would be to simply [Teleport] Sara around, I guided her downstairs step by step, Toothy locked in a death-grip. I did blatantly use my magic to fix up some easy snacks. We hadn¡¯t exactly been quiet, and a bleary-eyed Artemis joined us a little later. We settled down, and Artemis opened up the conversation.


    ¡°Hi Sara, I¡¯m Artemis! It¡¯s nice to meet you. What¡¯s your favorite color?¡±


    Sara locked onto Artemis, clearly mulling over the question.


    ¡°Green.¡± The elf finally declared.


    ¡°Green! That¡¯s a great color. Grass and leaves, so many things are green!¡± Artemis said.


    With that small crack, we slowly pried Sara out of her shell. It took days for her to become halfway functional, and we didn¡¯t force it. Once she was up and moving around a bit more, we slowly added in more. Light chores, perfect for a kid. Books and stories. I created ¡®the invisible book¡¯, which I pretended to turn the pages of while I recited stories from memory. Stories from Earth, stories from Pallos. Stories from Exterreri, and stories from Urwa. Games and playing with the other kids in Orthus - Sara was an instant hit, the cool new kid. And an elf. The prejudices against the New Remus Empire hadn¡¯t become hatred against elves, and hadn¡¯t had time to extend to children. They hadn¡¯t been taught to hate yet. I could see a golden glimmer of Arachne¡¯s plan, the consequences and benefits to striking immediately. Hatred against vampires had been cited, yes, but how easy would it have been for the hatred to extend to elves as well? How many decades would it have taken to expunge it?


    The last part was education. A broad basis to start Sara¡¯s life off. She was only two years away from her System unlocking, and I wanted to give her the best start to life possible.


    ¡°Do you know what you want to try first when your System unlocks?¡± I asked Sara. If she¡¯d been on a path already, I wasn¡¯t going to disrupt her. Plus, Immortal elf. They tended to cycle through a dozen different things, but the common thought was the first path, the first time going through the levels, shaped and defined a person more than anything else. It made sense. Being a [Warrior] during a person¡¯s formative years would carry with them for the rest of their life.


    ¡°What do you do?¡± Sara asked one bright morning. We were outside, up in a tree, looking down on the plain Orthus was in. I smiled.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯m a healer. I help fix people when they get hurt! If they scrape their knee or get a splinter, I make it all better.¡±


    I wasn¡¯t going to mention the horrors of Ithil, not when the wound was so fresh, not without her bringing it up first.


    ¡°Were you helping people back at my home?¡± Sara asked. It was the first time she¡¯d brought it up.


    I nodded.


    ¡°Yup! It looked like you¡¯d gotten fairly hurt. I don¡¯t know for a fact that it was my healing that helped you, but I think it was. I¡¯m pretty strong.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Sara said, kicking her feet freely. Part of me worried, the other part knew I had at least a dozen different ways to catch or heal her before she hit the ground if she fell off the branch. ¡°Can you heal everyone in a city?¡±


    ¡°At the same time.¡± I said. Sara bit her lip and looked down at the forest floor, mulling over her next question, opening her mouth a few times before looking away and closing it.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, you can ask me anything, I won¡¯t get mad. I promise.¡± I said.


    ¡°Okay... Why didn¡¯t you heal my parents?¡±

 Chapter 625: Homecoming I

    Sara¡¯s question was like a gut punch. I sat back and looked out into the distance, able to make out the sparkling waters of Bloodmoon Bay from here.


    ¡°The question is complicated.¡± I finally answered, the coward¡¯s answer. ¡°You¡¯d need a significant medical and ethical background to understand my reasoning. I can try to explain, if you¡¯d like. However, I¡¯m not going to lie to you. I could¡¯ve saved them. I didn¡¯t. I do believe if I had tried to save them, they would¡¯ve ended up dead anyway, just far more violently.¡±


    Sara flinched away from me. I chewed over my next words carefully.


    ¡°If you¡¯d like to go back, or stay with someone else, I¡¯m happy to make that happen.¡±


    Sara clearly thought over it for a few tense minutes, before shuffling back next to me on our branch. She looked up at me with big eyes.


    ¡°Teach me.¡± She said with unusual seriousness. ¡°Teach me everything I need to know so you can explain why, then I¡¯ll tell you why you¡¯re wrong.¡±


    I nodded and held out my hand. Sara took it.


    ¡°I¡¯ll teach you everything I know.¡± I promised. ¡°And if you can tell me why I¡¯m wrong, I¡¯ll be able to use it to help others in the future.¡±


    ¡°Deal.¡± Sara solemnly agreed, shaking my hand.


    Oh no.


    Amber had already corrupted her.


    Sara tried to throw herself directly into the deep end. I tried to stop her, then realized it was easier for her to run face first into the problem herself and see why she had to take it slowly and properly.


    ¡°What does man-u-script mean?¡± Sara asked, slowly sounding out the word.


    ¡°A book or document written by hand.¡± I gave the textbook definition.


    ¡°Oh.¡± She looked at it thoughtfully, eyebrows scrunched up in concentration. ¡°Well... how else could it be written? Everything¡¯s by hand right?¡±


    ¡°Things can be written or copied with skills, you know. Like the book you¡¯re reading.¡± Titania slapped her hands over her mouth as she suppressed a snort-laugh, then briskly walked out of the room before exploding with laughter in the kitchen. Sara was looking even more confused.


    ¡°But... if this was written by a skill, why is it called a manuscript?¡± She whined.


    ¡°Because the original copy, written over 20,000 years ago, was done by hand. Plus, I thought it was a neat name.¡±


    I managed to say that with a straight face. One day the penny was going to drop with Sara, and it was going to be a sight to see. The longer it took, the older and more mature she was, the funnier it would be. I could tell her now, sure, but she wouldn¡¯t get it.


    Sara scowled.


    ¡°That¡¯s stupid.¡± She declared.


    ¡°That¡¯s also the second word.¡± I pointed out. ¡°You¡¯ve got roughly 16 million more words to go.¡± The Medical Manuscripts were not short texts at this point, and there were roughly 35,000 medical terms alone. Sara gamely plowed on ahead.


    ¡°By... healer. Hey, that¡¯s your name!¡± She excitedly pointed to my name on the cover.


    ¡°Yes it is.¡± I had my best poker face on. Sara turned the page, and gamely kept going.


    ¡°Con-tri-bu-tors. Contributors!¡±


    I was forever young and energetic, so I couldn¡¯t miss that aspect of youth. The joy and excitement of new skills and new discoveries in such a pure way just sang to me. My brain sparked and jumped along a path I could barely describe. My skills I¡¯d picked up with Arachne, my occasional desire to not know them, and Night¡¯s memory skill, able to selectively forget things, only to pick them back up later when needed.


    I had a much better understanding of Night in that moment, wishing my own skill allowed for selective removal so easily. I peeked into my [Astral Archives], looking over the endless books that contained my knowledge and skills. The book containing all the spying knowledge I¡¯d gotten from Arachne snapped into my hands, and I hefted it, checking its metaphorical weight.


    I could


    just destroy the book, destroy the knowledge. Forget it. It might fade away, it might spring back. I¡¯d probably need to delete a lot of connecting knowledge. All the memories with Arachne. The training, the memories of working as a [Scribe]. All were connected.


    Mmm... not today, and I wasn¡¯t sure it¡¯d stick. It¡¯d change me in a way I was unsure about. Plus, I was a little busy with Sara, and she deserved as much attention as I could give her.


    ... okay, right now, she didn¡¯t need my attention. Watching her puzzle her way through a series of textbooks she was about 16 years too young for was hilarious.


    Auri and Fenrir weren¡¯t exactly subtle when they made it back home. Sara and I were in the kitchen, flour on every surface except the inside of the bowl, and the less said about the butter, the better. Eh, we were having fun, and if we managed to get not-charred cookies at the end of it, I¡¯d call it a win.


    The two of them - honestly, only Fenrir mattered for this - landed next to the cottage with a house-rattling thump. I wasn¡¯t sure if Sara jumped a foot in the air on her own, or if Fenrir¡¯s weighty landing had launched her up. She looked at me with huge eyes.


    ¡°What was that!?¡± She demanded, clearly terrified. I swooped her up and held her in my arms.


    ¡°That was Fenrir, a wyvern. Want to meet him?¡± I asked.


    Sara chewed over her answer. I was noticing she did that a lot, and I wasn¡¯t quite sure if it was how she was, or if there was something else going on. Either way, I wasn¡¯t going to complain about her being too thoughtful.


    Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°Is he a nice wyvern?¡± She asked.


    ¡°The nicest one I¡¯ve ever met.¡± I promised. The bar was on the floor with that one though. I hadn¡¯t met too many, and most were just vicious monsters. I leaned down and whispered in her ear. ¡°He¡¯s really a big softy.¡±


    Sara giggled behind her flour-coated fingers.


    ¡°Really?¡± She asked. I nodded solemnly.


    ¡°Really.¡±


    I held out my hand and snapped my pipe into it from storage, then put Sara down.


    ¡°Are you ready for the magic spinning change?¡± I asked her. She clapped her hands.


    ¡°Yes! Do the spin, do the spin!¡± She said. I held out my hand.


    ¡°Well, I need a bit of help with that.¡± I said. Sara knew what to do. She grabbed my hand and tried to spin me around.


    ¡°Almost!¡± I said. ¡°A little faster! One more time!¡±


    Sara pushed me even harder, and I leaned into it, putting one foot behind my heel and spinning around exactly like I¡¯d been taught how to do an about-face. I chained three of them together, flour spinning off me in a dust cloud, before poofing my outfit from ¡®baker¡¯ to ¡®witch¡¯. Sara jumped, laughed, and clapped her hands at the transformation, looking happier than I¡¯d seen her in weeks.


    [*ding!* [Everywoman] leveled up!]


    ¡°Let¡¯s go meet the big bad wyvern!¡± I announced. We were almost to the door when Auri burst in.


    ¡°BRRRRPT!¡± Auri shrieked her happiness that I was HERE and we were BACK! The house lit up with a dozen tiny flames of a thousand different flickering colors, a burning expression of her joy. The flaming menace flitted around me, poking me experimentally, yelling her happiness for the world, before burrowing into my hair.


    ¡°Brrpt.¡± Auri declared she was never, ever leaving me or the nest she was making in my hair again.


    ¡°Auri! Knock that off!¡± I laughed. Sara was staring at us... but she could wait a moment. Auri picked that moment to poke her head out of my hair - it was going to take forever to comb out the mess she made, but trying to make an image where every single strand of hair was in the right spot to fix with Teleportation


    was a nightmare - and spotted Sara. Honestly, have a little more self awareness!


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    I held out my hand and Auri - after much thrashing and making of knots - disentangled herself from my hair and fluttered over, tilting her head at the newest curiosity.


    ¡°Auri, this is Sara. Sara, this is Auri. Auri is my bonded companion. Auri, I picked up Sara in Ithil, she¡¯s an orphan and living with us now.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ¡°She¡¯s so pretty. Can I pet her?¡± Sara asked.


    I glanced at Auri, who nodded. Sara tentatively petted the phoenix. Auri promptly jumped onto Sara¡¯s head, to her delighted shrieks. She then started to make a nest in her hair. I put my hands on my hips, and struggled not to smile. Sara laughed and tossed around, trying to dislodge Auri. There was no chance she¡¯d succeed, not with Auri¡¯s level.


    ¡°Princess Sara and her crown of fire.¡± I declared, wagging a finger at Auri. ¡°Should I be getting jealous?¡±


    Auri shot me a look, communicating without words. I lifted an eyebrow, talking right back. Goddesses, it was absurd how much we could communicate right over Sara¡¯s head - pun intended - without her noticing at all. Auri promptly made a crown of flames on Sara¡¯s head.


    ¡°Princess Sara!¡± Sara declared, suddenly delighted to have Auri on her head.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go meet Fenrir.¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh yeah! I forgot about him!¡± Sara exclaimed, then sprinted right out the door, a trail of embers left sparkling in the air.


    The little elf was utterly fearless. Somehow. I walked out at a more sedate pace to find Sara already hugging Fenrir¡¯s snout, the massive wyvern frozen still. Which was fair - a small twitch from him was enough to flatten Sara. Auri was still acting as a burning crown, and the three looked like they were going to be fast friends.


    I narrowed my eyes at Fenrir.


    Or was he trying to expand his ¡®cast?¡¯ I held out my pipe, and a tiny flame flickered in it as Auri lit it. I puffed it and studied Fenrir more.


    If he tried to drag Sara into nonsense, so help me, I was going to get a new pair of leather gloves. And boots.


    Artemis knocked on the door in the middle of the day, which was rare. She was happy, sweaty - endless drills with the Rangers - and completely unharmed. My initial surge of worry was misplaced.


    ¡°I got it I got it I got it!¡± Sara yelled as she bombed out of the living room at full speed.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri poked her head in from the kitchen.


    Artemis. I mouthed to her, shooting the bird a thumbs up.


    ¡°Brpt.¡± Wasn¡¯t worth stopping her baking for... rude bird. She could totally continue conducting her orchestra of [Mage Hands] while saying hi. I rolled my eyes and got up, flashing behind Sara right before she opened the door.


    ¡°Aunty Artemis!¡± Sara said. I was more than a little jealous - I still rated ¡°only¡± Elaine. Sara frowned.


    ¡°Wait you live here why did you knock on the door? That¡¯s no fun.¡± Sara pouted. Artemis laughed at her audacity.


    ¡°¡®Cause it¡¯s fun! Heya Elaine, Nina¡¯s heading down the road now, figured we¡¯d ambush her together.¡±


    ¡°Nina! Let¡¯s GO!¡± I shouted, jogging down the road at a pace Artemis could match. The sun was shining, it hadn¡¯t rained in a few days, and the road was nice and dusty.


    Finally. After TWENTY THOUSAND YEARS it was time for sweet, sweet REVENGE.


    ¡°Hey Artemis! Guess what?¡± I shouted over my shoulder.


    ¡°What?¡± Artemis wisely sensed a trap.


    ¡°EAT MY DUST!¡± I sprinted in front of Artemis, artfully kicking up the dirt into her face. Dexterity was the quietest physical stat, until it was the most useful.


    ¡°You little-!¡± Artemis swore, before Lightning started to crackle between her hands.


    ¡°Uh, Artemis, this is supposed to be frie-¡±


    A sharp shock landed on my ass, and I yelped.


    ¡°I¡¯m allowed to get even!¡± I protested as I ran even faster.


    ¡°No you¡¯re not!¡± Artemis shouted back.


    I could hear what was going on for miles, and I always kept a steady ear out for Sara. Especially when only Auri was ¡®supervising¡¯, who knew when I¡¯d return one day and poof,


    Sara had been turned into an [Arsonist].


    ¡°Uh. Are they okay? Like, are they actually fighting, or...¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡± Auri patted Sara on the head. Even sprinting away from Artemis at a relatively low speed, I could see Auri breaking out the cookies.


    ¡°HEY!¡± I shouted from nearly the bottom of the hill. ¡°Those are for AFTER DINNER!¡±


    Artemis decided to punish my inattention with an extra-large [Lightning Bolt].


    Oooh, that was IT! No more Nice Elaine!


    ¡°Nina! You¡¯re back!¡± I rolled a barrel down the road, debating if I wanted to jump up on it and move like a [Circus Performer]. It would cause more problems than it solved.


    Nina had clearly been traveling hard. Her clothes were worn and frayed, and she had a burr stuck to her ear. She moved with weary, practiced confidence. I deeply admired her ability to move all over Pallos on foot. Flight and high stats often made travel trivial, but Nina was still getting from place to place the hard way.


    ¡°Elaine!¡± The kitsune brightened up, running the rest of the way. I set the barrel spinning and opened my arms, letting the unfairly tall woman crash into me.


    ¡°You¡¯re home. You¡¯re safe.¡± I murmured.


    ¡°I am.¡± Nina said.


    The tender moment was utterly ruined by the sounds of Artemis barfing, followed by frantic pounding and muffled yelling.


    ¡°Elaine! ELAINE! GET ME OUT OF HERE!¡±


    Nina glanced at the barrel, confusion written across her muzzle.


    ¡°Artemis.¡± I said, by way of explanation.


    ¡°Ah. Say no more, I totally understand.¡± Nina said.


    ¡°You traitor!¡± Artemis shouted. The note of panic was starting to worry me a bit. I [Teleported] the barrel away, stopping the prank from turning into bullying. Nina put her hands on her hips.


    ¡°You did shave me completely naked.¡±


    Artemis coughed, and I debated dumping a barrel of water on her. The old barrel... well, I think Auri was going to be delighted to have something to burn, I wasn¡¯t going to try and salvage that.


    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s get you home.¡±


    Nina¡¯s smile was worth every scorch mark.


    ¡°What is this place?¡± Sara asked a few weeks later. ¡°I¡¯ve seen it before, but it feels weird.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a memorial.¡± I said, looking upon the field of obelisks. I was trying to strike a delicate balance between showing Sara the place too early, and too late.


    ¡°Oh. A memorial to who or what?¡±


    ¡°The dead.¡± Sara¡¯s hand gripped mine even tighter. I stared out, starting to drift through lifetimes of memories, trying to organize my thoughts for what I wanted to say. My planned speech was out the window. I was speaking awkwardly, from the heart.


    ¡°We are both Immortals. Old age will never take us. But in many ways, the title can be inaccurate. Immortality comes in many forms. Everything from a name in a song, a story of one¡¯s life, to a whisper on the wind. Every - sorry, excuse me.¡± I was crying. I dabbed at my tears and took a deep breath, resettling myself. ¡°People die twice. Once when their life¡¯s string is cut and taken by Black Crow, and a second time when they are remembered for the last time. Every name on the obelisks is a friend or family member of mine who died. This is my way of carrying on their legacy. Making sure they won¡¯t be forgotten.¡±


    Sara slipped her hand out of mine and approached the first obelisk.


    ¡°There are so many names here.¡± She whispered, the weight of the place settling around her. It was a heavy place, and I hadn¡¯t wanted to introduce it to her before I thought she was ready.


    Better to offer, than to be asked.


    ¡°Would you like to give me some names to add?¡± I asked.


    There wasn¡¯t another dry eye until sunrise the next day.


    I couldn¡¯t say what had me flying up high, circling Orthus, by myself. It wasn¡¯t a particularly nice day for flying - overcast and a little drizzly. I wasn¡¯t demonstrating the beauty of flight to Sara. I just... felt called to be in the sky.


    Which let me spot a tiny dot speeding along the bottom of the clouds, my day lighting up as if the clouds had evaporated.


    ¡°IONA!¡± I screamed, and flew through the air as fast as I could.


    ¡°ELAINE!¡± She shouted back, and the two of us collided like stars.


    My muse, my love, my wife was back home.


    All was right with the world.

 Chapter 626: Homecoming II

    I nestled into Iona¡¯s arms, unhappy at all the layers of well-worn armor separating us.


    It was an adamantium alloy, how did Iona get it so beaten up!? I knocked on her chest.


    ¡°Open up.¡± I asked, then teleported Iona¡¯s armor to [Manor] a moment later, letting her strong arms wrap around me.


    ¡°I missed you.¡± She said.


    ¡°I missed you too.¡± I said. ¡°First things first. Everyone is alive and well. Nobody we love died.¡±


    Iona practically sagged with relief.


    ¡°Thank the goddesses.¡± She said, then discreetly sniffed in the direction of her armpit.


    ¡°As happy as we all are to see each other, maybe we should do the rest of our catching up in a bath?¡±


    ¡°Please.¡± I begged. I hadn¡¯t wanted to say anything, not when we¡¯d finally gotten back together, but whoof. Had she been living in that armor for the last few years or something!?


    We didn¡¯t have to say it out loud. Both of us dropped our flight skills, and started to freefall through the air, holding hands.


    ¡°No chance you¡¯ve gotten one in your [Manor] yet?¡± Iona asked.


    ¡°Not yet! I want one. Could you imagine?¡± I said.


    Iona chuckled.


    ¡°A library and a bath? We¡¯d never get you out of there.¡±


    ¡°You know, I¡¯ve been thinking about that. If we ever leave Orthus, do you want to try living out of the [Manor]? The door¡¯s a little annoying at times, but I can keep it permanently open when I¡¯m inside. The logistics of getting everyone back in if we all wander around the city could be a little difficult at times, but it¡¯s not like we can¡¯t find each other.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Iona shouted. I supposed the wind was whistling through our ears at terminal velocity. I repeated myself.


    ¡°Oh! That sounds great!¡± She said.


    ¡°Probably after Sara¡¯s grown up!¡± I knew exactly what I was doing.


    ¡°Who?¡± Iona shouted back.


    ¡°Sara!¡± I grinned, my smile impossible to wipe off my face.


    Iona was home!


    She was BACK! We¡¯d tried to meet up over the years, but events had conspired against us. Fuck events! Fuck the New Remus Empire! We were back home together again. I wasn¡¯t going to be a melodramatic teenager and claim we¡¯d never be separated again, I was old enough and wise enough to know that would be a total lie. But we were back.


    ¡°Fenrir!¡± Iona exclaimed, spotting the big lug in his cave. We were still falling, and I was starting to half-eye the ground, wondering when we¡¯d break out of our freefall. Iona gently pulled us towards Fenrir, and I kicked in my flight as well. The two of us landed hand-in-hand next to Fenrir, who was waking up and looking super excited. I whistled sharply, and I heard Auri starting to make her way over.


    Iona looked torn between the two of us, and I slipped my hand out.


    ¡°Go say hi.¡± I shooed her off towards her companion. I was glad I¡¯d arrived ¡®early¡¯ - I couldn¡¯t imagine being torn between saying hi to Auri and kissing Iona if it were me, and the nicest thing I could do for Iona was kill that concern.


    Iona briskly strode up to Fenrir, and the massive wyvern put his head down. The two touched foreheads as Iona started to gently mutter to Fenrir.


    I spoke out of the side of my mouth. Everyone could hear me, of course, but it was the effort at being discreet that mattered.


    ¡°Fenrir, could you swipe out a large hole and fill it with Ice? Ours isn¡¯t big enough.¡±


    The wyvern complied, and when Auri showed up, I glanced significantly at the pile of Ice in a hole. Three seconds later, we had a steaming bath, with a dozen different soaps and brushes off to the side on a slat.


    I fucking loved[Manor]. I stripped and slid into the water.


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    ¡°Auri, you wouldn¡¯t mind looking after Sara for a bit? Once Iona¡¯s had a minute to relax, we¡¯ll be down and introduce her.¡± I knew the answer to the question, but it was only polite to ask.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri shot off her reply and was down the mountain before I had time to think. I sank deeper, letting the water cover my mouth, and bubbled out a half-hearted protest. I doubted Auri heard.


    ¡°Not the honey, that takes forever to clean out.¡±


    I wanted to relax in the luxurious bath Auri and Fenrir had just made, but no, that¡¯d be unfair. I¡¯d had it fairly easy until now, while Iona had just gotten back. I started to shift things around in the bath and smooth them out, so we¡¯d have a comfortable seat.


    It was fucking wild to me that I could just... sink my hand into solid stone. Between my finger¡¯s hardness, my strength, and dexterity telling physics to be more of a suggestion than a rule, I was able to grab hunks of stone by sinking my fingers in, then just ripping it apart. I couldn¡¯t smooth hard rock into a smooth seat just by patting it down, but [Radiance Beams] were good for melting the rocks down. Plus, extra steam for ambience!


    Of course, I was doing all that underwater, and getting rocks hot enough to melt underwater was a bit of a steam-creating challenge. I ignored the great gouts of exploding, boiling water from steam pockets created underwater. Meh, it happened. Visibility in the cave rapidly dropped to nothing, and Fenrir opened one evil eye to glare at me. He wasn¡¯t exactly the type of wyvern that enjoyed being cooked.


    The bath was nice and perfect at this point, and I¡¯d designed it to be optimal for Iona to sit in. Which meant I¡¯d either be in over my head, standing and half-freezing, or on Iona¡¯s lap. I knew which one was most likely. There was just one problem.


    ¡°Hey, uh, Fenrir, I might¡¯ve boiled off most of the water by accident. Sorry! Could I get a little more Ice here?¡±


    Fenrir complied, and I shrieked as I hit the roof. Literally.


    ¡°COLD!¡± I shouted. Iona joined Fenrir in evil-eyeing me. I put my hands on my bare hips.


    ¡°It didn¡¯t need to be the coldest Ice Fenrir can generate!¡± I protested. ¡°He could¡¯ve cracked the bedrock!¡± Waves of frozen condensate were rippling through Fenrir¡¯s lair, and the steamy ambiance was rapidly turning frozen. A million tiny icedrops fell from the air, tinkling like a yuletide holiday, coating the floor in a million glimmering rainbows.


    Okay, that was pretty... cool.


    Actually... how did he not thermal shock it into breaking? ¡®Hot enough to melt stone¡¯ touching ¡®the frozen heart of the winter arctic¡¯ was the recipe for the mother of all broken stone. I shut up at the looks everyone was giving me, and carefully applied [Radiance Beams] to the Ice. The icebergs broke with almighty cracks echoing through the cave. A Sound Classer couldn¡¯t have been louder. Man, somehow I was really ruining Iona¡¯s reunion with Fenrir.


    ¡°... Love you too?¡± I slipped back into the water, sinking down until just my eyes were above the waterline. I added a lilypad and a flower on top of my head.


    Lurking Elaine, Hidden Dawn!


    I was too excited and impatient for Iona to finish with Fenrir. I knew I¡¯d spend endless hours with her soon, but I wanted it to start now.


    After an eternity - roughly four minutes of agonizing torture - Iona came over, stripped, and slipped into the bath with a sigh. Fenrir summoned a wall of Ice to block us off.


    ¡°Oooh, that feels so good. Thank you, bathosaurus. I missed you so much. Love you.¡±


    I practically flung myself across the tub into her arms, uncaring at the wave of water I sent, snuggling in her arms.


    ¡°I missed you too. Now roll over, I¡¯ve got some serious scrubbing to do.¡±


    The look in Iona¡¯s eyes suggested we were going to do a lot more than that.


    We were luxuriating in the warm water, and I couldn¡¯t put it off any longer. Iona had to know, the sooner the better.


    ¡°Hey love, I¡¯ve got something important to tell you.¡±


    It was a marvel watching Iona¡¯s body in action. She went from languid, like a resting tigress full from a hunt, to wound up and ready to leap. Sleepy to sharp in an instant.


    ¡°What¡¯s up?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Ithil was a mess. I¡¯ll tell you more later. I effectively adopted a little elf girl by the name of Sara, she¡¯s staying with us now.¡±


    Iona¡¯s hand grasped out like it wanted a drink. I obliged.


    I fucking loved [Manor].


    ¡°I suppose after I sprung Nina and Raccoon on you, it¡¯s only fair.¡±


    I nodded.


    ¡°Oh totally. Far more gentle though. No early morning drills, no endless laps.¡±


    Iona sputtered.


    ¡°That was good for them!¡± She protested. I arched an eyebrow at her.


    ¡°It was!¡±


    I cracked a smile.


    ¡°She¡¯s nervous, still scared, and there¡¯s some awkwardness around how we met. I think she¡¯ll warm right up to you though.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have over 1024 levels in [Social Lubricant] for nothing.¡± Iona agreed. ¡°You should stop smoking though with a kid around.¡±


    ¡°Yup!¡± I happily agreed.


    Iona got up and out of the water. She rolled her eyes at me.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to drool over me.¡± She teased.


    ¡°Yeah, but... I want to.¡± I eyed her all up and down, then stood up and out of the water myself. Iona couldn¡¯t maintain eye contact, and it was my turn to smirk.


    ¡°Like what you see?¡± I teased, spinning in a circle.


    ¡°I knew I married you for a reason.¡± Iona¡¯s husky tone told me I had to stop the conversation now if we wanted to see Sara in the next three hours.


    ¡°Now that we¡¯re all back, we should share our stories.¡± I said.


    Iona immediately went serious, and I teleported out big fluffy towels for the two of us.


    ¡°A proper after action report, yeah. This evening or tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s do it tonight, assuming Artemis doesn¡¯t have anything come up and Raccoon doesn¡¯t need to do an extra long shift.¡±


    ¡°If that little gremlin decides that work is more important than saying hi...¡± Iona was clearly joking, but I could see she¡¯d be deeply hurt if Raccoon decided to skip out. I¡¯d have to find her myself and slip a quiet word in her ear.


    I grabbed Iona¡¯s hand, teleported fresh clothes onto both of us, and half-pulled her down the mountainous road back to the cottage.


    ¡°Okay, enough planning! You¡¯ve got to meet Sara now!¡±


    ¡°Yeah!¡± Iona looked enthusiastic about the prospect, which lifted a worry I hadn¡¯t fully realized until now.


    We got to the door, and I figured we¡¯d knock. A way to smoothly introduce Iona without the big ¡°surprise¡±! Iona and I held hands, my red tattoos seamlessly merging into hers.


    Sara and Auri opened the door, and glanced between Iona and I before she stared at me suspiciously.


    ¡°Why are YOU knocking? And who is this? Why do her tattoos match yours? Also, wow, you¡¯re super tall. How did you get so tall?¡±


    We traded amused looks, subtly communicating without words.


    ¡°This is Iona, my wife. Our tattoos are our marriage tattoos. She¡¯s finally gotten back home after a long trip. You know why we¡¯re knocking, you monkey.¡±


    Iona knelt down next to Sara... and she was still taller than the girl. Sara stepped back because, yeah, Iona was huge. The Valkyrie held her hand out.


    ¡°Hey! It¡¯s great to meet you.¡± She dropped her voice into a conspiratorial whisper. ¡°If Elaine¡¯s giving you any trouble, you can come and tell me.¡±


    I mimed outrage at the idea. Sara glanced between Iona and I. She quickly - for a given definition, she was a kid with her System still locked - stepped into Iona¡¯s offered hand and gave her a quick hug, before darting back inside. Iona stood up with a grin.


    ¡°Ah, kids. I think we¡¯re going to get along great.¡±

 Chapter 627: After Action Report I

    ¡°I don¡¯t want my dinner to be mooing back at me.¡± I ribbed Iona a day later.


    ¡°It¡¯s cooked! Rare is a thing!¡± She protested, turning the skewer.


    ¡°Yeah, it¡¯s rare that the cows are still able to get up and walk away after you¡¯re done cooking it.¡± I joked back.


    There were seven of us on top of the mountain, the moons bright and full, casting all the light we¡¯d need. Me, Iona, Auri, Fenrir, Nina, Raccoon, and Artemis. Sara was asleep, and the meeting wasn¡¯t appropriate for her, and Amber was off on her next adventure. I half expected her to pop up with exactly the thing we needed, ready to sell at a modest discount.


    And an even more modest profit.


    Thank the goddesses - quite literally this time, they¡¯d provided a nice beacon in the form of a flashing arrow for Fenrir - we didn¡¯t need to feed the wyvern tonight. Buying an entire cow for the feast was one thing. Expensive as heck, and we were lucky there was even one for sale. Buying a dozen just to feed Fenrir?


    Whooof. The current age of wilderness was good for his feeding habits.


    We had butchered the cow, stored most of it away - not in [Manor], for once - and the leftovers were still enough for all of us to stuff ourselves and take home plenty. A pan was catching all the fat and grease dripping down, and Nina was slicing potatoes, ready to cook them in the fat. Auri was standing protectively on an oversized picnic basket, filled to the brim with cookies. Half of them had a little thumbprint from Sara baked onto them. The little rascal thought ¡®marking¡¯ each one before they went into the oven was the thing to do. Auri wanted them to be a surprise to everyone else, so she wasn¡¯t letting anyone peek. Artemis had liberated a dozen bottles, and I was pretty sure she¡¯d paid for them. Supposed to set a good example and all that. I was pretty sure Raccoon was pranking us. She was stirring a bubbling cauldron with evil-smelling blue fumes coming off it. There was no way that was edible... right?


    I was logistics and taste testing. Mostly the second one. I bit down on my third cookie as Iona rolled her eyes.


    ¡°Salt and spices please?¡± She asked. A table with a wide selection of spices appeared next to my wife.


    ¡°Thank the elves back at Edhallon.¡± I said. ¡°I was able to restock.¡±


    They had spices from all over the world. Even Sanguino at its height hadn¡¯t had such a rich and varied selection, and that had been in the crystalline era of the cycle. To my left was Orthus, a small scattering of fires across dozens of miles, and a larger cluster in the town proper. The flames barely got past their boundary, looking like a scattered set of fireflies on a summer night. A highly populated area for the time. The other side was pitch black, endless miles of rolling wilderness.


    With the New Remus Empire gone, I could admit they had been building marvelous things. It had been on the backs of everyone else, yes, and they needed to go, but it didn¡¯t change what had briefly been made.


    ¡°BRRRPT!¡±


    I lifted an eyebrow.


    ¡°You just noticed I was eating the cookies?¡±


    I barely managed to get the words out before Auri was pecking me to pieces, and I was rolling on the stone, laughing, trying to dodge her sharp beak.


    ¡°Traitors!¡± I gasped out as Auri found yet another ticklish spot. Iona lifted a single eyebrow at me.


    ¡°I¡¯m not the one who got caught with their hand in the cookie jar.¡± She said.


    Raspberries and tickles didn¡¯t go together. Over 128 years old, and I could still learn new things.


    Everyone finished cooking, plates were distributed, and the seven of us were settling around the fire. Good food and even better company. My ears twigged to a magical sound, and I bent my senses in that direction for a moment.


    There was no road up to the mountaintop, but unicorns were their own special flavor of bullshit.


    ¡°Skye and Varuna are coming.¡± I said. We shuffled around a bit, making some more room for Skye on the log, and I summoned a small cask of mead for Varuna. I¡¯d taken all the classes the School had on medicine, and I still wasn¡¯t sure if unicorns and booze mixed well or not. The unicorn was still alive, and I hadn¡¯t heard of any drunken rampages, so I wasn¡¯t going to start complaining now.


    ¡°We gotta do it.¡± Artemis stage-whispered. We all rapidly nodded in agreement, sharp smiles all around. Raccoon was positively villainous as she rubbed her hands together. I held up my fingers in a silent countdown, hitting 0 as Varuna and Skye reached the top of the mountain. All of us, except Fenrir, got up, hoisting our drinks.


    ¡°All hail Queen Skye!¡± We shouted in unison, followed by a cacophony of random titles we added. Mine was ¡®The Inkhanded!¡¯ Fenrir¡¯s was ¡®Varuna¡¯s Companion.¡¯


    She lifted a bunch of fresh bread, presliced.


    ¡°Sorry for being late!¡± Skye found the open spot we made for her and sat down. ¡°Took longer than I expected to escape. Bread?¡±


    ¡°A slice for me, please!¡± Artemis said, and I teleported the requested vittles over with a thought.


    ¡°If you¡¯re escaping that easily, we need a better gaol.¡± Raccoon muttered. ¡°Hey Skye, wanna send more funding my way?¡±


    Skye shot Raccoon a flat look and held up one fist. With her other hand, she mimed spinning a handle, slowly raising a single finger to the ornery goblin. Raccoon cackled madly. I grabbed two slices of bread myself, a jar of mustard, and soon had a ¡®ready to moo¡¯ steak sandwich.


    Nina cleared her throat.


    ¡°As much as I¡¯d love to watch the sunrise with all of you, we should probably get on with the after action reports. Who thinks they¡¯re going to be short, and who thinks they¡¯re going to be long?¡±


    Iona, Nina, and I each indicated we thought we¡¯d be on the longer side, while everyone else was on the shorter. Fenrir declined to share his stories, which I understood. While he understood us well enough, he had a terribly difficult time talking. His bond with Iona let him talk a little, but not quite in the deep story mode.


    Auri started us off with a dozen brrrpts,


    which I dutifully translated.


    ¡°... decided to use a squad of fire-clones to rainbow-burn various fields.¡± I said. Artemis blew a raspberry.


    ¡°No! Auri, I¡¯m going to sign you up for remedial Ranger lessons. You should¡¯ve started several dozen slow, nearly invisible fires at the bottom of various granaries. They wouldn¡¯t have noticed until it was too late, then you¡¯d be in the same starting position, except with half the target infrastructure already gone! At which point, you could¡¯ve hit all your targets!¡±


    ¡°Auri had mentioned she was working hard to prevent any collateral damage to elvenoid life.¡± Iona swiftly countered. ¡°Dozens of uncontrolled fires in places she wasn¡¯t near, especially in the heavily forested area she was working in, is the perfect way to initiate devastating wildfires. The Classers around could handle them before they caused anything like significant damage, you level them up dramatically against phoenix flames, potentially unlocking a skill that could kill Auri, you get the firefighting presence in the area, and that skips one of Auri¡¯s stated goals to not kill anyone she didn¡¯t need to.¡±


    Artemis tsked.


    ¡°You¡¯re right, I¡¯m not used to thinking about the significantly higher standard of Classer in Immortal lands.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt.¡±


    ¡°After that was Edhallon, which Auri would prefer to leave at ¡®burned to the ground¡¯. I was there, doing my own thing, so there was no loss of life. Just a lot of levels between the two of us.¡±


    The screams occasionally echoed in my dreams. Auri on one side, myself on the other, it was a match made in hell for rapid leveling. Auri got quite a few looks from everyone from that.


    ¡°Wait, that was you?¡± Nina said.


    ¡°That might¡¯ve been the second-largest event that led to the New Remus Empire collapsing.¡± Skye added.


    The conversation briefly devolved before Nina cleared her throat.


    ¡°Sunrise?¡± She said.


    ¡°Brrrpt! Brpt.¡±


    ¡°From there, Auri joined Fenrir on raids. They identified the target, generally military outposts, and Fenrir amplified local storms to hide in. From there, the two engaged in rapid hit and runs from above. Swoop in from the storm, cast magic everywhere, then fly off before a response could be mounted.¡±


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Artemis was nodding right along, and Skye was staring suspiciously at Auri.


    ¡°She said all that in what, a syllable and a half?¡± Our most majestic queen asked. Auri bobbed her beak up and down, while I maintained a perfect poker face.


    ¡°How did you prevent retaliation? Overlapping hits? Hunters coming for you two?¡± Iona¡¯s questions were mostly directed towards Fenrir. The big lug just shrugged, and started to tear into his third carcass, so mauled I couldn¡¯t even begin to identify it. What in the world had feathers, scales, and fur?


    ¡°Besides chaos, death, and levels, what goals were you hoping to accomplish? I¡¯m not trying to criticize too hard, I¡¯m just wondering what you were aiming for.¡± Nina said.


    We couldn¡¯t troll people quite so hard with this set.


    ¡°Brrrpt, brrpt! BrrrrRRRrrpt!¡± Auri started to explain, and I translated.


    ¡°They were trying to accomplish a few different things. First, Auri had recently taken care of Edhallon, and Classers were after them. By staying both highly mobile and visible, she was taking a number of pieces off the board. Staying and fighting would¡¯ve probably ended their hunt, and simply vanishing would¡¯ve had them eventually give up and refocus their efforts elsewhere. By continuing to hit targets, they were forced to continuously commit resources to chasing them. Auri¡¯s reluctant to hit civilians, and while nobody could simply walk up to the 512 and fight them, someone had to try and whittle down their forces. Death by a thousand cuts, and they were going to be one of them.¡±


    The militaristic part of me entirely approved of the strategy. The healer inside me despaired at the death from above.


    Artemis kicked back - how the fuck she did it while sitting on a log, I have no idea - and gestured with a steakbone.


    ¡°Do we want to discuss the best ways to hunt down a pair of marauding monsters, or should we have that conversation another day?¡± The Ranger looked around and read the mood. ¡°Right, another day it is.¡±


    ¡°How did you select your targets?¡± Raccoon asked.


    ¡°Flew high. Eyes.¡± Fenrir rumbled out.


    ¡°Which would let disguises and illusions hide outposts. I don¡¯t want to go deep on Artemis¡¯s question, but that¡¯s how I¡¯d track down the marauding monsters. Figure out how they found their targets, then bait them into hitting a particular one and engage from there.¡± Nina said.


    We continued the conversation on for far longer than I would¡¯ve expected, breaking down Auri and Fenrir¡¯s adventures from a dozen different angles. I was biased, but I thought Iona had the best point and the biggest gem of wisdom from it all.


    ¡°Something to keep in mind is how non-elvenoid Fenrir and Auri are. Fenrir¡¯s a wyvern, and Auri¡¯s a phoenix. It¡¯s an entirely different world they live in, from biology to thought patterns. We¡¯re trying to dissect it from an elvenoid perspective, when one of their greatest strengths is an entirely novel way of looking at problems and tackling them. We see a road and think how to walk down it, while Auri sees the trees by the side and thinks how well they burn.¡±


    ¡°Alright, Skye¡¯s turn!¡± Nina said. ¡°We could talk all night, but... Sunrise!¡±


    A memory clicked, and I snorted my drink out through my nose as I tried not to laugh. Iona started to pound on my back.


    ¡°You alright?¡± She asked.


    I nodded.


    ¡°Yeah, just a funny memory. Ha!¡± I laughed again. ¡°You¡¯re pounding my back. Pound, back, it¡¯s perfect with sunrise.¡±


    Iona just shook her head.


    ¡°Elaine moment.¡± She declared.


    ¡°You know you love me.¡± I said.


    ¡°You¡¯re lucky you¡¯re pretty.¡± She said.


    Auri made some gagging noises.


    ¡°Are we doing an after action report, or are the two of you going to get a room?¡± Raccoon asked.


    ¡°Skye, your turn!¡± Nina said. Skye eyed us.


    ¡°You remember that I explicitly asked not to be involved, and I¡¯ve got my own council I discuss decisions and reasoning with?¡± She said.


    ¡°Pffft, where¡¯s the fun in that?¡± Artemis said. ¡°You¡¯ve got your own challenges and stuff. Hit us with tax code problems or something.¡±


    Skye glared at Artemis, then smiled wickedly.


    ¡°Fine. I will. Let¡¯s start with some basic taxation theory. Ideally, society is large and well educated, and has the necessary paperwork in place to properly tax people on their income. Currency exchanged and all that. Since Orthus is too small for a proper income tax, and the less said about the state of currency, the better, we need to look at other tax types. We started with a community day, which is helpful for a number of reasons, but has its own set of downsides. Without powerful physical Classers around,¡± Skye nodded to Iona. ¡°We struggle to complete large scale projects that require some technical skills. Another aspect of taxation theory is incentives. Tax items we want to discourage, and give incentives on items we want to encourage. A community day removes that lever entirely. Which brings me to taxes on the sale of items, property taxes, and-¡°


    ¡°Have mercy on me, please.¡± Raccoon begged, miming a sword through her chest. ¡°I¡¯ve heard enough. You¡¯ve leveled [Torture] plenty. Agony, oh agony. I know it¡¯s possible to talk someone to death, but I want to learn the skill, not have it performed on me!¡±


    Artemis wasn¡¯t looking too happy either, good naturedly taking the prank on the chin. Nina was leaning forward.


    ¡°No no, this is fascinating. I want to know more.¡±


    ¡°Plus, the collection of taxes itself is a difficult exercise.¡± Iona pointed out, getting some surprised looks. She shrugged. ¡°One of the earliest tasks we were given when I was a [Squire] myself was accompanying [Tax Collectors] as a small measure of security, and to remind people who they owed their security to.¡±


    ¡°Over my dead body.¡± Artemis loudly proclaimed before anyone could say something. ¡°No way.¡±


    ¡°No, that¡¯s my job.¡± Raccoon pointed out.


    ¡°This was supposed to be a joke, not trigger a spirited discussion.¡± Skye muttered.


    I jumped in.


    ¡°There¡¯s also taxation as necessary friction. Osengard had that whole thing with guild taxes on healers so they could actually make a living, remember that?¡±


    ¡°Ah yeah, you pulling me into a life of crime, how could I forget.¡± Iona joked.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri suddenly realised That Damn Parrot was probably dead, and started to do a tapdance on her picnic basket. I stole two more cookies while she was distracted, one for me and one for Iona. Artemis gestured with a crooked finger and a significant look, blackmailing me into giving her two more.


    ¡°Sunrise.¡± Nina fake coughed.


    Raccoon and Artemis traded looks.


    ¡°Is this your story, or mine?¡± The goblin asked.


    ¡°Oh, this is absolutely yours.¡± Artemis said. ¡°Complete failure on my part, you did all the work on it.¡±


    Skye groaned.


    ¡°That mess? Yeah, you know my thoughts on it.¡± The yuki-onna said, her voice practically frozen.


    Raccoon nodded, and shedded her relaxed demeanor.


    ¡°Right then! Let¡¯s talk about the Rangers. The current selection method works for mentality, or so Artemis vigorously tells me, but it¡¯s not selecting for the right mentalities.¡±


    Artemis folded her arms, glaring murder, then frowned a bit and tilted her head, conceding that Raccoon might have a point. The goblin continued on with her story.


    It went a bit on the longer side. The initial problem, the investigation, then the crime and punishment aspect.


    Rangers were selected for their mentality. Nearly everything could be taught, except for a tough mindset. That was the theory when I went through the Hell Months, and it had the added benefit of creating a powerful bond between us all.


    It hadn¡¯t quite worked out in one unfortunate case. He¡¯d lorded his nearly-untouchable status cleverly, in a way that hadn¡¯t been getting back to Artemis, and it wasn¡¯t like we had Sentinels as an added check on the Rangers. I was the only one who could possibly claim that role, and I hadn¡¯t been waltzing around as a Sentinel. It would¡¯ve felt hollow... plus I wasn¡¯t around. It had taken a complaint to Raccoon, followed by an extensive and deadly investigation by the goblin, to uncover the truth.


    Law and order had been an added mess. By necessity, Rangers were held to a different code. Some laws were more relaxed, and others were stricter. Artemis had been horrifically torn. On one hand, she wanted to come down on the now-ex Ranger like a sack of bricks. On the other, she didn¡¯t want to undermine the Rangers too hard. Raccoon wanted the Ranger to pay off his crimes, and Skye needed order to prevail. They¡¯d worked out a compromise, and the ex-Ranger was no longer with us.


    ¡°It¡¯s clear an independent check is needed on Rangers.¡± I said when Raccoon finished her story.


    Skye immediately jumped in.


    ¡°I completely agree. The issue is one of size. We don¡¯t even have a single full-strength Ranger Team, let alone the people needed to properly act as a check on them. Then we need people to act as a secondary check, who reports to the government. Orthus is barely 6000 people. It¡¯s a lot, but it¡¯s not nearly enough for what¡¯s needed.¡±


    It was clear Skye was thinking of the old command structure. Rangers acted as a check on the Legions. Sentinels were a check on the Rangers. Sentinels reported to Command, and Command reported to the Senate, which in theory reported to the people. We had no Legions, no Sentinels, and only a single beloved despot as our government.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got three thoughts on this.¡± Iona said. ¡°First. Work on your selection process. Offer more temptations. Second. Have a trial period after where you¡¯re shadowing the new Rangers. Watch what they do. Have the Rangers watch the Rangers, make yourselves accountable to each other. Third. Other independent organizations. Raccoon being a [Constable] worked well here. It¡¯s once again a manpower issue, but if a knightly order were based here, the two groups could check each other. As is, I believe we¡¯re going to be sticking around for some time, and I¡¯d be happy to be the check on the Rangers. My blessing plays in well, and by the time our feet get itchy and we start wandering, you¡¯ll hopefully have the population for a proper set of checks and balances. I¡¯d like to think I¡¯m both well known and liked in the community, and my [Vow] is a strong check itself against corruption. Plus, if we want to go deep in that direction, Elaine¡¯s a check on me, and very much on the Rangers¡¯s side.¡± Iona jostled me with her elbow, and I floated up a bit to put my head on her shoulder.


    ¡°It¡¯s a solid proposal.¡± Skye said. ¡°Let¡¯s meet in three days and hammer it out. Artemis, does that work for you?¡±


    Artemis slowly nodded, looking thoughtful.


    ¡°It could work, yeah. That¡¯s going to be more involved than a single night on a mountaintop to decide. Plus, I don¡¯t know about the rest of you, but I¡¯m a little tipsy. Not going to decide anything when drunk.¡±


    ¡°Betcha got some stories to tell though.¡± I said.


    Artemis took another swing of her bottle, only to stare into it suspiciously. I hid my grin by raising my now-full bottle and taking a drink. She shrugged and put it down.


    ¡°Right. Monsters hunted, the first bandits nailed to the town walls, and endless drills ran. Also, Skye, I just gotta say. Bodies go off super fast, and you can¡¯t tell who they are after like, three days. It¡¯s super unhygienic to boot.¡±


    Our most royal queen shrugged.


    ¡°Difference in the weather, I¡¯ve learned my lesson. In Tuvan, the cold preserves the bodies well, and the display can go on for months. Too warm here for that, and we¡¯re not going to repeat it.¡±


    ¡°Putting that aside. Pair of elves from the New Remus Empire were here, and they were fucking untouchable. It wasn¡¯t them, it was the big stick that¡¯d smack our fingers if we made a move against them. We started off engineering an ¡®accident¡¯ to take one of them out, with the other one being able to report back that it was a genuine accident, no need to retaliate. A bloody goat stepped in it, and ended up scattered across seven acres. Miserable shit.¡±


    Part of me wanted to know more, the other part really, really didn¡¯t. Maybe I¡¯d ask Artemis another time for details.


    ¡°Once was happenstance, but twice was a conspiracy, and we had to back off the ¡®accidents¡¯ from there, all while keeping up with the usual Ranger issues. Which are only growing. I know I complained about Systemless creatures not giving kill notifications, but things out there are leveling fast. Finally, finally, we got a note saying weapons free.¡±


    Artemis shook her head.


    ¡°Idiots let me waltz right up to them and get a hand on both of them. They never saw it coming. Who invades another country, then lets a high level mage touch them?¡±


    ¡°Did you use any disguises, tricks, anything?¡± Nina asked, leaning forward.


    ¡°Kinda? We went to a bar. I bought them drinks. We sang, we danced, and I electrocuted them in front of everyone. Good lesson for the rest of the Rangers as well.¡±


    Hmmm. How would I have done it differently? One of Radiance¡¯s strongest traits was the instantaneous element of it. As long as someone was in range, I immediately hit them. Projectile travel time wasn¡¯t as much of a factor for me as it was for Earth mages. I would¡¯ve tried to line them up for a single through-and-through beam.


    ¡°What¡¯s your analysis on hitting the elves in a public setting, versus killing them in private?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Oh, that one¡¯s easy.¡± Artemis said. ¡°Their homes were well protected, so murdering them in their sleep would¡¯ve been hard. I barely interacted with them, so asking to meet somewhere private would¡¯ve put them on their guard. No, I get trying to avoid public takedowns, but you were with us often enough. We usually can¡¯t avoid the public takedown, and there¡¯s the whole ¡®increases confidence in the Rangers¡¯ to see us taking down large threats publicly. Granted, this one was a little unusual, and I¡¯ve been banned from the bar, but all in all I think it was the right decision.¡±


    ¡°Brrrpt, brpt.¡± Auri¡¯s complaint was good, and I translated.


    ¡°Not letting the other Rangers know what was going on was a huge mistake. It gave you no backup if anything went wrong, it didn¡¯t let them know the situation properly. Team Leaders don¡¯t hide secrets like that from everyone else. They went into the bar thinking the elves were nominal allies. What if one of them had reacted poorly? What if the takedown had failed? The hesitation would¡¯ve killed.¡±


    Artemis nodded, her face set in serious lines.


    ¡°Yeah, that was a fuckup on my part. My thinking at the time had been to keep everything natural. Give no reason for them to suspect me. I love the Rangers, but [Acting] isn¡¯t one of our trained skills. We don¡¯t usually need to run an assassination, and you¡¯ll forgive me for skipping those lessons. I should¡¯ve explained what was going on, then picked out the people who I could trust to play it cool to come inside with me, and had the rest stationed nearby, geared to go. Thankfully, nobody died this time because of my mistake, and...¡±


    I heard the unsaid words about Julius, and didn¡¯t push more.


    We continued to dissect Artemis¡¯s plan as the fire burned down. I went to add some logs, but Auri lit it back up with a twitch of her beak.


    The moons had passed their zenith, and we still had three long after-action reports to go.

 Chapter 628: After Action Report II

    ¡°My turn, unless there are any objections?¡± Iona stood up. I simply levitated myself as she did, sitting cross-legged in the air with my head still on my wife¡¯s shoulder. I was a little tipsy, happily buzzed. This was nice. I was going to have a mango after her story, as a treat.


    Wait.


    WAIT.


    Why wait? I could totally do TWO mangos. One for now, one for later.


    A tiny part of me was screaming about poor impulse control and ¡®this is why we never have any spares when we want it¡¯, but that was future-Elaine¡¯s problem. I was lovingly nuzzling the most beautiful, most perfect of fruits, savoring the anticipation. Soon, my lovely, you¡¯ll be in my mouth, then in my stomach, a perfect cycle of deliciousness.


    Maybe I¡¯d drunk a little more than I thought. I was a super lightweight after my biomancy, and I¡¯d been stealing Artemis¡¯s drinks for a few hours now.


    ¡°I spent a few months wandering around, finding small communities. The basic cycle went something like this. I came in, I said hello, I asked if there was anything I could do to help. They¡¯d feed and shelter me for a night, then I moved on. I made a lot of new friends, and there¡¯s a chance some of them might drop by or even move in. I do think the small is just as interesting as the large, and in many ways, could be more impactful. What matters more, a large action rippling in a small way across hundreds or thousands, or a small action rippling in a gigantic way across a family of eight? At first I tried to walk from Orthus, like Nina did, but the distinct lack of roads and civilization made me quit, and just fly around. The first place I found, it was getting late, and...¡±


    My wife continued to talk about her adventures. Slaying a therizinosaurus that realized he could ¡®farm¡¯ cattle just as well as the farmers did, then handing over its claws to be made into spears. Cutting down acres of a forest for a family expansion. Mediating a dispute, with the resolution ending up involving a three-way marriage.


    Eyebrows had gone up everywhere over that, but everyone seemed happy with the arrangement. The lucky throuple was over the moon, and nobody was digging 8 foot deep holes.


    Only Iona could pull it off.


    For many mortals, strangers showing up to their village were met with suspicion and hostility. There was no reputation they needed to worry about, there was no history with the people, they didn¡¯t need to live with them in the future. There was no trust, and rarely a good reason to extend it. A traveling group would likely get more consideration than a lone individual, and nobody wanted to risk that a mere [Peddler] was something more. In another sense, a [Peddler¡¯s] vast wagon of goods was its own type of insurance against mischief.


    A lone individual walking into town? Likely to be an exile from another village, a person so abhorrent that friends, family, and neighbors all agreed they needed to leave, as it was the last kindness they could extend. Not a person to be trusted at all.


    Iona managed to walk up to these small places hidden around the world, and Valkyrie reputation or not, was fast friends within an hour. I felt a faint possessive twinge deep inside my heart as she casually mentioned the fourth marriage proposal she received. I noticed my lips were curled back slightly, and I tamped down the response.


    The System helped, for sure. Iona¡¯s level shattered most barriers. If a knight with over a thousand levels on the highest-level Classer in a village wanted something, they got it. It got her foot and the rest of her body in the door, at which point she could work her fantastical charms.


    After the eighth story or so, Iona poked me in the side.


    ¡°Any feedback?¡± She asked me. I started.


    I¡¯d been enjoying the flow of things, listening to my wife¡¯s wonderful voice, and hadn¡¯t been contributing much. Well, anything.


    ¡°You were there, on the ground, and are an expert on this. I don¡¯t want to say the challenges were too small, but when you utterly outclass the problem, putting on a blindfold and cutting the monster to pieces with a sheet of paper is a quick and valid response. I¡¯m just enjoying the vibe and you being here.¡± I nuzzled in closer, thanking Ciriel profusely that I¡¯d caught some of my words before they came out.


    Saying we don¡¯t need an after action report for killing a mouse was all sorts of offensive and mood-killing, plus it was mean! I wanted to hear Iona¡¯s stories, I wanted to know her adventures! This was pretty close to my idea of bliss, I didn¡¯t want to ruin it. I just didn¡¯t have good feedback, because there was no strong feedback.


    Iona got the idea, and moved on with her story. Boo. I guess I¡¯d just need to get the rest of it some winter evening. With hot chocolate, a fire, blankets, and the rest of the family, Sara included, obviously, she was family.


    ¡°Skipping over acquiring a tome of spells in a lost runic language, I found myself at the gates of Sahel.¡± I squawked in protest at Iona skipping over finding a lost magic language. I wanted that!


    Wait. She hadn¡¯t come back with a spellbook. Had she lost it, or was she just fucking with me? She couldn¡¯t lie at all, her [Vow] prohibited it, but she could be entirely, technically correct... I HAD TO KNOW. Iona¡¯s revenge was swift and thorough, but I banished that part of my mind and focused on her story.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been thinking more and more about the consequences of my actions.¡± Iona said. Nina was beaming at her mentor, and Skye looked up, mouthing a prayer of thanks to the gods.


    Hey! We weren¡¯t that bad!


    ¡°A beast menacing a village? Easy. A small consideration should be made to the local wildlife population, but broadly, stopping a monster from snacking on a villager every week is an easy decision. When it¡¯s people causing the problem, when there are potential hidden causes and reasons, when ripples go through dozens of people, it¡¯s a little trickier. Why are things being done that way? Is it cruelty, are people being assholes, or is it simply the best of a bad lot? Is there cultural context I¡¯m missing? What happens after? It¡¯s tricky, and Sahel was one of the first places I had to stare the problem in the face.¡±


    Nina shuffled over to sit closer to Iona, a knowing look on her face. Artemis was looking doubtful, but then again, she¡¯d always been in a position where she didn¡¯t need to think of it. As a Ranger, she was the law and order, working in a culture she intimately knew and understood. As much as she tended to color outside the lines, so to speak, Artemis had known exactly where the lines were. What repercussions her actions would have. What legal and cultural protection she was entitled to, what the reaction people would have. She had tools to remove almost all levels of problems. When we came to the modern era, Julius and her had started working as monster hunters, which required no delicate ripple analysis, then teaching at the School which wasn¡¯t exactly prime grounds to bump off nobility.


    A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Raccoon looked like she wanted to strangle Iona, because yeah. Powerful Classer waltzing in, deciding they didn¡¯t like things, changing them around to - OH NO.


    NO.


    It was IMPOSSIBLE.


    It couldn¡¯t be!


    I married an adventurer!?


    Wait, hang on, I was drunk. I¡¯m sure sober-Elaine had very good reasons. Iona wasn¡¯t actually an [Adventurer], she was a [Knight-Errant], and that was completely different. They had standards, for one. And... other reasons. That I¡¯m sure were very good.


    ¡°I watched, I observed, I took notes. It was a city of contrasts. They took a hand off a boy for being a thief, yet had education available for all. Slavery was practiced, yet water was free in great quantities. I drew the line at semi-openly drugging the entire population into compliance.¡±


    There were winces around the fireplace, although Skye looked far too interested. I pointed at her.


    ¡°No, bad.¡± I said.


    ¡°Well, forgive me for being curious about novel city governance methods.¡± She huffed and crossed her arms. Varuna tried to glare at me, but he wasn¡¯t too stable. Ha!


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡± Auri asked.


    ¡°I¡¯d gotten drugged myself without noticing. Didn¡¯t expect the main city water to be laced.¡± Iona said dryly.


    Huh. Okay, wait, that was fascinating.


    ¡°How on Pallos did they manage to dose the water to work on you and not murder every kid who took a sip?¡± I asked. One of the core tenets of medicine was ¡®the dose made the medicine¡¯, which twisted just a hair to be ¡®the dose made the poison¡¯. Anything that worked on Iona¡¯s absurd vitality would flat-out murder everyone else, it was why herbalism remedies could be so difficult at times.


    All hail Celestial healing!


    ¡°We¡¯re not going into the technicalities of poisoning people, please.¡± Raccoon said.


    Elaine, are you drunk-praying to me right now? Ciriel asked. Because it really sounds like it. It¡¯s obviously a [Poisoner] skill to properly dose people.


    Whoops! Sorry! I prayed back, donating a hefty chunk of mana to the goddess. I purged the alcohol running through my veins. I was a little too drunk.


    ¡°Sunrise!¡± Nina said.


    ¡°I hate to admit it, but poisoning the main water supply would¡¯ve absolutely worked on me.¡± Artemis said. ¡°Who expects the water to be poisoned by the ruler? External sabotage, yes, but there are usually Classers protecting against that.¡±


    ¡°Moving on!¡± Iona declared. ¡°Elaine¡¯s moonstones helped out. Even after knowing I¡¯d been poisoned, I had no motivation to do anything about it. Nasty stuff. I used her gem to purge the influence, and I got a little ticked off. Promptly overthrew the local government. Nina was right, I can¡¯t just fix the problem then walk away and let everything sort itself out. Sahel has unique ideas about succession, and it all went downhill from there.¡±


    Nina¡¯s face was a sight to behold. The kitsune was clearly torn between pride, and an emotion I could only describe as ¡®you idiot, you did WHAT.¡¯


    ¡°All hail Queen Iona, first of her name.¡± Skye dryly hailed.


    ¡°Brrpt.¡± Auri denied, shaking her head.


    ¡°Yeah, it only works when it¡¯s you.¡± Raccoon added.


    Skye looked disgusted with all of us, and threw her hands up in the air.


    ¡°Why do I bother!?¡±


    ¡°Because you love us.¡± Artemis said.


    Nina moaned and put her head in her hands.


    ¡°I¡¯m never going to get a turn.¡±


    Iona clapped her hands, instantly commanding all our attention.


    ¡°The fundamental lesson we can all learn from my misadventure boils down to the seven P¡¯s. Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance. I hadn¡¯t planned on taking over several cities, even though I only held one. I wasn¡¯t prepared to rule. My performance, as expected, was piss poor, although I¡¯ve hopefully left the place in slightly better shape than I found it. Mostly thanks to Arachne, who¡¯d clearly had an idea of what I was doing, and what I needed to do to fix it. I can¡¯t take the credit.¡±


    She took a deep breath, and I was glad I was sober for this. Iona looked vaguely haunted, and I slipped my hand into hers. She squeezed it.


    ¡°Omospondia follows a truism. Steel sharpens steel. Fighting and conflict amongst each other is deeply ingrained into their culture. Allies are temporary, friendships are considered weaknesses. Lies and assassination are part and parcel to their nature, and I survived three assassination attempts the first night alone. It was only later I discovered that there¡¯d been more than a dozen attempts sent my way, but most of them ended up fighting each other to have the ¡®honor¡¯ of killing me, thus giving them the advantage. I was not amused.¡±


    Nina looked like she was going to bust a stitch, and Raccoon looked on in utter disbelief.


    ¡°You¡¯re shitting me.¡± The goblin said.


    Iona spun the story of her stay in Omospondia, and I experimentally poked her to make sure she wasn¡¯t a changeling or shapeshifter. Iona couldn¡¯t lie, after all. The first, trickiest step had been getting people to actually listen to her. People kept telling her one thing to her face, then completely ignoring her reforms, instead reporting that everything was alright. After several surprise inspections and liberal use of her glaive, reforms started to lurch into motion.


    Just in time for city wide riots to erupt as the last lingering effects of the calming poison wore off. Slowly weaning the population off hadn¡¯t worked, and Iona suspected it was a deliberate design choice. If Iya couldn¡¯t hold the city, then she¡¯d make sure nobody else could.


    That had been the start of the nasty surprises left for my wife. She¡¯d lurched from one disaster to the next with her head held high, always trying to do the right thing, never compromising her integrity.


    Which had put her in a number of no-win situations. One of her most helpful advisors, one of the people helping keep the lives of tens of thousands of people together, had a few nasty vices. A rival found out and happily reported it directly to Iona, who¡¯d been faced with an impossible choice.


    The punishment for his crimes was public execution, for the seven lives he¡¯d utterly destroyed. And yet, his death would ripple, causing dozens more to die.


    ¡°I chose integrity, and tone at the top.¡± Iona declared. ¡°It is impossible to reform and fix a society where that type of behavior is commonplace. It is impractical in the short term. It hurts people in the short term. It arguably makes things worse in the medium term as well. It¡¯s only potentially helpful on the longest horizons, and even that, only if I succeeded. I¡¯m fairly certain I failed in the end, even with Arachne¡¯s mild intervention.¡±


    I squeezed my wife¡¯s hand reassuringly.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like you¡¯re working on a long timeline either.¡± Nina mused. I wasn¡¯t sure what she meant by that, hopefully we¡¯d get more during her after action report.


    Iona continued on. The impossible decisions. The conflicts as Iona needed to decide which principle was worth more. The practical, evil choice, or the poor, high minded decision. What could she sleep with? What could she do?


    Honestly, we didn¡¯t have huge amounts of feedback in the moment, although Skye was oddly quiet. Fenrir did occasionally rumble at the fights, threats to Iona, and investigations needed. Okay fine. He was basically going like an oversized purring cat behind us. Otherwise, we listened. Iona had already spent countless hours meditating over her decisions, and had a short reasoning why she made the choices she had. This part was becoming less of us dissecting her methods, and more Iona bringing her wisdom back to us.


    ¡°... I didn¡¯t want to be blind to the consequences of my actions.¡± Iona said at the end. ¡°But the path to hell is paved with good intentions. It¡¯s seductively easy to justify a small break in ethics for the greater good. Weighing one life on the scales against the dozens saved. It¡¯s nearly impossible to continue taking the high road when everyone around me insisted on taking the low. Nina. I think you should spend a good number of years in Omospondia. I know you do weigh lives and work for the greater good with admirable restraint. I think the various city-states are an excellent example of where the ideology can go, when done to excess. Any questions?¡±


    We all politely paused for someone else to talk, then all jumped in at the same time.


    ¡°How the fuck are you still alive?¡± Artemis asked.


    ¡°Want to come with me?¡± Nina asked.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± I asked.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    ¡°Do you reckon any of the mess is going to come back here?¡± Raccoon asked.


    ¡°When can we talk more?¡± Skye asked.


    ¡°Home.¡± Fenrir rumbled.


    Iona held up a hand, then rotated in a circle, pointing to each of us in term.


    ¡°Excessive self defense with a sprinkling of paranoia; yes, but not for a few years; I will be, my head¡¯s in an awkward spot; absolutely NOT; unlikely, they don¡¯t care enough combined with the difficulty; in two weeks; and yes, I am. I can see I¡¯ll need to moderate this a bit more. Ennie, meeny, miny, Auri, next question.¡± Iona pointed wildly around the fireplace until she landed on the phoenix.


    ¡°Brrrpt!?!??¡±


    ¡°You had to ask. Well...¡±


    Iona spent the next two hours answering questions, the nine of us settling into a pleasant routine. Question after question, with excellent food, amazing drink, and better friends. The Valkyrie glanced up at the night sky. She clapped her hands together, finishing up one last question.


    ¡°... out a window.¡± She answered on a massive cliffhanger. ¡°On that note, we need to get moving, or else we¡¯ll need to extend this another night. Elaine, your turn!¡±


    Iona hopped back down onto the log, stretching her legs with a relieved sigh.


    I got up with a twirling flourish, bowing dramatically before my audience.


    ¡°You¡¯re not going to believe this.¡± I grinned at them, then launched into my story.

 Chapter 629: After Action Report III

    ¡°If all of you could believe Iona¡¯s story of ruling over a city and change, I think you¡¯ll believe mine, no matter how outlandish it is.¡±


    Artemis promptly took a deep swing of her drink, and I magnanimously allowed it. Raccoon shot me the ¡®hurry up¡¯ sign, and I rolled my eyes at the scoundrel.


    Amber, Nina, Raccoon... Sara was going to give me a ton of sass in about a decade, wasn¡¯t she? I never did anything like that to Artemis. This week. Apart from the barrel prank. And stealing her drink.


    Okay, fine, perhaps karma was catching up to me.


    ¡°I was the last one to leave, and I didn¡¯t have a great plan of action. Mostly ¡®find patients, heal them.¡¯ I was going to go to Draakveld and see what I could find out. In the roughly three second window between Iona leaving and taking off myself, a voice called out to me.¡±


    I paused for dramatic effect.


    ¡°I followed the voice, only to find a small enchantment tied to a rock and a slim shard of arcanite. As I was looking around, another voice called out to me. Like a child getting candy dangled in front of them, I merrily followed the voices deeper into the woods.¡±


    Beer went flying everywhere as Iona choke-snorted on the last sentence. I caught it all with [Mantle], preventing us from all getting soaked. Nina pounded Iona¡¯s back with an amused grin, the kitsune trying hard not to laugh. Artemis was holding her head in her hands, moaning to herself.


    ¡°Where? Where did I go so wrong? How did I fail her?¡±


    Auri slapped a wing over her eyes, Fenrir looked at me as if to say ¡®easy prey¡¯. Varuna and Skye were shaking their heads in unison, her long hair melding with the unicorn¡¯s flowing mane perfectly.


    Huh. When had their hair become the exact same shade? Must be part of their bond.


    ¡°Oh, stop being dramatic you lot. Our resident spider wanted a talk, and knew us well enough to exactly time when I¡¯d be alone, and how quickly I¡¯d move from place to place.¡±


    Nina shuddered. She got it. Artemis curled her hand, and three rocks floated up from the ground, then started to twist like a [Sculptor] was working on them. They rapidly reformed into three six-sided dice, and Artemis tossed them up and down experimentally a few times before nodding at herself.


    Iona frowned a bit, Fenrir looked alarmed, and Skye just rolled her eyes.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± Auri was indignant.


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t know why she didn¡¯t come and say hi to everyone. That would¡¯ve been the nicer thing to do.¡± I agreed. Auri nodded once, like she¡¯d given a great proclamation to the land.


    ¡°Moving on, so we¡¯re not here until sunrise.¡± I winked at Nina. ¡°Arachne had some ideas for me and my talents. In short, she wanted to train me in spycraft, then insert me as a spy into the New Remus Empire. I¡¯ll skip all the boring training, although it was in a cool spot, and move right into the spywork. Oh! Amber showed up. It was complete bullshit, as expected. We were, uh, riding along, and she just popped into a seat from a pocket dimension she¡¯d been hiding out in. Almost literally fell right into my lap.¡±


    ¡°Wait, where was it?¡± Iona innocently asked.


    ¡°It - uh.¡±


    Shit.


    Less than half of us knew the secret of the Pekari, and Artemis, Nina, and Raccoon were all in a perfect position to take advantage of the lich¡¯s deadly game. Heck, even Skye was. Pekari raiding local villages was a fantastic test of her abilities as a leader, a neat challenge designed to test her leadership skills. Anurak was careful not to go too far, and I didn¡¯t want to ruin the opportunity.


    ¡°I can¡¯t say. It¡¯s a secret, and I shouldn¡¯t have mentioned it was in a neat spot. I kinda buried half the spycraft in my memory skill, which included the part about properly keeping my mouth shut on things. MOVING ON.¡±


    ¡°How DID you pass Ranger training?¡± Artemis asked. I answered with a single finger and kept talking.


    ¡°Books and plays love to glamorize spywork. Nippon-koku plays do fun things with ninjas and stagehands, there are endless stories of suave spies grabbing secret documents and kissing pretty girls, but the truth of the matter, spying is dead boring.¡±


    Nina was nodding along in perfect understanding and complete agreement.


    ¡°So you didn¡¯t kiss any pretty girls or handsome boys behind my back? Ah, what a waste of a good chance!¡± Iona teased, knowing how monogamous I was.


    I dramatically put my hand on my forehead.


    ¡°Alas! I¡¯m taken by the fairest maiden in the world. None can compare to your radiant beauty. Your smile is the sun that melts my snow. In your eyes, I find galaxies, and in your arms, I find home. Your laughter is the sweet melody that dances through my soul; you¡¯re the dream I never want to wake from. You-¡±


    Auri slapped one of her [Mage Hands] over my mouth, making retching noises. Everyone else had various looks on their face that all said ¡®get a room¡¯, and Artemis looked vaguely disturbed.


    Why yes Artemis, I had grown up. I was only over a hundred years old. Honestly.


    I¡¯d written way too much sappy poetry when I was missing Iona, and I¡¯d been able to get the tip of the iceberg out just now. Iona was glowing happily, and I¡¯d share the rest with her later.


    ¡°Moving on. Spywork. Boring. Go into work. Smile at coworkers. Do the job the pointy-haired boss wants. Read the papers. Teleport select ones into a cache. Go back home. Repeat.¡± I pulled at my hair. ¡°It was PURE TORTURE. It sucked. It was miserable. I¡¯m never working as a [Scribe] or related job again.¡±


    ¡°Not even as a [Librarian]?¡± Iona teased.


    ¡°That¡¯s completely different.¡± I said with a haughty sniff. For some reason, that sent half the mountaintop into peals of laughter.


    ¡°I¡¯m honestly impressed. [Writers] managed to take one of the most boring jobs in the world, and turn it into this fantastical career. I suppose the counterintelligence side of it is more interesting, and it¡¯d be a completely different discussion if I couldn¡¯t easily [Teleport] things around. No need for dead drops, sneaking off in the night, signals... I just moved paperwork from this one jerk¡¯s desk in particular straight to the source.¡±


    My wife was less than impressed at that.


    ¡°You framed him?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Blatantly! Obviously! Except, nobody ever came knocking to see what was going on! Nobody ever noticed! I seriously wonder if we were actually doing anything productive in that building.¡± I shook my head and muttered under my breath. ¡°Office work.¡±


    I got Looks from everyone else.


    ¡°I find it perfectly engaging, and we¡¯d have endless problems without it.¡± Skye sniffed.


    ¡°Chance to sit down in the shade all day? I dream about it on the hottest summer days.¡± Raccoon said.


    ¡°Or the winter. I love my job, I love being outside, but when it¡¯s pouring snow out and we¡¯re trying to find the buried prints? Now and then I wish I was inside with a warm fire.¡± Artemis said.


    This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Iona wisely said nothing.


    I threw my hands up in the air.


    ¡°Fine! Next time, you all can do it! Skye, I hear you¡¯ve just gotten a new batch of recruits.¡±


    The yuki-onna grinned.


    ¡°I heard the same thing! I think I¡¯ll have the two of you report, oh, an hour after sunrise. We can discuss a schedule. I¡¯m thinking two days a week. You need to be familiar with the paperwork to be of any use anyway.¡±


    ¡°I, er, have a patrol route then. Sorry, can¡¯t miss it.¡± Raccoon stammered out.


    ¡°I¡¯m illiterate.¡± Artemis blatantly lied. Skye¡¯s perfect composure cracked at that.


    ¡°Illiterate!? You!? I¡¯ve got a dozen poorly filled out requisition forms on my desk just from you!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, exactly. Poorly filled out, illiterate, you¡¯re proving my point for me.¡± Artemis let the complaint slide off her back.


    ¡°That reminds me! I didn¡¯t go straight to spying, I spent a good amount of time flitting between battlefields. I¡¯d go to a fight, utterly deny any and all deaths, and when the two sides separated, I¡¯d skedaddle. I¡¯ll admit to some creative, ah, foraging, for dinner now and then, but it was great for my levels, and I got to see SO MUCH MAGIC, it was great! The first interesting one was an elemental transformation into rocks. Managed to get injured, if you¡¯d believe it, and it came at a large penalty to heal it up. Next up was a titan of trees. Not a treant, although it looked like one at first blush...¡±


    It took me around an hour to go over the various magic and tactics I¡¯d seen. Most of us hadn¡¯t gotten a chance to fight at the levels I¡¯d been in, and hopefully, none of us would.


    I¡¯d be lying to myself if I thought none of us would ever be in a fight like that. Immortality was available to us all, and the slow but steady progression of levels would have us all enter that arena some day.


    We dissected the various tactics I¡¯d seen, bandied around various interesting skills and wondered if it was worth aiming for them, and debated the merits of large-scale battles versus small skirmishes.


    ¡°All I¡¯m saying, anything with swords should be mergeable into a super-sword skill.¡± Raccoon argued.


    ¡°Not cross-element.¡± Iona pointed out. ¡°And it can be worth having two specialized skills. We carry more than one weapon.¡±


    ¡°You carry more than one weapon.¡± Raccoon tapped her baton. ¡°Some of us only have one.¡±


    ¡°You have a knife.¡± Nina pointed out.


    ¡°And everything near you.¡± Artemis said. I nodded in agreement with her. Raccoon¡¯s eyes went shiny, like she¡¯d just discovered the elegant essence of murder.


    ¡°We haven¡¯t trained you on it yet, because we had a million other things to do.¡± Iona was preemptively backpedaling.


    ¡°How have I never heard of this before!?¡± The goblin demanded, then pointed to Artemis. ¡°You, especially, have been holding out on me! I gotta learn. Maybe now?¡±


    Auri bonked Raccoon on the head with one of her flaming fists.


    ¡°Brrrpt!¡± She scolded. I flicked her myself.


    ¡°Just because Raccoon doesn¡¯t understand you, doesn¡¯t mean it¡¯s nice to brrrpt at her. You¡¯ve got words, use them.¡±


    ¡°Brrpt.¡± Auri sulked, opening up her picnic basket. I hastily emptied the last few cookies out.


    ¡°BRPT!¡± She screamed, looking at her empty basket.


    By Ciriel, it was absolutely worth it to see her stunned look of disbelief. She looked around the dwindling fire, her eyes narrowing as she looked at me. I used all my acting skills to put on an innocent face.


    Thanks Susan!


    ¡°BRPT!¡± I was promptly attacked by an enraged phoenix pecking at my face, my disguise insufficient.


    Thanks Susan.


    I fell over in a tangle of limbs, trying to brush Auri off. Everyone else just stood around and watched.


    ¡°Traitors!¡± I gasped out.


    Artemis took another sip.


    ¡°You did stuff me in a barrel earlier today.¡± She said.


    ¡°And stole all of Auri¡¯s cookies.¡± We¡¯d barely gotten back together, and already Iona was stabbing me in the back.


    Skye was asleep, leaning against the unicorn. Fenrir had joined them in dreamland... although it was hard to tell at times.


    Nina coughed something that sounded suspiciously like ¡®sunrise¡¯, and it broke the fight up.


    ¡°Moving on! Auri came around and burned Edhallon to the ground, which she¡¯s already explained to you. From there, I once again found myself at odd ends. What to do, where to go? I decided to try and make a map of the world, and mark down population centers. From there, I decided to be the weight on the scales that the Wardens had previously provided. The Treaty of Kyowa is basically a historical document at this point, one that¡¯ll be built on later, and nobody is stopping powerful Immortals from moving into mortal lands and doing what they want. There aren¡¯t too many people who have though. Inertia from almost a thousand years of history and tradition, combined with the New Remus Empire causing a fuss. Might change soon. Iona, I¡¯m pretty sure you¡¯ll want to take a look into that in a few years.¡±


    My wife grimly nodded.


    ¡°There¡¯s not too much to say about that. I made a poor map, gained some levels, then just flew around in various loops, hitting places and moving on.¡±


    Iona snapped her fingers.


    ¡°Wait, is it possible you flew past Sahel right before the riots broke out? A sudden purge of the drug would¡¯ve caused the explosion of riots.¡±


    I tilted my head.


    ¡°Maybe? Do we want to pull out the map and compare dates right now, or - okay, right now it is.¡± I hastily amended the end of my sentence as I saw the burning look in Iona¡¯s eyes.


    We all crowded around the map I made, and rapidly started discussing dates. As well as we could, it wasn¡¯t like I¡¯d been looking at a calendar. I did have a perfect memory.


    ¡°Seven days after the fifth full moons of the year. Do you know where you were?¡± Iona asked.


    ¡°I was flying around then. Let¡¯s see... anchor points... I remember the sixth full moons, let me count backwards from there...¡± I mumbled under my breath, counting backwards on my fingers before shaking my head.


    ¡°I was on a strong southern loop then. Modu, Bhutai, and Dairalt. Nowhere near Sahel.¡±


    A bar of tension went out of Iona¡¯s shoulders, and I found myself relaxing as well. I hadn¡¯t made things worse. I hadn¡¯t caused massive harm and deaths with my healing. I... doubted I¡¯d be punished by my [Oath], but I didn¡¯t need magical reinforcement to feel bad.


    ¡°Next up, the sack of Ithil. There¡¯s quite a few annoyed Classers in... basically every Immortal nation or proto-nation... now. I think I¡¯m going to keep my head down for a few years at least. Right, onto it! I can¡¯t give nearly as good of an analysis, there were too many moving parts. Let me tell you what I can remember...¡±


    I told my tale the best I could, finding I needed to censor it extensively. We didn¡¯t need the gruesome depiction of what had occurred. Although... that did raise a good point.


    ¡°... at which point, I got Sara into [Manor] so she¡¯d be safe. With that being said, I¡¯m realizing I¡¯m in fairly dire need of a [Mind Healer] again, and Sara should visit one as well.¡± The sky was starting to lighten up all around us.


    ¡°Everyone who needs a [Mind Healer], raise your hands.¡± Artemis said without a single hint of a joke, putting both her hands up in the air. Almost all of us still awake raised our hands, only Raccoon keeping hers down.


    ¡°What?¡± She protested. ¡°I¡¯m fine!¡±


    ¡°For now...¡± Artemis threatened. ¡°Elaine, can you leave a note somewhere awkward on Skye asking her to look into luring one over here?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll put it in her hand.¡± I primly replied.


    ¡°Spoilsport.¡±


    ¡°Do your own dirty work!¡±


    I did write a little note on it on a tiny square of paper, reluctantly carving it out of one of my blank spellbooks. [Featherstorm] was nice for that. I conjured up a single sharp feather, and used it as a knife. Then I finished my story of Ithil.


    ¡°... after finishing the library raid, I zipped back here as quickly as I could, and waited for the rest of you. Thank you, all.¡±


    I choked up at my final thanks.


    Bless my friends, bless my family. They knew what I was thanking them for.


    For being here. For being alive. For coming back, as so many hadn¡¯t.


    Auri snuggled up to my cheek, and Iona drew me into a warm hug.


    Nina coughed after a few minutes, and we broke apart.


    ¡°Your turn?¡± I suggested to the kitsune.


    ¡°NOPE!¡± Artemis shouted, jumping to her feet. Fenrir opened up an eye and rumbled unhappily at being woken up. The Ranger pointed to the horizon with a wild grin.


    ¡°Sunrise!¡±


    Nina swore.


    [Name: Elaine]


    [Race: Chimera (Elvenoid)]


    [Age: 134]


    [Mana: 45,190,330/45,190,330]


    [Mana Regeneration: 101,437,065 +(582,705,295)]


    Stats


    [Free Stats: 0]


    [Strength: 282,385 (Effectively: 2,259,080)]


    [Dexterity: 306,641 (Effectively: 3,265,113)]


    [Vitality: 922,241 (Effectively: 14,410,016)]


    [Speed: 909,473 (Effectively: 17,901,157)]


    [Mana: 4,519,033]


    [Mana Regeneration: 10,534,785 (+ 58,270,530)]


    [Magic Power: 5,802,624 (+ 440,999,424)]


    [Magic Control: 5,801,481 (+ 440,912,556)]


    [Class 1: [The Elaine- Celestial: Lv 1520]]


    [Celestial Spirit: 1520]


    [Domain of the Healer: 1520]


    [A Drop of Eternity in a Sea of Starlight: 610]


    [Luminary Mind: 1520]


    [Universal Cure: 1520]


    [Clad in Twilight: 585]


    [The Mantle of Dusk and Dawn: 950]


    [Elaine Eternal: 1520]


    [Class 2: [Dawnbringer - Radiance: Lv 1475]]


    [Radiance Mastery: 1475]


    [A Light Shining in the Darkness: 945]


    [Radiance Beams: 1475]


    [Sun Blades: 505]


    [Celestial Dew: 1475]


    [Sunrise Halo: 1475]


    [Essence of Flight: 1475]


    [Featherstorm: 1475]


    [Class 3: [Sage of Eternity - Spatial: Lv 1470]]


    [Spatial Mastery: 1470]


    [Scripture Savant: 1470]


    [Teleportation: 1470]


    [Timeless Manor of the Eternally Curious Sage: 1470]


    [Portcullis: 70]


    [Reality, Writ As You Will: 1470]


    [Astral Archives: 1470]


    [Endless Pursuit of Knowledge: 1470]


    General Skills


    [Long-Range Identify: 700]


    [Everywoman: 640]


    [Companion Bond between Elaine and Auri: 1520]


    [The World Around Me: 741]


    [Oath of Elaine to Lyra: 1520]


    [Sentinel''s Superiority: 1520]


    [Persistent Casting: 1520]


    [Tender Gardening; Industrial Farming: 901]

 Chapter 630: The Treaty of Kazehara I

    One of the nice things with [The World Around Me] and Sara is I caught any mischief she was up to before it got out of hand. There was always an element of judgment going on. If I cracked down on absolutely everything, that was a miserable way to live for a kid. If I ignored genuine harm, Sara risked hurting herself. If a rule being broken was too big, too important, I had to step in.


    This must be how Arachne felt, magnified by a thousand times. This type of awareness was difficult enough with one person. Across an entire city? My admiration of her only grew.


    The downside was nothing sweet could be planned. I caught every surprise in the planning stage, before the first scissors came out, before any fabric was selected. Before Iona was recruited into her little scheme.


    Sara realized she needed me out of the way, just... well, I wasn¡¯t exactly one to talk, but I didn¡¯t think she¡¯d get offered [Scheming] when she unlocked next year.


    ¡°Love, you¡¯re banished to your [Manor] for the next four hours.¡± Iona said with a wink. She had a pile of books with a mango balanced on the top.


    ¡°This is a shameless bribe.¡± I complained. ¡°It¡¯s all my stuff in the first place!¡± It didn¡¯t stop me from taking said shameless bribe though.


    Iona winked and blew a kiss at me as I walked through [Portcullis]. It made my heart flutter, and I turned around, balancing the stack of books with the mango on top of it, continued to walk backwards, and blew a kiss back. Sara was peeking out from behind a door frame, and as the gates to the [Manor] started to rumble closed, the seam in space snapping back together, she started talking.


    ¡°Elaine¡¯s gone! Alright, I¡¯ve got my design right here-¡±


    The gate finally snapped shut.


    Definitely not getting [Scheming]. She was such a cute kid, I was super proud of her.


    I settled in to read, keeping my focus tight. I was going to eat my mango after the first book, it was the perfect time for it. I was not going to snap all the books open and read sixteen different stories all at once. These would last me the time I was here... even though I¡¯d read them before. A little bit of effort in [Astral Archives] - mostly rubbing out their place in the ledger - let me ¡®forget¡¯ the stories, enjoying them all like it was the first time I¡¯d read them.


    I loved that trick. Figuring it out had been the highlight of... that week, honestly. Sara had been invited to spend the night at one of her friend¡¯s houses the next week, and the beaming look of pure joy on her face had made my month.


    I finished the ninth chapter and started the tenth, my mango nothing more than a beautiful memory and a lingering sweet aftertaste, when I realized I hadn¡¯t flipped the hourglass.


    Dangit! Good thing I remembered now, and not in a few hours. [Manor] was an isolated pocket dimension, there was no way for Iona to knock on the door or Auri to fly in through a window. Maybe if we went with the plan to live out of the place, I¡¯d need to take a [Timekeeping] skill or something. Otherwise, I¡¯d get distracted, and someone would be stuck outside or inside, with no way to message me.


    Hmmm. Maybe if we lived in here, I could eventually upgrade [Manor] or just flat out get a [Doorbell] skill. If it was possible - the System was really stingy when it came to anything like long-range communication. Not because the System disliked it, but because there was a distance component to skills. Was I ¡®close¡¯ to the exit of [Portcullis]


    , or was I in a completely different dimension? My healing not crossing dimensions suggested I was well and truly cut off. At the same time, it provided protection.


    I shelved the thoughts, [Teleported] the hourglass over with a lazy flick of my hand, and went back to reading.


    Four... ish... hours later, I creaked open [Portcullis], and let [The World Around Me] peek into our home. Great, they were ready! I finished opening and stepped out loudly.


    ¡°I¡¯m back!¡± I yelled. The bright smile Sara had on her face made me grin just as much, and the little missile tore through the house, Iona right behind her.


    ¡°Elaine Elaine Elaine! Look! I¡¯ve got a dress just like you!¡±


    I gasped and put my hands over my mouth.


    ¡°You¡¯re so cute!¡± I told the little elf, which was the pure truth.


    Iona and her had carefully sewn together a full set of robes in black, looking just like the uniform for the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft. The very same uniform I wore day to day, and even in the correct color!


    She ran into my arms, and I picked her up, spinning her around a bit. I had to be very careful spinning around. I could spin at several times the speed of sound if I put my mind to it, and it was very easy to just ¡®go faster¡¯. Spinning in slow motion to keep the precious bundle I was holding entirely unharmed, but fast enough to be fun? Hard. My dress flared in the same way hers did, and I shot an impressed look to Iona in the middle of a spin. That was all her deft hand and skill. I was a capable seamstress - it had been mandatory, after the cataclysm, if I wanted to keep wearing clothes without holes - but Iona was good at it.


    Sara giggled as we spun.


    ¡°I am!¡± She shouted, then got serious, nevermind that we were still spinning. ¡°Does this mean I can go to the flying School where you learned medicine now?¡±


    Errr... talk about awkward questions. The School had gotten a little obliterated during the last Immortal War.


    It was like Iona read my mind. Which wasn¡¯t a surprise - we¡¯d known each other extremely well after a decade together, let alone a full century. Telepathy didn¡¯t exist from the System, but it practically existed from experience.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see! You¡¯re a little young right now.¡±


    There were a thousand ways to talk right in front of Sara about things we didn¡¯t want her to know. We could talk rapidly, sounding vaguely like chipmunks. We could pitch our voices higher or lower than what she could hear.


    Or we could make it a little educational, and just swap languages. We always picked Creation - good motivation for her to learn it, and she could listen in once she¡¯d mastered the Vampire¡¯s Tongue. A little reward.


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    ¡°It¡¯s unlikely the School¡¯s rebuilt, but it¡¯s probably moving in that direction. I wouldn¡¯t say no to checking it out. They could always use some professors, and it feels like a noble goal for us to work towards.¡±


    I stopped spinning and put the little witch down. Sara pouted, but also couldn¡¯t walk straight. I had a few thousand thoughts around the School. Mentally, I had it down as ¡®Destroyed¡¯, but Iona was right. It was probably ¡®Rebuilding¡¯, and that could change everything.


    ¡°Let¡¯s discuss this more later. It¡¯s an idea, and I¡¯m not against it, but it requires a TON of discussion.¡± I said.


    I - honestly, we - were starting to look to the future and wonder ¡®what next?¡¯ In many ways, we had everything. Safe friends and family. A lovely home, a living. But Iona and I were both driven, and there was only so much peace and quiet with no long-term goals to work towards before we got restless. The School was a solid idea. I wanted to personally teach Sara medicine, but if I could teach Sara and other intelligent, driven children medicine at the same time, all while helping rebuild the institute that helped teach me? Why not!


    Then again, there were a thousand other factors. Iona was still acting as the public check on the Rangers, and people were just getting used to the idea. In this case, the perception of the check was more important than the reality - Artemis was practically crawling inside the Rangers to make sure they were behaving these days.


    I spun the thoughts off into its own process, furiously taking notes for my conversation with Iona later.


    ¡°Can we do some medicine now? Please please please?¡± Sara begged with extra-huge eyes. Little rascal... it was all too effective on me.


    I never thought I¡¯d see the day where a kid wanted to study anatomy instead of running outside and playing, but the circumstances of her joining us still haunted me. Iona and I had spent many long nights discussing it, and we¡¯d settled on both the cheesiest, easiest, and hardest ways of handling it.


    Love.


    We weren¡¯t going to smother Sara in love, nor were we going to force any sort of reciprocation. But we would let her know she was loved, in our every little interaction, and pray - very literally - to the goddesses that it¡¯d be enough. It seemed to be working well enough, but there was no way of telling what would happen in the future.


    I quickly debated if I needed to use Sara¡¯s desire to learn medicine to get her to learn anything else - teaching as an incentive, basically - but no, she tore into everything with a powerful conviction, determined to learn it all. She was well caught up, and I could simply indulge her.


    ¡°Alright. Review time! What does the liver do, and where is it?¡±


    ¡°It depends on the species!¡± Sara instantly answered the second question first, getting an amused quirk of my lips for it. I¡¯d drilled her on that answer relentlessly, and I think I could start specifying every time I asked. ¡°In the broadest of terms, it cleans, uh, detoxifies, blood, and fixes it all up.¡±


    Good enough answer for entry-level anatomy. Sara was seven, knowing what the liver was and being able to describe it in broad terms was plenty advanced as far as I was concerned.


    ¡°Excellent! Next question. What does the liver connect to?¡±


    Iona coughed.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got a couple coming over soon. I¡¯ll leave the two of you to it, but if you need to leave, can you use the backdoor?¡±


    I nodded.


    ¡°Sure!¡±


    Sara was pouting, and seized the gap to answer the question.


    I quizzed Sara for a bit before moving onto the next lesson, then read an almost Elaine-exclusive book. Aesop¡¯s Fables. Pallos had its own collection, and most of the lessons were nearly the same. Instead of The Dog and the Bone, it was The Mouse¡¯s Cheese. Same idea, same moral, but different execution. The Town Mouse and City Mouse didn¡¯t exist at all, but The Dragon¡¯s Gold was an anti-theft lesson that didn¡¯t show up at all in Earth¡¯s version.


    I deliberately pulled in [The World Around Me] to not eavesdrop on Iona¡¯s conversation. It wasn¡¯t anything particularly private, but at the same time, it was nominally private, and if Iona started to get a reputation for private consultations being less than private?


    Orthus was a small town. The gossip could literally last more than a century, ruin her reputation, and prevent her from helping anyone. It wasn¡¯t like the meeting was serious. She was acting a little like a [Priestess], talking through what marriage and communication was like for a new about-to-be-married couple. It was one of a dozen different ¡®heart of the community¡¯ style things Iona always did that made her so beautiful.


    Goddess, I loved that woman.


    ¡°We¡¯re done for now.¡± I declared after one last explanation. ¡°Let¡¯s go harvesting.¡±


    ¡°I want the big basket! Me! It¡¯s mine!¡± Sara called out her dibs three times as she scrambled to her feet, running to grab her scarf and the basket in question. She paused and narrowed her eyes as we stepped outside, heading to the orchard.


    ¡°Wait. You¡¯re a big, strong, scary mage with [Teleportation]. You use it all the time. Why don¡¯t you use it to fill your basket?¡± Sara asked.


    Ooooh, she was literally


    asking for it.


    ¡°You¡¯re right.¡± I waved my hand dramatically, and my basket instantly filled with fruits from our trees and vegetables from the garden. ¡°Okay, my basket is done, your turn!¡±


    Ah, the look of sour outrage was delicious. I smirked at the look on her face, gestured to the plants, then lay down on the grassy hill, enjoying the sun. And Sara¡¯s outraged looks back to me. She did work hard at pulling the potatoes out, although not without questions.


    ¡°Why do I have to do this? Why can¡¯t you wave your hand and do it all?¡± She asked.


    Ahhh, backtalk. It was a relief to hear. We¡¯d only heard the first complaint a month or so ago, a positive sign that Sara felt safe here. That, while she cast suspicious looks in my direction over my choices and her parent¡¯s death, she wasn¡¯t currently planning to murder me in my sleep and run away.


    Well, run away again, but honestly, the first time had been more of an adorable learning exercise for Sara instead of anything serious. We had a dozen ways of subtly tracking her and keeping an eye on her from range, and we¡¯d swooped in about eight minutes after she got lost and broke down in tears.


    I was sure I¡¯d get irritated with backtalk in time, but for now, it was sweet music to my ears.


    ¡°I spent decades doing the hard work, just like what you¡¯re doing, to get the skills to wave my hand myself. If you never put your nose to the grindstone and work, you¡¯ll never develop the skills needed to skip the work.¡± I tried to shrug, but it didn¡¯t work while lying down. ¡°The System is fair that way. Hard work, in all its forms, is rewarded. From studying books to pulling up carrots, you¡¯ll be rewarded for it all. Slacking off has no reward.¡±


    Sara slowly nodded like I¡¯d handed out divine wisdom, then ferociously started yanking the carrots out of the ground, great heaps of dirt going flying under her efforts. I winced, but let it happen.


    ¡°Good hard work.¡± I hastily amended, then airily waved my hand at the disaster zone formerly known as my garden. ¡°And you know the rules. Make the mess, clean the mess.¡±


    If Sara was several years older, in the throes of teenagehood, I would¡¯ve expected some frustrated yelling. As it was, her shoulders slumped, and she got cleaning.


    I turned a blind eye to her shifting the dirt around and lightly brushing things off. It was a garden, dirt went everywhere.


    The rest of the day passed quickly. We went down the mountain and made the rounds of all our neighbors, knocking on doors and brisky bartering. Nothing grand, nothing special. Fruits and vegetables for flour, favors being promised and paid, the basic barter essential to every village. Money was starting to creep in, smoothing transactions, but there was something idyllic about how Orthus was right now.


    It helped that I was single-handedly preventing the need for significant medical attention. A broken wrist no longer meant a family member couldn¡¯t contribute for weeks. Deadly infections were purged before people noticed them. Rare diseases that would¡¯ve required the community to pool money and go on a long trip to the nearest city with a properly trained [Healer] were a thing of stories, not practical reality. I had left a number of minor, low-level things around for people to struggle against, and for new healers to gain experience with, but the truly deadly and crippling items I was handling.


    It didn¡¯t help that I was a well-known commodity in Orthus. Forget giving new [Healers] a chance, almost everyone went to me in the first place. Reminded me of when I was a kid - basically nobody was willing to give me a chance, because why take the risk when the good healers were over there?


    Maybe I should charge more and heal less, give new kids a better chance at it all... but then I wasn¡¯t doing the best I could to help people.


    The ethics and balancing point was fucking hard. I suspected I¡¯d keep bouncing around where I landed for the rest of my life.


    There was no better way to get gossip. I swear Iona lived for the stuff, and I was interested in what my neighbors were up to! I could see how feuds easily formed. Things could be so boring around here that there was nothing better to do than complain about how that one bull kept getting loose, and the Themixes kept being lazy about properly repairing the fence.


    Personally, I thought the bull had a skill or three to help escape, but Iona hadn¡¯t swung by yet to confirm anything. The bull was leveling.


    ... damnit, the local gossip was fun.


    We returned home as the sun was setting, sat down, and ate dinner, all of us arranged around the table. Good food, good conversation, another beautiful day with my loving family.


    I was being a little extra sappy, sue me.


    In the midst of joking around, Iona locked her eyes on something behind me and smiled. I rolled my eyes.


    ¡°That¡¯s never going to work on me.¡± I smugly informed her. ¡°[The World Around Me], remember? Can sense everything in my domain?¡±


    Which, of course, was when Night, completely invisible to my skill, leaned down next to my ear.


    ¡°Boo!¡± He said.


    I girlishly screamed and jumped up, turning around as I did.


    ¡°NIGHT!¡± I screamed, and hugged the ancient vampire.

 Chapter 631: The Treaty of Kazehara II

    Night was here! I was going to skip over him sneaking in without knocking on the door. The prank was good, and the vampire shimmered back into existence in [The World Around Me], and I could suddenly detect him with the rest of my more mundane senses.


    I wanted to say that was an absolute bullshit skill, but I had my fair share of those. What assassin couldn¡¯t completely conceal himself anyway?


    ¡°Night! Welcome! Do you want to sit down and, uh-¡± I cut myself off before inviting him to have a bite. Pun entirely unintended, and he¡¯d need to chomp down on one of us. My automatic social responses needed a bit of tweaking, or moreso a reminder about dietary restrictions. A little rude to invite a vegetarian to ¡®chow down¡¯ during a barbeque.


    The vampire shook his head.


    ¡°I apologize, I am on a tight schedule. It has been far too many years since we last had an opportunity to sit down and catch up over a meal, let alone have a walk, and I regret to inform you that tonight is no different. However, with that said, I would like to invite you to Kazehara, where we hope to forge the treaty that will shape the coming world.¡±


    I shot a quick inquiring look to Iona, who started to think about it, then kept talking with Night.


    ¡°Wait, I thought you were doing all that immediately after Ithil?¡± I asked.


    He shook his head.


    ¡°We prepared the basic rules and location for a more extended discussion. It would be patently unfair to attempt to hammer out a treaty mere hours after a battle, especially when the vast majority of people involved have no participation or representation. These types of events are difficult to arrange, and we have spent much of the past year preparing ourselves.¡±


    I folded my arms.


    ¡°Wait, so why am I only finding out now?¡± I demanded.


    ¡°Because you are the absolute model of dramatic preparations before a large political summit.¡± Night delivered the line completely deadpan, and it took me a moment to get his sarcastic joke. I chuckled.


    ¡°Alright, got me there.¡±


    Auri flew up to my shoulder and trilled a question.


    ¡°Brrrpt?¡±


    Night shook his head.


    ¡°I apologize, but no, you may not attend. Appearances are vitally important here, and your presence would look like the phoenixes are putting their support behind Elaine, and by extension, Orthus and likely Exterreri, binding you and them to the words laid down. Would your own Sasha approve of such actions?¡±


    Auri thought about it, then shook her beak. Night nodded.


    ¡°Indeed. Only representatives are permitted, this summit will be challenge enough without needing to cater to the legions of support staff that normally attend heads of state, no matter how large or small.¡±


    ¡°No way I can come. Recently deposed leader of Sahel, it would look like you¡¯re playing favorites and making declarations.¡± Iona said. Night smiled.


    ¡°Your social and political acumen would serve you well in the political arena, if your [Vow] did not thoroughly tie your hands to the necessary actions that occasionally needed to be taken. Correct. If you still ruled in Sahel, you would have received an invitation. However, there is a second aspect that may afford you an invitation. All the gods of the pantheon are invited, should they so deign to weigh upon the affairs of mortals. Do Selene and Lunaris wish for you to attend as their anointed representative?¡±


    Iona¡¯s eyes unfocused for a minute as she communed with her goddesses. She came back down to Pallos a moment later and shook her head.


    ¡°No, they have faith that nobody will try to hinder worship. I will be attending if that motion is proposed again.¡± The paladin looked doubtfully at Night. He snorted.


    ¡°My best advice is to sit far away from anyone proposing such an inane measure, and I predict it will be a race to see who can strike down such a fool first. I doubt you¡¯ll be able to make it on time.¡±


    ¡°Skye¡¯s getting one, yeah?¡± Iona asked. ¡°Curious that she hasn¡¯t told us about it.¡±


    Night nodded.


    ¡°It¡¯s true. She is my next stop. One difficult issue with attempting to arrange this event is informing everyone that it is happening, and furthermore, informing everyone in such a way that does not happen to blatantly favor or disfavor particular groups. Imagine if we informed everyone who resides in the former Exterreri a week after we decided on Kazehara, and Xerius a day before they would have needed to leave to arrive on time? The coordinated efforts would utterly trump them in discussions, and it would be as if we did not invite mortals at all to join us at the table. Indeed, the gnoll tribes of Dairalt were almost immediately informed, as they would take a year, if not longer, to arrive. No, mortals were provided several advantages, and the rest was a combination of luck and the difficulty in finding every settlement and delivering the invitation. I do apologize. But as I mentioned earlier, I am somewhat on a tight deadline. You are not the only one I need to explain this to tonight, and I am traveling with a group. Further details can be given as we travel. Would you like to attend? I have kept you in mind specifically to act as a strong voice advocating for the rights of [Healers]


    , specifically, that they are not bound in this era.¡±


    Night always had time for me. Always had time to explain. If he said ¡®sorry, I can¡¯t explain right now, we¡¯re in a rush¡¯, I was absolutely, 100% going to believe him. Plus, he knew me. He wasn¡¯t a master [Thinker] like Arachne - or maybe he was, he was just better at hiding it - but he knew the words needed to get me onboard. Not needing to hide I was a high level healer in mortal lands? Being able to freely travel them? Yes please!


    I glanced over at Iona, who made shooing noises, and a desperate plea with her eyes.


    ¡°Elaine, go. And try to keep Classers like me unrestricted. I¡¯d love to be able to travel through Rolland freely again.¡± My wife said.


    ¡°Alright! I¡¯m dumping supplies upstairs. Sara, sorry this is coming up without any warning. It¡¯s a surprise to me as well.¡± With a thought I moved over a large number of our supplies stashed in [Manor] and started to organize them. Sara ran over and clutched my robes.


    ¡°You¡¯re going to come back, right?¡± She asked with tears brimming in her eyes. I kneeled down.


    ¡°I¡¯m coming back.¡± I promised. ¡°I¡¯m nearly impossible to kill.¡± I glanced up to Iona. ¡°Might want to start letting people know now that the healing field is going away for...¡± I glanced at Night. ¡°How long does this usually take?¡± I asked.


    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°Surprisingly consistent.¡± He answered. ¡°Six to eight weeks. I do apologize, I must go. Iona, if you would tender my best wishes to Artemis, Fenrir, and the rest, I would much appreciate it. Let us meet at Skye¡¯s home.¡±


    With a dramatic sweep, he stalked back out of the house.


    I tried not to linger over any goodbyes, but I didn¡¯t want to rush them either.


    ¡°I love you all! See you soon! I¡¯ll try to bring back some souvenirs.¡± I waved one last time to my friends and family, had one last round of hugs, kisses, and cheek-nuzzles - this was the third ¡®final round¡¯ - before taking off to follow Night.


    I met him at Skye¡¯s place, and wasn¡¯t it just a little scary he knew exactly where it was?


    ¡°Skye, need a hand setting up Varuna?¡± I asked her. Night was pitching in with two hands, but I figured one more Classer added to the mix couldn¡¯t hurt.


    ¡°Please.¡± She said.


    Three heartbeats later, and the unicorn was all set for Skye to be gone for an extended period of time.


    ¡°If you would take my hand?¡± Night offered Skye his hand. ¡°Elaine, I am confident in your ability to keep up.¡±


    With that, the two of them were off like a shot, and I followed.


    Huh.


    I was usually more on the ball with these sorts of things. I just realized - I was being referred to as Elaine, no mention of Dawn.


    We stopped a few miles outside of Orthus, where a group of Immortals were standing around. I visibly flashed an ¡®everything¡¯s alright¡¯ Ranger hand-sign over my head. Artemis and her merry little band were busy spying from one of the nearby hilltops. Night flashed another signal Artemis¡¯s way, but I didn¡¯t recognize it. Maybe an in-joke from when he trained her?


    ¡°Thank you for your patience.¡± Night addressed the group. ¡°We will now be heading north. Those of you with low mobility, please ensure you are within the red ring.¡±


    Everyone shuffled in closer as a large red ring appeared in the grass around us. A few Immortals drifted away, but I stayed in. I wasn¡¯t sure what Night meant by ¡®low mobility¡¯, but it was entirely possible I qualified.


    Somehow. I was proud of how quick I was.


    A transparent sheet ¡®lifted¡¯ up from the ground, bringing us all long with it. Night started to hover level with it, because of course he could fly. He aimed north and shot off. Like the world¡¯s largest frisbee, the platform we were on followed him. A number of Classers flew around the platform, and we meandered onto our next destination.


    Part of my mind was focused on the platform we were on. What element was this skill? The ground part made me think Earth, but the clear, almost crystalline aspect was making me think Gemstone or Mirror, although Earth could do it as well, but the ¡®practically doesn¡¯t exist¡¯ part had me leaning towards Brilliance, of all things.


    There was no windshear, nor did the platform seem at all unstable. I counted in the ¡®highly mobile¡¯ section of things, the platform wasn¡¯t moving that quickly. There were a few cliques already forming, people in deep discussion with each other. Skye immediately started to ingratiate herself with one, introductions flowing easily.


    Everything Arachne had taught me said I should do the same thing if I wanted support for ¡®healers should be unbound¡¯ idea. I was waffling on it for a number of reasons.


    Besides Skye, there was another familiar face!


    ¡°Katerina! It¡¯s been too long, I¡¯m sorry. How¡¯s Mare doing?¡± I asked my old [Legata].


    ¡°Dawn. I¡¯m happy but surprised to see you here. I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d end up ruling significant territory.¡±


    ¡°Elaine, please. I think I¡¯m here because I¡¯m really good at healing? Night wasn¡¯t super clear. Just a ¡®come quickly, there¡¯s no time to explain¡¯ and we were off.¡±


    Katarina snorted.


    ¡°That¡¯s Night alright. Been on this damn platform for nearly a week now.¡±


    I winced. That sounded like torture. I realized a possible issue, and after a quick look around - other people were openly using skills, including two I thought were the same as what I wanted - I wrapped us up in [Mantle]. Katarina lifted an eyebrow, but otherwise didn¡¯t move.


    ¡°How¡¯s being on your own going to work with your curse?¡± I asked. ¡°Not too much of a problem?¡±


    ¡°It is a problem.¡± Katarina confessed. ¡°Night brought along his protege, Tobias. He¡¯s got special privileges or something. Wasn¡¯t clear on it. Tobias has been helping me out, and to everyone else, it just looks like he¡¯s helping one of Night¡¯s friends.¡±


    ¡°Ah, excellent.¡± I dropped the field, doctor-patient confidentiality maintained. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I haven¡¯t been around more often.¡±


    Katarina snorted and waved me off.


    ¡°You¡¯re quite useful with how often you visit. Often enough that the old fogeys in the Sixth don¡¯t think you¡¯ve abandoned us, but rare enough that all the kids need to fix their own damn problems and not wait for a Sentinel to drop out of the sky and fix all their problems. Same with the [Healers]. Plenty of experience and practice for them without you boring them to tears.¡±


    A guilty look flashed over my face. The only teenager I¡¯d seen around here slid up next to Katarina. A saurian, I didn¡¯t see too many of those over here.


    ¡°Need anything?¡± He asked.


    ¡°You must be Tobias.¡± I said.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am. That¡¯s me.¡± He offered his hand, and I grinned as I took it, winking to Katarina.


    ¡°Hi, nice to meet you, I¡¯m Elaine.¡± I said.


    ¡°Oh nice, what¡¯s your name?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Elaine.¡±


    ¡°No no, name, not job... I¡¯m saying it correctly, right?¡± He glanced up to Katarina.


    ¡°Give Tobias a break, this is a new language for him.¡± The master of shadows told me.


    I shrugged. It was amusing now and then.


    ¡°My name is actually Elaine, and nothing but Elaine.¡± I carefully explained. I knew the secondary language Xerius used, but I wasn¡¯t quite sure if it was still known, and hadn¡¯t shifted or something since I¡¯d last learned it.


    Damnit. Getting old was starting to bite me in the ass. I was going from ¡®learning new things¡¯ to ¡®needing to maintain what I¡¯d learned¡¯ as things shifted.


    ¡°Man, I feel sorry for you. What were your parents thinking?¡± He said. To my mild surprise, Katarina seemed to agree. Huh. Had I never told her? I guess I didn¡¯t go around shouting how great I was, what was the point in being a braggart and not doing anything?


    ¡°Other way around.¡± I winked, enjoying the confusion. We started to land a moment later, and Night took off. A pair approached me, and I tensed a hair at the silver-masked Warden. He? - the protections were thorough - raised up a hand.


    ¡°Peace.¡± He said. ¡°We are all under an inviolate truce banner, no matter what run-ins you¡¯ve had with us before. If it helps, I can think of no reason to cause trouble for you. I simply wanted to introduce myself.¡±


    I relaxed, and did my best Iona impression. I liked it far more than Arachne¡¯s more clinical approach to making friends and influence.


    ¡°Hi! I¡¯m Elaine, it¡¯s nice to meet you!¡± I held out my hand to both the Warden and the Apista. Rare to see one out of their hives and lands, ¡®reclusive as hell¡¯ described them well. Didn¡¯t look like a queen either.


    ¡°I go by Wally. My parents named me something significantly less pronounceable.¡± The Warden said with a tired sigh. I had some idea of what he was feeling... except he also had to grow up with it, and was probably significantly older than me to boot. I wasn¡¯t going to pry.


    ¡°Bee-lieve it or not, I¡¯m Royal. Beekeeping is my buzz-iness!¡± She said.


    Well, I was guessing that she was a woman. Male apistas were super rare, and tended to stay near their hives.


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t help but overhear some of your earlier questions. This will be the third time I¡¯ve attended one of these meetings. I hope it can go as smoothly as Kyowa did. Broadly, there appear to be five groups invited to Treaty summits. The first and most common are rulers over anything larger than a village. They are trusted to speak with the best interests of their community at heart, although many speak for their own best interests. A fine line. The second are subject matter experts, those recognized to excel in a field. The third is a broad catch-all category. Fourth are the Wardens, and fifth are the locals who are hosting the treaty discussions.¡± Wally said.


    That order felt wildly off to me, but I wasn¡¯t going to argue. It did raise more questions.


    ¡°Why do the Wardens get explicitly called out?¡± I asked. ¡°How does that work?¡±


    ¡°We are often asked to enforce the Treaty, as one of the oldest continuous organized groups.¡± Wally shrugged carelessly. ¡°I suspect, this time, we will decline. Kyowa¡¯s era was unpleasant.¡±


    I tilted my head, two pieces coming together.


    ¡°You also need to make sure nothing¡¯s infringing on the treaty with the North, and need to have enough voices there to ensure you¡¯re heard.¡±


    There was a long pause.


    ¡°Correct.¡± He eventually answered.


    ¡°Former? - I don¡¯t know if I could ever be former in this - [Loremaster].¡± I explained.


    ¡°Ahhh.¡± The Warden said with understanding.


    Katarina, Tobias, and Royal had been following our conversation back and forth like ping pong balls.


    ¡°The honeycomb is bee-ing put together!¡± Royal said. ¡°I know why I¡¯m here!¡±


    Interesting. I assumed Royal had been representing a hive... and still could be. Apistas had a weak hive-mind thing going on, which was part of why they were so damn insular.


    Night came back with another [Governor] - probably a human this time, not an Immortal - and we took off.


    ¡°Why¡¯s that?¡± Katarina asked.


    The five of us continued to chat as Night and the other Classers hopped around, picking up more people. When I got my fill of socializing, I flew around for a bit, energetically orbiting the platform like a hummingbird on too much sugar.


    Why yes, I was far too familiar with how that looked.


    Our hours were awkward with the number of vampires in tow, and we took a sheltered break for the day. Night vanished somewhere, which made sense - traveling like this was probably one of the riskiest things he could do, and he hadn¡¯t survived this long by taking dumb risks - and I didn¡¯t sleep in my [Manor], as much as I wanted to. The risk of everyone waking up and leaving while I snoozed was far too high, and I didn¡¯t want to try and track everyone down.


    We spent a few days bouncing around as I chatted with my new friends. Soon enough, we were in Nippon-Koku, and a surprisingly well-developed town appeared on the horizon, a large arena under construction just a mile away from the city walls.


    We had arrived in Kazehara.

 Chapter 632: The Treaty of Kazehara III

    We descended upon the city in the middle of the night. Several blocks of apartments in the Nippon-koku style had been hastily constructed next to the gigantic arena, so fresh I could literally smell the paint. A huge ritual circle was traced on the ground, mountains of construction supplies piled inside. Wood and cloth, straw and nails, paint and varnish, just heaped around in huge piles. Even at this late hour, workers were piling whole logs in. I was treated to the sight of people waving off the rest of the workers, then eight robed and cowled Classers taking position around the ritual circle. In unison, they clapped their hands and placed them on the edge of the circle. Lightning danced across the supplies that started to glow a brilliant white, and the rest of the people on the disk shuffled over to see what was going on.


    Over the course of a few dozen seconds, the pile of supplies merged together into a single lump, then stretched itself out, and molded itself into a fully assembled building. There was impressed muttering from the rest of the travelers.


    Damn.


    I wanted that skill.


    ¡°How was that done?¡± Tobias wondered out loud.


    Eh, he was one of Night¡¯s [Apprentices]. I¡¯d throw him a bone, from one apprentice to another.


    ¡°I imagine they all have a [Ritual] skill or something similar.¡± I said. ¡°It lets them work in unison. I didn¡¯t recognize the runic language being used, but it¡¯s also possible it was a different skill that let them paint out the skill, pre-charging it. The movement and weight of everything is large enough that there¡¯s either significant buy-offs going on, or more likely, the ritual and requirements over time, including mana donation, made it all possible. Honestly, your best bet is to go up to one of them and politely ask how it was done. There¡¯s five hundred and twelve ways to get any effect done in particular ways, and while people can be secretive, when the skill is that public they¡¯re usually willing to explain.¡±


    I thought about the process of Tobias going up to them and asking what was going on, where we were, and amended my advice a bit.


    ¡°I¡¯d first figure out if you¡¯ve got a language in common with them or not.¡±


    The boy groaned.


    ¡°More Crow-cursed books.¡± He complained.


    Ahh, a musclehead. Well, he¡¯d learn or he¡¯d die. Probably the second one. Good luck keeping him alive, Night, you¡¯ll need it.


    We all landed near one of the buildings, bright lights illuminating the way, and Night stepped out in front of us, clapping his hands once and drawing all of our attention to him.


    ¡°An orientation of what to expect shall come in the morning, when most of us are active. With that said, as the one who brought you all here, I will lay down the most basic of rules. Do not visit any direct physical harm upon your fellow delegates. Do not violate the sanctuary of their abode. If you should happen to have mortal enemies, it is likely you will encounter them, or people representing them, at this meeting. Lay aside your grudges for the time being, let words and political maneuvers be your only weapons. There are additional restrictions that will be detailed later. This is a time of jockeying for position and power, and I would caution you to be on your guard. Lies and manipulation will be common, and there is no protection against betrayal or future promises failing to materialize. Yet, I encourage you all to not despair. The seeds of a thousand and twenty four great friendships will be sown in the coming weeks. Ties and alliances that last you centuries can be started with a simple word. I encourage you all to mingle to your heart¡¯s desire. Food, drink, and other refreshments can be found inside. Please, don¡¯t let me hold you. You will be directed to your room when you so desire.¡±


    Night, through some impossible, showy twist of his body, stepped out of the way in such a way to communicate that he was done, and that we should all enter and be warmly greeted. Nearly everyone started to trickle into the building, but I hung back, as did Tobias. Skye muttered quietly to me as she passed by.


    ¡°We¡¯ve got to talk at some point soon.¡±


    I nodded my agreement. I¡¯d had my fun on the way over, but even in Remus I¡¯d seen voting blocks form. I voted for things that were near and dear to their heart, they voted for things I cared about, and game theory rapidly collapsed hundreds of individuals into large blocks. I wouldn¡¯t vote for anything I strongly disagreed with, but I imagined there would be dozens and dozens of items that I didn¡¯t care either way about.


    Part of me felt my soul leave my body as I contemplated it all. I was thinking like a politician, I was slipping into the mindset of a [Senator]. But if I didn¡¯t want to spend the next 800 years or so looking over my shoulder for angry Wardens as I went around healing people, that was the game I needed to play.


    I could hear the echoes of all my friends laughing in my head. I just knew they¡¯d find the situation I was in utterly hilarious. I waved to Wally and Royal as they entered. New friends! Possibly temporary, maybe for eternity. The last trickles of the people Night had brought filed in, only Tobias, Night, and myself left. I marched up to the progenitor.


    ¡°Night! Again, super glad to see you. Now that we¡¯re all here at last, do you have a few minutes to catch up? I kept trying to find you during the dust up with the New Remus Empire, but Arachne kept mentioning ¡®Operational Security¡¯ and the like. I¡¯ve missed you.¡± I confessed.


    Night smiled, nearly as widely as when he¡¯d first remembered me after coming back.


    ¡°Tobias, if you would go find your room, I do owe Elaine a good chunk of my time.¡±


    My smile could¡¯ve lit up the town at Night¡¯s comment. Tobias¡¯s hasty, undisciplined salute could use work, and goddesses, he was so slow. That wasn¡¯t my anticipation talking, not at all.


    Night clasped his hands behind his back, and assumed a pose that was all too familiar. Without saying a word we started to slowly walk around the entire complex, meandering at speeds that a child could outrace us at.


    It was never about the destination; it was always the journey.


    ¡°First off. I do hope you understand that during the recent events, I was waylaid by higher priorities. It is unfortunate, but I will not apologize for-¡± Our slow walking pace had nothing on how quickly we were talking, no matter how meandering the words were. We both knew time was tight, and without saying anything, I knew that it would be over in a single lap.


    I waved him off. Had I ever really interrupted Night like this before?


    ¡°Night, believe me, I understand. We all had to do what we had to do. I¡¯ve been a Sentinel most of my life, I understand the stresses and demands. I¡¯d be interested in talking about what happened, but only if you want to. Mostly, I just want to talk with my friend.¡±


    Night¡¯s smile had entirely too much fang.


    ¡°I too, would like nothing more than to have a wonderful discussion with one of my oldest friends. I am pleased that we once again have the time and ability to socialize and enjoy the kinder things in life, as opposed to being needlessly worried about the future, and finding ourselves needing to act in our greatest capacity. I have not had the opportunity to mention that Susan is here, and would love to meet up again. How is young Nina doing? I was in contact with her more than I expected, and...¡±


    By all the gods, it was great to talk with Night again. The nostalgic feeling of our slow walks and careful pauses was more comforting than a childhood blanket.


    The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.


    I got inside, and a worker directed me to my room. Light snacks were available, along with a cup of water. I took a minute to assess the room.


    It was alright. On one hand, they were basically entertaining the heads of state. On the other, it was immediately post an Immortal War, and the definition of ¡®head of state¡¯ was extremely loose at the moment. Skye was invited and technically qualified, all because she was the overseer to a modest sized community. Our stops along the way had included a number of places smaller than Orthus.


    The room was a compromise between ¡°we need thousands of rooms tomorrow¡±, ¡°we¡¯re entertaining heads of state, and old, rich, powerful Immortals¡±, with a mix of ¡°while we¡¯re doing this, let¡¯s make it livable housing for Kazehara.¡± Then add in ¡°we can¡¯t make some people¡¯s place nicer than others¡±, and it was a respectable little apartment. Modestly stocked as well! Walk-in ready.


    Or... was there any point in staying here? I could easily hang out in my [Manor], and if I wanted to allow visitors, I could even keep [Portcullis] open. I was also fast, not terribly social, and Nippon-Koku was close enough to Exterreri. I could just go home, and have a modest commute every morning.


    I liked that idea. Why spend weeks away from Iona, Auri, and Sara? Heck, the rules here seemed incredibly flexible. I could fly in tons of baked goods and bribe everyone with Auri¡¯s cooking.


    It was a little too close to morning to leave now, but I had a plan.


    Onto the next challenge!


    My sleep schedule had been thrown horribly out of whack over the past week or so. I was incredibly tired, but if I went to sleep now, I¡¯d sleep the sleep of the dead and miss everything going on in the morning. How could I make sure I woke up in time, and didn¡¯t sleep the day away...?


    The music of soft windchimes and running water played through my room, right as the light started to artificially brighten. I languidly stretched in my bed, my senses returning to me, enjoying the artful wakeup call.


    Then my stack of books fell onto my head.


    ¡°FUCK!¡± I swore, rubbing my head, as my sleep-addled thoughts worked through everything.


    Right. I¡¯d set up a ridiculous contraption to tip over a stack of books onto me at the right time to wake up. On one hand, my engineering had gone great. Thank you [Everywoman]


    .


    On the other, I had to check myself on sleep-deprived 3AM ideas. Why the fuck had I decided to tip a stack of books over onto my head!?


    With the benefit of a bit of sleep, a thousand better ideas flooded my mind. There were so many different spells I could¡¯ve cast, so many runes I could¡¯ve laid down, that would¡¯ve done the same thing but better. I¡¯d just... gotten stuck on the idea of waking up in a pile of books, realized that [Everywoman] would let me do it, and gone a little nuts.


    I slapped my cheeks.


    Go time!


    I opened [Portcullis] and did all my morning ablutions. It was much nicer here, but then again, not too many people had their own pocket dimension. Home away from home. I skipped breakfast for the moment, deciding I wanted to see what was on offer and how they handled it... but I took a sniff in my pantry and decided on what my backup breakfast was going to be.


    I headed down, and Katarina intercepted me, a frown on her face.


    ¡°Dawn, if I could chat with you privately for a moment?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Of course.¡± Skills went up, and we were briefly alone. I had some ideas, but I was making no assumptions. My former [Legata] took a deep breath.


    ¡°My curse. I can¡¯t summon any part of my [Shadow Legion] here, because no helpers are allowed. I can¡¯t lean on Night¡¯s generosity, not without showing grievous weakness. You¡¯re not here as a head of state, which means you can be a little more flexible. Let¡¯s be frank, you¡¯re not currently a member of the Sixth Legion, haven¡¯t been for years. Would you be willing to formally sign back up as a member for the duration of the meeting?¡±


    I barely needed to think about it.


    ¡°Sure!¡± I happily replied. ¡°I, Elaine, the Dawn Sentinel, do solemnly swear to faithfully serve the Sixth Legion to the best of my capabilities for the duration of the summit, barring those required by my need to heal and serve medicine.¡±


    There were some minor linguist nuances to the language I picked that gave me more wiggle room. Basically, I was joining the Sixth... while still giving myself all the room in the world to keep doing exactly what I wanted to do anyway. Enough for the System to recognize me as a member of the Legion for Katarina¡¯s skill, even when I voted differently than her. The balance of power was hilariously tilted in my favor. It didn¡¯t bind me in the slightest, but once I stopped ¡®acting¡¯ like I was under her command, the fragile recognition would break. But it was enough for her skill.


    With a relieved sigh, Katarina spoke.


    ¡°[Rise].¡± She intoned, and my shadow picked itself up off the ground. I looked down with a delighted smile.


    ¡°Oh hey! This is going to mess with people so much, it¡¯ll be great!¡±


    Katarina snorted in amusement as my shadow started fussing over her. Her curse was bad.


    I had a thought.


    ¡°I was planning on flying home every evening. Is that going to be a problem?¡±


    Katarina waved off my concern.


    ¡°Not in the slightest. If you let me know before you leave and when you come back, I can plan around not having help.¡±


    ¡°Great! Let¡¯s go!¡±


    We bounded down the rest of the stairs and grabbed food. Royal, Wally, and Skye joined us. Tobias was probably asleep, given that he kept Night hours. I wanted to snort in amusement at the place. Hundreds of heads of state in a cafeteria.


    I¡¯d gotten a peek behind the curtains of managing events, and I was impressed with the logistics. Most heads of state had their current position on pure competency during a crisis - although, there were probably a good mix of [Warlords] mixed in right now - and showing off ¡®look at how well we can pull an event together¡¯ was one way to impress and flatter, and give a good impression of the place on the global stage.


    Heck, with how everything had been overthrown and overturned, it was rapidly going to be the only place on the global stage. It wasn¡¯t like there were lines of communication for other places to become known.


    Just like everyone had known the name Kyowa, everyone was going to learn the name of Kazehara. And so, the cycle would repeat.


    I shook the thoughts from my head and paid attention to the breakfast.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll confess, I¡¯ve probably missed something, but does anyone know what we¡¯re doing next?¡± I asked.


    Almost like someone had heard me - but probably just a fantastic sense of timing from doing this dozens of times - a well-dressed kappa clapped his hands, bringing all of our attention to him. Definitely had a Sound element. He rotated through his announcement in two dozen different languages.


    ¡°Esteemed guests! Welcome! I am Kawaji. It is my great pleasure to meet you all! There are three days until the summit begins. We are in the middle of a week of festivals and activities for you to all enjoy. Please, avail yourselves of our hospitality! Now, as many of you are new here today, I must go over all the rules. The full list will be made available to you, as are the tentative rules of how the summit will go. Please note that one of the earliest items is all of you voting on what the rules will be, so they will change significantly. Now, the first and most obvious is to be a good guest. Omotenashi covers you all. This place has been built quickly, at great expense. Please do not ruin it. Please be mindful of auras, passives, and far-ranging abilities. Please be mindful of...¡±


    The list was extensive, and so much of it was common sense that I started to wonder about it.


    Ah, right. My earlier musings on [Warlords]. It was entirely possible that a number of people here - mostly the mortals - had been raised in a society that had only known violence. Only known the law of the jungle. That believed might made right.


    Hopefully, all of the people with that type of thinking looked around, and realized that while 400 levels at 20 years old was impressive, there were a lot more people here with much higher levels. They didn¡¯t have the biggest stick, and the people with the extra-large clubs would be satisfied to bonk them if they stepped out of line.


    Oh, who was I kidding? There were going to be a couple of irredeemable idiots somewhere in the mess.


    A brief meditation on auras, passives, and far ranging abilities naturally brought mine up. I was going to keep it up, a little bit of subtle diplomacy. While the summit was going on, no inhabitant of Kazehara would know illness. Anyone attempting cloak and shadow nonsense would find their more violent attempts rebuffed.


    And it wasn¡¯t necessarily a pro, but a boatload of experience for denying a high-level Classer trying to smack down a rulebreaker would be nice. Peace and life was for everyone, the worst crime resulting in exile and removal from the summit, not death. Even with me part-timing my healing, I wasn¡¯t the only powerful defensive Classer around.


    Currency was interesting. Nippon-Koku was already back on the arc standard, somehow - Immortal fingerprints were all over that - and there was a place for people to go and exchange local currency, from bartering to hides to gold, into usable arcs.


    Three days of partying before things got serious sounded great. I was about to sneak everyone in when a rule covered that.


    Damn. No bringing in people from the outside... but there wasn¡¯t anything about leaving and coming back. I almost asked to clarify... but realized I might get a rule explicitly made about that. Which I didn¡¯t want.


    The moment Kawaji had finished his speech, then started to repeat it in the next language, I was standing up, handling my trash with a flicker of thought.


    ¡°Who wants to come with me?¡± I asked, not really managing to contain my exuberance.


    It was a shame that Iona, Auri, Sara, and everyone else couldn¡¯t be here. But I was going to surprise them by showing up a few weeks earlier than planned, with big bags of goodies.


    Party time!

 Chapter 633: The Treaty of Kazehara IV

    ¡°I would like to.¡± Wally the Warden said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll come!¡± Royal the apista said.


    Skye and Katarina traded looks.


    ¡°I think we¡¯ve got some discussions first.¡± Katarina said. I stuck my tongue out at her.


    ¡°Really?¡± I complained. ¡°No fun at all.¡±


    Skye had a sour look on her face.


    ¡°Some of us aren¡¯t specialists interested in one thing. Some of us need to play the political game and figure stuff out. Or do you want Orthus to get the short end of the stick? You live there, you know.¡±


    I shrugged.


    ¡°Sure, but that¡¯s why we pay you the big arcs.¡± I pointed out. Skye looked like she wanted to tear her hair out.


    ¡°I¡¯m not paid at all!¡± She complained.


    I shrugged, a mischievous grin on my face.


    ¡°Well, that sounds like a taxation problem, which is an issue for the almighty [Queen] of Orthus to solve. Bye!¡±


    Katarina was glaring murder, and my own shadow had her arms crossed and was tapping her foot at me. I briefly channeled Iona, slung my arm through Wally and Royal¡¯s arms, and dragged them all off to the festival.


    Sadly, it was first thing in the morning, and most people were still getting set up for the day. Boo! How dare they not get up hours before dawn to prepare everything, only to work deep into the night!


    ¡°Do either of you need to visit the money exchange?¡± Wally asked. I lifted an eyebrow. That implied he didn¡¯t, and he was carrying his money on him. I couldn¡¯t sense it, even with [The World Around Me]. Crows, I wanted one of those masks.


    I was struggling a bit. On one hand, I was trying to get out of the paranoid spy mindset. The Wardens had issues with me in the past, and I didn¡¯t want to reveal too much. At the same time, this was supposed to be a friendly summit, and it wasn¡¯t like I didn¡¯t liberally use my pocket dimension. The most basic surveillance of me would reveal I had it. From what I had seen of the Wardens, they reminded me strongly of the Rangers and Sentinels.


    Professionals.


    They weren¡¯t idiots that walked up to my door and assumed they knew everything. I¡¯d never heard of them getting into a dumb fight. They scouted, planned, prepared, then executed. Was I really going to hamstring myself this entire trip just to add half a day to the Warden¡¯s strike team if they ever came after me in force?


    Nah, not worth it. Adding a bit of artistry to it though? That was worth it.


    ¡°I¡¯m good!¡± I flourished my hands, making it look like I was performing a sleight of hand as I pulled out a bag of arcs from [Manor]. With another flourish, I made it look like I was stashing it down my shirt. I then patted my tunic, revealing absolutely no lumps.


    A good magician never reveals her secrets!


    ¡°Oh, we don¡¯t do money!¡± Royal cheerfully told us.


    Wally and I shared a look of instant understanding, somehow being enough on the same wavelength for this. I suppose when Royal was so far off-kilter, it was easier.


    ¡°We¡¯ll pay for you.¡± I said.


    ¡°Happy to split the costs in half.¡± Wally agreed.


    Not like I needed another reminder why the apista were so insular.


    While the festival was still warming up, there were an inordinate number of small tea shops and other places where people could sit and talk for an extended period of time opening up. Several large groups were heading into the town.


    ¡°Want to follow the experts and see what there is to do?¡± I suggested. ¡°They might already know the good spots, and we don¡¯t have to aimlessly explore.¡±


    ¡°The idea has wizzz-dom.¡± Royal buzzed.


    We followed the crowds, and stopped by the first kabuki performance. There were no chairs here, just scattered tatami mats, and after paying - only two arcs a person, I couldn¡¯t believe how cheap it was, but then again my sense of scale and value was probably wildly off - we settled down.


    Then had to get up and shift around a bit. The performance was on a slight hill, but the massive size difference between some of the attendees had them shuffled further back, while we were pushed forward, mostly based off my height.


    A series of taiko drums and flutes started off the performance of The Eight Thieves, and from there the rest of the festival went off, a beautiful day only missing my friends and family.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen this one before.¡± I said as we sat down.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never seen a play before! This is all the buzz.¡± Royal said as she sat down. I had to wonder if she was deliberately trying to mimic me to fit in, or if she was utterly unaware how weird it was.


    People in glass houses, I had to remind myself. People in glass houses.


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen it a few times, although it¡¯s more interesting to see how the play¡¯s evolved over the years. I wonder if there will be any significant differences this time.¡± Wally said.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got to give me the analysis after. Maybe over snacks? I¡¯ll buy.¡± I suggested. Wally nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯d enjoy that.¡±


    Eh... I was vaguely debating going off to see them instead of partying, because what was the point of all the fun alone? At the same time, it was fun, and turning down extremely rare opportunities was no good. These memories would live on strongly in my mind, the candle of memory burning strongly. As opposed to ¡®generic summer day with everyone when Sara is 7 #64¡¯.


    I stayed at the festival, and it only ramped up from there. The streets ended up packed. Paper lanterns hung over everything, unlit during the daylight hours but promising a riot of festival colors once dusk had passed. Food vendors were elbow to elbow with kappa toy sellers, and I didn¡¯t trust half the kitsune operating various games.


    Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Then again, when most of the contestants were ancient Immortals, I suppose they had to cheat as hard as possible to break even - or make it an entertaining experience.


    The sound of drums and flutes echoed throughout, a thousand discordant tunes brought into perfect harmony through use of some clever wide-ranging skills. Crowds bustled to and fro, the strong Classers moving slowly and carefully. The world was made of glass for most of us, and not everyone had perfect control. One aggravated-looking demon had to plan his every step. Each time his foot came down, the earth rippled around his foot like a pebble going into a pond, no matter how gingerly he stepped. A... I didn¡¯t know what the heck, just that they had a huge rack of antlers and were somewhat elvenoid, with lightning arcing between their antlers.


    We hit the party full of life, enjoying every moment.


    ¡°Oh! I¡¯ve always wanted to buy a kimono!¡± I dragged my friends off to a [Tailor], the lady hawking her wares and modifying clothes on the fly. ¡°Only¡± level 210... but I remembered just how good someone at level 200 could be, especially with specialized skills.


    As easily as I got levels, I had to remember not everyone could level as quickly as me. 200 was years, probably decades of experience with her craft, with a number of skills backing it up. I liked to imagine I had an eye for quality work, and the lady was going to be very busy very soon.


    Wally shrugged.


    ¡°Sure, I wonder if she can make clothes that automatically grow. My youngest might enjoy a set.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not my comb of honey, but I¡¯ll watch! It is very interesting.¡± Royal said.


    ¡°Want to talk about your family, or does Warden mystique prevent you from saying anything?¡± I gently probed.


    I got the sense he winked, even though his mask completely obscured his features.


    ¡°Maybe one day, but not today.¡± He said. I left it at that, and Royal fortunately derailed the conversation. Either she was secretly a social genius, or just had great timing.


    ¡°Are those goldfish?¡± She asked, fascinated by a game next to the tailor.


    ¡°Yup. Scoop one up with a paper cup, get to keep it.¡± I said, not even needing to glance over.


    ¡°Wow. I¡¯ve never seen a fish before. I want one. Let¡¯s do that next.¡± Royal said.


    Wally coughed.


    ¡°The fish are for keeping as pets, just so you know.¡±


    Oh god. That was both horrifying and hilarious, and I kept a straight face as the image of Royal chowing down on her new ¡®pet¡¯ in the middle of the street and the reactions from that danced through my head.


    ¡°Oh good! I hoped that was the case. I will name the fish Wallyelaineskye.¡±


    On one hand, it was a bit of a struggle to be next to the ever-expanding social train wreck that was Royal. On the other... oh goddess. By Ciriel. Was this what I¡¯d been putting people through for years!? I reviewed my memories, and... I¡¯m so sorry. I was worse. I started looking around for some extra nice presents for Artemis. She¡¯d had to handle me back then.


    We made it to the front of the line, and I picked out a pair of plain kimonos I liked the look of.


    ¡°What do the three of you want?¡± The [Seamstress] asked.


    ¡°Those four kimonos, and a particular custom design on them.¡± I said, then started to explain. The [Tailor] was looking more and more delighted at the sheer detail in the custom order, both of us knowing the bill was rapidly reaching astronomical figures, while Wally and the people behind us in line looked vaguely disgusted. Which wasn¡¯t unfair, I was kinda holding things up... but I wasn¡¯t going to regret making a large order in the slightest. Royal was cool with it, her head spinning around as she absorbed the thousand and one sights.


    ¡°... a golden eagle in the middle, like this one.¡± I said, [Teleporting] out my old Sentinel badge. Wally almost freaked, but managed to restrain himself. Which looked like he did an almost-seizure next to me. ¡°Flowers down the back end. For the second one, I¡¯ve got the dimensions, but I¡¯m not sure what you¡¯re using. I can convert them if...¡±


    I continued giving my entire order, and at the end I winked at Wally.


    After all, to my understanding, this summit was the meeting of the best and the brightest the world around. Yeah, there were an overrepresented number of [Governors], [Lords], and other rulers, and the Wardens had more than their fair share of people. It was worth the reminder, mostly to myself, that the specialists were possibly the best in the world, and we all had hidden depths. Royal included. She didn¡¯t seem particularly well rounded in many ways, but she¡¯d immediately twigged that she was probably here because she was good at beekeeping.


    Like.


    I wasn¡¯t going to pretend whoever was organizing this meeting had a ¡®detect best at X¡¯ skill or something wild like that. Communication and reputation mattered. The people being picked out were the ones known to the organizers, and they reasonably thought they could get them here. [Town Leaders] were easy, in a sense. Fly around, spot civilization, land, say ¡®take me to your leader¡¯, and go from there.


    People outside of insular Gwyllt had heard that Royal was the absolute best at it, and the strength of what they heard and knew was enough to get her out here, skipping the hundreds of better-known elven [Beekeepers]. I started to keep an eye out for any bees I could see, to see if they were acting odd. For all I knew, Royal had a passive that let them move at the speed of sound and generate gallons of honey every trip, or something insane like that. If I thought of it in terms of area affected... could Royal be literally controlling every bee in the country? It was theoretically possible.


    Welp! Moving on!


    The kimonos were more expensive than I was expecting, and the [Tailor] did spend a good amount of time checking that my coins were valid. Some of them were easy enough - we had an elemental overlap and could show the gemstone charging with a skill - but some quick horse trading was needed with neighboring vendors to check more of them.


    We continued on. Royal spent six tries trying to catch a goldfish before I had mercy on her and captured one with a single lightning-fast move. Being able to see through the illusions and move unnaturally fast helped, and the man running the stall promptly uninvited me from trying again. Royal was happy though! We then lurched around a bit until we found a place that sold pet supplies, and I barely saved Royal from murdering her new pet as she tried to dump the entire can of fishfood in at once.


    Wally went over to a calligraphy stand and ordered two dozen different pieces. I felt terrible for the man running it by the end.


    ¡°No no, this one¡¯s no good either.¡± Wally declared, critically looking at what I thought was beautiful artwork. He crumpled it up and threw it away right in front of the [Artist], then tossed him the coins for the next order. ¡°Don¡¯t repeat it, let¡¯s just try another one.¡±


    The poor [Artist] looked like he was going to cry... but he did gain 12 levels in a single sale, and another 4 when Wally finally nodded his approval.


    Well paid, well leveled, but the remarks had cut him deep.


    ¡°I¡¯d like a few.¡± I asked. ¡°Can you do ¡®toothy¡¯?¡± I was thinking of Sara¡¯s favorite toy. I wanted something for her, but the list of options that didn¡¯t include me or the shadow of Ithil was extremely limited.


    And the festival just kept going! Origami artists got a pile of coins from me, I prayed to Ciriel at the shrines, the furin wind chimes tinkled as the breeze stepped up, and I bought a tengu mask, certain that Artemis would find them hilarious.


    We watched sumo events and ¡®level 32 capped¡¯ tug of war, which was the only responsible way to play that particular sport. Street performers were on every corner and every street, entertaining in a thousand ways. I picked up a few fans, and twice as many adorable puppets, a full set for several plays.


    I tried to juggle [Teleportation] around to do my own one-woman full performance, but I wasn¡¯t quite good enough. I¡¯d need to learn and practice, no matter the mastery given to me by [Everywoman].


    I snorted in amusement. Night could probably teach me. He¡¯d been Nyx, working as a [Puppeteer] when I¡¯d been looking for him. Susan could also teach me, but I had the feeling her lessons would be a little more thorough.


    Ugh... but I wanted to be with my family during the nighttime. Balancing this was going to be hard. Eh, I didn¡¯t have to learn now. I¡¯d show them to everyone before becoming a master of the craft, it was fine.


    I shamelessly grazed on everything the food vendors had. New food? Last snack was 32 minutes ago? Om nom nom nom.


    Sadly, there weren¡¯t a whole lot of books for sale, but that wasn¡¯t a surprise.


    The sun went down, and the fireworks and bonfires came out. I spent a few hours with people - Skye and Katarina were still neck deep in the political arena, boo, but Tobias was able to hang out - before I zipped back home, across the Sea of Stars.


    It was a modest commute, but there was a world of difference between going back to an empty, temporary apartment, and coming home.


    My timing was bad though, I¡¯d spent a little too long watching the fireworks. Sara and Auri were already asleep. It wasn¡¯t terrible though, Iona hadn¡¯t left to hang out with Fenrir yet.


    I knocked on the door in a familiar pattern and waited with a grin in my new kimono. Iona opened the door, a delighted look across her face.


    ¡°Surprise!¡± I shouted, throwing my hands up and wiggling them. I promptly started answering questions that hadn¡¯t been asked.


    ¡°Kazehara is just across the pond, and I¡¯m fast. Nothing¡¯s happening yet, and I figured why stick around and sleep there, when I can jet over here and sleep? I won¡¯t be here during the day, but I will be here every night.¡±


    Iona was beaming. She swooped me up into a hug.


    ¡°That¡¯s great! Let¡¯s go wake Sara up.¡±


    ¡°Yes! Should I give her the souvenirs now, or later?¡± I asked.


    Iona studied me for a moment before grinning.


    ¡°Trickle them in, I know you¡¯ve already bought a gigantic pile. One now, one tomorrow, and save the big one for when it¡¯s all done.¡±


    I snuck up on a sleeping Auri.


    ¡°Big bag of rice flour.¡± I whispered into her ear as I teleported the item in question out of my storage. I¡¯d gotten some looks when I offered to buy the bag instead of the finished product.


    ¡°Brrrpt...? BRPT!¡± Auri perked right up, going from sleepy dreams to awake, alert, and LOUD in an instant.


    ¡°Brrpt brrpt!¡± She dizzingly spun around me before perching on my shoulder and nuzzling my cheek. ¡°Brrpt!¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d think I was gone six decades, not six days.¡± I joked. Iona cracked a smile.


    ¡°We¡¯re just all happy you¡¯re back.¡±


    We snuck upstairs, and I quietly sank down next to Sara¡¯s bed. I gently shook her shoulder.


    ¡°Sara. Psst, hey Sara.¡± I whispered, trying to gently wake up. Her eyelashes fluttered before her eyes focused on me.


    ¡°M- ELAINE!¡± She shouted, wrapping her arms around my neck. I pretended I hadn¡¯t heard the start of her sentence.


    I totally wasn¡¯t crying.


    It was good to be home.

 Chapter 634: The Treaty of Kazehara V

    Kawaji stood up at the front of the room, a little later than usual.


    It was fine. Nobody had left breakfast, although I sensed a few people higher up sleeping off a huge night of partying and drinking.


    Oh, they were so fucked. This was not the time to sleep in and miss things. A part of me said I should let them sleep in and miss things, a benefit to me. Another part told me to go in and personally wake them up, possibly making them indebted to me and swinging a few votes my way.


    Damnit Arachne. I have regrets.


    Instead, I chose the middle path, and [Teleported] a glass of water over all of them.


    Upside down.


    The spluttering and cursing was deeply satisfying, and the rest was up to them now. A small, petty part of me delighted that I¡¯d end up far better dressed than them. I¡¯d gotten up extra early just to do myself up to the eights. I looked fantastic, white tunic with gold trim, hair beautifully curled and makeup expertly applied, and I knew it.


    I didn¡¯t know if I wanted to curse the bond-given vanity or not.


    ¡°Welcome honored delegates!¡± Kawaji said, some skill or another muffling whispers and letting his voice carry. ¡°Today is the day the great summit of Kazehara begins! We are a little later in the order of things, as none of you are particularly large. The organizers have decided that a few minutes spared on the sphinxes, treants, and other large creatures will dramatically help with logistics further down. As you are all on the small and nimble side, we will be waiting outside until called in. Patience from everyone as we wait will be appreciated. Nullifiers, or Cancelers if you use that term, will be in effect, preventing skills from being used. If you would please follow me at the end of the announcements?¡±


    The kappa repeated his speech in a dozen more languages, waved to catch all of our attention - I totally had paid attention the entire time - then left out the doors. We started to file out after him. Katarina fell in step beside me.


    ¡°Thought I had another minute, sorry for the late request. Skye and I are part of a small former-Exterreri voting block. Sentinel Queen¡¯s in it as well. Are you interested?¡±


    I¡¯d been expecting something like this. And Queen was around! I hadn¡¯t seen her yet, I had to go say hi.


    ¡°Possibly, in broad strokes.¡± I agreed. ¡°There¡¯s no expectation to vote in lockstep is there?¡±


    Katarina shook her head.


    ¡°No, we know it would never work.¡±


    I shrugged. I¡¯d already mulled over what I¡¯d say when asked.


    ¡°Sure, sounds good to me. Unrestricted medicine¡¯s my big concern.¡±


    I hadn¡¯t gotten a chance to see the large central arena that all the apartments had surrounded. Part of me had been curious, but there were so many other things to see and do that I hadn¡¯t peeked in yet. Given that I might be here for several weeks, I figured I¡¯d get my fill now.


    I must¡¯ve passed through some sort of barrier - and damn, it was a good one, I hadn¡¯t even noticed it existed - and the arena snapped into view.


    It was the same arena, but I was inside the cloak that had hidden all the people around it. I looked up and my eyes went wide.


    Around the top of the arena were a series of large platforms, and I immediately zeroed in on the three dragons lazily perched up there. One black-scaled, one silver-scaled, and I vaguely recognized the flood dragon.


    Oh! It was the [Cerulean Scholar] from the School! I guess that made sense. I did a bit of wild speculating. Most dragons didn¡¯t bother to lower themselves to us measly lifeforms, but this arena was one of the few times they could throw their weight around? Remind us about their power? Or maybe they had their own terms they wanted to dictate to us. Or just be in a position to roast us all if we started to make dragon hunting teams. This was exciting!


    Huh, there had to be some serious Spatial warping going on for the dragons to fit on the platforms. They shouldn¡¯t be that small, not compared to some of the age markers I was seeing. At the same time, the [Cerulean Scholar] had his home in a spatially warped space in the first place, perhaps it was his work?


    The great riddler sphinxes were next to the dragons, lion¡¯s paws crossed as they peered down. Each one had a pair of attendants, which felt massively unfair for a moment before remembering they were probably for the rest of us. They had to speak in riddles, and a [Translator] was a blessed addition for the rest of us. I didn¡¯t spot any phoenix representatives - it would¡¯ve been nice to say hi to Sasha - but there were a few noble kirins.


    Part of me wondered why they weren¡¯t transforming into elvenoids to better join the groups, but maybe there were a number of kirins who¡¯d joined up.


    A pair of cyclops had another platform, and giants ringed the arena, peering in. They were in distinct factions, the snow giants of Modu - they had ice crystals forming around them, a little thermal skill to keep them comfortable - the high priests from the Tabernacle, and quite a few from Bhutai. I spotted Kunchenjab! The [Runesmith] from the Monastery who¡¯d helped me out with Spatial Wizardry. He was standing next to one of the [Head Monks], which suggested he was here because he was one of the best [Runesmiths] in the world, not as the leader of a group.


    Ah. Scattered monasteries. That¡¯s why there were so many giants here! Some of the ice giants were arguing down, their words muffled by skills. From their body language and the stormy looks on their faces, they weren¡¯t too happy about something. They were talking down into the arena, but more skills were in play. Couldn¡¯t hear a word they were saying. It did make me wonder how they were managing light with both vampires and trolls.


    Hadn¡¯t seen any trolls so far. I probably would once I got inside.


    Our group halted a little outside one of the entrances, and I could see dozens of other groups of elvenoids scattered around their own entrance.


    Part of me wanted to wonder just how many people were here. Like, this was only


    a few select groups! Everyone was representing hundreds to thousands of people, and there were so many.


    Put in a different lens though... this was it? Take the people here, multiply by a hundred, and that was the entire world population? A hundred was on the low end for a [Governor] or [Mayor], but the number of Wardens, specialists, and others brought that average down significantly. People who couldn¡¯t make it brought the numbers back up, but it was sobering.


    Did giants even have a viable population? The titans seemed to be gone... although there hadn¡¯t been a notification that they¡¯d gone extinct. At the same time, viable population calculations got utterly torched by the giant¡¯s practical Immortality.


    I let that thought process spin off into its own musings. Kawaji signaled to us, and we stayed in a milling group for several minutes before the kappa got some unidentified signal.


    ¡°If you would all please follow me. There are small amulets as we enter, please pick one. It will tell the translation spell which language you¡¯d like to hear.¡± He said. With only a bit of pushing and shoving - seriously, some of the people here needed to chill, there was no need for any of that - we streamed into the arena entrance, along with all the other groups waiting by the side.


    Along the way I spotted rows and rows of small amulets, each one with a tiny language inscribed in it. Ooooh, they had Creation! Yes please!


    The tunnels weren¡¯t quite as direct as I would¡¯ve wanted, but we shortly spilled out onto the floor of the arena. The place was definitely larger on the inside than the outside. The dragons and other large creatures were high up, looking down on us, and the giant¡¯s faces ringed the arena. There were several dark, shimmering layers, that looked like the whole place was under dark glass. It very well might be under dark glass, along with a thousand and one more protections.


    I didn¡¯t know all of the security details, but I¡¯d gotten pulled aside two days ago and asked extensively about my healing. A dozen tests later, and I was told that my healing had been whitelisted, and was going to be involved in part of the security of the place.


    I wasn¡¯t being told all of the methods - only a few people had been, and security was being handled by three different Classers who didn¡¯t quite trust each other. The paranoia was basically mandatory, given how many lives were in their hands.


    The long and the short of it was - I was to keep my healing up, and not try to use any other external skills.


    A dozen or so seats up in the stands were taken already by various elvenoids. Oh hey, there was Susan! She already had a seat. Another section was marked off, and the treants were standing in the back of the arena. Made sense, they couldn¡¯t exactly sit down, or go up to the large platforms. Most treants were too short to look over the arena like giants could.


    There was a massive aquarium taking up about a quarter of the seats, and it was filled with people. A... my best guess for it was a kelp-treant that was slowly walking along the bottom. Beautiful mermaids swam around, and I counted myself lucky to see one in my lifetime. A mosasaurus and plesiosaurus type saurian were in there. Narwhal and shark beastkin were well represented, along with a single octopus beastkin. I looked around for a frog type, but didn¡¯t see one.


    The enchantments were as plain as day. Runic script covered everything, from the floors, on and over the chairs, up the walls and across the ceiling. They were slowly lighting up with the faint discharge of wasted mana. Part of me split off and started to study them all.


    It was impressive, and the sheer number of redundancies had me taking notes. The protection was obvious, but a minor layer... was the bulk of the material translation spells? Redundant translation spells? Oh, this was neat, I needed to take more notes, I could level just studying all this...


    Stolen story; please report.


    There was a platform at the front of the arena, and a raised table with thirteen people sitting at it. A lower table had three people and an epic stack of paper in front of each one. All three of the lower people had some weirdness around them, clearly allowed to use their skills just like I was. Light was faintly flickering from one to the rest of the seats, the second one had an ear trumpet in, and the Wind was gently swirling around the third. One central devil on the higher portion was seated higher than the rest in the middle, armed with a gavel and a ridiculously powdered wig. I quickly skimmed the rest of them.


    First and most obviously was Night, sitting near the central devil. A lich was in fine regalia. I assumed the gold-masked Warden was the head honcho. The Witch in White from the School had a seat. A very nervous and low-level kitsune - for the event in question, only 312 - had a chair, along with a trio of elves. A harpy, a demon, a yeti, and an elvenoid that smelled of fur rounded out the members.


    The arena was built large, but we were all packed in together. Every race was represented in one place. Trolls and ogres, dullahans and gnomes, liches and minotaurs, werewolves and kobolds. Mermaids swam with selkies in the aquarium. Even the extremely rare races were here, some of which I¡¯d only ever read about, like nymphs.


    All types of saurians were here, from the triceratops to the dilophosaurus, from stegosaurus to spinosaurus.


    The devil stood up and banged his gavel once. Instant silence fell over the crowd, enforced by powerful skills. He only needed to speak once, and the translation whispered in all our ears.


    ¡°My name is Verris Lexael. I am the chief of the High Council for the Summit at Kazehara. We will be the ones managing who speaks, who talks, the agenda, and who is allowed to vote. The three [Scribes] in front of me will be managing the voting and tallying. The rules state that the members of the High Council may only make a single proposal, and are barred from voting. However, we are the ones who select who may vote. The division is an attempt to prevent blatant favoritism, an attempt at checks and balances. If we don¡¯t have buy in for the treaty forged over the following weeks, there will be no adherence to it. If nobody is paying attention to the agreement, there is no purpose to us being here, and all this time and expense will be worthless. All of you are potential candidates, but there is a selection process, and a chance to challenge, for most of you. For the first group, I will hand you off to Rindaer.¡±


    The devil sat down, his oversized wig swaying, and the gold-masked Warden stood up and barked out orders.


    ¡°Wardens! To your seats!¡± He shouted. The masked men and women of the Order mixed into the crowd snapped off a salute, then filtered through to their seats. Already I had a little more elbow room. Rindaer sat back down. The lich stood up next.


    I wonder how many times they had to practice and rehearse this?


    Wait.


    Given the levels involved, and given how old I knew some of them to be, I wonder how many times they¡¯d done this. Goddess, that was a depressing thought.


    ¡°All of you who believe you are here to represent a people, territory, or race, please shuffle forward. Those of you who believe you¡¯re here for other reasons, if you¡¯ll move back a bit to help make space, yes, thank you.¡± The lich declared.


    I shuffled back, other people shuffled forwards. Skye gracefully surged to the front of the crowd.


    ¡°Good luck.¡± I muttered to Katarina in passing. Her shadow legionnaire had abandoned her. The [Cancelers] were good, but that unfortunately meant I had my shadow again and couldn¡¯t troll people with it. She stiffly nodded to me.


    ¡°Welcome, welcome, excellent!¡± The lich grinned wildly, and let his skull ¡®unhinge¡¯ off his neck. Shudders went through the audience. ¡°Now, this is going to take some time. Shorter than the poor folks in the back there. You. Who are you, and where are you from? The typical area I see you lot from is called the Tuvan Tribes, none of this yeti-yuki fighting nonsense now.¡± He asked, pointing to Skye.


    The yeti on the council snorted and rolled his eyes.


    Skye cleared her throat.


    ¡°Skye, [Princess] of Orthus, of the territory formerly known as Exterreri.¡±


    ¡°Exterreri!¡± The lich¡¯s crown jumped off his head like he was surprised, neatly landing back on top. Was... he entirely sane? ¡°You¡¯re a long way from home! Alright! Skye, of Orthus, in Exterreri! Does anyone contest her claim?¡±


    There was a moment of silence.


    ¡°No! Good, grab a seat. Next!¡±


    It all went smoothly, people being picked, declaring their location, and the lich waving them through, until a strapping young gnoll was selected.


    ¡°Rongrr of the Icewind Tribe of Dairalt.¡±


    ¡°Rongrr of the Icewind Tribe of Dairalt!¡± The lich shouted. ¡°Anyone to contest his claim?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡± Another, older gnoll stomped through the crowd. ¡°Rongrr! What are you doing here!? You were told to stay at home.¡±


    The lich cleared his throat.


    ¡°Well, excuse me, but who are you, and what¡¯s your claim?¡±


    ¡°I am Burlorr, [Chieftain] of the Icewind Tribe of Dairalt. This is my wayward son, who was told to stay at home, and who somehow managed to make it here.¡±


    ¡°Oh my!¡± The lich¡¯s skeletal hands theatrically flew to his mouth. The rest of the High Council was rapidly becoming more alert. ¡°A dispute! Rongrr, are you the [Chieftain] of the Icewind Tribe?¡±


    The gnoll shook his head, and the lich¡¯s face grew enraged. Somehow. There had to be skill bullshit to get emotions like that on a skull, nevermind the appearance of breathing and clearing his throat. One of the elves put a warning hand on the skeleton¡¯s arm, and Verris stood up.


    ¡°Burlorr, are you the [Chieftain] of the Icewind Tribe?¡±


    ¡°I am.¡± He said.


    ¡°Do we believe anything more needs to be said, and are there any other objections?¡± The devil asked.


    After a moment of silence, he continued on. I made a mental note to myself - if I had any objections or wanted to get a word in, do it fast. Step one of noticing something was going on was to speed up my thought process to the max. It should give me enough time to react.


    ¡°All those in favor of Rongrr to represent the Icewind Tribe, raise your hand.¡± He waited a moment, and not a single hand went up. ¡°All those in favor of Burlorr to represent the Icewind Tribe raise your hand.¡±


    Twelve hands belonging to the High Council went up, and the three [Scribes] dutifully wrote down the numbers. A moment later they each flashed up a card. Twelve was written in blue, one was written in green, and a big fat zero was written in red. Side one, abstain, and side two, if I didn¡¯t miss my guess.


    ¡°Burlorr will represent the gnolls of the Icewind Tribe. Rongrr will be removed from the event.¡± Verris announced. A different elf snapped his fingers and pointed to Rongrr, who popped out of existence.


    ¡°He has been teleported away, and will not be allowed back in.¡± Verris announced. ¡°He is otherwise unharmed. I will not repeat this the next time we need to remove a delegate.¡±


    The process continued at a good clip, and there was only one more interesting part before it all wrapped up.


    ¡°I would like to make a minor objection, if I could.¡± A finely dressed [Noble] from Rolland looked nervous. Verris narrowed his eyes.


    ¡°I trust this is a well-considered objection, and not a frivolous waste of everyone¡¯s time.¡± He said.


    The [Noble] cleared his throat.


    ¡°I¡¯m ruling over a city of about 6,000 people, and responsible for lands of about twice that number. Yet, it sounds like I¡¯ll have the same weight as the leader of a tribe of around 80 people. It feels like there is a disparity in weight of responsibility and scope to votes. If I took the same land and split it 200 different ways, I¡¯d get significantly more voting weight for the same number of people.¡±


    Huh. Wow. He was almost single-handedly bringing the average up. That was a lot of people.


    The devil nodded.


    ¡°Everyone will have a different number of votes assigned to them, depending on a number of factors that we will determine. You will be told once everyone is seated, as the number of people and their distribution is a factor. It is not fair. I will not pretend it is fair. But it is the best system we¡¯ve found so far.¡±


    Verris sat back down, the lich went back up, glaring at the [Noble] for daring to interrupt.


    The penny dropped.


    The penny fucking dropped.


    That was Anurak, the mad lich behind the Pekari. No wonder he was managing all the rulers, he probably already knew them already!


    And I could easily imagine that if he was ticked off enough, he might pay them a little ¡®visit¡¯ sometime down the line.


    ... That was possibly my imagination running away with me. Everyone else on the High Council wouldn¡¯t tolerate that, would they?


    He summoned the next person.


    It left me with one thought. If votes could be apportioned... why were practically all the Wardens here? Wouldn¡¯t one Warden holding all their votes work?


    There was probably a damn good reason lurking around somewhere.


    The rest of the rulers finished up with only a few more spats and disputes. I was a little surprised, I thought most of them would be handled before we got here. The most interesting one was a city with a ruling triumvirate, where two of the members had shown up, each one insisting they were the proper ruler. The High Council had a really close 7-6 vote, with Verris casting the tiebreaker. It took way too long, and the lich - who STILL hadn¡¯t said his name - was in a Mood afterwards.


    Also, Rindaer had to step in when a visiting lich requested his seat on behalf of all Penujuman Necrocracy.


    ¡°A reminder that constructs are not considered citizens. In this august meeting, we only count those living beings that are proven to have a soul and a connection to the System, those deemed as elvenoid or superior.¡± Night said, with a glance up high to the dragons. ¡°Regrettably, those created, or brought back to life, depending on how you view the world and events, by the venerated [Lifebringers] are not qualified to count as members. As devastating as it is, we have had historical issues with people attempting to play games with artificial life and summits of this nature in the past. Do not construe my words-¡±


    Verris pointedly coughed and looked at Night. Night stared him down, and the devil turned away. He continued. ¡°-as saying they are in any way lesser, simply that we will not be considering their numbers. Please, continue to treat them as your neighbors and your friends, and do not allow internal policy here to dictate your actions at home.¡±


    Having said his part, and spoken for the first time, Night sat back down.


    Verris got back up at the end.


    ¡°Next, we have the specialists. The experts in their field. The best of the best. Please step forward.¡±


    I stepped up along with most of the crowd, and I spotted an old, familiar face. Mormerilhawn! The [Referee] from the School. Huh. I wondered if I was going to see any deities here?


    The Witch in White stood up, and unrolled a flowery scroll. Literally, it had flowers growing off of it. She cleared her throat and started to speak.


    ¡°The following professions are up for consideration. [Tailor]. [Alchemist]. [Farmer]. [Fisher]. [Weaver]. [Mason]. [Carpenter]. [Driver]. [Drover]. [Dyer]. [Leatherworker]. [Ropemaker]. [Jeweller]. [Lawyer]. [Sailor]. [Scribe]. [Plumber]. [Merchant]. [Cook]. [Miller]. [Smith]...¡±


    The list went on and on, and I relaxed when I heard [Healer]. Excellent. It was comprehensive, and there were more jobs listed than people here.


    She finished reading and rolled the scroll up.


    ¡°If there is any profession I didn¡¯t name, please step up now.¡±


    A man with a mask and a flowing cape dramatically stepped up. I wanted to roll my eyes at him. This was a meeting, not a theater stage!


    ¡°I believe my invitation was misplaced, -¡±


    Ohhh, he was so getting teleported out of here. I wish I had someone close to me to bet how long it¡¯d take.


    ¡°But as I am the greatest [Thief] in the world, I was able to steal my way in. We are woefully under-¡±


    The Witch in White cut him off.


    ¡°All in favor of allowing [Thieves] a seat at the table.¡± She called out. The yeti raised his hand, and got dirty looks from half the High Council, and most of the audience. He was serene under the collective glare.


    ¡°All those opposed.¡±


    Eleven hands went up, and a pair of fingers snapped to a faint pop.


    ¡°Excellent. Moving on. Who would like to begin?¡±


    One of the elves stood up.


    ¡°I would like to begin by presenting an unusual guest, and a potentially contentious candidate. Royal, the apista, representing [Beekeepers]. Are there any other candidates for the position? This includes the representative from Kyowa, if she is here.¡± She asked.


    There was a moment of silence, then the elf continued.


    ¡°Royal¡¯s qualities for the position are numerous. Basic competency in the field is a given. She has traveled the world, collecting bees of every species. She has fields of hives, testing every given combination. She has written treatises on bee-flower-honey combinations. She has, with the help of millions of buzzing friends, revived multiple species of plants. Royal has made literal rivers of honey, and...¡±


    The elf went on in quite some time in this vein, extolling Royal¡¯s virtues and accomplishments. They were as impressive as I suspected.


    Verris stood up at the end.


    ¡°Are there any questions?¡±


    I¡¯d worked out the human with the furry smell was a selkie, rare as they were. She raised her hand, and was acknowledged.


    ¡°What knowledge do you have on the impact of laws and policies impacting beekeeping?¡±


    Royal blinked.


    ¡°Basically none. It¡¯s not my area of interest.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    She sat back down, and the questions continued. The interrogation was much more extensive than for ruling a tribe or town. In the end, Verris stood up.


    ¡°All those in favor of allowing Royal a seat as a delegate?¡± He asked.


    Nine hands went up for yes, three hands went up for no, and Royal was seated. Yikes - I thought she was more than qualified, but getting that many dissenting votes?


    ¡°Who is next?¡± Verris asked.


    Night stood up.


    ¡°I would like to present a second contentious candidate, and I am aware of two people vying for the same position. Would Elaine Elaine and Elaine Silon please approach?¡±


    It was go time! Heart in my throat, I approached the bench, aware of the eyes of the world upon me.

 Chapter 635: The Treaty of Kazehara VI

    I stood in front of Night and the rest of the High Council, next to [Healer] Silon. I could see that he was already wavering. I blinked.


    Wow. Was the mere fact that Night was presenting me enough for him to consider dropping out entirely? Or was simply being contested enough to consider dropping out? Almost everyone on the High Council was old and high level, I assumed they knew what they were doing. Momentum and inertia was worth a lot.


    If the Witch in White came up and said ¡®I¡¯m going to put my reputation on the line that I¡¯ve found a more suitable candidate for the healing position than Elaine¡¯, I very well might go ¡®okay, you know what you¡¯re talking about, I¡¯ll go sit down.¡¯ No need to make it public.


    At the same time... my credentials still needed to be presented, why not stand up here while it was happening? Silon lost nothing by waiting. Night started talking, and he was more skilled at public oration than most people with skills in it.


    ¡°Elaine¡¯s name is truly Elaine, with no modifications. This was the tradition of her people in the time she was born. If you will forgive me, I have some notes on etymology to begin Elaine¡¯s introduction.¡±


    Night got up and began to slowly pace along the stage.


    ¡°It is a well known fact that restriction skills can be passed down and passed along. Shared with one another. Should Lady Fable here take a solemn vow, on her own, unique to her circumstances, it would be known as [Fable¡¯s Vow],perhaps with some modifications.¡± He pointed to the selkie on the High Council. ¡°Should she pass it on, the next person would gain the skill [Fable¡¯s Vow], and so on and so forth would it pass down, the name of the originator marked forever more in the System.¡±


    He paused a moment, then continued, stepping down from the stage next to us.


    ¡°Yet, [Scholars] claim there are multiple exceptions to this rule, and point to several that are the case. One significant exception they point to is the famous [Healer¡¯s Oath]. Or, as the words say... [Elaine¡¯s Oath].¡±


    Night clasped a hand on my shoulder.


    ¡°I met Elaine at the tender age of 16, before the year 5000, half a lifetime from when she created her own [Oath]. [Elaine¡¯s Oath]. I believe reciting the [Oath] here would be fruitless, but the opening line everyone knows. Everyone can repeat off the cuff, with no need to delve deep into the font of memory. First, do no harm.¡±


    Night let the words echo around. His hand was sturdy, and I felt a warmth going through my body.


    ¡°I am willing to attest that Elaine here is the original creator of the [Oath], and more than that, she is the first author of the Medical Manuscripts. The author was not a humble [Scribe] who simply wrote down his profession, no. Elaine proudly wrote her own name down at the twilight of the true first Remus Republic, shortly before it became the Remus Empire. I was there. I witnessed the events with my own eyes, and nearly 24,000 years, and countless Immortal cycles later, she has once again returned to us. The word ¡®Elaine¡¯ means ¡®Healer¡¯ in virtually every language, and it is all due to the remarkable impact of this lady. Thus ends my Etymology lesson.¡± It was neat how good the translation runes were. I could hear Night swapping between ¡®Elaine¡¯ and ¡®Healer¡¯ in Creation. Then again... he might be speaking Creation in the first place!


    Silon¡¯s jaw was on the floor, and he couldn¡¯t look more star-struck if he tried. Some of the High Council looked like they couldn¡¯t believe what they were hearing. The Witch in White stood up.


    ¡°Elaine had the fortune of attending the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft recently, where we confirmed the claims being made today.¡± She said, then sat back down. I nodded my thanks her way.


    Did she look somewhat familiar? I¡¯d been thinking of Remus, seeing her... was there a connection? Nah, couldn¡¯t be.


    ¡°Onto more traditional qualifications. Elaine has healed millions. To skip a detailed analysis, it is not unfair to say that she has a divine blessing in the realm of medical knowledge, one that she has put to good use. For recent events that may currently be remembered, she single-handedly chose who would live and die during the sack of Ithil, preventing deaths over a gigantic radius. She infiltrated battles between the New Remus Empire and the Demon King, stopping all deaths until the contestants separated. She has consistently sought the frontlines of battles throughout her life. She has willingly walked into plague towns that were hostile to her presence, and resolved both the symptoms and causes of said plagues. Her exploits are not limited to elvenoids, for she has extended a helping hand to all species she has encountered, including a badly wounded dragon. She has spent time teaching, and is humble enough to learn more. Furthermore, Elaine is not a single note character. She is a fully qualified [Loremaster], and her endless pursuit of knowledge has led her to be well educated in a wide variety of fields.¡±


    I preened under Night¡¯s praise, brushing back a lock of hair.


    ¡°The reason Elaine is not well-known to every individual here is that she spent a number of millennia trapped in the realm of the fae. Additionally, she does not seek such accolades. Not only do I believe Elaine is qualified to have a seat as a delegate, but I daresay that she would be a viable candidate for a High Council position in a few cycles, if she does not manage to ascend before that time. Given that she has obtained more than 10 levels a year on average, I do believe she very well may join the pantheon before a seat opens up, perhaps even before our next meeting. That is all I have to say.¡±


    Night patted my shoulder once, then dramatically stalked back to his seat. Silon put his hand up, and Verris acknowledged him.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to withdraw my candidacy.¡± He said.


    ¡°Wise.¡± Verris said, continuing to study me with speculative eyes. ¡°All those in favor of allowing Elaine a seat?¡±


    Thirteen hands went up, and the scorecards went up to represent an uncontested landslide. Even Verris voted!


    ¡°Elaine, you may take your seat, and welcome.¡± He said.


    Given that I could sit basically anywhere, I went over to where Susan was sitting, and beckoned Royal and Skye over to join us. Verris called up the next candidate, and the process continued. Skye shook her head, pointing to the coalition she was part of. Ah well, I guess they needed to talk a bunch and coordinate still.


    ¡°I noticed quite a few parts of what I¡¯ve done got skipped.¡± I told Arachne. She snorted with amusement.


    ¡°Hello Elaine, how wonderful to see you again. I¡¯ve missed you. I¡¯d love to catch up over dinner. How¡¯ve you been?¡± The vampire teased me, then lowered her voice. ¡°And one doesn¡¯t shout about espionage, theft, and working as a Sentinel in an open forum, it¡¯s not classy.¡±


    ¡°I noticed some people got let in early, but they¡¯re clearly moving things along at a good clip. Special invitation?¡± I guessed.


    ¡°Excellent observation.¡± Arachne praised. Royal finished making her way over, and I noticed a bit of movement in the Warden¡¯s section.


    ¡°Hello! I am Royal.¡± Royal introduced herself, and a round of introductions were extended by Wally joining us, one of the only Wardens not sitting with his group.


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    ¡°Come to make nice with the famous healer?¡± Arachne teased the Warden.


    ¡°Absolutely and shamelessly.¡± Wally replied. ¡°Under orders to, even.¡±


    Oh wait! This could be a great reason why they brought most of the Wardens here, instead of one super-representative. Networking!


    ¡°Ooooh, does this mean I can get a mask?¡± If he was going to be shameless, I was going to match him. ¡°And did you ever manage to fix that problem with divine blessings going straight through it?¡±


    ¡°Maybe.¡± He hedged. ¡°How did you know divine blessings bypassed the protections? By the by, a few of my fellow Wardens were mentioning seeing you up in the North?¡±


    Well, time to test just how serious the ¡®bring no harm to fellow delegates¡¯ part went.


    ¡°Yup! I¡¯m companion bonded to a phoenix, we regularly visit the Phoenix Peaks. Oh, and my wife was the one who pointed out the problem with it. She¡¯s blessed.¡±


    Wally facepalmed, impressive with a mask on.


    ¡°Could you at least register?¡± He asked.


    ¡°Oh sure! I tried before, but got denied.¡± I frowned. ¡°Then again, maybe I didn¡¯t state what I was doing or why clearly enough... I mentioned I was going on a rescue mission, not casually visiting, and the Wardens weren¡¯t too pleased at that.¡±


    ¡°That would do it.¡± Wally drily said.


    Arachne was looking as smug as a bug the entire time. Errr... maybe I needed different phrasing with Royal around.


    ¡°Elaine has also gone by Sentinel Dawn now and then.¡± She said to Wally. ¡°I appreciate your continued restraint in not causing us to lose a Sentinel.¡±


    ¡°Enough fuzz!¡± Royal said. ¡°What¡¯s the buzz with Elaine? You¡¯ve got to have great stories, can you tell me some while we wait?¡±


    I shrugged.


    ¡°Sure! Want to hear about the Formorians?¡±


    Nods all around, and I started to tell the story while the rest of the delegates were seated. Goddess, there were a lot. Fortunately, hearty snacks and drinks came around, which was nice, because we were here all day. Also, I couldn¡¯t access my vittles stashed in [Manor] - when I instinctively reached for it, I found my mana draining at a prodigious rate instead.


    Ah right, [Cancelers].


    ¡°I was born under the shadow of their unceasing assault.¡± I began. ¡°The war had raged for literal centuries, and...¡±


    My mind wandered through the final devastating strike the god had delivered, which had me thinking of the pantheon, and of course, Ciriel. Thinking of Ciriel gave me an idea. I wasn¡¯t a seated delegate for a god, but there was no reason I couldn¡¯t help her out.


    Hey Ciriel! I prayed to her. Do you need anything from me here? Can I help you at all?


    Elaine! She answered. No, I¡¯m all set, thank you for offering! What you¡¯re planning on advocating for healing and medicine is enough for me. I¡¯ve got my smites ready if anyone tries nonsense!


    Okay... there were a lot of bloodthirsty gods up there. I paused my story for a moment.


    ¡°If any of you are planning on proposing a religious ban of any sort, let me know now so I can sit somewhere else.¡± I said. Wally shuddered.


    ¡°No, no, that¡¯s a miserably bad idea.¡± He said as Arachne nodded hard.


    ¡°It¡¯s not bees.¡± Royal said.


    ¡°Thanks. Moving onto the story...¡±


    I told the story and half paid attention to the proceedings. The specialists took a while, and I was surprised at how many didn¡¯t make the cut. They¡¯d come up, one of the High Council would extoll their virtues and knowledge, then the votes would come down, often on a 6-6 split. Verris tended to vote against letting people in, and more of the crowd was shuffling out, looking dejected.


    ¡°A reminder. You were all invited here, and regardless of the outcome, you are entitled to stay here for the entire duration of the summit. While you may not be allowed to directly vote, you may still influence those who have votes. Those who are able to vote might want to consult your knowledge on topics.¡±


    Ah, good point. Forget blindly voting on fishing policy, ask the [Fisherman].


    Then again, the [Fisherman] had made it in, so...


    I should probably talk with Silon, he had experience with this. Then again, he¡¯d somehow managed to get [Healers] restricted last time around, so I wasn¡¯t super impressed with his work. Then again, it very well could¡¯ve been a ¡®in spite of his best efforts¡¯ sort of thing. Either way, I¡¯d be an idiot not to talk with him for an hour or two. Plus, he looked utterly starstruck, and he was recognized as one of the strongest [Healers] in the world. I¡¯d love to talk shop.


    The proceedings were pretty boring at this point, but I suppose most political arenas were boring. The non-boring ones were the problem.


    I liked politics that were able to lull me to sleep, it far beat the alternative which looked like ¡®violent revolution.¡¯ Sure, there was a big middle ground, but give me a snoozefest anyday.


    There were two more interesting parts to the seating of the delegates. One of the dark-scaled dragons tried to interrupt things, and one of the quieter members of the High Council spoke up.


    ¡°If you keep that up, I¡¯m going to need to talk with your mother.¡± He said. ¡°Do I need to go have a discussion with your mother?¡±


    To my great surprise and delight, the dragon shut up and drew his head back to his platform.


    ¡°Continuing on.¡± Verris said.


    All of the specialists got seated, and we moved into the ¡®other¡¯ category. A few [Priests], a couple of ¡®powerful¡¯ and ¡®influential¡¯ people wanted in - I¡¯d heard of a few of them, but not the rest - and other oddities.


    The most fun part came at the end of the ¡®other¡¯ category. The [High Priest] Uriel of the Tabernacle - one of the giants leaning against the arena and looking in - was called to present. He raised his arms high and started to pray.


    ¡°O mighty ones, eternal in your glory, you who shape the threads of fate and reign over realms seen and unseen, heed our call. We, your humble servants, stand at the crossroads of destiny, and our need for your wisdom is great.


    Great is your power, boundless is your grace, for you are the keepers of all that is and ever will be. You who hold the secrets of the heavens and the depths of the earth. You are the winds that sweep the stars into motion, the tides that whisper of forgotten shores, the flames that ignite the hearts of men. Your realms are myriad, your eyes infinite.


    Today, we gather in solemn unity, for the summit that will dictate the shape of the world to come. The hearts of mortals and immortals alike are stirred by the winds of change, and we seek the counsel of those who have shaped this world. We, your children, call upon you to take your thrones among us, to guide our steps in this sacred hour.


    O mighty gods, let your presence descend upon us like the light of dawn, as we open the gates of this sacred hall to you. May the air be filled with the song of your power, and may the earth tremble beneath the weight of your majesty. Let our hearts be open, our minds receptive, as we sit together in counsel.


    Come, O Gods, descend from the heavens and take your seats among us. Let us deliberate on the matters of this world, that your divine will may shape the course of time once more.


    We are ready. We are listening. We await your guidance.¡±


    He paused for a minute after his prayer, and none of us dared break the silence.


    Seven bolts of light came down from the sky, the arena warping as the gods and goddesses made their own platforms and own seating arrangements. No stadium seats for them, comfortable couches and grand thrones were the order of the day. Iona had been good for my religious education. All of them were minor tier three gods, probably looking out for their own domain and interests. I suppose there was an outside chance that all the other gods had pooled a bit of power together to let one be their mouthpiece... but then again, that was what the [High Priest] of Modu was for, wasn¡¯t it?


    It also helped reinforce the other gods not being too interested. There were over a thousand gods and goddesses, and only seven wanted to show up? Only seven had an agenda worth burning divine power on? They were interested and invested in the affairs of mortals.


    English was a weird language. Mortal meant two different things. Most of the Pallos languages properly divided up the ¡®won¡¯t live forever¡¯ mortal and ¡®not a divine being¡¯ mortal.


    It took all day, and a good chunk of the night, but finally, finally, everyone was seated.


    ¡°The High Council needs to briefly confer to determine the weight of everyone¡¯s votes.¡± Verris announced. Their table warped from a straight bench to a circle, and the thirteen members of the High Council started to move at ludicrous speeds. Less than a minute later the table warped back to normal.


    Huh. Go go skills, when they said brief, they meant brief.


    ¡°The number of votes you have will be sent to you in a moment. You may share if you like, you may keep them hidden if you don¡¯t want to tell. This is how many points your vote is worth every time you vote, they¡¯re not a finite resource.¡±


    Papers flew all over the room, and one landed neatly in my hand.


    Elaine - 56.


    Well, I suppose we were going to get large numbers. Susan shamelessly peered over my shoulder.


    ¡°Oooh, excellent!¡± She said. ¡°I got 42.¡±


    ¡°Three.¡± Wally grouched. Susan patted the Warden on the back.


    ¡°There there, you know it¡¯s because you all showed up in force. The Wardens have hundreds of votes in total.¡± Susan said.


    ¡°I have 15!¡± Royal buzzed.


    There were a few more rounds of comparing notes before Verris stood up.


    ¡°The hour is late. Thank you all for your patience. We will resume tomorrow morning.¡±


    With barely any further ceremony, the rest of the High Council started to leave. Susan eyed me.


    ¡°Normally I¡¯d ask if you want to catch up, but I suspect you want to go home.¡± She said.


    That sounded wonderful.


    ¡°Yup! Do you want me to pass along any messages?¡±


    Arachne smiled.


    ¡°Give my best to everyone.¡± She said.


    As anticlimactic as it was, I walked out of the arena, beating the crowd, then wrote a quick missive to Silon.


    Healer Silon,


    Hi! It¡¯s Elaine Elaine. Given the implication that you were at the Treaty of Kyowa, I¡¯d love to sit down and talk tomorrow evening, and get your perspective and learn from your experience.


    I wrote a quick time and place to meet.


    It¡¯ll be my treat!


    Cheers!


    Elaine Elaine


    It took me a few minutes to pick up his trail, discreetly hunt him down, and [Teleport] the letter into his pocket. I was too tired to do it now. Then I took off and flew back to Iona.


    There was no place like home.

 Chapter 636: The Treaty of Kazehara VII

    I made it back to the second day of the summit about an hour early, only to get promptly ambushed by everyone and their cousin.


    Lovely.


    They were necessary talks, and I was of half a mind to tell everyone to just talk to me, and I¡¯d individually process what they were saying with how many different ways I could think at once.


    That was considered rude, no matter how practical and efficient it was. I wasn¡¯t the only one with strong mental skills and the ability to communicate with several people, but it just wasn¡¯t The Way Things Were Done. Even at high levels, we were supposed to give a show of paying attention to people.


    Which... I appreciated, I guess. Night didn¡¯t zip between eight different conversations, using the ¡®thinking pause¡¯ to talk with someone else. Arachne didn¡¯t stare into a book while talking with me, she didn¡¯t have rings of people around her, all getting orders at once.


    The people she was giving orders to were far away.


    That was with good friends and close professional coworkers! This was a diplomatic summit, where we all grasped at the dying gasp of courtesy and professionalism that the cataclysm had mostly annihilated.


    I got filled in on what I needed to know, and I paused right outside of the warded boundary line.


    ¡°Hang on.¡± I said to Skye, then held out my hands. ¡°Lunch.¡±


    I [Teleported] out a nice leather bag - I¡¯d known the cow at one point, she¡¯d been friendly enough and I was happy to have a memento of her along for the next century or so - and filled it up with all manner of snacks. The hospitality here was good, but variety was the spice of life.


    ¡°Oh, do you have some of the cheese the Nixes make?¡± Skye asked. ¡°I¡¯ve got a particular fondness for it.¡±


    I held up a finger.


    ¡°Give me a second, I don¡¯t mark what comes from who... memories, memories, do you know how obnoxious tracing individual teleports over the years is?¡± I lightly griped.


    ¡°If it¡¯s too much trouble, don¡¯t worry, it was just an idle question.¡± Skye said.


    ¡°AhHA! Got it!¡± I triumphantly pumped my fist as a wedge landed in my bag.


    ¡°Oooh, you¡¯re the best!¡± Skye said. ¡°Let¡¯s go grab our seats before the big shuffle. They¡¯ll probably be permanent.¡±


    I nodded and we filed in, stuck in the masses of the crowd. The High Council was already there, and I waved to Night. I got a cheeky wink back, and I practically skipped to where Susan was sitting. Wally and Royal joined us. Skye, Katarina, Queen, and the rest of the ¡®Exterreri faction¡¯ found a spot near us, and I spent a moment studying where everyone else ended up sitting.


    Interestingly, it was almost a geographical mirror to how the nations were arranged on Pallos. Xerius saurians were next to Ankhelt beastkin. Centaur chieftains were on the arena floor, next to gnomes in their tiny chairs, backed against the troll [Jarls] of Lithos. The fauns and mercenary captains of Cartref Cyld were sitting near uncomfortable harpies of Aerie Heights. And so on and so forth, people who¡¯d have to deal with each other far after the summit was over sitting close enough to whisper and deal.


    Verris stood up at exactly the moment he said it would start. We were still missing a handful of people, but an attrition rate of half a percent would have one or two people out for whatever reason, before people deliberately skipping the starting day to make deals.


    ¡°Welcome, one and all! I will be brief, as our time is valuable. There are many oaths and promises that could be made at this time, but I only ask a simple one from you all. To whatever god or goddess you pray to, to whatever you hold sacred, I simply wish for you all to swear to operate in good faith, and to respect the time of the other delegates.¡±


    Eh, I could do that.


    Hey Ciriel! I¡¯m going to operate in good faith, and respect everyone¡¯s time. I told the goddess.


    You and everyone else. She teasingly grumbled.


    A few more devoted? I asked.


    More that quite a few people are praying to all the gods and goddesses. Ciriel explained. It¡¯s usually background noise, because there¡¯s always several hundred people praying to all of us at any given time, but when our focus and attention is on a specific place, it comes to the foreground, so to speak. Not too many gods want to spend their time and effort on the summit, it¡¯s the same old deal every time from our perspective, but it¡¯s easily the most interesting thing going on. Most of us are watching closely, it¡¯s fun!


    Finger on the smite button? I teased back.


    Seira got the last one. Ciriel grumbled. We all want the chance to show off in front of our peers.


    I shivered. Uriel, the giant [High Priest] chose the moment to speak up.


    ¡°Forgive me for speaking out of turn.¡± The giant rumbled from high up. ¡°The gods have cheerfully informed me that there is an informal contest of ¡®who can smite the heretics first¡¯ going on at this moment. Should there be a proposal violating the divine decrees, I do not expect one god to smite the heretic, I expect dozens, if not hundreds, of gods to express their displeasure.¡±


    I eyed the people sitting next to me, and theatrically scooted away from Arachne. She mock-gasped.


    ¡°I hear vampires are heathens.¡± I teased her.


    ¡°I hear reincarnated people don¡¯t believe in gods.¡± She teased back, scooting away from me herself. We giggled, then scooted back towards each other.


    ¡°All those in favor of excusing Uriel speaking out of turn?¡± Verris asked the High Council. Thirteen hands went up. ¡°You¡¯re excused.¡± Verris told the giant, who nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯m closest, I¡¯ll get the first smite in.¡± One of the manifested gods said to another.


    ¡°You? Your smites are so weak it won¡¯t count!¡± The second one replied.


    ¡°First order of business.¡± Verris spoke more broadly. ¡°All those in favor of forbidding proposals that will violate the Divine Decrees?¡±


    I glanced at my various compatriots, who were all raising their hand. I raised mine as well. There was a great amount of scooting away from the few people who hadn¡¯t voted in favor. The three [Scorekeepers] had a quick word with Verris, who nodded and smiled.


    ¡°Excellent. Given the subject matter, and that we have a supermajority present even if all other votes were to go the other way, in this extraordinary case we will uphold the Divine Decrees with no contesting vote. Moving on. The members of the High Council are each permitted to put their weight and words behind a single motion, and are otherwise not allowed to directly vote or put forward proposals. They will be voted on at the end, when the rest of the treaty is arranged. Night, as the eldest, your proposal may go first.¡±


    The vampire progenitor stood up.


    ¡°Over the many years I have been around, I have found countless dangerous classes and elements. I am of the mind to mostly permit you all to learn and discover for yourselves, and not to ban or prohibit actions out of hand. Who knows what new and fantastical discoveries you will all make? Restrictions will be called for. Restrictions on classes. Restrictions on behaviors. Restrictions on social structures.¡±


    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    Night shook his head, showing what he thought of the idea.


    ¡°None of us know the future. None of us know everything. I encourage us to step back, and give space for young minds to dazzle us, and to help civilization slowly inch forward, regardless of the long ranging cycle of warfare we find ourselves trapped in. Let us give space to people to find an answer. Restrict nothing.¡±


    He sat down, and the Witch in White stood up.


    ¡°The School of Sorcery and Spellcraft will be opening its doors once again. I request that it be recognized by all as a neutral place of learning. Thank you.¡±


    She sat back down, and the lich stood up.


    ¡°Let¡¯s not get all fussed over the Pekari, hmmm? Fight them yourselves, don¡¯t go all a-hunting together.¡± He sat back down with a mad grin, and a thousand whispers from people not in the know.


    Arachne and I traded amused looks, and there were a good number of people looking like they were suppressing a laugh. It was a funny joke to be in on, as murderous as it could be.


    The rest of the High Council continued on, then Verris stood up again.


    ¡°Onto ordinary operations. We must determine the normal rules upon which proposals will be made, who will be allowed to make proposals, which proposals will be voted on, speaking times and arrangements, and so on and so forth. To begin, each of you will be handed a number, assigned at random. This is your turn to propose rules or a set of rules, or to pass.¡±


    Okay, I knew this one! Arachne was one of the few people who had a comprehensive package put together, and I knew of at least four voting blocks who wanted things done her way. There was no sense in trying to get a dozen different ways mismatched together, several old, intelligent Immortals had seen this summit come and go over the eons, and there were four or five big packages going around.


    ¡°Number one.¡± Verris intoned. A spotlight shone over a gnoll. He stood up.


    ¡°Pass.¡± He said, then sat back down.


    ¡°Number two.¡±


    ¡°Pass.¡±


    ¡°Number three...¡±


    The summit got boring fast. An infinite amount of high-stakes politics, with thousands of proposals made, from the completely reasonable to utterly insane. Everyone on the same currency standard, with an arc being the lowest denomination to diamonds and rubies being the highest, the same as the prior era? Near unanimous consent. The summit was a meeting of the rich and powerful in the world, and too many of us had ¡®useless¡¯ wealth and coins still rattling around. Value was only what society assigned to it, and a massive agreement that a diamond was worth 10,000 arcs - how we ended up at a factor of 10 and not 8 I¡¯ll never know, but I was guessing historical reasons - helped everyone. With the stroke of a pen and several hundred hands in the air, my family was once again internationally wealthy.


    I was a little bothered by it. A half-remembered conversation I¡¯d overheard a [Student] at the School a century ago. How a fixed currency was inherently deflationary, which prevented investment, and caused stagnation. My reading on the subject suggested the benefits outweighed the problems... but there were no [Economists] at the summit to interrogate. The absolute landslide of the votes also suggested huge momentum against the idea. I didn¡¯t know the answer, and it bothered me a little.


    It made a grim sort of sense. The only people here were the wealthy and powerful. We - I had no delusions that I wasn¡¯t part of the group - were the only ones who could afford to take weeks off of work, travel a significant portion of the world, then go back home. Travel was expensive.


    Not working was expensive. I knew there were dozens and dozens of major tribes in Dairalt alone - they had five representatives, and one of the tribes had even managed to send ¡®two¡¯ in a sense, with the son trying to sneak in. From what I knew, all of them had gotten invited. Most of them couldn¡¯t afford it.


    Nime didn¡¯t seem to exist as a nation anymore. To my understanding - good riddance. Who wanted a nation of Spore, Poison, and Miasma users that flouted all agreements?


    Looking at the world from this point of view was enlightening. Not necessarily in a way I liked, but certainly enlightening.


    Meeting Silon was enlightening. Most of what he had to say I¡¯d already heard, but it was good to confirm it, and get a first hand look at his experience.


    ¡°Elaine Elaine.¡± He smiled, shaking my hand warmly as we sat down in a private booth. They were the name of the game at Kazehara, basically every place people could meet and talk had a number of them scattered around, from smoking parlors to restaurants. ¡°Your credentials are nothing short of stunning, and I¡¯m honored that you wanted to talk. Your impact on medicine is literally indescribable.¡±


    I smiled at the elf, food being delivered just minutes after we sat down. There was no ordering here - we got what we got. I liked it, a way to be forcefully adventurous.


    ¡°Silon. It was never my goal to become famous or anything. I just wanted to give other [Healers] a helping hand. I myself stand on the shoulders of giants. I wasn¡¯t the one who collected all the knowledge, I simply wrote down what other people had discovered over the years. I was also lucky. Right time, right place, and I gave a few copies to the right people. Honestly, Lumornor should get most of the credit for it becoming so widespread.¡± I said.


    ¡°Humble too.¡± Silon said.


    ¡°I live in Orthus, in Exterreri.¡± I said. It was a bit of a non-sequitur, but sometimes just doing it was the key. I then gave a description of how he could find the place, even pulling out my map to show him a few landmarks and notable cities. ¡°After this is over, you should come over and visit! We¡¯d love to have you, and I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve got countless stories.¡±


    ¡°I would enjoy that.¡± He said.


    ¡°Now, I apologize, but I¡¯d like to dive directly into the heart of why I¡¯m here. What happened last time? How did [Healers] get restricted?¡±


    Silon gave a long-suffering sigh.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been asked that question countless times.¡± He said. ¡°One downside of being a representative that¡¯s not advertised. When something goes wrong, you¡¯ve got several centuries of everyone interrogating you about it. In short, during the Taizui era, Immortals were permitted in mortal lands. Several [Healers] had gotten the skill to grant lasting Immortality, and briskly traded their services early in the era, to a large number of [Warlords] and other such fighters. They frequently clashed with each other, [Healers] preventing the most powerful from dying, and it was a particularly violent era. When the tides turned, and Taizui made way for Kyowa, the rich and powerful were well represented, and there was significant resentment to how things had played out. [Healers] were the easiest to blame, as none of the ones causing problems were around to defend themselves, and made for an easy scapegoat.¡± He shrugged. ¡°I politicked to the best of my abilities, but as well organized as Verris and the High Council is, at the end of the day a lynch mob is a lynch mob, and [Healers] were strung up as the victims. Mark my words, it¡¯ll happen again. Some poor class or element - we must be fair, after all, and not pick on a nation or species -¡± His sarcasm could cut through solid wood. Actually, with how the System worked, it was possible to have a [Cutting Sarcasm] skill that could do exactly that. ¡°Will be strung up and declared the nemesis, no matter how unreasonable the logic. Inevitably, the kings currently at the top of the heap will remove any number of effective weapons against them in the process.¡±


    ¡°The forbidden four.¡± I muttered to myself. I wasn¡¯t quite buying the ¡®mob mentality¡¯ aspect that Silon was espousing, but I suppose from a certain angle and viewpoint, it could look like that. Hey, I was here to learn.


    Silon nodded.


    ¡°Exactly. Or perhaps the forbidden eight. Or forbidden three. Or a set of classes.¡± He shrugged. ¡°Best advice I can give? If they¡¯re being bullheaded, try to find a different target to redirect people towards. Moving on, you want to be hidden, under the water. You don¡¯t want to be visible, or make people think about [Healers]. Freedoms are rarely encoded into treaties, only restrictions. Out of sight, out of mind. Your goal is to find and counter proposals against [Healers], assuming you don¡¯t have an additional agenda.¡±


    He peered at me.


    ¡°It is easier to promise to abstain on a critical measure in exchange for an abstain vote on your measure. This allows you to sell your vote to both sides in a critical proposal, as opposed to being forced to take one side or another.¡±


    I nodded. Arachne, then Skye, had both coached me through a similar thought process.


    Silon and I continued to talk for a while. I eventually had to leave, cruelly realizing that I had a lot more people to chat with and connections to make, every second an opportunity, while Silon was just around to enjoy the festivities.


    I had a moment of realization walking away from the [Healer].


    Fortunately, it was only the second day, I hadn¡¯t lost much time.


    ¡°I¡¯m an idiot.¡± I moaned to myself, putting my face in my hands. ¡°A complete idiot.¡±


    Having realized what I needed to do, I hunted down Arachne. The one woman I was sure knew all the proposals that were going to be made already. She was busy talking with several other people, and a few more petitioners were waiting for her. I dutifully waited in line, and a strand of threads worked their way over next to me.


    What can I do for you? The threads spelled out. Hey, it was still polite, we weren¡¯t trying to have several different conversations in front of each other. Arachne still looked like she was paying full attention to her conversation partners.


    ¡°Is anyone trying to restrict [Healers], and how do I have to vote to prevent it from happening?¡±


    I was no [Mastermind], and my [Thinking] skills and training didn¡¯t go in this direction. I was already allied with Arachne and the Exterreri faction, why do it all myself when I could just ask for help from the woman who thrived on this stuff like a reasonable person? I swear, Arachne hadn¡¯t brought it up herself just so I would ask. All the hints had been right there in front of my face.


    A piece of paper snaked its way over, carried on threads. I read it from a distance, and wanted to groan again.


    Crow take it all. She¡¯d anticipated my question, and already had a list drawn up.


    A list... when most proposals hadn¡¯t even been made yet, and everyone was still in the initial stages.


    ¡°If I wanted to prevent [Healers] being restricted, and allow full travel across Pallos?¡± I asked.


    The paper that came over was, of course, pre-written and dated a week ago.


    Ciriel, I regret to inform you that I¡¯m an idiot. I prayed to the goddess.


    Hey, chin up! We all make mistakes! You figured this out like THAT! How many people here are going to do something similar, versus thinking that they¡¯re the smartest person in the room and doing it themselves? She said.


    Well, they could be trying to level. I vaguely protested.


    You¡¯re being SMART. She reassured me. I¡¯ve got endless stories of being a complete idiot.


    Thanks Ciriel, you¡¯re a good friend.


    Anytime Elaine!


    The summit was a lot more fun with my primary concern mostly handled, leaving me to my secondary concern - was I voting for anything I fundamentally disagreed with?


    It really didn¡¯t help that a modest, mortal-driven, anti-[Healer] proposal was going around. Nonsense about ¡®Well, that¡¯s how I did it, and my parents, and my grandparents, and so on and so forth, and it clearly worked, so let¡¯s do it again!¡¯


    Bah humbug.


    I wonder how many of them would change their tune if they were suddenly Immortal themselves...? Bribery was explicitly allowed.


    I snorted at the thought. I¡¯d come full circle. From [Emperor] Augustus twisting my arm to obtain Immortality, to me twisting other people¡¯s arm in the political sphere with it.


    Oh goddess. I didn¡¯t die a hero. I lived long enough to find myself becoming a villain.


    Ah well. The poetic justice spoke to me, and I hummed cheerfully to myself as I went to find my first vict- patient.

 Chapter 637: The Treaty of Kazehara VIII

    Naturally, annoyingly, Arachne knew where my lines in the sand were. She did need to change a few votes of mine around halfway through the summit. As intelligent and well connected as the vampire was - on top of spying on everyone - there were a number of other players with their own agendas, doing their own manipulations in the background.


    I was content to be a pawn with particular goals. As long as they were accomplished, I¡¯d move all over the board as directed. Kinda like being a Sentinel in some ways.


    Just because I was a pawn, it didn¡¯t mean I didn¡¯t have to do anything myself. There were hundreds of strong personalities in the area, and most of us didn¡¯t have a chance to research every proposal in depth. For each proposal, delegates had a chance to respond. For most proposals, a thirty second to five minute speech on the topic from both sides was the only information I had before I needed to vote.


    One time-wasting idiot managed to get himself thrown out by the High Council by trying to have an opinion on everything, and we just had to know it. We genuinely stood up and applauded when the 12-0-1 vote to throw the guy out came through, and the faun who made the proposal didn¡¯t have to buy his own drinks the rest of the summit.


    I tended to keep Night¡¯s advice in mind, and voted against most restrictions. That, and keeping an eye on how Skye was voting.


    Given the proposal restricting [Healers] going around, and given that it was late in the summit, I¡¯d had plenty of time to prepare my speech. As well as plenty of time to get dressed to make an impression.


    Kazehara had virtually everything, including a [Beautician] who was gaining several levels per day. Catering to powerful Immortals at a world-defining summit had weight. She wasn¡¯t the only one leveling like this was her only chance in life, but she was the one I¡¯d asked to give me a hand. From my hair to my toes, from makeup to lipstick, from matching jewelry to my formal toga, she helped me get ready for possibly the most important speech I¡¯d make this millennium.


    I was standing up the very second the proposal around [Healers] was presented.


    ¡°We recognize Elaine as having the floor.¡± Verris announced as the spotlight came on me.


    ¡°I am Elaine.¡± I announced in a clear voice, channeling skills learned long ago to make my words carry in the vast arena, spells supporting me or not. ¡°The word ¡®Healer¡¯ is literally named after me. I am the founder of modern medicine. I am the author of the Medical Manuscripts. I am the first one to utter the words ¡®First, do no harm¡¯, and codify them into the System.¡±


    I smirked - carefully calculated, goddess damnit Arachne, why were your lessons so useful - and carried on, mimicking how Night presented one of his stories so long ago.


    ¡°You might have heard of me. During the recent Kyowa era, [Healers] were restricted, held on a tight leash. Wardens traveled the land, executing people who wanted nothing more than to help their fellow men and women. Peaceful [Medics] who¡¯d simply sworn to do no harm, to lend aid and comfort, punished with death for daring to want to do more. Can anyone here raise their hand and honestly say they haven¡¯t needed a [Healer¡¯s] service? Nobody has taken injuries that needed care? Nobody has been in a difficult childbirth, or had a mother, sister, or daughter that struggled? Nobody has faced disease and illness? Your animals are healthier and more productive because of [Veterinarians] looking after them. Poison from your food is no risk with a [Healer] in the town. From all this, people want to crush down the most helpful and selfless of classes? We want to weaken them to the point where we start dying?¡±


    I held my arms out in confusion.


    ¡°What is this?¡± I asked, letting people think about it for a moment. ¡°From where I¡¯m standing, all I see is an excuse. A scapegoat. The most tortured logic. ¡®Well, a [Healer]might gain an incredibly rare skill. They might use it on someone we don¡¯t like. They might get strong over the years, and they¡¯ll cause problems for us¡¯.¡±


    I paused, letting my expression communicate how I felt about that logic, before putting it into words.


    ¡°Bullshit.¡± I announced. ¡°It¡¯s absolute, unfiltered bullshit. If we don¡¯t want Immortals in mortal lands? Make that the rule. Even so, with that rule in the Kyowa era, it clearly didn¡¯t work. Look at two of the representatives from Rolland! Sir Pendragon and Kestrel are both Immortals, and I don¡¯t think they moved in the last ten years, given how history has them rattling around the area over 800 years ago.¡±


    I was calling them out specifically because it was some idiot [Duke] from Rolland who had put forward the proposal. I had a whole list of Immortals from mortal nations who I¡¯d planned on calling out, depending on who exactly put the proposal forward.


    ¡°[Healers] were nothing more than a casus belli. An excuse for war. An excuse that directly murdered thousands, and probably indirectly murdered millions. Not just from the [Healers] cut down in the prime of their life, denied from saving more, but from the tens of thousands more medics that stopped at 256 and lived out their mortal lifespan there, not daring to push themselves further. Not daring to heal more. It¡¯s a coward''s excuse to go after the defenseless, and only the barest of lip service were paid to the rule. I spent several excellent years at the School of Sorcery and Spellcraft. You know what I heard there? A dozen of my mortal peers trying to recruit me to their faction and home, knowing with the right disguise they can have their own powerful [Healer] handing out Immortality like candy. I have no doubts that dozens of such cases existed, blatant evidence that the law was meant to crush the honest among you while allowing the dishonest to thrive. If you¡¯re worried about Immortal [Mages] high up in their tower raining down death and destruction on people? Ban the Immortal [Mage] in their tower. Worried about an undying [King] refusing to abdicate? Make your own laws on how long a [King] can rule. Worried about a neighbor slowly gaining power over the years? Build up your own. Handle the situation, not a proxy root cause!¡±


    I was furious near the end, my emotions getting the better of me for the first time in far too long. It wasn¡¯t the time or the place, but at the same time, it fucking was the time and the place. I blinked tears of rage out of my eyes and wrapped up. Breaking down here and now would sabotage my efforts so hard. I shortcut to the end a bit, skipping the appeal to Immortals. I had a whole fancy thing about striving and seizing Immortality taking on many different forms, and to let mortals rise up however they could. I had no doubt Immortals had also voted for the restrictions, but for different reasons.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    And I¡¯d practiced the speech so much.


    ¡°Healing is a sacred responsibility. We don¡¯t seek to acquire power or personal glory. As we try to bring life to others, please don¡¯t bring death to us. Thank you.¡±


    I sat down heavily.


    There were no great cheers, no applause. Verris simply stood up, and started talking.


    ¡°Are there any other members who wish to weigh in on the topic?¡±


    He waited four heartbeats before carrying on.


    By Ciriel. I¡¯d been building up to this for weeks, and it all came down to a few measly heartbeats and a couple of yawns? I wanted to throttle somebody.


    ¡°Very well. All those in favor of the proposal, raise your hand.¡±


    One idiot in the Exterreri faction started to raise his hand, and my glare was like a physical weight on him. He glanced over at me, saw the look of wrath on my face, and hastily put his hand back down.


    It was only one person voting, and without a particularly strong weight either. More and more hands went up all around the arena, including a few heavy hitters.


    ¡°Very well. All those against?¡± Verris asked.


    I could¡¯ve kissed Susan at the sheer wave of hands going up in the air. All the bargaining, all the work I did, all the practiced speeches - it all came down to this moment of truth.


    The scorecards went up, and I went limp with relief.


    ¡°492 - 841 - 672. Motion failed.¡± Verris announced. ¡°Next proposal.¡±


    Just like that, the fate of [Healers] for the coming millennium was secured. Just two little words, and I¡¯d saved millions of lives. The rush was heady.


    Fuck. Was this why people played politics? Was this the drug of power? Gods, no wonder people got addicted.


    [*ding!* [Everywoman] leveled up! 643 -> 644]


    Oh come on! Only one level for all that!?


    And not even a [The Elaine] level the entire time, bah. I suppose I wasn¡¯t reviving any high council members from the brink of death during a big vote, and the fame aspect to the class was minor and ¡®over time¡¯, not ¡®walk around being famous¡¯, but...


    I was over level 1500. I had to remind myself of patience. That the vast majority of people got to less than a quarter of my level over their entire lifetime, and I was at the very edge of a long, but still mortal lifespan. Levels didn¡¯t just rain down out of the sky onto me, and I was splitting experience with Auri.


    Proposals were all over the place. Some seemed sensible and reasonable to my untrained ear. A defensive pact among the mortal nations, in case an Immortal tried to invade, which passed. The Ekada Ruh tried to codify hospitality to travelers, which was soundly denied. Rules of engagement in wars, which I was happy to influence - [Healers] on the backline were off-limits.


    Not that I expected the rules to be particularly well followed.


    Other proposed rules seemed dumb. Restrictions on [Merchants], which I was half-surprised didn¡¯t have Amber dropping out of the sky with a hundred perfectly designed bribes. I was a little worried about her, what was she doing that had her missing the central meeting of wealthy and powerful people? A dozen hyper-specific rules that were clearly someone¡¯s pet project or designed to trip up a neighbor, all of which were soundly shot down. This was an internationalsummit, not the place to be trying to settle petty grudges. Didn¡¯t stop people from trying, but the nice thing about the sheer number of people was the great difficulty in rapidly influencing enough people to agree on most of the odd takes.


    It took five weeks, almost all of which I managed to spend the evening at home, but we ended up with the Treaty of Kazehara in the end, one which the Wardens would not be violently enforcing. To nearly everyone¡¯s relief.


    Which meant the treaty was worth what people believed it to be worth. Penalty for violating it? Whatever the neighbors thought up.


    Immortals were once again allowed in mortal lands, which was semi-hilarious in conjunction with the defensive pact. No war allowed! Just move in and slowly take over, that was allowed. I was happy to vote against the restriction, knowing that Iona would be delighted. She could semi-freely move around Pallos. Void [Mages] ended up banned, to my great relief - I didn¡¯t want to hear about cities regularly wiping themselves off the map - but Mirage getting banned was an entirely unexpected plot twist.


    ¡®Far too easy to deceive and lie¡¯ the proponents claimed. ¡®The perfect element for an [Assassin]


    .¡¯ ¡®Nothing good comes out of it.¡¯


    There was a whole mess in the backend of various deals, special interest groups, and other nonsense that had the Mirage ban included as the tipping point for a much larger aspect of the Treaty to get through. I was reminded why I hated politics, neatly balancing out the rush from earlier.


    A carve-out for [Entertainers] was denied, which had the kitsunes pissed. I agreed with them. [Laborer] and even more appropriately, [Artisan] would be a wonderful exception. Ban the [Rangers] and [Warriors] if anything. Most other elements were selective combinations, not the entire element. Wally even confirmed it was a large chunk of why the Wardens refused to be the enforcers this time around, they weren¡¯t going to bother with something so broad. Of course, the people voting yes hadn¡¯t quite realized the fallout at the time.


    The Kazehara delegation, along with the wider Nippon-Koku delegation, loudly protested, and Nippon-Koku ended up not signing the treaty at all in the end in protest, walking out of the event early. Given the elemental inclination of kitsunes towards Mirage, and how heavily their entertainment industry relied on illusions, I wasn¡¯t surprised.


    Nina was going to have a hard time in the coming centuries... but then again, she could just throw a mirage over her eyes, so it wasn¡¯t like the ban was going to slow down [Assassins] or anyone with ill intent, it just made it far harder to train anti-illusion skills. Silon had it right - when the lynch mob came for something, no amount of reason changed their mind.


    The dragons found it hilarious. I thought of some poor [Herald] walking up to Lun¡¯Kat and trying to tell the ancient dragon that she wasn¡¯t allowed to use illusions anymore, and had an inappropriately loud laughing fit in the middle of voting.


    Acid and Miasma also ate bans, creating a new Forbidden Four. Spore and Poison somehow got off the list, even though we¡¯d just had a Spore-induced zombie apocalypse spread over nearly the entire world. Then again, they¡¯d been so easy to kill that maybe nobody feared it anymore. I was suspicious of the whole thing.


    The School was declared neutral ground, a motion to vigorously hunt down the Pekari was almost unanimously denied - most [Leaders] didn¡¯t think their people were up for a violent campaign. A dozen more items ended up in the surprisingly small Treaty. None of the descended god¡¯s proposals made it in, to their great frustration.


    The Witch in White wanted to meet with me near the end of the summit, and I was honored to help her out.


    I needed introductions to the summit.


    She didn¡¯t.


    ¡°Elaine. Thank you for meeting with me.¡± The Witch said, dressed in blindingly pure white. Her fingers idly traced the edges of the table, and bright flowers freely bloomed.


    ¡°It¡¯s my honor. The School was a place where I was able to find my feet again after a particularly bad encounter with the fae. I apologize again for my actions a few years ago.¡±


    She nodded, accepting my apology. Again.


    I think it was going to be a few more decades before it was properly faded away, and I¡¯d stop feeling bad about it.


    ¡°If you¡¯d truly like to apologize, we need more [Teachers] and [Professors] at the School. Should you be interested, know there is always a spot for you.¡±


    ¡°A good friend of mine died there recently. There¡¯s some pain for me right now. At the same time, my adopted daughter is rapidly getting to the point where she needs some better schooling. I¡¯m willing to teach other students and her at the same time at the School. I¡¯ll need to talk with my family, and see what they think about moving.¡±


    Flora nodded and sipped at her tea. I couldn¡¯t identify the floral scent, and it was driving me slightly mad with curiosity. Perhaps intentionally.


    ¡°It¡¯s an understandably difficult decision, especially with the depth of roots you must have. There is no time limit on this offer, and we do have education opening up for all ages.¡±


    From there, the conversation moved onto lighter topics.


    Getting everyone, all over the world, to agree on something was hard. People were broadly selfish, and wanted to look after their own. In many ways, as high as my ideals were, I was the same. I wanted to look after [Healers].


    In the end, we had a document that would help shape the world for the next few centuries, if not longer. Nearly everyone put their name to it, and shrugging, I did the same.


    Elaine.